[X] Tetsu (哲)

Yes, your name was Tetsu, with the character that meant “wise” or the concept of “philosophy”. You truly had been consigned to a life of wisdom and intelligence since the moment you were born. Then again, maybe your name wasn’t the only factor contributing to that. In any case, now it was up to you to live up to that potential.

And actually, you thought you’d been doing a pretty good job of that so far, considering how you had gotten to the place you were now in Gensokyo University. Still, “staring into a mirror and navel-gazing about names” probably wasn’t all that useful when it came to realising your potential. So, with a slight chuckle, you moved on and got dressed.

After you had poured yourself a bowl of cereal, you grabbed your phone to check the messages Rinichi had left.

<Rinichi> hey tetsu
<Rinichi> did you hear about the new restaurant that just opened at the food court?
<Rinichi> they have weird things on their menu, like eels and stuff
<Rinichi> sounds pretty cool to me
<Rinichi> wanna go check it out at lunch today?

You smiled. You didn’t usually eat at the university food court – you preferred to bring your own lunch, or even just eat at your apartment if you had a long break between lectures. On some days, your schedule in the middle of the day was so packed that you wouldn’t even have time to order at the food court before the next class began. But today you had a free hour at noon, so you had time. And, even if you may have preferred your own lunch, you were certainly willing to make an exception for Rinichi.

He was one of the few people from your class in high school who were also going to GenU, and he in particular… well, if you had to call someone your “best friend”, it would be him. In fact, he’d been part of the reason you had decided to attend this specific university in the first place, as he’d been really enthusiastic about it because of his family. So, you were happy to spend your lunch hanging out with him.

Just as you were about to send him a reply, however, a thought crossed your mind, and you hesitated. You had no classes at lunchtime, but wasn’t there something else on today? Leaving your breakfast for the moment, you walked over to your computer and checked your emails. After clicking through a few newsletters, you found what you were looking for: today at noon, there was going to be an open-air performance from some of the university’s student ensembles.

You liked music, but you had never exactly been impressed by what passed for student ensembles at your high school. Still, this was a university, and these were people who were actually studying music rather than just doing it to fill time, so the quality would presumably be higher, and you’d figured it would at least be worth checking out. The location wasn’t close to the food court, though, so if you went to the restaurant first, you wouldn’t have time to go to the performance before your next lecture. Then again, there was no reason you couldn’t invite Rinichi to come with you to the performance, was there?

[ ] Accept Rinichi’s invitation to go to the new restaurant
[ ] Invite him to come to the student performance instead

[X] Invite him to come to the student performance instead

The more you thought about it, your alternative suggestion sounded like the better idea. After all, the restaurant would be still be there tomorrow, but the ensemble event was only being held today.

<Tetsu> Thanks, that’s a nice idea! But actually, I have something else planned for lunchtime today.
<Tetsu> The university is holding an event where some student ensembles are going to be giving an open-air performance.
<Tetsu> Would you like to come with me? The restaurant sounds interesting too, but we could just go visit that later this week, or some other time.

You set down your phone and went to continue eating your breakfast. Only about a minute later, Rinichi replied, allowing you to have a conversation with him in real time.

<Rinichi> sure, could be fun
<Rinichi> i’m in
<Rinichi> where is the performance?
<Tetsu> At the university sports fields.
<Rinichi> alright
<Tetsu> It might be crowded there, so do you want to meet up somewhere beforehand?
<Rinichi> sure, maybe at that fountain?
<Rinichi> you know, the one on the path from the student centre to the sports fields
<Tetsu> Yeah, I know where that is. Let’s meet at noon, then?
<Rinichi> sounds good, see ya later!
<Tetsu> See you!

Satisfied, you put away your phone and went to make a box lunch, since you wouldn’t be going to the food court and you weren’t sure if there would be food at the event. Once you were done, you grabbed your bag and set off for the campus.

You actually didn’t have a lecture in the first timeslot in the morning, but you’d set your alarm at the usual time anyway, as you reasoned that if you slept in today, it would be more jarring when you did have to get up earlier. In any case, that left you with some free time, so you walked to the university library and found a desk in one of the study rooms. Then, you went to work on one of your assignments… or rather, you slacked off for a while by browsing the Internet on the tablet you took with you for taking notes, and then you went to work. It was fine, though – you had read through the assignment questions earlier and found them simple enough. And, true to your initial assessment, you managed to complete the work you’d intended to by the time you had to head off to a lecture.

Said lecture was for an introductory course on atomic and nuclear physics, taught by Professor Genjii, who was one of your favourite lecturers so far. On your first day, you’d overheard other students whispering bad things about him – about how boring he was, how stern – but you hadn’t really found those rumours warranted. Sure, he was an odd-looking figure, with the combination of his short height, bald head, long white beard and green jacket. You could get why, thanks to the colour of Genjii’s jacket and how slowly he always walked to the lectern, some of the others called him “the Turtle”. But you actually found that he was very good at explaining things, and you liked that he didn’t have the arrogance that some of your other lecturers had. Plus, contrary to the rumours, you had noticed that he did, in fact, have a sense of humour, if a subtle one.

It probably helped that you liked the subject material, too. Every now and then Genjii would ask the students a question, and most of the time you knew what the answers were, but you still felt a little shy about speaking up in front of so many people. Not that you really needed to bother, at least in this particular class.

‘Now, take a look at this periodic table again. How many neutrons would titanium-45 have?’

‘Ah, I know, Professor Genjii! It’s twenty-three, along with twenty-two protons! But that’s not enough neutrons for the nucleus to be stable, it would undergo decay!’

‘Indeed, that is correct.’

The guy sitting to your right groaned. He had raised his hand when Genjii asked the question, but the girl had gone ahead and answered without waiting for the professor to pick someone.

‘Every single time,’ the guy half-whispered to his friend beside him. ‘Why does she have to answer every single time?’

He was exaggerating a bit, but you had noticed that this girl spoke up more often than anyone else in this course, and today in particular she had answered more than half of the professor’s questions. Her oddness was further emphasised by her rather loud speaking voice, the strikingly large ribbon she wore in her hair, and the fact that she sat in the very front row of the lecture theatre, while most of the students – yourself included – had chosen to sit at least a few rows back, since the room was far from full. In fact, today she was only one of two people seated in the entire front row, the other being a red-haired girl who seemed mostly engrossed by the notebook she was writing in, only occasionally glancing up at Genjii – and even she sat half a dozen seats away from the odd girl.

‘She’s such a show-off, too,’ the guy next to you continued, spinning a pencil between his fingers. ‘The professor didn’t even ask about the protons or the decay!’

‘I know!’ muttered someone else. ‘Why can’t she just shut the fuck up for once?’

You shook your head and tuned out their grumbling, focusing your attention back on what the professor was saying. That bit of tension aside, it was actually an enjoyable lecture, and by the time it ended, it was almost midday.

[-] To be continued.

You packed up your things and climbed the stairs to exit the lecture theatre. As you left the building, you were met by a pleasant breeze. Coupled with the partially cloudy sky, it made for pretty ideal weather for an outdoor event like the student ensemble performance, and that lifted your spirits as you made your way across the campus.

Professor Genjii’s class had run a little past when it was scheduled to end, and that, along with the time it took you to walk the relatively large distance from the science buildings to the sports fields, meant that it was a few minutes past noon when you arrived at the meeting point you’d decided upon, a modest but elegant fountain surrounded by a circular path.

Despite your slight delay, however, Rinichi was not standing there, waiting for you. In fact, when you looked around, you could not see him anywhere in the open area surrounding the fountain. Had he gone on ahead without you?

You walked around the fountain to get a better view of the band rotunda at the near edge of the fields. The performance had not yet begun – you could see some people moving equipment around in the rotunda – but a small crowd had already formed. You couldn’t see Rinichi there, either, but there were enough people that some of the ones farthest from you were hidden from your line of sight, so you couldn’t be sure.

Frowning, you sat down on the fountain’s edge and called Rinichi, but he did not pick up his phone. Weird. You sent him a text message asking where he was, and then looked around again. There was still a steady stream of students heading towards the sports fields. One of them, a purple-haired girl, suddenly changed directions and walked to the bushes lining the path, where she launched into a violent coughing fit. For a few moments, you were torn between wanting to ask her if she needed help and a desire to stay away in case whatever she had was infectious. Thankfully, though, the girl managed to get a hold of herself on her own, and brushed herself off and kept walking as if nothing had happened.

There was still no sign of Rinichi, though, and he hadn’t replied to your message, either. As you stood back up, you could hear music beginning to play at the rotunda. The performance was starting!

[ ] Go ahead to the performance
[ ] Keep waiting for Rinichi at the fountain

[X] Go ahead to the performance.

After thinking about it for a moment, you began to walk. If you waited here and missed the performance you and Rinichi had been planning to go to, then this whole endeavour would’ve been pointless! Plus, standing around at the fountain while everyone was walking past you would make you look a bit silly, wouldn’t it?

As you approached the sports fields, you began to type a message to Rinichi to let him know where you were going. However, just as you were about to hit send, someone ran past you and knocked your elbow aside, sending your phone flying out of your hands. You dove to catch it, but you could only brush it with your fingertips. Still, your efforts were to enough to make your phone land in the dirt instead of hitting the concrete of the path, and you narrowly managed to catch yourself to avoid scraping your knees on the same.

Irritated, you turned to confront the person who had slammed into you, but they had continued running towards the rotunda, and they were already far enough away that you could only make out that your assailant was a black-haired woman who was carrying something in her hands. How rude! After brushing the dirt off your hands, you checked your phone, which was thankfully undamaged, so you sent the message to Rinichi and went on your way.

When you arrived at the edge of the fields, it appeared that the organisers of the performance had not provided any chairs for the audience – or at least, not nearly enough chairs, as everyone you could see was either standing or sitting on the grass. You still did not see Rinichi anywhere, though you did spot the purple-haired girl from earlier, who was wiping her face with a handkerchief.

There was a sort of raised, grassy dike that separated the sports fields from the university buildings, and this was where you decided to sit for now, as it would give you a clear view of the performers in the rotunda while also allowing Rinichi to easily see you if he did arrive. Said performers were a duo playing traditional music from the Gensokyo region, one of them with a biwa and the other a koto. The music was gentle, melodic and surprisingly elegant for a student performance.

Or at least, it was elegant until it was interrupted by a loud buzzing above your head. Gazing up, you saw a quadcopter drone, coloured a bright purple, with a camera mounted below it. You looked around, but you could not see who was controlling it. The camera was, at least, pointed at the rotunda instead of at you, but the noise was aggravating enough that you had begun contemplating ways to knock the drone out of the air by the time the thing finally flew off to another part of the crowd, allowing you to focus on the music again.

A few minutes later, you heard loud footsteps behind you and turned to see Rinichi. He approached you at a sprint, and when he reached you, he nearly doubled over, panting heavily.

‘Phew, I made it!’ he managed to say, leaning forward with his hands on his knees. ‘Sorry I’m late.’

‘Are you alright, Rinichi?’ you asked. ‘What happened?’

‘Yeah, yeah… huff… I’m fine.’ He turned his head towards the rotunda. ‘But first, is this really where you want to sit, all the way out here? I think there’s room closer to the stage.’

You looked in the same direction. If you moved closer, you would be able to hear and see the performance better, but it might be a hassle navigating through the crowd, and you did already have a comfortable seat here on the dike.

[ ] Move towards the rotunda.
[ ] Stay where you are sitting now.

[X] Move towards the rotunda.

‘Okay, let’s go.’

After you voiced your agreement, the two of you began to walk. As you did, you chanced to look behind you and saw that a blue-haired girl with a rather ratty-looking sweater had been standing directly behind you. What was that about?

You didn’t get much time to think about it, as now you had to deal with the people in front of you. Despite the ongoing performance, the half-sitting, half-standing crowd was still a bit restless, which at least meant you and Rinichi could move about without causing too much of a disturbance. Fortunately, the crowd was a bit more spaced out in the area directly in front of the rotunda, so there was space for you two to sit, as long as you did not mind sitting on the grass – which you didn’t, given that you’d been doing it already just before now.

‘That looks like a good spot,’ Rinichi said, pointing. You nodded, and the two of you sat down.

‘So, why–’ you began, but you immediately discovered a downside to sitting this close to the musicians: the volume made it rather hard to hold a conversation. With a soft shake of your head, you decided to hold back your questions for now and just enjoy the performance. Your enjoyment was only slightly hampered by the purple camera drone that continued buzzing around, as well as a woman who kept running back and forth in front of the rotunda, taking photos with a professional-looking camera. Looking closer, it was actually the woman who had bumped into you earlier as you were walking. She really was rude!

After a few minutes, the biwa and koto duo finished their song and, after a round of applause, stood up and left the stage. One of the organisers, a student wearing a GenU branded sweatshirt that looked uncomfortably hot in this weather, announced that the event was not over, and more student groups would be performing next. However, it was clear that some preparations still needed to be made, as various staff members entered and left the rotunda, carrying instruments and sound equipment.

This gave you an opportune time window to talk to your friend. You turned to him and returned to your earlier question. ‘Hey, Rinichi, how come you were late? Did something happen?’

‘Well, I had to finish an assignment that’s due… right now, actually,’ he said, looking contrite as he scratched the back of his head. ‘It was for that engineering class. Marisa also had some trouble with it, so we worked on it together. And we got it done, you know!’

That made sense. Rinichi and Marisa were a lot like each other in that regard: not very good with time management, or responsibility in general, but when they sat down and actually focused on something, they could be pretty competent. It was no wonder they’d been friends for so long – though, of course, their family circumstances had been the original reason for that. Frankly, over the years you had expected them to get together and start dating at some point, but that had not yet happened, and these days Rinichi certainly had a… wider interest in the fairer sex than just Marisa. Nonetheless, you wouldn’t rule out that there was still a chance for something between them.

Chuckling, you said, ‘I told you you’d have a hard time with that kind of course without any prior experience.’

‘Yeah, well, it was what the career advisor recommended to me…’

Rinichi still hadn’t decided what exactly he wanted to major in, though he did know that, like you, he wanted to do something with science. So, for his first year, he was taking a very broad array of introductory science courses, in everything from biology to engineering. He did share one physics class with you, and there was some overlap between the first-year physics and engineering courses in general, but you weren’t in that particular class with him and Marisa.

‘Anyway,’ Rinichi continued, ‘we weren’t the only ones still working on the assignment. There were a bunch of others trying to get it finished, sitting up there in the engineering department where the hand-in box is.’

‘Was that all, though?’ you asked. ‘Or was there another reason why you ended up behind on your assignments?’

He shrugged, but then a grin slowly appeared on his face. ‘You know how it is with my life. When you’re friends with a lot of women, you keep getting hassled…’

Before Rinichi could elaborate further on his “friendships”, the next act, apparently called the Prismriver Sisters, appeared on the rotunda’s stage. The three girls looked surprisingly professional for a student ensemble, wearing brightly coloured costumes consisting of skirts, vests and pointy hats that reminded you of marching bands. Unlike a marching band, however, they each wore distinct colours, with one having a black costume and blond hair, another a pink costume and light blue hair, and the third a red costume and brown hair. Despite the different hair colours, their faces did look similar enough that you thought they could be sisters.

…Now that they you were paying attention to their faces, you noticed they were actually quite pretty. A glance beside you revealed that Rinichi already looked enraptured, even though they hadn’t started playing yet.

Regardless of that, another strange thing about the trio was their instruments: one stood next to a synth keyboard, while the others held a violin and trumpet, respectively – a far cry from the traditional Gensokyan instruments of the previous act. You had no idea what to expect from their music, and as they began to play, it certainly sounded surprising.

The three instruments initially sounded mismatched, as if they were out of tune with each other. Gradually, however, the bright melodies of the trumpet and the sombre tones of the violin were balanced by the chords of the synthesizer, and as the volume picked up, the whole thing began to sound electrifying. Almost literally, as you felt tingles run across your skin.

Some movement to your side drew your attention, and you saw that next to you and Rinichi sat a green-haired girl with a long, pale pink jacket, who appearing to be filming the performance on her phone – though, you wondered if the quality of her recording might be compromised by the way she kept cheering and trying to sing along with the music (which was instrumental, mind you). As you watched, she even stood up and began jumping and pumping her fist to the rhythm of the music.

Weirdly enough, her enthusiasm was actually a little infectious. Coupled with the strange energy of the music, you felt tempted to join in with her actions. You weren’t entirely sure why, which was somewhat disconcerting, but you were starting to feel an urge to get up, to dance, to move.

[ ] Join in.
[ ] Refrain.

[X] Join in.

You got to your feet. Beside you, Rinichi had also been watching the green-haired girl, but when he noticed your movement, he looked at you with a somewhat confused expression. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then shut it again.

You didn’t have time to wait for him, though. It was time for action! You raised your hand like the green-haired girl and, with a cry of ‘Yeah!’, you jumped in the air. At that, the girl turned towards you, her eyes widened in surprise, but after a moment a radiant smile emerged on her face, and she resumed her half-cheering, half-singing.

You felt your face heat up a little, and to hide your embarrassment, you concentrated on the music. Despite the fact the band didn’t have a drummer, the song still had a clear pulse that was easy to follow. You pumped your fist in rhythm with the music and joined in with the green-haired girl’s cheering.

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Rinichi stand up as well, and you were pretty sure you heard him clapping along with the beat. The music only seemed to grow louder and more intense, the majestic trumpet at the forefront. It was an almost overwhelming experience, like standing in a hurricane, and yet you could not say you found it unpleasant.

The music left you with little choice but to intensify your own movements as well, so you raised both of your arms and kept jumping on the beat, like you were in one of those gym dance classes. And gradually, what you were doing did turn into a dance, moving side to side and waving your arms in time with the ascending and descending runs of the trumpet’s melody. You thought you saw more people start to move around and dance next to you, but you were only dimly aware of them. Your attention was on the music. You leapt back and forth. You clapped your hands. You waved your arms. You spun around. You danced!

Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, the song reached its thunderous climax and ended on a single, triumphant note, and it felt like a rampaging army had finally broken through the walls of a castle. As the sounds died down like tumbling bricks, the tension in the air began to fade, and slowly you became aware of your surroundings again.

You fell to your knees, exhausted. Sweat beaded on your forehead, and you couldn’t stop your hands from trembling. You turned to look at Rinichi, but his expression was not what you had expected. He looked… amazed, almost shocked. Why? You turned around further. People… were looking at you. They were looking at you. What was going on?

On your other side, the green-haired girl let out a cry, ‘Woo! That was awesome!’ That seemed to break the remaining tension, and the crowd started to clap and cheer. Some of them were looking at the band on the stage, but for some reason, a fair number of them met your eyes as they applauded.

Rinichi also looked a bit worn out, but gave you an enthusiastic pat on your shoulder. ‘Holy shit, I didn’t know you could dance like that, Tetsu!’

‘I… danced? Did I dance?’ you said weakly. ‘It felt like the music was moving me.’ You felt dizzy, so you sat down on the grass. That did help clear your head, and you became aware of a few more things. The purple camera drone was hovering nearby, and its lens was pointed directly at you. The girl who had been taking photos was also looking in your direction. Trying to escape their gazes, you faced the rotunda, only to meet the wide-eyed stare of the trumpet player. The other two musicians, while busy thanking the crowd, also kept casting glances towards you.

What was going on? What had you just done? The lingering elation from your dance, or whatever it was, began to be met by a pang of panic.

Calm down. Breathe. You closed your eyes, took in a deep breath, held it for a few seconds and let it out. When you opened your eyes again, some noise on the stage drew your attention. The event announcer was speaking to what appeared to be the members of another band, standing next to the rotunda. One of them, a guy in a leather jacket holding a guitar, shook his head.

‘Right after that?’ you heard him say. ‘Nothing we could do could possibly match up to that!’

After a moment, the announcer walked to the middle of the stage and, looking a bit dazed, proclaimed that the student ensemble performance had concluded. At that, the crowd slowly began to disperse, though many people remained milling around on the grass. An eager group of students walked up to the rotunda and began talking to the Prismrivers, but despite that, you couldn’t help but notice that the three of them kept glancing your way. Having the attention of three beautiful and clearly talented women like that was not something you were used to, but it presented an opportunity, and you did want to compliment them on their impressive music. The group of people already there would, at least, make it a bit less intimidating to go up and talk to them.

Looking around, your eyes met those of the green-haired girl again. Her phone dangled in her hand, as if she had forgotten she had been making a recording. You didn’t make a habit of just approaching women out of the blue – that was more Rinichi’s thing – but, while you still weren’t sure what exactly had just happened, it was certainly an experience that you and she had shared.

Speaking of Rinichi, you saw your friend walking up to you but, just as he was about to say something, he was interrupted by the loud sound of a camera shutter. The both of you spun around, just in time for the photographer girl to take another picture, this one with Rinichi’s face front and centre.

As the girl gave him a smile that was superficially polite, but exuded smugness, Rinichi responded with a frown. ‘Excuse me? Aya, what the hell are you…’ You couldn’t make out the rest of what he said, because he was walking towards her. He knew her name? That was interesting.

[ ] Go up to the Prismrivers.
[ ] Talk to the green-haired girl.
[ ] Go and see what Rinichi and Aya are talking about.

[X] Talk to the green-haired girl.

You decided that talking to the girl you’d danced with would be useful, since it might help you understand what the hell had actually just happened. Rinichi could always tell you later what his deal was with the photographer girl, and the Prismriver sisters were busy with their fan group, anyway.

…And besides, while you were not a womaniser like Rinichi, you certainly wouldn’t object to having a conversation with a girl who, admittedly, was kind of cute. As you walked towards her, you examined her more closely. She was fairly short, maybe around Marisa’s height, though unlike her, this girl wasn’t compensating for it with a giant hat. Her chin-length hair was a medium green, apart from two parts on either side of her head – they were perhaps too short to call them ponytails, but they did stick out from the rest of her hair and had a darker colour, almost brown. The overall effect reminded you a bit of a dog with droopy ears.

You realised you were staring, so you averted your eyes, though you continued to approach her. She had been looking towards the stage again, but when you reached her, she turned to face you.

‘Um, hi!’ she said. Her green eyes were wide and expectant, though she also seemed a little nervous, shifting her weight back and forth between her feet.

Shit, how were you supposed to start this conversation? You hadn’t made a plan! Before the pause could grow too long, you said, ‘Hello! That… sure was something, wasn’t it?’ You swept your arm around to indicate the whole scene of the student ensemble performance.

Smooth. Real smooth.

‘Uh, yeah, it sure was!’ the girl replied… and then did not say anything else. Nice going, Tetsu! Now you had landed yourself in a classic situation of awkward silence.

The girl continued to look at you, but she fidgeted with the hem of her skirt with one hand, while in the other she still held her phone. Okay, there was something you could use for a conversation topic.

After taking a moment to settle the thoughts buzzing around in your head, you gestured towards her phone and said, ‘Did you manage to get a good recording of the performance?’

‘Recording?’ The girl blinked, and then startled slightly. ‘Oh, right! Yes, I was making a recording!’ She held up her phone and pressed some things on the screen. You really hoped she hadn’t just left the camera running until this moment.

‘You’re not going to put it online, are you?’ you hurriedly asked.

The girl waved her hands. ‘No, no, of course not! I was just recording it for my friend Mystia. She really wanted to come to this concert too, but she had a shift at her job she couldn’t get out of. Uh, I’m Kyouko, by the way!’

‘Nice to meet you, my name is Tetsu.’ In a practised motion, you held out your hand, and she shook it while putting away her phone in her jacket with her other hand. To prevent another silence forming, you continued, ‘So, you two like music a lot?’

You cringed internally at the obviousness of your question, but Kyouko grinned. ‘Yeah, we do! We’ve actually been trying to start a band, Mystia and I.’

‘Ah, that’s cool,’ you said. It was not an empty compliment; you had occasionally thought of starting or joining a band yourself, but you’d never had enough musically-minded friends, and your own skills in that area weren’t much to write home about, either. Kyouko was actually going through with it, though, which was impressive.

‘Thanks,’ she said softly. Her shy smile and the hint of colour that appeared on her cheeks gave you a sudden urge to ruffle her fluffy-looking hair, but on your list of “things you should do to women you barely know”, that one was ranked pretty low, so you quickly stamped down the thought. At the top of that list was, of course, “don’t approach them unless you have a specific reason to, so you don’t get called a creep”, but fortunately that did not apply in this situation.

You were broken out of your thoughts when Kyouko cleared her throat and continued, ‘We applied to perform today, but we didn’t get a slot. I guess the other bands are more experienced and talented… But, we did manage to get a slot somewhere else! It’s not much, but we’re going to be playing at the Komakusa Bar this Friday.’

‘Congratulations!’ you said, smiling. ‘That’s not bad, a lot of great bands got their start playing in bars.’

‘Hehe, thanks…’ She trailed off and broke eye contact, looking at the ends of her sleeves. ‘I don’t know if many people are going to be there to listen to us at the bar, so, you know, you could come. Um, if you want to, of course!’

Taken aback, you did not reply immediately. You didn’t have any commitments on Friday evening, but you were not familiar with this Komakusa Bar, and you didn’t go to bars very often in general – you were not fond of drinking or being around drunk people, or of the unbearably loud, pounding “music” you sometimes heard pouring out of those bars as you walked by. Still, the atmosphere would probably be different with an actual band.

Now you were thinking about it, Rinichi might also want to come. Usually, when you did have to go to parties or the like, you stuck close to Rinichi, since he was a lot better than you at starting conversations with people you didn’t know very well. But, in this case, Kyouko was inviting you specifically, and if Rinichi came along, there was a risk you would be… overshadowed.

[ ] Accept Kyouko’s invitation.
– [ ] Ask if your friend Rinichi can also come.
– [ ] Don’t mention Rinichi.
[ ] Say you’ll think about it and let her know later.
[ ] Politely decline.

[X] Accept Kyouko’s invitation.
– [X] Ask if you can bring a friend if possible, but don’t mention Rinichi by name. You can check to see if he’s down to go later.

When you came to a decision, you smiled. ‘Sure, I’m free on Friday night. I’ll come check out your band!’

Kyouko softly gasped. A moment later, she took a step forward and looked up at you, her eyes practically sparkling. ‘Wow, that’s great! I’m really happy. It’s been hard for us to get people to come listen to our music, you know?’

You were startled slightly – by her closeness or by the brightness of her smile, you were not sure – but you fought to keep it from showing on your face. Quickly, you asked, ‘What kind of music do you two make, anyway?’

‘Um… I think…’ Kyouko looked at the sky as she thought. ‘It would be called rock? Or… punk, maybe? I don’t really know what category it fits in.’

‘That’s fine, music doesn’t always need to be boxed into a single genre. In fact, music that isn’t can be really interesting.’

She giggled. ‘Heh, you know a lot about this stuff, don’t you?’

‘I like music,’ you said, shrugging.

A beeping sound came from Kyouko’s jacket, and she pulled out her phone. ‘Ah, I have to go, I have a class coming up.’

You remembered something you had been meaning to ask. ‘Wait, before you go – would you mind if I bring a friend along to your performance?’ There was no need to mention Rinichi by name, you’d realised, since you didn’t know for sure whether he would want to come in the first place.

For a second, Kyouko looked surprised, and then she said, ‘Eh, sure, go ahead! The more people come, the more people can spread the word of how great our music is, right?’

‘Certainly! Well, I’ll see you on Friday, then?’

‘See you!’ Kyouko gave you a cute little wave and hurried off towards the main part of the campus. As she disappeared from view, you looked around. The crowd on the field was thinning, but there was still a group talking with the Prismrivers at the rotunda, and various people had sat down on the grass to eat their lunch. You spotted the sickly purple-haired girl from earlier, who smiled at you in passing as she headed off in the same direction as Kyouko. A moment later, you saw Rinichi approaching, the photographer girl he’d been talking to nowhere to be seen.

When he reached you, Rinichi patted you on your back once more. ‘Look at you, Tetsu! Getting better at chatting up girls, are you?’

You rolled your eyes, but a grin crept onto your face nonetheless. ‘You know that’s not what I was doing. I’m not you, Rinichi.’ Belatedly, you remembered that you’d gone up to Kyouko to better understand what happened when you had dissociated while dancing, or whatever that was. However, the conversation about music had gotten you entirely sidetracked. But, speaking of conversations… ‘What were you doing, anyway? You know that girl with the camera?’

‘Oh, her.’ Rinichi sighed as the two of you started slowly walking towards the university buildings. ‘That was Aya Shameimaru. She’s the main editor of the Bunbunmaru, you know? Real busybody.’

That name did ring a bell. The Bunbunmaru was one of the university’s several student newspapers. Why the university had decided to have there be multiple of those instead of a single official one, you didn’t know. Was it a competition among the journalism students or something? Regardless, you didn’t read any of them particularly often, but there were always plenty of copies of the latest Bunbunmaru floating around on tables in the campus hallways, so that was probably where you’d seen her name.

You noticed, though, that what Rinichi said didn’t actually explain how he knew her. He certainly wasn’t taking any courses that related to journalism, for one thing. But before you could press him on that, you realised something else and checked your watch. ‘My next lecture is in fifteen minutes, so I’m going to go eat my lunch while I can. Do you want to go find a table?’

‘Er, I didn’t actually bring any food with me,’ Rinichi said, scratching the back of his head. ‘I figured they’d have something to eat here at the event, but I guess not.’

As you walked, you passed by another girl with green hair – hers longer and a bit lighter than Kyouko’s – who gave you a cheery thumbs-up. It sure seemed that a lot of people had seen your dancing… Behind her, you saw the blue-haired girl with the dirty clothes, standing idly with an unreadable expression. You nodded to them as you said to Rinichi, ‘We can still go to the food court and buy you something.’

‘Yeah, but I’m not sure if I have money on me. Did I even bring my wallet? Hm, where did I…’ He trailed off into muttering as he began to check each of his jeans’ pockets.

[ ] Offer to share some of your packed lunch.
[ ] Offer Rinichi some change to buy lunch at the food court.

[X] Offer to share some of your packed lunch.

‘It’s fine, Rinichi,’ you said. ‘I brought sandwiches with me. You can have some of my lunch.’

‘Really?’ His eyes widened, surprise written clearly on his face, along with more gratefulness than you’d have expected from a small gesture like this. You were reminded of a previous time he’d made an expression like this, a few years ago, to which Marisa had said he had the “charm of a lost puppy”. To this day, you still were not sure whether she meant that sarcastically or not.

‘Yeah, it’s fine,’ you reiterated. ‘I’m not exactly going to starve from missing half a sandwich.’

The pitiful look on Rinichi’s face was replaced with a broad grin. ‘Thanks, dude! You’re a lifesaver!’ And there came another vigorous pat on your back.

You just shook your head in resigned amusement as the two of you started to walk. On the other side of the dike at the edge of the sports fields, there was a small green area in front of the nearest academic building, with some trees and picnic tables. You and Rinichi picked out a table that was nicely in the shade and sat down.

You put your bag beside you on the bench and pulled out your lunchbox. As it happened, you’d made a sandwich sliced in two halves, so you just handed one of those to Rinichi. Over his shoulder, you saw the girl who’d just given you a thumbs-up sit down at one of the other tables.

‘Thanks again, Tetsu,’ he said. ‘I should’ve brought some lunch just in case, but this morning I guess I was too preoccupied with that assignment I needed to finish…’

‘Maybe this can be a motivation for you to learn actual time management, then,’ you said, smirking.

‘Shut up! You’re one to talk.’

Chuckling, the two of you began to eat. After a minute, however, a frown crossed Rinichi’s features, and he patted his pockets again.

‘I really thought I… munch… took my wallet with me,’ he said, his mouth still full.

‘Are you sure? You were just talking about how you were in a hurry this morning. Maybe you left it in your room?’

‘Yeah, but, forgetting to make lunch and forgetting something as important as my wallet, those are two different things, you know?’ He waved his sandwich around demonstratively. ‘I don’t think I forgot it.’

You shrugged. ‘Okay, but then, where is it? Did you drop it somewhere?’

‘Maybe it fell out of my pocket at the performance, while we were dancing.’ Still holding the half-eaten sandwich, Rinichi got to his feet. ‘I’m going back to look for it!’ He was loud enough that the green-haired girl at the other table glanced towards the two of you, looking concerned.

‘Hmm, I think that, if that happened, we’d have seen it laying on the ground afterwards. And if it did fall there, someone else may have picked it up already, so I’m not sure if you’d find anything.’

‘What else can I do, though? The field seems to me like the most logical place to search.’

[ ] Go back to the field with Rinichi.
[ ] Stay here to finish your lunch while you still have time.
[ ] Suggest another course of action to Rinichi. (Write-in)

[X] Go back to the field with Rinichi.

‘Alright, let’s go look for your wallet.’

As Rinichi shot you a thumbs-up, you glanced at the tree which cast its shade upon your table, and sighed. Among the tree’s leaves, shades of gold were beginning to appear between the green, a reminder that autumn was setting in. It was a lovely day today, but as the season progressed, opportunities to have a nice lunch outside like this would surely become rarer. Still, right now you had something more important to do than just sitting around and enjoying the weather.

While Rinichi continued to wave around his sandwich, occasionally taking a bite, you put your own lunch back in your bag. Thanks to the combination of sharing your lunch and the time constraints, you’d only managed to eat around a quarter of what you normally would for lunch, but you resolved to just use the next break between lectures to eat a bit more.

And so, the two of you went back to the sports fields you had only just left. The spectators of the performance had largely dispersed by now, leaving only a few people eating their lunch on the grass, along with some organisational staff walking around.

That, conveniently, made it easy to see if there was anything lying on the ground. You walked over to the area in front of the rotunda, where you and Rinichi had been sitting and dancing, but the only things you saw in between the grass were plastic wrappers and other small pieces of trash.

‘Doesn’t look like I dropped it here,’ you heard Rinichi say from behind you. ‘Maybe one of the staff grabbed it while they were cleaning up?’

‘Possibly, but I don’t think they’ve done any cleaning yet,’ you said, demonstratively kicking one of the wrappers on the ground. ‘Are you sure that you actually dropped it?’

‘Well, like I said, I’m pretty sure I didn’t leave my wallet in my room.’

‘No, that’s not what I mean.’ You turned to face Rinichi and studied his clothes. ‘What pocket would you have kept your wallet in?’

He pointed to one on the right-hand side of his jacket. ‘Probably this one. I just checked, the zipper at the top was open, so it could have fallen out while we were dancing.’

‘That is true,’ you said, frowning, ‘but, would you have noticed if someone had taken it out of that pocket? Or even pulled open the zipper?’

Rinichi’s face fell. ‘Shit, you’re right, Tetsu. That zipper should have been closed…’ He reflexively adjusted his jacket, and you pulled your own bag off your shoulder to check its contents. Fortunately, you found nothing out of place. That made sense, considering you’d kept your bag close by you the whole time. You supposed you were lucky that you hadn’t tripped over it while you were dancing.

‘But, if that’s the case, what should we do?’ Rinichi continued, shifting around uneasily. ‘Should I just call the police?’

‘The campus security office might be more efficient for something like this, they’re more nearby.’

‘I don’t know, I’ve heard people say that there’s mostly just this one lady on duty there, and she’s really lazy and takes a long time to do her work.’

You put your hand on your chin as you thought. ‘Alternatively, we could go and ask some of the people around here if they’ve seen a dropped wallet, or anything suspicious. We could even split up to be more efficient.’ Honestly, it would probably be good to ask around and call the authorities, but right now you only had a limited amount of time before your next lecture began.

‘I suppose I could have asked Aya, but she already left. That drone with the camera might also have seen something,’ Rinichi offered.

‘Yeah, but do you have any idea who was controlling it?’

He shook his head, and you looked around. The fans in front of the rotunda were gone, but the Prismrivers were still inside, packing up their instruments and sound equipment. From their position on the stage, they may have seen if something weird happened around you or Rinichi.

Next to the rotunda, the announcer guy was talking to a woman around your age, who wore an elegant red dress with white sleeves and carried herself in a way that exuded a sense of authority. You hadn’t seen her at the performance, but you felt like you had seen her before, you just couldn’t quite recall where.

There were various students sitting around on the field, but for most of them, you weren’t sure whether they’d been at the performance or not. You did spot the two girls who had performed before the Prismrivers – they had also been on stage, although the dancing hadn’t yet started at that time. You figured that the green-haired girl who had been eating at one of the other picnic tables must also have seen you dancing, given that thumbs-up reaction, though you would have to walk back to that area to talk to her.

[ ] Ask around if anyone has seen something. (You can select two separate options for Tetsu and Rinichi to talk to, or just one.)
– [ ] Talk to the Prismrivers.
– [ ] Talk to the announcer and the girl in red.
– [ ] Talk to the two girls who performed earlier.
– [ ] Talk to the green-haired girl at the picnic tables.
[ ] Call to report the missing wallet.
– [ ] Call the police.
– [ ] Call the campus security office.

Tetsu:
– [X] Talk to the announcer and the girl in red; see if either of them have seen anything.
Rinichi:
– [X] Call the campus security office and report the missing wallet.

‘How about we split up?’ you suggested. ‘You can call the campus security office, and I’ll go around and ask some of these people if they’ve seen anything.’

Rinichi looked away, a frown contorting his brow as he thought. After about ten seconds, he shrugged and said, ‘Okay, let’s go with that plan.’ He didn’t sound very sure of himself, but you didn’t have time to dawdle right now.

With a nod, you turned away from him. There were a lot of different people you could potentially talk to here, but one in particular had caught your attention: the girl in red. Why did she look familiar? There was only one way to find out. Plus, she looked like she was in charge of something, so she might have an idea if there was anything weird going on at the event.

She was still talking to the announcer guy, so you walked up to them. ‘Excuse me?’ you said.

‘Oh, hello,’ said the announcer, turning around sharply as though he’d been startled. ‘Is there anything I can help you with?’

‘My friend over there lost his wallet.’ You pointed your thumb over your shoulder towards Rinichi. ‘We don’t know whether he dropped it, or it was stolen. We were sitting right in front of the stage during the performance, so I was wondering, did either of you see anything? A dropped wallet, or someone acting suspicious, maybe?’

The girl in red spoke up, her face politely neutral. ‘I’m sorry, but I wasn’t at the performance. I had intended to be there, but then I was called to a meeting of the University Board. At very short notice. Again. I swear the Vice-Chancellor…’ The neutrality of her expression slipped as she trailed off into grumbling.

However, one detail had stuck out to you. ‘The University Board, really?’ The girl looked around the same age as you, but she was involved with the central administration of the university?

She sighed. ‘Yes, the board. I am the chair of the Student Association, you know?’

That did make sense. You didn’t know much about the Student Association, but from their newsletter emails you’d gathered that they organized student events – like the ensemble performance – and “represented the student body” to the university administration. Their chair taking part in board meetings seemed logical. You supposed those emails may also have been the reason why you recognised her face, but you couldn’t shake the feeling there was also something else.

As you nodded, the announcer said, ‘I was just telling Miss Hakurei what a great success this–’

‘Ah, I should introduce myself,’ the girl interrupted as she adjusted the ribbon in her hair. ‘Reimu Hakurei, pleased to meet you.’ Her professional demeanour restored, she shook your hand.

‘Nice to meet you, too. I…’ Something clicked in your head as you processed what she had said. ‘Hang on, would you happen to know someone named Marisa Kirisame?’ You knew Marisa had been friends with someone named Reimu since childhood, but that girl hadn’t gone to the same high school as you, and you didn’t think you’d actually met her in person. You were pretty sure, though, that Marisa had showed you photos of her friend on several different occasions.

The girl in front of you raised an eyebrow, having clearly not expected that question. ‘Marisa Kirisame? Yes, she is an old friend of mine, but – how do you know that? Who are you?’

You waved your hands, trying to defuse the sudden tension. ‘I’ve also known her for a couple of years, through this other friend of mine…’ It was a bit difficult to explain, as Marisa also hadn’t gone to the same school as you, but she knew Rinichi through his family, and she would often hang out with the two of you on weekends. ‘She talks about you a lot.’

‘A friend of Marisa…’ Reimu thought for a moment, and then her eyes narrowed and a tone of distaste entered her voice. ‘You’re not that Rinichi, are you?’

You had to burst out laughing at that one. Reimu frowned at you, while the announcer just looked dumbfounded, clearly unfamiliar with the people being discussed. Once you had caught your breath, you clarified, ‘Sorry about that. No, I’m not Rinichi. He’s over there, actually. He’s the one who lost his wallet. My name is Tetsu.’ You briefly hesitated, but given the polite way your conversational partner had introduced herself, you added, ‘Tetsu…’

[ ] Aoshima (青島)
[ ] Miyamura (宮村)
[ ] Nobata (野畑)
[ ] Takaoka (高岡)

[X] Aoshima (青島)

‘…Tetsu Aoshima.’

‘That’s a wonderful name,’ said the announcer with an overly practised smile.

Reimu, however, was looking in a different direction. ‘So that’s Rinichi… yeah, that checks out.’

You raised an eyebrow. ‘What does?’

‘Him losing his wallet. It seems like something he would do.’ A sparkle of mirth danced in her eyes, and you too had to hold back a chuckle that threatened to bubble up from your throat. Clearly, the stories Marisa had told her about Rinichi were very flattering ones. Though, you could not necessarily say that her view of him was inaccurate…

After a few seconds, Reimu cleared her throat, and her more serious demeanour returned. ‘All that being said, I have to reiterate that I wasn’t at the performance, so I don’t know if anything suspicious happened there. Nakamura here was present, though.’

She pointed her thumb at the announcer, and the both of you turned towards him in anticipation. An awkwardly long moment of silence followed, until eventually he got the hint and coughed into his hand, before saying, ‘Ah, yes, I was there. Very talented performance from both of the bands that played. But I was mostly at the back of the stage, handling the logistics, so I did not get many chances to observe the audience. I did not see anything unusual happen around you or your friend, Mr. Aoshima – though, I did see some of your magnificent dancing!’ At that, he gave another forced-looking grin.

You sighed, and were about to thank them for their time and leave, when Nakamura spoke up again, visibly hesitant. ‘I didn’t see anything, but there have been reports of an uptick in pickpocketing and petty theft across the campus as of late.’ Reimu hummed in agreement.

You were reminded of some news reports you had read last week. ‘Is that because of those new gangs in the Beast District?’

Nakamura blanched. ‘The Beast District? You shouldn’t use such terminology, it can be seen as discriminatory to those residents of less affluent backgrounds who–’

‘That’s possible, but it seems unlikely,’ Reimu said, cutting across him with a hint of exasperation in her voice. ‘Vice-Chancellor Yakumo recently held a meeting with several “community leaders” from that district to ensure that their conflicts would not spill over onto the university campus. Furthermore, the crimes recorded in that area tend to be more… direct than this kind of pickpocketing.’

You checked your watch. ‘I see. Thank you both for the information, but I have to be on my way. Have a nice afternoon!’

Reimu and Nakamura echoed your sentiment as you walked back to the open area in front of the rotunda. With another sigh, you stretched your arms. That had been an interesting conversation, and it was nice to finally meet Marisa’s old friend, but it still did not give you any clear leads as to the whereabouts of Rinichi’s wallet.

Speaking of Rinichi, he had left the spot where he had been standing before, but after a moment you spotted him pacing back and forth on the raised dike at the edge of the field, frustration visible on his face.

‘Is everything alright, Rinichi?’ you asked as you approached him.

He slumped into a sitting position and held out his phone. ‘The security office phone number is busy. Busy!’

‘Huh, that’s weird.’ Did they really only have one staff member on duty at a time? You supposed you could just physically go the campus security office, but you only had about five minutes until your next lecture. Still, you knew the lectures for this course were usually recorded, so missing one was not the end of the world, though you preferred not having to rely on those recordings if you could avoid it.

Aside from that, you were pretty sure that the police would actually answer their phone, but they probably wouldn’t be as urgently concerned about the missing wallet of a university student as the on-campus security would be.

[ ] Go with Rinichi to the campus security office.
[ ] Have Rinichi go to the campus security office while you go to your lecture.
[ ] Have Rinichi call the police instead.

[X] Go with Rinichi to the campus security office.

‘If we can’t reach them by phone, then let’s just go to the campus security office in person,’ you said.

‘Really, you think that’s better than calling the police?’

You thought about that for a moment as you looked up at the sky, which had grown a bit cloudier than it was at noon. ‘It’s more efficient, at least. The campus security probably care more about some student losing his wallet than the police would.’

‘Yeah, that makes sense.’ Rinichi began to stand up, but halted after he had pulled himself into a crouching position, and muttered softly, ‘Uh, where is that office again?’

‘Don’t worry, I’ll come with you.’ You held out your hand and helped him to his feet.

‘Thanks for that. But, Tetsu, don’t you have a lecture soon?’ he asked as he brushed the dirt off his trousers.

‘I do, but It’s recorded, so it’s fine. In a situation like this, helping out a friend is more important, don’t you think?’

Rinichi grinned. ‘Thanks, man. You’re a real one!’ He gave your shoulder an amicable shove that was almost enough to knock you off your feet.

Once you had recovered your balance, you took the lead and the two of you set off towards the security office. As the lunch hour drew to a close, the campus walkways grew – well, not quiet, exactly, but certainly quieter than they had been during the peak of lunch activity. The soft chattering of passing students mixed with the rustling of leaves and, more distantly, the rumbling of cars on the city streets, the latter of which became more prominent as you left behind the sports fields and approached the central parts of the campus.

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Rinichi flip his phone around in his hand before putting it in his pocket. ‘Phew, I’m lucky I didn’t put my phone inside my wallet today,’ he said. ‘If I’d done that and lost my phone, too, my sister would really get mad at me.’

A slight chuckle escaped your lips. ‘Don’t you think she’s going to yell at you anyway, for “being careless with important things”, or something like that?’ You raised your voice to a squeak as you imitated her.

‘Her voice doesn’t sound that high-pitched,’ Rinichi said, laughing despite himself. ‘But, yeah, she would. Still, me losing my phone really would piss her off. She doesn’t like it when she can’t contact me, you know?’

You raised an eyebrow. ‘Wow, she’s still that clingy? Are you sure that’s… a good thing? She’s almost eighteen, isn’t she?’

Rinichi’s face fell. ‘I get what you mean, but I think it’s understandable. Who else is she going to turn to for emotional support? Our parents? Give me a break.’ His hands clenched into fists, but you kept listening silently, letting him get it out of his system. ‘When have either of them ever given a fuck about anyone but themselves? They’re not there for her. You know what they’re like.’

You did, indeed. You didn’t have any siblings, so you had no point of comparison for that, but over the years, witnessing the excruciatingly drawn-out and acrimonious divorce of Rinichi’s parents had made you feel very grateful for your own.

That being said… ‘What about your uncle?’

He shrugged. ‘He’s also here in the city now, isn’t he? And he works full-time. More than full-time, sometimes. Running a business is a lot of work. He can’t be there for her as often as he used to.’ He paused to wipe some sweat off his brow with the back of his hand. The sun was hidden behind clouds now, but the breeze had also lessened, so the temperature hadn’t dropped much. ‘She doesn’t have many friends in school, either. Ugh… sometimes I worry about her, Tetsu.’

‘Well, at least she will be here at university next year. With how much she likes to read, I’m sure she’ll get in.’ You gave him a reassuring pat on the back, a bit softer than he would have done. ‘Did you tell her about your wallet yet?’

‘No, no. She’s in school today, so if I tell her about it now, she’s going to spend the rest of the day fretting over me instead of paying attention to her classes. I’ll tell her this evening, I guess.’

‘Ah, we’re here,’ you said, pointing ahead. The campus security office was a simple one-storey building, possibly prefabricated. Partially hidden between trees and shrubs, it was pretty inconspicuous compared to the larger academic buildings. Above the entranceway, an air-conditioning unit buzzed loudly, interrupting the peaceful atmosphere of its surroundings.

For a few seconds, Rinichi was silent, and then something changed in his expression, as if he had resolved something within himself. ‘Okay, let’s go in.’

With a nod, you walked forward and pushed open the door.

[-] To be continued.

Entering the campus security building, you were faced with a modest waiting room, not unlike the kind you might find in a dentist’s office. A row of chairs was set along the room’s off-white walls, above which hung posters about personal safety and crime prevention, as well as a cork noticeboard with various small flyers. A heat pump hummed more quietly than its outside counterpart, accompanied by the whir of a simple black ceiling fan. The weather wasn’t that hot today, was it?

The only other noise came from the far side of the room, where a reception desk was set into a large opening in the wall. Behind the desk was a woman, not much older than you, who sat turned away from the entrance and was talking softly into a phone. She had red hair tied into two ponytails and wore a blue shirt that you supposed was some kind of uniform.

When she noticed you and Rinichi, the woman covered the phone receiver with her hand. ‘Just a moment, I’ll be with you shortly,’ she said with an apologetic smile, before resuming her phone conversation. As she did, you wondered if her uniform was supposed to have so many buttons undone. Not that you were complaining about the view, necessarily, but was it really appropriate for a place like this?

And so, you began to wait. You peered around the woman at the room behind her, an office with several cluttered tables, but you did not see any other personnel besides her.

You shared a shrug with Rinichi and, not having anything better to do, began to examine the noticeboard. Amidst a bunch of generic bulletins about study help and university events – including the ensemble performance you’d been to today – and yet more flyers about safety, one thing that stuck out to you was a small poster, with dramatic white text on a black background, advertising a so-called “Secret Sealing Club”, that appeared to be about something paranormal. You also saw a bright red flyer about some kind of protest, but before you could read either of them closely, the woman at the counter spoke up again.

‘Alright, phew, that’s done,’ she said, slamming down the receiver and leaning back in her chair. ‘Sorry for the wait. Now, what can I help you with today?’

Rinichi stepped forward, for once in this investigation taking the initiative. That was reasonable, considering it was his wallet that was missing in the first place, but you really hoped that his sudden motivation was not because of the staff woman’s admittedly ample cleavage. Well, not just because of that.

He greeted her with a smile that was somewhere between “polite” and “trying to be charming”. ‘Ah, it’s no problem, miss, er…’ He leaned in to look at her conveniently placed nametag. ‘…miss Komachi.’ Then, more seriously, he continued, ‘I’d like to report that my wallet has gone missing. I may have dropped it, or someone may have taken it, I’m not sure. I had it with me this morning, so this must have happened on campus.’

Komachi cracked her knuckles and sat upright with visible reluctance, resting her elbows on the desk. ‘Hmm, I see. That’s very unfortunate. Do you have any idea where specifically? Locations where you spent a lot of time, maybe?’

Rinichi scratched his cheek. ‘I was in the engineering building this morning, but I think it most likely happened when I was at the music ensemble thing on the sports fields. We already looked for my wallet there.’

As he spoke, Komachi’s eyes widened and she opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, another voice sounded. ‘You too?!’

You spun around and saw that the one who had spoken was the girl with the bright green hair who you had previously seen after the performance. She stood up from a chair that, from the entrance, was hidden from view by a somewhat sickly-looking potted plant.

‘Uh, what?’ said Rinichi intelligently as the girl approached him with a tense, almost manic look in her eyes.

‘Your wallet went missing at the ensemble performance? So did mine!’ She gripped both of his hands and shook them with a desperate gratefulness, like a beggar who had finally been given food. ‘I thought I was going insane when I couldn’t find my wallet after the performance! I already told Miss Onozuka about it, but there wasn’t much she could do! But if the same thing happened to you, and you were also there, then there is probably a connection, and it was not my fault! Thank you!’

A faint tinge of red appeared on Rinichi’s cheeks as he looked down at their connected hands. ‘I, eh… well, you’re welcome… um…’ As he stumbled over his words, you rolled your eyes. Wasn’t he supposed to be the experienced one when it came to dealing with women?

Fortunately, the awkwardness of the situation was interrupted by Komachi clearing her throat. ‘Yes, two wallets going missing at the same event does make it less likely that it was accidental,’ she said, rubbing at the back of her neck. ‘Pickpocketing and petty thefts have been on the rise across the campus, but we have not had much success in finding the culprits thus far.’

The other girl appeared to have calmed down as she released Rinichi’s hands at last, and reached up to adjust a small green ornament in her equally green hair. ‘Indeed, it seems that an injustice has taken place here,’ she said gravely, but soon her voice began to rise again. ‘As the deputy chair of the Student Association, I cannot let this stand! Gensokyo University must be a safe place for everyone!’

This girl sure was energetic. But she was part of the same organisation as Reimu? That was interesting.

As Komachi nervously nodded along with the green-haired girl’s proclamation, you turned to Rinichi and nudged his shoulder. ‘Well, at least now we know that it wasn’t Marisa who stole your wallet.’

The dazed look finally disappeared from his face, to be replaced by one of indignation. ‘What the hell? Marisa wouldn’t do something like that!’

You raised an eyebrow. ‘What about all those times when my pens and pencils would just disappear while we were studying together? Or what she did with your sister’s–’

‘Yeah, but not my wallet! She’s not that kind of a person!’

‘Who is this Marisa?’ asked Komachi from her desk. ‘Some kind of thief?’

Rinichi shot you a dirty look and quickly waved his hands in Komachi’s direction. ‘No, no, that’s just a misunderstanding.’

‘…I see,’ she replied, clearly not entirely convinced. ‘To get back to the matter at hand, did you notice anything or anyone suspicious at the ensemble performance? We don’t have any leads yet.’

He grimaced. ‘No, not really. It was crowded, though, and everyone got pretty wild dancing to the music, so it would’ve been easy to miss someone like a pickpocket.’

The green-haired girl suddenly turned her head towards you. ‘What about you? You were there too, right?’

You thought about that for a moment. The dancing itself had been rather weird, and the music of the Prismrivers seemed to have whipped everyone up into a frenzy, but was there anything that might have related to the wallets of Rinichi and the green-haired girl going missing?

[ ] Nothing in particular.
[ ] There was something. (Write-in)