Chapter 14: The Proposal
Kana, her brilliant theory shot down in flames, managed a slightly forced, sheepish smile. “Oh, r-really? Well, if even Senpai says so, then I guess there’s no connection after all.”
Yomikawa Tsuko offered a placating smile. “While the two stories are almost certainly unrelated – Mary-san’s tale being a known fabrication, after all – your contribution was valuable, Kana-san. You’ve helped us definitively cross one possibility off our list.” As she spoke the comforting words, a fleeting image of the real Senpai flickered in her mind – had she, too, offered such empty reassurances to her club members? And if so, what had been her true thoughts, her hidden agenda, in those moments?
“Alright, my turn then, I suppose.”
Junko’s hand shot up. Seeing no immediate challengers, she produced a meticulously kept notebook and spread it open on the table, revealing a surprisingly detailed sketch.
“Wow… Junko-chan, did you draw this?” Kana asked, her eyes wide with genuine admiration.
The page was a carefully rendered map, a series of simple grids and lines charting the starting and ending points of Kimura’s four nocturnal journeys.
“But of course! Sketched it out last night, right after homework,” Junko declared with a little toss of her ponytail, a spark of pride in her voice. “I’ve done some rough calculations, mapping out Kimura-san’s sleepwalking times and probable routes. And I think I’ve come up with a viable method to verify whether his sleepwalking episodes are genuine, or… something else.”
She tapped a perfectly manicured fingernail on the page. “First, let’s break down the timing.”
“Episode one: the Saturday night before last. Destination: that little park straddling the border of Nagano and Fura Wards. Straight-line distance, roughly eight kilometers. The actual walking distance, even checking a map, wouldn’t be much different. He stumbled home at four in the morning. Which means, logically, he must have started his… excursion… around midnight.”
“Next, episode two: He woke up at the westernmost edge of Fura Ward, right at the foot of Mount Karasu-Go. Straight-line, eighteen kilometers. If you plot an actual walking route, the shortest path is closer to twenty. He made it home around eight in the morning that time. So, again, working backwards… he likely set off around midnight.”
“Episode three, the night he had his phone: Woke up on Mount Karasu-Go itself, around five AM. It’s fair to assume that the extra hour was spent on the actual climb, wouldn’t you agree? So, the pattern holds. Another midnight departure.”
Takada ShĆji, who had been listening with rapt attention, nodded slowly. “The timeline seems solid. But how does that help us prove if he was really sleepwalking, or if it’s all just… a story?”
“Elementary,” Junko said, unconsciously adopting Ćgami YĆsuke’s confident, analytical tone. “We reconstruct Kimura-san’s most probable routes. Then, we attempt to access any available surveillance footage from cameras along those paths. If we can find a single, verifiable image – just one – of Kimura-san, at the correct time, in his pajamas and slippers, as ItĆ-san described… then we have our proof. Confirmation that his account is, at least in that respect, true.”
Kana chewed on her lip, considering it. The logic was sound. “Given the timing, Kimura-san must have been moving at a pretty brisk pace during these episodes. And he would have instinctively taken the shortest, most direct routes. So, mapping them out shouldn’t be impossible. The real hurdle is… how do a bunch of high school students get their hands on official surveillance footage? We’re not exactly the police.”
Junko’s confident expression faltered slightly. She knew Kana was right. The plan sounded great on paper, but the practical execution… a group of teenagers, asking to review security tapes? They’d be laughed out of every office.
“But if we apply ourselves, if we’re… creative… it’s not entirely beyond the realm of possibility,” Yomikawa interjected, a new, intriguing idea beginning to form in the intricate pathways of her mind. This plan, she realized, had a hidden benefit: it would be incredibly time-consuming. Painstakingly identifying camera locations, negotiating access, sifting through hours of footage… even if they knew the approximate times, it would take days, perhaps weeks. And even if they found nothing, it wouldn’t definitively disprove Kimura’s story; he could have taken an unmonitored route. As long as she could keep them chasing these threads of doubt, these unobtainable maybes… yes, a week or two could easily vanish. It was already mid-June. Summer vacation was tantalizingly close. If she could keep their collective energy focused on this wild goose chase until then… perfect.
And so, Yomikawa began to subtly steer them, offering her own… deliberately inefficient… suggestions. “For instance, once we’ve mapped the probable routes, we could physically walk them. Scout out the camera locations ourselves. Government-installed cameras, those are likely off-limits. But cameras belonging to private businesses, shops, convenience stores… perhaps, with a little persuasion, a carefully worded request…”
Kana’s eyes lit up, instantly grasping the appeal of this modified plan. “Senpai, you’re a genius! We could make it a group activity! This weekend, maybe?” Her mind was already painting a delightful picture: the club members, out and about in their casual weekend attire, a leisurely investigation, perhaps with a bit of window shopping thrown in. The actual outcome of the investigation was, to her, a secondary concern. The shared experience, the fun of it, that was the real prize.
Takada ShĆji, ever agreeable when Senpai was involved, immediately voiced his enthusiastic approval. The plan was, in his estimation, flawless.
Junko, however, hesitated, her gaze flicking towards Ćgami YĆsuke, a hopeful, almost pleading, look on her face. “What do you think, Ćgami-kun? Does that sound… workable?”
Ćgami YĆsuke’s brow was deeply furrowed. Yomikawa-senpai, proposing such a convoluted, time-wasting, and ultimately… amateurish… plan? It was baffling. Utterly out of character for someone with her sharp, analytical mind. Surely, she could devise a far more direct, more effective, strategy.
“I just… I feel this isn’t the most optimal approach,” he began, choosing his words carefully. “Even if we manage to convince one or two shop owners to let us review their footage… if we don’t find Kimura-kun, what does that prove? Nothing, conclusively.”
The moment the words left his mouth, he felt the atmosphere in the room shift, cold perceptibly. The expressions on Kana’s and Takada’s faces hardened, a subtle frost settling over their earlier enthusiasm.
Ćgami, however, lost in the logic of his own argument, pressed on, oblivious. “And besides, the sheer amount of time involved… it’s impractical, isn’t it? If we could simply enlist the assistance of the police, someone with the authority to access these records directly… it would be far more efficient. We might even have our answers before school ends tomorrow.”
He paused, a new thought striking him. “As it happens, I do know a police officer. The one who… well, if I were to ask him, as a personal favor…”
He looked up then, and finally registered the change in the room. Takada and Kana were both staring at him, their expressions now openly hostile. The previously warm, collaborative atmosphere had curdled, replaced by a strained, awkward silence.
“What… what’s wrong?” Ćgami stammered, finally realizing he’d made a serious misstep.
“Ćgami-san… you really are quite… dedicated, aren’t you?” Kana said, her voice dripping with a saccharine sweetness that was far more cutting than open anger. She leaned back in her chair, her gaze cold and appraising, as if seeing him clearly for the first time. “So very different from the rest of us. Your methods are so… efficient. So effective. Truly, the mark of a professional. We… we mere amateurs… we’d only hold you back. Please, forgive our foolishness.”
Takada added a derisive snort. “That’s the same cop who was so quick to suspect Senpai, isn’t it? Yeah, I don’t think I need his kind of ‘help’.”
Junko froze, her eyes darting between Ćgami’s bewildered face and the hostile expressions of the others. And then, with a sickening lurch, she understood. Of course. For everyone else, this investigation into Kimura’s plight was a club activity, a thrilling diversion, a game. But for Ćgami YĆsuke, it was something more. It was a puzzle to be solved, a truth to be unearthed, a genuine investigation.
Kana, she realized, wasn’t primarily concerned with efficiency, or even with the ultimate truth of Kimura’s story. What mattered to her was the camaraderie, the shared experience, the fun of being part of the group.
And Takada? His loyalty was absolute, and singular: to Senpai. If Senpai proposed a plan, it was, by definition, the best plan. Anyone who dared to question it, to suggest an alternative, was, by extension, questioning Senpai herself. An act of lèse-majesté.
A wave of indecision washed over Junko. Senpai’s plan, the weekend outing, it wasn’t without its appeal. It would give her more opportunities to be near Ćgami YĆsuke, to perhaps… deepen their connection.
But Ćgami’s direct approach, his talk of police assistance… that, too, held a certain allure. If she were to accompany him, just the two of them, to speak with this officer… wouldn’t that be almost… like a date? A real, grown-up, investigative date?
The thought sent a thrill through her. But to pursue it, she would have to openly defy Senpai. And while Kana and Takada’s disapproval was one thing… Senpai… Senpai was another matter entirely.
Comments (1)
Please login or sign up to post a comment.