Holmes and Watson 1 (Patreon)

Holmes and Watson - or ‘In a world of Frequent Murders, I have to be the quick-witted one for my own ass’ sake' (Detective Conan, SI)

Who is John Bukharin?

A question not many wondered about due to the fact that not many knew his background story. Everyone but one would agree that he was just the ‘token foreign character’ that was common to find in prestigious schools.

Teitan High School was, after all, a renowned institute with many good names coming from it. Mostly detectives and… mostly people that were quite famous for their intelligence, may it be on the analytical or the tactical kind.

But the one individual that stood out from the rest that knew there was more to it was…

John Bukharin himself. Which is me.

I know, no one likes to hear people treat themselves in third-person, but my case was not one of ‘elevation’. I was trying to set myself in an objective manner within a situation that is… quite perplexing.

De-aged, dimensionally swapped, and clearly set up to be a denizen of this ‘similar yet different’ world. It didn’t take me too long to know where I was for a few reasons- specifically the lengthy list of murders happening in Tokyo during the last two-three decades compared to the one back home.

I was in Detective Conan and… this sucks.

It is fine to play with the memes of ‘being Conan’s friends is tantamount to courting death in Xianxia’ but being part of this universe was not going to be fun. After all, I could as well become a target of someone wanting to take me out. I was no main character, I didn’t have secondary character status, and I definitely wasn’t even a background character.

So, my situation was relatively precarious at the time. Not the best, not the worst- but, worse of anything before now, far from safe.

And if anyone thinks that this is a massive assumption on how this world tends to work, well… I have proof of this. It’s been a week since I got a new life, a new house, a new documentation and a new high school life- and now I also have a new case in my hands as an accident occurred to one Tomoaki Araide earlier this morning.

As the basketball coach was making his way to the external training field, he had been pushed off a pile of stairs and onto some foam material that he had been moving for a while. His head and upper body was spared by the accident, but he broke his left leg, ensuing a quick trip to the hospital and quite the commotion on who could have done this.

Some were quick to call this a murder attempt and, to many external viewers, that may be the case due to how ‘easy’ it was for it to be a thing… but I knew better since I had been tracking down all students in class to prevent any surprises in this regard.

Just because I was at school - the same school and classroom as Mouri Ran, Suzuki Sonoko and Sera Masumi at that - that didn’t spare me from potential criminal issues such as this one. And I knew who was behind this very crime as the main culprit had set herself up due to the amateurish work she put forth in this very ‘cunning’ plan of hers.

The very classroom was missing a lesson as the current biology teacher, Goya Mutsumi, was staring blankly at her papers, knowing her potential boyfriend was currently being treated after that near-death experience.

She had been rumored to be close to the coach and that they had been dating… which made her a potential suspect- but actually the main reason for this crime’s happening.

“It was Sato Kuroki.”

My voice was not too loud, but my words managed to bring most of the chatting in the classroom to an absolute silence as the theorizing being engaged by most of the students came to an end by my own flat admission. I could feel eyes on me, but I forced myself to keep on my gaze over the few lines of the good book I was reading.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was indeed a good read- not one many would expect a Japanese student to go for, but one that a foreign student was more than expected to deal with.

“B-Bukharin-san?” I could hear Goya-sensei mutter, surprised by this development. “What do you mean it was Sato-san?”

“Wait, why would it be Kuroki-chan?” I heard some of the girls questioning. “She really likes Araide-sensei.”

“That’s right, she is crushing on the guy,” I also heard Sonoko point out. “Nee, Bukharin, did you forget that?”

“I did not. But it would be wrong to assume she tried to kill him. After all, she knew that he would have survived.”

More silence, then I heard a voice from behind. “She didn’t plan to kill him… then why did she hurt him like that?”

Masumi. I turned to the book’s next page before continuing my explanation.

“She decided to hurt him physically so he wouldn’t be around to either stop her or hurt him emotionally. After all, she is still out to murder a single target. Goya-sensei.”

The teacher tensed up, I could just hear her chair shift and grind backward at the revelation.

“M-Me?”

“Sensei, I don’t wish for this to be how you reveal the truth to the world, but would it be correct to say that you and Araide-sensei have been working on a relationship outside of school hours?”

…

“Yes, but- but no one here knows.”

“Not if they are not stalking Araide-sensei already.”

A new voice came up. Ran. “Wait, didn’t we see Kuroki-chan follow Araide-sensei around a few days ago?”

“Yeah, she was but… she didn’t look like she was planning something big,” Sonoko remarked in agreement.

“That’s because she had all intentions to appear ‘harmless’. A background check on Kuroki-san’s family would open up a few displeasing facts. Her mother died during childbirth, her father is a heavy alcoholic and she was many times set up in foster care. From previous reports about her elementary school’s teachers, she is quite the ‘loner’, hardly socializing and merely ‘staring blankly at others’. I am no psychologist, but I have a theory that she is a yandere and a sociopath. The former is a form of obsession towards someone, Araide-sensei, and a deep hatred for anything that can be seen by her as an obstacle, such as Goya-sensei. In this regard, she had plotted to have Araide-sensei removed from the school for the next few hours, and then deal with Goya-sensei.”

“But how would that plan have gone through?”

I nodded at Masumi’s fair question. “A quick look at her current desk may help.”

And I can tell they did as-

“It’s empty,” Ran pointed out. “But she is at school, right?”

“She is, and she asked to go to the toilet as soon as Goya-sensei entered the classroom. Using this opportunity, she rushed to where Araide-sensei was and pushed him without him noticing. Kuroki then rushed to the bathroom, where she is right now, switching to a disguise for what is to come,” I answered in great detail. “Goya-sensei’s pain is expected, enough that it is clear you were thinking of checking on her once class was over and, in a sense of kinship, connect with her and find strength to overcome the sorrow. This is expected by Kuroki as she is alone in the bathroom and waiting for you to come to her. Once there, she will have the means to use the tool she chose for the killing, perhaps a kitchen knife, and kill you in the bathroom. Once that’s done, she would rush out of the school in her disguise, leading the police to struggle to identify her.”

“And in turn she would have the chance to then console Araide-sensei, thus getting his trust. Considering her closeness to him and her role as an assistant to the coach, she has access to the storage room for the sport-related clubs- thus all uniforms that could be used to appear as a male could be used to make it seem like it was a male student behind the crime.”

I nodded at Masumi’s extensive comment on the topic, adding a few much-needed details I had skipped myself but… I found it to be relevant to skip a few questions.

“This is so… so horrible,” Goya-sensei quietly muttered.

At this, I put a bookmark and closed the book itself as I looked up at the woman. She was distraught, eyes filling with tears at the horrid scenario.

“Regardless of the situation, due to the circumstances that any option may highlight with Kuroki’s current stay at the bathroom, I would suggest to call the police on the guise of this being a potential suicide case.”

Shock erupted in the classroom.

“W-What? But- But why!?” Sonoko sounded quite shocked by this. “You just said that Kuroki may be a murderer.”

“She may be one. At the moment, I can only muster a rather reasonable doubt, but not enough to call the police as they are the best solution to this awkward situation. A potential suicide situation will be listened with more interest. The police have to intervene in those situations and by mentioning that the student in question has a knife they will be ready for it. Which is why I suggest you do that now Sensei. Go to the Principal’s office, mention this matter, have him call the police for the chance of a suicide soon happening and let them handle this.”

The woman nodded quickly, standing up and giving a serious look to the class as she dried up her tears with her arm.

“S-Students. Stay put as I contact the principal and… and see this solved.”

Everyone nodded and soon what would have been just a turbulent school day turned out to be a skipped day altogether. The police arrived and the officers dispatched successfully arrested Kuroki. As expected, the girl had been caught trying to lay an ambush, but panicked with the cops.

She got arrested, sent to be ‘checked out’ for her mental instability and… school was over for the day. The media would try to get there to garner some understanding of what really happened, but I was long gone at that point. Walking the streets, making my way back home.

The only issue there was someone that had tagged along against my will.

“Sera-san, why are you following me?”

Without a book to distract me, I couldn’t exactly ignore the smiling tomboy that had decided to walk beside me.

“It was awesome!” Masumi beamed in delight. “So, are you planning to be a detective too?”

“Nope.”

…

…

“WHAT?! But you were amazing with that analytical thought. You were like Sherlock Holmes and it all made sense! Heck, the police will definitely confirm that you were right.”

“And I wasn’t there for the ‘fun’ of it. Considering the situation, I just moved to prevent a murder. That’s all.”

“Well, I think you would be a fine detective and…” She grinned a bit more. “I will keep an eye on you from now on.”

And then she just left. I had just one thought in mind at this as I knew I triggered a bit of a ‘red flag’ about this.

Fuck me sideways… I will become a detective now for plot-driven reasons, will I?

—--------d-d-d-d—----

AN

While the ‘Template’ behind the detective work is based on Sherlock Holmes, the twist is that the MC will move for a ‘Dr. House’ shift to it. Gritty, distrusting and yet extremely effective despite some bad rep coming forth due to his abrasive approach. Nonetheless, he has a Watson to smooth things out and she will pull the ‘successful Wilson’ on this ‘drug-free House’.