I'm back, so I hope you're all ready for this chapter.

- Zetakuma – Well, you just have to find out. Feels trip or not, here you come!

- That1guyeveryonehates – it's a good thing that this murder is not as obvious as the other. I still had no idea what happened to Mikan, because I haven't played it yet, and I don't like spoiling myself (I actually already did)

- ShaunBillimore – oh, so were you the one that doesn't want Mei gone? My bad, I'm screwing her as of this moment. Anyway, if you want to be part of the story, stay updated for the upcoming sequel (there's also going to be a prequel, but that's for a certain someone)

Let's all now climb aboard the feels train…if that's possible.

Gina

"Mei, tell us." I urged as I stared blankly at the petite girl.

Mei stayed silent for a moment before wiping her eyes a bit then nodding. "F-Fine…I-I'll tell you all what I know." She composed herself first, but as she spoke, it wavered. "A-After Liam-san was…e-electrocuted…"

"So I was electrocuted!" Liam exclaimed, but Akane shushed him.

"Ehehe…I-I saw what happened to Liam as well…" Asura commented, laughing nervously before immediately looking away, embarrassed.

"I-I returned to the pool, a-and then I saw Isaiah like that, b-bleeding by the leg. I-I patched him up with my bandage, but he was unconscious then. I-I thought he was dead, a-and…t-the knife…"

"You mean my scalpel?" Akane inquired.

"M-Maybe…it was stuck in the wound." Mei replied. "I-I removed it and just l-left it there, b-beside Isaiah, a-and that's what happened."

"I don't get it." Liam commented.

"Wait…" Paylor began. "If that's what really happened, then why did you try to hide it? He couldn't be dead then."

"I-I just feel terrible…a-and guilty…" She muttered.

Himitsu smirked. "I think it's possible that he could die by just that. Blood loss can be very vital."

I just stared at her before looking back at the others. "I guess Mei has nothing to do with his death, then."

"EH?" The others looked at me.

I folded my arms across my chest. "Mei stated she already found Isaiah like that, meaning she couldn't have done him in. Plus, Isaiah was at the theater, not by the swimming pool."

"She could move him, right?" Liam invoiced.

Akane crossed his arms into an X. "How could she? Isaiah is big, and she is very small…" She said, and then laughed a bit nervously. "S-Sorry, Mei."

"But still, she was the only one who saw Isaiah last." Junko said.

"Wrong." I retorted. "Asura was." I then looked over at the said boy. "Akane and I saw you and him yesterday in the Chemical Room."

Asura's cheeks turned slightly red as he stuttered, "Y-Y-You two saw us?!

Akane laughed out loud suddenly. "Ahahaha, yeah, it was getting intense!" She exclaimed and then she sighed and looked over at Paylor. "Until he ruined it."

"Do not join me on this."

"What were you two doing?" Himitsu teased with a smirk.

"W-We were just getting along, n-nothing much." Asura retorted hastily.

"Anyway," I interrupted. "Asura, you were the last person to see Isaiah, so you are suspected as well."

"Eh?"

"I-It couldn't be him!" Mei defended him.

I looked over at her. "Don't worry; I was just saying that he's suspected."

Junko faked a cough and said, "We're all suspects."

"That does not leave you out." Paylor retorted.

"I know." He said and then looked over at us. "Isaiah's time of death is between eight and nine in the evening yesterday. That was the information Monokuma gave us, and then Paylor's tube and Akane's scalpel were apparently part of the murder. However, it was never stated how Isaiah was killed."

"Which now brings up the question: How did he die?" I finished.

I then heard Asura muttering under his breath. "Is there something you want to say?" We all then looked at the nervous boy.

He fidgeted and said, "F-From the information so far, I can deduce to two methods: Blood loss or Electrocution."

"What makes you say that, mes amis?" Liam asked.

"I-I tried….tried checking the body, and his mouth had blood in it." Asura began. "A-And then…there was the defibrillator that was in the pool, a-and it could electrocute anyone in the water."

"True." Paylor agreed. "It's either Isaiah was pushed into the pool and got electrocuted, or he did lose a lot of blood during an attack."

"If we assumed that either of those theories or true, then it means that someone thought of ambushing Isaiah." I stated.

"That would be very hard, mes amis." Liam commented. "I mean, he is the Ultimate Watcher, he's a keen observer, and I don't think he can get off-guard that easily."

"PHANTOM!" Akane exclaimed suddenly. We all stared at her. "Maybe it's Phantom!"

"W-Who's that?" Mei inquired, seemingly to be trembling in fear.

Akane sighed as she folded her arms across her chest. "Phantom is a dangerous serial killer assassin that took about hundreds of patients in an asylum that the creep came from. I was sent on a mission to take that lunatic out, but unfortunately, the Phantom was just too quick in running away."

I looked at Akane strangely and had a crooked smile on my face. "Maybe he was just ghost, haunting everyone here."

"Gah, don't creep me out like that, Gina!" Akane exclaimed, looking a bit shocked.

I just snickered before reverting back to my usual self. I looked over at the others. "It seems rather far-fetch that such a person would be here."

"Agreed." Junko responded. "If this crazy person was to be here, then all of us should be dead by now."

"Now that's just sad, Monsieur Junko." Liam invoiced, looking a bit down because of that.

"Oi," Himitsu butted in. "Pushing that aside, I still have no clue how Isaiah was killed, or what use was the stuff from Paylor and Akane."

"My thermometer is still missing." Liam suddenly said.

"Y-You left it in the theater…" Asura muttered, showing it. "W-When you bumped your head, it happened to got out. I-I kept it, a-and I used it to check on P-Paylor-san."

"What?!" Asura tossed the thermometer to the Art Prodigy.

"Well, this is weird." Monokuma commented as he began eating cake. "Are you guys done yet? Can you vote now?"

"NO!" We all shouted.

"Hey, now that I thought about it…" Liam began as he looked at us. "With the defibrillator in the pool, it should electrocute anyone that comes into contact with the pool, correct?"

Junko nodded. "Yes, unless it's deactivated."

"Well…" Liam pointed at Paylor. "How did Paylor get into the pool earlier?"

Paylor snapped his fingers at that. "The battery died by then, I guess."

"Oh…okay." Liam then snapped his own fingers. "Then how did Akane's scalpel get into the wires?"

"Yeah." I said. "I'm curious on how that happened."

Junko sighed. "Unfortunately, there is not enough solid evidence to explain that."

"M-Maybe the killer used it to destroy the defibrillator?" Asura suggested.

"That's seems possible." Paylor commented. "With a strong enough pierce and precise accuracy, it could cut off the wires that make it functional." He explained. "The killer was successful with it, despite the machine being underwater. When I got into the pool and took it out of the water, it was already broken. I just have to remove the scalpel."

"The only one with such skills is Akane, right?" Liam suggested.

"Oh come on, not again!" Akane exclaimed. "Sure, I use projectiles and have one of the best accuracies, but do you think that I would do it? Sheesh that hurts, Liam. How cruel of you." She muttered.

Liam just rubbed the back of his head. "Ehehe, sorry, mademoiselle."

"W-We're stuck in a dead end again…" Mei invoiced quietly.

"Well, what other information do we have?" I inquired, looking at the rest. I tried to remember some other details.

Asura murmured something then raised his hand a bit. "U-Uh…I think I found something in the Chemical Room…"

"Oh really? What was it?" Paylor questioned, looking intrigued.

He rubbed his arm and said, "I-I found an empty bottle of poison in the room. I-I was confused, b-because the seal was still there."

Akane was a bit delayed, but then she immediately exclaimed, "Oh yeah! I did too!" She then took out the bottle and showed it to everyone. "See? Empty bottle of poison!"

"Mademoiselle Gina and I know about this already, so maybe Monsieur Isaiah was poisoned." Liam stated. He smiled. "Maybe that would explain the blood in his mouth."

"If that theory were to be true, then how would the poison get out without being unsealed?" Junko asked.

Mei whimpered a bit as she fidgeted with her fingers. "U-Um, n-not that I have a grudge or anything, b-but…"

Himitsu sighed and finished for Mei. "She thinks that Gina was the one who poisoned Isaiah."

"…" I just stared at both of them. "Why?"

Himitsu brushed back his hair. "Well, who else has an injection to use?"

"I-I have to agree…" Asura muttered.

"Oh yeah, she's got that pointy injection." Akane invoiced.

Paylor folded his arms across his chest. "So then, it was Madame Gina that killed Isaiah?"

I looked at them nonchalantly. "I will tell you that I did not kill Isaiah. How could I even poison him?"

"When he was out!" Liam exclaimed. "Wasn't Monsieur Isaiah unconscious by the pool yesterday? Maybe she poisoned him then!"

"B-But, I was with Isaiah-kun yesterday, a-and no one was in the chemical room other than us." Asura retorted, defending me.

Mei also then pointed out, "S-She was busy with helping me yesterday."

"And after that, I found Akane spying on Isaiah and Asura." I added.

"So then, who could've killed Isaiah?" Monokuma asked us all. We all began looking at each other uneasily.

"I know!" Liam exclaimed. "We show all of our doctor tools, and the one missing is the culprit!"

"What good will that do?!" Akane questioned so loudly.

"Just do it, come on." Liam insisted. Without anything else to do, we all showed our things. Of course, the defibrillator is broken by the pool. Liam had his thermometer, Akane had a dull-blade scalpel, strangely, Himitsu still had that strange vile, Mei used her bandages already, Asura has his needles, though it looked like they decreased in number, and I have my syringe, even though its content is almost out. Paylor was the only one still searching on his person.

"S-Strange…my stethoscope isn't with me." He muttered, looking back at all of us.

"Maybe…" Junko began, stroking his chin with his hand. "You did in Isaiah."

"Eh?"

Asura trembled and said, "I-I-I remember something from I-Isaiah-kun's corpse. H-His wrists, t-they had depressions."

"They're sad?" Liam questioned, confused as he raised an eyebrow.

"I think he meant marks." I rephrased.

"Oh really? So do tell us what happened." Monokuma urged, grinning evilly.

Mei got teary-eyed again. "I-It's not Paylor-sama! I will not believe he did it!"

Junko looked at Mei. "Physically, Paylor can overpower Isaiah. Maybe after Asura and the victim parted ways, he must've choked him with the stethoscope, causing a non-injury death." He then added, "He could've done the same when Isaiah was attacked with the scalpel."

"But how did he get the scalpel?" I asked.

Akane clasped her hands together. "I lent it to other people yesterday!"

"You just remembered that information now?" Liam said, face-palming himself. Akane just laughed a bit.

"Anyway, I gave it to lots of people." She then began to count on her fingers. "First there was Himitsu to cut off some unnatural hair, and then Mei used it to cut out something in the kitchen, and then Paylor used it for one of his inventions…then the last person to use it was…" She looked over at one of us. "Asura, and he supposedly used it for something?"

We all then turned to look at him. "What did you do with it?" I questioned, and actually, feeling a bit surprised.

"I-I…" Asura trailed for a moment. He fidgeted for a moment, and didn't continue his answer. "I-I did return it."

"That's not-" Akane started, but then she pounded her fist gently into her open palm. "Oh right, he did return it." She then sighed. "And then it got lost afterwards."

I saw Asura sighed with relief. "…That doesn't mean that you are safe." Junko invoiced.

Actually, none of us seem safe. Without any other information, I couldn't exactly pin down on anyone. I tried to remember some details that could help. Something in the corpse, the actions, the words, anything at all could help us. ("When I woke up in the morning, I met up with Asura and Mei, then afterwards, there was the announcement…after that, it was investigation, and then the class trial…") After a moment's thought, I was able to notice something in someone's word. I look over at Akane. "When did you find the bottle of poison?"

She seemed slightly taken aback. "Um, at the very beginning of the investigation. I kept the bottle with me, and I only showed it to you and Liam, and then now."

"I knew it." I then looked over at a certain someone. "So how did you know about the poison, Asura?" All the others looked at the boy as he trembled in his stall.

"E-Eh?" He then fidgeted and said, "D-During the investigation."

"But Akane just said that she held onto the bottle and only showed it to me and Liam." I quickly stated. "How would you know about it?" I then added, "And before, you sounded like you were the only one who took a really good look at Isaiah's body, despite me noticing you not even getting close to the corpse earlier."

Asura then retorted, "I-I…"

Paylor looked at him. "You didn't even leave my side by the pool until Monokuma called us, Monsieur."

The boy rubbed his arm and said, "F-Fine, I found the body earlier before anyone else did, a-and then Akane and Junko came, a-and I hid and just met up with Mei."

"That would be impossible, Asura." Junko began. "It's true what you said about Akane and I being there to see the body, but did the announcement occurred? It only did when Liam came in."

I looked over at Asura and saw him tearing up. I heard Mei beginning to cry, as well. "When you borrowed the scalpel, you used it to attack Isaiah, and just left it there."

"But, I have my scalpel-"

"That's a butter knife." I said quickly, pointing it out to Akane. She checked it, and a few moments after, hit herself. "Moving on, Isaiah doesn't seem to have seen the face of his attacker, so he never suspected you. Before you were with him, you already had poison embedded into your needles, leading the bottle being empty without the seal breaking. I'm not sure if Isaiah noticed or not, but anyway, I assumed you poisoned him."

"P-Please stop." Mei requested softly. "I-I know Asura-kun, and he would never do anything like that." Paylor told her to stay quiet for the moment, so that I may continue.

"When he was poisoned, you took the opportunity to manipulate the man, despite him being bigger than you. I guess that you used Paylor's stethoscope to tie Isaiah's wrists, and then pushed the man into the water, shocking him until he died."

"I-I never knew that the defibrillator would be in the water, so I couldn't have killed Isaiah." Asura tried to retort, but I have an argument for that.

"If you say that, won't you be contradicting yourself?" I questioned.

"E-Eh?"

"You stated earlier that you saw Mei accidentally pushing the defibrillator and Liam into the water, thus shocking him." I looked at Asura's shocked face. "After killing him, you must have seen the scalpel that was left behind and you used it to destroy the machine in the water." I sighed. "I then guess that you moved Isaiah to the theater, and then left some clues that could lead to the others."

"I-I never killed Isaiah!" Asura shouted.

"Then how did you know about the poison bottle? The death occurred last night, and not many should be awake by then. How did you know?" Junko said. "I interrogated you all what time and what place you were in, and only a few were awake, or none at all."

Asura went silent as his head was down. Out of nowhere, a voice said, "Well then, let's vote!" Monokuma cheered and grinned at all of us. "Choose who you think is deemed guilty of this heinous crime." We can't, of course, but we have to choose. We all dreadfully voted. "Now then, will you be wrong, or will you be right?" And so the spinning began, and it landed on…

Asura Kokushibyou.

"Gyahahaha! You guys were right!" He cheered. He then sighed. "Aww, but I hoped you would be wrong for once…"

Mei then burst into tears. "I-I-I don't want to believe it…" She muttered through sobs. All of were silent, Akane and Liam a bit shocked whilst Junko looked nonchalant.

"Woah…I never expected Asura to pull that off." Himitsu commented. "What pushed you to do it?"

I looked curiously as well at the quiet boy. "I…want to know why." But Asura didn't answer as he didn't look at us.

"If you want to know, I'll tell ya!~" Monokuma cooed. He took out the same file he read on the day he gave us the incentive. Clearing his throat, he read, "The secrets of the students of Seizon High, alright…" He murmured a few sentences under his breath until exclaiming, "Ah, found it!"

"Asura is the escaped asylum patient known as 'Phantom', and he was the one who killed hundreds of asylum patients."

"Eh?!" Akane exclaimed, obviously shocked. "You're Phantom?! You?!"

"N-No, it's…" Asura began, but then just shook his head. "Yes…I'm Phantom.

"Monsieur Monokuma!" Liam shouted at the bear. "You had a serial killer trapped in here and we didn't know it?!"

"Upupu, why not? He's technically still a student." The bear stated. "I was actually surprised as well, because he looks weak and very incapable, but hey, maybe that's why he's the 'Ultimate Assassin'. No one would suspect him!"

"Ultimate Assassin?" I repeated as I looked over at Asura. "Still…you didn't kill anyone until now. Why…just now?" I asked.

Asura gave us a weak smile. "Back in the asylum, I was always alone. I never liked the other patients nor nurses, they treat me badly, and they even hurt me." He began. "I wasn't mentally stable then, so they isolated me in a small, dark room because I continue to kill the others inside the asylum. It was like that for the next ten years."

"T-Ten years?!" Paylor repeated.

Asura nodded. "I was eight when they admitted me." He answered. He sighed, but still held that wavering smile. "W-When I heard about the incentive, I panicked immediately. I hated being alone…I hated the dark, I hated being by myself again…" He began, his voice rising little by little. He clenched his fists and said, "After a long time of darkness in the asylum, I finally had enough." He then looked at us with a dark expression. "When the time came, I broke out of my isolation and just killed everyone in sight. I didn't have full control on myself then, I just…felt like doing it." He then sighed. "I went into hiding afterwards."

Akane then said, "But you still continued to kill people after that! Why would you do that?!"

Mei then interrupted. "W-What would you do if you were locked up away from people and the outside world for so long?" She looked over at Asura. "I-I read books about such people, a-and I feel for them." She invoiced as she fidgeted. "T-They were never taught the morals, s-so it would lead to such wrong-doings. I-If only people understood…"

"Mei-chan…" Asura muttered as he looked away. We all went silent, but then Asura broke it. "Monokuma, proceed with the execution."

"EH?!"

"Monsieur, w-why are you insisting it?!" Liam questioned. Paylor and Junko looked shocked as well, but kept quiet.

Mei clenched her hands together and said, "N-No…please don't go, Asura-kun." She looked at him. "Y-You're the Phantom, right? Y-You can escape!"

"I can't." He replied. He just smiled at her. "Besides…I feel like I have to atone for my sins." He then looked down. "This is my punishment for everything…"

"Still…" I muttered. "I can't…believe it…" Asura backed out from his stall and approached Mei. The two embraced, and it just showed that Asura was humane as anyone else. Even supposed assassins like him have the capability to care for one another. And with this, even with Mei being as vulnerable as she is, he didn't even try to hurt her.

"I-I'm sorry that I couldn't stay with you any longer, Mei-chan." Asura muttered to her as she cried. She couldn't talk through her sobs as he let her go.

"Well then, I guess it's time then!" Monokuma exclaimed. "Kokushibyou, Asura, for killing Isaiah…"

Asura stood in front of Monokuma as the bear spoke, and he then turned to look at us. He bowed and said, "It was nice knowing all of you, even just for a while…"

"It's time for you to get your punishment!" Monokuma shouted.

"…It was nice…to have friends." And those were Asura's last words before Monokuma pushed his big, red button.

Dead End Well

At the bottom of a deep, dark, small-spaced well was Asura, panicking as he looked around at the stone walls. He looked above him and saw a small hole of light, apparently the opening of the well. That's when he noticed his feet were under water, and that water began to rise as pipes around him began pouring water in. Asura looked terrified as he desperately climbed the rope that was fortunately heading up the well. He was able to climb up with ease. As he was reaching the mouth, Monokuma looked down at him and waved, before closing the opening with a metal door. The sadistic bear bolted down the door, and from the other side, Asura tried knocking and, maybe kicking, the metal door opening. The kicks and knock continued, until it died down, and water, little by little, spilled out from the tiny cracks. The Phantom was never heard from again.

It's been two days now, but ever since, it has not been the same, especially to Mei. Out of everyone, she was the one who seemed to be terribly scarred by the execution. Paylor had tried to interact with the maiden, but she would not talk as much. Even Liam and Akane attempted to help, but even their rather happy personality couldn't cheer up Mei. We continued to live our lives like usual, but it's been rather depressing.

One day, I tried talking to Mei. She was in the library, like always. I approached her as she sat by herself by a table. I sat opposite of her and just looked at her, watching as she read a folder. "…What's that?"

She stayed silent for awhile. After a couple of minutes, she gave the folder to me, and I just read it. It was a file concerning the Phantom, or more specifically, Asura. It only gave information of what became of his life in the asylum. I then read a paragraph that shocked me a bit.

"…That's why Monokuma did that…" She muttered, hearing her voice after quite awhile. Her tone was sad, and was not uplifting. "…In the asylum, Asura-kun had been tortured by the wardens, thinking that may put his mind straight." I looked at her then turned to read the paragraph.

"Kokushibyou, Asura never stopped the killing, so we had no choice but to weaken him as much as possible, and isolate him. The best method we had was drowning him in medicinal water several times and taking him away from the others. We did this each day, but now, Asura feared the water, and the thought of drowning in it again."

After that, I looked up at Mei and saw her cry. "M-Monokuma…is heartless…to bring back fears into Asura…" She sobbed. "H-he drowned him…h-he drowned him…a-and he laughed about it afterwards…"

I stood and walked over to Mei. I have never tried cheering up people a lot, so I wasn't sure what to do. I patted her back and said, "Mei…the important thing is that…you were there, there to be his friend. Even though, well, he was a serial killer."

She clenched her fists a bit as she cried, covering her face with her arms as she faced down onto the table. "…I miss him, already. He was so kind to me…a-and everyone else…h-he doesn't deserve such a fate..." She then suddenly hugged me. I was surprised, and it was unexpected. Nevertheless, I tried brushing her hair, and she seemed to have calmed down.

"…Don't worry about it…I believe he's free now."

Mei looked up at me with her teary eyes. She withdrew as she wiped them, and she gave a weak smile that resembled Asura's last one. "T-That's what he wanted, right? To be free from his sins?" I nodded slowly. Mei just continued to smile softly. She looked at the folder and just slowly closed it, muttering,

"Asura-kun…I-I hope you're at peace now…"

Kokushibyou, Asura: DEAD

This…is…definitely…the longest chapter….wow, achievement for me I guess.

I'm actually dreading this chapter…not only did I kill off Asura, but I made Mei depressed about it…I guess I'm the new Ultimate Despair?

Alright then, this fiction is coming to a close, so be prepared for the finale! Let me know what you thought of this!

READ AND REVIEW! ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU!