Chapter 8 : The 'Brilliant' investigation

The school had been eerily quiet since the kidnapping. The usual buzz of students gossiping about who was dating whom or who flunked Mr. Tsukino's math test had been replaced by a suffocating silence. Even the hallways, once a chaotic mess of running, shouting, and questionable decision-making, now felt abandoned.

But today, something changed. Something drastic.

Yuna had canceled her plans to transfer.

Despite all logic and reason, she had decided to stay. And why? Becauseshe said that three idiots had pestered her nonstop until she gave in.

I should be concerned about this level of persistence, but I was more amazed that she actually gave up. Yuna, the responsible, level-headed one, had been worn down by pure, relentless stupidity.

"I still don't get why you canceled," I said as she sighed, rubbing her temples like a tired parent dealing with triplets on a sugar rush.

"Because," Yuna groaned, "Renji wouldn't stop camping outside my house, Haruto kept guilt-tripping me with his 'who will keep us in check now' nonsense, and you—"

I blinked. "Me? What did I do?"

"You kept looking sad whenever I mentioned transferring."

I blinked again. "I did?"

"Yes, and it was weird. I didn't like it. So here I am."

That was… unexpected. Had I really been sad? I mean, yeah, Yuna leaving would've been a pain. She kept things organized. But had I actually looked sad?

Before I could dwell on that thought, Renji slammed his hands on the table dramatically, nearly knocking over my drink. "Enough about Yuna's poor life choices! We have an urgent matter to discuss."

Haruto sighed. "Please tell me this isn't about—"

"THE INVESTIGATION!"

Silence.

Yuna pinched the bridge of her nose. "Renji. No."

"Renji. Yes." He leaned forward, eyes sparkling with way too much excitement for someone talking about a kidnapping. "Guys, hear me out. The school's been closed for weeks, the authorities are barely telling us anything, and frankly, life has been boring. Boring, I tell you!"

I leaned back. "And you think reinvestigating a kidnapping will make things fun again?"

"Exactly!" Renji beamed. "Look, the last time we tried, we gave up too quickly. But this time, we're prepared. We've got determination, courage, and—"

"Nothing new to work with," Haruto cut in dryly. "The authorities already ruled out outsiders. The kidnapper is someone from our school, and if we snoop around too much, we might—oh, I don't know—GET TAKEN TOO."

That shut Renji up for approximately five seconds before he turned to me, grinning like an idiot. "But Kyoya, you've always wanted to be a detective, right?"

My heart skipped a beat.

That one sentence hit me harder than I expected.

Yes. Yes, I did. I loved mysteries. The thrill of uncovering secrets, piecing together clues, chasing the truth no matter where it led. It was exhilarating.

But for some reason, the idea of investigating this particular case made me feel… restless.

Why?

I shook my head slightly. No time for unnecessary thoughts. The silence in the group stretched a bit too long, and Haruto, as if sensing my hesitation, quickly spoke up. "Look, we're under supervision. If we try to investigate, we might—"

"Okay, let's do it," I cut him off.

Three pairs of eyes turned to me in shock.

Renji's jaw dropped. "Wait, really?!"

Yuna crossed her arms. "Kyoya, are you feeling okay? You were against this last time."

"I was?" I tilted my head.

Haruto gave me a look. "Yes. You literally told us that meddling would get us in trouble. You even said, 'No way in hell, Renji.'"

That… sounded like something I'd say. And yet, here I was, agreeing.

Strange.

"Well, I changed my mind," I said simply, stretching my arms behind my head. "Let's give it another shot. Who knows? We might find something new."

Renji pumped his fist. "YES! This is the best decision you've made in your entire life, Kyoya. I'm so proud of you."

Haruto groaned. "This is going to end terribly."

Yuna sighed. "As always."

And just like that, our terrible, reckless, possibly life-threatening investigation had begun.

The investigation

Renji stood at the front of the room, vigorously drawing on the whiteboard. He mapped out the key events—the kidnapping of Hina Sakamoto, who had been found but remained hospitalized due to severe internal shock trauma, and the murder of Yamato Saito.

"Yamato Saito, third year, how'd he die?" Haruto asked, arms crossed.

Renji turned to the board. "Cause of death? Blunt force trauma to the head. The body was discovered behind the school gym, and—get this—there were no signs of struggle. Meaning, he either knew his attacker or was completely caught off guard. The forensic report even suggests he was struck from behind while crouching, maybe checking his phone."

Haruto's brow furrowed. "That means the killer likely waited for the perfect moment, knew his routine, and struck when he was vulnerable."

Kyoya, silent up until now, tapped his fingers against the desk. Something about this felt off. He leaned forward. "Have any of you ever interacted with both Hina and Yamato before?"

The room fell quiet for a moment before Yuna spoke up first. "I had a class with Hina. She wasn't the most outgoing person, but we talked sometimes. Mostly about assignments, nothing personal. As for Yamato... I bumped into him a few times, but we never really talked."

Renji leaned back, arms behind his head. "Oh, I actually spoke to Yamato last week. He asked me about the upcoming sports festival, something about helping out with the relay team. I said no, but he seemed kinda desperate, like he needed to be distracted or something. And Hina... well, I helped her carry her books once. She was super nervous."

Haruto sighed. "Hina sat near me in the library sometimes. She always looked over her shoulder, like she was being watched. I figured she was just paranoid. Yamato, though? We had gym together. The guy was strong but... weirdly secretive about his after-school activities."

Kyoya's fingers stopped tapping. Something didn't add up. "Never mind, it all doesn't make sense!" he muttered, shaking his head. The pieces were there, but they weren't fitting together. Not yet.