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

CHAPTER 3-5: Twos a crowd

3RD PERSON POV:

It was nearly the end of the investigation period, and both Shuichi and Ranmaru walked at a quick pace through the 4th floor halls. As they both approached the door to the seance, Shuichi placed his hand in front of Ranmaru, signalling him to stop as he turned to face him.

"Hey, just to be safe, do you mind waiting outside while I investigate this ritual?" He asked.

Ranmaru looked slightly surprised at his request but pushed his thoughts down and gave him a reassuring nod. "Y-yeah! You got it." He replied quickly. .

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'Man, I am totally blowing it. He probably ditched me out here 'cus I was making him uncomfortable... shit man, I'm horrible at being friends with him,' he cried internally, going over and degrading the last hour he's spent with Shuichi. He was grateful to go with him in the first place. However, he would be lying if he wasn't completely nervous around him.

Before his self-hatred could get to him further, the door to the seance room burst open, and Keebo came storming out quickly. Before he could even react, he had crashed into Ranmaru, essentially toppling over him as he trudged out.

"A-ah!? I'm so sorry, Ranmaru!? Are you OK!?" He frantically asked.

"Ngh.. please... ca- can't..  breatheeee...." Ranmaru sputtered as Keebo still lay crumbled atop him. He quickly tumbled off of him, and Ranmaru let out a heavy sigh of relief as they both recollected themselves.

"So.. how are you doing? Aren't you meant to be in there???" Ranmaru asked curiously. Once back up fully, Keebo crossed his arms and let out a frustrated sigh.

"They all unanimously voted to kick me out of the seance since Shuichi volunteered to help as well. Can you believe that!? The utter robophobia of it all!!" He exclaimed. He continued to further ramble on, but Ranmaru tuned him out, only pretending to listen. It wasn't until a thought clicked in his head that he refocused on what Keebo was saying.

" –Uh.. hey, Keebo! Ya wanna investigate the rest of the floor with me??" He quickly asked to stop Keebo's rant.

"But wouldn't that be unnecessary? What good would that do us??"

Ranmaru let out a tired sigh and scratched his neck, looking down slightly. "Jeez, I just wanna try retrace my steps, ok? I was with Angie last night for the ritual, but I barely remember what happened before... y'know..."

Keebo stared at him for a second before nodding with approval. The two boys then began their search, starting with the room on their right. Looking into it, they didn't find anything of actual use. It had the same layout of the other two rooms, only it was dusty and empty. After that, they walked to the other side of the hallway to enter the last room, not counting the room holding the seance.

Upon opening the door, both boys let out surprised gasps as they saw the room was oddly not empty. The biggest thing that caught their eye?

Blood.

"Is that..." keebo murmered. Ranmaru mustered up the courage to approach it, kneeling down. The blood splatter on the floor was light yet large, seemingly in swift strikes. Ranmaru cautiously placed a finger on the bloodied floor, and when he raised his hands, they were still clean.

"...bloods dry. This is old." Ranmaru concluded. He knelt back up to face Keebo, but he noticed he too was deep in thought.

"Hey, correct me if I am wrong, but does it not look like...." He started. He slowly walked over and knelt down, tracing a finger around it and giving quick glances to Ranmaru and back to the blood patches.