"You fucker! You lied!" Kuzuryuu stomps over to Togami. The kids from the main hall had run over, moments after the death announcements. Now the group stands at the end of the hall, staring at the rubble and Pekoyama's corpse. The imposter stays silent as the gangster marches up and punches him in the stomach. Togami clearly feels it, but not as much as Kuzuryuu must have hoped, as he stays standing. "You lied, you lied, you lied!" Kuzuryuu beats on Togami's chest, tears pouring down his face. "You said nobody would die! You fucking promised! Now she's dead!" Kuzuryuu drops to his knees, sobbing. "Peko's dead because you didn't protect her... She's dead..." Most of the group turns away, letting Kuzuryuu keep what small amount of privacy and dignity he has left.
"..." Togami just looks down at the sobbing gangster. He sighs. "I know. I'm willing to take full blame for this. But that isn't important now."
"It's not important?!" Kuzuryuu gets to his feet and shoves Togami with all his might, causing the imposter to take a small step back. "Fuck what you think! She's dead! They're both dead! Why the fuck should we listen to what you have to say?!"
"Because I don't want anybody else to die, Kuzuryuu! I understand how bad you feel about them dying, but we can't let that impede our judgment right now! We need to focus on the investigation!" Togami's voice bleeds emotion, stunning Gundam. He wasn't aware it was possible for the imposter to feel like that. He supposes all people have emotions, even those that don't show it. The animal breeder dislodges Koizumi from his arm, causing the girl to crumple to the floor. Saionji runs over and helps the photographer stabilize herself. Gundam takes off his jacket and drapes it over Pekoyama's lower half. There's nothing more he can do for her at this point.
"Who cares about the damn investigation?!" Kuzuryuu takes a step back, shooting Togami a betrayed glance.
"I dunno, Kuzuryuu-kun, you might want to do the investigation. It would be a shame if all of you died because you didn't know what to do in the trail." Monobear holds his hands behind his back, smiling maliciously.
"Get out of here you, stupid toy. We're not in the mood for your shit." Hinata says, glaring at the bear. Monobear looks at the ground, his head tinting blue.
"Boo hoo... I just wanted to give you something to help with the investigation." Monobear holds up two devices similar to their Student IDs. Togami snatches them from the bear, looking them over suspiciously.
"What are these?"
"The Monobear Files, of course!" Monobear smiles cheekily again. Togami turns them on, then looks disgusted and hands them to Hinata.
"Ugh. Whatever. Your work here is done. Get out." He points toward the door and Monobear sulks.
"Togami-kun, so harsh. Next thing I know you'll be kicking me off the island too." Monobear exits the lodge, leaving the fourteen kids in the lodge entry hallway. The silence is deafening. Gundam leans against the wall. They're all waiting for something, anything, to come and tell this isn't real. Gundam even pinches himself. He feels the small prick of pain and shakes his head.
"..." Komaeda separates himself from the groups, addressing the others. "...We need to start investigating, guys."
"Y-you can't be serious..." Souda stutters out.
"I hate to say it, but I am. We need to be brave, muster our courage, and use the strength of our hope in victory to find the culprit." He smiles comfortingly, but Gundam can't help but think that the other kids find it creepy. "We need to survive here! There's no reason for us to die just because we didn't want to do the necessary."
"I concur." Gundam straightens up. "This is a thing that needs to happen. We cannot just curl up and die, for that is what the vile toy wants us to do! We must show that beast that we will not be taken down by an event such as this!" He jabs a finger up into the air.
"As dumb as these two sound, I agree." Saionji nods, holding Koizumi in a tight hug. "Monobear's just a huge idiot if he thinks we're gonna get taken out this early!" The trio nod at each other and Gundam takes a step.
"Let us begin!" The others stay silent. Gundam clenches a fist and glares at the paralyzed kids. Perhaps it's the fact that seeing the dead is no rare occurrence to him, or maybe because he doesn't really understand why they're being so fearful. Sure, the 'death' of these kids is concerning, but so is that of everyone else. "Come now! I cannot solve this on my own!"
"...Tanaka is right." Hinata says, glancing around at the others. "We have to start now. Who knows how long Monobear is going to give us to investigate."
"Get moving, you lot." Togami says quietly, then pulls apart from the group. Everyone disperses, heading to different places in the lodge. Gundam, Komaeda, Kuzuryuu and the still passed out Hanamura are the ones remaining by the door.
"Well... It looks like we're the ones investigating the porch, huh?" Komaeda says, a nervous lilt in his voice. Gundam nods. Kuzuryuu stays on the ground near Pekoyama's body. The animal breeder shakes his head and places a hand on Kuzuryuu's head.
"D-don't fu-fuckin' touch m-m-me..." Kuzuryuu hiccups, wiping his eyes. He makes no move to move Gundam's hand, however. Komaeda, having dragged Hanamura towards the wall and out of the way, sighs and steps carefully over Pekoyama, Gundam following him. They survey the ruined lodge porch. It seems most of the awning hanging over the porch had collapsed, crushing the gamer and the swordswoman.
"Tanaka-kun, do you see what's going on here?" Gundam nods.
"The bodies. The piles of rubble covering them are mostly separate. Which means..."
"They were killed at separate times."
"Exactly." Gundam stares at the piles of rubble. "...But what does that mean?"
"No idea." Komaeda pulls out his Student ID and types something out on it. A moment later, Gundam's buzzes in his pants pocket. The animal breeder pulls it out, curious, and opens it up. One of the tabs, labeled 'Evidence', is flashing. Gundam opens it up. It has one subtab called 'Rubble' that also flashes insistently at him. Gundam sighs, opens that up and reads the entry there out loud.
"'Rubble: The rubble fell in two separate piles, one for each victim." He turns to Komaeda. "You wrote this?" The luckster nods.
"I found it during the party. Everyone can read what's been typed out. I'm not sure how well this will work, considering the killer can change the information too... but I think we'll be fine? I'm not sure why it's here though. I guess... Monobear knew someone was going to die." Komaeda's shoulders slump, and he sighs. "This really sucks..." They hear Kuzuryuu mumble 'understatement of the god damn century' from his place by the door. They shrug and continue investigating. Gundam, while looking over the vertical support beams that supported the awning, notices something strange.
"Komaeda. Come here. Hoist me up." The luckster, with some struggle, manages to get Gundam on his shoulders. Looking over the part where the support beams must have collapsed, he sees a very noticeable flaw. "Exactly as I thought." Gundam takes a picture with the camera on the Student ID (he wasn't aware there was one until moments ago) and climbs down from Komaeda's shoulders. "Here. Look at this" Gundam shows him the picture of the support beam.
"Huh." The beam in the picture is cleanly cut through, no torn patches anywhere indicating that it collapsed on its own. "Well, I guess now we just have to figure out how they cut the support beams, huh?" Gundam nods and adds a note to the 'Evidence' folder. 'Support Beams: The support beams holding up the awning over the front stoop are broken, which must have been what caused the collapse. Upon closer inspection, they appear cleanly cut through.'
Gundam gives the deck one final glance, satisfied with their search of the area and turns to leave when Komaeda grabs his shoulder. "Tanaka-kun, wait. Look what I found." The white-haired boy holds out a piece of... wire?
"...What is that."
"A metal wire. There's more of them littered around. This was the smallest one."
"Why are you holding it?"
"It's out of place."
"...How?"
"It's too thick to be part of the lights," Komaeda gestures toward the porch lights, which dangle loosely from their previous places on the wall. They must have been knocked loose by the collapse. "and it's snapped here on the end." Gundam just rolls his eyes.
"It was probably used to help support the awning. You're making too big a deal of it." Gundam turns to head inside. He feels the Student ID in his pocket vibrate, then Komaeda moves to catch up to him. Gundam checks the new note. 'Wires: Strange metal wires found on the lodge's porch. They look broken.' "Seriously?"
"It looks important. Don't brush off the small things." Komaeda shrugs. The two boys step over Pekoyama and Komaeda turns to Kuzuryuu. "Kuzuryuu-kun, are you coming?"
"I'm guarding the crime scene, shit hole." The gangster sits cross-legged on the floor, next to Pekoyama. Gundam makes an impatient sound.
"Leave him. We have more to do." The animal breeder keeps walking, Komaeda glancing worriedly at Kuzuryuu before trotting up to Gundam. As they pass by the main hall, they hear a heated argument from two people they didn't think were... capable of having an intelligent argument, much less with each other.
"I'm telling you, you're wrong."
"Uh... no. Ibuki knows when she's right. And she's positive everyone was there. Plus, Akane-chan was buried in her food the whoooole time."
"Yeah well, you must not know much, because you're wrong here. I definitely saw them."
"Nuh uh."
"Yeah huh."
"NUH UH!"
"YEAH HUH!" Owari and Mioda shout at each other, 'arguing' for about half a minute before Komaeda and Gundam step in.
"Ladies, ladies, calm down!" Komaeda comes between them, pushing Mioda back. Gundam grabs Owari by her shoulders and pulls her away. "What's going on here?" Owari cocks her head and glares at the light music club member.
"This girl think that I'm wrong. I'm obviously not."
"You totally are!" Mioda flails her arms, smashing her chest up against Komaeda's in an attempt to get past him. "Akane-chan is insulting Ibuki's ability to be right!"
"No, you're insulting my ability to be right!"
"Stop copying Ibuki!" "Then stop copying me!" The girls try to hit each other, riled up, while the boys hold them back. Gundam nearly loses grasp on the gymnast at one point. Komaeda eventually calms them down, turning to Owari with Mioda still behind him.
"Okay, Owari-san. What are you talking about?"
"Well it was earlier today when we were eating lunch." Komaeda nods, then catches the confused look on Gundam's face.
"Oh, it was when you were... out. Some of us had gathered for lunch. That's all." The luckster smiles at Owari. "Sorry. Continue please, Owari-san."
"Yeah okay. So I'm like eating that stuff from the kitchen, Hanamura's stuff is so much better by the way, and I get up to grab more food. Then, while I'm filling my plate, I look out the window. I can see two people walking towards the lodge. I think they went inside or something."
"Hmm..." Komaeda pulls out his Student ID and taps a few things out on it. "Thank you, Owari-san. This could be helpful." Gundam feels his ID buzz and pulls it out. 'Owari's Testimony: Owari saw two people head towards the lodge during the lunch break.' Komaeda, clearly unable to hold back the energetic musician anymore, turns to her. "H-hey Mioda-san, I think I heard Togami-kun over there..." Mioda instantly stops pushing on the boy, causing him to stumble back.
"Byakuya-chan?!" She scampers off, leaving Owari with the boys. The gymnast relaxes and picks at her ear.
"Eh... I think I'll go see if Hanamura has any food left." She trudges off, leaving Gundam and Komaeda alone.
"Now what?" Gundam receives an answer in the form of a loud banging. The two boys head over to a hallway Gundam didn't know was there to find Nidai and Hinata standing near a door. They catch the tail end of their conversation.
"...stuck. There's no way."
"I'm telling you, we just need to TRY HARDER!"
"I really don't think that's going to help."
"Ah, hello Nidai-kun. Hinata-kun. How's the investigation?" Komaeda smiles at the two boys, the coach smiling back.
"Ah. Komaeda. Talk some sense into the boy." Nidai whacks Hinata on the back, making him stumble forward. "He doesn't have enough spirit!"
"Ack! Nidai!" Hinata catches himself, straightening up and glaring at the coach. "Be more careful, god." He then turns to Komaeda and Gundam, clarifying. "Nidai thinks this door is important. He's trying to break in."
"This door was not stuck BEFORE!" Nidai shouts, ramming the door again. It groans wearily. Gundam pushes the two to the side and tries the door knob. It moves as though it's locked, but judging by the type of door, Gundam can tell that it's actually jammed. Breaking in would be the only option.
"Nidai. Assist me." Gundam gestures toward the door and the coach grins.
"ALRIGHT!" He rears back, lifting a leg. Gundam does the same. "On my count! ONE, TWO THR-"
"Woah, woah, woah!" Monobear appears behind them, arms raised. He bares his teeth at them. "What are you doing?! You're not allowed to destroy school property!" Monobear snarls, stomping up to the group. Gundam stares at him, eyes narrowed in annoyance.
"It is necessary for the investigation." Monobear begins sweating, wiping off his 'forehead'.
"O-Oh. Well pardon me then." They watch the bear turn the corner.
"THREE!" Nidai shouts and kicks the door. Gundam's kick soon follows, and the door lets out an injured creak. "ONCE MORE!" They kick together this time, and the door swings inward with a loud snap, slamming against the wall and falling off of its hinges. Gundam feels his pocket buzz. Komaeda reads out what he typed. 'Storage Room Door: The door to the storage room was jammed. It had to be broken down to get into the room. Nidai claims it was open when they were cleaning.' Komaeda turns to Nidai.
"It... was open when you were cleaning the lodge, right?" Nidai grips his chin in thought before nodding.
"Yes, I'm sure of it." The four boys head into the storage room. Nothing is out of the ordinary. Except for the setup of four irons on top of an ironing board. Three of them are cranked up all the way, but the fourth, while hot, is still approaching the max temperature.
"...What." Hinata stares at the three irons, then goes over and unplugs them. "That's stupid. Someone jammed the door shut to protect three irons? Seems ridiculous."
"Mu... perhaps I was wrong about the importance of this room..." Nidai scratches his chin.
"Perhaps... it does seem a bit strange to block off a part of the lodge just for four irons, though." Komaeda taps something out on his Student ID. Gundam is looking at his before it buzzes. 'Irons in Storage Room: Four irons were found in the Storage Room, plugged in and turned on.' Gundam sighs and glances around.
"Is anything else out of place?" Komaeda and Nidai look around the room.
"I don't think so..." Nidai says. Satisfied, Komaeda turns to the door and motions for Gundam to follow. The animal breeder heads after Komaeda, and turns to see the other two boys following them. As the group of four walk past the main hall, Gundam hears another argument. He breaks off from the others, grabbing Komaeda, and heads in to find Koizumi and Togami arguing. Again.
"And this was where exactly?"
"That's really none of your concern!"
"It is if we're trying to find out anything relating to the culprit!"
"It doesn't matter where we were, but who we were with!" Both the imposter and the photographer stand aggressively. Komaeda motions toward Togami, then heads over to Koizumi. Gundam reluctantly walks in Togami's direction. He gets in front of the imposter, earning an irritated grunt from him. Komaeda lightly pulls back Koizumi.
"Now now, guys. Now is not the time to be arguing... What's going on here?" Komaeda chuckles tensely, detecting the hostility between the two. "What are you arguing about?"
"This... girl is telling me that she had an unauthorized meeting around lunch time." Koizumi throws up her hands in exasperation.
"It was a picnic! We had a picnic!" Koizumi glares at Togami and turns to Komaeda. "Me and a few of the girls had lunch in Jabberwock Park. Togami here is getting riled up for no reason."
"You should have come to me before hand, so I knew of your whereabouts and wouldn't have to suspect you."
"Now I'm a suspect?!" The photographer shoves Komaeda's hand off of her shoulder, stomping off. "Whatever. I'm done with you."
"Ack. That didn't go as well as planned, I suppose..." Komaeda sighs and types out something on his ID. "We'll have to go to Koizumi-san to get the rest..." As he turns to leave, Togami shoves past Gundam, marching up to Komaeda.
"You. Are you the one adding things to this 'Evidence' tab?"
"Oh uh, yeah." Komaeda timidly scratches the back of his head. Togami stares him down. Just as it looks like Komeada's about to start sweating, Togami turns away and snorts.
"...Okay. Then I'm putting you in charge of it. Anything not added by you will be disregarded during the trial, am I clear?" The white-haired boy glances at Gundam knowingly and nods.
"Sure thing, Togami-kun." Komaeda walks to the corner of the room, Gundam in tow, towards the angry redhead who now talks with Saionji, the latter sitting on the table that the poker group had used. The dancer lets loose a high-pitched laugh.
"What an idiot!" She kicks her legs in amusement. Koizumi just scoffs and nods in agreement.
"Uh... Koizumi-san. Is this a bad time?" Komaeda asks. The photographer turns in irritation, but sighs and responds to him anyway.
"For what?"
"Well, I wanted to ask you who was with you during your lunchtime outing."
"Hmm..." Koizumi glances off in thought before looking at Komaeda. "It was me, Hiyoko-chan, Mikan-chan, and..." She chokes up, taking a deep breath before continuing. "P-Peko-chan and Chiaki-chan." Gundam winces at 'Chiaki-chan'. Too familiar.
"Thank you, Koizumi-san." Komaeda brushes off his uneasiness. Gundam's eyes wander lazily, catching something interesting. He grabs Komaeda's shoulder as his ID buzzes. 'Alibi Check: Around lunch time; Togami, most of the cleaning crew, Komaeda, and Kuzuryuu were at the restaurant. Koizumi and the rest of the girls were at Jabberwock Park. The only ones without an alibi during this time are Hinata, Tanaka, and Souda.' Gundam stares at the message in confusion.
"Hold a moment. Souda wasn't with you?" Komaeda shakes his head.
"Togami-kun told him to stay behind and watch the lodge. Souda-kun asked if he could head back to his cottage to get some tools, which Togami-kun agreed to." Komaeda shrugs, then glances at Gundam's hand. "Was there uh... something you wanted to show me, Tanaka-kun?"
"I bet Big bro Tanaka just wants to be real close to you, Big bro Komaeda!" Saionji jeers. Gundam shoots the dancer an annoyed look, to which she responds by placing a hand over her mouth and puffing out her cheeks.
"...Anyway. Look at that." Gundam points to the air conditioner near the table Saionji sits on. The display shows it set to 12:00 am. Komaeda, along with the two girls, turn to look at it. Komaeda's eyes widen in realization, and Koizumi lets out a surprised 'oh!'. Saionji pouts.
"I don't get it." Komaeda logs something on the ID, which Gundam glances at when it comes up. 'Air Conditioner: The air conditioner in the lodge's main hall was set to go off at 12:00am, the time of the blackout.' With a satisfied nod, Gundam releases the luckster's shoulder.
"Let us go. We waste time standing here." Komaeda nods in agreement.
"Hey, hold on." Koizumi requests, holding out a hand. She quickly retracts it. "Ah, never mind."
"No, no, please. We're all ears, Koizumi-san." Komaeda smiles reassuringly.
"Well... I'm not sure how useful it'll be, considering of all the evidence you've collected already... but uh... well I took some pictures and I was thinking..." Koizumi trails off, and Komaeda grins at her.
"You were wondering if the pictures showing who was in the main hall would help any." Koizumi hesitantly smiles at him.
"Yeah. Here, look." She turns on her camera, and the three kids near her lean in to look. She has a bunch of photos. One with Gundam posing somewhat dramatically while Togami stares in annoyance. Another with Owari stuffing her face. And one with Komaeda, Sonia, Tsumiki, and Kuzuryuu playing poker. They flip through some more, but they just feature the same seven people. Komaeda grips his chin in thought.
"Hmm... so it seems that half of us were in the main hall, and half of us were not..."
"If the murderer caused the collapse during the blackout, it would have been near impossible for them to carry out such a nefarious deed in this miniscule room. There was enough chaos to begin with, not to even mention it being black as the night." Gundam says, mostly to himself.
"So it couldn't have been anyone in the main hall, is what you're saying?" Saionji chimes in questioningly. Komaeda just adds the clue to the tab. 'Photographs: Koizumi took pictures showing that Tanaka, Togami, Owari, Komaeda, Sonia, Tsumiki, and Kuzuryuu were in the main hall at the time of the blackout.'
"Thank you, Koizumi-san. That was very useful." Komaeda similes pleasantly at Koizumi, making her flustered.
"I-It was? I mean- yeah. Of course. No problem." The photographer nods.
"Let's go Tanaka." Saionji waves enthusiastically at the boys, Gundam slowly waving back. Having done all they can do, Komaeda and Gundam exit the main hall, once again coming face to face with Mioda. The musician pouts.
"Byakuya-chan wasn't over there, Nagito-chan. Lying to Ibuki wasn't very nice."
"Goodness. Begone, we are trying to investigate." Gundam waves Mioda away, but she just stays there, pouting.
"No need to be so rude, Gundam-chan." Komaeda has an epiphany, apparently. His face lights up and he taps Mioda on the shoulder.
"Mioda-san, may I ask you a favor?"
"You need to tell Ibuki where Byakuya-chan really is this time!" Komaeda scratches the back of his head guiltily.
"Yes, yes of course. But about the favor..." Komaeda pulls out his ID to type something out. "So, Mioda, if I remember correctly, your hearing is amazing, is it not?"
"Ah, that it is. That it is, Nagito-chan." Mioda smiles cockily and nods. "Ibuki's hearing is amazing. 'Da bomb', if you will. Or hella, as Sonia-chan might say. Or maybe even-"
"Enough." Gundam cuts her short. The light music club member glares at him.
"Ah, thank you Tanaka-kun... So uh... Mioda. I take it you heard your friends who were out in the hall during the blackout, right?" Mioda nods, an eyebrow raised. "Could you tell me who you heard?" Mioda smiles.
"Oh Nagito-chan. You truly came to the right person. That person being Ibuki, of course. Let's see..." Mioda presses her index fingers to her temples and squeezes her eyes shut. Gundam is positive this is for show. "Everyone said something, Ibuki believes. It went something like this..." She pauses for a moment. "'Aah! So dark! I wonder if Mr. Porkfeet planned for this!' Hiyoko-chan said that." Mioda purses her lips. "Then it was... 'THIS IS NOT RIIIIIIIGHT!', which Nekomaru-chan screamed. Funny guy he is. Then Teruteru-chan yelled 'What's going on?! It's dark out here too?' Finally, Ibuki herself said a very, very insightful comment. It went something like this: 'Oh my god, the lights are off!'" Mioda pops up into the air and then curtsies. "Tadaaaaaa!" Gundam glances at Komaeda. The white-haired boy glances back.
"Melodic one, you are positive that this is everything you heard?"
"Uh!" Mioda puts a hand on her hip and waggles a finger in Gundam's face. He leans back and bats the hand away from him. "Gundam-chan! You should know better than to question Ibuki's hearing ability. That's everyone she heard in the darkness! One hundred per-cent pos-i-tive-ly sure."
"Ah thank you again, Mioda-san." Komaeda adds an entry to his ID, Gundam pulling it out and checking it. 'Mioda's Testimony: During the blackout, Mioda heard the voices of Saionji, Nidai, and Hanamura.' He nods.
"Komaeda. You do realize the glaring consistency with all of these location testimonies, I would assume?" Gundam crosses his arms, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah... unfortunately." Komaeda sighs and slips the device back into his pocket. "I want to check one more thing before we make any concrete decisions." He just stares at Gundam as the animal breeder scoffs. "What? I don't want to wrongly convict anyone." Gundam just rolls his eyes. They turn to leave, but Mioda grabs their sleeves and yanks them back, harder than expected. Komaeda manages to stabilize himself, but Gundam isn't so lucky, toppling to the ground along with the light music club member. Gundam swears as his elbow bangs against the ground.
"Fool! Do you know how much effort it took to weave this shirt from the finest of 'Dream Threads' snatched from the goddess of sleep herself?!" Mioda ignores his and places a hand on his chest, shoving him down and using him as a springboard to jump up. Gundam's head and back hit the ground and he finds himself staring at the ceiling, lights flashing across his vision.
"Nagito-chan! You can't just leave! Help me find Byakuya-chan! You promised!" Mioda, without a second thought, drags a protesting Komaeda away. As Gundam lays there on the floor recovering, a ruffling in his muffler draws his attention from the swirling lights.
"Eh?" He sits up and holds out his hand. Red Steel Elephant Maga-G scurries out onto his palm and chirps at him. "What is it, my lord Maga-G?" The hamster chitters and seems to point at something. "What do you see, all-mighty one?" Gundam places Maga-G on the ground, and the hamster scampers away, slipping in between the floor boards. "No! Maga-G!" Gundam jumps to the area where the hamster slipped under the floor. He can see the vague shape of the dark god scampering around, as well as some other strange object. He watches Maga-G run a lap around it, then look up at him and chitter. "Yes, of course! I will get you!" Gundam jumps to his feet and makes a beeline for one of the two rooms in the lodge that could lead to the apparent crawlspace. He has no time to check outside, Maga-G must be released from his prison as soon as possible. The animal breeder nearly kicks down the kitchen door. A weary Hanamura watches in fascination as Owari stuffs her face. Both of them turn to Gundam as he enters, one surprised and the other uninterested.
"Ah... Tanaka-kun. Welcome. Would you like to make it a threesome in the kitchen with us? The atmosphere has certainly heated up ever since Owari-san came into my humble abode." The cook chuckles, cut short by Gundam marching up and grabbing the front of his shirt, lifting him up half an inch. "O-oh my!"
"Tell me, pretentious one. Do you or do you not know the layout of this kitchen?"
"U-uh yeah! Obviously!" Hanamura raises his arms in defense as Gundam barks at him.
"Then do you know of any portals to the area below this building? Speak curtly, or I may just smite you myself, lest you need to face the horrors of the Four Dark Gods of Destruction!"
"C-Calm down, Tanaka-kun! N-no need to hurt me!" Hanamura cowers. "Help me, Owari-san!"
"Eh?" The gymnast stops cramming food into her mouth for a moment. "Wah buh fuuf ooh eh?" The boys stare at her for a moment before turning back to each other.
"Just reveal the location of any passages to under the lodge before I get angry." Gundam tightens his grip, glaring at the cook.
"I-I'm sorry, Tanaka-kun! I-I-I don't know what you're talking about! There aren't any passages or anything here!" He clenches his eyes shut in fear. Gundam drops the cowering Hanamura back into his seat.
"That was all you needed to say. Good day to you." Gundam exits the kitchen and heads to the other location that could harbor a passage. The storage room. Gundam strolls through the door frame, shooting a glance at the door laying on the ground. The room is empty, aside from the mountains of boxes piled everywhere. Gundam sighs and throws out an arm. His other three hamsters scamper out onto it. "My dark lords, I require your assistance! Let us find this otherworldly portal together!" The hamsters jump off of his arm and start sprinting around the room. Gundam himself launches into a vigorous search, moving aside boxes at what can only be light speed. But alas, after what seems like an hour, Gundam is at the end of his stamina, for the sea of boxes seem impenetrable. Just as he is about to leave the room and break the floor where Maga-G is trapped, he feels a tugging at his pant leg. He glances down at his heftiest lord, Cham-P, who trots away after catching Gundam's attention. "Hmm?" He follows Cham-P over behind a pile of boxes where San-D and Jum-P rest. Jum-P lies on top of a trapdoor. Gundam's eyes light up.
"Ah! My lords! I knew it was wise to invest in your infinite wisdom!" Gundam grins belatedly, taking a knee and scooping up his hamsters. He raises them to his face and nuzzles them.
"Aww! How sweet!" Gundam whirls around, landing on his butt. The island's blondes, Sonia and Saionji stand there. His face goes red.
"Huo-! Wh-what are you two doing here?! This was a private discovery!"
"Big bro Tanaka has a child's heart when it comes to his pets, doesn't he?" Saionji winks at the animal breeder, giggling. Sonia nods.
"Ah yes! It was so cute!"
"C-cute?!"
"Very much so!" Gundam yanks his scarf up over his cheeks and mumbles quietly.
"What is it you desire from me? I am conducting an important investigation."
"We heard you screaming from the rest of the lodge and came to check on you." Saionji snorts in amusement. "What are you doing?"
"Maga-G has slipped between the cracks of this building and of reality. I must find a way to descend into the darkness below to retrieve him. It is imperative to the survival of the universe. Now if you'll excuse me..." Gundam turns from the girls and yanks open the trapdoor. Some dust is thrown up into the air, but not as much as would be expected from a door not opened for a long time. Someone went down here recently. Gundam quickly slides into the new passage, dropping about a foot and a half and landing on what is either really compact dirt or really dusty concrete. Gundam drops to his knees and starts crawling, ignoring Sonia's warning and Saionji's cheers. He places San-D on the ground. "Quick, oh mighty Star-Destroyer Grey Fox San-D, we must locate Steel Red Elephant Maga-G!" San-D scampers away, Gundam moving as fast as possible after the energetic hamster. Soon enough, he hears a familiar chitter and finds Maga-G and San-D sniffing each other next to a machine.
"What in the..." Gundam crawls forward, approaching the machine. It looks like... a backup generator. Why it's right here is beyond him. It also has something hanging out of it. He reaches forward to grasp a metal cord. He smiles despite himself. "Ah, you crafty son of a bastard." The animal breeder scoops up Maga-G and San-D, then pulls out his Student ID and snaps a picture of the backup generator, making sure to get the metal cord in the picture. He glares up through the darkness, at the small slits of light produced by the floor boards. He spots a small inconsistency and waits for a moment. When he sees the shadows produced by someone walking near where he is, he jams his finger up, catching the person in the flimsy sole of their shoe. They yelp and jump. "You! Stay there or I will be forced to restrict you using the most forbidden of dark arts!" Gundam quickly scrambles back to the hatch and pops up, covered in dirt and cobwebs. Sonia stands there alone, uttering a small 'oh!' when he appears.
"Tanaka-san, what's-" Gundam leaps from the hole and grabs Sonia's wrist.
"No time. Come with me." He dashes along with the princess in tow, skidding to a stop in the area where Maga-G slipped under the floor. Souda stands, tapping his foot angrily. Their eyes lock, and they glare at each other with an intensity that could roast the hottest of suns.
"You." Gundam glowers at the mechanic.
"What are you doing touching Sonia-san?" Souda scowls menacingly, sharp teeth bared in a growl.
"That is of no concern to you. Now get out of my way." Gundam releases Sonia's wrist, ignoring what either of them have to say. He stomps over to the wall, running his fingers over it slowly. He grins as he picks away a bit of plaster, revealing a hole wide enough to run a thin string-like object through. Coincidentally, or perhaps not, it lines up with the pattern on the wall. Gundam snaps a picture of it. He then grabs Souda and forces him over to the front door. Kuzuryuu and Tsumiki, who are at the crime scene, look over at them.
"What are you doing?! Stop!" Souda flails around, but Gundam keeps him still long enough to jump up onto the mechanic's shoulders. Despite the thrashing of the pink-haired boy, Gundam holds his balance long enough to spot the tiny hole the same size as the other, right next to the crease of the corner. Souda loses his balance and for the third time that day, Gundam finds himself crashing into the lodge's wooden floor. In the small amount of hang time he has, Gundam pulls his hamsters out of his scarf and holds away from his body. When he impacts, they bounce slightly and angrily twitter at him, Maga-G taking the time to apply a generous bite to his thumb. Gundam takes a moment to recover from the shock, finding a few students gazing down at him. Saionji, Hinata, Sonia, and Komaeda all look down at him in varying degrees of concern. Gundam raises himself into a sitting position, elbows supporting him.
"I am fine." Despite his insistence, Hinata holds out a hand to the animal breeder. Gundam reluctantly takes it and as the boy hauls him to his feet, Gundam notices something wrong with Hinata's hand. It looks like... pock marks? No... bite marks. "Hinata. Where did you get those?"
"Eh?" Hinata glances down at his hand, glancing at the bite marks on his hand. "These? I..." The boy's face goes blank. "I don't know..."
"Peculiar..." Gundam snorts and turns away. A static fills the air, and the monitors spring to life. Monobear sits in a chair, holding a glass of what looks like some fruity tropical drink.
"Attention, attention! It's the moment you've all been waiting for! It's time for the amazing, heart-pounding, thrilling, 'SCHOOL TRIAL'! On the central island, near Jabberwock Park, you'll find a mountain that has an amazing carving of my likeness on it! Please meet there! Oh, and this party is mandatory as well, no chickening out! I'll see you there!" The monitors flicker off and a few students head out of the front door of the lodge. Most of them hang back, afraid of having to see the bodies. Eventually, even the most squeamish of them has left the lodge, leaving Komaeda and Gundam.
"I suppose we should go, Tanaka-kun." Gundam nods.
"There is something I need to talk to you about that may be... vital to the case."
"Oh?" Komaeda raises an eyebrow, and the boys head to the meeting location.
"You know of the time when I was not present. Well it started when I left breakfast. I headed down to the beach to rest my mind..."