A/N: Yeah, who's ready for some more debate action!? Last time I left things off on a bit of a cliffhanger, may or may not have been intentional (mwahahaha), but now we're back for part two! The possible conclusion to the first murder case! ...Okay I don't have much to say, let's just go!
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MaskedGamer: Thank you! Makes me feel more confident in my ability to write good mysteries.
Chapter 1: Mutual Survival- Class Trial (Part 2)
"W-Wait, what...?" Azami began, her eyes widening in fright. "You're not accusing me now, are you?"
"I...Azami, I don't want to, but..." Hana began, grimacing as she tried to find the right words to explain.
"But Amari makes a good point," Akira spoke. "You wear that cloak, which would explain what Yonade saw. You have a scrawny physique, which would likely mean you wouldn't be able to properly lift something heavier than seven pounds. And you have that black eyeliner, which may match the smudge on the murder weapon."
"Y-You are accusing me!? But- But that's wrong!" Azami insisted, any hint of dramatics completely gone from her voice. "All that stuff is true, yeah, but that doesn't mean...I-I was never-!"
This was hard for Hana to watch, seeing someone she considered a friend under such serious accusations...but it wasn't like they had a choice, right? To survive the class trial, they needed to say someone was the killer, the blackened...but did that really make it okay...?
"But hold on! Azami has an alibi, remember?" Rumi quickly interjected. "I was there, she came out of the library at 9:15, and we both went back to our rooms. I saw her go into her bedroom- there's no way she could have had time to go to the fitness room and kill Mikio by 9:20!"
That's what I was worried about... Hana thought with a thoughtful frown. A lot of things point to Azami, but her alibi screws that up, doesn't it? Oh, what am I saying...? I don't want Azami to be involved in this, but what choice do we have?
"Ah man...if only me or Asuna o-or Kaneki had seen you guys, we could just clear this up right now..." Shiro noted apologetically.
That caught Hana's attention. Wait...none of those three saw Rumi or Azami...? But...how is that even possible, Rumi and Azami would have passed through the main chamber on their way to the bedrooms, so at least one of them should have seen...no, no, something's wrong. I may be overthinking this, but I need to go with my gut here...!
"Hey, Hana...you've gone silent for a bit. Something on your mind?" Hiroshi asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Er- yeah," Hana responded, not realizing she had become lost in her thoughts. "Shiro- none of you saw Rumi or Azami at all that night, right?"
"Not that I recall," Shiro confirmed.
"I didn't either," Kaneki chimed in.
"Neither did I..." Asuna replied.
"...Yeah. That's the problem," Hana spoke. "If Rumi's being truthful, then that means she and Azami went into their rooms before you three did. That means, Shiro at least would have- no, should have seen them go through the main hall on their way to the bedrooms."
"Huh...? But I'm telling the truth, I swear!" Rumi insisted. "I really did go into the main hall, I met up with Azami, and we went back to our rooms for the night! That's what happened!"
"And yet, the contradictions are clear, so something is wrong there," Akira pointed out. "Perhaps someone isn't being truthful?"
"Or...it could be Rumi's just remembering things wrong," Hana countered. "I really don't think Shiro, Kaneki, and Asuna are lying about their accounts. And Rumi...she just doesn't seem like she'd lie about this."
"What's this? You pointed out the problem with her account, didn't you?" Akira asked, frowning at Hana. "And now you're trying to defend her?"
"N-No, just, mmph..." Hana stammered. "I don't think Rumi's lying. I think she's just mistaken. Specifically, she's wrong about...about the time she encountered Azami. If she had seen her at around 9:15, Shiro would have still been sitting on the stairs by that time, and they would have seen each other. But none of them saw one another, which means Rumi and Azami would have had to have met up after 9:18, when Shiro left."
"But that can't be right...Azami told me it was 9:15, she checked her e-Handbook and everything!" Rumi insisted.
"...Hamasaki. You didn't have your e-Handbook on you, right?" Akira asked.
"Huh? Well, no, I had left it in my room," Rumi explained.
"And you never verified the time when you went into your room, right?" Akira then questioned.
"No, I was really tired..." Rumi replied. "Why are you...?"
"I think what Rimutsu is insinuating is this: that Kurobe gave you the wrong time when you asked her," Tadao clarified.
"W-Wha...!?" Azami squeaked.
"Huh? Azami...lied...n-no, why would she do that?" Rumi asked, visibly shocked.
"Well...if Azami did lie to you about the time..." Hana began. "I'd say she did it in order to create an alibi. If you thought it was earlier than it really was, then Azami could create a fake alibi and you could corroborate it."
"Hey! Don't you think you're jumping the shark a bit?" Azami asked. "That's a big leap in logic!"
"Well, there's an easy way to prove if we're wrong," Hiroshi calmly told the illusionist. "Just tell us what time it was when you saw Rumi. Just be honest, Azami, you'll be fine."
"Th...The time..." Azami said to herself...before yelling, "S-Stop! What does the time even matter!? I was in the library the whole time until I saw Rumi, and that's that! So just...stop accusing me! Please!"
"I believe...some benefit of the doubt is necessary here," Saku spoke up. "I admit, Azami's behavior is a bit...concerning, yet aside from the smudge on the dumbbell, I don't believe what we've discussed thus far is enough to truly confirm any wrongdoing."
"Well then, let's discuss some more and see what we can come up," Akira responded. "I feel the truth is within our grasp- we can't falter now."
Hana gave a soft little sigh, but said nothing. She knew Akira was right, but that truth...the girl didn't know if she was ready for it anymore. Azami...why aren't you being honest...? Why?
"Would you all just stop focusing on me!? I'm not the killer!" Azami yelled. "Stop or I'll...curse you all!"
"But I know what I saw- that had to have been your cloak I saw," Hinata stated.
"And I don't use makeup, nor am I incapable of lifting heavier than seven pounds!" Ryoto pointed out, clenching his fists.
"Not to mention lying about your alibi didn't exactly help your case," Hiroshi added with a somewhat worried frown.
"But there could be other reasons why Azami lied!" Kaneki yelled in the illusionist's defense. "It doesn't make her a killer!"
"That's right! There's no real proof against me!" Azami agreed with a growl. "There's nothing else to even tie me to the crime scene!"
"Wait, that's wrong!" Hana shouted. "There was something in the fitness room, something that I couldn't figure out at first, but I think I can now."
"...Well, don't keep us in suspense, what did you find?" Hinata asked.
"There was something stuck in the treadmill- a piece of black fabric," Hana explained. "If we're assuming that...th-that Azami is the killer, then...that cloth must have come from Azami's cloak."
"Gh-!?' Azami spluttered, stepping back slightly.
"What? How could that have even happened...?" Rumi asked.
"Well...if the treadmill was running around the time of the murder, and someone was wearing something long enough..." Hana replied. "Then that piece of clothing would most likely get caught in the moving tread, and maybe even be torn if the owner were to try and free it."
"But would someone truly be so foolish as to get their clothes caught in a treadmill...?" Itachi wondered aloud.
At that moment, Hana and Ryoto shared a glanced before the former responded, "It's...not so impossible." Ryoto proved that when I met him and I had to help him get his cape out of one of the treadmills.
"That's illogical!" Shiori suddenly interjected.
"Illogical?" Hana asked. "B-But I just explained..."
"Tch- you didn't explain a thing," Shiori replied, crossing her arms. "You really can't see the holes in your argument? Fine then, leave it to the med school graduate to explain..."
Man, I thought that would be too easy... Hana thought to herself with a little grimace. Okay, let's see what Shiori has to say...
"The main part of your argument is that the black fabric in the treadmill came from Azami's cloak, right? Well, the way I see it, that's just a big assumption," Shiori explained. "There's nothing to prove the cloth came from Azami, nor how or when the fabric even got there. For all you know, it's not related to this case at all!"
"But I'm sure that fabric wasn't in the fitness room before the murder- wouldn't someone have said something about it if it was?" Hana countered.
"Maybe so...but the idea that the fabric came from Azami's cloak specifically is still just an assumption, with nothing to back it up," Shiori went on, narrowing her eyes at the surfer. "And if the fabric was torn off someone's clothes, then the only way that could have happened was if the treadmill was on during the murder, and there's no way to prove that!"
"I'll cut through that claim!" Hana yelled right back.
"...What was that?" Shiori asked, visibly taken aback.
"...Um...I got caught up in the moment again," Hana sheepishly explained, before continuing in a quieter voice, "Anyways...I do have evidence that the treadmill was on when the attack happened. That proof comes from Mikio himself- specifically, his ankle."
"His ankle? What was wrong with his ankle?" Shiori asked.
"Aah- if I may explain," Hiroshi chimed in. "Mikio's ankle was injured, and I'm fairly certain it wasn't hurt when he went to the fitness room on the night of the murder. Based on the type of injury- specifically, it looked like it had been badly twisted- it would be consistent with Mikio having been tripped by a treadmill that was still running and hurting the ankle as a result. The fact that his body had in fact been found by the treadmills to begin with seems to support this."
"So that's the crux of your theory- the black fabric was torn from someone's clothes at the time of the murder by the treadmill, and the proof that the treadmill was on is Nakamura's injury?" Akira summarized skeptically. "Most interesting- but why would the victim have stepped onto a moving treadmill in the first place, even if he was in the process of being assaulted?"
"There's an easy explanation for that," Hiroshi assured the prosecutor before turning to Hana. "You saw it, didn't you Hana? Mikio's body was missing something, something he really needed- figure out what that 'thing' is, and this should become clear as day."
What's he going on about now? And why does he want me to explain? Hana asked herself before simply resigning herself to her fate. Okay...there was something missing from Mikio's body, something I would have seen, something important...and whatever that is, it'll explain why Mikio would have stepped onto a moving treadmill and hurt himself.
It took Hana a few moments to think it through, but soon enough the answer came rushing to her like a bullet. "That's it! Mikio's glasses! They were broken, I saw them on the ground not too far from his body, and they were completely shattered!"
"Hm...a result of the attack, no doubt..." Akira observed.
"And Mikio did need his glasses- he couldn't see very well without them," Hana added. That's right- I remember seeing him without his glasses the first day we were here...
"Oh yeah- heh, I remember our first day here, I took his glasses and he couldn't see a thing! He was feeling around and fumbling and everything!" Hinata remarked with a laugh...before receiving some disapproving looks from the other students and adding, "...But it's not that funny anymore because, you know, he's dead."
"Hm...so if that's the case, your theory holds a bit more water after all," Akira remarked.
"A-And...you still think I'm the...?" Azami began, her hands shaking as she gripped her podium.
"Well, your cloak would be long enough to get caught in a moving treadmill," Saku pointed out.
"B-But...Ryoto's cape! That could have gotten caught too!" Azami quickly countered.
"What!? This isn't black!" the racecar driver responded, holding up his cape- his cape that was blue, not black.
"Uh, uh...Hinata! He's got that hoodie, and that scarf!" Azami then yelled, pointing to the Ultimate Thief.
"Excuse you, this scarf is crimson and my hoodie isn't long enough to get caught up in anything," Hinata explained with a frown.
"Then, then...Itachi! He's got that- that- longcoat thing!" Azami shouted, now directing her attention to the weapons expert.
"This is modeled after a jinbaori, and I have an alibi for the time of the crime," Itachi responded, as stoic as ever.
"Th-Then...!" Azami floundered, sweat starting to form on her forehead.
"Azami, please...stop acting like this, it'll only make you look more suspicious!" Hana pleaded. "Just tell us what happened that night, explain-"
"There's nothing to explain!" the illusionist snapped. "I was in the library! I wasn't anywhere near the crime scene! Why, WHY won't you guys believe me!? I'm innocent, dammit! I didn't even...I wasn't...I had..."
At that moment, a light bulb seemed to go off in Azami's mind, and she seemed to calm down enough to ask, "Why...Why wasn't I bloody?"
"H-Huh?" Hana asked.
"Rumi! When you saw me, did I have any blood on me at all?" Azami asked the scuba diver.
"Well, no, I would have remembered that..." Rumi responded, furrowing her brow in thought.
"Aha...hahaha! See, see!? If I went to the library after killing Mikio, I would have had no time to go to my room and change! There wouldn't have been enough time!" Azami yelled with a grin. "The only explanation is that I never was covered in blood, which means I never went to the fitness room, which means I went right to the library as I've been saying all this time!"
Hana had no idea what to make of the Ultimate Illusionist's behavior, but one thing was for certain- she was getting desperate, and Hana dreaded to find out why that was...
"See!? There's no I could be the blackened! I couldn't have changed and fixed my makeup in the library!" Azami continued. "So how about it!? Is there some way I could have cleaned up in that time!?"
Hana looked around at all the other students, who were all mostly deep in thought. Despite their thinking, nobody said a word, and nobody had an answer to Azami's question. As for Azami herself, she was still grinning with confidence...but Hana could tell that, behind that smile, there was some form of fear, as if Azami herself had no idea what she was doing. The surfer looked down- they had to figure this out. If they didn't, then the blackened would go free, and the rest of them would...!
Think, think, think Hana! Was there a way for Azami to have cleaned up so quickly after killing Mikio? she asked herself...before a memory wormed its way into the forefront of her mind. Wait...if Azami went straight to the library, then...then maybe she used the...!
It was her only shot. Hana cleared her throat and said, "Actually...there is. There is a way you could have cleaned up and maybe even hid the bloody clothing."
"Well tell us! What is it!?" Ryoto demanded, teeth clenched.
"Well...you guys wouldn't really know about it," Hana explained. "Because what I'm about to tell you, only two people in this whole class know about it. Azami...and me."
In an instant, Azami seemed to realize what Hana was about to say, and the color drained from her face accordingly.
...I'm sorry, Azami...I'm sorry I have to break my promise like this... Hana thought to herself solemnly before continuing, "In the library, there's a back room filled with a bunch of older books. But in that room, on the floor, there's a door or a hatch of some kind, hidden. Open it up, and you'd see another, secret room at the bottom of some stairs."
"A...secret room?" Akira asked- this would be the first time Hana had seen the Ultimate Prosecutor look completely taken aback.
"Wait, so...you mean to tell me there is a secret room in the library!?" Kaneki exclaimed in shock. "And I completely missed it!?"
"Not the point, Kaneki," Shiori stated with a sigh.
"Anyways, Azami told me about how she wanted to turn this room into some kind of hideaway or workshop. She had already taken a good portion of her belongings down there..." Hana went on. "Which included cloaks and, I'd assume, her makeup."
Azami said nothing, having become paralyzed with pure shock and terror in her eyes.
"Is this true...?" Akira said, more to herself than anyone else.
"But..what if she just got rid of the cloak? There's a furnace she could have used to burn it," Shiro pointed out.
"I doubt it...I was in the furnace room a lot, and nobody came in, or at least none that went by the furnace itself," Kaneki responded. "Plus, I didn't find any ashes or anything burned inside, so..."
"There's only one way to know..." Akira declared, before turning to Monokuma himself. "Monokuma!"
The monochrome bear in question...seemed to be sleeping in his seat? Seriously?
"...I got this," Ryoto said, before taking a deep breath and roaring, "MONOKUMAAAAAA!"
The students had to cover their ears against the Ultimate's deafening cry. However, it seemed Ryoto's method worked, as Monokuma quickly jerked awake and asked, "Wuzzat? You guys finally done? Thank god, all that talking put me right to sleep!"
"Not quite yet- there's one thing we need to confirm who the blackened is, and we need you to retrieve it," Akira explained.
"Well now, it was your kids' jobs to investigate, wasn't it?" Monokuma asked. "It's not my fault you weren't thorough enough!"
"...You said you prided yourself on making these trials fair, didn't you? Well, a missing piece of evidence would certainly jeopardize that, and in a real courtroom it would raise some serious red flags," Akira responded, her death glare aimed right at Monokuma. "So, I repeat; without that evidence, we cannot convict a blackened, and therefore we'll be at this back and forth for a while. If you want to avoid that, you'll go to the library and retrieve that evidence for us."
"Hmph! A student bossing me around? How bold!" Monokuma responded. "Buuut you make a compelling argument, so ask and you shall receive! Just this once, though- next time, use your time more wisely everyone!"
With that, Monokuma jumped off his chair and disappeared behind it. It took a few moments, but soon enough the bear returned with a wide grin and holding something behind his back. "Well well, that sure was neat! I must say, Ms. Kurobe, you've got some weird stuff in that little hole of yours! What are they showing on TV these days?"
Azami was trembling, visibly terrified of...something...
"But you wanna know the most interesting thing I found?" Monokuma asked. "Weeeell, take a good look!"
The bear threw something dark into the air, and it landed in the center of the podium circle without much sound. Many of the students leaned down to get a better look...but there was no doubt about what they were looking at. It was a cloak, one of Azami's...but with a few noticeable differences; namely, the front of the clothing was splattered with dried blood, and a chunk of one of the cloak's corners had been torn off.
"..." It seemed that almost nobody had any words for what they were looking down at- emphasis on almost.
"Well, if this isn't damning evidence, I don't know what is," Akira noted. "Unless you have an amazing explanation for this, Kurobe."
"I...I..." Azami stammered, her eyes wide and her pupils shrunk from fear.
"...So...that's it then, right? We know who the killer is, so we're done, right?" Hinata asked.
"Not necessarily," Hiroshi replied. "I think it would be a good idea to review the incident one more time from the beginning, in order to make everything that happened perfectly clear."
"C...Clear...?" Azami asked, sounding like she was barely conscious.
"I...I should do it," Hana stated. "I promised myself...that I would uncover the truth behind Mikio's death. And...I want to see that promise through to the end."
"..." For a moment, Hiroshi looked hesitant...but nodded in agreement, gesturing for the girl to speak.
Hana nodded in thanks, before taking a deep breath to clear the lump in her throat. Well, it all comes down to this...you asked for this, Hana- you know the truth of what happened, and now you need to reveal it in full! "Here's what I think happened!"
"This incident began last night in the dining room, when Monokuma appeared at 8:55 and pulled a trick on us to scare everyone. When he did, about half of the people in the dining room fled- the killer included. As for the victim, Mikio, he didn't leave right away with everyone else, but soon enough he exited the dining room too. Ultimately, it left seven people in the dining hall until 9:45- me, Akira, Hiroshi, Shiori, Itachi, Tadao, and Saku. Everyone else ran to various parts of the castle, with Mikio heading into the fitness room to exercise. At some point, either before he had gotten there or while he was already in the fitness room, the killer ended up in the same room as Mikio. For a time, Mikio most likely kept to his exercising, with the culprit standing by- however, at around 9:20, the killer grabbed a seven pound dumbbell from the shelf and lashed out at him."
"Now...I'm not entirely sure what triggered the attack, although the crime itself felt very unplanned. As the killer assaulted Mikio, his glasses ended up being broken, rendering Mikio practically blind. Despite this, he still tried to flee from his attacker- however, one of the treadmills was still on. As a result, Mikio ended up stepping onto it by mistake, getting tripped up and injuring his ankle. This likely only made it easier for the killer to finish him off- but because the treadmill was still on, a certain piece of the killer's clothing got caught in the tread: their black, knee-length cloak, causing a piece of it to be torn off. Despite this, the culprit was able to continue attacking Mikio, hitting him with the dumbbell until he was dead."
"At this point, I can only imagine how badly the killer must have panicked after Mikio was dead, judging by how the crime scene was practically untouched. The only things the killer did were turn off the treadmill and bar the fitness room doors with a metal rod, most likely to delay the discovery of the body- other than that, the killer tampered with nothing, not even hiding the piece of their cloak stuck in the treadmill or the smudge from their makeup on the dumbbell. But, if the door was blocked, then how did the killer get out of the room? Simple- there's a secret passageway between the fitness room and the furnace room, hidden behind a pair of hatches on the walls of the rooms. Using this passage, the culprit was able to crawl out of the fitness room and into the furnace room without anyone seeing."
"From there, the killer had to get rid of the one thing that could tie them to the crime- their bloodied and torn cloak. However, going to their room would be too risky- luckily for them, the killer had a separate place they could go. They made their way towards the library- but unbeknownst to them, they were partially spotted by Hinata Yonade, who was sitting out in the courtyard at the time of the murder and somewhat saw the killer through the windows on the doors to the main chamber. Anyways, once the culprit was in the library, they headed for a certain room- a secret room, hidden beneath the floor of the library's back room. In that secret room, the killer had several of their belongings stores, including spare cloaks. The killer swapped the bloody cloak with a clean one and fixed their makeup- ultimately, they would leave the bloody clothing in this secret storage, possibly to dispose of it later."
"Cleaned up, the culprit left the library...but as they did, something unexpected happened. Rumi Hamasaki was in the main chamber and saw the killer; unaware that anything was amiss, she went over for a friendly chat with the killer. However, Rumi didn't have her e-Handbook on her at the time, and so asked the culprit for the time- which gave the culprit an opportunity. They told Rumi it was 9:15, earlier than it really was; they did this in order to mess up Rumi's perception of time in order to create a false alibi. From there, the two went back to their rooms for the night- but the killer left behind enough clues in order to point in one single direction, to a single person..."
Hana hesitated at this final part, but she looked straight at the killer and concluded, "I'm sorry Azami, but...you're the killer. There's no one else it could have been but you!"
"..." The silence coming from Azami was almost deafening. She stared ahead, as if her brain had frozen up leaving her with a look of perpetual shock. It wasn't long, however, before the illusionist started to shake again.
"Azami...if I'm wrong, then tell me! Refute me! I don't mind being wrong here, you just have to tell me!" Hana yelled in an almost desperate tone. "I want to believe in you, so please, just...just say something..."
"..." At first, the Ultimate Illusionist was still silent. But then, something changed in her face- the shock turned to anguish, and Hana could barely make out tears starting to build in her eyes. The cloaked girl rested her hands on the podium and hung her head low, then responded in a voice cracking with sorrow, "...No...No, you're...you're...right...!"
That was all it took to crush whatever hope Hana had left that her friend was innocent.
"Well, that's a confession if I've ever heard one," Tadao remarked rather cheerfully. "Monokuma, once we've decided on the blackened, what would be next?"
"Puhuhu...well, that would be the always thrilling voting time!" Monokuma explained. "Now, next to each podium is a lever. Use that lever to cast your vote on who you think the blackened student is! And make triple sure you vote for someone, otherwise that's a punishment for you!"
"Now! Time for excitement! Who will be chosen as the blackened? Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one?" the bear continued eagerly. "What's it gonna be? What's it gonna beeee!?"
Hana hesitated upon grabbing the lever, but steeled her nerves and made her vote alongside everyone else.
A long and thin opening in the ceiling opened, allowing a massive TV monitor to descend into view with a mechanical humming sound. The screen initially displayed nothing but black, then static, and finally something appeared onscreen. It was some kind of slot machine, the words 'VOTE' in big flashing letters on the top alongside other flashing multicolored lights on the side of the machine. On the slots, instead of the usual pictures you'd find on normal slot machines, there were pictures of the students' heads. Once everyone had voted, the slots started rolling as a drum roll played.
After what felt like an eternity, the slots stopped...showing Azami's face on all three. Applause and cheering was heard as confetti fell, a hundred or so coins flying out from the machine, and the words 'GUILTY!' flashing above. Then, the TV screen went black once more, although it didn't ascend back into the ceiling.
"I don't believe it! You kids got it right on the money!" Monokuma said. "That's right, the blackened student is none other than, ironically enough, the black-clad Azami Kurobe!"
Hana...didn't know what to think anymore. She glanced at the illusionist, whose head hung lower than before, her eyes practically obscured by shadows. Hana tried to keep herself under control, but the rush of emotion was almost too much- anger, confusion, shock, betrayal. There was no doubting it now: Azami killed Mikio. Azami...killed Mikio. No matter how she said it in her mind, that phrase was still awful. However, there was something more...one nagging question Hana needed an answer to above all else.
"Azami...why...?" Hana asked, trying to fight back tears. "Why? Why did you kill Mikio?"
"..." Azami was silent, not looking up an anyone.
"There's no reason for silence- you've already been found out," Akira told her. "Just give her an answer- an answer I'd like to know myself, actually."
"...I..." Azami began, her voice quiet. "I don't know..."
"You...what?" Hana asked, taken by surprise.
"I...I don't know!" Azami cried, looking up at last- allowing Hana to see the tears in her eyes. "I don't know why I killed him! I never meant to hurt him, I just...it just...it just happened!"
"So then...that hypothesis was right...?" Hiroshi asked. "Mikio's murder...it wasn't planned? It just...happened in the heat of the moment...?"
"I-I guess, I don't know, it was all a blur!" Azami replied. "When Monokuma showed up in the dining room last night, I-I saw no one went into the fitness room, so I hid in there...but then Mikio showed up, and...and I got scared! I thought he would try and kill me first!"
"Kill you...?" Hana responded. "But Mikio would never-"
"I was scared!" Azami repeated, sounding almost desperate. "I was scared, I was paranoid! I've been scared and paranoid ever since this damn killing game started! And the motive...the motive only made things worse!"
The illusionist clutched her head as if having having a powerful migraine before continuing, "All I could think about was fear and death, fear and death, fear and death, over and over and over and over! I couldn't stop, I was...when me and Mikio were in that room, all I could wonder was whether or not he would make a move to kill me, and...and I was by the shelf with the weights, I felt like I was about to have some kind of breakdown, but then Mikio came up to me, he put a hand on my shoulder...I think he was trying to calm me down, but I was so scared I...that was when I...I grabbed the dumbbell and..."
"You killed him. Simple as that," Akira interrupted coldly.
"I...I'm so sorry, I just...it was all so stressful, especially after..." Azami went on, sniffling and glancing at the other girls. "That day, we spent in the library...you remember that...? I was...I was so happy, I didn't think...I thought I'd actually made some real friends, I didn't want that to end...I wanted more days like that, I didn't want anything to happen to anyone, I...I never wanted any of this to...to..."
Hearing Azami's words...something clicked in Hana's mind. She slowly turned to Monokuma and asked, "You...You knew something like this would happen, didn't you...? You knew most of us were scared from the idea of murdering each other...so you threatened us in order to build on that fear. You were counting on something like this happening, that's...that's the truth behind your motive..."
"Whaaat? I thought that was pretty obvious," Monokuma responded innocently. "Now, I don't know the nuance, I'm no Ultimate Psychologist, so I'll just explain with this little metaphor: Think of sticks and twigs, right? Some are thin and easy to break, others are thicker and tougher. You all probably thought you were the thick and strong sticks, right? Well...with the right amount of pressure applied, even the strongest of sticks can snap right in half. Puhuhu...pretty brilliant, right?"
"So...you were lying...!? You weren't going to kill anyone at midnight?" Hiroshi asked, a hint of uncharacteristic anger in his voice. "It was all just...to get one of us to snap and kill someone...!?"
"Maybe it was a bluff, maybe it wasn't...not that it matters anymore!" Monokuma responded with sickening glee.
Hana felt like she was going to be sick. She glanced at Azami...and the Ultimate Illusionist was looking down, her shoulders trembling with sobs.
"I...I'm the one who screwed everything up, aren't I...? Because...Because of my damn paranoia, I..." Azami choked out. "I...I'm so sorry guys...I'm sorry guys! I'm sorry!"
The illusionist dropped to her knees, lowering her head and resting her forehead against her podium before sobbing, "Mikio! Mikio, I-I'm so sorry! I'm sorry!"
Hana had no idea how to feel, as if this entire ordeal had rendered her catatonic. She had wanted so badly to uncover the truth behind Mikio's death, and that was what she did...so why was this happening? She wanted to be angry with Azami, to hate her for killing one of her own classmates...and yet, it wasn't so simple. All Hana could think about was the time in the library with all the other girls, how Azami was laughing alongside them. And yet, all that emotional pressure and fear she was put through caused her mind to snap...and in the end, that fear caused her to do something she could never take back.
With this in mind...Hana just couldn't find it in herself to feel any real hatred towards her.
"Okay, well it's been fun, but I think it's time we bring this trial to a close, shall we?" Monokuma asked.
"What? But we already figured out who the blackened was," Hinata pointed out.
"Oh my, have you already forgotten? The blackened's penalty for being found guilty..." Monokuma explained. "Is nothing less than execution!"
"E-Execution!?" Asuna cried. "You're going to...!"
The realization struck Hana like a spear to the chest- how could she have forgotten? The punishment for whoever lost the class trial...was essentially a death sentence.
"No, no, you can't!" Kaneki cried. "This wasn't some regular murder, Azami was- it was an-"
"Nope, sorry! Whether it's 'Yeah, I killed him!' or 'Oops, I killed him', a murder is still a murder!" Monokuma responded dismissively. "And as such, the one who disturbed the peace must be punished accordingly!"
Azami looked up slightly...before she simply started to cry again, her sobs slightly more intense than before. It was as if the girl had simply...given up.
"A-Azami...!" Hana said softly, but the illusionist seemed to not hear over the sound of her own sobs. The surfer racked her brain, trying to think of something, anything to say to Azami in these last moments. But no matter how hard she tried, no words would form. What do you say to someone who's about to die?
"Now then, I've prepared a very special punishment for Azami Kurobe, the Ultimate Illusionist!" Monokuma declared dramatically.
Hana desperately tried to speak, to give some comfort to the distraught illusionist in her final moments...but it felt as if the words had become clogged up in her own throat, resulting in silence.
"Let's give it everything we've got!" Monokuma shouted with a massive grin. "It's...PUNISHMENT TIIIME!"
I have to...I have to say something! Hana told herself, desperately trying to get the words out...but nothing came out of her mouth for Azami to hear.
And nothing ever would.
A metallic cube with a little screen on the front and a red button on the top rose from the ground, stopping in front of Monokuma. The bear pulled out a gavel and raised it high, before bringing it down on the button. With a click, the screen lit up, showing an 8-bit version of Azami standing with a pixellated Monokuma approaching her. The Monokuma then walked offscreen, dragging the Azami sprite with him as text appeared.
GAME OVER
Azami has been found guilty.
Time for the punishment!
Azami didn't look up from her sobbing...that is, until a long chain with a clamp on the end shot out from a doorway that had opened up behind her. Within seconds, the clamp had tightly closed itself around Azami's neck, prompting the illusionist to look down at it in shock and fear. Before anyone could react further, the chain retracted, forcefully dragging a terrified Azami away with it. The doorway closed itself as soon as the illusionist was dragged through, preventing anyone from following- but then, the large TV monitor from before turned on once more, allowing the remaining students in the trial room to see what was happening.
Azami was being roughly dragged through a hallway, the illusionist struggling somewhat. Suddenly, the chain pulled her into a room with a stage of some kind, a single large chair attached to its floor. In one swift movement, the clamp came off, and Azami was practically hurled into the chair. Before the girl could react, she found herself strapped to the chair by her wrists, ankles, knees, and elbows- the only part of her body she could really move was her head, and Azami was swiftly looking around in panic.
Monokuma then popped up wearing a magician's outfit and holding a thin black wand. With a flick of his wrist, a pair of large stone blocks held up by chains dropped from the ceiling, Azami ending up between them. On one side of the blocks, the sides facing the illusionist, there was a large mirror attached.
Execution: Smoke and Mirrors
With another dramatic gesture from Monokuma, the blocks began to move back, away from Azami, little by little. All the while the girl in the chair was growing increasing terrified and panicked, struggling against the clamps on the chair. After what felt like an eternity, the blocks stopped...then suddenly sped right back towards the trapped Ultimate. Azami squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself to be crushed by the two blocks...but then, just before impact, the blocks suddenly dissolves into a wisp. It was most likely that the blocks were holograms if some kind, but ultimately Azami was completely unharmed. The Ultimate Illusionist looked around, visibly confused...
Then, a section of the floor beneath the chair started to turn, forcing Azami to face the left side of the stage. To her apparent surprise, some kind of wood chipper had been set up on that side, rumbling mechanically and aimed right at her- Monokuma must have set it up while everyone focused on the blocks. In an instant, a dozen...things dropped down from the ceiling, piling up neatly besides Monokuma by the wood chipper. Upon closer inspection, these were a dozen large glass panes- no, mirrors. Monokuma lifted up one of the mirrors and, with a sinister grin, threw it into the machine. With a horrible shredding sound, a piece of broken glass flew out of the mouth of the wood chipper like a bullet from a gun...and it grazed Azami's cheek, leaving behind a bleeding cut.
Moments later, dozens upon dozens of glass shards, big and small, shot out of the machine and sped right towards Azami. The glass had little trouble piercing and slicing into the girl's clothes and flesh, and Azami let several screams of pain as she was practically shredded by the glass. Monokuma would throw in more mirrors and adjust the aim of the wood chipper, creating what was essentially a stream of razor-sharp glass shards that ripped into Azami's arms, legs, torso, and face. As the last mirror was shredded by the machine and the last glass shard was shot out, Monokuma shut down the wood chipper, and the chair turned back so Azami was facing the 'audience'.
The chair itself was splattered in crimson, the area around the seat covered in stray glass shards and dripping blood. As for Azami herself...her clothing was shredded, her whole body torn and bloody, covered in hundreds of puncture wounds, lacerations, and gashes of all sizes. She was still strapped to the chair, but any and all movement had ceased completely. Azami's head hung low, her face almost completely obscured by her hair, but it was still possible to see several trails of blood running down her face and dripping into her lap.
Monokuma turned to the audience himself, doing a bow before a curtain closed on the stage, and the TV monitor the students had watched the execution on turned off once more.
The remaining students stood, paralyzed in place by what they had just witnessed. Hana felt like she was about to faint right then and there- she didn't want to believe what she had seen, but there could be no doubt...Azami Kurobe was dead.
"A...Azami!" Rumi cried in anguish, her hands flying up to her mouth as tears built up in her eyes.
"That...That wasn't real, was it...?" Hinata asked, horrified. "There's no way...no way...!"
"I...oh god, I think I'm gonna be sick...!" Kaneki choked out, having to physically steady herself on her podium as her face went pale.
"What the fuck...!? What the fuck? What the fuck!? What the fuck!?" Ryoto cried, trembling in place as he tried to process what they just saw.
"Ahahahaha! Wow, nothing like a good execution to get the heart racing!" Monokuma said as he reappeared in the room, his magician's outfit gone. "What did you think? Was it worth the wait? I'd say so! Puhuhuhuhu!"
"But-! Th-That was...that was horrible!" Shiro cried. "How could you do that to her?"
"Well, committing a terrible crime deserves an equally terrible punishment, doesn't it?" Monokuma asked, tilting his head.
Hana didn't acknowledge the conversation, as she was frozen staring at the ground. It took the Ultimate Surfer a moment to realize something: she was crying, evidenced by the tears she felt running down her cheeks.
"No...what Azami did was wrong, but to kill her in such a way..." Hiroshi replied, looking down with gritted teeth- the most emotion he had shown thus far. "You're...You're a monster..."
"Hey, 'monster' is a strong word! I'm just trying to uphold the rules of this castle life," Monokuma explained, unfazed by Hiroshi's words.
The more Hana listened to Monokuma's voice...the more she grew to despise it, and soon her emotionless state was replaced with a feeling of red, burning anger. "Stop..."
"And besides, isn't it all so despairingly ironic?" Monokuma asked, ignoring Hana. "Poor Ms. Kurobe- wanted so badly to survive, but in trying to do so she doomed herself to a most brutal end! So much for that hope!"
"I said stop!' Hana snapped, unable to contain the jumbled mess of emotions in her mind any longer as she turned her furious and tearful gaze at Monokuma. "This is all YOUR fault! If it hadn't been for you and your threat motive, none of this would be happening! Mikio would still be here! Azami wouldn't have killed him! She'd still be alive!"
"Puhuhu, my fault?" Monokuma asked. "Was I Azami Kurobe with the dumbbell in the fitness room? Nope! Besides, you all would have turned on each other eventually- all I did was speed up the inevitable! You can only go so many chapters without a murder, you know!"
"SHUT UP!" Hana shouted, her voice cracking with grief. "I...I won't forgive you! You or whoever's controlling you, I'll never forgive you! Never!"
"Wow, you guys just love to shout, don't you?" Monokuma noted. "Oh fine, I know when I'm not wanted! Besides, trial's over anyways- so go on, get out of here before I throw you out myself!"
With that, Monokuma disappeared behind his seat, leaving the class alone.
"...Why are you all so upset?" Akira asked, completely composed despite all that happened. "You have no reason to be."
"Yes, it was either her life or ours- the choice was obvious," Tadao added. "Is that what you mean, Rimutsu?"
"...Good point, but that's not what I was getting at," Akira told him before turning to the others. "I mean, you have no reason to be upset...because killers don't deserve pity."
Hana immediately turned her attention to the prosecutor. "What...?"
"You heard me. The most terrible act one can commit in this world is taking the life of others- it's an irreversible crime that affects many," Akira explained. "It should not, under any circumstances, be forgiven...nor should the one who committed the crime."
Hana couldn't believe what she was hearing. "But...it wasn't that simple! Azami, she...I don't think she meant to kill Mikio, it just..."
"Murder is murder. Even if the crime was sudden and unplanned, you cannot deny Kurobe still deceived all of us, even when our lives were on the line," Akira responded coldly. "And yet you'd still defend her actions?"
"We're not condoning what she did," Hiroshi told Akira. "But at the same time...it wasn't like she was plotting against us from the beginning. And the way she died...nobody deserves a death like that."
"I admit, Monokuma's method of executing Kurobe was...unnecessary, to say the least," Akira replied, signifying that even she was unnerved by Azami's death. "However, if you think that girl cared about any of us after her crime, you're sorely mistaken. When a person has the ability to take another's life...well, they stop being anyone's friend in that moment."
"H-How...How can you be so cold about this!?" Hana demanded, furiously wiping the tears from her face.
"Are...you saying that all the good things Azami had done are just invalidated now?" Rumi then asked, frowning.
"Yes," Akira replied bluntly, before making her way towards the hall that led to the elevator. "Now, we're done here. Let's go back."
Nobody had any objections to that, and everyone solemnly walked out of the trial room. As Hana walked, she could feel tears starting to form again- as much as she tried to fight them, she just couldn't. Akira may have a point, in that murder was an awful crime that shouldn't be condoned...but the memory of Azami's remorseful sobs right before the end made Hana unable to do anything but mourn for her on the same level as Mikio.
"...Hana," Hiroshi began, walking next to her. "You, um...whatever you're feeling right now, don't...don't blame yourself, okay? We...We did what we had to do..."
"...I can't...how can I not blame myself...? I...I'm the one who accused her! The one who revealed that secret room, the nail in her coffin, even I told I promised Azami I wouldn't tell anyone!" Hana yelled. She didn't care if the other students could hear her, if she kept these feelings bottled up the surfer thought she might explode.
"Hana, hey, calm down," Hiroshi responded, trying to keep his usual composure himself.
"Calm down!? Mikio and Azami are dead! Mikio was murdered, and I had the evidence that sent Azami to her death! How can I calm down with that!?" Hana cried. "This wasn't justice! This was torture! If that's what these trials are, then why are they dead!? What have we been fighting for all day!?"
Without waiting for Hiroshi to respond, she turned and almost ran onto the elevator. She was certain the others had heard her outburst, but she still didn't care. If someone tried to talk to her during the elevator's ascent, Hana didn't noticed- she tuned out everything, save for the sounds of the fountain elevator itself.
As soon as the students stepped off the elevator, the star-filled sky above acted as a clear indication of night. Hana was one of the first off the elevator- she still said nothing to the others as she briskly made her way back into the castle. Her body felt like it had been put through a train crash, and as such her fatigue (physical and emotional) got the better of her. Without a word to anyone, Hana made her way to her bedroom; locking the door behind her and setting her e-Handbook on the table, the surfer sat down on her bed and stared down at her feet.
This was all too strange, too horrible- surreal, as if Hana had been taken and dropped into some other reality. Despite this, she knew deep in her heart this was all real. This was real...and so were the friends she had lost. Hana gulped as memories of the two Ultimates flooded her mind. Mikio and Azami...she would never see them again. They would never breathe, speak, walk, smile, or laugh again. She would never get to know Mikio better, or show Azami what hanging out with friends was like...whatever futures those two had, they were gone to oblivion now.
Mikio...Azami...you two didn't deserve any of this...why did it come to this...!? WHY!? Hana asked herself, clutching her head. At this point, she was glad her room was soundproof- because that way, nobody could hear the sound of her letting out a sad and frustrated scream. And Hana continued to scream in anguish and grief for what seemed like hours, she screamed until her throat hurt and her eyes had run out of tears. Finally exhausted, Hana collapsed onto the bed, ready to sleep...
Bleep...bleep...bleep...
Hana looked up upon hearing a beeping noise. Wiping her eyes, the surfer looked around to try and find the source of the noise. It didn't take long to solve that mystery- her e-Handbook, which was flashing an odd green color. Furrowing her brow, Hana stood up and walked over to the desk; picking up the e-Handbook, she looked it over to try and see if there was something wrong...then, without warning, the handbook went black. Startled, Hana intensified her examination...but a few seconds later, the dark screen lit up with something new- text? Hana couldn't make heads or tails of it- the letters and numbers almost reminded the girl of computer coding. Then, a few seconds later, actual words in green appeared on the black:
Hello, Hana. If you are reading this message, that means you and the others are still involved in Monokuma's killing game. However, this message has been set to be revealed after only a few days of being in the castle, so there is most likely still time. Therefore, you shouldn't worry. Just keep doing whatever you're doing, investigate to try and escape with everyone. In the meantime, this e-Handbook has been reprogrammed to periodically give you bits of information that will help you put an end to the killing game. However, those files as well as these messages are for you only- only show them to others if absolutely necessary, and don't let Monokuma know your e-Handbook is doing this. Everything will work out, Hana- I trust you and the others. You can put an end to this twisted game.
All you have to do is remember everything.
Remember the class.
Remember your own role.
Just like that, the e-Handbook went off again, and soon it was back to its normal state. Hana searched through all the applications on the device, but nothing was out of the ordinary. No hints as to what that message was. Hana set the e-Handbook down, but now her sorrow was replaced with dizzying confusion. What she had just read...it felt like another language. Nothing in that message made sense...and yet, somehow, Hana felt compelled to do what it said and keep it a secret. She didn't know why, but...if there really was a way to put an end to Monokuma's game, then she decided to give it the benefit of the doubt.
Still, however...it was all so strange. Remember? Remember what? What was there to remember? What did it mean by her 'role'? How did...whoever or whatever sent that message know so much about the situation she and the rest of the class were in? And what did it mean by 'bits of information to help you end this killing game'?
With these questions and more bouncing around in her head, Hana flopped back down onto the bed, grief for her friends and confusion about the message swirling about in her mind.
Chapter 1: Mutual Survival- END
STUDENTS REMAINING: 13
TO BE CONTINUED...
A/N: And there you go! That wraps up Chapter 1! Ah, poor Mikio and Azami...sorry you two, but the killing game had to start somehow. Rest in peace, you two- rest in peace.
Also plot twist sudden mystery message on Hana's e-Handbook for the win yay.
Anyways, I had fun with this whole chapter! Makes me really look forward to writing the future chapters! Although, if I can be honest, I really wasn't expecting the Closing Argument to be that long- after all, the murder wasn't that complicated, but wow- five paragraphs...really wasn't expecting that. Sorry about that, everyone- makes me a little worried for future Closing Arguments. Ah well, it gets the job done. Speaking of getting the job done, how 'bout that execution? You know, I was planning on having the first half of the execution being based on some kind of magic trick involving mirrors...but as much as I looked, I couldn't find anything that I could really use, so I just settled on the fake stone mirror blocks.
But hey, it makes for nice trivia- maybe I'll put in some trivia at the end of every chapter (and I mean chapters, not individual parts- like, at the end of each chapter's trial, like I'm doing now). I think that would be cool, trivia and secrets are cool. But, ah, I'm just rambling.
Now, on to more important matters...I can't really say when Chapter 2 will start up. Like, I've got about a week before school, so realistically I could start it. However, I also want to leave the story here for now, because chances are I'll be sucked into school stuff and the story may be on hiatus, and if that happens I wouldn't want to leave Chapter 2 in an odd spot, I'd rather leave it on a cliffhanger here. With that in mind, I may take the latter option, so don't be surprised if you don't see updates for a bit.
But I'll return to torture the rest of the 80th Class, you can count on that! Especially since Chapter 2 is, like, I think my favorite chapter (and I can say that because I've got this all planned out), so look forward to that! And until then, see ya next time!