“Whew, that’s all for today,” I said, humming to myself, and put my notebook into my desk in the classroom.

“You sure seem happy today, Asuka. Did something good happen?” Misaki cocked her head.

It sure did! We outsmarted Hibiki!

I know, I know. Red’s not about winning and losing. But it’s different when it comes to Hibiki. He’s our age, so I don’t want to lose to him!

…I can’t talk to Misaki about that, can I?

She continued to watch me curiously.

Hmm, what am I gonna say? I’m a bad liar.

“It’s nothing special, Himuro,” Kei interjected, lending me a hand. “Asuka is just excited for dinner tonight because it’s one of her favorite foods.”

Wait…is my mood really affected by what’s for dinner that much?!

I shot Kei a glare, but he ignored me and continued to pack his things.

“Oh, really? Asuka would be happy about something like that,” said Misaki.

What?! That actually worked?!

I guess that’s all that matters, though.

“What’s wrong, Asuka?” Yuzuki came over, holding a bag in her hands.

She’s gotta go to the home ec club after this, huh?

“That reminds me! I gotta go too!” I picked up my bag and stood.

“Huh? Are you going to help out another club again?” Yuzuki asked, but I shook my head.

“No, it’s Yukimura. She wanted to see me about something.”

“She’s the leader of the theater club, right?”

Yup. Not sure what she wants, though.

“Maybe she’s going to ask you to be in another play, like during the school festival?”

No way! That play was no walk in the park! Besides, the person I replaced in the play is already healed.

I guess I’ll find out when I see her.

I said goodbye to Misaki and headed for the gym, where I was supposed to meet Yukimura. I could see her standing there from behind as I approached.

“Yukimura!” I called out as I ran up to her.

“Asuka. I’m glad to see you didn’t forget.”

Me? Forget? I’d never forget a chance to see you.

Although I do wanna ask…

“Why is President Shiori here?”

For whatever reason, President Shiori was standing next to Yukimura.

“Am I not allowed to be here?” President Shiori said. Her face was very stern.

O-of course you’re allowed!

President Shiori was the president of our junior high’s student council.

Her strict manner of speech and charismatic leadership had earned her the nickname “the Ice Queen.” She was actually super nice, though.

“I’m here to see the theater club.” President Shiori shot Yukimura a glance.

“Yeah, let’s talk about it inside.” Yukimura nudged me from behind into the gym.

There was a basketball hoop set up smack-dab in the middle of the court. The basketball club was using half of the gym floor, with the theater club taking the other half.

There were about thirty people practicing their enunciation, split up into two groups that faced each other and saying lines back and forth.

If my memory serves me correctly, about seventeen or eighteen of the members are performers, and everybody else worksbehind the curtain. All of them do the vocal warm-ups together, though.

They’re all so focused that they haven’t even noticed I’m here.

Hm…?

Something seems off, though. Back during the school festival, they seemed so much more passionate and enthusiastic about rehearsal…

Maybe I’m just overthinking…? No, I doubt it.

“Did you notice already? Our club is actually facing a bit of a problem right now,” Yukimura told me.

“What kind of a problem?”

“You know how a theater club needs a theater? The culture festival is one time of year when we get one, but only performing once a year wouldn’t make for much of a club, so we usually borrow an auditorium outside of school to have more plays.”

Oh, really? So does that mean people who aren’t students also come to see your plays? That’s pretty neat!

“There’s a theater hall our club has always used, but about two months ago, a storm damaged the roof. Nobody got hurt, but the hall ended up closing down.”

“It did?? Then what are you going to do about the next play?”

“We have to reorganize all our future plans. We’ve done our best to find a new stage, but there’s nowhere we can afford with our budget. At this rate, we might have to cancel our annual play…”

No… You guys were so great during the culture festival. It would be terrible if you didn’t get to throw another play…

If I was in the club, I’d be down in the dumps, too. All that practice, and nowhere to show it.

“Is there anything you can do about it?” I asked, and Yukimura answered with a big smile.

“I think so, now that our savior has arrived.”

Y-your savior?!

“Let’s gather up over here, guys!” Yukimura called out to the theater club members, and they all stopped rehearsing to join us. “I have great news!”

Yukimura stood in front of the entire club, holding out both of her hands.

“What’s going on?” a second-year asked, raising his eyebrows.

“You guys know how there’s a big new theater hall being built nearby right now?”

“The one by the station, right?” said a third-year. “I heard it was for hosting the big stage productions in our town… Why?”

Actually, I remember seeing a big construction site near the station in in the downtown area.

A teasing twinkle appeared in Yukimura’s eye as she answered. “Wouldn’t it be awesome if our club could perform there?”

“Y-yeah, but it’s not like we would ever have the money for it.”

The rest of the club nodded in agreement, but Yukimura was still grinning.

“Heh-heh… Here’s the thing: Our club is actually going to be able to perform there!”

““Whaaaaaat?!””

The entire club erupted in shock.

“What’s that supposed to mean, Captain?”

“I’ll let Shio—er, President Shiori take it from here.”

Yukimura took a step back, and President Shiori stepped forward.

“The company that’s going to run the theater hall has reached out to our school. They’ve invited our theater club and band clubs to perform there. And they said we can use the hall for free.”

““Wooo!””

The cheers in response to the announcement were so loud it almost hurt my ears. And they practice projecting and stuff, so I mean loud.

Although I’m not sure I understand what they’re so excited about…

“I think we should celebrate by writing a new play for the event. What do you guys think? We have until the first Sunday of June to get ready, so about a month and a half!” Yukimura said with a big smile. You could tell she was excited.

“I-isn’t that a bit soon, Captain?! A new play…”

“We would only have time to rehearse during lunch and after school… Do you think we can pull it off in time?”

The club members, on the other hand, were not so sure.

Still, Yukimura was grinning. “Why do you think I called the president of the student council here?”

The members didn’t know; instead they all looked to President Shiori for an answer.

“The student council has decided it would be appropriate to allow the theater club to hold an overnight summer camp at school, using the upcoming weeklong vacation. We’ve already received permission from the school, and we’re allowing the band club to do the same. All that’s left is to decide whether or not you all want to.”

President Shiori looked out to the members, who nodded among themselves.

““Let’s do it!!””

They all agreed.

“I thought so,” said Yukimura. “And wouldn’t you know it, we already have a script! Kaho, if you would.”

With that, she signaled to one of the theater kids to come up to the front. The girl named Kaho, a second-year, was holding a stack of paper.

That must be the script.

“I actually started writing this script with the captain awhile back…”

“That’s right! And she wrote it with specific casting in mind for the roles.”

So they already know who’s gonna play who?

“Some of the newer club members might not know this, but occasionally, we write roles for performers to make use of their personalities and abilities. There will be no auditions for this next play, which means we can start rehearsing today! I’m sorry for going behind your backs, but you’ll thank me when you see how good the script is.”

While Kaho was talking, Yukimura started passing out some of the scripts, and the members began flipping through its pages.

“I’m not worried about the script if Kaho wrote it, but… Oh, is this one me? This is gonna be fun!”

“Whaaat, I have to play a girl?!”

“But look, it’s the perfect role for you!”

The actors all laughed together.

I guess they all trust Kaho with the script.

“I’m glad you guys like it. There’s one more thing…,” Yukimura said before turning to me. “I actually had you come here for this play, Asuka.”

Who, me?

I wasn’t sure why I was being called up all of a sudden, but I shuffled over next to Yukimura. She placed her hand on my shoulder before continuing.

“You really surprised me when you said you’d be in another play.”

“And you actually have your own part this time. That’s so cool!”

Misaki and Yuzuki were both excited to hear the news.

It was after school, and we were hanging out in the classroom. Homeroom had just ended, and everyone was busy getting their things ready to go home.

I’d be surprised too. It’s not like last time where I took someone’s place for the action scenes either. I never thought I’d get to be in a play before. I’m actually gonna have to act for real this time.

“Do you think you’ll be able to memorize all your lines?” Misaki said with a worried look.

“It’ll be fiiine! It’s not like I have a ton of them.”

“But you can barely remember a single line of math formulas,” Kei commented from the side.

Oof… I bet he’s still mad that I got such a bad grade on my math test. And after all that time he spent tutoring me.

But math and algebra are different! They ain’t Japanese!

“Oh! I should tell you this, Asuka,” Yuzuki said to me with a bright expression. “The home ec club is going to help with the costumes for this next play.”

“What?! Really?! I’m excited to see what you make, Yuzuki!”

“So does rehearsal start today?”

“Ah! Look at the time! I’d better go!”

The second I stood up to go, I heard a voice call out to me.

“Kouzuki! Let’s go!”

It was a loud, somewhat low girl’s voice. I turned around to find Minatsu standing at the doorway to our classroom.

“See you guys later!”

I rushed out of my chair and over to Minatsu, leaving Misaki and Yuzuki behind. Minatsu turned around without saying anything and began walking.

Is she angry…? We barely got to talk at all yesterday.

“Um, is it okay if I call you by your first name? You can call me Asuka, if you want,” I offered hesitantly, but she just gave me a side glance and didn’t even turn.

“We’re gonna be late, Kouzuki.”

Oof. I don’t know why, but Minatsu doesn’t seem to like me very much… She’s my teacher, and she taught me a whole lot yesterday, but she makes everything she says feel kind of mean. I saw her giving me a death stare while I spoke with Yukimura, too.

“Man, I love mornings!”

I was jogging through town. The cool morning breeze felt nice as it brushed by. This wasn’t my usual early training session, though.

Today was the first day of our week off from school—and my first day of theater camp!

“Look at you go, Asuka. You’re not even breaking a sweat,” Yukimura remarked as she jogged next to me. She wasn’t falling behind at all.

“You’re the first person to ever keep up with me during our warm-up runs,” she happily added.

You’d think the theater club was all artsy stuff, but it actually required a lot of physical activity.

“If you run out of breath onstage, it ruins the scene. Getting the stage ready and rehearsing is hard work, too,” was how Yukimura explained it.

Usually, the club ran on the school’s sports field, but during the camp, they were running a big circle through town around the school for about two miles. I usually ran six, so it wasn’t as intense.

Nevertheless, Yukimura was head and shoulders above the rest of the club when it came to physical fitness.

I looked behind us.

“Captain… Asuka… You guys are…too fast… Huff, huff…” A third-year was having a hard time behind us.

Once Yukimura and I finished our run, we headed over to the field, where we did some stretching.

“Look at you guys! You’re already exhausted!” Yukimura said. “Finish your stretches, then come to the gym for some sit-ups.”

The rest of the club was pretty much out of breath by the end of the jog, but Yukimura was completely fine, even though she was probably a little winded, too.

“Onstage, you have to speak clearly, no matter how much action is taking place,” she said. “It’s important to practice speaking properly even when you’re out of breath.”

Uh-huh! The audience would get thrown out of the story if everyone was huffing and puffing through their lines.

Ah.

Within the next batch of club members who arrived I saw Minatsu. She was barely standing at this point.

“You okay?” I ran over to her and handed her a towel. She seemed somewhat flustered before taking the towel.

“I’m…huff, huff…fine…”

She definitely didn’t look fine, but after wiping herself down with the towel, she started her stretches.

“Make sure you actively control your breathing while you stretch. It’s gonna be hard, but there are no breaks when you’re onstage. That being said, I want you to speak up if you’re not feeling well. Especially the first-years.”

Everyone nodded as they followed Yukimura’s directions.

After we finished stretching, we started doing sit-ups. You need a strong core for projecting your voice, or so I was told.

Yukimura and I were the first to finish the two sets of fifty.

When everyone was done, Yukimura called out to the rest of the club: “That’s the end of our warm-up. Now, let’s get ready for rehearsal.”

The club then dispersed throughout the gym. The cast all either rehearsed scenes or rehearsed the choreography. The stagehands began making the set, and the dress coordinators gathered in a separate room to work together with the home ec club on the costumes.

I never realized before how many people are involved in making a play possible.

“We’ll start from act two, scene three!”

I was paired up with the performers that I would be acting with, and we went over our choreography.

I only just figured out my lines—is my acting really gonna cut it?

“You should be okay here… No one comes this way.”

As soon as I said my line, a third-year student stopped the rehearsal and came over to me.

“Asuka, you sound like a robot,” she said. “Try to really get into the character this time. Again.”

Guess there’s a lot more to acting than just memorizing your lines. This might be harder than I thought…

“Then we should go to town! It would be so much fun,” Minatsu said in a loud, clear voice.

She’s perfect for the role!

After acting with her, I learned Minatsu was one of the best performers even as a first-year. She was the first to learn all her lines, and the words felt so natural coming from her.

“That was great, Minatsu! Do it the exact same way onstage.”

The third-year watching our rehearsal had no criticism for Minatsu.

“How’s rehearsal going?”

Oh, it’s Yukimura. She’s coming to check on us during her break.

Everyone lit up when she came over.

“I wish I could say it was going better. I think we’ll be ready in time for the show, though.”

“I can see you guys are putting a lot of effort into it!” said Yukimura.

“Definitely. We’ll get there! Right, guys?”

““Yeah!””

Everyone was ready to jump back in. Even Minatsu’s usual cold expression was wiped away for a happier one in front of Captain Yukimura.

Hmm, I can’t help but feel like I’m dragging everyone down. I wonder if I’ll be up to speed in time. Now I’m getting a little anxious.

Yukimura then turned to me. “What do you think, Asuka? Think you can handle the role?”

“Um, I still have some work to do… I did manage to memorize my lines, though.”

“I see… Here, could you try saying something out loud for me? Let’s do some voice training,” Yukimura said before taking a few steps back.

I’m not sure I understand what’s going on, but I’ll give it a try.

“Make it loud.”

I took a deep breath.

“Ah, eh, ih, ooh, eh, oh, ah, oh…”

I started doing the same voice training we did during rehearsal. Evidently, this “ah, eh, ih” sequence was a popular voice training method. It was good for checking whether or not you’re opening your mouth properly, or so I was told.

“Stop. That’s what I thought. I noticed you do this during rehearsal too.”

The sky outside the windows in the hallway was already pitch-black.

“Ahchoo! Ugh, it’s pretty chilly here…,” I said, shivering. Even though it was getting warmer these days, it was still cold at night.

After we finished our rehearsals, we used the high school’s showers to freshen up.

I looked at my watch, and it was already past nine o’clock.

Being at school this late feels kind of strange.

“Don’t catch a cold, Kouzuki.” Minatsu stared right at me.

“I’ll be fiiine! I haven’t caught a cold since preschool.”

“You know what they say about people who don’t catch colds.”

“Hm? What do they say?”

“I was asking you.” Minatsu cocked her head to the side.

Hmm… “Idiots” don’t catch colds, was it…? And here I thought we were starting to get closer.

But no, there’s another wall. I mean, she even still calls me “Kouzuki.”

“There.”

Minatsu glanced toward the end of the hallway, where there was a light turned on.

“Wow! When did you guys do this?!”

We entered the room, and it was packed with futons. I wanted to jump into the sea of soft fluffiness.

“Did the older kids do all of this?”

The first-years were all in the showers until then, so it couldn’t have been us. This meant that the older students did all of the work for us.

“That’s right. You guys made lunch for us today. We don’t want to make you do everything, so we handled this. The boys will be sleeping downstairs, of course,” Yukimura said from the far corner, smiling. “Once you guys pick out where you want to sleep, we’ll head to bed for an early night. We have to be up early tomorrow.”

“Okay!” we responded, and the first-years went to pick our spots.

After a game of rock paper scissors, I ended up on the hallway side of the room.

“Turning off the lights now!” one of the older students said, and then the room was dark.

I snuggled into my futon. The doors were closed, but this close to the hallway, it was a little cold.

“Minatsu, do you mind if I scooch a bit that way?”

I pushed myself a little bit close to Minatsu, who was next to me.

“Why…?” Minatsu groaned sleepily. She must’ve been tired after long day of rehearsals.

“’Cause I’m cold,” I said, and without waiting for her to answer, I snuggled up next to her back.

Oh yeah, this is way warmer.

I was almost certain she’d give me a flat no, but to my surprise, Minatsu said nothing.

Huh?

I realized I could hear soft breathing coming from her futon.

Minatsu was already asleep. I listened in closely; most of the room was already asleep.

Everyone must be tired after all that rehearsing. So am I—trying new things can really wear you out.

I closed my eyes, and it didn’t take long for me to join the rest of the room.

Hm…?

My eyes opened slightly when I thought I heard a noise. The room was dim.

I turned my head to look at the clock, and it was still two o’clock in the morning. Was the dim light coming from the moon?

Ugh, I woke up… Maybe I should take a little walk.

Careful not to wake up Minatsu, I quietly slipped out of my futon.

I threw on my school trainer jacket and went into the moonlit hallway.

The school sure does look different at night.

It was so quiet, even the air seemed still. The only noise I could hear was my own footsteps.

You’d think school at night would be a little creepier, but it really isn’t. Maybe that’s because Red always breaks into buildings during the nighttime, though.

“……Right……”

Huh? Did I just hear a voice? But who would be awake this late at night?

It’s not a ghost, is it…?

I began to walk toward the source of the voice and could hear it growing louder.

Is it coming from the gym?

I left the school building and headed for the gymnasium, but I couldn’t hear the voice anymore.

Maybe I went the wrong way. But I definitely heard it coming from this direction.

The gym door was left slightly open. I peered through the crack in the door.

Ah…

“Why can’t I hear you?! I know you’re there right next to me! So why…?”

It was Yukimura. Her hair was disheveled, and she was shouting.

This is one of the scenes from the play—but it’s the heroine’s line.

The moonlight shone down on Yukimura like a spotlight. She was so much more intense and dramatic than her usual self—it was captivating.

“Oh, Asuka? Is that you?” Yukimura turned around and looked at me with surprise. “What are you doing up?”

“I woke up. What about you? Isn’t this a little late for rehearsal?”

“I couldn’t sleep. I thought maybe some rehearsing might help wear me out, but then I got into the zone,” Yukimura said with a wry smile. “Want to chat for a bit?”

She waved me over, so I went and stood next to her.

I looked up and at the full moon through the gym’s windows.

“You weren’t practicing your own lines in the play just now, were you?”

“You picked up on that? Yeah, those were the heroine’s lines.”

Why is Yukimura running someone else’s lines? Isn’t she the main guy?

This question must’ve been written on my face, because Yukimura answered what I was thinking.

“Our club doesn’t have a lot of boys, so I usually end up taking on the male roles. I guess I just wanted to try a change of pace. I have the entire script memorized either way.”

“Wait, you have this entire thing memorized?!”

“That’s right. I’m the lead, after all. You never know when you’ll have to ad-lib when something goes wrong, and the best way to do that is to know everyone’s lines.”

She said it like it was nothing.

“I don’t think I could memorize that whole giant script. And you were even acting out the main girl’s part too. That means you have every scene laid out in your head, huh?”

“No one can do it when they first start out. The more you practice, the easier it gets to memorize lines, do the choreography, and project your voice. You’re good at sports, so you probably understand this, but—take basketball, for example. You need to practice dribbling and shooting three-pointers so that you can actually do it in a game. One big difference with acting starts before the technique, though…and that’s how you become one with the role.”

Yukimura took on a more serious look.

“Become one with the role?”

“That’s right. Every character that steps onto the stage is a living person. Each one has a life outside of the scene that is shown on the stage. It’s a performer’s job to picture that. How would your character study at school, go shopping, hang out with their friends; stuff like that. A performer pictures all those details to create their personality and how they would act, then learns to become it. That’s what acting is. And that’s what becoming one with the role is… Although I stole that explanation from someone else.”

Is that right? This is my second time working with the theater club, but I’ve never looked at it this way before. No one ever explained it like that to me.

But she’s right. Even though it’s all acting, we are depicting real-life people. And they have lives outside of what you see onstage.

This is true for my character, too, even if I only have a few lines.

As I nodded to myself, Yukimura grinned.

“You don’t need to worry about all that yet, Asuka. Just work on properly projecting your voice for now, okay?”

Oh, yeah… If I don’t consciously think about it, I still end up breathing using my chest.

Clouds blocked the moon, and the gymnasium went dark. But even in the gloom, neither Yukimura nor I seemed scared. It almost felt like time had slowed to a crawl.

“Can I ask you something?”

A question had popped up in my mind.

“What is it?”

“What made you want to be in the theater club? You’re really athletic; did you consider maybe joining a sports club?”

This was something that had been on my mind during our morning warm-up. Yukimura could keep up with me, and her movements on stage were excellent. So it had me wondering why she didn’t join a sports-oriented club.

Bing bong bang bong…

A loud bell rang out throughout the gymnasium.

At this point in the day, the props team was pretty much done with the stage.

Our spirits were high as we went to start dress rehearsal in the afternoon.

“All right, let’s take a little break!” Yukimura called out, and everyone let out a relaxed sigh.

We each went to where we had our things and drank whatever drinks we brought.

Even though this isn’t an action scene, I guess putting a lot of passion into rehearsal works up quite a sweat.

I was taking a sip of the sports drink I’d brought for the camp when I noticed someone out of the corner of my eye.

Hm…?

“Rehearsal is going well.”

I heard a voice from the second floor of the gym, and I looked up to find President Shiori watching us.

And that pretty girl next to her is…Kotone?!

There’s a guy in a white jacket behind them…

Woof, is that Hibiki Shirasato?! Wh-what’s he doing here?!

I wasn’t the only one surprised to see President Shiori.

“Shiori, what brings you here so early in the morning?” Yukimura asked President Shiori when she came to the first floor.

“We have guests with us today.”

“Guests… You mean those two?” Yukimura glanced over President Shiori’s shoulder for a quick view of Kotone and Hibiki.

“Yes. This is Kotone Hanasato. She’s a representative of the Hanasato Group, which is in charge of building the new theater hall. She was the one who suggested it be free for students to use.”

The club members erupted in chatter. Guess no one knew she was such an important person.

Which makes sense. You’d think Kotone is just any other attractive college student.

Kotone took a step forward with a smile.

“Hello, everyone. I came to meet the different schools that will be performing at our new theater hall and give you words of encouragement. I want our theater hall to be a place loved by the locals, so I’m hoping to always keep it free for students to use,” she said, surveying the club. “I’m looking forward to your show. So please give it your all! I’ve brought some food for your rehearsal, so please try some if you’d like.”

Kotone is always so generous!

Several of the kids oohed excitedly, and Yukimura stepped forward from the group.

“I’m the captain of the theater club, Yukimura. Thank you very much for giving us the opportunity to perform. We’re going to do our best to make the show amazing.”

She held out her hand for a handshake with Kotone—something Yukimura would be thoughtful enough to do.

“Hey… Is that boy next to her who I think it is…?”

“I think it’s the Middle School Detective, Hibiki Shirasato?”

“He’s even cuter than he is on TV.”

“I wonder if we can get an autograph?”

I could hear the theater club getting excited over Hibiki. He was standing a few steps behind Kotone and the others, apparently waiting on her. He was his usual self in his trademark white jacket with his arms folded in front of him and that cool, calm, and collected expression. He was so annoying.

But wait… What’s going on? He seems slightly out of it today, like his mind is somewhere else. I wonder if he’s just out of it. Or maybe he’s not feeling well.

Heck, why is he here with Kotone in the first place? They didn’t figure out that I’m Red, did they…?

As much as I wanted to say hey to Kotone, it was hard to do it in front of Hibiki.

What should I do?

“Oh?”

“You’re that…”

As I thought to myself, both Kotone and Hibiki noticed me at the exact same time.

I instinctively ducked a little bit into the crowd, but…

“Hibiki, you know Asuka?”

“I’m surprised you know her, Kotone.”

Hibiki looked at me with surprise.

“So you’re a student at this school, huh.”

Oh boy. This is bad. Come to think of it, Hibiki came to our school during the cultural festival, too.

The two of them walked over to me together.

“It’s good to see you again, Asuka,” said Kotone.

President Shiori turned and gave me a look that said, What’s going on here?

Uhhhh, it’s kind of a long story, President Shiori.

“I-it’s good to see you too, Kotone. Thanks again for the other day.”

I could feel the entire theater club staring at me from behind as I smiled and responded.

“The pleasure was all mine. But I am curious—where did you meet Asuka, Hibiki?” Kotone turned to Hibiki.

“………”

“Hibiki?”

“Oh, my apologies.”

“I’m freeeeee!” I shouted, taking up a lot of space to stretch my arms as I walked down.

The barrage of questions ended up taking my focus off rehearsal, and although I managed to come out unscathed, I was dead tired.

I’m just glad it’s time to go buy ingredients for lunch, or else I’d still be back at the gym getting interrogated.

“But wow, Asuka! You’re so cool. Not only are you incredible at sports, but you’re friends with famous people.”

“Yeah! I was so surprised when the middle school detective Hibiki Shirasato said he knew you.”

“It’s really not like that. It was more of a coincidence than anything.”

The two other first-years with me were still excited about what’d happened. The third, however, had been quiet this entire time and was just turning around to say…

“Enough with this silly chit-chat. We need to hurry if we don’t want to get in trouble.”

With that, Minatsu turned back around and stormed off.

“What’s her problem…?”

The other two girls frowned as they watched Minatsu go.

H-hey. You can’t talk to people like that, Minatsu. We’re supposed to depend on you…

I calmed the two down before scurrying forward to catch up to Minatsu.

“Hey, Minatsu. What are we making for dinner tonight?”

“…………” Minatsu just kept on walking.

Come on, now. We’re both going to the same place, either way.

The four of us were in charge of buying dinner. Minatsu was sent with us since she was the most experienced chef out of all of us.

Everyone’s counting on you, and that sure is something. It’s not just your cooking, either—you’re the best actor out of all of us by a long shot. A lot of the older students said you were perfect.

If only you weren’t so harsh all the time, you wouldn’t make yourself as much of a target…

We arrived at the supermarket, and each of us picked up a shopping basket. We were going to need a lot of baskets to buy all the ingredients we needed.

Minatsu stood in thought for a moment before stepping forward and dumping groceries into our baskets—multiple cabbages, bell peppers, tomatoes, and heads of lettuce.

Next was the meat section, where she piled up sliced pork and chicken thighs into our baskets.

“M-Minatsu… Is it just me, or are you putting all the heavy ingredients into my basket…? I have, like, five cabbages in here…”

“You’re the only one of us strong enough to carry that much cabbage, Kouzuki. We’ll split the load up before we head back to school.”

“Th-that’s true, I guess. Maybe we should’ve brought a boy or two for this, in retrospect. But I’m liking what I’m seeing, so it’s all good.”

“Oh…? Do you know what I’m going to make with all this?” Minatsu turned and stared at me with surprise.

Oh, she finally looked at me.

“Hmm, with these ingredients, I’m guessing you’re making twice-cooked pork and fried chicken. Am I wrong?”

“That’s spot-on, actually… You can tell that just by looking at the ingredients?”

“I sure can! My dad has me go out and buy ingredients for him all the time, so I can pretty much figure out what’s for dinner by looking at the shopping list.”

“If only you could use that memory for learning your lines…”

“Yeah, ha-ha… I wonder why it doesn’t work like that.”

“You really are a strange one, aren’t you?” Minatsu said with a look of disbelief and a shrug.

We paid for the mountain of ingredients before heading out of the store. Just as Minatsu promised, we split up the groceries into bags that all weighed about the same.

This time, however, it was Minatsu who was red in the face under all the weight.

“You know what, maybe I should take on a bit more of the load. You look like you’re having a hard time.”

“I-it’s fine! I can handle this much,” she said, but the way she could barely walk straight told a different story.

She’s a stubborn one.

The four of us began the trek back to school.

I helped the other two by taking on a little bit of their load, but about halfway through the trip back, Minatsu suddenly stopped.

“What’s up?”

I thought maybe the weight had finally gotten to her, but that wasn’t the issue.

“I’m sorry… I forgot to buy the doubanjiang sauce. You guys can go ahead without me.”

“I think we would be okay without the spicy bean sauce. I mean, we’re already halfway back.”

“No… It’s the most important part… I’ll go get it!” Minatsu said before turning around and heading the other way.

“Wait, I’ll go with you.”

“You two can head back first. You should make it in time for lunch.”

“Okay, we’ll tell the captain where you are.”

The two other girls nodded before picking up the heavy groceries and continuing their walk.

I watched them go a bit before hustling to catch up with Minatsu. We’d already gotten halfway back to the school, so we could end up being late. I definitely wanted to be back before afternoon rehearsal.

Minatsu knew this more than anyone, and she was walking really fast. The palms of her hands were bright red where she held the grocery bags, and I was starting to get worried.

“Here, Minatsu. Let me hold some more for you.”

“I’ll be fine… I want you to head back first.”

“I already said I’m going with you. Wait—where are you going now?” Minatsu turned a corner we didn’t take before. This one led into a neighborhood. “It’s just a little shortcut, because we’re in a hurry.”

“You sure?”

“I live near here, so I know the area.”

Dipping through narrow alleyways and downstairs, Minatsu knew exactly where she was going.

On the other hand, I didn’t have a clue as to where we were, and I knew I’d get lost the second I lost sight of her. Just as I hurried along to match her pace, I heard…

“That’s why I’m telling you, we shouldn’t walk…”

Hm? That voice sounds familiar…

“Hey, Kouzuki. Is that…?” Minatsu stopped in her tracks as well and pointed to an open plot of land. It was a secluded spot next to a run-down factory—and there, we saw none other than Kotone and Hibiki.

I thought they were supposed to be visiting schools…

“I know, but if we just drive everywhere, this won’t be the break you need from everything— Oh!”

Kotone scrambled to cover her mouth with both hands to stop herself. She glanced awkwardly at Hibiki and responded with a shrug and a sigh.

“I knew that’s what you were up to… I figured something was up when you wanted me to come as security for you, even though there was no news of an incoming crime.”

“Well, you’ve just been so tired all the time these days. It isn’t good to overwork yourself, you know,” Kotone said worriedly.

“That doesn’t mean we should go walking through neighborhoods we’ve never been to only to wind up lost. You even made us leave our phones.”

“If we brought those, my security outfit would find us with their GPS, so it’d defeat the purpose…”

Slumping over, Kotone seemed defeated. It was hard to imagine her ever feeling that way, given her usual refreshing bravado. That being said, Kotone had to have a forceful side to her for her to drag Hibiki out of the house against his will.

“Kotone… Do you think I’m doing something wrong?” Hibiki asked, suddenly shifting to a more serious expression.

“Where’d this come from? What are you talking about?” Kotone said with a troubled look.

“You know what happened during my most recent job.”

“You mean when Phantom Thief Red appeared?”

“Yes… I knew the owner of the mansion I was guarding had stolen art within his collection. I intended on bringing this fact to light, but Red stole the art first. That meant the original crime came to light on its own, the stolen art was returned to its original owners, and the criminal was arrested. I don’t think I could’ve produced the same results this fast…,” Hibiki mumbled as if he was thinking aloud.

“Hibiki…” Kotone stared back at him.

I didn’t know Hibiki Shirasato had so much on his mind…

“Kouzuki… If you’re planning to go up and talk to them, I’d rather you do it soon.”

Minatsu, on the other hand, was eyeing me while she waited.

Whoops, sorry. It was kind of hard to butt in… Although, yeah, we should probably help them if they’re lost. The least we can do is guide them back to a main road.

“I’ll go see if they need any help. Wait here for a sec.”

I started walking away from Minatsu and toward the two—and then I noticed something from the corner of my eye.

On the opposite side of the road, there was a man coming down the street in a worker’s uniform. At a glance, he seemed like any old worker you’d see around town.

But there was something strange about it all. The way he walked, I could tell he wouldn’t be easy to sneak up on or attack. I wasn’t sure what sort of physical labor he did, but there was something distinct about his gait.

Hibiki and Kotone had their backs turned to him, so they didn’t notice him. Meanwhile, the man was making no noise at all.

I noticed a slight grin on the man’s face.

“Kotone! Behind you!” I shouted before my mind could catch up.

“?!”

Both Kotone and Hibiki looked over at me as I ran toward them.

No, not this way! Figure it out!

The man rushed toward Kotone.

He’s holding something!

“Watch out!”

Finally noticing the man, Hibiki placed himself between him and Kotone, but in that exact moment, the man pulled out something and pointed it at Hibiki.

“Gragh…!”

In the next instant, Hibiki’s body shuddered, reeling back as he fell to the ground.

Is that…a stun gun?!

“Hibiki!” Kotone ran toward her friend. “Who are—? Ack!”

The man used his stun gun on Kotone, then caught her as she collapsed to the ground.

He’s not kidnapping her, is he?!

“Not so fast!”

I started sprinting toward the man, when—

Jolt.

—I felt a shiver run down my spine.

“!”

There’s someone behind me?!

Before I could turn around to look, I felt a heavy thud on the back of my neck, and my consciousness instantly began to go.

I can’t believe this is happening… How in the world did they get so close to me without me realizing it?

Minatsu…

As my consciousness faded, I could hear voices in the background.

“What should we do with these other two?”

“Let’s take ’em,” said a deep male voice. “Kids make good hostages. Forget the detective; he can’t do anything to stop us.”

My vision went black.

I’m not…gonna let you get…away with this…

Clack, clack, clack…

Mm…?

The noise sounded far away at first as I slowly woke up.

Huh? What was I doing again…? I think I went to buy ingredients for dinner with Minatsu and the other girls, but we had to go back, and… Oh!

Kotone got kidnapped!

I opened my eyes as much as I could.

“Asuka, are you awake?”

“Kouzuki.”

I could see Kotone and Minatsu in front of me.

“Kotone and Minatsu! You’re all right…! Ouch!”

I tried to get up, but I winced at the pain spreading down my neck.

“Don’t get up too quickly. Your neck’s all red and swollen.”

My neck was warm, too. Though I didn’t manage to see him, the guy who popped out of nowhere behind me was the one who did this. He managed to get me before I even sensed he was there.

Sure, I wasn’t focusing as much as I should have been, but I’m supposed to be Red… I can’t believe he got me like I was any other regular girl…

I bit my lip out of frustration.

The same goes for Kotone. If only I’d realized what was going on a few seconds earlier, she may have been able to escape. But instead…

“Does it hurt, Asuka?” Kotone looked over at me worriedly.

“No…” I quietly shook my head.

I can’t call myself Red like this…

I could feel my eyes welling up with tears as I bit my lip even harder.

“What, just one failure and you already want to call it quits?”

Kei?!

I couldn’t help but look around, but…there was no way he was there. I didn’t have my earpiece in, so I couldn’t have heard his voice just now.

But his words woke me up anyway.

I know Kei would never quit—that’s for sure. He’d think of a way to bust us out of here!

“No more regrets!”

I spoke to the two at a normal volume, and they looked back at me, surprised.

“Asuka…?”

I slowly propped myself up.

I’d better figure out how hurt I am, first. My neck…hurts, but I can deal with that. My hands are tied behind my back, and it doesn’t look like I can break out of that. My legs…are not tied up, so they can still move.

I bet they skipped my legs because they thought I’m just some kid. Yeah, you guys are gonna regret that later.

Next, I need to figure out where we are.

There are a bunch of cardboard boxes in this room, so maybe we’re in some sort of storage space? There’s one door and a small window near the ceiling; that’s where the light is coming in.

If we’re gonna bust out of here, it’s gotta be through the door, but they definitely have someone guarding it outside.

Okay! I think I’ve figured it out.

I may not be Kei whipping up escape plans left and right, but I can at least figure out my surroundings.

Clack, clack, clack.

Hm?

The noise I heard when I woke up was still there. It was Kotone, tapping what sounded like a pen on the concrete floor.

The pattern seemed to be random, instead of any specific rhythm.

“Does this bother you?”

Kotone saw me watching her hands, and she turned around to show me what was indeed a pen.

“It’s just a good luck charm.”

A good luck charm? That’s not what I’d expect from you in this situation…

“Asuka and Minatsu, I really am sorry you two had to get caught up in all of this,” Kotone said, bowing her head down and looking at the ground.

“H-hey, don’t say that. I mean, you got kidnapped too.” I stumbled over my words to try and respond.

“But it was me they were after. I never thought in a million years they would try something like that in broad daylight. This is all my fault, and I’m very sorry about this.”

“Do you think we’ve really been kidnapped…?” Minatsu asked, and I could tell she was scared. She wasn’t panicking, but you could tell she was trying not to cry.

“Yes. The culprits have kidnapped me to demand a ransom—or something else—from my grandfather. They’ll come for me when the time comes, and when they do, I’ll make sure to have them set you two free. So you don’t need to worry.”

You’re too hard on yourself. This isn’t your fault, Kotone.

“What’ll happen to you when they free us, though?”

“I’m the hostage they want the most, so they probably won’t do anything too severe… Hibiki is there for me, too.”

Hibiki… He was zapped down by the stun gun. I wonder if he’s okay. He seemed a bit off even before the attack.

“Hibiki is that boy detective, right? The guy who kidnapped you seemed to walk right through him.” Minatsu sounded annoyed, but Kotone didn’t let that get to her and smiled back.

“Yes, but it’s all right. I know he will come to my rescue… Like he used to.”

Used to?

“Did something happen to you two when you were little?”

“It did… Seeing as we have some time on our hands, would you like to hear a little story?”

“I was kidnapped when I was in the sixth grade.”

Th-this isn’t your first time?!

Minatsu’s eyes were wide, too.

“Like now?”

“That’s right. I was held for a ransom. I believe it was July, and I was on my way home from school. It was my fault for taking the back roads and trying to go home alone because I got into a fight with my grandfather…”

So you’ve always had a chauffeur, even when you were in elementary school. It’s a shame—making little pit stops whileon your walk home is the best part of coming home from school. I’d hate to be stuck in a car every day.

“A man with a face covering pulled me into his car and took me to a storage facility. My eyes were covered, so I couldn’t see anything, and they threw away my phone that had GPS on it.”

“Sounds scary! So you had no way of knowing where you were or calling for help?”

“My family was thrown into disarray when they realized I was gone. The police were at my house, and my grandfather, who is usually quite scary, left work to come home.”

“Yeah, I’d go home too if my granddaughter was kidnapped.”

“No, my grandfather is a stern, imposing man. It was unthinkable for him to put family over work. Up until recently, I couldn’t even look him in the eye when I spoke to him. I realized, however, that he’s at the top of an organization that employs tens of millions of people around the world, and he carries the weight of that burden on his shoulders.”

Tens of millions…

Minatsu and I looked at each other. I couldn’t even picture that many people.

“I mean, that sounds like a big job for one person, but he’s still your family, right? You must be really lonely.”

“Yes, maybe. But when I was little, I always wondered how he could be my grandfather in the first place. The fight I mentioned before was less of a fight and more of me getting angry because I thought he didn’t care.”

“Of course that’s not true! He’s family; he’ll always care.”

“I understand that now. Or, well, I guess you could say I learned it when I got kidnapped the first time.” Kotone smiled a little as she reminisced. “Where were we? Yes—the criminals who kidnapped me held me for ransom. They wanted one billion yen.”

O-one billion?!

Both Minatsu and I listened with our mouths agape.

“To be honest, I thought it was pretty low for a demand from the Hanasato Group. That being said, the kidnappers wanted it soon, before my family had time to work with the police.”

Kotone explained calmly, this like it was just how the world works.

One billion was low…? Kotone really must be super, ultra rich.

“The only solution the police could come up with was to pay the ransom. But there was no guarantee I would be safe even if my family did what the kidnappers asked. While this all happened, there was one person who kept searching for me.”

“I bet I know who that is…”

Kotone smiled at me. “That’s right. It was Hibiki. He was only in first grade back then, but the Shirasatos lived near us, so Hibiki and I had the chance to meet each other a few times before. His grandfather was formerly the police chief, and his father was a government official who worked with the police, so his family was well-to-do. Hibiki told me once before that he comes from a long line of police officers.”

A long line of police officers… Unlike me, who’s related to a long line of thieves—we’re basically cat and mouse. I bet even our ancestors used to butt heads.

“So Hibiki tagged along with the police and snuck into our house, but no one noticed a first-grader was there because of all the commotion. It was an emergency, after all. Once he was in, he started gathering information. He was able to get the kind of information the police don’t share with anyone else from the gossiping maids and butlers. They were in and out of the room where the police were to bring them food and drinks.”

W-wow, that doesn’t sound like something any normal first-grader would do… I always knew Kei wasn’t normal, but Hibiki gives him a run for his money.

“I learned this later, but what Hibiki wanted to listen to the most was the sounds in the background of the kidnapper’s phone calls to my home.”

“What sounds?”

“Trains, and the sound of the caller’s shoes, and the sound of a steam whistle. Those three things came through over the phone.”

“I see. Well, even I could figure that one out. A steam whistle means there was a boat, and there aren’t a lot of spots where you can hear both trains and boats now, are there?”

“At first, that’s what the police thought as well, but there were no such places nearby.”

Minatsu seemed surprised by this, too.

“There was one spot he could be driven to, but it was too far from the tracks to hear the trains going by, and the police didn’t have the luxury to go check every storage facility at every train station. I was being held captive, after all.”

“But Hibiki was able to figure out where you were using those sounds, wasn’t he?”

Kotone nodded. “That’s right. He explained his thought process to me later—that just because you could hear both a train and a boat didn’t mean there was actually one nearby.”

“Uh…huh? I’m not quite sure I follow…”

“I couldn’t, either—I had no idea what he meant by that. But think about it. The sound could’ve been coming from a TV or a computer. It would’ve been easy for the kidnapper to play random noises like that.”

So the kidnapper played fake sounds to throw you off his trail?

“Nope. According to Hibiki: The kidnapper’s actions were spontaneous and unplanned—he knew that as soon as he learned I was kidnapped after getting into a fight with my grandfather. So Hibiki considered another possibility.”

Another possibility?

Both Minatsu and I were fully engaged in the story at this point, leaning forward to listen.

“That a sound effect just so happened to be caught in the kidnapper’s phone call.”

Ah…

“So Hibiki called his classmates and asked if they knew a department store or mall that had a play area on its roof with boats and trains.”

“Why on the roof?”

“I’ve never been to one, but I hear it’s common for department stores to have tiny theme parks on their roofs for children to enjoy.”

“Oh, yeah! I used to go to those when I was little!”

“Hibiki said the sound quality of the attractions there was good enough to sound real, and that the boats and trains usually made noises when you rode them. He asked his classmates if they had any idea of a place that had both, and someone did. There was just one department store that had both.”

“So that’s where you were? I don’t know, the roof of a department store doesn’t sound like a good spot to keep someone captive.”

“Hibiki went to the top floor of the next building over and staked out the scene. It was July and very hot that day, and the kidnappers had me captive in a room with no air conditioning. I remember how much they were sweating. Though they tried not to open the windows, the heat got the best of them eventually.”

“That isn’t what Hibiki thought would happen, was it? No way…”

“From his vantage point, Hibiki had noticed some men who seemed restless. He later told me he ‘didn’t have evidence, but knew it was them.’”

“If he found out that much on his own, then I bet the cops took care of the rest after that, huh.”

“Unfortunately, no. The police trust him now, but back then, he was just an elementary schooler. He tried to make his case to the police, but they didn’t listen.”

That makes sense. Sure, he is a boy genius middle school detective now, but back then, everyone probably treated him like they did any other kid.

“So Hibiki waited for the police to leave for the deal with the kidnappers before heading out to rescue me himself.”

Kotone’s eyes were warm and nostalgic as she recalled the memory.

“After he came and got me, he called the police and had the kidnappers arrested. Looking back on it, the two kidnappers were pretty incompetent, but since there were two of them, this was my only way out.”

That must’ve been Hibiki’s first case, huh? Either way, it definitely doesn’t sound like how a first-grader would think or act…

As Kotone finished her story, she looked up at the quiet light that seeped in through the small window. It was faint, but we did have a little bit of light.

She stared at the light for a few moments before slowly turning back to us.

The door opened up, and some men wearing work uniforms came into the room. There were three of them, two of whom I was seeing for the first time now.

“Kotone Hanasato. You’re coming with us.”

The man who spoke was the same one who hit Hibiki and Kotone with the stun gun earlier. He must’ve been the leader. I guessed he was in his midthirties, and he was clearly very well-built, judging by the way he walked and carried himself. The same went for the two men behind him.

Kotone looked straight at the man as she got up from the floor.

“What about these two?”

“We only need you.”

“No! I can’t leave them alone here. You can take me where you want, but please, release these two.”

“Are you trying to bargain with the people who kidnapped you? You really are a Hanasato, aren’t you? I’m afraid I can’t do that, though. They saw our faces. We can’t let ’em go until it’s all over.”

The leader sounded very confident.

“What are you after? Money?” asked Kotone.

“Who knows? You sure don’t need to.”

“Whatever it is, your plan will fail. The Hanasato group is more than prepared for these sorts of things.”

“You say that, but it was awfully easy to kidnap you.”

The leader shrugged, and Kotone bit her lip. I could tell the men had no interest in hearing her out.

“If you do anything to hurt these two children, just remember that I will pay you back for it.” Kotone glared at the man.

“Simply do what we say, and the hostages will be fine, capiche? Our organization has rules for these sorts of things, too.”

Organization? So there’s more to this than just the kidnappers—there’s someone pulling the strings. Just like what happened on the SS Flower Song.

“Very well… Then please, hurry up and take me away.”

“You’re coming quietly? That was easier than I thought it’d be.”

“Don’t misunderstand… I will take the time it requires to persuade you,” Kotone said, staring straight at the man.

“Hmph.” He was as smug as ever.

Argh! I wish I could just beat him up! There’s only three of them, so I bet I could take ’em, but…I can’t. It would be too dangerous for Kotone and Minatsu.

Gah! This is so annoying!

Kotone looked back at us while she walked toward the men.

“I’m going to go now. You both will be safe, so don’t worry about anything.” Kotone tried to encourage us with a smile.

The men led her out of the room, and they shut the door behind them. I could hear their footsteps moving away, down the hallway.

“What’s going to happen to us…?” Minatsu whispered, as if she couldn’t hold it back any longer. Well, of course she was scared. This was a terrifying situation for a normal middle school student to be in.

“We’ll be fine, Minatsu. Kotone will negotiate with them to let us go.”

“How can you be so optimistic?! You have no idea what’s going to happen!”

As soon as she said this, she flicked her head up and glared right at me.

Slam!

We heard a fist being pounded against the door.

“Pipe down in there!” shouted a deep voice. Guess that guy was our guard.

Minatsu and I looked at each other in silence.

“Sorry…,” Minatsu finally whispered. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”

“It’s fine; don’t worry about it.”

It’s totally understandable to not be yourself. I mean, I probably would’ve rushed the guys earlier if I wasn’t secretly Red.

The question was: What could we do?

The man in charge said he wouldn’t let us out of here until it was all over, but who knew whether he’d actually do that. We’d already seen their faces.

And I couldn’t just change into my Red costume and go save Kotone because I was stuck here with Minatsu…

I’m gonna have to bust Minatsu out of here before I go help Kotone! Hibiki might be on the case, but I can’t let him do all the work.

“Minatsu… Let’s try to escape.”

“We can’t do that.” She shook her head. “It’s way too dangerous. We’re better off waiting for somebody to rescue us.”

I understood where she was coming from. Waiting for help was definitely the best option for a regular middle schooler.

But I’m not your regular middle schooler.

I whispered back to her. “It’ll be fine. The kidnappers are all focused on Kotone right now, so we should be able to slip right by.”

“And what about the guy guarding the door? And did you forget that we’re, you know, tied up?”

“Oh, I’ve already figured that out!” I said before rubbing the hands tied behind my back together, and before long—one of my hands was free.

“Shut up! This is all your fault, Kouzuki!” Minatsu yelled at me.

“What, you want to blame this all on me? You’re so selfish! How was I supposed to know this would happen?! And don’t forget that it was your brilliant idea to have us take that dumb shortcut!” I yelled back at her, matching her energy.

“And? They were your friends! If you hadn’t tried to approach them, we wouldn’t be in this mess! You’re so annoying! You’re like a walking jinx!”

“How can you even say that? You saw what was going on! How could you not care? You don’t care about anyone else around you!”

“Hey! Would you two shut up in there?”

The man outside the door yelled at us again, but we ignored him!

Minatsu and I stared each other down, both red in the face.

“You don’t think I care about other people?!” she shouted. “What makes you say that?!”

“You might be the best actor out of all of us! But that doesn’t mean it’s okay to keep to yourself and ignore us!”

“What does that have to do with you?!”

“It has everything to do with me! You’re part of a club! No matter how good at acting you are, you can’t spend all your time offstage acting like a big jerk to everyone! Or is it fun for you to always be alone?!”

“Y-you’re the last person I want to hear that from!” Tears welled up in Minatsu’s eyes. “You have everything already, and that’s why you don’t need to care! You’re always the special one!”

“Special?! Me?! That’s all in your head, Minatsu! I’m normal…”

“Normal people aren’t friends with people like Hanasato and the Middle School Detective! And President Shiori! And Captain Yukimura!! They always treat you extra special!”

“Th-that’s not true…”

“It is true! Why are you the only one Captain Yukimura has any hopes for?! I know way more about acting than you, and I’m a way better actress! So why?!”

The door swung open. “Listen here, you little brats! If you can’t shut up, I’ll make you shut up with some duct tape— Wait, what the—?!”

The man who came storming into the room stopped and stared wide-eyed at me and my plank of wood waiting for him by the door.

“Take this!” I smacked him in the back of the head with a two-by-four.

Thud!

The man passed out limply onto the floor.

“Did it work…?” Minatsu was cautiously peeking at the unconscious man from afar, but I walked right up to him.

Looks like it did. He’s out cold. Even if he is a bad guy, I tried not to hit him too hard, so he’ll probably wake up soon.

“Let’s tie him up before he comes to.”

We took the ropes the kidnappers used on us to tie the man up.

That oughta do it!

“It worked…” Minatsu let out a sigh of relief and wiped the tears away from her eyes.

“Wow, your acting really is something! I can’t believe you actually got so angry you cried.”

“Y-yeah… That’s easy stuff…” Minatsu looked away.

Hm? I was trying to compliment you…

“But forget about that! We need to get out of here before someone else comes.”

I looked at Minatsu, and she kept her face turned away from me as we headed toward the exit.

She’s right; we definitely can’t afford to be waiting around here.

I poked my head out of the door to get a look at the hallway, which extended out to our right and left. There was a bit of a curve toward the end, which made it impossible to see the far edge on both sides, but there was no one else on watch outside the door.

“Whew… The coast is clear,” I said, and Minatsu let out a sigh of relief.

“Let’s go.”

Minatsu and I left the room, and I held out my hand for Minatsu to hold onto. She flinched away at first, but then she took it and squeezed. I could feel her palms sweating.

“Let’s try this way first.” I pointed to the left. My guess was purely instinct, but that was all I had to go on.

Minatsu nodded nervously.

The two of us moved slowly down the hall, careful not to make too much noise with our footsteps. It was almost scary how quiet the hallway was.

The state of the floor and walls made me think the building was fairly old, but it wasn’t dirty, which meant it was well maintained…

I wonder where on earth this is. There are more doors, too; I wonder if they lead into rooms similar to the last one?

“Hey, Minatsu, where do you think—? Is something the matter?”

I glanced over at Minatsu, who seemed completely lost in thought. “Kouzuki… I think I’ve been here before…”

“Wait! Seriously?! Then maybe you’ll be able to figure out where the exit is.”

“That’s why I’m so confused. I can’t seem to recall—”

“Shh!” I interrupted Minatsu, putting my finger over my lips. It didn’t take long for Minatsu to figure out what I meant, and she immediately stopped speaking.

We both listened closely.

Clack, clack, clack—more footsteps.

Someone’s coming?! This is bad! We’re in a hallway with nowhere to hide! They’re gonna see us!

I was about to panic when I felt a tug on my arm.

What was that?!

I turned to see Minatsu pointing at a tool locker down the hall.

We might be able to hide in that!

Minatsu and I scurried over to the locker and opened it, careful not to make any noise. It was empty.

What luck! There’s nothing in the locker.

The two of us wasted no time getting into the locker. It was a tall, thin locker, so we had to hug each other tight to fit.

Minatsu’s exhausted breath brushed up against my face. I could almost hear her heartbeat.

Clack, clack, clack, clack.

The sound of the footsteps was getting louder. Both Minatsu and I were barely breathing.

“Why’s do I gotta sit there and watch some twerpy kids? What a load of bull…”

The footsteps stopped right in front of the locker. We could hear the man speaking to himself and held our breath. I could just make out the man’s work uniform through the air vent in the locker door.

But not for long; he must have squatted down.

“There should be a back door this way.”

With Minatsu guiding, the two of us cautiously progressed down the hall. The hall was lined with doors here and there, and we had no way of knowing when one would open up.

We listened carefully as we moved forward, waiting for anyone to come.

“There,” Minatsu whispered and pointed down the hall. “That door leads onto the stage, and there should be a door to our left that leads outside.”

Woohoo! We’re gonna make it out of here!

Minatsu seemed relieved, too.

“Let’s hurry up and—”

Just as I invited her to go, it happened.

“Hey! The hostages are loose!”

We heard a loud voice calling from down the hall.

Oh snap!

It was the man we’d hidden from earlier; he was on his way back after figuring out we were gone.

I looked at Minatsu and could see she was panicking.

We gotta hide! This way!

I grabbed Minatsu’s arm and ran down the hallway, opening the first door we came across. I closed it behind us and put my ear against it.

I could hear the man running by—his heavy footsteps grew quieter once he passed the door.

Looks like we slipped by him again, but we can’t stay here much longer.

And I just jumped in a random door, but what is this room…?

It was too dark to see properly, but I could make out some large machines in the shadows.

“I think we’re backstage, where they keep the machinery,” Minatsu said quietly as she scanned the room.

We moved carefully toward the far end of the room, where there was a small light.

It looked like we were on a side stage. I quietly looked out at the stage, where I could see four or five men in work uniforms. They all seemed really intense, and they looked ready to move.

It’s them, for sure.

“What are you after? Why did you kidnap me?”

Is that Kotone?!

We crept forward, careful not to make any noise, to see the source of the voice.

Ah…

“How did you find us?”

The leader walked toward Hibiki with fury in his eyes. But Hibiki didn’t relent; he pulled out a small square device from his pocket.

“This is a transceiver. I know you broke Kotone’s phone so we couldn’t follow the GPS, but I guess you failed to find the bug I placed in her pen. Kotone’s Morse code was all I needed to find this place.”

Morse code… I think Kei said it’s a way to convert sounds to letters of the alphabet and send messages.

Ah! So that’s why Kotone was tapping her pen earlier… And how she knew Hibiki would come.

Good job, Hibiki!

“Huh, you don’t say. I guess they don’t call you the Middle School Detective for nothing.”

The men looked away from us and focused on Hibiki.

Looks like we’re safe, for the time being. Now we just need Hibiki and the police he brought along to— Wait a sec…

Huh? Whenever Hibiki comes barging into a scene, healways has police with him, which is why I expected this time, too.

So why’s he alone?

“So, how many police are with you?” The leader’s cautious expression slowly shifted into a grin. “Let me guess, twenty? I know you didn’t come here alone.”

“…………” Hibiki didn’t respond.

Wait, he didn’t actually come alone, did he? Why would he do that?!

The leader was back to his smug self. “They didn’t believe you, did they? That we kidnapped Kotone Hanasato right in front of you, just like how Red snatched the stolen paintings from you before. I bet the police have lost faith in you.”

Whaaaaaat?! It isn’t all Red’s fault that the police aren’t with Hibiki, is it?!

“I knew I wouldn’t need the police to capture the likes of you. That’s all.”

Though Hibiki’s tone remained unchanged, he had to be bluffing in these circumstances.

I mean, it’s one versus like five guys. At this rate, they’re gonna capture Hibiki too.

But Hibiki was still calm. “Besides… You don’t actually think I came here unprepared, do you?”

“What do you have up your sleeve?” the leader asked, and Hibiki activated something with his phone.

Ring-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling!

The alarm sounded out of nowhere.

“What did you do?!”

At the same instant, water erupted from the ceiling above the stage and audience seats—it was the sprinkler system for a fire. The spray was going in every direction.

“Why you little—!”

The men all covered their faces, but the water was relentless. They were drenched within seconds. We, on the other hand, managed to slip over to a nook in the side stage, where we avoided getting wet.

“I made a few tweaks to the fire alarm system before coming in,” said Hibiki.

He stood in the entrance, completely dry, watching the men get soaked.

So you did come prepared. Nice job, Hibiki!

Then he pressed another button on his phone, and the water system settled down.

“Tsk! So we’re a little wet—what does that matter?! C’mon, boys! Get ’em!”

The men, dripping with rage as much as they were water, marched straight for Hibiki.

Hibiki, however, headed into the audience chairs, ready to meet them halfway.

Nice moves! That limits the number of people who can come at you at once.

“Argh!”

One of men let threw a punch at Hibiki, only to fall flat on the floor.

It didn’t look like Hibiki struck back just now… What just happened?

“Gragh!”

The men all began to fall over, one after another. Within an instant, he’d brought down five guys.

Wait, is Hibiki actually super strong?

“You… So that’s why you set off the sprinkler!” the leader howled in frustration.

“Too bad you didn’t figure it out sooner. Water conducts electricity, which helps this pack just enough punch.”

Ah! Hibiki has a stun gun of his own! So this was your plan all along!

“Circle ’im! He can’t take us all on at once!” the leader called, and the remaining men began to spread out. This time, they approached him together, instead of going one by one. I guessed about ten men were within the audience seats.

This looks bad… I don’t think he can take them on if he’s surrounded.

Should I pop out and help? But if I do anything too effective, he might figure out that I’m Red.

What else can I do…? There has to be a way I can help without revealing who I am…

“Gah!”

Hibiki zapped a guy who came from his left with a stun gun, then just barely managed to make it in time to zap the guy coming at him from his right.

Although he only needs to poke them with the stun gun, these guys all look like trained fighters. This might be hard for him to do alone.

Nevertheless, Hibiki smiled as he wiped the sweat from his cheek.

“Asuka! This way!”

That voice!

I followed the voice through the darkness until eventually I could see a section of the floor lowering, about three by six feet. Soon, there was a hole in the floor of the stage.

I didn’t have time to think, so I tugged Minatsu’s arm, urging her to follow me. She was startled.

I nodded to her. “Sorry about this,” I said, hoisting her up and holding her in my arms.

“Come down, six feet.”

I could hear the voice coming from within the hole. Holding Minatsu, I plunged down onto the stage.

I felt weightless for a moment, before gravity pulled me down.

Tap!

Just as the voice told me, there was a floor about six feet under where the hole was.

I stuck the landing!

And though it was dark, I was able to land unscathed thanks to the voice coming from the darkness.

“This way!”

I heard the voice again, whispering to me. I put down Minatsu, and the two of us ran toward the source of the voice.

“Wh-what’s going on…?” Minatsu whispered to me.

“I’m not sure, but I think…”

We followed a figure that was running up ahead of us into a different room. Once we were inside, the person finally turned around to face us.

“I’m glad you two are okay.”

The figure turned on a small light, and both Minatsu and I went wide-eyed.

“Yukimura! And President Shiori! I thought I recognized your voices, but…what are you two doing here?”

“We can’t stay here for long, so we’ll explain that later,” Yukimura whispered, as she listened for what was going on outside.

“What was that hole that opened up in the stage?”

“Oh, that’s a trapdoor. It’s used to make performers disappear mid-show in an instant. Oh, and we left some dry ice going up there, so it’s making a little smokescreen. They shouldn’t be able to find us anytime soon.”

So that was that cold breeze.

“Let’s get moving,” President Shiori told us, and we all nodded.

As soon as I entered the theater, I could hear shouting from far away.

It’s coming from the stage—that’s Kotone and Hibiki!

The lights were back on at this point. Kei said he didn’t do anything, which meant the kidnappers had fixed the lights.

“What’s the situation, Kei?” I asked as I ran down the hallway.

“I can’t tell the details. The security cameras are all off. I’ve managed to turn a few on, but I don’t have the full picture yet.”

Bummer… This building is going to be destroyed, so the security cameras must’ve been turned off.

“Instead, I managed to get my hands on a blueprint. I know how long your stride is, so I should be able to give you directions based on the number of steps.”

“You say that like it’s nothing, but I bet that’s super hard to calculate. I’m glad you’ve got a plan, though.”

“I always do. I want you to take a right in ten steps.”

Sure enough, there was a right turn ten steps down the hall from where I was. I followed the path straight for a while after.

“Okay, be careful. There should be someone watching the next left turn.”

I stopped at Kei’s warning and peeked past the corner, and there was indeed a man in a work uniform standing guard.

“We need to keep going without raising the alarm. Put him to sleep.”

“You got it.” I flicked a pellet filled with sleeping gas at the man.

“Ugh…” The man went down with a thud.

“Now, move forward a little and there should be a vent that leads to the space above the ceiling. I want you to take that space into the stage area.”

“The space behind the ceiling? You sure we have the time to go the long way? I’d much rather take them on directly!”

“There’s too many of them, so we’d be at a disadvantage in a head-on fight.”

Even if Hibiki did manage to take out a few of the kidnappers, there was just too many of them to begin with. Kei was right—the careful approach was probably better.

Following Kei’s directions, I passed through a vent into the space above the ceiling and headed for the stage.

After a decent amount of crawling, I eventually saw a light. There were steel beams sticking out over the stage, and under them was a walkway. I could also see the stage lights hanging under the walkway.

“You’re above the stage now, and they’re right below you. Don’t make a sound.”

It was definitely a tall order, and Kei said it like it was the obvious thing to do.

But…I’ll try!

I carefully lowered my leg onto the walkway, then grabbed one of the steel beams, trying not to make a sound before I lowered myself.

Whew… I did it.

I hid above the walkway as I listened in. I could hear voices coming from below.

“You should give up, kid. You’ve done good for being outnumbered.”

I peeked over the ledge and saw Kotone and Hibiki.

They had their backs to the wall, surrounded by the kidnappers with nowhere to go. Hibiki was covered in cuts and bruises, while Kotone stood in front of him to protect him.

“Kotone, I want you to run away while I hold them off,” Hibiki said.

“What are you talking about?! You know I’d never do that!”

Kotone shook her head, and Hibiki didn’t argue further. I guess he was expecting that response.

With determination in his eyes, Hibiki glared at the group of men.

I need to hurry up and save them!

I wanted to jump down and help as soon as I could.

“Calm down. Everything is ready on my end. Let’s do this.”

You got it!

I dropped a stack of papers I’d collected along the way back, which all fluttered down to the stage like a snowstorm.

“What the—?”

The men all looked up in confusion. I was hiding behind the walkway, so they couldn’t see me. Still, the falling papers had the men on edge. This was part one of Kei’s plan.

“This better work…”

I’d folded a note that I threw down together with the papers. All the paper was falling at once, but I’d tried to give the note a little extra momentum.

If Hibiki misses this, then the plan’s a bust…

“…………!”

Hibiki squinted and managed to pick out the paper in a heartbeat.

I think he saw it…

“Take this!”

Hibiki picked up a two-by-four and threw it at the men.

“Ack! So we’re gonna do this the hard way, eh?”

Everyone was on edge. I was in the dressing room in the new theater hall, along with Yukimura, Minatsu, and the entire theater club!

That’s right! Today’s the big day!

“Minatsu! We don’t have enough people to do all the makeup. Do you think you could get the first-year students for us?” one of the older students asked.

“Sure! I’ll be right there,” she called, then came running over with her own personal cosmetics box.

After the kidnapping, I returned to the school in one piece, which was good, but…there were police waiting for me at the school. Which made sense, given the whole kidnapping thing.

Me and Minatsu and Yukimura and President Shiori all had to tell the police what we saw. But despite the commotion, President Shiori managed to convince the school to allow us to continue our summer camp.

“Kouzuki,” said Minatsu, “would you mind helping me out with something? Captain Yukimura wanted me to bring colored duct tape and sandwiches to the stage area for the older students. Could you bring them for me?”

“You want me to do it?”

Before, Minatsu never would’ve asked me to do something that Yukimura wanted her to do—she’d want to do it herself. But ever since the kidnapping, she’d started to rely on both me and her other fellow first-year students more.

Although she still calls me Kouzuki…

I took the colored duct tape and sandwiches from Minatsu and went into the hallway.

“Oh, Kei and President Shiori! What’re you doing here?”

The two were waiting outside in the hallway.

“How are the preparations going, Kouzuki?” asked President Shiori.

“They’re going well! We’re as ready as we’ll ever be—I’m just glad we were able to finish our summer camp! Get ready for a show that’ll knock your socks off!!

“Except for Asuka’s scenes. Your socks will be fine during those,” Kei mumbled from the side.

“Hey! I’ll have you know I rehearsed my butt off for this! My mentor Minatsu and Yukimura and the older kids all helped me, too! You won’t even be able to find your socks after you see my performance!”

“I guess I have something to look forward to, then.”

Huh?

That was oddly sincere for him, so I didn’t know what to say.

Kei turned to President Shiori. “We’d better be getting to our seats.”

What? Already?

“I’m not affiliated with the theater club,” he added. “I was just helping President Orihara find the dressing room.”

Oh, I see.

With that, Kei returned to his seat in the audience.

“So, why did you want to come here, President Shiori?” I asked.

“I’ve actually seen everything I need to see. I just wanted to check to make sure you weren’t impacted by the kidnapping too much. I’m looking forward to seeing you onstage. Break a leg.”

“Thank you! I will!”

President Shiori left, looking satisfied.

Now I’d better get going, too!

I was finally wearing my costume and performing one last check. It was almost showtime.

Knock, knock.

Someone was at the door.

Hello there! This is Phantom Thief Red’s recordkeeper, Shin Akigi.

Asuka had to deal with a new play this time—and she got to go to theater camp! Sounds like fun.

“As for me, I was just concerned she might cause more problems for the school.”

Oh! I know that long, black hair and sharp face—President Orihara?! What’s the Ice Queen doing here?

“I was out on a walk and found myself here… Oh, and you dropped something.”

Ah! That’s my copy of Kei’s secret message. I wanted to try and break the code, but completely forgot about it. But…I wasn’t having any luck.

“844266557777…?” President Orihara is tilting her head to the side.

It’s supposed to be some sort of secret code. Do you have any idea?

“A code… Yes, I think I understand now.”

Yeah, it’s really hard to— Wait, did you just say you figured it out?!

“Yes, the key is a cell phone.”

A cell phone?

“Look at the number keys.”

Let’s see… 8 is T, 44 is H ’cause it’s the second letter on the key, then A, N, K, S. ‘Thanks’! That’s it!

“I believe that should be the answer. I really must be on my way now. I have a student council meeting. Goodbye.”

Oh, there she goes. President Orihara, please help Phantom Thief Red out when you can.

Ah, one last thing. Phantom Thief Red can get themselves into really sticky situations. Just make sure you never try to follow their example, okay?

With that, let’s both look forward to their next adventure!

Shin Akigi