Class Trial
We returned to the courtroom and saw two more portraits. Akira-san's X consisted of two daggers. Kumakura-san's X was composed of two crossed barbells with more weights than were humanly possible to lift. This time, Tatsuki-san went straight to her sister's empty seat, since hers was filled already.
"Court is once again in session," Monokuma said. "As always, your goal is to find whoever killed the victim- Kumakura-san, in this case, since your lives depend on it. Of course, the killer's life depends on not getting caught, so let the games begin!"
I glanced to my right, at Akira-san's now vacant seat. This would be my first trial without her, and we all knew that there were no practice trials or do-overs in the killing game. Fortunately, I'd had three class trials worth of experience to call upon as I followed Akira-san's example... but unfortunately, the killer had the same experience, and had likely learned from the other culprits' mistakes.
"Just so we're clear, it is a murder this time, right?" Kurogane-san said.
"It appears so," Kirishima-san said. "Kumakura-kun's cause of death was being smothered to death. If, for example, he died falling from a great height, he could have been pushed off a ledge, jumped off, or fell off accidentally, but here, it is not possible to mistake the death for an accident or suicide."
So at the very least, we knew what we were dealing with. Of course, that also meant that the culprit was likely ruthless, cunning and determined. They weren't just willing to kill a classmate, but also to let all of us die to save us, tell any lie to avoid getting caught and not give up until they were cornered beyond a doubt.
"But it's an open and shut case, isn't it?" Asakura said. "We found Nagato at the scene, so she's definitely guilty."
"She was unconscious when we got there," Sayuri-san said, "and the other surviving patients- Himeno-chan, Tatsuki-chan, and Karita-kun- can vouch for that. It seems most likely that whoever killed Kotaro-kun left Chiyuri-chan behind to take the fall for the crime."
"Indeed," Higurashi-san said. "All of us knew that Nagato-san was unable to make new memories, including the killer, so that person likely considered her the best choice to take the fall for their crime."
"Yeah, and Nagato knew best of all" Asakura said. "I'm sure she cooked it up to trick us all."
By my estimations, Asakura couldn't possibly be the culprit, so I had no idea why was he pushing so hard to accuse me of the crime. Did he hate me that much, or was he really convinced I was guilty?
"I must confess that what Asakura-kun is proposing is plausible," Kirishima-san said. "Since the diseases do not act much like ordinary illnesses, it is possible that those who were afflicted lied about how they were affected."
"That is possible," Sayuri-san said, "but Monokuma told us how each person's disease worked, and we were able to observe the infected ourselves, so we could see that what he told us was true."
"Please remember that Monokuma's goal is to incite us to murder," Kirishima-san said. "It is possible that he lied, in order to give the so-called infected a way to deceive us into thinking they were incapable of committing murder."
Sayuri-san bit her lip. Despite maintaining her belief in my innocence, she knew she'd need more than belief to convince the rest of us.
"How rude, Kirishima-san!" Monokuma said. "I was telling the truth about the six of you being sick."
"But it is possible that you lied about the symptoms, is it not?" Kirishima-san said. "Your choice of words is rather suspicious."
As Monokuma went silent again, I couldn't help but admire Kirishima-san's cunning. Since none of us liked or trusted Monokuma, Kirishima-san had easily played on our feelings and cast what Monokuma said into doubt. It was a clever move, and the only question was whether he was using it to find the truth or cover up his own crimes.
"I'm not saying Nagato-san's innocent," Karita-san said, "since it is certainly possible to lie about this, but it would be a rather hard act to keep up. Besides, we do know that she had a disease, right?"
"Yes, I took her temperature and she was feverish, just like the others were," Higurashi-san said. "As far as we know, that proves that she had the Despair Disease."
"Or so we think," Kirishima-san said. "It is possible that Nagato-kun fell ill with an ordinary fever. The fact that we went more than three weeks without any of us falling ill is rather unusual."
I had to agree. Even though we'd never come into contact with anyone besides the seventeen of us, a number that shrank over time, it was possible for us to become ill through other means, from spoiled food to failure to practice proper hygiene.
"Well, let's say that Nagato-san was really sick with the memory disease," Karita-san said. "If she had it, she wouldn't be able to remember anything, including her murder plan, wouldn't she? Unless she, say, scrawled notes on her arms or something?"
I took off my blazer and rolled up my shirt sleeves, then shook my head.
"As you can see, I didn't," I said. "I can unbutton my shirt or show you my legs if you'd like, but I'd prefer to have another girl come over to confirm it."
"There is no need for that," Kirishima-san said, "since the lack of any ink on any visible part of your body proves nothing. There is a more practical writing surface at your disposal; namely, the notebook you received from Azuki-kun at the end of the previous trial."
After rolling down my sleeves and putting on my blazer again, I got out my notebook and held it up where everyone could see it.
"Here it is," I said, "but where did I write in it?"
"Perhaps in the pages you ripped out of the notebook," Kirishima-san said. "I recall that you gave a few to Kumakura-kun."
"I ripped three or four out yesterday," I said, 'so that we could communicate with him even though he couldn't hear us. There should be a few left at the crime scene."
"Is that so?" Kirishima-san said. "I believe that the one person who could vouch for you is no longer here."
I bit my lip. While Kirishima-san seemed like a normally polite, if not nice, individual, I could have sworn that remark sounded like a taunt. Of course, it was possible that after hearing various people making seemingly innocuous but subtly cutting remarks about my father, I was just oversensitive to the subtext behind people's remarks.
"That aside," Karita-san said, "shouldn't we figure out how the crime was committed before we decide whether Nagato-san could have done it? It's hard to say whether it's possible or impossible for her if we don't know how it was carried out."
"I think so, too," I said. "To begin with, I don't think anyone could have overpowered Kumakura-san long enough to smother him, unless they'd incapacitated him somehow. He's almost half a meter taller than me and stronger than anyone else here."
The others nodded. Apart from Kumakura-san, Himeno-san was the only real athlete in our class. Of course, even she wouldn't stand a chance against him in a contest of strength, since archery doesn't require nearly as much physical strength as weight lifting does.
"That's right," Himeno-san said, "so how do you propose that the killer did this?"
"They must have used muscle relaxants on him," I said. "The amount contained in the vial would have been enough to render him helpless."
I had to admit I was grasping at straws here, since there was no guarantee that the amount of muscle relaxant used would have been enough to have the desired effect on someone as large and healthy as Kumakura-san, but no one seemed willing to contest that assertion. Then again, even if the killer wanted me to take the fall for this crime, proving that Kumakura-san had been given the muscle relaxants wouldn't necessarily detract from their efforts.
"Just checking, but where would they obtain those chemicals?" Kurogane-san said.
"The chemical cabinet, of course," Kirishima-san said, "which is found in the chemical lab in the research division. Anyone can access it."
Kirishima-san glanced at me as he said that, as did Asakura. Kirishima-san's logic cut both ways, of course, but at this point, there was more evidence that would declare me the prime suspect.
"Yes, that's true," Higurashi-san said, "and I had been wary about that. Unfortunately, we'll need more definite proof in order to narrow down the pool of suspects. Do you know when the chemicals might have been taken?"
"As I said to Nagato-kun earlier, I was able to account for them the last time I left the lab before the murder, at 6:45 PM," Kirishima-san said. "Since I would not loan them to anyone for any reason, the culprit must have found their way into the lab and obtained the chemicals between then and the murder."
"I see," Higurashi-san said. "At this point, everyone knew about the chemicals, so anyone could have done it. The only question is when. From what I recall, the murder was most likely committed at 7 PM at the earliest, and 8:20 PM at the latest."
So we were back to discussing the time of Kirishima-san's death once again. The answer could likely shed light on who could or could not have done it, but no matter what the time of death was, I was still a viable suspect. That obviously meant that whatever answer we came up with wouldn't matter to the blackened when it came to framing me, but avoiding getting caught was another story.
"If Kumakura-san was smothered to death, it probably would have taken several minutes to kill him," Himeno-san said. "Of course, since I only discovered his body by chance, it was unlikely that anyone would have stumbled upon him by accident."
For a moment, I suspected that Himeno-san might have been the culprit, if she brought three people to the crime scene to prevent the others from realizing that she, the culprit, wouldn't count toward the three required to trigger the body discovery announcement. That being said, Sayuri-san hadn't mentioned seeing anyone else besides "me" pass by her room, and if Himeno-san was guilty, she'd have had to pass by that way to return to her room, or otherwise loop around from the outside.
"For now, let's stick with how the murder was carried out and see if we can obtain some clues by discussing that," Sayuri-san said. "Chiyuri-chan, where were we?"
"We were discussing how the culprit gave the muscle relaxants to Kumakura-san," I said. "There was a syringe in the trash can, so they most likely used that to do the job."
"That seems unlikely," Kirishima-san said. "Kumakura-kun had no puncture wounds on his body, so the killer could not possibly have injected him with any chemicals. Furthermore, since all of us are well aware that we do not have any medicine for the Despair Diseases, it is unlikely that he would have sat still and willingly allowed himself to be injected with an unknown chemical."
"You said it," Asakura said. "What are you going to say, Nagato? That a big, strong tough guy like Kumakura's afraid of needles?"
I ignored Asakura's remark, since I was too busy thinking about what to say next. Was the muscle relaxant bottle a red herring, or was it a clue that would help me unravel the mystery? After a moment, the answer finally occurred to me.
"You're right about that, Kirishima-san," I said, "because the culprit didn't inject the chemicals into Kumakura-san's bloodstream. They could have introduced it to him through his food. I saw a hole pierced through the plastic wrapping for his dinner, showing that the killer injected the chemicals directly into the meal contained inside. He must not have noticed that the meal was tainted until he'd eaten it."
"Perhaps," Kirishima-san said, "but all the chemicals had strong tastes. Anyone would have noticed something odd about their food."
"Anyone but Kumakura-san," I said, "because today, he lost his sense of taste. Tatsuki-san, you noticed this, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did," Tatsuki-san said. "Kumakura-kun can barely stomach spicy foods, and eats them with a great deal of evident discomfort. Today, however, he ate a spicy lunch with no complaints at all."
If Mom was here, I'm sure she, as a parent, could tell when someone liked what they ate, or could merely tolerate it. Kumakura-san's parents probably would have been able to do the same thing, having gotten to know their son's likes and dislikes very well.
"Are you certain he can't taste today?" Kurogane-san said. "What about his other senses?"
"He demonstrated the ability to see and hear when we held a conversation," Tatsuki-san said. "He responded to what I had to say and made eye contact. He even told me to wipe some food off my lip."
While that was probably mildly embarrassing for Tatsuki-san, it went a long way toward proving my case. I decided to ride with the momentum and continue bringing forth the evidence.
"There's also what Monokuma said," I said. "Two days ago, in the morning, he said that the disease would affect a different one of Kumakura-san's senses on each day- 'sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell.' If he lost his sense of taste today, the order would match the one Monokuma gave us."
"Wow, you really do remember, Nagato-san!" Monokuma said. "It's almost as though you never had a memory-altering disease."
A part of me worried that this demonstration of how well I remembered a seemingly innocuous comment by Monokuma might undercut my claim that my ability to create memories had been affected, but all of us knew when I was affected by the disease. Of course, Asakura was clearly unconvinced, and glared at me.
"So now we know that after Kumakura ate the food, he was incapacitated, so anyone could've killed him," Asakura said. "In other words, there's no reason to rule Nagato out."
There had been many times over the past few days when I wished Akira-san was still with us, and I'd never felt that desire more strongly than I did at this moment. Not only was she skilled at solving mysteries, but people would probably be more willing to believe her, since she wasn't the prime suspect at the moment. That said, she couldn't be here, so it was up to me to do what I could in her stead.
"I'll admit that I'm a possible suspect," I said, "but you'll need more than that to convince us that I'm guilty. You'll have to prove that I am the killer, as well as how I carried out the crime."
"Yes, that is true," Kirishima-san said, "but at this point, you can hardly fault us for suspecting you, unless you can provide evidence to clear your name."
"What about the rag in the trash?" Higurashi-san said. "If the killer used the muscle relaxant on Higurashi-kun, then it's most likely that they used the chloroform on the rag so that they could render Nagato-san unconscious, doesn't it?"
"It is merely a red herring, intended to throw us off the trail," Kirishima-san said. "Nagato-kun used the chloroform to render herself unconscious, so that she could pretend to be a victim left behind at the crime scene."
I frowned. While I knew that proving that I'd been chloroformed would be the key to proving my innocence, I'd first need to lay the groundwork. Luckily, I had a clue.
"So in other words, that was all part of my grand plan, right?" I said. "That's awfully complex for someone who can't remember what she was doing five minutes ago, isn't it?"
"Maybe you thought of it back before you got the disease," Asakura said, "and were just waiting for the right opportunity
"That isn't possible," I said. "Yesterday, I didn't know whether Kumakura-san would lose his sense of taste today. I also didn't know that I would be infected, let alone how my disease would work."
"But maybe you could have predicted either of those, could you not?" Kirishima-san said. "As you said, there was a pattern."
"There was," I said, "but it was just as likely that he would have lost a different one of his senses today. If I had waited until tomorrow, Tatsuki-san would have died, and Kumakura-san might have gotten the 'death disease' after her. Besides, I had no way of knowing that Himeno-san or I would be infected today."
Kirishima-san seemed thoroughly unconvinced, so I decided to switch gears, focusing on facts instead of speculation.
"Anyway, before we talked about how Kumakura-san was killed, we were discussing how I could have reminded myself of the plan," I said, "since if I were the killer, I would need some way to keep myself on task."
"Exactly," Kirishima-san said, "and your notebook would be the ideal method. You could write the directions on it, and rip out the pages to prevent anyone from discovering them. Once you were done, you could dispose of them in one of the many trash cans in this hospital. Considering that most of us only looked in the trash cans for the rooms that were occupied, we would most likely have missed it."
It struck me as odd that Kirishima-san was intelligent enough to consider this possibility, but not smart enough to actually go to the trouble of looking for the missing notebook page. Luckily, I'd been a bit more thorough in my search and had located my notebook. The only question was whether he'd found out, too.
"Yes, I would have done that," I said, "but tell me something. Where exactly was my notebook left?"
Kirishima-san went silent for a moment. I was about to answer, but Himeno-san was a bit quicker on the draw, evidently knowing where I was headed with this.
"Why don't I tell you?" Himeno-san said. "I found the notebook in the bottom compartment of the cart, in the storage closet, before Chiyuri did. When I did, the pages were already ripped out. If Chiyuri had been the killer, she wouldn't have been careless enough to let me retrieve it first."
"The fact that it was found there was also significant," I said, "since the bottom compartment of the cart was large enough to contain a person. It's possible that the killer put me in there, and left the notebook behind."
"Yeah, a likely story," Asakura said. "Got any proof?"
"My story just now is the proof," Himeno-san said. "I was the first to discover the notebook, even before Chiyuri did. Therefore, she couldn't have planted the evidence."
As Asakura went silent, I smiled. I couldn't solve the mystery myself, even if I hadn't failed to remember much of what happened today, but it was good to see that some of my classmates believed in my innocence and were willing to help me. Most of my classmates at St. Mary's probably would have abandoned me, but here, I had actual friends.
"So it's possible that Nagato-san was set up, but also possible that she did it," Karita-san said. "Did anyone actually see her?"
"I did," Sayuri-san said. "A little before 7:30 PM, I saw Chiyuri-chan- or at least someone who looks like her- leaving her hospital room with the cart."
"Whoever you think you saw does not matter, Sasaki-kun," Kirishima-san said. "Answer this question- did you or did you not see Nagato-kun leaving the scene of the crime?"
For a scientist, Kirishima-san seemed surprisingly uninterested in the minute details of Sayuri-san's account, which might be crucial information for an experiment. She didn't argue with him, though, and simply let off a sigh and nodded.
"Yes, I saw her," Sayuri-san said. "I also saw her roughly one hour prior to that, when she stopped by my hospital room, and left without saying a word."
Ordinarily, this would seem like a smoking gun that would prove my guilt, but luckily, the others didn't seem to see it as such. She hadn't mentioned the previous incident before, but since it was at 6:30 PM, before the chemicals went missing, maybe she didn't think it was important until she heard about the chemicals.
"Can you tell me a little more about, well, me?" I said.
It was an odd request to ask Sayuri-san about my own actions, but luckily for me, she was willing to humor me.
"All right," Sayuri-san said. "The first time, you simply walked by, peered into my room, and left after I greeted you by name. The second time, you were pushing the cart and wearing your school uniform. I said hello to you, but you didn't respond."
That struck me as odd in more ways than one. Since Sayuri-san had told me something to that effect before, she probably wasn't lying, but I'd need to get to the bottom of this, so I started asking more specific questions.
"My school uniform, right?" I said. "As in, what I'm wearing right now?"
"Yes, that's right," Sayuri-san said. "What about it?"
"As you all know, I was found wearing my hospital gown," I said, "so there are three problems. First, there's no logical reason for me to change into my uniform, since it couldn't be used as a disguise. Second, it would be difficult to dispose of all the clothing at the scene without raising suspicions. Third, it would take a couple minutes to change out of my uniform- while I could quickly slip off the blazer and undo my skirt's fasteners, I can't quickly untie my tie or unbutton my shirt."
"Indeed," Tatsuki-san said. "I have to budget a little extra time to getting dressed on school days."
"So it is impractical for you to suddenly change into and out of your uniform," Kirishima-san said, "but perhaps Sasaki-kun is mistaken? Or did the culprit wear your clothing to impersonate you?"
I shook my head. My hair was dark, which was a very common color in Japan, as well as one I shared with the other remaining girls, but it was also short enough that none of the other girls could have disguised themselves as me by wearing a wig. True, the three of them had their hair tied up in various ways, but when they let their hair down, it was obviously longer than mine.
"You're right that it couldn't have happened as she saw it," I said, "but it's definitely how she sees it. Her 'recognition disease' causes her own brain to see people wearing their usual clothes. In my case, most of you are used to me wearing my uniform, right?"
The others nodded and murmured in agreement.
"That's exactly my point," I said. "Sayuri-san didn't see me pushing the cart, but someone else who she thought was me. What's more, wouldn't I have said hello to Sayuri-san?"
"I honestly don't know how chummy you two girls are," Asakura said, "but maybe you'd be a little cold to her if you planned on letting her die?"
"I don't think so," Himeno-san said. "I already knew that Sayuri, who gets along with most people, had recently become closer friends with Chiyuri. I also know Sayuri well enough that if I were her, I'd have found it odd if the normally polite Chiyuri didn't say hello. If Chiyuri was the murderer, then the last thing she would want was people finding her behavior suspicious."
I had to agree. Unfortunately, from what I'd heard of tonight's events, no one seemed to be acting particularly unlike themselves this evening, not even those who had the personality-altering Despair Diseases. I'd have to find the culprit another way.
"The person who Sayuri-san mistook for me might have known we're friends," I said, "but that person might have been scared of revealing their own identity by talking, especially if they had a male voice."
"That makes sense," Karita-san said. "Otherwise, they'd probably impersonate you while giving a confession. But why not milk Sasaki-san mistaking you for all it's worth to sell the idea that you're the culprit?"
I thought for a moment, and then realized.
"You know, I don't think the culprit wanted the others to find Kumakura-san so easily," I said. "Their goal was to have the body discovery wait until after we'd gone back to the ship, so we'd assume that the murder also occurred during that time frame. This would have reduced the suspects to five people- myself and the four other sick patients. The culprit is thus most likely one of the four healthy patients."
"Probably," Karita-san said, "but it didn't work out that way. Like Sasaki-san said, the killing probably happened around 7:30 PM, right?"
"It did," I said, "during which time you, Higurashi-san, and Asakura…-san were having dinner together at the restaurant. As for the patients, most of us were in our rooms at the time, including Sayuri-san, whose testimony supposedly helped confirm that I headed to the crime scene. The culprit is most likely a healthy person who wanted to avoid being suspected for the crime."
I took a deep breath. I didn't have as much evidence as I'd liked, but I knew that the person had been acting strangely all this time, and had lied to me at least once since the investigation started. The time had come to formally accuse that person, since, if nothing else, I at least had more evidence than they had when they pointed the finger of blame at me.
"That only leaves one person," I said. "Namely you, Kirishima-san."
Kirishima-san frowned at me, seemingly mildly annoyed at worst. He'd always been one of the more levelheaded members of this class, but he didn't seem half as worried about being accused as I had been.
"You have an overactive imagination, Nagato-kun," Kirishima-san said, "not to mention a cowardly and selfish streak. Azuki-kun faced her end with far more grace than you could possibly summon for yourself."
I glanced at Kirishima-san skeptically. It seemed odd of Kirishima-san to extol Akira-san's virtues when he'd previously dismissed her death as senseless, not to mention hypocritical of him to do so when he was now in her position. That being said, there were more relevant issues at hand.
"Besides," Kirishima-san said, "who gave you the idea that I was the only person who could have killed Kumakura-kun?"
"You did," I said. "To begin with, you said that you had confirmed all the chemicals in your lab at 6:45, did you not?"
"Yes, I did," Kirishima-san said. "Your point being?"
"You were the last person who mentioned being in the chemical lab," I said, "and that was not long before the murder. If you paid close attention to the chemicals that were still in the cabinet, shouldn't you have kept a closer eye on them?"
Kirishima-san glared at me a moment before regaining his composure. Maybe, by acting more offended over his competence being insulted than of being accused of murder, he was trying to insinuate that he wasn't the blackened.
"Perhaps," Kirishima-san said, "but 45 minutes is long enough for anyone to obtain the chemicals- including you. None of the patients have alibis for that time."
I had to admit that he was right about that. As the previous murders proved, 45 minutes was plenty of time to not only kill someone, but even set up preliminary preparations and/or try to dispose of evidence.
"You have a point," I said, "but do you know of anyone who'd regularly been to the chemical lab, apart from you?"
"Unfortunately, no," Kirishima-san said, "apart from you, that is."
"I see," I said, "so in other words, no one would stop by and notice the chemicals missing before the murder... apart from you."
Kirishima-san bit his lip.
"Of course, the chemicals aren't the only piece of evidence I have against you," I said. "Tatsuki-san, did you see me give you dinner?"
"No, I did not," Tatsuki-san said.
"Me neither," Sayuri-san said.
"Nor did I,' Himeno-san said. "I had to get my own dinner."
"Me too," Karita-san said. "Uh, by that I mean, I got my dinner, too."
So it was as I thought. Kirishima-san had lied to me, as well as to Higurashi-san. Most of what he'd said had technically been lies, of course, since he said what he did in order to get us to choose the wrong culprit. That being said, the claim that I'd asked to get everyone dinner was the first one I could prove was a lie- it was false and Kirishima-san knew it was false.
"Are you sure about this, Nagato-san?" Higurashi-san said. "Kirishima-san mentioned that you asked him to let you handle giving everyone their meals."
"I may have asked him that," I said, "but did he actually say yes to me?"
Higurashi-san was struck speechless for a moment, then shook his head.
"Kirishima-san mentioned that I'd asked him to let me handle meals," I said, "and that it was 'against his better judgment,' as he put it. I think he must have known that while his plan would be ruined if someone else actually handed out the meals, but I would be a convenient scapegoat if he made it seem as though I was still serving to everyone. He also said he could not say whether I had actually done it... because I hadn't, and the truth would make him seem suspicious."
Kirishima-san looked taken aback, and I could have sworn I saw a bead of sweat trickle down his face. He was probably starting to regret answering my question, or assuming that his clever wordplay was too subtle for me to figure out.
"Well, of course he'd make things vague," Karita-san said. "It would've been a problem if anyone placed him at the crime scene after the crime."
"That's where Sayuri-san came in," I said. "He knew that at the time of the murder, she'd see him as me, the person he intended to frame for his crime. But did Kirishima-san or 'I' get spotted by anyone between the murder and the body discovery?"
The other patients shook their heads.
"I don't think so," Sayuri-san said. "I saw 'Kotaro-kun' come to get me- actually Himeno-chan- but I didn't see 'you' again."
"I thought so," I said, before turning back to Kirishima-san. "You used Sayuri-san as a witness so that she would place me near the crime scene. However, your plan would be ruined if she saw 'me' while I was passed out at the crime scene, so you stashed the cart in the closet and went out the back exit. You then rejoined Higurashi-san and the other healthy boys, hoping that the crime wouldn't be discovered until after you'd boarded the ship, and that we'd limit the suspect pool to those in the hospital."
Kirishima-san sighed, more of exasperation than resignation. He was desperate, but not defeated, and no matter what trick he had up his sleeve, I'd have to overcome it if I wanted to prove him guilty.
"You are forgetting one important piece of evidence," Kirishima-san said, "namely, a note to yourself describing the murder."
Kirishima-san got out a spare sheet of notebook paper. and showed it to everyone. On it was the following writing.
Inject Kumakura-san's meal with muscle relaxant
Feed Kumakura-san the meal.
Smother Kumakura-san with pillow
Inhale chloroform; pass out.
Let other classmates discover me.
Each item was checked off, save for the latter two.
"Why didn't you show us this earlier?" Asakura said, sounding more annoyed than outright angry, not to mention more upset with the timing than the fact that Kirishima-san was lying to him.
"It was not the right time," Kirishima-san said. "I had hoped to more conclusively prove Nagato-kun's guilt, as well as how the crime had gone according to plan before I showed this to you."
I scoffed and shook my head. As much as I wanted to tell everyone that Kirishima-san had lied yet again, I knew it was better to show that to them.
"And you're saying now's the right time?" I said. "There's more than a few things wrong with this so-called evidence."
"Very well," Kirishima-san said. "If you are so confident in your belief, then name your so-called pieces of evidence supporting it."
"First, there's the chloroform bottle," I said, "which was hidden inside the top drawer of the medical supply cart. If I'd indeed used it to render myself unconscious, I might have been able to put the bottle back in the drawer and shut it before I passed out, but I wouldn't be able to move the cart. I might have applied the chloroform to the rag after pushing the cart to the storage room, then walked back to Kumakura-san's hospital room, but that wouldn't have made much sense, especially sine I risked being seen."
So did Kirishima-san, but luckily for him, he had a "witness" who wouldn't recognize him- Sayuri-san. Of course, being seen as me while I was unconscious would have ruined his plan, hence why he left via the other end of the hall rather than doubling back.
"Then Himemiya-kun must have," Kirishima-san said, "when she discovered the body."
"The cart was already gone when I arrived at the scene," Himeno-san said, "and I immediately went back to get Sayuri and the others. Besides, since there's no benefit for me to being an accomplice, I would have had no reason to help her."
Now that I thought about it, Kirishima-san had presumably chosen me to take the fall for the crime because of my inability to remember anything would make it difficult for me to defend myself. Unfortunately for him, he hadn't taken into account whether it would be possible for me to commit the crime in the way he wanted the others to think I had.
"The second problem lies with the note itself," I said. "Turn it around, please."
Kirishima-san hesitantly turned the note around, and it showed my conversation with Kumakura-san from yesterday.
"On that side, there's written correspondence between Kirishima-san and myself," I said. "Note that neither of our handwriting matches what's on the back."
"And the writing on the back matches Kirishima's?" Asakura said.
"Most likely," I said, "but I think there's something more relevant at play. If Kirishima-san was able to retrieve one of our sheets from Kumakura-san's room, he must have gone in between the murder and the body discovery... meaning he is most likely the killer."
Kirishima-san clenched his hand into a fist, scrunching up the piece of paper held within it. With that last bluff crushed, he'd run out of ammunition to use against me, but had I really prevailed?
I looked around. Not only did Asakura clearly not believe me, but there were a couple other people on the fence, and Kirishima-san hadn't given up yet. I couldn't feel completely confident in my conclusion, but then again, maybe Akira-san hadn'd been, either.
"It seems as though not all of you are convinced," I said. "I'll go over what happened, and if you have a better explanation, I'm willing to listen to it."
The culprit's preparations for the murder must have begun earlier today. They learned that I had a disease that prevented me from creating new memories, and that Kumakura-san was now unable to taste anything. They then hatched a plan to murder him and pin the blame on me.
The final preparations began that evening. At 6:30 PM, they visited Sayuri-san and confirmed that she would mistake them for me. At 6:45 PM, when the culprit departed the chemical lab with two vials- chloroform and muscle relaxant. At some time around 7:20 PM, the culprit soaked a rag in chloroform and used it to render me unconscious, before stuffing my unconscious body into the lower compartment of the medical cart. Since they were confident that Sayuri-san would see them as me, they decided to use her as a witness, since her room was between mine and Kumakura-san's.
At 7:30 PM, the culprit used a syringe to inject Kumakura-san's food with muscle relaxants. Without his sense of taste, he ate it all up, not knowing until it was too late that it was poisoned. The muscle relaxants took effect, paralyzing him, and enabling the killer to smother him with a pillow.
With Kumakura-san dead, the culprit then decided to falsify evidence to make me look like the suspect. They then retrieved me from the cart and put my unconscious body in the room. They planted the chloroform-soaked rag in the trash to make it seem as though I'd prepared it myself before passing out from the fumes. They also retrieved one of the sheets of paper from my notebook that I'd left Kumakura-san to write on, in order to falsify a "to-do list" I'd written to myself with the plan for the crime. Afterward, they stashed the chloroform and muscle relaxants, as well as the syringe, into the cart's top drawer, and left with it.
The murder complete, the culprit decided to leave the cart in the supply closet and exited out that end of the hallway, meeting up with the boys who'd eaten together that evening and returning to the ship with them. Their goal was to mislead us into believing that the crime had been committed after the healthy students had returned to the ship, and trick us into thinking that they could not be a possible suspect. However, when Himeno-san stopped by the room, she found the body ahead of schedule, and alerted the others about it. The others then rushed in, finding me lying unconscious near Kumakura-san's corpse. The culprit, convinced that they'd successfully framed me then continued their efforts to deceive us and get away with their crime, unaware that they'd left a trail of evidence pointing to them.
Can you disprove my hypothesis, Seita Kirishima-san?
Kirishima-san calmly shook his head.
"Unfortunately, Nagato-kun, I cannot," Kirishima-san said. "Loath as I am to admit defeat, I must concede that I am unable to refute your argument. As you said, I did indeed murder Kumakura-kun, in the way you described."
I let off a faint sigh of relief. I'd briefly suspected that he had one last card left to play, but it seemed as though he was ready to fold, even knowing what was at stake.
As for the others, they seemed grimly satisfied with the outcome. Kirishima-san had betrayed us by killing Kumakura-san, and was going to die for what he'd done, but the rest of us would live... for now.
"It looks like we've come to a decision," I said. "I think we're ready to vote, Monokuma."
"As do I," Monokuma said. "Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one?"
We all cast our votes, and moments later, the results came back. Kirishima-san got eight votes, while I got one. The die landed with Kirishima-san's face up, and showed "GUILTY!"
The courtroom remained silent in the aftermath of the verdict. Kirishima-san stood there calmly, while the rest of us were anxious to hear Monokuma confirm that we'd gotten the right answer. I might have been the one who named Kirishima-san as the culprit, but if the others were like Himeno-san, they were willing to take responsibility for their decision. If we were right, they'd acknowledge that they played a role in sacrificing Kirishima-san, but if they were wrong, they wouldn't blame anyone else.
"And that's four!" Monokuma said. "The blackened who killed Kotaro Kumakura-san is none other than... Seita Kirishima-san!"
So, it was over. My first trial without Akira-san. I'd helped guide my class to the correct answer, knowing that there would be no second chances. I'd voted for the culprit, knowing that I'd be sentencing him to death. I'd stepped up just as Akira-san had, but I didn't feel any better about myself.
"But it looks like it wasn't unanimous this time, either," Monokuma said. "Asakura-san, are you really that convinced that Nagato-san did it?"
Asakura scoffed.
"That's easier to believe than some things," Asakura said. "She's the primary suspect all this time, but she somehow turns everything around and proves that Kirishima's guilty? Something's fishy here."
I let off a nervous chuckle. As much as I wanted to call Asakura out on voting for me for such a foolish reason, it would be somewhat hypocritical of me to do so after I'd failed to vote for Akira-san last time. Besides, it wasn't as though he was willing to listen to anything I had to say.
"So it's true," I said, "but there's one thing I don't understand. Why did you kill Kumakura-san and try to graduate, Kirishima-san?"
"Graduation was not originally my goal," Kirishima-san said, "but to be blunt, the last three murders, especially the third, drove home the senselessness and futility of our situation. As such, I deemed graduation to be the only logical choice, regardless of what I would have to risk or sacrifice."
"What do you mean?" I said. "Why would what happened make you think that graduation was your only way out?"
Kirishima-san sighed, evidently thinking that it spoke for itself. On the contrary, the killing game had always been a violent and senseless string of tragedies, and the only question was why Kirishima-san thought he would succeed where the previous blackened had failed... or why he deserved to live more than the spotless.
"Think about it," Kirishima-san said. "The first trial, quite simply, proved that some of us are willing to commit murder and leave the others to die in order to graduate. It also proved that Monokuma's assumption that we would kill each other in a situation like this was far from baseless, and his promise to execute anyone who failed to get away with murder was not an empty one... or so I thought."
"You're talking about Taiga, right?" Tatsuki-san said.
Kirishima nodded.
"In the second trial, you committed murder, but your sister was executed in your stead," Kirishima-san said, "a mistake Monokuma refused to rectify once he realized you were still alive. It became clear that Monokuma simply wanted us all to watch the spectacle of an execution, and did not care about punishing the perpetrator."
Monokuma put his paws over his ears(which didn't block out the sound) and said "La-la-la! I can't hear you!"(which didn't drown out Kirishima-san). Most of us ignored him, though.
"You're not wrong about that," Karita-san said, "but are you telling us that it took you that long to figure it out? I think most of us realized this wasn't about justice before any of us died."
"Oh, I am not so naïve as to belief that Monokuma cares about justice," Kirishima-san said, "but it would appear that he cannot be trusted to follow even his own rules."
"I'm not so sure about that," I said. "Monokuma is anything but untrustworthy, but he rarely breaks his own rules; he merely bends them far enough to fit his purposes."
Kirishima-san looked at me skeptically, not to mention impatiently. Judging from his expression, I could tell that he was getting to the heart of his answer to my question.
"The third trial was the last straw," Kirishima-san said. "Azuki-kun committed murder purely by coincidence, but she was treated the same way as Tachibana-kun, who'd killed to defend her sister, and Yamazaki-kun, who was guilty of premeditated murder. At that point, I realized that most of us would likely die senseless deaths in the near future, since the killing game was not designed to be won."
"So in other words, you just wanted to save yourself," Higurashi-san said.
"You should look at this dispassionately," Kirishima-san said. "As a scientist, I am the most likely of us to provide significant benefit to the human race. Perhaps the best course of action would have been to commit murder with Monokuma's second motive, and take Nagato-sensei with me, but I did not realize the truth back then. Besides, with Kumakura-kun lacking his sense of taste, and Nagato-kun unable to create new memories, the time was right for a murder plan. I had no way of knowing if a better opportunity would come along, or if I would even get another chance, so I chose to act."
I firmly shook my head, refusing to accept anything of what I'd heard. Of course, since I couldn't deny that Monokuma's game was unfair, and it would be redundant to say that Kirishima-san's plan had failed, I decided to speak to his motive.
"I don't believe it," I said. "You may be a famous and respected geneticist, but I doubt anything you will accomplish in the future would justify sacrificing nine innocent lives. Akira-san realized this, which is why she gave up her own life, and I believe Taiga-san felt the same way, which is why she died in her sister's place rather than graduate and sacrifice everyone."
Tatsuki nodded in agreement, but Kirishima-san gave a "tsk-tsk" sound and wagged his finger at me.
"A noble sentiment, but a hollow one, Nagato-kun," Kirishima-san said, "for you say that as someone who is still alive. Will you be as brave as the previous two when doing the right thing requires you to lay down your life?"
I was speechless for a moment. I'd been able to prove that Kirishima-san was guilty of murder, especially when the circumstances made me an ideal scapegoat, but what if I'd turned out to be the culprit? I knew what I wanted to say- that I would have followed Akira-san's example- but didn't know if I could say it honestly.
"You aren't wrong about that, Kirishima-kun," Karita-san said, "but what about you? I bet it would be a lie to say that you aren't feeling at least a little scared now that you're done for."
"My untimely demise is regrettable," Kirishima-san said, "but the fruits of my research live on, and will serve as my legacy. Even my death will serve as a warning to you all, and remind you of the price of failure in the killing game."
"Yes, it's true," I said. "In every trial, the blackened and spotless stake their lives. But there are better things to die for."
My point seemed to hit home, as Kirishima paused for a moment, nodded, then reached into the pocket of his lab coat to retrieve a notebook.
"Nagato-kun, I have one final offering to you," Kirishima-san said. "This journal contains all the observations I have made about my time on this ship, including some I have not shared with anyone. Use them as you see fit."
Kirishima-san walked over to me, and handed me the journal.
"Thank you, Kirishima-san," I said. "Even though I can't condone what you've done... I'll never forget you."
"I appreciate you saying that, Nagato-kun," Kirishima-san said. "I have failed, and must now pay the price, but at least my time here was not in vain."
Kirishima-san then returned to his seat and turned to Tatsuki-san.
"I can guess what is on your mind, Tachibana-kun," Kirishima-san said. "You believe that you are only alive because I killed Kumakura-kun, do you not?"
"That's more or less it," Tatsuki-san said. "If you had not killed him, I would have died in less than twelve hours."
"Then please dispense with that notion," Kirishima-san said. "My crime was committed solely for my sake, and if I had succeeded, you would have died as surely as if I had done nothing. There is no reason to feel indebted to me."
Tatsuki-san smiled weakly. Kirishima-san wasn't the type to say things just to be nice, which was why Tatsuki-san could believe him. Maybe he and Akira-san had more in common than either thought.
Monokuma then clapped his paws together, getting our attention.
"If you've said your piece, then it's that time once again," Monokuma said. "I'm tired of waiting."
"As am I," Kirishima-san said. "I have done everything else I can, so there is no reason to postpone my fate."
The rest of us weren't nearly as pleased. Not only would we witness yet another horrific execution, but none of us could grasp why Kirishima-san was so calm about it.
"Now then, I've prepared a very special punishment for the Ultimate Geneticist!"
"So, this how my life ends," Kirishima-san said. "If only I could record what happens after death; it would be a discovery for the ages."
"Let's give it everything we've got! IT'S PUNISHMENT TIME!"
Game Over
Kirishima-san has been found guilty
Time for the punishment!
As Kirishima-san was pulled into the execution chamber, I saw his eyes gleam for a moment, apparently out of curiosity as to how he'd meet his demise or what would become of him afterward.
The Ultimate Geneticist, Seita Kirishima's Execution: Executed.
Evolve Or Die
Kirishima-san was locked in a test chamber with a warning label that read CAUTION: DANGEROUS LEVELS OF RADIATION. There was a thick metal door with a sturdy window and a high-tech lock... and Kirishima-san was on the wrong side of the door.
Monokuma, dressed in a small lab coat, activated some machinery outside, flipping levers, pushing buttons and turning knobs. I couldn't tell what each of them did, save for a few ones that were labeled with a harmful radioactive symbol, but it seemed as though Monokuma was pushing the machinery past its usual operating limits.
Some warning lights and sirens turned on as the experiment began. A bright green glow bathed the room as Kirishima-san was bombarded with lethal doses of radiation. Within moments, he slumped against the door and collapsed, out of sight.
Eventually, the machinery shut down, the radiation stopped, and Monokuma opened the door to see Kirishima-san's heavily irradiated corpse. Monokuma simply shrugged and looked at the camera, while the following text showed up on screen.
Superhero Creation Experiment
Test 1
Subject: Seita Kirisima
Outcome: Failure
As the execution ended, the eight remaining students, half of those who had been there for the start of the killing game, stood in silence. None of us felt much pity for Kirishima-san, who was not only first actual murderer to be executed since Yamazaki-san, but wasn't half as remorseful about what he'd did. That said, we all agreed that this was a bit much for him. He'd been willing to stake his life, but that didn't mean he deserved to die for what he'd done.
As for me, I forced myself to watch the execution from start to finish. For better or worse, this was the consequence of my uncovering the truth, so it would be cowardly for me to look away. I'd played my roles in sentencing each of the blackened to death, so I had to accept the price we'd paid for our survival, even if I wasn't happy about paying it. Even Kirishima-san had refused to blame anyone else for his actions, so it would be wrong for me to try to run away from taking responsibility for this outcome.
"Wow, that was fun," Monokuma said. "Intense radiation usually turns people into superheroes or into corpses, and I guess it was the latter this time."
"Are you happy now, Monokuma?" I said. "Did Kirishima-san learn the lesson you wanted him to?"
"He was on the right track, I'll give him that," Monokuma said, "but he hadn't completely given up on hope. He still thought he'd get away with it until you summarized the case. Still, when a completely rational person like him decides to go for broke and try to graduate, you know he's desperate."
I couldn't argue with Monokuma on that point. Higurashi-san and I had always known that escaping together had been a pipe dream at best, but we knew that we had to keep the class invested in working together. After all, if they didn't, then the only natural conclusion was that one person would survive, and it might as well be you.
"But look on the bright side, kids," Monokuma said. "There's only two stops left, and since the latter's our final destination, there's only one more normal island on the cruise."
"What will happen on the last island?" Higurashi-san said.
"Sorry, I'm not going to spoil it," Monokuma said. "There'll probably be another class trial between now and then, and not all of you will make it through, so you children shouldn't get ahead of yourselves. If you do make it to the last island, though, then count yourself lucky, because you'll have outlived more than half of your classmates."
I thought back to the first time we'd come into this courtroom, and how much larger our group was back then. Since then, I'd had to say goodbye to five of us, including the closest friend I'd ever had. If we survived another trial, I'd have to lose at least two more classmates, quite possibly people I'd come to consider friends. I certainly wasn't looking forward to finding out who would be the next to die.
"But I guess that's a bit too far off in the future," Monokuma said. "Congratulations on getting through a trial once again, and I'll see you next time."
Monokuma left us once again. For the fourth time, we were expected to take the elevator out of the courtroom in a timely fashion, but at the moment, none of us really felt like doing anything.
"So... this is victory," I said, "or at least what passes for it in the killing game."
"It's only natural when it comes to competition," Higurashi-san said, "since one person's victory means everyone else's defeat. If you're hired for a job, elected to public office or win a sporting event or other contest of skill, you defeat all other comers. The only thing you can do is prove that you deserve it more than the other contenders."
"That's all well and good," Tatsuki-san said, "since I felt the same way about winning the chance to play at the talent show back before I became famous. I defeated all the other contestants, including Taiga, who'd succumbed to stage fright despite being my equal at playing the guitar. But what do you do when the contest isn't over a job or a prize, but over who gets to live?"
Higurashi-san thought over his answer carefully, but then nodded solemnly.
"The same principle applies," Higurashi-san said. "Kirishima-kun must have thought that he would be more useful in some ways than the rest of us, that his survival and escape would justify letting the eight of us and Nagato-sensei die. It was a selfish and egotistical belief, but he's right about one thing- all of us are alive because of other people's deaths, and must never forget those who died so we might live."
Tatsuki-san clearly understood what Higurashi-san was implying; when he'd said "all of us," there was an unspoken "not just you." Even after the incident in which she'd killed Kojima-san and Taiga-san had died to save her, she'd played a role in convicting Yamazaki-san, Akira-san and Kirishima-san. Whether blackened or spotless, she'd survived because of others' sacrifices, and the same went for the rest of us. I didn't have much hope that we'd live well enough to justify the sacrifice of those who had died, but the least we could do was find the truth and end the killing.
End of Chapter IV
Class Members Remaining: 9
Notebook: A memento of Kirishima. He meticulously recorded all details of his experiments.
Author's Notes
Thank you for sharing your theories. I'd like to congratulate DarkX The Dragon Knight for not only identifying Kirishima as the culprit, but figuring out the virtually the entire murder.
While I'd always planned for Kirishima to be a murderer, not to mention the least sympathetic culprit thus far, I had a bit of trouble coming up with a genetics-themed execution. I ended up changing his execution somewhat recently, while I was finalizing the chapter.
The first part of the next Chapter may not be out for a while, possibly until the start of April, since I'll be working on that Chapter, as well as the rest of Chiyuri's Free Time Events. Without spoiling too much, it will involve the search for the traitor. Do any of you have any ideas as to who the traitor is at this point, or if they're even still alive?
