Minamoto Senya took the lead, writing the answer on his phone before announcing his riddle.
Everyone leaned forward in concentration.
Among them, Kasumigaoka Shiwa and Yukinoshita Yukino were especially serious.
The tension between those two wasn't just because both were "literary girls" with that overlapping long-black-hair beauty archetype.
Their personalities clashed on a more fundamental level.
Like today, for example.
Kasumigaoka was quite irritated with Yukinoshita for repeatedly ruining her chances. If not for Yukinoshita's interference, Shiwa was convinced that she and her "prince on a white horse" would have at least stumbled into some sweet, romantic little incident tonight—something that might have changed the dynamic between them.
On the other hand, Yukinoshita simply couldn't stand the way Kasumigaoka, as a girl, shamelessly fawned over the only boy present—and worse, that boy happened to be her own childhood friend, someone she secretly cared about.
With this mindset, it was only natural that a strong sense of rivalry would spark between the two.
They wouldn't go so far as to start a shouting match. That would be pointless.
But now, with a game like this in front of them, both girls—confident in their intellect—were determined to outdo each other, eager to prove themselves and knock the other down a peg.
So after a moment's thought, they both immediately started peppering Minamoto Senya with questions.
Yukinoshita went straight for what she believed was the heart of the mystery.
"Was the husband working together with the thieves?"
Senya shook his head without hesitation. "No."
Not working together?
Yukinoshita fell silent. Kasumigaoka smirked smugly, already expecting such a twist.
"Then… was the wife killed by her husband?" she asked.
Senya looked at the two curious girls, then hummed, drawing out the sound as he mulled it over, before finally answering:
"Yes… and no."
"…Eh?"
What kind of answer was that?
Both Yukinoshita and Kasumigaoka frowned at the ambiguity. Their logical chains had been disrupted.
Meanwhile, Eriri and Rikka…
…were scratching their heads so hard it felt like they were trying to grow a new brain.
Neither of them had a clue where to even begin.
Their more carefree personalities left them floundering with the vague hints. Logical puzzles clearly weren't their strong suit.
At that moment, Busujima Saeko seemed to realize something. Setting her teacup down, she asked calmly:
"Did the police take the husband away because they thought he was guilty?"
Senya met her gaze and smiled. "Yes."
"And was the wife's death caused by the husband's actions?"
"Yes."
This time, Saeko smiled faintly in return.
From the outside, the quiet rapport between them looked almost… intimate.
What are you two smiling at each other for, anyway?
"If my guess is correct," Saeko continued gently, "then the truth behind Senya-kun's riddle is actually rather tragic."
The others blinked in surprise.
Rikka leaned forward anxiously. "Saeko-nee, you figured it out?"
Saeko nodded. "It's just my guess. But… the husband must have been a coward. He sacrificed his wife to buy himself more time."
All eyes turned to Senya.
He unlocked his phone and revealed the explanation.
[When thieves broke into their house, the couple called the police. The husband hid in the wardrobe, the wife in the pantry. Hearing the thieves approach, the husband dialed his wife's phone to draw attention away from himself. The thieves discovered her and killed her. When the police later arrived, they judged the husband guilty and took him away.]
The story was a grim reminder of just how important it was to keep one's phone on silent mode.
Senya clapped his hands lightly. "As expected of Saeko-senpai. Your reverse deduction was excellent."
Saeko gave a soft laugh, modest as always. "It was just coincidence that my thoughts aligned with yours."
Everyone else, however, stared at Senya with a mix of speechlessness and disappointment.
"Onii-chan… you're way too twisted," Rikka muttered.
"This husband is the worst," Eriri said in disgust. "To use his wife's life just to save his own…"
"Even if he survives, he'll never escape the guilt in his heart," Kasumigaoka added coldly.
Yukinoshita gave a short, sharp exhale. "Trash."
Under their combined glares, Senya felt a chill run down his spine. He quickly tried to defend himself.
"Come on now, it's just a game! No need to take it so seriously.
And Yukino, please don't look me in the eye when you say 'trash.' If I were in that situation, sure, the police might take me in afterward, but the charge would definitely be 'excessive self-defense,' not anything like that."
…Given his strength, that wasn't hard to believe.
Realizing they'd gotten too carried away, the girls eased up a little.
Well, except Rikka, who was genuinely just teasing. None of the others noticed how they had subconsciously cast Senya as the "husband" in the scenario, and themselves as the "wife."
Now intrigued, Saeko clapped her hands lightly. "Ah, I've thought of a good one. May I go next?"
The others nodded.
Smiling warmly, she presented her riddle after jotting down the answer:
"An old man living alone was found dead in his home. When the police arrived, they discovered his body badly mutilated, covered in bite marks. His stray cats and dogs were also found dead.
Now then—what really happened?"
The four other girls shivered slightly.
Why did someone as gentle as Saeko manage to say something so horrifying with such a serene smile?
Was she really this different when she got into games?
Senya, having seen her true side before, was unfazed. "Was the old man's death a suicide?"
"Nope."
With Senya leading the way, the others gradually joined in.
"Did the stray cats and dogs go mad and kill him?" Eriri asked.
"Nope."
"Did they die after eating his body?" Yukinoshita followed up.
"Yes."
"Was the old man poisoned?" Kasumigaoka asked sharply.
"Yes."
"By someone he knew?" Yukinoshita pressed.
"Yes!"
As the Q&A continued, Saeko looked more and more delighted.
This time, Senya didn't use "god mode." But piecing together the clues, he caught on a step before Yukino and Shiwa.
"Was the old man poisoned by his neighbor?"
"Yes."
At that point, the answer was all but clear.
Senya, Yukino, and Shiwa each voiced their deductions.
Saeko then revealed the truth.
[The neighbor hated the noise from the old man's pets. They gave him poisoned meat, telling him it was spoiled—unsafe for humans, but fine for animals. The old man, too frugal to waste it, ate it himself. He died from the poison. Later, his starving pets gnawed on his body and died as well.]
"Senya-kun's answer was the closest," Saeko concluded.
"Just lucky," Senya chuckled, giving her a light high-five.
The other girls sat there, unsure what to say.
In the end, they could only agree on one thing: these two were equally twisted when it came to morbid games.
Yukinoshita, especially, felt conflicted.
She loved cats. Rationally, she knew such tragedies were possible—it had even happened in real life cases—but emotionally, it was hard to accept.
After that, the games gradually shifted away from blood and gore.
Yukinoshita and Kasumigaoka, still brimming with unspoken rivalry, finally got the chance to properly compete.
The result? Neither could pull ahead. They each solved about the same number of riddles, ending in a frustrating stalemate.
Still, despite the subtle undercurrents of rivalry, everyone had fun.
By a little past ten, the gathering came to an end.
At the entrance, Kasumigaoka was about to leave with the others when Yukinoshita casually remarked, "Kasumigaoka-san, you're not planning to put your stockings back on?"
Shiwa ground her teeth quietly, cursing Yukino's meddling.
But outwardly, she just tapped her forehead and gave a sheepish smile. "Ah, so that's why my legs felt cold."
Resigned, she returned to the living room to put them back on.
One by one, the girls left.
"Tonight was really fun," Rikka said cheerfully, returning to the living room with her hands behind her back. Together with her onii-chan, she started tidying up.
Senya took the trash can from her. "You don't have to help. It's late—go wash up and get some sleep."
"What about you?"
"I'll do the same after you."
"Did sis say when she'll be back?"
"Since it's the holiday rush, she'll close up the café with Mom and Dad before coming home."
"I see…"
"What is it?"
Senya glanced at Rikka, fidgeting shyly with her hands behind her back, rubbing her legs together.
Clearly, she had something she wanted to say.
Senya braced himself.
If she wanted to use her sister's absence as an excuse to beg him for late-night TV dramas or gaming…
The answer was a firm, immediate no.
Too many times before, he'd been dragged into getting scolded by Toka because of her antics.
He still remembered her snapping, "If the elder doesn't set an example, the younger will follow his bad habits!"
But this time, Rikka didn't try any of that. After a brief inner struggle, she finally looked up, voice trembling.
"Senya… can you sleep with me tonight?"
…Now that was a forbidden-sounding development.
Senya paused for a few seconds. But of course, he knew exactly what she meant—nothing like that.
"…You're scared?"
"…"
Rikka didn't answer, but gave a tiny nod.
She hesitated, then explained quickly: "It's your fault! You and Saeko-nee told those scary stories—wives murdered by thieves, old men poisoned and eaten by their pets… The more I think about it, the more creeped out I feel! And with the wind howling outside, it's even worse!"
Senya sighed, rubbing her head helplessly. But… there was also a strange warmth in being needed like this.
"Alright. After I shower, I'll come to your room. I'll stay until you fall asleep, okay?"
"Nope. You have to stay until sis comes home! If I wake up halfway, I'll still be scared." Rikka had opened up now, speaking without restraint.
"…Fine, fine. Now hurry and go wash."
In the end, she was the youngest in the house. Who else was he supposed to spoil if not her?
Negotiations complete, Rikka beamed and went off to shower.
Forty minutes later, Senya entered the sisters' room after his bath.
A soft orange lamp glowed by the bed. The faint sweet fragrance unique to a girl's room lingered in the air. The small curtain that normally divided the room for privacy had already been drawn aside.
Rikka was still fiddling with her phone, but immediately plugged it in to charge when Senya entered.
He sat down by the desk.
"You could sleep in Toka's bed, you know. She wouldn't mind."
…Sleep in Toka's bed, under her sheets that still held her scent?
That was practically the same as hugging her directly.
No thanks.
Without explaining further, Senya just shook his head. "I'll just read for a bit. You sleep. Good night."
"Okay. Night, Onii-chan."
Rikka yawned softly, adjusted her pillow, and turned her back to him before closing her eyes.
Around 3 a.m., their parents and Toka finally returned home.
Hearing Senya's explanation, Toka glanced at her peacefully sleeping sister and sighed. "She's really scared of something like that? What is she, a kindergartener?"
"Everyone has their weak points," Senya said lightly.
"Anyway, thanks. I'll take over from here. Go rest."
"Mm."
It was already late enough that the local breakfast shops were probably preparing their first pots of rice porridge.
Senya returned to his room and soon drifted off.
But he woke abruptly, shaken by his dream.
Not a nightmare, exactly—but he'd had enough experiences to know how to steer clear of disaster.
The only silver lining was that, for once, the starring role in his dream had changed.
The strange part was… there were too many new "leads" at once.
Yukino's ankle gleamed like carved white jade through the mist.
Shiwa's arch curved like a crescent across snow.
And Saeko's toes glimmered with a coral sheen, her nails tinted in a soft sakura gradient.
It was almost lethal. Just barely, he managed to wake before it went too far.
Luckily, no need to change clothes.
Oh, and yes—Eriri was technically in the dream too.
But she was just bouncing around playing games, not involved.
Checking the clock, it was already past five.
He got up and went to the bathroom.
From the master bedroom, faint noises drifted out.
Those two really were inseparable, weren't they?
This house needed replacing sooner rather than later.
The walls were far too thin.
—
Several days passed after that Christmas Eve.
With winter vacation in full swing, Senya's schedule had shifted.
He spent most of his time helping out at the family café.
The flu had begun spreading, drawing some government concern, but business hadn't been affected much yet.
Senya switched his practice focus to Tōma Kazusa, studying piano whenever he had time in the shop.
Without his learning device, his progress was slow—at least compared to how quickly he usually picked up new skills.
But to his parents and Toka, who were also helping at the café, his improvement looked nothing short of miraculous.
At first, even they could hear how clumsy and disjointed his playing was.
Now, however, he could perform a full piece without mistakes—and sometimes even draw scattered applause from customers.
Could their adopted son really be a genius?
Toka was starting to suspect as much.
And so, time flowed steadily toward New Year's Eve.
On that day, Yukinoshita sent him a message.
Would he like to join her at the shrine for the first visit of the year?
..
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