Tokyo Detective Chronicles

Kiyosumidai Private School, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo.

The school bell rang, and the air was filled with the restless hormones of the boys and girls.

In small groups, they chatted about their weekend plans, new comics, or topics about a certain idol group, their laughter ringing out and their skirts fluttering.

Fushimi Iori sat in the last row by the window in the classroom, slowly putting her textbooks into her bag.

Today he was wearing a school uniform shirt, with the top button neatly fastened and the cuffs rolled up to his elbows, revealing a section of clean-lined forearm.

Wearing glasses without a prescription, with her bangs slightly covering her eyes, she looked unremarkable.

At an age when most boys would deliberately loosen their collars and pull their shirt hems out, his attire seemed a bit too formal, coupled with his aloof and unapproachable expression.

Very few people are willing to take the initiative to talk to him.

"Fushimi-kun, last week's group report..."

A short girl wearing glasses walked over timidly. Before she could finish speaking, Fushimi had already handed her the organized documents.

"It's all here."

The voice carried a distance that anyone could hear—a distance that indicated no intention to interact with the person in front of them—which could make one feel somewhat uncomfortable.

The girl hurriedly bowed and thanked him, clutching the documents, and quickly left.

Fushimi picked up his bag and left the classroom through the back door.

The number of people in the corridor had thinned out considerably. Fushimi Iori walked through it, heading towards the archery club.

As the archery club advisor, Mr. Takeda had a spare office key left in the club room's cabinet.

He needs to retrieve it and check Professor Takeda's office environment to see if he can find any clues.

Although he had asked Xiao Kui and the monsters for help, he couldn't stop his investigation and had to make good use of the three days he had to wait for the flowers to bloom.

The archery club's dojo is located on the far east side of the clubhouse building, in a separate Japanese-style building.

Pushing open the heavy camphor wood door, you can smell the scent of straw mats that have accumulated over the years on the tatami mats, mixed with the faint pine fragrance of bowstring maintenance oil.

On the grass 28 meters away, the targets were neatly arranged, and the red center of the bullseye was particularly eye-catching in the setting sun.

The walls are adorned with banners won in past competitions, some of which have faded.

Fushimi's gaze swept across the empty dojo, finally settling on the center of the area.

Rina Hoshizaki was standing with her back to him at the shooting position.

She wore a well-fitting archery uniform, a white top and black hakama, the white top slightly loose, tightly cinched at the waist with a dark blue belt, perfectly outlining the girl's slender waistline.

The black hakama pants were tapered at the ankles, revealing a section of fair ankle, and she stood on the wooden floor wearing white socks.

Her bow-raising posture was quite standard.

Hold the bow in your left hand and pluck the string with your right, keeping your arm and shoulder in a straight line.

Her asymmetrical, arched body was longer than her actual height, and the setting sun illuminated half of her figure from the side, casting long shadows of her eyelashes on her focused profile.

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name 12199.99]

Breathe.

Pull the string.

Loosen your fingers.

"call out--"

The arrow pierced the air with a crisp, clean sound as it left the bowstring, and the next second, a muffled "thud" came from the target in the distance.

Barely hit the target.

"Yes!"

Rina Hoshizaki let out a soft breath before noticing the commotion at the dojo entrance.

She turned around with a puzzled look, and her eyes lit up when she saw Fushimi. Her serious expression instantly blossomed into a smile.

"Iori!"

She put down her bow and jogged over, the hem of her black trousers fluttering gently with her movements.

When she reached Fushimi, she suddenly stopped, opened her arms, and spun around.

"Clang clang!"

"How do I look? Do I look good in my archery uniform?"

The white top fluttered slightly as she twirled, the belt cinching at her waist, emphasizing the full curve of her chest and the slenderness of her waist.

The black hakama pants made her legs look even longer and straighter.

Her long hair was tied into a neat ponytail at the back of her head, with a few stray strands clinging to her cheeks, which were slightly flushed from exercise.

"Not bad," Fushimi commented honestly.

"Eh~ Is it just okay?"

Rina Hoshizaki puffed out her cheeks, but her eyes still held a smile.

She took the cleaned bento box from Fushimi and wondered what Fushimi's purpose was in coming here.

"The key is in the preparation room. I'll go get it. Wait a moment."

As Hoshizaki Rina spoke, she handed the Japanese bow to Fushimi and turned to walk towards the preparation room.

Fushimi took the bow and arrow and weighed them in his hand.

It's lighter than it looks. The bow is made of a composite laminate of bamboo and wood, and the handle is wrapped with a dark red anti-slip strip.

The bow's asymmetrical shape, with a body longer than a person, makes it quite inconvenient to use both indoors and outdoors.

Material limitations not only hampered its shooting accuracy but also resulted in low efficiency.

Even among traditional bows, it falls into the lower tier, not to mention compared to modern recurve bows and compound bows.

Its entertainment value far outweighs its practical value.

Unfortunately, Fushimi wasn't interested in this so-called archery culture.

On a whim, he took off his glasses and used his hand to brush aside the bangs that were blocking his vision.

He drew an arrow from the quiver.

Without any so-called archery etiquette, he casually nocked an arrow, aimed at the target twenty meters away, and a flash of blue light appeared in his eyes as his spiritual vision quietly activated.

He then released his fingers.

"Thump!"

Even if one is not used to the way a bow is used to generate force, it is still a fixed target, and the arrow still hits the bullseye squarely.

A perfect 3 rings.

At this moment, in Fushimi's mind, the following was displayed: [Comprehensive Archery Lv3: 6789/10000 (Master Level)]

He heard a soft gasp behind him.

Rina Hoshizaki had returned sometime earlier, holding a key in her hand. She was staring wide-eyed at the target in the distance, then turned to look at Fushimi, her eyes gleaming with something special.

"Wow! I didn't know Iori was so good at archery!"

"Teach me! Teach me quickly!"

She stepped forward coquettishly, grabbed Fushimi's sleeve, and shook it.

Fushimi glanced at the clock on the wall. It was still early. Then he remembered Rina's ability to see yokai, which was also a problem that needed to be solved.

Otherwise, one day in the not-too-distant future, you might fall into a paranormal situation again.

If one can master archery and spiritual vision, one can also have a certain ability to protect oneself.

After thinking for a moment, he nodded in agreement.

"it is good."

Hoshizaki Rina excitedly took the bow from Fushimi's hand and returned to her shooting position, raising the bow again.

Fushimi stood beside her and reached out to grasp her right hand that was pulling the string.

His palm was a size larger than Hoshizaki's, and could completely cover the back of her hand.

Her fingers adjusted her plucking posture, and her fingertips accidentally brushed against the thin callus on the knuckle of her index finger, a mark left by practice.

"Press your wrist down a little more."

Fushimi's voice rang in my ears, much closer than usual.

Rina Hoshizaki suddenly realized that Fushimi's cheek was almost touching hers, his gaze level with hers, and his warm breath brushed against her ear.

It's a little itchy.

She could smell a faint scent on the boy, like a mixture of old books, tea leaves, or clean, washed clothes.

It smells wonderful.

Strangely, when she usually approached Fushimi with the intention of teasing him, she never cared about the distance between them, but now her heart was inexplicably racing.

"Use your waist."

Fushimi placed his other hand on her waist, and she could feel the warmth and pressure of his hand even through the fabric.

Hoshizaki Rina pursed her lips.

That shouldn't be the case...

She should be grinning and teasing Fushimi now, saying things like, "Hey~ Iori's so proactive."

But when she opened her mouth to speak, she couldn't manage it.

When Fushimi moved closer to her, she realized that her cheeks were burning and her hands were trembling slightly as she drew the string.

too close.

She could clearly see the outline of Fushimi's profile, the length of his eyelashes, his usually emotionless eyes, and his focused expression at this moment when she turned her head.

His body temperature wafted through her clothes, and the sensation of his hand was so clear that her mind went blank.

"Focus your attention and regulate your breathing."

Fushimi's voice was calm and even: "Look at the target, don't look at me..."

"Hmm!"

As if her tail had been stepped on, she turned around and tried to calm herself down.

"Now, try to recall how you felt when you saw the shadow, and focus your gaze on the arrow and the target."

Rina Hoshizaki took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and tried to do as Fushimi said.

Then... something seemed to have really changed. She felt every slight tremor in her forearm muscles and the subtle sound of her body bending under the pull.

And guided by Fushimi's palm, a certain indescribable feeling was surging up her veins and converging towards her eyes.

Then, she opened her eyes.

The real world rushed towards her.

The shock of that moment almost made her release the bowstring.

The world became brighter and clearer than ever before in her perception, and she could see every detail of everything in her field of vision.

She could see the texture of every single wood fiber on the target 28 meters away, the dust particles floating in the sunlight, and the faint traces of the wind.

You can even notice the trembling of insect elytra on the lawn.

Her dynamic vision was so good that she felt dizzy for a moment, and if Fushimi hadn't been supporting her, she probably would have fallen over.

After a brief period of adjustment, she even felt that she could predict the trajectory of an arrow after it was shot; it wasn't calculation, but more like intuition.

"Stay calm."

Fushimi's voice pulled her back to reality.

Rina Hoshizaki pursed her lips and used all her strength to maintain her posture. The brief moment of spiritual vision left her feeling somewhat exhausted.

She could feel Fushimi's hand slowly loosening, handing control back to her.

Aim...exhale.

Loosen fingers —

"call out!"

The moment the arrow left the bowstring, the world seemed to slow down in her eyes.

She could clearly see the slight tremor of the arrow feathers as they cut through the air, and the slight rotation of the shaft as it flew along a predetermined parabola toward the bullseye.

"Thump!"

2.7 rings.

The arrow trembled, its tip close to the edge of the bullseye.

"I……"

Rina Hoshizaki put down her bow, panting heavily, her little face full of excitement and disbelief.

This arrow consumed far more energy than usual, not only physically but also mentally.

That extraordinary state of perception lasted for less than five seconds, but it left her feeling exhausted, like she had just finished a long run, with sweat streaming down her forehead.

"Wow, that's amazing!"