Episode 24 – Locked Room Murder

Then Kotoha led me once to a hotel where she said my luggage had been delivered.

The time is past noon, and as soon as I check the time, I start to get hungry. Humans are strange.

So we decided to have dinner at the hotel restaurant.

“So what is the purpose of bringing me here? What do you want by kidnapping me to this island far away from Japan?”

First, I ask the premise. If I don’t know this, I don’t know how I should behave on this island, and I don’t know when I will be able to return home.

“Ah~ It’s fine. We’ll be back in Japan tomorrow.”
“Serious?!”
“You look happy, Rin kun.”
“No, actually, I’m already starting to get homesick. It’s my first time abroad and it’s so sudden that I’m having a hard time settling down.”

I don’t think I’ve even made my passport yet. …… Is it too late to worry about the details?

“So why am I here?”
“Hmmm–”

Kotoha replies while dexterously carving the steak meat with a knife.

“Today, I had a photo shoot for my book.”
“Hooo”

Kotoha starts talking about something somewhat unrelated.

“That’s why I came to Hawaii.”
“Yeah, and what about me?”
“Yeah, an escort.”
“Seriously, this has nothing to do with it!”

What’s with the escort? That’s a pretty serious irrelevance!

“Well–I have a manager and everything. But It’s kind of lonely, isn’t it?”
“Not that ! Don’t kidnap me in the middle of the night and take me overseas for that reason!”
“Hey, hey, we’re filming later. Let’s go play in the ocean afterwards!”
“Listen to me!!!”

I wonder if she took me in for such a trivial reason. I didn’t know there were people in this world who abduct one person abroad just because they are lonely.
The world is full of bizarre things.

Well, still.

“You’ve got to have fun abroad, right?”
“Yes, yes. That’s the spirit♡”
“You should be sorry!”

It would not be a bad idea for Kotoha to give me a good opportunity to enjoy the tropics for a day.

Swim with a bang, or burst with a bang!

There was a time when I thought that I would be able to do it.

I’m scared of going abroad. I don’t know English.

There were good-looking men with flabby abs and beautiful bomber-class girls all over the place, and the sense of exoticism was not half bad.

I thought about going out to the ocean and swimming for a little while, but I couldn’t play alone and after floating in the water for an hour I didn’t even want to be in the ocean anymore.

I was so tired, both physically and mentally, that I returned to my hotel in the evening and lay down on my bed.

“Rin kun, may I come in?”
“Hmm, Kotoha, huh? Have you finished filming yet?”
“It’s already getting dark, and I think I’ve taken as many pictures as I can.”

She came into the room with a towel draped over her shoulders, perhaps after a shower or with a little dampness in her hair.

“Oh, it’s okay, Rin kun. Stay lying down.”

She restrains me from getting up and sits on the edge of the bed.

I was getting tired of playing and Kotoha was getting tired of working. And yet she was very mature and caring, a side of her I didn’t know existed.

I’m kind of embarrassed about that, so I bring up the subject at random.

“Does Kotoha come overseas like this a lot?”
“Yeah, I guess so~ The last time is Paris I think?”
“Oh, you mean that one? You went to Versailles or the Palace of Versailles? Let me see your pictures.”
“Rin kun, you always seem so mature, but you’re so childish in that way.”

By the way, the place I want to go to the most right now is America. New York is cool.

“On the contrary, what have you been doing lately, Rin kun?”

Kotoha is fidgeting around on the bed, asking me something. She is probably wiping her head.

“I recently started working. It’s what we call an internship.”
“Heh, what was in your mind when you do it?”
“I’m in my third year of college. It’s time for me to start moving toward my future.”

Being a junior in college, it is not time to play. The moratorium is nearing its expiration date.

“You’re talking like that again. If you pursue a career in music, your future is already guaranteed.”
“So I’ve told you many times. Music is a hobby, not a job. I’m not …… suitable for professional.”
“Hmmn~”

Kotoha replies in a kind of bored voice.

Then she takes a breath and says something that gets to the heart of the matter.

“Are you still afraid to go pro?”
“…….”
“You become a musician and lose your escape route. Aren’t you afraid of losing the excuse that I’m an amateur?”

yeah …… may be. Once you make it your job, you will be evaluated relentlessly, and you will have to accept that evaluation as you go about your work. The way out is cut off.

Maybe I’m just procrastinating about attending college halfway through.

Still.

“…… I don’t work. I’m not talented enough to be confident in myself.”

The path of music, and an industry like Kotoha, will only rot if you have no talent. No one will help you, and the only thing you can rely on is your own strength.

I shouldn’t be qualified for that.

“Yeah”

When I gave my own answer, Kotoha nodded somewhat satisfied.

“I’m not asking you to give me an answer yet. If you still want to come to this world, I’m on your side.”
“That’s the thing, you’re so dependable, it feels like we’ve got connections.”
“Fufu, You can always count on me.”

Me and Kotoha laughing at each other in a foreign land. It’s like a love romance.

“Well, by the way, Rin kun?”
“Hmm?”

Suddenly, Kotoha closes the curtains and turns off the lights in the room. What is it?

That’s what I thought and tried to get myself up. ……

“—-I can’t move.!”
“Ahaha, you finally realized it.”

The whole futon is secured so that the body cannot move.

That reminds me that Kotoha was moving frequently earlier.

“—-You!?”

Only my mouth moves, so I resist with my mouth as best I can.

But apparently she didn’t hear me.

“[My favorite artist is Tatsumi Mirei] right?”
“———–!”

That’s what I said at the end of the radio show I did with Mirei last week. That’s what Kotoha just said.

This means.

“Did you listen to the radio?”
“Of course that’s true, isn’t it~? Because Rin kun said he was going to be on the radio~”

Kotoha is gradually approaching, rope in hand.

“Hey, you, what are you doing with that rope!”
“no~that radio was just [uncomfortable]~ The two of you flirting endlessly ……”
“Y-You know!? I’ll talk to you after you fix me a little more—–eek!”
“You have to know who’s the best, right?”
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!”

Incidentally, it seems that an agent prepared by Kotoha was standing by at the exit of that room.

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