The Fear of the Past //Saiouma (Pregame)

Chapter 9

"Rantaro left for a little while, but he soon came back. He had some nail polish on hand, which we found quite odd. He offered to paint our nails. Tenko immediately said that he only wanted to touch the hands of a female, but we all ignored her. Rantaro had many sisters, so he was actually quite good at painting nails. The girls were excited, and lined up to get their nails painted.

"Rantaro was indeed amazing at painting nails. He would stare at the girl he was painting their nails of, consider their talent, and choose a design based on that. He seemed to consider everything. This of course, made the girls want to do it more. I don't blame them. We were stuck in a killing game. Some of us were used to getting manicures every week, but here they couldn't even trim them. When Rantaro showed professional nail painting skills, they became excited.

"It soon became Himiko's turn. When he reached out to hold her hand, Tenko seemed to snap. She did an aikido(?) move on Rantaro before he could touch her. Rantaro wasn't that injured,  but he was still in pain. I personally attended to his wounds. Himiko on the other hand, was furious with Tenko. She seemed to be the most excited to have her nails painted, so she was quite upset when Tenko ruined that chance for her.

"So, for the remainder of then to now, Himiko has been avoiding Tenko. I believe that is all the noteworthy things that you have missed." Kirumi finished explaining to Shuichi.

Shuichi picked out the key points and wrote them on his notebook. He would have to go over this alone later on.

"Thank you Kirumi. This was very helpful." Shuichi bowed in thanks. Anyone could see how grateful he was.

"No no, it was my pleasure." Kirumi bowed too. It made Shuichi feel awkward.

"Yea, uh. I'll have to go now..." Shuichi muttered thanks again and awkwardly shuffled away.

Shuichi left the gym while reading his notes. He had a lot of information which would take some time reviewing. He needed to get all the alibis quickly, since he didn't know when the investigation would start.

His eyes landed on the warehouse door infront of him. He hadn't checked it yet. He got a hunch that he should.

He opened the door a crack, just enough to peek his head inside.

Apparently, Shuichi's hunches were right. Tenko and Angie were in there, poking around. Shuichi assumed they were investigating possible murder weapons.

He awkwardly got in. His movements seemed to alert the other two, since their heads immediately turned to face him. Well, Tenko full out junped to face him, positioned in a attacking stance.

"I, uh. Could I ask you some questions?" As much as he wanted to get out of there, he had a responsibility to fulfill. Shuichi decided he didn't enjoy responsibility as much anymore.

"Hmmm, let me ask Atua!" Angie closed her eyes and positioned herself in what Shuichi interpreted as a praying stance. "Atua says it's fine. Well, if Atua agrees, you can ask anything!"

Shuichi smiled gratefully, choosing to ignore the fact that Angie claims that she can communicate with a "god". He turned to look at Tenko. It would be difficult to talk to Tenko. She seemed to hate all men, including Shuichi. It would he a miracle if she acc-

"I guess I don't have a choice, do I?" Tenko sighed as she relaxed her muscles. "Don't you dare try any funny male business, alright?!"

Shuichi nodded quickly as he walked in closer. He was suprised that she accepted this willingly. Because of this, he also knew that he should probaly ask her before she changes her mind.

"Uh, Tenko? Could I please ask for your alibi?" Shuichi asked her.

"I don't have an alibi. If that's all you want to know, do go away." Tenko snapped, clear anger on her face.

Shuichi nodded and went away. He imagined that Tenko was upset that Himiko was made at her. She would be especially mad with the males since in her mind, it was a males fault that Himiko was mad at her.

He sighed and walked over to Angie. He hoped she wouldn't be as difficult.

"Nyah ha ha! Atua says you want to know my alibi!" Angie said the moment Shuchi walked to her. He was suprised that she had found out so quickly, but he figured out why.

Angie was an artist. This meant that she walked with serveal different materials, especially while sculpting. He imagined that she had a good ear in other to choose high quality stone. (I may or may not have made that up.) She must have well hearing.

"Ah, yes! Hope you don't mind...?" Shuichi snapped back to the real reason he was there. He wasn't there to create theories about Angie. He was there to ask for her alibi.

"Hmmm. I was not alone." Angie nodded while talking. Shuichi took it as a sign that she had agreed to answer his question. "I was with Atua! You can ask Him if you want. Oh, I forgot. I'm the only one who can hear Him!"

'Basically, she has no alibi.' Shuichi thanked her and left the warehouse. He didn't have a chance to update his notes, so he would do that now.

Kaede: ???
Shuichi: O
Korekiyo: O
Kokichi: O
Angie: X
Tenko: X
Tsumugi: X
Himiko: O
Kirumi: O
Ryoma: O
Maki: O
Kaito: O
Gonta: O
Kiibo: O
Miu: ???

He just needed to find Kaede and Miu. Although, he didn't necessarily have to do it. Kirumi, Himiko and Ryoma all claimed that both of them were in the dining hall with them.

He erased the question marks and replaced it with a O. He stared at the list for a while, going over who had an alibi and who didn't. Any average citizen would say that the ones without alibis were the most suspicious, but to Shuichi they weren't. Anybody could've committed the murder. Maybe they had an accomplice. He could never be sure. And as long as that possibility existed, nobody was suspicious in his eyes.

He walked over to his dorm, locking the door behind him. He would like to review what he knew. Skipping Kaede's and Miu's interrogations gave him more time before the trial. Plus, he needed to prepare himself mentally.

"The victim was Rantaro, talent unknown. The culprit was his possible lover. He was killed by a pill being forced onto him. He has a line of burnt flesh around his neck as an external injury. That was just a distraction though.

"While Kokichi and I were stuck in the kitchen, Tenko got into a fight with Rantaro. Everybody has alibis except Tsumugi, Tenko and Angie. There's always a chance that Ran-"

Shuichi was interrupted mid-sentence as the monitor turned on.

"Everyone! Please gather at the big red door in the courtyard. The Class Trial will now start."

A/N: Finally finished with the investigation. Now, here comes the Trial. Writing that will be such a pain... oh well.
I hope this story is to your enjoyment so far. We still have a longgg way to go.