Disclaimer: not mine
Summary: Saihara noticed Akamatsu is acting strange, and he manages to save her from committing murder.
Untitled
Saihara choose to trust her. He's gone over the plan a few hundreds of times in his head. The detective found no faults in his plan and shared his plan with her. The moment she heard the plan her eyes lit up with hopeful glee. That reaction only reassured him that his plan was indeed a good one.
Halfway through carrying out the plan he noticed that the hope in her eyes had slowly died leaving nothing but dread. "Akamatsu, is something wrong?" The blonde shifted uncomfortably debating if she should share her thoughts.
"Do you really think this will work?" The boy frowned. Where would the plan fall apart? "Let me rephrase. When we rush into the library, what's going to happen? Will the two of us be able to 'physically' stop them?" She put emphases on the word and Saihara understood immediately what her worry was. He felt a bit dishearten. "It's rather unlikely the mastermind will listen to us. Chances are, before we're even in reaching distance to disable them, an exisal would have been called." He thought about it, her concerns were completely logical.
As much as it pains him to admit it, he's never once been in a winning fight. Not with how often he was shoved into lockers growing up. Little scuffles were nothing compared to a life or death situation. His frown grew as he pulled down the bill of his hat. The detective didn't want her to see his expression. His punch would probably hurt him more than the person he punched.
A loud inhale got his attention. Akamatsu's breathing was erratic her expression was so pained that he wonder if she would start to tear up. "I've considered it, you know. Killing..." The words came out meekly, all of her attention focused on the ground to make it easier to confess. She didn't want to see hurt or disappointment on his soft face. The weight of the shot put weighed on her shoulders. Her hands cupped as if the weapon was currently being held in them.
The boy reached for one of her hands. The weight of the weapon was instantly gone the moment their fingers entwined. "It'll be alright. I won't let you do that." His voice didn't waver like it normally did; his resolve was strong.
For some reason the pianist found her face heating up. "You're being really reliable..." It became awkward for her but considering the alternative this outcome was preferred. He didn't loosen his grip on her hand, not till he was sure she had calmed down. When she felt herself able to steal a glimpse at him he wore a gentle comfortable smile. "Have I disappointed you?"
"Of course not! It took a lot of courage to tell me th-"
A buzzer went off. All the blood in Akamatsu's body turned ice cold. The detective didn't hesitate to jump into action speeding out of the classroom. The moment he had let go of her hand her she felt all calm feeling from her body vanish. It was replaced with cold hard fear. Still she got up glimpsing at the vent with sadness before catching up to her friend.
At the base of the steps Chabashira and Momota rounded the corner and got their attention. "Good timing you two; join our strategy meeting."
"What?"
"The time limit is going to end soon. We need to prepare to have a showdown." Momota hit his knuckles together in a manly action.
"Forget that and come with us. The mastermind is inside the library and we could really use the help from the both of you." Chabashira seemed appalled that Saihara was requesting help from her. She frowned and didn't budge at all.
"Please Chabashira, the person inside needs to be disarmed and seized quickly!" Akamatsu didn't hide the worry or anxiety in her voice. The long haired woman's mood changed the moment her attention was on the other female.
"Of course I'll help you, Akamatsu." With her confirmation the instrumentalist threw open the doors and rushed inside.
"I get to punch them though, right?" The space man asked while receiving no verbal answer.
The group rushed inside. Four people against one mastermind- odds were *decent.* The secret bookcase door slid shut catching their attention first.
"Where is the mastermind?" Momota asked. A deeper fear gripped Akamatsu's heart. Did the mastermind get away?! Was her one chance to stop the mastermind ruined by her weak will? Ruined all because she didn't want to commit murder. The musician rushed to the door curious to know what happened to the camera she placed to the side wall.
Akamatsu stopped abruptly but jumped back slightly her hands flying to her mouth. Tears pooled at the bottom of her eye lids as a pathetic whine escaped her throat. The action alerted the rest of them as they ran over to her. "Akama-!" Saihara started, his voice died the moment his eyes landed on the floor. The sight freaked them all out.
Lying on the floor was Amami Rantaro's dead body.
Unconsciously the detective's eyes shifted towards the blonde. She noticed his gaze and flinched violently. Akamatsu almost cried out that she didn't do it. She slipped the backpack off her shoulders and opened the zipper just enough to peer inside. The shot put was still there. Saihara trotted over to her side and peek in. Over the confused screams of the others she heard a relieved exhale escaped his lungs.
With Chabashira's scream four other students ran into the room each one sharing disbelieve. Saihara squatted down next to Amami checking for any signs of life. He nodded with a frown.
A normal sounding school bell rang and the monitor in the room turned on. The bear on the screen made them tense up. "A body has been discovered!" The surprise of seeing a corpse shocked the girl's system. The musician didn't even think about Amami being the mastermind or not.
The screen turned off and Monokuma appeared in the library seconds later. "I was getting a little worried that there wasn't going to be a murder. It's a good thing I held off."
It didn't take long for the rest of the students to show up. Their reaction all mimicked each other somehow making the situation much worse in her head. Emotionally she attached herself to Saihara who was staring at Amami with curiosity. "Regardless to rather or not he's the mastermind. Why is he dead?"
"That's easy, it's because one of you killed him to get out of here." The grinning bear said cheerfully. Before either could retort yells of disapproval flooded the room. "I know you don't want to believe it but it's one hundred percent true that the culprit is one of you. Now, does the culprit wish to show themselves? Because of my first motive the guilty party gets to graduate! Step forward to receive your congratulation robe and you cap with a tassel." The bear laughed waiting for someone to step up. Seconds pasted and no one came forward as being a murder.
"No one is going to come forward? Oh my, do you wish to hold a class trial anyway?" Monokuma tossed the cap prop behind him without a care. "How wonderful!"
Harukawa sighed. "It would have been better for someone to come forward before this escalated into a larger problem." She bit into the side of her cheek, pouting. "They could have gotten the rest of us help as well."
"That wouldn't have happened anyway so don't feel bad." The small robot shot down her idea immediately. "Now then allow me to present you with this Monokuma file to help you investigate." There was a little beep that the Monokuma pads made as the file was updated. "There you go; after a certain amount of time the trial will be held so for now it's investigation time. Use it wisely.~" The grin on his face looked bigger as he disappeared out of the room.
The black haired boy pulled out his pad and swiped at the screen. Listed was all the facts about the body. Akamatsu read over his shoulder with each line her glare became harden. "The fact that this report is so detailed yet doesn't give out any clues to who actually did it. Does that mean that it was the mastermind who is guilty? How else could they be so thorough?" Without giving a verbal retort Saihara crouched near the body again. This time sticking his hands in his pockets and doing a full check of his person.
He pulled out two items. Amami's bedroom keys and his own monopad. "Well, I think we can safely say he's not the mastermind or else I would have found the card key on him." Next the sleuth pushed the ladder over to the book case and retrieved the cameras one by one. "Let's develop the pictures."
"Please allow me to do that for you. I wish to be helpful." The maid spoke up.
"Alright, but please take someone with you. Not because you can't be trusted but to prove that your innocent. Moving independently would be unwise right now."
"Very well."
"I'll go with you, if you want." Toujou smiled and made her way to find the solution needed to developed the pictures. The tennis player trotted after her nonchalantly struggling to keep up with her longer strides.
One by one the others dispersed to do their own investigations. Only Saihara, Akamatsu and Amami's body stayed in the library. He turned to her. "How are you holding up?"
"Who did it?"
"I don't know yet."
Monokuma walked back into the room creating weird sound effects as he trotted. "As your principle let me teach you something." The bear's glowing eye seemed to shine brighter than before. "Akamatsu, you really are a naive girl. You're in a battle royal mystery game. It's unwise of you to think that sixteen random strangers have the same thought process as you. It's also ignorant to think that someone isn't going to try with all their might to graduate for personal achievement. Unlike bears, humans really are dumb creatures. Time and time again humans have committed murders for personal gain. Things like greed, ideologies, lustful obsessions, substance abuse and even boredom to name a few. Why would you assumed that you kids are better then all others?"
"You're in a situation where you're all stuck together, with a time limit. That anxiousness that anxiety, it ate you up on the inside didn't it? The logical conclusion is 'when' will the murder happen not 'if' it will. After all you had the intent to do it too." The principle laughed at the expressions the two before him had. Their hateful glares filled him with a pleasurable. "Come find me if you ever want me to teach you about the philosophical mind of a human." The teddy turned on his heel and waddled out.
Both of them were left feeling even more upset then before and speechless. Saihara found himself gazing at the instrumentalist. He wanted to say something but couldn't find the words. He huffed and settled for words that sounded submissive at the despair of the situation. "Come on Akamatsu, until they're done with the film all we can do is investigate."
She nodded in agreement and schlep forward. The detective wanted to reach out for her. But ultimately decided that wasn't appropriate right now. "Saihara will you allow me another moment of weakness?" The pianist knew there was really no time for crying. Especially since Monokuma didn't actually give the time when the trial was going to start.
"Take all the time you nee-" It happened so quickly that his eyes only register amber locks splay in the air. The girl had spun around so quickly and latched onto him resting her check on his broad shoulder while facing the wall. It didn't take long for him to respond automatically his arms wrapped around her. His arms tightened around her feeling her shake.
Most other thoughts flew from his head. Having to prefer not think about what would happen later and focus on the present. He couldn't place the scent on her golden tresses wild lilies and vanilla? Or perhaps the scent of exotic fruits.
It didn't take long for her to control her breathing and pull away. "Alright, thanks, let's go." The musician said as cheerfully as she could currently muster. Her face was bright red and her eyes were slightly puffy from the persist rubbing. She prevented the tears from landing on him and ruining his clothes.
They left the library to head up to the first floor. "Do you mind waiting here for me while I wash my face?"
"Not at all, I'll be here." He watched her disappear into the threshold of the bathroom. He leaned against the wall and sorted through his memories of the last hour. There was a lot that happened. He separated the good from the bad and tried to focused on the bad for now.
"Hello, Saihara. What are you doing alone?" His attention was brought to the face of a smiling robot. Iruma was off in the distance looking bored and unwilling to do much to help.
He greeted back with a small smile of his own. " Hello Kibo, I'm not alone, I'm just waiting for Akamatsu to get out of the bathroom. Did you need something?"
"Yes, I'll collecting alibis. May I have yours?"
The sleuth gave both testimonies for himself and Akamatsu. "If you wish to double check to see if our words are the truth we ran into Momota."
"That's unnecessary besides I've already talked to him. You guys were the first group to find the body."
"Yeah, while we're on the subject since you're collecting alibis. Pay special attention to the time period right before the time limit." Since the buzzer went off that murder must have had a very small time frame. If that was true he felt like he could cross out himself, Akamatsu, Momota and Chabashira as the culprit.
"I understand." The bot looked rather happy to fulfill a request. He rushed off dragging a whining Iruma by the hand.
Akamastu looked at her reflection in the mirror frowning at how horrible she appeared. Her hand reached for the facet. She splashed cold water on her face. The cooling sensation refreshed her and help the redness in her face die down. Extending her hand to the paper towel dispenser she groped around blindly. Forcing one eye to open only to confirm that the dispenser was empty. She huffed.
At least the supply closet was close by. With wet hands she pushed the door open. The disappointment was quickly forgotten at the secret passage way that had opened quietly. The tunnel looked like it traveled a bit of a distance. Quickly using toilet paper to dry herself she choose to get the black haired boy before exploring.
"Hey Saihara, come in here."
"Eh?" Questions flooded his head. Surely he just heard wrong? Why was she inviting him into the females bathroom?!
"I found a hidden passage in the supply closet."
Relief and a bit of disappointment washed over him. "Naturally." The boy muttered under his breath. A hand gripped his forearm and pulled him inside because his hesitation was taking too long. He was dragged right to the unexplored entrance. For a split second they made eye contact before proceeding down.
The tunnel was one way with no detours or doors leading to other rooms. The new room was a nice large one. In the middle was a large covered up object that attracted their attention immediately.
With a 'swoosh' the musician pulled the sheet off. She blink and frowned. "Well, look at that, it's a Monokuma head in a snow globe."
"Don't you sass Mother Monokuma. You may not be my offspring but I'll still discipline you."
"Mother Monokuma?"
"That's right, I'm the head of all the Monokumas. You kids shouldn't be in here you know. Didn't your parents teach you not to go playing on your neighbor's yard?"
While the blonde verbally fought with the head the boy decided to look around. There really wasn't much in the room. His eyes fell onto the table and the only item on top. A monopad stained with wet blood. Careful not to ruin the blood pattern he held it by a corner and tapped it on.
Survivor perk
With the utmost focus the detective scanned everything on the little computer. There was a detailed floor map he started to study. He could piece together that the little icons were student labs. The one room represented by a gun worried him a little. Who's was that?
He dragged his pointer finger upward. Six floors in total. From the outside the building didn't look like it had more than two clearly a lot of it was unfinished. The boy let out a little hum and thought about this new information. He pulled up the next page which was a letter.
"You're best chance of exposing the mastermind is when Monokuma needs a spare. At the time, the mastermind will go to the library's hidden room. Only share this information with people you can trust. How you determine that will mean your life or your death- Amami Rantaro."
The sleuth placed his hand to his face. This was a lot to take in. Who was Amami? Was this 'perk' suppose to help? Or was this just a trap? So someone knows who he was? Was he killed specifically? This letter made it seem like he would be a target. The plot is really thickening.
Akamatsu dropped her backpack to the ground and pulled out the shot put. Saihara's head shot up at the thunk sound it made when hitting the floor. All words died on Mother's Monokuma's voice box. "...You wouldn't hit a pregnant bear would you?"
"Yes, I think I would." She stepped forward shifting her weight trying to bust out some power from her muscles. The metal ball didn't go far nor did it fly fast but it hit the target right in the eye. With a triumph smile the blonde rubbed her dominate hand's bicep. She'll be feeling the strain on that limb but it was certainly worth it.
"You kept that with you the whole time?"
"Yes, I did."
A bell sounded throughout the school. "The class trial is about to begin. Please head to the shrine of judgment." The monitor turned off as quickly as it was on.
"I thought for sure that an exisal was coming to burst through the door." Akamatsu admittedly didn't think her last action through. The pianist was quick to anger and she acted on it without thinking about the consequences. Only after she calmed down she realized the danger she could have put herself and the boy next to her in.
"I think Monokuma is feeling a little threatened right now. At least he seemed a little mad." The black haired boy walked over to the other door trying to open it. The door slid opened and the bookcase opened with a rumble.
"Saihara?"
"That's what I thought..." He muttered to himself. "This trial is going to be interesting." The blonde picked up on amusement in the timid boy's voice. "Let's proceed to the shrine."
The boy didn't wait for a responsive before walking out of the secret room. Akamastu took a deep breath trying to physic herself up. The couple walked out of the library immediately running into Toujou and Hoshi. "The pictures are finished."
The detective took the folder of pictures from the maid and pulled them out. The musician looked over his shoulder as he flipped with the photos. "Why isn't anyone else in the p-photos?" It wasn't likely that the photos were messed with.
The taller boy noticed the alarm in her voice. He thought to himself before opening his mouth. "More than likely the mastermind used the secret room and evaded the cameras at the doors."
"Where the pictures helpful?" Hoshi asked.
"Yes, thank you." Both Hoshi and Toujou smiled lightly happy to be of use. The two completed their task and left for the shrine first. Saihara checked the pictures again to confirm his previous theories.
Amami had moved the book case. Amami also had the blood covered monopad in his hand before death. So the person who did it used the passage for a fact because they took the pad. And all this revolves around the woman's bathroom secret passage.
"Alright, mastermind. Challenge accepted."