It had been weeks since the school's last major incident, yet Shirokuma High never felt calmer. Hiragi sensed threads connecting all the strange events: the PE teacher's murder, the vanishing artifacts, the poisoned tea, and the midnight shadows. Each case seemed isolated—but patterns were forming.
Early one morning, Hiragi found a series of anonymous letters slipped under his classroom door. Each was cryptic:
"The shadows know the truth of the poison."
"Artifacts tell lies if ignored."
"Midnight hides what day reveals not."
Hiragi's sharp mind quickly mapped connections. He realized someone was orchestrating chaos—someone who had watched every incident and learned to manipulate people and evidence.
He called in all prior suspects: Akira, Fujiwara, Tomo, Mika, Hideo, Aya, Kei, Rina, and Daichi. The hall buzzed with tension as Hiragi began his questioning, but he didn't ask straightforward questions. Instead, he presented partial clues from all previous cases—the broken baseball bat, the mysterious pill, the cryptic note, footprints, residue from the tea, and the torn letters.
Each suspect reacted differently. Some grew defensive, some calculated, some slipped hints they thought Hiragi wouldn't notice. But Hiragi's eyes missed nothing. He observed, compared, and mentally tracked inconsistencies.
Then, in a sudden twist, a hidden compartment in the library opened by itself, revealing a wall covered in interlinked notes and sketches—a visual web connecting every incident. Hiragi stepped closer. Symbols, dates, and cryptic phrases intertwined with suspects' names.
"This… this is insane," muttered Rina, realizing the mastermind's hand was everywhere.
Hiragi traced a faint line from the baseball bat to the midnight shadows, then to the poisoned tea. "Everything," he whispered, "was a test… a distraction… a statement. And the mind behind this is someone who wants me to chase shadows instead of light."
The suspects stared in horror. No one moved. Hiragi's gaze swept over them. "The truth isn't just about who acted… it's about who orchestrated, who manipulated fear and perception. And they are still watching us."
The bell rang, signaling the start of classes. No one knew who the mastermind was. No one had definitive proof. Only Hiragi knew: the game was far from over.
As the students returned to their routines, Hiragi stayed behind, studying the web of clues. One thought echoed in his mind: In the shadows of Shirokuma High, the greatest secrets are never fully revealed… and those who pull the strings are still among us.