No matter what, this didn't seem like the time to think about Mist Tengu's social circle.
Kid quickly turned his thoughts back to the matter at hand. He took a deep breath and headed out. Yokai Brother seemed fairly reliable today, at least—he didn't appear interested in the taste of human flesh. In that case, he could leave Aoko with him for now. As for himself... he needed to go meet that suspicious person who had been following them.
In the corridor.
Having suddenly lost track of his target and preparing to investigate the restroom, Akai Shuichi's gaze paused as it fell on the female high school student who had emerged again.
"Who are you?" Before he could avoid her, the girl had already walked straight over. "I saw you on the first floor earlier. You actually followed me all the way here—what do you want?"
—According to the additional information Jiang Xia had kindly provided, this sneaky guy in a knit cap didn't seem to be with the group that had sent him the calling card.
With things already laid out this plainly, Kid knew what came next without any detective needing to tell him: since neither group looked like good people, he might as well draw them both into the game. Ideally, they would turn on each other and give him the wonderful sight of dogs biting dogs.
So, although he had exposed the suspicious knit cap's stalking, Kid's tone was neither stern nor serious. Instead, it carried a hint of teasing, as though a lively high school girl were coquettishly chiding him, offering him a chance to explain himself.
Beside them, an innocent Black Cat with White Paws passing by froze at the sound of that tone and shuddered.
Jiang Xia, who had just switched into