Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Shuichi Saihara was tired.

It wasn’t unusual for him, with the amount of work he would do for his uncle's detective agency and his anxiety making him rethink his life choices till either late at night or early in the morning, he never got much sleep. He was used to this, though, so it wasn’t too difficult to get through the day without taking a nap in class or while helping his uncle with a case.

However, when the Ultimate Detective was randomly thrown into a crazy killing game, with an even crazier set of living teddy bears, it suddenly became a lot harder. 

So, here he is, sitting in his Ultimate Lab at 3:00 in the morning working on mystery cases Monokuma had so graciously gifted him (If you can call him shoving a stack of files filled in Shuichi’s face then telling him something about getting ideas for murder and the joy of despair “graciously gifting”). Shuichi, quite frankly, didn’t want to sleep. He didn’t want to be alone with his thoughts; he didn’t want to remember what had happened in the last few days. He didn’t want to remember the dread he felt when he found out he was stuck in a killing game, the shock when he had found Rantaro Amami dead in the library, the excruciating anxiety he had felt when investigating his death, the fear of participating in that nerve-racking class trial, the pain when he convicted Kaede Akamatsu as Rantaro’s killer, the horror of watching her hanging on a rope and being used to play the piano until she died, he didn’t want to remember the raw, gut-wrenching despair that lingers within the walls of the school. 

Shuichi just wants to forget the awful week of hell he and the other students had gone through. But no matter how hard he tried, whenever he closed his eyes, he would see the bloody shot-put ball that ended Rantaro’s life and the giant piano crashing down on Kaede’s lifeless body, like they were permanently carved onto the backs of his eyelids. Every time he laid down in his bed, he was consumed by his thoughts; could he have done something to stop Kaede from committing murder? If he had been more observant and figured out what she was planning, could he have convinced her that taking the life of another wasn’t the answer? Could he have done a better job? Could he have saved them? These thoughts, the ‘could I have’s and ‘what if's would play in Shuichi’s mind over and over, like a broken record, getting louder and louder,  until it was so loud that he couldn’t hear himself breathing and the sound of his own heartbeat was drowned out, and he just couldn’t take it anymore.

The guilt was eating him from the inside out, slowly destroying him, and Shuichi knew that. He had always been anxious and would constantly fear that the worst thing that could happen would happen in every situation, so he knew how to properly deal with his fear, but other emotions, not so much. He was drowning in his guilt, feeling it flow into his lungs and fill them up until there was no more room for air and he couldn’t breathe. It’s suffocating, but not in the same way as fear, no, this is almost worse in a way. It feels like there’s a constant weight on his chest and the walls are closing in slowly, but what’s worse is that it feels like it’s his fault. That the shame that’s lodged itself in his throat and stopping him from breathing, the dread that’s pooling in his stomach causing him to feel sick, and the mind-numbing sadness in his heart that makes him cry until he’s too tired to produce any more tears, is his fault. No matter how many times his friends try to tell him otherwise, Shuichi can’t stop thinking that way, thinking that he could have done better, but didn’t, and no two people are dead.

Shuichi knows that this is bad for him, and he knows that he should go to sleep and stop working on these random murder cases and missing person reports, but he desperately needs a distraction, something to focus on that isn’t what once were nice memories of Kaede and Rantaro, which have become much more bittersweet. Don’t get him wrong, he cherishes the memories he made with the two. Despite Rantaro’s cryptic personality, he was a really sweet guy. Rantaro has this aura like he knew something you didn’t, but there was also something so comforting about being around him like you were safe as long as he was there. His green eyes could be sharp like a knife and looked like they hid many secrets, but they could also be so soft and caring, the green color and warmth of them often reminding Shuichi of a beautiful meadow on a warm summer day. The best way to describe Rantaro would be brotherly, he was level-headed in any situation, but helped calm everyone down and was sure they were alright. Kaede was always so upbeat, staying positive no matter what and encouraging everyone else to be the same. She had a very bubbly personality and was quite the social butterfly, talking to everyone and making sure they were ok. She was a great leader and really tried to be the best she could be for everyone, despite everything that was going on. Her smile was contagious and her pink-ish magenta eyes were compassionate and understanding and could brighten up the mood of any situation. Shuichi enjoys these memories, he really does, but the once bright images of his friends are now tinted an ugly pink and serve as a reminder of two people he could not protect.

Shuichi has been writing notes on this case furiously for the past 30 minutes, just putting down things that stick out to him or questions that he needs to answer to solve it. He would usually be almost halfway done solving a case like this by now, a simple murder case about a schoolgirl who had switched dorms with a boy in her class and was later found dead in the bathroom by the boy she switched rooms with. It’s not a difficult case, but Shuichi's lack of sleep is getting to him and he’s not processing things as fast as he normally would. He knows he should get some sleep because his messed-up sleeping schedule is definitely not healthy for him, but right now, the distraction that is keeping his thoughts a bay is the only thing between him and insanity. Somewhere, in the very back of his mind, a little voice tells Shuichi that this quiet won’t last, and even if the distraction from his own mind keeps him sane, the sleep deprivation won’t. It's only a matter of time before he is completely burnt out and too tired to distract himself, so sleep will be the only option and all the guilt and bittersweet memories of his two friends will come back and haunt him in his dreams. Shuichi decides to ignore the rational part of his head, even if he knows that’s it’s right, because until then, this tiring tranquility is the only way he knows how to muffle the sounds of his painful thoughts, and it's worth it, even if he exhausts himself in the process.

Chapter Text

“Hey, Saihara!”

Huh? Kaede? She’s here...she’s ok…everything’s ok…?..right…?

*Giggle* “It’s been a while, huh?”

She’s alright...not hanging...not being used to play the piano...not crushed…she’s fine...everything’s fine…so why...do I still feel so guilty…?

“Because you are”

.....Huh?..

“I’m dead because of you Saihara...I thought we were friends...so why...would you kill me like that?”

N-no...Kaede...no..I-I didn’t-”

“You did! You killed me Saihara! Do you know how painful it is to die! It hurt, it hurt so much! And it was because of you!”

K-Kaede... no...NO! I-I’m so-sorry...I’m s-so so sorry...I didn’t w-want this to h-happen!...I-It’s not my f-fault…!

“It’s all your fault!”

l——————————————————l

Shuichi woke up with a jolt, nearly jumping out of his chair in the process. He knew this would happen, the nightmares, they haven’t stopped since the deaths of Kaede and Rantaro. He tries to avoid them, but one can only go so long without sleeping, and Shuichi hasn’t slept in a while. Shuichi doesn’t actually remember going to sleep, he must’ve passed out in the middle of the case he was working on, only to then be woken up by Kaede screaming at him. This is a recurring nightmare, either Keade or Rantaro telling him that it’s his fault. He doesn’t need them to tell him, he already feels guilty enough, but he can’t dictate what his imagination comes up with, unfortunately. Those nightmares are much like this school, in a way. He sees one of them, and he has hope. Hope that they’re not gone and that everyone is ok, only for his hope to be crushed like a bug by having them yell at him that it’s his fault they’re dead.

He sits there for a while, thinking about his nightmares, about Kaede and Rantaro, but soon his thoughts start to go downhill again, so he gets up to start his day, or what he assumes is day, it's sort of hard to tell when he doesn't really sleep. Not even a minute later, the morning announcements go off, confirming that it is in fact day time. He heads down to his dorm, thankfully getting there before anyone left to go to the dining hall, and starts getting ready. He takes off his dirty clothes and takes a shower, hoping it will help him wake up some more. He stands there for a bit, appreciating the warmth before stepping out and drying off. He wraps the towel around his waist before blow-drying his hair, straightening it out and stopping it from going to its naturally wavy state, and accepting the fact that he will never be able to tame that one piece of hair that stands straight up. He brushes his teeth and puts in his contacts. sure, he has glasses, but they get pretty annoying to deal with when he’s wearing his hat.

His hat. That dumb article of clothing that he just can’t let go of. Kaede wanted him to stop wearing the thing, to try to be more confident, but after her execution, he found it even harder to get rid of it. He feels bad about wearing it after Kaede told him he should take it off, but he just feels so exposed without it. He doesn’t want to take it off and see the judgment in their faces, he doesn’t want to see the hate in their eyes. Even if he knows that his friends would do such a thing and that care about him, he doesn’t want to risk it. So, he puts it on, grabs the keys to his dorm, and sets off to the Dining Hall.

Nothing particularly interesting happens on the way there, he goes through the courtyard, sees Tenko walking with Himiko, and rambling on about how cool her magic is while Himiko looks like she could fall asleep right then and there. If you look close enough, you could see the small smile on her face each time Tenko compliments her, but you wouldn’t notice if you didn’t try to look for it. He gets to school and starts walking in, going down the same overgrown halls with red barbed wire over the windows. He zones out for a bit, not thinking about anything in particular, rather enjoying one of the few times his mind stays quiet. He doesn’t realize that he’s there until he’s right in front of the door and he can hear the voices of his classmates. 

Shuichi opens the door to the Dining Hall and is met with the eccentric chattering of his classmates. As soon as he walks in, he hears a Kaito call out for him, “Hey sidekick, over here!”. The girl next to him sends a sharp glare his way for yelling in her ear before looking over at Shuichi with a very small and just barely noticeable smile on her face. “Good morning, Saihara.” Maki’s voice is flat and bordering emotionless, but if you listen closely, you can hear the fondness in her voice, along with a little of what sounds like concern. “Have you been staying up late again? I thought I told you to go to bed at a decent time” she says with a slight frown on her lips and glare, though the look in her eyes betrays that she’s not actually mad, rather worried for her friend. Both Maki and Kaito know about Shuichi’s bad sleeping habits and keep trying to get him to go to bed, but no matter what they say, he refuses to even get in bed at a reasonable time. “A-ah, sorry, Harukawa. I just- I didn’t mean to stay up too late..” It's a lie, he didn’t lose track of time, and the look on Maki’s face shows that she knows this too.

“Hey, it’s fine man! We’re just worried ‘boutcha, y’know! Just try to pay attention to the clock next time and get some rest, can have one of my sidekick overworkin’ himself!” However, Kaito seems to see no flaws in Shuichi’s half-baked explanation as to why he, once again, looks completely exhausted. Kaito’s a great guy and is always super supportive to his ‘sidekicks’, but he's not really the sharpest tool in the shed, so it’s not too hard to convince him. Maki, on the other hand, is not so easily convinced, but she doesn’t point out his very obvious lie. “Fine, whatever. But if you don’t get some sleep on your own, I’ll make you, understand?” Shuichi nods his head as a nervous chuckle escapes his lips in response to Maki’s statement, then sits down across from the two. Kaito laughs but quickly cuts it off when Maki sends him a look that could kill. 

Kirumi brings out everyone’s breakfasts and sets them down quickly yet elegantly in front of them, then goes back and gets everyone’s drinks with the help of Kibo. She sets down a black coffee in front of Shuichi, and he is eternally grateful for Kirumi’s excellent coffee-making skills. “Hmm, maybe that’s the answer to gettin’ ya to go to bet! Forbidden you from having any coffee!” Kaito laughs, and for a second Maki looks like she’s actually considering the suggestion, which makes him a Shuichi a bit nervous because he’s really not much of a morning person and while he can act polite and hide his grumpiness, it’s only for a bit and doesn’t take all that much to get him mad. 

They eat their food and talk about whatever comes to mind, well, mostly Kaito talking and Shuichi and Maki occasionally giving their input. The Dining Hall is by no means quiet, it’s quite the opposite intact. Angie talks about her god Atua while Korekiyo listens in interests, you can hear Kibo tell Kokichi that he’s being robophobic when he’s teasing him and occasionally hear Miu squeal when the Kokichi shifts his attention to insulting her instead, Tsumugi is listening to Gonta talk about bugs and in turn she tells Gonta about her favorite anime’s, while Ryoma just sits silently and listens to the conversations around him. The room is loud, loud enough that Shuichi can’t hear those terrible thoughts, but the silence in his head is loud, and he’s grateful for the quiet.

“Rise and Shine Ursine!” a group of colorful bears come seemingly out of nowhere.

“Daddy wants you all in the gym! He says that he had a suprise for you! Isn’t that exciting! Daddy sure is the best!’ Monophi says, an excited expression on her face.

“Hell yeahhhhhh! Hopefully, this surprise gets you all to kill each other! I’m getting f**king bored without it” Monokid practically screams.

Monotaru’s face scrunches up in confusion, well, as much as a stuffed animal-looking bear can and says “Huh? Killing? When did that start happening? I don’t remember anything about killing?”

Monosukie sighs, looking down and seeming disappointed in the red bear “Of course you don’t.”

Monokid yells once again “Make sure to get there on time! If you don’t, then you’ll get in serious trouble and I’ll bully Monoddam some more.

The, all at once, they say “So long, bear well!”, disappearing as fast as they came. 

Shuichi feels a weight on his lungs once again, but this time it’s not guilt that’s making it hard to breathe, but the fear and dread when you know something bad is going to happen weighing down on his chest. His oh so lovely loud silence in his head now being replaced by panic. 

Chapter Text

Shuichi was completely lost in his head. The thoughts of a new motive and the chance of a new death were the only thing he could focus on, no matter how much he wanted to escape them. Shuichi didn’t know how he felt, sure he was scared, but he also felt so disconnected like he wasn’t even in his body. He told himself to focus, to snap out of it, and get to the gym. It was only then that Shuichi realized that he was already there, and it took him another second to realize that Maki was holding his arm and leading him further into the room.

She won’t admit it out loud, but in the short amount of time Maki had been trapped in this hell hole, Shuichi had become somewhat of a little brother to her. He reminded her of the kids at her orphanage, timid and shy but still so full of life and curiosity. Lots of the kids there didn’t come from great homes or lost the one they had, so they were skittish and nervous, but they were still good kids and Shuichi was exactly like them. Maki knew that she shouldn’t be so focused on protecting someone else and that she should put all her energy into getting herself out of Monokuma’s death trap of a school, but she could help the urge to keep Shuichi safe like she would one of her siblings. So, against her better judgment, Maki took it upon herself to make sure Shuichi would be okay. However, that was easier said than done. Maki doesn’t think she’s ever met someone so shy yet stubborn in her whole life. Shuichi looks like he would crumble if you so much as glanced at him the wrong way, yet when you tell him to go to sleep he suddenly finds the confidence to become extremely defiant. Anyway, when the Monokubs came and told them about Monokuma’s ‘surprise’, Maki knew that Shuichi wouldn’t take it well. She was proven right when the blue-haired boy looked like his soul had left his body and wouldn’t respond to her nor Kaito. She felt bad about taking him to the gym and making him face that wretched bear, but she’d rather have him scared than dead.

When Shuichi and Maki stopped in the center of the gym with the rest of the students, Monokuma popped up seemingly out of nowhere.

“Helloooooo ya ‘buncha brats! I see no one dead, what a shame, what a shame. Luckily for you, I’ve got something sure to make you kill! Puhuhuhuhu!”

Protests rang out throughout the room, some people asking him what he’s talking about and others telling him to stop. Shuichi didn’t say anything, instead trying to analyze the black and white bear, though he already had a fairly good idea of what was going to happen. Monokuma just stood on the stage and laughed, not telling the students what he was going to do, and before Shuichi could ask any questions, everything went black.

l——————————————————l

Shuichi woke up to a dull pain throughout his body. He groaned and sat up, knowing that the morning announcements would go off soon and going back to sleep would be a waste. It wasn’t until he was almost out of bed that he realized he had no idea how he got here. The last thing he remembered was passing out in the gym, and now he’s in his room. He looked around again, trying to figure out how and when he got here when he noticed that his room looked different.

On his desk sat a sketchbook, colored pencils, and regular ones scattered around it. His detective novels had been replaced by different manga and books on sewing. His walls were still the same blue-grey, but the once plain walls now had anime posters and white shelves with characters on them. Shuichi was confused; sure this was his room, but it wasn’t his room. The shelves, the posters, figures, books and pencils, those weren’t his, so why were they in his room? Shuichi wanted to investigate more and figure out who’s the stuff this was and why it was in his room when the morning announcements went off. The blue-haired boy sighed to himself, knowing that now he really had to get up.

Shuichi stood up with a small wince, the soreness in his body coming back, grabbed his glasses (which were a bit rounder than he remembered them being), and headed over to his closet. He looked at some of the posters that decorated his walls, trying to get a hint as to who’s they were. They were all anime posters, so they were most likely Tsumugi’s, but that still didn’t tell him why he had them. It was the same for the figures on the shelves. Shuichi looked at them for another moment before he continued walking to the closet. He pondered this for a minute, why would Tsumugi’s stuff be in his room? They weren’t close, even if they were he doubts that would explain why her stuff would be in his room, but it might have been at least part of it. But they were barely even friends, just acquaintances; he spoke to her every now and then, but they never really went out of their way just to hang out together or anything. He would understand if she gave Angie a poster or two, but not him.

He snapped back to reality after he realized that he was already in front of his closet and he sighed to himself again. He can already tell today is going to be a long day. However, it wasn’t until he opened his closet that his previous thought officially came true. In his closet, there wasn’t his usual pinstripe shirt and pants, no, instead there was an outfit that looked almost exactly like the Tsumugi’s. Of course, it wasn’t the same, not entirely. There were pants instead of a skirt and it looked like it was his size too, but besides that, it was the same. His hat was there too, but it was the same navy blue as the rest of the outfit and there were lots of little anime-themed pins. Shuichi looked wide-eyed at the clothes. Now, these definitely weren’t his.

Just what was going on? He didn’t understand, why was everything different? This was like something straight out of some strange anime, kind of like that one where the main characters swapped bodies, except Shuichi still had his body….When did he watch an anime like that? When was the last time he even watched an anime? That memory didn’t even feel like his... He decided to end that train of thought before he gave himself a panic attack and got dressed. He didn’t want to wear the clothes, but he didn’t have anything else, so it would have to do until he could locate Monokuma and have him fix it.

As if this morning couldn’t get any worse when he went to his bathroom to fix his hair so he didn’t look like a slob, straightener wasn’t there. He didn’t know why, but he didn’t like his hair wavey all that much. There wasn’t a reason, he just didn’t, so when he found out that there wasn’t a straightener, he almost cried. This morning was just not going his way, was it. Not to mention he couldn’t find his contacts either, so he was left with the round glasses that, now that he connected all of the dots, were most likely made to be similar if not the same to the ones the cosplayer always wore.

Shuichi sighed for the third time this morning. He hadn’t even had breakfast yet and he was thoroughly confused. Geeze, he already wanted to take a nap.

Chapter Text

The walk to the dining hall was uneventful and he didn’t run into anyone on the way there. Unlike his room and clothes, hallways were the same as they had always been, and it was comforting; as comforting as the creepy overgrown hallway shrouded in an eerie green light inside of the school you had been thrown into after being kidnaped can be. Ok, maybe it isn’t really all that comforting, but what can you do. It sort of reminds him of that one show where the world had been taken over by zombies and the school was left in a state of disarray. Except at least the characters were a bit cuter in that one and there weren’t murder bears, instead, there was a very cute dog!... That was another thing he could add to his ‘Strange That Happen In This Scary School That Freak Me Out’ list, he had memories of shows he never watched. Sure, it didn’t seem all that important, but it was still freaky to him.

Shuichi was drawn out of his thoughts when he heard panicked talking from the dining hall, he hadn’t even realized he was there yet. He panicked for a minute, trying to piece together how he would explain his wardrobe change to his classmates, and more specifically, Tsumugi. What would he tell her when he walked in wearing a slightly different version of her outfit, she’d think he was crazy! However, before he could finish his mini-mental breakdown, the doors swung open.

Standing in front of him was Maki, her emotionless face now slightly surprised, though it quickly went back to her previous blank expression. It didn’t take him long to realize her outfit was different too. She had on a very short black crop top (almost like a bra) with a blood-red cardigan over it and a black shirt. Her hair was still in the same style as it usually was, but her pigtails were tied a bit lower. Then it clicked; this was Angie’s outfit. “So, you got a costume change to, huh” Maki sighed. Even with her flat tone, you could hear the exasperation in her voice. Shuichi pulled his hat down a bit, not being able to all the way due to the glasses, and gave an anxious hum of agreement.

She looked at him for another moment before stepping aside and letting him in the room. He quickly spotted Kaito and scurried over to sit across from him. He could feel people’s eyes on him and he hated it, he just wanted something to distract them so they would stop inspecting him. Thankfully, a distraction did come, and it came in the form of Kokichi Oma. He slammed open the doors, a grin threatening to split his face in half. The sort purple-haired boy’s outfit had changed too, and he was not in a purple version of Miu’s uniform. The shirt was a shade lighter than his hair and instead of a pink skirt he had on black pants. The bow on the front of the shirt had a checkered pattern like his signature scarf. He had the same halter thing (He’s not really sure what that thing is and what possessed Monokuma to add that to her wardrobe) and fingerless checkered cloves. Finally, he had Miu’s goggles on her head, but they were silver, not gold, and his hair pulled back in a small ponytail.

Shuichi thought that the outfit looked good on him, he would even dare say he looked cute. Shuichi knew that a lot of people didn’t like the boy because of his obnoxious personality and lying, but even if Shuichi didn’t wasn’t exactly ecstatic about the boy, he could admit when someone looked good. This didn’t stop him from blushing and quickly averting his eyes, though. Kokichi crossed his arms behind his head and strode into the room, grin still plastered on his face. It wasn’t long before Miu commented on his clothes or his adapted version of her clothes.

“What the f**k?! Why the hell do you have my clothes shrimp d*ck!? And why do I look like rope kink!?” She yelled, pointing at Korekiyo. Kiyo glared at her and mumbled something about how she needed to stop calling him that, but she either didn’t hear him or ignored him; most likely the latter. Miu’s uniform was a lot like Kiyo’s, except hers was a bright pink and had a skirt, and was cut at the top to reveal some of her cleavage. Kokichi’s grin grew wider and Shuichi knew what would happen next. “I don’t know, but I sure look better than you ever could, you filthy c*m dumpster.” Miu’s confidant seemed to disappear and she shrunk in on herself, what sounded like a few moans escaping her lips. Shuichi flinched at the sound, the girl’s lewd personality never failing to make him uncomfortable; even Kokichi’s ever-present grin seemed to slightly turn into one of disgust.

In a matter of minutes, the room was once again full of confused chatter, everyone trying to figure out why their clothes had been changed. Shuichi adjusted his glasses a bit, fiddling with them to try to ease his nerves. He had been anxious before this, but the loud and slightly panicky atmosphere just made it worse. Kaito looked over at him and noticed his discomfort and decided it was a good time to quiet everyone down. He stood up and yelled for everyone’s attention. “Alright, alright! Everyone, settle down! I know this is confusing and we don’t know what’s going on, but we need to calm down and look at the facts! Only then will we be able to tell what happened!” A shocked silence followed his statement. It wasn’t unusual for Kaito to yell and try to keep everyone’s spirits up, but this wasn’t like him. Kaito wasn’t dumb, in fact, he was pretty smart, but he lacked common sense and he wasn’t the best in this sort of situation, so for him to propose something like that was extremely out of character for him; even he had a surprised look on his face.

Shuichi took this moment of silence to look at Kaito’s new uniform, and it looked a lot like his. It was the same boxy shirt and pants, but his was a dark magenta with white pinstripes with a star pin on the collar. You could sort of see the sort underneath; a galaxy patterned shirt. After a moment, people voiced their agreements and started to tell everyone what had happened.

Everyone had had the same thing happen; they woke up with their rooms decorated differently and with different clothes, and things they used to have replaced by new things. Shuichi pushed his glasses up on his nose as he listened to everyone’s accounts of the morning, he could tell that it wasn’t just their appearance that changed. Small parts of their personalities changed, too. Finally, everyone told their stories and Kaito seemed to be thinking them over.

“Strange, this is like that one anime where the two main characters switched lives and no one else knew it but them.” He said it before he realized it, and everyone’s eyes snapped to him. They sent him puzzled looks, not used to Shuichi saying that kind of thing. Shuichi fiddled with his glasses, nervous underneath their questioning gazes, but before they could ask any questions, Kaito snapped his fingers.

“That’s it! Shuichi, you're a genius!” Now all of the questioning looks were focused on Kaito, and Shuichi finally felt like he could breathe. He flicked his eyes up, only to meet those of the Superman leader himself. Kokichi’s eyes widened a bit before he sent the raven-haired boy a bright smile. Shuichi relaxed a bit and sent the other boy a small smile, and the purple-haired boy’s smile grew a bit bigger.

Shuichi focused on Kaito again, ready for his explanation. “Shuichi, can you tell me how to properly conduct an investigation?” Said boy gave him a puzzled look before fiddling with his glasses again and nodding his head. “W-Well, first yo-ou would…. y-you wo-ould…..uh……” he scrunched up his face, trying to remember, but no matter how hard he tried, he kept coming up blank. It didn’t make sense, he knew this, his Uncle had taught him what to do, so why could he remember. “I-I don’t kn-know….I-I can’t re-remember….” He trailed off at the end, a look of horror plastered on his face. This didn’t make sense, he should know this, so why doesn’t he. Everyone looked at him wide-eyed, if there was one thing Shuichi knew a lot about it was detective work, so for him not to know was confusing and shocking, to say the least.

Before Shuichi could fully start freaking out, Kaito asked him another question. “I see. Shuichi, if I were to cosplay Naruto, would I wear a headband with the Hidden Village of Mist symbol on it?” Once again everyone looked at him with a quizzical expression, not sure why he would ask something like that. Shuichi, however, felt his blood boil. “What?! No! That’s ridiculous! Naruto is from the Hidden Leaf Village, his headband has the leaf symbol on it! That’s one of the most important pieces of his design, so of course, that would be in his cosplay! How do you not know this?! Are you going to ask me about some crazy backward way to make it next?! I swear if you ask if I would make it out of foam I will no longer be your sidekick!” Shuichi practically yelled, golden grey eyes glaring daggers into the taller boy.

Everyone’s jaws dropped, they had never heard him raise his voice, and not once had he ever talked about anime or cosplay. Even Maki looked surprised. Kaito sweatdropped a bit at the threat of no longer being his sidekick and was quick to explain himself. “Sorry, sorry! I was just testing something! I knew that Naruto didn’t wear the mist symbol on his headband, and I’m sure that you wouldn’t use, uh, foam to make it…?” He looked nervously at the raven-haired boy, he had never seen the boy glare like that and it was honestly terrifying.

Shuichi let out a sigh of relief and mumbled a ‘thank god’ under his breath and returned to his normal fidgety self. “Ah, I-I see. S-So what we-were you t-testing?” Kaito visibly relaxed once his sidekick wasn’t glaring at him anymore. That glare could rival Maki’s; while hers was two blazing hot lasers being burned into your skull, Shiuchi’s glare was ice cold and I made you feel like freezing in place. If looks could kill, he would most definitely have gotten frostbite from Shuichi’s cold gaze. “Well, how should I put this...I think this is the motive. Monokuma, um, he switched our talents. That’s why our rooms and clothes are different, and why you can’t remember how to conduct an investigation but do know about anime and cosplay.”

No one said anything for a bit, trying to digest the information. It weirdly made sense; why their rooms and outfits, even bits of their personalities were different. The more Shuichi thought about it, the more puzzle pieces clicked together. He was no longer the Ultimate Detective, he most likely was the Ultimate Cosplayer. Shuichi felt about ready to faint.

“Rise and Shine Ursine!” The Monokubs came out of nowhere, their signature catchphrase echoing through the room. Monophie smiled at them “Yay! You figured it out!” The pink bear twirled around a bit, apparently happy for their discovery. “Helllllllll yeahhhhhhhh! This week's motive is a talent swap! All of your talents have been switched, and there’s no reversing it! Even if you did kill! Hahahahah!” Monokid announced.

Monosuke sighed “Yes, he’s right. Even if someone were to die, you wouldn’t get your talents back. There was a malfunction with the machine that swapped your talents, so unfortunately you won’t be getting your original talents back.” The yellow bear adjusted his glasses, ignoring the faces of anger and horror the students had. The red bear's face scrunched up in confusion “Wait, that wasn’t intentional? Huh, I thought it was, I must have forgotten…”. Monodam didn’t say anything, he just looked at the kids with a compliantly blank face.

“So long, bear well!” And just like that, they were gone. It takes Shuichi a moment to process what he just heard. That couldn’t be true, right? Sure, nothing in this game seems like it should be real, but this just has to be a lie, there no way that this is possible. So, why can’t he remember how to properly conduct an investigation? And why do sewing machines suddenly make so much more sense? He can’t remember how to investigate, how to treat a body, and carefully examine a crime scene; now he knows how to work a sewing machine and which stitches would be best for Sailor Moons outfit.

Shuichi could really use that nap now.