Hey, everyone! Short chapter today, but I promise it's important! Let's find out who killed Maizono…
"Wait, then…" Began Yamada. "You're saying that she had this all planned out…?"
"Holy shit!" Exclaimed Mondo.
"But in the end, her plan backfired." Said Celeste. "She launched her attack with the knife, then found herself under attack in turn. That must be when her wrist got broken, and she was forced to drop the knife."
"The tables were suddenly turned on her, and she died at the hands of the one she'd planned to murder…" Mused Sakura.
"J-Just hold on!" I exclaimed. Still not believing all of this. "That can't be true! Because…! Because…"
Monokuma gained all our attention. "Hey, hey!" He called. "You guys have totally derailed the argument! You're being super boring right now! Come on, hurry up and decide who did it! Wouldn't it be awful if I had to punish you all just because you ran out of time?"
"Oh yeah…" Sighed an embarrassed Hagakure. "We gotta decide who we think did it…"
I was completely silent. If I didn't do it, who in this room did? Kirigiri noticed my sad expression and spoke to me.
"Naegi, right now you just need to concentrate on figuring out the answer to this mystery." She said. "If we can't uncover who murdered Maizono, it's over for all of us…"
Is… Is it really all over? Obviously I'm committed to finding out who killed her but what can I do? I mean, as far as clues go, there's nothing left…
Leon's voice snapped me out of it. It's easy just to say "Hey, decide who did it!", but there just aren't any more clues, right?
That got me thinking. If Leon also saw her body, that would mean he would see one piece of detail that I noticed. I never thought of it before, but I guess it would come handy now…
"Hold on, Leon." I interrupted. "What did you just say?"
"Uh…" Stammered Leon. "There's no clues left?"
"That's where you're wrong." I began. "There still might be one clue left; Maizono's dying message."
"Dining-wait, what did you say?" He asked.
"The dying message." Repeated Kirigiri. "She wrote something on the wall behind her, remember?"
She then pulled out her e-Handbook and showed everyone the picture of Maizono's number message. "11037, written in her own blood. There might be a clue about the killer hidden in there…"
"Well, before we get too far into that, I need to ask…" Began Celeste. "Can we really be sure that Maizono was the one who wrote it?"
"There's no question that Maizono wrote that message." I said. "And I can prove it…"
"Hm?" Questioned Celeste as she tilted her head curiously. "And what makes you say that?"
I took out my e-Handbook again and showed everyone Maizono's left index finger. "See? Her left index finger has blood on it." I explained. "That could only be because that she used that finger to write the message."
"I see…" Pondered Ishimaru. "She broke her right wrist during the fight, and she'd have to use her left hand to write…"
"Sure, I think we can all agree Maizono wrote it, but still, what the heck do those numbers mean?" Asked Asahina. "11037?"
"Hey Chihiro, you're a computer nerd or whatever, right?" Asked Mondo. "You should know all about numbers and shit!"
"N-No, that's not…" Began Chihiro before sighing in defeat. "Yes, I'm a programmer, but I don't see any kind of meaning in these numbers."
"…Of course." Kirigiri spoke up. "It's because they're not numbers."
"Oh!" Gasped Yamada. "Yeah, it looks like…"
"Huh?" Asked Mondo. "What? What?!"
"No, it's just…" Sweated Yamada. "Look at the numbers assuming they're not numbers."
He pulled out his e-Handbook and pointed to the 11. "Don't these first two, 11, look less like two numbers and more like one letter?" He continued.
"Ah, you're right!" Realized Chihiro. "The connecting line is barely there, so I assumed it was 11, but looking at it now, you could also read it as an N!"
"Whoa!" Said Mondo in amusement. "You might've finally just said something worth a shit!"
"Bwehehe!" Laughed Yamada. "Our little grey cells are really getting excited now!"
"But even if that really is an N, "N037" doesn't make any more sense than before…" Said Sakura.
Dammit! It's no use! I just don't know…!
"Rotate the image 180 degrees." Kirigiri said suddenly.
Huh? Rotate it?
I did as I was told and rotated the picture upside-down. I… I think maybe… Maybe I see something…
"Oh my God… Now I see!" I exclaimed. "She wrote down the killer's name!"
"Huh!?" Exclaimed Asahina. "You just shot past the clue part and right on to who did it!"
"So, wh-whose name did sh-she write…?" Asked Fukawa.
"The key to solving this mystery was simply to rotate the writing 180 degrees." I began. "I fyou turn the message around, becomes the letters belonging to a name whom I think we're all familiar with…"
"W-Well?" Growled Fukawa. "Don't keep us w-waiting!"
"Yeah, Naegi!" Agreed a frustrated Mondo. "Who the hell did it?!"
Without a second thought, I pointed to the one person who was sweating ever so slightly, but I knew they were the one…
"Leon Kuwata!"