Chapter LIII: Closed Doors:

XxX

Naegi

I sighed anticipatorily.

"I suppose I'll have to deal with that, then. Why are we using the tunnels?"

Ikusaba's face flickered briefly to anger before she grinned and pulled up a map of the school.

"Over the course of your week or so post-attack, you've explored a good deal of the school. However, you haven't gone anywhere near the second floor of dormitories. Monokuma has never mentioned them. Why do you think that is?"

My eyes widened. I had seen a staircase to the second floor, but it had just...never occurred to me to try to get in. Alter Ego had never mentioned it either.

"What's up there?" I asked.

"My base of operations," Ikusaba responded. "She never mentioned the second floor or fixed the cameras up there post-assault because, as far as she knew, nobody was going to try to go up there besides me. If we're lucky, she doesn't know where I was storing my ammunition and weaponry. On the other hand..." she trailed off.

"If we're unlucky, there'll be a welcoming party for us," I finished dryly. "You know, these plans were a lot simpler back when you weren't on my side and we had an idea who we were facing at any given objective. Mind becoming a triple agent?"

She chuckled, though it still felt forced.

"I feel like firing's taken a bit less literally on this side of the battlefield, so I'm afraid I'll have to answer no. What fun would battles be if you knew everything beforehand anyway?"

"Touche." I replied. "So, what's our entry point?"

Her expression instantly flickered back to serious as she pointed to the map.

"The nearest tunnel entrance is in the entrance hall. If we want to draw Monokuma's attention away, we'll have to time our entry for the moment the troops reach the physics lab so he's focused elsewhere."

I nodded.

"Got it. How long is that?"

She quickly glanced down at her communicator, manipulating the controls until it displayed a clock.

"Assuming the troops didn't run into any unexpected delays, about ten minutes. We should get moving."

"Yep. Main transit elevators?"

She nodded and we began to jog towards the central lift stations.

XxX

Kirigiri

After the Monokuma returned to its vigil, we turned to each other, confused. Its tone indicated that 'breather' was supposed to be some kind of hint to the motive, but how? The obvious hypothesis was that the motive would involve depriving us of air, to use Naegi's lexicon. On the other hand, that was, to put it bluntly, just too similar to the last motive. Monokuma's other motives had ranged wildly time and time again, but this one would, in effect, also be putting a time limit on us. Also, what would happen if Naegi arrived in the 48 hours? Would the motive just end? That didn't seem quite like Monokuma either.

As I thought, Celeste stepped up from behind me and placed her hand on my shoulder, leading me to a corner of the range away from the other students. I turned to face her.

"Celeste, why did you bring me here?"

"I have some information you should know."

I nodded.

"Go on?"

"I have recently become aware that Monokuma has placed a chemical agent in the vents. The new motive will likely involve use of that agent, hence the abysmal pun."

"That does make sense," I replied. "But doesn't it seem too similar to the last motive?"

She tilted her head slightly, considering my words.

"You are right. It's not like our delightful headmaster to do something so gauche as give us two time-focused motives in a row. On the other hand, I imagine he has no intent to use this motive."

"I agree," I replied. "It's meant as bait. When Naegi gets here, the real motive begins."

Celeste smiled and stepped closer to me.

"What's this? Our little Kyouko is learning how the game is played? My, this school's changed you as much as it has Byakuya."

I sighed.

"I spent almost my entire life in the criminal underbelly of Japan, Celeste. I was playing the game while you were still going through elementary school."

She took another step forward, now close enough I could feel her breath on my face. Her voice dropped to a breathy whisper.

"Someone's feisty, aren't they. I wonder if you might need to be taken down a peg."

My eyes widened as red crept up my cheeks.

"By you, Celeste? You have just as much a problem with arrogance as I do."

She smiled again, her arm wrapping around my hips. I tensed and she noticed.

"What's wrong, Kyouko? Is your mask wavering? What are you afraid of?"

I forced myself to remain calm.

"If you recall, we are all at risk of imminent death. Might that be a good reason to stay on task, perhaps?"

She sighed again.

"Always with the sharp retorts. I should find some way to shut you up..." Her head tilted for a moment, before she nodded.

"Ah, yes, of course."

She suddenly leaned forward, her lips landing softly on mine. A moment later, she pulled away, leaving me speechless.

"That seems to have done it."

After another moment, I pulled myself together.

"I see that giving me the information about the neurotoxins was clearly your main purpose for bringing me over here."

She laughed.

"Why, but of course? What else would it have been?"

"I can't think of anything," I replied dryly.

"Well, if the renowned detective says there isn't anything, then we know there is no guilt to be found."

"On a related subject: how did you know who I was?" I responded. "You have kept your nose clean well enough, and almost nobody knows my name specifically unless they and I met through a case."

She shrugged.

"I kept my ear to the ground. Your name came up more and more."

I considered that answer briefly. Something seemed strange about it. I was involved in more cases, but not so many more that my name had a massive presence on the rumor mill. Unless...my eyes darkened.

"You were looking into Kibougamine, weren't you. You found me because of my father."

XxX

Naegi

The elevator slid to a stop and Ikusaba quickly motioned me to the side. When I reached her, she glanced down at her communicator.

"90 seconds left. On my mark, follow me and make for the far wall. Don't wait for me to open the tunnels before you start moving. Get inside the tunnels as fast as possible, then wait for me. I'll be closing the entrance behind us."

I nodded.

"You'll lead me once inside? I used to have a guide, but..." I trailed off.

"I know." Her voice was calm, but cold. "You should have told us earlier, Naegi. Once I saved you."

My eyes widened and I put my hand on her forearm.

"Look, Mukuro, it wasn't a lack of trust, it was just...I didn't think to mention it. I screwed up. I know."

She nodded.

"Yes. You did. And we are going to talk about operational security and the precise uses of compartmentalization once we reach a safe place. Now is not the time, though."

She glanced down at her communicator again.

"5 seconds. On my mark."

I waited a few moments before she pressed a button, opening the door. The moment the doors opened enough, we both darted out, sprinting for the other side of the room. She reached the wall first and dexterously manipulated a control hidden in the paint, sliding the tunnel entrance open. I quickly stepped inside and moved a few steps down the passage then stood still, waiting for her. A few seconds later, she stepped in, the door sliding shut behind her. When the door shut, we both walked away from the entrance, neither willing to speak for fear of alerting Monokuma. After a few seconds, Mukuro tapped me on the shoulder.

"We're far enough away from the cameras now. If my sister can hear us, we are doomed in any case."

I nodded.

"So, how far is it from here?"

"Not far, a few minutes maximum." She pointed down the passage. "There's a fork a little ways down, we'll head up and left. From there it's 100 feet until the exit."

"Got it."

We walked on for a few more minutes silently. I could feel her eyes boring into my neck. As we reached the door, I turned to her.

"Look, I know I should have told you. I don't understand why this is such a problem."

She responded while opening the door to the dormitory floor.

"It's not just that, Naegi. It's...I don't know how to talk about this kind of thing. I spent almost my whole life in an environment where expressing emotions was what got people killed. I was part of the reason why-"

"Why your sister could..."

She nodded.

"Yeah. I'm still trying to fight off the reflexes and training she left me with. At times, I still feel like everyone is planning to betray me. And, what you did, what you kept from me even after I saved you and entrusted you with my life, that didn't help."

My eyes widened.

"I'm sorry, I had no idea. You know I wasn't trying to betray you."

Her voice, when it came, was tired.

"I know, Makoto. I know. We can talk about this once we find the cache."

The door slid open and I followed her out, walking closely behind her as she navigated us through a few hallways. The walking was mechanical, which meant I had time to think. I didn't want my relationship with Mukuro to be this broken, this marred by my mistakes. I needed to fix it. I just didn't know how, and that hurt. Part of me felt the urge to open Alter Ego, to ask him if he could solve this problem as he had helped me plot before. My eyes widened and I pushed back the impulse. What was I thinking? I was going to ask an AI who I had known might be betraying us about a relationship problem, of all things? What was happening to me? With a marked mental effort I brought myself back to normal as we drew alongside a door which looked exactly the same as the other doors. Mukuro stepped up to the knob.

"You might want to stand back. That is, unless you want to save my sister the effort of killing you."

I nodded, darting back behind a set of lockers. She gingerly knocked four times at set places on the door, waited until a beep sounded, then twisted the knob, keeping the rest of her body perfectly still. A weapon opened fire, carving the air around her with bullets. I laughed softly as I understood the security, crude though it was. If anybody without her exact body type opened the door, they'd be shot. Simple but effective.

The gunfire cut off suddenly and the door opened. She beckoned me in. We entered and found a room full weapons and ammunition.

"Seems we got lucky, " I said calmly. "Unless it's trapped, of course."

She nodded and bent down, examining the crates and equipment.

"The top looks clean, but I'll have to check some of the more specialty materials carefully."

"Makes sense." I sat down in the corner of the room before I caught sight of a small paper card near me. I picked it up after examining it for tripwires. On the front were written only two words.

"To: Makoto"

My eyes widened and I flipped the card over.

"Naegi, I thought our fight should be fair, so I left you and Mukuro with this wonderful smorgasbord of equipment!

-From, M."

My hand shook. The Mastermind had left this here? Why? And why use the word smorgasbord for-My jaw dropped for a moment, and I turned to Mukuro. A moment later, she looked up at me.

"Mukuro, when you initially subdued us, was there something in my mouth?"

A/N: The final pieces are falling into place. The choice approaches.

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