Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru - Volume 2 - Chapter Pr

Prologue 

I (Kimihiro Kimizuka)  had a dream. 

It was a long, long dream, like a fairy tale. 

At ten thousand meters above the ground, I met a girl and started a dazzling odyssey of adventure that spanned three years. 

In  Singapore, we walked the beach, went to the casino, and sought a legendary treasure . 

In New York, we got involved in a terrorist plot right after we saw a musical. 

At the capital of water Venice, we had quite the chase after some great phantom thief. 

Furthermore, we walked through deserts, hacked through jungles, crossed the mountains, sailed the seas??and in any case, we traveled around the world. 

And soon, in London, we met an utterly evil person. 

At the enemy’s hideout at the end of our journey. 

That girl, my partner, stood before that great evil. 

I stood behind her, witnessing so, and my vision was suddenly contorted, the voices started to fade away. 

I anxiously called out, but I couldn’t make a sound. 

Ahh, it’s definitely a dream, a really, really bad nightmare. 

My brain understood so, but the fear inside me couldn’t abate for some reason. 

And as that happened, the enemy raised its large blade.. 

If this kept up, it would surely land on the girl, my partner. 

I loudly called her name, but I still couldn’t make a sound. 

And in my despair??that partner turned towards me. 

It seemed she wanted to say something, to tell me. 

But that voice couldn’t reach me. 

I tried my best to read her lips, but I couldn’t see anything, for it was a blur. 

And at the next moment, the girl’s face was dyed red. 

It was then that she died. 

But…but, I was certain of one thing. 

The moment she died, my partner gave me a forlorn smile 

That was the dream I saw. 

"Are you the famous detective?" 

Dragging me back from reality was that utterly unbelievable dialogue. 

It was after school, at the classroom, sunset. 

I didn’t know when I fell asleep, or who woke me up, at that. 

I rubbed my sleepy eyes and lifted my head. 

There was an unfamiliar girl of the same year. 

And for some reason, I was grabbed by the collar, and intimidated by her for some strange reason. My nature of getting into trouble didn’t seem to have improved at all. 

"Ahh, I see, of course. You want a hug, don’t you?" 

She then said something I never thought about before and embraced me in her clutches. 

The marshmallow softness and the sweetness of the perfume rocked my head. 

And then I heard her heartbeat. 

Thud, thud. 

Thud, thud. 

For some reason, I felt nostalgic hearing this sound. 

And while I was feeling incredulous, I turned to the girl before me and asked for her name. 

And then, I learned that her name was?? 

"…Hmm?" 

Suddenly, the sweet scent and the boing sticking onto my cheeks woke me up. 

It seemed I had a dream in a dream. 

The room was dim, and I couldn’t see the surroundings well. However, the smell I sensed in my dreams was right before me, along with the softness. So, what exactly were those? 

"Woooah!" 

Striking me along with the scream was a stinging pain on my cheek. Now that’s unreasonable… 

"W-what are you doing??Natsunagi?" 

I glared at the girl, the most likely suspect who hit me. 

"That’s my line! Don’t wake up and rub onto the breasts of a girl at your age!" 

"You’re the one who forced your breasts onto me when we first met?" 

"I-I said it already! I didn’t do it out of my own will!!" 

The screaming Nagisa Natsunagi was the ?famous detective?, a schoolmate of the same year. 

We encountered each other due to a certain request…and got involved in a few incidents with her as the detective, and me as the assistant; that’s the rotten bond we had. Speaking of which, I didn’t remember us being on such good terms that we could sleep in the same bed… 

"Anyway, where are we?" 

Natsunagi then looked around. We fell asleep on an icy concrete floor, and it seemed both Natsunagi and I didn’t recognize where we were. 

"…Where is this place?" 

Finally, I racked my memories. Why did I wake up lying next to Natsunagi? What time was it? What did I do 

"Nn?, you two are noisy?" 

There seemed to be something pressing onto my knees. 

"That voice…Saikawa?" 

I didn’t remember that I allowed a lap pillow…but that voice definitely belonged to her. 

Yui Saikawa??a top Japanese idol, the first requestor to Natsunagi and me. Our relationship improved a lot after we dealt with the issues she had…but. 

"Saikawa, why are you here as well?" 

"Ehh?, Kimizuka-san, are you asking the reason why I slept with you? Do you have to ask?" 

"What’s with the vague representation…eh, I didn’t drag you along?" 

"Wait a sec, is that what happened? You brought Yui-chan along, pushed me onto the floor, tied and, and then…!" 

"Natsunagi, that last bit was just your wish. I’m not tying you up." 

In this disastrous situation, I’d have found it a hassle to think about doing so??and at that moment. 

"How about you leave the games for later, Kimizuka?" 

It was a cold, displeased voice, one of increased hostility towards me, and I immediately recognized who it was. 

"You’re here too, Charl?" 

Charlotte Arisaka Anderson??a girl of similar age to me whom I often worked with, due to some old relations. We managed to reconcile due to a certain incident…but her attitude towards me didn’t seem to soften. 

"Did y'all really forget? We got abducted by someone when we went to clean ma’am’s grave." 

"……!" 

Oh yeah, I remembered??just yesterday, we went to clean the grave of my old partner. 

It happened days ago, during the seajacking incident of the cruise tour hosted by Saikawa. We defeated the ?Android? Chameleon, Charl and I reconciled after we inherited Siesta’s will, and we promised to visit the grave where Siesta laid. 

And so yesterday, I called Natsunagi and Saikawa along as I was uneasy about going alone with Charl…but it seemed that on our way there, we got abducted by someone.. 

"Goodness, you guys are really careless." 

Charl folded her arms, looking proud (it’s dark, but she clearly folded her arms), and started lecturing us. 

"No, well, didn’t you get abducted too?" 

"Charl-san, you got abducted too." 

"Charl-san, are you not abducted too?" 

"…Argh?that’s my fault too, okay!?" 

Charl’s shrill voice echoed through the dim room. 

There’s no tension, and the culprit’s definitely regretting this, thinking "this abduction is pointless…". I gave a wry smile, and then, 

"It’s bright…" 

Natsunagi covered her face with her hand. 

It seemed a screen set up before us in this room was lit up. 

"Are we imprisoned and forced to watch some mysterious TV program?" 

These words reminded me of a few stories of death games. For example, on this screen, there would be a masked kidnapper who would then expect the rules of this cruel game. 

"What do they want…tying our limbs up like this…?" 

"Natsunagi, why is your face a little red when you say that?" 

"Kimizuka-san, I remember you’re going to attend your little sister’s wedding after this battle ends, no?" 

"Saikawa, don’t set a death flag on me just to avoid your own death." 

"It’s fine, Kimizuka. No matter the death game, it’s no problem with my intelligence." 

"Natsunagi, Saikawa, thank goodness. Charl just took all the flags." 

"I’m being serious here!" 

So, where’s the tension? How would the culprits show up later on? 

Goodness gracious, but thanks to them fooling around, there’s nothing to be surprised about what would happen next, or who would appear on the screen. That’s what I thought, or actually, everyone thought.. 

But at the next moment, 

Once we saw the person on the screen, we quieted down for the time being. 

"If you’re seeing this footage of mine now, it means that the four of you, KImihiko Kimizuka, Nagisa Natsunagi, Yui Saikawa, Charlotte Arisaka Anderson, are all present." 

It’s been a year since I heard this cool, gentle voice.. 

"Sies……" 

"Ma'am!" 

"Guh!" 

My body was instantly crushed by something heavy. Charl got onto my back, and looked up at the screen. 

Appearing on the screen was a girl with silvery-white hair and blue eyes. 

It’s my old partner, the now-deceased famous detective??Siesta. 

Charl once addressed her as master, and she could not rein in her excitement in the face of this reunion after a year??but. 

"Charl, this is a video footage." 

"Ehh?" 

I couldn’t allow my momentary emotions to cause me to misjudge. I had to remain calm and alert. At this point, there’s no way Siesta could be here, for the detective is already dead. 

"It’s been a while, Charl. But I’m sorry, this is footage recorded a year ago in anticipation of future events." 

Siesta seemed to have expected how the conversation would go and gave Charl a gentle smile. 

"Ma'am……" 

Charl gave a bitter look at Siesta on the screen. 

"Sorry for breaking the mood, but get away from me." 

And then, we looked towards the screen. 

"That girl’s…" 

"Siesta-san, right…" 

Natsunagi and Saikawa. It’s the first time they actually saw Siesta in person. 

"Now then, there’s a reason why I gathered all of you here." 

Siesta said, as though she had foreseen this moment. 

"I think you would know what happened to me a year ago." 

A year ago??that was the day when the famous detective died, murdered by ?Chameleon? that day. 

"I wasn’t killed by Chameleon." 

Siesta said, as though she had read my thoughts. 

"Wait, but he’s…" 

Chameleon did say that he killed Siesta. Charl too looked at me, tilting her head. Oh yeah, Charl too heard from Chameleon’s mouth when she battled him on that ship. 

"Assistant, I hope you can recall." 

Siesta’s eyes looked towards me. 

"You want me to recall something?" 

So, did I forget something? What happened? 

"And so I hope for everyone else to remember, and also??to make a decision." 

The next moment, the footage changed. Appearing then was the scene from four years ago, when I encountered Siesta on the plane ten thousand meters above the ground. 

"This is…" 

"This is all the footage I had seen till now??the record of the three years I spent with you." 

……! Wait, Siesta’s informing us of the past…the memories? Was it for the sake of getting me to remember what I forgot? 

"Are you ready then? First, starting from four years ago." 

Siesta appeared on the screen again, saying so while facing us. 

"I want all of you to watch until the very end, at what happened on me, the truth of my death, and, my last battle??"