Author's Note: This chapter will be told from the perspective of Makoto Naegi, as will all other investigation and trial chapters. This is so that you, the reader, can try and work out who the killer is without immediately knowing who dunnit.

Enjoy!

For Makoto Naegi, his first day of school hadn't been quite what he had expected. Then again, who exactly expected to pass out at the doors and wake up in a living nightmare from which, according to the psychotic teddy bear headmaster and his army of steel-covered windows, there was no escape? Today had been a whirlwind of mayhem and calamity, beginning with the introductions to his rather unusual classmates, leading to the reveal of said psychotic teddy bear and his nefarious announcements, and ending with... well, something half-decent, actually, in spite of the trauma.

Sure, today had been hell. Sure, the situation seemed grim and the realisation that this wasn't some giant joke after all was starting to settle in. Sure, all of that was utterly terrifying (and was making him question his title as the Ultimate Lucky Student entirely), but he had been reunited with an old friend of sorts. Someone he may or may not have had the smallest crush on in his younger years. Sayaka Maizono, with who he now found himself chatting in the gym. Both of them shaken to the core, but undoubtedly happy to have found each other's company. Maybe this situation wasn't all bad, after all.

Just as Makoto parted his lips to respond to a question the Ultimate Pop Sensation had asked him, music played out across the intercoms, and his heart rate spiked immediately.

Bing-Bong Bong-Bing!

Monokuma flashed up on the screens, and both of them turned their attention to it at once. What was this? What now? What else could possibly happen on a day like this?

"A body has been discovered!"

Makoto's heart sank. His palms began to sweat. His mouth dried up. He felt sick.

...What?

"Everyone please gather in the locker room of the bathhouse at once! Attendance is mandatory!"

And, just like that, just as quickly as he had appeared, the screens went dark and Monokuma was gone.

Makoto turned to Sayaka.

Sayaka turned to Makoto.

Silence clung to the air, neither one of them seemingly able to believe what they had just heard. A body had been found? Someone was dead? Did that mean... someone had actually killed someone? One of the people he had met earlier was apparently dead, and another one of them was a murderer. No. No, he refused to believe it!

Without a word between them, the pair quickly made their way for the gym doors.

The moment Makoto entered the locker room, any hope that Monokuma's words were a lie were shattered.

His eyes took in each piece of the scene in front of him, lingering on one item of interest and then shooting to the other, his vision like a grainy, unfocused camera guided by a shaking hand. A white tie, removed and stretched out flat aside the figure lying on the floor. Dark purple bruises blotched across the pale white skin of the girl's throat. Wide-open eyes; her last look of desperation frozen in time forever.

For a moment, all he could hear was static as the horror set in; sounds of screeching and despair filling his head with noise and pollution.

Junko Enoshima was dead.

Everyone was gathered around her body. Silent. Tears welling up in eyes for a girl they hardly knew. The reactions were stiff, with tightened shoulders and held breaths, with no one sure what to say. Well, everyone apart from Mukuro, at least.

She had been on the floor when Makoto had arrived, hunched over the body, sobbing and screaming and refusing to move. Over the last minute, that hadn't changed. To say she appeared inconsolable would be the understatement of the century. Makoto wasn't sure he had ever seen such true, honest devastation in the face of another individual before. Such genuine heartbreak. Such utter, utter despair.

"Junko! Junko, wake up dammit! Get up! Come on! GET UP!"

Silence. Everyone watched her and the body of her sister, unable to process any of it. Kiyotaka was quietly bawling in the corner. Hifumi looked faint. Asahina's hands were over her mouth, eyes wide, looking as if she might vomit. Byakuya, arms folded, watched on with barely any expression whatsoever.

"JUNKO! JUNKO!"

"Jeez, all this whining is giving me a headache!"

Everyone knew that voice. How could they forget it?

They turned, where a certain black and white teddy bear stood by the entrance, paws over his mouth with that permanent grin locked onto his face, as if he was laughing at the scene before him.

"YOU."

Makoto turned again, witnessing Mukuro rising up to her feet, staring daggers down at the maniac headmaster. "You did this."

Monokuma pointed at himself. "Me?" He asked, tone oh-so sweet and innocent.

"You killed her!"

"Me? Killed her?"

"YOU MURDERED MY SISTER!"

"Pahahaha! I'd never do anything of the sort!"

Mukuro took a step towards him, her entire body shaking with rage, not daring to take her eyes off him. "You liar."

"I'm not lying, sis," said the bear with another chuckle, "I'd never do anything to break any of the school rules! Don't you remember what I told you yesterday? There's only one way to graduate from this place, and someone decided to do it! And no, that someone wasn't me. I won first prize at the International Rule Following Competition, y'know!"

Monokuma gestured over to Kiyotaka, who still hadn't stopped crying, his fists clenched with obvious frustration. "Second place would'a gone to this schmuck, I'm sure!" With that, he let out another laugh. Mukuro's rage only heightened. Kiyotaka looked taken aback, and his fists only clenched tighter.

"I'll kill you," Mukuro hissed.

"Hey, I ain't done nothing wrong! The one responsible for the death of the Ultimate Fashionista is one of you guys! Besides, remember what almost happened to mister macho man over there when he tried grabbing me earlier. Touch me and I'll kill you! Them's the rules, after all!"

That second part was true, sure, but it was the first portion of the bear's words that seemed to resonate most with the room. Glances were exchanged. Shoulders stiffened once more. Was that… really true? Was an actual murderer in the room with them right now?

Almost as if Monokuma had read his mind; "I see you all looking at each other. How dramatic! Yes, the truth is that one of you is a murderer, who killed Junko Enoshima in order to graduate! The killer's just following the rules, of course. Nothing wrong with that!"

"YOU'RE LYING! STOP LYING AND ADMIT THAT YOU KILLED H-"

"I'd like to ask you something, stuffed animal," said Byakuya suddenly, completely cutting through Mukuro's scream as if it barely even mattered. To him it probably didn't. "Let's assume you're right and one of us is responsible for this. Does that mean the killer is now allowed to graduate?"

Monokuma laughed.

Monokuma laughed harder.

"...No."

With that, the bear launched into an explanation on what was to happen next. There was to be an investigation of the crime scene, followed by a so-called 'Class Trial' to find the killer. If the killer was identified during that trial, he said, they would be denied the right to graduate and painfully executed. If the killer was not identified, then the killer would walk free and everyone else would be executed together.

Panic, of course, quickly ensued. The rules were updated to reflect this development regardless of the shouting and the screaming and the bombardment of protests fired at the bear. Monokuma handed out little books which he called 'Monokuma Files', labelled with a giant number 1 on the cover, detailing the need-to-know facts of the case.

There was, of course, no mention of the killer.

After further protest and waves of disbelief, followed by a reminder from the bear that there was a time limit on the investigation, he vanished in a cloud of laughter and celebration, leaving his students stunned into horror.

At first, no one did anything.

No one dared move.

"If what he said is true," said Mukuro suddenly, head bowed to the floor, eyes closed and voice scarily quiet, "and one of you killed my sister… I will stop at nothing to give you an agonising death the likes of which you cannot begin to imagine. If you're scared of Monokuma's execution, then don't be. Be afraid of me instead. When I'm done with you, you'll be begging Monokuma to take you."

Silence.

"Well? What are you all waiting for?" Said Kyoko suddenly. Makoto turned his gaze to the purple haired girl, who had developed a grim look to her face. "We don't have much time. We need to start investigating."

"This is… this is all… I can't… the body and… the… all… all of us dying… I…" With that, Hifumi lightly adjusted the glasses on his face and, with a clearing of his throat, stumbled backwards and collapsed into unconsciousness.

"He… He fainted!" Sayaka gasped.

"There's a medical room near the gym," said Sakura suddenly, "I'll take him there."

Hifumi was hardly the most lightweight of guys, but the Ultimate Martial Artist showed little strain in picking him up and carrying him out of the room. How she had managed to stay so calm in the face of it all astounded Makoto, but he admired her all the same. They were in need of someone with a level head on their shoulders. Now more than ever.

The room was gripped by severe hesitation and a refusal to accept the situation at hand, but a few minutes later and common sense had apparently prevailed as conversation began and some left the room to go investigate (or cry) elsewhere. Mukuro was eventually convinced by Chihiro and Asahina to back away from her sister's body. They'd find her killer, they assured her. They just needed to get to work first.

"I… I need to be alone," she whispered, and quickly made her leave.

Makoto, however shaken he was, decided to tentatively check the so-called Monokuma file in his hand. His mind reeling with thoughts of class trials and execution, and of the deep-seated fear that he and almost everyone else in the building might die tonight, he knew he had no choice here. He and the others had to work together and find out who murdered the girl lying on the floor in front of him, and he would do his best to make sure it happened!

The victim is Junko Enoshima.

The body was discovered in the locker room of the bathhouse on the ground floor of the school.

The cause of death was strangulation.

Apart from severe bruising on the neck, no other injuries a re visible.

Makoto turned his attention from the file and toward the body. He swallowed hard. It was time to get to work.

Investigation Start.

"I was… the one who discovered the body first." Kiyotaka sighed.

"What happened?" Asked Makoto, making sure to take in every little detail that he could. Kyoko worked behind him alongside Sayaka, examining whatever evidence the killer had left behind. Not that there was much at all, if any.

Kiyotaka folded his arms, bright red eyes cast down to the floor with obvious upset. "I had headed to the bathhouse to wash myself after the events of today. When I walked in, I… I saw her lying there. Exactly how she is now. At first I thought she was sleeping, and I shook her to wake her up. Tardiness can't be accepted, after all! But… But she didn't respond, so I quickly walked over to the dining hall and called the others to come and help. That's when the body announcement played."

"Wait, you walked?"

The prefect seemed taken aback by that question. "Of course I walked! Didn't you read the school regulations? Moving at speeds of over 10 miles-per-hour, otherwise known as 'running' is strictly forbidden!"

Oh. That was right. That was Rule #8, according to his e-handbook.

"So you were going to wash and you came across the body?"

"Indeed," he replied. "A true man must keep himself clean and pristine, like a well-oiled machine!" In saying that, his tears seemed to vanish for a moment, his fist brought up to clench in front of him, as if grasping some sort of imaginary promise to himself. He almost looked happy in saying that – clearly proud of how seriously he took something as simple as bathing. "If you'd ever like to bathe with me sometime and bear ourselves to each other as men, Makoto, don't hesitate to ask!"

Makoto shook his head with a sheepish grin. "U-Uh, I'm fine! Thanks." That definitely topped the list of the weirdest invites he had ever received, that was for sure.

Next up was Asahina, who seemed happy to help despite the obvious strain she was under along with everyone else. After a moment of discussion, she paused. "I… I think I saw something earlier. I'm not sure."

"What did you see? Anything could be important."

"Well, I was in the dining hall with Sakura. We were talking about everything that's happened today when Kiyotaka burst in shouting about Junko falling asleep in the locker room. We headed over to help, but… as I was walking, I looked over in the direction of the dorms and I could've sworn I saw someone crawling at the very end of the corridor. They turned the corner before I could get a good look at them, though."

"Someone crawling…? Did you have any idea who it was?"

"All I really saw was their lower half. They were too quick to really make anything out. They were basically just a distant shadow. Maybe it was just in my imagination, but… I'm sure I saw it. After that, Sakura, Kiyotaka and I went into the locker room and saw Junko lying there. The body discovery announcement sounded at that moment and, well… it turns out she wasn't sleeping after all."

Asahina sighed, heavy eyes cast over to Junko's body. "I just don't get how someone could do something like this. It's… it's horrible."

Makoto didn't understand it either, and nor did he ever want to.

"Uh… e-excuse me? Makoto?" A little voice came from behind him, and he turned to see Chihiro standing there, hands clasped over her skirt and wearing an anxious look. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt or anything. I'm… I'm so sorry..." Her eyes began filling with tears. Uh-oh.

"No, no! It's fine! It's alright, isn't it Asahina?"

Asahina nodded. "Oh, of course! It's fine, Chihiro, you weren't interrupting anything at all. I was done talking, anyway!"

That seemed to cheer the Ultimate Programmer up, if only a little bit.

"Well, um… I was going to say… I think I heard something earlier that might be important."

"What did you hear?"

"I was walking past the AV Room earlier and I saw Fukawa and Byakuya arguing," she said. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I overheard Byakuya telling her to leave him alone. I think she'd been following him, or she had tried to talk to him or something and… well… he threatened her."

Makoto blinked. As troubling as that was, he wasn't sure it had anything to do with the case. After all, Junko was the victim here, not Fukawa.

"He said that he wouldn't hesitate to kill her if she didn't leave him alone. He said that he would 'do anything' to get out of here, and that murder would be easy for him. I got out of there as quickly as I could, so I didn't hear the rest of the conversation. About ten minutes later, the body discovery announcement played." She shook her head with a sigh. "It probably means nothing, but hearing him say he was happy to kill if it meant graduating… I just thought that it might be important."

That changed things entirely. Suddenly the info had become highly relevant, and Makoto was beyond grateful for it. While there was no other evidence against Byakuya (or against anyone at this stage, really), it was definitely something worthy of remembering. Even if it meant nothing… it was still a potentially important fact that would hopefully bring them closer to the truth.

"Thank you, Chihiro," he replied. "Everything helps right now, so I'm glad you told me. Hopefully it doesn't mean anything, but... there's always that possibility."

Still… could the Ultimate Affluent Progeny really be a murderer? It was hard to imagine it, from what Makoto knew of him, but then he reminded himself that he knew very little about anyone here. They were all complete strangers. Any one of them had the potential to be a killer, and that included Byakuya.

He made a mental note to ask him and Fukawa about that before the investigation was over. They had both left the room already, however, and Makoto asked those who had stayed behind, instead. Kyoko (who, still investigating the body, barely gave him much of a response other than "I'm busy"), Celeste (who he had barely even noticed had stayed behind) and Hagakure (who had sat himself on a bench and was silently crying in shock) yielded no new information.

With time quickly moving on, Makoto decided it was best to turn his attention to the body. Poor Junko. The look on her face said it all: shock and desperation. He simply hoped it was quick and painless for her. Although strangulation being the cause of death told him otherwise.

"Uh, Kyoko," he asked, "have you found anything useful?"

"Come and look for yourself," she replied, brows lightly furrowed as her eyes stayed fixated on Junko's neck, flitting between that heavily bruised skin and the tie next to her. Her answer was, of course, as cold and distant as ever. Makoto didn't even know what her Ultimate Talent was. She barely even acknowledged his existence as she examined the body.

Makoto glanced over at Sayaka, who simply shrugged at him in confusion. Clearly she didn't get her attitude, either.

"Have you found anything, Sayaka?"

"Well… if you look here," she said, pointing toward the floor in front of the body, "I noticed this."

There were, on the floor, little pieces of shattered glass no more a half-inch across. Almost unnoticeable, but definitely present. Makoto crouched down and picked a couple of them up and held them in his hand, observing them closely. The glass was ever so slightly curved and completely clear. The pieces were truly miniscule, and he found himself totally stumped at imagining where they might have come from.

"What do you think they are?" Sayaka asked.

"I'm… not sure," he honestly replied. He felt like he had seen glass in that shape before somewhere. Somewhere rather common, too… but where?

"There's also the tie, too," said Sayaka, and he set the glass back where he found it to pick up the thin piece of fabric instead.

It definitely belonged to Junko, of that there was no doubt. She had been wearing it earlier as part of her uniform, and judging by the fact it was clearly missing from her body, it had to have been hers. Completely unfolded, it sat stretched out, and Makoto noticed a couple of small fibres had been ripped toward the centre.

"It looks like some strain's been put on the middle here," he said. "Maybe it was pulled so tightly around her neck that it damaged the tie itself."

Sayaka shuddered. "That's… awful. So you think the tie is what killed her?"

Makoto looked from the tie to Junko, just as Kyoko had been doing a moment ago. Thick bruises were present around her neck, deep purple and rather splotchy in their appearance. Definitely evidence of strangulation, just as the Monokuma File said. Makoto reached out with his free hand and lightly touched her, however horrible it felt to do so.

"She's ice cold," he said sadly. The life had totally faded from her. There was no doubt, as horrific as it was, that Junko Enoshima was dead.

"She was warm not too long ago," said Kyoko suddenly, almost giving Makoto a fright.

"H-Huh?"

"When everyone gathered here after the body discovery announcement, I felt her body. It was still warm. She hadn't long been dead. I'd say she was killed about ten minutes before we all arrived. This is a fresh kill."

"Wh-why did you feel her body?" Asked Sayaka, a look of horror on her face. Makoto had to admit; hearing the calmness in Kyoko's voice at describing something so off-putting was… sort of creepy.

Kyoko sighed. "I had to. It might have been important."

So Junko died just before everyone came and found her? Didn't that throw suspicion onto Kiyotaka, as he was the one who found her so soon? And what about Kyoko? What if she wasn't telling the truth at all?

Coming back to his original point, Makoto also had to wonder about the tie being the murder weapon.

Why would the killer take off Junko's tie and use it to kill her when it should have already been around her neck to begin with? Wouldn't it have been easier to kill her with it while it was still attached?

Sayaka noticed Makoto still holding the tie, and let out a sound of anxiety and revulsion. "P-Put it down, Makoto! If that's what killed her then you might be cursed if you touch it!"

The fact he was holding the very item that might have robbed Junko of her life was, indeed, beyond creepy. Giving it one last looking over and finding nothing of interest, he sat it back down where he found it, finding a small sense of relief that it was finally out of his hands.

Giving the body one last looking over and, to his frustration, realising there was no more evidence to be seen, Makoto rose to his feet and cleared his throat. His hands felt… weird now that they had touched the tie and her body. He just hoped he wasn't cursed now, after all.

That pretty much cleared up everything in the locker room, it seemed. All that was left now was to find the others and ask for their side of the story.

Especially Byakuya and Fukawa.

Asking Sayaka to come with him, he began making his way toward the exit and-

Ding Dong, Bing Bong!

The intercom switched on, where Monokuma appeared sitting in a chair, holding a glass of what appeared to be wine. That same smile was plastered across his face, filled with malice and delight.

"I'm getting bored waiting around here. You guys are taking forever! How about we just hurry things along and get started, hmm?"

Makoto felt his stomach drop. Oh no.

"You guessed it! We're finally here, everyone! It's the moment you've all been waiting for!"

No…! He wasn't finished yet! He needed more time!

Monokuma continued, regardless. There was no stopping him. The inevitable was happening, and Makoto had absolutely no control. He was trapped in this twisted game, just like everyone else… and he still had so much more to investigate. He had barely gathered any evidence at all.

Oh no.

Please no.

Monokuma grinned, as always, and in the happiest, most ecstatic voice he could muster, he proudly announced...

"IT'S TRIAL TIME!"

Author's Note: So... who's responsible? Who killed Junko Enoshima? I'd love to hear your thoughts and see your theories in the reviews!

Also, Happy Halloween everyone!