Gojo raised his eyebrows, his gaze sweeping across the laughing Matsuda Jinpei as a mischievous expression crossed his face.
"Hey, hey, Jinpei~ You've been wrapping this 'fragrant' class flag around your body for so long..." As he spoke, his nose wrinkled up in an exaggerated way. "Could it be that you've already been completely marinated by it?"
Matsuda's smile disappeared instantly. "W-What are you talking about!"
"Anyway, this place is a bathhouse. If Jinpei wants to take a bath, he can do it at any time..."
"Like I said, I'm not marinated at all!"
Matsuda lifted his rag, making a move to wipe it right onto Gojo, but the youth quickly dodged away, splashing a wave of water into the air.
Hagiwara Kenji stepped between the two of them just in time. "Alright, alright~" he said, treating them like children. "Stop messing around, you two. The bathhouse is so dirty, we have to finish cleaning it quickly."
"Oh right, there's still the locker room!"
Matsuda stopped his movements and glanced at the untouched locker room across from them, feeling a massive headache coming on. "This is so unlucky... Just how long are we supposed to keep working?"
He scratched his messy curly hair, scrubbing the stains on the tiles with force, looking thoroughly exhausted.
Right at that moment, a wet mop suddenly slid across the floor, stopping right in front of him. He looked up, meeting a pair of clear red eyes.
"Don't be so depressed." Gojo shook the mop in his hand. "Considering time is tight, I'll lend a hand too."
"Huh?" Matsuda looked at him suspiciously. "Are you actually being this nice?"
"Of course not." Gojo spoke with absolute confidence. "We'll just put this bet on credit for now, and I'll find another chance to collect it next time."
"...You're seriously still trying to bargain!" Matsuda rolled his eyes, not feeling surprised at all.
Hahahahaha, Matsuda: I knew it, jpg.
Haha, I could watch these two bicker for a hundred episodes!
Calculating things like this, Kuno, are you some kind of capitalist!
After cleaning quietly for a few minutes, Matsuda, who simply couldn't stay idle, couldn't help but speak up. "This is way too boring. Why don't we chat about something interesting while we work?"
Furuya Rei found it reasonable. "Like what?"
"Speaking of which, Hiromitsu picked up a missing person flyer when he left the instructor's office earlier, didn't he?" Hagiwara glanced toward Morofushi Hiromitsu with a deep look. "If I remember correctly... the girl on that paper should be the child you met on the street when we went out for karaoke last time?"
"You said before that she looked exactly like your childhood friend who passed away from an illness... right?"
"Yeah." Morofushi stopped scrubbing the tiles for a moment. "The instructor told me that the girl went out to buy groceries last night and somehow never came back... I just can't ignore it."
"The fact that she looks exactly like Hiromitsu's childhood friend feels a bit strange." Furuya thought for a moment. "But I don't think I've ever seen her before?"
Morofushi explained, "When I knew her, I was still living in Nagano and hadn't moved to Tokyo yet."
Matsuda got interested. "Then why don't you tell us about your childhood stories? Anything goes!"
"Eh? But..." Morofushi's expression shifted, and he waved his hands quickly, forcing a tight smile. "Actually, there really isn't anything interesting to tell..."
"Ah—seriously, you're doing this again! Every single time you make that face, it means you're carrying a heavy burden completely on your own!" Matsuda seemed to have made a firm decision. He stood straight up and shouted, "Because we were waiting for you to say it yourself, we didn't ask, but I simply can't hold back anymore!"
"Morofushi, you're looking for the murderer who killed your parents, aren't you? And you suspect that the girl on the missing person flyer is connected to that case... Am I right?"
Those words were like a rock thrown into still water, causing all the scrubbing sounds in the bathhouse to stop instantly.
A flash of worry appeared in Furuya's purple-grey eyes, while Date Wataru's eyebrows knitted tightly together. Gojo narrowed his eyes slightly, and Hagiwara's expression turned entirely serious.
Having a deep secret that had been impossible to talk about for years suddenly torn open, Morofushi's face turned a bit pale.
Although he barely saw that terrifying, bloody scene in his dreams anymore thanks to Gojo's sweet dream candy, he had never forgotten the deep, unforgettable memory of hiding inside that closet for a single second.
"About that..." Morofushi's voice was so soft it was nearly impossible to hear. "You're right, but..."
"This is something I must resolve myself, and I don't want to drag anyone into it!" He took a step back, muttering with a slight tremble, "If anyone else dies because of this, I absolutely—"
"Nobody is going to die!"
The others spoke up at the exact same time, completely without fear on their faces.
"Up until now, we have definitely faced a lot of difficulties... But as long as the six of us work together, haven't we always overcome them smoothly?" Hagiwara blinked. "Since things have reached this point, don't keep it a secret from us anymore."
Date nodded. "Exactly. As your companions, we will absolutely never stand by and watch when it comes to your problems."
Furuya didn't say anything, but the look in his eyes carried the silent understanding and deep trust of a childhood friend.
Matsuda patted his own chest. "So just say it out loud, we won't let you lose out!"
Morofushi opened his mouth, his throat feeling blocked by something soft. "Everyone..."
"Though it's true that you don't have to talk about things you don't want to..." Gojo dropped his usual playful attitude, speaking with a seriousness he had never shown before. "But Hiromitsu just said that the six of us are the cherry blossoms on the class flag."
"Even when facing a massive storm, whether it's the petals or the pistil... none of us will give up, right?"
Matsuda looked surprised. "Wow, so you can actually talk like a normal person?"
"Of course I can. I'm not like Jinpei, sounding like a loan shark thug saying things like 'we won't let you lose out'..."
"You are clearly the thug here! You literally stole my pork cutlet bowl last time!"
"Eh? You actually still remember something like that?"
Oh my gosh, I'm tearing up. Matsuda, you took the lead, and you did it so well!
I absolutely love this incredible friendship among the group of six—
Finally! Is the identity of the killer about to surface?
Kuno actually knows how to comfort people now, I'm so touched, QAQ.
Haha, usually careless and unbothered, but incredibly thoughtful at the critical moment... pure gold!
Looking at the faces of his companions, Morofushi suddenly realized that he had no reason to hesitate anymore.
For a brief second, he seemed to see that little boy curled up inside the closet again—his younger self. But this time, five silhouettes stood beside the little boy, reaching out their hands together to gently pull the child out.
"Alright, I'll tell you everything."
He took a deep breath and spoke slowly, "The case that froze my time fifteen years ago..."
"That terrifying night that was completely filled with the smell of rust—"