Solving Cases is My Daily Life Now: Volume 5

Chapter 13

    Dreams of past days filled Rina's mind when she slept that night, nothing in particular happened in them, all she really remembered was that Yua was there, and they laughed and hung around like the old times. Suzu was in the dreams as well, and though she didn't see Masaru, her heart told her that things were fine with them. When Rina awoke, it took her a few moments to fully return to reality. But of course, those sharp pangs crept through, the ones reminding her that those days of friendship were over, and she threw her arm over her eyes. After taking a deep breath, she used all of her strength to sit up, and get herself out of bed. Once she was on her feet, she began to get ready for school like she always did.

On her way to school, Suzu met up with her like she always did.
"H-How did yesterday go?" Was the first question out of her mouth.
"It was...stressful." Rina said quietly, "I don't want to talk about it."
"Ok..." Suzu said, suddenly looking apologetic.
"Did you enjoy your break yesterday?" Rina asked, wasting no time changing the subject.
"It was ok." Suzu said, "I would m-m-much rather have spent that time with the c-club though."
"What did you end up doing?" Rina asked.
"I just w-went home, and watched some an-anime. What I usually d-d-do in my free time."
"Sounds like an all right time." Rina said, "If you want some alone time, that is."
"D-Do you want alone time, R-R-Rina?" Suzu asked.
"Sometimes I do, but never for long." Rina explained, "Oftentimes the feeling of being alone begins to crush me, and I feel like I can't breathe."
"I know j-just how you feel." Suzu said with a frown, "But...neither of us has to f-f-feel like that again!"
"I'm sure it will happen sometimes." Rina said, "But that's ok! It's reality..."
"It's n-not ok!" Suzu insisted, suddenly sounding very stern, "From now on...if y-you ever feel lonely, just tell me. And I'll do the s-s-same thing to you! And we can k-k-keep each other company, and never be lonely again!"
Rina smiled, she knew it was a silly idea, and would likely never work out that well, but all the same, she was touched by Suzu's suggestion.
"Ok..." Rina agreed, "We'll do that."
Suzu smiled as well, and they looked at each other for a moment.
"You two are all smiles today." Katsuo said as they approached the school entrance.
"Do you always have some kind of quip ready for us when we arrive?" Rina shot back.
"I have to keep on my toes if I'm going to be hanging around the detective club." He growled in response.
"I think your quips are funny, big brother!" Fuyuko said, likely just trying to suck up to him.
"Thanks, Fuyo." He said, ruffling her hair.
Fuyuko cooed, and looked over at Rina.
"So...did Aimi try to kill you yesterday?" She asked.
"No." Rina said, shaking her head, "But I guess that doesn't mean she won't next time."
"Did you-" Katsuo began to ask a question, but Suzu cut him off.
"Shh!" She said, "Don't ask her t-t-too many questions. She's been having a st-stressful time."
Katuso raised his eyebrows, and looked over at Rina.
"You're right." He said, "I'm sorry."
"It's ok." Rina said quietly.
"Well at least you don't have to deal with her today." Fuyuko said, "You get to spend the day with Masu, lucky!"
"You spend most of your days with him, too." Rina argued.
"Yeah, but not like you!" Fuyuko said, crossing her arms and pouting, "You're with him all the time!"
"Isn't that kind of how it goes, though?" Katsuo asked, "After all, they're..."
"Don't say it!" Fuyuko shouted, throwing her hands over her earmuffs.
Katsuo glanced at her for a moment, before returning his gaze forward.
Not long after that, they reached the classroom and parted ways.

When lunch began, Suzu was clearly in a good mood as she brought herself over to Rina. She sat down and hummed softly, taking out her bento and opening it happily. Rina figured it might have been because of the discussion they had earlier that morning.
"Are you excited to be with M-M-Masaru again today?" Suzu asked.
"Well, I just saw him yesterday." Rina said, "I stopped by the club room when I was done with the student council."
"Oh?" Suzu asked, "And w-w-what did you do?"
Rina felt her face begin to warm up, and looked down at her desk.
"He just walked me home." Rina said.
"Oh? Did you g-g-get all lovey dovey?" Suzu asked, squirming in her seat, "Did you k-k-kiss again?"
Rina perked up, and began to play with her food nervously.
"That's...none of your business." She said quietly.
"You d-did!" Suzu asked, "And after that? You were al-already close to home, so m-maybe you decided to go home and finally have-"
"You know that didn't happen!" Rina snapped, "He was tired, so he just went home."
Suzu put her hands to her pink cheeks, clearly having some form of overload.
"So the only thing that st-st-stopped you was..." She said, trailing off and biting her lip.
Rina's entire body began to burn, not just from the implication, but from Suzu's reaction to it.
"No, that's not what I meant!" She insisted, "I was just saying..."
Rina trailed off as well, and mercifully the door opened to interrupt them, and Masaru walked into the room. Or perhaps it wasn't so merciful, as he was the boy they had just been talking about. Rina could practically feel steam coming off of her, and Suzu didn't appear to be much better off.
"Hey." Masaru said simply, of course none the wiser as he sat down in his usual spot.
Rina kept her eyes on her bento, trying her best to remove the images that Suzu had placed into her mind. Eventually she was able to do so, but she was still a bit flustered when Masaru spoke to her again.
"You feeling ok?" He asked, his expression as stoic as ever when she looked at him.
"I'm fine!" She replied, nodding perhaps a bit too eagerly.
Suddenly Rina remembered that she forgot to hand him his bento, and pulled it out quickly, handing it to him in one swift motion. Masaru raised an eyebrow as he opened it, and glanced over at Suzu.
"You're both being rather quiet..." He said, "Am I interrupting something?"
"N-N-No!" Suzu said, the red on her face having faded to a light pink, "Just...g-girl talk."
Masaru examined them both for a moment, not looking as though he was fooled. But he shrugged, likely deciding it wasn't worth the trouble.
"Very well." He said simply, beginning to eat his food.
Not long after that, the door opened and the siblings entered the room together.
"Masuuuu!" Fuyuko said, already whining about something, "I missed you yesterday! Why didn't we spend time together?"
"Because I needed to work on the case." Masaru said, "You knew that when you left."
"But we could have stayed and waited!" Fuyuko said, "We usually do..."
"It doesn't matter that much, Fuyo." Katsuo said, "It was just one day."
"It does matter!" Fuyuko said, "We don't have a lot of time left, and...I want to spend it with as many of my friends as possible!"
Masaru's gaze remained on his bento, though he appeared to be deep in thought about something.
"Very well." He said, "When Rina and I are finished investigating, we can all do something together."
Everyone looked at each other and smiled, and Fuyuko let out a cheer.
"How exciting!" She said, "I'm going to spend the rest of the day deciding what we should do!"
"You should probably spend that time studying." Katsuo pointed out.
Fuyuko crossed her arms and pouted, looking like a spoiled child.
"I can do both..." She said quietly.
"Speaking of the investigation, you guys are going to your class today?" Katsuo asked, "You mentioned some punks seem to have it out for Iwamoto."
"Yep, that's what we're checking today." Masaru said, "Though I'm not sure where it will lead."
"I still can't figure out why you're helping her in the first place." Katsuo groaned, rubbing the back of his head.
"I'm not entirely certain myself." Masaru replied, "But here we are."
"Hopefully this case goes by quickly." Rina said, "I can only handle so much."
"No one is forcing you." Masaru said, "You can stop at anytime."
Rina paused, thinking on what he said. It was true, she wasn't being forced to do it by any means. So why didn't she simply stop...?
"In any case, I doubt it will be that simple. It never is when Iwamoto is involved." Masaru said before taking a bite of food.
The rest of lunch went on without much to speak of, and when it was over everyone went their separate ways.

Rina and Suzu left the classroom together again that day, but this time they went to the club room together like they usually did.
"Th-that was close, earlier!" Suzu said, "With M-Masaru..."
"That's why you don't talk about such lewd things in public!" Rina said, pulling gently on Suzu's cheek.
"I'm s-s-sorry!" Suzu whined.
Rina frowned, but eventually let go of her friend.
"Just be more careful from now on." She said quietly.
Suzu rubbed her cheek and looked at the ceiling, seemingly trying to think of a way to change the subject.
"I w-wonder what Fuyo has p-p-planned out for us.
"I don't know." Rina admitted, "But it does concern me a little bit."
"W-W-Why is that?" Suzu asked.
"We both know that Fuyuko is a little...unhinged." Rina said quietly.
"Well...I g-guess so." Suzu replied.
Rina turned away, she had omitted the detail that in fact everyone in the Detective Club was a little unhinged, herself included. Then again, maybe she was as well...
"Well, whatever she p-p-picks, I'm sure it will be l-lots of fun!" Suzu decided.
"You're right." Rina said with a smile and a nod.
Not long after that they reached the club room, and walked inside.

The others were all in their usual spots when the girls arrived, and it seemed they'd grown so used to their daily routine that they didn't even look up when they entered. Suzu wasted no time setting her glasses down on the desk, and leaving the room to change.
"You ready to go?" Masaru asked, finally putting his phone away and looking at Rina as she sat her bag down.
"Yeah." She said, "We're going to your class, right?"
"That's right." Masaru said, standing up and putting a pocky stick into his mouth.
"Why didn't we just meet up there, then?" Rina asked, tilting her head.
"I wanted the chance to regroup." Masaru explained, "I had some things I wanted Katsuo and Fuyuko to look into."
"Fair enough." Rina said, feeling a bit like Masaru himself when she did so.
"We'll be back soon." Masaru said as he walked over to the door, "Ideally, at least."
"You can count on us!" Fuyuko said with a determined nod.
Katsuo grunted in response, and Masaru left the room with Rina behind him.

"What do you have them doing?" Rina asked as they walked down the hall.
"I'm going to have Katsuo keep an eye on the council room, like we discussed before." Masaru said, "Fuyuko is looking into the other student council members. Iwamoto may trust them but, Yaeko excluded, I don't."
"You trust Yaeko?" She asked with a grimace, recalling how she had manipulated them a few months prior.
"I trust in her devotion to Iwamoto." He replied, "She would never do anything to threaten her precious president."
"If you say so." Rina said, but despite her response, she agreed with his judgement.
They walked quietly for a few moments, and Rina held her hands in front of her, locked together.
"You want to tell me what's bothering you?" Masaru asked.
"Huh?" Rina perked up and looked over at him, "What do you mean?"
"We've been...working together long enough for me to be able to tell when something's eating you." He explained, "So what is it?"
Rina looked at the floor, was she really being that obvious? She couldn't have been if she'd lasted this long. Maybe he watched her more than she thought...
"I'm just...thinking." She admitted, "About Iwamoto."
"What about her?" Masaru asked.
"I think maybe...just maybe, she isn't as bad as we think." Rina said.
She half expected him to argue, but instead he simply took a bite of his pocky stick.
"It's possible." He said.
"I was thinking...maybe she just wants to be your friend." She added.
"I don't know about that." Masaru argued, "And even if it were true, I don't think that would ever work."
"I'm sure you thought the same about me, at first." Rina pointed out.
"That's different." He said.
"How?" She asked.
Masaru seemed to think for a moment before responding.
"I never had a particular dislike for you." He said, "You were a bit emotional and irrational, but I never hated having you around."
"You don't say those kinds of things to your girlfriend!" Rina said with a frown.
"You asked." Masaru reminded her.
Rina realized that he was right, and let it go.
"So, you dislike Iwamoto then?" She asked.
"She's definitely an annoyance." He said, "A thorn in my side, if you will."
"But do you dislike her?" Rina reiterated.
Masaru thought about his answer once again.
"That's a hard one." He admitted, "I wouldn't say I hate her, but...I definitely don't like her."
"I'm not saying you SHOULD be friends with her." She clarified, "I'm still not sure how I feel about her myself. It was just a thought."
Masaru simply made a noise in response, before stopping in front of a door.
"This is it." He said, before glancing at her, "Ready?"
Rina nodded, and he opened the door for them to go inside.

Nobody paid them any mind when they entered, likely because they were used to seeing Masaru. A couple to people gave Rina a passing glance, but no more acknowledgement beyond that.
"Do you know which guys specifically we're looking for?" Rina asked, looking around the room.
"It's that group over there by the window." Masaru said, nodding to a group of boys.
Rina sighed, they didn't exactly look like they'd be the most polite bunch. Without hesitation Masaru walked over to them, leaving a Rina walking quickly to keep up. When they got closer, one of them looked up at him.
"Fukuhara?" He asked, "What do you want?"
He had very masculine features and dark yellow hair cut into a fade.
"Just wanted to ask you some questions, Hajime." Masaru replied, staring into the boy's eyes.
Hajime stared at him for a moment as well, before glancing at Rina.
"Who's this, your girlfriend?" He asked.
"...that's right." Masaru replied, "As well as my assistant."
Rina turned her warm face away, he had never admitted their relationship so readily before!
"She's cute!" Hajime said with a smirk, "Anyway, what questions do you have for me?"
"Word is you guys don't care much for Iwamoto." Masaru said.
"The student council president?" Hajime asked with a chuckle, "Who told you that?"
"I'm not at liberty to discuss my sources." Masaru replied, taking a bite of his pocky stick.
"That makes it sound like you're just guessing." Hajime said, standing up, "I didn't think you were the type to make baseless accusations."
"Think what you want." Masaru said, not budging from his place, "I'll simply let the student council know that you're one to be watched."
Rina took a look at the group of boys, including Hajime there were four in total. Two of them appeared to be confused by the situation, and a third boy, one with long dark orange hair, looked a bit nervous. Rina narrowed her eyes, and made sure to take mental note to tell Masaru afterwards.
Hajime took a step towards Masaru, but he still didn't budge. This was he boy who'd faced down Katsuo and a stalker, after all. When it was clear that physical intimidation wouldn't work, Hajime sat back down.
"All right, you win." He said, "But I heard you don't get along with Iwamoto, either. Since when did you do her grunt work?"
"Since she took me on as a client." Masaru said, "Same as anyone else."
"Then what is it that she thinks we might have done?" Hajime asked.
The other three were noticeably silent, something Masaru almost assuredly pocked up on himself.
"Iwamoto has been receiving some threatening letters." Masaru said, "Know anything about that?"
"Nope, nothing at all." Hajime replied casually, "Believe me, if we were going to do something about the student council, it wouldn't be to just send letters."
"Really?" Masaru asked, "From what I've heard you've had gripes with her for a while now. Forgive me for saying so, but I don't think you're capable of doing much more than writing letters. Else you would have done it by now."
This seemed to strike a nerve, as Hajime clenched his fist and let out an angry sound.
"Then tell me this, genius." He said, "Why would we do something that would draw so much suspicion? I mean, you two found us immediately!"
"Well, I didn't exactly take you guys for intellectuals." Masaru admitted, stretching his shoulder.
"But any idiot could see that it would be easy for you to track us." Hajime pointed out, "I won't lie that we would do something LIKE that to Iwamoto if we could. But the truth is, we simply don't care enough to go for it."
"And you speak for the entire group?" Masaru asked, glancing over at the others.
"I do." Hajime said firmly.
Masaru returned his gaze to the ringleader, and looked as though he still had more to say. But instead he sighed, and finished his pocky stick.
"I have my eye on you." Masaru said, "Make no mistake."
With that, he turned to the door.
"Rina." He said, before beginning to walk.
"Nice work on the girlfriend, Fukuhara!" Hajime said as Rina began to follow Masaru, "She's a real catch..."
Masaru stopped walking for a moment, his back still turned to them.
"Masaru...?" Rina approached him and put her hand on his arm.
She could feel that his muscles were tended, but he stayed planted where he stood.
"Let's go." Rina said, "The others are waiting for us."
"...right." Masaru said after a moment.
And so the two of them left the room together.

When they reached the club room, Suzu had already changed back to her uniform and was chatting with the siblings.
"You're back!" Fuyuko said happily, running over to her desk and grabbing something.
"Are you ok?" Suzu asked, looking up at Masaru, "You look t-t-tense."
"I'm fine." Masaru replied, walking over to his desk and in front of her.
"Fuyo's been figuring out what we're going to do today." Katsuo said, "She's worked pretty hard."
"Good work, Fuyuko." Rina said, though she knew that she wasn't the one Fuyuko wanted to hear it from.
"And the work I asked you to do?" Masaru asked, "What about that?"
Fuyuko slowly walked up to them, holding some papers.
"I...figured I could do it tomorrow." She said, "This...felt important."
"The case is important, too." Masaru said, looking over at Fuyuko.
The rest of the room fell silent as Fuyuko stared down at what was in her hands.
"Yeah, but..." She trailed off, not seeming to really have a response.
Masaru walked up to her and watched her for a moment, then sighed.
"Just make sure you do it tomorrow." He said, putting a hand on her head.
Fuyuko looked up at him and grinned, her energy returning.
"Now, tell me about this plan of yours." He said, leaning against his desk.
Fuyuko grinned and walked over to the desk, setting papers down on it.
"There's this amusement park on the other side of town we can all go to!" Fuyuko said happily.
"An...amusement park?" Katsuo repeated, looking down at one of the papers.
"I didn't even know this town had one." Rina said.
"Me neither." Masaru said, "Fuyuko, this isn't really something you can do on a whim. We'd have to plan it out."
Fuyuko let out a whine, looking over at the papers.
"But I worked so hard..." She said quietly.
"W-Why don't we all go this weekend th-th-then?" Suzu asked.
Everyone perked up and looked over at her.
"I'd be ok with that." Katsuo answered quickly.
"I don't have anything planned." Rina said, glancing over at Masaru, "Masaru?"
"I'd be...up for it, I suppose." Masaru said.
Fuyuko teared up and rubbed her eyes.
"You guys..." She said, sounding a bit like a child, "Ok! Let's go to the amusement park this weekend!"
Everyone nodded, seeming satisfied with the agreement. Rina looked around at her friends, excited to spend some time with them. Surprisingly, she felt Masaru gently take her hand as they stood there. Nobody commented, they either didn't notice or didn't care. Her face warming up, she looked around at all of them and asked a question that they all found themselves asking recently,
"So what are we going to do today?"