Akane stopped looking at the dead body and instead looked at the rest of the graduates who were present. There wasn't a single one who wasn't horrified, but chances were that the culprit was between them. She also took a brief glance over the room, trying to see important evidence.

Chiba was in front of the desk, looking at the dead body with obvious grief. She held the tears and did a military salute, as if it were her way to say goodbye to a comrade, then she turned around so nobody would see her in such a vulnerable state.

-"Let's start. You, Ogata-kun, get a partner and start investigating around here. I'll get another team of two as well, the rest…"- she started walking around, pushing people out of the room and directing them to different areas. Akane stood there, not sure where to start or who to have as partner. The latter was solved a few seconds later.

-"You know what we must do now, don't you?"-

Toriumi had approached. -"And this time we don't have a professional detective to help us. Keep your eyes open"-

Akane nodded. The Chemist was about to walk over to the desk, when an odd noise resonated in the distance and the office shook. Toriumi looked around, trying to find the source of the noise. Chiba instantly threw herself to the floor, and laid flat in there while covering her head and neck as well as she could.

-"What was that?"-

Toriumi shrugged. Toyogushi peeked into the office. -"Chiba-kun, Ogata-kun, Toriumi-kun, you have to see this!"- he urged. The three women reluctantly stepped out while Toyogushi paced around nervously. -"Hurry!"- he started running through the hall towards the room with the broken lockers.

-"What's so important"- Toriumi demanded.

-"We just heard an odd rumbling somewhere. What was it?"- Akane asked

-"I have heard that kind of noise before…was it…?"-

-"It was an explosion!"- he replied. Akane hollered surprised, and Toriumi looked like she definitely hadn't expected it. -"I'm serious! Something exploded in the lockers room!"-

-"That can't be true!"- Miyata had reached them.

-"I'm telling you it was! I was going to investigate somewhere else when...it just happened!"- Toyogushi made exaggerated gestures with his hands. It was clear he was in panic.

-"Don' make hasty conclusions. We'll know for sure after checking"- Toriumi was saying. Akane was thinking of something else. Matsukaze's notebook! He had said it was in a locker over there! What if it was destroyed by the explosion? There would be no way for them to find the Mastermind.

The four finally got into the lockers room. Some of the graduates were already investigating. On a side of the room, a locker was completely obliterated. The rest were battered and charred. The room was small, yet only the lockers on one side were affected. That wasn't a very strong bomb...

Explosion

Shortly after the body was discovered, a bomb exploded in the locker room.

-"Whoever did this better not have used what I think was used. If we end not having enough strength because some asshole wasted one of the bombs here, I swear somebody will be hurt"- Toriumi clenched her fists.

-"You know about them?"- Akane was sure she was talking about the bombs inside the Monobears.

-"What, the bombs? Of course I do! Now we won't all fit in this place if we all are in there at the same time. Go take a look, Ogata-kun. Show me how you fare. We'll wait here"-

-"Uuuh, actually, I'd like to enter too"- Miyata said meekly. Toriumi shut him up with a glare. Akane walked straight to the destroyed locker. She peeked inside it, and found several black hard pieces.

-"Those must be the rests of the bomb"- Hikasa had approached from the other side of the room -"It's obvious it was inside this locker, as it took the whole impact and kept it against the wall. No wonder the walls vibrated"-

Rests of the Bomb

A few plastic pieces that once formed a round bomb. Believed to have been placed inside one of the lockers in the locker room

-"Has any of you found anytjing in the other lockers?"- Akane asked. Hikasa got something out of his pocket.

-"This was inside one of the lockers over there"- he poined to the opposite side of the explosion. Akane took the object. It was an ID. When she turnd it on, she discovered it belonged to Matsukaze. She raised her eyebrows.

-"Is there anything near that needs one's ID to enter?"- the Chemist asked, remembering how Saitou's ID had a role in the past crime. Hikasa shook his head.

-"Nothing like that. I's odd that it's so far from the body"-

Matsukaze's ID

Found inside a locker in the locker room. No idea why it was there

-"What about a notebook? Did you find anything like that?"- Hikasa once again shook his head and was about to say something when Monobear appeared at the entrance.

-"So here is the rest!"- Monobear was impatient -"You lot haven't received my very useful file. Take this"-

Monobear's File #2

Victim: Mishio Matsukaze

Time of Death: Around 5:15 PM

Cause of Death: Exsanguination

The death is believed to have taken a minute or two, despite there not being a significant blodd loss. There are no signs of use of drugs or anything else

-"Also, there's nobody guarding the crime scene. What kind of pitiful investigators are all of you? Clearly not very good ones, upupupu"-

Toriumi ran towards Monobear's office. The bear continued. -"At this rate the culprit is going to be succssful. That would be a nice change! Finally the villain party is going to score"-

-"Shut up"- was all Akane said before running to the crime scene. How could we leave it alone? The Chemist hoped that the culprit didn't tamper with it.

At first glance the room looked exactly as they had left it. Nothing seemed to have changed. -"We were careless. We can't let it happen again"- Toriumi said hoarsely. Akane spent some time trying to convince her that it was't her fault, but she rejected every word and insisted that they started investigating. The women approached the desk and looked around it.

-"Ths screwdriver undoubtedly killed him, but it can also tell other stuff. Take a look, Ogata-kun, and tell me what you see"- Toriumi indicated. Akane looked closer at the weapon and the gross wound, but saw nothing to report.

-"Uh, I'm not sure what is there to see…it's long and…yellow and…deadly"- she said. Toruimi rolled her eyes.

-"You really are very unobservant, Ogata-kun. Pay attention and listen to what I see"- Toruimi pushed Akane to the side and looked at the screwdriver for a few seconds, then took breath. –"From what I see, the killer must be left-handed. As you can see, the death wound is on the right side of his neck. No matter how I see it, there's no way for a right-handed person to deal such a blow"- the Private Tutor pulled the screwdriver out, spilling some blood around and making Akane wince –"I also can see a few scratches among the blood, near the tip. This screwdriver has been used for something rough. Other than that, it looks like it's new. And the last thing I see is that this screwdriver is very pointy. One wouldn't need a lot of strength to do serious harm with this"-

Toriumi finished her speech with an expression that clearly bragged about her superiority, which Akane understood very well.

Screwdriver

The weapon used to kill Matsukaze. Long, thin and pointy. Found on the right side of Matsukaze's neck

Toriumi put back the screwdriver into Matsukaze's neck wound. Akane was freaked out by the Private Tutor's way to take the death so nonchalantly. The Chemist stepped away from the body, and focused on the desk. She saw two big dents on the surface, as if two really heavy spheres had been dropped on there from a certain height.

Keeping in mind the demonstration Toriumi had given, she examined closely the dents, trying to deduce something useful. Toriumi smirked, amused by the attempts to impress her.

-"Aren't you exaggerating, Ogata-kun?"- Toriumi said when Akane put her head on the desk to look better at the dents.

-"No, I can do this"- she kept examining closely the dents, trying to find out something. After a few minutes, she stood up straight.

-"So, what are the results?"-

Akane scratched her head sheepishly –"Absolutely nothing besides the fact that they're round and not very deep. Can you take a look and tell me what do you see?"-

-"There's nothing else to say. They're just dents, Ogata-kun. Look, you need to know when it would be a waste of time to look at something this closely. We don't have infinite time, Ogata-kun!"-

Dents on the Desk

On the surface of the desk, towards the edge opposite to the body, there are two round dents.

-"How comfortable would you be with touching Matsukaze right now, my good friend?"- Toriumi smiled mockingly. Akane shuddered at the mere thought. –"Well, too bad. Do it. You never know what you may find. Register his pockets, at the very least"-

-"It's just that…it is icky, okay? I don't want to touch a dead body"-

Toriumi's glare made it clear that she wouldn't accept a no for an answer. Akane slowly approached Matsukaze, and carefully propped him against the chair, so the pockets of the shirt would be easily reachable, but first started with his pants. She put her hand in one of the pockets, and pulled out something. It was a rumpled cloth. The Chemist extended it, and noticed that it seemed to be a tie, or at the very least a piece of it. It was clear it had been ripped, judging by the ragged edges.

-"Interesting find, yes"- she heard Toriumi say softly. Akane paid more attention, and saw something near the neck. It was the rest of the tie, as it matched the colors and the material.

-"For some reason part of his tie was ripped violently and put in his pocket. Odd, because this seems to be a strong tie"- Akane verified what she had just said, and was happy to see it was true

Ripped Tie

Most of Matsukaze's tie was ripped violently. Found in his pants pocket

Akane continued checking the pockets, this time the one on the other side. She was kind of uncomfortable, but managed to find something more. It was a very odd object, white and curved, of a strange material.

-"Show me that"- Toriumi demanded and extended her hand. Once she had the object, she looked at it carefully. She pushed her glasses against her forehead –"Okay, I…I have no idea what this is"-

-"Could it be important?"-

Toriumi shrugged –"Beats me"-

Strange Object

A cone curved to a point, completely white. Matsukaze had it in his pocket

-"Don't forget his shirt. I can see from here there's something in it"- Toriumi pointed at the pocket. Akane searched through it, and found a small notepad. Could this be…? She anxiously opened the notepad, but a quick glance made it obvious that it was completely empty, with the exception of two pages, and neither of them had any clue about the Mastermind. This can't be the notebook he talked about…right? Tell me it isn't a cruel joke. She pushed aside these grim thoughts and focused on the pages that actually had content on them. She looked at the first one. It had a strange code written, of the type that would be used in computer programming.

-"If…whatever, then…kill…varying the place?"- she read aloud. Toriumi snatched the notepad from her hands.

-"Computer programming. I had never seen any like this, though"-

-"What is its function?"-

-"Hmmmmm…"- Toruimi took a minute to analyze the coding –"If I had to guess, if one says this word here…"- she pointed at 'Volkos' –"…one dies, and the way of dying depends of the place one is in"-

-"How would that work? It's just coding. A computer can't kill"-

-"Think, Ogata-kun. What in this shelter is practically an AI? Or do you expect us to be in virtual reality so we die in a lightning strike when it's said?"-

Of course. Monobear.

Notepad: Coding

The computer coding jotted down in the first page of Matsukaze's notepad. It's theorized that it makes Monobear kills whoever says the word 'Volkos'

Akane then took a look at the second page. There was only one thing, written in big letters in the center. She showed it to Toriumi. –"It's that word again"-

Notepad: 'Volkos'

Just that word written in the middle of a page.

-"But what does this word mean? I don't remember it being a meaningful word I any language. One would think it's Russian, but no, no meaning"- Toriumi was musing to herself. Akane left her do that while she looked around for more clues.

She was walking around the desk when she stepped on something. She lifted her foot and saw a piece of what looked to be debris. There was more under the desk. She crouched and pulled most of it. Everything was metallic; there were several wires and what looked like a satellite dish. She called Toriumi to take a look.

-"Now this is the most interesting clue I have seen so far"-

-"Why, it just looks like a bunch of junk"-

-" Ogata-kun, the Unobservant. That should have been your SHSL talent. Really, didn't you notice?"- Toriumi smirked once again. She clearly enjoyed being ten steps ahead of Akane. The Chemist was getting pretty tired of it, so she told the Private Tutor to say at once what she meant. –"When we came here the first time, I'd bet everything I owned that this wasn't here"-

-"Eh? You mean that…somebody tampered with the scene by dumping trash in here?"-

-"I doubt it's really trash. Take some of that junk with you, but the point is, this was put here while we were away during the whole explosion panic"-

Akane put some of the pieces in her lab coat pocket.

Debris

Pieces of an unknown machine, lying under the desk. According to Toriumi, they weren't there when the body was discovered

The ladies continued investigating until there was nothing else to check. None of them turned on the computer, there was nothing in the place with the spare Monobears, and they doubted that anybody entered behind the door with the keypad. They were about to leave when Monobear stepped in angrily, dragging…one of the spares

-"I can't believe any of you would do this to me. Leaving poor nice me just there, as if it were any trash…my feelings are very hurt"- Monobear made some dramatic gestures

-"What the hell are you talking about?"- Toriumi asked, crossing her arms.

-"I'm talking about this! I found this spare inside the library, and to make things worse, somebody tampered with it! Look at that!"- Monobear threw the spare at them. The belly plate fell to the floor, exposing what was inside. Between the wires and chips, there was a big round empty space. –"And look at this too"- he held one of the paws. There was one claw missing.

-"Who could have done this?"- Akane said. Monobear turned smug, as if it weren't a problem.

-"Oh, I know perfectly that the culprit is who did this. What kind of host would I be if I didn't know every detail that happened in this shelter? Except…"- Akane hurried him to continue –"Aaaaaagh, I don't get it! How did that Detective and the culprit get into my office without me noticing!? I have a lot of tricks yet they managed to sneak here"-

-"Details, now"- Toriumi demanded. Monobear laughed.

-"Upupupu, I wouldn't tell even if I knew it! But let me make this clear: I do know who killed the victim, so no worries. I'll know who to execute at the end of this!"- He left the office, laughing. Akane felt excited. She had noticed the meaning of one of the clues she had found.

-"Toriumi-san, look! This is actually the claw that is missing on the Monobear spare!"- she showed her the curved white object and how it matched with the rest of the claws. Toriumi nodded approvingly. She also added a detail she had remembered about the claws.

Claw (update)

One of Monobear's claws, coming from a Monobear spare. Found in Matsukaze's pocket. It can open any electronic device, acting as some sort of keycard

Monobear Spare

One of the spares of Monobear. Found abandoned in the library without the bomb and without a claw

-"Well, there isn't anything else to do in this crime scene. I'll go take a nap. See you at the trial, Ogata-kun"- Toriumi waved, and left Akane alone. She agreed that they had already found everything worthwhile in the office, so she went to talk to a few people to find out if they had ideas.

She stumbled upon Sakurai in the garden, tending the plants.

-"…no, I'm sure that I saw right. He's cornering all of us, how can he be so ruthless?"- He was whispering alone. Akane cleared her throat loudly; startling Sakurai and making him drop on his shoes the plant he was holding. –"Look what you did!"- He shouted

-"Sorry Sakurai-san, I was just wondering what you were talking about"- she apologized. Sakurai calmed down, and tried to avoid the topic, but Akane didn't do the same. She insisted.

-"If I tell you will you leave me alone?"- He asked, tired. Akane nodded. –"Okay, dear, don't think I'm crazy or anything, because I'm sure I saw what I saw. I saw…two Monobears! There are two of those damned bears going around in here!"-

-"It was just a spare found in the library, Sakurai-san. Nothing to worry about"- it looked like it was going to be senseless. Sakurai shook his head with energy.

-"What? No! The ones I saw were in the first area, not near the library. Just listen to me, okay?

I was there, going towards my bedroom after getting rid of some trash in the compactor, when I saw Monobear knocking on Hikasa's bedroom's door. A somewhat odd image by itself, yes, but when I turned around to not to interrupt them, I saw another Monobear entering the cafeteria. I'm not kidding there were really two!"-

-"Waaaaait…at what time did you see this?"-

-"It was almost five o'clock, I'm sure. But there's more. Around twenty minutes later, I saw Monobear entering the storage, but then I also saw Monobear coming out of the trash room. This is when I confronted him. I was all 'Hey you, what are you doing? How can you be in two places at the same time' but he didn't reply, not even with one of his lame responses. He just…went away. I ran to the storage and saw him harassing Yamaguchi-kun. He really was in two places at the same time!"-

Akane felt her eye twitching. To her the whole thing sounded like a senseless story, and Sakurai's tone and crazy expression didn't help either. She thanked him, and left the garden, but decided to at the very least remember what Sakurai had told her…just in case.

Sakurai's Testimony

In the span of half an hour before the murder, Sakurai saw two Monobears at the same time…twice. First entering Hikasa's room, while the other went to the cafeteria, the second time one going into the pantry, and the other into the trash room.

Akane went to look for Yamaguchi, and found her in the storage. However, what she told her about Monobear's harassment didn't help at all to enlighten anything. It was meaningless enough to be ignored and forgotten.

While going out of the storage, she bumped upon Yukio. After she apologized for it, he asked him if he had any clue or something that could help

-"I'm afraid not. I looked into the crime scene and found some stuff, but I'm sure you already found them all"- he started naming each evidence he had seen and indeed, Akane already had found all of them.

Akane was about to leave, when an idea came to her. Maaaaybe…Yukio could confirm anything about the whole thing with Monobear? What if he saw something? The Chemist asked him if he had seen anything odd about Monobear.

-"Well, now that you mention it…there's something. It was just after the dead body announcement. I was one of the three that found it, you know. Monobear had come to me and told me that there was a dead body in the office. I checked, and it was true, so I went to tell it to other people, and while I was in it, I saw Monobear coming out of the lockers room. He went near to me and I'm sure he saw me, yet he didn't say a thing. It's odd, normally when I encounter him he takes it as a chance to really make me mad"-

Akane wasn't expecting a different story, but it showed that there was something afoot with the whole Monobear matters. Akane thanked him.

-"You're welcome, and oh, one thing more. Monobear was carrying something…I didn't look for too long, but I think it was an ID. I should have followed him, but you know, there being a dead body and all I just didn't think about that idea"-

Yukio's Testimony

Shortly after the murder, Yukio saw Monobear coming out of the lockers room. He had an object with him, possibly an ID

Monobear's Strange Behavior

The Monobear Sakurai and Yukio encountered generally acted different than normal towards us graduates

Akane was tired from going around. It wasn't going to be long before the trial started, and she had no idea where else to search for clues, but in that moment she thought about the trash room. Last time Sawashiro tried to get rid of evidence there. Maybe today's culprit did that too!

She went towards the trash room, but the door was locked. –"What the…?"- She pulled and rattled the door, trying to open it.

-"Odd, isn't it? It has been closed for a while already. Yesterday in the night I tried to enter but it was locked"- Miyata approached after noticing Ogata trying to force open the door.

-"Monobear. It must have been him"- Akane screeched, calling the bear. Soon he obeyed.

-"What is it now, your highness?"-

-"Why did you lock this door?"-

-"It's always me, according to you people. Is it because I'm a bear? Does nobody like bears around here?"-

-"Let's go, Ogata-kun. It's clear he'll never give a straight answer"-Miyata gestured towards the Chemist, but Monobear did a theatrical gasp

-"Then I'm going to amaze you by answering with all the honesty I have: I didn't lock this door, although I should have done it after the medium tried to get rid of evidence. Unfair advantage, I say!"-

-"But how else could this have been locked if it wasn't you?"- She rattled the door again

-"Oh? It could have been anybody. After all, one of my keys is missing!"- Monobear was very pleased with how taken aback Akane was now –"Now if you excuse me, I have to go mess with a bunch of other suckers. Goodbye!"- He quickly left. As soon as the bear was out of sight, Akane kicked the door.

-"I'm betting it was the culprit! Who else would benefit from locking the door to the trash room? Surely he or she got rid of evidence and then locked this, just in case"- Akane muttered. Miyata looked doubtful

-"Then this was planned with a considerable amount of time. As I said, this was locked since yesterday"- he pointed. Akane took a deep breath, trying to calm down. The CEO continued –"Let's leave this room aside. I don't think it's related.

Akane sighed and nodded, and both left towards the cafeteria. The Chemist had no idea where else to go now, so she sat to wait until it was time for the trial. She decided to spend some time examining the pieces of debris that were found in the office. Was Toriumi right when she said they hadn't been there originally? Leaving that aside, what could these pieces form? Most were still in the office, so even if Akane managed to assemble what she had, she still wouldn't know

-"Ogata-kun? Uuuuuuh…listen…there's something I must tell you. I'm really sorry for…"- Miyata started. He fiddled with his hands, not sure how to continue. Akane tried to help him, but they were interrupted by Chiba.

-"Here you are! Toriumi told me that you had some debris"-

Miyata wasn't happy with the interruption. –"What the hell do you want? Can't you see we're busy?"-

Chiba glared at Miyata before turning her head to continue talking with Akane. –"Anyway, please let me see that. I think I know what this is"- Without waiting a reply, Chiba went ahead and took some of the debris. Much to Akane's surprise, she managed to piece together several of the pieces. Miyata had stopped frowning and now looked positively startled. –"Oh wow, I was right…"- she left what she had assembled, which was unrecognizable. It was obvious it was a part of a bigger machine.

Akane asked for an explanation, while Miyata just stared down. Chiba sat. –"These pieces and the rest in the office form a prototype of a signal interceptor the army was developing a few months ago. It was supposed to work as a machine that would intercept radio and infrared waves, and allowing one to send messages or manipulate electronics. This thing"- she pointed at the assembled piece –"is part of the main frame, but I'm completely sure it's part of the interceptor"-

-"How would you even know that?"- Miyata grumbled, still looking down

-"Because…eh…it was in my room since Day 1"- she confessed.

Akane raised her eyebrows. It seemed like a very convenient thing to have. That is, if there was something that could be intercepted. –"So you brought an army interceptor prototype here? It isn't the type of thing you go carrying around in your pocket"-

-"No! All I know is that when I woke up in my room, it was there. Not only that, there are other confidential prototypes that definitely shouldn't be here. I didn't bring any machines with me when I got here. And before you ask, no, none of them can be useful"-

-"It's yours, and it appeared on the crime scene. I'd say that's conclusive, don't you agree, Ogata-kun?"- Miyata said, almost indifferently. Chiba wasn't amused.

-"You idiot. I just revealed what it was and confessed it was mine. If I was the culprit, I wouldn't have said a thing"- she said, narrowing her eyes.

Miyata just shrugged. –"I was just testing your reactions. I'm not retarded, Chiba, I know you wouldn't have done this"-

I'm sure there are some in this shelter who would, Miyata-kun. Lab coat in crime scene, oh gee, Ogata is the culprit! –"Any idea of why it's in the crime scene?"-

Chiba glanced down at the piece she had assembled. –"I gave it to Matsukaze-san"-Akane asked for an explanation. –"You see, this morning we were speaking, and I mentioned the stuff in my room. When I talked about the interceptor, he asked to me to give it to him. He didn't specify why he wanted it, but I was sure that it was going to be for good. I just…trusted him. He really was doing an effort to find the Mastermind"-

Signal Interceptor

A machine that allows one to intercept and manipulate waves, belonging to Tomoe Chiba. Given to Matsukaze the morning of his death. Found destroyed in Monobear's Office

Remains of the Signal Interceptor (update)

Pieces of Chiba's signal interceptor. According to Toriumi, they weren't there before the explosion. When they returned to Monobear's Office, they were found under the desk

In that moment, the speaker screeched, until Monobear's voice was heard coming from it. –"I'm getting bored already. We're going to start the trial now. Everybody go to the red door, and be ready for another showdown!"-

Akane couldn't avoid feeling nervous. –"Here we go again"-

-"Be strong, you two. We'll need bravery to cross the marsh of our uncertain future"- Chiba said, standing up. Miyata let out a 'meh', and left without saying another word.

Soon the Chemist was once again in the lobby before the courtroom. There was nervousness in the air, along with distrust, more than in the first trial. It's possible that since there wasn't an obvious suspect now, they couldn't just direct their bad behavior towards a specific person.

When the shutters to the courtroom opened, Akane suddenly remembered something. She really had forgotten to ask, and now it was the last chance…as she wasn't sure if it was a good idea to mention it during the trial. She reached Hikasa, and stopped him before he entered.

-"Hikasa-san! Just a question: what exactly did you find in the lockers room? Any evidence?"-

-"Uuuuh…we already talked about this. I gave you that Detective's ID already, remember? You even asked about a notebook"-

Oh, true –"It's possible that we missed something, damn it"-

-"That's where you're wrong!"- the Weightlifter puffed his chest, proud –"I was the first to arrive there after the explosion, and I instantly started to search for anything that could help. And I can say, and be 100% sure of it, that there was nothing else besides the rests of the bomb and the ID"-

Akane let him go into the courtroom, and took a moment to think before entering. She supposed that if Hikasa had found Matsukaze's notebook about the Mastermind, he would have mentioned it…unless…Hikasa was the Mastermind? It could be true, right? As far as she knew, he hadn't been discarded.

Or maybe the notebook had been destroyed in the explosion. If it was close to the bomb when it exploded, then it would be ashes, right? She didn't really have any idea how it would look.

Soon she was alone in the lobby –"Hurry up! Stop lollygagging and go to your podium, I'm impatient to start this!"- Monobear shouted at her. She nodded, and ran to her place.

Missing Notebook

Matsukaze had hid his notebook about the Mastermind in one of the lockers of the locker room, yet it was nowhere to be found. Could it have been destroyed or taken by somebody?

-"Now that we're all here, let's get this rolling!"- The bear said cheerfully, and banged his gavel a few times. Akane looked at the rest of the graduates, who had varying degrees of willpower. One of them had killed the one person who was going to great lengths to find who was behind it all.

And she really was hoping they all would find the culprit…even without the Detective's help now.