Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the Danganronpa series. I only own Hikari Seishin and her family. I also do not own any video games I mention in this fanfic.
Note: I try to make the story as canon as I can with obvious creative liberties. Please let me know if any of the original cast is OOC and I will do my best to fix it.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The Culprit Revealed
"…Huh? It suddenly got quiet in here," Nagito remarked in surprise, looking around at his silent classmates. "Did I confuse you…? If so…I wish I could die from self-loathing…"
Akane sighed, shaking her head. "Man, this again."
"If that's the case, it would've been just dandy if they had gone ahead and killed me too… If that happened…the imitation would've been perfect when Hinata and Seishin came upon the crime scene… So why didn't the killer do that…?"
"Well, it's against the rules to kill three people in the first place!" Monokuma answered.
"That rule was added after the crime already happened though," the Luckster pointed out, crossing his arms.
"Maybe there wasn't anyone around at the time to become the third victim before Hinata and Seishin showed up?" Fuyuhiko guessed with a shrug.
"But I'm thinking about it again and…Komaeda's totally right. It feels incomplete even if Seishin was the third victim," Chiaki said, looking upward in thought.
Hikari turned her head to the left to see her best friend. "What do you mean?"
"Come on, try to remember the content of the movie. About the lion that got killed second…"
Gundham raised an eyebrow. "…That's the one Saionji's body was imitating, right?"
"Hmm…" Chiaki nodded with a hum. "Even though we're calling it an imitation…the lion was actually pinned by arrows, right? But Saionji's body was suspended by common household duct tape."
"Maybe they just used a common substitute because it was too difficult to imitate the arrows," Mikan suggested in a tiny voice.
"Well, that's probably it but…that attitude is what makes this feel incomplete. If 'falsifying the murder sequence' was the killer's plan from the very beginning… They should've taken the steps to properly imitate it."
"But if we never realized it was a half-assed imitation, their entire plan would've been completely useless…" the Yakuza said with arms crossed.
"What are you trying to say?" Gundham asked curiously. "Are you saying the imitation wasn't planned?"
"I'm saying…Saionji's murder wasn't," Chiaki articulated slowly to the group.
"…What!?" the Breeder bellowed in shock.
Mikan fiddled with the bandages on her left hand fretfully. "Um…I understand the imitation wasn't enough, but aren't you making a bunch of assumptions…?" Hikari blinked and swerved her head toward the Nurse.
What? Why would Tsumiki say that to Nanami…? Nanami usually wouldn't state something unless there were facts behind what she said during class trials… Hikari thought, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion as the intensity of the migraine was gradually weakening.
"It's not just the poor imitation," the Gamer replied calmly. "There are also other strange details."
"Strange details…like what?" Akane wondered.
Chiaki pulled her hood over her head with a slight frown. "Like, for example, why did Saionji go to the music venue?"
"So…you're saying the truth behind Saionji's murder is hidden?" Hajime asked as he looked over to his friend.
"I have no freaking clue what you're trying to say," Kazuichi complained childishly.
That makes two of us… Hikari couldn't help but mentally agree with the Mechanic. I'm just relieved that my head is feeling slightly better…
"Maybe the killer summoned her?" Fuyuhiko hypothesized.
"If that's not it…" the tanned athlete next to him began to say. "Maybe she got abducted by the killer!"
"No, maybe…" Sonia murmured before raising her voice, "she went of her own free will…"
Hajime nodded. "It's just as Nevermind said. Saionji went to the music venue of her own free will."
"So…" Sonia frowned, one hand clinging to her other arm, "exactly as I assumed."
"If no one called for her, then why did she go?" the Yakuza inquired.
"Saionji locked herself in her room because she was being overly cautious of the Despair Disease, you know?" Chiaki said, her hood sliding back from her head. "I don't think a person like that would leave their room just because someone called for them."
"There's no way she got abducted?" Akane questioned with some skepticism.
"Saionji locked the room she was staying in before she went out," Hajime responded as matter-of-factly.
Kazuichi pulled his beanie closer to his head. "If she was forcibly taken from her room, there's no way she would've had time to lock it…"
"The killer could've locked her door, right?" Akane debated heatedly. "Just to hide the fact that Saionji got abducted."
"Then they couldn't have hidden her room key that deep in her kimono. They would've put it somewhere more obvious. Otherwise, there's no point in messing with the crime scene if nobody finds the key," Hajime said, trying to convince Akane that Hiyoko really did go to Titty Typhoon on her own. "At the time, you were the one who actually took out the key, right? Then, something like that—"
"Are you sayin' my gut was wrong?" the Gymnast seethed at the ahoged teen. "This could be my first and last highlight of the day; why won't ya just lemme shine already!?"
Wh-What…? Hikari thought with a deadpan expression as Hajime sweatdropped at Akane.
"N-No…that's not the issue…" stammered Hajime.
"Shaddup!" the brunette yelled, already getting fired up. "Enough with your fancy talk, I'll shut you up right now! Saionji was locked up inside her room, right? She definitely got abducted or somethin'! The killer forced their way into Saionji's room and…forcibly abducted her! That girl is so small and weak-lookin'… And that's why the killer targeted her!"
"But Saionji's room was locked. The key was deep inside her kimono, remember? It's more likely that Saionji locked the door herself!"
"The killer was the one who locked the door! So what if the key was in her kimono…? Maybe the killer just put it there later!"
"There's no reason for the killer to put the key in Saionji's kimono. The killer probably didn't realize she even had the key!"
"Hold on!" Akane interjected loudly as everyone kept looking from the tanned girl to the plain boy while they were combating with words. "Try rememberin' Saionji's body! Her kimono was all messed up! There's only one reason why her kimono would be that messed up… She fought the killer! That's the proof she was abducted, right!?"
Hajime shook his head. "The reason Saionji's kimono was messed up was because she wasn't able to properly wear it."
"W-Wear her kimono…?" Akane blinked, puzzled.
"Yeah, it's also the reason why she decided to go out on her own."
"Saionji seemed to be really struggling with wearing her kimono…" the Princess disclosed with a serious expression on her porcelain face. "I believe…that was one of the reasons she locked herself in her room… That is why I informed her. I told her that there was a full-length mirror at the music venue, and I suggested that she use it…"
Akane's jaw dropped open in shock. "Then…the reason her kimono was messed up wasn't 'cause she fought the killer…"
"Yeah, she went to the venue on her own just to fix her messed up kimono," Hajime reiterated again.
The SHSL Gymnast gritted her teeth, not too happy about her defeat. "I-I get it…I lost. Boil me, burn me, take off my clothes… Do whatever ya want to me!"
"Hinata, now's your chance!" Kazuichi burst in excitement. "Make her…admit defeat…or better yet, make her do a little somethin'-somethin'!" Hajime sweatdropped at his friend, obviously at a loss for words.
"You can be so despicable, Souda…" Hikari snorted in disgust, rolling her eyes. Sometimes I forget how creepy and perverted he can be…and trying to involve Hinata like that too…
Chiaki casually directed the discussion back to Hiyoko's murder and the circumstances behind them. "Then…the killer probably couldn't have assumed that Saionji would go to the music venue."
"Though that may not apply to Nevermind, since she provided Saionji with that information…" Gundham said grimly, his eyes closed.
"Though I knew she would go there…" Sonia rambled, feeling anxious about how this new development might look for her, "there is no way I could have predicted when she would arrive…"
"Don't go doubting Sonia-san, you cretin!" the Mechanic sharply threatened the Breeder. "I'll put you and your hamsters six feet under!"
"Hmph," the Chuunibyou snickered to himself. "Souda… It seems you have quite the fashion sense…" His eyes snapped open with fury at Kazuichi, a menacing aura surrounding the teen. "Do you want me to incinerate your clothes? Perhaps I could do that while you're wearing them?"
"Tanaka, please stop! For his sake!" Sonia pleaded earnestly.
The beanie-wearing boy gawked at the Princess. "Huh!? What do you mean for my sake?"
"Of course…" Gundham reassured the blonde beauty, crossing his arms with a smirk as his hamsters sat on his shoulders comfortably before the Breeder turned to Kazuichi. "I've already overlooked no less than ten opportunities to kill you…!" Hikari couldn't help but smile at seeing the bond between Gundham and Sonia grow, ignoring the Mechanic who was fuming at his love rival.
They are just too cute together… Why are they so cute together!? the Spirit Medium internally squealed with giddiness even though her outward appearance remained silent and composed.
"Even if the killer couldn't predict it, why did Saionji get killed in the music venue?" Fuyuhiko asked.
"The only thing I can think of is…it was an unfortunate coincidence," Chiaki answered the Yakuza.
"C-Coincidence…?" Akane blinked, stunned.
"When she went to the venue by herself, she was probably just unlucky and walked in on the crime scene."
Fuyuhiko gritted his teeth, glaring at the floor in front of him. "She was killed so there wouldn't be any loose ends!?"
"It probably happened…when the killer was preparing to kill Mioda. The killer most likely placed the hemp bag over her head…and without hesitation…"
"…Killed Saionji," Fuyuhiko solemnly finished the Gamer's sentence.
"It was probably the same for Seishin. Her being there this morning after Hinata left the music venue was her just being there at the wrong place at the wrong time."
Hikari frowned, looking downcast. Am I just that unlucky…? Am I really c-c63u75u72ur73sed65d64d? The Spirit Medium winced in agony, squeezing one eye shut as an acute pain jolted inside her head, the last word in her thought sounding very distorted. A hazy image formed in her mind showing blood-soaked hands in front of a blurred-out body in a dark area, the image appearing to glitch before static overpowered the vision.
"Is the pain getting worse, Seishin?" Hajime asked nervously, looking across at Hikari once she quickly put her hand on her head as if that might rid the pain. Hikari smiled feebly after shaking her head, her lips twitching slightly as everyone turned their attention to her.
"I-I'm all right…" the glasses-wearing girl spoke weakly. "It was very brief… Now it's just a dull ache…" Just what was that…? It only lasted a moment…
Chiaki eyed the girl next to her silently, frowning. Are the security measures we put in really failing…? Could this be Monokuma's doing by making us do this killing game? the AI thought in concern as she scanned the Spirit Medium with her pale pink eyes. If so, what should we do if Monomi doesn't get her authorizations back in time…? I don't think we expected this to happen… The pale mauve-haired closed her eyes pensively before opening them. I have to think about this later… Right now, we have to get through this trial. "Because the killer used those coincidences for their crime, it made this case even trickier."
Hajime glanced over to Chiaki, getting the feeling that they should keep going in order to end the trial fast. "That's the reason they imitated the movie to falsify the murder sequence."
"Which means that lowdown scoundrel didn't plan on committing imitation murders at first," Gundham said tartly with his arms crossed.
"Then what was the killer actually planning to do?" Chiaki questioned. "They've been cunning this far, there's no way they'd kill Mioda without a plan."
"D-Do you have any ideas?" Mikan squeaked meekly. When the Gamer remained silent, pulling her hood up again, the Mechanic clicked his tongue.
"Damn," he swore, "we don't know the most important part."
Hajime frowned, biting the tip of his thumb, trying to think when he spotted Nagito smiling at the group. "Hey Komaeda… Any ideas?" However, the Luckster remained mute, still wearing a smile on his face.
Kazuichi turned and snapped at the white-haired boy. "Hey, how long are you gonna stay quiet…!?"
"Oh, am I allowed to speak?" Nagito asked innocently before his smile widened. "Oh, I'm so happy I'm getting goosebumps! Everyone actually needs help from scum like me!"
Hajime refrained from heaving a sigh of irritation. "So what do you think…?"
"I was thinking about it while I had my mouth shut…" Nagito began, crossing his arms as his expression became somber, "but now I'm finally able to come to a conclusion… Mioda definitely didn't commit suicide!"
Akane raised an eyebrow at the Luckster. "…Huh? What're you talkin' about?"
"I thought there might be a possibility that she faked her death and tampered with the crime scene… But now I remember! There was blood on Mioda's slippers! So if she faked her death, and walked around the music venue tampering with the crime scene… There'd be bloody footprints left in various places throughout the venue. So that's why I think there's no way she faked her death! There's no way Mioda committed suicide!"
"You know…we already finished talking about that a while ago," the Gangster said in annoyance.
"…Huh? Really?" Nagito asked, sweatdropping. "That's annoying. I guess I should awkwardly laugh about it then… Heh…heh…heh heh…"
"A-Are you freakin' kidding me…?" Kazuichi exclaimed in exasperation. "There's no limit to how useless you can be…!"
No…wait a minute… Hajime thought as he made a realization. "That's strange… That's very strange…!"
"S-Strange…?" Mikan asked him, trembling anxiously. "What's strange?"
"If Mioda used the stepladder to hang herself, it's strange that there weren't any footprints on it."
"Huh? There weren't?" Akane gasped.
"Yeah, that stepladder was completely clean. No footprints or bloodstains."
"Y-You noticed such a small detail, how amazing!" praised Nagito who was beaming at Hajime. "This is truly the talent of a chosen SHSLer!"
The tie-wearing teen narrowed his eyes a little, unamused. What are you talking about…? You were obviously leading us to this… That's why you brought up the suicide topic after all this time. Hajime stared at the Luckster with a wary glance. Komaeda Nagito… You're definitely someone I shouldn't underestimate…
"But…didn't you say you and Seishin saw that video of Mioda climbing up the stepladder…?" Mikan asked Hajime with quivering lips. "Then…I think there's no doubt that she really did climb it…"
"Unless there was something funny about that video," Chiaki hypothesized, raising a finger in the air.
"I see…" Gundham nodded, "so there was some kind of trick arranged in that video, hm?"
"But that's something only Hinata and Seishin would know, since they're the only ones who saw that video…" Nagito pointed out with a smile. Hajime and Hikari both locked eyes when those words left Nagito's lips.
"Are you up for this, Seishin?" Hajime asked in a gentle tone. "You don't have to if you're not feeling well enough."
Hikari took a deep breath and bowed her head. "Yeah… I want to help solve this mystery and find the killer who also attacked me."
"…Hinata and Seishin, I leave it in your hands," Sonia said with confidence to the pair.
Chiaki smiled gently. "As long as I leave this to you…I won't tell you to do your best, but oh well, you should get started already."
Hikari sweatdropped but felt her lips curve upwards nonetheless. "Yeah…"
"I'll definitely try…!" Hajime reassured the group. He turned to the Spirit Medium. "Can you remember the video?"
Hikari nodded. "Yeah," she repeated before looking bothered, "but I don't remember anything too suspicious since I couldn't see the crime scene after the attack."
"Oh, that's right…" he frowned, placing a hand to his chin. "I might still need your help though. Let me think…" Hajime closed his eyes as he replayed the video in his mind. "That's right, I remember now…" The teen opened his eyes and looked at his peers. "There was definitely something strange about that video."
"Can you explain it to us?" Chiaki asked.
"Before I do, I need to verify something…" Hajime glanced at Hikari. "Seishin, do you remember the stepladder in that video?"
The petite girl blinked. "Yes…why?"
"Did you notice anything odd about the stepladder?"
It was Hikari's turn to place her hand to her chin contemplatively. "Odd…? I don't think so…"
Hajime nodded to himself. "And that is what I think is strange… It's true that the steps of that stepladder weren't dirty, but on one side…there was a bloodstain. Right on the left side of the stepladder."
"What? But that can't be right. I know what I saw and I didn't see any bloodstains on the stepladder when we watched the video. It was absolutely clean," the Spirit Medium insisted determinedly.
"I agree with you," Hajime confirmed Hikari's statement. "The stepladder at the crime scene contradicts the video we saw at the hospital. The stepladder in the video was completely clean like you said."
"Huh…?" Hikari tilted her head to the side, confused.
"That is truly strange…" Nagito commented. "If the video showed the moment of Mioda's death, then Saionji should've already been dead by that point."
Hajime frowned slightly. "Even so, the fact is the stepladder had blood on it at the actual crime scene…but the stepladder in the video was completely bloodless…"
"And there's no way the video was recorded in advance. If that's the case, the only thing I can think of is…"
"…It's possible those two stepladders were completely different," Chiaki chimed in.
"Wait, are you saying there were two stepladders!?" Fuyuhiko questioned in disbelief.
"But where would you find another stepladder?" Gundham asked in his deep voice. "There was only one stepladder in the music venue."
The Gamer turned to the Breeder. "One of the stepladders was somewhere other than the music venue."
Mikan started biting her bottom lip. "Wh-What do you mean…?"
"You're suggesting…" the Luckster began to say with a grin, "that the stepladder in the video isn't the only thing that's different… Am I right? That's amazing, Nanami! All that gaming has given you incredible deduction skills… Is it okay to say that?"
"U-Um…what are you two talking about?" the Nurse asked in a quavering voice, looking back and forth between Nagito and Chiaki.
"That's right…" Hajime blurted out, feeling his skin get sweaty when a realization dawned on him, "besides the stepladder, the filming location must've been different too!"
Hikari gasped, completely thrown off guard. "Wh-What!?"
"The video we both saw was not filmed at the music venue… It was filmed somewhere else!"
"But the hospital monitor is supposed to display footage captured by the music venue camera, you know?" Kazuichi pointed out.
Gundham frowned deeply. "Then…there's a possibility that the killer also tampered with the surveillance camera unit…"
"Everything happened in the music venue before Hinata and I saw the video, right?" Hikari crossed her arms, furrowing her eyebrows, her headache now just a dull throb. "If the filming location wasn't at the music venue, could the killer have taken the camera from the venue after the murders?" The blue-eyed girl blinked and smiled weakly, feeling her face heat up with embarrassment when she noticed a few of her classmates stare at her in astonishment. "S-Sorry… I was just thinking out loud… I mean, where would they possibly film the video with the camera's range…?"
"No…I think you're on the right track," Chiaki reassured Hikari with a soft smile.
Hajime nodded. "Seishin's right. The killer just brought the camera from the music venue. With it…they made me and Seishin think it was a live feed from the venue, when it was actually from somewhere else." Hikari blinked, unable to hide a proud smile on her lips, her face still a rosy hue.
Wow…I really just contributed with the discussion instead of being useless, the Spirit Medium thought happily despite the fluctuating pain in the back of her head. She sweatdropped before scrunching up her face in distaste. Oh no… I sounded just like Komaeda then… That's not good…
"Then…only the monitor was left in the music venue?" the Yakuza inquired.
"Yes…" Hajime replied, "at least, when Seishin and I discovered Mioda's body together. But when Saionji's body appeared and Seishin was unconscious, the killer probably put the camera back too."
Akane shrugged her shoulders. "That means…you shoulda realized that from the start and made this easier on all of us…"
Hikari frowned, placing a hand to her chest. "Hey! We had just discovered a hanging body! Do you think our attention was on the surveillance equipment at that moment?"
"Well, that's true, but…in order to hide that the camera was missing, the killer did one more thing to the remaining monitor," stated Hajime slowly. "The killer smashed the monitor to pieces, destroying it…"
The Spirit Medium blinked and turned to Hajime. "That explains what that pile of electronic scrap was when we discovered Mioda's body…" she commented, placing her hand to her chin in thought.
The ahoged boy nodded to Hikari before he continued his explanation to everyone. "As long as it was in pieces, you wouldn't be able to tell if the camera was actually there or not… My attention was so focused on the body that even I couldn't have noticed something like that."
"It was also the same for me," Hikari added. "I was also in a state of shock. Besides, it was only moments after I got my bearings that I was knocked out by the killer so I couldn't have noticed if the camera was there or not."
"And the moment Hinata left the music venue, the killer put back the camera they took…" Komaeda determined, a hand resting on his hip.
"And they destroyed it and left it in pieces as well," Hajime finished, pausing briefly. "…As a matter of fact, the camera was used as a weapon when the killer assaulted Seishin." There was a whole range of shocked expressions among the whole group when Hajime made that assertion, everyone's eyes staring at the tie-wearing teen.
"What!?"
"No way!"
"Is that true…?"
Hikari was also flabbergasted by this revelation. "Really…?" She automatically moved her right hand to the bump on the back of her head and cautiously massaged the welt. "Well, I do remember feeling something hard hit me there…"
"Are…you sure the weapon was the camera…?" Mikan asked with watery eyes.
Komaeda's light green-grey eyes sparkled gleefully. "Yeah, Hinata, where's your proof…? You must have proof if you say that so confidently."
Chiaki held out a hand convincingly. "I have proof."
"Y-You do…!?" both the Spirit Medium and the Nurse sputtered in surprise.
"Mmhmm…I found these when I was checking Seishin for injuries while she was unconscious," Chiaki confirmed as she pulled out a couple of pieces of electronic scrap. "These were stuck in Seishin's hair, around where her injury was… The camera must've got caught in Seishin's pigtail where the elastic band was located so the killer had to pull the camera away, causing Seishin's hair to become disheveled…probably." The Gamer passed the pieces around before looking to Kazuichi. "Souda, can you tell if these pieces belonged to the camera?"
The Mechanic scratched the back of his head, his thin pink eyebrows furrowing. "Maybe… Let's see…" he mumbled as Sonia passed the parts to him, momentarily staring at the Princess with stars in his eyes. "I'll never wash this hand…!" he beamed.
"Focus, Souda!" an irritated Hikari reprimanded the beanie-wearing boy, causing Kazuichi's mood to deflate, grumbling to himself as he examined the electronic pieces carefully. "Well…? What do you think, Souda?"
"Hmm…actually…" Kazuichi murmured, perplexed, "these parts most likely are from the camera…" He held up a long thin part for his peers to see. "I recognize this piece as the antenna since I had to fiddle around with the surveillance equipment for a couple of hours shortly after we started the quarantine. It was annoying since I was dealing with less-than-ideal quality equipment…"
Hajime crossed his arms. "When Nanami was working on Seishin's hair at the bar was when I noticed Nanami take out a couple more pieces of electronic scrap from Seishin's hair. I asked her about it and, after inspecting the camera surveillance unit at the hospital, Nanami told me exactly what she just testified to you guys. That's why I can say with confidence that the camera was the weapon used to injure Seishin."
"Okay, that makes sense," the Mechanic said with a curt nod, "but going back to the location of the video... I mean, it's easy to say it was filmed somewhere else, but the surveillance camera's connection wasn't that strong."
"Despite Souda's desperate repair efforts, it seems it could not transmit from the hospital to the motel…" Gundham pointed out.
"The fact that it was able to connect between the hospital and the music venue is amazing enough!"
Hajime tapped his foot against the floor, his arms crossed as he thought of potential places where the video could have been recorded inside the camera's range with the hospital monitor. Then he blinked in realization and looked at his friends. "It's possible that…it was filmed at the hospital's conference room."
"Huh? The conference room?" Kazuichi asked, itching his right cheek.
"But the hospital and the music venue look completely different," Akane pointed out with one raised eyebrow.
The brown-haired male nodded at the Gymnast. "That's exactly why the killer did something to make those two places resemble each other. What the killer did was…make the music venue—the crime scene—look like the conference room! They did that by using the black curtain hanging at the back of the stage."
"From what I remember," Chiaki recalled, "there used to be a really flashy curtain, but after the incident…it somehow became a plain black curtain that didn't seem to be the right size."
"That's right! It's so half-assed, just like Monomi!" Monokuma cackled from his seat on the golden throne.
Monomi glared at the evil bear. "Oh yeah!? Well…your face…looks stupid!"
Really…? That insult was weak on so many levels, Monomi… Hikari sweatdropped with an exhausted sigh, having been very tired of the stuffed animals' on-and-off banter behind her throughout the trial.
"The curtain was hung so the music venue would look like the conference room?" a confused Sonia inquired.
"In actuality…" Chiaki commented. "Even though the curtain in the conference room doesn't stand out… It is a black, light-blocking curtain that's long enough to reach the floor."
Nagito lowered his eyes to the side in thought, a hand to his chin. "I see, the conference room… Indeed, the floor of that room is…the same color as the music stage venue. So the killer chose the conference room because they realized the floor matched."
"Matchin' floors, matchin' curtains…" Akane mumbled with her arms crossed. "I guess it makes sense you'd mistake the two…"
"But that's not all. There should be something else the killer did to tamper with the evidence…probably," Chiaki said with her soft-spoken voice.
Hajime looked at the Gamer and asked, "You're referring to the candle in the music venue, right? In the video Seishin and I saw, a candle was used for lighting. But if you think about it that's pretty strange… The music venue has good lighting, so there's no reason to even use candlelight."
"But…" Mikan squeaked with a quivering lip, "wouldn't they have done it to make it feel creepier?"
"That might've been another reason but…the main reason was probably to tamper with evidence," Nagito explained, crossing his arms. "The lighting in the conference room and the music venue are so different, they couldn't be used during filming. That's why the killer used a candle as film lighting instead."
"Which means…" Fuyuhiko murmured before he glanced at the Luckster, stunned. "Are you saying the candle in the music venue wasn't actually used?"
"That candle was likely placed there just to make Seishin and me think it was the same candle that was used in the video," stated Hajime.
"With candlelight, you can't see things in that much detail," said Kazuichi, crossing his arms. "Maybe they were going for that effect. With that cheap-ass camera, it won't capture much in a dark area."
Hajime nodded. "As long as this all matches up, it should be no problem to say this is decided…" Hajime glanced at Hikari who bowed her head in agreement before the plain boy made the declaration, "The video Seishin and I saw wasn't filmed at the music venue! It was actually filmed at the hospital conference room!"
"If I'd found proof that evidence in the conference room was altered, we would've reached an answer sooner…" Chiaki informally apologized. "But it appears the killer already covered that up, so I didn't find anything when I went there."
"Don't feel bad, Nanami," the Spirit Medium consoled her close friend with a smile. "You are helping us, especially me, with all the evidence that you did find. So…thank you for picking up my slack during the investigation even if my inability to gather evidence was justifiable." The Gamer blinked at the shorter girl to her right and smiled gently with a nod.
"But there's no mistake…" the Mechanic uttered as he fiddled with the rim of his beanie on his head, "that's the only place within the connection range of the surveillance camera…"
Sonia crossed her arms, raising a hand to her lips with a pondering expression. "The motel would have been too far… And the interior design of the movie theater is too distinctive."
"…But this must be a surprising turn of events for Hinata and Seishin," Nagito said in a teasing tone. "You two never suspected that the video you saw in the hospital was being filmed in the conference room." Hajime sweatdropped while Hikari shot the Luckster an annoyed glare.
Did he really have to pour salt in the wound? Hikari bitterly thought. I feel terrible that I can't help much in this trial since I couldn't investigate…
"Um…if Mioda's hangin' video was filmed at the hospital's conference room…then was Mioda killed at the conference room too!?" Akane asked with a dismayed look.
"No," the Yakuza swiftly answered, his hands in his pockets, "that's not possible… Right after Hinata and Seishin saw that video, they discovered Mioda's body at the music venue."
Hajime furrowed his eyebrows. "The person wearing the hemp bag in that video wasn't Mioda…"
"So that means…" Hikari spoke softly, "that person was the killer pretending to be Mioda…"
"Exactly," the boy across from her concurred before clarifying to the others. "The killer put on a hospital gown, wore a hemp bag on their head, and was only pretending to be the victim."
Hikari felt the corners of her lips sag a bit. "No wonder the video feed cut off when it did… Looking back on it, that did seem suspicious…"
"By that time, the real Mioda must've already been killed," Nagito surmised.
"The actual time of death…must've been earlier," Chiaki concluded. "Probably around midnight or dawn to avoid witnesses."
"If they took Mioda from the hospital to the music venue to kill her, there's no way it happened during the day," said Fuyuhiko.
Hikari nodded confidently. "I can attest to that since I was with both Owari and Mioda all afternoon in the hospital yesterday." Unsuccessfully searching for Nidai and encountering Monokuma in the process… She sweatdropped with an annoyed face when she heard the evil bear giggle behind her.
"But why did the killer go to the trouble of making a fake video just so Hinata and Seishin could go to the crime scene?" the blonde Princess questioned, finding it very hard to understand the reasons behind this complex scheme.
"The reason the killer made a fake video…" Hajime whispered to himself before he answered Sonia. "There's only one possibility I can think of. And if I examine that possibility thoroughly…then naturally, the killer's true identity will reveal itself."
Hikari gaped at the brown-haired boy. "Wh-What…!? Really!?"
"You fiend…" Gundham cursed in bewilderment. "Are you saying you already know who the killer is!?"
Hajime fell silent, clenching his fists. Hikari frowned staring at her friend as he appeared more troubled as the seconds ticked by. Hinata…
"You're the only one!" Hajime finally shouted, pointing at someone Hikari least suspected. Mikan jumped in shock with a terrified shriek, trembling like a leaf. The ahoged teen looked at the Nurse with a serious expression. "Tsumiki…you're the killer, aren't you?" Mikan screeched again when those words left Hajime's lips.
"U-Um…what are you talking about?" she quivered, holding her arms up as if bracing for an attack.
"Like I said…" Hajime spoke firmly, standing his ground. "Aren't you the killer who murdered Mioda and Saionji?"
"K-Killer…h-huh? Haaah!? I-I'm the killer…? Wh-What is this!?" At that point, Mikan's eyes were glassy from unshed tears, the girl looking as if she would have a nervous breakdown at any moment.
Akane glanced toward Hajime with uncertainty. "H-Hey…don'tcha think that's kinda impossible? A chick like her is the killer? She couldn't even kill a fly… In fact, the fly would prolly kill her first."
"Sh-She's right!" Mikan cried out, squeezing her eyes shut and wringing her hands hastily. "A clumsy, slowpoke like me killing someone…? Th-That's completely out of the question!"
"But…" Hajime interjected, "we're the only ones. Seishin, you, and I are the only ones who have the advantage of an alibi, thanks to that video…"
"An alibi…? Was that the killer's goal?" Sonia wondered solemnly.
"Now that you mention it, you guys brought that up earlier…" Nagito pointed out with his arms crossed. "Only Hinata, Seishin, and Tsumiki have an alibi."
"I-It's just a coincidence!" Mikan said desperately.
"But you're the only one who could've filmed that video in the hospital conference room," Hajime asserted. "Is that also a coincidence?"
The Nurse's skin turned white as she felt her jaw drop, taken aback. "Haaah!?"
"At that time, you said you were going to the on-call room… But you actually went to the conference room. That's when you put on a hospital gown that you prepared in advance, put the bag on your head, and began filming. By doing that, you made up a video that showed Mioda trying to hang herself at the music venue…and showed that to Seishin and me!" Hikari just stood at her designated spot as she stared in disbelief at Mikan two podiums to her right while the bandaged female gripped her uneven dark purple locks, getting closer and closer to mentally breaking down. Nevertheless, Hajime went on, "Furthermore, Seishin and I saw that video at the hospital lobby… If someone wants to go to the conference room from outside, they have to pass through the lobby."
"So it's impossible that someone who wasn't already in the hospital went to the conference room to film!" Fuyuhiko remarked.
"Not only that…" Nagito said slowly, "the others in the hospital, Owari and I, were both delirious from the Despair Disease…"
Gundham gritted his teeth. "So that must mean…!"
"P-Please wait a second!" Mikan begged pathetically. "Wh-Wh-What are you saying…!? I-I'm the killer…!? That's impossible! There's no way I could kill someone!"
"It's not literally impossible…" the Luckster chortled beside the distraught Nurse. "Can't you give a better defense than that?"
Kazuichi narrowed his eyes at the accused. "It just shows that she can't even do that…"
"Hey, are you sure this chick is really the killer?" challenged Akane, the Gymnast still having doubts that Mikan could be the culprit of this crime.
"W-Wrong… I-It's totally wrong…" Mikan denied vehemently. "It's not what you think!"
Sonia appeared very bothered to think that her friend was a murderer. "J-Just like Owari said, it is really hard to tie it all together… I mean, Tsumiki…is the killer?"
"I agree…" Gundham voiced his belief, "it is truly difficult to believe someone could be killed by such a slow-witted woman…"
"That 'slow-witted' remark is not necessary…" Sonia said weakly, sweatdropping.
"Nyuh…it's fine…" Mikan hiccupped between sobs. "I've been like this for a long time… In a tournament for social punching bags, I'd easily win first place with my soft reputation… Ngh…even I can't deny that… How many times do I have to tell you? It's impossible for me to kill someone! I'm serious…very serious!"
"Do you still believe…that this woman is the killer?" Gundham questioned the ahoged teen.
"Nnh… D-Do you…hate me—hic!—that much, Hinata…?" Mikan wailed, her face wet with tears.
Akane growled at Hajime angrily, "Hey, Hinata!"
"U-Umm…" Hajime faltered, suddenly feeling uncomfortable as some of the teens were starting to gang up on him as Mikan kept bawling her eyes out. Then, out of the blue, a tapping noise echoed throughout the room. The tie-wearing boy blinked and looked over to the source.
Nagito lifted his hand from the surface of his podium after he tapped his fingers on the wood. "…Ah, can you hold on a minute?" he asked cheerily. "Well, I know I'm being intrusive and all. And I mean, I have no place to say this… I missed all of the critical parts and I doubt I have anything worth saying at an important time like this…"
"Wh-What are you saying…?" Hajime asked, still feeling uneasy.
"But still…" Nagito murmured before his carefree demeanor melted into one of condescension, "there's definitely no way I can overlook the killer this time." Both Hajime and Hikari stared at the Luckster in surprise as he crossed his arms. "I thought it was suspicious all along. From the very beginning… Investigating with a suspect in mind creates a different result than investigating with no leads…"
"What do you mean…?" Hikari cautiously inquired, not sure where Nagito was going with this.
The white-haired teen only smiled. "Well, thanks to that… I was able to discover a truth that nobody else knows."
"Wha-!? Are you serious!?" Kazuichi gawked, his eyes bugging out.
"I've been so focused on everybody else this trial…but I guess now's a good time to say it, right?"
"You better not have kept quiet on purpose!" Fuyuhiko spat, clenching his fists. "This isn't a game, you know!"
"Actually, this is a game!" Monokuma corrected the Yakuza.
"Please don't say such controversial statements!" the tied-up Monomi warned the bear.
Hikari grumbled, closing her eyes in irritation. "Will you both be quiet…?" Every time they talk, my headache gets slightly worse…
Chiaki stared hard at Nagito. "Well…what do you know, Komaeda?"
"Well, it's nothing big, really…" Nagito replied offhandedly with a smile. "Only a small, decisive clue that points to the killer."
Of course, Hikari sighed heavily, hanging her head low. What a surprise…
"A d-decisive clue… Does something like that…really exist?" Mikan asked the teenager to her right with watery eyes.
"Let's take a look, shall we…?" the Luckster suggested, gesturing to one particular piece of evidence, the noose. "Regarding the rope Mioda was dangling from… This rope…was supplied by the supermarket, right? There weren't any ropes inside the music venue."
"Again with the supermarket…" Akane complained, a hand on her hip. "That place is a hot spot for criminal goods."
"If they got it at the supermarket, that means it was brand-new, right?"
Fuyuhiko turned to Nagito with a quizzical look. "…What's wrong with that?"
"I want you to take a close look at this rope," Nagito instructed as he took the noose from the pile of evidence and passed it to the Yakuza, "and keep in mind that it's brand-new… Near the middle of the rope… It's frayed, as if it was rubbed strongly." Once the rope got to Hikari, the Spirit Medium was puzzled as she inspected the noose.
"He's right…" the bespectacled girl said in astonishment before handing it over to Mikan.
"But why is it like this? The loop Mioda used to hang herself is on one end of the rope… And the part of the rope that hung from the baton lighting is on the other end…"
The tanned young woman groaned, becoming impatient with the Luckster. "Hey, you're takin' too long. What's wrong with the rope bein' frayed!?"
"It means…well, from what I can infer," Nagito began to say, Mikan hesitantly giving the rope back to the pale boy to her right, "I think the rope was used like this." To everyone's horror, Nagito wrapped the middle section of the rope around his neck with a hand on either end of the rope. "The killer wrapped the rope around Mioda's neck, like so. They pulled both ends at full strength—" Nagito gently pulling both ends to tighten the rope slightly before letting go, "—and strangled her. The center of the rope is frayed because that's the part they used to strangle Mioda. See?" By this point, the white-haired male uncoiled the rope from around his neck and indicated with his finger that the worn portion did match where he said it would fray.
"Geez! This guy's insane!" Kazuichi cringed, completely taken aback by Nagito's demonstration.
"You could've just explained it, Komaeda!" Hikari berated the Luckster. "What if you accidently strangled yourself!?"
Nagito beamed brightly and chuckled. "Oh, Seishin! I didn't know you cared about a useless person like me! Anyway, some of us better understand when things are shown, not just told. And besides, I don't have all my strength back since I still am recovering from the Despair Disease." The Spirit Medium used all her self-control to stay calm, pinching the bridge of her nose with her thumb and index finger.
I'm not worried about you, Komaeda… I just don't want to see another death…
"Hold on…" Hajime cut in, staring at Nagito suspiciously, "I've been listening to you for a while, and it sounds like you knew about this rope clue all along… What exactly did you say to me during the investigation? You said that the rope wouldn't be much of a clue, right?"
"Not everyone cooperates at a class trial… Those who lie and conceal the truth will obviously be here too…" Nagito pointed out before he smiled carefreely. "Just like this case's killer! I was just copying them a little bit!"
"…Huh?" Hajime blurted, the uneasiness in the pit of his stomach only getting worse.
Kazuichi itched his cheek curiously. "More importantly, what was all that about the rope? The killer strangled Mioda…and then?"
"And then…I finish speaking," Nagito stated happily with a wave of a hand.
"Huuuhh!?" the majority of the group shouted in disbelief.
Mikan twirled to her right toward the Luckster, waving her fists anxiously. "H-How is that a decisive clue!?"
"Huh?" Nagito blinked in surprise. "You didn't notice it? I thought I made the decisive clue…very clear. Mioda didn't die from hanging… She was strangled to death."
"That's basically the same thing!" Akane argued, a hand on her hip and an eyebrow raised.
Chiaki lifted a finger in the air. "Though hanging and strangling seem similar, they're very different. The scars they leave would look different too."
"Scars…" Sonia murmured before she looked at the Gamer. "You mean the rope burn, right…?"
The white-haired boy nodded with his arms crossed. "But we believed it was from a hanging… Why would that be?"
"Did we fall for someone's lie!?" the Mechanic asked.
"That must be it!" Hajime agreed with the beanie-wearing teen. The ahoged boy frowned slightly, realizing what was going on. "So that's what happened…! We've been falling for the killer's lie this whole time…!" He stared at the Nurse, clenching a fist in determination to keep going. "You said Mioda hanged herself, but that was a complete lie, wasn't it Tsumiki?"
"Th-that is…well…" Mikan said quietly, stumbling over her words.
"You told us the wrong cause of death! You lied, didn't you!?" Hajime pressed on, pointing a finger at the trembling girl who cowered under his heated gaze.
Nagito wagged a finger and shook his head slowly. "You should have been able to tell the difference between hanging and strangling, just by looking. You, Tsumiki, the SHSL Nurse…"
Mikan frantically looked from Hajime to Nagito and then to everyone else. "Eeee…Please wait. F-First of all…I'm not a coroner…so I don't have the medical knowledge to identify injuries like that… That's why…it's not my fault if I made a mistake!"
"Y-You are right…" Sonia acquiesced softly, feeling perturbed for doubting Mikan. "And…you have been a great help to us so far…"
"But even a drunk medical student can notice the difference between a hanging and strangulation," Nagito remarked with a click of the tongue.
"I'm not taking her side or anything…" Fuyuhiko spoke up, "but being clumsy and unskilled in this area could lead to a mistake…"
"H-He's totally right…! Hehe…I'm such a clumsy mess and I got sooooo careless…!" the accused Nurse chattered desperately.
The Gymnast gritted her teeth, anger starting to radiate off her body. "Tsumiki nursed me till I got better… There's no way I'm gonna doubt her…!"
"Don't you think her devotion to nursing is what helped her draw Mioda to her death?" Nagito reasoned.
"…Huh?"
"And if not… Mioda's symptoms were still very serious, and caused her to believe what anybody told her… It wouldn't surprise me if she willingly followed Tsumiki because she was nursing her."
"S-So Tsumiki volunteered to nurse us…'cause she was plannin' to do this all along?" Akane stammered, her irritation quickly leaving her body to be replaced with bewilderment.
"That's a little…" Fuyuhiko started to say, glancing at the Luckster. "Aren't you like the thief who suspects everyone else of being thieves?"
Nagito laughed curtly, raising his arms up. "I'm not a criminal, Tsumiki is! I mean…she's a killer, you know?"
Mikan sobbed noisily, her trembling hands wiping her tears in vain. "You've got it all wrong! Please forgive me!"
Suddenly, all laughter ceased from Nagito's lips as he looked at the Nurse with disdain. "I'm sorry, but there's no way I can forgive you. I just can't forgive this crime at all." Hikari couldn't help but snap her attention to the Luckster when he said that with such coldness.
Wh-What…? Why is Komaeda so unforgiving toward Tsumiki? Why unforgiving towards this crime? Hikari thought as she felt a shiver travel through her body when she stared at Nagito. The Spirit Medium couldn't shake the heavy feeling of apprehension as she watched the hoodie-wearing male's behavior. He's…dangerous…
"Um…" Sonia cleared her throat weakly in an attempt to cut the tension in the room. Forgiveness or not…we still have not decided if Tsumiki is the killer…"
Nagito closed his eyes and let out a long sigh, crossing his arms. "Hmm, I see… You guys are kind… Well, if that's the choice everyone makes, then the only thing I can do is back off, I guess…" he said dejectedly before he looked around at his peers. "But is that really okay? Is that everyone's hope?"
Hikari frowned, her hand brushing the fabric on her shirt where her necklace would have been. What do I do…? Is Tsumiki the killer or not? A lot of the evidence does point to her, but a lot of my friends trust Tsumiki.
"B-But…I'm really…really not the killer…" Mikan snivelled, starting to hiccup between sobs. "Th-There's no way-*hic!*-I'm capable of killing someone…"
"…Is that really true?" Hajime asked in a serious tone. The Spirit Medium looked across the room at the plain boy.
"H-Huh…!?" Mikan squeaked, stunned that Hajime was still questioning her incapability.
"S-Stop it already! That's enough!" Akane protested, cracking her knuckles.
Hajime clenched his fists and stood his ground. "…I can't stop!" Everyone fell silent, all eyes on the ahoged teen as he closed his eyes shut, his fists trembling. "I…don't want to do this either…! Of course I don't want to do this…! But…I need to do this…!"
Hikari couldn't pull her eyes away from the boy in front of her, the petite girl biting her lower lip as she felt her eyes water slightly. Hinata…
The Gymnast gritted her teeth, her muscles tensed up. "Y-You doubt your friends…?"
"That's not it!" he insisted with a shake of his head and opened his eyes. "I suspect them because I want to believe them!"
"Wh-What the hell does that mean…!?"
"Um…I don't think belief and doubt are necessarily opposites," Chiaki said in a quiet voice.
"H-Huh…?"
"I do doubt her…but I still want to believe her. Belief lies at the heart of that conflict. Cuz…if there's no room for doubt, then there's no reason to believe, is there?"
Hikari smiled gently at the young woman standing tall on her left as Akane began to look deflated. That must be what I'm feeling: doubt while wanting to believe in Tsumiki. I think I understand…
"If you want to believe in someone…you need to overcome doubt first," Chiaki stated to her friends. "Belief without doubt…is simply a lie."
"Tch… Fine…do whatever you want," Akane conceded in defeat, glancing away. "I won't stop you anymore."
"…Huh? Is that all you can say?" Hikari heard a disgusted voice speak up to her right. The black-haired girl pivoted in that direction to see Mikan staring blankly at the athletic female before lifting her gaze to the sky. Hikari felt another chill run through her bones when she observed the Nurse's alarming appearance, Mikan's tears dried up and her sobbing ceased. "Ah, so in the end…you're just a bunch of bullies, huh? Justifying your actions with fancy words… M-Making excuses for why it's not really your fault…" However, Mikan's voice started to crack and she began to weep again. "E-Everyone always treats me like that… Always… *Hic!* 'It's all her fault…' 'Sh-She's the one with the problem…'"
Hikari frowned, moving her hands to her elbows and gripping the fabric of her sleeves. She was bullied just like me… My peers and even adults have said the same things to me when I was younger because of my talent, the Spirit Medium thought sadly as her eyes focused on the wooden surface of her podium. I got through it thanks to Onee-san always being there for me when she was alive and after death… Tsumiki must not have had anyone to help her build up confidence in herself…
Then, the hysterical Nurse suddenly lifted her hands and grabbed at her uneven purple locks, her eyes bulging with rage. "I…I'm done with that! You hear me!? I'm dooooooone!"
The Spirit Medium jumped and gawked at Mikan as the apron-wearing girl kept constantly repeating with venom, "It's not fair…It's not fair not fair not fair…"
Would…Would this have been me if I didn't have any contact with Onee-san's ghost or other kind spirits? Would this have been me if I didn't have my talent at all…? Will I end up like this if I don't get my talent back…? Just as Hikari thought that and felt anxiety start to fester in her chest, a recent memory surfaced in her mind.
"You're…not alone even though there are no ghosts here. I am your friend and always will be. You can always come to me if you need to. You even have the others like Nanami and Kuzuryuu..."
Th-That's right… Hikari reassured herself after remembering Hajime's words to her a couple of nights ago when the Spirit Medium was at her lowest. I am not alone…I have friends here who support and care about me… I will not end up in despair.
"Why won't you forgive me!?" Mikan shouted at the others angrily. "If you did something wrong…you'd forgive yourself right away…! What did I do!? Why won't anybody forgive me!?"
"…Is acting like this your strategy now? Well, this is annoying," Nagito placed a hand on his head, not looking impressed whatsoever. "Plus…to be honest, I've run out of ideas. How can we get you to admit it…? That's the issue."
"If we don't have any clues… Why don't we have her give us some?" suggested Chiaki, causing Hikari to glance over to her. "I'm…the same as Hinata. I don't want to doubt any of my friends… But still…the truth is one of us murdered two of our friends and almost killed a third… That's why…we gotta stick with this until the very end. So we can finally break these chains of despair."
Nanami… Hikari stared at her best friend, her eyes starting to water before looking over to Hajime. When their eyes met, the ponytailed girl could see that the boy wanted her to not only trust the evidence but trust him.
"I told you that I'm not like Komaeda, and I mean it. I will not betray your trust," Hajime's words from the other night washing away the feelings of doubt that squirmed inside the young woman throughout the trial.
"I'm with Hinata and Nanami on this," Hikari spoke out, closing her eyes. "We can't stop this simply because we're accusing a friend… I don't care right now if a friend attacked and almost killed me. We need to give justice to Mioda and Saionji. We also can't forget that our own lives are at stake. If we stop now, the killer wins and everyone else dies. We have to keep going!" When she opened her eyes, Hikari noticed murmuring from her classmates as if they might have been moved by her words and, for once, she didn't feel shy from that. Her cheeks did redden when the Spirit Medium saw Hajime smile appreciatively at her.
Thank you, Seishin… Hajime thought, hoping his gratitude reached to her from across the room.
I trust you, Hinata… Hikari thought, closing her eyes again and giving him a slow nod, her cheeks still tinged with a light shade of red.
Chiaki looked over to the raging Mikan. "Hey Tsumiki… Can I ask you one last thing? If you're not the killer, then who fabricated that video Hinata and Seishin watched?"
"L-Like I said," the Nurse stammered with tears running down her cheeks, her mood changing drastically from anger to wretchedness, "it obviously wasn't me!"
"…Can you prove it?" the Gamer simply asked.
"P-Prove it…?" Mikan whimpered before her expression turned ominous, her eyes darkening slightly. "Wait… Do you have proof that I'm the one who fabricated that video?" Her solemn, emotionless tone abruptly reverted back to a high-pitched whine. "Waaaaaah! That's right! She me your proof! B-B-B-B-Because…you're just assuming the video was filmed at the conference room…! T-Treating me like a killer b-based on an assumption… J-Just because I was at the hospital… Th-That's totally crazy…! I didn't do anything wrong…!" The emotionally unstable girl gripped her hair furiously again, screaming, "Why does everybody always hate me!? Please, just forgive me already!"
Hikari stared at Mikan in shock, biting her bottom lip. I-Is she bipolar…? If not, is she acting like this to dodge Nanami's question…?
The dark purple-haired young woman kept going on with her gibbering, her voice cracking more as she shouted. "I-I-I-I'm not the killer! That video…I never filmed th-th-th-that video!"
"Hm…" Chiaki nodded to herself. "It seems she finally started arguing for us." The Spirit Medium glanced at the Gamer quizzically.
That's a good thing…? Hikari asked mentally, her eyebrow raised.
The backpack-wearing girl gazed at both Hikari and Hajime. "But the only ones who can find the hole in her argument…is you two, Hinata and Seishin. So…I'm going to leave this to you once again."
"Wh-What…!?" the bespectacled girl exclaimed in surprise, her eyes wide. A-Am I able to do this…?
Mikan sniffled, glaring at both Hajime and Hikari. "Why do you get to decide I'm the killer? Where's your proof!? Please forgive me alreaaaady!" Hikari frowned at the Nurse before facing her ahoged friend to find him also looking troubled.
I need…to make up my mind, Hajime thought, gritting his teeth as his heart raced with nervousness. I'm the one who has to do it…! I'm the one who's going to finish this…!
No…I have to be brave… Hikari decided, taking a deep breath. If not for me, then for my friends…for Hinata… She clenched her hands into tight fists before her deep blue eyes locked onto Hajime. "Hinata…" she said in a serious manner, causing Hajime to disrupt his anxious train of thought. "We can do this…so let's do it."
The boy blinked at Hikari, rarely seeing the Spirit Medium this determined. We…? He stared back at Hikari who stood tall with an unwavering gaze at him as if silently giving him courage.
"You're not alone either, Hinata. We can finish this together."
Hajime closed his eyes as he imagined Hikari's voice encourage him in his mind. She's right, I'm not alone, he thought as he felt his heart gradually slow down to a regular rhythm. He opened his eyes and gave her a short nod of acknowledgement before he steeled himself for an uphill battle with the SHSL Nurse.
Days Left: 9
Survivors: 11
