Reticent | Nakahara Chūya; AU [✔]

f i v e |

Fear and hesitation filled the atmosphere. Now why would there be a killer inside of Dazai's house? He does not remember inviting a murderer to the reunion, and no one in that house was a wanted icon. Dazai had asked all maids to take a leave for that day, so it was just the thirteen of them right now.

Dazai gave out an awkward smile and was about to speak, but Kunikida had beat him to it. "This is most likely one of Chuuya's jokes again, is it?"

"Yes, definitely." Oda and Sakagami agreed. Nakahara was known for being the prankster of the batch, making corny jokes and (offensive) pranks towards his classmates and their professors during college. The two of them were those victims that earned the orange-haired prankster butt-hurt comments from Sakagami's frank attitude.

But Nakahara's expression hasn't changed yet, shaking his head no to indicate the others to disregard it as a joke. "It's not a joke, I swear! Come with me!"

He took the lead, making everyone follow just to confirm if he is speaking the truth or not. Small drops of blood still continued to drip off of Nakahara's hand, making a trail from the conference room until to the scene of the crime -- the gents' room.

Upon seeing the sight of the dead detective in the restroom, everyone was convinced that Nakahara was not joking at all. Either way, death was not something to joke about. Although here they are right now, seeing Edogawa's lifeless body, blood all over the floor, his head resting in the toilet bowl.

"Damn," Tanizaki Junichirou blurted out in shock. "Who would do such a thing?"

"I'd give credit to the murderer, though," Dazai joked, making it seem like the murder in front of them right now is like nothing. "He took the smartest one out of us all so that we wouldn't be able to solve this mystery."

Hearing that statement from Dazai made most of them lose hope, fearing that there might be a serial killer on the loose waiting for them to be the next victim.

Sakagami rolled her eyes. "If Ranpo was alive right now, he'd probably be blabbering on how we can't solve things without him. We can't rely on him all the time."

"We don't need him," Akutagawa added, agreeing to what the artist said. "We can find the culprit on our own, with or without his overpowered wits."

"Can't Yosano see if Ranpo still has the chance to live?" Nakajima suggested, making everyone look at the doctor in hopes that Edogawa may still be alive or brought back to his consciousness.

Yosano pulled her sleeves up to her elbows and walked fiercely to the dead Edogawa. She let out a small 'tch' for she didn't want to be bossed around by men. Grabbing Edogawa by the back of his collar, his head was drenched in toilet water, revealing a huge stab mark on the right side of his head, a slit on his throat, and another stab on his chest.

The doctor sighed. "He's dead. All of his vitals were targeted, and I'd assume that the killer used a knife."

Montgomery covered her mouth in fear and shock, tears starting to form in the rim of her green eyes. She took a step back from the scene, imagining all sorts of things inside her head.

"W-Who..." Montgomery trailed off, hiccuping from her own cries. "Who would do such a cruel thing?!"

Nobody said a word. Truth is, they really have no idea how to catch the murderer now that their best bet has been killed off first. It would really be difficult for them to trace him or her, considering that the perpetrator left no signs or evidences of his or her presence.

Oda broke the silence between all of them. "Where was Ranpo before all this?"

"With us," Kunikida replied in the same serious manner. "We were at the third floor in the entertainment room, until he excused himself that he saw a restroom on this floor, and went to his necessities."