Teitan High School, Class 2-B, and Shinichi's Classmate

Teitan High School, Class 2-B, and Shinichi's Classmate

Half a month later.

Teitan High School, second-year Class B.

The bell rang, and the students quickly returned to the classroom, though they continued chatting quietly among themselves.

A girl with shoulder-length light brown hair rested one arm on the desk behind her. Though she kept her voice low, she sounded excited and loud all the same. "Ran, Ran, have you heard? We're getting a transfer student in our class today! I heard, I heard he's a really handsome guy~"

"Oh? Is that so?" The girl called Ran brushed her hair aside and said, "Sonoko, I think you'd better sit down properly right away. If Teacher Kato sees you like this..."

"Who cares about Teacher Kato!" Sonoko waved a hand, looking like she feared nothing and no one. Then she pounded the desk and exclaimed, "Ran, didn't you hear the important part? I said he's a handsome guy! A handsome guy! A handsome guy's coming to our class! Doesn't that make your heart flutter at all?"

"Not really." Ran still looked completely unconcerned.

Sonoko deflated, but then a mischievous smile appeared on her pretty face. "Ah! I get it. Your husband's sitting right next to you, so you have to try hard to act like a virtuous wife and mother, right? Hm? Is it because of that big, stupid deduction maniac?"

Sonoko's eyes darted toward the handsome boy sitting nearby.

Ran's face went bright red in an instant, as if she'd been steamed. She glanced guiltily at the boy beside her, then raised her voice by three octaves. "N-no! How could that be? Husband, virtuous wife and mother—ugh, Sonoko, you're always making things up! It's not like Shinichi and I..."

"Oh? Did I say that person was Shinichi?" Sonoko still had a mischievous grin on her face.

"Anyway, it's not! It's not like that!" Ran looked ready to lose it.

The students around them watched the commotion. Teasing Ran and Shinichi seemed to be their favorite pastime.

The boy named Shinichi rubbed his forehead helplessly, grumbling to himself, That loudmouth Sonoko!

"Quiet! All of you, quiet down! Mori Ran, Suzuki Sonoko, class is in session." A voice sounded from the doorway, and the students fell silent at once. Ran and Sonoko, both of whom had been called out, lowered their heads and chorused, "Yes, sir. Sorry, Teacher Kato."

The male teacher called Kato walked in with someone wearing a school uniform and said, "Good morning, everyone. The student beside me is called Shu Yunwen. He used to attend Teitan High School, too, so he's your senpai. For certain reasons, his studies were delayed, so he's transferring into our class now. I hope you'll all get along. Shu Yunwen, could you give everyone a brief introduction?"

"..."

The classroom fell completely silent.

Everyone stared back and forth between Teacher Kato and Shu Yunwen standing at the front of the room.

Shu Yunwen wore a school uniform and carried his bag over one shoulder. With a helpless smile, he said, "Good morning, everyone. My name is Shu Yunwen, I'm eighteen years old, and my hobbies are reading, exploring, fortune-telling, and... solving mysteries. I'll be your classmate from now on, so I hope you'll all look after me..."

"Hello, Shu Yunwen. I have a question..." A boy who looked mischievous at first glance raised his hand and called out, "Shu Yunwen, are you sure you're eighteen, and not forty-eight?"

Forty-eight, my ass!

Shu Yunwen glared at the boy who'd spoken, the corners of his mouth twitching twice.

Then laughter filled the classroom. Even with Teacher Kato's reputation for strictness, he couldn't stop the students from whispering among themselves:

"...Shu looks so old!"

"Yeah! He looks older than Teacher Kato. Teacher Kato's forty, right?"

"Aizawa's totally right. He looks forty-eight. Hey, what are you checking? Why do you have a calendar with you?"

"I'm checking whether it's April Fools' Day. Maybe Teacher Kato brought in a friend to play a prank on us?"

"..."

At the front of the classroom, Shu Yunwen listened to the students' comments with a head full of black lines, feeling even more helpless.

He couldn't help looking so old now, could he?

While he'd been in the hospital, Shu Yunwen hadn't tried practicing Ghost Sorcery, so he'd looked like a young and handsome guy. But, but as soon as he got home, he'd tried practicing Ghost Sorcery for just one night, and then this damn tragedy happened. Overnight, his face had aged thirty years. When Kojima Genji and Kojima Mie saw him, they'd thought they were seeing a ghost—

That was right. Shu Yunwen looked almost exactly like his late, dirt-cheap father. They really had thought they were seeing a ghost.

Afterward, Shu Yunwen spent a long time explaining and even brought up his family's "inherited exorcism technique." But Kojima Mie was still worried, so she took him to the hospital for an examination. Only after they confirmed that he'd merely aged in appearance and that there was nothing wrong with his body did she finally let it go.

Of course, Shu Yunwen's attending physician, Tanaka, wanted him to stay in the hospital for further observation. Shu Yunwen refused, naturally.

Poor Shu Yunwen had been a beautiful young man for just one month, only to turn into a middle-aged uncle again. His fragile heart was utterly shattered. Fortunately, practicing Ghost Sorcery would eventually restore his appearance. Otherwise, Shu Yunwen would've been so depressed he might as well have died.

Those were all Shu Yunwen's thoughts.

Back in the classroom, Teacher Kato's face had turned black as he stood beside Shu Yunwen. "Quiet! All of you, quiet down! Is this any way to welcome a new classmate? Especially you, Aizawa Eisuke. If you don't want to stand in the hallway with your schoolbag over your head until class ends, you'd better apologize to Shu Yunwen right now!"

Aizawa Eisuke froze, then stood up dejectedly and bowed. "Shu Yunwen, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean any harm. Please forgive me."

"Heh... It's fine." Shu Yunwen nodded in acknowledgment, then added, "Aizawa Eisuke, right? I accept your apology. But you'd better be careful today!"

"W-what do you mean?" Aizawa Eisuke stared at him.

Was he threatening him?

Teacher Kato spoke up, too. "Shu Yunwen..."

Shu Yunwen smiled. "Teacher Kato, Aizawa, don't get the wrong idea. I'm not some delinquent. It's just that our family was cursed, so anyone who mocks my appearance gets cursed too. They'll have bad luck all day!"

There were curses like that?

A curse?

Was he messing with them?

Everyone in the classroom looked unconvinced.

Aizawa Eisuke paused, then laughed. "A curse? I'm not afraid..."

"Mm..." Shu Yunwen nodded with a smile. He murmured a few words of a Sorcerous Curse, and a strange force enveloped Aizawa Eisuke.

"Hahahaha..."

Ghost Sorcery—Bad Luck!

After nearly half a month of practice, Shu Yunwen didn't have much Sorcerous Power, but he could still cast a few simple Sorcerous Curses.

A spell like "Bad Luck," one of the most basic kinds of sorcery, didn't even count as a first-level spell. It was just a little trick to mess with people. It only made them unlucky; they wouldn't even get hurt. So casting it now was no trouble at all.

As for why Shu Yunwen was using Ghost Sorcery to mess with people...

He had no choice! If he didn't, he had no idea how many people would keep commenting on his old-looking face every day. Once or twice was no big deal, but when it happened over and over, it got annoying. Better to make everyone afraid of him from the start. Then he'd be left in peace.

After casting the spell, Shu Yunwen continued, "Also, for the next twenty-four hours, I suggest you all keep your distance from Aizawa Eisuke to avoid getting caught up in it."

The classroom immediately burst into laughter.

Teacher Kato said helplessly, "Shu Yunwen, don't make jokes like that again..."

Before he could finish, Aizawa Eisuke suddenly cried, "Ow!" and landed on his rear. "W-what happened?"

A boy beside him said, "Eisuke, you need to lose weight! You broke your chair!"

"Hahahaha..."

The classroom filled with laughter again. Aizawa Eisuke got up helplessly and looked at the chair with one broken leg.

Teacher Kato frowned. "Aizawa, use one of the classroom's spare chairs for now, and don't fool around. And Shu Yunwen, you can sit..."

Teacher Kato looked at the few empty seats in the classroom, unable to decide.

Shu Yunwen pointed to a seat. "Teacher Kato, may I sit there?"

"Of course." Teacher Kato nodded, then looked at the student beside that seat. "Kudo, Shu Yunwen will be sitting next to you. Please help him get familiar with the class as soon as possible, all right?"

"Ah, yes, Teacher Kato." Kudo Shinichi stood up and answered.

Teacher Kato turned to Shu Yunwen as well. "Shu Yunwen, you should get familiar with your surroundings and settle in as soon as possible. Get along with your classmates and study hard, understand?"

"Yes, sir."

Teacher Kato left, and Shu Yunwen went over and sat in the seat beside Kudo Shinichi.

Kudo Shinichi greeted him first. "Hello, Shu Yunwen. My name's Kudo Shin—"

Shu Yunwen smiled and took out his textbook. "Kudo Shinichi, right? You're famous—the high school detective, the Holmes of the Heisei era, the savior of the Japanese police. Your name's been all over the newspapers lately! And I'm Shu Yunwen. I hope we'll become good friends."

"Ha ha ha..." Kudo Shinichi scratched his head. "Am I really that famous?"

At the desk beside them, Sonoko looked annoyed. She propped her head on one hand and rolled her eyes. "...Hey, Ran, that new old guy is getting along great with your husband!"

"Come on, Sonoko, I told you he's not..." Ran chided her, then smiled and teased, "By the way, Sonoko, he really is handsome! Even if he looks a little old..."

"Give me a break! You call that a little old? He looks old enough to be my father!" Sonoko pouted. "I thought we'd be getting a handsome guy, but instead we got an old man. He's not my type... Honestly, it's not like I'm short on father figures..."

"Heh heh heh..." Ran laughed softly.

Just then, the Japanese language teacher walked up to the lectern and began the lesson.

Aizawa Eisuke had just dragged over a chair and sat down. He put a hand on the desk to support himself, and then there was a crack—the desk collapsed, sending Aizawa Eisuke sprawling onto the floor again.

"Hahahaha..."

Laughter filled the classroom.

Shinichi spoke up. "...Eisuke really does seem to be having a run of bad luck."

Shu Yunwen glanced over and smiled. "This is just the beginning."