Chapter 15- A Close Friend Now Gone

I felt my eyelids starting to open. My body felt heavy as I moaned and gazed around my room while clutching hold of my pillow just like last night... Just like last night...

Last night!

I immediately shot up in my bed as I remembered the events from last night. Chihiro's body. Helping Byakuya. Throwing my motive away...

Chihiro was really dead? Could it all be a dream and no one was really actually dead? A very realistic dream but I didn't want to face the fact that my friend was actually dead! It had to be a dream. It just had to be!

I just kept believing that was the case as I moved out of my bed and towards my bathroom to look at my reflection.

I saw a spot of blood on my cheek as I quickly soaked a towel and rubbed Chihiro's blood off of me. So... I guess that proves it wasn't a dream then...

I still didn't mourn over her death. I planned for when to do that... If I was going to be helping Byakuya with his crimes, I had to at least make it seem realistic.

I also washed my hands because I saw the tiniest spots of blood on it as I quickly brushed my hair and pulled it up to its usual braid and moved out of the bathroom.

What now? Did anybody find Chihiro's body yet? Should I go to the girl's locker room and see if anyone found it yet? Or maybe I could get everyone and tell them I found a body...

I then heard the screen on my wall turn on and I looked up and sighed to see Monokuma's usual face appear to announce the morning.

"Top of the morning, all! While you were busy drooling into your pillows, one of your classmates dished out a little homicide! I wonder who bit the big one...?"

Monokuma's face disappeared as I seemed unmoved by the announcement. If I had no idea who did it I would probably be running out of my dorm room right about now. But I knew exactly who murdered Chihiro and where she was suspended inside the girl's locker room because of both me and Byakuya.

Did Mondo really kill Chihiro? Could I believe what Byakuya told me last night? It was he lying to me? Would Byakuya really lie to me?

Either way, I moved out of my room and planned on heading to the cafeteria like everyone normally did to see how everyone else reacted to this not-so-wonderful news.

I walked into the cafeteria and gazed to see who was here and I sighed deeply. Only Byakuya, Aoi, Sakura, and Yasuhiro were here at the moment.

The classmates there, except for Byakuya, were looking nervous and uneasy, probably from Monokuma's announcement as they seemed to waiting for everyone else. I only knew one person who wasn't coming. Chihiro and perhaps the killer as well.

As I entered the cafeteria, I saw Aoi looked at me relieved as she walked up to me.

"Heard the announcement?" Aoi asked me nervously.

"Yeah. Someone else's dead then..." I said, putting on a worried face that was obviously fake.

"Thank goodness you aren't gone though..." Aoi said in a sigh. Well, if I were to die, I wouldn't go down without a fight.

"Did ya see anyone on your way here?" Yasuhiro asked me as I walked over to everyone else.

I looked passed the three and over to Byakuya sitting alone at his usual table as I gave him a nervous glance, as he avoided looking at me and instead gazed at the table besides him and I but my lip nervously before turning back towards everyone else.

"No one," I answered, still looking worried as I walked passed them and quickly over to Byakuya, trying to stop nervous sweat from coming down my face.

They didn't suspect me which made me relieved. They actually thought I was worried and nervous and clueless as of who was murdered. It was good that they bought the act as I walked over to Byakuya.

"Morning," I said as I sat across from him as he looked up at me.

"Good morning," He said in a sigh. He then looked over at the other three to make sure they weren't listening as he turned back to me. "They didn't suspect a thing. Just keep up the act and we should be fine."

I nodded slowly to show I understood as I looked towards the other three who seemed to be waiting for everyone else to arrive while looking nervous and worried.

I looked down at my hands and started fiddling with my fingers, a normal thing I would do when nervous to try and not drag people's attention towards me.

I thought about Chihiro. All the memories we had while here... How her body was laying up there in the girl's locker room suspended in mid-air. All thanks to me and Byakuya's handy work.

What if they figured out I helped Byakuya? Would they loose their trust towards me? Was my friendship towards everyone else stronger than that? I was half asleep, I didn't know what I was doing until I started doing it...

I then looked up to see Makoto enter the room looking worried and nervous like everyone else. He must've heard the announcement as well.

"Who're we missing?" Makoto asked us all as he entered the room and walked towards everyone.

"Too soon to say yet, bruh," Yasuhiro told Makoto.

"No one else seems to be awake yet," I explained with a nervous look as I looked down at my feet. That wasn't suspicious, right?

"But yet again... one of us has turned into a killer," Sakura explained in a sigh and I couldn't help myself as I gazed nervously up at Byakuya. Was he really the killer? Or was it actually Mondo like Byakuya told me?

"But do you really believe that? Who'd kill someone over a dumb secret?" Aoi asked and I looked up at her. I actually thought about killing someone to keep my secret a secret. Some other people had rather dark secrets...

"Dumb to you perhaps. But not all secrets are created equal," Byakuya said as he seemed to catch everyone's attention. As if no one realized Byakuya was even there. "Let's look for clues." He looked over at me and I felt myself become even more nervous than I already was.

"Yeah, okay..." Makoto said in agreement, he then looked towards me. "Henka, care to look with me?"

I looked up at Makoto nervously. He had no idea that I probably helped a murderer... He just thinks I'm nervous about who the victim may have been when I know who was killed and where. How could I not drive suspicion to myself when searching with Makoto?

"Sure. I don't see the harm in that," I said nervously as I stood up and walked towards Makoto.

Soon everyone went their separate ways to look around while I exited the room with Makoto.

"Where to?" Makoto asked me with a nervous smile as I looked over at him with my own nervous glance. I knew where to go... But I needed to stall for time.

"I-I don't care. They could be anywhere, you never know," I said with a serious and stern look.

"Let's start with the second floor then," Makoto said and I nodded in agreement. I could at least direct him to where the victim was without straight out telling them.

Makoto didn't seem to find me suspicious at all as we walked up to the second floor and glanced around all the rooms.

I acted clueless as I gazed around for the victim when I tried to steer Makoto towards the locker room, but he insisted on checking the library after we searched the pool.

"Find anything?" Makoto asked me as I walked passed all the shelves in the library.

"Nothing," I said in a sigh as I looked hopelessly from behind the bookshelf. "Maybe we're just checking all the wrong places, Naegi."

"Indeed you are," I heard the familiar voice say at the doorway and I looked over to see Byakuya stand there with his arms crossed.

"Togami, did you find anything?" Makoto asked for me as I walked passed the shelves and towards Makoto's side.

"Not a thing. But, there's one place that has not been checked yet and I need a girl to check for me," Byakuya explained as he looked at me and I knew what he meant. The girl's locker room.

"Where would that be?" I asked with a furrowed brow, trying to sound clueless.

"The girl's locker room," Byakuya answered.

"We haven't checked there, have we, Henka?" Makoto asked me with a furrow brow.

"I believe no," I answered as I looked at Makoto with a worried gaze as he gave the same thing to me. "Right then, shall we?"

"Yeah," Makoto answered with a nod.

"Let's get going then," Byakuya said with a sigh as he followed us out of the library.

"Wait, your coming too?" Makoto asked Byakuya with a furrowed brow.

"Is there a problem?" Byakuya asked Makoto with his arms crossed. I wasn't surprised Byakuya would be coming along with us. After all, me and him knew where we were heading and finding while there.

"No," Makoto said slowly as we continued walking. "It's just that, me and Henka were fine searching alone."

"You two found no victim if I'm not mistaken. I may as well help," Byakuya said to Makoto rather harshly as I rolled my eyes softly. I knew it was normal for Byakuya to be harsh towards people, but he really needed to learn not to be mean to my friends.

"Now isn't the time for arguing. Let's just check the locker room and get this over with," I said in a sigh as I entered the pool room with the two and walked passed it to the locker room on the other side.

We all three stood there while eyeing both locker room doors. I knew exactly which door had the victim in. I wanted Byakuya to make the first move. Or Makoto.

"A prime setting for taking a life," Byakuya said in a sigh as he walked towards the girl locker room.

"Huh? Yeah, if you say so, Togami," Makoto said while looking confused.

Byakuya then put his hand onto the doorknob of the girls locker room and I quickly moved over to stop him before he got shot by the guns hanging on the wall.

"Let me open the door before you-" I started as I rushed over to him. But my words were drowned as Byakuya pulled open the door to the room and I looked confused. He was supposed to be shot by those heavily-armed guns on the walls... Why didn't he?

"Open sesame..." Byakuya said as he gazed down confused at the doorknob as well.

"H-How though..." I started as I looked confused.

"I've lifted the restrictions on these rooms while you investigate. There's plenty of time to shoot you later," Monokuma answered our question through the speaker as I felt my hands shake at my side because of what was to come next.

Byakuya quickly gave me a serious glance before opening the door and entering the room with Makoto and I trailed behind him as I took a deep breath. Time to put on a show...

Byakuya gasped softly when seeing Chihiro's body as his eyes widened in shock. Wow, he was a good actor. Makoto technically screamed his lungs off at the sight as he fell to the ground in shock. I looked at Chihiro's body and gasped softly with my hands trembling as I moved my hand to cover my mouth in shock as I felt tears enter my eyelids when seeing Chihiro's body.

"We're three for three, sport fans! And you know what that means! A lil' free time to collect your thoughts and... Boomshakalaka! Trial!" Monokuma said through the speakers as a tear threatened to leave my eyelids as I continued to gaze shockingly at Chihiro's body. The familiar face covered in blood still spooked me a bit.

"What...?" Makoto said confused as he still seemed to be trembling as he got up from off the ground. I was a little confused myself from the announcement. Shouldn't Monokuma give the announcement once one person finds the body...?

"It's part of the ritual here. Oh, right. When he made the announcement for Maizono, you and Henka were asleep. I forgot," Byakuya said as he gazed at Chihiro's body. Seems I missed a detail when I passed out from the last sight of Sayaka's body... "Once three people find a corpse, the clock starts ticking." He then moved to the bloody message he himself left there last night. Blood Bath Fever. "Blood Bath Fever, huh? Interesting..."

"N-No..." I said in a small whimper when looking at Chihiro's body as a tear fell down my face. Now it was time to mourn Chihiro's death. "Why her...? She was innocent..."

I felt tears start falling down my face as I fell to the ground while sobbing over Chihiro. These weren't fake tears. They were a hundred percent real. Chihiro was one of my closest friends here and now she was gone. We became close friends while here. When I gave her advice, when we ate in the cafeteria together, when she hugged me tightly. All of it was a memory I would never forget. And now... She was the one who had to die. No...

"Henka..." Makoto said softly when looking down at me.

"Why did we have to be put in such a cruel game... She was innocent... She didn't deserve to die," I said through tears as I avoided looking at Chihiro's body.

Why was I here? Why was any of us here? Why did we have to be part of this sickly game that made my friends die like this?!

"Now isn't the time to mourn over Fujisaki's death. Not when we need to uncover the killer for this crime," Byakuya said to me as I tried to dry my tears and looked up at him.

I must've been looking like a fool... Sitting here and crying over Chihiro's death. But I think Byakuya and Makoto would do the same if it was someone close to them. Like how Chihiro was with me.

"Naegi, go round up the rest of us," Byakuya told Makoto and Makoto quickly nodded and ran out of the room. Leaving me and Byakuya alone.

I sighed deeply to try and control my tears as I wiped the last of my tears away. Those were a hundred percent real. But it seemed like Byakuya didn't believe that.

"A little over dramatic, don't you think?" Byakuya said in a sigh as I stood up and looked over at him. "You could have simply cried a few silent tears instead of sobbing dramatically."

"I wasn't acting," I said softly and watched as Byakuya turned away from me.

"While Naegi is gone to get the others, I may as well ask this now. How close are you and him?" Byakuya asked as he readjusted his glasses.

"What'd you mean?" I asked him confused.

"How close are the two of you. He seemed to insist on having you as his partner during this investigation. Why is that?" Byakuya asked as he seemed to avoid looking at me. Was he...? No, he couldn't...

"Because we're friends. We're like investigation buddies. Like when we investigated together when Maizono died. It's like when you asked me to help you with this crime," I explained. "Why are you asking?"

"Forget I said anything..." Byakuya said with a sigh as he turned away from me.

"Alright," I said with a sigh as I turned back towards Chihiro's body with a small frown.

I walked towards Chihiro's body suspended in the air and looked at her bloody face as blood was dripping down her head and I couldn't help another tear from escaping my eyes as I remembered those moments we had together...

I walked into the cafeteria after speaking with Byakuya about the motive. On the other side of the room, I saw Chihiro sitting all alone with her own motive clutched in her hand as she was shaking slightly.

I moved towards her and sat down across from her, wanting to keep her company.

"Fujisaki, are you okay?" I asked her as she looked up at me with tears threatening to escape her eyes.

"I-I'm scared, Henka," Chihiro told me as she clutched hold of the paper tightly and I felt concern wash over me when watching the small girl cry.

"Why are you scared? Everything will be fine," I said in a soothing voice as I reached across the table and gripped hold of her small hand.

"What if s-someone dies...? I don't want people to kill each other, Henka! I-I can't allow them to kill each other!" Chihiro said in a small voice as she clutched my hand tightly.

"No one is going to die. No one will kill over their secret, I promise," I said in a reassuring voice as Chihiro gazed up at me with a hopeful look.

"Y-You think so...?" She asked me softly.

I nodded with a small smile showing on my face to help cheer her up. She smiled softly too and let go of my hand to wipe her tears away.

"H-How are you always so positive?" Chihiro asked me after wiping her tears away.

"Huh? I wouldn't call myself that positive... I just help make other people feel better," I answered, a little taken aback by what Chihiro just said.

"You are always so strong!" Chihiro said to me with a bright smile. "How?"

"Well... I do what I'm best at. Acting. I guess I become stronger when I hide my true feelings," I said with a small smile. "It takes a bit to become good at it, but, I just work hard."

"So... I-I should work hard?" Chihiro asked me and I looked at her with a furrowed brow.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I was hoping to become stronger. Should I work hard to achieve that?" Chihiro asked me and I thought about it for a second.

"If that's what you really want to do, then you should do it. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise," I explained to her. Why would she want to become stronger? I mean, yeah, she had a skinny body but I like her the way she was now.

"You're an amazing friend, Henka!" Chihiro said as she then walked to my side and wrapped her arms tightly around me. I sat still for a moment before I wrapped my arms around Chihiro as well.

She was never this open towards anyone before. Seeing Chihiro like this was something I loved. Her arms wrapped around me in a tight embrace as she finally let go and looked at me with a bright smile shining across her face. I couldn't tell that she was crying before.

"C-Can we get out of here together?" Chihiro asked me.

"I promise we will," I said to her with a smile. "Whatever it takes."

"And if I don't make it out... Promise you will. For me," Chihiro said in a soft voice.

"I... I promise," I said to her softly as well. I didn't expect her to die. And we would get out together. As friends...

I cried silently when remembering what I said to her. I couldn't leave without her. I couldn't do it.

"I'm sorry, Chihiro," I said softly, hoping Byakuya wouldn't overhear as I gazed up at her body. "You couldn't live when I promised we would leave together. I shouldn't have told you any of that. Now... you're gone because of me. I'll find a way to get out of here. For you... I promise."

I continued to sob silently as I gazed up at Chihiro's body. I couldn't believe this was happening. I told her no one would die and now she was the one to die... Why... Why did this have to happen.

"I'll avenge you," I said quietly to her. "And that's a promise I'm going to keep."

I backed away from Chihiro's body as I gazed at her with a confident look as the last of my tears fell down my face.

Time for the investigation.

(A/N) Just thought I'd put a little question at the end of this chapter because I'm genuinely curious.

Who do you ship Haiyū with the most?

It was just a thought on my mind because popular vote will take the cake for husbando. Also, enjoy the rest of the book!!!