Kudo Kids--The Mystery of the Masked Medalist

by Maia Shibutani

  Her relief was quickly replaced by confusion. The journalist had still been sitting there when Mika and her family had left. So how had her phone ended up in his spot?

  “Found it,” she told Dad, who smiled.

  “Great!”

  They took the elevators back down and hurried across the lobby, Mika still trying to figure out what had happened. Maybe the journalist had spotted her phone on the floor after she’d gone . . . but why would he leave it under his napkin instead of giving it to Emi? For that matter, how had Mika’s phone fallen out of her purse, when it had been hanging on her chair all evening?

  She and Andy followed their parents down the block, where Dad said it would be easier to catch a taxi. At the intersection, the street was lit up with neon signs and digital billboards in all four directions. Mika stared absentmindedly at the billboard directly across the street advertising an upcoming anime convention. Suddenly the screen changed . . . and the Enspire logo appeared.

  Mika found herself staring at her own photo!

  It was her first post, the two little girls at the gymnastics event, with bluedreamphotos and #TeamWorld emblazoned at the bottom of the screen. The whole thing was so huge and epic and unreal that it didn’t even register at first. Then Mika felt a huge grin stretching across her cheeks, and she clapped both hands over her mouth.

  Enspire had used her photo!

  Her photo! It was right there, on a gigantic flashy billboard right in the middle of Tokyo! Mika’s brain felt jammed. She had to text Riley. No—first she had to take a picture! A picture of her picture! A wild giggle escaped her throat as she fumbled for her phone, swiping on the camera . . .

  And then she saw Dad and Andy staring at the billboard, too.

  Andy figured it out first. He turned to gape at Mika, who froze. Dad had stepped onto the curb to flag a taxi, but his arm dropped as he turned to face Mika, too. His eyebrows were raised, and his mouth was in a grim line.

  Mom looked around at them questioningly. “What’s going on?”

  Mika swallowed hard, but she said nothing. Dad cleared his throat, giving Mom a pointed look.

  “I think Mika has something to tell us.”

  OLYMPIFAN UPDATE!

  Locations for the Gold Medal

  Hello again, OlympiFans!

  Hard to believe we’re nearing the end of the

  Games—and the end of OUR game, too. I’ve received

  tons of messages asking if teams can take a guess at

  my identity before all the medals are found.

  The answer is: yes!

  But!

  Be warned that each team gets only ONE guess.

  If you guess wrong, that’s it!

  So go find that Gold and get those hints!

  Here are the locations where the final

  clues are waiting . . .

  Akasaka

  Roppongi/Azabu

  Imperial Palace Area

  Hibiya Park

  Nishi-Shinbashi

  Happy clue hunting, OlympiFans!

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  ANDY

  WHEN ANDY WOKE up the next morning, his first thought was about exploring the locations for the clues to the Gold medal.

  His second thought was that it didn’t matter, because he couldn’t play OlympiFan anymore.

  Mom and Dad hadn’t grounded Mika—not yet, anyway. They hadn’t done anything. They’d listened as she explained in a shaky voice that she had created an anonymous Instagram account to enter the Enspire contest. Neither of them looked angry, but Andy knew from experience that those calm, neutral expressions meant something even worse than anger: Mom and Dad were disappointed.

  The taxi ride back to the hotel had been completely silent. The only time his parents had spoken was when Mom told them to get ready for bed, and Dad had added that they should plan on spending the morning at the hotel while he worked. Although Andy and Mika had been able to hear them talking on the other side of the door for some time, their parents’ voices had been too soft for them to really overhear anything.

  Andy could tell that waiting for the verdict was probably a worse punishment for Mika than actually being grounded. She’d sat up in bed for hours, her phone untouched on her nightstand, staring blankly at the muted movie on their television. A part of Andy felt bad for his sister; he’d been tempted to crack a joke or do something to make her laugh and relax a little. He’d also wanted to tell her that it had been incredibly awesome to see her photo on that giant billboard in the middle of the city—because it really had been awesome.

  But he didn’t say any of that. Because another, bigger, slightly bitter part of Andy was hurt that she hadn’t told him her secret. Had she thought he would tell Mom and Dad? It wasn’t like she’d joined Instagram because Riley had, or to post selfies and pictures from their trip. In Andy’s opinion, she’d actually had a good reason for breaking their parents’ rule. He’d looked at the other pictures she’d posted, and it was obvious that Mika had talent. Her photos were really good. Better than really good. They were great. And he would have told her so, if she’d bothered to trust him enough to show him what she was doing.

  And then there was OlympiFan. Andy couldn’t help but be upset that Mika had pretty much ruined their ability to play in AR mode. Obviously Mom and Dad weren’t going to let her explore Tokyo unchaperoned now. And if Mika couldn’t be out of her parents’ sight, then neither could Andy. With both Mom and Dad busy working, Andy and Mika were going to be stuck at the hotel . . . a lot.

  So when Mika finally crawled out of bed, rubbing her eyes sleepily, Andy didn’t say anything. Neither did she. The silence expanded like a balloon all morning, until by the time they’d finished breakfast and Dad had returned to the hotel’s business center to work, the air felt thick and tense, like at any moment, there might be a pop!

  Andy decided to stay in the lobby, figuring it might be slightly less boring than their hotel room. He plopped down on one of the long gray sofas and opened OlympiFan. A moment later, Mika sat on one of the plush armchairs across from him. He ignored her and began to play in VR mode, choosing Hibiya Park as his first location. A fun fact popped up almost immediately:

  Did you know this park is home to a 500-year-old ginkgo tree?

  Andy sighed, irritated. Right now, he and Mika could be walking around this park for real if she hadn’t gotten in trouble. VR mode was fine, but Andy had enjoyed exploring Tokyo in real life.

  More importantly, there was only one medal left. If Team MADR didn’t find the Gold, they wouldn’t have a chance at winning the grand prize. Andy thought about Chiang Li and Linda McDouglas and all the other athletes at dinner last night. Without the hints, his chances of guessing the Masked Medalist’s identity were next to nothing. Andy just had to figure out where the Gold medal was first.

  It didn’t take long before he found the first clue: the number 487. The next clue was 52, and the third was 112. When he checked his team’s clue collection page, he saw the app had stacked them vertically, with the lowest number on the bottom:

  487

  112

  52

  Andy couldn’t help but grin. Numbers were definitely a universal language, and he felt pretty confident in his fluency. Math was his favorite subject at school, and he loved number puzzles like cryptograms and sudoku.

  “What are you smiling at?”

  The sound of Mika’s voice after all the tense silence was startling. Andy glanced at her and felt bad about how nervous she looked.

  “The clues for the Gold are numbers,” he explained.

  “Ah.” Mika tried to smile, but Andy caught the guilt flashing across her face. And just like that, any anger he had toward her vanished. However bad Andy felt about their situation, it was nothing compared to what Mika was going through. After all, sh
e was the one who’d gotten in trouble.

  “Are you going to play?” he asked, noticing for the first time that Mika didn’t have her phone out. In fact, he hadn’t seen it all morning. Had Mom and Dad taken it away earlier without him noticing? Andy had been surprised that they hadn’t immediately deleted Instagram from her phone. He couldn’t help but wonder if Mom and Dad were secretly proud of Mika’s photo being featured by the Enspire campaign, too.

  After a moment’s hesitation, Mika reached into her backpack and pulled out her phone.

  “I do want to play,” she said, casting Andy an uncertain look. “But first, there’s something I need to show you.”

  “Okay . . .” Andy watched curiously as Mika swiped her screen, then held her phone out. Instagram was open, but he wasn’t looking at pictures or posts, just a series of messages:

  A_Fan: Do your parents know what a talented photographer their daughter is?

  A_Fan: No luck with the pandas? Too bad.

  A_Fan: Ouch, so close again. That’s gotta hurt.

  A_Fan: Clues for the Gold are up. Or are you just going to steal those hints, too?

  Andy blinked. “What is this?”

  “Direct messages. I tried going to that account to see who it is, but they don’t have any posts or followers. I think whoever it is made that account just to send me messages. My name isn’t anywhere on my account, Andy. I was so careful to keep it a secret, but I guess someone figured out it was me!”

  The words all came out in a rush, and Andy was startled to see Mika’s eyes fill with tears. He looked back down at the screen and felt a small seed of anger bloom deep in his gut.

  “The pandas,” he said slowly, and Mika nodded.

  “Yeah, they sent that message when we were at the zoo!” she cried. “A_Fan knew I was there, and they knew about the note. And the next one was sent right when that other team won the Silver—like they knew I was there, too. They knew how close we came to winning. I think . . . I think A_Fan’s following me.”

  Fear began to mingle with the anger now rapidly coursing through Andy’s veins. Was someone trying to scare his sister? And follow her?

  “Why didn’t you tell Mom and Dad? Or me?” Andy demanded. “Seriously, why didn’t you tell me about the whole Instagram thing? Did you think I’d tell on you or something?”

  “No!” Fresh tears spilled down Mika’s cheeks. “I thought if Mom and Dad found out and thought you knew, you’d get in trouble, too.”

  “But these messages . . .” Andy shook his head, scanning them again. “You got the first one last week. And this person mentioned the pandas—” Realization dawned, and Andy’s mouth fell open. “This is the person who left us that note!”

  Mika swallowed hard. “I think so, too. And . . . and I think maybe it’s Gavin Driscoll.”

  Andy stared at his sister. “Why are you so sure it’s him. Just because of that picture?”

  “No, it’s because . . .” Mika wiped her eyes and sniffled. “He was sitting behind us at the gymnastics event, remember? He complimented my photo. But the thing is, when he saw it, I had just opened Instagram. I hadn’t posted the photo yet, but he definitely could’ve seen my handle. He’s the only person I can think of besides Riley who knows!”

  At the mention of Riley, Andy felt stung all over again. “Riley knows? Did you tell her about these messages, too?”

  Mika shook her head emphatically. “I didn’t tell anybody about those. Just you.”

  “Hey there, Kudo kids!”

  Andy and Mika looked up, startled to see Valentina smiling down at them as she hugged a thick binder with the Compete logo to her chest. Behind her, Andy could see Mom and James walking into the lobby, followed by Hana and Wesley. Quickly, he tucked Mika’s phone between the sofa cushions.

  “Surprised you two aren’t out adventuring,” Valentina went on. “Too hot outside for you?”

  Mika ducked her head, looking ashamed, and Andy answered quickly. “No, just thought we’d hang out here this morning. I thought Mom said she’d be at the broadcast center all day?”

  “Change of plans,” Valentina replied just as Mom joined them.

  “Dad got called in to work,” she explained. “Chef Abe is doing a photo shoot, and Emi wants Dad to write about it. He’s up in the room getting ready. So we shuffled our schedule around and moved our meeting to the conference room here—much easier than getting you guys over to the broadcast center at the last minute.”

  At this, Mika looked guiltier than ever, even though Mom’s tone was light. Andy thought that Mom looked like she might feel a little sorry for Mika, too.

  “After this meeting, how about I take you both out for lunch?” Mom said, placing a hand on Mika’s shoulder. “You guys can pick the place.”

  “Okay!” Andy agreed, but Mika just nodded glumly. Mom patted her lightly on the back before heading to the conference room with Valentina and James.

  Hana and Wesley trailed behind, deep in conversation. As they passed the sofa, Andy overheard Wesley say, “Emi said they searched the whole private room. No sign of it.”

  “Are you sure you didn’t leave it charging at the broadcast center?” Hana asked dryly. “You’ve done that before.” She caught Andy staring and winked at him. “Wesley lost his phone . . . again.”

  “Andy does that all the time!” Mika blurted out. “We almost missed our plane coming here because he left it charging at home.”

  “You’re the one who lost your phone last night,” Andy shot back as Wesley turned to Mika.

  “Wait—at the restaurant?”

  “Yeah! I found it, though,” Mika said.

  Wesley sighed. “Well, mine’s just gone. And yes, I’m one-hundred-percent positive I didn’t leave it at the broadcast center,” he added, giving Hana a mock-angry look.

  “We’ll see when we check the lost and found,” Hana said sweetly, and Mika giggled. “See you two later!”

  “Bye!”

  Once the conference room doors had closed, Andy pulled Mika’s phone out from between the cushions. Remembering those messages from A_Fan made his stomach drop.

  “Are you absolutely positive that nobody but Gavin knows about your Instagram?” Andy asked.

  Mika chewed her lip. “I don’t know. He’s the only person who saw it on my phone. How would anybody else find out?”

  Andy drummed his fingers on the sofa cushion. This was a puzzle, and he felt like he had most of the pieces already. He just had to put them into place.

  Taking Mika’s phone, Andy read A_Fan’s messages again. “Clues for the Gold are up,” he said aloud. “Or are you just going to steal those hints, too?”

  “Yeah, what does that even mean?” Mika exclaimed. “Do they think that somehow I stole the hints that came with the other medals? I mean, how would someone even do that?”

  Andy gazed at her, his mind working overtime. “Someone could hack into a player’s account.”

  “What?”

  “Someone might have hacked into the accounts of the players on the winning teams and seen the hints.” Andy’s spine tingled as he felt the pieces shift into place. “So A_Fan must be on one of the winning teams. Didn’t A_Fan start messaging you after TilerMyths won the Bronze?”

  “Yeah, but that was on my Instagram account.” Mika wrinkled her nose. “And then there was that message about visiting the zoo. But how is it connected? Why would A_Fan think I saw the hints TilerMyths won? How would they even know?”

  “They wouldn’t,” Andy said. “Unless . . .”

  Mika’s confusion only lasted a moment. Then her eyes went wide. “Oh. You don’t think . . .”

  Andy nodded. “I do. I think A_Fan is TilerMyths.”

  SCOREBOARD - TOP TEN

  1st

  SuperFan


  1,057

  2nd

  Cryptic

  602

  3rd

  TamborAoSol

  478

  4th

  베스트

  466

  5th

  MysticMice

  452

  6th

  XYZGirls

  449

  7th

  ALLEYOOP

  447

  8th

  CyFyBorgs

  442

  9th

  Dragonflame

  440

  10th

  MADR

  439

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  MIKA

  CONFUSED, MIKA WATCHED as Andy pulled out his phone and opened OlympiFan.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “From these messages, it sounds like someone hacked into TilerMyths’ account to see the hints, and he thinks it was you. So then he left that note with the clue at the shrine . . . oh, wait.” Andy slumped back in the sofa. “Whoever left that note did it right after Tiler found the Bronze. There wouldn’t have been enough time for him to realize his account had been hacked and write that note.”