Select someone!
Yurika
Shinri (dead)
Hanako
Yoru
Toshiya
Homura
Masato
Rea
Tomoe
Ainosuke (dead)
Yuyami
Isamu
Kikoi (dead)
Noriko
Mizuki
Ekorin
"IT COULD HAVE ONLY BEEN YOU!"
It hurts. But I have to say it. I look Tomoe directly in the eye and open my mouth.
"Tomoe, it was you, wasn't it?"
He freezes up for a moment. Then, he narrows his eyes at me. "What the fuck are you saying?"
I'm not going to let my fear of him stop me. "When I think over everything that has happened, it's curious how much you're involved in all the steps necessary to kill Shinri. I know you had been looking around in the botany lab when we first discovered it, you were tasked with picking fruit by Noriko, and you have been in the kitchen. That is a lot of coincidences."
"So?" He scoffs at me. "None of that paints me as a killer."
"Yeah, but remember our conversation we had in the botany lab when it first opened?"
-Flashback-
"It's a strawberry! A goddamn strawberry!" I protest.
He snorts. "Yeah, until you double over from the poison. Just wait until I've read all the information on this shit."
"How do you know these are poisonous? The rock? Sure, that's your talent. But last time I checked, that talent was not botany." I inquire.
"Kumachrome warned me some of them could lead to accidental poisoning and 'ruin the game'. So, that's why I'm keeping guard until we've figured which ones are edible and which ones we gotta burn before someone decides to take Ainosuke's path."
-Flashback end-
"You were the one who warned me about poison in the botany lab to begin with. And you said you were going to make sure nobody used it. You've had more chances than anyone to see which ones were toxic and to uproot the bush. Also, back then you told me about how Kumachrome warned you, but you claimed the opposite during our debate." I point out to everyone.
Mizuki jumps in. "Not to mention, with your background as geologist, it's likely you already knew plants are toxic like me. It wouldn't have been as hard for you to find out which ones were suitable for your murder plan while not being as obvious about that knowledge, unlike me with my talent."
Tomoe growls at the both of us. "Anyone could have entered the botany lab at any point and read up about it. Fuck both of you, none of this means jack shit. Hanako was present both during fruit picking and cooking, what's to say she couldn't have done it?"
"Because Hanako was only in the kitchen to cook with me." Noriko tells him. "She only made dinner, which would have meant everyone had been poisoned. Not to mention, if she poisoned him during dinner, he would have died earlier. It took over at least half an hour before we started the show, and the quarter berries start working in fifteen minutes."
Homura places a hand on her hip. "Plus, Hanako isn't strong enough to move a heavy ass speaker box. Do you know how much these fuckers weight? Nearly enough to break my fucking back, let me tell you that."
Tomoe grits his teeth. "You're wrong, you're all just ganging up on me! I'll show you!"
I know I'm on the right track…I just need to destroy the rest of his arguments!
NON-STOP DEBATE
-
Bullet: Yuyami's account
-
Tomoe: I didn't kill Shinri!
Tomoe: And even if I wanted to, why the hell would I resort to poison?
Tomoe: I could have snapped his neck if I wanted to kill him.
Homura: Yeah, as if that wouldn't make it obvious who killed him.
Yuyami: Tomoe, buddy, it's not true, is it?
Tomoe: It's not! None of this is proof!
Tomoe: I didn't poison Shinri, I didn't even go into the kitchen!
Tomoe: Pick someone else like Masato or Yuyami!
Tomoe: You're all just ganging up on me because you don't know who the real killer is!
Tomoe: So I suggest you all back the fuck off before I punch your teeth out!
Mizuki: Yes, because that proves your innocence.
"NO, THAT'S WRONG!"
"You did go into the kitchen!" I practically screech at him. "Yuyami, Masato and even I saw you in there, preparing something! And it was definitely after dinner!"
He slams his hand on his stand. "What of it? Doesn't mean I brought out poison, doesn't mean I killed him! I wasn't even handling anything that could—"
"You were filling blueberries tarts."
The voice comes from Masato. He is looking down, but his voice is steady. "You thought I was spacing out, but I saw you filling the treats I made with blueberries. It would have been easy to slip some of those berries in with them."
His mouth opens, then closes, then opens again.
"You're…you're wrong. None of you have proof."
"Not yet." Isamu clacks his tongue. "But I'm sure if we examine the clothes in your room, we might find some stains in them. After all, you needed to innocently transport them around…and your clothes would have been the best way to do so without staining your hands. And it's not like any of us had the chance to change into different clothes, much less wash them."
I'm glad Isamu's on our side now. This is a lot easier without him trying to shove his theories down our throats.
Tomoe balls his fists. "How about we first ask Yuyami who else went into the kitchen? Maybe you jackasses forgot someone."
Yuyami nervously counts on his fingers. "Let's see…aside from me and Masato, there was Hanako, Noriko, you, Yurika, Shinri, Homura…"
"It could be Homura too!" Tomoe yells. "She could have hidden them easily in her bra!"
Homura huffs. "That would mean my tits are stained too. They're not. Hold up, I'll show—"
"PLEASE DON'T!" Ekorin quickly yells at her. "We don't need that vulgarity, thank you very much."
"Whatever. In any case, I was only in there for a sec to get a toothpick. I didn't even leave with anything."
"That's true." Yoru confirms. "I didn't see her carrying anything when she left the kitchen. And I don't think she would have been able to hide anything in her dress either."
He doesn't give up. "What about Yurika then? She even has stains on her fingers!"
"It would have been foolish for Yurika to bring up the berries if she was the killer." Toshiya counters. "Especially since she showed everyone her digits to prove her point."
I nod with him. "Also, that shit stains incredibly. If I had these stains on me when the party started, I would have gotten it everywhere and someone would have noticed. And before you say I touched it between dinner and the show, I touched Noriko when I nearly fell off the stage. She would have gotten blue stains on her as well."
Tomoe straightens his back. He looks like a cornered animal. "And Noriko? For all we know, she might have lied about the cleaning supplies."
"Again, said cleaning supplies would have made her suspicious." I repel. "Not to mention, Shinri would have likely noticed the taste. Or the smell."
Noriko defends herself too. "Also, I was only in the kitchen during dinner and during a few brief times with Yurika and Masato. I wouldn't have had the chance to poison anything Shinri could have eaten or drank after dinner. And now that I think about it…I never gave you the order to bring around treats."
"Shinri did." Tomoe says, but I'm sure he realizes what a weak argument that is.
"Right, the dead guy who can't speak for himself." Homura snarks.
Hanako crosses her arms. "It's decided then? Tomoe's the killer?"
I sigh. I don't want to say it. "Yes. For the killer to have carried out their plan, they had to be at three different locations at precise times. They had to be in the botany lab to uproot the bush and pick the berries, in the kitchen after dinner to poison something and in Mizuki's lab during the investigation to frame Mizuki with the bottle. Noriko was in the kitchen and in Mizuki's lab, but not in the botany lab as far as we know. Hanako was in the botany lab and in the kitchen, but not in Mizuki's lab. Tomoe is the only person who fits all the criteria."
Nobody says a word.
It's…it's hard to believe. Despite how intimidating of a guy Tomoe is, he always seemed like he wanted to protect us. And now he turns out to have poisoned and killed Shinri? This…this feels like Ainosuke all over again. God, I feel sick to my stomach knowing that we failed Kikoi's promise of keeping everyone safe. Of looking out for each other. I'm sorry Kikoi, we couldn't—
"I'LL SMASH THAT ARGUMENT INTO PIECES!"
Ack! Tomoe isn't done with me yet!
He glares daggers at him, with a burning hate I've seen before in Masato's eyes.
"You're wrong! I didn't kill that twerp, and I'll show you right now!"
Great. It looks like I'm going to have to break every last argument if we want this trial to end.
REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN
-
Blade: Rea's prank
-
Tomoe: None of you have even shown/ concrete proof that I did it!
Tomoe: The kitchen was/ left unlocked after the show started…
Tomoe: …so anyone could have gotten/ in at that point!
Tomoe: And even if no/ one else went into the kitchen, that doesn't it make it me.
Tomoe: Food could have/ been prepared anywhere else.
Tomoe: Shinri could have been poisoned by/ anyone!
ADVANCE!
The kitchen is the only way to prepare food without looking suspicious :Yurika
Plus, the kitchen was only left alone when the show started :Yurika
No one would have had the time to prepare something to poison Shinri :Yurika
Tomoe: Fine, let's say I did fill one of/ the treats with quarter berries.
Tomoe: You said Shinri spilled those berries onto his/ shirt when he ate them.
Tomoe: That means those berries/ must have fallen onto the ground.
Tomoe: If that's the case, we would/ have found them lying around!
Tomoe: I couldn't have picked/ them up either.
Tomoe: Not while everyone/ could have seen me do it!
"I'LL CUT THROUGH YOUR ARGUMENT!"
I finally manage to cut through his harsh words. "There was a moment where you could have picked up the berries and threw them away. Back when the party was going on, Rea 'pranked' me."
"Oh, the confetti canon!" Hanako remembers.
"Right, that. The whole prank caused everyone to look at me and Rea. I found the stains on the other end of the cafeteria, meaning that at that moment, no one would have been looking at you. It would have been the perfect moment to pick them up and throw them away before anyone noticed. You couldn't get out the stains, but stains aren't as easy to notice as fruits. And no one would have picked them up and ate them either."
"Eating something off the ground?" Ekorin shivers. "How gross."
Noriko purses her lips. "I didn't really think it had been anything else other than Rea being herself again. But if this was a deliberate act…"
Homura's eyes widen. "Wait, you did this on purpose to help Tomoe? You bitch!" She yells at Rea.
"I know you were planning something when you went to pick up those glass shards." Hanako growls.
"That too was likely just to throw us off-guard to buy Tomoe more time." Toshiya notes.
Rea merely shrugs at the accusations. "Maybe it was planned, maybe it was just a coincidence. Does it truly matter right now?"
Hanako narrows her eyes at her. "This isn't over yet."
Isamu sighs and crosses his arms. "To get back on track…is there anything else we need to discuss? Or have we pinpointed our killer now?"
Mizuki clearly can't help but be a little smug. "I told you it wasn't me. You really should have listened to me from the beginning."
"Hmpf. Just count yourself lucky this time."
Ignoring their bickering, Ekorin slightly shakes her head. "Tomoe…why? Why did all of this have to happen?"
Yuyami balls his fist. "Come on man, say something. Tell me you didn't do it."
But Tomoe is silent, eyes flickering from person to person, his face set in an expression that was hard to read. He closes his eyes, frowning deeply. Suddenly, his eyes opens in rage, and his hand slams onto his stand.
"No! I won't let it end like this!"
Yoru yelps at the sudden loud sound. "T-Tomoe?"
"You little shits all forgot about one person! One more person who could have done this!"
Noriko's eyes widen. "W-what?"
"Another suspect?" Isamu asks bewildered.
He glares at me. "Yurika, obviously! She's also been at the botany lab, the kitchen and Mizuki's lab! She could have done it as well! Her playing detective is just an act to make you not question her! She's the guilty one in this!"
Oh crap.
"We talked about this! Why would I bring any of this up when it could make me look suspicious?" I defend myself.
But Tomoe doesn't give up the fight. "Because you won everyone over last trial. All you had to do was accuse someone else at the end of your story, and everyone would let you get away with it!"
"Ok, fine. I was in the kitchen, like we said, but the only thing I did was bring out drinks, which again, were shattered because of Rea. And by the time I brought the second batch out, Shinri was already ready to climb the stage!"
"Bullshit!" He yells at me. "Where is your proof that it was me? You don't even have it because you're the killer! I didn't kill Shinri! I don't have anything to do with his death! I won't let you gang up on me! I'll make you all believe it wasn't me!"
Ah shit, he won't listen to me anymore! And if I can't proof he did it, he will continue to deny it. Alright, looks like I'm going to have to finish it…once and for all!"
PANIC TALK ACTION
"You still dOn't have any evidence it was me! All of yoU have been talking shit…but none of yoU have even the SlightEr bit of proof! Anyone coulD have still done it! All of Your dumb theOries…your accUsations…you're just gRasping at straws! Like you said how I'm guilty Because Rea gAve me a chance to cleaN up the quarter berries. Those stupiD berries leave a stAin wheN you touch them, but my hAnds are clean!
"So if I truly cleaned it up, how did I not stain my hands?"
YOU USED YOUR BANDANA!
And with one final cry of fury, his last argument falls to pieces.
"It's true, your hands are void of any stains…but anyone with half a brain would use something like a rag to clean it up!" I yell at him as I point my finger. "You have worn your bandana the whole time, even during the party. It's the quickest piece of fabric on you. Plus, all you had to do was place it back after you're done, and no one would have noticed."
He grits his teeth, but he doesn't respond. I take the chance to submit the final proof. The one thing that will take him down.
"No one had the chance to change out of their party outfits, so you likely didn't change your bandana either during the investigation." Then, I smirk. "So, Tomoe, if you are really innocent…you won't mind showing me your bandana, right?"
Silence. He looks down, teeth still gritting and his eyes angrier than ever.
Mizuki scoffs at him. "Well? We don't have all day."
Still nothing.
"Uh, what if he managed to swap it before the trial?" Hanako asks. "What do we do then?"
Noriko pushes some hair behind her ear, not really looking at anyone. "I suppose we can ask Monokuma for all of his bandanas. We are pretty much at the end of the trial…"
He still doesn't respond.
Homura punches into her hand. "Alright, if you won't take it off, I will. Get down, bitch."
"You say that as if you can reach him." Isamu snarks.
"Piss off, I've enough of this for one night." Homura replies as she flips him the bird. "And I really don't want any sass coming from you, mister 'Mizuki-did-it'."
Isamu rolls his eyes but doesn't say anything. Yuyami, on the other hand, looks up at Tomoe with a frown.
"Come on dude, just show it. There is nothing to worry about…right? She's wrong…right?"
This seems to get Tomoe to finally move. With one quick swipe, he tears the bandana from his hand and throws it at my face. I can't move quick enough to dodge it and it hits me right in the face. Grumbling, I take it off, only to freeze when I see it.
A blotch of dark blue stains the paler inside of the bandana.
Rea claps excitedly in her hands. "Hurray, you guys did it! You found the killer! Didn't even need my help."
"No thanks to you!" Hanako bites at her.
"Uh, Yurika?" Ekorin says as she points to her own face. "You have a stain right there…"
I go with my fingers—the hand that is still clean—over it. It comes back dark blue. I look more closely at Tomoe's hair and I can spot a bit of dark blue, though it's hard to see with his dark green hair.
"That solves the case." Toshiya says, his voice low and sad.
Yoru looks like he is about to cry. "Tomoe…why?"
But Tomoe only looks away, refusing to meet our eyes. I can hardly believe it myself…but I have to believe it. And that's why…I still need to do one more thing.
Taking a deep breath to keep my voice from shaking, I speak up. "I'm going to go over this case one more time, like last time. If there is anything wrong in my story, please tell me so."
Noriko gives me a small nod. "Go for it, Yurika."
Alright. I have all the facts. All I need to do is put them in the right order…and then we'll finally know what really happened tonight.
"HERE IS EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED!"
"It started the day after Monokuma announced the new motive. As we had become stressed and paranoid, a few of us suggested the idea of a party to elevate the stress. After we had agreed to it, Shinri and Noriko split the work between the group. One person, however, decided to make use of the party…to kill someone.
Before Hanako and Toshiya arrived at the botany lab to pick berries for the party, the killer went and picked a particular species of blueberries: the highly toxic quarter berries. They likely used gloves and a bag to gather all of it up to avoid staining their hands with the juice the berries secreted. Then they uprooted the bush and hid it on top of a high cabinet, likely to avoid anyone getting accidentally poisoned. They also almost tore out the page detailing about the quarter berries, before realizing it would only make it more suspicious. With the berries collected, they left the botany lab.
They helped out during the party, which soon started through our combined efforts. It was after dinner however, that they struck. Mizuki decided to double-check her lab to ensure nobody stole from it and left the cafeteria. The killer followed her, making sure no one saw them. While Mizuki was in her lab making sure everything was left untouched, the killer took a portable radio from the recording room and placed it in the lounge. They then switched off the light and taped it shut. This was to lure Mizuki into the lounge, which would prevent her from destroying their plan and make her suspicious. Mizuki took the bait and as she wandered into the lounge…the killer shut the door and wheeled a speaker box in front of it, blocking it. Knowing Mizuki wouldn't be able to get out, they went back to the cafeteria.
Back in the cafeteria, they went into the kitchen and started helping filling treats with blueberries, saying they got orders from Shinri. During this, they filled one of the treats with quarter berries. With the poisoned treat on the plate, they exited the kitchen. Now all they had to do was pick a target…and they chose Shinri. Shinri didn't suspect a thing and accepted the treat they were given, unknowingly biting into poison. This caused some of the berries to fall out of the treat, staining both Shinri's clothes and the floor. As Shinri ran off to change clothes, the killer stood for a dilemma. They had to pick the berries off the floor before someone saw them, but they couldn't do so in front of everyone. Fortunately for them, Rea noticed and took pity. By pulling one of her 'pranks', she managed to get everyone's attention, which allowed the killer to quickly bend down and use the closest fabric they had—their bandana—to wipe up the berries and throw them away. They then simply tied to back when they were done.
Shinri arrived not too much later, having changed into fresh clothes and dumped the dirty ones into the laundry room. He climbed onto the stage, delivered his speech…and the poison started kicking in. Taking advantage of the commotion, they quickly dash upstairs to were Mizuki was trapped, wheeled the speaker box away and either ran back before anyone noticed or simply hid until Mizuki freed herself and went with Homura.
Their crime was almost perfect, but they still needed one more thing: a scapegoat. Thus, since Mizuki was already being suspected, joined the group that searched her lab. During the investigation, they took one of Mizuki poisons and dumped half the contents in the sink, leaving the bottle there to be found. This would frame Mizuki for their hideous crime.
This crime could have only been pulled off by someone who knew about the poison berries before anyone else did.
THAT IS WHY IT CAN ONLY BE YOU: TOMOE YAMAMOTO, THE ULTIMATE GEOLOGIST!
My voice shakes a little when I finish the summary, pointing at him. Everyone is quiet. Too quiet.
"Tomoe," I say, my voice raspy and tired "do you have anything to say to this?"
I watch as Tomoe let's out a deep sigh.
"…What is there to say?"
"Tomoe…" Yoru calls out to him.
But Tomoe shakes his head. "You win. I give up. Yeah, I killed Shinri. In the shittiest way possible."
My stomach feels like its doing summersaults. Despite everything, part of me hoped I was wrong. But no, Tomoe really did kill Shinri.
Everybody is quiet at the revelation. I don't know what's worse: that Tomoe really did kill Shinri, or that he just gave up.
Monokuma interrupts the delicate silence. "My, my, I take it you've all arrived at a conclusion! Finally, you guys sure took your sweet time. Not that I'm complaining too much, it was pretty fun seeing you guys scream at each other. Now then, without further ado, it's voting time! Please select whoever you believe is the culprit. Make ab-so-lutely sure you vote the right person! Ooh, will you choose the right one, or the dreadfully wrong one?"
My hand still slightly shaking, I select Tomoe's name. Everyone else votes as well. As soon as Yoru finishes last, the television screen lowers. The roulette starts spinning, with Kikoi's and Shinri's names now grey as well. It slows down…and lands on the culprit.
Tomoe.
With a POP, confetti flies again, and I never want to see confetti ever in my life again.
CLASS TRIAL END
And we end the second class trial...with a relatively short chapter. But honestly, I don't think I would have ended it another way. I'm happy Connecting Clues made a return, though I used it this time to make to streamline the case a bit rather than to cut down on infodumping. I also changed Panic Talk Action to be a bit more than just copying and pasting some text and I'm happy with how it came out.
I said I would likely improve on trial writing last time and I was right; writing it felt far more fluid once I got the ball finally rolling and having two less characters to focus on felt nice. I feel like this trial was a little easier, especially since I went a little too far with foreshadowing, but that's the upside of waiting a year to post the next chapter I guess?
It'll take a little longer to get the last part of chapter 2 out, then I'll start writing Shinri's and Tomoe's FTE and then we can move on to chpater 3!