"Fuyuhiko? Are you OK?" Hajime asks worriedly, knocking on Fuyuhiko's cottage door.
No answer.
"Suspicious. Why won't he help with the investigation?" Mahiru asks with a frown.
"I agree with Big Sis Mahiru. Why wouldn't he help with solving the murder...Unless he did it." Hiyoko says fially.
"Really? He was literally crying over her and your first instinct is to accuse him of her murder?" Kazuichi asks angrily.
"Hey, he could've been faking! Yakuzas could be great actors! They have to cover their asses from cops, don't they?" Hiyoko says.
"Plus, what do we really know about him?" She adds on, shifting her eyes to the door.
"What's your damn problem?" Akane asks.
"I'm just saying!" Hiyoko surrenders, her hands up.
"We don't know the first thing about each other, either Hiyoko." Mahiru says gently.
Hajime sighs in a frustrated manner. "Well, if he was gonna come out at all, Hiyoko probably just ruined it." He says.
"Don't blame me, Big Bro Hajime! I didn't lock him in there!" Hiyoko protests.
"How do we know you didn't?" Akane frowns, and Hiyoko makes to hurl insults at the Gymnast, but one scalding look from both Hajime and Mahiru send them into silence.
"Should I kick the door down? Maybe he'll come out if he has no door." Akane grits through her teeths, cracking her knuckles.
"Oh, that'd be cool, Akane-Chan!" Ibuki cheers.
"I advise against that, Akane!" Nekomaru protests.
"Wouldn't that be a bit counterproductive? The only thing that will do is make him more angry with us. I believe we should just wait for him to come out of his own free will." Nagito comments.
"Look, guys, let's just go. Nagito has a point; he'll come out when he's ready." Hajime says.
"Hajime-Chan is right! We can't force him out, or he's gonna be angry!" Ibuki says solemnly.
"Well, more angry than he already is, anyway." Hiyoko mutters.
The others turn away from the door, walking back to the crime scene to try to get some investigating done.
Inside the cottage, Fuyuhiko was curled up on his bed.
The sheets were rumpled, things were turned over on their sides and broken, and Fuyuhiko himself was crying.
He heard all of what they said, and a deep anger flamed in his heart alongside his sadness for Peko's death and bubbled heatedly and incessantly in his chest.
That Hiyoko bitch really must be fucking crazy to think he'd kill Peko. Peko could kick his ass five times from Sunday if he came after her (Not that he would) and would still ask if he was OK and nurse him away from death. Why would he kill someone like that?
And for another thing, Fuyuhiko cared so much about Peko. He loved her with everything inside him. Hell, he damn near adored her!
Peko had always been there. She'd been there when he woke up, when he ate his meals, when he was at school in class or lunch or recess, when he was doing his homework, when he was out at the store, and even when he was just about to go to sleep. It was annoying at first, but after a while he'd felt weird when she wasn't there.
He couldn't remember the last time when he hadn't heard her voice, when he hadn't seen a glimpse of her pretty, moonlight-colored braids, when he hadn't seen that kind, beautiful, strong face, or even when he hadn't felt her reassuring presence beside or behind him.
Peko was more familiar than family, and just as special to him- maybe even more so.
And he knew they all saw how hard he cried for her, how he screamed her name and pleaded for whatever God was up there to just breathe some life back into Peko. As embarrassed as he was that he'd lost his cool with those fuckers, but he couldn't help it.
It practically killed him that she'd been there for him all of his life,-attending to his needs, killing the people he disliked or felt uneasy around, listening to him, caring for him- and the one time she needed him, he was nowhere to be found, and she had died because of it.
But if I care about her so much, and if it kills me so much that she's dead, He thought, then why am I curled up in my bed like a fucking baby possibly letting the killer get away with their crime?
No. Screw that.
Fuyuhiko got up, tossing the blanket off of him with a fury so strong that were the blanket was a person, they'd be dead.
"Fuck crying like a bitch." He'd said to himself. He picked up a picture off of his bed and folded it into his pocket for some much-needed good luck.
It was of Peko, who had her hands clasped together at her chest. Her silver hair was in its two pretty braids, and an easy-going smile spread onto her face. Fuyuhiko's tear drops marred the bottom corners of the picture some, but Peko herself was unharmed.
"I swear I'm gonna find the bitch that did this to you, Peko." Fuyuhiko mutters to himself, hoping that, whether Peko was in heaven because of what a good person she was or if she was in hell for all the murders she was forced to carry out, she would hear him.
Fuyuhiko wiped his eyes and nose on his sleeve, walked to his bathroom, and took a fucking shower.
And right after getting changed into a new suit that didn't scream 'Hey, I've been crying for the past ten thousand hours make fucking fun of me please', he walked out of his cottage and to the diner, where the others would most likely be.
The remaining students flinched as Fuyuhiko walked into the room. His eyes were bloodshot, his suit was slightly wrinkled, and his hair was a bit messy, but he looked otherwise recovered.
And he looked really fucking pissed.
"Uh, hey, Fuyuhiko! What-" Hajime started, but Fuyuhiko holds his hand up in the universal signal of 'stop talking'.
"I heard what you guys said, and I'm pissed." He says, a scowl on his face.
The others wince except for Mahiru and Hiyoko, who are still waiting for answers as to what he thought he was doing hiding out and grieving while the others were investigating.
Fuyuhiko could be pretty intuitive if he so desired.
"First off, I was fucking crying because the only girl I loved- no, the only person I ever loved- and depended on and fucking trusted with my life is dead. Murdered." He says with a hard look at the two girls.
"Good enough for you?" He asks Hiyoko and Mahiru, and they turn away and train their gazes on a sympathetic Hajime.
"But if we still have time to investigate, I'm all for it. Least I could do for her is find out who slid a knife in her gut." Fuyuhiko continued. He said the words with a cool tone, but Hajime saw the deep, cutting pain in those golden eyes of his.
Nagito cleared his throat nervously, and everyone except Hajime turned to give him a glare. He laughed anxiously, and they slowly turned away from him and back to Fuyuhiko.
"W-Well, now that we're on the s-subject of her w-wounded gut..." Mikan trails off as Fuyuhiko takes a seat next to Kazuichi, who moves away from him in fear.
Fuyuhiko either doesn't notice or doesn't give a shit.
"Yeah?" He asks with a raised eyebrow. Mikan fidgets and clasps her hands together at her chest, but she continues.
"S-She wasn't stabbed." Mikan says. Fuyuhiko blanches.
"What do you mean she wasn't stabbed? Get to the point, pig bitch!" Hiyoko exclaims, and Mikan apologizes profusely. Fuyuhiko holds his hand up again before gesturing for Mikan to go on, giving Hiyoko a shut up and sit the fuck down look. She huffed, but complied with his look.
"S-She wasn't stabbed. A-At least with a n-normal knife." Mikan stutters. Fuyuhiko blinks, trying to process the information Mikan just gave him.
Peko wasn't stabbed. Not with a normal knife at least...
In that case, what killed her?
Akane, seeming to read Fuyuhiko's mind for a split second, frowns at Mikan. "Alright, I'll bite; what was the murder weapon?" The Gymnast asks quizzically.
"I-It was a butcher's knife. S-Someone literally b-butchered Peko." Mikan says, her pretty purple eyes that matched her pretty purple hair brimming with crystal tears.
Butcher's knife...
Butchered...
"Mikan, do you still have the knife?" Hajime asks. Mikan nods profusely.
"I-I know that w-we can't exactly check f-finger p-prints, b-but I do have it in a plastic baggie w-wrapped in paper towels. J-Just in case." Mikan affirms. Fuyuhiko suddenly stands up again, much to the confusion of the others seated at the diner.
"Where it is? I need to see it." Fuyuhiko says, leaving no room for the others to question him, and judging by Akane's narrow-eyed stare and Kazuichi's fearful gaze, he guessed they most likely had a lot of questions.
Mikan nods, runs off to the 'hospital'of the island, and comes back with the knife.
"T-There. T-That's the knife that was l-left a few feet a-away from Peko's...um...b-body." Mikan explains. Fuyuhiko nods, staring at the knife along with the others through the see-through bag and transparent paper towel.
"Mikan, in your professional medical opinion, does the size of the blade really match the circumference of the wound in Peko's stomach?" Nagito asks, truly curious as he rubs his chin. Mikan nods, hands clasped at her chest once again.
"Y-Yes. S-Sadly, I h-had to drive it b-back into Peko's wound w-while it was still covered with the paper towel just to check the s-size. I-it's the right one." Mikan nods, and the others note the ends of the paper towel are covered with blood, most likely from when it met Peko's still freshly bleeding wound.
Fuyuhiko didn't want to think about that horrible hole in her stomach; it made him sick to his stomach to remember how her blood had stained the sand, and how much of the blood he'd had to wash off that night.
"OK. This is our first lead. I guess." Chiaki says tiredly.
"Are you ever encouraging?"Akane jokes lightly. Chiaki's only response to said joke is a snort and a shrug.
"Let's go investigate more. Maybe we can find some other clues." Nagito says optimistically.
"Maybe." Hajime hums, and the others begin to file out.
As they break off into separate groups, they make it clear through their words and actions that they thought Fuyuhiko had to be the one to examine the actual crime scene- AKA where Peko bled out in his arms while he sobbed for her to please just make it out of this alive-
He sighed, shook his shoulders to get rid of the sudden hollow hole in his chest, and walked over to where Peko had died, his feet dragging in the sand.
He didn't want to. He really didn't want to. But what choice did he have if it involved avenging Peko in a way she'd approve of?
And so, with some new-found determination and a bit of a sick feeling in his gut, Fuyuhiko walked over to the crime scene to investigate.