I - My Class Trial, His Resolution: Deadly Life
❃ For the bulk of this, I will be using the English localisation (Atua/'Kiyo'/etc) but also the original Japanese script (Tenko and Ryoma's speech/'Ouma', etc) as well as my own judgement for certain ideas as well. I hope this is alright with you!
❃ Also, I'm British, so if my spelling looks a little off sometimes (ie. grey instead of gray) that's probably why.
❃ As of Chapter 11, this story is being beta-read by user Animercom - thank you so much.
❃ And, lastly, keep in mind while this may seem like your average 'Rewrite with Kaede as a Protag' fic, it actually runs a little deeper than just that. But for the most part, it *does* follow the canon events of V3... at first anyway...
❃ So, with all that being said, please enjoy this story, and any critique/feedback is always welcome! ~ Kira
Chapter I: My Class Trial, His Resolution
DEADLY LIFE
Red and Pink.
For the first time, Kaede Akamatsu's world is painted red and pink.
The crimson-coloured liquid that seeps out of the supposed-to-be mastermind's skull.
The scarlet-coloured anger from her accumulating classmates she barely registers circulating around the library.
The shocking pink of the lies she's about to be forced to tell.
And then there's herself, a soft, melancholic pink.
Melancholic, because she stands before the body of Rantaro Amami.
The dead body of Rantaro Amami that she herself had just murdered.
Kaede's lavender eyes find their own way back to the gory scene again, bile shooting up her throat in quicker time than it'd take for her to play the Flight of the Bumblebee (Korsakov, 1899–1900) as realisation washes over her.
He wasn't the mastermind.
He hadn't deserved this.
Rantaro... had just been trying to end the game, just like her. He'd even said so himself, hadn't he? His ever, calm yet unmistakably determined voice from mere hours ago rings through her head once again.
"I'm going to end this game, so don't any of you dare go and do anything unnecessary, alright?"
Kaede inhales through her nose, trying her hardest to ignore the faint coppery stench of blood wafting around the room. She finds herself automatically scanning the library for her unknowing partner in literal crime. Shuichi Saihara, the Ultimate Detective, who's already on the case. Her case, she thinks to no one in particular. He's squatted over the body, carefully running pale fingertips through bloodstained green locks, muttering to himself as he does so. Some of her classmates sheepishly hover around the detective as he examines her victim's corpse.
And then she's snapped out of her head by a hand on her shoulder. The Ultimate Cosplayer, Tsumugi Shirogane, gives her melancholic look through watery grey eyes.
Ah, that's right, Kaede thinks. Her mind flashes back to the game room just beside the now-crime scene. The two girls giggling amongst themselves as they gave each other manicures, Rantaro calmly walking in on the two and giving the pair strangely-expertise advice on how to improve their work. And his hand... the way he gently held Kaede's hand as he painted her nails. The pianist feels her heavy heart flutter at the mere memory of it.
And now, her eyes shift to the corpse once more, he'll never be able to do that ever again. Not only that, he'll never remember his talent either.
Unless, of course, he was the mastermind... But... her eyes flicker to the monitor Monokuma had just been displayed upon, it wasn't looking very likely.
Kaede... just had to face it. She had been wrong. She hadn't killed the mastermind. She has instead, just killed the one guy that could have helped them out. And she hates herself for it. She'd started up the killings, when her goal had been to end them...
"Whoa, Shuichi, careful there, dude!"
The room ripples, and Kaede is brought back into reality by the Ultimate Astronaut, Kaito Momota. He's over by the bookshelf gripping that same stepladder she'd previously used to arrange the books previously to steady it as... oh.
Oh...
Heart stumbling, her eyes slowly follow the direction of Kaito's look of concern. Shuichi is examining the stacked books. Kaede squeezes her eyes tightly shut.
He's going to figure it out. Before the trial even starts, by the looks of things.
"Whatever are you examining, Shuichi, if I may be so rude as to inquire?" Korekiyo Shinguuji, the Ultimate Anthropologist asks from the corner of the room by the front entrance.
"Yeah!" Miu Iruma, the self-proclaimed 'Gorgeous Girl Genius' squawks from behind Kaede. "The body's over here, genius! Tch, aren't you supposed to be a boy-detective or some shit?"
"I think it'd probably be best to trust him at this stage, Miu." Tsumugi calmly says to the inventor.
"Of all of us, it's most likely that Shuichi's judgement will be the most accurate." Kiibo, the Ultimate Robot chimes in. Kaede can't see it, but she can practically feel Miu retreat into herself from behind her.
"Did you find anything up there?" Tenko Chabashira, Ultimate Aikido Master warily asks as the detective makes his way back down the stepladder with shaky steps. Kaede waits with baited breath.
Shuichi pauses for a moment, hand covering his nose and mouth in thought. He then turns to the fourteen other students scattered around the library.
"N-no... I didn't. Sorry." He doesn't meet anyone's eyes as he speaks.
Kaede watches the detective walk back towards the body as Miu brashly announces to the class that she already has the murder solved via an invention she conveniently has at hand.
He's lying.
"I don't think that's how murders work..." mumbles Himiko Yumeno, Ultimate Magician. She hesitates, then raises a finger. "Unless of course, you used skeleton magic."
"Haah?" The inventor snorts at the magician. "The fuck's skeleton magic when it's at home?"
* RISE AND SHINE, URSINE! *
Before anyone can utter another word, Kaede's heart somehow manages to sink even lower as the quintet of coloured robotic bears materialise before the group, chattering about their father being 'late as always' or... something Kaede could really care less about.
She feels a light tap on her arm. Reflexes kicking in, her head snaps to the right. Her stomach flips over as Shuichi's grey eyes, not unlike colour of gold and gravel shovelled together, stare right back at her, no words exchanged, none needed.
It was enough.
She could see it.
The betrayal was clear as the sheet of glass enveloping the Academy.
Kaede opens her mouth to say something, anything at all, but no words form. Shuichi merely removes his hand from her arm and looks at the ground, hat obscuring his face once more.
It's in this moment that she makes her resolve. The only way she can turn this around, the only way she can avenge Rantaro... is by weeding out the supposed mastermind in their group in the upcoming class trial. And if that doesn't work... then she'll just have to face the music and sacrifice herself to repent for her sins.
It's the only way.
She's scared, terrified even. But it has to be done. It is the only fair way of going about it, after all.
It'd be wrong for any other outcome.
"HEY! DETECTIVE BOY! NO INVESTIGATION IS PERMITTED TILL I SOUND THE CLAXON!" The shrill voice of a certain black and white bear echoes throughout the room as he bounces in from... wherever, Kaede doesn't care. She never does. Just seeing the creature so gleeful at the murder he'd waited four days for, it... it makes her insides curdle like milk with lemon. After her discussion with the detective, Kaede is absolutely positive that there's someone behind that monochrome façade, and by hook or by crook was she going to expose them.
Even if it costs her her own life.
"Can someone please explain the meaning of this?" Kirumi Tojo, the Ultimate Maid begins, as she briskly walks to the forefront of the room to stand near Shuichi and the late Rantaro, concern laced into her otherwise lady-like features.
"Nah, an explanation isn't necessary," Monokuma replies to the maid, waving a dismissive paw. "Thanks to the First Blood Perk, there won't be a class trial, so that'd just be a waste of time." He spins around to face the rest of the class, claws brandished, red eye glowering. "With that said, if you're the blackened who killed Rantaro Amami, please raise your hand now!"
Kaede holds her breath.
"The one who... killed Rantaro?" Tsumugi goes five shades paler.
Tenko accusingly points around at the seven living men in the room. "It was a degenerate male, wasn't it?!"
"How you know boy do it?" A confused Ultimate Entomologist, Gonta Gokuhara inquires.
Tenko glares at him. "T-Tenko just does, okay?!"
Kaede plays a song in her head in an weak attempt to block out the panicked chatter.
"Tch, that dumbass," Kaito growls, "how dare he get himself killed!" He turns to the others around to the others with a crack of his knuckles. "Who the hell did it?! I'll friggin' punch you into orbit!"
"..."
"Now, now, no need to be shy." Monokuma croons. "Just gotta raise your hand, and it'll all be over and done with. No investigation, no trial, no execution! It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, ya know!"
"Then congratulations! Would the blackened who's about to graduate please raise their hand!" Monotaro cheerfully chirps.
"..."
"What the— is no one raising their hand?" Monosuke asks, lifting his glasses to confirm his suspicions.
"..."
"Heeeey, Didja hear meee? All ya gotta do is speak up y'know?" The red bear jumps on the spot in impatience.
"..."
"Hmm? No one's stepping forward, what's going on?" Monophanie softly inquires.
Kaede splays a hand over the globe beside her in an attempt to steady herself from keeling over. She chews on her bottom lip, wandering aimlessly in thoughts of dire consequence. She has to do this. No running away from it now. To avenge Rantaro, she has to expose the mastermind at the trial. She has to—
"..."
"Puhuhu. I see how it is..." The black and white bear brings both paws to his two-toned mouth. "The blackened has no need for the First Blood Perk. They'd rather do a class tr—"
"It was me."
Kaede's blood runs cold as she looks over to the speaker, as does everyone else in the room.
"Sh-Shuichi...?!" The name comes out more as a dry rasp than an exclamation.
The detective anxiously tugs on his cap, swallowing a lump in his throat. "I-I did it. I uh... killed Rantaro..."
The library is silent for a few moments.
Then all hell breaks loose.
"TENKO TOLD YOU IT WAS A MALE!"
"I recommend that we all stay calm and listen to what he—"
"Shuichi? Did you really kill Rantaro!?"
"Awww, why did you kill him? He was kind of nice to look at..."
"That's not the issue here!"
"Atua says he speaks the truth."
"So... the detective was the murderer this whole time? That's kind of a let-down..."
"I'd say it's the opposite if anything..."
"Why the fuck did you go investamabating up there if you were the one who kicked his front tail in then?"
"Uh, I think you meant to say 'investigating'..."
"It was obviously so he wouldn't look suspicious."
"I-is anyone listening to me!?"
"Not saying I agree with what he did, but I can at least respect an honest man."
"I believe my recording function must be acting up, because to me it sounded like Shuichi just—"
"EVERYONE! JUST SHUT UP FOR A SECOND!" Kaede shrieks, voice finally coming back to her. And again, the room falls silent.
The pianist turns to the detective. "Shuichi... why are you lying?" There's a noticeable tremor in her normally confident voice.
"I-it's fine, Kaede." He stammers out, "it's better this way..." His hat hides his face.
"No!" Kaede's voice snowballs into one of panic "No, no— it's not fine! Why are you lying? You know I—"
"It's okay, Kaede, you don't have to say anything."
"What?" Kaede is silenced by the new voice.
Kokichi Ouma, Ultimate Supreme Leader, comes to stand beside her, head barely reaching her chest. He turns to the detective, steely gaze plastered onto his face, a look Kaede doesn't think she's seen on the smaller boy before.
"You said you're the culprit, right Shuichi?"
"Y-yes, that's right." The detective averts his gaze over to the six bears, who are being uncharacteristically quiet throughout all this, Monokuma especially. He seems almost... taken aback?
"Wait, stop, Kokichi, you've got it all wrong!" Kaede shoots at him. "Shuichi wouldn't kill anyone!" She walks briskly over to Shuichi, eyes silently pleading with the detective to just stop just stop, but Kokichi ignores the pianist completely.
"I wanna know how." Shuichi and Kaede both turn to look at the boy in confusion.
"What?"
"You heard me!" The dictator clicks his tongue in frustration. "I saaaaid, I wanna know how you did it!" He puffs out his cheeks. "How'd'ya do it, Shuichi? How'd'ya kill Rantaro, Shuichi—?"
"An explanation isn't needed!" Monokuma snaps. "He confessed, so he's a murderer walkin' free!" The bear's cheery voice practically drips with malice. Kaede's breath hitches in her throat.
Wait... w hat?
"Damn it..." Kaito clenches his fist. "So... Shuichi really is the culprit then?"
"Puhuhuhu." Monokuma narrows his black eye. "Weeeell, I'm not saying he DIDN'T do it either..."
"So, he didn't not do it?" Himiko tilts her head. "Or he didn't not not do it? Or he didn't not not not do it...?"
"W-wait, Himiko! Gonta confused." The entomologist adjusts his glasses and stares at his hands in concentration. "Shuichi not did knot not...yes kill—"
"Both of you be quiet, you're not helping the situation." Maki Harukawa sighs impatiently at the small and bulky figures. Kaede notices Monophanie hastily leaving the library out of the corner of her eye.
"I knooooow that, obviously!" Kokichi continues, pointing accusingly at Monokuma. "But that's all the more reason to let him explain himself!" He crosses his arms. "Since we aren't able to have fun with the case now that Shuichi spoiled it..." He puts emphasis on the detective's name in a way that only further drills nails of anxiety into Kaede's skull.
Shuichi looks over to the area where Rantaro lifelessly lies. Kaede stiffens as he makes fleeting eye-contact with her, before turning back to the group and as the pianist can only watch on as he begins to explain his and Kaede's plan in minute detail, pointing out the cameras, sensors, and demonstrating the moving bookcase all the while. Kaede balls up her fists, spring-coloured nails digging crescents into her palms. She has to come clean, if not now, then when?!
"I came back down to the basement later, and Rantaro had opened the moving bookcase..." Shuichi explains. "I figured... that he had to be the mastermind, because who else would have come to here at this hour? So, I..." He pauses. "I... took the ball I brought from the warehouse with me, a-and—"
"And you smashed in that pretty boy's head?" Miu finishes with spray of spittle.
Shuichi nods meekly.
Kaede frowns. "No, that's wro—"
"Kya-hahaha!" To think my cameras were being used for a murder plot?!" She growls at the detective and walks up to him and the musician, reaching out to grab the former. "You little bitch!"
"W-wait, Miu!" Kaede yells at the inventor, who in turn leaps back, not unlike a frightened animal.
"Hey, Kaede, is it possible that you two were working together on this?" Kokichi muses, innocently cocking his head. Kaede's heart clenches in her chest. Kokichi's grin only widens tenfold at her reaction. "So one of you could get out scot-free, and the other could then—"
"No, that's not what happened at all! Because Shuichi didn't kill—!" Kaede weakly argues back.
"It's okay, Kaede, honestly..." Shuichi says tiredly, "I'm fine with them knowing."
"We're wasting too much time arguing! This'll prove it!" A meek voice squeaks from beside the pianist, as Monophanie reappears, holding some envelopes.
"Ah, the photos!" Kaede exclaims, hope blossoming in her chest. "This'll prove Shuichi's innocence then!" She hurriedly snatches the envelopes from the female bear and tears them open as the other students crowd around to take a look.
"Awwwh, so he's not in the photos after all..." Angie Yonaga, the Ultimate Artist sighs.
"So Kaede was right!" Tenko cheerfully trills. "Well, she IS a girl, so of course she's telling the truth!" The pianist rolls her eyes at the misandrist martial artist.
"What the hell?!" Kaito's head snaps to the detective. "Shuichi, what's going on!?"
"Um," Shuichi meekly steps away from the group, eyes darting around the room to everything that wasn't one of his classmates. "W-well, you see, I—"
"Nah, he still coulda done it," Miu states matter-of-factly.
"No... " Kaede glares at her, cursing internally. "He couldn't have," She holds up the pictures for Miu to see. "You can clearly see he's not in the photos, so there's no way that he was in the libr—"
"Oi, Pooichi! You used the camera intervals I warned you about to sneak in 'ere, didn't ya, ya little snake?" Kaede's jaw drops. Camera intervals...? Her head snaps over to the capped boy. Since when were there...? The pianist's eyes glaze over as Miu details the thirty seconds it takes for the film in the camera to auto-roll.
Why... Why is this happening...?
"Y-yeah, I-I did use them." He looks over at Kaede apologetically. "When you went off with Angie this morning, I-I went to Miu's lab and retrieved the cameras. She told me about them there and I... I—"
"You didn't tell her, did you, Shuichi?" Kiyo places a bandaged hand over his mask. Shuichi sombrely nods.
"Well then, I suppose that settles it." Maki says with an indifferent shrug. Kaede feels numb. Her head aches with tension and confusion. She tries to get the words out, but none come to her. She doesn't understand why - or how this is being allowed to happen.
"Shuichi... you really did it then? You really killed Rantaro?" Kaito looks to the 'culprit.' The boy in question nods once more, eyes still stiffly glued to the floor.
"B-but, the shot-put ball!" Kaede's voice is tight from straining. "How on earth did it fall on top of Rantaro's head if he...?"
"What makes you think it was dropped from above, Kaede?" Kirumi asks.
"What?" Kaede's head snaps in the maid's direction. "I know because it was—"
"No, that's wrong. It didn't fall from above" Shuichi interjects.
Kaede stares at him. "What?"
Shuichi guides the group over to the crumpled corpse. "You can clearly see from this angle." He points down at the back of Rantaro's head. "That the indentation from the impact of the ball and the cranial fractures are situated at the back of his head." He then gestures to the blood spatter on the bookcase. "If a ball came from above, the blood spatter and the body would be lined up accordingly. And as you can see, that is not the case here. Meaning it would be impossible for a shot-put ball to have killed him from above in this particular instance."
Kaede's mouth goes dry. She has absolutely no clue how Rantaro must have been positioned when the ball fell, but there was no doubt that she had killed him. She's the one who set everything up! There's no other way! Why is Shuichi lying to everyone?
"Wooow! The Ultimate Detective is so cool when discerning a murder case like this! Even though it's literally his own crime!" Kokichi's eyes practically sparkle with admiration.
"Yeppers!" Monokuma claps his paws together. "The blackened who killed Rantaro Amami, the Ultimate A...mnesiac, is none other than the Ultimate Detective himself, Shuichi Saihara! What a plot twist, amiright!?" Kaede stands aghast at the statement, as Shuichi continues staring at the hardwood floor.
Kaede turns towards the bear, face tightening with anger. "What do you mean he did it?!" She shrieks at the robot, voice cracked and tight. "You and I both know that he didn't kill Rantaro—!"
Kaede is cut off as she feels herself being pulled back by someone. Tenko. The musician protests. "N-No! You guys don't understand! He didn't do it! He's... he's lying!" She can feel her mind spiralling out of her control, thoughts about lies, and death and executions polluting her mind. She cranes her neck to try and look at the girl holding her back. "Shuichi's just lying to protect me!" Tenko only returns a look of sympathy towards the pianist.
The bear looks at her, chuckles at her desperation and turns his attention back to Shuichi. "Well then, Mr. Blackened, you have ten minutes to say your goodbyes, and then we'll escort you right on outta here!" He hops down from his perch on one of the bookshelves, and the Monokubs follow suit. "I'll meetcha at the Shrine of Judgement, the red door at the bottom of the courtyard in six-hundred seconds! Kay? Kay. Kay! Seeya then!" Monokuma cackles before happily sauntering out of the door. "And I'll be seeing the rest of you chumps tomorrow, as we continue with our glorious Killing Game Semester!" His malicious voice rings clear throughout the library as his five children bounce after him, chanting their 'So-Long, Bear-Well' jingle as they each disappear.
The walk to the Shrine of Judgement can only be described as something of a funeral procession as Shuichi is marched to freedom. Despite the nearly-certain conclusion Monokuma had arrived at, Kaede doesn't give up. Each time she attempted to counter Shuichi's lies, prove his innocence or counter his confession, she was cut clean off by either the detective himself, or one of the animatronic bears, one of which eventually threatened to bring out an Exisal if she kept "interrupting the graduation process." Even Maki, at one point had silenced her, her irritation as clear as the sky above. And so, in defeat she'd very hesitantly given up and instead tried to wrap her throbbing head around the fact that Shuichi was being released back into the outside world on his word alone.
It's almost as though Monokuma didn't want the others to know the truth.
Not that she did, either.
Kaede expects to group to slowly decline as they get closer and closer to the blood-red door, but not one student leaves on the way down the courtyard. As they reach their destination, Kaede and Shuichi turn around to see the thirteen students still behind them, their faces grim, yet alight with anxiety, curiosity, and sheer disbelief.
Kaito pushes his way to the front of the group, flashing a grin at Kaede's surprise and seemingly reading her thoughts. "What, you really thought I'd let Shuichi be sent off without a bang?"
"Y-you guys..." Kaede breathes as Shuichi finally lets go of her hand, turns to face the cluster of students and bows apologetically.
"I want to apologise for my actions." He doesn't meet any of their eyes. "I know that the plan to kill the mastermind..." he pauses and wrings his hands, "...ended up not working out, but... I still believe in you guys, and I know that you have the power to defeat the ringleader that's behind all of this."
Kaede feels a chill run up her spine at Shuichi's blatant lies, a spike guilt stabbing into her stomach and twisting around her gut as he continues spinning his own web in her defence.
"Before I... uh," his eyes briefly flicker to the Monokubs observing nearby, "I just want you all to know that my intent was always to find the truth. We..." he glances to the blonde beside him, "genuinely wanted to end the killing game with our plan - expose the mastermind." He pulls the brim of his hat down over his face. "I just wasn't confident enough... Rantaro didn't have to… If only I'd investigated a little more, then maybe..." He takes a breath. "It might seem scary at times, but it's vital to fight for the truth in a situation like this, even if the truth seems terrifying."
He continues, eyes still on the floor. "And sometimes, the truth isn't always enough." Shuichi closes his eyes. "Sometimes, it's necessary to fight for more than the truth," He pauses again. "Hopefully, it won't come to that... but sometimes... it's necessary to grasp the hope just beyond the truth."
Silence washes over the shrine, the only sound audible being the gentle trickle of the jewel-blue stream that occupied the centre of the shrine.
"Grasp the hope..." Kiibo quietly echoes to himself.
"I couldn't have said it better myself, Shuichi!" Kaito says, a little too happily for Kaede's liking.
But the pianist is too taken aback by the detective's sudden burst in confidence to react. Had... had he always been this confident?
A tiny part of Kaede still screams for the trial to go on, quietly hopes that they yet might uncover a clue about the mastermind whilst they try to find out her plan, and then when all is said and done, she'd confess, and be rightfully executed.
Tsumugi wipes a tear from her eye. "Sh-Shuichi..."
"But of course!" Angie waves her hands in the air. "Atua says it'll be as easy as freshly squeezed lemons!"
"Tenko also promises to help protect everyone else." The Aikido Master glances to the sleepy redhead at her side. "She'll... protect everyone, no matter what."
"That's... why I took the First Blood Perk." Shuichi gaze falls upon the monochrome bear, who'd reappeared before them. "So I can get out of here and help save everyone from the outside… and then, I'll come back to get you all out of here!"
Monokuma cocks his head, amusement seeping across his furry features.
"And I don't expect any of you to forgive me for what's happened this evening, and I'm sure that none of you will trust either myself or Kaede anymore, but—" Shuichi starts to say, staring squarely at his peers. "But I swear on my heart that I will get you all out of here! I'll end this killing game once and for all." The detective clutches at his jacket. "I promise… I promise on my title as the Ultimate Detective that I will free each and every one of you from the clutches of this cruel world!"
His bold and somewhat cryptic declaration is only met with silence and cynicism.
Kaede chokes back her tears. She was once to be the unifying force among them after all, the one Rantaro said had 'the power to win' — encouraging trust and cooperation and yet... she was also the one to destroy it.
She tries to ignore the now painful irony.
Instead, she focuses her gaze on Shuichi, willing herself to look at him directly in the eyes. The detective flinches at the attention but nonetheless doesn't break eye contact with her and she's grateful for that.
"In the meantime," Shuichi says, "I'm leaving it up to you, Kaede. I apologise for making you carry this burden alone, but... I believe in you. I know you can beat this killing game." And in a softer voice, he adds. "So please, never lose sight of the truth. I know it can scare you, but don't be afraid to borrow from the strength of others who will be there to help you. I know you can do this. Protect everyone, and don't lose to this game."
"I... I don't know what you're trying to do, Shuichi." Kaede says, her voice just as quiet. "I... don't know why you're letting this happen..."
"I trust you to help them." Shuichi says, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You can lead them better than I ever could, and—" He's cut off as the sounds of Himiko coughing and Maki shushing her disrupts his speech.
Kaede closes her eyes and gently takes his hand back off her shoulder. "You don't have to trust me."
The fifteen students stand in a grim silence for a few moments. Not surprisingly, Kokichi is the first to break said silence, sighing and stretching his arms up and out. "Well, Shuichi, you certainly weren't boring." He jumps up off of the concrete bench and dusts himself down. "Welp, that was anticlimactic. I'm going to bed for the night then. Toodles!" As he spins around to leave, he shoots Kaede a look, before happily skipping away in the direction of the dorms, humming.
"I'm leaving, too, all that stress has tired me out. Bye Shuichi, have fun outside... I guess." Himiko mumbles as she too, departs for the night. Tenko makes a move to follow her, but holds herself back. Maki merely glares at the detective and turns on her heel, silently walking away, emotionless as ever.
"I suppose this is what it means to have 'blind faith' in someone." Korekiyo mutters to himself as he tips his hat at Shuichi and takes his leave.
One by one, the students bid their final farewells to Shuichi, bewilderment and confusion painted over their faces as they leave the grounds where they were supposed to have watched him executed. Eventually, there are only six left at the shrine.
"Hey, Shuichi, it's alright, y'know?" Kaito says, placing a large hand on the boy detective's shoulder, the latter jumping a little in surprise. "We don't blame you, ya hear me?"
"You tried to save us all, kill the mastermind, right?" The Ultimate Tennis-Pro, Ryoma Hoshi adds. "If you hadn't tried to do something, we'd all be red smears by now. So, we have to at least thank you for that." He twirls a candy cigarette in between his fingers. "Anyway, killing someone with the intention of good…that's not exactly something I can argue against... given my history." Ryoma says grimly, tugging at his hat.
That... really doesn't sit well with the pianist, but she keeps quiet regardless.
"Additionally, we do not have to endure a class trial now, either." Kirumi says with a gentle smile. Tenko doesn't smile at the detective, but she doesn't glare at him either, opting to only express her agreement with a nod of acknowledgement.
Shuichi looks up at the other students, a small smile gracing his face. "Thank you... I appreciate it."
Kaito flashes a grin at the detective, slapping reassuringly him on the back, as he turns to the other three students besides Kaede. "Now then, why don't the four of us go to bed before we turn into freakin' zombies tomorrow morning?" Kaito suddenly announces, winking at Kaede. The pianist feels her face flush as she instantly knows what he's trying to do.
Ryoma quietly berates Kaito for his choice in wording again as he's pushed out by the spaceman, Kirumi punctuating their leave with a polite bow. Tenko tails them reluctantly, glancing back at Kaede, clearly unhappy at leaving her with the detective.
The door clicks shut upon their departure. And then, they're alone.
Shuichi doesn't look the blonde girl in the eyes.
Kaede pulls him into a tight hug. "You're an idiot, Shuichi, you know that?" Kaede feels her eyes prickle again. "But then, I guess that makes me an even bigger one." She mutters under her breath. She can feel the boy stiffen to her touch, before slowly relaxing into her, wrapping his arms around her back.
"I-I'm so sorry Kaede, if only I—"
"If anyone should be apologising, it should be me. If I hadn't..." She lets out a shaky breath. "If I hadn't set up that trap..." She feels his grip on her tighten.
"I should have noticed sooner, Kaede... but I..." He lifts his head, looking into her eyes for what seemed like the first time in a long time.
"It has to be this way."
Kaede blinks at the detective, not bothering to care about the tears that trail down her cheeks. "What do you mean, it has to be this way?"
He stiffens at the question, and his eyes flicker to the crimson door.
"It's uh.. complicated but I u-um..." He shakes his head and refocuses himself." You have the capability to lead them... I... If you weren't here... I don't know what I'd do... I don't think I'd know how to manage, or how to cope, or..." He pauses, and swallows a lump in his throat before continuing. "I couldn't let the trial happen." The musician stays silent as the detective explains himself, voice shaky. "I wouldn't be able to reach the truth, Kaede, not when i-it's you... and the... the execution..." He closes his eyes. "I-I don't think I could bear to watch that... not..." He trails off, Kaede feeling a familiar heat pool at the pit of her stomach.
"Shuichi..."
"My plan is to figure out everything that's going on once I'm gone, Kaede, I promise." Shuichi takes a step back. And I'll come back for all of you, I'll definitely see you all again." He steps back and takes her hands in his own again. "It's a promise okay?" He gives her the warmest smile he can muster. Kaede practically feels her heart ache.
"I promise too." She chokes out. "I promise to keep everyone else alive until then!"
Shuichi nods, reaches up and removes his hat.
"Shuichi, what are you...?" Kaede's cut off as a weight is pressed down onto her head.
"You hold onto that for me until we meet again, alright?" Shuichi gives a tiny strained laugh.
"Wait," Kaede starts, "S-Shuichi, I can't possibly take your hat from y—"
"If you're feeling lost," Shuichi says, "just touch your head and you'll remember why you're fighting..." He sighs, frustration and anxiety as clear as day in his newly-exposed eyes. "Listen, I'm really sorry for leaving you like this, but if I don't do this—"
"No!" Kaede splutters, "I should be apologising for everything! I betrayed your trust, and—"
"Okie dokie kiddos— oh, only two of you? No matter." The monochrome bear rears his ugly head once more, kids in tow. "Makes my job easier." The sextet of bears gather around Shuichi's ankles as the detective is forced into the nearby elevator that had appeared, his hand still in Kaede's as she's dragged along with him towards the back of the Shrine.
"Wait, Monokuma, I have one question." Kaede speaks up as the robot stops the group and innocently cocks his head up at her.
"Huh? Wuzzat?"
"Why..." She clenches her fists until her knuckles whiten. "Why did you let him take the blame?" She narrows her eyes at Monokuma, fighting every urge to pounce on the thing that started it all.
The bear chuckles. "You know, Miss Akamatsu, sometimes, a little white lie can make or break a game like this, besides, those photos don't have any proof he didn't do it either, so either one of you taking the fall is fine with me! Though..." He pouts. "That being said... it'd have been muuuch better with a class trial... I had two beautiful executions prepared for you both and everything!"
"What!?" Kaede's blood freezes over. "You had an execution planned for HIM too!?"
"When you're running a killing game, you gotta expect the unexpected, missy!" Monokuma crosses his two-toned paws. "Not that you'd know that, of course."
Kaede feels sick. Her body grows tense to the point of shaking.
Shuichi runs a nervous hand through his freshly exposed hair. "You knew... you knew Kaede wouldn't admit to being the blackened, didn't you?"
"Wh—" Kaede stares at Shuichi. "What...?"
He tugs at his bangs. "I-I think he was hoping you wouldn't say anything so there would end up being a class trial... if I'm right."
"Puhuhuhuhu... you're a bright one, aren't you, Shuichi Saihara?"
"Wait..." Kaede's eyes go wide as realisation dawns. "You were banking on me not saying anything this whole time?!" She shrieks at the robotic bear. "You... wanted me to be executed...?" She feels Shuichi's hand tighten over hers.
"Hey! Don't go accusing your headmaster of things he didn't do!" Monokuma snaps back. "You're the one who killed that idiot, not me, missy!" He turns his back on the pair. "Consider this your second chance at the game! Call it an encore for that little crying heart of yours, if you will." He tilts his head innocently in response to the pianists disgruntled expression. "Whaaat? That's the kinda crap you musicians are always singin' about isn't it?"
"Don't mock me!" Kaede barks, jabbing a finger at him. "You're the one who's letting a completely innocent person get punished for a murder he didn't even commit!"
"Well, it's not like he's dying or anything, y'know? We might as well just say he killed himself at this stage, though. The animatronic chuckles. "Though I'm the only one who knows what really happpened."
Kaede sighs. "I know full well what happened too." She pauses, lavender eyes flickering to Shuichi. "Because I killed him."
"What..?" Monokuma stares at the musician. "Oh... yeah, you did, didn't you?" He huffs in annoyance. "Weeeell, whatever happened, I think it's pretty brave of Shuichi to take the blame for something he knows he didn't do."
"Stop." Kaede grits her teeth. "Just stop."
Shuichi looks at Kaede from under the shadow of his hair, anxiety clear as day on his face. Kaede averts her eyes, dam of guilt bursting and flooding into the ever-growing pit in her stomach for the nth time.
"Just..." She hears herself mumble, "What are you... going to do to him?" She doesn't really want to hear the answer, but feels obliged to ask it anyway as the largest bear hops into the elevator ahead of the detective.
"Huh? Whaddya mean?" Monotaro pipes up from behind Shuichi. "He's not gonna die or anything, he's just leaving the school grounds cuz he took the Perk!"
"Are..." Kaede glares at the cub. "Are you... sure?"
"HELL YEAH we're sure!" Monokid shrieks with a strum of his guitar.
"The old man is such a stickler for the rules, aren't ya, Pops?!" Monosuke affirms.
Monokuma nods enthusiastically. "It's true! Bears do not lie, Miss Akamatsu!" His red eye glowers. "Though, I won't make any promises about letting him leave unscathed if you don't stop pestering me with all these pointless questions."
"They're... not pointless." Kaede says in a low voice, grabbing onto Shuichi's arm. "And he's not going anywhere." She narrows her eyes. "Not with you, anyway."
"A-ah," Shuichi swallows a lump in his throat. "Kaede, it's fine, you don't have to—"
The detective doesn't get to finish his sentence as a gunshot echoes defiantly within the small confines of the shrine.
Shuichi staggers backwards out of the pianist's grip, a bullet punching a clean hole through his clothed shoulder. His knees buckle as he collapses to the ground, blood gushing out of his right side.
"SHUICHI!"
Kaede doesn't acknowledge the green Exisal that had appeared in the background during her confrontation with the headmaster. She falls on the ground by the detective's side in a lightheaded panic as she kneels by the detective's side. Head spinning. Chest aching. Heart stumbling over it's own frantic rhythm.
"Shuichi..." Kaede holds him up to prevent him from falling backwards, terror scrawled all over her features as she stares aghast at the crimson red hole in the boy's right shoulder.
"HIIIIII-YAH!"
The red door flies back open with a resounding bang and Tenko bursts in with a kick, Kaito in tow.
Tenko's the first to scream.
"What the hell was— Shuichi!?" The astronaut immediately runs and collapses to the detective's other side, shrugging his jacket off. Kaede swears she sees Shuichi flash the smallest, yet most pained of smiles at herself and Kaito's presence beside him, as Kaito keeps his jacket firmly pressed to Shuichi's shoulder, Kaede only able to look on, heart in her mouth as the detective leans into the taller man's hold.
"G-get him some medical attention! Please!" Tenko begs the audience of ursine, hopping from foot-to-foot as she stares wide-eyed at Kaito's quickly reddening jacket.
"What for?" Monokuma asks with a tilt of his head. "He's going home now, isn't he? Why would I waste my precious time and money on something he's gonna get when he gets outta here anyway?" Monokuma slowly turns to look at Kaede. "I told you, didn't, Miss Akamatsu? Bear's never lie! Ahahahahahaha!"
Kaede only sees red once again as she lunges for the bear, ignoring the shouts of Kaito and Tenko in the background as she reaches out towards the monochrome bear, stomach clenching with the force of her own anger.
No, he isn't a bear anymore. Not to her. He never was. He's a demon. And she's going to kill him.
Kaede is forcefully pulled back from attacking Monokuma by Tenko for the second time that day, though her protests this time around are arguably much stronger as she struggles in the stronger girl's iron grip, cheeks flaring with a burning anger.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spies Kaito supporting Shuichi with his shoulder as he reluctantly leads him to the elevator where the perpetrating Exisal was gesturing to. The detective looks world-weary, pained, yet somewhat peaceful as he's led into the elevator by his soon-to-be-former classmate, only to collapse onto his knees the moment he's let go of.
"Aaaaalrighty then! Send off your graduated classmate with the wellest of wishes!" Monokuma hollers from inside the elevator as the Exisal ushers a jacketless Kaito away from the elevator, much to the astronaut's fury.
"Screw you." The spaceman growls at the bear, who merely beams back at him. Kaito clenches a fist and walks towards the elevator again, only for the gates to brusquely clang closed in front of him.
"No..."
"NO!"
Kaede tries to leap towards to the elevator where Shuichi was being taken again, but Tenko is much too strong.
"S-Stop! Let me GO!" She wrings her way out of Tenko's grasp with a flare of limbs and shrieks, only to tumble into the shallow body of water that enveloped the elevator's path. The last thing she sees is the weak grey eyes of Shuichi Saihara bore into her own as he descends from the Shrine surrounded by small mechanical bears, bloody... and betrayed.
And as soon as they're gone, silence washes upon the Shrine.
Rantaro is dead.
Shuichi is gone.
Kaede is guilty.
Kaede tiredly looks up at the still-present Exisal.
"THAT-BASTARD-SAVED-YOUR-LIFE" the robotic voice from inside articulates. "THAT-IS-A-GOOD-FOUNDATION-FOR-GETTING-ALONG. WELL-DONE." And with that, the green Exisal noisily trundles away. Kaede slowly registers it's last words. He had saved her life, hadn't he? And she hadn't even thanked him for it.
Tenko wrings her hands and watches from afar. Kaede sits numbly in the water, face hidden by the brim of Shuichi's hat.
"Tenko is sorry she couldn't have come sooner, she just..." Tenko trails off as she decides not to finish her sentence, instead tightening her mouth into a sombre straight line. She turns to an approaching Kaito with a grim expression, which is promptly returned.
"He didn't deserve any of that." Kaito mumbles under his breath just loud enough for Tenko to hear. Her gaze follows the astronaut's back over to Kaede. "And neither did she."
"Tenko doesn't think he was a bad male, he tried to kill the mastermind and save us all." Tenko quietly says. "But... he could have told us what he was trying to do."
Kaito sighs and runs a hand through gelled hair. "He was anything but a bad man... god dammit!" He reaches up over his shoulder to pull his jacket over his shoulders, but grasps nothing but air in its place. He sighs, dropping his fist. "If only things had been different."
"Yeah." Tenko grimaces at the astronaut, but nods in solemn agreement. "Tenko wonders if there would have been a different outcome..."
Kaede can feel the tears accumulating in her eyes once again. If he... if Shuichi hadn't stepped in, there's an almost certainty that she'd have died had the trial gone ahead and had she failed to expose the mastermind's identity, which would likely, she thinks to herself, have not been that easy. She barely registers the gentle hand on her back as Tenko crouches down beside her, green eyes warm and sympathetic.
"Kaede, Tenko thinks he'll be okay." The martial artist says softly. "Tenko... also thinks you did an amazing job trying to defend him." Kaede can't restrain herself from throwing herself into the Ultimate Aikido Master and completely breaking down right then and there.
It's more than crying though, it's that kind of desolate sobbing that comes from a person drained of all hope.
Sobbing for Rantaro, whom she'd horrifically murdered, sobbing for Shuichi, whose reputation she'd undoubtedly ruined, sobbing for her classmates, who'd wrongfully hate him, and sobbing at herself, for being such a goddamned idiot for thinking such a plan would work in the first place. And for letting the two people capable of ending the killing game slip through her trained yet utterly useless fingers due to her careless, careless attempt to foil the mastermind's plans.
She feels Tenko rub small circles into the back of her vest in an attempt to silently soothe her, neither party caring for the body of water they were half-submerged in as the ends of their skirts mingle with the clear stream. Her tears drip onto the beak of Shuichi's raven-tinted cap and pepper the shrine's waters with grief and defeat. The pain that flows from her is clearly as palpable as the frigid chilly night-time wind that drifts through the academy grounds.
Kaito watches on in stark silence, struggling to keep his own tears silent, looking down at the drying pool of Shuichi's crimson blood, to the trail that it followed, and finally, up to the blurred watery skies and a heaven he didn't believe in beyond the End Wall.
They couldn't do anything but believe Monokuma's word.
And that on its own was the most terrifying part of the whole ordeal.
After a long burst of emotions and convincing of her concerned pair of classmates to give her some time to herself, Kaede walks out of the Shrine of Judgement, red eyed and pale faced, having literally just gotten away with murder, when she's approached by someone.
"Hey."
Kaede tiredly glances up at the voice. Maki Harukawa.
"What do you want..." she mumbles, not bothering to look the babysitter in the eyes. Maki's eyes shift to the red door clumsily swinging shut behind the blonde. "... Is he gone?"
Kaede nods. Maki studies the pianist for a few moments. "He'll be okay."
Kaede wipes her eyes with her sleeve. "How can you be so sure?"
"What would be the point of killing him behind the scenes?" She sighs, looking away at nothing in particular. "That bear... made a song and dance about wanting to publicly execute someone, we're the only 'public' there's around here for him to use." She narrows her eyes. "Are we not?"
Kaede feels a chill run up her spine. "I suppose." She clutches at her arm, the memory of Shuichi's small yet ghastly looking wound ghosting her own shoulder. "It still feels wrong though."
"Why?" Maki raises an eyebrow. "He killed Rantaro, admitted to it, and now he's going to save the rest of us. You should be thankful."
"But he—" Kaede begins to say, but the words die in her mouth as Maki's emotionless stare bores into her.
"But he didn't kill Rantaro? Is that what you were going to say?" The dark-haired girl sighs. "Give it a rest. No one wants to hear it."
"R-right..." Kaede looks at the ground in defeat. "Sorry..."
"I'm not the one you should be apologising to." Maki says, a little more gently as she turns away from Kaede and begins walking away. "I think if anyone needs to be apologised to, it's him." As Maki heads away into the dorms for the night, the click of the front door punctuating the remaining living students signing off for the night, understanding dawns on Kaede as she realises where she needs to return to.
To apologise.
Rantaro's pale and bloody corpse is as eerily identical to as how they had originally found it.
Kaede feels instantly nauseous at the sight and smell of the man she'd murdered in cold blood as she wobbles back to the crime scene that was supposed to have sealed her fate. She falls to her knees, pulling the hat off. Clutching it to her chest, she's unable to cry anymore than she already has, so she merely stares at it.
She stares at her own handiwork, stomach spinning a whirlpool of disgust and self-hatred for getting Rantaro killed, for getting Shuichi injured, and for letting herself get away with it all.
She doesn't remember what happened after that, whether it was the physical or mental exhaustion that got to her first, but she eventually silently slipped into the realm of unconsciousness, the thought of the worst punishments possible for the mess she'd made flickering through her head indecisively, before ultimately deciding that most probably, the worst punishment of them all... was probably the following few days to come...
And with that final thought, everything slips into a naught void of nothingness.
Meanwhile...
Somewhere, deep in the depths of the girl's dorms, someone can't help but reflect on the day's events. They idly stare at the now-dried blood underneath their fingernail, wondering if they did the right thing after all.
Wondering if letting him die was the right thing to do.
Wondering if letting him leave was the right thing to do.
Wondering if letting her stay was the right thing to do.
But despite it all, they smile anyway.
After all, what's better than a show where even the ringleader has to expect the unexpected?
Chapter I: My Class Trial, His Resolution
END
Victim: Rantaro Amami
Culprit: Shuichi Saihara (?)
REMAINING STUDENTS: 14