『 ♧ Escape Artist ♧ 』『 RANMARU KAGEYAMA × DANGANRONPA V3 』

CHAPTER 4-4: Fallen Monarchy

*DING DONG BING BONG*

*DING BONG BING BONG*

The sound of the morning announcement rang loudly in my ears as I lay in my bed. I could feel my hair stuck to my face, all clumped and matted. Rubbing my brow, I could feel... sweat? What happened last night? God.. I feel like a pile of shit.

I didn't wanna get out of bed, but I had an everlasting amount of questions on my mind. And the only person who I knew could answer them was Angie. Although she hasn't answered any over the past few days, these ones should be worth it. Actually... wouldn't she have wrapped on my door by now trying to convince me about some elaborate scheme.

After finally recollecting myself, I sat down on the chair to begin the long process of fixing my hair, removing the mattes, the.... saliva? Ew, and clumps. Once done, I grabbed a cloth and began scrubbing my h-

*DING DONG BING BONG*

"..huh? Didn't the morning announcement already go off?"

"A body has been discovered! Please meet in the Ultimate Artist's Lab!"

The... artist lab? But I was just in there last night..

Angie.

___________________________________________

It was her...

It was her.. it really was her...

It was her.. It was her.. it was her.. she's.. 

She's dead...

That was why she hadn't come to bother me. She was dead, a puddle of blood laying on the floor beneath her, as she lay hunched and emotionless, far-off from my late... best friend.

Right now, I, along with all the others were stood in the Ultimate Artist's Lab, looking down at Angie's body. Everyone had indifferent faces, except for the student council members, who were sobbing or holding back tears. I couldn't cry right now, even if I tried my hardest. My face stayed dry and pale, my eyes becoming blurry at her body.

Shuichi and Tenko were standing next to me, both looking down in shock at the body. Tenko looked less surprised, however, seemingly content with this outcome. Did she want her dead beforehand? Shuichi, on the other hand, was speechless at the sight. I shared a look with him. We were equally pale, but he seemed calmer compared to me.

"Let us pray to Atua so that Atua may guide her soul to the gates of heaven." Keebo broke the silence, bowing his head down. The other members followed along, muttering their grief out loud. However, Kaito quickly stood up and stopped them mid grieving.

"We don't have time to be talking about this! Instead of talking about Atua--"

"Yeah! We gotta talk about which one of us is the culprit and win this killing game!" Kokichi interrupted, smirking as he looked around at the others who did the same.

"W-wait, this... is a part of the killing game?" Miu asked.

"What else could it be? There's only one thing this could mean..." Maki stated. "One of us killed her."

Before the rest of the Student Council could reply, the 3 monokubs entered together, albeit very grossly as Monophanie vomited.

Monodam seemed to ignore the other 2 kubs, taking charge and demanding that we all begin to investigate for the upcoming trial. Soon, the three left the lab, and we all were left to begin by ourselves.

As the others began to pair up, I stood alone. Right now, the council seemed to all be grouping, and Tsumugi seemed to be my best bet right now, but I couldn't take my eyes off a certain duo already discussing. Without thinking, my legs began moving on their own, and I started to separate from the group, but not before a hand grabbed my shoulder.