It was the third time it happened that Shuichi started to suspect that something might be wrong.
The plan to rescue Kaito and stop Kokichi once and for all was in motion. That morning, Shuichi had grabbed his charged Electrohammer and booked it to the dining hall, where almost all of his friends were waiting for him. He shared what he learned upon scouting out the hangar, and they were on the move.
At first, everything had been smooth in motion. Aside from a few oddities here and there– like Monokuma gone from his Exisal protection barrier, and the control panel to the shutter being all scratched up– all of the pieces were perfectly in place. They'd rescue Kaito and stop the killing game for good.
However… when they broke into the hangar…
Shuichi remembered feeling as if the floor was collapsing beneath his feet. The sight of all that blood made his stomach churn, and when he recalled the scene even now, his mouth ran dry. Because someone had once been under the press, and that someone was most likely Kaito.
Once the body discovery announcement went off though, Shuichi had found himself back in his room, looking at the empty monitor as nighttime was officially declared.
That was perfectly weird, he had thought at first. He was understandably a little disoriented, but the only logical explanation he could come up with was that he had had a really, really vivid daydream of sorts. Tensions were high and a lot was going to happen tomorrow, so he assumed he was just stressed enough to mildly hallucinate an entire morning. He went back to bed, and countered the next day with less-than high spirits and a rock of anxiety pitted in his chest.
As that morning played out with more and more similarities to what he thought was a simple dream, he slowly felt his anxieties worsening. And lo and behold, the minute they entered that hangar, what did they find?
The blood. The press. Kaito's coat sleeve, with one small hole.
And that's where Shuichi was now. Staring utterly dumbfounded at the monitor, where the empty nighttime announcement just finished. He checked his Electrohammer– still not fully charged, but nearly there– and then he went to his bathroom to check the mirror. His reflection stared back at him in shock, sharing his confusion.
He didn't know what the chances were that he hallucinated… two mornings…?
No, he shot himself down immediately, that was too precise. It was as if… the morning repeated itself.
Shuichi thought he was pretty sensible about ninety percent of the time, but this was sort of testing his limits. He rarely remembered his dreams in such vivid detail, and he honestly doubted he was hallucinating, so what on earth was going on?
Those wonders stayed on his mind as he laid down in his bed. He felt too restless to fall asleep, but he knew he had to. He'd need the energy for tomorrow when they went to take down the mastermind of the killing game– a Remnant of Despair– Kokichi Ouma… for the third time. The most logical answer he could come to was that he was very nervous, and his brain kept flashing to the utter worst case scenario.
A very specific, vivid, worst case scenario.
In hindsight, he might be underplaying this a little.
After being unable to sleep a wink, Shuichi hesitantly grabbed his Electrohammer and made his way to the dining hall. The déjà vu that came from the short trip was disconcerting, but not so much as seeing his friend's faces once again.
Maybe it'll be different, he thought to himself as his friends noticed him. Maybe I'm just worried over nothing.
"Nyeeeh! We're all here!" Himiko exclaimed excitedly, unknowingly sending a cold chill down Shuichi's spine.
His eyes instinctively traced towards K1-B0 before he even asked, "is everyone ready?"
"Of course!" agreed Tsumugi, brandishing her hammer with a determined pinch in her features. "My Electrohammer is all recharged!"
Shuichi glanced wildly between all of his friends, his heart sinking. That was word for word with the other two times.
…uh oh.
This would usually be the time when he asked Maki where her Electrohammer was. She'd say that she didn't want to use a weapon she was unfamiliar with, and would instead present the weapon of her choice: a knife. After that, he'd report what he found while scouting the hangar, and with some additional input from K1-B0, they'd be off.
If Shuichi opened his mouth now, he had no doubt it'd go the exact same way as the other two times.
He was starting to go from confused to concerned.
Maybe he had been staring for a moment too long, because Maki's frown was taut as she glowered at him. "What?" she asked, though not rudely.
"Ah, sorry. It's, well…" Shuichi trailed off, unsure of how to word this without sounding like he was starting to lose it. "Have any of you noticed something… strange? Like, weird dreams about today's mission, or…"
"Weird dreams?" Tsumugi echoed inquisitively, tilting her head slightly. "I don't dream that often, and I don't think I did last night."
"Did you have a bad dream, Shuichi?" K1-B0 asked him. A small, reassuring smile grew on the robot's face. "You shouldn't worry about it. It's only a dream, after all."
So it's only me, he concluded as Maki only stared at him and Himiko tapped her chin pensively. Unless Kaito knows something… or even Kokichi, I guess.
"Thanks, Keebo," Shuichi said regardless. "But I'm starting to get worried. This is the third time I've gone through this morning, and every time, it's started the same way. We gather here, discuss what Keebo and I found scouting the hangar, and then we all go there and…"
He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. He feared that if he did, it might manifest itself into reality.
K1-B0 looked surprised. "How did you know I was at the hangar?"
Now Maki was surprised. "You two… scouted the hangar?"
"I only went to the hangar to attempt to get through to Kokichi and ask him to release Kaito peacefully," K1-B0 explained, eyeing Shuichi thoughtfully.
"How did it go?" asked Tsumugi.
There was no response, Shuichi remembered K1-B0's response from the other times.
K1-B0 let out a sigh. "It went about as well as I expected… there was no response at all."
At that point, Shuichi stopped listening. K1-B0 went over what he saw regarding the Exisal, but he was too busy worrying about what was going on to pay attention. He could possibly excuse the first time as a dream, and while the second time was strange in itself, there was no way he was dreaming of or hallucinating or whatever it was for a third time. But if it wasn't a dream, then what was it? He didn't imagine he had suddenly acquired the power of foresight.
If we go to the hangar… is it going to be the same? Shuichi found himself wondering, staring down at his Electrohammer. If everything is the same as the last time, does that mean… when we go to the hangar…
There was no time to bring up his worries, though. Everyone had already brushed off his previous concerns, too focused on rescuing Kaito and finally taking down Kokichi. They rushed out of the dining hall one by one, leaving Shuichi to scramble to catch up.
Not wanting to be left behind, he followed a little more sluggishly, dread weighing down his feet and making it difficult to move forward.
If Kaito is under the press– he stopped that train of thought where it was. Kaito wasn't dead, he was sure of it. He had only seen the scene briefly before waking back up in his room… twice… so there was a chance he had missed something. Was a sleeve definitive proof of someone's certain demise, anyway? No. It wasn't.
Although, that did beg the question of who was under the press, if not Kaito. And he wasn't sure how he felt about the only other viable option.
Stepping into the long, winding corridors that led to the hangar, he was surprised to be greeted by Tsumugi, who seemed to have been waiting for him. All the others must be up ahead, he presumed.
"You're really nervous, huh?" Tsumugi commented as he approached. "Are you worried about those dreams?"
"Dreams…" Shuichi echoed quietly. "Um... maybe? I'm not sure, but... I think I'm repeating the morning."
"Repeating the morning?" Tsumugi echoed curiously. "What do you mean?"
On one hand, Shuichi wanted to shrug it off and insist they discuss it later, after they found the body– no! After they rescued Kaito! He hadn't even seen the body yet.
(And, he thought, if he brought it up now, the suspicion would circle towards him almost instantly.)
However, on the other hand, if these repetitions were consistent and he was "restarted" back to his room upon entering the hangar… he wouldn't get the chance to talk about it at all.
"Every time we go into the hangar, I find myself back in my room after the nighttime announcement plays," Shuichi risked telling the cosplayer. "This is the third time it's happened now. And every morning, we meet up at the dining hall, have a conversation extremely similar to that, and then come here."
"Oh." Tsumugi was staring at him, but she didn't necessarily look doubtful. "You're reliving the morning over and over, huh? So you know how our mission ends?"
Shuichi wasn't sure how to honestly answer that. He didn't really know how their mission ended because all he saw in the hangar was blood, Kaito's coat sleeve, and no sign of either of the boys who were supposed to be there.
"Not really," Shuichi only partly lied. He felt bad, but he didn't want to accidentally make himself suspicious if this time actually continued any further. "Maybe Keebo was right, and I just had a strange… bad dream."
Tsumugi hummed. "But what if it's not a dream? I've seen this type of thing before in lots of anime… you might be caught in a time loop."
"That only happens in fiction," Shuichi reminded her. "It's impossible for a time loop to exist."
"It'd answer what's happening to you though," she pointed out mildly. "Characters stuck in a time loop, reliving the day over and over… and once the day ends, the loop repeats."
That sounded perfectly ominous. Now it was Shuichi's turn to stare at her, unsure whether he was confused or simply incredulous. He knew what a time loop was, obviously– but there was no possible way for it to exist in real life.
There had to be a more reasonable explanation.
"Okay, if…" Shuichi sighed, not even sure why he was entertaining such an idea. "If it happens again, and everything is the same as last time… I'll come ask you about it."
Tsumugi nodded, her eyes lighting up. "Okay! But first, let's go save Kaito."
Save Kaito…
Shuichi forced a small smile on his face, though he was sure it was uncertain.
"Let's do that," he agreed without confidence.
Gripping their Electrohammers, he and Tsumugi made their way to where their friends were waiting. There were only three Exisals in that odd hang-off room, all unmoving, which perfectly matched the image of the last two times and only served to make him more nervous. In the smallest possibility that Tsumugi was right… Shuichi was going to have a much bigger problem on his hands.
As the two of them arrived, K1-B0, Himiko and Maki all perked up. Maki's gaze was scrutinizing, and Shuichi found himself unable to meet her eyes. He knew why she was irritable– she was eager to save Kaito, and Shuichi was stalling with his strange dilemma.
"Everyone is here," K1-B0 observed. "Let's get started right away."
Himiko nodded vigorously. "I-I'm ready!"
"Maki, are you ready with the Electrobomb?" Tsumugi asked the assassin, whose gaze snapped towards her instead.
"...who do you think you're talking to?" Maki questioned in turn. She presented the Electrobomb, the pink of which glinted in the yellower glow of the electric barrier. "It's similar to a grenade, except the detonation lags a bit after you push the switch. Once we roll this in front of the shutter, it should disable the alarm system." Her head turned towards the closed shutter, her voice tightening as she said, "...this won't fail."
I've heard this all before, Shuichi noted miserably. Nausea churned deep in his stomach, drying his throat, and he only now noticed his hands were shaking. Please, please don't let it be the same.
"The Electrobomb has an effective range of fifty yards, and lasts for two hours…" K1-B0 recalled unhelpfully. "If Kokichi's remote control is disabled, we stand a chance against the Exisals."
Shuichi stayed quiet, his eyes locked on his friend. She was hesitating, he noticed; there was a dark look in her red eyes, as if she was expecting something inevitably terrible on the other side of the shutter.
…is she expecting something terrible?
"What's wrong, Maki Roll?" Himiko asked the assassin, which seemed to bring her back to attention. "We're… all ready to start, y'know?"
"...yeah, alright." Maki held up the Electrobomb, her finger caught in the trigger. "Then let's go."
Activating the little weapon, she quickly dropped to one knee and rolled it towards the shutter. The alarms didn't pick it up, and the Electrobomb went off a couple of moments later. The minute it did, the lights on the alarms all shut off, signifying their deactivation.
"The alarm system is disabled! Now we can approach the control panel!" K1-B0, once again, exclaimed the obvious. His excited eyes turned towards Shuichi, but–
"I'll do it," Shuichi offered before he could even ask.
Not even bothering to inspect the strange marks all over the control panel (though that was something he'd need to do later), he lifted his Electrohammer as high as he could and brought it down. It bounced off of the control panel, sending momentary reverberations through his arms, and the entire control panel was overridden, thus shutting off the electric barrier.
Without wasting a single second, Shuichi opened the shutter. He joined his classmate's sides as it slowly lifted, his body trembling and his palms sweating from anxiety. His gaze was already targeted towards where the hydraulic press would be, and all he could do was hope that there was nothing there.
But of course, Shuichi couldn't be so lucky.
He saw the blood before the shutter was even fully opened.
"Damn it…" he cursed under his breath as his friends began to notice as well. He saw the way their eyes widened, breaths hitching as they beared witness to the gory scene for the first time.
Shuichi didn't think that he'd ever get used to seeing the blood, the press, and that coat sleeve just barely dangling from between the two metal slabs.
ding dong bing bong
Being the only one to turn around, Shuichi stared into Monokuma's beady eyes portrayed on the giant screen. He was holding a wine glass, his smile feeling all that much more malevolent.
Monokuma laughed, the sound grating Shuichi's ears. "A body has been discovered~!"
And then–
–
–Shuichi was in his room.
It took a moment for him to reorientate himself, but when he did, he sank down to the floor on his knees, his legs no longer able to support him.
It was a little more difficult to deny that he was in a time loop when the exact same thing happened three times in a row.
Does Kaito… really die tonight? The notion made him sick, but that was all he could think about at the moment. Shuichi remembered talking to him only a few hours before the nighttime announcement. Was that really the last time he would have ever seen Kaito? Were his last words really "see you tomorrow" to someone who wouldn't survive to see tomorrow?
Aside from the fact that Shuichi's entire world view and understanding of time had been utterly decimated, he found himself hopelessly lost on what to do next. This was the fourth time he was standing in his room after the nighttime announcement. What was he supposed to even do in a situation like this? How was he supposed to even comprehend a time loop?
There is someone who might have an idea. She's the one who planted this thought in his head in the first place, and he did tell her that he'd go to her if it happened again.
Trying to calm his pounding heart and banish the awful mental image of the bloody hydraulic press, Shuichi begrudgingly left his bedroom. He really, really hoped she had a solution for him, because he didn't think he could deal with this on top of the added stress of Kaito potentially dying and the whole thing with their mission.
If Kaito dies… that means he dies tonight. Shuichi had to pause in his tracks, taking in a barely calming breath. That's only if. But… if it's Kokichi who was under that press… I can only think of one culprit.
Why would Kokichi kill Kaito? Why would Kaito kill Kokichi?
What the hell happens in that hangar…?
Shuichi didn't even realize he had already rang Tsumugi's doorbell until she was opening the door.
"Shuichi?" Tsumugi greeted him, arching her eyebrows in surprise. "What are you doing here…?"
"Sorry to bother you," Shuichi apologized, because he knew that even if he wasn't tired in the slightest, everyone else might be. "But… what do you know about time loops?"
"Umm… time loops?" Tsumugi looked a little lost.
"In your anime. Surely you've seen at least one," Shuichi clarified, knowing perfectly well what kind of floodgate he was opening with those words.
As he expected, Tsumugi's eyes lit up like the sun, and he honestly felt bad for making her so excited when he needed answers for something serious.
"You want to know about my anime!?" Tsumugi squealed excitedly, further worsening that guilt.
"Just time loops," Shuichi corrected her quickly.
"Sure! Of course!" Tsumugi was, quite literally, shaking with excitement, and she grabbed one of his hands. "Come in, please! Excuse the mess, I've been trying to keep myself busy…"
Being pulled in, Shuichi could see that her room was kind of in chaos. Sewing supplies, half-finished outfits and books and magazines and stacks of papers were scattered absolutely everywhere. Shuichi had never been in Tsumugi's bedroom before, and in all truth he felt a little horrible for intruding on a girl's room.
Tsumugi had quickly released him to quickly clean off her armchair, turning it around to face her desk chair. She gestured for him to sit down, which he modestly did, murmuring an awkward thanks.
"So," Tsumugi began, sitting down in her desk chair, "time loops! It's a trope where a character is forced to relive a certain period of time– maybe a day, maybe a week– and the main plot point is almost always to end that loop. I have a few animes I can recommend if you're interested–"
"Ah, thank you, but I'm okay," Shuichi cut her off, not wanting to get her hopes up. "I just want to know how to end a time loop."
Tsumugi was not deterred by his dismissal. "Well, it depends on the situation, but most of the time, there's a task that the character has to complete! Like preventing something from happening, or righting wrongs that occur in the span of that loop. Sometimes, just to shake it up, the character has to commit a wrong to escape the loop! I've seen that in a few fanfics…"
Preventing something from happening… Shuichi silently mused. Then, he paused. "Fanfics?"
"Fanfics," Tsumugi echoed affirmatively. "They're fun to read and write! With fanfiction, you can plainly fix virtually anything from the canon source material. Or you can make it worse… it depends on how you're feeling, I guess."
He was starting to learn things he didn't need to know. "Ah… okay. Thank you."
"Why do you ask, anyway?" Tsumugi suddenly found the sense to ask him. "Unless… you're in a time loop?"
Shuichi was really, really hoping he wasn't. It was illogical, didn't make any sense, and he didn't know why it would be him in a time loop when it could be literally anyone else.
But.
"I… might be?" Shuichi shrugged helplessly, letting his shoulders slump in defeat. "It doesn't make sense, though. Time loops cannot exist in real life."
"That's what every protagonist of a time loop says at first," Tsumugi informed him sympathetically.
Shuichi shot her a look. "Do you really think time loops exist…?"
"If humanity can go extinct and something like Monokuma and the Exisals can exist, then I wouldn't doubt a time loop," Tsumugi answered earnestly. "Weird things have been happening ever since we woke up. Besides, isn't it just plainly fitting that a Hope's Peak Academy student would get caught in a time loop?"
…at least I know someone will believe me, even if I have no idea why, Shuichi noted, just in case he really was in something as unbelievable as a time loop. "I suppose so…? I still don't know what I'm supposed to do to stop the time loop."
"Well, does anything major happen before everything resets?" Tsumugi inquired.
Shuichi sat up.
Prevent something from happening.
Could that be it?
Was the key to stopping the time loop saving Kaito and Kokichi?
"Huh? Did you realize something!?" Tsumugi demanded upon seeing his change in posture. "Is it our mission…? Does something go wrong?"
"No, it's.. ." Shuichi trailed off as he got out of his chair, urgency suddenly flooding his veins. "Listen, Tsumugi. Someone dies tonight."
All of the color drained from Tsumugi's face. "Wh-What!? Who?"
"I'm not sure," Shuichi admitted with a wince. "They were crushed under the hydraulic– huh?"
Crushed under the press?
That couldn't be right, though. Shuichi and K1-B0 had tested the safety function. The press should stop when it detected a living human being– that machine was incapable of being used as a murder weapon.
"Whatever happens," Shuichi continued with a shake of his head, "we have to stop it. Tsumugi, can you help me?"
"Oh! Of course!" Tsumugi stood up as well, lips curved in a determined smile. "Let's prevent any more death! But, um…" she paused briefly, glancing at her Electrohammer on the ground. "My Electrohammer isn't fully charged…"
Crap! Shuichi forgot about those! "Mine isn't either… and on top of that, we have no way to turn off the alarm."
The panic returned to Tsumugi's face almost instantaneously. "Then what do we do!? If Kokichi sics an Exisal on us, we won't be able to defend ourselves. Should we go get everyone to help?"
"I don't know where Keebo is, and Himiko is probably already asleep," Shuichi shot her down almost immediately. "Maki… could we ask her?"
"I'm pretty sure I saw Maki go off towards the school," Tsumugi hummed thoughtfully. "With how big it is, we might not be able to find her in time. Do you know when the murder happens?"
"This is only my fourth time," Shuichi told her grimly. "The last three times, I only got there in the morning."
"Wha– it took you four tries to realize?" Tsumugi demanded incredulously. "You didn't notice anything weird when you replayed the day for a second time?"
"I thought it was a dream," Shuichi defended himself, though even he knew it was weak. "You're actually the one who even suggested a time loop in the first place."
Tsumugi still looked doubtful, but she didn't press on the issue. "Wow… now I'm just plainly worried about you… but think about it this way. If you're in a time loop, then you can use that to your advantage. If you don't interfere with anything, then tonight will play out like normal, right? So use the loops to figure out everything that happens before the murder, and then stop it that way. If you know exactly what happens, you'll know what you need to prevent!"
For a few moments, Shuichi stayed quiet. Her words made perfect sense to him– it was a much better idea to scope out everything that was going to happen instead of rushing in blind. He wouldn't be stopping anything from happening if he didn't know what he was going to stop.
As much as he hated to think that he was knowingly letting someone die, whether it was Kaito or Kokichi… Shuichi didn't think there was much else of an option.
"...okay." Shuichi nodded in understanding. "Okay. I'll do that. Thanks, Tsumugi. You're a big help."
"You're welcome! Anything I can do to help stop the killings, I will," said Tsumugi. "So what do you know so far?"
Not much, admittedly. Shuichi had managed to mostly sleep through the murder each and every time. But going off of his friend's testimonies and his own sightings…
"Keebo said he witnessed a few things," Shuichi recalled. "But he only told us what was important to the mission. He saw the green Exisal go into the hangar. And… when we all went there, the control panel had a lot of strange marks on it."
"That's already a good place to start!" Tsumugi pointed out. "You should go find Keebo. Any idea where he could be?"
He must be somewhere close to the hangar, Shuichi mused, looking towards Tsumugi's door. He says he went to try to reason with Kokichi, but he got no response… is that before or after the murder? His lab does have a viewing window to outside, so maybe I sho–
Something hard collided with the side of Shuichi's head.
He barely had a chance to wonder what just happened before pain exploded in his skull, sending stars flying across his vision was what he could see of the world tipped sideways. Balance had folded inside out, and it took him a moment to realize he was on the ground, stunned.
No, wait. He couldn't feel anything at all. Not the feeling of his clothes on his skin, not the pain from mere moments ago– not even the feeling of his chest rising and falling with each and every breath.
Someone spoke, but there was nothing that followed.
–
ding dong bing bong
Shuichi inhaled so hard his chest squeezed in agony.
Ow. Ow. His head hurt.
Feeling dizzy, he managed to sit down on the edge of his bed, swaying back and forth as he struggled to even see straight. His vision was swimming, making him feel nauseous. Shuichi closed his eyes to try to alleviate the feeling, but it certainly didn't help his balance.
What just happened? Shuichi managed to coherently wonder after a few minutes. He had been hit in the head, he knew that, but… why? Who would do that?
Why… would she do that…?
It was no use. His head hurt too much to think. He laid back on his bed, trying his best to hold back tears. He was pretty sure his head would hurt worse if he started crying– that stuffy, light-headed feeling that came from a crying session would do him zero favors.
He didn't know why his hair felt a little wet. He didn't know what just happened. He didn't even know what time it was.
"Okay…" he whispered to himself, his breath hitching. He swallowed thickly, trying again. "O-Okay… calm down…"
Calm down. Much easier said than done.
Slowly, he tried to take in a breath. It hurt his lungs, which had previously felt as if all the air had been sucked out of them. Despite this, he did his best to slowly let that breath out.
He needed to make sense of what just happened. Knowing the situation would make him calmer– no, it would make it easier to calm down.
Shuichi was back in his room, that was easy to figure out. Last he remembered, he had been in Tsumugi's room, working out the whole time loop problem. He knew now that insisting it was impossible was futile, because look where he was now; hearing those bells of the empty nighttime announcement for a fifth time. This was getting ridiculous.
From what he gathered, he had to do something that changed the course of natural events, and then time would start progressing normally again. That "natural event"... the only thing he could think of was the murder. The blood in the press. Kaito. He had to find some way to stop that from happening.
Tsumugi did bring up a good point, though– he couldn't stop something from happening if he didn't even know what happened. There was no way for him to investigate the crime scene, since it seemed like whenever the body discovery announcement played, the loop restarted. Unless he got there before all of his classmates– which he wouldn't be able to do because of the alarm on the shutter– he wasn't going to figure anything out.
A good starting point would be K1-B0, who claimed to have witnessed quite a few things. If Shuichi knew what exactly the robot saw that night, then he'd be one step closer to unraveling the truth of the case.
It was when he was brainstorming where to find K1-B0 that he was hit upside the head with something. He had turned away from Tsumugi for less than a minute, and… God, she attacked him, didn't she? Tsumugi was the one who hit him.
Whatever he was hit with was too hard to be her hand, and it felt like a solid swing. In fact, it felt about equivalent to being bashed in the head with a rock– no wonder he had such a splitting migraine now. She must have used some sort of weapon on him.
Weapon… that's it! There was only one weapon he saw at that time. Her Electrohammer. She had swiped it off of the ground while he wasn't looking and whacked him with it.
But why? Why, why, why would she do that? She had been so on board with helping him out, so why would she attack him?
No, there was more to it than that. When he was hit, it felt like all of his senses had been knocked straight out of his body. Everything that allowed him to function as a person had been ripped out from beneath him, including his ability to process. It was as if his entire body stopped functioning.
The realization struck him suddenly and swiftly. It forced the air right out of his lungs, his eyes popping open for him to gape uselessly at the ceiling in horror.
Did…
Did he die?
It was such an unbelievable thought, one that he desperately wanted to dismiss right away, but he couldn't. He didn't imagine he simply slept through the morning mission– he was sure he would know if he was asleep or not. Being knocked unconscious didn't feel like that, he was sure of it.
If he was the victim of a time loop, then it wasn't totally impossible for him to have died.
Died. Shuichi died. He was murdered by one of his own classmates– his friend– for some reason he could not possibly fathom. Was that really what death felt like? One moment, you were there, and then the next it was all ripped away from you, like a rug being pulled beneath your feet?
Is that what all his other classmates felt too…? That sudden rug-pull of all senses?
Shuichi didn't like it. It wasn't as scary in the moment, but now that he was back, he was petrified.
Dying. Death. Shuichi's life had been killed by one of his own classmates.
For a while, Shuichi could only lay there, reassuring himself that he was still here. He tasted the air, breathed in the scent of his bedsheets, listened to the idle buzzing of the room. He could see everything around him– his chair, his bed, his charging Electrohammer, his desk– and he could feel himself, too. His clothes. The liquid slowly trailing down his forehead. The surface beneath him. His hands, his hair, his chest and his head.
It was okay. He was okay. He was alive now, and that's what mattered.
Unwilling to stand up, Shuichi brought his hands up to his face and let out a shaky breath. He couldn't let himself be stalled by this any longer than he needed to be– he had a much greater problem at hand. Namely, this time loop situation. He'd have to figure out what Tsumugi's motives were later.
Whether Tsumugi had truly believed him or not, she brought up a good point. Solving the murder before it even happened was the best way he could prevent it, so that's where he'd start. Figuring out what else K1-B0 had witnessed was a good place to begin his investigation, but he did also contemplate simply going to the hangar and waiting to see what happened. K1-B0 mentioned he saw an Exisal enter the hangar, so if that was before the murder occurred and Shuichi stayed out of the Exisals way… he might even be able to bypass the shutter's electric barrier and alarm simply by following the Exisal straight in. All Shuichi had to do was figure out when that was going to happen.
The problem was that Shuichi didn't know exactly where K1-B0 was right now, or when he went to try to negotiate with Kokichi.
("...if you're in a time loop, then you can use that to your advantage...")
Death was not permanent right now. Shuichi had learned that first hand. So long as he played his cards right, he could end the time loop with no casualties.
As Shuichi thought about it, he groaned quietly.
This was going to be a lot harder than he anticipated.
Shuichi was exhausted when he finally reached the dining hall. He didn't sleep last night– he spent the hours until morning sitting up, walking in circles, showering and constantly checking himself in the mirror. It was fine, though. The loop will repeat tomorrow.
"Nyeeeh! We're all here!" Himiko exclaimed as usual.
"Is everyone ready?" asked K1-B0.
"Of course!" Tsumugi affirmed, making Shuichi shiver. "My Electrohammer is all recharged!"
What an awful thing to get hit by. Shuichi's head still ached from the blow he received.
"Shuichi?" Maki's voice made him jump. "Don't fall asleep on your feet. It's an important day."
It was an important day Shuichi was already tired of dealing with, especially when he knew for sure what they were going to find at the hangar. Time loops. Not recommended.
"Okay," was all he could say in response. "Let's… go save Kaito."
Maki narrowed her eyes at him, looking almost suspicious.
"Before we go," K1-B0 thankfully interjected, "there's something I want to share with you all. Last night, I went to the hangar to try to talk to Kokichi."
"You went to the hangar…?" Maki asked, which was an eerie echo of the response she had given Shuichi.
"Yes. I thought it would be preferable for him to release Kaito peacefully," K1-B0 explained.
"How did it go?" Tsumugi inquired, shifting her Electrohammer in her hands. Shuichi sidled a step away from her, trying to keep his focus on K1-B0.
"It went about as well as I expected… there was no response at all," the robot sighed. "But I did witness a few things."
There. That's where it was. All Shuichi needed to do was learn everything here, and then he could spend the next loop at the hangar.
"Wh-What? What… did you witness?" Himiko asked with an undeniable note of nervousness.
"Please," Shuichi added, staring at him intently. "Tell us everything. We should go there with no doubts holding us back."
K1-B0 seemed a little taken aback at his intensity, but he nodded. "Right… it may delay us for a few moments, if that is okay. First, what's relevant to our mission is that while I was trying to speak to Kokichi, I saw one of the Exisals previously protecting Monokuma enter the hangar. I made sure to stay out of sight while I watched. Neither the alarm system nor the electric barrier reacted to the Exisal's presence."
Tsumugi hummed. "Does that mean the alarm system and the electric barrier don't work on the Exisals?"
"Considering it's where the Exisals are stored, that would be a safe assumption," K1-B0 agreed. "The second thing I saw is a little less related, but… I saw Himiko carrying a black case into the hangar."
All eyes immediately turned towards the mage, who froze like a deer in headlights.
"You… did?" Himiko squeaked indiscreetly.
"What were you doing, Himiko?" Tsumugi asked her. "Why were you at the hangar?"
"Why were you at the hangar?" Maki questioned as well, though her general aura was about ten times more intimidating.
"I-I was giving something to Kaito," Himiko explained stiffly. "I couldn't sleep last night, s-s-so I decided to go on a bit of an evening stroll. Kaito called out to me, and he asked me t-to go… get something for him."
"You spoke to Kaito?" Shuichi demanded in alarm. Last night… I'm assuming this was before Keebo went into the hangar and saw the Exisal.
"All he told me to do was to get him one of the black cases from M-Maki's lab," Himiko said, shrinking away from the assassin's dark look. "And he told me to bring just one crossbow arrow. He said he was going to disable Kokichi."
Shuichi stiffened, horror coursing through his veins.
("Don't you worry! I'll do something about all this! That's a promise! All you guys are working so hard, so I can't just sit back and relax!")
Part of Shuichi wanted to run straight to the hangar. His legs screamed at him to move, to get to his friend as fast as possible before Kokichi could retaliate against him, but his body remained firmly in place.
Shuichi knew that, logically, it was far too late to save Kaito.
This time, he reminded himself firmly. I'll always have another chance later.
Hm. He got used to this fast. Maybe dying affected him in more ways than one.
"We shouldn't waste any time then," K1-B0 announced, drawing Shuichi's attention back to reality. "Kaito could already be in need of serious aid!"
"Let's go," said Maki, rushing out of the dining hall first. Everyone else followed closely behind, their footsteps now quickened with urgency.
Shuichi let out a sigh, knowing perfectly well that whatever they did now was futile.
–
Sixth time's the charm, no one ever said.
Instead of staring blankly at his ceiling and trying to settle back into functioning as a human being, Shuichi was entering the corridors that led to the Exisal hangar. He had staked out here for a while, and as Himiko had said, she did come here for an evening stroll a little while after the nighttime announcement. She did talk to Kaito, and soon returned with a large black case for him.
The green Exisal hadn't left its post yet. Shuichi was sitting against the wall by the bathroom window, simply waiting for something to happen. Kaito was eerily quiet in there, and as much as Shuichi's heart ached knowing he was willingly allowing whatever was happening next to occur, he didn't want to do it over again.
While he was sitting here, he had been trying his best to figure out why Tsumugi would kill him. The thought had been haunting him ever since it happened, which felt like lightyears ago despite it only being… what? One night ago?
Understanding time in a time loop was confusing. It was two attempts ago, how about that.
One of the most plausible theories he had was that she was alarmed by the notion that he was going to try to stop what happened in the hangar. For some reason, she wanted this murder to happen, even though Shuichi was fairly confident that she wasn't the culprit or even involved.
Why? She wanted to stop the killing game as much as everyone else. Why did she go as far as to kill Shuichi to keep him from saving Kaito?
Did… she assume that Kokichi was the one to die? Maybe she was trying to keep Shuichi from saving a Remnant of Despair– the mastermind's– life. Shuichi couldn't exactly say that he was very fond of the measures she took to keep that from happening, but it was the best explanation he could come up with.
That, or she had simply been looking for an excuse to kill. Hell, maybe she had some hidden, twisted part of her that adored the killing game, like Kokichi claimed to have. Shuichi really wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt though.
He'd have to keep an eye on her, he decided. Stop the murder first, and maybe figure out what Tsumugi's deal was if he had time afterwards.
All of the sudden, Shuichi saw a flash of gray out of the corner of his eye and he turned his head. These corridors were quite long so he doubted anyone would be able to hear those two, but he saw K1-B0 walk past and make a direct right turn to head to the shutter. This must be when he tries to negotiate with Kokichi, Shuichi realized.
"Heyyyo. Oh, good! You're still alive."
The voice made him freeze. It was a voice he hadn't heard in days, but its ominously cheerful tone felt like a physical attack on his heart.
Kokichi Ouma, Remnant of Despair and mastermind of this killing game.
Shuichi didn't dare to move. He could hear the two of them through the bathroom window, and he didn't want to imagine what might happen if he was caught here.
"Just wanted to check in on my second favorite hostage," Kokichi sneered. "I was worried you'd keeled over and died. Buuut you didn't."
"Kokichi!" Kaito growled, and there was a sharp shuffle as, he assumed, Kaito stood. "Heh… about time you showed up!"
"Aww, did Kaito miss m– what is that."
"I had a delivery earlier," Kaito told him triumphantly. "See? My friends are always helping me out. And if you don't let me go and stop this bullshit right now, either I'm busting out of here or they're busting me out!"
Kokichi was quiet for only a split second before he started giggling. "They felt so bad for you they gave you a toy! Isn't that so sweet? Your pets are so loyal, Kaito. I'm impressed."
"The– They're not my pets! And it's not a toy. It's a crossbow. If you get to have the Exisals, I can have this!"
"I don't know… seems kind of like you're playing unfair. You're bringing a crossbow to a fist fight? Where's your honor, Kaito? Your dignity?"
"Grrh… shut up! Listen man, I won't let you have your way anymore," Kaito snapped impatiently. "I'll fight you to get out of here if I need to!"
Kokichi scoffed. "What are you gonna do? Shoot me?"
Shuichi didn't think he could have chosen any worse of a choice of words.
There was a shout of pain from the boy, and then a loud grunt as he assumed Kaito lunged at him. Shuichi listened nauseously as there was a muffled string of curses, the sound of a door slamming, and even more distant shouting. He couldn't hear much from the window anymore, so he assumed that Kokichi had tried to flee, unsuccessfully, further into the hangar.
Actually, maybe he couldn't hear anything because of the heavy, thudding footsteps coming his direction.
The Exisal, Shuichi realized, using the wall to support himself into a standing position. It's coming this way. This must be when it enters the hangar, so Keebo must be…
As he suspected, K1-B0 appeared from around the corner on the opposite end of the hall, visibly alarmed. However, due to Shuichi's utter lack of stealth and good hiding spots, their eyes locked for a solid second before K1-B0 suddenly started sprinting towards him.
Just in time, too. He managed to get around the corner, joining Shuichi's side against the wall, as the green Exisal stomped right past them, moving seamlessly towards where K1-B0 had just been.
Shuichi realized with a sinking feeling in his gut that he might know why that Exisal was on its way. Kaito stood no chance against that thing.
"What on earth are you doing here?" K1-B0 demanded in a low voice. "How long have you been standing there…?"
"I'm…" Shuichi trailed off, frantically clawing for a good excuse. "I-I'm keeping lookout. I'm making sure, um, everything goes smoothly for tomorrow."
"I never saw you enter the hangar!?" K1-B0 shot back, gesturing wildly in the direction where the Exisal had just come from.
I need to see what's going on in there, Shuichi thought with a helpless glance down the hall. "I came in early, right when the nighttime announcement played. I'm going to go see what that Exisal is doing."
"You're what?" K1-B0 yelped as Shuichi began moving. "That's much too dangerous, Shuichi! You're not even armed! And you look exhausted! Have you slept…?"
"...I'll just take a quick peek," Shuichi promised, wasting no time in hurrying after the Exisal. "I'll stay out of sight, I promise!"
K1-B0 did not look convinced, but he didn't dare shout after Shuichi. A good choice, even if Shuichi wasn't sure if the Exisals could hear or not.
His heart thudding painfully in his chest, Shuichi cautiously peered around the corner. The Exisal was still in front of the shutter, the electric barrier crackling and pressing a yellow glow on the Exisal's metal. He was faintly aware of K1-B0 beside him, and the two of them watched as both the alarm and the electric barrier shut off. The shutter creaked and groaned before slowly, slowly beginning to open.
"Huh…?" K1-B0 whispered. "The alarm and electric barrier shuts off for the Exisals…?"
"I guess," Shuichi hummed noncommittally. "We could probably sneak inside right now if we wanted to."
K1-B0 shot him a horrified look. "Did you hit your head too hard, Shuichi? You usually have such good judgment."
That blow better not have messed with my head, Shuichi thought in alarm. The possibility that he might be experiencing aftereffects of such a hard hit hadn't even occurred to him until now. He mostly felt normal, aside from his obvious lack of proper rest.
"You should go back," Shuichi suggested instead of answering. "I'll follow you in a moment, I promise. I just want to see what's happening."
"I apologize, Shuichi, but I don't know if I should leave you alone when you're exhibiting such odd behavior," K1-B0 unfortunately shot him down.
"It'll be easier for one of us to spy than two," Shuichi reasoned back, eyeing the Exisal worriedly. It was starting to move again, causing both him and his friend to flinch. "Keebo, please. Before Kokichi hears us."
"I can't leave you alone," K1-B0 stubbornly insisted. "Let's watch together. Just stay quiet."
Knowing this wasn't a battle he had the energy to win, Shuichi gave in. He shuffled forwards from his hiding spot and moved to peek into the hangar itself, where he could see Kaito and Kokichi staring up at the Exisal in utter shock.
"What the hell–" he heard Kaito sputter. Kokichi looked similarly nervous– even more so, actually.
The cockpit clicked, and it flung itself open.
No, wait– it was pushed open.
It was hard to see from the back, but luckily, Kaito's voice was loud enough for him to identify the person in the Exisal.
"Wha– Maki!?"
Both K1-B0 and Shuichi exchanged looks with one another.
What is Maki doing here? Shuichi wondered as he saw Kokichi fumbling for something in his pocket.
Without barely a moment's hesitation, Kokichi whipped out a remote, trying to scramble further away from the Exisal and Kaito–
There was a zip in the air, and then Kokichi let out another pained cry, this one somehow worse than the last. The remote clattered to the floor and Maki was quick to keep Kokichi from reaching for it, a crossbow of her own already loaded and poised with another arrow.
"Don't move," Maki hissed, and for once, Kokichi actually listened, taking to one knee and glaring up at her from the floor. "If you don't want me to end your pitiful life right now, then talk. That arrow was poisoned, and if you tell me everything about your plan, I might get you the antidote. Tell me why you would do this to us."
Somehow, Kokichi had the nerve to laugh. "Poisoned arrow? Wow, you really are… some assassin. J-Just your style, huh?"
Maki took a threatening, looming step closer to him. "Talk, or you die. What's the point of this killing game? Were you really just bored?"
Shuichi felt sick to his stomach. He was sure K1-B0 would feel the same if he had one. Maki…
So that's why she didn't have her hammer. She hijacked an Exisal and broke into the hangar.
We were going to save him together, Maki… so why…?
"I already told you everything," snapped Kokichi, his thin frame tense as he glowered at Maki. "Wh-What else do you want me to tell you? My tragic backstory?"
"Don't mess around with me!" Maki shouted, her voice dripping with scorn. "I'm sick of playing your stupid games. Why would you start the killing game? How many people have to die for you to be satisfied? But," she snarled, "I guess it's just like you Remnants of Despair to enjoy such senseless killing."
"Maki Roll…" Kaito tried, but his voice was uncharacteristically quiet, as if even he was afraid to interfere with Maki when she was like this.
"Wh-What… are you talking about?" Kokichi breathed in what appeared to be momentary, genuine confusion. "Remnants of Despair… what's that? I-I don't understand… anything… you're saying."
"We need to stop this," K1-B0 urgently whispered to Shuichi. "If Maki kills Kokichi–"
"Hold on," Shuichi cut him off, his eyes trained intently on the brutal scene in front of him.
"But, a-anyway." Kokichi hung his head, taking in a deep breath before continuing. "Why are you… starting up the k-killing game… when it should've ended? Y-You already know it's all meaningless… and th-that I'm the mastermind." His voice dropped, and for just a second, Shuichi thought he heard honest uncertainty. "Do you… love killing that much?"
Maki's shoulders went rigid, and after a brief pause… "...shut up, you asshole!"
Terror seized Shuichi's chest in cold, suffocating talons as he watched Maki pull the trigger– the killing blow. K1-B0 darted past him, shouting something that sounded like Maki, stop! and causing both Maki and Kokichi's heads to turn in shock.
But there was one person who didn't falter at the sight of K1-B0.
Kaito's arm flew in the path of the small arrow, and Shuichi watched in horror as it tore through his coat's sleeve, embedding itself in its skin.
Poisoned arrow. Those words sang its cruel melody in Shuichi's mind.
Pieces were starting to click together. The tiny hole in Kaito's jacket under the press– the poisoned arrow.
There was no arm. But they were both poisoned.
With what? What did she shoot them with? How long do they have?
"...what?" Maki inhaled as she saw what she had done.
"Kaito!" K1-B0 cried out, rushing to the astronaut's side.
"Ow… Keebo?" Kaito looked earnestly confused. "How did–"
"Wh-What the hell are you doing here!?" Kokichi shouted at the robot, his gaze hardening into something that looked more like fury. "Anyone else want to j-join the party!? Himiko? Shuichi!?"
"Nevermind that." K1-B0 turned towards Maki, who had dropped the crossbow and was staring at Kaito's arm. "What was that arrow poisoned with!?"
"Strike-9 Poison," Maki replied automatically, her voice dry. "Kaito, you– you idiot! Why would you do that!? You– t-there's an antidote in Shuichi's lab. I'll go get it! Don't move!"
"Yeah, y-you, uh… do that, Maki Roll," Kaito agreed, eyeing the arrow in his arm anxiously. "Do it! Hurry!"
Maki didn't hesitate a moment longer. She zoomed past Shuichi at speeds he didn't think possible, not even noticing him in her rush.
"Keebo, how did you get here?" Kaito asked the robot, taking his eyes off of Kokichi.
"The shutter's alarm turns off when it opens," K1-B0 explained. "I originally stayed to monitor Shuichi, but I couldn't simply sit here and watch this happen! For the sake of hope, we can't allow anyone else to die!"
"Shuichi's here!?" Kaito's head swiveled towards the open shutter and Shuichi quickly ducked out of view, guilt stirring in his stomach. He was the one who insisted they watch everything unfold– even if Shuichi would just be sent back to the start of the night upon somebody's death, he couldn't help but feel terrible for his poor actions now.
It's not fair to use these time loops to escape consequences. Shuichi squeezed his eyes shut, pressing the heels of his palms against his eyelids. There was a pressure in his head, building and building as his bottom lip trembled dangerously. I'm terrible. I could have stopped this from happening if I ran in there the minute it opened.
Despite this guilt, Shuichi couldn't help but wish that the loop would simply restart already. He knew what he needed to– he didn't need to see the rest.
At least Shuichi knew what he needed to know. He could start forming a plan of action to stop this murder from happening in the next loop. He might as well just… let everything play out now, right? He didn't have a choice in the matter either way– everything was set in stone, and he was sure there was no way to save both of them.
He knew his lab all too well. There was only one available antidote for every poison.
Someone, either Kaito or Kokichi, was going to die. And this time, it was all Shuichi's fault.
No longer able to bear being here, where Kaito might die within the hour, Shuichi turned away from the open shutter, his emotions starting to become overwhelming. Maki would be back any second, and he didn't think he'd be able to handle her too. She'd ask what he was doing here as well, and then she'd wonder why neither he nor K1-B0 had intervened. Kaito would wonder that too, and they'd realize that Shuichi willing let this happen, knowing the consequences. He virtually killed his best friend with his own two hands by his lack of interference.
It was selfish of him, he knew it was. But Shuichi ran away.
He ran all the way back to his bedroom, slamming the door behind him and collapsing onto his bed and burying his face into his bedsheets, unable to face the world.
Exhaustion strained his body from his lack of sleep. Guilt and grief weighed heavily on his chest, straining his lungs as he tried desperately to gasp for air. Mixed with his renewed self-hatred, he couldn't help but wonder why it had to be him that had to do this. He should be delighted that he had a chance to save Kaito from dying, and Maki from killing him.
So why did he feel so awful? Why did everything feel so helpless?
(He wondered, for only the briefest moment, that maybe… if he was the one to kill himself…)
It was hopeless. He couldn't do anything. Hope's Peak Academy attendee or not, Shuichi really wasn't anything special. His classmates were slaughtering each other and he wasn't doing anything to stop it– he sat back and watched it go down. He knew he needed to– he'd always have another chance the next loop, and knowledge was power– but that didn't change the fact that everything was actually happening. He felt the truest, honest pain in his soul when he saw his classmates hurting and getting hurt.
(He hated to admit it, but even Kokichi, the mastermind and a Remnant of Despair, was difficult to watch get hurt. It was difficult to simply dismiss his own feelings.
Kokichi's hand had been so… warm. Their time spent playing games together had been so real. Was that all an act? Or did Kokichi enjoy his company as a Remnant of Despair?)
For the first time since this all started, Shuichi let himself cry. He cried as hard as his body would allow him to. He cried for his dead friends, his dying friends and for himself, because he didn't know if anyone else would.
He cried until he inevitably fell asleep, leaning half-way on his bed with his knees on the floor and his hands weakly clenching the sheets.
Ding dong.
Ding dong.
Ding dong.
Instinctively, Shuichi shifted to cover his ears from the persistent sound.
Ding dong.
Ding dong.
It didn't stop. Life comes at you fast, apparently.
Groaning, Shuichi rose from his highly uncomfortable position, wincing as his entire body creaked. He stretched out his arms and back, glancing blearily around the room in an attempt to locate that irritating sound.
Ding dong.
Ah. Someone was at his door.
Shuichi partly contemplated simply going back to sleep, but he feared that the next measure his classmates would take would be to break down his door. So with a heavy heart and a longing look at his bed, Shuichi dragged himself to his door.
To say he was surprised to see all of his classmates standing there was an understatement.
…almost everybody. Kaito and Kokichi were still absent.
"Shuichi!" K1-B0 exclaimed in relief. "Thank goodness, you're okay!"
"You look… terrible," Tsumugi commented. "Are you okay?"
"At least he wasn't shredded by an Exisal," Himiko pointed out.
Shuichi blinked at her, still not entirely comprehending reality. Was he in a new loop, or was this the same one? Why did Maki look so shattered?
"Listen, there's no time. Grab your Electrohammer," K1-B0 ordered him hurriedly. "We're performing the mission right now."
"Um." Shuichi stared at him, letting those words process in his mind. "...why?"
"You saw what happened, according to Keebo," Maki finally cut in. "When I left to get the antidote, Kokichi said he was going to make the Exisals attack you. Keebo ran out to protect you, and Kokichi locked the shutter again."
Antidote? So she did come back with it. "Did you give Kaito the antidote…?"
Maki's already grim expression darkened. "Kokichi stole it from him… and drank it."
"So we have to hurry!" Tsumugi urged him. "I-If you can, Shuichi. If you need to stay here, that's okay too."
"Ah, sorry. I can come." Despite how much he really didn't want to come, Shuichi rushed back into his room to grab his Electrohammer. It wasn't yet at full charge, but that was okay. Shuichi was sure he wouldn't be battling any Exisals.
With everyone armed, they raced back towards the Exisal hangar, dread following Shuichi like a stalking predator. The stars were still twinkling in the sky no matter how fake they were, so it was still nighttime. He must have only gotten an hour of sleep at most.
Some sleep was better than none, he supposed.
Maki was already gripping the Electrobomb she had before they even reached the shutter. She had darted to the lead, and thus was the first one to make it there. Shuichi was the last, his body groaning in agony from the overexertion.
That could wait, though. Maki hadn't yet triggered the Electrobomb. Instead, she was holding it up and staring at the shutter in confusion. Shuichi could understand why.
The alarm system was already powered down.
"Wh–What the…?" Himiko stammered as she saw the lack of lights as well.
"Why would Kokichi leave himself open like this…?" Tsumugi murmured with a wary glance at her fellow classmates. Shuichi remained a few feet away from her, hurriedly pushing the phantom feeling of her Electrohammer against his head away.
"Is this a trap…?" K1-B0 worried.
"Trap or not," Maki hissed, suddenly brandishing a knife she had acquired from virtually nowhere, "we're going in. Keebo, open the shutter."
"Err… yes, I'm on it!"
Giving the control panel a firm whack, K1-B0 quickly overrode the electric barrier and opened the shutter.
Honestly, Shuichi thought, he didn't know what else he was expecting.
But just as before, there was blood. And just as before, Kaito's coat sleeve dangled limply from the two metal slabs.
Seems like they were an hour too late.
–
ding dong bing bong
Shuichi rubbed his eyes, staring up at the empty nighttime announcement.
Okay. That was fine. It was a new loop, which means he had a fresh start on everything. He'd stop the murder from happening, which meant he needed to stop Maki from going through with her interrogation.
That meant that he'd need to start moving now, though. He estimated he had roughly an hour before Maki made her move to the Exisal hangar, and Kaito would be utterly screwed if Shuichi didn't do something now.
As Shuichi left his bedroom, his tired mind was working overtime to try and piece everything together. K1-B0's interference made everything a little more difficult, but Shuichi supposed he could make a somewhat clear picture with everything he got from last time.
The key points, he thought, were this: Himiko delivered Kaito his crossbow. Kaito and Kokichi began fighting around the same time K1-B0 entered the hangar to try to negotiate with Kokichi, and when Maki hijacked one of the Exisals protecting Monokuma. Maki entered the hangar, shot both Kaito and Kokichi with a poisoned crossbow arrow, and then ran to find the antidote.
This is where things got tricky, but if he guessed right, then he assumed that Maki returned with the antidote to find the shutter closed. She tried to give it to Kaito through what could only be the bathroom window, but Kokichi stole it and drank it. Those marks on the control panel must have been Maki's panicked attempt to get back into the hangar, clearly to no avail.
That's where things got odd. If Maki successfully approached the control panel, then the alarm didn't go off. And in every loop where Shuichi didn't mess up the natural course of events, the alarm sensor was most definitely on.
Somehow, Shuichi might have a solution to this. It was something he had been wondering about for a while, and although farfetched, he might have an answer.
An Electrobomb.
Kokichi set off an Electrobomb at some point in the hangar– presumably after Maki fled. While doing this put Kokichi at a considerable disadvantage, there was one key thing that the Electrobomb disabled.
The hydraulic press' safety function.
For some unfathomable reason, Shuichi was sure that Kokichi killed Kaito under the press. That was the only reason he could think of that Kokichi would trigger an Electrobomb. In fact, he was sure it was an Electrobomb, because in his last attempt, they arrived at the shutter when the effects of the device were still active. The Exisals surrounding where Monokuma should've been were all still (as he had noticed on his way there), and the alarm sensors were all off. Especially in that attempt, Kokichi would know better than to leave himself defenseless.
Shuichi was really, really hoping that if he stopped Maki from entering the hangar, Kokichi wouldn't find the incentive to kill Kaito. Even though Shuichi still wasn't sure of the exact reason for that, he supposed that he could always check again later if he really needed to. He'd just have to effectively get rid of K1-B0 and carefully stay out of Maki's way.
With luck, it wouldn't come down to that. Shuichi rang Maki's doorbell, consciously trying not to look too dead on his feet.
It took a few moments, but the door eventually opened.
"What do–" Maki cut herself off as her expression morphed, her eyebrows pinched as her mouth remained agape for only a few seconds. "What happened to your face?"
"Excuse me?" Shuichi asked, knowing fully well what she was talking about.
"Were you crying?" Maki asked him bluntly.
Crap, was it that obvious? Shuichi hurriedly reached up to rub aggressively at his cheeks, hoping to clear any remnants of his previous breakdown.
"It's fine. Not important," Shuichi assured his friend unconvincingly.
Maki was visibly skeptical. "You looked fine this morning… did something happen?"
Oh, you have no idea. "Kind of. I-it's just… can I talk to you about something serious? Please?"
"Sure," Maki responded simply. She stepped fully out of her room and closed the door behind her, now standing in front of Shuichi. "What is it?"
Not wanting to risk being interrupted by Himiko leaving for her evening walk, Shuichi gestured for Maki to follow him. "Let's talk in the courtyard."
It had been a while since he and Maki were under the stars together like this. The last time he had spent any time with Kaito or Maki was before the fourth trial– unless you could count the night after, but that was more of Shuichi awkwardly watching Kaito and Maki from the sidelines than it was spending time with them.
How long have I been awake? Shuichi could only wonder. He hadn't slept at all in the fifth loop– the one after he… was killed– and he only got an hour of sleep before being launched into this loop. That was… what? Twelve hours at most?
It felt like it had been so much longer.
"Maki," Shuichi began, trying to work out how he was going to word this. "...I know what you're planning to do tonight."
Maki didn't give him a reaction. That was okay, Shuichi supposed.
"I wanted to ask you… not to do it," Shuichi continued pleadingly. "You already know that Kokichi isn't going to tell you anything, and… I can't let you kill him, Maki. You know Kaito wouldn't want that."
"...what are you talking about?" Maki questioned, and if it weren't for the fact that Shuichi had watched her plan in motion, he might have been fooled by her feigned ignorance.
Might as well lay it to her straight. "You're going to use an Exisal to break into the hangar, and you're going to try to torture Kokichi for answers with a poisoned crossbow arrow.
That made Maki flinch. Though once the initial shock had passed, her eyes narrowed dangerously, and Shuichi didn't miss the way her shoulders tensed.
"How did you know that…?" Maki demanded lowly. "Do you want to die?"
Taking in a deep breath, Shuichi lowered himself onto his knees, not unaware of the alarm on his friend's face. Then, he pressed his forehead against the cold ground and clasped his hands together.
"Please," he begged fervently, his voice coming out as a pathetic, hoarse whisper. "Please wait until tomorrow."
Shuichi couldn't see Maki's face, but judging from her silence, she was probably stunned. He could understand that– he hardly, if ever, got down on his knees and begged.
But honestly, he was desperate. He didn't want to go into that hangar knowing it was too late. Even if only a little, he just wanted to feel the hope that everything would be okay this time.
"Stand up," Maki snapped at him, sounding deeply perturbed. "Right now. Don't ever do that again."
Stubbornly, Shuichi didn't budge. "Not until you promise you're not going to break into the hangar."
"What makes you think I was going to do that in the first place?" inquired Maki. When Shuichi didn't respond, she huffed. "I won't go to the hangar tonight, so get up."
Feeling weak with relief, Shuichi got back to his feet, trying to hide the redness in his cheeks. Hopefully he wouldn't ever have to do that again, but at least he knew it worked.
"Did something happen?" Maki asked him as he brushed himself off, her voice somewhat stiff with discomfort. "And how did you… know about that?"
"I'll tell you tomorrow," Shuichi promised, though his words didn't come out very confidently. "Once we save Kaito– it'll be easier to explain. Just this once, please… trust me."
Maki stared at him, as if she was trying to pick the truth out of his brain through the sheer power of her eyes. Shuichi refused to allow his resolve to waver, and he kept his own gaze on the grass below their feet.
"...you're difficult to say no to sometimes," was what Maki said when she realized he wasn't going to budge. "Fine. I'll wait. But I am going to kill Kokichi one way or another. I won't allow the mastermind to get away with this."
"Thank you," Shuichi breathed, hardly registering that last part. "I'm sure Kaito can hold out for just one more night. He's Kaito, after all– you know you can't keep him locked up for long. And… he has faith in us, you know? I'm sure he trusts that we'll save him."
"...I guess so," Maki agreed, her voice quiet. "Believing in others is something he tries to push."
Shuichi nodded. "Also, you'll need your energy for tomorro–"
"Okay, I get it. I told you, I won't do anything tonight," Maki repeated, this time with a firm note of finality in her voice. "I take it you won't tell me what's wrong, so I won't ask. But after the mission tomorrow, you'd better tell me how you figured out my plan."
That was a fair trade. Shuichi sincerely doubted that she'd believe him, but he'd cross that bridge if he got there.
If he got there. There was the very real possibility that he was going to fail.
Hopefully, that wouldn't be the case.
"I will," he assured her, hoping it would be true. "Thank you, Maki. We'll save Kaito tomorrow– I'm sure of it."
For the first time in a while, Maki gave him a small smile.
After bidding each other goodnight, the two of them returned to their respective bedrooms. Shuichi slumped against the nearest wall the minute he was alone, blowing out a massive breath as he finally dropped the emotional mask he had been trying so hard to wear. He was still so unsure about everything– what if this didn't work? His initial theory was that if he took away Kokichi's motive to kill Kaito, which was Maki's original attack, then everything would be okay, but… what if he was wrong?
There was always the next loop. But Shuichi really wanted this to end as soon as possible. He was afraid of what might happen to him as a person if this continued on, because it was only his seventh attempt and he already felt as if he was changing.
That was going to be a difficult one to explain to his friends. How was he going to tell them he was in a time loop and expect them to take him seriously?
(If he did tell them, what if they brought a hammer to his head again–?)
Shuichi's hand subconsciously found its way to the side of his head, and he grimaced.
"Ghh…" Too many questions with too few answers. He didn't know if this was going to work, he didn't know why this time loop was happening, he didn't know what happened in that hangar after Kokichi drank the antidote and he didn't know why Tsumugi killed him. He didn't know anything.
One thing at a time, he tried to tell himself. First, he should go clean himself up– he hadn't gotten the chance to wash his face yet, and it was starting to make him feel a little gross. Next, he should wait until he was sure that nothing was going to happen to let himself fall asleep or distract himself in any way. It'd be trouble if he let his guard down for even a moment and Maki ended up going to the hangar anyway–
Shuichi shot upwards, accidentally splashing water everywhere in the process.
What if Maki went to the hangar anyway?
It wasn't that Shuichi didn't trust Maki, it was more that he knew her. He had witnessed first hand just how far she was willing to go to save Kaito and stop the killing game– would Shuichi's pleas really work on a resolve like that?
If Maki goes there tonight, I'm going to have to redo the entire loop–!
Shuichi did not want that to happen!
Turning off his sink, he booked it out of his bedroom. He knew one sure-fire way to keep anyone from entering those corridors, and that was to stand outside their doors. That'd mean that he'd have to be awake all night, and he risked questioning from his classmates considering both Himiko and K1-B0 were still going to try to enter the hangar. If he could keep anyone from going in there, maybe things would turn out differently for once.
What time is it? he wondered frantically as he ran through the courtyard, moving as fast as his legs would take him. If Himiko had already entered those corridors, then she was inevitably going to speak to Kaito.
He saw no one as he slowed to a stop in front of the set of large doors, and he took a moment to catch his breath, cautiously scanning the path behind him. He supposed he'd find out whether he was early enough or not in just a few minutes– it'd be a lot harder to convince Himiko to turn back if she had already spoken to Kaito.
Standing out here all night was going to be one hell of a challenge, especially considering what he had to do in the morning.
But it was a challenge Shuichi was willing to face if it meant he could save Kaito.