DISCLAIMER: Since it's time to implement the mystery portion of the story, I decided to integrate some free time and investigation bits into this part, if it seems forced or anything let me know and I will fix it. Also if the writing seems lazy, cringy or contrived, I'm doubly sorry in advance. Also pay attention to this chapter and ones to come, who knows, foreshadowing is very tricky to spot.
After discovering the now deceased Dietrich in his room hunched over a lab table, I paused momentarily and freaked out internally. I mean I knew Monokuma meant for us to kill each other, but this soon!? I was still recovering from the shock as the pink blood kept staining the once clean floor and the author is making me delay my reaction for this long since he has no other smart way of creating tension. Not to mention he's a lazy writer and procrastinates a lot.
I swear if this is a prank and that's actually kool-aid, I'm going to punch someone in the gut and feed them their intestines for almost giving me a panic attack. Violent measures aside, I looked closely at his jacked up face, choke up at the smell of death and the sheer terror plastered on his lifeless face as his last breath was stolen from him like the fleeting hours in a day.
I stop in my tracks, dust off my red dress as I sprinted out of the room, faster than an Olympic athlete on crack, to avoid becoming a suspect in this life or death game straight out of a shitty young adult novel.
Upon opening the door, I bumped into someone and almost fell on my face.
"Woah there!" said a male voice, "Arihime, are you alright!?"
I glanced up to see Eduardo grab me from almost falling as everyone gathered to where we were, minus William, looking worriedly at my paler than normal face.
"You look like you've seen la fantasma, senorita," said a concerned Spanglish Eduardo as he hoisted me up.
"What's wrong, sweetie?" Tokaku says, "Did something happen to Dietrich?"
"See for yourself," I say as I cover my mouth and open the door for them, "I'd cover my mouth and nose if I were you by the way."
As I unveil the horrid sight to their privileged, innocent eyes; everyone goes into a wild frenzy of mixed emotions filled with anger, distress and sadness. The majority of the boisterous noise was clustered with loud feminine screams, male screeches and cries.
Tokaku covered her mouth, her face aghast looking at the corpse, as she proceeded to run out of the room and possibly throw up the dinner we had received from our "generous" host.
Camille, oddly enough, choked up keeping his proud demeanor and trying not to wince once so he doesn't ruin his perfect image, I guess.
Yuzuki froze like a statue, as she rushed over with a shocked expression on her face as she checked his neck for a pulse, getting no beat she slammed her fist on the lab table shaking it a bit and gritting her teeth.
Kazuko tried her best to remain a calm tomboy, but cracked under the pressure and proceeded to vomit in the corner making the room even more putrid and pungent to everyone's olfactory sensors.
Eduardo began to scream frantically as he wheezed heavily and clutched his hair in panic.
Nori, unsurprisingly, kept up the cool guy act as he put his hands in his pockets and sighed deeply, I guess he seemed not as phased as the rest of us.
Karuta gasped in horror and then fainted from the all the profuse amounts of blood, as she hit the floor making a huge thump noise and falling unconscious.
Alia, as usual, acted like a kuudere and didn't even look shocked at what had transpired in front of her face, someone has a strong stomach.
Mei looked almost frozen in place, petrified, as if she saw Medusa's stony gaze before meeting an untimely fate.
Reina however maintained her princess like composure and breathed in and out as she began to stretch her legs in a plie ballet pose, but from her sweat I could tell she was in shock from the sight of it all.
Athena began crying like a newborn baby into Alia's shoulder as xey poured out their eyes from sadness and regret.
Simon, the giant amongst us, freaked out and screamed as he punched the nearby wall leaving a massive dent and tried to calm himself down.
Calypso covered her mouth as the pupils in her eyes dilated, as she looked horrified but in a fascinated way.
Toto brought along his cat as he perused the scene, gave a despondent look and covered Black's feline eyes from witnessing the horrid sight.
Izuhara began yelling in a frenzy, clenched his fists as the veins popped out of his hands and mumbled something along the lines of 'How could this have happened under my watch.'
Aohito looked paler than a snowman as he ran out of the room like Tokaku, I then heard the uncomfortable noises of orange liquid coming from his mouth as he gagged.
Natsu began crying in the corner as his bloodshot red eyes filled the room with his transparent tears.
Everyone's frantic anxiety permeated the already clustered and cramped lab, as I desperately try to wriggle out to get some air. I mean it's only been what a day and the first murder had already occurred?! What the hell, it seems the writer is getting ahead of himself in terms of the story.
Seriously have you ever heard of pacing, genius!?
"A body has been discovered!" announced Monokuma on a monitor screen swirling a glass of wine around in a sort of security room," After a certain amount of time you will all be hauled off to the class trial, so use your time investigating wisely."
What was that? Some shitty alarm to notify us of a body? Well whatever a little late to be doing that but who cares, someone is dead.
"Oh I forgot to mention," announced the robotic bear, "Since there are a few excess students than originally planned, I will be altering some minor details concerning the class trial, so just this once, you guys have extra time to gather your thoughts!"
Wait excess students? What does he mean by that? Oh who cares right now, it's only going to progress the impending migraine I'm sure to receive.
I rushed out of the room, unnoticed by my panicked peers, as a sinister grin greeted me out in the hallway.
"Well well well, it seems some hapless fool couldn't take it anymore heh heh..." says the slimy voice, "Oh how deliciously callous of them."
I look up and see William, now dressed in his casual clothing, snickering at me with his domineering mirrored gaze looking into my flustered face. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
"You knew about this?" I ask him confused at his almost snarky remark.
"Of course I knew about it, I know everything that goes on in these halls," he said crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.
"Are you messing with me," I say questioning his dubious omniscience, "Are you some sort of God or something?"
"No, why of course not, my fiery phoenix!" he says gesturing with his gloved hand and looking smug, "If that were the case, I would've rewound time and stopped the killer before it had occurred."
He makes a good point, I mean no person is capable of time travel let alone saving a person from being killed. I mean he's not even phased at how utterly gruesome this situation was. A classmate is dead and he has the temerity to stand around and chuckle like he made an off collar joke about some girls' choice in panties.
"Even though I'm a sarcastic ass myself, Willy," I say trying to tease him, "You just hit a new level of low right there."
I mean seriously, even I have the decency not to make fun of the dead, that would be very unprofessional of me plus it deteriorates your credibility as a legitimate journalist. There I go again with the labels, someone shoot me in the head, I'm acting like them already.
"I do have decency, princess," he says reading my mind again and chuckling, "I found it funny how the killer got away with this murder and didn't think I would have the upper hand in this situation."
I have no idea if he's really messing with me or if he's just that cocky, because either way he's still a douchebag.
"I'll take that as a compliment," he retorts as he waves to me and heads to his room, "Can't wait for our date, flame princess."
Maybe he should've been the first victim, it would have saved us a lot of trouble and it removes the token smug asshole character from the group. But oh wait, he has plot armor, I totally forgot thanks mystery talent...ugh...
After a few moments to calm myself down, I decided to search around for some clues as to how this crime was committed and how it was executed. But before anything else I decided to change out of this stuffy dress and impractical pair of torture devices called shoes. I headed to my room as I scoured my closet for my usual clothes and calmed myself down. I felt better and less constricted without all that lace, as I wondered what to do next.
"Maybe I should investigate while everyone is scared," I say pacing back and forth with my notebook and lucky pen in hand.
"WAIT ONE SECOND!" screamed a high pitched voice, "Stop the presses!"
Just then a wild Monokuma appeared out of nowhere! Too bad, I forgot my Poke balls at home.
"Hold on there, firecracker!" he says looking angry and holding his arms up high.
"So I'm firecracker now?"
"Yes, from what I have seen in your private time young lady, it seems you have a knack for causing mischief wherever you go, upupupu."
He snickers for a bit as I get annoyed by his brief interruption of the plot.
"Before you get started, here's the basics of this crime," he pulls something out of his pocket but grabs air as he looks worried, "Where is it!?"
"Looking for this Yogi Bear!" says Nekotang as he waves around an IPad of sorts in front of a raging Monokuma.
"Here you go darling, all the info is there for your eyes to feast upon," Nekotang says as he purrs giving me the Ipad, "Use it's information to your heart's content."
"Okay, let's hope it doesn't explode in my face."
I swiped open the Ipad and inside was a picture of Dietrich with a bloodied pink splotch around his mouth area and a faint pink blob around his nostrils and stomach. It lists his birthday, gender, height, weight etc.
"Nothing special so far...wait a minute."
I peruse some more as I swipe down to see a picture of Dietrich's corpse hunched over the table and C.O.D listed as a Heart attack induced poisoning.
"He was poisoned?!" I said shocked, "Huh, almost poetic in a way for a scientist."
"Huh it doesn't say how he was poisoned though?" I thought to myself.
"Guess investigating won't be as easy as you thought firecracker," Monokuma snickered.
"That's the Monokuma File sweetheart, it lists everything about the victim and the crime scene." the bear chirped, "Also, that announcement you heard earlier is called the Body Discovery Announcement!"
TRUTH BULLET # O - Monokuma File #1
I walked away with the I-pad searching it's text for hidden clues, ignoring the rambling Monokuma, I could care less about that right now.
"Long story short, when three or more people discover a body, I will ring that alarm to alert all of you."
"Yeah yeah, thanks for the update, Captain Obvious."
INVESTIGATION TIME
I made my way back to Dietrich's room, still in a mess as everyone was either throwing up their lungs or stagnant than still water. Couldn't blame most of them, they live privileged lives, so a death must come as a shock to them since it's so rare.
Yuzuki was examining his lifeless body as Athena tried telling the others more crappy jokes, trying to cheer them up from witnessing the crime scene.
"Arihime," Yuzuki said, "You were the first to the scene?"
"Yes," I say trying to pick my words carefully, "After the incident, I was with William as we both chatted for a bit, then I made my way back to the Gym and saw the aftermath."
She listened intently to my speech as I stared her in the eye and answer her questions bluntly.
"I arrived to his room to ask about his crass behavior tonight, I knocked on his door but he didn't reply," I say biting my lower lip at the next part, "His door happened to be open as I made my way in."
"Okay, thank you for your cooperation."
TRUTH BULLET #1 - Arihime's (MY) Account
What was that noise? Sounded like a clicking noise or glass breaking? Who cares game mechanics are silly to question at this point.
I searched around some more and noticed some of the mess around the room. Normally Dietrich would be all over this catastrophe, but he's no longer with us.
TRUTH BULLET #2 - Messy State of Room/Hints of struggle
I then pinched my nose as I tried to look at Dietrich's body for more signs leading to his killer. The smell pierced my fingers and a huge gasp escaped my mouth as if I smelt a massively stinky fart.
"Here take this," said a female voice.
I turn behind me and see Calypso hand me a blue doctor's mask of sorts to help me investigate the body more comfortably.
"Thanks."
"No problem, would you like me to examine his body for some more clues?" she asks politely.
"Anything helps, thanks Calypso."
She ran back to her room to grab some gloves, as I began to examine his corpse some more. It seems as if a profuse amount of blood trickled out of his mouth and nose. Surprisingly there were no signs of bruising or defensive wounds around Dietrich's face or body.
TRUTH BULLET #3 - No signs of struggle
I think that's all there is to this room for now.
Wait I need someone to guard this room, that way no one can alter the scene or steal evidence. Who is perfect for the job? I proceeded to ask Izuhara for some bodyguard work but then realize a crucial detail. He was probably hiding something after he received that letter by his door, I might need someone to watch him and double up on guard duty.
"Izuhara," I say trying to get his attention, "Hello, Mr. Pirate."
"Yes, my dear food critic," he says charmingly as he crosses his arms trying to look tough.
"I need you to help secure the crime scene," I say informing him of our current status, "For all we know the killer, if they are really one of us, they might try to take advantage of the catastrophe by stealing evidence."
As soon as I said that, his eyes lit up like fireworks as he jumped at the opportunity to reclaim his stolen pride of not protecting everyone.
"Leave it to me," he said confidently as he walked over to one end of the room.
"Oh yes that reminds me, Simon, can you come here big guy" I say waving to the big musclebound freak.
"Is there a problem Ari?" he says looking as imposing as ever.
"I assigned Izuhara to monitor the scene, but I have a feeling leaving one person to watch the corpse is asking for trouble."
He listened intently as he jotted down the instructions on his mini Ipad as I explained what he had to do.
"Got it big guy?"
"Yes, I won't let you down," he says flexing his arms and standing near the doorway.
Now no one will mess with the scene, time to head over to another area of interest. I leave Dietrich's room as I see Tokaku and Aohito were busy looking dazed and ill from the murder, can't blame them, I'm trying to keep my dinner down too.
I tried to recollect how this happened and remembered it started in the gym. I mean the whole fiasco started with the fight over the tea so there's a start. I frolicked to the gym as I felt the prying eyes of our monochromatic bear watching me make my way to solve this murder over the security cameras. But at the same time another pair of eyes was observing me from afar, it better not be William, that troll.
Upon arriving to the gym, I saw Karuta, Natsume and Toto cleaning up the tables and packing away the cups.
"Wait guys, what are you doing!?" I say warning them.
"Oh Ari-sama, you scared me," Karuta said clutching her robe.
"What's the matter, Ari-sama?"
"Can I check the cups and plates for a second, specifically the one Dietrich had?"
"Planning to scrounge for leftovers, you human slob," Toto snarled.
"No black panther, but if there are any scraps, let me know," I retort back sarcastically yet hungry for more of that dessert.
"Okay, if it'll help, but just be careful it might still be hot," Karuta said calmly.
I search the stack of cups and notice some of the liquid on the cup from when Dietrich had untimely spilled it all over my person. I sniff it and smell the faint essence of alcohol, herbal leaves and something else...
TRUTH BULLET #4 - Mysterious Smell in Teacup
"Is there something wrong with the tea?" Karuta asked nosily, "Did I over do it with the sake?"
"No it's not you, I need to go analyze this if you don't mind."
"Oh okay, just don't hurt yourself."
So caring and worried for me, that attitude is going to get her killed sooner or later. Hope it's not too soon...
I head out of the gym as Karuta begins to scold Black and Toto for licking the plates clean and Natsu for breaking the plates.
I remembered the rule about the air vents and how they can leak or get stuck or something along those lines. The killer could have possibly leaked some gas and killed him that way. I should check the vents for more.
I walk back to Dietrich's room as I see the nearest vent outside of his room and realize I couldn't reach it. There was a smell that was coming from the vents and it wasn't as pungent as in the room, so it seemed safe that it was poisonous to sniff.
I jump aimlessly as I miss the vents, I wish I hadn't ignored those climbing classes in gym, I'm regretting that now.
"Need a lift," said a stoic voice.
I was suddenly lifted into the air as a broad shoulder hoisted me closer to the vent. I look down to see Aohito perched on the ground as he gives a slight hint of a grin.
"Thanks delivery boy," I say patting him on the head.
He seemed to like that as he wriggled a bit and began to check his music list for songs to listen to, whilst I tried to get the vent open.
"No good, I need some tools to get it open."
"Here..." said a melancholy voice.
I look down again to see the distant kuudere Alia hand me a screwdriver to unlock the vents, as she forces it into my hand and runs back to her room coldly.
"She's a ray of sunshine," I say sarcastically, "Someone needs a hug."
Aohito perches me up as I proceed to open the vent as each screw falls onto the ground. Aohito was trembling a little due to holding me by the feet as I squirmed inside to see what I could find.
The vents inside reminded me of the dark nightmares that engulfed in sweat and fear, it was damp, eerie and made a lot of echoes and white noise. I crawl through, trying to avoid getting claustrophobia, as the smell grew even more intense. I walked around a bit and came across the vent leading into Dietrich's room.
I see some people still inside as I look at the airvent which can be unlatched from here.
TRUTH BULLET # 5 - Air vent latch
I also stumble upon another interesting clue which was odd to find in a ventilation system. It was a flat hardened lump of purple clay with a black string in the middle that wafted a strangely sickly sweet smell. It wasn't strong but enough to make me gag slightly.
TRUTH BULLET # 6 - Scented clay in vent
I search some more, finding nothing else of note and began to squeeze through tight corners just to breathe fresh air and not suffocate with this lingering scent. I make it back to the hallway as I slip out and fall on my face. I grunt in pain as I see Aohito looking at me like he just witnessed a rainy cloud in the distance, totally apathetic.
"Thanks for the help," I tell him rubbing my bumpy head from the fall.
"You're welcome," he says stoically as he walks off to deliver more packages like nothing had just happened.
I dust off my skirt as Mei and Yuzuki approach me, obviously concerned for my well being unlike some people here.
"Are you alright, Ari?" Mei asked extending a hand to me.
"Oh just dropping in," I say making a distasteful joke, "How about you two, any progress."
Yuzuki stifled some laughter as Mei began detailing what she had heard. Apparently she was busy chatting with Natsume, Calypso and Nori on how to calm down a previously angry Simon. Mei also said she was busy making music and DJ'ing the party with Reina and Eduardo, so she and the pair had solid alibis.
"Also," Yuzuki said as she regained her composure, "I found out that Dietrich had a bit of a fight with Izuhara before the party started."
"Is that right?" I say questioning her info, it's best to consider all possibilities so I might as well jot that down.
TRUTH BULLET # 7 - Izuhara's fight
It makes him a likely suspect, but for now I might as well peruse some more rooms, speaking of which.
"Hey Yuzu, can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Okay, I'm here to help."
Mei walked off to find the others as Yuzu and I walked off to her room to converse in secret.
"Can I look at the security monitors," I say trying to snoop some more, "It'll help the investigation."
"W-What do you need to know," she said stuttering a bit.
"Specifically, I have a theory on how the murder could have occurred, I just need the footage from before the party."
She paused for a bit, nodded to my request and let me into her room. The warden's room was almost a makeshift cell in a sense and we were all it's future prisoners. It was unnerving but try being locked up in a pimp's dungeon, trust me I know.
She sat in her chair as she typed away while I was analyzing more of her room up close.
"Okay it's ready," she said finishing her loud taps.
I looked at the huge screens as she pointed towards the lower left one which appeared to be the one located in the vicinity of Dietrich and Athena's room.
"May I," I ask before handling precious equipment.
"Go ahead, but don't break it."
I adhere to her rules and only rewind at certain points because I have a long history with skipping mushy scenes in movies and let me tell you, it made reviewing them a lot easier.
I began scrolling through the footage and see Dietrich walking in and out of his room and being stopped by Athena once or twice to humor her by listening to her crappy one liners. Poor guy, I feel his pain, judging from his annoyed expression and hurried movements.
I peruse through some more footage and see something that caught my eye, it was Izuhara knocking on Dietrich's door and looking very upset with him as he forces his way in. They both entered as the footage halts before it got interesting.
"Sorry about that, after a certain amount of time, the camera shuts off due to it being installed just recently, thus I haven't tweaked it enough to be able to be on 24/7.
Huh, oddly specific of them, it's almost as if that will come in handy later. But this confirms one thing, Izu had at least one potentially hostile interaction with the victim before he died.
I also see Simon approach his door a few minutes later when the footage resumes. He knocks as Dietrich answers again, then they both walk out of his room to go chat. It seems the two were on good terms before what happened now, so I don't think that's important.
It also shows me entering his room to interrogate him and we all know how that visit ended, cough fanservice cough.
Lastly I see footage of Yuzuki knocking on Athena's door, for some fresh torture presumably, as the camera footage cuts off.
TRUTH BULLET # 8 - Camera footage
"What did you need to talk to Athena for?" I ask her as she swivels in her chair.
"Oh I just wanted to hear some dry humor," she said bluntly.
"Huh, I never knew someone as hardass as you liked that sort of stuff?" I say curiously.
"My dear, after hearing all of the confessions, threats and weird ramblings from psychopaths and murderers, I need some memes or jokes to help cure my depressing daily duties."
"Wow, an even bigger twist, you're officially cool now."
"It doesn't help that coming home reminds me of home."
Oh no here we go, some mushy and corny drama to make us feel bad for her, where's the skip button when you need it.
But realizing the opportunity to see how this school treats its' Ultimates, is just as essential to my article. So I decide to indulge her as I pull out my lucky pen and jot down some notes.
"What are you doing?" she asks suspiciously.
"Oh just some journalistic instincts, when we get out of here, I'm going to be doing an article on how awesome this school is and why people should attend."
I tried to swallow my own words but told a white lie to a warden, of all people, who should be able to see through me like transparent glass. She nodded and began divulging her personal information to me as if she didn't smell BS.
"Tell me about yourself Ms. Hashira."
I begin to write as she spills her guts to me, this is so wrong but juicy details make the stories more worthwhile and readers hooked.
"I guess we have time," she says, "Okay."
"I was born to a single mother, her name was Chinatsu," she says trying to stifle some tears as her voice begins to crack.
"My father left my mother when she was pregnant with me and I never saw him ever again," she says looking stern but distraught, "Until she met my step father, Hiroto, who she had met when I was eight."
I continued jotting down important notes as she sang like a melancholy canary singing a sad song of despair.
"He was like the father I never had and he raised me as if I were his own biological daughter, despite his position as a Warden in a prison."
Okay it seems her talent comes to light as to how it came around.
"At New Year's when the staff were celebrating, there was a riot and something bad happened," she said starting to choke up some more.
As she continues, she says how the prisoners began escaping and assaulting guards including her step dad, yikes. Yuzuki then paused as she skips to the aftermath leaving her step-father out of the picture for now.
"My mother was a wreck after that, she began partaking in drugs and abusing me when she I refused."
Shit this got dark fast, no wonder she has issues, it's the fact that she can say it while shifting between sad and stoic tones in her voice is what caught my attention. I mean she went through all of that and is still sane, she's a trooper.
"After one of the neighbors called CPS, I was freed from my junkie mother," she said clearing her voice, "My new family, Hana and Ken, took me in, helped me to cope with my abuse and got me to start talking again as I adopted Ken's dry sense of humor."
"I'm so sorry," I say trying to act humble, "I had no idea."
"It was all good, then another event happened at the prison where one of the guards, who vied for my position, tried to have me killed using a prisoners' lust for freedom and an empty cell."
Well that escalated quickly!
"Luckily I was saved by my step father's friends and they apprehended him as well as treating my wounds."
Now I feel like a shithead for writing this all down. I mean I thought all Ultimates had perfect, carefree lives but it seems she's an exception. Maybe I shouldn't include her to save face.
She also explains how after that incident, the prison has seen improvement in the lack of escapees and prison inmate fights and executions. She was so good that she rehabilitated a deranged sociopath who was beyond help after killing ten women, damn give her an award!
"Wow, you certainly have the resume that would put mine to shame."
She chuckled, a bit relieved, as if she had a heavy weight lifted off her chest. It's good to have people to confide in, but is she that gullible to trust me of all people. But then again, after hearing her tragic past, I feel even more scummy.
Well it seems I have all that I need, might as well get to looking for more clues before I shed some salty tears of regret and angst.
"Well I'm sorry for dredging up some harsh memories, Yuzu," I say apologetically, "I know it's not apropos to the case, my bad."
"No, Arihime, thank you for listening," she responded sniffling, "It feels cathartic to get blurt this out, but I appreciate your patience."
I felt terrible but relieved to be helpful to someone, if only someone was as understanding towards me but that's another story for another day.
At this point it seems as if the murder had to have been planned before the party started, which means the killer could be any one of us.
I exit her room as I try and recollect what else happened and decide to go see Athena reluctantly. She was chatting with Yuzuki and I need to confirm if that was true, because people can be manipulative as hell, so it's good to have insurance. I walked to Athena's room as I see the door still open with Athena inside trying to cope with the murders by practicing xer jokes.
"Excuse me Thena?" I asked them.
"Oh Ari-chan," xey pipe up, "Why did the chicken cross the road?"
"Now is not the time to be telling jokes, wrong place and time, I need to confirm someone's alibi."
"Oh, alright, what do you need?" she says sad but curious.
"Apparently Yuzuki invited herself over to your room to hear some jokes before the party?"
"Well I busy chatting with Mei and Alia the entire time and we were both in Nori's room as he played some jazz for us."
What is this?! So it seems our good cop has some bad cop in her. If that's true then it means Yuzu's story is exaggerated or just off by a bit.
TRUTH BULLET # 9 - Athena's Account
"I hope that helped you, Ari?"
"Yes, thanks."
"Wanna hear some new jokes I came up with?"
No thank you I said to them proceeding to exit xer room as I close the door in a hurry to avoid more mental pain. As a matter of fact, I should go back and check to see if I missed anything in Dietrich's room.
I arrived to the room as Izuhara greeted me alongside Simon who fell asleep on the job, some help he is.
I walked around the room some more avoiding the corpse as to not disturb it and proceed to trip on something.
"Oww!" I say hitting my head on the hard floor and twisting my ankle again.
"ARIHIME!?" screamed two voices.
As I struggled to get up I was picked up by strong arms and was greeted to a woken up giant and a white clad princess, only to realize it was Simon and Calypso, who was by the body studying it.
"Are you alright?" he asked picking me up and placing me on the table.
"I'll go get some bandages."
Calypso hurried out of the room as Simon cracked his knuckles upon seeing my twisted left ankle. He aligned my foot by pressing some tender points and it felt like new all over again.
"Thank you Simon, what would I have done without you."
"It's the least I could do for someone I care about," he says smiling proudly as Calypso arrived back with some bandages.
"Hold still, Arihime."
She began rubbing an ointment on my ankle to help it heal faster as well as wrapping it with skin colored bandages. I felt like a princess but realized the awkwardness of the situation as Izuhara diligently watched the door not aware of me hurting myself.
"Perfect timing Calypso, I need your help with something."
"I finished looking at the body so shoot."
"I found something in Dietrich's tea cup that smelled weird, can you analyze it?"
"I'll do my best, just give a few minutes or so," she walked out of the room carefully not spilling anything on the scene.
"Hey big guy, can you help me with another problem?"
"Sure."
"I found this inside the air vent of Dietrich's room, it has an odd smell, do you know what it is," I then handed him the clay.
"No I have- wait a minute!" he said recognizing the scent.
"This is one of my candles!?"
What?! The plot thickens, so he has some involvement in this case as well.
"This is one of my lavender, vanilla crème scented candles but it's not what it usually smells like."
I'm not surprised he has something as sickly sweet as that, what surprises me is that the candle doesn't smell like that, meaning it was tampered with.
TRUTH BULLET #6 (UPDATED) - Scented candle
"Thanks for the help, Sime," I say giving him a pet name, "I can take it from here."
He blushes as he continues guarding the scene alongside Izu, what a big softie.
I check the area that caused my untimely injury and hear an echo coming beneath the floor near the bed. I also see some blood dripping onto the floor as it unusually stops near the floor tile.
"I need some help opening this panel."
"I got it," Izuhara says.
"Are you sure you can manage?" I ask looking at his stumpy hand.
"Oh I've dealt with worse and stronger things before one handed, no need to worry about me."
He says that with stubborn confidence as we both grunt when moving the heavy panel. We pushed it to the side as we see something unexpected, a secret passageway under the floor!?
"Holy heck?!" I say to him.
"I never knew this was down here in his room," Izuhara said dumbfounded
Wonder where it leads to? Better check it out, you know for the kicks. Izuhara resumed his post as I jump down into the passageway.
It was surprisingly big enough for a person to walk through as it's faint light was visible enough to see through. I see the blood droplets leading me to a dead end as I get flustered. Huh it this really it? I continue to walk down the damp passageway as I was surrounded by more darkness.
I decided to make some noise as I tapped the ceiling and heard a hard knock coming from above. I notice a ladder next to me as I begin to climb it to see where it lead. I push open the escape door as I emerge in another pitch black room where curtains obscured my view from where I was. Then the curtains rose as I was blinded by stage lights and was greeted by an astounded and frightened Athena in xer room.
"Oh crap, Arihime where did you come from?!" xey asked.
"I found an escape hatch which leads from your room to Dietrich's room."
TRUTH BULLET # 10 - Trap door escape hatch
"Wow I never knew that I had this all along, now I can incorporate some unique tactics to my repertoire."
Please don't, it's bad enough we have to listen to your tired comedy, don't ruin it for magicians too.
I exit the room as Athena began inspecting their new routine act, as I try to rack my brain at how this all ties to together. I was on the verge of getting a stroke from all this exploring and I needed to splash some water on my face.
I headed to the ladies room, breathed heavily from all the running, jumping and exercise I desperately needed. I turned on the water, looked down and saw more blood in the sink stuck into the ceramic frame. I jumped from the sight as I nearly had a mini heart attack wondering how bad the time of the month was for these girls.
TRUTH BULLET # 11 - Blood in sink
This day just gets stranger and stranger before I felt something wet at my feet. Oh no who left the water running, and in the girls room of all places!? Was it Kazuko, trying to relive her kayaking days or something.
I look behind and see a toilet stall leaking water and begin to get curious. I opened up the stall door, hoping it wasn't overflowing with poop, as I covered my nose orifices. I looked inside to see some torn clothes stained with blood flushed down with bits drifting on the surface.
Monokuma get your gloves, you have some work and cleaning to do.
TRUTH BULLET # 12 - Bloody clothes in toilet
I think I need to lie down, this is going to get me sick and put into a hospital at some point. I must be hallucinating all of this and Dietrich's not dead, he's just a great actor. Unfortunately the smell of blood woke me up as I escaped the bathroom with my health intact and dignity not shattered.
"Oh Arihime perfect timing," Calypso said as she saw me.
"Whatever you do, don't go in there for a while."
"Duly noted..." she said confused, "But the tea cup has been sampled and analyzed."
"And what are the results?"
"The tea had traces of cyanide inside."
"Holy crap, cyanide!?" I say in disbelief, "That's high level stuff, thanks for the help, Calypso."
"Happy to help."
Just as things were getting interesting, Monokuma appeared on the monitor screen again with another glass of wine.
"Finally, it's the moment you all have been waiting for!"
What is he talking about?
"TIME FOR THE CLASS TRIAL! UPUPUPUPUPUPUPUUPUPUPUPUPUPU, head to the red door in the main hall mongrels!"
As he uttered those words, voices coming from the halls and other rooms could be heard in the distance as footsteps increased. It seems as if time was slowly catching up to us as we approach the ultimate test of skill, knowledge, common sense and wacky antics...
DANGANRONPA... whispered an eerily robotic voice.
Hello, good day or evening my fellow readers, nice to see you all again. It's been 60 years...but it's finally here!
The long awaited investigation for the first case has arrived. Hold your applause until the end, I know you are ecstatic but indulge me for a few minutes.
I'm sorry again for delaying this chapter you guys, I hate to disappoint people and consider this my birthday present to you all for sticking with my story and leaving me very nice reviews. I don't deserve all this praise, I'm just a simple fanfiction writer who loves anime, Disney, manga and all other nerdy things.
Jokes aside, I hope you guys loved this chapter and if you did leave a PM or review detailing why you liked this chapter or if you feel that I had missed some things or want me to add something, let me know, I love hearing feedback and criticism from you wonderful people.
Writing this chapter was more frustrating than sleeping outside in the sun. I don't mean to sound petty or anything, but I really wanted to have this go off without a hitch. Not to mention I wanted it to feel confusing as well as satisfying, so as to not leave you guys out of the loop and to come up with your own theories on how Dietrich died. Plus I refuse some help because I wanted to try and do it myself to get a better idea of how this works. Don't worry future chapters I might ask for help, so consider this a tutorial if that makes sense.
As of this moment, two people have now deduced William's talent and their characters are safe from death, for now upupupupu. I'm not going to mention who you two are, as to not encourage the others to hassle you for the answer and potentially keep everyone alive, thus ruining the gravitas of the story.
I want this to be a fair challenge and this is a reminder that the choice to keep your characters alive, if you guess his talent is still open. I plan to have people survive of course, but as to the actual number is still uncertain. But for now I will say it's estimated under 10 or so.
I love seeing you guys guess, fail and try harder and harder to pinpoint his elusive talent. It makes me happy to know that your characters are precious to you and that they are basically your children. I love that aspect of the series and can't wait for more hilarious talent choices, also the ones who have deduced his talent, don't converse with the others as to keep up the suspense, you know who you are.
I will be posting this earlier than usual, as my schedule is a bit iffy right now and have to work around it, for more time to write these chapters. As I said before, my birthday is next week as of this posting, so I will be spending some time away from my computer to unwind and relax but also realize that getting older is a bitch and all that melodrama.
I digress, on a lighter note, I actually have a few requests and questions to ask from you all:
1) As a Danganronpa staple, the typical underwear scene is pinnacle to the series, so if you guys have the time, can you send me info about your characters' respective undergarments, sorry for the late requests but what can you do, I'm not a perv unlike the person who suggested it (JK, I love you all.)
2) If you can spot any references from other anime made in this chapter, let me know as well, it's nice to have some Easter eggs once in a while.
3) If you guys can elaborate on how you want your characters to act during the class trial would be much appreciated, despite the info I have, I think a more detailed explanation will be required such as to how they behave and what side they will be on in the scrum debate because I really want to do one.
4) If you have the time, I would love to hear how you guys think the murder was executed and who you think the culprit is? I like paragraphs but make sure, if you do that, to space it out as I wear glasses and have a hard time reading congested words. If done through review, be careful to word it so that no one can catch onto who you suspect and if done through PM, send me all the info as I would love to dissect it and see what routes I can tackle and experiment with.
5)Like I said, the chance to keep your character alive is open so you know what to do, but the spots are limited so you hurry hurry hurry little ones, upupuppuu!
6) What is your favorite ship or OTP from this story? Also give me the names (optional).
7)Name me your three favorite characters and three least favorite ones so far, you're decisions could impact the story, huhuhuhuhuahahahah!
That's all I have to say, thank you all once again for being patient with this lazy writer and his asinine excuses. I appreciate you guys' feedback and love and was actually contemplating if I should discontinue this story due to lack of ideas. Luckily I've retracted that idea before doing something stupid and riling you guys up. So don't worry.
So yeah I hope you all enjoyed this little clusterfuck of a chapter. The class trial will take even longer to make but as you know, I prioritize quality over quantity so don't worry there. I will see you otakus and weebs sometime in the near future.
But until then, good morning, night or wherever you are in the world and happy reading!
