Solving Cases is My Daily Life Now: Volume 3

Chapter 14

   The next morning proved to be an easier one for Rina, she woke up feeling rested for the first time in days. As she walked to school, she felt ready to tackle whatever challenges the day would have.

"You look b-better today, Rina!" Suzu said when she joined up with her friend.

"I feel it, too. Maybe cupcakes were just what I needed." Rina joked, looking up at the clear sky.

"D-d-do you guys have any cases t-today?" Suzu asked.

"No. And that's just the problem." Rina said, "I think Iwamoto might be behind it."

"I s-suppose that's a reasonable th-thought to have..." Suzu said.

Rina nodded in agreement.

"Masaru said he'd look into it. Hopefully he's learned something by lunchtime." She replied.

When they reached the school entrance, they were unsurprised to see Katsuo waiting for them.

"You look better today." He grunted as he pushed himself off of the wall.

"Can we not talk about how I look for one morning?" Rina asked, slightly irritated by the fact that he did it so often.

"Sure, whatever." Katsuo said, trailing behind them.

"Y-you didn't come to the club r-r-room yesterday." Suzu pointed out, tilting her head at him.

"Yeah. I figured the last thing Masaru would want to see on his first day back would be my mug." He grumbled.

"I'm sure he wouldn't have minded." Rina argued.

"No, he would have. I'm sure of it." Katsuo reiterated.

"Think what you want, I guess." Rina said, "But I don't think Masaru is that mean."

Rina stopped her train of thought for a moment, there was a time where she definitely would have considered Masaru cruel and uncaring. She was glad that she was wrong, but she felt almost ashamed that she had ever made that assumption.

"It's not as though I particularly want to be his friend, myself. So it doesn't matter much either way." Katsuo said with a shrug.

The look on Suzu's face indicated that she wanted to ask Katsuo why he felt that way, but Rina shook her head at her. The two of them had experienced enough emotional turmoil that week. It didn't take long for them to reach their classroom after that, and the two girls turned to Katsuo to say their goodbyes.

"You know K-Katsuo...we're having a st-study session at my place after school, if y-y-you want to come."

Suzu said.

Katsuo's expression indicated that he didn't expect to be invited to anything.

"Ok, sure." He said after a few moments.

"Great! We'll s-s-see you then!" Suzu said with a smile.

Katsuo nodded and walked away, giving a short wave as he disappeared down the hallway.

"I hope Yua is ok with him coming." Rina said as they entered the classroom.

"I'm s-s-sure she will be." Suzu said, her face turning a bit pink.

They both sat down at their desks, and not long after the bell rang.

"You ladies ready for some intense studying?" Yua asked them at lunch with a tone that sounded reminiscent to an action movie trailer.

"I think you should be asking yourself that." Rina said, "We're doing it for you, after all."

"I h-hope you don't mind Yua, b-b-but I invited Katsuo to come t-too." Suzu said.