One Step Closer to the Finish Line

Chapter 5: No Escape

Author's Note: So it took a little while but it's finally here! Only one more chapter to go now and I'm very excited since it's going to be the most action packed and will eventually lead to the end of this story/ the beginning of Trigger Happy Havoc. Hopefully it won't take as long to post as this one did buuuuut no promises....anyways, enjoy!

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After a particularly monotonous few hours, Kyoko Kirigiri couldn't find even one tiny piece of conclusive evidence that proved the sisters' innocence nor their guilt to Leon's disappearance.

The detective's focal point during the investigation was of course to search for another obscure room, like the one in the men's bathroom, around the school. She was hoping to find at least something that would explain what Enoshima and Ikusaba were up to but had ended up empty handed; one glance at the clock told her that the morning class was ending soon and the best course of action was to go back to Naegi's room and figure out where to go from there.

Kyoko habitually glanced inside each room on her way back to see if she missed something until she reached the fourth floor where she attempted to open a particular door and found it locked. Kirigiri raised an eyebrow at this; it didn't register until now but she had ignored this room on her first inspection without even realizing it.

When the students first had gotten a tour of the new building in which they would be spending the rest of their lives in, her father had waved off this room as unimportant and just some old storage closet. Kyoko couldn't but wonder that if it truly was so unimportant why anybody would bother locking it up?

The only two reasonable explanations was that the headmaster either couldn't enter the locked room himself or knew precisely how to enter and was just hiding whatever was inside from the students. Both options didn't make her dad seem very innocent and this only heightened Kirigiri's suspicions to a whole new level.

Picking the lock seemed logical at this point until the detective glanced at the clock and resisted the urge to curse under her breath. Class would be ending any minute now which would mean the suspects would be able to roam the hallways freely; breaking into this room would mean nothing if she would get caught only moments after. So the more intelligent choice was of course to return to Naegi's room and either continue the investigation tonight or the next day during class once again.

The trek back to the dorms a difficult one for Kyoko as her instincts practically begged her to go back to the mysterious room and finish what she had started. Despite being accustomed to following her gut, the girl continued walking until she reached Naegi's dorm room.

Kirigiri wasn't entirely sure if Makoto had unlocked the door for her or not but she didn't have the time to find out. Just as she was about to reach the door knob, the door opened for itself and Kyoko found herself face to face with Mukuro Ikusaba herself.

One quick glance inside the room told the detective that the soldier had inspected every inch of the dorm, assumingely in search of none other than Kyoko herself.

Kyoko considered her reaction time impressive in itself but Ikusaba's was much better as she immediately reached out and gripped the detective in a tight headlock before she could even consider running away. Kirigiri knew that she could be dead or unconscious in a matter of seconds so she jumped and forced all her weight backwards so Ikusaba lost her footing which resulted in both teens landing hard against the floor.

The undoubtedly sharp pain in the soldier's back from the collision causes her to lose her breath for a moment and loosen her grip on Kyoko; the girl used this time to roll off her attacker's body and stand up only to feel someone grab her midsection and push her further into the room. Even in a dazed state, Mukuro could act quickly and Kiri found herself sliding across the floor before abruptly coming to a stop once making contact with the back wall.