Guilt Before Innocence
"It was him! I was out for a walk and I saw him acting suspicious, so I followed him. . ."
Naegi's words rang in his ears with a shrill ring. The bloody wood piece slipped from his hand, but it was too late; everyone had seen it. He didn't doubt that Pekoyama would – still wanted to – snap his neck if Naegi stopped playing up his injuries and she felt it okay to leave his side.
Speaking of Naegi, he was the perfect victim. He didn't need to speak to exude a thick charisma as his aptly named gravitational went into action. He lay there cradling his arm, whimpering when Tsumiki accidentally jostled it. The Ultimate Nurse, short on supplies, had turned to the bandages wrapped around her own arm. She tore them off, exposing pale skin that reflected moonlight. But her skin's eerie glow made it easy for him and Naegi to see the lines of long, raised scars. Komaeda had heard rumors about what was under the bandages, but it was his first time he'd seen proof. It was the first time for Naegi, too. Naegi cocked his head, even brushed a finger over one long scar, but said nothing.
"Wh-what's going on?" Koizumi demanded of Komaeda. Unlike him and Naegi, she stood behind Tsumiki and could not see the scars. "What did you do?"
He gaped like a fish. Nothing. He did nothing. He. . .
"Tanaka-kun, Soda-kun, he stole them!" Naegi cried. He tried to lurch toward the two, but Tsumiki quickly caught him and held him still. "You know what I'm talking about, right?"
"W-why would I know anything about this?" Soda protested. He had his hands up as if warding off an imaginary attack. "What the heck, man? Why are you calling me a thief?"
"I didn't say you helped him," Naegi said. "I'm saying you know what he took. Remember what we talked about this morning?"
"This morning. . . Oh, yeah! You mean the fireworks." Soda looked cheerful for a moment, and then his words caught up to him. "F-fireworks! How someone like Komaeda get his hands on those?"
"I asked Tanaka-kun to move them into that cabin." Naegi pointed at the vacant cabin Komaeda had been in earlier. "I wanted to store them somewhere it would take less time to set them up later. . . Hold on. Th-that means I'm the reason he found them. This is my fault!"
"No, no, no. It's not your fault," Tsumiki said frantically as Naegi's voice rose in pitch. "Please don't cry! Nobody would have expected someone to use them for this."
Last time Komaeda had seen his nurse, she had stormed in, given him the most venom-filled look she could, and then slapped her resignation letter down on his nightstand. The venomous look she had borne then paled to the glower he received now. It made his heart skip. It tore a deep wound in his chest. It made him take a second too long to realize what she was implying.
"That wasn't me!" Komaeda cried. "There were no fireworks in the cabin when I went in."
Naegi bared his teeth. "If you weren't looking for them, then why were you in there?"
Oh. He'd just confessed to being at the scene of the crime. That didn't reflect well on him. Thankfully, he had a genuine alibi for that.
"Someone left a mess in my room," Komaeda said. "I was looking for somewhere else to spend the night. I didn't expect anyone to be using those cabins."
". . . You were there because someone trashed your room," Naegi said dully. He was staring at Komaeda incredulously. Try as he might, Komaeda couldn't tell what he was thinking.
"You can see for yourself. I cleaned most of it up, but I couldn't fix the bed. That's why I wanted to sleep somewhere else," Komaeda said.
In the back of the crowd, Nevermind whispered to Nidai. The large man nodded and then split off from the group, presumably to check Komaeda's cabin for himself.
Naegi's fingers tapped-tapped against Tsumiki's arm nervously. Komaeda wondered if Tsumiki was aware of it – if Naegi was aware of it. If they did notice, neither cared. They had better things to worry about: Tsumiki was whispering sweet nothings into Naegi's hair, and Naegi had his gaze locked on Komaeda. He didn't like it. It made him feel like prey.
"Your room might have been messed up, but that doesn't mean it's the reason you went there," Naegi said. "It could be a coincidence that someone wrecked your room. If you think about it, it would be really lucky that someone randomly gave you an excuse to be there."
His mind blanked. Naegi had to be kidding.
Please?
Damnit!
It was brilliant.
It sounded like something his talent would do. It would be taken by the others as evidence against him. And there was no way to prove it wasn't his luck. Even arguing it was bad luck wouldn't help much. Most of his classmates had only witnessed his incredible feats of good luck and knew nothing of the bad luck that followed. Several of them were already expressing awe at what appeared to be a stellar example of Naegi's deductive skills.
"I knew we should have kept that bastard under guard!" Kuzuryu snarled. "How many lines does he have to cross before we do something about him? And Naegi, what the hell were you thinking keeping explosives here?"
"Come on," Soda said as Naegi began to utter apologies, "leave the kid alone. He feels bad enough. It's not like it matters anyways."
In those words, Komaeda heard a dismissal of Naegi's culpability. And if Naegi wasn't guilty, that left no reason to doubt his testimony; no reason to consider anyone but Komaeda as the suspect.
. . .
They're going to kill me.
The thought resounded through his head so clearly, so calmly. It wasn't fear, wasn't a prediction. It was a promise. Naegi had burnt through the last of Komaeda's goodwill. There was nothing left to sustain him. He felt weightless, detached from his body, like he was floating above the scene, simply observing. He saw his body start to crumble from weak legs, so his spectral-self pulled on the strings to keep him from falling. His body like it was encased in a glacier. The glacier wasn't cold though; instead it was just a lot of nothing.
You win, he mouthed to Naegi, too weak to speak. Maybe this would be enough to sate him. After this, maybe Naegi could find peace.
Tsumiki was still fussing over Naegi, who steadfastly ignored her to silently gloat at him. She tried to touch his face and he barked at her and slapped her hand away with a sound like cannon fire. Tsumiki looked at her hand uncertainly, then at Naegi who had turned his head away. Her face crumbled. She threw herself on the ground to grovel while he ignored her.
Like when Enoshima was alive, he thought absently.
The thought echoed. Something flickered in Komaeda's chest, pulsing like an ember. Enoshima's name lingered. It floated inside his skull. It crashed into walls. Bounced off the ceiling.
Rammed into the icy dome that imprisoned his soul.
There were cracks in the ice. He could feel the heat on the back of his neck from the fire. Pinpricks of sensation came back to him, starting at his fingertips. It felt like an eternity had passed, but it could have only been a few seconds for Pekoyama had just noticed Tsumiki on the ground. She tried to reach for Tsumiki, but Naegi suddenly tugged on her leggings. He couldn't hear what Naegi said, but he saw Pekoyama's face twist into forlorn, conflicted obedience.
Like it was before. The cycle repeats.
He felt dizzy. Hope followed despair. Despair followed hope. The death of one led to the birth of the other.
So, whose life lay on the altar? Who had Naegi staked up on the cross?
Komaeda could see the swirls. They grew and shrunk faintly like they were breathing, like there was a life beyond Naegi's own sustaining them.
Komaeda wasn't alone before the firing squad. Naegi was blindfolded right in front of him.
"Stop!"
They all startled, most of all Naegi who clearly hadn't expected any pushback. Tsumiki had interpreted his shout as a threat and had nearly threw herself over him.
"No. We're done listening to you. Nobody cares what you have to say," Naegi snapped and it was so uncharacteristic of him, how could they not notice?
"You should," Komaeda rasped. "You of all people should know why. Didn't you learn from the class trials? The truth is never what it appears to be."
Naegi's face tightened with rage as he heard the challenge.
"You're denying you were responsible for this?" another person said. It took Komaeda a moment to track that voice to its source, but he flinched when he did because that was Ren staring at him, arms crossed over his chest.
"I'm denying it." He wondered, briefly, if he should accuse Naegi now. But he didn't currently have the influence to make them take him seriously. "Naegi-kun, why don't you tell them why you needed Tanaka-kun to bring those fireworks here."
Naegi scowled. "Like I said, I wanted them somewhere close so moving them later wouldn't be a hassle. It shouldn't have been a problem because you were supposed to be in the hospital!"
"I was, but I was discharged this morning." Komaeda said nothing else about the circumstances.
"When?"
"Ten?" he guessed. "Shortly after I woke up."
Naegi nodded grimly. Then he turned to the crowd. "That's what I thought. That proves I'm right about the actual reason Komaeda was in that cabin. Tanaka-kun and I moved the fireworks about half an hour before lunch. If Komaeda had been released, that meant he was here to see us move them inside the cabin. He did know about them!"
"That's not true. I didn't see them when I was in the cabin, or any time before."
"That's a lie . . .!"
Ren cut in. "Hold on."
Naegi stopped, confused that someone would interrupt him. Ren pinched the bridge of his nose and spoke. "Komaeda may have been released at ten, but that doesn't mean he left at that time. I was at the hospital around noon. I can testify that Komaeda was still in bed."
Komaeda stared at Ren. Should he thank him? Would it look desperate? Would he embarrass Ren? Why was he worrying about silly things like that when Naegi was trying to kill him?
A burst of something like panic made him look back to Naegi. Naegi looked annoyed, but not nervous. What really caught Komaeda's eye was Tsumiki. Her lips thinned the moment they made eye contact. He knew immediately: she also had caught the discrepancy but had decided to say nothing.
"Even if he found the fireworks by accident, that doesn't change what he did." Naegi's eyes flashed. "That doesn't change that I saw him crawling underneath Kamukura's cabin!"
Komaeda clenched his jaw as a ripple went through the crowd.
Ren turned to Naegi immediately. "You saw him?"
Naegi nodded. "That's why I followed him and saw him lighting them. When he realized there was a witness, he attacked me."
"That's not what happened!" Komaeda shouted.
"Stop lying. Everyone knows –"
"Both of you need to stop!" Ren said firmly. "If Naegi-kun's account isn't true, what did he see, Komaeda-kun?"
"He's going to lie," Naegi hissed. "This is a waste of time."
"Naegi's right. We can't believe a word that comes out of that bastard's mouth," Kuzuryu agreed.
"Komaeda-kun is not trustworthy," Nevermind said, "but we should still hear his testimony. My true crime research has taught me that the most dangerous choice a defendant can make is testifying in his own defense!"
Ah, so it had come to this. He had hoped for a better time, for a time when everyone's faith in Naegi had been shaken, but it had to be now.
"Naegi-kun didn't see me underneath Kamukura-kun's cabin. I saw him."
It was obvious that none of them expected that. Owari even cleaned out her ear, and then asked if they were being pranked.
Komaeda took a deep breath and continued. "I saw light coming from underneath the foundation of Kamukura-kun's cabin. When I investigated, I found Naegi-kun down there with a bunch of fireworks. It was him."
"You're pathetic," Naegi said. Tsumiki nodded furiously next to him. "Is that the best lie you can come up with?"
His voice cracked. "It's not a lie!"
"It sounds like you're just swapping the names," Kuzuryu said. "I'm not sure whether I should be more pissed that you did this, or that you're making such a shitty effort at covering it up!"
"It's never enough for you. You're always trying to hurt him!" Tsumiki held Naegi close, and he leaned into her like a content cat. "Why can't you leave him alone!"
Komaeda swallowed. It was Naegi's word against his, and of course they would choose Naegi and he couldn't even blame them.
Naegi said, "I don't know Komaeda really came across those fireworks by accident, but we do know this: I saw Komaeda-kun crawling under Kamukura-kun's cabin. I followed him under and saw him light a stack of fireworks. I. . . I didn't know what to do. I froze, and he saw me when he turned around. I ran. He chased me and then he caught up to me out here. . ."
Naegi's lip quivered. No one asked him to finish his sentence. Even if someone had dared, he wouldn't have been able to because Tsumiki had pulled him into her and muffled his voice.
"So, what you're saying is that you caught this shithead trying to set off another bomb, so he tried to make sure you'd stay silent," Kuzuryu declared. He looked surprisingly casual, almost smug. "Got it. That's basic gang motives."
Huh, that part isn't a name swap, he thought dazedly. He hadn't caught Naegi setting anything off. Naegi had been . . . contemplating? Savoring the moment? Basking in the despair?
I didn't catch him in the middle of setting off anything. His mind repeated. It spun on that statement like a hamster wheel. I. He needed something else, but he couldn't think of anything beyond that.
"His account makes sense," Nevermind said. "Tanaka-kun, you were the one who assisted Naegi-kun with the fireworks. If you see nothing wrong, then I see no need to prolong this."
Face grim, Tanaka nodded. Then he jerked his thumb at Soda.
"Oh. Yes, I suppose we should ask the Ultimate Mechanic," Nevermind admitted with disinterest.
"It makes sense to me," Soda said. "I didn't see any of those babies myself, but Naegi-kun told me about them. If you wanted to set them off, lighting them is the way to go."
And Komaeda's brain suddenly snapped into perfect clarity.
"No, that's wrong!"
"Hey!" an extremely offended Naegi snapped.
"He tried to kill someone, and he's a plagiarizer? Ibuki's heart can't handle this!"
"How fitting of scum like him," Pekoyama growled.
Komaeda ignored the rest of the outraged murmurs and turned his attention to Naegi. Naegi glowered back, so full of hate that it was a wonder his small body could contain it all.
Komaeda said, "Naegi-kun, there's something wrong with your story."
"What? How?" Naegi demanded, and Komaeda knew he shared Komaeda's earlier thought: that all Naegi had done was switch the names.
"You said you caught me under Kamukura-kun's cabin. I assume I was there to light the fireworks."
". . . That's what I saw," Naegi said reluctantly. He was smart enough to know Komaeda was leading him somewhere.
"But the fireworks had a remote detonator."
"What?" Naegi said flatly. His eyes suddenly widened as he remembered.
"Oh, yeah!" Soda said.
"Was there really a detonator?" Koizumi asked.
"Yeah, there was . . . A-are you saying this freak got his hands on it?" Soda spluttered.
Komaeda kept his gaze locked on Naegi. "Why would I crawl under the cabin to light the fireworks when there was a detonator?"
"Ghghh. . ." Naegi truly looked stricken. Not that Tsumiki and her cuddling cared. Komaeda's chest loosened a little and –
"I won't let you look down on him!"
Komaeda jumped. "Kuzuryu-kun. . ."
"Shut up! I know you did this, so shut up or I'll sell your fucking organs!"
Kuzuryu had stepped forward, separated himself from the other two leaders. Although he was one of the smallest here, he blotted out everyone else.
"Just having a detonator around doesn't mean anything," Kuzuryu said. "Only people who know about it can use it. Naegi and Soda didn't tell the rest of us and I damn well know they didn't tell you! You didn't find out about the detonator until after the explosion!"
That's it? he felt a familiar scorn, the kind he used to feel when he thought an Ultimate wasn't living up to their potential. I'll slice through those words.
"I'm the one who first mentioned the detonator," he pointed out, "which means I found out on my own. There wasn't enough time after the explosion to find it before you showed up."
The world held its breath. Komaeda put every bit of energy he had not into keeping his cool, but into forcing himself not to look at Naegi, for Naegi could swiftly turn the momentum against him.
But Naegi didn't. He was either too shocked or simply hadn't thought of the comeback that Komaeda had. And the moments ticked by and the threat lifted. It was too late now for Naegi to believably claim he had mentioned the detonator while they were under the floorboards.
"Th-that still doesn't mean anything!" Kuzuryu tugged at his collar. He seemed to be sweating. "I know that ship we were on was a warship, but that doesn't mean I have a warship now. Knowing about something doesn't mean shit if no one told you how to use it! Naegi saw you lighting them because you didn't know how to set them off with the detonator!"
"The detonator is a big box with a switch in the middle. Anyone could figure it out. It's still in the cabin if you need to see for yourself," Komaeda said.
In the back, Nevermind nodded at Nidai – who had just returned from investigating Komaeda's cabin. The large man immediately set off for the empty cabin.
("Soda-kun," Ren said primly, "we are having a discussion about proper safety precautions when this is over.")
"Don't count me out yet, you bastard!" Kuzuryu shouted. "Maybe you did know there was a way for you to set them off from a distance. That could have been your big plan. But your plan didn't mean shit because Naegi walked in on you. You didn't have time to go back for the detonator, so you set it off by hand!"
"Wouldn't it have made sense for me to go after Naegi-kun before setting them off?" Komaeda said.
"Huh?" Kuzuryu said dumbly, temporarily confused out of his rage.
"Naegi-kun said I turned around after I lit them, so my back must have been facing him before," Komaeda said. "If both of your stories are true, I saw Naegi-kun, then turned my back to him, then attacked him so there would be no witnesses. If I cared about leaving witnesses, then why did I turn my back and give him a perfect opportunity to run?"
"I. . . Sh-shut up! Why the fuck would I know? I don't know what goes on in the head of a dumbass like you!" Spittle flew from his mouth as Kuzuryu screamed. Yet despite the bluster, Komaeda could clearly see that he had been shaken.
The pressure lessened. It was strange: Komaeda felt perfectly calm. His mind was clearer than it had been since he'd woken up in the hospital. But while mentally he was composed, his physical body hadn't received the message. His lungs felt full to bursting; they ached as if he was running a marathon. He could detect the acrid stench of his own stress-ridden sweat as it slowly soaked through his shirt.
"I am sorry, but I do not quite understand why turning your back matters," Nevermind said suddenly. She spoke with her usual calm strength, contrasting the red-faced Kuzuryu. "Naegi-kun did not describe lighting the fireworks to be an action that took a long time."
"Hmm, that's true," Koizumi said. "If anything, I got the impression that it was very fast."
So, it's not over yet, Komaeda thought. But he should have expected that. His classmates wouldn't roll over after the first setback.
I need to stay focused. They might be Ultimates, but none of them are the Ultimate Liar.
"If lighting the fuse was a very quick task, then it may not have made a difference that Komaeda-kun lit them before pursuing Naegi-kun," Nevermind said.
"Ooo!" Mioda put her hand up like a schoolgirl. "In Ibuki's shows, all the roadies have to do is push the big red button and BOOM!"
"Boom?" Nevermind echoed.
"BOOM!"
Ren cleared his throat. "You're suggesting that the act of igniting was quick enough that choosing that action first wouldn't have given Naegi-kun a meaningful head start."
"That's true. It was really fast," Naegi said. "All he did was smash a lantern and let its fuel catch. I'm sorry I didn't mention that earlier."
"Hey! Don't apologize for that," Kuzuryu barked at his charge.
"!" Tanaka stretched elaborately, reaching up and letting his arms circle down until his fists rested on his hips.
"Wait, y-you were awake before the fireworks went off?" Naegi gasped.
"!" Tanaka put a hamster in his palm. With his other hand, he shielded his eyes so that he could only see his beloved pet.
"Oh, you were awake, but you didn't see anything because you were too busy playing with your –"
"!" Tanaka shook his fist.
Naegi sighed. "I mean you and the Devas were too busy rehearsing your horrifying blood rituals whose names cannot be spoken lest a curse befall us all."
Tanaka nodded proudly.
"A blood ritual? How grand!" Nevermind said. "Tanaka-kun, should you ever need human blood, I gladly volunteer. Although if it's virgin blood you need, I am afraid I cannot help."
Poor Tanaka looked extremely flustered. He quickly turned to Naegi and continue attempting to be the Ultimate Mime.
"Tanaka-kun, it's all right., You didn't miss anything" Naegi said soothingly. How easy it was for him to slip into his caring persona. "There wasn't any fighting or screams for you to hear. Komaeda-kun caught me right when I got out, and then things were exploding and well. . ."
"If he caught you that fast, then it obviously didn't matter that he anything on fire first," Owari said. "You've got pretty short legs, so he's faster than you anyways."
"Just as I proposed," Nevermind took a deep breath, and then her arm whipped through the air as she made a royal declaration. "Igniting the fireworks took Komaeda-kun a mere moment. Afterwards, he attempted to eliminate Naegi-kun to hide his horrible crime. Indeed, if the slice had been across Naegi-kun's throat, then we never could have discovered who was behind this plot."
Hold on. Komaeda rewound the recent discussion. Didn't Naegi say. . . ? Yes, he did.
"Naegi-kun, I reached you immediately after we got out from underneath the cabin," Komaeda said to Naegi, "and then the fireworks went off?"
Naegi frowned. "Stop acting like you weren't there!"
Komaeda rolled over his demand. "How long would you say we were fighting?"
"How long? Uh, I didn't time it." Naegi side-eyed Tanaka and quickly added, "But it was really quick – it was so quick I'm not even sure I'd classify it as a fight."
Komaeda listened. And wrestled back a smile. He didn't want to tell Naegi he had just trapped himself until everyone else knew it, too.
"That's weird," Komaeda said. He stopped speaking after that, waiting for someone to take the bait.
"Huh? What's so weird about that?" Saionji demanded. "It isn't a fight if only one side is throwing the punches."
"Think about it. Everyone is accusing me of going after Naegi-kun so I could hide that I was the one who lit the fireworks. But taking him out wouldn't have made a difference," Komaeda said. "If I wanted to get away with this, I would have to make sure no one spotted me near the cabin after the fireworks went off. However, according to Naegi-kun, they went off seconds after I got out from underneath the cabin. Quite frankly, I don't think there was enough time to me to flee the area. There definitely wasn't enough time to chase and fight Naegi-kun and then escape."
". . . Well, you didn't mean to chase me," Naegi said after a pause. "You wanted to take me out underneath the cabin. You underestimated how fast I was."
"Then it would have made more sense for me to go after you first, and then set off the fireworks." Komaeda rubbed his forehead, feeling a faint headache coming on. "If it had taken me more than a few seconds to fight you while we underground, I wouldn't have gotten out in time. I would be dead."
He let his argument fester. It wasn't perfect. Kirigiri – hell, even Togami – would have cleaved through it. But it was something.
Come on, he said silently to Naegi. Battle against me. I've made my decision.
I'll be your steppingstone back into the light.
