Flashback

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It was the next morning and I woke up late. I assumed someone was already preparing breakfast but when I went into the dining hall... that wasn't really the case. "WHERE THE HECK IS THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER?!" Kaito yelled as he was running around with a pan of... fire.

"I have water, I have water!" Tsumugi had two water jugs and was chasing after Kaito. "No, I'll use my magic!" Himiko claimed. "No, there's a fire extinguisher over here!" Shuichi yelled. "No wait, I'm still holding the pan!" I sighed and walked into the commotion.

I took the pan from Kaito and threw it into the filled sink of dirty dishes, extinguishing the fire. Just how many times did they try to make breakfast?

"Thank you, Y/N." Kiibo said. "We've been trying to do this for a while, but as you can see, it hasn't really been working out." I giggled and asked Kaito and Shuichi to clean the dishes. "Where's Kokichi?" I felt arms wrap around my waist. "Hey there."

Kaito pulled the boy off of me. "Hands to yourself, ya perv!" Shuichi handed me a clean pan and I proceeded in making omurice. My cooking skills aren't as great as Kirumi, but judging from the mess I walked in on, I think this is the best we've got.

"Here you go." I gave everyone a plate and sat down next to Kokichi.

"So..." I began, trying to start a conversation. "Where's Gonta?" Everyone looked around. "Oh, he's not here." Kaito concluded. I got up and pushed my plate in front of Kaito. I whispered in Himiko's ear. "Doesn't everyone look a little dead?"

I walked away with a smile on my face as I heard Himiko yell, "Hey! You guys have no energy!"

I was walking towards the warehouse when I bumped into someone, stumbling over onto the ground. "O-ow... Gonta?" He helped me up. "What's the rush?" He picked me up and bolted to the dining hall. "Guys! This serious!" He explained that he found more letters on the stone that we had seen before. "I wonder who added them..."

Gonta led me to the stone and I knelt down next to it. "T, h, s, w, o, r, d, s, i, n, e, o, i, c, m, a." I read out. They were probably still missing letters. "This... world..." I muttered as I traced the missing letters with my finger. "...is...mine...." But what were the other words? I stood up and went back to the dining hall and found Monokuma there.

"There you are! Now I can give you my prize!" The Monokubs appeared and gave us a Levistone and an Octobrush. "And... a card key! This is one of the motives, too." Monophanie handed me the card key and I examined it. There's no logo or insignia hinting at where the card key goes.

"I don't think we should use this if it's a motive." Kiibo suggested. But suddenly, the card key was snatched from my hands. Kokichi ran out of the dining hall, Kaito, in pursuit. "Boys! Ugh..."

Monokuma giggled. "Oh, I almost forgot! I've hidden another Flashback Light around here." Both him and the Monokubs left.

"Oi! Kokichi, get back here!" I yelled as I ran out of the room.

"Y/N! Oh well... Shuichi, we'll need your detective skills to find that Flashback Light. We will assist in finding Kokichi." Kiibo said.

I continued running around, trying to find Kokichi, when I faced the stairs leading to the fourth floor. I sighed and walked up. I went to Kiyo's lab and looked around it. It's hard to believe someone even stepped foot in here. Everything was back in its place.

I looked at the case for the gold leaf katana. It looked as if it was never taken out. I walked out and went to Angie's lab. The wax effigies were gone, and the floor was no longer covered in blood. The wax containers were filled like no one ever used them. After every death, Monokuma made it seem like the person was never here.

I was about to go down, but I found a doorway that we never investigated. I tried to open it, but it was locked. I went to the stairway and saw Shuichi wandering around. "Shuichi, come here." I led him to the door and he used the Octobrush on it so that the staircase was revealed. "How many floors does this place have?"

Next to the staircase was a door, which I assumed was an Ultimate Lab. "Hold on, let me get Tsumugi." I went downstairs and returned with our Ultimate Cosplayer. "Ooh! Is this my research lab?"

We went inside. It looked like a whole set behind the scenes, with a filming area, a stage set up, and a costume area. "It's a lot, but by myself..."

"Oh, do you not like cosplaying on your own?" She nodded. "Do you guys wanna try?" Shuichi and I looked at each other. "U-uh... we're investigating right now, but maybe later." She nodded as Shuichi and I left the lab. "That was interesting."

We went into an area with a lot of pillars, and Maki had already come up here, apparently. Next to her was a research lab, but there was no design hinting who's it was. We went inside, but it looked like an old study.

"Maybe this is yours." Maki guessed, turning to Shuichi. There were documents and books everywhere, and a chemistry set on a coffee table. "I think it is. The first private detective was back in 1833, and this matches the vibe." I said, tracing my finger on the edge of the table.

Shuichi walked up to one of the shelves. "Is this... poison?" I walked up next to him. "Well, it's not like there's a way to check." Maki opened the case and peered inside. "Yep, I recognize some of these. Definitely poison." Shuichi suggested that we get rid of them, but I shook my head.

I thought back to when I went to Angie and Kiyo's room. "When I went into their labs, everything was back in place as if no one had been there. The wax containers were all full, and the gold leaf on Kiyo's katana had been replaced. There's really no point." I picked up a bottle of the poison. "Some of these kill instantly... Does a detective really need all this?"

Maki nodded. "You need to know about crimes to solve them." I put back the bottle and closed the case. No one but Shuichi, Maki, and I knew about the poison, so we should be fine as long as no one finds this room. We went over to the other shelf and Shuichi pulled out a file, quickly flipping through it. "Ah!" He dropped the file. I picked it up and saw what he screamed at.

There were photographs of crime scenes, and brief explanations of the tricks the culprit used. "A-are these real pictures?" Maki pulled out a different file. "Wait, this one has illustrations instead of photos."

We searched through the files and saw that some had illustrations and some had photos. "I guess these would be useful for your investigations." Maki said. "We do need your talent after all." Shuichi looked down. "Not really. A detective... can't really save anyone. I'm only useful when it's too late."

I went in front of Shuichi and put my hands on his shoulders. "Shuichi, why are we still here? Why haven't we been executed?"

He looked confused and I sighed. "It's because of your detective skills. We would've been punished in the first trial if it weren't for you. A detective does save people, just like a police officer and a firefighter." I took my hands off of him. "If it weren't for detectives, people like murderers, thieves, and drug dealers would still be out and about. No one would have a sense of safety."

Shuichi smiled at the ground. "You do have a way of encouraging people, Y/N."

"Why are you gloomy all of a sudden? Do you want to die?" Maki asked. "With that face, I understand why Maki Roll would say that."

Startled by Kaito's sudden appearance, Shuichi stumbled back, causing me to grab him by the collar before he was burnt to a crisp by the fireplace. "Hey Kaito." And I pulled Shuichi up.

"You need to be more confident! You've been super helpful in the class trials!" Kaito yelled.

"That's why you should be careful." I looked at Maki. "Because of how helpful you are, future culprits will go after you." I shook my head. "We'd never let it happen!" Shuichi smiled and nodded. "Alright, I'll be careful."

I walked out of the room, leaving Maki, Shuichi, and Kaito by themselves. Maki and Shuichi are his "sidekicks" after all. It must be serious business. I chuckled and went down the stairs.

I was on the main floor and was walking around when I found Kaede's room. I traced my finger over the music note and I hummed the tune of the River Flows in You. I remember falling asleep to that, and I will never forget it. She was so kind and talented... I smiled and walked away.

I heard footsteps behind me and turned around. "Ah, Shuichi... you scared me..."

He apologised. "I'm still not sure where this goes, but after we find out, we'll meet Kaito in the dining hall. He found the Flashback Light." We walked around the whole school but couldn't find anything. "Maybe it's outside?" I suggested.

We went outside and found a short stand with a hole in the centre, perfect size for the Levistone. Once Shuichi placed it in, it shot up into the sky and came back down as a whole new room. It combined with Miu's research lab, but it didn't look out of place. "Kiibo, maybe this is yours." He was the Ultimate Robot. Combining with the Ultimate Inventor's lab is not all too surprising.

Miu, Kiibo, Shuichi, and I walked in. It looked really futuristic inside, kind of like a sci-fi movie. There were machines and parts everywhere.

"No... I don't like this." Kiibo said. "Why not? Wouldn't all of this be really useful?"

"Sure, but I don't like relying on sci-fi technology. I would rather go for a Japanese style, with the food and kimonos." I looked around. I did help my dad with interior design when I was a kid. "I think I could help you with that."

I remembered we were supposed to gather in the dining hall, so we all went there. Well, all of us except for Kokichi. "Where is he?" Gonta wondered.

"Forget him, it's his fault for messing around." Kaito said, although I think he's just frustrated that he lost Kokichi. "He must be really good at hide and seek." Himiko stated. "I magically looked over the school and can't find him anywhere!" I sighed. Three... two... one...

"You have great comebacks for someone who looks like a can of tuna." Kokichi walked in. "What are all of you doing here?" I held out my hand. "First, card key." He shrugged and placed the card key in my hand. "You never found out where to use it?" He shook his head. "And I really wanted to use it, too!" I raised a brow but turned away. Even if I knew he was lying, it's not like he'd tell us.

I turned to Kaito and he turned on the Flashback Light.

I saw meteorites falling from the sky. Hundreds of them. There were people panicking and rioting. My eyes widened as I stumbled back into Shuichi. "S-sorry..." I stuttered. "Did... did anyone else see meteorites?" Everyone nodded.

"Everyone was claiming it was the end of the world!" Kiibo panicked.

Tsumugi looked horrified. "Where I lived... it was being attacked. Someone was saying there wasn't much time left." Kaito scratched his head. "But who were those groups of people?" I nodded. "They were handing out fliers on the street and stuff. They also had a banner, but someone's leg was covering it, so all I could see was 'Humanity should... hell'."

"Yeah, and the fliers said 'Humanity deserves damnation.'" Kiibo recalled. "Yeah, but what happened with the meteorites?" I thought for a moment. I was blocking everything out until I heard the words "Gofer Project."

"Wait, but why Gofer Project? Gofers hide underground... when... they're threatened." I muttered. In the end, the Flashback Light didn't connect to any of our past memories. Maybe it would've if Angie hadn't broken the previous one.

We returned to our rooms and I lied down in bed. What was happening outside of the End Wall? Was everyone as safe as we thought? Is there even... anyone to go back to?

I heard the nighttime announcement and got out of bed. "Maybe I'll actually participate in training." I said. I walked outside of my dorm and saw Shuichi. "Hey! Let's go." I said, cheerfully.

Shuichi and I went to the courtyard and saw that Kaito and Maki were already waiting for us. "Hey there! Let's get started." Shuichi and I took off our jackets and set them aside. "You're training, too?" I nodded. "I want to see exactly how 'hardcore' this training is." First was 100 sit-ups. "Careful Y/N. You're not quite used to this like the rest of us." Kaito warned. I smirked and met eyes with Maki, who had the same look in her eye.

We all lied down in the grass and once Kaito said go, Maki and I did sit-ups like it was nobody's business. "W-what?! How do they do it so fast?!" Kaito questioned loudly.

"28, 29, 30, 31..." Maki and I counted simultaneously as we both did synchronised sit-ups, while Shuichi was on his tenth or eleventh. I looked over at Kaito, who was just lying in the grass. "Are you okay?" I asked. He got up. "I'm going to use the washroom."

I got up as well. "I'm finished." I ran after Kaito. He was walking rather slowly for someone who needed to go to the washroom.

I waited outside the washroom as I heard a horrid cough. He came out and seemed surprised to see me. "O-oh, Y/N!" I lifted my hand and wiped away a little blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. "This isn't a simple matter, Kaito. You can't keep hiding it forever!"

I bit my lip. "Let's just go back to Shuichi and Maki." I was about to return to the courtyard, but I stopped in front of the dormitories. "A-actually, I'm getting sleepy. Go on without me." Kaito nodded as I went into the dormitory building.

I knocked at Kokichi's door. "You seem to like to come here, Y/N." Kokichi pointed out when he let me in.

"I-I know... sorry." I sat on his bed and he sat next to me. "What's wrong? Is something bothering you?" I shook my head. "It's just... three people died in one day. I'm just shook." He nodded and lied down. "Why do you always come to my room?" He asked. I leaned back onto his headboard. "I'm... not sure. I just feel better here." He took my trembling hand. "I'm not going to ask why your hand is shaking, but that won't stop me from holding it!"

He was silent for a moment before tapping my shoulder. "Y/N, I notice that even when it's not an emotional time, your legs shake, and you sometimes fall. I can tell it hurts, but is that like a habit thing or...?"

"O-Oh!" I scratched the back of my head in embarrassment. "I-I just.. uh... It's just a childhood injury... and I don't have my painkillers in here... yeah."

Kokichi sighed and leaned back. "You're not as good at lying as me... but I'll let it slide."

I smiled as I watched Kokichi drift off to sleep, still holding my hand. I slowly removed my hand from his grasp and went to my room, lying down in bed and going to sleep.

I woke up the next morning, a little after the morning announcement, but I didn't feel like getting out of bed. I turned over and looked at the small pile of belongings from each person. I held Rantaro's necklace and shut my eyes. Everytime I think of him... I just get this chill down my spine and my eyes open again. I don't know what it is about him that seems so... important. I just can't... conjure up a memory of him.

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