"I knew Monokuma was full of himself but this is just pure narcissism." Izuru commented, staring up at the mountain with four Monokumas carved into it.

"Wh… when did he even set that up?" Hajime asked, looking stunned. "I mean… just… what the shit?"

"C'mon you giant pussy! I don't care if you're sad or whatever, you gotta come to the trial!" Monokuma's voice broke through air and they all turned to see the bear dragging a weeping Kazuichi behind him.

"Miss Sonia… Why did it have to be her?" The mechanic whimpered. Gundam, who had been silent, walked over to Kazuichi, and slapped him.

"Cease your weeping. I know that you were fond of her, but blubbering like an infant will not solve anything. If you truly care about her, you will do your best to avenge her, to find the killer in this catastrophe." Gundam commanded. Kazuichi stared at the breeder for a long time before taking a deep breath.

"You're right man. Sorry… I… for Miss Sonia, I'll do it!" With newfound courage, Kazuichi entered Monokuma rock with everyone else.

The elevator descended into the ground fast. The rocking of the elevator car was jarring, and made Hajime worry that it was going to fall. He didn't realize that he had stopped breathing until his vision started to go black.

By the time they reached the courtroom, everyone was on edge. The trial room had 17 podiums each one with a name. However, one of the podiums had no name, and was instead replaced by a picture of Sonia, with septures making an X across her face.

"Ahahaha! Welcome to the school courtroom! How do you like it? It's the place that will decide you bastards' fate!" Monokuma yelled out, laughing. The bear quickly sat down on a throne near that was sitting on top of a set of stairs. Monomi was tied up with rope and hanging from the ceiling, making Hajime stare.

"Why is Monomi like that?"

"Huh? Oh, my poor, dumb little sister decided to try and sneak into the courtroom, I think she was trying to 'save' you guys, so I tied her up." Monokuma explained.

"You're so cruel Monokuma! You can't make them do this!" The rabbit yelled out.

"Yes he can. And as long as he can, we need to cooperate or else we're going to die. We can't rush this either or else we could make a miscalculation and choose the wrong person." Byakuya told everyone sternly, taking his place in the courtroom.

Hajime and Izuru took their places, on opposite sides of the room, and prepared themselves for a trial of Hope and Despair.

"Before we begin, let me explain the rules of the class trial in simple terms. Your task is to reason out the identity of the culprit, and vote on who to accuse! Should you correctly identify the culprit, they alone shall be punished! But if you vote for the wrong person…" The last sentence was spoken with such an ominous tone that sent shivers up everyone's spines. "Then everyone except the culprit shall be punished, and the culprit shall be given permission to leave the island!"

"Those rules are too cruel...!" Monomi sobbed.

"...Before we begin, there is one thing I want to confirm. Is the culprit really one of us?" Nagito questioned.

"Of course they are... Our murderous culprit is definitely one of you. It truly is a sad tale, isn't it? By the way, this school trial is 100% fair and square, so please relax." Somehow, Monokuma's words weren't comforting. "After Monomi, favoritism and injustice are the things I hate the most!"

"You really hate me that much?!" The stuffed rabbit sobbed.

"Well, then, let's begin!"

"Y-you're telling us to start but… what are we supposed to do?" Mikan whimpered.

"First, I would like to say something." Byakuya suddenly pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and showed it to the others.

'Watch out. The first murder will occur tonight. It is inevitable.'

"What is… a warning letter?" Hajime exclaimed.

"This was in my mailbox this morning. It is the reason why I decided to have a party. I wanted everyone in an enclosed space, so that no one would be killed… it looks like that effort was futile." The heir mumbled sadly.

"Hey! Who put that letter in Byakuya's mailbox huh?" Akane yelled, looking ready to punch someone. No one said anything for a long time, before Izuru finally sighed.

"It doesn't matter. It's doubtful that the person who killed Sonia is the same person who sent this letter. It might even be a prank by Monokuma. Let's just move on to finding out the actual killer. First, the cause of death was respiratory failure from an unknown poison." Here, Izuru turned to Mikan.

"Mikan, I wasn't able to talk to you before the class trial, but that did your autopsy reveal?"

"W-well… without proper equipment, I wasn't able to determine what the poison was b-but, what I saw was, all of her muscles were swollen, and-and before death there was paralysis, dilated pupils, excessive salivation, and vomiting. Th-those symptoms match a lot of poisons though! I-I also found some irritation on her hands and fingers." Mikan explained.

"Irritation on her hands?" Akane asked.

"Maybe she got it from picking the flowers for the party?" Peko suggested.

"There are various plants around the hotel that can cause skin irritation." Izuru put in.

"Maybe… some of the flowers that Sonia picked were poisonous and the poison or whatever soaked into her skin and made her die!" Ibuki yelled out.

"I don't think so… Mahiru, you saw Sonia picking flowers right? What kind did she pick up?" Hajime urged.

"Well… most of them were normal flowers, but there was one of them that wasn't a flower. It kind of looked like a wild carrot…"

"A wild carrot?"

"Yeah, but it smelled really weird, like a mouse. Sonia said she was going to ask Teruteru what it was." The redhead revealed. Said chef looked surprised.

"Teruteru, did Sonia ask you about it?" Hajime questioned the chef. Teruteru looked nervous and began to comb his hair.

"Yes actually! W-well, when I saw her, she showed me the thing, I told her it was a carrot. She looked very happy, but then asked why the carrot had parsley on top of it. I told her that it must be some kind of hybrid! I've never seen anything like that before. She took a bite and said it tasted like parsnips! How curious!"

"Teruteru, you are a chef right?" Nagito asked.

"The best of them all!"

"Then you can clearly tell the difference between edible plants and poisonous ones correct?" Nagito continued.

"Y-yes… of course."

"I see… how disappointing." The fluffy haired teen sighed.

"E-eh? What do you mean?" Teruteru asked, looking nervous.

"What do you mean Nagito?" Hajime asked.

"He's talking about how Teruteru obviously didn't recognize poison hemlock when he saw it." Izuru explained.

"P-poison hemlock?" Kazuichi yelled.

"Poison hemlock is a plant of which every part is poisonous. The roots heavily resemble that of wild carrots, with leaves that look like parsley, so it is often mistaken for them. It also has a smell that is similar to a mouse, and a taste that has been compared to parsnips. Prolonged exposure to the plants can cause skin irritation and rashes, and consumption of the roots and leaves can cause death in large doses, in only just an hour. Symptoms of hemlock poisoning match what happened to Sonia. This also explains the irritation on her hands." Izuru's words hung heavy in the courtroom.

"Are you implying that Teruteru intentionally lied to Sonia, in order to kill her?" Gundam finally asked.

"H-h-hold on a second now!" Teruteru cried. Izuru ignored him and turned to Monokuma.

"Monokuma, you said that the only thing that didn't count as murder was dying of sickness, and Teruteru misleading Sonia means he caused her death correct?"

"Upupupupu~" The bear laughed instead of giving an answer, making Izuru sigh.

"Teruteru, you told us that you didn't put any carrots or parsley in the salad's right? So that means Sonia must've added them herself. She thought that they were carrots and parsley, but in fact they were hemlock. She only put them in her salad because you told her they were safe. But you iknew/i what they were." Hajime accused, making Teruteru start babbling nonsense in an accent that none of them could understand.

"Oi! But that about the mystery of who sent th' letter to Byakuya over th'r'? Huh? Who did tha'?" The small chef screamed.

"That is unimportant right now. The important thing is that you willingly misled someone into eating poisonous food, knowing full well that it could kill her." Byakuya roared, looking furious.

"I… I…. I… That-that wasn't- I-I mean, S-Sonia killed herself pretty much! I-I-I mean, she was the one who-who… p-put the stuff in her f-food so-so… IT'S NOT MY FAULT!" Teruteru cried out, tears streaming down his face.

"Monokuma, does it count as suicide if Sonia put the poison in her own food, or is Teruteru responsible." Izuru finally asked.

"Hmm… this is a pickle but… Considering Miss Snow White didn't know what she was doing then… she ain't responsable! Now, it's voting time! Pull the lever in front of you to cast your vote, oh, and make triple sure you vote, you don't want to make a silly mistake and get everyone killed."

The votes were cast, and everyone chose Teruteru, who was sobbing.

"Y-you… why?! Why did you kill miss Sonia?" Kazuichi screamed, running over to the chef and picking him up by the collar.

"I-I-I had to… she… she's waiting for me. Mama… I told her I'd come back home after I graduated. And-and Monokuma said that years had past… I need to know what happened to Mama!"

"You… BASTARD!" Kazuichi pulled his arm back to punch Teruteru, but his arm was caught by Gundam.

"That is unnecessary. Attacking him will cause nothing more than you to be punished for violence. Calm yourself." For a moment, Kazuichi seemed like he wasn't going to listen to the breeder's words but instead he let Teruteru drop the ground.

"Now then! I've prepared a very special punishment for the Super High School Level Cook Teruteru Hanamura!" Monokuma said with a laugh.

"Wait! What happened to the Hanamura family diner!? What happened to Mama?!" The plump man yelled out. "You said you give me my memories back if I killed! S-so!"

"Oh… that's right… I did say that didn't I? Hmm…. since you're gonna die in a second there's no harm!" Monokuma suddenly put his hand to Teruteru's head. After a moment Teruteru let out a scream of terror, his eyes filling with tears.

"MAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" He yelled as he was dragged away.

Super High School Level Cook Teruteru Hanamura's punishment

DEEP FRIED TERUTERU

The students could only watch as Teruteru was killed, and all of them felt sick to their stomachs.

"Extreme! Whoooa! I can feel that adrenaline!" Monokuma laughed. Hajime was trembling in anger, and Izuru had to grab his brother's wrist in order to keep him from doing anything.

"Why…?" Mahiru whimpered. "Why did this have to happen?"

"It happened because that guy couldn't keep down his murderous urges. How sad. Only a violent person could kill someone in such a brutal way. I mean, hemlock poisoning isn't a quick or painless death at all." The black and white bear mocked.

"Why did you have to kill him though?!" Nekomaru screamed.

"Well, he broke the rules didn't he?"

"You're breaking the rules too." Hajime accused. "You gave Teruteru his memories back, so now you give us ours. You said if a killing happened you'd give them back."

"Ooh, I did say that didn't I. Well, I'll give them back… eventually." Hajime's blood ran cold at the words.

"Eventually!?" Hajime yelled angrily.

"He never did say when… I suspect the only reason why he gave Teruteru back his memories was because he was going to die." Izuru said, clenching his fists.

"Bullseye!" The bear confirmed. "I'll get to it eventually, I just don't know when. Anyway, I gotta do some stuff! Bye!" Monokuma vanished, leaving them all in stunned silence.

"I… I must go too. There's something I really need to do." Monomi cried as she disappeared as well.

Izuru looked around the room, staring at everyone. Kazuichi was sobbing the corner, while Gundam stood near him. Everyone else was in similar states of disbelief.

"What… do we do now?" Peko asked.

"First, we return above ground... and get some rest. Then... we stand together once more. We give our all... that we might never again need see this awful place." Byakuya commanded. "I will not let this happen again."

"Yeah, you said that last time fatso, and look how it turned out." Fuyuhiko taunted.

"I made an error, and I will not make one again!" The heir promised. He then walked over to the elevator, pressed the button and waited. "Are you simpletons coming? Or do I have to send the elevator back down?" Everyone seemed to snap out of their stupors and ran to join the heir in the elevator.

The ride back up was tense and silent, but eventually everyone made it up, and back to their cottages, not saying a word.

The moment they got back to their cottage, Hajime took off his binder, breathing a heavy sigh, as he could breathe easy again. He sat on the bed, face in his hands. Izuru, not sure what else to do, wrapped his brother in a hug.

Hajime was shirtless, and Izuru could see the marks left by the binder, making him frown.

"Hajime… it's… I don't want to say that it's going to be alright because I don't know if it will but… I promise, I won't let anything bad happen to you." Izuru promised.

"I'm… thank you but… I don't know what to do! Two of our friends are dead… there's a black and white stuffed bear and our memories have been taken away! What's going on!" Hajime yelled, doubling over.

"I don't know Hajime… I wish I did."

(OK, I know that was lame as balls. I couldn't come up with something better. I'm ashamed of how horrible this whole mystery and first trial was. But I promise, the next few will be better, I swear. Also, in the last chapter there was an error that made it seem like Sonia had made a comment about being poisoned, but no, it was Mikan who said it. I have fixed the error.)