-This is made by Starrshard on Ao3 and Wattpad, please check them out. I have been given permission to upload this to, as they do not have an account on this website-
Yaomomo stepped out of the elevator among her classmates, the sight of the ornate trial room reinforcing itself in her permanent memory. It felt so familiar to her, yet at the same time, so wrong, every time she stepped into its grounds. She halted among the crowd and looked up at Monokuma, who sat atop the throne with Dabi, awaiting instructions.
"Heeeeeello kids!" Monokuma smiled. "Please go to your podiums! You know the drill by now!"
The class was silent as everyone approached their podiums. Today, Fumikage and Eijirou were replaced by their profile signs.
Another two lost to death. The last we'll see of them are these signs, these podiums...
"Puhuhu! Are we ready? Now let the class trial begin!"
Class Trial : Start!
"Let's start with the Monokuma File, like always," Mirio prompted, after an awkward pause. Fumikage always started off the trial with that line, Yaomomo mused. Only now do we realize how much we'd depended on him.
"Yeah, that'd be fine," Denki murmured, his voice downcast and unspirited.
"Mirio, you have the File, right?" Tamaki turned to the blonde.
"Yup. I'll start, then." Mirio took out the File and scrolled down.
"The victim is Eijirou Kirishima. There are multiple stab wounds in his abdomen. His left eye is ripped out, and there are light burns on his neck. Also, there is a gash on his arm and a single stab wound in his back. His time of death is about fifty past midnight. That's it," Mirio finished.
"So... we have to figure out the weapon, as well as the fatal wound," Hitoshi said.
"Let's start with the fatal wound. Since this File gives all wounds, that includes the fatal one. So we just have to go off of that," Shouto deducted.
"Okay then. Let's talk about what Eijirou's fatal wound is," Tsuyu prompted.
Talk about it... okay. I can do that...
After all, I did do the autopsy.
Non-stop Debate : Start!
Truth Bullets: Denki's Account, Ceiling Tile, Monokuma's Antidote, Yaomomo's Autopsy, Knife Two - Potted Plant
"Eijirou's wounds included stab wounds to the abdomen, a ripped out eyeball..." Mashirao began, "...burns, a stab to the back, and a gash on the arm."
"We can obviously rule out the gash on the arm as the fatal wound," Izuku began. "Any of the other options could have been fatal."
"The burns are probably from the wires, since some were exposed. It also explains why they're so light," Shouto said.
"Then the burns themselves can't be fatal, but it's the physical wound that came from hanging," Denki murmured. "So it's possible that killed him."
"I agree with Denki," Nejire said. "Eijirou was probably hung to death."
"But what about the stab wounds, or the gouged-out eyeball? They could easily be fatal," Mezou grumbled coldly.
"His eye being ripped out couldn't have been fatal," Tooru argued. "It would hurt a lot, but it shouldn't actually be fatal."
"But the blood loss could kill him. Such a major injury would bleed a lot," Shouto shot back.
"Oh, and could those stab wounds themselves have really killed him? It's possible they weren't fatal, but the subsequent blood loss was," Mashirao suggested.
"No, that's wrong."
Yaomomo's Autopsy : Counter!
"During my autopsy, I determined that the stab wounds were clearly deep enough to puncture vital organs," Yaomomo explained. "They could definitely be the fatal wound."
"But what if the killer hung Eijirou, then mutilated his body?" Tooru suggested.
"But why would they mutilate the body if he's already dead?" Tsuyu asked softly.
"To confuse us, maybe?" Mei wondered.
"Guys, it's got to be the stab wounds," Mashirao spoke up. "Like Yaomomo said, they were deep enough to kill. Besides, it makes no sense to mutilate a dead body. You only leave behind more evidence."
"Well, we can't continue in our discussion until this is settled," Shouto murmured. "So why don't we-"
"HOLD ON!"
Break!
"Ooh, so soon? You're barely five minutes into the debate and you're already split right down the middle! In that case... it's time... for the most anticipated Scrum Debate!" Monokuma cheered. Dabi sighed and handed down the controller.
"A Scrum Debate? Already?" Tamaki murmured.
Starting off on a split note... this is just great.
Monokuma slid the key into the controller and turned it, like twisting a knife in someone's chest. The trial room began to glow, the podiums lighting up and rising. The light was gentle, soft, but it made Yaomomo's eyes ache, as if she were gazing at an angel.
...
Scrum Debate : Start!
What was Eijirou's fatal wound?
Eijirou died from hanging: Mei, Tooru, Izuku, Nejire, Denki, Hitoshi
Eijirou died from the stab wounds: Shouto, Mashirao, Tamaki, Mezou, Tsuyu, Mirio, Yaomomo
"Of all the wounds, hanging is the most likely to be fatal!" Mei claimed.
"Mezou."
"The stab wounds could've pierced vital organs, so they're just as likely," the Heavylifter said.
"It's possible the killer hung Eijirou, and then mutilated the body," Tooru repeated.
"Tsuyu."
"What reason would they have to mutilate the body?" she retorted.
"They could've been trying to distract us from the real cause of death," Izuku suggested.
"Mirio."
"Hanging couldn't have been the of death, because the Monokuma File mentioned nothing about its aftereffects as wounds," the blonde said.
"The Monokuma File mentioned burns, which are from Eijirou being hung," Hitoshi said.
"I'll do it."
"The burns were from the wires physically being around his neck. They aren't an effect of being hung, such as cutoff of oxygen to the brain," Yaomomo stated.
"It's also possible Eijirou mutilated his own body, then hung himself," Nejire suddenly suggested.
"Tamaki."
"If Eijirou did that to himself, he wouldn't have been able to remove his stepping stool from the scene, apart from maybe kicking it," the Florist spluttered.
Crouch Bind : Set!
W - D - W - S
Full Counter : Break!
"No matter how you look at it, the points do not line up," Yaomomo said slowly. "Everything points to the stab wounds in Eijirou's stomach being fatal."
"Mutilating the body would potentially leave behind more evidence. It's a risky move to make," Shouto said. "And Eijirou couldn't have mutilated himself and committed suicide right after. He wouldn't have had time to kick a stepping stool away, since there's no other way to reach the ceiling."
"Besides, it's unlikely he could've withstood the pain of gouging out his own eye without passing out," Mezou said.
"Y-Yeah... Nejire, where did that idea come from?" Tamaki shuddered.
"I dunno... it kinda popped into my head," the girl responded dejectedly.
"So now that we've determined the stab wounds to be the cause of death, I suppose we can also figure out when the body was hung," Tsuyu commented.
When the body was hung... I know that...
Select an answer:
Before Eijirou was stabbed
After Eijirou was killed
During the body mutilation, while Eijirou was alive
After Eijirou was killed : I got it.
"Eijirou's body must've been hung after he was stabbed to death," Yaomomo said. "And he was definitely on the ground when he died."
"Hm? How'd you determine that?" Tooru asked.
There's a piece of evidence that proves it...
Select a Truth Bullet
...
Bloodstains on Floor Five : I got it.
"There was a large blood pool in the carpet directly under where Eijirou was hanging," Yaomomo said. "There was a bit too much blood on the floor to be only from the wounds dripping throughout the night.
"Eijirou must've been killed first and collapsed on the floor, allowing blood to freely run all over the carpet. The killer then hung him up, but couldn't get rid of the bloodstain because it was in the carpet," she finished.
"Ah... that makes sense," Izuku murmured. "But in that case... how did the killer hang him up? Like Shouto mentioned before, you would need a stepladder of some sort to reach the ceiling, remove the tile, and hang the body."
"It would have to be near the scene. I doubt the killer was confident enough that they'd try moving such a large piece of evidence that far, with the risk of being seen," Hitoshi commented.
Near the scene... there was definitely something near the scene that could be used as a stepladder.
Select something from the scene
...
Cabinet : I got it.
"It must've been that cabinet in the common area of Eijirou and Katsuki's dorms, in room 1-A." Ah. Our former homeroom. How fitting, Yaomomo thought. "The cabinet was facing the wrong way when I checked it during investigation. Every cabinet in every room, based on our previous investigations of the school, face the entry doorway into the hall. However, this one faced Eijirou's door. It was backwards."
"So the killer went into the nearest room, dragged out the cabinet, used it as a stepladder... removed the tile, hung up Eijirou, and moved the cabinet back into the room, without noticing they'd put it the wrong way," Mashirao recapped.
"That seems about right," Hitoshi commented. "Just one thing... where did that ceiling tile go? If it was removed, where did the killer take it?"
Where the tile is...
Select an answer:
Closet
Room 1-A
Under the floorboards
Closet : I got it.
"It was in the closet," Yaomomo said. "I went in there, and it was laying on top of the closet's contents, like someone hastily threw it in without bothering to hide it."
"Very obvious... whoever this killer was clearly wasn't too careful," Shouto murmured. "Maybe they were a little too scared of being caught, and got hasty..?"
"Whatever the case, we have to work with the evidence they left," Mashirao commented. "Which is quite a lot."
"Now that we've established a fatal wound and burns, we should examine the rest of them," Yaomomo suggested. "There's a single stab to his back, a gash on his arm, as well as his eyeball."
"Why would he have so many wounds, especially such a major one as the ripped out eyeball?" Tooru asked. "There's no reason for a killer to injure him so much... you just need one clean shot to leave behind the least evidence."
"I believe it was intentional," Shouto suddenly spoke up.
"Intentional? What do you mean?" Tsuyu tilted her head.
"The killer tried to mutilate the dead body after he killed Eijirou, in order to make it more difficult for us to pin down a solid fatal wound, in addition to hanging it," Shouto explained. "Or they tortured Eijirou before dealing the fatal blow."
"T-Tortured him?!" Denki wailed. "Why... why would anyone do such a thing?"
"It's as unbelievable a thing as the idea of our friends killing each other. Which has already happened, several times now. So... it's not that unlikely," Tamaki sighed.
"Let's recap what we know," Mirio prompted. "See if there are any loose ends we forgot to cover."
Non-stop Debate : Start!
Truth Bullets: Stab wounds, Hanging, Bloodstains on Floor #5, Eyeball, Knife One - Eyeball
"So, when the killer attacked Eijirou," Mei began, "they stabbed him several times in the stomach, which was fatal."
"As for the other wounds, they were either from the killer torturing Eijirou, or mutilating his dead body to confuse us," Nejire said.
"They probably stabbed him in the back with the same knife as the one used for the wounds in his abdomen," Shouto murmured. "The gash on his arm was from the same weapon as well."
"And the eyeball's obvious, right? The killer stabbed it out using the knife driven through it," Izuku declared.
"No, that's wrong."
Eyeball : Counter!
"When I inspected the eyeball, the back of it was slightly squished," Yaomomo said. "I believe someone ripped out Eijirou's eye with their own fingers, hence the squish marks."
"So... they stabbed through the eye with the knife afterwards, to make it seem like it'd been stabbed out?" Izuku inquired further.
"Yeah, I believe so," the Affluent Progeny replied grimly.
"Wh-What?! Why would someone do that, when they had that knife handy?" Tooru spoke up.
"I-I agree with her. Who'd be mental enough to do something so... disgusting by hand?" Tamaki asked.
"...I'm not sure," Yaomomo murmured in response.
A silence fell over the group. It, indeed, was a conflicting situation; why would the killer choose to gouge out Eijirou's eye with their own hands when they had other tools available?
Mezou sighed, shattering the glassy silence. "Is it seriously that difficult? There's only one solution here, and it's pretty obvious."
"Well, Mezou, what is your idea?" Shouto prompted.
The Heavylifter huffed. "For a group that's solved four cases already, you're all actually sort of dull. Remember what motive Monokuma gave us?"
The motive Monokuma gave us... it's...
Select a Truth Bullet!
...
Despair Sickness Motive : I got it.
"You mean the Despair Sickness, right, Mezou?" Yaomomo replied, her words soft and careful.
"Exactly so," Mezou said. "Anyone with the Sickness was practically out of their mind insane... it wouldn't be a stretch to think one of them had gotten out and attacked Eijirou. That would include ripping out his eye, seeing how far gone they were."
"The victims of the Despair Sickness were... Tsuyu, Tamaki, Mei, Izuku, Yaomomo, and Mashirao," Tooru said. "So... one of them is the killer?"
"According to the fact Eijirou's eye was gouged out by hand, yes. No one else would be insane enough to do that," Mezou said.
"But you can't confirm that," Yaomomo argued back. "All of the victims of Despair Sickness were locked up in their rooms with guards. It doesn't make sense. Besides, with that clear of a possibility open, anyone could've gone the extra mile and imitated such an action."
"I suppose you could put it that way," Mezou grumbled. "Fine. Do what you'd like. Just remember what I've said."
"We'll think about it after we've figured out the case map," Yaomomo said dismissively. "Where were we again?"
"We were establishing each of Eijirou's wounds," Denki murmured. "But we've already done that. Eijirou was tortured or had his body mutilated, hence the stab to his back, and the gash on his arm. His fatal wounds were the stabs to his abdomen. His eye was ripped out as a part of the body mutilation."
"The other thing missing from the File is the weapon used to deliver the fatal wound," Shouto spoke up. "So we should fill in that gap first."
"In that case, let's discuss. What was the murder weapon used to kill Eijirou?" Mirio prompted.
Non-stop Debate : Start!
Truth Bullets: Shouto's Account, Stab Wounds, Bloodstains on Floor 6, Mezou's Deduction, Knife One - Eyeball
"What was the weapon used to stab Eijirou?" Mirio inquired.
"I bet it was the knife in the eyeball," Hitoshi said. "They stabbed Eijirou, then reused it by impaling it in the eye."
"What if they took the weapon away from the scene, like what Fumikage did with Kyouka?" Tooru suggested. "I mean, what else was there onsite that could be used?"
"How about the knife Nejire found buried in the plant?" Tamaki spoke up.
"I agree with that."
Stab Wounds : Consent!
"Tamaki is right. The knife in the potted plant was larger than the one impaled through the eyeball, and it was covered in blood to the hilt. The width of the blade also matches the width of the stab wounds," Yaomomo explained. "It's the most likely murder weapon."
"Now that we've filled the blanks in the File, we should recap again to make sure everything's consistent," Tooru suggested. "Just in case."
Non-stop Debate : Start!
Truth Bullets: Cabinet, Hanging, Wires, Bloodstains on Floor 6, Monokuma File #5
"Eijirou's fatal wounds were the stab wounds in his abdomen," Tamaki began.
"And the weapon used to do so was the knife Nejire found in the plant," Shouto continued.
"The killer took two knives with them, though," Izuku noted. "They stabbed the second one through Eijirou's eyeball, which they'd ripped out by... by hand."
"They also hung him up on the ceiling," Mashirao said.
"But before all that," Mei spoke up. "The killer attacked Eijirou on the fifth floor, in the dorm hallway."
"No, that's wrong."
Bloodstains on Floor 6 : Counter!
"There were bloodstains upstairs, as well as slashed carpet on the stairs," Yaomomo explained. "I believe the killer attacked Eijirou upstairs and wounded him, hence the bloodstain. However, the wound wasn't fatal, and Eijirou fled down the stairs."
"So which wound was dealt upstairs?" Nejire asked. "It couldn't have been the eye, or the stab wounds in the front."
"So it's either the gash on his arm, or the stab to his back," Hitoshi commented. "Which one..?"
Which wound was fatal... it must've been...
Hangman's Gambit 3.0 : Start!
Which of Eijirou's wounds were inflicted on floor six?
? ﾟﾗﾆ? ﾟﾗﾆ ? ﾟﾗﾆ ? ﾟﾗﾆ? ? ﾟﾗﾆ? ﾟﾗﾆ
...
STAB TO THE BACK : I got it.
Break!
"It must've been the stab wound on Eijirou's back," Yaomomo deducted. "He was most likely attacked from behind, so a single stab to the back would be sufficient."
"I agree," Shouto spoke up. "If a killer were the approach someone with intention to attack them, especially at night, they wouldn't walk up to him from the front. It's too obvious, and Eijirou has time to react and run. It's more likely they attacked him from behind."
"But what if they attacked him and he fell?" Denki suggested. "Besides, one stab wound shouldn't leave that much blood."
"Then there's the possibility the killer made him fall, before stabbing him in the back and slashing his arm," Shouto replied. "There couldn't have been too much blood lost, because there wasn't a blood trail down the stairs."
"Based on this conversation, I think we can assume the killer attacked Eijirou upstairs," Tsuyu concluded, "wounded him non-fatally... pursued him downstairs when he broke free and fled... and finally killed him on the fifth floor. They had either tortured him there, or mutilated his body afterwards. They also hung him up."
"Speaking of the pursuit... what about the slashed stairs?" Hitoshi asked. "Why are they all cut up?"
"There's... no clear answer," Shouto said. "I see no reason for the stairs to naturally get slashed in such a pursuit."
"There were blood stains on the slashes. They were slashed with the same knife that was the murder weapon," Yaomomo said. "But it could've been done before or after Eijirou died. My best guess is that the killer slashed the stairs as a distraction or diversion after Eijirou died. It seems unlikely during a hot pursuit for someone to bend over and cut the carpet as they run."
"For now, we should leave it," Tooru suggested. "If it seems that unnecessary, it shouldn't be so major a clue."
"In that case, we've covered quite a lot of ground," Mei noted. "Yaomomo... why don't you give us a sorta abridged closing argument?"
"...why are you relying on Yaomomo to do all the work?" Hitoshi asked.
"Because! She's like, the smartest of us here. She's like... um... ooh! She's like our own personal Ultimate Detective!" Mei grinned.
What..? Why does everyone keep calling me that? Isn't it obvious that I'm doing this just because I was handed the role, and because otherwise someone needed to step up to Hanta's job..?
"It's fine, Hitoshi. I'll do it," Yaomomo said. "The case so far... it's clear..."
Psyche Taxi : Start!
...
Question 1: Where did the killer attack Eijirou?
Left: Floor six
Middle: Floor four
Right: Floor five
Left: Correct!
...
Question 2: What did Eijirou do after being attacked and wounded?
Left: Died on floor six
Middle: Ran downstairs to floor five
Right: Ran upstairs to floor seven
Middle: Correct!
..
Question 3: Where was Eijirou fatally wounded?
Left: Floor six
Middle: Stairs
Right: Floor five
Right: Correct!
..
Question 4: What did the killer do after killing Eijirou?
Left: Hung up his body
Middle: Mutilated and hung up his body
Right: Mutilated his body
Middle: Correct!
Success!
Question 1: Floor six
Question 2: Ran downstairs to floor five
Question 3: Floor five
Question 4: Mutilated and hung up his body
Break!
"Here's the order of events...
"The killer attacked Eijirou on floor six from behind. After wounding him, Eijirou escaped and fled down the stairs. The killer followed him, and killed him on floor five. After killing him, they mutilated his body -that is, if they hadn't tortured him before dealing the fatal wound- and hung Eijirou up on the ceiling by the wires," Yaomomo explained.
"Explained so eloquently! That's our Ultimate Detective for you," Tooru encouraged.
Oh, please, why this again..? "...let's just move on," Yaomomo murmured, the title her classmates had bestowed upon her burning in her brain.
"Since we have the general gist of what happened down, as well as the time of death... does anyone have any accounts?" Mirio inquired.
"I do." Shouto immediately spoke up. "Last night, at around midnight, I woke up to someone breaking down my vent cover. I'd put a barricade up against the vent. I went to investigate, and nobody was there. I left the dorm -Izuku's, which was where I decided to stay after he took over my own room-, and stayed at Mirio's for the night. In the morning, the room had been ransacked, but nothing had been taken. A weight was left by the vent cover, which had been knocked down again."
"Are you sure nothing was taken?" Nejire piped up.
"Yes. I had just the same conversation with Izuku and Yaomomo earlier, actually; of Izuku's meager possessions, nothing was missing when we scoured the room," Shouto confirmed.
"If this is the case... we should figure out, first and foremost, who had knocked down the vent cover," Tamaki said.
Who knocked down the vent cover... it's obvious who did it, if you consider the presence of the weight...
Select a person!
...
Eijirou Kirishima : It's got to be you.
"It was probably Eijirou," she said aloud.
"Hm? Eijirou? Even my genius brain didn't consider that! Where did you get that idea?" Mei prompted.
"I'm not certain yet," Yaomomo said. "But I could confirm or disprove with a certain someone's account. Hold on."
The account I deduced that from...
Select a Truth Bullet!
...
Mezou's Account : I got it.
"Mezou. You told me that you saw Eijirou enter the gym, grab something, and leave," Yaomomo said. "Could you repeat your account in more detail again?"
"Fine. It was yesterday night, about eight-thirty. I was in the gym, throwing weights across the length of the room. Eijirou ran in, snatched something from along the wall, and then left. I didn't see what he took," Mezou said.
"You said you were throwing weights across the room. Did any hit the wall?" Shouto asked, catching onto Yaomomo's logic.
"Of course," Mezou huffed. "Most of them hit the wall."
"What were the weights of the ones you threw?" Tamaki continued.
"I threw the lightest ones first, just for fun, before gradually increasing in weight. The lightest weights are three kilos, seven, ten, fifteen, and so on. Why?" Mezou's eyes were icy as he regarded Yaomomo, Shouto, and Tamaki.
"Did Eijirou grab something from the wall you were throwing at?" Tamaki insisted, ignoring Mezou's question.
"Yes! Now tell me, why are you asking?" Mezou snapped.
"That confirms it," Shouto murmured.
"Confirms what?" The Heavylifter retorted.
"It confirms that Eijirou was the one who grabbed the weight, and therefore the one who broke down the vent cover with said vent," Yaomomo replied calmly. "But why would-"
"That's wrong!"
Break!
"Hold on! Something doesn't add up," Denki cut in.
"What?" Yaomomo said slowly.
"It's about the vents," Denki said. "I'm going to convince you why Eijirou couldn't have broken down the vent cover!"
Rebuttal Showdown : Start!
Denki Kaminari : Momo Yaoyorozu
Truth Blades: Monokuma File #5, Cabinet, Eyeball, Hanging, Denki's Account, Mezou's Account
"In order to break down the vent cover," Denki began, "You'd have to go in from inside the vent. But how would Eijirou fit in the vent? We did the test with Fu-Fumikage all the way back, right after we'd failed the second case. There was just enough space for him! There's no way Eijirou, of all people, would fit!"
"You say Eijirou wouldn't fit in the vent? Why not?" Yaomomo asked.
"B-Because! His build is too wide, and his figure is too big in general to fit," Denki reasoned.
"I'll cut through your words."
Denki's Account : Cut!
"According to your own account, Eijirou had been eating less after Katsuki died. He could've lost enough weight to conceivably fit in the vent. Also, height doesn't matter much either; even if you were as tall as Mezou, but you were very thin, you would definitely fit," Yaomomo said.
"Hm... that makes sense, I guess. Alright then. Continue..." Denki practically deflated, shutting his mouth.
"It's fine, Denki. No need to be upset. Anyway, there's something else that also proves Eijirou went through the vents, for sure," Yaomomo said.
"Something that proves he went through the vents..? What else could there have been?" Nejire inquired, her sky-blue eyes alight with... curiosity? It'd been so long since Yaomomo had seen the bluette with her naive, child-like thirst for knowledge.
The item of her curiosity, the item that makes it obvious Eijirou went through the vents... I can see it now...
Mind Mine : Start!
...
Map of the Vents : I got it.
"When I was investigating Eijirou's body, I found... this." Yaomomo reached down and pulled out the map from its place tucked under her belt. She unfolded it and showed the image to the trial room.
"What is that? It looks like some map, or graph," Hitoshi noted.
"It's- that's a blueprint, or map of some complex system!" Mei suddenly spoke up, excitement in her voice. "It's so complex... look at all the symbols and layers! It's so messy... why is it drawn on normal paper, instead of graph paper?"
"Relax, Mei. You can examine it later," Shouto said. "Anyway, from what I can tell, it's a map of... the vents."
"The... vents?" Denki murmured. "How would Eijirou get-"
"A map of the vents?! That again?" Tooru cried out.
"Two killers have used them already! We should've known they'd prove to be only trouble," Hitoshi muttered.
"Yeah! We should've just blocked them off-!" Mashirao jumped to agree.
"Even worse, there's now a map of them for anyone to use? Even if you didn't spend ages exploring the system, you'd be able to utilize them with this!" Izuku wailed.
"Yeah, that looks like it," Tsuyu murmured, her voice haunted and quiet. She's probably thinking of the time Yuga dragged her through them... "But like what Denki was trying to say, where would Eijirou have obtained such a thing? We investigated the whole school... wouldn't someone have spoken out if they found this sort of thing?"
"Maybe not," Mezou suggested, his voice deadpan and cold. "Maybe... maybe someone kept it a secret."
"..." "..." "..." Yaomomo glanced around the trial room. Most of the class was about as startled as you'd expect them to be. However, she noticed a certain trio had yet to speak, and the expressions on their faces were, under a thin mask of surprise, painfully awkward and horrified.
As if they know what it is.
"Haven't you been quiet..." Yaomomo muttered.
"Huh? What did you say?" Nejire asked. She was trying to act casual, Yaomomo could tell; it was a pretty good deception, actually, spare for the fact her hands were shaking and her eyes were like a startled rabbit's.
"Nejire. Mirio. Tamaki." Yaomomo looked up and looked at each member of the Big Three in turn, holding up the map at them. When she said each of their names, each respective person looked like they'd been stabbed in the chest. "You've seen this map before, haven't you?"
"Wh-What are you talking about?" Tamaki stammered. "I've never seen that paper in my life!"
"Yeah! What are you trying to pull, Yaomomo? Has your detective intellect gotten you confused, somehow?" Mirio asked.
"What do you mean, we've seen that map before?" Nejire inquired. "We definitely haven't!"
"Don't play dumb with her," Shouto said darkly. A jolt went through Yaomomo's skin. Why's he speaking up for me? "It's obvious from your reactions that Yaomomo's right."
"For once, I agree with him, and our newly-fledged Detective, too," Mezou said. "Why don't all three of you just play nice, and explain to us how you know what the map is? Even if I don't care about this class, I don't like backstabbers and deceptive cowards."
Isn't that sort of contradictory? Didn't Fumikage lie and deceive us about his Ultimate talent? Yaomomo thought. Oh, well. I guess as long as he doesn't try to kill him in the process of lying, it's okay.
At the very least, Mezou's threat got the three of them talking, despite the fact that they could probably, logistically, take on the Heavylifter if things did get violent.
"Well... remember a while back, before Fumikage's crime, when we all decided to investigate around. Tamaki, Nejire, and I decided to investigate the principal's office. Any of you who investigated the door can confirm, right?" Mirio began to explain.
"I remember that!" Denki blurted out. "Ah, um... I can confirm you three were in the principal's office, yeah... what does that mean, though?"
"Well, we found the map in there. A blueprint, color-coded and printed perfectly, of the vent system, all labeled and marked up. We decided to keep it a secret, because if it got out... we sort of expected something like this to happen," Mirio continued.
"Why the fuck would you keep something so major a secret?!" Mezou yelled. "Didn't you consider that you would all get very, very suspicious, keeping something like that? At least one of you could actually fit in those things, too!"
"Y-Yeah... we kind of did realize that after Mirio took the map and hid it in his room," Tamaki murmured. "We just thought that if we kept it hidden until we escaped, it would never be a problem..."
"Yeah, and look how that turned out," Hitoshi muttered, his voice edged with cold. "You could barely hold that paper for a few weeks before something happened with it!"
"H-Hey, hold on, guys!" Mei cried out.
"What? This is an important lead," Izuku said, his voice trembling at the end, while his jade eyes darted to Mirio. He obviously didn't like the way this was going, especially considering his upperclassman friend.
"Mirio said the map he found was a blueprint. It was also apparently color-coded and printed. The map we found on Eijirou is none of that!" Mei pointed at the map Yaomomo was still limply holding up. "It's handwritten, messy, and all in pencil! Plus, I doubt such an important blueprint would be put on such a lousy piece of computer paper!"
"The original was on graph paper, and each floor's vents were color-coded, so you could see them a bit better," Nejire put in. "And yeah, that map Yaomomo has is definitely not the one we found. It's the same content, but... not the same."
"I agree with her," Tamaki spoke up. "Mirio still has the original copy, anyway. He checks it every morning..."
"Yup! And this morning, it was still there!" The Ultimate Hope added.
"So it's a copy of the original blueprint," Tsuyu mused. "Where could've Eijirou got that?"
"Did you guys make any copies of the map?" Shouto asked.
"No! Why would we need to do that?" Nejire retorted immediately. "We were going to keep it a secret, so why would we make copies of it?"
"But even then, this is still suspicious," Yaomomo said. "You guys had the original map. Eijirou died with a handwritten copy of it in his pocket. It's connected, so in a way, you guys are connected to this case."
"Are you suspecting us?!" Nejire wailed. "Why would you suspect us? We never would've shown the map to anyone!"
Double!
"And we still have the original copy, safe in my cabinet!" Mirio added. "How do you explain that?"
Triple!
"Yeah! Besides, even if Eijirou somehow got the map from us, the logic doesn't add up! None of us could've been the culprit anyway!" Tamaki declared, surprisingly confident.
"It doesn't make sense!"
"It just doesn't add up!"
"It's not logical!"
Mass Panic Debate : Start!
Truth Bullets: Shouto's Account, Knife 2 - Potted Plant, Slashed Carpet, Eyeball, Ceiling Tile
"You've got to believe me when I say this," Nejire began.
"Even if Eijirou somehow got a copy of that map..." Mirio said.
"We all have alibis! It's useless to suspect us," Tamaki cried.
"I swear that none of us showed the map to anyone!" she wailed.
"...that doesn't mean we're suspicious," he reasoned.
"What do you mean, you all have alibis?" Mashirao asked.
"There's no way we can confirm what you're saying for sure," Tsuyu whispered.
"How is that supposed to make sense? Eijirou definitely got a hold of your map," Izuku said.
"Well, I had Despair Sickness, so last night I was with Mirio," Tamaki said.
"Do you trust us that little..?" Nejire murmured, her eyes teary.
"If what you're all claiming is true, then how the heck did Eijirou make a working copy of it?" Hitoshi asked.
"Obviously, if I left sometime in the night, he would've stopped me," the Florist finished.
"I'm sorry, Nejire... it's just that we have to find the truth," Tsuyu replied softly.
"What if Eijirou stole it, copied it down, and then returned it?" Shouto suggested.
"Sure, fine, but Nejire doesn't have an alibi! She's still suspicious," Mezou shot back.
"No, that's wrong."
Knife 2 - Potted Plant : Counter!
"Nejire was the one who found the knife during investigation. The murder weapon," Yaomomo said.
"That doesn't make her any less suspicious. In fact, that makes it worse," Mashirao said. "How'd she know that digging up a plant would reveal the murder weapon?"
"But look at it another way," Denki spoke up. "Well, if Nejire had been the culprit, she'd know where the weapon was. But she also wouldn't reveal it and dig it up. That was the purpose of burying the knife; so people wouldn't find it in investigation."
"That's probably the most intelligent thing I've heard come out your mouth in a while, now," Hitoshi teased.
"...eh?" Denki stared at his friend, looking slightly hurt. He'd obviously taken it seriously.
"Wait, no, I was joking! I'm sorry, Denki!" Hitoshi rushed to apologize.
"Moving on..." Tooru said awkwardly, "How does clearing the Big Three of suspicion contribute to the map thing?"
"It could mean several things," Shouto said. "It's possible they're telling the truth, and Eijirou snuck into Mirio's room, likely through the vents, and copied down the map. He would've had to know they had it, but it's possible he overheard them in the principal's office, anyway.
"A second possibility is that one of them is lying, though. Or more than one," Shouto said cryptically. "Someone could've shown Eijirou the map, hence allowing him to copy it down without thought for the consequence. Or, they were going to try and help him murder someone. There's endless possibilities."
"Help him... murder someone?" Nejire whispered, her voice shaking. "Why would you think such a thing of us..?"
"It's nothing personal, Nejire, I swear," Tooru spoke up. "It's just that we can't take any chances."
"We should move on," Yaomomo cut in. "This is all fine and dandy for finding suspects, but we still haven't figured out the rest of the story. Why would Eijirou break into Izuku's dorm, where Shouto was staying?"
"Yeah... that's something we'll have to answer to figure out the culprit," Izuku noted grimly.
"We'll figure it out," Yaomomo reassured. "Now, let's get back on track."
We're getting close to something. I can feel it now...