Today is a bleak, overcast day.
If anyone could see what surrounded me right now, they would probably think the same.
A harsh, deep gray.
That alone had monopolized the entire world around me.
"...Where am I...?"
The moment I was about to voice that commonplace thought—where am I?—
"...!"
I realized something.
The gray surface directly in front of me seemed somehow unstable.
Just as I thought, the instant I reflexively pushed my foot forward a little, it began to sway.
And by the time I noticed, it was already too late.
Clank!
"Whoa!?"
Thud!
The next moment, I had fallen flat on my face with a ridiculous cry.
Wincing at the faint pain, I immediately turned around and realized that I had been shut inside an old locker.
When I looked forward again, all that greeted me was a black-and-white tiled floor and an old-fashioned interior with a high ceiling.
"Where... the hell is this...?"
By the time I muttered that, a headache had begun to surge through me, and I was clutching my head.
"Ugh... ngh...!"
At the same time, something suddenly began to surface inside me.
Where exactly was I?
An answer to that fundamental question began to rise artificially in my mind.
Private Kyusen Academy (私立 求仙 学園).
'...What?'
I had never heard that name in my life... yet for some reason, it did not feel unfamiliar.
Was this how a computer felt when code was entered and executed?
I was overcome by the feeling that I had known about it from the very beginning.
"Ngh...!"
And that “code” changed form and was injected into my mind once more.
Once you knew a place’s name, you needed to know its purpose.
"Ul... Ultimate...?"
Ultimate talent.
Just as the name implied, it meant possessing talent that surpassed that of an ordinary high school student. It was a concept that had only just surfaced in my mind.
And this academy was a prestigious school, shrouded in secrecy, where only such students gathered.
"Wh-what are you talking about...?"
It was strange for me to say that after forcibly recalling it, but it was an awfully contrived memory.
Still, if I accepted it, then did that mean I was here as a student of this academy?
"...I have no idea what any of this means."
Even so, listing what I did know was the best option available to me.
First, the most important thing: my name.
"My name is... Keisha Shoko."
It was a rather delicate name for a man, and not one I particularly liked...
"And my talent is... the [Ultimate Detective]."
Honestly, I liked this talent called [Ultimate Detective] quite a lot.
[Keisha Shoko / Ultimate Detective]
Right. Now that I thought of detectives, I finally remembered.
I came from a long line of police officers, and thanks to exceptional talent and effort from an early age, I had worked as the nation’s youngest detective.
Like a true detective, I had fought and subdued all manner of criminals on the front lines, solving case after case.
This academy was still an unknown to me, but perhaps I had been scouted and transferred here because of that.
Of course, I could not remember any of it.
'...For now, I should move.'
Nothing else came to mind, but I remembered that as a detective, my creed was to act rather than think.
I started walking without direction, stepping across the black-and-white tiles.
*
*
Having spent far more time in police stations than academies, I was unfamiliar with the basic layout of a school.
To begin with, my instincts as a detective told me that this place was nothing like an ordinary academy.
But that was no excuse for letting my guard down and relaxing.
"Is... no one here?"
Even after walking down a fairly long corridor for quite some time, I had yet to sense any sign of life.
The only things here were the locked classrooms I passed from time to time.
"...!"
...No, apparently there was one other thing.
"A person...?"
It was a presence—one I had only just begun to sense.
"No, but how...?"
There was no reason someone could not be here, but there were two reasons I was surprised.
The first was, naturally, how sudden it was. The second was...
'...That's impossible.'
I had only been able to detect their presence at the very last moment.
I could say with certainty that my five senses as a detective were among the finest; they were sharp enough to catch even a reasonably skilled spy.
"...Who are you?"
Put differently, the owner of this presence was no mere reasonably skilled person.
They were what you would call a professional—someone who could erase their presence in an instant if I let my guard down for even a second.
I knew they were there, and they knew I was here.
"...So it is over there after all."
Given the layout, the only place they could have remained hidden until now was that corner at the end of the hall.
Step... step...
Perhaps out of the bare minimum of courtesy—or the utmost vigilance—I walked toward it.
Then, the next instant—
Swoosh...
"...!"
They finally revealed themselves.
"Whoa!?!"
But excessive caution inevitably led to excessive surprise.
Tap!
The moment we caught sight of each other’s silhouettes around the corner, we both leapt backward at the same time, as if by agreement, putting distance between us.
'That movement... so they're not an ordinary person after all?!'
Daring to assume the other person was thinking the same thing, I looked ahead.
"..."
They stood black against the dim corridor, while I stood white in the brightly lit hall.
"...Huh."
Yet the reactions we gave at the same time were identical, like blended gray.
Of course they were. How could they not be?
"Y-you... don't tell me..."
What I pointed at with a trembling finger—no.
"Huh...? I-is this for real...?"
She was just as flustered as I was, because she was someone I knew, and someone who knew me.
"Those green eyes, and that distinctive voice... Th-this can't be real, can it...?"
"Th-that's what I should be saying! Those red eyes, and you look a little different, but... your voice is almost exactly the same!"
We were already certain, so this conversation was nothing more than a formality.
"...Haha."
Realizing that at the same time, we finally exchanged candid smiles.
"I don't even know what to say about this..."
I had opened my eyes in some strange place, carrying strange memories.
It was a dark, dark path, like walking through the deep sea with my eyes closed.
But if there was a single path of light allowed to me—
"Hey, first of all... it's really been a long time, hasn't it?"
"What? Aren't you way too tense? The moment I saw your face, I was fine."
Then surely, it could only refer to her.
"...Yeah. So, have you been well all this time? ...Shu."
"You still remembered that nickname? Of course I have!"
That’s right. The girl called Shu was—
"Shoko!"
My childhood friend.
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