Chapter 11
Hajime hesitated, before looking at the Monomi file.
The victim’s body was found in the dining hall within the old building next to Hotel Mirai
Time of death: 11:31 pm
Cause of death: More than ten stab wounds from the abdomen to the neck. No other noteworthy signs of external injury or ingestion of poison.
Hajime shivered, putting the Monomi file away and sitting down by the table. God, his heart was beating so fast… He felt like this was his fault, somehow. Somehow, his luck caused this. Somehow. He didn’t know how, but it had to have been his fault.
Still queasy whilst a panic attack threatened to come over him, he tried to pull himself together and look at the body. Close to the body were night-vision goggles and a knife that had glow in the dark paint on it. Under the tabletop was duct tape that also had the same paint on it. The splatter of the blood seemed to only be under the table- no traces of dragging.
Sighing, he stood up. Twogami...Really was dead, huh…? So much for ultimate luck….
“How’s your search doing…?” asked a soothing melodic voice that made Hajime’s heart flutter despite the situation.
“A-ah- pretty good- uh- have you found anything?” Hajime tilted his head to Nagito.
“Well...The A/C was set for 11:30….Wasn’t that around Twogami’s death?” Nagito hummed.
“11:300….? That was the same for the office…” Peko murmured, “How strange…”
“It could be related,” Hajime said quietly, making mental notes.
Chiaki came up to Hajime, holding a peice of paper, “Umm...Hajime?”
“Yeah?” he looked over.
“I made a diagram based off of the pictures I took before the blackout...It’s important to know where everyone was…I think,” Chiaki held up her diagram, “Outside, Monokuma was guarding the old building in case Monomi interfered, and Fuyuhiko had skipped out on coming. Umm...In the office, Peko was supposed to be there to guard confiscated weapons, but there’s always a chance she wasn’t there… Um..Teruteru was alone in the kitchen, supposedly… The storage room was supposedly empty… And everyone else was in the dining hall. At the table closest to the door, Sonia, Kazuichi, and Mahiru were all gathered..Then, at a table closer to the back, Akane, Twogami, Byakuya, and Hiyoko were there...Gundham on the ground searching for something...And at the last table, you, Ibuki, Mikan, and I stood close to it while Nagito was behind you against the wall near an outlet. Other than that, there were two tables- one empty and the other with a lamp on it. Twogami died under the one with the lamp on it, and the lamp was connected to the outlet. Nagito was by.”
Hajime examined the image and nodded, “Thank you, this will probably prove useful..”
Chiaki smiled and walked off, and Hajime turned to see Nagito with a slightly jealous look on his face.
“Ah...You good?” Hajime blinked, blushing slightly at the thought that Nagito was maybe jealous about being praised. Even though that was unlikely.
“Uh- hey-” Mahiru came up to them, “I did an autopsy with my medical knowledge and have to come to the conclusion that Twogami was killed by a thin and sharp object about 5mm wide, punctured many times…” she trailed off with a shiver.
Nagito gave a reassuring smile, “Thank you, Miss Koizumi”
“Jeez, cut the formality,” Mahiru mumbled, walking off.
There was a moment of silence, before Nagito spoke, “Hmm...Hajime, can you come with me, please? If I question people alone, they may not be willing to talk…”
Hajime blushed a bit, “U-um- me? Uh- ok-”
Nagito smiled a bit, and led the way out…
***
In the office, they found Kazuichi, who decided to accuse Peko for the murder due to the fact the breaker was inside the office. Ignoring him, the two searched the room and found two clues: the duralumin case was still locked up and the A/C was, in fact, set for 11:30.
In the kitchen, all that left was left from Twogami’s search was some food (meat on the bone, fish, stew, ect ect). Teruteru explained how he and Buzo had a slight freakout during the blackout since he and the rabbit were left alone in the darkness of the kitchen.
In the storage room, they found three suspicious irons that were all running and a bloody cloth, but other everything else seemed to unstable to move.
“C’mon, Hajime, if you try to move anything, it might all fall over,” Nagito warned, standing worriedly at the door.
Deciding he was right, Hajime left to head to the hall, where they came across Sonia. Sonia pointed out fire doors, which were doors that created a wall so if a fire happened in the kitchen, you could pull the doors closed and you might at least save something.
Continuing down the hall, they ran into Ibuki, who knew how to depict each voice from each person due to playing many games of which you had to match voices to things in the dark. It went as following:
Hiyoko: “WAHHHHH! THE POWER’S OUT!”
Byakuya: “Hey, I can’t see squat, turn the power on!”
Ibuki: “I-it’s pitch black! My future is forever pitch black!!!!!”
Twogami: “Everyone, kindly calm down-”
Mikan: “Aghhh...I-I’m scared of the dark…”
Chiaki: “Um….Here, take my hand...That’s your hand, right?”
Ibuki: “OOOO! Take mine too!!!!’
Mikan: “A-ah-”
Hiyoko: “Owwww! Don’t step on my foot, motherfucker! I can sue you!!!”
Twogami: “Hey- what’re you?! Stop that!”
Nagito: “Ow!”
*slam*
Akane: “Can someone get the light’s on?! I can’t eat like this!!!!”
Mahiru: “Do you think the breaker overloaded…?”
Mikan: “Wahhhhh…”
Ibuki: “I-it’s ok, we’re here…!”
Teruteru: “Guys...Where are you…? The blackout wasn’t just in the kitchen…?”
Gundham: “The shadows of darkness are overwhelming even for a dark lord such as myself!”
Kazuichi: “G-gimme a sec! I’ll go along the wall...And do something about it!!!”
“...And that’s it!” Ibuki said when she finished.
Nagito smiled, “Ahah…! As expected of the ultimate gamer….!”
The admiration shining in Nagito’s eyes made Hajime twinge with jealousy, but he kept it hidden as he was led outside by Nagito.
Outside, Monokuma reported that nobody had gone in while he was protecting the place, but Fuyuhiko had come by and left. Gundham testified that it was, more or less, impossible to get under the floorboards, where his earring had apparently fallen.
“I guess that’s all for the old building…” Nagito hummed, “Hajime, will you come with me to investigate Twogami’s cottage?” Nagito said, looking over.
“M-me again? Why? A-aren’t you suspicious of me, o-or something?” Hajime stammered.
“You mean, do I think you’re the killer?” Nagito tilted his head, “Cuz, if so, the thought didn’t even cross my mind… I mean,” He got much too close, making Hajime’s face go red, “Wouldn’t you rather get killed out of believing in others than live out of suspecting others….?”
“Wh-wha-?! No- o-of course not!” Hajime shook his head, still blushing furiously, “We’re-we’re doing this to live!!!”
“...I see” Nagito backed up, with a small smile, “Haha...How honorable… Well, either way, I think you’re too sweet to kill someone,” snickering, Nagito walked off to Twogami’s cabin.
S...Sweet? He thinks I’m sweet? Does that mean he…? No, it...It doesn’t necessarily mean that… but...Oh god- oh god- Not the time to be thinking about this! You’re investigating a murder!
When they arrived to the door, Hajime stepped forward and tried opening it, “...Locked,” he sighed, giving up.
“Hmmm,” Nagito hummed, before calling out, “Monomi!!!!”
The rabbit appeared, “My, my, you really know how to work a rabbit down through her fur…” she said.
“Yes, yes, well, would you kindly open the door…?” Nagito asked dismissively.
“Since when did you learn how to boss her around…?” Hajime asked as Monomi casually opened the door.
“Hm? Oh- I dunno-” Nagito shrugged, walking in, “Just thought it’d work and it did”
Hajime blinked before shrugging, starting to search the cottage with Nagito until…
“Huh? What’s this?” Hajime picked up an envelope and read the letter inside, “ ‘Beware, the killing will start tonight. One shall kill another’...What’s this? A threat?” he looked up to Nagito.
“...Hm….” Nagito looked deep in thought, paler than usual.
“Ah...Are you ok? You look pale-” Hajime pocketed the letter, looking a bit worried.
“Yes, yes, fine-” Nagito nodded, “But, ah, excuse me, I need some time to collect my thoughts...Alone,” Nagito brushed past a confused looking Hajime, exiting.
“Uhm...Ok...Bye….” Hajime blinked. What just happened to him…?
After a couple minutes, the monitor clicked on, “Um...Everyone hear me ok? Ok! Please assemble at Monomi rock on Central island, thank you!” *click*