Ahmya frowned and tilted her head slightly to the side and Ruji and I paled.

The VHS tape Daiki showed us. The one with Daiki's name on it. The one Rantaro had been trusted with. 

Did Ahmya take it? No, she wouldn't have. She'd have no reason to. Besides, she was with me the whole time. Maybe it was dropped and none of us noticed. Perhaps it was still in the catacombs. If it were, would Monokuma find it? Or would he leave it be? Maybe he'd return it back to Daiki. It all depends on what the tape is--who it's even from. Maybe Monokuma had nothing to do with it. 

"What tape?" Ahmya asked, clearly confused. Her eyes shifted between all of us. I'm sure it was fairly obvious we knew something. The terrified expression on our faces was no doubt giving us away. 

"I don't know what happened," Rantaro explained, fighting to keep his voice calm. "I had it this morning, but it's gone now. I didn't even have time to watch it. Maybe it was taken, or maybe I-"

"Whoa, you guys are actually on time," Kichiro interrupted while opening the main door to the lodge, slowly clapping. I turned to face him, grasping at the files in my arms as Rantaro fell silent. I hoped the pale and worried expressions on our faces weren't too noticeable. Although, Ahmya clearly noticed it. Besides, Kichiro was always good at picking up on little things, like when Daiki refused to train in front of people back in the training center. Gosh, that felt like ages ago now. Not even ages--lifetimes ago. 

I blinked a few times, waiting for Daiki and Yuuki to follow the unlucky student in.

But they didn't.

It was just him.

I felt my hopeful spirits slowly vanish as my shoulders dropped.

"Kichiro, where are the others?" Rantaro asked, his voice masking the panic he had felt just a few short seconds ago. He was a far better actor than I ever could be. 

Kichiro shrugged and looked behind himself, laughing quietly, though it felt forced. I could feel chills run down my spine as rainwater dripped from his hair, falling onto the ground in a way that reminded me of drops of thick blood.

"Oh, well would you look at that? It seems my beloved spy boy and the hero have vanished. How... unfortunate."

There was something heavy and sinister about his tone. Whenever Kichiro spoke, there was always this funny aura that seemed to surround him, but this was different. This was darker than usual. 

The air surrounding us felt damper and colder. 

"You weren't supposed to separate," Ahmya breathed, using her one hand to rub her temple. She seemed far less afraid and more annoyed with the fact that Kichiro wasn't taking any of this seriously. I probably would have felt the same way had we not been in a killing game.

But instead, I felt worried. It felt like suddenly everything was falling apart. I would have thought that Yuuki would have been able to keep that group together, but maybe not being able to talk was making it that much harder to keep Kichiro in line.

Why did it already look like night outside? It was only three o'clock...

"Ugh, I had to!" Kichiro said. "They were both SO QUIET! Plus, Spy Boy ran off. Say, you haven't seen him, have you?"

"Daiki ran off?" Ruji asked, tilting his head slightly. His eyes were still glassy and his voice was still soft.

Rantaro slowly nodded, the gears in his mind turning. I only wish I could hear what he was thinking.

"He's not with you?" the ultimate unlucky student asked. His left eye twitched, but just barely enough for anyone to notice. I think I was the only one to see. "Hmm. What a shame... oh, how despairing."

His voice was softer, but just barely.

"Kichiro, this is serious," I huffed. "Yuuki must have gone looking for him. We need to find them. Come on, guys!"

I turned to run to the door when I suddenly found myself halting. Everyone was quick to follow me except for Rantaro.

Rantaro...

He couldn't come. Not without setting off his band.

It wasn't fair to leave him all on his own, though. But I couldn't just leave him with one person, either. With just two people there, one could easily kill the other. That's why Yuuki had us separated into groups of four and three.

"I'll stay with him," Ahmya said.

"But that'll just leave the two of you here," Ruji argued.

"There's five of us in here. There's going to have to be one group of two," she said, turning her gaze to me. "Come on. You trust me, right?"

I hesitated for a fraction of a second.

Could I trust her... could I truly leave her alone with Rantaro? One mistake, and we could lose another friend. I couldn't afford to lose anyone else. Not now. Not with the sky as dark as it is. 

But... I don't think I could afford not to trust her, either. 

"...She's right. They'll be okay. We have to find Yuuki and Daiki," I said. "Ahmya, Rantaro, stay safe, okay?"

"Oh, yippee! And if either of you dies, we'll know exactly who did it," Kichiro laughed. The heaviness in his tone was still there, though less intense than before. "Don't hold back on trying to make the investigation interesting, though. Make it dramatic, that will leave room for more sweet sweet despair."

"We won't die," Rantaro said, crossing his arms and looking away. He started to rock back and forth on his heels, clearly disappointed that he couldn't join us and anxious about the missing VHS tape. I was glad he wasn't affected by Kichiro's words, though. I doubt any of us really were at this point. 

I could only imagine the guilt he was feeling for losing the tape, just like he had lost all his sisters...

"I know," I said with a small smile. I reached down and grasped Ruji's hand. Then, I reached for Kichiro's, only to stop upon seeing him pull away.

For a brief moment, he looked up at me, almost afraid.

"Oh, right," I said, remembering his forbidden action. "Sorry..."

The briefly fearful look that crossed his face as I reached out to him vanished, and he was back to looking smug. "Sorry, Suki. You're not my type," he teased, making me roll my eyes.

"That's not what I- oh whatever," I huffed, turning and heading through the large doors. "You're going to need to tell me where this entrance is."

"Yes, captain," he laughed, stepping around me so he could take the lead.

His laughter still felt forced.

I wondered if he was afraid.

He never acted afraid before. Well, besides that one time back when it was Daiki's turn in the water tank.

He scratched at his bracelet while leading us down to a hatch, different from the one I had been taken to earlier. This one was larger and out in the open, far easier to find. The ultimate unlucky student pulled it open and started climbing down the damp metal ladder which descended into darkness.

Or, he tried to climb. After a few seconds, I heard his hand slip, and he fell. Luckily, the ground wasn't too far down, but it still must have hurt.

"Kichiro?!" Ruji asked, leaning over the open door and looking down. "Are you okay?!"

"Just peachy," he replied. "Why don't you come on down? It's cozy in here!"

I rolled my eyes, then followed him, careful not to fall. I could see why he slipped, everything felt super slick. Despite being midday, the sky was still quite dark, so it was hard to see much.

When I made it to the bottom, I had to fight the urge to help Kichiro up. Ruji was close behind, which was good since he was the one with the flashlight. I felt myself relax as soon as he joined us.

"Okay, where did you see the two of them last?" Ruji questioned, rubbing his nose with his free hand. I could feel a gentle breeze flowing through the dark tunnels, pushing cold air against us.

"Pssh, I have no idea," Kichiro laughed. "I don't have a photographic memory. It was a miracle I was able to even make it out last time."

That wasn't exactly a comforting thing to hear when entering a maze of dark catacombs. As he walked forward, I did my best to memorize which way we were heading.

If someone were to die down there, how long would it take for their body to be found?

"Yuuki?" Ruji called, placing his free hand on the side of his face, amplifying his voice. "Daiki?!"

There was no response. Not that we expected there to be. Yuuki couldn't talk, and Daiki wouldn't talk. 

What was the last thing he even said out loud to me? Was it after Sora and Brittany's investigation? He paused to stay behind for just a few extra minutes during that investigation--was that when he got ahold of the tape originally? 

Ruji's flashlight flickered slightly, filling me with a dreadful sense of unease. What would happen to us if it went out? The catacombs were pitch black!

Yuuki and Daiki must have been so afraid. I certainly would be if I were them.

"Uh oh, looks like that little light of yours is dying!" Kichiro grinned in a sing-song tone.

Ruji brought his hand down on the light, hitting the side of it as if that would keep it alive for longer.

"Don't say that," Ruji begged. "Let me just-"

Suddenly, the light went out.

Ruji inhaled sharply, and I found myself reaching over to him, covering his mouth. I wasn't going to let him scream and get himself killed.

"Dun, dun, dun!" Kichiro laughed.

"It's not funny," I breathed. I couldn't even see two inches in front of my face. How were we supposed to find Yuuki and Daiki now?!

"We follow the light up there," Kichiro said as if reading my mind.

"Huh?" Ruji asked, his voice muffled by my hand. I didn't take it back, though. I wasn't going to until I could be sure he wouldn't scream. His breathing was heavy and I could feel the sweat dripping from his forehead.

"You were wondering how we move forward, riiiiight?" Kichiro asked. "There's a very faint blue glow up there. We follow that."

"How will we get back?" I asked.

"We take whatever's glowing. Duh."

I nodded, trying to remain calm. That could work. There was no reason to freak out just yet. We still could do this.

I just had to make sure not to run into Kichiro while walking in the dark.

"Maybe you should walk a few steps ahead," I breathed.

"Ah, am I the sacrifice?"

"No, I don't want to run into you," I corrected.

"Sure, sure. I know how all you people operate, Suki. You're not slick," he laughed. I could hear him start to walk.

I counted five steps before taking my hand off Ruji's mouth and following. I could feel the ghostbuster grasp my arm tightly, still trembling.

"Maikeru's light... it's dead. His light went out," Ruji whimpered.

"Shh... we'll get new batteries when we get out of here. Okay?" I promised, hoping to calm him down. My words didn't stop him from quietly sniffling and crying, though.

Not that I could blame him. That flashlight was all he had left of Maikeru. It was the only part of the ultimate security guard that was still alive.

"Don't worry," I whispered as he continued to cry. "We won't get lost."

That's not what I was afraid of, though. Not anymore, at least. I wasn't alone, so even if we were to get lost, there were worse things that could happen. Lost people could always be found.

No, what was scary was that dark feeling that had come back.

The feeling that always came before something bad happened.

My heart started to race, pounding louder and louder. I could feel the pulse in my arms, in my wrists.

Ruji's breathing quickened. He could feel it too.

Kichiro's footsteps continued moving forward as the faint blue glow drew closer until he suddenly stopped. I could see his silhouette now, so I knew not to run into him.

"What is it?" I asked as he stilled, looking to the side. The blue glow was coming from what looked to be a small, open room. Similar to where we found the files over on the west end of the catacombs.

This wasn't a file, though. The glow was coming from a large monitor.

I allowed my shoulders to relax slightly when a loud, booming voice suddenly rang throughout the entire world.

"A BODY HAS BEEN DISCOVERED!"