An hour later, Yutsuki followed Shido to the Itsuka house.
"Are you sure Yutsuki-nee isn't Natsumi in disguise?"
Hearing that Shido had told Yutsuki about Natsumi's disguises, Kotori asked to confirm.
"Yeah. I'm sure Yutsuki isn't Natsumi."
Shido nodded and answered confidently. Even though Yutsuki had died and reincarnated, she didn't plan on telling others. Only he and Yutsuki knew about this.
"Okay. If you think there's no problem, Shido, I'll believe you. Besides, with Yutsuki-nee's help, our chances of catching Natsumi will increase a lot."
Kotori nodded in understanding.
"Sorry, Yutsuki-nee. Hiding sothing this important from you."
"It's fine, Kotori-chan. I don't mind."
Yutsuki waved her hand, showing she didn't mind. After all, once she heard the whole story, Yutsuki could understand why Kotori didn't let Shido tell everyone. If anything, Yutsuki was quite happy that Shido decided to tell her even in this situation.
"So, what exactly did Natsumi do? Shido only gave the gist: Natsumi disguised herself as everyone, and then kidnapped Yuzuru and Yoshino."
"Yeah. I'll explain."
Kotori nodded. She explained in detail everything that had happened over the past few days since they received Natsumi's letter.
"Mhm..." Yutsuki frowned in thought for a mont, then asked Kotori, "Right now, who do you guys think is the most suspicious?"
"If we knew, we wouldn't be struggling this much." Kotori shook her head with a bitter smile. "If there's anything weird, it's Tobiichi Origami. She disappeared before Shido even contacted her, making it impossible to tell if she's the real one or a fake."
"I don't think it's very likely. After all, if Natsumi disguised herself as Origami, she wouldn't do sothing so suspicious."
Shido chid in from the side.
"Who knows. Maybe she's using that exact line of thought as a smokescreen."
Kotori sighed, looking troubled. Saying Origami's disappearance was Natsumi's doing felt like a stretch, since it didn't make much sense. But it happened at such a weird ti that they couldn't help but be suspicious.
"Uh..."
Hearing Kotori's words, Yutsuki started sweating a little. She awkwardly raised her hand and said,
"Sorry, Origami's disappearance might be because of ."
"Eh?"
Under Shido and Kotori's confused looks, Yutsuki told them about her eting with Origami the day before yesterday, and how Origami's attitude toward her had suddenly changed at the end.
"So that's what happened. Why so suddenly?"
Shido asked, confused. Although he could understand Yutsuki's intentions, doing it now seed a bit abrupt.
"Well... you could call it intuition. Even though Tobiichi Origami has looked the sa as usual lately, for so reason, I just had a bad feeling."
Yutsuki scratched her long hair and let out a depressed sigh.
Actually, Yutsuki knew that eting Origami without telling Shido and the others was a bit reckless. After all, Tobiichi Origami was never friendly towards Spirits to begin with, and many of their previous interactions were only possible with Shido acting as a bridge. If a Spirit privately invited Origami, being hated was the most normal outco.
But... Yutsuki kept having this weird, anxious feeling that if she didn't try to hold Origami back right now, it would be too late.
"Yutsuki?"
"Huh? Ah, it's nothing."
Hearing Shido's voice, Yutsuki snapped back to reality.
[Although I'm still worried about Origami, solving the Natsumi problem is the priority right now.]
After a helpless, bitter smile in her heart, Yutsuki took a deep breath. A thoughtful look appeared in her eyes.
"Well, regarding Origami. I can say for sure it wasn't Natsumi in disguise. At the ti, she was holding a picture of Shiori-chan and licking it with an intoxicated look on her face. That look of pure enjoynt from the bottom of her heart... I don't think Natsumi could fake that."
"Uh... yeah, nobody except Tobiichi Origami could do sothing like that."
Hearing Yutsuki's description, Kotori sweatdropped and agreed.
"But why did Origami have a picture of in girls' clothes..."
Shido asked, dark lines appearing on his forehead.
"Well, that's not the main point right now. About Natsumi, I have a few ideas."
Smoothly dodging Shido's gaze, Yutsuki waved her hand and changed the subject. Although Shido was still curious about what exactly happened between Origami and Yutsuki, his eyes instantly grew serious when he heard Yutsuki's words.
"Yutsuki, do you know who Natsumi is?"
"Well... rather than guessing who Natsumi is, I'd say I have a better understanding of this ga. Honestly, if you hadn't confird I wasn't Natsumi in disguise, Shido, I wouldn't have dared to just say it. I'll start with the conclusion..."
Putting down the large stack of docunts containing various pieces of information, Yutsuki sighed and said:
"The people Shido has investigated over these three days of dates, including Kotori and , none of them are Natsumi in disguise."
"What?!"
Hearing Yutsuki's unexpected statent, Kotori and Shido's eyes widened. After all, the people Yutsuki was talking about were everyone in the photos Natsumi had sent.
"Yutsuki-nee, why do you think that?"
Kotori frowned, but quickly cald down. She knew Yutsuki wouldn't make a judgnt without proof, so she waited patiently for her explanation.
"The reason I ca to this conclusion is that there are just too many problems with this ga," Yutsuki said seriously. "The first problem is, can the person who was 'disappeared' be chosen as the answer? Yuzuru disappeared on the first day, but Natsumi showed up to demand Shido's answer at midnight on the second day. If you can't choose the person who disappeared, then all Natsumi had to do was disguise herself as Yuzuru from the start. That would an an instant ga over as soon as the ga began."
Hearing Yutsuki's words, Kotori was stunned for a mont, then nodded in realization.
"True, Natsumi never clarified that. If guessing the disappeared person ans they are Natsumi—that thought would never cross our minds, making it an absolutely safe spot. By that logic, Yuzuru is the most suspicious...?"
Halfway through her sentence, Kotori stopped, looking a bit confused.
"Looks like you've noticed, Kotori."
"Noticed what?"
Shido asked, confused.
Yutsuki sighed lightly and asked Shido, "Shido, imagine if last night, when Natsumi asked for your answer, you realized right then that she hadn't said you couldn't pick the person who had disappeared. What would you do?"
"What would I do..." Shido thought for a mont before answering slowly, "Then I'd pick Yuzuru? If I knew Natsumi's intentions, Yuzuru would be the most suspicious...?"
Saying this, Shido had the sa weird expression as Kotori.
"Exactly. It's hidden, but it's not impossible to figure out. Even if I didn't say anything, you guys would have noticed sooner or later. The mont you realized it, Yuzuru would instantly beco the most suspicious target. Instead of being the safest spot, it would beco the most dangerous spot."
Yutsuki shrugged and smiled. That was also why Yutsuki chose to state her conclusion first.
"Then the second problem. Natsumi also didn't say how many chances you get to guess, Shido."
Picking up the envelope Natsumi sent from the table, Yutsuki took out the postcard with the cri declaration and read it out loud.
[ I am among these. Can you guess which one is ? Before everyone disappears from this world. —Natsumi. ]
This Natsumi, she really knows how to play word gas. Yutsuki thought to herself.
"'Before everyone disappears'... from this initial ssage, shouldn't it an that you can keep guessing until everyone except Natsumi disappears? In other words, if you guessed Yuzuru on the second day, even if Yuzuru wasn't Natsumi, you could guess Yoshino today since she disappeared. As long as you guess the person who disappeared the day before every night... basically choosing 12 out of 13. You'd find that this completely brainless thod has over a 90% chance of clearing all the stress you've had these past few days, Shido (lol)."
(TL:in short:because there is no rule said that natsumi can't be the person that disappeared, shido can just choose the person that disappeared from each day without thinking, and the ti limit is before the thirteen person disappeared, an shido have 12 attempt to guess who did natsumi turn into, with 12 guess over 13 choice,it bring the chance to guess the correct answer is high,it took my dumbass 10 minute to finally understand this)
Of course, if even that failed, Yutsuki could only say—Friend, welco to bad luck gacha hell.
"Yutsuki, don't joke around."
Shido scratched his head with a bitter smile. When it cos to a choice affecting everyone, Shido wouldn't dare guess randomly even with a 99% chance. But he had to admit, following this line of thought, it beca clear that Natsumi was in a very unfair position in this ga.
"Lastly is the beginning of the postcard."
Yutsuki showed the postcard to Kotori and Shido, pointing her finger at the first sentence.
"'I am among these'—I don't think Natsumi added later, 'I am among these thirteen people', did she?"
Kotori and Shido's eyes widened at the sa ti.
"I see... The vague warning at first and the continuous rule additions later were all to mislead us into thinking Natsumi was hiding among these thirteen people. If the answer was never among the choices to begin with, no matter what we guess, Natsumi would always be in an unbeatable position—we've been played."
Clenching her fists slightly, Kotori shook her head self-deprecatingly.
"Well, actually, there's a much simpler and blunter way to reach this conclusion." Yutsuki shrugged and said.
"What thod?" Shido asked curiously.
"Think about Natsumi's position. Put yourself in her shoes. She's here to ruin your life. She's not playing a 'friendship first, competition second' guessing ga to bond with you. Why would she give you a question you could actually get right? 'Thirteen people? Hilarious, just keep struggling with those choices like idiots!' If it were , I'd definitely be snickering like that."
"...Your reasoning is so sound, I actually have nothing to say."
Shido had black lines all over his forehead.
"Well, if Yutsuki-nee's deduction is correct and we've been misled by wordplay... Does 'among these' an she's one of the photos, or the postcard itself?"
Kotori looked thoughtfully at the photos in her hand. After all, Natsumi's transformation ability could also turn her into an inanimate object.
"I wouldn't say it's impossible, but I don't think Natsumi would put herself in such a dangerous spot."
Yutsuki squeezed the postcard in her hand and shook her head. Paper can be torn to shreds with just a little effort. If Natsumi was hiding inside one, that would be like dancing on the edge of a knife. At the very least, Yutsuki didn't have the courage or resolve to go that far.
"True..."
But just to be safe, Kotori tore up the photos and the card one by one, and Natsumi didn't appear.
"A failure, as expected."
Although Kotori wasn't surprised by the result, she still frowned.
"Could she have turned into the clothes the people in the photos are wearing or sothing? If so, this is unsolvable."
"No, I feel like Natsumi definitely has a clear answer."
Shido shook his head in denial. Although it wasn't a solid basis, looking at Natsumi's expression back then, she had absolute confidence in herself. Although she might exploit loopholes like Yutsuki said, she probably wouldn't give an unsolvable problem.
"True, it might be impossible to guess, but when the answer is revealed, it will leave us completely unable to argue. I think that's the ending Natsumi wants."
Yutsuki nodded, agreeing with Shido.
"Then, combining all the possibilities we've discussed. We can arrive at a common truth in mystery novels—the overlooked fourteenth person. That is Natsumi's true identity."
Yutsuki pushed up her imaginary glasses, imitating a certain Shinigami grade-schooler (Conan).
Kotori stayed silent, carefully thinking through Yutsuki's analysis. She had to admit, the guess of the fourteenth person was very unexpected, yet it made complete sense.
"Then who is that fourteenth person?" Kotori asked nervously.
"I don't know."
"..."
"Please don't look at with that disappointed look, like finding out your car is out of gas right as you're approaching the finish line. It hurts, Kotori-chan."
Yutsuki shook her head helplessly.
"At the end of the day, even if there really is a fourteenth person, we can only find them if Natsumi slips up while playing that person. I wasn't there, so how could I possibly know?"
Maximizing analysis and extracting information was indeed Yutsuki's specialty. But if she didn't have the information for the answer, she obviously couldn't reach a conclusion.
"That's true..."
Even though Kotori knew Yutsuki was right, she still dropped her shoulders in defeat.
"Well, even though I don't know, it doesn't an no one knows the answer."
Glancing at the boy who was already deep in thought, Yutsuki chuckled.
"I've put the puzzle pieces together for you... the rest is up to you, Shido."
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