Phantom Thieves of Hope - A Danganronpa X Persona 5 Story.

Chapter 12: Detective Done Dirty.

Nightmare in the Locker - Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony

"So...This showed up at your uncle's office yesterday?" Kyoko asked.

It was Saturday, one day before the day that Shuichi's second-year senpai and his friends were going to be visiting him and his uncle for dinner. However, before any of that, he had been forced to take care of the rather notable issue that had slid its way through the agency's letterbox.

Deciding to report the matter to the KDA, Shuichi now stood in the head office, with both Kyoko and Fuhito Kirigiri. Kyoko read the letter and examined the envelope using all resources she had on hand, an evident look of concern on her face.

"Whoever did this is more cunning than I thought..." she admitted, "the handwriting is indistinguishable, and they haven't left any fingerprints. They were likely wearing gloves when they directly dropped the letter off."

She handed the note to her grandfather, who read over it himself.

"What do I do?" Shuichi asked, "this couldn't be from someone that Uzawa knew, right?"

"Unlikely," Kyoko said, "Uzawa confessed himself, and any detectives here at the KDA that was pursuing his case weren't publicly listed or credited. Even if one of his associates came at the KDA for revenge, they wouldn't target you specifically."

"Shuichi?" Fuhito put the note down on the table, "does your uncle know about this?"

"Unfortunately, I felt hiding the truth from him wouldn't do a lot of good, so...yes, I-I showed it to him," Shuichi stuttered, "h-he's the one who suggested I take it to you in the first place."

"Hm...He may no longer be with us, but I do owe a lot to Shinichi-kun...The least I can do is help you out," he said, "if you want my personal opinion...I think you should stop coming to work for a while."

"What!?" Shuichi exclaimed, "you mean stop coming to the agency!? I-I can't! I JUST started! I have to study hard now or else I won't be able to keep up!"

"Though I do see your point, I must agree with him," Kyoko told her grandfather, "he's worked very hard for this. Getting to intern here was the opportunity of a lifetime for someone like Shuichi. Even with this, you can't just take it from him."

"I know...Please, don't misunderstand my intentions," Fuhito assured them, "you're part of the team now, intern or not, but that means your life is important to me."

He gently patted Shuichi's shoulders, then turned around and sat down at his desk.

"I'll report this letter to my own private investigation team. They're the best we've got," the old man said, "we'll make sure the person who's behind this gets caught, so you need to stop coming to the agency for a while. Take on a few cases at your own agency in the meantime if you really want to keep going at it, but please, just leave this to me."

Shuichi clenched his fist and lowered his head, the brim of his hat covering his despair-ridden eyes. In the end, he simply nodded.

"Yes sir...Thank you sir..." and with that, he turned around and left with his head lowered.

Kyoko wanted to say something to him, but couldn't find words of comfort in her. She simply turned back to her grandfather, who held his head in his hands.

Beautiful Lie - Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony

"I'm sorry...run it by me again?"

The 3 of them dressed in smart clothes, Makoto, Komaru and Toko walked down the busy evening streets of Tokyo the next day, following the address that Shuichi gave them through Makoto's very normal navigation app. She hadn't been invited, but Makoto had decided to smuggle Monomi in a small fanny pack, not wanting her to miss out on the fun.