Chapter 27:
. As everybody stared at Fujisaki's unexpected reveal, it was Togami who made the first comment.
"Well, you've shut the smart-ass up. That's actually quite impressive." Togami said of Naegi. But it was Leon who brought them back down to Earth.
"Say, Fujisaki. Was that your secret?" Celeste asked.
"What?" Fujisaki replied.
"Your secret from the last motive?" Celeste clarified.
"Yes."
"So that's why Monokuma was laughing when Yamada called you 'Mistress Fujisaki'." Naegi realized.
"What?"
"A few days ago, before he was executed, Yamada referred to you as female, and Monokuma started laughing. It all makes sense. He knew, and by extension, the mastermind knew. How did he know?" Naegi said.
"Never mind that now, has anyone checked the pool?" Leon asked. "It's the only place we haven't looked yet."
. With that, everyone went rushing to the pool, but there was no sign of Asahina.
"She's not here." Celeste said.
"Well, that's obvious." Togami said. "But unless Monokuma has interfered with it, her body can't have vanished."
. Naegi stared at the pool.
"Guys. We haven't checked the pool yet."
"What are you talking about?" Maizono said. "We're here at the pool."
"No, I mean. Look in the pool."
. And then everyone saw it. There was a sunken locker in the middle of it.
"Oh crap." Leon said.
"Well, this is unexpected." Kirigiri said. "How are we going to do get that locker up?"
"Easy, we swim." Fujisaki said.
"Genocider." Togami said. "Go grab that locker."
"Aye. Aye. 'Captain." Genocider said, saluting before diving in.
"You just love bossing her around, don't you?" Naegi said.
"What good is she otherwise?" Togami replied.
"You should treat your girlfriend with more respect." Maizono said.
"She's not my girlfriend." Togami said.
"She might as well be. It's not like you'll end up with anyone else." Naegi said.
"You two really are perfect for each other." Togami sighed.
. Genocider was able to lift the locker to the surface but had trouble getting it over the edge until Leon and Kirigiri counterbalanced it over.
"Well, we need someway to open it." Kirigiri, pulling at it. "It's jammed shut."
"So how do we open it?" Leon asked.
. Fujisaki had a sudden idea. "Wait a minute, it's probably glued shut. There might be something in the chemistry lab that removes the glue."
"What substance could it possibly be?"
. It was this point that Monokuma interjected via announcement.
"Swab some acetone on it! That's what I did last time in order to let you guys discover the body more easily! You know like nail polish! It removes super glue relatively easily."
"Super glue?" Kirigiri said. "Interesting. I thought it was regular glue that bound that classroom shut."
"Alright, Fujisaki and I will go check the Chemistry Lab for acetone." Leon said, as the two rushed out.
"Well, this is interesting." Celeste said. "Do any of the girls have nail polish remover?"
"I don't." Genocider said.
"I wear gloves. So no." Kirigiri interjected.
"No." Maizono replied. "If there was anybody who would have had nail polish remover, it would have been Enoshima, you know, the model."
"Well, then. I still have Enoshima's key." Celeste said. "I'm not happy about this, but since I don't feel it is appropriate for a boy to inspect Enoshima's room, and Maizono is right now our prime suspect. Genocider, would you care to join me?"
"Well, that seems oddly convenient." Naegi said.
"Oh yeah, you got it from Junko's corpse after her fight with Sakura." Maizono said.
"Awww, do I have to?" Genocider said. "But I want to say with my White Knight."
"Genocider, go with her. And don't kill her, maim her, or stab her in anyway. I don't feel like trying to do a fifth trial before we've even begun the fourth one. Do I make myself clear?" Togami responded.
"Man, you're such a killjoy." Genocider snarked. "Hey, Maizono, maybe someday I'll teach you how to use these scissors."
"What? Why?" Maizono said.
"For shits and giggles of course." Genocider said, laughing manically.
"Sorry, I'll have to pass."
"Just so you know, the offer's still good."
"Okay."
"Come on, Genocider." Celeste said, as she briskly walked away from the pool.
. As Leon and Fujisaki strolled up through the third floor, Leon's mind was plagued with several questions, but only one could be answered.
"So... Fujisaki... you were a crossdresser."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I was frail. And constantly bullied for not being 'man' enough."
"How? I mean, you know, how did you pull it off? Did you suddenly start going to school in female clothes?"
"You're asking this now? Right now? While we're in the middle of a murder investigation?"
"Yeah. Otherwise, it's going to be a big distraction. None of your classmates realized or noticed? They weren't like? 'Hey, Chihiro, why are you dressed as a girl now?'"
"I did it before entering a new school. Before I made the switch, I had been homeschooled. Before getting a job in Towa City, my dad moved around a lot so I wouldn't have been able to stay at a school long enough to adjust. It's not like I stuck around somewhere for people to have noticed."
"Okay. That sounds plausible."
"'That sounds plausible.' What are you talking about? We're trying to pry open a locker that's superglued shut in order to find a dead body so we can solve a murder that someone here committed. And how I managed to pull off my former crossdressing 'lifestyle' only seems 'plausible' to you. What are you, one of those guys that nitpicks everything online at the smallest details? Oh, no. Green eyes! Ruined forever!"
"What? No. That's not what I meant."
"You're picking up some of Naegi's habits. Have to question every little detail. But I suppose neither of you have heard of the black box theory."
"The black box theory?"
"Yeah, how do I put it? Just because you don't know a process works doesn't mean that you can't predict the output based off of input. Like a computer. You don't need to know programming in order to input something for an output."
"Ah, I see."
"A gets you B. And why or how isn't as important as the fact that A will always get you B."
. Celeste was really starting to regret asking Genocider to join her instead of Kirigiri.
"So what's your real name? I doubt it's Celeste Ludenberg. I know it's just an alias. Ooh, let me guess it's your middle name and your mother's maiden name put together."
"My name is Celeste Ludenberg."
"Well, have you gotten it legally changed to 'Celeste Ludenberg' yet?"
"What?"
"So why didn't you ask for Kirigiri to join you?"
"Because I figured your love and loyalty to Togami all but guarantees means you didn't murder Asahina. After all, in our current predicament, if you murdered her, either you would die or Togami would die."
"Correct-a-mundo. Besides, it's not my style. And in the past, I only murdered males I found attractive."
"Never say 'correct-a-mundo' again."
"Why not?"
"Because it sounds disturbing."
"Oh, that's rich. Coming from someone who attempts to look like a statue in a gothic cathedral. Wait, how do I know you didn't murder Asahina?"
"I have some proof. At least I think I do."
"And that is?"
"I'm saving it for the class trial. You shouldn't have a leg up on information. It might influence your deductions."
"Me deducing? Hate to say it, but I'm probably have to do guard duty now that Yams and Hagakure are dead."
"Ah."
. The two had reached Enoshima's room. Celeste opened the door. Everything appeared exactly the same as it had been the last time Celeste had been here so many days ago. The bed was in the same condition as it had been, neatly tucked, almost military style.
"So this is the room of the model? I never met her."
"Model, Fashionista, whatever."
"You know for a model, she sure likes military magazines."
"Yeah, we found that out last time we were in here."
"Hidden depths?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean, personal traits that didn't match with outside appearances."
"Like how Fukawa had you inside her all along?"
"Please, everybody has a dark secret that they keep hidden away. And I'm willing to bet so do you."
. And on that tense note,Celeste and Genocider immediately began scoping around the room looking for the oh-so-important nail polish. They found many of Enoshima's rather 'personal garnments'.
"Oh those." Monokuma said, appearing on the bedroom's monitor, laughing his ass off. "Those are amazing. Bulletproof, Blade-resistant, you name it. But they're not spear-proof."
"You know what?" Genocider said. "For the sake of all that is decent, let's put those back before I have to listen to Monokuma continue on this spiel. He's wasting our time."
"Agreed. Monokuma, I do not care for you." Celeste said.
"You never cared for him in the first place, did you?" Genocider noted, laughing maniacally.
. Celeste smiled. "I guess not."
. Kirigiri was still working on the locker. She, Naegi, Togami, and Maizono had flipped it over with the air vent facing down into the pool in order to drain the locker of some of the water.
"So this is why it was too heavy for Genocider to get over the edge." Kirigiri said, as she heard a thump throughout the locker.
"What was that?" Maizono said.
"Probably the corpse." Kirigiri replied.
"'Probably the corpse'. That's not something most teenagers say." Naegi snarked.
"Well, this isn't exactly a normal scenario for teenagers." Togami said.
"What do you think has gone on outside?" Naegi said.
"People are probably looking for us." Maizono said.
"Yeah, well, they may not be satisfied with what they find." Naegi snarked.
"Hey, stop that. Nobody is coming to rescue you!" Monokuma shouted over the monitor.
"Of course not. But we'll be damned if we don't try to rescue ourselves." Naegi said, shouting at the monitor.
"He really is brazen." Togami sighed.
"I think he picked it up from the second trial." Maizono remarked.
"Of course, when there was still only the first trial, it could still be considered a fluke. Besides we weren't even told the rules about said class trial until after the first pair of deaths." Kirigiri said.
"You know, now that I think about it, I can't imagine what would the public's reaction be to this." Togami said.
"Probably take the footage and try to sell it as some dumb 'reality TV' show." Kirigiri said.
"You know as someone who's been asked to do a reality TV show with my idol group, someone would do that." Maizono sighed.
"You were asked to do a reality TV show?" Kirigiri said. "What happened?"
"My group and I turned it down." Maizono said. "Because I wanted to call the shots on editting, and run it like a sorta of behind-the-scenes with my group and how we recorded music, maybe show some unused takes on songs, and stuff like that.
"You were trying to turn it into a technical show." Togami said. "You were trying to turn smut into higher class art."
"Excuse me, my idol group and I are not smut." Maizono said, offended.
"Yeah, you're certainly what would be called 'high class'." Monokuma said over the monitor. "Would you like me to prove it?"
"Go ahead!" Maizono said, confidently. "I'd like to see you try."
"All right, time to dial a Hope Peak's Academy student from years past. Prepare to talk to her!"
Then there was a pause, and an excitable girl could be heard.
"All right, Monokuma. I'll only talk about music." someone sounded over the intercom, and for once it wasn't Monokuma's robotic voice.
"Hey y'all, listen, I wanted to talk to you guys a lot earlier. But Monokuma wouldn't let me. However, now he's patched me in from outside. Didn't want me to 'interfere' with the spectacle he's got going on.
"You can't be serious." Togami said. "We're talking to another Hope's Peak Academy student.
"Hey-say the music from Maizono and her idol group is smut!" Monokuma's voice could be heard in the background.
"Wait, Sayaka Maizono is in here?" the girl was speaking over the intercom. "Ooo, I'm more of a punk rock fan myself, but I like your pop stuff as well."
"Thank you." Maizono said.
"That dorky blond guy with the glasses was calling her music 'smut'. Noooo. As a former pop musician, how dare he? He has no taste! That freaky four-eyed lemon."
. Togami was in utter shock. First another Hope's Peak Academy student was on the intercom, at Monokuma's request, and this girl was saying that smut was good, and now he was getting called a 'four-eyed' lemon. And he had thought Genocider Shou being in love with him and the murdering had made this school the strangest situation he had ever been placed in.
"Hey, Monokuma!" the girl chanted. "I can't hear them."
"Of course you can't hear them. Only I can." Monokuma shouted.
"Party pooper."
"Can't have you ruin my whole plan, now can I?"
"Ehhhh, whatever you say. Now which one are you again?" the girl asked.
"Enough. I'm ending this call now!" Monokuma said, as he hung up the former student. "Well, folks, that, uh... didn't go as planned. As a matter of fact, I wasn't planning on having past students appear. But I have to say, hearing Togami getting called a 'four-eyed lemon' was vastly entertaining."
. Kirigiri was deep in thought.
"Hmmm, I wonder. That other person didn't seem to know Monokuma's true identity."
"Of course, she didn't." Togami said. "Otherwise, she could have just told us, and you really think Monokuma would let everything fall apart like that?"
"You think she's in the league with him?" Maizono asked.
"Probably. I don't think Monokuma would patch someone in who was against him." Kirigiri said.
"She could just be an airhead." Maizono said. "I mean, she came up with a creative insult for Togami, someone who does that can't be all bad."
"Maizono, I tire of your BS." Togami gritted his teeth. "But more importantly, you know what this means. It means that the mastermind can recruit other people. This isn't a one-man show."
"So that increases the scope of what the mastermind can work with." Kirigiri remarked. "How many people does Monokuma have working for him? And did he draw any other former Hope's Peak Academy students into joining him? Maybe that Physicist who worked on the air purifier in the physics lab as well?"
"He probably coerced them." Naegi commented. "Took advantage of some emotional foothold. Not unlike what he's been doing here in order to incite murders among us."
"That is a surprisingly deep assessment." Togami said. "But if he coerced them, why did she sound so upbeat?"
"And what if she joined Monokuma's operator, the mastermind, willingly?" Kirigiri asked.
And it was at that moment, Leon and Fujisaki returned from the chemistry lab.
"Well, did you find anything?" Kirigiri asked.
"No luck." Leon admitted.
"But that's strange." Naegi said. "I mean, Monokuma said he had done it before. So there must be some within the physical confines of the school."
"You think maybe it's on the fifth floor or any floor above?" Fujisaki said.
. The answer was no. Celeste and Genocider had returned from Enoshima's room.
"We're in luck." Celeste announced. "There was some in Enoshima's room."
"Oh yeah, I remember seeing some of it there." Fujisaki said.
"Give it here." Kirigiri said, reaching her hand out. "I'm going to begin swabbing the glue that surrounds the locker."
. Celeste handed over the nail polish and it took Kirigiri about half-an-hour to swab all around, and to finally loosen the superglue enough to open the locker. And inside, what they had all known was confirmed.
". "Ding Dang Dong. We've got a corpse here. After a brief period of investigation, we'll be commencing a class trial."
. Aoi Asahina, the ultimate swimmer, was dead. Her corpse laid there, motionless inside the locker. Her eyes were closed, and immediately Kirigiri picked up on a detail."
"Some more wooden fragments. Just like Hagakure. And here's some glass fragments."
"It's time for Monokuma File Number Four." Monokuma appeared suddenly to hand out the files.
. Immediately, Naegi checked the file. It never got easier.
"Victim: Aoi Asahina. Time of Death: 1 AM.
Cause of Death: Multiple instances of oxygen deprivation.
Other Notes: Victim suffered several severe hits across the back before passing out."
"Alright, so who's standing guard this time?" Celeste asked.
"How about Genocider and you, Celeste?" Togami said. "Since we obviously know they aren't the murderers."
"But my White Knight..." Genocider pleaded.
"Enough, you're the only person whom we know isn't a murderer right now." Togami said.
"And you want to explore." Celeste said. "I admit, standing guard over Asahina doesn't make my stomach feel at ease, but I suppose it's a reasonable suggestion as any."
And with that, everybody split up. Before Naegi and Maizono could leave, Kirigiri called them over.
"Look, wood fragments, and shards of glass. Can I count on the two of you to go to the rec room and give it a look over again? I'll be here inspecting the body."
. The two agreed, and made their way up to the recreation room.
"I can't believe it. We've already had three trials and now we're going to have a fourth one." Maizono said as the two opened the door to the recreation room.
. The glue from the previous trial had been cleaned up, and the two began looking around.
"Hey, look at this." Naegi said. "This locker has been moved up."
"It has?" Maizono asked.
"Yeah, I can tell. I'm pretty sure these 'Monokuma bottles' weren't stuffed behind here before."
"I think they used to be on the shelf."
"What are these figurines in here?"
"They're chess pieces." Togami had shown up.
"Togami!" the two said in unison.
"Well, I can see I wasn't the only one who picked up on the glue possiblity."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, this is the second trial in a row where glue plays a central role. This game is showing signs of staleness." Togami said, sighing, eyes darting towards the pool cues, remembering the last trial.
"Togami? What are you blabbering about?" Naegi asked.
"I'm working it out." Togami said, as he began pacing around the room. With those words, Naegi and Maizono let Togami be. The two headed down into the first floor to get a look at the victim's lodgings, Asahina's room.
"Wait, Maizono, I don't think I should go in there." Naegi objected.
"Our lives are in danger." Maizono pointed out. "And we're running out of people."
. The smoke had cleared from Asahina's room. The toaster with the knife was still there. Since the toaster was unplugged from the outlet, Naegi took it upon himself to gaze inside.
"Very interesting."
"What is?" Maizono asked.
"It looks like the knife was used to dislodge the heating coils."
"Do you think that was what caused the smoke in Asahina's room?"
"Well, it sure wasn't the broken dial in front."
. And then Naegi remembered something he had found before the previous trial had even begun. He was playing a hunch, and if his hunch was right...
"Hold on, Maizono. I have to get something out of my room. In the meantime, can you find a handwriting sample of Asahina's?"
"Uh... sure."
. Naegi ran back to his own room, and unlocked his door. He opened his desk and retrieved the note. He had put it in there after the last trial.
'Sorry, guys, I broke the toaster.'
, Naegi brought the note back to Maizono.
"What is this?"
"I found a note before last trial next to the blown up microwave." Naegi replied.
"I see."
"Did you find a handwriting sample?"
"Right here, from Asahina's desk."
. Naegi compared the handwriting. Sure enough, the note and the piece of paper Maizono had procured matched up. Asahina had written the note, and thus had broken the toaster.
"Maizono..."
"Yes, Naegi?"
"These two notes... their handwriting matches."
.And a little while later, time was up.
"All right, folks. It's time for the fourth class trial." Monokuma announced over the monitor.
. Togami flexed his head. "It's showtime."
. Fujisaki twiddled his thumbs. "We have to go through this game."
. Leon began punching the air. "This never gets easier."
"You think we'll find the culprit this time."
"We found the culprit the last three times. What's making number four so different? We'll be staring at the culprit this time just like all the other times."
"If I'm right, it'll throw everyone for such a loop, the results may not be pretty." Naegi noted.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry that this chapter was a bit shorter the previous ones, but it took all I could come up with to actually have the investigation play out and not jump straight to the trial. About half of this chapter's content was stuff I hadn't planned on, but which seemed to slide right in.