Strange

*Kei Machida's POV*

//July 22, 2040//Sunday//

"Hey, Machida. Where are we going to investigate exactly?"

"Inside the Arts Room."

Fuck…

"Isn't that the place where Sasaki, and Hyakuzawa fought?" Ichika asked.

"Yeah…"

I haven't found any leads again.

When I woke up two days ago, I immediately started investigating the Arts Room where Kiyoko, and Hyakuzawa fought.

But just like before, the room was spotless like nothing had happened at all.

This always happens every single fucking time.

I'm ashamed to call myself as Japan's Greatest Detective if I haven't found any clues at all over these past few months.

You can say that Sasaki and I have figured out the situation that we are in.

We are missing in the outside world, and people are probably trying their best to find our whereabouts.

But that is about it. We haven't gotten any progress since I started working with Kiyoko.

That fucking piece of shit who proclaims himself as a god is hiding something, and that is why everywhere I go, it feels like I'm just finding something in a clean trashcan.

I haven't found anything at all…

How can we get out of this place? Is it really possible for us to get home safely without killing anyone?

And while I was thinking, I remembered what Ichi told me back at the cafeteria last month.

"The only person you need to kill is Kiyoko Sasaki."

If I kill Sasaki right now, I can get out of this place, and forget about the people who are in here.

I wonder what these people would do without us?

Back then, I refused Ichi's offer since I want to see how this goes on in the situation that we are in.

It was amusing at first, and I enjoyed these people getting into despair because of how stupid they are.

Getting their hopes up, and then that feeling can be shattered into pieces in just one moment.

What if I killed Sasaki, and I get out of this place by myself? How interesting it would be to know what these people would do.

But that thinking of mine was in the past.

After everything that these people have done to me.

After they saved my life.

How can I just leave them be?

I'm not stupid. I also realized this by myself.

I'm not in my usual self at all.

Right now, I asked Asahi to help me investigate the Arts Room with me.

If what I am thinking is correct, I could find some clues in that room.

If Ichi reverts the room back to normal, then the hidden camera that I saw right before Hyakuzawa attacked me must still be there.

If the Arts Room has cameras hidden around the place, I'll assume that the other rooms have those things as well, and that is why I need Asahi's help.

Asahi has planted a recording device in my clothes before, and he has secretly listened to what Megumin and Kiyoko talked about when during that Ichika poison incident. Asahi probably can be a big help in finding those concealed cameras if there is one in every room.

But I couldn't understand the purpose of those cameras.

I will not deny the fact that Ichi has those unexplainable powers that he can do to us.

Disintegrating people's limbs, teleporting from one place to another, creating objects with his own two hands. Those are things that shouldn't be possible, but, I still witnessed them with my own two eyes.

If I will assume that those hidden cameras are planted there to watch us, I wonder.

With those powers of his, why would he need hidden cameras to see what we are doing?

"For someone who was not invited to go here, you sure do ask a lot of questions, Yua."

And why the hell is Ichika here with us?

"Of course I'm worried!"

When I asked for Asahi's help earlier, Ichika insisted on coming along with us in the first place.

I guess three pairs of eyes are better when looking for something, but to be honest, I doubt that she can be of help at all with my plan.

"You don't need to get worked up at all. I just want Asahi to come with me."

I opened the door to the Arts Room, and the three of us entered inside.

And then, we started investigating, or rather, I want Asahi to be the one to be looking at this room instead of me.

If Ichi has all of his eyes, and ears on us. Talking about the hidden cameras in this place could be risky.

Before I walked further inside to check each thing that is in here, I secretly dropped a letter in Asahi's pocket that I wrote earlier.

"If you read this, I want you to check how many hidden cameras that are here inside. After you are done, I want you to say an excuse out loud, and leave the room to signal me that you are done searching for them. Don't make it obvious since Ichi might be watching us."

I am too cautious about it, and I thought of giving him a letter rather than texting him since I don't have a clue if Ichi is monitoring our messages or not.

I also included an object with a little weight together with the letter in order for him to notice that I put something in his pocket.

I can just hope that he is sharp enough to notice it.

But as soon as I started aimlessly looking around the room, he gave off a long sigh and said something to Ichika.

"Yua, I need to get something from my room. I'll be back."

Is that the signal? No, it can't be! It hasn't been even a minute since I gave him that letter.

"A-Ah! Wait, Asahi! I'll come with you!"

It can't be…

I tried looking for the hidden cameras by myself, but after a few minutes, I haven't found any of them at all.

I left the room and saw Asahi and Ichika waiting for me.

"Oi! What's going on? I thought you need to get something?" Ichika asked Asahi.

"There are no cameras around here that can see us, and I think it is safe to talk about it here, Machida."

He is quick on the uptake, and he even thought of it in advance to check for cameras that could possibly hear or see us on what I want to talk about with him.

"One on the bucket with black paint earlier, one on the woman's eye on that huge painting, and the last one was inside the speaker that is attached to the ceiling."

I don't know if he was joking or not, and I don't want to go back there again to check those three locations since it will make it obvious that I have noticed where the cameras are if what Asahi just said is true.

"Did you just find those cameras in less than a minute?"

"Yes, I did."

Ichika who realized what was going on when she looked back, and forth at us scratched her head, as she understood what was going on.

"Oh… So that is what you guys are doing."

I'm glad she is fast to catch up on what is happening here as well.

If Asahi is this quick on finding the cameras in that room, I might as well take this to our advantage.

"Can you check if there are hidden cameras in the other rooms as well?"

"Sure. Fine by me."

Without hesitation, Asahi agreed.

"Wouldn't that take us until lights out while we are looking for something that is hidden inside every room?"

"Don't worry, Yua. This will only take minutes."

I always take some time in investigating every corner of one room to another, and it is quite exhausting as well. But, did he just say that he can investigate every room in just a few minutes?

How confident can this guy be? But based on what he did earlier, it might be possible.

After our conversation, we checked every room that we know if they have hidden cameras or not, and just like what Asahi said, it only took us 30 minutes to check every room.

We didn't even take a long time with the investigation. The only reason it took us 30 minutes to check the whole area is because of how long it takes to go from one place to another. Just like earlier, it only took him seconds to check one place and left after we had just come.

"You're amazing, Asahi." Ichika said with a face of disbelief at what he had just done.

"It's not that much…"

After we have investigated every room, we came to a conclusion on how many hidden cameras he have found.

There are two cameras that are hidden in each classroom where students have died on their first day here at Saitei University. Two cameras in the clinic, four in the gymnasium, and six in the library.

But while we are investigating, there is something that seems fishy. I don't know if it's intentional or not, but it seems strange.

Their personal rooms on the fifth floor don't have hidden cameras installed as well as the floors' hallways that we are at.

As soon as we are about to go to the fifth floor to check on their personal rooms, Asahi said that there is no need to check them out since he knew that nothing is hidden there because he didn't get the feeling that somebody is watching him when he is inside his room.

But that is why it's strange…

******** TO BE CONTINUED ********