Chapter Text
He was sweating.
The hair on the back of his head was damp, matted to his neck in his feverish state.
The case was coming to a close. Akamatsu-san…Kaede, was the culprit. Everything fit. But Shuichi didn’t want to put that final piece into the puzzle—the final nail into her coffin.
Even though he had finally spoken up (with the encouragement of the culprit herself), as they were nearing their consensus of who did it and who to vote for, Shuichi was still frantically swiping down his monopad, looking for clues.
His clammy finger, slicked with sweat, was often not detected by the touch screen, causing him to furiously tap at the screen, clumsy in his desperation.
Was there something I missed? Was there something I missed? Anything, anything, anything, anything, anything anythinganythinganythinganything…
He repeated these words continuously in his head as his eyes rapidly scanned each line of evidence on his monopad.
Monopad…
Shuichi’s amber eyes widened, and his breath was immediately stolen from him as a feeling of intense relief washed over him like cold water. He realized he shouldn’t let himself feel this way too soon, it might just be nothing, after all.
But as of right now, that was good enough. He had something. Something. A sliver of hope. A sliver that could save Kaede.
“Everyone, wait!” The detective yelled, not sure where the conversation in the room was, for he was in his own concentrated bubble. Now that the bubble had popped, however, all their voices assaulted him, though they soon died down at his request.
“Eeeeeh? What is it, Saihara-chan? Trying to delay the inevitable?” The boy in the checkered scarf—Kokichi—teased venomously.
“Now, now. Let’s give him a chance to speak. Did you discover something, Saihara-kun?” The Ultimate maid inquired gently, most likely in response to Shuichi’s frazzled state.
“I—I don’t know if it’s anything, but—“ his voice cracked as he spoke, and his eyes momentarily flicked up to meet with Kaede’s.
Her expression was worried and hesitant, unsure of what Shuichi was doing. He could tell she believed she had killed Rantaro without a doubt, so she must have thought he was about to lie for her.
The detective simply stared into her eyes, unwavering, reassuring her he was still trying to find the truth and get to the bottom of this.
“I was looking over the evidence of the case once more, and I just noticed something strange about a certain picture of Amami-kun.”
“A certain picture? Get to the point, degenerate male! Not being up-front is typical male behavior!” Tenko shouted, her hands slamming into her podium. Shuichi was suddenly thankful for the fact that they had to stay in their assigned positions.
“Up-front is male behavior? More like their fronts being up is!” Miu cackled, though was skillfully ignored by everyone in the room.
“A certain picture…? Do you possibly mean the one from right before Amami-kun was killed?” Korekiyo inquired, his eyes narrowing due to his piqued interest.
“Exactly,” Shuichi nodded, turning everybody’s attention to the photo. “In the photo, we can clearly see Amami-kun has his monopad with him.”
“Hmmm….Is that so strange?” Himiko asked lazily, her finger prodding at her pouted lips.
A barely audible intake of breath could be heard, and Shuichi immediately knew who it belonged to. His eyes snapped to the Ultimate Pianist, both loving and hating the newfound, reluctant hope in her eyes.
If he was wrong about this as well…
“Amami…His monopad wasn’t at the scene of the crime, right?” Ryoma pondered, exchanging a nod with Shuichi.
“Hahaha! He probably hid it right before he died, just like how guys want their internet history deleted when they die!” Miu guffawed, amusing nobody but herself. “Who knows what kinky shit that guy was into!”
“Therein lies the problem,” Shuichi acknowledged, deftly grazing over her other unnecessary remarks. “If he had his monopad in this photo—the photo right before he was supposedly killed—and it wasn’t at the crime scene…”
“Then he didn’t die right after that photo?” Kaito finished, a light now returning to his eyes as the realization dawned on him.
“Maybe Atua took it as Rantaro’s offering to get into heaven!” Angie offered uselessly.
“Kukuku…It’s true, many cultures would bury their dead with coins or other such objects of value, in hopes of being able to have their souls accepted into the afterlife…” Korekiyo mused to himself, despite the absurdity of the thought.
“A-anyway…” The detective pressed on, “We had previously believed that Amami-kun was drawn to the camera by the flash, and that’s when the shot-put ball came into contact with him.” Shuichi had tried to say it in the gentlest way he could, but he still picked up on the small wince from Kaede.
Digging his nails into his palms, he continued. “However, if that were the case, his monopad would have been lying right next to his body. Which it wasn’t.”
“Hold on a sec!” Angie chirped, swaying back and forth as she thought. “If Atua didn’t take the pad, is it possible Monokuma or one of the Monokubs did? Like, as clean up?”
“That’s a good question,” The detective acknowledged, promptly turning his attention to the said bears in question. “Well?”
“Y-you think we did something bad?” Monophanie stammered, shocked at suddenly being in the spotlight.
“Of course they do! We’re bad to the BOOOONEEEE!” Monokid shouted with enthusiasm, causing Monosuke to wince in annoyance.
“Like we’d clean up the crime scene for free!” the yellow bear shouted in annoyance, flashing his money for all the students to see.
“Right! Tell ‘em, father! We didn’t touch anything!” Monotaro finished off.
“Upupupu…How heartwarming…all my precious cubs, working together!” The monochrome bear swooned, holding his hands up to his cheeks as he blushed. “It warms my heart, it really does…And they’re right! Me or my cute little cubs aren’t allowed to mess with the crime scene, y’know? If we were allowed to do that, you wouldn’t be able to trust us or the crime scenes anymore!”
“Anymore?! We never trusted you damn bears in the first place!” Kaito shouted, his fists balled up passionately as he refuted the bears.
“Monokuma said him and his cubs can’t interfere with the crime scene…but what about the mastermind?” Kaede piped up softly, desperately.
Shuichi bit his lip at the sight of her, hating that he was the one who had done this to her. Even now, she was still holding onto that hope.
But that hope…it was wrong. He was wrong. There was no mastermind among the students. And it had led to all of this.
But now, hopefully, he would be able to make things right.
“No…I don’t think it was the mastermind, Akamatsu-san. Remember that the card reader had the dust in it still, so they couldn’t have left the library unseen after killing Amami-kun and taking his monopad.” Shuichi countered gently.
“So, if the mastermind didn’t mess with his monopad and these stupid bears didn’t, where is it?” Maki demanded impatiently, crossing her arms as she spoke. “Aren’t you just drawing out Akamatsu’s inevitable death?”
The detective flinched a bit at that, but stood fast. “No, as long as any mysteries remain, we can’t, in good conscience, vote. All of our lives are on the line, not just Akamatsu-san.”
“Maybe Amami-kun return to his room and put monopad there?” Gonta suggested, trying to be helpful.
“No, that would have been impossible!” Tenko shouted, getting riled up and assuming a fighting stance for no reason. “Me and that space-degenerate were out in the hall at the time, so we would have noticed if a flashy menace like him had come out of the library!”
“To make one thing clear, before we continue …” Ryoma started, looking towards Kaede as he did so. “Is one thing we’re all agreeing on now that Akamatsu can’t be the murderer?”
“Huuuuh? Why not?” Miu balked, and the Ultimate Supreme Leader sighed in disgust.
“Really? Have you been listening at all, you nasty cum-sock? That picture with the flash was supposed to have been taken just before the shot put ball fell on his head. And if that were true, the monopad would have been on the floor beside him.”
“Yet it wasn’t, and nobody took it from the library. Meaning Amami-kun did something with it—maybe hid it—himself.” Shuichi finished for him, earning a ‘correctamundo!’ from the leader.
“Kukuku…So it would seem figuring out the mystery of the monopad is the key to this crime. But I agree then, however, that Akamatsu-san must not be the murderer.” Korekiyo supplied.
“W-what…?” Kaede stammered, not understanding how that could be possible. She had been so sure. She had been ready to head to her death, resigned herself to it…
And now that it may not have to happen…
She couldn’t help the tears that suddenly dripped down her cheeks unannounced, and she quickly rubbed at them before hopefully anybody could see.
But one sharp pair of eyes did.
“So far, here is what we have.” The detective started, laying the order of events bare for the less than bright students who may still be confused. “Amami-kun was indeed lured to the bookcase by the flash, just as intended. With monopad in hand, he investigated, when suddenly a shot-put ball fell from the higher bookcase. From here, he did something to hide or dispose of his monopad. And then he died.”
The room was silent for about two seconds before it erupted.
“Ehh?”
“What the hell?”
“He just hid it for no reason?”
“And then he died? Just like that? Aren’t you just trying to cover for your girlfriend?”
“Everybody shut up!” Kaito roared, “You think Saihara wants to die, too? There’s still a mystery here, and that’s what the detective is for!”
The boy in questions eyes widened, and he pulled down the brim of his hat, a slight smile on his face. Thank you, Momota-kun…
“B-but now the question is…if I didn’t kill him, how did he die?” The blonde pianist croaked, still not fully convinced of her innocence. As if this was all just a dream. Too good to be true. Oh, how she wanted it to be true. But…
“Could it have been suicide?”
The entire trial room went silent, all 14 heads turning to face the bespectacled cosplayer.
The pin dropped, however, and madness resumed as people either agreed with the mad notion or disagreed.
“I know it’s just plain weird, but…” Tsumugi pondered over the ruckus she had created, looking up with her finger on her cheek. “It’s the only other explanation I can think of, you know? The mastermind, or anybody else for that matter, couldn’t have gone in or out without someone seeing. And if Akamatsu-san’s trap didn’t kill him, then the only other person who could have killed him was…himself?”
Shuichi’s brain felt like it would fry as he pondered this new absurd possibility, but it was just as the blue haired girl had said. It was the only thing that would make sense.
“But…would Amami-kun really have…killed himself?” Kaede asked uncertainly, not sure what to believe, and hesitant to get her hopes up.
“I agree. It is just too strange. I did not personally know Amami-kun for very long, but he definitely did not seem like the type who would do that! Not to mention, did he not claim he would put an end to this killing game?” Keebo asked, deep in thought as he crossed his arms and scratched at his chin.
“We barely knew each other, so ‘he didn’t seem like the type’ is no excuse,” Maki interjected fiercely, annoyed with the thought. “It’s the only other thing that makes sense, so we just have to accept it.”
“He did say he was going to end this killing game…Maybe as time was running out, he realized there was no way after all. And after seeing that shot-put ball try to kill him, he figured he would take one for the team…” Ryoma suggested, pulling his hat slightly over his eyes. “I understand where he was coming from.”
“N-no way…Amami-kun…kill himself!?” Gonta gasped.
“But then I do have to wonder…why would he have killed himself with that shot-put ball? He must have realized it was someone’s trap to kill him, so if he wanted to do something as selfless as kill himself for the rest of us, killing himself with the ball would just pin blame on the one who had sprung the trap.” Kirumi conjectured, her eyes grave.
“Nishishi…Maybe he wanted it to look like the person who had tried to kill him succeeded after all. That way, at least even if he’s killing himself, he knows the person who set the trap will go down with him.”
Shuichi wished he could have jumped across the podiums and smothered Kokichi with his own scarf before he had a chance to say that.
Just as the capped boy expected, the pianist didn’t react well, biting her quivering lip and lowering her head at Kokichi’s words.
“Nyeh…How would Amami have killed himself with the shot-put ball? T-that would be pretty difficult without magic…” Himiko thought aloud.
“Difficult, but not impossible, right?” Tsumugi hummed, looking up as she thought. “It’s not like he whacked himself with it…He could have just put it back on the top of the shelf and stood under where he originally saw it fall.”
“Indeed, that does make sense.” Korekiyo murmured through his mask. “The odds of the original theory—the shot-put ball falling on him perfectly without any pre-planning the first time—would have been slim…The idea that he saw where it had fallen, put it back up, and stood under again does indeed make more sense, to me…”
Shuichi swallowed, his lips dry as his classmates murmured agreement and possibilities of what they thought transpired. Although Kaede was no longer pegged as the killer, was this really the truth? Something still didn’t feel right…but…it had to be, right? There was no other way.
“Monokuma,” The detective suddenly spoke up, both hands on his podium as he turned to look at the bear. “Can we put this trial in recess, in order to go investigate the library and look for Amami-kun’s monopad?”
“Hmmm~ I see, I see!” Monokuma mused, bobbing his head from the left to the right. “No!”
The Ultimate Detective guessed as much, and his hands dug deeper into his podium, never breaking eye contact with the bear. “Why is that? Is it because whatever we would find would give us the truth?”
“Don’t say such ominous things!” Monokuma bellowed, raising his arms. “Investigation time is over! It’s the class trial, you know!? If you wanna investigate to clear your own conscience after the trial, then be my guest! But as of right now, none of you leave until we get a vote!”
“I’ll just have to take you up on that, then.” Shuichi said simply.
“Well then, are we all in agreement?” Tsumugi tentatively asked. “That…Amami-kun really committed suicide?”
“It’s the only way.”
“Would seem so.”
“Atua will still accept Rantaro into Heaven despite that!”
With various other murmurs of agreement throughout the room, Shuichi made eye contact with Kaede one last time, before the black and white bear suddenly interjected.
“Well, that’s that, then! IT’S VOOOTING TIIIIMEEEEE!”
On cue, the screens on their podiums lit up, with various faces to choose from. Saihara’s eyes zeroed in on Kaede’s picture. If they hadn’t found the truth, if he hadn’t noticed that one tiny detail, would he have really voted for her? Could he have?
He squeezed his eyes shut, not even wanting to think about such a horrible reality where that scenario existed, and somewhat confidently picked Rantaro Amami-kun, the Ultimate mystery.
“Now then! It seems the voting has finished. Let’s see the result…Who’ll be chosen as the blackened!? Did you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one!?”
As the stuffed bear said those words, a casino-like roulette machine started up, with each of the students faces on it. Every time it spun by Kaede’s face, Shuichi broke out into a cold sweat, even though he knew, he knew…
She was safe.
Unless they were all wrong. The truth wasn’t discovered, and now they were all going to die.
With these thoughts swirling through his mind, Shuichi watched as it finally landed on Rantaro’s pixelated face, and suddenly a multitude of coins spewed out of the machine, which was hopefully a good thing…?
“Cooorreeeect!” Monokuma bellowed as the results continued to flash on the device. “Rantaro Amami, the Ultimate Who-cares, was the culprit of his own demise!”
As soon as those words left the bears mouth, Shuichi noticed a pink figure buckle and fall from the corner of his eye, and he quickly made his way over to her.
“A-Akamatsu-san! Are you alright?” He put his arm around her shoulder to support her, and held out his other arm for her to grab onto as she stood up shakily.
Or at least, she began to stand up shakily, but she soon gave up and fell back down. It wasn’t just her legs that were shaking, but her entire body. Everywhere Shuichi touched was met with tiny tremors.
It wasn’t just her, though. Shuichi was shaking too. The adrenaline, the fear, everything he felt, suddenly washed away with relief.
Being released from the suffocating grip of all of those negative thoughts and emotions left him feeling as light as a leaf, floating, and shaking. He could only imagine how much more intense it was for her.
Having resigned herself to staying on the floor, Kaede hunched forward, her forehead lightly touching Shuichi’s chest as he kept one arm around her for support, while the other hand hovered near her with concern and uncertainty on what to do and where to go.
“I’m so glad…” Kaede sobbed out, barely audible. No doubt Shuichi was only able to hear it because he was so close to her.
“But I feel horrible for feeling glad. Amami-kun still d-died but…It wasn’t me that killed him…? I…I can still be with you all…”
As she said this, Kaede’s hands grabbed onto Shuichi’s shirt as she continued to cry into it. The boy detective tried to cover her as much as he could, considering others were still in the trial room to witness this, and if he knew Akamatsu-san, then he knew she would regret everyone else seeing this when she was back to her usual, headstrong self.
“It’s okay to be glad.” Shuichi comforted, trying to sound firm despite his voice cracking without his permission. He would wipe away the tears beginning to form in his own eyes, but he didn’t want to let go of the girl in his arms. “I...I’m glad too. When…When I realized, that it might be you, I-I…”
It was only a few minutes ago, but he already never wanted to think back to how he felt when every clue was pointing to Kaede as the murderer. All of the horrible feelings and thoughts came rushing back, like a punch to the chest, taking all of the air from his lungs.
But he managed to keep himself grounded, since the sensation against his chest right now wasn’t a punch, but the forehead of the girl he wanted to protect. That he was able to protect.
“You know, during the investigation…Investigating with you…I kept thinking how nice it would be if it wasn’t me. If I could just help you and be with you and do my best without worrying about anything…But I knew it would come to an end, b-because I was the one who did it…”
All he did was rub her back as she continued to speak.
“I regretted it so much…I told myself it was fine, because then you all would have gotten to live, but as we investigated I wished we really were looking for someone else, someone who wasn’t me. I actually wished someone else had been killed, can you believe that? Just so that I could stay here with you…all. I’m so horrible…” She broke down again, burying her face in his shirt.
Shuichi could feel his skin becoming damp on the other side of the striped fabric, but he didn’t care. He said everything he could to reassure her. Which was just the truth.
“I also felt that way. I thought that I...I didn’t care who it was. I wanted it to be anybody but you, even thought that would mean them getting executed. If you're horrible, so am I.”
At that, Kaede hiccupped once more, before leaning away from him a bit to better look at him. “You’re not horrible...” She said simply, like a child, and it couldn’t help but make him laugh.
As if causing a chain reaction, she, too laughed. Delirious, exhausted from the adrenaline and relief, they both sat together and chuckled quietly.
“Wooow~~And I thought I was heartless! Laughin' it up when a beloved classmate just died…” Monokuma preached, wiping away tears that weren’t there.
“Shut up, you.” The Ultimate Child Caregiver snapped, and upon hearing these voices, the detective and pianist seemed to remember they weren’t alone as they stood on shaky legs. Shuichi offered Kaede a hand, and gently hoisted her up.
“Man, seriously! I almost thought you two were gonna start fucking right there on the floor!” Miu chided in an accusatory tone, pointing at the two of them.
“Tenko would not put it past a menace to want to do something like that, even if it’s right after the death of a friend!”
“Seriously…Just how do you view guys?” Kaito sighed, scratching his goatee in defeat.
“Sooo, like, you mentioned a punishment, but since Rantaro killed himself, will there still be one?” Angie questioned, looking to Monokuma. “Or is the real punishment going to be him not getting into heaven since he killed himself? Nyaha!”
“Eh?! Did you not say earlier that God would still accept him despite that fact?” Keebo exclaimed, as if on Rantaro’s behalf.
“That’s right, pops! What are you gonna do about the punishment!?” Monotaro demanded, seemingly on the edge of his seat.
“UuuuUuuh….What a relief, does that mean no punishment? Punishments are too gory anyway!” Monophanie claimed, hiding her face in her hands…paws…things.
“Don’t be a retard! The punishments are the best part!” Monokid insisted, earning a quiet look from Monodam.
“I never said you necessarily have to be ALIVE for punishment time…And how else will I show you aaaaalll that I’m being 100% serious with these punishments unless I show just how brutal they can be? Besides, didn’t anybody ever tell you that suicide is a sin?”
After coming to that conclusion, Monokuma stood up proudly and bellowed from his core:
“I’ve prepared a special punishment for the Ultimate Who-gives-a-crap, Rantaro Amami! Let’s give it everything we’ve got! It’s…PUNISHMENT TIIIIME!”
With that, Monokuma’s gavel fell on a cartoonish red button, and the punishment commenced.
In bad taste typical of Monokuma, a screen flickered to life, displaying a dead, pixel version of Rantaro being dragged away by a likewise pixel version of Monokuma.
Along with the graphics, the words that flashed up on the screen read:
GAME OVER
*Rantaro has been found guilty. Time for the punishment!*
Shuichi quickly turned to the pianist beside him, looking to her and then to the elevator behind them. It seems it was out of service until the punishment was over.
“Akamatsu-san. I, I don’t think you should watch this.” Shuichi insisted urgently, yet also hesitantly. She already felt bad enough about the whole situation, and even if she didn’t kill Rantaro, the events that led to his death were still possible, unfortunately, because of her plan.
The last thing she needed was to see his dead body being strung up, beaten, or whatever the hell else Monokuma had planned.
The detective was worried she might argue, and he’d really have nothing to say against that, since she could do what she wanted after all. Maybe say something like ‘no, I need to see this.’ But thankfully, there was no such argument. She was exhausted—her eyes were already half closed with dried tears staining her cheeks and puffy red eyes. And so she simply nodded in agreement and turned her eyes to the floor.
Shuichi looked down at her for half a second, before he swiftly removed his cap and plopped it on her head instead. She looked up in surprise, before cracking a smile and holding onto the hat, adjusting the brim to block her vision further.
And then the punishment really began.
A large screen flickered to life, showcasing Rantaro’s body and the location.
At least we don't have to see it in person, Shuichi thought dryly.
Rantaro’s body was seated in a classroom, unnecessarily tied up so he couldn’t escape, and the boy himself was dressed in a traditional Japanese school uniform—all black, with a row of buttons all up the front.
The feed cut away for a second, to showcase the supposed title card of the punishment.
‘TEACHERS PET’
Ultimate ??? Rantaro Amami’s execution
Upon seeing the name of the execution, Shuichi’s hand immediately covered his mouth as he thought. Could the punishments be related to their Ultimate talents? If so, this could be a hint.
Teachers pet…? Could this imply he was favored over other students for some reason…? Or was he eager to please authority figures?
However, the detective didn’t have time to think about it for that much longer, as the feed cut back to the already-dead Rantaro, sitting in the empty classroom. The desk he was sitting at was the only one in the room, dead in the center.
The sliding doors to the classroom opened suddenly, and in came male and female students, dressed in the same uniform Rantaro was wearing as they begun to circle him.
Upon looking closer at the students, you could see they were clearly dummies, held up by string as they danced around him, yet that wasn’t what Shuichi was focused on. What he noticed, was that all of the dummies of the students were injured in fatal ways.
One of the student marionettes had a knife through its chest, another had no head whatsoever, or had a noose around its neck, and so on. As they circled him, they took the weapons out of their own bodies, whatever they may be, and used them to begin slashing, hacking, and beating Rantaro.
Even if Rantaro was still alive, none of the injuries dished out by the puppets were fatal, so far. Painful, yes, but not deadly. It was definitely still a gory sight though, and Shuichi glanced down at Kaede just to make sure she wasn’t watching. But even without sight, the sounds weren’t exactly pleasant.
However, the detective was just waiting for the kicker. The thing that would really kill Rantaro. Would the students bring out a chainsaw? Something gory and over-the-top like that seemed right up Monokuma’s alley.
But no, suddenly all of the ‘students’ dropped down, dead, as fake blood oozed out of them, and Rantaro was left as the sole survivor. Well, he would have been if he was alive.
Maybe the punishments weren’t death, but torture? Just as Shuichi was thinking of this possibility, a giant apple suddenly fell down from nowhere, crushing Rantaro’s corpse instantly.
Not just Rantaro, however—the blue Monokub, Monokid, was it? Suddenly got pushed into the fray, landing next to Rantaro right before the apple fell. Since Rantaro was already dead, it seems the execution was more for that blue bear than anything.
However, one of Rantaro’s limbs—his arm, it looked like—stuck out of the giant red fruit, much like the classic image of a worm coming out of a big red apple.
For the finishing touch, Monokuma arrived and slapped a sticker that said ‘A+’ on the apple. And then, the feed was cut.
After what they had seen sank in, it didn’t take long for the teenagers reactions to fill the room.
“What the fuck?”
“Oh my god!”
“That wasn’t real, right?”
“Poor Amami-kun, how could something so cruel—“
But the student’s voices were soon, and promptly, drowned out by the much more obnoxious voices of the Monokubs.
“M-Monokid!” Monotaro shouted.
“…BLRBLRBLRBLRB!” Monophanie gurgled as she threw up.
Monosuke didn’t seem too bothered by it, but surprisingly, Monokuma himself seemed to care ever so slightly.
“My sweet, darling Monokid! Claimed as collateral damage…” He lamented, and all Shuichi could do was quirk an eyebrow, not believing for one second that he really cared.
“…On second thought, I guess it’s okay though! After all, I still got four more cubs!”
Aaand there it was.
The other students had engaged in a back-and-forth with Monokuma, asking how he could do such a thing, why he would do such a thing…
But honestly, Shuichi didn’t care about that. It was already clear to him the bear had no sense of humanity or morals. This killing game was already a testament to that, so demanding answers on that front was useless.
There was, however, something that he did want to know.
“Monokuma,” He called out to the bear, not knowing if his soft voice would even be heard amongst the uproar the execution had caused. Unsurprisingly, however, the mechanical headmaster snapped to attention.
“Ah, what is it, what is it? Does the detective want something with me? Do you—“ The bear stopped momentarily, however, to brandish his claw, his eye glowing red as his attention was suddenly captured by the others in the room. “—SHUT UP!! Quiet down, class! And you, too, kids! Your old man’s ears aren’t what they used to be!”
“Sorry ‘bout that! Now what did ya want?” He resumed in his playful tone once more, as if nothing had happened. Thanks to that however, the entire room was silent, waiting for what Shuichi had to say. Monokuma probably knew what the detective was going to bring up, and most likely wanted the class to hear for whatever reason.
“Amami-kun’s execution…The way he was killed, and the title: ‘Teachers Pet’... That was a clue, wasn’t it? For whatever his talent was?”
“Upupupu! As expected of the Ultimate Detective, Saihara-kun! You’ve got some great ideas there. Whether you’re right or not, though, I can’t tell you! Doesn’t matter hoow smart you are if you can never confirm your super duper theories, you cocky brat!” Monokuma lectured, suddenly becoming angry at the end.
“Eh?! But, doesn’t saying it like that already confirm that he was right?” Monophanie gasped, beads of sweat somehow forming on her mechanical body.
“AH! I guess you’re right. But even if it was a hint, like I said, it’s not like anyone’s gonna tell you what his talent was anyway, so just don’t think about difficult stuff like that! Work hard and do your best to graduate! Cuz the funs only just begun!”
And with that, Monokuma disappeared in his unusual manner, as usual.
The Monokubs followed suit, leaving the emotionally drained students alone in the trial room.
“I still can’t believe all this shit…doing that to a dead body…How fucked up can you get?” Kaito asked, gripping his forehead with a sweaty palm.
“I agree, it was just plain cruel…” Tsumugi whimpered.
“Instead of uselessly freaking out over what happened to a dead body,” Maki interjected, “Just be thankful it wasn’t one of us.”
“Nyeh…she has a point…at least if Amami committed suicide, a murder hasn’t officially happened yet…right?” Himiko asked, bordering between her typical bored, monotone voice, and a somewhat worried tone.
“Th…that’s right!”
Everybody in the room turned in surprise to the unexpected voice that had suddenly piped up.
It was none other than the Ultimate Pianist, clenching a certain detectives hat in her hands as she spoke somewhat hesitantly, yet hopefully.
“Yumeno-san has the right attitude on this—we still haven’t succumbed to their crazy killing game, then! We won’t give them what they want!” With every word that left her mouth, her posture became straighter and straighter, until she was balling her fists in the air, a pose of hope and determination that had become all-too familiar to Shuichi already. It made him smile to see it.
“Eeeeeh?” Kokichi drawled out in a raised pitch that also succeeded in raising the hairs on Shuichi’s neck. He knew what the little dictator was going to say, but wasn’t sure how to stop it.
“Didn’t you already try to kill somebody, Akamatsu-chan? Who are you preaching to? None of us have succumbed…” He raised his fingers up to his lips as he smirked. “But haven’t you?”
Shuichi knew what he was going to say, but not how he was going to say it. Listening to that had hurt even him, so he could only imagine how Kaede felt.
“That’s enough, Ouma-kun!” Shuichi snapped quickly, as if he could cut off the words that had already been said. His face was hot with a rage that was uncharacteristic of his usual cool and composed attitude.
“That’s right, you asshole! We already agreed we understood where Akamatsu was coming from! She did it to protect all of us, not that you deserve it, you little shit!” Kaito backed up.
“Not to mention, Akamatsu-san was not intending to kill one of us, so can we really say that she had fallen prey to the killing game, where the point is to kill our fellow classmates?” Shuichi continued, trying his best to not just shout at the child-like boy and keep a level-head.
Hearing Kaito yell at him had done wonders to help ease his anger somewhat, even if it was just because he was experiencing the pleasure of yelling vicariously.
The detective wasn’t sure how many in the room agreed with Kokichi’s way of thinking, or if they forgave Kaede, but if there were any that agreed with Kokichi, they didn’t seem to be speaking up, which was a relief.
“Indeed, instead of all of this arguing amongst ourselves, we should return to our dorms and take a much needed rest,” Kirumi added coolly as she walked over to the doors of the elevator, pressing the button and stepping aside to let all the students in before she entered.
At her words, it seemed everyone suddenly realized how tired they were. It was clear not just by appearances, but the silence as well.
As the last of the students were ushered into the elevator, Kirumi herself stepped in, letting the doors close behind her as she pressed the button that would bring them back to the surface.
“And,” she continued softly, as the sounds of the elevator whirred all around them. “Let us be thankful for the fact that, if a killing had to happen, at least it resulted in the least amount of deaths possible.”
“Don’t let what Ouma-kun said get to you,” Shuichi said, stealing a glance at the blonde girl beside him to gauge her reaction as they walked.
“I’ll try,” She said honestly.
It was already dark out by the time they had come out of the trial grounds and back to the surface, and so everybody had parted ways, mainly to return to their dorms. The detective and pianist were mainly quiet as they walked, too bombarded by thoughts and emotions of what had happened to really say much of anything.
It was a wonder how anybody would be able to sleep tonight.
As they arrived back into the dormitory building, Shuichi walked Kaede back to her door, which wasn’t much of a grand gesture of chivalry considering how close their rooms all were to each other.
Kaede grabbed the handle to her room, but made no move to turn it or open the door yet.
“Thank you, Saihara-kun.” Was all she said. What else more could she say? There were no words to express all of the things she had to say to him, or all the things she had to thank him for. She could write a 20 page essay and it still wouldn’t be enough.
He nodded once, a smile on his face as he watched her take the first few steps into her room.
“See you tomorrow” He told her.
The fact that he was able to say those words to her was enough.