Morning. Teitan High School. It's the last class before lunch break.
Kurosawa Hoshino holds his English book, looking out the window, waiting for his English teacher, Jodie, to arrive. He thinks to himself, We're going to the gym for rehearsal after school this afternoon. Should I really kiss her, or just pretend, or just go through the motions?
This is what Sonoko announced in the classroom this morning. After all, Sonoko has been appointed by the homeroom teacher as the general director of this stage play, and everything has to be done her way. And it's not just the three of them—many classmates will be going too. After all, a stage play can't just be him and Ran performing; there need to be supporting characters to make it more interesting and less monotonous.
"Hoshino—!" Suddenly, a loud shout rings in his ears, making Kurosawa's ears ring. He pats his ears a couple of times before feeling much better. Helplessly, he turns to look at the culprit, Sonoko, whose face still wears a smug "prank succeeded" expression.
"Couldn't you have kept your voice down? What good would it do you to make me deaf?"
"I was afraid you wouldn't hear me." Sonoko says with a smile. "I just wanted to remind you that class is about to start, so stop staring out the window."
"You're kidding me. You just wanted to prank me." Kurosawa doesn't believe her at all. He glances at the classroom door out of the corner of his eye, then looks over.
Because someone had arrived.
It wasn't Jodie, but the school doctor, Araide Tomoaki (Vermouth), who walked into the classroom. His arrival silenced the classroom, and everyone's eyes were fixed on him.
"Isn't this English class?" Ran asks softly. "I'm not mistaken, am I?"
"Of course not. I just said it's English class." Sonoko nods in reply.
Araide smiles very gently. "Your teacher, Jodie, has something come up and can't come right now. She's switched with this afternoon's PE class."
"Dr. Araide," Kurosawa says speechlessly, "even if it was swapped with the afternoon PE class, it should be Mr. Kishida who comes, not you."
Araide chuckles, looking embarrassed. "Mr. Kishida also had some things to do, so he asked me to cover for him."
Sonoko's lips twitch. "Dr. Araide, you're too easygoing. You've covered for him several times—has he shared any of your pay? I think that Mr. Kishida is a pay thief."
"It's okay. I'm usually quite bored in the infirmary. I quite enjoy covering for him."
I can't be bothered to call you out on that. Kurosawa thinks to himself. If it weren't for Ran, I doubt you'd be so keen on coming here.
The scene shifts. Kurosawa and his friends are in the school gymnasium, all dressed in short-sleeved shirts and shorts. The shirts reach their arms, and the shorts reach just above the knees—very proper attire, unlike the gym uniforms seen in anime.
"Dr. Araide, can we finish early?" a student asks.
Araide, standing at the front of the group, nods. "Of course, don't worry. I won't assign too many activities. I promise you can rest and play early."
"Yay, Araide-sensei, you're so kind!"
"Yeah, Araide-sensei, after we graduate high school, I definitely want to date you." Many female students start teasing him.
"Don't say that." Araide waves his hand. "You guys warm up first, get your bodies moving. We'll officially start soon."
Sonoko jumps up and down a few times, then whispers to Kurosawa and Ran beside her, "Honestly, I don't think Dr. Araide will stay at our school for long. He's too easy to talk to—he never refuses to help any teacher. I feel that over time, there will definitely be more problems with him."
"Like in TV dramas, when a newcomer joins a company and gets bullied by their seniors?" Ran gives an example.
"Yes, it's exactly like that." Sonoko glances at the people around her, her voice getting even lower. "In a place like Beika Town, someone might even die in the future."
Kurosawa asks in surprise, "Oh, you've noticed the strangeness in Beika Town too?"
"Is it normal?" Sonoko rolls her eyes at Kurosawa and sighs. "Just look at how many murder cases we've encountered recently! More than twenty—almost thirty, right? It's a bit scary."
"If that's the case, it is indeed a bit too many." Ran nods in agreement.
"So, you see," Sonoko says seriously, "if Dr. Araide doesn't know how to say no, he might really cause some unnecessary trouble one day because of his kind-hearted nature."
"Is that so? Sonoko-san, I didn't expect you to care about me so much." Araide's voice suddenly comes from behind Sonoko, startling her.
Sonoko stiffly turns her head and sees Araide with a gentle smile on his face. She smiles awkwardly. "Um, Dr. Araide, don't misunderstand. I was just joking."
"No, I think what you said makes a lot of sense, Sonoko. I should be more willing to say no in the future—and not agree to everything."
Seeing Araide's serious expression, Sonoko breathes a sigh of relief and says casually, "Dr. Araide, don't worry. If you ever run into trouble at school, just come to me, and I'll help you solve it."
"Okay." After saying that, Araide glances at Ran and Kurosawa, nods to them, and then wanders around to the others.
Sonoko glares at Kurosawa and says irritably, "Hoshino, really—Dr. Araide came and didn't even tell me. Luckily, I didn't say anything bad about him."
This isn't just being unreasonable, because Kurosawa was standing right opposite Sonoko, and he would definitely have noticed Araide's arrival immediately.
He says mysteriously, "You'll thank me later."
"Thank you for what?"
"I already said—later."
"Shut up~ I'm ignoring you." Sonoko pouts.
Kurosawa shrugs. Vermouth cares so much about Ran now, and Sonoko, as Ran's best friend, just said some words of concern about her current disguise. He wouldn't dare say more, but if Sonoko ever encounters any danger in the future, Vermouth will definitely help. For example, in a later episode, when Gin is about to assassinate Kogorō Mouri, it's Vermouth who stops him.