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It was a miracle the doors don’t squeak at the slightest movement. Even if they did make noise, it wouldn’t make much of a difference with the annoying music blaring. Ignoring the music as best he can, Rantarou pushed open the main library door with his monpad in hand. The smell of old books and dust filled the air as he stepped inside. He stood at the doorway for a moment, and then strided over to the secret bookshelf. He opened the bookcase slowly to reveal the entrance to the hidden room.
Flash.
“Huh?”
A bright, white flash appeared in Rantarou’s peripheral vision for a moment. He stared in the general direction of it for a few seconds. What could that have been? He abandoned the hidden room for the time being and checked the shelf. There was a camera sitting there. “Why is this here?” Rantarou mumbled to himself as he reached out a hand to grab it, another flash setting off.
Above him, the shot put ball of Kaede’s rolled out of the vent and descended down the ramp created by books. Down and down it went, its thumping virtually rendered silent by the music. Rantarou gazed up to see the ball hanging off the edge of the bookcase. As quickly as he can, he shuffled out of the way, the object landing harshly on the floor. How strange. Where even did that come from? Was someone trying to commit murder? Were they trying to kill him? He continued to stare up at the top of the bookcase, wondering where the shot put ball even came from. Suddenly, Rantarou felt throbbing pain within his skull, as if something heavy had collided with his head. He toppled over from the sudden impact.
And then… pitch black washed out his vision. He can’t move, and he can’t speak. All he can do is lay there as the culprit worked quickly to tamper with the evidence.
The music stopped blaring, and the body discovery played over the system. Monokuma appeared in the library soon after. “And there you have it! Rantarou Amami, the first victim. How sad… we didn’t get to know his talent.” He started, pausing his speech for a few moments to fake cry. “All right, blackened! Step oooon up!” He exclaimed, finishing it off with his signature laugh.
Nobody raised their hand. “Huh? Blackened, are you deaf!? I said step on up!” And irritated Monokuma called out. Yet, nobody came forward. He sighed. “Well, I guess we will still have a class trial after all! Here’s the Monokuma file. It will be of vital help!”
After receiving the file, Kaede walked over to Shuichi as they reviewed it together. “Should we… check the body next?” Kaede questioned. Shuichi nodded his head in response. “Yes, we should. But we need to be careful to not mess with the crime scene too much.” He added. They both walked over to Rantarou in silence. Shuichi knelt beside him and began checking his pulse.
The detective’s eyes widened. There was still a pulse present. The victim is alive!
“Kaede! Come over here!” Shuichi shouted, disrupting the quiet and atmosphere. The pianist came rushing over. His tone sounded desperate, so it must be something important. “What is it, Shuichi? What did you find?” She asked. Shuichi gazed deep into her eyes. “He’s still alive. Rantarou’s not dead!” He said. Kaede’s face clearly displayed disbelief. Alive? She has reason to think otherwise as she got comfortable kneeling.
“What!? How? The body discovery announcement pl-” She started, but was interrupted by the detective.“Monokuma was wrong! He’s still alive!” Shuichi exclaimed, his voice continually raising in volume. The introverted, uncertain detective was now suddenly a confident and determined one. What a transformation that took place.
Tsumugi overheard them and walked over herself. “Um… Shuichi… Are you sure he’s still alive?” She asked, tilting her head to the side. Shuichi stood up and cleared his throat; he realized he was being too loud. “Yes. He is.” He answered without hesitation. Immediately after saying that, Kaede yelped as Rantarou’s head moved with no warning. “Ah! Rantarou?” She said. “Ow… my head…” The poor boy mumbled out as he attempted to hold up his upper body with his weakened arms. That blow gave him a massive killer headache.
Rantarou blinked to clear up his vision. It was too bright and overly noisy. He can’t make out what anyone was saying, or what was happening in front of him. He winced at the throbbing. It hurt to move and talk… he can barely believe he is alive. That collison should have killed him. But no, instead, he is in plenty of pain and would need to go lay down soon. His head continued to throb, and the poor boy grimaced. He squeezed his eyes shut as a way to block it out.
Shuichi and Kaede helped Rantarou to his feet. They guided him out of the library, the main building, and eventually to his own room. They laid him down carefully so as to not aggravate his pain further. Yet, the pain kept throbbing and it bothered him so much. Shuichi left to grab bandages, but Kaede stayed behind. As a temporary solution, the detective offered his jacket as a way to block the open gash for now. “Rantarou? Are you okay?” She questioned softly.
“Why? Why...me?” Rantarou whispered. Kaede heard him, and wanted to say something, but he kept talking.
“Why… me? Why do I… have to do something… like this?”
“Hey, Rantarou, it’s o-”
“Why am I… doing this again?”
“What?”
The word ‘again’ struck her as odd. Do what again? She wanted to pry answers out of him, but considered his current condition, it’s best not to. Still, she has an idea of what he is referring to. Shuichi returned soon after with some bandages, and took care of the injured boy. After he did so, Kaede pulled him out of the room by the arm to whisper something to him.
“Shuichi… I don’t think this is Rantarou’s first killing game.”