𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒 ;; 𝓎𝓊𝓂𝒶 𝓍 𝓀𝓊𝓇𝓊𝓂𝒾 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓉𝓈

≡;- ꒰ °𝓉𝒶𝓁𝓀 𝓉𝑜 𝓂𝑒 ꒱

𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎...!

·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙

ᴋᴜʀᴜᴍɪ ᴡᴇɴᴅʏ ʜᴀᴅ just met Yuma Kokohead, a real Master Detective of the World Detective Organization! In Kanai Ward, of all places! She didn't believe he was real when she caught a glimpse of his uniform after the Nail Man cases died down, but she wasn't dreaming! Not only did he help find out the truth behind the murder of her best friend Aiko, but he also saved her from the Peacekeepers. She wanted to talk to him more and get to know him. He was her hero, after all!

Kurumi spotted him near the clock tower where the last murder of the Nail Man took place. It didn't look like he was busy, so she decided now was a great time to talk to him. "Yuma!"

Yuma turned to face her at the sound of her voice. He smiled—it was such a sweet smile!—and it looked like he was about to say something before his head suddenly jerked itself away from her. Whatever he was going to say quickly changed to him saying as fast as he could, "Sorry, Kurumi, but I have to go!"

Kurumi stood there as she watched Yuma go. The way he was walking made her think he was getting dragged by someone or something, but it must just be something detectives, especially Master Detectives, did. She could let this go. He was probably just busy. She could talk to him another day!

. . .

ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴇxᴛ ᴛɪᴍᴇ Kurumi saw Yuma was when he was at the Golden Ray Café. She was walking home from Aetheria Academy, so she was free, and it looked like he was free too. She had a better understanding of knowing when he was free after last time, after all, and it didn't look like he was looking for something.

Instead of calling out to him while there was some distance between them like last time, she went up to him and said, "Yuma, do you want to hang out today? If you're not busy."

"Kurumi?" Yuma looked a little startled, but he got over it. He glanced to the side as if he was looking at someone before saying, "I'm not busy right now, so sure."

"Great! Since we're at the café—"

"Yuma, there you are." A tall person with short hair came to Yuma. Halara Nightmare, if Kurumi remembered correctly. They were another very-real Master Detective working in the same detective agency as Yuma, the Nocturnal Detective Agency! But what were they doing here?

Whatever the case, Kurumi waved. "Hi, Halara!"

Halara nodded their greeting before turning back to Yuma. "We have a lot to discuss."

He ducked his head. He reminded her of a sad little puppy. "Is this about my debt...?"

"Yes, and also things Chief Yakou wants to talk to you about."

"I'm not getting into any trouble. I was just going to talk to Kurumi—"

"If this is important, I can leave," offered Kurumi. She might be an informant, but she didn't want to get in trouble with Master Detectives.

Yuma shook his head as Halara said, "That would be nice."

Yuma looked up at them, sighed, and said, "Next time, Kurumi."

Kurumi smiled before continuing her walk home. She felt disappointed at having missed two opportunities to talk to Yuma, but if Halara wanted to talk about important detective things with him, she couldn't just say no. This was important, and hanging out with Yuma could always be postponed for another day!

. . .

ɪᴛ ꜱᴜʀᴘʀɪꜱᴇᴅ ᴋᴜʀᴜᴍɪ to see Yuma at her school. She found out from some of her friends that he was here to help their teacher get rid of some stalker, if the questions he asked them meant anything. It looked like he was just about done, and since she didn't have another class until about 20 minutes, she decided to seize the opportunity to get a quick conversation with him. The longer ones she tried before didn't work out, so a short five-minute talk should!