Part 82: 11/9/11-11/10/11

11/9/11

Naoto found me at lunch again.



Umm… Do you have any plans after school? I'd like you to come with me…
Thank you. There is something I want you to see.
I shall see you later, then.

She'd gotten another card from the Phantom Thief, but that wasn't the only thing worrying her.



To tell you the truth, I haven't been in contact with Grampa lately.
I wanted to confirm the items I assume the Phantom Thief stole, but…
Our secretary Yakushiji-san passed along a message, saying he went to visit an ailing friend in America.
Since then, I haven't been able to reach either Grampa or Yakushiji-san's cell phone…
……
Well, there's no point in worrying about them now. I'm sure they're fine.
On to business. I received a new challenge in the mail today.
> The card reads as follows…
Writing on the Card: Jury to not rest, or rout for fable. Minus 40, Minus 4
The sentence as written is gibberish…
Is this part of the riddle…?
And this… "Minus 40, Minus 4"…
On its own, it means nothing.
Perhaps the "minus" part is important…

I guessed we were supposed to subtract forty and four from something, but I wasn't sure what.



Subtract "40"…?
Aha! Subtract 40 from the sentence…
> Naoto's eyes lit up.
"Jury to not rest, or rout for fable." From there you subtract 40 and 4…
Notice the unnatural comma in the phrase… It corresponds to the two numbers.
Subtract the letters in "forty" from the first part, and the ones in "four" from the second!
What remains is: "ju n es, t able"…
Junes, table!!
That's it! Let's go!

We rushed down to the Junes food court.



I knew it was here…
> Naoto produces a large ballpoint pen.
This is another of the seven detective tools I made…
You can use it as a normal pen, but it also has a penlight and a miniature telescope.
I thought I had lost this. I didn't think Grampa still had it…
Hmhm, neither my Grampa nor myself can stand to throw things away…
When this pen was still mine… I was just a child, dreaming of becoming a detective.
But being a man or a woman… I never thought about it.
The lack of peers to compare myself to might have contributed to that.
I had no friends… I was quite the outsider then, too.
But… why is it that, compared to the time I spent utterly alone…
I worry more now that I'm with you and the others?
I feel that… I'm undergoing a change.

I'd never really thought about it, but I've had nothing but change since spring. The one thing I'm sure of is that being afraid of it never helps.



…I see. I'm afraid, you say…
I see…
> Naoto is smiling weakly…
The need to change… And the desire to remain the same…
They're mixed together…
…And it scares me.
> Naoto looks smaller than ever before…
> That she would show you this side of her must be a sign that she has opened her heart to you…

I can't even imagine how hard things must have been for her before she came here. Nobody should have to be alone all the time.



Souji-san… Have you ever felt like that before?
…I want to hear about you.
> You chatted idly with Naoto, then went home.

And speaking of being alone, this just gets worse and worse every night. Dojima's still laid up, and both Nanako and Namatame haven't even woken up yet. If something happened to Nanako… I just don't know what I'd do. I just have to keep telling myself that everything's going to be okay.

11/10/11

Okay I may have done something dumb again. Naoto came up to me at lunch again, she seemed really concerned about something.



> Naoto seems really serious…
Thank you. To tell you the truth, I have received information about the Phantom Thief.
……
I'll come pick you up later.

We headed down to the shopping district together.



I have learned that in recent days, a suspicious man has been spotted around the shopping district.
He isn't a local, and his appearance doesn't mark him as a tourist or a shopper.
I talked to the owner of Shiroku Store, and she said that she saw the man only a few hours ago.
She confirmed it was the same man who bought the cards…
If that's true, then he's likely looking for his next hiding place for one of the stolen items.
We may be able to catch him in the act.

I was starting to get concerned someone might get hurt if we did find the guy.



No detective worth his salt worries about that…
……
…Very well. But in return, you mustn't do anything dangerous either.
> Naoto is glaring up at you…
If my deductions are correct, there are two things remaining that the Phantom Thief has stolen.
And if so, I'm quite certain that he's going to hide that one. Perhaps he is…
……
Anyway, where in this area could he hide something unnoticed…?
I have an idea. Let's go, Senpai.

We went to the shrine, and sure enough the man in black was there.



You're…
> The man brandished a knife!

I know I'd promised her not to do anything dumb but I've just seen one too many people I care about hurt recently.



Souji-san!?
Th-There's no need for alarm! That knife is a toy!
> The man dropped the knife and ran away…

So yeah, I kind of made a bit of a fool out of myself there.



This is a knife-shaped radio. As I said, it's just a toy.
But… Even so, what you did… What if the knife had been real!? You would've been in grave danger!
Rrrgh… You're always like that!
I can't imagine becoming a woman only to have a man protect me!
And yet… you always…
Why…!?

Well, I might have done something dumb, but I think I might have said something really dumb. I just thought, I didn't want to have any regrets. I didn't want to just play off how I feel.



Wha…
Huh…?
> Naoto's face is bright red…
Er, u-ummmm… W-Wait a moment.
I thought you just said something serious…
……
E-Errr, well…
……
Now that you've said such a thing…
I can't even look you in the eye…
> You can sense affection from Naoto; a different kind than before…
> You feel your relationship with Naoto has grown deeper…

But somehow I think I stepped in something again.



> You told Naoto your feelings.
> But Naoto has yet to reply…
I-I'm going home.
Oh, you needn't worry about the Phantom Thief anymore…
So… Err…
G-Goodbye!
> You watched Naoto run off and went home by yourself…

But I told myself I'm not going to have any regrets. If she doesn't feel the same way, well, at least I told her how I feel.