"Wh-Wh-What!?" Tenko screamed.

"Himiko!?" Gonta yelled.

"Y-You've got to be kidding! There's no way it could be Himiko!" Kaito shouted.

"Himiko is my main suspect as well." Shuichi told them.

"Shuichi?" Kaede muttered.

"Why Himiko? This seems way out of left field." Rantaro said.

"It's because if we think about the time of the crime, Himiko is the only one who could have been there at the scene of the crime to pull it off." Shuichi explained.

"Exactly. While there isn't any physical evidence at the scene due to how the virtual world operates, in terms of ability and alibis, Himiko is the only one who falls short." I added.

"No! There's no way! Himiko couldn't have killed Angie!" Tenko screamed. "A-And…e-even if she…d-d-did…" She mumbled. "I-It doesn't even matter! Angie's the culprit of this case, remember! She killed Ryoma, so it doesn't matter who killed Angie!"

"I understand how you feel, Tenko. But maybe we should discuss this rationally and calmly." Keebo told her. "Both Shuichi and Rin have a point. Perhaps Angie's murder does have a part to play in this case. I think we should seriously discuss whether or not Himiko actually could have killed Angie."

"So you understand how she feels. I see…" Kokichi said before gasping. "Wait! Robots can understand human feelings!?"

"O-Of course I understand! I work…really hard to understand!" Keebo shouted at him.

"Hey… Why're you gettin' all worked up, Keebo? Chill, dude." Kaito told him.

"Enough already! It's voting time, and I'm voting for Angie!" Tenko screamed. "Himiko isn't the culprit! Right, Himiko?"

"R-Right." Himiko nodded, visibly shaken from being accused of murdering her friend. "I would…never kill Angie! She helped me so much, so I would never hurt her!"

"Even if she was trying to hurt you?" Kokichi asked.

"What…?"

"Just food for thought." He chuckled.

"But isn't Angie culprit?" Gonta asked.

"We should still discuss this, regardless of if she is or not." I responded.

"We shouldn't jump to conclusions without knowing the whole truth." Shuichi added.

"Mm-hm, we should talk it out more. This case might have juicy plot twists waiting to happen!" Kokichi nodded in agreement.

"There's no need to discuss it! It's not possible! There's no way Himiko could be involved in this!" Kaito shouted.

"Yeah, there's just no way. I can't possibly believe that she could kill anyone, let alone Angie." Kaede said as she held her arms.

"No, it's too dangerous to vote before we arrive at a logical decision!" Keebo argued.

"HOLD IT!" Monokuma yelled. "Wowee! This argument is getting intense! At times like this, the Ultimate Academy is proud to present its very own morphenomenal trial grounds!"

"Yippee! I've been waiting for this!" Kokichi cheered.

"Why were you waiting for it?" Kaito asked with a groan. So we're going to do another scrum debate? We've made our stances clear on the matter, but we can't vote until we understand everything about this case, even if that means we have to see an ugly truth. We have no choice but to convince everyone of that.

So Monokuma, for the third time now, took out a key and stuck it into a slot on his throne, causing our podiums to glow and move high into the air just like the previous two times. Once we were high enough, our podiums divided us into our separate groups based on the side of the argument we were on. The question this time was 'Should we vote for Angie?', with the left side being made up of Tenko, Himiko, Kirumi, Maki, Kaito, Kaede, Rantaro, and Gonta, all of them saying 'Let's vote now'. Meanwhile, on the right side with the belief that 'We shouldn't vote now', were me, Shuichi, Kokichi, and Keebo. How is this an even split? "Scrum debate…START!" Monokuma shouted, with Tenko starting the debate with an angry shout.

"Angie's the culprit! She killed Ryoma!" She shouted.

"We won't know for certain if Angie really killed Ryoma until we find the truth!" Keebo countered.

"Angie was the one who was planning the murder! She had to have been the one who killed Ryoma!" Kaito shouted.

"Just because Angie planned the murder doesn't mean she's the culprit. Until we know what happened to her, we can't say for certain that she's blackened." Shuichi stated.

"But haven't we already discussed how Ryoma must have been the first to die?" Rantaro asked.

"That's only an assumption right now. Maybe if we talk, we'll find something that proves Ryoma died second." I told them with a thoughtful look.

"Even if we talk about Angie's killer, are you sure it's Himiko? She's such a sweetheart." Kaede argued.

"You do know these 'sweethearts' can commit crimes too, right?" Kokichi asked with a smirk.

"Could Himiko even kill Angie? Himiko small and not strong enough." Gonta brought up.

"That would not matter in the virtual world, where our avatar's physical abilities are all equalized." Keebo stated.

"But what are the chances that she just stumbled upon the crime like that?" Kirumi questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Didn't Ryoma do the same thing? It's totally possible for Himiko to have stumbled onto the crime scene too!" Kokichi told her.

"I didn't kill Angie! I'm not lying!" Himiko shouted, to which I just sighed before Shuichi gave his rebuttal.

"The truth of the matter is that it is possible that Himiko killed Angie!" Shuichi declared. With that, we finally exhausted the other side of possible arguments, and our podiums went back down to ground level. I sighed as I shook my head.

"It's just my opinion, but…as long as it's possible that Angie's crime is important in this case, we have to discuss it. And that means seriously talking about whether or not Himiko actually killed Angie." I told them.

"That's ridiculous! You're seriously going to accuse Himiko of this horrible crime just because of a small possibility that might not even exist!?" Tenko screamed.

"That's not it at all! I just want the truth!" I told her. "If we want to survive, then we have no choice but to find the truth!"

"Rin is right. All of our lives are on the line, remember. If we make a mistake because we didn't pursue the truth as a whole, then all of us will be killed." Shuichi confirmed. "Besides, there are still a few mysteries surrounding the case as it stands."

"Mysteries?" Tenko muttered with a blank look of confusion. Her expression then immediately shifted into one of complete anger. "What mysteries!? What more do we have to talk about!? Himiko didn't kill anyone! She's not the culprit, and that's final!"

"Yeah, it's complete nonsense!" Kaede shouted. "I can't believe Himiko could ever do anything like that!"

"I'm telling you, I didn't kill Angie! She was my friend! I would never do anything like that!" Himiko pleaded.

"Himiko's not the culprit!/She's definitely not the culprit!/I'm not the culprit!" Despite the scrum debate being over, it seems the entire room went into an all out panic at the mention of Himiko possibly being the culprit. Well…at least we're actually discussing it now…

Tenko: Himiko can't be the culprit!

Kaede: Isn't there anyone else who can be a suspect?

Himiko: I would never hurt Angie!

Tenko: Because she was with me the entire time while we were in the virtual world!

Rantaro: It couldn't have been anyone at the chapel.

Kokichi: Even if she was trying to kill you?

Tenko: She would never hurt anyone!

Gonta: That right. We were together. No one left.

Keebo: Anyone would fight back if someone was trying to kill them, I imagine.

Kirumi: Is that really true, or are you just making assumptions?

Rin: Well I don't think anyone at the mansion could be a suspect.

Himiko: Even if Angie wanted to hurt me, I would never want to kill her!

Tenko: Of course I'm not making any assumptions!

Rin: Kokichi can't be the culprit, because he stayed in the salon.

Himiko: Angie helped me when I needed it! Of course I wouldn't want to hurt her!

Tenko: Even when Himiko gets angry with me, she never uses violence!

Rin: And I don't think it could be Maki or Kaito either!

Kokichi: That's a lie and you know it.

Maki: That's a weak argument…

Kaede: But you don't actually know that, do you?

Kaito: What are you talking about, of course she's not lying!

"I heard it!" Shuichi yelled as he heard the contradiction. "Tenko, you and Himiko weren't together for the entire time we were investigating. In fact, we ran into Himiko before we found Rin and the others in the forest."

"That is correct. She ran into us on her way to tell Rin about the clue she and Tenko discovered." Keebo reaffirmed.

"So? We were together the whole time before that, and she ran into you two right after! There's no opportunity that she could have committed the crime!" Tenko shouted.

"Tenko, don't you see?" I asked. "That's the opportunity we've been talking about."

"Huh?"

"After she left you, she didn't run into Shuichi and Keebo right away. Instead she entered the forest by herself and saw the crime that was taking place. Isn't that right, Himiko?" I asked the magician, who was now quaking in her boots now. She looked so scared and fragile, like any more accusations would shatter her completely. I didn't want to continue. I didn't want to hurt her. I want so badly to just vote for Angie and be done with it all, but my gut is telling me that we need the whole truth. "C'mon Himiko. Can't you just confess now? You entered the forest and saw Angie attack both me and Ryoma, didn't you?"

"I-I…"

"Rin, are you really sure Himiko was the one who killed Angie?" Kaito asked me with a nervous look.

"I'm positive." I told him swiftly. "I know it might be hard to understand, but as Shuichi and I said at the very beginning of this discussion, Himiko is the only one who had the opportunity and ability to kill Angie. We can prove that simply with the process of elimination."

"Really?" Kaede asked with wide eyes.

"Yep. Let's start with Tenko, Kaede, Gonta, and Rantaro. We can take those four off the suspect list because they all have an alibi." Rantaro gave me a nod before he answered.

"That's right. The four of us were together during the murder. After Tenko and Himiko split up, Tenko, Gonta, Kaede, and I were together until everyone logged out. None of us could have killed Angie during that time."

"Right. Next, we can take Kaito and Maki off the list." I stated.

"The reason for that is because Kaito's FA was opening doors. If he was searching inside the mansion, he wouldn't have been able to leave without someone opening the door for him. And since he was searching the dining room, Maki, who was searching the kitchen, would have had to have gone past him in order to leave and head to the forest." Shuichi explained.

"Exactly." I nodded. "You and Keebo can be taken off the suspect list too. The reason being that you both didn't separate at all while you were investigating."

"That is correct. The two of us did not go too far from each other during our search for clues in the virtual world." Keebo nodded. "If either of us started walking away towards the forest, the other would have seen it."

"That just leaves me, Kirumi, Himiko, and Kokichi, if we're not including Angie herself or Ryoma, both for obvious reasons. Angie would never kill herself, and Ryoma had no way to kill Angie before she attacked and killed him." I said. "Kokichi also can't be the culprit. His FA made it so he couldn't lie when answering a question. That means when he told us he was in the salon the whole time, he wasn't lying."

"That just leaves Rin, Kirumi, and Himiko." Maki stated.

"But we already know that it can't be Rin or Kirumi." Kaito looked to the ground with a sad face when he said that.

"Because…Rin was Angie's target, and Angie wanted to frame Kirumi." Gonta finished.

"Yeah. Kirumi was logged out by Angie. Since the crime happened in the virtual world, Kirumi, who was in the real world, couldn't have committed the crime." Shuichi told them. "And Rin was the target. Angie had already attacked him before she died, and we even saw that he was still knocked out afterwards."

"And so, we come down to one person." Kokichi gave a knowing smile. "Aaaaand…who was that again?"

"..." Himiko stayed silent as she held her shoulders, all the while Tenko just stared at us in disbelief.

"This…can't be true, can it? It's all…just a lie…" Tenko muttered.

"Well, Rinny? C'mon. Tell us who killed Angie." Kokichi pressed with a much more sinister look, knowing full well that what he was doing was cruel, not just to Himiko or Tenko, but to me as well.

"...It's Himiko. Himiko killed Angie." I stated simply and firmly, leaving no more room for debate. There might not be much if any physical evidence of it, like there was with Kiyo's murder. But still, Himiko's the only possible person who could have killed Angie. It's terrible, but it was an accident. If I'm right, then she only stumbled across the crime. But if that's the case…I have to wonder. Why did Himiko stay silent about this up until now? "Himiko, please, tell us the truth. Even if you really did kill Angie, that doesn't mean you're the blackened of this case. I want to believe that Angie was the one who killed Ryoma, and that he was the one who died first. But in order for me to believe that, I need you to tell us the truth. Tell us what really happened."

"I…I…"

"Don't say anything, Himiko."

"Tenko?" Himiko muttered her friend's name the moment she came to her defense yet again.

"Are you still coming to Himiko's defense after all that? God, you're so stubborn, Tenko!" Kokichi loudly groaned as he rolled his eyes.

"Of course I am! I'm gonna believe in Himiko till the very end!" Tenko proclaimed, her face not showing a single sign of doubt or worry. She was fully confident in herself and Himiko. I was honestly impressed with it.

"Really? Even after Himiko lied about her FA?" Kokichi asked.

"Himiko lied about that!?" Keebo shouted.

"That's what I think, at least. That's why Tenko was zoning out when we were talking about them. The moment Himiko told us her FA, Tenko looked really confused at that. I think that's when she realized Himiko lied, but she didn't say anything." Kokichi told us.

"But why would Himiko lie about what her FA was?" Kirumi asked.

"Could it be…Himiko had reason to kill Angie?" Gonta asked with a grimace.

"No! Of course not! Even if Himiko lied, that doesn't mean she did anything wrong! I refuse to believe that!" Tenko declared.

"But without any proof to show that she couldn't have killed Angie, I'm not sure how you're going to-"

"You want proof?! I've got your proof!" Tenko interrupted Shuichi as she slammed a fist onto her stand. "You said it yourself when we were talking about Ryoma's death. Our avatar's strength's are equalized! That means that it would have been next to impossible for Himiko to have gotten the shovel from Angie! So if she didn't have a weapon, how would she have killed Angie?"

"Angie's body shows signs that she died instantly. That would mean she would need to have died from a sudden, powerful strike. Without a weapon, it isn't possible for Himiko to have killed Angie." Maki said.

"Exactly! That proves that Himiko couldn't have killed Angie!" Tenko cheered.

"...I'm sorry, but no. That's wrong." I spoke in a soft, yet still firm voice.

"Huh?"

"There's one thing you're mistaken about. There's one key difference between Ryoma and Himiko. Ryoma was injected with very lethal poison that was coursing through his body when he was attacked by Angie. That meant that he was pretty much easy prey for her. Himiko, on the other hand, had no such handicap with her encounter with Angie. That means she could have run away, or, in this case, done something to take the shovel away from Angie."

"You…! You're still set on blaming Himiko for this!?" Tenko growled before she gave a fierce shout. "Nnnnngraaaaahhh! Fine then! Go ahead and try to prove that Himiko killed Angie! I won't believe you no matter what you say! I'll keep saying that until you give up!" Desperation. That's what this was. Tenko threw everything she had at me. Every insult, ever curse, every last thing she could in order to get me to stop what I was doing. It was ugly. It was raw. And yet, I think I would have been more upset with Tenko if she wasn't so insistent on Himiko's innocence. After letting her get it all out of her system, she glared at me as she began to pant a little. "You've…got no proof that Himiko was able to steal the shovel away from Angie!"

"It ends here, Tenko." I responded with a snap of my fingers. "The proof…is the jagged rock that was found next to Angie's body."

"What? What does a rock have to do with any of this!?" Tenko yelled.

"That rock was fairly big. I heard from Shuichi and Rantaro that it was pretty noticeable, even in the snow of the forest. And for it to be right next to Angie's body, I can only imagine that someone must have thrown it at her for that to happen."

"Thrown the rock at her?" Kaede repeated with a look of understanding.

"Getting hit with that rock wouldn't be pleasant. While it wouldn't kill, with the size and jaggedness of the rock, getting hit with it, especially in the face, would disorient a person." Rantaro noted.

"Exactly. I believe that's what happened. Himiko threw the rock at Angie in self-defense, and that caused Angie to drop the shovel in her hands. With the opportunity in front of her, Himiko could have grabbed the shovel and attacked Angie with it! That's how Angie died!"

"I…! I…!" Tenko was at a loss of words. She looked absolutely stunned. And yet, somehow, she still gritted her teeth as she prepared another response. "You-!"

"Stop it, Tenko." Himiko told her.

"H-Himiko?"

"Fine. It's true." Himiko told everyone. "I killed Angie."

"It's…true?" Gonta asked.

"Yes. I went just like how Rin and Shuichi said." Himiko sighed. "I can't hide it anymore."

"So you really did… How awful." Rantaro averted his eyes from her as he gritted his teeth.

"If you don't mind my asking this, Himiko, could you explain to us what happened?" Shuichi asked. "I'd like you to prove some of our findings during the case since you were at the scene when it all happened."

"Fine. I…can do that." Himiko nodded.

"Then let me ask you this first. When did you arrive at the scene?" Maki asked.

"Tenko and I found that photo album outside the chapel, so we wanted to tell everyone about it. Tenko went to the chapel, and I went to find Rin, since the photo album was probably his." Himiko began to explain. "So I went to the forest, and that's when I saw Angie attack Rin. I was confused, and scared, but that's when Ryoma appeared. The two of them started arguing, but as they started to get louder, Ryoma began to pant a lot. Then suddenly, he fell over."

"That must have been the poison. It must have started killing him." Maki grimaced.

"But even though he was on the ground, Angie still walked over to him with this terrified look on her face…and hit him on the head with that shovel, just like she did with Rin." Himiko said as tears began to fill her eyes. "I tried to run away, but Angie heard me and turned to where I was. She saw me, and she began to run at me. I tried to run, but I tripped before I could even get anywhere. That's when I saw that jagged rock next to me. Without thinking, I grabbed it and threw it at Angie. It hit her in the face, causing her to drop the shovel. That's when I…" Himiko stopped as she hiccuped a little through her tears. "A-After that, I dropped the shovel and ran away from the forest. That's when I ran into Shuichi and Keebo, and you know the rest."

"So you stole Angie and Ryoma's FA bangles?" Keebo asked.

"Y-Yes. I took them while you all were panicking over Rin being alive." Himiko confessed. "I was afraid that if you saw their FAs, you would find out that I ended up killing Angie. So I stole them in my own panic."

"Then Angie really did kill Ryoma first." I said with a sad face.

"And then she died at Himiko's hands." Kirumi added with her own frown.

"What a shitty situation…" Kaito growled as he rubbed the back of his head.

"...This is enough, right?" Kaede asked. "We've finally discovered the truth of this case, so can we just vote now?"

"Angie is culprit we vote for… That's the right choice?" Gonta asked.

"Yes. With Himiko's testimony, there shouldn't be any issue anymore." I sighed, both from exasperation and relief that it was finally over. However-

"No. I have one last thing to ask Himiko." Shuichi said.

"Nyeh? What is it?" Himiko asked.

"Why did you lie just now?"

"Huh?" Tenko finally stirred, having been silent since Himiko's confession. Her blank eyes suddenly went wide after hearing the question. "Himiko…lied again?"

"N-No way! What reason could she have to lie!?" Kaede shouted.

"What even was the lie?" Rantaro asked Shuichi.

"That part of her story about what she did after she killed Angie…I don't think it's true. She did something after killing Angie." Shuichi said.

"Why do you think that?" I asked him.

"The shovel… Himiko said she dropped it after hitting Angie with it, but if that were the case, then why was the shovel next to Ryoma's body?"

"Ryoma's body?" I questioned.

"If Angie dropped the shovel after killing Ryoma, then that would make sense, but that's not what happened. Angie tried to attack Himiko with it. So why was it moved over to where Ryoma was." Shuichi asked.

"That's a good point. Ryoma and Angie's avatars weren't exactly close to each other." Maki stated.

"If you're bringing this up, do you have some explanation for that?" Kokichi asked. Shuichi thought for a minute, thinking about how exactly he should explain it before asking us a simple question.

"Isn't it a bit curious?"

"What is?" Keebo asked.

"Why didn't Rin die after Angie attacked him?" Shuichi said. "Angie died when Himiko hit her with the shovel, after all." My eyes grew wide at that.

"Shuichi…are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" I asked him in a small voice.

"...Yes." He nodded. "The blackened of this case isn't Angie. It's Himiko."

"What? But I told you everything that happened!" Himiko shouted. "Angie killed Ryoma, so she's the culprit we need to vote for!"

"No, that's wrong. You're the true culprit." Shuichi stated. "Because Ryoma didn't die when Angie hit him, just like how Rin didn't die."

"What? How's that possible?" Kaede asked.

"I can only think of one way Rin and Ryoma could have survived." Shuichi said. "When Angie hit them with the shovel, she must have hit them with the wide, flat part of the metal."

"Hmm…that would spread the damage across a wide surface area, making it less lethal. So I guess it makes sense." Rantaro nodded. "But what about Angie? How did she die from a blow to the shovel if Rin and Ryoma didn't?"

"Himiko must have hit Angie with the edge of the shovel. So instead of causing damage by bludgeoning, it would be like she hit Angie's head with a blade. That's what killed her instantly." Shuichi explained.

"Then what you're saying is that the true reason that Ryoma died wasn't because Angie hit him with the shovel, nor was it because of the poison." I stated. "You're saying Himiko killed Ryoma too by hitting him with the shovel the same way she hit Angie with it!?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Shuichi nodded. "Here's what I think happened. After Himiko hit Angie with the shovel, Ryoma started moving. Angie didn't kill him, but the poison was causing him to fidget and stir, or maybe it was waking him up from the pain. Either way, Himiko noticed, and realized that she must be the blackened, and that if Ryoma woke up, he would see everything. So, she walked over to him, raised the shovel, and swung down at him. She killed him there, and then she dropped the shovel and left the forest. That's the truth of the case."

"Th-That's not…!" Himiko tried to say, but she was tripping over her words, sweat began to form rapidly on her face.

"This…can't be happening…!" Tenko began to cry as she held her face in her hands.

"So…this is a class trial…" Kirumi muttered with a downtrodden gaze. I sighed as I rubbed the back of my neck.

"Let's just…go over the case one last time to make sure we've covered all our bases. What do you say, Shuichi?" I asked him.

"Yes. Let's finish this." Shuichi nodded with a sigh. And so, the two of us took a deep breath, before we began to re-examine what happened with this case together. Our closing argument.

Climax Reasoning

ACT 1

"I'll start us off. The case started when Monokuma introduced the new world that everyone could enter now that work on the supercomputer was finished. Using the killing game simulator as a base, the virtual world was made, and secrets were hidden inside to encourage us to enter the program. Having very little choice in the matter, all of us reluctantly agreed to enter the program. However, unbeknownst to anyone, one of us accepted a deal from Monokuma, and in return, that person was given a little info on how the program worked, giving them an opportunity to kill using the unique rules of the virtual world. This person was Angie, one of the soon-to-be victims of the case. She started her plan to kill by waiting for everyone to enter the simulation. She then walked over to Kirumi and swapped the cords on her headset, causing a memory error where Kirumi's memories would not return upon exiting the program, a secret that Monokuma had given her for her plan. That plan…was to kill me, and frame Kirumi for it. That was the reason she swapped Kirumi's consciousness and memory cords. Without her memories, Kirumi wouldn't be able to make any sort of argument against accusations against her should I be killed. With her plan underway, Angie entered the program to continue with setting up the rest of her plan. After everyone arrived in the virtual world, we immediately began to investigate. Monokuma was kind enough to leave us with notes about how the world worked. Items can't break, our avatars are connected to our senses, stuff like that. He even included a map of the world, but there were a few things he left out of his helpful paper."

ACT 2

"One of these was how we could log out. Monokuma only told us of one way: the phone in the salon, but there was a second way to log out. Hidden within the shed on the mansion's roof was a cell phone, which worked as a portable way to log out of the virtual world. That's the reason why Angie ran up to the roof as soon as she could. Before we could follow after her, she ran up to the shed and took the cell phone, hiding it on her person so we didn't see it when we found her on the roof. This meant we had no way of knowing that there was a way to log out without entering the salon to use the phone. Of course, Angie had to rush in order to hide the phone before any of us got to the roof. So in a rush, she threw one of her paint brushes away to put the phone where it used to be in her belt. That one action would help lead us to discovering what she was planning to do, though that would hardly matter in the end. After we looked around the mansion for a little bit, we walked over to the chapel and checked things out too. That's when Angie put the final part of her plan into action. She suggested we split up to try to find the secrets Monokuma hid in the world. She was the one who suggested Kirumi and I should go together, and that we should stay close to each other, which was part of her plan to frame Kirumi. At this point, things were going exactly as Angie planned, however, that wouldn't last too long."

ACT 3

"We soon split up into groups to find the secrets of the virtual world. Kaede, Rantaro, and Gonta would investigate the Chapel. Kokichi, Kaito, Ryoma, Angie, and Maki would investigate the mansion. Finally, Rin, Kirumi, Tenko, Himiko, Keebo, and Shuichi would investigate the areas outside the chapel and the mansion, including the forest behind the mansion. We each headed to our areas and began investigating. Once we all were separated, Angie began her plan. She had told her group she was going to search the main hall of the mansion, but as soon as she got the chance, she left and headed to the forest. She then used the cell phone to log Kirumi out. Upon saying Kirumi's name into the cell phone, Kirumi was immediately logged out, and she returned to the real world. And thanks to Angie's meddling, Kirumi forgot everything that happened in the virtual world, just like Angie had planned. Angie then took a shovel that she prepared ahead of time and found where I was. By that point, I had realized that Kirumi was gone. But before I could do anything though, Angie snuck up behind me, and smashed her shovel into the back of my head. She tried to kill me, however, all she managed to do was knock me out. She might have actually killed me, if she wasn't interrupted right after that. Shuichi, if you could."

"Yes. I'll take over from here. While Angie was still heading to the forest, Ryoma, our second victim, who was investigating the roof, saw Angie when he was using the binoculars, which led him to leave the roof to follow her. Once he got to the forest, he witnessed Angie hitting Rin with the shovel, which led him to try to confront Angie. At that very moment, in the real world, Ryoma's Forbidden Action was triggered. His Forbidden Action was to witness anyone perform a violent action against another, meaning that he would die from the poison. Kirumi, who was just waking up from being forced out of the virtual world, was confused and dazed, having no memory of what had just happened, but she did hear the jingle of Ryoma's bangle. She knew that if nothing was done, Ryoma would die, so she ripped part of her dress off and used it as a stopper to slow down the poison from reaching Ryoma's heart. She then ran off to the kitchen to get a knife to cut off Ryoma's arm. It was a desperate measure, but it was all she could try to do to save Ryoma. But it was all in vain. Ryoma would end up dying anyway, and it wouldn't be the poison that killed him."

ACT 4

"Back in the virtual world, Angie and Ryoma ended up getting into an argument with each other. But while they were fighting, the poison began to take effect in Ryoma's body, causing him to fall over from the pain. That's when Angie saw her opportunity. Angie managed to hit Ryoma with the shovel in the head, but like with Rin, it only knocked him out. And that's when the final misfortune happened. This is when the true culprit ended up getting dragged into this mess. The culprit was investigating the outside of the chapel with Tenko, and the two of them discovered one of the secrets of the virtual world. It was a photo album full of pictures. The important thing about these pictures was that they all had Rin in them. They were pictures from his past, and had all of his old friends in them as well. Tenko ran inside the chapel to tell Kaede and the others about the discovery, and while she did that, the culprit would run off to find Rin and tell him about the pictures. And that's how the culprit ended up in the forest, witnessing Angie over the bodies of Rin and Ryoma. Angie, fearing discovery of her crime, went to finish off the culprit. The culprit, now panicking at the prospect of death, tried to run away. Perhaps they tripped, but Angie managed to catch up to them. Angie was about to deal another blow to potentially kill a third person, but the culprit found something useful. A small rock. They quickly grabbed it and threw it at Angie, hitting her in the head. The sudden attack made Angie drop the shovel, and the culprit used the opening to their advantage. The culprit stole the shovel, and lifted it up before sending it down on Angie. Unlike Angie though, who only hit people with the blunt, wide side of the shovel, the culprit hit Angie with the shovel's edge. Even with the avatar's balanced strength, a blow like that would only kill. And so, the culprit hit Angie, dealing a fatal blow to Angie, killing her instantly. The shock was then sent back to Angie's real body, and she died in the real world too."

ACT 5

"The culprit had killed someone, but perhaps they believed that they weren't the blackened. After all, there were two other bodies that, at that point, were dead in their eyes. So perhaps they had let their guard down, but that's when Ryoma began to wake up. Even with poison flowing in his veins, he was still able to regain a little bit of consciousness before the poison killed him. The culprit saw him, and they knew they couldn't risk him seeing them. He was a witness. So, thinking that this was the only option, the culprit hit Ryoma in the same way they hit Angie, finally killing him as well. The culprit dropped the shovel and then ran off, running into Keebo and me, giving us the story that they needed to find Rin so they could tell him about the photos. Keebo and I then joined the culprit to look for Rin in the forest, and we discovered the scene. Keebo and I were obviously shocked, but the culprit could only feign shock at the scene, though neither I nor Keebo were paying much attention to their reaction. The three of us then ran and told everyone, and we all logged out, discovering Angie and Ryoma's bodies in the real world. A lot of things happened after that. Kirumi managed to get back with a knife, which only made people suspect her more, and Rin was discovered to still be alive, though he was suffering from something like a phantom concussion. While we all were focusing on him, the culprit took the opportunity to remove two more pieces of evidence: Angie and Ryoma's bangles, which prevented us from discovering what their Forbidden Actions were. They did this in a final attempt to hide their involvement. Perhaps they thought that if we couldn't see the motive Angie had, or the reason Ryoma was poisoned, we wouldn't be able to discover their involvement in the case."

The two of us both made knowing poses as we gestured to Himiko, who was crying as she pulled her hat down her tear-stained face. "That's the whole story behind this twisted tragedy. This incident was caused by Angie Yonaga, the Ultimate Artist, but she didn't end up being the culprit." Shuichi began.

"In truth, it was you who was forced to play the role of 'culprit', Himiko Yumeno, the Ultimate Magician. That's the conclusion of this heart-wrenching deduction." I finished. "I'm sorry, but that's the truth we've reached."

"Uh…Uhhh…" Himiko sobbed uncontrollably.

"This is…too unfair." Kaede shook her head, her own tears visible in her eyes.

"So…we've finally reached the end? Himiko…is the person we have to vote for?" Kaito asked in a voice that wished that he would be told that was wrong.

"Yeah…that is what that means." Shuichi responded with gritted teeth.

"I-I…I'm…so…I'm so…sorry…" Himiko softly weeped, her voice broken and cracked.

"N-No…That…isn't…" Tenko tried to say, but any and all fight that she might have had seems to have died in this trial. She…didn't even look like her usual self. All the color had drained from her face, along with any light in her eyes.

"Himiko…we need to vote. I'm sorry but…we have to vote for you. I'm sorry." I told her, stifling my own tears as they began to form. "I'm…so very sorry."

"I-It's okay, *hic*." Himiko told me. "It's all my fault. So…let's end this. Please."

"...Okay." I nodded.

"Huh? Wrapping things up already?" Monokuma asked. "Hmmm… What a buzzkill of an ending. It lacks the rush of previous Voting Times… Well, after so many killing games, I guess it was bound to happen eventually! Now then, pull yourselves together and let's begin! The heart-racing excitement as the blackened and the spotless face off! It's…VOTING TIME!"

CLASS TRIAL END

ALL RISE!