✧ Chapter 23 ✧
[ Though You Try to Hide ]
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The blue haired boy wordlessly picked up the clothes from the floor, brushing his hands together to get rid of the dust. "Here." Kaede handed him a pile of Kaito's clothes.

"I can't believe we're doing this." Shuichi muttered with a small frown. The two were in his dorm room, cleaning up the mess left by the the purple haired guy. It was the last day of the school term, and the rules of the academy were rather relaxed. Students, regardless of gender, were allowed into each other's rooms,  to help pack and clean up. "All's fair that way!" Monokuma had said cheerfully during the morning announcements.

"It's all part of the process, Shuichi," Kaede smiled sadly. She clapped her hands together to rid the dust from her hands, "After all, we'll be moving to the dorms on the fourth floor when the new term starts."  Shuichi sighed, closing the box with Kaito's clothes in and staring glumly at it. "He's not dead.. I mean, you and I both know he can fight the serum but.."

"I know, Shuichi," Kaede placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, "Just don't give up hope, alright? We'll meet him someday soon." Shuichi looked up at the girl, who had her blond hair tied into an elaborate braid. With, of course, her usual hair pins keeping the strands away from her face. 

Strangely, Shuichi found himself thinking about something else. Someone else, for that matter. Ever since Shuichi was allowed to get out of bed due to his mildly serious injuries, all he had been thinking about was Kokichi Ouma..

The days at the academy had been quiet without the purple imp running around and causing mayhem. He should feel grateful for the peacefulness but Shuichi felt lonely. Even with Kaede by his side, he felt like something was missing. He tried talking to the girl about it, but of course she always mistook his loneliness for longing. Something Shuichi was deliberately trying to avoid at all costs. 

He couldn't talk to Kaito about it, for obvious reasons. Maki as well. Perhaps.. he should confide in Amami, seeing that the green haired male was always now seen reading at the gazebo located at the garden at the ground floor. However, Shuichi didn't want to approach the guy either. His socialising skills were basically nonexistent. 

Ever since the library had burnt down, Monokuma hadn't bothered to replace it, since he claimed it would be a 'bother'. So Shuichi went up to the ruins of the place and stare at old memories. He tried scavenging for the clues amongst the burnt wood and scraps but all he found were soot and ashes. Not very helpful.

"Shuichi."

He snapped out of his daze, realising that Kaede was staring at him. She must've been calling his name for a while, based on her expression. "Sorry, what do you need?" he asked meekly.

The girl looked at the boxes around them. "Don't apologise, I was just wondering if you're going to keep all of Kaito's things like this. In boxes." Shuichi nodded sharply, "Of course, I need to keep his things. He needs to return to collect them after all."

Kaede looked like she wanted to say something but thought against it as she  began packing other items instead. "Hey," he realised, "Ouma and Tetsuya's things aren't packed are they?" Shuichi looked at the clock, which was ticking away on a shelf, "Oh you're right, we better hurry and clean this room and head over to theirs. In case Monokuma throws everything out."

With that said, the detective folded another box, thinking, as he watched Kaede bend over to clean the shelves. She was such a good friend... it was a wonder how she even befriended such a person as him.

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[ Outside Kokichi / Keebo's Room ] 

Shuichi placed a hand on the doorknob of Kokichi's room and opened it. Just like that, it swung open, since Monokuma allowed it.

"Wow.." Kaede peered into the room, which looked like a hurricane had struck it. "I thought your room was messy but this takes the cake!" she joked as Shuichi hit her shoulder. "Very funny. Now let's just try to clean up." Almost immediately, the girl started her task, leaving Shuichi to look around.

He hesitated, his eyes fixed on Kokichi's side of the room. It was a simple layout. Each item looked like they've been left exactly the way it was. And he could almost imagine Kokichi sitting at his desk, swinging his legs and drawing whatever he wanted by the light of his lamp.

Shuichi breathed in, taking in the scent of buttered popcorn with a tinge of mint. Probably from the bathroom located at the side of the room. "..."

"I can take Keebo's side, if you'd like," Kaede shot him a small, knowing smile, "You can pack Ouma's things." Shuichi rolled his eyes, knowing why she said that. "For the last time Kaede, I'm not in-." he paused, choosing his words carefully, "He's just a friend."

"'A friend' huh? That's something you didn't acknowledge the last time," she pointed out with a smug smile, "You didn't use to call him a friend."

Shuichi touched the brim of his hat, focusing on the boxes in front of him. He knelt down and opened it, seeing pieces of papers and folders, all crammed into the small space. He frowned, deciding to just leave it all be.

After all, he didn't feel very comfortable in poking around in Kokichi's things. He came across neatly folded letters and photographs of various people. He didn't seem to recognise any of the people, who were posing for the camera with beaming smiles and various expressions.

"Hey Kaede," he held up the photograph of ten people, Kokichi sitting in the middle of course, "Do you know who these are?" The girl, who was holding up a brown box of objects, looked over at him suggested, "His friends?"

He turned his attention back to the photograph, seeing Kokichi's wide grin and the other people, all wearing masks. "Seems like it.. but didn't he mention before that his organisation has over ten thousand members?"

Kaede blew some dust away from a picture frame, before coughing, "Gah- Keebo needs to clean things up more often.. hmm?" she acknowledged his question, "I think he's lying about it again... you know him."

Shuichi frowned at the photograph before carefully storing it away. He came across broken things, such as photo frames, a long piece of frayed rope, and even what seemed to be a toolkit. "He's such a hoarder." he grumbled.

"It seems like he keeps things from around the academy," Kaede reached up and brushed away a strand of her blonde hair. "Maybe he has a reason for that-." she opened a cupboard located at the side and yelped.

"Kaede!" Shuichi gasped as she was buried in a pile of objects and scrap metal. He scrambled over to her, manoeuvring around the things as she groaned, "Ugh.. what's.. all this stuff?" she rubbed her head.

 He took her hand to pull her up, "Are you alright?" he asked worriedly as she continued to rub her head. "Ugh.. y-yeah. Don't worry about me, Shuichi.. uh.." she pointed to a box at their feet. "Worry about that instead."

In front of them, was a box labeled as, 

'DO NOT TOUCH'.

 -Keebo Tetsuya. 

♥ End of Chapter Twenty-Three ♥