There was a nervousness in Kyouko that she couldn’t ignore. She intended to go into her room alone, check for any assailants or threatening messages, then leave. But Hakuba. Hakuba... ugh!
    
She could have very easily ignored him and just shut the door in his face - and really, he probably wouldn’t take it too badly. She has already done worse to him with words alone. But despite his attitude and his charming, gentleman reputation, she knew that he just wanted to check her room for any evidence of her being a traitor.

(Though he did a good job at pretending he actually trusted her. He had nothing rude or mean to say to her during their investigation and actually made attempts at small talk.)

(She told him that she liked chocolate, snakes, and Sherlock Holmes.)

Really, she shouldn’t have let him in - especially considering she never had the chance to look through her room until now. There could have been a dead body on the bed with a bloody message saying “KYOUKO KIRIGIRI IS THE MASTERMIND” for all she knew.

Thankfully, the room was just as she remembered it thus far. Which meant it was completely void of personal effects, of course. Anything that could have led to her identity as a detective had been taken from her from the previous mastermind, and that didn’t leave her with much. Anything she still had was grabbed when she finally escaped this place.

Except for one thing.

“It’s empty and unimpressive, I’m aware,” she said, trying not to seem too disappointed with herself. And so they wouldn’t be standing around awkwardly: “Feel free to comb through everything. If you find my knife before I do - well, that would be splendid. Perhaps I could... finally murder everyone, just as planned.”

He picked up on the incredibly subtle sarcasm, and she was very thankful the other detective didn’t take her seriously. 

“I’ll be sure to report right back to you if I find anything you could kill me with.”

With her permission, he started looking through drawers. They all must have been empty (confirmed with how quickly he was going through them) - the only thing that could possibly be in one is that unopened sewing kit from Monobear. 

As he looked around, Kyouko decided she would start her own investigation by peeking into the bathroom. Some paranoia told her there had to be someone in there, waiting to kill her in the night, but a glance revealed that was not the case. She couldn’t identify anything different about it, so she began to close the door.

As it clicked shut, Hakuba’s voice rose from the other side of the room.

“To be honest, I expected more effects from the ‘Super High School Level Detective’.”

A lot of awful feelings struck Kyouko at once as the simple statement echoed in her head. Dread, fear, anxiety, despair. How did he know? Why? She never said anything, did she? Was he--?

No. Wait. He was the one who handed her her Electronic Student ID card, right? It wouldn’t have taken much to see her title. Wait, was her talent on her card? For awhile, it was just question marks, but, did it change by the end…? Maybe the mastermind this time around put it on? Damn, she really didn’t remember…!

She slowly turned around, and apparently the horror was obvious on her face, because he saw and immediately switched his tone to reassure her.

“I haven’t told anybody, if that’s what you’re wondering. Wouldn’t want to make Hattori-kun jealous, would we?” He chuckled, trying to lighten the mood, but Kyouko couldn’t even pretend to brush it off. How many times did she need to tell herself? Don’t trust people. Don’t trust people. Don’t. Trust. People.

“Kirigiri-san? I… I apologize - it was on your card. I couldn’t help my curiosity. ...Should I leave now?”

He really was concerned now (or was great at faking it), and Kyouko felt a twinge of guilt. She probably had the scariest face right now - but, wow, he deserved it, right? The female detective let out a deep breath and forced herself to relax, even if it meant she was left staring at a blank spot on the wall and wrapping her arms around herself. 

“...It’s fine. Continue your search - this is one of the best opportunities you’ll get to deem where I’ve sworn my allegiance.”

(“If I force you to leave, you won’t trust me anymore.”)

She suddenly didn’t care about her own investigation - if someone meant to trap her, then he could find the incriminating evidence for all she cared. Kyouko just… needed to compose herself. She had to meet with everyone else fairly soon, after all. 

There was a pause in activity, but soon he was carefully going through things again. She didn’t want to look at him because - wow, she probably seemed pathetic right now. Looking helpless wasn’t how she wanted to gain trust. She almost hoped he would never trust her after today, just so she could forget about it all.

(Her fingers twitched for that thing. The thing hiding under her mattress. The thing that she left here just in case she was ever trapped here again. The thing that got her through the first game of mutual killing.)

She didn’t know where he found it, but soon she could hear the shuffling of paper. Did he find a note? She didn’t remember keeping anything like that in--

Oh. Oh. Her eyes shot up and once again she was filled with panic. There were a lot of things she could do to stop this - march right over and slap the offending objects out of his hand. Start screaming, or maybe just scold him and hope he realizes what he’s doing. 

But instead of any of that, all she could utter was a completely defeated “no” as she looked up with realization.

It was a miracle, but he heard her and stopped to look up at her, blinking innocently. It seemed he hadn’t realized what he found yet, so Kyouko walked (shuffled) over with her head held high, hoping this didn’t screw over this not-quite trust thing that they formed.

“I… Please don’t look at that.” Kyouko held out her hands and tried very hard to look completely calm, hoping it would be as simple as that. The blond detective was holding two things - an envelope and a disc, both with Kyouko’s name on them. “...They’re personal. My apologies.”

Did he doubt her? She wasn’t sure if he would actually give them to her, especially with the way he was studying her face. But then, after what seemed like an eternity, Hakuba placed both objects into her hands.

“I don’t suppose you could tell me what they are - in a general sense. I understand if you won’t.”

“I could - in a general sense…” Oh, she was so relieved he didn’t look at them. Really, she probably could have handled it if he tried. And by handling it, that meant getting aggressive. She could become the ferocious mother bear that Asahina teased her for being when she was with any of the survivors. Kyouko could deny it all she wanted, but she was well aware of how alert those precious moments with her friends made her, and how she would probably attack any suspicious person that made a move on her former classmates. Maybe it was because she was a detective, or maybe because she was the previous headmaster’s daughter. Whatever it was, she felt responsible for the safety of everyone after they all escaped.

It wasn’t much different in this new situation, was it?

An extra moment was all she needed to be composed in front of him once more. Kyouko looked up at him with her regained collectedness.

“Monobear gave us motives to kill each other. These are two of them. One was a video of… the implication of something bad happening to our loved ones.” That wasn’t her own video, since the mastermind had to play up her memory loss and all, but. “The other is a dark secret that would have been revealed to the world if no one killed anybody within the time limit. ...There were other types of motives, but these were the only… personal ones.”

“I suspect he’ll give out motives for us soon enough.” She was so relieved that Hakuba wasn’t pressing her on the contents. Nothing would have shaken her to tell him, but, it eased her nerves and her impression of him.

“I believe he already has.” She forced a smile and put the “motives” into an empty drawer. She would figure out what to do with them later - the desire to smash and tear them was great, but, the video at the least, might be important to the rest of them if she were to be killed…!

“Immediately he introduced the possibility of a traitor among your numbers,” she continued, “in the form of myself. And, everyone here has someone that they value present as well.” 

Kyouko pushed the drawer shut and began towards the door.

“--Are you finished in here? Or do you need more time?”

“I’m fine, thank you.” Hakuba spoke as he followed. “And Kirigiri-san, I hope you can believe I certainly won’t target you. I have no intentions of harming anyone else, either.”

She smiled, even though he couldn’t see it, as she opened the door.

“That’s what they all say. ...Next thing you know, you wake up one morning to realize nine people are dead.”

The somber back-and-forth might have continued, but once they left the room, it was clear there was something going on down the hall. The room to Junko Enoshima’s room was open, and there was some kind of commotion going on from within. The two headed over and entered the room where inside, five people were gathered and huddled around something. They were the same five people that were in this area earlier.

“Did something happen?” Hakuba asked, and everyone’s heads turned. Maybe they wouldn’t have been so hesitant to explain if Kyouko wasn’t there, and because of that, she was very tempted to leave, but--

“Uhh, we jus’... foun’ somethin’ weird under tha bed…” Kazuha Toyama laughed awkwardly. Hakuba walked over to check it out and Kyouko cautiously followed him. Her eyes went wide when she realized what they were holding.

It was a box - a bit like an oversized jewelry box, but it had various types of weaponry in it. Nothing big, of course, but there were knives and a disassembled gun.

“Whose room was this?” Hakuba turned to look back at the nameplate, but Suzuki answered him.

“It says it’s Junko Enoshima’s - the famous fashion girl - and everything else fits--!” She waved her hands around and it all did fit. Magazines, clothes, a few posters, and a… giant bunny for some reason, “--but why is this here?! Do you think the mastermind put it in here before we all got here?”

“Perhaps Enoshima-san had a hobby.” And Hakuba looked over at Kyouko, as if asking for confirmation. 

She could only imagine this box belonged to Enoshima’s sister, Mukuro Ikusaba, the Super High School Level Soldier, who had stayed in this room for awhile. Although, to be fair, she could see Junko Enoshima keeping something like this in her room willingly. To… cause despair, or something.

Instead of discussing any of those possibilities, however, Kyouko just frowned as if she were just as confused as the rest of them.

“My apologies, I didn’t know Enoshima-san very well. This is actually the first time I’ve been in her room.”

(The other detectives caught her use of the past tense. She could see the realization and questions in their eyes.)

Which wasn’t a lie if she relied on what she could remember. She probably came in here at some point during their years together, but the memory was nowhere to be found.

“We prob’ly shouldn’t keep this out’n tha open,” Hattori said, and everyone had to agree. Kyouko knew her input might not be appreciated - and perhaps it wasn’t a good idea for her own safety - but she had to speak up anyways.

“It should be left with the most trustworthy person; keep it locked in their room so no one else can get to it.”

“That’s a good idea,” Hakuba agreed. Kyouko had to admit that having someone support her opinions and methods despite the building suspicion made things a lot more bearable. If the last “game” taught her anything, it was to stick by people like that. 

(And then watch as you send them to their deaths due to your unorthodox meddling with the mastermind.)

“Should we maybe leave it with Conan-kun, then?” This was Ran’s idea, and the young detective let out a little “eh?!” at the recommendation. “I mean, he’s young, so surely he won’t kill anybody…!”

Sonoko seemed to be the most against this idea. “What if a killer manipulates him into giving them a knife? He’s just a kid! He won’t know any better!”

(Conan-- Shinichi couldn’t believe this. Did she think he was an idiot? What kind of kid would do that?)

“If you’re worried about that…” Kyouko chose her words carefully. She had her argument, and she believed it was a conclusion everyone could agree with. “...why don’t we give it to Mouri-san? I’m sure she’s responsible enough to take good care of it.”

“M-Me?! What makes you think I’m the best person…?”

Kyouko offered a warm smile, which she hoped would reassure her. “You seem to be incredibly reliable. Several people here could vouch for your trustworthiness, correct?”

(“Maybe she... forgot about our breakfast plan?” “Someone as... reliable as her?” “I… I’m… going to check on her…!”)

The detective hoped she was making a solid judgement, and not the biggest mistake possible at this point.

But apparently it was fair enough, because everyone seemed to agree that she wouldn’t harm anyone, and that perhaps she was the most honest of them all. Surprisingly, the main resistance came from Conan--

“Wouldn’t it be dangerous for Ran-neechan, then? What if someone tries to break into her room to steal everything?”

“There should be a rule that prevents people from breaking locked doors,” Kyouko said. For a moment, she thought she was mistaken - that rule wasn’t introduced until later in the previous game. Thankfully, Toyama pulled out the ID card to check.

“She’s right! Looks like Ran-san’s safe after all!”

“As long as she keeps th’ door locked, right?”

Ah, Hattori caught on to that. Kyouko nodded. “That’s right. If the door was unlocked or someone had her key, they could come in without violating the rules. Even if the door is merely blocked or stuck shut - it is only punishable if the door itself is locked.”

“There’s only one key per room, right?”

Conan had an inquizzitive glance. Kyouko looked at him carefully before answering.

“There should not be copies of any keys - to my knowledge, at least.” She wouldn’t admit the existence of the multi-purpose key. The key that had been missing from her person since she woke up. She hoped it wouldn’t come into play - at least until she could retrieve it.

It seemed a solution was decided upon, so Hakuba spoke up once more. “If we’re all in agreement, I suppose the last order of business is whether or not we should inform everyone else.”

None of them wanted to hide something like this from the group - it was an important detail, and would likely cause tension no matter what they did.

Reluctantly, they decided it was best that they didn’t utter a word about this to anyone else. Suzuki closed up the box and gave it to Mouri, who looked more than a bit nervous to be handling something like this. After making sure the corridor outside was clear, she scurried over to her own room to hide the box somewhere safe. By the time they were done there, it was just about time to return to the cafeteria to meet with everyone else. 

Kyouko could only hope the others hadn’t found anything damning regarding her.