Makoto's vision drifted back over to the bodies of Hifumi and Chihiro, both continuing to finger over the kitchen's furniture pieces and accessories. On the outside, the bodies of Mondo and Toko stood outside, seemingly interrogating every person they could get away with - if nothing else, Makoto was happy to see people working towards the investigation and the truth behind the case.
Clearing his throat, he felt his vision recolour and refocus, the dread he felt from originally seeing his body dissipating after his short chat with Celeste. He just had to hope that everything would be okay! If he kept that hope, then it might just all work out!
Walking over to the people he knew were, in reality, Kyoko and Byakuya, he momentarily tuned out the sounds of his heels clicking against the floor and the fabric against his skin as he reached his arm out.
"E-Excuse me, you two... You wouldn't happen to need any help, do you?" Makoto offered his help, finding it slightly easier to do so when looking at the images of Hifumi and Chihiro as opposed to Byakuya and Kyoko.
"..." Kyoko stayed silent, clearly embroiled with thought about the murder weapon as she closely examined it against each knife in the rack next to it. Makoto didn't really know what to say, so simply stood with his hand still extended, feeling more than a little bit stupid....
"Hmph. If she has no need, then I will take the opportunity." Byakuya said from the other side of the room, quite unexpectedly from Makoto's perspective, "This pitiful body is frighteningly short... I order you to retrieve that box hanging from this shelf above me. Celeste's heels should carry you more than high enough, so I suggest you don't waste my time."
As coldly as ever, Byakuya folded his arms and waited for Makoto to follow his clear-cut demands. If nothing else, Makoto was at least happy to be helpful?
Even though the shelf was still above him, Celeste's longer arms were more than sufficient to grab a hold of it. The job was made even easier by Makoto's use of Celeste's metallic finger claw to rotate it over slightly before getting a proper grip - admittedly, a pretty lucky stroke right now. Bending down, he handed the box over to Byakuya, surprised at the idea that he needed to bend down just to have good eye contact with him.
"...And after that, I suggest you stay here. The less you disappear right now, the better, given your situation." Byakuya followed up bluntly, taking a few steps to the side so he could investigate the box within open space.
Well... Makoto was hard-pressed to disagree. Even he knew this had probably been established amongst the group, but to someone with no further context, it certainly seemed like a mediocre, teenage boy would potentially kill to have the body of someone like Celeste, who probably lives a much more luxurious and thrilling life. It would be the same as killing while inhabiting Byakuya's body, it was the most realistic selfish move, right?
"Er, okay... If you need anything else, please ask." Makoto semi-mumbled, backing up towards one of the kitchen counters.
Some time passed as Makoto witnessed the investigation in front of him, giving him the opportunity to take note of some of the more important evidence. In particular, he listened to Byakuya's annoyed mumblings as he investigated the box and its location, giving him some insights.
"Hm... Corner has a trace of blood... Nowhere near the rest of the scene... Must be moved. So what makes it so damn important..?" Byakuya's mumbles could be heard over a long span of time - even though he normally hated having other people around, it somehow seemed he hated this entire situation just enough to ignore that aspect of himself momentarily.
In fact, for a moment, Makoto couldn't help but think that Chihiro actually was pretty intimidating with the right inflection. Or maybe Byakuya's currently disdainful voice and glare was simply good enough to make anyone seem influential and strong, perhaps?
A thought passed Makoto's mind of Byakuya inhabiting Makoto's body, sitting on a regal throne of gold, but he quickly discarded the idea.
"Naegi," Kyoko suddenly spoke up, similarly making Hifumi's comical nasal sound a lot more intimidating than normal. "Come over here."
"Ah! Y-Yes, one second!" While not entirely proud of being their servant, Makoto was, again, just happy to be helping in some manner.
"Hifumi's body isn't good for this business. I'll need you to reach behind this oven and grab that metal shining behind it..." She used Hifumi's pudgy finger to point out a small object that Makoto could, similarly, see behind the shadow of the slightly-misplaced oven.
One thing did strike Makoto as strange though - why was she asking that now? The object was really obviously sat there, so why was she only getting to it now?
"Sure, one sec..." Makoto bent over the appliance, his twin drills of hair falling unceremoniously in front of his eyes - at least he was fairly used to that by now. Surprisingly, this body was a lot more flexible than his own! Not to mention, bending over the jagged angle was a lot more easier with his... Normal lower appendage, so to say, removed.
"I'm just surprised you're only getting to this now, Kyoko. Despite being in the shadow, it's got a really clear gleam to it!" Makoto commented as he craned his head around, once again curtailing the item with his metal finger claw into his grip.
"Hm?" Kyoko responded tersely, apparently confused at Makoto's sentiment, "Are you sure? Byakuya looked behind here earlier and didn't see it."
Byakuya suddenly twisted his head to the side, looking directly at Kyoko, as his longer hair brushed in front of his face.
"What..? I missed something?"
"I barely saw it myself. Hifumi's glasses don't do much, it would seem." Kyoko added, brushing the glasses up in a manner only slightly less dramatic than the real Hifumi would.
"Huh? Really?" Makoto began to lean back up, pulling up the unknown item from the darkness. "That's odd..."
Maybe... Celeste could simply see really well in the dark? Even now, the behind of the oven looked fairly clear to him. He couldn't imagine it as anything less obvious, really. In fact, now that he thought about it, the whole room had a weird saturation to it...
"...Does Celeste see well in the dark?" Makoto asked himself, neither Byakuya nor Kyoko caring to answer. At least to Makoto, it would make sense. Considering her aesthetic, after all, it would make sense she preferred to keep the lights off. Looking on the bright side, he certainly had to admit even he could see the benefits of Celeste's body.
His thought process was interrupted, however, as he finally unveiled the item. As he had caught glimpses of earlier, the item appeared to be...
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