Trapped (Pregame Ouma x Ingame Shuichi) {COMPLETED!}

nine

I dropped to my knees. Kaito, one of my best friends, was dead. Despite betraying me, I was still attached to him, and it was a terrible sight. I felt a fat tear roll down my cheek.

Maki was even more of a wreck. "...I...just left for...a second..." she muttered, wiping tears away the second they left her eyes. Kaede comforted her, letting her lay on her shoulder. Kaede looked at me with a look of sadness, but determination in her eyes. She was going to help me solve this case.

As we all calmed down, I slowly went over to his lifeless body. There was no external injuries, but his face was almost purple, suggesting he died from strangulation, maybe even poisoning.

He'd even coughed up blood. There was a small trail of blood from his mouth that led to a larger spot on his coat. Maki could barely watch.

There weren't any clues. And I'm not exaggerating, either. There was literally his lifeless body, a small pool of blood near his head and neck, and a small scratch on his face. That was it.

After investigating the scene, Kaede came over to me and asked, "We should go to different rooms and places. Maybe we could find clues there," she suggested. I nodded and we left the gym, leaving the others to investigate on their own. The only thing I hadn't noticed is that there was one person missing from the gym.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~~-~-~-

Kaede insisted we check Kaito's room, even though I'd just been there. However, she was reluctant to give up.

Just as I expected, we hadn't found anything important. Until..

"Shuichi! Come here!"

I went over to where Kaede was. Next to the bathroom door.

She bent over and picked up a small bottle. She examined it for a minute then her eyes went blank. She handed it to me emotionlessly.

By first glance, it was obvious it was poison.

I stared at it and looked at Kaede. We both had surprised faces plastered across.

Kaede started to tear up. "Who would do such a thing?" she asked to no one in particular.

"I-I don't know," I answered. "Kaito was... a decent guy," I said, not wanting to say he was 'nice'. He most certainly was not.

"So Kaito was poisoned." she declared, wiping her tears and acting more confident. "But by who?"

I thought back to who all had been in his room in the past hour. Me, obviously not. Kiibo, would never dream of such a thing. Maki, his best friend. Kaede, who was just now here, and....

No, it wasn't possible.

Was it?

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

As the elevator descended, Kokichi held onto my arm, receiving strange looks from everyone else. And honestly, I don't blame them. I still have no idea why he insists on doing that.

He'd mentioned earlier that he didn't want me to hurt him. Why would I do that, though? Had I hurt him in his memories? I definitely hope not. He was so vulnerable and... small. Both physically and verbally. I couldn't imagine doing such a thing.

As it came to a stop, he squeaked and buried his face into my arm. I admit, it was sad to watch.

We all took our places, except for Kokichi, who stood in front of the elevator, unsure of where to go. He looked at me with pleading eyes, like he wanted me to help him. I didn't necessarily know what to help him with.

After Monokuma yelling at him of where to go, we were finally able to get on with the trial.

"Let's start with the murder weapon," I said. "Kaede and I investigated and found an empty poison bottle in his room. There were no external inquiries either, and no sign of struggle, so that had to have been the murder weapon." I explained. Everyone nodded in agreement. Except Kokichi. He gaped at me as if he didn't know I knew so much about the case already.

"Also," Kaede started, "I read the label. Apparently it takes at least 30 minutes to set in, and kill someone. So he ingested it long before he actually died."

Wow, she was good at this.

"Do you think he drank it himself?" Kirumi asked. "Who all was with him within that time period?"

"Well," I thought. "There was me, Kiibo, Maki, Kaede, and... Kokichi." I said, struggling to even say the last part.

"I saw him, too." Rantaro said. "On his way to train with Maki,"

"I think it was babysitter-bitch," Miu said, pointing her finger at Maki. "She's acting as if she's soooo sad, just to put up a facade!" she announced. "Plus, she was with him in the gym! It could've been easy to kill someone when there was no one else around!"

"Cool it, Miu," Rantaro said. "Didn't you hear what Kaede said? That poison was what killed him, and it would've taken a while to set in. She didn't kill him on impact. Still, she could've been the one who poisoned him though..." he muttered, trailing off.

"So he got poisoned, went to training with Maki, then it affected him in the middle of it," Tsumugi said. "Dark,"

"I personally believe it could've been Kirumi." Kiibo said, barely holding back. Kirumi jumped at his statement and stared at him. "Why do you think that, Kiibo?" she asked, having a slight shake in her voice.

"I think I see where he's going with this.." Kaede said, acknowledging Kiibo's remark. They exchanged glances that made me confused, and they both nodded at the same time. They had a plan.

"You love Kokichi like a son, correct?" Kiibo asked out of nowhere. Kokichi's head perked up at the sound of his name.

"What? Of course I do. He's like the son I never had. What does Kokichi have to do with this?" Kirumi said.

"Maybe you killed Kaito to protect Kokichi," Kaede explained. "You did get pretty angry when Kaito made fun of him.."

Kirumi shook her head. "No, it's not true," she said, almost sadly.

Suddenly, I had a realization. I remembered Kaito had a small scratch on his face. It was such a small detail that everyone most likely overlooked. But it saved the whole case for me, no matter how much it pained me to say it.

"Hey guys..." I said awkwardly, trying to get their attention. "I know what happened."

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

"The culprit was sitting in the cafe along with everyone else, until they mysteriously disappeared, with the victim himself. Kaito took the culprit to his room, presumably to beat them up. However, the culprit decided enough was enough, and scratched his face. Now they'd bought themselves time and injected poison into Kaito. However, only feeling the pain from the previous scratch, Kaito didn't notice. Eventually, Maki, Kiibo, and myself showed up to the scene, where the culprit was hidden in a closet, as Kaito didn't want us to know they were there. Maki brought Kaito to the gym to train, and Kiibo and I searched his room, in search for the culprit, who was missing prior to the crime itself. Eventually we found them, and once the body discovery announcement played, they ran off in guilt in fear. After all of this, there is only one person who fits these qualifications, and that means you are the culprit, Kokichi Ouma!"