A/N: Okay time for the mystery to begin. Hopefully it's as good as I think it is but only time will tell. Now since this chapter incorporates the entire investigation it is extremely long so I broke it up into three chapters, but I recommend that you read each and every detail thoroughly so you can have a pretty good idea as to what clues will be used in the class trial which starts as Prologue, Part 9. But to make things clearer, each time a clue is gathered I'll spell it out in capital letters like I've done so far for the subchapters and character introductions. As always the investigations will be basically finding things that seem out of place and no real conclusions will be drawn on the clues until the class trial begins. As you all should know it's almost impossible to figure out whodunit before the class trial begins. Anyway I hope you guys find the investigation interesting, and please send me back comments on areas you think I can improve in, if any, as it's my first time writing mysteries.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.


Prologue, Part 6: Revisiting the crime scene


DAYTIME, 10:00 AM

1:00:00 REMAINING

For a few moments we stood in complete silence, unsure of what exactly to do next. Until Azami spoke up and broke the silence. "Are we…really going through with this hebi?" she asked with a scared expression on her face.

"We don't have a choice," Micho replied. "We have to find out who killed Hinata-kun or else…we're finished. There's not a doubt in my mind that…that monster wouldn't kill us. You saw the way he acted. No remorse at all."

"What was he anyway? I'm sure that he wasn't a real bear," said Shiro.

"No shit Sherlock? Figure that one out on your own?" Yasuke asked. "I agree with what Junmaru said earlier, the way he moved and reacted when I was trying to hit him, he couldn't be anything else but a robot."

"I knew it!" Jonathan exclaimed in satisfaction. "And you idiots all thought I was wrong."

"But didn't he say that he wasn't a robot?" Nagito asked. "Are you saying he lied to us?"

"Duh, of course he did you ugly dog boy," Nodaka replied. "You didn't honestly believe a word he said did you?"

"Wait are you saying that maybe he lied about that Hajime dude biting it too?" Nate asked.

"Nope, that was the truth. I've already seen him, someone indeed killed Hajime Hinata. Maita-kun saw him too," Izuru said as he smirked at me.

"…" They all looked at me with questioning eyes, begging for some longing feeling that all of this wasn't really reality. But they couldn't escape it and neither could I, this was cold, hard reality. "It's true…Hinata-kun was in my class back at the Reserve Department before he got transferred here to the main school. We weren't really friends but I was happy for him that he got accepted to go, and a tad bit jealous too," I said with a sad smile spread across my face. And then I frowned. "And today I walked around the school for a little while and that's when I came across a dead body on the fifth floor. I freaked out at first but after a while I calmed down and took at a closer look at it, and I recognized his face. It was Hinata-kun, all bloody and lifeless."

"And then I came along and that's how we crossed paths," Izuru explained.

"So it is true," said Sawa. "He died…no, he and several others died while Monokuma just sat back and watched."

"Him and the person or people controlling him," Yasuke added.

"Ms. Taeko Yasuhiro," Keiko said her rival's name in a sad tone.

"And Mikan-chan and my other classmates," Nagito added.

"And all my friends…" Chihiro continued to cry. "They're all gone?" she asked with a sniffle.

I noticed that even Mukuro appeared to be distraught. She and Chihiro were classmates after all, so Chihiro's friends were also Mukuro's friends. And then I thought I heard her whisper a name. "Makoto…" she repeated over and over again.

'Makoto? Makoto Naegi?' I wondered if that's who she meant.

"You all know what we have to do, right? Our objective is to survive and the only way we can do that is if we solve this mystery. We can grieve all we want but it's not going to change a thing, they're dead and we're not, we have to think about us and our survival right now. We only have an hour to figure out as much as we can, and we have the entire school to cover so we have our work cut out for us," Izuru explained. "It would probably be beneficial if each one of you took a look at the crime scene on the fifth floor, take the Monokuma File with you so you can study up and then it would be best to check everywhere we can for clues just like Monokuma said," said Izuru.

"Excuse me? But who put you in charge tall, dark, and creepy?" Nodaka asked.

"Humor aside, I'm not trying to be in charge and tell you what to do, I'm only telling you what would be beneficial to you. I for one plan to survive so I'm going to use all the time I have to find answers. It's just a suggestion for you to do the same, feel free not to follow it. But it would be greatly appreciated if you participated, I don't want have to carry all of you through the class trial. Now since I already got a good look at the crime scene I'm going to get started on looking for clues. Adios," and without another word Izuru left the gymnasium with his Monokuma File and e-handbook in tote.

"He's right you know, we have to take this seriously. It's our lives that are on the line now. But before I get started I think I'm going to head to the infirmary and patch myself up and clean up all this blood on me," said Yasuke.

"Thank God, as previously stated you look disgusting," Jonathan complained.

"Yeah, yeah, after I'm done I'll head over to the crime scene. Anybody needs me you know where to find me, just do me a favor and don't need me too much." Yasuke looked at me. "That goes for you the most, wimpy, don't make me have to smack some sense into you again."

I gulped again and then nodded. "Yeah, got it."

Yasuke nodded and then he left as well. And then slowly, one by one the crowd in the gymnasium started to get smaller and smaller until the only two people left were, believe it or not, Nodaka and I. She appeared to be staring at the floor and she wore a large frown on her face. I thought that maybe I should say something to her so I sighed and took a deep breath and then said, "Hoshi-san?"

She slowly looked up at me. "What?"

"The others are going to check things out, don't you think maybe we should get going as well?" I asked.

She looked away from me and then she sighed as well. "How did it feel?" she suddenly asked.

"Eh?" I muttered in reply.

"When you saw Hajime Hinata's corpse, how did it make you feel?"

I didn't understand why she wanted to know something like that at first, but after thinking it over I assumed she just wanted to mentally prepare herself for the scene that lied ahead. So I sighed again and then began to answer her question. "The smell was what hit me at first. It was a horrible smell, and then slowly I began to perceive the scene around me. I didn't even think he was dead at first, he was so quiet and still that I just thought he might have been sleeping, sleeping in blood. And then when I finally realized he was dead I freaked out…and I kind of hurled," I said in embarrassment. Much to my delight, she giggled at that comment and a smile slowly began to form on her face. "But after that I…I don't know, I just sort of stopped feeling horrified and started feeling sad…it was like a hole had suddenly appeared in my chest. It felt like a piece of me had just been taken away, a tiny piece but an important piece none the less. And then when I realized who it was it just made me feel even sadder. You're going to think this is stupid but, one of the reasons why I wanted to come here was because I wanted to become friends with Hinata-kun for real. I didn't know him that well back when we were classmates and I wanted to make up for that, but it made me sad just knowing that I wouldn't be able to have that opportunity anymore."

"But here you are willing to talk to someone about all of it," Nodaka snickered. "A sign of weakness. If I were in your shoes I probably wouldn't be willing to talk to anyone, I'd keep all my emotions inside and cork them up real tight in the bottle to make sure they didn't leak out. You're the exact opposite of me cockroach boy, you wear your heart and emotions on your sleeves. No grace or elegance at all." Her words seemed condescending but the way she said them with a soft and gentle tone and a small smile made it seem almost like a compliment. It was like she really meant the exact opposite of what she was saying.

"Thanks…I guess?" I replied.

She snickered again. "You know what, my mistress would want me to remain strong. I owe it to her to let her hear the bad news coming from me. She deserves that much, so you better pull your weight cockroach boy because I want to get out of here more than you or anyone else." Then she shot me a glare, "You better not let me catch you slaking off, got it?"

'As intimidating as ever,' I thought as I nodded in reply.

Then she smiled and said, "Good, now I'm going to inspect the crime scene. If someone like you can handle it then I should have no problem. Tata," Nodaka said as she ran ahead, leaving me alone in the gymnasium.

"She's right," I said to myself. "Everyone's planning to do their best so I have to do my best too. I'm getting out of here, no matter what!" My mind made up, I was ready to act. I knew there was no turning back from the moment I first stepped foot into the gymnasium but now things were even more hectic, not just my life but the others' lives were also on the line. After speaking with them, and getting to know them even for just a little while I couldn't just let them end up like Hajime and the other students. We were getting out of here alive, all of us. I was going to make sure of that. But the first thing we had to do was solve the mystery and find out who killed Hajime, if we didn't do that then we were finished. "I can't back down, not now. I've got to get justice for Hinata-kun and the other students who were killed by Monokuma, I owe it to them to at least reveal to the world what happened to them." They were killed by Hope's Peak Academy as a sick joke. It had to end, I wasn't going to let Monokuma have his way. I was going to leave with the others, all of them, by my side. That was a promise.


INVESTIGATION MODE


"Alright, first let's see what these things are all about," I said as I looked down at Monokuma's "presents" in my hands. First I examined the e-handbook and then pressed a button on the side of the device, then all of a sudden the e-handbook glowed and released a whimsical ringtone like it was a cellphone. And then big letters flashed onto the screen that read:

HOPE'S PEAK ACADEMY

And then a new screen, which had my picture on it as well as my name and personal information, appeared. "Heh, I guess this is so we can identify who each handbook belongs to," I said. Then I noticed there were several tabs on the side of the screen that appeared to be the pages for other functions of the e-handbook, but most of them appeared to be locked at the moment, all except for two. A Timer function which displayed the current time of day and the remaining time we had to investigate. And then there was an Ammunition function which had a set of instructions for it. Apparently each time I found a clue the Ammunition function would automatically kick in and record the details of the clue for use in the class trial. It seemed very handy but I wasn't really sure on the technical aspects of it. Just how did it know what pertained to the case and what didn't?

I figured it was best not to dwell on the subject too much and instead I looked to my other "present", the Monokuma File, which apparently would tell me everything I would need to know about Hajime's death. I opened the file and read through the contents slowly. Inside there was a diagram of the human body and detailed information about the murder. This is what it read:

Victim's name: Hajime Hinata

Time of death: A little before 2:00 AM

Cause of death: Exsanguination due to multiple stab wounds in the abdomen.

Possible identification of murder weapon: Stab wounds appeared to be caused by a sharp object approximately 15 centimeters in length and 3 centimeters in diameter. Also according to the wound patterns on the victim's abdomen it appears the murder weapon had a serrated edge. The murder weapon is most likely some kind of knife or dagger.

Further notes: Though the stabs wounds to the abdomen appear to be the cause of death it should be noted that the victim also has several old wounds scattered along his arms and legs. As well as one fresh wound on his forehead that appears to have been inflicted antemortem, this was most likely caused during a struggle with the killer which resulted in the victim being subdued by the blow. Also there appear to be several scuff marks on the victim's shirt and pants.

As I looked up from the Monokuma File I frowned. It felt odd hearing Hajime's death being wrapped up in only a few short, scientific-sounding paragraphs. In no way did it match the true horror of the crime scene that I saw. I sighed and said, "Monokuma is truly awful." For some reason I couldn't find it in my heart to blame Hajime's killer, they were just a puppet being used by Monokuma. Who knows what kind of horror they had to endure? In the end, they just weren't strong enough. "But still, it's them or us. Whoever you are, I'm sorry but we have to win. It's our only hope." Then I sighed and closed the Monokuma File. And then I heard the whimsical ringtone of e-handbook and saw that a message had appeared on the screen.

NEW AMMUNITION ACQUIRED: MONOKUMA FILE #0

"Alright, now as much as I hate to admit it, I should probably check the crime scene one more time and check out the things that the Monokuma File mentioned. It also said in the Monokuma File that the murder weapon could be a knife or dagger. Huh? Wait a second. Didn't he…?" My mind raced back to the events that had happened earlier today.

Flashback: "The one who what? Come on now if you're going to talk to me you've got to at least use full sentences. That's just common curtesy, right?" Then he looked past me and stared at Hajime's dead body. "Oh, you mean the one who killed the corpse? No that wasn't me." Then he smirked again and reached into his suits' pants' pocket and pulled something out that made my eyes go even wider. It was a huge jagged-edged knife. "Or was it?" I could see that the blade was bright pink as well. It was definitely used on Hajime. I didn't see any other dead bodies when I was looking around the school after all.

"Izuru!" I exclaimed. "The knife that he had on him earlier has to be the murder weapon!" So I made a mental note that I had to find Izuru and ask him about the knife. "Alright, and then after that I should probably check out each and every area in the school. And Monokuma said we should check out the dorms too, I think I saw the entrance to the dorms back at the end of the first floor hallway. It's kind of weird that they're in the same building though. And I should also find and talk to the others too and see if they found out anything useful. Ugh, man that's a lot to cover in less than an hour. I've got no time to lose!" I exclaimed and then ran out of the gymnasium and headed to the first floor staircase. It was time to go and see Hajime again.

DAYTIME, 10:07 AM

0:53:00 REMAINING

Upon entering the fifth floor classroom, classroom 5-C, again I was forced to inhale that horrible odor yet again. The smell of blood and death. I took a deep breath and then slowly walked into the room, where I saw Hajime's dead body still lying on the floor as well as Nagito, Micho, Soshun, and Nodaka who were already examining the crime scene. Nagito was the first person to notice that I had arrived. "Akira-kun, I'm glad you're here," he waved me over, "I need someone to help me out with a little experiment." Upon hearing his words I noticed that the other three cringed a little. And right then I knew that this "experiment" was something that I probably wouldn't like that much.

"Um, sure I guess?" I replied uneasily. "What is it you need me to do exactly, Komaeda-kun?"

He smiled and then pointed down at one of the body outlines on the floor. "Could you do me a favor and lay right here for me?"

My eyes widened in shock. "Um…why do I need to do that exactly?"

"Because I want to determine the gender of the other bodies that were found here. I figured if we knew all the genders of the other students who died here we might be able to narrow down the list of suspects for Hajime-kun's killer. So I thought the best way to do that would be by comparing body types. I asked the others to help me but they all declined, weak stomachs I guess."

"Are you sure that's going to help us?" I asked with unease. I didn't really want to do it either.

"It couldn't hurt right? But if you want I guess I could lie down and you could compare. I would've been happy to be the tester myself, I just needed assistance," he said to the others.

"I guess…that might help a little. Okay, lie down and I'll check how you compare." Nagito nodded and then crouched down and lied on the floor in the same way the body was found in. Then I walked over towards him and judged how his body fit into the tape line, and I noticed that he was slightly taller than the person who was found there, and his arms and legs were longer as well as his hair. "No, you don't match up. The person who was here was shorter than you."

"Really?" Nagito asked as he sat up. I offered him my hand to help him back up onto his feet and he took it graciously. He dusted off his pants and then stared at the body outline. "So it might be a female?"

"Or just a shorter guy," I said discrediting his claim. "Look it was a nice idea, but I don't think it's going to help much," I said as I looked around at all the other body outlines in the room. "We don't have any of the suspects' body measurements so there's no way we can properly compare, especially not with all of these outlines. According to Monokuma there's twenty-six suspects in all."

"See I told you, you moronic dog boy, it's a stupid waste of time," said Nodaka.

"Hey don't get so mad at him, he's just trying to help," Micho replied.

"No she's right, I don't know what I was thinking. Knowing who the eight people who died in here exactly were isn't going to help at all," said Nagito.

"Wait, eight people?" Soshun repeated. "I thought twenty-six people died, and the last two were Hajime Hinata and his killer."

"Yeah, that's what Monokuma said," I added.

"No, remember what he said exactly. He kept all twenty-eight students locked up in here for a whole week until eight of them died. Then after that he just said that eighteen of them committed suicide, I don't think he ever technically said it was in this room. And look at the body outlines…" Nagito said. I looked around the room and counted them, there were only a total of eight. "There's only eight. What if the students who committed suicide didn't do it in this room? What if they did it somewhere else in the school?"

"That would explain why Monokuma told us to check the whole school. We must have just gotten confused because both the eight students and Hinata-kun were killed in this room," Micho replied. "Perhaps, we've confused what we thought was a chain of events with what's really three different events. The first event in this room, the second event somewhere else, and the last event in this room again."

"Hmm, if that is the case then we really should check everywhere in the academy and not just focus on this one room. If we find the location where the other students committed suicide then we might be able to eliminate a few of the suspects," Soshun explained.

"Wow, dog boy really did figure out something worthwhile," Nodaka said in surprise.

"Well what do you know? I guess even worthless trash like me has its days," Nagito replied with a large smile.

'Huh, that really is a major breakthrough. It might be good to make a note of that for later,' I thought.

NEW AMMUNITION ACQUIRED: BODY OUTLINES

"But I wonder, did Mikan-chan die here? Or did she commit suicide somewhere else? Or maybe she's…?" Nagito trailed off as he gained a sad look on his face.

"Since we know what we should be looking for now, someone should go and tell the others," said Micho.

Nagito's smile returned and he nodded in agreement. "I'll go tell the others, you guys keep investigating the crime scene in case you find something else." And then he left the classroom and ran off with a new sense of determination.

'I hope we can find out what happened to his friend and the others,' I thought to myself. I pushed away my other thoughts and decided to get back to investigating the classroom. As I looked around I noticed details of the room that I didn't take note of when I was there before. The overhead lights were flickering continuously and several desks were pushed and thrown up against the walls, some had old blood stains on them and others were broken. There was also several slash marks on the walls as well as the chalkboard, and there was also a few messages written on the chalkboard, some were written in multicolored chalk, some in scratches, and a few even in blood. One bloody message read:

Abandon all hope ye who enter here

"That doesn't bode well," Soshun said as he caught me looking at the message. I looked at him with a questioning look. "It's from Dante's Inferno," he explained, "An epic poem about a hero named Dante who travels to hell and experiences the nine circles of hell. That inscription was written at the entrance of hell as a warning for Dante, I guess it's meant here as a warning to us."

"Huh, you're really smart Murasame-kun," I said.

He shook his head, "Not really, I just read a lot. I thought reading Inferno would be a great way to learn Italian and Latin to pass the time."

"Wait, you read that book in Italian and Latin?"

"Yeah," he said with shrugged shoulders, "What's the point of reading a great work like that if you don't read it in the way it was meant to be read in? It was no big deal, it only took me about a month to learn the languages fully."

"You learned two languages in only a month?" I asked in shock.

"Yeah, I would've finished sooner but my teachers wouldn't let me read in class so I ditched my homework and study time so I could read then."

'He's an unorthodox genius. I think I'm starting to get why he was picked to come to Hope's Peak academy, still not sure about his talent though,' I thought as I smiled at him and sweatdropped. Then I looked back at the chalkboard and read off some of the other messages on the board. One message was neat and well-written and appeared to be a list of some sort. This is what it read:

Here lies the final resting place of eight beloved students and friends who gave their lives to save us. They will forever be in our hearts.

R.I.P

Hi (blank last part of first name)

(blank first part of last name) a (blank last part of last name)

K (blank last part of first name)

(blank last name)

(blank first part of first name) n (blank last part of last name)

(blank first part of last name) a (blank last part of last name)

(blank first name)

K (blank last part of last name)

A (blank last part of first name)

(blank last name)

M (blank last part of first name)

(blank last name)

(blank first part of first name) i (blank last part of first name)

N (blank last part of last name)

(blank first part of first name) e (blank last part of first name)

(blank last name)

There were erasing marks all over the list, apparently something was written here that someone didn't want to be seen. "R.I.P. Rest in peace! It's a memoriam stupid, don'tcha know anything?" That voice. We all turned to see that Monokuma had suddenly appeared. He ran up to the chalkboard and grabbed a pointer stick so he could point at chalkboard and draw all our attention to the list.

"What are you doing here?!" Micho exclaimed.

"Get lost, we don't want to talk to you anymore!" Nodaka shouted.

"I'd take her hint and get out of here if I were you," Soshun added.

"What are you talking about, what memoriam?" I asked out of curiosity. I didn't really want to talk to him either but I was curious about this list.

"Ooh, one out of four ain't bad. I was just here to give you a little hint and since one of you seems to be interested I'll go ahead and deliver," said Monokuma. He pointed to the list. "This here is a list of the eight students who died in this room, as you can see someone took an eraser to it and only left certain letters in the names. I wonder who did that?" he asked rhetorically as he chuckled.

"You did it, didn't you?" I asked as I glared at him.

"Maybe," he replied in a mocking tone, "Or maybe it was one of the twenty students who escaped and fled into the academy."

"So we were right? The eighteen students who committed suicide didn't kill themselves in this room?" Micho asked, now also curious.

"Nope, they died somewhere else. After all was said and done, they couldn't bear to come into this room any longer. They left that message behind and then left. But their freedom and gratefulness to be alive was short lived as they soon learned there was no getting out of the academy either. The eight students who died in here were the lucky ones, the others were forced to slowly go insane in the academy until their guilt broke them and one by one, they slit their wrists, hung themselves, overdosed, committed hara-kiri, you know the usual suicide business. Meanwhile, I just kicked back with a nice cold drink and watched the events unfold. And I laughed and laughed and laughed at all their misery and despair. Now we're at round two kiddies, are you all going to choke under the pressure the same way?" Monokuma asked with a mischievous chuckle.

"You…you monster, damn you! Damn you to hell!" I exclaimed and then rushed at him. But before I could hit him my arms were pulled back by Soshun and Nodaka. "Let me go, let me go dammit!" I shouted.

"Stop it, you damn idiot!" Nodaka shouted. "He's just trying to get a rise out of you!"

"It's not worth it! You saw what he did to Yasuke, he'll wipe the floor with you!" Soshun exclaimed.

I took a few deep breaths and calmed down and then stopped struggling, allowing Nodaka and Soshun to let me go. "Yikes, Akira-kun is scary. I've got to get out of here now before he goes nuts, see yah suckers!" Monokuma exclaimed and then he left the room laughing.

I frowned and looked back at the memoriam on the chalk board. "We will avenge you. I swear it." The others surrounded me and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, we'll make sure that Monokuma gets what's coming to him," said Soshun.

"Just don't fly off the handle again cockroach boy, next time I might not be around to save your ass," Nodaka said snidely.

"We've got to keep cool heads, remember messing with us is part of his game," Micho added.

"You guys are right, I'm sorry and thanks for having my back," I replied.

"Don't sweat it," Soshun said with a smile.

"Next time it will cost you, I don't have a contract with you after all," said Nodaka.

"Let's get back to investigating, I know we can win if we work together," said Micho.

NEW AMMUNITION ACQUIRED: MEMORIAM LIST

I looked around the room and then I saw something in a nearby corner that caught my eye. It was very small but it was shiny so I was able to make it out even in the dimly lit room. I crouched down onto the floor and then picked it up. I examined it carefully as I held it in my hand. It appeared to be some odd type of clip-on earring. The clip and handle of the earring appeared to be sterling silver and the base of it was a small green orb that had a black, dog-shaped paw print on it. Micho noticed that I was looking at something and looked over my shoulder. "Found something?" she asked.

"It's a weird earring, but it seems familiar. I think I've seen it recently," I replied.

"It should look familiar, don't you remember? That's "his" earring. The Ultimate Animal Breeder, Gundham Tanaka, remember?" Soshun asked.

"Gundham Tanaka? Wasn't he one of the suspects?" Nodaka asked.

"Yeah that's where we saw the earring from. He was wearing it on his right ear in his picture on Monokuma's game show board," Soshun replied.

I thought back to the game show board of suspects that Monokuma had shown us earlier. 'Gundham Tanaka? Oh yeah, I do remember!' I turned the earring over in my hand and examined it. "Yeah, this was Tanaka-kun's earring," I said in agreement. "I knew I had seen it somewhere before, it makes sense that it would have a paw print on it since he was the Ultimate Animal Breeder."

"But that's really weird, why would something like that be in a place like this?" Nodaka asked.

"Maybe it's because Gundham was one of the eight original victims. And after he died it was left behind," Soshun replied.

"Then that means it's probably worthless, we should probably just forget about it and keep looking," Micho said as she went back to her search for clues.

I continued to stare at the earring and then I decided to take it. 'I know it's probably wrong to keep it, but who knows it might be an important clue? And I think someone should hold onto it for Gundham's sake,' I thought to myself. Then I pocketed the earring and went back to my search for clues.

NEW AMMUNITION ACQUIRED: GUNDHAM'S HELL HOUND EARRING

As I got up onto my feet again I noticed Nodaka looking at the iron plates on the windows. She appeared to be in the process of testing their durability and seeing if they would come off. She grabbed one of the plates by the top corners and then pulled back at the plate with all of her might, even going so far as to press her foot against the wall for leverage. She huffed and puffed but no matter how hard she pulled it appeared she could not pry the iron plate off the window. It was screwed on too tight for even the mighty Nodaka's broad force. I harmlessly snickered at the sight, which was a big mistake. She stopped pulling at the iron plate and shot an icy glare at me. "What's so Goddamn funny cockroach boy?"

I immediately gulped and replied, "Nothing, say are you trying to pry off the iron plates?" I asked trying to change the subject.

"Trying and failing, the sons of bitches are screwed on tight. It looks like we're really stuck in here until we solve this mystery. But I haven't had any luck on that end so far, how's your investigation going? Probably haven't found out squat, right?" Nodaka asked with a snicker.

"I wouldn't say that," I replied with an added sweatdrop. "And I'm sure if you keep looking you'll find something worthwhile."

"I hope so, even dog boy's got the one up on me now. I can't have that imbecile be above me." She looked back at the plates and then she narrowed her eyes on the one in front of her. "Huh, that's funny. I didn't even notice that."

"What is it?" I asked out of curiosity.

She pointed to the top left bolt on the iron plate. "There's blood on the bolt, see?"

I looked closer and then I saw it. There was a tiny blood smear on the bolt's upper edge, like someone had tried to wipe it away. "Yeah, I do see it. And it's bright pink too, which means it couldn't have happened too long ago."

"All the blood in here besides that kid Hinata's is old and dark red. Do you think it's related to his murder?" Then she clicked her tongue. "Wait, what am I asking you for? There's no way a dimwit like cockroach boy has all the answers. I'll investigate this myself, your services are no longer needed. Buh-bye," she waved me off like it was nothing.

"Um, okay hope your investigation goes well," I replied with a sort of melancholic tone.

"Likewise," she said with a smile. I couldn't figure her out, she was just too dynamic a character.

NEW AMMUNITION ACQUIRED: BOLT BLOOD SMEAR

Then I sighed and looked at Hajime's body. I couldn't put it off any longer, there was nothing left to look at in the room. I had to get a closer look at the body and check out the areas specified in the Monokuma File. Wordlessly, I crouched down and tried my best to remain calm as I stared at Hajime's eyes. I slowly extended two fingers and pulled down his eyelids over his eyes as a sign of respect. "Rest in peace, Hinata-kun. I swear, we'll find out who did this to you," I whispered. Then I took another deep breath and got to work. 'Okay the Monokuma File said that the cause of death was the blood loss from multiple stab wounds to the abdomen,' I thought as I observed that Hajime's abdomen had several bloody stab wounds on it. 'That seems about right. And there's also several scars on his arms just like it's mentioned in the Monokuma File.' I hesitated before I rolled up his pants' leg cuffs to observe the scars there. 'Same on the legs too just like in the Monokuma File.' And then I saw the scuffs mentioned in the file on Hajime's shirt and pants, they appeared to be caused by dirt and almost looked like stamp prints. 'Could that mean someone stepped on him?'

NEW AMMUNITION ACQUIRED: POSSIBLE STAMP PRINTS

Then I looked up at Hajime's forehead and saw that he had a nasty gash going across it. 'The Monokuma File mentioned that Hajime received a blow to the head which was most likely caused during a struggle. That blow looks like it could have knocked him out. Is that how the killer got him on the floor, or maybe…' I didn't know what to think. I figured I should just record it and discuss it later during the class trial. Maybe someone else would be able to make something of it.

NEW AMMUNITION ACQUIRED: HAJIME'S BODY

"Huh? What's that? There's something bulging under his shirt?" I said to myself.

"You noticed it too, huh?" I looked up and saw that Micho had appeared on the opposite side of Hajime's body. "I figured whatever he was hiding might be an important clue but um…" she trailed off. I got it, she was too afraid to reach in and see what it was.

"I'll do it, don't worry about it." I took a deep breath and then reached up under Hajime's shirt, his bare skin felt ice cold to the touch but I powered through it and reached for the bulging object. "Almost there, got it." Then I fished out the mysterious object, which was revealed to be a scrap of paper.

"Weird. Why do you think he had that on him?" Micho asked. "What's it say?"

I carefully unfolded it and then read the contents. It said three words.

I'm sorry Hajime.

"I'm sorry Hajime," I read aloud. "That's all."

"Hmm, do you think it could have been left by the killer?" Micho asked.

"That seems really likely, I doubt Hajime would write a note addressed to himself," I replied.

"Then we should probably keep it, it might help us later on."

"Alright, but you take it," I handed the note to Micho. "It's probably safer in your hands. I might accidentally tear it or something."

Micho looked at me with sad eyes. "Are you sure? He was your friend, right?"

"Yeah, that's actually the main reason I don't want to keep it," I replied as I frowned.

Micho sighed. "Okay, I'll hang onto it…for now." Micho took the note from my hand and then stuffed it up her sweater sleeve. "But let me know if you change your mind."

I smiled at her a little. "Thanks, Auruka-san."

She smiled at me. "Don't mention it."

NEW AMMUNITION ACQUIRED: KILLER'S APOLOGY NOTE

"Alright, I think that's it for this area. Where to next?" I asked myself.


A/N: Okay, hope this gets you guys interested. I promise I'll have the two reaming parts updated as a double post, most likely by the end of the week. Look forward to it.