The Fear of the Past //Saiouma (Pregame)

Chapter 21

Wait, he was getting sidetracked. Right now, he needed to focus on the murder of Angie Yonaga. Not the lie that Maki was hiding.

"How about you Kaito?" Kokichi had forgotten about Kaito's existence for a while.

"As Maki said, I was with Shuichi and Maki last night doing our training routine. Although we did carry it out longer than usual. I imagine Shuichi must've woken up sore... Oh, and as for this morning, I woke up to Maki knocking on my door around the time the morning announcement would play. I was with her until the dead body discoverment announcement rang. But I'm really happy that Maki invented me to investigate with her!"

Kaito smiled brightly at Maki, causing her to blush and tell him to shut up. Kokichi watched the exchange with an uninterested expression.

"O-kay then. Bye bye now." Kokichi quickly left the library after waving bye at them.

He really didn't have time to investigate each and every book stack like they did. It had been along time since the official investigation had started. It had taken him way too long to run all over the campus, looking for clues and for people. He wasn't even done with questioning the people, much less with checking out the rooms he wanted to check out. Time was running short, and he needed to hurry.

Kokichi figured he could give the courtyard a quick scan. He thought that maybe somebody would be there.

As Kokichi was opening the doors, he was met with Gonta and Ryoma going back in.

"Ah, hello Kokichi!" Gonta waved friendly, Ryoma waving beside him, but much less enthusiastically.

Kokichi waved back. "Hello bug for brains! Do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions?"

Ryoma stared at Kokichi before shaking his head. Gonta didn't seem to have heard the insult, if he did, he ignored it. He simply shook his head alongside Ryoma.

"Sweet! I'll ask Gonta first." Kokichi turned his attention to Gonta, spinning his whole body so that it was facing him. "Okay Gonta. What were you doing yesterday night and today morning?"

"Ah, Kokichi want know what Gonta do? Okay!" Gonta smiled widely. "Night yesterday, Gonta went to sleep at nighttime announcement. Gentlemen alway sleep at time told so. Gonta want to be gentlemen, so Gonta sleep at time told so. Today morning, Gonta went with Kokichi and Kirumi to eat breakfast. That make Gonta happy!"

Kokichi didn't expect more. He had never even thought of Gonta killing someone. It was too unlikely. He had only questioned him to not seem suspicious.

"Okay. Ryoma? Could you answer the questions as well?" Kokichi turned to Ryoma who just sighed. He seemed tired.

"Okay then. Last night I went to sleep at the time of the nighttime announcement. As for this morning, I ws sleeping until the morning announcement rang. I didn't go out of my dorm though. I just sat on my bed."

Kokichi looked at him for a second before asking. "Why didn't you get out of your dorm?"

Ryoma gave him a 'are you serious?' look. However, he did reply. "I didn't feel like it. With everything going on recently, I wouldn't mind going to prison for the peace there."

Kokichi muttered his thanks before disappearing back inside the school. There was one place in which he needed to check.

Kokichi arrived at Himiko's lab. He knocked before entering, making sure that nobody else was inside. When he heard nothing, he walked in and closed the door quickly behind him.

He looked around the tricks and cages that were all around the room. He let out a satisfied smile when he found what he had been looking for.

A measuring flask was missing. He didn't know what trick it was used for, but he did know that it was used for the murder. Was it Himiko?

No. He shouldn't get too ahead of himself. Just because a material used to help the murder was from Himiko's lab didn't mean that she was the one who did it. If he thought about it that way, then Kirumi would be suspicious too, since the murder tool was taken from her lab.

He didn't want to be suspicious of Kirumi. So if he weren't suspicious of Kirumi, why should he be suspicious of Himiko? He figured he should just put those thoughts aside.

After checking to see if he missed anything, Kokichi exited the lab. He just needed to question Kirumi. He imagined that he had some time, so he decided to head to the kitchen.

His throat was dry, and he was awfully thirsty. He probably had time to take a small break. He deserved to take a small break.

Kokichi headed to kitchen quickly, not wanting to waste any more time than neccessary.

Once he arrived, he opened the door and was suprised to see Kirumi in there.

Kokichi didn't say anything or even acknowledged her presence. He simply went inside the kitchen, opened the fridge, and took out a bottle of water. He went back to the dining hall and sat down on the table where the body wasn't on.

"Hello Kirumi." Kokichi said as he took a chug from his bottle.

Kirumi looked up from what she was doing to look at Kokichi. "Hello Kokichi. Can I help you?"

Kokichi covered the bottle and smiled at her. "Yeah actually. Could I ask you some questions?"

Kirumi walked on over to where he was. "Yes, you can ask me some questions. I'll do anything to be of service to you. It is my duty as a maid after all."

Kokichi felt annoyed at her talk about "being a maid is my only purpose", but decided against commenting. "Okie doki. First question. What were you doing last night?"

Kirumi didn't falter while responding. "I stayed up a little later cleaning the laundry."

Kokichi was suprised at this. 'This means she was in her lab during nighttime. The same place in which the murder weapon was taken from. Maybe she saw something or someone last night.'

"Oh really? Did you by any chance see anybody suspicious?" Kokichi asked as he unscrewed the cap and took another swing.

Kirumi looked at him for a second before responding. "No, I don't think I did. Why?"

Kokichi imagined that she didn't know about the missing chemicals. "No, just wondering. But if you did, you'd tell me, right?"

Kirumi hesitated before responding. "Of course I would."

Kokichi smiled happily as he finished the last of his water. He stared at the empty plastic before sighing quietly. He stood up and walked on over into the kitchen, where he threw the plastic bottle at.

He walked past the sink and peeked in. The dirty dish was now cleaned properly and was put with the others. Nothing seemed out of place anymore. He imagined that Kirumi had seen it and thought that she had forgotten to clean it properly. So, she did the thing that she always did. Clean it and place it with the others.

Kokichi imagined that she didn't know that it was possible evidence for the crime, and that by cleaning it, she had gotten rid of it. But he shouldn't put that against her. Not everyone was a detective.

Yet Kokichi couldn't shake off that nagging suspicion. That maybe Kirumi had known and that she had cleaned it on purpose. That she didn't see anyone enter her lab and take the chemicals because she was the one who did it.

But Kokichi didn't want to think like that. He wanted to believe in her.

Kokichi sighed tiredly as he walked out. It had been a long day. All he wanted was to eat breakfast with people he could trust, but instead one of his classmates got murdered and he needed to find out who murdered her. To make matters worse, he had suspected somebody who had been so nice to him.

He sat on the table and sulked. If it wasn't Kirumi, then who could it be?

Another thought occurred to him.

Is the person who used the phone, and the person who killed Angie different? Or are they the same person?

Kokichi jumped up startled when he heard the bells.

"Everyone. Please gather infront of the Shrine of Judgement! The investigation has now come to an end, and the class trial is soon to start~! Don't be late!"