"Time to get cracking, guys." Amino stood in front of us like he was the leader of the group.
We traveled through the underground passageway to Building B. As the entrance, Building B had nothing but the stairs leading down to the passageway, devoid of any sort of decor. The walls were almost entirely glass, so they probably couldn't install any sort of switch either.
"Hoo boy, I'll leave the investigation to the two of you, so just tell me when you're done." Amino leaned against the handrail on the stairs, procuring a cigarette and a lighter from his suit pocket and preparing to take a drag.
Oh, I see now. He teamed up with us so he could slack off. Adults play dirty.
There was a lot I could say about that, but I decided to ignore him and investigate the automatic door again instead. There were traces of us coming and going left in the snow outside, but they also already looked like they were in the process of being covered up by the snow. There wasn't any sign of anyone sneaking in more recently.
There wasn't anything else to investigate in Building B, so we went right back down the underground passageway.
"Should we lock the front door?" I hazarded asking our fearless leader. But Amino didn't seem to care, so I trusted my own judgment and locked it anyway.
We inched down the hall as Kirigiri knocked on the walls and floor. I followed her lead and started to do my own investigation of the underground passageway.
And yet, we made it to the Building A door without any luck. Kirigiri stood up from where she'd been crouched down by the floor, brushing off her skirt and shaking her head blankly.
"Of course there's no hidden room," Amino said, pushing his cigarette into his portable ashtray. "I feel like it's a different kind of crisis... More like, I dunno, something more..." He kept muttering to himself as he climbed the stairs to the main building.
He abruptly stopped partway up, looking up at the ceiling in bewilderment.
"Shit, I feel kinda dizzy..."
We returned to the main hall; Inuzuka and Enbi were still searching through the guestrooms. Specifically, they were looking in mine.
"Waahh! What are you doing, going in there without my permission?!" I challenged, flustered, but they both kept looking in the shower and under the bed, unconcerned.
"Don't worry. No one's fishing through your bags."
They both emerged from the room after a bit more investigation. "No surprise, but no dice. Judging by the shape of the building, the only place there'd be a hidden passage would be through the floor, but there wasn't anything suspicious anywhere," Inuzuka concluded.
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We gathered around the table, exhaustion on all of our faces, unsure how to start up any different conversation. All of us had a laundry list of questions, but we knew there was no one here who would answer them.
"So... the job was a sham from the start," Enbi offered. "We walked straight into an enemy trap. Choose some random detectives from the Detective Library, write up a job offer that seems appropriate, and gather them all in an empty building. There are criminals out there who just want to see the looks on their victims' faces."
"A trap..." There was a complicated expression on Inuzuka's face. He had gone unnaturally pale.
"If the proxy doesn't show up by daybreak tomorrow, I'm out," said Enbi, spreading his hands.
"Yeah... But who knows how many days this blizzard is gonna stick around. It might last all week. What'll we do for food if that happens? We couldn't find any food reserves anywhere around here."
"So... we'd better be careful about what we eat tonight..." Enbi put both hands on the table like he was supporting his weight.
According to the analog clock, it was after 8:00. Normally, I'd be lazing around in the dorms after dinner right around now.
"Maybe we should just rest up for now..." Inuzuka swayed as he backed away from the table.
Right after that, I heard something fall to the ground. I turned around to see Amino was no longer where he had been standing. I made my way around the table to see him collapsed face down.
What in the world...?
Something big was happening. But I couldn't make myself move, despite the state of emergency. I couldn't think about what I should be doing. It was like a heavy blanket had been draped over my thoughts. And then, another one was starting to be draped over my field of vision.
No—that was smoke.
"Fire!" someone shouted.
Fire?
I have to run. I have to get out of here.
But my body felt heavy, and my consciousness was flickering in and out. I was swallowed up by white smoke until it felt like even my body was dissolving into white smoke...
