A/N: Here's Chapter Four Deadly Life Part Four. Please read, review, and enjoy!
Danganronpa 4: Next Generation Killing!
Chapter Four: Pride and Prejudice!
Deadly Life Part Four: Kiki's Rough Start!
Kiki's arms were crossed over her breasts, her eyes narrowed suspiciously at the others. Everyone averted their eyes, feeling nervous now that they had to deal with her barely controlled ire. It was Shuichi who reluctantly broke the tense silence.
"So…how should we begin the debate…?"
Shuichi's innocent question trailed off as Kiki turned her ire-filled gaze towards him. He averted his eyes, tugging the bill of his cap while the others grimaced in sympathy.
"Shuichi does bring up a logical point." Keebo commented. "We have to start this discussion somewhere."
"Do we, though?" All eyes turned to Ryoma, who popped a candy cigarette in his mouth. "We already have a prime suspect."
"Ryoma, do not be so hasty." Kirumi softly chided. "Even if you're right, we have to be fair about this."
"Gonta agrees." Gonta nodded, his lips pursed in a serious expression. "Gonta…believes we should give Sokyu the benefit of the doubt. Gonta thinks that's what Seven would say…"
"Still…what should we talk about, anyway?" Tsumugi pondered, cocking her head. "I'm not even sure where to begin. Most of us don't even know what happened when Kiki, Shuichi, and Gonta discovered the body."
"Then let's talk about that!" Kiki exclaimed. "Let's clarify how we discovered Seven's body!"
"I don't object to this line of questioning, but you're being unusually forceful about it." Kirumi observed.
"Ah, maybe, but it's as good a place to start as any." Shuichi admitted. He turned towards Sokyu and asked, "Sokyu, do you have any objections?"
The antisocial young man merely shrugged. "Do whatever you want. It makes no difference to me."
"Very well, then let's get a clearer picture of how the body was discovered." Keebo concurred.
In order to prove Sokyu's innocence, I have to get everyone on my side. That starts with giving them an accurate depiction of what happened when we discovered the body. I have to get this right, or I'll lose credibility, and we'll arrive at the wrong answer!
"So how was the body found?" Ryoma asked the first question.
"Gonta…went to find Kiki and Shuichi."
"Why did you go to find them?" Keebo asked.
"Because…Gonta first went to the Dojo. But Gonta couldn't open it by himself."
"And what did you do then?" Kirumi questioned.
"Well, we all charged at the door at the same time. It took several tries, though."
"So you physically broke the door down?" Ryoma raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Did someone lock the door from the inside?"
"No that's wrong!" Kiki exclaimed the instant Ryoma finished his question, not even giving him time to breathe. "The door wasn't locked; the Dojo doesn't have a lock!"
"Doesn't…have a lock?"
"She's right." Shuichi nodded, causing Kiki to blink in surprise.
Wait…you…actually agree with me…? No, he's just trying to trip me up! I can't let him rattle me!
"The doors to the Dojo had no keyhole, and there wasn't anything like a padlock or a chain wrapped around either side of the door."
Kirumi's brow furrowed. "Then why didn't the door open for Gonta when he tried the first time?"
"Because, the culprit didn't lock it, they sealed it!" Kiki explained.
"Sealed it…?"
As Kirumi cocked her head in confusion, Kiki explained "In the Art Room, I found a glue bottle. It looked like it had been freshly used. The culprit probably used some glue to seal the door shut, forcing us to break the door down."
"I see…" Keebo mused "So the culprit tried to create a locked room mystery, in order to confuse us!"
Kiki nodded. "That's why they glued the door shut-"
"Ah, pardon me." Forcing himself not to shake under Kiki's annoyed glare, Shuichi cleared his throat. "I do think you're right about the door being sealed, but I don't think the culprit used glue to do it."
"…And why not…?" Kiki nearly growled.
"Well…during my investigation of the crime scene, I inspected the door, and I didn't see any kind of residue stuck to the door."
"No…residue…?"
"But if that's the case, what was used to seal the door?" Keebo wondered.
"It was a shinai." Shuichi explained "There was one in front of the door, broken right in two. My guess is…the culprit probably slid it in the door handles to make them impossible to open without breaking."
"Wait!" Kiki exclaimed. "W-What if the culprit broke it themselves and left it there on purpose, to distract us?!"
"But…there wasn't anything else that could explain why the doors wouldn't open at first…so I don't think the shinai was a decoy at all."
Before Kiki could object further, Kirumi interjected "Since there was nothing else to explain how the door was sealed, let us assume that the shinai was used and move on."
Kiki gritted her teeth, ignoring Shuichi's apologetic stare. Great, Shuichi just got more credible! I gotta regain control or nobody's gonna take me seriously!
"I was afraid of this…" Kyoko sighed, shaking her head. "She wouldn't be in this mess if she tried to collaborate with the other survivors."
"Or let Shuichi share evidence with her before the trial." Maki nodded.
"Her lone wolf approach is just shooting her in the foot." Mokubo concurred in a rare rebuke to his older sister.
"Kiki…" Koto muttered, frowning in worry.
"…Why are you being so hostile…?" Kiri fretted, the aggressive woman onscreen feeling like a complete stranger to her sister.
"Well…" Makoto smiled shakily. "Maybe this experience will teach her the valuable lesson of teamwork."
The others stared skeptically at Makoto before turning their attention back to the screen. Biting her lip anxiously, Kyoko clasped her hands together in prayer as the debate continued.
Kiki…please don't make my mistake! Don't try to do everything by yourself!
"We now know how the culprit sealed the door…" Kirumi continued. "…So we should try to determine who had the opportunity to seal the Dojo."
"But…Dojo was open to everyone." Gonta pointed out. "So, anybody could have sealed the dojo."
"We need more information." Keebo concluded. "Perhaps if we knew more about what happened in the Dojo, we could narrow down who had the opportunity to seal it."
"Okay!" Kiki clapped her hands together. "It's decided! We're gonna discuss what happened in the Dojo!"
"Do you…have to say it with such authority…?" Keebo questioned, only to be greeted by silence.
Kiki ignored the concerned stares being shot her way. I may not have personally investigated the Dojo…but I'll still prove how it went down! I'll take back control of the debate…and solve this case without their help!
"Okay, we know the culprit sealed the doorway…" Ryoma's brow furrowed in confusion. "But where does that get us?"
"They must have sealed the doorway after Seven was killed…" Keebo postulated.
"The question we have to ask ourselves now…" Shuichi pondered "…is what was used to kill him."
"It would have been risky to bring a weapon from another room." Kirumi hypothesized "It's far more likely that…the murder weapon was procured inside the Dojo."
"But we searched the weapon lockers." Tsumugi explained. "And almost none of the weapons looked tampered with. So, I think the weapon didn't come from the Dojo at all…"
"No that's wrong!" Kiki cut off Tsumugi, all eyes resting on her. "There was a weapon that could have been used. It's so obvious, I'm surprised you all missed it."
"You do not need to sound so harsh about it, Kiki!" Keebo objected, though he reluctantly fell silent at Kirumi's pleading, raised hand.
"What is this weapon that you think we're overlooking, Kiki?"
"It's the katana."
Ryoma raised an eyebrow, questioning "The katana…?"
Kiki nodded. "Yeah, it was thrust right into his chest, probably piercing his heart. And you said it yourself, Tsumugi, almost all of the weapons in the lockers looked like they hadn't been touched."
"I…did say that…" Tsumugi lamented, averting her eyes.
Kiki, meanwhile, gave an uncharacteristically smug smile, ignoring Shuichi's bristling. "So there's no doubt, the katana has to be the murder weapon-"
"Is it, though?"
"Huh?" The smug, victorious smile faded into a neutral line as Kiki stared at Shuichi. "What do you mean?! Are you saying the katana had nothing to do with the murder?!"
"Ah, no. That's not what I'm saying-"
"Well, what are you saying?!" Kiki scowled, nearly shouting "Out with it, Saihara!"
"Kiki, please calm down-"
"Zip it, Gonta!" Kiki hissed, causing Gonta to shiver in fear.
"Sorry, Gonta didn't mean any harm, honest!"
The others frowned, sympathizing with Gonta. Quickly losing her patience, Kiki demanded once more "Well, what is it, Saihara?! What's your point?!"
"Well…I do think the katana was a part of the setup. But I don't think it was what killed Seven."
"Wha…" Kiki's shocked gasp quickly turned into an angered scowl, the irritated girl clenching her fist. "That's impossible! The sword was clearly thrust into Seven's body! We all saw it!"
"Ah, that's true…but it wasn't the only thing to pierce Seven."
"…Not…the…only thing…?"
Nodding at the dumbfounded girl, Shuichi explained "During my investigation, I inspected Seven's corpse, including the wound the katana caused. And what I found was…there was a surprising lack of blood flowing from the wound."
"Lack of blood?" A surprised Keebo asked in curiosity.
"That's right. If the katana was the murder weapon, it would have caused a lot more blood to flow. My guess is, it was stabbed after his death, to throw us off."
"After his death…?" Kiki gasped before shaking her head in defiance. "That still doesn't answer the crucial question. If not the katana, what else could have been the murder weapon? That was the only wound on his body-"
"Actually…" Shuichi bit his lip, pausing in hesitation before he gathered the courage to finish his explanation. "There were two wounds on his torso."
"…Two…wounds…?"
Shuichi nodded. "That's right. Not far from the wound created by the katana…was a small incision, much smaller than the one created by the sword."
"I see…" Ryoma mused "So there were two weapons, not just one."
"But what could have created the second incision?" Kirumi cocked her head in confusion. "It would have to have been incredibly small for it to have been undetected."
"To all except Shuichi." Ryoma muttered, causing the young detective to sweatdrop.
"Ah, right. I did find the murder weapon…well, part of it, anyway…"
"Part of it…?" A confused Keebo inquired.
Shuichi nodded, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the bloodstained arrowhead. "It was this. This is what pierced Seven's body."
"An arrowhead." Sokyu finally spoke, causing everyone to turn their heads towards him in surprise.
Shuichi slowly nodded. "Yes…that's right. It was an arrowhead that likely killed Seven, though I haven't quite pieced together yet how it did so."
"You sound unnaturally calm about this." Ryoma observed, turning his suspicious eyes towards Sokyu.
"I agree." Kirumi nodded. "You did not sound surprised at all when Shuichi pulled out the arrowhead."
Sokyu merely shrugged, averting his gaze and staying completely silent. Keebo grimaced, his brow furrowing in confusion.
"Aren't you going to say anything in your defense?"
"…What's there to say?" Sokyu questioned. "All we've said is that Seven was likely killed by an arrowhead. That's not exactly cause for alarm."
"Your silence just damns you further." Ryoma scowled. "For all we know, you shot the arrowhead at Seven, and are just keepin' your cool to throw us off-"
"Wait!" Kiki exclaimed, her panic weaving its way into her voice. "We can't just point fingers at him like that!"
"Hm…" Ryoma cocked his head in curiosity. "And why not?"
"Because…it's not right!" Kiki gripped the edge of her podium, her knuckles turning white. "We can't just assume Sokyu's guilty. We have to discuss this-"
"Sit down and shut up!"
Gasping in shock, Kiki turned to the suddenly irate Sokyu. The young man seemed to scowl, his golden ring gleaming from his clenched fist.
"W-What did you say…?" She breathed in shock.
"I told you to sit down and shut up." Sokyu repeated. "Didn't you hear me the first time?"
"But…why?" Kiki felt her heart crack at the sudden burst of meanness from the suspicious man. "Sokyu, I'm trying to help you. Can't you see that…?!"
"What if I don't want your help? If I tell you that, will you finally stop this desperate, annoying defense of yours?"
"A-Annoying?!"
"Listening to you prattle on and on about how I couldn't be the culprit is grating on my nerves. I didn't ask you to be my lawyer, so just be a good little girl and leave me to my fate!"
Rebuttal Showdown -Truth Blade-: Sokyu vs Kiki!
"I told you a million times, already!" Sokyu growled.
I heard you the first time! Kiki shot back in her mind, just barely keeping that thought to herself.
"I don't care what everyone thinks of me."
You should care if your life is on the line!
"They can come to whatever conclusion they want."
Not if it leads us to the wrong answer!
"Watching you try and lead a one-woman defense…"
I can't just stand by and watch while you get convicted for a crime you might not have committed!
"…is so goddamn annoying!"
I don't care if you find my efforts annoying!
"So just drop it, okay?!"
I won't back down!
Motivated by her vow, Kiki and Sokyu engaged in a glaring contest. Their eyes narrowed, the intensity blazing in their depths. Before long, however, Sokyu averted his eyes for the briefest of seconds. Seizing the opportunity while she still had it, Kiki opened her mouth and finally argued.
"There's no way I can drop it, not as long as there's a possibility that you're innocent! If you want me to stop defending you, at least give me a reason to doubt your innocence!"
"Tch, you're so stubborn!" Sokyu spat.
I have to be if we're gonna have any chance of surviving! Kiki told herself.
"But fine, you want a reason to suspect me?"
Of course I don't want to suspect you!
"If I used the sword to throw everyone off…"
Why are you bringing up the katana?
"The gold paint would have stuck to my hand."
You mean like Seven and Ryoma warned us earlier?
"I'd have no way of hiding my crime!"
Seeing an opportunity, Kiki pointed at Sokyu, locking onto his contradiction. "Let me cut through your words!"
"No." Kiki shook her head. "If you were the culprit, you could have easily covered up your crime."
Sokyu raised an eyebrow, intrigued by Kiki's claim. "Well, what is it?"
"When I scoped out the art room, I saw open cans of paint. One of them…was gold paint."
"Gold paint…?" Keebo asked, his eyes crossed in contemplation.
"That's right, so whoever used the sword could have used the gold paint to recolor the katana's handle. That would have masked the fact that the sword had been touched."
"Kiki is correct." Shuichi spoke up, causing all eyes to turn towards him. "When I inspected the katana's handle, there was a portion of it where the gold paint looked more vibrant than the rest. In fact, it was in the shape of a handprint. Given this evidence, I think it's likely that the culprit used the katana, then repainted it to confuse us."
"But if that's true, that makes me think it's more likely that Sokyu did it." Kiki paled as Ryoma continued, "After all, the Art Room was just as open to him as the Dojo. So without any evidence proving that he wasn't in either of those locations, it makes sense that he could have been the one to commit the crime."
Crap! Kiki cursed, panicking. My defense backfired! Now everyone's even more suspicious of him!
"Let us keep this information in mind and move on." Kirumi suggested.
"Yeah…" Tsumugi nodded. "We already know that the culprit used the arrowhead to shoot Seven, then stabbed him with the katana to throw us off."
Ryoma nodded. "They then repainted the sword to cover their tracks and sealed the Dojo with the shinai to create a locked room mystery."
"Even so, we haven't narrowed down our list of suspects yet." Keebo admitted. "Our suspicion of Sokyu isn't enough. Based on the available evidence, any of us could have done those things. We need more evidence if we're going to come to a logical decision."
"I agree." Shuichi nodded. "We need to discuss this."
"That's fine, but where should we go from here?" Ryoma pondered.
"Well…" Shuichi suggested. "Since Sokyu has come under the most suspicion so far…I think we should determine whether or not he has an alibi."
Kirumi frowned at Shuichi's suggestion. "But Sokyu has not given any kind of alibi. In fact, he has not cooperated at all."
"That's why we found him so suspicious." Ryoma agreed with a nod.
"Perhaps…" Shuichi admitted. "Even so, maybe if we talk about our own alibis, we can determine if Sokyu has one."
"I see the logic in that…" Keebo nodded. "Very well, let's discuss our alibis."
Kiki clenched her fists, forcing her panicked body to refrain from trembling. No, this is bad! This is really, really bad! Sokyu hasn't given me much of anything to work with! In fact, the excuse he did give me is suspicious! But even so…I can't shake the feeling that something's off! There's something we're missing! But how am I going to convince them of the truth, when I don't even know what it is?! Damn, if only I had something to convince them, something to tell them that would buy me a little more time…
Kiki's eyes widened, the answer hitting her like a sack of bricks. She shook her head, appalled by her own idea.
No, no, I can't! Not that, anything but that! It goes against everything I believe in! Everything I stand for! But…I…I don't have any other choice. The truth isn't gonna help me here. Every time I've tried so far, Shuichi's always been one step ahead of me and it's blown up in my face! I can't beat Shuichi with the truth alone. I can't convince everyone with the truth alone this time! I…I hate to admit it, but…I have to cross a line.
Kiki swallowed the lump that had begun to form in her throat. Her eyes lowered towards her clenched fists, softening with sad determination.
I…I have to lie…
Kyoko frowned worriedly at the panicked, sad look in her daughter's eyes. "Kiki…what are you thinking…?"
"I don't like that look in her eyes." Koto admitted, causing his twin sister to nod.
"Yeah…it's like she's…giving up."
Makoto frowned, biting his lip anxiously. "Kiki…what's going through that brain of yours…?" I can still see your determination…but it's filled with sorrow…like you've resigned yourself to something…but what…?
"Nee-chan…" Mokubo's eyes mirrored his older sister's, staring into the TV as if he could stare into her soul. Are you…going to cross a line…?
"I've got a bad feeling about this…" Maki muttered, causing a chill of dread to tingle down everyone's spines.
They could only watch helplessly as Kiki made her choice, one that would shake up the whole trial.
