Solving Cases is My Daily Life Now: Volume 5

Chapter 16

    It was lucky that Saturday had ended up being a bit on the warmer side when Rina stepped out of the house. It was still warm however, so she made sure to dress a bit on the warmer side. She was wearing the pink sweater she had bought with Masaru not long before, with her light blue scarf around her neck. She had on light blue jeans to match her scarf, and tan boots to keep her warm without being too hot. She checked her purse to make sure she had everything she'd need as she walked to the sidewalk, namely her money and her phone. When she looked up from her double check she saw that Masaru was standing there, having been waiting for her. His hair was still poorly slicked back, likely just a habit he tried to stick to. He was wearing a grey jacket with a maroon shirt underneath, with his scarf that matched his shirt in color and Rina's scarf in style. He had on normal jeans and brown shoes, and glanced over at Rina when she noticed him as well.
"Have you been waiting long?" Rina asked.
"Not really." Masaru said, "I thought I was running late, but I still beat you by a few minutes."
"Sorry..." She said quietly, "It takes girls a while to get ready for things like this."
"So it seems." He replied, leaning closer to her, "Are you wearing makeup?"
Rina's face began to warm up, which might have done her good due to the cold weather.
"A little bit..." She replied, turning her face away.
In truth, he had only put on some eyeliner and lip gloss to make her lips pink like her sweater. She hadn't expected anyone to notice, much less Masaru!
"...it looks good." Masaru said, before leaning back to a normal position.
Rina's face burned a bit more as she looked at him. Admittedly, seeing him outside of his usual detective get up reminded Rina of just how attractive Masaru really was. They looked at each other for a moment before they heard a chime sound. Masaru took out his phone and looked at it.
"It's Fuyuko. She and Katsuo are waiting for as at the bus stop. The same one we met up at for the private island." He said, "Let's go."
Masaru took her hand in his, and they began to walk towards the bus stop.

    When they arrived, Fuyuko was sitting on the bench, and Katsuo was standing up next to her. Fuyuko looked over and, when she saw Rina and Masaru holding hands, she stood up to scream and protest. But Katsuo put his fist down on her head gently to stop her.
"Hey guys." He said casually.
"Hey." Rina said with a smile, looking them both up and down as they approached them.
Fuyuko was wearing a yellow puffy coat and had her pink earmuffs on, with a pink skirt and white stockings underneath that had sunflowers on them with black boots. Katsuo had on a heavy black hoodie that was buttoned up, with black mittens on and jeans, with white shoes.
"Suzu isn't here yet?" Masaru asked, letting go of Rina's hand.
"I guess she's running late." Rina said, walking over and sitting down next to where Fuyuko had been sitting.
Fuyuko huffed and sat down next to her, crossing her arms and looking away.
"That's weird...she isn't usually late to anything!" Katsuo pointed out, "No one has heard from her?"
Masaru opened his mouth to speak, but was stopped when his phone began to ring. He took it out and turned his back to them.
"Hey. Yeah, we're all here. Really? All right. Bye." Masaru spoke into the phone, before putting it away.
"Was that Suzu?" Rina asked, looking over at him.
"Yeah." Masaru replied walking over and standing next to her.
"Why did she call you of all people?" Katsuo asked, clearly bitter about it.
"Suzu and I used to hang out a lot when it was just the three of us, whenever Rina was busy." Masaru explained, "She would be late from time to time and give me a call. So she probably contacted me specifically out of habit."
Katsuo frowned and crossed his arms, leaning against a pole and remaining silent. They all waited quietly for a few minutes, before Rina could hear labored breathing and loud footsteps approaching. The four of them turned to see Suzu running up, clearly tired from it as it was something she seldom did.
"I'm so s-s-sorry!" She said between pants, "I d-didn't think I'd be running so late!"
Suzu was wearing her light green wool beanie, with a slightly thick white jacket and light green leggings, with black boots.
"I believe you live the closest to this bus stop." Masaru pointed out, "Did something happen?"
Suzu blushed and looked away.
"I over-overslept!" She insisted, "Th-Th-That's all..."
The others seemed to accept this answer, but Rina wasn't convinced. She thought it was much more likely that Suzu spent all this time getting ready, as she knew that she'd be seeing Katsuo today. But her secret was safe with Rina.
"As soon as the bus gets here we need to hurry!" Fuyuko said, bouncing up and down in her seat, "We only have so much time to do everything the park has to offer!"
"We can only go as fast as the bus will take us." Masaru said.
"Unless you wanna yell at the driver to hurry up?" Katsuo joked.
"I might do it!" Fuyuko said, "Don't tempt me."
Rina scooted over for Suzu to sit in between her and Fuyuko, and the five of them all waited for the bus together. It was only another few minutes or so when it showed up, and they all piled on.