Sendoh emerged from a storage room, coughing.
“That was uneventful,” he said through coughs.
He had kicked over a pile of dust by accident, causing it to blow up in his face.
He walked toward the end of the corridor, opening every door on the way, and peering inside perfunctorily. He had come up with an entirely new theory: Kogure had been kidnapped, and was sitting bound and gagged in one of these rooms, if he was in the dormitory at all.
His foot made contact with something on the floor, causing the object to slide a few feet in the dust. It was a large gold pocket watch.
Sendoh bent down to pick it up, and examined it between his fingers. He blew off some of the dust, careful to avoid getting any in his lungs again.
He was debating whether to take the watch with him or leave it where he found it, when a sweet, almost intoxicating smell reached his nostrils. He sniffed the air, and realized that he must be pretty close to the source.
He turned his head to locate the source of the smell, still crouched on the floor, when a piece of cloth was thrust against his face, and after a gasp and a few feeble attempts at throwing off his assailant, Sendoh felt himself pass out.
“Hanagata,” said Uozumi. “What exactly are you doing?”
Hanagata appeared to be demonstrating to him and Takenori something akin to an ostrich’s run as he dashed from one end of the corridor to the other.
“It’s a little something I like to call ‘quick search’,” said Hanagata, flashing his glasses condescendingly upon the other two.
He did a few more dashes, before deciding to end his ‘quick search’.
“Oh well,” he said. “Let’s go and see if Jin and the others have made any progress.”
“Did your ‘quick search’ reveal anything?” said Uozumi sarcastically.
“Indeed it did,” said Hanagata coolly. “Quite a lot, in fact. Kogure is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, not here.”
“I could have said as much myself,” said Takenori in a low voice to Uozumi.
Jin, Kiyota, Hasegawa, and Koshino had been conducting their search elsewhere on the same floor.
Hanagata crept up behind Jin, barely making a sound.
“Boo!”
Jin jumped several inches. He turned to face Hanagata, hand on his chest and panting heavily.
Hanagata laughed loudly.
“Jin, you’re such a scaredy-cat!”
Jin stared at him coolly. He thought his reaction had been quite restrained for someone who had been snuck up on and booed in an abandoned old building at night.
Hanagata continued laughing, and turned to Uozumi and Takenori, who looked at him in disapproval.
“Oh come on, guys,” he said. “It was a joke.”
“Some things are not meant to be joked about,” said Takenori darkly.
“That’s it for this corridor,” said Ayako, exiting the last dorm room in the corridor that she and Kaede had undertaken to search. “What do you say we take a break, huh?”
Kaede thought it was a splendid idea.
“Let’s go downstairs, and see if anyone thought to bring water with them,” Ayako went on. All the searching had left her parched.
Kaede nodded in agreement.
“Oh?” said Ayako, stopping suddenly. “What’s this?”
She had spotted something – rather, someone – lying on the floor some distance away.
She and Kaede ran up to the figure.
“Sendoh!” Ayako exclaimed.
The Ryonan ace lay sprawled out on his back, mouth slightly open.
“Kaede, I need your help!”
Kaede did not know what to do.
“What happened?”
Ayako’s scream had drawn the group from downstairs up to the third floor.
Seeing Sendoh lying on the floor, Koshino and Uozumi rushed up to him.
“How…?” said Uozumi.
Ayako shrugged.
“We only just got here.”
“Sendoh!” Koshino shook Sendoh violently. “Sendoh! Can you hear me?”
Sendoh began to stir. He moaned softly, and opened his eyes slowly. His hand shot up to his forehead mechanically.
“What happened, Sendoh?” said Koshino.
Sendoh sat up, supported by Koshino and Ayako.
“My head hurts,” he said.
“What happened?” Koshino repeated.
Sendoh shook his head slowly.
“I don’t know,” he said. “All I remember is some strange smell and this.”
Sendoh groped around for the pocket watch.
“Where is it?”
“Where is what?” said Jin.
“The pocket watch,” said Sendoh.
“What pocket watch?”
“The one that was right here. It was kind of big, and pretty old-looking.”
“Mrs. Marilyn’s?” said Jin uncertainly.
“I don’t know.”
“You’re probably just feeling unwell,” said Uozumi. “We should get you back to the gym.”
“No, I’m not unwell,” said Sendoh impatiently. “Somebody attacked me. With chloroform or something. And I swear I had this pocket watch in my hands right before that.”
“Chloroform?” Takenori raised an eyebrow. “In here?”
“Why would anyone attack you with chloroform?” said Jin.
Sendoh staggered to his feet, still supported by Koshino and Ayako.
Koshino brushed the dust off Sendoh’s clothes.
“I think we should really get you back to the gym,” said Ayako.
“No, I’m fine,” said Sendoh, attempting to break free of Koshino and Ayako. He stumbled, and almost fell. “Let’s keep looking for Kogure.”
“Fine,” said Ayako with a sigh. She was entirely too familiar with the stubbornness of basketball players. “Let’s join up with Maki and the others on the fourth floor, and see if they’ve found anything.”
The sky outside was now black.
They reached the fourth floor, and managed to locate Maki’s group.
Hanagata crept up behind Mitsui.
“Boo!”
Mitsui uttered a scream, and the next thing Hanagata knew, something hard made contact with his stomach, knocking the wind out of him.
Mitsui had karate-chopped Hanagata.
“Jeez, Hanagata,” said Mitsui apologetically, patting Hanagata on the shoulder.
Hanagata had doubled over with his hands over his stomach.
“Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay,” said Hanagata hoarsely.
“I hope you’ve learnt your lesson,” said Takenori. Then he turned to Maki. “Any progress?”
“Well,” Maki began, but Hanamichi cut him off.
“Gorilla! You won’t believe what we saw.”
“What was it?” said Takenori, even though he had a strong feeling he didn’t want to hear it.
“We found,” said Hanamichi, pausing to amplify the suspense, “this!”
He produced a pince-nez.
Takenori’s expression did not change.
“I suppose they belonged to Mrs. Marilyn?” said Jin.
Hanamichi’s face fell. He had not considered the possibility that he might be questioned about his remarkable find.
“Uh,” he said, not quite knowing what to say.
“Yes, they did,” said Maki. “Or at least I think they did.”
He paused for a minute, deep in thought.
“But that doesn’t concern us right now,” said Maki. “We’re here to look for Kogure: not Mrs. Marilyn’s personal effects.”
“Incidentally, I found another of Mrs. Marilyn’s effects on the second floor,” said Sendoh. “I saw what I strongly believe was Mrs. Marilyn’s gold pocket watch.”
“I assure you, Sendoh,” said Maki, “Mrs. Marilyn’s pocket watch is stored safely in the Principal’s office.”
“But I swear, I saw it,” Sendoh insisted. “I saw it, and I touched it.”
“Well, I don’t think so. Anyway, where is it now?”
“I – uh—” Sendoh stammered. “I had it in my hand, and then I was kind of knocked out. When I awoke, it wasn’t there anymore.”
“You were knocked out?”
“Yes, I was.”
Sendoh was beginning to resent that nobody believed anything he was saying.
“He was unconscious when we found him,” said Ayako.
“Are you sure you hadn’t just decided to take a nap or something?” said Maki. “Maybe you were so tired that your body just couldn’t take the stress anymore, and shut down on you.”
“I was knocked out with chloroform,” said Sendoh. “Why won’t you believe me? I suppose the only way to prove that I indeed saw the watch is by finding it.”
“Where do you propose we start looking?”
“I don’t know,” said Sendoh. “But I’m confident that it hasn’t left the building. We just need to find it.”
“Looking for this?”
Everyone turned toward the source of the voice.
Kogure stepped out of the shadows, grinning. He held up a gold pocket watch by the chain.
“Kogure!” everyone exclaimed.
“What on earth…?” began Takenori, but Kogure held up a hand, indicating that all would be revealed at the right time.
“Sendoh was right,” said Kogure like a judge. “There was a gold pocket watch in this building, and I am now in possession of it.”
Mitsui held out Kogure’s glasses.
“Oh, thank you, Mitsui! I’ll admit it was a little hard finding my way around this place without my glasses, but I managed it!”
“Where did you find it?” said Sendoh.
Kogure shrugged.
“I just followed the ticking noises. I must have searched for it for hours.”
“You mean to say you were here all along?” said Takesago in irritation.
“Well, kind of,” said Kogure.
“I suppose you call this a morning walk?” said Koshino drily.
Kogure shrugged again.
“I guess I was so engrossed in nature that it never occurred to me what time it might have been.”
“If you say so,” said Maki. “There’s no reason for us to be here any longer. Let’s head back to the gym.”
“That was uneventful,” he said through coughs.
He had kicked over a pile of dust by accident, causing it to blow up in his face.
He walked toward the end of the corridor, opening every door on the way, and peering inside perfunctorily. He had come up with an entirely new theory: Kogure had been kidnapped, and was sitting bound and gagged in one of these rooms, if he was in the dormitory at all.
His foot made contact with something on the floor, causing the object to slide a few feet in the dust. It was a large gold pocket watch.
Sendoh bent down to pick it up, and examined it between his fingers. He blew off some of the dust, careful to avoid getting any in his lungs again.
He was debating whether to take the watch with him or leave it where he found it, when a sweet, almost intoxicating smell reached his nostrils. He sniffed the air, and realized that he must be pretty close to the source.
He turned his head to locate the source of the smell, still crouched on the floor, when a piece of cloth was thrust against his face, and after a gasp and a few feeble attempts at throwing off his assailant, Sendoh felt himself pass out.
*
“Hanagata,” said Uozumi. “What exactly are you doing?”
Hanagata appeared to be demonstrating to him and Takenori something akin to an ostrich’s run as he dashed from one end of the corridor to the other.
“It’s a little something I like to call ‘quick search’,” said Hanagata, flashing his glasses condescendingly upon the other two.
He did a few more dashes, before deciding to end his ‘quick search’.
“Oh well,” he said. “Let’s go and see if Jin and the others have made any progress.”
“Did your ‘quick search’ reveal anything?” said Uozumi sarcastically.
“Indeed it did,” said Hanagata coolly. “Quite a lot, in fact. Kogure is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, not here.”
“I could have said as much myself,” said Takenori in a low voice to Uozumi.
Jin, Kiyota, Hasegawa, and Koshino had been conducting their search elsewhere on the same floor.
Hanagata crept up behind Jin, barely making a sound.
“Boo!”
Jin jumped several inches. He turned to face Hanagata, hand on his chest and panting heavily.
Hanagata laughed loudly.
“Jin, you’re such a scaredy-cat!”
Jin stared at him coolly. He thought his reaction had been quite restrained for someone who had been snuck up on and booed in an abandoned old building at night.
Hanagata continued laughing, and turned to Uozumi and Takenori, who looked at him in disapproval.
“Oh come on, guys,” he said. “It was a joke.”
“Some things are not meant to be joked about,” said Takenori darkly.
*
“That’s it for this corridor,” said Ayako, exiting the last dorm room in the corridor that she and Kaede had undertaken to search. “What do you say we take a break, huh?”
Kaede thought it was a splendid idea.
“Let’s go downstairs, and see if anyone thought to bring water with them,” Ayako went on. All the searching had left her parched.
Kaede nodded in agreement.
“Oh?” said Ayako, stopping suddenly. “What’s this?”
She had spotted something – rather, someone – lying on the floor some distance away.
She and Kaede ran up to the figure.
“Sendoh!” Ayako exclaimed.
The Ryonan ace lay sprawled out on his back, mouth slightly open.
“Kaede, I need your help!”
Kaede did not know what to do.
“What happened?”
Ayako’s scream had drawn the group from downstairs up to the third floor.
Seeing Sendoh lying on the floor, Koshino and Uozumi rushed up to him.
“How…?” said Uozumi.
Ayako shrugged.
“We only just got here.”
“Sendoh!” Koshino shook Sendoh violently. “Sendoh! Can you hear me?”
Sendoh began to stir. He moaned softly, and opened his eyes slowly. His hand shot up to his forehead mechanically.
“What happened, Sendoh?” said Koshino.
Sendoh sat up, supported by Koshino and Ayako.
“My head hurts,” he said.
“What happened?” Koshino repeated.
Sendoh shook his head slowly.
“I don’t know,” he said. “All I remember is some strange smell and this.”
Sendoh groped around for the pocket watch.
“Where is it?”
“Where is what?” said Jin.
“The pocket watch,” said Sendoh.
“What pocket watch?”
“The one that was right here. It was kind of big, and pretty old-looking.”
“Mrs. Marilyn’s?” said Jin uncertainly.
“I don’t know.”
“You’re probably just feeling unwell,” said Uozumi. “We should get you back to the gym.”
“No, I’m not unwell,” said Sendoh impatiently. “Somebody attacked me. With chloroform or something. And I swear I had this pocket watch in my hands right before that.”
“Chloroform?” Takenori raised an eyebrow. “In here?”
“Why would anyone attack you with chloroform?” said Jin.
Sendoh staggered to his feet, still supported by Koshino and Ayako.
Koshino brushed the dust off Sendoh’s clothes.
“I think we should really get you back to the gym,” said Ayako.
“No, I’m fine,” said Sendoh, attempting to break free of Koshino and Ayako. He stumbled, and almost fell. “Let’s keep looking for Kogure.”
“Fine,” said Ayako with a sigh. She was entirely too familiar with the stubbornness of basketball players. “Let’s join up with Maki and the others on the fourth floor, and see if they’ve found anything.”
The sky outside was now black.
They reached the fourth floor, and managed to locate Maki’s group.
Hanagata crept up behind Mitsui.
“Boo!”
Mitsui uttered a scream, and the next thing Hanagata knew, something hard made contact with his stomach, knocking the wind out of him.
Mitsui had karate-chopped Hanagata.
“Jeez, Hanagata,” said Mitsui apologetically, patting Hanagata on the shoulder.
Hanagata had doubled over with his hands over his stomach.
“Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay,” said Hanagata hoarsely.
“I hope you’ve learnt your lesson,” said Takenori. Then he turned to Maki. “Any progress?”
“Well,” Maki began, but Hanamichi cut him off.
“Gorilla! You won’t believe what we saw.”
“What was it?” said Takenori, even though he had a strong feeling he didn’t want to hear it.
“We found,” said Hanamichi, pausing to amplify the suspense, “this!”
He produced a pince-nez.
Takenori’s expression did not change.
“I suppose they belonged to Mrs. Marilyn?” said Jin.
Hanamichi’s face fell. He had not considered the possibility that he might be questioned about his remarkable find.
“Uh,” he said, not quite knowing what to say.
“Yes, they did,” said Maki. “Or at least I think they did.”
He paused for a minute, deep in thought.
“But that doesn’t concern us right now,” said Maki. “We’re here to look for Kogure: not Mrs. Marilyn’s personal effects.”
“Incidentally, I found another of Mrs. Marilyn’s effects on the second floor,” said Sendoh. “I saw what I strongly believe was Mrs. Marilyn’s gold pocket watch.”
“I assure you, Sendoh,” said Maki, “Mrs. Marilyn’s pocket watch is stored safely in the Principal’s office.”
“But I swear, I saw it,” Sendoh insisted. “I saw it, and I touched it.”
“Well, I don’t think so. Anyway, where is it now?”
“I – uh—” Sendoh stammered. “I had it in my hand, and then I was kind of knocked out. When I awoke, it wasn’t there anymore.”
“You were knocked out?”
“Yes, I was.”
Sendoh was beginning to resent that nobody believed anything he was saying.
“He was unconscious when we found him,” said Ayako.
“Are you sure you hadn’t just decided to take a nap or something?” said Maki. “Maybe you were so tired that your body just couldn’t take the stress anymore, and shut down on you.”
“I was knocked out with chloroform,” said Sendoh. “Why won’t you believe me? I suppose the only way to prove that I indeed saw the watch is by finding it.”
“Where do you propose we start looking?”
“I don’t know,” said Sendoh. “But I’m confident that it hasn’t left the building. We just need to find it.”
“Looking for this?”
Everyone turned toward the source of the voice.
Kogure stepped out of the shadows, grinning. He held up a gold pocket watch by the chain.
“Kogure!” everyone exclaimed.
“What on earth…?” began Takenori, but Kogure held up a hand, indicating that all would be revealed at the right time.
“Sendoh was right,” said Kogure like a judge. “There was a gold pocket watch in this building, and I am now in possession of it.”
Mitsui held out Kogure’s glasses.
“Oh, thank you, Mitsui! I’ll admit it was a little hard finding my way around this place without my glasses, but I managed it!”
“Where did you find it?” said Sendoh.
Kogure shrugged.
“I just followed the ticking noises. I must have searched for it for hours.”
“You mean to say you were here all along?” said Takesago in irritation.
“Well, kind of,” said Kogure.
“I suppose you call this a morning walk?” said Koshino drily.
Kogure shrugged again.
“I guess I was so engrossed in nature that it never occurred to me what time it might have been.”
“If you say so,” said Maki. “There’s no reason for us to be here any longer. Let’s head back to the gym.”
◄ Chapter 9 ● Nights at Kainan ● Chapter 11 ►
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