Extra File: Repayment

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This happened a week after that case.

-

My feet brought me to the <Movie Research Circle> room in the back of Building B.

I came to meet the most contrary person on campus: Saitou Yakumo.

It's not that I had any trouble. Today was the last day of classes for the first semester, and starting tomorrow the university would enter summer vacation. I would be going home to Nagano. I thought I'd pay a visit to see his sour face first.

Plus, I didn't properly thank him for the necklace I got from him a while back.

'Hey.'

When I opened the door, Yakumo was sitting in the chair he always did, running a hand through his messy head.

The room was as hot as a sauna.

'What, it's you?'

Yakumo looked at me with incredibly sleepy eyes and spoke while holding back a yawn.

'What? I came all this way.'

'I didn't ask you to.'

'Oh, that's right. I was in the wrong.'

There'd be no end to it if I took what Yakumo said seriously and got angry.

Exhausted, I sat on the chair.

'Sorry, but I have to head out now.'

'Head out?'

'Yeah. There's something I still have to do with the case from last time.'

Yakumo looked like he thought it was troublesome as he mussed up his hair.

'The case from last time - do you mean the one with Kamiyama-san?'

'Yeah.'

'Isn't that already over?'

'No, I have to return this.'

Yakumo held up the red paperback diary in his right hand to show me.

'Ah.'

That was Rika-san's diary.

Come to think of it, I'd borrowed the diary without going back to return it.

It was something I borrowed from her father. It reminded me of his sad expression. I promised that I would find out the reason Rika-san died -

And then the truth had become clear.

'Hey, can I go too?' I said, looking at Yakumo's eyes.

To say the truth, meeting him again would make me depressed. That man believed that his daughter hadn't killed herself, but that wasn't the truth. I didn't know what I'd say if I met him. There was no meaning in any comforting words I could say.

But I still had a duty to meet him.

'Do what you want.'

For a while, Yakumo looked troubled, but he finally sighed and said that, handing the diary to me.

That was right. This was something I should hold.

After a nod, I took that diary.

'Don't be slow,' said Yakumo as he left the room.

Hey, he's just going to leave the door open? Honestly, he just did whatever he wanted.

I took the door key from the fridge, locked up and then hurriedly ran after Yakumo.

I thought Yakumo would go meet Rika-san's father right away, but he said, 'There's somewhere I want to drop by first,' and he went to the apartment where Rika-san killed herself.

Psychic Detective Yakumo / Shinrei Tantei YakumoWhere stories live. Discover now