Chapter 062: I'm the Woman Who Fought Shimizu to a Draw! / Shiina's Investigation Results
Kushida Kikyo's popularity in the school was much higher than Shimizu Akira had imagined.
On the fourth day of the luxury cruise, the school forums were still discussing the matter, and the post had already reached over five hundred replies. During breakfast today, many first-year kouhais were still whispering about it.
However, when Shimizu Akira walked over with his meal tray, those kouhais who loved gossiping—recalling the rumors that Yagami Takuya from the neighboring class had been beaten into that state by him—immediately shut their mouths. They all watched him secretly, looking tense.
Shimizu didn't care about their words, nor did he intend to forbid them from discussing things privately.
Was he joking? So many people discussed him and Kikyo every day; if he cared about every single one, wouldn't he be exhausted? As long as no one was saying bad things about Kikyo and they were just looking for novelty, he didn't bother to interfere.
By the way, breakfast on this luxury cruise was buffet-style. The school kept various foods in heated warming covers, and everyone could take what they wanted freely. For someone with a large appetite like Shimizu, it was quite convenient; he could go back for seconds after finishing.
The only slight pity was that there was no soy milk for breakfast. Generally speaking, Japanese people don't really drink soy milk; their common soy-based products are miso soup and natto.
Supposedly, natto is a national treasure-level delicacy in Japan. It's usually stirred with soy sauce or mustard until stringy textures appear, then placed over white rice—this is called natto-gohan.
Today, to fully supplement his soy nutrients, Shimizu tried natto over rice for the first time. Hearing that it tastes better the more you stir it, he whisked it a full three or four hundred times until it looked incredibly viscous. It didn't look great, but would it taste as fragrant as stinky tofu?
The result: one bite in, it felt like eating stinky socks.
He saw Suzune, Kikyo, and Honami eating it with gusto usually—why did it taste like this? He almost threw up.
Shimizu immediately blacklisted it alongside canned herring.
But here was the problem: since he had already stirred the rice into this state, wouldn't throwing it away be wasting food? He instinctively glanced behind him and saw a sign on the
cafeteria wall: "Wasting food is prohibited; eat what you take." Indeed, school cafeterias are the same in every country.
He had no choice but to force it down.
Shimizu pinched his nose, furrowed his brows, and took another spoonful. He wanted to vomit.
Endure it, endure it! Shimizu Akira! You endured the Uninhabited Island Special Exam; eating a bit of natto certainly won't defeat you!
Pfft—
Just then, the sound of suppressed laughter came from the next table.
Shimizu turned his head and saw Morishita Ai eating nearby. Seeing him look over, she laughed even more brazenly, clutching her stomach. Yamamura Miki, eating with her, also lowered her head instinctively, her shoulders trembling slightly—she was clearly laughing too.
Shimizu stiffened his face and sat down in front of the two with his tray.
"What's so funny?" Shimizu looked at the two of them expressionlessly.
Morishita Ai finally managed to stop laughing, wiped a tear from her eye, and pointed at the natto rice in front of him.
"I'm laughing at you, of course."
"What's funny about it?"
"Everything."
Morishita Ai imitated his expression from a moment ago—furrowed brows, pinched nose, looking like he was facing death. "You wouldn't look this miserable even if you were eating poison, right?"
Shimizu forcibly suppressed the urge to hit her.
Yamamura Miki looked up, stole a glance at him, and whispered: "Shimizu-kun, actually... natto doesn't need to be stirred for that long."
"I heard it's tastier the more you stir it."
"That's a lie. A few dozen times is enough. Stirring too much makes it bitter instead."
Shimizu looked at the bowl of natto rice in front of him, which was as thick as glue, and fell silent. Morishita Ai started laughing again beside him.
"Shimizu Akira, have you never eaten natto before?"
"First time."
"No wonder," Morishita Ai lamented. "To challenge such a high-difficulty eating method on your first try, you really are a warrior."
Shimizu twitched his lip. "Morishita, do you eat natto?"
"I do." Morishita Ai picked up her bowl, which contained a normal serving of natto rice, stirred perfectly and looking quite appetizing. "See? This is fine. No need to stir it to that extent."
Shimizu looked at her bowl, then at his own. The difference was as vast as two different species.
"I'll remember that."
"Are you still going to eat it?" Morishita Ai asked.
"I'll eat!"
Shimizu looked down at his natto rice, hesitated for two seconds, then picked up the spoon and took another bite.
"You could actually just throw it away."
"I can't waste food."
"Then take your time eating. Anyway, watching you is giving me an appetite."
This time, Shimizu didn't suppress the urge to hit her and flicked her forehead.
Morishita Ai cried out in pain, "What was that for!"
Yamamura Miki hesitated for a moment, then pushed her pickled radishes toward Shimizu. "Shimizu-kun, this... you can eat it with the rice. It will be better."
Shimizu looked at her and nodded. "Thanks."
"Y-You're welcome."
He took a piece of pickled radish and ate it with the natto rice. The saltiness and acidity of the radish did indeed dilute the taste of the natto a bit, but he was still very unaccustomed to it. To put it simply, eating it was a struggle.
Watching his expression as if he were facing a great enemy, Yamamura Miki thought for a moment and whispered: "Shimizu-kun, do you want to... give your rice to me to eat? I don't hate natto that much; actually, natto is my favorite food."
"Is that okay?"
"Mmm... because Shimizu-kun helped me and Morishita-san a lot during the last exam."
Yamamura Miki nodded with a red face and reached out to pull the sticky bowl of natto rice toward herself. "I-I'll finish it for you."
"Thank you so much! Yamamura, you're a lifesaver!" Shimizu let out a sigh of relief.
Morishita Ai, watching this scene, started laughing again. "It's just eating natto, yet it's like she saved your life."
"You could put it that way." Shimizu took a sip of warm water to drive away the strange taste in his mouth.
"It's really nothing..." Yamamura Miki kept her head down, taking small bites of the over-stirred natto rice with a spoon, her face wearing an expression that was hard to tell if it was shyness or satisfaction.
"Yamamura, do you really like natto?"
"Mmm. I've eaten it since I was a child. I'm used to it."
"You don't think the smell is weird?"
"I... like it very much."
Shimizu nodded, showing understanding. Although he himself might never understand it in this lifetime.
Morishita Ai put down her chopsticks and asked casually, "Shimizu Akira, why did you suddenly think of eating natto today?"
"I wanted to supplement some soy nutrients."
"Then what do you usually eat?"
"Tofu, bean sprouts."
"How about I take you to try some kusaya (dried fermented fish) some other day?"
Shimizu felt she had bad intentions. He picked up his phone and did a search; sure enough, that stuff was practically a biological weapon. Its smell was several times more exaggerated than stinky tofu.
"I refuse!"
"Eh, why? Kusaya helps the body recover during fevers or diarrhea; eating it is good for the health. There's even specialized kusaya liquid—I'll order a box for you."
"Keep it for yourself. I don't need it."
"Just treat it like being tricked and give it a taste!"
"No. Or rather, I already know I'm being tricked, so why should I try it? In your dreams."
Yamamura Miki soon finished the bowl of natto rice, put the empty bowl aside, and wiped her mouth with a tissue.
"Shimizu-kun, I've finished."
"Good work."
"It wasn't hard... I'm happy to help Shimizu-kun. After all, you are Masumi and Sakura-san's boyfriend, and I am friends with both of them. They would be happy to know, too."
Airi, huh. Thinking about it, the three of them did go out to play together last break. It seemed they got along well.
"By the way." Shimizu remembered the uninhabited island incident and pointed at Morishita Ai. "This person didn't bully you afterward, did she? She didn't force you to fan her or order you around?"
Yamamura Miki shook her head quickly: "No!"
Morishita Ai heard this and gave an unsatisfied "Hey!"
"You, talking like I'm some kind of bully."
"Aren't you?"
"Of course not!" Morishita Ai glared at him. "I'm very good to Yamamura Miki. If you don't believe me, ask her."
Shimizu looked at Yamamura Miki. She hesitated for a moment and nodded gently.
"Morishita... is indeed good to me."
"See!" Morishita Ai raised her chin triumphantly.
Shimizu looked away, too lazy to look at her. Morishita Ai didn't care and continued eating. After a few bites, she looked up again.
"Shimizu Akira."
"Mmm."
"You ate natto just to supplement soy nutrients?"
"Mmm."
"Then do you know that kusaya is also rich in protein and calcium?"
"I don't know, and I don't want to know. Stop trying to persuade me; I absolutely will not eat it."
"You're really no fun. The joy of food lies in trying new things."
"Kusaya isn't a new thing; it's a biological weapon. Besides, I struggled just to eat natto; you expect me to eat kusaya? I'd end up vomiting everything along with my gastric juice. I'm quite a celebrity on the school forums now; if someone takes an ugly photo of me and posts it, and then my girlfriends find me embarrassing and leave me, what then?"
"Hehe, that makes sense. Your home-grown one, the school angel Kushida Kikyo, right? She's usually someone who cares about appearances; there's a high probability she'd dump you." Morishita Ai showed a smile of someone looking for entertainment.
Shimizu thought to himself that he was only joking. His Kikyo—forget vomiting, even if he were even more embarrassing—would probably still love him to bits.
However, he didn't want to continue this topic. He thought for a bit and said, "By the way, Yamamura, have you been tailing Amasawa Ichika these past few days?"
Yamamura Miki was somewhat surprised but still whispered, "That... yes. Sakayanagi-san asked me to tail her these days to see what she usually does. Amasawa Ichika has been sunbathing every morning and returning to her dorm every afternoon. However, yesterday afternoon she went to the luxury cruise's entertainment room, had an argument with Nanase Tsubasa for some reason, and played several rounds of darts. Amasawa Ichika won every single round."
Why did Ichika get into a conflict with Nanase again? Sigh, this kouhai... she never stays quiet.
Shimizu rubbed his temples. "I wasn't asking for her specific itinerary. I just wanted to say, can you stop tailing her from now on? That girl is quite a fighter and has learned counter-surveillance. She knows you're tailing her. She has a very erratic personality; for your safety, it's better to stay away from her. I'll explain it to Sakayanagi Arisu, okay?"
Yamamura Miki nodded obediently. "Mmm... I understand."
Morishita Ai, having heard the whole conversation, said curiously, "Amasawa Ichika? That's the red-haired kouhai from your boxing club, right? Is she really that good at fighting? She looks so scrawny to me; I doubt she's even as strong as I am."
Shimizu turned to her. "Morishita, you'd better not do anything unnecessary. Ten of you wouldn't be enough for her to beat alone."
"Really? I feel like you're lying. Is this revenge for me wanting you to eat kusaya earlier?"
"I'm not as wicked as you. I'm just telling the truth."
"Got it, got it." Morishita Ai rolled her eyes. It was unclear if she actually took it to heart.
Shimizu shook his head. "Don't blame me for not warning you if you go looking for a beating."
Beaten? Her? She was, after all, the woman who fought Shimizu Akira to a "draw" (referring to the event where she stood against a holding-back Shimizu for a minute during the selection tournament before being knocked out in one hit). Could a single kouhai really beat her?
If all else failed, she could just mention Shimizu Akira's name; that should work, right? Hehe, that's settled then.
.
.
.
After finishing breakfast, Shimizu returned to his dorm. Ayanokouji Kiyotaka wasn't there; he had sent a message saying he went out for a stroll. He was the only one in the room.
He picked up his phone to check his messages and found one from Shiina Hiyori.
Shiina Hiyori: Shimizu-kun, thank you for the news. Tsubaki-kohai told me everything.
Shimizu began to type slowly.
Shimizu Akira: How is the investigation going?
Shiina Hiyori: There's some progress. However, could I ask you to accompany me now to ask Ike-kun and Shinohara-san exactly what happened that day? There are some details I'd like to ask again.
Shimizu Akira: Of course. Where are you now?
Shiina Hiyori: I'm over at the library. Is it convenient for you to come over?
Shimizu Akira: Convenient. I'll be there in about ten minutes.
Shiina Hiyori: Okay, I'll wait for you.
Shimizu put away his phone, changed his shoes, took his room card, and headed out. The corridor was very quiet; most students were either still eating breakfast or hadn't woken up. He walked to the elevator, pressed the up button, and after a few seconds, the doors opened.
The library was on the sixth floor of the cruise ship. When he pushed the door open, there were only a few people inside, most of whom were reading or using laptops. Shimizu scanned the room and saw Shiina Hiyori by the window.
Today she was wearing a light blue dress, her long hair draped over her shoulders. She was holding a book but wasn't reading it; instead, she was staring blankly out the window.
Shimizu walked over and sat across from her.
"Shiina."
Shiina Hiyori snapped back to reality. Seeing him, she smiled slightly.
"Shimizu-kun, you came so quickly."
"I was just in my dorm with nothing to do."
Shiina closed her book and set it aside. Shimizu asked with concern, "Is your ankle better?"
"Mmm."
"That's good."
Shiina pursed her lips, her earlobes turning slightly red. For a moment, she couldn't tell if Shimizu was simply happy for her recovery or if he was thinking about the unfinished massage from last time. It should be the former! She was just overthinking.
Wait, she had a case to handle!
Shiina Hiyori took a deep breath. "Then I'll trouble Shimizu-kun to lead the way."
Shimizu nodded and walked ahead. Shiina stood beside him, maintaining a distance of about ten centimeters. The number of people in the corridor was gradually increasing, and quite a few people were paying attention to the combination of Shimizu Akira and Shiina Hiyori.
The two walked to the elevators and pressed for the infirmary floor. The doors closed, and the two stood quietly.
"Shimizu-kun."
"Mmm."
"Did you go swimming with Asahina-senpai yesterday?"
"How did you know?"
"I saw it on the forum. Someone took a photo saying they saw you and a third-year senpai at the private pool."
Seriously, who is it? Having nothing better to do than monitor him all day?
"I was just accompanying the senpai to swim and play volleyball."
"Then that should be a so-called date, right?"
"You could say that."
"It seems the rumors on the school BBS are true."
Shimizu said helplessly, "Shiina, I feel that with your reasoning abilities, you should have discovered this long ago, right?"
Shiina Hiyori said softly: "That is true. But through those few photos, I finally understand exactly which people they are. In other words, this should count as evidence. Could I trouble you to tell me which of your girlfriends hasn't been photographed yet?"
How could he possibly—check against a list? That was too strange!
Shimizu said with a pained expression, "Miss Shiina, I was wrong about the massage last time. Can you be magnanimous and forgive me? Can we skip this topic?"
The broad-minded Shiina Hiyori finally smiled but remained silent.
The elevator doors opened, and they walked out, arriving at the door of Ike Kanji and Sudo Ken's ward. Shimizu stepped forward and knocked.
"Come in!"
Pushing the door open, Ike Kanji was lying on the bed eating an apple while his girlfriend, Shinohara Satsuki, sat nearby peeling it for him. Sudo Ken wasn't there, probably unable to stand the romantic atmosphere.
Seeing Shimizu and Shiina Hiyori enter together, the two looked more or less confused.
Shimizu pulled over a chair. "Shiina wants to investigate what exactly happened on the fifth day of the island. Is it convenient for you two to answer a few questions?"
Ike Kanji and Shinohara Satsuki looked at each other and spoke in succession: "Of course! To help us find the culprit—that's a good thing!"
"Mmm, ask away."
Shimizu pointed to the chair. Though Shiina was a bit shy, she sat down and took out a notebook and pen.
"Ike-kun, Shinohara-san, thank you for being willing to cooperate."
"You're welcome, you're helping us after all, and you're Shimizu's friend." Ike Kanji waved his hand. "Ask whatever you want; I'll tell you everything I know."
"Yes, you can ask anything. I've recovered now." Shinohara Satsuki also nodded, putting down the apple and paring knife and sitting up straight.
Shiina Hiyori looked at Ike: "Ike-kun, do you remember specifically what time it happened? Where was the location? How many people were around? Why were you traveling so early?"
"About 4:40 AM." Ike thought for a bit. "The location was the high ground near H4. The only people around were me, Satsuki, and Kinoshita-san. We only set out early because we didn't have enough points."
"Besides the people in your group, did anyone else know your itinerary?"
"Wait, Shiina-san, shouldn't you be able to know that by checking the GPS locations?"
"Not necessarily. The GPS function didn't open until 7:00 AM on the fifth day. So during that time period, only someone who knew your itinerary in advance could have acted ahead of time."
"Ah, I see."
Shinohara Satsuki raised her hand. "At 8:30 PM the night before, we encountered a group of first-years."
Just as Shiina was about to say something, Shimizu cooperatively took out his phone and handed her his OAA first-year data: "See if any of those people are ones you saw that night."
After Shiina Hiyori finished asking all her questions, she walked out of the room with Shimizu.
"How is it?" Shimizu asked, seeing her looking thoughtfully at her notebook.
"Mmm... it was too dark at the time of the incident; no one saw the culprit. Yagami Takuya wasn't among the three people identified. I showed Ike-kun and the others Yagami's photo, and they didn't react—they had never seen him before."
"What about Tsubaki Sakurako's testimony?"
"According to Tsubaki's testimony, Yagami Takuya spoke to them at around 7:00 PM on the fourth day, saying he was going to do something interesting. I asked Mr. Sakagami; he wasn't the only one without a GPS signal during that time, but almost everyone else went to the starting point to replace their watches immediately after they broke. He was the only one who didn't change his watch for those few days. He can't escape suspicion on that point.
Plus the message you sent me on the thirteenth day—he attacked Karuizawa-san and Kushida-san in succession, defeated Hirata Yousuke and Sudo Ken, and didn't have a watch the whole time. This is enough to prove he intentionally broke his watch to act in secret."
"So?"
"Although there's no clear evidence and we don't know how the school will handle it, if this circumstantial evidence is made public, combined with the testimonies of Kushida-san, Hirata-kun, and Sudo-kun, Yagami Takuya is most likely the culprit. However..."
"However what?"
"I want to go see that Yagami Takuya. Because the most critical evidence is still missing. For me personally..."
Shimizu quickly waved his hand. "Don't. I think you'd better not go. Although that guy was taught a lesson by me, he's like a mad dog. What if he holds a grudge against you?"
Even though Yagami was no match for him, one can never be too sure. What if he targeted the physically weak Shiina?
"But..." Shiina Hiyori hesitated.
"Well, Ryuen Kakeru just wants you to find out who the culprit is, right? Kikyo just wants you to prove he did it. I think Kikyo should be very happy with this level of investigation. As long as the students in school believe he did it, that's enough. As for the critical evidence to submit to the school, it doesn't matter if we have it or not." Shimizu said slowly.
"Sigh, I suppose it has to be that way." Shiina Hiyori sighed. "Real-world reasoning is a bit different from what I imagined. Especially for a case that happened several days ago; if the parties and witnesses didn't find any clues, it's hard to proceed. I feel this investigation was quite a failure."
How did the lady detective get discouraged?
Shimizu quickly spoke to comfort her: "Well, the location was an uninhabited island, there was no surveillance around, the incident happened so early, the opponent was a White Room
assassin, and now we are on a luxury cruise—we can't even go back to the scene. You've done very well reaching this step. I, Kikyo, Ike, Kinoshita, and even that guy Ryuen, all thank you."
Hearing his words, Shiina Hiyori finally calmed her emotions a bit. "Mmm, I understand."
"Mmm, you did a great job."
"Shimizu-kun."
"Mmm."
"Why do you think Yagami Takuya attacked Ike-kun and Kinoshita-san in the first place? According to what you said, his goals should only have been you and Ayanokouji-kun, right?"
"Most likely because he wanted to scare us!"
"But there are many ways to scare people. Why did he choose to harm passing students?"
"He's not a normal person. Who knows what's going through his head? You don't need to try too hard to figure out his motive."
The two walked to the elevator, and Shimizu pressed the down button. The elevator doors opened to an empty car. They stepped in, and the doors closed.
"Where to next? I promised you I'd cooperate with your book writing." Shimizu asked.
Shiina Hiyori thought for a few seconds. "I want to go to the library to organize my notes, then send the investigation results to Kushida-san and Ryuen-kun. As for the book... sigh, maybe in a few days. I feel I can only properly think about it after returning to school."
The lady detective was still very concerned about the case not being fully investigated.
"Then let me help you organize your notes."
"Is that okay?"
"Of course. Didn't I help you organize them before? Forgot? At the beginning of the school year, you analyzed that I was the culprit renting the surveillance cameras through that."
Shiina Hiyori couldn't help but laugh. "That's true. I understand, thank you."
She knew he was comforting her.
The two walked toward the library. On the way, Shiina Hiyori suddenly said, "By the way, Shimizu-kun, the person who secretly took photos of you should be someone from the Student Council."
"Hmm? How do you know?"
"You didn't look at the pictures carefully. Actually, several photos are all from a top-down perspective, and there's inconspicuous pixelation in the bottom right corner. The image
format is identical to surveillance footage. So, someone is intentionally using Student Council authority to smear you."
Shimizu was stunned.
Student Council?
If it wasn't Nagumo Miyabi, who else could it be? Was this guy just bored?
Did he really have to be beaten up severely before he'd behave!
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