As darkness completely fell, Kurosawa Hoshino and his group arrived at the entrance of Teitan Elementary School. Except for the guardhouse, which was still lit, the entire school was pitch black and eerily quiet. A gust of wind sent shivers down everyone's spines.
"It's a bit cold," Sonoko said, rubbing her arms.
"It's so late. How about we come back tomorrow?" Ran suggested calmly.
"Don't be afraid. I'm here." Kurosawa patted Ran's shoulder.
Ran blushed, glanced at the children, and quickly said, "I'm not scared. I just think it's really too late. Really—since we're going in, let's go in." With that, she looked at the school gate, which wasn't completely closed, and strode inside.
Sonoko followed, glancing through the window of the guardhouse as they passed, and chuckled. "The guard is still the same as always—sleeping with a bottle of liquor at night."
Hearing this, Kurosawa also looked through the window. Under the light, a middle-aged man was drooling and fast asleep, slumped over a table, clutching a bottle of liquor. He chuckled softly and said, "That's perfect. We don't need to register then. Let's finish this quickly and go home. Oh, and you should all call home to let them know you're safe." Kurosawa then took out his phone and handed it to the three Teitan kids—Conan and Haibara didn't need to.
"Okay~" the three kids obediently replied, making their calls one by one without making a sound.
Sonoko moved closer and whispered, "Hoshino, it seems these kids are really afraid of you."
"I was doing it for their own good." Kurosawa said, walking toward the opposite school building. The others followed. Ran, in particular, didn't dare go to the back at all, staying tightly squeezed between Kurosawa and Sonoko, protected on both sides.
After a while, the three finished their phone calls.
"Hoshino-nii, here~" Ayumi handed over her phone.
Kurosawa took it and asked them, "Tell us about the strange things that have been happening at your school lately."
Ran, upon hearing this, subtly moved to the side and snuggled up to Kurosawa.
Mitsuhiko spoke first. "Several strange things have been happening at our school lately. The first is the eight plaster statues in the art room. Someone noticed that the statues, which were placed in their original positions every day after school, were all moved the next morning."
Genta spoke second, his chubby body trembling slightly. "And the anatomical model in the infirmary. Some students found it running around in the hallway when they went home late. It was really scary."
Ayumi continued. "And then there's the masked shadow that Hoshino-nii and I saw. Also, there's a curse at school, which has caused many students to skip class."
Haibara couldn't help but laugh. "It's not a curse. It's just the flu. Everyone's sick."
Conan's lips twitched, also finding it somewhat amusing.
Sonoko crossed her arms and said speechlessly, "So you've all misunderstood. The strangest one is probably the headmaster who disappeared for a few days."
"Let's go—" Before Kurosawa could finish speaking, a scream that almost ruptured his eardrums rang in his ears.
"Ah—!!!" At the same time, Kurosawa, whose head was a little dizzy from the shock, felt a tightness around his neck and waist and staggered a couple of steps, instinctively reaching out to support the buttocks of the person clinging to him.
Sonoko and the five children were also startled, almost screaming as well, and turned to look at Ran, who had just screamed. They saw Ran clinging to Kurosawa, her head buried tightly in his neck.
"Ran, what's wrong?" Sonoko calmed her wildly beating heart and asked irritably.
"Just—just now—" Ran didn't dare to lift her head, her tone full of fear and tension. "I saw someone staring straight at us from the window in the upstairs corridor. It really scared me to death."
Hearing this, everyone looked up and stared at the upstairs, but after carefully observing the area, they couldn't find any shadows. All the windows were pitch black, and they couldn't see any shadows, let alone people.
"Ran, why don't you get down first?" Kurosawa said, casually withdrawing his hand from her bottom.
Ran stiffened, finally realizing what was happening. She hurriedly released his hand and leg, bending down to straighten her school uniform, not daring to look at Kurosawa in front of her.
"Let's go in." Kurosawa turned on the flashlight function on his phone, stepped into the school building, and stopped after only a few steps, turning to look at the kids who followed him in. "Go to your classrooms first. Lead the way."
Conan quickly walked forward. "Hoshino-nii, follow me."
"Hoshino," Sonoko said, "if Ran wasn't mistaken, there might really be someone in the school. Would it be dangerous for us to go in now?"
"Yes, yes, yes." Ran nodded quickly. What she really wanted to say was that what was in the school might not be human, but some kind of demon or monster.
Kurosawa chuckled. "Don't worry. If something were going to happen, it would have happened already. It's impossible for the school to be so safe when there are already reports of supernatural events. It means that the person from earlier probably had to stay at school because of something."
Conan, who was leading the way, had a look of realization on his face, muttering to himself, "I've learned something. I need to remember this."
Haibara then interjected, "Hoshino-nii, what about the missing headmaster?"
Kurosawa continued to use his phone to illuminate the way for everyone, saying in a light tone, "Do you think it's possible that the figure was the headmaster?"
"Possibly."
"Yeah, the school didn't call the police, so maybe it really was him." Ran and Sonoko thought Kurosawa's words made perfect sense and agreed.
"Hoshino-nii, we're here." Conan said, stopping at the door of a classroom. The sign on the door read "First Year, Class B."
"Let's go in." Kurosawa opened the door, went inside, and fumbled on the wall to find the light switch.
A click sounded. White light flooded the classroom, causing Sonoko and the others behind her to scream in unison. Ran, Ayumi, Genta, and Mitsuhiko, in particular, turned deathly pale and trembled.
A very strange scene was unfolding in the classroom. Each student's desk had a plush toy with a name written on it. Eight plaster statues sat on a cabinet at the back of the classroom, and a mannequin lay on the floor beside them, making the scene extremely eerie.
"What's going on?" Conan frowned.
"Who played a prank?" Sonoko reached for a plush toy on the nearest small table, examined it carefully, and then put it back down. "It's just a regular plush toy with a name written on it."
"Sonoko, be careful. It might be cursed," Ran said worriedly.
"Yeah, Sonoko-neechan, it's best not to touch it," Ayumi and the others warned her similarly.
Kurosawa slowly walked to the lectern, slightly bending down to look at the woman hiding inside, sitting on the floor with her knees drawn up to her chest, staring wide-eyed at him. He smiled and said, "Hello. I'm Kurosawa Hoshino, invited by Ayumi and the others to investigate the disappearance of the headmaster. Are you the homeroom teacher for this class?"