The Monokuma File now sent to their Monopads, the remaining students' investigation began.
Kaito called Shuichi over to talk to him. Apparently, he was making him his sidekick, claiming that he wasn't really cut out for investigations, being more of a scientist kind of person. It was a little confusing, that didn't seem like a bad trait to have for investigations.
Ryoma understood what he was doing, though. Despite claiming it was all for himself, he was trying to help Shuichi be more confident in his detective skills. He'd take all the responsibility for any mistakes, so Shuichi wouldn't have to worry.
It seemed like Kaito was holding true to helping Shuichi overcome his weakness in finding the truth.
Leaving them to it, Ryoma went off on his own to investigate.
Grabbing his leather jacket and ankle chain and putting them back on, he took out his Monopad and opened the second Monokuma File.
Kirumi Tojo, the Ultimate Maid, was the victim. Her body was discovered in the gym, and was devoured by piranhas afterwards until only bones remained.
The cause of death was drowning.
Ryoma felt himself uncontrollably freezing in place.
He tried to take his eyes off of it, but they stayed glued to those words.
She had drowned.
He knew how it felt. He hated how it felt. You try to hold your breath, but then you eventually start struggling to breathe as water starts filling your lungs, making you cough and take in more of it, bubbles being forced out of you with every breath of air you lose, your chest painfully burning as your vision starts to fade-
"Ryoma?"
Said tennis player suddenly snapped out of his trance, now noticing the increasing tightness in his chest.
"Are you okay?" Shuichi asked, standing next to him.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just looking over the Monokuma File." He half lied, trying not to stutter from unexpectedly hearing his name while he was spaced out. How much time had passed?
"Ah, okay. I was just asking, you were gripping your Monopad pretty hard, like you were trying to break it or something."
Ryoma looked down to see his fingers squeezing the tablet in his hands and loosened them up. "Sorry if it looked that way. It's just that... all of this was going on near the end of the magic trick. Me and Himiko weren't even aware of it."
It's not why he was clutching his pad, but he really meant what he said. It had happened so suddenly, right under their noses.
"Yeah..." He gave Ryoma a sad look, but tried to refocus on the investigation. "I was just going over the Monokuma File with Kaito. There's no time of death shown in this one, unlike Rantaro's."
Ryoma semi-reluctantly looked back down at the file. The cause of death, status of the body, and where it was found were all listed, but no time of death. "You're right. I don't really know why, but maybe there's something we're not supposed to know."
"It's definitely on purpose. We'll have to figure out the time of death at the class trial. It must be pretty important to revealing the culprit."
"Could be."
Shuichi noticed Ryoma shuffling around awkwardly. "Are you sure you're okay? You had kind of an intense look on your face when you were looking at your Monopad."
The tennis pro sighed, not wanting to hide how he felt from him. "It's the cause of death that's bugging me. I don't know how it happened, I didn't see her at all when I was in the water tank with Himiko. Not to mention... it's freaking me out a little."
"Ah..." It seemed like Ryoma was still a little on edge because of what happened a few days ago. "If you need any help, just come to me. Me and Kaito were going to investigate the stage."
Said astronaut caught up to him after talking with Keebo about his alibi. "Hey, Shuichi, you ready or what?"
"Yeah, I was just talking to Ryoma about the Monokuma File." The detective answered.
"You're doing your own investigation, Ryoma?" The space cadet looked at the tennis pro with a neutral expression.
He slowly nodded, remembering the night Kaito spoke to him. "By the way... I'm sorry about the other night. I thought about what you said, and I realized... you were right." He closed his eyes. "I should fight. Even though I don't know what'll happen in the future, that doesn't mean I should stop now."
Kaito's face bore the biggest grin Shuichi had ever seen from him. "I told you you'd come around eventually! I knew nothing could stop the Ultimate Tennis Pro!"
Ryoma tugged on his beanie. "Stop that. I just came to realize that there's more reasons to live to look for."
"Yeah, there's plenty of reasons out there. Like good food, for example." The space enthusiast stated.
"Like how you ate multiple people's breakfasts that morning I wasn't there."
"Wha?! You know about that?"
Shuichi smiled at the two's playful argument. They haven't really been on good terms, but now that Ryoma was doing a little better, there wasn't any tension between them.
Unfortunately, there were more important things to be done at the moment.
"Let's get back to investigating. We only have a limited amount of time before the class trial."
Ryoma snapped back into work mode. "Yeah. Let's not waste any more time." He mentally smacked himself for getting distracted.
"Wanna investigate with us? We could be like an investigative trio!" Kaito offered before Ryoma turned away.
"I thought Shuichi was your 'sidekick'?" The tennis pro questioned.
"I know. But I think you're a smart guy, Shuichi could use somebody like you." He gave a thumbs up.
"Hmph, I guess." Ryoma took out a candy cigarette and placed it in his mouth.
"I think we should start with the body before the stage, actually. If we examine it, it would give us a clue as to what happened." Shuichi proposed.
"Well said, sidekick!" The astronaut praised.
"Uh... yeah." He blushed for the third time that day.
The three of them approached the front of the tank, where the remains of the Ultimate Maid lay.
Ryoma grimaced at the grisly sight. Of all the things he experienced in his life, including Rantaro's and Kaede's deaths, this wasn't something he thought he'd ever see. He had just been talking to her last night, and now...
He bit down hard on his candy cigarette. Kirumi was devoted to serving everyone, and she never seemed to complain, being happy with taking requests. She took pride in her talent, although some were a little ungrateful. He wished he should've at least thanked her for helping him days before, even asking him if he were doing okay after the incident in the pool area. What she wanted to talk to him about last night... she couldn't tell him now.
For everything she selflessly did for everyone, including himself... this was how they had to remember her.
"It all happened so quickly, but this is unmistakably Kirumi's." Shuichi examined grimly.
"Shuichi, what happened before me and Himiko came from backstage? All we saw was the aftermath." Ryoma asked, trying to refocus.
"Yeah, I wasn't there to see it, either." Kaito added.
"It happened shortly after the piranhas dropped into the tank. When Angie opened the curtains... we saw Kirumi appear in the tank, but before we could do anything, the piranhas..." The detective trailed off.
"I see..." The smaller boy felt a little unnerved at the imagery.
"Geez... Knowing that they did that makes me not wanna eat them..." Kaito complained.
"Why would you even think of eating them...?" Shuichi quietly asked, confused. The purple-haired astronaut really had an appetite on him.
"Hey, there's a crack in her skull." Ryoma suddenly said, pointing Shuichi to a small fracture.
"You're right... Maybe she was hit on the head at some point? My best guess is that she was knocked out prior." He suggested. "If that's the case, there has to be a weapon that was used to knock her out."
"Probably... I dunno where though." Kaito agreed, scratching the back of his head.
Shuichi turned his attention to Kirumi's tattered clothes, laying nearly folded in front of the tank. "Here's her clothes, her Monopad, and the key to her room. I don't see anything else out of place, though we could use the key so we can investigate her room."
Kaito nodded. "Right. There might be some clues there."
"If the motive had anything to do with the crime, we might find something." Ryoma noted, gingerly taking the key emblazoned with her initials off of the ground.
"Mhm. That's all I could gather from the body." The raven-haired boy finalized.
"The stage was next, right Shuichi?" The astronaut asked enthusiastically.
"Um, yeah. There might be some clues on top of it, too."
"Alright, lead the way, sidekick!"
Ryoma keeping his eyes away from the skeleton on the ground, the trio prepared to head to the top of the stage.
"There's a ladder here that we can climb up." He gestured towards the back of the stage.
Shuichi looked at him confused for a bit. "Oh, you mean the stepladder?"
The tennis pro shook his head. "Hmph, you call it a stepladder? It's always just been a ladder to me."
"Ah, I just thought it was different enough to be called a stepladder."
"Why can't it be both? They're the same thing, right?" Kaito suggested.
"Hm. Guess it doesn't matter, then." Ryoma concluded.
Regardless of what it was called, the three of them climbed up one after the other.
The first thing Shuichi looked at was the piranha tank. It was set up so that the bottom would open up when the timer hit zero. Only the front was glass, the other sides being made of wood. There was one detail that struck him as a little odd, though.
There was no lid, and one could see straight through the tank.
"Himiko told me you and some of the others brought equipment from her lab." Ryoma addressed Kaito.
"Yeah. Me and Keebo carried the piranha tank to the gym for the magic show. I don't know how it was hung above the water tank though, since I only carried it. It was insanely heavy." The astronaut answered.
"It looks like they used the batten for the stage lights to hang it here. But, I'm not sure how they attached the tank to it, it's pretty high up." Shuichi observed.
"Maybe there's a way to control it?" Ryoma suggested.
"There would have to be. We'll try to find it when we're finished looking up here. I wanted to check out the curtains, I believe there's a window here." The detective pointed to some curtains placed above the stage.
"Yeah, it's way higher than the piranha tank. We're gonna have to use the ladder to reach it." Kaito said.
Higher than the piranha tank...? Shuichi thought to himself.
The astronaut walked over to the edge of the stage and picked up the ladder. As he prepared to bring it to the detective, he spotted a panel with buttons and switches on the wall next to it. "Yo, Shuichi, there's a control panel-looking thing on the wall over here. You think that was used to move the batten?"
The raven-haired boy came over to where Kaito was looking, seeing the panel on the wall. "It's possible. Being that it's right next to where the batten is, it would have to be."
"They probably used it to lower the batten, place the tank there, and raise it again." The tennis pro theorized. "Hmph, guess we didn't have to wait that long to find out how the tank was moved."
Shuichi nodded as Kaito brought the ladder up. "Y'know, shouldn't the sidekick be the one bringing the ladder?"
"Ah... I suppose you're right." Shuichi smiled bashfully.
The detective took the ladder and set it up on the top of the stage. Climbing the rungs and barely reaching the window, he grabbed for the curtains and opened them.
"Ah, the window's open!" He exclaimed.
"You think the culprit used the window?" Ryoma asked, seeing a small smidgen of a familiar place through the window.
"They might have gone in and out through here, but I'm not sure how." Shuichi wondered.
"So what's on the other side?" Kaito asked.
"I can't really see from here, but I think it's the pool."
"I figured as much, I saw the gym window when I was at the pool before." The tennis player explained.
"Ahh, you were at the pool, right Ryoma? I've never been there before." Kaito turned to the smaller boy.
"Yeah. It's quite the place. Definitely doesn't look like it belongs in a school."
"I went there when it first opened with the prizes Monokuma gave us. It's certainly strange." Shuichi agreed.
"Alright! We'll head there next after we're finished investigating in here!" The astronaut proclaimed, pumping his fists together.
"Huh? What's this...?"
"Hm? What is it?" Ryoma asked.
"Yeah, what's up, Shuichi?" Kaito joined in.
"It might not be much, but it looks like there's marks on the window frame..." He stated. It looked like it was scratched by something, noticing some abrasions on the frame. He made a mental note to remember it, as it could possibly be related to the case.
"Marks? What do you think made them?" The tennis pro questioned.
"I don't know, but it might be important."
The detective climbed down the ladder, Kaito putting the ladder back down on the ground. He complained about Shuichi not putting it back instead, being the sidekick... yet he still put it back.
Finished investigating the top of the stage, the trio climbed back down, ready to look around the gym some more.
They headed back towards the broken water tank, scanning for more clues around it.
"Everything's soaked now after the tank got busted... but damn, Ryoma! You didn't have to break like that!" Kaito perked up, remembering the shot put ball being volleyed into the glass.
"Hmph, better than throwing Keebo at it. And like Kokichi said, it would take too long to drain it normally to check the body." He simply explained.
"Yeah, you're right... You looked pretty cool back there, y'know." The space enthusiast looked at him a bit starstruck.
The short-statured boy looked away. "Just another one of my stupid ideas."
"It did help though, Ryoma. We can look around now that the tank is empty." Shuichi said.
"Yeah. You're welcome." Before he said anything else, something gleaming in the tank caught his eye.
Two sets of handcuffs were laying at the bottom of the tank.
"Huh? Ryoma? What are you staring at?" The raven-haired boy noticed the tennis pro's attention directed inside the tank.
"There." He gave a one-worded response, pointing towards the metal cuffs.
"Handcuffs...? What are handcuffs doing there?" Shuichi pondered, perplexed by the oddity.
"Yeah, that's weird. I haven't seen anything like that around here, not even in the warehouse." Kaito added.
"They're still locked, and there's small scratches on one set of them. They look like stainless steel, so they must have been scraping against something pretty hard to leave them." He examined.
Ryoma found himself gravitating towards them, as if they were pulling him in. He clenched his fists, knowing exactly where they came from.
"You know something about them, Ryoma?" The space cadet asked.
He heaved a sigh. "They're... from my lab."
"Y-Your lab...?!" Shuichi exclaimed. "I didn't see anything like that when I was there before..."
Ryoma faced the detective. "It's because they're from another room in my lab... the shower room."
"And it had handcuffs in there?!" Kaito asked, bewildered. "What the hell kinda room is that?"
"More than just a normal shower room, I'd say." The prisoner shook his head.
"We should probably go there after we investigate the pool and Kirumi's room. This could be pretty crucial." Shuichi said.
"Definitely." The astronaut concurred.
"Also, I noticed this square pane of glass laying here." The detective directed the two towards the perfectly cut piece of glass next to the handcuffs. "It doesn't look like it came from the glass breaking, the pieces were all different shapes."
"Wonder where that came from. I didn't see that either when I was in the tank with Himiko." Ryoma informed. "It was just us."
"Hey, Ryoma... You gonna tell us how the magic trick works? Y'know... since Himiko's being all stubborn about it." Kaito spoke low enough so neither Tenko or Himiko could hear.
The tennis pro nodded. "Of course. I thought about saving it for the trial though, since everyone needs to know. I get that a magician shouldn't reveal how their tricks work, but if it's about something like this, then that shouldn't matter."
"Right. I'm glad we got you on our side, Ryoma. I don't think Himiko's gonna fess up about it."
Shuichi stood up after inspecting the glass pane. "I don't believe there's anything else around the water tank that I could find."
"Actually," Ryoma spoke up, "I wanted to show you guys backstage. I noticed something when I went there with Himiko before the show started."
"Backstage?" Shuichi asked. "It makes sense, since we're investigating the entire stage."
The two of them followed Ryoma backstage, where they noticed puddles of water near the staircase which was wet in some places on the side, and some rope laying on the ground.
"These puddles... were they here when you went backstage, Ryoma?"
"No, me and Himiko made them when we got out of the tank. What I noticed here was this rope. It wasn't used in the trick at all, so I don't know why it was here." He said, folding his arms.
The detective placed a finger on his chin. "That is strange... There's no reason for it to be back here if it's not being used. It's pretty long, too."
"Hmm, I estimate it is roughly 65 feet in length." A smooth voice sounded from behind them.
Both Ryoma and Shuichi turned around to see Korekiyo eyeing the rope.
"Kiyo? You know something about this rope?" Ryoma asked.
"No... But I am very well versed in ropes." Kiyo stated, telling a story about his visit to a village where the usage of ropes was commonplace in their culture. When it was time for him to leave, the women of the village were begging for him to stay.
Ryoma didn't say anything, the not-so-nice implications already obvious to him.
He turned his attention back to the rope. "The rope looks a little bit frayed in the middle."
"Frayed? As if it were being pulled really hard by something?" Shuichi asked.
"That would be the only way. The rope looks pretty strong."
"If it wasn't part of the magic show, maybe it's related to the case?" Kaito proposed.
The detective nodded. "Likely. That's just about everything I could find here, but we still don't know how Kirumi got into the tank."
"Yeah. It couldn't have been through the water tank itself, there was no sign of her at all when we escaped from it." Ryoma mused, fiddling with his candy cigarette.
"Maybe that's just one more thing we gotta figure out in the trial!" The astronaut said.
Leaving backstage, they finished up their investigation of the entire stage.
After some deliberation, they decided to split up for a bit, asking the other students for any information that they might have.
Shuichi and Kaito went to go talk to Angie, Miu, Tsumugi, and Kokichi. Ryoma started with Gonta, who he noticed was sobbing off to the side.
"Gonta? What's wrong?" He quietly asked, looking up at the tall boy.
"Gonta could've saved her...! Gonta should've saved her!" The entomologist cried.
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"When the piranhas attacked Kirumi, Gonta could've dived into the tank and helped her... But Gonta got scared... He was too scared to do anything..." He placed a hand on his chest. "Gonta is sorry! Gonta is so sorry!"
"It's alright, Gonta, you don't have to apologize. It wasn't your fault." The smaller boy tried comforting the gentle giant. "And according to the Monokuma File, none of us would've been able to save her anyway."
"Huh? Does it say that in the Monokuma File?"
"You haven't read the file yet?" Ryoma questioned.
"No... Gonta is not a smart boy, so he does not understand it... He's not smart enough to help..." He wiped at his eyes.
"You don't think you're smart enough to help?" The tennis pro paused for a few seconds. "Well, if it makes you feel better, I'll help you go over the parts you don't understand. And it doesn't matter if you think you're smart or not, you should always try your best to be helpful in your own way."
"Okay... if Ryoma says so." He sniffled, tears drying up.
"By the way, I heard Angie shouting at you earlier. What was that all about?" The shorter boy asked.
"Gonta ran up on the stage... He was worried that Ryoma and Himiko would get eaten by the piranhas..."
"Did you see anybody in the tank when you went up there?"
"No, Gonta didn't see anyone in the tank. He was kind of surprised..." He remembered.
"But you saw Kirumi after the curtains opened, right?"
"Yes, that's right..."
Ryoma scratched the back of his head, his hair still a little damp from the water. "Then when did she get in there? You didn't see her go in?"
"Gonta doesn't know... Kirumi appeared when the piranhas fell in... and then..." The entomologist teared up again. "Gonta's sorry! He should've watched the tank better!"
Ryoma shook his head somberly. "Like I said, it's not your fault. If anything... you're helping Kirumi right now."
"What? Really?" He looked at him surprised.
He nodded. "You're helping her by helping us investigate. There's things only you know, right? She would feel better knowing you're using that knowledge to help figure out what happened."
"Wow, thank you, Ryoma! That makes Gonta feel much better!" He perked up. "Alright, Gonta will do his best to help!"
Ryoma's lips twitched at the edges. Gonta was kind-hearted as well as sensitive, and he didn't want him to blame himself for the deaths of his friends. He knew too much about regret, and nobody should bear the same burden as he did.
After going over the Monokuma File with Gonta, Ryoma set off to ask some of the others for info. He still didn't have any ideas on how Kirumi got into the water tank, but Gonta's statement about not seeing anyone in the tank might serve as a vital clue.
He decided to ask Himiko more about the magic show. Even though he performed it with her, there were still things he might not know about it.
She still looked just as depressed, lamenting about how her magic was supposed to make everyone smile. Tenko was trying to reassure her, saying that everyone was smiling (they weren't).
"Himiko?"
The dejected magician turned to him as he came up to her. "Nyeh? Ryoma..."
"I just wanted to know if there was anything else about the Underwater Escape Act that you didn't tell me before we performed it. It might help with finding out what happened."
Tenko glared at him. "Himiko doesn't have to tell you anything! Right, Himiko?"
The redhead slowly shook her head. "No... my magic was supposed to help Ryoma feel better... so I wanna make it up to him. He cast the spell with me, so I trust him."
"Wh-Wha?!" The aikido master reared back. "Wh-What did you do to Himiko, you degenerate male?!"
"Nothing...?" Ryoma answered awkwardly. "She told you she wanted me to be in the show, right? Shuichi said it was his idea, and she said it was okay."
"So both of you males wanted to mess with Himiko's magic show!"
"It's not like that..." He said tiredly.
"Please don't be mad at Ryoma, Tenko..." Himiko said sadly. Her expression became slightly more determined. "We should be mad at whoever killed Kirumi and ruined my magic show."
Tenko simmered down a little. "Alright... if Himiko says it's okay. But I still don't trust you completely."
"That's fair. I'm considered a suspect, too, and you can't blindly put your trust in someone you don't really know." Ryoma plainly stated.
She pulled a face, but didn't say anything.
The tennis pro sighed and turned back towards Himiko. "Was there anything weird or out of place when the magic show was being set up?"
"Nyeh, not really..." She drawled.
"Did you notice the rope backstage before we started the show?" He asked her.
"Nyeh?" The magician repeated. "That rope was on the wing of the stage. It was there when Angie set it up."
The wing of the stage? He thought. "Nobody moved the rope after the stage was set up?"
"No... Actually, I dunno. When Gonta came to get me and Angie, Kirumi was still in the gym."
He remembered Kirumi telling him last night that she told Gonta she was busy in the gym, and he left her be. "You think she might have moved it? I'm not sure why she would, though."
Himiko dug a finger in her ear. "I dunno... it's a pain to think about."
"Well, we don't have to figure out everything all at once. That's what the class trial is for."
The self-proclaimed mage looked down at the ground. "What if everyone at the trial stops believing in my magic...?"
"I still believe in your magic, Himiko! I even said so earlier!" Tenko spoke up excitedly.
Ryoma nodded. "Yeah, I don't believe anyone'll lose faith in your abilities, Himiko. You're the Ultimate Mage, right? You've got that title for a reason."
"Nyeh...?"
"And besides, you already got someone who has your back if anyone does." He shifted his eyes towards Tenko.
The aikido master glanced at the smaller boy, slight confusion in her eyes. "O-Oh... yeah! I'll use my Neo-Aikido on anyone who dares bully you, especially horrible boys!"
"Stop it." Himiko pouted, pulling her hat over her eyes.
The tennis pro smiled a little. "I was admittedly a little anxious myself, but... I'm glad you let me be in your show, Himiko. Means a lot to me."
The redhead peeked at him from under her hat. "Nyeeeh... my magic show was still ruined, though..." She complained, although he could tell what he said made her happy.
"Don't worry, Himiko! We'll find the person who ruined your show!" Tenko tried to reassure her again.
...And whoever killed Kirumi, but I'm gonna assume she knows that already. Ryoma kept to himself. So the rope was originally on the wing of the stage, and it was moved backstage in between the time the stage was set up and this morning. Kirumi might've moved it since she was in the gym before Himiko and Angie were taken by Gonta, but I don't know why she would.
He couldn't wrap his head around this case so far. "Tenko, you didn't see anything weird either, right?"
She shook her head. "N-No... I wanted Angie to open the curtains because I was worried about Himiko... and then Kirumi appeared..."
"Huh... I guess it's the same for everyone else watching the show except for Gonta." He concluded. "I'm gonna go meet back up with Shuichi and Kaito. There's other places we need to investigate."
"You males better not be up to anything sneaky... I'll use my Neo-Aikido to toss you across the room!" Tenko got into a fighting stance.
I thought aikido was supposed to be more about defense... Ryoma thought. "We're not... Anyways, I'll see you two later."
Before he stepped away, he turned back towards Himiko. "Also... I think you should talk to Tenko more. She's been trying to get your attention, y'know."
As the tennis pro walked off, the magician looked up at the aikido master, whose face was red as a tomato.
Shuichi and Kaito had just finished talking to Angie before meeting back up with Ryoma. Whilst Kokichi and Tsumugi didn't really have much to share at the moment, they discussed when they learned from everyone else.
"What did you find, Ryoma?" Shuichi asked him.
"Gonta told me about when he ran up on the stage. He said that nobody was in the tank when he looked, and after the piranhas dropped, Kirumi appeared." The smaller boy explained.
"Ah, I remember Gonta running up there, it was around the 20 second mark. You and Himiko were out of the tank by then, right?"
"Yeah. I heard it all from backstage."
"Also, Angie told us something about the piranhas. She said it looked like there were more of 'em in there than the other day." Kaito spoke up.
"More of the piranhas...?" Ryoma questioned.
"Yeah. She noticed that they looked kinda cramped in there."
The tennis pro perked up. So she saw that, too. "Actually, I thought the same thing. When I came to the gym with Shuichi, I saw the piranhas in the tank, and I thought they looked pretty cramped, too."
"Ryoma, when you were in Himiko's lab yesterday, did you see the piranha tank at all?" Shuichi asked.
"No, she told me they were in her lab, but I didn't get to see them."
"But they couldn't have just multiplied overnight, so what's going on?" Kaito scratched his head.
"I don't know. Himiko did tell me one thing about the rope backstage, though." Ryoma noted.
"She knows something about it?" The detective questioned.
"Yeah. She said it was originally on the wing of the stage. We think Kirumi might have moved it, since Himiko told me she was the last person in the gym."
"Kirumi was the last one in the gym?" He questioned.
Ryoma nodded. "When Gonta showed up to take Himiko and Angie away, she stayed there. She told Gonta she was busy, so he left her alone."
"But why would she move the rope backstage?" Kaito asked.
The tennis player shrugged. "This just keeps getting even weirder..."
"I know, but our investigation isn't over yet. There's still more places we need to search for clues." Shuichi stated.
"Yeah, I didn't forget. Next was the pool, right?"
"That's right! " The astronaut proclaimed. "Now let's get moving!"
The trio finished with their investigation of the gym, they headed outside of the school to the pool area. It being his third time there this week, Ryoma approached the doors of the building. It felt ironic, the place were he nearly lost his life was involved in a murder case. The cause of death made it a bit on the nose as well.
He sighed. This was going to be quite the trial.
Keeping his distance from the pool like before, he entered with the two of them.
"You guys weren't kidding about the pool, it doesn't even look like it belongs in a school." Kaito looked around the resort-style pool area.
"There's definitely a lot of strange stuff put into this school." Ryoma nodded in agreement.
Looking up near the ceiling, he could see the open gym window, as well as the window from the shower room in his lab.
Something strange he noticed was that the window to the shower room was also open. He remembered closing it back when he first entered the room, so why was it open again? Did someone else go in his lab?
"Look, there's an inner tube floating in the pool." Shuichi pointed into the large swimming pool.
Trying to look into the pool without getting too close to the edge, Ryoma spotted a large, rubber inner tube floating in the water. It was pretty sturdy-looking, too.
Kaito huffed. "Some idiots didn't clean up after themselves."
"Hmph, wasn't me. When I was here yesterday, I didn't go in the pool." The tennis pro explained.
"You were here again?" The astronaut looked over at him.
"Yeah... Just to think." He answered simply, leaving out his attempt to overcome his brush with death.
"Uh, okay." Kaito replied to the smaller boy's vague response.
"I don't think it was just for swimming, though. There's a rope tied to it." Shuichi noted.
"Odd... I wonder what that's about." Ryoma pondered. Did it have something to do with the rope back in the gym? It looked a bit frayed as well.
"There's something else in the water, too. It looks like... a piece of fabric." Shuichi said, a white strip of fabric floating in the middle of the pool.
"...A white cloth?" The tennis pro questioned.
"Isn't that just trash? We're supposed to be looking for the culprit, not picking up trash!" Kaito said.
"Not sure if that's just what it is, though."
Shuichi continued eyeing the fabric in the pool. His detective instincts were telling him there was more to it than just being trash. He decided to trust it, considering the fabric to be related to the case. Why would something like this wind up in the pool?
"Hey, Shuichi, was the water this low when the pool opened up?" Kaito asked the detective, confused by the water not even reaching the top.
"Yes, it just looks shallow because the pool is deep. According to the Monokubs, it was apparently because someone was more likely to drown if it was filled all the way up."
Ryoma shook his head a little bitterly. "That didn't work out too well, obviously."
"Yeah, you're right..." He smiled a little. "It was a little hard to carry you out of the pool since it was so low."
"Was that how you got stuck in there, Ryoma?" The astronaut asked him, curious.
"No..." He quietly answered, but didn't elaborate.
"Ah, maybe we should continue investigating?" Shuichi cut in, mostly for Ryoma's sake.
"Right, we're getting distracted!" Kaito quickly agreed.
Thankful that Shuichi shut the current conversation down, Ryoma stepped back from the pool. The window to the shower room was still bothering him. He didn't tell anyone about the room, so that meant someone was sneaking around in his lab. And since both windows were open, they had to be related to each other.
"What's the matter, Ryoma? You look preoccupied with something." The detective asked him, noticing his pensive expression.
"Remember when I came here again yesterday?" Ryoma turned to him.
He nodded. "When I went to look for you after breakfast, right? You said that was when you noticed the gym window?"
"Yeah. The window across from it is open, too." The tennis pro pointed upwards.
"Huh?" Shuichi looked up across from the gym window, spotting the other open window. "Ah, you're right!"
"Mhm. That window's from the shower room in my lab. The last time I was in there, the window was closed."
"You think someone went into your lab?" The raven-haired boy asked.
"That's the only way it could've been opened." Ryoma agreed. "We're going there after we check Kirumi's room, right? We could focus on that when we get there."
"Right. I feel there's more to look for in here first." Shuichi concurred.
The two boys turned away from the window, going back to where Kaito was. The astronaut was staring at a small plaque attached to the wall. It displayed the pool rules, something both Ryoma and Shuichi had seen on their first visit to the pool area.
"Weird set of rules, right? Nearly broke one myself." Ryoma said.
"That's what I'm looking at. How did they even come up with these?" Kaito asked, utterly confused.
"What do you mean 'you nearly broke one', Ryoma?" Shuichi asked him.
"When I fell in the pool. I slipped, remember?" The smaller boy reminded him.
"Oh, right. The 'do not die from slipping' rule." He remembered, cringing a little at how absurd the rule sounded out loud.
"I don't know what Monokuma would've done about that if I did, though. Can't exactly kill a dead person."
"Yeah." He felt even more relieved that he went to look for Ryoma that day. "One of the rules stood out to me when I looked at them."
"Which one, Shuichi?" Kaito asked.
"The first one. 'Swimming is prohibited at nighttime.' I saw it when the pool first opened, and it was added to the school rules."
"I know, my Monopad let me know about the updated rules." Ryoma told him.
"Same here." The astronaut added.
"The Monokubs claimed it was to prevent accidents at nighttime... but I feel there's a bigger reason why..."
"Hey, no jumping in the pool! Especially at nighttime!" A high pitched voice yelled, interrupting Shuichi.
Behind the three of them, Monokuma bounced his way in the pool area.
"Wh-Where did you come from?!" Kaito shouted, jumping back from the black-and-white bear. The astronaut had a point, he always seemed to come out of nowhere, never using any doors. It was as if he could appear from thin air.
"That's right, swimming in the pool at nighttime is strictly prohibited!" The robotic bear unsheathed his claws.
"That would be a rule violation, right?" Shuichi remembered.
"Correct!" He confirmed. "If anyone violates the pool regulations, campus-wide sirens will blare, and that person will be rrrrrripped apart by the Exisals!"
"Y-You'd go that far?" Kaito asked nervously.
"Well, it is in the school rules." Ryoma pointed out to him. "It applies to the pool rules as well."
"So far the siren hasn't gone off, so no one's needed to be ripped apart... yet." Monokuma put his paws to his mouth, his signature chuckle sounding.
"Since that's the case... we can assume no one was in the gym or the pool at nighttime, right?" Shuichi asked pointedly.
"Hmm, at least... no one alive."
With that cryptic answer, the bear disappeared. Ryoma wasn't really sure, but Monokuma almost seemed to be looking in his direction before he left.
"So now we know that no one could've been in the pool or in the gym at nighttime." Kaito said.
"Yes. This could play a part in the case." Shuichi agreed.
"Like I said earlier, Kirumi was the last person Himiko and Angie saw in the gym, so that might be a part of that, too." Ryoma added on.
"Not only that, I noticed some information about the pool written below the rules as well." The detective read the plaque once more. "The pool is 82 feet long and 39 feet wide, and the poolside is 13 feet long, and 8 feet wide."
"Hm. You think that might be important?" The tennis player questioned.
"I don't know, but it is strange... Why would these specifications be written here?" He wondered.
"I dunno either, I thought you would know something." Kaito scratched his head a little dumbly.
"Anything else we need to look for in here?" Ryoma asked.
"I was just thinking about the gym window. It's pretty high up, and not even a ladder can reach it. Even using the ladder on the stage in the gym didn't make it reachable enough to open it." Shuichi pointed out.
"So that means it wasn't possible for the culprit to go through the window." Kaito concluded.
Ryoma thought to himself. If they couldn't reach the gym window, how was it opened? This case was getting more and more confusing the more clues they found. He couldn't imagine how all of this might have played into the murder.
There was one other place in the pool area they haven't checked yet. The inner tube must have likely come from there. "I'm gonna go check the storage room. Maybe there's something in there we missed."
Shuichi turned towards him. "Oh, sure, Ryoma."
The tennis pro approached the storage room and opened the doors. There were typical things one would find, such as towels, swimsuits, and the like. Like he thought, there were rubber inner tubes, but unlike the one in the pool, they were deflated and flat. Laying on the floor in the storage room, there was an electric air pump.
He couldn't tell if it was used recently or not, but it was obvious that the inner tube in the pool was inflated with it at some point. Not seeing anything else of interest, Ryoma closed the doors to the store room.
"Did you find anything, Ryoma?" Kaito asked the short-statured boy.
"Just an electric air pump and some deflated inner tubes. Someone probably used it to inflate the inner tube in the pool."
"True. It doesn't seem to be directly related to the case, though, aside from that." Shuichi said.
"Does anything in here have anything to do with the case? It doesn't seem like we found anything too important." The astronaut complained, trying to link the clues they found to the crime.
"I wouldn't dismiss it just yet." Ryoma shook his head, fiddling with his candy cigarette. "It might not look like anything now, but some things, even little things, happen for a reason. There might be more to it than we think."
"Ryoma has a point." Shuichi agreed. "Not to mention the inner tube is still bothering me."
"Well, if it is related to the case, then the culprit was pretty careless. I mean, why wouldn't you clean it up?" Kaito wondered.
The detective looked back at the pool. "It's not that they didn't clean it up, it's that they couldn't. The water level is too low, and there was nothing they could use to get it out."
"Why not just jump in and grab it?" The space enthusiast suggested. "Oh, maybe they couldn't get in the water!"
Couldn't get in the water...? Shuichi thought. That seemed to be the only reason why it would just be left there.
"Who knows." Ryoma stared in the direction of the pool. "If we're finished in here, we should start heading to Kirumi's room."
"Yeah, that's right. You ready, sidekick?" Kaito flashed him a grin.
"Y-Yeah, we should get going." Shuichi smiled.
The three students leaving out of the double doors of the pool area, they began their trek towards the dormitory.
"Are you doing okay, Ryoma?" Shuichi suddenly asked him as they walked into the courtyard.
"Hm? Why'd you ask me that?" He looked up at the raven-haired boy.
"Well... you said earlier that the case was bothering you. I just wanted to make sure you aren't pushing yourself too hard."
Ryoma chewed a little on his chocolate candy. "Hmph, you really worry about me too much. I'll be fine."
The tennis pro didn't seem like he was having a hard time, being in his usual, collected mood. That, or he's good at keeping it well hidden. "Ah, if you say so. Sorry if it seemed like I was underestimating you."
"Don't worry about it. Besides, if I've got time to be freaked out about it, I've got time to help figure out what happened." Ryoma said. Aside from his little zone-out session earlier, investigating alongside Shuichi and Kaito helped keep his mind at ease.
The detective nodded. "You're right. We can't afford to stay put when all of our lives are at stake."
They eventually reached the dormitory, Kirumi's room being on the bottom floor directly across from Shuichi's. Ryoma handed him the key he picked up from Kirumi's belongings, and they entered her room.
To Ryoma, it looked similar to Maki's, having a red interior. He assumed all of the girls' dorm rooms looked like this, the boys all having a gray-blue interior.
"So, uh... is the motive video in here?" Kaito scanned her room for the Kubs Pad she received.
"I don't see it anywhere." Ryoma closed the closet door, seeing that she had identical clothes much like how he did. He knew it was for the investigation, but it felt a little odd rummaging through Kirumi's room like this. "Maybe she took it somewhere, or someone else has it."
"I can't find it in here, either." Shuichi said, closing the drawers in the desk near her bed. "There doesn't seem to be anything related to the case, but the motive video being missing is a clue itself."
"Huh? What do you mean?" The astronaut asked.
"If the video was the motive for the crime, then Kirumi might have had the culprit's motive video." He explained. "Like Ryoma said, someone else might have it, that being the culprit. They would look suspicious if they left that kind of evidence at the scene."
"True. Leaving something like that behind would incriminate them." The tennis pro agreed. "It's not here, so..."
Kaito piped up. "It's like we thought earlier! The video was the motive for the crime!"
"Yes, that's the best explanation I can think of." Shuichi said with certainty.
"Great job, my sidekick, I wouldn't expect anything less from you!" The astronaut praised.
Ryoma would've smiled, but he noticed the solemn look on Shuichi's face.
"What's wrong, Shuichi?" Kaito asked, the detective having gone completely silent.
"Ah, nothing..." He shook his head, snapping out of his thoughts.
The smaller boy knew that something was troubling him, but he decided to leave it alone.
"By the way, I was just thinking..." The space enthusiast began. "Maybe we shoulda watched the motive videos after all."
"What...?" Shuichi looked up at him.
"They showed the most important people in our lives, right? So... maybe we shoulda watched them... to avoid looking away from the truth." He explained. "I agreed with Keebo at first, but after I thought about it... I changed my mind."
He looked over at Ryoma. "I know you said you wanted to see yours. I didn't get why, but I guess you had a point..."
Ryoma winced inwardly but kept his expression neutral, Shuichi giving him a concerned look. If only he knew... "Yeah..."
Kaito looked back at Shuichi. "Maybe we coulda even watched them together instead of just by ourselves. If it's something we can't bear by ourselves, it woulda be possible with everyone. That's what cooperation is, right?"
The tennis pro's eyes drifted off to the side, thinking about the night before.
"Watching them together... that's what Kokichi was trying to do." Shuichi told him, but not before noticing Ryoma looking away.
"Huh?"
"He was trying to get us to participate in a motive video viewing party of some sort. That's why he had Gonta catching everyone and forcing us into one room. Do you think... that was his way of 'cooperating'?" He wondered.
"N-No... if he wanted to do that, he coulda just asked us."
As the two conversed about Kokichi, Ryoma became lost in his thoughts. Was he wrong to seek out his motive video all by himself? His reasoning for looking for it in complete secrecy was because he didn't want to break the students' trust, everyone being under the impression that a murder would occur if someone viewed theirs. That appeared to be the case, but even so, planning a murder wasn't his goal.
He wanted to find a reason to live, but now that he thought about it, maybe he should've watched the motive videos with everyone, despite staying neutral on what was the best way to deal with them. Maybe then, the pain from seeing his blank motive wouldn't have hurt as much as it did when he watched it.
Kokichi's plan was understandable. Although he didn't appreciate him manipulating Gonta, his reasoning was the same as what Ryoma thought before. Simply asking everyone to view their motives together would make their cooperation obvious to Monokuma and the mastermind, who always had a way to counter their every attempt. Unfortunately, everyone thought Kokichi's plan was suspicious, and the viewing party never happened. Ryoma saw his motive video alone, and faced a supposed "truth" that he could hardly bear by himself and nearly broke him completely.
"Ryoma? You got kinda quiet, what's up?"
The short-statured boy snapped out of his thoughts as the astronaut addressed him. "Nothing really. I was just listening to you guys."
"Alright..." Kaito said awkwardly. "Your lab is next, right? We should be heading over there instead of just standing around."
"I know. Since the sets of handcuffs in the water tank came from my lab, we might find something else in there, too."
"Right!" He turned towards the detective. "C'mon, Shuichi, let's keep going!"
"Ah, yeah."
The boys left the dormitory, making their way back to the school. Ryoma noticed Shuichi giving him a glance or two. He knew he was thinking about his empty motive video he saw the night before. Though he was able to help him through the pain, it only happened because he was worried about him that night. What would've happened if Shuichi never talked to him? Would he have been broken for good?
Maybe he really was wrong to look for his motive video. It was an object provided by someone opposing them, and yet, he wanted to see it anyway, because he thought it would be the key to finding a reason to live.
In his desperation to have something to live for, he wound up trusting something he shouldn't have.