Deadly Life
I was stunned for a moment upon hearing that both of the missing boys had been killed, not just Asakura. I'd always known that this was the most likely outcome to our search, especially when I'd briefly considered not finding the bodies, but it was still terrifying to know that once again, all our lives would be in danger. I'd never been close to Karita-san, and couldn't stand Asakura, but what happened was a tragedy, especially considering that they wouldn't be the only ones to die today.
"Nagato-san, please come in," Higurashi-san said. "Did you hear what I just told you? Over."
"Affirmative," I said. "In other words, both of our missing classmates are dead, and we'll have to find out who killed them. Over."
"Exactly," Higurashi-san said. "Start with Asakura-kun. When you're finished, you can come up to the robotics lab on the fifth floor and investigate Karita-kun's murder; we'll keep the crime scene untouched until you do. Over."
"Copy that," I said. "Over and out."
Within moments, Monokuma arrived in the elevator.
"Good work finding both your classmates," Monokuma said, "or should I say, 'your classmates' remains'? I guess the only difference between those is what happens next."
"So the search is over," I said, "which means we upheld our end of the bargain, right?"
"That you did, Nagato-san," Monokuma said. "As a reward for your work, you'll get to return to the Ursa Major once we're ready for the class trial, and get to live, at least until the end of that trial. The only way you'll get yourself killed sooner than that is if you break a rule during the investigation, but none of you are stupid enough to do that."
I paused to think. Under the body discovery announcement rules, the culprit didn't count toward the three needed to trigger the body discovery announcement. Since Himeno-san, Sayuri-san and I had found Asakura's body, and Higurashi-san, Kurogane-san and Tatsuki-san had found Karita-san's body, it wasn't possible for any of us to have killed both victims.
"It seems as though my group found one and Higurashi-san's group found the other," I said. "Does the rule for three people besides the killer triggering the body discovery announcement still apply in this case?"
"Only for the first body," Monokuma said. "For the second body, I've decided to revise the rules- only two people besides the culprit are needed."
I quickly checked the rules and saw that the rule for the body discovery announcement had been revised.
"So in other words, only the group that found the first body is cleared of suspicion, and only for that murder," I said. "As for the group who found the second person, it's possible that the killer could be among them, right?"
"That's right," Monokuma said, "but finding out which body will be discovered first will be the least of your problems. Here's the Monokuma File."
Monokuma File 5
The victims are Yuichi Asakura and Satoshi Karita. Both bodies were found in the Monaca Towa Center for Technology and Science.
Yuichi Asakura's body was found in the rear elevator. An arrow is lodged in his lower abdomen.
Satoshi Karita's body was found in the robotics lab on the fifth floor. His left hand has burns on it.
So the only information we had this time was the injuries on the victims' bodies, which didn't seem as though they could have killed them. We'd have to find out the time and cause of death ourselves.
"One more thing," I said. "Are either Asakura or Karita-san the traitor?"
"Who knows?" Monokuma said, "but at least one of them isn't the traitor, so the motive doesn't apply. You'll have to solve both of their murders and get through the class trial. I'll see you there!"
Monokuma then departed. I glanced at Sayuri-san and Himeno-san, who'd heard the entire thing.
"So, both Karita-kun and Asakura-kun are dead," Sayuri-san said.
"Unfortunately, yes," I said. "I can't say I'm surprised, but having to solve two murders will make things more difficult."
When it came to all six murder victims, I was probably the least sad about hearing of Karita-san and Asakura's deaths, and not just because the killing game was making me desensitized to all the deaths. It was probably because I liked them the least- even in Kojima-san's case, I hadn't realized that he'd tried to murder Taiga-san until midway through the trial. None of us deserved to be in this killing game, but if I could have chosen one person to send home, Asakura would have been high on my list. I couldn't decide who deserved to be spared from the killing game the most, but I believed that without Asakura, we'd have probably avoided lot of trouble.
I then placed another call to Higurashi-san.
"This is Nagato," I said. "Please come in, Higurahi-san- over"
"Higurashi speaking," Higurashi-san said. "Did Monokuma also meet with you- over?"
"He did," I said, "and he gave us the Monokuma File. I'll investigate what I can over here and then come over to investigate with you, leaving Sayuri-san and Himeno-san to guard the crime scene- over."
Both of the girls nodded, giving their consent.
"That sounds like a good plan, Nagato-san," Higurashi-san said. "If our respective groups triggered the body discovery announcement, then none of the survivors can be responsible for both murders. I'll see you there."
Something didn't sit right with me. On the rare occasions Monokuma was in multiple places at once, I assumed that he was giving the same information out to the people at each location, but apparently, Higurashi-san hadn't thought to ask about the body discovery announcement rules.
"Copy that, Higurashi-san," I said. "Over and out."
The three of us looked around the crime scene. Asakura had a bloodstain on his shirt, and a bit of blood on his right hand, possibly from touching his wound, but there wasn't that much blood around his body, at least not compared to Kojima-san.
"There's something odd about the body," I said. "Asakura doesn't seem to have lost nearly enough blood for him to have bled to death. Do you think the arrow pierced a vital organ?"
"I don't think so," Himeno-san said, "but it's strange- the arrow seems to be tilted downward, more so than might be expected from an arrow fired straight forward. Assuming the arrow didn't get moved, possibly by Asakura-san trying to pull it out, it seems as though it was fired from slightly above him. I think that the arrow was aimed downward, meaning that the shooter was a meter or so off the ground, and a few meters away from him."
"You're not sure?" I said.
Himeno-san shrugged, then shook her head. From what I knew of archery, most archers stood on the ground and aimed at targets that weren't too far above or close to the ground, so she could only guess what path the arrow had taken from the killer's bow to Asakura's gut.
"Unfortunately no," Himeno-san said. "Considering that apart from the hallways, most of the rooms in this building are no more than a few meters wide, anyone who can nock an arrow and and draw the bowstring can easily hit their target. The only thing I don't understand is why they only shot him once."
"I don't know yet, either," I said. "If it was from the front, Asakura saw his attacker, so they may not have had time to aim."
"Maybe not, but it still seems rather sloppy," Himeno-san said, "definitely not an effort worthy of the Ultimate Archer or any of the regulars on my school's archery team."
Sayuri-san laid a hand on Himeno-san's shoulder.
"Don't worry, Himeno-chan," Sayuri-san said, "I'm sure you didn't do it. Besides, if the two of us and Chiyuri-chan found Asakura-kun's body before Nobuhiro-kun's group found Karita-kun, then none of us could have killed Asakura-kun."
"I think so, too," I said. "At the very least, I don't have any proof that indicates Himeno-san is the suspect."
"Thank you, both of you," Himeno-san said. "Of course, if we don't solve both mysteries, none of us will survive."
I saw a bloody fingerprint on the button leading to Floor 3, as well as blood on Asakura-san's right index finger. I hadn't done much with fingerprinting since I'd played around with a stamp kit as a young girl, but I could tell that the fingerprint matched the bloody finger.
"Did Asakura press the button before he died?" I said.
"It seems so," Sayuri-san said, "but why did he want to go to the third floor? Karita-kun's body is on the fifth floor, and the only exit to the building is on this floor."
"I'm guessing that Asakura wanted to go to the third floor before he died," I said, "but I have no idea why. All I know is that the elevator was at the third floor when I called it."
I realized that I'd gotten all the information I could hope to get from the place where we'd found Asakura. I wasn't even half finished with the investigation and didn't know how much time I had left, so I couldn't afford to waste too much time in one spot.
"I'd like to hear your alibis," I said. "Since I last saw Asakura and Karita-san when I got off the boat, and haven't seen them since then, I'd like to know where you were all day."
After giving a brief summary of where I'd been today, I waited for Sayuri-san and Himeno-san to tell me where they'd been over the past few hours. I hadn't seen that much of them today, so I anxiously awaited their answers.
"All right," Sayuri-san said. "Himeno-chan and I were together in the library all morning, then walked to the morning lecture together. Apart from that, we split up for a while- Himeno-chan went to the athletics center and I took a walk on the quad. We met up in the gallery again at noon, as I told you before, then ate lunch with Tatsuki-chan at 12:30. I walked back to the performing center with her and listened to her play, before taking a walk together with Himeno-chan from 1:30 PM until afternoon classes."
"True," Himeno-san said. "I did some archery practice in the dojo while I was there, and did not notice anything out of the ordinary. I then ate lunch with you at 1 PM, and got done by 1:30, at which point we saw Higurashi-san. I then met up with Sayuri, and she just told you the rest."
"Thank you," I said. "That's useful information."
So Himeno-san and Sayuri-san were each other's alibi for most of the day. Perhaps they could be lying to cover for each other, but if the body discovery announcement rules could be believed, they couldn't have killed Asakura, so it wouldn't be possible for them to have both committed murder.
"Anyway, that's all for now," I said. "I'm going to meet with Higurashi-san and investigate the other crime scene. Stay here, don't touch anything, and don't let the elevator leave this floor until you hear the announcement for the trial."
"We will," Sayuri-san said. "We're counting on you, Chiyuri-chan."
"Just be careful," Himeno-san said. "It's possible that one of the people on the fifth floor killed Asakura-san."
As I left for the stairs, and contacted Higurashi-san to let him know I was coming, I realized that with us spread out and guarding two separate crime scenes, I wasn't just the only person with a record of solving crimes- I was quite possibly the only person who'd end up with all the pieces to the puzzle. If I failed, then it was likely that all of us, even the blackened, would end up dead.
I quickly put that thought out of my head, since the last thing I needed in a situation like this was even more stress. While Akira-san had been the MVP in the first three trials, especially the one in which she herself was the blackened, she hadn't succeeded alone. She'd needed to gather others' testimony, and some, like myself had played a role in helping her make sense of everything she'd learned. Even the killers helped out in all our cases, simply by making mistakes that helped incriminate them. Even if not everyone could be trusted in a killing game, class trials were a team effort in which the spotless lived or died together, so I knew I could count on my friends.
I took the stairs up to the fifth floor, where the other body had been discovered. On my way to the robotics lab, I stopped by the rear elevator, and saw that the call button also had a bloody fingerprint on it. There were also a few drops of blood leading inside the robotics lab, a trail that ended (or perhaps better said, began) a few meters away from the conveyor belt.
As for the conveyor belt itself, I could see the missing Spear of Gungnir sticking out of a broken monitor, as well as broken glass all over the place apart from the conveyor belt (which had carried the glass away). Since the conveyor belt was still running, the spear hadn't damaged its machinery or power supply.
Higurashi-san's team was standing by the conveyor belt, and they greeted me as I approached.
"Ah, there you are, Chiyuri-san," Tatsuki-san said. "I suppose you've had a chance to take a look at Asakura-kun's body?"
"I did," I said. "I'll share all of what I learned later, but for now, please don't go onto the rear elevator. I'm not sure it's where he was murdered, but at the very least, it seems to be important to the case."
"Understood," Higurashi-san said. "We left the crime scene untouched, with two exceptions. First, we had to turn on the lights in order to find the body, much less investigate."
"Thank you," I said. "That detail could be important."
"I noticed some blood on the switch when I turned it on," Tatsuki-san said. "Luckily, I was able to avoid getting any on me."
I took a closer look at the light switch, which was turned up for "On," and saw some blood on the top of the switch, which seemed to still be wet, along with a bloody smear that ran along the wall. Despite being smeared, there wasn't any evidence anyone had touched the bloodstain. Whoever had gotten the blood on the switch had probably done so while turning off the lights, or possibly accidentally turned them off while leaning against the wall. Since none of the members of Higurashi-san's team had any blood on their hands, none of them had touched the switch, at least without having washed their hands since then.
"Second," Higurashi-san said as I turned back to him and gave him my attention, "we removed the contents of Karita-kun's pockets, and placed them near his body. As long as we remember that they were in his pockets at the time of the crime, investigating his belongings will be more useful than leaving them be. "
I looked at where Karita-san's body had come to rest. It was at the far end of the conveyor belt, which turned slighty before heading to the wall, and since his body lay lengthwise on the conveyor belt, it couldn't fit into the hole in the wall or be carried to wherever the parts on the assembly line headed next. Apart from some burns on his left hand, his body seemed mostly unscathed.
On the floor, near Karita-san's body, there were a handful of items. He still had his student handbook and room key, which everyone had been issued shortly after boarding the Ursa Major. There was also a strange key nearby, which looked like the ones to the lockers in the archery room. The last item was a sealed envelope, which, apart from "Satoshi Karita" on the space where the sender's name belonged, was completely blank. Unlike my apology letter to Asakura, this envelope did not have the intended recipient's name on it.
"Do any of his belongings strike you as odd?" Higurashi-san said.
"The envelope," I said. "Yesterday, I caught a glimpse of him hiding something in the library, then retrieving an envelope from its hiding place as I left. He seemed rather evasive about it, so I never found out what he was writing."
"Well, it seems as though now's the time," Higurashi-san said. "This might be an invasion of his privacy, but if there's any information that might solve the murder, we may as well look.
I carefully opened the envelope. Inside it, there was a well-folded piece of stationery with neat handwriting on it, which I read aloud.
To Whom It May Concern,
If you are reading this, then I'm probably dead by now. I always figured that someone like me wouldn't make it through the killing game, so I decided to write this down.
You might have heard that I was recruited to Talent High School after successfully conning a recruiter for the school, but ask yourself this. Would the Ultimate Con Artist really get caught so easily?
The answer is simple- I'm not the Ultimate Con Artist and never was. Rather, I'd found out that the recruiter was looking for talented high schoolers, and so conned her in order to display my talent. She bought my lies, hook, line and sinker, and thought I was a talented con artist who only messed up because I got careless.
They say great magicians never reveal their secrets, but I thought it'd be a waste if people never learned about how I'd tricked Talent High School. If my fooling others into thinking I'm a con artist when I'm not isn't irony, then I don't know what is.
Regards,
Satoshi Karita
After reading it aloud, I was speechless for a moment, and could only show the letter to the others, to prove that I'd read it verbatim. Then again, the fact that I'd read those words aloud didn't mean I had an easy time believing them. I'd heard that Talent High School and Hope's Peak weren't above recruiting criminal Ultimates, like the Ultimate Yakuza, so this wasn't anything new. Then again, leaving aside whether it was ethical to study illegal talents or reward talented lawbreakers with Ultimate titles, Karita-san was right; criminals weren't exactly the best of the best if they ended up being caught.
"Well, Nagato-san?" Higurashi-san said. "What do you make of the letter?"
"There's two possibilities," I said. "One is that this is just another lie, since Karita-san is no stranger to twisting the truth for his own ends. The other is that this is indeed true. If Karita-san is the one who wasn't supposed to be here, either Asakura targeted him in order to graduate, or Karita-san killed Asakura before being killed by a third party."
"I don't know whether to believe it, either," Tatsuki-san said. "Judging from the wording, Karita-kun may have written it at the very start of the killing game."
"Or maybe he wrote it yesterday, when Nagato-san found him in the library" Higurashi-san said. "Like Nagato-san said, it's possible that if Karita-kun's letter is true, he believed he'd be suspected and targeted for murder once Monokuma announced his motive."
I shrugged. Karita-san did mention that he'd chosen to write the letter in the library because his room wasn't private, but there were many other places he could have chosen to write the letter. In fact, on the fourth island, it would have been easy for him to write the letter in his hospital room, since Asakura had steered clear of that place, but it would have been difficult for him to get a pen and paper. Because of that, it seemed most likely that he'd written the letter in the past 48 hours.
"In any case, all this explains is why Karita-kun might have been killed," I said, "not who killed him. After all, none of us had any way of knowing for certain that he was lying about his talent. He was acting suspiciously when I saw him in the library, but I didn't know about this."
"True," Tatsuki-san said, "but anyone could have guessed. I don't know whether it would be a rational guess, though."
Even ignoring Karita-san's character, Tatsuki-san made a good observation. Finding the truth was a matter of hard work, deep thought and intelligence, but guessing was pure intuition. It was theoretically possible to guess the culprit at the start of the trial, but the odds of being right were incredibly slim, perhaps as much as finding out the code to unlock the bridge. It was unlikely that any of us could have figured out Karita-san's closely guarded secret, but it was certainly plausible that someone, possibly his killer, could have suspected it.
I took another look at Karita-san's body, and saw odd burns on his left hand. It wasn't enough to be conclusive by itself, so I couldn't fault Higurashi-san's group for not being able to make heads or tails of it.
"We're currently stumped by how Karita-kun died," Kurogane-san said, "since the Monokuma File doesn't list a cause of death."
I took another look at the spear. While the tip was buried in the monitors, I was fairly sure that there wasn't a single drop of blood on it.
"Just wondering, Tatsuki-san," I said, "but was the spear place like this when you found it?"
"Absolutely, Chiyuri-san," Tatsuki-san said. "I thought about pulling it out, but not only did I not want to disturb the crime scene, it's possible I might end up being electrocuted if I try."
I nodded, and made a note of this.
"I'd like to ask you all about your alibis," I said, "since I've already spoken to Himeno-san and Sayuri-san, both of whom can account for their whereabouts for most of today."
"I was in the performing arts center when I wasn't in class," Tatsuki-san said. "You stopped by during the morning, Higurashi-kun stopped by at 11 AM, and Kurogane-kun stopped by at noon. I had lunch with Sayuri-san at around 12:30, then went back to the performing arts center with her and played for her. After she left a little before 1, Higurashi-kun stopped by at 1:15, and the other girls stopped by at 1:30 PM. I left for class at 1:45 PM and sat in the lecture hall until Kurogane-kun arrived at 1:50 PM. I never saw either of the victims until now."
"As Tachibana-san said, I stopped by the performing arts center at noon," Kurogane-san said. "I had an early lunch at 12:20, then took a walk around the quad from about 12:40 to 1:10. I saw Higurashi-kun a little before 1, and met up with Tatsuki-san in the lecture hall at 1:50, but didn't see either of the victims."
"And I stopped by the performing arts center at 11 AM and 1:15 PM," Higurashi-san said. "I spotted Karita-kun near the athletics center around 12:45, and Asakura-kun near the gallery at 1 PM, but neither said anything to me. As Kurogane-kun mentioned, I said hello to him when I was on my way to the gallery. Not long after that, I went to the dining hall and saw you and Himemiya-san. I took a walk around campus looking for the victims, but didn't see them again."
As I gave my own testimony about my alibi, I realized that my classmates could generally verify that someone else had seen them. Apart from that, the only commonality was that whenever someone dropped by the performing arts center unannounced, Tatsuki-san had always been present to see them.
"So no one else saw the two victims," I said, "or at least no one's willing to admit to seeing them."
"It doesn't seem so," Higurashi-san said. "If they weren't willing to say anything just before the concert, I doubt they'll say anything now that we're actively searching for the killer."
I couldn't help but suspect Higurashi-san for a few reasons. He'd been one of Asakura's possible targets, and had led our search for the two victims, which meant he could exert some control over how we discovered their bodies. Despite that, it still seemed a bit implausible for him to be the killer. Not only would it have been practically impossible for him to kill both victims where he saw them and transport their bodies across the quad without leaving any evidence behind or being seen(especially dropping Karita-san's corpse off on the fifth floor and making it to Asakura's location in about 15 minutes), but he must have known that no one else had admitted to seeing either of the victims. Then again, everyone had significant gaps in their alibis, so I'd need more evidence before I could rule anyone out.
At this point, I'd gotten everything I could from the crime scenes, and had already taken a look at where the Spear of Gungnir had been stolen from the gallery, so I decided to go where the killer(s) might have obtained the items used in the murder.
"I'm done here," I said. "I'm going to investigate a few other places."
"Good luck, Nagato-san," Higurashi-san said. "I talked with the others, and Kurogane-kun and I will hold down the fort here."
"Thank you," I said. "Please keep a close eye on Karita-san's body and the far end of the conveyor belt."
The boys nodded.
"Tachibana-san, please go with Nagato-san," Higurashi-san said, "since it might be helpful to have someone else confirm what she finds during her investigation. Kurogane-kun and I will hold down the fort here and continue to investigate the crime scene."
"Understood," Tatsuki-san said.
At this point, with all of us divided into pairs, if any one of us ended up dead, that person's partner would immediately be found guilty... assuming Monokuma didn't summarily execute the killer for breaking the rule against three murders, that is. Even if one or more of us was a killer, I felt I could trust the others not to kill anyone between now and the trial.
"One more thing," I said. "I'd like to take the key found on Karita-san's body with me to investigate the archery dojo lockers. Is that all right with you?"
"It is," Higurashi-san said. "The three of us have made note of where it was."
"Got it," I said. "I'll contact you when I'm finished with my investigation, or it's time for the trial."
I picked up the key, put it in my pocket, and left with Tatsuki-san.
I wondered if it was necessary to post guards at the crime scenes, since everyone's whereabouts were accounted for at the moment (or at least I thought they were, since Himeno-san and Sayuri-san didn't have a walkie-talkie.) Still, we could never be too careful, since if someone tampered with either crime scene, the others might end up being confused about the crime, thereby preventing us from finding the truth.
I headed into the fifth floor's hallway with Tatsuki-san. While she was willing enough to obey Higurashi-san's request, she didn't know where I'd end up taking her.
"Our first destination's the third floor," I said. "Since the rear elevator happens to be the other crime scene, should we take the front elevator or the stairs?"
"The former," Tatsuki-san said, "since it should still be on this floor, and might be quicker. Of course, either is preferable to leaping out the window and taking a one-way trip straight to the ground."
I laughed out loud. As morbid as the joke was, it did help relieve my stress.
"Good one, Tatsuki-san," I said, "but in all seriousness, did you see any other ways people could leave the floor? Such as through a fire escape?"
"Not at all, Chiyuri-san," Tatsuki-san said. "The three of us checked all the rooms on the buildings, and did not see any fire escapes. We tried to open the windows, but found that all of them were secured, and none of them were broken. The robotics lab, as you've noticed, doesn't have any windows, so no one could have entered or left apart from the front door."
"The same goes for the first floor, too," I said. "Let's get to the elevator."
Assuming Tatsuki-san and Himeno-san were telling the truth, that made the possibility of someone firing an arrow at Asakura through a window much less likely. This piece of information also limited the killer's possible escape routes, but as long as no one saw them, it would be feasible to simply walk out the front door and act like nothing was wrong.
After a minute or two of walking, we reached the elevator. Since all the floors were the same size and shape, if I knew where to find the elevator on the first floor, I knew where to find it on the fifth.
"Good, I remembered where it is," I said. "I thought I'd have forgotten the layout after only being here once."
Tatsuki-san simply nodded, as I pressed the button to open the doors. We stepped inside and then pressed the button for the third floor.
"I'd like to know something," Tatsuki-san said as the doors closed and the elevator began to descend. "Since Higurashi-kun declared this building off-limits, how was the killer planning on having us discover the body- or bodies- before Monokuma demanded that we search for them?"
"It's possible that the killer only planned one killing," I said, "and hoped that once the traitor was dead, Monokuma would honor his promise. The fact that two people are dead makes me suspect that something didn't go according to plan..."
"I thought so," Tatsuki-san said, "but what was the plan?"
I shrugged as the elevator reached its destination.
"I can't say," I said. "Obviously, they were trying to kill someone and get away with it, but I can't tell how they intended to do so, or what went wrong."
We then stepped off the elevator and resumed our investigation. At this point, there were too many unanswered questions and too few pieces of evidence left. I could only hope that when the time came for the trial, I'd have enough pieces of the puzzle, and that they'd fit together.
Tatsuki-san and I checked the chemistry lab, which was relatively close to the rear elevator. Since there wasn't a drop of blood in here, Asakura had clearly not made it there before he'd died. The only question was who had.
I looked inside the cabinet and saw a vial of Strike-9 poison that, unlike the others, had the top removed. According to the label, it took effect when introduced to the victim's bloodstream and killed within minutes.
A nearby computer, similar to the records for the laundry machines, had a time stamp for the last time a vial of poison had been taken out- 2:10 PM. The time was displayed down to the exact second, but there was no date; for all we knew, it was this afternoon, yesterday, or two days ago.
"Looks like someone took out the poison at 2:10 PM," I said, "or so it seems."
"That's when I was setting up for my concert," Tatsuki-san said. "You and everyone else followed me to the performing arts center, so this doesn't seem possible. The murder had to have happened before the afternoon lecture."
"You might be right," I said. "Maybe the time is wrong?"
I opened up the cabinet and took out a spare case of poison for my own information. The log immediately updated to show the current time, which matched the time on my watch.
"So it looks like the time's right, even if it wasn't necessarily taken out today," I said. "I don't see any options to reset the clock, so the culprit can't have altered the time, right?"
"Right you are, Nagato-san!" Monokuma said. "Except for your watches, all properly functioning clocks on the Ursa Major and each island it visits are always set to the correct time. You don't even have to worry about time zones or Daylight Savings Time in here."
"That's convenient," I said, "but if the time stamp is accurate, then that means..."
I trailed off. I didn't have enough proof to say my theory out loud, even if I wanted to believe it.
"Well, I'm not going to give you any hints here," Monokuma said. "If you want to solve the mystery, then you'd better investigate while you can. Just remember to put the poison back if you're not going to use it to kill Taiga-san. It's not something you want to just leave laying around."
Monokuma departed. Tatsuki-san turned to me, not at all bothered by Monokuma calling her by her sister's name or suggesting that I poison her, but nevertheless still concerned.
"Have you figured something out, Chiyuri-san?" Tatsuki-san said.
"I don't know yet," I said. "Let's keep investigating."
I put the container of poison back inside the cabinet. Despite the fact that I'd never actually used it for anything, the computer records still retained the time I'd briefly withdrawn it.
Tatsuki-san and I then returned the elevator and took it down to the ground floor, knowing we had a lot of ground to cover and not much time.
After getting off on the ground floor, we stopped by the rear elevator to check up on Sayuri-san and Himeno-san, since neither of them had a walkie-talkie. The crime scene was untouched.
"Oh, hello, Chiyuri-chan, Tatsuki-chan," Sayuri-san said. "How's the investigation going?"
"Reasonably well," I said. "I've uncovered some information about Karita-san's death, as well as the others' alibis. There's some information we need, so we wanted to let you know where we're headed."
"I appreciate it," Himeno-san said, "but I'd rather not keep you waiting."
We nodded, but Tatsuki-san had a quizzical expression on her face.
"Are we... interrupting anything?" Tatsuki-san said.
"Not exactly," Sayuri-san said, "but I do have something I'd like to talk with Himeno-chan about if we get through this."
While it was never a good idea to put off important things in the killing game, since there wouldn't necessarily be a chance to do them later, we still needed to have a firm grasp on our priorities. Right now, our top priority was solving both murders, and if we couldn't do that, tomorrow would never come for us.
Speaking of priorities, we decided to follow Himeno's advice and make our way over to the archery dojo, after double-checking the dojo's location inside the athletics center with Himeno-san. Since we didn't have any time to waste, we couldn't afford to dawdle or get lost on the way there.
We headed to the gymnasium and made a beeline to the archery dojo, searching for any sign of when or how the bow had been taken. Apparently, Tatsuki-san hadn't been there before, so she followed my lead, while I followed Himeno-san's directions.
"I don't think I'll be of much use here," Tatsuki-san said. "Archery seems more like Himeno-san's department."
"Well, Himeno-san's with Sayuri-san, at the place we found Asakura's body," I said, "so investigating the dojo is up to us."
"Then let's do what we can," Tatsuki-san said, "starting with checking out the locker that Karita-kun's key opens. The lockers backstage in the performing arts center don't have anything inside, so I had to bring my own guitar, but maybe it's different here."
I took out the spare key, which corresponded to one of the lockers, and opened it up. Inside the locker, there were a few spare arrows, but the bow had been removed.
"So it looks like someone took a bow," I said, "but it's hard to tell how many arrows there were supposed to be in here."
"Maybe only one," Tatsuki-san said. "I opened up a few of the lockers, apart from the one Himeno-san is using, and they all seem to have one more arrow than the one you unlocked."
I quickly looked inside the other lockers, confirming Tatsuki-san's observations. The culprit who'd used the bow must not only have fired one arrow, but also taken only one with them. The lockers didn't have any sort of record-keeping device, so we didn't know when the bow and arrow were taken, or by whom.
"So the bow wielder must be fairly confident in their ability to make a fatal shot," I said, "or else they would have taken a few spare arrows just in case."
"The Ultimate Archer would probably fit the bill," Tatsuki-san said, "but she discovered Asakura-kun's body with you, right?"
"Yes, she did," I said. "Unless..."
I shook my head. This was yet another theory I didn't have enough proof for, nor did I want to believe it.
"In any case, I don't think we have any concrete proof that Himeno-san is responsible for either murder just yet," I said. "Let's head back to the gallery."
We quickly left the archery dojo, as well as the athletics center.
We headed to the gallery, where the glass case that had once contained the Spear of Gungnir was exactly as it had been when I left it when I investigated the floor with Sayuri-san and Himeno-san, in search of the two victims. Back then, I didn't know that they were dead, but even then, I knew that something was off.
"The security here is rather lax," I said. "Shouldn't there be an alarm system for the exhibits?"
"What good would that do?" Tatsuki-san said. "Criminals aren't afraid of the sound of an alarm- they're afraid of the guards that it will bring. That's why silent alarms exist- to alert the authorities without alerting the criminal. Besides, unless Monokuma sees it as a rule violation, there's no reason for the thief to be worried about the consequences of stealing something from the museum."
I was once again reminded of the unmanned security station, yet more proof that Monokuma's rules were the only law in this killing game. He was somewhat reliable when it came to enforcing the rules, but the purpose of the rules, as well as the punishments, definitely weren't for the sake of ensuring that we treated each other well.
"I guess I'm frustrated because there's no way to prove when the spear was taken," I said. "Unless Higurashi-san..."
A Monodrone then announced the end of the investigation, cutting me off. By the time I regained my composure, I was no longer sure what I wanted to say.
"So it's starting once again," Tatsuki-san said. "Do you think you can figure out the culprit... or culprits?"
"I can," I said. "I have all the pieces, and just need to figure out how they go together."
"Good," Tatsuki-san said. "If you're confident about that, then I know you can do it.
I paused to think a moment, recalling a question that had bothered me for some time.
"I'd like to know something, Tatsuki-san, if it isn't too personal," I said. "Did you think you could get away with killing Kojima-san?"
Tatsuki-san shook her head somberly.
"No," Tatsuki-san said. "It was in the heat of the moment, without a plan, so graduating was never a feasible prospect, even if it was the only way that both Taiga and I could have survived that evening. I think Taiga knew that, too, which was why she offered have us switch places."
"I see," I said. "I was wondering if someone decided to attempt murder out of the belief that without Akira-san, we wouldn't be able to catch them."
"That's possible," Tatsuki-san said, "but we still have you. You getting a memory altering disease last time was a stroke of good luck for Kirishima-kun, but he probably saw you a a threat and wanted you out of the way. Since you're the only person who has all the information, I'm sure you'll solve the mystery this time, too."
"I hope so," I said. "I'll do what I can to live up to your faith in me."
As difficult as it was to fill Akira-san's shoes, I didn't dwell on that as much as I thought I would. For one, I had no choice since if we didn't succeed in finding the blackened, all of the spotless would die- the only difference between the two most recent trials and the first three was that Akira-san wasn't there to help us.\
I then placed a call to Higurashi-san on my walkie-talkie.
"This is Nagato," I said. "Come in, Higurashi-san- over."
"This is Higurashi," Higurashi-san said. "Monokuma told us about the trial, too. Kurogane-kun and I will fetch Sasaki-san and Himemiya-san, so head back to the ship- over."
"Copy that," I said. "Over and out."
Tatsuki-san and I exited the gallery and began the walk back to the ship. As awful as today had been, I was grateful for one thing- we'd found our classmates and managed to avoid being executed. It was a shame that not everyone would live to see the end of today.
We returned to the ship and headed to the elevator leading to the courtroom. Outside the elevator, I looked around at the other five, none of whom I wanted to consider suspicious. Higurashi-san had long been unwilling to accept sacrifices for the greater good, so would he really murder someone? Would Himeno-san who lost her best friend to a failed attempt to find the traitor, make the same mistake that Tsukimura-san's killer had? Had Kurogane-san made the same decision that caused him to become so disillusioned with Kojima-san? Was it Sayuri-san, who hardly seemed like the type? Had Tatsuki-san learned nothing from losing her sister? If we solved the mystery, at least one of them would have to die, whether for their crimes or as a sacrifice for Monokuma's Rule 16.
I saw Tatsuki-san quivering in fear. In any class trial, both the spotless and blackened had reasons to be afraid, but most of us were at least able to put on a good poker face. Tatsuki-san, however, couldn't even manage that right now.
"Are you all right, Tatsuki-san?" I said in a hushed tone.
"Truthfully, I'm not," Tatsuki-san said. "Ever since Taiga died, a part of me wanted to give up my own life, partly because I thought it was the only way to atone, and partly because living with the guilt and the grief had become difficult."
Tatsuki-san paused. I'd known this was true for some time, but wasn't entirely sure what she'd say next.
"And yet, now I know better," Tatsuki-san said. "Letting myself die is nothing more than giving up on life and wasting the gift Taiga gave me. I can perhaps repay her by living on, being the best person I can be and continuing to play the music that we made together... even if the authorities plan on punishing me for killing Kojima-kun. But at the rate things end up going, I might end up dying anyway... and I'm terrified."
"I know," I said. "Don't worry, I'll solve the murder."
"But even if you do, there's a chance those two killed each other," Tatsuki-san said, "which means that Monokuma will ask someone to be executed at the end. Do I have the right to refuse?"
"Everyone does," I said, "since none of us deserve to be killed for a reason like that. Let's cross that bridge when we come to it."
As we boarded the elevator, I thought for a moment that Higurashi-san had heard our conversation, but maybe I was imagining things. The elevator was remarkably empty, with only six of us inside, and since we rode down in silence, we might as well have been alone in there.
Satoshi Karita was supposedly the Ultimate Con Artist. He was anything but trustworthy, but he was surprisingly honest for someone who made a living out of lying to people. We could count on him to cooperate and tell the truth when the going got tough, if only so that he wouldn't die along with the rest of us. And yet, in the end, he was one of the two latest casualties of the killing game...
Yuichi Asakura was the Ultimate Tech Support... or more accurately, the other supposed Ultimate Tech Support. He and I couldn't stand each other, and probably wouldn't have become friends even if we'd met under better circumstances. The only good thing I could think of to say about him was that I didn't want him to die, either.
Karita-san and Asakura were not what most would consider good people, but I believed that most of us agreed that wasn't enough reason to kill either of them, much less both of them. And yet, at least one of the eight people who was alive when we'd gotten off the ship was a murderer, and by the end of the day, at least one more of us would be dead. It was an unpleasant predicament, but if we wanted to minimize the death toll, bring an end to the killing game and escape alive, we had no choice but to prevail, no matter what cost we would end up paying.
Author's Notes
Thank you for the comments and theories so far.
Now that we have a better look at Asakura's crime scene and have explored Karita's crime scene, I'm interested in hearing your theories as to who's responsible for the killings. Here's a few questions to guide you.
*Are there one or two killers? How many of the two are still alive?
*Which group triggered the body discovery announcement first? Was it Nagato, Himemiya and Sasaki finding Asakura? Or was it Higurashi, Kurogane and Tatsuki finding Karita?
*If there was one killer, was the second murder part of the plan?
*If there were two killers, were either of them aware that another murder had been committed? Or is it possible they worked together?
*Did the killer(s) make any mistakes?
*Is it possible for the person who got the poison to manipulate the time stamps on the cabinet, in order to remove the poison before 2:10 PM on the day of the murder?
*Did any of the survivors lie about their alibis or not having seen the victims?
Next up is the trial. It should be up within a week. Part of the reason I was able to get this chapter up quickly is because I wrote up the latter half of the chapter at the same time, so the trial and post-trial are mostly written up. After I've posted those, I'll get to work on Chapter VI and the epilogue.
