Finished draping a black jacket over his shoulders, Akira Satou slightly fixed the position of the scarf around his neck, and then yelled at the second floor.
After a moment of silence, an adorable voice that sounded like a bell answered.
âIâm coming.â
With some noises, a girl in a duffle coat with red and white plaid patterns appeared on the stairs connecting to the entrance hall.
She was the girl who was called by Akira. She was Yui Mikami, the master of Hakoniwa Detective Agency.
She hurried running downstairs. A white casquette matching with a white scarf complimented her beautiful chestnut brown hair, which was swaying due to the wind.
â⊠Ado, adoraâŠâ
Akira probably wanted to say âAdorable,â but before he could finish, a duster was poking at him between his eyebrows.
âDonât look at Miss Yui in such a vulgar way.â
Akira was attempting to grasp happiness, but it was deprived from him so suddenly and vigorously. He fell onto his knees while quivering, and leaked the floor1.
It was Koushirou Kujou, the butler of this house. Encompassed by a black suit, he was a famous detective who did what a devil would do without changing a single facial expression.
âWait, you⊠That really hurts.â
Pressing the place between his eyebrows, Akira declared with hate.
âHurt? ⊠I see⊠I apologize.â
âWhat!?â Akira opened his eyes widely and looked up because Kujou, who always said haughty things arrogantly, made an apology.
âWh, what. Kujou, I thought you never apologize.â
âIf you feel pain, that means I didnât kill you with one shot. Next time, I will do betterâŠâ
âYou can go die!!â
Gorgeously ignoring the daily trifle between them, Yui went downstairs lightly.
âThen, Kujou, Iâm leaving.â
While speaking, Yui started to wear a pair of suede boots, which were slightly orange.
âMiss Yui, why are you in that much of a hurry to go out?â
âThere arenât any cases this afternoon, so I accepted Akiraâs invitation.â
The moment when Kujou heard the sentence, murderous intent flowed out of him like a torrent.
âHey, kid! To where are you going to abduct Miss Yui!! Confining her in a mansion!? Escaping to a northern country!? Are you going to sell her overseas!! â
âYou idiot!! Thatâs impossible!! Itâs so strange of you to come up with the idea of abduction in the first place!!â
Two people were staring at each other at the entrance hall and wiping their own forehead.
âIâm leaving without you.â
Yui had already finished wearing her shoes, and simply split the two up.
âWhat!?â
Kujou and Akira stretched out their right hands unintentionally at Yui, who broke the touch-and-go situation, in order to tsukkomu2Â her.
They had a close relationship.
Rushed by Yui, who was already prepared, Akira started wearing his shoes quickly.
âKujou, donât be concerned about me. Thereâs a winter dessert fiesta held by a dessert shop around Shinjuku. We are just going there.â
âDesserts? Do you want me to buy some for you?â
âNo, I want to breathe some fresh air to change my mood sometimes.â
âI see. Be careful on the way. And, please do not eat too much.â
Different from the way he interacted with Akira, Kujou showed the gentleness a mother would have.
âWeâll be fine. It is said that desserts are digested by a different stomach3. If Iâm too full to eat the food you make, I will put them into Akiraâs stomach.â
With her face beaming with smiles, Yui showed a smug expression.
â⊠She messed up the meaning of âa different stomachâŠââ
Kujou could not say that because he was overprotective of Yui.
âAlright! Sorry for the waiting, Yui. Letâs goâ
After finishing tying his shoes, he stood up with energy. Yui nodded and put her hand on the door.
However, contrary to Yuiâs will, the door opened by itself.
It was around thirteen oâclock.
The bright sky and sunshine of a fair winter day flowed into the entrance hall at once and dazzled the three.
Kujou used his hand to cover some of the sunshine and gazed into the light.
There was a personâs figure.
âExcuse me, is this Hakoniwa Detective Agency?â