Summer Is Over (Continued)

"Has Ayanokoji-kun never been to Fireworks Festival before?"

Noticing Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's slightly bewildered expression, Hirata Yosuke asked with some surprise.

"I've only read about it in books."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka cast his gaze upon the deep night sky. The moon was bright tonight, but there were few stars.

Hirata Yosuke followed Ayanokoji's gaze and looked up at the sky, as if a dazzling fireworks display was about to explode there at any moment.

"What are you all looking at? Are they going to set off fireworks?"

Ken Sudō and the other two looked up, their necks aching, but they still couldn't see anything.

Fireworks are not allowed on campus, but the promotional poster says there will be a special program tonight.

Class 1-C 1 diligently posted numerous promotional posters throughout the school during the day, which is one of the reasons why almost half of the school's students gathered here tonight.

"Oh, isn't that Kitagawa?"

After turning a corner, the crowd thinned out slightly, and the tall and imposing Takeru Kitagawa Ryo spotted Ken Sudō Kitagawa standing in front of a stall at a glance, taking advantage of his height.

"There's a girl with him too."

He tiptoed for another peek, then, seeing the other man's female companion, Ken Sudō sheepishly withdrew.

"Damn it, even a guy like Kitagawa has a female companion."

What do you mean, even someone like Kitagawa?

He silently made a mental remark, but Ayanokoji Kiyotaka didn't dare say it aloud. Hirata Yosuke, however, smiled and explained:

"That must be Shiina from Class C, right? I heard they were dating a couple of days ago."

"Um..."

Ken Sudō stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment, then spoke somewhat uncertainly:

"But the girl I just saw seemed more like Ichinose from Class B?"

"It's cold, are you choking? Do you want some water?"

"Thirty seconds left... mmm."

Kitagawa Ryo stuffed large mouthfuls of takoyaki into his mouth while staring at the countdown clock on the table.

Finally, with less than three seconds left, he swallowed the last dumpling. After seeing the stall owner nod leisurely, he hurriedly took the cold water that Ichinose Honami had prepared beforehand, took a large gulp rather awkwardly, wiped the sauce from his mouth, and then weakly said:

"Um... is it finished?"

"Signal."

The vendor, looking quite businesslike, asked as he took the next batch of takoyaki out of the oven.

"Ten Little Soldiers went out for a treat, but unfortunately choked, and only nine survived."

After reciting this dark nursery rhyme quoted in the world-famous mystery novel "And Then There Were None," Kitagawa Ryo twitched his lips and took a note from the boss.

"You young people these days, you really have so many tricks up your sleeve."

The vendor clearly didn't understand any of this; he just found the code to be eerily unsettling. However, since it matched what the girl had told him, he simply sighed and went back to doing his own thing.

"It feels like Ryo and Shiina are racing towards the script for 'The Gift of the Magi'."

Kitagawa Ryo covered her mouth and chuckled as she watched Ichinose Honami walk back with the note.

"I never expected that Hiyori would plan a surprise for me at the end of summer vacation."

Although he sighed, Kitagawa Ryo's tone still carried a hint of excitement.

Just like Ichinose Honami mentioned in "The Gift of the Magi," in the story, the couple each secretly prepare their own surprises for each other. Tonight, Kitagawa Ryo went to Shiina Hiyori's room intending to invite her out, but found no one answering the door or answering the phone. He had to use his spare key to open the door, and on the bathroom mirror, he discovered a bright red word painted with lipstick:

[Geschenk]

He discovered his girlfriend had vanished from an empty room, leaving behind only this eerie mark that seemed to be a coded message.

What might have been a panic-inducing situation for others was something Kitagawa Ryo saw right through Shiina Hiyori's little trick.

The word means "gift" in German, and coincidentally, one of the mystery novels the two had read contained a German word left in bright red at the scene by the murderer.

The novel is Conan Doyle's first novella featuring Sherlock Holmes as the protagonist—"A Study in Scarlet."

The blood-written words at the scene in the story are the German word [RACHE], meaning revenge.

Realizing that Shiina Hiyori was playing a little game with him, Kitagawa Ryo quickly found the first challenge letter in the sink.

According to Shiina Hiyori, as long as you follow the instructions in the letter, you can find yourself at the end, and you'll also receive a surprise gift.

The information left in the letter came from Agatha's world-famous mystery novel, "And Then And Then There Were None".

As for Ichinose Honami?

She was the Shiina Hiyori " designated by Watson.

However, upon closer reflection, the communication with the off-campus vendors was basically driven by Ichinose Honami from the Student Council. Although it's unclear when Shiina Hiyori and Ichinose became so close, Hiyori's ability to set up the puzzle in such a short time definitely required Ichinose Honami's assistance.

"Don't look at me, there's no hint on my face."

Seeing Kitagawa Ryo's gritted teeth, Ichinose Honami responded with a gentle smile.

Shiina Hiyori suddenly approached her two days ago after her application for the party was approved. Just as Kitagawa Ryo, Ryuen Kakeru, and Horikita Suzune formed a secret action team, Shiina Hiyori also formed her own secret action team. It can only be described as a coincidence.

However, there is now less than an hour left before Kitagawa Ryo's scheduled drone takeoff time.

In other words, he had to find Shiina Hiyori within those forty or fifty minutes, otherwise, if the person he was going to confess to wasn't there, all his carefully planned scheme would be ruined.

Kitagawa Ryo opened the note and quickly looked at its contents:

Seven little soldiers, wielding axes to chop firewood; accidentally chopped off their heads, leaving only six.

"Um, is this the kind of grotesque stuff you guys usually watch?"

Kitagawa Ryo Ryuen Kakeru a phone call, heard Kitagawa Ryo read the dark nursery rhyme aloud as soon as he arrived. He frowned and asked a question:

"And what does this mean?"

Which activity here does it resemble in this description?

Kitagawa Ryo glared at Ryuen Kakeru, then quickly ran to a roadside stall, asked a question, and took the black cloth handed to him by the shopkeeper to blindfold himself.

"... It's actually cutting watermelons."

Ryuen Kakeru with a shocked expression as Kitagawa Ryo walked step by step toward the watermelon placed on a plastic sheet not far away. Cutting watermelons is a traditional summer activity here, but it is mostly done on the beach.

"Their thought process is indeed beyond my comprehension."

Ichinose Honami covered her face and sighed.

"It's more accurate to say that only the two of them could connect with that kind of radio wave."

Ryuen Kakeru also twitched the corners of his mouth and made a sarcastic remark.

With his exceptional sense of distance and direction, Kitagawa Ryo cleaved the watermelon in two with a single stroke, splashing red juice everywhere. Ryuen Kakeru was about to grab a piece, but after hearing Kitagawa Ryo confirm the underworld code phrase "[accidentally beheaded]" with the shopkeeper, he suddenly hesitated.

Is there enough time?

Seeing Kitagawa Ryo return with a new note, Ryuen Kakeru glanced at the time on his phone. He knew about Kitagawa Ryo's drone plan, so he asked with some concern.

"There's still time. I already had Suzune do the next task."

Kitagawa Ryo smiled broadly as he showed the contents of the note in his hand:

Four little soldiers went to the seaside together; a bluefish swallowed them whole, leaving only three.

"Very easy to predict."

Following Kitagawa Ryo to a nearby goldfish scooping stall, Horikita Suzune was confidently dipping her finger into the water, holding a paper net with a rather dashing air.

Then the net broke, and the goldfish leaped back into the water, splashing water droplets onto Horikita Suzune's face.

"Again!"

"Ten online stores will receive 200 points."

The shop owner had already taken out the card reader quite skillfully, and it seemed that this process had been repeated several times.

"Uh, so this is what you meant by 'prepare in advance'?"

Ryuen Kakeru looked speechlessly at Horikita Suzune, who was squatting there and seemed to have been sparring with the fish for half a day, and turned to Kitagawa Ryo to ask.

"..."

Kitagawa Ryo's expression was solemn, while Horikita Suzune seemed quite focused, not even noticing that Kitagawa Ryo had already walked up to her and squatted down beside her.

Until a net was gently scooped up a goldfish from the water.

Is it difficult?

Horikita Suzune looked up and met Kitagawa Ryo's gaze. Although the other party didn't say anything, she somehow easily read that information.

"Suzune..."

Kitagawa Ryo hesitated, but his hands didn't stop moving; he cast the net and caught a fish in one go.

He stood up again after collecting all ten required items, which took one minute and twenty seconds.

Horikita Suzune remained squatting there, looking rather foolish.

She looked at Kitagawa Ryo and the boss and gave them instructions:

"Add another hundred more internet connections for her, swipe my card."

"Hmm, if we still can't get her, we'll give her these ten of mine."

"It's alright, it's alright. Even if this girl doesn't catch any, I'll still give her a few."

The boss laughed heartily:

"After all, the points she spent with me are enough to buy dozens of goldfish."

Then Kitagawa Ryo slowly turned around, revealing a gentle smile as if coaxing a child:

"Take your time, have fun, there's no rush."

"When I was a few years old, I couldn't get any either."

Horikita Suzune gritted her teeth in shame and indignation, and then the net in her hand tore again.

Three little soldiers were playing in the zoo; a bear slapped them, and only two remained.

After leaving the goldfish scooping stall, Kitagawa Ryo unfolded the note in his hand.

Ryuen Kakeru had come over from the side, asked in shock:

"You didn't hire a circus, did you?"

What are you thinking about?

Kitagawa Ryo curled his lip, glanced around briefly, and then walked towards a stall that seemed to be quite popular.

"Ring toss?"

Ryuen Kakeru, who followed along, also noticed something amiss: right in the center of the prize pool was a giant teddy bear.

This is probably the most valuable item here, and many students are eager to try to ring it up. However, its large size does not mean it is easy to ring. The teddy bear sitting there can only barely fit into the ring with the width of its head and neck. Ordinary students simply cannot do this, and can only watch as one ring after another hits the teddy bear.

"Ryuen!"

Kitagawa Ryo shared half of the ring toss game he was holding with Ryuen Kakeru, implying that the two of them would have a higher success rate if they tried together.

However, things were clearly more difficult than Kitagawa Ryo had imagined. They tried to loop the teddy bear for more than ten minutes and hundreds of times, but none of them managed to get it on. The closest they came was even blown away by the evening breeze and floated over their heads.

Just as time was running out and nervous sweat began to bead on Kitagawa Ryo's nose, someone suddenly patted him on the shoulder.

"Cold?"

"Oh, it's Hui."

Turning his head, he saw Karuizawa Kei standing excitedly behind him. However, Kitagawa Ryo really didn't have time for pleasantries right now. If Ichinose Honami, as the supervisor, hadn't been unable to help, he would have already pulled Ichinose Honami along to join the fray.

"Huh? Wait a minute."

Kitagawa Ryo suddenly thought of something, and he shared half of the ring toss game with Karuizawa Kei:

"Hui, do you see that teddy bear right in the center?"

"Does Ryo want that?"