Author's Note: Once again, I am sorry with how long this has taken to get out. But, I had some good news! I finally rediscovered the inspiration I needed for this fanfic and will be working on it tirelessly for the next few weeks! The next few chapters will focus on the fourth part of the game obviously and thus they will be out in just a few days! So keep an eye out for those! Mostly because I feel bad that this was just a trial chapter and not a leom or fetish one...
But, I promise those are coming soon!
Next part should mostly focus on Sakura and Touko. Then we'll start getting into Kyoko's route...I'm honestly excited to work on those parts!
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Chapter 11: The Second Trial
Warnings: None
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Leon hanging from the exercise equipment...blood dripping down his face...no, me hanging there...no...Leon? Me?
...Huh...?
I slowly opened my eyes, blinking a few times to allow them to adjust to the difference in lighting the infirmary had. A quiet beeping was muffled from my pocket; the rest of the room was still. My head was aching terribly, and I felt fuzziness in my thoughts as I tried to recollect them. My ankle hurt a bit too, punishment for throwing myself off the stairs earlier I bet.
As my eyes adjusted more and I looked around a bit, I noticed Sakura's form sitting on a chair silently, her hands at her sides. She was sitting close to my bedside, though she seemed to be deep in thought.
Right, if my foggy memory was correct, her and Aoi carried me back here after Celestia knocked me out. For some reason though, only Sakura remained behind to see if I was truly alright.
That gesture warmed my heart.
But...Celestia...
I shivered a bit.
She conned me, lied to me, betrayed me...
...And then tried to kill me.
She would've killed me, if I hadn't panicked at the last second and accidentally issued a command to her. I was nothing but some tool to her.
I shivered and felt my eyes well up with tears. I trusted her, and she betrayed my trust as easily as one decided what outfit to put your character in. A simple choice that you can just change later. I was such a fool for believing she even had my good intentions in mind.
And why didn't Aoi stay behind to keep an eye on me? Why didn't Sayaka? Only Sakura did. Somehow, though, I didn't really want to question it. She had good intentions, I felt.
I slowly slipped my hand into my pocket and pulled out my E-Handbook, already knowing what the beeping was for. After briefly glancing up at Sakura to make sure she wasn't peeking, I turned the tablet on and flipped to the fifth page, finding Celestia's name highlighted in gold.
I had nearly forgotten about that skivvy page that unlocked a new profile everytime I penetrated one of my female classmates. I hadn't done it in a while...but evidently it hadn't forgotten.
I pressed on Celestia's name and was greeted to an image of her bent over a table filled with steaming-hot Chinese food with an annoyed expression on her face. Her outfit was a gold-green Chinese dress that was very tight and form-fitting. Her hand was pulling it away from her body slightly, revealing the crotch of tight white panties as well as the firmness of her bottom. Matching slippers were on her feet. Her fetish list was mainly variations on BDSM and femdom, which made sense. Evidently, I was the one who had taken her virginity, much like with Junko.
I shook my head and turned the E-Handbook off, slipping it back into my pocket and looking back at Sakura. With my head and ankle hurting as much as they did, investigating was likely out of the question for me. And I also wasn't in any mood to deal with Celestia again either. Might as well get to know Sakura some more.
"U-Uh...Sakura-chan...?" I slowly asked, feeling my voice starting to return to me. She opened an eye and looked at me.
"Yes? Are thou feeling better?"
I nodded. "A little bit...my mind is still a bit fuzzy though..." I held my head to demonstrate. "I thought you'd be helping the others investigate though,"
"No, Sayaka-san and Junko-san can do a better job of that. I needed to make sure thou was alright," She explained.
"Makes sense..." I bit my lip as I thought through everything that had happened. If they were investigating, it was only a matter of time before they started putting the pieces together...Yasuhiro might be a culprit...Celestia might be a culprit...I might be one. I shuddered slightly.
"Would thou like to help with the investigation?" She asked, but I shook my head.
"No...if they have a question to ask me, they can come in here and ask it," I sighed, glancing around the room again. It truly was like Hifumi was never there...even though just a while ago I saw him with my own two eyes.
"Fair enough," Sakura nodded. "I do not mean to accuse thee, but I simply must ask a simple question, one I have been wondering,"
"Yeah?"
"Are thou involved in this case in any way?"
I winced again. "...Yes. But I didn't murder anyone, I swear by that. I could never murder someone.."
Sakura nodded. "Thou did this because...why? You have evidence against you, I am willing to assume. It was a very risky thing to do,"
"I know...I guess you could say that my mind wasn't exactly clear at the moment. I was focused more on the failure than the consequences," That was true, at least.
"While I could never do what thee has done, I will not pretend as though I do not understand it. However, it was still risky, and I would suggest thee to not do it again," She closed her eyes again.
"You...don't have to tell me twice," I laughed awkwardly. I then took the time to look at Sakura, letting her words sink in.
She had a very old-fashioned way of speaking, which made me feel self-conscious about my own accent. The closest comparison I could draw was to all of those video games I played occasionally about samurai and ronin and whatnot. History was never my forte, but sometimes all you wanted to do was swing a sword and betray your master to some beautiful koto music. Of course, the majority of characters in those games were men.
Women, when they did appear, tended to be negated in the roles of wife or mistress...or geisha.
Suddenly, I had an image of Sakura as a geisha. For some strange reason, I felt as though it could actually fit her in some strange way; she already had the accent and language down. Plus, her uniform was kinda old-fashioned too. Once things calmed down a bit, I'd definitely put some more thought into it. I didn't even mind her muscles; they made her prettier in a unique sort of way. And it wasn't like she was the only one of my female classmates with muscles.
"I knew I would find you in here," Byakuya's cold voice cut through the air like a knife and I immediately found myself trembling. "After they said you weren't investigating,"
"W-What do you want...?" I asked slowly.
"To tell you that while the general thought is that Yasuhiro-san did it, I would be more willing to place my money on you,"
"H-Huh?!"
Sakura stood at that, keeping an eye on Byakuya.
"You are a little computer nut. This whole thing started because of Alter-Ego. I bet you wanted to keep the computer to yourself, so you hid it and eliminated the competition. What a sly thing to do," He continued with a smirk. "Then you framed Yasuhiro-san with that ridiculous costume. I asked Junko-san, she said you liked cartoons and knew what show the character was from,"
Stupid Junko.
"And you came into the hospital room of an injured girl to berate and accuse her?" Sakura finished for him.
"Just stating an opinion of mine. One that I'll be sure to develop further in court," With that, he turned on his heel and left, making me shiver again.
Why did it seem as though Byakuya had it out for me? I hadn't even done anything to him! I sighed and wiggled my leg slightly, pulling the covers back.
"Are thou sure? Nobody would judge thou if thee decided to sit out the rest of the investigation," Sakura's tone became more gentle as she hurried over to my side. I nodded and gently stood up, wobbling a bit.
"The investigation is likely winding down anyway, by the sounds of it...I need to start heading to the elevator," I bunched my fists up in my skirt as I left the infirmary, Sakura right behind me. Like the last trial, I felt incredibly sick to my stomach and just ill at ease in general, but this time even more so.
I planted the blueprints in Yasuhiro's room. I led him to the rec room early in the morning. I hid Alter-Ego. I faked getting attacked to throw off Celestia and Hifumi's tracks.
Heck, I even allowed Celestia to take those embarrassing pictures of me tied-up to entice Hifumi into her side!
I had a record.
And now I was going to pay dearly for it.
Sayaka and Celestia were among the classmates who were already standing in front of the elevator; they hurried over to me once they noticed me.
"What's wrong, My Lord? You look sick..." Sayaka immediately asked, a worried expression on her features.
"Yes, whatever is the matter, Master? If you make an expression like that while innocent, the others will believe you do be guilty," Celestia tittered. The ring I gave her earlier shone dully under the glaring lights.
I swallowed sickly. "I just...I hate having to do this again! To condemn somebody to die so easily...last time it was my best friend...who will it be this time?" Tears welled up in my eyes.
Sayaka put her hand on my shoulder, but said nothing else. Her lacy red bra strap was visible from where it fallen on her shoulder slightly.
Once the others all caught up with us, we took a final moment to mentally prepare ourselves before we stepped into the elevator.
Throughout the ride, Celestia was giving me a cold smirk that made me shiver. She still had a plan for me, and I knew it wouldn't end well for me.
Yet could I really accuse Celestia flat-out like that? She was still my friend, after all. Much like Mondo had been, murder didn't necessarily make her a bad person in my book.
I swallowed sickly and held my throat.
Just get this entire trial over with.
The pictures were still up from last time; Hifumi's and Kiyotaka's had been added alongside Mondo's while Junko's had been removed. I shivered a bit.
"Well, no sense in stalling now. Let us begin," Celestia tittered as she folded her hands in front of her dress.
Court is now in session!
"We shouldn't even have to go through all of this! Yasuhiro-san is the murderer, plain as day!" Aoi huffed, glaring at him.
"Yeah, like, we found those blueprints and junk in your room. And materials too," Junko sighed.
"And the costume could only fit on you, if I recall," Celestia got a thoughtful expression on her face. I bit my lip as I stared down at the floor.
"So? You have to give me more of a fighting chance here! I'm being framed!" Yasuhiro cried. It was actually quite...pathetic. Especially since he wasn't even the one who did it.
"But...the writing on the blueprints," Makoto spoke up. "I have a note that he wrote me before we gathered to discuss Alter-Ego's disappearance. His handwriting is neat and fancy, unlike the writing on the blueprints,"
"Excuse me, but he gave you a note? I thought Sayaka-san was going around giving notes to all of us," Celestia asked.
"Nope! Just you and Master!" Sayaka teased.
"See? So I totally have someone on my side here!" Yasuhiro carried on.
"I do not suspect you. Rather, my suspicion lies on Chihiro-san," Byakuya stared at me, making my blood run cold. "It seems awfully peculiar, does it not, for her to have had no alibis for the majority of last night and this morning? Plus, she is a computer geek. She could've moved Alter-Ego on her own, then did away with the others out of annoyance and greed,"
"I-I-I...I didn't do that!" I suddenly cried out in disbelief. "I could never!"
"Yeah! This is just like last trial! Leave Master out of this!" Aoi cried.
"Weren't you j-j-just trying t-t-to accuse somebody...?" Touko grumbled.
"I don't have an alibi because I spent most of last night asleep. A-And then I was attacked b-by the madman..." I trembled. "That's t-the truth..."
"But nobody saw you get attacked. Nobody saw Celestia-san or Hifumi-san get attacked either, now that I think about it..." Kyoko thought about it.
"Most of you were all asleep," Celestia sighed. "Therefore, there is nothing to discuss here,"
My thoughts mainly swam around in my head as Makoto started to explain to the others how the bodies were moved and at what times. I tightened my grip on my skirt, refusing to look up. My heart hammered in my ears. I knew Celestia and Byakuya were staring me down on either side for their own personal reason and it made me feel ill.
"Can we, like, start from the top maybe? Dumb blonde here, after all," Junko waved her manicured hand dismissively.
"I can. To begin, Aoi-chan, Kyoko-san, and Makoto-san were all with me in the cafeteria this morning. Sayaka-san was there as well, however she was kept to the kitchen, cooking breakfast I presumed." Sakura started to explain smoothly. "We were there for about an hour until we realized nobody else seemed to be showing up. From there, the five of us all split up to look for everyone. Aoi-chan and I met up again with Makoto-san in the rec room, finding Celestia-san there,"
"I was knocked out for over an hour, it seemed..." Celestia sighed sadly. "As I was attacked at around seven in the morning,"
"And shortly after that, Junko-chan and I found you, My Lord!" Sayaka smiled nicely. "You had gotten attacked by the same madman as the rest!"
"Kyoko-san was still nowhere to be seen, but we managed to come across Touko-san and Byakuya-san in the library alongside Hifumi-san. We escorted both him and Chihiro-san to the infirmary, then continued our search for the madman," Sakura continued.
"We all started to split up to look for the madman, and Celestia-san kept saying she spotted him, running up and down between the stairs of the second and third floor..." Makoto stated. "Then, we heard Hifumi-kun scream from the infirmary,"
...And on it went. I found myself starting to tune it out again as I kept one hand at my throat and the other firmly gripping the edge of my skirt. Byakuya glared at me coldly from one side and Yasuhiro mumbled something under his breath on the other. Celestia caught my eye and made a subtle slicing motion across her neck. I gulped, starting to feel bile fill up my throat.
Please don't puke here...please don't puke here...please don't puke here...
"From the descriptions of these events, I think it is fair to presume that they are not a series of connected events, but rather their own individual events," Kyoko finally commented. "That is why, together, they make very little sense,"
"We don't even know what order they were killed in..." Junko sighed.
"Yes we do! We can use the numbers on the hammers!" Aoi announced. "Don't you remember?"
"But the numbers have nothing to do with anything!"
"Exactly. In fact, they could've just been a diversion used by the culprit to lead us astray," Kyoko nodded.
"Oh? And do you have proof of such a statement?" Byakuya asked, and Makoto nodded.
"When we were investigating, we found that Kiyotaka-kun's wristwatch had been smashed! And the time on it had stopped as a result, and it was stopped to...about six this morning, I believe,"
"His watch was still working last night," I pointed out slowly, recalling the incident. "Since he was able to tell what time it was,"
"He must've been attacked at six this morning, then," Kyoko nodded with a note of finality in her tone.
"If that is the case, then, how about Hifumi-san's death? And Celestia-san and Chihiro-chan being attacked? Those all happened a little after seven, if I recall from their testimonies," Sakura asked.
"Yes, because Kiyotaka-san's death happened way before any of those other events,"
"So, the culprit intentionally planned this, making the hammers increase in size as well as their number to distract us," Byakuya continued to smirk. For a moment, I could've sworn he stared right at me and my blood ran cold again.
"Nobody has an alibi for Kiyotaka-san's murder, but we all have an alibi for Hifumi-san's," Sakura added, which made Byakuya direct his smirk right at me.
"All of us, except for her," He stated.
"I-I was in the infirmary when it happened-!" I begun to defend myself.
"Hm? But when we returned to the infirmary to check on you, you were nowhere to be seen at all, Master," Celestia smiled sweetly. "Why would you leave? After all, you had gotten attacked and sprained your ankle. Were you really in any condition to be up and about?"
Even now, my ankle ached dully to confirm her statement. I tightened my grip on my pedestal. "I was nervous...I needed to know what had happened to Alter-Ego and I wouldn't be able to rest properly until I had,"
"Stop ganging up on Master like that!" Aoi suddenly snapped. "I can understand you, Byakuya-san, but Celestia-san? Stop accusing everyone!"
"But the evidence is interesting, is it not?" Byakuya's smirk never wavered. "She has no alibi for one of the murders, nobody even saw her if I recall properly. This whole thing started over a computer program that she even claims she was attacked by the very same madman. And now she stands here before us all, claiming she had nothing to do with any of it?"
"Even when the bodies themselves were moved...we still all had alibis, aside from Kyoko-san, Yasuhiro-kun, and Chihiro-chan," Makoto finished for him, sounding disappointed.
"S-So, you think I somehow pulled all of this off?" I begun trembling.
"It is just a theory. I am not one for mindless accusations, but even I have to admit that it seems fairly suspicious," Sakura admitted.
"But that is what we're in this trial for! To bring the true culprit to justice and shed away the accusations on Master! Or something like that," Aoi explained.
"When you look at it from another angle, the only potential suspects are Yasuhiro-san, Kyoko-san, and Master of course," Celestia finished, smiling just a tiny bit. "After all, the rest of us were all accounted for,"
"What now? The ball is in your guys' courts..." Makoto looked from me to Kyoko to Yasuhiro, trying his hardest not to look distressed. I simply winced and stared back down at my feet.
"All this trial has mainly been everyone pushing off accusations onto other people. It obviously has gotten us nowhere. So, instead of asking who did it, why don't we ask ourselves how they did it?" Kyoko stated. "Like how did Hifumi-san manage to move himself so quickly?"
"Yeah...Celestia-san said he was only out of sight for a moment, but...how is that even possible?" Makoto thought about it.
"Because the corpse moved itself. Hifumi-san most likely wasn't dead, which is what he originally led us to believe,"
"But that is not possible," Celestia tittered.
"How is it not possible? Like, we even got an alibi for that!" Junko announced, pointing to me. I swallowed nervously.
"Well? Tell us. You were in the infirmary with him for quite a while, were you not? Did you see anyone come in and kill him? Or, did he fake it?" Byakuya asked me calmly. I trembled more as I held my throat.
...Telling on Hifumi wouldn't mean anything, right? After all, he was simply an accomplice on the case, and he was dead regardless.
"...Yes. He was only pretending to be dead. I think he used the...the fake-blood transfusion in the fridge," My hand was shaky as I took it away from my throat and placed it back in front of myself again.
Byakuya nodded to himself. "There's your answer. Hifumi-san were merely playing dead, then once we had all split up, he took the opportunity to move the corpses,"
"He must've used the cart we found earlier too," Makoto commented.
"But, how can you be so sure of such a claim? After all, where is the evidence he was even dead in the first place? It is not as though any of you checked," Celestia sighed.
"His glasses! When we first saw him in the infirmary, his glasses were all covered in blood, but when we found him again, they had been wiped clean! And I found a glasses-cleaning rag in the trash can," Makoto commented.
"Hmph-!" Celestia huffed in annoyance, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
It was only a matter of time before Makoto ended up solving the case. Exposing Celestia...
And...
Exposing myself. Yes, I didn't commit any actual murders, but I aided in quite a bit of the scheme. What would the others think of me once they learned of the fact?
"What about the Body Discovery Announcement that played when we found Hifumi-kun's body? Surely, that must count for something, right?" She continued on, playing with her hair. Her pigtails had been put back on before the start of the trial. When did she even find the time to do that?
"And how do we know it was truly his corpse that triggered it, and not some other one?" Kyoko shot back.
"Indeed. When we happened upon Kiyotaka-san's, the announcement played for us," Byakuya nodded.
"Therefore, you must've confused the two,"
"So, are you saying that, like, Hifumi-san was just playin' dead, then when we all left, he got up, cleaned himself up, and moved Kiyotaka-san?" Junko asked in disbelief.
Makoto nodded. "I mean...there's nothing else it could possibly be,"
"So, the victim in this crime is actually one of the perpetrators!" Sayaka added eagerly.
I swallowed sickly, feeling Byakuya and Celestia staring me down from either side again.
"The last piece of evidence we have is that note Makoto-kun found on Hifumi-san's person," Kyoko explained. "The note told him to meet in the physics room at six in the morning, that they had something important to tell him,"
"Hey, I had something similar to that too! Except...I didn't get a note, instead...someone told me in person to meet in the rec room at one in the morning because they had something important to tell me," Yasuhiuro announced.
"Who was it?" Kyoko asked in surprise, glancing at him.
"Um...it was Chihiro-chi! Yeah, she invited me to the rec room at one! But I was a bit late in getting there, so I arrived at one-thirty...but, she told me she had something important to tell me!" He pointed at me, which made me startle badly.
"H-Huh?! I-I don't...I don't remember doing that!" I tried to feign confusion and innocence.
"Though, after that it's pretty blurry. I don't remember much of what we discussed or anything, really...just me heading there, finding Chihiro-chi there, then everything after that is fuzzy. I just remember waking up in that pool locker,"
"What an interesting turn of events," Byakuya's smug, smirking face was back. I winced.
"But how do we know the note was intended for Kiyotaka-kun?" Aoi asked in confusion.
"Because the note says to meet up in the physics room at six in the morning, which is where and when he was killed!" Makoto continued. "And there's also the fact that the paper had been torn, meaning Hifumi-kun tried to tear it out of Kiyotaka-kun's hands. Kyoko-san and I found the torn sheet of paper still clutched in his hand,"
"So he was trying to dispose of the evidence!" Junko finished.
"Meaning that he was an accomplice in this case...alongside Master, it would seem," Kyoko stated, making all eyes fall back on me again.
"A-And...? So I lured Yasuhiro-kun into the rec room. That doesn't mean anything. I just had to ask him an actual question, and the murderer got him, and I just happened to be framed...!" I tried to call myself down. Freaking out here and losing my cool wouldn't look very good in their eyes, especially when I was already labeled as a prime suspect.
Why did I never pay better attention to all of my crime-solving games before?!
"So...who killed Hifumi-kun, then?" Aoi asked, blinking.
"The true culprit," Sakura answered for her.
"And I think all of the evidence points to Master being the target," Celestia folded her hands up in front of herself, smiling sweetly. "We already know that she has no alibi for the murders, claiming to have her ankle sprained, she admitted to Hifumi just playing dead, Yasuhiro-san also said she was the one who lured him into the rec room and knocked him out, not to mention that this whole thing started because people were fighting over a laptop. I can see her as being very technology-depraved and beginning to go stir-crazy. She hid Alter-Ego, planted seeds of discord, then took out people whom she wouldn't think we'd miss,"
"I-I..." My eyes welled up with tears, which I knew wasn't proving my innocence at all.
"Her and Hifumi-san were in on it the whole time," Byakuya smirked. "I should've known,"
"But...what about the fact we found her in the art storage room alongside the other bodies? If she truly was the culprit, she wouldn't knock herself out and put herself in such a vulnerable position..." Makoto thought about it. "I hate to admit it, but there's evidence pointing her into an accomplice role, but...I don't think she's the main instigator of these events,"
I quietly sighed in relief and shot Makoto a smile, trying to show my appreciation. As long as him and Kyoko were in this trial, I would be safe. Celestia and Byakuya wouldn't be able to falsely accuse me!
"I have another question!" Yasuhiro suddenly announced. "How exactly did Hifumi-chi get killed? I mean, think about it. The Monokuma File says they were bashed in the head with similar weapons, but both of the Justice Hammers were left where we found them,"
"Maybe they were killed by #1, #2, or #5! The ones Celestia-san, Hifumi-kun, and Master all got attacked by!" Aoi announced.
"#5 is large enough to pack a lethal punch, but...Junko-chan took it from Master for evidence I think," Sayaka recalled. "What did you do to it?"
"Oh, I left it in the infirmary," Junko shrugged.
"It wasn't any of the hammers we've seen then..."
"Because it wasn't any of the Justice Hammers. When we were investigating, I found a hammer in the art room that had been washed when all the other hammers were dirty and dusty. Why would this one hammer be cleaned? I think it was to rinse all of the blood off!" Makoto explained. "There were also several hammers missing from the storage room walls anyway. I think they used those as a base for the Justice Hammers,"
I winced involuntarily at the mention of the hammer. It was painfully clear to me now. Hifumi had been murdered by Celestia, using the same method she was about to use on me.
The one time I was grateful for my powers...and I used them on accident!
But...what is it really that bad of an outcome? I was still alive, was I not?
At the same time, though, two more people were dead...
"But the last remaining question of this trial is...who is the true culprit? The one who coerced Hifumi-kun and Chihiro-chan into working with them?" Makoto asked.
"What makes you think you have not already found them? I thought we were all quite clear that it was Master who did all of this," Celestia responded, playing with her hair again. She looked away.
"We already decided it couldn't be Chihiro-chan because we found her unconscious in the supply room. If she was the true culprit, she would've hidden her tracks better," Makoto shook his head. "Clearly, whoever she worked with was trying to dispose of her once she outlived her usefulness, just like they did with Hifumi-kun,"
"That's horrible! Who could do such a thing?!" Aoi demanded, gasping.
"Only one person...if you look at all of the evidence, it adds up to who it was who did all of this..." Makoto took a deep breath and pointed a finger right at her. "Celestia-san!"
"Oh? What makes you believe I am the suspicious individual?" She simply tittered. "Is there not more evidence accusing the programmer than I?"
"So now you deny his claims?" Byakuya mused.
"She's done nothing but deny people's claims this entire time!" Aoi stated.
"The evidence points to you, Celestia-san. There's even evidence to prove it," Makoto nodded.
"So, you truly think Hifumi-kun and I worked together? Not just him, but Master as well?" She continued to giggle, smiling sweetly. "The mere thought of being in the same room as the two of them! One is a useless lard of fat who spends his time drooling over fake girls, and the other is a sniffling crybaby who is too afraid to even look in the mirror! They are both utterly fucking useless! And I hate both of them!" She then giggled cutely. "...So to say. Excuse me,"
"He just said there was evidence to prove it. The evidence in question is the fact that only the three of you ever saw the madman, or got attacked by him," Byakuya continued. "Quite suspicious. And there's also the fact that you had a slip of the tongue when you saw Hifumi-san's dead body. You said quite clearly 'he's watching us run around in a panic, hoping to kill us just like those two',"
"Hmph..." Celestia frowned. Her diamond ring glittered under the lights again. "So you claim that I was lying about the madman? Then how about this picture that I took? Are you just going to claim that I faked the image?"
"It's not a fake, but it's not of Hifumi-san being dragged away by Robo-Justice...rather, the opposite." Kyoko stated. "It's of him dragging Yasuhiro-san away,"
"And you truly believe that? Don't you think that if one were unconscious when they put the costume on, it would be obvious?" Celestia leaned forward slightly, looking annoyed.
"No, because the back doesn't bend," Makoto stated.
"Right! So if he were unconscious when he put it on, there'd be no way to tell!" Aoi added.
"So, Celestia-san knocked Yasuhiro-san out and dressed him the suit..." Kyoko finished.
"I suppose you could say that we've finally won. All of the odds have been stacked against you," Byakuya looked quite pleased with himself. Even I had to breath a sigh of relief. I wasn't about to be wrongly accused!
"Hm? You won? You really, really, truly think that you won?" Celestia started to titter again, bringing her hand up to her mouth. At first her giggles sounded as they always did before gradually growing more psychotic-sounding. "You haven't won anything yet, you pieces of shit! You wanna act so smug, actin' like ya have me cornered!"
"C-Celestia-chan!?" I asked in disbelief, blinking. "Are you alright...?"
"You are so cocky that you all forgot about the most important piece of evidence...what Hifumi-kun said as he was dyin'! He said...Yasuhiro, did he not? In other words, he clearly meant...Yasuhiro Hagakure!" She pointed her finger at him. "Isn't it fucking obvious? Him and the little wimp were in on it from the very start! I am just a hapless victim in this!"
"But could the 'Yasuhiro' he was referring to truly mean him?" Kyoko wondered.
I blinked a bit, recalling that joke Monokuma told us at the start of this whole thing. That if we turned our E-Handbooks on, it would reveal our real name, the name we registered with. At the time, I had been too concerned about my gender being displayed that I just shrugged it off as a joke, but now...
"A fake name!" I suddenly announced. "One of us here is using a fake name...and it has to be you, Celestia-chan!"
"You're going to accuse me too, you little bitch?! Fine then! Go electrocute yourself!" She promptly flipped me off, but I simply blinked.
"It's nobody else...I know it's not. You're the only person where it makes sense..." The queasy feeling in my stomach had returned and it roiled around slowly. I needed to finish this quickly before I lost both my confidence and lunch!
"You would go so far as to accuse me of such a thing...having such a stupid, bogus, tasteless last name like Yasuhiro? As if someone like you could even talk, Chihiro Fujisaki!" She flipped her hair.
I blinked. "T-That's not...w-what...?" More importantly, why was she suddenly able to refer to me by my full name again? Was the spell starting to break on her? If so...I really needed to hurry!
"Celestia-chan...show us your E-Handbook! If it turns on and it displays your name...then we'll know," I commanded.
"And if it truly does show Celestia Ludenberg...then you have nothing to worry about," Kyoko smirked.
"B-But...fine," She gritted her teeth and slipped it out of her pocket, holding it up so only I could see it. She turned it on and grumbled as her name flashed on the screen.
'Taeko Yasuhiro'.
"Taeko...Yasuhiro..." I responded to myself in surprise.
She then quickly turned it off, playing with the ring on her finger. "I will have you know...I am not the type of person who just gives up simply because the odds no longer seem to be in her favour. Simply put...because one never knows when they'll come back up on top," With that, she slipped the ring off that I gave her and dropped it on the ground, raising her foot and stomping on it, shattering the plastic.
"C-Celestia-chan...!" I gasped out. I...I gave y-you t-that!" I trembled.
"Exactly. You think I ever cared for you? If I was given the chance, I would've done away with you as well. You were simply just a means to an end. It was awfully fun playing with you, stringing you along...it was so cute how you developed a crush on me..." She tittered.
"B-But...your birthstone..." I continued lamely.
"Diamond isn't my goddamn birthstone! My birthstone is topaz, you imbecile!" She yelled. "It's quite funny, you want to act all girly and princess-y to blend in with us...yet you don't even know the first thing about being a girl. You don't even know something as simple as the different birthstones..."
"Not that this isn't enjoyable to watch, but perhaps we could start to wrap this trial up? I believe we have all of the evidence we could possibly need," Byakuya interrupted us, and Makoto nodded.
Let's go back and put the pieces together...one final time.
Closing argument!
Act I:
The crime begun last night, when the culprit in question paid a late-night visit to one of their accomplices, seducing them into helping them. The accomplice was Chihiro-chan, picked for her trustworthiness and ability with computers. She was unaware of the culprit's true plans and agreed.
Act II:
The two of them put their plan into motion by inviting Yasuhiro-san into the rec room at one in the morning. Chihiro took the task, claiming she had something important to tell him. The two had been close lately so he agreed, but was half-an-hour late in getting there.
Once he arrived, Chihiro distracted him and the culprit knocked him out with drugs. Once he was out, the culprit made us of the other accomplice they had coerced into helping-Hifumi-kun. The two of them abandoned Chihiro-chan to her own devices as they took a photo of what we believed to be an attack before shoving the costumed Yasuhiro-san in the pool locker and leaving him there.
The obvious intent was to pin their crimes on him, however the culprit had more plans for Chihiro-chan.
Act III:
With the suspicion part out of the way, Hifumi-kun and the culprit moved onto the actual murder part of their plan by luring Kiyotaka-kun into the physics room at a little past six. Hifumi-kun then made quick work of murdering him, using the Justice Hammer #4 as a red herring.
The two then called on the help of Chihiro-chan again to fake being attacked by the madman and set themselves up as victims. Chihiro-chan seemed to be a red herring as well, purposefully diverting peoples' attention away from the culprit, especially since her ankle had gotten sprained.
Act IV:
We took both Hifumi-kun and Chihiro-chan to the infirmary to recover from their wounds, leaving them alone as we all split up to find the supposed madman. However, that was exactly what the two wanted, as they were finally free to enact the next part of their plan.
Chihiro-chan escaped from the infirmary and started to head upstairs to the art room, likely to meet up with the culprit to discuss further plans. Hifumi-kun remained in the infirmary and poured transfusion blood on himself, faking dead. When we returned, we mistakenly believed that he was dead due to the group upstairs finding Kiyotaka-kun's body.
Act V:
After we split up again, Hifumi-kun snuck off and moved Kiyotaka-kun's body to the art supply room, using the cart we found earlier and the sheet. Once he arrived, however, he was unaware of the culprit's true plan for him...murder him in cold blood. Once he was taken care of, the culprit set their sights on Chihiro-chan and knocked her out, most likely already in a hurry as it was. They hurried away from the supply room and pretended as though everything was fine.
And the person who put this together had to have been very smart and quick on their feet, and be able to coerce people convincingly...in other words, it was you, Celestia Ludenberg-san!" Makoto announced. "It's over, you lose!"
"Huh? I've lost...? Oh my...it feels like it has been forever since I have heard those awful words.." Celestia sighed.
"So you admit it?"
"I do. After all, you won fair and square. I don't like to keep things like this going after someone's already won..." She smiled softly. "Still, at least call me by my real name...Celestia Ludenberg...no. I want you all to remember me in a dignified way. So...Taeko Yasuhiro,"
"But there's one thing that I'm still confused about...what happened to Alter-Ego?" Aoi questioned.
"Hm? Oh, that little computer? Well..." Celestia simply smiled as she stepped out of her booth. She then slipped her hand into her pocket and pulled out a small key. My eyes widened. "Master helped me hide it. She was such a good little assistant, was she not? Disabled the safety features on it and everything, just so I could move it," She smiled at me and walked over to me, making me flinch a bit.
"Why did you do all of this?" Makoto asked curiously.
"Who knows? I would say let's not dwell on the past, but...I suppose there is no harm in telling everyone. It has always been my dream to own a castle. A beautiful, European-style castle, filled with everything beautiful and noble and aesthetic. I would have servants tending to my every need, dressed as vampires. I would seclude myself from the world and never come out again. My entire life has been me trying to earn enough money to get my dream fulfilled...by any means necessary,"
She slipped the key into my hands, making me blush heavily as her hands lingered in mine for far longer than needed. "But as a last gift of good-will, I'll give you the key to the locker I hid it in. I...honestly do not know if it'll help you, but...anything is possible, I suppose,"
"C-Celestia-chan...a-are you...?" I started to ask, only to bite my lip. I felt tears well up in my eyes again as I slowly slipped the key into my own skirt pocket.
"If it truly does help all of you out in the long-run, then...I'm happy. And...I also hope to meet you all again, in another life perhaps. Yes...I'd like that. Maybe I'll come back as Marie-Antoinette or Anastasia Romanova..." Celestia smiled sweetly one final time at all of us, curtsying. "Well, let us not delay the inevitable any longer. I am ready, Monokuma. Let me go out in a dignified manner,"
"If you come back as those two, you'll just die again," Yasuhiro started to explain before Celestia giggled, being dragged out of the court room. Unlike when it happened with Mondo, she accepted it calmly and gracefully.
"This is all very sad and all, but I'm sure by now you all know what it's time for...punishment time! And I prepared a very royal one for Her Royal Highness herself!" Monokuma explained, pushing another red button in front of his throne.
Game Over! Celestia Ludenberg has been found guilty! Time for the punishment!
As with the last trial, we all had to follow her until we were placed in another room, a Gothic set-piece of a castle set up behind the fence. Celestia was standing there, her hands folded calmly in front of her in a prayer position as a fire was placed at her feet.
Punishment of the Ultimate Gambler:
Versailles-Style Witch Hunt!
My breath caught in my throat as my grip tightened on the fence. I was nowhere near the fire yet I was still sweating. Celestia...Taeko...she was just going to die!
...But she was a murderer. She murdered two of her own classmates in cold blood and would've done the same to me too if I hadn't panicked at the last second.
And for what?
All for a castle.
My right hand flew to my pocket as I clutched the locker key in there. She used my own talent against me.
All because she wanted a castle.
A stupid, rickety, old, plain castle.
...How dare she?
This was my 'perfect woman'? The one I had idolized all of these weeks? The one I had followed around like a lost puppy, following her every command? Too naive to see she was just using me the whole time? Hifumi was a fool, I never expected him to see it. He just got into Hope's Peak for selling a bunch of doujins.
But I got in here because of my brains and hacking skills. I got in here because I actually had a brain.
And never again am I going to let it be wasted on some...bitch like that ever again.
Once the firetruck had hit her, I spun around and started to leave, ignoring the sobs and gasps of the girls.
"A sister-wife is gone..." I heard Sayaka sob. I didn't care. Something had suddenly changed within me.
"Master," Kyoko tried to grab my shoulder, but I managed to shrug her off and keep walking. She was persistent and finally managed to spin me around, staring me down. "Master,"
"What?" I asked. My tears were all gone.
"She gave me this...since you were so close to her, I thought you'd like to keep it," Kyoko held out her hand to reveal the silver finger-ring Celestia always wore.
I impulsively started to reach for it before I caught myself and clenched my fist, putting it back at my side. "No, you can keep it," I forced a sweet smile on my face and closed her hand around it, then continued walking off.
Whatever changed in me, I knew it would only be for the better. I headed back to my dorm and glanced in the mirror, sticking a finger in my mouth.
My two best friends died because I was too weak to do anything. I was manipulated, taken advantage of, and almost killed because I was too weak to do anything.
I took a pair of scissors from my medicine cabinet, running a hand through my auburn waves.
Those days of being weak were behind me.
But first, I needed to change my appearance into something more befitting of a stronger guy. I closed my eyes and started chopping my hair off, feeling the air hit my neck from where it was suddenly exposed.
My cutting became more aggressive as I thought back to Celestia. She took embarrassing pictures of me too! All because I thought she had my good interests in mind. I shook my head at my foolishness.
Never again would I take orders from a girl named Cheap Blessings.
Once that was done, I threw the scissors in the sink and took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down as I ran my hand through my hair again.
It was certainly a lot shorter than it was prior, but still...me. It was good enough for now.
I recalled what I read in those sports magazines the other day and twirled my skirt around, knowing that had to change too.
But...I hesitated. Somehow, I wasn't quite ready to lose the skirt yet. The boys still believed I was a girl, and a couple girls did too. I wasn't ready for them to discover so suddenly...I shook my head.
The skirt would stay for now, but I had to change the rest of my attire.
It was no secret I had always admired Leon's sense of style, and now I had a chance to put my admiration into practice. I headed into the warehouse and dragged out some duffel bags, tossing them aside into a corner of my room once I got what I wanted out of them.
No more girly shoes and stockings. They were the first to go, replaced by white ankle socks and knee-high black boots. They looked like military boots!
I pulled the buttons off my jacket and tossed that into the very back of my closet, throwing it like a ball. I sighed in relief at how much freer I felt with not having such a thick jacket on constantly. I peeled off my suspenders and skirt for a moment, then undid the buttons on my blouse and balled that up and threw that into my closet as well.
I replaced my blouse with a white and blue baseball jersey with a light green hoodie that I left unzipped. I then put my skirt and suspenders back on. The next piece was a simple metal baseball bat that I tied to my back, then I popped a piece of gum into my mouth.
The overall effect was a bit...mismatched, but I cared little. I was already starting to feel more confident in my boyish clothes. Soon, I'd be confident enough to ditch the skirt for good. I popped a bubble with my gum loudly. A part of me approved of the new style change too, something deep inside of me.
That was how I knew I made the right choice.
After cleaning up my room a bit, I carefully pulled my new outfit off and hung it up nicely before bed, smirking to myself.
I couldn't wait to finally come clean to the others about my secret, and show off my new outfit tomorrow at breakfast!