Heir & Heiress

Deal with Death

The rubbing alcohol sloshed in my trembling hand. Dumping it over a cloth, I hissed as I pressed the fabric against my arm. "So, should we try to remove it?" Hina asked.

"That might make it worse," Makoto carefully removed my soiled cardigan, wincing at Byakuya's blood-soaked shirt. "What do you think?" He stared at me.

"I...I'm not sure. I mean, the sheers are similar to a scalpel in sharpness, so it should be safe to remove them". I wasn't sure what to do; I wasn't going to risk injuring Byakuya any more than he already was. "I suppose we have no choice, though. We can't leave them when we have no access to a medical team who could remove them properly". I tossed the cloth into the waste bin, letting Hina conceal the wound under gauze and bandage. "Who should be the one to do it?"

"What kind of question is that?" Byakuya rolled his eyes through his grimace.

I started shaking my head, "I'm not doing it. I'm not going to risk hurting you any further".

He blinked, then sighed. "Then I'll remove them myself if I have to. I refuse to let anyone else handle something like this". Byakuya stubbornly held the sheer handles in his hand and began to jostle them, provoking a thin stream of fresh blood to trickle down.

"Stop! You're going to cause irreparable damage that way," I took a hold of the sheers. "You don't stir, only pull". Every fiber of my being hated this situation, but he wouldn't heal without help. "Lean back a bit. Be ready with gauze," I said, glancing over my shoulder at Hina. Ever so slightly, I started pulling the sheers back, focusing on keeping my arm straight. Hearing Byakuya hiss and groan in pain was worse than hearing his anger and disappointment. I held out my hand to Hina, feeling the aerated fabric touch my skin. With a final pull, the sheers were discarded, leaving me to pull his soiled garments away. Thankfully, the wound didn't look nearly as bad as all the blood made it seem; I sighed in relief.

"What is it?" Makoto asked.

"Oh, nothing. The blood made it look worse than it actually is," I grinned. "I just have to wash the blood away and it should heal, hopefully, without challenge". I didn't notice the odd glance exchange between the three until I turned back with a warm towel in my hands. "What?"

"Where did you learn this extent of medical knowledge?" Byakuya asked.

I thought about it, watching my hands autopilot in wiping the near-dried blood away. "I'm not sure, actually. I know basic first aid, but all of this is...just muscle memory, I guess". The room fell silent, letting me finish cleaning Byakuya's wound in reflective peace. "So, any luck with finding the laptop?" I half-heartedly asked, wringing the cloth out in the sink.

"No. Even Kyoko didn't find anything," Hina huffed, crossing her arms. I slowly nodded and went to the cabinet to retrieve pain killers. "Are you...not surprised?"

"No. I wasn't aware that you had moved it before," I glanced at Makoto. "Besides, it was a long shot that we'd uncover any useful information".

"Why do you say that?" Makoto asked. I stared at him, recalling the headlines of newspapers and names of staff and students alike. Even in the sea of information, I only found more questions. What chance would we have at answering the multitude of questions when we were still trapped?

"Chances are the Mastermind saw this potential set-back and would, say, blackout all of the useful information. You know, like they do with confidential files," I shrugged, handing a halved pill and a cup of water to Byakuya.

"That's oddly specific of you to say," Byakuya said before swiftly swallowing the pill. Hina and Makoto continued to stare, increasing the amount of pressure on me. I couldn't help but shift from side to side, unable to find comfort in a single position.

"I mean, they do that all the time in movies, right?" I asked, more so to Hina.

"Yeah! And those crime shows, too!" her cheerful agreement set Makoto's suspicion off enough to bury the hatchet temporarily. "Oh, hey, should we go check in on Toko?"

Makoto glanced at Hina, then back to Byakuya and me. "Uh, y-yeah. Are you okay with that?"

"Of course," I grinned. "I'll stay behind and help Byakuya back to his room. Don't worry about us". I waved the two off, watching the door gently shut behind them. We sat in tense silence for a moment, uncertain of where to take the conversation. "Makoto's picked up observation skills from Kirigiri, I see".

"Yes, I assume they'll figure out it was you who retrieved Alter Ego," Byakuya adjusted the bandaging wrapped around his shoulder and torso. "Speaking of which, where did you move it to?"

"The data center". His eyes snapped back to meet mine.

"You...how did you get in?"

"Monokuma woke me up at five this morning to move it. They knew the whole time about the computer," I shook my head. It had been so disappointing to know that, no matter how hard we tried, we never got a jump on the Mastermind. "I don't have all the answers yet, but I can confirm that what I dreamt is real".

"They let you read the files?" Byakuya's eyes were wide in confused fascination. I nodded, ready to spill what information I had managed to gather until Monokuma crashed through the door.

"Yup! She wanted information, so I gave it to her. However~" the bear waddled closer, standing between us, "how are you going to pay me back for it?"

"What? I practically paid you when I handed over Alter Ego!"

"You stole the computer for the Mastermind?!" Byakuya pressed a hand against his throbbing wound, trying to focus on his anger rather than the pain. "What will it take for you to reconsider what you're doing?"

"She can't! Nu-uh, no way, nada! Unless you want to watch your girlfriend be turned into swiss cheese," Monokuma laughed.

"What if...we all search for information?" Both Byakuya and Monokuma stared at me, dumbfounded. "There's one floor left. Give us twenty-four hours and entire access to the school, then we'll settle this in a class trial". I waited, watching Monokuma pace around the infirmary.

"Let's spice it up~. Twenty-four hours, all-access, buuuuuut you can't say anything during investigation or trial and," the bear paused, turning back to us with extended claws, "if you fail, you'll both be executed".

Just when I started to refuse, Byakuya covered my mouth, "We accept".