Chapter Text
Shuichi’s teacher, Mr. Monokuma, tapped his foot under the table impatiently as Shuichi only fidgeted with his shirt more. It was growing small on him and he desperately needed a new one, but was he going to say that? No.
“-join. ‘Kay? ...Shuichi. Shuichi!” Mr. Monokuma slammed his hand on the table. Despite his short appearance, the guy had quite the punch. “Are you even listening?”
Jolting from the sound, Shuichi finally looked up into his teacher’s soulless eyes (people have said that they weren’t normal, but Shuichi didn’t want to discriminate). “Y-yes! Um...but just in case I wasn’t , you said I had to….”
Mr. Monokuma sighed in great disappointment. “God, why am I teaching?” He paused for a second, rifling through papers, leaving Shuichi alone with his thoughts. Was he in trouble? He didn’t think he did anything bad lately.
Lately…
What if they find out that Shuichi was the one that accidentally spilled water on the floor and caused Ms. Monomi to break her spine from slipping on it in second grade? Sure, that was nearly nine years ago, but maybe Karma finally caught up with him. Shuichi had always known that those security cameras were there for more than just show.
They always seemed to stare at him menacingly anyways.
Or what if they were going to bring up when Shuichi plagiarized one sentence of his creative short story from another mystery book he had been reading in fourth grade? He didn’t even cite his sources for the research he made on different dog breeds that eventually played a crucial part in the discovery of the culprit! One of the most important evidence he provided, but still didn’t reference where he got it from. Torture!
Granted, he didn’t think anyone else cited sources either.
They also didn’t write a forty-six page mystery based on a Sherlock Holmes book…
“Ahem,” Mr. Monokuma cleared his throat, “This research paper is yours, yeah?”
Shuichi nodded with fear. He recognized that. He wrote it on four hours of sleep the night before it was due and almost forgot to include his name on it. Shuichi had to research a cold case and write a 6,000 word essay based on the different evidence and facts, including some of the theories and even his own. All sorts of thoughts ran through his head: did he misspell all the words, was the whole case just a hallucination based on his sleep deprivation, did he use the wrong citing format despite the teacher repeating it was supposed to be in MLA format ten thousand times???
Worse, was it that clear that Shuichi had clearly bullshitted his theory at the very last minute? Is this where he gets scolded? Oh god, he was going to miss the bus at this rate.
“Your parents have already been contacted,” Mr. Monokuma said threateningly and Shuichi wanted to cry there on the spot.
‘ What?! Was that even necessary?!’
“Honestly, I couldn’t believe it when I first read it myself, but nothing gets past the ol’ Monokuma, y’know?”
Pain.
“So, naturally, I called a few people, your parents included, and it just all sails smoothly from there!”
“Sir, with all due respect,” Shuichi started, biting the tears back, “Just because my theory wasn’t the greatest doesn’t mean you should overreact to this degree. I think calling my parents was a bit unnecessary as well!”
His voice cracked at the end, but Shuichi was mostly proud about how he got it out of his mouth in the first place.
Until Mr. Monokuma raised a brow ( were those brows? ) with a laugh. “Kid, what are you talking about?”
Shuichi blinked. “Huh?”
“Your research paper? Best thing I’ve read in years. Your theory wasn’t bad at all. Actually, I ran it through the actual police and they thought it was great . So great that they actually tested it out and y’know what, you were right. Who woulda thought, yeah?”
Shuichi blinked again. “What.”
“Your theory. Great stuff. It was right.” Mr. Monokuma swirled his wine glass filled with Coke (?) before drinking it. “That’s why I took so long grading it. Cool, yeah?”
“What.”
“Now, I know this is a lot to comprehend, but relaaaax, you’re getting some kind of reward money for this,” Mr. Monokuma turned his (once again, soulless) eyes towards Shuichi. “Unless you’d like to donate the money to the school?”
“No.”
“Worth a shot.”
Shuichi sat down before realizing he was already sitting down and slipped out of his chair.
Ouch.
After actually sitting down properly, and knowing he did, Shuichi tried to summarize what he just heard.
Okay, so this actually wasn’t that weird.
He just learned that his absolutely bullshit theory about a cold case that he wrote in the hours of the morning that even the earliest of birds weren’t awake was actually true.
No biggie.
Was… was he even allowed to take credit for this? After all, 4 AM Shuichi was completely different from normal Shuichi. Who knows which genius demon took control of his body and spat out the theory from the depths of hell?
Well, no matter what, Shuichi knew that he couldn’t take credit for this. And well… he wasn’t really obligated to stay in the classroom. He could just leave if the teacher didn’t throw anymore curveballs at him.
“By the way, Shuichi-”
Fuck.
“-Because of this recent development, I’m kinda required to tell you to check out our school’s Research Club.” Mr. Monokuma laughed. “Or the school’s Wannabe Detective Club.”
Shuichi tilted his head. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, I kid. Just a little humor the popular kids shared with me, I doubt you’ll ever hear it.” Mr. Monokuma slapped his knee ( knee? ) in humor. “Really though, those kids are bad news. They just leech off the school’s funds and have yet to actually pay it back. Even if you join, I doubt the club will stay open long enough for you to actually do anything.”
Shuichi’s nose instinctively scrunched up. Was this really something a teacher should say? Regardless, he wasn’t in the mood to check out a goddamn club. He had things to do! Existential crises to unpack! “Sorry, sir, but I think I’ll miss my bus if I linger around here any longer.”
“Your parents have already been called, they said they’d be picking you up because of the whole situation, yeah?” Mr. Monokuma informed Shuichi. “This isn’t optional, y’know? Bunch of school’s rules about having to, real inconvenient, I know.”
Apparently, Shuichi’s discomfort must’ve shown since Mr. Monokuma then looked him in the eye, leaning closer, before sighing. “Look, kid. You don’t have to join. Just check them out, yeah? Actually, I advise you to stay away from those troublemakers.” Then quieter. “Damn leeches causing my pay cut.”
Shuichi supposed that’s as good as he’d get. “Fine, I’ll visit them.” He remembered seeing their posters about needing new members earlier. They were hideously decorated, but that only made them more memorable. “Room D238?”
Mr. Monokuma subtly nodded, then groaned. “Now get out of my room!”
Walking over, Shuichi realized he’d never actually been in this part of the halls.
First of all, it was on the second floor, already mostly unknown to Shuichi. Most of his classes were on the first floor.
The second thing he realized, walking up to the door, was that the nameplate looked different from the other nameplates. Something was wrong with it, but Shuichi couldn’t put his finger on it. ‘ Weird…’
The third thing was that holy hell, this doorknob is sticky .
Glue? Gum? Shuichi didn’t want to think too much about it.
Stepping in, he finally realized what the teacher’s warning meant. One girl was playing cup pong on one side of the classroom with a guy that Shuichi recognized from his English class (Rantaro?) counting her score.
Next to them, a plain-looking girl sewing while chatting with another girl that Shuichi recognized from his World History class (Angie).
In the back, someone peacefully drinking tea and reading. He seemed like the most respectable person there.
Despite the room looking big from the outside, the inside was quite small and had no chairs or tables. The club resorted to using boxes or ping pong tables that were stored away from who knows where .
The first person that noticed him was the sewing girl. “Oh, hey! Welcome! We’re the Research Club. My name is Tsumugi and-”
Immediately interrupted by the cup pong table (box) breaking in half. “What the hell? Avocado shit for brains! The fuck?”
The girl yelling had unruly hair that was completely drenched by whatever was in those cups, which were now on the floor. Rantaro (“Avocado shit for brains”) Amami responded in kind. By flipping her off. “Don’t blame me! You were the one who thought ‘the laws of gravity don’t affect the Gorgeous Girl Genius’ and tried to perform a trick shot!”
“My big honkers dragged me down, you can’t blame that!”
“You have to just plain excuse them!” Tsumugi interrupted before turning to her friends (Shuichi doesn’t know if they’re actually friends now that he thinks about it), furiously whispering, “Hey dipshits, you almost scared off our potential new member.”
“Not my fault Rantaro interrupted my trick shot!”
“How is this my fault? Literally, how? I was miles away from the table, keeping your score, may I remind you.”
“Angie thinks that everyone should clean up their act before Kokichi gets back!” Angie cheerfully added. “Or may Angie remind everyone what Kokichi did last time this happened?”
A collective shudder rose over the group.
“Yeah!” Tsumugi whisper-shouted. “I don’t know about you, but I just plain don’t want to watch the Twilight saga as a punishment again!”
Shuichi contemplated intervening, but before that, a new voice entered the room.
“Hey guys! What’d I miss?”
All heads turned towards the new person, holding six drinks at once in the posture that suggested a bad juggling show.
“Took ya long enough, dickweed!” the girl with unruly hair reached for one (something Shuichi determined as the peach fuzz soda).
“Yeah, how dare you take so long to Venmo me, Rantaro!” the new guy joked (hopefully), looking towards Rantaro who took his lime sparkling water.
“And it was on purpose, motherfucker.” Rantaro opened his bottle.
Tsumugi had just plain water and Angie chose pineapple juice (Shuichi tried not to judge too much). Halfway through chugging her water, Tsumugi pointed towards Shuichi. “By the way, there’s a dude.”
“Oh?” the guy with purple hair hummed, still handing out drinks. His eyes shone, recognizing Shuichi. “Oh! You’re that dude who solved that cold case! Shucheese!”
“Shuichi.”
“Welcome, Cheese!”
Rantaro also joined in. “Oh, welcome! Aren’t you in my English class?”
“Yeah... um- Mr. Monokuma actually was the one that requested I check this club out.” Shuichi said.
Purple Hair blinked at Shuichi. “You mean you’re not joining?”
Shuichi froze. “N-no, I mean- yes- uh, maybe?”
“Angie will take a maybe!” Angie chimed in.
“I won’t,” Purple Hair muttered under his breath. “Say, new guy, why don’t you go out with us, the Research Club! We’ll teach you all about everything and their moms!”
Shuichi… supposed he could. It’s not like there was anything stopping him. Feeling a small buzz come from his phone, Shuichi checked it, seeing his parents' message.
‘ Be there in thirty minutes! ’
Despite not being in the mood, Shuichi got genuinely curious about the inner workings of the club. Not to mention the weird members. And if he had time too… “Speedrun?”
The guy smiled. “Now you’re speaking my language!” All at once, he started pushing Shuichi out the door, much to the latter’s surprise. “C’mon crew! We got places to be!”
The rest of them followed, all while Purple Hair talked. “So, Cheese Guy, what’ve you heard about us?”
“Huh? What do you mean?” Shuichi responded, confused.
“Oh, you’ve got to have heard some juicy gossip about us! Either from a student or another teacher. Name’s Kokichi, by the way, you’ve got to have heard something about us!”
“Angie agrees, she gets all kinds of questions from other students,” Angie scoffed. “They’re very rude!”
“Just plain annoying, honestly,” Tsumugi added.
“Well-” Shuichi started, remembering what Mr. Monokuma said. “Mr- uh- a teacher said that you guys were mocked and called the Wannabe Detectives Club instead of the Research Club.”
Miu blinked. “Uhhhh, yeah and?”
“What do you mean?” Shuichi asked.
“Well, I mean, it’s nothing we haven’t heard before,” Rantaro said. “Actually, it may even be true because of this fucker right here.”
“Heard that.” Kokichi grumbled. “We reclaimed that mock though, and now I can even proudly say that it’s our unofficial club name. And- hey! Now that we have Cheese, we’ll be a real detectives club!!”
“I’m… not a real detective,” Shuichi said quietly, tugging his hat down a bit more. “My uncle is though.”
“Oooh! So you’re born into it! I see, I see,” Kokichi whistled. “Explains a lot.”
Shuichi asked questions from then on.
What does one do in the Research Club? We do super secret missions and meet in cool locations across the globe. The scenery is never boring when you’re with us!
Rantaro sighed before translating. “We choose a research topic and use school funds to visit or get hands-on experience with it. They’re usually in the country, but there’s an out of country trip every year.”
Why did you join the Research Club? Angie knows this one! Angie and everyone else uses the Research Club as a way to connect with cultures, jobs, countries, and nature! I apply that to my art! Inspiration strikes wherever!
“That’s true,” Rantaro said. “I use the Research Club as a way to feed my hobby of traveling, Tsumugi joined for costume making inspiration, Miu for inventions, and so on. And Kokichi is Kokichi.”
“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?!” Kokichi shouted, offended.
“Joking,” Rantaro clarified, but he didn’t seem too sure about that.
Why is the club called the ‘Wannabe Detectives Club’? Heh. It’s actually kind of funny once you get past the legal details. You see, this purple bastard over here tried to help some police on a case while we were on the trip. We didn’t know when he slipped away, much less about why the police even let him help. Ended up messing up a lot of evidence, but somehow, he still got the perp.
“It was so obvious!” Kokichi pouted. “Even Ace Attorney games had more of a twist than that case. Geez, the police there were dumber than dumb!”
“You shouldn’t insult people like that,” Tsumugi scolded, but then her lips twisted into a smile too. “Even if it’s true.”
“You two. Enough,” Rantaro warned, knocking them both on the head. “Though… word did get out to the whole school, and Kokichi didn’t get any credit for solving the case. Just a bunch of rumors about how he corrupted everyone’s jobs because he wanted to play detective for a while. Through the grapevine it went, and out, nasty nicknames.
“Doesn’t bother me though,” Kokichi laughed, smiling with his teeth. “After all, I reclaimed the nickname with infamy and glory!”
The rest of the club laughed, but Shuichi wasn’t sure how true that was.
Is it just you guys in the club? Nope! We have some members that come once in a while because they’re so busy with other stuff too! Those people, and that Korekiyo guy that just sits in the corner of every meeting and doesn’t talk.
“Oh,” Shuichi thought out loud. “That tea guy…”
“Yeah, he joined out of nowhere, but man, he’s so good at finding great tourist destinations, so we can handle a little creepiness.” Kokichi added.
Why is the club hated by the school? Well, I mean, since we use school funds so much, the school doesn’t have a lot of funds for anything else. We’re actually a little in debt to them, but… it’s okay! It’s just an annoying sidebump.
“Huh,” Shuichi hummed. “Why don’t you guys just research without using school funds?”
Everyone stared at each other for a second before bursting into laughter. “Oh my god!” Miu yelled. “Do you actually fucking think we care about goddamn research that much? No- fuck no- god- we started this club as a small way to use school funds for cool trips, because we fucking hate this place so much. As long as we labeled it as educational reasons, those dumbasses would reach into their fucking wallets for us every time!”
“H-huh?!” Shuichi shouted with disbelief. ' Was that even legal?'
“...At first,” Miu ended.
Kokichi sighed. “Yeah, we figured it’d be like a few weeks, at most, before the school board realizes what’s happening and that there can’t be that many English essays about tourist attractions in the same month. And then, we started realizing that we might actually like it here. Surprise?”
“Plain cliché, honestly,” Tsumugi commented. “But what can you do? By then, we’d already drained so much money and were in debt to the school, that did eventually find out what we were trying to pull, by the way. We tried fund raisers, bake sales, all that.”
“Angie even tried selling her paintings-”
“That’s behind us now!” Kokichi exclaimed. “After all, we’re here!”
Shuichi blinked.
And again.
“The school’s… greenhouse?” he asked, confused.
“Yeah, go inside. It’s cool, I know,” Kokichi flipped his hair as if mocking someone. “No need to thank me.”
“I spoke like that...ONE....TIME!” Miu shouted.
“One gorgeous time that I will never let you live down!” Kokichi shot back.
Shuichi failed to hear them, though, because he’d never seen the greenhouse before (just from dusty yearbook photos and in the distance, on his way to school) and was in awe of the beautiful plants. “It’s so… green here.”
Kokichi snorted. “No shit, Sherlock.”
“It’s beautiful.”
Kokichi's face softened for a second. “Yeah, it is.”
“Earth to Romeo and Juliet,” Miu droned, playfully annoyed. “Stop fucking flirting and go water the damn plants. Geez, cock sucker, you really had to bring us here just because you wanted us to water the plants on your shift ?”
Shuichi, somewhat scared, already reached for a water can while Kokichi put his hands behind his head. “Pshhh- yeah. What’re you going to do about it?”
“Absolutely nothing,” Miu deadpanned. “Because you’d sign me up for more shifts if I did.”
They spent the next couple of minutes tending to the greenhouse. Apparently, Kokichi had duty the whole week… and didn’t do anything. Everyone gave Kokichi a piece of their mind, but in the end, Shuichi still saw them working together and helping.
If Shuichi didn’t know better, he’d even say that they were friends.
Halfway through the chaos of responsibility and caretaking, Kokichi grabbed his sleeve and tugged him away while the rest of the club was arguing about fertilizer brands. He lifted a finger to his lips, a sign to stay quiet, and giggled.
This way , Kokichi motioned, waving Shuichi over behind a couple of bushes. Though skeptical, Shuichi was nothing but curious and decided to follow first, ask questions later. Through the bushes Shuichi walked, and into another world he entered.
He could even see the sun setting from the view and wow , Shuichi had no idea wildflowers and different groups of them could be breathtakingly stunning. Dandelions floated through the wind while colorful rays of light reflected across puddles. Butterflies waltzed in the air and birds called from the sky.
It was absolutely gorgeous.
Still, Shuichi couldn’t help but wonder, “Why the hell is the greenhouse located next to a goddamn cliff?”
“You live and learn,” Kokichi spoke quietly, still looking at the sunset. “I also wish to learn what this sunset looks like in other countries.” It was muttered, barely even spoken, Shuichi had to concentrate to even hear it, and it was obvious that Kokichi hadn’t even meant to say it out loud. “That’s not your problem though! Now, where-”
“Kokichi!?” Miu screamed from the greenhouse.
“Goddammit.. MIU?” Kokichi yelled back.
“The fucking- garden shears are missing!” Miu let out a yelp. “Where the fuck even are you? Ugh- whatever, do your shit and find them or else!”
“Geez, can’t a guy catch a break around here,” Kokichi sighed. “Fiiine! I’ll help. Or is that a lie?”
“I swear-! ”
“Coming, coming, gosh,” Kokichi held out his hand for Shuichi, the latter grabbing without a second thought, not even processing what it meant.
When it finally went through, Shuichi’s face flushed in embarrassment, glad that Kokichi didn’t notice. It looked like Kokichi was leading him back, holding his hand as a way to not get separated, but even then, Shuichi was observant.
He didn’t miss the way Kokichi’s face went strangely red.
He also didn’t miss the way his hands were warm.
Soon enough, after returning to the greenhouse, Shuichi found out what Miu meant by ‘do your shit’. Kokichi began running around, questioning everyone where they found the garden shears last.
Rantaro saw them under the sink cabinet, handing them over to Tsumugi, who had used them for a bit before Angie took hold of them. No one knew what she did, but somehow, Miu took hold of them and then lost them.
“What were you doing with them?” Kokichi asked.
“Just doing your chores,” Miu grumbled. “But outside, near the front.”
Kokichi walked over to the front of the greenhouse. A nice area with some plants soaking up the remaining amount of sunlight, quite obviously flourishing. They were well taken care of, no matter what anyone said.
Kokichi looked around before putting his hand between the pots, right through the stand they were on. “Ouch!” He gasped, pulling his hand out immediately. Squinting at the gap, Shuichi finally heard quiet hissing. “Raccoons.”
Shuichi looked confused. “Huh?”
“I had thought something was in there. Miu is clumsy, but not clumsy enough to misplace an object within five minutes. Even if she has shit object permanence.”
“I fucking heard that!” Miu yelled from inside the greenhouse.
“Shut up!” Kokichi responded. “Anyway, I decided to take my chances and feel around. Didn’t bank on raccoons taking it, but they’re always snatching random junk.”
Stunned, Shuichi looked back at the plant stand. He would’ve never acted without all the evidence in his head, making sure to make the most logical decision. In fact, who knows what could be behind there? The fact that Shuichi couldn’t even see the raccoon unless he focused said enough.
Interesting…
On the other hand, trying to wrestle garden shears from a raccoon without hurting yourself or the raccoon is not interesting. Eventually, they got it, but not without lots of effort.
Sweat dripped down from Shuichi’s forehead as he walked back to the club room. The raccoon had shot him a mean glare before disappearing to who knows where and Shuichi could never look at one the same way again.
“So?” Kokichi finally asked, panting from the unwanted exercise. “Can you join?”
And there was the question, the one that Shuichi had been dreading the whole time. Even after hanging out and getting to know the club, Shuichi knew it’d be a bad idea to join. The words from Mr. Monokuma still stuck out to him. I would advise you to stay away from those troublemakers. “I-I don’t think I have enough time to… sorry.”
Kokichi tilted his head, confused. “But I thought you weren’t in any other club?”
' …Dammit.' Shuichi regretted letting that piece of info fly out of his big, dumb mouth. “Y-yes, but… um- extracurriculars from out of school.”
They had gotten back to the room, the door nameplate still looking as weird as ever. Kokichi sighed. “Guess it can’t be helped! So long, Cheese. Maybe I’ll see you in the hall sometime!” he then turned to the rest of his clubmates. “Well then, as the self-proclaimed Research Club leader, I officially release you all from this club’s last meeting! And that’s not a lie!”
Shuichi must’ve gotten whiplash from his head turn. “H-huh?!”
“We don’t have any funds. Thought we could hold out a couple more weeks if you joined, school policy and all,” Kokichi explained. “You see, the school finally decided that enough was enough and cut us out, forever !”
“Short stick’s making it out to be too dramatic but yeah,” Miu added, seeming sad, but tried to keep her head up. “But whatever, was bound to happen anyway.”
“I-I’m sorry…” Shuichi said (because what else could he even say in this situation?).
Rantaro ruffled his hair. “Cheer up, it’s not your fault. Like Miu said, it was bound to happen because of how reckless we were.”
“Angie bids this place good karma for the future. Bye-bye!” Angie was expectedly optimistic, but even Shuichi could tell she was also a bit down.
Everyone moved inside the room to grab their belongings while Shuichi stood outside, thinking. For some reason, he didn’t want to disband the club either. It felt wrong. From the thirty minutes he was here, he’d felt the joy from everyone radiating off their bodies. Despite the… weird dynamics, everyone got along.
From there, something in Shuichi lit on fire and sparked. Loudly. He did want to be a part of this, no matter what any other teacher with questionable morals said.
And he even knew how to fix it.
“Wait!” Shuichi halted everyone, the word merely coming out as a whisper, not used to such passion. To his surprise, everyone waited. “I know how to help.”
Kokichi awkwardly laughed. “Uh- Newbie. Spoiler alert: I don’t think you can. Unless you got like ten thousand dollars just lying around, then show’s over!”
“But I do,” Shuichi countered. Kokichi just stared.
“Wait. No! I’m not letting you spend ten fucking thousand dollars for our debt that we caused! Go play goody-two-shoes somewhere else. I won’t let it be here for something you were never responsible for.”
Shuichi gulped. “But I want to be.”
“Hah! Do you even have that kind of money?” Miu interrupted, voice wavering and seemed like it was on the verge of tears, but still… hopeful.
“Yes,” Shuichi said, surprised by the confidence of his own voice. “I got a prize for solving that cold case accidentally, remember?”
“Yeah, duh,” Kokichi said. “Mr. Monokuma told like… everyone.”
Except me, apparently. Shuichi thought, but waved the thought away. He quickly opened his phone and sent a few texts. “Yeah. Luckily enough, it’s…”
Shuichi’s eyes connected with Kokichi’s as the latter gasped. “Wait…”
The text went through and in came the response. Shuichi’s eyes brightened. “Ten thousand.”
Kokichi sucked in a breath, maintaining eye contact. “You aren’t lying, right? You better not be. That’s my job.”
“I’m not.”
Tsumugi’s squeals of happiness were completely drowned out by Miu excitedly hitting a table (box) screaming ‘FUCK YEAH’. Rantaro looked ready to cry and Angie was doing a dance. The guy from the back ( holy shit, was he there the whole time? ), Korekiyo, clapped politely and from the look on everyone’s face, Shuichi wasn’t the only one that forgot he was there. And then there was Kokichi.
Unresponsive.
“Hey, K-kokichi?” Shuichi called out to him.
Kokichi was staring at the floor, completely silent. Shuichi shook him a little, and that was all it took him to crumble completely. Tears were streaming down his face, and everyone else in the club took notice.
“Cock-sucker, are you seriously crying right now?” Miu broke the silence, also beginning to cry. Her next words came out slurred. “That’s so fucking weird, you nerd.”
“Miu, you dumb bitch,” Kokichi insulted too before Miu hugged him. “Get your bitch hands away from me,” he said, but didn’t make any attempts to actually break the hug.
“Group hug!” Angie screamed in the middle of cartwheeling from joy.
Everyone joined in for a hug, even Korekiyo walked over to pat everyone as a way of comfort. Kokichi waved Shuichi over as well, and he awkwardly tried to join the hug.
“ Are you sure about this? ” Kokichi mouthed to Shuichi who only smiled.
“ Positive, ” he mouthed back.
Breaking the hug, Angie clapped her hands excitedly. “Does this mean Shuichi is joining too?!”
Tsumugi shrugged. “Well, I plain hope so! Or else, there’s not much of a point in donating that much money.”
Kokichi turned to Shuichi. “Well, it’s your choice. What’s it going to be, Newbie?”
“Well…” Shuichi trailed off, leaving suspense. “I suppose I can.”
A collective cheer was heard from the Research Club room that day.
“Welcome to the team, Newbie!”
“Does this mean that we’re an actual detective club now?”
“Still not a detective-”
“Oh man, this is gonna be so fucking cool!”
“Angie welcomes ‘newbie’ Shuichi.”
“Finally!” Kokichi shouted suddenly as everyone quieted. He walked over to the door dramatically, raising a hand up like a pledge. “We can rid ourselves of a curse!” Shuichi was confused until Kokichi reached for the nameplate and pulled it off completely. D238 sitting carefully in his hand.
What.
“Maybe we can ask the school to lend us an actual classroom now so we don’t have to keep breaking into the janitor’s closet!”
Everyone else nodded sympathetically as Shuichi only stared.
After a second to process everything, he spoke.
“THIS IS THE JANITOR’S CLOSET?!”