Imitation (1)

There were four of us on the half-empty bus: me (Iwasaki), Asano, Izumi Ryou and Akane Chibana.

The silence enveloped us, broken only by the muffled rumble of the bus as it drove through the nearly empty streets. It was almost evening, and we were still in our school uniforms. We hadn't had a chance to go home and change.

There was no Mystery Club meeting scheduled for today, but earlier Asano had gathered us after school and announced that we were going somewhere. It was a bit of a surprise since we had never gone out together before.

"So, where are we going?" I asked Asano, who was sitting next to me. "Are you so bored that you decided to go to the outskirts of the city?"

"It was Chibana's suggestion, actually," she responded calmly.

When did those two have time to talk? Oh, right… I forgot they often chat on the phone…

"Really?" I turned to Chibana, who was sitting behind me and Asano, together with Ryou.

"Yes. There's an old woman who lives on the outskirts of town. She runs a flower shop. Someone has been stealing flowers from her, but she doesn't know who," Chibana explained.

Oh, so that's what this was all about... Another case, huh... It doesn't seem to be a serious case… But I didn't expect Chibana to be the one who initiated it.

"Where did you even hear that story?" I asked.

"Hina told me. This old lady has been growing flowers for a long time, and she knows Hina because she lives near the convenience store where Hina works. She even has a website for her shop. Let me check..." Chibana said, pulling out her phone.

Turning away from her again, I pondered. Another thought crossed my mind: Is this really what high school students should be doing? I mean, there's nothing wrong with investigating things at school, but going somewhere like this... Shouldn't the police handle cases like this?

"Oh, by the way, guys, it says on the website that no robots were used in the growing process!" she added after a pause, apparently reading some text from the website.

Letting her words pass by my ears, I continued to think. I also wondered why Asano had agreed to this case in the first place. Could it be that she saw something in this case that could help her with the original purpose of the Mystery Club?

However, I seemed to be the only one who was surprised. "Did you know about this too, Ryou?" I asked, turning to him.

"About the growing process?" he asked, looking at me in confusion.

"No... about the case..." I clarified.

"Yeah," he paused, turning towards the window, "Well, Akane only told us about it this morning," he added.

"This morning, huh?" I mused, turning away. "Shouldn't this be handled by the police anyway?" I inquired.

I really couldn't imagine a group of high school students solving this mystery.

"Well... According to Hina, the police are in no hurry to find the culprit," Chibana replied.

That doesn't explain why we were involved, I thought. But I remained silent, acknowledging that our group was quite strange, myself included, and realizing that asking questions about such things was ultimately futile.

The rest of the trip passed in silence.

As we got off the bus and walked to our destination, we were greeted by an elderly woman standing in the middle of the sidewalk, who seemed to be waiting for us.

"Hello, Hina sent us! You're Hirano-san, right?" Chibana shouted, being the first to run up to her. Her greeting was somewhat abrupt and loud.

After exchanging greetings and introductions with the old lady, we headed to her flower shop, which she immediately invited us into. Before entering, I noticed a lone bouquet of roses lying by the wall outside.

Once inside, we discovered a room filled with flowers. There were bouquets and potted plants of different kinds. The variety of flowers in different shapes and colors immediately caught our attention.

"Wow, this is so cool!" exclaimed Chibana, her eyes sparkling as she looked around at the flowers. She energetically scurried away from us toward some flowers that seemed to catch her attention immediately.

I've never seen her so energetic.

After a few seconds, I heard her call out, "Hey, Izumi! What are you doing there? Come here!" she shouted in a commanding voice, causing Ryou to look away from the other flowers and quickly join her.

"Look at these, Izumi! Aren't they pretty?"

"They are..."

I noticed the slight confusion on Izumi's face, apparently he was seeing her like this for the first time, too.

"Hey! Where's the excitement in your voice?" Chibana asked him.

Asano and I exchanged glances before deciding to go over to them as well.

"Do you like flowers?" Asano asked Chibana as we approached them.

"Kinda?..." Chibana answered ambiguously. "Some of them are pretty cute... Like this one, for example! What kind of flower is that?" she asked, turning to Hirano-san who was standing silently nearby.

"They're called camellias," she said, approaching us.

"Camellias? I love them," Chibana said, sniffing them.

Hirano-san smiled warmly when she saw Chibana's reaction.

"What about these?" Chibana asked and turned her attention to other flowers nearby.

Hirano-san led her through the shelves of flowers, telling her about each variety, while Izumi followed them. Their conversation slipped past my ears as I stood with Asano, who also remained still, mesmerized by the blue flowers in front of us.

"What about you? Do you like flowers?" I asked, watching her as she examined them.

"Hmmm," Asano pondered, "they're pretty, but I've never had any desire to grow them, and they're not really my type of gift.... Do you?" she asked, still not looking at me.

"Same here... They're pretty and they smell good, but I've never been particularly interested in them..."

There was a pause.

"And what are you interested in then?" she asked.

"Hmmm… Um... robots, I guess?" I replied.

"Robots?" she asked in surprise, finally turning to look at me.

"Yeah, I like taking them apart and putting them back together..."

She smirked. "Then I was right to choose you."

Not understanding what she meant, I asked, "What do you mean?"

"Nothing really..." she said ambiguously, turning away from me.

Maybe she meant choosing me as a member of the club? That's the only thing that makes sense.

Returning my gaze to the blue flowers in front of us, whose names I didn't know, I inquired, "What about you, Asano? What do you like?"

"Me?" she replied, hesitating for a moment. "Hmmm... I'm not quite sure..."

"You're not sure? Surely there's something," I pressed gently. "For example, you seem to enjoy solving these cases, don't you?"

"I can't say for sure..." she replied, once again wrapping her words in ambiguity.

Couldn't she say for sure? But didn't she enjoy solving these cases? I was confused. Was it possible that she was really just doing it for...? I knew that she had a reason for starting the Mystery Club, and I even had an idea of that purpose, but I still believed that she enjoyed it all...

"Are you interested in this case at all?" I continued.

"Not particularly," she admitted.

"Then why did you agree to come here?" I asked.

"Because Chibana asked," she replied simply.

"Only for that reason?"

"I mean, she wanted to hang out…"

I looked at her again, and now she was gently sniffing those blue flowers. Tilting her head, she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear in a graceful gesture. Her expression exuded serenity, and her beauty was undeniable.

Sensing my gaze, she turned to me. "What?"

"Oh, nothing..." I replied. "It's just... You looked incredibly photogenic just now."

"Really?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, take a picture then."

"Sure."

She struck a pose once again, and I pulled out my phone to capture the moment. As I took the picture, I realized that I was enchanted by the delicate features of her face and her mysterious and thoughtful eyes, slightly covered by eyelids... Really…, she was really pretty.

I noticed her casting a glance in my direction, as if she had noticed the unnatural pause. It seemed to me that at that moment she caught my gaze staring at her. I quickly averted my eyes, trying to act as if everything was normal. Immediately afterward, I wanted to show her the picture I had taken, but we were interrupted.

"So I asked her to tell us more about the case," Chibana said.

Putting the phone back in my pocket, I turned to Hirano-san, Chibana and Ryou, who had rejoined us.

Calmly and silently, Asano turned in their direction as well.

"I already told her we're from the news reporting club," Chibana explained.

Ah, she decided to hide the fact that we're from the Mystery Club. That makes sense. That way, Hirano-san won't ask too many questions...

"I see," Asano replied, seeming to immediately understand the purpose of Chibana's improvised deception.

It seemed that Chibana had just made up the lie, and it was as if she was telling us about it. There was nothing terribly wrong with it... It was just an innocent little lie.

Then Hirano-san, who had been silent until now, suggested, "Why don't we discuss this over a meal?"

"Hmm… Well, we don't mind," Asano agreed.

"Then come with me."

Hirano-san took a quick step in the opposite direction, inviting us to follow her. Moving between the shelves of flowers, we followed her. Seconds later, we reached a door that seemed to lead into the house itself.

As we entered, we were greeted by a small hallway and a large living room just beyond.

"Would you like some cookies?" The old lady asked as we all took off our shoes. Without waiting for an answer, she led us into the living room. Then she added, "Have a seat at the table," before leaving the room immediately. She seemed quite excited, perhaps happy to have guests in her house, considering that she seemed to live alone.

As we sat down at the table, we looked around the room. It was a pretty ordinary and standard living room, with nothing particularly remarkable about it. There were some shelves, a TV, a sofa, and of course some flowers in pots in the corners.

When Hirano-san returned a few minutes later, she was carrying bowls instead of the cookies she mentioned earlier. I was a little surprised, but since I was a little hungry, I didn't mind.

"You should eat properly before dessert," she explained, placing the steaming bowls on the table.

"Do you need help?" Asano asked as Hirano-san was about to go back to the kitchen.

"Sure, come with me," she replied.

Asano followed her to the kitchen, leaving the three of us in the living room.

While waiting for them, we sat in silence.

"I made them myself," she said as she returned with Asano.

"Did you make it especially for us?" I asked.

The food, fresh, hot, and already cooked, indicated that she must have prepared it in advance. Bowls of donburi and plates of onigiri adorned the table, carefully arranged by her and Asano.

"Yes," she replied.

"By yourself? Without a robot?" Chibana asked, echoing my thoughts.

"Of course! I actually don't have a robot."

As we sat there, we were all surprised that she was doing everything on her own, without the help of a robot. As we exchanged glances, we realized that we were all thinking the same thing: why didn't she have her own robot? Although many people liked to cook and did it themselves, it seemed unusual for someone to not have a robot at all.

Seeing the look on our faces, she continued: "Oh, you young people can't live without a robot, can you? There were no robots like this in my youth, you know? You're not used to anything. How will you ever survive?" Her question was rhetorical, so we didn't answer, just looked at each other and smiled awkwardly. Not that she was wrong.

"Eat up. I've made plenty. They're much better than the ones the robots make," she said, joining us at the table.

Indeed… The aroma of the steaming bowls of donburi beckoned to my senses. It smelled and looked very appetizing…

As we began eating, I decided to finally get to the point. "By the way, have you contacted the police about the stolen flowers?"

"Of course. Several times. But they're in no hurry to find the culprit," Hirano-san replied.

"So there hasn't been any news from them?"

"Not at all. The police seem to be busy with something else. And they probably don't care," she said with a hint of disappointment.

"What about the cameras around the house?" I inquired. "I noticed a couple of them outside. Didn't they catch the culprit?"

"No... The cameras get hacked somehow every time," she explained. "The camera footage is always distorted after the theft. When I check it in the morning, there's nothing but noise on the recording."

"So... how many flowers do they steal each time? A lot?"

"No, just one bouquet each time."

"When do the thefts usually occur? Is there a pattern?"

"They come at night on random days…"

"What kind of flowers do they steal?"

"Roses."

"Ah, we saw a bouquet outside the house earlier," Chibana said.

"Yes. I leave them outside on purpose. They broke my windows once to get them, so since then, I've decided to leave a bouquet outside, and they always take it."

"And why those flowers? Can you think of a reason? Maybe you know someone who buys them from you often? Maybe you have a customer who was particularly interested in those roses?"

"They're roses, after all. Everyone buys them." She hesitated. "But honestly, there was one person once... But it was a long time ago, even before you were born. There was a man who bought these flowers from me every week for his wife. They lived in the town not far from here, but the town is abandoned now, and they left years ago. I don't think it's connected."

After we finished eating, we thanked Hirano-san for the food and then went outside with her. Once again, I noticed the bouquet of roses lying on the ground in front of the wall.

Hirano-san seemed to notice my look and said, "I'll leave them there for the night as well."

As soon as she said those words, an idea popped into my head. "I know how to catch them," I said, "but I'm not sure if it'll work."

Hirano-san and the others looked at me, genuine curiosity in their eyes. "Really?" asked Asano.

"Do you have any duct tape?" I asked, turning to Hirano-san.

"Of course I can find some."

"I would appreciate it if you could find some now."

Without hesitation, Hirano-san went back into the house while I took the smartwatch off my wrist.

"What are you going to do?" Ryou inquired.

"It's quite simple," I replied. "You'll see."

When Hirano-san came back with the tape, I squatted down next to the bouquet, and then I taped my watch inside the bouquet so that it wouldn't be too noticeable.

Then I decided to explain my idea. "I taped my watch to the bouquet. These watches have sensors, and I can track it with my smartphone. So if the bouquet is stolen, I'll track it."

"What about the battery?" Chibana asked.

"Luckily, I charged my watch this morning. And anyway, it will last a long time if not used."

"Clever," Asano said.

"Well, I'm not sure it'll work yet," I admitted. "The culprit might notice the watch inside."

"Then is it wise to leave the watch like that? You don't want to lose it, do you?" Ryou asked.

"Well... It's an old model and it doesn't have any important information on it, so don't worry."