Was it a student who had stayed behind? A thief? Or a member of staff?
Or... was some cunning cursed spirit deliberately making that noise?
Aikawa Kaze paused, concealed his presence, and followed the sound. He discovered it was coming from the gym's storage room, along with a human's extremely labored breathing.
Judging by the voice, it was a young student.
Aikawa Kaze immediately frowned as he realized what had happened. Someone had been locked inside!
School bullying really was all too common. There were always scumbags in this world who enjoyed picking on others.
Now that he had stumbled upon it, he couldn't just ignore it.
Aikawa Kaze raised a hand and knocked on the door.
"Hey, are you all right in there?"
"!!!"
The person inside immediately fell silent, as though Aikawa Kaze had frightened him.
Aikawa Kaze blinked and glanced at the darkening sky, understanding his concern.
Given the time, that fear was understandable.
"Relax. I accidentally fell asleep and only woke up now. There's nothing to be afraid of."
Aikawa Kaze glanced at the lock and smiled confidently.
"Give me a moment. Stand back from the door, and I'll have this sorted out."
As he spoke, Aikawa Kaze took a pin out of the Four-Dimensional Pocket, bent it a little, and easily slipped it into the lock.
Thanks to Boss Dazai's "king of lockpicking" ability, a mere gym storage room couldn't possibly stop him!
There was no door in this world that Yokohama's king of lockpicking couldn't open!
Just ten or so seconds later, the lock opened with a crisp click.
Aikawa Kaze could even hear the person inside breathing harder, his heartbeat speeding up... surely this kid didn't actually think he was some creature from an urban legend?
If he said something creepy now, perhaps