CHAPTER 5: THE LIGHT BEYOND THE DARKNESS

DEADLY LIFE


"K-Kaori...?" Eunji asked, dropping to her knees.

"What the fuck...?" Seungyeon asked.

And then... the power turned on. Not only that, but the footsteps that were behind them reached their end.

"KAORI!" Miyumi shouted out.

The five turned around to see that Takashi, Izumi, and Miyumi had arrived.

"Fuck." Izumi said. "FUCK!"

"How... could this have happeend?" Takashi said.

Kaori...

Please... no...

After everything you've been through...

To die like this...

GODDAMMIT!

And then...

Monokuma showed up.

"Well well, Miss Kang, what was that about ending the killing game!?" The bear said, then he bursted out laughing.

"Fuck you!" Seungyeon yelled.

"Careful there, girlie!" The bear pulled out a claw. "You violated the rules, and you know what that means..."

Eunji stands up, getting in front of Seungyeon. "I ain't letting you kill her, fucker!"

"Oh, is that so?" Monokuma said. "Well good, cause I didn't want to kill her anyways!"

Monokuma starts laughing even harder.

"The hell you mean you don't want to kill her?" Naomori asked.

"You see..." Monokuma said. "She did violate the rules, but... she did all that in an effort to end the killing game! And look how that turned out! Kaori is dead! Seungyeon failed in her plan! There's no despair better than seeing your plan fall apart! So... instead of punishing her by executing her, I'll punish her but letting see how badly she failed! PUHUHUHU!"

Monokuma...

You sick fuck!

"Y-You.. sick... fucker..." Seungyeon said, tears starting to stream from her eyes.

"Now now, you should be thanking me for sparing your life!" Monokuma replied. "Well... poor Kaori certainly won't be thanking you! You got her killed! Puhuhu!"

"FUCK YOU!" Seungyeon screamed, and Eunji held her back.

"Anyways, don't waste too much time!" Monokuma said. "Because it'll be investigation time soon!"

The bear then handed out 8 Monokuma files. "It's... the Monokuma file!"

"Hold on." Miyumi said. "Monokuma... the power was out. There's no way you could have possibly known who killed Kaori!"

"Eh...?" Monokuma said... artifical sweat appearing on him...? "H-Hush now!"

Then, Monokuma disappeared.

"Kaori..." Seungyeon sobbed. "I didn't want you to die..."

"Fuck." Eunji said.

"I refuse to accept this." Youngjae said. "We have to do this all over again? After all this progress we've made, all this harmony? We have to go back to distrusting each other? We have to go back to killing one of our own? I refuse it!"

"No." Miyumi said. "It won't have to be."

"Huh?" Eunji asked.

"Don't you guys see it?" The detective asked. "Monokuma doesn't know who killed her... which means we won't, either. If that's the case... how can this killing game continue? If Monokuma doesn't even know who to execute?"

!

She's right...

"So... let's do this investigation." Miyumi replied. "Give it everything we've got. It will be our final one. Kaori... she won't have died in vain..."

"You're right..." Youngjae said. "This..."

"This might be what ends the killing game!" Eunji said.

Okay... let's do this!

-INVESTIGATION START!-

"Let's start with the Monokuma File." Eunji said.

MONOKUMA FILE #5

Kaori Minami: Ultimate Dancer

DEAD

The victim is Kaori Minami, the Ultimate Dancer.

She was found in an unknown room, sitting in a puddle of her own blood.

She was stabbed in the stomach.

…'

"Hm." Miyumi said. "No time of death or even cause of death stated."

"This is very significant." Eunji replied.

TRUTH BULLET ADDED – MONOKUMA FILE #5

"So, Miyumi, can you estimate Kaori's time of death?" Eunji asked.

"Maybe." Miyumi said. "I'm not even sure what time it is, now..."

Seungyeon pulled out her monopad.

"It's 1:20 PM." Seungyeon said.

"1:20 PM..." Miyumi replied, then she went over to Kaori's body. "Kaori..."

"So, while Miyumi is doing that... let's ask some questions." Eunji said. "Izumi, where were you?"

"Uh... I was in here..." Izumi replied. "I mean, in this hallway... I recall seeing Takashi, Miyumi, and Kaori go in here, so I followed them in."

"Huh."

"It's not that simple, though." Naomori said. "There's doors in here, right? And in this room..."

Naomori points at the door behind Kaori's body.

"That means the mastermind could have slipped in and killed Kaori and then slipped out."

"So... everyone's a suspect." Eunji said.

TRUTH BULLET ADDED – MASTERMIND DOORS

"Anyways, we should cover all bases." Naomori said, and with that, everyone left the room save for Eunji, Miyumi, and Seungyeon.

"Miyumi, what have you found?" Eunji asked.

"Kaori's body is still pretty fresh..." Miyumi said. "I wanna say she died about an hour ago."

"So... 12 PM." Seungyeon said.

"Just about, yes." The detective replied.

TRUTH BULLET ADDED – KAORI'S TIME OF DEATH

"So... the knife must have killed her then, right?" Eunji asked.

"I'm a little unsure." Miyumi said. "She is sitting in a puddle of her blood, yes... but the amount of blood that is pooled is rather odd."

"What do you mean?" Seungyeon asked.

"If it was just the knife wound that killed her, there would be a lot more blood than this little puddle." Miyumi replied. "It's quite small."

"So.. you think she died of something else?" Eunji asked.

"It's a theory."

"But, how does that make sense?" Seungyeon said.

"You see, if the culprit wanted to kill Kaori, they would stabbed her then pulled the knife out, then back in." Miyumi said. "That way she would have bled a lot more. But with the way she's been stabbed, it seems like they plunged the knife into her stomach and left it in there. So she only bled a little."

"Oh.. makes sense." The actress replied.

TRUTH BULLET ADDED – PUDDLE OF BLOOD UNDER KAORI

"I'll continue investigating her body." Miyumi said.

"So... Seungyeon..." Eunji asked. "You said you noticed the secret doors way ahead of time, right? Do you recall anyone else that could have possibly known about it besides you?"

"Hmm..." Seungyeon said. "I did kinda ask around to see if anyone knew."

"Oh?" Eunji asked.

"The only ones who had a proper reaction was... Takashi... and uh, Izumi." Seungyeon replied. "And those two were missing during the blackout as well..."

"Interesting..." Eunji said.

TRUTH BULLET ADDED – SEUNGYEON'S ACCOUNT

"Huh...?" Miyumi said.

"What's up?" Eunji asked.

"I was carrying the bag of poison that Naomori made with me..." Miyumi said. "And it's gone now!"

"What, for real?" Eunji replied.

"Someone must have taken it during the blackout..." Miyumi said.

"Crap." Eunji remarked.

TRUTH BULLET ADDED – MIYUMI'S POISON BAG MISSING

"But why bring this up now...?" Eunji asked.

"Because..." Miyumi fell silent. "I... just have this bad feeling."

"Okay..." Eunji replied.

Seungyeon walks around the room, and opens the secret door.

"What's up?" Miyumi asked.

"Huh... this secret door is from... Takashi's lab." Seungyeon said.

"It is?" Eunji asked.

"Yeah, look!" The actress replied.

The three went through the secret door and found Takashi's lab was past it.

"Huh." Eunji said. "But Yeeun said there was nobody here."

"Perhaps she just didn't see the secret door." Seungyeon replied.

I don't know...

Could it be...?

TRUTH BULLET ADDED – YEEUN MISSING THE SECRET DOOR

"Huh..." Miyumi replied. "Guys, look at this."

"What is it?" Seungyeon asked.

"Is that...?" Eunji asked.

"It's a bottle." Miyumi replied. "Just dropped on the floor..."

"How odd." Seungyeon stated. "And it's opened... and someone drank from it?"

"Keep note of this." Eunji said.

TRUTH BULLET ADDED – BOTTLE ON FLOOR

"Hmm..." Miyumi said. "I do have a question."

"What's up?" Eunji asked.

"The cargo door to that room in the hallway was closed, right?" Miyumi asked.

"Yes, it was, why?" Seungyeon replied.

"Well..." Miyumi said. "Do you suppose the culpit exited through the cargo door or the secret room?"

"Uh... why would it matter?" The actress asked.

"Well, there's a chance the culprit could have been seen, right? Everyone had light sources... perhaps they exited through the cargo door." Miyumi said. "And Yeeun herself investigated the lab, which means the culprit couldn't have possibly left through here."

"That is true..." Eunji said.

TRUTH BULLET ADDED – CARGO DOOR CLOSED

"Miyumi, I have a question." Seungyeon said. "Where were you during the blackout?"

"I was trying to find my way out of this floor." Miyumi said. "I think I was near the secret hallway, as a matter of fact."

"Did you see or hear anyone?" Eunji asked.

"Hmm... I'm sure I heard footsteps..." The detective replied. "I didn't have a light source so I couldn't have seen them."

"Okay..."

TRUTH BULLET ADDED – MIYUMI'S ACCOUNT

"We should probably ask some more people." Eunji said. "Who knows who the culprit is..."

"Yeah..." Miyumi said. "I'm gonna continue investigating Kaori's body, if you two don't mind. I just don't know what else she could have died of..."

"I'm coming with." Seungyeon said. "Don't know if we can clear you just yet."

"Fine." Miyumi replied. "Eunji, go ask around some more for me then."

"On it." Eunji said.

Eunji went downstairs to the fourth floor, and found Izumi having opened a secret door.

"Izumi." Eunji said.

"Ah!" Izumi said. "Fuck, you scared me."

"Sorry..." Eunji replied. "Where were you during the blackout?"

"Hmm.." Izumi said. "I don't remember, really. It was fully dark and I couldn't see shit."

"Did you hear anything?" The idol asked.

"Well... I do recall hear a door closing, and some banging on it." The hacker replied. "Couldn't exactly make out who was doing it, though."

Interesting...

TRUTH BULLET ADDED – IZUMI'S ACCOUNT

"So... do you happen to know where the poison Miyumi was carrying went off to?" Eunji asked.

"She was carrying poison?" Izumi asked. "Sorry, don't know anything."

Okay... I'll ask around some more..

Eunji found Yeeun in her lab.

"Yeeun." Eunji said.

"Oh hey." Yeeun replied. "What's up?"

"So... Seungyeon and I were knocked out during the blackout." Eunji replied. "What did you hear?"

"Well, I heard footsteps... and some people talking." Yeeun said. "It was a lot of voices, though... I think it was Miyumi... and... Kaori?"

...huh?

"Are you sure?" Eunji asked.

"Well, I am a songwriter, I gotta make sure my hearing is good."

"I uh... don't see how that correlates."

"Whatever, I'm sure I heard them."

This... doesn't feel good...

TRUTH BULLET ADDED – YEEUN'S ACCOUNT

Youngjae enters the lab.

"Oh, Youngjae!" Eunji said. "So, where were you during the blackout?"

"I was stumbling around in the dark." Youngjae said. "But... I do remember something..."

"What's up?" The idol asked.

"I'm sure I saw Takashi holding a flare, and he entered a room." Youngjae replied. "It was too fast, but I'm pretty sure I saw his white hair."

Huh...

TRUTH BULLET ADDED – YOUNGJAE'S ACCOUNT

"Yeeun, I do have a quesiton." Eunji said. "You went into Takashi's lab earlier, right?"

"Yeah, why?" Yeeun asked.

"Miyumi, Seungyeon, and I found a bottle in there." Eunji said. "It was opened and emptied out. How come you didn't say anything about it?"

"Uh... I just thought it wasn't worth mentioning..."

"Okay..." Eunji replied. "Youngjae... when did you meet up with Yeeun?"

"It was a bit after the blackout." Youngjae said. "I'm not sure what time though..."

Hmm...

TRUTH BULLET ADDED – YOUNGJAE AND YEEUN'S MEET UP

"I'm going to go meet up with Takashi." Eunji said.

I found Takashi at the workshop in the third floor.

"Takashi, what's up?" Eunji asked.

"You see this?" Takashi said. "This is where Seungyeon got all that stuff."

"Really?" The idol asked. "I didn't even know she could make stuff."

"It's surprising what you don't know." Takashi said. "I think the major blackout was caused by this super EMP she created." The spy said, taking out a super EMP from the table.

Hmm...

TRUTH BULLET ADDED – SUPER EMP

"Takashi, I have a question." Eunji said.

"What's up?" Takashi asked.

"Where were you during the blackout?"

"Well, I took a flare that dropped and ran away from the chaos. I do recall hiding in one of the unlocked rooms."

Wow... he just admitted it!

"So..." Eunji said. "When did you last see Kaori?"

"Hmm... I think she went into the secret hallway." Takashi said. "I was standing next to her before the blackout."

That could be the footsteps Miyumi heard...

TRUTH BULLET ADDED – TAKASHI'S ACCOUNT

"Kaori's body was found in the secret room behind your lab." Eunji said. "What's up with that?"

"Huh?" Takashi said. "That's rather odd... I didn't even know there was a secret room in there."

"It's how the mastermind gets around." Eunji said.

"So, she must have gone through the secret hallway, went inside the room, and got killed there?" Takashi replied.

"Just about." Eunji replied.

TRUTH BULLET ADDED – KAORI'S ROUTE

"I'm gonna ask Naomori what's up." Eunji said.

"Okay."

….

Eunji found Naomori in his lab.

"Yo." Naomori said.

"So... what did you see during the blackout?" Eunji asked.

"Hmm... I could have sworn I thought I saw Takashi and Miyumi walk together towards a room." Naomori said. "It was dark, though..."

"...what?" Eunji said.

"Look..." Naomori replied. "There's a lot going on here than we don't know... I'm honestly pretty terrified what this class trial might hold..."

Huh...

TRUTH BULLET ADDED – NAOMORI'S ACCOUNT

"Naomori, do you happen to know who may have taken the poison Miyumi was carrying?" Eunji asked.

"Hmm..." Naomori thought for a second. "It could have been Kaori, perhaps? She was standing close to Miyumi during the blackout..."

Okay...

TRUTH BULLET ADDED – KAORI WAS NEXT TO MIYUMI

DING DONG BING BONG!

"Ahem! Investigation time is now OVER!" Monokuma announced. "It is now time for the class trial! Everyone! Please head to the red door!"

Shit...

Nothing makes sense...

Are we're already going to class trial...?

This case...

It's going to be hard...

The rest of the survivors were now in the elevator room, and made their way inside the elevator.

Eunji just looked at the others, watching.

Seems like nobody was telling the exact truth...

I get that they think this is the final class trial...

But...

Who knows what Monokuma will do...

The fifth murder...

The fifth class trial...

Our elevator reached its stop, and we made our way inside the futuristic class trial room once more.

"Alright, take your spots!" Monokuma said. "It's time for the class trial!"

And then we all took our spots in the 16 different podiums.

Kaori... you shouldn't have died...

Eunji, Reika, Naomori, Takashi, Jutaro, and Youngjae's pictures showed up.

I don't know why somebody would kill you...

Ayaka, Yeeun, Hirokazu, Masahito, Izumi's pictures showed up.

But this is it...

Kazuhiko, Kaori, Miyumi, Ichiro, and Seungyeon's pictures showed last.

This will be the last murder ever!

I will have trust in my friends, and together we will end this killing game!

So all we have to do...

Is face this final life or death.. class trial.


Chapter 5: The Light Beyond The Darkness: CLASS TRIAL

Just when it seemed like things were looking up... Kaori was suddenly killed. And now nobody is being direct with each other. This might be the hardest case for Eunji to solve yet. But that didn't matter, because she will give it everything she's got to put an end to this killing game.

TRUTH BULLETS

Monokuma File #5: The victim is Kaori Minami, the Ultimate Dancer. She was found in an unknown room, sitting in a puddle of her own blood. She was stabbed in the stomach.

Mastermind Doors: There were secret doors everywhere in the rooms across the school.

Kaori's Time of Death: Kaori must have died at around 12 PM.

Puddle of Blood under Kaori: According to Miyumi, the puddle of blood under Kaori was small because she was only stabbed once.

Seungyeon's Account: According to Seungyeon, there is a chance that Takashi and Izumi knew about the secret doors before the murder.

Miyumi's Poison Bag Missing: According to Miyumi, the bag of poison she had was stolen from her during the blackout.

Yeeun Missing The Secret Door: Yeeun investigated Takashi's lab during the blackout and stated she didn't find anything.

Bottle on Floor: Eunji, Seungyeon, and Miyumi found an opened, empty bottle on the floor in Takashi's lab

Cargo Door Closed: The cargo door in the secret hallway was closed, hiding Kaori's body.

Miyumi's Account: According to Miyumi, she was near the secret hallway in the dark when she heard footsteps.

Izumi's Account: According to Izumi, she heard a door being closed and someone banging on it during the blackout.

Yeeun's Account: According to Yeeun, she heard Miyumi and Kaori talking during the blackout.

Youngjae's Account: According to Youngjae, he saw Takashi enter a room during the blackout.

Youngjae and Yeeun's Meet Up: Youngjae and Yeeun met up during the blackout a bit later after the fact.

Super EMP: According to Takashi, this Super EMP was used to cause the blackout.

Takashi's Account: According to Takashi, he last saw Kaori heading into the secret hallway.

Kaori's Route: Kaori must have gotten killed by the culprit in the secret room after Takashi saw her enter the secret hallway.

Naomori's Account: According to Naomori, he saw Miyumi and Takashi leaving together, which contradicts Myumi and Takashi's statements that they were alone.

Kaori was next to Miyumi: Kaori was standing next to Miyumi before the blackout.