#so instead I sat and translated morse code for 3 hours

[watchfuleyed]

finally fully figuring out both the morse code and hidden letter messages for both parts of remnants gotta be the most satisfying procrastination activity I’ve ever done

[hyphypmic]

Hi hewwo bby girl yk who this is❣️ could u write me a saburo scenario where his crush confesses to him through smol puzzles thankies❣️

SCHOOL AND WORK IMMERSION IS A BITCH I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this! Thanks mom for the request!

Saburo wasn’t sure when it started, but he remembered all of the puzzles he found in his locker.

1.

“Eh?” Saburo’s classmate sat next to him. “What’s that you’re fidgeting with?”

Saubro cocked his head. “I’m not sure?” He was holding some sort of Rubik’s cube with a letter written on the center square of each side and a heart. Of course he solved it already, but the letters made no sense.

I mean, they formed a word, but Saburo couldn’t figure out why the letters R-H-U-S-C formed the word CRUSH (and there was a heart).

“I think you might have a secret admirer.” His classmate snatched the cube out of Saburo’s hands and studied it. Saburo felt the irrational desire to take it back.

“Who would admire me?” Saburo mumbled and took it back.

The classmate shrugged. “Not sure.” She smiled at him. “Maybe someone who finds you incredibly smart.”

“That narrows it down.” Saburo said sarcastically.

“And cute maybe.” She looked away, blushing slightly, but Saburo failed to notice this because he was still studying the cube.

“I’ll figure this out.” Saburo said, twisting the cube again. “She didn’t even leave a note.”

“Maybe she wants it to be a mystery?”

“I guess? But I want to find out who she is.” He looked up at his classmate then cleared his throat and then looked away.

“Hopefully.” She replied.

2.

“This code really makes no sense whatsoever.” Saburo scratched his head. “I’ve really tried everything.”

“Letter to alphabet?” She took her seat beside his again for homeroom. Apparently, Saburo had found another puzzle in his locker.

“Yep.”

“Atbash?”

“Yep.”

“Binary?”

“There’s not enough zeroes and ones.”

“Hmm….” She sighed, a kind of resigned sigh really and she opened her book. Her eyes widened. “Shit.”

Saburo looked up at her. “What?”

She slammed her head into the book. “How long did it take you to do the homework on Caesar?”

“Caesar?” Saburo thought to last week when he finished it. “Um… three hours?”

“Perfect. I can do it in one.” She sighed and leaned back in her chair.

“Caesar…” He bit his lip and stared at the paper (which was burned and smelled like coffee, he figured his admirer was artistic as well as smart and extra), he tried something and it clicked into place. He grabbed the hand of his classmate and smiled at her. “You’re a genius!”

“Eh?”

“Caesar’s cipher!”

“Three letters back?”

“Yeah!” Saburo slapped his forehead. “It’s so simple why didn’t I think of it?”

She squeezed his hand. “Sometimes the hardest things to see are right in front of you.”

He smiled at her and looked at their hands that we’re still touching. He blushed slightly and let go. “Thank you.”

“Anytime.”

He set to work on the code, and in no time he deciphered it. It was a short poem, a haiku if you will.

You make me happy

When you smile brightly at me

Next time you’ll know me

“Next time you’ll know me?” Saburo cocked his head. “Oh my. She’ll tell me soon?”

“I guess?”

Saburo looked absolutely excited. “I hope it’s not too easy though. This is actually kind of fun.”

“I’m glad you like it.” She mumbled under her breath, softly enough so Saburo won’t hear. “Anyway.” She said louder. “Hope you find out who that is soon.”

“Me too!”

3.

What Saburo said about it not being easy, well it definitely wasn’t.

Instead of having just one puzzle in his locker, he had a map of the school (which each location was written in morse or binary code) and he had to go to the places in a specific order (thankfully it was just a dotted line and arrows.

There was a note that told him to do it after class only, so that no one would really interrupt him.

Saburo couldn’t sit still the whole day and barely paid attention in class as he was trying to glean any hints from the map. (Of course he got none of the sort.)

“You’re not paying attention.” The girl beside him whisper-teased.

“This is… quite exciting.” He showed her the map.

“Is that binary?”

“Yeah.” He translated the locations just for the sake of it. “And morse too. It’s kind of cool how she mixed them up.”

She smiled. “Really?”

“Keeps me thinking.” He tapped his pencil to his lips.

“Mr. Yamada.” The teacher called and Saburo flinched. “If you would be so kind to answer the question on the board.”

“Busted.” She teased, which got her a small slap on the arm as retribution.

Later that day, Saburo stood in front of his locker, where the map said where he should start.

The first stop was the library, where he found a riddle (written in navy flag code) which told him to go find a book in the history section.

The Dewey Decimal code was written in binary on the paper.

He flipped through said book (which he found in the children’s section of the history section) and found a clue for the puzzle in the next location.

He brought the clue to the gym and he found five basketballs in a row. He would have to pick the right one or else he wouldn’t be able to pass. (Well logically, of course the gym doors wouldn’t be locked because that would put both him and his admirer in a stint, but it gave him thrill to imagine if it didn’t open.)

Kind of like his favourite Harry Potter moment, you know, the one with Hermione and the potions. Harry could have died if she picked the wrong one, but she really got through the riddle and solved it. He was a huge Harry Potter nerd, and he had to appreciate his admirer to making something of the sort.

He picked the third basketball from the right and it was attached to a super thin string, If he had noticed it before, it would’ve been a lot easier.

“Yes!” He shouted and his voice echoed in the empty gym. He blushed, even if no one was watching. He was behaving like a child who just got candy as a prize.

He pulled on the basketball and pulled the rope. It extended to the bleachers and at the end of it,  another paper was apparently attached.

Saburo was actually enjoying this and was excited when he picked it up.

The code was written in morse again, plus the Caesar cipher. The riddle said that it was the last puzzle he had to solve.

The next location was… Saburo stopped right outside the door. His classroom? He stepped inside and found a note on the teacher’s table. It was just a sequence of numbers and arrows.

3 up, 2 left, 4 right, 7 up, 9 down, 1 left

And another note written at the bottom, Saburo sat down on the teacher’s table and translated it from Morse to numbers to letters.

Start from the back. Face the board. Opposites attract.

Saburo picked up the paper with the numbers and the arrows and moved to the back of the classroom.

“They’re steps.” He mumbled and started. It didn’t make sense though, because his classroom didn’t really fit that many- oh. Opposites. Saburo restarted and this time it made sense.

He found himself in front of the seat beside his. “What?”

There was a post-it taped to the table.

He picked it up, and written in his seat mate’s handwriting were two words.

“Found me.”

Saburo whirled around to find his classmate at the door. She entered so quietly he didn’t notice.

“Hi.” She said timidly. Her face was sporting a blush and she chewed on her lip nervously as she swayed on the spot. “Um…”

Saburo pocketed the note and slowly walked to her. “You?”

“Me.”

He put his hands in his pockets nervously. “I… uh… you’re…” He scratched the back of his head. “Fun?”

She blushed. “Sorry. I’m not good with words. This was how I talk to you. We bond over puzzles and math and…” She turned redder. “I guess I started liking you because we had a lot in common…. And that you’re really smart and cuteandfunnyandreallyishouldstoptalkingohmygodimnotshuttingup-“

Saburo’s hands were shaking but he grabbed her hand with one of his. “No it’s okay.” He smiled a little. “Eh… uhmmm….” He stayed quiet for what seemed like forever. “I like you too.”

Her head snapped up. “Really?”

He nodded. “I really like the riddles. They were really fun and smart…” He looked away from her, he hoped his hands weren’t shaking that bad. “Um… c-can I….” He swallowed. “Can I…. ki-“ He inhaled sharply. “Take you out?” He mentally smacked himself.

“Now?” She blushed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I… um sure.”

Saburo smiled nervously and opened the classroom door.