Beneath the Mask [Oumasai]

Chapter Five

Shuichi's POV

When I returned to the real world, all I could see was black. The helmet was still on my head, covering my eyes. I slowly reached up to take it off. I was prepared for what I was about to see, but the sight still shocked me. Across from my seat sat Miu's cold, lifeless body.

My knees felt weak as I stood up. For a few moments, I just stared at the body silently. Another death. Which meant we had to go through the same horrible proccess again. The investigation, the trial, and the execution. I was sick of it. But I knew that I had to be strong, or else we'll all end up dead. As the Ultimate Detective, it was my job to make sure the truth is uncovered.

I started to walk over to the body, but before I could begin with the investigation, the door burst open. We all turned our heads to the source of the sound, and saw Kaito rushing in.

"Hey, what was that body discovery ann-" That was the moment he saw it. His eyes went round as he stared at the body. "M-Miu...? What the hell happened here?!" His gaze swept across the room, demanding an answer.

"She was killed, obviously," Kokichi answered, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, where were you, huh?" he inquired.

The astronaut rubbed the back of his neck. "I...was just taking a nap."

Maki raised her eyebrows. "What? You were sleeping?"

"Yeah... I suddenly got logged out, and I didn't know if it was okay to go back. So I went to get some sleep instead."

Some of the others looked at him suspiciously. While his testimony did sound a little questionable, I believed him. To me, he didn't appear to be lying, but maybe that was only because he was my best friend and I wanted to believe him.

After Monokuma handed over the Monokuma File, I inspected the corpse. Miu's hands were clasped at her throat, as if she was struggling to get rid of something that was choking her. Her face had a red shade and her eyes were opened wide in shock. All this confirmed further that she had died of strangulation.

There wasn't much to observe at this scene. The only remarkable thing besides the body was a bottle of poison on Kokichi's seat. Which was kind of out of place, since poisinong wasn't the murder method.

We decided to go back to the virtual world to look for more clues. There, we found various items that could be related to the case. Along with Miu's unmoving avatar. Keebo also told me that he overheard the victim and Kokichi talking about some meeting. It was supposed to take place on the rooftop, but that was all Keebo could make out of the conversation.

I was kind of curious about the reason those two would've wanted to meet in secret. Besides, it was possible that it was related to the murder. Though I really hoped that Kokichi had nothing to do with this case.

When I left the virtual world, I decided to ask the supreme leader about the supposed meeting. It was easy to find him, because he was standing nearby.

As I got up from my seat, he turned around and greeted me with a big smile. "Thank god you're back! Man, it really gets lonely without you around."

"But I wasn't gone for that long...Anyway, I wanted to ask you something."

"Oh? It's not about the thing I drew on your belly, right?" His purple eyes gleamed with mischief.

"What-" I was about to lift my shirt to check what he was talking about, but he held out his hand as a sign to stop me.

"Nee-heehee," he giggled, "just kidding. What did you wanna ask?"

"Did you meet with Miu on the rooftop?"

His expression shifted for a second. "Oh, so you know about that too. That's pretty impressive, Shuichi!" He gave me a small clap of applause. "But, we didn't meet, cuz the door was locked."

"You were at the salon the whole time then? Can someone verify that?"

He tilted his head to the side. "Hm? You don't believe me?"

"Ah, it's not that. You just need to have another person's verification to have a valid aliby," I explained.

Before either of us could say anything else, we were interrupted by Monotaro. He had promised earlier to analyze the computer for us. The results showed the times we logged in and out, as well as the changes that were made in the virtual world. The white and red Monokub explained everything in detail, providing us a lot of important information. When he finished talking, it was already the end of the investigation time.

We gathered at the fountain with the Monokuma statue, just like before. My heart was beating so loudly that I was almost sure everyone else could hear it. The thought of having to go through all this again made me sick to my stomach.

I felt a hand on my shoulder all of a sudden. When I turned my head, my eyes met Kaito's.

"You got this, man. Like I said before, you don't have to carry the burden alone," he said reassuringly.

I gave him a grateful smile. "Thank you, Kaito."

The loud rumble of the statue split the air. It submerged slowly, the water around it surging to it's place. The narrow bridge slid out from the other side to give way to the elevator. It's entrance opened, and we all went in. The doors closed behind us, and we began to descend.

It was dead silent. The only sound I could hear was my heartbeat. It would've been hard enough if it was only my life on the line, but no. If we messed up, everyone would die a painful death. And there was also the fact that the culprit was one of us. No matter what we did, at least one of us would still die...But that's a sacrifice we had to make in order to survive.

I shook my head in attempt to get rid of my thoughts. I glanced over at Kokichi to see how he was doing. I was kind of surprised that his state was no better. He usually remained cheerful even in situations like this. Or maybe that's just an act. His face was pale and he was staring ahead of himself. His arms were crossed over his chest, his fingers digging into them.

The elevator reached it's destination. The trial grounds. My heart got faster again as the door opened. I closed my eyes for a second, summoning all my courage. I have to do this. For everyone's sake..!