Danganronpa: Fresh Meat (SYOC CLOSED)

by mandipokemon

The youth is the future of tomorrow. Schools train their students either to lead or be led. This is no different when it comes to Hope's Peak Academy with their Ultimates. What will happen to the supposed leaders of tomorrow if they find themselves stuck in a remote island to compete in a twisted killing game? Will a leader emerge? Or, will the group crumble to pieces?

26. What Lies Beneath 9

Hello everyone! I know it has been a while! I am sorry for disappearing. I was preoccupied with college but now I am back since my semester just ended. After resting for a bit, I am now re-energized to continue writing. I hope everyone will enjoy this new update. This is the longest update I have ever written. I did not expect it to be this long. I guess this is what happens when the author has so many pent-up ideas to write.

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The day has barely begun but it has already proven itself that it was going to be a long day. One after another, the remaining campers are faced with a seemingly unending barrage of problems. It all started from discovering the corpse of Naoki Toshiro, the ultimate private investigator, sunken at the bottom of the lake. Then, the challenge of performing a proper autopsy on a corpse that is underwater was brought up. And, now, the campers are busy collecting as much evidence as they can to solve the mystery of Naoki's murder case.

Most of the campers are in the garage collecting evidence. Mitsue's team which is composed of Akari and Otoha were with Kaito's team at the garage helping one another to look for clues to figure out the truth behind the gruesome murder. As they were contemplating on the testimonies given by Kaoru and Mitsue, an announcement from the group's most hated entity on the island, the obnoxious Monokuma, rang throughout the island.

"Investigation period is over! Please report to the campfire grounds immediately!"

"What! There is no way the investigation period is over!" Yo shouted.

"There must be some kind of mistake! It surely cannot be over just yet! At most, only two hours have just passed. We need more time! I don't think what we have is enough!" Kaoru added.

"Holy Morning Star! We only have a dozen of clues!" Kaito commented.

"Bro, that was quick!" Connor added, shaking his head. "Monokuma is sure in a rush to start this trial! Dude, that bear is totally bonkers if it thinks we can solve this with the evidence we got from searching only for two hours!"

The group began to panic as the investigation period was abruptly ended. Neither of the groups in the garage was confident with what they have. None of them wanted it to be over just yet. As much as everyone wanted to continue with their search, no one knew what to do next. Everyone was aimlessly looking for someone's lead.

Tapping on Mitsue's shoulder, Otoha whispered, "Mitsue, are we going to be fine with the clues that we have?"

That was it? We were only able to look around one place. This can't be the end of the investigation! There are so many places left to see. We could have missed so many clues lying around somewhere else. Are we going to be fine with what we have? Mitsue could only stare at his monopad as the announcement repeatedly rang inside his head.

"Mistue, what should we do?" Otoha asked, standing in front of Mitsue. However, Mitsue was trapped inside his thoughts. No matter what the group said, none of it reached Mitsue. The only thing he can hear was the unending screams of disappointment in his head. I am failing the group again. What should we do? We are going to fail this trial if we don't come up with something right now. I cannot afford to lose anyone again. This fucking sucks!

Suddenly, a loud smack echoed throughout the area as Akari slapped Mitsue in the face. "Mitsue, snap out of it!" Akari shouted.

Mitsue stared back at the actress whose eyes were deadset on him. Curling her hands into fists, Akari looked down and continued. "I know we do not see eye to eye. You think of me as a brat while I see you as a barbaric caveman. Everyone knows we hate each other. No, scratch that! It is more than that. We both despise each other's existence. That is how much we detest each other. But, right now, I am willing to put those thoughts aside and listen to you. I know you are the only one who can help us. So please, just say something! I am begging you…"

"Um…" Mitsue could only stare at Akari.

"Don't stutter like Naoki! Just tell us what to do to give him the justice he deserves which you promised earlier. Do that! Please, help me give him the justice he deserves." Akari cried.

I need to calm down. I cannot be the first to panic. If I go down, so does the whole fucking group. We are in deep shit if that happens. Everyone is looking at me to save them and that is what I should do right now. I do not have the time to drown myself in pity. I need to get my act together. One step at a time… We will manage to get through this. I know we can. I will not fail this group again. I will never forgive myself if I do.

After taking a deep breath, Mitsue answered, "We should all calm down for a bit. Panicking will not help." Then, the emergency response team leader turned to Akari. "Thank you for slapping the shit out of me. I needed that."

"Thank me by solving his murder. That is all that I want from you." Akari replied.

"Don't worry. We will surely do that." Mitsue added.

"That is great to hear. So, what should we do now?" Akari asked.

"We really do not have any option other than to follow Monokuma's instruction for now." Mitsue answered.

"But, we do not have enough clues. Our group only has a dozen. Ceres almighty, this is a nightmare!" Kaito stressed.

"I know that. Even I am not confident with what our group has but I would rather follow Monokuma right now than risk getting anyone punished by that sadistic stuffed toy. We had enough death for today. I do not want to add anyone to the body count." Mitsue added.

"But, we are severely unprepared! It is like we are walking into a war without any weapon. We are doomed before the trial even started." Kaito continued. I understand Kaito's worries but worrying will not get us anywhere right now. The only thing we can do is face this shit head-on.

"I am with Kaito on this one. Dude, this is kind of scary. Aren't you afraid to go in that courtroom empty-handed?" Connor shared.

Suddenly, Otoha stepped up. "But we aren't. We have found several clues. Although it may seem few, I am sure we can fill in the gaps during the trial. We did it the last time. I am sure we can do it again. There is no doubt in my mind that we can solve this trial by helping out one another later. We should be a bit more optimistic. Worrying about things we have no control over will do us no good." Thanks Otoha for that. That should give everyone the courage to face this trial.

"Otoha is right! We should cheer up a bit! If we walk into the trial feeling defeated already, we might as well volunteer for execution already! Should we do that instead? Is anyone up for that kind of thrill in their life?" Yo added, smiling cheerfully with her arms akimbo. I would not necessarily put it that way but Yo is right. Feeling defeated is already admitting defeat. We need to look at this thinking that we can win this. We can only manifest a win in this trial with a positive mental attitude.

"I know it is hard to be confident with what we have but I know we will be able to manage to get through this as a group so have more faith in everyone's ability. There is no way one murderer can defeat a group of ultimates. Not unless everyone starts to doubt each other." Mitsue added.

"You are right. We have each other! And we still have our amazing leaders, Kaya and Mizuki, to help us out! There is no way we can fail under their leadership! We will do well! And, we are also forgetting about Kaya's group. With her as their leader, they must have collected more clues than both of our groups combined. I am sure they will be able to carry us with the clues they have during the trial. We should put all of our faith in them!" Kaoru added. Although I am iffy about Kaoru's statement, he is right. We still have that group. And based on the people in that group, I am sure they have collected more than we have. I am confident in them.

"Kaoru is right. There is still Kaya's group. And, we never encountered them at the same place which would probably mean they must have clues that we do not have since they searched from other places. Right now, they are probably waiting for us on the campfire grounds. To not piss off Kaya, we should probably get going. We can discuss with them what our next step should be." Mitsue added.

Everyone agreed with Mitsue. With Mitsue in charge, the seven campers began making their way to the campfire grounds. At the back of the group was Otoha assisting Akari along the way. In front of the two ladies were Yo and Kaoru actively conversing about the few clues that they have. Leading the pack was Mitsue with Kaito and Connor walking alongside him.

Just like how he would normally be, Connor began chatting away with two out of the three people he considers as his best friends on the island. Resting his hand on Kaito's left shoulder, Connor asked, "What do you guys think Monokuma is planning? Isn't it a bit suspicious how short of a time he gave us for this one?"

"Although he presents himself as the head camp counselor, he has made it clear that he does not care about the welfare of his campers. Everything is a twisted game for him. We are all just pawns to his unbelievably cruel game." Mitsue answered, looking straight ahead.

"Monokuma does not really care about us. If that bear did, we would not be in this situation. However, what happened earlier made me think about how that bear is programmed." Kaito shared, nodding his head.

Turning to Kaito, Mitsue asked, "What do you mean?"

"I think Monokuma is not necessarily evil. It feels like he is always sitting on the fence between good and evil." Kaito clarified. What the fuck are you talking about Kaito? That bear is full-blown evil! What monster that has kindness would make teenagers kill each other?

"Bro, are you saying that animatronic is good? That is insane! Did you hit your head? You are not making any sense right now." Connor commented, raising his right eyebrow.

"It is just that sometimes we forget that Monokuma is artificial. It was made by someone and that someone is the true evil mind behind this game. And, it is programmed to achieve certain goals such as monitoring this killing game and making it more 'interesting' through any means necessary." Kaito added.

"What is your point Kaito? Even if it is only programming, it still results in the shit we are in." Mitsue commented.

"Well, it does not always result as a bane. Earlier, we were able to negotiate with it to lend us the diving suits due to how it is programmed to make the game interesting. I think we can use this as leverage in the future to make it do as we please. Am I making sense?" Kaito shared, turning to Mitsue. I can see what Kaito is trying to say. That bear can do whatever it wants as long as it will benefit it with the tasks it is programmed to do. If we are pushed into a situation, we can use this to get our way just like what we did earlier.

Suddenly, Mitsue began thinking of the incident earlier. Out of everyone in the group, the person who insisted on calling Monokuma for help is none other than that nutjob, Yo. As he was walking, Mitsue glanced at the fan club president who was preoccupied with Kaoru at the moment. Did she know about this? Is that why she was confident to call that bear for help?

"Do you think Yo thought of that earlier?" Mitsue asked, looking back to Connor and Kaito.

"It is possible but you never really know when it comes to Yo. She is unpredictable, to say the least." Kaito answered.

"That girl is as cookie as anyone can get. She lives in her world and speaks her own language. Sometimes when I look at her, I feel like she is like one of those aliens pretending to be human." Connor added.

"Or like a puppet manipulated by a novice puppeteer…" Mitsue added.

"Exactly! But despite that, she is one of the kindest souls in the group. That girl helped out everyone during the preparation for the party. And, she has this infectious optimism. Don't you guys think so too?" Connor asked.

"She has a cheery disposition but she can be creepy because of it sometimes." Kaito added.

"I totally get you bro. She delivers sad news with a smile like she is not bothered by it. Normally, you can see the sadness in someone's eyes when they are about to share something bad but she masks it well with her smile from ear to ear. Do you think she is incapable of being sad?" Connor added, leaning closer to the two men. I have seen her mood dampened before when she was talking about her family while she was smiling. But, other than that, she has always been cheerful. I wonder how much of the smiles we have seen from her were real.

Slowly, Mitsue took a glance behind him only to be spooked by none other than Yo.

"Hello fellas! What were y'all talking about?" Yo greeted the three men, waving her hands at them.

I forgot she also possesses the ability to quietly creep up on someone.

"Nothing too important…" Mitsue answered.

"Really? But it looked like you were talking about something pretty interesting… C'mon, just tell me! I promise I will never tell a soul about it! Pretty please!" Yo insisted, clasping her hands together.

"Dude, it wasn't important. It was about the upcoming trial." Connor answered, winking at Mitsue. Great lie…

"What about it?" Yo asked, tilting her head towards Kaito.

"Oh, we were just… um… hoping Kaya's group will have plenty of clues for us to use." Kaito answered, looking sorrily at Mitsue.

After a few seconds of silence, Yo slapped Kaito's arm. "Me too! I really hope they will be plenty of help to this trial! I am so excited to catch the culprit this time! It feels like we are a bunch of characters in a murder mystery anime, don't you feel that way as well?" Why is she so happy to compare our situation with those kinds of anime? If I were her, I would be scared shitless because our situation is exactly like those murder mystery animes.

"We should hurry up." Mitsue commented, leaving the three behind.

"Wait up!" Yo shouted.

The group continued trudging towards the grounds until they eventually reached the place. Once they arrived, they were greeted by the emptiness of the campfire grounds highlighted by the strong beam of the sun hitting the sandy ground. Where is Kaya's group? I really thought they would be here by now. Well, there is no use in worrying about them. I am sure they are on their way.

"Mitsue, where are they?" Kaoru asked.

"I do not know but I am sure they are on their way. They must have searched places farther from the garage. That should be the reason." Mitsue answered.

"Are you sure about that? What if something bad happened to them? Our great leaders are in that group! We will be lost without them! This is a nightmare!" Kaoru shouted.

"Calm down! I am sure nothing happened to them. If something did happen, Monokuma would have informed us by now. Plus, they have Hiroto in their group. I am sure he would not let anything happen to them." Mitsue added.

"That is a lot of trust you are putting on Hiroto." Otoha commented, crossing her arms.

"He is cold but he is a dependable kid. There have been multiple times he has helped me. And, even if he does not care about his groupmates, he would do something because he definitely cares about getting out of trouble." Mitsue clarified.

"That is reassuring to hear." Otoha nodded.

"In the meantime, we should patiently wait for their group. You can start preparing for the trial as much as you possibly can. Although we only have few pieces of evidence, I am sure we can come up with something." Mitsue ordered.

After that, the group dispersed and everyone has paired up. Connor joined Kaito in discussing the case while sitting on the fences. Kaoru was dragged by Yo onto the stage where they stayed. The two attempted to stay on the topic of solving the murder but Yo is easily distracted by numerous objects around her. The remaining pair was Otoha and Akari. The two ladies stayed underneath the cool shade of a tree. Even though they were together, the two were sitting together as if the other one was invisible. The dollmaker was busy scrolling through her monopad while the actress stared idly at the dust blown off the ground by the strong gust passing by.

Standing at the center of the grounds alone, Mitsue noticed Otoha and Akari's silence. I wonder how those two are doing, especially Akari. I hope Akari is feeling better for the upcoming trial so she can help as much as she can. But from the way she is staring at the sky, I don't think she is ready to face this daunting task ahead of us. I should probably check up on them to be sure.

With light steps, he made his way to the two ladies sitting quietly under the tree. Once he reached the women, he stood in front of them and eyed both of the girls. As expected, Otoha greeted Mitsue, "Hi Mitsue! Is there something I can help you with?"

"Um…" Mitsue's eyes were locked on the dazed Akari. Although he was standing directly in front of the actress, Akari was looking right past him. It was as if he was a thin transparent piece of plastic. His presence did not matter to Akari at all. She is completely lost in her own world. Usually, she would glare at me and sometimes even shout a snide remark. But now, it is as if her lips have been shut closed. I hope she can bounce back before the trial starts.

Suddenly, the emergency response team leader felt someone tugging his pants. Instinctively, he looked down and saw the soft right hand of Otoha holding onto his pants. "What is it?" Mitsue asked, staring back at Otoha.

"I said, 'Is there something I can help you with?'" Otoha smilingly replied.

"Oh!" Mitsue shook his head. His attention went back to Akari. Has she been like this the whole time? I have not noticed since I was busy collecting clues. Otoha has been with her throughout the investigation period. Maybe she can fill me in about Akari.

"On second thought, can I talk to you Otoha privately?" Mitsue asked, turning to Otoha.

"Sure!" Otoha agreed, nodding and putting away her monopad. Daintily, Otoha stood up from her spot and looked at Mitsue. "Where should we talk?"

"Come with me…" Mitsue answered, gesturing with his hand to follow him.

Otoha nodded. Mitsue began walking leading Otoha to the entrance of the grounds where no one was near them. Once they have reached the area, Mitsue leaned against the fence near the entrance. "I just want to ask how Akari has been throughout the whole investigation period. How was she holding up?"

Otoha let out a deep sigh. "Not so great. She has been so quiet the whole time. I am not really sure what is running in her head. Usually, she would complain about small things like walking directly under the sun but she never once did the entire time. The only time she said anything was when she slapped you in the face."

"Is that so?" Mitsue commented. Even Otoha cannot talk properly with Akari. How will she be able to help later in the trial? I need to do something.

"I knew she had a thing for Naoki but I did not think it would be this deep for her to be mourning like this for his death. Naoki must have meant a lot to her. Poor girl… She is completely heartbroken right now. I wish I could do something to help her but she would not even talk to me." Otoha added, staring at Akari.

"I am sure she will talk to us eventually. She will not stay like that for long. It is a matter of time before she will search for someone to help her vent out all of the bubbling emotions inside of her." Mitsue commented. I hope so. I hope she will not bottle it up. It will only eat her alive if she does so.

Slowly, Otoha's lips curved into a smile as she stared at Mitsue. "I like this." Huh?

Mitsue raised his right eyebrow. "What are you talking about?" Mitsue asked, staring at the dollmaker.

"It is not what you are thinking right now! I just like seeing how much you care about Akari. Even though her existence makes your blood boil most of the time, you are still trying to help her. I am just happy to see people helping each other despite their differences." Otoha explained.

"Even though she annoys me, it does not mean I should stop caring for her well-being. She is still very much a part of the group. It would be wrong of me to cast her to the side just because of how I feel towards her. It would be immature of me as an emergency respondent. I should give her the care she deserves." Mitsue added.

"I am glad to hear that. We need to help one another in times like this." Otoha commented, looking at Akari.

"I agree with you." Mitsue nodded. "I do not want to be rude but can I sit at your spot? I would like to try to talk with Akari alone to check how she is doing. I thought she might feel more hesitant to open up if there are more people around her."

"There is no problem about that! I can stay here while you go talk to her. I will be cheering for you here! Good luck!" Otoha replied, gesturing her hand to Mitsue to go.

"Thank you and I am sorry for taking your seat!" Mitsue added.

"It is alright! Go ahead!" Otoha gave Mitsue a thumbs-up.

Eventually, Mitsue left Otoha and went back to where Akari was sitting. Immediately, he sat down beside the actress. Although Mitsue loudly sat down, the actress did not even bat an eye towards the emergency response team leader. Akari is truly trapped in her thoughts. How should I approach her? I don't think being loud will catch her attention. Should I just tap her on her shoulder? It feels weird if I do it but I cannot think of any other way to make her snap out of her daze.

Raising his right arm going back and forth for a few seconds, he finally gently tapped Akari on her shoulder three times. "Are you okay? What is running in your head right now? You can tell me anything you want. I am only here to listen to you. I will not judge you."

Slowly, Akari looked at Mitsue and went back to staring at the sky. That is a good sign. That means she is still aware of the people around her. I truly hope she vents everything out on me. Listening only to your own thoughts will make anyone crazy. I was surely close to that when Kia and Rafiki died. I do not want anyone else to experience that.

"But if you do not want to speak, I can stay here and keep you company in silence. I just want you to know that you have someone you can share your pain with." Mitsue added.

A few seconds have silently passed when Akari finally uttered a word. "Sorry…" Akari mumbled as she wrapped her arms around her legs. Did she apologize? I never thought I would hear her say that word.

"What are you apologizing for?" Mitsue asked.

"I feel like I am burdening you and Otoha. Instead of helping out in the investigation, all I am doing is cry like a baby. Out of the three of us, I should be the one who should be initiating conversations about the trial since I am the one who wants to win the trial the most. However, I just cannot bring myself to do it. I am a mess." Akari answered while tears trickled down her cheeks.

"It is only natural to be a mess when you are grieving. If you are perfectly fine after losing someone important to you, that means something is wrong with you." Mitsue commented.

"I know people are thinking I am overreacting about Naoki's death since they think my feelings for Naoki are shallow. It is not. My feelings are real. No man has ever treated me as nicely as Naoki. Every man I have ever encountered has either only seen me as a pretty young thing or has left me with bruises. Naoki did not care about my beauty nor did he ever harmed me. He was different and I don't think I will ever meet anyone like him." Akari added.

"No one is thinking like that. And, even if someone is, do not pay attention to them. What you are feeling is valid and do not let anyone make you feel otherwise. They do not know what you are going through right now. It is easy for them to judge you because they are not in your position. Ignorant people are the quickest to judge and shout their opinions. Remember that." Mitsue shared, patting Akari in the back.

"Thank you…" Akari mumbled, turning to Mitsue.

"No problem…" Mitsue nodded.

Suddenly, Akari giggled. "I never thought I would ever be thanking you. Just yesterday, I was ready to slit your throat for being there instead of Naoki. Now, you are comforting me. I cannot believe how things can change so easily."

"You are not the only one." Mitsue commented.

"I should probably read the clues you gathered for us. Even though I might not understand any of it because of how much of a wreck I am, I will still give it a go. It is the least I can do. I want to avenge Naoki's death." Akari declared, putting out her monopad.

"That is great to hear. I will leave you now so you can read the clues peacefully." Mitsue shared, standing up. "Just call me if you need me."

Akari nodded. Then, Mitsue left and went back to Otoha.

"How was your talk?" Otoha immediately asked.

"She is doing better than earlier which is all we can hope for really." Mitsue answered, crossing his arms.

"That is good to hear." Otoha exclaimed.

"If you want, you can sit beside her again to monitor her." Mitsue offered.

"If that is the case, I will be going then." Otoha replied before going back to her spot.

Mitsue was left alone at the entrance leaning against the fence looking from where Kaya's group may come from. Where are they? Minutes have already passed and they are still not here. Don't tell me something really did happen to that group. Please, let them be safe.

Suddenly, Mitsue could faintly hear someone shouting, "We finally friggin made it!" That has to be Kaya's group! They are near. I hope they would come out already and show themselves. After a few seconds, one of the members finally appeared. Kai was bolting towards him without showing any sign of slowing down. He is going to hit me if he does not slow down! Quickly, Mitsue got out of Kai's path. Once Kai entered the campfire grounds, he shouted, "Touchdown! That was fun!"

"Kai, where are your other groupmates?" Mitsue asked.

"I just got here and you are already in search of other people. Is that how little you care for me? Am I that dispensable?" Kai asked, tilting his head to the left while pouting his lips.

"Yes!" Mitsue blankly answered.

"What a straightforward answer! That pained me like a thousand hornets stinging me at the same time!" Kai commented. Here we go again with his shenanigans.

"But seriously, where are the others?" Mitsue asked.

"They are on their way from our amazing journey to collect the illustrious clues scattered throughout the island. We have searched far and wide. No stone was left unturned. Not even the trees were spared from the search. We have entered every building we could have possibly reached." Kai answered, smiling beamingly. Why do I not trust this smile at all?

"I am guessing your search was a success." Mitsue asked.

"For me, it was!" Kai shouted, patting his chest. What do you mean it was a success for you? What do the others think? Where are they anyway?

Out of nowhere, Kaya's voice was heard. "Sorry for taking so long."

Mitsue turned around to see Kaya walking alongside Mizuki while Hiroto was behind the two ladies. Hearing Kaya, everyone flocked to the entrance to meet with her.

"My great leader Kaya! How was your search?" Kaoru asked.

"It was amazing!" Kai answered.

"It was? Does that mean you found plenty of clues? That would be great news! Ooooh! Tell us more! This is oh-so-amazing!" Yo exclaimed, jumping energetically.

"Shut up Kai! Do not listen to him. It was far from being amazing! It was the worst experience I have ever had." Kaya commented.

"What happened?" Otoha worriedly asked.

"With Kai being there, it felt like I was babysitting a giant pubescent baby. He kept on running to wherever he wants to be. And, other than him, this man has been silent the whole time!" Kaya pointed at Hiroto. "It was as if we did not exist. It was like talking to a brick wall."

"That sounds rough having to deal with these two." Connor suddenly slung his arm around Hiroto. "Sorry about this buddy of mine. He can be a loner sometimes but he does mean well, most of the time."

Hiroto motioned his shoulder, pushing Connor's arm off of him.

"Whatever!" Kaya shouted. I have never seen Kaya this irritated before. She must have been worn out by these two. At least she had Mizuki as her other groupmate.

"But I am sure you found plenty of clues, right?" Kaito asked.

"That is the other thing that is making me fume in anger!" Kaya answered, wiping the sweat off of her forehead.

"What happened my leader?" Kaoru asked.

"We did not find much! It is frustrating me!" Kaya shouted.

"You must be expecting to find more than you did. That must be why you are angry. It is because of disappointment. I am sure you still found plenty of clues." Otoha commented.

"Nope!" Kai giggled. "We only have less than ten clues! And that already includes the clues Kaya found during her dive!" What! They only have that many clues? How is that possible? Kai must be exaggerating things.

"Is that true?" Kaito asked.

"Unfortunately, it is. We looked everywhere starting from the clinic to the lake. We even trekked along the forest." Kaya shared. This cannot be real! I was hoping for them to have at least twenty clues. What happened to them? What is going on with this investigation! How are we going to do this with the few clues that we have?

"It is sad to think we were only able to accomplish that much. We are deeply sorry for our underwhelming performance during the investigation period! It looks like our group will have to depend on everyone else when it comes to the trial." Mizuki added, bowing her head.

"No can do!" Yo shouted.

Stunned, Kaya asked, "Why is that?"

"We were not better than you were. My group only found twelve clues! We were really expecting your group to turn it out! What a surprising turn of events!" Yo explained, smiling the whole time.

"That is all you have?" Kaya shouted.

"Yes! What should we do my leader? We are doomed if we head into the trial with only this much! I am scared to face the trial!" Kaoru shouted. It was not just Kaoru who felt this way. It was evident in almost everyone's faces the fear that was silently lurking within them. There was only silence. Even the incoherent chatterbox Yo could not say a word. All of them knew the severity of the situation they were in and no one knew how to get out of it. Calm down, Mitsue. I need to get it together. If I panic, people might follow my lead. This cannot be how all of us will fucking end. Just breathe… We can do this.

Mitsue was about to speak when someone beside him let out a short giggle. Everyone turned to the amused drama writer who was trying so hard to stop himself from laughing even more. Kai had both of his hands covering his mouth. What is this turd laughing about? This is not the time to fucking laugh! Is this situation funny to him? Does he not understand that his life is also in danger? I wouldn't be laughing if I were him. Instead, I would be shitting my pants!

"Is there something funny to you, Kai?" Otoha asked.

"Don't mind me!" Kai answered, trying to stop himself. "I am just amazed by our situation. Monokuma has outdone himself this time."

"Are you praising Monokuma?" Mizuki asked.

"Kinda… He managed to make all of us lose hope. Not everyone can do that. Even I cannot. All I can do is stir some shit until all hell breaks loose." Kai explained.

"Can you stop being like that for a second? It is not helping anyone! You are making things worse." Kaya shouted, pointing at Kai.

"I know that! I am trying okay! But, seriously, we really have our work cut out for us. We were constrained by the unexpectedly short investigation period. Then, we cannot find for the love of god enough clues to save our asses from execution. And, we still have a trial to do! Monokuma and whoever the killer is are tormenting us." Kai added.

"Yeah… The killer is a pain in the butt! How can that person kill Naoki like that?" Connor commented, shaking his head.

"Whoever the killer is, they must be one meticulous and smart cookie. They managed to get rid of as many of their tracks as they can. They are determined to get away with their murder. We will be facing a formidable opponent later." Kaya commented.

"But it is alright! We have you and Kaito and Hiroto and Mitsue! I know we can depend on all four of you to lead us later in the trial! We will do just fine! I know we will! I trust everyone! Hihi!" Yo shouted, pointing at everyone.

"Sure, we can trust them to be the smartest ones during the trial but what makes us so sure it would not be one of them who did it? If we just blindly follow them, we might just find ourselves in our execution." Kai commented with his right arm akimbo.

"Dude, can you stop scaring the group? Totally not helpful!" Connor whispered.

"What? I am just saying to be wary of everyone. Think before agreeing with whatever they will be saying later." Kai replied, raising his hands in the air. As much as I find Kai to be annoying, he is right. Certain people in this group just agree with whatever certain people say without analyzing it.

"Kai has a point. Don't let your biases trick you later." Mitsue shared.

"See! Even Mitsue agrees with me! I am so excited for this trial!" Kai guffawed. I really hate him. How can he be laughing boisterously right now? Let's just get this over with! Where is that bear anyway?

"Where is Monokuma? Why is that bear taking so long to fetch us again?" Otoha asked.

"Maybe it is preparing the setups for our executions later… Hihihihi!" Kai answered.

"That cannot be true! You are just scaring us!" Kaito commented.

"What? It is totally possible! He only gave a short amount of time to investigate. It might be expecting for us to lose the trial. It is not that easy to just whip out a bunch of executions as elaborate as Orie's all at the same time." Kai added, grinning from ear to ear. He is just fucking with everyone again.

"Shut up Kai or I will make you shut up." Mitsue warned, curling his hands into fists.

"Oooh! Scary! I am just saying a possibility. I did not say it was what that bear is doing. But you never know… I might be right!" Kai giggled. I cannot stand him!

"We are going to die…" Kaito mumbled. Suddenly, he crouched down covering his face. The astrophysicist continued mumbling to himself. Immediately, Connor crouched beside him.

"Don't listen to that guy! He is just messing with us like he usually does. Don't take anything he said so seriously." Connor whispered, patting Kaito in the back.

"Why not? I was serious with what I said." Kai quickly replied.

"Shut up! We do not have time for this." Mitsue shouted, grabbing Kai by his collar.

"But I do! I have plenty of time for this." Kai simply smiled afterward. I hate you!

Mitsue was about to retort back when an obnoxious voice appeared. "What is going on here? The trial has not even started and all of you are already in shambles! This is a great sign of what is about to happen! Upupupu!" Monokuma greeted the campers.

Letting out a sigh, he pushed Kai away making the drama writer fall on his butt. The bear is finally here. Turning to Monokuma, Mitsue asked, "What took you so long?"

"I was preparing your executions, you know! It is not that easy to do this shit!" Monokuma shouted, pointing his right paw to the ground.

"It really is preparing to kill us all! I am going to die!" Kaito shouted.

"I knew it!" Kai shouted, pumping his fist in the air.

"You really want all of us to die!" Otoha commented.

"Not exactly!" Monokuma replied, shaking its head.

"Not only you are scaring us right now, you even shortened the time for the investigation!" Otoha added.

"That is so unfair dude! We were scrambling around to look for clues and then you suddenly cut it short!" Connor added, crossing his arms.

"You must be conspiring with the killer, aren't you! Just fess up bear! We got you!" Yo added, pointing at Monokuma.

"Conspiring with the killer? Excuse me but I am not conspiring with anyone. I am just here to watch an amazing killing game!" Monokuma shouted.

"Then explain to us why we have a shorter amount of time to investigate compared to last time." Kaya asked.

"There is no exact science in determining how long the investigation period will be. I don't follow any criteria. It all boils down to my mood. And today, I am in the mood of rushing things." Monokuma explained, crossing its arms.

"How suspicious…" Mizuki commented.

"I am not suspicious! I am being honest right now! I am innocent of all of your allegations!" Monokuma shouted.

"You are far from being an innocent bear." Mizuki added.

"You got a point there little angel. But you can doubt me all you want. It is still your lives that are on the line at the end of the day! Hahahahaha!" Monokuma laughed at the remaining campers.

"Can we just get this over with? Just take us to the trial room. I do not want to stay with a killer any second longer." Kaya commented, rolling her eyes.

"I was going to but all of you keep on talking over me! I get so easily distracted you know!" Monokuma huffed.

"You are a bear but you have an attention span of a goldfish! How funny is that!" Yo commented, laughing at Monokuma.

"Shut it rainbow barf!" Monokuma shouted, showing off its sharp claws.

Yo zipped her mouth into a smile.

"Follow me twerps!" Monokuma shouted. The group silently made their way to the enormous warehouse. Eventually, they reached the place and went inside immediately. The group took a ride in the elevator taking them to the basement floor. As they were riding, Mitsue stood in the corner looking at everyone inside with him. The last time we were going down in this elevator, there were thirteen of us. Now, there are only eleven of us left. Later, only ten of us will get to ride this elevator again. I hope this will be the last time our number will whittle down. I don't want to find another corpse.

After a few minutes of silently riding down, the group reached the basement floor. As soon as the door opened, Monokuma shouted, "Welcome to the trial room! Go ahead and settle into your podiums while I take my spot on the throne!"

The eleven campers quickly went to their podiums. While making his way to his podium, Mitsue noticed three new photos. The first one he noticed was the photo of Orie at her podium with an "X" written all over it. The next photo that got his attention was Naoki's. Unlike Kia and Orie's photo, Naoki's photo was covered with a magnifying glass and a question mark crossed into an "X". And, the last photo he found was the small photo of Rafiki beside Kia's. The monkey's photo has two bananas crossed together. Rafiki… I am sorry buddy…

After staring at Rafiki's photo, Mitsue stood behind his podium. Before Mitsue could even put out his monopad, Kai commented, "Wow! Everyone around Mitsue's podium is dead. The two ladies beside him, Kia and Orie, are gone. Even the monkey is dead. Naoki, which is only separated by Kia's podium, is gone. What kind of bad luck are you spreading there?"

Mitsue rolled his eyes.

"Connor… Yo… If I were you, I would be wary about your fate. You two are currently the closest to Mitsue. One of you might end up being the next victim." Kai loudly whispered to the two.

"There will not be any next victim because this will be the last murder. Get that in your head." Kaya shouted, glaring at Kai. Get him, Kaya!

"I am sorry! Just trying to lighten the mood!" Kai retorted, raising his hands.

"Well, you failed. Just shut up and prepare for the trial." Kaya added, raising her right eyebrow.

"Let's stop fighting! We have not even started the trial and we are already bickering. Let's calm down a bit. I am sure we will get through this with the help of almighty God." Mizuki commented.

"Ugh! Jesus… Gross…" Kai mumbled, rolling his eyes.

Suddenly, Yo shouted, "When are you going to start this trial?" Yo asked Monokuma.

"I will let you have a few more minutes to settle in. After that, it is showtime!" Monokuma answered.

"Thank you Mr. Monokuma!" Yo replied smilingly.

After that, everyone began preparing for the trial. Mitsue put out his monopad. As he was opening his clues, out of nowhere, Hiroto asked Mitsue, "By the way, how many clues did your group get, Mitsue?"

"That is right! No one from your group has said anything about that." Kaoru commented.

"I am not sure… Let me check." Mitsue opened the list of clues he managed to collect. Counting the number of clues he has, his jaw dropped.

"What is up with that look on your face bro?" Connor asked.

"I unknowingly collected twenty-four clues. I thought it would be significantly lesser than that." Mitsue shared.

"That means your group will probably take charge of the trial since you have the most evidence." Hiroto commented.

"Actually, it will only be Mitsue. Akari and I weren't much help in collecting the pieces of evidence which makes us unfamiliar with any of them. We are going to rely on you Mitsue for this one!" Otoha added.

"But I am not great at solving stuff like this. I am shit at this!" Mitsue retorted, shaking his hands in objection.

"Don't worry. I will help you along the way." Hiroto stoically replied.

"Okay then…" Mitsue nodded. I know I can count on Hiroto. I believe he will not fail us. I really hope so.

Mitsue took one last look at the clues he has.

---

Fact #1: Autopsy Report #2

The victim was Naoki Toshiro. The estimated time of his death was 6:29 pm.

Fact #2: Cart A

Kaya used the cart the whole day with Kaoru. Kaoru joined her around 8 am. Kaya, with Kaoru, returned the cart to the garage around 6 pm.

Fact #3: Cart B

Otoha took the cart from the garage around 8 am. At some point, she fetched all of the girls except for Kaya using the cart around 9:30 am. Then, Mizuki and Yo borrowed the cart from her around 12:30 pm. Mitsue also borrowed her cart around 3:30 pm and returned it around 4 pm. Otoha, with Mizuki and Yo, returned the cart around 6 pm.

Fact #4: Cart C

Connor and Kaito took the cart from the garage around 8 am. Kai and Hiroto also borrowed the cart around 3:30 pm. Connor returned the cart around 6 pm.

Fact #5: Glowing Drain

The drain of one of the shower rooms is glowing purple due to purple specks of dust stuck onto the sides of the pipe underneath it.

Fact #6: Big Dent

An enormous, perfectly concave dent was found on the speed boat.

Fact #7: Naoki's eyes

Naoki's eyelids were stiff and his pupils have contracted.

Fact #8: Bubbles

Naoki's nose had bubbles near his nostrils.

Fact #9: Stiff Body

Naoki's body is unusually stiff.

Fact #10: Iron Ball

Naoki's right ankle is chained to an iron ball that is keeping him submerged underwater.

Fact #11: Naoki's Nostrils

Naoki's nostrils are faintly glowing purple.

Fact #12: Purple Fingerprint

A purple fingerprint was found on the ladder on the side of the wooden dock.

Fact #13: Otoha's Testimony

All of the girls except for Kaya were together in the arts and crafts cabin around 9:30 am until lunchtime.

Fact #14: Carts

The carts were rearranged.

Fact #15: Steering Wheel

The steering wheel of one of the carts is cold and damp.

Fact #16: Wet Handprint

A wet handprint was found on the cover of the trunk at the back of the cart.

Fact #17: Body Bag

The body bag inside the trunk with the wet handprint had specks of purple dust inside it.

Fact #18: Spray Bottle

A spray bottle was found in the garage. It contained a purple liquid.

Fact #19: Melted Safe

The safe that had everyone's contract was burnt and melted.

Fact #20: Burnt Paper

A piece of paper was burnt alongside the safe. However, a piece of it was left intact. Based on the solid piece, the paper was the same stationery paper the women used for their letters.

Fact #21: Akari's Letter

Akari sent a letter but Mitsue ended up getting the letter.

Fact #22: Mitsue's Notification

Mitsue received two notifications telling him he received a mail but only found one letter in his mailbox.

Fact #23: Kaoru's Testimony

Kaoru and Kaya went to Naoki's cabin to meet up with him around 9:30 am. Kaya did not stay long since Naoki was going to visit Mitsue and Hiroto at the radio shack.

Fact #24: Mitsue's Testimony

Naoki never went to the radio shack.

---

I will do my best to use these pieces of evidence to get to the bottom of this. I will figure out who killed Naoki and save the group from execution. I will make sure of that. No more innocent lives will be lost to this sadistic game.

Suddenly, Monokuma shouted, "It looks like everyone is ready. Good luck everyone! Bring you're A-game. Let the trial commence!"

Immediately, the room fell into silence. Everyone kept glancing at each other waiting for someone to begin the discussion. However, no one dared to speak. I don't really know how to start this shit. Even though it is our second time, I cannot still get used to this. I completely erased in my mind how everything went down from the last trial. I am sure it is the same for everyone in here. No one wants to remember that mess. It was only a few minutes until Connor broke the deafening silence by asking the group, "So… What now? Does anyone have a plan or something?"

Letting out a sharp exhale, Kaya answered, "I guess I will take the lead for now. We should probably discuss first the autopsy since even that clue is vague. It will be easier to discuss the trial if we figure out that part. Hopefully, we can get on track after that." Crossing her arms, Kaya turned to Mitsue, "Since you are the expert in human anatomy here, can you take the lead for this part?"

"Sure… Let's state first what was given to us. Based on the autopsy, all we know is that Naoki's time of death was minutes before the party began. Other than that, there is nothing useful about it." Mitsue explained.

"Why are we lacking so many details about this? Is Monokuma hiding something important from us?" Kaito asked.

"It probably is." Otoha answered, nodding her head.

Suddenly, Yo turned around to face Monokuma. "Monokuma, why is the autopsy shrouded in mystery? Can you just give us the cause of death? Pretty please!" Yo begged, pouting her lips.

"No can do sweet cheeks! If I give it to you, the trial will become boring really quickly! Figure it out while I watch your group discover the truth! Hihihihi!" Monokuma answered.

"Ok then!" Yo turned back to her fellow campers.

"What were you thinking Yo?" Kaoru asked.

"I tried asking Monokuma for the answer." Yo answered, blankly staring at Kaoru.

"Did you really think Monokuma will give you the answer?" Mizuki asked.

"You never know until you try. That is what I usually do during math and science tests. I ask the teacher about the question until I get the answer. Hihihihi! I thought it might work on Monokuma." Yo smilingly answered. Did you truly think you can fool that bear? Monokuma would not even lift a finger if it meant not enjoying the trial. I wonder how that idiotic idea got into her head.

"Going back to the topic at hand, let us discuss Naoki's cause of death. Does anyone have an idea of what happened to our private investigator? The floor is open for any suggestion." Kaya claimed, gesturing at everyone in the room.

"I remember Mitsue did say something about this earlier while we were still in the lake. Am I remembering things correctly?" Otoha asked, looking in Mitsue's direction.

"I did. Based on my examination of Naoki's corpse, it looked like Naoki was not beaten up since there weren't any bruises or scars. This means we can rule out killing methods that require brute force since there aren't any signs of physical trauma inflicted on him. After further examining the corpse, I narrowed it down to two methods." Mitsue shared.

"What are these two methods?" Akari asked.

"The first method was that the killer drowned Naoki." Mitsue answered.

"What made you think of that?" Kaya asked, crossing her arms.

"Other than the fact that we found him underwater, I found bubbles near his nostrils." Mitsue shared.

"What do these bubbles mean?" Kaito asked.

"It shows that the victim was still breathing when dumped underwater. The bubbles are formed from the gas the victim was exhaling. However, since the victim is trapped underwater, it would eventually run out of oxygen and the last bubbles formed will remain untouched." Mitsue explained to everyone.

"That sounds like a solid conclusion already. What is throwing you off then?" Connor asked.

"The thing is Naoki is unusually stiff even for a corpse. I could not even properly open his eyelids without fearing I might rip it off. And, the pupils of their eyes have contracted. Usually, for drowned victims, their pupils should be dilated since they are somewhere that has little light. Their pupils should involuntarily react that way but it did not. This shows something is wrong with the muscles controlling Naoki's pupils." Mitsue shared.

"What happened to Naoki then?" Mizuki asked.

"The only thing I could think of is Naoki was exposed to a paralyzing substance that is so strong that it was able to stiffen up Naoki's body, including the muscles in his eyes, to the point that involuntary muscles have ceased to move to prompt multiple organ failure." Mitsue explained.

"That sounds painful! You cannot breathe but you are still conscious of it." Kaito commented.

"It is. Both methods are painful. Either way, Naoki suffered tremendously before passing on. The killer did not care about Naoki. All they wanted was for him to die." Mitsue emphasized.

"With those two options, which one caused Naoki's death?" Kaya asked.

"I am not sure. It could be that Naoki drowned first before his body deteriorated. Or, his whole body shut down before drowning. Or, it could be both at the same time. Naoki's lungs might have stopped functioning while he was already drowning. That would have sped up his death." Mitsue added.

"How can we determine which happened?" Otoha asked.

"By performing a proper autopsy. But the thing is, we were not able to do it since Naoki is stuck underwater." Mitsue answer.

"This is a disaster. The killer must have known this would have happened. We would hit a roadblock during the trial when discussing this." Kaya commented, shaking her head.

"What should we do then? We cannot move on without determining this. It is the most crucial part of the murder. Phobos and Deimos! We are doomed!" Kaito shouted. This sucks! We cannot go on like this. We need to have a concrete answer for this. There should be some way to tell which happened. I feel like I am missing something. Think Mitsue, think! I know you can come up with something. Everyone is relying on you to have an answer.

Unconsciously, Mitsue was digging his nails onto his podium while staring at the floor.

"Oooh! It looks like our Ultimate Emergency Response Team Leader cannot even answer this simple question. He should be able to do so since this is his specialty but why does he not? Does this mean we have no hope of surviving this trial? Should we just give up and volunteer for execution?" Kai tauntingly mumbled.

"Shut up, Kai! Let me think!" Mitsue shouted.

"Even if I stay quiet, I am sure you would not come up with anything because it is hopeless! Hahahahaha!" Kai retorted back. Fucking useless piece of shit! I really do not have time to deal with his crap. I am also trying to save his life. Can he cut me some slack? Seriously, can he be a decent person even for just a minute?

"Does it really matter that much?" Out of nowhere, Hiroto asked, blankly staring at the floor.

"Of course it does! It will tell us what exactly happened to Naoki." Kaya answered.

"Even if we determine which happened first, the bottom line is that all of it would have resulted in Naoki being dead. I think the important takeaway from this is that the killer wanted Naoki dead. They made sure he dies either by drowning in the lake by sinking him with an iron ball attached to his ankle or by poisoning them to cause multiple organ failures." Hiroto explained. Hiroto has a point. We shouldn't be too focused on one single detail. We should move on. We will probably figure this one out as we discuss it more as a group.

"If you are truly fixated on that, you can just get back to it. If I were everyone, I would start discussing the poison. That would give us progress in this trial." Hiroto added.

"Hiroto is right. We should just return to this when we have sorted everything else." Mitsue agreed.

"If that is the case then, we should start talking about the poison. What poison was used to kill Naoki? Does anyone have an idea?" Otoha asked the group.

"About that…" Mizuki raised her hand.

"What is it Mizuki?" Otoha asked.

"Our group visited the clinic and it did not seem to us that any of the poison was missing. Nothing was touched. If poison was truly used, shouldn't there be at least a bottle or a pill missing? To me, it did not seem like anything was out of the ordinary. However, I am not sure about this since I do not frequent the clinic that much." Mizuki explained.

"I am familiar with the place and the objects inside. To me, everything was in place. If something was off, I would have quickly noticed it. Are you sure Naoki was poisoned?" Kaya asked.

"I am one hundred percent sure. There must be something in his system to cause him to be like that. Naoki's corpse is not normal. I have seen plenty of dead people and I have never encountered one as stiff as Naoki. You have to believe me. I am sure of this." Mitsue argued.

"But, if there are no poisons moved in the clinic, what else could have the killer used. There is not that much option on this island other than those in the clinic. I do not think we can just think that the killer magically concocted their own poison out of thin air. That would be preposterous. If we are going with the idea that Naoki was poisoned, based on what we have, I do not think it is that believable. It is more plausible now that Naoki simply drowned and had an abnormal rigor mortis." Kaya commented.

I know I am right. Naoki was definitely poisoned, but by what exactly? I need to think this through. I am not backing down. I have to prove to everyone that I am right. But how? What was used to poison Naoki? What am I completely forgetting about?

"There is nowhere on this island that we can get poison other than from the clinic. If we do not have missing poison, that means poison was not used. We should just scratch this idea of the killer poisoning Naoki and move on with the trial." Kaya added.

Other than the clinic, is there really nowhere else we can get poison from? That is it! I got it! I know what poisoned Naoki. Smilingly, Mitsue refuted, "Of course, the clinic will stay the same since the killer did not use any poison from that place. The killer used something else that can be found somewhere else."

"What are you talking about? Do you know a hidden stash of poison on this island?" Kaya asked.

"There is no hidden stash. The island is littered with poisonous substances. We just didn't know this since we are unfamiliar with the biodiversity on this island. Out of everyone here, you should be the first one to think of this since you have been studying everything on this island, especially the mushrooms." Mitsue pointed at Kaya.

"That is right! I am so sorry! I forgot about that. Thank you for reminding me." Kaya apologized.

"It is alright." Mitsue replied.

"I am sorry but I am lost. Can someone fill me in on what is happening?" Connor asked.

"Some of you might not know this but Kaya has been chronicling the mushrooms on this island. Although she has not tested any of it for its toxicity, there is a possibility that some of the mushrooms can be lethal to humans. It is possible someone from this group knew about this and used it to poison Naoki. Is that right, Kaya?" Mitsue answered.

"Mitsue is right. However, the question now becomes which mushroom was used to poison Naoki. The island has plenty of mushrooms. And, how did that person knew that mushroom is lethal? They could not have just randomly picked a mushroom and hoped for the best. I do not think our killer would be a simpleton like that. They have proven to be a smart cookie for leaving as little trail as they can." Kaya added.

How did the killer choose their poison? I do not think I can answer this without answering first what was used to poison Naoki. I am sure the killer must have left something to tell us what they used to kill Naoki. They must have missed something. I am sure there is something. Think for a second! The room grew quiet as everyone tried to come up with an answer to Kaya's questions. Tapping on his podium, Kaito mumbled, "If only there is something that was left on Naoki or in the crime scene that would help us determine what they used…"

Isn't there something like that? There is one detail I have found multiple times. Suddenly, Mitsue pulled out his monopad and began skimming through his clues.

"What is it Mitsue? Did you figure something out?" Otoha asked.

"Wait!" Mitsue shouted. Mitsue continued browsing through his monopad until he abruptly stopped and stared at Otoha. "I think I figured something out, something very important the killer did not take into account."

"What is it dude?" Connor asked.

"I have found purple specks in several places. I found it under the drain of one of the shower rooms near the lake. There was a fingerprint on the ladder at the wooden dock made of purple specks. Inside one of the body bags we found in the trunk of a cart had purple specks as well. And, Yo found one as well earlier." Mitsue shared, ending at pointing at Yo.

"I did? Where did I found one?" Yo asked, pointing at herself.

"You found purple specks inside Naoki's nostrils during our dive. Don't you remember? You pointed it out for me to see." Mitsue answered.

"Oh right! I did do that! What about it?" Yo asked.

"I don't really get it. Should we know this? I cannot follow wherever you are going with this." Connor commented, furrowing his brows.

"Not necessarily… Those purple specks are from the glowing purple mushrooms scattered throughout the island. Anyone can grab one and use its spores as a poison. I know about this because I saw what it can do to anyone that ingests it up close." Mitsue shared.

"What does it do? I don't recall anyone telling me anything about this. Do enlighten us!" Kai commented, grinning at the emergency response team leader.

"Rafiki took a single bite of one of those goddamn purple mushrooms and was instantly poisoned. It paralyzed him and made his body as stiff as a stone. Hours passed before that monkey excruciatingly took its final breath and finally rested in peace and joined its caretaker in the afterlife. Does that sound similar to what we are dealing with right now?" Mitsue asked everyone.

"If that is the case, it would explain the unusual stiffness of Naoki. The mushroom would also be the cause of Naoki's paralysis. That is it. It can only be the mushroom that was used!" Kaito commented.

"So, Naoki was somehow poisoned using the spores of the mushroom. Is that correct?" Otoha asked.

"That is right. The killer used the mushroom's spores and paralyzed him." Mitsue clarified.

"So, how was he poisoned then? Of course, it is easy to say that the killer used the spores but how was it administered? How did the spore travel into Naoki's system? Did the killer sneakily mix it in Naoki's meal? I don't think Naoki would fall for such simple deception. He is the ultimate private investigator after all." Otoha added, crossing her arms. Just like what Otoha said, Naoki is too smart to fall for such childish tactics. Anyone that finds a purple mushroom in their food will be highly wary of what they are about to eat.

"Maybe the killer injected a serum with the spores in it? Naoki is not the strongest out of everyone. The killer could be someone that can easily overpower Naoki to stab him with the serum." Mizuki suggested. This could be it. Naoki is relatively weak compared to everyone on this island. If the killer is strong enough, they can do it. However, I did not see any marks on his body. Even if puncture wounds are small, I would still be able to detect one. I am sure Naoki was not punctured.

"Or maybe the killer bombed him with water balloons mixed with spores in it. Naoki would be drenched in spores. There is no way the spores will not get into his system that way! What does everyone think? Isn't it possible?" Yo added. What a bullshit idea! No one has the time to make water balloons. Everyone was scrambling to get things done earlier. The killer would not do anything that would make them stand out or suspicious. However, this suggestion is making me think of another way. I think I know how the spores were used.

"I think I know how the killer did it." Mitsue shared.

"What is it? Spill it!" Yo shouted. Everyone was leaning in, anticipating Mitsue's next words.

"The killer made him inhale it." Mitsue revealed.

"That does make sense. Since there aren't any wounds on him, it cannot be Mizuki's idea. Naoki is too smart to eat anything suspicious. And, no one has time to make water balloons. The only other way is to make him inhale it." Kaito added.

"Inhale it? But how? Was he connected to some sort of oxygen tank filled with spores? Is that how they did it?" Kaoru asked.

"Wait a second! What made you think Naoki inhaled it? Isn't it a bit farfetched? We do not even have a device to forcibly make him inhale it. How would the killer do that? Do we even have any evidence to prove that this was the method the killer used?" Mizuki asked.

"Actually, there is. Mitsue already mentioned it earlier." Kaito answered. That is right. I have said it. Our logic must be the same. I am glad Kaito understands my point. "Mitsue and Yo found purple specks in his nostrils. That means the spores traveled into his system through his nose. And, the only way that can happen is if he inhaled it."

"But, how did the killer made him inhale it? It is not like they asked Naoki to inhale a bottle of it." Mizuki continued.

"They did not ask him to and they did not need a whole bottle of spores to do the job. All they needed was a single spray to the face. Isn't that right, Mitsue?" Kaito replied, turning to Mitsue.

"Kaito is right. All they needed to do was spray Naoki in the face with a solution containing the spores. It would have inevitably made him inhale the spores. I ended up with this conclusion after remembering Kaito's group found a spray bottle filled with purple liquid in the garage. I am guessing the purple color of the liquid is caused by the spores." Mitsue clarified.

"I almost sprayed that stuff onto me. I could have died! Thank you for stopping me from doing that earlier, Mitsue!" Kaoru shouted. He was lucky I was there. Or else, he would be paralyzed by now.

"No worries. Just doing my job." Mitsue replied, nodding in acknowledgment.

"Just to summarize everything we have talked about so far, we know Naoki was poisoned using the spores of the purple mushroom. The killer made a solution containing those spores and poured it into a spray bottle. Then, the killer sprayed Naoki in the face, administering the spores into his system. Is that right?" Otoha listed what was agreed upon by everyone so far.

"Correct." Mitsue replied.

"I have a question! How did the killer know all of this? I certainly did not know any of these! I am clueless about these mushrooms." Connor commented. Connor is right. The killer knew so much about these mushrooms. They knew it was this deadly. Whoever did this is knowledgeable about the effects of these shrooms. Out of the eleven of us in this room, I could only think of one person other than me who knows about these spores. But, is it really her? I cannot believe it.

"Kaya, you are the killer, aren't you?" Mitsue pointed at Kaya.

"Excuse me? What made you say that? I am completely innocent of this horrendous crime you are trying to pin on me. If you think it was me, you better give concrete evidence it was me because I will not be backing down without a fight." Kaya yelled with her left arm akimbo.

"It is just that the killer knows a lot about these shrooms. Out of everyone in here, only you and I know what it did to Rafiki. The killer must have known this to create this crime. I cannot think of anything else." Mitsue clarified.

"How shallow your reasoning is! If that is the case, I hate to burst your bubble but I told everyone about it. I told them to stay away from the mushrooms because they are deadly. You did not know this because you isolated yourself from the group. If you are still doubting me, you can ask Kaoru. However, if you think Kaoru is biased towards me, you can ask Otoha instead. I know she will tell you the truth." Kaya replied, letting a sharp exhale afterward.

"Kaya is telling the truth! She told us about it the day Rafiki was poisoned. Connor does not remember it because he was half-asleep at that time. Yo was lost in her own world as well. And, Kai was not there for some reason." Kaoru shared.

"Really? I was probably messing around with Monokuma at that time." Kai commented, covering his giggles.

"Is this true, Otoha?" Mitsue asked.

"She did warn us about the mushrooms." Otoha answered, nodding her head.

"The killer must have used my warning as an inspiration. If I knew someone would do this, I would have just kept the information all to myself. I never imagined anyone would get the idea of using the mushrooms to kill Naoki from my announcement." Kaya commented. I feel bad for turning her into a villain.

"I am sorry for accusing you." Mitsue apologized.

"It was fine. You were just doing your job. Just do it on the real killer next time with proper evidence." Kaya replied.

"If that is the case, we can now exclude from our list of suspects Connor, Yo, and Kai since they clearly did not have any idea about the spores." Kaito declared. Those three are clueless. The killer should know about this. It cannot be them. That means we still have eight more suspects. We need to narrow it down even further.

"That is a relief that I am off the chopping block now." Yo exclaimed, wiping the sweat off of her forehead.

"I guess being clueless can be helpful after all." Connor commented.

"What a bummer! I would have totally pretended to be the killer if someone suddenly accused me of doing it just for the fun of it!" Kai added, crossing his arms.

"Now that we have our poison and the killer's method, we should discuss how was the killer able to do it. How did they create the opportunity to spray poison onto Naoki's face?" Kaya asked the group. It is not that easy to come up to someone and suddenly spray them in the face. They certainly did not do it in a public place. It must have been where only a few people were or when they knew no one was going to interrupt them. But, how did the killer do it?

"Maybe the killer forced Naoki to stay still somewhere no one would go to? I am really spitballing here." Otoha suggested. In order to do that, the killer should have threatened Naoki with something. But the thing is, no one on this island has anything they can use as leverage to force Naoki. There must be some other way but I cannot think of anything else. This is exhausting! I cannot think properly anymore.

"Does anyone have an idea?" Mitsue asked the group.

"I am lost!" Kaito replied.

"Sorry! Nothing is knocking in my noggin!" Yo added, knocking on her head. This is bad. No one has the energy to do this anymore. Everyone is too tired to think. I could see it in their faces. What else are we not thinking about? I am sure we are only forgetting something but what is it? After looking around, Mitsue's eyes landed on the runway model who was calmly staring back at him. Why does he look at peace while everyone is stressing over this? Does he already have an idea? I should just ask him about it. He will definitely answer me.

"Hiroto, share what you are thinking of right now with everyone." Mitsue ordered.

"The killer probably asked Naoki to meet up with them." Hiroto answered, looking at Mitsue. Everyone's focus shifted towards Hiroto.

"Can you further explain why you think this is the case?" Mitsue asked.

"In order for the killer to poison Naoki, they need to be in control of everything. They need to make sure the time is right, they are somewhere isolated, and no one will just barge in. All of these factors are hard to control if we say the killer simply ambushed Naoki or the killer got lucky. The killer made sure everything would be to their advantage. The only way to do that is if they get the choice of where and when they could meet up. However, the problem now becomes how did the killer make sure Naoki would accept their invitation. If that is the case, there is only one thing I could think of." Hiroto added, crossing his arms.

"What is it?" Otoha asked. Hiroto simply looked at the dollmaker. Then, his eyes shifted towards Mitsue.

"Tell us your idea." Mitsue added.

"Why did you meet up with Akari last night?" Hiroto asked. Why is he bringing this up? This is not the time for this conversation.

"You met up with Akari last night?" Kaya asked, raising her left eyebrow.

"He sure did! Hahahaha!" Kai laughed, pointing at Mitsue.

"Was he the man you were going to confess to? I thought it was supposed to be Naoki?" Yo whispered.

"Of course not! The only thing I will confess to him is how much he annoyed me every day. There was a mix-up and it ended with him finding my letter for Naoki." Akari shouted.

"The more you hate, the more you love! Yie!" Kai added.

"Shut up! I am not in the mood to deal with you!" Akari yelled at Kai.

"What does this have to do with anything?" Mitsue asked.

"Just answer me." Hiroto continued with a stoic expression.

"It was because the letter told me to do so. I thought it would be disrespectful to the sender if I ignored it." Mitsue answered.

"Exactly. I think this is what the killer did as well. They must have used a letter to convince Naoki to come. Naoki is as thoughtful as you are when it comes to stuff like this. However, I do not have any evidence that this really happened. All I am saying is based on a hunch." Hiroto shared.

"But we do have something to confirm that!" Kaito shouted. I cannot think of anything related to this that we have. What did Kaito come up with?

"Really? You found something?" Kaya asked.

"Our group found a piece of paper that had the same design as the stationery paper the ladies used to write their letters according to Yo." Kaito shared.

"Is that true, Yo?" Kaya continued.

"Yup! But it was only an itty bitty piece since the rest of it was reduced to ashes so we cannot really tell any of the details the letter contained, unfortunately." Yo answered, giving Kaya a thumbs-up.

"It is alright. At least, we have that." Kaya replied, shaking her head.

"If we are going with that theory, the killer must have burnt the letter just to make sure no one will find out what it contained." Otoha suggested.

"It must have had their name on it or a detail that would have given off their identity or mess up their plan." Mizuki added, nodding her head.

"However, there is something that has been bothering me." Hiroto shared.

"What is it?" Mitsue asked.

"How can Akari mistake your mailbox for Naoki? Akari is not the most intelligent in the group but I do not think she is a total airhead to make that kind of mistake. She likes the guy so much. How can she not tell Naoki's mailbox from yours?" Hiroto shared. Hiroto is right. Something is off about all of this. Akari is not that dumb. Did something happen to her mail that we are not aware of?

"Mitsue, didn't you say you received notifications for receiving two mails but you only received one?" Otoha asked.

"I did. Why? Is that important?" Mitsue asked. Why is she bringing this up now?

"I am just making a wild guess here but what if you did receive a mail but someone took it and swapped it for someone else's mail? Wouldn't that answer the mystery behind your notifications? Am I making any sense?" Otoha asked.

"You are but I do not think the killer would do that. They did not need to swap the letters. Plus, I cannot think of anyone who would do such a thing. And, why would they even do it in the first place? It was as if they are just trying to mess around with someone's mail, which is illegal by the way." Mitsue replied, furrowing his brows. Who would do such a thing? I cannot think of any reason to do it. I would not get anything out of it if I did it to someone else's mail. If anything, it just feels like a useless prank. Is the person who did this an accomplice? But, the killer would not get anything out of it. Were they trying to mess with the killer or with me and Naoki? Who would do something so childish? All of a sudden, Mitsue thought of something.

Glaring at Kai, Mitsue asked, "How did you know I met up with Akari?"

"What are you talking about?" Kai asked.

"You have mentioned a couple of times how Akari and I met up last night but neither of us said anything about it. If my memory serves me correctly, this was the first time we brought up the subject with everyone here. The only one that should have known about this is me, Akari, and Hiroto since I told him this morning about it. So tell us, how the fuck did you know about our meeting last night?" Mitsue asked with his eyes intently looking at the drama writer as if his vision can bore into Kai's skull.

"Ok! You got me!" Kai raised his arms admitting defeat. "I did swap your letters. But, aren't you thankful I did it? If we are going by Hiroto's theory, you were the killer's original target. You would be the one dead right now." I would have been dead by now if it was not for Kai. I feel relieved but, at the same time, I am boiling in anger. I could have defended myself better than Naoki. I had more of a fighting chance than him. Does he not feel guilty right now? He was literally the one who sent Naoki to meet his demise.

"I don't care about that! If you did not do that, Naoki would be probably alive instead of being an irretrievable corpse underwater. If I had gone instead of him, maybe I could have fought back. Why do you have to mess around all the time?" Mitsue shouted, pointing at Kai.

"I am sorry, okay! I did not mean for Naoki to get murdered! I saw Akari put her letter in Naoki's mailbox. Instantly, I knew I have to put it in yours. I was just trying to mess with Akari since I thought it would be hilarious for her to confess to you, her arch-nemesis. It is not like I was the one who poisoned him." Kai explained himself.

"You might have as well did it yourself. What you did cost him his life! Are you happy now that your messing with me ended up with someone dead?" Akari suddenly shouted with tears rolling down her eyes.

"Don't think what you did save me. You should look at it as if you killed Naoki." Mitsue shouted, pounding on his podium.

"Calm down, Mitsue and Akari. Deep breaths." Otoha suggested.

"I cannot deal with you anymore! I know you are smart! You are a goddamn literary genius. But sometimes it feels like I am talking to a child who does not understand the concept of consequences. You love to stir shit for the drama but you will regret it one day. When the ones who are important to you get the short end of the stick for the crap you do on a daily basis, you will understand the difference between the drama in the stories you write and the drama in real life are significantly huge." Mitsue shouted.

"Whatever! Do you think I haven't heard that kind of talk before?" Kai rolled his eyes. After that, an awkward silence grew in the room. No one dared to speak after the incident. Mitsue could only glare at Kai who was tauntingly smiling at him.

"Did you see who gave the other letter?" Kaya asked.

"Not a clue…" Kai mumbled.

"That is disappointing to hear." Kaoru commented, letting out a deep sigh.

"Anyway, going back to the topic, we now know that the original target would have probably been Mitsue. But why did the killer choose Mitsue? Mitsue is strong. He is not someone that can be easily overpowered by anyone." Otoha added.

"Mitsue is indeed an interesting choice." Kaya commented, crossing her arms.

"What if the killer just randomly picked me?" Mitsue added.

"I doubt that. It had a name on it. I don't know who it was but it might mean something to you." Kai shared.

"What are you talking about?" Mitsue asked.

"It had 'Ayame' written on it. Does that ring any bell to you?" Kai answered. Ayame? Why is their name on it? Did Ayame write the letter? That cannot be it! They have been nothing but kind to me. I never felt like they would do something like this. Because if Ayame wrote it, that meant they wanted to kill me. The person who helped me out the most this whole time wanted to kill me. Were they only being kind to fool me in the end? Was I being tricked? I refuse to believe this! There must be another reason.

"You are making this up! Are you making shit up again?" Mitsue shouted, pointing at Kai.

"Just like you said, I am a literary genius. I know how to freaking read. I am sure it was Ayame. What does that even mean anyway?" Kai added.

"Mitsue, who is this Ayame Kai keeps on mentioning? Kaya asked.

"Ayame has been the one who has been taking care of me when I was isolating myself from everyone. They cooked every meal I had for the past few days. However, I have never met them in real life. Kaito knows about this." Mitsue shared, pointing at Kaito.

"Mitsue is telling the truth. Someone has been cooking him amazing meals. And, they would leave a note for him to read every time. Honestly, I envied him every time we ate together. Luckily, he would share some of his meals with me." Kaito added.

"You shared meals together frequently?" Hiroto asked, glaring at the astrophysicist.

"Yes…" Kaito slowly nodded. "But none of it was planned! We just always ended up being together since we tried to avoid eating with everyone else. The only time we could eat our meal in peace is when everyone is done with their meals. Why are you glaring at me? Did I do something wrong?"

Hiroto went back to staring at the floor.

"Now, this is becoming more interesting. The one who sent the letter that got Naoki killed is the one who has been helping out our ex-leader. I wonder why they sent you a letter this time. Have they been planning to kill you this whole time? Were all of those meals they cooked for you is a way to condition you to accept their invitation to meet up in the future? All of the niceties you have received could have been fake this whole time! How heartbreaking is that? The person who has been kindest to you is nothing but a garbage person like me!" Kai shared, leaning over his podium with his stare fixated on Mitsue.

"Stop it! The killer might have written Ayame just to trick me. They could have known about what Ayame has been doing for me. We still do not know. I don't think the real Ayame would try to kill me…" Mitsue mumbled, avoiding everyone's gaze.

"Are you sure that is what you believe in or are you trying to make yourself believe that?" Kai asked smilingly. Don't listen to Kai. Once we figure out who did this, we can just ask the killer if they really are Ayame.

"Based on what Kai has shared with us, we can deduce that the killer's original target was Mitsue. It was never Naoki. Unfortunately, luck was not on his side this time." Mizuki shared.

"But going back to Otoha's question, why choose Mitsue as their victim? I could understand why Naoki would be the perfect victim. He is a threat during the trial. But Mitsue? What does he have that threatens the killer so much?" Kaya asked. Otoha's question does bring up a good point. I cannot think of a reason why to choose me as their victim. I am the strongest out of everyone here. Their plan could have easily backfired. I am not the best at trials as well. So, why choose me over ten other campers?

"This is making my head hurt! I cannot think of anything!" Yo shouted. You are not the only one.

"Did the killer choose you because they resent you? Is that good enough of a reason?" Otoha suggested. It can be but I don't think the killer would choose me for that. Everything they have done had a purpose. They wouldn't be doing it just because of their mood. What is the reasoning behind it?

"I don't think you are that bad in trials. Dude, compared to me, you are doing a fine job. Maybe they do find you threatening during trials. Look at you now. You are kind of leading the trial. If you are not great, you would not be taking charge of the trial like the bad boss you are." Connor shared.

"But, I am not the best. If that is their purpose, the most logical thing they would do is target Naoki instead of me." Mitsue shared.

"What gift from God that you have that no one else has?" Mizuki asked.

"I am just an emergency response team leader. My job has nothing to do with trials." Mitsue added.

Suddenly, Kaito clapped his hand catching everyone's attention. All eyes were on him. Pointing at Mitsue, Kaito shared, "Great Ganymede! I got it. The killer targeted Mitsue because he is an emergency respondent. That is why they chose him." My job got me targeted? But, why? What does it have to do with the murder?

"Can you please explain yourself?" Kaya asked.

"How did we start the trial?" Kaito asked.

"We talked about the autopsy." Otoha answered.

"Why is that?" Kaito continued.

"Because it was vague." Kaya answered.

"Oooh! I know!" Yo raised her hand as she jumped up and down. "Because it was incomplete! We did not have the cause of death."

"Precisely! Now, how did we determine what happened to Naoki?" Kaito continued.

"Mitsue examined Naoki's corpse." Mizuki answered.

"Do you think we would have been able to determine this without his help?" Kaito asked the group.

"It was impossible for us. No one has the skill to do so other than Mitsue." Otoha answered.

"Mitsue's medical knowledge was a threat to the killer. The killer wanted no one could determine how Naoki died. They did not want anyone to find out Naoki was poisoned. Without Mitsue, we would not even consider it as a possibility. We would have just ruled out Naoki's cause of death as drowning. And, we would not have considered the spores of the purple mushroom were used unless Mitsue brought it up since he was familiar with it. The killer was trying to conceal every important detail in their plan by choosing Mitsue as their victim. Unfortunately for them, Naoki got their letter, not Mitsue." Kaito explained.

"All of that makes total sense now. The killer wanted us to have a difficult time during the trial without Mitsue's help. It would have made things infinitely easier for them. But, unknown to them, my buddy here is totally favored by the gods because he practically escaped death without doing anything. You are one lucky dude." Connor commented, gesturing at Mitsue.

"I don't really feel lucky." Mitsue replied.

"Wait a second! I am getting so confused right now! My head is spinning. Can someone summarize first what we have so far?" Yo shouted.

"If I am following things correctly, the killer originally chose Mitsue as their victim but because Kai meddled, they ended up having to kill Naoki. Then, Naoki was poisoned using the purple mushrooms and was dumped in the lake to drown. Did I get it right?" Mizuki asked the group.

"That was pretty much it Mizuki. Great job!" Otoha cheered.

"Thank you! I just want to be as helpful as I can since that is what God wants me to do." Mizuki added. That is great that we have those down but we still have a long way to go. We have barely figured out half of what has happened.

Mitsue's lime green eyes shifted to the bear sitting comfortably on their throne. We should probably speed things up. That bear did say he was in the mood to rush things today. And, he has been awfully quiet these past few minutes. He might surprise us by suddenly halting the trial. We need to pick up the pace. We cannot let this bear execute all of us.

"Now that we know how the killer did their plan. We should now discuss when the killer executed their plan. When did they do it? Does anyone have an idea?" Mitsue asked the group.

"No clue!" Yo answered, shaking her head. Of course, you don't.

"Dunno dude. I have no idea what was happening with most people yesterday. I was busy with putting together the party with my rad lad Kaito." Connor added.

"Everyone was preoccupied. No one would even notice if someone was acting suspiciously." Kaya added.

"Maybe instead of going on about how everyone was acting yesterday, we can just talk about what we noticed about Naoki yesterday. If we could recall something about how Naoki acted, we might be able to pinpoint when it all began." Kaito suggested. I think we should do that. However, I do not think I would be that much of a help. I can't remember anything suspicious about him yesterday. Honestly, I do not recall speaking to him. Did we not bump into each other yesterday? Were we that busy?

"I will not be much of help this time. I did not meet up with him yesterday. He was probably busy running around doing errands all alone." Mitsue shared.

"Now that you mentioned it, I don't think we bumped into each other as well. I should remember if I did. There is no way I can forget that guy's ums." Yo added, resting her chin on her hand.

"He also skipped out on eating lunch. But, I do know he ate breakfast. Kaya told me so about it." Otoha shared. I almost forgot. Hiroto and I did see Kaya finishing her breakfast with Naoki's finished meal with her. Better ask her about that time.

"Kaya, do you remember how Naoki was when you ate breakfast with him?" Mitsue asked.

"He was the same as always. There was nothing strange about him. Although, it did seem something was bothering him. He would sometimes space out whenever I would talk about the party. However, I did not pay it any attention since it is Naoki after all. He is not the open talkative type." Kaya shared with the group.

"Something was already bothering him early in the morning. It could have been the letter. Or, it could be something else. But, we have no way of knowing now." Kaito added.

"Did anyone else meet up with Naoki besides Kaya?" Otoha asked.

"I did!" Kaoru shouted.

"Please do share with us what happened." Mizuki asked.

"Well, I did not exactly meet him. Kaya and I went to his cabin. I stayed in the cart while Kaya went inside to talk with him but Kaya did not stay too long and we left." Kaoru shared.

"I did not stay long since he told me he was in a bit of a rush and I could see it in the way he was fixing himself. I did not ask questions about it since it was his business and not mine. However, he did say he was going to visit Mitsue and Hiroto at the radio shack. After that, I just left as soon as I could since I did not want to bother him anymore and Kaoru and I have more things to do." Kaya added.

"What time did you meet?" Kaito asked.

"I would say it was around 9:30 am. Am I right, Kaoru?" Kaya answered.

"She is telling the truth." Kaoru confirmed, nodding his head.

"But the thing is, Naoki never came to the radio shack. Hiroto and I were never visited by him or by anyone for that matter. Hiroto can prove what I am saying real." Mitsue shared.

All of them turned to the runway model. "We were alone the whole time." Hiroto shared.

"That is peculiar. He never made it to his destination. What could have happened to him on his way there?" Kai commented.

"Did anyone else meet up with Naoki after that?" Mitsue asked. The room grew quiet. The last time anyone saw Naoki yesterday was in the morning by Kaya and Kaoru. If no one else saw him afterward, that means he went missing for hours and no one noticed it. The killer used how busy we were to their advantage.

"Since no one is speaking up, I am guessing that was the last time anyone has heard from Naoki. This means he officially went missing around 9:30 am. If this is the case, I am going to infer this was the time the killer began their plan. Around that time, the killer must have met up with Naoki and poisoned him. That is the only explanation I could think of that would explain his sudden disappearance." Kaya shared.

"If that is the case, all we have to do is check everyone's alibi around that time. We will significantly narrow down our list of suspects that way." Otoha suggested.

"If that is the case, you can rule out me and Kaoru. The two of us were together yesterday." Kaya shared.

"Hiroto and I were at the radio shack at that time as well." Mitsue added.

"I was with Kai and Kaito at that time. They were helping me out at the lake." Connor shared, pointing at the two men.

"All of the ladies were with me at the arts and crafts cabin helping me out with sewing the pajamas." Otoha divulged.

"That means everyone has an alibi at that time. This does not make any sense? The only time Naoki could have been poisoned is during that time. What is happening? Are we missing something?" Kaito asked.

"Actually, Otoha might have forgotten about this but not everyone was at the cabin at that time." Mizuki shared.

"What do you mean?" Kaya asked.

"I am sorry." Mizuki glanced at one of the ladies in the room. "It feels like I am throwing you under the bus but for the sake of the group, I have to tell everyone that you did go missing for quite a time, Akari." Akari was gone at that time. Where did she go off to?

"I did? I don't recall going out for a long time while I was helping out with Otoha." Akari replied, with surprise painted all over her face.

"That is right! She did go out for a bit. She said she needed to powder her nose. I don't really know what that means but I just agreed to let her go at that time. What did you do? Why did you have to powder your nose? What powder did you use? Baby powder? Powdered foundation? Powdered sugar? What does the powder do though?" Yo asked.

"Yo, that phrase means someone has to visit the restroom." Kaya explained.

"Oh! That makes sense. She was kind of in a rush yesterday and came back more at ease. Hihihihi!" Yo added, giggling.

"Stop it, Yo! You are embarrassing me." Akari glared at Yo.

"Are you making her shut up because you are embarrassed or is it because you do not want anyone to know you went missing?" Kai asked.

"Of course it was the former. It is embarrassing for a superstar like me to have people know of my moments like that." Akari mumbled, avoiding everyone's gaze. "Don't tell me everyone thinks here I did it just because I went to the restroom?"

"You cannot blame us. It is just that it is perfectly timed with when Naoki went missing. And, going to the restroom can be used as an excuse to leave everyone behind to do whatever it is that you are really planning to do." Kaito answered, crossing his arms.

"It was not a lousy excuse! I really had to go to the restroom at that time. If I was the killer, I would have thought of a better excuse than that, wouldn't I?" Akari stressed.

"Maybe you did not expect that this would be brought up." Kai shared, winking at the actress.

"Did not expect? Ugh! This is frustrating! I am telling the truth! I did not do it! How can I kill someone I genuinely like. I really liked Naoki. I could not even imagine pinching him if it meant hurting him. You have to believe my feelings for him!" Akari added, placing her hand on her chest.

"Do you really like him or is that you wanted people to think of?" Kai continued, smirking at the actress.

"I am telling you the truth! My feelings are real and I am innocent! I just bawled my eyes out when I found out Naoki is dead! How cruel can you be to accuse me of something like murder?" Akari added.

"The more you talk, the guiltier you look like…" Kai mumbled, tilting his head with a smile from ear to ear.

"I have to agree with Kai on this one." Kaya agreed, pointing at Kai.

"Not you too!" Akari shouted.

"Out of everyone, you are the only one without an alibi. That means you are the only one who could have done it. And, with regards to your tears, for all we know, it might be fake. You are the ultimate actress after all. You can make yourself cry on a whim just to make us believe in your innocence and the genuineness of your feelings for Naoki. You need more than words to get yourself out of this if you are truly innocent." Kaya explained.

"I am innocent but I do not know how to prove it to everyone. Can someone please help me? Please, I am begging you! I did not do it! We will all die if you vote for me!" Akari yelled.

"I doubt anyone will help you." Kai mumbled, coldly staring at the actress.

"What made you say that?" Akari asked, creasing her forehead.

"No one on this island genuinely likes you." Kai shared, rolling his eyes.

"That is not true. How can no one like me on this island? I am pretty and great to hang out with. Connor, we spend a great time talking with each other. Don't you like being friends with me?" Akari asked the saxophonist.

"You consider me as a friend?" Connor asked, pointing at himself.

"Of course, I do! What about you, President Yo? You like being around with me, don't you?" Akari asked.

"Sure…" Yo nodded, turning her gaze away from Akari.

"Look, even Yo is only forcing herself to say what you want to hear. The truth is everyone hates you. You always make people adjust to your needs. And, you are a lazy spoiled brat. All you could talk about is yourself. It is as if you are the only person in the world." Kai added.

"I come off like that?" Akari asked. She does not know? How delusional is she?

"You do princess! You lack a tremendous amount of self-awareness. Nobody wants to stick around with you because you make them your personal assistant. Honestly, I would not be surprised if you truly did turn out to be Naoki's killer. You can be cold-blooded sometimes. And the motive fits your personality. You are selfish and self-centered. You will get whatever you want at the expense of others. And, it is in a form of a contract, something you should be familiar with within your line of work." Kai added.

Listlessly, Akari began looking around the room hoping someone would save her. To her disappointment, no one was willing to meet her gaze. Everyone grew silent. It was as if there was nothing more to talk about.

"I… I did not do it…" Akari mumbled before falling onto her knees. Grasping onto her podium, tears began streaming down her cheeks again.

"It looks like your group has come to a wonderful conclusion! Would you like to commence the voting already?" Monokuma suddenly shouted.

"There is nothing more to talk about. I don't really like this though." Otoha shared, shaking her head.

"It looks like there is nothing else we can do about it but vote." Kaya added.

Is it really Akari? I don't think it is her. I am not convinced with this conclusion. How can we put the blame on Akari like this? We are still missing a lot of details. But, I don't know how to prove it. I can't think of anything that I can use. Nothing is loading in my brain anymore. It is all just a hunch but it is not Akari. Is it just me who thinks like this?

"It seems that the group has reached a conclusion! It is time to-" Suddenly, Monokuma was cut off by Hiroto.

"It is not yet the end of our trial." Hiroto stated, crossing his arms.

"What do you mean? We have her in the corner. She is speechless. It is all over for her! Don't give her the chance to recover!" Kai asked.

"It is not Akari." Hiroto declared.

"You also think so too?" Mitsue asked.

Hiroto nodded.

"You also believe Akari is innocent?" Otoha asked.

"Weirdly, I do…" Mitsue nodded.

"You two believe me? Thank you! Thank you!" Akari asked as she stood up wiping the tears off of her cheeks.

"We are forgetting that we have already discussed the detail that would prove Akari's innocence and narrow down our list of suspects to three." Hiroto revealed.

"What is it then?" Kaya asked.

Giggling on his throne, Monokuma commented, "Things just became more interesting. I guess I will let you continue with your trial. Upupupu!"

The room grew silent as they waited for the next words Hiroto was about to say. Everyone's attention was on the runway model's next revelation. What could it be Hiroto is referring to? I hope this will truly lead us to the right answer!

---

That is it for this update!

The trial has begun! Are you liking the discussion so far? Who do you think did it? How did he die? You can tell me your theories through the comments.

Also, a poll on who the killer is open on my profile. Vote on who you think killed Naoki.

If you want to talk about this story and other stuff, you can join the discord server for this story. The invite is on my profile.

That is it for now!

I hope you enjoyed it!

Stay safe!