Chapter 18: A Strange Woman
Kazama had barely stepped out of the oppressive makeshift interrogation room when the door next to it—labeled "In Use"—was violently kicked open.
A red blur charged out like an enraged bull.
Before Kazama could react, an overwhelming mixture of cheap perfume and sweat invaded his senses.
Then came massive impact force, his back slamming hard against the concrete wall.
"It was you! I know it was you!"
Shizukuha Sarina's face—normally passably attractive—twisted into something demonic as her hands seized Kazama's collar, pinning him against the hallway wall with shocking strength.
"You killed him! Absolutely you, you bastard!"
"Who else could it be?! I'll kill you! I'll make you pay with your life!"
Her voice was shrill, spittle nearly hitting Kazama's face.
The female officer who'd followed her out looked stunned.
"Wait! Miss! Please calm down!"
She rushed forward, trying to pry Sarina's hands loose.
But this delinquent girl who normally only bullied others had exploded with frightening brute strength, refusing to release Kazama's collar.
"Bullshit! Calm down my ass!"
Sarina whipped around to scream at the officer, then immediately locked her gaze back on Kazama.
"Tsuyoshi just taught you a lesson yesterday! Only made you kneel and bow! And you... you actually..."
Though the female officer had civilian duties, she'd received professional training. She grabbed Sarina's wrist and forcibly pulled her off Kazama.
"Let go! I'll kill him! He's a murderer!"
Sarina fought with alarming strength that nearly overpowered the officer.
"Calm down! There's no evidence whatsoever that Kazama is a suspect!"
The officer struggled to restrain her while turning to Kazama with an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry, Kazama. She's Yamada Tsuyoshi's girlfriend. She just learned the news... emotions are running high."
Kazama brushed off his wrinkled collar, staring at her expressionlessly.
"You claim I killed him. On what basis? Where's your evidence?"
"On what basis?! Because Tsuyoshi messed with you on the rooftop yesterday!" Sarina shrieked. "Because a twisted freak like you must've held a grudge! Nobody else would do this!"
Classic thug logic.
Guilty until proven innocent. You must prove your own innocence.
Kazama sneered internally.
This was textbook bully mentality.
In their world, only they had the right to victimize others. If the victim fought back, or even showed the slightest unwillingness, that made them "can't take a joke," "petty and narrow-minded," "unforgivably wrong."
"That's your logic? Because he bullied me, I killed him? That only proves he deserved it, not that I did it."
He stepped forward. The suddenly explosive aura made Sarina freeze momentarily.
"You call me a murderer. Fine."
"The police are right here."
Kazama glanced at the female officer still struggling to pull Sarina back.
"If I were guilty, I'd be wearing handcuffs right now instead of listening to your tantrum."
"Since the police haven't arrested me, what gives you the right to convict me? Your brain capacity that's smaller than a walnut?"
"You..."
Sarina was struck speechless. Indeed, she had no evidence. Only that absolute certainty, that gut feeling—but such feelings meant nothing before the law.
"If you really think it was me."
Kazama leaned closer.
"Then go search. Go to the crime scene and look. Maybe you'll actually find something? Like my fingerprints?"
"You—!!"
Sarina trembled with rage.
"You bastard! Murderer! You think you'll get away with this?! I'll find evidence! No matter how well you hid it, I'll send you to prison! Even if I have to dig three meters deep, I'll find it!"
Suddenly she exploded with unexpected strength, throwing off the officer's grip.
"Just wait, Kazama Chiba! I'm going right now! Even if I have to excavate that entire alley, I'll dig up evidence of your crime!"
Throwing out that threat, she turned and ran.
"Shizukuha! Come back! That area's been sealed off!"
The officer shouted and gave chase.
But Sarina ran with desperate speed, quickly disappearing around the stairwell corner.
The hallway fell silent again.
Kazama stood in place and shook his head.
These brainless creatures with death wishes were such a nuisance.
Even without witnesses to his crime, even without a shred of evidence, this type would mark him as the killer based purely on intuition.
She'd never find evidence, but having her buzzing around like a persistent fly would eventually cause problems.
If only she could be silenced permanently.
Kazama glanced left and right. The hallway was empty—those two detectives were still in the prep room writing reports.
He leaned against the wall, confirmed the area was clear, then pulled The Windy card from his pocket. Gazing at the flowing-haired spirit illustrated on its surface, his mind stirred.
He hadn't wanted to go this far.
But if someone insisted on rushing toward death and creating trouble for him, he couldn't be blamed for ruthlessness.
"Go."
"You know what to do. Create an accident for her. Make her shut up forever."
...
Meanwhile.
On the main road outside Sakigawa High School's gates.
Shizukuha Sarina ran wildly, completely ignoring oncoming traffic. Her lungs burned like they were on fire, her mind holding only one thought:
Get to that alley. Get there. Find something. That bastard definitely left evidence.
Just find it—even a single hair. Anything proving he was at the scene would make him rot in prison.
For Tsuyoshi.
For that man who just yesterday promised to take her street racing.
The mixture of revenge and grief completely overwhelmed her senses, making her oblivious to the red traffic signal.
"BEEEEP—!!!!"
A black compact car came speeding from the left.
The driver—a middle-aged man with glasses who'd been driving normally—suddenly saw a figure rush out. Terror seized him.
His right foot instinctively slammed down hard on the brake pedal.
According to physics, the car should have executed emergency braking under the ABS system. Might graze her slightly, but not fatally.
However, the brake pedal wouldn't depress.
"What's happening?!"
"It won't go down! Something's blocking it!"
Beneath the brake pedal felt like an iron plate, or an invisible high-pressure air current holding it completely rigid.
No matter how hard the driver pressed, the pedal wouldn't budge.
We're done for.
Sarina turned her head.
Those two headlights expanded infinitely across her retinas, her mind going blank.
She could even see the driver's desperate expression through the windshield.
Time seemed to slow in that moment.
Just as the car's front bumper was about to strike the girl, another air current appeared, gently pushing the car's side.
"SCREEEECH—!!!!"
The tires carved two scorched black trails across the asphalt. The car body jerked violently, its trajectory—aimed directly at Sarina—forcibly deflecting half a meter.
That half meter saved Sarina's life. The side panel scraped brutally past her shoulder.
The massive impact force sent her flying, tumbling mid-air before crashing heavily into a roadside planter.
Then she stopped moving.
The black car continued another dozen meters before slamming into a utility pole, white steam hissing from the engine.
A crowd quickly gathered. Someone called an ambulance. Others checked on the shell-shocked driver.
And across the street.
In an upscale cafe, seated by a floor-to-ceiling window facing the road, sat a woman.
She wore an impeccably tailored beige trench coat over a black turtleneck sweater. Ice-blue wavy hair cascaded casually across her shoulders.
Her gaze drifted lazily toward the accident scene outside.
"Ara ara."
"Just arrived in this world and already witnessed such an entertaining scene."
Kaguya narrowed her eyes slightly, her slender fingers stirring an extremely subtle air current in the space before her.
"This magical fluctuation is quite weak and deliberately concealed, but it's definitely the aura of Wind magic."
"It seems Clow Reed was correct. This world's magicians are more interesting than I imagined."
"Not those justice-spouting hot-blooded idiots. More like a small beast willing to use any means necessary for survival."
Then Kaguya turned away, no longer watching the chaotic scene below.
She lifted her teacup again, taking a delicate sip. The flavor tasted sweeter than ever before.
"Kazama Chiba, is it? I hope you'll provide me with much more entertainment. After all, if things get too boring, how could you possibly mature into a judgment subject worthy of my attention?"
She set down the cup, her ice-blue eyes reflecting the ambulance lights flashing across the street.
The Windy card had attempted murder on its master's command.
And she had intervened—not to save the girl, but to preserve the game.
Because a predator who killed too carelessly, too quickly, wouldn't be interesting at all.
Better to let him think he'd failed on his own. Let him grow more cautious, more creative, more desperate.
Let him evolve into something truly worthy of judgment.
Kaguya smiled—a cold, calculating expression that never reached her eyes.
"Show me what you're capable of, little beast. Show me if you're worth the great Clow Reed's attention."
She traced a finger along the window glass, leaving a faint trail of frost that quickly melted.
"And when the time comes for judgment... I wonder if you'll face it with that same cold pragmatism you showed that girl."
Outside, paramedics loaded Sarina's unconscious form into the ambulance. The driver sat on the curb, head in hands, unable to explain what happened to the police taking his statement.
"The brakes just... stopped working. Like something was holding them up."
"But then the car turned on its own. Like something pushed it."
The officers exchanged skeptical glances. Mechanical failure, they'd write in their report. Driver error. Bad luck.
They'd never believe the truth.
Never suspect that invisible forces had turned a busy intersection into a battlefield between magicians.
And in the old school building, Kazama stood in the empty hallway, feeling The Windy card's return through their mental connection.
Failed.
Not completely—the girl was injured, hospitalized. That would keep her quiet for a while.
But she'd survived.
Something had interfered. Another wind current, deflecting the killing blow at the last instant.
Coincidence? Impossible.
Someone was watching.
Someone with wind magic of their own.
Kerberos stirred nervously in his collar. "Did you feel that? When The Windy tried to—"
"I felt it," Kazama murmured, slipping the card back into his pocket.
His expression remained neutral, but internally, alarm bells rang.
Another magician in this city. One powerful enough to counter his commands from a distance.
One who'd chosen to intervene—not to save Sarina, but to send him a message.
I see you.
The game had just become far more complicated.
And somewhere across town, Kaguya finished her tea, left exact change on the table, and stepped out into the afternoon sunlight.
Time to properly introduce herself to this fascinating little beast.
After all, every judgment required a proper trial first.
END OF CHAPTER 18