IV - The Inmates' Ensemble: Deadly Life

*Past chapters referenced: 27, 28.

Chapter IV: The Inmates' Ensemble

DEADLY LIFE

NG CODE: Escaping the Neo World Programme without killing a single participant.

"What…?" Retracting her hand from Korekiyo's wrist, Kaede's head starts spinning. Blood pulsing in her ears, Kaede's head spins as she tries to make sense of the implications of what she's reading.

The memory of Kiyo's final words echoes through her skull.

Korekiyo turns back to the others and bows. "Then I shall be taking my leave."

"Thanks, Kiyo," says Kaede. "See you later, okay?"

Korekiyo's eyes creased with a smile. "But of course." He holds out a hand. "The bangles should be activating shortly, so we must all remain cautious of not only our forbidden actions, but of each other. Monokuma is surely watching our each and every move."

"This whole time," Kaede mumbles. "He… he knew ?" Balling her fists, Kaede's nails dig arcs into her palms. "And he never said anything?" She takes a moment to glance around the computer room. Downcast classmates are spread out about the chairs, fiddling with VR headsets, tapping away at computers, staring hopelessly at Korekiyo's corpse. A weight presses into her lap. Frowning, Kaede glances down, and her blood boils beneath her skin anew when she meets Monokuma's toothy grin.

"Your Monokuma File, Miss Akamatsu," he lilts, voice sugary sweet. "You'll definitely need it for this one." Monokuma turns, pulling another file from the air, throwing a glance over his shoulder and adding, "And be on your highest guard! You never know what'll happen neeeext!" And with a spin on his heel, he bounces away.

Kaede fails to suppress a scoff. "What's that supposed to—?"

"H-he's right," comes Tsumugi's fearful voice from her other side. She wrings her hands. "N-now that we've discovered a body… isn't it possible now for someone to…?"

"Once the first body is found, any other kills are free game." Ryoma tugs on his hat. "At least, that's what they said last round."

Kaede freezes in place, and so too do the others, fear flooding the room like water. The soft whirring of the computer's fan is the only thing that fills the knee-deep silence. The quiet tapping of fingers on a keyboard lapses into nothing. The air is brittle, so brittle that it threatens to snap with the tension.

"Seven, eight, nine…" Rantaro mutters under his breath, shattering the quiet. He nods. "We're all here. It's not possible for there to be a second body hiding anywhere. So, unless anyone wants to make an enemy out of all of us and commit murder right here in front of—"

"GYAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Kaito's scream rips through the air. Leaping up out of his chair, he latches onto Maki beside him with trembling limbs.

"Wh-what are you doing!?" Maki sputters, face blooming with colour. "Get off of me!"

"I-I-I felt something on m-my shoulder," Kaito stammers. "I th-thought someone was g-gonna—"

"Oh, my bad!" laughs Kokichi. "My hand must have slipped, nee-heehee!"

Maki's eyes narrow into slits. "You…"

Kokichi tilts his head. "Oh, you mad?" He eyes Kaito's trembling form stuck to Maki's side. "Weird, I thought you'd be thanking me for that…"

Gritting her teeth, Maki's eyes flash dangerously. "Do you want to die?"

"Save it for later," Ryoma says, positioning himself between them. "We've gotta get through Shinguuji's death before we can afford to worry about anyone else's."

Kaede rises to her feet, dusting her skirt down. "Ryoma's right. We have to investigate… again." She squares her shoulders and draws in a breath. "Let's just start with the Monokuma File, and take it from there." With a heavy sigh, Kaede lifts the tablet to her face. The screen flickers to life.

The victim is Korekiyo Shinguuji, the Ultimate Anthropologist.

His body was discovered in the computer room on the fourth floor.

The estimated time of death is 4:00 am.

No external wounds were found on the body.

"Right now it's…" Kaede glances at the time on the tablet. "Five-thirty. So he's been dead for ninety minutes."

"The Monokuma File doesn't say how he died though," Tsumugi points out. "I guess that means it's important?" She taps her chin. "But then, where are we supposed to start? There isn't anything here that seems out of place."

Humming, Kaede's eyes roam the room. Rantaro's walking over to where Himiko, Ryoma and Kaito are standing around Korekiyo's body. Miu and Maki are at the computer mainframe clicking through pages upon pages of code.

"Hmmm…"

"You know, if you girls stand around gawking any longer, someone might take the opportunity to pull a Kirumi on you!" comes Kokichi's voice from between them. "Ooor would it be considered a Kiibo, since he technically died second?"

Tsumugi blanches. "D-don't make jokes about such horrible things!"

Kokichi frowns. "But it wasn't a joke? It's a very real thing that could happen, y'know!" He smirks. "I'm just warning you ahead of time so you can't complain when you die to death!"

Rolling her eyes, Kaede turns to regard him, hands falling to her hips. "Do you need something? Technically by talking to us, you're also 'gawking'."

Kokichi huffs. "Well, I would be investigating the crime scene, but there's nothing to investigate!"

Kaede blinks. "That's what Tsumugi said too… are you sure?"

"Nothing!" Kokichi makes a flourishing gesture around the room. "Take a look for yourself! I've already looked inside and under all the chairs, and there's not a single thing out of place! Zilch!"

"You've already investigated all that?" Tsumugi asks incredulously. "But the investigation only just started."

Kokichi taps his lip. "Well, maybe you'll just have to check the place yourself to see if I'm lying or not then!"

"We'll see about that." Tugging on her backpack straps, Kaede steps past Tsumugi, past Kokichi to do a lap around the room. Her eyes remain fixed to the floor, the tables, the chairs for something, anything that catches her eye. She slips her hands beneath each cushion and crawls to look underneath each chair but to no avail. Everything in the computer room is utterly spotless.

Even Korekiyo's corpse, when Kaede wills herself to peek over Kaito's shoulder, is completely lacking in blemishes, bruises, and blood.

Kaede's almost finished her fruitless examination when she feels and hears something crack beneath her shoe. Wincing, she kneels to inspect the damage, only to find a small, pink bear ear.

Monophanie's ear, no doubt.

"What was it Monokuma said again?" lilts Kokichi's voice in her right ear. "About breaking the NG Code?"

"Each of you has a single action that you will not be allowed to perform whilst in the killing game simulator," Monokuma continues. "If you happen to perform said action inside the simulator, your bangle will administer a lethal dose of Strike-9 to your body out here in the real world!"

"It doesn't seem like Kiyo was poisoned," says Kaede, glancing at Korekiyo's corpse. "But then again, the Monokuma File didn't say anything about toxins being found in his body, so maybe we should—"

"Ewwww!" squeals Himiko. "Rantaro, wh-what are you doing!?"

"I'm checking for signs of poisoning," replies Rantaro, shifting in place to lift Korekiyo's other eyelid. "Hmm…" Standing up straight, he rubs his chin. "His eyes don't seem to be bloodshot, nor does his wrist show signs of swelling around the bangle…"

"Oh." Exhaling, Himiko presses a hand to her heart. "I thought you were trying to revive him or something."

Kaito makes a face. "Through his eyes ?"

"I-I dunno!" flares Himiko, thrusting a finger Rantaro's way. "He's the expert at coming back to life, not me!"

Rantaro half-laughs. "I'm… really not…"

Ryoma clears his throat, and it's enough to draw everyone's attention. "So, judging from appearances, Shinguji doesn't seem to have triggered his forbidden action." He frowns. "Can we check what his code was?"

"It was leaving the sim without killing another person," Rantaro says grimly. "I checked a second ago."

Kaito blanches. "Wait, what? So then— that means…"

"Yep!" Kokichi says. "Kiyo went into the sim knowing he wasn't gonna make it out alive without killing someone, and even then, he'd have probably gotten executed when we came out." He throws his arms behind his head. "Pretty bad, right?"

"But… but that's so sad!" Himiko snivels. "Poor Kiyo…"

Humming, Kokichi rubs his chin. "Which makes you wonder… did he have a game plan going in? Did he try to kill someone in there, but his victim fought back? Or perhaaaaps," Kokichi cuts himself off with a laugh. "Perhaps someone intervened before he could make the kill!" He looks to Kaede with glistening eyes. "Have you figured it out yet, Miss Detective?"

"Of course not." Kaede scoffs, then, softer she adds, "Don't call me that. I'm not Shuichi…"

"The poison Monokuma mentioned before we entered the programme was called Strike-9, wasn't it?" Rantaro asks. Folding his arms, his gaze drifts to the door. "There was a poison cabinet in Shuichi's lab… perhaps we'd be able to settle this if we could find a bottle of the stuff up there to determine the side-effects."

Kaede claps her hands together. "That's actually a really good idea! Would you mind going and checking it out?"

Rantaro smiles. "Of course not! Does anyone want to come with—"

"Hooooold it!" Kokichi holds out a hand. "You're not going anywhere!"

"Why not?" Kaede and Rantaro ask in unison.

Kokichi puts his hands on his hips and scowls. "Because he's going to investigate the other crime scene instead."

Himiko blinks. "The… other crime scene? But we were stuck in this room the whole time?"

"The other…" Kaede's eyes go wide. "Are you talking about the Virtual World?" A hand rises to her chin. "Of course. If the crime didn't happen out here, then it must have…"

"So we're going back into the Virtual World?" Himiko pumps her fists. "Yay! I'll get to see my avatar again!"

Tsumugi titters. "So you really did like that avatar, huh?"

Kokichi holds out another hand. "Nopies, you're not allowed back in either, I'm afraid, Himiko." He clicks his tongue. "And neither is Kaito, for that matter."

"Nyeh!?"

"What!?" Kaito's face contorts. "Since when were you in charge of who goes where?"

Kokichi jabs a finger into Kaito's chest. "Someone has to take initiative, dearest Kaito." He clicks his tongue. "And maybe it's just me, but I don't think letting the two people last seen with Kiyo alive back into the possible crime scene is very smart!"

"Are you… accusing us?" Kaito snarls through gritted teeth.

Kokichi's eyelids lower teasingly. "I don't know… am I?"

"I-I was carrying her the whole time!" Kaito snaps, gesturing to Himiko. "How the hell could either of us kill him? Himiko, back me up here!"

"Th-that's right! I can confirm his back was very comfy!"

Humming, Kokichi rocks back his heels. "You guys can vouch for each other, sure. But can anyone else other than the two of you prove that?" He smiles coyly. "For all we know, the moment you three were out of sight, you two could have ganged up on poor Kiyo and done did him in!"

"Like hell we did!" Kaito shouts. "And you know it!"

Kokichi's expression darkens. "But it's not impossible, no?"

Kaito's face tightens. "That's…"

"The poison stuff Rantaro was on about is related to Monokuma and the NG Bangles," Kokichi goes on. "So that's why having those two go check it out shouldn't hinder the investigation in any way."

Pouting, Himiko grumbles, "I get what you mean, but I don't like being accused of murder… Nyeh, I guess we have no choice…"

Tsumugi lifts a hand to her mouth. "Wow, that was a fast turnaround."

Himiko shrugs. "Maybe it's for the best that I don't go back into the Virtual World after all. I might get too attached to my avatar if I see it again." She reaches out to tug on Kaito's jacket. "Let's go… it's only the floor above us, right? It shouldn't take too long."

"No, we're staying here." Kaito's scowl deepens. "I don't want to heed to Kokichi's rules."

"Kaito," Kaede places a hand on his shoulder. "I get that you're upset; trust me, I don't like what he's doing either, but we don't know how much time we have to investigate."

"Yeah, but—"

"Oh, hey, what if this is all part of Kaito's masterplan?" Kokichi suggests. "Stalling us for time so we are unable to investigate anything and end up at the class trial without all the—"

"I don't have a MASTERPLAN!" Kaito booms, and in one fluid motion, stands and stomps to the exit. "Strike-9, was it?" He gestures towards the door with his head. "C'mon, Himiko. We'll clear our names in no time!"

"O-okay!"

"Kaede!" Kaito pumps a fist. "As my sidekick, I'm putting all my faith in you! Clear me of suspicion with your own power!" He flashes her his signature grin. "I know you can do it!"

"I mean," Kaede starts. "I'll try…"

"Another fast turnaround," Tsumugi comments, cringing as Kaito slams the door behind them.

Kokichi sighs dramatically, flopping back into his chair. "Finally, those two are out of our hair." Smiling, he makes a beckoning motion. "Ready to head back into the Virtual World?" When no one sustains him with a reply, Kokichi's scowl deepens. "Come on, there's got to be something! It wouldn't hurt to at least look , right? We don't even have to worry about our forbidden actions anymore now that a murder has occurred, so there's no excuses!"

"It doesn't really look like we have a choice," states Ryoma. "It's not like there's anything else out here we can really do."

Rantaro sighs. "Yeah, I suppose that's true…"

"All right, then it's decided!" Kaede pumps her fists. "Who's coming with us, then?" She throws a glance over her shoulder. "Maki?"

"I'll stay here," Maki replies near-instantly. "Miu's still in the middle of analysing the programme."

Kokichi hums. "And you promise you won't do anything deceitful while we're gone? You and Kaito are pretty close, so you might try and do something deceitful to cover up for him, right?"

"I wouldn't do that," Maki states. "And even if I would, there's nothing here to 'cover up'. You've seen for yourself, there's no evidence here."

"Hmm… you do have a point." Clicking his tongue, Kokichi lifts a finger. "In that case, there better not be any suspicious new evidence around when we come out!"

Kaede's hand flies to her temple. "Kokichi…"

"Ugh." Maki rolls her eyes. "Just ignore him and hurry to the Virtual World. Focus on solving the case for now."

"Yeah. Good idea." Kaede exchanges a nod with Maki and turns back to the computer, retrieving her visor from the chair she'd left it on.

When Kaede slips into the chair beside Kokichi, he speaks quietly. "By the way. You're the only person who can solve this class trial this time around, Kaede."

"Oh yeah?" Kaede asks, only half listening as she reconfigures her visor. "Red goes in the right side, and blue goes in the…"

"I'm being serious!" Kokichi hisses. When Kaede looks up to match his stare, his eyes glaze over with something dark. "There are people here who're going to try and screw the trial over deliberately, so I'm not exaggerating about you being the only person who can figure it all out."

"People who are going to try and screw it over deliberately." Sighing, Kaede turns to regard Kokichi. "Let me guess, you're referring to yourself?"

There's a pause before Kokichi starts giggling. "Nee-heehee! Maybe I am!" He slams the visor over his head before Kaede can query him further.

Shaking her head, Kaede shifts her focus to reconfiguring her visor. After giving one last glance around the room, she slips it over her face once. Draws in a breath. Presses the button.

And the world warps once again.

Welcome to the Neo World Programme…

…

…

…

As the black loading screen transitions to white, then to the all-too familiar salon, Kaede's eyes roam the room, completely undisturbed since the last time she'd set foot in here.

"Monokuma said that injuries in this world could turn out to be fatal in the real world," Kaede hears Rantaro say from the window. "Meaning there's a strong possibility Kiyo was killed here."

"So… what kind of things should we be keeping a lookout for?" Tsumugi wrings her hands. "I'm sorry I… only really was in the one place when we were here earlier, so I don't really know my way around."

"It's fine, Tsumugi, we'll be sticking together," Kokichi says.

Kaede frowns. "The five of us? Would it not be quicker to split up like we did before?"

"Nu-uh!" Kokichi balls his fists. "Since Kiyo's body is the one the trial's gonna be for, we have to stick together to make sure no one else gets tempted to strike while we're here! Unless…" His eyes flash. "… You were planning something, Kaede?"

Rolling her eyes, Kaede folds his arms. "I'm not going to humour you with an answer to that."

"We are on a time crunch, though," Rantaro points out. "Perhaps Ryoma and I—"

Kokichi rolls his eyes to the ceiling. "God, you guys are so annoying. Fine." Kokichi gestures to Tsumugi. "Since Tsumugi doesn't know her way around, you should go with her, Rantaro!" He turns to Kaede. "Kaede and Tsumugi were based in the buildings, after all, so it'd be better for us to divide it that way!" His eyes crinkle in a smile. "And that leaves Ryoma, Kaede, and I to cover the rest!" When Rantaro's face twists into a pout, Kokichi tilts his head. "What, you don't like Tsumugi that much?"

"Ah…" Tsumugi hangs her head. "It's okay… I've become used to that sort of thing. Most guys don't like spending time with me, it's nothing new."

"W-wait," Rantaro stutters. "That's not—"

Tutting, Kokichi shakes his head. "Bullying a girl… not cool, Rantaro."

Rantaro flushes. "I-it's not like that!"

"I'll just… stay with Kaede," Tsumugi sighs. "That way no one has to put up with my—" She squeaks when Rantaro grabs her hand and gently pulls her to the door.

"We'll head to the area past the chapel, in that case," Rantaro says. "Let us know if you find anything, yeah?"

"O-oh, okay?" says Kaede. "Sure thing." She waves the pair off with a forced smile, missing the way Rantaro's beady eyes narrow when he passes Kokichi, disappearing through the door with a red-faced Tsumugi.

"You really have a way ofwith manipulating people into doing your bidding," Ryoma grumbles when they're alone again. When Kokichi only giggles, Ryoma tsks and his eyes slide to Kaede, still staring at the door with a troubled expression. "Akamatsu? You okay?"

"Huh? What?" Kaede shakes her head. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. It's just…" She frowns at the door. "Rantaro, he… I can't put my finger on it, but he seemed a little… off?"

"Amami?" Ryoma blinks. "He seemed fine to me."

"Maybe I'm imagining it." Kaede presses a hand to her chin. "Surely he didn't…?"

Kokichi gasps loudly. "Kaede! You can't possibly think Rantaro's the killer, can you?"

"N-no!" Kaede snaps. "I-I mean… I… that's…"

"Yeah, that's true." Kokichi clicks his tongue. "It could be anyone. It could even be me!"

"But he wouldn't," Kaede mumbles. "Not after… after…"

Kokichi's eyes flash beneath his bangs. "After you bashed his head inside out that one time?"

Kaede winces at his bluntness. "Y-yeah…"

"Ouma," Ryoma warns. "That's enough." Walking over, he places a hand on Kaede's back. "I'm sure it's not Amami, Akamatsu. You don't need to worry."

"Really?" Kaede wrings her hands. "What makes you so sure?"

"Amami was with us for the majority of the time, so he didn't have much of an opportunity to kill without me seeing. Speaking of…" Ryoma pushes the door open. "We should get on with checking out the river-side before the investigation time is up."

"The river-side?" asks Kokichi, following him out. "Why there?"

Ryoma shrugs. "If Shirogane and Amami are going west, it makes sense to go east, is all."

Kokichi considers this for a long moment before beaming and saying, "Yeah you have a point. Works for me!"

Ryoma steps through the mansion's front door and Kaede follows. The loading screen darkens her vision briefly before standing outside amidst the snowy landscape.

"You said you and Rantaro were together for the majority of the time, right?" Kaede asks, shoes crunching against the snow as they trudge through the snowscape. "So, that implies you guys weren't together the whole time."

"We were investigating up around the mountains on the chapel side, where Amami and Shirogane have gone to check," Ryoma explains.

"Okay and when did Rantaro get separated from you?"

"It's not like he got separated or left us on his own will," Kokichi cuts in. "He just went poof!"

Kaede frowns. "He… what?"

"Yep," says Ryoma. "A white circle appeared at his feet and just like that…" he snaps his fingers. "He was gone."

"That… sounds like what happened to Miu and I in the chapel." It's only when Kaede says it out loud that the inconsistency dawns in her.

Chuckling, Rantaro scratches his head. "…You could say that, yeah. But I logged myself out with the phone in the salon. It sounds like you were pulled out against your will."

Kaede's footfalls in the snow come to a standstill. "Wait, what?"

Ryoma throws a glance over his shoulder. "Something wrong, Akamatsu?"

"Ah, n-no." Kaede violently shakes her head. She jogs to catch up with them. "Sorry. Go on, Ryoma. Did you guys find anything? No, right?"

"Nope! Not a single thing!" Kokichi chuckles, throwing his hands up. "It was suuuuper boring!"

Kaede's eyes shift to Ryoma, who nods and says, "Ouma isn't lying. For once."

Kokichi pouts. "So mean… you can't even rely on your own investigation partner, Kaede?"

Kaede scoffs at the mere idea of it. "You? My partner? Please."

"Yeah! We're partners this time around, right?" Latching onto Kaede's arm, Kokichi blinks up at her from beneath his lashes. "That's why we're investigating Kiyo's murder together, riiiiight?"

Kaede wrenches herself from Kokichi's grasp. " You're the one who's orchestrating who goes where this time around, I'd hardly call it a choice." Her brow creases. "Why is that, anyway?"

"Hmm?" Kokichi tilts his head. "I'm just doing my job. I wouldn't be much of an Ultimate Supreme Leader if I didn't, would I?"

"Yeah, but usually you… don't put as much effort into these investigations."

Kokichi's eyes crinkle in a smile. "Ah, is that what you think, Kaede?"

"We're almost here," Ryoma cuts in. "At the place where the world loops back around."

"Ah, It's actually quite pretty," Kaede remarks, as the trickling of the river water reaches her ears. "I didn't get to see this part of the world earlier."

"Same here," replies Ryoma, moving closer to the riverbank to peer over the edge. "Water's pretty realistic too."

"Yeah," Kaede breathes, moving closer to the edge. "So blue… I haven't seen water like this in a while." Her eyes shift to the grassy patch of land on the other side of the bank. "Is there anywhere we can cross?" She moves to stick a foot out, but gets blocked by an invisible wall. "Huh?"

"I'd say that's an intentional thing to prevent someone accidently slipping in and drowning," Ryoma theorizses. "We could technically cross by heading to the other side of the world and looping onto the other side, but that'd eat into our investigation time." He rubs his chin. "If there was some sorta makeshift bridge we could use…"

"How about that thing over there?" Kokichi suggests, pointing to a conspicuously placed signboard a few yards away.

Kaede nods. "Looks like that'll suffice."

When she and Ryoma get close enough, the sign's crimson lettering of 'Mirai Hills' stands out against the white snow like fresh blood. She bends to pick up one end of the board, but freezes when the digits of her fingers meet the flat wood.

"This board…"

"Hmm?" Ryoma asks.

Kaede's frown deepens. "It's… damp."

Ryoma feels the underside of the board for himself. "Huh. So it is." A beat of silence passes before Ryoma realises what Kaede's implying. "You think someone's used it to cross already?"

Kaede nods. "It's possible, isn't it?" Her tiny fingers curl over the signboard. "Which is why we should definitely investigate the other side… just to make sure."

"It could also be the snow, though," Ryoma points out. "Snow's pretty damp too when you think about it."

"This is also true…" Kaede mutters. "Anyway, we can think about that later." She tightens her grip on the edge of the signboard. "On the count of three!"

On tiny, clumsy virtual feet, Kaede and Ryoma waddle back over to the riverside together with their makeshift bridge and secure it in place over the water.

"I'll go first." Kokichi hops on board the moment Kaede steps away from the bridge. "I'm worried the bridge will snap in half when Kaede gets on, so we should go first, Ryoma!"

Kaede flushes. "E-excuse me!? I'm not that heavy—"

"Objects can't break in this world, Ouma," Ryoma says, following him over. "So even if it'd break in the real world, there's no need to worry here."

"Not you too, Ryoma…" Kaede whines, taking her first steps over the bridge with slumped shoulders.

"You guys should be careful, by the way," Kokichi adds. "The point where the world loops is suuuuper close to here, so if you accidentally step too far, you'll end up in a loading scr—"

Kokichi's avatar fades into the air.

"He went too close to the edge," Ryoma deadpans. Kaede has to swallow back her laughter. They agree to split up temporarily to quicken the search; Kaede taking the snowy terrain to the south, and Ryoma searching up near the mountainous area.

With narrowed eyes, Kaede scours the riverbank, combing through each pixel of synthetic snow and soil and water, but turns up nothing. Seconds turn to minutes, and Kaede becomes painfully aware of how much time they're wasting with every passing moment of fruitless searching. She's about to give up, find Ryoma, tell him to pack it in and locate elsewhere, when Ryoma's uncharacteristically panicked voice comes from up north.

"Akamatsu! There's something up here!"

"Ryoma!?" Kaede whips round. Leaping to her feet, Kaede races up the riverbank on frantic feet. "Where are you!?"

"Up here," Ryoma replies, holding up a hand. "Where the river and the mountains meet."

Kaede clambers over a pile of rockery to reach Ryoma. When she does, her heart sinks to her stomach when she realises what he's found.

"Do you see it?" Ryoma points to where the river begins to flow, to where a small pair of brown boots stick out from behind the gushing water.

"Oh god…" Kaede's hands fly to her mouth. "Kiyo… that's… gotta be his body, right?"

Ryoma tugs his hat over his eyes. "Looks like."

"But how did he get lodged up here in the first place?" Kaede tries to move further up the mountain, but the same invisible wall restrains her. "We can't even get up that far. There's no way anyone would be able to pass this wall to even put him here, y'know?"

"That's the million-dollar question, isn't it?" Humming, Ryoma taps at his chin. "We should try lodging him out." His eyes trail down the mountain, down the river and onto the "Mirai Hills" signboard. "Perhaps we could use that wooden plank?"

"Oh, the bridge?"

"Yeah."

Kaede nods. "All right. I'll be right back then." On shaking legs, Kaede staggers down the mountain. Adrenaline pulses through her avatar as she crosses the bridge. Retrieves the signboard. Hauls it back up the mountain with her. Together with Ryoma, they manage to slide it beneath Kiyo's feet, and, on Ryoma's count, they angle it upwards.

"Huh," huffs Kaede. "So… we can't go past the wall, but objects can? "

"Seems like."

Kaede hums, pondering this for a moment. As she does, the board suddenly slips from her grasp. Yelping, Kaede watches with wide eyes as the plank shoots down the river, followed by Korekiyo's motionless avatar. They disappear into the loop, out of sight.

"Shit!" Kaede jumps to her feet. "Ryoma, we have to go after him!"

"I'll go through the loop," Ryoma states. "In case he comes back around, Akamatsu, be ready to catch him."

"O-okay!" Exchanging nods, Ryoma and Kaede split anew. Ryoma disappears into the loop. Kaede races down the mountain. Past the forest. Across the riverbank. There she finds Tsumugi and Rantaro outside the mansion, staring intently into the riverbank. Kokichi stands behind them in tears of laughter.

"I-it was like he was shot out of a cannon or something!" Kokichi rasps, clutching at his stomach. "I don't think I've ever seen anything go so fast in my life!"

"It's. Not. Funny!" Tsumugi flares. "Can you stop making dead people jokes for five minutes?"

Anchoring himself to Tsumugi, Rantaro reaches into the river. The signboard carrying Korekiyo's body gotbody's gotten lodged against a pile of grey rocks, halting the flow of both objects. With a grunt, Rantaro hauls Korekiyo's lifeless avatar from the riverbank. "Well," he says. "Here's our body, it looks like."

Eyes open, soaking wet, Korekiyo's avatar is laid out in the snow, and despite knowing he's gone in the real world, his avatar still looks so alive. Tears prick in the corners of Kaede's eyes as she approaches the corpse and kneels beside it. "Kiyo…"

Rantaro drops to Korekiyo's other side. "Where did you find him, Kaede?"

Kaede points up to the mountains. "He was stuck between the water and the mountains."

Rantaro's eyes narrow. "All the way up there? How on earth…"

Tsumugi's eyebrows fly into her hair. "Like a glitch? Was he clipping between them?"

"Sorta? We had to use a signboard to lodge him out, but then we lost our grip and…" Kaede's eyes shift to the signboard, bobbing away against the rockery. "Then this happened."

"Huh." Tsumugi presses a palm to her face. "I wonder how he ended up there, of all places…"

Kaede shrugs. "Ryoma didn't really know, either. I was wondering if, perhaps our avatars—"

"Oh, hold on," muses Rantaro. "There's something sticking out of here." When Rantaro flips Korekiyo over in the snow, the outline of something small and square becomes visible in his back pocket. With bated breath, Kaede reaches inside and retrieves a small pink plastic cell phone.

Kokichi gasps. "A cell phone! I haven't seen one of those in years!"

"Years?" Tsumugi echoes. "We haven't been here for that long yet…"

"A cell phone," Kaede mutters. "Is this…?"

"I hid a cell phone in one of these smaller boxes," Miu explains.

Kaede raises a brow. "A cell phone?"

"Yeah, it has the same purpose as the one in the salon, loggin' people out and shit."

Kaede's mouth falls open. "Why did… why did Kiyo have it?"

Rantaro blinks. "You know what this is, Kaede?"

Kaede nods. "I… think I might have an idea," she starts, but Ryoma arriving at the scene pulls her from her musings for the nth time.

"You caught him." Ryoma exchanges a nod with Rantaro.

Kokichi starts to chuckle again, but Tsumugi elbows him in the side, silencing him.

"There's nothing on him that tells us what happened," Rantaro says with a sigh. "Other than the cell phone Kaede's holding, but even that doesn't really help."

"Right, right. And did you two find anything?"

Tsumugi's face lights up. "We did, actually!" She reaches behind her and pulls out an object.

Kaede's jaw to drop into the snow. "A Flashback Light!?"

Tsumugi nods. "I know! It was hidden in a bush behind the chapel. I think this must have contained the secret to the outside world!"

"'Contained'?"

Tsumugi's shoulders slump. "Rantaro and I tried turning it on the moment we found it, but…"

"Someone's already used it," Rantaro punctuates. Something bitter flashes across his avatar's face. "Seems like these Flashback Lights are a one-time use thing."

Kaede clenches her jaw. "So then… someone already used it?"

Rantaro nods grimly. "Seems like."

Gasping, Kokichi's hands fly to his mouth. "So selfish! Keeping the secret to themselves and not sharing it with the class… Who would do such a thing?"

" You would," Ryoma deadpans.

"Ehe! Is that how you think of me?" Kokichi shrugs. "Welp, whatever, not this time anyway." He turns to Rantaro. "You said you found this behind the chapel, right? Weird… We were searching around there… How didn't we come across it?"

"It doesn't matter now," Rantaro states. "What's done is done." There's a moment of pause. Crossing his arms, Ryoma sighs at Korekiyo's body. Kokichi closes his eyes and sheepishly scratches at his neck. Worrying her lip, Kaede watches Rantaro, anxiety bubbling underneath her skin.

"So, um…" Tsumugi shifts in the snow. "C-can we go back to the real world now?" Shivering, she hugs herself. "I'm g-getting really c-cold out here."

"Yeah, I don't think there's much else we can do." Kaede gets to her feet. "We've gotten all the clues we can get here…" She trails off when a sixth figure emerges from the mansion.

"So you were out here," says Maki. Her eyes drop to Korekiyo's avatar. "Oh. You found him."

Kaede blinks. "Maki? Why did you…"

"Miu's finished analysing the programme. She wants to show you what she found."

"Oh, okay. Sure thing."

"On that note, I'm heading back," says Ryoma. "We're pretty much done here, anyway." He walks towards the mansion, lifting a hand, with a shivering Tsumugi in tow. "See you on the other side."

"I'll be going too then." Kokichi turns on his heel. "I'm sick of being trapped in this silly avatar body." He waves cheerfully. "Don't take too long now!"

When Kokichi's out of earshot, Kaede sighs. "We should go too." Her jaw tightens. "Kokichi's up to something, and I don't trust him on his own." Rantaro and Maki walk into the mansion ahead of her, and Kaede moves to follow, but stops. She gives one last glance back to Korekiyo's avatar, motionless against the snow. She presses a hand over her heart. "I'm sorry, Kiyo… In the end, you could never introduce us…"

It's when Kaede loads back into the mansion hallway that she realises they all could have just used Miu's cell phone and saved some time. She sighs, but her misgivings are cut short when she catches the tail-end of Maki teleporting out of the mansion, and Rantaro reaching for the phone to do the same. Kaede draws in a breath.

"Rantaro!"

Rantaro freezes. "Hmm?"

Kaede places herself between Rantaro and the phone. "There's… something I wanted to ask you."

Blinking, Rantaro takes one, two steps backwards. "Oh yeah? Shoot away." He smiles. "I'll do my best to help out."

"Rantaro, you…" Heart thrumming in her chest, Kaede steels herself. "When I was pulled out of the programme, you told me you logged out in the salon."

He nods. "Yes, and?"

Kaede's eyes narrow. "And I know that wasn't the truth."

"Oh?" Humming, Rantaro closes his eyes. "I see…"

"Why did you lie to me, Rantaro?" Kaede's face falls. "You told me before that you could trust me and… I thought I could trust you too." Brow furrowing, she takes a bold step forward. "Tell me the truth, Rantaro. The same thing happened to me too, I even told you! So then… why did you feel like you couldn't—?"

"Kaede." Rantaro's hand lands on Kaede's shoulder. "You don't have to shoulder everything on your own, y'know."

Kaede blinks. "H-huh?"

"The class trials, this Killing Game in general, you always take the initiative, you always try to find the best possible outcome in every situation." Rantaro's features soften. "I've always admired that about you, y'know? But you don't have to carry all the responsibility on your own, Kaede."

"I… I know that," Kaede splutters. "But that's not—!"

Rantaro holds up his free hand. "No, it is relevant." His eyes flash. "Because I'm going to end the Killing Game in this class trial."

Kaede's blood chills. "You're— you're what !?"

Leaning back, Rantaro folds his arms over his chest. "I know, it sounds insane. But you'll just have to trust me, all right? I… I know what I'm doing."

"Rantaro…" Kaede breathes. "That's, ending the game in a class trial, that's…" Impossible is the word that settles heavy on her tongue, and despite not getting to the stage where she could test that theory for herself, dread grips her chest.

"Listen, Kaede, I'm not a bad guy, and I have no intentions of getting on your bad side. But sometimes…" Gently pushing past Kaede, Rantaro grabs the salon phone. "Sometimes, Kaede, you have to do some questionable things to achieve the best possible outcome." He turns back to the phone. "Rantaro Amami."

And with a flash of light, Rantaro's gone. Kaede's on her own.

"I…" With trembling hands, Kaede clutches at her head. "I already know that, Rantaro…" Rantaro's own corpse flashes at the back of her mind. "I… know that better than anyone…"

Snivelling, Kaede reaches for the phone. She logs herself out for the final time, leaving the salon, the Virtual World empty anew, save for Korekiyo's motionless corpse.

Pulling off her visor, Kaede blinks as her surroundings swim back into focus.

"Kaede, you're back!" Kaito bounds over. "How was it?"

Kaede nods. "Yeah, it was—" Her eyes flick to Rantaro, making idle chat with Himiko on the other side of the room. "It was… informative to say the least." Swallowing the lump in her throat, she meets his gaze. "How about you? Did you find the poison bottle?"

"Sure did!" Grinning, Kaito stuffs a hand into his pocket and brandishes a small blue bottle. He presses it into Kaede's hands. "This poison is pretty lethal. It becomes neutralised once mixed with anything, so it has to be taken directly. But taking it directly causes instant death."

Kaede's eyes go wide. "Meaning you would only need to get the victim's mouth open in order to kill them with force." She turns the bottle over in her hands. "Or, in our case, it would only need to be injected once into the bloodstream."

"Exactly!"

"Ah, there she is! My beloved partner!" exclaims Kokichi. "You should apologise for making me wait so long for you to get back. I was soooo lonely!" He looks between Kaito and Kaede. "Hey, is he feeding you false information again?"

"I'm not!" Kaito snaps. "I'm just showing her the poison bottle." He shoots him a hardened look. "Because I know a certain someone here wouldn't believe me if I didn't bring the thing down to prove that I'm telling the truth."

"Ohhh, I see, I see. So, did you tell her about the side effects?"

"Side-effects?" Kaito and Kaede ask in unison.

Kokichi flips the bottle over. "Right here! That's where the side effects are labelled." He looks at Kaito with a smirk tugging at his lips. "Don't tell me you missed them?"

Flushing, Kaito snatches the bottle from Kokichi and squints. "God, it's so small. How the hell was I supposed to see that!?"

"Wait," says Kaede. "How did you know the side effects were printed on the back?"

"Oh, I already checked it," Kokichi states nonchalantly. "We are in a killing game, after all. If there's poison and tricks prepared, then obviously I'd investigate them ASAP!"

"Why?" asks Kaito. "So you can—"

Kokichi waves a hand. "No, not so I can use them. But in case anyone else decides to!" He chuckles. "Looks like it paid off this time too, huh?" He snatches the poison bottle back from Kaito. "Aaaanyway, I read the fine print with one of the magnifying glasses lying around Shuichi's lab, so I can tell you the side effects off by heart!" He clears his throat. "So, ingesting this particular poison causes a blood vessel under the conjunctiva to explode, turning the whites of the victim's eyes bright red!"

"So, bloodshot eyes?" Kaede clicks her tongue. "That rules that out, I guess."

"Now that that's outta the way," Kaito says. "Kaede. I wanna explain myself real quick, just so you don't misunderstand."

Kaede blinks. "E-explain yourself?"

"Oooh! You're gonna tell us how you definitely had no involvement in Kiyo's murder despite being with him the whole time, right?" Grinning, Kokichi rubs his hands together. "Let's hear it, then! Oh, and feel free to lie if you want, of course! Kaede and I need to warm up for the class trial, so this'll be good practice!"

"Hah?" sneers Kaito. "Why the hell are you—?"

Rolling her eyes, Kaede sighs. "Just ignore him, Kaito and tell me what happened."

"Tch." Kaito angles his body away from Kokichi. "The three of us left and headed for the forest area behind the mansion."

"The forest area," Kaede mumbles. That's near the mountains where his body was found…

"Himiko was on my back the whole time, and Kiyo was walking next to us. This… isn't really gonna help, but while we were in the forest, Kiyo said he saw something goin' on outside between the trees – from the mansion side, not the riverside – and volunteered to check it out. We offered to go with him, but he said he'd be fine on his own. Said something about not wanting to put Himiko in danger of falling off of me in case it was something dangerous."

Kokichi blinks. "And you just… let him go off on his own?"

"I-I didn't know he was gonna end up dead!" Kaito flares. "If I'd known that then obviously I wouldn't have let him go off on his own!"

"Did he say anything about what exactly he saw, Kaito?" asks Kaede.

Kaito shakes his head. "Not a word."

"Hmm…" Kaede presses her hand to her mouth. "I see."

Kokichi leans over, eyes sparkling. "So do you know who the culprit is yet, Kaede?"

Eye twitching, Kaede wordlessly gets to her feet. "Thanks for that, Kaito." She passes them and heads to the computer where Miu's still tapping away. Fingers blurring on the keyboard, Miu types in a long string of letters and numbers. As the screen flashes, another tab opens with a beep. Miu glances up. "Oh, Kaeds, you're back."

"Maki told me you were looking for me." Kaede's eyes shift back to the screen. "What did you find?"

Miu snorts. "Only a fucking goldmine of evidence."

"Really?"

"Eh, kinda. I'll show you, and you can decide for yourself." Miu taps a few more keys and a black tab flashes onto the screen. "There are the logs for when everyone logged in and out of the sim."

"Oh," Kaede leans over Miu's chair. "Let's see…"

/01:12: Himiko, Kaito, Korekiyo log-in.

/01:13: Kaede, Kokichi log-in.

/01:14: Maki, Tsumugi log-in.

/01:15: Miu, Rantaro, Ryoma log-in.

/03:39: Rantaro log-out.

/04:31: Kaede, Miu log-out.

/04:32: Ryoma, Kaito, Himiko log-out.

/04:33: Maki, Kokichi log-out.

/04:34 Tsumugi log-out.

"Wait." Kaede narrows her eyes. "Rantaro… he logged out a nearly whole hour earlier to everyone else?"

Miu nods. "Yeah." She turns to Kaede. "D'you think he…"

"That's…" Kaede swallows the growing lump in her throat. "I don't know." She glances over her shoulder, and shudders when she meets Rantaro's cold gaze piercing her from across the room. Tugging on her cap, Kaede promptly turns back around. "I really don't know."

Miu mumbles, "Well, if he did , I wouldn't hesitate to sock him over the head again with another shot—"

"Miu!"

"S-sorry, sorry!" Miu coughs into her fist. "A-anyway that's not all I found." She closes the tab with the log-in records, and pulls up a second, similar tab. "Take a look at these."

"These are…" Kaede breathes.

"Everyone's forbidden actions," Miu punctuates. "Makes sense for them to be programmed into the system. Still, I never expected to actually find them."

Kaede makes a mental note of each one before closing the tab. "Anything else?"

"Uh… Those were the main two things I dug up. All the other stuff was just the shit I told you guys while we were in there."

Ding Dong Dong Ding!

The computer room monitor flickers to life.

"Time for the class trial!" Monokuma shouts. "Man, this part's always the best part, standing in the circle and talking about dead bodies, oh man… It makes me so…" He coughs into his paw. "Anyway, this is normally the part where I start to get bored and tired and unmotivated, but! I've thought of a twist that'll spice this trial up to the MAXIMUM!" He leans into the camera. "So, you punks better get to the trial grounds ASAP so I can show ya! Seeeee you there!"

The screen shuts off with a beep.

Tsumugi shudders. "That just makes me want to go there even less than usual!"

"Well, there's only one way to find out!" Kokichi prances towards the exit. "Last one there's a rotten egg!"

"Nyeh, I don't wanna be a rotten egg!" Leaping up, Himiko races after him.

"Tch," scoffs Kaito. "The way he gets so excited each time… It really grinds my gears!"

"Let's just go," sighs Maki. "Mulling over it won't expose the killer."

"The killer…" Kaede pulls on Shuichi's hat, pulse quickening as the group start to gingerly file out of the computer room. With a shaky sigh, Kaede has no choice but to follow them.

"I promise, Kaede," Kaito says in a low voice. He hangs back to walk beside her. "I promise you Himiko and I are totally in the clear. You can trust us!"

Kaede sighs. "It's not you and Himiko I'm worried about…"

"Oh? Then who—?"

"At the class trial," Kaede mutters. "I'll tell you who when we're in the trial."

"Sure thing!"

The rest of the walk to the Shrine of Judgement is spent in silence. When they arrive, Kaede glances around. The sheer lack of remaining people is palpable. Kaede shudders.

"It's a lot emptier, huh?" Tsumugi asks, reading Kaede's thoughts. "This is just over half of what we started out with…"

"That's because the game has gone on too long," replies Ryoma.

Kokichi balls his fists. "Well, we've come soooooo far already! It'd be a shame to end it so abruptly! After all, I wanna know what heartless bastard killed Kiyo—"

"I am confident that this'll be the last trial," Rantaro cuts in, his voice final.

Maki's eyes are narrow. "What makes you so sure of that?"

Rantaro taps his temple with a jewelled finger. "Just intuition. Then again, I've been wrong before… Haha, let's just hope I'm right this time."

Himiko tugs her hat down over her face. "Last class trial this, last class trial that… I'd rather we just survive this next one and figure things out later."

Tsumugi nods. "That's right. A-after all, if we mess up here, our numbers will go down even quicker… It'd be only the culprit left…"

Kokichi tilts his head. "Would that be a bad thing, though?" He spreads his arms out wide. "That'd just be another way of ending the killing game! If we all die, it'd end like that too, right?"

Kaito raises a threatening fist. "Don't say stupid crap like that!"

"Y-yeah! What he said!" Miu snaps. "I-it'd be pointless if we all die!"

"Pointless, huh?" Rantaro asks. The mechanical groaning of the elevator arriving behind the fountain drowns him out.

"Okay," Kaede says, rolling her shoulders. "Let's go."

As the nine of them file into the elevator. Silence envelopes them as the doors seal them from the courtyard and plunge them into darkness anew.

Kaede's eyes roam the elevator as they descend. She idly wonders which of them won't be returning to the surface, (if any) and as she morbidly muses, a jolt of pain sears through her wrist. Kaede winces. "Ow! What was…?"

"Something bit me!" Himiko squeaks. "O-on my wrist!"

Tsumugi blanches. "You guys felt it too?"

"Yeah," says Ryoma. "It seemed to come from the…"

The elevator grinds to a sudden halt, but the doors don't open as per usual.

"Okay, this is weird," Kokichi frowns. "Who pressed the emergency stop button?"

Miu snarls, "I'd have pressed it if there was even fucking one to begin with!"

"Ahem, ahem, calling all participants," Monokuma's voice crackles through the elevator. "This is a warning from your headmaster. The NG Bangles have been switched back on for the duration of the class trial, so proceed out of the elevator with due caution. I repeat…"

Kaede's heart stops. "Wh-what?" Her eyes drop to her wrist.

NG Code: Discussing the act of murder.

"But…" Kaede stutters. "But that means I… I can't…"

"Himiko!" Kaito yells. "Whatever you do! Don't sit down!"

"I-I'm trying!" Himiko whines. "But now that I'm not allowed, my legs are suddenly super tired…"

"So this was the twist Monokuma was talking about?" Kokichi's grin widens as the elevator doors fly open. "How interesting… this game just got a whole lot more fuuuun!"

Taking a deep breath, Kaede opens her mouth, but no words follow. She looks down at her bangle again, and realises her hands are trembling.

She can't say anything.

One word about murder, and she's dead within an instant. Tears prick in the corners of her eyes. Blood drains from her face.

"H-how am I supposed to—?"

A hand lands on her shoulder, and from the way his rings brush against her shoulders, Kaede doesn't even need to look up to know whose it belongs to.

"Like I said," Rantaro says quietly. "There's no need for you to shoulder the burden on your own, Kaede." He squeezes her shoulder. "I'll take it from here, yeah? I'll end it all right here, for you, for me, for everyone."

And as Rantaro walks off to the circle of podiums, Kaede catches herself wondering for a split second if reviving Rantaro was really a good thing after all.

And again, she despises herself for it.

lol I knew going into this act that the bangles would switch on during the trial, and I STILL gave Kaede that one...

I think I might hate myself ktjbhjitihjjhity

Chapter 30: Start of the trial time! Mark 3!