Renji understood that even if Hachiman found out something later, it wouldn’t matter, because Hachiman wouldn’t be able to get any information about the body or the police report.
Hachiman came from an ordinary family without any significant background.
The only information available to him was the rumors spreading on the internet.
But there was one person who could definitely figure it out — Yukino Yukinoshita.
Hachiman relied on his sixth sense — male intuition.
But Yukino Yukinoshita didn’t rely on intuition; that woman relied on her logical chain.
It was her own logic, capable of breaking down any chaotic phenomenon into a chain of cause and effect.
If Hachiman’s guess was based on intuition, then those were vague and chaotic thoughts that sometimes hit the mark by luck.
Yukino Yukinoshita was different — she would go step by step until she reached the place she wanted to stop, until she found the answer she understood.
In fact, logically speaking, no matter how things developed, Renji wouldn’t have thought that Yukino and the others — who were even more like Hachiman and Yukino — would try to solve the case themselves and find the culprit.
After all, they were still just students.
Although the title of “Neon High School Student” still existed, who knew what could happen.
But after the recent conversation with Hachiman, Renji suddenly felt that there was another possibility: Yukino and the others might actually develop in a direction he hadn’t dreamed of before — confrontation.
After all, he was currently in performance mode, still using the classic American youth slasher script “Scream.”
What was the normal development?
It meant gradually introducing cameo characters, that is, executing less important people one by one, and then dealing with the main cast that made up the majority of the ratings.
But after the conversation with Hachiman just now, Renji had a new opinion: Yukino Yukinoshita might actually try to solve the case and find the killer.
At that point, Hachiman hadn’t joined the Service Club because of Shizuka Hiratsuka, but the essay assignment had already been submitted and would only be accepted the day after tomorrow.
According to Renji’s understanding, Hachiman had never lived in the courtyard, perhaps because of changes in the world order.
“Normally, students shouldn’t get involved, but what if something happens?”
Thinking about this, Renji tilted his head to look at his desk, as if he could see Yukino Yukinoshita sitting in front of him.
On the desk lay all the evidence she could gather.
Renji pondered the overall development of the “Scream” film series.
Although he was using this script, he didn’t believe that in the end the other side would overthrow him.
If possible, Renji wanted to keep Hachiman and Yukino Yukinoshita alive until the very end, watching over them all the time.
Meanwhile, at Yukino Yukinoshita’s house, she should have been asleep at this time, but for special reasons, she rarely fell asleep.
Because tonight, her sister Haruno Yukinoshita had come to see her, talked with her for a long time, and asked her not to live alone, but she had firmly refused.
The main reason was that the murder case hadn’t been solved yet, the killer was still roaming outside, and Haruno was worried about Yukino’s safety.
Although Yukino Yukinoshita lived in a luxurious single apartment, the security wasn’t as reliable as the places where Tobe and Ooka had lived.
“Sigh.”
Yukino Yukinoshita turned over and sighed.
Although she was isolated at school, she had more or less heard the discussions in the classroom, since Tobe’s death had almost filled the entire campus.
“What kind of person could the killer be?”
“An ordinary high school student — who could possibly have such a deep grudge?”
With her eyes closed, Yukino couldn’t help but think.
The next morning.
The living room of the Hikigaya household was filled with the smell of miso soup.
It was breakfast prepared by Komachi Hikigaya.
Since their parents were corporate drones, they rarely had time to eat breakfast with their siblings, and working overtime and coming home late was the norm.
His task, along with Hachiman, was to set out the bowls and chopsticks before the meal.
“Bro, you didn’t sleep well last night?” The dark circles under your eyes are almost down to your chin.
Komachi looked at Hachiman and said.
In fact, whether he slept well or not, Hachiman always looked the same.
“This is called a mature sense of fatigue.”
“Then you’re way too tired.”
Hachiman didn’t argue.
He pulled out a chair and sat down, picked up the remote, and casually turned on the TV.
Normally, he didn’t watch TV in the morning; breakfast was usually spent daydreaming.
But today, for some reason,
perhaps because the photo of Tobe’s crime scene that Renji had shown him yesterday was deeply imprinted in his memory, and because he hadn’t read the news and was out of the loop — in short, Hachiman inexplicably switched the channel to the morning news.
On the TV screen, the news anchor was dressed elegantly and reporting the weather forecast.
Hachiman took a sip of miso soup, and just as he swallowed, he heard some truly explosive news.
“Next — local news.”
The anchor’s expression turned serious, and her tone became grave and heavy.
“The Inage Ward police reported this morning that a male body was found last night at the Sunshine Garden Apartments in Koibuchi 3-chome. Preliminary confirmation has identified the deceased as a second-year student at Sobu High School.”
Hachiman nearly spit out the miso soup he had just drunk upon hearing this report.
The screen also switched to a reporter on the scene — a female reporter in a gray coat, standing in front of an old residential building.
Behind them, a yellow police cordon had already been set up, several police cars were parked along the road, and the red and blue police lights flickered dazzlingly in the gray morning sky, signaling the urgency of the day.
“I am currently in front of the Sunshine Garden Apartments in Koibuchi 3-chome, Inage Ward.”
“According to police sources, the deceased was found in the storage room on the fourth floor of the apartment building. The cause of death was multiple stab wounds to the chest. Residents of the apartment discovered the body around 6 AM this morning when they opened the storage room and called the police.”
“The first resident who discovered the body also suffered severe psychological shock.”
Hachiman stared at the screen, his chopsticks frozen in midair above his bowl.
“According to the investigation, the deceased was a student in Class F, a second-year student at Sobu High School, and was a classmate of another classmate who was killed earlier this month, Shō Tobe.”
“The police are conducting a thorough investigation to determine whether there is any connection between these two cases.”
Then the broadcast returned to the studio.
Naturally, live footage couldn’t be shown, especially since showing such gruesome images early in the morning would be unacceptable.