Hyde stared at a bulletin board In the school's hallway which had various advertisements for clubs and news pinned for all to see. He felt someone gently grasp his bandaged hand and looked down to see Hoka with a worried look on her face.

"It's just a minor scrat- yeouch!" He pulled his hand away when she squeezed it. "That's not funny."

She wasn't trying to be funny. She was scolding him for being reckless. Hyde dropped a sweat "So Yamiko told you everything huh…"

She needed to. Oscar was kidnapped and had been missing ever since. Hoka frowned fearing she was next.

"I'm going to get stronger to protect you. I won't fail like last time." Hyde said with confidence. Hoka held out her pinky, a promise?

Hyde groaned and made a promise to the girl, to not be reckless in his pursuit of strength. She smiled as bright as the sun. Her purity nearly blinded Hyde, his face blushing slightly red.

"O-ok you can go now." Hyde turned his attention back to the board. Hoka tilted her head curiously. Hyde sighed "I'm looking for a club to join. The principal wants me to get along better with the other students."

Hoka crossed her arms not fully understanding why he needed to make more friends. Hyde scratched the back of his head explaining the fight with Nakata and afterwards. The delinquent spread rumors about Hyde trying to get other students to pester him but it didn't work. Instead the other students thought of Hyde as a stuck up smart kid.

It is ridiculous. Hyde barely talked, even to Mary, Ibuki and Mikael. "I wonder if anyone from Noble Third is here…"

"Hey what's happenin'. " Mikael (without his hat surprisingly) approached them along with Mary and Ibuki.

Hyde pointed to the board. "Club."

Mikael snapped his fingers. "You're right! We should join a club. But which one..?"

There were a few interesting clubs to join. Band, magic study, and book club. However what drew Mikael's eye was the bodybuilding club. Written in bold was 'NEED MORE MEMBERS'. Out of all the clubs listed, this would be the most useful to their detective job. So they agreed to joining it all together and headed to the gym.

The gym was largely empty with only 2 students in the back of the room beside a cardboard box with some weight lifting equipment taken from home. They were doing slow squats and didn't even greet the novice detectives.

Hyde approached them "Uhh, hey?"

"Come to join… or watch?" One of the boys said in between breaths.

"We came to join." Mikael answered. There was an awkward brief pause before the boy spoke again.

"Join our squats then… we're having competition."

Mikael looked at Hyde and the boy shrugged.

"I'm Yurobei by the way…" Yurobei had sunglasses resting on his black short hair. "My friend here is...Chihiro."

"S-stop talking bro! My legs are starting to shake!" Chihiro said loudly.

There wasn't much to say, only exercises to do. The novice detectives joined them in their conquest for muscle and strength. Together they formed a bond as steel through hot and sweaty action.

────── 〔✿〕──────

Midare sat in her chair bored out of her mind. The pile of documents rested beside her laptop, flapping in the corner from the ceiling fan's winds. Her quiet peace was interrupted by Yamiko and Lambda entering with a yellow envelope in each of their hands.

Lambda slammed the door shut behind her causing the pile of documents to scatter, "Thank goodness you're awake. We discovered a loooot."

Midare looked at the papers on the floor then back to the two who interrupted her peace (specifically Lambda). The wannabe maid felt a shiver down her spine and quickly kneeled down to pick up the mess she made. "So so sorry." She muttered.

Yamiko waved the envelope "This was recovered from Elite's body. I managed to convince the police department… to hand it over for… safety concerns." She handed it to Midare.

Opening and digging inside, Midare took out two leaves. Yamiko continued "It was on his head… in his hair. I'm sure you know what it is."

"A tanuki leaf…" Midare returned it to the envelope. "This will be useful."

"I'm surprised… you are not upset."

Midare rested the envelope on her desk. "I am, but I'm more concerned with the next suspect. I've been hearing rumors about the famous magician, Morren, doing more than just magic tricks."

Lambda perked up. "I know about that too! Supposedly he's been accidentally killing people during his talent shows and mailing their body parts to people."

Midare stood up. "Not just anyone. He has been mailing them to anyone who might pose a threat to him." She then shrugged with a sly smirk "But those are just rumors."

"Just rumors? It has to be somewhat true." Lambda said. Midare snickered at her naivety. There's more to a case than what's on the surface and despite having a lot of clues, they still needed to prove to the world that Morren is the culprit. For now Midare needed to find the source of who was mailing the body parts. "For all we know, the true culprit is just using Morren as a front."

"How are we going to find out who the true culprit is then?" Lambda questioned while returning the papers to her desk.

Midare sat on the edge of her desk. "We give him a little push. Put ourselves on his radar and the rest is up to me."

Yamiko closed her eyes. "You can't do everything… by yourself. Hyde, Mary and Mikael need training too."

Midare instinctively furrowed her brow. Her body stiffened at the thought of including the novice detectives she hired. They would just get in the way but they had to learn from an experienced detective. She relaxed and made her way to the door. "Lambda, get me the details on Morren's next show. Yamiko, come with me."

Lambda nodded firmly "Ok Midare-senpai!"

Yamiko followed Midare out of the room, "Glad I could… change your mind."

Midare grew a wide smirk, "Kukuku, I have my reasons."

────── 〔✿〕──────

Hyde returned to the dormitory lobby looking around. He and Mikael couldn't figure out where Yamiko was. Moments like this when Yamiko was missing from her counter spelled confusion for the two.

"You think this is a test of some sort?" Mikael questioned. Hyde shrugged and rubbed his shoulder "Dunno… my body is too sore to be fighting."

Then the doors opened and Midare came stomping in, darting towards Hyde. She grabbed him by his collar ranting and shaking him.

"That was really stupid of you to go off on your own like that! Putting everyone's lives at jeopardy because you were bored? Give me a break."

She threw him like a wet rag, so light and easy to control. He flew back into the couch nearly making the furniture flip. Mikael looked at Hyde then Midare "Huh?!"

Hyde rolled off the couch on the floor groaning. Either he was really weak or Midare was super strong. Was this the full extent of her power? His thoughts about power scaling were interrupted when he felt something on his chest. An envelope.

He tore the top open and inside was a folded bundle of yen. A sigh of relief escaped his mouth. "Thanks boss…" he wheezed.

Midare shoved Mikael's paycheck in his hands then crossed her arms. "Since you're so antsy I have no choice but to involve you in the next investigation."

"Really!?" Mikael exclaimed.

"Unfortunately." Midare said, "You will have to follow my every direction. Got it?"

"Y-yes!" Mikael said confidently.

Mary entered the scene rubbing her eyes and holding a pillow. "Why are you all so loud? I heard A loud thud and Mikael screaming."

"You're too relaxed about this." Hyde thought.

Midare tossed her paycheck towards her feet then started to explain the details of the next case. As said before, they needed to put themselves on Morren's map. Afterwards Midare needed Hyde's group to follow the blood trail and take photos of the people involved in mailing the body parts. Why take photos? So she can send them to the police department.

"How will that help us? Aren't they the ones needing help?" Mikael asked.

Hyde dropped a sweat "My group?"

Midare ignored Hyde's comment and answered, "Apparently that Noble Third group was hired by them. I have a feeling the director did this to intervene with the way I handle my cases. I'll have to see her about that…"

Midare shook off the thought for now. "Having control over what happens is key. That's why I'm dragging Noble Third into my problem. Unlike us, they're more recognizable and they'll inevitably cross paths with Morren publicly."

"The way you explain your plan is confusing." Hyde didn't see how he fit into this but placed his trust in Midare to include them in one way or another. He could finally rest knowing that good things were coming his way.