GOSHI-KYOTO
TEAM KAI AND HIMEKO

Benio leaned forward, his fingers interlocked, his sharp gaze fixed on Kai. "So, I told you everything, Kai. What's on your part?"

Kai smirked, his lips curling just slightly, his expression unreadable. "Something similar, Benio-nii."

Benio frowned. "Hm?"

Before Kai could respond, Kavei cleared his throat. "Well..." he began, his voice steady yet edged with something unspoken.

"As you know, we went to Kyoto, to Goshi's place." He paused, glancing at everyone in the room before continuing. "The thing is... he never went home after school."

Benio's eyes widened in shock. "What the heck?! Then why did his father say he was playing video games?" His voice rose with frustration, recalling the statement Goshi's father had given during the police interview.

"Don't yell, Benio-nii," Kavei said, his tone sharper than usual.

Benio exhaled and muttered, "Y-yeah. Sorry."

Kai continued, his voice lowering. "See, he never went home. We asked his father about the details again, hoping for some inconsistency, but he repeated the same thing. 'My son was playing games. I know this because when I came back, the computer was switched on, and he was gone. But there was a great amount of blood on the floor.' His voice... it was as if he was being forced to say it, like he was at gunpoint."

Sebiki groaned, rubbing her temples. "What are you saying, Kai-kun?!" Her frustration was palpable.

"Will you just listen to him, Sebiki-san?!" Himeko snapped, grabbing Sebiki's shirt and forcing her to sit down. "Are you dumb? You don't understand what he's saying?"

Kai remained composed but exchanged a glance with Kavei, who sighed and stood up. Without a word, he walked to the nearest room, muttering under his breath, "Okay. If anyone else interrupts, I'll handle this case alone and charge you guys."

He had barely taken a breath when a voice called out softly, startling him.

"Kavei..."

His body tensed instinctively, his mind racing. He whirled around, ready for a confrontation, only to see Kai standing right behind him, his expression neutral.

"Relax. It's just me," Kai said with a small smile.

Kavei exhaled, his shoulders relaxing slightly. "Yeah, I know. I just needed water."

Kai didn't question it. Instead, he picked up where he had left off as Kavei and Kai both headed back to the living room, sitting across from each other around the table. "Anyway... Goshi's father's story didn't add up. So we decided not to waste any more time questioning him. Instead, we moved on to check the stores nearby."

He leaned forward, his voice steady but laced with intrigue. "Surprisingly, there was a small store at the corner of the street-a free snack sample counter. The lady running it recognized Goshi and told us exactly what happened that day."

Benio's fingers clenched into fists.

Kai continued. "Goshi didn't go to school that day. He had scored badly on his test and was too afraid to show the results to his parents. Instead, he wandered around aimlessly."

Himeko sighed, shaking her head. "That poor idiot..."

Kai nodded. "The store lady told us that Goshi used to come by for free samples often, but after the previous owner left, he stopped. So, we decided to track down that owner-Lady Gairen. She had a criminal record, you know? Arrested for a jewelry store heist. Spent two years behind bars before she started her snack business."

Sebiki's eyebrows shot up. "You're kidding."

"No," Himeko interjected. "And the reason she left the store wasn't to visit her parents like she claimed. She left because she had no idea when she'd return, and the property owners warned her that the counter couldn't be left unattended. So, she handed it over to someone else."

Kai leaned against the table, arms crossed. "Here's where things get weird. Goshi had been waiting for someone there. Lady Gairen found him looking around for a guide. She helped him find an address-Block 23, the apartment down the road. We checked that place."

"And?" Ryu asked.

"It was occupied, of course," Kai said. "But here's the catch-the house never had an official owner in the records. Yet, someone lived there. So we checked with the broker. He confirmed seeing Goshi there but said the kid only stood outside for a while before running off in a hurry."

Benio gritted his teeth. "Where the hell was he running to?"

Kai exhaled. "We followed the direction Goshi ran... and it led us to an old, abandoned public pool. It had been closed down for a while. We checked the lockers there."

He pulled out his phone and showed them the pictures.

Kavei glanced at the images. "Pink for girls, blue for boys... but all the lockers seem empty."

"Exactly," Himeko said. "But then we checked the reception desk. And there, inside the drawer... was a single screw."

"A screw?" Kavei's brows furrowed.

"Yeah," Kai confirmed.

"What's so strange about that?" Kavei asked.

Kai exchanged a glance with Himeko before answering, "It just felt... off. So, we checked the lockers again, paying extra attention to the doors and the gaps between them. And sure enough-one of the pink lockers was missing a screw."

Kavei leaned forward. "And so?"

Kai smirked. "So, we tried something. First, we just fit the screw in. Nothing happened. No secret compartment, no hidden paper flying out or anything. Then, I closed the locker door and tightened the screw again. This time, it hit something-a hollow space behind the panel."

Everyone stared at the photographs Kai laid out, analyzing every detail.

"My fingers wouldn't fit in, so I used a thin wire from my bag. And we found this inside..." He handed them another photograph.

"The sun goes down and the time binds. Three times all troubles ties," Kavei read aloud.

Ryu frowned. "What the hell does that mean?"

Kai chuckled. "Yeah, I was stumped too. And so I called Kavei and asked him for help,"

Kavei exhaled, rubbing his temples before speaking. "Yeah, Kai actually called me when he found the riddle. Even I didn't get it at first. But it was actually simple once I broke it down." He shifted in his seat, glancing at the paper on the table. "The first line-'The sun goes down'-that obviously meant west. In Japan, sunset is around fifty-five minutes past four, give or take a few seconds. So I thought of it as a code."

Kai nodded. "While Kavei was trying to figure that out from his end, we left that part and moved on to the second line."

Kavei tapped his fingers on the armrest. "Right. 'Three times all troubles ties'-that line had two meanings. First, it hinted at time. 'Three times' meant all three hands of a clock. But it also implied strength-something tied three times is strong, like in industrial work. That led me to think of heavy industries. But the confusing part was why the riddle mentioned time."

He sighed, shaking his head. "And to make things worse, I had no idea exactly how many seconds past 4:55 the sun set. I was stuck. So, instead of wasting time, I told Kai and Himeko to move on to the nearest heavy industry."

Kai leaned forward. "There were a lot of warehouses nearby, each one with a numbered plate on the door." His eyes flickered with memory as he recalled the scene. "When I sent Kavei pictures of the number plates, we thought maybe the numbers-4, 5, and 5-matched one of them. But there was no plate with three numbers."

"So I added them up," Kavei continued. "Four plus five plus five-fourteen. But there was no warehouse with that number either. I tried every possible combination with those numbers, but nothing matched."

He ran a hand through his hair, frustration evident even in hindsight. "At that point, I was out of ideas. Nothing was working. And I was already frustrated, trying to conduct an investigation from Shinjuku to Kyoto." He let out a dry laugh. "So I switched from numbers to sound."

The room went silent for a moment before someone raised an eyebrow. "Sound?" It was Benio.

Kavei smirked. "Yeah. As lame as it sounds, that's what cracked it." He leaned back. "I took the numbers-4, 5, 5-and spoke them aloud. Shi, go, and go. Shigo and go. Goshigo." His fingers tapped against his knee. "It sounded like... washing clothes in water."

Kai's expression darkened slightly. "So Kavei told us it was water, and we headed to the nearest water source."

"The river," Himeko added, crossing her arms. "And that's where we found it."

Kai nodded. "There was a room right in front of the river. It had a sign that read 'CJ.'" His voice was calm, but there was a glint in his eye as he finished, "That's four and the sum of the two fives. Alphabets in English. The CJ storage room."

A heavy silence settled over the room, the weight of the discovery still lingering in the air.

Kai nodded. "And get this-CJ stands for Carlen Julius, the industry owner."

Himeko straightened as she spoke next. "Inside his office, we found a locker. Inside the locker," she paused as she turned to look at Kai.

Kai pulled out a tiny, transparent pouch and held it up.

"A strand of hair?" Ryu squinted.

Kavei took it and examined it under the torchlight. "Not just any hair. Look carefully-it's thicker, coarser, and shorter."

Benio's eyes widened. "An eyelash?"

"Exactly," Kavei confirmed. "Kenma checked it under a microscope. It's from an eyelash. Meaning, whoever this belonged to was very, very close to that locker."

Sebiki exhaled. "How did you even find it?"

Kai chuckled. "Honestly? Luck. The locker seemed empty at first. I was ready to call it quits, but Kavei told me to check thoroughly again. When we used our phone torches, we found it stuck in the top-left corner."

Benio let out a low whistle. "Damn. That was one hell of an investigation. And you did all that from your room, Kavei? It's like the criminal knows exactly where the smart kid is."

Kavei smirked. "Haha. Thanks." He shrugged.

But deep down, the unease lingered. Because if they were on the right track... then someone else, somewhere, was watching them just as closely. Because finding a riddle after the case was closed years ago is just not something to be considered normal.