Mists of Penjar

by The Kobold Necromancer

Graduated students of Hope's Peak Academy want to know how Despair was able to spread so fast and ruin so many lives. In an abandoned town known as Penjar, where windless mist creeps down old streets, they have come to find the answers. But Despair, and its Kubs, still have plans even in this seemingly forgotten place. [Part 1 Spin-Off of Crit Fail's Legacy of Despair Series.]

28. Chapter 4-4: Case 4 Investigations

Chapter 4-4

Call the Coppers

---

"Hope's Peak Academy has been one of the most intriguing and eye-opening experiences I have had in my life. Some say that an artist truly stagnates when nothing interests them anymore, when he or she cannot discover the beauty out of out life. This may be true, but I find my horizons wider than ever, all thanks to this school.

"There has been a question many of my classmates have asked me, why do I take the motif of a fox so seriously? I told them if I graduated, I would give them the reason, so here it is: foxes are elegant creatures, sly and crafty, who showcase enjoyment in hunting and living.

"That is how I plan to live my life from here on. I plan to continue my course in South Korea, but I do plan to visit Japan every once in a while. Maybe I'll come see my sister graduate too, so keep that in mind, Jin. So, thank you all, I'll continue to make this world a little more beautiful every day."

-Yejoon "Yeou" Nahm's graduation speech

---

Day 13, 10:00 AM

Love Hotel

Western Lobby

Isaac, Odelios, and Drake (carrying Monodam) were standing close to each other, trying to make sense of what they had just seen. Monokid and Monosuke were also standing in the lobby, waiting for everyone to finally show up.

Souma was the first downstairs, appearing rather shocked and having rushed out of bed, quickly grooming himself before heading on down. Shuuya and Ken were next, both of them rather cantankerous for reasons known only to themselves.

Yitro and Ishiku showed up next, the latter rather nervous as he glanced around the guys. Blake came last, not really concerned about rushing to this meeting as much as the others.

"We gonna wait for our serial killer?" the pyro asked as he glanced around the room. "Or is he being his usual stubborn self?"

"He's the one who's dead, Blake," Isaac said, keeping his voice so calm that it was almost monotone.

All of the men who hadn't seen Yejoon's body flinched, and were far more concerned now. They blurted out questions all at once.

"Holy fucking shit, you sure?" Blake asked.

"Yejoon is dead?!" Yitro declared. "How? Where?"

"How could anyone here," Ishiku cried out, "kill that guy? He was like an evil ninja assassin!"

"EVERYBEAR!" Monokid shouted, waving his paws in the air; he was noticeably not carrying his sniper rifle anymore. "Shut the fuck up! We have some rules to go over!"

"Oh God," Souma muttered, face-palming, "not more rules."

"Youse better believe it," Monosuke said. "First off, the rules about going over to the women's side still stand, youse aren't to go over there no matter what, unless youse has your spouse with you.

"Second off, youse can be in as big of groups as you want, no more limitations of three.

"Third off, youse are going to find that any of the locked doors youse never unlocked are going to stay locked, forever. Youse blew it by not going to open them!"

"What about the ones we did open?" Ishiku asked.

"Oh, those youse can open up if you get your spouse over and open them," Monosuke said. "And I'll save youse a little time and effort, youse never got the ones in the bowling alley, just the baseball field's shack and the other Hall of Fame."

"Wait a minute, what?" Ken asked. "Someone opened those doors? But that doesn't make any sense!"

"Yeah, it really doesn't," Isaac remarked, glancing over at Ishiku.

Monokid grumbled in outrage, and muttered, "Well, whatever! You all have a certain amount of time before the trial starts, and you'd best use it wisely! Because we're kind of sick of giving you losers favors when you keep killing the most interesting members of the group!"

"The interesting violent ones, that is," Monosuke said, pulling out his phone and starting to text. "I'm sure there's still some sexy shenanigans we can get up to after this trial, if youse all don't die."

Isaac watched Monosuke use his phone, and then walked over to the orange Kub. "Could we use your phone?" the reporter asked.

"Huh? This phone only works with the Kubs' phones, why would youse want it? Youse cannot phone a friend!"

"If you let me have yours," Isaac said, kneeling down to the orange Kub, "and Monophanie gives her phone to one of the women, we'll be able to conduct a great investigation. If you really want more sexy shenanigans, Monosuke, you will want us to survive this trial."

Monosuke pulled out a bunch of bills and started fanning himself. "Intriguing! I do admit, I like how much youse is putting into this bargain!"

"You cannot just let them get all of the advantages, my darling widdle Kub!"

Monokuma came waddling into the lobby, carrying Monokid's sniper rifle. The white 'n black despair bear chuckled as he rested the large weapon on his shoulder. "Though I have to admit, this case will take all of the help they can get, because our killer is just too damn good! I already did a through search, and there's very little to go on!"

"Oh great," Yitro muttered, "he's trying to destroy morale."

"Monokuma with a gun kind of does that," Souma remarked.

"So here's my little rule for if you borrow phones, my dear Isaac," Monokuma said, walking over to the reporter, "you and only you can use it, you cannot give it to anyone else. The same will go for the woman on the other side who gets ahold of Monophanie's phone…

"And," Monokuma leaned in, grinning most wickedly right in Isaac's face, "during the trial, something rather damning about you might come out. You ready to take the heat when it does?"

Isaac took a deep breath, squeezing his right arm as he considered what Monokuma could have on him. He could guess, but either way, he needed this advantage. "Deal, Monokuma. Whatever you think you have on me, it's not going to dissuade me."

"Upupupupu! AHAHAHA! Very well, my favorite reporter for the truth, you can have Monosuke's phone! Monosuke, be so kind as to give our guest your phone!"

"Okay, Pops," Monosuke said, as he started dialing a number, "just make sure youse don't drain all the batteries, or go through my photo album, or use all my data, or say anything that'll get me in trouble with whoever is listening in."

"Who could be listening to your own phone network?" Isaac asked, though he felt stupid for questioning the Kubs' words.

"Yeah, who could be?" Monosuke asked, eyeing everyone and everybear in the room.

"My son has the right to be paranoid," Monokuma said with a proud laugh, "considering you punks just picked off a serial killer!"

Isaac sighed as he waited for Monosuke to finish dialing the number. This wasn't going to be an easy choice to make, he could already feel the suspicious stares on him; however, any advantage that they could would be absolutely necessary.

---

Day 13, 10:10 AM

Love Hotel

Eastern Lobby

"Okay, what the hell is going on here?" Saiko shouted down at Monophanie. "We're all here, can't we get some answers?"

"Yeah, we all are here," Futaba remarked, glancing around for a quick headcount. "Does that mean one of the boys is dead?"

"And if no one has crossed over, who let me out?" Crystal declared. "Why didn't whoever let me out wake me up?"

Monophanie was gripping her head, struggling with the amount of questions being thrown at her. "Please, please! One at a time, for Daddy Kuma's sake!"

"Could you at least tell us who's died?" Anzu asked, a look of great concern on her face. "Please, this is horrible, not knowing."

She felt herself twisting one of her blue bangs, painfully even, as she dreaded the answer. Ignatia was trying to play it cool, but there was definite concern in her eyes. Kimiko was fidgeting, Hara was pacing, Fiora was drumming her fingers against the brim of her fedora.

Aka rocked on her feet impatiently, and muttered, "Just tell us who died, Monophanie."

"But… but I don't know who died!" the pink Kub said, fretting up a storm. "Oh I hope it's not Ishiku! Who could it be?"

"You don't know?" Hikari asked, staring intensively at the pink Kub. "How could you not know? Are you Kubs knowledgeable of everything going on in Penjar? Especially when you're in your robotic Kub form."

"Is it more of that amnesia that seems to be going around?" Eisei inquired. "I mean, your brothers seem to constantly forget who we are, are you just forgetting the name of the victim?"

Monophanie stammered, unable to get an answer of sorts out. Fortunately for her, she was saved by the bell, or rather the jingle of a cellphone. Reaching behind herself and pulling a cell phone from seemingly nowhere, she blurted out, "H-hello? Wait, this isn't Monosuke… who is this?

"Oh, Isaac! Good to hear from you!" Monophanie cheerfully said. Both Hara and Saiko let out audible sighs of relief, the former wiping away sweat that had built up on her forehead. "So why do you have my brother's cellphone?"

There was a bit of silence, then Monophanie nodded as Isaac spoke to her. The pink Kub said, "Uh-huh, uh-huh. I understand. But whoever I hand the phone is the only person who can use it, or even to look at the screen. So if you're going to send videos or pictures, it has to be to them only.

"Understood? Sorry, I wish I could make it better for you all, but knowing my brother and my father… wait, who? Okay, if that's what you're thinking."

Monophanie walked over to Saiko, and said, "He wants you to handle the phone."

Saiko blinked in confusion, and then took it. "Isaac? Is that you?"

"Yeah," he replied. "Listen, could you apologize to Hara for me? But if the other person on the phone is the only one who can look at pictures and such, it needs to be you. You're the only one-"

"Isaac, I'm sure Hara understands, no need to get apologetic; we're working a deadline, after all. Speaking of which, who is it?"

The women (and Eisei) all braced themselves for what would surely come next. Saiko's face scrunched up as she listened to Isaac, and then her eyes widened. "Wait, are you serious? … Oh my God, our victim is Yejoon?"

"What?!" several of those in the lobby shouted in utter disbelief, staring at Saiko as if needing to hear that again. Some of them looked over at Fiora, who had flinched and then locked up when she heard the name.

"Okay, if Yejoon is our victim, what do you need from us?" Saiko asked.

"Are you seriously asking them," Futaba said with a disapproving stare, "to tell us what to do? As if we cannot conduct an investigation ourselves?"

Saiko glared at her, then listened to Isaac. After a couple minutes, she told him to wait, and then turned to the women (and Eisei). "Okay, listen up, ladies! We can only open the locked doors that were previously opened, all others are locked for good. We need you all to split into groups, and check every one of them for signs of usage.

"We need to check everywhere, see what is off from last night! Get ready to compare notes! It's also okay for us to be in groups of more than three, so work alongside with as many people as you can!"

Anzu stepped forward, and asked, "If you and Isaac can agree on one side of the plaza should be investigated first, Ishiku and I could head over to one side and open doors."

Saiko stared at her, and muttered, "Wait, what? You serious, you and him?"

The actress crossed her arms, and replied, "Snarky comments can be withheld until after the investigation, Saiko. Come on now, ask Isaac."

Saiko spoke into the phone, then was confused once again. "Isaac said you shouldn't be able to, because the rotation was off with how we accidentally did it."

"And yet Ishiku and I went to the other side," Anzu said. "Look, just please tell Isaac to tell Ishiku to meet me in the chapel, we'll investigate whichever side you think we should first."

"Considering the dead body is on the western side, start there," Saiko said. "We got a lot of ground to cover, and not the most ideal of resources, so we need to hurry!"

"This really is happening?" Pyrrha whimpered, covering her mouth in astonishment. "Three people died just two days ago, and we already have another dead person?"

"And it's the serial killer?!" Aka declared. "What the hell is up with that?"

Hikari scoffed, rolling her eyes as she adjusted her fancy hat. "He was a monster, nothing more and nothing less. He said he killed almost two hundred people, the families of his victims are probably still all in pain right now. This isn't a tragedy, except that because someone jumped the gun, we may have lost the answer to secrets in this town."

"Whoa, careful now," Futaba said, adjusting her glasses. "You might offend the one person who liked him."

Most of them glanced over at Fiora, who was lost in thought until she noticed everyone staring at her. "Wh-what?" she stammered, concerned. "Is it really true? Is Yejoon really dead?"

"Yes," Pyrrha said, clasping her hands together. "Sorry, Fiora."

"You taking this kind of hard, girlfriend?" Aka asked, staring curiously at the movie maker.

Fiora gaped at them, then let out the most incredulous laugh. "'Soo'ry'? 'Taking this hard'? What the hell are you talking a'boot? Yejoon being dead is the best thing fur me, eh!"

"Fiora," Hara spoke, but the movie maker exploded in indignant outrage.

"A serial killer who had almost two hundred victims, my stalker with the creepiest fascination with, a man who literally could not promise that he wouldn't kill me in the long run, and you're all worried I'm upset he's dead?

"Screw that! Screw any of you who think I'm sad he's dead! I'm not soo'ry in the least! Leave me 'oot with this!"

Fiora stormed off to the cafeteria, leaving the others quiet for a moment. Saiko sighed, and then spoke on the phone to Isaac. "Okay, it's going to be a bit of an effort here, but let's do this. Anzu will be in the chapel in just a minute, you just get the men organized, and I'll get the ladies, and Eisei, to investigate as much as we can."

"Saiko, I don't want to sound too daunting," Isaac said, "but we're investigating Yejoon's murder. Whoever did this probably went to great lengths to make sure this went perfectly, we cannot overlook anything!"

"I know," Saiko said, "I know. Let's do this."

INVESTIGATION START!

Saiko turned towards the ladies (and Eisei), and began to speak to them. "Hikari, Ignatia, Eisei, go check out the hair salon in the spa, and that room you were stuck in. Look through everything there, and make note of it.

"Anzu, go on over to the western side, but please get back here as soon as possible. Crystal, Futaba, Kimiko, please go check out the clothing store, that place is huge and we need to know if anything is out of order.

"Aka, Pyrrha, Hara, go check out the stables. Everyone, the moment you are done with the area, take some time to check out the rest of the spa, or the hotel. But no one is to go alone at any point, understood?"

"Actually, if I may," Pyrrha said, nervously pointing at the cafeteria, "I want to talk to Fiora. She and I can look through the hotel, you can go with Hara and Aka."

"Alright, fine. Alright people, let's head on out, and be alert. We're hunting a serial killer's killer, and if we get it wrong, we're all dead."

"Yeah, no pressure," Kimiko remarked, stretching and popping her joints. "Move on 'oot, ladies."

Saiko continued to speak to Isaac on the phone, as all of the women, sans Pyrrha and Anzu, left the hotel. As Anzu hurried on to the chapel, Monophanie stared up at the romance writer, and said, "I'll join you two, if that's okay."

"Um, sure, Monophanie," she said, confused but deciding not to question it. She walked over to the cafeteria, and entered it, peering around for Fiora.

The movie maker was seated at one of the tables, back to the entrance. She was twirling something around in her fingertips, and when Pyrrha approached, the romance writer recognized it as one of Yejoon's throwing daggers.

"Fiora?" she said, staring at the forlorn movie maker from behind.

"Heh, you wondering a'boot this?" Fiora said, holding up the throwing dagger and then putting it back down on the table. "Yejoon gave it to me a while back, shortly after I found 'oot Blake was the reason my parents were dead. He told me that if I was going to murder him, I should use one of his weapons so that everyone woo'd suspect him. How 'sweet,' am I right?" *TRUTH BULLET*

Pyrrha sat down next to her, facing her as she spoke calmly. "Listen, I know you're trying to brush this off, but if you need to speak about it, I'm here."

"There's nothing to speak about. My murderous stalker is dead, that's a good thing fur me."

"Fiora…"

"No, this is a good thing, and we all knoo' it! I mean, yeah, it sucks we're gonna get cut off from the locked rooms we never opened, but Yejoon is dead, and that's going to make all of us feel safer! The world is a better place!"

Fiora chucked the throwing dagger across the room, and it impaled in the far wall. Monophanie squeaked in shock, as Fiora continued to explode in outrage. "He wasn't my boyfriend, he wasn't my lover, he was my aggressive stalker who made me feel unsafe every waking moment I've bin here in Penjar!"

"He did save your life," Pyrrha softly remarked.

Fiora scoffed and stood up, as did the romance writer. The movie maker pulled her fedora's brim down, and muttered, "Eisei saved my life, Yejoon just cut me doo'n. Yejoon didn't knoo' anything a'boot saving lives, he could only take them."

The movie maker pulled the brim of her hat down, threatening to pull her hat off to cover her eyes entirely. "Pyrrha, I appreciate you trying, but what are you here fur? To comfort me, to tell me how soo'ry you are that he's died, as if I had feelings fur him? The psycho, Despair-loving, parent-killing monstrous bastard that he was?"

Pyrrha took a deep breath, and said, "I'm not here to judge or assume anything, I just want to make sure you're okay. You've been through so much, and I don't think you're the kind of person who would celebrate death, no matter how awful they were."

"I joo'st knoo' that even with'oot Emanuel, this trial will find a way to blame fur this too. They always do that, they always think I was the one who murdered the victim, and now they'll leap all over this. They'll come at me with everything…"

Fiora shivered, her shoulders shaking. "T-tell me something, Pyrrha."

"What is it?"

"We all knoo' he was an awful man, right? You understand he was stalking me, he was threatening and evil and murderous and psychopathic. He murdered more people than we'll probably ever knoo' in our lives, Yeou the Fox was a heinous person that I shouldn't pity, that I shouldn't feel sad fur, or I'd be a stupid, stupid girl…"

"You're not stupid, Fiora."

Something sparkling fell from Fiora's face, and then she finally looked up at Pyrrha. Tears were streaming from her eyes, as she wept, "Then why do I feel so bad right now? What kind of stupid, messed up, awful wimp of a person am I that… that I…

"I joo'st keep thinking I never got to say good-bye, and I shouldn't… I really, really shouldn't…"

Fiora let out a wretched sob, and shivered hard before Pyrrha pulled her into a tight hug, giving her the chance to let it all out.

---

Day 13, 10:15 AM

Love Hotel

Chapel

Anzu reached the chapel at the exact same time Ishiku said. The two embraced each other in a hug, and then started to hurry towards the western side. "How is everyone taking it over there?" Ishiku asked her.

"I think they're all stunned," Anzu said. The two of them passed over the border for the western side, and there was nothing stopping them thus far. "Fiora is defensive, the poor thing must be so confused right now."

"It must be so conflicting, thinking about how someone she was so scared of but protected her is now gone."

The magician shivered, as images of his Despair-addled parents flashed in his mind. He rubbed his temples to keep himself focused, and asked, "So what was this about the rotations being off for getting married?"

"The men were going to the chapel every hour, and the women were going every half-hour," Anzu said. "Apparently, no one knows who they are married to." *TRUTH BULLET*

"But if everyone is off," Ishiku pondered, "then how are we married and able to cross over to the other side?"

"You got me, Ishi. Somehow, despite everything," she nervously scratched the back of her head as she recalled what happened yesterday, "our marriage worked. Or maybe other marriages worked too, and we haven't had a chance to ask anyone?"

"We both were at the chapel at around 12:30 PM yesterday, right?" Ishiku asked. *TRUTH BULLET UPDATED*

"I think so. So what are we doing first?"

"We'll have to ask the guys as we go around the areas," Ishiku said, the two arriving in the western lobby. Odelios was the only one there, and he was throwing rice over the couple the moment they were in the lobby.

"Odelios! What on Earth are you doing?" Anzu declared, as she scratched the rice out of her hair. "We have serious business to attend to."

"I refuse to let a moment like this go to waste, my apologies," the clown said with a grin. "Anyway, you two should head to the baseball field, Isaac said he wanted you to start there."

"Okay, buddy, what are you doing?" Ishiku asked.

"Ken, Drake, and I are going to be inspecting the hotel, there are some leads that we are going to try to track down. The two of them, as well as Drake's Togepi pal Monodam, are in the gift shop."

"His what now?" Anzu asked, baffled.

"Sorry, obscure Pokémon reference, takes too long to explain. Either way, you two should hurry, but don't worry about the bowling alley; the Monokubs told us that the rooms in there, no one ever tried."

Ishiku and Anzu were still slightly confused, but they didn't want to waste time. They walked outside as Odelios cheered on his new OTP, and hurried on over to the baseball field. When they both arrived, neither of them were prepared for the grisly mess that was the bloody corpse of Yejoon.

"Oh dear God," Ishiku squeaked out, turning away.

"That's so horrid," Anzu whimpered, shielding her eyes. "Oh Lord, he looks like a stampede victim."

Isaac was taking pictures of the body, and sending them to Saiko. The reporter glanced up at the two, and remarked, "Yes, one of us really wanted him to suffer. I can actually take some estimated guesses as to what he went through, but I'd rather have Saiko instruct me on some of this."

Yitro and Shuuya were nearby, both observing the body as much as they could. The swordsman regarded the bloody stump that was Yejoon's wrist, and he remarked, "Might want to ask the ladies if his hand made it over to their side."

"Why on Earth would the killer take his hand?" Shuuya mused, rubbing his chin. "If our killer is a man, the hand serves no benefit to opening any doors; if our killer is a woman, would that even work on a hand scanner, an amputated hand?"

Monosuke waddled up to the group, taking a moment to regard Yejoon, before chuckling. "We didn't tell anyone about this, but if youse use a severed hand, it'll probably work once on the hand scanners. After that, the lack of body heat and loss of blood would probably make it not register to the scanner." *TRUTH BULLET*

Isaac spoke to Saiko on the phone, taking in her comments as she observed the photos. Anzu knelt down next to Yejoon's body, studying the damage. Ishiku glanced around the area, trying to find something to do.

"Why don't you two go check out the baseball field's shack, the locked one?" Shuuya remarked. He raised an eyebrow, and added, "And just how was your marriage official, by the way?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Anzu said, as she moved over towards the shack. Ishiku started to follow her, then something near the pitcher's mound caught his eye. The magician hurried over, and found a notebook at the base of the pitcher's mound.

"Hey, what's this then?" Ishiku said, as Shuuya moved over to him. The magician walked towards the shack as he flipped through the pages. "What is this?"

"I think that is the notebook that Yejoon was writing in," Shuuya remarked. "I recall him using it a great deal yesterday."

The magician flipped through the pages, as he and Shuuya tried to make sense of what was written in them. The bounty hunter was baffled, taking the notebook from Ishiku as he examined what was written.

"This isn't Japanese, is it Korean?" the bounty hunter said, examining the symbols from all sides. "I am not familiar with it."

"Great, Yejoon left us notes in a language I doubt anyone here can read," Ishiku muttered, shaking his head. *TRUTH BULLET* "We should ask the others if any of them read Korean."

Anzu had placed her hand on the palm scanner at this point, and the shack opened up. The actress went into the baseball shack, scanning the inside. "Okay, Ishi, do you see anything different from last time?"

"You were here?" Shuuya asked, eyes raised. "Care to explain?"

Anzu and Ishiku explained everything that happened to them last time they were on the men's side, but the magician left out the part where Anzu smashed one of the portraits. Anzu realized he had done that, but was too ashamed to admit it herself, so the search continued.

Shuuya picked up one of the baseballs, and noticed blood on it. "Wait a minute," he said as he stared at that stain, "this is far, far too old to have been Yejoon's. I don't understand."

"Oh yeah, we found that here too," Ishiku said. "It was kind of the reason that we left."

The bounty hunter sighed, and rolled the ball on the floor. "Leon Kuwata."

"What? Who?" Anzu asked.

"The Ultimate Baseball Player, one of the culprits and victims in Hope's Peak Academy's Killing Game. His execution was being bludgeoned to death with baseball bats and baseball pitching machines. If there is blood on these balls…"

"Then it would throw us off the scent if anyone used them as a weapon!" Anzu said, dread welling up in her at the realization.

"Not particularly, I can tell the difference between a weapon stained with blood dried from over years, and a weapon used most recently."

Shuuya sighed, and examined the baseball bats in the shack. "It might take a while, but I'll examine all of these. I'll ask Yitro to help me, since I'm sure no one wants me doing this alone." *TRUTH BULLET*

Anzu nodded, then tilted her head to the side. "By the way, Shuuya, what happened with your marriage?"

The bounty hunter flinched, his pale face getting a little red, and he hissed in air as he seemingly tried to resist lashing out. With a heavy sigh, he muttered, "I paired up with Futaba, and we, ah, consummated the marriage…

"But when we tried to visit the women's side, Monokid showed up with his rifle, and threatened to shoot me if I didn't go back," the assassin grumbled, not liking to admit the Kub had bested him. "We kept telling him that the two of us had done what he asked, and he kept saying we weren't with our married partner."

"I guess that was because the rotation was off?" Ishiku said, slightly nervous at how bitter Shuuya appeared. "So what time did you two meet up?"

"We were both at the chapel around 1:30 PM. Why?" *TRUTH BULLET UPDATED*

Anzu sighed as she said, "We are trying to find out why our marriage worked, yet others didn't. The pattern seems highly inconsistent."

After this conversation, Shuuya called over Yitro, and the two started to investigate the shack's equipment. Anzu and Ishiku were ready to head over to the Hall of Fame, when they caught part of Isaac's conversation.

"You want me to take off his pants?!" Isaac balked, staring at Yejoon's dead body. "Dear God, Saiko, could you, in the future, tell me why before you give me instructions?"

Saiko's frustrated groan could be heard on the phone. "Fine, whatever, but I didn't mean you have to take off his underpants. I just need to see what his knees and legs look like, and also his arms. I'm curious if our killer went to town on his limbs."

"Argh, fine," Isaac said, then went to Yejoon's pants. He was shivering, and it was hard with one hand. Ishiku offered to help him, and soon, the serial killer's pants were around his ankles, and his jacket on the ground nearby.

"If there are such things as evil spirits," Ishiku whimpered, "he's gonna haunt us fo' sho'."

"Let him try," Anzu said with a confident smile.

Ishiku and Anzu helped to move Yejoon's body around as Isaac took pictures. The couple left Isaac to wait to hear the results from Saiko, and carried on to the Hall of Fame; Anzu wasn't thrilled to go, but realized it was necessary.

When they arrived, they noticed that the locked side was closed. Both of them were confused by this, but elected to check out the unlocked side first. Souma was standing near the entrance, and he regarded them when they walked up.

"So, we did have a working couple, how interesting," he said, blocking their way in by standing in the doorway. "Maybe you know about what happened here?"

"What? What are you talking about?" Ishiku said, feigning ignorance as hard as he could, while Anzu nervously pulled at one of her bangs.

Souma raised an eyebrow, and said, "Perhaps you should see it with your own eyes."

He allowed them in, and the two were shocked to see that the Hall of Fame had been vandalized. Spray paint in different colors had been used to make X's on all of their own portraits, with a different slur painted on the touch screens for every person.

"Retard" was on Odelios's screen.

"Slut" was on Aka's.

"Traitor" was on Ishiku's.

"Fraud" was on Anzu's, making the actress start shivering a great deal.

The other side, the one with the Hope's Peak Academy survivors, was vandalization in a number of ways. If the pictures weren't shattered or X'ed out, they had words painted on them in surprising detail. There were eight words, but with the order they were in, they appeared to be two-word phrases:

"Murder" "Authority"

"Uphold" "Kaos"

"Undo" "Management"

"Kill" "Unity"

Despite the words and the smashed portraits, the one on the floor still stood out. The only portrait not vandalized was Kyoko Kirigiri, the cold, piercing stare from the Ultimate Detective still fully intact.

"Man, whoever did this really hated us," Blake, in the middle of the hallway, said with a devious chuckle. "Though not as much as Celestia Ludenberg, they really hated her."

"What do you mean?" Ishiku asked, glancing around at all the damage.

"The one on the floor? That was Celestia, the Ultimate Gambler," the pyro said. "I was thinking our vandal hated smart women, but then I noticed that the lavender-haired woman with resting bitch face wasn't touched. Kyoko, I think her name is?"

Souma sighed as he walked into the Hall of Fame. "You hardly need to be so crass about it, Blake. So what does this all mean?"

Ishiku scanned the area, and asked, "As bad as this may sound, are we sure our killer did this?"

"What, you think someone went for a joy walk over here to ruin the place," Blake asked, crossing his arms, "as someone else bashed his brains in?"

Souma rubbed his chin, and remarked, "Sounds like something a couple could do."

"Wait a minute," Anzu said, staring down the public speaker, "are you accusing us?"

"There were many other couples, my dear Anzu," Souma said, "but this appear to be something that a couple could do. One kills Yejoon while the other destroys this place."

Ishiku sighed heavily as he examined the hall again, his eyes landing on the word "Kaos" spray painted over one of the survivor's faces. "Kaos, the Latin word for Chaos… is this the work of chaos fanatics?"

"It grows more and more concerning," Souma remarked. *TRUTH BULLET*

Blake groaned in frustration, and said, "Do we take notes of this? You think the crazy person who did this left hints?"

Ishiku took out his phone, and quickly started to make notes on the Note app. He categorized every insult paired with the Penjar visitor it was directed to, and also made note of the survivors' portraits. Souma did the same thing too, though he lingered in front of a few of the Penjar visitor's portraits.

"What do you think this means?" he asked when he pointed at the slur, or rather the word, under Ken's portrait. It read, "Scarlet" on it.

Neither of the three knew, so they carried on. Souma also stopped at Isaac's portrait, where a few words had been scrawled out rather than an insult.

"'Serial Killer Bait'?" he read aloud. "What on Earth does that mean?"

"Beats me," Blake said. "We done here? Shouldn't we check out the other side? Ain't that why our porn star and magic dork are here?"

Ishiku clenched his staff in his hand, and whispered to Anzu, "You think I'd get in trouble if I hit him, just once?"

"Don't waste the effort on that waste of a human," the actress responded. "But, Ishi, about that portrait…"

"We won't say anything unless we have to, don't worry."

The four Penjar visitors exited the unlocked hall in the building, and went over to the other side. Anzu placed her hand on the palm reader, and it allowed them in.

What was waiting for them was just as bad as the unlocked side, if not a bit more chilling due to the lights. The hallway, full of the portraits of those who died during Hope's Peak Academy's Killing Game, had been vandalized too.

The word "DESPAIR" was painted over the majority of the faces. Only two of them were different, and they were at completely different ends of the hall.

Mahiru Koizumi, the Ultimate Photographer, had numerous circles around her with arrows pointing at her as well. Ryōko Otonashi, the Ultimate Amnesiac, had a heart drawn over her chest, with a bloody arrow shooting through it.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Blake asked. "What is this room for?"

Anzu scanned the room, but she mostly just focused on Mahiru's portrait. She nervously glanced over at the men, and said, "I think whoever our vandal is, they know the truth."

"What truth?" Souma asked. "Does this have something to do with the late Mahiru Koizumi?"

"Most likely," the actress bitterly remarked. "Whoever did this sure believes that, look at the attention that is brought to her portrait." *TRUTH BULLET*

Ishiku walked over to her, and pointed at the lights in-between the portraits and touch screens. "Look, though, the lights are just like how they were when we last saw them."

Anzu regarded this, and nodded. "It's possible that whoever left this message wasn't heard the way they wanted to be, if they think Mahiru is the key to whatever this room is implying."

"Do you people," Blake grumbled, "practice being cryptic? What the fuck is going on here?"

"There's no time to argue this," Souma remarked, before approaching Ishiku and Anzu. "If you two have time, you need to go to the other side of the plaza and see what you can open up there. We have no idea what time limitations we have."

---

Day 13, 10:20 AM

Clothing Store

"Okay, I cannot find a single thing out of place," Futaba said, as she rummaged through the area. "I mean, I didn't have this place memorized, but I think I would get a feeling if there was something off."

Crystal regarded the locked door with the hand scanner nearby. The neon sign of "Dressing Rooms" were above it, and she noticed the jacket propped up against the door frame. "I have a feeling this may be a dead end."

Kimiko walked over to the two, and she pulled her cell phone out. Rummaging through her photo album, the biker gang leader let out a sigh.

"What are you doing, Kimiko?" Futaba asked.

"When I was investigating this place with Fiora yesterday, I put that jacket up a'geenst the door, and then I took a picture of it," she explained. "That way, if anyone used it, and they thought to put the jacket back, I would notice any slight differences."

"Did anyone?" Crystal asked.

"Nope, looks like no one touched this locked room," Kimiko said, shaking her head. *TRUTH BULLET*

The biker gang leader pocketed her cell phone, and started to walk out of the building. Futaba was close to her, as she had a lot of questions. "You seem kind of down, what's wrong with you?"

"This isn't an ideal situation, any way you slice it," Kimiko said. "Even if Yejoon is the victim, our lives are at risk, and the mystery gets worse and worse."

"Something else seems to be bothering you. You should let us know everything here and now, Kimiko," Futaba said, crossing her arms as she added, "You know that it'll come out in the trial, even if you don't talk about it here and now."

Kimiko frowned at her. "Are all anthropologists so interrogative?"

"The good ones are," Futaba said with a cocky smile.

The biker leader let out a heavy sigh, and then spoke. "I slept with Ken yesterday, like, the sex kind of sleeping."

Crystal pursed her lips, and muttered, "Oh, you did the thing, did you?"

"Yeah, it was important! I mean, wasn't that the whole motive, the point of this?"

"You'll have to forgive me, I never thought military strategy would involve having sex for the sake of progress."

"Well, it was actually pretty good," Kimiko said with a sly smile. "I'm… joo'st a bit embarrassed, because I kind of promised that I woo'd make it quick. You were trapped in that room, after all…"

"And you took your sweet time because the sex was that good?" Crystal asked, raising an eyebrow as Kimiko chuckled nervously. "Oh, my hero."

"Okay, yeah, I kind of messed up, but he's Novoselician! They kind of have ways a'boot them, he's very talented…"

"Oh my," Futaba said, swishing her hips, "you have my attention, and this is totally for anthropology reasons!"

Crystal face-palmed, and muttered, "How is it that when the Monokubs tried to start a war of the genders, the female side is full of the horny ones?!"

"Stereotypes are bullshit," Kimiko said, flicking her green hair about. "Women love sex too! But, yeah, it didn't work."

"What? You just said it was great," Futaba inquired.

"I meant the marriage being official, eh. When we finished and tried to go to this side, Monokid showed up and chased Ken back into the chapel area. The damn blue Kub joo'st stood at the edge of the border, shouting at Ken to leave because he wasn't with the person he was married to."

"So the rotation was really messed up," Crystal said with a sad shake of her head. "What time did you two meet up, by the way?"

"I was in the chapel at a'boot 2 PM, I think? He came a'boot a half-hour later." *TRUTH BULLET UPDATED*

The three ladies were in the spa by this point, and headed to the hair salon. Ignatia was leaning against the door that led to the formerly locked room, keeping it wide open. Eisei was inspecting the counters, particularly the amputated hand. Hikari was studying the blood splatter on the floor, as well as getting some input from the dentist.

"Okay, I see what you mean, if we follow the blood trail," Hikari said. "The killer must have carried the lopped-off hand into this room, and then placed it on the scanner; that's why there is a small pool underneath it."

"As gross as it sounds, body parts are a bit like containers like that," Eisei remarked. "Whoever our killer is, they probably wanted to keep as much blood as they could to see if the hand scanner would work."

Hikari sighed as she stood up, and regarded the other ladies in the room now. "We're on the trail of Yejoon's hand, so to speak." *TRUTH BULLET UPDATED*

Futaba and Kimiko stared at the hand, still set in a container, and shivered at how they were looking at a real, disembodied hand set up like a prize. Crystal was viewing the room she was stuck in, and said, "Did you find anything in there?"

"Just the bucket you used as a toilet," Eisei remarked. "We placed it in the bathroom."

Crystal winced, as she tried to hide her blush behind her collar. "You didn't have to tell everyone that!"

"I didn't, I just told you."

The military adviser groaned, and walked into the room. She nodded to Ignatia, who nodded back. Hikari moved into the room with them, and examined the machine in front of them.

"So there is another human body creation tank here," the steampunk model said, examining the machine.

"Yes, it would seem so," Crystal said. "From what I could gather of this thing when I was trapped here, you put something on that platform right there…"

She pointed at the platform that appeared to be the size of a dinner plate. "And that's what you use as a point of reference for the machine to scan, and make a body out of it?"

"That would be incredibly baffling if it wasn't for the fact we've seen the Monokubs in human form," Hikari remarked. "I guess the computers are programmed for the specifications of the body creation."

"Yes, though they were just as cryptic as the ones in the lab. I tried to use them, and I couldn't get the mouse or the keyboard to work properly. Whatever codes they set up in this thing to prevent us from using them work perfectly." *TRUTH BULLET*

Hikari tapped her lips, then glanced at Crystal. "There's also something really bothering me, honey, and please don't take this the wrong way."

"Go ahead, I'm a tough girl."

"Well, why didn't Monokid find you in violations of the rules?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. "The new rules were that anyone outside after 9:30 PM that weren't going with a married partner and such were going to be punished. You weren't with anyone, so why aren't you in violation of the rules?"

Crystal opened her mouth to speak, then shut it. She tried to think, and then shrugged. "I have no idea! Maybe I wasn't in violation because I was trapped here?"

Ignatia knocked on the door, and shook her head when they glanced at her. She mimicked a lightning bolt over her left eye, and pretended to laugh diabolically. "Yes, she's right," Hikari said. "Monokuma, and Monokid at that, are far too cruel to give you a break."

"Then I have no idea why I'm alive." *TRUTH BULLET*

Eisei sat down in one of the barber chairs, and spun around slowly. "There's also the problem that whoever did this opened the door and left you in there, asleep and unaware of what was going on."

"If our killer did this," Kimiko said, crossing her arms, "then they would have to do that. If Crystal saw who they were, she'd know who our killer was."

"So are we going on the idea that our killer killed Yejoon," Futaba summarized, "cut his hand off, brought the hand here and opened the door so that Crystal could escape?"

"How on Earth did they go back and forth between the sides like that?" Hikari asked. "And was their goal to save Crystal? I mean, if they killed Yejoon and let the body be discovered, that door would be locked forever!"

"That's not entirely true," Eisei said, his voice growing soft and strong in a rotation with his chair. "Someone opened the door previously and left it open, which was when Crystal found herself imprisoned in that room. So we could have had one of our married couples come over here and open the door."

"My marriage wasn't the real deal," Kimiko remarked.

"Mine too," Futaba said.

"I was only in that room because I was married to someone with no one being in the chapel," Crystal grumbled. "Besides, we were only told after the murder that they'd allow a couple to open the doors that had previously been opened."

"Not to mention that we're very lucky Anzu and Ishiku's marriage worked," Hikari said. "No, I'm sorry, Eisei, but we have to assume that the killer did this to save Crystal." *TRUTH BULLET*

Eisei nodded, then his chair stopped with him facing the lab room. "Or maybe they wanted to ensure this room would be available to them in the future."

"What? Why?" Kimiko asked. "What woo'd they possibly want from this room, it can only used by the Kubs and Monokuma!"

"Our killer is someone who brutally took down a very dangerous and able serial killer," Eisei said, a rare moment of dire seriousness that betrayed his cute looks and voice. "Whoever they are, they're just as dangerous, if not more so now to us. If we don't know who they are, or what they want, we are lost."

---

Day 13, 10:21 AM

Stables

Near the Locked Storage Closet

"Yeah, that's been opened, for sure," Aka said, kneeling down to the light dirt-covered floor to showcase her point. The locked storage closet, still locked and closed, had door movement tracks on the floor. The skier glanced around the area, and said, "Sadly, I don't think we'll get footprints. That'd be your speciality, eh Saiko?" *TRUTH BULLET*

"Hooray, you got my talent right," Saiko asked, rolling her eyes. She was examining the photos on Monophanie's phone, amplifying and scrolling through them. "Hara, can you see anything else around here?"

"No, not really, Aka has this," Hara said, regarding the skier. "I don't know what else is going to be here, but should we stay here? For when Anzu and Ishiku come here?"

"We should head over to the hotel and help out there, while I stay in the lobby," Saiko remarked. "You two can still make yourselves useful, while I'm stuck playing Spot the Medical Discrepancy with Monophanie's phone!"

Aka chuckled deviously. "Heh, well, maybe we should get Anzu away from Ishiku and have some fun with her before we have to go to trial, get you to loosen up?"

When both women stared at her, Hara confused and Saiko fuming, Aka scratched the back of her head. "Oh yeah, you're both straight."

"And we're investigating a murder, you horny git," Saiko snapped at her. "Can't you take it seriously for one minute?"

"Investigating isn't really my speciality, it's yours," the skier admitted. "But you do realize, the hotel isn't going to be a lot of help to us?"

"How's that?" Hara asked.

"I was thinking we should investigate all of our rooms, make sure that no one's hiding anything in any of them. However, while they were unlocked at night, they were all locked when we were awakened. I tried to get back into my room, but I wasn't allowed back in." *TRUTH BULLET*

"That explains a lot," the forensic investigator said, then added under her breath, "and more than I cared to know."

Hara sighed as she considered this. "So we're not able to get back into our rooms, even our own? That does complicate things."

"You and I can help the others investigating the gift shop and the lobby," Aka said, with a friendly smile to the explorer. "Who was working on that again?"

"Fiora and Pyrrha."

Aka's eyes widened, and she chuckled nervously. "Oh dear, this might get a little awkward."

"Oh my God, I so do not care," Saiko declared. "You know, the only reason I asked you to come with me was that I wanted to make sure you would actually help out, but that might be too much to ask of you!"

"Saiko, please," Hara said, holding up her hands defensively. "We'll be fine, just talk to Isaac."

The investigator fumed, then spoke into the phone. "Yes, Isaac? Okay, I need you to take one of the bats and try to fit it into one of the most apparently head wounds that Yejoon has. … Yes I know that's not standard protocol, but you do realize that nothing we've done since we got here has been, right?"

"Ew," Aka remarked, making a face, while Hara turned a little green.

When they arrived at the Love Hotel, Hara and Aka made a beeline for the gift shop. Saiko continued to speak on the phone, hearing Isaac make all the grossed out remarks as he fulfilled her request.

In the gift shop, Pyrrha and Fiora were rummaging through all of the items. The movie maker was steering clear of the tasers, muttering to the romance writer, "Stay away from those, they doo'nt work right."

"Oh dear, how do you know that?"

"I joo'st knoo'."

Pyrrha saw Aka and Hara enter the room, and waved at them. Hara went over to help Fiora search, while the writer approached the skier. "So hello there," Pyrrha said with a cheerful smile on her face.

"Err, hi," Aka blurted out. "L-listen, Pyrrha… I want to ask you something…"

"I'm highly aware that already that you're not the kind of take our one-night fling, or rather one-afternoon, seriously. You're very much a 'passion in the moment' kind of woman, and I will respect that."

"Oh, really? I thought you were a romantic and you expected-"

"No, I'm not going to ask you to be my girlfriend or marry me if you don't want to, I knew from the start that it was a sexual fling. I wanted and needed it as much as you did. Plus, I can kind of tell I wasn't the only one you nailed yesterday."

Aka was cherry red in the face, and muttered, "Holy shit, I didn't think it would go like this, I swear! Man though, I really, really am more flustered than I thought I would be."

"Most are when they meet their side chick, or however it goes, I don't really keep up with that slang," Pyrrha said with a shrug. "Anyway, you want to help us? We need all the help we can get."

"What do you need from me? I mean, it's not like we have an inventory of this stuff, so we cannot tell if anything was taken."

Aka glanced around the place, and added, "It's also kind of a mess. What happened here?"

"We're not entirely sure, but let's hope that we can find a clue of some sorts. There's a few things that can be used as weapons here, maybe our killer grabbed something from here."

"If our killer is a woman, which we don't know for sure yet; it wouldn't surprise me if one of those boys killed him."

Aka rummaged through the items, and added, "I really hope Blake killed him, so we can be done with both of the bastard boys."

Pyrrha nudged her and motioned for her to keep it down, regarding Fiora nearby. The movie maker didn't seem affected, she kept idly rummaging through the goods.

"She really is upset he's dead?" Aka inquired.

"It's complicated, but don't aggravate it, please," Pyrrha implored her. "I beg of you, the poor woman's been through enough."

Aka sighed, then glanced over at Pyrrha. When her eyes went up and down the writer's body, her face became almost as red as her hair. "Aka, come now, we're investigating."

"Oh, like we're going to find anything, and I doubt the killer is a woman. I mean, what did they do, just happen to go on over to the men's side, which is impossible, find Yejoon there randomly, kill the ninja-like serial killer, and then came back here?"

Pyrrha tucked her red hair behind her ears, and said, "It does sound kind of silly when you say it like that, but that begs the question, how did Yejoon go outside after 9:30 PM?" *TRUTH BULLET*

"Unless someone broke into his room on the boys' side, killed him, and dragged him out there… which is like ambushing an armed grizzly bear in his own cave," Aka remarked, shaking her head. "Okay, how could anyone have killed the bastard? Wait, then again…"

Aka tapped her chin, then glanced over at Hara and Fiora. She hummed in thought, and a grin spread across her face. "Now I got a bit of a theory, but I don't think I should divulge it just yet." *TRUTH BULLET*

Pyrrha stared at her in confusion, then glanced over at Fiora, who was furiously evaluating all of the tasers. Hara was there to make sure she didn't hurt herself. "Aka, why are you being cryptic?"

"What am I doing, that is a good question," the skier said, walking over to the romance writer. "Here's a better question…"

She leaned in to whisper into Pyrrha's ear, and the redhead's emerald eyes widened in surprise as that blush intensified. "A-Aka! We can't! We have an investigation!"

"Are we going to find anything of use? Come on, you were just telling me that you needed that rush and excitement, why not do it again? You're never going to get an opportunity like this again."

Pyrrha considered pointing out there could be another murder, but she wasn't a pessimist. The romance writer fumbled her fingers and her words, and said, "But… we're locked out of our rooms!"

"We don't need a room."

"Saiko's right out there in the lobby, she'll see us leave together…"

"Then we do it in this room."

"Hara and Fiora are here!"

Aka smirked slyly, and called out without looking back to the two ladies. "Fiora, Hara, would you two go help out Saiko?"

"I'm busy, damn it," Fiora hollered, comparing two tasers together. "I'm almost certain that this one is the one I tased myself with, eh! And I'm gonna get to the bottom of this!"

"You did what now?" Hara exclaimed.

Aka's smirk was replaced with a frustrated scowl, and she muttered, "Well fuck it, we're going to the kitchen and doing it there. No one will be there, and even if they do, I'm not the kind to care about another woman walking in."

"Wh-why are you so insatiable?" Pyrrha whimpered, though there was an excited grin on her face as a bead of sweat rolled down her flushed face.

"I've seen you naked, Pyrrha, that's why. Now come on…"

Aka took Pyrrha by the hand, and led her out of the gift shop. When they stepped into the lobby, they noticed Saiko was gone. Without that deterrent in the way, they made their way to the eastern kitchen…

One could make a joke about it getting hot in the kitchen, but one has standards. That's why one will make a remark about not recalling having clams for breakfast, because one's standards are really warped.

---

Day 13, 10:25 AM

Love Hotel

Western Gift Shop

"I swear to all that is holy, clown, if you do not take this search more seriously, I am going to-"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Drake shouted, getting in-between Odelios and Ken. "I don't know why you two are at each other so much today, but please! This isn't the way to behave, especially when we're investigating a murder."

"YES. LIKE-DRAKE-SAID," Monodam requisitioned, "PLEASE-DO-GET-ALONG."

Ken huffed in frustration, and said, "I just don't appreciate all sorts of japes and shenanigans in the midst of such turmoil! I mean, we have the death of an awful man, but it is a very conflicting and confusing death! We need to take it with the utmost sincerity and integrity…

"And this court jester continues to pester me about the marriages that took place yesterday," Ken declared, pointing furiously at Odelios.

"Hey, if you hooked up with one of the two women who gave me more of a chance the whole male and female population ever did," Odelios shouted, "I have a right to know! Which of my threesome buddies did you hook up with, if you did?"

"What?!" Ken exclaimed.

"What?" Drake asked, perplexed.

"WHAT?" Monodam petitioned.

Odelios pursed his lips. "You know, I'm starting to think that no one believes me that I've been with a woman. It's not bloody impossible, you non-believers? Is it because I'm a clown? That's racist!"

"Hey, Odelios," Drake said, trying to keep himself between Ken and the clown, "look, I'm not going to judge you, but maybe you shouldn't be advertising things like that. I mean, women don't like it when you brag."

"The women seem to be bragging non-stop about their conquests."

"That's just Aka, you don't need to emulate her," Drake said, placing one of his hands on Odelios's shoulder. "Come on now, please try to help us out."

"Damn it kid, why are you so cute and nice? But what are we going to do here? The searching is pointless here if we don't know what we're looking for."

As Odelios said that, Souma and Blake walked into the gift shop. Blake regarded the three guys, and asked, "Is there spray paint in here?"

"What?" Drake asked.

"The Hall of Fame has been vandalized, and we believe someone used spray paint to do the job," Souma explained, "but we don't know if the spray paint was here, among someone's belongings, or in the other gift shop."

"It's here," Odelios said with a cheerful smile.

"What?" Ken exclaimed once again. "How do you know?"

"I was actually looking when I was pestering you, big guy," Odelios said. "I've got a good mind to join a club and beat some sense into you with it, if you think I was just wasting time."

Odelios moved over to one of the obscure corners of the gift shop, and showcased boxes of spray paint. Blake took one out, and examined it. "These things say they are more precise and fine than normal, perfect for writing messages," he said, rolling his eyes. "It's like they were selling vandalization tools here." *TRUTH BULLET*

"There's also a ball-peen hammer display, right there," Odelios said, jerking his thumb to point behind him. "Did they smash stuff up?"

"Holy crap," Blake shouted as he stared at the rack of the window-breaking hammers, not to mention the other, rather aggressive stuff they had there. "This place is like a prison's black market goldmine!" *TRUTH BULLET UPDATED*

"That's one way to put it, yes," Souma said. "So does this prove our vandal is a male? Or do you believe the women have this stuff over there too?"

"We're going to have to hope they investigated throughly over there too," Drake said. "Ken, Odelios, you just remember what they sold here, and we'll compare notes when we meet up for the trial."

"Got it, little adorable buddy!" Odelios said.

"Should we search other parts of the hotel now?" Ken inquired. "I know our rooms are locked now, but maybe Monodam could let us in?"

"NO."

"Damn it."

"Actually, I have to ask you something, Monodam," Drake asked, placing the green Kub on the counter to properly talk to him. "Did you move my stuff, perchance?"

"I-DID-NOT-TOUCH-YOUR-STUFF."

"Then… did someone go into my room last night?"

Monodam paused, leaving everyone in the room in suspense for a short while. "I-AM-ASHAMED-TO-ADMIT," Monodam said, "I-WAS-NOT-IN-YOUR-ROOM-LAST-NIGHT."

"That's something he's ashamed to admit?" Blake asked incredulously.

"IT-WOULD-BE-CHEATING-TOWARDS-THE-KILLING-GAME-FOR-ME-TO-WATCH-OVER-A-PARTICULAR-VISITOR."

Ken walked over to Drake, and asked, "Why are you inquiring about this, cartoonish man?"

"What? Oh, um, it's probably nothing," Drake said, scratching the back of his head, "but I kept Emanuel's key ring with my things, and when I changed into my clothes this morning, I didn't see it in the drawer."

"Emanuel's key ring? Who would want that?" Souma inquired.

"Anyone female who wants to wander over to our side," Ken remarked. *TRUTH BULLET*

The public speaker tapped his chin, then said, "But you have to get over to this side to get to Drake's room, so if a woman wanted to use that as her way to get around the western side, she wouldn't be able to retrieve it."

"Yeah, it's like an acid-proof suit kept in a vat of acid," Odelios remarked. "It's one of those unfair predicaments! A kind god would not allow such an impossibility, and a cruel god would have just located our noses next to our butts!"

"Maybe you just misplaced it, Drake?" Ken asked.

Drake sighed, shaking his head. "W-well, maybe, I'm sorry, maybe I'm just causing a problem where there isn't one."

"We should check out the last places that haven't been checked out," Souma said, nodding sagely. "Drake, you and I should check out the kitchen here, while you three could inspect the bowling alley."

"Why?" Blake asked. "There's nothing there worth finding. It's a big waste of time!"

"Oh please try to be a bit more cooperative," Souma said, rubbing his forehead. "Come on, we don't know how much time we have left, so we have none to lose."

"With a little study, you can go a long, long ways," Odelios said to Blake, "and I wish you'd start now."

Blake fumed, then grabbed one of the ball-peen hammers and followed after them. "Fine, but I'm gonna see just how effective these things are while we're there!"

Drake picked Monodam back up, as he and Souma watched the unusual trio leave. "You ever wonder," the public speaker asked, "how we managed to survive three trials beforehand?"

---

Day 13, 10:30 AM

Stables

Near the Locked Storage Closet

"You're up, handsome," Anzu said, patting Ishiku's back. "You got this, don't worry now!"

"It's not exactly something you need to psych yourself up for," Saiko remarked, watching the two.

"Oh come on, after the dud in the clothing store, I am really hoping for something good here!"

Ishiku rolled up his sleeves, chocolate coins spilling everywhere (much to Saiko's disgust and confusion). He walked over to the palm scanner as he removed his glove, and placed his hand on there. There was a positive beeping noise, and then the door unlocked.

"Success!" Ishiku declared as Anzu cheered. The door was flung open…

… and it was a collection of old tools you would find around stables and a barn, or just things you could loosely associate with them. There was a pitchfork, a collection of horseshoes, old saddles, a shotgun, a lengthy saw, a milking machine, and more. All of them were rusty and awful looking, tetanus shots waiting to happen, though everything with points appeared sharpened and ready to stab or shred.

"This is the second most unpleasant room I've ever seen," Ishiku remarked. He walked in, observing the objects. "Yeesh, a shotgun?!"

Anzu walked in and examined the old boomstick. She picked it up gingerly, studying it closely, then set it down. "This thing is ruined six ways to Sunday, it'll never shoot."

"You know about guns?" Saiko asked as he observed from the doorway. Anzu smirked playfully over at her, and dusted her hands off as she stood up.

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me, honey. I'm more than a pretty face and a good lay."

"If you stopped bringing up your sexual prowess, I might believe that more," the investigator said. "Still, I must admit, I'm highly curious about this storage room. When was it previously opened?" *TRUTH BULLET UPDATED*

Anzu glanced around the room, muttering, "Does anything here have blood on it? I mean, some of this could have been used for the murder."

"Horseshoe to the back of the head sounds like a way to KO someone," Ishiku said, picking up the horseshoes individually. "I mean, if you were hiding in the mist, and threw one at Yejoon…"

"I kind of see him being able to dodge in time, with how swift he was," Anzu admitted.

Saiko watched them, and asked, "Are you leaving smudges on the horseshoes there, Ishiku?"

"What? Oh, yeah, there's dust and stuff on them."

"Do any of them have smudges or such on them already?"

A few seconds passed, then Ishiku answered, "No."

"The saw isn't smudged at all either," Anzu said. "If someone had used this, it would have been bloody or shown signs of being cleaned. In fact, everything in here is pretty much unused."

"What was even the point of this being a locked room?" Saiko remarked, shaking her head. "I mean, seriously, nothing in here is really all that useful."

"Wait, what if one of these are one of those things that give you a vision?" Ishiku asked, as he started touching and picking up the objects.

"Ishi, even if one of them is, are you sure you want to do that before a trial?" Anzu asked. "I mean, those things are terrifying…"

"They also have provided warnings, and if we don't find it now, we may never find it again," the magician replied as he grabbed at the saddles.

"Even if I agreed with all of that," Saiko said, shaking her head, "none of these would work for the Hope's Peak Academy victims. None of them were about horses, farms, stables, or the like."

Anzu held up the time-worn milking machine, and smirked as she remarked, "Were any of them kinky?"

"Anzu, I just told you to stop…"

"Okay, okay, I hear you. I don't think there is anything to be had here," the actress said, dropping the device. "Ishi?"

Ishiku was quiet at first, then he sighed and said, "Okay, let's check out the other room in the spa."

---

Day 13, 10:31 AM

Bowling Alley

"Are you serious?" Blake shouted at Monokid, right as the blue Kub was lining up a shot in one of the lanes. "You fucking serious?"

"What, you think I need to help you guys out during investigation?" Monokid shouted right back. "Screw that, I ain't got any obligation to help you! The trial would be so much more interesting if you all failed!"

The pyro rubbed his forehead, then said, "I actually meant your stance. You'll never get a strike like that, mate."

"Oh, really? Thanks."

Ken watched this rather weird exchange from up on the main floor, and rolled his eyes. "Great, I'm surrounded by crazy folk in the midst of the most gruesome and confusing murder there is. I'm flanked by fools."

"I think you mean 'surrounded by idiots,' thank you very much," Odelios said. The clown was holding a small waste bin in his hands. "So did you find anything yet, Ken?"

"No, and why are you holding that?"

"Because I found it."

The cavalryman stared at the clown, then proceeded to walk away. Odelios ran back to in front of the Novoselic fighter, pursing his lips in a pout.

"Just look in here, big boy."

Ken did so, and was startled to see a large collection of knives in the waste bin. Specifically, they were Yejoon's throwing knives, all within a bin filled with blood, torn fabric, and ripped, clear plastic. He picked one of the bloody blades out, and dangled it like if it were a dead rat. "What is the mishmash of awfulness?" *TRUTH BULLET*

"Maybe this is where it happened?" Odelios asked. "I mean, if our killer took his weapons off of him here… though I don't know what the rest of this stuff is."

"There's no way our killer could have bludgeoned him to the degree he was murdered," the cavalryman said, "without getting blood all over the place; they couldn't have caught it all in here, where did this blood even come from? There's no blood splatter around here in the bowling alley, we would have noticed.

"Not to mention, there's no kind of weapon he could have used to beat Yejoon to death with here."

There was a crash of pins, and Monokid let out a victorious shout. Blake applauded lightly, giving some minimum praise to the blue Kub. Odelios and Ken exchanged glances, and the cavalryman asked, "Are you thinking the same thing that I am thinking about, court jester?"

"That Monokid just so happened to take up bowling during our murder investigation?"

The two of them headed down to the lanes, and whispered to Blake. Odelios then started to interrogate Monokid, as Ken inspected the bowling balls and Blake walked down the lane to closer look at the pins.

"Alright, Monokid, let's get a few things straight," Odelios declared, standing defiantly with confidence over the three foot Kub. "I am getting some answers from you, and you're going to answer them!"

"Oh yeah, fucking clown boy? How you going to make me?"

"Bowling competition, dude! You bowl, I bowl, and whoever gets more pins has to answer a question!"

"I'm gonna fuck you up, as if it was your holes I was sticking my claws into, instead of a bowling ball!"

"You're gonna get stuffed like the turkey I'll be bowling, dude!"

"BRING IT!"

"BRING IT HARDER!"

"BRING IT HARDEST!"

"BRING IT HARDEREST, DUDE!"

---

Day 13, 10:32 AM

Baseball Field

Home Plate

Shuuya wiped his forehead as he walked over to Isaac. "Okay, Yitro inspected every baseball bat in there, and we came to the same conclusion… we think one of them could have been used for a murder." *TRUTH BULLET UPDATED*

"'Could have'?" the reporter repeated. "The two of you are giving me a maybe?"

"Look, I'll admit, the old blood that was left on that equipment threw us off more than we thought, because they all have the scent of blood on them, no matter how… stale. Only one of them smells fresher, but that could be…"

The assassin rubbed the back of his head and muttered in embarrassment, "That was the one we used to compare Yejoon's wounds to a baseball bat's."

Isaac face-palmed, and muttered, "Damn it, that's as much my fault as yours. If we can, let's avoid telling Saiko that detail, or she'll kill me."

He removed his thumb from the phone's microphone, and then lifted it to his mouth. "Hey there Saiko, do you have an update for me?"

"If you can take notes, I want to tell you everything I can."

Isaac fumbled with his notepad, trying to hold it and the phone with his shoulder. Eventually, Shuuya offered to hold the notepad and dictate for Isaac, so the two worked together. When they were ready, Saiko started to speak:

"Here is everything I noticed from all your hard work, Isaac. There are electric burns on his neck, very similar to a taser injury. Someone really pushed it into his skin, the prods penetrating the skin almost like a vampire. So he was definitely tased, but it appears only once.

"Yejoon's knees were shattered, someone hit him there repeatedly; he wouldn't be able to stand at all, he must have been in terrible agony. His arms were similar, broken bones rather than shattered though, but still damaged to the point where he wasn't able to properly use them.

"It's impossible for me to tell what was made before and after his death, it was all done at the same time. Judging from the condition of the body as you told me, he's definitely been dead for more than a few hours; rigor mortis is still setting into his body, but it hasn't peaked.

"The wounds definitely appear to be from a baseball bat, though something of the same side or a bit wider could have done it. Just keep in mind that something had to be very durable to endure beating a man to death, especially to the state he's in…

"You wouldn't happen to know if more than one of those bats were used, would you?"

Isaac and Shuuya exchanged worried glances, and the bounty hunter/assassin showed genuine worry about angering the short lady. Shuuya shrugged, and then Isaac said, "Why, would multiple bats be needed for something like this?"

"You could do it with one, but I assure you that a bat used to beat a man to death would definitely bend or break noticeably."

Shuuya and Isaac stared at each other again, and then over at the shack. "Great," the bounty hunter said, "we may be on the wrong track after all, if the killer could even get in there."

"Anything else, Saiko?" the reporter asked.

"Yejoon's hand was definitely carved off with a blade meant for such cutting, like the kind you'd find in a kitchen. The cut isn't clean enough for something like a swift sword slice."

"And you couldn't cut it off with a sword or combat like you would a carving knife?"

"No, it's definitely a carving knife like you'd find in a kitchen or a meat shop; you have to understand, I know my cuts after all my years of studying dead bodies."

Isaac groaned, while Shuuya raised an eyebrow. "The lady knows her cuts, we shouldn't argue with that."

"And do you think that the murder was committed here?"

"That seems possible, with how much blood appears to be underneath him. Unless there's a trail of sorts, I would say that it appears the murder was committed there.

"By the way, where were those wrist blades of his?" Saiko questioned. "You know, the ones he and his sister had, those assassin blades?"

"He didn't have those on him."

"Seriously? Why wouldn't he… you know what, never mind, I shouldn't question why he did anything. I think that's all."

Isaac sighed, and remarked, "Yeah, I think we've learned everything we can from his body." *TRUTH BULLET*

Shuuya nodded, and said, "Might as well spread it around to see if anyone knows Korean over there."

"Hey guys!"

The two men turned to see Yitro approaching them, Blake by his side. The swordsman glanced over at the pyro, who held up an unusual object in his hand: it was a bowling pin, stained with blood on the side.

"So I not only found this," Blake said, "hidden amongst the pins at the end of the lane, but if you sneak under the pin return machines at the end of the lane, you find yourself in a back hall that has a door to the outside. So I found out how Yejoon managed to make it out of the place when it was locked up."

"There's a door in the back of the bowling alley?" Yitro remarked, staring at the neighboring building. "Damn it, how did we not know this?"

"And how much does it affect our trial?" Shuuya said. "I mean, was a bowling pin really used to bash Yejoon to death?"

He took the pin from Blake, examining the bloody area. There was definitely some splintering around the place of impact, but it didn't seem right to Shuuya. *TRUTH BULLET*

"There may be more than one pin used if it was a murder weapon," the assassin said. "Blake, we need to see if more than one pin is bloodstained."

"Well, we'll have to do it while Odelios and Monokid are bowling," Blake said, shrugging nonchalantly. "He's trying to do that to get information out of him."

"Odelios or Monokid?" Isaac asked.

"Yes."

---

Day 13, 10:33 AM

Bowling Alley

The Lanes

Monokid stared in exasperation as all of the pins fell down to the bowling ball's wrath. Odelios smirked at the blue Kub, and said, "You owe me so much information now, or do you wish for me to humiliate you further?"

"I hate you so fucking much, clown," the blue Kub shouted. "I don't gotta tell you anything, you crossdressing bastard! So haha, in your fa-"

Monosuke showed up then, and grabbed Monokid's ear. "Youse gotta honor any deal we make with our tourists, bucko! So unless you wanna break the honor code of the Monokubs, youse best be spitting out information like youse was in a spittoon store!"

Monokid yanked himself out of Monosuke's grasp, and grumbled, "Stupid Monokub code, I hate the fact that I gotta listen to rules. Aren't we in a horror movie scenario right now? Those don't have fucking rules!"

"Monokid~?" Odelios sang. "I'm ready to ask you questions!"

"Rawrshafardigan," the blue Kub angrishly hollered. "FINE! Dewitt, you little bitch clown!"

"First off, how do you know who is married to who if you cannot remember names or faces?"

"I dunno, I just kind of do."

"… So wait, if someone is married, you know who they are and what gender they are?"

"Maybe."

"How the hell do you recognize someone as male or female?"

"Females are girly with feminine features like big boobs and pretty faces."

"Are you telling me that I was on the right path when I had big boobs? That was the only thing that made you think I was a woman?"

"Yeah, kind of. I know women have those because of the statues in the trial rooms, and the fan service files Monosuke keeps around with him."

"Okay, fine. I remember you were talking about someone who had an item belonging to someone who's gone. Can even married people use those to get around?"

"Yeah."

"… Does Yejoon count as someone who is gone?"

"After he died? Yeah."

"And wait just one minute, I'm curious about something: you at one point said that you put anything you may have given us in our rooms in the love hotel. Did that apply to anyone here?"

"That's classified, motherfucker!"

"Drat. Well, about recognizing a woman, how do you recognize someone as a man?"

"Manly stuff."

Odelios pursed his lips, then glanced over at Monosuke as he pointed at Monokid. "He's talking about blatant stereotypes, ain't he?"

"Yeah," the orange Kub said with a nod of his head. "He don't know any better, life is so simple for him." *TRUTH BULLET*

"So how did he know who was married to who? Did you tell him?"

"No, it's kind of the collective knowledge that we have; when one of us knows, we all know."

"So what would happen if someone you know is married claims to be a different gender? Doesn't that conflict with what you know?"

"Youse have a good point, but unfortunately, our memories aren't so good nowadays. Plus, Monokid doesn't get involved in the marriages like Monophanie and I do."

"Why's that?"

"Only the two of us handled the chapel and informed others of their marriages. Monokid never even showed up to help us marry people, but then again, he really couldn't." *TRUTH BULLET*

"Why's that?"

Before Monosuke could answer, or if he even would, everyone from the group at the baseball field walked into the bowling alley. Monosuke regarded them, and called out, "What are all youse doing here? The murder was at the field, not here."

"We have investigating to do," Isaac remarked. "Wait, Monosuke, what are you and Monokid telling Odelios?"

"I think youse will have to ask him that during the trial," Monosuke said, correcting his glasses. "Youse already got a good amount of information with this clown, youse want to waste time with me repeating it?"

The reporter growled in frustration, and surveyed the lanes. "Alright guys, let's look over this place as much as we can, we might find more clues. The Kubs were trying to discourage us when they told us the rooms in here were useless to go through."

"Hey, we never intentionally mislead youse," Monosuke protested. "We may be forgetful these days, but we always were as honest with youse as we could."

"You refused to tell us who we were really married to," Shuuya declared, pointing at the two Kubs. "I still think you were working against us."

Monosuke pulled out his fan of money, and proceeded to flaunt it in front of them. "Upupupupupu~ Youse is just so accusatory, but it weren't one of us who killed that fox. So youse might want to investigate as much as youse can, before it's too late!

"Pops has got a brilliant method of a group execution, and I'm wondering if youse will all let him use it."

---

Day 13, 10:36 AM

Love Hotel

Eastern Kitchen

Pyrrha shivered in orgasmic delight as she was pushed one last time up against the counter. She attempted to clench her teeth but still let out a high-pitched cry as she threw her head back in bliss. Aka grunted several times as she thrust against her, and then clutched her tightly as she shook from the overwhelming feeling of their quickie.

The redhead leaned back, sweat rolling from her forehead before wiping her forehead. "Oh God, that was good, Aka. Though… wow… we should really, really get going now…"

"Mmmmph… a minute more like this, is all I ask," Aka purred, petting the writer's naked breasts, as she had hiked up Pyrrha's shirt and bra when they had started. She squeezed at Pyrrha's girls, making the writer shiver even more.

"Nnngh, you are… such… a bad influence on me," the writer said, her hot panting making her words coming out in heated intervals.

Aka chuckled, as she gripped Pyrrha's hips and rubbed their intimate areas together more. "Yeah, I know. Sorry about that~"

"I am not complaining~"

Pyrrha rolled her head around and sighed happily, but as she did this, she noticed something odd out of the corner of her eye. In the kitchen was a butcher block, and large, pink-colored handled knives in each of the slots. Though right now, the center one had a cerulean handle, the dark blue contrasting the pink ones noticeably.

"Ummm… Aka?" Pyrrha said, staring at the butcher block. "Something is different about that one knife?"

"Huh?" Aka said, wiping her sweaty bangs from her forehead. "What do you mean, I'm not a kitchen girl."

"I help make the meals, and all the knives are the same color, stereotypically pink because the Kubs thought it was funny or something. Now there's a blue one there."

Aka regarded it, and, regretfully, pushed herself from Pyrrha. As the two pulled up their pants, and adjusted themselves, Pyrrha moved over to the butcher block and took the blue knife handle in her hand. "I wonder…"

"You think the killer really left such an obvious clue like that?" Aka asked, staring dubiously at the butcher block.

Pyrrha pulled the knife out, and gasped as she saw the blade of the carving knife had a copious amount of dried blood on it.

"Oh shit," the skier remarked. "Yeah, that's definitely a clue." *TRUTH BULLET*

"If this knife came from the men's side," Pyrrha remarked, staring at the carving blade, "then where is ours? Is it over there?"

"And why did the killer just leave it in there?" Aka inquired. "Like that, even? I mean, that's obviously gotta be what cut off Yejoon's hand. Eww."

Pyrrha took a deep breath, as adrenaline was still rushing through her post-coitus body. "We should take this with us to the trial, Aka. I don't think anyone would just take our word for it."

"You really are one determined chick," the skier said with a laugh, "to carry a bloody knife to a trial and claim she found it."

Pyrrha laughed, and then felt a cold shiver run up her spine. "Oh crap. I just realized… I told everyone that I was going to stay up to wait for the married couples to come down. I… oh dear."

"What's wrong?"

"I… may have some explaining to do that'll make me look guilty. Aka, I'm so sorry, just please, back me up if you can, you know I didn't do this!" *TRUTH BULLET*

"Of course, Red. Just, um, don't announce what we were doing in here when we found it."

"I'm not the braggart here, Aka."

"Hehe, yeah, I know…"

---

Day 13, 10:37 AM

Love Hotel

Western Kitchen

Drake stared at the butcher block in the kitchen, which had cerulean-handled knives in it. The difference was that the center one was bright pink. The cartoonist didn't know what to make of it, so he pulled it out.

"Something wrong, Drake?" Souma asked him, walking over to the cartoonist. "Is there something about that knife that bothers you?"

"It's pink."

"An unusual color for a carving knife, yes."

"I mean that the handle is pink, while all the other blades in here have blue handles. I think it might be how the Monokubs designed the Love Hotel?"

"YES," Monodam said, standing on the counter as he watched Drake at work, "THE-WOMEN-GOT-PINK-HANDLED-TOOLS, THE-MEN-GOT-BLUE. MONOKID-THOUGHT-THAT-WAS-THE-ONLY-WAY-TO-DO-IT."

"Why's that?" Souma asked the Kub.

"BECAUSE-HE-IS-BLUE-AND-MONOPHANIE-IS-PINK. HE-CONSIDERS-HIMSELF-THE-DEFINITION-OF-MANLY-BEARNESS."

"Of course he does."

Drake inspected the clean blade of the pink-handled carving knife, and said, "It doesn't look like it's been used, I don't smell anything on it. But it cannot just be here for no reason, right?" *TRUTH BULLET UPDATED*

Souma crossed his arms as he pondered this. "It does prove that our killer had access to both sides of this place, somehow. I'm not sure how this will fit in exactly, but it is important. Good work, Drake, a credit as always."

As the cartoonist blushed at the compliment, a chiming sound echoed around the building. Souma and Drake knew it was probably sounding off all around the plaza and the buildings around it. Sure enough, the voice of Despair came shortly after the chime.

"A-HEM! Ahem. Ahem ahem ahemy. Attention, tourists of Penjar! The time for investigation is now over…"

---

Day 13, 10:38 AM

Love Hotel

Eastern Gift Shop

"Please report to the front of Town Hall, at the front steps, within the next, hmmm… well, you're kind of far from Town Hall, so you get twenty minutes. Anyone not there may be subject to immediate execution!

"And please, take into consideration that I've BEARly gotten to show up during this motive. These trials are really important for me, so do your best during this one! I wanna honor someone who did killing almost as good as me! Upupupupu!"

The sound cut off sharply, and Fiora winced at it. She glanced over at Hara, and muttered, "So, it's really happening then, is it?"
"I'm afraid so, sweetheart."

"I… I wish I could see his body, joo'st to make sure… no! No no no," Fiora growled as she shook her head. "He's dead, he's gone, and… and I have to get used to that fact. I'm not going to feel bad a'boot it…

"… But I doo'nt feel good a'boot it either."

Hara moved over and hugged Fiora, as the two women shared a quiet moment between each other. The explorer whispered to her, "Just remember everything we found in this room, and we'll do him a service by finding his killer."

"Yeah, but I wonder how Monokub plushies, tasers, whistles, disposable rainwear, brightly colored pants, and all the other things in here are gonna help…" *TRUTH BULLET*

The two finished their comforting hug, and then left the Love Hotel. The other women (and Eisei) were already on their way up the pathway back to the center of the town. It was so odd, traveling a path that was forbidden to go on, despite it being right there.

Walking up that slanted path was one of the longest walks for Fiora, and when she got to the top, she tried to peer down from the high ground to see if she could spot him. She couldn't, only the buildings were visible from this point of view. The movie maker sighed heavily, and muttered, "Good-bye, Yejoon."

As she made her way towards Town Hall, the men were coming up from their side, and some of them were joining up with the women to converse. Some were comparing notes and making sure all of their truth bullets were in order. Some were just interested in seeing how others they cared about were.

Isaac and Hara were with each other instantly. Saiko joined up with them shortly, but she was heavily distracted. All she could do was mumble about the "other locked room in the spa," and carried on with a mental thought process that couldn't be interrupted. *TRUTH BULLET*

Drake hurried over to Ignatia, who was happy to see him but confused why he was carrying Monodam. Hikari went to check on Ken, and was surprised to see how frustrated and bitter the cavalryman was over this whole ordeal.

Odelios went to Crystal's side at first, but the military adviser was so distracted by her trying to mentally map out everything, he couldn't get her attention in the least. So he moved over to Pyrrha, who was walking alongside Aka.

"Hey there, Romantic Red," the clown said as he approached her. Pyrrha's eyes went wide, and Aka's narrowed. "Um, something wrong?"

"What? N-no, nothing's wrong," the writer stammered. "Just, I mean, is something wrong with you?"

"No, not really. I mean, I was trying so hard to get the guys to let me go get married, but they wouldn't let me! I just wanted to see if you did alright as far as marriages?"

Pyrrha stammered, glanced over at Aka, and then back at Odelios. "I did… well, actually, I don't know who I married."

"Uh-oh, this sounds like a complicated matter. Are we talking needle in a haystack, or a needle in a needlestack?"

"It's berries in a blender, Odelios sweetie."

The clown winced, and then pulled out his faithful companion. "Rubarrow," he declared to his rubber chicken, "we must do our very best during this trial! Right all the wrongs, for justice's sake, psych out the culprit, and most importantly, objectify!"

"I cannot tell if you're taking this seriously," Aka remarked, "or not at all."

"Tense situations force me to bring out humor, it's an incurable status effect."

The only other pairing, so to speak, between the men and women involving interactions was Yitro approaching Fiora. He walked alongside her, watching her, trying to gauge how she was feeling.

"You doing okay?" he finally asked when he couldn't observe an answer.

"Yeah, kind of," Fiora muttered. "No, not really. I've gone over this several times now, with other people, but I still doo'nt knoo' how I feel."

"If I may give you a bit of advice?"

"Sure, why not."

"This battle is just starting. You need to push aside how you feel for now, as this is the fight or flight response to conflict. The trial is going to be intense, and you need to keep your wits about you.

"I have a feeling that you'll be important to this trial, Fiora. And if there was any humanity in Yejoon, that is what you'll fight for, as well as your own sake. You're going to live to see another day, and go out to make more movies, to follow your passions."

He pat her shoulder, and then moved on forward. Fiora stared in utter confusion at him, wondering what he meant by all that. Something was welling up in her, but she couldn't tell if it was purely dread, anticipation, fear, or something else. Maybe it was all those things?

Trials did tend to make her anxious like that.

It was at this point that she realized she was walking through the main plaza, and was that the front of Town Hall. Monosuke, Monokid, and Monophanie were there already, standing on the front steps.

Monodam pat Drake's arm, signaling to let him down. When the cartoonist did so, the green Kub scurried over to take his place on the steps. The second he did so, the front doors flung open, and Monokuma was standing there.

The despair bear was wearing robes much like a priest's, and he was carrying a book that was definitely not a bible, it was much more like a Necronomicom. "Welcome, all you happily married couples! It's so good to see you all… well, I mean, there are some of you still single, so you'd best pray that you don't DIE that way too! Upupupupupu!"

"I AM GIDDY AS A SCHOOLGIRL TO BE SINGLE!" Odelios screamed. "I don't hold any grudges against you bastards for keeping me all alone and nothing to do but play with my cock!"

Squeak went his rubber chicken as he waggled it up and down in Monokuma's general direction.

"Okay, I've seen a lot of reactions to my speeches, but that's gotta be a new one," Monokuma remarked. "Beary well, let's get this show on the road!"

Monokuma raised his paws up to the ceiling, as he turned around and walked into Town Hall. The Monokubs all ran in, heading to the various doors and slamming them shut behind them.

The twenty-one visitors of Penjar walked in, as they had done so three times before. It didn't feel any easier, and doubt was racing through their minds as they walked through this derelict building.

Had they had enough time? Had they found everything? It had felt so rushed, the investigation was little more than a half-hour! It was giving them all such unease, it was practically suffocating.

Father Monokuma was standing next to the elevator, pressing the button to let them all in. They shuffled in, and were immediately sealed up by the door sliding shut, and the robed despair bear waving them good-bye.

With a mechanical rumbling and slight lurch, the elevator started to go down…

Down…

Down…

Down to the accursed trial room below…

Down to where the truth was like a white-hot knife to the-

"Was the cock joke too much, you guys think?" Odelios asked. "I mean, it was Monokuma, so I don't know if it was too much-"

"Not NOW, clown!" Saiko declared.

"Jeez, fine. Don't know why we always gotta go down this elevator all quiet and dramatic-like…"

Down to where the truth was like a white-hot knife to the heart, but it needed to be done, as if it was necessary surgery…

Odelios tried to talk again, but the combination of dirty looks made him shut up, so he strangled Rubarrow's flexible neck to alleviate his tension. It was unusual and weird, but everyone deals with stress and tension in different ways.

No one knew what was going to happen, and thus they were all feeling like the elevator ride was like the last of their nerves being stretched thin. Their stomachs turned, their pulses quickened, some were even sweating with how much they felt the heat.

At long last, the elevator stopped. The door scrolled open, and once again, the trial room was an incredible sight. This wasn't the same, but it was still rather chilling…

The floor, ceiling, and walls were all pitch black, but there were white swirls swishing through the edges and corners. The pearly white color was done with such detail, it was hard to tell if they represented fur or fire.

Large tapestries hung from the ceiling, down to almost touching the floor. On them were swirling works of art, but despite the mysterious way they were done, the images were clear once a little time was focused on them…

All the blood-red tapestries showcased men dying from various, mysterious ways. Some were engulfed in fire, some were having their souls siphoned from them, and some were withering away. The white-gold coloring on these crimson tapestries was masterful, which made it all the more horrifying when the true message behind the beauty was revealed.

In-between every tapestry were the statues, in their usual places but brand-new ones that were less monstrous than the previous ones. These women were not snake ladies or demon jinn or nightmarish nurses…

The statues were proud displays of kitsune women, posing with flourish and grace. They wore kimonos, all of them stylish and of intricate detail, all of them with low necklines that threatened to have their massive bosoms slip out from their chic clothes.

Numerous tails spun from them, nine on each one. They sported fox ears, whisker tattoos on their faces, and keen, predatory eyes that, even in immortalized stone, appeared to be on the hunt. These gorgeous and sensual women statues were illuminated with white fire in brazers around them, giving them an arcane foxfire feel.

Monokuma sat on his throne, grinning and rubbing his paws together in great anticipation. His four children stood in front of him on the lower platform, all of them raring to go as well. The big difference between now and other times was the memorial stand of Monotaro where the red Kub used to stand.

Taro's portrait was right next to Takeo's, where he had stood during the previous trial, both memorial stands taking up the podium's space. Everyone moved to their respective podiums, and tried to calm themselves as they prepared for what was going to come.

Emanuel and Yejoon's portraits were there too, but there was a slight difference between Yejoon's and everyone else's. Instead of an X, there were tally marks in red ink done all across his face. Anyone who took the time to mentally process how many tally marks were made would realize it added up to two hundred.

"Are we all ready then?" Monokuma asked. "Oh baby, this is my time to shine, and I shan't let it get away from me! This is the best case ever, and I didn't get blown up once! So let the fourth trial of Penjar begin! Time for you all to bicker like properly married folk!"

Monokuma pulled out a large bell from seemingly nowhere, and rocked it back and forth. Chiming like a church bell, as if a wedding happened, it echoed with a horrendous clatter throughout the trial room. The foxfire brazers flicked as the bell rung, and it started to sound like death to the living.

An atrocious trial, in an atrocious town, for one of the most atrocious victims any of them had ever seen, and yet they needed to solve it…

*Jin glares forward, three fingers correcting the rim of her owl-themed eye mask.*

*Yejoon stares through the eye holes of his fox mask.*

*Crystal stares downwards, as if surveying a map or field.*

*Isaac is leveling a studying stare straight forward with a hand extended, as if wanting an answer.*

*Fiora is holding onto the brim of her fedora, peering out from under it with grim determination.*

*Aka has a hand on her skiing goggles perched on her head, looking bravely forward.*

This was the trial for Yejoon Nahm, the Ultimate Artist, but also a serial killer and gentleman fiend. He claimed to have approximately two hundred victims, aiding his sister in a trail of blood and death for his entertainment, for the beauty of death. No one felt safe with him alive, and the world was better with him gone…

*Saiko has her hands on her hips, glaring downwards at someone or something.*

*Drake is nervously glancing to the side, while holding his sketchpad up and close to his chest.*

*Souma has an arm raised as he is apparently in the middle of delivering a speech.*

*Hara has her hands clasped together, staring anxiously forward.*

*Shuuya is glancing over his shoulder, with his arms crossed defiantly.*

*Eisei has a lollipop in his mouth and looks half-interested in whatever is going on.*

Does someone like that even deserve sympathy? Were his last actions noble or not? Was he truly someone who cared about Fiora, or was there only a murderous fiend within Yeou the Fox?

*Blake is cracking his knuckles and growling in frustration.*

*Ignatia is glancing from the side, seemingly uninterested.*

*Hikari is taking a confident pose with a smile, hand on the brim of her hat and her chest stuck out with pride.*

*Shinobu is holding a finger up, trying to prove a point about something or other.*

*Odelios is holding up a rubber chicken and pointing at it, as if to accuse it of the crime.*

*Yitro has his arms crossed and eyes closed, scarf pulled up slightly over his mouth.*

Though it truly didn't matter if Yejoon got what he deserved or not at this point for the visitors of Penjar. If they couldn't figure out who killed him, who managed to slay a man who was so swift that even experienced sword fighters, gunmen, and his equally murderous sister couldn't even scratch him…

*Ishiku is grinning and holding up one of his signature chocolate coins in-between two fingers.*

*Samson glares forward from underneath the brim of his hat.*

*Takeo pumps his fist into the air with gusto.*

*Emanuel gives a tired stare from the side as he is holding his favorite flask close to him.*

*Ken salutes and stands proud, staring up to the sky.*

*Angelique has her hands over her heart, silently praying.*

They were all going to die if they didn't solve this. Was that something Yejoon would celebrate in the afterlife, one final method of killing people? Or would he want his own murderer to be punished? Either way, they had to move forward!

*Kimiko is pointing forward while shouting defiantly.*

*Pyrrha is making a heart with her hands, a sad but sweet smile on her face.*

*Futaba has a finger touching her glasses, narrowing her eyes.*

*Anzu stares forward defiantly, her frown and posture confident and ready.*

*Taro crosses his arms as he stares forward, using his red eye more prominently, as he joins the debate.*

And thus, it is time to begin the Town Trial of Penjar!

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Truth Bullets for Case 4:

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Yejoon's Autopsy - Yejoon was clearly bludgeoned to death, his knees shattered, his arms broken. He had to have been murdered at the home plate of the baseball field, due to the amount of blood there, and only some hours ago as rigor mortis was setting in but not peaking. There was a deep taser wound in his neck. He was not wearing his wrist blades.

Yejoon's Severed Hand - The artist's right hand was cut off, most definitely by a carving blade. It was found in one of the containers at the hair salon. Blood had dripped from it, and poured out when it was used to open the locked room in the salon.

It was confirmed by Monosuke that a severed hand would work once with the hand scanners.

Yejoon's Notebook - Yejoon had been working on a notebook throughout all of yesterday. The writing is clearly not Japanese, but not familiar to anyone who has seen it yet; it is suspected to be Korean, but it is unknown who of the visitors knows Korean. It was found at the pitcher's mound, literally a baseball pitch's distance away from his body.

Yejoon's Throwing Knife - Fiora was given one of Yejoon's infamous throwing knives a few days ago, when she had murderous intent for Blake. She has kept it with her since then.

Yejoon's Whereabouts - Yejoon was somehow outside despite it being past 9:30 PM, when it was against the rules to be outside without the exceptions. He also was behaving strangely the previous day, sticking to writing in his notebook and offering odd suggestions to the others.

Baseball Shack - The shack on the baseball field was full of baseball equipment, bats the most important of them. It is believed that this was some of the same equipment used to execute Leon Kuwata, as some of the bats and baseballs have blood on them.

Anzu opened it last night, but closed it afterwards. It is suspected that bats were used to bludgeon Yejoon to death. However, the door is locked with a hand scanner, so only a female from the other side could open it.

Clothing Store - The clothing store had a mysterious locked room with a hand scanner. Kimiko placed a jacket in a unique manner in front of the door and photographed it, ensuring that it hadn't been moved at all; it hadn't been. Ishiku tried using his hand on the scanner, but it wouldn't open, proving that no one had ever opened it.

Stables' Closet - The storage closet at the stables contained a bunch of rusty tools that were either nonfunctional or sharpened to be used as murder tools. No one had touched the objects in there before the final investigation party went through it. Ishiku's hand worked with the hand scanner, and there were door sweeping marks on the dirt floor, proving someone had previously opened the door.

Body Generation Lab Room - The locked door to the hair salon was to a room with a tank and electronic equipment meant for creating human bodies. Only the Monokubs are able to use the device. The door had been left open two nights ago, and it closed shut and locked when Crystal entered the room.

Second Locked Spa Room - There is a second locked door in the spa, but what is in it, or if it could even be opened, is only known to those who were in the spa at the end of the investigation time. What was in it, if they managed to get in, and how it'll impact this trial, only they know…

Hall of Fame Vandalization - The unlocked hall in the large structure had been painted and smashed all over. Slurs were put under the Hope's Peak graduates' portraits, with unusual insults like "Serial Killer Bait" for Isaac, "Fraud" for Anzu, and others that have been recorded by Ishiku and Souma.

The Hope's Peak Academy Killing Game survivors' portraits had messages of Chaos spray painted on them, with all of the others being smashed violently. The portrait of Celestia Ludenberg was pulled from the wall and shattered on the floor by Anzu, but even she doesn't know why she did that; only she and Ishiku know she did this, and not the vandal behind all the other acts.

Locked Hall Vandalization - The locked hall in the large structure, which had been left open by Ishiku and Anzu last night, was also vandalized. Every single portrait, save for Mahiru Koizumi (made to look like an obvious choice) and Ryōko Otonashi (dark romantic symbols painted over her chest), were painted over with DESPAIR on each of them.

The light indicators for the portraits, for what purpose is unknown, were the same this morning as they were last night for Anzu and Ishiku.

Love Hotel Rooms - All of the love hotel rooms were unlocked throughout the night, and then they were locked at 9:30 AM. Guests could leave their room after 9:30, but they could not go back into them. No exceptions could be made, not for Aka who spent the night in Hikari's room, nor for Drake who was watching over Monodam all day.

Anzu and Ishiku's Marriage - Anzu and Ishiku met at the chapel at 12:30 PM, and agreed to consummate the marriage. Despite this, Anzu couldn't go through with it for reasons she didn't fully understand, but they discovered they could still visit the men's side of the plaza together.

They opened and closed the baseball shack, and left the locked hall in the Hall of Fame open. Unable to enter the bowling alley, they returned to their room after being warned of Monokid getting suspicious, and found themselves unable to leave their honeymoon suite until the next morning.

Pyrrha's Night Watch - Pyrrha had volunteered to stay up late last night in the chapel to wait for the married couples to come down. She wasn't at her post when Isaac and Hara came down that morning, just the things she had with her to keep her entertained on one of the chairs. She doesn't want to say what exactly happened, and Monosuke and Monophanie haven't said anything either.

Western Gift Shop Inventory - The gift shop on the western side of the love hotel contained all sorts of items, most prominently vandal-related tools such as spray paint, hammers, and the like. There were also brightly colored pants, and a wide collection of Monokub plushies.

Eastern Gift Shop Inventory - The gift shop on the eastern side of the love hotel contained all sorts of items, most prominently defensive equipment like tasers, and protective covering like rainwear coats. There were also brightly colored pants, and a wide collection of Monokub plushies.

Bowling Pins - Several of the bowling pins in the lanes had blood and impact marks on them. There was also a way to get through the back of the bowling alley by sneaking through the back of the lanes. It is unknown if the bowling pins were truly used as the murder weapon or not.

Bloody Waste Bin - Inside of the bowling alley, close to the arcade room, was a waste bin that was full of suspicious objects: Yejoon's throwing knives, torn fabric, ripped clear plastic, and a copious amount of blood.

Emanuel's Key Ring - Drake believes that the key ring Emanuel gave him could be missing from his room. However, with a man not able to use it as a pass to the other side, and a woman needing it to even get to his room, it is believed that he is probably just mistaken.

Color-Coordinated Carving Blades - The carving knives, as well as most of the equipment, for the kitchens have blue or pink handles, blue for the western/male side, pink for the eastern/female side. A blue knife, covered in blood was on the eastern side, and a pink knife, clean as can be, was on the western side. Pyrrha is taking the bloody knife with her to be used as proof of what she found.

Aka's Theory - The skier has a belief on who the killer could be and how they pulled off such a crime. She hasn't shared it yet with anyone, due to how it may be highly sensitive given what has transpired.

Crystal's Predicament - Crystal traveled to the spa to talk to the others after being married off to seemingly no one, and she found the hair salon's locked door ajar. Stepping inside it, she accidentally locked herself in, and she couldn't get out until a male from the other side scanned their hand on the hand readers.

Despite being out of the hotel past 9:30 PM, Crystal was never punished for this transgression by the usually highly violent Monokid. When she was asleep at night, the door was unlocked and left open.

Monokid's Reasoning - Monokid considers anyone with large breasts or feminine, pretty features to be female, which is why he stuck Eisei on the eastern side. He also considers someone to be a man if they are stereotypically manly. He can be tricked into believing someone is of the other gender, as Odelios all but fooled him yesterday until someone revealed his true gender.

For some reason, Monokid knows who is married to who, but he still cannot remember for the most part who people are. This led him to increasingly draconian rules, and a hunt for Hara when he couldn't remember which gender she was.

Monokid would only allow someone on the other side if they were with their official married partner, or were carrying something that belonged to a departed soul of the opposite gender from the one carrying it (even if they were married). Yejoon's belongings counted after he was dead.

Monosuke's Responsibilities - Monosuke and Monophanie were the ones who were to work in the chapel, and inform people when they were married. Monosuke either didn't remember or didn't care to tell people who they were married to if they didn't actually know; he did allow people who thought they were married to go up to the honeymoon suite together, even though they were officially married together according to the rules of marriage.

The rules of marriage were that anyone who walked into the chapel was registered, and whenever someone of the opposite gender entered, they were considered married to whoever was first on a secretive list, so to speak. Monosuke said that only he and Monophanie are allowed to work in the chapel.

Men and Women's Marriage Rotations - The original plan for the marriages was for two test runs, involving Aka and Drake, and Hikari and Blake, to go at 11 AM and 11:30 AM respectively. Then possible couples were to meet at the chapel every hour afterwards, such as 12:30 PM, 1:30 PM, and so forth.

The women, who were not informed of this due to Hara being escorted to safety by Monophanie (into her honeymoon suite), thought the plan was every half-hour, and thus they went as such. Due to the amount of shenanigans that went on, the following events are the only ones known:

Yejoon was already in the chapel yesterday morning before breakfast, and Fiora walked in there early as well, finding him, and was declared to be married.

Hikari went in first at 11 AM due to everyone else being scared out of the love hotel, and Drake, carrying Monodam, entered the chapel. Monosuke pronounced them married, and then Monokid used the overhead speaker to scare all of them out.

Aka and Blake went in at around 11:30 AM. It did not go well between the two of them.

Crystal entered at noon, but no one else was there. Monosuke informed him she was married, and she left in a huff to find answers.

Ishiku and Anzu arrived at 12:30 PM simultaneously, and agreed to their marriage. Despite everything, their marriage seems to be the only one that worked.

Pyrrha arrived at 1 PM, but left shortly after to help when Ignatia fell into a coma-like state due to a cursed item she had touched.

Shuuya and Futaba met at 1:30 PM each, and agreed on getting married. Their marriage wasn't seen as official by Monokid.

Kimiko entered the chapel at 2 PM, and waited until Ken showed up at 2:30 PM. They agreed to the marriage, but it wasn't seen as official by Monokid.

Yitro was scheduled to go at 4:30 PM, and when he entered, he was informed that he was married, but he didn't know who to. He waited in the chapel for a while, before he finally left out of frustration.

Odelios wanted to go into the chapel, but he had been denied by the others, locked up in the bowling alley, and prevented from going in the morning; at least, that's as much as everyone knows.

As far as the others know, the following never entered the chapel area: Eisei, Ignatia, Saiko, and Souma.

Hara and Isaac were disqualified from being able to enter the other side by the marriage rule due to actually being engaged.

---

…

THE TRIAL WILL COMMENCE SHORTLY!