Prologue

“I don’t want Tomoka to marry that man named Sada. I want you to break them up.”

Ensho (real name: Shinya Sugawara) and I stood in silent shock at the kimono-clad woman’s declaration. I felt the temperature in the office drop. It must’ve been because of the chilly aura she was exuding.

Sorry for the abrupt start. My name is Katsuya Komatsu, and I’m a detective. (I’ve always wanted to do an introduction like this, so I’m a bit giddy now.) That said, my job is a lot different from the detectives you see in books and on TV. Background checks make up the bulk of the work. My specialty is internet-based investigations, so lately, I’ve been receiving more requests to identify people who are committing online slander. It makes me realize that this is the time we live in.

Still, it’s hard to live on detective work alone, so I recently took on game programming as a side job. Ironically, it pays better than my main job. In my defense, part of the reason it’s hard to keep the detective office running is the high rent. The Komatsu Detective Agency is located in Gion, south of Kiyamachi-Shijo. I like it here in this renovated wooden townhouse, but unfortunately, the location makes it too expensive.

Several people told me I should’ve gotten a different place, and I agree. This townhouse was originally inhabited by past clients of mine. They were looking for someone to rent it, and I went along with it. It was right after I’d gained fame from solving a big case in Kyoto, so business was booming at the time, with requests coming in right and left. That was why I got ahead of myself and thought an office in Gion was a good idea.

Sadly, as history has taught us time and time again, nothing in this world lasts forever. I probably had it coming, seeing as it wasn’t even me who’d solved the big case. I took the credit and reveled in success, only for my revenue to drop like a rock. Such are the ups