Next Danganronpa 4: Despair Beyond Hope Chapter 5: Killing Game Start (Part 4), a dangan ronpa kibou no gakuen to zetsubou no koukousei fanfic

Chapter 1: Deadly Life (1-2)

Disclaimer - I do not own Danganronpa or any of the characters you may see in this story. All rights is reserved for Team Danganronpa and basically anyone else involved with the making of this wonderful, hopeful, and despairing series. All characters you see here are based on me and my friends, only Japanified for Danganronpa tradition sakes.

Warning: This story may contain cursing with some * censors, character deaths, despair, no hope, absolutely disturbing sexual innuendos and dark backstories. Side effects may include tears, sadness, depression, and of course despair. Puhuhuhu. Don't say I didn't warn ya!

BIG GIANT WARNING: BE CAREFUL! THERE ARE SPOILERS AND SUBTLE HINTS ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS IN THE OTHER GAMES! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

TRIAL START

The fifteen students stood around in a circle, staring at one another as Monokuma sat discreetly in the background, on his throne-like chair with that notable grin of his. Sitting on her own podium between Akira and Kumiko was Yamashita Sachiko's picture, crossed out with what seemed to be um, sausages. It was most likely a metaphorical approach to have her face crossed off but in any case, Monokuma was the first to start off the Class Trial.

"Let's begin with a simple explanation of the Class Trial," Monokuma began. "Your votes will determine the results. If you can figure out "whodunnit" then only they will receive punishment. Pick the wrong one, and I'll punish everyone besides the blackened. And the blackened will graduate!"

"Then let's begin," Hatsuharu nodded before staring at his classmates.

"First off, anyone want to confess to the crime?" Kenta asked with a hopeful grin. "I mean, think about it. If you confess now, then we'll be done and we can just get on with our lives you know."

"Sure thing," Yusuke smiled. "Then I confess to the crime."

Instantly almost everyone looked at Yusuke in shock. Heck, even Kenta was shocked, and he was the one who suggested the idea in the first place. With a stammer, Kenta began to respond.

"Whoa!" Kenta blinked in shock. "I didn't think that would actually work."

"Of course it didn't work you idiot," Naoki growled with a shake of his head. "He's obviously playing you guys. No one's going to confess to a murder when the punishment is f*cking execution."

"Yep, ya got me," Yusuke shrugged with a small smile. "Though you gotta admit, it was pretty funny how everyone instantly thought I was the killer. But in any case, let's start for reals."

Immediately, Nanaho glared at Yusuke and planned to respond to his actions but instantly, another student began to speak before she could do so.

"Let's clear up something that has been on my mind for quite a while, so we can eliminate any potential suspects and/or find a potential target," Inoue spoke up, crossing his arms, his mask staring at his fellow classmates. "Monokuma gave us the motive of Assassination Targets, where if we successfully murder our target, we instantly graduate, no Class Trial involved."

"Okay?" Natsumi perked her head. "I'm not sure where you're going with this but as long as we keep this Class Trial moving I think it's fine to start that way. So what about the motive?"

"I believe we are now allowed to reveal who our targets are now correct, Monokuma?" Inoue asked Monokuma. "After all, someone has already died and now the Killing Game has officially started. That was what the rule you created had said, correct?"

Inoue had faced Monokuma who sighed as he shrugged.

"You got a point there kiddo," Monokuma shrugged before thrusting his paws into the air. "Oh well, since the Killing Game did indeed start, I guess you guys can reveal who your targets were! Rule Number 8 is now null and void and will be removed from the rules and regulations! Oh boy! I can't wait to see the juicy reactions of some of the reveals!"

Target Reveal

"Well then, if Monokuma says it's okay, then I guess I'll start revealing who my target is," Akira began as she sucked on her lollipop once more. "My target was... Kaito Awaka."

Kaito Awaka looked surprised to hear this. Akira was targeting him? The same girl he deemed cute during the boys hang-out?

"Whoa, now I didn't see that coming," Awaka laughed. "I'm so glad you didn't kill me haha!"

"It's not that I didn't want to kill you," Akira began, pushing her hair back a bit before continuing. "It's just that I couldn't kill you. I mean, you have a strong physique, and any method I tried would've failed instantly."

"Wait," Awaka was shocked at what she was implying. "Does that mean you were trying to kill me?!"

"But I didn't," Akira told Awaka. "So you can rest easy big guy."

"Ah good," Awaka sighed in relief. The thought of being killed didn't make his soul rest easy but in any case, it was his turn to share. "Well then, in that case, my target was Nakamura Izumi!"

Nakamura Izumi looked really shocked to disbelief upon hearing that. Kaito Awaka, such a big man, had her as a target? With his size, he could've killed her anytime! This made her shiver, to the point where she began to cry in relief and sadness.

"Th-Th-THANK YOU FOR NOT KILLING ME!" Izumi yelled as she cried.

"Wh-Whoa!" Awaka was taken aback by this response. "Um? You're welcome?"

"M-My t-t-target w-was," Izumi began, wiping away her tears of joy of being safe for another several days most likely. "I-It was Ogawa Makoto."

"Heh, I couldn't sense any bad murdering vibes from you," Ogawa chuckled as he tipped his fedora up. "So I knew I was safe from you. My target was Nakashima Yusuke. And believe me, I had a number of chances to end his life."

"Huh, so when you asked me to join you after Hatsuharu told you leave," Yusuke crossed his arms with a displeased look on his face. "You were trying to kill me this whole time weren't you?"

"F*ck no bro," Ogawa shook his head. "Besides, even if I did kill ya, I'd be found out instantly. I mean, I was the one who asked you to join me, in front of a bunch of people too no less."

"Oh, I see," Yusuke gave a small smile, a little convinced with that answer before continuing the train of target reveals. "Well, my target was Ryu Sugoui. But the idea of killing was boring so I didn't go through with it."

"Are you saying I would've died if you weren't bored?" Ryu was not very pleased with what he had just heard come out of Yusuke's mouth. "Yikes! Did I luck out or what?! But in any case, my target was Natsumi. Fujiwara Natsumi."

"Haha!" Fujiwara Natsumi gave a cheer. "And my target was Murakami Nanaho!"

"You b*tch," Nanaho glared at Natsumi before looking away. "But I thank you for not killing me and I very much appreciate it. Ahem, moving on. My target was Nakajima Kenta. You should be glad I didn't whack you to death with my Disciplinary Stick. It took everything I had to not whack you with it."

"Um, what exactly did I do?" Kenta asked, confused.

Nanaho was just silent, never answering his question. But not that it mattered to him anyway, Kenta just shook his head and got rolling with it. He continued to chain of target reveals.

"My target was Hatari Todou," Kenta revealed. "And don't worry, I never tried to hurt you a bit so you can thank me for that!"

"I see, then thank you very much Kenta," Hatari smiled at Kenta. "My target was Hamano Hatsuharu. I hope you too are glad I did not kill you."

"As if I was going to get killed by such a weak lady," Hatsuharu crossed his arms as Hatari looked hurt by his comment. She wasn't that weak mind you Hatsuharu, but no doubt, he continued along, attempting to avoid an insult being thrown his way for his response. "My target was Michiyo. But killing her was just going to be a needless task that I was not really up for."

Hatsuharu shook his head as Michiyo cracked her knuckles, looking at Hatsuharu.

"You bet your *ss I would've beaten you up if you tried!" Michiyo grinned before laughing to herself. "Haha! But my target was Akira. Us gals had to stick together so I didn't really like the idea of murdering a fellow gal ya know?"

"I appreciate you not killing me," Akira gave a small emotionless smile. "I already said who my target was, perhaps someone else would like to continue?"

"I'll f*cking take it from here," Sakamoto sighed. "My target was Kumiko. Would've gone with it but the idea of execution scared the sh*t out of me so I didn't."

"So you were going to kill me if execution wasn't the punishment?!" Kumiko was shocked at that news. In fact, she was very afraid at what Sakamoto had implied and it made her uncomfortable to the second degree.

"Probably wouldn't," Naoki shrugged. "I'm not a terrible human being. I'm just better than all of you. Killing you would be wasting time."

"Ouch," Kumiko looked taken aback by that news. "But I guess I should be thankful you didn't try to hurt me. In any case, my target was Inoue. But even if I wanted to kill, killing Inoue to escape just didn't feel right with me."

"Flattered," Inoue cleared his throat behind his mask. "But in any case um, ah..."

"Hey, what's wrong?" Michiyo asked. "Just tell us who your target was. I mean, you were the one who suggested us to do so in the first place."

Inoue was silent for a few minutes before continuing. But before continuing, he had to add a little disclaimer of his own to the mix.

"This may seem bad, but in any case," Inoue began. "My target was Yamashita Sachiko."

The room fell into a small silence. Inoue Tadayoshi's target was Yamashita Sachiko? As in, the Ultimate Prostitute?

"The deceased?!" Natsumi looked shocked to hear this. "Your target was the person who was killed? Then then, doesn't that make you the culprit?! Yeah! It has to be him! Inoue Tadayoshi! I indict you for the murder of Yamashita Sachiko!"

"Hold on a second!" Kumiko jumped in crossing her arms. "If Inoue really was the murderer, then we wouldn't be having this Class Trial in the first place! Don't you remember? The reward for successfully killing your target is graduating without a Class Trial."

"Ah, you're completely right!" Natsumi gasped before sticking her tongue out in embarrassment. "Hehe. Guess I forgot."

"How on Earth do you forget something as simple as that?" Ogawa asked Natsumi with deadpan expression.

"More importantly," Hatsuharu crossed his arms, directing a cold gaze toward Inoue. "What was the point of revealing our targets anyway? Surely it was not just to prove you could not have killed Sachiko. Because if so, we have wasted precious minutes in this Trial by doing stuff we could have found out along the way."

"I agree, what was the point?!" Monokuma looked angry. "I was hoping to see funnier reactions! Not 'Thank you for not killing me!' reactions!"

"Actually, this was the simplest way of finding out who exactly Sachiko's target was," Inoue crossed his arms. Everyone looked at Inoue and realized he had a point. "Think about it. If we figure out Sachiko's target, we may end up finding the culprit behind the murder or at least, a potential suspect."

"Inoue has a point," Akira crossed her arms. "Well then, who's name didn't get called up as a target? Anyone? Anyone at all?"

There was one name that came to mind.

...

"Sakamoto Naoki," Ryu noted. And with that, everyone turned their gaze toward Naoki, suspicion being directed towards him as the prime suspect behind the murder of Yamashita Sachiko. Sachiko's target was Sakamoto Naoki. So what if...?

"Whoa whoa," Naoki glared at them all. "You think I killed Sachiko? I wouldn't be caught dead trying to go anywhere near that lower-class sleaze! In fact, I wouldn't bother a single second trying to kill her at all!"

"But what if it's something else?" Natsumi interjected, pointing her finger at Naoki. "I mean, Sachiko wasn't even your target and she was targeting you. What if you didn't need to plan anything? What if you didn't need to go to her? What if she came to you and you killed her instead?"

"Hold on, Natsumi," Ogawa was beginning to understand what Natsumi was implying. "Are you suggesting that Naoki killed Sachiko...in self-defense?!"

Suspecting Naoki

"Oh yeah, I'm definitely thinking that!" Natsumi exclaimed with a bright smile. "What could be a more possible motive than self-defense? Naoki may not have been the one who started it but if you think about it like that. It all makes sense!"

"Um, I'm sorry, but Natsumi," Hatari seemed really confused. "Can you please repeat all that for us? Like, why do you think it was a crime committed in self-defense?"

"Okie!" Natsumi cheered. "Bum bum bum! Attention all YouTubers! Get ready to hit that 'like' button because Natsumi's gonna go tell ya why Naoki's the killer! Bum bum bum bum!"

"Quit singing and actually go tell us damn it," Ogawa was looking a bit irritated at Natsumi's quirkiness.

"Okie!" Natsumi cheered once more before starting. "So I'm thinking. Monokuma's motive is Assassinating our Target so we can get an express pass out of this dump! But if Inoue has Sachiko has his target, and Sachiko had Naoki as her target, then that gives Naoki a motive to killing her. Sachiko must've lured Naoki to have sex with him because she's the Ultimate Prostitute and when she tried to attack him, Naoki killed her with a stab stab stab! In other words, a murder in self-defense!"

The students were silent. Was this, really her argument?

"Well?" Natsumi smiled, beaming proudly at herself. "Did that deserve a like or a subscription?!"

"Deserved a f*cking dislike more like!" Naoki yelled at Natsumi. "You have no proof that I'm the killer. You're just baselessly accusing me because you hate me!"

"Gasp!" Natsumi gasped. "Only the true murderer would know I really don't like you! So you have to be the murderer!"

"Natsumi," Hatari interjected Natsumi's spotlight with a apologetic look on her face. "I'm sorry but I just don't think the crime was committed in self-defense. Take a look at the file Monokuma gave us."

Everyone took out their iHandbooks to look at the file as Hatari led way to debunk Natsumi's baseless accusation.

"Sachiko died from a stab wound to the back," Hatari said. "I hardly think self-defense could've done that. If anything, if this murder was self-defense, wouldn't you think the knife would have instead be stabbed through the stomach rather than the back?"

"True," Nanaho gave a nod at Hatari's explanation. "The cause of death was a stab wound to the back, but you can't forget the first part of the file. Sachiko was hit on the head remember? If anything, we can still conclude that Naoki hit her on the head with something in self-defense and then finished her off with the weapon."

"Yay!" Natsumi cheered. "Nanaho agrees! Well then, it's settled. Naoki murdered Sachiko. Let's get on to the voting!"

"Whoa whoa, wait I didn't-" Naoki was shocked and bewildered that everyone was just gonna up and go vote for him. He had no rebuttals. This was it. They were going to-

"Not so fast Natsumi," Akira interjected. "We can't go straight to voting yet. There is too many questions left in this case that we need to go over. I'm sorry Natsumi, but I don't think Naoki is the culprit."

"Thank you!" Naoki threw up his arms in relief.

"Ugh, seriously?" Nanaho frowned in disgust. "Why can't we just vote for Naoki and call it a day? It has to be him. It can't be anyone else."

"Sure sure, vote for Naoki," Ogawa crossed his arms. "Then maybe when you get executed alongside all of us but the true culprit, I'll probably feel satisfied seeing you be proven wrong, the hard way."

"W-Why y-you," Nanaho glared at Ogawa. "Y-You b-brat!"

"But, in any case, what exactly do we need to go over Akira?" Ryu asked, listening along to the conversations that have been passed. "I mean, us trying to single out a suspect doesn't seem to be working so..."

"Obviously, the murder weapon for one," Yusuke crossed his arms, looking at Ryu.

The Murder Weapon

"What exactly was it that killed Yamashita Sachiko?" Yusuke asked. "The Monokuma File said that the killing blow was a stab wound on the back, so no doubt, it must've been something sharp enough to actually pierce through her back."

"Like a needle?" Natsumi perked her head in confusion.

"Like a knife," Awaka corrected before continuing. "Remember Natsumi? When we went to investigate the kitchen with you and the others, I noticed that there was a small knife missing from the knife display case. There is no doubt that the murder weapon could undoubtedly be that very knife."

"I agree with that notion," Inoue nodded, crossing his arms. "It could not have been anything else but the knife. But our current problem includes the question: Just where exactly is this knife?"

"Now that you mention it," Nanaho began to think, for once not even complaining about the student's antics. "I don't think any of us found weapon in Sachiko's room now did we?"

"We did not," Hatari shook her head, confirming this fact.

"Then there is only one possible conclusion we can assert from this," Hatsuharu gave a straightforward nod upon coming to a conclusion. "Our murderer must've disposed of the weapon. As to where they had disposed of it, even I don't know the answer to that."

"But we don't need to worry about that now," Ryu blinked. "We know the weapon was a small kitchen knife now. We can just continue along and not worry about where the killer might've dumped the weapon. In fact, let's move on to the next topic. How exactly was the crime committed?"

"A good topic, but a topic we'll have to focus on later," Akira shook her head Ryu. "I'm afraid we need to be extra sure so we don't get any facts wrong about this. For now, the knife being the murder weapon is only a possibility and not conclusive yet. So here's my question to everyone in the room. Do we all have any idea where our murder weapon might be?"

The students were silent. It would seem that none of them had a clue as to where the murder weapon could've gone. That is until...

...

"I do."

That voice belonged to Ogawa Makoto, who had tipped his fedora down. Of course! He and Yusuke were off investigating together and found themselves investigating the incinerator room where they had found some sort of piece of evidence.

"I know where the murder weapon was disposed of," Ogawa nodded. "When we were out investigating by ourselves, Yusuke and I headed directly to the Incinerator Room and found it in the trash, just waiting to be found. And wouldn't you know it? It's a small kitchen knife, covered with blood which I'm thinking must belong to our victim, Sachiko!"

"So no doubt," Ryu gave a nod. "The weapon was a kitchen knife."

"But it was in the trash?" Michiyo asked, blinking. "Just like sitting there? Now what kind of killer would just leave a crucial piece of evidence like that just sitting in the trash? I mean, if it were me, I would've probably washed it with something and just put it back to the knife display case."

"It does seem strange for a murderer to leave evidence like that sloppily," Hatsuharu noted. "The kitchen knife just laying there in the trash? It's like the murderer didn't even bother to try to hide the weapon. If you're going to throw away evidence, at least bury it underneath a heap of other useless garbage."

"Tips on how to murder," Nanaho noted, a little annoyed. "When someone else dies and we find the weapon buried underneath a heap of other useless garbage, I'll know just who to thank, Hatsuharu!"

"I don't think you'll be thanking anyone once you end up being the victim, Nanaho," Hatsuharu coldly responded to Nanaho, who shriveled back in shock and an irritated fit.

"In any case," Ogawa continued, placing his fists on his hip. "Yusuke brought the money in question. So you can bet your buck that the knife is the weapon. Go ahead and show them Yusuke."

"Sure," Yusuke shrugged before pulling out the small kitchen knife. And lo and behold, there was dried blood on it with some other gunk that most likely came from the trash. "See? We weren't lying."

"No one said you were though," Kenta pointed out.

"In any case," Akira nodded. "That wraps up the whole mystery surrounding what exactly the murder weapon was. Now it's time to do what Ryu suggested earlier, and go over how exactly the murder was committed."

How Was The Murder Committed?

"To begin on this topic," Akira began. "We need to think back what we all saw back at the crime scene and the injuries that the victim sustained. In other words, we need to begin piecing together how this murder all played out if we want a better understanding at who done it."

"Let's start with the head injury then," Hatsuharu nodded in agreement to Akira's stance. "We know that the killing blow was the stab wound on the back of Sachiko's body. So how exactly did the head injury on the right side of her head play in?"

"To answer that question then," Kumiko began to think before it hit her. "We would need to find out what exactly was the object that struck Sachiko! Correct? So then, what exactly struck Sachiko on the head? Inoue and I didn't find any blunt objects where we were searching."

"The only place we've searched were the kitchen and the hallway," Inoue pointed out. "I doubt the killer would've hid the object under a bunch of fungus growing at the side of the wall."

"Ah, you have a point," Kumiko sighed.

"The lamp," Nanaho instantly said matter-of-factly. "The lamp was the object used to hit Sachiko on the head."

"How can you be so sure about that?" Ryu blinked, a little confused.

"Were you blind or something?!" Nanaho looked irritated at Ryu's confusion, who in turn was taken aback by this response. "There was blood on the lamp. It's like the murderer didn't even bother to try hiding it. I can't believe you would miss something like th-"

"But Olivia wanted to show me something," Ryu began to sweat. Nanaho's sour mood was cutting him up like a Thanksgiving turkey. "And if she wants to show me something then you gotta bet your butt I'm going to see what she wants me to see!"

"Nevermind," Nanaho shook her head. "I forgot you were an idiot. In any case. The lamp was obviously used to hit Sachiko on the head with it. There were bloodstains on it and therefore, it had to have been used somehow in the murder right?"

"Don't forget that it's missing some shards as well," Hatari pointed out. "That gives us all the more reason to note that the lamp had to have been used to hit Sachiko on the head."

"But the only problem is that we couldn't seem to find the shards anywhere in the room right?" Ryu asked. "What about under the bed? It could've been swept under the bed right? Peanut is asking if anyone checked down there."

"For the shards to be swept under the bed would be impossible," Yusuke noted, closing his eyes in thought.

"Huh why?" Ryu asked, crossing his arms and looking at Yusuke with confusion. "Are you calling Peanut a liar?"

"Not a liar," Yusuke smiled. "More so, just mistaken. You see, my bed has a large mattress under it which prevents anything from hiding underneath the bed, like a killer or maybe even a couple of shards. And I imagine that to be true for everyone right?"

"Now that you mention it Yusuke," Akira gave a nod. "Sachiko's bed did indeed have a large mattress."

"So that puts an end to the whole shards under the bed theory," Ryu noted, crossing his arms with a thought. "Darn. Then where did the shards even go? I mean, you can't just up and say the shards disappeared without a trace. Is there a place we missed that could potentially have the shards?"

"No, I'm sorry," Hatari shook her head. "I looked all over the room, double checking everything. There were no shards."

"Missing shards from a lamp," Hatsuharu began to list. "Using the lamp to hit Sachiko. My goodness, I do wonder. If they killed with a stab on the back, just why was the need to use the lamp necessarily. If anything, it is making this case much more to handle."

"Ogawa, Yusuke," Inoue called out, crossing his arms. "Did you perhaps see any shards of any kind in the trash when you found the knife?"

"F*ck me if I remember," Ogawa sighed, shaking his head.

"Besides the knife, it was just a bunch of useless garbage," Yusuke shrugged. "Didn't see anything else sharp or anything shard-like so I guess no. Sorry dude."

"Then the only thing left to do now is to continue on forward," Kumiko nodded. "We have missing shards from the crime scene and now we've established the small kitchen knife and the lamp as weapons for the murder. I see we're making good progress!"

"So now we need to know just how the killer got to killing Sachiko," Natsumi nodded. "I suspect that maybe the killer used the lamp to knock Sachiko's lights out and then stabbed her on the back."

"Plausible," Inoue nodded. "But why the need to stab her? If I were the culprit, I would've used the lamp to hit her on the head over and over again to kill them. There would be no need for a knife in that case."

"Very good point," Hatsuharu nodded crossing his arms before smirking to himself. "But I have a theory."

"A game theory?" Natsumi looked at Hatsuharu with excitement in her eyes.

"Do not interrupt me please," Hatsuharu looked at Natsumi with an annoyed look. "In any case, my theory is that perhaps our killer thought they had killed Sachiko when they hit her on the head. I believe we all believed that as well before we looked at the Monokuma File, did we not?"

"So apparently time of death was apparently last night around 12:30," Akira said. "Her head suffered a major blunt force injury, but most peculiar, the cause of death wasn't blunt force trauma, but a stab wound on the back. Death was instantaneous."

"Stab wound on the back?" Hatsuharu asked, raising an eyebrow before stepping back from the body. "Well then, if you don't mind ladies, would you care to flip her over?"

"Be careful though," Yusuke noted. "She's lighter than she looks."

Akira, Hatari, Michiyo, and Nanaho gave a nod at Hatsuharu and Yusuke, as they approached Sachiko's cold body. Hatsuharu, Ogawa, Ryu, and Yusuke stepped back and watched the girl each grab a side of the body.

"Please forgive us Sachiko," Hatari told Sachiko.

"Honestly girl, I don't think Sachiko will mind one bit," Michiyo remarked as the four girls flipped Sachiko over. Now her back was revealed and quickly, Nanaho covered up Sachiko's bums so the boys don't get any funny ideas.

And sure enough, on Sachiko's back was a stab wound, now dried and plain as day.

"Ah, I see where you're getting at," Nanaho nodded.

"But I don't," Kenta scratched his head, confused. Then with a sigh and a pinch to the bridge of her nose, Nanaho began to explain.

"If I was the killer and if I hit Sachiko on the head and thought her dead," Nanaho said. "Wouldn't it be a surprise later to see Sachiko stand up and show that she indeed was still alive? That alone must have been when the killer decided to finish her off with a stab to the back."

"Oh, I see now," Kenta nodded. "So that's why Sachiko was stabbed on the back...I'm still confused."

"If Sachiko was still alive, she would've no doubt become a personal witness to an attempted murder," Hatsuharu explained more further for Kenta to understand. "This would cause problems for our killer's murderous intent."

"Ah, I see now!" Kenta smiled in understanding. "An act to silence the victim! Sounds like something like from a movie."

"Don't even f*cking joke about a stupid cliché like that," Naoki glared at Kenta before shaking his head. "In any case though, I think you guys all have point. So the killer hits Sachiko, thinks they killed them, then Sachiko reveals she's not dead and then bam, she's stabbed in the back. Now what?"

"We still don't have enough evidence to find out who killed Sachiko," Ryu noted before groaning. "What good did finding out how the murder was committed do for us anyway?"

"You're the one who suggested it dumb*ss!" Naoki looked at Ryu with a dumbfounded expression and a small glare.

"Oh yeah," Ryu crossed his arms as he thought back to when he suggested they all move on. "I did didn't I? Heh. Well I blame Peanut. She's such a clown that girl haha. Continue on."

That was the problem now. They didn't know how to continue. So far, they had established that Naoki and Inoue couldn't be the killer. Well, more so for Inoue. Naoki himself wasn't entirely off the hook yet.

Then they established the murder weapon, which was a small kitchen knife. And now they had established that the killer hit Sachiko on the head, thought her dead, then when she revealed herself to be alive, she was finished off for good.

That was what they had so far.

And now they were stuck. They were stuck with no idea on what to converse next. Were their any more clues left?

"Now that I think about it," Hatari spoke up as everyone turned their heads, eager to follow through a new lead. "There is something bothering me when we were talking and discussing how this murder could've happened."

"Well go on and tell us girl," Natsumi crossed her arms. "Don't keep us on edge like that. You'll be unsubscribed if you don't post something for a few years!"

"Well, um," Hatari crossed her arms as she began to think. "Why exactly was she...naked?"

...

The students were silent. Oh yeah, she was naked wasn't she? Why exactly was she naked was a great question. But when it came to Sachiko, no one could be sure of anything just yet.

"...Well, maybe she liked to sleep naked?" Kenta noted.

"Judging from what I've seen from that girl," Nanaho nodded. "I wouldn't be too surprised. In fact, I bet she's the type to go do obscene things in front of herself in the mirror early in the morning!"

The silence began to roll in once more. Then Akira spoke up.

"No," Akira shook her head. "If we think about it this way...what if we were to assume that she died doing what she did best?"

"Died doing what she did best?" Natsumi asked. "Like prostitution or some- Oh. Ohhhhhhhhhhh!"

Natsumi look shocked as the others looked disgusted.

It was too awful of an image to bare.

And it's also one reason why this fic is rated mature for mature people only.

"Are you f*cking with us right now Akira?" Naoki looked disgusted (no one looked more disgusted than Ogawa though). "You think Sachiko was having sex before she was killed? What the f*ck?!"

"Even worse," Akira shook her head. "I believe the person she had um, sex with, is our culprit. And in order to find out who did it, we must take a look at the body one more time, particularly on her head injury."

"Look at her body again?" Ogawa groaned, not feeling up to the task. "Man, this trial just reeks of Sachiko. What the hell was she thinking having sex with a killer huh? And to think we have to continue staring at her naked body too. God damn I hate this so much."

"Unfortunately," Hatsuharu sighed. "If we are ever to solve this case, we will have to do just that. In any case, the wound on Sachiko's head is located on the right side of her head. Now Akira, since you're the one who suggested we stare at the body once more, what exactly does that head injury prove?"

"Simple," Akira nodded. "The injury, believe it or not, can narrow our list of suspects. And we can do that by proving which hand the killer used to hit Sachiko on the head with the lamp."

"I get it," Michiyo nodded with a grin understanding how this case worked out. "It's a well-known fact that in sex, there is one person on top of the other person. That person on top is our killer and the person on the bottom is Sachiko."

"Um um...I um...s-still d-don't g-get it," Izumi shivered, having said her first line ever in this entire Class Trial. And no doubt, she seemed super confused by what they meant by how one person is on the top and the other person was on the bottom.

"I'll tell you after the trial," Nanaho told Izumi. "In any case, what does that have to do with anything. All you're doing is frying Izumi's innocent little mind!"

"Just think," Michiyo decided to take over for Akira, looking confident in this deduction that she has made. "If you were on top of Sachiko and you wanted to go hit her with the lamp, which hand would you use?"

...

"The left hand!" Naoki realized. "So in other words, our killer is left-handed?"

"Precisely," Akira nodded. "Even if the killer wasn't on top of Sachiko, they would still need to be have held and struck with the lamp with their left hand in order to leave such a blow to Sachiko's right side of her head."

"Now we're getting somewhere," Awaka smiled in relief.

"But who's to say the lamp wasn't on the killer's left?" Natsumi blinked. "Wouldn't that change the argument into a whole new different direction."

"Not at all," Inoue shook his head. "As Akira mentioned, the bruise on Sachiko's head is the defining factor that proves our killer was left-handed. In any case, all lamps are to be on the left side of the bed. There is no way Sachiko's lamp could've been on the right."

"So then, all we need to do is find someone here who is left-handed and bam," Kenta smiled. "Vote city and safety for everyone but the culprit."

"No," Akira shook her head. "There is one more reason that we have all overlooked and I myself have noticed this from the very beginning ever since we found Sachiko's body."

"What are you talking about Akira?" Hatari asked, confused.

"Remember how we found the body?" Akira asked. "Remember anything strange about it? Remember the reactions that followed when we found out information about Sachiko's death?"

...

"Akira," Awaka blinked. "Are you perhaps referring to the Monokuma File? More specifically, the part about the cause of death being her stabbed on the back? Because if you are then, yeah that does seem strange now."

"You got it big guy," Akira nodded at Awaka, approvingly. "Think back to that moment when we had first begun our investigation."

"Stab wound on the back?" Hatsuharu asked, raising an eyebrow before stepping back from the body. "Well then, if you don't mind ladies, would you care to flip her over?"

"Be careful though," Yusuke noted. "She's lighter than she looks."

"Please forgive us Sachiko," Hatari told Sachiko.

And sure enough, on Sachiko's back was a stab wound, now dried and plain as day.

"I don't think anyone would've realized Sachiko's cause of death was the stab wound if the Monokuma File hadn't told us," Akira began to explain. "And if we didn't have the Monokuma File in the first place, we would have all quickly assumed that the cause of death was blunt force trauma because of the bruise on Sachiko's head."

"What are you going on about?" Nanaho asked Akira, getting a little confused.

"Naturally," Akira crossed her arms as she looked at her fellow classmates. "I want to ask you all. How exactly did a stab wound on the back occur if Sachiko's body was found back-first on her own bed?"

So that was what she was referring to. Everyone looked at Akira and then at each other, confused at how this could've happened. If Sachiko was stabbed on the back, how did she end up having her back to the bed?

"Maybe someone stabbed her from underneath the bed?" Ogawa asked.

"No, can't be," Hatari shook her head. "I checked under the bed of Sachiko's room and there was a large mattress of some sort that blocked anyone from even thinking about hiding underneath the bed."

"It's the same for all the beds," Kenta nodded in agreement. "There is no way anyone could've stabbed Sachiko underneath the bed...I thought we mentioned that already."

"For the shards to be swept under the bed would be impossible," Yusuke noted, closing his eyes in thought.

"Huh why?" Ryu asked, crossing his arms and looking at Yusuke with confusion. "Are you calling Peanut a liar?"

"Now that you mention it Yusuke," Akira gave a nod. "Sachiko's bed did indeed have a large mattress."

"We did, but in any case, there were no stab holes from the bed when I went to check a second time," Akira nodded. "So the idea of Sachiko being stabbed under the bed is more or less, impossible."

"How'd you not even know there was no stab wounds from bed?!" Nanaho glared and yelled at Ogawa. "Pay more attention!"

"You yelled and made me leave the room ya loon!" Ogawa glared and yelled back at Nanaho. Clearly, these two weren't going to get along very much so.

"In any case," Akira nodded before looking very seriously. "I have reasons to suspect that we were played from the very start."

Nanaho and Ogawa stopped their arguing as they turned to Akira. The other students did as well. It seemed like Akira was onto something big. Something that could turn this case around just like how Phoenix Wright turns his case around.

And some students were beginning to catch on as well.

"Akira," Hatsuharu looked a bit shaken. "Are you seriously suggesting that someone here..."

"Someone here what?" Natsumi blinked before looking a bit interested. "Come on. Don't leave me hanging! Though cliffhangers are pretty good for ratings I'll admit heh."

"Yes Hatsuharu," Akira nodded firmly. "The only explanation as to why Sachiko's body was found back-first on her bed even though there was a stab wound can only mean one thing. The crime scene we all ran into wasn't as it seemed."

"Wasn't as it seemed?" Naoki asked. "Jesus girl, quit talking all mysterious-like and reveal it to us. What the f*ck are you rambling on about?"

"Well to put it simply," Akira said before looking dead serious. "...

...

Someone here tampered with the crime scene."

"Wait," Kenta blinked before screaming out. "WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!"

"You mean to say that the crime scene we were looking at was," Ogawa was shocked by this revelation. "It was rigged up from the start?! Like someone was playing tricks on us? W-W-Who the hell would do that?!"

Akira was silent. She was staring at one person. One person who could've done it. Only one person who could've done such a thing. In fact, Akira had suspicions on them from the very start it seems. And right now, she's reminding me of a character used in the past.

"The person who threw away the knife of course," Akira nodded. "And knew exactly which room it would be. There's no doubt about it. The person who tampered with the crime scene was you...

...

Nakashima Yusuke!"

Akira had pointed her finger at Yusuke, who looked surprised for a moment before regaining his calm composure. Everyone widened their eyes to see Akira accusing Yusuke of such a crime. Ogawa had a much more surprised expression than the rest of them.

"Who, me?" Yusuke asked, calmly.

"She's pointing at you dumb*ss," Naoki shook his head before glaring at him. "So did you do it? Did you tamper with the goddamn crime scene you bastard?!"

Yusuke was silent for a moment. He looked away for a second. Then he chuckled. He chuckled. His chuckling became louder. And then it turned into a laugh. A laugh that didn't seem to suit Yusuke's calm and stoic expressions.

"Ahahahaha," Yusuke laughed before calming down. "Alright. Yes. You got me. This is no joke. I did tamper with the crime scene. I moved Sachiko's body from the real culprit's room to her own room and the other pieces of evidence in her room as well. But then I made the mistake of putting the body back-first instead of front-first. Damn me. But how exactly did you know it was me, Akira? I mean, I don't think I left any evidence behind to implicate me as the guy behind this little twist."

"Simple," Akira nodded. "It was what Ogawa had said when we were discussing on the topic of the knife that caught my suspicion."

"I always wondered," Akira noted. "Ogawa, just why exactly did you and Yusuke head directly to the Incinerator Room. Out of all the places to inspect, why there?"

"Well, Yusuke suggested it s...so..." Ogawa had trailed off, now realizing what this had all meant. "Wait. Oh you piece of sh*t. Were you using me this entire time?! Huh?! Yusuke, you son of a b*tch. Answer me!"

"Calm down Ogawa," Yusuke calmly smiled. "I was never using you. I just needed someone to talk to as I went to get the kitchen knife I disposed of. So there's no need to be angry."

"So that means, you were the one who Monokuma mentioned was only one who entered the Incinerator Room," Ogawa pointed his finger at Yusuke, who merely smiled calmly.

"That's right," Monokuma revealed with a nod. "No one's been touching the incinerator for the past few days because no one bothered to check it out. But as for being in the room well...I guess there was one person."

"And now that I think about it," Kumiko looked shocked. "Yusuke was the one who suggested we check Sachiko's room in the first place."

"More importantly," Yusuke sighed, shaking his head. "Let's all go to her room to wake her up and make sure nothing bad happened. It's not that fair for one person to get everyone else all riled up you know?"

"And was the one who opened the door to her room in the first place," Kenta began to realize as well.

"Hey guys," Yusuke opened the door. It just opened up with no ease. It wasn't even locked. "Now why didn't any of us try this? Looks like Sachiko kept her door unlocked. Let's head in shall we?"

"He also f*cking suggested we look in the trash where the knife was," Ogawa blinked, looking very irritated.

"Isn't it obvious who that person could be?" Yusuke gave a smile. "It's obviously our culprit. And no doubt they came to dispose of some evidence. Monokuma said no one touched the incinerator for the past few days, so no doubt, they dumped our evidence in the trash. Let's give it a look."

"In any case," Akira nodded. "It's been proven. Yusuke headed to the Incinerator Room first because he himself knew the knife was there."

"And that would explain why the knife was so poorly disposed of," Hatsuharu nodded. "Because Yusuke wanted it to be found. Am I wrong?"

"Not at all," Yusuke smiled calmly with a shrug. "You got it bang-on. Man, you all surprised me. I thought I was going to have to play this on 'Easy' Difficulty, but it seems like you guys are all pros at the game. You really are a bunch of smart cookies. Especially you Akira, leading everyone along with your deductions. I now know, that out of everyone here in this room, you are the biggest threat of them all, ah...ahahahahaha!"

The trial began to throw itself into an uproar.

"H-How can you laugh?!" Kumiko looked at Yusuke, surprised and shocked at this revelation.

"You son of a b*tch!" Naoki screamed. "I'll beat the sh*t out of you!"

"Permission to Discipline?" Nanaho glared at Yusuke, heatedly.

"Right after I run him over with a punch to the face," Michiyo glared at Yusuke as well, cracking her knuckles and looking very very angry.

"My goodness," Monokuma laughed. "The trial is in an uproar. I think this calls for a Recess. Order! Order! Order the Court! I wish I had baliffs to calm everyone down but I don't! Order! Order! ORDERRRRRRRR!"

...

CLASS TRIAL RECESS

"And give me a turkey sandwich too!" Monokuma screamed out.

Students Left: 15

Anzai Akira - The Ultimate Law Enforcer

Fujiwara Natsumi - The Ultimate YouTuber

Hamano Hatsuharu - The Ultimate Affluent Progeny

Hatari Todou - The Ultimate Supermodel

Inoue Tadayoshi - The Ultimate ?

Kaito Awaka - The Ultimate Fitness Trainer

Konno Michiyo - The Ultimate Biker

Murakami Nanaho - The Ultimate Teacher

Nakajima Kenta - The Ultimate Revolutionaire

Nakamura Izumi - The Ultimate Writer

Nakashima Yusuke - The Ultimate Gamer

Ogawa Makoto - The Ultimate Godfather

Ryu Sugoui - The Ultimate Cartoonist

Sakamoto Naoki - The Ultimate Film Director

Saruwatari Kumiko - The Ultimate Matchmaker