Chapter Text
[Shuichi]
Dormitory – Shuichi’s Room
I placed another of those Hidden Monokuma plushes on my bottom shelf. Between me and Kaede, I believe that makes four we’ve found in all – two by Kaede, two by me. Admittedly, they do have a bit of a cute charm to them, much more than Monokuma himself. Honestly, I don’t know why they’re around the campus – Monokuma himself just gave a vague explanation about ‘EXP’ and ‘level ups’ that I don’t really get – but they’re harmless enough.
They gave me something to think about – away from masterminds and Killing Games and time limits.
“Found another Hidden Monokuma?” Hajime’s voice asked from behind me. I turned around, and there he was, the self-proclaimed ‘Reserve Course Student’ (I honestly have no idea what that means beyond him not actually being an Ultimate… probably). He looked vaguely amused at the plush I was putting on my shelf. “I’m surprised you’re going out of your way to collect them at all. I know I only bothered because I didn’t have much else to do.”
“Hey, there’s some merit to them,” I defended. “They’re… They’re not half bad, really.” It may also relate to my innate skills for evidence detecting, but that’s something else entirely.
Hajime raised an eyebrow. “Whatever you say.” It was clear he was disbelieving, but he didn’t dispute my claims. (I doubt he could; he just said he collected them himself. Then again, it is Monokuma…)
He looked over my small room, just as he did a few days ago during the first night, his eyes seeming to calculate something I couldn’t comprehend. “…you know, despite everything, I kind of miss Jabberwock Island,” he mused. “At the very least, it felt freer than this whole academy has been, Killing School Trip be damned. I don’t know how Makoto ever handled being so… trapped like this.”
“Well, I imagine that Monokuma didn’t have any time to redevelop Jabberwock Island the way he would’ve liked it, compared to Hope’s Peak Academy and this Ultimate Academy,” I said. “I also imagine he had far less time to come up with motives, too. Didn’t you say your first motive was fairly tame by his standards?”
Makoto and Hajime made mention of their own first motives to me and Kaede – a ‘motive video’ and a vague promise to cure amnesia, respectively. If the latter was any indication of the overall quality of his game’s motives, he likely really did have an easier time. Not that that fact’s gonna help us out now. “Yeah, actually. The first few motives, comparatively, weren’t as bad. There was the fourth ‘motive’, when he tried to starve us—” He briefly shuddered. That didn’t sound like a fun time to me, either. “—but that was the worst of it, fortunately.”
I frowned, tugging the brim of my cap down. “I wish I could say the same now. We’ve only got a day left before Monokuma decides to execute us. Everything hinges on whether or not my plan works out.”
…I didn’t like that. We shouldn’t have to rely on just me to not get everybody killed.
All we really have—when Miu gets done with them, anyway—are a bunch of cameras, a sensor, and the hopes that the mastermind will come to open the hidden passageway. Admittedly, it’s not much, but…
…what else do we have?
And even then…
“I think we’ve got fairly good odds ourselves,” Hajime offered. “In a situation like this, it’s the best chance we have. You’ve done well, discovering all this information and acting upon it. You and Kaede really work well together.”
“I don’t know,” I said, shifting my eyes away in nervousness. “It’s… It’s something anyone could do. You and Makoto probably could do it better.” I mean, they managed to solve the mysteries of their own Killing Games. I don’t think I’d be able to do that at all. “I’m just a detective-in-training. The title of Ultimate Detective… It’s not really mine to have. There are plenty of other people who deserve it more than I do.”
“Don’t say that. You’re better than you think you are, you know.” He sat down beside me as I remained crouched by the partially-filled shelf. “I’ve been where you are before,” he started saying. “I admired Ultimates and Hope’s Peak Academy a lot. I desperately wanted to be like them, but in contrast to their amazing skills and personalities… I was just an ordinary, everyday person – a ‘Reserve Course Student’ compared to their ‘Main Course’.”
(For a minute, hearing the words ‘ordinary, everyday person’ cropped up images of… something else, a helmet with wires all over on my head in an attempt to—but I quickly shook it off. What… What was that?
Was that a memory?)
“I remember being a little jealous,” Hajime continued recounting. “I wanted so much to be like them, and I believed without that without talent, I was pretty worthless.” …well, I guess I can relate to that. “But my friends helped me realize that, in the end, it’s not talent that matters—you just need to be true to yourself, and to not be afraid to move forward.” He smiled a little. “I honestly don’t know where I’d be without them.”
“They sound like good friends,” I said. “I only wish I could be as confident. Again, I—I don’t really deserve my title. Not after… Not after what happened.”
“Oh?” Hajime’s brow ruffled. “Something from your past still haunting you?”
“…you could say that.” My eyes were facing the ground now as I recalled the events of my first major case – a case I still can’t get out of my head, even now. (The look on his face just keeps coming back—) “I had a case, once—” My only real case, honestly—“where I managed to catch a murderer before the police did. But… the culprit actually only did it as revenge for what the victim did to his family. And the way he looked at me…
“…it was of absolute hatred.”
…I still remember perfectly his furious glare. I see it too much. I could feel my face contorting in anxiety and fear, even now. I closed my eyes to try and shut the memory away. “…ever since then, I’ve been afraid of uncovering the truth. It’s… It’s just painful. Too painful. It’s always too painful, because… it just hurts everyone around you. What’s the point of uncovering it, if all it does is cause agony?”
My hands were shaking now, far more than I thought they’d be. “And—and what if that’s what happens now? If uncovering the mastermind doesn’t save us at all, and only serves to make us hurt in our last moments? Whoever they are, they clearly have a level of influence far beyond anything we could ever imagine. Who’s to say it’ll help us… and that’s even if my deductions are correct?” I was slouched down and lying over my knees now. I can only imagine what Kaede was thinking right now.
Kaede. She’s somebody who’s grown to become my best friend. She’s so kind, and optimistic, and wonderful. If my deductions turn out to be wrong, or end up getting her hurt in the end… I know I’d never be able to forgive myself.
(I ignored the voice inside my mind whispering, ‘Who’s to say that won’t end up happening anyway? After all, you’re just a detective-in-training…’)
…I wish I didn’t have to feel this way.
“Hey, don’t be like that,” Hajime tried to reassure me. “Just because you’re worried about that doesn’t mean it’ll actually happen. C’mon, have a little faith in yourself.” He nudged his body a little closer to me, patting my back. “You’re doing the best you can under impossible circumstances. There’s a lot of people—even the other Ultimates here—who can’t handle things like this. You shouldn’t mark yourself down for it.” I looked at up his face; he was giving me a warm smile. Despite that… I still had my own personal doubts.
“But… what kind of detective is scared of finding the truth?”
“You said it yourself – you’re still in training. You’ve got plenty of time to grow and become stronger. Kaede, Makoto, and I are here – and everybody else is, too. You’ve got us by your side to help you out, no matter where you go. So don’t be afraid to look forward. There’s always a brighter future to reach out to, even if it doesn’t seem like it.”
A brighter future, huh…?
Makoto’s always saying similar stuff, now that I think about it. He says it so much, I think Kaede’s getting influenced by it. (Not that that’s a bad thing, of course.) It must be another side-effect of their own Killing Games; them finding something to look forward to.
All this talk about ‘hope’ and ‘futures’… maybe I can at least try to believe a little more in them. For everyone’s sake, for Kaede’s sake… If they’ve gotten Makoto and Hajime that far, then maybe there’s some merit to them.
“…I’ll try,” I finally conceded. “I… I don’t think it’ll be easy, but… I’ll try.”
“That’s good,” Hajime smiled. “Besides, I’m sure Kaede wouldn’t want you being all down like that. I’m sure she’d love to see your smile more, yeah? She does talk about how pretty cute you are…”
And by that point I was in full ‘absolutely flustered’ mode. “Wh-Wha!?” I stammered, trying to handle the virtual bombshell Hajime just dropped on me. Me? Cute? Kaede!? What!? H-He’s joking, right!?
T-That can’t be right at all!
He just laughed it off, as if he hadn’t just done that on purpose. “Relax!” he said with a small grin on his face. “Man, you really do remind me a little about myself, way back when. Lighten up! …man, is it also ironic saying that now…” he muttered that last part, before returning to “Hey, how ‘bout we go see if anyone’s around? I think hanging out with somebody will do wonders for you.” He got up from his place on the floor and made his way toward the door. “I’ll be right outside, alright?”
As I heard the door close behind him, I lifted my head and stared at one of the two Monokuma plushes sitting on my shelf. My mind was getting to thinking.
Hajime believes we’ll be able to ‘reach out to the future.’ Makoto believes that if we keep hoping, we’ll be able to get out. And Kaede…
She believes in the friends we’ve made, even if we haven’t really known them for all that long. We haven’t even known each other all that long either, but…
I trust her, and she trusts me.
(…maybe something even more than just trust.)
The three of them, they’re so much stronger than I could ever hope to be. They’re almost superhuman compared to me. They’re the leaders in our scattered group of chaotic personalities – I’m basically just that guy sitting on the sidelines. (Because who really needs a detective that’s afraid to do his job?) But… they haven’t given up on me, for whatever reason. They want to support me, and hoist me up, and…
…I have to admit, I want to be a little stronger myself.
Someone who’s truly worthy of being the Ultimate Detective.
(For Kaede, if nothing else.)
I walked over to the bathroom and looked myself over in the mirror. Slowly—and a little reluctantly—I brought my hand to the brim of my cap and took it off. Free from the confines of my hat was a slim, crescent ahoge, similar to the one Kaede sports around (though it’s not as thick as Makoto’s or Hajime’s… or Keebo’s)
It’s something I don’t think most people would expect me to have – and admittedly, I’m pretty insecure about it. It’s—It’s kind of dumb, I know.
Kaede said once that she’d like to see me without my hat sometime. Maybe, sometime in the future, I’ll really be able to do that for her.
I put my cap back on my head and prepared to walk out of the dorm room myself. Kaede and Makoto will probably be outside hanging about, too. And if I’m being honest to myself, I do want to hang out with her more.
I guess… it couldn’t hurt to go.