The clock struck midnight at Shirokuma High. The halls were empty, silent… but the silence was deceptive. Hiragi, patrolling alone, sensed a presence—a subtle disturbance in the usual calm of the night.
A faint flicker of light caught his attention in the library. The security camera feed had gone black minutes earlier. Something was off. Very off.
Hiragi moved silently, adjusting his hat. The shadows seemed to shift, almost as if alive. Then, a chilling whisper echoed:
"Find the truth, before it finds you."
His eyes scanned the shelves. Books lay scattered, pages torn. Footprints—barely visible—led toward the back exit. But Hiragi noticed something strange: the footprints circled back on themselves, forming a pattern. A deliberate loop, a trap?
Suddenly, a shadow darted across the far wall. Hiragi froze. The figure disappeared into the darkened corridor. No one should be here. No one… except three potential suspects:
Kei, a student known for sneaking out at night to explore the school. Rina, the night librarian, often seen talking to shadows when no one was around. Daichi, a mysterious transfer student who appeared only at night and spoke in riddles.
Hiragi interrogated them separately the next morning, replaying every detail in his mind.
Kei smirked, "You'll never catch me in the shadows, Detective." But Hiragi noticed the soles of his shoes—dust from the library floor, fresh.
Rina's eyes were calm, almost too calm. "Shadows are my friends," she whispered. Hiragi felt a shiver; her calmness hid something dangerous.
Daichi's riddles confused even Hiragi. "Truth lies where lies are loudest." Hiragi frowned, realizing the cryptic clues were deliberate misdirections.
Hiragi returned to the library that night, studying the footprints. They weren't just a loop—they formed a symbol, a strange sigil only visible under moonlight filtering through the windows.
The books weren't random either. Each torn page contained letters highlighted in a pattern. Hiragi pieced them together slowly: a message, but incomplete.
"…the shadow watches… trust no…"
The sentence was broken. Whoever orchestrated this wanted confusion, wanted fear. Hiragi's mind raced, trying to connect the riddles, footprints, and cryptic letters.
By dawn, the message remained a puzzle. No suspect admitted anything, and no definitive evidence pointed to anyone. The only certainty: the mastermind knew Hiragi was watching.
Hiragi stood by the window, gazing at the first rays of sunlight. "They want me to chase shadows… but shadows have their own secrets."
And in the silent corridors of Shirokuma High, the mystery of the midnight shadows remained unsolved.