II - Overture of Heaven and Hell: Class Trial Part 3

"Himiko, did you do it?" Kaede balls her fists and speaks to the floor, dread and guilt pooling in her gut.

"WHAT?!" Tenko's hands fly to her chest. "Kaede—" she breathes, "What are you saying?"

"What!? It was Himiko!?" Tsumugi's glasses slide down her nose as the cosplayer leans over her podium in shock. Even Ryoma and Maki appear to be somewhat surprised, an expression Kaede wasn't used to seeing on the normally-stoic students, particularly the latter.

"Of course it wasn't!" Tenko claps back at the seamstress, then turning to the suspect in question. "Right, Himiko?"

"..."

"So it was Donkey-Lips the whole fuckin' time!?"

"D-don't call her that!"

"Heeeeeeee!"

"T-that can't be right, surely." Kiibo says, looking doubtful. "Himiko... killing Gonta?"

"Of course she didn't kill him!" Tenko runs a panicked hand through her hair. "Himiko, say something!"

"..." Himiko doesn't say anything

"It does seem rather... out of character." Kiyo comments, with a palm on his cheek. "Unless the Himiko Yumeno we've come to know has merely been a façade this whole time, perhaps...?"

Tenko merely glares at the anthropologist, biting back the words threatening to escape from her.

"Well, it was just poisoning." Ryoma counters with a blank face. "Anyone could have done it. Doesn't need to have been someone strong."

"Well, yes, but..." Kiibo hesitates, "It still seems a little... strange?"

"Of course it's strange!" Tenko snaps back at him. "Himiko would never kill someone!"

"Hmm? What's strange about it?" Kokichi asks, hands locking behind his head, "She was also in all the right places at all the right times, wasn't she?"

"What?"

"Think about it— She was in Miu's lab the night of the 'Insect Meet n' Greet', the kitchen when Gonta drank the tea—"

"That's—!" Tenko's red in the face and clenching her podium with both hands. "Th-that's just a coincidence!"

"Would she have even had the opportunity to poison it, though?" Maki asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Well..." Kokichi looks off to the girl on his right, still not responding to anything anyone was saying, before looking back at the caretaker and smirking. "She had the perfect opportunity, actually."

"Which was?" Asks Kirumi.

Kaede rewinds her brain back to the exchange she'd had with the magician in the dining hall earlier that day during the investigation. "You're... talking about when Himiko and Tenko did the washing up, aren't you, Kokichi?" Kaede says.

"Right." Ryoma stares intently at the spot on the ground as he squeezes a cigarette in his fist, knuckles whitening. "So, Yumeno dropped the poison into the tea while her and Chabashira were cleaning up for Tojo, then Kiibo gave the tea to Gokuhara and..." he trails off as the candy snaps in two, both parts landing on the floor with a very soft 'click'.

"May I ask whose idea it was to wash up?" Kirumi inquires, smoothing out the apron that had become caught in one of the spindles of her stand. "Cleaning duties are normally left to me, so I did find it rather odd to find that you two did it in my stead."

"It was Tenko's idea.." The martial artist confesses, nervously watching the magician from over Kokichi's head.

"Oh, so... it was Tenko then...?" Tsumugi wonders aloud, more to herself than anyone else.

"No, I don't think so." Kaede immediately replies, a little too quickly. "She didn't have a motive to kill Gonta."

"Of course she fuckin' did!" Miu crows with a flick of her hair. "He had a dick, didn't he? And Miss Andry fuckin' hates those things, so she obviously just—"

"Tenko would never go as far as to kill one with my bare hands!"

"Heyyyy, Himiko, you shouldn't be so quiet when everyone's accusing you, y'know?"

Kaede's head whips over Himiko's as Kokichi leans over his stand, trying to look under the redhead's hat. She frowns at the supreme leader. "Kokichi, scolding her isn't going to do -"

"Well, if she doesn't speak up, who knows what's going to happen?" Kokichi claps back at the pianist. "If we vote for her and she didn't do it, then what happens to us, Kaede?"

"Well, that's..." Kaede feels herself flinch at the lack of teasing in his voice that she'd grown so accustomed to.

"We all get executed." Maki punctuates with a grimace.

"Angie also wants to believe that Himiko didn't kill Gonta, buuut..." The artist presses her palms together, "Atua says that Angie should put all friendships aside and approach the situation logically." She stares at the mage with wide, apathetic blue eyes. "And Himiko had Gonta's motive video, so she probably knows more stuff about Gonta that no one else knows." Kaede feels her brow furrow at the unusual burst of realism from the artist who prefers to spend her days in her own world, but barely has time to register anything as the courtroom lights up once more with the sound of debating.

"I think it would be wise to tell us what you saw on Gonta's motive video, Himiko." Kiyo offers with an adjustment of his cap. "We may then be able to decide, based on the contents of the video, whether or not it was a motive worth killing for."

"I'd really hope none of the motives are worth killing for..." Tsumugi mutters.

"Guys." Kaede hastily shushes the group, and directs her attention to the girl beside her. "Himiko, I'm going to ask you again, and no matter what your answer is, we will all listen to your reasoning." She adjusts her hat. "So, just work with us, alright? No one's mad at you." She swallows a growing lump in her throat as the eyes on her permeate her form. "Himiko, did you, or did you not kill Gonta Gokuhara?"

There's a pregnant pause that lasts far too long.

"Nyeh... no."

Tenko's face visibly brightens up. "Himiko...!"

And Kokichi's darkens. "Then prove it."

Himiko blinks at him. "Nyeh?"

"Tell us what you saw on Gonta's motive video." His eyes narrow into violet crescents. "And don't lie, because I've spent enough time around you to be able to tell when you're lying to me."

Maki frowns at him. "What's that supposed to—"

"Of course she wouldn't lie!" Kaito yells from across the room. "It's Himiko, for god's sake, she's not like you!"

Kokichi merely shrugs him off with a smirk.

"If you two degenerates are done," Tenko interjects, turning back to the magician with a softer expression. "Himiko, continue?"

"As much as you can recall from it, Yumeno." Ryoma says. "Doesn't matter how absurd it was, just say it as you saw it."

The magician pouts, adjusts her hat for the nth time, and steels her nerve.

➣ Present Your Argument

Angie starts the debate off with a wave of her hand. "Okaaay, Himiko, what did you see that made you wanna kill Gonta?"

"Nothing, cuz I didn't kill him." Himiko grumbles. "That's way too much work for me."

"Let's not get off topic," Kiibo interrupts, "Himiko, can you recall the details of Gonta's motive video for us, if you please?"

"..." Himiko fiddles with her hands as she begins to recite the video's contents for the second time that day.

"Mmm, Well, it started with Monokuma's voice saying something about being back by popular demand—"

"Of course it did!" The bear himself chips in. "No motive video is a real motive video without Monokuma in it!"

"Quiet, you!" Tenko barks at the bear.

"Just get to the bit with Gonta in it, Himiko." Kaito says, running a hand through his hair.

"Okay... it said that he was raised in the forest by some reptiley-dinosaur-people-guys after he got lost, but they were hidden from the public eye cuz no one knew about them..." she pauses for a breath before continuing on.

"I think it started talking about his real family and forest family not getting along... or something, and then it flashed to a picture of a forest that had been burnt down and—" Himiko points at Monokuma.

"He said to kill someone and not get caught if he wanted to find out what happened to them, and to find out if they were still alive."

"Tenko can confirm this!" The Aikido master announces with a confident.

"Me too!" Tsumugi adds, resting one hand on her hip.

Maki hums. "I still don't see how that could motivate Himiko — or anyone, really, to have wanted to kill him."

Kokichi smirks at the caretaker. "Really? Some people don't need a motive to murder y'know, Maki."

BREAK

"Wait, Himiko." Kaede curses herself for being so paranoid, but she had had the same feeling earlier when the magician had recounted that same story for her in the dining hall. Said magician stares up at her, puzzled.

"W-what's wrong, Kaede?" Tenko titters, "Himiko's telling the truth, that's the same story she told us before, you remember, right?"

"I know, but..." Kaede feels her head begin to whirr as confusion dances rings around her hat once more. "I know but..." she grits her teeth. "I'm sorry Himiko."

Himiko blinks, perplexed.

"The part about Gonta being brought up..." Kaede explains,

"Nyeh? You mean the reptiley-dinosaur people?"

"Yeah." Kaede points a finger. "See, that right there is what I have a problem with."

"Kaede, what is wrong about what she recounted?" asks Kirumi. "It sounded as accurate as it did earlier when she recalled the video's contents in the dining hall."

Kaede closes her eyes. "I'm really sorry Himiko, but..." she takes a deep breath. "I don't think you're telling the truth."

The redhead's eyes go round.

"Kaede...?" As do Tenko's.

Kokichi puffs out his cheeks. "Kaeeeede! Calling people out on their lies is MY job!" His eyes glaze over with tears. "Are you trying to make me redundant?"

Kaede sighs. "No, that's not—"

"Well, if you're so good at being a fucking human lie-detector," Miu sharply cuts in. "Then you fucking tell us if bug-tits is lyin' to us right now."

Kokichi's eyes immediately dry up. "No," he says plainly. "I don't think she's lying, actually." He flashes a smirk at Kaede.

"Wha?" Miu scratches her head. "O-oh, well, then, uh..."

"Kaede, if I may interrupt," The musician's eyes follow the voice to Kirumi's stand. "Why, may I ask, do you think that Himiko is lying?"

"Tenko wants to know too." Kaede makes the mistake of locking eyes with the Aikido master, only to meet a stare that radiates disappointment, and the swirling pit of guilt in her gut expands once again.

"Well, see the thing is, when we first arrived at the school..." Kaede begins, heart twisting at the mere memories of encountering each student with Shuichi, meeting Rantaro, and Gonta, the latter of whom if she remembers correctly...

Gonta nervously fidgets with his messily tied tie. "Kid Gonta bigger than other kids. Other kids scared of Gonta... So kid Gonta play alone. That how Gonta come to like bugs."

The entomologist pauses for a moment as he articulates the words in his head. "But...when Gonta really focus, it easy to lose track... One day, Gonta go to forest to find bugs. End up lost..."

Kaede and Shuichi exchange a look, neither party not sure how to respond to that.

Kaede scratches her head. "That sounds rough... Were they able to find you right away?"

Gonta nods. "Yeah... Took ten years, though."

Kaede splutters. "Ten years!?"

The entomologist waves his hands in reassurance. "But Gonta fine. New family took care of Gonta."

"I-I see... I'm glad they were nice people."

"Oh...not people. Wolves!"

"Wolves!?" Kaede and Shuichi exclaim in unison.

"But they really nice! Cuz of forest family, Gonta learn to speak bug and animal."

Gonta beams at the pair. "As thanks, Gonta wanna show forest family what great gentleman Gonta is!"

The pianist is met with blank stares.

"W-wolves?!" Kiibo exclaims.

"W-wait," Himiko is the first to break the silence, eyes still as wide as saucers as she stammers, "T-that's not, I.. I didn't—"

"Oh? So, Himiko lied about what she saw on Gonta's motive video then?" Angie looks mildly surprised but recovers almost immediately. "To be able to deceive even Kokichi, you must truly be a divine!" Tenko and Himiko exchange startled looks as the classroom's atmosphere turns against them.

Kaito scratches his head. "What the f—? So wait a sec, who's telling the truth then?!"

"Well, why the fuck would Bakamatsu randomly lie about some shit?" Miu jabs a finger in the general direction of both parties. "The fucking loli's in the hot seat, so of course she's gonna fucking try to cover that flat, seedy ass of hers!"

"Miu, stop being so rude to Himiko!" Tenko snaps, before shaking her head furiously, "Never mind that, she's not lying! Tenko is sure of it!" She gestures to her right. "Even Kokichi thinks so!"

"Aren't you just being biased though, Miu?" Kokichi chimes in with a grin. "You and Kaede have been getting awfully close lately, so aren't you just picking sides?"

"Fuck no!" The inventor exclaims with a swipe of her arm. "If the video that was shoved into my tits is anything to go by, big-dick's video should have been fucking traumatic!" Kirumi's eyebrows rise at the alluding to her own motive video.

"Oh, oh, okay, Angie knows!" The artist spins to her figure on her left left. "Have you heard about this story before? Since you're like, super knowledgeable about civilisations and stuff, right?"

Kiyo brings a bandaged hand to his chin. "It is a... rather elaborate story I must say." He eyes the magician, who squirms under his gaze. "I can't say I have ever heard of this reptilian civilisation though, I'm afraid."

"Well, if Mr. Siscon-Zipmouth over here hasn't heard of it, then it mustn't be fucking true!" Miu loudly announces. "So the loli is fuckin' lying!"

Kiyo narrows his eyes. "I'll... take that as you believing me, I suppose?"

Miu flinches. "J-just this once, I still think you're a fucking f-freakshow though."

The anthropologist chuckles. "Kehehe, very well."

Kaito pulls at his beard. "I mean, if even Kiyo of all people hasn't heard of this civilisation, then... ahh." He anxiously rubs his neck. "I don't know," he flashes Himiko an apologetic look. "Sorry, Himiko, but I'm gonna hafta go with Kaede on this one." He shrugs. "I just don't see why she'd suddenly lie about something like that out of the blue, y'know?"

Ryoma shrugs. "Can't disagree with that." His gaze lingers on Kaede, "Can't see why she'd deliberately try to throw the trial off," he pulls his hat down, "Not after all that's happened already."

"..." The magician looks down at the floor, dejected.

"D-don't worry Himiko, this is all just one big misunderstanding." The tremor in Tenko's voice, however, says she thinks otherwise.

"Is that really what you saw on Gonta's motive video?" Maki asks the magician with a raise of an eyebrow.

"Yeah!" Miu shouts in agreement before the mage can answer. "And you can't fucking backtrack after tellin' us the same shit twice now!"

"Nnnnnye..."

"Well, Himiko?" Kiibo asks.

Tenko watches the redhead from one stand away. "Himiko..."

Kaede squeezes her eyes shut. She doesn't believe it, she doesn't want to believe it, yet, what other options are there? She tries to repeatedly reassure herself in her own mind that this has to be the only way the case makes sense, yet is silently hoping that someone, anyone will speak up and a breakthrough will be made, anything to save Himiko from being dragged off to an execution.

"Hey, Monokuma, I have another question!" Kokichi jumps up and raises his hand.

The bear gives a questioning hum as Kaito sighs exasperatedly. "Is now really the time for questions!?"

"Well," The supreme leader shrugs. "I mean, yeah, cuz it could change the outcome of the voting..."

The astronaut blinks. "What?"

"Just ask the fucking question already!" Miu snaps at him.

Kokichi chuckles, and turns back towards the bear. "So," his eyes flicker to the girl at his right side. "Assuming that Himiko is, in fact, the person who poisoned the tea that Gonta drank—" He holds a hand up to silence the girl on his left before continuing. "Key word being assuming here—"

Maki rolls her eyes. "Just get to the point."

"Gladly!" Kokichi rolls back on his heels as his gaze trails around the class. "Do we vote for the person who put Miu's chemicals in the drink, or..." his gaze darkens as lavender eyes meet metallic cyan. "Do we vote for the person who gave it to him in the first place?" Kaede feels her heart stop as nervous babble spills into the courtroom.

Kiibo blinks. "A-are you referring to me?"

"Thought we cleared this up earlier." Ryoma sighs, hand rising to massage his temple.

"Angie thinks she knows what Kokichi means..." Angie starts drawing random shapes in the air with her paintbrush as she attempts to summarise the leader's question. "So Himiko poisoned the tea, but didn't actually give it to him, so she didn't directly kill him, but Kiibo admitted earlier to giving it to him, so he's kinda responsible for the reason that Gonta died in the first place..." She takes a deep breath. "...Is that it?"

"Wait," Kaede's face scrunches in concentration. "So, the culprit, then..."

Tsumugi tilts her head. "Who do we vote for...?" She immediately wrings her hands together, "N-not that I want to vote for anyone, but..."

"That's why I'm asking," Kokichi turns back to the headmaster, looking smug. "Surely you have to tell us which one counts as the blackened, or else what's the point of playing this game in the first place?"

"Are you still referring to this as a game?" Kiyo says with a pang of irritation. "Youdo realise the situation we're in, do you not?"

"That's not important right now," Kokichi waves a hand dismissively. "Soooo, Monokuma, what's it gonna be?"

"..."

"Spit it out already, ya fuckin' tanuki!"

"Miu, I don't think this is the best time to insult him..."

Kaede narrows her eyes. "Why aren't you saying anything!?" she yells at the headmaster, impatience rising.

"Hmmmm..." Monokuma tilts his head. "Well, what do you think?"

Kaede blinks. "...What?"

"Some twists are better off hidden until closer to the climax." The bear sneers. "You surely agree, right, Miss Akamatsu?" Kaede feels her eye twitch and swallows any remarks that threaten to spill out of her mouth.

"Wait, what!?" Tenko practically shrieks at the bears. "That's not fair at all!"

"Life ain't fair, poppet, get used to it." Monosuke claps back at the martial artist with a wave of his striped paw.

"So, if we vote for Kiibo or Himiko, as long as one of them is correct, it doesn't matter?" Tsumugi questions, perplexed.

Monokuma shakes his head. "Oh, no no no, someone here is definitely guilty, but if I gave you guys the answer right now..." Tsumugi grimaces at the bear and reluctantly turns away from him. Kaede feels her heart sink as everyone's voices meld into one loud clamouring of arguments being thrown left and right across the courtroom. Some people yelling (namely Miu) that Himiko was the one who set the whole thing off, so she should be convicted, others (namely Tenko) yelling back that Kiibo was the one who fed the poison to Gonta, thus he should be convicted.

Amongst the commotion, Kirumi sighs and wipes her forehead with the back of her glove. "It is not looking like we are going to find a solution to this any time soon." She gives Monokuma, relishing in the every second of the discourse a sharp look. "We appear to be split in differing opinions."

"Oh yeah?" Kaito argues back at Kiyo, "Well I don't wanna vote for either of them! But we don't have the luxury of picking and choosing right n—"

"SPLIT? DID SOMEONE SAY SPLIT!?"

"GYAAAAH!" The astronaut jumps back in fright and slips, falling right off his podium, much to the amusement of Kokichi. All eyes sift to the monochrome bear, now standing upright on his throne, his offspring jumping around below him.

"When the court can't acquit, and the verdict is split, there's only one method that this judge sees fit!"

Tsumugi blinks as Monokuma brandishes an odd-looking key. "Um, what is he doing...?" Kaede merely shrugs as the headmaster continues.

"I was waiting for this, but it's never too late! It's that brand new segment that fans love-or-hate! In order to decide this class trial's fate, I hereby announce a Scrum Debate!"

Kaede opens her mouth as the bear activates something at his throne, however only a strangled yelp escapes as she feels her podium lift up into the air, along with everyone else's. The pianist tries her best to ignore the screeching and shouting of the people around her (as well as the standalone cheering of Kokichi and Angie) as the class rise up to the courtroom's ceiling, whilst simultaneously trying not to look at Kaito, who in the midst of getting back onto his podium, had tripped again as the stalls had risen, and dangles mid-air as he holds onto its base for dear life. Kaede feels her heart sink as she finds herself face-to-face with Tenko, who stares at something just beyond her, green eyes devoid of any emotion. Nevertheless, Kaede knows that the fate of the trial was in the hands of Monokuma, as much as she hates to admit it, and so, she reluctantly decides to continue fighting for the truth, and maybe, even something beyond it.

Scrum Debate

Who do we vote for? Kiibo, or Himiko?

"Kii-boy served that tea to Gonta, so we should totally vote for him!" Kokichi declares with a glint in his eye.

"But Himiko was the one who poisoned the tea, so should it not be her?" Tsumugi counters.

"Tenko is telling you, Himiko didn't do it! Tenko pleads, and gestures over to Ryoma. "Ryoma didn't see her do anything to it!"

"But I didn't see Kiibo spike it either," the tennis pro counters.

"Kiibo has already been cleared of suspicion– Himiko had Gonta's motive video, and all other evidence points directly to her." Kiyo calmly says.

"That motive video had nothing of worth on it, that's not enough to convict her." Maki says, shrugging.

"It's enough to fucking convict her if she was fucking lying about it, which Kaede proved she was!" Miu snarls. "So remind why the fuck we're still treating Kiibo as a suspect!?"

"We do not know which suspect can be declared as the blackened in this case, as Monokuma is withholding that information from us." Kirumi states.

"Hey, hey, maybe it was just Monokuma this whole time? Can we not just vote for him?" Angie asks, a little too optimistically.

"Don't be ridiculous! Of course we can't just vote for him! Our lives are on the line here, y'know?" Kaito barks back at the artist, wobbling slightly as he re-finds his feet.

"Although I am rather... conflicted, I do think, before ultimately voting on someone's life, we should discuss all possible routes." Kiibo says. "At least... that's what my inner voice is telling me..."

"Yes, and until we find that route, we shouldn't decide to vote for anyone without being one-hundred-per-cent certain." Kaede concludes.

"This is too much of a pain," Himiko mumbles off to the side, not bothering to partake in the debate. "I don't care who you vote for anymore, I just want this to be over with..."

BREAK

There's a deathly silence hanging in the air as the podiums gently float back down to the courtroom floor.

Kaede decides to break said silence. "I think Kiibo's right, there has to be a roundabout way of figuring this out." She pulls on the bill of Shuichi's cap. "There just has to be something we've been missing."

"But what?" Kaito rubs his neck, "It's gonna have to be one of them, so who the hell do we vote for?" He lowers his gaze. "I don't want to fucking do that to either of 'em."

"Tenko doesn't either," the aikido master brings her hands up to her chest, "She knows Himiko didn't kill Gonta, but..." she trails off as she hangs her head. Himiko merely stares at the floor, watching the tiled surface shimmer in the artificial lighting with glassy grey eyes.

"Well then, why don't we just let lady luck decide?" Kokichi suggests.

"Lady Luck?" Kirumi parrots.

"You mean, just vote for one of 'em and just fuckin' see if we're right?!" Miu veers over her stand to squint at the supreme leader. "I get that you're shtick is bein' all edgy and shit, but that idea's nuts!"

"Hmmm?" Kokichi wags a finger mockingly at the inventor. "Non, non, I mean voting for both of them." His eyes flicker over to Monokuma briefly, before he readdresses his class. "That way, there's no way we'll get the culprit wrong. Unless, of course..." He places a cunning finger to his lip as the corners of his mouth jerk upwards. "We're wrong about one of them."

"But we can't do that, Kokichi, we have an odd number of students, or have I miscounted?" Kiyo starts counting around the room to himself with a bandaged finger.

"No, we do have an even number." Kaede says, eyes landing on the spot in-between Kaito and Miu for what seems like the zillionth time this trial – and it was only trial one.

Kaito's face lights up "Oh, yeah! Shuichi's still here..." He pauses, "kinda..."

"Yeah," says Kaede, biting back any additional remarks. "So... we technically can vote for both of them, if we decide who votes for who and see how that goes, but..." Her eyes land on the magician's deflated form next to her, and she immediately feels guilty for the point she'd brought up earlier. But... it's the only way this case makes sense... isn't it?

"Angie thinks that's a great idea and all, but she thinks there's a problem with that way."

Kaede blinks. "What is it, Angie?"

The artist shrugs. "I dunno... it's just, like, can we trust everyone to do that?" She cocks her head to the side. "Cuz if there's a traitor in here like Monokuma said..."

"Oh, I forgot all about that. Did we ever find out who that was actually?" Tsumugi asks.

"I don't believe we did, no." Kiyo replies, looking somewhat thoughtful.

"Angie, that is a really good point you bring up," Kaede's hands fly to her temples. "...but honestly, I think we just have to risk it at this stage."

The artist cocks her head. "Oh. Okaaay then!"

"That was an awfully quick backtrack..."

Miu splutters "Risk it!? Are you joking, Kaede? Cuz you'd better be fucking joking!"

Kaede shakes her head. "I'm not, Miu." She crosses her arms and looks off to her right. "If anyone else has any ideas, then please, please put them out there, but if not? What are we supposed to do? Just assume it's Kiibo, because he unknowingly gave Gonta the tea that killed him. Assume it's Himiko, just because she was in all the right places at all the right times?" She glowers at Monokuma. "Monokuma is doing this for a reason, if he tells us which one counts as the blackened, we can just pick one or the other.

"But he's not letting us do that because he knows there's another layer to this case we haven't figured out yet." Kokichi concludes, and then, with his signature smirk. "Or, more accurately. that you guys haven't figured out yet."

"Another layer...?" Kirumi narrows her eyes at Kokichi. "Kokichi, do you perhaps, know who the culprit is?"

The white-clad boy hums. "Hmmmm, do I? That's an interesting question, Kirumi." And with a click of his tongue, the mysterious aura flickers off once again. "Or y'know, maybe I'm just lying again."

"Can we please sew his mouth shut when Plain Jane's research lab opens?" Miu asks with a raise of her hand.

"Wait!" Tsumugi frantically waves her hands. "Don't bring me into this!"

"Right so, how about this," Kaito brings a thoughtful fist to his chin as he mulls over the possible options. "Okay, got it. All the guys vote for Kiibo, and all the girls vote for Himiko—"

"Tenko is not voting for Himiko!"

"Geez..." Kaito scratches his head "Alright, then I'll vote for her, and you can vote for Kiibo. How does that sound?"

"Tenko doesn't want you to vote for Himiko either!"

"Well I don't fuckin' think Kiibs did it either but you don't see me whinin' about it!" Miu snaps at Tenko, who immediately quietens.

"Excuse me, kaito." Kiibo raises his hand politely. "I have a question - are you including me as a 'guy'? Because I'm still not entirely—"

"You're being suspected for murder and that's where your mind goes to?" Maki asks.

"Ah, sorry, I'm just curious as to what he thinks—"

"Guys, hello?" Kaede taps her fingernails impatiently off the top of her podium. "We're getting off topic again." She sighs, and straightens her hat. "Is there anything at all that might be able to give us any more leads?"

"What about the victim themselves?" Kokichi suggests.

"Gokuhara...?" Ryoma raises a curious eyebrow.

Kokichi continues with a bemused expression. "Yeah, like, who'd kill even want to kill Gonta, y'know? It's not like anyone hated him or wanted him dead or anything." He snivels, "He was much more popular than me, anyway."

"Everyone's more popular than you." Kaito snorts.

Kokichi eyes glass over. "Wh-what? Really?" He visibly deflates. "Even... Maki?" Said caretaker glares at him through narrow red eyes.

"Tenko thinks so too." Kaede's eyebrows fly into her hair as the Aikido master comes to the supreme leader's aid.

"What, you think Maki's more popular than me as well, Ten—"

"No!" Tenko fidgets in her stand. "Tenko also thinks that it's strange." Her eyes flicker off to her right. "Tenko can't understand why Gonta had to be the one to die..."

"Can you elaborate, Chabashira?" Ryoma asks. Kaede gives the Aikido practitioner a reassuring nod whilst beside her, Himiko anxiously fiddles with the hem of her skirt, shuffling on the spot from foot to foot.

➣ Present Your Argument

"G-Gonta..." Tenko starts. "Tenko can't understand why he's the one who had to die."

She shakes her head. "Tenko was thinking... maybe that's why we can't figure it out..."

Kaede grimaces as Angie raises her hand. "Wait, wait, Angie is lost, you guys. What's Tenko talking about?"

"Think about it, Angie." Kokichi says, "Gonta is dead, we can't figure any particular motives for killing him other than the video Himiko received,which, frankly,"

He side-eyes the magician. "I still don't think she's lying about."

"Lying is too tiring," Himiko drawls from beside him.

"Mhmm, mhmm!" Kokichi laces his hands behind his head. "So, what does that mean?"

"What do you mean 'what does that mean?'?" Kaito says, face contorting in confusion. "It means he was a friggin' nice guy who wouldn't hurt a fly."

He wipes his forehead with a pained grunt. "Literally no one here would want to kill someone like Gonta!"

"I do hope that the killer has a sufficient reason for all of this... confusion" Kirumi punctuates.

"'Sufficient' isn't the word I'd use..." says Ryoma.

"Ding ding ding!" Kokichi holds a hand up. "Someone just hit the jackpot!" He eyes Kaede expectantly. "Soooo? Did you hear it?"

BREAK

Kaede closes her eyes as she tries to focus her mind, Tenko and Kokichi's statements whirling around in her mind and melding in with the rest of the clamour of voices'.

And then it hits her like a ton of bricks.

"Wait," Kaede feels her heart quicken in pace. "Kaito, you just said that no one here would want to kill Gonta... right?"

"Hm?" Kaito scratches his head, "Yeah, what about it? It's true, isn't it?"

"I don't know about that." Ryoma adds with a grim face. "Wouldn't be here otherwise."

"No, actually I think that's exactly it, Ryoma." Kaede's eyes widen as the puzzle piece they'd been scrambling to find is slowly unearthed.

The tennis pro blinks. "Care to explain, Akamatsu?"

And it's even more horrific than she'd imagined.

"Gonta... Kiibo gave him the tea not knowing the contents was spiked. And Gonta..." she pauses as she scans the courtroom. "Gonta drank it without knowing it was spiked."

"We already knew that." Maki says with a roll of her eyes. "What's your point?"

"My point is," Kaede continues, "...that I don't think Gonta was the intended victim of this case at all." The courtroom is silent for a few moments as the weight of Kaede's theory sinks in.

"Not..." Tsumugi covers her mouth with one hand, "the intended... victim...?"

"That would clear up the motive issue." Ryoma remarks, then with a cock of his head, "But if that were the case, it'd mean that Gokuhara's death was..." he trails off as he locks eyes with Kaede and for a brief moment, there's a mutual understanding of the situation.

"Yeah," Kaede says, looking back down at the floor. "It was an accident."

"Oh for—" Kaito's palm meets his forehead. "Are you serious?"

"Wait, so bugfucker wasn't supposed to die?!" Miu shrieks, eyes rapidly darting around the class. "T-then wait, who the fuck was?" She glares at Himiko, jabbing a glvoed finger in her direction. "Who the fuck were you targetin', pipsqueak!?"

"No-one." She drawls. "I already told you, killing is too much work for me..."

"Are we absolutely sure about this theory, though?" asks Kirumi, "This is an awfully sudden conclusion to come to."

"But it would definitely clear Kiibo as a suspect if that were the case," Kaede explains, before pausing and shooting the robot an apologetic smile. "At least motive-wise, anyway."

Kiibo tilts his head. "How so?"

"Because if Gonta's death was an accident; it'd have to mean that the culprit wasn't in the room at the time that the tea was given to him."

"Oooohh, yeah, cuz if they were, they'd have only let the person they wanted to kill them have it, right?" Angie chirps.

Kaede nods. "Exactly."

"But if my memory serves me correctly, Himiko was also in the dining hall, alongside Tenko." Kiibo counters.

"Yeah, but they left early, Kiibs; what they're sayin' is that the culprit didn't see Gonta drink the tea, so it could still easily be the fuckin' strawberry." Miu replies.

Kiibo pauses for a moment, then nods. "Ah, I understand now." He smiles. "Thank you, Miu."

"A-ah..." The inventor twists a lock of hair around her finger. "I-it's n-nothin' really..."

"Oh, my..." Tsumugi presses a palm to her face. "This is the last place I'd imagine a mecha-romance to play out..."

"However, even if Gonta's death did end up being merely an unfortunate accident, that doesn't get us any further from deeming Himiko as innocent, I'm afraid." Kiyo states. "She still remains as our number one suspect."

"Actually, it does." Kokichi says, as the anthropologist tilts his head at the supreme leader.

The smaller boy holds out his hands. "And I'm telling the truth this time, honest!" He flashes a smirk in Kiyo's direction. "And you should know that more than anyone here, Kiyo!"

Kiyo blinks. "Oh...?"

"Wait, what does Kiyo have to do with anything?!" Kaito shouts. "He wasn't even in the room when it happened!"

"I didn't say anything about him being the culprit, Kaito, geeez!"

"Korekiyo and I were together for the majority of the day," Kirumi offers, "I do not think that he had the opportunity to spike the tea that I was preparing without my knowledge."

"Unless you two were working together." Maki nonchalantly comments.

"Nonsense. We did nothing of the sort. Besides," Kiyo straightens his hat, "I don't believe either of us had any knowledge of Miu's... medicinal circumstances, before it was brought up in this trial."

"And I did not mention it to Kirumi, before anyone asks," Kiibo adds with a point of his finger.

Kaede racks her brains. "Okay, so if we go with the theory that Gonta's death was..." a chill runs up her spine as the portrait beside her glares into her side, "an accident, then I think, maybe we might have a lead somewhere... perhaps?"

"Does it really change the outcome though?" asks Ryoma. "Gokuhara is dead, no 'accident' is gonna change that fact. He sighs and tugs on his leather jacket. "If the killer's only objective was to kill someone, then it's not like they failed just 'cause it was the wrong person."

Kaede feels herself retreating from her suggestion. "I mean..." She really doesn't want to think that they had been living with a student with that mindset all this time, "I guess you have a point." She pulls at the brim of Shuichi's cap. "Then, is there anything else that we can think of?" She pleads with her classmates. "Come on, there has to be something, anything else we can discuss that'll give us some kind of clue!" Her eyes dart in between each student in the hopes that something, anything might trigger some sort of memory or reaction or confession, at this point she wouldn't even care.

"Kaede's right!" says Kaito, straitening his back and flashing a grin at the pianist. "We just gotta think outside the box. There's gotta be something else we can discuss."

"Thinkn' about this..." Ryoma's eyes flicker to Angie's stall. "Whatever it was you were tryin' to do earlier. You'd have been the only ones that've had access to the stuff beforehand, that right."

"Well, yes but—" Angie eyes go round as she realises Ryoma is accusing her. "Huhhh? Ryoma, why would you say such a thing!?"

"Beats me. Just," He shrugs. "Throwin' suggestions out there, is all."

"That's it!" Kaede says, "more things like that!" She pumps her fists, "If we can even find the smallest little detail, the smallest little blip in someone's alibi even, we might find something that we've overlooked!"

"Tenko agrees!" The aikido master pitches in, but no sooner had she jumped to the pianist's side, her normally positive, upbeat aura shuts out like a light. Her mouth tightens into a straight line, and there's a sudden sense of unease around the blue-clad girl, and it doesn't sit well with Kaede. At all.

"Right, Himiko?"

"Nyeh?"

Kaede and Kaito are both caught off-guard as the aikido master's fists ball up atop her podium.

"It's been bothering Tenko for a while... even though Tenko knows you're not the culprit, you've been acting kind of strange for a while now." Tenko stares directly at Himiko, mouth tight and grim. "Everyone's accusing you, and you're just going to stay silent? You keep saying 'it's tiring' 'it's a pain' but you're not even going to try and fight back properly?" Her nails dig crescents into her podium, but the magician doesn't look at her.

"..."

"So then, why!?"Tenko suddenly shrieks, shrill voice reverberating around the otherwise silent courtroom. "Why, Himiko?! Why are you doing this? Tenko knows you didn't kill Gonta, so why are you making yourself seem even more suspicious?!" She pauses, shoulders heaving, head hanging over her podium as she tries to retrieve her breath, Kiibo quietly asking her if she's alright. Tenko glances at him for a very brief moment as she straightens herself and continues, voice much softer than before. "Kiibo is being accused too, and he's been co-operative this whole time, but you..." She looks down at her feet. "Tenko's been doing all the work for you..."

"..." Himiko merely yanks her hat even further down over her face, features obscured.

"H-hey, Tenko," Kaede begins. "We're all really stressed right now," her eyes flicker down to the redhead's form. "Himiko's probably just... overwhelmed right now," She furrows her brow. "probably."

"Hey... Himiko..." Tenko tilts her head, greenish-brown braids cascading across her back. "By any chance... are you being so quiet because..." she pauses, "you've realised something about this case?"

Himiko visibly flinches.

Kaede blinks. "Wait, Tenko, what do you mean by that?"

"Ah, it's just," Tenko nervously plays with her fingers, "Tenko feels like Himiko is trying to hide her feelings even more than usual. So that's why Tenko thinks that maybe there's something Himiko noticed about the case that no one else has yet."

Himiko remains silent. Kaede chews on her lip as she watches the magician's tense form beside her.

"Ohh, is little Himiko scared of revealing the truth?" Kokichi cuts in, eyeing the magician with a keen eye. Himiko flinches again, head sinking lower as the courtroom's attention is directly flung onto her once more.

"Ah." Tenko sighs. "... Tenko thought that was the case."

Kaede tries to steady her voice as unease creeps into her already-heavy heart. "Himiko... what kind of truth did you realize?" Her expression softens as the magician's foot taps against the floor in an unsteady rhythm.

"Don't be scared to say it," says Tenko. "Not just for Tenko, but for everyone else here too."

"It might seem scary at times, but it's vital to fight for the truth in a situation like this, even if the truth seems terrifying." Kaede recalls.

Himiko peeks out from under her hat at the pianist. Kaede forces the smallest of smiles.

"You know, Shuichi said that to me before he left." Kaede tenderly touches the brim of his hat. "I think it goes for all of us, though. I mean..." Rantaro's corpse flashes before her eyes. "I'm scared too, terrified, even. But even still..." she takes a breath. "Even still, I just want to save as many people as I can while I'm still here, surely you feel the same, Himiko?" The magician opens her mouth slightly as if to speak but is cut off before she can.

"That's right!" Himiko's head turns from Kaede's to Tenko's. "Tenko wants you to tell us everything, Himiko. Even if it's scary, like Shuichi said..." She smiles sadly. "Even if not everyone will like the truth, Tenko thinks it's important to tell them..."

"Tell them?" Kaede feels a sudden wave of dread wash over her. "Tenko, what do you mean by that?"

Tenko blinks at the pianist. "What do I mean by what, Kaede?"

"Yeah, Tenko, are you okay? You've been acting kinda weird for a bit now." Kaito pitches in, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm kinda worried."

She wrings her hands. "No, she hasn't, she just—" Her eyes fly over Kokichi's smaller form.

"She just doesn't want Himiko to be accused anymore." Himiko pulls her hat down even further over her face.

"Yumeno's also been off for a while, come to think of it. I think Chabashira's onto something." Ryoma says, eyes narrowing. "There's something you're not telling us."

Tenko's warm green eyes soften. "There's something that hasn't been mentioned at all yet, isn't there, Himiko?" She sighs. "Something that happened earlier that points directly to the killer." The magician gives a small nod.

"What!?" Kaito practically shrieks. "There is!?"

Tenko nods. "Yes. Tenko is certain." She lowers her head. "And Himiko knows that too."

"Well, what was it?" Kaede curses the shakiness present in her voice, eyes pleading with the Aikido Master. "Tenko, tell us!"

"You should know too, Kaede."

The musician is taken aback. "What...?"

Tenko casts her eyes off to the side. "You don't remember? Something that was present at Miu's Lab, that was also present at the dining hall, and the Ultimate Maid's lab—"

"It was Tenko." The courtroom falls into silence at the statement, but it doesn't come from the Aikido master herself.

Rather, the magician that's been the apple of the sportswoman's eye since day one.

"That was present at all of those scenes?" Kirumi inquires. "I do believe we have already gone over that, Himi—"

"No." The magician shakes her head, not meeting the maid's gaze. "That's not what I meant." She slowly raises her head and stares straight ahead. Her eyes are frozen over like the surface of a winter puddle, robbing them of their usual sleepy warmth.

"...Tenko's the culprit."

Kaede's stomach contracts into a tight ball. The only sound in the courtroom is the hushed whisper-chattering of the Monokubs commentary from over Tsumugi's head.

"Wh.." Kaede's voice fails her. "What...?"

Kiibo is the first to react. "Huh!?"

"I-it was Tenko?" Tsumugi pales.

"Oh my, do say it isn't so!" Monokuma shrieks from his throne.

"Wait, that's obviously impossible!" Kaito exclaims, looking equally as pale. He turns to the Aikido Master. "Tell em, Tenko!"

Tenko returns Kaito's stare, remaining completely silent.

"Come on!" He yells, desperation oozing into his voice. He turns to the class. "Of all people to accuse, Tenko!?"

"..."

"Chabashira..." Ryoma stares at the Aikido Master in disbelief. "Did you really...?"

Tenko titters. "Ahahahaha, o-of course she didn't!"

Maki's eye twitches. "You didn't?"

"Tenko said it earlier, didn't she?! She thinks Gonta was one of the nicest degenerates at this school." She tilts her head. "Why would Tenko try and kill someone harmless like Gonta? Gonta never did anything bad to Tenko."

"Hey, no, he was a fucking male, wasn't he!?" Miu fiddles with her hair, "I fuckin' called it earlier!" She jabs an accusing finger in Tenko's direction. "You were tryna take out each of the dudes, one-by-one!" She cackles. "BOO-YAH! Case closed, bitches!"

"And Tenko said earlier that she'd never kill a man with her bare hands!" Tenko barks back. She turns to Himiko once more. "Himiko's just trying to lighten the mood, like any amazing magician woul—"

"No." Himiko's gaze darkens under the shadow of her hat. "I'm not trying to entertain anyone. Tenko definitely did it." I know cuz I was there."

"Oh?" Kiyo's hand covers his mask. "It would appear that our Himiko is being serious."

Himiko pouts at him. "O-of course I am." She balls her fists into her sleeves. "It'd be wasting MP lyin' about somethin' like that."

Tenko stares at Himiko for a few moments. "Okay then, explain to Tenko, and everyone else; Tenko was in all of the same places as Himiko and Kiibo, so of course she had the chance to, but..."

"ENOUGH!" Kaito booms. "Himiko," he begins. "You think Tenko did it, right? I really don't wanna believe that but," he cracks his knuckles. "If you're being so insistent, then I'm gonna hear you out," He looks to Kaede. "You agree, right Kaede?"

"Ah.." The pianist presses the back of her hand to her mouth. "Y-yeah..." she replies quietly, head swarming with anxiety and dread of what was to come.

➣ Present Your Argument

"Alright!" Kaito presses his fists together. "You and Tenko were together the whole time, weren't you, Himiko? You'd surely have noticed if she was acting suspicious!"

"Did you even know about the tea, Tenko?" Tsumugi wonders aloud. "You didn't have all that much to do with Angie's prayer group, if I remember correctly."

"Ah, Angie asked her to join, and she said she'd consider it." The artist replies.

"Himiko," Kaede finally speaks up. "Are..." she shakes her head, "Are you sure about this?"

"Whoa! Are you doubting the psychic powers of the Great Himiko Yumeno, Kaede!?" Kokichi presses a hand to his heart in faux surprise. "You truly are a Brave One!"

Kaede frowns. "N-no, I'm saying that this is just way to sudden to just believe with little-to-no proof, Kokichi."

"Really? Because sounds like you're being biased towards your friends." Maki rolls her eyes. "How many times is that now?"

Ignoring the others, Tenko reaches out to Himiko. "Himiko, Tenko is so, so sorry doing this, but...

"She'd really like to hear it from you. Don't hide from the truth because of Tenko."

Kaede feels herself retreat underneath the shadow of Shuichi's hat. "I really, really don't want to think Tenko's the culprit but..."

Her nails bite into the straps of her backpack. "Unless there's any evidence that she had any knowledge of any of this beforehand, I don't think it's wise to accuse—"

"Tenko stopped me from drinkin' the tea earlier."

Kaede blinks at her. "Huh?"

Himiko's expression only gets more melancholic as she breaks through Kaede's statement. "D'you remember that?"

BREAK

"You and the rest of us." Kaito retorts only to have Tsumugi correct him, subtly gesturing at the magician who proceeds to pour herself some of Korekiyo's tea, having to stand on the tips of her boots to reach the counter.

"Might as well," She mumbles as she presses the cup to her lips, only to have it snatched out of her hands.

"Don't." Tenko states blankly, glaring into the cup.

Kaito raises an eyebrow. "Why? It's just tea isn't it?"

"Of course it isn't!" Tenko snaps at the astronaut. "This tea was made by a menacing degenerate! Not only that," She continues, pouring the contents down the sink, ignoring the smaller girl's protests. "Angie might've put some sort of brainwashing curse in it or something, you can't tell with her!"

Tenko smiles sadly. "Ah, so you noticed that after all..."

"O-oh my fucking God!" Miu claps her hands over her mouth. "She fucking did do that!"

"We didn't know it was the tea that had killed him at the time but..." Tsumugi runs a hand through her hair. "Tenko... did stop Himiko from drinking that back then, didn't she?"

"She... saved your life..." Kaede breaths as the memory of the earlier exchange fills her mind.

Kaito slams his fist into his podium. "Damn it..."

"If my memory serves me correctly, she also was the one who took the chemicals off Himiko the day the Kubs Pads were broken." Kiibo adds, then, with a more forlorn tone, "And I do not recall watching her put the vial back on the shelf afterwards." Kaede's eyes glaze over as the class start piling the evidence on one by one, one after another.

"Couldn't help noticing somethin' else, since that we're bringing things up." Ryoma says, grimacing. "You've said twice now that you'd never kill a man with your bare hands, that right?"

Tenko nods. "Of course, Neo-Aikido isn't meant to cause harm to anyone, it's a form of self-defence, also protecting the attacker from—"

"But Gonta was killed... via poisoning..." Kaede counters, as she begins to feel physically sick at the direction the trial had suddenly started to take.

Tenko remains silent.

"So from this... intriguing turn of events, I take it we are choosing Tenko as our suspect rather than Himiko?" Kiyo asks with a palm pressed to the side of his face.

"Dude, is now really the time to bring that up?" Kaito asks with a look of distaste. "Seriously?"

"I think Kiibo still needs to be considered." Says Maki, looking pensive. "Although it's... appearing as though he definitely didn't have a conscious part to play in the murder, it doesn't change the fact that he still was the original person to give the tea to Gonta."

Kiibo visibly deflates. "I... can understand that reasoning."

"I- I just don't understand," Kaede confesses. "I just..." she looks to the martial artist. "I don't get it, Tenko... why... why would you go out of your way to k— to do something like that to someone like Gon—"

"Even if it wasn't Gonta she was originally targeting?" Kokichi cuts in, as Kaede feels her heart drop to her feet.

"You've all been crying and arguing over Himiko not having a reason to have murdered Gonta solely based on the fact she received Gonta's motive video. And I know Ryoma already said earlier that that mightn't matter in this case, but I think I'm gonna disagree with him today!"

"Huh." Ryoma lets out a grunt at the mention of his name. "...That so?"

Kokichi hums as he presses a finger to his temple and twists his face into something Kaede could only describe as 'haunting'. "Cuz couldn't that all go out the window if it was actually Tenko that murdered Gonta instead?" Kaede glances over at the sportswoman, only to see her watching the supreme leader with a neutral expression, much to the musician's dismay.

"Tenko...?" The pianist feels her heart tighten as the taller girl hangs her head, take a shaky breath, and lift her head again.

"Tenko is so sorry, everyone." Her normally bright green eyes stay glued to the floor.

Himiko's hands fly up to her face.

Kaede's heart stops. "What...?"

Kaito's jaw drops. "Wait..."

"W-was that a confession?" Tsumugi enquires, hands clasped at her chest.

Tenko stares at the cosplayer for a few moments, before smiling sadly. "If Tenko had realised sooner then she wouldn't have caused this mess, but now she understands that she failed."

"Failed?" Kirumi echoes.

Tenko merely nods. "Tenko tried to..." her eyes squeeze shut as the words die in her mouth. "She's so sorry..."

"W-wait," Miu starts to stutter, "Wh-what the fuck...? Chabashitty, you— you really killed 'im?"

"T-Tenko wanted to get Himiko out of the dining hall before she noticed anything strange." She titters at herself as the courtroom is stunned into silence. "But..." she raises a trembling hand to her chest, "If Tenko had known that Kiibo would give Gonta some of that tea a few moments later, she'd have never done it! Tenko swears!"

Kaede has to physically squeeze the frame of her podium to stop her knees from buckling under her.

"So, it's true then," Kiibo lowers his head, bangs hiding his expression, as Miu stares open-mouthed at the aikido-master.

"Kaede?" The pianist just barely hears her voice being called over the throbbing of her own head, and lavender eyes meet green once more.

Tenko wrings her hands. "T-Tenko is really sorry to ask this of you but..." she squeezes her eyes closed. "She doesn't think she can take this anymore..."

"Tenko, wait!" Kaede cries. "This.." she holds her head. "This is all so sudden, I don't think I understand, let's talk over this a little more before we—"

"Tenko's put you through enough already, she doesn't want to make it more complicated than it has to be."

Kaede's vision of Tenko ripples as her head swims.

"Kaede..." a small voice whimpers from beside her and thrusts her back into reality. Himiko's eyes shift to the side and become instantly glazed with a glassy layer of tears. As she blinks, they drip from her eyelids and slide down her pale cheeks. She bites her lip tightly in attempt to hide any sound that wants to escape from her mouth. "Please... end this..."

"Enough with the yip-yap!" Monokuma snaps angrily, before sighing and slumping over one arm of his throne. "Yeesh, you'd think with a confession that it'd be a pretty-much sealed deal, but you kids just wanna keep on chattering till the moon comes up!"

"Don't you mean 'sun', Daddy?" Monophanie softly inquires.

"Nah, he's right, it's still daytime, remember?" Monosuke responds.

"Ooooh!" The pink bear coos, "Yeah, you're right!"

"Weeell, it's technically our fault they're so confused since we didn't tell them which student counts as the blackened in this case." Monotaro contributes.

"Kaede," Tenko reaches out to the pianist. "If you go over the events once more... you'll see that the lines connect..." she averts her eyes. "Tenko will try to explain herself afterwards but for now..." she drops her head, braids drooping either side of her face. "Tenko doesn't want to go through any more debates when she has already known the answer for a long time now."

"Tenko..." Kaede takes a shaky breath, drowning out the ursine robots' chatter, and steels her nerves. "A-alright, I'll... try..." she takes one last look at the Aikido Master before closing her eyes and focusing her mind back to the start of the case.

"O-okay, so, I... This all began, I guess it was two days ago now, at night-time, Kokichi and Himiko stole our Pads from our rooms, with the help of Ryoma, and our victim, Gonta. Myself and Kiibo successfully managed to retrieve them all back before any damage was done—" She pauses, "or so we thought.

"We took refuge in the Ultimate Inventor's Lab for the night, along with Miu, the culprit, and Himiko, who got distracted with looking through the different chemicals on Miu's shelf. She was swiftly stopped by non-other than the culprit who, unbeknownst to all of us, must have pocketed the vial of acid once it had been taken off Himiko. I imagine that the culprit probably wanted to commit murder in the most non-violent way possible – given their nature. I can't imagine them wanting to kill of any ill intent whatsoever and even now, I..." Kaede shakes her head and continues on. "I honestly have no idea what pushed this person to murder, and frankly, I still can't believe that someone so... kind and so gentle... would have ever ended up doing such a thing."

Kaede avoids looking to her left with what remaining energy she has.

"Yeah, cuz using my fucking acid is gonna solve everything." Miu sneers before being swiftly hushed by Kiibo.

Kaede clears her throat, and continues. "The morning after, Monokuma brought us all to the gym to present us with an impromptu motive: Kubs Kards: each containing one of our deepest and darkest secrets. This time, Monokuma ensured we each received out own. But the culprit must have already had their mind set to murder from at least the night before. Kirumi and Kiyo, along with Angie, announced that they wished to hold a traditional tea-ceremony to celebrate the opening of Angie's—"

"It's Atua's!"

"Angie." Kirumi sends the artist a sharp look.

"Ah, sorry..."

Kaede sighs. "Okay, Atua's prayer circle. The culprit must have taken advantage of the fact that it had to have been steeped overnight, thinking that the tea wouldn't be tampered with until the morning at the earliest, and they put their plan into motion later that day. Kirumi and Kiyo arrived early however, placing the pot and testing it briefly before leaving it to steep for the night – right before the culprit had set their trap. While they were in the dining hall later that evening, with Himiko, Ryoma, Kiibo, and Gonta, the culprit offered to do the washing-up on Kirumi's behalf – this seemed like a kind gesture, however, in actuality – this was the moment they took to mix Miu's vial of Gamma... GHB, with Kirumi's tea. After the culprit had poisoned the tea, they swiftly left the kitchen and dining hall with Himiko – I can only imagine it was to ensure that the magi- sorry, mage, didn't come into contact with the now-toxic tea. However, they probably didn't expect Gonta to take an interest in the liquid, as Kiibo prepared the tea for him to consume, and he did just that – right in front of Kiibo and Ryoma's eyes, Gonta drank the poisonous liquid."

"Again, I am so sorry that this happened – if only I hadn't decided to—"

"Kiibo." Kirumi silences the robot. "Please withhold your comments until she is finished."

"My apologies."

"The acid in the tea, according to Miu and Maki, wouldn't have taken very long to take effect, for as soon as Gonta had drunk the liquid, he claimed to feel ill, according to Kiibo and Ryoma, and took his leave to go to bed early, probably expecting to feel fine again in the morning. On his way into the dorms, he ran into myself. Oh, and Kaito... and the culprit. At this point, the culprit probably didn't know that they'd inadvertently killed Gonta, as he unknowingly went back to his room – never to come out again.

"This morning, the culprit, along with a few other students, was one of the first to burst into his dorm only to realise that he'd been killed. Whether they knew it was because of them that he was dead, or whether they only realised it as the investigation began, I'm not too sure, but what I can say is..."

Kaede blinks back the tears threatening to escape. "Plotting to murder one person, but the trap backfiring and killing someone completely undeserving..." Kaede squeezes her eyes shut. "I'm not saying that's acceptable but... I..." Her balled fists tighten, "somehow understand that feeling..."

"You alright, Akamatsu?" Ryoma sends her a look of concern.

"Y-yeah..." Kaede inhales and lifts a trembling finger. "I-I... It hurts me so, so, so, much to say this, and I really need to know why this happened in order to believe it for myself, because I frankly still don't want to believe it, but..." She feels more defeat than triumph at the declaration that she desperately didn't ever think she'd make. Moreover, a declaration to this particular person.

"Tenko Chabashira... is that everything that happened last night?" As Himiko starts to snivel from beside her, Kaede hears Kaito swear again and her heart clenches at having to accuse someone she considers her closest friends, of murdering one of their own.

Tenko smiles at the musician. "Mostly." She replies.

Author Note: Givin' my cookies to Basjetball and Animercom for being onto me from the very start... and here I thought I was being subtle! ಥ_ಥ

Also, also, alsooooo! As of the release of this chapter, y'all are officially caught up to the Ao3 crowd! *clap clap to me* So the next chapter to be released on here will be an *actual* new chapter for everyone! See you on the 20th! ~

Chapter 11: The curtain (finally) closes on Chapter II: Overture of Heaven and Hell.