So, last time, we completely whiffed on the whole archives thing. Our grand investigation basically stalled before it even started. Typical.
But this time, we were determined. We were going to get our grubby little hands on that document, no matter what.
And there we were. We'd actually secured an appointment with the head librarian, all thanks to Chizuro pulling some strings. The library, even on a weekday, had that hushed, almost reverent atmosphere. Sunlight streamed through the tall, arched windows, illuminating swirling dust motes in the air. The faint, comforting smell of old paper and floor wax hung heavy.
The Head Librarian, a surprisingly young woman with a polite, if somewhat reserved, smile, greeted us.
Amae, bless his direct soul, cut straight to the chase. "Ma'am, we want access to the archives."
Then, just as Chizuro had predicted – 'they won't let you in there' – she politely shot us down. "Oh, dear," she said, her smile becoming a little tighter. "I'm terribly sorry, but the archives are restricted for the time being."
And then, without much more discussion, she excused herself. "Well then, if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to catch." And just like that, she was gone, leaving us standing there like a pair of rejected puppies. All of yesterday's effort, combined with today's, had just been unceremoniously flushed down the drain.
Today, Misaki wasn't with us. Some family ceremony, apparently. So, it was just me and Amae. At least that meant one less curious mind to deal with today. Silver linings, I guess.
Well, we had to find a way. If not that specific document, then maybe something else would work. We couldn't just give up now, not after all this… effort.
"Let's go," I said, already turning to leave. "It was a clear no-no."
But boy, Amae had a real hard time accepting defeat. He was staring intently at a door just off the main library hall.
"But the archives room is just over there," he muttered, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
I realized with a sinking feeling what he was suggesting. He was planning on turning into a common thief, right here in the hallowed halls of the school library.
The archives room door was old, heavy-looking wood, probably original to the building. It was definitely locked. Oddly enough, there was a slightly worn doormat sitting in front of it, the kind you usually see at someone's front door, not in a school. It looked completely out of place.
Amae, ignoring my silent disapproval, stepped forward. He couldn't possibly be thinking of breaking open the lock, could he? That was what I was thinking…
But then, he did something completely unexpected. He bent down, flipped the doormat over with a swift, practiced motion, and there it was – a small, tarnished key. He picked it up, all smooth and quick, like he did this kind of thing every day. No one would have suspected a thing.
Did he know something I didn't? "How'd you know it was there?" I whispered, my voice barely audible.
He just grinned, putting a hand on his head in that characteristic way of his. "Just a hunch."
Just a hunch? If that was the case, then he was either ridiculously lucky or had some kind of latent talent for this sort of… illicit activity.
Were we really doing this? My mom and dad definitely never imagined their son would turn out to be a common thief. I'm sorry, Mom and Dad. And to make matters worse, Chizuro wasn't on shift today. That was bad. Really bad. If we got caught, there was no one to cover for us. We were completely on our own.
He slid the key into the keyhole. Click. Bang! It was the right key. He pushed, and the heavy door creaked open, revealing a small, dimly lit room packed with shelves. It wasn't as much of a mess as I'd expected, maybe thanks to that cleaning spree he'd volunteered for a while back that he'd mentioned. The air inside was cool and still, carrying the dry, papery scent of ancient documents.
He led me to a specific shelf, then to the exact row of books where he'd supposedly seen the document. He really did have some kind of superpower he didn't even realize. He pulled out a dusty, unassuming file.
"Gotcha! This is it!" he whispered triumphantly, holding it up like a prized trophy.
And it really was the right file. The title, barely visible under a layer of dust, read: 'The Merger of Clans, by CMS'.
What CMS stood for, we had no idea. But hopefully, we'd find out soon enough once we actually looked inside.
"Yeah, you're right," I admitted, trying to keep my voice even.
Just as I was about to step out of that cramped little space, sandwiched precariously between two towering shelves that looked like they could crush us if they decided to topple over, I tripped. My foot caught on something – a loose floorboard, maybe? – and I stumbled, lurching forward. Just before I could face-plant into a pile of forgotten history, Amae caught me.
For a split second, it was like one of those overly dramatic Romeo and Juliet scenes. Awkward. Very awkward.
"Are you alright?" he asked, his face a little too close for comfort. Before this bizarre situation could escalate any further, I managed to regain my balance, scrambling to stand on my own two feet.
"I'm fine," I grumbled, my cheeks probably flushed. "Now, let's run before anyone comes."
And that's… that's how our quest to get our hands on the file finally ended. Illegally, perhaps, but successfully. This was going to be a huge step forward for our investigation. Hopefully.
Back in our clubroom – which Amae had recently started calling our "hideout" – he carefully brushed the dust off the cover of the file with the sleeve of his uniform. The room was quiet, save for the faint hum of the fluorescent lights overhead and the distant sounds of school life filtering in through the open window.
The file itself looked like something out of a medieval samurai school, though books weren't exactly common back then. They mostly used scrolls, right?
Once the dust was cleared, the title was clearer than ever before: 'The Merger of Clans, by CMS'.
Amae opened the brittle cover. On the first page, written in faded, spidery handwriting, was:
*This is the truth about the merger of the three clans, namely:*
The Miro clan, the Hanbe clan, and the Fukube Clan.
The merger was not willingly done, and it wasn't possible for three rivals for centuries to do so.
The one who forced this was M…
And just after that 'M', the page was torn. Ripped right out. The first few pages of the book were completely gone, scattered to the winds of time. Maybe it was intentional. The question was, who did it, and why? And where were those missing pages now? The rest of the book was just empty, blank pages. Made sense, really. It was probably just a regular notebook someone had bought and only used the first few pages of.
M…? Maybe it was referring to Miro? One of the Miro clan leaders, probably.
Their first page seemed to imply…
Hmm… This text definitely said it wasn't done willingly. And 'the one who forced this was M' strongly suggested that 'M' *was* the Miro clan. Did they blackmail or even threaten the other two clans into surrendering? That was a definite possibility. But I couldn't be so sure. And considering all three clans supposedly held comparable power, it couldn't have happened overnight…
Did they resort to kidnapping and threats?
Surely, I guessed, that must be the case, at least with what little we knew currently. Who knows? I might be 90 degrees wrong when the next chapter of this ridiculous mystery unfolded.