Disclaimer: The Danganronpa franchise does not belong to me. The content affiliated with this fanfiction belongs to Spike Chunsoft and Kazutaka Kodaka. This fanfiction is being cross-uploaded on Archieve Our Own, and the authors notes are located at the bottom of every chapter.

Chapter One: Third Time's The Charm Pt. 10

A cavalcade of negative feelings infested Makoto like a virus, as he reluctantly made his way through the empty halls, his blood ran ice cold and his legs are anxiously doing everything in their power to run; but running ws futile in their circumstance, even if they did manage to run somehow, it's not like they had anywhere else to go. His thoughts were brought to its impasse when he saw his fellow participants all gathered together near the elevator just like Monokuma told them, and to everyone's surprise, the doors finally ascended open after three days of never moving.

What made this feel even moe strange is that while Makoto had only been trapped in this building for a few days, the mere sight of that elevator door opening up was like a culture shock to him, still finding it hard to believe how many days truly passed since the game began — he snapped himself out of that and reassured himself that he already found evidence that would prove who staged the murder of Chairman Tengan, and he utmost trust that Kirigiri and Mitarai found clues that could help prove who's the traitor.

"The doors to the elevator finally opened! What for?" Great Gozu gasped.

"Did someone from the outside open the door?" Kimura's eyes grew wider, with a sense of relief and anticipation flowing from within her, "Have we been rescued?"

"No, I'm afraid not," Munakata interupted, breaking said unfortunate news much to the Ultimate Pharmacist's disappointment. "Do you recall the announcment that just played? The elevator door was obviously opened by Monokuma. There's a courtroom located in the basement of headquarters, and I'm sure that's where Monokuma will be taking us for the trial."

Gekkogahara followed up by nodding, having recalled the exact same thing and rapidly typed away on her keyboard. "That's right, I remember too," a cartoonish lightbulb hovered above Monomi's head to indicate her rememberance, "It's the same courtroom that Naegi-kun wouldn't been taken to during his trial, right?"

Sakakura clenched his fist, enraged. The Ultimate Boxer was ready to take his anger out on anything, but strangely looked at his bangle for some reason and lowered his fist. "Dammit! How did things come so far? We're supposed to be the fucking salvation of the world, and now we're stuck in this heap and forced to kill each other."

"Yeah, and so far none of the secondary branches have come to our rescue," Great Gozu nodded with distraught. "Surely, our predicament is of the utmost urgency, and yet we haven't heard from them since our last meeting. I can't believe this is all happening."

Kirigiri stepped forward into their conversation. "Whether you chose to believe or not is your own choice. Regardless, that's not going to change the reality we're facing. Chairman Tengan Kazuo is dead, and we'll be joining him soon if we don't avenge his death and uncover the truth of his murder."

"Yeah, she's right. We definitely can't give up now!" Makoto agreed, his words drawing the attention to his fellow participants. "We need to work together and uncover the truth of Chairman Tengan's murder! That's what he would've wanted."

His response hadn't fared very well — besides the smiles of encouragement from Asahina and Gekkogahara — the others mainly reacted with very mixed opinions, mostly looks of uncertainty, doubt, reluctance, or just plain anger. Rightfully so perhaps, they had already been war-scarred people for years because the actions of the Tragedy, and with the death of Tengan fresh in everyone's mind, they were either afraid of the game, genuinely concerned about their own survival, or irritated and fed up with the constant gestures of optimism that weren't getting them anywhere, nor escaping the building.

Munakata was indisputably in the last group, he narrowed his eyes, almost ready to draw his sword from its scabbard, "Do you honestly believe it's that simple?"

"What do you mean?" the Ultimate Hope asked in concern.

The Ultimate Student Council President threateningly turned to him, a response that made Makoto back a little further away, his sword clearly spoke for itself. "This isn't Hope's Peak Academy anymore, your meaningless and hollow worlds of grandeur may have successfully swayed five amnesiac children, but it won't have the same effect here. The people who stand in this room have witnessed horrors beyond your belief, civilizations destroyed, lives ruined, people killed. You speak of hope, but let me ask you Naegi, have you ever witnessed true despair?"

A small silence came about, Makoto wasn't sure how he should properly respond to that. Mitarai had taken notice of the silence, "We're really gonna have to start this trial now? I mean, did we really find enough evidence to figure everything out?"

"That unfortunately cannot be helped," Kirigiri said to the meek animator. "We've already reached the time limit of our investigation, all the pieces of evidence that we found will just have to suffice. What about you Mitarai-kun, do you believe everything you found was necessary."

"I guess I have no choice," the Ultimate Animator replied, he looked at his bangle and back to the others. "We...need to avenge the death of Chairman Tengan...no matter what," he managed to say, he slightly stuttered in his words, though small hints of confidence could be found.

The fourteen participants realized there was nothing more to discuss and made their way into the elevator, inevitably met with frustration when they learned that none of the buttons on the elevator actually worked anymore except the one leading them into the basement, though it made sense in hindsight since they knew that the mastermind would never make things easy for them. The situation couldn't be helped and there was nowhere to run, so without much of a say in the situation, without any further obections they pressed the button and allowed the elevator shaft to descend into the basement.

An akward silence filled the room and it was fairly easy to tell everyone was on edge. Their leader had just been killed and now they're standing in an enclosed space with a concealed murderer, anyone would be paranoid about that.

Finally the elevators had come to a halt, exposing the unnerving sight of what lied beyond that door. The court room, playing in on another case of cruel nostalgia to Makoto—the curtains, the podiums, and the big throne centered in the middle of the room were all too familiar. His stomach was in multiple knots at the sight and needed to smack the blood circulation back into his legs simply because of how nervous he was.

His anxiety made him the final person to step out the elevator and joined the others where Monokuma giddly welcomed them.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen, to the Future Foundation trial grounds! Mikasa su casa!" the two-toned teddy bear happily presented.

"Why're you making such a big deal out of the room? We've already known about this room," scoffed Ando.

More than anyone, Great Gozu couldn't help but eye all the cameras and monitors that scattered themselves. "This isn't like the same court room that I originally helped architect, there's way too much surveillance equipment."

"As if we didn't have enough cameras watching our every move," Izayoi said sarcastically.

"Those old things? They're just here so I can keep a close eye on you bastards, don't worry, you'll hardly even notice them!" Monokuma answered for them. "But enough dilly dallying! All you guys have been assigned podiums where you'll be standing for all the trials, hurry up and get there, time's a wastin'!"

They all followed their given instructions and reported to their respective podiums, the fact that all podiums were gathered together in a circle did nothing to help the tension they were already feeling towards on another. Somewhere admist their group of fourteen lied a killer, and in order to survive throughout this game they would have to sacrifice that said killer in order to escape this building.

It was cruel, but it was the cruel truth they were facing.

In what now seemed to be a regular tradition, all fourteen of the participants stood at their assigned podiums. Makoto specifically found himself assigned in between Great Gozu and Ando, in spite of admittedly wanting to stand next to someone he felt safer around like Kirigiri, Asahina, or Mitarai. He gazed over to the lavendar haired detective and observed that her podium was next to what should've been Tengan — which Monokuma compensated with a portrait of the deceased Chairman with a big "X" slanted across the picture in what looked to be blood.

It was high time for the trial of truth and deception...the trial of trust and betrayal...the trust of vice and vertue...the trial of faith and distrust...the trial of life and death...the trial of hope and despair...to finally begin...

COURT IN SESSION

"Tengan Kazuo...the Chairman of the Futurue Foundation...in complete contrast of the others members of the foundation, he was strictly a pacifist until the very end...he promised that he was going to protect everyone no matter what the cost was...the idea that someone would kill him right under everyone's noses is...unforgivable! I need to avenge his death...I need to uncover the truth behind his murder and save everyone!"

Monokuma fidgeted with pure excitement, happily resting on his throne. "Alright ladies and gentlemen, let's start things off with a basic explanation on how these trials work for the newcomers! You guys are gonna present your agument for who you believe the culprit is. If you vote correctly, then only the blackened will be punished, and the rest of you survive. But if you pick the wrong one...I'll punish everyone besides the blackened, and that person will earn the right to escape this building and become a denizen of society again. Now then, let's get this show on the road!"

"Before we begin, there's something important we start to assess," Kirigiri halted everyone, her sharp purple eyes inspected all the other participants in the trial, "Has anyone else noticed something strange about the podiums?"

Makoto's eyebrows raised when he saw the empty podium smack dab in the middle of Kizakura and Yukizome's podium. He might have noticed this sooner if he wasn't busyreminiscing about the death of Chairman Tengan. "That's right, there are sixteen podiums here, but there's only fifteen of us."

"Maybe it's meant for Hanamori Kaori-san—the leader of the 13th Division?" Asahina suggested. "Hanamori-san was actually meant to attend Naegi's trial the other day, but she was busy with food distribution in Istanbul, so I came instead."

"If you're only filling in for Hanamori-san, then why would Monokuma need sixteen podiums?" Kimura asked.

"Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that," Asahina remembered.

"Perhaps the podium is just meant for an extra?" Great Gozu suggested.

"How about we forget trying to follow any of Monokuma's logic?" Sakakura sighed in annoyance, "We all know that bear doesn't make any goddamn sense. He probably just put the extra podium in to make us all confused."

"Yes, it's better to dismiss those notions for the time being. We have more pressing matters to attend to, such as...who's the culprit responsible for murdering Tengan Kazuo?" Munakata affirmed to everyone, with Yukizome and Sakakura following the same train of thought with agreeing nods. "If what Monokuma said is true, then someone we know in this very room is the murderer."

"Does that really mean someone in our group is the killer?" Great Gozu asked, "What if everything Monokuma said this whole time was a lie and he's just trying to mislead everyone. That way he can execute us without having to break any of his rules."

Mitarai solemnly shook his head in regret. "Uhhh...I'm not too sure about that. If Monokuma was going to have us killed, wouldn't he have done that already?"

"Yep, that's right, Mitarai-kun! For as long as The Final Killing Game continues, I won't lay a single paw on you bastards!" the two-toned bear confirmed with the usual sadistic grin on his face. "After all, it would be far too boring if I just went coup d'etat on you guys instantly."

Kizakura flexed his right hand, and cooly took a drink from his flask. "I'll be the first to admit, I've gotta give the killer credit where credit is due. They definitely dropped the ball by killing the Chairman of all people, that's a pretty daring move."

"Geez! How many times do I have to tell you?" Monokuma yelled in anger, "I'm the Chairman of the Future Foundation, not Tengan!"

From the look of things, everyone felt it probably better to ignore the inane banter to spat out anything that comes from the bear's mouth. "So...how are we supposed to start one of these trials?" asked Mitarai.

Whether he liked to admit it or not, Makoto couldn't deny that he already had tons of experiences with trials under his belt after participating in six of them, so naturally he decided to speak up, "Well, let's start things off by referring to what it says on that Monokuma File, that usually helps us get an idea on how the murder played out. According to the file, Chairman Tengan's was discovered in the halls around the estimate time of 7:00 AM, there were two open wounds found on both his chest and neck areas."

"Yes, and from what Kimura-san told us, the wounds appeared to have killed him instantly," Kirigiri added in.

"Did the murder really happen at 7:00 AM?" Mitarai blinked in confusion. "I remember waking up around 6 AM, and I don't really think too much time passed after I discovered the body."

"Maybe Mitarai-chama just imagined it?" Bandai suggested.

"No, that's wrong!" Makoto interjected, trying to think back to previous events. "I think Mitarai-kun's telling the truth. A little before the trial started, I did some investigating and started collecting alibis from others for information. And I remember that Ando-san and Izayoi-kun said they previously encountered Chairman Tengan changing the times to the clocks around that time as well."

"We'll need more validation on a claim like that, otherwise we can't determine if you're telling the truth," Munakata said, he specifically looked to Ando's podium for an answer, "Is Naegi telling the truth about his claim or not?"

"Yeah, he's clean," the Ultimate Confectioner replied. "Me and Yoi-chan saw Tengan in the halls, he was messing with the clocks. We were the only ones in the halls at the time, so I can't think of anyone else who could've done it."

"Wait just a second! If you saw that decrepit old-timer messing with the clocks, then why the fuck did you not tell us this sooner?" Sakakura realized with anger, "That sounds like a pretty important piece of evidence for this case."

"I'm sorry, but since when did I owe you anything!" Ando shot back.

"We're getting off topic," Kirigiri interupted, a hint of irritation in her tone, "For now, let's continue discussing the murder of Tengan."

"With Ando's testimony now validated as truth, we're now able to confirm that Tengan was indeed responsible for switching the times of the clocks an hour later," Munakata continued speaking, "Yet, there's still another glaring question about this reveal that we need to properly address...exactly why was Tengan tinkering with all the clocks in the first place?"

Why was Tengan changing the times of the clocks...? I know there's gotta be an explanation based on the evidence I found... Makoto began to contemplate in his head. "I've got it! We've already learned that Chairman Tengan had deliberately changed the times of the clocks an hour earlier, but we didn't know was that he used them to draw someone out to fight them."

"So, what you're saying is that Tengan was trying to snuff somebody out?" Sakakura raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "You're starting to sound even more sketchy than usual. He couldn't have done that, otherwise he wouldn't be dead right now."

"No, Naegi-kun's on the right track," Kirigiri smirked. "Think back to exactly what was attatched to Tengan's wrist when his body was discovered, his right wrist to be more specific, and you'll find your answer."

"Are you talking about the chuusen?" Mitarai wondered, with the Ultimate Detective answering with a nod, "That was attatched to his right wrist when we discovered his body in the halls this morning."

"What're you saying? Does that mean Chairman Tengan could actually be the mastermind?" Great Gozu asked.

"Well, wouldn't that much be obvious?" Ando chimed back in. "Tengan had known an awful lot of things about this building and could've created a secret door in the lounge room, so it wouldn't be that hard to believe."

"And now that you mentioned it, how about that forbidden action of Tengan's—Answering a Question with a Lie?" Kizakura reminded the group. "Maybe I'm just a little in over my head...but does anyone else remember some of the strange things Tengan was saying before he died?"

Strange things? Makoto needed a moment to recollection his past memories and think back to everything over the span of those few days. Initially, he wasn't quite sure what Kizakura could've been implying by what he mentioned with Tengan's forbidden action, though after further recollections of some things the deceased Chairman said before his death, that may hvae become more obvious—

"We're trapped inside a building where tensions are high and the possibility that a killing game happening is quite likely."

"In our situation, the culprit responsible for all this could be anyone in this building—it may as well even be me."

Exactly what that meant were anyones guesses. Were they coincidental? Did they hold some sort of cryptic meaning? If what Kizakura said was true, then that would mean Tengan could have already been aware that a killing game would happen, or maybe that he was even the mastermind. Since he's dead now, asking him would obviously be out of the question, so Makoto could only rely on speculation, assumptions, and interpretations based on how the murder played out and the events leading up to it.

"Whatever the meaning, clearly we're far too early in this trial so start making baseless assumptions," Munakata dismissed those thoughts. "Let's address the chuusen found wrapped around Tengan's wrist. It's an older weapon specifically designed for the sake of shooting projectiles, but there wasn't any evidence in the crime scene that indicated it was ever used."

"Maybe someone attacked him before he even had a chance to use it?" Yukizome suggested. "Chairman Tengan is an elderly man, so he must've been defenseless at that moment."

"I'm not really sure that Chairman Tengas was defenseless," Mitarai replied. "While investigating, I read a book on the records of all Future Foundation members, and Tengan's record was in there too. It said he was a veteran in the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and was a skilled combatant for his time."

"It's true," confirmed Munakata. "A long time before becoming Headmaster of Hope's Peak, Tengan served time in the self defense forces for twenty years. He was the one who taught me everything I knew about swordsmanship and how to properly perfect my skills more. His combat skills aren't too impossible to rule out—he used to be a ruthless combatant, definitely a force force to be reckoned with, and showed no mercy to anyone who crossed his path. Though, something happened a little after Naegi was recruited and he changed his ideals."

"A participant that secretly hid their identity of being a soldier from everyone...why does that sound familiar?" Monokuma randomly said aloud. "Nah, doesn't ring a bell!"

"And if that's the case, then the Chairman wasn't fully defenseless," Makoto began to realize. "And if he intentionally changed the clock to an hour later in order to draw someone out, and went to retrieve the chuusen...that means he must have been attempting to murder someone!"

A large question mark found itself above Monomi's head. "Who could he have been trying to kill?" Gekkogahara asked.

"Maybe, it's someone that Chairman Tengan considered an enemy?" Yukizome pondered.

"An enemy? Did Tengan have any enemies?" Mitarai asked.

"I'm not sure he had any enemies, he seemed to appreciate all of us," Great Gozu said, beginning to recall his past memories of the Chairman. "Maybe he wasn't actually trying to kill anyone. What if he commited suicide and framed himself as the mastermind so we could all escape this building together?"

"Suicide!?" Kimura exclaimed with shock. "If the wounds inflicted on him were the result of suicide, then shouldn't this whole trial be over already?"

Kirigiri shook her head. "No, the trial isn't over, because Tengan didn't commit suicide. If he did, then we're found with more questions about the case than answers, such as his reasonings for doing so? And another aspect found in the crime scene proves that he didn't kill himself, this detail was missing from Tengan's murder. Do you remember, Naegi-kun?"

Another important aspect to the crime scene? If what Kirigiri-san said is true, then this would prove that Tengan didn't commit suicide... the Ultimate Hope started thinking. "It's about the murder weapon, isn't it?" the lavender-haired detective confirmed his question with a nod, "Whenever we investigated the murder there weren't any weapons present in the crime scene, which means that whoever really did kill Tengan must have moved the weapon somewhere else.

"Yeah," Mitarai agreed, but also sounded uncertain. "Tengan was a brilliant man, but he couldn't have done something like that. He would've have been able to kill himself, then somehow hide the murder weapon right before he died, would he?"

Kirigiri placed a finger to her chin. "No, he wouldn't. And the only weapon present at the crime scene was the chuusen, and we've already established it was never actually used."

"When we first discovered Chairman Tengan's body, I gave him an autopsy," Kimura reminded everyone, and still sounded rather mad at herself for being unable to save him in time. "A fatal laceration was found in the cervical region of his body and was found impaled in the left side of his pectoral region and presumably suffered from massive internal and external bleeding for a long period of time without proper treatment."

"What does that mean in layman's terms?" Ando moaned.

The Ultimate Pharmacist shot her a look of disapproval, and then continued. "It means Chairman Tengan's throat was found slit open and he was impaled through the chest, he didn't have any time to recover, so he couldn't have successfully hid a murder weapon with an inch of his life, not without us seeing at least."

"Which confirms the the killer must have hid the murder weapon after Tengan died," Kirigiri replied.

"Do you know what could've been used to kill him?" Yukizome asked.

"I'm anything but a doctor, but if I were to guess—a sharp object—perhaps?" Kizakura suggested calmly. "Like maybe a knife or a blade, or something. I dunno the details."

"Sharp objects are like backwards talking seagulls, so it definitely could've worked." Bandai noted.

A sharp object?

Makoto took the suggestion the human resources gave him into consideration. Of course, it all made perfect sense in hindsight. The only other weapon found in the crime scene was the chuusen, which was out of the question since it's confirmed to have never been used, and wouldn't possibly have been able to inflict the same wounds that Kimura brought up in her autopsy. A sharp weapon? Pins and needles already filled inside him at simply the thought, the idea of before forced to expose someone for murder only reminded him of the times he'd been forced to vote for his own friends at Hope's Peak Academy.

WIth a quick look through the Monokuma File on his bangle, he mentally double checked all the evidence once more. If his suspicions were correct — the culprit who killed Chairman Tengan was someone who must have known about the hidden weapons room behind the library and accessed the room after he and the others left, then used that katana to kill the Chairman — he couldn't think of a single other person that would have been responsible for slitting his throat or impaling him through the chest.

"I think I know what the weapon was," Makoto said.

"You know what the murder weapon is? Then what is it?" asks Kimura.

"A katana," he deadpanned. Makoto was fully aware this reveal may only stir up some more conflict in the trial, though the information could be a cruical part of the trial. "During the investigation, Gekkogahara-san, Asahina-san, and I searched Munakata-san's office, and we found a silver katana lying on the ground...and it was covered in blood. The katana looked just like the one we found in a secret weapons room that Monokuma presented us for the motive."

"What the...fuck?" Sakakura blanked. "What're you even fucking talking about? Munakata's not the killer!"

"No, that's can't be right!" Yukizome hysterically denied, "Kyosuke, couldn't have killed someone, right?"

"I agree," Great Gozu followed. "There must be some kind of misunderstanding. Kyosuke couldn't have actually killed someone, he's the one who's been trying to prevent any killings from happening this entire time."

"That's quite the valiant claim, Naegi Makoto. Do you have any proof that I killed Tengan?" Munakata simply raised his eyebrow.

"Yeah, how do we know you're not just making this up!" Sakakura yelled at makoto.

"Maybe I should've made a truth serum for this," Kimura hissed.

"Naegi's telling the truth!" Asahina interjected, "When we were investigating Munakata office, we found the katana was covered in blood stains!"

"And that's not all," Gekkogahara followed. "After we entered Vice Chairman's office, we encountered Monokuma and he told us something strange. He mentioned that we weren't the first people who entered this room this morning."

"What!?" Sakakura gasped in shock.

"So, is Munakata really the killer, or what?" Ando commented, "I can't really say I'm too surprised. He was always been a pretty shady guy, and I was almost positive that he'd been up to something since the game began."

"Munakata-san, do you have anything to say in your defense?" Kirigiri questioned sternly.

A/N: I was way too excited to finally write this chapter! It's probably the moment I've been waiting for since the very beginning, the Class Trials are always some of my favorite parts of the DR franchise, so inevitably, writing the chapters were equally as fun.

Just like in the games, this fic will have the characters who often are the smartest in the trials (I hear they're called "trial leaders) and play a hand in doing most of the mystery solving. In DR1 it's Makoto, Kyoko, and Bakuya — in DR2, it's Hajime, Nagito, and Chiaki — and for this fic it'll be Makoto, Ryota, Kyoko, Kyosuke, and Miaya.

The biggest reveal in this chapter was the "empty podium" found in the trial room, indicating there's perhaps a sixteenth participant in this killing game. It just wouldn't be the same if there weren't sixteen characters in the killing game. Who is this person? Who knows, maybe it's just Yasuhiro.

Oh, and if anyone was curious about the podium seatings are it's—Naegi Makoto, Ando Ruruka, Sakakura Juzo, Tengan Kazuo (deceased), Kirigiri Kyoko, Munakata Kyosuke, Bandai Daisaku, Gekkogahara Miaya, Kimura Seiko, Mitarai Ryota, Izayoi Sonosuke, Asahina Aoi, Kizakura Koichi, 16th Participant, Yukizome Chisa, Great Gozu.

The seatings of the podiums are actually a reference to a promotional image of Danganronpa 3 that depicts the characters together in separate rows.