Act I: THE TITANS, THE BEAR AND THE FORTRESS OF DESPAIR

Chapter 6: Investigation (part 1)

Day 5

Tartarus Keep

8: 00

Main Hall

Akihiko Kazuhiko.

Dead. Gone to haven. Lost forever.

There was no part in my mind that doubted the reality laid before my eyes, not after seeing my sister mutilated and in distress. Still, I was not prepared for this.

"Howdy there, accountant," said Monokuma in a high-pitched whizzing voice like an adult trying so hard to imitate child. At this point, the fact he almost materialized out of thin air no longer struck me as a surprise. Given by the reactions of my classmates, I supposed he had already paid them a visit when the body was discovered, and now he appeared once again to make sure I wasn't spared. "Always late to the party, aren't you? I see some tears in your eyes. Do you really miss me that much, your kind, handsome and smart Overlord?"

"There are three mistakes in that statement," I retorted. One, I would pay anything to see him gone for good. Two, he was the evilest person/animal/thing I had encountered, making the crooks locked up in Arkham and Stryker pale by comparison; no matter how deranged or obsessed or greedy they were, most elaborate criminals did not harm children, which Monokuma seemed to have no qualms about. And three, handsome? As if. He looked like an aborted child of Winnie the Pooh and T-800. "A smart Overlord like you should not have overlooked them."

"Jeez, I have not seen such insubordinate mouth," Monokuma complained as he sashayed towards me. Though I was taller even in my kneeling stance next to Akihito's corpse, the bear was much more imposing even if he had to look up to stare at me in the eyes. A malicious aura hung over Monokuma like a cloak, momentarily sucking the air from my throat until he started talking again, "Let's see how long you can keep that up."

"What are you here for?" I got to the point.

"A shame isn't it?" Monokuma taunted, indicating the Akihiko's lifeless body. "Such a good friend. Resourceful, generous, handsome, and good around the ladies. All the qualities you wish you had, am I right? You want to be like him, don't you? And now he is dead and you are alive, do you still envy him?"

"Hey, bastard," Eliza admonished. "Leave him alone."

"This is all your fault, asshole," Hokuto hollered at the bear. "If it weren't for you and your damn stupid game, Akihiko would not have died."

"You have no humanity at all," Kazuki said in a low, venomous voice.

"Do I look like a human to you, bitch?" Monokuma laughed in response. "Now deal with it."

"You are never going to get away with this," Rin cried. "The law will prevail in the end. One way or another, the animal will be stuffed and displayed in a museum and the person pulling the strings will be behind bars."

"I am the law here," Monokuma shouted back. "Overlord, judge, and executioner. Deal with it as well."

"Like all tyrant, you will fall," exclaimed El Viento.

"That's the thousandth time I've heard that quote directed at me, She-Bane. My rule is strict but fair. Like, regardless of your background, you all have an equal chance of getting killed in this game. Beat it."

Arguing with the mechanical bear was utterly pointless; perhaps the mastermind was no more than a predatory animal himself, only he preyed on emotions instead of flesh for food, kinda like internet trolls. I resisted the urge to commit regicide. Succumbing to my anger would not only be a breach of my moral code (I could not let what happened with Hijiri repeated) but also play to Monokuma's game nicely, for it was his wish all along to 'bear' witness to our suffering. El Viento's attempts did not end well, and I doubted I would fare any better.

Besides, I owned him.

Yes, I owned Monokuma.

If one of his Sentinels had not intervened last night, Hijiri would have been killed and her blood on my hand. The bear was evil, there was no way around it, but I would be completely heartless not to appreciate what he did for me.

"No," I answered Monokuma's question. "I do not envy him."

"Of course, you don't," the bear continued to lambast me with his irritable voice. "What good those qualities will do when you are dead. Life is short, so make it count. Speaking of life being short, you have until midday to solve this mystery, or you know what will happen?" The bear emphasized the last part with childish anticipation.

"As clear as crystal," I replied calmly. "We will play your game in the meantime." Hopefully, we would win the first round and the game would be over by the second. "Just keep your promise. Whether we emerge as the victorious or the slain in the upcoming trial, you'd better set free to the hostages."

"Ookie dookie," Monokuma giggled. "Even a depraved son of a bear like me has standards. I do not lie. After all, hope is the first step on the road to despair. You need at least some hope to feel the full force of a rushing bull once despair hits you. Just imagine the difference between falling from one flight of stairs and falling from a cliff. Have fun finding the wolf among you. Bear well."

With that, he was gone before I could ask him anything about the investigation. Luckily, Fitzgerald was more than willing to talk about the subject and briefed me on it. Apparently, our job would be to discover evidence and write them down on the Electro-ID tablet which now had two additional features, Truth Bullets, and Monokuma File. Since I was late to the party, some investigation had already been performed and a few Truth Bullets had been added. Still, that did not mean I could not notice something the others had missed. Though all my investigations so far had been of financial and economic nature, certain assumptions, skills, and techniques would probably overlap.

Midday was the moment of truth. Until then, I had better get ready.

Now was not the time to mourn. That was for later.

Now was not the time for regrets. What happened could not be changed.

Now was the time for truth and justice. And it started with an investigation.

INVESTIGATION STARTS!

"I guess there is no other way out of this, then," I concluded.

"So... we are just going to continue investigating this crap ourselves to find the killer?" asked Eliza. "I might not be playing with a full deck here, but has the bear been reading too much crime fiction recently? I mean, this is a joke, right?"

"For the sake of entertainment," said Hokuto grimly. "Though whoever is watching and smiling, I will give up a mountain of gold to get my boot on their asses."

"Cruel...," Minako murmured as she wiped away her tears. "This is so cruel. Friends should help, not murder or give out each other."

"He also said the Mutual Killing Game was a t-t-t-t-test," Tatsuya suggested. "Perhaps this is part of it. You know, d-d-d-detective skills are quite important in a lot of jobs and everyday life."

"And so is the skill to commit an offense without getting caught," Ashley added. "And in this case, it's murdering." There was a momentary silence as we let the fact sank in.

"Regardless of his intent, we now know how this can end," Fitzgerald voiced. "An unpleasant fate awaits us all should the culprit is not found. Like it or not, we have to do this."

"We need to avenge Akihiko's death as well," said Rin determinedly. "Whoever committed this murder cannot be allowed to get away with it. They are just as evil and despicable as that bear Monokuma himself. Justice will be served."

"I don't agree with Rin's view on justice," Yume admitted. "But I think she's right. Akihiko would not be able to fully rest in peace unless this is resolved."

"You guys can carry it out," said Ashley, cradling a distressed girl with green hair on her lap. "I will need some time with Minako. The whole ordeal is hard for her."

"Take your time," Hokuto concurred. "I think we've got this. Twelve heads working as once should figure out how this murder was committed, right?" Twelve, out of sixteen. Minako and Ashley took some time off. Hijiri took a timeout. And Akihiko ran out of time.

"By twelve, you are counting the one head working against us," Kazuki pointed out. "The one trying to undermine our effort and lead us to the false conclusion in the upcoming trial. The murderer or murderess themselves."

"If that is the case," commented Eliza. "I suggest we be careful and always move in pairs to prevent one person from being along at any point in time."

"That's what I thought as well," I said. When counting inventories or cash, it was imperative that the procedures were performed by pairs, one doing the work and the other supervise. Otherwise, the sole counter would have an opening for thievery or hiding their own misconducts or shortcomings in controlling assets. "Splitting up will allow us to cover more ground without getting in each other's way. But we need to make sure no one is hiding or destroying evidence in the meantime."

"Is that a bit too mistrusting?" asked Yume. "I mean, we..."

"No," Rin snapped. "We cannot trust anyone but ourselves. Not after what had happened. I agree with Eliza and Amelda. Let's go with that and carry this out in pairs or teams."

"Let us move on," said El Viento rather ostentatiously. "For vengeance, justice, and honor. Forward my allies and comrades, to glory." Aside from her and probably Rin and Fitzgerald, there was no glorification to be had in here, only a means to prolong our survival until Monokuma came up with something else to make us kill each other again.

And so our group divided to gather further evidence. Being a latecomer, the investigation had already started without me, though the list of Truth Bullets so far had been quite substandard, to say the least, and despite my lack of detective skills, I could already spot ones that were either irrelevant or factually incorrect. I wondered if some of us were inexperienced with this kind of thing or the killer purposefully misleading us with false information. Then again, Fitzgerald and Rin, the two people most capable of investigating and classifying evidence were both busy working on Hijiri and me, so perhaps some guidance was just the thing we needed.

As an accountant, I had a way of sorting out which data had more chance of painting the true picture without bias. Out of all evidence gathered so far, the Monokuma File was probably a good way to start. Though it left a foul distaste in my mouth that I should have more faith in Monokuma than my fellow students, this seemed to be the most intelligent course of action. Monokuma did not kill Akihiko, he merely gave away the incentive and the act was done by none other than one of us. The bear was the neutral party in this investigation and had no reason to confuse or mislead us, so the information the file contained was bound to be most reliable.

Monokuma File #1

Murder Victim is Akihiko Kazuhiko the Ultimate Librarian

The body is found in the Main Hall. The time of body discovery is 5 am.

The cause of death severe was brain damage from an injury through the left eye. His death was instant. A clean hit!

As I expected, Akihiko did not have to suffer when the murder got him. He probably died without knowing it, the fear or helplessness as the full extent of the fact he was in his last moment never occurring to him, something most of us felt right now as our situation resembled fish on a frying pan. I envied Akihiko's qualities in life, but how that he had expired I envied how peaceful his passing was.

Nevertheless, it seemed I had given too much credit to Monokuma, for the information provided in the file was basic and did not take an Ultimate Detective to deduce. Moving on from that, I would like to take a full review of the Truth Bullets. My classmates had already done the heavy lifting for me, now I would take advantage of that.

And since I was kneeling before the dead body of the classmate I had gotten the closest so far, I might as well find out more about how he died.

"What happened to his left eye?" I asked. It was the only visible injury on Akihiko's body, the small trickle of blood giving the impression he was crying crimson tears. Checking his pockets, I found the pair of shades he always wore. If he had had them on last night, he might have survived the attack. "Looks like it had been punctured."

"Correct," confirmed Fitzgerald. "A very peculiar type of injury. Hayashi, can you come here for a minute?"

"Of course," said Inori, coming over to examine the body. And by examination, she unclothed the late Akihiko to take a good look at the skin. Minako looked completely horrified by this while Eliza and Ashley turned away in disgust. I guessed that was one perk of being the Ultimate Patient, being able to handle the cadaver without even the slightest hint trepidation or hesitation, only grim determination and surgical precision. Even in death, Akihiko's skin was flawless with not even a mark. "I can say for sure the Monokuma's file is correct and that whatever...penetrated his eye caused enough damage to his brain that led to his immediate death."

"What can you tell us that is not already stated in there?" Fitzgerald asked.

"No other significant injury is found," Inori continued. "No sign of any struggle or abuse on the body. I don't think he put up a fight before he died. There is also a lack of evidence indicating the body has been moved. I believe this spot is where he expired."

"Is that it?"

Inori took a deep sigh. "I am afraid so. Whoever did this is probably very expert. There is no sign of body contact aside from the wound in the eye as far as I am concerned. I can't even tell whether this is a murder or an accident. I fear we might be dealing with...what you call it, the perfect crime."

"A perfect crime is not an issue for a perfect detective like me," said Fitzgerald haughtily. "We will get to the bottom of this. I guarantee that."

"And what of the murder weapon?" I asked. "What do you think can cause something like this?"

"The damage to the eye lobe is very slight, if not superficial," said Inori. "The blood comes from internal bleeding inside the brain and is carried through the tear duct." So the blood was not from the eye injury, he was literally crying tears of blood, I thought darkly. "If I were to guess, the murder weapon would be something very small and pointy."

"Like a needle," I said, painfully reminded of Hijiri injecting me with one full of tranquilizer before she tried to take my life. Damn it, for as long as I lived, I did not want to see any needle held by anyone without a medical certificate again. The Ultimate Patient's heart seemed to skip a beat at hearing this.

"Yes," she said. "A needle would be a perfect tool for this."

"What about a toothpick?" Fitzgerald coaxed. "What makes you think something as easily accessible like that is not a weapon in this case?"

"The complete lack of infection around the wound," replied Inori. "The wound is very clean. It is likely that medical supply has been used in this. An unused needle to be exact. That or the murderer did a really good job cleaning their weapon."

"Also, it must take ninja skills to kill someone with a toothpick," I chimed in, imagining how someone could stroke a toothpick through the eye of another using only their bare hands. "The injector provides a handle for the murdered to wield his weapon."

"Further evidence will prove our theory. I guess that is all we need to know for now," Fitzgerald concluded. Apparently, ninja skills were not out of the question yet.

"If anything comes up, I will call," said Inori.

"Thanks a lot, Inori," I acknowledged.

Truth bullet #1

The eye injury

Though not what killed Akihiko, the injury sustained by his left eye is a matter of interest. The weapon punctured the eye just enough to reach the brain where it caused the most of the damage.

Truth Bullet #2

Murder weapon

The murder weapon is pasteurized, pointy, and very narrow. From what we gathered so far, the weapon used to kill Akihiko was a medical needle. A stock of them exists in the storage room.

Truth Bullet #3

Killer's approach

Akihiko stood no chance against his killer, which was strange considering he was of a brawny physique. A non-conventional approach must have been used. But what?

Truth Bullet #4

Akihiko's shades

The Librarian is never seen without them. The shades had become part of him as much as the lavish clothes. They were found folded up inside his pocket, not in the right place when he needed the most.

I should have done this earlier, but it was not until now that I realized it. Ultimate Private Detective was the only person I knew for sure last night did not stay in his room, other than the obvious victim Akihiko, Minako who was never in hers, and myself who was in Hijiri's. While I doubted he was the murderer due to his lack of motivation, he could be the witness of something important, though the fact he had not spoken up about it was an indication that something wasn't persuasive.

"Where were you last night?" I asked him. "You said you would be doing some investigative work, didn't you?"

"Yes," he answered, as impassively as ever. "I was in the gallery looking at the exhibitions. Those random items put on display, I don't believe they are completely unrelated to our case. And if there were indeed others who were trapped in here, and they left something behind, I thought I could learn something from them. After it went dark, I went to the girl's bathroom to review my evidence using the Electro-ID."

"The Electro-IDs do not come with documenting features," I stated. "How did you do that?"

"I wasn't writing on it," he said. "Got a bunch of written down paper notes in my room, hidden where the bear's camera cannot reach. I only used the Electro-ID as a light source. It has a flashlight as a feature."

"Did you see anyone while you were in the gallery?" I asked.

"Yes," said Fitzgerald. "Piket and Toshishai came by from the direction of the main hall to the residence area, chatting as they went. Probably just had some supper together from the ketchup on Piket's jacket."

"At which time it was?"

"I guess it was fifteen minutes before the blackout. So about eight forty-five," said Fitzgerald. Detectives like him relied on intuition and estimates, so I took that as a fact.

"So you went back to your room after that?"

"I went to the storage room to check up on the inventories I thought I could be needing at some point. It was eleven o six then."

"You went through the main hall and saw no dead body there?"

"It was very dark and the main hall," he waved his hand to indicate the surrounding area, "is as large as an airport check-in room. If Kazuhiko's body were here then, I did not spot it."

"Anything you noticed during that time?"

"No. I was left in peace," Fitzgerald replied. Just the way we wanted, too. Good for him but bad for the rest of us, because the killer might have made their way back to the residential area after committing the murder in the main hall. Then again, wandering in the gallery or hallway with limited light in the utter darkness was far from a wise move. "I came back to my room at about o thirty."

Fitzgerald also took his own detailed notes in addition to the Truth Bullets. Whether he did not want the killer to know how much he was getting on them or the Ultimate Dirty Private Detective was just being paranoid was hard to tell.

Truth Bullet #5

Electro-ID flashlight

The Electro-IDs provide a flashlight feature. Useful for navigating during Night-Time, but probably not enough to commit a planned murder.

I wished to have a word with Minako at this point. She was not in a good state, far from it; out of all of us, Akihiko's death must have hit her the most. In the course of a normal murder investigation, relatives would be allowed some time to calm their nerves before being interrogated, but time was not something we could afford at this point. The hour of judgment was at midday and unless sufficient evidence was collected, we would not be able to solve this mystery.

Though it pained me to do this, the investigation demanded her testimony if we were to find out who was responsible for Akihiko's death. As far as I could recall, Akihiko was in the botanical garden with her in the afternoon, chatting about something I did not overhear. I was there when Tatsuya delivered me the message which almost led me to my doom and I did not recall seeing the librarian leave. If anything, aside from possibly the killer themselves, Minako might be the last person to see him alive.

"Minako, I need to talk to you for a moment," I said to a pretty shaken-up Ultimate Herbalist who was leaning against the Ultimate Pranking Queen. "You were with Akihiko last night, weren't you?"

"Minako would never have done something like that," Ashley retorted before Minako could say anything. "Does she look like a killer to you? If anything, she should be the last person you would suspect."

"I am not suspecting anyone yet," I told her. "I know it is difficult for her. However, the fact remains that I last saw Akihiko in the botanical garden with her yesterday afternoon and I don't think I saw him walk out before I did."

"It's alright, Ashley-chan," Minako spoke up. She turned to address me, "Akihiko came to me yesterday to calm me down. After seeing Hanako behind that wall looking like a lamb for slaughter, I got a bit wild." She showed me some of the purple marks and bandaged spots on her arm and legs which she probably earned from doing her Tarzan (or more likely, George of the Jungle) stunts. Even by her established standards, even compared to Eliza's accumulated injuries over a decade of sacrifice in the name of science, this was pretty hardcore.

"They must be painful," I said, remembering the broken hand she got on the second day. Aside from the likes of Rin, Hokuto, Inu, Eliza, and maybe Fitzgerald (who knew what deep end he had gotten himself into that required the loss of memory and shunning anyone that might be used against him) who were clearly involved in dangerous stuff, I feared Minako was going to kick the bucket from the pursuit of her own talent, and her talent was only the Ultimate Herbalist instead of the Ultimate Vine Swinger which she so often displayed. Monokuma himself confirmed her chance of survival was minimal, and dying to an accident was no exception. "You should not have taken it out on yourself like that. If you had come to us, we could have helped."

"Or kill her," Ashley cut in, earning both my and Minako's stares. "What? Don't pretend Akihiko wasn't killed by one of us. Maybe avoiding people is a wise choice. Just look at those anti-socials Inu and Fitz there, still kicking. And who is dead? The chivalrous one. "

"One of us includes you as well, Ashley," I said.

"Well, I didn't do it," the Pranking Queen said in denial.

"That remains to be seen," I said, surprised at how similar I sounded to Fitzgerald. In any case, the words of a prankster could not be trusted, much less the Ultimate Prankster; I was willing to be she said that a lot to those people falling victim to her tricks. And yet, for all her excessive methods against criminals no matter how big or how small, Rin still failed to recognize the threat to humanity Ashley posed.

Ashley pouted. "Whatever." One thing for sure, if she were the blackened and executed, I would not be missing her as much as anyone else.

I turned to address the still-shivering girl resting on Ashley's lap. "Anyway, Minako, what happened yesterday between you and Akihiko? Do you care to elaborate?"

"Well, as I said, I was as wild as a gorilla," Minako began. "I swung from trees to trees, fell down a couple of times, hit trees on two occasions, ate some bananas, and kept swinging again. It was the only thing I could do when I am sad and unable to think straight. I did the same thing three years ago when a deer named Deku which I befriended with for many years died in an accident while drinking in the stream. I got paralyzed from a fall, but luckily my animal friends brought food to me while I was down. Oh, I miss them so much. That is why I want..."

"Please cut to the chase," I snapped. This was going nowhere. If I allowed her to carry this conversation in such a way, her story might not end by the time all our heads were on the chopping block.

"Oh yeah, I'm sorry," Minako flustered, fingers and bare toes curling. "I kept getting ahead of myself. He came in the afternoon, trying to talk some sense into me. I refused at first. Got a bit violent as well. I know it was rude of me to do so, but I still remembered how my parents tried to talk me into taking over their obscene business, still remembered the pain of having Hanako separated from me in the first place. Akihiko was very patient and stuck around for a while until I finally calmed down and had a talk with him. Oh, we had so much fun discussing animals and plants together. He had, like an encyclopedia inside his head."

"Of that, I have no doubt," I admitted. At the very least, it seemed that Akihiko's last moments were quite happy and productive, blissfully unaware of the fate that would befall him in a matter of hours. "He is the Ultimate Librarian, after all. So, when did he leave?"

"I could not pinpoint the exact time because there was no clock in the botanical garden," Minako mused, "and, to be honest, I have not opened my Electro-ID even once since it was given to me. I'm sorry, but I don't think I could be of much help here."

"Were the lights still on?" I asked.

"Yes," said Minako. "Yes, they were."

"How long was it until they were off after he had left?"

Minako paused for a moment. "About thirty minutes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," said Minako affirmatively. "In the forest, I have no way of knowing the exact time, so I learned how to estimate the length of it."

I nodded. "Did you meet anyone else after he left?"

"No. Not until this morning when Tatsuya-kun came to wake me up and bring me the bitter news of Akihiko's demise."

According to Fitzgerald, Eliza and Tatsuya came back at fifteen minutes before the blackout. Perhaps they saw something, not the murder itself, but still, it was worth questioning them. "Was there anything unusual last night?"

"No. Not as far as I was aware of."

"Was Akihiko wearing his shades when he was with you?"

"Yes."

"I guess that would be all," I told her. "I am sorry for your loss."

"It was terrible," Minako sniffed. "I understand he was quite close to you as well."

"A better friend I could not have asked for," I confirmed. It was true. I had no friend during my elementary and middle school years as a result of the trauma from Rebecca's violent death (Jason Botch was more of a protective buddy to me than a friend), and this carried over to my high school years when I was spending too much time in the library. Ironically, the first person I got along with at Hope's Peak Academy was a librarian.

Truth Bullet #6

Minako's account

Unless someone else speaks up, Minako was the last person who saw Akihiko alive. According to her, the Akihiko departed the botanical garden when the lights were still on. Half an hour should be enough for him to get back to his room. He was also wearing his shades when he left. Will need to ask Tatsuya and/or Eliza if they saw anything.

Truth Bullet #7

Monokuma's rules.

Particularly regarding the Night-Time designation where all lights are turned off and the fact two murders committed by two different parties were forbidden. Can be helpful in narrowing down the time of Akihiko's death. Will require Hijiri's account as well.

Now it was time to have a look at the door usage history. The thing about the main hall was the fact there were quite a few doors leading from here, to the storage room, to the kitchen, to the gallery, and to the botanical garden. It was like the center of the universe right here. El Viento, Kazuki, and Tatsuya were already examining the door interactions post-Night Time and I could already see some notes were being updated in the form of a Truth Bullet.

"Interesting, isn't it?" Kazuki remarked. "The Door Usage History tells us when each door is opened during the Night-Time."

"Why would there be a s-s-s-s-system like that?" Tatsuya asked. ". Isn't m-m-m-m-murdering what the bear wants? It makes it more difficult."

"Perhaps they are to test our skills even further," said El Viento. "To see if any of us can overcome the obstacle in the face of unfair disadvantage." If even unfair disadvantage could not deter someone from committing the ultimate crime, the driving force behind the action must be great indeed. At the time when I fought Hijiri, I had not thought of playing the game to save my sister just yet, but I had no idea how long I would have been able to retain that mindset. Perhaps one of us was more decisive than the others. "What lies at the destination encompasses what the road has brought."

"Enough with the Yoda speech," said Kazuki. "Let's take a look at it."

To list all of them like we just did would be a waste of time. So based on information gathered so far, the only person who was sure to be hanging around at the time the murder, potentially passing by the body without seeing it due to lack of vision, as Fitzgerald. Assuming we could trust him (until further evidence arose, his testimony would have to be considered as truth), the unaccounted for door usage would be our evidence for the murder.

"Last night between eleven ten and twelve twenty, the doors were opened in the sequence leading from the residence to the kitchen in the main hall," I read the information from the Electro-ID. "And then back in between eleven twenty-five and eleven thirty-three. Somebody must have made their way to the kitchen, passing the Fitzgerald inside the common girl's bathroom without his notice. And then went back while he was investigating in the storage room. All the while ignoring Akihiko's body on the floor."

"Did they ignore it, or did they carry on as they planned?" Kazuki cautioned.

"That seems quite plausible," I told him. The timing of this movement could not be less suspicious. If this was the case, somebody went all the way from their room to the kitchen to have some snacks, killing Akihiko along the way. It did not sound like an elaborately planned murder. Did they think up the crime on the spot, or was it actually an accident?

"Wait, Fitzgerald was in the girl's bathroom?" asked El Viento, grimacing. I... should not have spoken that part. Damn, I wished I could slap myself in the face right now. But alas, I could not with one hand disabled and the other holding the Electro-ID. "Last night? Alone in the dark?"

"Yeah, he does that kind of stuff," I said. "He pulled me in one time, too."

"T-t-t-two boys in a g-g-g-g-girl's bathroom?" Tatsuya flushed, obviously wild with speculations. While it was a stale debate in my country, apparently the topic was still hot in Japan's media, or at least its entertainment industry was making the most out of it. Even Monokuma seemed overexcited with that.

"If you are wondering, the answer is no," I said sternly. Massachusetts, where I came from, was the first state in the US to legalize same-sex marriage and I had an uncle who was homosexual, but that did not mean it was the direction I was swinging. "We did not do anything indecent with one another."

"Then why did he pull you in?" asked Kazuki.

"Business purpose," I replied, determined not to go into detail, lest I betrayed Fitzgerald's trust. "There are no cameras in there, so it was the only place we could meet without being monitored by Monokuma. I swear to god, there was nobody else when we entered."

"Ah, I see," said Kazuki. "Clever."

"More like disgusting," El Viento ranted. "Damn, has that detective no sense of shame? Well, he had better not do anything stupid in there, because I am going to teach him a piece of my mind if he does."

"Go ahead," I encouraged.

"Moving on from that," said Kazuki pragmatically. "Tatsuya, you were in the kitchen last night, right?"

"Yes," the Ultimate Delivery Boy replied. "I was there with Eliza having some snacks in the kitchen. We had some t-t-t-t-talk about our respective backgrounds and about food. Mostly about food. She really likes good food, you know that?

"She likes all sorts of food," said El Viento sarcastically. "Including the types that would kill her in the long run."

"Well, I am certain that the food served at Granpa and Granma's restaurant is health-certified," Tatsuya continued. "She said she would be t-t-t-thrilled to visit my restaurant one day after this."

"You two came out together when the lights were still on?" I asked.

"Yes," said Tatsuya. "You can go ask her if you d-d-d-don't believe me."

"Did you see Akihiko passing by?"

"No. We did not."

"Are you sure?"

"P-p-p-positively."

"Did you see anyone else in the main hall or kitchen last night?"

"No. It was only the two of us. When we headed back, we saw Fitzgerald in the exhibition gallery along the way."

Truth Bullet #8.

Unaccounted for entry

Someone went to the kitchen through the main hall last night. Perhaps just for some snacks. Perhaps not. As of right now, they would be the number one suspect.

Truth Bullet #6 (updated).

Minako and Tatsuya's account

Minako was probably the last person aside from the killer who saw Akihiko alive, as Tatsuya denied doing so while confirming the lack of presence of anyone else in the main hall last night aside from Eliza and himself. Akihiko seemed to disappear altogether for an unknown length of time after exiting the botanical garden, only to show up dead in the main hall. The shades were still on when he was last seen.

With Tatsuya's testimony acquired, I supposed I should put an update on Minako's account as well. Certain things did not add up at this point. Who was the mysterious person who entered the kitchen last night? Did they go for just some snacks or something else? And what happened to Akihiko that made him disappear from the radar just like that?

I hoped these questions would be answered soon. But for now, there did not seem to be any evidence that could be collected in the main hall.

Author's note: This is quite a difficult chapter to crack out. All the information acquired in the investigation will carry over to the trial, which means a lot of planning is needed to have a cohesive, let alone a compelling mystery. I hope I can pull this one-off. You can craft your theory on who is the killer so far and how they did it. Obviously, you can only guess at this point, but some educated guesses might prove fascinating, making your review readable not only by me but by other readers as well. Would love to see from you.

Anyway, the next chapter will come out a bit longer. Bear with me on that.

And finally, as I said, characters will die in this story. Please don't be too upset if I were to ever kill off yours.

Cheers.