Danganronpa Kirigiri

Chapter 3: Murder at the Sirius Observatory 2, Part 5

"We're gonna be in trouble if we don't make it to Sirius Observatory before it gets dark," Inuzuka said, spreading his hands as if he were catching the snow in his arms.

Enbi was the first to start walking. For a single moment his posture became hunched over like his leg was stuck in the snow, but he recovered quickly. "It's pretty deep. Be careful," he advised over his shoulder.

Judging by his physique and personality, among other things, I felt like he was the most dependable of our group. His classification number was 245: Political Crime - Terrorism, Rank 5. That meant he was a detective who fought back against terrorists. Maybe his reticent, gloomy disposition came from his background. And maybe he walked like he was dragging his legs along because old wounds from the battlefield forced him to walk that way.

"Anyway... There's only one road, so we should probably just keep heading down this way," I said, and Inuzuka and Amino each gave me a look of understanding before following after Enbi. "Let's go, Kirigiri-chan." I gave her a little push on the back to usher her away from where she'd been standing after being deserted in the snow.

Kirigiri turned, her youthful brow wrinkled. "Perhaps we should head back."

"Huh? After coming all this way? Are you going to walk back?"

"I can hear footsteps."

"Footsteps?" It was quiet where we were standing, perhaps because of the snow. But I still couldn't hear any footsteps. I tilted my head, staring back at her.

Her face only looked only more vexed at that, as if she understood that she wasn't getting her meaning across. She looked over in the direction the men had already gone. "I suppose I shouldn't just abandon ship..." she muttered, beginning to walk.

"Ah, wait a minute!" I hurriedly followed after her. She looked like she would disappear into the snow if I took my eyes off her for even a moment. It didn't take me long to pass her, looking back at her over my shoulder. "You keep saying things I don't understand."

"Aren't you bothered by it?" asked Kirigiri, facing forward.

"By what?"

"The strange request."

"I mean... The whole thing bothers me, but..."

"Does the person known as Yoshizono Ooe even exist, I wonder?"

"Huh?" I tilted my head.

"Yoshizono Ooe... If you read the characters for Yoshizono a different way, you could pronounce them as Yuuen... U. N. Ooe."

"You don't mean... U. N. Owen, do you? No, come on, you're just imagining things, right?" That's a name from the famous mystery novel, And Then There Were None. It's a story where ten people are killed one after the other on an isolated island, after all of them receive written invitations by a U. N. Owen. It was a play on the word unknown. "Even if hypothetically the proxy was U. N. Owen, what would they be trying to accomplish with that? You aren't trying to say that they're going to reenact And Then There Were None, are you? If they sign their name as a hint like that on purpose, then what are they going to do if someone ends up finding them out before anything happens?"

"It doesn't seem as if anyone's figured it out yet." Kirigiri pointed at the men walking ahead of us.

"No, but, still... You're just thinking too much, right?"

"That would be nice," Kirigiri said, shrugging. Did she sense some kind of danger from whatever the truth was behind that bizarre letter?

"For now, let's just stick with those guys. If we get left behind in the snowy mountains like this, we'll freeze to death before we can even accept the request," I said, to which Kirigiri nodded, following after me. With how short her stride was, she had to work hard just to keep up. I walked more slowly to match her pace. "Incidentally," I piped up, "why did you decide to become a detective? When you're a detective in middle school, that alone means you have to have some reason behind it, right?"

"...I didn't decide to become anything."

"Huh?"

"I was a born detective."

"Heheh, what, are you trying to be like, hard-boiled with that?" I asked jokingly. Though in her case, I'd say she was more cute-boiled than hard-boiled.

But she wore a grave expression without even a hint of laughter. It seemed she was serious about this.

"Is your family maybe in the detective business, then?"

"Yes," Kirigiri answered succinctly, as she brushed off the snow piling on top of her head.

"Ohhh, so you're going to inherit the family business."

"That's right." This time, her voice sounded like it was hiding some pride.

"You weren't put off by it?"

By what? her face seemed to say as it looked up at me.

"Family business or not, detective work is something else. There are plenty of other life choices out there in the world, right? You could have been an idol, or a nurse, or a baker... People have been telling me for ages that girls aren't meant to be detectives."

"I've never thought of it in terms of like or dislike," answered Kirigiri, expressionless. "To me, being a detective and being alive are the same thing."

"That sounds like, super heavy... Are you saying that's what you've been taught?"

"Yes," Kirigiri affirmed readily. She looked like she had never once doubted it as fact. I got the feeling that I looked all the more fragile in her eyes for their clarity. I was sure I could never imagine the kind of pedigree she was coming from.

Kirigiri kept glancing over at me intermittently, like she wanted to say something else. "Yeees?" I prompted, and she quickly averted her eyes before opening her mouth to speak.

"...What about you?"

"Hm? You mean, why did I become a detective? Well, obviously... I wanted to be an ally of justice... I guess. Rescuing those in need! Yeah, that's gotta be what a detective is meant for."

She didn't show any particular reaction to my passionate tone of voice. Actually, she was looking at me like I was some kind of strange, unfamiliar creature.

"What's with that face? I'm being serious here."

"Hmmm... I see."

"You're the one who asked, so why are you trying to act like now you don't care? Now that I think of it, even if it's just temporary, you're going to the same school as me as an underclassman, so why don't you try showing me some respect? I'm not saying you should get all formal on me, but you could at least do a little more..."

"Such as?"

"Right..." I had a sudden idea. "If we're three years apart, then I'm more of a big sister than just an upperclassman. So... you should address me as Onee-chan. How about that?"

"Onee-sama?"

"N-No, you don't have to get that fancy. Chan, not sama. Onee-sama would be kinda embarrassing."

"Yui-oneesama."

"S-Stop, you're embarrassing me! Let's do something different after all."

"It doesn't matter what I call you," Kirigiri said with a sigh. "We should hurry and keep going instead. We're going to be left behind, Yui-oneesama."

"You're doing that on purpose!" I covered my face automatically, writhing. This had barely even started, and I could already see it becoming my dark past further down the line. Everyone was going to misunderstand.

Kirigiri started walking ahead by herself. I let out a cry of protest and hurried after her.