Doors lined each side of the hallway, some ajar and some not. With a library in the middle of the left wall, the rooms on opposite-side walls didn't match up directly. Shuichi peeked through the cracks of the doors. They're all classrooms. So these must be where everyone woke up.
The metal bars that used to obstruct the way to the elevator and stairs had retracted into the ground. A large sign hung next to the door to the stairway. On its surface was an image that briefly summarized what lay in all sixteen floors. Like Monokuma had mentioned earlier, the dormitory was listed on the fifteenth floor. The cafeteria on the tenth. What caught Shuichi's eye were floors three to one, which were bolded in red.
Suddenly, their MonoWatches lit up.
"Is this a quest?"
"No way."
"It looks like... Homework?" Sure enough, the text flashing on the screens read:
||Homework [Rank E]||
[What floor is the cafeteria?
Reward upon completion: 5 Monokuma Credits
Failure: None]
Once they entered the answer, "tenth," the watches beeped again, rewarding them.
The first person in the group to break the silence was Harukawa. "Are the 'homework' the 'quests' then?"
"No… That can't be it," said Shuichi in a soft voice. "Monokuma said that the quests will come at 12pm."
"Gonta not really understand."
"Since the quests will appear at 12pm, this can't be one because it's only 10:14am," Amami took his time saying, making sure to be gentle with his words.
"So it seems that bear has yet to reveal all the elements in this game… How utterly human of him," said Korekiyo.
Throwing his arms around his body, Momota shivered, eyes darting left and right. "You know… I still don't get how he just popped out of the wall like that. Am I the only one who's shocked?"
The group remained silent, each person falling into their own thoughts.
In the end, the consensus proved to be checking if the elevator worked. But like everyone had expected, the doors remained unmovable. There was even a sign that read "out of order" in chicken scratch taped haphazardly to them.
"Looks like we're out of luck."
"Maybe the stairs would fare better."
"I'll give it a rocket kick!"
But other than a resounding thud , nothing else happened.
"Man, and you thought you were some hot stuff," said Kokichi, picking his ears.
"I-it's sturdier than it looks!"
"Let Gonta try!"
"Ah, me too."
Yet, no matter how many times Gonta and Amami rammed at the door to the stairwell, it was to no avail.
"Damn," said Amami, rubbing his shoulder. "Is that thing painted on or what?"
Shuichi looked up. Caught sight of a security camera aimed at the door and another one aimed at the elevator. Eventually, the teens split up once more to check the other rooms. With more attention to detail applied, they noticed that there were security cameras hidden in nooks there as well.
Moreover, like Shuichi and Kokichi's starting room, the desks and chairs were all nailed to the ground. The lockers contained nothing of use, just some paper and pens. The spirits of the group tanked.
In one of the classrooms, Shuichi saw Amami with his ear pressed to a wall. Curious, he approached the other party. Other than listening to the wall, Amami Rantaro seemed to be knocking on segments of it, before moving to the next.
"What are you doing?"
"Well, I'm checking to see if there's any hollow spaces."
"Why?"
"So that he can stuff a body in there, of course!"
"O-Ouma-kun! When did you get here?"
Indeed, Kokichi stood right behind Shuichi, head peeking from the latter's side. Once their gazes met, the shorter boy flashed him a frown. "Gosh Saihara-chan, do you have the memory of a goldfish? I said I'll be your knight in shining armor and escort you around!"
Such words caused Shuichi's face to burn. But before he could refute anything, the other boy made his way to Amami's side. "That was a lie. I'm a Supreme Leader! I've got no time to play around with you."
"That… was a lie too, right?"
Kokichi's eyes brightened. "You got me there!" He then turned to Ultimate Adventurer. "Amami-chan looks really dumb banging the walls like that. Here, let me help you!"
And he threw a kick at that spot in the wall.
A cloud of dust and debris burst through the air. After it cleared, what the trio discovered… was nothing.
"Well, that was pointless," said Kokichi, picking his ear.
"Ah, I guess that was all for nothing. Sorry for wasting your time, guys."
"No… At least you're trying to figure things out," said Shuichi.
Amami watched as the Ultimate Detective and Ultimate Supreme Leader left the classroom together. With a sigh, he rubbed his hands of dust. But just as he was about to turn and leave, he caught a glint of something in the rubble. His eyes widened a fraction once he registered what it was. And he pocketed it.
The others were still searching the other rooms. The trio of Chabashira, Yumeno, and Yonaga were checking the girls' restroom, which faced the library. In the library were Kiibo, Gonta, and surprisingly Iruma.
Shuichi and Kokichi returned to the room with the opened vent, the one closest to the solarium on the right. As soon as they stepped foot within, Kokichi spun on his heel and locked the door. Turning back around to face Shuichi, he took step after step, backing the taller boy into the lockers on the opposite side.
"Ouma-kun…"
His face was devoid of emotion. "You know what this means, right?'
"...What?"
"There isn't just one game going on here."
Ding. They're still staring into each other's eyes, but they were both aware what that sound was for.
Kokichi grinned. "Looks like our game is about to start."
Flashing bright on their MonoWatch screens were the words:
||Daily Quest [Rank ?]||
[Sabotage the sheep in gathering 100 tokens!
Reward if successful: 100 Monokuma Credits
Happy Hunting!]
"Sheep… Does that mean the others?"
"Weeelll, it's not for certain we're the only wolves," said Kokichi. "Though I think it's highly likely we are. There are eight classrooms, four on each side of the hall. And none of the rooms apart from ours have the vent grill removed."
"Maybe they screwed the screws back in…" Shuichi fell into his thoughts. "Although…" He approached the vent. Squinted. Upon closer inspection, he said, "The rooms are covered in a thick layer of dust. So if the edges of the grill aren't dusty, then that means someone placed it back in." He turned to face Kokichi. "Let's do a sweep of the rooms."
Sure enough, the edges of the other vent grills were chock-full of dust.
"I guess we have it then," said Kokichi, locking his hands behind his head with a grin. "No one else used the vents to get around."
"It's not a hundred percent guaranteed, but I doubt there was another way out of those rooms," said Shuichi, voice near whisper. "Unless, there were different types of escape-rooms involved."
"Nishishi! What a mess!"
"We should start looking for coins," Shuichi said. "Since the quest says to stop the sheep from gathering a hundred coins, it's likely there are more than a hundred coins scattered on this floor. Otherwise, it'll be too one-sided of a game toward the wolves' favor."
"Wow Saihara-chan! You're just doing all the work for us. Maybe instead of being your knight in shining armor, I'll be your stay-at-home wife instead!"
"O-Ouma-kun…" Shuichi fought back the blush threatening to show itself. He cleared his throat. "That's not true anyway. You've helped a lot."
Kokichi just hummed.
Since failing a quest won't give punishment, it should be okay to sabotage the rest. Shuichi rolled his hands into fists. Right?
All of a sudden, a frightening thought zipped through his mind, leaving uncertainty in its wake. He felt for his wrist. While fumbling with his MonoWatch, Shuichi came across an option he hadn't seen earlier. Which was surprising, since it was in bright red.
Team Wolf Files.
"What are you looking at?"
Shuichi whipped his head up from the screen. Caught sight of Kokichi snooping at it. "Um. I think it's information just for us." He threw his attention back on his MonoWatch. With a tap of his finger, a text box appeared.
||Team Wolf Special Perks & Additional Clauses||
+Rule 4 does not apply to you! Use this time to stir some trouble.
+You can abstain from one Quiz.
+You can take the punishment of someone else once.
+Should the Sheep discover what you are, a lethal dose of Happy Cubs neurotoxin will be administered.
+For every Sheep that fails a Quiz, you will be rewarded.
+You will receive information about the Quizzes 24 hours beforehand.
+Should the living student body escape together, YOU WILL DIE.
Happy Hunting!
It was a lot to take in. However, perhaps most alarming were the fourth and last bullet points. A cruel reminder of just what kind of situation they were in.
His breathing grew rough and ragged. His eyes wide, pupils dilated from fear. What if he had accidentally blabbered to the others about Team Wolf? What if he hadn't had that sudden urge to check through his MonoWatch? Shuichi did not even want to entertain those thoughts, the sobering notion draining the strength from his legs.
Before he hit the ground, a pair of strong arms caught him, supporting his weight.
"S-sorry." He made sure to look down. Away from that deep, violet gaze.
A long, drawn-out sigh. "Gosh, Saihara-chan. You're really such a scaredy-cat." In one swift motion, Kokichi ripped his cap away from his head. Shuichi had yet to react, when the other boy grabbed his chin, forcing him to look up. "We just gotta make sure to keep it a secret, right?" His stare did not leave room for objections.
"R-right…"
"Besides." And a smile graced those pink lips. "Don't these perks seem interesting?"
They ended up searching the room again. Shuichi discovered a golden coin lodged between one of the locker doors, Monokuma's face engraved on both sides.
"Wow, I can't believe you didn't find that earlier." Kokichi nudged his shoulder.
At this point, Shuichi had regained his calm. He shifted his gaze to the other boy's shoulder, still feeling a bit exposed without his cap. "Um, weren't you the one looking through that locker first?"
"Damn, I take back what I said before! Your memory's not like a goldfish's at aaaall."
Somehow, Kokichi's little antics caused the corners of his lips to quirk up.
Once they had ransacked the room and found no other tokens, Kokichi screwed the grill back on the vent. After doing so, he stared at Shuichi and held a finger to his lips.
They headed back to the hall. One glance, and it was obvious everyone was searching their own rooms first.
"I guess we can check the libra—"
"Girls' restroom!" piped Kokichi.
"H-huh?!"
"Oh c'mon, Saihara-chan! This is the best time to search through it since no one else is there right now! Pluuuus," Kokichi bounced on his feet, shifting his weight from one to the other, "I really have to pee!"
Helpless, Shuichi acquiesced to his demand. The other boy pulled him by the hand there in quick, quiet steps.
There were four stalls in total, with doors that sat flush on the ground. Kokichi kicked open one of the stalls, a crazy gleam in his eyes. Meanwhile, Shuichi checked under the sinks. Found a token stuck to the back of one of the sink pipes with used bubblegum. Just as he's about to pluck it, a scream ripped through the air. And Shuichi bumped his head on the base of the sink.
A gasp of pain left his lips and he rubbed at the point of collision. From the way it felt, it was already starting to swell. "W-what happened?"
"Oh nothing. There were no tokens," said Kokichi with a smile.
Shuichi heaved a long sigh, and in one crisp motion, finally ripped that token out.
"But I did find something else that was interesting." Kokichi stretched out a hand. Lying on his palm was an item that resembled a small sphere. But upon closer inspection, there was actually a protruding edge to it, conveniently hidden as it lay on his palm. Shuichi narrowed his eyes, bringing the mystery item closer.
"Is this… a key?"
"Seems like it, right?"
But every key is made to open a lock. Shuichi furrowed his brows. So what does this open?
"Woah Mister Detective, that's some scary face you got on!"
"Ah, s-sorry. I was thinking."
"No, no that's okay. That's your job anyway. Detecting, right?"
"Um, sure..." Shuichi handed the key back to Kokichi who pocketed it, a clang ringing the moment he did.
"Oh Ouma-kun, do you happen to still have that screwdriver?"
A wrinkle between his brows, Kokichi stared at him as if he had two heads sprouting from his neck. "Screwdriver? What screwdriver?"
"The one you used to open—"
"You mean this?" In the blink of an eye, Kokichi pointed the screwdriver at Shuichi. The way he held it gave off the impression of a ninja brandishing a blade.
To calm his bubbling irritation, Shuichi sucked in a deep breath. "Yes… Well, it's good to see you still have it. Might come in handy later."
After searching some more, they grew four tokens richer. Suddenly, footsteps rang from the hall.
Before Shuichi could even react, Kokichi yanked him into one of the stalls. Locked it.
The voices were feminine. Sounded like the trio of Chabashira, Yumeno, and Yonaga.
"There's gotta be tokens hidden here somewhere!" said Chabashira.
"Mmm. I'll just stand here and recharge my mana."
"Oooh! Atua will show us the way!"
Then they started opening the stalls.
With his and Kokichi's stall being the farthest from the door, they had at most minutes before the trio found them.
A thousand possibilities zipped through his mind. Scenarios from keeping the door barricaded to throwing rolls of toilet paper at the girls in order to make his getaway. But at the end of the day, none of those seemed feasible. His heart beat so loudly he could hear it in his ears.
And then they were at his stall.
"Hey, what the heck? It's not budging."
"Maybe if you give yourself to Atua, you shall receive his blessing!"
"Um. no thanks Angie. I think I'll just kick it down."
There's a loud slam and the door shook upon collision. But luckily, it remained shut.
"Hah?! Is there someone in there?"
Heart thrashing against his chest, Shuichi could feel the sweat clinging to his skin, dripping down his back. Chabashira was really strong. And the Ultimate Akido Master. She could truly kick down the stall door if she wanted to. What if she did? What if she saw him and Kokichi here?
However, before he spiraled into a deeper panic, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Shuichi glanced behind him. Smiling, Kokichi had a finger to his lips, shaking his head. He squeezed his shoulder.
Only then did Shuichi calm.
"Ehh, the lock's probably broken."
"But it was fine just before!"
"It's okay Tenko-chan. We already found sixteen tokens anyway. All sixteen of us just need to get a hundred."
"Angie agrees!"
And then the trio finally made to leave.
When Shuichi was certain they were gone, he swiftly unlocked the door and dashed out. Kokichi followed suit.
Once they're standing right outside the girls' restroom, they look at each other. And they burst into laughter.
"I… can't believe we survived that."
"Nishishi! What can I say, Saihara-chan's my good luck charm!"
"W-wha…" Shuichi blushed.
A smile spread across Kokichi's lips, genuine in appearance. Then he smirked devilishly. "Imagine what the girls would say if they find out you were hiding in the stall like a pervert."
An instant, and Shuichi froze. "What? N-no—"
"Just kidding!"
"Ouma-kun… You really get a knack out of teasing me, don't you?"
"Wow, Saihara-chan's actually learning! Is this how a proud father feels?"
"I thought you were my stay-at-home wife?"
"I take that back. Saihara-chan's dumb! Dumb!"
They headed for the library. It wasn't very large, about the size of two classrooms fused together. Unfortunately, they were only able to uncover three tokens there.
"So one token from our classroom, five from the girls' restroom, and three from the library makes nine tokens. Damnnn, this is hard. I wonder how they can even find a hundred," said Kokichi, beaming. Currently, they sat on a bench in the solarium next to each other. Earlier, they had checked the room, yet their search had proved fruitless.
Kokichi leaned against Shuichi, resting his head on his shoulder.
Shuichi smiled wryly. "There's still more than ten hours left until the quest ends automatically."
"Maaan, I'm famished! Let's get something to eat!"
"W-wait Ouma-kun!" But Kokichi already ran off to the vending machine.
He followed him there. Watched as the other boy eyed the selection and threw around exaggerated poses of thought.
"Hmmm. Somehow I don't think a Cup Noodle is worth 5 credits, but—oh, they've got Panta!" And he spent 2 credits like nothing.
"Ouma-kun, you shouldn't use your credits so wastefully. If you want something to drink, I'm sure the sinks in the girls' restroom have water."
"But I want Panta! I want it! I want it! I want it!"
"O-okay!"
As if a switch were flipped, Kokichi phased out of his tantrum. Stared straight at Shuichi.
"Y-yes?"
"If you want a taste, go for it," he said, his tone nonchalant.
"I couldn't… You spent your hard-earned credits on it. I'd feel bad."
"Well I'd feel bad if you don't. C'mon, just a sip. Just a sip would do. Pwetty pwease!"
Shuichi obliged.
For a hairsbreadth of a second, Kokichi's face grew impassive, and if Shuichi hadn't been looking at him just now, he would have just missed it. But a blink, and the mischievous smile returned.
"There's some weird shit in here, eh? Well maybe someone like Iruma-slut would be into them."
Confused, Shuichi followed the other boy's line of sight. His eyes popped.
Sitting in the right corner of the vending machine's top shelf, underneath a gaudy pink sticker that read "daily deal," were a few questionable items: a neatly-coiled whip, a pair of pink fluffy handcuffs, and a box of "Monokuma-tested and bested" condoms.
But perhaps the most important clue was the gaudy sticker.
"Daily deal… so these items will change every day?"
"Who knows? Hey, can you give me a lift?"
"H-huh? Um, okay."
Sitting on Shuichi's shoulders, Kokichi was one head taller than the vending machine.
Riiiiippp.
"What are y-you doing?!"
"Ah, Saihara-chan. You can let me down now."
Once Kokichi's feet touched the ground, he crushed whatever was in his hand.
"Did you just… rip off the sticker?"
"Hmmm? What sticker? I see no sticker. Was there ever a sticker?"
Neurons fired. Without having to be told, Shuichi could guess the reason for Kokichi's sudden strange action. He doesn't want anyone to know about the daily deals. He wants to keep it a secret… between us.
He drew his brows together a hint.
In the end, Shuichi purchased a Cup Noodle, sharing it with Kokichi. It's only fair, was what Shuichi thought.
The rest of the students filtered into the solarium shortly after.
To his surprise, they had obtained a total of sixty-three tokens. How the heck did they find so many?
"How many coins did you guys find?" asked Akamatsu.
As Shuichi freezed up, not knowing what to say or planning this far, Kokichi responded, "Just two. We were reeeally unlucky."
"So sixty-five altogether, huh?" Momota physically deflated. "Still a long way from a hundred."
"I'm surprised we didn't come across any as we had searched the rooms before the quest arrived," said Tojo. "Could it be that the tokens manifested only after we received the quest?"
Iruma widened her eyes. "How is that possible?"
"How did that bear hop out of the wall?" countered Harukawa.
"Tojo-san has a point," said Akamatsu. "But I think for now, instead of debating this, we should be discussing whether we want to take Monokuma's words as is."
Hoshi frowned. "Are you saying… you want to break the rules?"
"No, not exactly. But I think we have to determine whether we stick with the agenda, or try to find another way out ourselves."
"Not to rain on your parade, but I don't exactly see a way out of here," said Harukawa.
"Meh, I actually prefer this game. Way more interesting than us all trying and failing to escape," said Kokichi, prompting a heated glare from most of the student body.
"I want all of us to escape together," said Akamatsu. "If anyone opposes this idea, then speak out now."
Silence.
Shuichi placed a hand on his chin. Did his best to ignore the clawing sense of unease in his chest and the perspiration clinging to his forehead. Was this fate? Just minutes after he had read those damning special clauses, Akamatsu brought up the topic of escaping together.
Normally, he would be content with standing in the background, his brain whirling with countless theories and deductions while his lips remained sealed. But not now. The situation was pressing. "I think… we should start with the elevator."
If someone could escape first...
"Huh?"
Thrusting a fist in the air, Momota said, "But the power to it is shut off. And the doors might as well be glued together with superglue."
"Ooooh. I get where you're coming from," chirped Kokichi.
"What is it? Gonta wants to know."
"I'd like to know too," said Amami.
"Kiibo… You're the Ultimate Robot, right?"
The robot in question nodded vigorously. "That is correct!"
Good, good. Shuichi bit his lip. "So you should have something that can open the elevator panel. Something like… a screwdriver, perhaps?"
He fought the urge to glance at Kokichi. He felt bad about it, but it's better that they didn't reveal all their cards just yet.
"I do! I come with a variety of accessories and tools."
"But do you have a dick?"
"O-Ouma! That's Robophobia!"
Shuichi shook his head, watching as Kokichi laughed in Kiibo's face. He cleared his throat, once again summoning the attention of the others. He cast his gaze to the ground.
"After you open the elevator panel, Iruma-san can see if there's a way to restore power to it. I mean, I'm no electrician but… if everything apart from the elevator has power, then maybe something is blocking the power from getting to the elevator?"
He looked up, and surprise colored his face. Everyone was looking at him like he was the messiah. His ears bloomed red. "Um…"
"That's a great idea!" Momota broke the silence first. "Hmm. I don't do this often, but I like the look of ya. Mhm. That's right. You're my sidekick now, Saihara!"
"O-oh... Thanks?"
"No way someone like Saihara-chan will be your sidekick. Now get out of here. Shoo, shoo."
"Why you little—"
"Hahaha! A gorgeous genius like me can definitely get the power back on. But don't jerk yourselves too hard 'cause of this perfect combo of beauty and brains!"
"Disgusting slut."
"Hieeek?!"
After that, Iruma and Kiibo worked on the elevator together. Momota stuck around as well. In case they needed some manpower later.
Amami and Akamatsu disappeared off somewhere, and Tojo busied herself by keeping the rest of the group, who were in the solarium, comfortable.
With the rest of them occupied, Shuichi and Kokichi returned to their makeshift base: the classroom with the vent they had crawled out of.
The shorter boy proved silent for once. He walked all the way to just below the vent, back facing him.
"Ouma-kun."
In an instant, Kokichi flipped around. "Saihara-chan, I'm impressed. I didn't know you had it in ya to be so sneeeaky."
A frown slid its way across Shuichi's lips. "I'm... not sure what you're implying."
"Directing them to the elevator. You just want those poor suckers to fix it and escape by yourself at night, right? Or maybe." He took a step forward, leaning into Shuichi's personal bubble. "You're hoping one of the more competent ones escape first. Did I hit the nail on the head?"
Shuichi made to tug at his cap, only to grasp air. For a moment, not a word escaped his lips. Then he nodded. "Yeah. You're not completely off about that."
Kokichi whistled. "Count me in."
"Hm?"
"Let me leave with you or I'll tell everyone you're a dirty, stinkin' Wolf."
Just as his blood pressure began to build, the shorter boy burst into laughter.
"Juuust kidding! Hey, don't you find it strange that they found so many tokens?"
The abrupt change in topic almost gave him whiplash. Shuichi swallowed what he wanted to say, staring.
"Or, maybe not. Nishishi. Maybe I'm just talking out of my ass."
A furrow of the brows. "No, I think you've got a point. Assuming that the tokens appeared supernaturally after we received the quest, like what Tojo-san had proposed, why did we only find one token in our classroom? We were there when the quest had appeared, so it's impossible that someone else checked this classroom before we did." Shuichi turned to Kokichi and noticed the other boy was staring intently at his shoulder. It made him a bit nervous. "Um, this is solely on the assumption that the tokens appeared after the quest, of course."
Slowly, as if he were testing his words and tasting them on his tongue, Kokichi said, "These doors lock from the inside. With over a hundred tokens scattered on this floor, we should have at least come across a couple when we had first dropped into this room. But we didn't." He met Shuichi's gaze, bright and blinding, but at the same time, seeming to swallow whatever before it whole. "So in order for that to make sense, I think they did materialize after the quest."
Then he turned away and the spell broke.
"Man, this supernatural shit is really creepy."
Shuichi couldn't help but nod. "Anyway… back to that topic. So far, we've deduced that the tokens appeared after the quest was given. We only found one token in this room, but judging by how many the others had rounded up, there should have been many in each room. If we assume that Chabashira-san and Yumeno-san, who shared a room, and Yonaga-san, who woke up with Tsumugi-san, only searched their rooms before checking the girls' restroom, then… There should be an average of 8 coins per classroom.
"No matter how we had ransacked ours, we only discovered one. Why did our room have fewer tokens than the others?
"Where are the rest?"
Shuichi stood still as Kokichi started pacing about the room. Once. Twice. Three times. For some reason, he found the sight calming.
"Maybe, there really are seven more tokens in here."
"Huh?"
"I'm saying…" Kokichi came to a halt and shifted his gaze to the taller boy. "Maybe they're not in plain view."
"...Isn't that obvious, though? We did have to overturn a few things to find this token."
"Gosh, Saihara-chan. Do I really have to spell it out for you? There are probably coins underneath the floor tiles, in the ceiling, in the walls!"
Shuichi widened his eyes. One word caught his attention, alarm bells ringing in his head. "Walls?"
"Remember how Amami-chan found that hollow space in the wall? Maybe our coins are hidden in those hollow spaces!"
A gasp of surprise left his lips. Then Shuichi dashed to the nearest wall and pressed his ear to it, doing as Amami had done so in the past. On a different wall, Kokichi did the same.
To Shuichi's astonishment, they actually found a hollow area. After sharing a look and nodding, the two summoned all their strength in a single leg each. Kicked.
The spot on the wall collapsed into itself with a groan, clouds of dust and debris flying through the air.
What they discovered among the rubble proved staggering.
"Is that…"
"A TV!"
Shuichi had to fight the urge to pinch himself, settling with blinking again and again. "How is that possible?"
However, calling it a TV was a bit of an understatement. There were multiple monitors. Some displayed the rooms on the sixteenth floor. Shuichi could make out the figures of Korekiyo in one of the classrooms. Akamatsu sat in the solarium chatting with Tsumugi. Iruma, Kiibo, and Momota were still stationed by the elevators.
It wasn't just monitors either. There was a control panel of sorts too, equipped with countless flashing buttons and a keyboard, among other things.
A whistle rang out behind him.
"Wow, neato~"
"W-wait—"
And Kokichi pressed one of the buttons. One of the monitor's field of view shifted. "So this one moves the camera by the elevator." Kokichi faced Shuichi. "Hey, hey, doesn't this feel like we're the masterminds or something?"
"We… can't let anyone else see this." Shuichi moved to lock the door. It's not like he wanted to lie to the others, one of omission or not, but causing a panic would not fare well at such a time. He definitely wasn't feeling guilty. Anyway, since Ouma-kun and I are the only ones with access to this, it shouldn't be a problem.
"We should sleep here for the night," he said. "Or at least, make a show of it." His eyes fell on the vent right above.
Kokichi stilled. "Oooh! You wana roleplay as a spy again?"
Rolling his eyes, Shuichi approached the other boy. "The ventilation system is extensive. Back then, we only followed where the GPS pointed us to. But if we explore it at night…" He sucked in a breath. "We might just uncover a way out of here."
.
Another chapter coming soon.