III - Egoistic, Easy-going Elegy of Emprise: Class Trial Part 3

*CW for some graphic discussion about blood and stab wounds.

**Past chapters referenced: 3, 6, 18.

***As of this chapter, there's a second beta reader on this fic now, wahooooo! ᕙ(`▿´)ᕗ They have an account here, but a big BIG thank you to Mod Court for joining Team Encore and helping out with this little project of mine!

****There's also a small portion of the transcript from the (canon) Chapter II class trial in here. Just so you know, it's 100% intentional! ok that's all, thank you for reading my many PSAs - you're now free to enjoy the chapter!

Scrum Debate

Is Miu guilty? Or should we keep on discussing?

Jumping the gun, Angie's hand flies into the air as the claxon sounds. "Miu and Kiibo were alone together in the Ultimate Maid Laboratory. Kiibo was found dead there this morning, so the killer has to be Miu!"

"The killer could have also been Kirumi, right?" Tsumugi retaliates. "After all, it was Kirumi who set up the meeting in the first place."

"But Kirumi died at three-fifteen, before the meeting even took place," Maki replies. "So by process of elimination, it had to have been Miu."

"What if Miu's just a red herring?" Kokichi asks. "It's possible there was a fourth person roaming the academy too, y'know."

"But we don't know if anyone one else was in the academy," says Himiko. "Besides, Miu was probably the only one who interacted with both Kirumi and Kiibo last night anyway…"

"Someone else coulda interacted with them, too, y'know," Kaito counters. "We haven't figured out all the mysteries yet!"

"Is there a need to figure out those mysteries, though?" asks Korekiyo. "It's clear who the culprit of this case is."

Shrugging, Rantaro says, "But we don't know if she's the culprit for sure. She gave us her alibi, remember?"

"But no one can back up her alibi." Ryoma reminds him. "She could have been lying for all we know."

"She wasn't lying!" Kaede slams her hands down onto her podium. "Because… because I can back up her alibi!"

BREAK

As the podiums descend, Kaede is, unsurprisingly, met with looks of confusion and doubt from all corners of the courtroom. She sucks in a deep breath and steels herself. "Last night, we established that Kirumi came back into my room to get the Kubs Pad, right?"

Korekiyo nods. "You recalled falling asleep with the Kubs Pad in your hands, however you found the tablet in your backpack this morning, correct?"

"That's right. But I never told you guys where I found my backpack this morning. I actually found my backpack outside my room."

Kaito frowns. "Outside the room? Why'd you leave it there? Someone coulda taken your stuff, y'know."

"No, no, I didn't leave it outside," Kaede's gaze shifts from Kaito to the empty podium just beside him. "I think Kirumi was the one who did."

Ryoma narrows his eyes. "You didn't mention that earlier."

Anxiety rumbles at Kaede's core. "Y-yeah, because no one asked me where I found my backpack. I didn't think the specifics were important, so I just didn't mention it." She laughs. "No need to make things more complicated than they already are, y'know?"

"Hey, heeeey!" Angie waves her hand in the air. "Rantaro was with Kaede this morning too, right? Did he see this?"

Wincing, Kaede slowly turns her head to the right, almost afraid to look. Rantaro stares blankly at Angie. Then at Miu. Then Kaede.

And then he laughs.

"Nyeh? What's so funny?" asks Himiko.

Rantaro wipes a tear from his eye with a jewelled finger. "Nothin' really. I'm just surprised y'know? Surprised that we forgot to mention that earlier."

Kaede nearly collapses into her podium with relief.

But Rantaro's not finished. "It was kinda funny – see, I woke up in such a panic, I kinda wasn't watching my footing on the way up to Himiko's room, right? And I sorta… tripped over her bag on the way in…." He shoots Kaede an apologetic look. "Sorry 'bout that again, Kaede, I gave you a real fright, didn't I?"

Kaede blinks. "O-oh! No, no, it's fine, honestly! I'm just… glad you didn't hurt yourself, y'know?"

"Hmmmmm…" Kokichi observes the pair through narrowed eyes. "My Kokich-ey senses are telling me that's not entirely the truth…" He sighs. "But if my beloved Rantaro is saying it, then I guess I've no choice but to believe it…"

"Getting back to the topic at hand…" Ryoma says. "We're saying Tojo took both the Kubs Pad and Akamatsu's backpack out with her last night, made the call to Miu, and then put the tablet back into the bag and left it outside Yumeno's room."

"It… kind of makes sense though, doesn't it?" asks Tsumugi. "It'd be much riskier for Kirumi to sneak back into Kaede's room twice, so her making just the one journey is definitely plausible."

Angie leans to one side. "But, but, all this does is confirm the start of Miu's story, right? She could still been lying about the rest of her story—"

Kaito's fist slamming down onto his podium cuts her off. "Yeah, because no one let her finish to begin with!" He shoots Kokichi a glare. "Thanks to a certain someone."

Giggling, Kokichi throws his arms up over his head. "But it's all good now, right? Now we can confirm that Miu's being somewhat truthful now, thanks to me!"

Kaede thinks for a moment. "Is… that why you doubted her, Kokichi? To prove her credibility to us?"

Springing back to life like a jack-in-the-box, Miu yells, "Like hell he was! He just jumped at the chance to fuck with me! Again!"

Kokichi rolls his eyes. "Um, no. I was just getting bored with how the trial was going. Nothing more, nothing less. But enough about me…" He makes a flourishing gesture towards Miu. "We gotta hear the rest of Miu's story! So, so, what happened when Kirumi didn't show up at four?"

"Tch. Like I need you to give me permission to do anything." Scoffing, Miu tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "Like I was saying, Kirumi never showed up, so me and Kiibs were just there, sittin' at the back of her lab, waiting."

"She didn't show up because she had been murdered forty-five minutes prior" Korekiyo points out. "How and what occurred, is something we're yet to figure out."

"Well I didn't know that at the time, did I?!" Miu spits. "Anyway, after about half an hour or so of waiting, I dunno, maybe it was longer, Kiibs said he was gonna go out and have a look for her but told me to stay hidden in case Kirumi came in while he was gone."

"So, Kiibo left you for while?" Kaede quietly asks.

Silence.

"Yeah." Miu's head falls into her chest. "That was the last time I saw him. Alive, at least."

"And what happened after he left?" Asks Tsumugi.

"It felt like an eternity." Miu continues, head still bowed. "I stayed behind the partition, and then I heard somethin' approach the door. It sounded like someone was draggin' a piano down the hall or somethin'. It stopped right outside the room, so I pulled the partition all the way over to completely hide me." Miu's arms coil themselves around her waist. "I-it was like somethin' out of a fucking h-horror movie. Th-there was a loud bang. And then breathing, real heavy breathing. I could hear them walk to the other side of the room, open some champagne, and run off."

"Hold on, champagne?" Kaito asks. "Like the drink?"

"Well I don't fucking know!" Miu snaps, "I was hiding for my goddamn life! It sounded like someone opened some bottles of wine and legged it. I'm sorry for not risking my life to join a fucking murderer in taking a swig of—"

"I don't think that was champagne, Miu." Kaede says. "I think you're talking about the mannequins. Remember? Rantaro and I found their heads scattered up along the academy, by three different research labs leading to Angie's room. I think that was what the popping sound was—" Kaede stops in her tracks. "Wait, Miu, did you say murderer? Don't tell me, the heavy thing this person dragged into the room…"

"It was Kiibo!" Miu jerks her head up, her face a contortion of grief, anger and shock. "I opened the p-partition when I heard them leave and he… he was there on the floor!" She buries her head in her hands. "If I'd gone with him… or convinced him to stay, this wouldn't have…" She pauses and takes a gaping breath. "I'm a murderer, Kaede! I— I killed him!"

Kaede's eyes instantly slide to Rantaro, only a podium away. She closes her eyes briefly, collects her thoughts. "You didn't kill him, Miu. You couldn't have—"

"I was so fucking scared, Kaede!" Miu screeches, voice rising with every syllable. "I ran over to him. I tried waking him. He wouldn't budge. He felt so hot… like he'd been out in the sun or something. I had my basic toolkit with me, so I… I thought maybe somethin' had gone wrong inside, so I unscrewed his head." She swallows another gulp of air. "There was nothing. Nothing. He was gone. His AI chip was fucked to hell and back. Black as a crisp. I don't know what or who he ran into but it… it… it…"

"Deep breaths, Miu," Rantaro soothes, "I'm assuming you took his head with you, yeah? And that's pretty much everything that happened on your end. You did well to remember all that for us. Take a break for a while now, all right?"

Miu wipes her sleeve across her face, snivelling. "O-okay…"

"Question for Monokuma!" Kokichi's hand shoots into the air.

Ryoma shoots him a look. "Since when were you two all buddy-buddy?"

"It's about the body discovery announcement rule." Kokichi explains. "It says in the Student Handbook that three people have to discover a body to trigger the announcement. Is the killer included in those three?"

Monokuma presses a fuzzy paw to his face. "And why do you need to know that?"

"Because it's a vital clue to the case!" Kokichi bats his eyelashes. "C'mon, please? For me?"

Himiko half-smirks at the supreme leader, "Heh, you're not cute enough for that kinda thing to work on Monok—"

"Aww, go on then!" Coos Monokuma. "The killer doesn't count towards the body discovery announcement this time—for either victim."

Kokichi counts on his fingers. "O-kay! So, there were five of us present when Kirumi's body was discovered, so we can't really do anything with that. But Rantaro and Kaede were the two that triggered Kiibo's body announcement, right? And that would mean that means the first person to have found Kiibo's body…"

"It must have been Miu!" Angie cheers. "Congratulations on your innocence!"

Grinning, Kaito flashes a thumbs-up to Miu. "I knew my hunch was right! You're off the hook now, Miu!"

"As are Akamatsu and Amami," says Ryoma. "Good job, Ouma."

"W-wait a second," Kaede holds up a hand. "I don't think I count as someone who triggered the body discovery announcement."

"Oh?" Rantaro raises an eyebrow. "But we were together, weren't we?"

"I know we were," Kaede says. "But the announcement went off the second Rantaro opened the door. I didn't even know there was a body in there until after the bell rung." She steals a glance at Monokuma. "Unless it's just about being in the vicinity when a body is discovered?"

"No way, José!" Monokuma flares. "Those body discovery announcements are engineered to ring when at least three pairs of innocent eyes fall onto a victim. If it was just about being in the area, they'd be going off left, right, and centre!"

Korekiyo brings a hand to his chin. "So, if Kaede didn't see the body until after the announcement… then there must have two others before Rantaro that bore witness to the body. But who?"

Angie tilts her head. "Kirumi, perhaps?"

"No. We already confirmed that Kirumi died before Kiibo. Himiko's account, remember?" Kokichi replies. "C'mon, isn't it obvious who it was?"

"But the only person we can one-hundred percent say was there other that Miu and Rantaro was… whoever killed Kiibo and moved his body into Kirumi's lab," Kaede says. "Right?"

Tutting, Kokichi wags his finger at her. "Who said anything about them being the killer? Miu said she heard someone drag Kiibo in, throw him on the ground, then leave. Nothing about killing. Until we can positively say that someone else saw the body, we have to assume the person who moved Kiibo in was the initial witness of the body."

"So, you guys are saying we STILL don't have any leads on Kiibo's killer?" Kaito groans. "Christ, this case is endless…"

Rantaro holds his chin. "If we jump to the conclusion that this unknown person… Let's call them Person X for simplicity's sake, all right? If we assume that Person X was Kiibo's killer, then we still have an extra witness of the body to uncover, which wouldn't make much sense, because they'd have no reason to hide, understand?"

"So, you think Person X is hiding themselves for a reason?" asks Himiko.

Rantaro shrugs. "Perhaps. Let's think about that for a second, shall we?"

Present your Argument

"Person X didn't kill Kiibo but witnessed his body." Korekiyo starts, "So why on earth do they choose to remain anonymous?"

"Maybe they don't remember," Angie suggests, "Because they had the despair disease!"

"We got cured before all this stuff happened, though," says Himiko.

"Okay…" Angie thinks for a moment. "Maybe they're just really forgetful?"

"They didn't just witness his body, though." Ryoma adds, "They moved it, too."

Tsumugi adjusts her glasses. "But where would they have moved him from?"

"The Ultimate Art Lab, of course." Kaito answers, "That's where Kirumi was killed, wasn't it?" He pinches the bridge of his nose and groans. "But even then, we still don't know who killed either of them!"

BREAK

"No, Kaito, I don't think Kirumi was killed in Angie's lab," Kaede says.

Kaito's eyebrows fly into his hair. "Huh? But isn't that where you guys found her?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean she was killed there," she explains. "It said in the Monokuma File that Kirumi was stabbed two times, once in the throat, and once in the heart. But when we found her body, there was nowhere near enough blood around her for her to have been stabbed twice."

"Oh, Angie remembers!" The artist points to a spot on her own neck. "Kaede told Angie and Atua this earlier. The pool of blood Kirumi was sleeping in didn't go past Kirumi's waist, but there was still blood on Kirumi's apron!"

"Yeah, it doesn't make sense, does it?" Kaede continues. "I think Kirumi was actually killed somewhere else entirely and then moved to Angie's lab. The culprit lay Kirumi down on her back and stabbed her a second time in the chest. That explains why the blood was pooled around her torso, but not her waist."

"So, you think Kirumi was moved to Yonaga's lab?" Ryoma folds his arms. "Got any evidence to back that up?"

"Yes, actually," Kaede replies, pulling up an image from her Monokuma File. "There were dents and scratches at the entrance to the fourth floor when I went up there this morning. They ran along the corridor from the top of the stairs, all the way to Angie's lab." She glances up. "Kiyo was with me, so he can back me up."

Korekiyo dips his head. "Indeed. I'm almost certain those markings weren't present prior to this morning, either, as I surely would have taken note of them."

"Okay, so Kirumi was killed, moved to Angie's lab, then stabbed a second time to make it look like she was killed there." Kokichi surmises. "The initial question was about this Person X and what their relationship to the case was."

Kaede grimaces. "I… I know that, I was just correcting Kaito when he said that Kirumi was killed in—"

"It's funny isn't it?" says Rantaro. "The way this case is playing out. We weren't making any progress with Kiibo's case until we moved onto Kirumi's murder. Whether the killer intended it or not, both cases are unmistakably intertwined. So, I think it's fine to solve both cases at once, it's been working for us so far." He glances down at his Monopad. "Keeping that in mind, what's next on the agenda? If both Kirumi's and Kiibo's bodies were transported after their deaths, the next step is to figure out where the two were originally killed."

"Well, I think Kiibo's place of death is pretty obvious," Kaede answers. "I believe Kiibo was killed in Angie's lab. Miu mentioned Kiibo being warm when she touched him after finding his body. She also said that when she opened up body, his AI chip was 'fried'. I think everyone who was up on the fourth floor this morning can attest to the smell of smoke that was up there."

Himiko pulls a face. "Yeah. It was pretty bad when me and Kaito went up." She tugs at her hat. "So, does that mean he was set on fire or something?"

"His Monokuma File report said an 'internal malfunction' though," says Kaito. "Setting him on fire would be external damage, wouldn't it?"

More silence.

"I'm gonna be up-front," says Rantaro. "I think Person X is Kirumi's killer."

Kaede's eyebrows fly into her hat as the courtroom lights up with chatter. "I'm sorry, you what?"

Rantaro rubs the back of his neck. "Sorry, didn't mean to just throw that out there like that. Let me try and explain. We've already established that Kirumi was killed first, haven't we?"

"Yeah, because Kiibo was with Iruma at the time that the first death occurred," Ryoma puntuates.

Kaede presses a finger to her chin. "So… whoever moved Kirumi's body to Angie's lab… they probably weren't expecting to stumble upon another dead body. But if they witnessed Kiibo's body, then…"

"Then it had to have been Person X!" Kokichi exclaims. "Since Miu and Rantaro were the other two witnesses counted for in the announcement."

"So instead of changing up their plan and moving Tojo's body elsewhere, they decided to move Kiibo's body instead?" asks Kaito. "That's be pretty risky. What if someone caught them?"

Had the killer known Miu was hiding in Kirumi's lab, it's likely they would have chosen another room to move Kiibo's body into." Korekiyo muses.

"For fuck's sake!" The sound of hands slamming down a podium rings out around the courtroom.

Sighing, Kokichi turns to Miu. "Aw, you've recovered. Pity, I was enjoying the silence."

"You—" Miu jabs a finger at the leader. "Shut up. You're annoying as shit." She turns back to the group. "This whole situation is fucked, but you know what's even more fucked? The pussies who killed Kiibs and Kirumi!" Huffing, Miu tosses her hair back over her shoulder. "Well, what the fuck are you people waiting for? If Pussy X moved Kirumi's body, then where fuck did they kill her?"

"Miu…" Kaede exhales, relief rising in her anew.

Rantaro smiles at her. "All right, you heard her, let's talk Kirumi again. We know the basics, let's try and see if we can dig a little deeper with this, all right?"

Present your Argument

"Alright, we're starting with Kirumi, yeah?" Miu asks, "Why the fuck did she end up dead?"

"Kirumi was due to 'meet' Miu at four am, presumably to kill her," Says Korekiyo.

Himiko raises her hand. "But that wasn't 'til four, right? So why'd she die at three fifteen?"

"I think Tojo had the same idea as Iruma and Kiibo," Ryoma replies. "She wanted to ensure she was at the lab first to have the upper hand."

Grinning, Kokichi suggests, "Ooh! Maybe Kirumi went to grab her weapon of choice!"

"There wasn't any evidence anywhere near the warehouse though," Says Kaito.

Kokichi gives him a simpering look. "I didn't mention anything about the warehouse."

"What if Kirumi wanted to collect some cleaning supplies?" Maki suggests. "To clean up the evidence for after she'd finished with Miu."

"Aren't the only cleaning supplies already in her lab though?" asks Tsumugi. "And that's where Kirumi was planning on killing Miu, so I don't think they've anything to do with the case…"

BREAK

"Tsumugi, that's not correct." Says Kaede. "Kirumi's lab has cleaning utensils, such as washing machines, a cleaning machine, and detergents. But the only cleaning products I've seen around the school are in the supply closet in the girl's bathroom. You went in there yourself and found them for us, did you forget?"

Ryoma fiddles with his jacket sleeve. "Can confirm."

Miu quirks an eyebrow. "Oh? Didn't take you for the pervy type, grem— hey!" The inventor wilts in her podium upon meeting the tennis star's eyes. "D-don't look at me like that… I was kidding…"

"Oh, right, I guess I never told you guys." Tsumugi says. "I found Kaito unconscious in the bathroom whilst I was searching the ground floor for whoever wasn't at Kiibo's crime scene initially. I panicked, and Ryoma and Himiko were the first two people I bumped into. I wasn't really thinking about gender at that time." She pushes her glasses back up her nose. "But I didn't know there were cleaning products in there because I never checked in there." She tilts her head. "Sorry… but, that doesn't really change anything, does it?"

"Normally I don't think it would, but…" Kaede readjusts Shuichi's hat. "We were only in there for a short while, but didn't it smell really clean in there?"

"I guess," says Himiko, "But don't all bathrooms smell like that?"

"When they're freshly cleaned, yeah. But the thing is, Kirumi hadn't been cleaning the bathrooms regularly because she had been quarantined with us at the dorms."

Kaito scowls. "Isn't that what I kept saying? The stench in there was making me feel all nauseous!"

"So Kirumi hadn't cleaned the bathroom, but it both looked and smelt as though it had been." Korekiyo surmises, turning to face Kaede, who nods.

"And there's only one reason I can think of as to why someone would scrub a bathroom so clean to that extent," she says. "And that's if there was a murder was committed in there."

Several people stifle their gasps. Kokichi clicks his tongue. "Pretty convenient for whoever the killer was. They encountered Kirumi in the girl's bathroom and slit her throat, killing her instantly. Kirumi herself probably didn't have the time to even confront her own killer. A shame, really."

"Something isn't adding up," Ryoma says, his forehead creasing. "How did the killer know that Kirumi was going to be in the bathroom, of all places?"

"Maybe it was just a coincidence that the killer and Kirumi met in there?" Kaito suggests.

Korekiyo holds up a finger. "But remember, the killer must have had the weapon on their person. I doubt their encounter was mere coincidence."

"Yep!" says Kokichi. "That bloody sickle me and Angie found was totally the murder weapon."

"I've been curious about that, actually." Rantaro holds his chin. "Where did that sickle come from? I didn't even know they had sickles in this place—"

"I saw them in the warehouse," Maki says abruptly, crossing her arms.

Kaede grimaces. "Are you sure? Because Shuichi searched the entire warehouse for the parts that we needed to give to Miu to make the cameras for us that time. I'm pretty sure he'd have told me if he'd seen anything as suspicious as a sickle hiding in there."

Maki sends Kaede a bone-chilling glare. "Well, he clearly wasn't looking hard enough."

"Nah, I'm pretty sure Kaede's tellin' the truth." Says Miu. "On day one of bein' in this hellhole I was scrounging in there for… uh… relaxers. Yeah! Relaxers!"

"You can just say drugs," Kokichi quips. "We've known since Gonta's trial that you're a pothead."

"I-I'm not a pothead! They just help me calm down is all!"

"On Angie's island, we use sickles to tell when someone is feeling sad!" She thinks for a moment. "Maybe the killer was trying to send Kirumi some kinda message…?"

Kaito raises an eyebrow. "Doesn't that just implicate you, though?"

"Yonaga was at the hotel." Ryoma reminds him, "It couldn't have been her."

Himiko raises her hand. "Maybe it was from Gonta's lab? For, I dunno, digging for bugs and stuff."

"Whilst sickles can indeed be used in entomology, I can assure you that there wasn't any tools of the sort to be seen in Gonta's lab," says Korekiyo. "I was in there for a rather… elongated period of time, as I'm sure most of you can recall, so I'm fairly confident that I would have taken note of a sickle had I seen one."

"What about your lab, then, Kiyo?" asks Tsumugi.

Angie wags her finger. "Mmmm, nope! Angie and Tsumugi cleared his lab of all of it's weapons when it first opened up. Though, thinking about it, Angie only really remembers there being that golden sword thing." She pouts. "Atua's hurt that you forgot, Tsumugi…"

Tsumugi wilts. "Oh, I'm sorry…"

"Okay, it's great we're progressing and all," says Kaito. "But what the hell's any of this gotta do with the case?" He folds his arms. "It's not like finding out where the sickle came from is gonna do anything to help us."

Furrowing her brow, Kaede sends Kaito a look. "What do you mean it won't help us? If we can figure out where the sickle came from, maybe we can—"

"Yeah, I know, but like…" Averting his eyes, Kaito scratches his head. "The sickle was only used to kill Kirumi, y'know? It had nothing to do with Kiibo, and he's the one the trial is for."

"But, don't you want to find out who killed Kirumi?" Kaede asks, "Didn't we say we'd find out who killed both of them?"

Kaito gives Kaede a searching look, one that seems to last for a lifetime. "I… I know we did, I never said we wouldn't, but it's just…" He rubs the back of his head. "There's… more important stuff we need to cover here, isn't there?"

Lips parted, Kaede stares at Kaito. "So, you're saying that finding Kiibo's killer is more important than finding Kirumi's then."

"Don't put words in my mouth! That's not what I said at all."

"That's what you're implying!"

Taking a breath, Kaito closes his eyes momentarily. "But… it's technically true, isn't it? This trial is for Kiibo, isn't it? All finding Kirumi's killer is gonna do is…" He clenches a whitening fist. "All it's gonna do is drive a wedge in between us and someone else again, just like what happened with Kiyo last time!"

Kaede's mouth drops open. "Are you being serious right now?"

Kaito stares into his podium. Fists clenched. Eyes narrowed, deep in thought. His silence alone confuses Kaede to no end. Why is he suddenly standing up for the killer?

Kokichi leans over his stand and shatters the silence. "Isn't there another place that the sickle could have been in? C'mon, think! Isn't there one room in this academy we haven't been able to access yet?" A sly simper crawls up his face. "Or at least, that some of you haven't been able to access?"

"Are you referring to the hidden room in the library?" asks Korekiyo.

Ryoma shakes his head. "I don't think any of us have been in there. 'Sides from the mastermind of this whole thing, of course."

Angie raises her hand. "Ah! Maybe it was the mastermind that killed Kirumi, then!"

"No, hold on a minute, guys," Kaede says. "I think he's…" She takes a breath. "He said 'some' of us. I think he's talking about Maki's research lab." The musician practically feels the moment Maki's eyes lock onto her, like a tiger that's seen its potential next meal. Kaede winces.

"But Maki is the Ultimate Child Caregiver," says Himiko. "Why would a murder weapon be in her lab?"

Kaito jumps at the opportunity. "Exactly! A babysitter's got nothing to do with sickles in the first place. Now, can we just move on from this dumb sickle talk? It's not gonna get us anywhere, let's instead talk about—"

"No, let's not!" Kaede shouts, irritation bubbling in her gut. "What's with you, Kaito? Why do you keep trying divert the conversation?"

"Because I know for a fact that that sickle hasn't got anything to do with the culprit!" Kaito yells back, slamming his fist down in punctuation.

Kaede freezes. What?

"Oh?" Kokichi asks with a glint in his eye. "And what makes you so sure of that, Kaito?"

Kaito glares at him. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. Don't play dumb."

Angie looks back and forth between the pair. "Um, is there something else going on here that Angie isn't aware of?"

Kokichi grins at her. "Yep! There sure is!" Throwing his arms up over his head, he regards each classmate in turn. "It's a liiiittle secret me and Kaito have been sharing for a while now. Because that's what best friends do!"

"Don't do this, Kokichi," Kaito snarls through gritted teeth. "I'm warning you."

Waving a dismissive hand Kaito's way, Miu leans over her podium towards Kokichi. "Ignore him! Just fucking tell us!"

Rocking back on his heels, Kokichi looks around the room pensively. "Okay," He says. "If we were to hypothetically say that the weapon did come from Maki's research lab, what would that—?

"Let's assume you're correct."

Maki's voice chills Kaede to the bone. Somehow, in the flurry of sudden accusation, Maki's expression remains hardened. "Even if the sickle came from my research lab, that doesn't mean I'm the one who stabbed Kirumi," she says. "Anyone could access my lab."

Miu gestures wildly. "That's a fuckin' lie! You wouldn't even let me inside to fit the lock I made especially for your lab!"

"But I was helping Kaede and the others with the quarantined people," Maki counters. "I didn't go near my lab at all until this morning."

"But doesn't that just make you even more suspicious?" Kaede asks. "Kirumi's murder happened last night, and you wouldn't come out when Rantaro and I were outside your door earlier." She narrows her eyes. "You wouldn't even help us with the investigation!" Kaede grips her podium railing so hard her knuckles turn white. She stares Maki square in the eyes. "That's not something an innocent person does, especially in a place like this—"

"H-hold on second!" Kaito shouts. "Maki was in her lab during Gonta's investigation, too! So that argument doesn't mean anything!"

"Kaito…" Exhaling a sigh, Maki hangs her head. "It's fine."

Kaito whips round to her. "What? Whaddya mean 'it's fine'?" He gestures around the room. "Everyone's suspicious of you, so we've gotta prove to them that you didn't—"

"Oh, give it up, Kaito," Kokichi sneers, rolling his eyes. "You've gotta stop standing up for that killer. It's gonna do you more harm than good, y'know?"

"K-killer!?" Kaede's eyes go wide. "Kokichi, isn't it a little too early for—"

"Y'know, I'm disappointed in you guys," Kokichi says with a sigh. "I thought you guys would be further, much, much further in this by now, but it's getting kind of boring watching you all run around in circles." He taps his chin. "Should I just reveal it now? Or should I just throw more hints at you and see if you guys get any smarter?" His grin darkens. "After all, any revelation could send things spiralling in a totally different direction…"

"Shut up!" Miu yells over him. "What the fuck does that cryptic crap have to do with the killers, anyhow!? All you're doin' here is wasting time!"

"Going back to my question from earlier," Kokichi continues. "Hypothetically, if the weapon did come from Maki's lab, a research lab that was, as the Monokubs told us, built with our talents in mind, who put the sickle in there to begin with?"

For the first time that morning, Kaede doesn't have to think for very long. She chews on her lip. No matter how much she wished she'd had to. No matter how much she wished that this trial was going in a straightforward direction that actually made sense somehow, Kokichi was being perfectly transparent with all of them. Kaede digs crescents into her palms. And she despised it.

"If there's a sickle in Maki's research lab…" Kaede says, then stops herself. No. It had to be the only answer. There weren't any anywhere else! "… the Monokubs put it in there."

Kokichi nods enthusiastically. "Ding ding ding! That's correct! And what would that mean?"

"It would mean that Maki's research lab isn't actually…" Kaede sucks in a sharp breath. "No… you're trying tell us that Maki's talent… isn't… the Ultimate Child Caregiver, is that it?"

If it'd been revealed earlier, at least in a more dramatic way, Kaede's almost certain there'd be more of a collective sense of shock in the room. But it's been a long morning, everyone is tired, and they still aren't even a little bit closer to figuring out Kiibo's killer's identity. Kaede can feel it, the weighted stillness everyone else was feeling – the evidence had been there all along- the secrecy. The knife in her pocket. The strength in Maki's hand when she'd squeezed Kaede's neck. It's only now, when it's been thrown out in the open, that the answers Kaede's been searching for all this time, had been in front of her all along.

"So," Rantaro says, shattering the quiet. "Kokichi and Kaito knew about this all along, I assume?"

"It was her 'secret' was on those Kubs Kards." Kokichi says.

The memory plays itself in Kaede's head. Ryoma and Maki being absent from the gym the day after the Kubs Pads had been destroyed. Kokichi snatching and opening Maki's 'secret' envelope. Kaito pouncing on Kokichi. The moment of silence that followed.

Angie tilts her head. "Wait, wait, so if Maki's real talent isn't the Ultimate Child Caregiver… what is it?"

"That doesn't matter." Comes Kaito's voice from across the way. With clenched fists, Kaito bows his head. He looks away, gritting his teeth. "I'm sorry, Maki-Roll."

"It's okay. It was going to come out eventually." Maki takes a breath and lifts her head. "But even if the sickle came from my lab. I didn't kill Kirumi. I'm not Person X. I don't know how to prove it, but I'm not…"

Korekiyo narrows his eyes. "Is that really true?"

Maki averts her gaze. "Yes, it's true. If I'd killed Kirumi, I wouldn't have been dumb enough to leave the murder weapon lying out in the open."

"But you've been lying to us this entire time about your talent," Ryoma points out. "You could be lying about this too."

"No, I don't think she's lying, Ryoma." Kaede pulls her shoulders up straight.

Maki turns to look at her with wide eyes. "Really…?"

Kaede nods. "Yeah, really. Sure, we've had our disagreements, and we… aren't exactly the best of friends, but Maki doesn't have any reason to lie to us anymore."

"She doesn't?" asks Kokichi. "Have you been awake these past five minutes?"

"But if Maki was Person X, she'd have no reason to deny it anymore," Kaede replies. "Kirumi's killer isn't the killer this trial is for, it's Kiibo's, remember? So whether we know who killed Kirumi or not, they're coming out of this trial alive regardless of the result." She adjusts Shuichi's cap. "I think Person X is hiding themselves for a different reason entirely."

"Nyeh? What kinda reason?" Himiko asks.

"That's… I don't exactly know just yet, but…" Kaede pumps her fists. "I'm sure we'll get to the bottom of it!"

Present your Argument

"So the sickle used to kill Kirumi was from Maki's lab all along!" Angie exclaims. "What a plot twist!"

Rantaro taps his chin. "In that case, that narrows the suspect list down to three people; Maki, Kokichi, and Kaito."

"It wasn't me," Maki says.

"Of course you'd say that, ya fuckin' liar!" Miu snarls.

"So according to what we've already discussed; one of them killed Kirumi in the girls' bathroom, dragged her body to Angie's lab, witnessed Kiibo's body, and then brought him downstairs to Kirumi's lab." Korekiyo surmises. "Is that fair to say so far?"

"But aside from Harukawa being the owner of the sickle, there's no proof of anyone of them being at the academy at night-time."

Kokichi pouts. "Man, can we just say Maki did it and be done with it? It's not like this case even matters, anyway…"

"No way!" Kaito shouts. "I'm not leaving this courtroom until we find Kirumi's killer!"

"Hm?" The supreme leader quirks a judgemental eyebrow. "You've sure changed your tone from a minute ago…"

BREAK

Kaede gasps at the realisation. At the thought, waves of nausea churn her stomach like a like a floodgate being lifted. "H-hold on a sec. Tsumugi, you were the one that found Kaito in the girl's bathroom this morning, right?"

Tsumugi nods. "That's right yes. He was unconscious, and I thought he was dead, so I panicked and—" She stops short. "Oh… he was in the girl's bathroom when I found him…"

"Which is where the murder occurred," Rantaro punctuates.

Kaito's mouth drops open. "I— wait a sec, you don't think I did it, do you?"

"Kaito," Kaede says, her voice shaky. "Why… why were you in the girl's bathroom to begin with?"

Kaito stares at Kaede, wide-eyed. "Well, that's…" He turns away. "I was feelin' sick, so I left to, y'know, empty myself—"

"But you were in your bedroom, like me and Kiyo were, right?" says Himiko. "You coulda just used the bathroom there."

Kaito scratches his head. "I-I wanted a change in scenery, y'know? I'd been in that room for close to a week without seeing the light of day. You'd be the same if you were quarantined against your will!"

"Then why the fuck were you in the chicks' bathroom?!" asks Miu.

Kaito blanches. "Th-that's…"

"Hang on, there's a way to figure this out," Rantaro turns to Maki. "You were with him last night, yeah?"

Maki stares at Kaito with narrowed eyes for what feels like an eternity.

Biting the inside of her cheek, Kaede studies Maki. Is she staying silent because she knows something? Or is it something else…

"Well, Harukawa?" asks Ryoma. "You gonna answer him or not?"

Silence.

Angie quirks an eyebrow. "Ohohoho? Can Maki not answer because Maki knows where Kaito was?"

"Perhaps they were joint accomplices in the murder?" suggests Korekiyo. "If so, it would make sense as to why Maki is choosing to remain silent."

Maki looks down. "I—"

"It's fine, Maki Roll," Kaito sighs. He turned to the class. "Maki has nothing to do with this, and that's the truth!"

Maki's eyes go wide. "What…?"

As do Kaede's. "Kaito?"

"I left the dorms this morning when Maki was still asleep." Kaito continues. "I— never mind, just—" He slams a fist onto his stand. "Just leave Maki outta this! I know that she's innocent! I believe in her!"

Shaking her head, Maki mouths the word 'idiot'.

"That would make sense" Rantaro says, "So, you must have noticed he was gone, right? That's why you were also absent this morning, you went to go look for him, I assume?"

After a long moment, Maki nods. "I woke up and he was… gone." She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "I… suppose I panicked a little. At the time, I was under the assumption he was sick, so, I thought he'd taken his room key and wandered off. I went into the academy to search for him. I didn't look around that much, only places I assumed he'd be, like the canteen, or maybe in either Ryoma's or my own research lab." She glances over at Kaede. "When I reached the third floor, I noticed my lab room door was open, and I just…" Her head falls into her chest.

"You knew someone had entered your lab," Kaede summarises. "Someone you didn't give permission to enter."

"Yeah. I didn't know what had been taken. If anything, but I didn't want anyone else to…" Maki looks at the floor. "I didn't know they'd used one of the weapons from my lab to murder until it was brought it up earlier."

"Wait, did you say, 'one of the weapons'?" Kaede asks, "Maki… who on Earth are y—?"

"We'll discuss that after the trial, all right?" Rantaro cuts in. "We're on a time crunch here. We can't keep getting side-tracked for much longer."

"Damn right you are!" Monokuma yaps from his throne. "Why is it that the one time I tell you who this trial is for, you all insist on getting off track and talking about the other victim in this case?" He lifts his gavel threateningly. "If you guys don't stop dwindling on about Kirumi this, and Kirumi that, I'll just have to start—!"

"Hey, aren't you being a little too hasty?" Much to Kaede's surprise, Kokichi's words stop Monokuma right in his tracks. "Surely you agree that it's much more interesting when things go off the rails?" He tilts his head. "Are you really in such a rush that you want to just end the game, here and now?"

For a few, long seconds, Monokuma is completely silent. He stares at Kokichi with narrowed eyes. The Monokubs chatter below him in frantic hushed whispers. "Aaaaargh! Okay, fine." Monokuma finally says. "But if you wanna prove yourselves worthy of living, you'd better do it quick. I may be generous, but I don't have all the time in the world!"

Kokichi's eyes light up. "Yaaaay! Thank you, Monokuma!"

"Don't act all friendly and shit with him - he's the enemy, dumbass!" Miu sneers.

Kokichi taps his chin. "Now, where were we…. Oh! That's right! We were accusing that idiot Kaito of being Kirumi's murderer and moving Kiibo's body!" His gaze shifts to the astronaut. Kaede feels her heart drop to her feet as the latter's podium slides out to the centre.

Kokichi tilts his head. "Weeeell?"

"Don't call me an idiot!" Kaito barks. "And like I said I'm not the culprit! C'mon, don't you guys believe me?"

"I want to believe you, Kaito," says Tsumugi. "But what are we supposed to base our belief off of?"

"Huh?" Kaito stares at Tsumugi as though she'd spoken gibberish. "You don't gotta base your belief off of anything. At the end of the day, all that matters is what you believe in!" He slams his fists together. "Whether you believe or not, or want to believe or not, that's the only thing that matters!"

"So you've got no evidence is what you're saying." Ryoma surmises.

Korekiyo straightens his cap. "Wanting to believe in someone is a beautiful act, yes. However, it is a sentiment that has no place in a class trial."

Himiko shrugs. "He's an idiot, after all…"

"I mean, it's all right to be an idiot sometimes, y'know?" Rantaro says. "I mean, even I have days where I—"

"I said don't call me an idiot, guys!" Kaito whines. "It really hurts my feelings…"

"Well," says Kokichi. "You're going to have to be more convincing than that."

Kaede bites her lip. Kiyo's right. Belief based on feelings alone doesn't have any place in a class trial. The trials are about logic, and concrete evidence. She closes her eyes. But feelings… that's been what's saved them before, hasn't it? With Miu earlier, with Tenko and Kaito in the last trial and… Kaede's heart twists itself into a painful knot. And Shuichi, too… when he gave himself up for her. She takes a deep breath and opens her eyes. It's worked out all those times before, surely this time it will, too!

"All right," she finally says, "I'll believe in Kaito, too."

Kaito breaks into a wide smile. "Right on! I knew you'd come through eventually, Kaede! That's my sidekick!"

"Seriously?" Kokichi rolls his eyes. "You too? I thought that hat you were wearing belonged to Ultimate Detective. Tsumugi found Kaito, covered in blood, in a place directly tied to the crime. That's more than enough reason to suspect him. Maki even said it earlier, you two are so blinded by friendship sometimes." His eyes slide to Maki. "You agree with me, right, Maki-Roll?"

Shifting in her podium, Maki folds her arms across her chest. "So, we just have to find evidence that disproves Kaito, right?"

Kokichi blinks at her. "What?"

"It's not because those two idiots defended me earlier or anything. But I suppose they may have encouraged me a little bit."

Kaito throws his hands in the air. "Seriously, guys, quit calling me an idiot!"

"Maki…" Kaede exhales. Then, turning back to the others, claps her hands. "All right, you guys! Let's go back over the evidence we have for Kirumi's murder, maybe we'll find something we missed earlier."

Present your Argument

Maki pulls at the sleeve of her shirt. "I can't prove it or anything, and I know my alibi doesn't help much, but I…" she hesitates. "I don't think Kaito killed Kirumi, or moved Kiibo's body."

"But if it wasn't you, it had to be Kaito who did it!" Kokichi argues. "He knew exactly where to find the sickle!"

"You did too!" Miu shouts.

Kokichi shrugs. "Perhaps, but I wasn't found at the scene of the murder, was I?"

Angie raises a hand. "But if Kaito did it, how did he know that Kirumi would be in the bathroom?"

"Easy," Kokichi replies. "He followed her there when she left the dorms to meet Miu."

"Amami would have been unconscious at the time," says Ryoma, "so that theory is plausi—"

"I WAS HIDING, OKAY?!" Kaito bellows.

BREAK

"W-wait! Kaede splutters. "You… what?"

"Hey! We didn't get to finish the debate thingy." Himiko says, "This better be important."

Heaving a sigh, Kaito leans over his podium, his face shadowed by his bangs. "I was hiding, in the girl's bathroom. There, I said it. I didn't wanna say it but if it's gonna help move the case along… then I guess I've just gotta man up." He raises his head. "You guys happy now?"

"H-hiding?" asks Tsumugi. "Um, what were you hiding from, and what does that have to do with Kirumi's—?"

"What was I hiding from? What was I hiding from?!" Kaito thrusts a shaky finger in the cosplayer's direction.

To the person standing beside her.

Blinking, Rantaro mirrors Kaito's action. "Oh, it's me?"

"Wh-what the hell is there not to hide from?!" Kaito sputters. "He— he came back from the dead! He's a g-g-ghost! T-there— there's no way that can happen! A-and you guys are just to-totally fine with it!? Acting like he came back some sorta trip or something? How are you people so causal about him just coming back from the d-dead!?"

"Hold on…" says Kaede. "That's why you've been acting so weird lately?"

"He's been this way for around a week," Maki says. "Ever since the Necronomicon was introduced, and we started talking about resurrecting the dead."

Kaede's mouth drops open. "Wait! So… the reason you've been putting off training is because you were scared of Rantaro?"

Kaito wilts. "D-don't say it like that… it's just how my body is." He swallows a gulp of air. "Like, cramped areas, zero-gravity areas, I'm fine with stuff like that, but gh-ghost st-stories…" Kaito blanches. "I start to feel sick… It's been this way ever since I was a kid. And to see a— a former dead person come back to life is just—" His hand flies up to his mouth. "I just can't handle it…"

"IT'S-BEEN-RIGHT-IN-FRONT-OF-YOUR-EYES-THE-ENTIRE-TIME." Monodam enunciates. "HIS-STUDENT-PROFILE-TELLS-YOU-BASTARDS-ALL-YOU-NEED-TO-KNOW."

The class pull out their handbooks and begin navigating to Kaito's profile. "Oh, it's true," says Angie. "It says right here that he dislikes the occult. Huh!"

"Are… are you shitting me right now!?" says Miu. "The entire time we thought you had a deadly virus – when in reality you were just scared of that fucking green twiglet!?"

Ryoma looks up from his handbook. "I sure wasn't expecting that from someone like you, Momota..."

"I don't wanna hear you of all people say that to me…" Kaito whimpers.

"Okay, so we now know Kaito is a baby." says Kokichi, "What does that have to do with the case? That still doesn't change the fact that you were in the girl's bathroom, where the murder occurred, and covered in blood."

"I-I just said I was hiding!" Kaito keeps his eyes trained on the tiled floor below him. "It was… it was around six-ish. I woke up a little earlier than usual and I just…" He shrugs. "I dunno, I saw Maki sleeping there on the sofa and knew I finally had a chance to get outta that damn room for an hour or two. Just to get some fresh air, y'know? My plan was to be back before the morning announcement at eight. So, I just took my key and left. I didn't see anyone in the lobby, either, so I didn't have any trouble there."

"So you merely went for a walk around the academy?" asks Korekiyo.

Kaito nods. "Pretty much. I took a walk around the courtyard and went to the cafeteria to grab something to eat, but it was closed, so I just ended up walkin' around the ground floor for a lil' bit." He pales. "I-I was planning on heading to the game room, just to clear my head for the remaining hour or so, but that's when I heard him."

"Him…" Kaede echoes. "You don't mean… Rantaro?"

"Must've been when Kaede and I came into the academy," says Rantaro. "Just before we found Kiibo's body." He scratches his chin. "So, if Kaito left the dorms at six, and myself and Kaede left the dorms at around seven, an hour before the morning announcement, that would mean Maki had to have left some time in between, right? Because she wasn't there when I checked Kaito's room."

Maki looks up. "I suppose so… I didn't check the clock, so I don't know what time I left."

Kaito continues. "I dove into the first room I saw. I knew he wouldn't be coming into the girl's bathroom anytime soon, so I figured I'd be safe in there." He shudders. "But the smell in there… Jesus, it was so strong, it made me feel sick for an entirely different reason." He scratches his head. "And I guess I just… passed out?"

"You know, that reminds me of something!" says Monokuma. "Did you know that bleaches and disinfectants can be veeery harmful to a regular human's lungs when inhaled?" He brings his fuzzy paws up to his mouth. "Imagine what kinda damage that stuff can do to someone with an already weak respiratory system!"

Kaito gives Monokuma a wary look. "What are you trying to say…?"

The bear shrugs. "Nothing really. I just thought it was worth noting, seeing as your resident cleaning lady can no longer speak up for herself."

"But even if Momota did pass out because of the toxic fumes, that doesn't explain why we found him covered in blood." Ryoma points out.

Sighing, Kaito wipes at his mouth with his sleeve. "I just… coughed too much and cut my throat," He says. "It's… happened before. Don't worry about it too much. And besides!" He jabs a finger at Kokichi. "Even if I did kill Kirumi, why the hell would I kill her, move all the bodies, then go back to the crime scene!?"

Kaito's statement hits Kaede in a way she can't quite describe. Frowning, she holds her chin. Nods. She isn't sure why she hadn't thought of it before. "That's right! Kaito's right! He wouldn't have had any need to go back in there!"

"What about the mess?" Tsumugi asks. "Surely he would have needed to go back to clean up the bloody trail Kirumi's body would have left."

Kaede shakes her head. "He wouldn't have. Because there wasn't a blood trail to begin with."

"There wasn't, you say?" asks Korekiyo. "Do elaborate."

"Sure. Where was Kirumi killed?"

"The girl's bathroom," Angie answers. "Right?"

Kaede nods. "The bathroom, yes. And what was in the bathroom?"

"Toilets?" asks Himiko.

"I mean, yeah, but there was something else, too."

The magician taps her chin. "Umm… mirrors? Sinks? Doors?"

Kaede claps her hands together. "Exactly! Sinks!" She turns to Kaito. "Kaito, when you washed yourself off earlier, you said that the sink you used smelt really strongly of chemicals."

"Oh," says Kaito. "I guess I did, huh?"

"We established earlier that the first wound Kirumi sustained was to the neck, killing her instantly," Kaede persists. "If the murder really did take place in the bathroom, couldn't the killer have just drained the blood in the sink?"

"That would explain why the sink was so pristine, too," Ryoma adds.

"But it'd be physically impossible to have drained her of all her blood," Rantaro points out. "Remember? She was lying in a pool of her own blood when we found her, too."

"So it's possible that the killer drained Kirumi's blood in that sink until the blood flow eventually stopped!" Kaito surmises. "Then they cleared up their mess with the cleaning stuff in the utility closet."

"But even if they'd managed to do that, she'd still have had bloodstains on her from the initial slash, wouldn't they?" Tsumugi wonders aloud.

"Yes, you're right," says Kaede. "And there's evidence of that. Angie mentioned it briefly earlier." She pulls up the image on the Monokuma File and waits as it flashes up onto everyone else's screens. "There was blood all over Kirumi's skirts, which didn't make any sense to either of us back then. See here? Her skirts are spotless, so are her legs, but her front is so bloody that it almost looks like someone dyed it red—"

"That's undoubtedly incorrect."

"I'm sorry?" The end of Kaede's question comes out as a squeak as she turns to the owner of the voice.

Korekiyo dips his hat. "I apologise for the intrusion. But Kaede, I can't help but notice that you've just contradicted your previous statement."

Kaede narrows her eyes. "I'm contradicting myself? How so?"

Closing his eyes, Korekiyo continues, "Of course, I may be completely off the mark, but, if that proves to be true, I believe it will only make this trial all the more amusing."

Rebuttal Showdown

"You have to consider that the average adult has approximately four-and-a-half to six litres of blood circulating their body at any one time," Korekiyo explains.

"Judging from the wound to Kirumi's neck…"

"I suspect her jugular vein was the vein the killer targeted. Once that is sliced, the heart continues pumping blood out from the cut vein. Victims bleed out and die from such a method in 2-3 minutes."

"Once the heart stops beating, the flow of blood slows down, and eventually stops, meaning that there would have been some blood remaining in her body. It is simply impossible to completely wring a person of their blood entirely.

"Yeah," Kaede says, "I know that. We just agreed that the killer could have drained the initial flow of blood in the sink." She frowns. "What's the contradiction?"

Korekiyo folds his arms across his chest. "The contradiction lies in what you said moments prior, about there not being any evidence of a blood trail.

"However, just because the blood stops flowing once the heart stops, that doesn't mean that the rest of the victim's blood won't be disrupted if the victim's body is, in turn, also disturbed.

"Moving a victim, dead or alive, will always result in additional blood excreting from the wound in question.

"And a killer would not simply allow for even a speckle of blood to be left in their trail, especially if it relates to disguising the scene of the crime,

"And since there was no duct tape, cloth, or any other kind of fabric suitable for compressing and preventing blood spillages found at the scene, it is unwise to assume that that the killer didn't return to clean up after themselves."

BREAK

"There actually was a fabric just like that at the scene, Kiyo." Kaede squares her shoulders.

"Oh?" Korekiyo raises an eyebrow. "There was? Do enlighten me."

"The answer is right there if you consider how the killer managed to move the body," Kokichi replies with a pointed finger. "It's important to remember that Kirumi had something on her that none of us would have had— something that the killer, Person X could have definitely used to their advantage."

Swallowing back her scepticism at Kokichi's shift in tone, Kaede nods. "You're… talking about her apron, right?"

Kokichi grins at her. "I might be!"

Kaede sends him a sharp look. "You are. Kirumi's apron wraps all the way around her body, so any spills would be effectively caught on her apron, no matter which angle they came at her from."

"You think the blood from Kirumi's neck wound was somehow caught in her apron?" Ryoma asks. "Her apron began at her chest, though, so other than the obvious stray stains that would result from a slash to the neck. I can't see how so much blood would have accumulated down there."

"That's because it didn't accumulate downwards at all," Kaede says, "I think that the apron was tied around Kirumi's neck to catch any additional bleeding that moving the body would result in. Her apron was around the same length as her dress was, wasn't it? I think that the killer gathered Kirumi's apron and skirt, and lifted it up and around her torso, as if they were taking it off. But instead, they held them over the top half of her body, so that the apron could compress the neck wound as they moved her. Does that make sense?"

"Nyahaha! The killer the wrapped Kirumi up like a sweet!" says Angie.

Tsumugi tears up. "For someone to degrade Kirumi like that… so plainly disrespectful!"

"So Person X drained her blood over the skink and wrapped her apron over the wound to catch any additional drips. Then, they dragged her all the way up to Angie's lab, where she was stabbed a second time, to make it look like the murder occurred there!" Kokichi summarises.

"Doing it that way assures that there wouldn't have been any spillages on the way there. And it would explain why Kirumi's legs and waist were almost spotless," Kaede adds. "So there wouldn't have been a need to go back to the bathroom!"

"They could have come back down and cleaned the bathroom up after they were done moving all the bodies, couldn't they?" asks Tsumugi.

"But someone could have stumbled upon the mess whilst they were away, even if it was only for a short period of time," Ryoma points out. "It's better to be safe rather than sorry."

"Yeah, but we're talking about Kaito here," Kokichi says. "That sounds like the kind of rookie mistake an idiot would make."

"Stop calling me that!" Kaito snaps. "And for the hundredth time, I didn't kill Kirumi! He hangs his head. "This is all just a coincidence…"

"But do you really think someone like Kaito could pull something like this off?" Maki asks. "Using a sickle, moving the bodies, disguising the scene of the crime, and also cleaning up after himself?" She crosses her arms. "I don't think someone like Kaito is capable of doing all of that."

"I hate to agree with her," Kaede begins. "But Maki does have a point…"

"What the hell!?" Kaito's jaw drops. "I mean— don't get me wrong, I'm glad you girls believe me now, but, seriously?"

"Well, if we take everything into account; Kaito acting off this whole time, the discovery of him in the bathroom, the fumes. I think all that alone would make Kaito's story is more than likely true." Rantaro punctuates, then, turning to him, smiles. "Congrats, man. You're finally off the hook."

"Tch." Swallowing hard, Kaito meekly nods.

"Soooo…?" says Angie. "Kaito didn't kill Kirumi, and Miu didn't kill Kiibo. Where do we go from here?"

"Ten minutes!" Comes Monokuma's voice from the gallery.

"U-until what?" says Miu.

The bear frowns down at her. "Until I force you kids to quit babbling about stuff that doesn't even matter anymore is what!"

Rantaro narrows his eyes. "Why are so insistent that we stop discussing Kirumi's case? This is the third or fourth time you've brought up the fact that it doesn't count now."

"Yeah!" Himiko joins in. "When you tell kids to stop doing something, that only makes them wanna do it more. You should know that, being a parent."

"Kirumi was our classmate," Kaede stands posed, her hands on her hips. "And I said back when we found her body that we'd solve her mystery, whether the trial depends on it or not." She pumps her fist. "And whether you like it or not, that's exactly what we're going to do!" She glances down at her screen. "Now, why did Person X move Kiibo's body after discovering him in the Ultimate Art Lab? Why not leave them both there and let them be discovered together, rather than go to the effort of moving Kiibo's to a whole different floor?"

"Well, they were going to the Ultimate Maid's Lab anyway, weren't they?" Kokichi says. "To steal the heads off those mannequins."

"What was the deal with those anyway?" Ryoma queries. "It feels like those mannequins just created more evidence for us to mull over. Person X went to the trouble of cleaning up all their initial evidence only to make more somewhere else?"

"Are we suuuure Person X did all of this?" asks Angie. "Maybe Kiibo's killer also did some of this stuff."

"We don't have any evidence to suggest that yet," Kaede replies. "We know that Person X had to be the first witness of Kiibo's body, and so far, they've been the only one we can confirm were around the school at the time of the murders." She sighs. "But… I guess we do have to get onto Kiibo's case eventually, huh?" Kaede bites her lip. She doesn't want to admit it, but even if they manage to figure out who killed Kirumi here, it's not going to get the culprit that counts charged with anything.

Rantaro hums. "It seems like the culprit really wanted to push the idea that Angie's lab was the place that Kirumi died in, huh?"

"But if that was the case, why go to the trouble of locking up her lab?" Kokichi asks.

"It's almost as if the process of getting into her lab was just as important as what was inside the lab itself," Korekiyo muses.

Kaede shoots the anthropologist an incredulous look. "Wait…" she mumbles, then louder, asks, "what was even in Angie's lab again? When Kokichi picked the door open?"

Rantaro taps his chin. "Kirumi, the bloody sickle, and… a candle, I believe."

"And all of Angie's equipment!" Angie starts to loudly count various utensils out on her fingers until Korekiyo gently prompts her to pipe down.

"But why…" Kaede turns back to the courtroom. "Why did the culprit leave the sickle there? If those were the only things that the culprit locked the door for, what was the point?"

"To make us believe that the murder took place in the art room?" Himiko replies.

Kaede takes a breath. "I mean, yeah, I'd understand that, if the murder weapon had been anything else. The killer had to have known that most of us wouldn't know where the sickle had come from. So why leave it there?" Her eyes move to Maki. "Like Maki said earlier, she was adamant on keeping her talent under wraps. For whatever reason, so I don't think she would have carelessly left it there, out in the open. And Kaito too, for the same reason."

"Sure," says Miu. "But that doesn't explain Kokichi, he knew about the sickle too, remember!?"

Kokichi laughs. "I was at the hotel; I had no way of knowing when or where Kirumi would be at the time she was killed." He taps his temple twice with his fingertips. "Besides, do you really think someone like me would be able to overpower someone as tall and as strong as Kirumi? Or carry Kiibo's body down two sets of stairs?"

Maki glares at him. "Just because you say you can't doesn't mean you didn't—"

"Five minutes!" Monokuma calls out, and the air in the courtroom tightens anew.

Kaede whips round. "This really isn't the time for random accusations, guys."

"Isn't it obvious?" Kaito throws his hand out, nearly knocking Shuichi's portrait clean off its stand. "Kokichi put the sickle there so he could out Maki as the Ultimate Assassin in this trial!"

For a brief moment, Kaede's sure she hears that incorrectly. "Maki's the Ultimate what!?"

"A-assassin?!" Miu screams.

"Ooh, that's a fancy word for hitman, isn't it?" asks Angie.

Tsumugi bites her lip as she glances around the room. "Um, I'm just as surprised as everyone else, but can we save this freaking out for later, perhaps?"

Kokichi pouts at Kaito. "If I wanted to 'out' Maki, I'd have done it ages ago!" He rolls back on his heels and looks to the ceiling. "Wanting something to be revealed and actively doing the revealing are two different things, y'know."

"So you admit it then!" Kaito shouts.

"Wanting to reveal Maki's talent? Of course, she's a danger and a threat to all of us!" Kokichi says. "But the whole thing with Kiyo last trial shook things up enough that I figured I'd hold onto her dirty little secret just that liiiittle bit longer."

"So, and Harukawa and Momota are all out of the question, and Ouma's capability of the murder is… doubtful." Ryoma's loud voice quietens the others' panic-fueled chatter. "Does that mean a fourth person knew about Harukawa's secret?"

"That's what it's sounding like," says Rantaro. He looks over at Kaede. "Well, Kaede? Any thoughts?"

As shaking, whitened fingers curl around the podium railings, Kaede tries to steady her breathing. Realisation strikes her like multiple shotput balls falling onto her head, knocking the information into her. How had it taken her this long to connect the dots? How had it taken any of them this long? "We've fallen into a trap." She mumbles, after what feels like an eternity.

Squinting behind her glasses, Tsumugi tilts her head. "What was that? Sorry, I didn't quite hear you."

Kaede slowly lifts her head. "We've all fallen into a trap, every single one of us." she says, a little louder this time. She closes her eyes and sucks in a breath. "There's only one other person that would have known Maki's talent from the start. That would have known Kirumi's exact whereabouts at the time of the murder." She grits her teeth. "That would have been malicious enough to make the scene that they did." Kaede turns to her left. "You've figured it out too, haven't you, Kokichi?"

Kokichi's eyebrows rise slightly, but his neutral expression doesn't falter.

"There's only one person here that fits the overall description of Person X." Kaede says. "And if… if I'm right, it'd also explain why they haven't come forward yet, despite the guarantee of them coming out of this trial alive."

SELECT A SUSPECT

I completely forgot that rebuttal showdowns were a thing until I was done this chapter so I had to go back and shoehorn one in somewhere, so I apologise if it came off as kind of forced and out of nowhere... but other than than, I think this is probably the best-written chapter so far! It took pretty much the entire month to write, edit, proof-read, publish, so I do hope all the hard work that went into it is somewhat visible here, and here's to hoping that the rest will be just as amazing! :D Tbh it makes me wanna go back and match the other 20 chappies to this standard but... just thinking about doing that makes me feel exhausted... (╥︣﹏᷅╥) maybe some other time...

Chapter 21: Both person X and the blackened will be revealed in this next chapter, so look out for it, coming soon! It will be the end of Chapter III as a whole also. ^_^