This Japanese Monogatari Isn't Lame
Chapter 78. There was another person in the car

Chapter 78: Chapter 78. There was another person in the car

Beichuan Si returned to the guesthouse.

At this time, the clock had struck twelve.

After Beichuan Si had bathed and soaked in the hot spring for a while, feeling the warmth driving the chill from his body bit by bit, he finally put on the yukata provided by the proprietor and walked back to his room.

About half an hour was spent during this period, but it was precisely this half-hour—

Nishijou Kurenai had taken everything out of the fanny pack Beichuan Si carried.

The diary of the deceased, two torn notes, a photo album and a roster from the ’06 to ’09 classes.

However, the diary of the deceased and the torn notes were entwined with the lingering resentment of the dead, and the camera was simply unable to capture an image, which dashed Beichuan Si’s hope of enriching the content of his homepage.

But now was not the time to worry about these things.

Beichuan Si strode over, lifted Nishijou Kurenai—who was leaning over these items—to one side, then pulled a small round table from the other side, and began to carefully examine under the incandescent light overhead.

He flipped directly to the ’09 class in the photo album while his other hand did not stop, taking out the roster as well.

Class 2B... Class 2B...

Beichuan Si’s gaze paused.

The ’09 class trip photo of Xucha High School’s class 2B.

Beichuan Si looked at the yellowed and discolored photo, taking it out.

Luckily, there was a protective plastic layer on the outside of the album, so when the photo was taken out, it was still intact and the printed font clear.

"Sakura Yuki... found it."

The background of the photo was the ocean, with Sakura Yuki standing in the middle, flashing a radiant smile at the camera.

The surrounding students unconsciously gathered closer to her.

Even through the photo, Beichuan Si could feel their youthful vivacity.

This also showed how popular Sakura Yuki was in class 2B at the time.

Printed neatly below the photo were the names of the students on the trip.

At the time, Ishikawa Kaoru was already a fugitive, naturally overlooked by everyone.

There wasn’t even a mention of "Student XX (absent)" printed on it.

"There’s no problem on the roster either," Beichuan Si flipped to class 2B in the roster, where Ishikawa Kaoru’s name had been crossed out with a black carbon pen.

This was to be expected, and Beichuan Si did not care much about it.

What he needed to consider now was how the murderer of that year had committed the crime.

How had they managed to set up so much flammable material in the school?

After all, even arson required time, especially with the fire in class 2B spreading so quickly at that time, the materials placed would have needed even more time.

And why didn’t they just jump out of the windows at that time?

It was known that the school grounds were planted with scenic trees, so rather than being burnt alive inside, it would have been more decisive to fight for their lives.

Unless the fire had started near the windows... but that would require even more time to prepare.

"Time... time... Speaking of which, wasn’t the week-long field trip the best time to set it up?" Beichuan Si’s black pupils sharpened.

He laid out all the photos of the second year and began examining the people who were absent from the trip.

Apart from Ishikawa Kaoru, there were almost no absences in the entire second year.

After all, this was seen as a final commemoration of youth before facing the impending battles of their third year, so whether delinquents or regular students, unless the situation was very special, everyone would attend such an event.

But this was only ’almost’, apart from Ishikawa Kaoru, there was another person who was absent from the field trip—

"Could it really be this person?" Beichuan Si’s eyes flickered, staring at the name of the absent student printed below a certain class of the second year, and he took a deep breath.

He then flipped through some previous photos in the album and compared them for a long time before finally setting down the photo album.

Up to this point, he had not anticipated encountering this name on the roster.

Beichuan Si closed the roster and photo album, feeling a trace of fatigue.

It seemed he still had something to do.

...

The next day, Beichuan Si left early in the morning.

He first went to Xucha High School, had a chat with Sakura Yuki, and after reaching an understanding, he went to a convenience store and bought a new set of clothes and a disposable mask.

After finishing these tasks, Beichuan Si returned to the guesthouse to wait on standby.

It wasn’t until the darkness of night had fully descended that he changed into his new clothes, took Nishijou Kurenai with him, left the guesthouse, and donned the large mask.

...

"Sister Yuuki, do you need me to take you home?"

The rookie female forensic pathologist looked up admiringly at Sakurazaka Yuuki, who was changing her clothes and yawning.

This pathologist, sent from the Tokyo police station to Yashan City, was truly amazing.

Just watching her dissect and analyze a body with a fluidity like that of the clouds and flowing water, a sense of admiration naturally arose within her.

And what about herself? To this day, she was still all thumbs, shrinking back when it was her turn to lead, too nervous to voice her own analytical conclusions.

"No need, Nara, isn’t your boyfriend coming to pick you up? You should go home with him," teased Sakurazaka Yuuki with a chuckle.

The rookie female pathologist spoke again, but Sakurazaka Yuuki couldn’t be bothered to respond.

After all, she had heard too many of these flattering words, just like the ones the rookie had said.

Why is Senior Yuuki so skilled?

Why does Senior Yuuki have such a grasp of human anatomy?

Why...

In fact, why ask so many whys?

Rubbing her temples, Sakurazaka Yuuki just felt that these people were too annoying.

With enough practice, naturally, one’s technique becomes proficient, and indeed, there wasn’t much else to say.

Sakurazaka Yuuki left the police station, rubbing her palms.

For some reason, she felt the weather today was exceptionally cold, the penetrating chill made her shiver a few times.

"It’s just psychological," muttered Sakurazaka Yuuki to herself, heading straight for the underground parking lot across the street.

The underground parking lot was brightly lit, and as Sakurazaka Yuuki stood at the entrance, the neatly arranged vehicles resembled the cadaver drawers in a morgue.

The semi-enclosed underground brought no warmth to Sakurazaka Yuuki, who shivered.

The cold... seemed to have grown even more intense.

The weather was really becoming more and more strange.

Hadn’t the forecast said it was beginning to warm up? Why did it feel colder than yesterday?

Muttering in her heart, Sakurazaka Yuuki approached her car, pulled out her keys to unlock the door, and climbed inside.

Everything in the car was the same as when she left that morning.

The cigarette lighter, the car fragrance box in front, the sanitary tissues...

Nothing inside the car had been tampered with.

Yes, there was nothing strange.

But Sakurazaka Yuuki still felt something was off.

It was as if she had overlooked something.

Sakurazaka Yuuki couldn’t help looking outside the car.

The underground parking was deathly still, not a soul in sight, the whole parking lot felt like a giant coffin.

Shaking her head, she looked ahead while reaching behind her, searching for the pack of women’s cigarettes she didn’t know where to find.

She touched something.

As a forensic pathologist, she quickly realized what it was.

It was the firm arm of a man.

The persistent sense of something being wrong wasn’t because the items in the car had been moved—

It was because there had been another person in the car all along.

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