Danganronpa: String Theory (DrV3)

3.17 - Intro to Investigations

"Hey, uh...does his body look a little chubbier? Like in a saggy way? Or is it just me?" Kaito asks after a second, prompting me to cock my head to the side. Much to Kaito's and Kiibo's visible surprise, I reach out and poke one of Ryoma's cheeks curiously. Probably not the most respectful thing to do, but...evidence searching, right?

"Hmm...Ryoma maybe eat too much sweets? Not very gentlemanly. Too much sweets mean too much weights," Gonta suggests from beside Kiibo, clearly at a loss for how to investigate. The two are standing close to Ryoma's body, watching the rest of us examine the corpse. I can only imagine they've been placed here by Shuichi to make sure no one tampers with evidence on the body.

"Uhh...no. But Himiko might have had the right idea, if you ask me! Maybe someone chucked him in for a quick rinse cycle!" Kokichi says.

"I doubt it...there's no bruises or signs of him having gotten thrown about," Shuichi explains, visibly relaxing. "That's not really what we're looking for though. His death isn't ruled as a result of blunt force trauma, after all."

"Eh? Ruled?" I ask, looking up when Kiibo leans down to hand me one of the Monokuma File tablets and responds, "It's all right here, Prairie. The Monokuma File gives information on the victim as assistance since we ourselves aren't medical professionals."

"Ooo! Ooo! Lemme see too!" Kokichi orders, holding one side of the tablet and prompting me to make a sour face and reluctantly shift the file so we can both see it together.

The first part states the obvious, that being the victim's name, their height, weight, etc....I don't stay on that page long, quickly flicking to the next tab.

The second tab reads "situation", the page correlating to it starting off with text reading "cause of death". There's also a disturbing picture of Ryoma's corpse in the state Himiko and I found him, prompting me to recoil in disgust. To think Monokuma would go through the disrespectful trouble of photographing his dead body like this...that bear really is the most deplorable.

Cause of Death:

The victim's body was discovered in the Ultimate Maid's Research Lab.

The cause of death was blood loss.

"...That's it? Monokuma wasted his time making four entire tablets that only share one new piece of information? Couldn't he have just told us that?" I comment, scrolling down to see if there's maybe some more hidden info. Sadly, there isn't. "So blood loss then...if he died of blood loss, why isn't there blood on him? For that matter, where did he lose all the blood from?"

"Exactly. I've already looked at the body once and we went to examine other stuff to mull it over. Unfortunately, I'm still stumped, myself," Shuichi admits, visibly more relaxed in my presence even though I'm sure I'm still considered a prime suspect due to the ticket in his pocket. Hopefully my help will help to keep me from appearing too guilty of a crime I didn't commit...that's how this works, right? I'm not actually too sure...

Kokichi sighs beside me, releasing the tablet as I hand it back over to Kiibo. "Not even the Ultimate Detective can figure it out? Aah...what should we do now, snickerdoodlekins? Looks like we're in a bit of a bind~!" Kokichi bemoans, throwing an arm over my shoulder that instantly puts my mood into a dangerous state again.

Shuichi, Kiibo, and Gonta must sense the sudden chill in the air, the three looking like deer caught in headlights as I turn my head to smile sweetly at Kokichi. Kaito on the other hand seems to prepare himself for physical retaliation on my part.

"I don't know, but how do you feel about strictly liquid diets? 'Cause that's what the rest of your life's gonna look like once I send those pearly whites flying out of your filthy mouth," I chirp brightly with an innocent shrug and a sugary beam. "Remove your arm. Or else."