4th Arc: Truths Are Cruel, So Lies Must Be Kind
Deadly Life
And just like that, it began for the fourth time. Kaito, found dead at the base of the spiral staircase. Gonta, found dead in the Ultimate Astronaut's Research Lab. I found myself staring at the large corpse of Gonta for what felt like hours, not moving until I finally found words to say. "...What happened?"
"Rin…" Kaede turned to me with a face covered in tears. "I don't… I don't know what happened. We just… We just found them like this! Why… Why did these two have to die?"
"So… They're really…?" I asked, my eyes not moving off of Gonta.
"...Yes. Gonta and Kaito are dead." Shuichi confirmed with a dull stare. He was staring at the ground with an empty look. His voice sounded like it had lost all of its energy. It's understandable. Kaito, Shuichi's best friend, is dead. It would be more shocking if Shuichi wasn't like this right now. I was much the same. All I could manage to do was stare at the body in front of me silently. That is, until Kokichi entered the room.
"Geez, Rinny. Why'd you run off without me? You know I get lonely easily." He joked as he entered the room, but he stopped when he saw Gonta's body. "Gonta…" His voice was quiet, so much so that I might mistake it as sorrowful. But, of course, like all things pertaining to Kokichi, that turned out to just be nothing but a delusion on my part. "Wow! I can't believe that big dumb idiot really did get himself killed like I said he would! Man, thank god the victims this time around weren't anyone who were actually useful." The three of us who were in the room with Kokichi just turned to him in appallment when he said that. How? How could he say something like that? I didn't know, but I knew that for once, I was not going to put up with his crap right now.
"Kokichi, if you don't shut up, I'll take your tongue and shut you up for you." It was quick, precise, and to the point. That one sentence was all I needed to silence him. When he heard me, he gave me a surprised look, like he wasn't expecting me to say that. I didn't care enough to wait for a response as I turned back to look at Gonta. I could tell Kaede and Shuichi were shocked as well, but I didn't care. I was just tired of it all. I was done with everything. Right now, I just want to not think right now.
And so we waited, and soon, the others had come, and they were just as surprised as we were. "So Gonta and Kaito are dead now. This is…awful. That is the only word I can use to describe this situation." Keebo said as his face scrunched up in pain.
"Those two… Why those two?" Tenko asked.
"..." Maki didn't even say anything. All she did was look away from Gonta's body. I can't imagine how she reacted when she saw Kaito's body down stairs. She looked sick.
"...So we have to do it again, don't we? One of us killed again, and we have to investigate." Rantaro sighed with a pained look.
"Must we? The last trial was so horrible. Must we suffer through another so soon after?" Kirumi asked with a disgusted look. That's right. She's only done this twice. It must be so awful, beginning to understand just what we have to go through. Over, and over, and over, and over, and over again. But still…
"We don't have much of a choice." Shuichi muttered in a defeated tone.
"That's right! You don't have a choice!" Monokuma said as he entered the room. "You schmucks have to investigate for the class trial, just like you always do! Hasn't this become routine for you all at this point?"
"Shut up! Why would we ever want to get used to our friends dying and killing each other!?" Kaede shouted.
"Well, it's not like I care either way. You all just do what's required of you." Monokuma laughed as he took something out of nowhere. "Well, I might as well give you what I came here to give you! It's exactly what you think! It's… The Monokuma File! This case is just like the last one. You're only looking for the blackened who killed the first victim! I wish you all the best of luck! Try to keep things interesting you guys! Kyahahahaha!" And with that, he left us alone to wallow in our despair.
"...We don't have any choice. Let's hurry up and get this over with." I grimaced as I picked up a Monokuma File.
"Yeah… That's all we can do." Shuichi sighed as he grabbed one as well.
"I don't want to do this anymore…but we have to." Kaede gave a soft cry.
"What other choice do we have?" Tenko added. That's when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned and saw Rantaro giving me a concerned look.
"Rin… Are you going to be okay? You're bleeding." I didn't understand what he was talking about, but as I followed his gaze, I understood. I was clenching my empty hand into a fist so tightly, that my nails were digging into my palms, causing me to bleed. I didn't even notice the pain at all. In fact, I still didn't feel anything as I stared at the blood running down my hand. "Rin-"
"I'm going to kill them." I found myself saying.
"What?" Rantaro asked.
"The person… The blackened monster who killed Kaito and Gonta… I'm going to find them, and when I get my hands on them, I'm going to kill them myself!" I wasn't thinking anymore. I was just speaking. I didn't care anymore. I was so done with it all. Nothing mattered anymore. I didn't care if I got punished for breaking the rules or if I killed someone. I just needed to do something about this. I just went on autopilot and said the first thing that came to mind. I wanted to kill whoever did this. I wanted to make whoever took away two of my friends pay. I wanted to make whoever killed two people as kind and caring as them suffer a fate a thousand times worse, and I wanted to do it with my own two hands.
"Rin, you cannot do anything reckless!" Keebo warned me, but that just got me to snap at him.
"What do you want me to do then!?" I screamed as I turned to him, a dark, furious glare on my face as I made him flinch away from me. "Do you want me to just treat this like any other murder!? Because it's not! Kaito and Gonta are the victims! Those two were the kindest souls in this entire hellish academy and they were killed!? For what purpose!? I want to know! I want to see whoever this culprit is and ask them why the HELL they did this to two people who didn't deserve this fate! What possible reason could they have when-"
"Calm down." Maki finally spoke as to get in between me and Keebo, taking my focus off the startled robot.
"Calm…down…?" I repeated, only getting angrier at that. "You want me to calm down? How could I possibly calm down right now!? Shouldn't you be just as angry!? Kaito and Gonta are-!"
"I've seen so much death already. Death of both good and bad people." Maki cut me off with a dark, cold glare of her own. "It doesn't bother me anymore." I felt my pupils shrink when I heard that.
"It doesn't 'bother you'!? What are you talking about-!?"
"Focus on what's important. We don't need you becoming an overly emotional idiot. We need someone who can think rationally." Maki spat out in slight, but controlled anger. "Of course I'm angry. Of course I feel the same way. However, I'm not going to let that get in the way. I'm going to investigate and search for the culprit in the trial like we've always done. Once that's done, that's when I'm going to get my revenge. I would have thought you would do the same, but clearly, you're too emotional for your own good." That got me to stop in my tracks. She had a point. I was letting my emotions get the better of me. I need to be logical and think things through. And so, I swallowed my anger and took a deep breath.
"...I'm sorry." I managed to say. "I'm just… Kaito and Gonta were… They…" I trailed off as I didn't really know what to say.
"We understand." Kirumi said as she gave me a soft look of understanding. "Do not worry. We will find whoever did this. We will avenge both Kaito and Gonta."
"Right. I'm sorry again. You too, Keebo. I shouldn't have yelled at you." I said.
"I do not mind. I…felt the same when Miu died, but you were there with me to reassure me." Keebo told me with a small smile. "Kaito and Gonta were my friends too, so I want to find out why they had to die as well. We will find whoever did this, and we will keep on living for these two."
"Right." I nodded. That's right. All I can do is focus on doing what I need to do in order for us all to survive. I can't let emotions overwhelm me. I can't let Kaito and Gonta's deaths be in vain. I refuse to let that happen. I swear, I will get to the bottom of this. For their sakes.
Investigation Start!
"Then…let's look at the Monokuma File." I said as I looked down at the tablet in my hand.
"Yeah…" Shuichi agreed as we all looked at the Monokuma File.
"The victims are Kaito Momota, the Ultimate Astronaut, and Gonta Gokuhara, the Ultimate Entomologist. Kaito's body was found at the base of the spiral staircase, and Gonta's body was found in the Ultimate Astronaut's Research Lab. Kaito's estimated time of death is noon, while Gonta's estimated time of death is 12:10 pm. Kaito's body had no external wounds, but there are signs of internal scraping in his throat, as well as clumps of blood in the throat and mouth. Gonta's body has multiple slashes and cuts over his entire torso and arms, but his cause of death is the single large and deep laceration from his right shoulder blade to his left hip, causing major blood loss and shock."
Truth Bullet Obtained: Monokuma File 4
"Looks like we have clear estimated times of deaths this time." Rantaro noted.
"So Kaito was the first to die." Tenko said.
"That means we need to look for Kaito's killer!" Kokichi finally spoke up again after staying silent this entire time. He then put on an evil grin as he pressed a finger into his cheek. "Well, I guess that means dumb old Gonta died for nothing unless he was killed by the same person."
"Be quiet, you degenerate! Haven't you learned your lesson by now!?" Tenko shouted at Kokichi.
"But isn't it true? Gonta's death doesn't matter in this case, riiiight?" Kokichi asked with a knowing smile. "Well, at least it is if Gonta was killed by some other person. If that's the case, then that means that whoever killed Gonta is free to confess whenever they want! So come on, person-who-isn't-the-blackened! Come out and confess already!" As soon as he said that, there was silence. No one said a thing. No one confessed. "Well well. No one is willing to confess to their crime. I wonder what that means. Could it be whoever killed Kaito also killed Gonta?"
"That's possible, but we won't know for sure until we investigate." Kaede told him. "Try not to cause any problems until the class trial."
"I won't. Scout's honor!" Kokichi said as he did what might have been a boy's scout salute. "In fact… Rinny! Be my partner for this investigation!"
"Huh? Why me?" I asked with an annoyed tone.
"Because we're best buddies, aren't we? And we haven't investigated together at all yet. Come on! Let me join your party!" Kokichi essentially begged me. "Please? Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease-"
"Oh my god alright already!" I shouted.
"Yay!" Kokichi cheered. I just sighed as I looked around at the others. It seems the others have already formed pairs and have started investigating as well. I could only sigh. Why is it always me stuck in these situations?
"Let's hurry up and do this if we're going to do this." I muttered as I moved over to examine the body of Gonta. "The first thing we should do is investigate this crime scene."
"Really? Even if Gonta's murder might have nothing to do with the case?" Kokichi asked.
"There's no such thing. Experience has told me to always take note of everything that's available. Even things that might at first seem completely unrelated to a case could prove to be the key to massive turnabout." I told him. "It's like I always say. 'Never assume anything when investigating. There's a rhyme and reason for everything. Any piece of evidence you find will help pave the way to the truth'."
"When have you ever said that?" Kokichi asked.
"Who knows? I just remember saying it a few times."
"And how much is a few times for you?"
"...Maybe once or twice." I admitted sheepishly.
"Not really much of a catchphrase, huh?" Kokchi poked fun at me.
"Shut up." I mumbled as I crouched down to Gonta's body. Getting a closer look at him, I can clearly see the pained look on his face. His face is gritted, as if he was in pain till the very last moment. I could see the large gash that was described in the Monokuma File. Who could have done this to poor, innocent Gonta? But more confusing…
"How the hell did anyone take out Gonta of all people?" Kokichi asked the question that was on my mind.
"That's what I'm wondering. Gonta was stronger than any of us. I doubt anyone could have taken him out by themselves." I stated as I put a hand to my chin.
"Maybe they took him by surprise?"
"Maybe, but that would only work at first. Gonta is covered in wounds. And just looking around at the lab, it's clear to see there was a struggle. Gonta fought his attacker." It was true. The state of the room was as clean as when I was last here. It was a complete mess. There were scratches and signs of damage all over the room on parts of the walls and floors. The planetarium device in the room was also completely destroyed due to some kind of blow, and the rover vehicle in here had slashes all over the outer shell of it. All clear signs that Gonta and his assailant fought.
"If Gonta fought his attacker, how did he lose? He's, like, uber stronger!" Kokichi exclaimed. "I mean, we all saw how ridiculous his strength can be. He picked up that heavy manhole cover like it was a frisbee and tossed it several meters away! Plus, he's huge! No normal person could ever take him out normally."
"That's the key word, isn't it? 'Normally'." I said, wondering about the implications of all this.
Truth Bullet Obtained: State of Gonta's body
Truth Bullet Obtained: Signs of a Struggle
"Now, what should we… Hang on…" I trailed off as I noticed something that was near Gonta's body. "Is that what I think it is?"
"Hmm? Whatcha looking at?" Kokcihi asked as he followed my gaze. His eyes widened as he saw it, causing him to sigh. "Really now? A dying message? How boring… Now the fun is totally ruined. Of course Gonta had to be a goodie little two shoes even when he was dying. What a waste." Kokichi grimaced as I moved closer to read what was written in blood.
"Maki." I read the message.
"Interesting. So Gonta implicated Maki with his dying message? Interesting, but not unpredictable. I knew Maki would end up killing someone one of these days." Kokichi gave a bored sigh as he shook his head. I turned to Kokichi with a raised eyebrow. Is… Is he being serious right now?
"Is this another one of your sick jokes?" I asked with mild annoyance, which garnered confusion from Kokichi.
"Joke? What makes you think I'm joking?" Kokichi asked with what might have been a genuine expression.
"You're being serious right now? You honestly believe this is Gonta's real dying message?" I asked him with a bit of surprise. I thought Kokichi was smarter than this. "This is an obvious forgery."
"Forgery?"
"Tell me, what do you think the writer of this message used to write this?" I asked him.
"W-Well… It must have been their finger, right? Since it's a dying message and all."
"Right." I nodded. "But look at Gonta's hands. Both are perfectly clean." I pointed out, causing Kokichi's eyes to widen. "This easily proves that Gonta couldn't have written this, meaning this is a forgery. Someone wrote this after the fact to implicate Maki in the crime."
"Really…?" Kokichi asked before a playful smirk came to his face. "If that's the case, then I guess this case is getting even more exciting! What will we find next? I can't wait!" I looked at Kokichi with a bit of disbelief before I shook my head disapprovingly.
"Must you always treat this like a game? I'm getting sick of your attitude." I growled.
"But this is a game, Rinny! I just want to have fun while we compete in this wonderfully despairful killing game."
"...Gonta was right. You're really starting to sound like Monokuma." I said as I turned my head towards the crime scene, not noticing Kokichi's brief expression of neutrality and blankness.
Truth Bullet Obtained: Dying message
"Well, what else do you think we should look at?" Kokichi asked before giving me a smirk as I stood up. "In my humble opinion, I think we should check out that rover thing over there." He said as he pointed to the space roaming vehicle that was in the lab.
"The rover? How come?" I asked him.
"Well, doesn't it look suspicious? It looks like it got hit with a lot of attacks for some reason, so maybe we should check it out."
"Sure, I guess we can." I said as we moved over to the rover and began to examine it. "It's strange. Most of the outer shell of the rover has some kind of damage to it, but the glass lid seems completely unharmed. Did whoever caused all the damage to the rover avoid the glass for some reason?"
"I don't know. I think it's more likely they couldn't damage the glass." Kokichi explained.
"Couldn't damage the glass?"
"Well, it's a space rover. It's designed for traveling through harsh conditions on other planets. The glass is probably the strongest type of glass there is. Otherwise, if the glass breaks on a different planet, that could cause all sorts of problems." Kokichi explained. "That's why the lid can lock, so that it doesn't open accidentally. Although, it can only lock from the inside it seems."
"If that's the case, then why is the rover damaged at all?" I asked.
"Well, this is just a model of what the newest rover models are. Even if they could afford the cost of that impenetrable glass, it's unlikely they could afford all the advanced metals used to make actual rovers."
"Then why bother at all with the glass?" I asked, feeling a migraine coming the more I thought about it.
"This is the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles, run by Monokuma of all people. It's probably best if you just accept it for how it is." Kokichi told me with a mocking grin.
"...Sure, whatever." I sighed, not wanting to argue about it anymore. The fact remains that this glass does seem to be pretty tough. I doubt anything we have access to could put a scratch on it. "The glass is also tinted, right? I can hardly see anything inside it with the lid closed like this."
"That's right. It's probably to protect from harsh solar radiation or something like that. Kaito would probably know, but he's dead, so we can't ask him." I held back by my urge to hit Kokichi as I took in the information. Tinted glass that can't break or be damaged, is it? Curious… and it just gets more curious.
Truth Bullet Obtained: Rover Glass Lid
"Well then, let's open this bad puppy up and look at what's inside it!" Kokichi said as he opened the lid up. The lid moved upwards slowly, but before too long, we could see clearly inside the rover, and I was shocked.
"That's a lot of blood. Half the seat is covered." I grimaced as I looked at the blood soaked leather seat. "Someone must have been bleeding inside this thing, and it wasn't just a small cut. It must have been at least a decent injury."
"That much is obvious. Though it doesn't look like it's enough blood loss to kill someone." Kokichi added.
"Well, yes, but that doesn't change the fact that it's pretty alarming to see this much blood inside the rover of all things." I pointed out.
"Well, what do you think? Could Gonta have been inside this thing? He has a lot of cuts, so maybe he bled in here and then was dragged out of it?"
"Not possible. There are no drag marks, and blood around Gonta's body seems undisturbed. This is someone else's blood. And however was in here, their injury at least stopped enough to not be bleeding profusely. There's not a trace of blood showing the person leaving, and there's not any noticeable drops of blood in the room either."
"Then I suppose we need to find whoever this blood belongs to. If they were here, sitting in the rover while bleeding, they might have something to do with the crime." Kokichi stated. I just stared at Kokichi as he spoke. Why do I get the feeling Kokichi is acting a bit stranger than usual? Why do I feel like…he's leading me on a little?
Truth Bullet Obtained: Bloody Seat in Rover
"By the way, Rinny, I wanted to ask you about your alibi." Kokichi told me. "Where were you this morning?"
"I suppose I can tell you. It's not a big deal. I was in the virtual world." I told him.
"Really? Why were you in there?"
"I wanted to check out that photo album Kaede and the others found at the mansion. I haven't had the chance to yet." I told him. "If you want proof, all we need to do is check the log in and out log to confirm my alibi. I'm not the culprit. After I logged out, I came down to grab something to eat and ran into you."
"I see, I see. So Rinny has an ironclad alibi." Kokichi said before smirking. "You're gonna want to keep that in mind."
"Of course. That's par for the course." I said before giving Kokichi a stern look. "And what about you, Mister Supreme Leader of Evil?"
"Me? Well, I will admit, I don't have an alibi. Like I told you, I was alone in Keebo's lab for a bit, which is where I cut my arm, and after that, I've been waiting in the dining room for someone to come so I could fool them. After you came, I've been with you ever since."
"Is that so…" I said as I noted it down in my head.
Truth Bullet Obtained: Rin's Account
"Hmm… There's still one thing that's really bugging me." I said as I looked around.
"And what would that be?" Kokichi asked.
"The Body Discovery Announcement." I told him.
"Oh? So the BDA is bothering you too?" Kokichi asked me with a knowing smirk. "It's strange isn't it? Why don't we ask one of the people who discovered the body what's on the up and up?"
"Who says that anymore?" I asked as I saw Kaede speaking with Rantaro about something. "Hey, Kaede. Do you mind if I ask you some questions?"
"Rin? Sure, I don't mind. What do you need?" Kaede asked as she turned to me.
"Can you tell us more about how you discovered the bodies? It was you and Shuichi who discovered the bodies, right?"
"Y-Yeah, that's right." Kaede said as her expression became much more downcasted than before. "You see, Shuichi and I were hanging out today, and we wanted to come to Kaito's lab."
"How come?" Kokichi asked as he skipped to my side with a cheerful smile. "This lab is pretty far out of your way, after all."
"Shuichi and I haven't really investigated this room yet. That's why we wanted to come up here and explore." Kaede explained. "However, when we entered the spiral staircase, that's when we saw Kaito's body." Kaede's eyes began to form tears as she recalled the scene. "The Body Discovery Announcement played soon after. Since the murder occurred in the spiral staircase, me and Shuichi thought that maybe we would find clues in the Ultimate Astronaut's Research Lab, so we rushed up the stairs, but when we opened the door, that's when we found Gonta's body and the second announcement played." Kaede now looked like she was about to start crying again, so I brought her into a soft hug and did my best to comfort her. It was something we both needed.
"I know, it's hard. This is…rough for us all." I told her as I rubbed the back of her head as she gave a soft cry. If this is already so hard for me, I can't imagine how it must be for others. Kaede especially was close to Kaito, and we all loved Gonta so much. As her friend, all I can do is be there for her and comfort in the same way she's done for me. Still, I do need answers. "So it was just you and Shuichi the entire time? You didn't see anyone else?"
"N-No. Not at all." Kaede said as she pulled herself together. "...You're wondering about the BDA, aren't you. There needs to be three people for it to go off, so you're wondering who the third person who discovered both bodies is, right?"
"Yeah. If it was only you and Shuichi that set the announcements off, that means there must have been a third person who saw the bodies before you two." I nodded.
"The question is, who are they, and why didn't they gather everyone the moment they found the bodies, right? Perhaps this third person has a lot more to do with the case than the other cases." Kokichi pointed out.
"That's true. This is the first time something like this has happened, right? I wonder why." Kaede said as she put a hand on her cheek as she thought about it. "I don't see any possible reason to not want to tell anyone of a body's appearance."
"Unless they're directly involved." I noted. "It's very likely that the BDA this time around will have a lot more of an impact than in previous cases. That's my personal opinion anyway."
Truth Bullet Obtained: Kaede's Account
"What about you, Avataro? Do you have an alibi?" Kokichi asked the green-haired teen.
"Actually, yeah. Me and Tenko were together before the BDA."
"So what were you and Tenko doing together? I didn't think Tenko would want to hang out with a guy." Kokichi pointed out.
"Well, Tenko is trying to change for the better, remember. In fact, she was the one who asked me to hang out with her, although she asked in a begrudging manner. She wanted to teach me some Aikido, though I pretty much just got thrown around."
"Yeah, I saw that." I did my best to laugh as I pat Rantaro on the back. "I know all too well how that feels."
"So is that all?" Kokichi asked him.
"No, there's one more thing I should mention. Even though she wasn't with us the whole time, you can add Maki to our alibi." Rantaro told us.
"Maki? How come?" I questioned.
"She was in her lab even before Tenko and I got to the third floor, which was at 12:05 pm. When the BDA played, we saw her leave her lab, and we traveled to the crime scene together." Rantaro explained.
"I see. That certainly does give her an alibi." I noted. "I'll keep that in mind."
Truth Bullet Obtained: Rantaro's Account
"Hmm… I think that's it for this crime scene." I mumbled.
"Then is it time to go check out the Spaceman's crime scene?" Kokichi asked with a smirk.
"...Yeah." I answered, not liking his playful tone. I swallowed my anger and walked with him to the lab's exit. Forget it. I have a murder to solve. Two actually. Kokichi's smart, so I'll let him tag along. He's already given me a bit more insight about this case by pointing out the rover. Still, so far, I can't imagine what's happened. Well, whoever did this, I'll make them pay. That's a promise.
