The long morning and afternoon ended. They were now preparing dinner cooked by Trake. He volunteered to do so.
"So, you're a cook?" Heavien asked him while prepping the dishes.
"Hehe, not really. That's the only dish I know," he replied shyly while wiping the table.
Their viand today is a tofu stew. At first glance and sniffing, her stomach was already growling. He really outdid himself with his dish.
"Um, by the way, Trake..." she paused, washing the used kitchen utensils after he cooked.
"Hm?" he just kept wiping.
"Why did you approach me when I was blown up? We're enemies then, so why?"
This has been bugging her since it happened, so she asked him this time.
She noticed he stopped wiping, so she gazed at him while holding the dirty dishes.
"Is that bad?" he smirked in response to her question, which he also followed up with a question.
"It's not like that. I'm just really curious... If you don't want to answer, it's okay-"
"No, I'll answer your question."
"Okay," At least she didn't force him.
"Because I want to. I wanted to help you."
She thought for a moment. "Hmm, thank you very much! I owe you." Then she smiled at him.
As she thought, Trake can be a clown at times, but he's a good friend. She believes that he can be trusted.
"One more thing, I still have a question," she interjected. He looked at her and waited for her to ask. "Did you and First have an argument or some sort of misunderstanding during that game?"
She couldn't be bothered with that incident either. She was curious about what they were talking about while fighting and why they seemed to be angry. She's known First as someone who's not the one who picks a fight.
"Yes"
Her eyes widened at what she heard. So, they did have something. What is that and why?
"What were you arguing about?"
He avoids looking at her eyes. "Not what, but who."
So, they were in a dispute because of someone. Who could it be?
"Who is it then?"
He gazed at her. "You"
"Huh?!" She frowned. Why her? Did she do something bad to them?
"No, no, we were on bad terms because I was your enemy in that game, right? hehe!"
"What?"
"I mean, it's only natural that we're going to fight because we're in a game fight, isn't it?" Then he scratched his neck.
Of course, she was not on Trake's side at that time. They were opponents during that game. But no, there was something wrong with their fight. The way they look at each other doesn't seem to be just because they were opponents in that game. Their glares have a different meaning.
"I don't mean to intervene, but there's something else about you two-"
"What a nosy! You know, there's a limit to being a detective, okay? Someday you'll find out too."
She could no longer speak when he joked with her to cut her off. He doesn't want to answer directly.
Trake left the kitchen with the viand and rice he had cooked and prepared for them. He started calling out to their friends to start their dinner. She just continued washing as well. She sighed. She got no solid answer from him. Why is he hiding it from her?
***
It's 12:55 AM. She's still curious about the shadow so she went to sleep earlier and woke up tonight. It's good that she slept already, for she won't fall asleep while on a patrol. If she doesn't see anything now, she will give up.
Not long after, it's already 1:00 AM! She was not too surprised, but she admits that she is strained. She stared at what she was seeing right now. She used to think that maybe one of the six of them was just pretending and pranking, but they weren't. They couldn't see if there was a rope hanging outside the window because it had grilles. All she knows now is that the shadow that strikes every morning at 1:00 AM is real because... I-It's in front of her now!
Heavien opened the window quickly and even with grilles, she used a broom and slammed it out the window if she hit anything, and there it is! She can feel that she hit a soft, cloth-like material. She hit it again.
"Whaaa!"
She was startled that something had fallen from above. As it was falling, she saw a stuffed toy. She can't clearly see it because the main source of light that she has is only the moonlight. It would be no big problem if it were a simple stuffed toy.
But it's not an ordinary stuffed toy or teddy bear or whatever. It's a stuffed toy that looks like Neinuko! The same Neinuko that seems like a hybrid of a cat and dog that they encountered in the forest and near the river. They look exactly the same, but this one is smaller than the real Neinuko because it was just a stuffed toy.
She is sure of it, even if she only saw that for a quick moment. She closed the window frantically. She still wondered about what happened. Why is there a Neinuko stuffed toy there? She sat on her bed for a moment to ponder the mysteries going on inside and outside the mansion.
First, there is an extra boy's room. Second, an extra seat in the dining area. Third, there is a shadow at the window. Fourth, that shadow appears exactly at one o'clock in the morning only.
Heavien kept thinking until she realized something. If her answer is right, she needs to see it one more time. And ask why it is provoking and why it doesn't even want to expose itself. If it turned out to be a correct hunch, it must be outside the mansion and can't get in, that's why it is sneaking through their windows.
She mustered her courage. She opened the window again and shouted.
"Hey! Show yourself. I know you're the mysterious shadow!" Nothing happened, so she shouted again. "Oy, show yourself up! I'm not afraid of you!"
"Shhh! Shhh! Don't be loud!" he is shushing her, so she calmed down.
"W-Why are you f-floating?!" she's flustered, pointing at him standing in front of her outside her window.
"Floating? Hahaha! Of course, I have a harness. Here it is." And he actually showed her the harness he was referring to.
"What are you doing?"
He took a cement or steel drill from his pocket.
"I'm headin' into your room," he spoke eagerly, and the engine started to make noise.
"What?!"
"I should've made this a long time ago. I waited for one of you to find out who's behind the spooky shadow, hihi," he muttered as he continued to smash the grilles of her window.
He broke her window grilles with the proper width and length where a person can fit to enter her room. He threw the grilles he broke on her window behind him and stepped onto her bed to enter her room.
"Why are you here?" she interrogated.
She is uneasy about this boy.
What is he planning? And why is he here?!
He shook himself first and arranged his school uniform. Yes, he is also wearing a school uniform like theirs, but she's never seen one like this among them.
She was unsurprised that he was also in uniform like them. Even though she knows that he is the one who makes the shadow, she still can't believe what she's witnessing right now. She doesn't know how he was able to convince them that he was gone. She has no clue what his purpose is, that he's here in front of her in her room.
He stood up straight and tapped the remaining debris he had on his pants.
"Heh, I'm here to play level 3." He showed her an arrogant smirk.