Silence. It was dead silence after Kokichi dropped that bomb on us. We all just stared at him for what felt like an eternity. I blinked at him. I blinked again. I just continued staring at the smiling imp as my brain processed what he had just said. And after all that time, my brain formulated the perfect response, full of logic, reasoning, and intellect.
"...Huh?"
"What?" I wasn't far behind it seemed, as Shuichi did much the same as his eyes widened with every second.
"Y-You… What did you…?" Tenko began, stuttering as she tried to make a response.
"..." Maki, on the other hand, just glared, her eyes almost glowing red with hatred as she did. She didn't even dignify the accusation with a response. Kaede did that for her.
"Wait! What do you mean Maki is the culprit!?" It was only after her shout that our brains seemed to kick back into gear, and almost all of us started screaming our responses.
"That's a lie! That degenerate is lying again!" Tenko exclaimed.
"Honestly, Kokichi. Do you truly expect us to believe that?" Kirumi questioned in a disappointed tone.
"Why you…! Now you're accusing Maki again! That fake dying message wasn't enough, huh?!" I began with a low growl before raising my voice to an angry shout. "How dare you try to lie again! I don't believe it for a second!"
"Yeah! There's no way Maki could have killed Kaito!" Kaede nodded with me. "If she's the culprit, then how could she-"
"She didn't kill Kaito." Kokichi cut Kaede off. "Kaito isn't the victim of this case."
"H-Huh? What do you mean?" Kaede asked. "Kaito died first, so he must be the victim for this class trial, just as the rules state."
"No. He wasn't killed. He died from natural causes. Maki is the blackened who killed Gonta." Kokichi explained with a giggle.
"What?" Shuichi questioned, now even more confused than before as he put a hand to his head.
"Explain, Kokichi. Now." Rantaro demanded.
"Very well. I'll finish my confession!" Kokichi proclaimed. "After Monokuma gave me the flashback light that contained the secret of the outside world, I made a plan. And that plan was…a mercy kill."
"A mercy kill?" Kirumi repeated the chilling words.
"Yep! A mercy kill. You see, Rinny wasn't lying when he was describing the motive. It was pretty bad! So bad that I thought it would be best if all of us died instead of continuing just to find out that's what we were fighting for." Kokichi said without a drop of shame or sadness. "But I needed help for this mercy kill plan. So I brought in my favorite friend Gonta and showed him the motive."
"WHAT!? You showed that to Gonta!?" I yelled.
"Duh, of course I did. How else was I gonna get him to help me with this plan? After all, I didn't want to be the culprit of the case. If I was, and my plan succeeded, then I would have survived, and after seeing the motive, I didn't want that at all. So I got Gonta to help me."
"That means… You tried to make Gonta a killer!" Tenko shouted.
"Yep. That was the plan. Gonta was going to be the blackened, but it was going to look like I was the one who committed the crime. You guys wouldn't have believed me and voted for me as the culprit, then Monokuma would have told you guys that you lost. The trial would have ended with us all being killed, and Gonta would have been the only survivor."
"What!? You didn't tell me any of that!" Monokuma screamed.
"Well yeah. You didn't want to get involved, after all. And even if you did, you might not have liked that plan, stupid." Kokichi taunted the bear with a sly grin.
"Damn it! I was tricked!" Monokuma growled. What did he seriously expect to happen? Although…
"So your entire plan…was essentially mass suicide?" I asked.
"Yep! And after Gonta saw the motive, he couldn't help but agree with me. We didn't want you all to become like the two of us and Rinny. So we decided it was for the best to kill you while most of you were ignorant." Kokichi stated.
"I've been listening to you for a while now, but I don't understand something about this plan of yours." Shuichi began. "If you wanted Gonta to be the culprit, and you wanted to frame yourself as the killer, who were you going to kill? Was it Kaito?"
"Yep! That's right! I wrote that note to Kaito to lure him into our clutches, and he fell for it, hook, line, and sinker!"
"So…what happened? Because Kaito ended up dead anyway. I don't see how this proves Maki is the culprit and not you." Shuichi frowned.
"Well, that's because he's lying!" Tenko shouted. "He's nothing more than a lying degenerate who-"
"I wasn't finished explaining everything. I still need to tell you the technicalities of my plan, right?" Kokichi cut her off, to which Tenko responded by growling at him, though he ignored her.
"...Fine. How exactly were you planning on pulling this off?" I asked, crossing my arms while I rolled my eyes. The more I listened to this 'confession'.
"I'm glad you asked, Rinny!"
"Don't call me that." I cut him off with a snarl. He seemed taken aback by that. Still, he didn't lose his cheerful smile as he continued.
"Well, the plan was to kill Kaito with poison, just like you all thought. However, Kaito wasn't as stupid as I thought. So, I tried to go with a different approach."
"A different approach?" Shuichi asked.
"I showed Kaito the motive too so I could try to convince him to let himself die." Kokichi said with an innocent smile.
"Y-You…! You showed that to Kaito as well!? What the hell is WRONG with you!?" I yelled.
"Oh, take a chill pill, Rin. I figured I'd let Kaito know why he had to die, that's all. I even explained my mercy-kill plan to him. I figured it was only fair to let a dying man know why he was dying, y'know?"
"You're a heartless bastard…" Maki growled. "You probably just wanted Kaito to feel panicked and confused as you killed him…"
"So…did Kaito let you kill him?" Kaede asked.
"No, frustratingly enough. Even after I explained everything, he kept being his stupid, stubborn self." Kokichi sighed. "That's when I realized I had to order Gonta to force Kaito to drink the poison. Then, once he was dead, we'd continue with the plan and drop Kaito from the top of the spiral staircase to make it look like he died from falling." Kokichi explained.
"I see… That is what the rope was for, it would seem." Kirumi muttered.
"That's right. We were going to tie Kaito up and dangle his body over the railings. Gonta would leave, but I would stay behind. Once someone entered the room, I was gonna cut the rope to drop Kaito's body. That would hide Kaito's true cause of death and make it seem like he died just then by falling. And since I would be the only person at the top of the staircase, it would have made me look super suspicious!"
"That's certainly a plan. One that might have worked too." Rantaro said with a small grimace, probably at the thought of what might have happened if that ended up happening.
"But that is not what actually happened, is it?" Keebo asked.
"Nope. Everything went to shit…and it was all because of that murderous bitch." Kokichi growled while turning to Maki. She only huffed while crossing her arms.
"Really? I'm the one who ruined your plans?" She asked in an uninterested tone.
"Don't play coy. You know what you did." Kokichi glared at her. "Before we could poison Kaito, he started coughing up blood! He must have had a poor reaction to the flashback light. Perhaps it put him under too much stress or something that caused his illness to flare up. Before we could do anything, you came in and tried to kill me! It was only because of Gonta that I even survived, but that didn't save him from you! You killed him!"
"Maki killed…Gonta?" I repeated, the words not making any sense in my mind. Kaito started coughing up blood? Maki came in and tried to kill Kokichi and ended up killing Gonta? That can't be true. It's just another lie. More lies… It's always lies when it comes to Kokichi!
"Maki? Kokichi is obviously lying, right?" Tenko asked the accused. Maki just crossed her arms and sighed.
"Of course. Do you really need to question it? Kokichi is nothing more than a lying asshole who's dug himself in a hole. He killed Kaito, and Gonta died because of him too. That's obvious. There's no room for doubt on that." Maki stated.
"Come on! Quit lying and tell us the truth!" Kokichi taunted Maki.
"She's not lying! She isn't like you! She's our friend!" Kaede shouted, her face narrowing into an angry glare towards the boy, who only laughed in response.
"Ouch! That actually hurt, Kaeyayday! I thought we were friends too!" Kokichi laughed.
"No matter how we may see Maki or Kokichi, I find it illogical that Maki would have killed Gonta for any reason." Keebo shook his head.
"Agreed. She might be an assassin, but she's not a bloodthirsty monster. If she were, she would have killed someone much earlier than this. Besides that, I just don't see how she could have done any of this." Rantaro nodded.
"It's clear what Kokichi's plan for this trial is." I began to say as I pointed toward Kokichi. "Your plan has been to set Maki up as the culprit! That's why you wrote that fake message, right? Everything you've said is a lie! All that crap about a mercy kill is bs! You just want to sacrifice us all and survive!"
"You're the worst of the worst! Seriously, no one is as much of a degenerate as you are!" Tenko added.
"You're right. I did something awful…" Kokichi began in a remorseful tone before returning to his smug smile. "I didn't want Rin and Shuichi to hog all the fun, so I told everyone the truth!"
"I'm sick and tired of your lies, man!" I yelled.
"You're letting your emotions get the better of you, Rin. I thought you were all about logic and reasoning."
"Shut up! I won't let you trick me anymore! You're nothing more than a lying scumbag that doesn't care about any of us! Of course I'm not going to believe you!"
"So you're throwing away the truth just because of that? I'm disappointed, really." Kokichi sighed. "There's no need to bring emotions into this class trial. All we need is logical thinking, right Shuichi?"
"What?" Shuichi questioned as Kokichi's gaze fell onto him, but he didn't get a chance to respond as we continued yelling at Kokichi.
"You aren't using logical thinking either! You're just telling us Maki is the culprit with no real proof!" Kaede yelled.
"There's no way Maki's the killer! She wouldn't do something like that. Not without a good reason!" I nodded.
"That's right. What possible reason would I have to commit a murder? And what evidence do you have that points to me?" Maki asked, not a hint of hesitation or fear showing on her face. She was completely confident. None of this fazed her. Every other culprit showed some sign of fear when accused. But not Maki. She was different from them. Because she wasn't the culprit. That's what I truly believed. I'm not wrong with this line of thought.
"Well, let me ask you all a question then." Kokichi began. "If Maki isn't the culprit, then who is?"
"You are! You killed both Kaito and Gonta, you lying scumbag!" I yelled.
"Bwahahaha!" Kokichi burst into loud laughter the moment he heard that. "That's not true, and I think you know why."
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Tenko asked.
"Fine. I'll explain it clearly to all of you… Why I can't be the culprit." Kokichi declared. "Didn't you find something strange about this case?"
"Strange?" Keebo questioned.
"The Body Discovery Announcement." Kokichi clarified.
"That's right. That was strange, wasn't it." Kaede stated. "It went off after Shuichi and I found both bodies."
"But the rules state that three people need to discover a body for the announcement to play, right? Then isn't it obvious? Someone must have seen those bodies before Kaede and Shuichi found them."
"And are you saying you're this mystery third person?" Maki asked.
"Duh? Who else could it have been? I was already at the scene, so I must have been the first person to discover the bodies."
"That only incriminates you more! Of course the killer would see the bodies first!" Tenko shouted.
"Hang on… Is that really how it works?" Rantaro asked.
"Huh? Why do you ask?"
"It's just… What you just said made me realize something. Of course the killer would be the first to see the victim's body under most normal circumstances, right? But isn't that strange?"
"What do you mean?" Kirumi asked.
"Well, if the killer is counted among the three people needed to discover a body, then wouldn't it only take two other people to cause the announcement to go off? Wouldn't that be confusing with what the rules tell us?"
"That's an interesting point to make. That would cause problems with the killing game rules Monokuma set up." Keebo nodded.
"But does that really matter? I don't see how this makes Kokichi innocent." Kaede said.
"It's because I think the rule means that it takes three innocent people to discover the body for the announcement to play." Rantaro said.
"Three…innocent people?" I repeated, my eyes growing wide as I spoke. "But…that would mean-"
"That Kokichi is innocent." Shuichi finished in a quiet voice as he stared at Kokichi.
"But that can't be right! Kokichi's the culprit! He has to be!" Tenko shouted.
"This is just another one of his traps. Don't be fooled by him and his lies." Maki growled.
"But is it a lie? We can't be certain, can we?" Rantaro asked.
"There is one way we can get the truth." I said. "Hey, Monokuma. Could you answer our question about this?"
"I believe time travel really is possible. To do so, you need to abandon your body in the present and travel back into your body in the past. From there, you can only follow the rules of time and cannot change what is fated to happen. It's as simple as that." Monokuma told me without missing a beat.
"..." I deadpanned at the stupid bear with a twitching eyebrow before I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Rant about your theories of time travel some other time to someone who cares…" I groaned before moving back to my question. "My concern is with the body discovery announcement. You said it goes off when three or more people discover a body, right? If that's the case, then is the killer included in the count?"
"O-Oh… Great… not again." Monokuma muttered as he averted his eyes. "W-Well… It's, uh, how you say… Something like that is… I mean, I suppose…"
"Why are you tripping over your words for such a simple question?" Maki asked him.
"Grrrr…! It's because it's so annoying whenever something like this happens! Why do people always ask something like this!?" Monokuma shouted. "Look, I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I know it sounds like an excuse, but the body discovery announcement IS NOT supposed to be used for deduction! Its intended purpose is to create a fair trial! It's supposed to let everyone know a body has been found."
"So you're saying that I'm pretty much cheating by trying to bring it up as if it's evidence?" Kokichi asked him.
"YES!"
"I suppose that's fair, however, how does it create a fair trial when it's so vague as to how the announcement is triggered. It can lead to some major problems in this game, some of which being lethal depending on the situation." Kokichi told him.
"Where exactly are you going with this, Kokichi?" Kaede asked.
"Well, since the body discovery announcement only happens when three or more people discover the body, that could lead to bodies never being found in some cases. Not only that, but the killer could just kill a bunch of people until there are less than three left, meaning the announcement can't even trigger, right? There's no rule in this killing game preventing something like that from happening, right?" Kokichi explained.
"Well…" Monokuma began with a grimace. "As long as I keep things ambiguous, I can respond to situations like that with flexibility. So you don't have to worry about extremes like that."
"Flexibility, huh? That certainly is a trait I would give you regarding this killing game." Kokichi nodded. "So what about now? Is it three or more people including the killer or not?"
"Look, I'm not going to tell you anything! Especially when you're trying to use it to decide whether or not someone is the blackened or not! If I say anything, that will affect the trial in a massive way! And as the impartial judge, I need to-"
"IT-DOES-NOT-INCLUDE-THE-KILLER-THIS-TIME."
"H-HUH!?" Monokuma yelped as Monodam finally spoke up and interrupted his father.
"It…doesn't include the killer?" I repeated.
"NO." Monodam answered simply.
"M-Monodam! Why would you tell them that!?" Monkuma roared angrily. Monodam just stared aimlessly at his father before finally giving him an answer.
"I-WANT-THEM-TO-WIN-THE-TRIAL. TO-DO-THAT, THE-TRUE-KILLER-MUST-BE-FOUND."
"Grrr…!" Monokuma fumed with anger as he turned red from holding back his screams. "We'll be talking about this later, Monodam! Once this trial is over, you better be prepared for a punishment that's worse than anything I could ever put these idiots through!" Monodam didn't say anything as he went back to doing his best impression of a statue. Unfortunately, none of us were even paying the bears any attention as we tried to speak about what we had just learned.
"This time around…the three who discovered the body are innocent." Tenko repeated.
"That means that Shuichi and Kaede are innocent of the crime." Keebo said. "As well as…"
"Me. I can't be the killer either." Kokichi smirked like he had just won the lottery. "That means I'm not lying, and Maki is the culprit."
"No, that can't be right! It doesn't make any sense!" I yelled.
"I'm not the culprit." Maki reiterated, now snarling a bit more at Kokichi. "You're just lying again to protect yourself. There's no proof that you were one of the three who discovered the bodies."
"Isn't there? Has anyone else come forward to try to say they were one of the three before now? I'm the only one as far as I know." Kokichi said before giving Maki an evil smirk. "Of course, you could try to claim that you discovered the bodies as well, but it'd only come off as suspicious now, wouldn't you agree."
"You…" Maki growled.
"No, I won't believe it! Maki isn't the culprit!" Kaede shouted. "Even if Kokichi isn't the culprit, that doesn't mean it has to be Maki, right?"
"That's right! You still haven't given us proper evidence that Maki was the one who killed Gonta, nor have you proven that Kaito died from some random disease you claim he had!" I added. "Until you show us evidence, we don't have any reason to believe you!"
"Nee-hee… You guys are reeeally desperate to make me the culprit." Kokichi giggled. "No matter how much you whine about it, you can't change the truth! The culprit who killed Gonta Gokuhara is Maki Harukawa! This is the truth you all adore so much!"
"Shut up! Nothing you've said is the truth!" I yelled. "All you do is lie and trick those who try to trust you. Who'd want to be your friend? You just enjoy watching us run around like headless chickens, but that won't happen this time!"
"That is correct. You cannot lie your way out of this. None of us will believe you after you have lied to all of us on so many occasions." Kirumi nodded as she frowned at Kokichi.
"Of course! Kokichi already admitted to working with Monokuma, and was trying to get Gonta to kill Kaito! There's no reason at all to believe a degenerate like him!" Tenko screamed angrily. "There's no point in even talking about it!"
"Right! You think so too, right Shuichi." Kaede asked as she turned to the detective, who had been strangely quiet up until now. Shuichi turned to the pianist with a deep frown before giving a sigh.
"...I know how important it is to believe. But as the Ultimate Detective, I know we can't solve this case with belief alone." Shuichi said calmly, but his words left a chill with the rest of us.
"Huh?" Kaede questioned as she tilted her head in slight confusion.
"It's just that…something doesn't add up. I have this feeling…something's off. We can't keep going back and forth like this. We need to discuss this."
"Wait, you…actually think Maki is the culprit?" Kaede asked with wide eyes. "You want to suspect her?"
"Too bad, Kaede. Looks like Shuichi agrees with me." Kokichi grinned.
"N-No! I'm not trying to-!" Shuichi tried to speak, but he was cut off again.
"Oh, the irony!" Kokichi laughed out loud. "It's all thanks to people like Kaede, Kaito, and even Rin that Shuichi got his act together as a detective, and now, Shuichi's intuition as a detective has made him more suspicious of others. Welp, can't be helped. That's just what a detective does."
"That's not it, Kokichi! I'm just trying to make sure that everyone surviv-!"
"So you're against me, Shuichi?" Maki asked, her gaze narrowing into something that I could describe as sadness as her face scrunched up a little. "You'd believe Kokichi over one of your friends? Do you honestly think that I did this?" Shuichi didn't say anything as he placed a clenched fist against his chest, as if he was in pain at the mere thought of suspecting a friend, especially one as close as Maki.
"...We might as well discuss it." Keebo then said with a small sigh.
"Keebo?" Tenko asked.
"As a precautionary measure, that's all. At this point of the trial, I think we need to seriously discuss whether Maki was capable of committing this crime." Keebo said with another sad look on his face. "Only then…can we arrive at a logical decision."
"I can't help but agree." Rantaro frowned. "As much as I don't like it, we need to make a decision right now so we can move on with the trial. If we stay here, we won't figure anything out, and we'll most likely die. We need to discuss the possibility at least."
"You guys…!" Kaede began. "You can't seriously be buying this!"
"This is exactly what Kokichi wants us to think." Kirumi frowned. "This is just another one of his lies. A trick that he has set up to make the game more interesting. We all need to get back on track and ignore this ploy that Kokichi has concocted." Kirumi then turned to me before continuing. "You do not believe Kokichi either, do you Rin? Shuichi, Keebo, and Rantaro are just mistaken, having been taken in by Kokichi's lies."
I truly hated how Kirumi put me on the spot like that, as everyone turned to me right then, all of them expecting an answer of some kind. I stared with wide eyes at them as I continued trying to wrap my head around all of this before I looked down at the ground and shut my eyes. I still felt pale as my hands became increasingly clammy with sweat. I felt sick. Again…
But this was different from that. This was worse, somehow. Just the thought of this made me want to empty my stomach. I don't know why.
Kaito died from an apparently random illness, and then Maki killed Gonta? That can't be anything more than a deception. Mere fiction! That can't be what happened! It just can't! Because-!
"It's possible, isn't it?"
I froze as I slowly opened my eyes, only to see the trial grounds around me had changed. It still looked the same, but I was alone now. All the stands were empty now, with even the portraits and Monokuma and Monodam gone. It was just me…and me. There, standing across from me, was me. He wasn't wearing the same outfit as me. The other me was wearing a familiar-looking suit. He looked just like Tsumugi did when she cosplayed me. Chills racked my body as I stared at my doppelganger. It's just another hallucination. Just another waking nightmare my brain has trapped me in. It's not real, it's not real, it's not-!
"Why do you immediately reject me? Why do you immediately reject a possible truth?" 'Rin' asked me.
"H-Huh?"
"You claim to seek the truth, yet you deny a possibility that might lead to the truth. That alone is contradictory, is it not? Do you not care for the truth? Was that a lie?"
"N-No! That's not it! Of course I want to find the truth!"
"Then why do you immediately reject this possibility?"
"I-It's…It's because…"
"You're afraid." He stated. It wasn't a question. It was a statement. There was nothing but confidence as 'Rin' continued speaking. "You're afraid of having to take responsibility again." I froze when I heard that.
"...Stop it." I pleaded.
"You were the one who convinced the others that Maki was trustworthy. You…alongside Kaito."
"I said stop it…!"
"You're afraid that this is all your fault. You don't want to feel that guilt again, like how you've been plagued by it ever since the killing game began." 'Rin' said in a neutral tone. "You're willing to not lie to the others, but to yourself to protect your now fragile heart. A heart that's been hurt too much. A heart betrayed too often in this place that breeds distrust and betrayals."
"I SAID STOP IT!" I screamed. "It's not my fault! Maki didn't kill anyone! This is Kokichi's fault, not mine!"
"Yet Kokichi is another person you have advocated for. Doesn't that mean it's still your fault in that case?" 'Rin' asked me while tilting his head.
"Shut up! I don't want to hear anymore! I've made my choice! Maki is innocent! I'll prove it!" I screamed with all I had. 'Rin' just stared at me before his expression shifted slightly to a frown.
"...Alright. I can see I can't change your mind. I just hope, for your sake, that you're right about this." My double then sighed as he turned his back to me.
"I am right. I have to be. This has to be the truth! It has to…!" I muttered as I shut my eyes again. When I opened them again, I was back in reality. Hardly even a second had passed after I got out of that hallucination. I clenched my fist as I looked back up and stared at Shuichi with a determined glare.
"You're wrong, Shuichi…" I muttered.
"Rin?" Shuichi asked, seemingly shocked at my words.
"You're wrong!" I repeated in a much louder voice. "Maki isn't the culprit! This is just another one of Kokichi's tricks! Open your eyes! He's just trying to split us up!"
"B-But-!"
"HOLD IT!" Monokuma cut off the detective as he started giggling up a storm. In fact, it might have been the loudest, joy-filled giggle that he had let out this entire killing game. "So sorry to ruin this tense moment, but you guys seem pretty evenly split right now. So, the Ultimate Academy is proud to present its very own morphenomenal trial grounds!"
"So we're gonna do that again?" Maki asked with a frown.
"Shuichi… Why don't you understand?" I grimaced as I shook my head. "I thought Maki was your friend too. Why aren't you believing her? Kaito wouldn't have thought twice about it!"
"Rin…" Shuichi began to speak but stopped himself as Monokuma booted up the Scrum Debate. He took out his key and stuck it into the same slot as the last three times, causing our podiums to glow and move high into the air. Once we were high enough, our podiums divided us into two groups.
The question this time was 'Could Maki have committed the crime?', with the left side, 'It's impossible!', being made up of me, Kaede, Maki, Tenko, and Kirumi. The right side was made up of Shuichi, Rantaro, Kokichi, and Keebo, and their argument was 'It's possible!'.
"Scrum debate…START!" Monokuma shouted. I immediately started the debate with a glare aimed right at Shuichi.
"Shuichi, are you seriously trying to suggest that Maki is the culprit!?" I asked, anger only slightly contained in my tone.
"I can't say for sure that she's the culprit. I'm saying we can't rule it out!" Shuichi shot back in slight exasperation.
"Maki wouldn't do that! She wouldn't hurt someone so nice like Gonta!" Kaede argued.
"You do realize that people we wouldn't have expected to be capable of hurting others, especially nice people, end up being our culprits, right? Like Himiko killing Ryoma or Tsumugi with Kirumi." Kokichi pointed out with a sly grin.
"Could Maki even kill someone like Gonta? He is much larger than she is and has proven to be many times stronger than any of us." Kirumi pointed out.
"But Maki is the Ultimate Assassin. If anyone could kill Gonta, it's someone trained to fight and kill like her." Rantaro countered.
"Kaito was the first one who died. His murder is the one we need to focus on, not Gonta's." Maki growled.
"If Kaito died from natural causes, then that means he was not murdered. That would make Gonta this case's victim." Keebo stated.
"But Kokichi confessed to working with Monokuma! He tried to get Gonta to kill Kaito for his messed up plan!" Tenko screamed.
"I did cooperate with Monokuma, but only on a temporary basis." Kokichi shot back.
"Kokichi's just lying! He's the culprit!" I shouted.
"That's not possible, because Kokichi was part of the three who discovered the bodies." Keebo shook his head.
"I am not the culprit! I did not kill Gonta!" Maki exclaimed, anger now showing on her face clearly. Shuichi just sighed as he shook his head.
"The truth is, Maki could have murdered Gonta." With his words, Monokuma nodded happily as he ended the scrum debate. I hid a snarl as our podiums floated back down to the ground. I wasn't done defending our claim, damn it! I still don't accept this! Shuichi seemed to notice that as he sighed again.
"In my opinion…as long as it is possible that Maki is the culprit, we have to discuss it." He explained.
"That's ridiculous… You're going to believe Kokichi over Maki?" Kaede asked in disbelief.
"That's not it at all. I just want the truth." Shuichi replied. "If we're going to survive, I have to find the truth!"
"I-I still don't believe Maki's the culprit! It's just… This was all Kokichi's plan, wasn't it? So he must be the culprit!" Tenko cried out.
"But we need to try to discuss how and if Maki could have really committed this crime. We aren't going anywhere by talking in circles like this." Rantaro stated. I was about to say something, but Maki spoke before I did.
"Fine. If you are going to believe Kokichi over me, I'll just have to prove it to you." Maki said before giving Shuichi a determined look. "I am not the culprit. What evidence do you have that says otherwise? Kokichi hasn't given any, has he? He just told you his story, but it's full of holes."
"That's true. There are multiple problems with Kokichi's testimony." I nodded, sighing at the fact that we were actually discussing this possibility, but if we were going to talk about it, I was going to follow suit and point out all the logical flaws in this argument. "For example, why would Maki suddenly walk into the crime scene? She wasn't the one lured into Kokichi's plan, so she had no reason to be anywhere near there."
"Don't say it was just a coincidence. There's no way that could have just been by chance." Kaede added.
"Why not? Miu stumbled upon Kiyo preparing his crime, and Himiko accidentally wandered into Angie's crime too." Kokichi pointed out.
"But they had actual reasons to be where they were." I argued. "Miu saw Kiyo grabbing those supplies for his crime and followed him to try to stop him, while Himiko ran into the virtual world's forest to tell me about the pictures she and Tenko found. They had logical reasons for entering the crime scene. If you want to convict Maki of murder, you need something stronger than random chance."
"Then what if it wasn't random chance Maki was at the scene?" Shuichi suggested.
"Do you have an idea as to why Maki would be at the spiral staircase at that time?" Kirumi asked.
"...I do." Shuichi nodded. "I believe it's possible she was insurance."
"Insurance?" Keebo repeated.
"Yes. I think it's possible that Kaito brought her in case something went wrong." Shuichi said. "Despite how he could be sometimes, Kaito wasn't stupid. He probably thought the note was strange, especially since it was trying to frame Rin as a possible murderer. He still decided he had to check it out, but I believe he brought a friend to help out just in case this was a ploy to get him killed."
"And who better to ask than the Ultimate Assassin? She's one hell of a bodyguard, let me tell you." Kokichi smirked. "That's what I thought at the time too. After all, she burst through the doors as soon as Kaito started coughing and he collapsed."
"Th-That doesn't change anything!" I exclaimed. "So it's possible Maki could have been at the scene of the crime. That's just speculation on your part."
"True. That's just a theory on my part. Alone, it isn't worth much." Shuichi agreed. "However, that's not the only thing that points to Maki."
"Huh? What else could point to Maki?" I asked.
"Gonta's fatal wound. He died from a slash across his chest that caused him to bleed out. In fact, Kaito's lab had many scratch marks from the struggle. Even the model rover in there suffered from a few scratches from what was probably a blade." He said.
"What's your point?" Maki asked.
"Maki, you always carry a combat knife on you, right?" Shuichi asked. "Kaede and I saw it whenever we went to work out together."
"W-What!? Then are you saying the murder weapon is that combat knife she has?" Tenko asked.
"The wounds Gonta had would be consistent with wounds caused by a knife of some sort." Keebo nodded.
"Ding ding ding! Shuichi's got it again!" Kokichi cheered. "She used that knife to kill Gonta. In fact, she actually tried killing me with it!"
"You're talking about your arm injury, aren't you?" Rantaro asked.
"Yep! The moment she saw Kaito on the ground, face first in his own blood, she grabbed the knife out of seemingly nowhere and threw it at me! I'm lucky I managed to dodge enough not to die right then! Gonta tried to protect me and carried me up the stairs while Maki chased after us. Thank god Gonta was so strong. He got a major headstart on her and managed to get to Kaito's lab with enough time to hide me from her."
"Hide you?" Tenko questioned.
"That's why there was blood in the model rover. Gonta hid you in there." Shuichi said.
"Yep. it was the perfect spot to hide me, especially with how the lid can be locked from the inside." Kokichi's smirk then fell into a deep frown. "But…Gonta didn't have time to get away, either. I tried to tell him to just leave me and get away, or to try to fit in the rover with me, but he wouldn't listen. That stupid idiot thought he could talk Maki down. And then Maki killed him." Kokichi's eyes flared with anger as he began screaming. "I'll never forgive that bitch for ruining my plans! I'll never forgive her for killing Gonta!"
"So that's why you wrote the dying message." Rantaro stated. "It was for revenge."
"Obviously. I knew I could have let Maki just win the trial. That would have given me the 'mercy kill' I wanted. But I wasn't going to let her get away with completely ruining everything!"
"So you wrote Maki's name in Gonta's blood to implicate her. But you did other things besides that." Shuichi claimed. "You replaced the bottle of poison with the medicine to try to get us to come to the conclusion that Kaito was sick, and then you destroyed the flashback light."
"Yep yep. All of that was to try to get you all to realize the killer quicker since I knew you all wouldn't believe me if I confessed. Too bad that plan backfired spectacularly." Kokichi sighed.
"Y-You did all that for…" I trailed off as my wide-eyed look turned into another grimace. "That's so stupid! Now I know you're lying! Maki's not the culprit! There's still not enough to prove that!"
"Y-Yeah. Maki has an alibi after all." Kaede brought up.
"Oh! That's right! When the BDA played, Rantaro and I saw her leave her lab right after." Tenko nodded.
"We arrived at the 3rd floor at 12:05. But Gonta's time of death was 12:10. And we didn't see her walk into her lab. She was already inside before we got there." Rantaro admitted.
"But Gonta died from bleeding out. It is possible that Maki left the scene of the crime and established an alibi before Gonta truly died." Keebo pointed out.
"But Gonta died in Kaito's lab, which is on the 6th floor. In order to get to my lab, I would have to walk down the entire staircase and then make my way back up to the 3rd floor using the normal path. That would take too long to do." Maki argued.
"Agreed. Not to mention with the spiral staircase being the only way down to the rest of the academy, chances are someone should have seen Maki as she made her way to her lab." I said. "But no one did. Her alibi is pretty solid."
"Then perhaps we need to look at it from another angle." Shuichi said.
"Another angle?" Kirumi questioned with a narrow brow.
"It's possible Maki took another path to her lab that would greatly cut the time it would normally take her to get to her lab." Shuichi explained.
"What!? There's no way! The spiral staircase is the only way to move between the 6th floor and the rest of the academy!" Kaede shouted.
"Normally, I would agree with you. But Maki made a new way." Shuichi's words made me pale as something immediately came to my mind.
"N-No… No, that's crazy! No one would ever do that! That'd be suicide!" I shouted.
"Rin? What is Shuichi talking about?" Kirumi asked me.
"He's talking about the window outside Kaito's lab…" I growled, feeling my sanity slip away from having to consider such a stupid idea.
"The window?" Maki repeated with wide eyes.
"Yes. I noticed that it was open during my investigation. The Exisals still haven't completely cleaned up the academy, so there were still some greenery and vines outside the window. I went outside to get a better look at it, and I noticed how the vines actually went down enough to reach the 5th floor." Shuichi began explaining.
"Wait… Then are you suggesting that Maki climbed out the window and climbed down from the 6th floor straight to the 5th floor!?" Kaede exclaimed.
"That's insane! No one would risk their life doing that!" Tenko shouted.
"You're right. No one would do that. Unless they were confident they could pull something like this off." Shuichi argued. "And who else would have the skill and talent to pull off a physical feat like this than the Ultimate Assassin?"
"Out of all of us here, I don't think anyone other than Maki could even think of something like this." Rantaro nodded. "I mean, I've rock climbed before, but I'm not sure I'm confident enough to do something like this, especially with no equipment."
"But even if she scaled the outside of the academy like you're suggesting, how would she get into the 5th floor from the outside?" Tenko asked.
"Oh… I see." Kirumi frowned. "That must be the reason…"
"K-Kirumi?" I stuttered.
"Did you remember something?" Kaede asked.
"Indeed. When Rin and I went to Shuichi's lab to see if poison could have been used in this case, we noticed that the large stained glass window on the 5th floor had been broken." Kirumi stated.
"It was broken?" Keebo asked.
"Yes. But there was something strange that we noticed. There were glass shards next to the window."
"Glass shards? How is that strange? Of course you'd find glass shards if the window was shattered somehow." Tenko questioned.
"It wasn't the presence of glass shards that was strange. It was the location where we found them." Kirumi clarified.
"I see. If someone broke the window, you would think that they would be outside since, normally, the only way to break that window would be inside the academy on the 5th floor. However, if Maki climbed outside of the academy and broke the window to get into the 5th floor, the shards would fall inward, landing under the window instead." Rantaro nodded.
"So…Maki really could have gone straight from the 6th floor to the 5th using this method?" Kaede asked.
"The evidence seems to indicate that. With how the window on the 6th floor was open, the fact that the vines reached the 5th floor, and the stained glass window on the 5th floor was shattered from the outside; I believe that this was the method the culprit used to escape from the scene of the crime." Shuichi nodded.
"And with that shortcut, Maki could have easily made it to her lab before Gonta finished bleeding out. That's how she got her alibi." Kokichi smirked.
"Then…did Maki really do it?" Kaede asked in disbelief. "Is that…really the truth?"
"Yep. It's like I've been saying. Maki is the one who committed this crime." Kokichi smirked. "You all get it now, right? That's the truth we were all reaching for." Kokichi's playful expression then morphed into an angry snarl as he began screaming. "The thing you guys wanted so badly! A truth without any lies! Kaito died from natural causes, and Gonta is the victim of this case. And his killer…is Maki Harukawa!"
I felt my stomach tighten at that. It only worsened when I realized no one else was arguing with Kokichi anymore. There was just somber silence. Kaede and Tenko have their eyes closed in reluctant defeat. Kirumi is just frowning at what appears to be the truth, along with Keebo and Rantaro. Kokichi snickered loudly as Shuichi gave a slight grimace as he turned to Maki, who was also silent. She seemed… I didn't really know. It confused me at first before an idea hit me. Could it be…acceptance?
Oh god…
I shook my head. No! That's not possible! It can't be possible! Because if this is the truth, then…it'd be all my fault. Again. Just like before. There'd be more blood on my hands. More regret built up upon my shoulders. More tears that I could no longer cry. More pain I'd be responsible for. More mistakes of mine that cost others' lives. More guilt that I can no longer swallow.
"Just accept it! This is the truth! You're going to kill everyone if you keep yourself blind to the truth for the sake of your own ego!"
But I refused…
"H-Hold on! I-I still haven't accepted this! This has gotta be Kokichi's trap." I shouted in a cracked, shaky voice as sweat poured from my pale face.
I felt sick…
"I still believe in Maki! She's not the kind of person who would just do something like this!"
That's a lie… I'm lying to myself… I'm lying for myself…
"Rin…" Shuichi muttered as Kokichi scoffed.
"I already said this a million times, Rin. You shouldn't use emotions to-"
"Emotions!? You're the one who hasn't shown enough evidence!" I screamed in defiance.
Why am I still arguing about this…?
"You think that the only evidence that you need is a broken window for a possible escape route, a theory on the murder weapon, and testimony from a liar is enough to convict someone!? That's not nearly enough!"
I'm so tired of arguing… I'm so tired of feeling this way…
"Before you convict one of your friends, answer me this: why would Maki even do something like this!? She might be an assassin, but that doesn't mean she's some blood-lusting murderer! There's no way she would kill someone for no reason! So what POSSIBLE motive could she have had!? I told you already that the only people who saw Monokuma's motive were Kokichi and me, and Kokichi showed the motive to Gonta and Kaito! But no one else saw it, right!? So what was Maki's motive to kill someone as kind and sweet as Gonta, who was a victim himself to Kokichi's lies and manipulation!?"
A desperate argument, I know. One that can be so easily proven wrong…
"If Maki didn't have a motive, then Maki wouldn't have killed anyone, so there's no way she's the culprit!"
"No…that's wrong…" Shuichi softly replied as he shook his head.
"...What?" I asked with a dark, blank glare now aimed right at the detective.
How dare he…
"Just because Maki didn't see Monokuma's motive doesn't mean that she didn't have a motive at all. She just had a different motive. One I think I've realized now that we know a lot more about this case."
"Nee-heehee… Looks like Shuichi's got it. I'll leave the rest to him." Kokichi smiled as he put his hands behind his head with a wide smile. I didn't even register Kokichi's voice. I don't even know if anyone else said anything as I just stared at Shuichi.
I feel sick…
"Rin, I know how you feel. I know because we all feel it. But… we have to face the truth. No matter how cruel that truth may be, we need to face it…to survive." Shuichi told me. "I thought you already knew that."
I feel so sick…
"...Shuichi. Just whose side are you on?" I asked in a dark tone.
"Rin, please! Why are you fighting me on this so desperately? You aren't even the one being accused! So why are you arguing as if you are?"
"I'm doing this because I'm not the one being accused!" I yelled back. "What's wrong with you!? Kaito wouldn't stand for this! You're a much closer friend to Maki than I am, so why am I the one defending her like this!? Well, if you're gonna be like that, then FINE! I'll tear that sorry reasoning and pathetic excuse for logic to shreds! I'll keep screaming until you start listening to me for ONCE!"
Is this…really me?
I hardly remember anything after that. I just remember yelling. My throat was getting hoarse as I began losing my voice. I might have actually started crying as I threw every insult and scrap of whatever argument I could think of at Shuichi. I didn't care if the others were watching. I didn't care if I didn't even believe half of the things that I was even saying. I just wanted him to stop. I just wanted him to give it to me. To give up and admit that I have to be right. That his absurd version of the truth was just a fabrication. I needed to hear that so that I could stop feeling like this. So that I could breathe a sigh of relief in knowing I did nothing wrong in this trial and trusting Maki. That, for once in this damn killing game, I didn't completely and utterly mess up royally.
But then he finally stopped me in my tracks, and with a single statement.
"Maki thought Kaito was killed. Either by Kokichi's or Gonta's hand. So in a fit of anger, she killed Gonta. Her motive was revenge and anger. A crime of passion." Shuichi stated calmly but confidently.
"Crime…of…passion…?" I repeated slowly as the words reached my ears. I felt my body freeze up at the suggestion that Shuichi gave me.
It was exactly what I feared it could be…
"Y-You mean…Maki…killed Gonta…because she was angry that Kaito had died, supposedly?" I asked. "H-Heh…Hehehehe… You're joking, right? Th-That can't be right. If Kokichi's story is true, then Kaito wouldn't even have been dead when Maki walked into the room. Maki wouldn't have done such a rash and drastic thing when Kaito wasn't even dead yet, right? She wouldn't completely kill someone for such a silly, stupid reason as the assumption that Kaito was killed."
"...Maki." Shuichi sighed before turning to the accused. "Let me ask you upfront about this. Please, just tell us the truth. I want to believe you, but I need to ask you. Did you really kill Gonta?" Maki looked at him with her usual uninterested look that she always had, but then her expression softened.
"Shuichi. Do you really think that Kaito died from natural causes?" Maki suddenly asked. "Do you really think he had an illness that killed him and that he didn't die because someone murdered him?"
"...Yes. After discussing it for so long, Kokichi's story is the only one that properly explains Kaito's death. Kaito doesn't show any other strange signs that can be pointed to poison that could have come from my lab, nor is there any evidence to suggest any other cause of death that lines up with the state of his body." Shuichi answered.
"I see. Then…this really is all my fault." Maki frowned sadly.
"M-Maki…?" I questioned.
"Sorry, Rin. I don't know why you were so insistent, but Shuichi's right." Maki told me. "I admit it. I killed Gonta, and if Kaito was killed by natural causes like an illness, then that makes me the blackened of this case."
I stared at Maki with wide eyes of disbelief after she said that. I couldn't hear anything anymore. I couldn't see anything other than Maki anymore. I couldn't process anything anymore.
Everything just stopped after she confessed.
Confessed… Maki had just confessed.
I just stood there, motionless, with my jaw only slightly ajar. I didn't say anything out of fear that the bile that was slowly creeping up my throat would fly out the moment I tried to speak. I didn't even notice Kirumi shaking me or her questions of concern that were aimed at me.
I did nothing but ignore all the white noise and colors around me as I let myself completely shut down…
"Rin… Rin! What's wrong? Why won't you answer?" Kirumi let her formal speech falter as she shook Rin with more effort than before.
However, no matter what she said or how hard she shook, the young man wouldn't react. He just let himself be shaken as he stared at nothing with blank, colorless eyes. Shuichi didn't know how he should feel when he saw Rin so…lifeless. His crimson eyes, which had been glowing with anger and desperation just seconds prior, were now dull, so much so that they were almost gray now. His eyes now resembled those of a dead fish as his body went limp. It was a wonder he hadn't fallen over yet.
"Nee-heehee… Looks like Rin's morale is completely shot, and with Maki's confession, this whole thing seems to be done now!" Kokichi cheered.
"The matter…does appear to be settled." Keebo said sadly.
"Th-That…it's…" Kaede tried to say something, but the words died on her lips as she looked towards the ground, teary-eyed and shaken by Rin's previous outburst and his now motionless self.
"But… Maki… Why…?" Tenko asked.
"...Sorry." That was all Maki said, her own sadness apparent. "Shuichi, hurry up and end this already. Go ahead and make it clear for everyone so that it's easy for them to vote." Shuichi turned to face his friend before giving her a nod.
"Of course. I'll go back and look at the whole case one more time. Correct me if I get anything wrong. Let's end this together." And so, Shuichi's closing argument began.
Climax Reasoning
ACT 1
"The case began last night when Kokichi devised a plan to use the motive. Kokichi and Rin both used the card key and saw the motive, which happened to be the secret of the outside world Monokuma prepared this time. While Rin made no plans to murder after seeing the motive, Kokichi came up with an idea to make the killing game more exciting, and to enact it, he was willing to strike a deal with Monokuma himself. Kokichi told Monokuma that if he let him use the motive in another way, things would become much more interesting, a proposal Monokuma couldn't refuse, as he was already itching for a murder to happen. So Monokuma gave Kokichi a flashback light that contained the motive, the secret of the outside world, inside of it."
"With the flashback light in hand, Kokichi met up with someone. That person was Gonta. Kokichi needed an accomplice, and Gonta was the perfect person for the job. That's why he showed Gonta the motive. It was to convince him that this plan was necessary, and it worked. Gonta, now having seen the motive, a motive that Rin has stated to break anyone's will, agreed willingly to Kokichi's plan, and the two of them began to prepare for their crime. They grabbed some rope from the warehouse, as well as some poison from my lab. The plan was to use the poison to kill their victim and then hide the cause of death by dropping the victim down from the top of the 6th floor, with the trick being that the accomplice would drop the victim the moment someone entered the room on the 1st floor to make it look like they were the culprit. With their plan prepared, Kokichi and Gonta called out their target and waited for them."
ACT 2
"The two waited at the bottom of the staircase before their target, Kaito, arrived. However, he didn't come alone. He brought someone with him for some insurance. This person…is the one who ended up being the real culprit of this case, and it was all because of a sad turn of events that no one could have seen coming. Kaito had the culprit wait outside so as not to alarm Kokichi before he entered the stairwell himself. Kaito and Kokichi spoke for a bit before Kokichi offered him a drink, one that was spiked with the poison. However, Kaito refused, knowing something was wrong with the entire situation. Seeing Kaito wasn't going to follow the plan willingly, Kokichi decided to switch tactics. He took out the Flashback light that contained the motive and used it on Kaito. Kaito froze in place after seeing the motive, visibly horrified and disgusted by what he saw. Kokichi then told him why he was doing this. A mercy kill."
"Kokichi, after seeing the motive himself, fell into a deep, dark despair. He began to believe that it would be easier to die than to keep going while knowing about the motive, and he believed that everyone would be happier dying without knowing the truth of the outside world. That was why he wanted Gonta to be an accomplice-no. He wanted Gonta to be the true culprit, so that he would survive after the trial. And so, now that Kaito knew the truth, he gave Kaito a choice to willingly agree with the plan. However, Kaito refused. He refused to help with murder and willingly die when he still believed in everyone. Kokichi, obviously angered that Kaito still refused, was about to order Gonta to force Kaito to drink the poison, but that's when something awful happened."
ACT 3
"Kaito began coughing, so much so that he spat out blood and collapsed. Kaito was actually really sick, a fact he hid from us, most likely to keep us from worrying. However, seeing the shocking truth of the outside world caused enough stress to get Kaito coughing in a deadly manner. Kokichi and Gonta saw this and immediately knew something was wrong. Kaito was dying without either of them doing anything. But before they could do anything, the culprit who was outside heard the commotion and entered the stairwell. That's when the culprit saw Kaito on the floor in a blur of blood that he had coughed up. The culprit, not knowing what had exactly happened, feared the worst. They thought Kaito was dead. In their anger, the culprit attacked Kokichi, who they believed had killed Kaito. "
"They took out a combat knife they always kept on hand and threw it into Kokichi. Kokichi quickly blocked the attack, but the knife still dug into his forearm. Seeing how the culprit wanted Kokichi dead, Gonta quickly picked up Kokichi and began to run up the stairs. He wouldn't be able to get past the culprit without the risk of getting hurt or getting Kokichi hurt, so Gonta had no choice but to run up the stairs to the 6th floor, with the culprit chasing after him in their rage. Unfortunately, unknown to the culprit, Kaito was still alive at the time, but because they chased after Kokichi and Gonta, Kaito was left on the floor to choke on his own blood. He would die, but it would be due to his illness, meaning that no one killed him. If only the culprit hadn't made such a rash decision… If they had taken time to understand the situation, perhaps Kaito would still be alive, and none of this would have happened."
ACT 4
"Still, the culprit kept pursuing Gonta and Kokichi, who were far ahead of them. Gonta soon reached Kaito's lab and quickly looked around to find a place to keep Kokichi safe. He soon found it when he saw the model rover that was in the lab. He carried Kokichi over and placed him into the cockpit before closing the lid and locking it. The glass lid of the rover was tinted, making it so no one could see through it from the outside. Gonta didn't have enough time to hide as the culprit entered the room. In their anger, the culprit looked around, unable to find Kokichi. They probably threatened Gonta to tell them where Kokichi was, but Gonta, being the kind soul that he was, refused. Enraged, the culprit lashed out at Gonta. The two of them fought, with the culprit viciously attacking Gonta while Gonta tried to calm them down, but to no avail."
"Eventually, the culprit slashed their knife at Gonta's chest, creating a large gash across it. Gonta fell over, bleeding profusely from the injury, but the culprit didn't stop to help him. They just kept looking for Kokichi, their real target. They probably didn't even think about the consequences of their actions since they thought that Kaito had been killed, giving them protection from execution in the trial thanks to the rules. They kept looking, searching the entire room, unable to find them. Perhaps they suspected that Kokichi was in the rover, but even if they did, there was nothing they could do to get to him. The lid was locked, and the glass that makes up the lid was made of the same material real rovers would have, making them more than durable to not break with anything the culprit might have attempted."
"Eventually, the culprit gave up on finding Kokichi. They didn't want to waste time, as it would be troublesome if they were seen at the crime. Then it would be hard to prove Kokichi killed Kaito; at least, that's probably what the culprit was thinking at the time since they still weren't aware of the truth of Kaito's death. So, they quickly began to make their escape from the scene, but they didn't want to go back through the door on the first floor. It would take too long to go down the stairs from the top, and the chances of being seen would be greater. So, they chose a different escape route that only someone like them could and would take."
ACT 5
"There was a window on the 6th floor outside of Kaito's lab. The culprit opened it up, and they began to climb out through it. They grabbed some of the vines that were up near the 6th floor, as they hadn't been cleaned up yet, and they began to scale down the academy. The vines weren't very long, but they were long enough to reach the large glass window on the 5th floor. They quickly broke through the window with a kick, most likely, and jumped through the opening they had made. And just like that, they had moved from the 6th floor to the 5th within moments, something impossible to do without the skills and confidence the culprit had in themselves to pull it off. They walked down to the 4th floor and entered her lab. Afterward, when Rantaro and Tenko came to the 4th floor, they saw her leaving her lab after the BDA, making them think that Maki was in her lab the whole time and giving the culprit an alibi."
"However, after they left, Kokichi came out of the rover. He was still bleeding from the wound on his arm, but he was still alive and fine. But when he came out of the rover and checked on Gonta, he saw Gonta didn't make it. His injuries were too great. Kokichi knew his plan was ruined, but he was still determined. He could let the culprit get away with their crime or even help them hide it. That would give him the 'mercy kill' that he wanted. But Kokichi wanted revenge. He wanted to make the culprit pay for killing Gonta and ruining his plan. That's why Kokichi wrote the culprit's name on the floor near Gonta using his blood. After that, Kokichi left the lab and walked down to the 1st floor. He saw Kaito's body, confirming that Kaito had also died from his illness. To make sure there was no confusion, Kokichi removed the bottle of poison he and Gonta had taken from my lab. He put it back where he found it, but he didn't notice the little blood stains he had left on the bottle."
"He then went to the medical room and grabbed medicine that was for helping deadly coughs and illnesses like the one Kaito most likely had. He then went back to the stairwell and planted it as evidence. And the last thing he did… was destroy the flashback light he had gotten from Monokuma, preventing us from seeing the motive. Despite the last thing he did, Kokichi did all of that to help guide us to the culprit before giving his testimony in the trial. Without Kokichi's evidence and testimony, we might never have found the culprit."
Shuichi then clenched his fist before turning back to the culprit with a sad, pained expression.
"This is the truth of this case. A tragic misunderstanding and assumption that ended up costing the lives of two of our friends. An assumption that you made, Maki Harukawa, the Ultimate Assassin!" He proclaimed. "This is the truth that we've reached."
"...Heh. You got it all right. You really are the Ultimate Detective, huh? Kaito would be proud." Maki gave a small smile before returning to her sad frown. "So…this is it, huh? The end of the line. I suppose this is the least I deserve after everything I've done." And then, in a small voice that was almost like a whisper, she said one last thing. "I'm so sorry, Kaito. I messed up."
There was a brief pause after that, but it was shortly ruined by a certain impatient bear.
"Huh? What's with this somber atmosphere? Why is it exactly the same as the previous trial?" Monokuma asked while tilting his head in disappointment. "Killing games and class trials are supposed to be thrilling! Why is it that the last two cases make me feel like I'm bullying some poor group of special needs kids? It's sucking the fun out of all of this! You agree with me, right Monodam?"
"..." Monodam didn't say anything, much to Monokuma's chagrin.
"SIGH… You're making this much less fun than it really should be Monodam. I'll be giving you a proper punishment for your behavior, young man." Monokuma chided. "But before that, you kids need to pull yourselves together! Let's begin! The heart-racing excitement as the blackened and the spotless face off! It's…VOTING TIME!"
And so, everyone voted, however reluctant they might have been. Even Rin voted, although he did so with the same lifeless energy that was plaguing him as he slowly tapped Maki's icon.
The vote was unanimous, with even Maki voting for herself. And as the vote was counted, the usual grandiose fanfare that played whenever they got it right played. The trial was over, and they had won.
So why did none of them feel like they won anything worthwhile?
CLASS TRIAL END
ALL RISE!