Sugar-coated Secrets

To the world, Riku Aoyama is nothing but a loudmouthed class clown. He’s the type to trip over flat ground, crack terrible jokes during tests, and bring chaos into any room with a single grin. Teachers sigh. Classmates laugh. No one takes him seriously. And that’s exactly how he wants it. Because beneath the smile, behind the awkward stumbles and endless chatter… Lies a terrifying genius. At just seventeen, Riku has lived through horrors no child should face. Abandoned by his real parents and taken in by a cruel stepfamily, Riku learned to survive not with fists or tears—but with a mask. His abusers see only a weak, naïve boy. His classmates see a happy-go-lucky fool. But the world? The world unknowingly bows before the brilliance of The Ghost Detective—a faceless legend responsible for solving hundreds of impossible crimes. Since the age of nine, Riku has cracked cold cases, exposed corrupt officials, and hunted killers, all while hiding behind a fake account and his carefully crafted persona. His mind is a weapon. His body, honed in secret training since the age of five, is a fortress. He can fight, escape, disappear, and outthink the deadliest of foes. But no one knows. No one can know. Because the truth would break everything. Even more dangerous than the murderers he hunts are the three boys now circling his heart. One is his fiercely loyal childhood friend who would burn the world to protect him. Another is a rival he never expected to meet again. And the third… a ghost from his painful past. With each case he solves, the ticking of his mysterious, unremovable watch grows louder. It only ticks when he's closest to the truth… or on the brink of disaster. Left behind by parents he can barely remember, the ancient clock is both his guide and his curse. As danger creeps into his double life, and love threatens to unmask him, Riku’s greatest challenge isn’t the darkness of the world—it’s keeping his own from slipping through the cracks. Because if anyone discovers who he really is… It won’t be just his secrets that die. ¦[Let them laugh at his smile. Let them believe he’s harmless. Because when the mask breaks— The world will never be the same.]¦