Newscaster: — Up next, new developments in the Mitakihara Homeless Serial killings case, after the shock arrest of an American expatriate late last night—

Anisa: (she enters the room, carefully carrying a large pile of sketchbooks and pencil cases for her first sessions as an art teacher) Hey, where did you put my reference books? I’m doing this thing where students have to draw a self-portrait in the style mimicking that of a famous artist—

Toi: (she hushes her roommate, waving dismissively with her hand as her eyes are glued to the screen)

Anisa: Since when do you watch the morning news?

Newscaster: — spokesperson for Mitakihara Police Department has now confirmed rumours of the sudden breakthrough in this case, which has been under investigation for several months, originating from a sole key witness statement by a high school girl —

Anisa: (she puts down the supplies on their dining room table) … You’ve gotta be kidding me.

Toi: Guess she really was onto something, huh.

Anisa sits down on the couch as a police spokesperson appears on the screen, hosting what seems to be a press conference.

Newscaster: — “will only be referred to as “April”, out of concern for the witness’ privacy. While we were initially highly skeptical of April’s call, she proceeded to describe the suspect she had confronted in a way that matched the evidence our detectives had been working” —

Anisa: “April”. The now of spring. Ko–Haru. My God.

Toi: What the hell are they doing? That’s a student of mine! Since when do police talk about key witness statements to the press?

Anisa: (she scoffs) It’s PR. This is a fun story. The high school girl detective that helped the police catch a serial killer. Makes the cops look good, like they’re willing to cooperate with civilians and reward their efforts. They can spin it for positive press, which is… something they could use right now.

Newscaster: — “in great detail”. (the spokesman suddenly pauses as another man in a suit walks up to him and whispers something into his ear) “I see … Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to announce that the suspect that has been taken into custody has confessed to fifty-three murders of civilians in Mitakihara City. We will share more details as they arrive”—

Toi: There’s… no way she actually caught that killer red-handed, is there? (she gets up from the couch) I need to talk to her. This is shady.

Anisa: I think she’ll be the first to back you up on that.

Toi: What do you mean?

Anisa: I think this might be a setup. And if Miss Shirahara is involved, there’s almost certainly something magical going on with this case. You don’t get away with killing fifty-three people for so long without having signed your name under the Incubator’s pact.

Toi: … Malefica?

Anisa: If only. But I think we’d know if there were another one. The Hierarchy wouldn’t have let me sleep if they could remind me of another abomination like that running around. (she sighs) … I can’t dive into my memories anymore, though. Miss Segawa has completely reformatted them, as was our arrangement. Still… We can’t just sit on our butts and be teachers, can we?

Newcaster: — viral internet memes and even fanart of “Ace Detective April” —

Toi: We have no powers, no memories and no Bureau. What do we even do?

Anisa: What Yui Arashi told us to do, I suppose. Ask around, and see what we can do to help.