Chapter 9: Oxbow B
Hanako lifted up her pillow and cursed.
She was just going through the motions at the moment. She'd already changed back into her clothes, and Ibuki was waiting outside the door, but she was still procrastinating. She was still rifling through her bed and the small cabinet in the bathroom like a pack of cigarettes or a bottle of liquor would just magically appear.
"Hey, Yukimura?" Ibuki called from outside.
"Yeah, coming," she replied, then slapped herself on the cheek.
Pull yourself the fuck together.
She took a deep breath, made sure her face wasn't too red, then stepped outside.
Ibuki wasn't alone.
Nagito stood on the walkway, his clothes wrinkled and hair even messier than usual, but with that same guileless smile that now set her on edge.
"Hello, Mioda, Yukimura."
Hanako tensed and moved between him and Ibuki. "Aren't you supposed to be locked up?"
"Monomi was kind enough to untie me so I could help with the investigation."
"Then go help somewhere else. What do you want with us?"
"Are you planning another murder?" Ibuki gasped. "Triple kill…that's like the Neapolitan of crime!"
"Of course not. It seems the killer has created a compelling mystery already, though admittedly I'm a little behind on investigating. I haven't even been to the crime scene yet." Nagito shook his head at himself. "Anyway, I was wondering if the two of you could meet me at the airport."
"Why the airport?" Hanako asked. "That has nothing to do with the murder."
"I thought it'd be a convenient meeting place. And it's a pretty large space, in case you were worried about me pulling another trick like with the blackout."
She clenched her jaw at the nonchalance in his voice. "If you wanna talk, then talk."
"Well, there were a few other people I wanted to join the discussion. I'd be happy to see you both at the airport. Bye, now." Nagito waved and left the hotel grounds.
Hanako didn't relax until he was out of sight. It was eerie, seeing him act just as friendly and relaxed as he had during their first days on the island. But now that she'd seen exactly what lay beneath that amicable demeanor, it made her skin crawl.
"Ugh." Ibuki shuddered. "He's like if a spider grew legs."
"If a spider grew legs?" Hanako repeated, then shook her head. They had more important things to worry about. "What do you think about this meetup at the airport?"
She tapped her chin. "If we go together, it'll probably be okay, right?"
"Yeah. I wouldn't let anything happen to you." She realized how that sounded and averted her eyes. "Let's just get going. I really hope Komaeda doesn't keep us waiting."
When they arrived at the airport, an unlikely pair was already waiting inside the main building. Mikan and Hiyoko were standing as far apart as they could from each other, Mikan fidgeting with her bandages and Hiyoko standing with her arms crossed, a strange expression on her face.
Hanako and Ibuki made a beeline for Mikan, who perked up at the sight of them.
"Thank g-goodness you two are here." She clasped her hands together. "Do you know what Komaeda wants to talk to us about? Does he think one of us is the culprit?"
"No idea. If he wanted to talk to the diner group, this isn't even everyone." Hanako glanced at Hiyoko, who acted as if they weren't even there. "Not to mention Saionji didn't show up at all."
"But we did see her outside crying," Mikan said. "I tried to ask her what was w-wrong when we got here, but she just called me names and threatened to pull my hair."
"She is such a bitch," Hanako murmured under her breath. She bit the inside of her cheek. "I'm gonna go talk to her."
"Walking into the mouth of the beast?" Ibuki made a face. "We'll wait over here."
"Be back in a minute." Hanako crossed the room, trying to ignore how her footsteps echoed in the large space.
Hiyoko was studying her fingernails, not bothering to look up even when Hanako moved right next to her.
"Hey, Saionji."
Hiyoko cast her a sidelong glance and curled her lip. "What do you want?"
"I wanted to see if you were all right," Hanako said, then realized how insincere that sounded considering the way she'd snapped at her that morning.
"That's rich, coming from you," Hiyoko said, evidently thinking along the same lines. "Why don't you go back to your little posse and leave me alone?"
Hanako sighed. "Okay, to be honest, I could give less of a shit if you were having a bad day. But I know you were close with Koizumi, and if I lost…if I lost someone I cared about, I'd be pretty fucked up about it. So I just… I'm sorry."
Hiyoko's lower lip trembled. She let out a loud, unconvincing laugh. "If this is your way of trying to be friends with me, it's pretty pathetic."
Oh my god, this was a waste of time. Hanako raised her eyes to the ceiling and prayed for patience.
The automatic doors swished open, and Nagito stepped inside.
"Oh, I'm glad to see you all came." He smiled. "We can get started in a few minutes."
Hanako crossed her arms. "We can get started right now. What the hell do you want with us?"
Mikan and Ibuki approached from the other side of the room, the former tentatively raising her hand.
"I-If you want to ask for alibis, Mioda, Yukimura, and I were all together after three pm."
"That is useful for information, but not why I called you all here," Nagito said.
The doors opened again, and Hajime and Chiaki stepped inside. Nagito waved for them to join the others.
"Thank you for coming so quickly. I gathered everyone who I thought would be relevant to the investigation. Except for Kuzuryu, of course. He refused to come out of his cottage to speak to me." He let out an awkward chuckle. "I apologize for my incompetence. I suppose—"
"Wait, we didn't have to come here?" Hiyoko snapped. "You said I'd be executed if I didn't show up."
Mikan let out an indignant squeak. "You told me M-Monokuma needed to talk to me here."
Hanako raised her eyebrows. "Well, thanks for not lying to me, I guess."
Nagito let out another awkward laugh. "Anyway, why don't we get started? Who here has played Twilight Syndrome Murder Case?"
Ibuki shook her head. "I'm not that good at computer games."
"M-Me neither," Mikan said.
With a sigh, Hanako raised her hand.
Nagito turned his attention to her. "Did you play it all the way through?"
"Counter question. When do we learn what the point of all this is?"
Chiaki stepped forward and took a piece of paper from her pocket. "This is the point. There was a hidden way to access the missing half of the game as well as the staff roll. These were the names listed under the cast."
Hanako took the paper, and Mikan and Ibuki moved closer to get a better look. Hiyoko gave it a curious glance, then turned away.
Tsumiki, Saionji, Mioda, Koizumi, Yukimura, Sato, Kuzuryu, Kuzuryu… She blinked and reread the list.
"W-Why were our names in the credits of a game?" Mikan's voice wavered. "I've never worked on a game in my life."
"And I wouldn't put my music in any game other than Guitar Hero or Super Tofu Boy," Ibuki said.
Hanako furrowed her brow, trying to recall the disclaimer at the beginning of the game.
This game is a work of nonfiction.
The paper nearly slipped out of her hands. Oh, shit.
She looked up at Hajime, who seemed to have come to the same conclusion.
"What happened in the game might be based on real events," he said. "It's probably about an incident that occurred at Hope's Peak."
"And we wouldn't remember because our memories got wiped." Hanako handed the paper back to Chiaki and grasped her elbows. "So what happened during the second half of the game?"
"We can go over that during the trial," Nagito said. "I want to know more about your relationships to Koizumi."
"Relationships?" Ibuki snorted. "You should know I don't kiss and tell, Komaeda."
Hanako clenched her jaw, then forced herself to relax. Not the time, not the time…
"She w-wanted to meet with me today, but I said I couldn't go because of the beach party." Mikan's eyes welled with tears. "If I'd just accepted her invitation, none of this would have happened."
"Hey, it's not your fault." Hanako reached over and rubbed her arm, even as guilt sank like acid in her chest. "She invited me too."
"And me," Ibuki said. "She looked kinda bummed out when I said no, but I never thought…"
"What about you, Saionji?" Nagito asked.
Hiyoko stopped pretending she wasn't listening and faced him with wide eyes. "Nope. She never asked me to meet. Now, if that's the end of this dumb meeting…"
She hurried out of the airport, sandals clacking against the tile.
"I don't think that'd pass a lie detector test," Ibuki said.
Hanako crossed her arms, thinking back to Hiyoko's panicked sprint past the diner. She'd assumed at the time that she was scared, but had there been guilt there too? Why else would she lie about meeting with her only friend?
"It seems like Koizumi wanted to meet with everyone who was featured in the game," Nagito said, "which means she probably played it too." He raised his head with a smile. "This has been rather informative. Thank you, everyone."
He turned on his heel and left the airport.
Hanako bit the inside of her cheek, feeling sick. Mahiru had insisted that meeting with the others wasn't urgent, and she had just believed her. If she had pressed her a little more, maybe none of this would have happened.
Hajime and Chiaki conferred quietly for a moment, then made to leave the room as well.
"Wait. No." Hanako stepped forward and grabbed Hajime's arm, making him turn. "Make this make sense. What does this stupid game have to do with what happened to Koizumi?"
"I'm not sure yet," Hajime said. "Remember how Monokuma said the first person to beat the game would get a prize? That might have been the actual motive. We just have to find out who has it."
"Okay." She released his arm, realizing she'd been holding it a bit tightly. Last time things had only started to come together during the trial, and Hajime had been decent at summing everything up. "Yeah. Fine. I won't get in your way, then."
"I'll do my best, Yukimura," he said, not sounding quite as confident as he'd probably intended.
Chiaki smiled at him as they left the building.
Hanako watched them go, restlessly flexing her fist. She trusted Hajime.
She didn't really have a choice, now.
At some point, Hanako stopped listening to the voices clamoring around her.
None of them had been able to speak when Peko had walked to her own death. No one had thought to stop Fuyuhiko when he sprinted after her.
And now they were all talking over one another. Nagito was ranting again, Monokuma was complaining about something, Sonia and Hiyoko were both trying to muffle their crying, and all of it melded into one continuous buzz in Hanako's ears.
She couldn't stop thinking about the sound of Fuyuhiko's voice as he'd begged Peko not to die. The look on her face when she'd realized where her sword had slashed. The way their blood had mingled and soaked into the sand in the arena.
I don't want to do this anymore, said a voice in her head, meek and terrified and incredibly loud.
"He's alive!"
Monomi's shrill voice cut through the din, and everyone fell silent.
She was bouncing on her toes, pointing towards the doorway to the arena.
"Kuzuryu is still alive!"
Mikan was the first to move, sprinting through the doorway with surprising agility, and the others raced after her.
Hanako had no choice but to follow.
There was no sign of Peko. The sword-wielding automatons had been cleared away too, but Fuyuhiko's body remained, covered in so much blood that Hanako didn't know how Monomi could've been telling the truth.
Mikan dropped to her knees and felt for a pulse.
"She's right! Kuzuryu, can you hear me?"
Fuyuhiko opened his mouth and blood trickled out. The eye that didn't have a gash running through it fluttered weakly. Hanako hoped he wasn't conscious enough to feel the pain from his wounds.
"He's bleeding internally." Mikan inspected his torso, then pressed down on a spot below his ribcage.
Fuyuhiko shifted at her touch, his head lolling to the side. More blood leaked from his mouth.
"I need a compress. Something to stop the bleeding."
Kazuichi rocked on his heels, hands clenched into fists. "Hey, can't someone help us?"
There was nothing, only bloodstained sand and straw and shards of metal.
Fuck, fuck. Hanako bit down on her thumb. He's going to die here. He's going to die and we just have to watch.
She clutched at her arm, feeling phantom blood on her own skin, and a memory sparked in the back of her mind. They had nothing here except for themselves.
"Tsumiki, your apron." She fell to her knees beside Mikan and began to undo the tie at the back and pull it over her head. With a strength she didn't know she possessed, she began tearing the fabric into strips.
"Yes, that could work." Mikan folded one of the scraps and placed it over the wound she'd been compressing.
Hanako took another piece and pressed it over a cut on Fuyuhiko's leg, holding her shaking hands as steady as she could. Please, please let this work.
Sonia took a handkerchief from her pocket and knelt on his other side. Nekomaru procured a (hopefully clean) towel and joined them. They knelt in the sand, pressing hard like they could keep Fuyuhiko together through sheer force of will. The others hovered around them anxiously. Somewhere else, Monokuma and Monomi were arguing.
Mikan checked Fuyuhiko's pulse again and let out a whimper. "He's s-still losing too much blood. We need antibiotics, real bandages…he'll probably need a blood transfusion too."
Chiaki raised a hand. "I'm a universal donor, I think."
Hanako turned to Mikan. "Where should we take him? The pharmacy?"
"Whaddaya need?" Akane bounced on her toes. "I can run real fast and go get it."
Tears beaded at the corners of Mikan's eyes. "I-I don't know if we have enough time."
A horrified stillness settled over all of them.
And then a siren cut through the silence, startling all of them.
An ambulance skidded through the sand, nearly running Nagito over as it came to a stop beside them. Monokuma hopped out of the driver's seat, wearing a little white coat.
Hanako's jaw dropped. Where the fuck did that come from?
"Dr. Killgood is here to save the day!" Monokuma said. "Now, load him up in the back before I change my mind."
Hajime rushed over to open the rear doors, and Nekomaru unloaded a stretcher from inside. Hanako joined Mikan in wrapping strips of cloth around the worst of Fuyuhiko's wounds.
"We can hook him up to an IV inside the ambulance," Mikan was saying as she and Nekomaru lifted Fuyuhiko onto the stretcher and loaded it into the vehicle. "I'll take his blood pressure and Nanami, if you're a universal donor, you—"
Monokuma waved her away before she could climb into the ambulance. The doors swung shut of their own accord.
"Nope, no students allowed in my special care facility. You can trust the doctor to take it from here."
Mikan's lip trembled. "B-But—"
Hanako's fists clenched. "You seriously expect us to put his life in your hands?"
Monokuma's red eye gleamed dangerously. "You take what you can get, kiddo. Or I can dump him here and leave you to clean up the pieces."
Hajime put a bracing hand on her arm and glared at Monokuma. "Just go."
The ambulance sped away and out of sight, kicking up sand as it left. As its sirens faded into silence, Hanako became aware of the awful stillness surrounding them.
Mikan sniffled and wiped a tear away with the heel of her hand, smearing a bit of blood on her face. "Is it really okay to let Monokuma t-take care of this?"
"Not like we really had a choice," Akane growled.
"I think he'll be okay," Chiaki said. "He'll get patched up and return to us before we know it."
The words didn't sound like empty reassurances when Chiaki said them. They were spoken with such conviction that Hanako wanted to believe her.
Ibuki let out a shaky giggle. "Yeah, he'll come back and keep talking smack like nothing ever happened."
"Is that really what you all want?"
Everyone turned to Hiyoko, whose face was still red and tear-stained. She hadn't moved at all once they'd found Fuyuhiko.
"You really want him to come back after what he did to Mahiru?"
"Pekoyama has already been punished for that," Sonia said, refusing to flinch when Hiyoko turned her glare on her.
"Indeed, the path of life cannot be tread more than once," Gundham said, arms crossed. "All we can do now is look forward, like an arrow of light piercing through darkness."
Hiyoko let out a huff, spun on her heel, and stalked out of the arena.
Hanako flexed her hands, which were sticky with Fuyuhiko's blood. She couldn't find it in herself to blame Hiyoko for her anger. If someone she cared about was killed and she was standing face to face with the person who had orchestrated it…
She closed her eyes and let out a sigh. She didn't have any more room in her mind to think about blood and death.
As they left the arena and headed towards the elevator, Hanako caught sight of a photograph on the floor. They'd passed it around during the trial, but she'd only been able to catch a glimpse of its contents. She bent down and slipped it into her pocket.
They all rode the elevator together in silence. Hanako hated how there seemed to be more room for them every time they stepped inside.
It was dark outside when they emerged, and seeing the night sky brought a bone-deep exhaustion to her limbs. Just this morning, a little over twelve hours ago, Sonia had invited her to the beach party. She'd spent most of those twelve hours thinking this would be a normal day.
Her throat tightened. How stupid am I?
She was one of the first to make it back to the cottages, eager to focus on trying not to have a mental breakdown in peace. She was halfway through unlocking her door when she noticed the blood on her hands was beginning to dry and flake off. Just looking at it made her skin itch.
She scratched at the back of her hand with furious movements, desperate to get it off, wishing her hand wouldn't shake. She wanted to shut herself in the shower and scrub her skin raw. She wanted to forget any of this had ever happened, if only for a few hours.
"Yukimura?"
She spun around. Mikan was standing there, hands knotted together. Without her apron on, she looked a little more like a regular girl, someone Hanako might have passed on the street or sat behind in class.
Whatever she saw on Hanako's face made her avert her eyes. "N-Never mind."
"Sorry about ripping up your apron," Hanako said, making an effort to soften her expression. "I just kind of panicked."
"That's okay." She brightened for some reason. "I'm glad you left the rest of my clothes alone."
"What?"
She flinched. "Ah, s-sorry, I said something weird again. I can just leave you alone. Unless you want…?" She tugged at her collar.
"You have blood on your face," Hanako said, because she legitimately didn't know what else to say.
"Oh." One hand flew to her face, and she wiped at her cheek with frantic motions. "I'm s-so sorry! I must look disgusting."
Hanako was torn between hugging her and slamming the door in her face. After a moment, she settled on getting her door unlocked. "Come on. I'll help you wash it off."
She kicked off her shoes and went into the bathroom. It was clean and well-lit inside, and as she stuck her hands under the sink faucet, the cold water calmed her down a little. She scrubbed at her fingers and scraped under her nails until all traces of blood were gone.
Mikan lingered in the doorway, rocking on her heels like she was debating running away. She froze when she noticed Hanako looking at her.
"I like bathroom smells," she said. "They're usually n-nice and clean, but they could always be cleaner."
Hanako grabbed a clean washcloth and held it under the faucet. "I feel like they're kind of miserable places."
It didn't seem like you could do anything happy in a bathroom. There was only crying in the shower or glaring into the mirror or sitting hunched on the edge of the tub with a—
She blinked and squeezed the water from the washcloth. She hadn't done that in a long time.
"Okay. Lemme get your face."
Hesitantly, Mikan stepped forward. Hanako ran the cloth over the blood smeared on her cheek, trying to be gentle with her movements. After a second, Mikan's eyes closed. Maybe she thought eye contact at this proximity would be awkward.
"Okay. I think that's all of it." She rinsed the cloth out and tossed it over the shower door to dry.
Mikan cleaned her own hands in the sink with deliberate, efficient movements. She shut off the tap and turned to Hanako with a strange look in her eyes.
"That was nice." Her voice wavered a little. "Did you want me to wash your face?"
Hanako glanced in the mirror, but there was no blood. All she could see were the shadows under her eyes and her chapped lips and the stray hair from her bangs that hung over her nose. She saw two terrified, lonely, needy people, and she wanted to beat her fists against that image until her knuckles bled.
"I think you should go," she said to Mikan's reflection.
The reflection looked back at her, and Mikan's jaw trembled. She spun and left the cottage without another word.
Hanako sat on the toilet lid and pulled her knees against her chest. Her arms trembled with the need to hit something. She fumbled for the pen in her pocket, and her fingers met a hard, thin edge. She pulled out the photograph she'd swiped from the trial room and sighed. She'd left a bloody fingerprint on the corner like a jackass.
Mikan was in the foreground of the picture, standing with a few books held against her chest and a nervous smile. Hanako bit her lower lip.
I shouldn't have been so harsh with her. Not her fault I'm a fucking mess.
Standing next to Mikan was a dark-haired girl with a guarded expression. She was the only subject Hanako didn't recognize. Maybe this was Sato, the supposed friend she'd had in a life she didn't remember. Hiyoko was there too, pretending she didn't notice she was having her photo taken.
Hanako's eyes were drawn to the background. Ibuki was waving at the camera, decked out in spiky jewelry even in her school uniform. With a shiver, Hanako recognized herself standing next to Ibuki, wearing a black jacket she didn't remember owning over her uniform. The Hanako in the photo was looking at Ibuki with a soft smile that made her face nearly unrecognizable. It was a happy, affectionate expression.
She struggled to swallow. Were their hands joined? Mikan's arm obscured that part of the scene. Was it just wishful thinking on her part? What did she know about any of the girls in the photo?
What did she know about Mahiru, invisible in the photo but still present in the framing of it? Had she really covered up a murder? Was Sato dead and gone before Hanako had the chance to know her?
A droplet of water fell onto the photo, and Hanako realized she was crying.
I've already lost things I didn't even know I had.
And she was going to lose more. There would be another murder—she was so sure of that fact she could feel it in her bones.
She let the photograph fall to the floor.
What was the point of waiting around for it to happen?
This chapter title comes from Oxbow B by Lorn, a little bit of a darker song that works really well with the tonal shift in this chapter. Next time will be more fluff before things really go off the deep end.
I really liked writing the scene of everyone working together to try to save Fuyuhiko. Like even though he's been a Grade A dick I feel like everyone would still have this sentiment of "four people have died already and if we can do something to actually save a life we should try."
