My Stepsister is My Ex-Girlfriend - Volume 12 - Chapter 1.2

Mizuto Irido: Armchair Detective Part 1

“You need my help? With what?”

“I’m freaking out about what I did last night! I can’t remember at all! What did I do?! You’re smart, right?! I bet you know, don’t you?!”

This was a more serious conversation than I’d expected, so just in case, I went outside to sit on the veranda. Ugh, it’s hot. Also, I wasn’t sure if it was out of concern or if she was just curious, but Yume had followed me too.

“Listen, how am I supposed to know something that you don’t even know yourself? I’m not a mind reader.”

“But I heard all about how you saw through the fight the girls were having on the school trip.” Oh, the thing about the guidebooks being stolen? I might’ve stood out more than I should have let myself when I worked through that. “There’s no way I did anything! I just need a clue, even a scrap will do! Please!”

“It sounds like you already have your answer, though. Honestly, I thought it was just a matter of time. Congrats. Now take responsibility like a man.”

“No... There’s no way that actually happened... No way...”

It sounded like Kawanami was muttering this like some kind of self-hypnosis. His condition’s more serious than I thought. Why is he so adamant to not accept this as a possibility? But as I heard him out, I also thought that there were some strange things—his memory in particular. It didn’t seem like anyone, not even his former classmates, drank any alcohol, so why was there an empty can in his recycling? The first thought that came to mind was that he did actually drink, but I didn’t take Kawanami for the type to have an interest in drinking as a minor. In that case, why was there a blank in Kawanami’s memories of yesterday and who drank the beer?

“Fine. I’ll try to figure out what I can about what you did last night.”

“I owe you...”

There was one part of his story that was bugging me, though. “So, remind me. When you woke up, you were in just your boxers?”

“Yeah.”

“Where’d your clothes from yesterday go? You at least remember what clothes you were wearing yesterday, right?”

“Oh, yeah... Where are they? Wait a sec, I’m gonna go look for them.”

He hung up, so I removed the phone from my ear. Wow, what a case for an armchair detective to take. I don’t even want to think about whether or not someone I know did or didn’t go all the way. But judging by the way Minami-san reacted, there probably isn’t really any other explanation, though.

“Hey...” Yume said with a somewhat displeased look.

“Yeah?”

“I heard a little bit of what you were saying and...I think I may have a clue about what happened.”

“You do?”

Yume looked away, a wry smile filling her face. “Well, I actually kinda got one too...about an hour ago.”

“You got a what? From who?”

“A phone call from Akatsuki-san.” She forced a laugh to try and downplay this before explaining. “So, according to her...”