"Huh? Celeste is the culprit?" Junko asked.

"Ah, so I'm the suspicious individual now, am I?" Celeste said, looking completely unperturbed by the accusation. "Hmhmhm. I really do hate this kind of joke."

"A joke? I wonder." Togami said.

Celeste's face hardened and dropped. "So what you are saying, then, is that I specifically chose to work with Yamada. The idea that I would choose any amount of time interacting with him." She took a deep breath. "That I would go within ten feet of that shit-for-brains! That lazy, worthless, goddamn idiot!" She screamed.

I jumped, incredibly taken aback by her stark change in tone. Not only was she uncharacteristically angry, but the odd posh accent she had been keeping up had completely vanished.

She cleared her throat and relaxed. "Ahem. Ah, pardonnez-moi." She smiled innocently.

"Just to be clear, there is evidence to support it." Togami continued, seemingly unfazed by Celeste's uncharacteristic outburst.

"Is that so?" Celeste asked pointedly, trying her best to intimidate Togami, to no avail. For once I commended Togami's hard shell.

"It is. Throughout the investigation, there was certain behaviour that was common only to the two of you." He sneered at Celeste. "Consider what we've learned so far, it only further proves that the two of you were working together!"

"What are you talking about, dude?" Hagakure chuckled.

"For once, I don't blame you for not knowing, since you were unconscious the whole time, but you could at least try to figure it out." Togami said snidely.

I thought carefully. I looked over at Kirigiri and she gave me a small nod. Junko looked at me, puzzled. I glanced over at the portraits of the dead next to me. Ishimaru on one side, and on the other side, Makoto and Yamada, right next to each other. It was like a trail of death. I kept thinking about it. There was something about Celeste's behaviour that I did think was strange in hindsight.

"Well? Any answers, anyone?" Togami prompted.

"Yes, I too am very curious to hear this so-called 'evidence'." Celeste huffed.

"You know, if you're so friggin' smart, you should tell us yourself!" Asahina cried.

"Don't you dare raise your voice at me again, got it?" Togami growled.

"Why, you-!" Asahina started.

"I got it!" I cried. "Celeste and Yamada were the only ones who ever saw Robo Justice firsthand!"

"Finally, someone with a brain." Togami said. "Yes, that is the truth. Celeste had us running in circles, up and down different floors, all because of something she claimed to have seen."

"There is no proof to suggest that I did not see him, no? In fact, I do not think I need to remind you of the photo on this camera." Celeste replied sharply.

"Haven't we already discussed that?" Junko said. "Like, multiple times?"

Kirigiri motioned to Celeste to hand her the camera. She obliged. "Let me see…" She eyed the picture on the camera closely. "Ah. Here we are. This proves it."

"What did you find?" I asked.

Kirigiri stepped off her podium and walked around the trial grounds and gave me the camera. I looked at the photo closely. Yamada's terrified face… It was hard to look at. Robo Justice loomed imposingly in the frame, an arm wrapped around Yamada's neck. Celeste said the camera did not have a timer, so there was no way she would be able to position the suit in any way… "Wait. I think I got it."

"Lemme see." Junko said. I handed her the camera.

"What is it?" Asahina asked.

"The suit can't bend at the waist, right? And the suit is heavy enough that it can stand on its own, correct?" I explained.

Asahina thought for a moment. "Yeah…"

"So, that means if the person inside the suit was unconscious, they would remain upright in the suit."

"Oh I see!" Asahina said excitedly. "The killer staged that photo to make it look like Yamada was being dragged away!"

"But instead, it's a photo of Yamada dragging Robo Justice away." Ogami added.

"Exactly. Another piece of evidence fabricated by the killer." Kirigiri said.

"And the person who supplied that evidence was, in no doubt, Celeste." Togami said.

Celeste's lips curled.

"Are you saying… everything they told us was a lie?" Asahina said, a terrified look of realisation on her face.

"As soon as I left the nurse's office after taking care of Yamada I heard Celeste's scream." I said. "That's when I ran into Togami, and we both went upstairs together."

"Come to think of it, Celeste said she needed to use the bathroom while we were looking after her in the rec room." Ogami added. "It was right after she left the rec room when she screamed."

"Why didn't one of you go with her?" Junko asked. "Weren't you convinced she was injured?"

"She insisted on going alone... " Asahina said. "I was too scared to question her." She said sadly.

Junko murmured under her breath. "This is all so… superficial. And arbitrary…"

"Anyway, her goal with that scream was to draw us to the physics lab to find Ishimaru's body." Togami explained. "And, at the same time, the scream functioned as a signal to her partner to get to work."

"A signal? How?" Syo asked.

"At the time, we regarded how uncharacteristically… obnoxious the scream was for a person like Celeste." Togami said.

"That scream could have easily carried all the way down the stairs to the nurse's office." Kirigiri said. "That was Yamada's cue to get to work with the blood."

"But what if someone had chosen to stay with Yamada instead?" Junko asked. "What would have happened then?"

"A plan created by the Ultimate Gambler would more than likely rely on a small amount of luck, after all, no matter how good you are at outsmarting your opponents, you're never going to win if the cards don't draw right." Togami said.

"Nnngh!" Celeste's face tensed for a split second.

"And with three people still unaccounted for, Celeste figured that everyone would be out searching, and with Enoshima being one of those missing people, she knew Maizono would be quick to get back on that search." Kirigiri said. "She figured she could take the chance."

"And it seemed to all work out, didn't it, Celeste?" Togami sneered.

"Your asinine reasonings have no bearing on the case whatsoever." Celeste said bitterly, her expression neutral once again. "These fairy tales bear no weight. After all, where's the evidence?"

"Oh my! Two bear puns in a row!" Monokuma laughed. "Are you hitting on me?"

"Silence, you. I was talking to this cretin over here." Celeste scowled.

"Ignoring your rude comment, I was just getting to that." Togami said. "Yamada immediately let out a scream that made its way all the way to the third floor."

"And from there, we each got into two groups: One to search for Robo Justice, and the other to check on Yamada." Ogami said.

"It was not my idea to split into two groups, however, that was Kirigiri." Celeste said.

"That's very true, however I didn't say anything about who should go where." Kirigiri said.

"Nor did I. What is your point?" Celeste fired back.

"Togami, Ogami, Fukawa, and I all agreed to search for Robo Justice." Kirigiri said. "Maizono insisted on checking on Yamada. You then asked Asahina to help you down to the nurse's office."

"Oh yeah…" Asahina said for a moment. "I remember now…" She then recalled the conversation out loud.

"Screw Robo Justice!" I cried. "I wanna see if Yamada's okay!"

"I want to know too!" Celeste said. "I don't want to see that masked man again! Asahina, could you help me down the stairs?"

"Ah, of course." Asahina said.

"So?" Celeste huffed. "Why does it matter that I asked Asahina?"

"Maizono was more than capable of helping you down the stairs, wasn't she?" Kirigiri said.

"Well, I-" Celeste licked her lips. "I simply asked Asahina. Accusing me of murder because I asked someone to help me down the stairs when I was injured is such a ridiculous notion I'm surprised you all haven't been executed already."

"Hey! Like I said before, that's my line!" Monokuma growled. "Punishment Time is a sacred process that only I can partake in!"

"The point that I'm trying to make is the fact that having Asahina with you makes the number of people going to the nurse's office bump up to three." Kirigiri said.

"Wait, why is that important?" Hagakure asked.

"At the exact time, four of us stumbled across Ishimaru's body in the equipment room adjacent to the physics lab." Togami explained. "What happens when three or more people discover a body?"

Hagakure's eyes widened. "The body discovery announcement!" He gasped.

"Exactly. To convince Maizono and Asahina, and then by extension all of us, that Yamada had been killed, she made it so that there were three people discovering Yamada's corpse around the time the body discovery announcement went off." Togami said. "However, as we've already established, that first announcement was for Ishimaru's body only. Yamada was still alive."

"But you guys must have heard the announcement later on, right?" Syo asked. "Cause I distinctly remember hearing one as soon as I woke up in the equipment room, and there were no bodies there then! Just a whoooole lotta bloooooood! Kyehahaha!" She laughed.

"We covered that already, right?" Junko said. "That was when Yamada was found in the repository, and he was like, actually dead that time."

"I believe that is the case, yes." Ogami said. "We believed it was because everyone had found both bodies, but that was simply a fabrication made up by the killer."

"Well? If Celeste and Yamada were working together, all these chance events suddenly become connected." Togami said.

"Chance? You claimed I utilised an element of luck into my plan." Celeste giggled.

Togami sighed. "I said a small amount. I didn't say the entire plan was down to luck. A plan like that would be ridiculous and foolish."

"There's… something else I just noticed too." I said. "When we first found Yamada's body in the nurse's office, Celeste was the first person to say that he had been murdered."

"I see." Ogami said. "Hearing it out loud from someone always seems to solidify that truth."

Asahina was shocked. "Wait, but- I don't believe it! Everything, it was all… one big act?"

"Asahina, Celeste stayed with you in the nurse's office, right?" I asked.

"Yeah… I was… kinda uneasy… so Celeste said she'd look after me."

"From what I remember… she was pretty insistent, right?" I said. "That she stayed and I left?"

Asahina nodded.

"And at one point, you left to go to the bathroom."

"Yeah…?" Asahina's eyes slowly widened as it dawned on her. "Are you saying… she looked after me… and took me to the bathroom… just so Yamada could leave the nurse's office without being spotted!?"

"Holy shit… that's so…" Junko looked shocked.

"Cunning? Brutal?" Togami chuckled. "I told you, this culprit was someone with a great understanding of the human psyche. And who better than us than someone whose hobby is playing psychological mind games with people?"

"Are you seriously basing my guilt on my talent?" Celeste scoffed. "That is absurd."

"No, I'm basing it on the mistake you made."

"Mistake?" Celeste tilted her head.

"I didn't even catch it myself when you first said it, but looking back I can say that little slip-up was your undoing." Togami smiled smugly.

"Oh, then please Mr. Togami." Celeste rolled her eyes in sarcasm. "Enlighten me as to what mistake I made during this crime that I did not commit."

"Maizono's account reminded me of it actually." Togami said. "Maizono said that you chose your words very carefully to ensure that she and Asahina would completely believe that Yamada was dead. Correct?"

"What's your point, Togami?" Junko sighed.

"Then why did Celeste say something that did not at all make sense when we found out that Yamada's body had disappeared?"

"Ugh! Just say it already!" Syo cried, before quickly covering her mouth. "Oop! Sorry Master!"

Togami frowned and then turned back to Celeste. "You said, and I quote, upon finding Yamada's body:"

"They must really be enjoying this. Enjoying the sight of us standing, frightened and confused. We're going to die here. We're all going to die here, just like those guys died!"

"Yes. That is what I said. And what's wrong with that?" Celeste asked.

"Yes, I remember her saying that too. But I don't understand what's strange about it, either." Ogami said.

"Then pay attention. Ogami, Fukawa, Kirigiri, and I were the first to discover Ishimaru's body in the equipment room." Togami explained. "Maizono then came in, telling us that Yamada had been murdered. So then Ogami and I left with her, leaving a now unconscious Fukawa on the floor of the equipment room."

"Naw! You left me there where I could have gotten killed! How rude!" Syo pointed her scissors at Ogami and scowled. Ogami just groaned.

"We ran into the corridor, where we found Celeste, panicking. She tells us that Yamada's body had vanished from the nurse's office. We rushed down there to confirm that it was in fact true." Togami adjusted his glasses. "The entire time, none of us said anything about Ishimaru being dead. Knowing that, why did she use a plural noun?"

"You mean, why did she specifically say, 'those guys'?" Ogami said.

"Exactly."

"It must have been because… she already knew Ishimaru was dead." I said.

Celeste giggled. "Hmhmhm… You all have such vivid imaginations, you know that?"

"Imaginations?" Junko asked.

"So far, you have claimed multiple things that are obviously false, so I shall disparage them one by one." Celeste said.

"Oh?" Togami said.

"For one thing, your claim that I lied about seeing the individual in the suit is wrong. I have photographic proof-" Celeste protested.

"You mean the photo of Yamada dragging the unconscious Hagakure away?" Togami replied. "We've already cleared that issue up."

"Yeah!" Hagakure growled. "The suit doesn't bend at the waist, so you guys knocked me out, stuffed me into it, then staged that photo to make it look like I had kidnapped and assaulted Yamada!" He scoffed. "For shame!"

"Ngh… ngh!" Celeste's knuckles turned white as she tensed her body.

"Well, I suppose this is checkmate." Togami said.

"Checkmate…?" Celeste said quietly. Suddenly, her upper body went limp and she stared at the floor, her shoulders sagging. Her once upright and perfect form now looked weak and pathetic. "Heh, hehehe…" She giggled slightly. I could feel the coldness emanating off her. I was surprised Togami wasn't shivering next to her. "Ha.. haha.. Hahaha…" Her breathing was getting more erratic and stilted. Suddenly, she leaned back and let out a piercing howl. "Don't make me laugh, you idiot! What do you mean, CHECKMATE!?"

"C-Celeste…?" Asahina said timidly.

"Clearly, you want to cram me into your little "guilty" box. Well there's one little problem!" She pointed menacingly at Togami. Raising her ringed-finger as threateningly as possible. Her fake accent had completely dropped and what took its place was a completely normal Japanese accent. "Have you already forgotten what Yamada told us as he lay dying!?" She leaned forward and looked around at all of us, a twisted anger breaking her face almost in two. She straightened herself back up and took a deep breath. "When we asked him who had attacked him, his answer was quite clear, was it not? He said, and I quote, 'Yasuhiro'." She forced out each syllable of the name, putting clear emphasis on it. "In other words, YASUHIRO HAGAKURE!" She screeched.

"W-Wait, but t-that doesn't mean a thing!" Hagakure cried. "There could be- I don't know, someone else in this school called Yasuhiro!"

"Oh COME ON, you're seriously going to claim that!? You really are an imbecile!" Celeste shouted.

"That's not as insane as it sounds, in fact, it might just be the truth." Kirigiri said.

"What the hell are you talking about!? I'll burn you alive!" Celeste swung her head around towards Kirigiri, her face still tort with anger.

"A-And, moreover, why the hell would he use my first name!?" Hagakure shouted. "It's not as if we were that close or anything! I barely even talked to the guy!"

"Exactly. It's a little too strange to think he would suddenly use Hagakure's first name if he was sure Hagakure had tried to kill him." Kirigiri said.

"I'm sure he had a good reason. Perhaps it was- incidental? Or… easier to say on the brink of death?" Celeste said, her breathing heavy.

"Yasuhiro and Hagakure have the same number of syllables, so that doesn't add up at all." Junko said.

"Random chance. Now isn't that a convenient explanation." Kirigiri said.

"But, if Yamada was trying to say his killer's last name, 'Yasuhiro' doesn't make any sense." Ogami said. "That name does not apply to anyone here."

"Well, aside from maybe one person." Kirigiri said.

"That's true… Celeste introduced herself as Celestia Ludenburg, and insisted we call her Celeste." I said, recalling our introduction from the first day.

"Ah yes, the thief who suspects everyone of being thieves." Celeste scoffed. "You cannot seriously suggest I lied about my name!? That's preposterous!"

"And yet, you are the most likely candidate to do so." Togami said. "You forged a persona in the gambling world. Needing a fake name would be almost necessary."

"Your name is the only one that isn't from Japanese origin!" Syo giggled. "That makes soooo much sense for it to be fake!"

"To think, you'd take your accusations so far, I don't know whether to laugh or spit!" Celeste screamed. "Come on! Enough with your idiotic blather! Yasuhiro is a loser's name! Do I look like a loser to you!?"

Hagakure looked hurt. "Hey, come on! That's totally unne-"

"WELL!?" Celeste screamed, cutting him off. "DOOOO I!?"

"Jesus christ, Celeste, calm down." Junko said.

"WHAT!?" Celeste yelled. "I… I think I've earned the right to be a little on edge!"

"Okay then… tell us." Junko scowled. "What's your real name?"

"FINE!" Celeste threw her hands up in the air. "Make sure your ear holes are wiiiiiiiiiiide open and LISTEN UP!" She smacked her podium with both of her hands as they came down. "My real name is Celestia Ludenburg. Can you PLEASE stop making me repeat myself OVER AND OVER AGAIN!?"

"She's still not giving up…" I said quietly. Junko looked at me and gave me a nod. I glanced over at Kirigiri and she smiled.

"When Yamada was dying, he was trying to tell us the killer's last name- Yasuhiro."

"And… there's only one person who might fit that description." Asahina said.

"It would have to be you, Celeste. You haven't told anyone what your real name is." Ogami said.

Celeste breathed in and out slowly. "How many times do I have to tell you? My… name… is…" Her face twitched and she let out a bellow that shook the whole trial room. "CELESTIA LUDENBURG, GODDAMNIT!"

"How long do you plan to go on pretending?" Togami growled.

"I'm not pretending." Celeste said pointedly. "It's the truth! And, since you have no way to contradict me, that's the only truth there is! MORON!"

"Actually, there is a very easy way to contradict that." Kirigiri said. She reached inside her jacket and pulled out her eHandbook. She turned it on and turned it to face us. Her own name, Kyoko Kirigiri, showed clear as day on the screen, before directing to the menu. "Everyone's eHandbooks show their own name as soon as they turn it on. Considering Monokuma knows even our deepest and darkest secrets, it's more than likely that yours would read your real name. Would that be correct?"

"Well, we could just test right now." Junko said. "Celeste, would you mind showing us your eHandbook?"

"Th-that's an invasion of privacy!" Celeste's hands shivered. "I refuse to cooperate!"

"Well then, it's not like it matters. We can just put this to a majority vote anyway, right?" Junko said.

"Please, Celeste…" I pleaded. "Tell us what really happened."

Celeste's body relaxed and she smiled. "Even when I'm put in check, it's just in my nature not to give up! Because… Because, because, because because because BECAUSE!" She screeched. "Until the game's over, you never know what might happen!"

"Fine then." Junko huffed. "Maizono, run through everything that happened. Allow us to shed some light on these crimes."

I nodded. "Okay Celeste. Y-You-"

"WHAT? WHAT DO YOU WANT!?" She screamed.

I took a deep breath. My confidence was resolved. I stood firm. "The culprit persuaded someone to help them carry out the murder. That person was Yamada. With an accomplice, you were able to sneak around in plain sight and easily pull the wool over our eyes." I pointed at Hagakure. "You guys summoned Hagakure in secret to the rec room at 1am, where you put him to sleep and stuffed him inside the Robo Justice suit. You did this to pin the crimes on him." I glanced at the podium next to me, boring Makoto's face. I swallowed. "You, Celeste, staged the photo of Robo Justice and Yamada, making it look like he was being kidnapped when in reality, the roles were reversed. Then, no longer needing Hagakure, you shoved him into the pool locker." I glanced at Ishimaru's portrait on the other side of me. "Several hours later, you summoned Ishimaru to the equipment room the same way as Hagakure, but instead of drugging him, you killed him." I looked at Yamada's portrait next to Makoto's. "Or rather, got Yamada to kill him in your place. Next to the body, Justice Hammer 4 was left behind. Two hours later, two more fake assaults occurred. One on Yamada, and the other on yourself. We first found you in the rec room, all bruised and battered. You showed us the photo of Yamada being kidnapped and we went to find him. We eventually found him in the library, heavily injured next to Justice Hammer 2. By showing us Justice Hammer 1 and then Justice Hammer 2, you manipulated us into believing that the hammers were increasing in size as the murders progressed, falsifying the murder sequence and giving you an alibi. You and Yamada both fed us the fake story of the strange costumed individual, and thus we all split off to go find him. After I dropped Yamada off at the Nurse's Office, you quickly screamed to give Yamada the signal and draw us up to the third floor. From there we split off to search for Robo Justice and check on Yamada. You, Asahina, and I all found Yamada's body in the nurse's office, covered in blood and lying next to Justice Hammer 3. At the same time, Togami, Ogami, Kirigiri, and Fukawa all found Ishimaru's body in the equipment room next to Justice Hammer 4, and we all heard the announcement, each thinking that the body we had just found was the one in the announcement. After we all reconvened upstairs, we discovered Yamada's body had disappeared, and that's because he had simply left the nurse's office and went to hide, most likely somewhere on the second floor where we wouldn't see him. But of course we didn't know at the time that he was still alive, so it confused us greatly. After we all gathered at the nurse's office, Yamada set to work on moving Ishimaru's body from the equipment room to the repository. He wrapped Ishimaru's body in a tarp that was stored in the equipment room and loaded him onto the dolly that was there. The dolly was most likely placed there the previous night so the plan could be carried out. He wheeled Ishimaru's body all the way to the repository and locked it. After we ran back upstairs to check on Fukawa, we found that Ishimaru's body had mysteriously disappeared too, so we went to go look for it. During that time, none of us had alibis." I pointed at Celeste. "So of course you went to the repository, and after Yamada knew it was you and let you in, you took the giant hammer off the wall and killed him with it. After that, you scrubbed the hammer clean, hung it back up, and snuck out as if nothing happened." I cried. "The true culprit of this case is you, Celestia Ludenburg, if that really is your name!"

"Wow, Sayaka, super dramatic!" Junko giggled at me. She turned to face Celeste, her face hard again. "Sorry Celeste, you lose!"

Celeste looked completely taken aback. "I… lost? I lost!?" She blinked. "When… was the last time I was forced to utter such words?" She sniffed. "They hang heavy around my neck."

"Then… is that it, Celeste? Are you admitting it?" Asahina asked.

Celeste growled. "I, Celestia Ludenburg-" She stopped herself. She sighed deeply. "Actually, no. Taeko… Yasuhiro is fine." She smiled.

"So, you've finally accepted it." Togami said quietly.

"I'm the kind of person, once I've lost, I don't like things to drag on."

"But this trial did drag on!" Syo giggled.

"Shut up, you." Togami said.

"Okay, Monokuma. I'm ready to begin." She flinched slightly. "Or, no… I… suppose this is the end, isn't it?"

"Hmm… Hmm… It is indeed the moment we've all been waiting for! Time to vote! Please pull the lever and cast your vote! Who will be chosen as the blackened? Will you make the right choice, or the hopelessly wrong one!?" Monokuma laughed. "I can't wait! I can't wait!"

I made my selection and pulled the lever. Before long, it seemed the voting had finished, as everyone's sullen faces looked grimly over at Celeste. Oddly enough, she was smiling as if nothing was wrong.

"It's basically a formality at this point, but once again, you got it right! The blackened for this case, the true killer who devised this whole stinkin' scheme, was… Celestia Ludenburg! Or more precisely, Taeko Yasuhiro!"

Celeste flinched slightly. I could tell she wasn't as fearless or dismissive as she pretended to be. Perhaps even her cold nature was a lie, too…

"I lost. Well that sucks." She said bluntly. "I guess trying to work with someone was a mistake, after all." She said it so plainly, as if she was talking about a group project for school, instead of a horrible crime. She sighed. "Yamada's ineptitude was beyond all my calculations."

"So you really did approach Yamada with this plan?" Kirigiri asked. "But how did you get him to agree? I can't imagine he would have happily agreed to murder."

"Simple coercion." Celeste giggled. "It was quite funny actually. He was very easy to manipulate. All I did was push the right buttons."

"I see. So you used…" Kirigiri trailed off, not finishing her sentence.

Celeste smiled warmly at Kirigiri. "I knew you'd figured it out. You're absolutely right. In order to persuade Yamada to act as my accomplice, I used 'her'."

It suddenly clicked to everyone what she was referring to, and we all made a point to keep our lips sealed. Junko looked confused.

"For everyone who's still left, I'll avoid mentioning it by name, but… you get the idea."

"What? What what what!? What are you all talking about?" Monokuma looked angrily curious.

"Don't interrupt. We're in the middle of a very important conversation here." Kirigiri said sharply.

Monokuma looked hurt. "I'm totally out of the loop, as usual. How sad…"

"Then you're the one who stole it?" Kirigiri asked, turning back to Celeste.

Celeste nodded. "In order to win over Yamada's favour, I used a little wordplay. I visited him last night after we discovered it had disappeared." She started telling the story of what happened between her and Yamada.

"Oh, um… What are you doing here?" Yamada said quietly, a despondent look on his face.

Celeste coughed, she looked quite scared. "I was wondering if I could talk to you. Alone."

"Huh?"

"It is about what was stolen. I know who did it."

"What!?" Yamada gasped.

"It was Ishimaru - or whatever he calls himself now. He stole it." Celeste said.

"Excuse me!?"

"And I have proof. Want to see it?" Celeste showed him a photo of a laptop using the camera he had given her, of the laptop sitting in Ishimaru's bedroom. "I snuck into his room after seeing him leave his door unlocked, and took the photos. I was worried he would be angry if I took Alter Ego from him, which is why I left it there."

"I deleted the picture as soon as I showed it to Yamada, of course. I could not have any of you seeing it." Celeste said.

Kirigiri nodded. "Please continue."

"Grr! So it WAS him!" Yamada growled. "But how did he do it? She was supposed to yell if either of us got close to her!"

Celeste fought back tears. "Which is why… he forced me to steal it."

"WHAT!?"

"P… Please forgive me. He… He threatened me."

"Oh?"

"He came to my room last night unannounced, and then… it's difficult for me to even say. He… abused me…"

"He did WHAT!?" Yamada shouted.

"And he… he took pictures. He said if I did not do as he asked, he'd show them to everyone… so I… I had no choice." Celeste's breath got caught in her throat.

"That's a crime! An absolute crime!" Yamada balled his fists. "He-! I mean, I knew he'd gone a LITTLE crazy, but-!" Yamada's face turned red. "To actually do that to someone… to YOU especially… I never imagined he would… would go that far!"

"It was amazing how completely he bought it. Hmhm… I can't express how enjoyable that was." Celeste said.

"I'm… I'm about to say something I've never said before in my life…" Yamada breathed in deeply and screamed. "I'm going to kill him! I'm going to f… fucking kill him!"

"Wait, please! If you go now, you will be playing right into his hands!" Celeste replied.

"Huh…?" Yamada said.

"Ishimaru is planning to use her… to escape. And he has made *you* his target."

"Escape? You don't mean-"

"Ishimaru is going to try to kill you."

"Whaaaaat!? In the name of-" Yamada cut himself off.

"All so he can keep her to himself."

"What a bastard!"

Celeste was almost there. "Can we really allow him to continue with these barbaric acts?"

"Absolutely not! How could I!? He… he hurt you… and… I… I have to save heeeeerrrr!"

"Then… would you like to join me? It just so happens, I have come up with a plan." She stared hard at Yamada, garnering his full attention. "I have devised a way to reclaim what he has stolen, and escape this dreadful school."

"I see…"

"And with that, it is complete." She whispered under her breath.

"Yamada agreed without a second thought. The effect that item had on him was… remarkable." Celeste said. "The power of love, even one as demented as that, can drive people mad, it would seem."

"You disgust me." Hagakure growled.

"Was that strange costume Yamada's creation?" Togami asked. "That seems like something he would make."

"Yeah. It was a real pain in the ass, too. All I asked him to do was make something to hide the face and general body size. I had no idea he'd make something like that. But it's my fault for picking him in the first place."

"Well it certainly added to the confusion. I felt like I was having a fever dream…" I said.

"So… why'd you make me the suspect?" Hagakure asked.

"Because you're stupid." Celeste said without missing a beat.

"That's it!?" Hagakure looked more shocked than hurt.

"And in that regard, I chose very well. I'm so glad your stupidity surpassed my every expectation. Life must be tough on your parents though."

"I feel I could cry…"

"But when you were explaining your plan to Yamada, how did you explain the part about him playing dead?" Ogami asked.

"What did you tell him to do, if he thought you were gonna let him live?" Asahina added.

"I told him to say he'd been seriously wounded and on the brink of death, and miraculously came back." Celeste answered.

"Which, oddly enough, he did." Togami said. "That must have scared you."

"Not really. He was so delirious he couldn't get a word in edgewise."

"But he said your real last name though." Kirigiri asked. "How did he figure that out? Did you tell him to make him trust you more?"

"Of course I didn't." Celeste sniffed. "I wouldn't tell the last human on Earth my real name. I had no idea how he figured it out."

"Could it be related to the other thing he said?" Asahina asked. "He was like, 'I remember you all' or something."

Kirigiri seemed deep in thought.

"Celeste was right. He was probably delirious." Togami said.

"And while you were all questioning him about what happened, I was gonna murder someone else. At that point, Yamada would have an alibi, so nobody could doubt him. I told him that, and he believed it. Yamada was a terrible liar, I highly doubt he would have been able to keep a straight face during the trial, which is why I murdered him."

"It all seems very… straightforward. Stereotypical." Togami said.

"I just matched the lie to the level of the opponent. In fact, Yamada ate it up. He believed the lie right until the moment he was killed."

"Yeah actually- hold on. Can we back up?" Junko asked. "Can we go back to the part where you lied about Ishimaru sexually assaulting you!?" Junko shouted. "That's just… inhumane! It's so despicable I can't even describe it! How can you be so evil!? To do something like that to someone who was hurting that badly!?"

"I don't have to explain myself to the likes of you." Celeste glared at Junko. "Besides, with his new form, he seemed to be coping just fine."

"Oh I'm so glad you're about to be executed cause otherwise I'd KILL YOU MYSELF!" Junko strode forward towards Celeste.

"Junko, calm down!" I cried, rushing to her side and grabbing her arm. "But, she does have a point. What drove you this far?"

"My desire to win." Celeste said.

"Was it really just for the money?" Asahina asked. "I thought you said you had acquired plenty of money from gambling!"

"Well yes, that is true… And as for the one billion yen that Monokuma offered us, that *is* a lot of money, but claiming it was 'just for the money' does not provide it justice." Celeste explained. "From the moment our new life here began, my only thought has been escape."

"But… all along you've been telling us to 'adapt' and accept living here!" Hagakure said.

"Obviously that was a lie!" Celeste screamed. "I couldn't take it! I hated it from day one! More than anyone anyone ANYONE else in here!"

"That's an awfully bold claim-" Junko tried to say.

"I wanted to get out! Every day was fresh torture!" Celeste interrupted. "Because… I had a dream."

"A dream…" I thought to myself. I choked back tears, thinking about my idol group, and the damage my desire to get back to them caused. The only thing I could really do was… hope they were okay.

"Accepting life here would mean giving up on that dream forever. And I could never risk that. In the underground world of gambling, I risked my life to make a metaphorical killing, and it was all for that dream…" She said airily, as if her mind was spinning into her fantasy, desperate to escape from the horrible situation she was in.

"And… what was that dream?" I asked.

"To live in a European castle."

"A castle!?" Junko shouted.

"I would gather handsome men from all over the world to serve as my butlers/bodyguards. I was going to make them dress up like vampires and satisfy my every need. Once I obtained that, I would have created a perfectly aesthetic world of decadence." Celeste smiled. "Combined with my own winnings, Monokuma's billion yen would have made that dream a reality."

"YOU KILLED TWO PEOPLE FOR THAT!?" Junko shrieked. "For a fantasy that a 10-year-old would craft!?"

"NOTHING IS TOO BIG FOR CELESTIA LUDENBURG, YOU HEAR ME!?" Celeste shrieked back. "And you are one to talk, strutting around in expensive designer clothes like that!" She stood back and took a deep breath. "I pursued that dream until the very end. I lived by it, and now I will die by it. I guess that means I shouldn't have any regrets."

"Regrets? Even though you are about to die?" Asahina said. "How can you be so calm about this? Aren't you scared?"

"I do not fear death. I fear nothing at all. A strong resolve is important for a gambler. And, as the Queen of Liars, my ability to lie is unrivaled, and I take pride in that. It's gotten to the point where I can even fool my own emotions. The conscious deceives the unconscious."

"You say that, but…" I said quietly. I kept my mouth shut instead. I felt… it was more right to humour her in her final moments. No doubt the others might need that level of courage. Celeste smiled weakly, as if she forced herself to do it. She was terrified, my intuition could tell. But, best to let sleeping dogs lie.

"You all done? Okay, then let's get things rolling! The blackened disturbed the peace and got caught, and now they must pay the price!" Monokuma called out terrifyingly. "Now then, I've prepared a very special punishment for… eh whatever your name is! The Ultimate Gambler!" He cried. "Let's give it everything we've got! It's PUNISHMENT TIIIIIIIIME!"

"I guess I'll let Kirigiri hold on to this." Celeste said quietly, walking over to Kirigiri and grabbing her hand.

Kirigiri looked down. "This is-" Kirigiri was concealing it, so I couldn't quite see it, but I could have sworn it was a key.

"Will it really give you the hope you're looking for? I can't say I ever say it that way." Celeste sighed. For the first time, her expression and words seemed genuine. "Which is why- actually. It's not important. Well then…" She breathed in deeply. "Take care, everyone. Perhaps we'll meet again, in another life."

Those were the last words of Celestia Ludenburg, as she was whisked away by Monokuma and brought to a large stage decorated like an 18-century Parisian square. Her hands were bound together and her legs and chest were tied to a large wooden pole. Below her sat a bundle of hay and sticks. A hooded Monokuma took a torch and lit the bonfire, engulfing the entire stage. As Celeste was on the brink of being burnt alive, it happened. A fire truck, arriving out of nowhere and presumably being driven by Monokuma, flew off of a ramp and slammed straight into Celeste, unceremoniously brutalising her in her final, terrified moments.