[x] Flandre
[x] I trust her completely.

"Flandre? May I come in? It's me."

I knocked a few times before pushing the door open. The little sister was on her bed, lying on her stomach. She held a thick book in her hands under a nearby reading lamp. It looked like something she picked out only recently. As I closed the door shut behind me, her wings flapped a bit. The sound of her gems echoed in the room. But she didn't turn around. Instead, she just flipped to the next page.

"Umm, Flan?"

"Give me two and a half minutes," she said.

She didn't even glance at me as she spoke. Well, at least she acknowledged my presence. I approached her and took a seat at the side of her bed. From here, I couldn't see exactly what she was reading, but I could tell from her eyes that she was taking it very seriously. Did she pick up a new book from the Voile library? Hmm. In any case, that wasn't my concern right now. I waited patiently until she finally put down her book. Then, I glanced at my watch. Indeed, exactly two minutes and thirty seconds had passed.

"Sorry about that," she said, turning to me. "This one is a good read. Maybe I'll lend to you after I'm done, ehehe~"

"Is that so? Well, I look forward to it."

Flandre stared at me quietly for a while. She had a smile on her face, but her eyes didn't match it. Seemed like she was carefully examining my face. Did she notice my unease? I cleared my throat nervously. It wasn't like I was going to hide anything from her, but at times like these, I felt like she was reading me like an open book. Yes, I was sure that she had seen something. And she got straight to the point when she finally spoke.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "Your movements are off-beat. Stomach trouble?"

I sighed heavily as I formed the words in my head.

"Well, how do I explain this..."

I told her everything I could recall from when I discovered Cirno in the kitchen up to the time I finally returned to my room this afternoon. Flandre remained quiet for the most part, only asking questions about certain details. She asked things like, 'What time was it when you got to the kitchen?', 'Did you meet anyone besides Sakuya on the way to the library?', and 'When did you put your room key in your pocket?'. Those were the normal questions, anyway. She also asked a few really strange ones, like 'Was her dress damp when you first found her?', 'Did you take the knives from the top going down, or the other way around?', and 'Was the door handle warm to the touch when you got back?'. Of course, I had no idea how to answer those. And by the time I finally finished, I realized that it took almost half an hour describing the case to her.

"I see," she said. "A very strange taste for this season, isn't it?"

"Hey, Flan?"

There was something else that bothered me. I took a moment to clear my throat before I spoke.

"This whole time I've been talking," said I. "Not once did you blame me for acting stupid or perverted. You didn't ask if I might be imagining things or taking strange substances. And neither did you question if I had any evidence, or if I was even telling the truth. Why is that?"

She looked up at me, surprised.

"Are you stupid or something," Flandre said. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Huh?"

"I trust you. Why would I need proof? Isn't it normal to believe in your friends?"

She said it all without any hesitation. I wasn't sure how to react to this. But for some reason, I felt something tighten in my chest. Then, she nodded to herself and stood up from the bed.

"This seems interesting, so I'll help," said Flandre. "The next move must be made quickly. This is enough talk for now. You should head back upstairs."

"Eh? Why?"

The little sister turned around and gave me a sly smile.

"'I've already decided," she said. "I'll be joining you at the dinner table tonight."

[ ] "This is a bad idea, Flan."
[ ] "I understand. Be careful, though."
[ ] "A dangerous move. Let's go together."