The group soon arrived at the fourth-floor stairwell, right next to the art room.
Ran spoke up, "I heard that when a student came in early one morning, they found this stairwell drenched in water."
"And this is exactly the spot where Senior Hosaka fell to his death."
Sonoko chimed in, "Could that water be the cursed tears shed by Hosuke Hosaka?"
"It might just be that it rained heavily that day and the window up there was left open, letting the rain leak in."
Yuu Hoshimiya looked at Sonoko speechlessly and added, "Or perhaps an early student accidentally knocked over their water bottle."
"There are many logical possibilities."
Hearing this, Sonoko immediately let out an embarrassed laugh.
It was indeed a huge stretch to assume a puddle of water meant a ghost was present!
Ran quickly saw the logic as well and chuckled softly.
"It seems you're right. Thinking about it that way makes it feel much less scary."
Just then, Ran, who was facing the courtyard, noticed something in the mud and her pupils contracted.
"Look! There's a school desk there. It wasn't there just a moment ago."
"How did it appear so suddenly? There's even a piece of paper pinned to it."
Seeing the desk, Ran instantly associated it with Hosuke Hosaka's desk in the warehouse, and her face went pale with terror.
Sonoko examined the ground carefully and said in shock, "And there are no footprints around the area."
"How is that possible? Did a ghost fly that desk over there?"
Sonoko felt her skin crawl, and a thick atmosphere of fear enveloped the two girls.
Ran immediately threw herself into Yuu's arms, clutching his waist tightly.
Her face was full of panic as she cried, "Brother Yuu, I'm scared!"
Yuu remained perfectly calm. "What is there to fear? It's simple."
"The rain was so heavy just now that it washed away all the footprints, creating this illusion."
"Stop scaring yourselves."
Hearing Yuu's explanation, the tension vanished instantly. Ran and Sonoko looked at each other and laughed.
Suddenly, the door to the art room opened. A student wearing glasses and an apron spoke up.
"Are you talking about Hosuke Hosaka? The one who died falling here two years ago?"
Sonoko asked, "Why? Did you know him?"
The student, named Masamori Monobe from the art club, replied, "Yes, he was in the same art group as me."
"I was right next to him when he fell. What are you doing? Investigating his death, or...?"
Ran answered, "Several supernatural events related to Student Hosaka have happened recently. we're looking for the person responsible."
Yuu said indifferently, "Alright, this whole thing is quite simple. I already know who did it."
Sonoko's eyes widened. "Teacher Hoshimiya, you really figured it out already?"
At this point, Yuu had recalled the details of this case. It was exactly as he remembered, with no changes.
Since there was no "experience" to be gained from this, he didn't want to waste any more time.
Besides, solving it early would put Ran's mind at ease.
"Let's go to the first floor," Yuu said. "Let's check if that desk actually belongs to Hosuke Hosaka."
Masamori Monobe added, "If you don't mind, I'd like to know who is behind this too. Can I come along?"
Yuu nodded his head.
The group headed down from the fourth floor and ran into Sumi Tsukamoto coming up.
Ran immediately said, "Senior Sumi, come with us! Brother Yuu already knows who's spreading the rumors."
Sumi joined them as they moved to the hallway.
Yuu told them to wait there while he walked into the courtyard, getting his shoes covered in yellow mud.
He saw the signature on the desk that matched the one from earlier and nodded.
As for the note pinned by a stone—"I haven't had my revenge yet!"—Yuu ignored it and pulled the paper away.
Running back to the hallway, he led the group to find Hosuke Hosaka's childhood friend, Kunishige Seko.
When they entered the classroom, Kunishige Seko stood up in a panic before anyone said a word.
He looked at Sumi Tsukamoto and asked, "Student Tsukamoto, why did you bring them here?"
Sumi didn't speak, looking instead at Yuu.
Yuu glanced at him and spoke directly, "Student, you're the one who put that note and the desk in the courtyard, aren't you?"
Kunishige Seko's eyes darted around. He waved his hands dismissively.
"What are you talking about? I have no idea. Please stop disturbing my studies."
He sat back down, putting on a cold "do not disturb" front.
Yuu continued, "You were the one crying in the warehouse before, weren't you?"
"You saw your friend's desk kept in a warehouse and assumed he had been a victim of school bullying."
"You thought he wasn't even allowed to attend class and had to sit alone in the dark."
"And you misunderstood that your friend died because of that bullying, which is why you did all this."
"Messing with the books in the library and the water on the stairs... you were trying to flush out your imaginary killers."
Kunishige Seko felt his secrets being bared and became enraged.
"Who are you?! You're making no sense! I don't know what you're talking about!"
Although Yuu had made quite a stir when he first arrived at the school, he was a health and PE teacher, so his daily presence was low.
Since he actively kept a low profile and looked so young, it was normal for students outside of Class 2-A and 2-B not to recognize him.
Yuu didn't mind the boy's rudeness. He said calmly, "A man should take responsibility for his actions."
"Look at your shoes. They've already betrayed you."
"If you didn't go to the courtyard, where did the yellow mud on your shoes come from?"
Kunishige Seko looked down and was instantly choked up. His eyes widened, and he couldn't say a word.
He had prepared so meticulously for so long.
He had placed ice behind the fire extinguisher nook near the stairs to create the puddle.
He had tied a thin thread to an umbrella to keep the desk dry and then pulled it back to make the dry desk appear in the rain like a miracle.
All his hard-thought tricks were useless; they didn't even bother debunking them. They found him just by the mud on his shoes.
Kunishige Seko let out a deep sigh. "Yes, I did it all."
He then became emotional. "Since you're so smart, help me! Help me find the people who bullied Hosuke!"
"I refuse to believe he just died that easily!"
Sumi Tsukamoto understood everything now and spoke up directly.
"Student Seko, I think you've misunderstood. We were the ones who moved that desk into the warehouse."
"Student Hosaka was in our class. After the accident, the class looked through his sketchbook."
"We found that he had drawn portraits of every single one of us."
"So, the class decided that no matter what, we would have Hosuke graduate with us."
"We wanted him to always be one of us. We would never abandon him."
"That's why we kept his desk in the warehouse and raised money for a new one."
"We intended to bring his desk back on graduation day so he could finish school with us. We didn't realize it would cause such a misunderstanding."
Kunishige Seko froze. "Is... is that true?"
Sumi nodded. "Of course. You can ask anyone in my class. Everyone knows."
Masamori Monobe added guiltily, "I was there when he died. We were moving a plaster statue for a teacher."
"Hosuke slipped on the stairs and fell. It was a tragic accident. It's my fault for not grabbing him in time."
Kunishige Seko looked at Masamori, his eyes turning red. "Really? So... Hosuke wasn't bullied to death?"
He immediately stood up and bowed deeply to everyone.
"Thank you for telling me the truth. I am so sorry for all the trouble I've caused you."
He quickly put on his shoes and rushed to the courtyard to move the desk and chair back to the warehouse.
It was a classic case of a misunderstanding fueled by grief. Fortunately, it was caught in time.
Otherwise, this loyal student might have gone to extremes and started a serial killing spree.
Knowing that Kunishige Seko had only acted out of a misunderstanding, no one blamed him, and Ran was no longer afraid.
With the mystery solved and the misunderstanding cleared, the school bell was about to ring.
Teachers and students began to fill the halls, so everyone headed toward their respective classrooms.
As they passed the courtyard, Ran saw Kunishige Seko with a relieved smile, carrying the furniture back toward the warehouse.
The kind-hearted girl remarked, "They really were great friends."
Sonoko immediately grabbed Ran's hand with a serious expression.
"Ran, so are we."
Ran was moved, her face showing her gratitude.
But she quickly turned her head and teased, "We'd be even better friends if you didn't keep your hands all over me, Sonoko."
Sumi Tsukamoto and Masamori Monobe were seniors and had already said their goodbyes.
Now that it was just the three of them, Ran became a bit bolder with her jokes.
They say eighty percent of girls are bisexual; that saying isn't a joke.
Almost every teenage girl has had some level of crush or admiration for the same sex.
While only a few go fully "bent," most eventually settle into a normal orientation or continue to enjoy both.
Sonoko almost tripped at the comment and laughed dryly. "Don't sweat the details!"
The little lecher Sonoko wasn't going to fall for the bait. She certainly wasn't going to promise to stop being erotic.
Sex with Yuu was great, but "tess-tess" (skinship) with Ran had its own unique flavor.
Especially that smooth, hairless "white tiger" mound of Ran's; not only did Yuu love it, but Sonoko was incredibly envious of it.
Of course, the best was when all three were together.
Whether Yuu was in the middle or she and Ran were in the middle, it always felt incredibly exciting and stimulating...
Amidst the laughter and banter, the three arrived at the second-year hallway.
As more acquaintances appeared around them, the R-rated topics naturally came to an end.
"Ran, Sonoko, I'm heading to the office now."
Yuu said goodbye to the girls and was about to leave when a silver-haired old man wearing glasses and a blonde, curvaceous woman walked toward them.
It was the Principal of Teitan High and the English teacher, Jodie Starling.
The old man saw Yuu and spoke up, "Teacher Hoshimiya, you're here quite early today."
Yuu replied, "Good morning, Principal. There were some rumors floating around the school that had Sonoko and Ran a bit scared, so I took some time to investigate."
The Principal understood the importance of Sonoko Suzuki's status and was already aware of Yuu's close relationship with the Suzuki family, so he had initiated the greeting.
Hearing that Sonoko and Ran—but mainly Sonoko—were afraid of the rumors, the Principal immediately took it seriously and began to ask for details.
Yuu gave a simple explanation of the misunderstanding.
Knowing it was all cleared up, the Principal breathed a sigh of relief.
He was close to retirement and didn't want any scandals, especially those involving the Suzuki heiress.
If Sonoko wanted to transfer schools, the other board members would likely force him to resign in disgrace.
"I see. Thank you for your hard work, Teacher Hoshimiya," the Principal said with a smile.
"I will strengthen security management to prevent such incidents in the future."
In reality, after Hosuke Hosaka's accident, his family had received a very generous compensation from the school.
Since single-child families are rare in Japan, Hosuke's family had managed to move on after their initial grief, living a much more comfortable life than before.
After the pleasantries, the Principal left to attend to his business.
Once he was gone, a strange look flashed in Jodie's eyes. She spoke to Yuu in her deliberately broken Japanese.
"Teacher Hoshimiya! I was so upset for a long time after losing to you on the tennis court. I've been practicing hard to win a rematch!"
Sonoko chuckled, "Teacher Jodie, you still dare to play against Teacher Hoshimiya? Did you forget the state of the tennis court last time?"
Recalling the destruction of the court, Jodie broke into a cold sweat.
"True... maybe I'll pass. Oh! We could play tennis on the computer! I won't lose to you there!"
Yuu smiled and said, "We can talk about video games another time, Teacher Jodie. Since we've run into each other, let's head to the office together."
Facing Yuu's invitation, a look of confusion appeared in Jodie's eyes.
Yuu didn't explain. He simply put his large hand around Jodie's shoulder and said, "I have something to talk to you about. Ran, Sonoko, go on to class."
I wonder how long Teacher Jodie will hold out...
Maybe the next time we see her will be at home...
Ran and Sonoko watched their intimate figures and thought to themselves before letting it go and heading to class hand-in-hand.
Yuu led Jodie into the private office reserved for American foreign teachers. Before he could speak, Jodie began to probe him.
She maintained her "foreigner" persona with her clumsy Japanese.
"Teacher Hoshimiya, do you know Dr. Araide? What do you think of him?"
She put on the act of an infatuated girl.
"He's the most handsome man in school, so young and with such a great personality. Honestly, I really want him to be my boyfriend!"
Hearing Jodie say this, Yuu's mind instantly filled with an image of Jodie and Vermouth "grinding mirrors" (lesbian sex). The image was too beautiful to dwell on.
Yuu chuckled and said, "That would be a terrible decision. It would be such a waste."
"Nani?"
Yuu's right hand slid down from Jodie's shoulder to wrap around her supple waist. He gazed into her eyes with a smirk, his masculine breath hitting her face as he spoke.
"If that happened, I wouldn't have a chance with you!"
Looking at Jodie from this close, he noticed her pale skin was incredibly fine, lacking the large pores typical of many Westerners. This was a rare trait.
However, the glasses she wore were quite old-fashioned and looked out of place.
Those glasses must be a memento of her father, Yuu thought.
Seeing Yuu so close, Jodie's face flushed slightly, but she soon laughed.
"Teacher Hoshimiya, you must be joking!"
Yuu raised an eyebrow, and his right hand began to wander along her waist, gradually expanding its territory.
"No, I am quite serious!"
Sensing the movement of Yuu's hand, Jodie's eyes grew cold, and her tone turned sharp.
"Teacher Hoshimiya, this is quite rude toward a lady!"
Instead of stopping, Yuu became even more aggressive. His hand climbed directly onto her soft, mountainous peaks, and a light smile played on his lips.
"I doubt you've actually set your sights on Dr. Araide, Teacher Jodie. Your FBI target is him, isn't it?"
Jodie's heart hammered against her ribs, and she completely forgot about the large hand groping her chest.
Her eyes contracted. Has the plan been exposed?
The advantages of her race were truly terrifying; Western women were naturally more curvaceous, and Jodie was a prime example.
Having measured them personally, Yuu finally realized just how large Jodie's breasts were. They were an entire size larger than Eri's. Truly formidable.
However, he wasn't just doing this to take advantage of her.
Vermouth was the one who killed Jodie's father; that conflict was almost impossible to resolve.
Aside from hatred, capturing Vermouth had long since become an obsession for Jodie.
But whether it was organization elites like Vermouth and Curacao, or intelligence agents like Jodie and Mary Akai, Yuu intended to take them all.
To that end, if some conflicts couldn't be resolved through words, he would have to use more forceful methods.
Through Noah's real-time monitoring, Yuu was fully aware of every move made by the FBI and Vermouth. He wasn't surprised at all when Jodie mentioned Tomoaki Araide.
It just so happened that he sought out Jodie to reveal his own "undercover" status and establish a connection with the "Red Side."
As for whether the FBI or CIA would acknowledge that relationship...
With Noah around, the organization wouldn't be able to leave any evidence against him. Even if the Red Side didn't acknowledge him, Yuu didn't need to worry about being liquidated later.
If it weren't for the fact that being on the inside of the Red Side made it easier to participate in destiny events and conquer Daughters of Destiny, Yuu wouldn't bother dealing with these organizations at all, given his backing from the Suzuki and Tokiwa groups and the assistance of Noah and Angel's Wing.
Jodie regained her composure and soon noticed the hand making trouble on her chest. It had already slipped past her suit jacket to roam freely inside. Her face turned a light red.
She immediately slapped Yuu's hand away and broke free, leaning against the office desk, though she didn't pursue the matter further.
Since it concerned Vermouth, Jodie's expression became deadly serious. Her blue eyes stared fixedly at Yuu.
"How do you know about this?"
Yuu let out a chuckle. "I was just bluffing, but you admitted it so easily. You're far too easy to trick!"
"You!"
Jodie was incensed. She had assumed from his confident tone and her subconscious belief that he was an intelligent man that he must have found evidence. To realize it was just a bluff made her feel incredibly irritated!
She recalled the image of Yuu's hand kneading her breast just a moment ago. Facing such a wicked guy, she launched an attack out of pure spite.
Jodie, still in her high heels and red suit skirt, swung her stocking-clad right leg in a kick toward Yuu.
She aimed directly between his legs—a vicious, killing move: the groin kick.
Yuu stepped back and executed a "scoop from the bottom" move, catching Jodie's calf in his large hand. He lifted it high over her shoulder and pressed forward.
Jodie lost her balance and was pushed back by Yuu, hopping on her left leg until she crashed onto the office desk.
Yuu immediately grabbed her right calf and pressed his weight onto her.
Jodie was incredibly flexible. Her right leg was pressed right next to her head by Yuu as she lay on the desk in a full split. Her face twitched; the sudden stretching of her ligaments was clearly painful.
Seeing Yuu leaning over her, she swung her right fist at his face while her left hand reached for her handgun.
But before she could reach it, both of her hands were caught by Yuu's right hand and pinned above her head.
Jodie didn't give up; she tried to drive her left knee into Yuu's crotch.
But before she could launch the strike, her black-stockinged left leg was clamped between Yuu's own legs.
Wow! This sensation is definitely great!
Jodie was completely immobilized. She struggled incessantly, muffled grunts escaping her mouth, but against Yuu's freakish strength, it was all in vain.
Their bodies were tightly entangled. Yuu was pressed against Jodie, his chest filled with the sensation of her soft curves. He looked at the black-stockinged right leg pinned next to her head and nodded.
"Nice leg technique!"
Looking at the struggling Jodie beneath him, Yuu laughed and said, "I was just teasing you, Teacher Jodie."
"The reason I know is, of course, because I have been involved in this matter for a long time."
Next, to Jodie's stunned expression, Yuu gave a brief summary of how he had been forced to join the organization by Gin, and then fabricated a story about how he had connected with Conan and taken the risk to go undercover on his own.
Yuu didn't hide the fact that he had killed people, though he emphasized that he only killed those who deserved it.