Hakuba, what’s a normal school day for you?

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“My mornings begin at 6am with some light exercise, a shower, tea, and a recheck of my schedule for the day to decide if I have a good enough excuse to wear my suit to school instead of that ghastly uniform. Often, this only happens once or twice a week, which is a shame.

"Once I have some sort of thing to take for breakfast, and an apple or bento for lunch, Baaya drives me to school. My father’s house is on the boundaries of Ekoda High’s district, so it’s quite the walk, even if I manage to catch a bus. Students are discouraged from driving, and Baaya claims that I’m dangerous on the road, so I let her handle it- not that there is any parking for students, anyway.

"We arrive between 08:05-08:15, depending on weather and traffic, and I immediately head to the lockers to trade my nice shoes for school slippers, and then, depending on the day, to the assembly or home room to prepare for class. Japanese schools are different in that the students tend to stay in one room and the teachers move between classes for different subjects, instead of the other way around. 

"My days are spent taking ample notes on both a given sensei’s subject and on the behaviors of my fellow classmates. I have separate notebooks for these tasks, and log the latter in English to deter curious overlookers. Some of my classmates are of more interest than others – Kuroba Kaito, for one, with his antics and pranks, and Koizumi Akako for another, with whatever her current scheme is – but everyone has a profile in my database, as we tend to spend so much time together.

"Lunch is spent in the classroom on most days, though I’ll venture out to somewhere more quiet when I have a lot of work to do. This time is usually devoted to studying casefiles for my private clients or whatever the force has given me to work on, though I do, occasionally, use it for homework and essay writing. 

"Contrary to popular belief, getting the grades that I do and maintaining them is no easy feat. I may be intellectually superior to many, but I still have much to learn about the nuances of the Japanese language and culture; kanji remains the bane of my existence, and I fear I may NEVER get the hang of the more abstract word-play jokes. More on this later, however. If I’m feeling up to it, I’ll eat. If not, I won’t, and then it’s back to lessons.

"Once class is over and cleaning duties are complete, I’m usually able to head out for the day as long as there is no cram school. Although club activities are typically required for students, I’ve had an exception made for myself because of my detective work. This is one area where I have allowed my father to pull some strings for me, which I am grateful for. I simply do not have time to spend two or so hours after school, every day, socializing. I have work to do. 

"Baaya picks me up as always, right on time, and will drop me off at whatever appointment I have with clients, at the station for work, or will take me home to get started on my school assignments. Every one of them is done as early as possible so that I have time to check and recheck and do additional research if necessary. At least I’m able to have afternoon tea in the process. 

"If I’m to get into Oxford or Keio, I must have excellent marks, particularly as transferring between countries often leaves gaps for required credits. I have them all, rest-assured, and in fact could nearly already graduate with what I have, but it adds one more thing to the application process that I’d rather not have the administration deal with — it’s annoying for them (which I’d rather not have them associate with me), and gives too wide a margin of error for my taste.

"After all of that, I’ll have dinner with Baaya and my father, if he’s managed to escape from work (which only happens once a week at best), and then return to studying, cross-referencing casefiles, investigating crime scenes, meeting with clients, preparing for Kaitou Kid’s heists, or, if I’m very lucky, winding down with a book before bed. 

"Typically, I’ll end up in bed just after midnight, but I find it very difficult to sleep when there’s still so much to be done. Fortunately, the weekend is a splendid time to catch up – both on work and on sleep.”