Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru - Volume 9 - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

  Farewell, youth

If there were a graduation essay collection focused on the memories of our three years in high school, what would I write about?

It was early March. Out in the chilly wind on the roof of the school, a can of coffee in one hand, I thought.

“I only really attended school for two years or so.”

I hadn’t been in a club, and I hadn’t really studied. I didn’t remember participating in any cultural festivals or sports meets. When had the school trip even been? Two years ago, my travels around the world with the Ace Detective had ended and I’d gotten the ordinary days I’d craved, but I’d quickly realized they weren’t what I really wanted.

The high school cultural festival? It could never have topped the excitement of that one festival in middle school, where Siesta and I had done a wedding cosplay and defeated the Miss Hanakos of the Toilet.

My daily classes? Once, on a certain job in a foreign country, Siesta and I had infiltrated an academy for the children of the elite. That had left a much deeper impression on me.

The school trip had been a four-day ski camp? Don’t be ridiculous; I’d been around the world three times in three years with Siesta. The memories of this little trip were a drop in the bucket.

And so, in other words…

“That detective sure is a nuisance.”

How dare she reach in from the past and overwrite my memories?

She’d made it hard for me to top the fun memories I already had.

“Man, it’s not fair.”

When I looked down over the edge of the roof, I could see students walking around carrying their diplomas in tubes.

Today was my school’s graduation ceremony.

Just an hour ago, I’d been in the gym. I’d hummed a school song I felt no connection to, listened to an address from a principal I didn’t really know, and semipermanently parted with classmates I’d barely interacted with. I wouldn’t be going to the reunion, either; I was headed to Singapore.

“Hey, I spy somebody basking in nihilism,” a teasing voice called from behind me.

I turned around. Natsunagi was standing there wearing her sailor uniform.

“What are you doing, Kimizuka? Waxing nostalgic about your school?”

“Of course not. I hardly even know its name.”

“It’s your high school. At least remember what it’s called.” Natsunagi gazed at me with a smile that seemed a bit strained. “You at least remember which university you got into, right?” she asked. I’d just received my letter of acceptance a few days earlier.

“I don’t remember the exact name, but—”

“So you don’t remember it…”

“—I do know I get to go there with you.”

That remark made her blink a few times, then smile very slightly.

“And what about you? Is it okay for you to be here, Natsunagi? What happened to your friends?”

“We just took a ton of photos together. Besides, we’ve got that party tonight.”

“A party?”

“Huh? Yes. The one all the seniors are going to. They were contacting everybody about it a little while back…” Natsunagi seemed to realize something, and she averted her eyes. “I mean, um… Maybe it’s not the type of party where everybody’s going…”

“…Even if they invited me, I wouldn’t go. There’s no problem.”

Yeah, who cares about the name of this lousy school?!

“So why are you here? Did you come to feel sorry for me?”

“Yikes, you’re acting all sulky now. No, that’s not why.” Natsunagi smiled wryly. “Want to walk around the school a bit?” She held out her right hand to me.

Leaving the roof, we went back inside and walked the familiar halls. Not that I had any lasting memories of this place—this wasn’t where I’d spent my days.

Meanwhile, in contrast, Natsunagi smiled nostalgically. “Oh, the home ec room! Baking those cakes for our practical lesson was fun, wasn’t it?”

“Practical lessons? I don’t remember doing those once during senior year.”

“The science room! I remember when I mixed all these different liquids together, and the chemistry teacher came sprinting over, looking really pale.”

“Don’t just casually bring up such scary memories! You should at least have that much common sense…”

“Do you think they’d let us into the gym, or is it too late for that? The sports meet and the band performance from the cultural festival are both such great memories.”

“Did you somehow enjoy school life to the fullest without me realizing it? Are you actually starring in your own spin-off series?” I interjected, and Natsunagi laughed cheerfully.

That smile was definitely because of her memories here.

Natsunagi had lived in the midst of the extraordinary, but she’d also genuinely enjoyed her time at school. It had been a long-held wish of hers, and a certain Ace Detective had put her life on the line to grant that request.

“But I bet you’ve got a few memories here, too, Kimizuka.” Natsunagi had stopped outside my classroom. “Since we’re here, let’s go in,” she prompted, so we went in and I sat down at a random desk.

“—Oh.”

I hadn’t done it on purpose. But without realizing it, I’d taken a seat at the very desk where I’d met Natsunagi that day.

“It all started here, didn’t it?”

When Natsunagi came to stand in front of me, she overlapped with my memory of her previous self on that day after class.

“You’re the ace detective?”

I’d been sleeping, and she’d abruptly roused me to ask that question. My story had stalled, but on that day, it’d started moving again.

“You even shoved your fingers into my mouth.”

“L-like I said before, the heart made me do that. I don’t normally go that far!”

“Oh yeah? I guess you’re more the type who wants that kinda stuff done to you, huh?”

“Right, and you’d flip to this extreme sadist type out of nowhere and jump m—Look, don’t make me be both halves of a comedy duo at the same time. I didn’t mean that, all right? Promise.”

Natsunagi puffed out her cheeks as if she was mad, then broke into a grin. It was contagious; I smiled, too.

“A lot’s happened since then, hasn’t it?”

Yeah. A lot. So much that simple words couldn’t describe it all.

Yet here we were, side by side, still in the relationship we’d formed all those years ago.

“I’m glad you spoke to me back then.” I’d been soaking in a lukewarm life, and her passion had opened my eyes. And so… “I look forward to our continued partnership.”

This time, I was the one who said it to her.

“Same. After all, we’re nowhere near getting our wish yet.”

She was referring to our wish to wake Siesta up one day. Besides, there were still a ton of local cases that were waiting for a detective to solve them.

“I hear this area hasn’t been safe lately. Things may get busy again.”

“You mean that urban legend that’s been going round?”

A witch was rumored to be haunting the area.

The “Parasol Witch,” people called her. Apparently, if you met her, she’d show you a photo of a landscape and ask you how to get there. If you couldn’t tell her, she’d sing a cursed song that would kill you.

It had only been a few weeks since we’d dealt with Pandemonium, and this sort of bizarre story was already circulating again. It probably wasn’t a global crisis, but could it have been my trouble-magnet nature doing its thing?

Either way, one thing was certain: There were still lots of mysteries swirling around us…so even if we’d graduated from high school and become adults, the tale of the detective and her assistant would continue. On top of that, the Ace Detective was currently on a mission to shut down the vampire rebellion.

“Kimizuka?”

I realized Natsunagi was gazing at me curiously. What sort of expression had I been wearing? “It’s nothing,” I said, getting to my feet. “I thought I didn’t have any memories of this place. That this place hadn’t given me anything in particular…but I was wrong: You were here. This is the place where I met you. That, in and of itself, means that there was a point in my coming here.”

Natsunagi’s eyes widened, and then she smiled. “I feel the same way!”

“Well, should we head out?” I asked. There was a place I needed to visit today, no matter what.

“Hey, Kimizuka.” Natsunagi caught the cuff of my sleeve gently from behind, pinching it between her fingers. “I’ll take one,” she whispered.

I turned halfway back.

Natsunagi was looking at the floor. She seemed to have trouble getting the words out, but as she spoke, she waggled the sleeve of my uniform. “If you’ve got an extra button, I’ll take it off your hands.”

She was talking to a guy who hadn’t even been invited to the graduation party. First, second, third, whatever: Nobody wanted any of my buttons as a memento. I pulled the second button off my uniform and handed it to Natsunagi, who took it shyly.

“Still, that takes me back.”

“Huh? What does?”

“I was on a job with Siesta once where we infiltrated an academy. When we left, I gave her my second button, just like this.”

“……………………”

Weirdly, for close to an hour after that, Natsunagi wouldn’t speak to me at all.