Fumiko had been right to expect chaos in the gym from the get-go. Half the students were complaining they had no spare clothes, and had flocked to practice in pyjamas. Others were complaining about their attendance record, and some just flittered off to the benches with cans of soda and sweets, their handheld games consoles in hand, ready to play fighting games against some of the others.
Kaho frowned. While Coach Tomogawa, Coach Itomi and Akane were being mobbed by the huge assembly lines of players, Taiga grabbed a clipboard and pen and began to write on a blank sheet of paper. He doodled a bunch of symbols, followed by names, and subsequently wrote different items along the paper's margin. A key. He handed the clipboard around and demanded everyone draw their symbol alongside anything they needed.
Most of the team said they were lacking in underwear, and clothes, and socks, too. But, snacks were also lacking, with the rotisserie chicken having gone bad, and the lack of pre-planning, only exasabated by the irregular meal times, meant almost everyone had eaten their snacks. Kaho hadn't eaten many, but Konoishi had had his fill of Fumiko's that morning, and she couldn't be sure he'd left her snacks alone, not knowing they were hers. She drew her symbol beside snacks, and beside clothes.
She was about to pass the paper on, when she saw Taiga had concluded the list with 'Feminine Hygiene Products', which hadn't been filled in. But, with just Fumiko left to receive the list, and a ruse to maintain, Kaho sighed, shook her head and drew a cat face next to the item too.
Fumiko drew her icon, a high heel, beside snacks, underwear, clothes and toiletries. She'd finished her toothpaste that morning, so that made sense.
Kaho watched Taiga's face fall as he counted the icons on the sheet. While most people had made a few requests at the bottom of the page, beneath the 'Feminine Hygiene Products' line, like Yamada's request for gluten free tortillas, and a crudely exclaimed demand for sake – likely Omura, joking around, she was sure the blood draining from his face was more focused on the fact that buying at least two of each thing each person requested, could and would empty his bank account.
He caught Coach Itomi's gaze from across the room, and left the team to entertain themselves.
"Fumiko?" Captain Hirano said, "Do you want to lead, or shall I?"
She shrugged, "What do you have in mind?"
"Laps," he grinned.
"Great minds, that's what I was planning, too."
Captain Hirano put his fingers to his lips and whistled, drawing Hanagawa's attention, "Okay guys, we're missing out on valuable classroom time from here on out. Which means we need to make it count. To begin, we will do laps, as a warm up, and then, third years, we're playing formulaic hot potato."
Nitta put his head in his hands, "I'm so bad at formulae, I'm gonna get out so quick."
"Meh," Tomohiro said, slinging an arm around his shoulder, "We'll help you, Michio. Can't have you missing practice taking supplementary classes, can we boys?"
"Hell no!" the third years exclaimed.
The basketball team hauled themselves off the floor and stretched their sleepy muscles. When they were limber, Captain Hirano led them in a jog across the breadth of the gym, unable to run the lengths as there were still massive crowds of Seiran and Kuroyama students hovering around their coaches.
Kaho smiled, watching some of the students from Seiran and Kuroyama get to their feet and join her team in jogging from one side of the court to the other. Jean-Luc Barbier had massive bags under his eyes, and drifted to a spot between Naseru and Ryota as he jogged from side to side. It looked like he was talking to Naseru, but Kaho couldn't quite tell over the squeak of dozens of sneakers against the waxy floor.
Taiga looked up from his clipboard, and something Coach Itomi was holding. He gave Fumiko a thumbs up. She did it back, gesturing to Captain Hirano.
"Azumi! Coach said good shout!" Fumiko exclaimed.
"Great!" Captain Hirano said, bracing himself against the wall with his palms. He turned and proceeded to jog.
With just an hour before lunch, Mr Shirotani used the tanoy to declare that Detective Asakura has requested a meeting for everyone at the retreat, including all three basketball teams.
Unlike the previous evening, the meeting was held outside, allowing the staff in the dining room to not have to worry about moving the furniture from one position to another so close to lunch time. Mr Shirotani, Mr Tsukishima and Detective Asakura stood by the lake.
"It has come to our attention that our request that nobody leave the premises amidst this investigation was implausible," Detective Asakura said, immediately making the guests stir and begin to chatter amongst themselves.
"Ahem," he cleared his throat, holding his fist in the air, an indicator he hadn't finished speaking. When the crowd was silenced, Detective Asakura gestured to Mr Tsukishima.
Mr Tsukishima hobbled forward, and took a deep, wheezy breath, "Instead, we, as the owners of the retreat, and the police in tandem, have proposed that a list be compiled of essential items each room's guest requires and, their room number. The costs of these items may be added to your accounts as a surcharge, depending on how essential they actually are. This is because, since the good detective's announcement last night, staff here at the lodge here have been inundated with demands to use the company washing machine to clean their clothes. We only have one washing machine and it's been on the premises for longer than a lot of you have been alive. So, it really isn't feasible due to the sheer number of guests."
Detective Asakura nodded and cleared his throat, "Upon the compilation of these lists, we will order these items from a local superstore who has agreed to expedite this delivery ahead of previous orders, so we will receive everything tonight. I expect everyone who requires extra items to provide a list for Officer Nanata, who is over there, wave for me, Nanata?"
A young woman with blonde hair jumped up on high heeled shoes, unbothered by the mud underfoot. She wore a standard-issue police uniform, with a pencil skirt instead of slim-fit black trousers. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail, which glistened like woven gold in the sunshine. She continued to bounce, waving her hands over her head, "Officer Nanata Kyoko at your service!"
"As for the status of our ongoing investigation, we will be pulling suspects to speak with in the afternoon, and hope to have their accounts verified. We hope to have you back on your way by Thursday."
"Thursday!" screeched one woman, "I'm supposed to be flying to Taiwan to get married tomorrow!"
"Are you kidding me? What am I supposed to tell my boss!" a man hollered.
"Settle down, everyone," Detective Asakura said, to no avail.
"This was supposed to be a romantic getaway!" another woman squawked, "Not a jail sentence!"
"What about school?" Akane shouted, "I need to get back to school!"
Kaho frowned, glancing at the other basketball players around her. Despite the heckling crowd, most of the basketball players were quiet.
"Whoever the killer is," Naseru said, "You'd better not try anything on me, or I will whoop you ass."
Kaho's eyes widened. Had Naseru really not read the whole letter? She felt the blood drain from her face as she glanced over her shoulder, eyes scouring the crowd in search of Kenta.
"Heh!" Matsushita said, striding over to Naseru and slinging his arm around his shoulder, "It's not Naseru anymore – it's Masteru – master of the whooping of ass."
"Don't disrespect him like that, Hisashi," Omura said, grinning from ear to ear, "It's Matsuoka Masteru-sama."
Naseru wrenched himself free from the laughing upperclassmen and bumped straight into Kaho. She looked up at him with wide, doe-like eyes. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and rummaged into her pocket, producing the crumpled letter, dated Sunday, and handed it to him. She didn't notice how Detective Asakura's gaze had locked in on that sleek black envelope, the red wax seal and the gold cursive date.
The detective's attention was wrenched away when Coach Itomi raised his hand.
"Yes, sir!" Detective Asakura said, turning his head and focusing on the coach's raised hand.
"Thank you," Coach Itomi said, "For those who are here with a hundred teenagers, how do you expect us to afford to be billed for being told we can't leave?"
"Thank you for raising that concern, sir," Detective Asakura said, nodding once, "I will personally come and speak to the staff in charge of your school retreat once this assembly has concluded."
Detective Asakura turned back to the crowd, still brimming with malcontent. Many of the officers around the perimeter were scowling at the guests.
"Might I remind you that a man is dead, and the killer is still out there. I am sure that extenuating circumstances can be applied in most situations, but nobody will be leaving the premises until the killer is in cuffs," Detective Asakura said sourly.
"What about my wedding!" the bride-to-be screeched.
"Until the killer is in cuffs, I implore you to enjoy the scenery, and be grateful that you aren't being billed for the extended stay on the premises too."
"What about my job!"
"What am I going to do about my rental car?"
"I have deadlines next week! Exams!" Akane wailed.
Detective Asakura left the crowd behind and proceeded to walk directly toward the gym, which was a mess of random basketballs, water bottles, snack wrappers, crumpled pieces of paper and clipboards. Kaho, and the rest of the teens seemed to follow him like the pied piper. He waited for Akane to close the door behind them.
The teenagers looked like a group of misbehaving toddlers under the gaze of Detective Asakura. Some hung their heads, as if they'd been caught doing wrong, meanwhile, Naseru was rereading Kaho's letter, trying to keep his face solemn and remorseful in front of the detective, when really, he wanted to smirk at how brazen this Other Kaho had been about her feelings. It made him think back to what Barbier had said last night, about how Kaho apparently didn't love Tatsuya anymore.
He popped a stick of gum in his mouth to keep him from gnawing on the flesh of his cheeks, he continued reading the contents of the letter, and his head snapped up, glancing over at Kaho. But Kaho wasn't looking at him, she was facing the front. Dutiful as always.
Detective Asakura turned to Coach Itomi, Coach Tomogawa and Taiga in turn and nodded his head, "Unlike the rest of the guests, you will not be charged for what should have been a weekend away, as you came as part of a school. Furthermore, I would like to speak to the teens in your care – it has come to my attention that someone told one of our officers that you were from a school that not only doesn't exist, but the names you provided don't exist on the records here."
The detective's eyes scanned the group. Kaho tried to keep her face impassive as he looked her over. Her eyes flickered to Naseru and she smiled sheepishly at him. He winked back. As if Kaho had been Yoko, not Akane.
"If there are any more reports of a Jun and Yoko from the Hoshimiki Beetles," Detective Asakura was cut off by a chorus of snorts and giggles erupting from the crowd. He sighed and pressed his lips into a fine line.
When the laughter finally subsided, he cleared his throat, "If there are any more reports of a Jun and Yoko from the Hoshimiki Beetles sneaking into the hiking trails after dark, there will be consequences. Consider this a warning."
Kaho swallowed the lump in her throat and glanced over at Naseru again. He had that same amused look on his face as he had the previous night when Kaho declared those were the names of the students hiding in the trees. Akane's face was redder than a tomato. She had slipped behind Captain Isamu from Kuroyama to conceal her blushing face.
"I won't come in here," Detective Asakura, "And say that you are all perfectly safe when you are ignoring the curfews in place for your own protection. I know being young makes you feel indestructible. And I know that sometimes you might know things I don't. But until the killer is caught, you can't just ignore rules in place for your safety."
What did that mean? Sometimes you might know things I don't?
Kaho pursed her lips; it was almost like he knew something he shouldn't. She narrowed her eyes and dissected his features, he seemed too young to have a teenage child of his own, there were only the finest glimmers of silver in his hair, and there were few wrinkles on his face. He looked young.
Kaho didn't pay attention to anything else that the detective said, she was too busy searching his face for a line, a wrinkle, a fold of skin that would expose him as an older man who'd had plastic surgery, instead of a younger man that could know about the letters.
She couldn't remember if there were consequences for telling people who didn't have letters about them; would karma come and kick her to the curb because she'd revealed she was getting letters from an alternate dimension? And what would happen to her now she'd done it twice?
The thoughts that came hurtling at her were furious and frantic.
She made fists and screwed her eyes closed. Everything felt heavy, suffocating, like each fibre of her shirt was strangling her, and the walls of the gym were closing in. Her brain was loud. She looked over her shoulder and found Taiga in the crowd. He was looking right at her, concern plastered plain as day, across his face.
And yet, they both had to carry on. So Hanagawa continued their drills, practicing their shooting, their dribbling around the agility poles that Taiga had erected on Saturday, and rounded up the day with practice matches against Seiran and Kuroyama.
After dinner, when Kaho finally had a moment of peace, unshackled from the panic that was eating her alive, she sought out her brother.
Taiga had been outside, instead of in his room. He'd come from the rear of the cabin and beckoned her to come along with him. There was a small patch of grass between his little log cabin and the tree line. The grass was overgrown and flat, like he'd been laying there just moments ago. Taiga returned to the flat part of the grass and wriggled, adjusting his weight. He tapped the ground beside him and Kaho laid down beside him.
"Your letters said I was going to suffer some kind of cataclysmic heartbreak," Taiga said, gazing up at the stars, "But, I think you're currently suffering your own."
They gazed up at the stars overhead, through the gaps in the canopy that loomed over Taiga's cabin. Kaho exhaled audibly and felt the grass embrace her, wholly, as she was.
"I- I don't know what to do."
"And you think I do?" Taiga let out a breathy laugh, "Kaho, I've been in love with the same girl since university, and all I can do is hold my breath when she lands in Japan to see her for even a night."
Kaho sat up and wrinkled her nose, "So in March, during the school break, when you went to Kyoto, that was-"
Taiga nodded, "To see Kasumi. Yep. And during the winter break, which is why I was around when Dad flew in."
Kaho flopped back down on the grass, "Damn. She's kept you strung along for that long?"
Taiga shook his head, "She isn't doing anything, not really. She writes, she texts, she sends postcards, but I'm the one who doesn't want to let her go."
Kaho sighed, "I wonder what it's liked to be loved like that…"
Taiga rolled his eyes, "You don't think Tatsuya feels like that?"
Kaho paused and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes for a moment and then returned her gaze to the twinkling stars above. They looked so close that she could almost reach them, even though they were an eternity away. She felt a weight settle in her stomach. That must be how Taiga feels, loving Kasumi from so far away.
She turned her head and glanced at her brother. He had an arm outstretched, reaching for the infitiyty in the sky.
"One day, I'll find a way to catch up to her. So she knows I was never dead weight."
Kaho nodded and turned back to the stars. She thought of Tatsuya, and his gorgeous, photogenic face and his deep, soulful eyes. She allowed her mind to wander to their last few meetings, how she'd been spacy with him, either messaging him update after update on her life, or disappearing from the face of his world, taken into the orbit of something else. He needed someone to be his moon, that would be drawn to him, no matter what, not a comet that wandered from whims into the vastness of space.
Kaho bit her lip, and thought back to her confession into the basketball pillow. She truly didn't think she loved him anymore. Not now there was a new, more forceful thing, drawing her into his orbit. She didn't know what Naseru was, whether he was a black hole or a newborn star, maybe even a wormhole to a whole new galaxy – wait, did those even exist? Kaho sighed and splayed her fingers out, like she was about to pluck a star from the sky above.
"You were never dead weight, Taiga," Kaho said quietly, "Never could be."