Bonus Short Stories

Ace Detective Sanae, Part Three

Ace Detective Sanae’s hot spring manju had been kidnapped. With Koutarou and Harumi crossed off the list of suspects, there had been some progress in the case, but Sanae was currently sweeping the kitchen—the scene of the crime—in hopes of a catching a big break.

“There are still six suspects... I only hope the stars have left us a clue...”

Sanae muttered reference after reference to the anime she’d been watching as she poked around the kitchen, and at last approached the cupboard. Her remaining list of suspects included Theia, Ruth, Shizuka, Maki, Clan, and Kiriha, so she was hoping to find some evidence to prove one of them had been in the cupboard. Her eyes were burning with passion. Beware a grudge held over food.

“Open the cupboard, will you, dear Hudson?”

“Eek! Y-Yes, right away!”

Hudson, the ace detective’s partner—Yurika, as it were—answered in a flustered tone and opened the cupboard as instructed, sweat pouring down her forehead all the while.

“A moment please, inspector.”

“What is it?”

Sanae called Koutarou over to the cupboard and then climbed up his back. Because of her height, she couldn’t actually see the shelf where the manju had been kept and thusly needed to use Koutarou as a stepladder. Meanwhile, Yurika stood behind them as she wiped her forehead.

“Only the box is left.”

Sanae peeked at the top shelf from Koutarou’s shoulders. On it sat the box of manju that Harumi had bought. The lid was open, but nothing remained inside.

“It was a box of ten. Everyone was supposed to get one each.”

“Augh...”

“You can put me down now, inspector.”

“Are you sure?”

“There’s something I want to confirm.”

Once she was back on the floor, Sanae reached up for the empty box.

“Take a look, inspector.”

“Hmm?”

“I can’t see the top shelf and I can only just barely reach it. See?”

“Just barely on your tip-toes, yeah.”

“Theia’s about my height, so she wouldn’t have been able to reach it either without a chair or something to stand on.”

“Oh, that’s a good point you’ve picked up on, ace detective.”

“Right?!”

Sanae had zeroed in on the height of the shelf. The only girls that could reach it without trouble were Kiriha, Maki, and Shizuka. Clan and Ruth might have been able to manage it with a stretch, but certainly not Theia. Without anything to stand on, she wouldn’t have even seen the manju on the top shelf.

“Harumi, Harumi! Did you see anyone bring a chair over to the cupboard?”

“No, I don’t think anyone’s done anything like that... but I do recall some people coming and going behind me.”

If someone had dragged a chair through the kitchen, even Harumi who was busy cooking would have noticed. But according to her statement, that hadn’t happened, which limited the pool of suspects.

“That being the case, I don’t think Theia is the culprit.”

“I think you’re right. But there’s something else...”

“And what is that, inspector?”

“Are you sure you want me to say?”

“Hmm... Maybe just a hint.”

“A hint, huh? Let’s see... The empty box is still there.”

“The empty box? What do you mean?”

“Okay, second hint... As far as empty boxes are concerned, there are two types of people: those who go ahead and throw them away, and those who just leave them lying around.”

“Teehee... Satomi-kun, that’s practically giving her the answer.”

“Aha! Kiriha, Ruth, and Shizuka would all clean up after themselves! That means the culprit definitely wasn’t one of them!”

“Correct.”

“Heh, that narrows things down.”

Sanae was now in high spirits. There were only two suspects left: Clan and Maki. One more clue could break the case and lead her to the culprit. The case was rapidly moving towards a resolution.

“U-Uhhh... Why don’t we stop this already? Who cares about some hot springs manju anyways? Let’s go watch anime instead.”

Once again, Yurika suggested ditching the investigation in favor of watching TV.

“...Hmm?”

There, Koutarou turned to look at Yurika. Something about her behavior felt odd.

Why is she so flustered?

Her voice was shrill and her forehead was dripping with sweat—a bizarre state of agitation for someone who allegedly wasn’t interested in the investigation.

Don’t tell me the culprit who ate the manju was really...

That’s where Koutarou put it together. Sanae’s profile was spot-on so far: the culprit was somewhat tall, and certainly not the type to clean up after herself. She’d only escaped notice so far because she was sitting in Sanae’s mental blind spot.

“...”

When Koutarou stared at the suspected culprit, she quickly averted her eyes. This turned Koutarou’s suspicion into conviction. She was definitely the culprit.

“All right, let’s catch the thief!”

“L-Let’s not!”

“What are you talking about, Yurika? We’re practically breathing down their neck!”

Sanae, who still hadn’t deduced the guilty party, headed over to the trashcan next. Seeing that, the culprit shuddered. She knew there was damning evidence in there. She’d thrown it away out of fear, but with the list of suspects narrowed down so much, that evidence was a serious liability.

“Waaaaah!”

When Sanae opened the lid and looked into the trashcan, she let out a bewildered cry. The culprit was certain that Sanae had found the evidence and put the pieces together. She was sure her cover had been blown and it was all over... But that’s when the incident took an unexpected turn.

“Look at this! It’s my manju wrapper and Yurika’s super cheap coffee milk box! The culprit must’ve drunk her coffee milk too! What a dastard!”

Sanae was enraged. Not only had the culprit stolen her manju, but Yurika’s beloved coffee milk too. Ace Detective Sanae now resolved herself to find the culprit for her friend’s sake as well.

Maybe the culprit can get away with it after all...

Koutarou couldn’t help wondering if this was really the perfect crime as he watched Sanae tremble with rage over this heinous development.

“Can’t we just go watch anime? Pleeease...”

But alas, there was no way the culprit was getting off scot free. She’d spend the rest of the investigation sweating bullets before Sanae finally confirmed the truth with her spirit sight. There was, after all, no escaping Ace Detective Sanae. It was only a matter of time—an agonizing wait—before the culprit figured that out.

–The end–

Side: Clariossa

Now that she’d decided to enroll at Kisshouharukaze High School, Clan needed to come up with a school uniform... and it was already the middle of March. She’d been so swamped with the diplomatic problems between Forthorthe and Japan that getting a school uniform had all but slipped her mind.

“I can’t say I want to get measured in any of these places...”

Of course, step one to getting a uniform posed a delicate problem. A girl’s measurements were classified information and needed to be treated with the utmost secrecy. Clan couldn’t just let anyone have them.

“I can get my measurements taken at one of the shops the school recommended, but...”

Clan put the piece of paper she was holding on the desk in her laboratory, looked down at herself, and turned this way and that. She thought it rather unfortunate that she was so lacking in curves. Her slender figure came across as utterly flat.

“...I’d rather not have them taken in the first place.”

Clan wasn’t hoping to be as well endowed as Kiriha, but she wouldn’t complain about being just a bit more feminine. As she was now, she’d be embarrassed even to let a store clerk measure her. So, in order to get her uniform, she decided to measure herself.

“Okay, this is perfect!”

“What is?”

“Kyaaah! V-Veltlion?! How long have you been standing there?!”

“About since you started doing that strange dance.”

Koutarou had managed to enter Clan’s lab without her noticing. He had the clearance to come and go as he pleased, and had come by today to talk with Clan about something. He’d just so happened to arrive while she was looking down at herself and twirling around, which looked like an odd dance to him.

“Ah, uh...”

“Did you mean your choreography was perfect? I gotta say... That was a, uh, pretty unique dance.”

“I wasn’t dancing!”

“Then what were you doing?”

“Erk... I, uh...”

Clan blushed and cast her gaze downward. She could hardly admit that she was looking at herself because she was worried about her figure. So, unable to say anything, all she could do was mumble.

I don’t have a clue what’s going on, but I get the feeling this is one of those times I shouldn’t pry too much...

As of late, Koutarou had gained the faintest understanding of women. He still had a long, long way to go, but he was at least able to read the room in the moment. So, after a short pause, he tried changing the subject.

“Anyway, Clan, Sakuraba-senpai is here to see you.”

“Harumi is?”

“Yeah. You’ll be starting school this year, right?”

“Y-Yes.”

“Well, Sakuraba-senpai is graduating, so she was wondering if maybe you wanted to use her uniform.”

Koutarou spoke as if he knew exactly what had been on Clan’s mind. The coincidence surprised her, but when she thought things through calmly, it was a most welcome offer. She and Harumi were nearly the same size, so if she could manage to wear Harumi’s old uniform, that would solve a lot of problems for her.

“Are you interested? I think the length will be about right, but it might be a little baggy in the chest.”

“Th-That’s none of your business! I could just get it altered!”

“So you’re not going to deny it’d be baggy?”

“You used to do my laundry, remember? It would be pointless for me to try and deny it!”

“So... you’re saying you’re still the same size you were a year ago?”

“Argh! Forget it! All of it!”

“Ow! Hey! No hitting!”

“Ugh! Why are you always like thiiis?!”

With tears in her eyes, Clan pummeled Koutarou. It was a rare demonstration for her, but neither she nor Koutarou particularly appreciated that in the moment. In the end, it seemed they were a lot closer than either of them realized.

Side: Shizuka

When Shizuka stopped by room 106 today, Koutarou was lying about in the inner room, bathing in the evening sun.

“Oh, you’re already back, Satomi-kun?”

Since it was so quiet, Shizuka had assumed no one was home and called out to Koutarou in surprise when she saw him.

“...”

“Hmm?”

But no reply came. Confused, Shizuka approached and quickly discovered the reason.

“Zzz...”

“Oh, you’re sleeping.”

Shizuka smiled, let out a soft sigh, and sat down next to Koutarou. She then poked his cheek.

“Gee, don’t you know a girl’s heart starts pounding with worry when she doesn’t get a reply from the boy she loves?”

Shizuka continued to poke his cheek as she mumbled, though only gently so as not to wake him. As a boy, Koutarou’s cheeks were firm rather than soft, but Shizuka found that rather endearing.

“You hear me? Take this and this and this...”

“Zzz...”

Once asleep, it was hard to wake Koutarou up. Focusing bloodlust on him was probably just about the only way to make him shoot straight up in bed, but Shizuka couldn’t bring herself to do that to him. Just watching his sleeping face was blissful.

“If you ignore a girl’s feelings for too long, the fire only gets stronger, you know?”

“Zzz...”

Shizuka finally stopped poking Koutarou’s cheek and moved closer. She leaned over him, resting her head against his chest so that she could hear his heart beating through his well-trained pecs.

“Hey, with a cute girl this close to you, don’t you think it’s a little rude for your heart not be racing?”

“Zzz...”

Shizuka knew she was being unreasonable, which was why she wasn’t as disgruntled as she made it sound. With a happy smile on her face, she counted the beats of his heart.

“If you keep ignoring me, I’m going to do something so bold that you won’t be able to ignore me. Are you okay with that?”

“Zzz...”

Lifting her gaze, Shizuka stared at Koutarou’s lips and ran her finger from his neck to his chest. Unable to behave the way Sanae did, Shizuka rarely had a chance to cling to Koutarou. She was overjoyed to feel his warmth now and leaned against him as she continued to stare at his lips.

“Mm, mmm...”

That was when Koutarou turned over in his sleep, perhaps because of Shizuka’s stimulation or perhaps because of the pressure on his chest.

“O-Oh?”

Taken by surprise, Shizuka was caught up in Koutarou rolling over, effectively reversing their positions. Koutarou’s head now lay at her chin, his breath tickling her neck. Her body was buried beneath his.

“Zzz...”

“Um, this is bad, Satomi-kun... Really bad...”

Shizuka was floored by this sudden turn of events, but Koutarou’s sleeping habits were notorious and she considered this her own fault for not being prepared. Nevertheless, it was extremely compromising. If anyone walked in right now, there would be quite the commotion.

“If you don’t wake up, something might happen... It’s really difficult to be a good girl right now...”

And yet Shizuka actually welcomed this arrangement. While she couldn’t stop thinking about how bad the situation was, she made no attempt to push Koutarou away. Her heart was pounding and her face was bright red. Her mind was overloaded as she embraced Koutarou and gently stroked his head. Not even Shizuka knew what would happen beyond that.