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linopls · 1 year ago

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kinktober day five

first time jeongin x fem!reader summary: spending the night in your childhood bedroom with one of your members didn't go as you expected it. warnings: SMUT MINORS DNI, mentions of underage drinking, oral (fem receiving), unprotected p in v 3.1k words (whoops)

they are both adults (18) here!

“you smell like a red, white, and berry smirnoff.”

jeongin giggles, “your childhood bedroom is cute.”

you never thought any of the stray kids members would visit your childhood home in the states until the boys suggested you come back home for your senior prom. you had committed to finishing your senior year online while still being a member of stray kids knowing that you would miss many of your senior traditions. but the boys could not let go of the idea of you missing your senior prom.

your defensive argument is you had no reason to go as you didn’t have a date, all the boys jumped on the opportunity to take you. chan, minho, and changbin were all too old, according to the permission slip. seungmin and jisung were too worried about not knowing enough english, and hyunjin and felix had both planned trips with their families during this time of break.

this left jeongin, who didn’t care if he didn’t know enough english.

“isn’t prom just dancing anyways?” jeongin asked you a month before the dance, both of you sitting in the JYPE cafe snacking between practices.

“it is,” you reply, taking a fork full of your salad. “but i’ll want you to meet and get to know all my friends.”

“then you can translate for me, think of it as korean practice!”

“pfft, i don’t need more korean practice, you can think of it as english practice.”

jeongin rolls his eyes at you while stuffing his face full of pizza. “i’m going with you to this out of the kindness of my heart, don’t be mean,” he says with his mouth full.

“you are literally the only one able to go.”

about two weeks before the dance, stray kids was finishing promotions for their comeback and you were walking back to the dressing room.

“wait here,” chan says, stopping you outside the door. confusion paints your face as chan stands in front of the door handle, blocking you from entering. you both sit in silence for a minute when there’s a small knock on the door. chan opens the door without saying anything.

you’re greeted with balloons and streamers. on your left hyunjin is holding out a small cake, on your right, felix, minho, seungmin, and changbin, jisung are holding signs that spell out “PROM?”, and in the middle of jeongin is holding a sign that reads ‘I have a QUESTION and I hope there’s no AWKWARD SILENCE but…”

you gasp, hands covering your mouth, and tears form in the corners of your eyes. you never had been asked to a school dance, and never thought you would be. but here’s jeongin, recruiting the help of all the members, to ask you with a cheesy sign.

“my prom research told me that boys usually ask their partners to prom with a sign,” jeongin says walking towards you. “so what do you say?”

you nod, afraid that if you speak you’ll start to cry. you run to hug jeongin and he drops the sign and envelopes you in a warm hug.

“i can’t believe my parents haven’t touched it since i left.”

“it still fits your personality, cute and bubbly.”

jeongin squeezes himself between you and the wall on your twin size bed. he pulls up the pink, polka dot covers over the two of you and cuddles up next to you.

“how much did you drink?” you ask.

“only one,” he says. “we can’t legally drink here.”

you laugh. “and that stopped none of us.”

your friends had encouraged you to host an after party at your house, since your parents were out of state. you and jeongin drink often in korea, being 18 and 19 accordingly. so he found it funny that none of the party goers could legally purchase alcohol but brought a ton of it to the party. both of you only drank one or two beverages, being the hosts of the party you both wanted to remain sober enough. and red, white, and berry smirnoffs being the drink of choice, jeongin claimed it would make him feel more american.

you both lay there in silence, scrolling through socials and updating the boys on how the dance was.

“oh my god,” you sigh.

“what?” jeongin says, trying to catch a peak of whatever you’re looking at on your phone.

“my friend abby, you know the one in the red dress you meant, just texted us that she’s getting laid tonight.”

“what?” jeongin exclaimed, “she seemed so sweet and innocent.”

“she is!” you laugh. “we all had placed bets on when we’d lose our virginities in, like, middle school, they all said i would be first. but now i guess i’m last.”

“its not a race,” jeongin says.

“i know, i know.” you pout. “but i’m sick of all the boys teasing me for it all the time!”

“they tease me about it too!” he says, sitting up on one of his elbows, turning to face you.

being the youngest two members meant you and jeongin got teased about not doing ‘adult things’ a lot. like neither of you were able to drive, neither ever bought a lottery ticket, or neither had ever had sex.

“what if we did it?”

“what?” you’re in shock, you feel like you can’t move. you had never thought about jeongin like that. you both had agreed that going to prom together was completely platonic, even though he made the sign, you wore matching colors, and you guys exchanged corsages and boutonnieres.

“i’m just thinking like, if we did it, neither of us would be virgins and they would stop teasing us for it.”

jeongin notices your shocked impression and quickly begins to apologize.

“i’m sorry, i didn’t mean it like that, i was just saying that-”

“they would tease us for doing it with each other,” you say, turning your phone off and placing it on your nightstand.

you look over at jeongin and now he looks confused. “although,” you wonder aloud. “we wouldn’t have to tell them, we could just say we aren’t next time they bring it up. lie about who we did it with.”

“how?” jeongin asks.

“i dunno, say i reconnected with someone back here, and then you could say you met someone at the company and it was a fling.”

“they wouldn’t believe that, i don't have the ability to flirt with people like that,” jeongin laughs awkwardly.

the air feels tense. you and jeongin are sat in silence, both staring at each other looking for some sort of answer. jeongin scoots closer to you. you again can smell the smirnoff on his breath. he slowly reaches one of his hands up and places it on your cheek, gently caressing your soft cheek.

“can i kiss you?” he asks, almost at a whisper.

“yeah,” you whisper back.

his lips met yours and it feels like fireworks are going off in your brain. his lips are so soft and move perfectly in sync with yours. he moves his hand from your cheek to the back of your head, pulling you deeper into the kiss. you move one of your hands up his torso, stopping at where his chest and neck met, you can feel the warmth of his skin on your hand and it feels like you both should’ve done this a long time ago.

he slowly assists you onto your back and he lays on top of you, his legs slotted between yours. he keeps one hand on the back of your hand and uses the other to grip onto your thigh and pull it up to wrap around his middle. his gentle ministrations send butterflies down to your core and you mindlessly move both of your hands to his hips and pull his body closer to yours.

you both uncontrollably moan at the sensation of your clothed centers coming in contact with each other. the kiss becomes more messy as jeongin slips his warm tongue into your mouth and you both unconsciously grind onto each other.

jeongin is the first to pull away, a line of spit still connecting your mouths, and both of you out of breath. “jesus y/n,” he said breathlessly.

you giggle as you pull his hips closer to you once again. jeongin smashes his lips onto yours, more hungrily this time. he continues to grind his hips into your clothed core, the sensation driving you wild. he begins to kiss down your jaw and neck stopping at the collar of your shirt.

“can i take this off?” he whispers against your skin and his hand moves from your thigh to the hem of your shirt.

you nod and jeongin slowly starts to lift your shirt up your body, you sit up slightly so that he can fully lift it over your head.

“wow.”

“what?”

“you’re beautiful,” jeongin says as he leans back down to kiss at your now exposed chest. as he kisses down between your breasts and down your stomach you interlock your fingers with his dark, slightly wet hair. when he kisses the spot right above the waistband of your pants he looks back up at you.

“do you want me to…” he trails off.

“if you want to,” you reply, barely a whisper.

“yeah,” he says unsurely. “i don’t know how to.”

you laugh and he places his forehead on your stomach in embarrassment. “y/n don’t laugh at me.”

“i’m not laughing at you. you’re just cute.”

he looks back up at you. “are you kidding me?”

“i’ll tell you what to do, okay?” you reassure him.

you reach for his hands and put them at the waistband of your pajama pants. you assist him in pulling down your pants and panties in one swift motion. the feeling of the cool air in the bedroom on your core sends shivers down your spine. the whole scene hits you now and you realize what you’re about to do with your bandmate. you close your legs in embarrassment and jeongin looks up at you.

“hey, are you sure you’re okay with this?” he asks, holding your hand in his.

you nod slowly. “i’m just nervous, i guess. never done this before.”

“it’s okay, it's me, your best friend in the whole world, i’ll never think of you differently,” he says, squeezing your hand gently.

“you promise?”

“yeah, i do.” he smiles at you, the cute smile you love to see plastered on his face. where his dimples come out and his cheeks are round and you just want to grab him and kiss him all over his face. “so please, open your legs for me.”

you could never dream about your innocent jeongin saying those words to you, his words send a wave of arousal to your core. you very slowly part your legs for him and he stares at your core in awe.

“wow, y/n, you’re fucking beautiful.”

“please,” you whisper, begging for him to touch where you need him most.

“tell me if i’m doing anything wrong, m’kay?” he says, moving his face closer to your core.

he sticks his tongue out and gently swipes it across your clit. the feeling is sent through your whole body and you whimper out in response. jeongin takes that as a ‘go ahead’ and presses his tongue flat against your sensitive bud.

“m-more, please,” you whine, lacing your fingers into his hair again.

jeongin giggles and starts to flick his tongue back and forth on your clit. he lays one of his arms across your stomach to support himself and uses his other hand to part your lips for him. he moves off your clit and gently runs his tongue over your sopping wet hole. you moan in response loudly before slapping one of your hands over your mouth.

jeongin looks up at you. “shh, you don’t want to wake your friends, do you?” he teases.

your mind had been so overwhelmed with the idea of having sex with jeongin that you forgot that all your friends were still in your house from the party. next door was your brother's room in which your brother and two of his friends were sleeping in.

you shake your head but keep your hand over your mouth and jeongin gets back to work. he teasingly pokes his tongue in and out of your hole and you moan out in pleasure again, this time it's muffled by your hand. jeongin moves his tongue back up to your clit and swirls the sensitive muscle in small circles. you tug at his hair with the hand you still have in his soft, black locks. jeongin groans in response and the sound sends shivers down your spine.

“m-more please,” you whine. “your-your fingers.”

jeongin quickly listens to your pleas and slides his index finger into your entrance. you whimper in response and without realizing it, you’re grinding down onto his mouth and fingers. jeongin begins to work his tongue and fingers swiftly at your core, flicking small circles on your clit and slowly fucking your hole with his finger. before long, he adds a second finger and curls them both until he finds the spot that has your back arching off the bed.

he begins working more vigorously, wanting nothing more than for you to finish on his fingers and tongue. he begins to rotate from gentle flicks at your clit to sucking on the bud gently. he adds a third finger and you begin to feel the knot form in your stomach. you’ve never felt like this before, only ever finishing by yourself, the feeling of someone else being in control of it has you seeing stars. as jeongin goes back to swirling small circles on your clit, you feel yourself leaking onto your bedsheets and that your orgasm is going to spill over.

“i’m gonna cum, jeongin please, please,” you whine at a whisper. jeongin doesn’t break his pace and soon you’re biting down on your hand, your eyes rolls back into your head, and you're pulling at jeongin’s hair like your life depends on it. he continues to work you through your orgasm, the sounds of your squelching cunt make jeongin moan.

“jeongin, jeongin,” you exclaim and you push his head away from your core just as he starts to overstimulate you.

he looks up and you see your arousal shine all over his face. he pulls his fingers from your hole and sticks them in his mouth, making a show of swirling his tongue around them to clean them off. he starts to crawl back up to be face to face with you and you find your hands moving to the waistband of his pajama pants and slowly starting to pull them down.

“y/n do you have a condom?” jeongin asks before you can free him completely.

“no,” you answer.

“then we don’t have to it’s-”

“its okay, i’m on the pill.”

“what?” jeongin looks dumbfounded, like you just asked him to hand over his firstborn child.

“i’m serious, it’s okay, i’m on the pill.”

“are you sure?”

“yes, i am so sure. i’ve never been more sure about anything in my life. jeongin please, i need you.”

jeongin could’ve came on the spot. he quickly pulls his pants down and throws them off the bed. you look down to his red and leaking member, begging to be touched.

“holy shit.”

“what?” jeongin exclaims, worry painting his face.

“you’re huge,” you say before you can filter yourself.

jeongin laughs. “i am not.”

“you are not going to fit,” you laugh, grabbing his hips to pull closer to yours.

his solid cock brushes your entrance and jeongin lets out a whimper-like noise. you gently grab his cock with one of your hands to guide him to your begging core. he’s staring at you, eyes wide, looks like tears could boil over at any second. the feeling of his tip at your hole makes both of you moan.

“jeongin, please fuck me.”

“jesus, y/n,” jeongin moans.

jeongin grabs the base of his cock and slowly pushes it inside of you. you grab at his shoulders, the stretch stinging in a pleasurable manner. you’re both staring at each other, eyes widening as he slowly pushes himself inside you. when he bottoms out, you’re both breathing heavy at the new sensation.

“you can move now,” you whisper after you have gotten used to the feeling.

“if i move, i’ll cum,” jeongin mumbles. you laugh, and jeongin moans.

“y/n don’t fucking laugh, it squeezes me,” jeongin whines.

you chuckle and grab jeongin’s hand. you guide him down to your clit, where he quickly understands and begins to rub small circles on it. you moan loudly, not caring about who hears you anymore. the feeling of jeongin playing with your clit and being so full as you seeing stars.

“jeongin, i need you to move please,” you whine.

he takes a deep breath and slowly slides himself in and out of your wet cunt, not stopping his ministrations on your bundle of nerves. the pleasure is overwhelming, you cover your mouth with your hand again and mumble for him to move faster. he begins to move faster and you can feel the knot forming again.

“fuck,” he moans softly. “you feel so good.”

you whimper in response. “jeongin, i’m gonna cum.”

“fuck,” he moans again, beginning to thrust faster. with each thrust you can feed the head of his cock hit your spot and your eyes roll back into your head. you dig your nails that are still on his shoulder into his skin. tears are beginning to form in your eyes, threatening to spill over at any moment.

“w-will you cum with me?” jeongin says, tears in his eyes and sweat dripping down his face.

you nod quickly and jeongin buries his face in your neck. you feel is cock twitch a couple times before he paints your walls with his release. you��re quick to follow and soon you’re both a moaning and weeping mess. both uncontrollably thrusting your hips into each other as you finish, leaking all over your bed sheets.

you both lay in silence for a minute, calming yourselves down and slowing your breathing. you’re gently running your fingers through his hair and his rubbing circles into your hips with his thumbs. you’re the first to break the silence.

“are you okay?”

“i’m great, are you?”

“mhm, feel great.”

“yeah.”

“are you still hard?” you ask, realizing he hadn’t pulled out of you yet.

“maybe,” he chuckles. “wanna go again?”

i got way too carried away with this one hehe

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yurimother · 9 months ago

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Fan Favorite Yuri Series 'Handsome Girl and Sheltered Girl' Licensed in English; Omnibus Release September 2024

On February 14, Seven Seas Entertainment announced that it has licensed the popular Yuri romance manga Handsome Girl and Sheltered Girl (Ikemen Girl to Hakoiri Musume). The manga is written by Mocchi Au Lait and illustrated by majoccoid.

The publisher describes the series:

When Okuma Satomi’s friend seeks her help wrangling guys for a crossdressing cafe, Satomi winds up with a boyfriend! Sort of. After asking her handsome and aloof classmate, Kanda Mizuki, to help out in the cafe, Mizuki agrees, but on one condition: the two of them must go on a date. Satomi eagerly agrees, delighted to have such a good-looking guy interested in her, but Mizuki realizes that Satomi has completely misunderstood something crucial: Mizuki is a girl! Will this case of mistaken identity blossom into something beautiful, or will the truth leave both girls brokenhearted?

Handsome Girl and Sheltered Girl was originally serialized in Comic REX from September 2019 until its conclusion in October 2020. It was based on a work posted on Twitter before being picked up for serialization. Ichijinsha published two collected volumes of Handsome Girl and Sheltered Girl in Japanese.

Despite its lack of an international release, the manga quickly became popular with English-speaking audiences and is highly ranked on cataloging websites such as MyAnimeList and Anime-Planet.

Creator Mocchi Au Lait is a pair known for their Yuri manga works, many of which have a shared world and lose connections. In addition to Handsome Girl and Sheltered Girl, they have contributed to several anthologies, including Yuri Drill, Syrup (licensed by Seven Seas Entertainment), and the official Yuri Is My Job! Anthology. Many of their works are independently released online. Their other serialized works include Yamitsuki and the currently running adult comedy series Warui ga Watashi wa Yuri ja Nai (Sorry, I'm Not Yuri) from Kadokawa.

Illustrator majoccoid, also known by the circle name Haratama, has also contributed to several manga anthologies and is currently the illustrator of Shimesaba's romance manga series Tayutau Kemuri wa Tsukamenai, which is serialized in Comic HOWL.

The complete series of Handsome Girl and Sheltered Girl will be released in English in September 2024 as a single omnibus under Seven Seas' GL label.

Source: Press Release, Seven Seas Website

#yuri #lgbt #girls love #lgbtq #gl #lesbian #gay #queer #anime #manga #news #handsome girl and sheltered girl

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mt-oe · 3 months ago

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Hi!!! Hope you're still doing alright because you said you were writing in the hospital 😭💦 whatever happens I hope you will recover soon and keep yourself safe/stay healthy!

And I want to say that I really like the way you write about Mizu, you write it in a way that doesn't look OOC and makes me feel like I'm in the story, through the way you write I can feel how much you spent. time and love to complete a story and I really enjoyed it 😭‼️ I'm a picky person when it comes to choosing fics to read about Mizu but your stories blew me away! ! I hope that in the future you will continue to give love to Mizu and continue to write Mizu x reader stories like that and I will continue to support you 😭🫶

Also, I have this idea I wanted to share it's about the reader being someone active on the internet like she always caught the trend and filming clips online like on tiktok or some, and sometimes makes videos with Akemi! She's always looked like a carefree person but in her private draft, she posts a lot of vids if not say all of them are about Mizu or Mizu and her. There's a video it writes "Wife reveal" on top and under is a clip of Mizu doing the random thing ever, and other are videos she posts about how much she loves Mizu and there are videos of their date. No one knows about this private video of her but some random day when the reader leaves the phone alone with Mizu, she gets bored and just wants to take a peek, the reader gives Mizu the password of her phone anyway and she sees all those videos, and gets all blushy when the reader gets back she being a tease and all, when Mizu ask why the reader leave it private she just said it's not like she doesn't like posting about Mizu, she does have public videos about Mizu and her, but those private clips look cringe and stuff, Mizu laughs at the reader cuteness and after they cuddling and get all lovey-dovey.

The rest is really up to you because I want to see more of Mizu's reaction or sum.

I just wanna share my idea, sorry if this gets long 😭‼️ please feel free to write this at any time if you find it interesting, I use Google Translate so I am sorry if there are grammar mistakes my English is not good 🥹 and remember to take care of yourself first!!💖💖

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

Hey dear!

Thank you so much for all the love /// I'm so happy to receive such kind words. Sometimes I think I'm really bad at writing fanfics since my English isn't that good either and I often find myself comparing my works to others, but messages like these make me turn into goo and I'm so glad that my efforts are able to make you happy.

To those who sent kind messages too, I'm sorry for not replying to them in this manner. I like to go back to them when I feel a bit down about my writing so I want to avoid the hassle of having to scroll through my works ;; All of you really cheer me up I swear <3

How do I even recover from how much I'm melting ///

Please take care of yourself too and I hope that everyone continues to love Mizu too <3

Hope you enjoy! Mwa mwa :*

warning/s: not proofread, she/her for mizu, implied afab reader

note/s: username mentioned is fake

Giggles and the sound of soft conversations filled with laughter and genuine excitement enveloped the small cafe you had decided to go to with your friend as a way to relax before finals started. The two of you had decided to go on a journaling date together and were excitedly taking pictures of your setup.

"But wouldn't it be cuter if we put the coffee here instead?"

"Let's see—oh shit the ice is melting. Could you pass the napkin?"

"Here. Hurry!"

"W-Wait it might drip on the stickers"

After a bit of fuss, a relieved sigh could be heard from the two of you before the soft clink of the coffee cup being placed on the table. The two of you checked how the setup would look under the camera before Akemi flashed you a thumbs up.

With her signal, both of you started taking pictures and videos. Ideas on how you were going to edit the clips were already running through your mind. "Are you going to use a template or no?" you asked, turning to face your friend.

Lowering down her phone, Akemi put a contemplative look on her face before shrugging. "I saw someone do a cute new edit on Tiktok. I want to try it but it might not fit my feed's aesthetic soooo I'm not sure. What do you think?"

"Wait let me see." She opened up the app before tapping on the video to show you. After watching the video, you looked at her with an equally contemplative face. "I think you're better off editing from scratch. It totally doesn't fit your feed."

"Awww damnit," she sighed with a playful smile on her face. You stuck your tongue out at her, scrunching your nose, a smile tugging up your lips at her laughter.

Friendly dates like these were definitely one of your favorite things in the world. It all started during freshman year when you had just moved in town and had absolutely no one to talk to. Luckily, your seat mate was quite the angel and had talked to you first.

At first, you were quite shy, especially considering how your hobby of vlogging and editing things was something you thought was cringe to say out loud. However, to your surprise, Akemi was more than supportive and even helped you in setting up an Instagram account just for your reels. Through her encouragement, you started gaining the courage to try photo editing and your interest in sharing and documenting the events in your life through posting on social media snowballed into an even bigger hobby.

An hour more of chatting and planning your next content, the sound of a motorbike could be heard before the wind chime by the cafe's entrance rang softly. The soft scraping of wood against wood creaked behind you before the sound of someone setting their things down. You didn't need to look back to know that your girlfriend had arrived and just didn't want to interrupt the conversation. Who knows? Maybe she was listening in on it too.

You met Mizu a few years ago in a college party. Akemi had invited you to come since you opened up to her that you were having a difficult time getting to know other people. However, the sweat, the smell of booze mixed with something you could not identify, along with being pushed by the people dancing and moving around was too much for you. Before your friend could drag you along to meet another person, you were already out the door, smoking in the yard.

Meeting someone who had the same idea as you was the least thing you expected to happen, but that's exactly what happened. As you sat down on the garden chair, you heard the soft scraping of another chair pulled beside you. Your eyes scanned the figure, observing their features.

Tall, handsome, quite cold, but at the same time, alluring.

If the night was a person, you were pretty sure they would look like this.

Feeling your gaze, the stranger turned to look at you, making you turn away. However, unable to resist, your eyes glanced at them before going back to pack of cigarettes you had brought only to find out that you had none left. Groaning, you pocketed the empty pack, hand toying with your lighter.

Though the person with you didn't seem to want to talk to you, she suddenly lifted up her own pack for you to get one of her's. You looked at her, taking her nod of approval as a sign to get one. An incredibly awkward silence took both of you as you placed the cigarette between your lips and lit it up.

Taking a deep hit out of it, you cleared your throat slightly before looking up at her. "Seven Stars? I never heard of this brand before," you tried to strike up a conversation, body tense as hell. You internally cursed yourself for even trying to break the ice and possibly making the scene more awkward than it already was.

Immediately, her sharp blue eyes snapped to look at you, burning holes into you, seemingly studying your features. The few seconds that seemed like an eternity to you finally passed and she lit her own cigarette up.

"Yeah, it's from Japan," she replied, blowing a puff of smoke out. Your eyes widen a bit at the sound of her voice. You had expected something a bit deeper, maybe a little less rough? But god, her voice was more attractive than you expected. "I...I see," you replied, instantly regretting how weak you sounded.

Silence and the sound of your exhales were the only sounds of that enveloped both of you. With the newfound attraction you had for this stranger, you mustered up the courage to speak again. "So what brings you here?" you asked, trying to strike up another conversation. She let out a soft grunt as she looked over at you again. "A friend dragged me here."

Her eyes widened as the sound of your laughter reached her ears. Raising an eyebrow, she turned to look at you with a seemingly annoyed expression. "What?" You shook your head at her before taking in another puff. "Sorry, sorry. I just didn't expect us to be in the same situation," you replied, noting how her features softened.

To your surprise, an almost unseen smile ghosted her lips. "A pain, isn't it?" she said, a hint of amusement in her voice. "Oh tell me about. I'm almost scared to drink whatever they mixed in there," you joked. The sound of her laughter warmed your cheeks, the warmth and silk-like smoothness of her chuckles melting you.

"Want to stay here instead?"

"Sure."

After the little exchange, both of you found out that the same friend dragged both of you to the party. Through Akemi's help, the two of you were able to meet more often, exchanging contact information and messaging each other. One thing led to another and soon you found Mizu handing you a bunch of flowers, asking you to be her girlfriend.

Surprisingly enough, despite being extremely introverted and closed off, Mizu was extremely supportive of your hobby. At the start of your relationship, you were very hesitant to ask her for help. Though you wanted to take cute clips of your dates, you'd resort to hiding it from her, taking videos from discrete angles.

But nothing really gets past Mizu's eyes.

She definitely confronted you for it which led to you explaining your hobby and showing her your accounts. As expected, she was a bit skeptical about it at first. But soon enough, she found herself watching your clips, reels, and vlogs on her free time, while she ate, before she slept. Now, she's the one suggesting to go on cute dates for you to film, for you to go out with your friends so you could film cute and trendy dances together, and even hold the camera for you. She even learned all your 'good' angles and learned how to take videos and pictures of you. The surprise on your face when she first insisted that you took photos of your food was priceless.

Out of pure curiosity, she'd sometimes ask if she could see your account using your phone. It was a silly request but you always obliged since you had nothing to hide after all. Her heart would swell with all the traction your posts got. She loved that so many people loved her girlfriend too.

Of course, you dragged her in some of your videos too, making sure that they weren't too awkward for her. Simple matching OOTD fits videos, giving her a short moment in your vlogs, and cute couple trends that weren't too cheesy. You always made sure to ask her for consent to put clips of her in your videos, making them as short or as long as she allowed and only showing the clips she was comfortable with.

Though there were times when your love for her would become overwhelming and you just have the urge to edit cute clips of her. You thought Mizu wouldn't really appreciate so much of herself seen on your public accounts so you secretly made a private account just to dump all those videos in. Videos of her cooking (and sort of failing), during training, and more random clips during your dates. There were some cute ones and some that were definitely heating the place up.

Mizu would never know about this though. You didn't like keeping secrets from your girlfriend, but this one would be your only exception.

The coffee in your cups soon emptied and sticker sheets were exchanged as you and Akemi finished up your little get together. After exchanging your goodbyes and waiting for Akemi's driver to fetch her, Mizu helped you put your helmet on before helping you up her motorbike to go home.

As soon as the two of you got home, you wasted no time telling her everything that happened. From the drinks you ordered to the gossips about Akemi's ex-boyfriend, you did not miss a single detail. And though Mizu appeared uninterested, you could tell by the way her body subtly turned towards you as she cleaned up a bit that she was interested.

After tidying up a bit, the two of you sat in front of the television with you on the carpet with your laptop, editing the clips you took, and Mizu on the sofa watching the new episode of the series she discovered.

Some time later, your girlfriend grew uninterested in the series she was watching and had started taking breaks from it more often, standing up to do random things such as making coffee, bringing you snacks, giving you a random plushie from your shared bedroom.

A small snort left your lips as you watched her refill your coffee for the nth time. "Love...if you're so bored with the show, you can just drop it," you snickered at her, gratefully taking the mug from her and taking a sip. Your lover let out a soft exhale from her nose and rolled her eyes. "I'm not bored," she argued, sitting back down on the sofa. "They're just talking an awful lot."

"Well you need to listen through it if you want to understand their lore." You took another sip of the hot liquid and set the mug down on the coffee table. You could hear her huff from behind you, probably rolling her eyes again. "I don't need to know all this to predict who dies next."

You laugh at her impatience, responding with an eyeroll of your own. Feeling the urge to relieve yourself, you stood up and stretched. "Could you hold on to this for a second? I'll be quick," you said, handing her your phone. She quickly yet carefully took the device in her hand, giving you a small nod before you went to the bathroom.

Mizu sighed and leaned back on the sofa. Though she did deny being bored, she was definitely bored out of her wits. She wanted to see fighting and cool scenes, not a bunch of dialogues. Wasn't action scenes the point of watching action shows?

Unable to take it, she picked up your phone and unlocked it. None of you minded going through each other's phone. It wasn't something the two of you did out of mistrust, but rather, just to check the random things that went through each other's feed out of sheer boredom and curiosity. The difference in content was entertaining, okay?

Tapping on the Tiktok app, Mizu fully expected a plethora of cat videos and celebrity edits to come. However, to her surprise, the account that was open was not one that she was familiar with. Her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.

wife.dump was the username shown on the profile. Her confusion continued to escalate as she saw the profile picture which was a flower that she recognized as the one she gave you when she asked you to be hers.

Clarity soon took the situation as curiosity got the best of her and she started snooping around the account, looking through the liked videos, then the reposts, and finally the private videos saved in the account. At first, the likes and reposts seemed pretty normal, mostly about cats and how to cook certain foods. But then, as she got to the videos, she realized that it was all...her.

Her making breakfast.

Her making coffee.

Her fixing her motorcycle.

Her, her, and her.

All the videos were edited so cutely too. Admittedly, she wasn't as good as editing as you but she could still definitely see how well these videos were made. From the color grading, sequencing, and even the song choice and timing. Each video with a cute caption talking about what was going on in the video or just plain talking about the things you love about her. She could tell you put a lot of effort into these.

Seriously.

How cute could you be?

Her eyes darted to the bathroom door, checking to see if you were about to go back, then back to your phone. She continued to watch each videos, a dust of pink on her cheeks deepening with each one.

'Wife reveal' and its a video of her doing random things. A clip of her frowning while looking for you, then smiling once she spots you. A clip of her looking a bit nervous as you show the extremely (almost dangerously) red looking chicken wings she cooked. A clip of her keeping a straight face during a round of poker.

She didn't even know some of these clips existed.

Just as she was about to watch the next one, the sound of your strangled whine surprised her. Setting the phone down in one quick motion, her eyes lit up like a deer caught in headlights at the sight of your surprised yet extremely embarrassed face.

"What the hell are you doing?!" you almost screamed, charging towards her and scrambling to get your phone back. Immediately, your lover got up and reached the phone away from you. "Love! Stop it!" you whined at her, feeling your face heat up from sheer embarrassment.

A smirk crept up her lips at your continuous attempt to grab your phone back. The embarrassment and panic continued to bubble through your system as you tried pushing her back down onto the sofa which was definitely a challenge in itself with a girlfriend who took a bachelor's degree in strength building, major in roughhousing, minor in being a rascal.

Several attempts later, the reality of your lover's incredibly strong build sunk in as you tried catching your breath, glaring up at her. Her clear blue eyes, hinted with a bit of mischief, stared back at you before she opened her mouth to speak.

"Wife reveal, huh?" she teased, chuckling as you groaned out loud.

Defeat took over you and you found yourself wrapping your arms around her with your head on her chest. "You're annoying," you huffed at her, words lacking seriousness.

A deep chuckle reverberated from her throat and slowly, she set your phone down to wrap her arms around you as well. "That's no way to talk to your wife," she teased, voice softer than before. You pursed your lips at her and snuggled against her chest. "You better sleep with one eye open, love," you playfully threatened, making her laugh.

You wouldn't admit it but you were relieved that Mizu didn't react badly upon finding out about your secret account.

"With what I've just seen, I hardly think you could do anything harsh especially to me," she teased back, slowly pulling you down onto the sofa with her, guiding you to her lap. "Why did you keep your little secret a secret from me though?"

You looked at her and sighed, blush deepening a bit more. "It's just...you're such a private person and I didn't want to overstep your boundaries," you admitted. "But I couldn't help it, especially when I rewatch the clips I took and you're just...urgh.."

Her hold on you tightened as you snuggled further against her body, warmth running deeper than just physical. "You're just so gorgeous," you finished, sighing deeply. "Every time I see you, it feels like my heart turns into a goopy mess. Even the little things you do is so..so...It's so fucking cute."

The mischievous, teasing smile on her face softened with your explanation. A huge part of her was glad that you found her so damn attractive that you couldn't help yourself and the other part was almost in disbelief. Did you seriously find her that attractive?

Damnit, you're so fucking cute.

Mizu ran her fingers through your hair, letting you rest your head on her shoulder. A bit of silence going on between the two of you before she gently kissed the top of your head reassuringly. "Love, I don't mind," she said with a soft fond smile. "It's quite adorable, actually."

"But aren't you uncomfortable?" you asked, finger tracing down her throat, feeling the soft vibrations as she chuckled. "I could take it down if you feel off about it."

Her heart swelled at how much you cared for her own comfort and for considering her so much. All she could think of was how lucky she was to have such a caring lover. Taking your hand in hers, she placed small kisses against the pads on your fingers, each tender and loving.

"I could never be uncomfortable with something that brings you so much joy."

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matan4il · 8 months ago

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Daily update post:

Another independent Palestinian terrorist attack happened today, it was another stabbing, much like yesterday's, and I feel nauseous that we're at the point where, when I'm looking for an online source in English, I'm struggling to find the latest one out of all the terrorist attacks reported recently. I heard an eyewitness say the terrorist entered a cafe, stood in line, then started stabbing those standing in front of him. The terrorist is a 22 years old Israeli Arab, originally a Gazan. From what I understand, his dad is a Gazan who married an Israeli Arab woman, both men got Israeli citizenship, and the terrorist has lived in Israel for the last 4 years, during which he married an Israeli woman, like his dad. On his mother's side of the family, he has two relatives who are Israeli heroes: one is a soldier, who died not that long ago fighting in Gaza, another is a cop, who saved several people from the Hamas massacre at the Nova music festival. I've heard now 2 Israeli Arab citizens from the community where he lived denouncing him. The terrorist was neutralized. At least 2 people are reported injured, one man in his 60's is lightly wounded, another is in his 50's. One man (in a white shirt with stripes in the vid below) at the cafe saw the terrorist and jumped him with bare hands. Stripes Man kept trying to detain the terrorist until he saw one of the wounded managed to pull out a gun, Stripes Man moved out of the way, the injured one shot more than once and stopped the terrorist, but outside he collapsed, and was hospitalized in a mortal state.

The global rise in antisemitic incidents under the guise of anti-Zionism continues, this time we get insane news from Australia. I'm just gonna quote the report directly: "Two pro-Palestinian activists in Australia were charged on Tuesday with kidnapping and assaulting a victim for the perceived crime of being employed by a Jew."

Meanwhile, the Holocaust memorial at the transit camp of Drancy, through which the Jews of France were deported to their extermination in the east, was vandalized. I'll say it again, the timing is not a coincidence, as we see more and more antisemitic incidents, it's clear each one will get less attention, and less resources allocated to correcting the wrong, since it's all being spread so thin.

I wrote yesterday about a pilot program, which is one of many attempts by Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza without about 60% of it being hijacked by Hamas. I'm sad to say that the pilot has failed, and the aid has been looted. Interestingly, it's not clear by whom. Which is many a good moment to add this: in addition to Hamas taking over the aid, so do existing Gazan mob families (presumably, the criminals are taking over the aid in order to sell it back to regular Gazans at exploitative prices).

A South African minister has announced that her country will be arresting all citizens of South Africa returning from fighting for Israel in Gaza. I do not recall any such announcement regarding South Africans returning from fighting for either side in any other area in the world, such as Ukraine or Syria. I think there's a chance we're watching South Africa ethnically cleansing itself of Jews.

These are Israeli-American mother Judith Raanan and her teenage daughter Natalie.

About a month after the start of the war, they were the first 2 Israeli hostages to be released by Hamas. Here is a short vid where Judith talks about their experiences, including how the nurses at the Gazan hospital Hamas took them to after they were kidnapped CHEERED at the sight of (in her words) "Israeli Jewish prey":

youtube

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

#israel #antisemitism #israeli #israel news #israel under attack #israel under fire #terrorism #anti terrorism #hamas #antisemitic #antisemites #jews #jew #judaism #jumblr #frumblr #jewish #israelunderattack #Youtube

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slexenskee · 6 months ago

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What is the international view on Dabi and Ru-kun? What about Otheon? Do they envy Japan for having him and f-ing it up? Or do they look at his chaotic gremlin self and think, thank god he's not here?

Thanks for the newest update! I appreciate your hard work and dedication! ❤️

Yes and yes 😂

Most countries would love to have him, but are simultaneously relieved to not have to deal with him. But he definitely has massive international appeal, being famous for American music and being a European hero, even if he's based out of Japan.

Honestly, Otheon lowkey loves him. He's a huge pain in the ass and a massive chaos gremlin, but he's their agent of chaos, you know? The rest of the EU feels similar, and I imagine people go to the ruins of the old Humarise bases in all the various cities like they're tourist attractions lol. That random Swiss cafe that Ru-kun would meet up with Clair at? They let you take photos at the table he always sat at 😂 Otheon definitely makes a killing peddling 'Official' Six Eyes merch.

I actually think the tables have turned when it comes to his identities, and all his fans are scrambling to keep up;

For Dabi content, Japan is still the #1 source for all info. So all his international fans wait on baited breath for info from their JPN counterparts, and crowd around fan-translators for live updates.

For No Scrubs stuff though, it's the opposite. Fans have had to beg the English speaking fans for translations, especially for the older No Scrubs songs that aren't released officially and only exist as fan-video uploads. And those same fan-translators have had to reverse translate for JPN fans/fans for other languages.

Also, I headcanon that No Scrubs has always been more famous abroad than in Japan, just because of the way they got famous from fan-uploaded online youtube videos of English music, so they've always had a very broad international audience and by nature of the songs being in English, a lot of appeal to English speaking countries. But of course you don't have to be from an English speaking country to enjoy music in English, and with the internet being what it is, it's always been a very global fanbase.

But this means that straight from the get-go Makoto has always positioned No Scrubs to maximize their global appeal (when they finally got serious about PR and stuff lol) so they've always done global releases and when they do interviews and stuff it's not just centered around Japanese media, so that stuff has always been easily accessible to the global public.

And now that both identities are public, it's become the Pepe Silvia meme with fan translators trying to put together the lyrics of certain songs to various interviews in both english and japanese, and it's a big ole' mess 😂

#fic may death never stop you #mdnsy asks

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starsandseungmins · 2 months ago

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Letters

pairing hyunjin x reader

word count 655

author's note my first post here! i hope you guys like it, and please excuse my english if it isn’t englishing… it’s not my first language…

You’ve always been the sender rather than the receiver. You’re always the one making the first move; from text messages to approaching others in general; you just had to be the one to do it. As sad as it is, you’ve never got to experience the other end of the stick – until you met him.

For the first time in your life, you finally knew how it was like to be the receiver; to be loved and prioritised. He was the first to approach you in a cafe one day, the first to (shyly) ask you out on a date, to confess, and more.

Both of you were like twin flames who still managed to compliment each other beautifully. Because of this, conversations between you two were more meaningful, more deep; compared to the small talk and random stuff you’d usually expect. In a span of a few weeks being together, you practically knew him from the back of your hand – and so does he.

But despite you two having similar personalities and thinking, there is one thing that contrasts between you two – everyone adores him unlike you. He’d always be in the centre of attention, the apple of many’s eyes’. While you were always the sender, he was always the receiver. Despite it sounding like a blessing for you, he finds it rather burdening, hence why he’s become the sender of the relationship.

In a more literal sense, he’s a hopeless romantic just like you. Except he wants to be the one writing letters instead of receiving it. And that’s what he did. Writing love letters became a part of his love language to you.

You’ve received your first letter(s) from him during your birthday ‘party’ with him. You could still recall the memory clearly, the reminiscence etched into your mind like an embroidery pattern.

Your friends had just ditched you after you’ve set up a small party in your apartment, leaving only you and him as tears began to sting your eyes, clouding your vision. You tried to shake it off – they were busy, it's not your fault… but as you saw them posting online about them outside, together, you can’t help but burst into tears, wondering what was wrong with you.

His heart clenched when you sobbed into tears, doubting yourself. He wanted to comfort you, but words never came out… lodged in his throat. So, he meekly approached you with his notepad, love letters which he poured out his heart and soul into them – in hopes of showing you how much you mattered, to him, at least.

He’s written a span of endless letters with his messy scribbles tucked away safely in his notepad with no hopes for anyone to see it. But as he saw you silently crying in hopes of not worrying him – he felt like it’d be the best thing to do.

Reading the letters felt almost serene. It was like a fever dream; your eyes lingering on every word he wrote, wanting to savour it forever as your hands shakily flipped to the next page, and to the next… it was endless. He described you as a painting, and talked about you like a deity in his letters. You weren’t able to read all of his letters that night, as you were already brawling your eyes out halfway, with him cradling you in his arms, gently wiping your tears away.

After that day, love letters from him to you became an often occurrence. You’ve of course exchanged him with your own letters, but they could never hold a candle to his.

Yet he still cherishes them like they were his heart.

Even till this day, the letters never stopped. It was like he could never run out of things to say about you. Of course, you were unfortunately still the sender for many things, but with him – you knew you didn’t have to worry about that.

#hyunjin x reader #stray kids x reader #hyunjin fluff #stray kids fluff #hyunjin scenarios #hyunjin drabbles #hyunjin x you #hyunjin x y/n #stray kids scenarios #stray kids drabbles #stray kids x you #stray kids x y/n

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mostlymilkwood · 2 months ago

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Their Story and The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn't a Guy at All

Recently I've been thinking about the success of The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn't a Guy at All and how it feels like seeing where Tamen de Gushi could have ended up, had its publishing issues not lead too various hiatuses during its peak.

To give a quick summary of events; Tamen de Gushi (aka Their Story/SQ Begin W/Your Name!) is a manhua created and posted online by Tan Jiu. It was incredibly popular around 2015 to 2018, during which time it had big ad campaigns, cute merch, animated promos and a print volume of the manhua itself. Just the one though. Sadly a the start of 2018 Tan Jiu announced that volume 2 would be indefinitely postponed as their publisher had requested several scenes be removed, which they refused to do. People speculated the scenes were the romantic ones between the leads, particularly the Big Kiss that would have been in that volume, but it was never specified. Regardless, this had a pretty disastrous effect on the manhua, as without the revenue from volume 2 Tan Jiu understandably began working on other projects and updates basically stopped altogether outside of occasional illustrations and short comics detached from the main storyline.

Meanwhile The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn't a Guy at All (lets go with the insane shorthand tgswiiwagaa from here on) is a manga created and posted online by Sumiko Arai. First starting in 2021 it has become incredibly popular, which has lead to big ad campaigns, popup shops and cafes, a drama CD and print volumes of the manga itself.

So there is some surface levels similarities between the two: both are released via the author's social media account, both feature a high school slice of life stories, both gained a huge followings outside of their original language due to scanlation efforts, and both were/are the the face of digitally published yuri.

I don't think we'd get tgswiiwagaa without Tamen de Gushi, or at least I don't think it would be as big as it is without the groundwork Tamen de Gushi lay within online spaces. I can't speak too much on Tamen de Gushi's domestic fandom, or even its Japanese one, (though it was clearly popular in both) but at least in English-speaking yuri circles it was the breakout hit that brought in a lot of new readers to the genre. (Which is crazy to think about since it was before Mangadex became the dominant host of scanlated works, so it was primarily released on Tumblr! with only some chapters showing up on Dynasty Reader later.)

And I don't wanna say it was the only game in town back then, as around 2015 was a real golden age of manhwa and manhua popping off with the likes of Her Tale of Shim Chong, What Does the Fox Say? and PULSE. They're all still popular recommendations when people ask for top yuri picks, deservedly so. But as I said, there's something about tgswiiwagaa that reminds me of Tamen de Gushi in particular.

That popularity which lead to fanart, edits and fancams in the English side of the fandom feels kind of important to totgswiiwagaa's future international success. Like it widen the net so when totgswiiwagaa came along with a story that had even more western pop culture touchstones than a manga reader might normally get it was able to scoop up way more fans than ever before.

I think when it comes down to it, It's just nice to see tgswiiwagaa go even further than Tamen de Gushi did. There's been plenty of talk about if tgswiiwagaa will get an anime and/or a live action adaptation, and honestly I hope it gets everything and more! Because just like Tamen de Gushi before it, I know tgswiiwagaa is laying the groundwork's from some other wildly popular yuri that will come to surpass it in the future. And I can't wait to read whatever new stories come out next!

#tamen de gushi #their story #The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn't a Guy at All #tgswiiwagaa #manga musing #yuri

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englishcafeonline · 1 year ago

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In today's digital age, the accessibility of online resources has transformed the way we approach various aspects of education, including test preparation. For individuals aspiring to pursue opportunities abroad, achieving a high band score in the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is often a crucial step. With the advent of technology, online IELTS training has become an increasingly popular and effective method for test preparation. In this blog post, we will explore how to maximize your online IELTS training experience to secure a high band score, with a particular focus on the benefits of IELTS training online.

#english cafe #english cafe training hub #english cafe online #ielts training online

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shiut · 9 months ago

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Waiting For Yuma Chapter 1 : Preview

Some english translation for the Rain Code novel, Waiting for Yuma. This is how many pages are provided in the trial reader preview, but it's still rather long, so I've put most of it under the cut.

I've also put it into an online document if you want to click here instead.

Chapter 01

The Silence of the Dolls

Morning arrives early for the trainee detective.

However, though belonging to the 【World Detective Organization】, he/she has not yet completed the training course. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. A piece of paper will never reach the moon unless it is folded forty-two times. There is much work to be done in order to become a 【Master Detective】.

Working hard to develop and refine special abilities. Acquiring basic detective skills. Sharpening a keen eye for detail. Not only that, but there are many other challenges to worry about too. I suppose you could say that the days have been filled with more hardship than joy. However, you can't call yourself a 【Master Detective】 if you can't overcome all of that. It might be a different story for people who have exceptional supernatural abilities. However, for those who don't, they must continue to keep improving in order to reach the stars.

For one such trainee, Yuka Kisaragi, this day ought to be a momentous milestone. Her efforts were recognized, and so she was allowed to accompany a real 【Master Detective】 to the crime scene. As soon as Yuka heard this, she hugged and danced with everyone she saw, which almost got her reported in the process. That’s to say, she was putting out more energy than usual for such an important day.

Or at least it should be...... no, could that be why?

Let's go over that one more time.

Morning arrives early for a trainee detective.

That should be the case, but Yuka was in fact remarkably late.

***

"Why, why, why, why, why!?"

Yuka asked herself repeatedly as she roared down the street. Under the clear blue sky, she trampled across the well-maintained cobblestone pavement. Though, she didn't have to bother questioning herself when she already knew the cause of the problem a while ago.

First of all, the toast was burnt.

Secondly, the hair iron went missing.

Third, she forgot to cut the tag off her new coat that was bought for today.

That sums up why she was late today.

It was entirely a bed of her own making. But still, Yuka thought, there must be a reason for all this bad luck. It could be the alignment of the stars, or like the flow of fate, or something.

Could it be the influence of the 【Master Detective】 that I'm about to meet?

It may be due to something like sound waves or telepathy caused by the person in question. Though, I'd rather those predictions to not be true. Yuka kept running, hoping at the very least that a kind person would be waiting for her.

Then when she rounded a sharp corner —— she burst into a stylish cafe that had a strikingly chic dark-toned exterior wall. The interior was also uniformly monochrome, with bright light streaming through the large glass windows. The clientele had a somewhat intellectual and relaxed atmosphere. Yuka immediately felt nervous. She looked around as she listened to the classical music that was playing. The meeting place was at the far end of the window. Right, she repeatedly mouthed these words to herself while she walked over... she was suddenly rendered speechless.

Therein, was a beautiful person.

A hard leather sofa, and white painted wooden table.

There sat a person dressed in gray. The way in which they tipped their coffee was picturesque. Their pale hair and glasses suited their sagacious profile and air of intelligence.

While admiring the sight, Yuka had to wonder. There's an ambiguity to the person before her. Their gender is indiscernible. No matter how you look at it, it's impossible to tell if it's a he or she. They could pass as a beautiful man, or even as a ruggedly dignified woman perhaps. Yuka stared intently in order to ascertain the truth the best she could.

"......Three million"

"Eh-?"

What did they say? Yuka let out a dumb sound as she thought. Caught off-guard, she simply blinked. The beautiful person took another sip of coffee before her.

Gracefully setting down the cup, the other person continued.

"It's one hundred thousand per minute. My time is not cheap...... More importantly, you wasted precious time before the investigation as a 【trainee detective】, of course you're prepared to pay that much, right?"

Smoothly —— he, no, maybe she —— the 【Master Detective】 spoke.

Confused, Yuka twisted her head like an owl. However, after a few seconds, she realized that what this 【Master Detective】 was referring to were 'late fees'. Yuka choked with a hissing noise. How ruthless. Is this person a demon? That's what her immediate thought was.

Flustered, Yuka tried to explain herself. He/she opened their mouth to interrupt.

"I'll have you know, burnt toast, a misplaced hair iron, and a coat tag are no excuse for being late."

"Huh-? How did you know?"

"Bread crumbs"

They pointed to Yuka's chest. If you look —— peeking out from a crimson coat ——was a cream-colored sweater dotted in black specks. Pointing at it, the 【Master Detective】 continued.

"It's a notably charred color. Also, although some of your hair is disheveled, only the ends are straightened out. A sign of a frantically used hair iron. Did you simply not spend enough time on it? No, it looks like you intended to use it properly, but were forced to use it in such an errant way. You could naturally assume that it's a result of stubbornly searching for the hair iron that consumed most of your time. Also, there are threads sticking out unnaturally from the collar of your coat. This could be the trace of a tag that was yanked out in a hurry. That's all."

He/she lifted their cup with a clink. And with that, they swallowed the pitch black liquid. The coolness of their profile showed no signs of even the faintest hint of bitterness.

Once again, Yuka looked down at herself. She was wearing a crimson coat that was bought specially for today, and paired with it was a cream sweater with a rounded collar plus a black skirt. On her feet, she wore leather shoes. Her shoulder-length amacha sweet tea colored hair was partially frizzy, though she still managed to take care of the ends.

And then there were the bread crumbs that were left sticking to her.

Yuka was taken aback by all the things they had pointed out.

But soon after, her face lit up.

As an aspiring detective, she's yearned for this kind of precise deduction skill.

"Tha-..... That's amazing! Just as expected of a 【Master Detective】!"

"Praising people so carelessly will result in brain rot."

"Ough-"

"Something like this is not even the ability of a 【Master Detective】. These are the most basic fundamentals that even an amateur should be able to do...... right from the start. To my knowledge, it's not standard for a detective to bring along bread crumbs to a crime scene now is it?"

"I-, I'm sorry."

Yuka patted off her sweater, and the black food particles were brushed from her cream-colored top. She moved her leather shoes to sweep the fallen crumbs to the edge of the wall.

She once again turned her attention to the person in front of her. They were still so young, but they certainly seem like a 【Master Detective】. Even though he/she says that even an amateur can do it, his/her observational skill is beyond that of an ordinary person.

Yuka was so excited. She bowed her head in greeting.

"Once again nice to meet you, I'm Yuka Kisaragi."

"Halara Nightmare"

Yuka acknowledged the name with a nod.

I was given very minimal information about the 【Master Detective】 I'd been scheduled to accompany today. The 'Jeweler Campanella Murder Case' that took place the other day at the only public casino in the area —— the genius who led to its solution was Halara. He/she was one of the shining stars in the sky. They're a detective for Yuka to look up to.

Yuka stared at Halara with admiration. Without a response, Halara got up from their seat. Then, in one fluid motion, they handed a slip to Yuka who accepted it without a thought.

Yuka’s head tilted as she found herself caught by a ruthless follow-up.

"Three million, plus the coffee bill. That is your payment."

"Huh-?"

"It'd be in your best interest to pay up before you forget."

"Wait, what, weren't you kidding before?"

"Does talking about a debt with someone you've just met sound like a joke according to your trite standards? That's quite nonsensical."

"Sure it's a strange joke to make but... even so, eh-?"

"Rest assured that you won't be charged any interest. Just make sure you've set up a payment plan."

Halara walked off, leaving a confused Yuka in their wake. Their back held a beautiful and dignified posture. However, it seemed like they had no intention of looking back. With the check in hand, Yuka felt her head spinning.

"Eh-...... Ehh-"

One thing is for certain.

Yuka has been haunted by bad luck ever since this morning.

But the worst part of all was, without a doubt, the presence of this detective.

As her head sank in disappointment, Yuka couldn't help but think.

Halara Nightmare must be some sort of demon.

***

"W-, Well then, let's change the mood shall we!"

"............"

"Halara-san please say something too!"

"Anything in particular?"

"...... I can't even think of anything I had in mind."

At any rate, the two arrived at the manor where the scene of the crime took place.

Diverting her attention from the debt of three million, Yuka looked up at the old-fashioned building.

The walls were constructed with dull red clay brick tiles and lines formed with white granite. Placed atop that was a massive black roof. The exterior was reminiscent of an antique dollhouse. Additionally, the property was encompassed by a magnificent rose garden. The vibrant dew-covered petals almost looked artificial. Everything was so breathtakingly beautiful that it looked like something straight out of a vintage masterpiece.

Yuka couldn't help but let out a sigh of awe.

"How atmospheric~. Ah-, hey, please don't leave me behind!"

Halara had begun to walk off while I was immersed in the building's peculiar and chilling atmosphere.

Yuka rushed to follow behind their slender back. It was as if they were swimming in a sea of roses as they made their way along the path.

Eventually, the two arrived in front of an arched doorway.

Waiting there was a gentleman dressed in a brand-name suit. His eyes were amber. His hair black. His physique appeared portly. Twisting his magnificent mustache, he raised his booming voice.

"Hey there, Halara-san! I haven't seen you since the 'Jeweler Campanella Murder Case'! I'm glad you could make it! It was worth the trouble of going through the Unified Government to make a request with the 【World Detective Organization】!"

"...... As I suspected, this was no mere coincidence, but rather a request on your behalf, wasn't it?"

"Eh-, do you know each other!? And what's more...... through the Unified Government no less...... Could it be that he's that big of a deal?"

"Hahaha, oh, you could say the Unified Government tends to be a bit involved when it comes to matters of international trade. I can't get into any details, as much as I'd love to talk about it. Anyways, when it comes to securing the food supply in this district it is I, Richard Thomson, who's your go-to guy! Also, what's there to hide between Halara-san and me? We've solved a case together after all!"

"H-...... He's a real talker."

Suddenly, Richard moved in closer. Feeling pushed by the pressure of his prattling words and moundish belly, Yuka took a step back. Meanwhile, Halara narrowed their eyes in displeasure.

Gracefully, he/she crossed their arms. Letting out a small breath, Halara continued.

"If you'd mind refraining from distorting the facts. We did not solve it together. The case had indeed been solved....... however, it was all by my ability alone of course."

"Eh-, if that's the case, then what about Richard-san?"

"He was merely the first person to discover the incident. Rather than finding a solution, he challenged my theory based on his own faulty recollection, and thanks to this I had to explain 【Postcognition】 at the request of the police."

"【Postcognition】?"

Yuka found herself tilting her head. She was unfamiliar with the term.

In order to prevent further questions for the time being, Halara spoke up.

"It's my ability as a 【Master Detective】 ..... we'll be needing it for this crime scene as well. I'll discuss it later. So then...... since you're aware of these abilities, you should already understand right?"

"Yes, of course! I am fully knowledgeable about all of it! Just as expected of me. All pro~per preparations have been made accordingly, of course!"

Richard puffed out his chest. From a pocket on the inside of his coat, he pulled out a photograph and presented it to Halara. Yuka took a peek at the picture from behind him/her.

Similar to a portrait, the upper half of a lady was shown. She was a slender and petite woman. However, she had a firm and straight posture, staring at the camera with a steely gaze—— Strangely, her eyes seemed somewhat out of focus—— Her hair was tied up in a golden bun, and her eyes were a deep blue. She was beautiful, yet had a somehow frighteningly icy air about her. It was a perilous sheet of ice over a deep lake that could crack at any moment.

Nervously, Yuka asked.

"...... Is this?"

"The victim in this case. It's my wife. She was quite a cold woman. To be honest, our whole relationship was cold, but I never expected something like this. Whether I'm sad or not, I'm still not sure. I'll worry about that a bit later. Incidentally, I had a business meeting that day, so I have a flawless alibi, ahem. If you ask me, my wife would complain to the chef about the taste of the soup. It seems pretty suspicious to me, so I hope you'll be able to help me out here."

"H- he really is a chatty guy."

Yet again, Richard moved forward. Yuka slowly backed away. Halara took a long thorough look at the picture that they had received before returning it. Nodding, Richard opened the door.

"Here, go right on ahead. We'll go over the details on the way to the crime scene. Why, I couldn't even tell you how glad I am that you came, Halara-san. Ever since the 'Jeweler Campanella Murder Case' I just haven't been able to contain myself from telling my family all about your story, Halara-san. Hahaha. Ah-, as for a full-scale police investigation, I have all the power and resources needed to keep them out of it, so feel free to......"

"Eh-, why would you want to hold back the police?" Yuka voiced her surprise.

Rumor has it—— now was it Kanata Ward, or Kanaya Ward—— that some places have been under lockdown and the police haven't exactly been operating properly. However, places such as that are the exception. The legal organization should be operating in proper accordance here. But even so, is there any sense to purposefully suppressing them? In response to Yuka's question, Richard softly curved the flesh bordering his mouth.

He spoke while displaying a clownish grin.

"Because, having a 【Master Detective】 solve it would be more fun, wouldn't it?"

There was a childishness in his eyes,

and a warped sense of delight began to surface.

***

"...... Is that guy alright?"

It seemed that Richard had the intention of sticking around the crime scene. However, it appeared that there was a problem with his cargo ship, so he left while grumbling something about just getting started. 'Please don't solve the case until I return' he added, but I'm not really concerned about something like that.

After making sure that he had gone down to the first floor, Yuka then went to inquire Halara.

Located on the second floor —— in front of his wife's bedroom, he/she answered with indifference.

"Probably not. However, as long as 【Master Detectives】 exist, so too will there be people who hold an excessive admiration for them, or even an addiction...... There’s no telling what type of bad precedent it could set if it were a person in power."

Yuka reflexively shifted her gaze downwards.

That admiration of 【Master Detectives】 is something she could understand. To some people, those who possess supernatural abilities and eliminate unsolved mysteries are like that of stars shining in the sky. There are some who may wish to bask in the radiance of that light up close. However, despite the murder of a family member, it was nothing short of abnormal to request a 【Master Detective】 while shutting down the possibility of a quick solution.

Yuka's skin crawled with disgust as she asked.

"Are you going to accept this request?"

"Five million."

"Eh?"

"It was mentioned to me a short while ago. This is the amount he said he had set as a reward for my success...... I have no obligation to help others, but I work sincerely according to the payment I receive...... That is my pride as a detective."

"So that’s the only reason."

"It's reason enough, among other things."

Yuka almost raised her voice. However, in response to this Halara spoke calmly.

He/she emotionlessly included more reasons.

"The police have had no involvement in this case. Hence, the situation where the more time passes, the more evidence is lost...... Given the circumstances, there is no detective better suited for this case than me. Still, even if I decline this request, he would probably just vet another 【Master Detective】 to appoint anyway. It's a waste of time."

"Surely......"

"The quickest and most rational decision would be for me to continue with the investigation."

Yuka gave a deep nod. To reject a request based on emotion would also be an unethical decision. Once she came to an understanding, Halara then placed their hand on the door.

Nevertheless, without pressing the matter further, she continued to ask questions.

"Then let's move on with the investigation. It'd be foolish for a 【Master Detective】 and trainee to continue to stand around talking to each other...... Before going any further, I'm sure you've already been properly briefed with a sufficient overview regarding the case thus far before arriving here, right? Mister Richard did speak rather quickly."

"If that's the case then please leave it to me! Uhh let's see now...."

Yuka twiddled her thumbs around in the air.

She then began to explain the overview of the murder case as told by Mister Richard.

***

To recap, the story goes like this.

Mister Richard has a family of five—— however, his second born daughter is staying in a dormitory—— Therefore, at the time of the incident, there were seven people in the mansion: him, his wife, his eldest daughter and his eldest son, a cook, a maid, and a gardener.

It was there that Mister Richard's wife, Beatrice Thompson, was murdered.

No one had seen her after she ate dinner and went to her room at 8 p.m.—— This has so far been confirmed by the initial police report —— The estimated time of death was between 9 and 10 o'clock p.m. The cause of death was stabbing. The murder weapon, a knife, was left lodged in her chest. There were no fingerprints. Also, a water pitcher—— which she loved to use when she went to bed —— was confirmed to have been laced with stolen sleeping pills.

Because of this, it's been concluded that the crime must have been premeditated by an insider.

The first to discover the scene were the gardener and the eldest daughter. The gardener would visit the victim every night at 10 o'clock to consult with her about remodeling the garden, and when she did not respond he then approached her eldest daughter —— Afterwards, both parties felt uneasy about there being no response, and so as a result of breaking down the door, the dead body was discovered —— This was at about half past 10 o'clock. Additionally, there were signs of intentional destruction within the room at the time. The eldest daughter then immediately called out to the eldest son, who was in the garden, and asked him to report the incident.

And then there's the key detail.

The room was a locked room.

"The crime scene was a closed room with both the windows and doors locked at the point which it was first discovered when the door was opened. Furthermore, the victim was leaning against the door, and there were no signs of it having been opened directly beforehand."

"Well done. Seems like nothing has been misremembered." Halara gave a brief nod, their pale hair swaying with the motion.

Naturally, Yuka puffed her chest proudly. She had also been honing her memory as a part of her training to become a 【Master Detective】. She also had a bit of a talent for picking up on fast-talkers, which was something she was prepared with at the very least.

Halara stared at the door with the knob still in hand.

Gazing at the floral reliefs carved across its surface, he/she continued.

"Wherever there's a locked room, there is an explanation behind it. It's the detective's job to uncover it."

Halara opened the door with a click.

Stepping through and, suddenly, looking to the side —— Yuka took a sharp breath.

***

It looked as though there were many girls standing there.

Dolls were lined up in front of a mainly yellow floral-patterned wallpaper.

The smallest one was a baby, while the largest figure looked to be around 10 years old. Everything looked to be things belonging to girls of various sizes. But oddly enough, there was also a strange sense of uniformity.

Lovely beings clad in a luxurious and solemn aura. Their eyes were made of deep blue glass, and their heads were covered in gold thread. Their shrewd features somehow had an uncanny resemblance to the victim's wife. Moreover, there were other bizarre details as well.

All of their heads had been torn off. Some were set up to be holding dolls, while others were lying on the floor. Many of them were grouped together and placed against the wall.

It was as though the dolls had also been murdered.

"Wh-, what is this--. How disturbing...... So it was the dolls that they were referring to when they said some of the rooms showed signs of intentional destruction. But still, why is it like this?"

"......On the other side of the doll...... there is a fireplace to the right hand side when you enter through the door."

Halara muttered under their breath as they covered their mouth. He/she stepped forward to approach the mantlepiece of the elegant fireplace. Halara crouched down to peer inside before looking up.

Yuka followed their lead and crouched down beside them, copying their actions. Before them was a grimy chimney that extended from their field of view. The distant opening was tightly sealed with a fine mesh. She nodded with a hum.

"It seems unlikely that the killer could have escaped by climbing up here."

"However, it doesn't seem irrelevant."

"Eh?"

"Look here, there are traces of soot on the floor."

Yuka lept back at the mention of it. That was a close one. She almost stepped on a piece of evidence.

Seeing her panic, Halara adjusted their glasses.

"I thought you were conscientiously avoiding it...... Seems I overestimated. Are you really so dense as to have not noticed?"

"Th-, that's not it! I noticed! Of course I noticed!"

Despite her insistence, she of course did not notice. Halara's gaze was truly cold.

Yuka was quick to redirect it by changing the subject.

"Uhmm, well...... Let's see, the victim was lying in front of the door, and the eldest daughter thought about the possibility that someone could have broken in, so she went to check the window...... but found that it was locked."

"So, she found the eldest son in the garden and called out to him...... I see, it is visible from here perhaps. There don't appear to be any contradictions evident in those facts themselves at the moment."

Halara and Yuka moved over to the window to look out over the garden.

The rose garden could clearly be seen from the wife's bedroom window. Though it was now daytime, we confirmed that there was a haze from floodlights scattered about for illumination. That meant that the eldest son could have been seen without any problem even at night.

Touching the golden crescent lock, Halara nodded with a hum.

"The locks on the windows are rather standard...... so I can't say for sure that there's no possibility of tampering. However, there are no scratches. I don't see any evidence of thread or any other such material being used."

Halara turned while muttering to themself.

Once again, he/she looked over to the door the victim was leaning against.

"...... There isn't much blood. In other words, the criminal did not pull out the knife after dealing the blow."

"That is true, isn't it."

The two discussed their thoughts about the bloodstains on the carpet, though the body has already been removed. The crime scene was not preserved exactly as it was in its original state. The family must've had some sort of hand in it. At this point, there may be some things that an investigation won't be able to uncover.

Yuka spoke up without thinking.

"Hmm, I guess there's nothing more to see here other than the information that's already been given so far. There's got to be things that we're missing. That's the problem with being a detective who's always asked to do things after the fact. Ahhh, if only we could see the crime scene right at the time of the body's discovery."

"You wish to see it?"

"Eh?"

"Who...... do you think I am?"

"Who?"

"I'm Halara Nightmare."

The phrase rolled off Halara's tongue in the most natural way. Yuka cocked her head.

Well, I've already gone through introductions. Regardless of if it's impossible to tell whether they’re a man or a woman, there was no doubt that the person standing before me was Halara Nightmare. Isn't that so?

But he/she continued on.

"The 【Postcognition Detective】, Halara Nightmare."

***

What exactly is this 【Postcognition】.

Halara began to explain.

"My 【Forensic Forte】 is 【Postcognition】 ...... It quite literally is the power to see a snapshot of the past. However, it can only be used at murder scenes. To be precise, it's the ability to see how a crime scene 【appeared at the time it was first discovered】 with one's own eyes. Another way to describe it would be 【crime scene-limited psychometry】, if that's easier to understand."

Yuka couldn't help but gawk in surprise.

She knew that the 【Master Detectives】 who work in the field had special abilities. Yuka herself had something that could be considered as such. Halara's was outstanding, however.

It's almost too convenient.

As far as a detective's supernatural ability goes, it could be considered among the best.

Halara continued in the wake of Yuka's astonishment.

"My power allows me to see the 【moment the first witness saw the crime scene】. In other words, not the culprit, not the victim, but how it appeared when a third party first entered. The memory or perception of the witness does not affect my 【Postcognition】. What I see is what actually was there. When it comes to my power, the witness is not a camera or a recording device, but rather a trigger...... Perhaps the best way to think of it is like a bookmark stuck between the pages of when the body was found. It's not a power that can be taken advantage of unconditionally, however.”

Perhaps it was something akin to envy and jealousy that swirled in Yuka's eyes like heated candy. Halara continued to explain the activation conditions and limitations of their power.

"First, I must be standing at the crime scene...... this condition is absolutely required. I must also know the victim's name and face. That's why prior research is crucial. Lastly, 【Postcognition】 is only effective in a 10-meter radius around the body. At the moment, I can only see the crime scene and the victim. I can't see any living things that were at the scene.”

Yuka's eyes flickered with a blink. So even if the culprit was hiding at the crime scene—— it wouldn't be possible to immediately identify them. Her face must've been brimming with the question as to why. Halara promptly gave an answer.

"...... I’m not so good at looking at people."

"B- but still, I think this is a more than capable ability! This is a 【Forensic Forte】! I'm so envious! I absolutely admire you!"

"Sorry, but I'm tired of hearing compliments."

"Actually, maybe I did go a little too far with the praise......"

"Time is of the essence. Let's take a look for now, shall we?"

With that said, Halara raised their left hand to cover their left eye.

That was the moment Yuka put down her favorite crimson bag she'd been carrying on her back—— which could be used in three different ways by adjusting the belt. She undid the metal clasps and opened the leather flap. She pulled out a sketchbook and a box of colored pencils. She readied the black one first.

Halara gave an expression as if to say 'what is that'.

Yuka turned to puff out her chest toward him/her.

"Ehehe, if that's what your ability can do, Halara-san, I think I could be of some help to you, even if just a little."

"...... What do you mean?"

"As a matter of fact, my 【Forensic Forte】 is 【Sketching】!"

Halara's eyebrow slightly twitched at such a cheerful declaration. Perhaps that ability would've been self-explanatory enough. Yuka continued regardless for the sake of explanation.

"Ah, I may be a trainee detective, but I have fully mastered my forte. If I can keep it up like this, I should be on track to receive my detective deed! Heeheehee-...... Well, uh so, with this ability, by just listening to what someone says, I can faithfully depict 【a person's description of a scene】 without error, completely unaffected by the influence of my subjectivity or imagination! Though, there's no way for me to be sure whether or not the 【person's description】 is an 【imaginary scene】 or a 【real scene】......"

"Does that mean that you can be influenced by the imagination of another person?"

"Yes. A lie is a lie and will be recorded exactly as it is. But in your case, Halara-san, if you describe the scene exactly as you see it, I think I'll be able to get a picture perfect replication of what it looks like!" Yuka explained.

Her power was the exceptional ability to discern the vague image within a witness's mind. Even if the image in itself is false, she wouldn't be able to disclose the nature of its authenticity. That's why Yuka was so envious of Halara's ability to remain unaffected by the subjectivity of another person's perspective. Still, her ability to take only a vague testimony from the witness themselves—— including the image of the culprit that they witnessed and the scene at the time of the crime—— and be able to properly materialize it, was very useful. It might also be useful in this circumstance as well.

Halara hummed with a brief nod.

"I see...... While it may be possible to reproduce an image as seen by an eyewitness that would otherwise be difficult to convey clearly, there is a possibility of being manipulated by a deliberately false testimony, or an ability perhaps."

"Exactly!"

"......It's quite half-baked for a detective."

"Ngh-"

"Honestly it could be quite convenient for this particular instance. It's exhausting to explain things only I can see."

"Really?"

"People do not believe what they cannot see. I have often been called a liar...... It was thanks to this that when I worked with Mister Richard on the 'Jeweler Campanella Murder Case'...... not only did I have to explain my forte, but I also had to go through the arduous task of proving it through drawing an explanation of the circumstances at the time and comparing them with the physical evidence."

Yuka nodded in response to Halara's words. His/her ability is nothing more than a 【vision】 of the past. Perhaps there will always be skeptics and those who continue to insist that it's flawed. As a trainee, she could only imagine the troubles that they deal with.

But there's no need to worry this time. Yuka spoke with conviction.

"It'll be alright! Because I believe in Halara-san's 【Postcognition】 and my 【Sketching】 from the bottom of my heart, without a doubt!"

"......Your own 【Sketching】 as well, huh?"

"Ah-, sorry."

"I don't mind. You should have confidence in your 【Forensic Forte】. The most important quality for a detective is the ability to suspect others...... but perhaps I've spoken too much. Let's continue."

With one eye closed, Halara began to concentrate.

Yuka was momentarily captivated by their serious and beautiful profile. But the instant his/her mouth began to move, she shook her head and picked her colored pencil back up to begin moving it with blinding speed.

A drawing etched into a sketchbook.

Along with Halara's words.

Through combining the two, the findings that were revealed are as follows.

***

The first witness of the scene had broken through the locked door. It was at this time that the victim's body, which had been leaning against the door, appeared to have moved. There were traces of bloody finger marks on the knife and the surrounding area of the clothes on the victim, who had fallen to the side—— though this was confirmed in the initial police investigation, no fingerprints were reported to be found—— and so it was theorized to have been caused not by the culprit, but by the victim.

In other words, the victim's death was not instant.

Furthermore, traces of water stains were found trailing from the victim's mouth to their throat.

Also the head of one of the dolls—— which had apparently not fallen off, yet seemed as if it had been placed with the rest of the heads in the real life scene —— was lying in a position where it could easily be seen from the open door.

And the biggest difference of all—— there were no traces of soot in front of the chimney.

After drawing the description above, Yuka put down her colored pencil with a sudden flick. The fresh corpse of the victim was vividly recreated on paper. The sight was brutal, although I hadn't given it much thought at the time my colored pencils were in motion. She closed her eyes to offer a moment of silence. She then asked Halara.

"I understand things for the most part...... but what could be the meaning behind these differences?"

"............"

"Halara-san?"

"I understand, but......if that's the case...... no...... It's far too simple...... namely, "

"Halara-saaan?"

"I've got a hypothesis in mind. All that's left is to substantiate the evidence."

With that said, Halara began walking to leave the room. Yuka hurriedly stowed her sketchbook and colored pencils into her bag. Brown, light orange, red—— disregarding the order that they were placed in—— they were tossed directly into the bottom of the box. She slammed the lid shut and ran after Halara.

"Please wait, Halara-san. Where are you going?"

"An investigation is built upon two fundamental factors. First of all, check the crime scene, next is?"

"Next, is it...... um, perhaps"

"Yes, I'm sure you know what I'm referring to."

Halara came to a halt in a corridor with beautiful stucco walls. He/she turned to Yuka and, with a quick motion, held up two fingers. He/she curled their fingers from two to one as they gave their answer.

"It's collecting testimony."

***

"You're the detective appointed by the Master, is that right?...... Haa, quite the beautiful person...... Ah-, no, what happened at the time of the Madam's death, was it?"

"To be more precise, it's about the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the body and how you were spending your time that night. I’d appreciate your cooperation."

The gardener narrowed his puffy eyes at Halara's statement.

He was at a loss for words within the garden that was filled with the suffocating fragrance of roses.

The gardener was a man in his fifties. He was dressed in a pair of trousers, shirt, and rubber apron suitable for tilling the soil, and the look on his face portrayed a gentle personality. At the same time, it seemed to reveal an innately timid nature. He carefully tucked the pruning shears he was using into his apron pocket. He then anxiously asked Halara.

"Does that mean, as in an alibi? Am I being accused of something?"

"We're going around and asking everyone! Thank you in advance for your cooperation!"

Perhaps it would be better to keep him calm by speaking to him herself.

Yuka spoke cheerfully so. Halara said nothing. The gardener nodded upon hearing this. He still seemed nervous, but he opened his mouth.

"Haa...... Well, I don't have anything to hide or be ashamed of, so I'll answer you. Please hurry and clear up any of the Madam's lingering regrets."

"Right! ...... oouugh, I'm moved to tears by those words. I guess your Madam must've surely held a great deal of care and compassion for her employees!"

"No, not at all."

"Eh-"

Yuka froze in her tracks at this.

Isn't the memory of the deceased something that everyone glorifies? Especially if they were killed. However, the gardener's deep wrinkles distorted, like scars chiseled into rock. With a firm voice, he continued.

"The only time the Madam was kind was when she dealt with her youngest daughter, who is now living in a dormitory...... She was strict with everyone else, and our nickname for her was the 'Empress of Ice'...... There was no such thing as kindness."

Halara narrowed their eyes at his words. He/she folded their arms thoughtfully.

Halara asked with a hardened voice.

"So everyone could have a motive?"

"......Well I never said that. I dread to think who in the house might have stabbed her. Even if I had found her 'murdered'...... Honestly, I didn't think about why."

"...... By the sounds of it, you were the first one to discover the body?"

"Oh, that's right." The gardener nodded simply.

Yuka reflexively held her breath.

This is important information. As you know, Halara's power recreates the crime scene found by the 'first witness'. Not the 'culprit', not the 'victim' —— but that of the 'first witness'.

In other words, the 'first witness' is excluded as the culprit.

It's imperative to determine whether or not the vision seen by Halara really belongs to the gardener. But the ability to rule out one person from being a potential culprit altogether is incredibly valuable.

"I see, in that case......"

Halara tried to ask the question, and Yuka immediately took out her sketchbook. This is where her 【Forte】 comes into play. Halara nodded upon seeing this.

"That's a good call."

"Halara-san praised my judgment!?"

"So, when you opened the door......"

"Ignored without a beat!?"

"Was the victim leaning against it?"

"Yes...... I had a bad feeling, so the young lady and I kicked down the upstairs door...... I thought it was strangely heavy, but soon after I was shocked when I caught a glimpse of the corpse."

According to the gardener's report—— the moment he opened the door, the impact had apparently caused the Madam's corpse to fall over. Since he was sure that he heard the sound of something hitting the floor, they believed that nobody had opened the door before then.

A doll's head had fallen on the other side of the corpse, so he went on to look at the Madam's bisque doll collection. Seeing such a disastrous scene was as horrifying —— if not worse —— as when he found the Madam's body. The eldest daughter then went over to the window and checked the lock. As she did so, she noticed the eldest son in the yard, unlocked it —— which the gardener was certain that he saw that it had been closed until just before —— and called out to him.

Meanwhile the gardener had checked the Madam's pulse and was once again confronted by death.

"I don't have an alibi for the night. I spent the day organizing a plan for remodeling the garden in accommodation to the Madam's ever-increasing wishes. Goodness, it was a tremendous amount of diagrams to do...... But I didn't even go upstairs until 10 o'clock when we were scheduled to have a meeting."

"What is the proof of that?"

"Unfortunately, there is none."

"But, Halara-san. He doesn't seem like a culprit, does he?"

Yuka remarked and showed a sketch she drew based on the gardener's testimony.

Halara narrowed their eyes. Etched on the drawing paper was the scene that the gardener saw when he opened the door. There, a picture nearly identical to the one Halara saw with 【Postcognition】 was sprawled out. Judging by the angle at which the door was opened, there was no doubt that he was the person from the 【Postcognition】—— the 'first witness'.

Yuka's ability does not negate the possibility of false testimony, but it seemed like it would be impossible to match something like the angle of the door just by guessing. That much can almost certainly be said for sure.

Halara nodded. Facing the gardener, he/she said.

"That is all. Much appreciated."

"Yes...... Well then, I best be going. However, I wonder what's to become this rose garden after the the Madam's passing? After having come this far in making it so magnificent, it may simply be left to wither away. Ahh, it's a shame...... Truly, it's such a shame."

If that’s the case, might as well just light it on fire I suppose.

The gardener muttered under his breath.

Yuka felt all the hairs on her body stand on end in fear.

In the depths beneath the gardener's words lurked thick and murky darkness—— a profoundly dark glow —— swirling within. There was no limit to the depravity of these thoughts.

Yuka pulled at Halara's sleeves, wondering if he could be the culprit. Halara ignored her and began walking. She'll be left behind at this rate. Yuka rushed to follow the figure as it moved away from the rose garden. Yuka cast a slight glance over her shoulder as she made her way towards the mansion.

The gardener stood as if buried among the roses.

He opened and closed the gardening shears with a 'shing'.

***

In a luxurious study lined with glass bookshelves,

a sharp and rigid clacking sound rang out.

"The circumstances at the time of discovery, and alibi, right?"

The eldest daughter murmured while moving the chess pieces.

This woman...... is ok, right? Yuka couldn't help but worry.

The eldest daughter was a beautiful figure, with glossy black hair and becoming amber eyes. You could say that she probably resembled her father before he became obese, considering the matching colors of their features. She was a beauty dressed in men's attire with short, boyishly styled hair. Yet unlike Halara, whose gender was completely neutral, her ample breasts filled out the front of her white button-up shirt.

She continued to stroke the pawn pieces with her fingers as she sat in a multifunctional armchair.

"Do you really you suspect me, the Amnea Thompson?"

"......That board."

"Ahh, this? I was just doing a bit of solo play."

"It seems like you are not even aware of the proper way to move the chess pieces. Can you not play chess, by chance?"

"Don't go and call me an idiot already!"

"I didn't say that?"

Halara crossed their arms coldly.

The eldest daughter —— Amnea —— burst into tears in front of them. Apparently, Yuka thought, it seemed the only reason she was in front of the chessboard was simply to try and impress strangers.

Amnea smashed the chess board with force, the pieces making a rattling sound as they flew away.

Then, Amnea proclaimed in an exaggeratedly tearful voice.

"Damn it, you guys are trying to bully me too!"

"I-intense victim mentality."

"Whatever, I am an idiot anyway! I'm so empty-headed that there's not enough to go around! But I leave that kind of thing to the owner of this room, my brother Dalmatia. And yet, you say things like this and that...... Hmm, unforgivable! I'll beat you!"

"Stop it! I'll hit back!"

"I'mb sowwy!"

"So quick to repent!?"

Yuka's eyes widened. Amnea held her head and trembled at the threat, crying softly. Halara murmured out a hum in response to the child-like reaction.

"......Well, it would be ridiculous to try and go up against me with brute force."

"Did you say something, Halara-san?"

"Don't worry about it...... So, about our conversation."

At that, Halara's eyes opened wide before soon narrowing them down. Hm? Yuka tilted her head. What might it be? It felt like Halara's expression had an added childishness to it that I'd never seen before. Following their gaze, Yuka noticed.

"............ Ah-, a cat?"

Yuka quickly approached the fireplace, and Halara also came along without reproach.

Yuka craned her neck, and when she looked into a wicker basket she saw a kitten wriggling and cooing. It looked just like a white furball. The kitten rolled over without a hint of grumpiness. An adorable pink paw was pointed at Halara, but without touching it, his/her expression softened faintly.

Yuka absent-mindedly asked.

"Halara-san, do you like cats?"

"............ It's nothing we need to be talking about."

"No no no, I absolutely love it! After all, it is Halara-san you know? That sense of peacefulness that lights up in your eyes, isn't it?"

"What do you take me for?"

"What, that you're a cat lover? Why don't we talk about it!"

Amnea exclaimed, her footsteps were loud as she got next to Halara.

Amnea reached out her pale hand, to which the cat rubbed their face to be pampered. Amnea gave a sweet smile as her eyes narrowed with affection. She whispered through clenched teeth.

"Since she's finally dead, I took in an unfortunate cat thinking I could care for it."

"Eh...... Your mother died and it hasn't even been resolved yet."

"Is that bad? I've always dreamed of having a cat since foooorever. I wasn't even allowed to talk about it out loud, ya know. It'd be the last thing I'd say. It was really hard for me to even leave the house...... so regardless of whether or not it's out of line, just leave me alone."

Amnea whispered, her profile drooping like that of a wilted flower. Her eyes were moist with a profound sadness that was difficult to put into words. Yuka went silent, unsure of what to say.

Halara observed Amnea's expression before opening his/her mouth.

"...... So then, would you mind telling us your story again?"

"Ahh, sure thing man. I've got nothin to be guilty about. I'll tell ya anything you wanna know."

Amnea puffed out her chest as she spoke.

There was hardly any disparity between the story of the eldest daughter, Amnea, and the gardener's testimony. She only added more details about the situation when she called out to the eldest son. Yuka's sketchbook depicted a young man looking up toward the second floor from a rose garden. He's slender and quite handsome. His black hair and amber eyes resembled that of Amnea and their father. Yuka stared at it, pondering the possibility.

"Are you and your brother twins?"

"Yep, you nailed it. Technically, I'm supposed to be the older sister, but we are twins. I'm on good terms with Dalmatia...... who, unlike me, has the lion's share of smarts."

Amnea laughed frankly at saying that. The carefree expression on her face invokes a genuine feeling of familiarity. Yuka thought of how nice it would be to have a twin.

At that, Halara wordlessly raised an arm, and Amnea snapped to attention with her back straightened.

"Yii-!"

"Why"

"......I've got most of it. Let's get going."

Halara said and began walking. What the hellll, that guy was a bastard to the end, Amnea said to the kitten. The white furball responded with a mewmew. It had heart shaped ears. The pointed tip of its heart-shaped nose twitched with a snort. The sound made Halara stop in their tracks.

With his/her back to Amnea, they inquired.

"Just to be sure, I'd like to ask you something...... If something were to happen to you, do you have any guarantee of where the little one will go?"

"Don't be stupid! As a cat lover, of course I've decided on it! If something happens to me, my friend will take good care of it."

"......I see, alright then."

A sense of relief.

With that said, Halara exited the room. He/she also spoke to the chef and the maid. However, it resulted in nothing noteworthy there. Both men claimed to have been working at the time of the incident, had no alibis, and had not even seen the body. Mister Richard had spoken about his suspicion about the chef, but there did not seem to be any particular pieces of evidence to support this.

Hearing all they needed to, Halara nodded and returned to the crime scene. Inside the room, the headless dolls were silent like statues of death. At the center of their blue-eyed gaze, Halara said.

"I’ve figured out the method behind the creation of the locked room."

***

"Well, saying that I figured it out isn't quite accurate...... because we already had the answer as soon as we checked the crime scene."

"A-amazing! Is that even possible!?"

"Of course it is. The person before you is Halara Nightmare. Something such as this is not even a problem."

Halara answered smoothly. Their eyes held no hint of a bluff, but rather a sharp confidence that gleamed like a sword's edge. It was a star-like light, befitting of a detective.

Yuka clenched her fist. Sure enough, just as expected of Halara-san.

He/she tilted their head in turn.

"Or rather. I think we're in the foundational basics at this point. Did you really not even notice?"

"Ngh-, I- I'm a trainee detective, so"

"Even as a trainee, you need to realize that above all else you still wear the title of detective."

"U-oughh...... I didn't notice at all, so please explain it to me."

Yuka folded easily. She knew that she wouldn't get anywhere even if she wracked her brain about it. Halara let out a sigh and shook their head before he/she opened their mouth to speak.

"Haa...... First, let's discuss the matter of 'why were the dolls destroyed?'. There must be a reason for why the culprit would destroy them. There is also a reason behind the fact that the head of one of the dolls had rolled into a position that was immediately visible upon opening the door."

"Why is that?"

Yuka asked while looking at the heads that were now pressed against the wall. The reflections in their glass eyes gave the impression of being wet. That chilling glow seemed to evoke hatred for the murdered. Yuka wondered, why had the dolls' heads been ripped off and rolled away?

Halara offered an explanation.

"It's 'to draw attention to the dolls'."

"To the dolls."

"This will also answer the 'traces of soot marks on the floor after opening the locked room' question. The room was indeed a locked room at the time of the crime. If that's the case, then how did the killer escape?"

"Yeah, that's the issue......"

"They didn't escape. They were hiding halfway up the chimney leading from the fireplace."

Yuka's mouth suddenly opened.

So that's it. The far end of the chimney was blocked off with a net. The room cannot be entered or exited from there. However, it is possible to hide halfway up.

The rest is simple.

The eyewitnesses who found the doll's head were partly compelled to pay attention to the destruction caused to the bisque doll collection. While their attention was focused on that, the killer was able to slip out of the fireplace and escape. They would then nonchalantly join up later as if nothing happened.

In that case, Yuka declared.

"I- I see! That would mean that the eldest daughter Amnea-san, who was with the gardener during the initial discovery, and the eldest son Dalmatia-san, who was in the garden, can be ruled out from the list of possible suspects!"

"...... I'd hoped that you wouldn't say something so boring."

"Eh-!?"

"Behind the creation of every locked room is a purpose for its existence. It is those who are not deemed potential culprits that raise suspicion here. It's safe to say that the maid and the cook can be ruled out."

Halara explained calmly. Uughh, Yuka thought, feeling as if she wanted to cry.

At the same time, an image came to mind of the gardener murmuring ominously, his shears moving with a 'shing, shing'. Shifting in and out of view, treacherous thoughts were obscured by the parallax within his thicket of words.

Impulsively, Yuka raised her voice.

"Understood! It was the gardener then."

"Didn't you believe in my 【postcognition】 and your 【sketch】 from the bottom of your heart?"

"Oh- oh yeah...... so then, who?"

Yuka asked, on the verge of tears. Halara once again let out a sigh. However, they detached their sagacious gaze from Yuka to cast it into space. Halara muttered in contemplation.

"Since they were in the fireplace when the door was opened by the first witness, the culprit was excluded from being with the first person to discover it.... along with the eldest daughter Amnea."

"In that case then, the eldest son, Dalmatia-san? Huh...... but, Amnea-san saw Dalmatia-san in the garden......"

"It's only logical to assume that couldn't possibly be true. Given that Amnea is not the first witness...... it is plausible that she could be a perpetrator. In short, the murderer is Dalmatia, and Amnea is involved as an accomplice through giving false testimony."

I see, Yuka energetically bounced up and down in excitement.

Now the mystery was all but solved.

That should be it.

That is, until Halara opened their mouth to continue.

It was then that the door swung open. A low, beautiful voice began to flow through.

"Oh my, have I been noticed?"

"Y- you're......"

Yuka's voice couldn't help but tremble.

A slender human bowed gracefully before them, announcing their name with grandeur.

"Salutations, I am Dalmatia Thomson. My father's favorite 【Master Detective】 had finally arrived, and when I came to extend my greetings...... it seems I was exposed before the reconnaissance."

Murmured a man styled in a distinctive black and white suit. He had black hair and amber-colored eyes. A beautiful young man, just as Yuka depicted in her sketch. His sophisticated and intellectual impression was even stronger when I saw it in person. Shaking his head, the eldest son —— Dalmatia —— forced out in a strained voice.

"Nothing that can be done once it's been found out. Just as you've deduced......I am the one who killed my mother. It's too late to be making any excuses now, I......"

"Why"

"That's what I'll be trying to tell you right now." Dalmatia shrugged off Halara's question as if in inconvenience and shook his head in exasperation. Halara did not care for these theatrical gestures, however. Indifferent, he/she continued questioning.

"Why, are you telling such lies?"

***

"Eh?"

"Huh?"

The two voices overlapped.

The voices of Yuka and Dalmatia.

What are they talking about, Yuka wondered. Wasn't it none other than Halara themself who presented this deduction just a moment ago! Yet at the same time, Yuka began to realize.

It was clear that Halara was trying to go somewhere with this.

He/she spoke in a dry tone.

"As I just told you before. This stuff is way too basic. It's not even a question. That being the case, there must also be a purpose behind creating a 'locked room meant to be breached'."

"Is...... is it"

"In other words, the problem itself is a trick that assumes the presence of my 【postcognition】."

Halara asserted.

And so the mystery continues.

Yuka suddenly found herself in a daydream —— standing on a stage where the spotlights focused solely on Halara Nightmare —— only on the person whose beautifully pale complexion was brilliantly illuminated.

Halara continued to seize control of the scene with overwhelming charisma.

As the leading role (detective), he/she told the supporting cast.

"As told by the client. 'I used to tell my family all about Halara-san', in addition to his habit of running his mouth too fast and blurting everything out. The family had plenty of opportunities to learn the details about my 【postcognition】 if that's the case."

"Which, I'm sure probably happened......"

"Therefore, the task was carried out with the anticipation that the traces of soot would be revealed during the use of 【postcognition】...... There's a lot of strange things going on otherwise."

"Wh- what's so strange?"

Dalmatia asked with a trembling voice. He glared at Halara with a glint. However, the spotlight remained fixed, continuing to shine only above Halara's head.

He/she responded smoothly.

"First of all, there'd normally be no point in making the victim take sleeping pills. She was —— as one could surmise from the way she was staring at the camera and her lack of focus —— a petite woman with poor eyesight."

"Ah-"

"Anything could've been done to exploit her weaknesses. It would be much more sensible to kill her that way and make it look like the work of a burglar rather than going through the trouble of a locked room. And yet, it was by putting the sleeping pills in the pitcher that the culprit was quickly narrowed down to those involved."

I-indeed, Yuka nodded. That's certainly true.

Even the initial police investigation limited the culprit to those involved because of that water pitcher. There was no point in setting such a thing up since the victim was a delicate woman who could easily be killed.

Furthermore, Halara continued.

"Also, although I was promptly called in at the request of the victim's family in this case, police analysis should have originally confirmed that the soot on the floor was from the fireplace. Moreover, it's highly likely that subsequent investigations would reveal the false testimony. And the reason I took the time and effort was because I knew from the beginning that the client would let me solve the mystery —— thus."

Halara fixed their gaze on Dalmatia. He flinched and clutched his chest while being pierced by their sharp gaze. It was as if he'd been stabbed through the heart. It was there that Halara pushed their verbal blade even further in.

"To become officially identified as the culprit by a Master Detective certified by the World Detective Organization. That was precisely your goal. Once the Master Detective identifies the culprit, the investigation will be closed at that point."

In other words, there’s another culprit.

Halara asserted definitively. Yuka was speechless. What kind of criminal would try to use 【Master Detectives】 for such a purpose? Still, though, Yuka thought. Despite her worry, she opened her mouth.

"But, Halara-san...... isn't it strange?"

"What part?"

—————————————————————

Notes:

There's a part that's describing the gardener's words as 見え隠れ(miegakure), which is a gardening technique that keeps parts of a garden hidden depending on where you're standing, and only becomes visible as you walk through. Closest thing I could compare it to was parallax, but in order to fit the gardening pun I added 'thicket' as a descriptor to try to reflect that.

While I tried to add honorifics, Halara and Yuka sometimes use a -shi honorific for Richard. I don’t know if people are generally familiar with it, so I just replaced it with Mister

Amnea speaks in a very masculine manner, so when I put stuff like ‘man’ and ‘guy’, it’s in a non-gendered dudebro kind of way.

#rain code #raincode #rain code novel #master detective archives: rain code #waiting for yuma #ユーマを待ちながら #halara nightmare #yuka kisaragi #my translation

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