I remembered the horror I saw when I walked into the library that day. Rantaro's dead body, and Kaede's execution. I could barely bear thinking about it.

I had taken the floor plans from Miu since she claimed that she no longer needed it, and I was examining the track made on top of the bookcase, thinking back on the investigation Shuichi and I conducted on Rantaro's body.

"The wound was on the back of the head..." I muttered. "How did Kaede hit it? Especially since it doesn't seem like the end of the book track and Rantaro's body lines up." I sighed and leaned back on my couch. "I get that figuring this out doesn't really do much..." I looked at Rantaro's necklace and Kaede's hair clip next to me. "But I really don't think Kaede murdered Rantaro. Sure she attempted it, but..." I shook my head.

I sat down at my couch and heard a crumple of paper. I looked next to me and saw a small piece of paper wedged in the couch cushion. I pulled it out and saw some handwriting on it.

Dear Y/N,

I'm not entirely sure why I had the urge to do this, but I wanted to give you this. I originally wanted friendship bracelets or something, but you know why that can't happen. Think of this as... our friendship charm or something. I'm not sure I'll make it out of this alive, but I wanted you to have this.

From Rantaro

I teared up. "I guess that's why this was here." I said as I held up Rantaro's necklace.

After a while, I got up and went outside for some fresh air. "Hey, Gonta!" I greeted. "What are you doing?" Gonta looked at me and smiled. "Is Y/N okay now? Y/N no look so good before." I nodded and thanked him for his concern. "Gonta is looking for bugs. There is trees, grass, water, and sun, but no bugs." I looked on the ground. It is a bit peculiar.

"Hm... what is that?"

I turned to Gonta. "What do you mean?" He pointed to this stone tablet on the floor. "H-O-R-S-E-A." I read aloud. What does that mean? I looked back at the dormitory building. "Um... I'll be right back, okay Gonta?" I went inside and rang Shuichi's doorbell. Repeatedly. "I-I'm coming!" I heard from inside. I heard footsteps come closer and closer to the door until it opened. "Good morning, Shuichi!" I said.

He invited me inside. "You seem... happier today." He noticed. "Not happier... particularly. Just refreshed."

I had only told Shuichi what I was doing, and he personally agreed. "It just seemed too... easy to do." He had stated. I told him about the numbers on the stone tablet outside. "I wonder if we have to rearrange them in some way..." He said.

We then heard another ring from his doorbell. I opened the door. "Shuichi what are- what are you doing here, Y/N?" It was Kaito. He had a rather... suspicious look on his face.

"We're not doing anything weird, Kaito!" I yelled as I slapped his arm. "Alright, alright." He raised his hands. "I went looking for you guys. I wanted to eat breakfast with everyone but you guys weren't in the dining hall. Gonta told me that you went into the dormitory building, but you weren't in your room so I decided to check Shuichi's room. I didn't expect you to be here though."

I looked at Shuichi. "Wanna have breakfast with the others? I don't really eat breakfast." Shuichi nodded. "I don't either." Kaito looked surprised at our statements. "What do you eat in the morning then?" Shuichi and I looked at each other, uncomfortably. Nothing...? "Let's just head down to the dining hall." Kaito said.

I reached out to get Shuichi's hat for him, but he put his hand on my shoulder. "I don't need that anymore." I smiled and nodded. We followed Kaito to the dining hall. "W-wait, I need to get something from my room first."

After I got the thing from my room, we went down and heard that Gonta was telling everyone about the writing on the stone tablet. "Atua says it's just graffiti. So it's nothing we gotta worry about!" Angie said.

I was still whispering to Shuichi when I noticed everyone was staring at us. "Well look who got rid of the emo hat!" Kokichi said. He turned to me. "And you've gotten rid of that gloomy behaviour! I see you've gained a new accessory!" I held Rantaro's necklace between my fingers. "Y-Yeah... I found a note between the couch cushions... he actually took it off and wanted to give it to me but didn't want to say it up front."

Kokichi laughed. "Is all this because of Rantaro and Kaede dying?"

"Quiet you male!" Tenko yelled. "Don't you have any manners?" I chuckled. Kaito looked at Shuichi and I. "Wow, I didn't even notice." Shuichi scratched his head. "I just... don't have my hat... it's not a big deal."

Kirumi bowed her head. "You are right. My apologies."

"I like it! I think you look more handsome without your hat!" Angie exclaimed. I nodded in agreement. "The look does suit you, Shuichi." Kaito giggled. "I found these two together in Shuichi's room~" I scoffed and pushed at his forehead. "We were discussing some matters. Nothing more, nothing less."

"You really think these two could do anything more than that." I glanced at Kokichi, seeing that he looked like a child who hasn't gotten dessert yet. Was he really that offended by that statement?

"Let's just have breakfast." Kaito sat down. Kirumi nodded. "Yes, yes, I prepared breakfast for everyone. I've made an italian omelet, buttermilk pancakes, and smoked salmon galette. For those who prefer Japanese cuisine, I have prepared rice balls and miso soup."

Kokichi spoke up. "Kirumi, be my mom!" Well that was unex- "Gonta want you to be his mom, too!" K1-B0 face palmed. "What are you two even saying?"

I sat down with Shuichi and Kokichi on either side of me. I noticed something that seems like it should have been noticed a lot sooner: Kokichi and Shuichi have very different personalities.

"Hey, Kirumi, what's the recipe to this?"

"Tenko's right, Himiko does make the cutest face when she eats!"

"What's wrong, Kee-boy? You're not eating. Oh yeah, you can't eat cuz you're a robot!"

Dear god... I turned to Shuichi, who unlike Kokichi, was silent.

"Shuichi, stop worrying about the graffiti." I told him, putting my hand on his arm. "Oh, you already know?" Kaito asked me.

I nodded and told him I was with Gonta when he found it. "I'm not sure what it's for, but it seemed a bit random so I assume it was just something that kids used to do at this school." I thought back on the letters. "The handwriting was rather unclear, and it didn't quite look like a high schooler's writing. Of course, it was written in a rock, so you can't particularly tell."

I pulled out Rantaro's note from my pocket and turned it to the back. I borrowed one of Angie's pencils and wrote what the letters looked like based on my memory. "See? It's not something that seems like it was written by one of us." Shuichi and I looked at each other. "But... it doesn't seem like anything." I put the paper back in my pocket.

"Wow! You found this while chasing some bug?" Kokichi asked Gonta. "I knew I could rely on you! You should work for me." I choked on my miso soup. "Okay!" Gonta replied. I looked at them both in utter disbelief. "Gonta, sweetie. You can't trust everything anyone says you know?"

Kokichi laughed. "You know Gonta, if you keep being this gullible." A disturbing shadow came over Kokichi's face. "You'll get killed before you know it." We all went silent. "K-Kokichi.. I don't think you should be saying... things... you know... like that." I stuttered. I felt a hand rest over mine. I look up from my lap and see Kaito reaching across the table. "How can you be so fine saying that word after yesterday?" Tenko asked. "This is why I hate degenerates! They're as considerate as amoebas."

And if that wasn't bad enough, Monokuma appeared before us. "What's happening?" He asked. "Oh, they're all just busy ganging up on me." I looked at Kokichi. "That's not what-" "Ganging up?" Monokuma questioned. "Hey! No bullying is allowed!" Ryoma sighed. "Why are you even here?"

"Oh, I wanted to give you guys a gift for surviving the first class trial!" Monokuma answered. I squeezed Kaito's hand. The Monokubs appeared, each of them looking a bit... off. "Are you... okay?" I asked Monophanie. She looked rather frazzled. "Has someone been bullying you?" Himiko asked. The Monophanie shook in surprised. "Figured, I speak from experience."

I let go of Kaito's hand. "So what's this reward?" Random junk was placed in the table in front of us: an ancient passport, a dragon's gem, ocarina, and a metal crank. Monokuma left, leaving us with the Monokubs. "You're gonna get it, Monodam, for attacking us at our weakest points!" The Monosuke yelled.

"Y-You mean the nape of our necks?" The nape of their neck, huh? They left and I looked at the junk sprawled across the table. "What are we supposed to do with this?" Maki asked.

"Maybe we're supposed to use them on the strange things around the school?" Tsumugi guessed. It was a rather educated one too, seeing as all of these seemed to be incomplete. "Sweet! I'll take them." Kokichi offered. "No, I think we'll leave it to Shuichi and Y/N." Kaito said. "They seem to be the best problem solvers out of everyone here."

And back comes the pouty-dessertless-child face.

I got a tote bag and carried all the stuff in it while we explored around the school. "I can hold it, you know." Shuichi offered. I shook my head. "You're better at this than me, so I'll just be here for backup." We stumbled across these two passports in the wall, with one space in the middle. "Here." I gave the ancient passport to Shuichi and he placed it in the space.

The wall crumbled and revealed a hallway behind it. "This doesn't look like the other hallways in the school." There was no plants and the walls looked like they were from castle ruins. We walked down further and saw a door. "It looks like..." I said, tracing my hand over the shapes on the door. "a research lab. The Ultimate Magicians to be exact!" At those words, Himiko walked in with Tsumugi.

"I guess the doors don't have locks." Shuichi noticed as we walked inside. "Aren't you worried your magic might get stolen, Himiko?" Tsumugi asked.

"You need skills to do magic. Not just a knowledge on how they work."

Shuichi and I continued looking around. "Maybe we should check outside." I suggested as we passed the entrance hall. I looked at the large wall with a huge door blocking the entrance. "Shuichi, look over here!" I dragged him over. "I've done escape rooms before, and this looks like the one I did inspired by a castle!" I pulled out the metal crank and placed it on the door. Shuichi helped me crank it and the door opened.

"A casino and a hotel?" He wondered. What's a hotel and a casino doing here? It's not like there's people to gamble with, or any reason for us to need a hotel. I looked at Shuichi, who wasn't paying attention, as he was about to walk into the water. "Shuichi, wait!" I grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled him away from the edge.

"Y-your reflexes are starting to scare me." He said with a shaky voice.

I heard footsteps behind me and saw Kaito. "Hey, Kaito!" He looked around. "Damn, this place is pretty lit." I looked at the casino. "Wanna check inside?" They both nodded as we went into the casino. The Monokubs explained that we can earn these things called "Monocoins" to earn different rewards.

"Hm, I'm not too good in this departement." Shuichi admitted. "Don't worry, I'll teach ya!" I motioned towards the exit. "I'm going to check out the hotel. I'll tell you if I find anything!" I walked towards the hotel and looked at the sign in the front. "Love Suite?" I read aloud. I tried opening the door, but it was locked. I went back into the casino and saw Kaito and Shuichi playing this salmon game. "The hotel was locked." I told Shuichi. He nodded as we both left the casino and looked around some more.

I looked at the street sign in front of the school. "Ooh, dolphins!" I marveled. Shuichi looked. "Wanna check it out?" I nodded as we walked towards this building with dolphins on its sign. "What's this?" I asked K1-B0, who was there with Tenko. "It's some monument."

Shuichi asked for the ocarina and placed it on the monument. Once he did, the vines around the building withered. "That's... I've never seen that happen before." I mumbled. We walked inside and we found a pool.

The pool didn't look much like a school pool, but rather one in a resort. "I've always wanted to go to a fancy pool like this! Too bad I don't know how to swim." Tenko admitted. I took off my leggings. "U-uh, Y/N! Don't undress under these degenerates!" I waved my hands in front of me. "I just want to check something! Besides, you can't even see anything!"

I gave Shuichi the tote bag and climbed down the ladder and into the pool. The water only wet the hem of my skirt/coat. Shuichi helped me back up and I put my leggings back on. "I guess it isn't used very much, seeing as it's pretty shallow. However, in the deep end, it seems like it's much deeper."

Shuichi read over the rules. "So swimming is prohibited at nighttime?"

The Monokubs explained that they didn't want someone dying of anything other than the killing game. We exited the pool area and Shuichi pulled out the Dragon's Gem. "What are we supposed to do with this?" He asked me. I thought for a moment. "Ooh! What about when we met Tsumugi? Remember, she was standing beside a statue!"

We went to the place where we first met Tsumugi and found the dragon statue. I put it in the dragon's eye socket and stepped back. There was a rumble under my feet as the wall behind the dragon statue collapsed, along with the dragon.

"Whoa, that's so cool!" Kokichi, who was with us along with Kirumi, Gonta, and Kiyo, exclaimed. "Alright then, charge!" I grabbed him by the knot of his scarf. "Whoa there, tiger. It might be dangerous. You shouldn't go alone." Kokichi pouted. "Oh, Mind Reader, I said your reflexes were cool and all that but not right now."

We all walked in together and we saw a Victorian-style room. "Hm, it looks like the time of Queen Victoria." Kiyo stated. I guess that's expected from the Ultimate Anthropologist.

"Employing maids were considered a status symbol in the Victorian era." Kirumi said. "This must be my research lab." I tugged on Shuichi's sleeve. "Jack the Ripper was alive at that time, right?" Shuichi nodded. "You seem to know your history."

"Nah, just my serial killers."

We investigated the room and I found this folding door. "I wonder what's in here." I opened it and revealed cleaning appliances, which would be useful for Kirumi. We explored some more and found a room with butterflies on the door. "Ooh, this may be your lab, Gonta!" We opened it and there were bugs, everywhere.

"So that's where all the bugs are!" I exclaimed. I looked over at Shuichi. He had a disgusted look on his face. "Are you okay?" I giggled. He nodded as Gonta examined the larva and eggs in the lab.

Near the room was a treasure chest, and Angie standing next to it. "You should open it, Shuichi!" She said. He opened it and pulled out a flashlight, but it definitely had more to it than lighting a room.

"I'll inspect it!" Angie said. She took the flashlight and ran off. I heard bouncing around from another room, and on the door was a tennis racket. "This must be Ryoma's research lab." Shuichi said. We opened the door and found a machine hitting tennis rackets to the other side of the net. "Whoa there." I caught a tennis ball right before it hit Shuichi's face. "These are harder than I imagined them to be." Shuichi had wiped a sweat from his face. "You just caught a tennis ball flying at me at lightning speed and that's what you're worried about?!"

"It must be nice, having a court like this." I said to Ryoma. He shook his head. "Tennis is just part of my past now." I sighed and kneeled down. "I see the sadness in your eyes. Don't lie to the Ultimate Psychologist, Ryoma." I gave him a tennis racket lying nearby. "Think about it." As I was about to walk away and turned around swiftly and threw the tennis ball I caught. "Think fast!"

Ryoma smacked the tennis ball across the room. "You've still got it." I said as Shuichi and I left.

Then, we found a red door. "It kind of reminds me of Maki." I said. "That's because it is mine." Maki opened the door. "And I wish for you not to go inside."

I nodded immediately and dragged Kokichi away. "Kokichi, I know I let you walk with us, but you can't get into everyone's faces like that."

We ran into Angie and she told everyone to meet in the library.