COTE : Oh No, I've Become the Substitute

As the deep, resonant chime of Big Ben rang out, the students of first-year Class A concluded their final class of the Monday afternoon.

The sounds of zippers opening and closing rose and fell in succession. Students with club activities or remedial lessons were the first to leave the classroom.

Fuyuji Mikage interlaced his fingers and placed them before his mouth, his expression so grave and solemn it seemed as though he were about to deliver his last will and testament. With carefully measured cadence, he spoke.

"Listen well. A few days ago, I received a mysterious commission to investigate the most terrifying figure in the history of the Advanced Nurturing High School. His methods are brutal. His underlings are insidious and cunning. He stops at no evil, hesitates at no means to achieve his ends. His movements are shrouded in secrecy. No one knows his true identity."

"It is said that he hides within the darkest, most unknown corners of the Advanced Nurturing High School, covertly manipulating everything from the shadows."

As he spoke, feeling the afternoon sun glare harshly into his eyes, Fuyuji stood up and, with a swift whoosh, drew the curtains closed. The corner of the classroom was plunged into darkness. He then returned to his seat and continued.

"Every single person who has attempted to trace him has suffered incomparably vicious retaliation. Those who draw near to him, moreover, will have etched deep within their hearts an indelible—"

A fair, slender little hand reached over and pressed itself against Fuyuji's forehead.

"No fever." Morishita Ai then touched her own forehead and muttered, "Fuyuji Mikage, have you been reading too many detective novels lately? Watch more Kamen Rider. Detective novels are all fake. Kamen Rider is the real thing."

Shaking his head to dislodge Morishita's palm, Fuyuji straightened his expression and spoke with righteous gravity.

"I'm not joking. This is a commission from a detective. I will assist her in investigating the darkest high school student in history, unraveling one mystery after another. This process is destined to be fraught with peril. We will be assailed by the countless claws and fangs of his underlings. But no matter. To uncover the truth of this case, to bring light to the campus of the Advanced Nurturing High School—all of this will be worth it. Therefore..."

Yet another small hand settled upon Fuyuji's neck, gently stroking his Adam's apple. Morishita's voice, normally devoid of any emotional fluctuation, had, against all expectation, turned impossibly sweet and melodious.

"Fuyuji Mikage~ You have three seconds to clearly explain exactly what you're trying to say~"

"I have something else to do. You two go on ahead." Fuyuji's eyes were perfectly clear and limpid as he explained everything in one second flat.

"That two-player game at Keyaki Mall just dropped a new event. You two can give that a try. Have dinner there. Save me a seat."

"Wasn't it supposed to be someone extremely dangerous? How come you're still coming back alive? And I have to pay extra for another person's dinner?!" Morishita, whose turn it was to pay today, loudly demanded an answer.

"If I really do run into danger, I'll get on my knees and beg him to spare my life. For the sake of my last supper." Fuyuji stated without the slightest change in expression.

"What a useless murderer. So much for ruthless and brutal?" Morishita pursed her lips with utter disdain.

"Don't you dare slander him like that!" Fuyuji slammed the table in vehement protest.

"Then I'll simply pray that murderer commits suicide as soon as possible. That way, all his assets will become mine. Yamamura Miki, let's go!"

Grabbing hold of Yamamura Miki, who still looked as if she wanted to say something, Morishita dashed out of the classroom in a flash.

Sorted!

Fuyuji took out his phone.

Now all he had to do was wait for Shiina—

"What time are we eating?" Morishita, having already fled, had come back. She poked her head into the classroom and asked.

His phone having smacked onto the floor with a sharp slap, Fuyuji replied in exasperation. "Seven o'clock."

"If you're late, Morishita-sama will not be saving any dinner for you." Morishita's voice drifted further and further away.

"Got it."

Once Morishita had gone far off again, Fuyuji retrieved his fallen phone from the floor, gathered his belongings, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and headed toward Class C.

Unlike the orderly atmosphere of Class A, where everyone had their own tasks to attend to after class, Class C was distinctly permeated with an air of anxiety. A clamor of chaotic noise rose from within. Every now and then, a curse or two would be spat out.

Amid such an atmosphere, the quiet girl in the corner stood out like a lotus rising unsullied from the mud.

Seeing Fuyuji appear at the classroom entrance, Shiina Hiyori also stepped out in her small, measured strides. Carrying her own backpack, she rendezvoused with Fuyuji, and the two of them strolled together along the corridor.

"Do you have a plan? Miss Holmes?"

The faint sound of their indoor shoes stepping forward echoed through the corridor. Fuyuji turned his head. Strands of silver-white hair fluttered behind her. A faint fragrance of plum blossoms wafted into his nostrils.

Shiina's snow-white little face instantly flushed bright red. "No, that can't be right. How could I possibly be Holmes?"

"An investigative duo looking into the Moriarty of the Advanced Nurturing High School—isn't that precisely Holmes and Watson? You are Miss Holmes, and I am Watson. Only this way does it properly conform to the plot of a detective novel, does it not?"

Shiina stopped in her tracks. Pressing her index finger against her cheek, she tilted her head and thought it over. "It does seem... that is indeed the case."

"See?"

Fuyuji straightened his posture and struck a deductive pose, as if holding a pipe between his teeth. He recited Holmes's most famous lines. "I tell you, Watson, in all seriousness, that if I could beat that man, if I could free society of him, I should feel that my own career had reached its summit, and I should be prepared to turn to some more placid line of life."

Having finished, he shifted his tone and said to Shiina with a smile. "If we could investigate and uncover the true identity of that Moriarty of the Advanced Nurturing High School—according to what that Ryuen-kun said—wouldn't that be ridding the school of a great scourge?"

"It's not that exaggerated." Shiina raised a hand to cover her mouth, a soft, marshmallowy voice drifting out. "I think that Mister Moriarty must have done all these things for the sake of his class's interests. Because he never involved anyone else."

"Well then, Miss Holmes. Watson hereby seeks your guidance. How does one seize upon the pigtail of that Mister Moriarty?"

Fuyuji smiled as he gazed at Shiina, a shimmering light flickering within his eyes.

"This," Shiina handed over a small notebook, upon which were written various deductions regarding the cases Ryuen Kakeru had encountered. "The only incidents that can currently be definitively attributed to his hand are the two involving Ryuen-kun. And both were released online in video form. Wherever one treads, traces are inevitably left behind. So, I shall first visit these two crime scenes and have a look."

Immediately after, Shiina's pretty face flushed red. In a small voice, she said, "Because the first location is the boys' restroom... I can only ask Fuyuji-kun to take a look inside for me."

"It's already been quite a long time since the first incident occurred, hasn't it? Can any clues still be found?" Fuyuji continued to play his role, asking questions with Watson-esque curiosity.

"It's not clues."

Shiina took out her phone and nimbly slid her fingers across the screen. Before long, the footage of Ryuen suffering a brutal critical strike appeared on the phone's display.

As an aside, since this video had now been circulating internally within the Advanced Nurturing High School for a considerable time, it had already spawned multiple derivative versions. This particular version had been mosaic-censored, and had been spreading rapidly in recent days. There was clearly a student behind the scenes fanning the flames. Fuyuji had always believed this was something Ryuen himself had secretly done.

The playing video suddenly paused. On the screen, the figures of Ryuen and Yamada Albert appeared. A slender, pale finger pointed at the portion of the image beyond the two of them.

"This frame. So, I wanted Fuyuji-kun to go inside the restroom and check. If it was a mobile phone, at exactly what height and position would one need to be to capture this full panoramic shot."

Fuyuji cupped his chin and walked in the direction of the restroom. At the same time, he nodded with feigned solemnity and began spouting nonsense with the straightest of faces.

"I see. First, regardless of exactly how he managed to film this shot, the fact that he wasn't discovered by the two people present at the time suggests that it couldn't have been anything too conspicuous. In that case, based on the position of the restroom stall, we can roughly deduce his posture at the time... Mm, alright. I can't keep this fabrication going any longer. What exactly is it that Miss Holmes wishes to see?"

Shiina raised a finger and began explaining with earnest seriousness.

"I want to know whether this position was filmed with a handheld mobile phone, or some other concealed surveillance device. From that, I can deduce whether he had planned this well in advance, or acted on a sudden whim."

"If the position is too high, or a mobile phone in that spot would be far too conspicuous, it was most likely a hidden surveillance device. In that case, he should have planned this well in advance."

"If that's so, then we can present the evidence to the school administration. Installing surveillance equipment in a restroom is a clear violation of school rules. This concerns student privacy. The school could, through internal device authentication, directly drag Mister Moriarty out and issue disciplinary measures."

"If it was simply positioned in some concealed corner where a hand could reach, it's most likely he acted on a sudden whim. Then we must go and visit the next location as well."

It was indeed a rather good line of reasoning. With a bit of luck, one might strike a fatal blow in a single move. But, young miss...

Fuyuji looked somberly at the deeply focused Shiina.

In this first stage of your investigation, you're likely to return empty-handed.

Despite this, Fuyuji still played along, putting on an expression of sudden realization and exclaiming in admiration.

"Sasuga, Miss Holmes. Now Mister Moriarty will have nowhere left to hide."

"No. Please don't say that." Shiina's voice carried a note of fluster. Embarrassed, she lifted her backpack, hiding her cheeks behind it.

Chatting idly, the two of them unknowingly arrived at the site of the first incident—the restroom on the east side of the teaching building.

"Miscalculation. Normally at this hour, there shouldn't be this many people around."

Watching the students continuously entering and exiting the restroom, and with the most crucial final stall still occupied, Fuyuji scratched the back of his head with considerable headache.

"Even if I'm Class A's oddball, I still don't want to perform that kind of strange behavior right under the public gaze."

Just imagine it. Inside the restroom, a strange student holding a mobile phone, extending it out from the stall in a photo-taking posture, waving it wildly about.

The students currently using the restroom would probably flee without even pulling up their pants. By the next day, he would surely become the second most historically renowned figure in the Advanced Nurturing High School, right after Ryuen.

"That is indeed a problem. Then..."

Shiina also looked a bit troubled. She hadn't expected to encounter a setback right from the very start. She glanced left and right, then, as if suddenly struck by an idea, pointed toward the stairwell and issued an invitation in a light, lilting tone.

"If you don't mind... shall we go up to the rooftop and read for a while? We can wait until no one's around, and then go investigate?"

"That, well..." Fuyuji was in a bit of a bind. Truthfully, he wasn't accustomed to that kind of quiet reading atmosphere. "I didn't bring a suitable book with me."

"It's no trouble," Shiina patted her backpack and gave a soft, gentle smile. "I have some right here."

"Still, I think I'll pass—"

Fuyuji wanted to say more, but unexpectedly, Shiina had already climbed two or three steps. Holding her backpack behind her skirt with both hands, she turned her head back and smiled.

"Then it's settled, isn't it. No matter which novel or television drama it is, Watson always follows Holmes's lead. Isn't that right... Mister Watson?"

"..." The words this girl uttered always had a way of making themselves impossible to refuse.

The gradually sinking sun coated the rooftop in a gentle, lingering afterglow. The empty, barren concrete floor stretched all the way to the edge of the unshielded railing.

The sound of the wind wove low between the buildings. The clamor of various sports club activities down below drifted up here, reduced to a distant background hum. What remained was a patch of tranquility, cut off from the din of the world below.

Finding a shaded, somewhat cleaner spot, Shiina set her backpack down on the ground, producing the sound of something heavy landing. She then unzipped it and handed over a book.

"Here..."

"These, I remember..."

Accepting the book Shiina passed to him, Fuyuji roughly scanned the titles, trying hard to recall.

"These should all be famous works not available in the library, right?"

"Rear Window"...

"And on the Eighth Day"...

"The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza"...

"The Caves of Steel"...

Fuyuji looked on with surprise as Shiina passed him one detective novel after another. Even while investigating a matter, she had brought so many books with her. This was the first time he had ever met someone who loved reading to this extent.

Though Horikita's little sister also frequently read books, what she read were all literary masterpieces like "Crime and Punishment" and "War and Peace." The substance within those was far too heavy and profound.

"Because I've always thought before—if one day I could meet a kindred book companion, I could lend these books to him, and then we could read our favorite books together. I never imagined that this day would truly arrive."

Shiina pressed her palms together and spoke with quiet, joyful delight.

"Which one do you like, Mister Watson?"

"All four of these come with my highest recommendation. No need to stand on ceremony. If you like them all, you can read one and then swap it for another."

"Mm..." Fuyuji picked up the one furthest to the right, which also looked the most science-fiction-like. "This one. I've heard of its great reputation before, but I've never had the time to pick it up."

"The Caves of Steel." The pioneering forefather of science-fiction detective fiction. Also the gateway introductory work for the genre.

"Well then... let us begin." Shiina placed the remaining books back into her backpack, her voice carrying an unmistakable note of eager anticipation.

...

Fuyuji leaned his back against the shadow of a water tank, "The Caves of Steel" spread open over his knees. On the surface, he appeared completely absorbed. In actuality, his entire body was filled with restless discomfort. He was, after all, the type who would grab a novel to kill time in a noisy, chaotic environment, but wouldn't specifically set aside quiet time to read.

His gaze crossed over the spine of the book and stole silently upon the figure of the young girl.

Shiina leaned against the railing. She sat on the ground with both legs drawn neatly together, her backpack spread open beside her legs. Her fingertips gently toyed with the pages of "Rear Window." A few strands of her silver-white hair were teased up by the gentle breeze. After flipping through a few pages, she unconsciously tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

Such a quiet girl. What on earth was the school thinking, placing her in that Class C, full to the brim with chuuni delinquents?

After quietly watching the girl's serene countenance for a while, and then watching a distant baseball game on the field below come to an end, Fuyuji, with nothing else to occupy him, finally directed his attention to the open book before him.

The sun began its slow descent toward the horizon of the sea. The brilliant gold metamorphosed into a hazy, hazy orange-red, flowing and rippling over Shiina's snow-white school uniform skirt.

When Fuyuji raised his eyes once more, the book on Shiina's lap had already changed from "Rear Window" to the first page of the next—a thick stack accumulated.

Silently taking out his phone, Fuyuji glanced at the time. He was just about to open his mouth and remind her, but then abruptly clamped his mouth shut.

The distant young girl was still utterly immersed in her own world of words. Her long eyelashes fluttered faintly with each turn of the page.

"..."

Forget it...

Fuyuji silently slipped his phone back into his pocket and propped up his chin.

Today, the great Lord Moriarty had, through intangible means yet again, thwarted the Holmes and Watson of the Advanced Nurturing High School who had sought to investigate him. Truly a masterstroke of unparalleled genius!

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