"A body has been discovered."
The chilling sound of the body discovery announcement shot through my body and I didn't care what it had to say, but the words were like ice.
But then, I heard a voice. "Suisei?" I turned my head and Fox was already standing behind me, looking down at the body. "...Astin..."
"Dead," that was all that I told him, but...I felt his hand pat my back. It was...nice.
However, when I saw his face, we shared the same expression.
Pure shock.
It was clear that he wasn't expecting to see someone turn up dead...what the fuck.
We stood there for a while, "I can't believe someone would kill another when we're free of any of those motives for a while..." I uttered, yet deep down a voice scolded me. "You knew someone would eventually come around to murder. Just look at the other two times this happened." Maybe I did.
"Fox is just as surprised as you are..." I heard him say as we waited for the others.
Running my only hand through my hair, I didn't know what to feel, what to say. It was confusing at best.
It wasn't long before everyone started to show up, and one by one, group by group...they all came to the same look of shock that Fox and I shared when they finally saw the body for themselves.
Seno's legs gave out as he sobbed on the floor, Yozora was wide awake as she stared, Akahana wanted to do nothing more than retreat into her own hood. The others...the others just stared.
A frown on Tadakatsu, Nanako and Charlotte. Shock and disgust on the rest.
"Astin's...dead?" Hudson looked away from the sight. "But why?"
"How did it come to this?" Anju's first step closer almost made her crumble to the floor.
"Bloody hell..." Charlotte spat. "Jesus fucking christ..."
For once, Nanako didn't respond to the cussing...not including the acting lesson motive though. All she did was glare past the body, all that anger was divided.
Onto the killer...and herself.
Right when she talked about acting as a better leader too.
Fumi grabbed a hold of Isabi as they both took the sudden death pretty hard.
Seno walked back into the wall as he started to breathe heavily too, the sudden soft slam into the wall then caused everyone to look around. Trying to find the killer solely based on eye contact.
To no avail of course.
I looked back down to the body of the recently deceased...and...I'm sorry, Astin.
You've died for nothing.
"Who would do this?" muttered Sunako, shaking her head at the sight.
"We're dealing with some sick fuck now." I grunted out. Seriously, what the fuck!
A motive was one thing, but a murder without one?
It was either desperation...or something more ugly and gross.
"So someone here killed...but, we weren't given a motive..." the mixologist looked around, cautiously. Yeah...the murderer is right here in the room with us.
All the looks of shock, disgust, rage and obvious sorrow.
One of them is faking it!
"When I get my hands on whoever did this, I swear!" the pyrotechnician seethed where she stood. Right when she vowed to take to the group leader role, this happened.
"Don't worry, we'll catch that bastard." I grunted, still low to the floor as my fist clenched up into a tight ball. It started to feel weird.
"Wait..." I heard Akahana quietly break through the mess, "does that mean...that the second killer we proposed about in the last trial...they're real?"
"I thought we confirmed that the second killer was fake?" Nanako huffed, looking at the little forager.
"Well," Anju leaned in, "it's more of we put a theory of it up and at the time, all evidence pointed to it being not the case..."
The split singer, Hudson sighed, "...so if this is a case of a second killer from the previous trial, then we're dealing with someone who really wanted to get out the first time they attempted this."
Charlotte frowned, frowned real hard to the point it didn't resemble her, I guess. She was fucking pissed too. "The same time if they weren't a killer in the last trial, then this fucking psycho either wants to get out real bad or they're completely fucking sick and just wanted to take a human life!"
The possibility of hedonism.
A few of us that weren't consumed by rage to some degree, which wasn't a lot, were definitely was balling his eyes out during the whole thing and Akahana withdrew into her safe, red hood for some examples.
"...a person killing just for the thrill?" Renji sputtered out, "I...understand the motives to some degree...but taking a life when there's nothing extra to be gained?"
The billiards player crossed her arms, turning her head away. "Trust me. I've seen someone fucked up enough to take lives for the sake of it..."
"I have too," the yanki added in, being one of the calmest people in the room. "People will always be fucked up, but where is this little shitstain going to go? Not like they can leave without a god damn trial."
That's right. The only way out of here is murder.
And that meant having to take a trial.
We'll get that piece of shit in the end!
"Then we'll just have to catch that piece of human trash red handed in the trial," I gave the yanki a nod, trying to ignore Seno's loud cries as he was still on the floor.
I guess we might have a bloody replacement for the roach crier at this rate.
But...I understand where he's coming from. Seno wasn't in the best condition when I saw him earlier…
Just as he finally managed to smile, a sick killer ruined it immediately.
"Since we're all here, it might be best to take things easy and try to solve the mystery here," spoke the troublemaker as he leaned against the door. "Unless the killer got rid of evidence from the room of course."
At first glance, Kyogen seemed like his normal, every day self. He was that calm, but it was clear to me that he was obviously shocked by the sudden out of the blue murder.
He did well to keep his composure. Not many others here could do the same.
At least some level headedness will help out here.
"Since we're all here, that obviously means that the killer is also here," huffed the yanki. "Let's just fucking end this already. They'll fess up soon," he growled as a few didn't seem too keen to be on the receiving end of those fists.
Isabi raised her hands at that, "well, let's not jump straight to violence," she began, waving her hands around to calm the beast, "nothing good can come of that."
"Like what?" the billiards player shot a glare her way.
"For starters," sighed the tired flight attendant, wide awake thanks to this mess. "Beating a confession out of somebody doesn't mean that it's a truthful confession."
"As much as I hate to say it, that's true," Renji crossed his arms. "I heard stories about people going through so much pain and torture to confess to crimes they didn't commit."
"So we should stick to using actual evidence!" beamed Isabi, the best she could to lift the entire situation up. "I think Astin would prefer us to do that than pinning the wrong person."
Fumi jumped in, managing to regain her own composure, though it wavered a little. "I agree! I'd rather play it safe, you know!"
The red eyed mad dog threw his hands up as if he gave up on the whole thing. "Fine, fine. I'll let the bear dish the fucking pain out."
"Speaking of that lanky thing, it's sure taking its sweet time getting here," with a quick glance around the room, he was definitely missing.
I better not have jinxed us.
Maybe he was on vacation too?
...what am I doing? Focus on the murder. I'm being way too relaxed about this! Focus, Suisei!
Astin's dead for fuck's sake!
As I stopped watching the rest, my eyes glided over towards the body in question. It didn't help the anger, it didn't help the thought of some sicko out here killing. I don't know why it's different from a motivated kill, I mean Junkuma's motives are just as bad but...
Why does this motiveless kill bother me so much?
I hate it.
Is it the desperation of the killer?
Is it the sick desires of murder from the killer?
Is it just one without a motive that might give the killer a chance?
I don't know myself but the more I think about it the more I feel like punching something! Argh!
I hate it!
"Damn!" a very familiar voice to me slappd their knee. We didn't need to face the thing that showed up to see if it really was him. "Man oh man. I gave you guys a week off and you guys are already showing signs of withdrawal!"
A horrible sound that was supposed to be that of a whistle played, however this was distorted as hell itself. Loud and irritating. "At this point, I don't need to give you guys any motives. Upupupu!"
"You probably did something to instigate this murder, didn't you?" the pyrotechnician pointed her hand right at the darn bear who just laughed...or, he was supposed to.
"Do you really think I'd spin another murder right after I gave you all a week of free time? Do you think motives grow on trees?!" Junkuma growled like a bear for once. "I'll have you know that they do but that's NOT the point."
"I highly doubt that," Hudson Kusuma Mega Nyoman Ratna Wayan Amir Buana Darma Hasan Ilham Surya Wahyu Yuda Wibawa shook his head at the bear.
"Yeah, seeing as you interfered with the previous trial, you probably interfered with this one as well!" the troublemaker pointed out.
"..."
The bear remained silent. Just watching us as another person added onto something someone else said. It continued for quite a while before the bear slammed his elongated arms down.
"If that's what you guys think of me then fine!" his two elongated arms waved high into the air, the rust being more visible than before. "IF YOU THINK I'M INTERFERING THEN I WON'T INTERFERE ANYMORE!"
"So you were interfering," scoffed the other troublemaker, the actual scary delinquent.
Isabi then got our attention, "um, shouldn't we focus on the murder?"
"Oh shit, the murderer is still in this room!" the mixologist Renji flipped around while tears continued to roll down Seno's face.
I looked back to bear. "Just hurry up and give us the spam file already."
The bear crossed his arms.
"No."
"What do you mean no?!" Charlotte glared the bear down along with a few others.
"Didn't I tell you guys? I. Won't. Interfere. Anymore." It was like an angry, scolding parent. "If you guys are just gonna assume I meddle in things, then you guys...ARE ON YOUR OWN!"
"Why?" came the very tired tone of Yozora.
The bear's grin seemed more maliciously as he said, "technically, you guess you can say that I was practically interfering by giving you guys a little start to your investigation."
"...no...you don't mean..." the medium paused, right as the bear laughed.
"THE SPAM FILES I LEND YOU GUYS, WHO DO YOU THINK DOES A QUICK AUTOPSY OF THE BODY?! ME!" the bear's voice boomed to the point of needing to cover our ears...or only one for me. "I SAID THAT I WON'T INTERFERE IN THIS TRIAL AND SO, I WON'T!"
"YOU GUYS ARE ON YOUR OWN! THIS TIME THE BLACKENED HAS THE ADVANTAGE!" as the bear laughed and laughed, the realisation slowly sunk in.
We'd have no time of death or the cause of death, but any and all assistance from Junkuma was gone. We had more work to do for this case.
"Now if you will excuse me, I'll go wait down in the courtroom. I look forward to seeing just how you manage to do without me. Upupupu!"
He slammed the door on his way out, leaving the sixteen...fifteen of us alone in the room. It was quite packed.
"So...we're on our own." Anju began. "But we don't need his spam files anyway, it's just the time of death and cause of death."
"But they give us a starting point..." Akahana mumbled out, she was pretty silent now as she kept her distance.
"I'll go and see if the spirits can shed some light on this," Sunako began, walking out of the room.
"I'll go with you," Charlotte began, "don't want to lose our lifeline."
Nanako was the next to go. "Same."
As those three left Astin's room, Kyogen began to usher most people out. "With so many people in the room, we might have to wait right outside while others do an investigation."
"I'll stay and watch the body," coughed Tadakatsu, crossing his arms as he got comfortable against a random wall.
"Then I'll stay and give the room a search," I offered as Anju and Fox both shot their hands up.
"I'll stay too and note everything down!"
"The amazing Fox shall lend his knowledge!"
Isabi nodded as she headed out with the others, "then we'll wait out here, I'll swap with you when you leave."
As everyone left the room, Kyogen gave us all a nod. "And I'll watch outside while Tadakatsu watches the inside."
Returning a nod as Kyo left, it was time to get to work. Astin was murdered on our third day of the week-long holiday Junkuma gave us. Definitely some sick fuck's idea of fun. Or they were really desperate to escape.
No matter.
It was time to start the investigation. Tadakatsu leaned against the wall while a few of us stayed in the room, searching for whatever we could. Though my eyes were on one thing in particular, that canister on the ground.
It was clearly knocked over and it was the only thing in reach of Astin.
Getting closer to take a better look, I picked up the canister. Holding it in my hands, it was pretty light. Much lighter than I expected it to be. "Is it empty?" I wondered to myself. I would have tested it...but if it was poison...
Yeah, I didn't want to risk it.
Maybe someone else can shed some light on this? "Hey, Fox." I called out, getting the witch's attention. "Do you know anything about this?"
"Of course Fox does. It's a canister."
"Yeah, but, can you tell if it's empty?" I held the canister over to him, which he surprisingly took off my hands...er hand.
"Fox can," he pushed the button. "All you have to do is press the button."
Watching him press the button I instantly covered my mouth, only for...nothing to happen. "Fox thinks it's empty!"
"...god damn it..."
As the witch fixed up his spooky hat, he tossed back the canister. "Fox will say that the canister was light and empty, the spray test confirmed it."
Wow. He sounded kinda serious there. So now that we know that this canister is truly empty. What's next?
Well, probably the body.
Looking over Astin's body, it was suddenly much more difficult than before. We lost Junkuma's assistance after all. We have no idea how long Astin had been dead for nor do we know how he died. We're dropping like flies and after pinpointing the killer, our numbers will just decrease.
Better focus on the murder. Okay, Astin's body.
Looking at the fallen form of Astin, he looked kinda peaceful.
Astin Luxelle laid on the ground, looking like they fell off the bed. One thing that I noticed aside from the lack of any injuries was his mouth. It was hard to describe, but it definitely wasn't a blank expression, it was kinda like a smile but not quite. The edges of his mouth were definitely pointing upwards, if only a little.
Getting a bit closer as Fox stood nearby, I glanced up to the only people still in the room that might have some semblance of an idea as to what the autopsy would be. "Any ideas about Astin's autopsy?"
Tadakatsu was the first to speak. "I mainly focus on visible injuries, like bruises, cuts and whatever else. I found nothing wrong with his body aside from it being dead." his red eyes widened a little. "Right, I guess I should say that I didn't see any signs of a struggle."
So poison then?
"What about you, Anju?" I turned to see the reporter, taking notes of the scene of the crime. "Have you encountered anything like this?"
The white haired reporter shook her head. "Sorry, Sui," her white eyes drooped a little. "I haven't been in many situations like this. I could try and think of something, but the closest I get is poison and well, there's nothing really connecting us to poison here."
"And what about the canister?" The red eyed yanki was the one to join in, but the witch shook his head.
"It really depends on the poison, and this isn't poison. Fox should know. Fox works with many potions!" putting his hands into his lab coat, the slightly more serious chemist looked back to the empty canister. "If the canister was made to spray poison, the killer would have been poisoned too. Unless it was given as a gift and Fox highly doubts that."
"Why the doubt?" I asked, looking back down to Astin.
Fox simply spun in place. "If it was a gift, then Astin either activated the canister as a test smell with the killer or they used it in their alone time. Remember Fox's test?" Fox took the canister from my hand, pressing down on the button making that empty spraying noise. "Fox can spray when pressed but Fox can also make it spray until it runs out!"
"Huh." Anju began to mumble under her own breath, pen going crazy on that notepad of hers.
"Besides, that's not all! Fox highly doubts it was poison! All poison must be bought from the bear's shop or gotten from the infirmary!" as Fox finished his final spin, he tossed the canister back. "And most poisons show signs and smells! Fox can't smell or see any poisonous connections with this one."
My eyes widened a little. "Up until yesterday when I was discharged, the infirmary was running to get me back up and running, someone could have taken something today, but...since you're a chemist, you would know the effects of drugs on the human body, even if that means poison, huh."
"Poisons are just like antidotes! Hehehe!"
Looking away from my cheeky assistant for this tria or casel, I stood and headed back to the door. "...now, this one. Astin's door was unlocked. Fox and I noticed it was unlocked a couple of minutes ago..."
"It's true!" the chemist-witch sang.
As Anju continued to write things down, she asked the important question. "Why was it unlocked? Did Astin pop into his room and forgot to lock it? Did he plan on leaving immediately? Trust? He was definitely killed in his room."
Tadakatsu sighed. "Whatever the reason, he left himself open to some sort of attack. If he trusted the blackened, who knows how long that sick fuck has been waiting for an opportunity like this."
"Learning why the door was left unlocked is a crucial part to the murder."
"Fox thinks there is another important question."
The white eyed reporter glanced over to the witch, "and what's that?"
With that cute smirk, Fox asked, "if the killer entered Astin's room to kill Astin, why didn't they close or lock the door after running away?"
...
"Why didn't they?" it made sense for them to close the door, but why? "If it was poison, I'd understand running quickly away from it...but closing the door would have helped and you yourself said that this ain't poison."
Anju tapped the end of her pen on the bottom of her chin. "This is turning out to be another mystery. The doors all work properly, so maybe when they left they pulled the door closed but as they pulled it shut, they didn't stay around to see that it didn't fully close? I know that's happened to me a few times."
I nodded. "A few doors I used back home I went to close but had to then pull or push them closed...let's check the door. Maybe the doorknob is busted?" Well, ignoring the fact they were screen doors...
Reaching the door, I began to work on the doorknob. Twisting the doorknob, the deadbolt and latch both moved in and out. Closing the door was pretty easy to do so too. Perhaps it was a case of being absent minded of the door being open?
"The door definitely works…"
Fox looked at me and then to the door. "So was the door unlocked? Or was someone let inside? Fox is curious."
"...Astin letting someone inside?" Now that puts a spin on things. "Possible, but that still raises the fact that the killer didn't close the door for whatever reason. If they closed the door, we wouldn't have known for a day or so."
"Maybe the sick fuck left it open to flaunt that they killed someone?" I heard Tadakatsu offer from the wall.
"If they did that then they're really a sick bastard."
Anju wrote down some more notes. "What if they planned on coming back to dispose of the body? Yes it makes sense that closing and locking Astin's door would be an easy way to hide the body, but that's the first place we'll all look."
"Hmm..."
Then there was the thought of them actually closing the door...
He wouldn't have unlocked it to make it easier for us...would he? No.
My gut was telling me he had nothing to do with this and I felt compelled to believe that monstrous little bear.
Better continue the investigation, we have no idea how long we have to investigate.
"Does anyone know the full details of Astin's room?" I asked, looking around at all the thank you letters, outfits, rewards for singing and many more. "Gotta know if anything is out of place."
"Isabi and I do," Anju responded. "We were the only two that I'm aware of that entered his room way before this holiday started. The only new addition...is that canister."
So, the canister is definitely odd. I would call it the murder weapon, but it didn't have any poison in it, Fox noted that there would be traces of poison in it if it was poison.
"What shall we do now, Suisei?" Fox asked, "look into the canister?"
"It's time to get alibis and accounts from the others first, we need to hear every story. The murder scene this time around is lacking in evidence." I began, "then we'll look into where the canister came from."
"We'll start with collecting accounts here," I began. "Seeing how Astin was present for breakfast, there's a small time frame from when he died. So let's begin. I'll go first."
"After being present for breakfast and learning about the Devil's Right Hand, I-" I recounted my tale to the others, though being the first to encounter the dead body might not have been the best thing to reveal.
"Fox can vouch for Suisei," thankfully the witch had my back. "Fox had Sui test potions and when Fox heard Sui call out for Astin only to go quiet, Fox went to go look and that's how Fox discovered the body with Sui."
As my alibi was vouched, for a bit, Tadakatsu sighed in the same mean way of his. Maybe we should buy a muzzle. "I believe it. We met during that time as well." It was a lot calmer than what I was expecting. "Plus with your arm, any murder is a lot harder for you now, isn't it. You're more victim material now."
"Geez, thanks..."
Now it was time to collect their alibis.
"Okay, who is going next? Remember, just after Tadakatsu's Devil's Right Hand announcement."
"I'll go," surprisingly it was the bleach blonde yanki that stood up. "We met each other right after breakfast ended as you bloody know."
Yep, that was right.
"After that, I just stayed there. There wasn't much to do in this shithole so I just stayed there, enjoying the peace and quiet of not having that masked fucker annoy me every five seconds." He crossed his arms and tapped his foot. "I saw some others while I was enjoying myself."
Wait. "You saw others?" I blinked, "who?"
"As I was minding my own business, I saw Renji go outside, Fumi and Hudson together and I even saw Seno and what a pitiful sight that was."
"Pitiful sight?" Anju mumbled, scooting closer. "What do you mean?"
"I have no idea if he noticed me or not, but his eyes were full of fucking tears, all the while doing some creepy ass laugh like he couldn't breathe. Struggling at best."
So someone else saw Seno laughing so hard it looked like he was crying like me huh. That was good to know.
The red-eyed delinquent leaned back against the wall. "That's all I saw though."
"And we thank you for your cooperation," I added. It was time to confirm those later. Which now left two in the room.
"The amazing, mischievous, king of alchemy, Fox shall go next!" What an introduction. At least he was keeping my rage down.
It was very much appreciated.
"This is going to be difficult for Fox, but Fox after breakfast had been working on potions the night before." Oh no. Those better be not what I consumed today. Well, I'm still standing so it's fine. "Today Fox's day wasn't super busy, so Fox had some orders."
"Orders? Well, it's medicine, right?" Anju scooted closer to the mad scientist witch.
"Mhm! Fox's potions are here to cure!"
Cure? Then what the hell was I drinking?
Pulling his witch hat down a little, he began to mumble. Thankfully it was one of those coherent ones. "Fox delivered two potions before meeting up with Sui to test some more potions."
"And who were they?" asked the reporter as her microphone pointed in the witch's direction.
"The first was Seno. Fox noticed that Seno looked very sad, so Fox made a potion to help cheer him up!"
Upon hearing that, Tadakatsu scoffed. "You can do that?"
"Of course Fox can! Fox is also an ultimate student, you know!" twirling in his pristine, white lab coat. He pulled out a bunch of empty vials! "Fox's Laughing Potion is bound to bring smiles all around!"
So he gave a laughing potion, or so he claims. "Anyone else? Or were those two 'potions' for Seno?" I asked, and of course, the witch nodded.
"The second person Fox made a delivery too was Yozora!" he smiled as he put those empty vials away, somewhere. "Fox gave Yozora s Sleeping Potion to help, but well, it seems she hasn't used it yet if she's awake here."
"So we have to be careful if she suddenly falls asleep mid-trial..."
As a taste tester for Fox's potions, they didn't do much for me. Then again, they might not be anything at all. The only helpful potion I drank was one that Junkuma tampered with.
Whatever that did.
It still goes to say that Fox is an ULTIMATE chemist for a reason. So making things like Laughing and Sleeping 'potions' isn't out of this world when so many other things exist in this world that probably shouldn't be able to.
Like robotic zombie bears that can fire eye lasers.
"After that, Fox made Suisei test Fox's potions~!"
I guess that was it for Fox's alibi. Sleeping and Laughing potions huh?
Now it was time for the last one in the room. Anju.
"Guess it's my turn, huh," she smiled, "well...it's not going to be much..."
"It's fine," I reassured by rolling my hand around. "Just like before, whatever you did after breakfast."
Anju passed over her notepad to the witch. "I haven't done that much," the reporter began as Fox flicked through the notepad. "I mostly stayed in the arcade playing with Kyogen, Isabi, Renji and Sunako. Charlie and Nanako were also there playing a game of billiards."
I had to ask, "did anyone leave during that time?"
The white haired reporter nodded instantly, "yep. Renji left the arcade to refill his monocoins!"
I can confirm that Renji indeed went to go and get monocoins. Let's see if the other alibi's match up then when it's time to ask the others.
"Hm," hummed the chemist. "Notes matched up too, Sui. They're all dated and even timed. Most of it is just in the arcade. It notes that Renji also left for monocoins. Fox thinks this alibi is safe."
"Well we have to confirm with the others first." Speaking of which, we should do that now.
Tadakatsu grumbled, "so you two are going to go question the others now, right?"
I nodded before turning to Fox.
"Now, with collecting alibis from the others, we might have a better chance to put them all together in groups..." I trailed off, thinking about it. Alibis are our biggest assets right now.
Without knowing just when Astin died or how he died thanks to Junkuma's hissy fit, we'd have to wing it with precise time of death, but it was clearly recent. Astin was there for breakfast after all.
So some time after breakfast, that's our range.
Great.
"Fox will go and tell the others that are still there to group up into groups that fit their alibis! Fox thinks any other solos will be suspicious!" and without anyone to hold him back, he darted out of the room.
Noticing he dropped Anju's notepad, I picked it up and handed it back to its rightful owner.
Following Fox right after, I entered the dorm corridors. It didn't take them long for them to form the groups they were with before the announcement. Fox did a real quick job, but then again the dangers of the circumstances made it much more serious than before.
Looking around, the 'arcade group' was together. Kyogen was currently with Isabi and Renji. Hudson was together with Fumi...but that left three loners. Akahana, Yozora and Seno.
Of course it didn't count the ones in Astin's room. Plus, three people were missing. Charlotte, Nanako and the medium.
A quick note to self, go check up on Sunako right after this..
Those three are still doing that ghost seance.
So, as they were all grouped together, I headed over towards the members of the arcade group. "I see Fox had already told you about forming groups."
Kyogen, Isabi and Renji were close to the door, thanks to Kyogen acting as a bodyguard.
"We just need to give out alibis, right?" asked Renji. His orange hair seemed lighter, or was it darker? Something was going on with his hair for sure.
I nodded as Isabi was the one to throw her hand right up. We...were not in a class...
"Isabi...er I was in the arcade all morning!" one of our green haired classmates told the...class? I was pretty sure she corrected herself due to Fox's soulless stare there. "I even brought Sunako up to the arcade to play too. Kyo and Ren were there with me!"
The well-dressed red headed troublemaker nodded, "yep. I was there with them." As Engeki rolled his wrist around, the well-built with definitive muscles friend looked back to Astin's room. "It was pretty fun and we spent all morning there...I still can't believe someone took this opportunity to strike when all our guards were down."
...it was the perfect time to strike.
The one time where all of us had our guards down...
Lastly, the mixologist was the one to add their alibi. "As Isa said, I was in the arcade too for most of the morning and you should know that, Sui," he gave a little nod, "the only time I left was to go and get more monocoins to play. When the announcement played, I was still shovelling scrap in the scrapyard."
"Did you see anyone else besides me when you went to go and work for more monocoins?" The important question was now in the air.
Renji did not hesitate. "On my way to the scrapyard from the arcade, I saw Tadakatsu sitting alone. We locked eyes for a bit and well, I hurried it out of there and then met up with you a part of the way."
Seems Tadakatsu's alibi holds up for Renji.
"Anyone else?"
Sadly, he shook his head. No one else was spotted.
Since we had no idea how much time we really had, I gave a short nod for my thanks and moved on.
It might be better to keep his alibi separate from the solely inside the arcade ones.
Now with most of the arcade group interviewed as what Anju calls it, it was time to move on to the next lot.
Might as well drop in on the other three to get the full group alibi.
"Keep an eye on the ones that have yet to be questioned." I patted the chemist's back as I headed for wherever the seance was. It was just like last time I witnessed the spirits emerge.
It was in Sunako's room.
"You can count on Fox!" he saluted. It was a very goofy salute...
As I entered Sunako's room...I had no idea what I was staring at. For starters, nothing was happening.
"Oh, Sui. What's wrong?" Nanako asked as she noticed me.
"Came to collect alibis," I stated, giving a look back at Sunako. "You three were in the arcade, yeah? Also, what's wrong with Sunako?"
Charlie fixed up her foggy glasses. "No idea. She's trying a seance via possession, but it seems the spirits aren't responding."
"They're not responding?" Did they abandon us too?
The more I looked at Sunako, the more she started to sweat at each failure. It was not a good sign.
"But you need our alibis, right?" the pyrotechnician asked, moving her thick, black waist-length hair out of the way. "McCrimmon over there challenged me to a game of billiards and I took her up on the offer."
As I turned to the brown haired, pinstripe-pant wearing ultimate, she confirmed. "We spent most of the morning there after breakfast."
"What about Sunako?"
The second and more recent owner of a Glasgow smile nodded her head. "She was with Isabi up in the arcade. Practically being dragged all over the place there too."
Well that matches up with what Isabi and Kyogen said.
As I paused for thought, I thought of something else to ask. "Did anyone else leave the arcade from after breakfast to the discovery of the murder?"
"Renji passed on by and left, that was about it though." With confirmation from the forever (unintentional) glaring from brown eyed Yukimura, it seemed Renji was fully accounted for in the arcade. I thought about questioning Sunako, but maybe now wasn't the best time. She was confirmed to be there, after all.
However, someone else was completely taken back as surprise repainted the pool player's face. "He did?"
"Seriously? He passed right by you!"
"He did? Huh...I guess I was too focused on the shot..."
An almost bossy sigh came from the firework expert. "I swear, Charlie..."
Deciding to let them protect Sunako for a bit longer, I quickly bid my goodbyes for the upcoming trial. "Thank you for your time," it was rather robotic as I left, re-entering the hallway.
It was time to ask the rest.
Just five more to go.
Back out in the hallway, as you know, I headed over to the three that weren't grouped together at all. They were in close enough proximity though.
So I approached the one that looked like she was going to disappear off the face of the planet if her hood could let her. "Akahana," I began, "collecting alibis, do you mind if I ask you what you did after breakfast this morning?"
She barely looked up at me, "...I was in my room all day..." she eventually mumbled out, "Fumi and Hudson, they came to check up on me. I stayed there until the announcement..."
As the little red riding hood's eyes shot back down to the ground, I realised.
Wow. What an alibi.
If she was truly in her room all this time, it makes sense why she barely mentioned anything. Still, I should push a little more.
"Did you notice anything? Maybe when they checked up on you? What about on the way back from the announcement?"
She paused for a while. "I saw Seno...talking with Fox after breakfast, something out getting something to cheer himself up...I briefly saw a clear bottle like flask in his hands. That's it..." and once more, she fell silent.
So the potion was seen by another and it looked like Fox never noticed.
Speaking about Seno, as I turned to him, our eyes locked with one another. The sobbing only increased as I approached. "I stayed in my room most of the day!" he sputtered out, "we even met during that time."
Yeah, and you were having such a great time then too, laughing so hard. "Please, calm down and tell me what else you did."
Shaking where he sat, the internet personality eventually pointed over to the witch as he talked with Hudson and Fumi. "I met Fox, I asked for some help. He gave me a potion and I drank it...too much..."
That could explain the laughter I guess.
At least we know that he got the potion from Fox though.
"Do you still have the potion on you?" I asked, getting an odd look back.
"No. It's empty...why?"
I shrugged. "It could help, you never know."
"Ah, well. You might want to check one of the bins then." he pointed somewhere away from the dorms.
"Not in your room?" I asked back, only to get the shake of his head.
"We met in the halls, remember?" he shot back, the tears still residing on his face. "I got rid of it then. Before we encountered each other."
It was clear he wasn't going to say anything more as he curled back up into a ball. Well, I got what I wanted.
Taking notes down on my e-handbook in the truth bullet application, I then turned to the next person on my list.
The last of the lonesome three was Yozora. Now, I expect her to be sleeping the day away, but when it came to Fox's alibi, it seems she was awake for a part of it.
"Yozora, can I have your alibi from after breakfast up till now?"
A short sigh came from the tired stewardess, "After Tadakatsu's announcement I crashed on my bed, I stayed there for as long as I could. Hudson and Fumi came and checked up on before the body was discovered," she yawned out, eyes closing before silence replaced the conversation.
"Yozora..." I shook her a little.
"...sorry...anyway," she was starting to slip. "I asked Fox for some help, so I waited. He then came to my door to drop off one of his sleeping medicines."
"So you met him out there?" I received a nod as it seemed she was starting to fall back asleep. "Did Fox turn up before or after Hudson and Fumi's check up?"
"...before..." before I could even ask myself, she pointed to her door. "If you want, the bottle is next to the bed."
As I glanced over to her room, I asked back. "And what if it's locked?"
It was like watching a zombie as she stood up, heading into her room only to come back holding some clear see-through bottle filled to the brim of some concoction.
"Is that the potion?"
"Yes, the sleeping potion as he called it."
I would have to confirm it with Fox. Signalling him over, I pointed at the potion. "Is that the sleeping potion?"
"Yep! It's still full too." as he gave the potion a look over, he then looked up at the flight attendant. "Make sure to take it in small doses, alright? Don't want you to become a sleeping briar rose or anything close to that."
As they talked, Fox eventually approached me as I asked. "Does the laughing potion look the same?"
"Yep!" he grinned, spinning around. "Anything else?"
"Not at the moment..."
Hm, well there were just two left before I asked any other questions that might not make sense to me.
Hudson Wibawa and Fumi Saito.
"Here for our alibis, darling?" The split singer started us off as they both turned to me. "Fox-darling has just informed us and we already told him."
"But we can tell you too!" Fumi jumped in, retaining that much needed cheery atmosphere that wasn't complete rage like most of us. It was very calming.
"I would like that," as I nodded and took a seat near them, Hudson began to explain his own alibi.
"As you know, after breakfast I went to go look for Seno, only for him to give me the slip." yeah, I remember that. "I soon met up with Fumi before we went and checked up with Akahana and Yozora. However, after Seno ran out during breakfast, I did meet up with Astin. We talked about Seno and Akahana and then parted ways as we went to help some of the others like Seno."
"You did? Anything else?" Gotta note that down. Finally, some information about what Astin was doing!
Sadly, the half and half, uniquely dressed singer shook his head. "Sadly, no. That however, is only my side of the alibi. It's not much apart from those details."
No, those are good details. Thank you Hudson.
"Meanwhile I went to the music recording room to mess around!" Fumi revealed, "after that it's like what Huddy said. We joined up and went to check up on Yozora and Akahana together. Though apparently Seno was a no go for him...BUT I did see him when we parted ways before meeting up with Huddy!"
"You did?"
"Yep!" she then pointed over towards the internet personality who just sobbed some more. "He didn't see me and by the time I recognized him, he was already gone! However he was carrying something, it looked like a thermos or something? Other than that, Huddy and I just checked up on the other two. Oh. Almost forgot, but we did see Tadakatsu sitting all alone. We were planning on checking up on him next!"
Must be the potion.
And I guess it's a good thing you didn't have time, that's a wildcard right there.
Though, as I turned to the creator of said concoction, the cheeky brat just grinned at me as he sat with Yozora.
Anyways… "Thank you, you two. Now I have everyone's alibis." I can only hope we can figure out who this killer is.
"Glad we can help out, Sui!" waved Fumi as I already headed elsewhere with someone on my heels.
"So that's pretty much everyone, Sui!" Fox called out as he skipped behind me, already catching up.
"Yeah, but now we're left with one thing left to check."
Tilting his head in a pretty cute way, from an angle I could see, he asked. "What's that?"
"We might as well see if we can find where the canister came from." with my sole arm, I shoved it in my pocket. "...that won't guarantee anything though, would it?"
"Fox thinks that it should at least be noted. Fox might think that the killer will slip up on where the canisters come from." as he pointed that out, I nodded. It sounded like a good idea.
"Where do you want to check first? The gift shop?"
"Fox might think there's not much time left. Fox will go check the science labs!" he didn't waste any time as he left me alone. I guess I'm going solo.
The journey to the gift shop was uneventful, thankfully. Entering the shop, I started to browse the wares. Again, the same lineup as before. The cheapest stuff was stuff used for murders...to think we could just buy murder weapons here.
Huh...surprised no one actually did that. Then again, it would be hella obvious that they got them from here.
Who knows though.
Nothing is set in stone.
"Huh," I came to a stop as I spied what seemed to be those very canisters in the gift shop. In fact, I remember seeing them yesterday. Right next to regular spray bottles with a higher price as well next to random bricks, knives and nice baseball bats with the metal ones being real pricey in comparison.
"So the killer took one from here...but no one here has an alibi that mentions going to the store..."
Only one thing came to mind.
Someone didn't mention it at all.
A part of me is hoping that it was due to how unimportant it seemed but...we'll deal with this in the trial.
It wasn't like I had much time to consider what to do or how to question.
I wasn't exactly calm either.
But now...
It was time. It was almost uncanny at how the alarm rang with the same, old announcement.
DING DONG BING BONG
"You sickos had enough time to gather evidence here!" Junkuma's voice travelled out from the speakers. "It's time for the rest of you to hunt them down! I can see it on most of your pretty faces. The pure exhilarating expression of RAGE!"
It was time. Time to find this motiveless killer. This killer for fun or desperation. It doesn't matter anymore.
As I arrived and entered the elevator with Fox who ran down the stairs at break-neck speeds to join me, everyone who hadn't arrived quickly trickled in. It was much faster than the previous times.
Then again, they were all at the dorms.
Soon, the elevator started to move, the shifting of the gears and down we went, deeper and deeper.
I guess now's a good time to go over the truth bullets we found at the scene of the crime...and what we managed to discuss while we could.
[Truth Bullets]
Empty Canister
Unlocked Door
Astin's Body (Autopsy)
Fox's Account (No Sign of Poison)
Fox's Alibi
Tadakatsu's Alibi
Akahana's Alibi
Yozora's Alibi
Seno's Alibi
Renji's Alibi
Arcade Group Alibis
Hudson's Alibi
Fumi's Alibi
Canisters (Market)
Potions
It wasn't long before it was time to enter the courtroom. That wasn't it though, there was more. It was time to deal with the most serious trial yet.
There was no motive, no incentive.
Whoever killed Astin did it to murder. There was no guarantee that a motiveless murder would play out the same. There was some sick fuck among us that decided to kill for the fucking hell of it!
It was time to find...
The bastard who decided to kill without a motive!
