DANGANRONPA V2: ECLIPSE

Chapter 2: Part 5

"I'm not saying I think you did it! But... well... you were the last one who was with Seiko last night. And... you were the first to find her. Then, when you came to show us the body, you got us as a group. I mean, it may have been because we're the first people you stumbled across, but body discovery announcements don't trigger unless three innocent students come across the body. And... well... if you grabbed only two other students and the announcement didn't trigger, that wouldn't look good. So... I don't know, I just-"

"No, no, it's okay," Sora sniffled, wiping his tears. "I understand. I'm suspicious. On top of that, I'm one of the people without an alibi. So... this makes sense. I didn't do it... but I don't think I have any proof-"

"Was the note written in pencil?" Rantaro interrupted.

"Hmm?" Maikeru hummed.

"The note. Can I see it?"

Maikeru paused for a moment, then shrugged and passed the note down to Rantaro. The ultimate adventurer looked it over, squinting at the small letters.

"It's written in pencil. Slightly smeared. Sora, are you right-handed or left-handed?"

"Right-handed," Sora answered immediately. "Why?"

"Lefties tend to make the graphite smear when they write. Looking at this note, whoever wrote this was probably a lefty. It's not certain... but..."

"You think he's innocent," I finished.

"I do," Rantaro agreed. "I don't like jumping to conclusions... but I really do."

I believed him.

I had no reason to. Heck, I hardly even knew Rantaro, but I believed him.

"So, we're back to suicide, then?" Keiko asked.

"Looks like it," Yuuki breathed. "The phone call must have pushed her over the edge. I'm gonna be honest, when I got the notification this morning that it was my turn, it did fill me with a sense of dread. Even though I knew I wasn't going to take it."

Everyone else more or less agreed, when Monokuma suddenly stood up.

"Wait, wait, WAIT! I'm just now realizing something!" Monokuma gasped. "Not everyone got their chance to experience my super awesome motive! One unfortunate student got left out! Oh, this is terrible!"

"Oh, that IS terrible! Whatever shall we do!" Kichiro gasped sarcastically. "How could you do this, Monokuma?! You've gone too far this time!"

Ahmya visibly rolled her eyes as Monokuma eagerly nodded, then turned his gaze to Ruji.

"Well, you know who you are," the bear giggled. "So... do you want your phone call, Ruji Sasaki? Your time is now..."

The bear made a small, old-fashioned phone appear before the ghostbuster.

Ruji went pale. I could see the sweat start to drip from his forehead.

He wanted that phone call. I could tell.

But he didn't want to disappoint us.

We all had our eyes on him as we waited for him to make a decision. He looked at me as if silently asking for an answer, but I didn't help him. I couldn't move. I couldn't guide him.

"It's okay, Ruji," Maikeru finally said. "Take it."

Ruji's breath hitched as he winced and turned to face the security guard. For a moment, he wasn't Ruji. He was his brother's younger brother. In that same moment, Maikeru wasn't Maikeru. He was someone else's older brother. Someone who understood.