𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕓𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖 | 𝕠𝕦𝕞𝕒𝕤𝕒𝕚 𝕙𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕤𝕔𝕙𝕠𝕠𝕝 𝕒𝕦

Chapter 18

before i start this chapter, i want to issue a major trigger warning. i've stated in a past chapter to assume a trigger warning from head on out, but especially this one so like- anyways, enjoy!

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"BREAKING: TOGAMI COMPANY CEO ASSASSINATED AT RECENT PRESS CONFERENCE!"

Kaede glanced over to the T.V. after taking her medication. She knew an assassin.

The news lady was switched to the main screen. "After the recent happenings at the prestigious school known as Hope's Peak Academy, business CEO Kijo Togami made the decision to speak out about deaths, most likely to improve his company image. In the middle of his speech about Teen Suicide, a bullet was embedded into his skull from a nearby building."

Kaede's eyes widened as flashbacks to previous months started to fill her vision. She took a deep breath to attempt to calm herself and clumsily turned off the T.V. God damn it, she can't do anything anymore. Not since that day...

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"Good evening, ladies. Please, come inside..." The anthropologist's voice set an unnerving feeling on the pianist. Glancing towards Mahiru, who was gripping her hand tightly, they entered the house.

It looked pretty normal inside. Very dark, very interestingly decorated, but relatively normal. "So... Where's your sister? N-No offense, but I'd like to get out of here quickly since my friends are having a party..." Kaede mumbled, taking a seat on the couch alongside Mahiru. Korekiyo, who already had a tray of tea prepared, sat in a chair across from them.

"My sister is not here at the moment. But, please, do enjoy yourselves until she returns. The creativity of the human mind is truly riveting," He sure had a way with words. Mahiru pulled out her camera, taking pictures of all the tapestries and artifacts that littered the home.

"These are beautiful, Kiyo! Where did you get these?" The photographer asked, taking close look at an embroidered tapestry that seemed to tell a tale of two lovers. "That one is merely a fake. A good friend of mine bought it for me whilst on a trip to Europe. I cherish it deeply, as it is a form of friendly affection," Mahiru shot Kaede a glance for help, who nodded in return.

"So you said that one is a fake, right? Are all of these fake, or only that one?" Korekiyo seemed offended. "There are only 3 fakes in the entire property. Everything else I got from my own adventures throughout the world." Kaede nodded. "Oh! Where's that one from? It's the Tree of Life, right?" She pointed to one with a beautiful tree adorned with apples. Korekiyo nodded. "That one is from Jerusalem. It was gifted to me by a women in the city who seemed very fond of my knowledge about Christianity and Catholicism." Kaede nodded, and an awkward silence filled the room.

About 15 minutes later, Kaede could have sworn he went to unlock a window before the doorbell rang. When he answered, nobody was there. He closed the door and locked it, shooting the girls a look of sympathy, but then looked towards the sky. Maybe the look wasn't meant for them.

"Kiyo, what's going on? Why are you looking up?" Mahiru asked suspiciously, quickly snapping a photo of him. He ignored her. "Dear Sister... I truly apologize that two new friends will not be joining you..." Kaede tilted her head a bit. "...Somebody has offered me a generous amount of money to make sure these girls pass on their own hands. Please forgive me, dear Sister..." Kaede's heart started beating faster. "P-Pass..? Korekiyo, what's going on? What are you doing?" Kaede shot up, motioning to Mahiru to unlock the door. After hesitating a bit, she got up and ran towards the door, until...

"I can't let you do that!" Somebody shouted before stabbing a sickle into Mahiru's back. She let out a bloodcurdling scream, falling to her knees immediately. The murderer in question was dressed in black with only the second half of their face showing, which was adorned in a red lipstick and a malicious smile.

Kaede screamed watching the redhead get stabbed multiple times before she released her final scream. Tears pouring out of the blonde's eyes making her mascara run, she grabbed the nearest vase (with desperate screams from Korekiyo not to touch it) and ran towards the door, seeing it was unlocked and running out. She turned around and hit the culprit on the head with the vase, although she wasn't the only person doing damage. The sickle latched itself just under her left boob and made a huge cut all the way to her V-Line. Trying her best to cover it up she ran outside and slammed the door, running as fast as she could to Shuichi's house, which was only a few minutes away.

She suspected they wouldn't follow her due to fear of getting caught, so she frantically opened the door to the detective's house while in immense pain. "Mahiru.... Sh-She's... dead..." She mumbled before blacking out.

....

"..Hey Shuichi!"

The detective perked up a bit at the pianist's voice. "Hey Kaede, what's up?"

"Nothing really, it's just, uh... You saw the news report, right?"

He tilted his head a bit. "Yeah, Kirigiri and I are currently looking into it. Why?"

"Don't we... know an assassin?"

Shuichi frowned. Was Kaede implying what he thought she was? "Y-Yeah, I guess we do... Why do you ask..?"

"I haven't heard from Maki at all yesterday and today... I haven't asked Kaito yet, but I thought I'd ask you first since the department seems to work with her on occasion..."

Shuichi bit his nails, then shaking his head. "We didn't see any evidence of it being Maki upon investigation... maybe I'll try asking Kaito, a-and maybe Kokichi.. He does seem to have insight on things we weren't aware of before, after all."

"..Yeah, I guess. Okay then, Shuichi! I'll be hanging up now.... Good luck on your investigation!"

Shuichi nodded. "Yeah, have a good day, Kaede..! A-And, uh, Miu texted me earlier... She said she was going to call you as soon as she got out of her therapy session for today,"

He heard Kaede gasp a bit. "Okay, thank you! Bye!" She hung up.

Shuichi sighed, pulling out his laptop and adding one more person to the suspect list who, for some reason, wasn't already on there. "Looks like tomorrow will be a long day of questioning..."

.

.

.

.

"Don't worry, Maki-roll! Nobody's gonna get hurt this time.... that is if you decide to cooperate with me." The person giggled.

"You're a psychopath!" Maki yelled, slamming her fist against the wall. In order for her to not be turned in, she had to follow them to the place they wanted her to be.

"I know, Maki-roll. That's what's making this so interesting! Nobody even knows who I am!" They laughed, making Maki cringe.

"Now, I want you to tell Shumai about this girl in the picture... Mukuro Ikusaba, the Ultimate Soldier!"

"What does Mukuro have to do with anything!?" Maki yelled, clenching her fist. She wanted so badly to kill whoever this was, but unfortunately, they were most likely armed and she didn't want to risk it, even if she knew how.

"Mukuro has been getting in the way recently and I need her disposed of in some way. So I'm leaving that up to you. Plus, I just hate that sorry excuse of a human so much!!" They laughed again.

Maki sighed. "And what'll happen if I don't?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe... the mysterious passing of the Ultimate Astronaut Kaito Momota?~"

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sorry for a shorter and probably boring chapter I didn't really know what to do 🥺 i knew i had to make it more about maki's killing and i kinda wanted to have Kaede react in some way and while i know i didn't execute that well enough it did give me a reason to explain more in-depth what happened with her and mahiru- anyways, that's all for now! as always i love y'all sm and i really, truly appreciate all the reads, votes and comments i get every chapter 🥺💕💕 goodbye and have a good day!!

Word Count: 1378