Kimura Seiji:

"Excuse me, I wanted to ask if there was any theft last night here?"

Currently, I was standing in front of the nearby temple of my apartment and asking this question to the priest. 

Today, I didn't have my part time job. So after the school ended, I was supposed to go home. However, on the way to home, I stopped beside the nearby temple to ask something. The reason for the query was simple -

Tsukino said she stole the money from the nearby temple. If so, the priest must knew about this. But the priest tilted his head in confusion. 

"Theft? What are you talking about?"

"So no money has been stolen?"

"No. Nothing has been stolen."

I see...

So that meant Tsukino lied to me? She didn't steal any money from the temple. In fact, I now think she didn't steal any money at all. So there must be some other reason for her hiding from Police.

This was bad... that article on the newspaper was continuously coming to my mind.

Oh please tell me what I am thinking is not true...

A couple were murdered last night in this town, and the daughter, who got missing, was the suspected killer. Was Tsukino Rie the daughter and the murderer?

But then... the couple who got murdered were surnamed "Mitsuba", and not "Tsukino". But... it could also be possible that Tsukino lied to me and her surname was actually not "Tsukino" but "Mitsuba".

My head wasn't working anymore.

When I reached my apartment, I saw one policeman still standing nearby. So the situation hadn't improved at all. 

I slowly went ahead without looking suspicious. When I reached my front door, I sighed in relief. Then suddenly I remembered an important thing before opening the door.

Should I immediately ask Tsukino to leave my home? 

After all, she lied to me regarding her crime. Now, I hoped she was not some murderer. But one thing was for sure, she had done something very fishy. 

The sooner she leaves, the better for me. But again, the police was still outside. If she immediately gets caught by the police, they would understand that she was hiding inside my room and I would be in trouble as well.

Still in confusion as of what to do, I decided to open the door. I had locked the door from outside and I had the keys. When I entered, my heart almost stopped for a second.

Tsukino was standing in front of me. However, she was smiling. 

"Welcome! I saw you coming from the window."

"Oh I see. Wait! Don't stand by the window. The police could notice you from outside."

Tsukino suddenly felt panicked. Did she not think about it before? 

"O-Oh no, you're correct. I totally forgot about it, although I didn't stay by the window for more than 5 minutes. And I curtained the window as well."

I sighed. She almost made both her and me get caught by the Police.

"Anyway, I will go change."

"K-Kimura-kun, I have made something for you."

"Huh?"

"You see, when you were in school, I thought about making something for you. You have done so much for me after all."

She then indicated me towards the dining table. There were four plates of food - rice, veg curry, fried fish, miso soup. It was nothing too flashy, but still seemed delicious. 

I rubbed my eyes to check if I was seeing this correct. 

"How did you?"

"I used some of the ingredients from your fridge. Perhaps... I shouldn't have done without your permission?"

"No. I don't mind. But you really did all this for me?"

"Yeah. I wanted to payback someway."

"Well I didn't ask you to payback though."

"No. But I also wanted to do something for you."

She looked at the other way while being a little embarrassed. I could only smile at the moment. It seemed as if all my worries disappeared temporarily. I couldn't wait to try her cooking.

I first took a bite of the fried fish she made. It was, as I expected, delicious.

"This is good!"

"T-Thank you. I'm glad you liked it." 

She smiled while sitting beside me. Suddenly I thought something terrible. 

Wait a minute... she didn't mix something in the food right?

"What happened, Kimura-kun?"

"By the way, you didn't make something for yourself, Tsukino?"

"No."

"But you didn't eat anything since morning right?"

"It's okay. I'm not hungry."

Those words weren't trusting at all. 

I stood up and went to get another plate. She didn't understand what I was doing. 

"You made a lot for me. You should eat some too."

"It's okay, Kimura-kun."

It wasn't okay. I needed to ensure that the food was safe. I took some fish and almost forcibly fed her.

"Here. Say 'Ahh'."

"O-Okay. It's a little embarrassing. Ahh."

She finally accepted my proposal and ate the fish. Honestly, even I was embarrassed to feed her but I finally relaxed after seeing her comfortably eating the food.

"It was delicious, isn't it? You cooked well."

"Y-Yeah."

I felt a little bad for suspecting her of mixing poison to my food. But anyway, both of us ate well in the end.

After eating, we both sat down on the floor of my bedroom and watched the TV. I then remembered that I needed to ask Tsukino something important. 

I had found out that Tsukino didn't steal any money and there was some different reasons for the Police to be after her. However I didn't have the enough courage to ask this directly.

 

Suddenly, it was Tsukino who broke the silence. 

"Umm... Kimura-kun."

"Yeah?"

"I think it's time for me to leave."

"Eh? But the police?"

"I can't trouble you forever after all. The police don't seem like they are going anywhere. So I need to escape anyway."

She was correct but...

"I see... but if you get caught..."

"Don't worry, Kimura-kun. Even if I get caught, I won't tell the police that you helped me to hid here."

Ugh... she saw through my thoughts. 

"I see."

"Kimura-kun helped me so much. I will make sure he doesn't get involved with the Police anymore."

"Thanks but...."

It was perfect... I could finally get out of this trouble. But for some reasons... I didn't want this.

"Tsukino... I think you should stay for a couple more days."

"Eh?"

"It's only been one day. I think the police will give up after a few days."

"But..."

"It's not as if I'm being troubled a lot. Plus you can occasionally cook for me as well."

"....Thank you... Kimura-kun is really kind..."

She gave me a gentle smile and bowed to me in gratitude.

"By the way, you should go and take a bath."

"S-Should I?"

"Yes. And you should also wash your clothes. You're my guest currently."

"T-Thank you. But I have no spare clothes."

"It's okay... you can wear some of mine. They will definitely fit you."

Her face suddenly turned red as a tomato. She somehow kept her composure and said "Thanks". She probably got embarrassed. 

While she went to bath, I got a rare chance to investigate something. I made sure she was in the bathroom and then went to check her bag.

Apart from the money, there was some books, notes like what you see in someone's schoolbag.

There was her ID card - and I was shocked. The name of the school was same as mine - She was in my school?! 

There was also one book which caught my attention- a chemistry book. But the name written on the book was of someone else whom I knew -Nanase Mio - the girlfriend of my friend, Kenji.

What kind of a mystery is this?

[Next Chapter: The Truth]