Izumi leads the Paranormal Club to the unkempt Yosakoi Club Room on the third floor.

Rina looks around the room, whistling. “Looks like a lot of dancing has been going on in here.”

“Looks like they were dancin’ through a cyclone,” Suzaka says as she surveys the mess.

Izumi exhales, “Well the girls practice on the roof, there was no dancing being done here.”

Yuudai perks up. “So, what happened?”

“Well, there was a second attempt on Naomi’s life.” Izumi shivers

“Ya told us that already. How’d it happen this time?” Mari asks.

“The roof...just collapsed in front of her.”

“You’re going to have to give us a bit more detail than that,” Cerys says sternly.

Izumi struggles to keep his composure. “N-Naomi and I were cleaning up after practice, and she went back to grab something and the roof collapsed right as she was about to step on it!”

“Just like that?” Yuudai asks.

Izumi nods frantically, “T-They’ve always practiced on the roof with no problems but this time…”

He’s cut off by Hazuki and Naomi walking in, chatting over something in a notepad when they notice the group crowded in their room.

“Looks like you were right Hazuki.” Naomi says.

Hazuki smiles. “Am I ever wrong?”

Cerys gauges Naomi, “You look awfully calm for someone who had another attempt at their life.”

Before Naomi can answer, Izumi scrambles to his Vice President. “N-Naomi, I thought maybe the girl you talked to earlier could help us.”

“Why did you send your lapdog instead of calling me like a normal person?” Cerys asks.

Naomi cocks her head, “I...didn’t...?”

Izumi turns away from the others.

Yuuri changes the subject. “A-anyway, could you tell us a bit more about the second incident?”

Mari puts an arm under her chest. “Usually when a high school gal falls inta a hole she gets stuck halfway. She mighta been fine.”

The room goes silent.

Naomi sighs, “I guess Izumi let you know what happened then, yes?”

“We heard you two were cleaning and you almost fell through the roof,” Yuudai says.

Naomi nods, “We take turns cleaning up the roof after practices, and last time I had to do it. Everyone had taken off, but Izumi stayed behind to give me a hand. I went back to get the stereo and as I took a step towards it, the roof disintegrated.”

The Paranormal Club silently plays out the scene in their heads.

“Now, the school isn’t in poor condition or anything, but the place I had stepped on just...gave out”

“Well, that’s about as subtle as a bull’s balls,” Mari says.

“Wait how much of the roof collapsed?” Cerys asks.

“Thankfully it was only a small section.” Naomi pulls out her phone and shows them a picture of the hole, “But it still seems fishy to me since it was right where we keep our stereo.”

Yuudai thinks, “That’d be tough to only break a certain area like that…”

“Un, un. Who’d be able ta cut concrete like that?” Mari asks.

“Well maybe not exactly cutting like a blade, but,” Naomi dwells on her thoughts for a moment, “...Renge. From the Idol Club. She can use her powers to weaken things and break them down.”

Hazuki crosses her arms, “It still doesn’t make sense though. If it was Renge then Naomi should’ve seen her through the hole.”

“Couldn’t you have just used your powers to see Renge doing that?” Cerys asks.

Hazuki shakes her head. “It only comes to me randomly. I can’t will myself to see the future.”

Izumi slams his hands on a nearby table, “It’s her freaking sister! I’m telling you!”

Cerys points her finger at Izumi, “So you think the Idol Club is after her?”

“The Idol Club is already suspicious, would they be so dumb to try again?” Akina wonders, “Maybe they’re setting something up.”

“That’s doubtful,” Cerys replies.

“Who cares who we think did it!?” Yuudai shouts, “Let’s just search the roof or something! I don’t know!” He punctuates his sentence by slamming the same desk as Izumi, rattling it.

“If it is the Idol Club, it must be only a small portion of them.” Cerys shrugs. “Haruhiko doesn’t seem like the type to harm anyone!”

“Haruhiko’s a snake. I wouldn’t put it past him. I don’t trust charmers like him.” The group turns to find a tall, athletic girl with long blue hair tied into a ponytail.

Hazuki smiles, “Nice of you to join us, Takami.”

Akina nods in agreement, “Those who manipulate others to do their bidding are scum.”

“Why get your hands dirty when you can get others to do it for you?” Kirika says. “Talk to the stalker, she’ll understand. Look at her writing those notes like a degenerate.”

“I’m not a stalker, I’m a journalist!,” Naomi says, pouting.

Kirika giggles, “There’s a difference?”

Cerys puts a hand up in the elf’s face, “Hush Kirika. Let’s go to the roof.”

Yuuri nods in agreement.

“Ah might be able ta sniff out whodunnit.” Mari adds.

The three Yosakoi girls look confused. “What do you mean by that?” Naomi asks.

Mari puffs her chest out, “Well technically it's a Chaos Magick divination spell Ah can do without thinkin',”

The Yosakoi girls look even more confused.

Mari sags, ahoge drooping. “Ah can literally sniff thangs out wit’ magic.”

Yuudai shakes his head, “I don’t understand any of it either, but it’s pretty cool… I think.”

Mari blushes, ahoge perking up. “Ain’t nothin…”

“All we need to do is find someone with a chunk of the roof in their room!” Kirika says. “Criminals always take a souvenir from their crimes.”

“That’s criminals leavin’ callin’ cards, Kiricchi.”

Yuuri claps her hand to grab her club’s attention, “We don’t need to understand how it works, let’s get Mari to the roof and let her work her magic!”

Mari fist pumps, “Yea! Let’s see that hole of yers!”

Yuuri begins herding Paranormal and Yosakoi members alike into the hallway and towards the roof.

***

The now sizable group of teens arrive at the roof and survey the area, seeing the hole from earlier now roped off and the roof’s fencing near the hole pulled inward.

Kirika is the first to go to the hole. She inspects it and turns around to the others. “Hey this actually looks boring, I thought there was going to be more rubble here.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

She is joined by Yuudai and Suzuka who all squat by the hole looking at it very closely.

Cerys and Akina walk over to the group.

“What are you idiots doing?” Cerys asks.

“We’re looking for clues!” Suzaka says proudly.

“Okay then, what kind of clues?”

Suzaka stops and turns to Yuudai for help. He shrugs in response, which Suzaka relays back to Cerys.

The redhead groans“Smell anything useful Mari?”

Mari scans the area from the rope barricade. Her nose wiggles like a dog sniffing out prey. “All Ah smell is fence an’ roof. Nothin’ else.”

Yuudai stands back up from the hole, “What’s exactly down there?”

Akina sticks her head into the hole, “It looks like an unused classroom. Whoever did this from below knew that they wouldn’t get disturbed.”

Naomi leans over the rope, keeping her distance, “There shouldn’t be a way into that classroom. All the rooms on this side of the school are unused so they’re kept locked.”

Akina stands up too, “This hole is really weird, it looks like it fell apart because it was old but the rest of the roof looks brand new.”

Suzaka nods, “I don’ see any burn marks either.”

Akina looks down and jumps into the hole.

“W-Wait!” Yuudai shouts, leaping after her despite his large frame.

Everyone clears the barricade and groups up around the hole, making sure Akina and Yuudai are alright.

Akina looks around. “Just as I thought. It’s a classroom.”

Yuudai looks back up at the hole they just came through and notices how rough it looks from this side. “Man it looks really jagged from here.”

“Any idea how they got in?” Yuuri yells down the hole.

“Room’s locked.” Akina answers.

Cerys taps Naomi’s shoulder, “Who else in this school can teleport?”

Kirika’s hand shoots up, “Oh! Hana from the Tennis Club can become a ghost!”

Yuuri scratches her head, “But why would the Tennis Club be involved in this?”

Rina thinks for a second “Can Hana even go through a door? Wait, how could she do this?”

“Hana can do whatever she wants!” Kirika says.

Yuudai yells to the other group, “We’ll keep searching! I’ll report back in a second.” He begins digging through the desks, coming up empty each time.

“Find anythang?” Mari asks.

He returns to the hole, “Nothing so far!”

“Awright!” Mari stretches, “Catch me!”

She leaps in and crashes into Yuudai.

Yuudai sits up, coughing, “Are you alright Mari?”

“That really smarts.” Mari stands up slowly and begins dusting herself off. “Ah expected yew ta be softah.”

Yuudai notices the dust covered rubble. “Hey that looks like parts of the roof! Smell that! Maybe there’s something on there!”

“Kay.” Mari sniffs the rubble, closing her eyes and letting her nose twitch, “Smells like Cerys teleportin’.”

Cerys pokes her head into the hole “Hey I couldn’t do this.”

“I’m just saying it smells like someone used their powah on it.”

Yuudai sighs and scans the room again.

“Hey, you never told us how you avoided falling in the hole Naomi.” Cerys pesters the poor girl again.

Naomi shakes her head, “I grabbed the fence by instinct to hold myself up. After that, I managed to float up to safety.”

“Hey!” Yuudai shouts to the others, “I think there’s a closet in this room!”

“Can you open it and see what’s inside?” Yuuri asks.

“Leave it to me!”

Yuudai goes to the door and turns the knob, but it refuses to budge. He puts a bit more strength into it only for the doorknob to pop off in his hands.

Mari looks on in disbelief. Akina is uninterested.

Yuudai holds the knob out. “Uhhhh...whoops?”

Rina’s head appears in the hole, “Seriously? You of all people are having trouble opening a door?”

“You come down here and try then.” Akina gestures.

Rina’s head disappears for a second, then she drops down into the room. “Watch and learn.” She gets into position and strikes the door with a well-placed kick and a burst of intense heat. The door doesn't budge, but now sports a burn mark from the impact.

“What are you doing Rina!?” Yuudai shouts, “This is a new school! We can’t go around destroying things!”

Akina brushes past the two of them and cuts the door into pieces with a sweep of her arm.

Rina points to Akina, “And she gets a free pass to break stuff?”

“Akina!” Yuudai says. “What did I just say!?”

“This room is getting fixed anyway. One extra door isn’t going to hurt anything.”

Yuudai walks over to the room shaking his head and clears away the debris. Inside he finds a set of hurdles and a javelin.

“There’s track stuff in here.” He yells out so the people up top can hear.

Yuuri looks to Naomi, “Was there a Track Club here?”

Naomi and Hazuki shake their heads.

“Does it matter?” Kirika plays with her phone.

“The school tried to charter one but nothing ever came of it.” Naomi answers.

Yuudai perks up. “Wait...There are two people here that run track!”

“Is one of them in the Idol Club?” Yuuri asks.

“Uhhh maybe? I know Haru from Games Club is one of them but...” He ruffles his hair thinking, “Argh! I don’t remember the girl’s name!”

Rina pulls out her phone, “I can text him real quick and see.”

“You have his number?” Yuudai asks.

“Yeah, he gave it to me right before we left the AV room the other day.” Rina can barely start putting her phone away before it plays her text tone. She quickly checks the message. “The hell? That was way too fast... He says her name is Kotoha.”

Mari sniffs around the closet. “Ah smell cherries.”

Rina looks in as well, “I don’t see any cherries.”

Mari walks back to the hole, “Y’all know anyone who smells like cherries? Any cherry boys?”

Izumi blushes wildly as the three Yosakoi girls talk it over.

“Not that we’re aware of!” Hazuki answers.

Rina notices something shining off in the corner of the closet, “What’s that?”

Yuudai walks in and returns with a fancy bottle of light pink liquid. “It looks like perfume.”

Rina takes the bottle and sprays some on Yuudai, “Definitely smells like it.”

Yuudai wipes at his shirt. “Couldn’t you have sprayed it on yourself!?”

Rina tosses the bottle back to him. “Relax Big Guy. You actually smell nice for once.”

Mari presses against Yuudai, sniffing the nape of his neck. “Bah tha myriad, she’s raight…” She mumbles.

Yuudai flinches. “Do I smell that good!?”

Mari shrinks away, blushing. “Er, uh, un…”

Akina looks around, “So what did this? Obviously, this room is used by one Idol member to store equipment but another Idol member had to make the roof dissolve.”

“That doesn’t make sense!” Yuudai scratches his head, “Why try to dissolve the roof under Naomi? She can fly!”

Mari walks back to the hole, “Hay Izumi! Yew said yew and Naomi cleaned up here. Is it normally just y’all?”

The others down in the room join her by the hole to listen in.

Naomi pokes her head over the hole, “It’s usually only one of us that has to clean but Izumi said he had free time to help me.”

“Then did yew switch with anyone?”

Naomi shakes her head, “When it’s your turn to clean up, you have to do it. There’s no trading of spots.”

Mari crosses her arms, face screwed up in thought, “Mebbe someone’s tryin’ ta set yew up.”

“What do you mean?” Naomi asks.

“I don’t think it was you they wanted Naomi.” Cerys steps up.

Yuudai thinks, “Wait...What exactly is Kotoha’s power?”

“She can possess people but she claims to never use it.”

“So couldn’t she have just possessed Renge to do it?” Rina asks.

“Why do that though?” Hazuki joins Naomi next to the hole, “Kotoha has no reason to harm us.”

“Mebbe mindwhammy boy worked his magic on Kotoha, who worked her magic on Renge, who worked her magic on tha roof!” Mari snaps her fingers, excited. “Ah’ve cracked this case wide open! Thank yew mystery games!”

“Haruhiko’s not a bad guy!” Cerys shouts from below the hole.

“A likely story!” Kirika shouts.

Yuudai looks around to see that the now angry redhead has appeared behind him. He jumps in response.

“I don’t understand why everyone keeps thinking he’s behind this!” Cerys continues, “He doesn’t have a bad bone in his body!”

Mari circles around Cerys, sniffing Cerys for the scent of another power. “Yew’ve known him fer a week, Cerys. How can yew be shure?”

“I now understand your plight Cerys,” Kirika’s tone does a complete 180. “Mari, don’t interrogate the poor thing.”

“Shut up, Kirika.” Cerys says.

“How do we know he ain’t using his magic on yew?” Mari asks Cerys.

“He’s not here, is he?”

“Given how bad yew want his bad bone in yer body, would he hafta?”

Cerys looks away, caught off guard by Mari’s accusation. “H-how about this? I’ll set up a meeting with Haruhiko and Kotoha and prove he has no part in this at all!”

“Then do it!” Yuudai says, clearly on edge. “We need to be positive before we start throwing around any other accusation.”

Cerys pulls out her phone and begins typing away.

Kirika whistles to grab the group’s attention, “Why don’t we just have Hazuki see into the future and tell us who the culprit is!”

Hazuki groans. “I’ve told you my powers don’t work like that! Even if a vision came to me, there’s only a slim chance that it involves the culprit.”

“It’s not like there’s a time limit on catching them anyway.” Naomi adds.

Cerys puts her phone away, “He’s agreed to it. We’re meeting him in 10 minutes.”

“Great!” Yuudai says as he looks around, “Now can we get out of here?”

Cerys holds her arms out, “Grab on. I’ve got this.”

“Uh, can you hold all of us?” Yuudai asks.

Cerys gives Yuudai an annoyed look.. “I’ve. Got. This.”

Yuudai is incredulous, but grabs onto Cerys’ arms. The others in the classroom follow suit. In an instant, they all find themselves back on the rooftop.

“Woah!” Yuudai shouts, “That’s what you feel doing that?”

Cerys nods, “Yeah. I displaced us from there and replaced us up here.”

“That’s tha dumbed down version, ain’t it?” Mari says

“You’d all fall asleep if I were to explain my powers.” Cerys looks over to Naomi, “We’re going to get to the bottom of this.”

“Of course he doesn’t!” Izumi snaps, “It’s all Eriri! She hates her sister and is trying to get rid of her!”

Naomi’s face darkens at the mention of Eriri’s name, “I trust you Cerys.”

Akina smirks, “That’s a big mistake.”

“Let’s go guys.” Cerys snaps her fingers, “We’ll solve this case and I’LL prove Haruhiko has no part in this!”