Outside the bathroom, Anon and Tomori sat sipping their black tea, chatting idly. From behind the door, they first heard the sound of the shower spraying against the tiles. Then, after a pause, came a loud splash—like a bucket of water being poured onto the floor.
"Kyo's probably soaking in the bath now…" Anon mused, easily piecing together the sequence of sounds. "Sometimes, she really feels like a water spirit straight out of a myth."
"Who knows, maybe behind that door, Kyo has actually turned into water itself and is just using this alone time to return to her true form!"
Anon's excitement bubbled over as she chattered on, fully aware of how unrealistic it was—but that didn't stop her imagination from conjuring up an image of Kyo, her entire body composed of flowing water and shimmering foam.
Tomori, following the train of thought, imagined something too. But in her mind, Kyo wasn't a spirit—she was a jellyfish.
To Tomori, if something were to be made entirely of water, the most transparent, fluid-like creature she could think of was a jellyfish.
"That… sounds really cute."
She pictured a translucent jellyfish, glowing with dreamlike colors, lazily drifting in the tiny bathtub—its body pulsing with soft, neon-like light.
If such a scene could truly exist, Tomori felt like she could sit by the tub and watch that mesmerizing jellyfish float for an entire day.
"But… Kyo is human, right…?"
Tomori hesitated as she voiced the question.
Why does she sound uncertain about that?! Anon nearly choked on her tea. Come on, I was just letting my imagination run wild, Tomori!
But then, thinking about it more carefully…
"Hmm… is Kyo really human?"
Detective Anon was back on the case! And today's mystery?
"First of all, Kyo has an unusually strong love for water. I've heard of rabies making people afraid of water, but I've never heard of someone being obsessed with it."
"Ano… do you think Kyo has some kind of illness?" Tomori asked, her voice tinged with worry.
"Hmm…"
As a modern detective, Anon had a secret weapon—her phone. She whipped it out, did a quick search, and soon found something that seemed to match Kyo's characteristics.
"Here! It's called 'water addiction syndrome'—also known as hydromania. It's a psychological condition where people drink excessive amounts of water, believing it improves their skin or energy. But before they know it, they become completely dependent on water. It can even lead to excessive sweating and other health issues…"
Wait a minute… why does this sound eerily accurate?
Anon sucked in a sharp breath. No way… could it really be true?!
"Ano-chan… does that mean Kyo…" Tomori's expression grew increasingly anxious the more she listened. The idea that their friend might have been suffering from a serious condition all this time without them realizing…
"Wait! Tomori, let's not jump to conclusions!" Anon hurriedly tried to calm her down, scrambling for a better explanation.
But then she hesitated.
Kyo is already weird enough… does the explanation really have to be "reasonable"?
Noticing that Tomori was on the verge of standing up, ready to march straight to the bathroom and demand answers, Anon panicked and blurted out:
"Tomori, think about it! Kyo's characteristics are clearly way more special—more advanced—than this so-called 'water addiction syndrome'!"
"…Advanced?" Tomori blinked in confusion.
"Yeah! People with water addiction just want to drink water all the time. But they'd still hate getting drenched for no reason. Kyo, on the other hand, is totally different!"
"Look—Kyo doesn't just drink water. She's obsessed with how she drinks it! She's always going on about the art of mixing drinks and takes pride in her skills as a drink-maker. That alone makes her way classier than some random water addict, doesn't it?"
"…That kind of makes sense?"
Seeing that Tomori had actually gotten caught up in all this nonsense, even Anon started to feel like she was convincing herself.
"And another thing—Kyo's love for water isn't just about drinking it!"
Anon still vividly remembered their first meeting on the first day of school—that historic moment.
When she had heard Kyo call out to her and turned around, Kyo had been standing there, poised and elegant, in the middle of a small puddle left behind by the rain.
Anon hadn't even noticed anyone approaching from behind until Kyo spoke. That stunning girl before her had seemed as if she had emerged straight from the water itself.
"Assistant Tomori!" Detective Anon suddenly turned to her sidekick. "Have you noticed any other examples of the suspect Kyo's unusual love for water?"
"Huh? Assistant… Tomori? Are you talking to me?"
Caught off guard by the strange title, Tomori glanced around, half-expecting someone else named "Assistant Tomori" to be in the room. But when she found no one else, she finally realized Anon was referring to her and quickly responded.
"Y-Yes! I have! At the aquarium, Kyo seemed really different that day—probably because there was water everywhere."
"Ohhh, is that why you were so insistent on taking Kyo to the aquarium?" Anon finally understood. "Wait, so she has a second phase when she's surrounded by even more water?!"
"…Second phase?"
"Can you describe how Kyo was acting at the aquarium? What was different about her?"
"I'm sorry, Ano… I don't really know how to explain it." Tomori frowned, struggling to put it into words. "She just felt… really intense."
Intense…?
Anon wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but she made a mental note of it. "I guess I'll have to see for myself someday. But either way, all of this proves that Kyo's traits don't actually match that 'water addiction syndrome' at all!"
"Kyo isn't sick?" Tomori let out a relieved sigh, gently patting her chest. "That's good…"
Watching Tomori relax, Anon, on the other hand, felt less reassured.
Sure, Kyo didn't seem to have water addiction syndrome…
But wasn't her situation even more extreme than that?
Being so unnaturally dependent on water—it really did feel like some kind of psychological condition. And considering how little self-control Kyo seemed to have in this regard…
Otherwise, why would she have told them before her bath, "If I take too long, come remind me"…?
…Wait.
Now that she thought about it—
Hasn't Kyo been in there for quite a while already?
---
T/N: 4 chaps meeting this weeks quota, i was too focused on something elseeeeeeeeeeeee ive been playing 7daystodieeeeeeeeeee
bonus chaps
100 stones -> 1 chapter
200 stones -> 2 chapters
300 stones -> 3 chapters
and so on
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