The next morning, as Kiyomi Ruri walked out of the house with her school bag, she bumped into Nanahara Takeshi face to face. Nanahara Takeshi greeted her with a smile and raised his hand, "Hey, isn't this the new friend Kiyomi? Good morning, shall we walk together?"

Kiyomi Ruri looked at him expressionlessly for a moment and also raised her hand to greet him, "Good morning, new friend Nanahara-kōhai. Since we bumped into each other, let's walk together."

"Okay, give me your school bag."

Kiyomi Ruri looked at her school bag and then at him, puzzled, "Didn't you promise not to bully me anymore last night? Why do I have to help you carry your school bag?"

Nanahara Takeshi was also puzzled, "This is not bullying you. From the time we leave school until we enter the school gate again, you are my assistant. Helping me carry my school bag is something you should do, right? Don't you want to be my assistant anymore?"

Kiyomi Ruri looked at him expressionlessly for a while, snatched the school bag from him, turned around, and walked towards the station, with Nanahara Takeshi following behind.

Carrying the school bag was actually a small matter, and Kiyomi Ruri quickly got over her anger. After a few steps, she turned around and asked, "By the way, did Matsunai-san really extort Nei-san? You speculated it, and although Nei-san admitted it, he might be lying to make himself look less bad for killing someone. Maybe Matsunai-san just... just wanted to confirm it with him and uncover the truth, but ended up being silenced. Do you think that's possible?"

She wanted to ask this question yesterday, but Nanahara Takeshi was too infuriating, and she was only thinking about punching him to vent her anger. She didn't find a chance to ask until now. Nanahara Takeshi casually said, "It's hard to say now. If we think positively, we can imagine that Matsuchi Yūto was just silenced, but from a practical standpoint, he most likely did it. He was too fixated on compensating his wife and too greedy."

Kiyomi Ruri walked for a while with two school bags in her hands and then whispered, "If Matsunai-san finds out, she will be very sad."

She liked the gentle Matsuchi Yuki and didn't want her to discover that her husband had done something bad after losing him. That's why she wanted to ask Nanahara Takeshi if there could be any other reasonable explanation. If there was, she wouldn't mind going to comfort Matsuchi Yuki again, but there wasn't one now. If she went to comfort her again, it would be like rubbing salt on her wounds, so she had to give up.

She suddenly felt down, and Nanahara Takeshi shook his head, "She is indeed the unluckiest one in this incident. That's why they say it's important to have a good match in marriage. Sometimes it's necessary."

Kiyomi Ruri nodded and then looked at him expectantly, "Is there anything we can do for her?"

Nanahara Takeshi rubbed his chin and pondered, "The best way to forget a past love is to start a new one. Shall we help her find a new husband?"

"Ah, help her find a new husband?"

"Medium, spiritualism, matchmaking, exorcism, demon exorcism, amulet, feng shui, finding people, finding things, solving doubts, answering questions. These are all within my range of services. It's easy for me to find a husband that she will be 100% satisfied with." Nanahara Takeshi shook his head and said, "But on second thought, it might not work. Her husband just passed away, so it's not appropriate."

Kiyomi Ruri breathed a sigh of relief, "Yes, you better not do anything reckless. Think of another way."

Nanahara Takeshi thought for a moment and said, "Another way... we can't do too much for her in her life. At most, we can give her a push. I will handle it when the time comes."

Kiyomi Ruri didn't understand, but suddenly became alert, "You don't want to take advantage of Matsunai-san, do you? I warn you, she is already very pitiful. You absolutely cannot do such a thing, otherwise I will never forgive you."

After a pause, she added very seriously, "This is different from teasing me. I can forgive you if you make me angry because we are friends, and I won't hold grudges against friends. But you absolutely cannot harm others. She already had some health problems before, and now she will be even sadder to hear that her husband was an extortionist. If you deceive her for money at this time, it will kill her. Absolutely not."

Nanahara Takeshi glanced at her displeasedly, "Why do you always look at me with colored glasses? Digging up graves and kicking widows' doors are things that only scoundrels would do. Am I that kind of person? I won't take a single yen from a poor widow. Don't worry about it."

Kiyomi Ruri felt relieved, but she pouted, "You say it so nicely. I don't believe you would simply help others. You didn't mention money earlier and said you were willing to do something for Matsunai-san. That's not normal at all."

Nanahara Takeshi became even more displeased and said impatiently, "I do have a conscience. I have already taken advantage of this matter so much. I should give something back, taking care of Matsuchi Yuki is my duty, there's no need for money."

Kiyomi Ruri became even more puzzled, "What advantage did you gain?"

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Nanahara Takeshi cleared his throat, "I misspoke just now. As a medium, I am compassionate and cannot bear to see the living suffer or the dead unable to speak. I will definitely do something. You don't need to worry. All the sorrows and sufferings in the world are related to me. It's fate's arrangement, and I will handle it."

"What nonsense are you talking about? If you're compassionate, then I'm Ultraman. I would have gone to protect the Earth and fight against alien monsters." Kiyomi Ruri didn't believe him at all and said loudly, "Tell me quickly, what are you up to?"

"I haven't started yet. It's not time." Nanahara Takeshi didn't want to say more and quickened his pace to buy fresh milk at the convenience store. "Alright, Ultraman, let's hurry up. We'll be late for school!"

......

Kiyomi Ruri followed Nanahara Takeshi all the way to school without asking what he was planning to do. She couldn't think of what else he could do, after all, the case was already over, what else could he do?She was puzzled for a while, and even after class, as she wandered the corridors, she was still thinking. Suddenly, she noticed Sawada Yūko and Tsuda Yūtarō huddled together, whispering to each other. She was speechless—so this is what dating looks like? Do you two have to be together all the time? It's so selfless, it's really hard to accept!

She went straight over to them and asked, "What delicious food are you planning to eat this time?"

"We're discussing club matters," Sawada Yūko said seriously, while signaling her boyfriend to quickly hide the fellowship creative book.

"It seems like starting a new club is quite troublesome," Kiyomi Ruri sighed inwardly, secretly glad she didn't join. She asked them, "Do you know a girl named Mouri Ran? She might be in Class A, or in some sports club."

It was the first time she heard a girl's name while chatting with Nanahara Takeshi. She was curious, not wanting to fight, but just wanted to see what she looked like. Nanahara Takeshi seemed to admire her, she must not be an ordinary girl, maybe she could imitate her.

Sawada Yūko thought for a moment, looked at Tsuda Yūtarō, who tried to recall and then shook his head, "I don't think there's a girl with the surname Mouri in our grade, but there is a boy named Mouri Kyōhaku... Do you need me to ask around for you? There might be someone in the upper grades. What's up with her, why are you looking for her?"

Kiyomi Ruri hesitated for a moment, feeling it wasn't quite right to pry into Nanahara Takeshi's privacy. She shook her head and said, "Never mind, I just heard she's quite impressive, just asking casually. If you don't know, then forget it."

After that, she wandered off again, deep in thought. But she didn't come up with anything until school was over. She carried her school bag to the shoe locker and waited for Nanahara Takeshi to go home and work with him.

But they hadn't gone far from the school gate when Kiyomi Ruri heard the roar of a motor. She instinctively turned her head and saw a flatbed motorcycle coming at them with an "I'm going to run you over" attitude. The rider was thin and wearing a vest, but wore a huge safety helmet, looking like a bobblehead doll at first glance.

"Watch out!"

She reacted quickly, reaching out to pull Nanahara Takeshi aside. But Nanahara Takeshi seemed to react even faster. As soon as she reached out, she felt herself being pulled in front of him. But this time the force wasn't strong, and he let go after a slight pull.

She immediately turned her head and glared at Nanahara Takeshi, who stood by like nothing had happened, even looking at her in surprise, "What's wrong?"

Kiyomi Ruri suspected that Nanahara Takeshi was unrepentant, only letting go when he saw the car could stop, but she had no evidence, so she could only continue to glare at him. At this time, the rider of the flatbed motorcycle jumped off, took off her helmet, casually tousled her hair, and looked at Nanahara Takeshi carefully, pondering, "Height, appearance are right, and there's a pretty JK by your side, you must be the famous high school detective, Nanahara Takeshi, right?"

Kiyomi Ruri also curiously looked at the rider, who was a thin, dark-skinned girl with a melon seed face, about 20 years old, with a boyish haircut, wearing a linen vest with many pockets, and a heavily worn black leather camera bag slung across her side.

Nanahara Takeshi smiled and said, "Yes, that's me. You came earlier than I expected."

"It's not easy to get first-hand news now, of course I have to run faster." The short-haired girl seemed to have a straightforward personality. She handed over her business card and bowed, "I'm Takura Sanae from Hirano Comprehensive Evening News. Nice to meet you."

Nanahara Takeshi politely took the business card and also greeted with a smile, "Nice to meet you." Kiyomi Ruri also bowed and greeted, then curiously asked, "Miss Takura, are you here to interview us?"

"Oh, no, I'm just here to interview Nanahara-kōhai." Takura Sanae looked Kiyomi Ruri up and down a few times and politely asked, "And you are?"