Entertaining a Small Thought

Arc 6 Part 2: Through Fire and Flame

"Alright. Time to get started." Shuichi mumbled to himself once he had split up from the others. He took a quick, deep breath as he readied himself for his extended investigation of the case and the academy as a whole. "We need to end this killing game before noon–"

BOOM!!!

"Aaugh!"

Shuichi screamed as yet another explosion rang out throughout the building, and the ceiling began to tremble. And then, like clockwork, a huge chunk of the ceiling finally collapsed. Giant chunks of the building fell over, and thankfully, nothing managed to crush Shuichi. However, something unexpected happened as a result of this.

"Wh-What? A...hole...?" Shuichi muttered as he stared at the new opening made from the destruction of the academy. Why was there a staircase in the middle of the entrance hall? "Was this...supposed to be unlocked by a 'reward' after completing a trial?"

After a moment of thought, Shuichi hardened his expression as he stared at the mysterious underground beneath the school.

"There must be clues here... I have to investigate!" He said as he rushed down into the tunnel.

What greeted him was a rocky interior held up by metal grates and wires. The stability of the tunnel wasn't certain, either, considering multiple rocks and boulders had fallen from the tunnel and were now blocking the path. Shuichi did his best to push the rocks out of his way enough to keep moving forward, and eventually, he found a strange metal door with a large bird image above it and a large symbol that had partially broken off the door due to the rumbling from the surface.

"It's broken, but from this door...This must be an Ultimate lab," Shuichi noted as he narrowed his eyes at the door before he tested the door. "Even with the damage, it can still easily move and open. That means this could only be Kokichi's lab. If Rin has a Research Lab, it would be locked because of the rules. So this is the Ultimate Supreme Leader's lab."

The prospect of the room in front of him caused Shuichi to pause for a brief moment. He had to go in. This could potentially explain some of his questions about Kokichi as well as uncover more clues. But he might not find what he's expecting. In fact, Shuichi already had a feeling about what he was going to see.

Even so...Shuichi swallowed his feelings. He would temporarily remove his biases and assumptions just this once regarding Kokichi. He had to be impartial in order to find the truth, and if the truth wasn't what he had believed up to this point, he would have to accept that.

"Alright. Let's see just who you are, Kokichi." Shuichi muttered as he managed to get into the room through the damaged door. What greeted him was a glow of blue metal reflecting the bright light shining down from the high ceiling, and Shuichi had to take a moment to stare at the room before he could respond. "...What is this? Some secret lair for a comic book supervillain?"

Shuichi almost pinched himself to make sure he wasn't seeing things. It was so over the top in the 'Supreme Leader of Evil' theme that it was almost comical. And was that a CAR he saw over there!?

Despite all that, Shuichi couldn't see anything that immediately pointed to the Remnants of Despair. The only thing that aligned with his memories was the word 'DICE' on the wall across from him, the name of Kokichi's group and the Remnants of Despair. But...was that true?

"Woah! This place is AWESOME!!! How come it only opened up now of all times?"

"Ah!" Shuichi shouted as he spun around to see Kokichi skipping into the room with a cheeky smile.

"Hiya, Shumai! I heard a big crash, so I came back to check on you. Who would have thought there was a secret passage in the main entryway to the academy? And for it to lead to my lab? How interesting..." Kokichi smirked before placing a finger playfully and mischievously against his cheeks. "Well, I know I was the one who suggested we split up, but since this is my research lab, you wouldn't mind if I investigated it with you, right?"