It feels like the surrounding air has grown so much colder. The fire has already been put out, but the damage had still been done. There isn't a lot of light around to illuminate the dark surroundings, but even from there, Chiaki can still clearly see what's going on right now.

Everyone quietly and solemnly gathering around together. Kuzuryu's face being unreadable; there's not a single word coming out from her, and the only noises that everyone could her is the yakuza repeatedly pummeling her fists onto the ground.

No one felt brave enough to stop her from hurting herself, not without risking turning her grief and anger onto them instead.

The unmoving body of Pekoyama is still there, still laying down on the ground in front of everyone. And with that, the reality finally sinks in hard for her.

Pekoyama is dead.

Chiaki's throat constricts from within. Even though the smoke is no longer around, it's getting so much harder for her to breathe. She never thought her chest would ever ache this much.

Pekoyama is dead…

There's only question that keeps repeating in Chiaki's mind.

'Why?'

No one is willing to answer that awful question. At least, not any time soon. Not if it means acknowledging the chance it might've not been an accident, especially not with the awful situation everyone's been forced into since the start.

'No one can be this cruel to do such a thing, can they? Of all the methods they could've chosen, why a slow and painful death?'

Chiaki looks down, seeing her hands trembling so uncontrollably. She clenches them, forcing herself to steady her breathing, even if a little bit. Now's not the time for her to give in to fear and panic; everyone else who's still alive are the bigger priority right now.

She turns her attention to them. From what she can see and hear so far, everyone's talking among themselves, no doubt talking about the incident right now. It's hard to hear exactly what they're saying, not with how all their voices overlap with each other, but she can hear some snippets.

"Damn it! We were so close. If only we'd been here earlier, we could've…"

"Why is this happening to us right now?"

"This was supposed to be a fun party, even if it's just for tonight."

"Was it really an accident?"

"Hey, come on, please don't joke about that right now. No one's this messed up, right?"

Tsumiki has fainted, no doubt from the sheer shock of what happened. Owari is carrying her on her back right now, her teeth gritting.

"No, no, no, no, no, no…this wasn't supposed to happen…." Alter Ego has dropped down to his knees, repeating those broken whispers over and over again. Both of his hands reach forward to cover his face, his faint, quiet sobbing filling up the once eerily quiet air.

Hinata reaches a hand out to him. "Hey, Alter Ego…" He then winces, pausing from what he's about to say next, like he's struggling to find the right words to say in this situation.

Despite her reservations about him and his motivations, Chiaki can still feel her heart break even more at the sight.

Suddenly, their once dark surroundings have brightened up somehow. Normally, it'd be a welcome thing, especially in this kind of situation. But somehow, there's something about it that makes it feel even more ominous.

And just like that, the last bear anyone ever wanted to suddenly comes in from out of nowhere.

"But too bad, it did happen!" Monokuma exclaims, not caring about how he popped in front of everyone without any warning whatsoever. "It's about damned time you kiddos got the bloodbath going. Here, I thought I'd have to bust out another motive or something because holy hell, you took forever to finally get it!"

Alter Ego rears his head up. There's so much tears streaming down his face as he whispers in a discrete, yet harsh tone, "It's you…"

"You bastard!" Hinata growls as he steps forward, putting an arm in front of the smaller boy and acting like a shield for him as he stares Monokuma down.

"Hey, hey, hey, excuse me!" Monokuma waves his paws around, all while a red vein pops up on the side of his head. "Don't look at me like set this up. I had zero involvement with this." He huffs, and then puts his paw at the back of his head. "Okay, maybe I did give you kiddos the motivation for it, but other than that, I'm not the one who set everything on fire."

Mitarai narrows his eyes at the bear. "So, you're saying that…?"

Monokuma nods. "Yep, that's right! One of you guys is now the 'blackened', the one who killed Pekoyama! And I gotta say, I'm honestly really impressed. I was expecting something simpler for your first murder, like, I don't know, good ol' classic stabbing, a deadly tap on the head, or even poisoning." He gestures his paw at the surrounding carnage. "But look at this! You guys really went out with flat out arson for it. You're making me so proud, you know?"

Suddenly, Kuzuryu stands up. She still doesn't say anything, and now, everyone can see how scraped and bruised her knuckles have become.

"Kuzuryu?" Koizumi calls out her in a concerned voice.

Kuzuryu ignores her, slowly walking forward, before suddenly lunging forward without any warning whatsoever, aiming a fist at Monokuma.

But before she can get even closer to her, Nidai springs forward as well, holding her back in a tight bear hug from behind. "Hold on, you could die if you went through with that!"

"I don't care anymore!" Kuzuryu screams, her voice completely hoarse as tears fall from her face. "Just let me go and let me fucking kill him already!"

No matter how much struggled and kicked against him, Nidai wouldn't budge, still holding her tightly against his chest for.

"Geez, looks like some people really don't learn at all." Monokuma remarks as he shakes his head. "Though honestly, I think it'd be really priceless if two people died in front of everyone tonight. It's just so ironic when you think about it, you know?" He cackles some more at the end of that.

"How twisted of you to find any humor at such thoughts." Tanaka scowls.

"Yeah, that's what everyone says to me." Monokuma offhandedly replies, taking it in stride. "Speaking of that, I'm sure you're all wondering, 'oh boy, someone actually committed murder, now what do we do?', am I right?"

"Didn't you say that if anyone commits murder and got away with it, they'd be able to leave the island? So that means whoever did this can finally get out of here, right?" Saionji asks, though with how biting her tone is, it sounds less like a question, and more like a demand for an explanation.

If Monokuma could blink, he probably might've done that by now, judging by the way he stares at Saionji for a few seconds or so. After that, he puts both paws on his belly as he bursts out laughing. "Did you seriously think it'd be that easy?!"

"W-What the hell do you mean by that?!" Souda fearfully mutters, stepping back and pulling his beanie over his head.

It feels like Monokuma's ever-present grin becomes even more malicious as he gleefully explains, "I mean, there's no fun if things end just like that. Not to mention, the Killing School Trip is still a game, and a game is no fun if there are no penalties."

"What kind of penalties are you talking about?" Koizumi asks, her face darkening from horror. It's hard to blame her for it.

Monokuma clears his throat, somehow managing to pull up a board with several illustrations. No one knows where he got them, and honestly, no one really wants to know either. "To put things simply,once you find a body and the body discovery announcement plays, anyone else still alive gets to investigate the crime scene and the rest of the island to look for clues who the blackened is, yadda yadda, those kinds of boring stuff. But the class trials, upupupupu, now that's where the real fun starts!"

"Class trials?" Chiaki repeats in disbelief.

"Yep, you heard that right! Class trials!" Monokuma affirms, and he proceeds to point at one of the illustrations with a stick he got just now. "Class trials are where everyone would proceed to discuss and debate whodunit, and if they get it right, then only the blackened gets punished. But, if they don't...everyone else gets punished in their place, and the blackened wins!"

"What kind of punishment would they get?" Komaeda asks. Despite everything, he's still keeping a calm composure somehow.

"An execution, of course!" Monokuma replies in a disturbingly chipper tone.

"Excuse me, a what?!" Hinata screams.

"An execution!" Monokuma eagerly repeats. "It's exactly what you think it is, but of course, you'll have to wait and find out for yourselves. It's no fun spoiling exactly what's going to happen in one."

Hinata clenches his fist. "God, you're really sick in the head."

"Thanks!" Monokuma says back to him with a short bow. "Oh yeah, since the murder finally happened, it's time for me to update all of your e-Handbooks with the new rules so that none of you would forget any of it. I've already explained the gist of how the class trial works, but the new rules have a couple of stuff dedicated to explaining it more, in case if some you numbnuts didn't get it the first time around."

At that exact moment, Chiaki hears a jingle coming from her bag. Despite her better judgment, she goes on ahead in checking her e-Handbook, and sure enough, just as Monokuma said, the rules have been updated.

A chill runs down her spine as she quickly reads through them.

7. Once a murder takes place, a class trial will begin shortly thereafter. Participation is mandatory for all surviving students.

8. If the blackened is exposed during the class trial, they alone will be executed.

9. If the blackened is not exposed, the remaining students will be executed.

10. As a reward, the surviving blackened will be forgiven of their crime and allowed to leave the island.

11. If anyone either votes incorrectly or refuses to vote, they will be executed along with the blackened.

12. The Body Discovery Announcement will play as soon as three or more people discover a body for the first time.

13. Destroying any property of this island without permission is expressly prohibited. This includes the surveillance cameras and monitors.

14. You are free to investigate this island at your own discretion. Your actions in this regard are not limited.

15. Additional School Trip Rules may be added at the headmaster's discretion.

Her grip on her e-Handbook tightens. Within that split moment, she could care any less if it ended up cracking somehow from the sheer pressure she's putting on it. 'What kind of rules are these?!'

"Oh yeah, before I almost forget, lemme give this to you too." Without any warning, Monokuma goes on and tosses something at them, and it ends up hitting straight at Alter Ego's forehead.

Alter Ego yelps, wincing as he rubs over his forehead while the item that Monokuma tossed slowly falls onto the ground.

Hinata picks it up. "What the hell is this?" He mutters, furrowing a brow at that item.

"Oh, that's the Monokuma File, of course!" Monokuma offhandedly explains. "It'll give you a couple of more details about what happened to the poor victim, without spoiling everything about it, of course. There's no fun if I spoon-fed every little detail to you, you know?"

Chiaki can't help but grow a little more irritated after hearing what it's supposed to be, not liking how utterly shameless and disrespectful it was. "How dare you?! This was one of our classmates who died, and now you have the gall to name the file detailing it after yourself?"

"And what about it?" Monokuma unsheathes his claws. "You may not like it, but I'm still the headmaster here. Not to mention, this is my Killing School Trip, and you gotta admit, my handsome likeness is practically my brand here, upupupu."

"Why you…" She growls. One of her hands is subconsciously forming into a tight fist.

Koizumi puts a hand over her shoulder. "Nanami, please calm down." She pleads, slowly shaking her head.

Chiaki closes her eyes, forcing herself to take deep, steady breaths. After opening them again, she gratefully whispers, "Thanks for that, Koizumi. I think I really needed that."

"So, ahem," Monokuma interrupts, glancing at everyone once again. "I think I explained just about everything you need to know about dealing with your first murder case. Speaking of which, after a certain amount of time, which you may use however you like, of course, the class trial will begin!"

"Wait," Koizumi stammers. "You didn't tell us there'd be a time limit to this—!"

Monokuma gleefully interrupts her. "Too bad, I've told you that just now, so deal with it." He waves a paw at them. "Anyways, good luck, and don't eff it up!"

And with that, Monokuma disappears from their view before anyone has the chance to chase after him or ask for any more questions.


To say that Chiaki is unsure of what to do next would be a huge understatement.

Even with everything that Monokuma has explained to them, with the blackened, the investigation, and the class trial, it still feels so wrong and confusing.

Speaking of the investigation, it doesn't seem like anyone's willing to do that anytime soon. From what she can see so far, everyone's current state is still in a mix of shock, confusion, and fear.

Nidai is still holding onto Kuzuryu, and thankfully, she seems to have calmed down a bit, somewhat. She isn't screaming and hitting at Nidai anymore, but it's clear she's far from okay.

Chiaki feels her heart sink. Despite everything she's said and done to everyone, she can't help but feel sorry for her. She can't even imagine how painful it'd be to lose a close companion, and in such a traumatic way too.

The tense silence that's been steadily building up is finally broken, with Komaeda being the first one to speak up. "While I can't deny it's so unfortunate, it looks like the investigation should begin right now."

Souda grits his teeth. "How do we even start? We're not qualified for this sort of thing! We're supposed to be high school students, not some team of professional detectives."

"But you're all still among the best of the best in our country, right?" Komaeda asks with a raised brow.

"Does that even matter right now?" Souda fires back, heavy tension clear both from his body and his voice. "What good is being an Ultimate student if this is something beyond our ability anyway?"

Right at that moment, Hinata immediately steps in, probably in order to defuse the situation before it escalates even further somehow. "I guess the first thing we'll need to do is to take a look at the…Monokuma File." He mutters those last two words with heavy disdain in his voice.

"Ah, of course! I think that's what we should start with, for now." Komaeda agrees with a nod, immediately going back to his calmer, more chipper self.

After the others voice out their (rather reluctant) approval, Hinata steps in front of their view. He takes a couple of deep breaths, before going on ahead and reading the Monokuma File aloud.

The victim's body was discovered outside the cottage. The estimated time of death is 11:30 PM. The victim has sustained various second and third degree burns. The cause of death appears to be from the severity of the injuries, as well as carbon monoxide poisoning.

Chiaki feels her blood running cold at the detached, somewhat graphic description of the body's state. 'God, I never thought it was that bad. I can't even imagine how much Pekoyama suffered before it finally ended.'

"How horrible…" Alter Ego whimpers.

Hinata puts away the Monokuma File, though his hands are visibly shaky as he did so. "That's one way to put it, but damn, it's just like what that bear said. Looks like we really have to investigate this ourselves."

"Do we really have to?" Saionji grumbles.

"It's our lives at stake here, so I'm afraid we don't have much of a choice otherwise." Hinata points out with a grim expression.

"Then, I'll help too." Chiaki declares, forcing herself to look and sound determined as much as she can, all while ignoring how her body and voice is trembling.

Hinata turns to her, a pained look going over his eyes as he pleads, "Nanami, please, you don't have to force yourself."

Chiaki shakes her head. "No, I have to help too. It wouldn't be fair at all if I just stood by and pretended nothing happened. Even if I can't do much, I still have to do something, somehow."

'I think if we want to move forward with this case, I'll have to ask someone who experienced it firsthand.' Her mind made up, she walks towards that one person who witnessed it somehow. "Hey, Kuzuryu? Is it okay if I talk to you for a bit?"

Though Kuzuryu is still being held in Nidai's grip, she turns her head away with a scoff. "I don't want anything to do with this shit."

Despite that rejection, Chiaki presses on. "Kuzuryu, please. I know it must be really hard—"

She interrupts her with a growl. "Shut it. You don't know anything at all, so why don't you just kindly fuck off and—"

Hinata cuts in. "Kuzuryu, we get that it's really difficult for you right now, but we need your cooperation for this. Besides, don't you want justice for Pekoyama?"

Kuzuryu goes quiet, likely considering his words, before sighing. "Fine. I'll tell you what happened, but don't expect it to help you too much. I Peko and I were asleep, but then, I thought I heard something getting scraped outside. Of course, since I was sleeping, I didn't think much of it. And next thing I knew, there's so much fire and smoke everywhere. It was so hard to see and breathe. I think I almost blacked out, but then, the next thing I know, Peko, she…" She grits her teeth. "She pushed me out of the window."

'Hmm, so Kuzuryu heard something getting scraped outside. That's starting to make me wonder what it was.'

"Did you see anyone who might've done it?" Chiaki asks.

Kuzuryu grumbles. "Hell if I know. After that happened, the only other person I've seen is you. If I knew who did this, I swear, I…" She cuts herself short, and then huffs. "Well, you got what you wanted, so you better not bother me anymore."

Chiaki just slightly nods at that. "That's okay, and thanks for telling us what you know."

Though Kuzuryu's account did help in shedding some more light on what happened, it still wasn't enough to lead who did it. But, that's okay; that's something they'll all have to figure out later.

And so, the next step in their investigation is to look around the crime scene itself.

As everyone spreads out to check for any potential leads and clues, Chiaki stares at the remains of the cottage, wincing from all the damage it sustained. She never thought she'd have to do this in real life. The investigations done in the games she played are so much easier and cleaner in comparison.

Even now, she still feels so sick about it.

At the very least, the impromptu lights that Monokuma had set up did make things a bit easier

While walking around, she covers the lower half of her face with both hands. Even after the fire's been put out for a while now, the smell of gasoline and some other possible chemicals are still in the air. It's so sickening.

There's some kind of hard substance lining all over the cottage's door. "What is this supposed to be?" Chiaki murmurs to herself, and as she walks around to take a closer look, she then notices that it's all over the windows too.

She traces a finger over them, and then discovers that despite how smooth they look, they're rather rough to the touch.

After keeping those stains in mind, she then spots something from the debris nearby. As she gets closer to it, she crouches down in order to take see it better. 'Hmm, it looks like some kind of melted red plastic container? I wonder what it's doing here.'

"Hey, you guys should check this out!" Souda calls out.

Chiaki immediately goes and check on what that fuss is all about. From there, she can see him holding a trowel. From the looks of it, it seems to have been used rather recently. And yet, other than the thin layer of some kind of hardened substance, it also looks a lot cleaner than she expected it to be.

"Where did you get that?" Koizumi questions, narrowing her eyes at the item.

Souda shrugs. "I just saw it lying on the ground, though I thought it's weird it's close to where the cottage was."

"Mind if I take a look at that?" Hanamura asks.

"Oh, sure." Souda agrees as he hands it over.

Hanamura takes it, delicately inspecting it in his hands. His eyebrows furrow before handing it back to him. "It's not the same kind I'd normally use. I think this is what most carpenters use, actually."

"I wonder where that came from, because come on, who the hell puts that on an island, of all places." Souda comments with a groan.

'I wouldn't be surprised if that bear had something to do with it. Things have been weird since he got here, after all.'

After that quick look at the mysterious trowel, their investigation is resumed. It didn't take long before someone else found another potential clue. This time, it's Sonia who found it, and from what everyone can see, it looks like some kind of bucket. It isn't empty, and whatever the substance was inside, it's been dried out for quite some time now.

Sonia proceeds to address Souda, asking in gentle and sweet voice, "Oh, Souda, would you mind taking a closer look at it?"

Souda's cheeks immediately redden at that. "O-Oh, of course! Right away, Miss Sonia!" He quickly nods with a salute, then goes on to lift the bucket up. Or at least, he tries to. "Holy damn, this thing is heavy!" He grunts, before gracelessly putting it down on the ground for everyone else to see.

Owari pokes her index finger onto the unknown substance, before proceeding to knock on it with her fist. "Wow, it's completely rock solid."

"Do you think it's got anything to do with the trowel Souda found?" Mitarai asks.

Hanamura hums. "Hmm, maybe. It does look like they match."


Though it's hard to say for sure yet, it feels like they've investigated all they can at the crime scene. So now, it's time for them to take a closer look at the cabin, considering how the lights went out during the party right before the murder happened.

It's probably a stretch, but there's a chance that both incidents could be connected.

While some of them are checking inside for clues, she decides to investigate outside of the cabin first. She walks around, before noticing an electrical breaker right outside the backdoor. She takes a closer look at it, frowning when she sees that it's been opened and tampered with.

'That must've been the reason why the lights went out.'

As much as she dislikes the idea of it, she can't mull over that forever, not when there's still so much more to find out in with this case. She never thought she'd do this, but for the sake of getting even closer to the truth, she doesn't have much of a choice, but to go through it.

"Hey, Alter Ego? Mind if I ask you something for a bit?" She calls out to him.

"Oh?" He turns to face her. "What is it, Nanami?"

"Do you remember what happened when Pekoyama's cottage was set on fire?"

"I…" He bites his lip. "I was running some errands around the island, and did some patrols too. But, while I was in the middle of my patrol, I saw someone's shadow. I tried to follow them, and next thing I know, smoke is coming up from the cottages. Then, when I ran to check some more, Pekoyama's cottage is already burning up. So, I rushed to where everyone else in order to get some help, but, I'm afraid it wasn't enough."

While pained by how awful he is about it, she presses a bit more. "Did you see whose shadow it was?"

Alter Ego shakes his head. "I wasn't able to make out exactly who it was. I was so focused on getting help immediately, I wasn't paying too much attention to my surroundings. I'm truly sorry." He bows his head low.

'I don't think I can bring myself to keep being upset at him. It doesn't seem like he's faking it at all.' Without even thinking about it, she gently puts her hand on top of his head, hoping it'd soothe him, even a bit. "You don't have to apologize for it. It's not your fault."

"But…" Alter Ego weakly protests.

Chiaki shakes her head. "I know it was beyond your control. And, honestly, I'm sorry for how I've been treating you so coldly too. Even if you did erase our memories, you're a victim in here too, just like everyone else."

"Nanami, I…" Tears begin to well up from his eyes again.

"Don't worry about it." She says, her fingers reaching out to gently wipe away at the forming tears, before giving him a gentle smile.

Alter Ego breathes in, and then breathes out, managing to calm himself down somehow. "O…Okay, then. I'll try not to."

After parting ways with him for now, Chiaki goes back to investigating some more. This time, she's heading inside the cabin and then, she's going to ask another person about it, and there is one she's got in mind. "Hey, Ibuki, do you remember anything weird that happened in the party?"

Ibuki crosses her arms, closing her eyes as she hums like she's in a deep concentration. "Hmmm, I remember Nagito suddenly getting a stomachache, so Hiyoko and I helped him get out for a bit. I don't know how long they were out for, but they came back pretty quickly, though it took longer for Nagito to come back. And then bam!" She stretches her arms for emphasis. "The power went out."

'So that's what happened.' Just to make sure, she then asks, "Is that all you remember?"

Ibuki nods. "Yeah, that's about it for now. But if anything else comes up, I'll let you know when you need me to!"

"Thanks." Chiaki gratefully nods.

With that done with, she then notices that one of the windows near the back is wide open. As she walks towards it, she then immediately tries to stick herself in it.

"Wait, Nanami, what are you doing?!"

She can hear Hinata screaming that, along with his steps rushing towards there.

"Trying to see if I can jump out from here." She nonchalantly replies, wriggling herself while trying to move out. "Okay, wait, it looks like I can't actually fit in here." With that conclusion, she pulls herself out of the window, feeling mildly disappointed by it. "Bummer."

When she turns around to face him, she can see him breathing out while putting a hand over his chest.

"Thank god you didn't get stuck there or worse, but please try not to do anything like that again."

"Sorry about that." She sheepishly apologizes, and then remembers something. "Oh, yeah, Hinata. Did you notice anything weird happen when it happened?"

Hinata blinks, and then he sighs. "Actually, yeah. This might sound unbelievable, but when we went out to look for the fire extinguishers, they've all gone missing. We looked everywhere, but thanks to Koizumi, we eventually found them stashed somewhere in the cabin. But by then, too much time has passed and…" His fists clench. "As you know, we were too late to save Pekoyama."

"That makes it even more horrible," She says, even more dismayed by it. "It's like they knew about it."

"Yeah, whoever did this clearly planned it for quite some time now." He palms the back of his head, frustration seeping into his face and voice.

Suddenly, the speakers begin buzzing once again, interrupting everyone from what they're all currently doing.

"Attention, attention, everyone! The time for the investigation is up, so please kindly gather around at Monokuma Rock at the Central Island for the class trial. Don't take too long, and I hope to see you all soon!"

With that, the feedback is cut off.

"Looks like it's time for the moment of truth." Hinata remarks with a resigned sigh.

"Honestly, I don't feel so great about this." Souda pulls the beanie over his head. "Even with the time we spent investigating, it still feels like we don't have enough time to confirm who really did it."

"I could say the same thing. Anything could happen at this point." Mitarai replies under his breath.

Komaeda smiles and then shakes his head. "While you might have a point with that, I have no doubt that you can pass through this. It might be hard for you to believe for now, but I know that in times of great despair, it will always work out in hope's favor in the end."

"I wish you're right about that." Souda mumbles.

As everyone heads off to the Central Island, Chiaki can't shake off the ominous feeling she's been having for a while now. The penalties that Monokuma told them about is still echoing in her mind, over and over again.

'No matter what happens, it's going to end in death.' Chiaki's grip on her bag tightens even more. 'Either one of us dies, or everyone else does.'


A/N: It might be kinda weird to see, but yeah, I'm completely forgoing game mechanics here. Mostly because this is a fic written in prose form, and I'm not sure if I can insert the typical DR gameplay elements without making it forced and/or unnatural. In the meantime, time to wait for the true pain that is the first class trial.

Also, speaking of the class trial, yep, I added the special rule from the stageplay version of Trigger Happy Havoc in here. I just thought it'd make things a bit more interesting, especially with potential future class trials, hehe.