Kotomi Izumi looked left and right, then shrank her neck slightly.
Looking at the message Ayani Kika had sent, she truly began to suspect that Ayani Kika might be some kind of monster with clairvoyance or mind-reading abilities. Kika was in Kyoto, and she herself was currently in Chiba—how had she calculated the timing so perfectly and sent that message at such a precise moment?
She had just been thinking about whether, after returning to Kyoto, she should stay the night at Ayani Kika's place.
The very instant that thought surfaced in her mind, Ayani Kika's message popped up with a ding, as if afraid Kotomi might change her mind.
Before Kotomi could even figure out how to reply, Ayani Kika sent several more messages.
Ayani Kika: [After you left, I think I started having insomnia. I've been tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.]
[Are you in Kyoto now? Or have you already arrived in Chiba? Or have you finished comforting your girlfriend, Megumi Kato, and are preparing to return to Kyoto?]
[Insomnia... feels really awful.]
She wasn't sure whether that last sentence counted as acting cute, but Ayani Kika's first message at least helped Kotomi gradually understand why Kika had messaged her at this time.
Kotomi let out a small sigh of relief. She had almost genuinely believed Ayani Kika was some kind of supernatural monster. So it turned out to be nothing more than a coincidence.
Of course, even if she really were a monster, given Kotomi's bizarre XP system, she probably wouldn't feel afraid at all. Instead, she might even ask Kika to revert to her original form and then start cuddling her.
As she walked, Kotomi typed a reply.
Kotomi Izumi: [Phew... you almost scared me. When your message popped up just now, I honestly thought you were some kind of mind-reading monster with clairvoyance. I was already thinking about begging for mercy with something like, "My meat doesn't taste good!" and asking you not to eat me.]
[It wasn't until your later messages that I finally relaxed. So it wasn't that you had mind-reading powers—you just couldn't sleep and sent me a message to relieve your boredom. The timing just happened to coincide with me leaving Megumi's house and heading back.]
[Well? Isn't my deduction impressive?]
As someone who loved reading detective novels and manga, Kotomi Izumi would never miss an opportunity to show off her reasoning skills.
Though... her reasoning ability didn't actually seem that strong.
For example, even though she always called herself "Fujimine Kotomi Belmod," her real deductive ability was probably closer to "Kogoro Kotomi."
Ayani Kika soon replied with a fitting evaluation: [Not bad. The reasoning ability you're displaying now is truly on par with the deduction plots in the recent theatrical versions of Detective Conan.]
When Kotomi saw "Detective Conan," she initially thought Kika was praising her reasoning skills. But after reading the added words at the end...
She froze.
In her mind, she recalled the recent theatrical versions of Detective Conan—full of speed and passion, blowing up several buildings for good measure, saving the world with soccer balls, and cramming in countless flashy elements. She tugged at the corner of her mouth and gave a helpless smile. So it wasn't praise after all. It was sarcasm...
After all, while the recent Detective Conan movies were quite enjoyable in theaters—eating popcorn, drinking cola, watching casually—they were... really lacking in the reasoning department.
Even though they were fun as snack movies, Kotomi still preferred suspenseful mysteries with a tense, eerie atmosphere. She still remembered watching Conan as a child. Whenever the shadowy black culprit appeared, she would be so scared she covered her eyes with her hands. The strange music and nerve-wracking plots meant little Kotomi always had to watch with her parents and her younger sister by her side.
Now... whether it was the weekly anime or the theatrical versions, she treated them as casual entertainment while eating snacks. It wasn't that Kotomi had grown braver. It was just that, for some reason, Conan's plots and visuals had stopped being scary.
That was why, even though Detective Conan had been the first mystery manga she ever read, she now preferred The Kindaichi Case Files a bit more.
Getting back to the point, after seeing her reasoning ability mocked by Ayani Kika, the competitive little Kotomi replied somewhat unconvinced:
[Hmph. I just didn't take this deduction seriously. I was speaking casually! Sooner or later, I'll let you experience my true reasoning ability! When you see me seriously deducing something, you'll definitely call me "Great Detective" with admiration!]
Ayani Kika: [I'm looking forward to it~]
...
Not long after, Kotomi returned to the parking lot. After opening the car door, Aunt Matsusaka, who had been resting with her eyes closed in the driver's seat, opened her eyes as well. Seeing that Kotomi had returned, she fastened her seatbelt and started the car.
She didn't ask what Kotomi had gone to do. Nor did she chat casually. In Aunt Matsusaka's view, as the Izumi family's driver, under normal circumstances, when the young lady had not spoken, she should remain quiet and efficiently complete each task the young lady had arranged.
For example, what she needed to do now was—drive to the airport, then pilot the private jet back to Kansai International Airport.
By the time the plane flew back to Kansai International Airport, and then from there returned to the commercial street where Kotomi had bought the toy ring a few hours earlier, there would be only fifteen minutes left before three in the morning.
"It only took a few hours to go from Kyoto to Chiba and then back from Chiba to Kyoto. Having a private jet really is convenient," Kotomi said, stretching lazily.
"Young Miss, there aren't any hotels nearby. Are you sure you want to get off here?"
Aunt Matsusaka glanced at the commercial street outside the car window. Since it operated 24 hours a day, even though it was nearly three in the morning, there were still some pedestrians on both sides of the street.
Still, even if it wasn't exactly a deserted road at night, Aunt Matsusaka couldn't help feeling uneasy about a young girl walking alone along the commercial street at this hour.
"Ah, it's fine. I'm planning to stay at a friend's house tonight. She lives not far from here—just across one traffic light. There's nowhere to park over there, and there are lots of surveillance cameras. I heard that if your tires accidentally press on a certain line, you'll get fined. It's basically Kyoto's money tree," Kotomi joked.
She had learned about that from Yuyu Izumi. Last month, her third aunt had driven through that area and accidentally pressed over a line while turning. Soon after, she received a fine notice.
"It's fine, Young Miss," Aunt Matsusaka said. "When necessary, I receive quite a few sky-high fine notices every year."
"Eh?"
Kotomi didn't quite understand what she meant.
Aunt Matsusaka didn't explain in detail. Instead, she continued,
"It's not that I'm being nagging. It's just that it's so late. I really can't feel at ease letting you walk alone on the street. I'm responsible for your safety. At the very least, allow me to escort you to your friend's door."
Since Aunt Matsusaka had put it that way, Kotomi could only nod. "Alright then. Go straight ahead, then turn left at the traffic light. My friend's place is right there."
"If I remember correctly, there is indeed a mid-rise apartment building ahead. Since it's in the city center, both the housing prices and rent aren't cheap. Is your friend renting there alone?"
"She has a younger brother, though he doesn't stay at the rented apartment very often. Most of the time, she lives there alone."
"That's quite impressive. I can roughly imagine that your friend must be a bit older than you."
"Eh? Why do you say that?" Kotomi asked curiously.
"I'm somewhat familiar with the rent for that building. The monthly rent is very high, and short-term leases aren't allowed. After all, it's in central Kyoto. For your friend to rely on her own ability to rent a place there—at the very least, she must have considerable personal capability and a well-paying job. That's quite admirable."
Aunt Matsusaka offered her praise with careful tact. She didn't continue by asking what Kotomi's friend did for a living. It was a simple but practical piece of social wisdom—if the other party didn't voluntarily mention her friend's occupation, then it was better not to inquire.
"Ohh."
Kotomi nodded. When she had gone to Ayani Kika's apartment yesterday at noon, she had also asked about the rent and learned how expensive it was, as well as the fact that short-term leasing wasn't allowed. That was precisely why she had felt a little embarrassed accepting the key when Kika handed it to her and refused to let her share the rent.
Still, Kotomi had no intention of giving up. Even if Ayani Kika refused to let her contribute to the rent, she had already resolved to find an opportunity to help ease Kika's financial burden.
After all, Kotomi had already decided that whenever she came to Kyoto alone in the future, she would stay at Ayani Kika's place.
Aunt Matsusaka slowly brought the car to a stop in front of the apartment building. She stepped out and opened the door for Kotomi, reminding her,
"Young Miss, once you arrive at your friend's home, please give me a call to let me know you've arrived safely."
"Okay. Please don't worry," Kotomi nodded, then walked into the apartment building.
Even though Ayani Kika's apartment was only on the second floor, after glancing at the pitch-black stairwell, Kotomi decisively abandoned the idea of taking the stairs. She thought that even if she had to wait a little longer, she would take the elevator instead.
But when she arrived at the elevator...
"Uh..."
Kotomi stared at the sign placed in front of the elevator doors that read [The elevator is under maintenance. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.]
For a moment, she didn't know whether to praise the property management for being so dedicated—repairing the elevator at three in the morning—or to complain about why it had to break down at this exact time. Didn't that mean she would have no choice but to take the stairs?
Nervously, Kotomi approached the stairwell entrance. She stomped her foot, but when no lights came on, she realized—there weren't even motion-sensor lights in this stairwell.
"Tch... Even at night, I might not dare take the stairs if there were motion-sensor lights. Let alone without any at all. Ugh, what do I do? It's completely dark in there. I really don't dare go in. Aunt Matsusaka probably hasn't driven far yet, right? Maybe I should ask her to come back and accompany me up to the second floor..."
Kotomi didn't know why, but when she had been Ailun, she had never been afraid of the dark. Many part-time jobs required night shifts, and walking alone at night had been normal.
But after becoming Kotomi Izumi, at some point her courage had started becoming increasingly unstable. When she was brave, she could swing a hammer and chase after ghosts.
Though she had never actually encountered one.
When she was timid...
Like right now, trembling at the stairwell entrance, staring into the pitch-black darkness, unable to force herself to step inside.
Suddenly, a sound of footsteps echoed from upstairs, as if someone had just entered the stairwell above at this late hour.
The footsteps were light. But at three in the morning, even the sound of a needle dropping would be crystal clear—let alone footsteps.
Kotomi's drowsy mind snapped awake in fright. Cold sweat broke out across her back uncontrollably. Listening to the footsteps that seemed to be gradually descending from above, even though she was standing in the brightly lit first floor, she no longer dared remain by the stairwell entrance. She quickly ran toward the apartment's main entrance.
Afraid as she was, her curiosity still got the better of her. Trembling, she hid behind the apartment door and poked her little head out, wanting to see what would emerge from the stairwell.
A monster? A female ghost? Some kind of demon?
All at once, the various urban legends about midnight stairwells she had read in the past surfaced uncontrollably in her mind.
They frightened her so much that tears nearly welled up in her eyes.
The footsteps reached the first floor, then gently stepped out of the stairwell.
Just as Kotomi was about to shut her eyes and dash out onto the street, a familiar voice suddenly called out from behind her,
"Kotomi, why are you running? Hey, don't run so fast. It's not some man-eating monster coming out—it's me. Watch your step. There are a few small steps at the apartment entrance."
"Kika?"
Hearing the familiar voice, Kotomi abruptly stopped. She cautiously turned her head and saw Ayani Kika, dressed in a red kimono and holding a lit flashlight, standing at the stairwell entrance. She looked at Kotomi with mild confusion, as if wondering why she had suddenly bolted.
Realizing that the figure emerging from the stairwell wasn't a ghost or a monster but Ayani Kika, Kotomi finally let out a long breath of relief.
"Ugh... you scared me to death. I almost thought I was about to become the heroine of a supernatural novel."
After saying that, Kotomi slowly crouched down, taking deep breaths to calm her racing heart.
Ayani Kika remained where she was and didn't disturb her. A faint smile curved at the corner of her lips—its meaning unclear—as she watched Kotomi quietly.
—
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