Danganronpa Kirigiri Volume 3 Chapter 1 Part6

Waiting for me at the end of the red carpet in front of the elevator was the boy in the vest. He had his arms crossed, with his suit jacket draped over one of them just as before. As I approached, he opened his mouth.

“So that’s the decision you’ve made?”

“What, so you can talk?” I gasped. “I totally thought you were some kind of mechanical puppet.”

As I made light of the situation, he s.n.a.t.c.hed onto my right wrist, pulled me closer, and pressed my hand against his chest. From underneath the wool of his vest came a soft, rhythmic beating. I jerked my hand away out of embarra.s.sment.

He stared at me inquisitively, seemingly antic.i.p.ating a response.

“Fine, fine,” I sighed. “That’s enough to prove you’re not a puppet.”

A cheerful smile spread across his face. He turned to press the elevator call b.u.t.ton, and once the doors opened a moment later, he led me inside. The two of us were alone in the small enclosed s.p.a.ce. The same sweet scent from before lingered in the air around him.

“Can you tell me the reasoning behind your decision?” the boy asked while operating the control panel in the corner.

“The next time I see my friend, I want to be able to greet her with my head held high.”

A fledgling detective like myself lacked the experience and wisdom necessary to speak to the philosophy or ethics of the profession, but at the very least, I understood the feeling of having something I couldn’t bear to lose. That may have been what he referred to as “pride.”

I s.h.i.+fted my gaze to the item in my hand.

The black Duel Noir envelope—

Compared to the envelopes I had held before, this one felt a great deal thicker. Maybe the next Duel Noir was some kind of game featuring crazier and more complicated rules, but that was no reason to give up and admit defeat.

“You’re quite brave,” the boy said with an amused tone. “I have been tasked with a.s.sisting you, regardless of which envelope you chose. I look forward to working with you.”

“…Same here. What’s your name?”

“Is that necessary?”

“What?”

“My name.”

“How else am I supposed to know what to call you?”

“Then, please call me Licorne. That’s what the others here call me.”

That was a weird way of phrasing things. Was he like a stray cat without a permanent home, someone who gained a different name each place he visited?

“Okay. Licorne,” I repeated to confirm.

“Feel free to shorten it to Lico.”

“Right, I’ll do that then.”

We got off the elevator on the first floor, where there was still no end in sight to the line of clients. The young workers were busily tending to their duties at their respective posts away from the lobby.

Lico and I left through the marble entrance.

After stepping outside, I turned to face him. “Before we go any further, let me ask: are you one of them? Part of the Crime Victims’ Salvation Committee? Ryuuzouji told me none of the kids here are involved, but you knew about this black envelope.”

“I have no connection with the Committee,” he replied. “I’ve simply been made aware of the situation.”

“Okay… But you’re working for Ryuuzouji, right?”

“Yep. And on top of that, I’m here to a.s.sist you.”

Was he monitoring me? Or, was he really fulfilling a task by helping me? This could’ve been Ryuuzouji’s way of making things fair.

“How long have you been working for Ryuuzouji?”

“For about… half a year,” he answered after tilting his head and thinking for a second. While that part of him seemed rather child-like, a mysterious and mature aura strongly emanated from him. What a peculiar kid.

The limo was parked in front of the building with the driver seated inside. I wondered for a moment if he could’ve been a kid too, but one glance was enough to dispel that theory.

Lico opened the rear door, took my hand, and helped me inside the vehicle.

“Where would you like to be dropped off? The Detective Library? Or your home?”

“My dorm would be great.”

“Very well.”

Lico walked over to the front of the car and gave some instructions to the driver, before swinging back shortly afterwards.

“This is where I’ll see you off today. One last thing—please take this with you.”

He handed me a long, slender box with a ribbon tied around it. It was small enough to fit in my palms, and it was fairly lightweight.

“This is a gift from Ryuuzouji. However, please only open it when you find it necessary.”

“Only when necessary, huh…”

“Farewell.”

Lico closed the door, took a step back, and bowed.

The limo started moving, slowly accelerating as it drove along the line of clients circling around the fountain and rose garden. Before long, Lico’s silhouette disappeared from view.

We pa.s.sed through the brick arch and continued down the boulevard of trees. The sky had grown dim, but the streetlamps on the sides of the road illuminated the lightly falling snow.

Along the way, I spotted two kids sweeping beneath one of the lampposts.

“Driver, could you please stop for a moment?” I shouted towards the front seat. The driver couldn’t see my face through the part.i.tion, but since the vehicle came to an abrupt stop, my voice must have reached him.

The kids who were sweeping wandered over out of curiosity. I opened the window and stuck my head out.

“Hey guys,” I called out to get their attention. The two of them, who looked elementary school-aged, stared back at me with intrigued faces. “What kind of person is Master Ryuuzouji?” I asked.

The two of them exchanged a quick glance, before turning back to me with large grins.

“He’s a very kind person.”
“But he gets scary when he’s angry.”

The two of them answered.

“My dream is to be a detective like him!”
“I wanna be just like him when I grow up!

“I see… Thanks for answering. Good luck with the rest of the cleaning!”

“Bye!”

We waved a quick goodbye as the limo started up once again.

Neither of them seemed to be lying, and their natural guileless expressions seemed to rule out the possibility of them being extorted or brainwashed.

But imagining what the Crime Victims’ Salvation Committee was capable of, it wouldn’t have been outrageous to conclude that everything I saw today had been conjured up as an illusion. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was drifting aimlessly in a dream.

As I mindlessly stared out the window, the scenery slowly transformed back into a familiar urban landscape. I held the black envelope up to the light outside to try and get a glimpse of its contents, but to no avail.

———

The car stopped in front of the academy gates. Without any cue from the driver, I opened the door and got out on my own. I turned to bow, but the limo had already returned to the main road and quickly faded out of sight.

Seeing my dorm lights in the distance brought a sense of relief, as I finally felt like I had returned to reality.

Upon entering my dorm building, I immediately noticed a bunch of people crowded in the hallway causing a commotion. Whatever it was couldn’t have been good.

A group of my hallmates spotted me, and one of them called out. “Oh, Yui! You’ll never guess what happened.”

“What’s going on?”

“Just come this way, hurry!”

They pulled me down the hall by the arm. The crowd was gathered outside my room.

“An intruder tried picking the lock to your room.”

“Picking the lock?”

I pushed aside my hallmates and made my way to the door. There, sat a girl with pale white cheeks, and hair that glimmered even beneath the worn out fluorescent lights. The disgruntled expression on her face transformed into one of joy as I appeared before her.

“Yui!”

It was Kyoko Kirigiri.

She stood up and rushed over to hug me. I gently squeezed her small, light body, relis.h.i.+ng in the moment—the first time she had ever entrusted me with her body like this. Her clothes were stained in a few spots and reeked of dirt and dust. I cradled her head, fearing that her frailty could cause her to crumble at any second.

None of the other students could comprehend what was transpiring in front of them, but they all started applauding for some reason. I guess it was obviously an emotional reunion.

“So you’re fine with not calling the police?” one of my hallmates asked.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. She’s a friend. Thanks,” I said while opening the door to my room and hastily nudging Kyoko inside. “Goodnight, everyone. I’ll handle the rest from here.”

I slipped into my room, swiftly closing and locking the door behind me to shut out any prying eyes.

Kyoko looked up at me with a troubled expression. “I got caught sneaking in.”

“You can’t be perfect all the time,” I teased. After tossing my backpack onto my bed, I sat Kyoko down on the mattress. “But why make the silly decision of coming in through the front?”

“I first considered breaking the window, but I feared it would get too cold if I left a hole in the gla.s.s.”

“Thanks for your concern,” I rubbed her head, but she shook my hand off. Her look of worry hadn’t faded away. I sat down in my desk chair and asked, “Why were you trying to sneak into my room anyways?”

“This was the only place I had left…” Kyoko hung her head, looking down at her clasped hands.

Silence filled the room.

I was expecting her to dive into a more detailed explanation if I gave her a little time, but she showed no signs of wanting to open up.

“Well, I’m glad you’re safe,” I said, taking her hands into mine. “I’ve been so worried about you, Kyoko. You haven’t tried contacting me or anything. Where have you been?”

“…I can’t tell you that yet.”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked, slightly miffed. “Because you don’t trust me? Or because you don’t think I’m capable enough to help you?”

“That’s not it,” Kyoko said, slightly taken aback by my remark. “I guess, I haven’t fully come to terms with everything…”

For someone who was normally so calm and collected, she seemed awfully fl.u.s.tered. Wherever she had been, something crazy must have happened to her there. She was a first-rate detective, and I could only think of one thing that could drive her to this state.

“Is it them?”

After a long pause, Kyoko nodded.

—I won’t forgive them.

Those adults were mercilessly chasing after a middle school girl, all because she had coincidentally been born into a clan of detectives.

“I promise I’ll explain everything later,” Kyoko said, averting her eyes. “But these past few days, I’ve been doing my best to elude them and buy some time before my grandfather returns. They’re targeting me, so I thought they wouldn’t be able to do anything if I concealed myself…”

“You’re amazing, you know? They lost track of you and have no idea where you—”

“Yui…” Kyoko interrupted, as a look of astonishment crossed her face. “How do you know that?”

“Ah, well, um…”

I stumbled over my words. Was it wise to keep what happened earlier a secret? Should I at least mention the new Duel Noir?

I didn’t want to drive her deeper into despair. She shouldn’t have to suffer any more.

But all of that worry was for naught, as Kyoko saw right through my hesitation.

“You’ve been in contact with the Committee, haven’t you?” Kyoko bit her lower lip, as small wrinkles formed on her forehead in concern. “I was too late… Things have turned out exactly as I had feared. I thought they might turn their attention to you in my absence, and use you to lure me out. That’s why I came straight here.”

“I see… But I don’t think you’re the only one they have their sights on.”

“What do you mean?”

I recounted everything that happened between Ryuuzouji and me earlier that day, and as I did, Kyoko gradually regained her composure. That calm, stoic detective look on her face always suited her, but it also made me feel pity for her. Her talent was so strong yet fleeting, that it might end up shattering her one day.

“I wonder if they would’ve actually let me join if I took the white envelope…”

“Do you regret your decision?”

“No way,” I chuckled. “I won’t let them have it their way so easily.”

“But… I fear everything is still going according to their plan.”

It was true that Ryuuzouji seemed to think I wouldn’t choose the white envelope. That aspect of him was frightening—the ability to make a move in cold blood despite already perceiving the outcome.

“From talking with Ryuuzouji, it seems they really believe that the righteous path to salvation for crime victims is through Duel Noirs. And they might see the Kirigiri family as the biggest threat to their plans…”

“I wonder…” Kyoko muttered, deep in thought. Something was definitely on her mind.

“Oh, and here’s the new challenge.” I took out the black envelope from my backpack.

“You haven’t opened it yet, right?”

“Nope. The Duel Noir starts as soon as I open it. There was no way I could’ve gathered the courage to do that right then and there.”

Along with a challenge card, a Duel Noir envelope always contained some sort of microchip that notified the Committee and the criminal the moment it was unsealed. The 168 hours that followed would be the duration of the Duel Noir game, and the criminal’s goal within that time limit was to kill off all of their revenge targets while avoiding detection by the detective. However, if they were caught, or failed to eliminate their targets, they were then considered to have lost and would be liable to pay back the full cost of the Duel Noir financed by the Committee. Since the exorbitant amount was way too much for an individual to bear, the Committee would leverage a life insurance policy taken out against the criminal to cover the debt.

“What would happen if we leave it sealed?” I wondered.

“I imagine that an unopened Duel Noir would eventually be pa.s.sed onto another detective. But this time, since they’re targeting you from the beginning, I bet even if you ignored this one, another one would arrive in its place.”

I held up the black envelope to the fluorescent light in the room, but again, none of its contents were visible.

“I’m willing to bet we’ll be trapped somewhere again. Geez…” A sigh escaped my lips. “Will it be a mountain villa this time? Maybe a deserted island. I’m not even a specialist in murder investigations…”

“But the difficulty of the case is commensurate with your detective rank, so it should be easier this time around.”

“Oh, you’re right.”

The rank of the detective summoned for a Duel Noir was determined based on the weapons and tricks chosen by the criminal. Since I had been forewarned about my role as the detective this time, it was possible to predict the general difficulty level of the case.

“Kyoko, you’ll help me out, right? I don’t wanna go off somewhere on my own again.”

“Of course. After what we’ve been through, I can never turn my eyes away from a Duel Noir. If the enemy is advancing, we must act to counter them,” Kyoko said with an unusually serious glint in her eyes. Her cold eyes were burning with pa.s.sion.

“Let’s plan a time to open the envelope that’ll make the time limit easy to calculate,” I suggested. “How about tomorrow at noon?”

Kyoko nodded in agreement.

“Let’s finish up any prepwork we have to do before then; we should cover all our bases. But first, we need to get you a bath. And don’t worry, I’ll fix your disheveled hair.”

Next: