Maizono pressed her back to the wall, stilling her heavy, nervous breaths and listening as the doorknob rattled and the door opened, loud in the comparative silence. She grinned at the realization that the idiot hadn't noticed the nameplate change. She chanced a glance at him as he closed the door silently behind him. Leon Kuwata, Super High School Level All Star. Drops of perspiration hung on her face and her heart raced in her ears, the only sign that she wasn't as calm and composed as her facial mask made her out to be. She listened in anticipation as footsteps clumsily made their way through the bedroom hallway, taking a deep breath and steeling her resolve. She had to get out. She had to find out what happened to her closest friends. On that screen, they looked almost… no. She refused to consider that the four people who knew her best and shared her aspirations were no more. That wretched bear had to be lying, there was no way…
But, a little irritating voice in the back of her mind, why are you so desperate to leave if you don't think something terrible has happened? She hesitated, almost regretting her decision. She could still put down the knife and stop this madness before it begun, couldn't she? No. She pushed that thought far away, because it wasn't going to happen. She had done bad things before to achieve her goals and though this would be the worst, she would do it. For her precious friends, who she needed to find, and touch, and hear, reassure herself that they were very much alive and unharmed, and that that awful movie had been fabricated all along. But to ascertain the lives of four of her loved ones, she would have to take a strangers'. She shuddered and cast aside her faltering, envisioning the faces of her friends, healthy and happy that she was back. With that thought lingering on her mind, she lunged at the orange-haired man that had just walked out of the hallway and into range.
Unfortunately, he had been on edge (who wouldn't be?) and looking in her direction when he passed the corner. Her stolen kitchen knife cut through air, forcefully, just barely slicing open the side of his dress shirt. He immediately started yelling, curse words intermingled with wordless shouts, and for a moment, she worried that Naegi, sleeping only next door, would wake and ruin everything.
Not that he didn't already have the ability to ruin everything.
Forcing thoughts of the one she planned to betray out of her mind, she took a few deep breaths as adrenalin raced through her veins. Leon, still shouting incomprehensible nonsense and demanding an explanation, bumped into the shelf that resided in the room, still facing her. She mentally praised herself for remembering to move the golden sword to under the desk, where it would not be a factor in this fight. Before Kuwata could do much more than raise his hands for self defense, she ran forward once more and nearly cried out in surprise when the knife finally hit resistance. Like it was slicing through butter rather than a human being, the blade cut a line from Leon's neck to his stomach, eliciting another wordless shriek from the now mortally wounded man. Maizono found herself having to gasp several times before finding air, and Leon continued to scream. Suddenly panicked at the thought of being caught and committing a murder for nothing, she closed her eyes in fear and stabbed blindly, over and over, until the keening sound faltered off and then died completely. When she managed to open her eyes again, she felt her knees tremble, and clenched her eyelids tight once more. The image remained burned into her retinas, Leon's lifeless body drenched in his own blood, from a deep vertical cut and several stab wounds, the stabbings travelling up until the last one that had directly pierced his neck. A bit of blood had dribbled out of his mouth. Worst of all, his eyes were wide open and terrified, even in death. Her knees finally gave out, and she landed on her rear on the floor, eyes still closed, shivering terribly. This shivering was real, unlike the fake fear she had feigned when talking to Naegi. She sat like that, counting to thirty to clear her mind, a trick she had known since she was little. As soon as she opened her eyes, this time carefully turned away from the corpse, four familiar faces flashed into her mind, and she became focused again. First, she had to get rid of the evidence laying about the room. Carefully avoiding Kuwata's lifeless eyes, she dealt with the knife first; cleaning it with some water from a water bottle she had brought over in the bag she had left around the corner. In the bag, there was also a change of clothes and a sheet from her room. She picked up the notebook she had used to invite her victim over and shoved it in her bag as well. Getting even more blood on her in the process, she dragged the corpse into the shower room, shoving it against the wall, leaving room so that she could get in the shower and wash off in the morning. She retrieved the golden sword from its spot under his desk, and, leaving the scabbard tossed on the floor, covered it in Leon's blood and laid it on the floor next to him. She closed the door behind her and looked at the bloodstain that was on the carpet. There wasn't much she could do about that. She quickly stuffed her old bloody clothes, the empty water bottle, and the mostly-clean knife in the bag, putting her new fresh clothes on. She silently walked out of the room, anxiously checking over her shoulder for anyone else. She made her way to the empty classroom she had first stood in after watching that abhorrent movie. She shoved her old bloody clothes, the notebook, and the empty water bottle in one of the desks in the back, where no one would think to look. The bag itself, with the knife still in it, went into another desk in the back. Maizono hurried back to Naegi's bedroom and switched the nameplates back, before slipping inside and rearranging everything to her liking.
When she later looked up at the clock, she was surprised to find it was nearly daytime. Time flies after you've committed first degree murder. She threw her pink sheet on the body in the shower and waited for the morning announcement to come on, immediately showering as soon as the water came back on. It felt like blood was coating her body even after she had rubbed herself raw, and the fact that her eyes kept straying to the corpse not five feet away didn't help. As soon as she was done and clothed, she went to the kitchen and rinsed off the knife with scalding water, replacing it in the proper holder. She ran back to the rooms, grateful that everyone else was taking their time. She knocked on Naegi's door, and got the key from him with minimal talking, as he was still half asleep. She had been faster than she thought. She couldn't help feeling terrible as his cute tired face disappeared behind her door again, with his key now in his own possession. She checked to make sure that none of the pooled blood had been disturbed, and balled up the sheet. She once again hid the evidence in one of the classroom desks, and then made her way to the cafeteria, arriving after Ishimaru but nobody else. Several others filed in, one by one, but before everyone else could arrive, a scream resounded from Naegi's bedroom, where the door was presumably open, and Maizono along with most of the people in the cafeteria ran there in time to hear a thump. Looks like Naegi had passed out, for the second time. She didn't have to fake her worry as she hovered over him, only her fear at the corpse in the shower room. The body discovery announcement came on, and everyone gathered, with reluctance, in the gym. When Naegi came to, he was shaken and close to breaking down. It only got worse as Junko was killed, Maizono unable to do much more than gape in sync with everyone else as the blonde fell, lifelessly, to the ground. The fact that she has to go through a School Trial was revealed, not that she's really surprised. She suspected as much when she was scrutinizing the rules. She winced as the location of the murder was revealed, and everyone turned his or her blame-filled gaze to Naegi as his eyes only met hers, sputtering in silent protest. Maizono avoided his eyes.
In fact, she avoided him altogether, during the investigation, pretending to search for clues while guarding the classroom she had left her incriminating evidence in. Kirigiri sent her a few emotionless glances that made her shiver, but nobody entered the room hiding her sin. It's a relief when the School Trial announcement went on, because the waiting was finally over. Now she just had to survive.
############School Trial##############
The elevator rattled as it ascended, full of tension and suspicion. Maizono chanced a glance at the boy directly in the center of the rising platform, whose bowed head left her unable to see his eyes. Everyone had conspicuously kept a distance between them and Naegi, who hadn't said a word. Everyone except that Kyouko Kirigiri, who remained near Naegi and ignored all the stares and tension in the small enclosure. It was obvious by the way he had trailed after her like a lost puppy during her investigation that she had somehow convinced him to tell her what had happened with the room exchange. The vixen had probably gained his trust easily like she did. Maizono wondered if Kirigiri planned to betray him as well. It seemed unlikely by the way she didn't try and warm up to him, create bonds with the soft-hearted boy like she had. The guilt tickling at the edge of her mind increased, as Naegi didn't respond to any and all accusations apart from flinching like he had been hit, but it was clear in his eyes that he didn't intend to give up, and he seemed to be lost in determined thought. He hadn't given her away to anyone except Kyouko, and even if he had, who else but Kyouko would believe his word against her innocent face? It would look like a desperate last ditch effort if he admitted it now. It didn't seem like he was going to either.
The elevator came to a halt and opened up to an odd courtroom. Exclamations at the rather uninviting and unusual setup were issued. Everyone got into place with some ushering from the black and white bear on the elaborate throne. The discussion kicked off immediately with an accusation towards Naegi, who didn't move his eyes from the podium in front of him. A silence blanketed the group for a moment; they had obviously expected him to retaliate in some way. The awkward tension lasted for another moment, and then:
"Naegi!"
The call was sharp enough to make him jolt, and raise glazed green eyes to the light haired girl, who was glaring at him sharply. He blinked, like he had been interrupted in the middle of thinking hard, and finally focused on Kirigiri, who looked emotionless as usual, if a slightly strained air hung about her.
"You need to tell them what you told me."
The fog of disbelief in his eyes cleared at her absolute tone, and he shook his head at her, fast enough to give him whiplash.
"No, she can't- she wouldn't have- it doesn't mean..."
He trailed off, still shaking his head.
"Regardless of what it means, it's an important piece of evidence, and could help lead to the culprit."
Naegi stayed silent, unwilling to throw Maizono to the wolves. Kirigiri closed her eyes briefly, frustrated, and then stared directly at Maizono, who tensed slightly.
"When asking for Naegi's Testimony, he told me that he had somebody visit just before the night time, because she was allegedly scared of sleeping in her own room. While comforting her, a room exchange was proposed, and they swapped rooms to alleviate her fear. So not only was he not in his own room at the time of the murder, but the person switching rooms with him likely intended to frame him for this crime. Isn't that right, Maizono?"
As everyone turned to look at her, she pulled on a shocked expression and then stuttered fearfully.
"A r-room exchange? I didn't do anything of the sort with Naegi! I slept in my own room last night just like everyone else!"
Naegi wrenched his disbelieving eyes from her and shuddered where he stood like emotions were wracking through his body, and Kirigiri looked at him expectantly. Everyone looked confused, and some even looked suspicious. Sensing that she needed more for everyone to be completely convinced, she hesitantly brought up her final deception.
"Well, I don't know if this helps, but I've got my own room key. If we had switched rooms, wouldn't it be necessary for me to have his to lock his door?"
There were murmurs of agreement, though strained. Naegi stared at her, mouth agape slightly, and she looked away, making her eyes fill with false fear. Suddenly, he turned to look at Kirigiri, and Maizono felt a twang of jealousy. How had he suddenly come to be so friendly with her?
Maybe it was because she wasn't trying to frame him for murder, a voice in her mind reminded her.
"Kirigiri... Didn't we find any evidence of a culprit at all? Somebody must have been trying to frame me, but since we switched rooms it ended up having Maizono in there instead? And she just... slept through it?"
The argument sounded weak to everyone, including Naegi, judging by the way his shoulders drooped.
Maizono watched, as the two seemed to have a silent argument, even as protests from others rose up, accusing either Naegi or Kirigiri. Kirigiri shot back a convincing counter argument about how she would have gained nothing but death by helping Naegi commit a murder. As she had guessed, her word had been accepted as truth. The following debate went around in circles, Naegi the center topic, chaos from all students. Only a few students seemed to doubt that Naegi was the real culprit, Celes and Togami among them. Despite that, they both contributed to the accusations against Naegi as well. Maizono should have felt triumphant, she had them wrapped around her finger, but all she felt was numb, watching Naegi. He had become more animated, the doubt and shock wearing off, still talking to only Kirigiri and somehow managing to hear her quiet replies over the rest of the ruckus. He didn't make eye contact with her once, despite the fact that she stared at him more often than not. In fact, he didn't make eye contact with any student but Kirigiri, as if he was afraid of what he might see there in his peers' eyes. Despite this, he glared at Monobear very often, blame lining every bit of his expression. Maizono wondered why that glare wasn't aimed at her, but it occurred to her that it was for the same reason that she had chosen him to pin the blame on. He was loyal, a fatal flaw in this case, but despite his naiveté, he always seemed to see where the actual problem was centered, rather than stare with accusing eyes at any of the other victims in this twisted game. Somehow, even though he had every reason to, he chose not to be angry at the other thirteen students around him. It didn't seem logical to Maizono, but she had always had a hard time figuring him out despite his open book appearance anyways. A vicious voice in her mind was her reminder; it wouldn't matter much longer anyways, because of her.
It didn't take long until the abomination sitting in front of the court yawned and spoke, causing everyone else to fall silent almost instantaneously. "Well, you bastards aren't getting anywhere with this roundabout conversation. Time to vote! Please enter who you believe is the guilty party to be in the ballot."
Before he had even finished speaking, Kirigiri was listing pitiful evidence against Maizono, from hair in Naegi's room to her behavior thought the investigation, and Naegi was clutching his head in frustration and not looking at anyone, muttering to himself, something that sounded like "It has to be someone else, anyone, she wouldn't ever... There has to be more evidence..."
The smell of sweat only made the sense of flat out terror in the room increase, as Naegi's quiet determined mumblings became the only sound in the room.
A machine in the room made lottery machine noises, drawing everyone's eyes, and then the pictures lined up with Naegi's pixelated face on them. Everyone forgot how to breathe as the machine declared the accused as innocent, and Naegi made a choking noise. Monobear laughed, an ugly sound shattering the silence.
"First trial and you bomb it completely! What a pathetic excuse for hope you lot are! I bet you're all feeling a lot of despair over being tricked, well all but one of you that is! Congrats to our graduating class of one, Maizono Sayaka!"
The girl in question had silent tears running down her face, like her emotion had finally pushed through her mask of need for survival, and before she could open her mouth to say a word, the floor under her feet disappeared, and she fell.
When Maizono became aware of her surroundings again, she was on a rising platform. For a moment, she wondered if this was hell, if she was on the elevator to the School Trial once more, to face her guilt for the second time. Then the platform stopped, and she opened her eyes. She was on a stage, ironically familiar to her. What wasn't familiar to her was the terrifying crowd of monobears, creating an impossible cheering noise that drowned out most sound. Microphone holders sat on the stage, holding knives instead of microphones. The area below the stage was corralled with huge speakers that were blasting her music so loudly the whole area trembled. The floor lit up with lights on each large square tile, and they made a pattern that reminded her vaguely of something she'd seen. Pink spotlights raced across the crowd, some stationary, others moving around. The most horrifying part, however, was the occasional blots of color in the black and white crowd, revealing themselves to be the thirteen remaining students as pink spotlights lit on each and every one of them. She felt herself twitch involuntarily, as if to go help them, but the platform was actually a pedestal, and she was on display far above the stage, able to see everything. The students milled around, making their way through the mass of bears, seeking out others. Maizono could see them all simultaneously and clearly.
The first to go was Celes. She had been having a hard time moving with her dress, but was pushing through the bears with a ferocity to survive blazing in her eyes. She tripped, her dress gave her trouble as she struggled to get back up, and Maizono could only watch in horror as one of the bears, who had been waving a flame to the music, tossed the still working lighter onto the girl, her dress quickly coming ablaze. A few nearby students, who moved more frantically, either towards or away from the noise, only heard her last terrified scream. The smell of burned flesh reached Maizono even as high up as she was.
Asahina was struggling towards Sakura, who elbowed bears out of her path. The way the lights on the floor were arranged finally hit Maizono, and she screamed in a belated warning as Asahina stepped on a glowing red section of the floor, a land mine, and both she and Sakura were caught in the blast. Spots of blood rained over the crowd, making it hard to tell if it was the colored lights or her friends' blood turning the floors pink.
Yamada was next, being stuck in one place, the spotlight over him falling. He looked up as it fell, the crack of glass and metal hitting skin unheard by the others. His glasses lay next to him, smeared with blood.
Hagakure ended up getting too close to the stage, eyes panicked and darting around, and Maizono watched in horror as one of the microphone stands dipped down on its own accord and the knife in it sliced cleanly into the man, the sound of tearing flesh imprinted further on her mind. He only had time to let out a strangled cry before falling, twitching slightly. The floor was now most certainly turned pink with blood and not light.
Chihiro had somehow found Mondo, and now was sitting on his shoulders, pointing out where Ishimaru struggled to get through. They bulldozed through bears to get to him. Maizono fell to her knees, tears flowing freely down her face. She could do nothing as they finally reached Ishimaru, only for Chihiro to cry out as she was caught in wires hanging from the light rack. The wires seemed to move by themselves, looping around the victim and pulling Chihiro off of Mondo's shoulders. The two below could do nothing but yell as Chihiro tried to keep the wires from cutting off her air circulation. Eventually, pale hands fell limp, leaving the now-dead girl hanging, tangled in wires like an abandoned puppet. Ishimaru was crying, and Mondo looked like he was about to follow suit, linking arms with Ishimaru to avoid being separated. They kicked the snarling bears away, back to back, both of them yelling incoherently. The noise abruptly stopped when a long metal pole, sharp on one end, was driven through their stomachs, leading to death not long after, their corpses pinned together like butterflies on a display board.
The more blood that spilled, the rowdier the bears seemed to get, milling around and snarling. Fukuwa had lost her glasses, stumbling through the crowd to Togami, who had also lost his eyewear. Just as they were in each others line of sight, an enormous axe dropped from the ceiling, slicing in an arc. Fukuwa froze as the blade bit into Togami, slicing cleanly through him. She didn't move as the axe continued towards her, still drenched in Togami's blood, and Maizono closed her eyes, though it didn't block out the sick sound of flesh meeting blade. They didn't deserve this. No one deserved this. Tears forced their way out of her closed eyes, her face wrinkled in terror and guilt, showing more expression than she had ever displayed in front of these people. Her knees gave out, leaving her trembling on the floor of the pedestal.
A cry made her look out again, almost unwillingly.
"NAEGI!"
Kirigiri was ducking through the crowd, tall enough to see the spotlight that pointed at him. The boy in question was stumbling blindly through the crowd of bears, too short to see anything, yet somehow still heading directly to Kirigiri, like he had homed in on her unknowingly. Maizono started hyperventilating, as they got closer, praying that somehow they would make it to each other and escape, despite her instant dislike of Kyouko. They got closer and closer until they caught sight of each other. Like they were magnets, they reached out simultaneously.
Kirigiri's hand, startlingly glove-free, brushed against Naegi's face, just as a saber erupted from the floor beneath her, slicing her clean open. She sucked in a breath, eyes wide, mouth open as if about to speak. In the next moment, blood soaked over them both, Naegi falling back like he'd been burned. His breathing was erratic and his eyes wide, and he watched the body of Kirigiri fall in disbelief. Covered in blood, he stumbled back until he was the center of a milling circle of grinning monobears, who seemed to just be waiting for him to walk into a trap. He looked up, and met Maizono's eyes, his own green ones the only thing not soaked in pink blood. She almost wished they were though, because it was all too clear, the expression in his eyes. Despite the anger he had directed at monobear, she had betrayed him. She had betrayed all of them, and now all these horrifying deaths were partially on her hands. She may as well have just killed him with her own two hands, the way she dealt with Leon. She watched his anger fade into determination, and his gaze didn't waver as the bears, suddenly looking much more feral and bloodstained than Monobear ever had, closed in slowly, and then all at once, and Maizono watched as he, as if in slow motion, closed his eyes, unable to tear her gaze away as Makoto Naegi, the only person who could have possibly saved them all and killed her, joined the rest of the students in cold, unforgiving death.
He would never open his dark green eyes again.