[Ding dong ding dong…]
    
“Good morning, you bastards! It’s seven in the morning! Time to wake up! Let’s all strive to do our best today!”

Conan’s eyes peeked open. It took a moment for him to adjust to his surroundings.

That’s right, they were trapped in Hope’s Peak Academy, and they were sleeping in the rooms of the previous students.

There was a yawn behind him, and, oh, yeah, Ran wanted to stay with him last night. She said something about it being safer if it was the two of them together, and then just curled up beside him, falling asleep almost immediately.

Shinichi didn’t get any theorizing done last night.

“Good morning, Conan-kun.” His childhood friend sat up and stretched. Her voice still had a sleepy drawl to it. “Did you have a good sleep?”

“Yup!” No, not really, he wanted to say. He didn’t get much sleep at all. 

She didn’t notice his lie, though, and stood up slowly.

“That’s good. I guess we should meet up with everyone else now, right?”

It was only a short time later when they left the room. They weren’t the only ones awake already. Most noticeably, Hakuba was across the hall. True to his word, he was knocking persistently on Kuroba’s door. Conan assumed he had been there since the minute the hour became seven, because he was already rapping his fist on the door a little harsher than expected.

“--’m up, I’m up!” The acclaimed magician looked a bit disoriented and was still adjusting his clothes, but Kuroba opened the door anyways with a displeased look. He started down the hall to the cafeteria without so much as a “good morning”.

“Every morning, Kuroba-kun, just like I promised!”

“Yeah, yeah, glad y’ care…”

A few more doors opened at the end of the hall: Sato, Takagi, and Amuro emerged from their respective rooms at similar times. Conan and Ran started towards the cafeteria at this point.

Not everyone was there yet, but those who were here decided to start breakfast anyways. Most of them hadn’t eaten a thing since before they had been knocked out by the culprits, so there was no denying food at this point. Subaru, who apparently was the first to arrive today, assured everyone that, yes, most of the food - if not all of it - seemed to be safe if his own tests were to be trusted.

And it seemed he was right, fortunately. It took a little more time for others to arrive - admittedly, it wasn’t much but it was enough for Conan to feel concerned. He was tempted to start knocking on doors, but other people had their own schedules, so he just had to wait patiently, because surely everyone was fine… it had only been a single night...

Kazuha got there shortly after the initial crowd, and a relatively short time later, Sera and Hattori would enter individually. Even longer after them was Sonoko, Koizumi, and Haibara, all of who clearly didn’t mind making people wait for them.

That left Kirigiri to arrive last. But even after forty minutes later - perhaps a good ten after the previous group - she didn’t show up.

Conan and Hattori exchanged a look. They were already assuming the worst - whether her being killed or setting up a trap was worse, neither could say for sure. A couple others seemed to notice her absence - notably Hakuba, who looked particularly concerned about the empty seat beside him. Just as Conan was about to announce he would go knock on her door, the echo of rapid footsteps gradually grew louder and long, silvery hair came into view.

Kirigiri didn’t say anything. She didn’t apologize for her tardiness despite being nearly an hour late. No ‘good morning’s; she went straight for the kitchen as if she were set on a mission.

“Huh? That girl came up with this rule, yet she took so long…” Kuroba still hadn’t gotten over his early awakening and was glaring in the direction of the kitchen.

Conan wanted to think the same, but he saw her face as she came in. It wasn’t the calm face that he grew to expect. It wasn’t fear-filled, or content, or irritated…

She just looked… exhausted. Like she was up all night and now she was pushing herself to get through the day. He didn’t know if this was a sign that she had been wandering around or not. If so, is that why she suggested that rule…?

Moments later, she emerged from the kitchen with just a cup of coffee. She almost-collapsed into her chair, setting her drink down on the table. After seeing her face, no one asked why she was late, but she gave an excuse anyways.

“My apologies. I overslept.”

Conan thought it was a bit of a funny sight: Kirigiri’s coffee beside Hakuba’s tea. It was also a bit alarming to watch her drink her beverage of choice, because it had to be steaming hot, yet she took sips without any obvious reflexes kicking in. Her eyes did get wider the more she drank though, as if she was doing it purely to receive her daily intake of energy.

Slowly, people began to leave. They mostly stuck to pairs or groups due to their paranoia. A few, Sera in particular, mentioned they were going to continue exploring the school today, and that they would tell everyone if they found anything. Others were likely just going to go somewhere to relax (he wondered if this school had recreational rooms on higher floors - although part of him didn’t want to find out). 

Conan idled on purpose to wait for the departure of as many people possible. Hattori stuck around as well - they had work to do, after all. The plan was to speak to Hakuba together, and then they agreed it might be best if Conan spoke with Kirigiri alone afterwards. Anything the blond detective might tell them could be useful when speaking with her, after all. She might let down her guard around someone who looks like a child. Whatever leftover time would be spent scouring the school for evidence.

Once Kirigiri finished her coffee, she got up and began to head out. It looked like Hakuba was going to follow her, so Conan spoke up to stop him.
“Um, Hakuba-niichan! Could you stay a bit longer? Heiji-niichan wanted to talk to you!”

He could hear a snort and a quiet “I sure do” from the Osakan as he got up and took a seat across from the young detective. Hakuba could sense the disdain, so he crossed his arms and leaned back with a smirk.

“Does he, now? Well then. What is it you wanted to speak to me about?”

“Jus’ curious about what y’ an’ Kirigiri-san talked about yesterday.”

“If you wanted to know so badly, perhaps you should have volunteered to accompany her.”

Conan could already tell this would go nowhere if he didn’t chime in. While there was plenty of time in the day to warrant mindless bickering, he still wanted to get more than half of a thing done.

“Heiji-niichan was really surprised yesterday!” He was probably going to end up taking shots at Hattori if we was going to convince Hakuba to talk, but hey, whatever works. “Everybody thought Kirigiri-neechan was really mean and didn’t want to talk to anybody, so Heiji-niichan thought you would come back looking really sad. But she even let you look in her room! Isn’t that weird?”

“No one else is giving her a chance,” he said simply. “Perhaps if everyone would stop doubting her intentions, she would be willing to talk. You’d be surprised at the things she told me.”

“So ya think she’s on ‘r side then?”

“I believe so.” He took a drink from his cup - he had refilled it while waiting for Kirigiri to finish. “Although, I must admit, she doesn’t seem willing to... reveal the truth just yet.”

“Eh? But you just said…”

“I managed to converse with her, yes, and she pointed out the flaws in my theories about our situation.” He paused, and an amused smile appeared on his face. “But on the other hand, she tried to convince me that she and a few other students carried out a plot to murder the majority of their class. That it was a series of premeditated murders.”

“An’ ya believe her?”

“I’m aware we don’t know all the rules to our situation, but she said... at least eleven people died here - ten being students. Ten out of sixteen. That means four students killed two students each, and two killed one each.”

...There was no way that could be true, right? If so, why would she admit to that? That “at least” was also worrying. That would mean Kirigiri didn’t know the exact number of deaths, but she suspected there had been more.

“But that’s strange, isn’t it? Why would they kill more than they needed to?”

“An’ if they really did tha’, ya’d think there’d be more blood on th’ floor. If th’ bloodstains we found represent tha killings, at least.”

“Yes, they could have merely stood outside of the dorms and killed them as they walked out in the morning.”

It would have been an ominous conversation to anyone listening: two well-known detectives and a child were talking about the most effective way to carry out a mass killing. But to them, it was just another day in their beloved profession.

“She also said she could prove it - the deaths, I mean.” Hakuba’s smile was gone, and it was clear he was still thinking about this particular point. “The bodies remain in the school, apparently. She says the fifth floor has a biology lab, and that they all should be there.”

“...Ya trust her, huh?” Hattori looked disappointed. With a sigh, he readjusted himself in his chair and opened his mouth again.

“Why would she know that? Hell, none’f this makes sense. Did they move all tha bodies to the fifth floor? Did they have access t’ every floor from tha start? Her knowledge doesn’t match with’er testimony.”

“...Remember that Monokuma threatened her when she alluded to another rule regarding leaving the school. It seems she is basing her lies on that missing information.”

“Huh. So ya do have enough’ve a brain ta realize when a pretty girl’s playin’ ya for a fool.”

“I also have enough of a brain to realize when said woman is in just as much danger as us - perhaps even more.” Hakuba furrowed his brow. “If she were against us, she would either be far too helpful, or far too ignorant. She would be a reliable guidebook to our new life here, or entirely ignorant to her prior involvement. Perhaps she would feign amnesia. But there would be no value in giving these half-truths and withholding information. If she wanted us to believe her, she would explain the entire situation, or say nothing at all.”

While it they couldn’t confirm this, it did make more sense than anything else. The three detectives were unanimously content to pursue this assumption for the time being. After all, they needed at least one truth to hold on to. They needed something that could lead them to unravelling the whole case.

“Okay, so say she can be trusted,” Hattori said. He wasn’t convinced but would follow along for now, despite his doubts. They all had to work together to solve this case, whether that meant tearing each others’ theories to pieces or seriously considering ones they disagreed with. “But why’s she here then? She shoulda known th’ dangers, yeah?”

“And where are the other students she escaped with? I refrained from mentioning it before, but I have interacted with the Togami family relatively recently, so I can confirm at least he is alive and well. We spoke about Hope’s Peak Academy at length before he attended.”

“An’ now?”

“The one time I brought it up - after having not heard from him for well over a year - he threatened to break off all amicable and business-related relations between our two families. I don’t believe he would go that far, but it’s clear that it’s a… touchy subject.” He smiled as he recalled their conversations. “I could describe at length his disdain for his former classmates. I don’t know anything specific about them, but he makes it quite clear that he does not like to be associated with them.”

Hakuba paused to sip his tea. “...I believe he’s lying, however. I have been brushed off on more than one occasion for what he calls ‘confidential meetings’ with ‘very important people’. Sources tell me these important people appear to be young enough to be high school graduates - including famous icons such as the olympic swimmer Aoi Asahina and the romance novelist Touko Fukawa. Now that we know those two also attended this school with him, we can assume the people at these meetings include the survivors of the incident that occurred at Hope’s Peak Academy. So if we’re including Kyouko Kirigiri, that’s four survivors known by name.”

“Any idea how many there are?”

The blond detective hummed, giving himself a moment to think. “These gatherings are monthly, but don’t always occur in the same time interval. I believe they organize it so all of the… graduates are able to attend without it interfering with their schedules. It seems they occasionally bring other people, but including Togami-kun, there are six people who seem to be constant.”

Six survivors. Ten victims. Kirigiri’s claims followed the current evidence available. But this merely enforced the question: where were those remaining five survivors?

“Maybe the masterminds threatened Kirigiri-neechan? She didn’t want her friends to get hurt, so she came here alone.”

“But wouldn’t tha’ make this between tha mastermind an’ Kirigiri-san? Why would th’ rest‘f us be brought here?”

“Perhaps… they are aiming for some sort of... theme.” Hakuba was choosing his words carefully, as if he was thinking about whether he should say something specific or not. Conan and Hattori shared a look as Hakuba continued.

“When I spoke to Kirigiri-san yesterday, it seemed she had heard of us and our status as detectives. She could even discuss some of our cases at length.”

That explained why she could recognize “Kogoro Mouri” from Ran’s name. Mouri wasn’t an uncommon surname, so it would have been a tremendous leap in logic. It would be reasonable to assume the silver-haired youth also had some skill in deductive reasoning to link the heritage together. Or perhaps she already knew who Ran was, which was a worrying thought.

“So she’s a detective fan, eh? I was actually wonderin’ if she could be another detective ‘cuz of th’ vibe she gave off, but I’ve never heard‘f her before. What’s’er super talent here, anyways?”

Hakuba’s smirk returned and it was very clear he knew, or had a good idea about it. 

...Nah. He definitely knew. And was probably going to hold it over their heads for a bit.

“Are you scared of being outclassed by some obscure detective? She’s quite bright, so I wouldn’t doubt it. Anyways, I don’t know what her talent is. It seems she doesn’t like to talk about it.”

“Oh, so yer keepin’ secrets with’er now?” Hattori had been tame during the entire conversation, but he noticed just as well as Conan that Hakuba wasn’t playing fair. The blond didn’t seem to feel bad about it and shrugged nonchalantly as he picked up his tea for another drink.

“Are you truly unable to figure it out? I thought it was obvious.”

The Osakan furrowed his brows and thought about it for a moment. “...Y’saw it on’er ID card.”

“That would have been an invasion of privacy.”

“Yer a filthy cheater, Hakuba.”

Conan figured this temporary truce between the three of them was about to come to an end, so it was time to move on. Curious as he was, the talent that Kirigiri was enrolled with meant very little in the grand scheme of things.

“Um, so is the theme about detectives, then? But it seems like there are a lot of people here who aren’t detectives, like Kaito-niichan and Ran-neechan…”

“Mouri-san is the daughter of a detective, so there’s that connection.” Hakuba welcomed the return of the original point, which left the Osakan with an unsatisfied grimace. They would have to give up on pursuing this secret for now. “Though I’m not sure as to why her father isn’t here instead. As for Kuroba-kun… I have a good idea, but--”

He stopped, as if saying the words aloud had led to an epiphany. A very bad one, apparently. His face twisted into concern and he was clearly anxious.

“...If my theory is correct, then that would be quite worrying indeed. It seems the masterminds have information on us as well. Everyone was selected with purpose. There must be a connection between us all. Who is not a detective here?”

There were quite a few people now that Conan thought about it. From the facts available, this list consisted of: Ran, Kazuha, Sonoko, Subaru, maybe Kirigiri, Takagi, Sato, Haibara, Kuroba, and Koizumi. A connection between them all? Were they all connected to detectives?

Takagi and Sato are officers in the crime division so that might have been similar enough for the masterminds. 

Ran and Subaru were related to detectives: Kogoro and Sera, respectively. The latter was also FBI, but would the mastermind have information like that? 
Kazuha also had family in police business - plus, she was Hattori’s childhood friend (could this mean Ran was doubly connected for being Shinichi’s friend?). 

Sonoko… ah, Conan had used her voice to solve a few cases, so she had a slight reputation in the detective world. 

Haibara was connected to Conan Edogawa in that they were classmates. 

Hakuba said he knew of Kuroba’s connection and - it was a stretch but - Koizumi was their classmate, so maybe that was enough? Perhaps Conan should speak to her at some point and try to figure out her relationship with them. 

And finally, Kirigiri was connected to the mastermind. She was connected to the rest of them by being a detective fan. So, she had already known many of the people here.

...

“...What if we are here… because Kirigiri-neechan is here? She didn’t bring us, but the people who brought her knew her well enough to know the most suitable people to bring.”

“Why us, though? They coulda brought th’ survivin’ students back.”

“Maybe they are all really good friends now, so the masterminds knew they wouldn’t kill each other anymore! Umm, but, I don’t know why they couldn’t bring both us and them…”

“I think the more important question,” Hakuba started, “is why the masterminds felt the need to bring her here in the first place. What is their motive in doing all this? Anyone who escapes can just go to the police.”

“Anyone who escaped was also a murderer, but ya got a good point.” Hattori let out an exasperated sigh as he leaned back in the chair. “Why didn’t tha’ happen originally? We woulda heard’ve it if someone reported th’ kidnappin’ ‘f an entire class. Especially considerin’ th’ reputation of some students.”

“...So maybe none of the students escaped in the traditional sense.”

The physically older two detectives looked at Conan as he thought over the situation over and over again. 

“What happens if you kill someone and someone figures out that you’re the culprit? What truly happens if you kill someone and manage to fool everyone around you? These rules are pretty unclear at the moment. Hakuba, you said that Monokuma revealed another way out?”

“Ah…” The blond frowned, perplexed, but answered anyways. “...I believe he implied that… he changed the rules at some point that dictated: if the students could solve every mystery regarding the school, they could leave.”

“It makes it sound like none’f them knew why they were in there. What mysteries are in a school y’ve been at fer at least a year?”

Hakuba chuckled. “I suppose we’ve already disregarded mass amnesia as a possibility, correct?”

(It had been a joke, and Conan laughed at it, but. Part of Shinichi wondered. If there was a drug that could shrink someone into a child, then it was hard to know what could be ruled out and what couldn’t. Maybe he’d ask Haibara about the science behind it.)

...Once again, the detectives became very aware that they were missing something important here. Without that important thing, they would just be going around in circles forever. It was best to move on for now.

“Did Kirigiri-neechan talk about the other students at all?”

“She only mentioned Makoto Naegi after some… coaxing. I believe they were actually quite close compared to her other relationships here. She spoke about him fondly, as if he saved her life. From the way she worded it, it seems like he was a student who survived due to having incredible luck. I wouldn’t say with certainty if he’s one of the six, however.”

Conan was tempted to mention the blood he found but decided against it for now. Maybe later. Perhaps it was time to find the woman in question. He hopped off his chair and offered a wide smile.

“Thanks, Hakuba-niichan! I think I feel a lot safer around Kirigiri-neechan now! I mean, she just wants us to find out the mysteries of the school, right? Just like she did, I bet!”

“Yes, of course she does,” he replied, getting up as well. He picked up his empty cup since it seemed the three of them were clearing out now. “After all, how can she trust us if we can’t solve her case? I’m sure she has faith in all of us, and I would hate to let her down.”

“It’s exciting, huh? I wonder who’ll reach th’ truth first?”

“Are you turning this into a competition, Hattori-kun? ...Well, if you intend to treat it as such, I’ll be sure to keep theories to myself, from now on.”

That’s how it was, then. As if any true danger was miles away, suddenly the detectives were swelling with pride. 

It was just another case, after all.