(AN: So… what happened?)
*Ding, dong! Ding, dong!*
"Rise and shine you bastards! It's time for a new day! Or as I would say, the early bear gets the honey! Upupupu…"
I struggled to wake up. Sleeping too much was a bad idea sometimes. In fact, sleeping in would make you feel sleepier than the night before. Sighing, I got out of bed and changed into fresh clothes which I brought along with me.
I briefly recalled what transpired yesterday: How we fought, and eventually reached a conclusion. The buddy system however, was something that no one stuck to as there were a few who were against it, and a few who simply didn't bother. Hopefully the mood would be lighter today.
Feeling famished, I decided to head over to the cafeteria.
As I opened my door, the door to my right did the same, and I tensed up, before relaxing a little.
"Morning," Keisuke said, with a yawn. "You sure had a good rest last night huh?"
"I kinda knocked out a little early…"
"Did you continue your practice after dinner? You seem awfully tired." I added, while closing the door behind me.
He gave a brief answer which I expected, and we made our way over to the cafeteria. Turning the corner of the hallway though, we saw Shoko cornering a confused Hana. Hana looked afraid of him as she took a few steps back, only to be followed by a few steps forward from Shoko, closing the distance between them. The fact that Hana was now backed into a wall was unsettling, as Shoko continued towards her aggressively.
"Shoko, what do you think you're doing?!" Keisuke rushed to her side and stood between the both adopting an appropriate stance.
"I was just talking to her."
"Didn't look like it," Keisuke observed. "You need to pin the girl to a wall for a talk?"
"I agree with Keisuke on this Shoko, you were awfully near her for just a mere conversation." I added.
"Hana, would you care to explain what we talked about?" Shoko smirked, which was rather uncharacteristic of himself.
Instead of telling us what happened, Hana just turned and ran through the hallway.
"Hey! Hana! Wait!" Keisuke shot a death glare at Shoko, before running off after her.
"We'll settle this later," I said, before trying to catch up to the two.
However, I lost them after they turned another corner.
Okay, so they either went into the music room, or the greenhouse. With bated breath, I pushed the door to the music room open and realised it was the wrong room, before heading over to the greenhouse.
Come to think of it, I never entered the greenhouse yet, though we had ample amounts of time to explore. I guess I was too caught up in conversing with others to remember. I however, knew that such an area existed, because the map displayed it clearly.
The first thing I saw made me squint my eyes for a bit. The sunlight protruded the glass surrounding the greenhouse, which was only natural.
When was the last time I saw sunlight?
It was scary how I had almost forgotten that it was a small piece of freedom stripped from me ever since we were kidnapped here. At this opportune moment, I felt something tugging at the back of my mind, recalling my walk in to Hope's Peak. For some reason, it felt incredibly weird… like I was close to remembering something about my talent. No, it was more than that. After struggling for a bit, I decided that it was impossible to recall any further.
"Help… Help… HELP!"
"What the…"
Just to the left of me were Hana and Keisuke by what I assumed to be the storage shed. Hana crumpled to her knees while Keisuke just stood in silence afterwards. I rushed over and looked into the shed, already expecting the worst.
Doubt.
It was something I tried to deny.
Red.
It was something I didn't want to see.
Regret.
If only I knew.
Despair...
What I currently felt.
Kyoshi with his back against the wall, had his mouth wide open. His body was riddled with bullets and there was a pool of blood beneath where he was sitting. His eyes were closed… if only there wasn't that much blood and the overbearing smell of iron, then maybe I could've mistaken him for being asleep.
I just stood rooted to my spot, and stared at his body. I didn't want to believe… that one of us killed our classmate. How could we? I thought we made a promise…
Was it a prank?
Was it an accident like last time?
Was it a dream?
As these thoughts raced in my mind, all I could stutter was…
"N-no way."
*Ding, dong! Ding, dong!*
"A body has been discovered!"
"Following a brief period of investigation, we will conduct our class trial!"
My mind blanked as I continue staring at the lifeless body in front of me.
With no doubt…
Dazai Kyoshi… was dead.
"Nyahahaha! That's right! Someone betrayed you all! Did the person try to take the chance or should I say, a shot, at graduation?" Monokuma startled me as he jumped out from one of the closets in the storage shed. "Great work! This would certainly prove to be very entertaining indeed!"
"Is this funny to you…" Keisuke started. "Does this seem fucking FUNNY TO YOU?!"
"Hold your horses Keisuke, I wouldn't want you to take out your anger on me," Monokuma replied angrily. "After all, it wasn't me but one of you who did the deed!"
"Keisuke… it isn't worth it." I put my hand on him, somewhat restraining him from attacking Monokuma.
I had to calm down too, and get my thoughts in order as well. Now that it was shoved in my face that Kyoshi was dead, there was no way to move but forward. The least I could do was to find out the truth behind his death and avenge him…
"Don't forget, you all have a class trial later on. Upupupu..."
Class trial… that's right. He mentioned something about that. To find the 'blackened' after investigating. A search for the truth in order to survive. This was it.
"A trial you say," I repeated. "To catch the killer."
"Oh dear, I didn't expect you to be so attentive during class," Monokuma sniffled. "My oh so lonely Kyoshi died a terrible death and you're the only ones who can avenge him!"
"Do you hear the sound? The sweet sound of Kyoshi's death pleas… Oh please find evidence to convict the blackened… Who could be so terrible to murder me?! Nyahahahah!"
… He was getting on my nerves.
"Wait, why do we have to clean up after your bullshit?" Keisuke interrupted. "You were the one who caused this by trapping us here…"
He lowered his voice a little, and I realised he noticed Hana was a wreck. She was still staring at the body dumbfounded, with her hands grasping desperately for Kyoshi's.
"Hana… are you o-okay?" Keisuke asked apprehensively after kneeling down next to her.
"… I think I need a break…" She replied, obvious that she was traumatised.
Sighing, Keisuke brought her up and walked her out. Without any words, he managed to convey that he was going to be with Hana for a while.
Shortly after, I ran to the cafeteria to gather everyone in the greenhouse. It was too much for everyone to take… one of us here was the killer. That was the truth that I had to accept and dig out for myself.
Making haste for the greenhouse, Monokuma made his timely arrival once again.
"Congratulations!" He chanted.
"Look at all your faces! Really, you should see it from my perspective, claiming how you were all going to be classmates with such vigor... the amount of trust you had in each other made this hilariously despairing! Only 3 days in and we get a murder?"
"There's a time limit on the investigation, so hurry and work your asses off! Or would you rather die for one blackened to graduate? Upupupupu…"
As he ended, our ElectroIDs vibrated. Holding mine up, there was a new "Evidence Storage" tab available. The button "Monokuma File No.1" was blinking under the tab.
/Victim: Dazai Kyoshi
/Cause of Death:
/Numerous bullet holes filled his body. Died from excessive blood loss and punctured organs.
/Time of Death:
/10.01 PM
/Additional Details:
/He was killed while sleeping.
10.01 PM? Wasn't that yesterday? So no one discovered his body till today… we were the first ones to find him.
"Since I'm such a generous headmaster, I've given you your first piece of evidence. The rest is up to you to find out. It's a game of who dun it!"
And it's a game I couldn't afford to lose.
==INVESTIGATION START!==
(AN: Investigations will also be in script format to make the evidence keeping neater.)
YUKIKO: So… what do we do now?
TAMAKI: Why not we ask the sleuth, she probably has loads of experience regarding these fields of work.
KANEKO: I can try to investigate but I can't guarantee anything.
YU: Can I help?
KANEKO: Just… don't get in the way.
YUI: I can help too, I've watched a couple of mysteries… and when I mean couple I mean a lot!
TAMAKI: Dear, I don't think that's helping the conversation.
YUI: Fine, mom…
SETTAN: Mom?! Since when did you-
TAMAKI: Since never. I merely let her address me as such.
SETTAN: Okay, I see. So you're her real mother.
TAMAKI: Why did I even bother?
YU: Uhm… why not we actually stop digressing from what we're trying to do?
IWAO: As I learnt the good old way through soccer, procrastination never works! Though I admit I'm a little afraid of the blood…
MINAKO: M-me too! But I can conduct a second autopsy to affirm if the bullets were truly the cause of death!
MONOKUMA: Hey! Whaddya mean truly the cause of death? I might be mean at times but I won't lie about important things ya know?
MINAKO: I-I'm sorry!
YU: … But still, a second glance might help us see if we missed any other essential clues.
[She nodded with an awkward grin before going over to assess Kyoshi's body.]
KIN: We don't have much time, do we?
YUKIKO: Not after we already wasted so much. How about we split up into groups?
KUNIE: Wouldn't that only make it easier for us to get killed? The killer might be on the loose… who knows, it might be either Keisuke or Hana, and the other would be in danger right now.
MINAKO: Please stop
t-talking about dying! It's not funny!
MONOKUMA: Don't worry Minako, at least I can assure you that no more killings would happen.
MONOKUMA: For now.
[Our ElectroIDs vibrated once again, and under the rules tab was a new rule.]
#9: During investigation, if anyone were to kill another person, he/she would be instantly punished.
YU: By punish you mean…
MONOKUMA: Yes!
[Looked like I didn't need to ask any further. It was obvious at this point that the stakes we had on this game were high.]
KANEKO: Anyway, I'm done with my investigation. I'll be around.
YU: What?! I didn't even help…
KANEKO: I decided that I would be better off doing things my way, don't take it to heart.
[She left the room in a hurry, as if she knew where she was going next. I went over to Minako, who was still conducting her self autopsy.]
MINAKO: Give me 5 more minutes, I-I'll be done soon.
YU: Sure.
YU: Where do I start… Right. The Monokuma File.
YUKIKO: If you don't mind, I'll be glad to summarise.
YU: E-Eh?! Go ahead…
[She was obviously eavesdropping on me…]
YUKIKO: The cause of death was by a gun of some sort. There are several rounds in his body which proves this.
MINAKO: 7 rounds, to be exact.
MINAKO: No other wounds were found on him apart from the 7 entry and exit wounds from the bullets.
IWAO: That sounds painful… wait… it looks painful…
SETTAN: I-It wasn't me!
YUI: Hey... you're awfully suspicious, aren't you the only one with a gun around here?
SETTAN: Yep! The only one worthy enough to have one.
AKI: I don't think that's helping your case.
SETTAN: NooooooOOOOoooo!
AKI: Anyway, I can guarantee he wouldn't kill someone. Why not we check his revolver just to be sure?
[Settan hands over his pistol, and it was loaded with 6 rounds. All of them however, were still intact.]
SETTAN: There! See!
AKI: He has no other bullets other than the ones in the gun, so this proves he didn't fire those 7 rounds into Kyoshi. Furthermore, he only has 6 rounds, even if he did have more bullets, it wouldn't make sense for him to reload and fire off another shot.
YU: Unless he hated Kyoshi.
AKI: Unless he really hated Kyoshi.
YUKIKO: Anyway, the time of death was 10.01 PM, can you confirm that?
MINAKO: Given how dried up the blood is, I can say yes, that is correct.
YU: This means he died while everyone was sleeping… what was he doing here anyway?
KIN: Maybe he was performing to the plants. I would gladly have them as my audience anytime. Silent, yet so much more appreciative than some creatures…
TAMAKI: By any chance, are you talking about us?
KIN: No, not at all. Not at all.
AKI: What if this wasn't the scene of the crime?
KUNIE: There's no way, just look at the blood splatter behind the walls. This means that he was shot here. The dried up blood proves that as well.
YUKIKO: It says here he died while sleeping.
IWAO: Would it mean that someone killed him while he was asleep? I mean, that's tasteless…
MAKO: Unlike my home cooked food.
IWAO: You're making it hard for me to keep my drool to myself.
IWAO: Anyway, can I kinda bounce from here? The smell and all is getting to me.
AKI: It's best to stay in pairs, or even groups of three.
SETTAN: I'll accompany him then.
AKI: I'll follow too, I'm done with this area already.
[The 3 exited the greenhouse shoulder to shoulder.]
[So that was it for the Monokuma File, though on first glance it might have seemed less useful to me, it certainly helped me gather quite an understanding of how Kyoshi died.]
== Monokuma File No. 1 has been added as ammunition. (1)
YU: Is this a lock?
KUNIE: No, it's an airplane.
YU: … So I can assume that it was used to lock the shed?
MONOKUMA: Yes! I even bought this shed a new lock but some buggie went and broke it anyway… I remembered leaving the key around here somewhere…
[After a few minutes of searching, we deduced that the key was no longer here.]
MONOKUMA: All he left me was a broken lock to fix, what a bummer.
YU: If there wasn't a key in the first place, how would you or anyone else have opened the shed normally?
MONOKUMA: Maybe I did misplace it… Or did they not send it along with the lock?! I got cheated! How dreadful! Though this feeling of despair warms my heart so much! It's making my fur fuzzy!
YU: That made no sense. So the killer tried to lock the door forever on purpose knowing there wasn't a key? Was the reason to trap Kyoshi forever?
KUNIE: And someone else or the killer broke open the lock for some reason.
SHOKO: I think these might've been used to break the lock open.
[Shoko hands me a weed cutter, with obvious dents on where the sharp edges were supposed to be.]
YUKIKO: So who actually broke the lock open, and why? Was it the killer, or was it someone else?
KIN: It would be impossible for us to arrive at a conclusion at this point.
YU: Hm… it doesn't make sense for now but let me jot it down…
== Broken Lock has been added as ammunition. (2)
YUI: Hey, his ElectroID is missing!
YU: What? Did someone take it on purpose?
KUNIE: Seems that way. After all, I think it has something to do with the case.
KUNIE: Hey, did anyone here take it?
[Everyone looked blankly at her.]
KUNIE: Guess not.
KUNIE: Hey, Monokuma, did you withhold any evidence from us?
MONOKUMA: No way! A good bear always keeps his paws off dirty work like such! Nuh uh!
YU: Anyway, that ElectroID should be an important piece of evidence, we better find it before the killer disposes of it.
KUNIE: Let's hurry up and find it, I'm feeling tired again!
[As she finished her sentence she runs off to where I could only presume as what I had in mind as well.]
YU: The most logical place to dispose of it is... I think I know where it might be.
[Though it might've been already too late.]
…
Location: Cafeteria / Time: 8.56 AM
YUI: Iwao and his buddies!
KUNIE: Did you come here to search the garbage bin as well?
IWAO: Huh? It was only because I was starving after recalling how good last night's dinner was, so I came to get some snacks, and these 2 followed.
SETTAN: We were kinda hungry too.
AKI: I just didn't want to work on an empty stomach.
MAKO: I'm grateful, but don't think that's enough to get me to cook again.
[She did a quick curtsey.]
IWAO: Mako, do you always have to be so serious? It hurts me sometimes.
[He made a pained expression, only to be ignored.]
YU: Do any of you happen to have Kyoshi's ElectroID on you?
[The 3 patted themselves for a bit before replying.]
SETTAN: Nope.
AKI: Not that I know of.
IWAO: Uh… no?
YU: Sigh, I thought as well. So it must have been thrown away already.
YU: Monokuma, can we access the garbage point which this leads to?
[I pointed to the garbage collector on the wall.]
MONOKUMA: Huh?! You're asking for too much! That's my privacy and not yours for taking…
KUNIE: Pfffttt, privacy. Wasn't that something you denied us from the start?
MONOKUMA: Why you little…
MONOKUMA: I wouldn't normally accept this kind of sass from students but since it was just this one time I'll let it slide…
YU: Anyway, I think this has something to do with the case. Kyoshi's ElectroID might have been disposed of here.
MONOKUMA: Nrghh… I'm not saying anything else other than this but… it hasn't been disposed of yet. Okay, Zilch, Zip, Nada!
KIN: I guess you could say, it disappeared. A wonderful magic trick.
TAMAKI: Uh, I think it was along the lines of someone hiding it. Anyway, there isn't much time left before the trial, I think we should focus on investigating elsewhere rather than getting sidetracked.
YU: If the killer really meant to hide it it would mean we wouldn't find it that easily. Tamaki is right. Let's go investigate elsewhere.
== Missing ElectroID has been added as ammunition. (3)
[The rest stayed in the cafeteria to consume their breakfast before the trial, while me and Minako went to the Nurse's Office.]
…
Location: Nurse's Office / Time: 9.10 AM
MINAKO: Oh, oh. That's right.
MINAKO: I-I'm sorry, how could I have forgotten?
[She raised up a half full jar of pills for me to see.]
YU: Is there something wrong?
MINAKO: No. I mean y-yes! These are sleeping pills and over half of them are missing!
YU: You're right, but are you sure they were full yesterday? I can only vaguely remember checking some other containers…
MINAKO: I did check; they were missing since yesterday night, but I didn't have any time to ask around since Night Time was near and I didn't want to break any rules!
YU: What about this morning?
MINAKO: I-It completely slipped my mind, I-I'm sorry! Please don't blame me…
[She suddenly reverted to her passive behaviour, and it sort of startled me. Did she have some sort of multiple personality disorder?]
YU: I wasn't blaming you. Anyway, someone could have got hold of it anytime between yesterday afternoon and up till now...
MINAKO: My last routine was at 9.30 PM, so I think that's correct to assume…
YU: So it makes sense, they were taken during this time frame.
YU: But what could they have been used for?
== Missing Sleeping Pills has been added as ammunition. (4)
[I decided my next course of action was to investigate Kyoshi's room for his missing ElectroID. To my surprise, his door was left wide open.]
…
Location: Kyoshi's Room / Time: 9.30 AM
KANEKO: Missing ElectroID? It isn't here.
YU: How are you always one step ahead of me? And how did you get in here without his ID?
KANEKO: Talent.
YU: That's rich, coming from you to me…
KANEKO: Hmrrmhpfff.
YU: ?
KANEKO: Monokuma let me in, since I wanted to do some investigating inside.
YU: I see…
KANEKO: I asked Monokuma about the body discovery announcement earlier too.
YU: What about it?
KANEKO: He told me that it'd play after 3 people discover the body, not including the murderer.
YU: That made sense, since me, Hana and Keisuke were the first ones to discover Kyoshi dead.
KANEKO: As I thought…
[She
seemed to drift away for a while.]
KANEKO: Anyway, there's an important piece of evidence in this room. I left it there just for you.
YU: Thanks for the pity.
== Body Discovery Announcement has been added as ammunition. (5)
[She nodded and exited the room.]
[Now, where was this piece of important evidence? After looking around for a bit I saw a letter on the table.]
/Kyoshi, I have something to talk to you about. I know that you are aware of this as well, so please, meet me at the third prison cell from the left.
Don't bring anyone./
[?! Was this… a letter from the murderer? So the killer planned to kill Kyoshi from the start?]
== Letter to Kyoshi has been added as ammunition. (6)
[The third prison cell from the left… The letter brought me to my next location, where it all started for us, and fatefully where it all ended for Kyoshi once he met up with his assaliant. With heavy but quick steps, I breezed through the hallways to my destination.]
…
Location: Prison Cell #3 / Time : 9.45 AM
[Someone was already there by the time I arrived. I half expected it to be Kaneko, but it was someone else. Someone I wasn't all that friendly with, but even moreso for the rest of us… Shoko.]
SHOKO: Oh, it's you, Yu.
YU: Hey, what brings you here?
SHOKO: I saw Kaneko coming down earlier, so I assumed there was something important here as well.
[I gave him a wary look.]
SHOKO: Why, can't I do my own investigating? That's awfully biased of you.
YU: I-I didn't mean that, so don't put words into my mouth.
SHOKO: Your expression showed it all. Your distaste for me. I can't really complain much though, I deserve the treatment from everyone after the big hoo ha I made last night.
SHOKO: You can never wipe away a bad impression. Even though the opposite is so simple in comparison. Just one word will make someone appear hateful. Just doing one thing would make you seem hateful. That's why excuses are meaningless. Because even those excuses will make you look hateful...
YU: That's actually very true… anyway, we don't have much time left I think.
YU: Is there anything of importance down here that you found?
SHOKO: If there was any, Kaneko would have taken it, though I don't think she's the type to do such a thing. Nope, there's nothing much here. They probably just used this room to hold a private conversation.
YU: I see... What happened between you and Hana earlier?
SHOKO: Just a friendly conversation.
YU: I get your hint.
[I was still a little suspicious of Shoko, but after the talk, I decided it was just in his character to say so. At least that's what I hoped for.]
*Ding, dong! Ding, dong!*
"Attention you bastards, investigation time is over, so please gather in the hall by 10 AM!" The intercom system boomed. "Latecomers will be punished!"
"I guess we have to end our investigations here huh?" I grumbled for a bit. "I think I checked everything I wanted to, though there isn't much evidence to go on…"
"This is gonna be a live or die depending on how well we do…" Shoko said, while looking at his feet.
"We should hurry. I just want this all to be over and done with." I said, and started to make my way out of the cell.
"Yu."
"What…?"
"One last thing."
"Some people aren't as innocent as you think."
"What do you mean?" I asked, getting curious.
"As a person guilty of that, I can assure you of my words. So just please remember them during the trial."
I kept that in mind as we made our way hastily over to the hall. Where were we going to conduct the trial in the hall? I mean it made sense since there was so much space but how were we going to go about doing so?
"Looks like everyone has gathered for our much anticipated class trial, the climax of the century!" Monokuma screeched into the microphone. "So, how does it feel, Ultimates?"
"I feel like shit, thank you very much," Kunie said, with her eyes closed. "I can't even get some simple shut eye cause of all your crap."
Monokuma ignored her and continued.
"Gather up on stage everyone!"
"Are we going to have the trial here?" Kaneko asked.
"Just get up goddamnit!"
"If you all would get up faster, then this would all end earlier for you and me, it's a win win situation." Monokuma growled.
Keisuke and Hana were back with us, and Hana looked calmer than she was a while back. I felt relieved that Keisuke managed to talk some sense back into her.
After everyone gathered on stage, Monokuma told us to sit still, as the entire stage suddenly fell with us on it.
Yes, fell.
We were being brought deeper and deeper and eventually the moving came to a stop. Surprisingly, no one had anything to say during the short trip downwards. I think we were all feeling nervous about what was upcoming. After all, it affected our life and death. More importantly, it would determine whether Kyoshi got his justice done.
As we walked through a narrow pathway, we found ourselves in a modern courtroom, except that instead of the prosecution and defense's tables were 16 podium like tables for us to stand behind. They were arranged in a circle, and all of us took the stands according to our names. On one of them however, was a black and white portrait of Kyoshi and an 'X' on his face.
Was I going to be the next one there?
I shivered just thinking about it.
"So, it's time to begin the class trial!"
"Whether you all live by finding out the truth, or die by straying away from it, it's all up to you! Remember, Kyoshi is watching from the heavens…"
So, it has begun…
The class trial determining whether we would live, or die. More importantly, finding the truth behind the murder.
He died while sleeping, meaning he probably had many regrets. Such a death… can't be tolerated.
Kyoshi, this is for you.
(AN: Hope that didn't turn out too bad, actually put quite a bit of planning in this one. There might be a lot of uncertanties on some objects but that's what the class trial would be for.
Read on!)