Chase The Truth

Chapter 40: A Curious Development

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~Normal POV

9/12 - Monday

At school today, Yu was planning to ask Naoto to join them for lunch on the roof. But that plan went out the window pretty fast. He heard Naoto was absent today for some reason. It was a little peculiar. He didn't seem like the kind of person who would skip school, no matter the reason. He was too proper for such a thing. Yu told the others about this missed opportunity and they said they hadn't seen Naoto at all since the train ride back from Port Island.

It wasn't until this evening that Yu found out where the detective went to skip out on school. He was watching the news with Nanako like usual. However, something odd happened. It seemed Naoto was on the news tonight. He was sitting at the desk with the news anchor; and was even dressed up in his full school uniform. (And was still wearing that hat. Yu briefly wondered if he ever took it off- hell, he probably wore it to bed.) It surprised Yu greatly to see this, so he perked up and listened curiously.

"Good evening, and welcome to Niteline's special Nitewatch Report. A suspect in the murders in Inaba was safely arrested recently. But what few people know is that the mastermind who brought him to justice was a high school detective. Tonight's report will focus on this Detective Prince, Naoto Shirogane, whose handsome looks are sweeping the nation. Thanks for being on the show."

"No, no, the pleasure is all mine."

"Oh- his uniform's the same as yours," Nanako commented.

"First, congratulations to you and the police for your recent arrest of the culprit. It was well known that there were a lot of mysteries surrounding this case, and you did a great job clearing them up."

"I'd hesitate to say that the matter is 'cleared up' as such. It's true that our suspect was behind Mr. Morooka's unfortunate death. But when I cast my eye over the case as a whole I detect a few things that seem out of place."

"Oh... like what?"

"Unfortunately, I cannot divulge details at this time. But this matter claimed the lives of three people. Hence, I believe even the smallest inconsistency must be investigated."

"I... I see. I have to say, this is a surprise in light of the police's official statement. N-Now for our next segment, 'The Detective Prince's True Identity,' where Naoto-kun tells us a little bit about himself. Amazingly, the Detective Prince has solved a whopping 24 cases. 16 of them were-"

"There's a detective at your school?" Nanako asked, excitedly. "Wow! When I'm older, I'm gonna go to your school too!"

Yu chuckled. "Cool... and yeah, I know him too. We're not exactly close, but we've talked a little."

But this news did make him rather intrigued. It didn't look right to him. Naoto on tv? Asking for attention to all his daring case work? Sure, he didn't know the kid that well, but it just didn't seem like him. Naoto was shy and kinda quiet. He didn't seem interested in boasting about his personal achievements. Dojima called him cocky, but Yu didn't see it much in talking with him. Maybe his uncle was wrong? Naoto must have some level of confidence, but didn't make it a big deal around others. So why suddenly ask for a full interview?

He watched the rest of the interview, silently musing about it. Naoto responded to the various praises modestly. The cases he'd worked on sounded pretty cool, too. Especially for how many and varied they were. But as was usually the case with these types of interviews, the questions soon delved into unimportant drabble about school and social life. Yu got a little amusement out of Naoto promptly deflecting a line of questions about his popularity with female students.