Danganronpa IF: Maizono no Jikan

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Chapter 4

"Ahem. Let me explain the rules of the Class Trial!"

"I don't think that'll be necessary." Kyoko Kirigiri says from across the circle of podiums that all fourteen of us stand at. "The only explanation that is necessary..." she trails off, pointing at the framed image of Makoto's face positioned at the podium next to me.

"Friendship transcends even death's barrier! I wouldn't want to leave Mr. Lucky over there out, would I?"

Celestia Ludenberg is the next to pipe up. "What about that empty podium? Why are there sixteen podiums but only fifteen of us?"

Monokuma just nonchalantly brushes off that remark. "Ehh. The trial ground's designed for up to sixteen people. Maybe I'll pop in for an argument or two at some point." He lays down across the arms of his large throne. "Now then, let's get cracking! The first thing you guys should go over: how was Makoto Naegi killed?"

Byakuya Togami doesn't even hesitate. "That much should have been obvious just from looking at his body." he adjusts his glasses. "Makoto Naegi was stabbed in the stomach with a knife and quickly bled to death."

"Umm..." Chihiro Fujisaki shifts at her podium. "So... where did the killer get the knife?"

This time, Kyoko Kirigiri answers without missing a beat. "The knife appears to have been taken from the kitchen."

Aoi Asahina pipes up next. "Oh! So that's why there was one missing. It was really odd. Yesterday, me and Sakura were drinking tea in the kitchen. One minute, all of the knives were there, the next time I entered the kitchen, one was missing."

Leon Kuwata chimes in his two cents next. Not on the case, but on the much less important matter of: "Wait... who's Sakura again?"

If we weren't standing at pedestals, I could imagine Sakura striding up in front of Leon. Instead, the way she seems to expand her presence seems a satisfying enough response for Leon. "It is I." she says anyway.

"Hina. Did you see anybody while you were in the dining hall?" Ishimaru's the one who asks that. Though his voice is strong, like me, he seems to be hiding his true emotions behind a mask. He's scared, we all are. If what Kyoko told me before is true, then...

"Umm... oh yeah." she eyes me. Oh no. "Sayaka! She went in to the kitchen."

"Yeah..." I look down. "I took the knife."

"Then that would mean you killed him!" Hifumi once again yells his thoughts. Though I can understand the reason for him blaming me, I'm the only one who knows otherwise. I don't have a chance to retaliate, as Kyoko stands up for me.

"Sayaka did not kill Makoto. Through my investigation, there were many clues that pointed towards Sayaka being the culprit, but there was always something that felt... wrong."

"What do you mean, wrong?" Mondo asks, slamming his hand into the pedestal.

"If Sayaka wanted to kill someone, why would she have chosen Makoto? That's what I do not understand."

"Well... they were pretty close." Toko chimes. Her blush implies that she has more meaning behind those words than just what she said, but I make no comment.

"That's what I don't get. We're all strangers to each other. Why would she kill the only person she knew? That'd make it a lot harder for her to go through with her plan."

My plan was to kill Leon Kuwata. That's not how it ended up. I was scared, but I was in the wrong. BUT I can't die now. Not now that I have to live for myself, and for Makoto. "Right. That wasn't my plan in the beginning..." I whisper.

Junko is the next one to speak. "Yeah, it definitely wouldn't make sense. Besides, why kill Makoto? With him being the Ultimate Lucky Student, he probably would have gotten out of anything you threw at him."

"He didn't though, did he?" Celestia slowly structures her sentence. "He is a victim, the first of us to die."

"He's really not all that lucky." Monokuma agrees.

"Oh, but I think he was." Kyoko says. "If you had to watch someone you loved get killed, would you consider yourself lucky if you could save them in any way? Even if that meant losing your own life?"

"I would." I say. Junko looks at me, but I only notice her glance from the corner of my eye.

"So would I." Mondo says slowly.

"I wouldn't. Lucky would be if I could somehow find a way to save both me and my loved one." Leon says with a snarky tone.

"That may be true. But you can't always get everything you ever wanted." Unexpectedly, this comes from Junko. "Sometimes... life just doesn't go your way. I'd consider myself lucky if I made some different choices in life that helped others more than the ones that only helped me."

"Why did you use such an example, Kyoko Kirigiri?" Celestia Ludenberg seems to see through Kyoko. Somehow, Kyoko must have found out about my plan to kill Leon. "You could have used a more direct example. Could you have not?"

"I have a confession to make." I say, no I plead. "I did try to kill someone... but it wasn't Makoto." I see Kirigiri's mask falter for a moment. She seemed surprised that I would out myself in such a way. In contrast, Junko has a smile that seems to say 'good job'. "In fact... the person I tried to kill was the one who murdered Makoto!"

I look down at my wrist. Monokuma had said something about healing my wrist. Nothing seemed to have come from it though, my wrist is still quite useless.

"Sayaka! I...!" Asahina cries. "Why would you try to murder someone."

"In my past, I've done some things I'm not happy I did. Everything I did was for the sake of being an idol. I was desperate! I wanted out!"

"'Was'? 'Wanted'?" Kyoko catches the two words that I deliberately used.

"When I saw Makoto... something happened inside me. He had been more optimistic than most, more caring, more understanding. That's why, when I saw him take my last breath, I knew I couldn't do it. I knew... I needed to survive. I need to survive for Makoto's sake!"

"Wait." Leon asks. "Did you say you saw Makoto die? You know who killed him?"

"You should too." I say. "After all, you were the one who plunged the knife within him."

I recall the confusion and the pain on Makoto's face as he collapsed to the ground, and the feeling of success that slowly morphed into shock as Leon stabbed the knife through Makoto. "You, Leon Kuwata, killed Makoto!"

"Asshole! I did not kill him!"

"The greatest proof is evidence." Kyoko says. I see Leon's mouth move in an attempt to say something along the lines of 'yeah, there's no evidence!', but instead Kyoko continues: "I have some."

"You... what!?" Leon yells.

"Hold on one moment." Mondo says, his anger back to full force. "Are we just gonna ignore the fact that Sayaka tried to kill someone?"

"Yes." Kyoko says sternly. I would have given a different answer. "For now, we must focus on Makoto's killer."

Byakuya speaks next. "I too did a fair share of investigating. There is more to do than just stare at a body." He pulls out a few crystal shards. " I found these near the incinerator, which, by the way, was left running without anyone's knowledge."

"Wait.. you mean...?" Leon asks.

"It's possible that the culprit disposed of a bloodied article of clothing by incinerating it." Kyoko confirms. "If they couldn't get through the bars blocking the incinerator, they'd likely have thrown something to activate it."

"Wait. Can anyone even hit a small button like that from such a far distance? I have the key, and I sometimes miss the button when I'm standing in front of it." Hifumi says.

"Why do you have the key?" Yasuhiro asks him.

"Monokuma left me in charge of the trash disposal system for the time being. Apparently we're supposed to take turns..."

"Oh. I see."

"Can the two of you shut up." Byakuya butts in. "The matter of who is in charge of janitorial duties and why is not aan important matter."

"It does mean that Hifumi's innocent." Junko says. "If the incinerator was left on, then it had to be someone without the keys."

"But only one person could hit a small button like that from such a distance." Byakuya says smugly. "The Ultimate Baseball Star would surely have the talent to do so. If he even has the talent that he claims."

"Wait... You're saying I did it based on assumptions! What if someone just got lucky with a throw like that? Or what if those shards were left behind by that nerd when he went to incinerate some of his porn or something."

That shocks us and keeps us silent for a moment. The silence is broken by a cough, then Kyoko. "That isn't all of the evidence. Now, you could just admit to your crimes, or we could continue showing proof for as long as you keep denying it."

"We've even got a witness." Junko yells at him, pointing at me. "I think it's obvious who killed Makoto!"

"I... YOU GUYS ARE WRONG!" In a fit of rage, Leon screams at the top of his lungs, directly his words at all of us as he sways from side-to-side. "YOU'RE ALL ASSHOLES! EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!"

"I don't know about you.." Yasuhiro says. "But I'd rather be an asshole than dead."

"Sayaka, are you positive it was Leon who you saw murder Makoto?" Chihiro asks. For the sake of clarity, likely.

"Yes..." I trail off. Perhaps it's not the wisest thing to say, but... "I did choose Leon as my target. Invited him to my room, even attacked him. I didn't anticipate that he would fight back with the replica sword and break my wrist."

"Guess I never got around to fixing that, huh?" Monokuma says in high spirits. "Guess you'll have to deal with it."

"That means Sayaka's wrist is all the proof we need that her story is real." Junko says smugly. I'm surprised... I never took her for the attentive kind of person. More hyperactive, honestly. Nevertheless, I show them my wrist and where it has bloated from where the sword hit me.

Kyoko's emotionless face doesn't change. "The only thing left to prove, is that Sayaka is not lying about whom she attempted to kill."

"I'd never do such a thing! I... I want to avenge Makoto!" I tear up as I yell this. I didn't know that was how I was feeling until I said it. Now that I did, I can't deny it.

"If she were lying," Kyoko says. "She could not have said that with enough feeling to convey the message that she had wanted to."

"HOLD IT!" Yasuhiro yells. "Don't you all remember? The Monokuma File said Makoto died in his room. Why was Sayaka there?"

"T-the two of them... they probably had a late n-night g-get together." Toko says as she blushes. I haven't spoken to her formally yet, but it seems as though she's a very perverted one. I've met many perverts, so I know how to deal with them.

"Nope!" Monokuma yells. "I would not allow anything like that!" He holds his hands up in protest. "Got it! If any of you even think to..."

Kyoko interrupts him. "The two of them likely swapped rooms for the night. Their nameplates had been switched, and I doubt it was Makoto who did such a thing." Now, she addresses me. "Why?"

"That... was my idea."

"Care to elaborate?" Kiyotaka asks me, and I brush him off with a quick "not now."

"Nevertheless, I believe our culprit should be obvious by now." Kyoko finishes the trial.

With this, Monokuma laughs. "Seems like it! Alright! All you guys have to do is cast your vote. It's decided by majority, so make sure you all know who to vote for before you do."

"Leon." I say looking down. The area around us is silent and tense, but I picture him and I in the same field Makoto and I spoke in my dreams. I turn to my left and see Makoto standing there just as he did before, with the same hopeful smile plastered on his face. I address Leon Kuwata with a smile. A fake smile, but a smile nonetheless. "I'm sorry. For everything."

Expecting Leon to freak out once more, I am surprised when he offers a genuine response. "No. It doesn't matter. No matter the outcome, I'd be dead. This is all my fault." He punches the podium. Once. Twice. Three times. "Damn it!" He yells, continuously punching the podium though blood has started flowing from his knuckles. "Damn it damn it damn it damn it!" he yells. "I shouldn't have read your stupid letter. If I hadn't, none of this would have happened. Damn it!"

"Are you done?" Monokuma asks. "Alright, cast your votes."

I do so. We all do so. I heavy air looms over us as we do. If Kyoko's information was correct, then Monokuma said the outcome was either killer would be killed, or everyone besides the killer. If we have to do this, then I'd rather be the one seeing to the end of each trial that stands before us.

"Yup! You got it!" Monokuma cheers. "The killer is... Leon Kuwata, the Ultimate Baseball Star."

"I don't understand... why didn't you stop what you were doing?" Kyotaka asks him, an intense anger laying hidden beneath his calm exterior.

"I had no choice, y'know. If I didn't kill Sayaka, she was going to kill me. It was all in self-defense. Then... Makoto just happened to show up and I thought he was in on the plan too."

Kyoko turns to me. "From the sounds of it, it seems like Makoto somehow knew you were in danger, and came to assist you. I wonder why..."

"If you guys are done yapping, it's time for the part that everyone has been waiting for! Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit's PUNISHMENT TIME!"

And so, our first trial came to an end. We had to watch, as Leon Kuwata was defeated by his own talent: beaten to death by baseballs. We stood there long after, absorbing everything that just happened. Two people have been killed, we have no idea if anyone else would join them.

Unfortunately, I knew deep in my gut that we'd be back to this courtroom. That more killings would happen.

"Now. You guys... you probably want to lock me up or something right?" I ask them. This is the first thing any of us had said since Leon's... execution. "Seeing it from your side, I must seem like a monster to you."

"I propose we lock her in her room. Place a bodyguard at her door so no one can enter or exit without one of us knowing." Ishimaru slowly comes up with the idea minutes after the words had reached his ears.

"I'll do it." Junko says with a yawn. "But first, I think we need to sleep a bit."

I watched as the others slowly stumbled towards the elevator, but I stood staring at Leon's corpse for a few moments afterwards. If Makoto were here, I'd probably tease him again.

"I knew you'd save me." I imagine myself saying.

"Huh? How'd you know?" Imaginary Makoto responds.

"Didn't I tell you? I'm psychic, silly! ...Just kidding!"

But, thinking about it, it was a little strange. Was it just coincidence that Makoto showed up right when he did, or was there something more? Was I just lucky? Or did he somehow know?

"Didn't I tell YOU?" Imaginary Makoto says to me now with a smile. "I'm psychic."

Somehow, I wouldn't doubt it.