Chapter Text
Rantaro wakes up after an intense pain at the back of his head. He looks around the library, the place where his last memories end, and found himself, his body, lying dead on the ground.
Before he had a chance to do anything the bookshelf is moving toward him. He pulls his hand up to protect himself from the crash and then the bookshelf hits him, or rather it passes through him. Rantaro now finds himself in the wall. Even though he can't see anything Rantaro knows that he is moving, he knows that something is dragging him somewhere, somewhere above. He knows that he's a ghost, "well, I guess you can't kill the ultimate survivor off that easily," he thinks to himself. While being dragged he tries to remember how he died; He tried to catch the mastermind and then a light flashes up from the bookshelf, he moved to investigate, a shot put ball dropped next to him, he tried to look at it, and then .... his memories end.
The force that drags him up slows down and changes direction now it's the speed of someone walking, someone is dragging his ghostly body somewhere. Rantaro discovers he could float around at will, it comes to him easily, but the range is limited so that is why he got dragged, He is bound to someone, someone that is moving up and now is heading toward the dining hall.
phew, just in time
"What?" Rantaro thinks to himself. He just heard someone talk.
"Hi, I'm back."
"Took you long enough, did you take a shit in there?"
"Welcome back Tsumugi. your tea is ready."
"Thank you Kirumi."
"Hey!! don't you fucking ignore me."
Rantaro thinks to himself "So Tsumugi just came back from the restroom? The range of the sphere is not big, and she is the only one that moves so I'm bound to her? Why?"
*ding dong, dong ding!*
"A body has been discovered! Everyone, please gather in the library!"
Finally! It shouldn't take this long to get the ball rolling, Heh, ball rolling
No one was seen talking as Rantaro heard that sentence, it could be Kiyo, but the voice seems more feminine so unless Kiyo has some girl in him it isn't him talking.
"Let's not have everyone wait for us."
"Kehehe.... then let us go, I'm quite intrigued by this body."
Everyone starts to get up to go to the library. Tsumugi turns around and her eye meets Rantaro's.
What!? Rantaro? How?!?!?!?!?!?!
Her mouth didn't move. Her body stands still and her face seems shocked.
Rantaro gets enough evidence to conclude that, one, she can see him, two, He could hear her thoughts.
"H-Hey tits-for-brain what are you waiting for let's go"
"O-Oh I'm plainly sorry"
Everyone in the dining hall run through Rantaro's body, Though Tsumugi did last and hesitantly. "So, they can't touch me, can I interact with the world?" Rantaro thinks to himself.
So, they can't see him? Good, I just have to pretend he doesn't exist.
"Hey! ruuude," Rantaro responds instinctively.
Tsumugi startled. Only she react to his words.
You could hear my thought!?
"Yes, I could."
Fuck
Everyone gathers in the library to see his body on the floor. Even though he saw it before, seeing it again still feels surreal. But his crime scene is different than what he has imagined; his Survivor Perk isn't there, someone took it. And he only sees one shot put ball and it's bloody, it was used to kill him, but there should be one more, a clean one.
After no one took up the First Blood Perk and Monokuma finished his speech about the coming-up class trial Shuichi and Kaede told everyone about the cameras and their plan. While that is happening Rantaro uses his float ability to find all the evidence he could, he doesn't know why but he seems good at it, it's like he had done it before. He concludes that someone tried to kill someone who will use the hidden door and he just happens to be the one who did, the ball from the sky was Shuichi's or Kaede's because the plan required the camera setup. Finished with the investigation, while waiting for the picture to develop he tried to look in the hidden room. He can't because Tsumugi stands too far away from the door.
So, there is a limit, the center is me, is the limit a sphere? He hasn't gone underground yet, it’s definitely not a box. He can also fly and go through walls… that looks fun.
Rantaro turns around to find her looking up at him but there is also a drone flying so her looking up is not suspicious at all. “Tsumugi is perceptive, and a good actress, surprisingly,” he thinks to himself.
"Hey Tsumugi, could you go stand near the secret door?" Rantaro asks her.
She doesn't answer but she walks up to the secret door and stands there, then spaces out.
Rantaro looks inside, then he sees the Motherkuma, red fabric on the floor, and his Survivors Perk on the table. “Yep, Mastermind's room 100%, they are involved in this for sure." He then looks around for a bit. He finds the other shot put ball and someone else's bloody clothe which belong to no one he knows but it feels familiar. The cloth has a dark-brown pompadour wig, a high-collared black long overcoat with a dragon art all over with a word on the back. “Crazy diamond?" he says out loud.
*sigh* There aren't any sauna here it would have been perfect.
Rantaro ignores that completely before going back to investigating. Suddenly he gets yanked out of the room to the first-floor resting room. He is now surrounded by two girls that are going to start undressing.
Tsumugi glare at him.
G E T O U T
Rantaro tries to run away but because gravity doesn't apply to him, he just stays in place while Kaede starts undressing.
G E T O U T ! ! ! ! ! !
Rantaro flies away as fast as he could out of the room.
So there is a speed limit.
"How does she shout in her thought," Rantaro speaks to himself
While he is waiting outside, he starts to think of who killed him, it must be the mastermind because the bloody clothes are in that room but how did they get away? They might get taken pictures of and it would be over. That's too easy his guts tell him that. Then he realizes something.
Why did Tsumugi run up? She was going to the restroom, right? The radius is quite small so how is she that close to my corpse?
He starts to orbit around the Tsuphere as fast as he can.
He finds the secret door in the women's restroom.
He tries to go down the stairs, but the Tsuphere won't let him. He tried to go through the floor, but he can't. "Why? I was under the floor before, wasn't I?"
The range is a half-sphere or a dome he just discovers. He is confused but he doesn’t have time to think, Tsumugi is finished, and They go back to the library. Tsumugi goes to stand at the same place while Shuichi and Kaede go to interrogate someone else.
"Tsumugi"
....
"What did you do in the restroom?"
....
"Did you go in ‘there’?"
....
....
"Did you kill me?"
....
....
....
"SAY SOMETHING!!!" Rantaro shouts and tries to grab Tsumugi's collar, his hands pass through it. Their eyes meet. Rantaro's eyes shiver and fill with fear, anger, and confusion while Tsumugi's are void. There is nothing in her eye, no emotion, no thought, no feeling, like a mask or a costume she is always wearing. Rantaro doesn't know how to get her to remove it. He wants some reaction. He wants to talk to a person, not a mannequin, not a character.
...
...Yes.
Rantaro pulls back from the sudden answer, his hand forming a fist and shaking. He is angry but can't do anything, he feels powerless. While that is happening Tsumugi thought to herself "so there are thoughts he can't read, how does it work? Apparently, I could shout? " Tsumugi knows that Kaede will admit to the crime, so the trial is not a problem, the problem now is just the ghost and how much can it mess this up. She's been testing the limit of the ghost for a while; she thought of some anime opening while walking here the first time and Rantaro didn't comment on it so he might not hear it, but he had offered the opportunity to test it himself. He asked questions and she tried thinking of answers quietly. "Say something" implies that he did not hear her answer. Now his reaction tells her that the word "yes" was heard so now she knows how to keep secrets from a ghost.
Rantaro knows she is thinking and that's bad because he couldn't hear it. He doesn't know what to do anymore he figures out who the mastermind is, but he is stuck with her. Then
*ding dong, bing bong*
The Monokubs finish developing the photo and call everyone to the warehouse. Tsumugi starts to run there.
Rantaro comes up with a way to mess with her. He tries it immediately. By flies ahead through a corner then jumps out in front of her. She is blinded by his ghostly body, even though it's somewhat transparent, she runs into Gonta and falls.
"Oh! Tsumugi, Gonta sorry for not looking, Gonta hurry, Tsumugi okay?"
Rantaro you asshole.
"I'm plainly okay, let's go to the warehouse."
"Okay, Gonta go fast."
"Okay, Gonta follow."
One of these is from Rantaro trying to mess with her. He succeeded, she can't tell who it's from.
Everyone is at the warehouse Monophanie shows everyone the pictures and as Rantaro expected no picture shows her in her dumb cosplay bashing him in the head. Now he feels sick, no one has found any evidence to convict her. Someone is going to die and that someone isn't Tsumugi Shirogane