"Hey, Naegi." Greeted Asahina. "Find anything useful?"
"As a matter of fact, I have!" I replied. "Did you notice that one of the kitchen knives is missing from the dining hall?"
"Yeah, weird huh?" She began. "I thought it was kinda strange, a knife disappearing like that."
"Oh, so it went missing from the beginning?" I asked. Asahina shook her head.
"Nope. Last I remember, they were all lined up in a nice, neat row."
"So, when did you notice one of them had disappeared?" I asked.
"Well, I went to go get some tea from the kitchen last night, and all the knives were still there." She explained. "But when I finished my tea and went back into the kitchen to wash my glass, one of the knives were gone."
"So you're saying that the knife disappeared while you were drinking your tea in the dining hall?" I asked.
Asahina nodded. In other words, she was right there in the dining hall when someone came and took it. Then she should be able to say for sure that you can tell everyone I didn't come into the dining hall last night. Which proves I didn't take it!
Just as I was about to leave, Asahina's voice stopped me. "Hey, by the way, Naegi…" She began. "Did you really kill Maizono?"
"Wh-What!?" I exclaimed. Shocked that even she was blaming me. "Of course not! I would never!"
Asahina gave me a skeptic look. "Do you really think I murdered her?" I asked.
"Well…" She began. "She was killed in your room, right? So, I mean… You two were supposed to be friends, right? But you still… Killed her… On the other hand, two people becoming good friends, then one killing the other is a classic drama setup. So when you consider everything together…"
She eventually sighed in defeat. "…I honestly have no idea." She said sadly.
Just as I was about to comfort her, that sound I've come to dread played over the loudspeakers:
Ding dong, bing bong!
The monitor in the dining hall turned on to reveal Monokuma in that same room with the monitors. "Erm, so ah…" He began. "I'm getting tired of waiting. What say we just get started, hm? It's time for the long-awaited class trial! Now then, allow me to appoint a proper location for the proceedings. Please go through the red double-doors on the first floor of the school! Upupupu… See you soon!"
"Huh?!" I gasped. "It's time for the trial already?"
"Naegi, can I be perfectly honest?" Asked Asahina. "I really don't wanna do this…"
"Neither do I." I reassured her. "But if we don't do what Monokuma says…"
I trailed off. I really didn't want to what happened to Junko happen to either of us. Either way, Asahina got the message and grabbed my hand.
"C'mon, Naegi." She said. "It's now or never."
Agreeing, I walked with Asahina to the red doors.
When we both entered, we found everyone there. Ishimaru took one look at us and pointed furiously. "Naegi! Asahina!" He exclaimed. "You're both late! We've all been waiting for you!"
"Hmph." Huffed Fukawa. "I bet y-you were afraid you would be discovered as th-the murderer you are…"
"Let's not jump conclusions just yet!" Stated Ishimaru. "Save that for the class trial! There, we can all reveal the details of Naegi's crime!"
So they really are convinced I did it. But I didn't. Me and Maizono both know that all-too well…
But then, who is the killer?
The one who murdered Maizono is in this very room. I took a gander at everyone's faces. Some were of worry and fear, others were of anger and confusion. And Togami and Kirigiri had their normal expressions. Could it really be one of us?
After a while of waiting, the monitor in the room turned on to reveal Monokuma yet again. "Upupupupu!" He laughed. "Is everyone here? Okay then. Please board the elevator in front of you, which will transport you all to the courtroom…"
His next lines sent shivers down all out spines. "Where all your fates will be decided. I'll meet you all down there. I'll be waiting…"
After that, the monitor turned off. "So whoever stuck us here even took the time to set up a goddamn courtroom, huh?" Asked an unamused Mondo.
"Damn…" Sighed Hagakure. "We really gotta go through with this whole class trial thing, huh? If the killer wants to confess, I guess now's the time to do it."
"You idiot!" Exclaimed Mondo. "Who the hell would just up and confess right now?!"
"Well, neither of us wants to do this damn trial!" Snapped Hagakure. "I just thought-!"
As Mondo and Hagakure went back and forth, I could see Chihiro drying her tears with her sleeve in the corner. I walked up to her in worry.
"Is there something wrong, Chihiro?" I asked.
"S-Sorry…" She apologized. "In the end, I wasn't able to do any looking around or anything… Is this really how Maizono would want us to find out who killed her?"
"Hey, hey…" I comforted as I pat her back. "If there's any information you could give, I bet that'd help out greatly!"
"Th-Thanks Naegi." She sniffled.
Just then, the elevator came up with a dinging sound as the doors opened.
"Let us begin…" Said Sakura as she stepped into the elevator.
"Good idea." Agreed Celeste as she followed her.
As everyone got onto the elevator, I was left frozen in place. Feeling like my feet were glued to the floor below me. Kirigiri's voice snapped me out of my trance.
"Are you scared?" She asked impatiently with a hint of worry in her voice.
"N-No, scared isn't quite right…" I replied.
"I said it before, but it's up to you to uncover the mysteries surrounding this case yourself." She began. "If you don't, you'll never come to grips with the truth."
After that, she walked into the elevator with the others. She's right. I need to uncover the truth of Maizono's death. I didn't need someone else to ell me how to do that?
"In Maizono's honor…" I sighed before raising my voice to give me courage. "I swear I'll find out who the real killer is!"
I then turned, trembling with anticipation, toward the elevator and began walking towards it. With each step, I could feel my heart starting to race faster and faster. When I finally got on, the doors closed behind me and the elevator started to move down.
The steel box descended with heavy clunking sounds toward the school's basement.
"I wonder if this is how a death row inmate feels when his time finally comes…" I said to no one in particular.
"Rather than that, is it not more like a defendant waiting to receive his judgement?" Asked Celeste.
Oblivious to our anxiety, the elevator lowered us further and further into the bowels of the school. This got me thinking to myself.
Either we all die, and the killer lives, or the killer dies, and we all watch their execution. There's no other option…
After what felt like hours, the elevator stopped and opened after dinging.
The room at the bottom had curtains lined up around a set of seats that all had names on them. And at the back of the room, in a large chair, was that bastardly, robotic bear.
"Nyohoho!" He laughed. "You've finally arrived! What do you think? Doesn't it feel just like a real courtroom? It's like a Hollywood movie set, am I right!?"
"Not even close." Grumbled Mondo. "It's total shit."
"Okay, okay, everyone find your assigned seats and sit down!" Explained Monokuma. Clearly ignoring Mondo's insult. "Hurry up now, hurry up!"
We did what he said and found our seats that were arranged in a giant circle so that everyone could see everyone else. Which also meant it'd be easy for anyone to transfer their tension and unease onto anyone else…
The seating order was as followed starting with me and going clockwise: Me, a sign that displayed Maizono's picture, Ishimaru, a sign that displayed Junko's picture, Sakura, Kirigiri, Mondo, Asahina, Monokuma's chair, Hagakure, Chihiro, Togami, Celeste, Leon, Fukawa, Yamada, and then back to me.
And so, the curtain on our first case opened…
A deadly judgement…
A deadly deception…
A deadly betrayal…
A deadly riddle, a deadly defence, a deadly faith, and many other deadly things…
It was a deadly class trial…!