*~ Shotaro ~ Kitchen
"Huehuehuehuehuehuehue! Attention all students; a body has been discovered! I repeat: a body has been discovered! After a brief period of investigation, a Class Trial will commence, so do make the best use of your time! Cheerio!"
"Urgh…" Madoka groans, propping himself onto his arms and rubbing his face. "Ow...I know I wanted the door opened by banging it and all, but couldn't one of you have had the common decency to catch me as I fell?"
He gets an answer in the form of Masashi crushing his head against her chest. "You're alive!" she exclaims, the relief in her voice clearly evident.
"Um, Masashi?" I say nervously. "I think you're kinda smothering him."
The muffled agreement from Madoka is all that is needed for her to release him, and my gaze shifts to Iso, who has a hand to his mouth. "Must...resist...urge to puke! Failing!" is all he manages, before running off to find a dustbin.
Finally, I look back into the kitchen—and the bile in my throat threatens to make itself known to the world, as I look once more upon the body of Ryuunosuke Fukuzawa, the Super High School Level Secret Service Spy.
From where I am, having fallen over on my butt in shock in the entrance to the kitchen, I can see that he's definitely dead; if not because his chest wasn't rising and falling, then because of the rather prominent slash that spans the length of his neck. He sits slumped against the refrigerator, his feet outstretched and his arms at his sides. Blood is everywhere; it stains the front of his once-immaculate suit and pools around his body. There's a strange sense of fear that hangs in the air around him, and the black glasses only serve to accentuate the shocked look on his face. I wonder what his last moments would have been like to cause such an expression.
The chef's knife by his feet, bloodied pink, doesn't help matters much.
"I have your coffee beans here, but I highly doubt any of you are really in the mood for some right now, are you?"
Peace steps in from behind me, depositing a few jars of the stuff onto the countertop, before doing a double-take at the sight of Ryu's body. His face twists with something resembling disgust and...confusion? In any case, he clears his throat, "Wow, somebody clearly didn't like the guy, but sheesh, now that I have to do the cleanup, the someone in question could have done a better job," he grumbles. "I don't get paid to do this, y'know?"
"...So Ryu's really dead, huh?" Madoka shakes his head, mumbling a quick prayer. "I know I should be shocked, but honestly, the amount of blood I saw on him when I woke up gave it away. What's—"
He winces in pain as Ai suddenly tackle-hugs him. "Maaaadooooka, are you ooook-aaaaay?" she slurs, clearly loopy from the lack of sleep.
A pair of hands, belonging to the Fencer tries to push her away. "Leave him alone, Ai! He's injured and needs medical attention, not for you to make it worse!"
"Cut her," Madoka grimaces, gently removing Ai's arms from around his head, "Some slack, Masashi. We've been awake for over a day now, and at least she's not actively trying to be a troll."
"Yeesh, I ish no troll. Imma birdie," she affirms, flapping around her arms like a bird, before her gaze lands on Ryu's corpse. Her expression immediately changes to one of horror, and she sobers up almost instantly. "O-M-F-G-W-T-F-S-N-A-F-U!"
"Hey, no stealing my shtick!" Iso yells from the other corner of the cafeteria, before continuing to vomit up what remained of his breakfast.
The yelling does attract the rest of our classmates, and one by one, they trickle into the kitchen. Each of them reacts in different ways to the body, ranging from Kagaku's relative indifference ("As I had suspected. Then again, when am I ever wrong?") to—
"Oh holy what the hell are you freaking kidding me?!" Misaki screeches, falling back on her butt and scooting away as fast as she can from the door. I realize this is one of the few times she's using her real voice.
Bree steps forward and closes Ryu's eyes. "I swear to find whoever did this to you," she promises the Spy, before turning back to Peace, who is idly standing by. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, pay no attention to that Matchmaker to the side. Continue reacting to your friend's corpse, we haven't copyrighted doing that yet," he replies.
"No seriously." Kokushi steps forward, his gaze hard. "Why are you here? Just to taunt us about Fukuzawa's demise?"
At this, Peace shrugged, and hoisted himself up to sit on the countertop. Now that he was taller than everyone present (including Laurent, which is why I suspect he did it in the first place), he began to address us.
"So, now that everyone else alive has gathered, I guess I'll give the usual opening spiel." He clears his throat. "Welcome to the investigation phase of your embassy life. Here, you will solve, or attempt to solve, the murder of your fellow classmate by doing what everyone does best: panic."
Seeing as how no one took his jibe well, he continues, "In all seriousness, now is the time to search for clues as to whodunnit. You will be given a set amount of time to look around to your hearts' content, in accordance with Rule #5. I'll explain Rule #6 and the Class Trial when the time comes, but until then, I'll give you guys two hours to get things settled, yeah?"
"Um, excuse me?" Yumi raises her hand by my side. "What about Rule #8, Mr. Peace?"
"Hm?" Peace proceeds to pull out his Electro-ID, flipping it on. "Let's see here...Ah. I see what you mean. Well," he gestures to Masashi, Madoka and I, "If I'm right, the three of them saw the body first, yes? In which case, we play the Body Discovery Announcement you heard just now to signal to the rest of you that, obviously, a corpse has been found. That way, people can come running to get the investigation period started."
"No, I meant the 'Monochrome Autopsy' part." Yumi gestures to her own Electro-ID, pointing at the last two words in the rule.
Peace simply smiles, and a familiar voice cuts in, "I'm baaaaaaaack!"
Athena, who was closest to the door, makes way for Monotee as he waddles in, clearly pleased. "It hasn't even been two days and someone's already dead! You guys must have set a new record or something!"
The stern glares of Bree and Gin cause him to visibly wilt. A sweatdrop forms to the side of his forehead, even though that should really be impossible, because last I checked, Monotee was clearly a robot.
Freaking machines, how do they work?
"A-Anyways, since we're proceeding into Investigation Time and whatnot, I've taken the liberty of adding some new features to your Electro-ID!"
I pull open my own Electro-ID and turn it on to reveal just what Monotee has gifted to us all.
[Home] [Rules] [Profile] NEW! [Truth Bullets] [Camera] [Record] NEW!
Truth Bullets? Oh god, is this thing a gun?!
I drop my Electro-ID in fear, and Misaki squeaks as it bounces off her head onto the floor. "Oi, watch it, spaceman!"
Oi, watch it, earth...girl. Nailed it.
Monotee continues his explanation as I pick up my device, the panel on said Electro-ID's back having slid away to reveal a camera. "In the upcoming class trial, you'll have to rely on Truth Bullets to see you through! These are made from one of two things—either a picture of the evidence you have found, along with any necessary comments you want to add for an explanation, or a recording of someone's testimony, which can be infinitely repeated once it's in!" He gestures at Ryu's body. "And since we're such nice hosts, we're gonna give you one free Truth Bullet per trial, and that's the Monochrome Autopsy—an autopsy report on the victim and all the necessary information we think is safe to put in!"
"You'll be receiving that in your 'Truth Bullets' tab shortly. Until then, it's ta-tas, my lovelies!" Finishing that, Peace grabs Monotee, lifts him up as if he was a plush toy, and sweeps out of the room.
We stare at each other in silence. Though no one spoke, it was clear everyone had the same thoughts in the forefront of their mind.
One of us is a killer. One of us killed Ryuunosuke Fukuzawa, and unless we find out who, that person will get away with it.
The sound of beeping throughout the room indicates that our first clue has arrived, and just like that, the game was afoot.
Ugh, game? Damnit, Toku, don't be so morbid, this isn't a game!
Investigation Time! Acquire Truth Bullets!
[Home] [Rules] [Profile] [Truth Bullets] [Camera] [Record]
==Truth Bullet Acquired!==
==Monochrome Autopsy #1==
Victim: Ryuunosuke Fukuzawa, SHSL Secret Service Spy
Estimated Time of Death: 1337 hours
Location of Body: Kitchen
Cause of Death: Exsanguination
Extra notes: Due to the delay in discovering the body, it has since bled out.
Monotee has been helpful enough to provide us with the bare minimum in terms of what we can infer from Ryu's corpse. While the identity of the victim, location and cause of death are apparent, there's a few things here that peak our interest.
I glance at the clock. Quarter to six. That means Ryu has been dead for over four hours...
Eventually, Yamato broke the silence. "It appears as if we have no choice." He says with a grim look on his face. "The life of a friend…fellow student, has been taken. I know this will be difficult, seeing that one of us is the culprit, but unless we wish to join Ryu, then we need to investigate and find the perpetrator."
After Yamato finished his speech, Bree spoke up. "He's right. If you find anything, and I do mean anything suspicious, record your findings and do hold back once we reach the trial." From the anger in her eyes and her clenched fists, you could tell she was fired up. "Let's bring this bastard to justice."
"Alright, gang, let's split up and search for clues!" Misaki's impression of that one mystery show guy whose name I can't remember is spot-on, and all of us break off into our own little groups to investigate.
Well, almost all of us.
In truth, by the time everyone had found their cliques to explore with, I was left all alone.
Again.
I'm getting used to this way too fast…
Shrugging my shoulders, I decide to look around. If anything, maybe a closer look at Ryu's body will help.
If the smell of blood doesn't make me keel over first.
As I suspected, Bree and Yamato are there, and they are checking over his corpse. "Hello, Toku," Bree greets noncommittally, as she lifts his arms to check for any other injuries besides the...obvious.
"Um, can I help in any way?" I ask, feeling slightly queasy already.
"Would you mind taking pictures of his wound? We might be able to analyze them at a later point in time." Yamato asks.
I comply, and snap a few quick shots of his neck. There really aren't any other injuries on his body, and unless the either of them want to undress him to check for bruising, I doubt there will be.
"The depth of the wound is rather shallow, though it has cut through the carotid artery. Monotee's right,it has stopped bleeding, so he's been dead for quite a while." Bree intones, propping his body up and away from the refrigerator. "No other visible wounds and there's only the one cut, so the murderer acted quick, and acted precisely."
==Truth Bullet Updated!==
==Monochrome Autopsy #1==
Pictures: [1] [2] [3]
"That's weird." Yamato holds up Ryu's hands. "His palms are completely clean."
"Why's that?" I ask, somewhat confused.
"Usually, when you're cut somewhere, the first thing you would do is place pressure to the wound in order to staunch the bleeding. As a Spy, I'm pretty damn sure Ryu knew how to at least handle that situation." Bree then lets out a sigh and a slow shake of the head, letting his body go limp again.
"To be fair, we were somewhat out of it." I think inwardly for a moment. "When was the last time you guys saw Ryu?"
Yamato ponders my question, before answering, "I think it was around one o'clock that we left him in the cafeteria. He said he wanted to sit down and think, so we moved on to searching our rooms for any other means of escape. If only we had stayed with him…"
"Ah, I get it. Yamato, could you repeat that for a sec, please?" Bree holds her Electro-ID out towards him, and there's a slight beep.
She's probably using the [Record] function to make his testimony a truth bullet.
==Truth Bullet Acquired!==
==Yamato's Testimony==
The last time either of the Political Trio—well, Duo—saw Ryu, it was one o'clock, about half an hour before he died. Ryu was in the cafeteria, taking a short rest to think. Hmm...was he killed there or in the kitchen?
"Definitely the kitchen." Bree answers in response. She points to the ground, and I see a slight trail of blood towards the body, originating from somewhere near the approximate middle of the kitchen. There, a small, yet significant pool of blood lies, and the small dots that follow show that his body was dragged to where it now lay.
"I'll handle this." I say, taking another set of pictures.
==Truth Bullet Acquired!==
==Blood on the Floor==
The blood patterns on the floor indicate that Ryu was killed inside of the kitchen, and was dragged to his new position against the fridge.
"We'll handle the rest here. You should probably be going somewhere else to investigate." The Prosecutor dismisses me with a curt nod. I don't quite have the authority to disagree, so I meekly invite myself out.
Where would be the next-best place to find clues?
I don't even notice I'm walking into someone until Ai's finger pokes my forehead. "Oi, careful, you're gonna bowl over the three of us."
I shake my head. The effects of the lack of sleep clearly haven't left me, because suddenly, I've found myself in the dorms.
*~Shotaro ~ Dorm Hallway
Huh. Anyways, it looks like I was just about to run into her, Masashi and Madoka.
"Hello, Toku." Masashi greets. "If you're wondering why we're here, I'm helping Madoka return to his room to wash his head."
I glance at the now-dried layer of blood, and wince. Yikes. What happened to you anyways to cause something like that?
We stop at a door marked with a white cross against a blue backdrop. I faintly recognize it as the Saltire, which means Madoka's room must be—
*~Shotaro ~ Madoka's Dorm: "Scotland"
"I'd tell you to make yourself at home, but this isn't really home for anyone, is it?" Madoka says, before disappearing into the bathroom.
As I sit down on the Loch Ness Monster-inspired sofa, I take a good look around. Madoka's room is coloured a garish shade of ginger-red, though it is offset by the many decorations. The largest of which is a wine cabinet that spans the wall opposite to the bed; the bed itself has a kilt-patterned blanket, and has a few sheep plushies placed around it. What's most distracting is the tens of bagpipes placed all around the room, with a whole row of those hanging against the wall, and one more shoved haphazardly amongst the bottles in the wine cabinet.
"Unfortunately, they're all empty. Then again, none of us are really at the minimum required drinking age, so it's a moot point." Ai reveals.
"You've been in here before?" I ask out of curiosity.
Her expression turns thoughtful. "Earlier today, like at one-twenty or something, someone slipped a letter under the Russian dorm next door, which is mine."
Taking out a piece of folded paper, she reveals it to me and Masashi, who takes a picture of it.
"Eh, it could be useful, who knows?" she responds to my inquisitive look.
==Truth Bullet Acquired!==
==Ai's Letter==
Dear Ai, can we talk? Meet me in the lounge, and come without your cousin, because this is a girls' meeting. Thanks.
Well, that certainly doesn't seem suspicious. Not at all.
"So I got the letter, and I went over here to tell Madoka about it. He didn't really mind or anything, just said that he would be in the kitchen while I was away or something. Considering it was around lunchtime, yeah."
Seems legit. It would explain why Madoka and Ai were apart from each other, but for four hours though?
"Oh, right, here." Ai continues, tapping into her Electro-ID. Moments later, a series of beeps sound out.
I check the newly-keyed in Truth Bullet.
==Truth Bullet Acquired!==
==Madoka's Bloody Head==
Pictures: [1] [2]
A pair of pictures showing Madoka's head as he was found. The blood has presumably dried up, but the question is how he got it on him.
"Eh, it could be useful, who knows?" she riffs back in a manner directly similar to Masashi, who laughs alongside her.
It stops as the gravity of the situation sinks back in, and even though none of us wanted to ask it, we all had the same thought in mind. Their eyes flitting in the direction of the bathroom speaks that much.
What's Madoka's involvement in all of this?
The sound of running water stops, and seconds later, the door opens.
"Madoka?" I start, turning to face him, who had just emerged from his bathroom in his underclothes, a towel still in his hair.
Presumably, he catches the look on our faces. "Keep on talking, I'm listening," he affirms, going over to pick up his signature chef's jacket.
"What exactly...happened in the kitchen?" Although I felt uncomfortable asking, I knew I had to.
The Food Critic responded by crossing his arms and giving me a disappointed and somewhat pained look. "Believe me when I say I wish I could tell you, but I can't seem to remember anything past a certain point in time. It's just...I honestly don't know."
Before I could continue, another voice breaks in. "My my," Ai pipes in, holding a hand over her mouth to hide an amused smile. "Already jumping to conclusions, Toku? Seems a tad bit too early for that."
"No, no! That's not it at all!" I exclaim, frantically waving my hands in a defensive manner. "I just want to hear your side of the story and how you and Ryu ended up there."
Even if it isn't him, Madoka was still there. He's bound to shed some light on this…
After a moment of him biting his lip, probably trying to determine the sincerity of my last statement, he lets out a sigh. "The memories are still hazy, but I'll tell you what I can conclusively remember. I assume Ai told you about how she went to the lounge?"
As he says that, he shoots her a look. "It's fair for Toku to be suspicious, by the way. I'm pretty sure you and Masashi want to know too."
"You're right as always, my dear," the Fencer affirms, a crack of worry showing through that usually confident face.
She really does care about him, doesn't she?
"Well, I went to the kitchen to prepare a little something for lunch. I cook to destress, anyways—but that's besides the point. What is, is that I did see Ryu by himself in the cafeteria and I waved to him before heading into the kitchen itself."
He frowns. "From then on, I only remember finishing the batter for my fish and chips. Everything from that point on is a hazy mess, until the point I woke up." A sigh. "I returned to consciousness on the floor next to a cabinet, caught sight of Ryu, and didn't want to stay in the kitchen any longer, which leads me to just a while ago, when I banged on the door."
"...Is that it?" Ai asks, and I can hear concern in her voice. Today's certainly a day for firsts. "Nothing else?"
He winces in pain as he puts a hand to his head. "I'm really sorry, Ai, you all, I really can't remember anything else. I just completely went under—"
A sharp intake of breath from both sides, and in perfect synchronization, they speak, "But how could that happen?"
I catch on just as Masashi finishes their line of thought. "I only remember the alarm playing once throughout the whole of today!" she proclaims. "If you just dozed off, how did you continue to stay unconscious?
She's right. If Madoka simply dozed off, the alarm would have been playing non-stop until he woke up. Yet, except for that one time in the middle of my walk, the alarm hadn't gone off since then. Did Ryu's death shut off the alarm?
More information is needed. For now, I'll key in what I already have.
==Truth Bullet Acquired!==
==Madoka's Testimony==
Madoka says while he was preparing lunch, he blacked out somehow, and only came to a few minutes before we found him and Ryu's corpse. Madoka also says that Ryu was alone in the cafeteria before he went to prepare lunch.
In any case, one thing this does confirm is that Ryu was alone in the cafeteria. It matches up with what Yamato had said earlier, so it should be credible.
"Urgh." Madoka places a hand to the back of his cranium, groaning. "Okay, I get that I couldn't stay awake and all, but why the heck does my head still hurt?"
"Here, let me take a look at it." Masashi offers. Being of the same height as her, Madoka moves to sit down to offer a more convenient view.
Her hands find something in his blond hair, for he yells sharply in pain. "I would greatly appreciate it if you didn't do that again, please."
"Done and done, but yikes, Madoka, you've got a really bad bruise. It's cooled down and all, but you still have a bit of a lump there."
She quickly takes a picture, and the beeps sound a moment later.
==Truth Bullet Acquired!==
==Madoka's Concussion==
Pictures: [1]
He must have fallen on something when he fell unconscious, because there's a nasty bump on the back of his head. It's considerably less swollen than it probably was when it was received, indicating the amount of time that has passed.
"You poor, poor man," is all we hear before Masashi decides to bury her head into his back, hugging his waist. "Whoever hurt you will be—"
Ai promptly gets up and pushes her away. "Hey, lay off him, he's injured and needs rest," she says with a tinge of jealousy.
"No."
Madoka's voice breaks the imminent squabble, as he moves for the door. "I can't rest, not now. There are things I have to do first. Ai, Masashi, Toku, the three of you should continue investigating elsewhere. I'll just…"
He shakes his head. "Just, take care, you guys, alright?" And the door closes behind him.
We stay there, unsure of what to do next, before Masashi grabs me by the shoulders. "Toku," she says, the determination hard in her eyes. "Do you think Madoka is lying about all he just said and actually killed Ryu?"
Her question takes me by surprise, but I stammer out a reply, "N-No...I d-don't think he's lying. It's not him."
She nods in relief, before addressing me again. "Then let's do all we can. Ryu was a good man, and I'm sure whoever killed him tried to pin it on Madoka. I don't like that, so let's get to the bottom of this, shall we?"
I nod. I wasn't willing to believe Madoka was capable of the act.
"Go talk to him." Ai pipes up, reclining on the sofa. "Call it a relative's intuition, but I think there's something he's not quite willing to tell me or Masashi, but he might tell you."
"You guys figured out how you're related to each other?" I ask curiously.
She shakes her head, but the smile remains. "He's a Tachibana. Even if we aren't closely related, I'm perfectly willing to think of him as family."
It's nice to know that they think so highly of him, and that's just after spending a few days with Madoka...I kinda wish people would care about me like that too...
Opening the door, I surprise Harper, who was standing outside, her fist raised in mid-knock—or at least it was in mid-knock when I opened it.
Donk. "Ow."
"Oops, sorry, Toku!" Harper apologizes sheepishly. "I was just, you know, um, kinda, yeah."
That really didn't explain anything…
"Oh hey, Harpy!" Ai calls out from inside the room. "Sorry we didn't finish our conversation last time!"
"Huh? Last time?" I ask.
This prompts the Pianist to get to her feet. She takes out her Electro-ID, and the jigsaw pieces fall into place.
"Harper, can you vouch that I, Ai, was with you when Ryu died?" she asks.
The Digital Artist responds immediately to the prompt. "Indeed I can! I had been resting in the lounge for quite some time earlier today. At one-thirty, Ai walked in expecting to meet the person who mailed a letter to her, but no one showed up. Following that, she stayed at the lounge and we rested together because we were too tired to move!"
Pausing to think, she finished off her train of thought with, "I think we only got up when I needed to go to the toilet, and after that, Ryu had already been found!"
==Truth Bullet Acquired!==
==Harper's Testimony==
Harper was at the lounge around one-thirty when Ai walked in. She didn't send the letter to Ai, but kept her company, and they didn't move from the location until much later, when Ryu's corpse was found.
"Thanks for reminding me to do that. Now if you will excuse me, we're gonna take a nap in the time we have left before the trial. Cheerio!" And with that, Ai drags Harper into the room, and slams the door in my face.
Literally. I stumble back, rubbing my nose, still sore from when Harper knocked against it the first time. Ow...
Seeing as how re-entering the room will probably get my nose broken for real, I turn tail and walk down the hallway in the direction of the cafeteria.
I catch up to Madoka around a corner, and recount the events that have transpired up to then, including Masashi's plea.
"They care for me that much?" he sighs, and I can't make out any happiness in his voice. "I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing."
"It's a good thing, isn't it? They're worried for you, you know?" I say.
"..."
He looks lost in thought. Guess he's not going to respond to that.
We walk quietly for a bit, before I find the tension too quiet to bear. "So...What do you think happened?" I ask in an effort to break the silence.
His answer shocks me somewhat, because it comes in a strained, nervous voice. It's a tone I've never heard from the usually-confident Food Critic, but I suppose circumstances tend to have that effect on everyone. "Unfortunately, I have a very good theory as to who killed Ryu, and I'm not looking forward to having to explain it to the others."
"How so?" I question, crossing the now-empty cafeteria.
He doesn't answer as we enter the kitchen once again.
*~ Shotaro ~ Kitchen
Bree and Yamato are gone, and in their place are Misaki, Athena and Laurent. All three greet us with a nod as we walk in, and we do the same in return.
"Good news, Madoka." Laurent steps forward, holding the jars that Peace deposited earlier. "I'm pleased to announce that these are authentic Arabica coffee beans, and as such, we should be able to brew some coffee at long last."
"That's good to hear. Would you mind passing some of them over?" He receives the expected jar, and moves to his usual position by the counter. He reaches for something, grabs at nothing, and pauses.
"Um...Does anyone know what happened to the mixing bowl? I'm pretty sure I last used it this afternoon, so it should still be around here somewhere," he queries.
Athena motions to behind her, where she's gathering what appears to be shards of glass on the floor. "Well, I suppose now I know what I was busy collecting. Your mixing bowl must have fallen along with you."
==Truth Bullet Acquired!==
==Glass Mixing Bowl==
The kitchen's mixing bowl was found on the ground, shattered. Madoka remembers using it last—it likely broke when he fell unconscious, right?
"That's a shame. I suppose I'll have to work around it." Taking a smaller, wooden bowl, he gets to work on grating the coffee beans. "Get me a pan, then, at least those should be in their proper positions."
Misaki salutes him, before performing her best Saturday morning cartoon impression. "Aye aye, captain!"
Bending down (an easy feat for someone as short as her), she reaches into the appropriate cabinet and pulls out a frying pan at random. Her face contorts with confusion. "What kind of second-rate thrift shop frying pan did Tweedledum and Tweedledee provide us with? There ain't suppose to be a dent in 'em, I tell ya!"
A dent?
I walk towards her to get a closer look. To my surprise, she's right; the pan has a fairly big indentation in the middle of its underside, as if it was used to hit something, like a particularly large cockroach.
Misaki decides to take it down. Even if it isn't important, in her words, "We can sue 'em for poor quality products!"
==Truth Bullet Acquired!==
==Dented Frying Pan==
This frying pan has been dented. That's about it, really.
"Not really." Athena crouches down, and points to something I hadn't really noticed. On the bottom of the cabinet, contrasting against the wood, is a series of stains.
But not just any kind of stains, because these are coloured pink.
"Bloodstains?" I ask. "Where could they have come from?"
"If I were to hazard a guess, I'll say it's from the—how did you call it?—the 'second-rate thrift shop frying pan'." Athena concludes, taking a picture. "What else could have been the cause?"
"The Kool-Aid man came along, maybe?" is the response from Misaki.
Unsurprisingly, the Mathematician is very much unimpressed. "Yeah, and next thing you know, you'll be telling me he murdered Ryu."
The mental image of a giant pitcher of drink crashing through the kitchen wall to bludgeon Ryu leaves a very sour aftertaste in my mouth.
==Truth Bullet Acquired!==
==Bloodstains==
Pictures: [1]
Bloodstains were found on the back of the frying pan. What could have caused them to get there?
Passing over a normal pan, we return to searching the kitchen for any extra clues.
I turn my attention over to Laurent, who is checking up on Ryu's body. "Hmm…" he says out loud. "I'm surprised no one has thought of archiving the knife as a Truth Bullet. Perhaps they think it's too easy to have been the murder weapon?"
"Where did the knife come from, anyways?" I ask, just as curious.
I mean, sure, this is a kitchen and all, but I don't see any visible knives in our vicinity.
The answer comes from Madoka, who has just placed a baking tray into the oven. "The knives happen to be in the top-most drawer over here," he shares, simultaneously placing one of said knives back into said drawer. "I should mention that this is not where they usually are when I bring them back to the kitchen, which is strange."
You bring what back to the what now?
Laurent stands up. "Can you elaborate, s'il vous plait?" he requests.
"This morning, after breakfast, I took the set of knives back to my room to polish. Following that, I brought them out again during lunchtime, whereupon I left them there," he says, pointing to an area of the countertop closer to the door, but within arm's reach. "As I've said, they've mysteriously relocated themselves to this drawer, and one of them has also found a new home on the kitchen floor."
Misaki takes the opportunity to snap pictures of both the knife on the floor and the insides of the drawer. I open my Electro-ID to see a well-buffed row of knives, of which one is clearly missing. Judging by how the knives increase in size down the line, it's not hard to put two and two together.
==Truth Bullet Acquired!==
==Set of Knives==
Pictures: [1] [2]
Madoka brought these knives back to his room to polish them after breakfast, and subsequently brought them back to the kitchen during lunch, just before the murder. In the time between, the knives changed locations, and one of them [2] was likely the weapon used to kill Ryu.
"So, does anyone else have any other clues?" I ask.
Athena shakes her head. "I do not believe there are any other clues left to be found in the kitchen. I shall take my leave in order to discern if there may be some clues that we missed elsewhere. Farewell."
After she leaves, Laurent turns to Madoka. "Can I ask that you deliver une noisette to me by the time our investigation ends?"
"Oui. I'm making a little something-something for everyone first," he replies, gesturing to the oven. "I'll have your black coffee ready by later."
"Merci." Laurent scribbles something down in his notebook, before turning to face Misaki and I. "Do take care, you two. I shall hope that we are able to uncover the mysteries behind this murder."
As he walks out of the door, I prepare to walk out as well, before a hand tugs my jacket. I turn around, and Misaki's doleful brown eyes look up at me. "Um...can we talk a little?" she asks. "Just the two of us."
I shrug. No harm there, right?
We sit down at one of the tables in the cafeteria, before Misaki reaches into her pocket and pulls out...something. It looks like a charm of some sort, with a rhinestone tip followed by a bunch of multicolored ribbons.
"Ryu was holding this in his right hand," she explains. "And the problem is that I'm faintly aware I've seen this little hair charm somewhere before. I just don't remember who wore it."
I think back to everyone I've met, and draw a blank.
Can't tell who could have worn it either.
"Still, I'm thinking, since the Truth Bullet System has a private function to keep personal Truth Bullets, do you think it's a good idea to record this down secretly? It might be the breakthrough in our upcoming trial."
I nod in response to her words. It's a safe bet that if we were to share this evidence with the rest of the class, it might tip off the real killer.
==Personal Truth Bullet Acquired!==
==Hair Charm==
A small, beautiful hair decoration. Ryu's corpse was clutching it in his right hand… Could he have grabbed it from the murderer?
Putting down the Electro-ID, I smile at the Mimic. "It's a good find, Misaki. Did you happen to get anything else?"
"Well…" her voice trails off. "I dunno how relevant this is, but I was resting in one of the lobby's alcoves when the alarm went off, and something...kinda felt wrong about it."
"Really?" I think back to what else I've heard about the alarm today. Now that I think about it, the alarm sounded out, but how did it end again?
"Yeah, really!" Misaki looks back and forth, before whispering, "I think-"
Suddenly, our Electro-IDs ping, and as I open it, I see it is a Truth Bullet that Athena has shared.
==Truth Bullet Acquired!==
==Alarm==
The alarm that sounded earlier today seemed to only last a total of two minutes. What could have caused it to shut off so early?
"...Huh. Well, there goes my big reveal." Misaki huffs. "Ah well, I'm not surprised, but yeah, the alarm didn't play all the way. And I'm not quite sure why either!"
I'm pretty sure I know what caused it, but I'll save that information for the trial.
"Well, anyways, continuing on, I was in that alcove and all, when I think I kinda saw an OK pass by!"
A what now?
"You know, a guy and a girl?" she shakes her head, before her voice switches to a distinctly male one—how does she do that so fast?! "I call ladies 'O'. To me, 'O' is feminine, 'K' is masculine, and when I see one of each, I'm like 'OK'!"
I pause to let that piece of information sink in. That had to be a reference to something, otherwise she wouldn't have gone through so much trouble to do it.
"Go on." I motion. The point still needed to be gotten to.
She pouts in that cute way that Suzuka's been known to do from time to time. "I saw one guy and one girl leave from the cafeteria separately and all, but something didn't quite match...I dunno whether it was because of my lack of sleep or something, but their voices were kinda switched around."
Huh? What even- "I'm sorry, what?"
"The guy had a girl's voice and the girl had a guy's voice!" she waves her hands wildly. "I really don't know how else to explain it, Toku!"
The look in her eyes convinces me that she's telling the truth, but I have no idea what to make of her statement. Regardless, I note it down as a personal Truth Bullet—partially because I'm still not quite sure how the others will take to it for now.
==Personal Truth Bullet Acquired!==
==Misaki's Testimony==
Misaki was spurned by the sound of the alarm, and remained fairly awake after that. She distinctly recalls seeing and hearing one boy and one girl leave the cafeteria doors separately. Well, sort of—she says their voices were mixed up.
The door leading into the cafeteria from the lobby opens, and Iso walks in. "Heyo, Misaki, Toku."
"Hiya, Iso!" Misaki greets, and I hold a hand up and wave. He takes a seat by us, and the look in his eyes is of a guy raring to share something.
"I've been rewinding through what I saw in the day, and I've just hit upon something that didn't really make any sense," he confesses. "Mind hearing me out to check whether it even holds any weight?"
"Sure, what it'd be, cap'n?" Misaki salutes.
Taking a moment to recompose himself, he explains, "I don't know when exactly I saw it, but I clearly remember seeing both Madoka and Ryu in the kitchen. Madoka had his back to me, and Ryu was sitting on the countertop, so I think they were both alive at that time."
Well, Madoka's clearly still alive, I'll give you that.
"But yeah, I think I called out to ask if they were doing fine, and Madoka said they were, so I left," he scratches his head. "Now that I think about it, Madoka sounded a bit weird too. Probably because he was already injured, seeing the aftereffects, concussion and all."
So if he was still conscious with Ryu, this would place it to be before Ryu died, right? In that case, I wonder why Madoka would sound funny, because you're supposed to pass out after getting a concussion, right?
I record it down anyways.
==Truth Bullet Acquired!==
==Iso's Testimony==
Iso thinks he saw Ryu and Madoka in the kitchen, at a point in time where they were both still alive and conscious. He called out to ask if they were doing fine, and Madoka responded that they were, though his voice then sounded a bit strange. We've attributed that to his concussion.
All of a sudden, the intercom crackles to life.
"Attention, attention, all my lovelies!" Monotee's tinny voice sounds out. "The investigation period is now over! Please report to the conference room to begin the class trial on the double!"
The three of us look at each other, before nodding in agreement and leaving the cafeteria.
We reach the conference room pretty late, because almost everyone else has already gathered in front of the presumably locked door. "Heya, Toku, have you seen Madoka?" Masashi asks, and I wince.
"Well—" "I'm right here, yes."
Thankfully, Madoka's interruption spares me the need to answer, and I look at him gratefully, even if he won't get why. I notice he is carrying both a cup of coffee and two three-by-three boxes of what appear to be…
"Cupcakes?" Yumi finishes my train of thought, as Laurent accepts the coffee with much thanks.
"Yep. I baked one for everyone to keep our spirits going, and our mind alert. Go on, help yourself." Madoka responds, opening the boxes and passing them around.
I study what the Food Critic has given us. It's a dark-brown cupcake, covered in white icing, and looks relatively simple, which makes sense since Madoka couldn't have been baking it for long.
No harm in eating it, right?
The moment I do, I feel completely re-energized—as expected, the cupcake is coffee-flavored, and the amount of caffeine in it is enough to shock my systems back awake. It's the perfect balance of bitter and sweet.
Misaki's entire body shudders with energy as the cupcake's restorative powers work their magic on her. "It's so fluffy!" she squeals in delight.
The rest of us all have similar reactions of joy, and it might be the first time I've seen Kagaku smile at eating something. The mood is broken by the sound of our Electro-IDs beeping again.
==Truth Bullet Acquired!==
==Coffee Cupcakes==
Madoka baked these for the remaining members of the class. Could be doing so to gain sympathy from everyone else? Did he spike the cupcakes?
...Let's try not to think about who would consider an act of goodwill suspicious.
Judging by the scowl on Masashi's face, directed at Kokushi who glares back as we re-enter the conference room, she doesn't share my thoughts.
I run through the list of Truth Bullets I have, public and private. I attempt to connect them to a person or persons, but I can't seem to find anything.
One of us killed Ryu, that much is certain. But who do the clues point to?
...Hang on, why did Ryu even go inside the kitchen anyways?
Author's Postscript:
Hello everyone, it is Mod Rev. So you are probably all screaming at us for that faux-death, but hey, gotta keep this interesting somehow. We never really intended on killing Madoka off first anyways, but I hope the shock was enough to get you people motivated! I hope you all enjoyed what is probably our longest chapter yet. - Rev
Ah, murder. Sweet, sweet murder. Guess you didn't see that coming, huh? Round of applause to Rev and SD for writing this story's longest chapter! *claps* We hope you enjoy this chapter, especially a certain someone. RIP Ryu, he was a great character who honestly didn't deserve to die, but it was his time. We also couldn't pass up the chance of an ironic first victim. Ryu, you will be missed. Oh yeah, if you go to my Tumblr, simplyweird85, then you can go see the sprites I made for the EoD cast under the tag #eod. Enjoy!- Hero
And this is precisely what happens when you have to deal with me on the planning team. C'mon, did you honestly think I was going to let my precious ikemen cinnamon roll die like that? And apparently being shot, at that? Tsk tsk. In any case, it's almost time to hit class trial, and with enough guessing and common sense, I think the murderer's pretty easy to finger out. That being said, I'll leave you guys to work on it, and feel free to PM any one of us with your ideas and guesses. Happy theorizing, guys! - SD