Library and Coffee Shop

"The Hell of the Brain" and "The Black Death Mansion Murders" — these two books should be enough for two days, right? Takahashi Shinma really admired the reasoning in these two, which could be called two of the pinnacles of deduction in Japanese mystery novels.

Just as he was about to take the books to the counter to check them out, Takahashi turned a corner and ran into love—or rather, collided with a petite girl with silver hair and violet eyes, her books scattering all over the floor.

"Sorry."

"Sorry."

Takahashi crouched down to help the girl pick up her books, saying as he did:

"Haha, I got a little excited finding books I wanted to read, didn't watch where I was going. Really sorry about that."

"It's fine, I'm at fault too. I was just thinking about where to put the books I was carrying and didn't pay attention to the road. Thanks for your help. Huh?"

Suddenly the girl noticed the books in Takahashi's hands.

"Do you like mystery novels too?"

"Of course. I think mystery novels very clearly demonstrate the fundamental law of storytelling—causal connection. In this kind of novel, almost every scene is bound to point somewhere, echo something, extend something. That's extremely rare in other genres. Every plot point, every scene, must have an inevitable reason within the story, because the reader treats every scene as something tied to the later development of the plot. Even if one plot point ends up being a red herring, that so-called 'herring' still has to appear grandly in the right context, completing a bait ritual. Every scene must be bound together with a single identifiable purpose. It's like building an arch bridge—you know, the Roman kind. Every stone has to be precisely arranged, forming a whole with the others. Remove any one of them, and the entire structure collapses into nothing."

When it came to a topic he was passionate about, Takahashi couldn't help but say a bit more.

"You have a deep insight into mystery novels. I really like them too. If you have time, would you like to discuss mystery novels together? Oh, by the way, my name is Shiina Hiyori."

"I'm Takahashi Shinma. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too."

After leaving the library, Takahashi walked into a café with the two mystery novels in hand, reading them while sipping coffee and eating dessert—it was really satisfying.

But as soon as he entered the café, he spotted Ayanokouji, Horikita, and Kushida...

He overheard Horikita saying to Kushida:

"Kushida, even if you keep clinging to me, I won't say anything. You're not stupid, so you should understand what I mean. I'm leaving now."

Then Horikita got up and walked away.

"That one's used to going it alone."

Ayanokouji comforted Kushida.

Instinct told Takahashi he should get out of here quickly, or he'd end up in some serious trouble. But Kushida spotted him first.

"Takahashi, over here."

"What a coincidence, Ayanokouji, and Kushida."

"Takahashi, it's been so long since school started, and we've barely talked."

"Yeah, Kushida has too many friends. There are always people around her after class, so I never get a chance to strike up a conversation."

"Haha, you're joking, Takahashi. Can we be good friends?"

"Of course."

After parting ways with Kushida, Takahashi and Ayanokouji walked back toward the dorms. Their rooms were on the same floor. At that moment, Takahashi suddenly asked Ayanokouji:

"Ayanokouji, don't you think this school is a bit unusual?"

"Hm?"

"Even though we got 100,000 points this month, there are still upperclassmen eating the free vegetable set meal in the cafeteria, and the convenience store has free daily necessities too."

"That might be because the school is worried students will spend their points recklessly and run out, leaving them with nothing to live on. So they provide the free vegetable set meal and daily necessities to guarantee basic living."

"Yeah, that makes sense."

As he spoke, Takahashi nodded in agreement.

Back in his dorm room, Takahashi walked over and opened the window, letting the wind gently brush against his face.

At that moment, Takahashi thought to himself: If I take Ayanokouji as the average ability of Class D...

On the other side, back in his own dorm room, Ayanokouji sat on his bed, staring at the drink in his hand. It was something Takahashi had treated him and Kushida to on the way back, from a vending machine. Staring at it, Ayanokouji closed his eyes and said to himself: Takahashi.