DING DONG BING BONG
"Hello everyone," The only person on the screen was Monaca, sitting in the wheelchair and staring glass eyed into the screen. "All the other Warriors of Hope are sleeping, so you get Monaca! Yayyyyy!"
Monaca cheered as she spun her wheelchair around in a circle.
"It's 8 AM now, Monaca thinks you should wake up, and prepare for a fun day of murdering each other!"
The screen shut off as Kaede stretched, quickly getting out of bed to once again head to the Dining Hall as had become the routine for her, and basically everyone else in the Killing Game.
The Killing Game that, if Shuichi's plan worked would be ending today, and even better it'd be ending with a party.
Kaede hummed a sweet tune as she entered the Dining Hall, as always the other fifteen students were already there, Kaede sat between her usual friends: Shuichi and Tsumugi who greeted her with a smile on their faces, both had confident looks in their eyes, more than usual at least!
"Alright Shuichi, are you ready to pull of your plan?" Kaede smiled as she asked the question.
Shuichi looked to the side for a moment, before returning the Pianist's smile and answering. "Pretty much, all we need to do is leave the party about an hour before it ends,"
"Oh, we're leaving early?" Tsumugi turned her head. "Why?"
"The mastermind left a note saying that they'd interrupt the party just before it ended," Shuichi explained, earning a look of shock from the Cosplayer.
"Oh… well then it plain makes sense to go into lookout mode early," Tsumugi said. "Where are we going after we leave though?"
"Oh, right we never explained the plan to you, huh?" Kaede chuckled apologetically. "Why don't you do the honours, Shuichi?"
Shuichi nodded and explained the plan to Tsumugi: Wait until about 8:30, leave the party to keep watch in Classroom A, wait until the receiver goes off, then head straight to the Library to catch the Mastermind red handed!
"Sounds perfect!" Tsumugi chuckled. "Ah, but wait, who's gonna take the receiver?"
"Ah, uh…"
"I'll do it!" Kaede smiled, Shuichi handed her the reciever which she quickly shoved into her pocket.
"Alright, guess that's everything cleared up, huh?" Tsumugi scratched the back of her head. "I'm still plain nervous about this plan though,"
"I… was nervous about it, but Kaede helped me work through it," Shuichi smiled as he pulled the brim of his hat up a little more to make eye contact with the Pianist.
"Awww… Shuichi, you did all of that yourself, I just gave you a bit of a push in the right direction, that's all,"
"Right, a push…" Shuichi said.
BANG
Everyone turned towards Kaito standing at the side of the room near the door to the kitchen alongside: Angie, Kirumi and Rantaro.
"Listen up everyone, this is a reminder that my party is at Six PM! I expect to see all of you there!" Kaito declared, one of his usual classic, overconfident smiles on his face.
"I mean, attendance ain't mandatory, but…" Rantaro scratched the back of his head. "It's gonna be fun,"
"Atua says we should all use this as an opportunity to get along!" Angie put her hands into a prayer.
"I have made the food for it already," Kirumi said.
"Mmm… Kirumi makes good food…" Himiko mumbled.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!" Tenko wildly nodded. "Even if there are gonna be men at the party, I'm still coming!"
"Seems like a good waste of time," Ryoma shrugged.
Kokichi turned his head. "Is the robot invited too?"
"Why would I not be invited?" Keebo shouted in offense.
"Of course the robot doesn't understand how his cold, unfeeling presence would make someone uncomfortable," Kokichi sighed.
"Kehehe, truly I wonder how celebration of our… cooperation shall go? Will we grow closer, or will something else happen?" Kiyo spoke in his usual creepy yet passionate tone.
Tenko defensively bent down to wrap an arm around Himiko's arm
"Gonta try to party without getting in anyone's way," The absolute unit of a man smiled. "Gonta try not to break anything,"
"It's really okay, Gonta," Tsumugi chuckled.
"Yeah, don't worry about a thing!" Kaede reassured as Gonta blushed a little.
"Alright, seems that mostly everyone's coming!" Kaito laughed. "This'll be a great way to get everyone together!"
"Fuck that noise! I'm just there cause Kirumi's food feels like an orgasm in my mouth!" Miu shouted.
"The compliment is appreciated," Kirumi smiled.
"Better then you not coming, I guess," Kaito shrugged. "Alright, we're gonna go make some last minute preparations!"
Kaito and the rest of the planners left the room, everyone soon followed suit; pouring out of the Dining Hall one by one.
With some time to kill, Kaede decided to hang out with… whoever she could find, she began to wander pretty aimlessly around the schoolgrounds, she pretty quickly came across Rantaro in the lobby of the school on the first floor.
"Hi Rantaro!" Kaede gave a delightful smile as she waved at the man with the unknown talent. "Aren't you meant to be finishing up preparations for the party?"
Rantaro gave a slight chuckle. "We finished 'em pretty early, so I decided to walk around for a bit… kinda like you, heh,"
Kaede blushed from embarrassment. "Pfft- fair I guess, anyway, I had a lot of fun when you painted my nails, so uhhh…" Kaede trailed off.
"You sound like one of my sisters, heh; whaddaya want from me?"
"Tch," Kaede made a finger gun at the green haired man. "Nothing gets past you, huh? I want you to style my hair; with how good your nail painting is, I think it'd look really pretty!" Kaede smiled as she briefly showed off her still painted nails to Rantaro.
"Well, I can't promise anything mindblowing, and Tsumugi's probably gonna get jealous; but sure, let's go that classroom near the library to do it,"
"Thank you!" Kaede beamed as Rantaro led her to the classroom, an odd thought formed in the back of her mind as she walked over with Rantaro though.
"Why would Tsumugi get jealous?"
"Ah, you heard that?" Rantaro chuckled as he lead her into the classroom, motioning her to sit down in a chair. "I have a feeling she'd get upset at me if I told ya why, so I'll keep it a mystery for now,"
"You and your mysteries," Kaede pouted with a smile. "Sometimes, I think you know what your talent is, and you're just lying about it to seem cooler to girls,"
"I'll shave ya bald if you keep making accusations like that, heh," Rantaro let out another light chuckle.
"Hey!" Kaede pouted for real this time: Rantaro pulled out some stuff to be used for the ensuing hair styling.
Kaede began to turn around, but.
"Don't," Rantaro said in a manner that was both threatening and friendly. "It's meant to be a surprise, y'know?"
"R-Right!" Kaede went back to facing the board as Rantaro did his thing.
She felt her hair be gently pulled and prodded as Rantaro messed with her hair.
"Your hair's pretty easy to work with," Rantaro said. "My youngest sister's used to be a nightmare cause of how thick it grew,"
"You said you had sisters plural," Kaede said. "How many do you have,"
Rantaro took a bit to answer. "About twelve,"
"What?" Kaede had to stop herself from jumping up in her seat.
"Everyone reacts like that when I tell 'em, heh," Rantaro let out another chuckle. "I'm in a pretty wealthy family, so my parents elected to have about thirteen kids, me included,"
"That's incredibly… life must be pretty hectic back home as the only brother,"
"You don't know the half of it, I kinda had to learn how to do this sorta stuff to survive. Don't flinch,"
"Ah, sorry," Kaede would've scratched the back of her head in embarrassment, but that'd just make Rantaro's job more inconvenient.
"Don't worry about it… what about you? You got any siblings?"
"Just a twin sister, Kaori Akamatsu," Kaede smiled as she reminisced. "She practices the violin, says she wants to be the "Ultimate Violinist" so we can play together during concerts!"
"She sounds sweet,"
"She is, I miss her quite a bit," Kaede chuckled. "But, I know I'll get to see her again,"
"That kinda confidence is gonna do us good here," Rantaro smiled, but this smile felt different, wider than usual. "I'm done with your hair, by the way,"
"Oh right! Show me, show me show me!"
"You're excited, huh?" Rantaro waved his hands lightly, he pulled out a mirror and showed Kaede her new hair.
Kaede's eyed lit up like the sun as she saw her hair, her pretty, pretty, adorable hair.
Her blonde hair was now tied into two adorable pigtails, kept up by the absolute cutest little pink note hairclips.
"Oh my god! This is so cool!" Kaede laughed as she shot up from her seat, quickly embracing the taller Rantaro in a tight hug. "You're the best!"
"Ahahah, it's really nothing special, but I'm glad you like it,"
"Like it? I love it Rantaro!" Kaede smiled widely at him. "I can't wait to show everyone at the party, it'll be soooooooooo cuuuuuuuuuuuute!"
Rantaro looked proud of himself as he checked his Monopad. "Speaking of the party, it's 5:50 PM now, it'll probably be starting by the time we get to the game Room,"
"Jeez, time really flies, huh?" Kaede smiled. "Let's head off now then, this is gonna be so much fun!"
Rantaro looked at the bright eyed Pianist running past her with a smile on his face.
"Tsumugi, you got the best taste in women, heh,"
Everyone had already been gathered outside of the front entrance to the Library, Maki excluded as she seemed to have made good on her promise to literally never interact with anyone ever except to make them feel bad.
"Oh hey, creepy girl didn't show up!" Kokichi gave a wide, childish smile as he looked around, noticing the same thing as everyone else. "We can actually have fun now!"
"Grrr… can even one of you degenerate males be decent around here?" Tenko gritted her teeth at the small boy.
"Nishishi, I think Tenko's mad at meeeeee,"
"Oh, Kokichi, everyone's mad at you, all the time!" Angie beamed.
"Aww… that sucks," The boy pouted, before bursting into crocodile tears. "WAAHHHH, YOU'RE ALL SO MEAN!"
"Ugh, hopefully there's alcohol here; I only party to get loose y'know?" Miu said.
"Really? Cause according to my scans of you, you haven't consumed alcohol once in your entire life," Keebo said blankly as ever.
"Eeek!"
"You've been scanning people without telling us?" Tenko stomped towards the robot, looking at him with extreme prejudice and anger.
"I-I was only doing it to check on anyone's health!"
"Tch, of course the robot wouldn't understand how creepy that is," Kokichi rolled his eyes.
"Nyeh, Tenko don't kill him…" Himiko mumbled.
"Of course not! Anything for you, Himiko!" Tenko cooed as she ran back to Himiko's side, the little witch giggled.
Tsumugi and Shuichi walked up to the Pianist, standing next to her.
"Hey, are you two ready for this?" Kaede smiled.
"Yeah, of course," Shuichi said. "If I do this right, we'll end the Killing Game right here, right now,"
"Well… in roughly two hours," Tsumugi chuckled awkwardly.
"Ah, yeah," Shuichi chuckled back, equally as awkward as the Cosplayer as if it was like a secret language between two people with poor social skills.
"Alright!" Kaito shouted joyfully as he walked towards the door of the Game Room, in front of everyone else. "Let's get this show on the road!"
"Atua demands that you all have a good time!" Angie said.
"Hopefully the food I have made is high quality for all of you," Kirumi smiled. "I wish only to serve,"
All 15 of the students quickly poured into the Game Room.
The tables within the room had been decorated with plates topped with delicious looking food: crackers with dips, sweet baked goods, pastries, among other delicious looking foods.
While the room's snazzy carpet hadn't been changed, the walls had been painted by Angie to look brighter, and fuller.
Music blared loudly through speakers in the corners of the room, lovely, popular music loud enough to be heard from anywhere.
It was so pretty, this party would be the perfect send off to everyone's time in this stupid Killing Game!
6 PM:
Kaede started by watching Tsumugi absolutely shredding it on the DDR machine thingy in the corner of the room while Kaede ate an absolutely delicious chocolate cupcake.
"Woooo, go Mugi, go Mugi!" Kaede cheered, the cheering helped Tsumugi go faster and better at the machine the normally unathletic girl was absolutely demolishing.
"So that's when I took out my rival, finally ruling the seas after a hundred battles!" Kaito gave a haughty laugh.
"Wow…" Himiko mumbled.
"That sounds like complete horseshit," Kokichi shrugged. "But it's almost cool, so I'll let that lie slide for now, Nishishi,"
"Whaddaya mean 'let it slide?', it's a true story, dammit!"
Angie closed her eyes for a moment, humming; she opened them quickly and spoke. "Nyahaha, Atua tells me that what you've said is… completely and utterly false!"
"Well, clearly your god hasn't met Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars before!"
"Atua says he is glad,"
"Hey!"
"Nyehhhh… this party is such a pain…" Himiko mumbled.
"Mmmfhh, these muffins are so guhhd!" Tenko moaned as she ate them, deliciously soft with fresh blueberries in them.
"Nyehhh… Tenko, gimme a muffin,"
Tenko gasped in delight. "Of course! Of course! Anything for you Himiko!"
Himiko giggled as she was fed the muffin by her friend, her good friend, her very good friend.
"Let me know if you need anything else-"
"Kyaaaaaah!" Tenko glomped the Maid into a massive hug, causing her to tense up for a second, before relaxing in the embrace. "You're literally the best ever Kirumi!"
Kirumi gave a tiny laugh. "You are welcome, Tenko, I live only to serve those around me,"
"Well you're doing the best job!" Tenko smiled as she let go of the Maid, who let out a breath as the Martial Artist stopped absolutely crushing her lungs.
Kirumi chuckled again, giving a small smile.
7 PM:
"Kehehehe, shall I tell you more about my travels?" Korekiyo chuckled as he explained his stories to the two people sitting near him, those being Ryoma and Rantaro.
"It's interesting stuff, I woulda liked travelling the world," Ryoma looked at the wall past Kiyo, his eyes growing dark for a second.
"Heh, sounds like the kinda thing anyone would have fun with," Rantaro scratched the back of his head.
"Kehehe, very well then," Korekiyo cleared his throat. "I once participated in an ancient Salvia ritual of a clan who lived just below Baghdad; I felt as if I had been a tree for one thousand years, thinking and feeling everything the tree would've felt,"
"Sounds like you had a bad trip," Ryoma said.
"No, no, it was one of the greatest experiences of my life, kehehehe,"
"All one thousand years, eh?" Rantaro shook his head while smiling.
"Yes, yes," Korekiyo probably smiled under his mask. "All one thousand beautiful years…"
"Hey Gonta, Gonta, Gonta!" Kokichi said annoyingly as he banged on the door to the AV Room at the end of the Game Room. "Whatcha doing all holed up in there?"
"Sorry!" Gonta called out. "Party overwhelmed Gonta, Gonta wanted to watch bug movie in here,"
"Awwwww… that's kinda boring," Kokichi mumbled so Gonta couldn't hear. "You have fun in there!"
"Gonta will, Gonta glad to see bugs, even if only virtual…"
8 PM:
"Nyahahaha, leaving so soon, Miu?" Angie put a hand on the shoulder of the inventor, who let out a shrill squeak in response, like a mouse with social anxiety.
"N-No shit, this party's boring as hell; the fuck else would I do?"
"So much anger, I believe a blessing from Atua would do wonders for that!"
"F-Fuck off, ya little creep," Miu mumbled as she tiptoed out of the Game Room, Angie smiled at the door as she left for an… uncomfortably long amount of time.
"It sucks sooooo much that you can't eat food Kee-boy," Kokichi mocked before he ate a muffin in a singular, large bite to really drive the point home. "It's like… the most basic human experience,"
"Hey! I can eat too; I just lack tastebuds, or the ability to digest food, but I go know proper food etiquette!" Keebo explained.
"Wow, you know how to eat all fancy, but can't even one little piece of food!" Kokichi laughed. "I didn't think you could get any weirder!"
"Hey!"
8:30 PM:
Shuichi moved from his lonely spot in the corner of the room as he watched the clock on his Monopad hit 8:30; he never liked parties, so admittedly he was pretty excited to leave to begin keeping watch. He walked towards Kaede and Tsumugi, who were standing at the table eating.
"Hey, it's 8:30, I think we should start keeping watch," Shuichi said. "The party ends in about an hour, I think,"
"Awwww… alright I guess," Kaede pouted with a smile on her face.
"I'm actually kinda glad… I don't do great at these sort of social events…" Tsumugi trailed off. "You make it a bit easier though, Kaede,"
"Awww… you're too sweet Tsumugi," Kaede wrapped her arm around the Cosplayer, Shuichi smiled a bit as the three left the party.
"Hey, where are you going?" Kaito smiled as he walked in front of the three. "Party ain't ending that soon!"
"Ah, we're a little worn out," Kaede chuckled. "Calling it an early night, y'know?"
"Fair, fair; you girls n' Shuichi need your beauty sleep n' all," Kaito chuckled as he patted the Pianist on the back. Kaede pouted a little, but elected to take it as a compliment as she and her friends left for the Lookout Classroom.
The three quickly sat around a desk, Tsumugi breathing a sigh of relief as she finally got to rest her legs. They could still hear the music blaring from the Game Room faintly through the walls.
"Alright, now we wait until the receiver goes off, you still have it, right Kaede?" Shuichi asked.
Kaede smiled as she pulled out the thing from her pocket, holding it firmly, yet gently in her hand. "Of course!"
"Good, sorry if this isn't as exciting as you thought it'd be," Shuichi gave an uncomfortable chuckle. "It is literally just waiting for the receiver to go off,"
"Oh, 30 minutes of boredom is more than worth it for getting us out of this Killing Game; don't be so hard on yourself, Shuichi," Kaede let out a laugh.
Tsumugi let out a sigh. "Hopefully this works, it'd be plain horrible if we have to stay here after all this,"
"Well, if I've done this right it will," Shuichi said.
"And you have, I'm pretty sure at least," Kaede encouraged, earning a small chuckle from the Detective.
The three sat in comfortable silence, Shuichi occasionally taking glances towards either the vent or the locker, until-
BEEP BEEP BEEP
"Ah, the receiver!" Shuichi raised his voice as the thing began beeping, he he checked his Monopad, confirming that it was 8:50.
"The mastermind's going for it, c'mon Tsumugi!" Kaede said with determination in her eyes as she grabbed the cosplayer by the wrist. "We gotta get the others!"
"W-Wait, shouldn't all of us go?"
"No, I think I'll stay here to make sure the Mastermind doesn't use the vent to escape," Shuichi said.
"That… makes sense,"
"Well, what are we waiting for? C'mon!" Kaede lead Tsumugi out of the Classroom, down the stairs into the basement,"
"Okay, Tsumugi you stay at the front door of the library, make sure the Mastermind can't get out through here either," Kaede said as she let go of the Cosplayer near the door.
"O-Of course, I'll do my best!"
"Thanks Mugi!" Kaede waved goodbye to the slightly blushing girl, she then bolted towards the Game Room, practically kicking the door open as he entered.
Kaito greeted her at the door alongside Angie who was also standing there. "Hey Kaede, decide to come back to party-"
"No time Kaito! Follow me!" Kaede said, adrenaline still rushing through her body. "I think we've found the person behind this Killing Game!"
"Wh-What?"
"Lead the way then," Angie smiled.
Kaede nodded with a determined smile on her face, she led Kaito and Angie to the front of the library, stopping at the door.
Kaede felt a wave of anxiety over here just before she opened it, she gave a brief glance to the three people behind her: Kaito and Angie with clear excitement on their faces alongside Tsumugi, who looked just and anxious as ever, but with a hint of excitement too.
Everyone was so happy to get out of here, so why am I so anxious?
Kaede destroyed the thought, Shuichi's plan would work; without any further interruptions she gently opened the door and-
The hidden door closed, and then she heard
Screaming
It took her a moment to figure out who was screaming; she and Tsumugi were the ones screaming because.
Rantaro Amami laid there near the hidden door's camera, on the floor in a pool of his own blood. There was a huge, bleeding dent in his head, and a bloody shotput ball a mere few centimetres away from the body.
"H-Holy shit!" Kaito was the first to talk, letting out a yelp.
"I-It's just plain impossible," Tsumugi mumbled. "How did, how did someone die?"
"What the… but, but how-"
DING DONG BING BONG
Monokuma appeared on the monitor in the library, sipping on a glass of champagne in a nice looking office. The bear had his usual smile on his face as he began speak:
"A body has been discovered, please gather in the library to begin the investigation. After a certain amount of time, the trial will begin!"
Kaede stood there in stunned silence as people began to pour into Library.
Group one consisted of everyone else who was in the party: Himiko, Tenko, Kirumi, Gonta, Ryoma, Korekiyo, Kokichi and Keebo.
"KYAHH!" Tenko screamed as she saw the body of Rantaro.
"S-Someone died?" Himiko mumbled, fear evident in her lazy voice.
"I will wish our dear friend safe entrance into the afterlife," Angie's put her hands together, and closed her eyes.
"B-But how could someone kill Rantaro? He our friend!"
"And why Rantaro? I love him so much!" Kokichi let out a couple sniffles, and tears before going back to normal. "Actually, nah, I don't even remember speaking to him that much,"
"And you say I don't understand human etiquette…" Keebo grumbled.
"Kehehe, it appears someone has given into their greed to go home already…" Korekiyo mused.
Tenko grumbled. "Can you at least try not to be creepy during this?"
"Creepy? How unfortunate you consider my musing creepy…" Korekiyo let out another breathy chuckle.
"How unfortunate… he seemed to know more than he let on," Kirumi mused.
Shuichi walked into the Library, only letting out a small breath of shock as he entered the room.
"Rantaro died?" Shuichi said. "I-I didn't think that-"
"Didn't think what?" Kokichi smirked as he turned around.
"I- nevermind,"
Soon the two people not at the party entered the room: Maki and Miu.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEK!" Miu screeched as she saw the body on the floor, Maki had no reaction.
"I didn't think it'd happen so soon…" Maki mumbled-
Suddenly, Monokuma, and the five Warriors of Hope fell from the ceiling behind the students, each standing straight.
"Muahahahaha!" Masaru gave an evil, villain-esque laugh as he dropped onto the floor. "You bastards finally got into the game!"
"Awwww… I was hoping one of the ugly guys would die…" Kotoko pouted.
"I was hoping they'd get me first…" Jataro chuckled.
Nagisa facepalmed. "You're not apart of the people playing the game,"
"Awww…"
"Monaca thinks Monokuma should explain what happens next," Monaca smiled as she turned her head to the bear.
Monokuma laughed. "That being said, the First Blood Perk is still in effect… whoever killed Rantaro Amami, put your hands up!"
No noise, and especially no movement from anyone in the crowd.
"I said, whoever killed Rantaro Amami, put your hands up!"
Still nothing.
"Well then, I guess this murderer really, really wants a Class Trial! Puhuhuhu!" Monokuma let out his most grating laugh yet. "Well, I hope you enjoy the ensuing investigation then, soon I'll end your investigation time, and finally start up the Class Trial!"
"I-I…" Kaede mumbled.
"Can't believe it? Monaca isn't surprised," Monaca said, still with that creepy smile on her face. "It's always hard for people to accept that their friends could kill eachother.
"I don't care whether or not you believe it, kid!" Monokuma shouted. "You have to investigate this crime to keep your lives, and to sweeten the deal, I'll even throw in some of your removed memories for those who managed to survive this trial, puhuhuhu,"
"Oh, I woulda been willing to do it either way, but thanks!" Kokichi giggled.
"That's the spirit! You're so much better than most kids these days!" Monokuma grumbled. "Too caught up in their phones to hone their murder skills, makes me sick!"
"Huh?" Kotoko looked up from the monopad she was tapping randomly.
"Exactly my point! Take these, and I'm outta here!" Monokuma threw a bunch of Student-handbook esque devices into the hands of each student before he lept through the ceiling, the Warriors of Hope each waved goodbye as they too left the room.
"So, one of us really killed someone, huh?" Kaito said in a sorrowful tone.
"Well duh," Kokichi said in a more mocking tone. "We wouldn't be holding a trial if it wasn't one of us,"
"Y-Yeah, we'll have to investigate as much as we can," Shuichi added. "We're on a time limit,"
"Nyeh… this all sounds like a pain,"
"Don't worry Himiko, I'll do all the investigating for you!" Tenko declared.
"Well, no better time to start than the present," Kaede mumbled as people began to pour out of the Library, the only people remaining in the Library were: Her, Shuichi, Tsumugi, Miu, Kirumi, Maki, and Korekiyo.
I found it hard to believe, one of us is the person who killed Rantaro? But for now, I had to put those thoughts to bed as I investigated the murder of our dear friend; both for him, and the survival of the rest of us.
INVESTIGATION START: