[x] Quickly take her back to your room.

I took a moment to catch my breath. It helped that this Cirno girl was quite light, but it was still quite a long trip from the kitchen to my room in the second floor. After dropping her on my bed, I quickly locked the door and shut the curtains.

"There," I said. "We won't be interrupted in here. Now where was I?"

Cirno shaked and shivered as she looked at me. Her eyes were still on the kitchen knives, which I had tucked on my belt earlier. She looked terrified.

"Uuu.. (hic).. uwaa..."

Oh right. Now that I thought about it, I had just carried a little girl bound in ropes all the way back to my room. It didn't help at all that the first thing I did was lock the door and close the curtains. And who could forget that I was carrying a couple of sharp and dangerous implements.

"Erm.." I muttered. I took a moment to think. The last thing I wanted was for this girl to start screaming. Hmm, maybe I should replace the gag? But then, that would really make me look like a suspicious person, wouldn't it? In any case, I should first try to calm her down. I cleared my throat and gave her a big smile.

"So Cirno," said I. "Why don't we start over? My name is..."

"Uwaa... (hic).. uuu! P-please don't eat me! C-Cirno doesn't taste good! And... and she doesn't wanna get murdered! Uuuu.. (hic)... uuu.."

It was worse than I thought. Hmm. I pulled out both knives and put them inside a nearby drawer. Then, I showed her my open, empty palms.

"I'm not going to eat you, alright?"

"W-why should I believe you?"

"Well... if I was going to eat you, then I'd have to chop you up and cook you first. Humans don't like raw food, you know. But since we aren't in the kitchen, I can't just cook you right now. I'm not allowed to cook in the bedrooms, you see. And if you aren't cooked, I can't eat you. We can therefore assume that I'm not going to eat you."

"Uuu.. (hic)..."

She looked up at me for several seconds. I did my best to keep a straight face. This couldn't possibly work, but I couldn't really think up any better idea. It looked like I'd have to gag her again soon and -

"R-right," she said. "T-that's right! You can't eat me even if you wanted to! I-I knew that! Did you really think that I'd be eaten by some stupid human? You can't eat me, cause I'm.. uh.."

"The strongest?" I suggested as I wiped the tears off her face.

"Exactly! And you can't beat the strongest!"

She had that proud, confident smile again. It was almost like she had forgotten that she was tied up. But in any case, this was a good chance for me.

"So Cirno," I said. "What did you mean earlier about a 'perfect crime'? I mean, I'm only asking you because you're the strongest.."

Her smile grew wider. She puffed up her chest as she spoke.

"Hmph! That was a simple task for me! Do you want to learn from Cirno's Perfect Murder Class? Fufufu~"

Was she serious? I can't see a girl this dim to be capable of setting up a murder plot, much less a perfect murder. I barely kept a straight face as I answered.

"Of course! I'd love to learn from Cirno-sensei!"

"Then listen carefully: there are nine things needed for a perfect murder!"

She cleared her throat and lowered her voice.

"The first is to have no entry point. Like a room that has all its windows and doors frozen shut from the inside! There isn't any obvious way that the culprit could use to get in or out! Extra points if you can convince them that the culprit isn't human!"

"Next is to have no murder weapon. Like using a knife made out of ice to stab someone, then letting it melt away before the body is discovered! Before looking for a suspect, they can't even figure out how he was killed."

"And the last is to have no victim. Like finding the body hanging from a rope by the neck without any chair or stool nearby. As long as you leave some water there, they'll think he jumped off an ice block that had melted! Closed case suicide!"

I scratched my head. What the hell was she talking about? Besides...

"Didn't you say there were nine things? You only mentioned three."

"Heh," said Cirno. "Of course you don't get it! You're just a stupid human, after all."

She stuck out her tongue at me. Oh wow. Cirno was really asking for it! I had half the mind to start stripping off her clothes until she told me what I needed to know. Hmm? That idea wasn't half bad, actually. I slowly approached her, a wide grin upon my face. Even without words, she somehow sensed the danger and started squirming backward.

"W-wait! You can't eat me, you know? S-so don't come too close! Ah! If you come in any closer, I-I'll..."

"Do what?" said I. "Freeze me? I certainly doubt it."

I put my hand on her neck ribbon and easily pulled it off. Her eyes widened in surprise. She didn't even struggle. Cirno just stared back at me, her eyes starting to tear up again.

"Do you feel like telling me the truth, now? Or perhaps you're actually enjoying this, I wonder.."

"Uuu.. (hic).. Uwaa..."

Then, I put my hand on top of her shoulders and slowly started pulling down the sides of her dress. For some reason, I was beginning to enjoy this. Maybe I should go a bit further and really teach this girl what 'punishment' meant...

"Knock! Knock! Knock!"

And just like that, my fun was over. I quickly wrapped the gag around her mouth. Then, I looked around quickly. Who knows what they would do to me if they saw this? Ah, there! I lifted her up and stuffed her into my closet. Then, I dropped her ribbon in her lap.

"Mmph!"

I gave her a smile that was both toothy and menacing.

"Be quiet now," I said. "Hush now, little girl..."

I closed the closet quickly before calling out to the door.

"Coming~"

That knock was familiar. It reminded me of someone...
[ ] Sounds like Sakuya.
[ ] Sounds like Koakuma.
[ ] Not quite sure.