Motive Gone Wrong (Danganronpa V3)

Chapter 3: Close call

Shuichi and co run into some trouble...
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"Kokochi sure hordes a lot of useless junk." Maki had suddenly appeared in the doorway, examining a rubber horse head which Shuichi had somehow not noticed.

He quickly shoved the CubsPad underneath Kokichi's pillow, even though he was sure Maki had already seen it. He didn't really know why he did it.

"Kaito and I have collected some blankets from the other rooms to bring back to the cafeteria. Do you think anything here is going to be of use?" Maki asked with a raised eyebrow. Yep, she had definitely seen it.

Shuichi hesitantly grabbed the Panta, conveniently coming in a pack of four, as well as the 'tear-to-share' pack of sweets which rested on one of the boxes. Maki's eyebrow raised even higher.

"Do you really consider that as useful?" Maki said in a slightly mocking tone. Nevertheless, Shuichi shoved the items in a bag while holding his fryingpan under his arm.

"Everyone's in a pretty bad mood at the moment. I just thought that it could cheer some people up..." the detective drifted off but Maki seemed pretty happy with the answer, as she dropped the horse head and headed to exit.

"Let's get out of here, this place stinks of him..." She grumbled as she walked out, followed by Shuichi. He hadn't really noticed the smell until she had pointed it out, and to be honest, it didn't smell bad at all. He shook the thought away as he left and closed the door behind him.

"Hey, Sidekick!!" Kaito yelled good-naturedly, "Good to see you're doing ok!" Shuichi sweatdropped. "So, you get anything good? Knowing that guy, I bet he had some pretty weird stuff in there..."

Shuichi opened the bag to reveal the sugary items inside. As soon as he did, a wide grin spread over Kaito's face.

"Smart move there man, I think you might have hit jackpot!" Kaito smiled, harshly patting Shuichi on the back as Maki let out a loud, overdramatic sigh. "I don't know about you but something about raiding that gnome's secret stash of sweets makes me feel like we've really accomplished something here." At this point, Shuichi didn't know if this was sarcasm or not, even though that would be pretty out of character for someone like Kaito.

"I don't know where he gets all of it," Maki grumbles. "I bet Monokuma has been giving him special treatment. They seem pretty buddy-buddy to me..."

Somehow, Shuichi doubted that. "What are bringing with you?" He then asked, looking at the large sack Kaito was holding.

"Oh, this?" Kaito pointed out. "It's just I few blankets. There's also a first aid kit from Kirumi's room as well as a toolbox from Miu's. I have a feeling that Miu's gonna be a big help to us during this, so we better make sure she has all she needs."

Shuichi replied with a nod as they retreated to their next destination, the gym. It was getting colder, he noted as they briskly walked down the stone path. All the stars were out, but they had no time to admire them. He wondered if the other group had already found Kokichi or Gonta, and if they were now just walking around in circles. What were they going to do if they did think them? No doubt it would be one of the biggest challenges they've faced at Hopes Peak academy so far. Even though the cafeteria was pretty large, he didn't know if everyone would be able to put up with each other for too long. He's already noted the big personalities in the group and how Kaito and Kokichi were the ones to usually cause a stir. The main thing is preventing these 'petty arguments' from turning into fights and potentially murder. He's seen Kaito become violent before, even if he had good intentions.