Tell all the Truth but tell it slant
"Well, I found it," Nidai said as he returned from the abandoned cabin. Komaeda had never considered the large man's hands to be particularly big, but he was immediately stricken by the size of the detonator in comparison. It fit snugly in Nidai's palm. If his fingers had closed around it, the fingertips would touch.
"It does look simple," Koizumi admitted. She held her hand out, and Nidai passed it to her. "So, you just flick the switch?"
"That's it," Soda said.
"Hey, lemme see." Owari demanded. Koizumi passed it off to her. Owari frowned at the detonator, shook it a little, and then flipped the switch.
"Wait!"
"You crazy bitch!"
"Oprah Winfrey!"
Komaeda covered the back of his head and waited for the heat.
It didn't come. He waited a couple of seconds, and then turned his head slowly. Part of his brain recoiled, convinced that just peeking at the cabin was the little disturbance needed to set off a second violent round.
"I think we're okay, guys," Soda said.
"The detonator's charge must have been consumed in the initial explosion," Pekoyama said.
"Owari-san," Ren said shakily as he rose to one knee, having dove to the ground, "you are also attending my seminar on proper safety procedures."
"Huh? What's got you panties in a knot?" Owari shrugged. "It's like she said: the thing already went off."
"You will attend."
"There's something else I should mention: somebody moved around the furniture in that cabin," Nidai said. He quickly explained to the others what Komaeda had also seen.
"I noticed that, too, and I know who did it," Komaeda said. Although he hadn't witnessed it for himself, the perpetrator was obvious. "The culprit is –"
"Oh, that was me," Naegi said easily.
He admitted it? After all the resistance Naegi had given to everything, he was willing to let Komaeda take this?
"Getting the crate in was a bit of a pain," Naegi said, "so after Tanaka-kun left, I tried to clear a path for when we had to get it out again."
"If that's your reason, then why move the mattress right under the window?" Komaeda's eyes narrowed. "You know, the one that gives you a nice place to relax while watching Kamukura-kun's cabin."
Naegi took a couple of seconds to answer.
"Did I? I hadn't noticed. I wasn't trying to put it anywhere in particular; I just wanted it out of the way. So I started pushing it and," Naegi rubbed the back of his neck, "I kept pushing until it hit something and stopped moving. I wasn't thinking about where it was going."
Komaeda racked his brain for ideas. Naegi was obviously lying. However, he couldn't disprove Naegi's claim in any way, and it made enough sense to appease the others.
And because he admitted to moving it in the first place, it seems so much more believable when he lies about why.
"Why are you acting like every little thing has some earthshattering revelation behind it?" Naegi asked. "I'm the Ultimate Hope, not the Ultimate Mastermind. I spent most of my life as an average person."
"Unless rearranging the room revealed a hidden passageway, I also struggle to see what it would prove," Nevermind said. "Perhaps we should spend our time on something more meaningful."
"Moving furniture does seem rather innocuous," Ren said.
With Ren's dismissal, that was that. Naegi had slipped through squeaky clean. Well, at least Komaeda hadn't been relying on that for anything important.
"Making mountains out of molehills. . . Doesn't this seem familiar?" Naegi asked. "Kirigiri-san told me once that the least complicated answer is usually the correct one. I'm glad she told me that. Who knows how far we might have gone down the rabbit hole before I figured that out myself?"
I don't like the sound of that, Komaeda thought. He's come up with something new. I'll just have to wait to see what he says, and then try to find way around it.
"All these arguments are being presented under the assumption that the culprit is a perfectly rational person," Naegi said. "But nobody here can only say everything they do is perfectly rational. Does it really make sense to dismiss a scenario because there's a couple of logical inconsistencies?"
"You're saying we've overthinking this," Ren said.
Naegi said, "Think about it. We're talking about optimal choices, split-second timing. . . It's a bit much when you consider that most of this happened in a short time. What happened to good old-fashioned panic?"
"Hmm, a racing heart can lead to an impulsive time that you regret in the morning," Hanamura said.
"I know I wouldn't be calm if I was stuck in a hole in the ground with Komaeda," Saionji muttered. She pinched her nose. "I'd vomit from the stench!"
"Where should we draw the line though?" Pekoyama asked.
"Simple. Where there's an easier answer," Naegi said.
"You have something specific in mind," Ren said.
Naegi nodded. "Yes. We've made a big deal about what Komaeda should have done if he didn't want to leave any witnesses, but maybe that wasn't his goal. What if he attacked me because. . . because he just hates me?"
"I knew it, I knew it!" Tsumiki screeched. Her hands tangled in her hair, pulled at her scalp. "It's what someone as cruel and terrible as him would do."
"An opportunistic attack," Pekoyama murmured. Before, she had positioned herself in front of the fallen Naegi and his nurse in a fighting stance. Now that Naegi was on his feet though, she had relaxed somewhat.
"You've hated me for a long time, haven't you, Komaeda?" Naegi asked. He gave Komaeda time to answer. He didn't; Naegi would turn any answer he gave against him. Proudly, Naegi crowed, "Hurting me is second nature to you. Everything makes sense if you consider everything to be the actions of a person fueled by hate."
"That's not true!" Komaeda said. No, that's wrong! was on the tip of his tongue, but he wasn't foolish enough to use it again after last time.
"You're denying you hate me?" Naegi snapped. His fists trembled at his side.
"No," he said and it may have been true. He wasn't sure what he felt towards Naegi anymore. "I'm denying I hate Kamukura-kun."
". . . What does that have to do with this?"
"I expected better from you, Naegi-kun. This has to do with everything," Komaeda said. "Talking about you is only a distraction because we didn't plan to encounter each other. The real motive has to do with Kamukura-kun, otherwise it would have been one of our homes blowing up instead of his."
"But. . . Well, that isn't hard," Naegi said snidely. "You hate Kamukura, too!"
"I'm not fond of him, but I don't hate him," Komaeda maybe lied. "I like him about as much as everyone else here does. I definitely don't dislike him enough to kill him."
"Is that true?" Koizumi half-said to herself. "I know they used to hang out together before. . ."
"I don't hate Kamukura-kun. I had no motivation to do this." Komaeda swept his arm out, gesturing at the burning cabin behind him.
"We could say the same thing about everyone," Soda said. "But it still happened."
Kuzuryu asked, "If it isn't you, who else could it be?"
Him. Komaeda glared at Naegi. Even as he did though, doubt nipped at his determination. He knew that Naegi hated Kamukura, but he was the only one that did. As far as everyone else knew, the two were friends
"That reminds me, haven't we seen this before?" Hanamura asked. He rubbed his chin, thinking. "Only Komaeda wasn't in the dominant role."
"Yeah, I remember. Back at Hope's Peak," Nidai said. "We had to pull Kamukura-kun off you."
"Oh. That. Well, I'm not mad at him for that," Komaeda said (maybe) truthfully. Unfortunately, no one was listening.
"Hey, Peko, you remember that?" Kuzuryu said. "How serious had Kamukura been?"
". . ." Pekoyama didn't answer. She stared off into the distance, gaze locked on nothing, lost in her own mind.
"Hey, Peko!" Kuzuryu shouted loud enough to catch her attention, and then repeated his question.
"If we had not intervened, I do not believe Komaeda would be alive," she said simply.
"You serious?" Soda exclaimed. "That's some real bad blood. Guess that means Komaeda did have a grudge –"
"I see through it!"
". . . Pekoyama-san?" Komaeda spluttered. He bit down on his lower lip, surprised when it hurt, surprised when he wasn't dreaming. He was imagining this, right? Because if this was reality, it didn't made sense. Pekoyama was incredibly protective of Naegi and her personality was built upon loyalty. She should be side-by-side with Tsumiki acting as Naegi's cheerleader. She shouldn't be defending the one everyone believed to have hurt him.
"We shouldn't dismiss this out of hand." Pekoyama wouldn't look at anyone when she said that. "At the very least, it needs to be discussed further."
"I don't understand. What are you doing?" Naegi asked her. Komaeda noticed her jaw tighten at the sound of his voice, as if hearing it had physically hurt her.
"Komaeda has a point, and this is important," Pekoyama said quietly. "We should consider it."
"I'm sorry, but I don't understand," Tsumiki said. A shadow crossed over her face as she spoke. "What's so strange about Komaeda hurting people?"
"We're not just talking about hurting," Nidai said. "This is about killing."
"I don't see the problem," Tsumiki said. "I'm sorry, Nidai-kun, but this is something he would do."
"We all know the guy's crazy," Soda agreed. "I'm not surprised he suddenly snapped."
"No. Pekoyama-san is right," Ren said. "It's dangerous to make these kinds of assumptions. We need to look into this further."
"It is hard to believe he would go this far," Koizumi said. "But that would mean someone else is responsible, and I can't believe any of us would have done this."
It's working, Komaeda thought as he observed the arguing with a fluttering belly. Their unity is broken. He would have smiled if the situation wasn't so dire. Still, it was hard not to; he had to consciously force the corners of his lips down and even then, the center of his lips kept twitching, giving him a very uncomfortable and weird expression.
I can do this.
He shivered. Against these impossible odds he had still made headway; a path had been blazed. He couldn't see the end of the journey, but he had kept searching and had found a guide rope bolted above his head that would take him there. If he kept faith, he could see this through.
This feeling. . . is this. . .?
Is this hope?
The squabbling hadn't stopped while he had been distracted by his thoughts. If anything, the cracks had only widened; he could see two sides being drawn.
I've gotten this far mostly on my own. But if they're offering help now, I won't turn it down. We need to prove that there could be suspects other than me.
So, let's push forward and find the truth
Did Komaeda have a motive?
Debate Scrum Start!
Saionji: "Komaeda and Kamukura don't like each other, so why wouldn't it be him?"
Ren: "If mere dislike is enough, then all of us are suspects."
Kuzuruyu: "Komaeda's the only one Kamukura ever attacked. Isn't that enough proof they hate each other enough to kill?"
Nidai: "That proves Kamukura-kun hates Komaeda-kun, not the other way around."
Soda: "Crazy people don't need a reason to cause trouble."
Nevermind: "Strange as he is, Komaeda-kun's always had an explanation for his actions."
Hanamura: "Who else had the opportunity to find a motive? Nobody else was more than acquaintances with Kamukura."
Koizumi: "Are we absolutely sure about that?"
Owari: "Doesn't Komaeda usually blow things up when he gets mad?"
Mioda: "Yep, but Nagito-chan's never tried to blow people up."
Tsumiki: "He's hurt people before. He hurts them for no reason and doesn't care because he's a terrible person!"
Pekoyama: ". . . Yes, he has. But he's consistent in his target, and Kamukura-kun was never it."
Naegi: "Komaeda's the only one whose relationship with Kamukura has worsened. There's no one else!"
Komaeda: "There is someone else, and I have proof."
FULL COUNTER
"You have p-proof?" Naegi stuttered.
"Yes. Here's my answer!"
The tension swelled. Like an overinflated balloon, it was on the brink of bursting, and no one knew what awaited when it did.
"Naegi-kun, I have a question for you," Komaeda said. "Why didn't you use an honorific for Kamukura-kun?"
"I. . ." Naegi trailed off, eyes wide.
"Now that you mention it, Naegi-kun hasn't used honorifics for him once today," Nevermind said.
"I'd call that developing some taste," Kuzuryu said smugly as he straightened his collar. "I'd rather shoot myself in the head than use honorifics for that arrogant prick!"
"But it's unusual for Naegi," Koizumi said. "I'm sure he used them before, so what changed?"
"Easy. They had a falling out," Komaeda said.
"What are you implying?" Naegi demanded.
"I stick by my story," Komaeda said simply.
"Apologize right now!"
Ah. So here it was. Komaeda had known this would happen. Tsumiki had been gunning for him the moment she had seen Naegi's blood.
"I'm sorry for shouting," Tsumiki said sweetly. It wasn't her usually timid politeness, but a thick, sticky sweetness that stuck to your skin and the inside of your throat. "I just . . . Uh, well, it seems rather silly. It almost sounded like you were accusing Makoto of trying to hurt Kamukura-kun."
He took a deep breath and bit the bullet. "I am."
"Oh, y-you are? You're saying a kind, gentle soul like Makoto is a killer? That's completely out the question!" Tsumiki said with disturbing joy. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Makoto cares about people, and bears, and patients that was I trying to test my medicines on. . . I performed a thorough examination on him and there isn't a vicious bone in his body!"
"Tsumiki-san –"
With her eyes closed, she stomped her foot. "No, I want proof! We didn't catch Makoto holding a weapon. I didn't bandage your arm. How did he get injured if it wasn't you?"
"I didn't cut him," Komaeda said desperately. "I took that stick from him, but I didn't use it on him. He had those wounds already. . . I think he collided with it and cut himself when he ran out from under the cabin."
It was a lie, of course, but Komaeda wasn't convinced that the truth would help. Naegi hurting Kamukura was a horrible, but vaguely understandable thing. Naegi hurting himself was incomprehensible. It could be the thing that changed Komaeda's side of events from hard to believe to completely implausible.
"It wasn't you?" Tsumiki asked. "How unusual considering all the other times you hurt him. I hope you haven't forgotten why you were in the hospital to begin with."
His hands throbbed in response.
"Accusing someone as nice as Makoto. . . How pitiful," Tsumiki sighed. "Ah, forgive me! I didn't mean to insult you. It would be unfair to make fun of you, because someone as alone and unloved as you could never understand how silly your idea is to the rest of us!"
That stung a lot more than he expected. Even worse, he could feel the freight train of his hard-earned momentum shifting against him. If he let Tsumiki finish her argument, it would run him over. This would be over. But what could he do? No one else was aware of what had happened between him, Naegi and Kamukura. He couldn't prove Naegi was anything other than the angel they thought he was.
Maybe there is no way to prove Naegi's responsible yet. Maybe the only thing I can do is provide a distraction to disrupt her momentum.
"It can't be Makoto," Tsumiki declared. "We all know Makoto would never want to hurt anyone."
And if that's the case.
"And since there's only two options, that means it has to be you, Komaeda!" Tsumiki said with a dramatic point.
Then maybe it's time to broaden our horizons with a little lie.
"Wait! Tsumiki-san, listen to what you just said," Komaeda. "We're making assumptions again."
". . . We are?" Tsumiki questioned.
"I don't see it either," Koizumi said.
"There are only two options," Komaeda repeated. "Naegi-kun and I have been blaming each other. Each of us thinks they didn't trigger the explosion, so we assumed the other did. But what if we're both wrong?"
"What? How is that possible?" Pekoyama demanded aggressively. She had taken a step forward, and what Komaeda saw there shocked him. She looked hopeful. She liked the idea that it hadn't been Komaeda or Naegi.
What's going on? he thought. He didn't have time to answer that question though, so he shook it off and said, "Here's what we know. Naegi-kun and I were in the crawlspace under the cabin without the detonator. The detonator was left behind in a visible location and can easily be used by anyone who found it."
Ren spluttered, "Y-you're saying. . ."
"But the lanterns!" Nevermind cried.
"That's what we thought happened," Komaeda agreed. "What if the fire we saw was actually from the detonator's charge? Naegi and I assumed it came from the lantern because that was the only flame we were aware of."
"That's ridiculous!" Naegi shouted. "I know what I saw. It was you!"
"You can't throw around random accusations," Kuzuryu said. "What, you want us to vet everyone on this damned island?"
"Not everyone," Komaeda said. "The responsible party would have to know about the detonator. And Tanaka-kun has already admitted he was awake when this happened."
All eyes turned to Tanaka, save for Naegi who must have been dying inside after this latest turn of events. For a few moments, Tanaka didn't move. Then his arms began flailing about in a panicked frenzy of motion. Oh. That was right. Tanaka didn't speak. Which meant he was going to have a difficult time defending himself.
"A damp, cramped crawlspace under the residence of an Ultimate who's almost inhuman. . . That seems like an ideal place to host a demonic ritual. Maybe you moved the fireworks there for a reason that had nothing to do with Kamukura-kun," Komaeda said.
What, Tanaka's face perfectly said. He pointed at himself, at Kamukura's cabin, at himself, and then finished it off with a shake of his head and a dramatic slice across his throat.
"No, I don't think you wanted to hurt Kamukura-kun. I think you saw me going into the crawlspace. You didn't know Naegi was there, too, so you took advantage of an opportunity. I'm sure killing Kamukura-kun never crossed your mind, Tanaka-kun, but I bet you can't say you never thought of coming after me."
Words kept falling out of Komaeda's mouth. Random words that didn't make sense, but made just enough sense that everyone had to pause to think about it. Or in Tanaka's case, wildly wave his arms around.
". . . What?" Komaeda said after a particularly elaborate show.
"Ooo, Ibuki loves charades! How many words? Oh, it's a question? Hmm. . . Sky? Moon? Sun? Ibuki's getting closer? Um, hand? Wait, sun, again? Ooo, light, light!"
"Is it my battle aura?" Owari demanded, also getting into the game. "You wanna know how bright it will be when I mop the island with the guy who did this?"
"Handlight? Lighthand? Wait, it's the lanterns! I got it!" Mioda clicked her heels together and saluted. "Why'd you bring a lantern down there unless you were trying to make things blow up?"
("I think," Ren breathed in deeply through his noise, "that everyone will be attending my safety seminar.")
"The flashlights were broken," Komaeda said, remembering what Naegi told him. "It was too dark to go underneath without any light. Either way, this explains the discrepancy about the remote detonator, doesn't it?"
With a sweet smile, Nevermind tugged on Nidai's sleeve. The big man sighed, and then trudged towards the hotel to verify Komaeda's claim.
"I can't believe you're listening to him," Naegi said dully. "Guys, this is ridiculous. Tanaka-kun, I know it wasn't you."
Komaeda said. "It was dark in that crawlspace, Naegi-kun. Everything happened so quickly, and we were both very emotional after seeing each other again. It would be easy to make a mistake. We don't know for certain if we set it off, or someone with the detonator did."
Naegi was quiet. He turned his head, scowling, thinking.
". . . No. That's wrong."
Oh. He'd pushed too hard.
Komaeda gulped.
Shit.
Naegi said, "Owari-san flipped the switch on the detonator when she had it and everyone – Nidai-kun included - panicked because they thought there would be an explosion. That means when Nidai-kun found the detonator in the cabin, it was in its Off state, not On."
"They could have flipped it to On, and then to Off again to hide their trail," Komaeda said quickly.
Naegi shrugged with one shoulder. "Why? The only reason to do that would be to pin it on you, but they wouldn't have expected you to still be alive."
With that, the scope had been narrowed to two again. But he had accomplished his objective. Nobody seemed to be thinking too much about what Tsumiki had said before.
"You know," Komaeda said because he could, "having to take a lantern because all the flashlights didn't work is a prime example of bad luck."
His gaze pinned Naegi in place. Because of the two of them, who was known for his feats of bad luck?
"Well, I'd say. . ." Naegi abruptly cut himself off as he looked at something beyond Komaeda.
Komaeda turned. Kamukura stood in the flaming doorway of his cabin, idly examining the ground. With no sense of urgency, he walked down the steps onto the grass and gave the crowd a once-over.
"How boring," he sighed.
