Mists of Penjar Chapter 2-5: Case 2 Trial, Part 1, a dangan ronpa kibou no gakuen to zetsubou no koukousei fanfic

Chapter 2-5

Clotted Dialogue

LET THE TRIAL BEGIN!

Monokuma rubbed his paws together, and the spoke. "Now then, everyone, allow me to briefly recap the town trial. We have a Deviant Tourist amid our guests! You all need to work together to find out who is the Deviant Tourist, and if you do…

"I will subject the Deviant Tourist to an execution, where they will be tested to see if they are truly worthy of being a citizen of Penjar! However! If you vote for the wrong person, everyone besides the Deviant Tourist dies! And they will get all the rewards for it!

"This trial has two rule changes, but make no mistake that the rules I just stated still stand! So work together, and find out whoever killed whoever! Now then!

"Let the second Town Trial commence! Upupupupu~"

The twenty-five graduates stared at each other, trying to gauge who would talk first. Yitro was brimming with fury, his gaze going between Blake and Yejoon. Kimiko appeared so horribly depressed, she was leaning on her banister for support.

Crystal was the one who would speak up first. "I believe what we agreed to," she said as she ran a hand through her hair, "is to try and guess what the rule changes are. Is that alright with everyone?"

"That was the plan," Isaac spoke up.

"I'm with you, ma'am," Samson agreed.

"Monokuma," Crystal spoke, staring down the despair bear, "what are the conditions for guessing these rule changes?"

"Well… I realize that I am not going to have you all guessing the rule changes willy-nilly. So the rules are as follows: everyone gets one guess at what the rule changes may be. If you guess the rule, or close enough to it to satisfy me, I'll let you know! Wrong answers just get discarded. Fair enough?"

"Oh great," Fiora mumbled, "we have twenty-five guesses? Well, twenty-four since the killer isn't going to be sharing anytime soon."

"Shut up," Emanuel barked at her. "We're going to conduct a serious investigation, and your useless commentary will not be welcomed!"

"Zero to sixty in no time flat," Saiko grumbled. "You chill out, and be helpful to us rather than a hindrance. Now, there is an obvious guess we need to make, but who wants to do the honors?"

There was silence among the graduates, everyone glancing around to see who would sacrifice their question for the others. The tense waiting game was interrupted by Hara, who said, "If no one else minds, I would like to ask."

"You got this, honey," Isaac said with an encouraging smile.

"Monokuma, is one of the rule changes," Hara asked, "that the culprit can kill more than one person without being executed?"

"…" Monokuma paused for dramatic effect.

…

"Nope!"

"WHAT!" many of the graduates balked in unison.

"Good Lord, are you saying," Souma declared, "that our culprit left it up entirely to chance that both victims wouldn't die? That's madness!"

"Okay, they're crazy," Aka said. "Whoever they are, they're fucking crazy!"

She was glancing occasionally at Hikari, who, though startled by this bit of news, was remaining rather calm and composed. The steampunk model took a deep breath, and spoke over the clamor of panicked people.

"Okay, everyone, please, let's get back on track," she said. "I believe we can solve this, it doesn't matter how demented our killer is. Shall we review the case?"

The graduates regarded her, then Isaac spoke again. "That sounds like a good idea. How about a quick review of what we know about the case?"

He stared at Crystal, who sighed miserably as she tossed her ponytail back. "I guess that means I should start us up…"

DEBATE YOUR CASE!

"I went outside, through the back door of the tavern," Crystal explained, "for a breath of fresh air."

"Why the back door, may I ask?" Saiko inquired. "That leads to that stupid park."

"Hey!" Monokid barked.

"The mist was so thick in front of the tavern, I was hoping for it to be thinner in the back. But right as I went out back," she continued, "I accidentally triggered one of the laser trip wires."

"That must have been what set off the spark machine nearby it," Emanuel commented.

"Yes, the fire was going for the fire pit, but I stopped it. Then, very shortly after I did, the explosion went off in the middle of the park!

"That was when fire trails led to both fire pits. I pulled Kimiko out before the eastern fire pit was set ablaze, then I saw Odelios standing over me."

"She screamed at me to chase after the fire, and I saw Ignatia and Eisei along the way," the clown stated, tapping his rubber chicken's head on his podium. "We were too late to stop it."

"When that fire started roaring, I could hear it," Fiora said, "and I came out of the fire station to help. We got the hose and doused the fire pit."

"That seems to be the long and short of it," Isaac said, making notes in his pad.

"Wait," Souma said, tapping his chin, "maybe we can find the trick to how the killer assured Angelique's death over both of them?"

"Maybe Angelique was already dead," Shinobu suggested, "when she was in that fire pit?"

"Maybe it was an ifrit!" Monokid butt in.

"Hey, you shut up," Ishiku shouted. "We're not falling for that again!"

"I hope to God we're not," Saiko grumbled.

"Wait a minute," Odelios shouted, "what you said, that's wrong!"

HONK!

Everyone jumped at the loud horn that Odelios had procured. He squeezed the bottom part, making one more honk, before folding it up and putting it inside of his clothing. "Ahem. I have something important to say."

"I swear to fucking God," Emanuel snarled, gripping his podium with tight fingers, "if you joke around one more time in our life and death trial-"

"What I am going to say," Odelios shouted, "was that Eisei, Ignatia, and I can, quite sadly, confirm that Angelique was alive when that fire pit was set ablaze."

"Yes," Eisei said, lowering his head, "we heard her scream from within the fire pit. There was no mistaking it."

"Then I guess the possibility of her being murdered beforehand is wrong," Shinobu said, shaking her head. "I'm terribly sorry."

"You're trying to help us find out who killed her," Drake said to her. "That's nothing to apologize over."

"I know, it's just that," the historian said with a shiver, "it's still so hard to believe that someone put her in there to die so horribly-"

BAM!

Almost everyone, bear and human jumped in shock at the sudden impact. They turned to see Yitro had punched his podium, hard enough to leave a dent. The platinum-topped man heaved furiously, staring downwards at the floor.

Kimiko sobbed, covering her face and unable to look at anyone. Shinobu grew almost as sad, as she glanced between the two of them. "I'm… I'm SO sorry! I shouldn't have-"

"Look, we all know how horrid this murder is," Isaac spoke up, his words stern but calm. "We need to work together to find out how it worked out the way it did. We will find the answer."

"It shouldn't be how."

Yitro's voice carried around the trial room, despite being a low, growling tone. He looked up, his eyes blazing with anger. "It should be who killed Angelique."

"Yitro, I know you're hurting, but this is a complicated murder," Shuuya said. "It's important to understand how it was done."

"That's a waste of time!" Yitro barked. "This murder scene was hard to set up with a limited amount of time, and thus we have the ability to check alibis and verify who was where! That'll get us to the killer much faster!"

The graduates stared at him, then at each other. It didn't seem like everyone agreed with this, and they didn't know what to say to how mad Yitro was.

"If we're going to go that route," Shuuya said, calm as ever as he scanned Yitro with his eyes, "it also entails how the murder was done. Like, for example, when could all of this had been set up?"

"Let's discuss that then," Yitro said, crossing his arms. "That'll give us a much better picture of who killed her."

DEBATE YOUR CASE!

"Okay, the explosion took place at around 1 PM," Odelios said, scratching the back of his head with his chicken. "So it had to all be set up before then."

"Who was in Monokuma Park last?" Samson asked. "Can anyone verify when it was untouched?"

"It's called Ifrit Park now," Monokid shouted.

"Have you seen that hellhole of a park?" Ishiku said with a roll of his eyes. "Smelly, uncomfortable, rocky ground, ugly so-called art, Monokuma statues. Why would you want to be there?!"

"HEY!"

"He's right, we all avoided that place like the plague," Hikari remarked. "It was not a place we'd go casually strolling."

"Regardless, could we really miss someone walking around in there?" Blake asked. "It is connected to the back of the new buildings."

"Other than the tavern, we don't occupy those buildings most of the time," Hara said. "We gave up investigating them before the motive came around."

"That makes no sense! How could someone set all this up," Ken asked, "without us ever seeing them running around? I know the buildings block the view of the park for the most part, but still…"

"So do we have any idea when the culprit could have started their deadly set-up?" Eisei inquired.

"Hey, Kenny," Fiora shouted, smiling excitedly, "I think you got a great idea there!"

"Ugh, do not call me Kenny," the cavalryman said, rolling his eyes. "I hate that, it makes me sound like a little kid."

"Soo'ry," Fiora said with a sheepish grin, "but you were right. The view was blocked, but not only just the buildings. The mists worked against us again."

"That's true, the mists were so very thick today," Anzu spoke up, "that you could barely see people throughout the city."

"People lost sight of me several times," Eisei commented.

"You probably came at them," Samson remarked with a smirk, "like a shark lunging out of the water, to grab their mouths and check their teeth."

"Sharks don't do that. I know this, because-"

"Let's circle back to the point, please!" Futaba declared, throwing her hands up. "I think we can all agree, the mists were very obscuring today, so however the culprit did this, they had the most perfect cover during the day to do it."

"Yes, and like I said," Ishiku added, "no one goes to that horrid park."

"I will kick," Monokid raged, "your scrawny ass, you… you… sideshow magician! No performances in Ifrit Park for you!"

"Good! Your park is bad, and you should feel bad!"

"Screw you!"

"Screw you back!"

"Stop that," Crystal snapped, glaring at Ishiku. "You're not helping us get anywhere."

"If we want to be on track," Yitro spoke up again, "is what we are saying is that we don't know when the culprit could have done this? Only when it was all done?"

Drake rubbed the back of his head as everyone contemplated this information. Soon, the cartoonist spoke up with confidence, "But we do know where they got the items from! The wood and fire starters, they all come from the stockroom in the tavern, and the fire station!"

"The stockroom's door inside the building has no window, and you can lock it from the inside," Shinobu said. "Someone could have closed the door inside of the tavern to prevent someone coming in, and carried the wood out."

"Did anyone check the door at any point," Yitro asked, "to see if it was locked?"

"It was closed, that's all we saw," Anzu said with a sigh. "It's not like we were searching all rooms at all times, we had no reason to!"

"What about the fire station?!" the former swordsman demanded. "That's wide open with the garage door!"

"Yeah, about that," Blake said, "when I went to check it out, the front door and garage door were shut. Someone obviously didn't want to be seen hauling that stuff outside-"

Yitro slammed his palm down on the podium, and thrust his finger at Blake. "Silence, you! Why should we take your words seriously, when you are one of the most likely people to have committed the murder?"

Blake scoffed and rolled his eyes in a grand show of sarcasm. "Now that's just type-casting."

"You are the Ultimate Pyro, and not to mention, it has become very clear about your past. Your history of arson, your mysterious jail time over it!"

"Don't you have jail time too," the pyro growled at the former swordsman, "for murder?"

"You, better than anyone here, would know how to set up these fire traps! A fire-based murder makes you look the most guilty, so you should be proving your innocence!"

"Oh really, tough guy?! Well, I got a fucking alibi!

DEBATE YOUR CASE!

"When I saw the closed front door and garage at the fire station, I opened them up," Blake explained. "I was concerned someone would take the fire starters, and I was right."

"I found him there," Shuuya spoke up. "He told me about the missing spark machines and laser trip wires."

"So then bounty hunter dude there took me along to investigate all of the houses, to see if someone had hid them in their building."

"Oh my God, you went through our stuff again?!" Futaba shouted. "Don't you get tired of rummaging through things that aren't yours?"

"It is necessary," Shuuya said, correcting his clothing indifferently.

"What time was this?" Yitro demanded to know.

"I believe I found him at 11 AM," the bounty hunter said. "We were together until the body discovery was announced."

"Can you claim any witnesses during the early morning, Blake? Because you could have set this all up!"

"I was at breakfast too!"

"But can you prove that?!"

"Enough bickering," Saiko declared, "I know the answer here!"

"Yitro, I know he looks suspicious, but he's telling the truth here," Saiko said, shaking her head.

"Yeah, listen to the short woman with big tits! She's telling the truth."

"I will snap off your… grr, anyway," the investigator shot one more glare at Blake before turning to Yitro. "At 11 AM, I went back to the cafeteria, and Kimiko and Angelique were there. Only a couple minutes later, Shuuya met with my group and then headed over to the fire station.

"Kimiko and Angelique had to have been kidnapped somewhere between then, and 1 PM. Shuuya and Blake were together, they couldn't have done it."

Yitro groaned and rubbed his forehead. "You're… sure of the time?"

"It's one of the things I am always checking. Comes with my career, but either way, I think that verifies the two of them."

The former swordsman shook his head, then he seized up as a thought crossed his mind. "Unless the two of them were working together."

"Oh come now," Shuuya said, frowning at Yitro. "Why would I do that?"

"Hey, I don't really know any of you except for Angelique, and she's dead now," Yitro snapped. "Plus, we already know that there are two people who asked a question, and thus there can be two different culprits!

"Isn't that how you could avoid the death penalty, since there is no rule change to that? One of you kills one person, the other murders the other?"

"Yitro, that may be logical, but you're simply accusing us out of convenience," Shuuya said, tone calm and firm. "Besides, that would eventually require-"

"The two of them were together in the housing area for the time they said they were," Ken stated, his voice loud and confirming. "You have my word with that too."

Everyone looked at the cavalryman, who was standing firmly in place with a stern expression on his place, as if called to attention. Shuuya blinked in surprise, while Blake gaped in amazement.

"You were in the housing area too?" Yitro asked.

"Yes, for most of that period of time. I had a guard station, so to speak. So even if I wasn't in view most of the time, I know the two were there for most of it. And I have no reason to have fiery pants."

"You… what?" Blake stammered. "That's not how the damn expression goes! But you-"

"Fine then," Yitro interrupted the pyro. "I'm not going to deny it if there is that amount of collaboration."

There was a brief silence amongst the graduates, before Crystal spoke up again, annoyance in her voice. "Is that what we are going to try and do now? Verify twenty-five alibis? There's no way to do this!

"Yitro, you need to realize this: we aren't going to find Angelique's killer by triple-verifying alibis. It's not possible, we were too spread out in the thick mists of this damned city. This is a pointless path for now, and we need to get to how the killer.

"Especially since you just said it's entirely possible two different people could have pulled this off."

The trial room was rather quiet once again, as this really sunk hard into everyone's mind. Two different people committing this crime, it opened up so many possibilities and made the grand picture far more complex.

"Wait a minute," Saiko muttered, then she turned towards the diabolical bear on the throne. "Hey, Monokuma! My guess for the rule changes! Can one Deviant Tourist commit a murder and get a second person off?"

"Nope!"

The forensic investigator snapped her fingers, and muttered, "Oh well, still worth it."

"Why on Earth would you ask a question like that," Emanuel asked, then he added, "puta?"

"Because since Kimiko survived, if this was a tag team effort, it means there might not be loyalty if the one responsible for trying to kill Kimiko doesn't get axed if we fail," she shot back at him, then smirked and added, "bitch!"

"Okay, enough vulgar insults," Yejoon spoke up, adjusting his mask so that he could be understood clearly, "that's not going to get us anywhere. It was a good question, but now we must all ask ourselves a more important one."

"Ugh, are we really listening to the serial killer over this?" Samson growled.

"I really don't want to do that," Pyrrha said, running her hands through her hair.

"Yeah, especially since you were missing all damn day," Yitro shouted. "I know I was accusatory towards Blake, but you! You should be our prime suspect!"

"Oh really now?" Yejoon turned towards him, his eyes staring through the holes in his mask. "Then allow me to ask you the question that you really should be asking yourselves…

"How did our culprit move a whole bunch of wooden logs and oily rags without leaving bits of wood and stains on their body?"

DEBATE YOUR CASE!

"Now we know this wasn't set up yesterday," the artist continued to speak, "because we searched all over Penjar for the lost DVD player."

"Isn't it possible someone did it during the night?" Hara asked. "I mean, there are no rules against it."

"If they started after midnight," Shuuya pointed out, "they could set it all up after asking the question. Or before they asked it."

"But wouldn't they worry about someone discovering those fire pits all set up?" Drake asked.

"No one," Ishiku grumbled, "goes in that damn park."

Monokid growled as he shook his guitar over his head. "I hate you…"

"But there is the problem of being locked out of your house," Pyrrha said. "If you left the door open, anyone seeing it would know you were gone."

"They just set up the crime, and sleep somewhere outside," Futaba suggested. "That's simple enough."

"No, youse is wrong," Monosuke hollered. "That's so wrong!"

The graduates were all rather flummoxed by this. They stared at the orange Kub, who was now fanning himself with a stack of money.

"Is… is he allowed to do that?" Fiora asked.

"It is their town," Pyrrha said.

"What are you objecting to, bear?" Emanuel snapped. "If you are going to be interrupting the trial now, you're not playing fair."

"Ah, but I am playing fair," Monosuke said with a cackle. "Youse see, I think you all are unaware of a certain rule that we've been applying to our buildings ever since the theft of the DVD player."

"Wait, what? There's a new rule that you didn't tell us!?" Shinobu declared. "That's not fair!"

"It really wasn't, but since you were not informed of this officially, I'm telling you now. See, totally fair!"

"Then," the historian said with a defeated sigh, "please tell us the new rule."

"Nope, youse gotta guess! That's the nature of the game!"

"Okay, now that is unfair! You little brat, just tell us!"

As the argument between Kub and humans continued, Isaac rubbed his finger against his forehead. "So Monosuke said there is a new rule about the new buildings, but no one seems to know…

"Wait a minute, someone does seem to know. And if I have to guess, I think I know who knows, and what it is about since they seemed… sure about something else too."

"Alright, stop the presses!" Isaac shouted, gaining everyone's attention. "I'm pretty sure I know what Monosuke is talking about…

"And what Yejoon knows too, what he is implying with his subtle manner."

"What is it, honey?" Hara asked.

"Yes, what is it?" Yejoon repeated, staring down Isaac. The reporter couldn't tell what expression the artist had on behind that mask, but it was still unnerving. "I'd love to know if someone can pick up what I am putting down."

"Okay, first off," Isaac said after taking a deep breath, "I am guessing that the new buildings have a closing time of sorts. Are they locked at night?"

"BINGO!" Monosuke shouted, jumping up and down. "After 10 PM, they are all locked until our morning announcement!"

"And the reason you know that, Yejoon," the reporter pointed defiantly at the serial killer, "is because you stole the DVD player."

"That doesn't surprise me," Shuuya remarked, staring down the artist as well. "But how does that make him know about the rule the rest of us don't?"

"My guess is he tried to return it for some reason or another, maybe he doesn't want the attention it is bringing him. And when he tried to enter the theater, it was locked up tight."

Yejoon clapped, slowly but loud. "Bravo. You are a true investigator, Isaac. Everything you said is true."

"But… but why'd you do that?" Fiora asked him. "Why would you steal it, why bother returning it?"

"My dear little flower, this is not the time nor place to discuss that. We are in the middle of a murder investigation, and now we all know that the fire station and the tavern were locked up tight throughout the night."

The movie maker shook her head in shock, and muttered, "Holy cow, if they were planning to set it up at night and had already asked the question, they knew they'd have to commit the murder before the day was over, or they were screwed."

"That is definitely a possibility, which may explain why the murder was set up during the day," Yejoon remarked. "They could only start at 9:30 AM, and yet they got the job done by 1 PM. Three and a half hours."

"About the amount of time it took to set up those piles, that had to be someone fit," Isaac remarked. "I tried sprinting from the western fire pit to the tavern, and that wasn't the shortest of distances. They had to do all that carrying firewood too."

"And I tried carrying arms full of newspapers out of the fire station to the fire pit," Shuuya added. "I am in great shape, but that wasn't easy, especially when hurrying."

"Not to mention this person carried logs and oily rags," Yejoon remarked. "That may narrow down the suspects a little."

"How so, you filthy murderer?" Yitro growled at him.

The artist extended his arms, showcasing the pristine white sleeves of his suit. "Pray tell, how exactly would I go about carrying dirty firewood and oiled rags in my white outfit?"

"You could have changed your suit," Ken shouted, "or worn something over it!"

"Oh? This coming from the person who was monitoring the housing area enough to know Shuuya and Blake were there, the one who stood guard for a slumbering beauty. Tell me, Ken, when did I show up at my house to change?"

The cavalryman growled, gripping the handle of his sword and his podium. After a few seconds, he muttered, "I never saw you there. But that doesn't prove you didn't leave your place, or take off your suit-"

"We have several people here who can recognize the fine fabric my clothing is made out of. If I had been doing something exhausting like hauling lumber and papers around, it would show on my clothing. But it does not."

The artist chuckled and added, "Plus, I do have a witness."

"Oh this ought to be good," Aka grumbled.

DEBATE YOUR CASE!

"It was shortly after Fiora finished her breakfast," Yejoon said, "that she and I saw each other after she left the cafeteria."

Fiora groaned, covering her face with her hands. "You're really going to bring that up?"
"You climbed up a lamppost when you saw me, such impressive jumping skills you have, my dear little flower."

"Argh! Don't call me that!"

"But my clothing was all completely the same as it is now, right?"

"… Yes."

"Why are you defending him?!" Yitro shouted at Fiora. "He could be the killer!"

"But… but he's right! After I saw him, I was trying to hide from him all day, but he kept looking for me! I tried Town Hall, but the Kubs told me to leave…"

"Town Hall is not," Monotaro declared, "for hide and seek! Shame on you for even trying, it took us forever to drag you out, and you didn't even invite us!"

"Then I hid in the fire station for about an hour. I was there until the explosion went off…"

"And then you came out when you heard the murderous fire pit?" Odelios asked.

"Yes. I… I heard that scream too. It was so very awful."

"GOTCHA," Emanuel shouted, "I gotcha this time, you stupid puta!"

Fiora flinched as Emanuel pointed at her, almost hitting her face with his accusing pointer finger. "Um, what?" she stammered.

Emanuel heaved out, so joyous that he practically shook with anticipation. "You may have been innocent last time, but now, this time, you showcased yourself. I know you did it."

"What? You're accusing me again?!" she shouted.

"I told you this would happen," Yejoon remarked.

Emanuel cracked his knuckles, and said, "You see, what is in the fire station is the master remote for the spark machines and the laser trip wires. On this device, you can see when a wire has been tripped, and which wire it is.

"It's so simple. You waited until one of the wires was tripped, and then you triggered the spark machines you had hidden in the park. First you blew up the trashy art in the middle of the park, then you set off the fire trails that killed Angelique!

"And the best part is, since you had that fire trail near the tavern, you knew someone could save Kimiko in time! I have to hand it to you, you set everything up rather nicely…

"But you thought I was going to overlook you since I was so mean to you last trial," he said with the most sarcastic roll of his eyes.

"What," was all Fiora could say to counter him.

"The master remote was in the fire station," Shuuya said, "and we did find it in there when we were investigating."

"It does everything Emanuel said," Blake pointed out. "Still, did she really do it?"

"Who came out of the fire station right as the fire pit was set ablaze?" Emanuel shouted. "Who was the only one with access to the master remote? Fiora, that's who!"

"Now wait a minute here," Fiora shouted, balling her hands into fists. "That's just coincidence-"

Emanuel didn't wait a minute, glaring at her. "Let's review the facts then, you talentless puta!"

DEBATE YOUR CASE!

"Once someone stepped outside of the tavern, and would notice the fire pit full of firewood," Emanuel continued, "they would trigger the laser trip wire!"

"That set off the spark machine that was near it, though," Hara spoke up. "That was meant to set the eastern fire pit on fire, right?"

"The master remote signals when someone trips a laser wire too," Blake pointed out. "It can do both."

"No, this is ridiculous," Crystal spoke up. "I stopped that fire before it reached the pit. Kimiko should have been dead."

"Wait a minute, Crystal is right," Anzu spoke up. "And if Fiora set it all up and relied on the master remote to know if someone had triggered that trap, she would assume Kimiko was dead!"

"…" Kimiko stared at Crystal with an expressionless face.

"I think your manner of thinking is wrong here, Emanuel," Yitro said. "If Fiora did all of this alone, she wouldn't have tried to kill Angelique as well. She wouldn't risk two murders."

"But… but she could have known the eastern fire pit didn't go off!" Emanuel snapped.

"From inside the solid stone building of the fire station?" Eisei asked.

"She could have been outside, and saw no fire from the other side of the park! It was visible from the other side of the park… right?"

"Stop everything now," Souma announced, holding a hand up in the air, "I believe I have discovered something!"

"Crystal, I'm sorry to say this," Souma remarked, "but I don't think your efforts in stopping that first fire trail saved Kimiko then and there."

"What? Why not?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Your glorious jacket, the one you sacrificed to put out the fire, was ruined, but it was not incinerated."

"I'm afraid I don't follow you."

"Think of this: if there was a flammable liquid trail from that trap to the fire pit, then it should have caught fire when the second trail, the one that made it to the pit, set the bonfire alight. That flammable trail should have led up to your jacket, and burnt it to a crisp.

"But it didn't, which meant that that trail never led to the fire pit in the first place."

As this dawned on everyone, Crystal was the most shocked. She reached up to her shoulders, where the large collar of her jacket would have been, and she slumped on her podium. "I… I really, really liked that jacket."

"You still saved Kimiko's life," Hikari said, smiling at the military adviser. "I know it feels like you ruined it for nothing, but you are still a hero."

Crystal huffed, and stared off to the side. "I guess…"

The trial room almost shook with the barking laugh that followed from Emanuel. "Haha, I knew it all along! This proves my theory true!"

"How, exactly?" Isaac inquired.

"If that first trap was a dummy, it was never meant to kill Kimiko! Therefore, the person who triggered the laser trip wire would get her out in time, and they could kill Angelique instead! Ha!"

He pointed victoriously at Fiora. "Once the dummy trap went off, you triggered the spark machine that led to the explosion! Then when people came running, you started up the fatal fire trails!"

"No no no!" Fiora shouted at him. "I didn't do any of that! I didn't even know the remote existed!"

"And I have all the more proof that you set it up to ensure that no one wouldn't go unnoticed!"

The Bête Noir lifted the bag he had carried into the trial room, and pulled out several items: two laser trip wire devices, and one spark machine.

"Wh-wh-what!" Drake stammered in fear. "What are you doing with those?"

"These were set up around the two pathways that lead up to the park! As you all know, the most direct ways to the park are two pathways, one that leads right up to the central part of the park, and one a bit more to the east. There was a laser trip wire in both of the pathways, and one spark machine near the edge of the central pathway. This spark machine…"

He drummed his fingers on it. "This one here is what killed Angelique. The burnt trail on the ground led right up to it. Nice set-up, Fiora, you could know when anyone entered the park, each of the four entrances covered. Laser trip wire at the two pathways, and one at the tavern, and you personally in the fire station…

"But now it's lain plain as day that you are the wicked hearted one of us!"

Fiora stammered, squeaked, and whimpered, "I… I hate sequels."

"She did all that?" Aka asked, staring at the movie maker. "Miss B-Movie Maker hauled all the heavy stuff?"

"Heh, she does all the moving for her crappy movies, so why not?" Emanuel gloated. "Plus, no sleeves on her, so no worry about stains."

"I refuse to acknowledge this sequel! It's not canon!" Fiora hollered. "It's not true to the source! It's not-"

"My dear little flower," Yejoon spoke up, "you mustn't be so flustered. You have a way to defend yourself."

"She does?" Emanuel snarled.

"I do?" Fiora asked.

"You have a witness," Yejoon remarked.

"I do?!"

There was a most cynical laugh from Futaba. "Do you really think we'll take your word for it, murderer? Even if you say you saw her all day, you can so very easily be her partner in crime for this."

"You already hang out with her all the time," Anzu remarked. "It's like you have a crush on her or something, the poor thing."

"Eww," Pyrrha remarked, wincing horribly. "That's horrible, don't suggest that! Romance with serial killers is… is… well it's not romance, to say the least!"

"Stop it, stop it, stop it!" Fiora shouted, waving her hands around. "Yejoon, what do you mean?"

"Forget it," Emanuel said with a scoff. "Anyone here could be your accomplice, so you cannot call on someone to be your witness!"

Fiora scanned the area, trying to see who Yejoon was talking about. She was starting to shiver, losing her cool gradually. Though when she took a deep breath, her eyes caught someone in particular.

"Someone who cannot be my accomplice," she whispered to herself, "would be believed though…"

She pointed her finger at…

…

SELECT A SUSPECT!

…

… Monotaro, the red Kub of Penjar.

"He's my witness!" Fiora declared proudly.

"He's what?!" Crystal balked.

"I'm what?" Monotaro screamed.

"You're KIDDING!" Emanuel shouted.

"You cannot call on my cubs as witnesses!" Monokuma hollered.

After all of the yelling, Fiora merely chuckled and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not doing that. He already said what I needed."

"I did?" Monotaro asked, scratching his head. "When did I do that?"

"When we were debating Yejoon's alibi…"

"After I saw him," Fiora was babbling, "I was trying to hide from him all day, but he kept looking for me! I tried Town Hall, but the Kubs told me to leave…"

"Town Hall is not," Monotaro declared, "for hide and seek! Shame on you for even trying, it took us forever to drag you out, and you didn't even invite us!"

"There you go! Monotaro admits I was hiding in Town Hall, and they had to pull me out of there! Now, I was at breakfast until the end, and I was talking to a lot of people then," Fiora said, listing off everyone she conversed with…

"And since Monotaro just told all of us of his own free volition that I was in Town Hall in the middle of the day, there was no time for me to set all of that up!"

Emanuel stared at her, as he gripped the spark machine so hard that he was in danger of cracking it. "You gotta be shitting me. You think… you think that qualifies as an alibi?"

"Alright then, mister! When would I have had time to do all that hauling, which everyone says was a ton of work? Was it right at the last minute?"

"You could have had a partner doing that!"

"Was that me too?" Monotaro asked, scratching his head in the utmost confusion.

"Oh really?!" Fiora turned towards the graduates, and waved at them. "Hey everyone! If you were my partner in crime, speak up now! After all, if I'm guilty and you don't vote for me, you die too! Saiko's question proved that!"

No one spoke up.

"Your serial killer boyfriend could be your partner, and he's psycho enough to not care!" Emanuel raged at her.

"First of all, EWWW! Second of all, didn't he just prove he couldn't do that heavy lifting stuff with his white sleeves?"

"Emanuel," Pyrrha spoke up, over the arguing two, "let it go. She's clearly not guilty."

"But… but… NO!" the Bête Noir shouted, slamming the spark machine on the podium, breaking the device. "I refuse! She HAS to be the killer!"

"Good grief, what is your hate-on for that girl?" Futaba asked, shaking her head. "Anyway, we really need to move on, this is a dead end since Fiora is pretty much in the clear."

"Wait a minute, what about him?" Fiora shouted, pointing at the fuming detective. "Why the hell aren't we discussing him?!"

"Yeah, I'm suspicious of him too!" Odelios hollered. "I mean, he just brings a bunch of evidence into the trial room, and we're supposed to believe he found it where he said he did?"

"Not to mention you're so damn quick," Blake added, "to jump down Fiora's throat. It's so convenient that the devices were where you said they were!"

Emanuel started heaving in exasperation, wiping his brow. He tried to speak, and found he had trouble doing so.

"No, that's not true either," Pyrrha said, humbly holding up her hand. "I know we said alibis probably don't quality, but I think Shinobu and myself can back it up."

Shinobu sighed, shaking her head as she seemed rather defeated by this. "Yes, we both know that Emanuel cannot have done this. We both knew where he was all day."

"And where was that, may I inquire?" Isaac asked.

"The cafeteria, where he was sitting alone a few tables away from Shinobu and myself," Pyrrha admitted. "You see, I was talking to her for a long time, all the way up to the body discovery announcement. I wanted to discuss my date with her, and-"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Hikari declared, grinning as she looked over at the romance writer. "A date? You two? How cute~!"

"No, it wasn't with her," Pyrrha admitted. "It was… with Odelios."

"… That's less cute," the model remarked.

"I was getting everything ready for you, babe," Odelios called out, bawling in grief. "I even had buffalo wings ready for you before all the shit went down! I'm so sorry!"

Then he pulled from his clothing a bowl wrapped in tin foil, and procured buffalo wings from it. Munching on one, he muttered, "They're still good, want one?"

"I'm good, thanks," Pyrrha remarked, staring in confusion at the clown. "But… yeah, Ishiku suggested it, and I agreed because, well, I think it would be very hypocritical of me if I didn't believe in all types deserving a chance!

"I remember Shinobu saying she is straight, so I thought I would get advice from her."

"But I've been single all my life, and thus we kind of just theorizing," the historian reluctantly admitted, "of how a date should go. We spent all of the day there until… that awful announcement."

"And Emanuel was at a table in the cafeteria from us the entire time," Pyrrha said. "He was looking at his phone or eating, or just sitting there; however, he never left the building, like we didn't."

"Well shucks," Fiora muttered, "but I guess that means he is in the clear."

"Wait a minute!" Yitro declared, punching his fist into the air. "I know we said we would agree to discussing the how, but do you all realize how many alibis we have verified?"

Crystal brushed her bangs away from her face, and muttered, "I suppose you're going to tell us."

DEBATE YOUR CASE!

"So we just went over Emanuel, Pyrrha, and Shinobu," Yitro listed off. "And we also know Fiora and, as hard as it to believe, Yejoon couldn't have done this."

"I believe Blake and I," Shuuya said, "are alibied, along with Ken."

"Ignatia and myself spent a great deal of the day together," Eisei spoke up. "Does that qualify?"

"There's no way it could have been Crystal," Hara spoke up. "She's the one who saved Kimiko! And Kimiko, well…"

"Yes, I very much doubt she clubbed herself in the back of the head," Yitro remarked, "and then buried herself underneath the wood before passing out."

"We sure she couldn't fake it?" Aka asked. "I mean, I don't want to believe it, but this is a murder trial, and…"

"I've seen many injuries and concussions," Eisei commented. "Hers was not faked, and could have killed her; a blow to the head is not simply hitting a consciousness button."

"Very true," Yitro agreed.

"…" Kimiko said nothing, she merely stared at them as she processed this.

"Um, I was alone at the time," Drake mumbled, "so I don't have an alibi."

"That's not exactly helping, sweetheart," Anzu spoke up. "But seeing that I don't have one either, I guess I shouldn't have said anything? Heh…"

"YOU'VE-GOT-THAT-WRONG," Monodam's monotone voice blared across the trial room.

Monokid snarled, holding his guitar like a weapon. "So help me, I will crack his skull open! I'll crack his nuts! I'll crack his skull with his nuts! I'll-"

"Stop the violence!" Monophanie cried, putting herself between her violent brother and monotoned brother.

"Wait, is he allowed to do that too?" Fiora asked. "Why are the Kubs interfering with the trial now?"

"YOU-ARE-NOT-ALLOWED-TO-CALL-ON-THE-KUBS-AS-WITNESSES," Monodam explained, "BUT-IF-WE-CHOOSE-TO-GIVE-WITNESS, WE-CAN, YOU-BASTARDS."

"Grrrrr," Monokuma snarled, "I knew I shouldn't have let you adorable, stupid, ador-bearly stupid cubs make the rules!"

Drake stared up at Monodam, and started to stammer, "Th-that's alright, Monodam, I don't want you to get in trouble."

"NO. I-WANT-YOU-ALL-TO-GET-ALONG. THEREFORE-I-WILL-TESTIFY…

"DRAKE-WAS-IN-THE-PLANT-NURSERY-FROM-NOON-TO-1-PM. BEFORE-THAT, HE-WAS-IN-VARIOUS-PLACES-ACROSS-THE-TOWN, INCLUDING-THE-ANTIQUE-SHOP. I-WAS-WITH-HIM-THE-ENTIRE-TIME."

The graduates went quiet, as Drake went quite red. Ishiku crossed his arms and asked slowly, "Whyyyyy were you at the plant nursery?"

"I was… I wanted to get to the back so I could get some of the pretty flowers back there."

More silence, more blushing. Anzu broke that silence with a slight blush of her own. "Um, honey-bunny? You weren't trying to get a rose, were you?"

"Not in particular, why?"

"Oh phew! Thank goodness, you're still a sweet little cinnamon bun."

"I just… do I have to say it?"

Ken laughed aloud, smiling at the young man. "You were getting some flowers for your lady fair, weren't you?"

Even more blushing commenced, and Drake hid his face behind his sketchpad. "This… this motive has been really horrible, and this town is so dreary," he whimpered from behind the art, "I… I just wanted to get someone in particular something nice! I didn't think it would be that big of a deal!

"After all, I was told that if I wanted to go for something, I should just do it! So I figured that I would take some time to try and get those nice flowers."

Drake glanced over at Emanuel as he said this, but the Bête Noir was fuming too much over his defeat to notice. As the other graduates let this sink in, some of them were glancing over at Ignatia. The mime was staring, perplexed, at the cartoonist, and her make-up preventing anyone from knowing if she was blushing or not.

"Well, didja?" Odelios asked. "Didja, that might be good to know for my eventual date!"

"Yes, I found this thick jacket and pair of pants in the antique shop, like something that cowboys would wear! Oh, and there was a hood on it to cover my head. You see, after breakfast, I went to my house to get clothes, but nothing else worked, so Monodam suggested the antique shop!

"It took a while, but it was about noon when I got to the plant nursery. The poison ivy and oak touched the clothes, but not me; I know that left that itchy oil on them, but I made sure not to touch it.

"And the flowers at the other end were SO pretty! I was going to use the wheelbarrow back there to bring the plants out, but then… the explosion happened."

"That's too bad," Anzu said, shaking her head. "What happened?"

"I took off the protective clothing and left it in the nursery to see what was going on. I didn't want to wear it, it still had the poisonous plants' oils on it. And red poison oak leaves the worst, visible stains ever, it would have been obvious where I was."

The actress curled her blue bang around her finger, as she contemplated this. "Sweetheart, you say you finished breakfast, then went to your house. Were you there long?"

"Kind of. I brought a lot of stuff with me, so I took a while until I eventually went to the antique shop."

"And you didn't think to ask Ken for his hoodie?"

"No, I didn't see him."

Anzu stopped curling her bang around her finger, and then repeated, "You didn't see Ken in the housing area."

"N-no. Should I have?"

"Considering he was supposedly monitoring that place, yes!"

Everyone turned towards the cavalryman, who merely crossed his arms and lowered his head. "We just didn't run into each other, that is all."

"But you never mentioned seeing Drake either," Saiko pointed out. "Listen, handsome, this is starting to come off as incredibly suspicious!"

"Yeah, especially since this guard shift allegedly started," Futaba declared, "when you said you were going to watch over Hikari when she was sleeping. But where has SHE been all day?"

Hikari, who had opened her lace umbrella and spun it around on her shoulder, bat her eyes as she stared at Futaba. "What's this about making it about me now?"

"You've been gone all day! How's a prissy diva like you just vanish for a day? You think we wouldn't notice! Where were you?"

The steampunk model sighed, then asked aloud, "Monokuma! Is one of the rule changes to allow someone to leave Penjar and come back?"

"Nope!"

"I was in town," Hikari said with a confident smile. "That's all you really need to know, I'm not suspicious."

"Like hell you're not now," Samson declared. "The way you're acting is really off!"

"And not to mention Ken seems to be your co-conspirator," Yejoon said, folding his arms over his chest. "How exactly does he go from monitoring your safety, to losing you altogether?"

"Come to think of it," Shuuya said, staring down Hikari, "you weren't in your room when Ken said he was watching over you! And then he was suddenly gone too."

"Hey wait a minute, everyone," Aka shouted, waving her hands in the air, "let's calm down for a minute! There's no way Hikari did this!"

"Really now? Because it's starting to look like," the bounty hunter declared, "like the two of them conspired together!"

DEBATE YOUR CASE!

"Oh please," Hikari said with a roll of her eyes, "have you noticed I have white sleeves too? I couldn't carry the grubby stuff."

"Ken could easily have been the muscle," Shuuya pointed out. "And you both are acting like you're hiding something."

"Just leave him out of this," the model snapped, glaring at Shuuya. "I snuck out when he wasn't looking, because I wanted to be alone, that is all."

"That cannot be all!" Futaba shouted. "You don't just do that during a Killing Game, during a motive too!"

"I have my own reasons, I don't need to explain everything to you," Hikari remarked. "Besides, Ken isn't stained with wood and oil and such, so shouldn't that mean he's innocent too?"

"If you don't start cooperating with us," Blake shouted, "we're going to vote for you, because you're suspicious as shit!"

"Oh, right, sure, drop the entire investigation and vote for me because I'm not cooperative, is that it? You cannot possibly be that stupid."

"Since when you are so standoffish?" Isaac asked, peering at the model.

"Darling, I am a woman of many virtues, but my tolerance for baseless accusations goes out the window real fast."

"Ha, gotcha," Samson declared, pointing at Hikari. "Gotcha good, girl!"

"You know, I've been wondering how the culprit moved all that heavy stuff," the trader said with a confident smile, "but now I know how they did it, thanks to Drake."

"M-me?" the cartoonist stuttered. "But I just mentioned the flowers!"

"You know what you mentioned as well? A wheelbarrow, an honest-to-God wheelbarrow, located in the greenhouse! That's how someone could cart around a bunch of stuff!"

"Huh, that makes sense," Pyrrha said, tapping her chin as she contemplated this. "I mean, I could see how that would be a tremendous help."

"So you think that the culprit went into the plant nursery," Crystal stated as she made eye contact with Samson, "took the wheelbarrow, and used it to hasten the murderous piles in the fire pits?"

"It would also cut down on the amount of crap that they would get on them," he replied.

"But… but didn't I say that the wheelbarrow was in the back with the flowers, behind all that poison ivy and bad stuff?" Drake blurted out. "They'd have to walk through it to get to it!"

"And what is the man wearing?" Samson said as he pointed at Ken. "Hoodie and thick pants, that's all the protection that he needs from the poisonous plants!"

"And it's really dark colored too," Blake remarked, staring down Ken. "You wouldn't see slight stains or such on it."

Everyone exchanged glances, murmuring over their suspicions. Aka looked close to having a nervous breakdown, and shouted, "Stop it, stop it! There is no way on Heaven and Earth that Hikari is working with a man on this! Why would she? Didn't we prove that partnerships wouldn't work because the other would die?!"

Hikari stared down at the ground, to Aka, to Ken, and then at the floor again. The model appeared defeated, and was sweating nervously.

"H-Hikari? Babe?" Aka stammered, staring at her pleadingly. "Deny it! You gotta! You cannot be part of this murder plan!"

The steampunk model glanced to the side, unresponsive. As Aka called out to her, Ken raised his hand.

"Everyone, I have a confession to make," the cavalryman announced. "But please, do not cast shadow on me until I am done."

"Man, even when he's going to confess, he cannot get his terminology right," Blake grumbled.

Ken glanced at him, staring around at everyone with an apologetic smile on his face, then he spoke.

"Monokuma, you can tell them what my rule change was, I do not need to guess it."

"Roger, but it still counts as your guess! Your rule change was as follows: harm may come to the Deviant Tourist when they are discovered at the end of the trial!"

The silence that hit the trial room was harder than any other. Most of them were staring at Ken, who folded his arms and nodded in agreement with the bear. Hikari covered her face with one hand, unable to look the crowd in the eye for the first time in her life.

"What?!" Shinobu cried out in horror. "You… you asked Monokuma a question? You took part in the motive?"

"You killed Angelique for that?!" Yitro shouted, his rage growing so fervently that his eyes were brimming with fury.

"No! No I did not murder Angelique," Ken declared, holding his hands up in surrender. "I did not kill anyone. And neither did Hikari."

"What the hell is going on, Ken?!" Futaba yelled. "You asked Monokuma a damned question, what were you thinking?"
"I was thinking that I could find the answer to how to stop Despair from ravaging my home!"

The cavalryman punched his podium, and hissed in air sharply. "You don't understand. So many have died, and they are still dying today! Novoselic is plagued with Despair, so twisted, so powerful, that its allies have given up on it! The blood, it keeps spilling! Women, children, elderly… everyone is being murdered in my home.

"And I fled from that! When the Tragedy hit the world, I gave up the fight and ran! I've been hidden here in Japan since the country fell. I… I disgraced myself, I am a shame to my country, my honor, everything about me is a wretched, pitiful excuse of a human being that you see."

He covered his face with one hand, leaning on the podium. "I came here to find answers, and when I was offered that, I took it! I wanted to know what could be done, but even that… the wretched bear tricked me! His answer was nothing but a riddle!"

"I told you the truth, you just didn't believe me," Monokuma said with a snicker.

"Shut your maw, you foul, odious machine! I was a fool to think you would give me a straight answer! I… I always have been a fool."

He shook his head, and then met the stares of the other graduates. "I may not be worthy of being called your fellow graduate anymore, nor even an Ultimate, but I swear to you, I would not murder a good soul like Angelique over this."

They didn't speak at first, then Eisei spoke up for them. "What was your plan then? If you didn't kill Angelique, were you just going to die?"

"No. I was going to kill HIM!"

Ken thrust his finger at Yejoon, who looked as nonchalant as ever even with the reveal. The artist shrugged, and remarked, "You really thought you could take me, dishonored one?"

"I am capable of taking on a fiend like you," the cavalryman snapped, "and if I failed, that was what my rule change was for. If you killed me, the trial would be about my murder, and thus the others could defend themselves if you tried to attack them!"

"You mistake me for Jin. My sister did put up a tantrum during her last minutes, but that is not who I am. Still, I must commend you, that is a solid contingency plan."

"If I were to die, I would rid the world of your filth before I go! It is the least I could do, the least a dishonored one like me could do," Ken said, shaking his head. "But I failed. I couldn't find you when I abanonded my false post, and then… Angelique was murdered."

"So, you didn't do it then?" Aka said, smiling brightly. "That means Hikari and you are innocent! You wouldn't kill Angelique if your plan was to kill Yejoon!"

"Wait, that's it?" Saiko asked, dubiously raising an eyebrow. "We're just going to take his word for it?"

"Saiko, I believe him," Hara said, shaking her head as she stared over at Ken. "It makes so much sense."

"I know it does, but can we really trust their word on it?"

She glanced around the trial room, staring down the others. "What do you all think?"

Everyone was deep in thought, taking into consideration everything that had been handed to him. Yitro spoke first, as he glared at Ken, "Do we have any actual proof that neither of them did it?"

"I thought it was pretty clear," Aka huffed, glaring at the others. "Come on, this isn't impossible, it makes sense!"

"I don't know," Futaba said with a shake of her head. "I'm getting the distinct feel that there's more going on here."

"But how are we going to decide if we're divided on this?" Drake asked. "How can we…"

He was glancing at Ignatia, who was pointing her fingers in her ears. The cartoonist blinked, then took the hint as he put his sketchpad on the podium and covered his own ears.

"WHEN YOU ARE SPLIT, SCRUM IT UP!"

After the initial blast of noise, Monokuma lowered his megaphone and rubbed his paws together. "This sounds like the perfect time to start up one of my favorite manners of debate! Mostly because I just love the music that I play during it! Yeah, feel the drop!"

"It is very cool music," Fiora said with a smile.

"Take this seriously, little flower," Yejoon cautioned her. "For if we do not win the debate, this conversation may go down the wrong path."

"Or the right one," Crystal countered, narrowing her eyes at the serial killer. "For if we are right about Ken and Hikari, we would nail our murderer; if there is a conspiracy and you force us off the path, we may never learn the truth."

There was a small scoff, from someone who had been unusually quiet throughout the trial. Kimiko rubbed her nose, and muttered, "That's always the way it's gotta be, huh? Life or death, one way or another."

"Enough chatter! Let's do dis!"

Monokuma lifted a large key, labeled "Key to the City" on the side. A large lock raised up from the floor in front of his garish throne, and he inserted the key into it. With a twist, power could be heard charging up and machinery running throughout the trial room.

The platforms lit up at the base of their stands, and then hovered into the air. The graduates were ready this time, and all retained their balance. As the podiums lifted up into the air, the ceiling opened up, and moving into the hallway-like room.

This was their second Scrum Debate, and they knew how very important this was going to be. Plus, there were people confident or bitter about the last one, so they were going to be stronger…

SCRUM DEBATE!

Team Ragnaros ("Ken and Hikari are too suspicious!")

Members: Saiko, Yitro, Crystal, Samson, Pyrrha, Odelios, Futaba, Emanuel, Eisei, Blake, Souma, Shuuya, Ignatia.

…

Team Portgas D. Ace ("Ken and Hikari aren't dangerous!")

Members: Hara, Ken, Hikari, Isaac, Fiora, Aka, Drake, Kimiko, Anzu, Ishiku, Shinobu, Yejoon.

The podiums rose up into the room, with everyone facing each other now on two sides. Monokuma and the Kubs were standing at the end of the room, watching the debate as it would now unfold.

"How do we know," Yitro started them off, "that Ken didn't kill Angelique over the motive?"

"Because instead of killing Angelique, he wanted to kill me," Yejoon countered. "One way or another, he was prepared to die."

"How sure are you that he is that prepared to die?" Crystal inquired. "Maybe he still wishes to live, and thus set up this complex crime."

"Ken would not go the long and complicated route," Shinobu protested, "because he has an honor code to fall, as a soldier from Novoselic. You have no idea how strong that is for people from his country."

"But his country and his lost honor," Futaba shouted, "are the reason he took part in the motive! How do we know that the answer he was given wasn't vital information?"

"I was there when he got his answer," Hikari responded. "It was not straight-forward, it was a puzzle. You can trust me when I say it was not worth it."

"Trust you, Hikari?" Souma said dubiously. "You've been missing all day! You've been uncooperative. How do we know you aren't the culprit?"

"Hikari, the culprit who set this all up?" Aka balked, slamming her fist on the podium. "You think she was running around nonstop, doing heavy lifting with messy items!? That's beyond ridiculous!"

"It's not impossible to handle messy items properly," Samson pointed out. "Don't forget there is the wheelbarrow in the plant nursery, which she could have used!"

"But the wheelbarrow was behind aisles full of red poison oak and ivy," Drake said, showing a picture of the wicked-looking plants. "The oil from them leaves stains on all manners of clothing, and neither Ken nor Hikari have stains!"

"Having clothing without stains doesn't mean much," Odelios said, tapping the rubber chicken's head on his podium, "it just means they didn't use the wheelbarrow. Ken's more than fit to do this in the allotted time."

"But then that defeats Hikari being a possible suspect if we account time," Ishiku said, tapping the bottom of his staff on the floor, "because that would mean heavy sprinting and lifting to set everything up."

"Whether Ken or Hikari did the lifting isn't important," Pyrrha said, "because if no one was in the housing area, they could have changed clothes. The thick mists are the perfect cover."

"Have you looked at Hikari's clothes? Or her in general?" Aka fired off. "She's a supermodel with pristine clothing, make-up, and hair, every day, all day, and right now! She can't be doing exhausting work and still look as perfect as she does now!"

"Let's argue that Hikari didn't do the back-breaking labor, which is actually perfectly reasonable," Shuuya commented, raising one of his eyes. "Ken was still missing most of the time, what is his alibi?"

"Have you forgotten my guess at the rule change?" Hara asked, nervously crossing her arms. "Even if Ken has no alibi, if Hikari knows he did it, she would be executed for his success! So why would she remain quiet?"

"As someone who has seen a lot of quiet witnesses," Saiko said, "I can tell you now that there are people who'd rather die than talk over some matters. We cannot just trust Hikari's word, nor Ken's. We want proof."

"If it is proof that you want, wasn't he seen at around 11 AM in the housing area?" Anzu said. "This three-and-a-half-hour window that the killer had means it was next to impossible to be hanging around other places."

"Really now? Next to impossible is the best you have?" Blake muttered. "Yes, we saw him around 11:30 AM, but he could have done it before then! It's not that hard, moving a bunch of stuff from place to place!"

"Ken was at breakfast this morning, so when would he had time beforehand?" Isaac said. "And since Fiora was in the fire station from noon up to the explosion, there wasn't time after either!"

"If we consider the time after 11:30 AM, that would just be time to kidnap the victims," Eisei pointed out. "Your argument is more based off of emotions rather than cold logic."

"I have told you all why I did what I did, and yes, it is an emotional argument," Ken replied, "but if you combine that with the lack of possibility for myself or Hikari to commit this crime, you'll see we didn't do it."

Emanuel growled in frustration, rubbing his forehead. "Saying you didn't do it is not good enough! It's never good enough! What, are you going to now claim your rule change is proof?"

"You know what, jerkface?" Fiora declared, pointing at him with a grin on her face. "Why woo'd he ask for a rule change that doesn't benefit him in the least if he were going to commit a serious murder?"

"You useless, talentless, stupid puta," the Bête Noir shouted, shaking his fist at the bemused movie maker, "he's using your emotions to cover a serious murder! Why are you so intent on following a sob story to your demise? This conspiracy proves they were in league, and did this crime!"

"Does it now?" Fiora commented, tipping her fedora downwards to partially cover her eyes, giving her a detective look. "Because you haven't proved how this conspiracy could have efficiently committed the murder at all, eh. So stop trying to prematurely end the trial, and let's discuss HOW the murder was done!"

Team Portgas D. Ace all psyched themselves up, and declared in unison, "THIS IS OUR REASON!"

"What a blend of emotions, logic, and yelling!" Monokuma roared in delight. "Victory goes to Team Ace!"

The platforms came back down into the trial room, where the members of the winning team were rather proud of themselves. The losing team members were all surprised or upset, but none more than Emanuel; this was mostly due to Fiora smirking so broadly at him.

"I'll hit you again," he snapped.

"That just makes you a terribly poor sport," she replied with a wink, then turned to the other graduates. "Alright people, we went off-track long enough, we need to discuss how exactly this murder could have been committed."

"Obviously someone started the fire," Eisei said, tapping his lollipop against his lips. "Are we assuming they used a lighter, or one of the spark machines?"

"If the remote wasn't used in the crime, because only Fiora had access to it," Shuuya reasoned as he retained his calm composure, "then we could assume that a spark machine was used. After all, no one was in the park except for Crystal when she set off one."

"Unless Crystal is the culprit," Emanuel grumbled.

"Stop randomly accusing people!" Fiora hollered, glaring daggers at him.

"Yes, please stop that, we're not going to get anywhere," Isaac remarked, "by just accusing people every which way you can."

"It's obvious that the fire was started by a laser trip wire," Yejoon remarked, "coupled with a spark machine."

"Yeah," Fiora said, "that is… that is most obvious… uhhh…"

The confident stride that Fiora had been carrying melted away before their eyes. She went from a strong and confident woman, to a wide-eyed and fearful young lady once more. Nervously, she started tapping her fingers together, and muttered, "I think the killer used a lighter, actually."

"What?" Crystal spoke up, staring down Fiora. "Where is this coming from?"

"I… I just think that the killer would be more direct, you know?"

"Everything about this set-up says that the fire was started by-"

"I'm a million percent sure of it now," Fiora shrieked, balling up her hands into fists as she shouted her words, "so stop arguing with me!"

REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN!

"Please," Fiora said, with tears brimming in her eyes as she stared down Crystal, "please trust me on this. I… I concluded the Scrum Debate, I know what I'm talking a'boot."

"What is going on with you? You had such confidence beforehand," Crystal, shocked but keeping her calm tone steady, said to her. "Why are you going off-track again?"

"I… I just think that the killer would be m'oor hands-on, that's all," Fiora said, eyes glancing side to side. "You really think that's impossible?"

The military adviser groaned as she rubbed her temples, then said, "Well, what have you got?"

The two women had a brief moment of silence to size each other up, then the argument began.

"Well, um, uh… how did the killer know that the machines would work the way they were supposed to?" Fiora tried to argue. "W'ood you risk everything on a device that you didn't know would do what you wanted, when you wanted it to?"

"It's not like the killer could have time to do test runs. We're in a run-down town with a bunch of old stuff everywhere, those devices could have rusted into a state of not working good!"

"You cannot be serious," Crystal said, staring at her. "It doesn't take long to just check to see if they work or not, just turn them on and see if they trigger. Besides, the fire station and its belongings are not like the rest of the town.

"They were built and supplied only days ago, by however the Kubs managed to do such a thing. So all of the equipment was new, and thus perfectly safe to assume that it works."

Fiora gripped her fedora, and tried to counter. "Who is to say someone didn't hide in the mist and light the fire? I mean, there are only four ways into the park, but they can easily escape through one of the two paths after starting the fire!"

"Stop wasting our time," the military adviser barked, pointing furiously at her.

"I was outside when the fatal fire trails were lit, I would have seen someone running to the path next to me," Crystal retorted. "And this was after the explosion, so people were coming out from the buildings and up the other pathway!"

Fiora swallowed, loud and nervous. She clenched the podium, and shuddered. "I… I just have a really, really bad feeling a'boot where this is going, eh?"

Staring at her with concern, Isaac tried to comprehend what she was thinking. Something came to mind, and he realized he was going to have to ask a question to the last person he wanted to talk to.

"Emanuel," the reporter said, "did you bring the master remote with you in that bag?"

"Huh? Yeah, I did, thought it would be worth it," the Bête Noir said. "Why, what the hell does that have to do with this? It couldn't have been used in the murder, so you people say."

"Maybe not for manually triggering, but let's see which of the laser trip wires were hooked up to the spark machines. You have them all there, so why not?"

Blake cleared his throat, and said, "If you would allow me, I believe I could sort that out fastest of all. I know how those machines work."

The pyro walked over to Emanuel, making sure he knew which machines were which. Sorting them all out at his podium, it took a couple minutes, but then he was prepared to talk.

"Okay, three lasers, three spark machines, let me try to describe this all as accurately as possible," Blake said, "and if you're not smart enough to keep up, don't ask me to repeat myself. Just let those who are smart enough to follow do so.

"Let me label the laser trip wires as followed: Laser 1 was the one in front of tavern's back door, Laser 2 was the one in the pathway to the park next to the tavern, and Laser 3 was in the other pathway, the central one next to the theater.

"Spark 1 is the spark machine that was near Laser 1, in front of the tavern's back door. Spark 2 was the one in the center of the park, the one near the explosion. Spark 3 was the one that started the two fatal fire trails, which we know because of the scorch marks that led to each pit.

"Laser 1 was programmed to trigger BOTH Spark 1 and Spark 2. Laser 2 was also programmed to trigger both Spark 1 and Spark 2. Though Laser 3 was set up to trigger Spark 3 alone."

Blake clicked his tongue, then set the master remote on his podium. "That's all I can tell from the programming left on this thing. Hope that's enough to get us out of this shitstorm."

Most of the graduates were quiet at this revelation, but Fiora was whimpering as she hid her face from them. Whatever had upset her so much was only something she knew at this point.

"It seems to me," Saiko said, drumming her fingers on her crossed arms, "that Laser 1 and Spark 1 were meant to be a diversion."

"I am curious about the set-up myself," Souma remarked. "So both Laser 1 and Laser 2 would have set off the decoy fire trail, and the explosion in the middle of the park?"

"Why would they do that?" Yitro asked. "Why draw so much attention to the decoys?"

Shuuya snapped his fingers, as his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "The explosion, that's why. It was to lure people to the park."

"Could you explain to us," Eisei asked, "in greater detail?"

DEBATE YOUR CASE!

"People would hear the explosion," Shuuya said, "and then come running to the park to investigate!"

"Wait, so the killer wanted people to go to the park?" Drake asked. "Why would they want us there?"

"Wouldn't having people come to the park give them the chance of saving Kimiko and Angelique?" Anzu said, curling her blue bang around her finger again.

"Maybe," Shinobu said, her voice soft, "maybe that was the point? To save Kimiko, since the fake traps were on her side?"

"…" Kimiko tugged her cap down, hiding her eyes from everyone.

"Please," Fiora begged, her voice and body trembling, "please just consider that it could have been a lighter or something like that!"

"No, I already proved how that was impossible," Crystal declared.

"But… but what if the killer wanted people rushing to the park so they could light the fire manually?"

"The first people to come to the park saw the fatal fire trails start up, along with me," Crystal declared. "They couldn't have started it, for the fires started before they entered the park!"

"So was it a spark machine and laser trip wire combo that did it?" Shinobu asked. "That would have been the third one of them both, right?"

"That's the answer," Eisei declared, "to our conundrum!"

"The explosion was a lure, as Shuuya said," Eisei explained to them all, "to get someone to activate Laser 3, and thus Spark 3. The central path to the park is the most common way to get into the park, so it would make perfect sense to put it… there…"

He trailed off, eyes widening in horror. The dentist took a small bag from his pocket, placed his half-finished lollipop in it, and tucked it away. Placing a hand over his cute face, he took a deep, long breath.

"Eisei, my friend," Souma called out to him, "what is wrong?"

"Wrong? Nothing is incorrect about this hypothesis, it is… unfortunate."

"Wait, what is going on?" Samson asked. "What are you thinking, little man?"

"That the killer set this fatal combination of laser trip wire and spark machine for someone else to accidentally murder Angelique."

The trial room went dead silent, several people finding it much harder to breathe. Fiora sobbed and covered her face, while others tried to comprehend the situation.

"Wait a minute, no," Pyrrha shouted, balling her hands into fists and striking the podium. "The killer set up the murderous trap, so the killer is guilty! Not the person who triggered the trip wire!"

"Pyrrha," Ishiku said, his voice quiet and trembling with emotion, "that's not the case in Killing Games. In every broadcasted Killing Game, the rule is whoever killed the person, even indirectly with a trap, is considered the guilty party."

"Bull… bullshit," the romance writer cursed. "The killer set up the trap, they murdered the victim! The killer murdered Angelique! That's the truth!"

"That is the truth the world would see," Isaac said, gripping his beanie as he tried to keep calm, "but that's not how the Killing Games work."

"Despair loving fanatics," Emanuel grumbled, "they'll do anything to hurt others."

"Upupupupupu!" Monokuma cackled. "And it works so well, every time!"

Pyrrha openly sobbed, trying to wipe away the tears as she spoke. "No! No, this is unacceptable! We cannot vote for an innocent person instead of the guilty! We…

"Wait! Wait, we don't even know who did it, right? How can we possibly know who it was that tripped that laser wire?"

Someone knocked on their podium, loud enough to catch everyone's attention. This person was Ignatia, who was staring down at the floor in quiet contemplation. She raised her hand, much like an obedient school child.

"You know who it is?" Pyrrha asked. "Wh-who is it?"

The Ultimate Mime lowered her hand, and pointed to…

…

SELECT A SUSPECT!

…

… herself.

"Ignatia?!" Drake cried out, dropping his sketchpad when he shook with horror.

The mime took a long, shuddering breath, then nodded. She mimicked running with her fingers, then snapped her fingers. The sharp sound reverberated around the trial room, as sudden and awful as the realization that dawned on all of them.

…

TRIAL INTERMISSION!