Chapter 2: Call

Days kept passing, one by one. From the time I awake to the time I close my eyes, the days would keep least, that's what I initially thought before the faux case file with Marika. Since then, my school life had more meaning. Gone were the days when I would simply wait for the bell to ring and, in melancholy, eat alone on my desk. Now, Marika would pull me out of my desk and we both move to the other classroom, where Rea was. To us, Marika was the instigator for whatever crazy ideas she wanted us to do.

Oftentimes, we would get weird looks from the students, wondering why we were hanging out with a girl like Rea. To them, she was a plain girl with a plain personality. They knew that she was good at playing the piano and assumed that it was the only thing she was interested in. Marika and I, however, think otherwise.

"So I heard another rumor..." said Marika, always the one beginning the conversation.

"Is it about another strange sound?"

"No, it's much scarier." she added.

"How so?"

"It's about a howling dog behind the gym."

When Rea heard this, she shriveled a bit. We had no idea why, but it was painfully obvious that she was scared of something Marika said.

Rea, however, pretended that we didn't notice, "R-really?"

Marika encouraged us even more, "Yeah! Doesn't that sound like the perfect mystery to solve?"

"Y-yeah..." Rea replied in a faint voice.

It was a miracle that Marika still hadn't noticed. But given that she only took interest in detective work a few days ago, it wasn't all that surprising.

"So, when does your investigation begin?"

"Right now!" Marika replied.

"But it's almost time for third period!"

"We'll be back before the bell rings!" she said.

"I don't know about this..."

Then she grabbed my arm again, "Come on, Sagi-chan! Sakurai-chan's coming too!"

"N-no, I-"

Without hesitation, she grab Rea's arms and dragged us to the back of the gym. Luckily, no one saw us go to the back, else weird rumors would go around school.

"A-are you sure it's in here?" Rea asked.

"There's no denying it!" Marika replied.

And so we split up and looked around, from the trash furnace to the small cabin. But nothing. Behind, under, nothing.

"There's nothing here."

"B-but there's gotta be something here!" Marika commented, "We must be missing something..."

At this point, Marika would get bored of her new hobby, but not finishing what she started irritated her more. But when she does accomplish something, she'd act like nothing ever happened. Man, I really don't understand how her mind works...

While were discussing, all of a sudden, we heard a scream from behind the cabin.

"KYAAAA!"

Marika and I rushed to the back and saw... Rea fall to the ground, moving her hands back and forth, as if telling someone to get lost.

"W-what's going on!"

"Awooooo!"

And at the opposite side, meters away from where she sat, was a dog tied to a tree. How come we didn't see that dog before? I guess we didn't see it because behind the cabin was a small forest and it hid under the bushes. But why did it show up only now?

"Grrrr..." the dog looked quite relentless, as if it held a grudge on Rea or something.

"G-get away!" Rea screamed.

"So it was a dog all along?"

"That's a really big dog." Marika commented.

"H-help me!" Rea continued to scream.

Being the gentleman that I was, I helped Rea get back on her feet. Marika, on the other hand, put all her focus on taming the dog. She leaned closer and closer to the seemingly aggressive dog and pet it. Turns out, the dog was quite a charmer. It had its tongue out the whole time it was being pet.

"Good dog! Good dog!"

"Awooo!"

The dog took quite a liking to her. However, I couldn't say the same for Rea. She was still shivering, and I could feel it from her wrists.

"Well... Isn't this a treat?"

After that, the bell for third period rang. We ran as fast as we could back to our classrooms and made it in the nick of time. And once again, the cogs of my mundane life functioned once more, bringing an end to my temporary happiness.

School was over for the day, and I went straight home. Rea had club meetings and Marika... well, she rushed off after the last period. And I knew that if I returned home, there would be nothing but practices waiting for me. And so as I opened the door to our house, I immediately saw my grandpa standing in front of the entrance.

"I'm back."

"Hmm... you came in early today." he said.

"No club today."

"I see..."

There was a moment of silence between us. eventually, my grandpa broke the ice by saying: "Your tutor couldn't make it today. She said she had to tend to some personal affairs."

"R-really?"

The moment he said that, I became overjoyed inside. Outside, I still had a plain expression. Then, once again, there was a moment of silence. We could never keep a conversation going. That was one of our weaknesses. Thankfully, my grandma broke the atmosphere by saying that the bath was ready. Grandpa then took his leave and walked to the bathroom. Afterwards, I went straight to my room.

I opened the door to my room and dropped my bag on the floor, then walked slowly to my bed until I laid down.

"Uhhhhh..."

It was an exhausting day. To think Marika made us work for something pointless... Oh well, at least we had fun. Can't say the same for Rea though.

"RIIIIING!"

My phone suddenly rang. I took out my phone and got a call from... a certain person. Answering the call, I was met with:

"What took so long?!" she exclaimed.

"What do you mean?"

"It took you so long to answer your phone! Is that how you treat your favorite cousin?"

There she goes, bragging to no end.

"So what's so important that you had to call?"

"Are you watching the TV right now?" she asked.

"No, why?"

"You idiot!" she exclaimed once more, "It's the preliminary rounds of Star Fest!"

A little known fact about my cousin: she's obsessed with Star Fest. She talks about it all the time and how she'll be the cutest idol in the future. While she is cute, her personality totally ruins her image.

"You know we can't watch idol shows at home."

"Oh, because of gramps? Then just watch it on the internet!"

"Also, you know I'm not interested in idols, right?"

She froze a bit before replying, "So anyway, about the performances-"

"Didn't I just tell you?!"

"Come on!" she said, "Didn't you always say you wanted to be a music producer?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Then idols are the way to go!" she said.

"I'm hanging up now."

"No wait-"

click!

That was the end of that. She was already in high school yet she's still interested in childish stuff like idols and Star Fest. Don't high school students have to focus on their exams of something? But I can't bash on her passion, especially since she seems so dedicated in it. Heck, she even has a catchphrase already. Kyu Kyu... something. So whatever she wants to do, despite their financial troubles, I need to support. Because I know my grandpa would never do the same for me...