Never Say Never
Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa or the characters associated with it.
Chapter 2
Act 11
"…I see. So now the suspicion falls to me, does it? Then I must ask, when did I first start acting suspicious?"
Byakuya's overly confident tone perturbed everyone in the room, as if he was dangling a worm on a hook for an eager fish. Even so, they all knew that this wasn't the time to analyze his intentions, they needed to find the truth of who had attacked Chihiro. To that end, Makoto stepped up once more.
"It was when we found you taking down Chihiro from the…crucifixion," Makoto squeezed out, slowly becoming numb to the sickening feeling rising up within. For the sake of the trial, the lucky student pushed past the uncomfortable feeling and continued, "It was strange that someone as…unfeeling as you would care about the well-being of your classmate. That and you were there before anyone else…"
"What's so strange about that? I was in the library, minding my own business until I heard shouting from down the hall," the Togami Heir told them, seemingly ignoring the lucky student's first comment about being 'unfeeling'. Sending a slight glare at Mondo, he continued, "A certain someone was screaming bloody murder as they ran to gather everyone, so naturally I went to investigate what he'd found. I didn't want the trail of the culprit to get cold while you all stood around, twiddling your thumbs—".
"Can anyone corroborate that?" Junko's confident voice interrupted, earning a glance from Byakuya. However, as expected of her, she didn't even seem to notice as she pressed, "If you don't have an alibi, then it's possible you attacked Chihiro before Mondo even got there, waited for him to leave, then strung her up afterward."
Although a bit perturbed by her interruption, Byakuya didn't seem too upset with her deduction, a sly grin sliding over his lips as he answered, "It's true I don't have an alibi, but the same could be said for many of you. Anyone could have attacked Chihiro long before she was discovered—".
"That's where you're wrong!"
Everyone was startled when, instead of Makoto, Leon shouted at Byakuya. He was pointing at the Togami Heir the same way the lucky student usually did, glaring ferociously at his previous tormentor.
"Me and Sayaka have an alibi! We were in the dining hall the entire time this was going down! Isn't that right, Sayaka?"
All attention suddenly turned to the pop idol, who flinched slightly as they all waited to see if she would corroborate the baseball star's story. Regaining composure almost instantly, Sayaka nodded and concurred, "We were searching for my e-handbook. I lost it earlier today and—".
"Wait, you lost your e-handbook?" a bewildered Byakuya suddenly questioned, obviously not expecting this revelation.
"Yeah…sometime this morning, I think," she simply replied, having not expected him to interrupt.
Everyone was shocked to hear surprise coming from the Togami Heir's voice. Up until this point, he'd been nothing but confident and poised, as if positioning chess pieces for checkmate. But now, he seemed genuinely confused, as if this information was completely new to him. It made Makoto lower his head in deep thought, his suspicions about Byakuya beginning to waver.
"Did you find it? Your e-handbook I mean," the stoic voice of Kyoko abruptly asked, glancing in Sayaka's direction.
Shaking her head, the pop idol answered, "No, in the end we weren't able to find it. We searched the entire cafeteria but it wasn't there—".
"You don't think it was stolen, do you?!" Hina jumped in, making the pop idol jump a bit.
"Uh, I…I don't know. Maybe?" Sayaka answered, beginning to piece together what she was getting at.
"Does that not mean that someone could have used it to enter the girl's locker room?" Celeste posed to everyone. "More specifically, a boy could have used it to gain entry."
"But Chihiro's e-handbook is missing too. The attacker could have used hers to get into the girl's locker room, couldn't they?" Hifumi pointed out, making a point no one had thought of yet.
"Impossible!" Taka shot down instantly. "Didn't Monokuma add a rule about loaning out our e-handbooks?! Using another student's handbook like that would violate the rules! Because of that, it wouldn't matter which of the girl's e-handbooks were used! Not to mention how disgraceful it would be for a male student to enter the girl's locker room!"
"Ah, but finding a lost e-handbook would not count as 'borrowing', now would it?" Celeste countered, ignoring his final comment. "At the very least, we can rule out Chihiro's handbook for the time being, considering she probably had it on her when she was attacked and therefore it must have gone missing afterwards."
"T-That's…a good point," the Moral Compass was forced to admit. "But if that's the case, any one of us could have attacked Chihiro! Not just one of the girls!"
"Ooooh, a little girl on girl action! While I typically go the other way, I'm not opposed to a little scissoring, if you know what I mean!" Genocide Jill spoke up after being quiet for a remarkably long time.
As the serial killer's lewd joke hung in the air, all of the students realized that this case was becoming more and more complicated. This meant that almost anyone could be the culprit, aside from those who could prove their alibis. Realizing that, another student abruptly spoke up.
"Anyway, I have an alibi too," Junko announced, turning focus toward her. "I was with Sayaka for most of the day, helping her get around. I left her in the cafeteria to go shower but I ran into Leon on the way back and asked him to go and help Sayaka. Isn't that right?"
She directed that last question at Leon, who nodded. "Yeah, and I watched as she went straight back to her room. Plus, it happened after Mondo had already left to go and meet with Chihiro, so she couldn't have done it."
A disturbingly sweet chuckle echoed as he finished speaking and they all turned to see Celeste, a hand delicately placed over her mouth, still giggling at him.
"You may have just slipped up," she said, daintily folding her hands beneath her chin. "You don't have an alibi until after Mondo went to meet Chihiro. That means that you could have attacked her before meeting Mondo and Junko in the lobby—".
"But that doesn't work either," Sayaka interrupted, strangely coming to Leon's defense. "Leon was exhausted and had to be carried back to his room earlier today. He wouldn't have had the energy to do anything like this. And he couldn't have been the one to hang Chihiro, because he was with me when that must have happened. Besides…"
Sayaka suddenly fell silent and, to the surprise of many, she almost bashfully hung her head. However, she abruptly shot her head up, an unwavering determination radiating in her eyes.
"…Leon's learned his lesson. He wouldn't do something like this…not after what happened last time."
An almost uncomfortable silence fell over the students as memories from only a few days ago were recalled. Amidst the storm of conflicted feelings, Leon couldn't help but stare at Sayaka, amazed that she'd not only defended him, but seemed to have grown a small bit of trust for him. As those feelings overwhelmed him, Sayaka turned her gaze toward him and, noticing his stare, smiled confidently at him. Almost without realizing it, the baseball star reciprocated the gesture and nodded, drawing strength from her determination.
"A-Anyway! None of that changes anything!" Mondo suddenly shouted, startling everyone. "Byakuya's still suspicious as fuck! He's the only one who was on the second floor when I went to go and get everyone! It has to be him!"
A huff of a laugh escaped Byakuya as he countered, "Where is your proof? If you don't have any, do feel free to remain silent as the adults figure out who needs to be punished in this case."
Infuriated by the Togami Heir's insult, Mondo clenched his fists and appeared to be gearing up for another round of shouting but never got the chance to.
"We're getting off track," Kyoko abruptly interrupted, shocking everyone back to their situation. "Let's review the differences between this case and Genocide Jill's previous incidents. The proof that we're looking for is hidden in there."
"…Oh? Proof that I'm the culprit, you mean," Byakuya spoke up without missing a beat, to which Kyoko averted her gaze and chose to remain silent.
Sensing her chance to take the spotlight, Genocide Jill came crashing into the conversation.
"Oh, you want to know more about my methods, eh?! Alright! I'll tell you!" she shouted, far too enthusiastically. "I use my very own, special, one-of-a-kind scissors to arrange the bodies of my victims! No exceptions!"
"But, Chihiro was suspended using some kind of rope, was she not?" Celeste questioned, her gaze slowly turning toward Byakuya.
"That's right! She was!" Taka confirmed, doing his best to help with the investigation.
"Spill it, Byakuya! Where'd you get that rope from?!" Mondo flat out accused his fellow classmate.
"Hmph…I've never seen that rope before in my life," Byakuya retorted, his answer incredibly cliché and obviously suspicious. And that little comment was all it took for Makoto to finally piece this section of the trial together.
"No, that's wrong!"
"…I honestly can't believe how fucking lucky I am!" Mondo mused as Makoto continued to cross-examine that bastard Byakuya, explaining how he had used the extension cord to suspend Chihiro's body. "At this rate, no one's gonna find out…what I…did to…Chihiro…"
All at once, the memory of bashing the petite programmer upside the head invaded Mondo's mind. He tried to force it away, tried to pretend like it had never happened, tried to lie to himself…convince himself that Byakuya really was the culprit.
However, he could still feel the weight of the dumbbell…the sound of metal connecting with bone as it came down…the horrifying image of brave little Chihiro crumpling to the floor…how light her body had been as he'd carried her to the girl's locker room…
"No! Stop thinking about it, dammit!" the biker shouted in his own head, biting his tongue to keep from letting out an agonized scream. Somehow, he managed to reign in his fluctuating emotions long enough to see that Makoto was almost finished persecuting that rich bastard!
"There's no turning back now…I know that…I know…that…"
"I see. So I used the extension cord to suspend Chihiro, is that right?" Byakuya continued to lead on his classmates, smiling internally the entire time. "If that's true, how would I have created that bloody message? Chihiro wasn't bleeding enough for such a huge message to be written."
The Togami Heir knew he was practically leading Makoto to the answers now but he didn't have a choice. Too many people were catching on to his act and had derailed the conversation far too often. He needed to get this out in the open as soon as possible, so that their opinions wouldn't be strayed so far that he couldn't correct them in identifying Mondo as the true culprit.
As if to taunt him, someone other than Makoto answered his question.
"Obviously you used your own blood," Junko entered the discussion, glaring at him menacingly. "The blood that had been on your fingertips wasn't Chihiro's, it was yours. You probably cut your own fingers to get enough to write it all out with, since pricking only a single finger wouldn't have been enough."
With a seething glare, Byakuya answered, "I see. So you believe this case went down like this…" He paused to collect all his thoughts, a sly smirk stretching out on his lips. "I attacked Chihiro in the girl's locker room, left and waited for someone to discover her. And when Mondo ran off, I returned and strung her up like a rag doll to make it appear like it was the work of a famous serial killer. Is that right?"
There were several contradictions that anyone could have spotted in his statement. Mainly, the idea of attacking and leaving Chihiro before returning to complete the job. Not to mention that it was odd that he wouldn't have just killed her while he had the chance, though he wasn't anywhere foolish enough to do such a boorish thing. Lastly, was the fact that he didn't actually have a means of getting into the girl's locker room. Even with the newfound knowledge that Sayaka's e-handbook was missing, he didn't have it on him and that was proof enough that he couldn't have entered the girl's locker room.
"If Makoto can pick out even one of these contradictions, then I suppose I can give him a passing grade. If not, I will have proven how useless he is and explain it all myself," Byakuya mused as he waited to see how the scene would unfold. He knew by the scrunched brow of Makoto's face, that the lucky student was on the cusp of having the answer.
A moment later, Makoto lifted his gaze and stared at Byakuya…with a hint of confusion in his eyes.
"You say that you attacked Chihiro in the girl's locker room. But are you really sure about that? Couldn't the attack have taken place somewhere else?" the lucky student posed, earning many skeptical glances.
Byakuya couldn't help but feel utterly disappointed. Makoto had shot over all of the points that he'd so carefully laid out and instead focused on something completely unrelated to the case. Perhaps he'd expected too much from the lucky student, and the talent he'd witnessed from Makoto during the first trial was just a fluke after all.
"How disappointing…" the Togami Heir didn't even bother to hide his frustration. "What kind of question is that? Even in this cacophony of disappointments, that is truly a letdown. Chihiro was found in the girl's locker room. How could the scene of the crime be anywhere else?"
Byakuya was too focused on his own disappointment that he almost didn't notice the fiery gaze that had begun to burn in Makoto's eyes.
"I think that someone carried Chihiro to the girl's locker room…after she was attacked in the boy's locker room!"
As shock gripped everyone in the room, no one was more surprised than Byakuya himself.
"Attacked in…the boy's locker room?" the Togami Heir asked, finding himself questioning not only Makoto, but himself as well.
Initially, he thought that Makoto was merely bluffing or perhaps misunderstood the true nature of the case. However, Byakuya recalled how, only a few days ago, the lucky student had all but solved how the first case had proceeded when no one else could…by noticing something that not even he had taken into account.
"The dying message from the first trial…I never even considered it. Is this similar? Has Makoto stumbled upon something that I have overlooked?"
No matter how desperately the Togami Heir wanted to tell himself that Makoto had to be mistaken, history had already proven him wrong once. And he would not make that same mistake a second time. His life was on the line here and he couldn't risk failing to explore all possibilities…even if he knew who the true culprit was.
So, repressing his instincts telling him that Makoto had to be wrong, Byakuya was forced to rely on the lucky student to once again make the situation clear.
Mondo felt his entire body stiffen as Makoto proposed where the crime might have actually taken place. And while they were incredibly far from even catching wind of him being involved, something about this eerily reminded him of what had happened to Leon during the first trial. However, the biker knew that saying anything right now might give him away, so he chose to remain silent and listen as the trial continued.
"That was awfully specific," Byakuya retorted, seeming flustered for the first time since this case began. "Please explain what you mean by that."
Without any hesitation, Makoto answered, "The dumbbell that was used to attack Chihiro came from the boy's locker room. I know that because I found the exact same kind of dumbbell on the rack in the girl's locker room. Meaning that the one we found must have come from the boy's locker room."
"Couldn't that simply mean that the attacker brought the dumbbell with him into the girl's locker room?" Byakuya questioned, trying to get more specifics out of the lucky student.
Moreover, something about the way the rich bastard posed that question upset Mondo. He had specifically referred to the attacker as 'him' meaning that, for some reason, Byakuya thought that the attacker was a dude. And this time, he didn't seem to be referring to himself with those statements.
"No…no fucking way. There's absolutely no fucking way Byakuya knows it's me!" Mondo mentally insisted as he continued to listen to their conversation.
"Maybe…" Makoto admitted, his moxie only slightly affected as he continued, "But that wouldn't make much sense. It proves that the attacker is a guy, since none of the girls would be able to get into the boy's locker room. We're just lucky that the attacker didn't put the identical dumbbell from the girl's locker room on the boy's locker room rack, otherwise we would have thought that it had to be a girl."
Mondo gritted his teeth and seethed as he realized that he should have done exactly what Makoto had suggested. However, it wasn't as if that was something he had ever really thought of, or would have considered in that situation. He'd been more concerned about…Chihiro…
Barely managing to repress his guilt, Mondo gripped the rail in front of him to keep himself composed as the debate continued.
"Makoto makes a good point," Junko concurred, unsurprisingly agreeing with the lucky student. "The attacker probably used the dumbbell in the heat of the moment. They may not have even planned on attacking Chihiro, which is why they didn't think about switching it out."
"It could also be that the reason the attacker didn't switch out the dumbbells was because they didn't initially plan to move Chihiro to the girl's locker room either, and they just forgot about it," Makoto explained, lowering his gaze in thought. "I think Junko might be right in that the attack was probably something they did spur of the moment—".
"That's a bit absurd, don't you think?" Byakuya interrupted, folding his arms and glaring at Makoto. "If what you're saying is true, then why did they carry Chihiro to the girl's locker room? They wouldn't have done that if they hadn't premeditated the attack."
"Yeah, that doesn't make sense!" Hina concurred, much to everyone's surprise. "I mean, I don't want to agree with Byakuya…and I mean I really don't want to agree with him." That statement was followed by a swift glare from the Togami Heir but she ignored it and continued, "But Chihiro's a girl. How would she have gotten into the boy's locker room?"
"I would ask the same thing," Celeste said, adding her own voice to the confusion. "It is possible that the attacker, whomever he is, tricked her into going into the boy's locker with him. However, I doubt that, even given how naïve Chihiro tends to be sometimes, she would have gone in. She is naïve but not incompetent."
All at once, Mondo felt a swell of relief as they couldn't figure out the truth. He'd nearly panicked when he thought that they might uncover Chihiro's true gender, which could lead them back to him. But it seemed that luck really was on his side as he noticed the look of pure confusion on Makoto's face, which assured him that the lucky student himself had finally run out of ideas.
"That…I don't know…" Makoto somberly admitted, hanging his head. "I mean…everything else matches up, except for that."
A heavy silence hung over the room
"In that case, it means that the culprit has to be Byakuya!" Taka abruptly shouted, startling everyone. "I believe that it's time to place our votes!"
Mondo's eyes widened as his Bro made that suggestion and he couldn't stop himself from staring at Taka. The Moral Compass was unknowingly signing his own death warrant…all the while trusting every word that that biker had told him.
"Don't be so fucking stupid, Bro! If you don't vote for…if you don't vote for…if you don't vote for me…then everyone's going to…going to…"
More than ever before, Mondo felt like shouting his confession to the entire courtroom. However, the paralyzing fear of punishment kept him silent and couldn't be shaken off. Mondo wanted someone…anyone to tell Taka how utterly idiotic he was being! He couldn't do it himself…he couldn't tell them the truth…he wasn't strong enough to—
"Seriously man, could you stop with always asking to vote?! It could get us all killed!" Leon protested, reminding everyone of how he'd, ironically, shot down Taka's idea of voting prematurely in the first trial too.
A noiseless gasp escaped Mondo as he heard Leon's voice, his words bringing the salvation that the biker hadn't known he wanted his fellow classmates to have. Once again, it seemed that the baseball star was trying to keep them from ending up on the chopping block, even if he wasn't completely aware of it.
"What? You don't think that Byakuya is guilty?" the Moral Compass questioned, making Leon shrink back.
"Well…I'm not saying I don't think that, but…" the baseball star paused and glanced at Makoto, obviously considering what the lucky student had proposed about Chihiro being attacked in the boy's locker room.
"…Hold on a second."
The entire room turned as Kyoko addressed them, her firm gaze stunning everyone in silence. Even so, Mondo couldn't help but think that she looked as if she'd come to a difficult decision and was prepared to accept the consequences for it. And for reasons beyond his understanding, he began to feel afraid.
"I agree with Makoto. I think he's on the right track about Chihiro…" Kyoko explained, making Mondo feel even more terrified.
And it was that fear that prompted Mondo to glare down at her, from his position beside her, and counter, "What the hell?! You finally open your mouth and that's all you have to say?! There's no way Chihiro could have gotten into the boy's locker room, so—".
Before he even had the chance to finish, Mondo instantly regretted speaking up. Her icy gaze shot up at him, penetrating through his very soul. It was as if she could see everything…everything that he'd done to Chihiro…everything that he'd done to deceive them during the trial…every rotten thing he'd done in his entire life felt as if it was being examined as her cold, calculating eyes bore into him.
And the most horrifying part was…that she seemed completely emotionless while she did it. As if no sympathy or empathy existed within her. Only the drive to know and expose the truth.
"Why are you so certain Chihiro had no way in?" Kyoko asked him directly, as if challenging his very existence. He wanted to refute her, tell her she had to be wrong…but he couldn't. Instead, he just stood there as she continued, "There's still one other way she could have gained access…"
No matter how hard he tried to hide it, Mondo knew that he slipped up when his eyes widened. As if taking note, Kyoko's eyes narrowed and she averted her gaze from him. However, the biker couldn't help but continue to feel as if he was singled out…as if she'd known the truth all along. But that was impossible…there's no way that she could have figured out Chihiro's was physically a dude…
"No way…there's no fucking way she's figured it out!" Mondo swore internally as he felt his composure slipping.
"That's ridiculous! What other way is there?!" Taka immediately questioned, backing up his Bro as best he could.
Without even looking at him, Kyoko said, "Well, to explain that…why don't we take a little break from the trial. There's something I'd like to show all of you."
As confusion wrapped itself around the courtroom, it seemed that their captor was the most perplexed of them all.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, fucking wait I said!" Monokuma shouted, obviously not expecting such a bold request to be made, especially not in the middle of a trial. "Just what do you think you're doing, missy?! You can't call for a recess! Only I can call for a recess!"
As if anticipating the bear's complaint, Kyoko lightly smirked and said, "Don't worry, this will make the whole trial more interesting. I'm sure that thought must please you?"
Monokuma leaned forward, as if to challenge her but suddenly fell silent. The bear lowered its head in thought, lightly groaning as if coming to a decision.
"Hmmm, making things more exciting, huh?" Monokuma pondered aloud for a second longer before snapping its head up and cackling. "Well, alrighty then! It's decided! I declare the first ever class trial recess! But I warn you, it had better be exciting or else…"
Abruptly, Monokuma showcased it's razor-sharp claws and pointed them in Kyoko's direction. However, the stoic girl didn't even flinch as she replied, "Oh, I have no doubt it will meet with your…exclusive expectations. Now then, shall we go?"
"Uh…where exactly are we going?" a perplexed Makoto asked, to which she glanced toward the elevator.
"We're going to visit Chihiro in the nurse's office."
If the students weren't shocked before, they were now. All at once, a roar of confusion engulfed the entire room.
"Huh?! For real?!" Hina shouted in surprise, looking to Sakura for an answer. However, the muscular woman simple shrugged her shoulders, obviously not having the answer either.
"So then…we have to leave the courtroom?" Sayaka apprehensively asked, looking to Leon for walking support, despite the fact that Junko was closer to her.
"It seems so! Alright then, single file everyone! Let's make this trip as orderly as we can!" Taka shouted, ready to herd everyone into the elevator.
As the cacophony of confusion swirled around them, Mondo felt nothing but absolute terror. He wasn't quite sure what Kyoko was up to, but he knew it couldn't be good! If they were off to visit Chihiro, then it meant that Kyoko probably did know more than she was letting on, which spelled disaster for him! And now that she'd gotten the bear to officially sanction her little field trip, there was no way for him to protest. All the while, the ever growing fear welling up inside him was becoming harder and harder to combat.
"This…this can't be happening… this can't be fucking happening…!"
Throughout the entire trip back up the elevator and through the hallways, Kyoko couldn't help but second guess herself. Even though it was far too late for that now, she still couldn't help but feel a bit ashamed of what she planned to do. However, she'd made her decision…knowing that she was the only one who could save her classmates now.
"Chihiro Fujisaki…I'm going to have to reveal your secret to everyone. It's wrong of me to do so…but there is no other way to expose the truth. I won't expect forgiveness for what I'm about to do."
Not only that, she also felt guilty for what she knew she was doing to Mondo. He wasn't exactly good at hiding his emotions and even though he was trying his best to hide it, he was beginning to lose his composure. She figured out he was the one who'd attacked Chihiro after how he'd referred to the programmer as 'dude', meaning that he already knew of Chihiro's secret. It wasn't the hugest bit of evidence but at the very least, if Mondo was the attacker, then all the pieces fit into place.
Even so, she couldn't understand why he hadn't simply told them all the truth at the start. They would have forgiven him if he'd had just admitted to it in the first place. The only logical explanation she could arrive at was that it had to do with his own secret, and he was willing to let them all die to keep it…
"There's no way to know without asking. And that's out of the question…for now."
As everyone made their way into the nurse's office, they found Monokuma already inside waiting for them.
"Geez, took you long enough! Any more waiting and I would have called off the whole recess thing! It's for elementary kids anyway! So, what the hell are we here for, exactly?" the bear screeched as Kyoko made her way through the crowd to stand in front of everyone.
Luckily, it seemed that Chihiro was still peacefully sleeping off her attack, but otherwise was still completely unharmed. That was another reason Kyoko had wanted to come up here instead of simply telling everyone the truth, to ensure that Chihiro actually was alright, since she'd been left completely unguarded this entire time. Reassured that her classmate was alright, Kyoko moved on to the next stage.
"I'd like for one of us to thoroughly examine Chihiro's body for any other injuries. And I'd like everyone present to see the results," she answered swiftly and firmly, preferring not to drag this out any longer than she needed to.
"W-What?! You want us to ravage the body of an unconscious girl?!" Taka shouted, pointing furiously at Kyoko. "How could you suggest such a thing?! You're a girl too, aren't you?!"
"I simply want to examine her. Nothing more," Kyoko defended her proposition, glancing down at the unconscious Chihiro. "We will be respectful, I assure you."
Slightly calming down, Taka huffed and replied, "…I see. Let's just get this over with quickly then. She needs her rest."
Kyoko almost smiled at how considerate the Moral Compass was being, but knew that now wasn't the time. Taka was right, they needed to get this over with as quickly as possible.
"Would anyone care to volunteer?" Kyoko asked, again not wanting to take the spotlight herself.
"Yeah, well, I mean, based on religious grounds…I don't think I can do that," Hiro wisely chickened out, doing something intelligent for the first time since the trial began.
"So when you say, 'thoroughly examine' Chihiro's body? Do you mean like, with our hands…?" Hifumi creepily asked, his fingers slightly wiggling as an obvious idea popped into his head.
"Dude, that's fucking gross," Leon practically snarled at Hifumi, with Sayaka nodding firmly in agreement.
"…Very well. I'll do it," Sakura suddenly spoke up, crushing the fanfic creator's dreams with her steadfast resolve. "Chihiro probably wouldn't mind so much if a fellow girl was the one to do it. So just leave this to me."
Kyoko held in a grimace, knowing the outcome might upset both Sakura and Chihiro later. However, she had to admit that Sakura was the best choice for this situation, considering how honorable she was and how gentle the marital artist would be with the programmer's body.
However, the peaceful atmosphere was broken when a certain serial killer shouted, "Oh! I was right! We've gonna get some specially girl-on-girl action! No scissoring but at least we've got potential!"
Instantly, Sakura twisted her head around and shot Genocide Jill a death glare. The serial killer squeaked for a moment before falling silent, obviously not used to having someone more fearsome than herself staring her down. However, much to everyone's shock, she remained silent and simply watched with bated breath as Sakura prepared to examine Chihiro.
"Alright, here I go. I'm sorry Chihiro, please excuse the intrusion," Sakura whispered as she carefully pulled back the covers, exposing Chihiro's sleeping form.
Clapping her hands together, as if asking for forgiveness, the martial artist slowly began examining the top of Chihiro's body, slowly working her way down. She was very careful and occasionally stopped when Chihiro unconsciously whined while being examined. Sakura made the choice not to remove her clothes and simply lifted up Chihiro's shirt to see if the programmer was injured.
Just when it looked like Sakura was about to pull back, her examination finished, Kyoko stepped forward and said, "Please be sure to examine her entire body. I believe that will solve this particular mystery."
"Her…entire body?" the martial artist questioned with a raised brow. "I know you say that, but—"
And then, as Kyoko knew she would, Sakura's hand traveled down and felt Chihiro's pelvic area. The instant the martial artists hand felt a bulge, she recoiled back slightly, confusion warping her features. Everyone was startled at seeing the normally composed Sakura so frazzled but they waited as she slowly went back to that distinctive bulge under Chihiro's skirt. Almost nervously, Sakura bent down and glanced underneath the skirt…
An instant later, Sakura let out a surprised and ferocious scream.
"HUAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Everyone gasped as the usually calm Sakura leapt back and panted heavily, her face suddenly burning crimson.
"Wh-What is it?!" Makoto instinctively asked, being the first to regain his composure after such a surprising sight.
"…Not possible…it's not possible…" Sakura said aloud, obviously reeling from her discovery.
"NOOO!" Hifumi unexpectedly squealed. "Don't tell me Ms. Fujisaki is…a robot!"
"No…no…that's not…" Sakura tried to answer but found herself losing her composure. "This…this girl…is…is…a boy!"
A heavy silence fell over the room for a moment as that information was processed. And then, before anyone else, Hifumi chuckled to himself and said, "Oh, I see! So 'she'was actually a 'he'! Interesting, that's much better than her being a robot…"
Just when it seemed that he'd taken the new all too well, Hifumi's features twisted as he screamed.
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"
And just like that, a wave of utter confusion and shock wracked each and every student's body, even Byakuya seemed perturbed by this new discover, further proving he wasn't the true culprit. In fact, everyone seemed to be unable to comprehend the situation…except for two that Kyoko made sure to monitor.
The first was obviously Mondo, who despite trying to appear shocked, seemed more ashamed than anything. And while she couldn't fathom why, it was now clear that he had in fact known about Chihiro's true gender. And, at least for Kyoko, it proved, without a doubt, that Mondo was the culprit in this case.
The other student who didn't seem as shocked, which didn't really surprise Kyoko much anymore, was Junko Enoshima. Sure, she appeared to be nervous and dazed but she certainly didn't seem surprised, at least not to Kyoko. This meant that her initial assumptions about the Fashionista might be true after all, and she did know more than she was letting on. And while it was clear that Junko wasn't working with the Mastermind, considering how the Mastermind had tried to kill her, that didn't mean they weren't connected somehow.
Unfortunately, there wasn't time to ponder exactly what the connection was. The trial had to come first. But when it was over, Kyoko knew she needed to do some digging on who Junko Enoshima really was.
Turning her attention back to her other classmates, she found that many of them were still in shock about Chihiro's true gender.
"This is a joke, right?" Hiro tried to reason, only to have Sakura glare down at him.
"I would never joke about this!" she shouted, waves of confusion and frustration radiating off of her.
"So he's a cross-dresser!" Genocide Jill abruptly shouted, sounding entirely disappointed. "He's an adorable little cross-dresser! Oooooh, I just wanna stab him all up!"
Her comment was met with fierce glares from most of the class, more specifically Kyoko, Junko and Sakura. Perhaps due to that, or maybe she just got bored, but the serial killer decided to keep quiet and simply seethed, occasionally glancing at Chihiro's sleeping form. Kyoko noted that they would need to have someone watch over Chihiro at all times after this trial, to ensure that Genocide Jill didn't get any ideas.
"Oh, so that's what Kyoko wanted to show everyone! Interesting…very interesting…and fantastic!" Monokuma shouted in elation, throwing its paws in the air. "This certainly wet my appetite, if you know what I mean! A welcome addition to this trial! But now I'm afraid that we need to ride this wave of desperation all the way back to the class trial courtroom! On the double!"
Kyoko narrowed her eyes as the bear disappeared from view, obviously heading back to its chair in the courtroom. She'd given the Mastermind a great deal of pleasure, seeing their shocked and confused expressions, and it sickened her. However, this was a necessary step that needed to be taken if they were going to expose the truth…
She only hoped that her fellow classmates would be able to forgive Mondo for his deception. Otherwise, it was all for nothing. Monokuma's motive will have truly beaten them if they chose to execute him…and she couldn't allow that to happen—!
"Hey, are you okay?" a concerned voice asked her.
Kyoko's eyes widened as she hadn't even realized that Makoto was standing next to her, a worried look on his face. It was embarrassing, to say the least, that he'd seen her spacing out like that. But at the same time, she was thankful that it was he who had noticed, since he was the only person here that she really trusted.
Nodding firmly to him, she said, "I'm fine. We should hurry back to the courtroom."
"Oh, okay," he replied, as if not completely believing her.
Then again, she understood why. She hadn't really opened up to him much, besides the little bit of time they shared watching over Sayaka. She wanted to, but knew it could be dangerous, especially in this kind of situation. If they survived long enough, she wanted to get to know him better…and possibly apologize for always letting him have the central focus during the trials.
But now wasn't the time for such trivial things…
Holding out a gloved hand, to gesture that he should go first, Makoto flashed her a quick smile before accepting her gesture, walking past her and heading for the door.
Trailing behind him, speaking quietly under her breath, Kyoko couldn't stop herself from whispering:
"…Thank you."
"…God-dammit…God-fucking-dammit…!"
Mondo cursed himself as Sakura shouted those fatal words. Now they knew, they knew that Chihiro was biologically a boy and that knowledge was going to change everything. And while that certainly was upsetting, it didn't hurt quite as much as the feeling of having let Chihiro down.
"I promised her…I fucking promised her…and I couldn't even keep that promise for a fucking day!"
Everything was falling to pieces around him. He knew it was only a matter of time before Kyoko or Makoto found out the truth now. He wanted to give up. He wanted to give in. He wanted to admit to his failing right then and there…but he couldn't. He just couldn't tell them the truth…not now. If he did, they'd have him executed for putting their lives at risk, he knew that. But he also knew it was an excuse…an excuse for his own lack of strength…an excuse that prolonged the inevitable.
His body was trembling and just when he thought he was going to crack open, a firm hand landed on his shoulder. Snapping his head up, he shifted his gaze to see Taka standing next to him.
"I know it's frustrating, but we need to keep our composure! If we don't we won't be able to bring Chihiro's attacker to justice!" Taka assured him, obviously referring to how the biker had been shaking just now. "Come on, Bro! Let's solve this case, together with everyone!"
Mondo's eyes slightly widened as he realized that his Bro had mistaken trembling with fear for shaking with anger. And upon seeing that, his new Bro hadn't thought twice about coming over and reassuring him, trying to do all he could for his friend. Mondo felt so much shame that it almost overwhelmed him but a new thought held him back, keeping him from admitting the truth.
"How…How the hell…am I gonna tell Bro the truth? What will…he think of me when he finds out what I did?!"
All at once, the memory of lying to his gang members about Daiya's death revisited him. His boys had looked up to him, for both leadership and support now that his older brother was gone. And even though the guilt was tearing him apart, he knew that he needed to keep it together…for them!
Unfortunately, this situation was completely different than it had been with his gang members. He wasn't being strong for anyone, in fact…he was just being weak.
If he told Taka the truth, it would destroy him. Mondo was his very first friend…how would you feel if your first friend betrayed you like that…and in less than a fucking day?! But if he didn't own up to his crime, then his Bro might die. But if he did tell them all the truth, then his own Bro might vote to have him…executed! No…he couldn't face that! He couldn't bear to have that outcome happen! He had to hold out for as long as he could! Even if Makoto and Kyoko eventually exposed him…he somehow felt that was better than admitting to his faults right here and now! It would be a fitting punishment for his crimes…if it came down to that. He knew he was being a coward…but he couldn't help it…he didn't want to die! He had other promises he needed to keep, dammit! He couldn't die here…no matter what!
Putting on his best grin, Mondo shrugged off Taka's hand and said, "Yeah…let's get this done…Bro!"
Holding up his fist, he watched as Taka laughed heartily before bumping it with his own. He continued to watch as his Bro turned and headed for the door, leaving Mondo alone in the room with the unconscious Chihiro.
Up until now, Mondo had avoided looking at the programmer at all, fearful of what seeing her might do to him. But now, as he prepared to go and face whatever fate waited him, he turned back to glance down at Chihiro.
The bandage on her head had a tiny amount of blood on it but otherwise, she seemed to be resting peacefully. He was happy about that at least. It seemed that she would make a full recovery, and that thought seemed to soothe him somewhat. Even with all the guilt he felt, he knew that, at the very least, Chihiro was going to live…
"I don't think…I'm gonna be so lucky…" he thought to himself as he turned and exited the room.
"Alright! Welcome back to the courtroom! Recess is officially over! Time to get back to the trial!" Monokuma announced once everyone had retaken their seats and were prepared to continue debating.
Taking up her own position, Mukuro was desperately trying to piece together everything. She had always known Chihiro was a boy…though if she remembered correctly, the programmer identified as female. She wasn't completely sure about that, considering she barely spent time with Chihiro during their school days. But she did recall Junko mentioning that the programmer wanted to be girl…
Shaking her head with an inaudible grunt, the soldier forced those thoughts away, since they weren't of use right now. She needed to focus on who attacked Chihiro.
"Byakuya's still the most suspicious and obvious culprit. However…Makoto seemed to believe it wasn't him. And if what everyone told me about the first trial is true, Makoto is much more intuitive than I gave him credit for."
Letting her eyes drift over to him, Mukuro saw that he was already in deep thought, no doubt doing everything he could to solve this mystery. Drawing strength from the conviction he displayed, the soldier felt a tiny smile grace her lips as she decided to follow his lead.
"If Makoto believes that someone else is to blame, then I'll place my bet on that too. The only question is, if not Byakuya…who among us would be desperate enough to attack Chihiro?"
Wracking her brain, Mukuro tried to remember all of the secrets her classmates were hiding. However, apart from the obvious ones, like Toko and Celeste, she didn't really know. She knew that Leon's was about magazines or something, Hiro had to do with his fortune-telling getting him into trouble and that Hifumi's dealt with some kind of manga taboo. But none of those secrets made her classmates seem desperate enough to make them murder sweet little Chihiro.
Then again, she couldn't really deny that it was possible. After all, with everyone's minds wiped, they were just a group of strangers to each other and that meant all bets were off…just like Junko had wanted.
"And the worst part is…I'm no better off than anyone else. I thought that, with my knowledge of our school lives intact, I'd have an advantage. It seems I vastly overestimated myself…I don't even remember who everyone usually hung out with! I mean, Sakura and Hina were friends and Leon and Sayaka had a thing but…beyond that…I don't really know anything about…anyone…"
Mukuro hung hear head as she realized that, all throughout her time with her classmates in school, she barely registered them as people. They had been her classmates, the people Junko enjoyed secretly tormenting. And since she had primarily been focused on pleasing her sister, she hadn't really taken the time to know or understand any of them.
Makoto had been the only exception…
But everything was different now. Ever since she'd turned away from her sister, she'd been doing her best to learn about and become friendly with her classmates. In retrospect, without the killing game, she probably never would have learned that Leon hated baseball, that Sayaka felt such pressure for being an idol, or even that her own sister was willing to betray her for a set of stupid rules!
It was like her eyes had finally opened up to the real world, not just the world Junko had wanted her to see. And because of that, she knew that she couldn't just give up now. Even though she was just as lost as everyone else, at the very least, she was determined to find a way to save everyone…including whoever attacked Chihiro!
With that resolve, she returned her focus to the trial just as Kyoko restarted the debate.
"…So then, there should no issue with Makoto's initial assertion," Kyoko said, taking center stage. "I don't know about their gender status, but since Chihiro was male, it means that they could have been attacked in the boy's locker room and then carried to the girl's locker room."
Everyone noticed how Kyoko was referring to Chihiro, not using gender specific pronouns of any kind. Whether she was trying to be respectful or just wasn't sure of how to address their classmate's situation, no one could say. At the very least, it made them all consciously think about how they should talk about Chihiro in the future. Perhaps that's what Kyoko had wanted, but it was too early to tell.
"That's assuming that Chihiro's handbook listed their sex as male," Byakuya abruptly spoke up, shifting his gaze over to Monokuma.
Knowing the inquisition was directed toward itself, the bear scoffed and said, "Of course it listed him as male! It wouldn't do to have a boy getting into the girl's locker room, now would it?!"
Monokuma's jeer visibly upset most of the students, since the bear was blatantly trying to label Chihiro as male, without regard for how the programmer might have felt. All of the students felt like correcting the bear but obviously feared the consequences, driving them further into frustration. It was at this time that a defiant voice spoke up.
"Why don't we put off on labeling our classmate until we hear from Chihiro personally?" Junko surprisingly proposed, earning suspicious glares from both Kyoko and Byakuya. "We'll have plenty of time to talk about how Chihiro wants to be viewed later…after we get through this bogus trial!"
As she finished, she sent a glare toward Monokuma, which was easily met by the demented bear. And while no one was really surprised at Junko's boldness, it still felt strange to see the Fashionista challenging their captor. And despite the fact that most of them were just pleased that someone had spoken up at all, it did generate suspicion from Kyoko, Byakuya and Celeste.
The epic staring contest between the Fashionista and the bear went on for a few moments before another reasonable voice rose up to support Junko.
"Yeah…I think Junko's right! Let's just focus on figuring out why Chihiro was moved from the boy's locker room to the girl's locker room!" Makoto unsurprisingly concurred, finally getting the trial back to the matter at hand.
Obviously conceding to that rationale, Junko quickly averted her gaze from the bear and said, "Alright then, let's get to it."
"Is there any proof that Chihiro was attacked in the boy's locker room?" Celeste questioned, not entirely convinced.
"As a matter of fact, there is." Kyoko's assertion got everyone's attention as she continued, "After examining the boy's locker room, I found depressions in the carpet from where Chihiro must have fallen. Not only that, there was a tiny amount of blood between the fibers of the carpet."
"You combed through the entire carpet?" a very surprised Hina asked. "Like, on your hands and knees and everything?"
"Of course I did," Kyoko instantly answered, "I had to be sure that was the spot the attack took place."
"Reeeeeeeally?!" Genocide Jill interrupted, her tongue hanging out as she spoke. "Getting down on your hands and knees in the boy's locker room, eh? Never figured you'd be the type! Kyahahahahaha!"
That entirely lewd comment made over half the class glare at the serial killer, who scoffed at their gazes. "What? Did you expect me to be like Miss Morose and not vocalize my fantasies?! It's not often I get to a chance to come…out from inside her! Eyahaha! Oh, I kill myself! Kyahahahaha!"
An awkward silence followed for a few moments as Jill's voice echoed all around them, hopefully relieve some much needed tension she'd been holding in.
"If Chihiro really was attacked in the boy's locker room, then it solves most of the mysteries surrounding this case," Byakuya audibly mentioned, drowning out Jill's rabid laughter.
"Yeah, well, mysteries solved or not, that doesn't mean that you're off the hook!" Hina jumped in, glaring at the smug Togami Heir. "It's still obvious that you're the culprit, right?!"
Instead of answering, Byakuya merely chuckled to himself and folded his arms, smirking all the while. After a moment of self-gloating, the Togami Heir turned his gaze toward Makoto and said, "What do you think about that, Makoto? Am I really the culprit?"
Flinching for being put on the spot, the lucky student nervously answered, "W-Well, without a doubt, you were the one who altered the crime scene to make it look like Genocide Jill's handiwork…but I don't think he's the one who attacked Chihiro…"
As expected, an uproar of disbelieve sounded throughout the courtroom.
"This wasn't exactly what I had planned, but I suppose it will suffice," Byakuya assured himself as Makoto continued to fight his battle for him, explaining how he'd left obvious clues like the extension cord, so that they could be traced back to him. "It seems that his talents aren't just a fluke. He's more useful than I ever imagined."
"…not to mention that, when we found out the murder took place in the boy's locker room, and just now when we all found out that Chihiro was male, you were caught off-guard, weren't you Byakuya? Just like the rest of us," Makoto continued, adequately defending him.
"While not as impressive as I would have preferred, he's still piecing it all together quite nicely," Byakuya mentally noted before sneaking a glance at Kyoko. "I see now why Kyoko's been staying out of the trial so much. Such a cruel woman…making him do all the work for her while she reaps the benefits. Then again, I suppose it shows that she isn't to be underestimated either…along with a certain someone who I never expected to survive this long…"
Byakuya couldn't stop himself from quickly glancing Junko's way as well. Her behavior had been suspicious to him ever since the first trial, as if she wasn't the same person he'd begrudgingly met a few days ago. And while he knew from personal experience that trauma could strength one's resolve, this was more of a case of personality upheaval than simple mind-set change.
It seemed that there were now three people he'd need to be wary of in the future.
"…Byakuya, if you really were the one who had attacked Chihiro, none of that stuff would have affected you, but it did!" Makoto finally finished, glaring at the Togami Heir as if demanding an answer.
"I suppose I can deign to confirm his suspicions," Byakuya told himself, preparing to answer."This game is starting to bore me. I'd rather get it over with so I can move on to…other inquiries."
"While it bothers me that you don't have more concrete reasons, I suppose I can give you a pass this time," Byakuya smugly replied to Makoto's inquiry. "You're right. I'm not the culprit. I merely came across the unconscious Chihiro and decided to alter the scene a bit."
A brief silence choked the room until a snarl from Mondo began to echo.
"Are you fucking with us right now?!" the biker shouted in absolute fury, obviously wishing he could be standing next to Byakuya to snap his neck.
"No, I am not…effing with you right now. I'm telling the truth," the Togami Heir assured them all, glaring almost accusatorily at Mondo.
"I find that very hard to believe!" Taka refuted, not ready to admit that he had almost caused them to vote for the wrong person…two trials in a row.
"You go ahead and do that. Feel free to help get us all executed for your own stubbornness," Byakuya countered, hitting the nail on the head. "But I guarantee you, I wasn't the one who attacked—".
"Then at least tell us why you strung Chihiro up like that," Sayaka interrupted, her tone harsher than usual. "You could have killed her with that stupid stunt. Did you ever think of that?"
Although initially stunned by her fierce attitude, the Togami Heir shrugged it off and answered, "I was sure to suspend Chihiro in a way that wouldn't bring her much harm. I could have wrapped the extension cord around her neck to hold her up better, but I chose not to. I didn't even have time to properly suspend her before all of you arrived anyway, so she wasn't really hanging there for long in either case."
Almost instantly, Leon scoffed and said, "I knew you were a twisted fuck but I never thought you were so much of a bastard that—".
"I don't need an attempted murderer talking down to me," Byakuya loudly snapped, glaring daggers at Leon and continued to do so until the baseball star was forced to avert his gaze. Immediately afterward, the affluent progeny straightened his coat and huffed, returning to his usual unfeeling demeanor.
Everyone was shocked that Byakuya had so harshly put Leon down, considering that the Togami Heir hardly ever raised his voice. It had happened on one other occasion, when Leon had accosted him after the first case. Even so, it was odd for the usual smug Byakuya to lose his composure, even if it was temporarily.
After a few more seconds of silence, Kyoko spoke up to continue the trial.
"Regardless of why he did it," she paused to send a quick glare at Byakuya. "It seems that someone else attacked Chihiro in the boy's locker room."
"For serious?" Hiro annoyingly voiced. "I thought we were all good."
"Unfortunately, we're not. I agree with Makoto. At the very least, Byakuya is innocent of having attacked Chihiro," Kyoko said adamantly, locking eyes with the lucky student. "As long as other possibilities exist, we can't excuse them. Because if we're wrong, we all die here."
"…That's true. Very well then, I'm with you, too." Celeste unexpectedly concurred, smiling daintily all the while.
Still unsure, Hiro continued, "But…no one but Byakuya could have done it—".
"If Makoto doesn't think Byakuya did it…then I believe him," Sayaka suddenly cut him off, not even bothering to look his way.
"She's right!" Leon concurred, giving Makoto a thumbs up. "We're with you on this one! And no matter how much I want Byakuya to be guilty…I won't vote until you do the thing Makoto!"
"Oh, that's right! Makoto's thing! Alright, count me in! Damn straight!" a newly persuaded Hiro abruptly changed his mind.
"Do you not have a mind of your own?!" Taka immediately countered, to which Hiro merely laughed and scratched his head.
Although she gave a small groan, because of Leon and Hiro's comments, Junko smirked and winked at the lucky student as she also agreed, "You haven't let us down yet, Makoto."
Makoto nodded firmly in the face of their confidence in him and said, "Anyway, let's discuss this all as a group one more time. Surely there's something we've missed…"
The room fell quiet as everyone began thinking about everything that had happened in the case.
"All we know for certain is that the culprit has to be a boy," Sakura assumed aloud, beginning their discussion.
"Yeah, all of the boys have their e-handbooks, right? So none of the girl's would have been able to get in!" Hina surmised, supporting her friend's claim.
"Did anyone other than Mondo see Chihiro before she was attacked?" Junko suddenly asked, drawing attention. "If we know where Chihiro was up until the time of the attack, we can eliminate suspects."
A round of nodding followed as did a raised hand from Celeste.
"Actually, I saw Chihiro about an hour before they were discovered."
"Oh really? Why didn't you mention this before?" Byakuya questioned her suspiciously.
"It didn't seem relevant at the time," she nonchalantly answered, lacing her fingers under her chin and smiling. "And besides, without first proving that the culprit had to be man, I didn't want to draw unnecessary attention and lead you all astray."
"That's fine, that's fine! Just tell us what you saw!" Taka insisted, growing tired of her silver tongue.
With a slight huff, Celeste began her story. "I saw Chihiro in the dormitory warehouse. It appeared as though Chihiro was gathering items for a workout. A tracksuit and duffle bag—".
"I see! That must be the same duffle bag we saw propping open the door to the girl's locker room!" Taka surmised, cutting Celeste off.
Pursing her lips in annoyance, the gambler took a quick breath before continuing, "Come to think of it, Chihiro told me something kind of odd at the time—".
"What?! What did Chihiro say?!" Mondo abruptly demanded, interrupting her again.
Taking a deep breath to keep calm after those interruptions, Celeste answered, "Chihiro said that they were in a hurry. Now, we can understand that meeting with you, Mondo, was probably the case, but why did Chihiro feel they needed to get there so early?"
"Come to think of it, that is really strange!" Taka said, being sure to let her finish this time before speaking. "If Chihiro only needed to see Bro, why would they need to hurry? Unless…they were meeting someone else?!"
"Byakuya! It has to be Byakuya!" Hiro shouted pointing at the Togami Heir fervently.
Everyone, not just Byakuya, sighed as Hiro went back to his previous mindset. This time, instead of correcting him, everyone just seemed to ignore his very presence.
"If Celeste is telling us the truth," Byakuya said, ignoring a slightly glare from the gambler. "Then it's obvious that Chihiro wanted to exercise, judging by the tracksuit and duffle bag found at the scene."
"But Hina and I offered to exercise with Chihiro many times, but we were always refused," Sakura mentioned.
"Yeah, but since Chihiro's a guy, he probably didn't want you to find out by accident or something," came a surprisingly astute comment from Hiro, even if he wasn't being respectful of Chihiro about it.
"Maybe…maybe Chihiro was nervous about something," Makoto voiced, getting everything back on track. "It could be that, the motive that Monokuma gave us, the secret that Chihiro had, was that they were male. And Chihiro wanted to get there early to open the door to exercise without anyone around to see!"
"It could even be that Chihiro wanted to work out a bit before meeting with Mondo, so that their secret wasn't exposed," Junko pondered aloud, turning some head.
"Oooooh, a secret meeting between two boys in the locker room, scandalous!" Genocide Jill cackled, making everyone remember that she was there.
"If Junko's right about that, then whoever attacked Chihiro did it during that hour before Mondo got there," Makoto assessed but instantly hung his head. "But then…it could have been anyone. There's not much else to go on—".
"…No, you already have what you need to make the connection."
Everyone was startled when Kyoko suddenly spoke up, after being quiet for so long again. She locked eyes with Makoto and for a moment, he was stunned into silence. She looked as if she was placing all of her trust in him. In fact, one might say that she was giving him the answer, just by showing her faith in him.
"You know who the culprit is," she said firmly, her conviction as irrefutable as her proclamation.
"Wh-What the fuck?! Makoto knows I'm the culprit!" Mondo mentally panicked, his eyes darting from Kyoko to Makoto. "No…no fucking way…he just said that he had no clue! What the fuck does she mean he already knows?!"
Against his will, he found himself shouting, "Who is it?! Who attacked Chihiro?!"
"Fuck! Why am I asking that?! It's like I actually…want…to get…caught…"
That single thought echoed in his mind more than any other today. Did he…did he actually want to be caught? Was he unconsciously doing things that others would pick up on so that he would be found out? He had to admit…it was scary to think about…scary to think that he might actually want to be caught…and punished…for what he'd done.
He didn't want to die…but he didn't want anyone else to die either.
His guilt was so heavy now. Every step they took, getting closer and closer to uncovering what he'd done, tore him apart inside. He felt like his head was going to explode. There had been so many times that he had to stop himself from correcting them. Like when Junko said that Chihiro went early to exercise alone! Chihiro probably didn't know the first thing about exercise! That's probably why she—no, that was why she'd called him there in the first place…
She'd called him, trusted her secret to him, opened up to him.
And what did he do?! He'd fucking smashed her head with a dumbbell! And why?! Why had he done it?! He knew why…because he was weak…because Chihiro was…Chihiro was…Chihiro was stronger than he had been! Even now, as she fought for her life in the nurse's office, she was still stronger than him!
It forced Mondo to realize that he'd never been strong. He'd only pretended to be. And he was still pretending…
Kyoko knew that Mondo was close to cracking. He hadn't even noticed that she'd been stealing glances at him for a while now. And each time she checked, he was falling further and further into panic. And with each glance, she felt guilt of her own welling up…just like with Leon.
She'd backed Mondo into a corner and knew, once again, when she addressed everyone, she'd be sealing his fate. Even if there was a change that Monokuma was telling the truth, and if they chose not to, they could forgo execution…it didn't take away the anguish she felt for intentionally bringing harm to her classmates.
However, she knew there was no choice. She had to speak up and help her classmates realize who had deceived them. Except this time…she had faith. Faith that a certain lucky student would piece it together and, in the end, save Mondo from his fate.
Holding onto that tiny bit of hope…she said, "Focus on the e-handbooks and it should become obvious who attacked Chihiro."
A wave of confusion swept through the courtroom, as no one seemed to be able to understand what she was implying.
"What good would that do?" Hina was the first to voice her perplexion. "We know only a boy could have gotten into the boy's locker room, and they could use their own handbook for that."
"Wait…we still don't know how the culprit got into the girl's locker room when they moved Chihiro," Makoto realized, his head snapping toward Kyoko. "Is that what you meant?"
"Come to think of it, Sayaka, you said that your e-handbook was still missing, did you not?" Celeste questioned the pop idol directly.
"Y-Yeah. I lost it sometime this morning and I don't know where it is now. It could be anywhere," she concurred, trying to remember where she might have misplaced it.
"Hmm, guess that's a dead end," Junko sadly admitted. "There's no way to know who could have it by now."
After another few seconds of pondering, Leon asked, "What about a girl using a guy's handbook to get into the boy's locker room? We never talked about that!"
"You're right, we didn't." Byakuya didn't attempt to hide his disgust as he turned and glared at the baseball start. "But that's because all of the men still have their handbooks. And unless one of you simpletons leant out your handbook, then it means it's impossible for a girl to have gotten in."
"Oh…shit, right." Leon hung his head as his own idiocy washed over him, falling silent once more.
"…If that's the case, then there's at least one man we can completely rule out as the culprit!" Taka suddenly shouted, much to everyone's surprise. "Mondo went to exercise earlier today but he couldn't get into the boy's locker room…because his e-handbook was broken!"
Mondo gasped as Taka unwittingly gave him the perfect alibi. Without a way to get into the boy's locker room, Mondo was in the clear. No one would guess that Chihiro had let him in and because of that…he might actually get away with it. He might get out of this hell hole of a school…
Why then…why was Mondo so pissed that his Bro was helping him get away with his crime?!
"Yeah, I can vouch for that too!" Leon abruptly joined the conversation. "Mondo and Taka had an endurance match in the sauna last night. It must have gotten broken then."
Again, Mondo felt nothing but shame as now Leon unknowingly assisted him. First Bro and now his newfound baseball friend! Were they trying to cover for his mistakes?! Why were they both doing that?! Sure, they didn't know they were doing it, but they still were! He had to stop them… he had to admit…he had to admit that…that… he—!
"YOU DID WHAT?!"
After being silent since Chihiro's secret was revealed, Monokuma abruptly shot up from its seat and angrily glared at the biker.
"How the hell did you discover its weak point?! The only thing that can destroy your e-handbooks is extreme heat! Do you realize how much it costs to replace those?! Never mind that I can't exactly have any more made right now anyway—urhg!"
Everyone knew the bear had slipped up and it brought a temporary halt to the trial.
"Mind repeating that?" Junko surreptitiously questioned, an almost maniacal smirk on her face. "Why can't you have it replaced, hmm?"
Everyone now seemed more eager to have that question answered than to proceed with the trial. And unfortunately, Monokuma was able to pick up on that as well. With a flick of its wrists, long and sharp claws came out of each paw. Without warning, the bear leapt from its seat and gracefully landed on the railing right in front of Mondo, to which the biker reared back in surprise.
"Show me…show me your handbook's really broken…or penalty!" Monokuma shouted, brandishing its claws menacingly.
Startled by the sharp objects in his face, Mondo reach into his pocket, the one that contained only his e-handbook, and pulled it out, extending it for everyone to see. Pushing the button several times, emphasizing that he was trying to get it to work, the biker effectively proved that his e-handbook was busted.
Suddenly, Monokuma's claws retracted back into its paws, much to everyone's surprise.
"It's busted. No use crying over spilled technology. Guess you're on your own from this point on," the bear said, shrugging its shoulders and heading back toward its chair. Monokuma took the long way back, walking atop the railing all the way, making everyone it passed flinch.
As the bear finally retook its seat, and things settled down, the discussion resumed.
"So, we know that Mr. Owada is innocent, but what about everyone else?" Hifumi asked, as if trying not to make everyone suspicious of him.
"We'll have to go over where everyone was, that's the only way we can do this now," Taka insisted, ready to give a full report on everything he'd been doing since they'd all split up earlier that day.
All the while, Mondo kept going back and forth in his own head.
"If I don't admit to it…everyone will die. But if I admit to it…admit how weak I am…then they'll vote to execute me. I know they will…because I would…because anyone would. I should have come clean when I had the chance…should have told Bro everything after I left Chihiro in the girl's locker room…"
Mondo was so deep in thought that didn't notice Makoto staring at him, the lucky student's eyes widening with realization.
"But then, that bastard Byakuya had to fuck with everything! It's his fault! If he hadn't crucified Chihiro…I would have…I would have…I…would I have admitted it then…?"
As that dark thought burrowed deep into his subconscious, he barely heard Makoto call out to him.
"Hold on a sec…Mondo. How can your e-handbook be broken? That doesn't make sense…"
Mondo froze as Makoto's question invaded his ears before he snapped his head up and stared at the lucky student. However, what truly terrified the biker was that his classmate wasn't looking at him with malice or any kind of anger in his eyes. No…Makoto's eyes begged for understand, as if he couldn't comprehend something important.
It was at that moment…that Mondo knew his fate was sealed.
"What are you getting at, Makoto?" Taka jumped in to defend his friend. "We all saw how Bro couldn't get his e-handbook to work. Were you listening when I explained that—?"
"That's not what I'm talking about…" Makoto cut him off, staring at Mondo in utter shock. "Mondo…you took out your e-handbook and used it when Monokuma updated the rules. I know because I was standing right next to you…and I watched you use it."
All of the air in Mondo's lungs collapsed as Makoto's revelation was made clear to all. Slowly, each and every student turned their gazes on the biker. A chilling feeling spread through Mondo's body, until he could barely feel anything at all. Was this how it felt…when he and everyone else had turned against Leon only a few days ago…?
Suddenly, Mondo completely understood everything that Leon had been trying to tell him. This crushing feeling of having your crimes exposed, the mixture of hateful and sorrowful stares of his classmates, the pain in his chest that refused to subside…it felt…it felt…it felt like he was dying…
Feeling completely cornered, something in Mondo's mind twisted as he suddenly felt the need to defend himself.
"Y-Yeah I did! But I didn't know it was broken!" the biker insisted, trying to lie his way out of this hole he'd dug for himself.
"Hold up! Didn't Taka just say that you already showed him that it was broken? How could you not remember that?" Hina asked him, unintentionally driving him further down.
"Well, yeah, but…I mean I forgot that it was broken! When every else's handbook started beeping, I forgot that mine didn't work! Yeah…that's it…" Mondo lied again, his own words sounding shaky in his ears.
"Then how did you know exactly what the rules said?" Kyoko instantly asked, not even looking his way. "You asked Monokuma about the rules when they first appeared, meaning that you must have read them. But how would that be possible with a broken handbook?"
Despite how much he tried to keep it together, her stern tone and harsh words made Mondo's knees tremble as he tried to respond, "Well…you see…I…I…uh…"
With a deep frown, Kyoko turned toward him and, as though she could see right through him, she said, "It appears as though…you've dug your own grave."
Mondo's eyes widened as her words echoed in his ears and suddenly, he knew that there truly was no hope for him. His mind began to collapse, realizing that there was nothing he could do now…but wait for the inevitable.
"Perhaps he did, but you handed him the shovel, didn't you?" Byakuya's smug grin infuriated everyone, but no one could find the words to refute him. "'Focus on the e-handbook and we'll find the culprit'? What a load of nonsense. Then again, it worked as intended, didn't it?"
"Ah, now I understand," Celeste spoke up, eyeing Kyoko carefully. "It was a bluff, intending to draw a slip of the tongue from the culprit…I must admit, I'm impressed."
Kyoko obviously didn't appreciate their 'praise', averting her gaze as her hands gripped the sleeves of her jacket as she folded her arms.
"No…Mondo was my target from the very beginning." Everyone gasped as she made that accusation, continuing before anyone could refute her. "Maybe you didn't notice it, Mondo, but you tend to refer to men and women differently."
"Say what?! What the hell's that supposed to mean?!" the biker objected, in a last futile attempt to refute her.
Without missing a beat, Kyoko answered, "Every time you talk about a guy, you refer to them as 'dude'. But for girls, you refer to them as 'chick'. When you were talking to Makoto during the investigation…you referred to Chihiro as a dude."
"Wait…but that means that Mondo must have known Chihiro was a guy!" Hiro abruptly shouted, as if making a discovery.
"…Exactly," Kyoko decided to just take her classmate's comment and roll with it. "Mondo already knew of Chihiro's biological sex. And while I couldn't initially connect that to this case, it all makes sense now."
"You actually noticed such a tiny detail?!" Hifumi exclaimed, not focusing on the point.
"She's a witch! A witch I say! Positively frightful!" Genocide Jill shouted while pointing at Kyoko, also missing the crucial detail here.
Kyoko took a moment to steel herself before saying, "No, I'm not the frightful one…not nearly as frightful as someone willing to lie to all of us, just for a chance to get out of here."
Her pointed comment seemed to hit Mondo directly in the chest, because he grunted audibly and groaned. He hung his head, his pompadour almost hitting the railing in front of him as he silently seethed.
"Well then, Mondo…do you have anything to say in your defense?" Celeste asked almost sadistically, smiling sweetly at him for good measure.
Before Mondo even had a chance to say anything, someone else rose to his defense.
"Impossible! None of this can be true! This is a false accusation!" the frantic voice of Taka shouted, his unbelieving tone seeping into everyone's ears. It made Mondo's head shoot up and stare, almost bewildered, at his friend.
Taking a large breath, Taka rattled on, "First off, Makoto must be mistaken about the handbook! Bro was just looking at his own broken handbook, he said it himself! And he probably just looked over at one of our handbooks and saw the rules! That's how he knew about them when he yelled at Monokuma!"
Makoto hung his head for an instant before snapping it back up and saying, "I want to believe that, I really do, but…I heard the noise of his e-handbook booting up, I'm certain of that."
Narrowing his gaze, the Moral Compass insisted, "It must have been someone else's handbook you heard! There's no way Mondo could have used his own broken handbook!"
"You're right…he couldn't use his own," Makoto surmised before shifting his gaze to his left, looking at the student standing next to him. "But…if he used Sayaka's, then its more than possible!"
A wave of understand flooded the room and the realization it brought was so fearsome that it even halted Taka's stubborn defense. Time stood still as the true story of what had happened began to unfold before their very eyes.
"Mondo…you attacked Chihiro, didn't you?" Makoto couldn't stop himself from asking, much too almost everyone's displeasure.
Mondo's face contorted with a mixture of emotions and he stammered, "I…I…I…I…"
Before he could answer, and much to everyone's shock, it seemed that Taka finally lost his temper, angrily shouting, "Why do you all keep accusing him?! Are you trying to suggest that Mondo somehow found a way into the boy's locker room with Sayaka's handbook?! That's absurd! Even if he had Sayaka's handbook, there's no way he could have gotten into the boy's locker room—".
"No…that's wrong," Makoto countered, his usual fire stunted by what he must have known needed to be done.
Across the room, Leon felt chills roll down his spine, remembering what it had been like when Makoto had done the same thing to him. He'd been asking Makoto to do 'the thing' for a while …but now that it was here, the baseball star suddenly didn't want it to happen anymore. In the heat of the trial, he'd forgotten that every time Makoto did the thing…someone ended up getting hurt.
And unfortunately, there was no way to stop Makoto as he said, "If Chihiro, whose handbook would get them both in, opened the door for him…then it's possible."
A heavy silence hung over the room but it didn't last long before Taka shouted again, "I refuse to believe it! Mondo wouldn't hurt a fly! He'd never attack Chihiro like that! Without hard evidence, it's all speculation! Show me some proof that—!"
"…Everyone, empty your pockets!"
The entire room shook as Junko's voice echoed all around them. As one, the entire class turned to her, mostly in confusion. Without warning she dug her hands into the pockets in her skirt and turned them inside out, showing that she didn't have anything.
"What…are you doing?" Makoto hesitantly asked, still unsure of her intentions.
With a stern visage, Junko replied, "We'll all empty our pockets. If anyone has an extra handbook, we'll know that—".
"We don't gotta do that…"
Mondo knew it was over…he'd probably known it from the beginning. He'd just been delaying the inevitable. Maybe he'd been right about wanting to be found out…maybe he wanted someone like Kyoko or Makoto to uncover his crimes…shame him in front of everyone…prove he was nothing but a weakling who couldn't keep his promises to anyone!
And now that everything was out in the open…Mondo finally felt free of the crushing guilt that had born down on him. In a strange way, he was satisfied with this. His classmates would undoubtedly vote to have him executed…which would be a fitting punishment for everything that he'd done. Not just attacking Chihiro…but for lying to his gang for so long about the truth behind what had happened to Daiya. Maybe now he could…let it all go.
It was finally time…to face his punishment like a man. Maybe then, he could find some sort of redemption. Yeah…maybe…yeah…yeah…
"Yeah…yeah…I did it…I attacked Chihiro…"
To Be Continued…
Greetings, my beautiful readers! Well…that was quite an interesting chapter wasn't it? But what's going to happen now?! Will Mondo be punished for his crimes? How will everyone vote for him? Is anyone going to comment on the fact that Jill's being too much of a 'free spirit'? You'll have to tune in to the next chapter to find out!
By the way, my beta Dixxy Mouri, got sick again. The flu we think. I would really make her day if someone left a comment or review on her story "Haunted". If you like my work, you'll definitely enjoy hers!
Also, just to let you all know, nothing serious happened but I did have to visit the emergency room not long ago. Everything is fine, no health issues to speak of, but it did put me behind schedule with my writing. To that end, once this "Chapter" of the story is concluded, I will be taking a brief break in order to rest and get a few extra chapters done. It will be twice as long as my usual posting routine, so about a month. However, I've still got a few more "Acts" left before I finish this "Chapter", so don't fret!
Plus, as you all know, Chapter 3 of Danganronpa is kind of a cluster fuck (story-wise), so the time off will also be spent crafting exactly how I'm going to place everything to make it all make sense to you all! For now, we're still on schedule and I will see you all for the regularly schedule update next time!
Oh, and thank you to everyone who keep reviewing! I do take everything you ask into consideration, even if I don't have time to reply. My beta, Dixxy Mouri, and I always appreciate your comments and questions to help us craft a finer story! So please keep them coming! Until next time, keep on smiling, my beautiful readers!