Crossroads, Red Umbrella, White Dress...

October 16, 2016, Monday.

Although October had only just barely passed its midpoint, yesterday's rain had caused a sharp drop in temperature. Everyone at the station had put on heavier clothes without discussing it, while only Yamada, back from vacation, was still sitting at his desk in the thin shirt from last week, sneezing wildly.

"Wow, this is killing me—Achoo!" Yamada sniffled and reached for the tissues on his desk, only to find that they had run out.

"Detective Yamada, you should pay attention to the weather forecast too. What if you pass your cold on to someone else?" Amaki placed his own tissues on Yamada's desk. Too busy to thank him, Yamada hurriedly pulled out several and blew his nose hard.

"Sorry. I got caught in the rain yesterday, that's why I'm like this. I thought a hot shower would take care of it, but who knew—Achoo!" Yamada was interrupted by another sneeze before he could finish.

"Weren't you on vacation yesterday? You went to a gathering at your high school classmate's home in Nishitokyo Musashino, didn't you? How did you end up getting rained on?" Amaki suddenly remembered.

Yamada and Amaki had taken their vacations earlier, and now it was Narcissus and Gen's turn to take time off. The end of the year was approaching, after all—if they didn't take leave now, it would be too late.

Before Yamada could answer, Makitaka leaned over with a gossiping look. "Don't tell me you met your first love from school at the reunion, found out she'd married some rich guy and had a child with him, and got so upset about being alone that you deliberately stood in the rain to wash away your pain?"

Yamada gave her an utterly disgusted look. "Aren't you studying psychology on your own? You