Hello readers and welcome to my new chapter. So, good news. For those who don't know, I've finally started posting chapters of this fic on Archive of our Own. Procrastinated a bit, and had to wait to get my account on there, but I finally got Class 78th Watches the Future on the site. Like I said before, I'll post one chapter per day there; possibly two or more occasionally. So, it should take under three months to have the full story on the Archive.
Anyways, here's the latest chapter. Here, the class watches as the survivors discover Hina's lies, and the truth behind Sakura's death. I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.
Chapter 82: Watching Chapter 4: All Star Apologies Part 16
"...Waste your time if you like. It's clear that Hina is the culprit," Byakuya huffed in annoyance, "There's nobody else to suspect. Nobody else could have possibly done it…"
"Does he not see how odd Hina is still acting?" Taka voiced incredulously, "Is he not even considering that he may be wrong? That something is wrong?"
"Said it himself, didn't he? 'This is the conclusion I've arrived at, and so there can be no mistake,'" Leon quoted the future Byakuya mockingly, "The dude's unable to see past his own damn verdict."
"He has a point, however," Celeste interjected, "If not Hina, who else could've done it? There's no one who could really have done it. Even Byakuya wouldn't make any sense."
"None of this makes sense…" Hiro groaned, holding his head, "I mean, Hina trying to trick us? The locked room mystery thingy? This whole trial is giving me a headache!"
No one disagreed with him. For several, this whole trial is becoming more and more bizarre.
Kyoko ignored Byakuya, however. "Go ahead, Hina. Start from the moment you arrive at the chem lab."
"W-Well…" Hesitantly, the swimmer began her tale. "Right away I went to section C and got the poison."
"And is that when you spilled the powder in front of that part of the shelf?" Kyoko inquired.
"Y-Yeah… when I opened the bottle, I dropped it like an idiot," Hina confirmed.
"I see." Kyoko nodded to this. "Okay then, go on."
"So, then I moved to section A and got the protein powder, and that's where I switched them," Hina continued, "Once I was done with that… I took the protein can that had the poison in it and left the room. But I accidently put the bottle filled with protein powder back on the wrong shelf. And because of that, everything I did got found out. And… that's it."
"..." For a moment, Makoto was in silent contemplation. Then, he said, "That story you just told… first you went to section C to get the poison, then moved to section A to get the protein, right? Meaning you went from section C to section A. Do I have that correct?"
"Y-Yeah…" Hina confirmed, though hesitantly.
With that recounting of the story… some of the students caught the error. 'But… if she actually went straight from section C to section A…' Sayaka thought in realization.
'...she would've walked through the powder. There would've been footprints between the two shelves,' Chihiro considered, 'But there's only footprints straight towards section A. Not anywhere around section C.'
'Of course, you could chalk it up to Hina disguising her movements,' Celeste mused, 'She could easily just walk around it before going to section A. The issue with that, however…'
'...is that Hina said before that she wasn't thinking when she was grabbing the bottle. That she didn't notice,' Mukuro finished, eyes narrowed, 'If she had, then she would've made it where there were no footprints to recognize. Definite proof that she's lying.'
'But if that's true…' Seeing the error with that testimony, Makoto asked again, "Can you repeat that series of events one more time?"
"What's wrong with you, Big Mac?! You're being awfully pushfully!" Jill pointed out.
"It's the same thing no matter how many times you hear it. How long until you're satisfied…?" Byakuya questioned harshly.
'How long…?' Makoto repeated in his head, 'Until we figure it out! Until I uncover the full truth of this case!'
Despite the confusion, despite the turmoil the group was feeling… many couldn't help but feel pumped at Makoto's mental declaration.
"Yeah!"
You tell him, Makoto!"
"This trial ain't over yet!"
"Prove him wrong!"
A small, proud smile couldn't help but creep onto Kyoko's face. While this is merely future events, it's pleasant to see Makoto come into his own as a mystery solver, as someone who searches for the whole truth.
Non-stop debate started up once more, with Hina being the first to speak. "First I went to section C…" she retold her story once again, "That's when I grabbed the poison."
"And you spilled some of the powder on the ground in front of the shelf," Kyoko recounted.
"Yeah," Hina confirmed, "When I grabbed the bottle, I dropped it…"
"Okay. And then?"
"I moved from section C to section A…"
'No, that's wrong!' The bullet was shot as Makoto spoke up. "You said you went to get the poison from section C, and that's where you spilled the powder, right?"
"Yeah… what about it?" Hina inquired cautiously.
"And after that, you said you moved from section C to section A to get the protein…" Makoto continued, "But the footprints left at the scene were not moving from section C to section A. That contradicts what you just said."
"Wh-?!" Hina's eyes widened fearfully at this.
With that, there were more flashes of realization and remembrances from the eyes of the students. "That's true," Taka said, his eyes slightly widened, "The footprints head straight to section A. There were no such prints near section C."
"A clear and purposeful lie," Celeste stated, "One to make us think that she was the one to grab the poison."
"Looks like you were right, Mukuro," Sayaka said worryingly, biting her lips, "Hina is trying to get everyone to pick the wrong culprit.
Byakuya, who had been silent the whole time, looked on with obvious confusion and frustration. What's going on here? Why would Hina lie about this? Why lead to a conclusion that gets everyone killed, including herself? What is the girl hiding?
"Then… maybe she moved in some weird direction on purpose to disguise her movements….?" Hiro suggested.
"No, that can't be it," Makoto refuted, "Remember what Hina just said?"
A flashback of Hina stating she was nervous and didn't notice the footprints was shown, before cutting back to the now panicking swimmer. "Ah-!"
"What the-?" Now Byakuya looked completely baffled. "Hina, what's the meaning of this?!"
"Looks like Byakuya is finally getting a clue that something is up," Leon stated with an eye roll, "About time."
"Fucking finally," Mondo grunted in agreement.
"I would've screamed in frustration if he kept insisting that Hina was still the culprit…" Sayaka muttered.
"U-Um, well…" Hina attempted to stutter out an excuse.
"You lied to us, plain and simple," Kyoko stated bluntly, staring down at the swimmer, "If you look at the footprints, your movements in the chem lab are obvious. The powder had already been spilled when you came in, and you went straight to section A. So you never went to section C. Whatever you did there, it only involved section A."
"W-Well, you see…" Hina still attempted to find a good explanation. But none came to her. "..."
"Wh-What the…?" For the first time, the Ultimate Affluent Progeny went pale. "What the hell? What's going on here?!"
Byakuya's reaction, suffice to say, startled the group. "Is Byakuya… panicking?" Hiro couldn't help but ask, "Or is it just me seeing things?"
"No, I'm seeing the same thing as you," Leon confirmed, a tad dumbly, "Byakuya's looking blue in the face."
"Is he really that used to being correct all the time…?" Taka asked.
It was the Togami heir who answered. "It's because there is no other person to suspect. There's nothing that points to anyone else being the culprit," he stated, not turning his eyes towards anyone, "So of course my future self is confused as to what's happening."
At any other moment, some of the students would've taken notice at how stiffly the Togami heir was reacting, noticed how quick he was to get to his future self's defense. But for right now, their primary focus was on what the hell was happening in that trial.
Kyoko, however, took notice of Byakuya's actions and posture, and had to keep down a smirk in response.
"And the footprints aren't the only problem with her account," Kyoko continued confidently.
"What…?" The Togami heir's attention was focused on Kyoko now.
"Before I explain that part, I'd like to submit some new evidence," the lavender haired girl announced.
"New evidence?!" Several students voiced both incredulity and exasperation.
"Like I said, three different clues from the same spot!" Leon exclaimed dryly, throwing his arms up, "I wouldn't be surprised if she grabbed them from thin air at this point."
"New evidence?!" Byakuya voiced incredulously, "Impossible! There can't be!"
"...Are you sure?" Kyoko asked in retort, "After all, you're the one that gave it to me."
"I… did?" The Togami heir could only voice that question in pure confusion.
"Or from Byakuya's hands, that works too…"
"Mr. Togami really lost his grip on the conversation, hasn't he…?" Hifumi couldn't help but comment.
"That he has." A wicked smile couldn't help but appear from Sayaka's face, seeing Byakuya so flustered.
"It was hidden inside the bottle of poison you gave me." Kyoko held said bottle for everyone to see, a smirk across her face. "I'm amazed you, of all people, would miss such a vital clue. A truly grave oversight…"
"Dang, Kyoko. Savage." Junko covered her mouth to hold back her giggles. "Didn't think you could roast Byakuya so well…"
At this point, quite a few students were taking pleasure in seeing the flustered Byakuya. Mondo and Leon had grins they were trying to cover up, while Celeste let out her usual, melodic giggle. Kyoko now had an unhidden smirk across her face, whereas Taka did all he could to hide any satisfaction he's taking from this. Even Hina, despite all the conflicting emotions warring inside her heart, couldn't help but feel some gratification over how the Togami heir is acting.
"Stop making f-fun of Master!" Toko spoke up, feeling defensive for Byakuya, "T-This trial is c-confusing for all of us, isn't it?"
"Yes, but none of us were so certain that Hina was the culprit," Sayaka retorted, her smile getting wider, "None of us were so confident that we found the culprit. Ain't that right, Byakuya?"
The affluent progeny in question was refusing to look anyone in the eye, his posture more visibly stiff than it had been, and his expression close to being actual stone, something that the group is now noticing.
"..." Of course, that struck a nerve with Byakuya, his anger quickly flaring. "Just say it, already! What is it you think you found?!"
"I found this." With that, the lavender haired girl held up…
'Huh? A piece of glass…?' Makoto thought with confusion.
"It had sunk to the bottom of the bottle," Kyoko explained, "And the hidden clue was exposed thanks to you ingesting the powder. I couldn't have solved the mystery without you. So, thank you for that."
Eyes lit up in recognition at the piece of glass. "Isn't that glass from the rec room window?" Chihiro inquired.
"That's the only thing that's been broken that would match the color of that piece," Mukuro mused, "So it has to be."
"But… doesn't that mean the bottle of poison was still in the rec room while it was locked?" Taka pointed out, puzzlement across his face, "That would mean the bottle has been put in Section A after they broke the mirror and entered the room."
"And Hina's testimony stated that she put up the bottle before then," Celeste added in, "It is yet another of Hina's deceptions."
Of course, her statement caused confusion and distress to swell further in the swimmer's heart. Something that is clearly visible across the girl's face.
"B-But… what is it?" Byakuya questioned hesitantly.
"Oh, you still don't realize?"
"Damn! You're so sassy now, Kyoko!" Leon couldn't help but laugh at that, "You're enjoying this way too much!"
"I have no idea what you mean," Kyoko denied, though the smirk gave her thoughts away, "I'm simply explaining the mystery, that's all."
More students let out laughter, snickers, and giggles, finding enjoyment in this despite the serious trial.
"Well then…" Kyoko then turned towards Makoto, "Makoto, why don't you explain it?"
"Huh? Me?!" the lucky student exclaimed, startled.
"Yeah, me?!" Makoto pointed at himself, as startled as his future version. "Why me?!"
"Should you be surprised at this point?" Junko retorted, "Kyoko and Byakuya always refer to you at this point."
"Yeah."
"That's true."
"They always pass it on to you."
"It's pretty much one of those things in these trials."
The lucky student blushed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. They probably had a point on this…
Again, Byakuya was silent. But quickly, he spoke up. "F-Fine! If you really do know, explain the meaning of that shard of glass!"
Shaking off his surprise, Makoto reluctantly got to thinking. 'I think I remember now,' he thought to himself, 'I broke something this same shade of blue…'
"It's… part of the window from the rec room door, right?" the lucky student deduced.
"The window…?" Byakuya repeated with confusion.
"The window we broke to get in was light blue, just like that," Makoto explained, pointing to the shard Kyoko was holding, "So I think that must be it."
"You're right, it must be," Kyoko said in agreement, "Of course, that leads to another question… how did a shard of glass from the window get inside the bottle of poison?"
"What's so strange about that?!" Jill questioned casually.
"What's strange is that… according to what Hina told us, the bottle of poison was left on the shelf in the chem lab," Makoto reminded the group, "That is what you said, right Hina?"
"Um… umm…" At that point, the girl was tongue-tied, unable to come up with any argument.
'Why… why would I lie like that?' Hina thought distressingly, staring up at her counterpart, 'Why would you lie about killing Sakura? Killing our dear friend? Why?!'
"And yet, somehow a piece of glass from the rec room window made its way into the bottle…" Makoto pressed on.
"Then everything Hina told us was a lie?!" Hiro exclaimed in shock.
"This… this is just like Chihiro's trial…" Taka said, looking down with confusion and some frustration, "The more I hear, the less I understand. If Hina isn't the killer… why would she lie about it? Why consciously create such a deception in the first place?"
Of course, the moment of levity was brought down by this question. "That is the question, isn't it?" Celeste mused, a frown across her own face, "It makes no sense for her to lie about this in the first place."
"Hina…" Hesitantly, Sayaka turned towards the swimmer herself. "Do you know? Do you have any ide-"
"No," was the girl's quick answer. A distressed glare entered the girl's face, though it wasn't directed at anyone in particular. "No, I don't know why future me would do this! It makes as much sense to me as being Sakura's killer!"
The room was silent at this, with no one questioning her further on the subject. Sakura wrapped an arm around her once more in an effort to comfort her. Hina soaked in the comfort as much as she could, though that didn't stop the swirling emotions in her heart.
"In reality, that bottle of poison most definitely found its way into the rec room," Makoto deduced, "It was there at least until the window got broken. In other words, when the locked room was unlocked. There's no other way to explain the presence of that glass in that bottle."
"And then, once the room was opened, the bottle somehow got moved back to the shelf in the chem lab," Kyoko continued for the lucky student, "Meanwhile, the protein can we found at the crime scene was planted there. That had to be after the locked room was opened. In other words, after Sakura died."
"Wait, hold on… you're moving too fast!" Byakuya hastily cut in, "I'll grant you, the bottle of poison may well have been in the rec room when it was locked… but how can you say the protein can was put there after the room was locked?! We already know she was given the protein can with the poison inside, right? If that can wasn't there when she died, how did she get poisoned?!"
"For once… I actually agree with the asshole," Mondo admitted, though it looked to be a sour pill to swallow, "If that can wasn't used, how the hell did Sakura get poisoned?"
"Yeah. There's no way Ogre would accept a bottle of poison," Hiro stated.
And just like that, a few more minds clicked. 'Could it be…?' Celeste's eyes widened slightly in realization.
'Impossible… did she actually…?' Comprehension also graced Byakuya's expression, mixed with some disbelief.
'This… would connect everything.' Mukuro thought, eyes narrowed.
"You're right. We do need to explain that," Kyoko conceded, "But before we do, there's something I'd like to confirm with everyone here."
"Huh…?" was Hiro's confused response.
"It has to do with the protein can," Kyoko explained, "After Sakura's body was discovered, did anyone move it or trip over it or anything like that?"
"Huh? Why does that matter?" Hiro's confusion mirrored his future counterpart, the fortune teller cocking his head sideways.
"It'll reaffirm the conclusion my future self has come to," Kyoko told the fortune teller, "Cause if no one moved it, then that would prove that the protein can was placed around the glass."
"But… how?"
"You'll see."
"What are you talking about? Is this some kind of loaded question?" Byakuya questioned frustratedly.
"Not at all. Just answer to the best of your ability," the lavender haired girl assured him.
"...Well, no. Not that I remember," the Togami heir conceded.
"Yeah, me either," Makoto spoke up right after.
"Not me." Hiro was next.
"Same here!" Jill answered casually.
"Y-Yeah, me either…" Hina was the last person to answer, more hesitant than the rest.
"Okay then, that settles it." Kyoko nodded in satisfaction. "That proves that the protein can found its way to the murder scene after the room was opened."
"Oh come on! How can you say that?!" Byakuya exclaimed in aggravation, "How can you know what I don't know?!"
"Byakuya is completely losing it!" Leon couldn't help but point, laughing at this point, "He's getting completely blindsided by Kyoko, Hina, and Makoto!"
"And the bastard was so damn confident before-hand…!" Mondo also found himself laughing, leaning on knees.
"This is… too much…!" Sayaka was the next to fall into vindictive laughter, very much taking pleasure in seeing the Ultimate Affluent Progeny's breakdown.
Once again, despite the nature of this trial, several couldn't help but take joy in this. Even Chihiro had to hold back giggles, while Taka did all he could to keep from laughing at the Togami heir. After seeing how arrogant, callous, and downright cruel the future Byakuya has been acting, there was no way any of them couldn't take satisfaction in seeing him be brought down like this.
Sakura herself also had a small smile across her face, not minding the group laughing in the midst of her trial. She could not blame them, after all. Her smile went a tad wider when she heard a few giggles coming from Hina's mouth.
Once again, nonstop debate started up once more, with Kyoko being the first to speak. "When it comes to that protein can…" she started off, "...there's not a doubt in my mind. Until the locked room was unlocked, it absolutely was not in there!"
"So you're saying…" Hiro spoke up, "...someone planted it there after we got the door open?"
"No… no, that's impossible… i-it had to have been in there the whole time!" Byakuya insisted, near hysterically so, "It had to be! It was there before the rec room was unlocked!"
'No, that's wrong!' The bullet was shot as Makoto spoke up. "You remember how there was broken glass scattered all around the room, right?"
"Of course! It came from the window you broke to get in. What about it?" Byakuya questioned impatiently.
"Well, those pieces weren't just scattered around the protein can…" the luckster pointed out, "We also found pieces underneath the can."
"Wh-What?!" Byakuya's eyes shot wide open in shock, mouth agape.
"And this proves it…" Makoto continued, "It shows that the can must have been put down on the floor after the window was broken. So, it had to be after we got into the room!"
With that, all the students now understood why Kyoko concluded why the can was placed after they had entered the room. "I see," Celeste nodded in understanding, "And asking if anyone moved it was used to eliminate that possibility right off the bat."
"Exactly," Kyoko nodded, "It would be one thing if anyone moved it or tripped over it. But since that didn't happen…"
"It's clear that someone planted the protein can in the rec room," Mukuro finished off.
"But… what would happen if someone had moved it around?" Taka inquired.
"It would probably make the trial a tad harder to solve," Kyoko admitted, "But I don't think it would change much. Besides, chances were slim that someone would do so?"
"Even with Hiro around?"
"...Even with Hiro around." A squawk from the aforementioned fortune teller went ignored.
"Kh-!" Once he processed this, Byakuya forced himself to calm down some. "I-I see… so that's your explanation. Kyoko… earlier, when you asked if anyone had moved the can, or tripped over it…"
"If that were the case, that would explain the can being on top of the glass," Kyoko answered the silent question.
"So, you asked everyone about it to eliminate that possibility right out of the gate…" Makoto deduced.
"And that's made everything clear, hasn't it?" Kyoko rhetorically asked, "As long as it was a 'locked room', it only contained the bottle of poison, and not the protein can."
'Wait… the room only… contained the bottle of poison…' As Sayaka repeated this in her mind, any gratification she felt was replaced with that built up dread, along with growing realization. 'But… that would mean…!'
'If Sakura wasn't given a protein shake disguised as poison… wouldn't that mean…?' Chihiro's eyes grew in comprehending horror, tears already swelling up. 'Did… did she really…?'
"But once the room was opened up, they were switched. And as a result… the protein can wound up in the rec room, and the bottle of poison returned to the chem lab."
"..." Hina found herself completely silent, unable to do anything but give a numb stare.
"If that's all true, then… why did Sakura drink the poison?" Byakuya questioned in frustrated confusion, "I thought we all agreed she was tricked into drinking it because of the protein can…"
At this point, around half the class had figured out how Sakura drank the poison, who the "blackened" really is in this trial. All traces of levity were gone once again as they waited for the verdict to come to pass. And one more joined in the realization of what truly happened.
'There's nothing that would show I drank the poison in another form… no indication that I was easily fooled into doing so…' A look of compressed shock entered the Ultimate Martial Artist's face. 'So then… that would mean…!'
It's the only thing that makes sense, the only way to explain the locked room, as well as why she would drink poison. But to think that her future self had taken that route…!
"No… that's not why…" Makoto stated, almost solemnly, "The only explanation is… she drank it from its original bottle, knowing exactly what it was."
"...Hold a fucking minute." Mondo interjected, processing what Makoto had said, "He's saying that Sakura purposefully drank the poison? Knowing it was goddamn poison?"
"But… that doesn't make sense!" Hiro exclaimed, shaking his head in confusion, "Why would she accept and drink poison if she knew what it was? That would mean…!"
"She killed herself," Celeste cut in, her voice a tad softer, "At this point, it should be obvious what happened. Sakura… ingested the poison out of her own free will. Committed suicide, in other words."
Once again, the room found itself cold at the revelation, or for some, the unspoken realization. Mondo and Hiro stared at the gothic gambler in dumbfounded disbelief. Leon, Taka, Toko, and Hifumi also joined them, varying degrees of shock clear across their faces.
Both Sayaka and Chihiro had their mouths covered, tears beginning to fall from both pairs of eyes. Makoto also felt his eyes stinging with tears, before they were shut closed, along with his teeth clenching in anguish.
As for Hina? She was staring numbly at the screen, having trouble comprehending what had been said. "Sakura… killed herself?" she mumbled dazedly, "She actually… drank the poison on purpose?"
She was uncertain how to react now. Sakura died, and the only possible suspects were Byakuya, Toko, and Hiro. But they were proven to be innocent, then her future self stated she killed Sakura, then it was shown that she was lying…!
And now to hear that her best friend, one of the strongest people she knew, committed suicide? It was all too much for her to ingest.
"Precisely. She was alone in a locked room. All she had was the poison," Kyoko outlined the scenario, "What other possibility is there?"
"You're saying she drank it… knowing what it was?" Byakuya summed up, his face displaying clear, pale bewilderment, "Such a ridiculous fiction is…"
"...exactly what happened," Kyoko finished firmly.
For a moment, Byakuya was silent, processing this. "Then tell us already…!" he demanded… before backtracking in his tone, "Er, sorry. Please, tell us."
It spoke to how shocking the thought of Sakura's suicide was to the students, that almost none of them took notice the uncharacteristic change of tone and words Byakuya had used.
"Before we get to that, we need to clarify one other thing…" Kyoko told the group, "We need to establish who exactly got the poison from the chem lab and took it to the rec room."
"...It was Hina, right? She took it and gave it to Ogre," Hiro said, though sounded somewhat uncertain.
"What do you think, Makoto?" Kyoko inquired towards the lucky student.
"I think… it was Sakura herself," Makoto answered.
"Huh? So Sakura, who was apparently murdered, just… poisoned herself?" Jill summarized confusedly.
"That's… I can't believe it," Taka said, still stunned by the revelation, "Sakura, of all people, just… committing suicide?"
"Yeah. I mean… it's Ogre!" Hiro flung his hands towards the direction of Sakura to emphasize his points. "That's one of the last people you think would do that!"
"She's one of the strongest chicks out there," Mondo spoke in agreement, his hands clenched around his knees, "Has just as strong a will to boot. There's no way…"
"This feels almost as unbelievable as Miss Asahina killing Miss Ogami…" Hifumi added.
Makoto wanted to agree. He doesn't want to believe that Sakura would kill herself, would purposefully drink the bottle of poison. But…
"It's the truth," the lucky student said solemnly, "As much as I don't want to believe it… that's the only thing that explains everything, including the locked room."
Kyoko nodded in agreement. "Neither head wound had killed her, the poison was not given in the form of any drink or food, and, as my future self stated, she was alone with only that bottle of poison," she outlined the situation, "The only thing that would frame someone as the culprit is if someone gave her the poison."
"But that would be flimsy, as Sakura would know what the content was," Mukuro added, "She could've been force-fed, but there's no indication that she was held down and forced to drink it. At the end, it was fully her choice to drink it."
The martial artist herself was silent, merely staring at the screen with narrowed, answer-demanding eyes. She accepted that suicide is the most likely event, that her future self taking her own life was the only option that would make sense.
Now, she just wanted to know why. What pushed her enough to take that route.
"W-What are you talking about?! There's no way!" Hina exclaimed in denial.
"On the contrary. We know for a fact she went to the chem lab, right to the section full of poisons," Kyoko rebutted.
"You're lying… stop lying!" Hina demanded angrily, "Why?! Why would you lie like that?!"
"What is-… is Hina in denial that Sakura committed suicide?" Taka questioned, beyond baffled as to what's happening.
"This… doesn't seem like denial, dude," Leon said, a perturbed look across his face, "With the stunt she was trying to pull by pinning the crime on herself… it just doesn't feel like someone refusing to believe something."
"Rather than someone trying to deny reality… these are the actions and words of someone trying to hide reality," Celeste stated. However, rather than her usual composed look whenever she speaks, there were traces of bafflement across her face. "In other words, trying to hide the truth of the case."
"But… that would mean…" Sayaka spoke in horrified shock, quickly understanding the implication.
"Hina knew," Makoto finished, sorrow clear in his voice, "She knew this whole time."
Once again, the Ultimate Swimmer found herself staring at the TV in shock. 'I… I knew…?' she questioned in her mind, 'But, if I knew… then why… why am I saying…?'
'No, it's not a lie.' As Makoto thought this, the camera angled closer to Makoto's face. 'Sakura definitely went to section C.'
"You're a liar!" The camera then moved back to the angry and insistent Hina. "I'm telling you, I did it!"
The camera moved back to Makoto. 'Kyoko already showed me the evidence I need…'
And back to Hina. "Do you even have any proof Sakura took the poison?!"
Finally, it moved back to Makoto, stopping there. 'Now I have to hit Hina with it… I have to make her accept it!'
"Hina… did you know that Sakura's foot had a certain yellow powder stuck to it?" Makoto asked the girl gently.
"..." At first, the girl was silent. But slowly, she asked, "...It did?"
"It did. The same yellow powder that had been spilled by the shelf in the chem lab." Makoto confirmed with a nod. "That powder was yellow, wasn't it? So the powder we found on Sakura… what else could it be but the powder from the chem lab?"
At that moment, the camera froze towards Hina's angry expression, moving closer at different angles until the image cracked and shattered; revealing a more shocked and panicked looking Hina. "Ah-!"
"So, when the powder was spilled on the ground, it wasn't Hina or anyone else that spilled it…" Mukuro deduced what has yet to be said, "It was Sakura, who was grabbing the bottle of poison."
"Which further proves that Sakura grabbed the poison out of her own volition…" Byakuya stated, a clear frown across his face.
"Wait, wait, wait…" Hiro quickly cut in, "So what was that powder doing on Ogre's foot?"
"And it was only on her instep, right?!" Jill added.
"Sakura must have been standing right there where the powder was spilled," Makoto explained, "So the person who spilled the powder on the shelf wasn't Hina, but Sakura!"
"Ah…!" Another noise of panic came out of Hina.
"And when Sakura dropped the bottle, she dropped it away from where she was actually standing," Makoto continued, "Which is how she was able to avoid getting it all over herself. But the powder still got scattered around, and some of it must have wound up on her instep. Is there any problem with my thinking?"
"But why did Sakura pay a visit to section C in the first place?" Kyoko asked rhetorically, "The only explanation is that she was looking for poison. After all, that's all the section contained.
"N-No! It was me! I-! The poison-!" Hina stammered in panic, "Because… because…! Because I killed her!" At this point, tears were building up in her eyes.
"Why… why am I lying about this?" Slowly, a look of distress morphed across Hina's face as she continued to hear her future self's denial. "Why am I trying to hide this?! Why am I telling this horrible lie?!"
No one could really answer her. Several of the students were as confused as her, with some also feeling her anguish. Sakura, especially, felt her friend's distress, the martial artist's face twisting slightly in that anguish.
'Despair, my dear girl! It's because you're in despair!' Junko sang happily in her mind, 'And in that despair, you decided that you need to take down everyone! Including yourself!' The only thing that would've made this better is if she actually convinced the survivors that she did. Now THAT would've been a plot twist!
"No… you didn't kill her," was Makoto's calm refutation, "The one who killed Sakura… was Sakura herself."
"Gah…!" The swimmer, once again found herself choking her words.
"Wh-What…?" Byakuya held a disheveled look of shock. "The killer was… Sakura?"
"Wait, so you're saying… it was suicide?!" Hiro exclaimed incredulously.
"I-I don't believe it! I don't believe it any more than I believe I can fly!" Jill expressed her own disbelief.
"I can't believe it, either. Or rather, I don't want to believe it," Makoto said solemnly. "But when you really think about it, everything matches up. Sakura went and got the poison. She barricaded herself in a room, and she drank it… all so she can end her own life."
"And that explains why we couldn't solve the mystery of the locked room," the lucky student continued, "...the locked room mystery was created by Sakura."
"I'm sure she locked herself in so nobody could stop her from doing what she did," Kyoko explained, "She sat there, drank the poison, and breathed her last breath…"
"When it's all explained like that… it feels real simple," Mondo breathed out, "Way too goddamned simple to figure out…"
"Yeah. Honestly, why did most of us not think that Sakura killed herself?" Leon found himself asking, "I mean, the locked room alone should've given us at least a hint, right? But even Byakuya, both versions, didn't…"
"It's because we weren't looking," Mukuro sighed, "Throughout the three trials, it has always been one of us killing another. It didn't occur to anyone that a suicide would be counted as a murder."
"There were also the head wounds, along with Hina's attempt to cover it up," Kyoko added in, "Those kept the mystery from being completely obvious. In order to figure out Sakura's suicide, those needed to be addressed first."
"Not to mention… none of us wanted to believe it," Makoto was the next to speak up, his voice still soft, "No one wanted to believe that Sakura was capable of doing that, of taking her own life."
None could refute that. Even the more pragmatic students couldn't see anyone taking their own lives, Sakura especially.
"And the empty bottle of poison rolled around the locked room, until we came and opened it," Kyoko continued, "At that point, someone grabbed the bottle and snuck it out of the room. And that was you, wasn't it Hina?"
"Ng… gaah…" The girl gave an angry, tear-filled glare.
"Why am I doing this?!" the swimmer kept asking, holding her head, "Why am I trying so hard to hide Sakura's suicide?! Why?! Why?! Why?!"
Sakura squeezed her friend gently in her hug, in an attempt to calm her. But Hina barely registered it, her mind wrapped in distress and confusion.
"You did it to throw off the investigation, didn't you?" Kyoko continued, unperturbed, "When we found her body, you stayed right there near the door. Because you already knew Sakura was dead… and because the bottle of poison had rolled near the doorway."
"That's when you picked up the bottle, right?" Makoto guessed, "I was too shocked to notice anything, and Kyoko was busy checking the body…"
"And the more I think about it, the more I realize how unusual your actions were," Kyoko mused. A flashback of Hina walking from the crime scene, in order to get the others, was shown. "You said you were going to get everyone else… but your real intention was to go to the chem lab and switch out the containers, wasn't it?"
"Once you were at the chem lab, you headed straight to the section where the protein powder was kept," the lavender haired girl continued, "There, you took the powder and poured it into the bottle of poison you'd grabbed from the rec room. When you left the lab, all you had was the empty protein can. Thinking about it like that, the footprints make perfect sense."
"When you were done, you gathered everyone together, and once you were back in the rec room…" Makoto picked up for Kyoko, "While everyone else was focused on Sakura, you quietly placed the can on the ground."
"..." The swimmer could not say a thing, unable to deny or confirm what's being said.
"Honestly, I should have noticed…" Makoto sighed, looking away regretfully, "You should have been the first one to run up to Sakura's lifeless body. The Hina I know never would have left her side in a situation like that…"
"That's… that's true…" Sayaka found herself agreeing, "If Hina didn't know about Sakura's death in the first place… she would be first to be by Sakura's side, wouldn't believe it until she confirmed it for herself. And after… she wouldn't leave for any reason. ANY reason."
"But Sakura's death kept us from noticing that," Taka stated, looking down solemnly, "It's only during the trial, once heads were cooled, where we noticed these unusual behaviors."
"..." Again, the swimmer said nothing, merely holding a distressed look.
"So, Sakura committed suicide," Kyoko stated, "In order to hide this fact, Hina undertook a series of actions to undermine the investigation. As long as you could disguise the truth, you didn't care if we blamed you for her death. That's why you didn't bother to get rid of such obvious evidence, right?"
"The footprints in the powder, and the bottle of poison," the lavender haired girl listed off, "Vital pieces of evidence, and yet…"
"So, you're saying Hina consciously deceived us to make it look like she killed Sakura?" Byakuya summarized, still quite pale.
"...N-No…" At this point, the tears she was holding started sliding down Hina's eyes. "No! No, no, no, no, no! I killed her! I did it!"
"Stop saying that!" Hina found herself shouting, her eyes now closed shut, "It's over! They figured you out! SO STOP SAYING THAT LIE!"
"Hina…!" Sakura closed her own eyes, cursing herself for doing this to Hina. To both versions. 'Why… why would you put your dear friend through this torment?'
"Hina…" Makoto, Sayaka, Chihiro, and Taka found their hearts reaching out to the poor girl, all of them giving sympathetic looks. Leon and Mondo also looked upset for the girl, understanding her distress at least somewhat.
"That's enough, Hina. It's over," Makoto told her gently.
"It's not!" Hina shouted desperately, "Nothing's over!"
"It is!" Makoto shouted back… before calming down, "Actually, no… you're right. We have to end this properly…!"
"The closing argument…" Makoto said softly. If there was any doubt in anyone's mind, it was erased with this.
But rather than the dread they have been feeling from the three other trials, there was… acceptance. A solemn acceptance of what had happened. Of Sakura's suicide.
But on top of that acceptance, there was a question; one that had grown during the later parts of the trial. That question being… why Hina would try to hide this fact from the survivors?
And that's the end. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Next one will be wrapping up the fourth trial of this game. Review, favorite, and follow and I will see you guys later.