The New York Cheesecake Mystery (Part 7) | Contents | The Berlin Fried Dough Mystery (Part 1)
The Cultural Festival would end at four o’clock, and the Closing Celebration would immediately begin. Everyone would gather at the sports ground to sing and dance around the bonfire. I felt like staying to watch that, but since they apparently needed to clean everything up by four, we left Reichi Middle School, lest we get in the way.
I listened to Osanai-san’s full account on the subway.
“I was brought by the three boys to a martial arts gym, where I was surrounded by about ten of them. They kept threatening me to bring out the CD, it was scary.”
She spoke with a nonchalant look on her face and the air of a kid saying that the haunted house at the amusement park was scary.
“But, I have this.”
The item she retrieved from her miniature Boston bag was… a student handbook.
“I thought it would be something like that. Still, I’m surprised you bring that around.”
“You wouldn’t understand, Kobato-kun. You wouldn’t understand the need to carry a student handbook around to prove that you’re a high school student.”
Right.
When I checked the CD’s video and saw the Judo Club’s practice, I predicted that Osanai-san would return safely. School clubs have the unique characteristic of disliking situations where outsiders get involved in their troubles. Of course, the extent differs from person to person, but it is the general trend, regardless of whether the individual in question is a teacher or student. In the face of a high school student who was not only from a different city, but also from an entirely different prefecture, or in other words, a complete outsider, I thought there would be a very low chance that Reichi Middle School’s Judo Club would resort to high-handed measures. I never expected Osanai-san to be holding a trump card in her student handbook, though.
“Even when they knew that I was a high school student, they seemingly didn’t want to believe it and called me a liar, but eventually they started wilting like green vegetables sprinkled with salt1. They asked me to show my bag one more time, and after I did so, they said I was free to leave.”
“I don’t think they didn’t want to, but they just couldn’t believe it.”
At that exact time, the train started decelerating as it approached the next station, so my voice was mixed with the brake noises and my murmurings apparently didn’t reach Osanai-san.
“…I thought that you would go somewhere you could access the contents of the CD after finding it, so I went to the Computer Club. I was behind you the whole time you were watching the video, but you never noticed.”
“Which explains the catchphrase?”
“I wanted to try it once.”
Ah, she wasn’t getting embarrassed.
As the train started moving off again, an announcement was made, informing passengers that the next stop would be Nagoya Station.
“But was that really alright?”
I asked, but Osanai-san looked puzzled.
“What’s alright?”
“What happened to the video.”
Osanai-san had said that she didn’t want a copy of the video, or the original CD. That honestly surprised me. I’d assumed that she would want to find the most effective way of using the video.
“The marshmallows were wasted, right?”
“Yeah.”
Staring at the pitch-black train windows, Osanai-san spoke as if it was nothing.
“I know what you’re trying to say, Kobato-kun. I wanted to go to the cafe one more time to eat their New York cheesecake, then give my thanks to Kogi-san before going home, but those plans got ruined, just like the marshmallows. It was really such a shame.”
As I thought, it was not the case that she didn’t mind all that happening. Despite that, she did not accept something that she could hang over the heads of Reichi Middle School’s Judo Club.
“So you decided to forgive them? That’s a noble act, Osanai-san. You’re becoming an excellent petit bourgeois.”
Osanai-san shyly hid a grin in response to my heartfelt praise, but also slightly turned away.
“Thank you… but you misunderstand. It’s not that I didn’t accept the CD, but I left it at the Computer Club.”
Unable to fathom her intentions, I silently urged her to carry on.
“There are computers in the Computer Club, the boy in the Computer Club currently doesn’t think highly of the Judo Club, and he has the incriminating video on hand.”
Ah, I see.
“So it might spread on the internet?”’
Running her fingers through her black hair, Osanai-san looked at the train window, although nothing could be seen from it. The pitch-black window reflected her side profile like a mirror.
“I think it will. I could feel the vibes.”
Vibes, huh…
If the video spreads, the name of Reichi Middle School’s Judo Club would be dragged through the mud, and they might not even be able to compete in the Autumn Tournament. However, after such a fall, things could improve for them. Their club advisor could attend training sessions more frequently, and they could get a new coach. Even in the worst case scenario in which the club gets disbanded, the first-year students would be able to escape that terrible environment.
The subway train decelerated as we neared Nagoya Station. Osanai-san probably hadn’t noticed that I was looking at her reflection on the window, or she would not have made that expression… with such a cold smile on her face. She murmured at her own reflection in the window.
“And that’s why I did nothing.”
The New York Cheesecake Mystery (Part 7) | Contents | The Berlin Fried Dough Mystery (Part 1)
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How many chapters are left
There are two more stories in the volume, the 3rd story has 5 parts and the 4th has 7 parts.