II - Egoistic, Easy-going Elegy of Emprise: Class Trial Part 2

Past chapters referenced: 7, 17


"I think Tojo's case needs to be looked at next," Ryoma says. "We've hit a dead end with Kiibo's. We've covered all the evidence, and none of it makes any sense."

Kaede nods. "I agree." Her eyes flit to her Kokichi, who's already opening his mouth to protest. "If we can figure out what happened to Kirumi, we might uncover a clue as to what happened with Kiibo."

Tutting, Kokichi rolls back on his heels. "Fine."

Tsumugi tucks a strand of blue hair behind her ear. "So, what should we start with? We already know that the last sighting of Kirumi was in Himiko's room with Kaede and Himiko..." She tilts her head. "... Unless, anyone saw her after that?"

Silence. Swallowing back defeat, Kaede rolls her shoulders, preparing herself for another debate, only for a voice to across the room stops her.

"Rantaro did." Maki says, eyes fixed on the tiled floor.

Kaede blinks. "What?"

"A shocking twist!" Monokuma exclaims.

"It was at around nine-fifteen," Maki continues. "I was on duty in the hallway, and Rantaro took over from me a little later than usual because he was doing the washing up." She glares at him. "But when I was heading into Kaito's room for the night, Kirumi came out of Himiko's and stopped him."

"Oh? Rantaro, is that true?" asks Angie.

There's a pregnant pause. Sighing, Rantaro runs a jewelled hand through his hair. "Yeah, it's true."

Miu jabs a finger at him. "Then why the fuck didn't you say anything sooner, ghost-dick!?"

The adventurer shrugs. "Didn't come up 'til now. We've been talkin' about Kiibo all this time, so I felt there wasn't a need to—"

"We started off this class trial with a discussion surrounding Kirumi and my possible involvement in her case, did we not?" Korekiyo points out. "If you had something of value to include, surely you could have spoken up."

Rantaro raises his hands. "That's... listen, I just didn't think it was necessary to say anything just yet. I promise you, I'm not a suspicious guy."

"Didn't you come back from the dead, though?" Himiko asks. "That's pretty suspicious to me."

"But when Kaede just asked if anyone had seen Kirumi after she left Himiko's room, you didn't say anything," says Tsumugi. "Why not?"

Rantaro says nothing.

"Did you hear what they were talking about, Maki-Roll?" asks Kaito.

Hiding her reddening cheeks with her ponytails, Maki shakes her head. "No. I just happened to notice them as I was leaving."

"Well, Rantaro?" Kokichi quips. "Looks like you're in the hot seat!"

"Rantaro," Kaede says. "You agreed with me earlier about this, didn't you? We're already struggling to find more information here. We need to work together to figure out what happened to Kiibo and Kirumi." She clenches and unclenches her fist. "And we can't do that without everyone's full co-operation."

Sighing, Rantaro's shoulders slump. "Yeah." He looks over at Kaede, his lips creeping up into a lazy smile. "I'm bein' a real hypocrite, aren't I? All right. I'll tell you guys what happened." He dusts himself down and faces back to the others. "Kirumi asked me last night if we could swap positions for the night."

Kaede's jaw drops. What?

Monokuma raises a paw. "Another shocking twist!"

"Positions?" asks Ryoma. "What are you guys talking about?"

"We had a rotation going, so that we'd always know who was where, and with who in the dorms at nighttime," Kaede begins to explain. "So there'd be three people in the three rooms of the sick people— or people we thought who were ill, and that left a fourth person to stay up and out in the dorm lobby in case something happened while we were sleeping. That way, the infected wouldn't be disturbed, and we could each get a decent amount of sleep. We swapped every five hours." She thinks back for a moment. "It always went in this order; myself, Maki, Rantaro, and then Kirumi."

"And Kirumi asked Rantaro to take her turn after Maki instead?" Angie asks. "Why did she do that?"

Rantaro shrugs. "Beats me. We were both doin' the night shifts, regardless of the order, so I didn't see an issue with the swap."

"So the night Kirumi was last seen, Kaede was with Himiko, Maki was with Kaito, and Kirumi was with Korekiyo," Kokichi surmises. "Nee-heehee! I see, I see! It aaaaaall makes sense now!"

Kaito pulls a face. "Like hell it does!"

"But when I awoke this morning," Korekiyo says, "there was no one in my room, which was why I saw nothing amiss this morning. But according to what Rantaro's claiming about swapping posts with Kirumi, he should have been with me, yes?"

"Yeah, that's right." Rantaro scratches his head. "Thing is, when Iwoke earlier, I found myself under the stairs of the girls' dorms..."

"So someone moved you?" asks Tsumugi. "And you didn't wake up?"

Blushing, Rantaro scratches the back of his neck. "What can I say, I'm a heavy sleeper."

Himiko pulls at her hat's brim, scowling. "Tenko wouldn't approve of something like that."

"Something's not adding up," says Ryoma. "Didn't you guys say the person not in any bedroom was there in case we had an emergency and had to contact you guys? Whoever was on duty wouldn't be seen underneath those stairs."

"That's the thing," Rantaro replies. "I don't know what I was doing there either. I don't even remember falling asleep to begin with."

Kaede blinks. "That's..." She looks at Maki, looking equally as lost. "I don't know."

Angie presses her palms into her cheeks. "Mmmm. Atua smells something fishy, you guys!"

Tsumugi mutters, "I don't think we need a god to tell us that something suspicious happened here,"

"And you have no idea why Kirumi would ask you to swap, Rantaro?" Kaede asks, as dread creeps over her like an icy chill.

Rantaro thinks for a moment. "Not that I can think of," he says. "Why? You think it has somethin' to do with what happened?"

"I... think it just might." Kaede narrows her eyes. "I don't think we'll be able to progress until we figure out what was going on in the dorms last night..." Her nails dig small crescents into her backpack. "...And why none of us were awake to witness any of it."


Present your Argument

"Why did Tojo ask to swap with Amami?" Ryoma asks. "It just doesn't make sense to me."

"Maybe she just wasn't sleepy yet?" Himiko suggests.

"We all said we'd stick to the rotation though," says Maki, "none of us had switched with anyone before this."

"So what, I wonder, prompted her to ask Rantaro?" Korekiyo muses.

"She was real persistent about it, too," says Rantaro. "Seemed like she had somethin' important she wanted to take care of."

"Oh!" Himiko pipes up again. "Maybe she thought the dorms looked dirty, and wanted to clean them before going to bed!"

"Maybe Kirumi met up with Kiyo in his room so the two of them could have a secret rendezvous during the night!" Angie gasps. "How scandalous!"

Korekiyo pulls down his hat. "Although I don't remember anything, I can assure you that that certainly did not occur."

"Maybe Kirumi wanted to be in Kiyo's room for some other reason." Kokichi suggests, "perhaps she wanted to ensure that she wasn't the one on duty."

Kaito frowns. "But why would Kirumi wanna do that?"

Kokichi shrugs. "Dunno. You tell me."

BREAK


Brows knitting together, Kaede thinks, Kirumi never told me she was going to switch with Rantaro. Why didn't she? Did she not want anyone to know? Or did she just forget?

"Kokichi..." Kaede says, wincing at the shakiness in her voice.

"Hmm?" Kokichi's eyes slide to her. "'Sup? You figured something out?"

Kaede grits her teeth. "I... I think you might be onto something."

Kaede remembers that night. I told Kirumi I didn't want to keep her from her shift. Kirumi asked me if I was suspicious of her. And then…

She takes a deep breath. "Monokuma," she asks, "Did Kirumi ever see her motive video?"

Miu makes a strangled noise from the other side of the courtroom.

"What?" asks Tsumugi. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Kaede wrings her hands. "I'm— It's been bothering me since last night... before Kirumi left Himiko and I... she mentioned something that she ...shouldn't have known."


"My duty." Kirumi states blankly, "It is with regards to my duty to serve everyone."

"Duty?" Anxiety tugs at Kaede's chest. "As... a maid, right?"

"Yes. Well, not exactly."

"Then what is it?"

"It would be selfish of me to burden you with this, Kaede. I am sorry, please disregard everything I have told you."


"I'm confused again," says Himiko. "What did Kirumi know that she wasn't supposed to? And why does Kaede know?" She slaps her palm against her cheek. "I don't remember anything... this is such a pain."

"What does her motive video have to do with this case, though?" Ryoma asks. "I thought you guys destroyed it."

"We did," Kaede clarifies. "We definitely did. But, well..." she scratches her head. "...Miu and I actually saw Kirumi's motive video the morning we were given them."

Angie gasps loudly. "Oh! So Kaede got Kirumi's video? Or Miu?"

"Miu did," Kaede replies. Remembering the contents of Angie's motive video, Kaede glances away. "A-anyway, the reason I'm bringing her motive video up, is because she never saw the contents of the video. But from the way she was speaking to me last night... it was as if she'd just remembered... which was odd."

"Wait," says Miu. "Are we really fucking telling them? Now?"

"I think we have to." Kaede clutches her arm. "Because if my suspicions are correct, I think this'll open up an entire new area to this case that we couldn't have ever imagined."

Kokichi stifles a giggle. "Wow, Kaede. You're really starting to sound like a detective, y'know?"

"So, what was this thing you saw on her video, then?" Rantaro asks.

"I-I guess it's fine," Miu says. "S-since she's dead now anyway, so, uhm…" Her eyes dart around the room. "Tell 'em, Kaede."

Swallowing her nerves, Kaede clears her throat. "All right. So, Kirumi's important person outside..." She sucks in a breath. "…is outside in general. As in, the entire country. Because apparently, she's the prime minister of Japan."

Silence.

Then, like a volcano, the courtroom erupts into panic.

Kaito nearly doubles over. "What!? What the hell!?"

Tsumugi's pale in the face. "But I— I don't remember her being elected? Or even seeing her on the TV?"

"The video said somethin' along the lines of her workin' behind the scenes," Miu adds. "She was a de-facto, or some political bullshit."

"Oh, me, oh my! So the prime minister of Japan was Kirumi all this time! Atua didn't tell Angie about this at all!"

"Atua didn't tell me either," says Himiko. She taps her chin. "No wonder she was so good at cleaning..."

"What does cleaning have to do with being the Prime Minister?" Kokichi asks.

Himiko shrugs. "Dunno, I used to always hear it on the news... Prime Ministers cleaning up mistakes of their country, or something."

"I don't think that's the same kinda cleanin' Kirumi did." Rantaro says, "But man, the Prime Minister, of all things? Talk about a twist."

"And what a shocking twist it is indeed!" Monokuma shouts, then looks down at his cubs. "We should really be keeping count of all these. Too bad none of you kids carry an abacus."

"It also said that there was a tragic event befalling the Earth, or due to soon befall the Earth," Kaede continues to recall, "and that Kirumi needed to get out to find out what the event was."

"She didn't just have one person waiting for her... she had the whole nation," Ryoma mutters, clenching a fist. "And now, she's dead... dammit."

"This just gets more and more confusing..." Himiko drawls, leaning over her podium railing. "I wanna go to bed."

"I recall Monokuma saying previously that the motive videos had the ability to allow us to recall lost memories," Korekiyo says. "It appears to me that you're under the assumption that Kirumi didn't remember her occupation until she watched her motive video. This is merely just a thought, but why, Kaede, are you so sure that Kirumi hadn't been withholding this information from us the entirety of the time she was here? That would make more sense, no?"

"That's what myself and Miu thought, too," Kaede replies, "but I remember, during the investigation of Gonta's death... Kirumi had actually approached me about her motive video. It turns out that Kokichi had told Kirumi that he'd found hers in my backpack the night he set up the Insect Meet n' Greet and asked me if I'd watched it."


"Well, Kokichi happened to, I suppose, inform me of the individual in possession of my Kubs Pad," says Kirumi.

Kaede internally deflates. "R-right... So, you know Miu had yours then..."

"Miu...?"

"What?"

"Kokichi informed me that it was actually you who had mine."

"I was holding onto it for Miu, but yeah, she had yours. I'd originally gotten Angie's."

"Ah. That does make sense, I suppose."

"…Did you happen to watch it?"

"T-that's..."

"You can tell me, Kaede. I do not need to know of its contents, but I truly cannot see Monokuma being able to motivate me to kill with such a motive..."


"So she didn't know, huh," says Tsumugi.

"So?" Kokichi quirks an eyebrow. "She coulda just been lying about that, y'know. Just to throw you off the scent."

"But, that's not all she told me." Kaede adds, "Because after that, she went on and said that she didn't know what would be in her motive video. But in the past she had declined an offer to run a country. She wondered if Monokuma would use that for a motive in some way, twist it to be something sinister."

"The only thing I can think of." The maid presses a hand to her face. "Is the one time I was given the offer to run a country."

Kaede almost collapses on the spot. "You were what!?"

"I am sure that Shuichi mentioned it when we were first introduced at the dorms, but, nevertheless. I did decline that job. It was a foreign country, one that I do not have any familial connections to — and so I declined for that reason. That, and the fact that I am a mere high-school student."

"Yeah, but you're the 'Ultimate' Maid."

"That is true, but I still have a long way to go before I would ever decide to take on such a tumultuous request, Kaede, however, it remains to stand as the one request that I have outright refused. I can see Monokuma attempting to ridicule my choice to turn down that offer and turn it into something... sinister, perhaps."

"Wait, so she declined the offer?" asks Kaito. "Then what's the deal with the motive video you guys saw?"

"SOME-OF-THE-MOTIVE-VIDEOS-HAD-FLASHBACK-LIGHTS-INSTALLED-WITHIN-THEM," says Monodam, "SO-THE-RECIPIENT-WOULD-ONLY-REMEMBER-THEIR-IMPORTANT-PERSON-UPON-WATCHING-THE-VIDEO."

"Ah, so Kirumi would not have remembered being the de-facto Prime Minister had she not seen motive video, I see." Korekiyo surmises. "But she must have witnessed it at some point, yes?"

"But that's the thing," Kaede says. "There was no way she could have seen it, because she didn't have the opportunity to."

"So how did she remember then?" Himiko asks.

"We can talk about that later," says Kokichi, tugging on his scarf. "What does any of this have to do with her ending up dead anyhow?"

"That's..." Kaede bites her lip. "I'm not sure yet... but, going back to earlier… I think you were onto something, Kokichi, about Kirumi wanting to ensure she wasn't the one on duty."

"Oh?" The leader raises an eyebrow. "Do elaborate! I'm interested now!"

Taking a breath, Kaede begins to explain. "Kirumi... she was always quite up-front with all of us, but she never told any of us the reason why she wanted to switch with Rantaro, not even Rantaro himself! That's why I think she must have been hiding something."

Ryoma folds his arms. "This is about Tojo's motive video, right? There's no correlation between her wanting to switch with Rantaro and her being the Prime Minister, though."

Kokichi makes a noise of realisation. "Ah, but there is if you consider what else her motive video told her."

Angie blinks at him. "Hmm? Like what?"

The supreme leader brings a finger to his lip. "Remember what Kaede said earlier? About the video containing some tragic event that's happened on Earth? The one Monokuma said Kirumi could only find out about if she escaped?"

Tsumugi tilts her head. "But in order to escape, she'd have to…" Gasping, the cosplayer claps her hands over her mouth. "No… she didn't, did she?"

Heart sinking, Kaede hangs her head.

"Tojo… murdered Kiibo," Ryoma punctuates. "Is that what you're sayin'?

"Do we vote for Kirumi, then?" asks Himiko. "But she's dead… so do we just vote for her picture?"

"Hold on, slow down!" Kaito shouts. "There's… there's no way that happened. Kirumi wasn't like that!"

Kokichi cocks his head. "I'm pretty sure you said the same things about Shuichi and Tenko, Kaito." He jabs a finger in his direction. "None of us knew she was the Prime Minister until Kaede told us, and Kirumi didn't tell her; Kaede just happened to see her motive video by chance – Kirumi withheld that information from us on purpose!" Thowing out his arms, Kokichi's lips jerk upwards into a grin. "You should know by now that you can't trust anyone in this killing game, how long will it take before you finally get that into your dumb skull?"

Kaito glares daggers at Kokichi, but says nothing.

Korekiyo brings a hand to his chin. "But if Kirumi was indeed Kiibo's killer, how on Earth did she herself end up dead, in Angie's lab, no less?"

"There was obviously a third party in the school at the time of the murders," Maki concludes. "Kirumi killed Kiibo, someone caught her in the act, and killed her in turn." She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "Doesn't that make more sense?"

Rantaro holds up a hand. "Hey, let's slow down here with the speculations, yeah? There's no proof that the murders were connected to begin with, so we could be dealing with two separate murder cases here. And until we find some sorta connection between them, we should be treatin' them as such."

Kokichi pulls a face. "You're awfully rational about all this for someone that's just come back from the dead y'know, Rantaro." He tilts his head. "Have you done this before…?"

Rantaro blinks at him. "No? I'm only doin' what feels natural."

Nodding, Kaede jumps back in. "Rantaro's right. Let's go back to just Kirumi, If we—" she swallows back her nerves. "If we go with Kokichi's theory, that she was planning on killing someone, and switched with Rantaro last night so she'd have an alibi for the trial…" She takes a breath. "Who… would she have tried to kill?"


Present your Argument

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Kokichi huffs. "Kirumi's victim was Kiibo!"

"We can't jump to that conclusion just yet." says Korekiyo.

"It'd be risky to kill a robot if you're not totally familiar with them," Tsumugi adds. "So wouldn't a human make more sense in that case?"

Ryoma pulls at his hat. "To be honest, I'm surprised Tojo didn't target me. I mean, compared to all the people that need her out there, I don't have any reason to live."

Angie raises a hand. "Maybe she didn't want her identity getting out! So, she decided to eliminate those who knew of her secret!"

"That'd mean it'd have to have been either Kaede or Miu, yeah?" Rantaro says. "But, based on what Kaede told us earlier, Kirumi wasn't aware either of them had watched the video."

"Maybe we're lookin' at this all wrong," Kaito cuts in. "Cuz I seriously can't picture Kirumi tryna' kill anyone. 'Sides, she ended up the victim in the end, didn't she?"

Himiko nods. "I think it'd be kinda hard to kill someone if you're already dead."

BREAK


"Rantaro," Kaede says, "that's not entirely correct."

Rantaro chuckles sheepishly. "That so? My bad. I wasn't around for the whole motive video fiasco, so I only really know bits and pieces."

"Remember what I said earlier?" Kaede begins. "About Kirumi telling me that Kokichi assumed I was the one with her motive video?" Kaede wrings her hands. "Well, I…" she hesitates, lifting a hand to tug on Shuichi's cap. "I kinda… told her Miu was the initial recipient…"

Miu stiffens. "W-wait, so, she knew that I…?"

"Miu did mention a few times out loud that she'd watched the video she'd gotten," Kaede continues, "so although I didn't directly say Miu had watched her video…"

"Kirumi was able to piece together the puzzle herself." Korekiyo says. "As expected of such a beautifully complex individual."

"That also explains why Tojo was insistent that you guys didn't check up on Iruma when the transmission cut off last night," says Ryoma. "If she was planning on going over there anyways, it would have been better for her if no one else did."

Kokichi taps his chin. "That reminds me, actually." His eyes slide to Kaede. "That weird conversation you two had last night in Himiko's room, was that Kirumi testing the waters? Going from what we already know, Kirumi knew for certain at this point that Miu had seen her motive video, but you never directly answered her when she asked, did you?"

"That's…" Kaede thinks for a moment. "I guess I didn't. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Maybe she was hoping you'd slip up and spill last night." Kokichi continues. "After all, it'd have been muuuuuch more beneficial for her if you were the one who'd gotten and watched her motive video, she coulda shut you up and killed you on the spot!" He opens his arms out. "And we'd have been none the wiser! What a snake!"

For a moment, time stops. Adrenaline floods into Kaede's system, pumping, beating. Her fingers curl around her podium railing as she steadies her breathing. Kirumi… could have killed me?

Rantaro hums. "So, if Kokichi's theory is right. Then Kirumi's intended victim was actually…"

"M-me?" Miu squeaks as the room's attention shifts to her. She tosses her hair over her shoulder and fixates on the floor. "I-I mean, can you blame her? Anyone would feel threatened by the… this Gorgeous Girl Genius, so i-it makes sense…"

"If Miu knew about Kirumi's secret, she would have been able to tell us about it at the class trial," says Tsumugi. "So it'd make sense that Kirumi would want to eliminate someone she knew definitely knew about her other identity."

Taking a deep breath, Kaede straightens herself. "So far, we know that Kirumi's possible intended victim was… was Miu, and that she planned to kill her last night. In order to have a legible alibi, she swapped on-call positions with Rantaro, and waited until we were all asleep to go out." She taps her chin. "But Rantaro should have been awake when Kirumi left, right? Was it just a coincidence that he fell asleep, in that case?"

"I doubt it," Maki replies blankly. "I bet Kirumi knocked him out."

"Whoa, you sure about that?" Rantaro asks. "Cuz I'm pretty sure I'd have remembered somethin' that drastic happenin'."

"Not if she did it from behind," Ryoma points out. "There's plenty of moves out there than can send someone to dreamland against their will." He folds his arms. "And Tojo was strong - remember when Shinguuji was outed last trial? She didn't hold back."

Kaito scratches his head. "Yeah, I remember that." He thinks for a moment. "Kiyo was sick at the time, so it couldn't have been him, and I know it wasn't Maki, so—"

"How'd you know it wasn't Maki, Kaito?" asks Kokichi.

Kaito clenches his fist. "Because she was with me! And she didn't have any reason to do something so silly in the first place!"

Angie claps her hands together. "So Kirumi would have been strong enough to move a person as skinny as Rantaro no problem!"

Sighing, Kaede continues. "Okay… so– if we go with that theory, what would have happened after that? Miu said that she and Kiibo went back to the hotel after the transmission cut off."

"That's right…" Miu says. "We did go back to the hotel after the transmission. I-I told you that already!"

Humming, Kokichi nods. "And you didn't meet up with Kirumi at all."

Miu shakes her head. "Nope."

Kokichi raises an eyebrow. "Didn't even come into contact with her?"

"N-no!"

"Mm, not even a once?"

Snarling, Miu slams her palms down. "What the fuck don't you understand about 'no', you cock-guzzling piece of horseshit?! I—" She inhales. "I had n-nothing to do with Kirumi's d-death."

"Geez," Kokichi rolls back on his heels and holds his hands up. "No need to eat me, I was just asking, yeesh!"

Kaede closes her eyes. Okay, Hold on. I need to think for a minute. What have we covered so far? According to the version of events they'd plotted out, Kirumi planned to kill either Kaede or Miu over the discovery of her outside-world identity, the de-facto Prime Minister, which either of them could have announced to the class at any time. How she'd suddenly remembered said identity as was yet to be uncovered. After the short video transmission with Miu, Kirumi had questioned Kaede over her knowledge of her motive video. But since Kaede hadn't answered her directly, she intended to visit the hotel, presumably to silence Miu. Kirumi persuaded Rantaro to switch on-call positions with her, most likely so that Rantaro would be the one on duty during the night rather than Kirumi, thus giving Kirumi an alibi with the infected Korekiyo.

But then… how were both Kirumi and Kiibo found dead in the academy? Something pivotal to the case had to have happened before three-fifteen in the morning as that was when the first murder occurred. But… what? And how did Kirumi turn from the murderer to the victim? How did Kiibo get caught up in it? Wasn't he supposed to be with Miu? Because Miu had told them that they'd—

And then it hits Kaede, like a misstep she wishes she hadn't taken. She raises her head and looks into Miu's, one of her closest friend's eyes and for the first time she realises Miu's shaking. Trembling, even. For a split second, Kaede's vision blurs, and she swears that she sees her life flash before her eyes, but not just hers, Miu's too. For all the time she'd known her. From their first meeting in the warehouse, begging her to help her and Shuichi with their plan, watching Kirumi's motive video, the Insect Meet n' Greet, Gonta's investigation, watching Shuichi's motive video, the promises, the trust, the things they had yet to figure out…

She goes over the case again. And again. And again. But even when looking at the spiderweb of events, each silver thread leads her back to the same place. Kaede squeezes her eyes shut. I don't want to believe this. I don't have any evidence or proof, only doubts. And if I'm wrong…" Wincing, Kaede squeezes her eyes shut. That'd be so awful! I'd regret even thinking such a thing. But if it'd bring us closer to the truth…

Kokichi snaps his fingers. "Hello? Earth to Kaede? Are you even listening?"

Rantaro leans forward, concern etched into his features. "Everything all right? You look kinda pale."

"Yeah, I just…" With a shaky hand, Kaede tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. She cherishes the final moments where her thoughts remain inside her head. She exhales. "Miu, there's something that's not adding up here."

Miu instantly stiffens. "Wh-what? What's with that look?"

Kaede can tell the others sense the weight behind her question as they steal glances at the inventor, searching, curious, almost suspicious.

"There's just something that isn't making sense to me," she continues. "It's just, you said you and Kiibo returned to and remained at the hotel after the transmission cut off, didn't you?" Unwilling to look Miu in the eyes, Kaede hangs her head, eyes trained on a suddenly very interesting piece of the floor. "You said you went to sleep, and that you didn't notice Kiibo leaving the room, but how come you never mentioned that until we asked about it here?"

Kaede glances up. Miu's stares back, as though Kaede had just spoken an alien language. The inventor's silence only prompts her further. "And— and not only that, but, until the end of the investigation, you weren't really around at all? No one saw you go up to even look at Kirumi's body. You only showed up at the end, just before the bell went. Even when we were waiting at the Shrine of Judgment for the elevator to open, you didn't show up—"

Kokichi begins to comment on Maki's absence but Kaede's louder. "And even when you did, you were saying stuff like, 'I don't want to go, I don't want them to kill me.'Kaede's nails dig into her podium railing. "I initially just put it down to you being stressed over Kiibo's death, but now, thinking about it again, how you've been acting ever since we found the bodies, and the fact that Kiibo— and possibly Kirumi both saw you last night…!"

She stops herself to breathe. She's sure there's another coincidence, there probably was, she just can't think of it at the moment.

"I've been wondering about that, too." Kaede nearly jumps out of her skin— she hadn't been expecting such a calm response – let alone one from Maki of all people. The caretaker curls a lock of dark hair around her index finger. "There's far too many coincidences here for you to have just slept through them all." She narrows her eyes at Miu. "I think you need to answer us— truthfully."

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Korekiyo says, "But are you both under the impression that Miu was lying earlier when she stated she slept through everything?"

Kaede grits her teeth. She doesn't want to believe it, but like Maki said, the coincidences.

"Well, why don't we just ask our resident liar what he thinks?" Rantaro suggests. "Well, Kokichi?"

Kokichi quirks an eyebrow. "Hmm. Oh, now you're asking me to talk, huh? Well, if you wanna know what Ithink…" Kokichi's calm expression melts like wax, revealing the Cheshire-esque simper Kaede's come to know all too well. "Yeeeeeah, I'm pretty sure she's been lying this entire trial."

Kaede's gaze hesitantly falls back on Miu, fearful of what she'd see if she did. Unlike the other time's she'd been accused in the past, Miu hadn't said a word throughout, and even now she showed no sign of saying anything anytime soon.

Or so Kaede thought.

"'msorry…"

It's so quiet that Kaede only barely hears it over the thoughts roaring in her ears.

Miu hangs her head, strawberry blonde strands of hair cascading over her podium like a vanilla waterfall. "I didn't mean t—" A lone tear drips from the inventor's cheek and within a heartbeat, the floodgates open. Her knees buckle from under her and she collapses to the floor, shaking and sobbing hysterically. "I didn't mean to! I didn't! It— it was an accident! I only did what he told me to! Please—" She takes a gaping breath. "Please— please don't kill meeeeee!"

Kaede's heart drops to her feet. "M-Miu!?"

Tsumugi claps her hands over her mouth. "D-did she just—!?"

Angie holds up her hands. "Wait, waitwaitwaitwaitwait, is this a confession Angie hears?"

"Like hell it is!" Kaito snaps, then, stepping out of his podium to crouches down beside Miu nearby. "Hey, Miu. It's gonna be all right, yeah?" He glances up. "Anyone got a pack of tissues?"

"Hey, HEY, Spaceman!" Monokuma snaps. "The class trial's in session! No running around while the class trial's in session!"

"Oh piss off!" Kaito yells. "How the hell are we supposed to hold a damn trial when she's clearly too distressed to continue!"

Rolling his eyes, Kokichi sighs. "Just as we were getting to the good bit…"

Ryoma grimaces. "That's the first thing you think of?"

Kokichi turns to him. "Yeah? Why not? We're in a killing game, Ryoma, And she—" He thrusts a finger in Miu's direction. "She just confessed to killing the victim this class trial is for." He grins. "In fact, I say we vote for her right now!"

"Kokichi," Korekiyo says, "That's enough. We have yet to hear Miu's side of the story."

Kokichi pouts. "What's there to hear? She pretty much confessed to killing him, didn't she?" He whips around. "Rantaroooo, help me ouuuuut!"

Rantaro shrugs. "Kiyo's got a point." His eyes shift to Miu's snivelling figure. "Let's hear what she has to say first, all right?"

Shoulders shaking, Miu buries her face further into her hands not unlike a child. Kaito glances up. "Give her a minute, guys."

One by one, the hushed whispers and confused mutterings lapse into silence. Red lights stain the courtroom crimson as Miu's podium slides out to the centre. She wipes furiously at her left eye, smearing a streak of black kohl across her cheek. "F-fine. Yeah," She snivels. "It's just like you guys said… Ki-Kirumi asked to meet me in the academy last night."

"But you were in the hotel, and Kirumi was at the dorms with the infected, correct?" Korekiyo says. "How did she manage to send you an invite?"

Miu snivels again. "A-after the connection between Kiibs and the Kubs Pad fizzled out… I managed to get it up and working again and…" Shoulders heaving, she lets out a long sigh. "I tried to call you guys back…"

Kaede's eyes go wide. "Wait, you did? But the Kubs Pad didn't tell me that it—" The rest of the words die in Kaede's throat.

"What is it, Kaede?" Asks Tsumugi.

Kaede glances down at the Kubs Pad, laying flat on the tiled floor. "Last night," she says, "I fell asleep holding the Pad; I remember that clearly."

Ryoma frowns. "Yeah, and?"

"But see, it was in my backpack today." Kaede replies, "And I know that I didn't have the time to put it in my bag this morning because Rantaro came to wake me."

"Oh." Angie tilts her head. "That is weird. Super-duper weird!"

Rantaro holds his chin. "By any chance, Miu… the person who picked up when you called back…"

Miu nods. "Y-yeah. It was just Kirumi."

"Thought so. And at what time was this?"

"D-dunno. Checking the time w-wasn't my priority."

"I'm pretty I think I fell asleep soon after Kirumi left," Says Kaede.

"Which we've established was between ten and ten thirty last night." Korekiyo adds.

"After Kirumi spoke with me, she went straight to Kiyo's room." Rantaro says. "I don't remember her goin' back into Himiko's, so it must've been done after I was…" He hesitates. "…Supposedly rendered unconscious."

"I think it's safe to say that all of this happened between ten-thirty and three am," says Ryoma. "Still a pretty large time gap, but at least it's better than nothing." He turns to Miu. "I'm assuming Tojo gave you a time to meet her at?"

Miu nods. "F-four o' clock. In her research lab."

"In the morning?" Himiko asks. "That's pretty late… and pretty early…"

"It makes sense though." Kokichi points out. "Four in the morning is just before sunrise, the morning announcement doesn't sound until eight, so if she was planning on killing Miu, she'd have four hours to clean up the crime scene before any of us would think to check her research lab."

"It also worked with the shifts," adds Maki. "At four in the morning, the person on shift would have been Kirumi, but because of the switch with Rantaro, he would have been the one without an alibi during the time of death."

Miu continues. "After we ended the c-call— again – Kiibs told me— he— he told me he didn't want me meetin' her alone in the academy…" She scratches her head. "He was sayin he could 'hear despair' or some shit. That was why he cut the call the first time, he told me—"

"Wait, so you just agreed to meet Kirumi one on one?" Kokichi asks. "For a so-called genius, that's not a smart move at all!"

"Sh-shut up! I'm not done, cockroach!" Miu snarls. "Of course I fucking wasn't gonna see her alone— I was plannin' on standin' her up. B-but Kiibs, he— he insisted we go together."

"In case Kirumi tried to do something?" Asks Kaede.

Miu nods. "Y-yeah. That was it. He said cuz his 'inner-voice' was removed, that his free will was his own, and he wanted to 'confront the despair with his new-found power', or somethin'." The blonde grabs at her hair. "If I'd known castrating his fucking hair was gonna turn him batshit crazy, I wouldn't have fucking touched it to begin with, honest!"

"Hey now." Rantaro raises his hand. "You were able to find out that Kiibo's antenna was transmitting his camera footage somewhere, weren't you? Look on the positive side!"

Angie's face lights up like a candle. "Atua truly did bless you with His Wisdom when He resurrected you, Rantaro. How divine!"

"Ahahah, you think so? Well, I'm honoured—"

"Um, guys?" Kaede interrupts, "We're kind of in the middle of something here, remember?" Her attention snaps back to Miu. "Let's focus on this meeting that happened last night, all right?"


Present your Argument

Korekiyo tilts his head. "So, you and Kiibo went to Kirumi's lab together, correct?"

Still refusing to make eye contact, Miu folds her arms. "Y-yeah. We went up at three. Just to make sure we got there before her, y'know?"

"You went up whole hour early?" Himiko toys with a piece of red hair. "Waiting that long sounds like a pain if you ask me."

"I— we wanted to make sure we got there before her, is all!"

"So, you guys just waited there?" Asks Kaito.

"W-well, we hid behind the partition." Miu adds, "Y'know, where that fuckload of washing machines are. It was my idea. Genius, right?" She coughs into her hand and continues, "W-well, that's beside the point. After that, we just waited."

"So, what happened at four?" Tsumugi asks.

Miu simply shrugs. "Nothing. Bitch didn't even show up." She huffs. "I can't believe I was the one stood up in the end. Should'a known better."

BREAK


Like ice, Kaede's blood chills. "Miu, I… I don't think Kirumi stood you up."

Blinking, Miu stares at her, wide-eyed. "Y-you don't?"

"Remember what we said earlier? About Himiko snapping out of the Despair Disease at around three-fifteen? "You said you waited in the Ultimate Maid Lab from three o' clock to four o'clock, right?"

"Yeah. What's that got to do with this?"

"And Kiibo was with you for that whole hour, right?"

"Yeah, that's what I fucking said. You got some piano wax in your ears or somethin'?"

Kaede's eyebrows fly into her hair. "P-piano wax…?"

"Oh my god." Kokichi scrapes his hands over his face. "What she's saying, is that Kiibo was with you when the first murder happened, dumbass! Meaning the first person to die wasn't Kiibo, it was Kirumi!"

Miu visibly deflates. "Oh, you should'a just— wait, what the fuck did you say!?"

"There we go." Rantaro clicks his tongue. "Another piece of the mystery solved. So, Kirumi died first. Everyone in agreement?"

"Not only that," Korekiyo says, "If our theory is correct about the Despair Disease -that it dissipated once the first murder occurred - then we can conclude that Kirumi was murdered at approximately three-fifteen."

Beside him, Angie bounces in her stall. "Nyahahaha, guys, guys, we're doing it! We're solving the mystery! Atua's so proud of you all!"

Ryoma presses a hand to his face. "Sounds like Tojo had the same idea as you guys."

"Huh?" Miu tilts her head. "Whaddya mean by that, shortstack?"

Ryoma sends her a look of irritation, shakes his head, but simply says, "Goin' up to the room early, catching you off-guard as you walk into the room. It makes sense doesn't it?" He shrugs. "I've got nothing to base that theory on, though."

"That would make sense, though." Kaede says. "I mean, three-fifteen was forty-five minutes before the meeting time, so perhaps she was on the way when she ran into someone… maybe?"

"You don't sound too sure about that," says Rantaro.

Kaede pulls a face. "Well, of course I'm not sure. But it's not like we have any other leads right now."

"Nah, Ryoma's right," Says Kaito, "she had to have been caught off guard." He thinks for a moment. "Doesn't that mean a fourth person had to have been in the school, though?"

Kokichi nods. "That would be the only other way Kirumi could have possibly been killed—" He cuts himself off. "… Given that we believe Miu's story, that is."

Supressing a sigh, Kaede frowns at him. "You're saying you don't believe Miu now?"

He huffs, "I didn't say that. But the only two people that can possibly confirm Miu's story for us are both dead!" He taps his chin. "Surely you find that a teensy bit suspicious too, no?"

"Wha—?" The blood drains from Miu's face. "But— b-but I—"

"I believe her!" Kaito announces. "She was hidin' her alibi up 'till now because she knew what it'd look like to us. But it's just an unfortunate coincidence that she got caught up in all this. There's no way she'd murder anyone!" He glances over at her. "Especially not someone who was as close to her as Kiibo was, nor someone like Kirumi, that Kiibo looked up to!"

"But Miu knew that Kirumi was the Prime Minister, riiight?" asks Angie.

Kaito shrugs. "So? The only person who'd have any sorta motive after watching that video would be Kirumi herself."

"Kaito," Korekiyo says with a sigh. "As much as I admire your determination to believe in your comrades, the truth of the matter remains that Miu still has no alibi."

Furrowing her brow, Tsumugi clasps her hands together. "Was there really no one else that saw anything?"

"Well, Miu?" Kokichi asks. "Anything else you want to say?"

Whimpering, Miu merely bows her head.

There's another period of silence as the class trade looks of doubt, until a small voice rings out.

"So, um, do we vote now, then?" Angie asks, voice uncharacteristically quiet.

Silence continues to permeate the air, already thick with tension.

Almost afraid to ask, Kaede closes her eyes briefly and sucks in a deep breath. "Does… does no one else believe in Miu?" She steals a glance at the other blonde. Miu is quivering in her stand like jelly. "I… I know it doesn't look great at the moment, but there are still mysteries we need to figure out here! Like— like the doll heads! And the locked room! And how Kirumi remembered her—"

"Only you and Kaito think she's innocent," says Maki, voice cold as ice. "She modified the cameras that helped Shuichi kill Rantaro, she exposed you guys to the lethal acid that helped Tenko kill Gonta… even here, all of the evidence piles against her. Whether her story is true or not, it doesn't paint her in a good light." She sharpens her gaze. "Does friendship really blind you guys that much?"

Silence falls onto the courtroom once more, but Kaede doesn't back down. "Like Kaito said, it's a coincidence!" Gripping her podium with whitened knuckles, she pleads with her classmates. "We can debate some more, we can argue some more, but one thing's for sure, we can't just blindly vote for someone without knowing all the facts first. We have to figure everything else out." Without thinking, Kaede slams There has to be more to this case than Miu being the culprit."

"Of course, there's more to this case."

Kaede's head whips to the right. Rantaro grins back at her.

"Dunno why, but my gut's tellin' me we gotta stick with this game of suspicion a little bit longer."

Sighing, relief floods into Kaede like a river. "Rantaro…"

"After all," he taps his nose with a knowing smile. "If there's one thing I've learned in my time travelling the world, it's to just trust your instinct, y'know?"

From beside him, Tsumugi meekly raises a hand. "I… I feel the same way! In detective games, you have to investigate every single piece of evidence before coming to a conclusion, and I plainly feel the same way about this case!"

"Tsumugi!" Kaede exhales.

"Hey, me too, me too!" Kokichi's hand shoots up into the air. "I agree with Rantaro, too!"

"You're the reason we're having this discussion in the first place!" Kaito shouts. "Why the hell are you changing your mind now?!"

Kokichi shrugs. "Because he's hot."

"Five aside, five aside!" Monokuma slams his gavel down. "Considering iruma-dot-exe has temporarily stopped working, that's a pretty even split if you ask me!" He brandishes the key and waves it over his head. "Scrum Debate part eight! No… three! No… two! That's the ticket! Leeeeeet's goooooo!"

Rantaro's eyes go wide as the podiums begin to rise into the air in turn. "Wait, what's happening!?"

Kokichi gives him a knowing smile. "Oh, you'll see in a second. Trust me, it's suuuuper fun!"

Kaede takes a deep breath as she rises into the air, gripping the edges of her stall to keep her balance. Kaede swallows. Glances at Miu. Trembling, Miu hugs herself. Exhaling, Kaede closes her eyes. Miu… I'm sorry. Bear with us a little longer. I'll get you out of this. I'll make them see!

She opens her eyes and matches Maki's crimson, benumbed eyes with her own determined stare. The claxon sounds, and the debate begins.

Even if I have to lie to do it.


For the next few weeks, writing the ending to this trial and Chapter will be my top priority. Why? Because what better time to finish off the arc about disease and quarantine when it's going on in the real world? ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°) Lolololol no, there's actually a different reason, but I'll explain it more when chapter 23 comes out.

Speaking of which, 23 will (hopefully, if everything goes to plan) be the second installment of The Encore Epilogues©℗®™ and I have no ideas for what or who to feature! None! Zilch! And so, I have decided to accept suggestions for possible scenarios that'll be featured! So if there's any humorous or shippy or whatever else interactions you'd like to see between any of the current living cast members (+kiibo and kirumi and the soon-to-be blackened, to those who are in the Know) do drop it below (bonus points if u include an item too), and you might see your idea pop up when the time comes around! I'll write up a total of ~four/five scenes, and when the chapter is published, I'll credit anyone who I got inspo from. Just want to make things a little more interactive, y'know?


Chapter 21: Believe it or not, we've barely scratched the surface of this case yet.