Starting With The Sefirah Castle In The Anime World

Thursday was originally the day off for Sonoko and Ren.

But anyone who read yesterday's diary would know that a major incident occurred during the class reunion hosted by Sonoko's sister.

So when Ran saw Sonoko show up at school that morning, she wasn't surprised.

"Sonoko, I didn't expect something like that to happen yesterday."

Ran didn't know what to say. A class reunion hosted by her sister had somehow turned into a murder case.

"Who could've guessed?"

Recalling the murder that happened right before her eyes yesterday, Sonoko still felt it was absurd.

"Who knew my sister had the kind of constitution that attracts disasters? A simple class reunion ended up drawing in a murderer. It's seriously unbelievable."

"Ah, yesterday… my sister and I really did see a ghost."

As Sonoko explained the evil spirit they had encountered, Ran once again felt that Sonoko's sister was unusually unlucky. For a class reunion to lead to something that dangerous was just bizarre.

"That's seriously unlucky. What are the odds something like that happens to you and your sister?"

Sonoko sighed.

Yesterday, she had just thought they were unlucky, but thinking back now, it felt like it went beyond ordinary bad luck—it was true misfortune.

"Wait a second… haven't we encountered some sort of problem every time we go out?"

After saying that, Ran also remembered—yeah, that did seem to be the case.

But soon, she came to a realization and tugged gently on Sonoko's sleeve.

"Could it be that these things keep happening around us… because our story is a detective story?"

Sonoko slapped her forehead in realization.

"Right, I totally forgot. The stories unfold around us, so it's not that strange for us to be part of them."

"It's just like that fate stuff Ren always talks about."

The contents of the story were actually the future direction of the world.

Although both Sonoko and Ran knew that the finer details of the story might be a little off—since fiction is fiction, and reality will always shift things—there was no changing the overall likelihood of it happening.

Some deviations were inevitable, but the probability of running into each event stayed consistent.

After first period, the two of them headed to the classroom where Ren usually was. They saw the other students but quickly noticed that the key person wasn't there.

What was going on?

Both of them were puzzled.

Ran looked at Sonoko with a confused expression.

"Didn't you come back together?"

"Of course we did. We got back really late yesterday. We spent the whole afternoon cooperating with the police investigation and returned around 4 PM. I got home around 6."

"What about Ren?" Sonoko thought about it, then shook her head slightly. "I don't think it's a physical issue. Ren's health has always been good. And with his special circumstances, I don't think he's the type to fall ill easily."

On one hand, Ren was an extraordinary individual. Anyone who had stepped onto the Pathways would undergo some degree of physical enhancement. With that kind of improvement, he shouldn't experience health problems.

On the other hand, Ren had never shown any serious physical symptoms. Plus, he worked part-time every week, and a lot of those jobs involved physical labor. That alone had kept him in great shape.

Most importantly, when Sonoko walked him downstairs yesterday, she hadn't seen any signs of physical issues.

There was no way something serious could've developed overnight.

Ran rested her chin in her hand, considering another possibility.

"Could it be that Ren was just feeling tired, and since he already asked for leave today, he decided to rest at home?"

"Yeah, that might be it."

Sonoko thought about it and found it reasonable. But she had a simpler way to confirm it.

She pulled Ran to a quiet corner and took out her phone, dialing a number she knew by heart.

The call connected quickly, but what came from the other end of the line made Sonoko freeze.

[Hello, are you my brother's friend?]

The familiar female voice stunned Sonoko. She didn't snap out of it until Ran gave her a light push.

Taking a deep breath, she asked with a trace of doubt.

"I'm his girlfriend. Who are you?"

[Uh… I'm the sister from next door.]

[I just want to make it clear that I didn't mean to cause any trouble. I came back from work last night and saw that his lights were on, so I dropped by. Then… something happened.]

[It's hard to explain over the phone. If you have time, you should come see for yourself.]

"I'll be there right away."

Sonoko took a deep breath, hung up, and returned to the classroom with Ran.

She grabbed her school bag and left.

Ran did the same.

After requesting a day off from their teacher, the two of them headed straight for Ren's place.

It didn't take long to reach the door to Ren's apartment.

Sonoko felt… complicated.

Was she about to catch her boyfriend with another woman?

Though, given their tangled relationship, saying it like that felt kind of wrong.

Still, her feelings were undeniably complicated.

Knock knock knock!

Soon, the door opened.

As soon as it did, they recognized the person inside.

"Okino Yoko!"

Ran couldn't help but cry out in surprise.

"Shhh!"

Yoko Okino quickly put a finger to her lips and motioned inside the room. Ran belatedly covered her mouth.

"Come in first. You'll understand once you see him."

Yoko Okino knew that opening the door as her brother's girlfriend arrived could lead to misunderstandings. But some things didn't need detailed explanations. They just needed to see Ren for themselves.

Sonoko gave a small nod and followed her inside.

When they reached the living room, they saw Ren sleeping on the sofa. He was still wearing wrinkled loungewear, like he hadn't changed all night. There were faint tear stains on his face.

They both noticed it right away.

Sonoko immediately shoved aside her feelings of jealousy or confusion. This was clearly not a situation that warranted any jealousy.

"Ms. Okino… what happened to Ren?"

Yoko didn't answer right away. Instead, she pointed toward the sleeping Ren, then gestured to the room further inside.

"Let's talk in there."

(To be continued.)