Kapitel 8: Cold Case

"Yeah, you're really handsome. I thought you knew about it by now?" Shiki repeated as the two of them walked inside the classroom. "You don't know how many girls are eyeing you right now as we enter our classroom. If you'd known, you'll probably strip and run naked in shock."

"Right, right. Stop saying it now." Yuuta sighed as he slumped down on his desk.

One may wonder how Yuuta managed to keep up with school even with the absence of his sight, but if one were to watch him closely, it was actually plain how he managed to do it.

Although he can't see nor read, because of his outstanding grades and excellence, adding to that his outstanding behavior, he was permitted to stay in the same class with his best friend, Onigawara Shiki. Since he alone carries the entire grade of their whole class with his almost perfect test scores, his classmates and homeroom teacher didn't want to part with him as well. After all, with him around, they won't have any problems when it comes to grades. And ever since Yuuta joined their class, which was two years ago, the class remained as the top class of the whole Fujikawa School.

And all the way, Shiki assisted him. Every time he needs to take a test or needs something answered, Shiki will always be beside him, reading the questions and telling him the options. When it comes to recitation, Shiki always covers for him as well.

That's why, no matter what happened in the past, Yuuta will forever remain grateful to Shiki. He has done more than enough for him and yet he still wanted to do more. And sometimes, he could get a bit overbearing but Yuuta knew from the bottom of his heart that he does it out of goodwill.

"Good morning,"

Yuuta mindlessly returned the greetings sent to his direction.

"Hey Yuuta, I've seen you on youtube last night! You were awesome!" One of his classmates called out. He was Akagi Takeshi, the red-haired and wildest classmate everyone in class one could confirm.

"Yeah, that's the new game that's bound to be released soon right? Man! I want to get ahold of a headgear soon."

"Hey, how were you chosen as a beta tester?"

"Were you also scouted just like all the other actors, athletes, and famous figures? Who would've thought that the genius of class 3-1 is on par with those people."

"AAH! I'm so envious."

"Hey guys, did you hear what happened last night? Apparently, a murder was done in our city."

"Really? Where did you see it? I didn't find any of it online."

"It was in the newspaper. I was a bit surprised as well. I'm one to compare the news on tv and in the newspaper every morning and the news about the murder was the only thing that was never aired on tv."

"Whoa, that's certainly suspicious. Tell us more."

It was a normal conversation in class as the guys share their findings while they were away. Although this became a ritual every morning, this was the first time someone brought up something dark and creepy in a conversation, a murder no less.

Yuuta's ears perked up as he continued listening to the ones talking. Since their voices overlapped with each other, Yuuta couldn't tell which voice was which. But nevertheless, he continued to listen in on the discussion.

"Apparently, someone by the name of Matsumoto was walking home from work when he saw blood on the sidewalk. Sensing that someone was in danger and is on the run, he decided to follow the trail of blood. But suddenly, the trail of blood stopped in the middle of a road in front of someone's house. And on the middle of that said road was a lump that was conveniently there. It was so suspicious that Matsumoto called the police and asked them if they want to take a look at it."

"Wow, this sounds like a serial killer on the loose." One of them commented.

"Ssh, don't joke about such ominous things. Tsk."

"What are you getting scared for, it's just a newspaper story."

"No guys! Apparently, it was real, look!" Another classmate pulled out today's newspaper from his bag. And lo and behold, the article about the murder was really there.

"And then, what happened next?"

"Of course, the police had no choice but to dig up the concrete. There were no tamperings on it so they were confident that the lump just formed naturally due to the shifting of the tectonic plates. But when they were in the process of digging it up, they hit something soft and it went spleuch!"

Gulp!

"They thought it was just their imaginations at first but after clearing out the rubble and completely digging out the lump, they found out that there was someone in there, a man they identified as Suetsugi Mitsuhito. And what's even more confusing was that he still went to work that day."

"So that means, he died that night, after getting out of work? Wait, Matsumoto is also heading out from work, right? This is confusing."

"So someone managed to bury that person under concrete without traces of him, and he did it in less than half an hour? That's disturbing. Were there any signs that the man was murdered?"

"Perhaps he was cursed... it's the curse of the concrete."

"Yeah, that sounds too unlikely to be a murder."

"Yeah right, unless the murder is a mole."

"That's the weird part of it, there were no tunnels leading to the lump, it was just a hollow part of the ground and somehow, Mitsuhito found himself inside it. Do you know the cause of death?"

"What?"

Everyone perked their ears as one of their classmates enjoyed the suspense.

"Asphyxiation."

Ding dong!

Slide!

As the school bell rang and everyone returned to their seat, Takanashi Rie, Class 3-1's homeroom teacher, entered the class. The Class Representative automatically stood up and went through the proceedings of greeting their teacher.

That day, Rie found it weird that all the guys were a bit 'out of it' wherein they were always the ones who passionately greeted her good morning every time she comes to school.

The class quickly wore on but Yuuta and all the other guys were still thinking about their discussion that morning. Before they knew it, lunchtime has already arrived and they weren't able to focus in all their morning classes.

As soon as the second bell rang, marking the half-day, all the guys gathered once again as they brought up the topic of the murder once again. Once again, the six students gathered around Yuuta as they continued the topic.

Red-haired Akagi Takeshi was the first one to speak up. "So he died of asphyxiation? That's crazy. How did he end up there?!"

Yuuta sighed as he and Shiki pulled out their lunches. Of course, deep inside, they were a bit intrigued at such a bizarre murder case but they didn't want to talk more about it. After all, unexplained events are what lead to overthinking and unnecessary fright. Even Yuuta, who was considered the most fearless out of the bunch, was beginning to think in the shoes of Mitsuhito.

"Yuuta, what do you think?" A student by the name of Haruki Haru spoke up. As the class representative, he wasn't as stuck-up as one thought him to be. "Is it really death by asphyxiation."

There was a bit of a pause and for a moment there, Shiki thought that Yuuta didn't want to answer. But before he could say anything, Yuuta finally said something. "It's a peculiar murder case but I don't think it's unusual. Throughout history, we've heard of murder cases that couldn't be explained in their time. Maybe in the near future, the procedure will come to light. We just have to wait for the detectives and investigators to find the culprit or narrow down the suspects. But if you're asking for my opinion on how he died, I'd say asphyxiation is just a minor part of it. Claustrophobia, panic, and nyctophobia all added to his quick death. And maybe, the lump was just a mere case of someone using quick-dry asphalt or something like that."

"Now that you say it like that... I guess such may be the case." Haru tried to think of another theory but he couldn't.

"Yeah, and the lump was probably there because the job was done in a hurry." Takeshi agreed.

"Or, he may have been cursed and there's nothing that explains his death."

"Since they couldn't air it on tv, I think they still can't find the cause."

.....

When the third and final bell rang all throughout the school, Takanashi-sensei closed her textbook and dismissed her class.

"Everyone, class dismissed, please be careful on your way home and I hope you head straight home today. Lately, a few people have gone missing and the first one they found is... well, you'll know once you get home. Please be safe everyone." Takanashi-sensei announced.

Haruki Haru once again went through the ritual of leading the goodbye greetings to their homeroom teacher. "Stand, Bow, Thank you so much Takanashi-sensei."

As everyone started packing their things, Shiki leaned on Yuuta's desk and stared at him in the eyes. "Yuuta, where are you heading today?"

"Downtown, and no, you can't go with me." Yuuta shot him down before he could say something.

"Hah? Why? Why can't I go with you? Are you going to some shady places that I'm not aware of?" Shiki asked.

"No, I just want some time alone. I'll pass through the usual place where you wait for me. Same time." Yuuta grabbed his bag and headed out of class. "And don't you dare follow me. You know I could tell it's you every time you follow me, right?"

"Right right, just be careful." Shiki shrugged as he waved his hands towards Yuuta.