Chapter 6

“Tara, dali! Dito!”

Hatak-hatak kaming dalawa ni Akane dahil late na kami. Ni wala nga akong idea kung ano ang first class namin. Hindi ko na sila natanong kagabi dahil nakatulog agad kami. Na-guilty tuloy ako dahil nadala ko rito ang sumpa ng pagiging late ko at mukhang nahawaan ko pa silang dalawa.

“Saan ba ang class natin at ano?” I asked while we were running. Si Riye, mukhang hinihika na dahil namumutla na siya.
“Kioku building. Basic Knowledge and Logic,” halos pabulong na sagot ni Riye.

Pagdating namin doon ay agad kaming pumasok at kinabahan pa ako dahil baka marami nang estudyante. Saka ko naalala na by family pala ang classes kaya anim lang kami sa klase. Nandoon na ang tatlong lalaki saka si Ma’am Castro . . .

Wait . . . huh? Bakit nandito si Ma’am Castro?!

“Hi, girls! You are 11 minutes and 16 seconds late. Please take your seats.”

Umupo naman agad kami at dahil modelled sa Japan ang school na ‘to ay may kasamang table ang seats namin. Doon ako pumwesto sa left side, katabi ng bintana, at sa kanan ko naman umupo si Riye. I was still surprised to see Ma’am Castro in front of me. It felt like I still had a connection to my life outside this campus.

“I assume all of you know Akemi by now, right? She’s your new member and I’m really glad that she’s in Atama,” she cheerfully said.

Lalong nagmukhang bata ang itsura ni Ma’am Castro dahil sa suot niya. Noong nasa St. Joseph kasi siya ay lagi siyang naka-teacher’s uniform pero ngayon ay parang pang-teenager ang porma niya. She was wearing a sleeveless shirt and ripped jeans. I checked her eyes to confirm what I saw before even though I already expected it and whoa . . . her eyes were really green. Hindi nga hallucination ‘yon!

“Oh, Akemi, don’t call me Ma’am Castro anymore. My name’s Reina,” sabi niya saka siya tumingin sa aming lahat. “And I’m your new professor in Basic Knowledge and Logic. Sir Eiichi decided to retire this year.”
“Boring kasi magturo si Sir, eh. Buti naman,” bulong ni Ken at nakatanggap siya ng batok galing kay Akane dahil nasa likuran niya siya.
“Aray! Ano na namang problema mo?” sabay lingon ni Ken.
“Anong boring? Paanong ‘di ka mabo-bore, eh simula pa lang ng klase, tulog ka na agad!”
“Ha! Kasi nga boring!”

Napangiti naman ako dahil sa kanilang dalawa. Ang cute nilang tignan at mukhang close talaga sila sa isa’t isa.

“Okay, that’s enough. Let’s start the class. Don’t worry, I’ll make this subject as exciting as it could be. Okay?” sabi niya habang nakatingin nang nakakaloko kay Ken.

She paced in front of us and I pulled out my notebook. Na-excite tuloy ako bigla na gamitin ‘to.

“So before we start, i-e-explain ko muna kay Akemi ang mundong pinasok niya,” Ma’am Reina said and for a second, I felt scared. “Tantei is the Japanese word for detective.”

Sinulat ko naman agad ‘yon sa notebook. Kaya pala Tantei High ang tawag sa school na ‘to.
“Here, you will develop your abilities and skills to be a good detective. Tantei High is actually a secret organization created to help the police force in solving crimes from all over the world. With the help of our sixth senses, we can easily determine the details, clues and even the motives of people compared to humdrums. In addition, this is the virtue of Shinji, the core of his principles. He wanted Senshins to use their sixth sense for helping . . . for saving the world.”

I was astounded by what she just said and I could feel the excitement in my blood. We’re training to be detectives. Cool! Mas gusto ko ‘to kaysa sa pag-aaral sa ordinary schools. Bigla ko tuloy na-imagine ang sarili ko na naka-detective attire.

“And one trait of a detective is this,” she said while pointing at her temple. “Their logical mind. They can easily connect small details to know the bigger events. They can quickly process the information they have gathered to determine the murderer, the method and even the motive. That’s why I’m here—to help you develop your logical and critical thinking, and my favorite way of testing my students . . . is this.”

She suddenly threw something in our directions and luckily, I caught one. When I looked at it, it was a piece of cardboard and something was written on it.

“What’s this?” Ken asked.
“A code?” tanong din ni Reiji habang nakatingin sa cardboard.
“Bingo!” Ma’am Reina said while making a gun gesture. “I’ll give you ten minutes to solve this code. Raise your hand if you know the answer. Okay, timer starts now!”

Agad? Ten minutes? Seriously?

Tumingin agad ako sa message dahil ayokong mapahiya sa first day at first class ko.

SOLVE THIS CODE!
J bn bu uif upq pg fwfszuijoh,
J bn bmxbzt vtfe cz hsfbu qfpqmf,
Boe J bn uif iptu pg joufmmfdu boe sfbtpojoh,
Xibu bn J!
 
Step back if you don’t get it!
 
Grabe naman! Kaya ba ‘tong i-solve sa loob ng ten minutes? Nagpa-panic na agad ako!

Ano ba ‘tong letters na ‘to? Saan sila nagko-correspond? Isip-isip din, Rainie! Kaya mo ‘to. Kailangan ko lang mag-focus.

Napatingin ako sa nasa unahan ko, si Hiro. Bigla kasi siyang nagtaas ng kamay kaya lumapit si Ma’am Reina sa kanya at tinignan niya ang cardboard.

“Correct! One minute and six seconds. As expected from you, Hiro.”

Wait. What? Nasagutan niya ‘yon within a minute? Ano siya, halimaw? Anong klaseng utak ang meron siya?

Dahil nagpa-panic na naman ako ay kinalma ko ang sarili ko. Naalala ko tuloy si Mama. Lagi niya kasing sinasabi na kailangan kong mag-focus sa ginagawa ko kung gusto kong ma-achieve ang goal ko.

Think.

Letters and words with no meanings. For sure they really have meanings, but they were hidden. I need a clue.

Step back if you don’t get it!

Step back? Kailangan ko bang tumayo at humakbang patalikod? No. Hiro didn’t do that. Hmm. Step back . . . step back . . . back . . . wait . . .

Alphabet? Step back? I think this one made sense.

Biglang kumabog nang malakas ang puso ko at sinulat ko kaagad sa scratch paper ang alphabet, pati na rin ang symbols like dot, comma, question mark, and so on, at kinumpara ko sa nakasulat sa cardboard.

Now I know the pattern. Wow, this is exciting.

Sinulat ko sa papel ang nabuo kong senteces at may lumabas na riddle. So this was a two-level logic game. Sumakit ang ulo ko, ha. Binasa ko ulit ang nabuong sentences.

I am at the top of everything.
I am always used by great people.
And I am the host of intellect and reasoning.
What am I?

Mukhang madali lang naman pero natatakot akong magtaas ng kamay. Paano kung mali ako? Paano kung mapahiya ako? Nakakahiyang magmarunong dito.

“Ma’am! Got it!”
“Me, too.”
“Me, three!”

Bigla naman akong napatingin kina Akane, Reiji at Ken na halos sabay-sabay nagtaas ng kamay. Ma’am Reina approached them and touched their cardboards while nodding her head.

“Akane, 4 minutes and 32 seconds. Reiji, 4 minutes and 34 seconds. Ken, 4 minutes and 35 seconds.”

Bakit ang gagaling nila? Kaming dalawa na lang ni Riye ang natitira! Tinignan ko kaagad siya at bigla siyang nagtaas ng kamay kaya automatic na nagtaas din ako dahil nakakahiya kung ako na lang ang matitira.

Unang nilapitan ni Ma’am Reina si Riye at ngumiti naman siya.

“Riye, 4 minutes, 42 seconds.”

After that, she looked at me and my heart was throbbing painfully against my chest. Nang nasa harapan ko na siya ay ibinigay ko sa kanya ang cardboard at napapikit na lang ako dahil biglang kumunot ang noo niya. Hala, baka mali ang sagot ko! Ayoko na, nakakahiya!

“This is correct, Akemi. The right answer is brain. Akemi, 4 minutes and 44 seconds.”

Napadilat ako at nanghina dahil sa sinabi ni Ma’am Reina. Tama ako? As in, tama ang sagot ko?

“Wow. Congrats, Akemi! Buti ‘di ka nakalampas ng five minutes,” sabi ni Akane kaya napatingin ako sa kanya.
“Ha? Bakit? ‘Di ba hanggang ten minutes naman?”
“If you belong in Atama, you should solve codes like this in less than five minutes, or else, ililipat ka sa regular classes.”
“Ha? Seryoso?”

Buti na lang pala at nakapagtaas ako ng kamay kanina. Ayoko namang lumipat sa ibang class dahil wala akong kakilala ro’n. Pero grabe naman. Bakit hindi sinabing hanggang five minutes lang dapat? Muntik na ako ro’n, ha.

“Actually Akane, she solved the code in a span of 3 minutes and 2 seconds. Hindi lang siya nagtaas ng kamay kanina,” Ma’am Reina suddenly said and all of them looked at me.

Paano niya nalaman ‘yon? At saka napansin kong wala naman siyang kahit anong pantukoy ng oras pero alam niya ang exact time kung kailan kami natapos. Was that her sixth sense?
“Talaga? Hala, Akemi! Ikaw ang pangalawang natapos?” tanong ni Akane at bigla akong nahiya.

“Ang galing mo, nee-san.”
“Hala, tsamba lang ‘yon,” sabi ko naman dahil nanghula lang naman ako ng sagot.
“Okay, mukhang lahat naman kayo ay deserving mapasama sa Meitantei. I’m convinced and honoured. Now, I’m going to introduce myself. I’m Reina, your new professor and like you, I’m from the Atama family. My sixth sense is . . .”

Ayan na. Pakiramdam ko ay may kinalaman talaga ‘yon sa oras o panahon. Kahit noong nasa St. Joseph pa kami, sobrang strict niya sa time. ‘Di ko naman ‘yon pinapansin dati kasi parang normal lang naman ‘yon sa teachers pero nang nalaman ko ang existence ng Tantei High at sixth senses, nag-iba na ang paningin ko sa halos lahat ng bagay at tao.

“Yes, you are correct, Akemi. That’s my sixth sense. I can determine the time of an event or the creation and end of a thing or a person by simply touching them. Nang hinawakan ko ang cardboards n’yo, nalaman ko kung kailan n’yo isinulat ang sagot n’yo.”

Oh my God. Oo, namangha ako sa sixth sense niya, pero bakit alam niya ang naiisip ko? Ganito rin ang nangyari kay Hiro at Akane kanina.

“Oops. I need to dismiss you early dahil may meeting pa kami. Okay, that’s all for today. See you tomorrow!” sabi niya. Bigla na lang siyang umalis sa room at iniwan niya kami roong nakatulala.
“Ang cool talaga ng sixth sense niya,” sabi naman ni Akane at kinulit na niya si Riye.

Ako naman, nakatulala pa rin. Bakit hindi sila nagulat nang sinabi ni Ma’am na tama ako kahit wala naman akong sinasabi? Lalo lang sumasakit ang ulo ko. Ano bang nangyayari?

Bago ko pa maituloy ang pag-iisip ko ay bigla akong hinatak ni Akane dahil pupunta raw kami sa Central Plaza. Mamaya pa naman kasi ang next class namin. Balak ko sana silang tanungin ni Riye tungkol sa mind reading pero nahihiya ako.

I glanced at them and saw them chuckling while looking at me. Hindi ko tuloy alam kung may nagawa ba akong nakakahiya o ano. Simula nang pumasok ako rito ay hindi na nakapagpahinga ang utak ko at lumala ang anxiety ko.

Pagdating namin sa plaza ay hinatak nila ako sa pinakagilid na part malapit sa gubat dahil nandoon daw ang stall ng masarap na ice cream. Ewan ko ba, ang aga-aga pero ice cream kaagad ang gusto nilang kainin. We were just a few meters away from the stall when something caught my attention. May nahagip ang mata ko na anino sa pagitan ng mga puno sa gubat at kinilabutan ako nang makita kong nakatingin siya sa akin.

I was just about to tell them that but the person suddenly ran away.

“Akemi!”

I heard Akane’s voice but I didn’t look at her. Tumakbo ako papunta sa direksyon ng taong ‘yon pero nagulat ako nang makita ko si Akane sa gilid ko.

“Anong ginagawa mo?!” pagalit niyang tanong habang tumatakbo kami.
“May nakita akong anino kanina ro’n,” sabay turo ko sa gubat. “He was looking at us tapos bigla siyang tumakbo.”
“This way! I can hear his footsteps,” sabi naman ni Akane kaya sinundan ko siya. “But how did you see that person? Ang layo no’n!”
“What? Kita naman, ah!” sagot ko at nakita ko na naman ang anino. “There!” I yelled while pointing at his direction.
“Oh, God, Akemi! I knew it! That! That is your sixth sense!”

Nang marinig ko ‘yon ay napahinto ako at gano’n din si Akane. Nawala bigla ang pakialam ko sa taong nakatingin sa amin kanina. My . . . my sixth sense?

​“H-ha?”
“I think your sixth sense is improved sight. You can see anything or anyone, even the smallest details, within a certain perimeter. Akemi, that is your sixth sense, and what happened a while ago is my proof.”

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