[h2]Sasegawa Hikaru, the Stalwart Lightning Detective of Yamamura[/h2]

Hikaru couldn't help but let out a sigh at that initial reaction. Try as she might, she couldn't really understand just why the girls at her high school suddenly latched onto her like that. It had become somewhat frustrating clearing her locker of love letters almost every day, and having to turn down several confessions didn't seem to dissuade them. Indeed, the mindset of these girls was perhaps a mystery that Hikaru would never solve. But then again, romance was hardly one of her main pursuits, so she didn't particularly care to understand the motivations behind it. Unless a romance pertained to a case she had taken on it was simply irrelevant.

"Nevertheless, it's important I ensure that we have obtained all the facts, even if it means going over information that's previously been discussed," the short-haired detective explained. To be perfectly frank, Hikaru personally held doubts about the aptitude of some of the local detectives. At the very least, though, Soma-san was the respectable type who threw himself into his work. Some of the others, however... well, they could have missed some details in Hikaru's opinion.

"To begin with, do you recall any strange behavior prior to the disappearance? Did your brother do anything out of the ordinary?" she asked. Even if there wasn't, it was important to establish the victim's whereabouts prior to the crime. If it was as Hikaru suspected, there would have been little to no change in the victim's habits. Beyond, perhaps, nervousness about the nature of Strange Gospel, but that was a trait shared by both victims and potential victims.

Everyone who had used Strange Gospel, including Hikaru herself, was categorized in the latter. If worse came to worse, the detective even considered using herself as bait.

[@Mercurial]