Chapter 33: X Investigation

Chapter 33: Chapter 33: X Investigation

------------

The food court was bustling with families and groups of friends.

Finding enough seats together took a little effort, but Nanami eventually spotted an empty table near the windows overlooking one of the smaller attractions.

Everyone split up to order.

When they returned, the table looked wonderfully chaotic.

Bowls of ramen, burgers, takoyaki, crepes, french fries, melon soda. Basically all kinds of stuffs you will find in a amazing, lively place like this.

Aki somehow balanced two trays by himself.

"I regret nothing."

"You bought enough for three people," Junpai observed.

"I was hungry."

"You still are?." Junpai muttered, he was still the only one still with energy to try correcting Aki.

"I remain hungry actually ."

Nanami smiled into her drink. "I think that’s impressive."

"See?" Aki said proudly. "Someone understands me."

"I said impressive. Didn’t know someone could eat that much is remain unsatisfied" Nanami corrected.

"I heard supportive."

Junpai rested his elbows on the table before immediately sitting back up again.

"...Does this seem like a good date?"

Nanami looked genuinely confused. "We’re eating together."

"...Yeah." Junpai reacted like he wanted to withdraw from the conversation but stopped as Nanami continued.

"We’ve laughed."

"...Yeah." he replied.

"We’re spending time with everyone."

"...Y-yeah."

"So..." She smiled.

"I’d say it’s going pretty well."

Junpai stared at her for a second before letting out the deepest sigh of relief anyone at the table had heard all day.

"...Thank goodness."

We all laughed.

Watching him relax even a little made the entire morning feel lighter.

I wished I could say the same about me, my mind is still reminded of the fact that things are still wrong but I just don’t know what.

I’m I over thinking this?

Not to mention the glitch-thingy, I know I do have some backing not to be afraid but this feeling of unease can’t stop.

That and donation case, but why?

Am I asking the wrong questions, or who benefits the most from this outcome or events? I don’t even know if it’s a bad or good thing they are after.

Outside the window, another roller coaster rushed overhead with a thunderous roar.

Children pointed excitedly toward the sky.

Music drifted across the plaza.

The afternoon still held plenty of rides, games, and friendly competitions.

For now, though, everyone was content to sit together, enjoy their food, and let the easy rhythm of the weekend carry them forward.

Lunch came and went far quicker than anyone expected.

The trays gradually emptied, conversations drifted from one topic to another, and before long Aki had somehow convinced half the table that he could eat another full meal if given the chance.

"All jokes aside, I think i still have room."

"You’ve been saying that since your second burger," Inosuki replied.

"I’m making observations, and they seem to not be coming through to you guys"

"You’re making excuses."

Nanami laughed quietly while taking a sip of her iced tea. "I’ve never seen someone so proud of their appetite."

"It’s a talent," Aki declared confidently.

"No," Shion interrupted. "It’s a health hazard."

"I choose to ignore that opinion of yours."

"I know you do."

Junpai folded up the paper map of the park that had been sitting beside his tray.

"So..." He cleared his throat dramatically. "The next destination!"

Everyone looked at him.

Who I’m I kidding, X potentially needed to know about the aunt’s medical situation and that i would eventually learn about the donation, Shion’s handwriting, Shion’s whereabouts, something about the my notes and how the i would interpret those things

"The Ferris wheel?" Nanami suggested.

Junpai froze. "...That was actually what I was going to say."

"It was written on the map." Nanami added.

"Oh."

"..."

"...I planned that." Junpai muttered, his voice barely audible. Nobody responded.

Aki leaned across the table."Bro."

"What?" Junpai muttered from nervousness.

"You’re transparent."

"I am not."

"You absolutely are." Aki protested, teasing him further.

Even I couldn’t stop myself from smiling.

Poor guy was trying so hard to look composed.

Nanami reached over and gently straightened the slightly crooked collar of his jacket.

"There."

Junpai became perfectly still.

"T-Thanks..." nervousness audible on his voice. His voice nearly cracked.

Aki quietly leaned toward me. "I think he’s about to explode.

Bro mind your own business.

"I’d give him another five minutes." I replied.

"Inosuki?" Aki called out.

"Hm?" Inosuki muttered.

"You taking bets?"

"...Three." Inosuki responded, his expression unfazed.

"Three what?" Aki asked.

"Minutes."

Shion overheard us and lightly elbowed my side. "Don’t be mean."

"I-i know it looks bad, but we’re encouraging him." I replied. A competition can be consider an encouragement if the other party takes it as such.

"By gambling on when he’ll panic?"

"Friendly ...gambling, i guess" I added. I really agnore with her.

She sighed dramatically.

"I worry about you boys."

"You make it sound like we’re impossible." I said confused about her approach of guys.

"Well you are."

In one school-wide classroom/cohort there are about 500+ students, and roughly 20% know Shion personally, that’s 100+ potential people who have some personal connection to her.

With 100+ people, motive doesn’t identify X.

There are too many people with motives.

When i confronts Shion, however, her reaction doesn’t fit someone who secretly made the donation. So it’s just a possibility but Shion could be innocent, but not completely uninvolved.

For example, Shion really did go to the hospital that day but not to pay for Yamaguchi-San medical bills.

I asked the doctor and nurses about the donator description but it didn’t fit any of my close friends or someone close to both shion and my social cycles.

"We’re trying our best." I reassured her. It was a trial date, well of course she didn’t know that but she must have guess has much by now.

"I know."

There was a softness in her voice that caught me off guard.

For a brief second, she looked at all of us sitting around the table, the constant bickering, Aki reaching for everyone’s leftover fries, Junpai trying to act mature, Inosuki quietly watching the chaos with tired acceptance.

Then she smiled.

"...It’s nice."

"Hm?" I muttered

"Nothing." She stood up before anyone could ask what she meant.

"Come on." She stretched both arms overhead.

"The afternoon’s wasting."

The group made their way back into the bustling pathways of Tokyo Dome City.

The crowds had noticeably grown.

A Discord notification appeared just as I was about to reach into my pocket. I clicked on the notification bar which immediately directed me into the Discord application requiring my fingerprint to unlock.

Yyxx: You alive?

I stared at the message for a few seconds.

It had been almost a week since we’d started talking since that day I first got the text about my notes.

Nothing useful. They hadn’t be any mention of the hospital, donation. Or mention of the message about Shion and my notes.

If Yyxx was the person behind it, they were either very careful or very good at pretending they weren’t.

So far, I hadn’t decided which was worse.

My quickly noticed his green status on.

His online then...

I typed.

Oota: Barely.

The three dots appeared almost immediately.

Yyxx: Skill issue.

I smiled faintly despite myself.

Oota: That’s what you say when you don’t know how to help.

Yyxx: Correct.

Oota: Glad we’re on the same page.

A few seconds passed.

Children hurried past carrying oversized balloons shaped like cartoon animals while couples stopped beneath colorful decorations to pose for photographs.

Yyxx: How are the notes going btw?

I stopped, my fingers hovered over the keyboard.

There it was again, the notes.

That was the first thing Yyxx had ever mentioned to me.

But when I’d tried bringing it up indirectly before, they hadn’t remembered much about it.

Either they were misdirecting me or they really didn’t know why that message had been sent.

Oota: You still remember that?

Yyxx: Remember what?

Oota: The notes.

Yyxx:You complain about them like every other day lol.

That wasn’t what I wanted to hear. If Yyxx really was the person who had sent that first message, they’d know exactly what I meant.

Unless...

Somewhere in the distance the familiar roar of Thunder Dolphin rolled across the park, followed by dozens of excited screams.

Aki looked upward.

"...Later."

"What?" Both me and Junpai asked. While I immediately lowered my phone.

"I’m conquering that coaster."

"You sound like you’re declaring war." Shion muttered.

"Maybe."

"Against a roller coaster?"

"It started it."

None of us questioned his logic. i mean his Aki right?

His been like this for a while now, the whole Junpai trial thing got him going all crazy with his approach.

At this point, we were used to it.

The path curved toward a plaza filled with small carnival-style games.

There were ring tosses, bottle knockdowns, miniature basketball hoops and a game where players used tiny fishing rods to scoop floating rubber ducks.

Nanami slowed her pace.

"Oh." She pointed toward the duck game."I used to love those."

Junpai immediately noticed.

"You want to play?"

"If everyone doesn’t mind." She replied.

Aki waved dramatically. "Lead the way."

The stall owner greeted everyone with an energetic smile before explaining the rules. Each person received a tiny bamboo fishing rod with a paper loop attached to the end.

The objective sounded simple.

Catch as many floating ducks as possible before the paper dissolved. It was, unfortunately, much harder than it looked. My first duck slipped away almost immediately.

"..."

Seriously?

----------

"Three things cannot long stay hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth."

---------