"This again," came Byakuya's voice as he walked out of his room, "We already know about... oh."
Soon, once again, the whole of class 78 was standing in Makoto's doorway, in stunned silence.
The silence was broken when Hifumi shrieked, "NOOOO! MS. OGAMI KILLED MS. MAIZONO!"
"Hold your tongue," Sakura grunted. "I had done no such thing."
"You were the one watching Maizono, were you not?" Celeste asked. "If you did not wake Owada, who else could have done this?"
"Hey!" Monokuma shouted, appearing out of nowhere and making everyone jump, "YOU'RE ALL GOING OUT OF ORDER! GET TO THE GYM SO WE CAN DISCUSS WHAT YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO DO FIRST!"
Fifty more Monokumas began piling into Makoto's room and began shoving the students out of the room.
"COME!" Kiyotaka shouted, "For now we must follow the orders of the headmaster and go to the gymnasium!"
Reluctantly, they all followed suit.
Once again, the students, sans the departed, had gathered in the gym and Monokuma sprung out onto the stage.
"Puhuhu!" He giggled into his paws, "I knew a good motive wouldn't let me down! A day one murder! Two murders!"
"Th-this isn't a joke man!" Yasuhiro panicked.
"Nope! It's deadly serious!" Monokuma laughed. "So here's what happens..."
Monokuma began explaining how the class trial worked. As he did, some of the numbness surrounding Makoto's brain lifted.
Someone, while Sakura was supposed to be guarding the body, killed Sayaka. Either by getting by her, luring her away... or either Sakura had done it herself. This time, they had done it in a way neither Makoto or Mukuro could have picked up on and prevented.
Makoto was just a normal boy who had been lucky enough to survive the memory-wipe. Why did he think he could undermine the Ultimate Analyst?
He shook himself as Monokuma handed him the Monokuma file. He flipped it open. It detailed Leon's death; a knife wound between the ribs, given to him by Sayaka Maizono.
For Sayaka's it detailed her cause of death as a wound in her neck, with other external wounds in both wrists.
Wrists? Makoto wondered. He hadn't seen any wrist wounds amongst all the blood coming from her neck and on the sheets.
"Now, I'll let you all investigate and determine whodunnit!" Monokuma cried gleefully. "Better hurry, when I get bored, we'll start the trial, ready or not!"
"No, this is stupid," Mukuro snarled out, in her most valley-girl-esque voice.
Makoto looked up at her. Oh no.
"Whattaya mean?" Monokuma said, tiling his head. "Attendance for the class trial is mandatory."
"And what if I don't do it?" Mukuro replied, folding her arms. "I don't want any part of your stupid killing game. So I'm not doing it!"
"You have to do it," Monokuma snorted with laughter. "Or else I'll... lock you in a dungeon or something."
"As if," she snorted. "I'm leaving."
Mukuro turned and tried to leave, and instinctively Makoto reached out and grabbed her arm.
"Don't." He whispered softly.
Their eyes met, and Makoto tried to convey how worried he was about this plan. Mukuro just shook her head and continued past him.
He followed. But another Monokuma popped out in front of Mukuro, claws drawn.
"Alright, I didn't want to have to do this," the headmaster growled. "But if you want to skip the trial, you'll have to get through -MMF"
Mukuro stepped on the headmasters's face, pinning him down.
"There," she replied, "I win."
"Okay! I warned you!" Monokuma sneered from under Mukuro's boot. "Violence against the headmaster is forbidden! Spear of-"
Makoto didn't let the headmaster finish before he yelled, "NO!" He tackled Mukuro off of Monokuma, and held his body over hers protectively.
In the spot Mukuro had just been standing, spears erupted from the floor. Some even flew at Makoto, causing everyone in the gym to yell. They did, however, stop just before hitting Makoto's back.
From his spot on the floor where Makoto was pinning Mukuro down, he turned his head very slightly to see the tip of a spear just centimeters from his face.
"D-don't move," Mukuro whispered. "Th-they're right above you."
His heart hammered in his chest. He almost watched Mukuro die. From her own sister, nonetheless.
"Jeez," Monokuma grunted, "Mr. Naegi, you're not supposed to interfere with the juicy parts." He stood up and dusted his stuffed body off. "You must have the Ultimate Luck, since I'm forbidden to actually kill one of you myself. Next time, I don't think any of you will be so lucky. I'm bored now, so go investigate."
The spears all retracted, and after a moment of pause, Kiyotaka and Mondo ran over to help up Makoto and Mukuro. Taka was practically in tears. "Makoto, such a display of noble companionship for a classmate! I'm truly touched."
"Yeah, you two are tougher bastards than I pegged either of you for," Mondo said, picked up Makoto with one hand.
"That aside," Kyoko replied, stepping forward, "It would be best if we had more than one individual stand guard. Perhaps, Sakura, Mondo, and Aoi."
"Yes, then they can keep tabs on each other." Celeste agreed, before smiling and adding, "Their skill sets do not lend towards investigations anyway."
Byakuya left, without a word, and Toko followed after him.
"I'll em... I'll consult my crystal ball," Yasuhiro grumbled, turning and walking away.
As the others began to disperse, Makoto thumbed through the Monokuma File once more.
Sewing needles.
"Makoto."
He jumped and looked up. Kyoko was standing in front of him and Mukuro. "Yes?" He responded.
"I'd like to ask for your assistance in this investigation. Just to clear up a few things." She requested.
This was a surprise. Makoto and Kyoko had been close the last two years, but since the memory erasure, he hadn't had a moment to really spend any time with her. "Me?"
She nodded. "You've proven to be quite observant so far. I feel like your help would be instrumental in getting to the bottom of the case." She folded her arms as well. "Junko can come with us as well."
Makoto looked back to Mukuro, who just shook her head. "No... there's actually something I want to go check."
He gave the soldier a perplexed look, but she didn't meet his gaze. She just gave a rehearsed grin (not her genuine one, as Makoto knew), said, "see you later," and turned.
"Very well. Come on Makoto," Kyoko said.
Pausing slightly, he turned and followed the Ultimate Detective.
"Can I ask you a few questions?" She asked, once everyone was out of earshot.
"Ah... so I'm a suspect?" He asked.
"Everyone is," Kyoko replied, rubbing her chin. They were walking towards the dorms, and Makoto figured the first thing that was going to happen was that they would have to examine the bodies. "Until I can determine who was where, no one can be ruled out."
"That's... fair," he reasoned. "Fire away."
"First, why was Sayaka in your room, with the name plates switched?"
A reasonable first question. He explained, calmly, that after returning from the bathroom, Sayaka's bizarre behavior, and her insistence on switching rooms. He explained what Mukuro had seen, and that she came to get him from his room to let him know something was going on.
"That was awfully nice of her." Kyoko replied. "For people who just met, you two appear awfully close."
Makoto began to sweat. And he knew Kyoko would recognize it; she could read him like a book, which was actually part of how the two grew close over the last few years.
He needed the detective on his side. And keeping secrets from her was not the way to do it. "...Kyoko, if I told you something crazy, can I trust you to hear me out?"
Mukuro Ikusaba needed to have a conversation with her sister, and she knew there was only one place they could do so in private.
Currently, the nurse's office was locked, but she had a key to access all the floors and rooms in the building. Making sure none of the other students were around, she unlocked it and went inside.
"Alright, Junko." She said, as she closed the doors behind her. "Can we talk?"
On cue, Monokuma popped out of the wall. However, Junko was not even bothering with the voice modifier; Monokuma sounded the same as her sister. "I knew my disappointment of a sister would want to talk. What? Are you sad I didn't follow the plan? Don't you like it when I try to kill you?"
Mukuro grimaced. She wasn't wrong; there were times in their first year when the murder attempts meant Junko was giving her attention.
For some reason, now, those thoughts didn't fill her with happiness. When she wanted happy memories, they were of...
... messy brown hair and omelettes.
"That's different, Junko. You changed the plan. I thought... we were just dropping me down a trapdoor."
"I should have killed you!" Junko made the doll throw up it's little bear arms. "I can't believe that clumsy little twig actually managed to tackle you!" Monokuma lowered its arms and brandished it's claws, threateningly. "And don't sit here and act all high and mighty when you've been conspiring against me this whole time. You're so disappointing your betrayal doesn't even give me any despair!"
"I haven't been conspiring!" Mukuro pleaded. She just wanted Junko not to be upset with her anymore. "There's been a complication! Makoto -"
"Yeah, Naeggs remembers everything." Junko replied in her bored tone. "Obviously."
Mukuro's jaw dropped. "You... you knew?"
The Monokuma grabbed its belly and laughed. "Of course I knew, dipshit! Watching him agonize about whether or not to tell his friends?! It was written all over his face! Go figure, his Ultimate Luck actually made him more unlucky! He can't tell his friends anything that's been happening!" The bear took a serious face and continued. "Besides, sis, why else would he want to go up and talk to some ugly garbage like you? People don't just go to a dumpster for fun. Well, you probably do."
"Then why didn't you say anything?" Mukuro asked.
"Because I liked watching you agonize over what to do, dumbass!" Junko laughed. "Torn between your widdle girly cwush on Makoto and me, the only thing that gives you purpose in the shitstorm you call your life. All the despair! All the guilt! The second Makoto looked to you for help, you've been a despairing little peon! I should have hooked you up WAY sooner, this would have been even more fun."
"I didn't... I didn't..." Mukuro said, at a loss. She looked to her feet. Junko needn't call her a disappointment, she already felt it in her heart.
"I didn't, I didn't," she mocked in a high pitched voice. "What you didn't do is come to me and be honest, Mukuro. You tried to spare your little twink and so I tried to skewer you. But you know what?"
"What?" Mukuro asked.
"I was going to kill you anyway."
The words were like a slap, and Mukuro fell to her knees, eye level with the bear. "You... what?"
"Puhuhu!" Junko giggled, and the Monokuma covered it's mouth from the giggle. "That's right. I never planned on keeping you around. The world is in ruins. The Ultimates outside have got it handled. And besides, how much despair could I get out of my sister's death, now that she was no use to me anymore?"
"No... use?" The soldier echoed dully. That was just what Makoto had said.
"Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat's right!" Junko said. "Let's be real here, Mukuro. You've always been a fat, ugly, disappointment. You know what's really disappointing? I was supposed to watch you die, and despair over the last of my family leaving. You couldn't even do that right. Hell, you couldn't even betray me right. You pussyfooted around the issue and got saved by Makoto. So I'm going to make it easy for you. We're done. I love you, Mukuro."
The soldier looked up in shock. Never once had Junko told her she loved her.
Which could only mean this was goodbye.
The Monokuma disappeared without another word.
She tried so hard to please everyone. But Mukuro was still a disappointment. She couldn't help Makoto save Leon or Sayaka. She couldn't even help her sister feel despair.
She, for a minute, regretted that the spears hadn't been her end.
Curling up on the floor, she put her head in her knees. It was too much. This was too much. War was easy for her.
Abandonment was not.
"... so, in summation, we've all been classmates for two years, I'm the Ultimate Detective, Junko is not the real Junko, and the real Junko is behind the whole thing." Kyoko summed up.
Makoto nodded, looking around the bath house. "Yeah. I know it sounds -"
"I believe you."
He was shocked. He had not suspected convincing the more skeptical student would be this easy. "You do?"
"I had been working on a theory that our memories were tampered with, though such procedures would be experimental in nature. Though I never would have suspected... all this." Kyoko admitted. "I wish we had discussed this sooner."
"Well, I figured if I said anything, they'd think I was crazy."
"That's not unreasonable," she agreed. "Everyone is so sure of what's happening. It's hard to doubt your own memories. So, you and Mukuro can vouch for each other. We should go examine the bodies and see what we can account for Sakura's guard absence."
They did just that. At the crime scene, Kyoko and Makoto found several items of significance, all of which Makoto made a note of in a notepad.
"You can see the angle the blanket was kicked out, that Sayaka's neck was stabbed first," Kyoko explained. "It looks as though she was laying down when she was woken up by the attack, struggled for a few seconds before she died." She paused, looking up at Makoto. "Are you alright? You seem uncomfortable."
Makoto had a determined look on his face as they were making observations on the scene. "I'm not exactly used to inspecting dead bodies," he conceded. "But I'm determined not to let the mastermind get away with this."
Kyoko nodded. "Okay. Let's continue... so, it looks like the killer pinned her hand down, walked around this way... you can tell by the blood smudges around the foot of the bed... and then pinned her arm down on that side."
Makoto looked around, surveying the scene. Do I really have to keep living in this room?
But then he realized something was missing. "Hey, Kyoko, where'd the knife go?"
Kyoko looked up and realized the knife in Leon's back had vanished. "That's... a good question. I was so focused on Sayaka's murder I hadn't checked Leon's body yet."
"Could that be what caused the neck wound?" He asked.
Kirigiri frowned and gently approached Sayaka, leaning in to examine the wound. "...No."
"No?" Makoto frowned, furrowing his brow.
"No, this is a puncture wound. A deep one," Kyoko sighed. "A very quick thrust, directly in and out. And it doesn't match the knife blade at all. We're looking for something smaller. Bigger than the sewing needles though."
Sakura, Mondo, and Aoi said nothing as the two investigated. Finished with the bodies, Kyoko turned to Sakura.
"So, Ms. Ogami... what happened? Why weren't you present at the time?" The detective asked.
Sakura looked aside, shame evident on her face. "Well..."
"It's my fault," Asahina replied, sadly. "I asked her to come to my room because I couldn't sleep. I was too scared."
"It's true," Sakura admitted, woefully. "I pounded on Mondo's door, and I thought I heard him say something, but I didn't stay to make sure he took over."
"I thought I heard something, but when I hollered, no one answered," Mondo replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "And then I passed right out. I was fucking exhausted, man."
"The rooms are soundproofed, as we found," Kyoko nodded. "Your shout would have went unnoticed."
Makoto would have been angry if he wasn't already feeling so defeated over failing to stop any murders. Twice. "I guess that accounts for them."
"Well, just Sakura," Kyoko corrected. "Unless someone can corroborate your story, Mondo, we can't prove you didn't do this."
"Tch. Sorry. I was one of the few people actually sleeping by themselves last night," he replied.
Ouch, Makoto flinched.
Without a word, Byakuya stormed into the room. "Oh good. I'm not the only one actually investigating this." But as he realized he was talking to Makoto and Kyoko, his look of disdain returned. "I can't believe I have to resort to this, but you two. Come. The fat porn creator has located the missing knife."
"Fat po - do you mean Hifumi?" Makoto asked, incredulously.
"His name is not my concern!" Byakuya scowled. "I don't care to repeat myself."
Makoto and Kirigiri looked at each other, shrugged, and followed Byakuya out of Makoto's room. Before he left, Makoto turned and took a look at Sayaka's body.
His first friend and Hope's Peak. He swallowed and closed his eyes.
He'd hold on to these feelings, if only to ensure he didn't let her down in death as he had done in life.
Mukuro Ikusaba picked herself up off the floor or the Nurse's Office, and left.
She knew, by now, her keycard to the other areas of the school were likely no longer good. She turned and tried it on the Nurse's Office again to confirm that, yes, she was locked out.
She was on her own. She had been on her own before, of course, but she had always figured she'd return to her sister some day. She tried to snap herself out of this numb state, but it was no use. What was a life without Junko?
As much as it hurt, Junko had been right; the younger twin had been the only thing giving the soldier's life purpose for practically their whole lives. Ten years of planning and scheming for the Tragedy.
Her eyebrow twitched. Junko's Tragedy. Her whole life... dedicated to her sister's work
For years, Mukuro had been pointed at every obstacle in Junko's way. How many times had she been tasked to clean up piles of bodies? To throw herself at danger? To give up food, shelter, water, just for the sake of Junko's comfort?
And Makoto had been right.
That had been the one thing holding her back; the desperate belief that she was not expendable to her sister. That when Junko sat on her throne on the ashes of the world, Mukuro would be at her right hand side.
No, if Makoto hadn't intervened, it would have been Mukuro's head on a pike next to the throne instead. A warning to anyone who got too close.
She briefly recalled how Junko would kick around Mikan Tsumiki before the school got locked down. Mukuro had always pitied the girl; throwing her overly affectionate love and devotion at Junko, who couldn't care less. But thinking now... Mukuro had been no better.
"Fine." Mukuro decided, mournfully. "If we are no longer sisters, then I will bring my sister despair the only way I can. By stopping this game altogether."
With a deep breath, she filled her chest with determination.
She turned and began walking down the hall back towards the dorms.
As she walked past the School Store, she noticed the doors had been left open. That was... odd.
Walking inside, she saw an item on a display shelf had been hastily put back; a pair of scissors.
Taking them down from the case, Mukuro could see someone had tried to clean these off, and had not done a very good job. "Oh no..."
Byakuya had led Kyoko and Makoto to the trash room, which Hifumi had, apparently, volunteered to be in charge of during the first week. The grate, which had remained locked overnight, was still down, blocking off the compactor and incinerator. On the other side of the grate was the bloody kitchen knife that had been taken from Leon's back.
"Looks like someone tried to throw it to the incinerator," Byakuya sneered. "Not exactly a bright idea considering it wasn't even on."
Kyoko frowned. "That's not any sort of way to dispose of evidence."
"But you said the knife isn't what caused the neck wound," Makoto pointed out. "So... maybe... they wanted us to find it? The only person would could have made that throw was Leon, and we all probably knew that."
"A plant." Byakuya said, adjusting his glasses. "Not a bad theory, for a commoner."
"Uh... thanks."
DING DONG BING BONG
The chimes of the school announcement bell rang out across Hope's Peak.
"Alright," Monokuma announced on the screen. "I'm bored now! Head to the red door on the first floor and prepare for the class trial! Puhuhu!"
Makoto and Kyoko made eye contact, uncomfortably. There was more they would have liked to do.
But all remaining 13 students, Mukuro included, made their way to the red door. From there, they filed into the elevator.
It was the time for the first class trial.
Makoto swore to himself it would be the last.