『ARC TWO: CAREFUL STEPS』

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The ghosting of Yoshimi's rough fingertips lingered on the fabric of Tanami's shoulder. With a quirk of the corner of his lips, the fifteen-year-old lightly placed a curved hand to his chin as he narrowed his aqua eyes at the dead body lying inside the dirty bathwater. "We should begin. I don't know how long Kohei-san expects us to take."

"...right," the word slipped out of Tanami's lips automatically as Yoshimi pivoted to say something to an annoyed Daiki. The pink-haired teen was not thrilled that he was told to perform something he did not excel at and began to retort. Daiki knew the basics, like how to perform CPR and some other things but still, it was not fair.

She drew a hand up her neck to cup the back of it as she rolled her head. A comforting pop came from her neck and a sigh of content rolled off her tongue. Blinking twice, she felt a chill run up her spine. The hair on her neck spiked up into her palm. Taking a look over her shoulder, she sought someone's leer but came up empty handy. No one else was in the bathroom beside herself, Daiki, and Yoshimi. Tanami shook her head and dismissed the feeling.

Nothing is wrong. Nothing should go wrong. This is Mizu Academī and some of the best Heroes taught here. After the infiltrations at U.A. and Shiketsu fifteen years ago, every Hero school in Japan had raised their security systems every chance they got. So the ridiculous thoughts swirling in her mind were nothing but an ignorant materialization of the mind.

She stepped over Kaede's 'unconscious' body and made her way over to the bathtub. She did not draw too close to it as she was not entirely comfortable with the very lifelike dummy. It just did not sit well with her that a dummy could be created with such humane features.

On her left, Daiki sucked in an ample amount of shaky air before steeling himself. Sending a glare at a listless Yoshimi, he knelt down and balanced his body weight on his toes. Daiki swiped off his blazer and tied it around his waist. The boy rolled up his sleeves up to his elbows. He placed a hand on the rim of the tub, avoiding the blood as best as he could. The fifteen-year-old awkwardly inched forward to get closer. "Just so you know, Shimi, I hate you."

Yoshimi only shrugged in response.

"Next time we do this, I'm forcing Kohei-san to give me gloves." Daiki carefully tilted the dummy's head away from the rim and moved its chin to its other shoulder. Low and behold, Himari's head was busted open. Two dents were visible, one higher than the other. The areas around those wounds were slathered with blood and its hair was slowly dying into dark crimson.

Delicately, he drew a finger around the wounds, inspecting the area for anything out of place. Daiki kept moving her head at different angles, looking for something that could signify that this was a murder and not an accident. He finally pulled away, face scrunching up in disgust at the dark liquid that stained his hands. He pursed his lips and looked around for something to wipe his hands and his clothes were out of the question. The teenager curled his fingers and grimaced. He resided in the fact that he was going to have dirty hands for now. There was a sink since it is a bathroom but who knows if he would have to check the dummy again.

"Nothing out of the ordinary for someone falling and hitting their head but-" Daiki paused his words and cocked his head to the side. He pondered for a while, hands still held out. Drips slid off his fingers and splashed onto the bathroom tiles. "-I don't think your head will bash open if you slip and bang your head on the faucet and tub. Or not this bad. Her skull is bashed in so much that seems highly unlikely. Actually, I withdraw my previous statement of it being out of the ordinary."

"I don't believe someone's skull could be caved in this much with a fall. Usually, if someone dies in a bathtub, they fall, hit themselves, and render themselves unconscious. Then they drown in the water." Yoshimi commented. He stood up and linked his fingers together before the sound of cracks were heard. He asked another question to Daiki who tried his best to answer.

Meanwhile, Tanami had crossed her arms over her chest and observed Himari's corpse with a frown. Something was bothering her about the entire thing but she could not figure what it was exactly. She shook her head lightly, the side crystals connecting with her cheeks from the movement. Suddenly, the amethyst-haired girl tensed up in remembrance.

Tilting her head, the female raised an eyebrow. "Shimi, can your Quirk pinpoint who is the killer? With the green, yellow, and red dots on your map?"

Almost sounding disappointed, Yoshimi sighed heavily. "We aren't allowed to use our Quirks but I can't turn mine off. Either way, since Akio, Kaede, and Gin are Heroes in real life, I don't recognize them as threats and neither does my Quirk so they're green. If they perform an action that says otherwise, it will change."

"Ah, okay," Tanami replied. Her shoulders slumped forward in slight defeat as she scolded herself for not thinking about that. She instantly perked up at another thought formulating in her mind. "A-another thing, if her head is more damaged than it should be, could someone have forcefully bashed her head into the faucet and rim?"

Pressing his lips together, Yoshimi nodded after a few moments. "That's an option. Cover up a murder with something that looks like an accident."

Daiki released a puff of air and rolled his shoulders in what seemed to be exhaustion. With a wary glance, he stuck his hands out so the red drips plopped into the pink water. "Do we just say that she was murdered then?"

Raising a questionable eyebrow, Yoshimi dragged a hand down his face. "Without definitive proof? No."

The pink-haired teen sucked in a sharp breath. With a slight hop, a determined expression was sown onto his face as he psyched himself up. "I hate this. I really do, but I'm checking the dummy again. My hands are already bloody, might as well keep going. Ohh, I really hope this is fake."

He knelt onto his knees, trying his best to not stain his pants with drips of blood on the tiles. He dipped his hands back into the water, ripples dancing across the surface. He tried to keep the disgust off his face but it was not working.

Sticking her head into the bathroom, Mei outstretched her arm to display three small handheld tablets. A few strands of brown hair fell onto her forehead as she waited for one of the three to come over. Her expression displayed anything but thrilled as she shoved the items into Tanami's unexpecting arms. "Hey, Kura-san dropped these off right now."

The periwinkle-eyed female lightly clenched her teeth together but stopped herself from saying something snarky. She strained a cheerful smile and in the best sweet voice she could muster, she said, "thanks."

Tanami hovered over the pink-haired teenager, peering over his shoulder as he pressed his thumb down on the dummy's arm. His nose was scrunched and his lips were pursed as he continued to move his hand up Himari's arm. Beside her, Yoshimi fiddled with the small handheld tablet that she handed to him.

Adjusting the tablet in her grasp, the female twin turned it on and pressed one of the small icons on the screen. Lighting up, the screen changed and revealed a list of information. It mentioned things such as Himari's height, weight, age, blood type, and other relevant things. It glazed over the injuries like the wounds on her head but it had no listed cause of death. It appeared odd but Tanami did not search forward since that was technically their job to find.

"Her muscles are tense," Daiki's hand trailed to her wrist and pressed down to see if he could feel anything. "Very stiff too. The dummy is still a bit warm though. Kinda gross. Ugh, I'm already elbow deep in blood, I hope it doesn't stain my sleeves... rigor mortis is starting to settle in but since she isn't cold cold, she probably died around three to eight hours ago. But that's just a guess. I mean, it's a dummy."

"For someone who doesn't want to do this, you aren't that reluctant to do so," Tanami commented with a small smile. She had a good feeling that he was not all that disgusted or that he was not as bothered as he showed.

A stifling chuckle left his lips as he rolled his light pink eyes. "My Quirk turns my own sweat, blood, and saliva into drugs. This disturbs me but I can live with it. Living Drug is a Quirk that is gross in its own way. Bodily fluids aren't a total loss but I still don't like it."

Yoshimi raised a fist to his mouth to cover the mocking laughter that escaped him. Daiki gave a questionable look at the water, turned slowly, and grinned at the taller male. "Do you want to be doused in bloody water?"

"Splash me, I dare you." he glared at the shorter male. The pink-haired male returned the look before returning to his work.

His fingers hovered over the dummy's abdomen. His face contorted in grimace as he pondered momentarily. Finally, he mustered enough courage to slip his hand underneath the tarp to touch Himari's abdomen. He blinked and hummed in confusion. "Her stomach is tense too? But that happens at a later stage."

"It's a dummy. You can't expect it to be lifelike all the way." Yoshimi stated as he scrolled down the tablet.

"Actually," Ichigo had entered the bathroom as she was clearly listening to their conversation prior. "My parents mentioned once that our company had worked on creating dummies that are lifelike, down to the point that they can do anything a normal body system can do. Like tense or loosen muscles anywhere in the body. It has been two years since they mentioned this but I doubt Mizu would overlook such a thing and not purchase it. They should be more advanced now for a matter of fact."

"So it's a dummy that can pull off being a real dead body? That's terrifying." Tanami commented as she swiped the screen rapidly. She tensed somewhat as she was suddenly expecting the dummy to stand and perform a dance if they pressed the right spot. If that happened, well she would not be a hundred percent sure she would not coat it in crystal.

"Then let's keep looking. Or I should keep looking." Daiki muttered while moving down to the dummy's knees.

While those three were in the bathroom, the other seven were in the main hotel room. Akihiko was lingering near the table where the dirty plates and cups were placed upon. Some plates still had leftover food such as white rice and what seemed to be white, nearly transparent fish cut into strips and arranged into decorative circles.

He drew near the dish, taking a quick whiff of it, and... it definitely smelled like fish. What type of fish, he had no idea. Taking another look at the objects on the surface, everything else that was a drink or food was nearly finished. Only the transparent meat was barely eaten.

Akihiko drew his eyebrows together in confusion. He concluded that Himari probably did not like the dish since it was barely touched. His fingers tapped against the table's surface in a rhythmic pattern. He shifted his weight. His concentration broke when he nearly jumped in shock when Kagemi placed a hand on his shoulder. He whipped his head around, slowly thinking of what he should say to the dual-haired male when Kagemi scoffed.

"You know that some of this information is odd. It lists all the food that Himari ordered." Kagemi mentioned as he waved the tablet in the air. "Coconut water, salad, curry, and pufferfish."

"Pufferfish?" Akihiko's face twisted in bewilderment. Why on earth would anyone eat pufferfish willingly? They are spiky when they puff up and they were beady-eyed. Well, any dead fish freaked Akihiko out due to their lifeless, soul reaching eyes. He did not know why they creeped him out since he never ate fish before the last name change. Lucky for him that Tomohiro never liked the feeling of skinning or cleaning fish skin and guts as he always bought it in fillet style.

Adjusting his glasses, Kagemi laughed fruitfully. "Pufferfish."

Just as Akihiko was about to question this, the person he loathed the most decided to enter the conversation. Junpei walked over, leaning over the table to observe the plate of pufferfish. Almost immediately did a smile slid onto his lips. "I believe only certain parts of a pufferfish can be eaten."

"How on earth would you cut them let alone cook them?" Kagemi asked as he allowed his hand to slip from Akihiko's shoulder. He swallowed lightly and restrained himself from showing any outward signs of worry. Akihiko would usually snap at him for even touching him but he did not this time. He could not help but feel the festering feeling of concern build up in his chest. The white-and-black-haired teenager frowned as the crystal constantly wiped his damp hands on his pants.

Kagemi wondered if he should start revising those therapy lessons in his head if Akihiko had a panic attack. It was unlikely since it was usually Tanami who had panic attacks but that did not mean that her brother could not experience one. Whatever. He would keep an eye out for any signs during the day.

As he was about to put his two cents in from the back and forth conversation between Akihiko and Junpei, someone interjected before Kagemi could. From the corner of the hotel room, Yua's harsh voice filtered around them. She had not moved a muscle or spoken a single word that they had forgotten that she was even around. "A chef needs a lot of experience to prepare those types of dishes thoroughly. Specific parts of certain fish are poisonous. If it isn't done or prepared well, the part of the fish that is poisoned will stay, and obviously, it will not be a flattering sight or experience."

Poisonous?

Walking over to the three, she further inspected the plate of fish and was thoroughly unimpressed with the presentation. "However, that's assuming that the fish was prepared wrong. This is supposed to be a grand hotel and a chef would not make such a mistake. It would cost them their job. If that wasn't the case, we have one reason as to how Himari could have been murdered."

"Ah, lookie here! Nomura finally decided to partake in the event!" Junpei gasped in feigned surprise.

Yua clicked her tongue and curled a piece of magenta hair around her finger with an impassive expression gracing her features. "I will stab you with that fork."

For a moment they stayed silent until the black-haired teen clasped his right hand to his heart and his left to his forehead. Eager to gauge a reaction from the girl, he dramatically cried, "seems like I'll meet my tragic end today!"

Akihiko halted the word 'please' from escaping his mouth.

It seemed like Yua was contemplating her choices as her violet eyes shifted from the fork and Junpei. She scoffed finally, concluding that murder was not a good idea on any occasion and that it would not look good on her record.

"Hey! There is leftover pufferfish right here! There could be a possibility that Himari-san was poisoned!" Junpei announced loudly.

Like clockwork, the banging of something colliding with a wall followed by a masculine 'ow' was heard from the bathroom. They could hear a series of curses strung together alongside a feminine squeal. The scrambling of someone running across the tiles followed by Daiki emerging from the bathroom in hysterics frightened the cluster of people.

His face was contorted in panic, hands covered in blood and dripping onto the carpet. If they did not know who the blood belonged to, they would have assumed it was either his or the other two in the bathroom.

"Did you say pufferfish?!" the pink-haired adolescent sputtered out.

"Yes. Do you know anything about it?" Kagemi questioned as he was still reeling from the boy's sudden entrance.

Daiki's eyes went wide and he snapped his fingers as if he was trying to remember something. "Someone look up the effects of- ah... tetra... te-tetrodotoxin! These tablets have internet, right? If not, use a phone! If you have a phone!"

"Tetra- what?" Mei inquired with a tilt of her head.

"Tetrodotoxin! It's a poisonous substance found in certain fish. Like a pufferfish. If I'm right, then," Daiki had run back inside the bathroom and slid onto his knees. Shoving his hands into the water, he moved his fingers to the dummy's throat and felt around her neck. His cotton candy eyes widened. "Her neck is still a bit swollen."

"Ah, uh, h-here!" Shinsha suddenly spoke up frantically as she neared the bathroom. Her hair bounced, taking on a sugary look from the light hitting it. "T-tetrodotoxin causes headaches, diaphoresis, body numbness, dysarthria, dysphagia, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, generalized malaise, weakness, and lack of coordination. In severe cases, it can cause hypotension, cardiac arrhythmias, muscle paralysis, and cranial nerve dysfunction."

"I understood half of that," Mei said confused. "Mostly the words starting with 'D' and 'C' are the things I didn't understand."

Finally getting his chance to speak, Junpei waved a hand and smiled to catch the group's attention. His eye was narrowed as a glint of amusement was shown "Diaphoresis is a fancy word for sweat. Dysarthria is a speech disorder which means that the muscles that are used to produce speech are damaged, paralyzed, or weakened. Someone with dysarthria can't control their tongue, larynx, vocal cords, and surrounding muscles. Dysphagia is swelling and the inability to swallow or swallow normally."

By then, everyone gathered near the entrance of the bathroom. Even the two suspects.

"Hey, Akio," Yoshimi had tilted his head behind his shoulder to look at the lavender-eyed man and the butler lingering next to the door. "Did Himari-san sound funny to you by any chance over the phone?"

The boyfriend clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Funny? She sounded tired and her words were coming out in slurs and slow at times. We only talked briefly because she said she felt strange and that she was going to take a bath to see if she could shake off that feeling."

Akio's words trailed off at the end as realization hit him. His face fell at the newly acquired information.

"What he said is written down in the witness testimonies," Kagemi announced as he pushed his glasses to the bridge of his nose with his index finger. "Though, if Himari was poisoned, even as a nurse, I doubt you could tell over the phone."

"I'm ninety-nine percent sure that is impossible," Gin ran a hand through his brown locks and sighed. "Unless you have such a specific Quirk."

"What was the point of her head injury then?" Mei inquired with a quirk of her eyebrow. "Isn't her head bashed in?"

Yoshimi sighed and hooked his thumbs in his pockets. "To throw people off. If it looked like she slipped and fell, hit her head on the faucet, and then the rim of the bathtub. It would be ruled as an accident if no further tests were to be conducted immediately. At least for a while, the culprit could escape while all of this is still processing."

"How long does tetrodotoxin take to kill?" Tanami asked.

"Six hours." Akihiko yawned into his hand. He was beginning to sway so he pressed himself up onto a wall. Why did he have to stay up all night? "Or at least that's what the internet says."

"If Himari-san was feeling ill around the call, what time was her food served? And who served it to her?" Junpei suddenly inquired. He swerved on his heel and jabbed a pointed finger at Gin. "Sir butler, who delivers the food around here, right?"

"Himari ordered her food around nine and it arrived by a small robotic trolley between ten and ten-thirty. However, that would mean the chef prepared it wrong on purpose. Are you suspecting he was the culprit?" Gin blinked twice, waiting for an answer to come from any of the ten students. Beside him, Akio snickered but hid it with a cough.

Junpei shrugged and closed his one visible eye. "Who knows? Perhaps he was an accomplice. I have no clue who it could be though. One of the suspects is dead. To keep her silent? It is a possibility. But the thing that confuses me the most is that no one here has a gun. Kagemi inspected those two and Ichigo reluctantly searched Kaede while you three were in the bathroom. Obviously, the dummy wouldn't have one. Kaede has a bullet wound so, who shot her?"

A heavy silence hung in the air, almost suffocating as nearly everyone grew tense. They evaded each other's eyes, glancing suspiciously at the two witnesses who were shifting awkwardly underneath the pressure-filled stares thrown their way.

"Who shot Kaede and why...?" Junpei crouched, balancing on his toes. He propped one elbow on his knee and tucked his palm underneath his chin. He frowned and craned one hand to point a finger at Kaede's slumped body. "Given the testimonies and camera footage, Himari-san had nothing to do with the maid. The only interaction they ever had was when Kaede found her corpse. So why get rid of someone who had not known anything about the victim?"

"Simple. Kaede-san knew too much. She saw too much to put it in easier terms." Yoshimi said. He was still kneeled down next to Daiki, eyes trained on the information displayed on the tablet. "The killer wanted to get rid of the evidence. All of the evidence."

Ichigo took a step forward. Her brows were scrunched. "If that's the case concerning Kaede-san's attack, it makes sense. However, it still doesn't change the fact that we still don't know who pulled the trigger or who has the gun."

"W-we searched the two of them. It's not Akio or Gin." Shinsha reaffirmed by bringing up information that was performed earlier.

Quiet chatter and suggestions were thrown across the room. Some were shot down instantly, other suggestions were talked about a bit longer but no one could form a hypothesis or answer to how this could be. Sighing, Junpei pressed the tips of his fingers together. His head tilted and a look of disappointment glazing over his eye. "This would be easier if I could use my Quirk. I feel somewhat helpless."

Akihiko shifted his position on the wall. He pressed his back to it, feeling the exhaustion slowly seeping further into his muscles. To be honest, he just wanted it to be lunch so he could sleep on the table. His brain was not processing much earlier but the shock of the realistic dummy had jolted him awake for a while. However, it was beginning to wear off and at this point, he is wondering if he is going to fall asleep standing.

Yawning, the teenager pressed an app labeled 'Witness Information'. Words instantly lit up on the screen. He scrolled down lazily, skimming over most information until he landed on the Quirk section. The first was Kaede's which was something related to pushing and pulling objects. Akio's was the manipulation of string. His finger hovered over Gin's information.

Gin Kano

Quirk: Light Hallucination

The ability to turn light into illusions that only people can experience. By sapping the illuminance in the room, the user can create a veil coating a person's eyes to make them see what the user wants them to see. This can make people feel like they are touching something when in reality, it could just be a fragment of hardened light.

Akihiko felt a chill run down his spine as a realization hit him. His grasp on the tablet tightened. "You?"

Crossing his arms over his chest, Gin hummed in confusion. "What is it?"

"Your Quirk, it is active, is it not?" Akihiko questioned as he lowered the tablet slightly. His eyes were narrowed.

"My Quirk? Why would it be active?"

"Why would it not be?"

Before anyone else could say a word, Yoshimi had stood and cleared his throat. Tucking a strand of brown and aqua hair behind his ear, he said, "instead of pointing fingers, let's review what we have so far."

"Sara Himari was killed sometime at night by being poisoned by tetrodotoxin by badly prepared pufferfish. However, this was hidden by bashing her head in the faucet and rim to throw off the investigators off for a short while. This is because they wanted this to look like an accident instead of a murder. Kohei-san told us that this was no murder and the cause of death was not listed in the case file, only the injuries received. Although we are not certain, Himari died by poisoning. That's the cause of her death, right, Kohei-san?" Yoshimi's voiced grew louder toward the end of his explanation.

"But before we started investigating," Junpei laced his fingers and let his hands fall down into his lap. "The lights went out, a gun was heard, and Kaede was shot. No one has a gun, no one here directly has a motive besides silencing the person who saw the corpse. As Mochizuki over here sputtered out about a Quirk, Gin's Quirk works with illusions and hallucinations. Isn't that a bit strange?"

The black-haired teenager smirked and clapped his hands together. "I mean, for all we know, we could be caught up in a Quirk and everything we are seeing isn't real? Of course, that's just an assumption. If I used my Quirk, I could be certain but I'm just guessing right now. Kohei-san said we couldn't use our Quirks. That doesn't mean you can't."

Walking with a slight skip in his step, he stood on his toes to get a closer look at the butler. "Are we wrong or right?"

"My, my, what a vivid imagination you have." Gin laughed heartily. It was drenched in amusement and his hand was touching his chin. With an all-knowing smile, he said, "but I suppose you are right concerning Himari's death. Partially I mean. Concerning my Quirk-"

Gin only raised his index finger and placed it on his lips as a gesture of silence. He smiled a bit wider and the corners of his eyes wrinkled. "Have a nice time solving the case, students."

Snapping his fingers, the room itself dissipated. The bathroom was converted into an old-fashioned room with navy blue wallpaper, lamps with burning candles, and floors made of polished wooden. What appeared to be a modern, expensive bathroom in a hotel was reverted to a simple yet elegantly designed room. The bathtub, blood, and the dummy had disappeared from sight. Even the three witnesses.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Daiki inquired. His pink eyes were still a bit wide due to the sudden disappearance of the dummy. "And what... what exactly was I touching?"

"Congratulations, kiddos. You solved one mystery but now you have to solve the other." Kohei's static-filled voice echoed in the room. "As you saw outside, this is a three-story building. The killer is somewhere in this building and you have to find them. However, they will attack you, and if you get hit, you're 'dead' and can no longer help others with the case. There is a map on the tablets and you can only use your Quirks up to three times."

Once he finished speaking, a click was heard and the door's lock opened.

"I suddenly hate our assignments and this is our second assignment." Kagemi sighed, running a hand through his white and black hair.

"You heard our teacher. Let's find the killer." Yoshimi stalked over to the door and turned the doorknob. He shot an uninterested glance behind him to his classmates. "Pair up. It's harder to kill two people than one."

Instantly, Tanami latched onto Akihiko's arm. His sleeve was bunched up a bit in her grasp. It took him a minute to process that his sister was clinging to him. He just ended up prying his fingers off his arm since it was beginning to go numb. His nose scrunched up and he discreetly took a glance around the room as to why she did so.

A small, spherical object made of metal was hanging innocently on one of the candle lamps. A bell. So that is what it was. The image of Ukiyo Kensho flashed in his mind. He swallowed the lump in his throat and lightly shook his head to dismiss the thought. There is no way that villains, let alone the infamous Seraphs would attack Mizu. It is absurd.

"I will go with Tanami. It is better for the two who pop out to stick together than endangering two others." the purple-haired crystal spat out the excuse quickly. For some reason, he felt like something bad would happen if they separated. His stomach churned at the thought.

He did not miss the worried glance thrown their way by Kagemi.

"Alright, let's go solve a murder. Our grades are already hurting from the escape room." Yoshimi stated with an indifferent look.

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Author's Note:

And that's the end of this chapter. Hopefully, these kids will be able to solve the case smootly.