A/N: Well, the time has come for the First investigation and the first class trial. I took my time writing this and I have to say this and the chapter after it are by far one of my best, and it's only the first one in the story. There are still four more to go and I gotta say, they are going to be better than the last. I made it so literally every single little thing is important, no matter what it is, if it's something as simple as a misplaced post it note, it has value in this court case. That's one thing I really enjoy about the Danganronpa series, you have to think and It makes you seem like you are an actual detective, though I personally imagine that being way harder than it is in this game.
I also wanted to say that this story is a bit of an AU, for more than a few reasons. Recently, the Danganronpa timeline was posted online and translated, sadly I don't have a link, but there is a Youtuber who talks about it, the name escapes me as of yet, but everything gets explained. The next part may contain spoilers, so my apologies for those.
Basically, there are four classes in Hope's Peak Academy, the 76th class, which are the seniors of the academy, the 77th class, which is Hajime Hinata's class, the main characters of Danganronpa 2, which are the Juniors, the 78th Class, which is Makoto Naegi's class, the one from Danganronpa 1, the sophomores, and finally the 79th class, Yunosuke Nagahama's class, the final class to ever attend Hope's Peak Academy while it ran as an insitution. The Reserve Course Students are also part of these classes, but I assume that they are in a separate building, with the exception of Hajime who was by then known as the Ultimate Hope. Yuno's class was the only one who didn't lock themselves within Hope's Peak Academy during the tragedy as most of them had decided to go with family or friends. Only a few of them fell to despair and joined Junko in her take over of the world. In this story, Yuno, Bryce, and Nick are part of the 79th class, and there will be mentions to the rest of their class, which is currently not present, there will also most likely be more information on them later. I will post in the next chapter the list of Ultimate Students for his class and their titles. As for what happened to them, well you'll just have to wait and see.
Also, to keep it cannon with the timeline, the 79th class came into the academy the year before the tragedy, so instead of Makoto's class, it was Yuno's that was the final one. And as you know, Yuno's parents adopted Kotoko Utsugi so she didn't become a Warrior of Hope. Another Episode will be cannon with this story, only if I decide to add new characters to it, as of now, Kanon Nakajima, who is Leon's cousin, Yuuki Maizono, and Kotoko Utsugi are in Towa City, along with Komaru Naegi and a few other people. But I haven't come up with that plot yet, nor a plot for the sequel, if I decide to have one.
Holy shit this is a lot of information. Lol...anyway I shall leave you with this fine chapter and I hope you all enjoy it. and leave a review, it keeps me motivated to keep writing.
Update: As of 6/26/17 Chapter 1 Act 3 has been updated, aside from some minor grammar fixes, nothing has changed...Truth Bullets will now be bolded Italics, figured it would be better so everyone could see them easier within the writing...
Danganronpa
The School Life of Mutual Killing
Chapter 1
Act 3
Academy of Despair (Deadly Life)
(Investigation Start:)
Walking back to his dorm, Yuno saw that it had turned into a cliché scene, resembling ones in Police shows. A few people were inside his room, looking around at literally everything, including his more personal items. Knowing full well he couldn't tell them to stop.
Byakuya was kneeling in front of the body, looking at the wounds that had been inflicted on her. He seemed to nod to himself before going to look at the arrows that had spilled onto the floor. Yuno decided to start his own investigation, and thankfully, Mikan, Makoto and Sayaka were there to help him.
"So Yuno, do you see anything out of the ordinary? It would be a good place to start." Makoto said. He nodded, looking at the door.
"Well, when I walked in here this morning, I noticed that the door was open. In fact, I just pushed it open, the lock wasn't engaged or anything, and I had my key, so I know I didn't leave it unlocked." he said.
"Maybe someone messed with the lock?" Sayaka asked.
"M-monokuma said t-these locks can't be b-broken." Mikan added. Yuno nodded, looking at the door frame. He knelt down toward the door jamb and looked closely at it, finding a blueish green wad was inside it. He poked it with his finger, feeling it was a bit squishy to the touch.
"Is this...gum?" he muttered.
"Maybe the culprit was chewing gum and in order to frame you, they jammed it in the door so it wouldn't open." Makoto said.
"Yeah, but that would mean someone did it while I was in this room, and I don't think I would have missed something like that. I can't think of anything else though." he said seriously.
"Peppermint Gum was added to your Truth Bullets."
"There's some blood on the handle of the door, and some of it on the floor too. Junko died inside this room, but could it have been she was actually stabbed in the hallway?" Sayaka asked, glancing at the pink specks of blood on the floor and the door.
"That is a likely scenario. But what was she doing in the hallway, especially past the curfew we all set?" Makoto asked.
"Maybe to get a snack?" Sayaka wondered, adopting a pensive look. Mikan shook her head, grabbing a small strand of her hair.
"No, that can't be it. The cafeteria closes at Ten, so she couldn't have gotten inside." she said.
"That is also true, but I did see some snacks in the school store. It's not much, but she could have gone there to grab some chips or gummies." Yuno said.
"Blood stains in the Hallway, has been added to your Truth Bullets."
"Bloody Footprint has been added to your Truth Bullets."
Sighing to himself, Yuno finally stepped inside his room, taking a good look around. Everyone that was currently inside was trying hard not to step in the blood that had pooled around Junko's body, someone had actually placed one of the spare bed sheets on the floor to step on, rather than step on the pink liquid that was all over the once clean tile floor. He noticed Byakuya was standing in his closet, looking inside it for something. Celeste was on the other side of the room, looking at the DVD that was carefully placed on top of the dummy. The last two people, Leon and Kyoko were both looking at the body, quite closely.
"I'll go talk to Byakuya, see if he found out anything." Yuno said.
He stepped around the blood that was on the floor. He wasn't ready to look at the body yet. Mikan had muttered something about the autopsy, and took out some gloves to begin the procedure, while Makoto and Sayaka split up to find some other clues.
At the closet, Yuno decided to look around. None of his bows were missing and had all been placed where they had been found previously. The quiver was on the ground, the strap broken and all of the arrows spilled out of it, he remembered having spilled the arrows but he had picked them up the night before. The Affluent Progeny looked at him, an amused look on his face.
"Come back to the scene of the crime have you?" he asked.
"I didn't do this Byakuya. I don't have what it takes to kill someone, it's cruel." he replied. The man chuckled, pushing his glasses further up his nose.
"Of course, I shall play along for now. I have my own personal question, do you know how to use these bows?" he asked.
"Well duh, I am the Ultimate Archer. I know the ins and outs of every bow I own. Long Bows, Compound Bows, Recurve Bows, Short Bows, Cross Bows, I know how to use, build and take them all apart." he said confidently.
"Hmm, and that means you have all the parts you need to take care of them correct? Some of the bows you own date back to the early 1900s and look to be in immaculate condition." he said.
"I have tools to fix them yes." He said.
To further prove his point, he reached for an orange bag that was on top of the shelf. It wasn't that big, but contained several pieces of equipment, spear bow strings, sights, oil, screws and wax for the string. Byakuya took notice of the lock that was placed on the bag.
"Are you able to open it?" he asked.
"I have the key to the lock yes. It's on my key chain, which I had with me all night." he said. The blond nodded, shoving his hands in his suit pockets.
"I am done here. I have all the information I need, I do hope you entertain me." he said, taking his leave.
"Locked Repair Kit was added to your Truth Bullets."
Shrugging, Yuno put the bag back in the closet, leaving the door open for those who wanted to take a look around. He turned to the spilled arrows on the ground, taking notice that most of them were broken, as if someone had stepped on them. He picked one of them up, looking at it closely.
"These are pretty hard to break unless you actually try to break them. For someone to break them from stepping on them, they'd have to be a very heavy person. Junko couldn't have broken these."
"Broken Arrows was added to your Truth Bullets."
Setting the arrows back down, he took a look at the quiver, seeing that it was torn. He remembered it had hooked on the corner of the drawer when he opened it, but it wasn't broken then.
"Hmm...someone must have ripped this open, probably thinking there was an arrow head or a bladed arrow inside. None of these are harmful unless you put the tips on. But those are in my bag."
"Torn Quiver was added to your Truth Bullets."
"Locked Repair Kit has been updated."
Yuno decided to move toward the bed, seeing all of the bed sheets had been taken off of it. He looked at Junko's body, seeing several torn pieces of it had been tied around her body, around various spots on her chest. There was one firmly tied around her thigh as well, meaning she had also been stabbed there.
"The person who did this most likely did it accidentally, or else they wouldn't have bothered to stop the bleeding. That's probably when they broke the arrows."
"Torn Bed Sheets has been added to your Truth Bullets."
"Broken Arrows has been updated."
Moving around the body once more, Yuno decided to go to the back of the room, where Celeste was still looking over the DVD. She was holding her eHandbook in her hand, and her face seemed to be lost in thought. She looked up, giving him a tiny smile.
"Hello Yuno, how are you faring?" she asked politely.
"Not good. I'm still a bit sick from seeing a dead person in my room. It's the first real dead person I've actually seen. How can you be so calm?" he asked. She gave him one of her famous smiles.
"It's all about adaptation my dear. We all have to get used to the things we don't like. We're in a mad world, and this may become the norm for us. It goes to show what happens when you don't follow the rules." she said, all with that smile on her face and an upbeat tone.
"I..suppose. I can't get used to something like this though. Anyway, I came to talk to you about something, you said you saw us leave this morning from Sayaka's room right?" he asked, earning a nod from her.
"Indeed I did, you two tried sneaking out before the morning announcement and were so focused on not being seen that you didn't notice me in the hallway. I saw everything, and I admit, it was very cute." she said.
"If it comes up, will you testify for me?" he asked.
"Hmm...you did make me tea this morning, so I shall return the favor, only if you make me tea every morning." she said.
"Consider it done." he said with a smile.
"Celeste's Account has been added to your Truth Bullets."
"Yuno, would you mind explaining something to me?" Celeste asked, earning a nod from him.
"Sure, whatever you need."
"You won several of those kitty barrettes and perfume bottles yesterday correct? What did you do with all of them?" she asked.
"Um...well I gave all the barrettes to Sayaka last night..well not all of them, I think I dropped a couple of them on the floor somewhere." he said.
"Do you remember what colors you got?" she asked.
"Green, Red, Blue and Pink, actually Pink was one of the most common color variations I was able to get. From the twenty seven that I won, Sixteen of them were pink, now that you mention it, I only saw fifteen of them when I handed them to Sayaka last night." he said.
"Hmm, how peculiar." Celeste said curiously.
"Um...not to derail your train of thought, but what do the barrettes have to do with this?" he asked.
"Look in Junko's hand, and you'll find your answer." she said, taking her leave. He gave her a weird look but just shrugged it off.
"Kitty Barrettes has been added to your Truth Bullets."
Yuno turned to his training dummy, seeing the disk that was on top of it. He never shot his own disk, and Sayaka's was still on the floor, the arrow she used piercing the middle of it. This one however seemed to be pinned to the dummy, through the disk. He noticed the pink arrow drawn in blood, pointing to Junko's body.
"There is no way someone could have pinned this to this dummy without using brute strength. My training arrows don't have tips." he muttered. He grabbed the arrow, giving it a firm tug. He was surprised to find the arrow actually did have a tip, one made of stone.
"What the hell? Is this a primitive Arrow head? Where the hell did they get this?" he asked curiously.
"Primitive Arrow Head has been added to your Truth Bullets."
"Hey, that looks like one of the MonoMono machine prizes." Leon said, appearing next to Yuno. The purple haired teen looked at the baseball player, a curious look on his face.
"It does?"
"Yeah...that dick head Bryce got one from the machine after you left. It was a weird prize sure, and he didn't stick around to play again. Actually, he made some excuse about making himself food but I didn't even see him in the kitchen when I went there afterwards." he said.
"Thanks Leon, I can definitely use this information."
"Leon's Account has been added to your Truth Bullets."
"Primitive Arrow Head has been updated."
"Hey, I also wanted to apologize. When I saw that Junko was killed here, I overreacted. I shouldn't have made it seem like you did it, now everyone thinks it was you, but I know it isn't." he said.
"I know, and I'm going to prove my innocence. It's alright man, we're cool." he said.
"Awesome. I'm pretty much done here, I'll help you out during this trial, don't worry...also, did you and Sayaka really sleep together?" he asked, wiggling his brows. Yuno blushed brightly.
"What...no! We only shared a bed, that's it. She was scared someone would kill her so we shared a room. Nothing more nothing less." he said.
"Suuuuuure."
Yuno punched his arm, earning a pained yelp from the teen, who rubbed his arm afterward. He still let out a laugh when he saw the archer's pink face. Yuno decided to move to the front of the room, after spotting a broken bow on the found. Sayaka was looking at it closely, lost in thought. When she looked up, she gave him a reassuring smile.
"We're finding out a lot of stuff with this murder. We're 100% sure it wasn't you who did it." she said with a wink.
"Well duh, I wasn't in this room last night." he said. She rolled her eyes, looking at the bow.
"Isn't this the bow that you gave me to use yesterday?" she asked.
"It is but, why is it broken?" he asked curiously.
"It seemed to have been snapped in half, right at the riser." She said, looking at it closely. Yuno noticed the stripped screws on the riser, loosing himself in thought.
"Someone tried taking it apart, no doubt for the bow string, seeing as it's currently tied around Junko's legs. But why would they need to do that? What was the purpose?" he asked.
"Maybe to restrain her from moving?" Sayaka replied. He shrugged.
"No way to know for sure. What I can say is I just lost one expensive bow, how were they able to break it so easily?" he asked.
"I noticed some scratch marks on the floor next to the quiver, maybe they hit it on the ground until they broke it."
"Makes sense. Thanks for the help Saya, I really appreciate it."
"Broken Bow has been added to your Truth Bullets."
"Bow String has been added to your Truth Bullets."
"Sayaka's theory has been added to your Truth Bullets."
Yuno swallowed hard. He had already seen everything else, everything but the body. He steeled his nerves, and moved toward Junko's motionless body. The Fashionista who had been vibrant and full of life just the day before, now lay dead in a pool of her own blood, face contorted into a painful expression. He felt some tears run down his face. Remembering when he met her.
"Better clothes may get you laid."
That comment still reverberated through his mind. He had been a blushing mess in front of someone as famous as her, but he also realized she was just a normal girl, much like he was.
"I'm sorry this happened to you Junko." he said quietly.
After giving a small prayer, he started examining the body. He noticed the blood that had seeped through her shirt and the bed sheets. He counted three wounds total, two in the lower abdomen, and one near her breasts. He also noticed some bruises around her neck, as if she had been choked or something.
"Someone stabbed her three times. Most likely with one of those arrows...but now that I think about it, there are only four of them, if I count the one used to pin the DVD to the dummy." he said to himself. He glanced up at her face, seeing some blood on her forehead and what looked like a cut.
"What the...it's as if someone hit her. Maybe with the bow?" he said. He had noticed a bit of pink blood on the grip of the bow, and he knew those things were extremely hard.
"Broken Bow has been updated."
Yuno grabbed one of the arrows stabbed through her arm and pulled it, the sound of flesh and blood made him gag, but he swallowed the vomit down, clenching his eyes as fresh tears started flowing. Once the arrow was free, he took a closer look at it.
"Another one of those arrow heads. These are primitive, so they can't be screwed into the shaft of these new arrows." he said. He noticed a bit of thread had been holding the head to the shaft. Upon closer inspection, he realized that it was sewing thread.
"So, someone took these arrows from this room without me noticing, and then used one of the sewing kits to attach these arrow heads to them. Meaning it very well could have been a girl, since only they have those kits. This is just more confusing." he muttered dryly.
He set the arrow beside the body. He looked at her hand, seeing that it was closed. When he opened it, he saw the pink Kitty Barrette Celeste had alluded too. What was she doing with it?
"I did drop a lot of them yesterday, maybe she found it, and wanted to return it to me."
"Kitty Barrettes has been updated."
Finally done with the body, he stood up. He had found all of the information it contained, so he needed to step away from it. He shook his head, taking a deep breath.
"Are you alright?" Makoto asked. He shook his head.
"I'm not, but I am piecing this thing together."
"Don't you find it odd that she has all of those stab wounds? I also spotted a head injury, but something like that wouldn't be enough to kill her. Knock her out yes, but not kill." he said.
"No, she definitely died from being stabbed. She lost a lot of blood, but maybe she was still alive when the killer was in here making the scene. That would explain the broken bow and the head injury." Yuno said.
"Perhaps." Makoto said.
"Monokuma File #1 has been updated."
Having finished his conversation, Yuno moved toward Mikan, who was writing something on a notepad, on closer inspection, he saw that it was the note pad he had been given when he entered the academy. She looked up at him, a small smile on her face.
"H-hey Yuno."
"Hi Mikan...are you done with the autopsy yet?" he asked. She shook her head.
"Not yet, it will take me a few more minutes to finish up. Sorry."
"It's no hurry, I just wanted to confirm something." he said.
"Alright...come back in around ten minutes and I should be done." she said.
Being done with the crime scene, he decided to step outside to get some fresh air. He found Mondo standing outside, hands in his jacket pocket. The man seemed a little lost. When he saw Yuno, he stiffened a bit.
"I didn't kill her, no need to react that way." He said simply.
"Sorry little man. I'm just on edge you know." he said.
Yuno nodded, brushing past him. He couldn't help but catch the scent of that god awful perfume. He cringed a bit and kept walking down the hall. He noticed the door to Junko's bed room was open. Growing curious, he stepped inside.
The only person that was currently in there was Kyoko, and she was looking at something very closely. She looked up at him, a pensive look on her face. She didn't say a word, simply returning to her investigation. He took a whiff of the room, groaning a bit.
"Ew, god. That damn perfume is all over the place." he said.
"That's because Junko dropped the bottle and it broke." Kyoko said, in a monotone. He walked deeper into the room, seeing the broken blue bottle on the floor. His eyes widened a bit.
"That's the bottle I gave her yesterday." he said. Kyoko looked at him curious. She stood up, crossing her arms.
"You were the one that gave her that perfume?" she asked.
"Yeah. I won three of them from the MonoMono machine. When I left the School store, I was heading back to my dorm when I passed by Junko. She had grown curious about the bottles in my hand and asked me what they were. When I showed them to her, she said she wanted one for herself, but hadn't found any coins to use. Since I didn't have a use for them, I just let her have one. I still have two of them back in my bed room. Maybe that's when I dropped the Kitty Barrette."
"Broken Perfume Bottle was added to your Truth Bullets."
"Hmm...it's a possibility. Yuno, come take a look at this." she said.
She lead him to the back of Junko's bed room. On the girl's bed, was a flannel shirt, which had a decent tear in it. Beside it sat a sewing kit, the threaded needle still outside the package.
"So, she was sewing up someone's shirt?"
"Not someone, this is a guy's shirt. The size of it makes me think that it belongs to one of the taller males. This tear also looks intentional, look at where it starts." she said.
Yuno looked closer at the shirt, seeing that the tear itself was created near the middle of the shirt, and then it was torn downward to the hem. Usually, a tear would start at the hem, depending on what happened. Of course tears could start anywhere. This particular one was odd.
"It's as if someone intentionally tore this shirt, just to have her fix it." he said.
"No, it was torn intentionally so that the killer could get access to her sewing kit. One of the spools of thread is missing, the white thread that was used to attach the arrow heads to the arrows in your room."
"Could she have noticed it was missing?" He asked.
"Possibly, but I have a theory that the person who stole the thread and made the arrows and the killer are two different people. However, I don't have any solid proof to back up that claim." she said.
"I have my own suspicions too...but why would two people team up to kill Junko, and why her of all people?"
"Who knows, whatever the case, they built this scene to frame you. I know you aren't responsible for this, but it is up to you to prove yourself innocent, for your sake and mine, I hope everything you discovered is enough to set you free." she said.
"Kyoko's Theory was added to your Truth Bullets."
"Missing Sewing Thread was added to your Truth Bullets."
The purple haired teen watched as the silent Kyoko made her way toward the door. He couldn't help but get a longing feeling in his heart. He didn't know why, but he felt strange around her. He noticed her stoic look, and blushed a bit, looking away from her. She left without a word.
He searched Junko's room for a bit longer, but he didn't find anything interesting, so he left. The smell of the perfume was bothering him and he needed to leave the room. When he did, he ended up bumping into Bryce, knocking something out of his hands. The teen grit his teeth and looked up at him.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" he asked.
"Sorry man, I was lost in thought." he said. Bryce scoffed, and picked up the item he dropped, a MonoMono capsule. Yuno looked at it curiously.
"I don't know what you are thinking about, but if it's about the case don't. We already know you were the one who killed Junko, don't even bother with it." he said.
"I didn't do it, and I have more than enough proof to prove my innocence. Anyway, what's in the capsule?" he asked curiously.
"Oh this? Nothing special, just something for the trial, something that even you can put to good use." he said.
"Really? Is it an arrow head? Leon said that you won one of those yesterday."
"Heh, that orange haired bastard needs to keep shit to himself. I did win one of those yes, it was nothing more than a stupid prize. Now if you excuse me, I have to build up my investigation." he said, brushing past him.
"Before you go, you like flannel shirts right?" he asked. Bryce stopped looking at the teen with a scowl.
"Yeah I do, I have several of them, why?"
"No reason, carry on."
"Bryce's Account has been added to your Truth Bullets."
The teen merely left, disappearing into the main hallway of the academy. Yuno looked at his eHandbook, noticing it had been well over ten minutes. He decided to head back to his dorm, since Mikan was most likely done with her autopsy. He stopped in front of his room, mentally preparing himself. He had already seen it all, but he still couldn't accept it. He pushed the door open, once again stepping into the crime scene. He noticed Hina and Sakura were looking over Junko's body, talking quietly to themselves. He walked over to where Mikan was, still writing in her note book. He tapped her shoulder, startling her a bit.
"Eep, don't hit me." she cried out, making him take a step back.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." he said. She shook her head, forcing a smile on her lips.
"I finished my autopsy. I-if you'd like to read it, here it is." she said, handing him the note book. He took it from her hand, leaning against the desk. He started reading the report, skimming over the parts he knew.
"Victim received a stab wound to the lungs and liver, as well as one of the arteries in her leg. The head wound was enough to knock her out, but not enough to kill her. She died due to having a collapsed lung, as well as severe blood loss." he read out loud.
"She went into shock shortly after she was stabbed in the chest. I think that happened here, she was also the one who tied the bed sheet to her leg, and this is what caused the killer to hit her over the head with the bow. He also tied her legs so she wouldn't move. At least, that's what I think." She said calmly.
He was surprised to see the normally nervous nurse speaking so clearly. She must have fallen into her nurse mode and gained a bit of confidence because of it. He nodded, closing the notebook.
"Thanks Mikan, this will surely go a long way in clearing my name." he said.
"Mikan Tsumiki's Autopsy Report #1 was added to your Truth Bullets."
"Ding Dong Ding Dong."
The monitor in Yuno's room suddenly lit up, showing the image of Monokuma sitting in his chair, holding a glass of wine in his hand, he had a bored expression on his face.
"Well well well, I got bored of waiting around, so I've decided to end this investigation. Everyone report to the red doors at the end of the hall in the first floor. I shall see you soon."
With that, the monitor shut off. A sense of dread suddenly washed over Yuno, as it was finally time for the much awaited class trial. He and Mikan shared a look, before conceding with the bear and heading toward the red doors they had seen in the other hallway. He saw the other students slowly making their way toward said doors, none of them saying a single word. When they reached them, the red doors opened, a bright flash of light blinding them a bit. He noticed Byakuya and Touko had already been inside the room, everyone else stepped inside, the doors closing behind them.
"Hmm, the time has finally come. Let's see if this trial will be entertaining, though I already know who the killer truly is." Byakuya said, looking at Yuno. The teen noticed everyone looking at him, some looks of shock while others of shame being directed his way. He sighed, clenching his hands.
"I didn't do it. Why won't anyone believe me?" he asked.
"I don't know, maybe it's because she was marinating in your room." Bryce said.
"Dude, have some respect. She's fucking dead, so that's the least you could do." Nick said, the baker was clearly tired of the architect's shit.
"You need to stop saying Yuno killed Junko, because he fucking didn't." Sayaka said, clearly angry.
"Whatever you say sweetheart. Your boyfriend is a murderer, so just accept it so we can get over it." Bryce said.
"Alright everyone, please get onto the lift. All of you will then be brought to the court room, the rest of the rules will be explained there." Monokuma said, appearing out of nowhere.
He pressed a button on the side of the lift, willing it to open. Everyone quietly filed inside, and the doors closed behind them. Yuno swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. The lift started moving downward, making him grow even more nervous. He could feel their eyes on him, but he didn't let it bother him.
"I have evidence to prove my innocence...I can't bring the real person to justice."
He looked at everyone around him, a frown written on his features. He still couldn't believe, one or more of his friends and classmates did this heinous crime. He felt sick to his stomach, how can someone do something so vile?
The lift finally stopped, the metal doors slowly opening before them. He grit his teeth, a serious look on his face.
"I promised you I would find your killer Junko, and I don't go back on my promises. There are a lot of inconsistencies in this murder, a lot of things that don't add up and a lot of things to prove I wasn't the one who ended your life. I will do my best to find the killer, or my name isn't Yunosuke Nagahama!"
(Investigation End)
(Class Trial Begin All Rise)
The Trial court room was nothing like Yuno had expected. It was large, large enough to be considered it's own building, and yet it was all under ground, beneath Hope's Peak Academy. The walls were painted a beautiful shade of blue, and decorated with candelabras, though the lights made them useless. There were also large red curtains, placed there merely for an aesthetic look. Before them all were Eighteen stands, all arranged in a circle of sorts.
Before the stands sat Monokuma on a large throne, as if he was the judge of it all and technically he was. The room itself also had a tile floor, which was black and white in color. The last thing Yuno spotted as a surveillance camera, no doubt for the mastermind to get his kicks over the trial.
"Alright students of Hope's Peak Academy, welcome to the Court room, court is now in session so please take your seats." Monokuma said.
Everyone walked over to the stands, quickly finding the ones labeled with their names. Ironically enough, they followed the same order as the dormitories did in the school. He found himself next to Sayaka, with Makoto being to his right. Mikan was to Sayaka's left standing next to Touko. Chihiro stood next to her, with Hina next to her. Next to Hina stood the passive Sakura, who was eyeing everyone carefully. Next to her stood Leon, who was chewing on his lower lip, the nerves clearly written on his face. Nick stood next to him, arms crossed. He was still wearing the apron covered in batter. Next to him was the sneering Bryce, who kept glaring at Yuno, a happy grin on his face. Next to him stood Celeste, who had a mask of uncertainty written on her face. She looked around at everyone, probably trying to find the culprit within their group of people.
Next to her stood Byakuya who was also smiling proudly to himself. Next to him was a picture of Junko, with a pink X over it. It unnerved Yuno to see her picture there, and wanted to know the reason why it was even there. The stand next to the picture was empty, so he looked at the one next to it, spotting Mondo who seemed rather curious about the whole room, as he had been looking around. Taka stood next to him, standing at attention, most likely wanting to start the trial, next to him was Kyoko who had been quiet since his last meeting with him. She looked at him, giving him a passive glance. Yuno got a burst of confidence, remembering everything he had discovered during the trial.
"Alright then students, I will give you all a brief explanation of the class trial. All of you will present your evidence and help find whodunit. Once you all think you have the case solved, we will commence the vote, if the blackened is chosen, then he or she will solely be punished, but if you vote wrong, the blackened will go free and everyone else will be punished instead. Doesn't that sound like fun?" Monokuma asked.
"May I ask what this punishment is?" Taka asked, holding his hand up. Monokuma smirked, glancing at him with his red eye.
"Why, it's an execution of course."
"Execution? Are you insane?!" Leon shouted, glaring at the bear.
"Clearly you have been asleep for the past three days, moron." Bryce said.
"Keep your mouth shut, douche bag." Nick snapped, glaring at the architect.
"Oh boy, this is already filling me to the brim with despair. Alright then, feel free to start whenever you wish." the bear said, leaning back in his seat.
"Um...one last thing, why is there a picture of Junko here as well? And why is there an empty stand?" Makoto asked.
"Hmm? Oh, the picture of blondie is here because she's part of the class. Just because she's dead doesn't mean she can't be here for the trial. And the empty stand was just a building error, it means that there is enough space in this court room for eighteen people." Monokuma replied. Nodding, Makoto shook the nerves out of his system.
"How does this work? I mean do we all speak at the same time?" Yuno asked curiously.
"Of course, I like to call that the Non-Stop Debate...all of you will deliberate all of the information you've got at the same time. However it will be up to you to figure out whodunit!" Monokuma said cheerfully, earning a nod from the Ultimate Archer.
"Since no one is going to start this trial, I shall begin. The victim, as we all know is the Ultimate Fashionista, Junko Enoshima. She was murdered at 12:30 last night in Yuno Nagahama's bed room." Byakuya said.
"Yeah, we know that already, get to the point." Mondo said, only for the Affluent Progeny to glare at him.
"Do not interrupt me hooligan. I am discussing a serious matter here."
"What the fuck did you call me rich boy?" the biker snapped.
"Please, will you two settle down. This is not welcome in a court room, please proceed." Taka said.
"As I was saying, the victim died due to severe blood loss, that much is certain. I have come to believe the culprit is none other than Yuno himself. After all she did get stabbed to death by his arrows." he said, glaring at the purple haired archer.
"I already told you it wasn't me. Why do you insist it is?" he asked.
"Isn't it obvious? You were the one who used those arrows to kill her, the proof if right there. Once the deed was done, you broke the bow and tossed it aside." Bryce said with a smirk.
"You got that wrong!" Makoto said, pointing at Bryce who looked at him shocked. The brown haired teen cleared his throat, proceeding to speak.
"There is no evidence supporting the use of the broken bow. Besides it's clear to see that Junko was stabbed to death with the arrows, as opposed to have been shot with them." he said.
"How do you know that for sure?" Hina asked curiously.
"Well, for one the force behind the recurve bow in my room is enough to drive an arrow through skin, muscle and bone. It will be at least seven inches of penetration, at long range. If it was been used at short range, those arrows would have most likely passed through her body. The arrows were used to stab her, not shoot her." Yuno said, letting out a breath.
"Alright, so the bow wasn't used to shoot the arrows, Yuno still could have done it, after all those are his arrows." Mondo said.
"Sorry to say big guy, but Yuno didn't do it. He was with me all night in my room, I would have noticed him leave and we were both awake when this was going on." Sayaka said.
"Likely story, you could be conspiring with him." Byakuya said.
"Exactly, we don't know for sure that he stayed with you. You could be lying." Nick said.
"You got that wrong!" Yuno said, startling Nick.
"Hey man, no need to shout." he said.
"Sorry...you said that Sayaka could be lying, but we have proof that we were together last night. Celeste saw us this morning, leaving her dorm." he said, looking at the gambler, who gave a curt nod.
"Indeed, this morning before the morning announcement, Yuno and Sayaka did leave her room together. They were trying so hard not to be spotted that they actually walked past me without them seeing me." She said.
"So, we have a witness to them leaving her room in the morning, but that doesn't mean he didn't kill her during the night. After all he could have shown up to her dorm past Midnight and then hung out with her. The proof is irrefutable." Bryce said firmly.
"Shit, even with Celeste's help, they still think I'm the culprit." Yuno thought, anger and sadness flowing through him.
"I don't even know why we are having this case in the first place. It's merely a formality. The culprit is clearly Yuno, we should hold the vote already." Byakuya said.
"Don't be stupid, a wrongful vote will get us all killed." Makoto snapped.
"Besides, there's still a lot of stuff we haven't gone over...like the murder weapon, or weapons in this case." Leon said. Yuno sighed, at least he was steering this in the right direction.
"Yes, let us look at the murder weapons. In this case, it was three fiberglass arrows, which were stabbed in various places of Junko's body. Additionally, they were used to inflict the fatal injuries that caused her death." Kyoko said, finally speaking.
"The only one who has those arrows is Yuno, since he's the Ultimate Archer." Hina said.
"This is true...we looked all over his room and found several of these arrows, all around the dresser and the floor." Sakura said.
"Yes, but were you paying attention to them?" Kyoko asked.
"Of course we were? We saw a bunch of them, other than the size they all looked the same." Hina said.
"You got that wrong!" Makoto said, looking at Hina who tilted her head in confusion.
"The arrows that were on the ground next to the dresser, aside from their size lacked one important thing, something all arrows need in order to be used as a weapon. A head. Those arrows were missing all of their heads, and had only training tips on them." Makoto said.
"Additionally, the arrow heads that were used in this murder were attached to the shaft of the arrows with sewing thread." Kyoko added.
"Sewing thread?" Chihiro asked curiously.
"From one of the sewing kits no doubt. The girls were given sewing kits on the first day, it was on the note that was taped to our bathroom doors." Mondo said.
"Hmm...now that you mention it, I did find a spool of thread near the A/V room. It didn't have any thread on it, but the spool itself was just sitting there." Leon said. Everyone looked at him.
"Why didn't you say that before?" Byakuya asked, clearly annoyed.
"I didn't think it was important." he said.
"Anything and everything is important imbecile, even if it's something as small as that." he said.
"Hey, no need for petty insults." Hina said, earning a glare from the heir.
"So, since the arrow heads were tied to the arrows with the thread, we can assume Yuno took them with him, asked Junko for her sewing kit and then put the arrows together. After he ran out of thread he just tossed the spool and left like it was nothing." Nick said.
"Are you retarded? Why would Yuno ask the person he was going to murder for her own sewing kit? That's redundant." Leon said.
"Hey fuck you."
"Children please...stop arguing." Celeste said firmly.
"There is something that I'm clearly missing. No one could have simply asked Junko for her sewing kit, she wouldn't have easily handed it over. She may have looked like an airhead, but she was also smart...wait..there is that."
"Allow me to present this." Yuno said, pulling out his eHandbook. He clicked on one of his Truth Bullets, which depicted a flannel tee shirt laying on Junko's bed.
"A...shirt?" Hina asked.
"Yes, a flannel shirt that Junko had been sewing up. I believe that the tear in the shirt was caused intentionally, just to give Junko a reason to open her sewing kit. Being the Ultimate Fashionista, she has the most knowledge on how to fix clothes." He said.
"That makes sense, but who does the shirt belong too?" Celeste asked.
"It could be anyones really. But I strongly believe that it belongs to Bryce, since he told me personally that he loves flannel shirts." Yuno said, glancing at Bryce, who had his hand on his chin, brow raised.
"So you think the shirt is mine do you?" he asked.
"Well, you said you liked flannel shirts, so clearly it must be yours." Yuno said.
"That buddy is where you are wrong. While I do love flannel shirts, I can say that the shirt that was in Junko's room isn't mine. It looks smaller than what I normally wear, I'm a medium in shirt size, and that's clearly a large." he said.
"That doesn't stop you from owning one of a bigger size. People grow you know." Leon said.
"Shut up you. Your comments aren't needed here." the architect said.
"Okay, then if it isn't your shirt, and who does it belong too?" Makoto asked.
"It's simple. The shirt belongs to Yuno, since he needed the thread to tie those arrow heads to his arrows." Bryce said.
"Allow me to cut through those words." Byakuya said, looking at Bryce. Yuno looked at the Affluent Progeny curiously, the guy in question gave him a curious look as well.
"Worry not fool, I am coming to your aid this once. I do firmly believe it was you that killed her. However, Yuno didn't exactly need the thread to use those arrow heads, not when he has all the tools he needs, including the arrow heads inside his Repair Kit." he said.
"Repair kit?" Sayaka asked.
"He's talking about the orange bag in my closet. I keep it there in case I need to do repairs on my bows. I also have the arrow heads in there, the lock wasn't forced and it wasn't picked, so I know the heads were stolen from there. Besides, I don't have any primitive arrows like the ones used to kill Junko." he said firmly.
"There's your answer. He didn't make those arrows, he had no need to especially if he had arrow heads the whole time." Byakuya said.
"Gah...this is madness. We aren't getting anywhere." Nick snapped, clearly angry.
"No one said this would be easy." Mondo replied, crossing his arms.
"Well, we just proved that Yuno didn't make the arrows. If he had no need to make them, then it clearly wasn't him that did it. Meaning the person that did make them was definitely the person who killed Junko." Makoto said.
"Actually Makoto, I want to present something else. It's Kyoko's theory, she and I were talking earlier, and she deduced that it was actually two people who were involved in this murder. The person who made the arrows is indeed the owner of the flannel shirt, and the one who stole the thread. But the killer is someone else, however she didn't have proof of two people being involved. I just thought I would share it with everyone." Yuno said.
"Did you find any proof Kyoko?" Leon asked. Kyoko nodded.
"I believe there was a fight before this murder took place. The fighting happened in the bathhouse, and I believe the one who made the arrows was the one who was fighting the killer. Once they enticed the killer to fight, they ran off, and during the chase, the killer ended up stabbing Junko by mistake." She said.
"How can you be so sure of that?" Mondo asked.
"The blood on the hallway is enough proof." Kyoko replied.
"I agree with that!" Yuno said, startling Mondo a bit. Now that he had everyone's attention, he continued talking.
"The blood on the hallway actually lead to my dorm from the other direction, meaning that Junko was coming back from another place, the school store perhaps. Maybe during the scuffle between the killer and the one who made the arrows, she stopped possibly to see who was fighting. It was also at this time that she found the Kitty Barrette that I had dropped the day before.
She probably saw one of the culprits running her way, and she tried to hide from them, only to be spotted by the killer who mistook her for the person they were fighting. She was stabbed once but somehow managed to escape, making her way toward the dorms, most likely trying to get help." Yuno said.
"It also explains why there was blood on Yuno's door handle. The blood belonged to Junko!" Sayaka said.
"Yes, but there is another thing that doesn't make sense. How was Junko able to get into Yuno's room without his key?" Celeste asked.
"Because Yuno let her in. She rung the bell and he let her in, once he saw her in that state, he finished the job, simple as that." Nick said.
"Classmate Nick, please don't go making those kinds of assumptions in this trial. Think logically." Taka snapped.
"Um...there is a way the killer could have gotten into Yuno's room. The door was locked, but you could easily push it open, so the lock wasn't keeping the door shut." Chihiro said.
"How can that be?" Leon asked.
"The locks can't be broken or picked. Isn't that right Monokuma?" Celeste asked.
"That's right, only the lock's respective key can open those doors." Monokuma replied, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"That answers that, also as an impartial judge, you should do your best to remain awake." she scolded.
"Yeah sure." the bear replied.
"Hmm...the door was locked, but it could still be opened. Why is that again?"
Yuno closed his eyes, trying to think. He had most of the evidence memorized already, but there was one thing that stuck out to him.
P-E-P-P-E-R-M-I-N-T G-U-M
"Of course, it can only be this!" he said, getting everyone's attention.
"When I first entered my room, I was able to push the door open too. I didn't think anything of it at first, but when I actually looked, I found that the door jamb had a large wad of Peppermint Gum stuffed inside it." he said.
"The gum would be enough to stop the door from closing it. That's how Junko was able to get into the room. This is also when she was trying to stop the bleeding, by using the bed sheets as makeshift bandages." Makoto said.
"Makes sense, I did notice that the stab wounds she got afterwards had gone through the bed sheets she had been using. She had also been stabbed in the leg, according to Mikan's autopsy, she was still alive when she tied the bandage to her leg." Yuno said.
"Alright, so she was attacked in the hallway and ran to Yuno's room, where she was clearly murdered. However, if you turn the lights off it's pitch black in there, even with the lighting from the hallway, she wouldn't have been able to easily find where the bed was." Byakuya said.
"Not necessarily. I noticed her eHandbook wasn't anywhere on her, so she must have used that as a light source. She probably tried to close the door behind her, not noticing that it wasn't going to close. It probably opened up, allowing the killer to easily find out where she was." Leon said.
"So, the whole gum thing was a set up then?" Nick said.
"Clearly it was. Yuno probably put it in the door jamb and used the darkness to his advantage." Bryce said.
"Did you have a jackass sandwich for lunch? That was literally the stupidest shit I have ever heard anyone said." Yuno said firmly, his comment making a few of his peers laugh.
"Like you have a better theory."
"I do you dumbass, I don't know why you have such a hard on about me being the culprit in this murder. I will tell you this however, I am not the one who fucking killed her. Even if it was me, how the fuck would I know where she was in the dark? She could have not used her eHandbook. Ever think of that moron?" he snapped angrily.
"Besides, he wasn't even the one who chewed the gum in the first place. Why would he even do that? What would be the point? What are the odds of it actually serving a purpose other than his own demise?" Celeste asked curiously. Bryce scoffed, looking away from her.
"Okay, now to get this trial back on track. The person who shoved the gum in the door jamb was clearly the same one who stole the arrows. I can also prove it, the quiver that was full of arrows was actually torn. I thought it was intentional at first but I remembered that it got hooked to the drawer.
The person who stole the arrows only took the ones in the quiver because he didn't see the others on the dresser. The reason why that is is because they didn't bother to turn the lights on. They saw the orange fletchlings from the arrows with the light from the hallway and reached for them, tearing the quiver. That also explains why only four arrows were made." Yuno said.
"Yes, but how did the person get into your room without your key?" Chihiro asked.
"That actually is my fault." Sayaka said.
Everyone looked at her curiously. She sighed, taking a shaky breath, making Yuno look at her, worry etched on his face. She gave him a smile, and looked back at her peers.
"Yesterday, I...was planning on killing someone." she said.
The effect was instantaneous. Everyone started muttering things to themselves, while others started out right insulting her. Taka finally rose his hand, making everyone go silent.
"Please continue Classmate Sayaka."
"Thank you. I stole a knife from the kitchen, with a plan to kill someone that same night. However, I started thinking about it and I realized what a vile person I was, thinking about murdering someone. I wanted to talk to Makoto, but he wasn't in his room. I decided to talk to Yuno instead. He was able to talk me out of it, even if it wasn't directly. After I told him about it, we left for the kitchen to return it, and I was the one who closed the door. I don't remember locking it." She said.
"She's telling the truth. Me and Hina were in the kitchen drinking tea when they showed up to return the knife." Sakura said.
"Jeez, this is getting more and more confusing. Now idol girl is a murderer?" Nick said.
"Nick, please think before you speak. Sayaka isn't the murderer this time, clearly she was feeling guilt over her future crime. Do keep those comments to yourself in the future." Celeste said, giving him a sickly sweet smile. He shivered a bit, not wanting to anger her.
"So if Sayaka didn't lock Yuno's door, then that means it was during this time that the person was able to place the gum in the door jamb. This was done, possibly to lure the victim into the room, where they would strike in the dark. I believe the reason why the quiver was torn, was probably because Yuno came back faster than the thief wanted. Upon hearing him, they pulled on the quiver, tearing it as they did so. It is possible that they already had the thread by this point." Kyoko said.
"Also, if Yuno had truly killed Junko, then he would have most likely smeared himself with blood at some point, especially stabbing her in the chest with those arrows." Makoto said.
"He could have washed it off." Bryce said.
"You got that wrong! The water gets shut off at 10PM on the dot, meaning the killer couldn't have washed themselves off until the morning. I made that mistake last night when I wanted to take a shower in Saya's room, and realized that there was no water flowing. In fact, my clothes are still in her bathroom." he said confidently.
"So, this practically proves that Yuno isn't the killer. Celeste, Mikan and I met up with them in the morning and I saw no traces of blood on his clothes. I doubt he would have changed into night clothes just to come to breakfast. He would have still needed to wash them afterwards." Taka said, giving Yuno a smile. The purple haired teen sighed, giving him a thankful nod.
"Ugh...this is getting us nowhere. Monokuma, can we please take a recess? I really need to use the bathroom." Nick said.
"No recess, recess is for children." Monokuma replied with a laugh.
"Actually, I believe that it will benefit all of us. A lot of things have been talked about during this case, and it would help all of us if we take everything and put it in order before we continue." Kyoko said.
"Goddamn it...fine. All of you get a ten minute recess, if you need to piss make it quick." Monokuma said, slamming his gavel down on his arm rest, signaling the start of recess. Nick raced toward the lift, gritting his teeth almost in pain.
Yuno stepped away from his stand, choosing to sit back against the wall. He ran his fingers through his hair, thinking about everything that had been talked about. He had already been working on piecing everything together. He was sure now that there was a fight, since he had heard that thud when he went to Sayaka's bedroom the night before. Junko could have very well been attacked then, and she probably hid for some time, until she was inevitably found, only to be killed in his room.
The arrows were made during the time he was absent from his room, the torn quiver proved that, but there was still a lot of things that hadn't been discussed. At least he was glad to be away from the culprit's light, at least for now.
"How are you doing?" Sayaka asked, taking a seat next to him. He leaned back against the wall, looking at the ceiling far above them.
"Honestly, I'm tired as fuck. I don't know how long we were debating over there, but everything we talked about...it just reminds me of how Junko was found, laying in her own blood. I can't take it...every time I close my eyes, I see her laying there. I want to see her smiling face but all I see is her lifeless body on my bedroom floor." he said, slamming his fist against the ground.
A few people looked at him, a bit saddened by the entire thing. Most felt bad about accusing him, while others were relishing in his despair. Sayaka took a hold of his hand, giving it a light squeeze. He looked at her, seeing that adorable smile of hers.
"Don't worry. We're going to find the real culprit, we are already on the right path. You aren't the prime suspect anymore, so at least be happy about that." she said.
"Trust me, I am. I just want to put this thing to bed already." he said, closing his eyes.
His eyes snapped open when he felt Sayaka lay her head on his shoulder. His face slowly started to heat up. He looked up, seeing Makoto still by his stand. He gave him a grin and a thumbs up, a that goofy smile embarrassing him even more. Leon kept wiggling his brows at him, while Celeste hid a giggle behind her hand. Mikan seemed a little disappointed, but she gave him a heartwarming smile.
"Man, I got myself an interesting group of friends...they've been a great help already...I'll use their hope to fuel my own, I will found out who did this."
(Class Trial Recess)