Ultimate Trial Resume
Shizu continues to stare at the person who admitted their crime, speechless, even as the rest of the group is screaming around her. How is she supposed to react to this? She hadn't expected anyone to just come out with it, yet here they are.
It's no surprise that Fumika Amari, despite her confession, still looks as cool and collected as ever.
Thinking back over things, Shizu really isn't all that shocked by the revelation. Fumika had been acting rather strangely during the first half of the trial. Even someone as put together as her must have had trouble hiding the fact that she'd stolen her own secret back from a dead man. But still… something is off.
She manages to pull herself together in time to register Hachi shouting, "Fumika, what are you saying?!"
"You… you did all of this?" Tsubame says, her hand clamped firmly on her head.
Morgan smiles serenely, though worry flashes through her eyes. "My, my… are we to take this as your confession then?"
"If you're having trouble processing it, I'll say it again. I swapped secrets with Kaixi after his death." Fumika's voice is unwavering. It's as if she isn't phased by the suspicion thrust upon her at all.
"But, like, you realize what you're saying, right?" Joshua says. "You're basically admitting that you killed him!"
"I never said anything of the sort," Fumika bites back.
Samia's brow furrows. "Oh please, don't act all blasé about it. We were just talking about how the killer knew that Kaixi had their secret. If you're saying that you took his secret, that implies that you killed him too! You can't pretend like that's unreasonable."
"Well, that line of thinking is wrong. I never killed Kaixi." Crossing her arms, Fumika goes even further. "In fact, I never even knew whose secret he had."
"It's obvious that he had yours," Michio points out. "Why else would you take it?"
Chouki also goes on the attack. "And if it isn't yours, then you shouldn't have any problem showing it to the rest of us. You're already in the hot seat."
Gritting her teeth, Fumika relents. "…Fine. He might have had my secret, but I didn't know that he had it."
"We know that Kaixi was sold out by Monokuma because he voted to share secrets, yet you're claiming that you were never told." Kogi levels her with a glare.
"That's because he didn't tell me," Fumika reiterates. "Are any of you even listening to what I'm saying?"
"On the contrary, are you listening to us?" Morgan asks. "We've stated several times why we are suspicious of you, yet you continue to give us as little information as possible. Are you perhaps afraid that you're going to dig yourself deeper into your pit of lies?"
"I must agree, I'm afraid." Sawako stands up straight and tall. "You've given no evidence for your claims of innocence. By your own admission, you took your secret from Kaixi's corpse, but you haven't even shown us proof of that."
"Is it really any surprise that I don't want to show anyone my secret?" Fumika argues. "If I felt comfortable enough taking it from the crime scene without telling anyone, it shouldn't be shocking that I'm continuing to hide it from any prying eyes."
Morgan holds a hand over her mouth. "Oh dear… But I'm the only one standing next to you, now that Kaixi is no more. Am I to take this as an accusation?"
Ignoring her, Fumika says, "This is why I didn't want to say anything. The fact that I was unlucky enough to find my secret on the victim makes me suspicious inherently. The rest of you would have done the same in my position."
"I most certainly would not have!" Sawako declares, a scandalized look taking over her face.
"But, if Kaixi had your secret… how can you pretend… that you had nothing to do with his death?" Pal questions her.
"I told you already. I didn't know that Kaixi had mine." Fumika slams her palms onto her podium. "Didn't you all just finish arguing that the culprit swapped out their secret? That's probably what happened here. They were the ones who had my secret, and they left it in his backpack."
Pantomiming deep thought Soraru scratches xer head. "Hmmm… How convenient that this 'real killer' did the exact same thing that we're accusing you of doing."
"It's no different from what you're all arguing," Fumika states.
Michio shakes his head. "It's a fair bit different, I'm afraid. You can't drop this revelation on us and not expect us to run with it. We've gotta talk this over some more."
Nodding, Shizu says, "That's right. My line of reasoning led me to believe that we should suspect the person whose secret had water damage. You're claiming that this applies to you and, further, that you did take it from Kaixi. If you expect us to believe you, you'll have to give us more information."
"Fine." Fumika sighs. "I figured it would end up like this…"
There's definitely something strange about this whole set-up. Fumika was far too casual with her admittance of guilt. Call her crazy, but Shizu gets the feeling that Fumika is telling the truth. However, gut instinct alone cannot serve as evidence. She'll have to prove what really happened, one way or another.
Nonstop Debate Start
Fumika: I'm not the culprit.
Kogi: But you've admitted that Kaixi originally had your secret.
Fumika: All that I did was swap it out after he died. I didn't do anything else to him.
Soraru: If that's true, then why did you hide it for so long? That's clearly suspicious!
Fumika: I hid it because it's suspicious. I didn't feel like making myself look guilty without sufficient reason.
Tsubame: Then, is that why you're saying it now? You believed that we were heading down the wrong track, so you finally told the truth.
Morgan: No, I believe it was something else. Shizu was so close to unmasking her that she had no choice but to admit this much.
Chouki: She's pretending that she found the body, when she's really the killer!
Hachi: Wait, I just realized something… Fumika's the reason why we thought Kaixi had that totally non-suspicious secret in the first place! She's definitely guilty!
Samia: It would make sense. Since she knew Kaixi had her secret, she planned to leave hers behind afterwards.
Fumika: I told you already. I had no idea that anyone was told who had their secret.
Kogi: Somebody had to have known, and, right now, you're the most likely suspect.
Shizu: There's no denying that Fumika's actions look terrible. However, did she really kill Kaixi? If what she's saying is true, then it's possible that something I was confused about earlier may finally make sense. I just have to find the right place to bring it up.
Body Discovery (Kaixi)
pretending that she found the body
BREAK
"Hold on, Chouki." Shizu raises up a hand. "Did you say that Fumika pretended to find the body?"
"Oh, don't give me that tone," Chouki complains. "That's what she's claiming right now, you know."
Joshua frowns. "I mean, she technically didn't pretend until just this moment. If she really wanted to do that, she would have run to go get everyone after she was done killing Kaixi, right?"
"That's not the issue," Shizu says, quickly pushing past his nonsense. "I know that Sawako and I were the ones who found Kaixi in the gym, but there's something about that which I've found strange for a while now."
"Ooh! Were you still confused how you got tricked into exercising?" Soraru guesses.
Shizu groans. "No." She was a little, but that's not relevant to her reasoning. "The problem is that the announcement was triggered. Does anybody else recall the specific rule for the body discovery announcement playing?"
"If I recall correctly..." Pal starts, "it should play… once at least three people discover the body… Oh."
Punching her fist, Sawako exclaims, "Ah! I hadn't thought anything of it at the time because of what happened to Kaixi, but, now that I think about it, it shouldn't have played if only Shizu and I had found it."
"Then, it seems as though Fumika is telling the truth," Tsubame concludes, a relieved smile forming on her face. "She must have been the first person to discover the body."
Fumika sighs. "That's what I've been saying this entire time."
"If she really did discover the body, then it sounds like she's in the clear." Michio stretches his arms over his head. "Still, what an amazing coincidence… Who would've thought that the person who found Kaixi first would be the same person whose secret the real killer had?"
"Wait just a moment. How does that make her innocent?" Samia cuts in.
"Uh… the announcement, remember?" Michio repeats himself. "She couldn't have done that unless she wasn't the killer. Isn't that how Monokuma said this all works?"
"I thought that was a one-time deal," Chouki mutters.
Morgan snaps her fingers. "Well, whether it was or was not, that does not preclude Fumika from being the culprit. We've already determined that the culprit made a deal with Monokuma once before. Who's to say that they didn't do that again?"
"Huh? What kind of deal would that be?" Hachi asks.
"They made it so that they counted towards the body discovery announcement, obviously," Kogi states.
Sawako looks bewildered. "Why would they do that? They had no reason to even think that would be necessary."
"It's insurance," Kogi replies dully. "If they got caught with their secret, they could claim that they had found the body earlier."
"How would I even take advantage of that?" Fumika argues. "I'd have to have known that exactly two people would find his body. Nobody could have predicted that."
"Hmm…" Soraru scrunches up xer face. "I dunno… If you really weren't the killer, then it's a real bonehead move to not tell everyone that you found the body. And I actually have some respect for you, so I don't believe that you'd make that mistake."
Joshua nods. "I'm still tripped up on the whole knowing Kaixi had her secret thing. Like, doesn't it work out easiest if she's just lying about not knowing?"
"Her actions are bizarre… but that does not mean she is guilty," Pal says, mostly to himself. "We shall have some words… about her actions. However, I believe… it would be wise to hear her out… a little longer."
Pushing both of her hands onto her stand, Hachi shouts, "Yeah! I'm still – I mean, it's still super annoying that she swapped out the secret she had, but I wanna believe that she's telling the truth here."
Samia gives a pained look towards her. "I'm sorry, Hachi, but I can't give her the benefit of the doubt. She hid this for so long… How are we supposed to trust her at this point?"
Before anyone can say anything else, Shizu whistles sharply. "If I'm correct, it appears that we're split into two very distinct, almost equal sized groups. We're getting caught up in shouting whatever comes into our minds again."
"We should formalize the debate like last time," Michio agrees.
"Do we have to?" Chouki complains. "Last time, we had to rely on the bear to set everything up."
"I suppose it wouldn't be an issue if you don't mind the truth being lost," Shizu states, fixing him with her harshest glare.
He backs down, fully cowed. "Fine… whatever."
"Alrighty then!" Monkouma shouts. "That's my cue to get things going again! Hold on tight. Or don't! It'd be funny if one of you fell off."
"Fell off?" Joshua wonders before his mind catches up again. "Oh right, the movement thing." As he says this, the podiums begin to lift up once more, and he clutches onto his as if his life depends on it.
Slowly but surely, the podiums form two opposing lines. Shizu stares over at her opponents. Unlike last time, her side has the numeral advantage, but that doesn't mean that she can slack off. It's up to her to prove that Fumika is telling the truth. She grits her teeth and prepares for the debate to begin.
Is Fumika telling the truth?
She's lying: Kogi, Morgan, Chouki, Soraru, Joshua, Samia
She's being truthful: Shizu, Fumika, Sawako, Hachi, Pal, Tsubame, Michio
Scrum Debate Start
Chouki: Fumika literally admitted that she swapped her secret with Kaixi! That means she's guilty.
Tsubame: The only thing she claimed was that she swapped her secret, not that she killed him.
Joshua: But Kaixi had her secret, remember? Monokuma must have told her that he had it, and that's why she struck!
Fumika: Monokuma didn't tell me anything. The culprit must have put my secret on Kaixi after they killed him.
Morgan: You have no proof of that, nor do you have any proof that you were the one who discovered Kaixi's body first.
Michio: No way, the body discovery announcement going off is proof enough. She had discovered it before Shizu and Sawako showed up.
Samia: What difference does the order make? Of course she would have found it first if she was the killer.
Shizu: The order matters because there's no reason for the announcement to play if she hadn't found the body. She found it when she was alone. There weren't any witnesses.
Kogi: Then, she must have made a deal with Monokuma, just in case she got caught.
Sawako: How does would this supposed deal help her at all? There's no way that she would have known that two people would find the body at the same time. The gym isn't that popular of a location.
Soraru: Why was she even in the gym in the first place? And so early too! You can't explain that one away!
Pal: The gym is not far… from her room. It is not out of the question… that she heard something peculiar.
Morgan: Is she also gifted with the ability of foresight? No, it's more likely that she's lying. Her story is nothing but fabrications.
Hachi: But we haven't even heard all of her story yet! Maybe there's something different that she remembers when she first found Kaixi!
Kogi: What a pain… She's on our suspect list for wanting to hide her secret, and you all still want to believe in her?
Shizu: That would be your suspect list, not the group's. We cannot afford to be trapped by that line of thinking.
Full Counter!
Fumika is being truthful!
Once again, Shizu finishes off their debate. The other side has no more arguments left, and most of them look upset that they haven't unmasked the culprit just yet. More importantly, it appears as though they have a good lead to follow now that everything has been hashed out, thanks to Hachi in particular.
Shizu adjusts her glasses. "I believe that should be enough to convince you all to wait a little longer before condemning Fumika."
"I still think she's suspicious, but I'm willing to believe her for the time being," Kogi says. "If there's any inconsistencies, I won't hold back."
Fumika wipes some sweat off of her brow. "I'm grateful for the opportunity, but it would have been nice if you all did that in the first place."
"It would've been nice if you came clean in the first place, but we can't all get what we want," Soraru snarks.
To everyone's surprise, Chouki actually agrees with xem. "How bad was your secret that you were willing to make yourself more suspicious by hiding it? If you're really not guilty, then you nearly got all of us killed!"
Giving a soft smile, Tsubame comforts Fumika. "Don't worry about it anymore. We don't have to talk about your secret any longer. It shouldn't be relevant anyways."
"Good." Fumika exhales as she rubs her right temple.
Samia asks her a question. "If all you wanted to do was hide your secret, then why did you leave the one you got behind? Wouldn't it make more sense to only take it?"
"If I took it, then everyone would notice right away that Kaixi didn't have a secret on him, and they would assume that he was killed because of his secret," Fumika explains. "The one that I got was relatively inoffensive, so I figured it would be make people dismiss the secret motive."
"But the secret was the motive!" Soraru shouts.
Fumika growls. "Well, I didn't know that until it was brought up during the trial. Remember, I was never told who had my secret. I had no reason to believe that anyone was."
"And since you found your secret on Kaixi, you would have assumed that he had yours all along," Michio adds. "In that case, you would 'know' that the secret had nothing to do with it, because you didn't kill him."
"You really didn't think that someone else had left it there?" Joshua asked.
"Why would I have?" Fumika retorts. "There was nothing at the scene to make me think that it hadn't always been there. Besides, I assumed that the culprit struck someone at random. That way, the secret couldn't be traced to them, and it would be prevented from getting out into the world regardless."
"Actually, if you wouldn't mind, could you describe the scene in more detail?" Shizu interrupts her defense. "Like Hachi said during the debate, we haven't heard a full account of what you found at the time."
"Honestly, it looked basically exactly the same as when I came back later," Fumika says with a shrug. She thinks for a moment longer before correcting herself. "Actually… there was one difference, but that was my mistake, not the culprit's."
"You… made a mistake?" Pal asks.
"When I first went into the gym, I heard water running in the back, so I rushed over there," Fumika clarifies. "That's when I found Kaixi sitting underneath the shower."
"The water was off when I got there," Samia says. "Are you saying that you were the one who turned it off?"
Fumika nods. "I wanted to get a better look at his body, and it was hard to do with the water running. I also didn't want to damage whatever was in his backpack any further."
"So that's why you asked me if I did anything when I discovered the body," Shizu realizes. "You noticed that the shower was off but didn't want to explain why you thought that it had been turned on."
"It would have been a dead giveaway that I knew more than I was letting on. I didn't think it would effect anything that much if it had been turned off, so I left it at that," Fumika says.
Chouki gives her a stink eye. "Why'd you forget to turn it back on? You said the water drew you there in the first place. It seems like you'd remember it."
"It was most likely because she found her secret inside of Kaixi's backpack," Samia guesses, fairly confident that it's correct.
Hachi's eyes light up. "Ooh! I just realized that Morgan was right all along when she said that the culprit wanted to draw people into the back of the gym! Cause that's why Fumika went right over there, right?"
"Ah, I suppose I was." Morgan gives a little bow. "I'm pleased that the spirits did not play a cruel joke on me by feeding me incorrect information. If only I had been able to listen a little further and discover when their trap went off…"
Fumika regards both of them with puzzlement before returning to Samia's point. "That was part of it. The other reason was that I was worried I would be found at the crime scene. I knew that Sawako exercised in the mornings, and she could come at any minute. In my haste to get out, I forgot to turn it back on."
Giving a small frown, Sawako apologizes. "I am deeply sorry that my schedule caused you such grief."
"Don't apologize!" Chouki shouts at her. "She lied to us about this. If she wasn't afraid of you, she wouldn't have made that mistake and wouldn't ever have told us any of this."
"Oh…" Sawako looks conflicted. "I still feel guilty for being the cause of fear, but I am glad to hear that I was of assistance to the rest of you."
It's hard to tell with Kogi wearing a facemask, but it seems like he's scowling. "What time did you arrive at the gym if you were worried about Sawako? It had to have been early if even she wasn't there."
"Hey! You never answered my question either!" Soraru yells, bouncing up and down. "Why'd you go to the gym in the first place?"
"Because I heard some suspicious noises coming from the gym," Fumika explains.
"But how'd you do that? Were you out of your room at the time, cause our rooms are soundproofed?" Soraru challenges her.
Shizu snaps her fingers. "She wouldn't have to do that. Don't you recall me posing a similar question last trial? It should explain how she heard something."
Character Profiles (Fumika)
"Fumika told me that she would sometimes open up her door in the middle of the night, just in case she can hear something going on," she tells xem. "That must be what happened here as well."
"You're bringing that up again?" Fumika looks at the floor. "You're really determined to let everyone know that they can just enter my room whenever they want, aren't you?"
"…That was not my intention." Shizu fights to keep her embarrassment down.
Michio gives her an award-winning smile. "Hey, no worries. I doubt any of us would take advantage of your door being open at night. We're all friends here. Plus, you seem like you can take care of yourself. Anyone who'd try anything would be in for a rude awakening."
"My door isn't always open," Fumika hurries to explain. "I just crack it open if I wake up in the middle of the night for whatever reason, just in case. Then, I close it again when I'm satisfied that nothing's going on."
Joshua rubs the back of his neck. "Does that mean that you heard something last night? I thought we agreed that Kaixi was killed this morning."
"That was our initial assumption," Shizu replies. "If Fumika has information to the contrary, then we will have to adjust our reasoning."
"W-well, what about it?" Hachi wrings her hands together. "Did you hear something in the middle of the night? Or maybe you woke up around six-ish and that's when you heard it?"
Fumika lets out a distressed sigh. It's clear that nobody will like her answer. "I woke up around 4:30 in the morning. Just in case, I decided to listen for anything happening outside. When I cracked my door open, I heard clanging noises echoing down the hall."
"Wait, at 4:30 AM?" Shizu interjects. "Are you certain of that?"
"That's what it said on my Monokuma-issued monitor. Unless you've found a way to tamper with someone's clock without going into their room, I'm certain that that was the time," Fumika says.
"How peculiar…" Morgan mutters. "What on Earth could someone be doing at that hour?"
"They were murdering Kaixi, duh!" Soraru declares.
Pal shakes his head. "That cannot be correct. We know… that the gym is closed during the night. If Kaixi was killed… in the gym, then that leaves… a very big problem for us."
"Namely, why would the killer wait so long to finish the job?" Michio asks.
Samia clicks her tongue. "We were talking about this earlier, right? The culprit would have killed Kaixi around midnight if they had him trapped in the gym. There's no reason that they should have been doing anything at four in the morning."
"What if they were setting up the crime scene? That'd make a lot of noise, and it'd explain why they were still doing stuff after they killed Kaixi." Hachi looks proud of her deduction.
However, Kogi brings reality into the equation. "Things would have taken time to set up, but not four to five hours worth of time."
"They could have wanted to get some rest before destroying the gym," Tsubame reasons. "I know that I would find it difficult to sleep with the smell of blood everywhere around me."
"But they could have trashed the place beforehand without breaking out the bloodbags," Chouki counters.
Michio clicks his tongue. "That'd be for the best anyways. It'd make the blood look fresher since it wouldn't be drying for as long. Plus, with the energy exerted from wrecking the place, they could have an easier time going to sleep, without worrying about being too tired to do it when they woke up."
"Maybe we've got everything all wrong," Morgan wonders. "Perhaps the gym was destroyed before Kaixi set foot in the gym. The culprit could have ambushed him when he walked in during the morning."
"That's not possible," Fumika states, conviction in her tone.
Morgan gives her a puzzled smile. "Whyever not?"
In response, Fumika lets one of her hands rest on her podium. "Because, when I heard the noises, I went over to investigate. The gym doors were locked tight because it was nighttime, so I couldn't go inside. However, I could hear someone inside as they broke the place. Even after that died out, I could hear fainter noises coming from in there."
"Whoa… you caught the culprit in the act." Joshua holds onto his head, looking awestruck.
"I stayed out there until, eventually, I didn't hear anything coming from inside, other than the quiet sounds from one of the showers," Fumika continues. "Something had obviously gone down in there, so I waited."
Pal's eyes widen. "Were you out there… for the rest of the night?"
"It isn't that long of a wait. The gym would have opened an hour and a half after Fumika was first alerted," Shizu says. "As Fumika was clearly listening for quite some time, it wouldn't have been that long after she stopped hearing things."
She realizes that her comment may have been insensitive only moments after she says it, but Fumika doesn't appear to be annoyed by it. "The main point is that I waited out there until the moment the doors opened at 6 AM. Everything was exactly as you all saw it, minus the shower being on."
"So they really did kill Kaixi last night," Hachi mumbles.
With a clenched fist, Michio says, "But that doesn't make any sense! They had to have killed him earlier if he was dead last night. They wouldn't have left him alone for hours on end inside the gym."
"I'm just telling you what I experienced. Don't blame me if it doesn't match up with how you thought things went down," Fumika replies, anger starting to seep into her voice.
"He definitely couldn't have been in the gym because he was in the greenhouse last night," Soraru argues.
"However," Morgan counters, "we have just heard the evidence which contradicts that. Clearly, you are mistaken."
"Nuh uh." Soraru puts xer hands on xer hips. "Joshua told me that he was on guard duty at 4 AM, so he must've been there!"
Morgan frowns. "Has it occurred to you that Joshua might have lied to you in order to hide his laziness?"
"Uh…" Joshua begins to sweat.
Not one to be phased, Soraru gleefully states, "Oh yeah, totally. I already caught him in a lie already. But it's not just his word. Shizu swapped shifts with him last night, so it's also her word. She's a lot of things, but I can't really call her lazy."
"Hmm… I see. I believe that we discussed this earlier as well." Morgan then turns towards her. "Is all of this true, Shizu?"
Shizu resists the urge to throw her pen at Joshua. They're all relying on her word to help solve everything. Truthfully, she doesn't know whether Kaixi came up to the fourth-floor last night. Given Fumika's testimony, he must have been in the gym at that time, and Shizu believes her. Still, something is off about all of this. What is she supposed to say?
"Any reason you're being so quiet?" Kogi asks, rousing her from her thoughts.
"…Just thinking something over," she half-tells the truth. "It's something that's confusing me. I believe that Fumika is telling the truth about what she heard." She takes a deep breath and curses herself for what she's about to say next. "However, I also know that Kaixi was there in the greenhouse last night."
"You really did see him then…" Samia mumbles. "Yeah, that figures. Just our luck."
Chouki pouts in her direction. "Hey, what gives? If you saw him up there, then there's no way he got into the gym."
"If you don't believe me, then you should at least believe this," Shizu says. It's taking a lot of her energy to keep herself calm in the face of the lie she technically told. She really does have a good reason for it, as there's evidence that heavily suggests that he at least came up to the greenhouse.
Soraru's Account
"Both Soraru and Joshua heard someone coming up to the fourth floor around 4 AM last night," Shizu explains. "As I've stated previously, nobody here has claimed that they went up there, so it can only be him."
"…Fine." Chouki crosses his arms. "At this point, it doesn't make sense not to come clean. Fumika's already admitted to something way worse."
"See, I told you he was up there," Soraru declares. "Apologize to me for not believing in me. Also maybe to Joshua as well."
Joshua lets out a nervous laugh. "Uh… that's fine. Really. If uh… if Shizu's sure about it, then I guess I am too?"
"Why are you so uncertain? You were the one who supposedly set this all up," Samia points out.
He winces. "Uh… you know me. I've never been certain about anything at all in my life. Not even once."
Sawako rescues him from his new gravedigging apprenticeship. "We're all in agreement then that Kaixi was not inside the gym prior to midnight. Furthermore, he must have died sometime after four in the morning."
Scratching his forearm slowly, Pal asks, "Then… are we to distrust Fumika's word? She was very clear… about Kaixi being dead… before she entered the gym."
"Both of these accounts cannot be true at the same time," Morgan states with such conviction that, for a moment, Shizu forgets that she's simply stating the obvious.
Hachi presses her index fingers together nervously. "But I really wanna believe that both of them are right."
"I know what I saw." Fumika slams a fist into her podium. "Shizu has to be mistaken somehow. That's the only explanation that I have."
Kogi scoffs at her. "Shizu's more trustworthy than you are in this trial. You're the one that's wrong."
Tsubame holds her hands out in front of her. "Please wait a moment. Let's not turn this into a contest to see who we believe more. We should figure out why there's a discrepancy without fighting with each other."
As Shizu flips through her notes, she wonders if she made the right choice. She's certain that Kaixi was the one who rode the elevator up, but claiming that as the undeniable truth has only muddled things further. Is there a way for her to resolve this contradiction? Or will she be forced to admit her lie in front of everyone? For the sake of her credibility, she needs to work hard during this debate.
Nonstop Debate Start
Fumika: I was there when the gym opened up at 6 AM. Kaixi's body was already there.
Soraru: No way! Kaixi was still up in the greenhouse until he went down a little before six!
Sawako: If that was the case, then he would have had to pass Fumika to enter the gym.
Fumika: I didn't see anyone enter or exit the gym, least of all Kaixi.
Kogi: What about the culprit then? It's strange you didn't see them leave if you heard them smashing up the gym inside.
Morgan: It's as I said early. They must have escaped when Fumika went to check the showers.
Joshua: So… Kaixi had to have been inside the gym, except that we uh… we know that he wasn't. How does that make any sense?
Michio: The timing of everything has been really weird… Maybe someone messed with all of the clocks.
Hachi: What if there was some other way to get into the gym? Then Kaixi could have gotten in after 4 AM.
Pal: Could there have been… more mischief courtesy of Monokuma?
Fumika: Shizu has to have been mistaken. Or maybe lying.
Chouki: If anyone's lying, it's you!
Tsubame: Please… Fighting isn't getting us anywhere.
Shizu: That's… a lot more options than I was expecting. I suppose everyone really is trying their hardest to figure out this mystery. One of those might actually be true. If Kaixi really was in there, then it could only be related to that…
Garden Closet Hatch
some other way to get into the gym
BREAK
Shizu looks over towards Hachi. "I think you're onto something there."
Looking simultaneously surprised and pleased, Hachi says, "Really? I was just throwing the idea out there because it sounded like something from a mystery story. I was really right?"
"I can't fully confirm this to be true, but I believe so," Shizu affirms her position. "There may very well be another hidden way to get into the gym, despite the fact that it's locked overnight."
"I dunno… That sounds kind of convenient, right? I mean, if there's a secret passage into the gym, doesn't that kind of defeat the whole purpose of locking it in the first place?" Joshua asks.
Pal purses his lips. "No… rather, it is precisely because the gym gets locked at night… that there may be an alternate path inside. In order to create an opportunity… Monokuma may have included it… for that very reason."
"So, the culprit found out about this hidden pathway and took advantage of it to confuse us all." Kogi mulls the concept over in his head. "It's possible, if that pathway actually exists."
Ever the skeptic, Samia chimes in with her own doubts. "You haven't actually said where this hidden path actually is. Are you stalling for time while you try to come up with something?"
Shizu grits her teeth. "Of course not. I was getting to it before everyone else spoke up. Besides, it should be somewhat clear where it would have to be. Consider where Kaixi was seen last. That's the room that connects to the gym."
Samia blinks. "The greenhouse?"
"Nuh uh," Hachi denies. "It can't be in there. I've spent a whole lotta time there, and I didn't see anything like that." She pauses as she pokes her cheek. "Um… although, I guess most of that was in the garden with the bees, so maybe I could've missed it? Sorry… I got too excited."
However, Soraru comes in to back her up. "Nah, I totally would have seen it too. I spent a long time figuring out that sprinkler console, and I was in there for almost an entire day. If anyone would have found it, it would have been me."
"But uh… would you really be looking that hard if you're more concerned with the plants?" Joshua points out hesitantly.
"Well, obviously the passageway is hidden by the plants. There's nothing but plants in there," Soraru argues. "Or it would be hidden by plants if it existed, which it doesn't, because I am smart."
"You're all thinking of the wrong place." It's taking a lot of her energy to not yell at them to shut up. Why won't they just let her explain? "It's not in the greenhouse proper nor in the bee room. It's tucked away inside the small closet between those two rooms."
"Oh." Shrugging, Soraru says, "Never mind what I said then. Ignore everything!"
"If only… I could convince my brain… to do that," Pal mutters darkly.
"That closet is rather small, but I do not think most people would spend a good deal of time in there. It makes sense that nobody has found it yet, save for the culprit," Sawako reasons.
Hachi still has her doubts. "Huh? Didn't we search that closet right before the trial started? I don't remember seeing anything secret passage-y…"
"That's because we mistook it for a simple storage space," Shizu explains.
"Oh! Then that hatch…" Hachi goes quiet as she realizes the truth.
Shizu nods. "Exactly. There's a trapdoor on the floor of the closest. It's well hidden, and I only happened to notice it by chance when I was investigating after the rooms first opened up. It appears to be a shallow place to miscellaneous garden tools, but I believe that there's another hatch inside of it, one that is far more well-hidden."
"You didn't actually confirm this during the investigation though, correct?" Morgan casts doubt on her point. "So, you cannot say for certain that this is the case."
"I've already said as much myself. However," Shizu states, "there is evidence that suggests that the hatch is an important part of the case. After all, someone tried very hard to hide its existence."
Hachi raises her hand, as if waiting to be called on. "I noticed that too, but I didn't think too much of it since there wasn't much connecting it to the crime scene. But it was super weird that they stuck it shut and filled it up with dirt."
"It's not too strange that a hatch might be locked," Michio claims.
"No, no, I said stuck shut, not locked," Hachi denies. "That hatch didn't even have a lock on it!"
"They must have glued it shut then." Samia grips her forehead and sighs. "The glue in the main storage room is pretty strong. I remember that Kaixi got his shoe stuck in some of it a few days ago, and Shizu and I really had to pull to get him loose. They probably thought nobody would put in that much effort to open something that isn't in the gym."
"You also said it was filled up with dirt…" Tsubame closes her eyes. "Could that mean that they attempted to obscure the rest of the passageway just in case someone managed to break the glue seal?"
Clicking his tongue, Michio adds, "Plus, the gym is right below the greenhouse…"
Shizu twirls her pen around her fingers. "You've all summed up my reasoning quite well. There were multiple layers of obfuscation surrounding the trapdoor in the closet, despite the fact that the crime supposedly took place in the gym. Adding on to this, Kaixi was last confirmed to be in the greenhouse, despite Fumika's testimony. All of this leads me to believe that the hatch leads into the gym."
"Don't be stupid!"
Chouki raises his finger as he points towards her, a grimace etched onto his face. "You weren't the one who was digging around in that mess. I was, and I'm sure there's no double secret trapdoor in there. You're just making things up."
"I didn't make any of this up out of nowhere," Shizu claims, feeling a headache coming on. "If you follow my line of reasoning-"
"Your line of reasoning doesn't have any physical evidence backing it up," Chouki shoots back. "You're really not going to trust that I wasn't slacking off, are you?"
Shizu balks. "What? I wasn't claiming anything of the sort! You were of great assistance during the investigation, I assure you."
"Then actually trust what I'm saying and listen to me," Chouki declares.
Does he feel self-conscious about not being able to find the passage that everyone else is starting to believe exists? Is that what this is all about? That's… honestly a little refreshing considering his normal attitude towards everyone, but Shizu can't help but wish that he showed it in ways other than shouting down her ideas. Now, she's stuck with having to prove him wrong.
Rebuttal Showdown Start
Chouki: Just 'cause that hatch was hard to spot doesn't mean that it's a secret door to the gym!
Chouki: I guess it's possible to fit your whole body through if it did open up at the bottom, but it doesn't do that.
Chouki: I was searching that hatch thoroughly, and that's not easy with all that dirt in the way.
Chouki: There were a lot of things in there, but I never even felt anything like a handle or a lever or whatever would open up another hatch.
Chouki: Don't discount my word just because you didn't get your hands dirty!
Chouki: Besides, even if it did exist, there's no way anyone would be able to use it to safely get to the gym.
Advance
Shizu: The announcement of the trial starting was very soon after we even got the door to the hatch unstuck.
Shizu: No matter how much you dug, it's impossible to claim that you were able to find everything.
Shizu: It's not a knock on your skills; it's basic time logic.
Shizu: It's very possible that the greenhouse and the gym are linked in this way.
Chouki: Gah! Fine! Maybe I could have missed it in there.
Chouki: But my point still stands: nobody's using that hatch to get to the gym.
Chouki: The greenhouse is above the gym, so the path would link them vertically, yeah?
Chouki: Then how the hell would they survive the drop down to the gym?!
Chouki: There's nowhere for them to land safely.
Chouki: I definitely didn't feel a ladder or a rope in there, so they couldn't have used those to climb down.
Chouki: It'd be suicide to use your proposed method!
Shizu: It seems as though Chouki hasn't fully thought everything through. Not that it's surprising that he missed it. He's been so focused on the greenhouse that he hasn't considered the other part of the equation. Time to show him his mistake.
Rock-Climbing Wall Platform
nowhere for them to land safely
BREAK
"You're wrong," Shizu declares with a flourish of her own. "There very much was a place for them to land safely."
"The gym's the tallest room in the building. Don't tell me you think that they landed on a bunch of gym mats or something," Chouki growls at her.
Before Shizu can say anything, Sawako speaks up. "Actually, I believe that I understand what Shizu is about to say. If you were going to enter from the gym ceiling, it's very possible that you could land on top of the platform that's at the top of the rock-climbing wall."
"…Yes, that's exactly what I was going to say," Shizu confirms, a little embarrassed that she had been beaten to the punch.
Chouki coughs. "…Oh right. The platform." He rubs the back of his neck as a blush creeps steadily onto his face. Evidently, he had forgotten about it in the heat of the moment.
"With that platform… the issue of getting down safely… becomes a non-issue." Pal snaps his fingers. "Furthermore… since you would enter… through the greenhouse… you would not need to climb all the way up… in order to use it."
"Let's not get too carried away," Fumika says. "Remember what I said earlier. The culprit was inside the gym throwing stuff around. I'd like to think that they didn't somehow sneak past me when I went into the showers. It'd be safer if they went back up through the greenhouse. But that would mean that they'd have to scale the rock-climbing wall."
"And it'd be after they smashed everything up too," Hachi expands on the issue. "They'd be dead tired after that, right?"
Shizu shakes her head. "Maybe so, but that shouldn't have been an issue for them."
How was the culprit able to head back up into the greenhouse?
A. They actually scaled the rock-climbing wall again.
B. They used a staircase.
C. They used a pulley system.
D. They didn't and left through the gym doors.
"The platform has a retractable staircase built into it. That's how they got back up," Shizu explains.
Michio taps his head with a finger. "Ah, so that's where that staircase came from. I was wondering if Monokuma somehow managed to cobble it together because someone wanted to look up there or something."
"I was able to climb to the top without the help of Monokuma," Sawako states with pride. "It was only thanks to all those in the gym cheering me on! Without their energy, the staircase could very well have remained a secret."
Shizu doesn't remember anyone other than Joshua actively cheering for Sawako, but that's not important right now. What matters most is that the truth is finally starting to take shape. "That should clear up your doubts."
"Damn it… I can't believe I walked right past it without noticing it," Fumika curses herself. "If Michio saw it, how the hell did I not see it? Was I that lost in my own thoughts?"
"You were probably thinking about how you're a dirty liar who stole from a dead man," Soraru says in a chipper tone.
Fumika's eye twitches, but she still averts her gaze. "…I guess my secret was weighing heavily on my mind…"
"Beat yourself up about it later," Kogi scolds her. "Focus on the task at hand. With the staircase and the hatch combined, it's obvious there really was a way to move between the greenhouse and the gym, even when the doors to the gym are locked."
Suddenly, Chouki grimaces. "Ugh… I had a thought. How easy would it have been to carry a body down those stairs?"
"There wasn't that much room from what I remember, but I think it would be possible," Sawako answers. "May I ask why you were wondering?"
Chouki glances off to the side. "I thought the culprit might've dropped him off of the platform. Never mind."
However, Michio looks intrigued by the possibility. "Hold on. That could have happened. Kaixi's body was covered in a lot of bruises. Some of them could have been consistent with a fall of that height, but it's difficult to tell given all of his other injuries."
"Could that… have been the killer's plan too?" Pal questions. "By attacking him so viciously… we would assume that his injuries… were sustained in the fight."
"Well, like I said, I couldn't determine all of the wounds that were inflicted on him before he died, so it's possible," Michio replies.
Shizu says, "We can't be certain for sure, but I believe that it would make sense if he did indeed fall to his death. Whether they dropped him by accident or on purpose, they must have realized that you would have picked up on the cause of their injuries during your autopsy."
"And, though it may be confusing," Fumika surmises, "it would eventually lead us to the rock-climbing wall. It's the only thing high enough to fall from in the room, maybe even in the entire building."
Kogi also has some extra thoughts. "If he fell from that height, it would have created a huge blood splatter on the ground. That'd be suspicious as all hell if they didn't cover the rest of the room with blood."
Soraru clenches xer fist. "Then we'd find out about their little secret tunnel! Did they seriously desecrate his body just to hide that?"
"I believe that their main goal was still to make it appear like there had been a struggle," Morgan claims. "That his bruises confused the cause of the death may have been a beneficial accident.
With groan, Joshua says, "Yeesh… it's like every one of the culprit's actions solved multiple problems at once. Talk about efficient…"
"And all of this stemmed from their discovery of the path between the two rooms." Shizu feels a shiver go down her spine. "That they were to take advantage of it so effectively is very worrying."
"However, Kaixi was the one in the greenhouse. Does that mean that he was the one who used the passage?" Tsubame wonders.
"I don't think that's it," Samia counters. "If he knew about it, he definitely would have told the rest of us at some point. It just makes more sense that the killer is the one who took advantage of it."
"They must've snuck into the gym after midnight, climbed up through the hatch, and waited for Kaixi to show up," Soraru claims.
Sawako is quick to rebut this. "That should not be possible! The wall is much harder to scale than it may appear. Even I was barely able to make it to the top. I do not mean to insult the rest of you, but I find it difficult to believe that most of you would be capable of such a feat. Unless…" She gasps. "You don't mean to finger me as the culprit?"
Tsubame comes to her defense. "If Sawako was guilty, I don't think she'd have climbed to the top at all, let alone show us that the staircase existed."
"Then, the culprit must have been lurking the greenhouse instead," Michio says.
"Nope! Joshua set up guard duty in there," Soraru retorts. "There wasn't any point in time for someone to sneak in there." However, as xe says this, xe glances over at Joshua, only to see his guilty expression. "…Oh come on dude."
"About that guard duty…" Shizu begins.
Joshua's Account
"Joshua only arrived at the gym at three in the morning. He missed his shift completely due to taking a nap that went on longer than expected."
Soraru facepalms. "I'm never trusting you with anything important again."
"Hey, I didn't mean to sleep for that long, honest!" Joshua waves his hands around wildly. "I wasn't even gonna nap, but people at dinner were talking about how tired I looked and how I needed to get some rest, so like…"
"I don't remember saying anything like that," Samia says.
Kogi crosses his arms. "Me neither."
Hachi nods her head along with them. "I definitely didn't say that either. Is that why you didn't show up when my shift was over?"
"I'm sorry…" Joshua whines. "I know someone was saying something like that."
Laughing at his woes, Michio asks, "Who were you even talking to?"
Joshua shrugs. "Ugh… I don't really remember. Maybe I was that tired after all."
"You're lucky you're nice and funny. Otherwise, I'd throw you out like that." Giving him a stern glare, Soraru says, "But you're gonna have to work off your debt to me!"
"…Yeah, that's completely fair," Joshua relents, not putting up any fight.
Clearing her throat, Shizu gets them all back on track. "The point is that the culprit had a period of time, after Hachi turned in for the night at 11 PM, in which they could sneak inside and prepare to strike."
"They wouldn't have had to wait… in the greenhouse either. If they wished to give themselves secrecy… they could stay in the gym… until Kaixi arrived," Pal muses.
Chouki slams his fist down. "Something must have happened in the greenhouse when the culprit revealed themselves to Kaixi."
"Yes. Let us discuss those events in further detail," Morgan proclaims. "We must uncover this truth posthaste."
What actually happened in the greenhouse? Shizu's certain that it's an important part of the killer's plan. However, it's not clear if everything went exactly as they wanted it to. There may very well be evidence left behind that reveals a crucial fact of the case.
Nonstop Debate Start
Sawako: Kaixi was in the greenhouse prior to his death. If the passageway was there, then he must have come into contact with the culprit.
Fumika: Not necessarily. He might not have had any idea that the culprit was there.
Tsubame: Was he taken by surprise?
Chouki: There's no way you'd be able to sneak up on him. The greenhouse is too quiet when there's nobody else there!
Morgan: If the culprit was emerging from hatch, that would certainly make a sound…
Samia: They were trying to kill him. There must have been a struggle of some kind.
Joshua: Wouldn't that leave evidence behind though? Like, at least a few bloodstains or something…
Soraru: Kaixi's kinda gullible. He probably got tricked and lured into the hatch.
Pal: There is a difference… between being trusting… and being blissfully unaware. He would have had some suspicions… of foul play.
Michio: I know everyone already dismissed this, but there is the chance that he found out about the hatch on his own.
Kogi: And he happened to check it out at the same time that the killer was making their moves? Get serious.
Hachi: Come on guys! One of us has to be right! Let's think about this a little more.
Shizu: One of those options sounds more believable than the rest, given the facts of the case. Not to mention the rebuttal to it was rather lacking.
Missing Plant
must have been a struggle
BREAK
"I agree with Samia," Shizu calls out, bringing the chatter to a halt. "There's evidence to suggest that the culprit attacked Kaixi at some point in the greenhouse."
Samia looks proud of herself. "It makes the most sense. They were planning on killing him, so why would they hesitate to strike the moment that they saw him."
"What exactly is your evidence?" Fumika asks.
"Soraru is the one who brought it to my attention," Shizu states, gesturing in xer direction. "From what xe told me, one of the potted plants went missing sometime after xe was last in the room."
Xe punches the palm of xer hand. "Wait a minute! It was the culprit that did it, not Kaixi! Agh… they totally tricked me! I thought he'd stolen it, but they must've clobbered him with it, taking the evidence with them afterwards!"
"That's almost accurate, but I don't believe that they took it from the crime scene. They simply hid it away," Shizu corrects xem.
Having understood what she's getting at, Chouki chimes in. "A potted plant went missing… I found a bunch of ceramic shards and leaves in that hatch. That's where they stashed it."
"It was right under my nose the whole time, and I never realized it?!" Soraru is fuming. "I knew it! I knew that the culprit hated plants! It's a conspiracy!"
Joshua scratches his head. "It's a conspiracy that they used an improvised weapon? I don't really get it."
Sawako clears her throat. "If I may be so bold, I have an issue with this claim. Would they culprit truly just smash Kaixi over the head like that? Given the rest of the planning, it seems… inelegant? Is that the right word? I feel as though the culprit would try something sneakier."
"They actually might have. Using the plant as a weapon might have been a spur of the moment decision after their initial plan failed," Michio answers her.
Raising an eyebrow, Kogi says, "Sounds like you know something about what they did."
Michio huffs. "I should hope so. It'd be a problem if I wasn't able to pick up on it."
Ah, so that's it. Shizu understands what he's talking about. That fact of the case hasn't come up yet, mostly because it didn't matter up until this point. Now that they all know that Kaixi not initially attacked behind locked doors, it's time to finally bring it up.
Michio's Autopsy of Kaixi
"When Michio was examining Kaixi's body, he found evidence that Kaixi had been strangled prior to his death," Shizu informs everyone.
"It wasn't fatal," Michio is quick to reassure everyone, "but the markings around his neck tell the story well enough. I think that the culprit waited for him to turn around after revealing themselves. Then, they tried to strangle him to death, only for them to fail. He was probably still winded from the attack."
"And that's when they grabbed the plant and smashed him upside the head," Fumika finishes.
"It does not have to be… exactly that," Pal reasons. "It could also… have been an accident. When Kaixi managed to break free… of whatever was strangling him, he could have slipped… hit his head on the table… and knocked the plant onto his head."
Joshua bites his lip. "Hold on. That'd leave bloodstains though, right? But we didn't find any in the garden at all. Doesn't that mean he couldn't have been attacked there?"
"You've forgotten something important about the crime scene," Shizu explains. "It may have been a deliberate cleanup or luck, but there was a way to ensure that there weren't any bloodstains."
How did the culprit hide the bloodstains?
A. There weren't bloodstains in the first place.
B. They disposed of the evidence with bloodstains on them.
C. The sprinklers washed them away.
However, before Shizu can speak, Soraru shouts out the answer. "Duh, the sprinkler system kicked in. Bloodstains won't last long if a bunch of water rained onto them!"
"…Oh right!" Joshua smacks himself in the head. "I was still thinking in terms of the gym. Never mind, just ignore what I said. Sorry about that!"
"Even then, we already know that the culprit cleaned up the plant," Chouki says with an eyeroll. "It's not rocket science to think that they also could have done something about any bloodstains they left."
Hachi's eyes light up. "Oh! But if they used the sprinklers to wash away the bloodstains, would that also explain why they stuck Kaixi's body in the shower? Cause he'd already be a little wet from the greenhouse!"
"I'm still sure that the main reason's because they wanted to throw off the time of death, but I'd say that's a good secondary motive. I'm not sure how much water would be detectable with all of his wounds, but it could have given them the idea to use the shower regardless." Michio gives her a thumbs up for her theory.
She blushes. "Aw… thanks! I was just spit balling again."
"Still, what a bout of good fortune for the culprit," Morgan muses. "That the sprinklers would kick in so soon after they attacked poor Kaixi is very lucky."
"Those things kick in all of the time. It's not that unreasonable," Kogi says.
Soraru frowns. "Yeah, but they don't all go on at once. Each of the sections turns on according to different schedules, all with different amounts of water."
"That does sound rather complex," Tsubame admits. "Perhaps we should talk this point over more, just to be safe."
"What even is there to talk about? Who cares how the culprit cleaned up after themselves? It's not going to change anything," Kogi mutters bitterly.
To that, Sawako gives him a disappointed look. "If we understand how they did things, it may shed light on other aspects of their crime. Surely we have already shown that earlier in this trial."
As Kogi simmers down, Shizu prepares to listen once again. Truthfully, she was also ready to dismiss this line of thinking as irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, but she recalls having similar thoughts about a lot of the evidence she'd uncovered during the investigation. Most of it had turned out to be very valuable. Therefore, it would be foolish to think similarly here.
Nonstop Debate Start
Kogi: The culprit washed away the bloodstains. So what? That's the obvious thing to do.
Morgan: Ah, but the issue is the method that they used, not simply the fact that they did it at all.
Kogi: Sprinklers or not, I don't see a difference.
Pal: If they used the sprinklers… it was only the fortune of the gods… that saved them.
Joshua: You mean they just got lucky, right?
Hachi: In that case, they didn't think they were gonna need the sprinklers.
Pal: Using a plant to bludgeon him… was a mistake. They… had not planned for that.
Fumika: But they were planning on killing Kaixi. It's hard to think that they wouldn't have anticipated there being blood at all.
Sawako: That alone does not mean that they used the sprinklers. They could have used something else. They may not have known how to work the sprinklers.
Soraru: It took me ages to learn those controls! It's not as easy as it looks.
Kogi: So, they wiped it up with something else they brought. None of this has helped us understand anything at all.
Shizu: So that's the connection… I'm finally starting to understand the true scope of the culprit's plan.
Sprinkler Incident
may not have known how to work the sprinklers
BREAK
With a snap of her fingers, Shizu commands everyone's attention. "The culprit absolutely knew how to work the sprinklers. We've seen evidence of this these past few days. To claim otherwise is foolhardy."
"We have?" Sawako looks puzzled by this.
Of all people, it's Joshua who figures it out. "Dude! The sprinkler prankster!"
Kogi rubs his forehead. "No way…"
"They're no sprinkler prankster… they're a sprinkler murderer!" Soraru declares with vigor. "I told all of you that they were evil! I was right about literally everything!"
"Is that true?" Tsubame whispers, clutching her braid fiercely. "Did someone go through all of that trouble all those days in a row for the sake of this plan?"
"The timing fits," Shizu confirms. "All of this started the day after Monokuma revealed the motive. From that point onward, they had committed to killing in order to protect their secret."
Samia grits her teeth. "Soraru had been really vocal about proper plant care. They literally were riling xem up this entire time, enough so that there'd be someone in the gym for them to kill."
"Then, all they would need to do is wait for Kaixi to be the one who was standing guard." Fumika glares at the floor.
Morgan nods solemnly. "They likely knew that he, of all people, would be someone who would volunteer. Any of us could have predicted that much about his character. That he would take a night shift is an easy guess too."
"Son of a bitch." Michio looks angry with himself. "They probably got a lot of practice in while they were messing with the settings too."
"Everything worked out so perfectly…" Hachi moans. "They had someone to antagonize in the one place that's secretly connected to the gym. How… how cruel." By the time she's done speaking, she looks sick to her stomach.
With a heavy sigh, Kogi says, "Sorry. I was wrong about this not being important. I'll listen more in the future."
"It's understandable that you felt that way," Shizu replies. "I'm also tempted to skip past things that aren't directly related to the identity of Kaixi's killer, but we shouldn't take shortcuts. Because of this, we've got a better understanding of the culprit's plans."
"Your truth… lacks conviction!"
Though Pal is the one who had shouted, even he looks sorry for what he's saying. "My apologies Shizu… but I cannot accept what you have put forth."
He's more polite than most people who try and counter her claims directly, so Shizu decides to give him the same courtesy. "I'm assuming that you're referring to the culprit being behind the sprinkler incident. What reasons do you have to disagree with that?"
"It's not so much… disbelieving them as it is… interpreting it differently," Pal attempts to explain.
Shizu adjusts her glasses. "I'm not seeing any other way to interpret what I've said."
"I see…" With a sigh, Pal readies himself. "You believe yourself to be… Cassandra… but the disbelief you experience… is well justified."
The way that Pal is speaking is starting to muddle Shizu's thoughts, but she forces herself to press onwards. Though his vocabulary is sometimes odd, he's proven himself to be a capable thinker, at least when sirens aren't involved. Besides, she's curious as to the nature of his objection.
Rebuttal Showdown Start
Pal: You seem to believe… that an outside party messing with the sprinklers… was crucial to the crime.
Pal: However, I cannot accept that… to be the truth.
Pal: I contend… that there was no sabotage involved.
Pal: How many people… truly knew enough about the sprinklers… to know if they had been messed with?
Pal: How many people still… truly checked?
Pal: No, all of this mess… was a fabrication… on the part of the true culprit!
Advance
Shizu: We know for a fact that Soraru checked that the sprinklers were messed with, and I trust xem on that issue.
Shizu: Or are you implying that Soraru is the culprit?
Pal: Soraru… is a known trickster.
Pal: Would you knowingly trust Hermes… with the truth?
Pal: No, I believe that it is much safer… to assume that xe was lying about the sprinklers.
Pal: Xe acted enraged… to put xer plan into motion… and waited for xer victim to agree to stand guard.
Pal: Xe had the perfect opportunity to strike… last night.
Pal: By acting as a victim… xe would avoid becoming a suspect.
Pal: A cunning plan… spanning multiple days… all of that points directly to Soraru!
Shizu: Ah, so Pal has been suspicious of Soraru for a while now. I can't fully blame him to be wary of xem, but xe's definitely innocent in this case. I should have proof of that already.
Joshua's Account
last night
BREAK
All it takes is a single question for Shizu to shut down Pal's argument. "How could Soraru possibly have snuck off to kill Kaixi if xe was with Joshua for all of last night?"
Pal freezes in place. "The… entire night?"
"Well, the entire night after, like, 3 AM," Joshua corrects. "We had a late night gaming session… or would it be more of an early morning gaming session?"
"The important part is," Shizu interrupts him, "that the two of them met before Kaixi died and were together up until this morning."
"Surely… they could not have spent the entire time… in each other's company," Pal claims, though he sounds unsure of himself. "Would they not… have at least one bathroom break… throughout all of that time?"
Soraru shrugs nonchalantly. "Yeah, we had a few, but so what? They only lasted, like, five minutes at most."
"While that might be enough time to run over to the greenhouse and kill Kaixi, it's definitely nowhere near enough to set up the crime scene," Fumika reasons. "Even if xe took multiple trips, it would be ludicrous to believe that would be feasible."
"Uh… I feel like I should point out that the bathroom is right across from the rec room." Joshua puffs out his cheeks. "I'd have to be blind to not notice xem walking away from it."
"Blind, or asleep," Morgan adds.
"…Oh right, that too." Looking embarrassed, Joshua pouts.
Tsubame gives him a concerned look. "Joshua… did you doze off during your game night?"
When Joshua blushes yet remains silent, Shizu decides to tell everyone what she knows. "If I recall correctly, Soraru did mention something along the lines of him falling asleep during one of the bathroom breaks."
"Yeah he did, but it was only once," Soraru informs them. "It was kinda silly walking back inside and seeing him slumped over. It got less funny when I had to find some way to wake him up. Shaking someone awake gets way less fun after a few minutes."
"Hold on. If Joshua was asleep, then Soraru could've had as much time as xe needed to get the job done." Chouki glares over at xem.
"Whaaaaat? No, that's crazy," xe dismisses him.
Kogi rolls his eyes but still comes to xer defense. "We only know about this because Soraru told us. Why would xe bring it up if xe was guilty?"
"Not to be rude, but I have seen criminals make very simple mistakes that completely gave them away," Sawako says. "Something like that isn't out of the realm of possibility."
"But xe really did shake me awake," Joshua implores. "And it takes a lot to wake me up too! I remember sleeping through a tornado once."
Rubbing his forehead, Pal says, "Forgive us… for not fully believing you… when you are defending your friend."
"Joshua may be oblivious, but even he would notice that something was up if Soraru woke him up after killing Kaixi," Fumika retorts, her arms crossed. "The culprit splattered all of that blood around, and some must have gotten on them at some point. If Soraru was the culprit, xe would have had to wash it off before heading back to Joshua."
Michio snaps his fingers. "Xe'd have no way of knowing when Joshua would wake up, so I doubt xe'd have wanted to waste time drying off. Since Joshua didn't mention xem being wet, I'd say that's proof enough."
"Um…" Tsubame weakly raises a hand. "Couldn't Soraru have just… blocked the blood with a sheet or something when xe was handling anything bloody?" She frowns. "Oh wait, no, then xe wouldn't be able to see what xe was doing."
Actually, that theory gives Shizu a spark of inspiration. Quickly, she speaks up. "I think you're on the right track. Not that Soraru did such a thing, of course, but that the culprit pulled a trick similar to that."
"You're saying that they somehow blocked the blood during all parts of their crime, even when attacking Kaixi, correct?" Sawako asks.
"Yes," Shizu confirms. "In fact, I know exactly what it is." Given that the crime started in the greenhouse, there's only one thing that it can be. In addition to this, it should also be impossible for Soraru to use this specific thing, so long as her reasoning holds true.
Missing Beekeeping Suit
Shizu calls upon Hachi to back up her claims. "Hachi, if I recall your testimony correctly, you said that one of the beekeeping suits had disappeared since the last time you checked."
Hachi nods rapidly. "Yup! Someone took one out last night. And those suits cover your whole body. So then you're saying…"
"That's what the culprit used to keep themselves clean," Shizu finishes for her.
"That's kind of an important clue," Michio says. "Why didn't you bring that up earlier? We might've tied the crime to the greenhouse sooner."
"B-but I didn't think they were connected, because everyone was saying that, like, it all went down in the gym," Hachi says, guilt creeping into her voice.
However, Michio relents and looks guilty himself. "Ah, yeah, I guess so. I mean, I feel like I might've put two and two together, but I can't really expect people who haven't done this kind of thing much in the past to think the same way."
"If it went missing, then where is it now?" Tsubame asks. "Did they wear it with them when they left the gym?"
Chouki scoffs. "If anyone saw them wearing it, it'd be suspicious as hell. They stashed it somewhere, obviously."
"It must be… inside of the lockers," Pal insists.
Clicking her tongue, Morgan says, "Ah… that would make sense. We've already asserted that the culprit used Kaixi's locker to stash their cooler. It only follows that they could not use their own locker if it also stored evidence."
"A beekeeping suit, either covered with blood or damp from being washed off, would give away a lot more about the crime," Kogi mutters to himself. "They'd risk Hachi knowing when it went missing, and, even if that didn't happen, it would make us think more about the greenhouse than they would have wanted."
Fumika looks over at Shizu. "You brought all of this up, but you don't think that Soraru did any of this. I don't think so either, but was this supposed to convince us at all?"
Shizu raises her glasses. "If my line of thinking is correct, then it should." Having said this, she turns back to Hachi. "Were those suits custom designed for each of us to wear specifically?"
"Uh…" Hachi rubs her cheek. "I don't think so? I think they were meant to be used by as many people as possible, honestly. I think there were a few custom ones, but they were all there when I looked."
"Then it can't be Soraru," Shizu concludes. "Xe wouldn't have taken one of the standard suits."
"Why not?" Joshua asks.
Apparently, Soraru has picked on her line of reasoning. "Have you looked at me before? I'm short! No way I'd fit into one of those things. Just ask Chouki. He's almost as short as I am!"
In response, Chouki makes a choking noise and glares at xem. However, he still bitterly admits, "…Xe's probably right. Those suits cover your whole body, so it'd be impossible to move around or hold things easily."
Kogi says, "Then Soraru's innocent. End of discussion."
"It appears… as though I made a grave error." Pal looks frustrated with himself as he struggles to apologize. In the end, he says nothing, instead refusing to make eye contact with Soraru.
Xe isn't about to let that one slide. "Huh? Huh? That's it? You ignore the perfectly good alibi that I gave, and that's all you've got to say?"
Having been admonished, Pal lets out a quiet. "…Sorry."
"Eh, good enough for now. I'll milk you for a better one later." Apparently satisfied with that, Soraru returns xer attention to the discussion.
Kogi has a few more words to say. "You all need to stop accusing the people who don't have any motive. First Shizu, now Soraru. Quit wasting our time."
"Forgive me for not trusting the list which you provided and just so happened to include yourself in," Samia accuses him.
He remains completely unaffected by her statement. "And? It's already been substantiated by other evidence."
Samia attempts to come up with some kind of retort but, from her pained expression, she has none. Instead, she backs down, all while continuing to glance back at him.
"We've uncovered a great deal of the killer's plan," Tsubame says, getting them back on track. "Have we come any closer to identifying them?"
"Surely, we must have," Sawako confirms. "I would like to believe that we've, at the very least, eliminated several suspects. That narrows things down significantly."
Morgan sighs and waves a finger in her direction. "I am remiss to admit that whittling down a list is not enough to catch them. Without solid evidence, there are just as many people whom it could possibly be."
"But what else is there to talk about?" Joshua asks the group. "I feel like we've covered everything, right?"
At this, Shizu shakes her head. "No. Now that we know about the passageway between the gym and greenhouse, some of the details may have changed. Given that we've thoroughly exhausted their initial setup, I suggest that we think once more about their actions after killing Kaixi."
"I was thinking similarly," Fumika say in support. "What I witnessed this morning had me confused, but I think that I understand what happened now."
Hachi gulps. "A-and this is gonna tell us who killed Kaixi?"
"…I don't know yet," Shizu admits. "However, I'm starting to get a good idea of who it might be. We just need to talk a little more."
For once, she doesn't get any pushback to her suggestion. Perhaps it's because of how long the trial has gone on for, or it could be that she's played a key role in revealing so much of the culprit's plan that nobody, not even her harshest skeptics, think that she killed Kaixi. Whatever the case, it doesn't matter. She needs to look through her notes again.
Nonstop Debate Start
Kogi: The killer moved Kaixi's body from the greenhouse to the gym, and that's where they finally finished him off.
Pal: The ghoulish crime scene… had to be set up… to support their narrative. But… what of their actions next?
Tsubame: Fumika heard them breaking everything at around 4:30 in the morning, and she stayed out there the entire time.
Fumika: There's no way they were still in the gym when I went in there. I would have seen or heard something.
Morgan: Are you certain that they weren't hiding somewhere at the scene?
Fumika: Positive. The only noise was the shower, and it wasn't that loud. I'd have no problem hearing their footsteps.
Sawako: If that's the case, then they must have returned up the secret passageway before Fumika entered! The staircase wasn't still lowered, after all.
Joshua: Then, they cleaned up the mess they made when strangling Kaixi and sealed up the hatch, right? What'd they do after that?
Hachi: They must've run back to their room after they were all done.
Samia: But then they'd risk the chance that someone would notice them wandering about.
Chouki: It's the middle of the night. They've got no reason to think that anyone would be out there.
Samia: But there were people last night, and neither of them witnessed anything. It doesn't matter what they planned for if reality doesn't match up.
Michio: If they didn't go back to their room, then the only other option is that they stayed hidden in the garden area until the body discovery announcement.
Soraru: That's even more risky! They knew about the guard schedule, so they'd know someone would come in eventually.
Kogi: Then, they also knew about how lax Joshua was with it.
Shizu: We're deep in speculative territory now, and that means that the amount of shaky reasoning has increased tenfold. I need to think back to what's already been established, and that should reveal the truth. The killer's identity is right within my grasp…
Soraru's Account
witnessed anything
BREAK
"Samia," Shizu calls out, "If I'm not mistaken, you're referring to the fact that Joshua and Soraru were present on the fourth-floor last night."
Samia gives a hesitant nod. "That's right. Why? Did I somehow miss another party being up there, beside the killer and Kaixi I mean?"
"That's not my issue. The problem is what you said about them not noticing anything," Shizu explains. "They actually heard something vital, something which we had previously dismissed given what we believed to be true."
"Ooh! Ooh!" Jumping up and down, Soraru shouts, "You're talking about the elevator! Don't say anything; I already know that I'm right."
Joshua whistles. "Uh… the elevator? You mean how we heard it going up and down? What's that got to do with anything? I thought we already knew that Kaixi came up at four and then…" He trails off as he realizes. "Oh hang on…"
With a gasp, Tsubame says, "Didn't we originally think that Kaixi was the only one who used it? But that can't be right because… because…"
"He was already dead at the time." Fumika slams a fist onto her podium. "You said the elevator went back down right before six in the morning, right?"
"Yup, you've got it." Soraru gives her two thumbs up.
Michio looks stern. "By that point, Fumika had already heard the culprit messing with the gym. Everything considered, the only logical option is that they were the ones who took the elevator down."
"My, my, how bold of them to do such a thing," Morgan says, bringing a hand up to her cheek.
"Bold…" Sawako mutters to herself, a small frown forming.
A small thump comes from Samia's podium as she kicks it in frustration. "Of course… I'd overlooked that completely. Damn it…"
"I believe that most of us… had done similarly. That information had not been relevant… for quite some time," Pal consoles her. "The culprit must have considered this… when they made their escape. If they ambushed Kaixi in the greenhouse… they knew that it would be expected that he would… make his way down there at some point."
"No way they did that on purpose," Chouki retorts. "They couldn't have predicted that anyone would be around to hear the elevator moving in the one room where you can hear it."
"Ah, you're correct. Perhaps I have… designated them… too much credit," Pal bashfully admits.
Soraru lets out a hearty laugh. "Man, it's a good thing Joshua and I were up there, or else you'd all have no idea what they were doing."
"Heh, I guess playing video games finally has paid off. "As Joshua says this, he winces. "Uh, actually, scratch that. That was kinda morbid…"
"I'd say that it's even luckier that Fumika heard the noises coming from the gym," Tsubame insists, giving her friend a small smile. "If she hadn't been so dedicated in staying outside until the doors unlocked, we wouldn't have any reason to think that Kaixi didn't go into the gym on his own."
"It's almost frightening how much of this plan's failings came down specifically to coincidences," Michio says. "If it was execution error, that'd be one thing, but having people be in the wrong place at the wrong time… I don't even want to think about what would've happened otherwise."
Hachi looks over at Shizu. "S-so, does that tell you anything, Shizu? I mean, you said that knowing the killer's actions would, like, give us more clues. Did you think of something?"
The cogs in Shizu's brain are working overtime. She just wants to be certain that she's connecting the right things before she speaks. Given Hachi's rapidly increasing worry, she opts to say what she's thinking. "Yes, it has."
"Really?" Hachi brightens up. "You're not lying?"
"No," Shizu denies. "I have good reason to believe that this information is vital to our goal. Knowing that the culprit took the elevator-"
"Please cease your speaking!"
Shizu coughs as Sawako's interruption catches her off guard. Of course. Why had she no anticipated something like this? "What on Earth is the problem this time?"
Looking extremely apologetic, Sawako gives her a deep bow. "I am very sorry for my rudeness, but I cannot let your reasoning stand unchallenged. I have been thinking this over for a while, and I cannot help but find these supposed actions strange."
"It doesn't matter if they're strange, because we know that they had to have occurred," Shizu argues back. "Someone took the elevator down, and the only person that can be is the culprit. We've already proven that it wasn't Kaixi."
"That may be so, but that does not mean it is the killer who did that," Sawako insists. "If you would not mind, I would like to speak my piece."
Shizu minds very much. This is what she gets for starting to soften her opinion of Sawako. It's utterly absurd that, at this point, there's a fault with this specific fact. Still, something must have bothered Sawako enough for her to make fuss. Actually… No, that can come later.
Rebuttal Showdown Start
Sawako: We've already mentioned how risky it would be to return to your room after killing Kaixi.
Sawako: If anyone saw you, you would be suspected immediately.
Sawako: The culprit had no reason to take the elevator when the stairs are much safer.
Sawako: Being inside of the elevator gives you no ability to avoid anyone coming inside.
Sawako: If they did take the stairs, then we do not have evidence of when they went back to their room, throwing our timeline into disarray.
Sawako: And, as for why nobody else has claimed to use the elevator, they must be fearful of being suspected!
Shizu: I don't even need to hear more to find the fault in her reasoning. Sawako must have only just thought of this argument if she's forgotten about that. Let's clear this up quick.
Destroyed Staircase
the stairs
BREAK
"The killer had no choice but to use the elevator," Shizu states. "You need to be more careful when you make your arguments."
Sawako flinches. "I… I realize that I made my declaration in haste, but that is because I found the circumstances to be odd. Is that truly so wrong?"
"It's more baffling," Shizu admits. "After all, you were the reason why the killer had to use the elevator."
"Hmm? What did I do?" Sawako flashes her a concerned look.
With an eyeroll, Kogi answers. "You blew up the stairs. How'd you already forget?"
"Technically, that was Monokuma," Michio points out. "I mean, it's not like you did it deliberately. I don't know if any of us knew that he'd explode."
"Ah!" Straightening her posture, Sawako goes rigid. "I did! I'm very sorry about that!" However, confusion starts to seep into her voice. "But wait, is that truly the reason why the culprit used the elevator?"
"I believe so. Like you said before, the elevator is far more of a gamble than the stairs, so they would only take it if they had no other choice." Pushing up her glasses, Shizu says, "And we've just covered why they would have no choice."
"Are you certain? I thought that I only destroyed one of the staircases. They would have no trouble using the other one," Sawako insists.
Fumika huffs. "Since they left via the greenhouse, they'd have access to the one that went down from the 4th floor to the 3rd floor, but not the one that goes from the 3rd floor down to the 2nd floor. That's an important distinction."
"I… I see." Sawako pivots to face Shizu and gives her another deep bow. "I am very sorry for my interruption."
Shizu lets out an annoyed sigh. "Next time, think a little more before you shout out."
"Aw, come on," Joshua begs with her. "It didn't take that long to clear up. Plus, it brought in some new information to consider, right?"
"It's something that I had already considered," Shizu snipes back. "If I had a little more time to speak, I would have brought it up."
Her confession only brings Sawako more misery. "I… I see. I will do better in the future. That is my guarantee to you!"
"See to it that you do," Shizu mutters.
She only realizes that she might be being overly harsh when Samia, who also does not care much for Sawako, speaks up in her defense. "That's enough of that, Shizu. Not everyone's going to be able to connect everything immediately in a tense situation like this. You're getting arrogant again."
Shizu reluctantly relents. "…You're right."
"If I may speak," Pal begins, "it appears that we… have stumbled onto a great clue."
Tsubame is quick to agree with him. "If we're sure that the killer had to use the elevator because the stairs were out, then that means that they had to get down to the 2nd floor for something."
"Indeed… That is something… that obviously helps us… narrow down the culprit," Pal finishes.
Shizu looks around the ring of podiums. "…No, it does more than that. Given everything else, I believe it points directly to one person."
"Eh?!" Hachi gapes at her. "R-really? You know who the killer is?"
However, Chouki is more skeptical of her claim. "No way you've found that out just by knowing they took the elevator. That still leaves a bunch of people looking suspicious."
Soraru smirks at him. "Huh? Huh? Are you suuuure? You're sounding kinda nervous there."
"No, I'm not! Quit making stuff up!" he shouts back.
"For your information," Shizu elaborates, "that's not the only factor I'm considering right now. It's an important piece to be sure, but I have more backing up my reasoning."
Michio winks at her. "Sounds like you've got all of this figured out then. Well, there's no reason to keep us in suspense. Who've you got in mind?"
Shizu takes one last look at everyone's faces, each of them curious about what she's going to say next. She wonders if any of them have the same suspicions that she has. But, no, that shouldn't matter. Whether they're on the same train of thought as her right now is irrelevant. If they didn't have the confidence to mention this yet, then it doesn't matter to her. Like it or not, she has to be the one to make a statement.
Before she speaks, she goes over what she knows about the culprit one last time, just to be absolutely certain. This person is someone who knew that Kaixi had their secret and specifically targeted him because of this. It's very likely that they knew him well enough to manipulate him into being alone in the greenhouse last night. They also needed to be clever enough not only to discover the hidden passageway but also to concoct this elaborate scheme which hid most of their methods. Finally, they had a reason to return to the 2nd floor after committing their crime.
All of this considered, that one person still sticks out in her mind. Even without this, she's noticed that they've been saying some strange things throughout the trial, very much as though they've been purposefully throwing unnecessary confusion around. With a deep breath, Shizu reveals her suspect.
Select Someone
Morgan Feysonn
"The culprit is most likely Morgan," Shizu declares.
A silence sweeps over the courtroom as everyone turns towards Morgan. For a moment, Morgan stares blankly back. However, her stoicism quickly fades into soft giggles. "Well now, that's very rude of you," Morgan admonishes her. "I understand that you don't like me, but that's no reason to decide that I'm a heartless killer."
Shizu is quick to deny these allegations. "Bias has nothing to do with my reasoning."
"I thought that you, of all people, would be aware that unconscious bias sneaks into all aspects of our thoughts." Morgan tuts. "How very cruel of you…"
Gulping, Hachi mutters, "I-is she right, Shizu?"
"If you want to nitpick, then fine, perhaps there is some unfairness in my thoughts," Shizu hisses, "but the bulk of my deductions hold all the same, no matter what I think of you."
"Oh?" Immediately, Morgan switches up her argument. "Then, perhaps this is your idea of a joke. I must say, you have been spending too much time around Soraru if this seems like an appropriate time to do such a thing."
At this, Soraru blows xer stack. "Hey! I always pepper my jokes with the truth in these kinds of situations! Or sometimes with lies if I wanna trick someone into saying too much. Leave me outta this!"
"My apologies," Morgan replies, though she barely makes an effort to sound genuine. "I seem to be under a little bit of stress at the moment. I may lash out more than I should."
Shizu can feel her hands shaking as she clenches them into fists. This isn't how she wanted any of this to go. However, she doesn't get the chance to say her piece before Kogi interjects. "What a pain…" he groans. "Quit deflecting."
"Deflecting? Me?" Morgan's eyes go wide. "I assure you that I'm doing nothing of the sort. I am perfectly innocent."
"For someone so innocent, you've got an odd way of showing it," he barks back. "You're not letting Shizu explain anything."
"What is there to explain?" Morgan asks. "She's either made a mistake or seems to find my suffering amusing. What more would you need to hear about that?"
Sawako chooses this moment to step in as well. "No, I believe that is something that you asserted on our own. Shizu has not said anything of the sort."
Giving a false look of surprise, Morgan gasps and covers her mouth with her hand. "I did? Oh dear… I had not meant to do that."
Shizu bites back a snarky reply in favor of laying out her evidence. "Let's start with the most concrete reason. The culprit took that elevator down to the 2nd floor at little before 6 AM. They must have been returning to their room at the time. If they lingered around anywhere else, then they risked being spotted by someone else or being seen coming from a strange area when the body discovery announcement played."
"That's it? You suspect me because my room happens to be on the 2nd floor?" Morgan laughs. "I shouldn't have to tell you this, but there are five others who also share that designation."
"Actually," Tsubame meekly speaks up, "it's only four others now. Kaixi was one of the people on that floor."
Morgan shrugs. "Either way, that in no way makes me more suspicious than any of them. Is it too late to bring back my accusation of bias?"
Unfortunately for her, Shizu is fast to shut her down. "I'm not finished yet. That alone isn't enough. Consider your relationship with Kaixi. I think that most of us have noticed that the two of you have spent quite a bit of time in each other's company."
"That… is true," Pal muses aloud. "I recall that you… would have him tag along with you… on multiple occasions… including to Kogi's meeting."
"And you definitely took advantage of his kindness a lot too," Samia adds. "You were always the only one who'd ever accept his offer to make you breakfast, even when everyone else denied it."
"And now you're using my friendship with him as evidence against me? I fail to see how this is in any way compelling." Giving a dismissive sniff, Morgan gazes at the back of her hand with disinterest.
"Is it now?" Shizu cannot help but smirk as she speaks. "Surely, someone who spent that much time around him would have noticed his nature, that being how eager he is to help others and how much he seems to trust others. It would be very simple to understand, therefore, that he could be manipulated to your liking?"
At this, Morgan goes still. "…Manipulate him how, exactly?"
"You were able to get him to agree to guard the greenhouse," Shizu answers.
Morgan raises an eyebrow. "Really now? I did that? I wasn't even involved in setting up that guard duty. That was all Joshua, at least to my knowledge."
"Wait… hang on." Joshua bites his lip. "I might be remembering wrong, but I feel like you did kinda bring up having guard duty be a thing. I think that was, like, right before movie night."
"It must be the spirits playing tricks on you. I said no such thing," Morgan hurries to say.
However, Hachi says, "Um… no, you definitely did. I remember 'cause Kaixi and I both offered to help after you said it."
"I heard it too." Fumika lends her support with a stern tone.
Shizu taps her foot. "That makes four of us in total. Can you truly continue to play dumb?"
"I'm not playing anything!" Morgan shouts, for once looking legitimately frustrated. However, she manages to recover without much incident. "I must have forgotten that I said that. I have much more important things on my mind than every little thing I might say over the course of several days. And, regardless, that proves nothing. So what if I did say that? I wouldn't have known when Kaixi would go on duty."
"I dunno. The two of you did talk a lot. I wouldn't be surprised if Kaixi mentioned it to you at some point yesterday," Michio supposes.
Tsubame begins tugging on her braid. "Um… It's not much, but I want to say that there would be a natural way to bring it up without arousing suspicion. Kaixi and Morgan were both helping me out yesterday, when he left suddenly to go to the greenhouse. If… if she truly wanted to know his schedule, that would be a way to surreptitiously segue into it."
Morgan's hands start to tense up. "These are all simple coincidences. You cannot prove anything with these weak arguments."
"Huh… a 'coincidence', is it?" Kogi leans forwards. "You've been saying stuff like that for a while now. 'It was lucky that all that happened', 'that was a bold move', 'could that really have happened?'…"
"…And what of it?" she hesitantly asks.
He shrugs. "I dunno. It sounds like you've been trying to sow dissent amongst the group without having to directly make any arguments."
Sawako gasps. "Wait a moment… I cannot speak for Morgan's intentions, but this did just occur. The reason I had made my previous argument was because I had thought about something that she had commented on!"
"Are you serious? She's been manipulating us this entire time?!" Chouki clenches his podium with both of his hands.
"Hold on, you're letting your paranoia overtake your reason!" Morgan calls out. She waves a hand out to the side. "You must calm yourselves, lest you make a terrible mistake."
Hachi looks nervously over towards her. "S-so, you're not the killer, r-right?"
"Of course not, my dear," Morgan soothes her. "All of this has been a misunderstanding that has gotten far too out of hand."
Shizu refuses to let that statement stand. "I haven't misunderstood a thing about this situation. You are the most likely suspect in the crime. You haven't even attempted to rebut any of my points."
To this, Morgan gives an exaggerated sigh. "I haven't been given the appropriate amount of time to do so. You're far too hasty for your own good."
"You've had plenty of time! You just wasted it by attempting to stop me from saying anything in the first place," Shizu argues back.
Tsubame steps in to mediate. "Let's not fight any more about this. No matter what happened to few moments ago, it sounds like Morgan is ready to defend herself. We really should hear her out." Her comment is directed specifically at Shizu.
"Thank you, Tsubame." Giving a small curtsy, Morgan clears her throat. "If you're finally willing to listen, I will show you where you have gone astray."
If Shizu had any doubts of Morgan's guilt beforehand, all of them have been washed away. What kind of innocent person reacts by immediately attempting to discredit her before she even gets to her reasoning? No, the only question now is how to best convince the majority that she's right. Morgan was attempting to delay her defense for as long as possible. She must already know that there's a problem with what she's planning on saying.
Nonstop Debate Start
Morgan: I am not the culprit.
Kogi: Compelling reasoning. Got anything else to add?
Morgan: Of course. I find all of this "damning" evidence to be quite lacking. None of it points directly to me.
Tsubame: That is true… Even if the culprit went down to the second floor, Morgan isn't the only one whose room is there.
Morgan: And, as has just been proven, I was not the only person aware that Kaixi would be fine with going on guard duty.
Fumika: You weren't the only person, but you were the one to give him the impetus.
Sawako: However, that alone is not enough to convict her. Much of this evidence is circumstantial if we are trying to use it solely against her.
Morgan: There's another issue with this reasoning as well. If we truly believe that the culprit used a secret passageway, then it stands to reason that they had an opportunity to find it, no?
Hachi: It was super duper well hidden! I've been in there tons, and I never noticed it!
Chouki: So what? That doesn't mean nobody found it at all.
Michio: Yeah, didn't Shizu find it on accident? It's pretty reasonable to assume that someone else could have done the same.
Morgan: Ah, but in regards to that, I never had the opportunity to do so. My excursions were merely in the greenhouse area, not the rest of the rooms.
Soraru: Oh yeah, you did make a stink about not wanting to look at the bees with Hachi. How rude!
Samia: You could've found it during the initial investigation, but, then again, everyone else missed it when we looked too…
Morgan: Again, there is no proof that I found it then either. The entire case against me is built upon a foundation that has more cracks than ground.
Shizu: Morgan's being careful not to make too many directly provable statements, but she's definitely slipped up a few times in here. She may think that she's clever, but, when pressed, she won't be able to help but say something wrong, and I think I've just found it.
Character Profiles (Morgan)
never had the opportunity
BREAK
"I'm almost impressed with how long you've been planning out this crime," Shizu says as she flips through her notes. "Clearly, it went back even further than I thought. I don't blame you for thinking that I would forget about what you and I talked about."
Morgan's smile begins to waver. "I'm sorry, but I haven't the faintest clue what you are referring to. Perhaps the spirits have taken your lies against me as particularly offensive and are clogging your mind."
At this, Shizu smirks. "Funny that you should mention spirits at all, as that was one of our discussion topics."
"Get to the point," Fumika interrupts. "We've been standing here for long enough."
Shizu acquiesces. "Morgan claims that she never had an opportunity to discover the hatch in the greenhouse closet. However, that is verifiably false. We literally had a conversation while we were in that closet on the day Monokuma announced the motive."
"Wait, did you both walk in there together, or was she already in there? Cause those are two pretty different things," Joshua says.
"The latter," Shizu answers, twirling her pen around her fingers. "In fact, I had heard her fumbling around with something in there at the time, though I hadn't seen what it was. At the time, she claimed she had been meditating in the bee room, but I believe she was actually examining the hatch."
Michio frowns at this. "Didn't she just say that she never went into either of the closet or the garden? Either way, she's definitely lying about one of those things."
"I merely wished to avoid suspicion and spoke in haste," Morgan states, though sweat is finally starting to form on her brow.
Leering at her, Fumika says, "That's another time you've lied now. You're not doing a good job of making yourself look innocent."
Morgan's eye twitches. "Whatever! You have no proof that I was looking at this supposed hatch or that I was even aware of it at all."
"Actually, I do." Shizu taps her pen against her notepad as she speaks. "If you recall, I also mentioned that we discussed things of a supernatural nature. During our talk, you mentioned something that stuck out to me as odd."
"To be fair to her… you are one who finds… all things that do not appear to be of the natural world… odd," Pal points out.
Shizu shakes her head. "That's irrelevant in this case. She told me, among other things, that there were currently people inside the gym who normally would not be in there. She was quite confident about that."
Pal blinks. "Oh… would that be why… you came into the gym… on that day?"
"Oh right! You, me, and Chouki were all sitting in there!" Hachi blurts out. "I guess it is kinda true that none of us normally hang out in there…"
Of course, Chouki picks up on the oddity of the situation. "…How'd she know that we were in there? She never showed up in there that day. I would've remembered that."
"There's only two ways. First, she could've randomly guessed." Samia's expression turns dark as she continues, "Second, she could've seen you there herself. If that hatch really does connect to the gym, then she could've opened it, seen you were there, and closed it again before you had a chance to notice anything."
Pal mulls this over. "I see… I would think that… we would have heard… the opening of the hatch." He begins drumming his fingers on his stand. "However… now that I think back to that day… I do recall hearing… one odd noise… of unidentifiable origin."
"Oh, me too! I thought I just imagined it since nobody else said anything, and we were moving around the weights," Hachi says at lightning speed. "But it totally could've been a door opening or something!"
"Nonsense!" Morgan declares. "There was another way, the true way, that I knew. I was giving Shizu a palm reading. That's how I learned of this fact."
Kogi crosses his arms. "I thought that you didn't remember this chat with Shizu."
"Obviously, the conversation at hand has jogged my memory," Morgan hisses, brandishing her index finger at him. "I had no recollection of any of this until Shizu saw fit to drag it into the spotlight."
Soraru laughs. "Ha! You're losing it! You keep contradicting yourself about what you know and don't know. Get your story straight already."
"I'm with xem on this point. It's getting harder and harder to trust you." Michio runs a trembling hand through his hair. "Was Kaixi really just a means to an end for you?"
Morgan's pupils shrink. "I…"
"The case against you wouldn't be nearly as strong if you hadn't decided to blatantly lie to everyone," Shizu notes. "Thank you for being so enthusiastic."
"I'm still having trouble fully believing all of this. That Morgan would take advantage of Kaixi's trust like this…" Tsubame mumbles.
"She had no choice," Fumika replies. "Once she knew that he had her secret, it didn't matter how good of friends they were. His fate was sealed."
"Told you that humans kill over dumb secrets," Chouki mutters off to the side.
Shizu purses her lips. "Clearly, Morgan didn't believe that her secret was dumb, if she was willing to plan out this elaborate scheme to kill Kaixi."
"Cease your delusions!"
Morgan's anger has finally broken through her calm façade. Her glare is in full force as she addresses Shizu. "You know nothing of what you speak. I never knew who had my secret, and, even if Kaixi did, that does not make me the killer. Kaixi was not killed for his secret!"
"I'm the one with delusions? Are you even listening to what you're saying?" Shizu shouts back. "This has been the entire basis of the case for the last half of the trial! If you had a problem with it, you would've said so earlier!"
"Your words are as hollow as your brain, for I did bring up my concerns, only to have them quietly swept away as though they were nothing." Morgan's fists are clenched. "I will not be ignored any longer!"
By her volume alone, Shizu doubts that anyone could ignore her. Clearly, Morgan is grasping at straws. This argument doesn't even clear her of suspicion if it turns out to be true, yet she's adamant that she has some kind of point to make. This shouldn't take long to dismantle.
Rebuttal Showdown Start
Morgan: This whole time, you've going on about "secrets this" and "secrets that", but it matters not!
Morgan: Whether the killer knew who had their secret means little in this case!
Morgan: The culprit had no need to care who they killed, so long as they killed someone.
Morgan: All of this evidence of me setting up Kaixi means nothing!
Advance
Shizu: We already know that Monokuma told several us who had our secrets, and Kaixi had to be one of the people who got snitched on.
Shizu: It's impossible that he wasn't targeted!
Morgan: Oh, but you forget the setup of this crime so soon.
Morgan: You claimed that the culprit messed with the sprinklers for several days in preparation for their kill.
Morgan: But what does Kaixi have to do with that?
Morgan: If there was the be any target, it would have been Soraru, not Kaixi!
Morgan: Didn't Tsubame confess that Soraru held her secret?
Morgan: She should be far more suspicious than I!
Morgan: But, no, instead one of the dutiful guards wound up dead.
Morgan: Then, it would seem that the killer chose a target at random.
Morgan: Either way, Kaixi was not the intended target!
Shizu: How annoying… She thinks that, if she repeats her point enough, we'll accept that Kaixi was simply unlucky. I've already laid out why that can't be the case. I'm certain that there's evidence hidden that can prove that as well. I might need to think outside the box on this one.
Garden Closet Hatch
not the intended target
BREAK
"Chouki," Shizu calls out, "do you recall all of the things that you found while digging around in the hatch?"
"What madness are you spewing now?" Morgan asks, irritation written plainly across her face.
Chouki traces the tattoos along his left forearm. "Let me think… There were a bunch of ceramic shards. Those would be from the potted plant that the killer hit Kaixi with. There were also leaves, probably from that same plant. I think there were some gardening tools too."
"Uh… not to be rude, but what's the point of this?" Joshua wonders out loud.
Shizu presses for more information. "Do you recall one more thing? This is important."
"Yeah." Chouki nods slowly. "Right after the trial announcement, I dug up this big Velcro strap thing. Don't know what it was though."
"A strap? What was that doing in there?" Sawako asks.
Michio, however, freezes. "Wait… how big would you say this strap was?"
Chouki holds out his arms about the length across his shoulders. "Maybe that big? Wait, why're you asking all of these questions? If I had to remember all of that, there'd better be a good reason."
"I could be wrong," Michio says, though the seriousness in his eyes says otherwise, "but that very well could be the weapon the culprit used when they tried strangling Kaixi."
Hachi gapes. "R-really?!"
"That's what I was thinking," Shizu agrees. "It was odd to find something like that hidden away in a garden area. It certainly wasn't there when I looked beforehand."
"We hadn't found any rope or anything like that in either crime scene," Samia adds. "If the culprit went through the effort of hiding it, it has to be important."
Morgan scoffs, though it comes off more like a choking noise. "Oh please. How does any of that link back to Kaixi?"
"It links back to him because the it belongs to him. It's the strap that attaches to his camera so it can hang around his neck," Shizu answers, unable to stop the smugness from entering her tone.
Pal suddenly speaks up. "That's… right. When we found the remains… of his camera, it did not have… any material… that looked like a camera strap."
"It was hanging around his neck… Do you think that's why the killer thought to strangle him with it?" Tsubame shivers.
Fumika closes her eyes. "It'd explain why the camera wasn't in his backpack. If he had it hanging around his neck, then it'd be out when the culprit attacked. They probably carried it down with his body after they knocked him unconscious."
"But, if the culprit had not planned on killing Kaixi from the start, then they surely would have prepared another weapon with which to strangle him," Sawako reasons. "If they had no idea who would be on guard duty, it would not make sense to go the physical approach."
"And, with that, all of our suspicions of you manipulating Kaixi are back on the table," Shizu finishes.
Morgan flinches back. "Grrk…"
Ignoring her distress, Kogi says, "Given the timing of everything, the culprit, or you, probably did initially go for Soraru. But once you learned that Kaixi had your secret, you shifted gears."
"Talk about lucky…" Chouki grumbles to himself. "If xe had immediately gone on watchdog mode and stayed overnight, xe would've been the one we found in the gym…"
"This is dragging out long enough," Soraru whines. "It's bad already that you murdered someone, but you also tried to off me too! Just confess already so we can be done with it!"
"…N-no. Never." Pushing herself back into a full-upright standing position, Morgan proclaims, "I will never admit to any of these falsehoods!"
"You're still planning on fighting?" Kogi pinches his forehead. "What a pain."
"My life is not a pain! I shall not stand for your ignorance any longer!" Morgan is whipped up into a fury.
This all shouldn't be unexpected, but Shizu is still surprised at Morgan's tenacity. Maybe it was just that Kazuha was more willing to admit her crime that this is as shocking as it is. No matter. As long as Morgan is fighting back, Shizu will be there to counter her.
Nonstop Debate Start
Kogi: What more are you planning on saying? You're are best bet at this point.
Morgan: Lies! I have more to say! You claim that the culprit went to the 2nd floor?
Soraru: Uh… duh. That's the only reason they'd use the elevator.
Morgan: Fools, all of you! You have fallen for their cunning trap! They merely used the elevator as a diversion!
Sawako: Are you saying that they went to another floor instead?
Fumika: All that'd do is bring more attention to someone using the elevator. There's no reason for them to do that.
Morgan: The culprit need not be in the elevator themselves. They simply took the stairs down to the 3rd floor, called the elevator, and then rushed back to wherever their room was.
Joshua: I mean… I guess it's true that we don't know if anyone was actually in the elevator when it moved.
Kogi: Again, why would they do that?
Morgan: Kaixi was found in the gym! That is the reason they went through that trouble!
Pal: They needed us… to think that Kaixi had been in the gym all along… and that's why they did that?
Morgan: That was the only way they'd make us think that Kaixi went to the gym of his own volition! Otherwise, they might assume he had been dragged there somehow and think about the hatch!
Michio: But uh… why would they think that there'd be anyone around to hear that?
Hachi: Oh! Maybe they heard Joshua and Soraru and thought of it on the fly!
Joshua: We were really being that loud?
Morgan: You must have been! It's the only way for this to make sense!
Shizu: The only way for you to be cleared of suspicion, you mean. Morgan had to have taken the elevator down to her room, so this whole line of reasoning is faulty. She's getting more and more worked up over this. It's inevitable that her arguments have similarly devolved.
Meeting Note
only way
BREAK
"Have you already forgotten that Kaixi had a note in his backpack supposedly asking him to come to the gym?" Shizu says. "It'd say that that's a very good way to make us think that he had gone there on his own."
"I… you…" Morgan splutters as she struggles to come up with an explanation.
Tsubame rubs her cheek. "Wait, did we not say that Kaixi never went to the gym? Then, what was that note doing there? Did the culprit plant it?"
"That's the only reason I can think of," Michio says.
Sawako hesitates to confirm this. "However, wasn't the note nearly illegible due to the water damage? We were lucky that we could make anything out of it at all."
"I don't know if the culprit expected the shower to damage it as much as it did," Fumika supposes. "Maybe they thought it would be safe because it wasn't in the front pocket. They did tear off part of the note, so they probably didn't want us reading part of it."
"If you don't mind, what did the note say anyways?" Samia asks. "I didn't get to look at it myself."
"There were only four words that we could make out: 'important', 'discuss', 'gym', and 'secret'," Shizu tells her.
Kogi goes white. "…What?"
"Hmmm…" Pal taps his foot as he sways back and forth. "For some reason… that sounds… familiar to me."
"Yeah, same here," Joshua agrees as he leans his head on his hand. "I feel like I've seen something with those words on it recently."
"That's my note!" Kogi shouts, his eyes furious. "That's what I sent out to all of you for my meeting! What the hell is it doing on Kaixi?"
"Is that true? The wording is the same?" Sawako asks.
Michio gives a tentative nod. "I think so, at least, all of those words were on the note. I hadn't thought of it because there weren't that many words on there. Still, if Kogi's sure, then I'm willing to believe him."
"Of course I'm sure. I remember exactly what I wrote," Kogi claims. "It all matches up."
"That'd explain why the note was torn. If the culprit didn't know the extent of the water damage, then the meeting time would have to be removed beforehand," Fumika notes.
Hachi scratches her head. "Then, this note wasn't written by the killer? It's just leftover from when Kaixi reached out to everyone?"
"Ah ha!" Morgan shouts. "Then this all proves nothing. Kaixi went to that meeting. Clearly, that note is his, and he left it in his backpack ever since he first received it!"
"That's wrong, and you know it perfectly well," Shizu yells back. It's impossible that that note was originally Kaixi's, and Morgan of all people should know that fact.
Why can't the note be Kaixi's?
A. He lost his note.
B. He wasn't invited to the meeting.
C. He wouldn't have put the note in his backpack.
D. Actually, it is his note.
"Kogi didn't invite Kaixi. The only reason Kaixi showed up," Shizu explains, "is because you personally brought him there with you. He never had a note in the first place."
"The only option is that the note was planted there by the killer, likely to reinforce the idea that Kaixi had gone to the gym," Tsubame says, her voice firm.
Sawako rubs her chin. "That appears to be the case, but I wonder why they didn't simply write their own message. It would leave nothing pointing to them, and they could have it say exactly what they wanted it to."
"It may be the convenience… of having a note preprepared. Or… it may be a way… to push suspicion onto Kogi… as it contains his handwriting," Pal responds.
To this, Shizu adds her own thoughts. "There is also a chance that the culprit's handwriting would have been recognized, and that would be the worst outcome for them."
"How would we do that?" Sawako asks. "We don't have samples of everyone's handwriting. Actually, I believe we only know what Kogi's looks like."
Had this incident taken place a few days earlier, that might have been the case. However, in the time since, every had written down something. It would be child's play to go through that list and check each individual's handwriting. All they would have to do is ask that person to retrieve it.
Select Someone
Michio Kokkaku
Shizu tells everyone, "Michio had all of us fill out a form asking us which movie we would want to see for a potential future movie night. All of us answered, and even those who had no preference still wrote down their names."
"I do still have it in my room. It wouldn't have taken that long to run back during the investigation if someone asked me to," Michio affirms, though he crosses his arms. "Still, it's a moot point since the note was too difficult to read."
"No, that answers my question perfectly." Sawako bows in his direction. "Thank you for your assistance!"
Chouki shakes his fist. "Who cares why they didn't write it themselves anyways? We already know that it's Kogi's."
With a small chuckle, Kogi says, "And, would you look at that? Morgan was one of the people whom I actually invited."
"Ooh… another lie and another thing pointing to you." Soraru shakes xer head in mock sorrow. "This really doesn't look good for you, huh?"
Morgan wipes sweat off of her brow as she glares around the room. "H-hardly. Need I remind you that I was not the only person to be called to that meeting? I am not the only person you should be suspicious of. Just like all of your other evidence, you ignore the other suspects in favor of persecuting me!"
"Fine, let's consider everyone else, if that's how you're so inclined." Shizu stares right back at her, confident in herself.
"Very well." Morgan's voice lacks her usual confidence, likely thrown off by Shizu eagerly accepting her proposal. However, she can't back down, lest she look even more guilty.
Shizu flips open her notepad. "First, we can eliminate those whom Kogi did not invite."
"Oh! I know, I know!" Soraru waves xer hand in the air eagerly. "That's Sawako, Tsubame, Hachi, and Chouki. Oh, and me too! And and technically Kaixi."
"Weren't you… also there?" Pal questions.
Joshua gives a nervous laugh. "Yeah but uh… xe kinda tagged along with me. Kogi didn't ask xem to be there at all. Sorry 'bout that."
"A-and we couldn't have killed Kaixi, since we wouldn't've been able to plant that note on him," Hachi declares, slightly jittery from her nerves.
Tsubame tugs on her braid. "Should we also consider Kogi in this? He wouldn't have had to write a note for himself, right?"
"No, but he would have been able to replicate it without any issue," Fumika says, shooting down her idea. "It's still his handwriting and message, after all."
"Oh, I see. I suppose Shizu will clear him later then," Tsubame replies gratefully.
Morgan huffs. "…I understand this logic."
"Let's move onto another group," Shizu continues. "That would be Kogi, Pal, and myself. None of us could have pulled off this crime, despite having access to a note."
"That'd be because the culprit is the person who had Fumika's secret," Kogi says. "Monokuma already snitched on us, so you all know that we have someone else's secret."
Pal considers this. "By that logic… we can also clear… Samia as well, no?"
Nodding, Shizu says, "Yes, since she knew that you had her secret. If she had been the culprit, she would have targeted you instead."
"That is assuming that Samia was telling the truth," Morgan accuses.
To this, Samia is incensed. "Why would I have said anything if I really was the killer? That just makes it easier to catch me in a lie. I wasn't even the last person to speak up either!"
Morgan goes silent to this rebuttal.
"Let's move on," Shizu suggests. "Joshua cannot be the culprit, because he has a solid alibi for all of last night. No matter when the crime took place, he could not have done it."
Joshua gives a relieved cheer. "Phew… It feels good to be completely in the clear."
"Similarly," Shizu moves on, "Fumika could not have done it. Though we cannot fully back up her alibi, given the information that she's told us, I find it difficult to believe that she wasn't outside of the gym last night. She's given away far too much useful information for her to still be a suspect."
"If we wanna go even deeper, the killer had her secret, right?" Hachi adds. "She wouldn't have swapped in… uh… that secret if she'd done it, I think."
"And," Fumika interjects, "I wouldn't have made the idiotic mistake of not exposing the secret I did leave behind to water. We've been over this all already. I'm innocent."
At each clear, Morgan's face goes paler and paler. Eventually, she realizes that it's just her and one other person left. In a desperate bid to save herself, she points to them. "T-then, it must clearly be Michio! There's nothing that proves him innocent!"
"Whoa now, give Shizu a chance to talk." Michio raises up both of his hands in surrender. "She's not done talking yet. Uh… you're not done talking, right?"
Shizu smirks and adjusts her glasses. "Of course not. Michio isn't the culprit. He's given us far too much useful information about Kaixi's death to be a valid suspect. Besides, he also had access to all of our handwriting. It would have been simple to copy someone else's writing style and eschew all issues related to using Kogi's note."
"See? I didn't do it." Michio gives her a wink.
Morgan shakes her head furiously, her normally well-maintained hair now disheveled. "Don't lie to me! To us! None of that is evidence! All of that is only your flawed reasoning! Your bias against me has blinded you to this!"
"Most of this has sounded fine to me." Sawako gives Morgan a disappointed look.
Soraru shrugs. "Besides, it's not like we need any definitive evidence that you did it. We've basically cleared everyone else. It's only you, by process of elimination."
"No decisive evidence?!" Morgan shrieks. "You dare attempt to pin this on me with… with nothing?!"
"Have you been paying attention at all? We've been talking about why you're suspect for like the past hour!" Chouki yells. "What part of that is nothing?"
"I won't accept this!" Morgan continues, having decided that Chouki's point wasn't worth addressing. "I refuse to be falsely accused without proof!"
"That is… not up to you," Pal murmurs. "It is up to you… to convince us… of your innocence. That is how this trial works."
Morgan's frenzy goes on. "Lies! You cannot be sure of anything!"
Shizu has finally had it. She raises her fist high and slams it down onto her podium. The sound echoes throughout the courtroom, drawing all eyes onto her. "You want proof? Fine. I can get you proof."
"Ha! You're bluffing! Had you such a thing, you wouldn't have waiting until this point to present it!" Morgan declares with haughty vigor.
"That's because I don't have access to it currently," Shizu says. "But, since you're so gung-ho about evidence, then you should have no problem showing it to us."
Morgan seems taken aback, her rage finally calming down somewhat to confusion. "Me? What nonsense are you blathering on about now?"
"You hold the evidence that I need to prove whether or not you're guilty. Now," Shizu clears her throat, "would you please show us your secret?"
At her request, Morgan flinches back. "This again?! What good would that do?"
Fumika's eyes light up. "…It's the same thing that she caught me on."
"Exactly." Shizu gives a nod in her direction. "Recall the circumstances of Kaixi's death. We know that, at some point, you swapped out your secret for the one Kaixi had been given. However, I believe that I know when that swap occurred. It must have been after you had finished setting up the crime scene."
"What makes you think that?" Joshua asks.
Shizu explains her reasoning. "Remember, Morgan was wearing a beekeeping suit when she assaulted Kaixi. It would have been inconvenient if she had gotten any blood on her regular clothes."
"Oh!" Hachi cries out. "You can't take anything out of your pockets or wherever you keep stuff if you're wearing the suit. It, like, covers your whole body. She couldn't have done the swap until after she took it off!"
Michio clicks his tongue. "Kaixi would've been bleeding a ton, and we know that she carried him into the showers. That means that, when he was bleeding out, his secret must've still been in his backpack."
"Are you saying that his secret is splattered with blood too, like how Fumika's was splattered with water?" Tsubame hugs herself as her pupils shrink.
"Either that, or she noticed the blood and attempted to wash it off, just in case. Whatever happened, it must have been damaged in some way." Shizu swivels her head to face her target. "Well, Morgan? Care to show us your secret? If I'm wrong, then surely it will prove your innocence. This can only help you."
"I…" Morgan clenches her fists tightly. "I refuse… This is an invasion of my privacy…"
Giving a forlorn nod, Sawako says, "In that case, you are admitting to your crime."
Morgan denies this rapidly. "No! No, I admit nothing! This is all… everything is wrong. You've all gone astray somewhere! I killed no one!"
"What a pain. She's lost it." Kogi groans and pinches his forehead.
Shizu snaps her fingers. "This has gone on long enough. I'll explain the full extent of your machinations, just so there's no room for doubt." Honestly, she doubts that anything other than the verdict being handed will get Morgan to fully crack. Still, it's best to summarize everything up for all of the others who may be confused over some of the details.
Closing Argument
"This crime was spurred on by Monokuma's motive. We had foolishly assumed that nobody would kill to hide secrets of which they weren't even sure of the contents. However, one person had an inkling of what theirs was and vowed to strike. They had discovered a hatch in the greenhouse closet that led to the gym. Due to the gym restrictions, they chose to incorporate it into their plan.
"Initially, they planned on killing Soraru. Xe had unintentionally become a prime target, due to xer fondness for plants. The killer snuck into the greenhouse when it was unoccupied and messed with the sprinkler settings. They waited until Soraru's paranoia led xem to stay in the greenhouse overnight.
"However, another wrinkle was added before this happened. Monokuma decided to tell several people who had their secrets. These people were Kogi, Samia, Tsubame, myself, and the killer, as the holders of our secrets had attempted to share them with the group. With this newfound knowledge, the killer switched up their plans to target Kaixi.
"They manipulated Kaixi into volunteering to guard the greenhouse and managed to get information of when he would be alone at night. With this, they began preparations. They stashed a cooler full of blood bags, as well as a few sports drinks to throw us off, inside of their locker. Then, they donned a beekeeping suit and waited in the gym until it was time.
"Kaixi likely thought nothing of it when they appeared before him late at night in a beekeeping suit, but that would be his downfall. They attempted to strangle him using his own camera, but, when that failed, they resorted to knocking him out with a plant. Then, they dragged his body into the hatch and dropped it from the top of the rock-climbing wall.
"Thanks to the retractable staircase, they were able to go up and down at their leisure. In order to confuse the location and method of the crime, they began trashing the gym and Kaixi's corpse, damaging most of the machines and splattering blood everywhere. They also used their stored blood bags to add to the mess.
"Finally, they dragged Kaixi's corpse into the shower. They made sure to plant the note that Kogi had sent on his body, as well as swapping out their secret for his. Once they were done, they turned on the shower and left it running, thus disguising the time of death, and snuck back up to the greenhouse.
"Unbeknownst to them, their crime had been overheard by Fumika when she cracked open her room. She waited outside of the gym until she could enter, only to find her own secret on Kaixi's body. In a panic, she swapped her secret out for the killer's, forgetting to turn the shower back on before she left.
"Meanwhile, the killer had thought that they were in the clear. All they had left to do was take the elevator down to their room and wait for the body discovery announcement to play. They would have taken the stairs had they not been destroyed earlier by Monokuma's explosion. Unfortunately, though they believed they hadn't been caught, Joshua and Soraru had been in the rec room and heard the elevator going down.
"This convoluted scheme, undone by misfortune, was planned by you, Morgan Feysonn!"
BREAK
Everyone directs their attention to Morgan. Her only reaction is to continue to grit her teeth and clench her fists. The most noise that she can make is an angry spluttering sound. Her fury is no longer able to prop up her arguments.
"Geez, are you finally done with this?" Monokuma calls from above them. He fakes a yawn as he stretches. "You nearly ran out my boredom time limit. Talk about cutting it close."
Joshua balks. "Wait, that's really a thing? How's that fair to us?"
"It is, and it's not." Monokuma dismisses him with a wave. "Really, I should be the one complaining. I was falling asleep there for a while, depriving you of my charm and wit!"
"…Hey, can we just get to the voting now?" Michio asks, coughing to get his attention.
Monokuma waves a paw in the air, and the screens on all of their podiums light up. "Make sure that you vote for someone. Remember, abstaining is a no-go!"
There's not a chance that Shizu would do that anyways. She's certain that she's made the correct deductions. There is always that niggling doubt in the back of her mind, especially since there hasn't been a confession. However, that's no reason to dawdle. There's only one thing left to do.
Make Your Vote
Shizu Saneyoshi
Tsubame Watari
Michio Kokkaku
Kazuha Kimura
Sawako Kido
Fumika Amari
Hachi Hachimitsu
Soraru Kishinuma
Takumi Haruko
Kogi Bodo
Chouki Awadachi
Morgan Feysonn
Kaixi Cheng
Palaemon Katsaros
Samia Bahouri
Joshua Miller
Tallying Votes…
Shizu Saneyoshi – 1
Morgan Feysonn – 12
CORRECT
Ultimate Trial End
"You've done it once again!" Monokuma cackles. "It's not as impressive as last time, since one of you voted out of spite, but you're correct. The horrible murderer behind Kaixi Cheng's death was none other than Morgan Feysonn!"
Morgan clutches her head with both her hands and curses. "Fuck…"
"It really was you…" Joshua slumps over, his pupils shaking. "You were lying right up to the very end…"
Hachi trembles. "Why? Was… was your secret really that bad?"
"Pah…" Chouki crosses his arms. "I bet it's nothing special. People will kill for literally any reason. You saw the show she was putting on. She's no different."
Closing her eyes, Sawako says, "To betray one of your friends is not something I can forgive. Please, explain yourself Morgan."
For a moment, Morgan continues to mutter quietly to herself, not listening to any of their questions. However, under the weight of all of their stares, she eventually looks up and scowls. "…Why should I? Who cares why I did what I did? It's all over for me either way."
"You plan… on taking your secret… to the grave," Pal laments.
"I have no reason to tell any of you anything, especially not after you've just signed my death warrant," Morgan hisses.
Kogi rolls his eyes. "Cut the dramatics. You were willing to get all of us killed too. Don't act like we're in the wrong."
"You literally murdered Kaixi!" Samia shouts with fury.
"How any of you managed to come to that conclusion with that mess of a trial is beyond me," Morgan continues to complain, ignoring her detractors. "The entire time you were following the word of a liar, and only once was she ever called out as being suspicious."
"You talking about Shizu?" Michio asks. "Because I remember us doubting her a lot, actually. I did a bit of that myself."
Tsubame picks up on another aspect of her comment. "What do you mean by her being a liar? I mean, she might have gotten some of the details of the crime wrong, but I don't think that makes her a liar."
"I'm not talking about that! I mean that she kept claiming that she was in the greenhouse last night, despite never setting foot in there." Whirling around to face Shizu, Morgan levels her with a glare. "Your little lie about meeting with Kaixi is the only reason you even thought to incorporate that secret hatch!"
A few people stare at her, shocked, but Shizu keeps her composure. "I don't recall ever claiming that I was there. In fact, I believe I specifically brought up reasoning why Kaixi had to have gone to the greenhouse under the circumstances the nobody saw him."
Morgan isn't having any of it, however. "Bullshit! You clearly allowed the assumption to stand! You never once denied it!"
"Yeesh, is that really what you're angry about?" Joshua, of all people, interjects. "First of all, that's not even her fault. It's mine. I didn't want to take responsibility for slacking off, so I made her go with my lie. I'm the person you should be angry at."
Soraru also chimes in. "Don't worry, you'll get what's coming to you later." Then, xe addresses Morgan. "But, next to you, he's basically innocent! You caused all that havoc in the greenhouse and for what? Murder! You disgust me."
Joshua looks abashed at being called out by his friend but shakes it off. "Yeah, that's my second point. You're not mad that she was 'lying'. You're upset that you got caught."
"Oh, how perceptive of you. Did you figure that out on your own?" Morgan flutters her eyelashes at him as she mocks him.
Throughout all of this, Fumika rubs her temples. "Forget it. She's not willing to be cooperative. A fitting end, I suppose."
However, Monokuma has other plans. He leaps down from the judge's chair and waddles over to Morgan, who flinches away from him. "Aw, but that's no fun. Now that she's lost, it's only fair that she gives everything up."
"What are you-" is all Morgan has time to get out before Monokuma launches himself at her. "Get off! Ow!" Her yelps go unheeded as he searches her.
Eventually, he stands up on top of her head, holding some object up high. "Aha! Here we go!"
Making a frantic grab, Morgan misses him and her face turns pale. "Hey! Give that back!"
"Ah!" Hachi squeals. "Is that…?"
Shizu squints to see if she can make out what he's got in his paws. From this distance, it looks like a folded-up piece of paper. It must be Morgan's secret! She also spots several red splotches over it. It looks like she was right on the money with her theory. No wonder Morgan refused to show them.
"Let's see what kind of skeletons our resident fortune teller kept in her closet." Monokuma makes a show of clearing his throat, even as he effortlessly dodges out of the way of Morgan's desperate grasps. "Wow! According to this, 'Someone has no talent at all and got their Ultimate title by lying'. What a shock!"
"…That's it?" Kogi's voice drops low, and his hands start to shake.
Chouki scoffs, yet still looks disgusted. "I told you it was nothing!"
Shizu can feel a torrential rage overtaking her. "Are you serious?! We already knew that!"
"Shut up!" Morgan screams. "You don't get it!"
"I think I understand just well!" Shizu shouts back. "You're a delusional idiot who decided to take Kaixi's life over something that every single person here had already figured out! Nobody actually believed you legitimately had psychic powers!"
Morgan brandishes her fists. "You think I actually believe in any of that shit?! I'm not a fool, Shizu! I know as well as you do that there's nothing supernatural in the world!"
"You… what?" Sawako clutches the side of her head as she panics. "I mean… I do not believe in psychics either, but I believed that you had faith in… well, in yourself."
"Ha! Don't make me laugh." Morgan brushes her hair out of her face. "Only idiots actually believe in that lunacy. All of it's fake. Honestly, you should have more respect for me. I'm smarter than that."
Samia points a finger towards her. "If that's the case, then you had no reason to kill Kaixi. Your secret shouldn't have had any reason to worry you."
"Think, Samia, what kind of position do you think I hold in this world?" Morgan spits. "I only have my title and reputation thanks to the Ultimate Initiative. If word was to leak out that I was a fraud, they would drop support from me in an instant. My entire life, everything that I worked so hard to achieve, all gone in an instant. I would be ruined!"
Tsubame tugs on the hems of her skort. "Are you saying that the people behind the Ultimate Initiative didn't know that you were… um… pretending?"
"Who knows?" Morgan shrugs, failing to stay as cool as she had hoped. "All that matters is that they wouldn't be able to pretend that they didn't know if the bear leaked the details out to the world."
"Would that really matter though? I'm no expert, but I know there's a lot of weirdos out there who'd still believe in your powers." Michio taps his chin. "Actually, I'd imagine a lot of them would believe in you even more, now that 'The Man' is silencing you."
Morgan scoffs. "As if that's the sort of audience that I want."
Shrugging, Michio says, "Fair enough."
"No, it's not." Shizu's fury has not been quelled. "All of this happened because you were too upset at the idea that your lifestyle would have to change, that having your lies exposed would make things harder for you."
Fumika nods along. "A man is dead because of you. Can you truly say it was all worth it?"
"Seeing as I'm about to die, no, it was not." Morgan snorts. "It's obvious that none of you understand the ramifications of what this secret getting out would do to me. How callous of a person do you think that I am that I would easily be able to kill someone?"
"You sound more upset with your punishment than you are with your crime," Shizu retorts, never once taking her gaze off of Morgan's.
Monokuma clears his throat. "Aaaaand speaking of that punishment…"
"…Hold on." Morgan suddenly lifts her head, signs of rebellion flashing over her face.
"No, no, no! You can't escape your execution! Don't even think about it!" Monokuma growls.
Stomping her foot, Morgan says, "I assure you, I'm not no such thing. There's simply one last thing I would like to do before…" She flinches but presses on. "I find it unfair that it was only my secret that was revealed."
"You're a murderer. Get over it," Chouki says through clenched teeth.
Joshua frowns in confusion. "You're not expecting Monokuma to just… spill all the beans at once, are you? That goes against the motive rules, I think…"
"Don't you worry. He won't have to lift a finger." Having said this, Morgan shifts her gaze to Fumika. "I admit that I am very annoyed with you, my dear. Your testimony, despite how shaky and suspicious it was, was accepted by the group and foiled my plans."
Realizing the implications, Fumika chokes. "…"
"If I remember correctly," Morgan says smugly, "you took the secret that I left behind because it was yours. Again, very annoying. I had left that one behind to cause even more chaos, yet the secret that you left had no power whatsoever."
"Don't you dare," Fumika hisses.
For the first time in a while, Morgan laughs. "I remember what it said clearly. Shall I repeat it for the rest of you?"
Monokuma cackles at her threat. "Ooh, how interesting. I'll allow it. You can say it before you die!"
"Morgan, please wait," Tsubame pleads. "All of us contributed to this case, not just Fumika. You have no reason to single her out other than convenience. This isn't fair to her!"
"Not fair to who? Fumika?" Giving a puzzled look, Morgan gives a mock smile. "Why, I have no idea who you're talking about."
Pal scowls. "You literally… called her out by name… mere moments ago."
"I'm very sorry, but I don't know anyone here by the name of Fumika. Oh." Morgan brings a hand up to her face. "I suppose I do recall someone pretending to call themselves that. But I assure you, that is not her real name."
Shizu falters. "…What?"
Fumika (?) says nothing but is pointedly looking away from anyone else.
"As a matter of fact," Morgan continues, "I'd go so far to say that 'Fumika Amari' is a fake identity, one that goes farther than just a name change. A complete fake personality… Yes, that sounds fitting for an Ultimate Spy."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What's this about a spy?" Flailing xer arms about, Soraru nearly falls over.
Though Fumika's eyes are snapped shut, her expression tells them all they need to know. "That's not true," she says, though her confident tone is not enough to convince anyone.
Morgan's grin only grows wider. "If you don't believe me, you should check her secret. She does still have it on her. We all do."
Fumika lets out a low growl. "If this is your idea of revenge…"
"It's the least I can do. Literally." Morgan lets out a sigh. "I can't exactly do anything more elaborate than that."
"A spy…" Sawako eyes Fumika with caution.
At that moment, Monokuma claps his hands together. "That was entertaining, but I've got a schedule to keep! There's a very special punishment waiting for Morgan Feysonn, the Ultimate Fortune Teller."
Soraru gulps. "Ugh… I don't wanna watch this again…"
"Even to the end, I'm glad that I've left my mark on the world." Though Morgan attempts to be nonchalant about what awaits her, her eyes nervously darting around and her lips trembling reveal her true feelings. "I'd wish you all good luck in the future, but I cannot bring myself to care. And Kogi, do be a dear and reveal Shizu's secret to everyone, would you? She's been nothing but a pain this entire time."
Kogi's eye twitches. "No point. It's nothing worth worrying about."
"Ah, pity then." With one last wave, Morgan says, "Farewell to all of you."
"Let's give it everything we've got! It's punishment time!"
A Tarot-ble Fate
Morgan sits at a small table, a crystal ball resting on top. On the other side, Monokuma sits, dressed with a ridiculous headwrap and long skirt, emulating a stereotypical fortune teller. Around them, an endless sea of Monokumas watch and whisper, grins etched across all of their faces. The Monokuma in front of her slams a deck of tarot cards on the table. Slowly, he draws the top one.
The Chariot
Immediately, a clamping noise reverberates, and Morgan looks underneath the tablecloth, seeing a metal shackle with a chain latched onto her ankle. Before she even gasp, the chain tugs, and she's dragged leg-first into the crowd at high speed.
Debris kicks up around her, scratching and pummeling her body. The Monokumas leap out of the way, but those not in her direct path take swipes at her with their claws. Still, she refuses to scream, only letting out grunts of pain as a trail of blood flows out behind her.
The fortune-teller Monokuma isn't done, however. Greedily, he snatches another card from the deck and holds it up high for all to see.
The Hanged Man
The chain jerks upwards, sending Morgan high into the air. A terrible snapping sound follows, and the twisted angle of her leg reveals the cause. Tears form in her eyes, but she grits her teeth, not allowing herself to show weakness.
Higher and higher she's pulled. The crowd below fades out. Then, one by one, spotlights shine onto her. Their brightness makes her wince. Blood drips down from her hanging body. And yet, this is still not enough. Monokuma draws one final card with a flourish.
The Tower
For a singular moment, all goes silent. Morgan's eyes dart around frantically, the suspense building up to unbearable levels. And then, it all goes dark.
A flash of lightning illuminates everything. A terrible, gut-wrenching scream echoes throughout the room. Electricity surges through Morgan's body. Sparks fly from her charred skin. Everything gets brighter and brighter until, at last, the chain suspending her body snaps.
She falls without a sound. Her body impacts the floor with a sickening splat. With a snap, all of the lights go out once more. Had anyone been able to see, they would have noticed Monokuma dropping one last card onto Morgan's disfigured and charred corpse.
Justice
Shizu stumbles around the glass viewing chamber blindly as several pairs of hand push and shove her around. Screams come from all directions. Even without factoring in the darkness, it's completely disorienting. All of the monitors showing Morgan's fate had blacked out as well.
"W-what's happening?!" Someone, probably Hachi, shrieks.
A male voice, maybe Joshua, says, "No, no, no… We're not going to be next, are we?"
There's a ringing impact of something hitting the glass. "Hey, watch it! You're gonna break it!" someone shouts.
"I didn't mean to! I was pushed!" Was that Sawako?
"We're all gonna fall!" another person yells.
A calm, masculine voice attempts to placate everyone. "It's already over. There's nothing to worry about."
Shizu's face gets pushed into the glass wall of the observation. Pressed against it, she growls, "Whoever's pushing, stop it."
A small hum and a click sound out, and a dim light flickers on. Shizu blinks, as even this feeble glow is cause for her eyes to readjust. She notes that Fumika is the one who slammed into her, although it seems as though she herself had also been shoved out of the way.
As the group all scrambles to right themselves, Monokuma coughs. "I put all this work into trying to scare with a brutal execution, and all it takes to do the job is a simple blackout. You brats have no sense for style."
"What… even happened?" Pal wonders.
"I guess we used too much power to fry that fake fortune teller, since it overloaded the breaker. We're stuck with auxiliary power for now." Monokuma gives a smug smile. "Ah, who am I kidding? I was totally worth it! She's fried to a nice crisp, perfect for eating!"
Soraru gags. "Don't even go there!"
Over by the door to the observation room, Michio attempts to lift it up to open it, but it doesn't budge. "Uh… are we stuck in here? Or are we gonna have to break the glass and just… fall down?"
To this suggestion, Samia balks. "That'd kill us for sure!"
"You wouldn't be able to break this glass anyways," Monokuma reassures them. "You're all way to weak for that. It's built to withstand even a few blasts from my body blowing up. Only the best safety for all of you trial victors."
"Then, how are we supposed to get down?" Chouki demands.
Monokuma taps a section of the glass wall, then pushes it out of the way, revealing an opening. He then drops a rope ladder down and begins descending. "Come on, brats, follow your gracious game master. Well, unless you want to be stuck up there all night."
One by one, they all follow him down. Shizu fears for a moment that the rope ladder might not support all of their weight, but it proves to be surprisingly sturdy. To distract herself, she makes the mistake of scanning her surroundings. With the dim light, it's hard to make out too much, but she can see the silhouette of Morgan's corpse.
Quickly, she turns to look in the opposite direction. To her surprise, she thinks that she can see the supposedly overloaded generator there. Did whoever built this place store it in the same place that they did executions? That's… interesting. Whatever it is, several of the Monokumas are working hard to fix it.
Shizu reaches the bottom and hops onto solid ground with relief. Shaking her head, she notices a single-file line heading into the darkness. Presumably, Monokuma is in the lead, so she follows along. Eventually, she joins everyone else as they form a semi-circle around Monokuma and a wall.
Giving the wall a little kick, Monokuma knocks a square section of it loose, revealing a tunnel. "Listen up," he demands. "This leads into part of the ventilation system. Follow me, or you'll get lost, and I'll have to come find you before you starve to death. And single file only! I don't need any flesh clogs in there!"
From behind her, Fumika gives a startled cough. "We… have to go in there?"
"That's what the bear just said," Chouki growls.
"…" Fumika grits her teeth but doesn't say anything else.
Michio suggests, "Guys should go first, right? Just in case anyone gets any funny ideas."
"Uh… I really don't think anyone here is like that, y'know? But uh… that's fine with me," Joshua says.
With that, everyone filters into the vents. It's noisy, cramped, dark, and uncomfortable. Shizu can barely see in front of her, but she follows dutifully anyways. She has no idea how long she's been crawling, only aware that her knees are starting to hurt.
It's only when the person in front of her, Tsubame, comes to a halt, that she registers her surroundings. Attempting to gaze past her reveals that there's a hole in front of them. Actually, upon closer inspection, it's a vertical shaft. Before she has a chance to question it, a platform lowers down, with Monokuma riding it.
"Next two brats, get on!" he yells at them. "No more than two, or it won't support your weight!"
She and Tsubame file onboard quickly. Mercifully, there's enough room for both of them to stand up, though she is aware that she'll have to start crawling again once it finishes carrying them up. How frustrating.
The small lift comes to a stop, and Monokuma walks out in front of them. Shizu and Tsubame share a look before they crawl after him. It's not long before they reach another large holt, presumably another open vent. Clambering out of it, they find themselves in the announcement room on the second floor.
"This is your stop. The elevator's aren't working, so I don't want to hear about having to climb the stairs," Monokuma informs them.
Tsubame frowns. "Weren't the stairs destroyed?"
He waves off her concerns. "I fixed them during the trial."
"But you were watching us the entire time," Tsubame reasons.
"He most likely means that he had some of the spare Monokumas finish the job for him," Shizu explains to her.
By this point, Monokuma has already scampered back into the vent to guide the rest of the group out. Without a word, Shizu makes her way towards the stairs, an unconfident Tsubame trailing behind her. All the way up to the 4th floor, neither of them have anything to say to one another. Too much has happened today. She doesn't wish to talk about it right now.
Both of them get to their rooms at the same time. Shizu scans her key card, only for nothing to happen. Curious, she tugs on the handle, and it opens without any trouble. She glances back to Tsubame, who has just done the same. Great. With the main generator offline, none of the locks work. Hopefully, nobody will try anything.
Before she can enter her room, Tsubame calls out to her. "Shizu! Um… please take care of yourself."
"…The same to you," she half-heartedly says back as she closes her door.
Without even bothering to change out of her normal clothes, Shizu flops down face first onto her bed. She sinks into the soft cushions and groans. It feels horrible to admit it to herself, but, for some reason, she doesn't feel as terrible as she did after the previous trial. Has it truly only taken her this long to start becoming numb to it? How very worrying…
She failed to predict that the crime would occur, despite overwhelming evidence that something was going on. Just like last time, she's let herself get too self-assured to similarly disastrous results. This can't happen again. She needs to do something. But what? Can she even do anything?
For the four victims of this killing game, she has no choice but to try.
Chapter 2: Bonds of Distrust
End
12 Ultimates Remain
A/N: And that's all of Chapter 2. Hopefully everything made sense in the end. It was a several month long writing frenzy to get all of this out there, so I hope you enjoyed it. I've been burnt out on writing ever since, so I haven't written anything of Chapter 3 yet. Can't wait for it to take another 2 years for me to get that sort of energy back. In any case, there's one bonus chapter left, and that'll be it for me for now. Thank you again for sticking with this for all this time. Please take care of yourselves.