"Alright, here we go." Monokuma spoke as he wiggles in his chair. "Wow, it really echoes in here now that we've got seven less people. But without further ado, you may commence this trial. Hopefully, this will be entertaining."
"In our investigation of Mitsuba's murder, we uncovered several things." Sora began. "However, let's follow Kirika's suggestion and start with everyone's alibis."
"As most suspect here, I'll go first." Aiyaka chimed up. "Okay, so after the meeting ended and everyone left, I went to the library on the third floor. After some origami, I headed up to the fifth floor. There I messed around, use the restroom, and went to find other things. Then, boom, second floor, body discovery, and what not. Sora came and that's about it."
"I shall attest next." Tomoki uttered. "After my leave of absence, I adjourned to my room until the announcement."
"I'll save us some time." Kirika spoke. "I didn't meet with anybody after the meeting until the body checking. Sora, Takura, you guys meet up any?"
The pair shook their heads.
"So, with no alibis, shall we establish a time table?" Tomoki remarked. "The announcement woke most of us at 7. Due to our diminished states, it was some time before we got together. I recall it was 7:30 when I arrived in the main entrance. Little by little, everyone besides Kirika followed. It was not until forty-five minutes after I arrived that she joined. However, this break in time resulted in nothing happening. Even if someone were to prepare here, the others would have noticed. From here, the time table begins to matter. I left the group at about 8:30. Someone who stayed, would you kindly take it from here."
"I will." volunteered Takura. "After you left, the five of us continued our little chats until around 9. From there, we went our separate ways."
"The Monokuma File stated Mitsuba died at 10:45." Sora interjected. "Aiyaka, you called out, but at what time did you first find the body?"
"Um…a little after 11. I don't know exactly." she replied.
"Then that means the killer had around an hour and a half to plan." Sora continued. "However, they'd only have about fifteen minutes to hide. Given the blood and injury present, I'd wager Mitsuba died shortly after it was inflicted."
"But with no alibis, how does this time table work?" asked Aiyaka.
"Trust me, this should work out." Tomoki reassured.
"So, should we bring up the cloth piece you found?" stated Kirika.
"Indeed, we shall." Tomoki nodded. "During the investigation, I uncovered Mitsuba tightly holding onto a ripped fabric piece. The article in question appears to be from a white shirt."
"Except that doesn't help." Takura interjected. "Everyone here has at least one article of white clothing on."
"True." continued Tomoki. "However, this scrap as I point out came from a cotton shirt."
"And both you and I wear other materials." Sora pointed. "We can further show this was the culprit's by the fact Mitsuba was tightly gripping it. If it was her own white tee, she'd have no reason to hold onto it."
"Then that leaves possible suspects as-"
"I've already got the culprit." Aiyaka deadpanned.
"What!?" Sora exclaimed. "You mean…"
"Yup!" Aiyaka perked up.
"What's do you mean?" Takura asked.
"Well, I mighta hidden a bit of evidence from you three."
"Why would you take this course of action?" spoke Tomoki.
"Ya see, I needed to catch the murderer off guard somehow. With them in the room, I only could hide it. Truth is, the murder weapon was left at the scene. A knife that was similar to several others. Indeed, it was one of the knives Monokuma provided us with. One that belonged to…Kirika Miki!"
Kirika's eyes shot wide with disbelief.
"The knife clearly had your name carved in it. Well, any reason why it'd be there?"
"C'mon, just think about this rationally." Kirika pleaded. "Why would I use my own knife to kill. It's obviously the culprit who planted it there to frame me."
"But Kirika, you were the one who took that knife." said Takura. "You said you wanted to keep an eye on it."
"And I did. That night, as we went back to our room, I hid mine safely in my room."
"Kirika, when was the last time you checked it?" asked Tomoki.
"Just before bed last night."
"So there's a period of time when it could have been stolen." stated Sora.
"Wait, what if Kirika wanted us to think she'd innocent by making herself such a red herring?" Aiyaka chimed in.
"I doubt so." Tomoki spoke up. "It is true the knife is hers and what Aiyaka just said has some of the truth, but I do not believe Kirika would risk it this far. With the unpredictable nature of these trials, she would not know how much of belief we would have in this evidence. Besides, we know Aiyaka hid the knife from the three of us. If Kirika were to have planted her own knife and have it appear as evidence she was being framed to throw us off, she would have discreetly made sure we all knew about it."
"Of course." Sora let out. "But then, who would have framed Kirika?"
"With no alibis, the evidence would point to any of us." Kirika said. "However, the cloth piece points towards two less suspects."
"With Kirika in the clear, that leaves two remaining." stated Tomoki. "The evidence points towards Aiyaka or Takura."
"Then I'll solve this case!" Aiyaka pointed at the ceiling. "Master Detective Tsukira is on the case."
"Aiyaka, why should we believe you. You're one of the suspects." Kirika bluntly said.
"Because, I literally have nothing to hide." Aiyaka grinned. "So, since we've gotten here, we've had to keep washing our clothes, because the mastermind didn't provide us with dressers, correct?"
"Yes, so?" Takura spoke.
"Then you and I are obviously wearing the same clothes as what we had on during the time of the murder. As such…" Aiyaka slipped out of her jean jacket and let it fall to the floor. Other than the white bandages on her right arm, the only white Aiyaka wore was her simple, white tee. Now that her jacket was off, it was on full display.
"Wait, are you saying…" began Sora.
"Correct." Aiyaka flashed a smile. "Check me out. Come and see how my tee is all in one piece." She twirled around behind the podium. "So, what do ya say, Takura? Care to join me in taking off your jacket?"
Takura's eyes grew wide. With a heavy sigh, Takura took off his purple jacket and propped it against his podium. As he turned, a small, missing portion was visible slightly off centered on his shirt's back.
"Upupupu, looks like they've got you there." Monokuma joined in. "Words of defense?"
"No, you can vote."
The roomed looked straight at Takura.
"Well then, let's do so, shall we?" Monokuma said.
The voting prompt appeared. Each person selected their suspect, as had been accustomed to them now.
"Votes have been tallied. Wowie, it's five votes for Takura. Seems Mr. Editor was also feeling guilty. And guilty he was. Takura Nozomi did murder Mitsuba Kanamori."
"Why?" asked Sora.
"I'll just take my punishment now." Takura stated. "But first…" He walked across the room to Tomoki. After whispering something in his ear, he walked back to his spot.
"Wow, a secret." Monokuma laughed. "Bet Takura confesses his secret love before he died. And speaking of dying…It's Punishment Time!"
The floor lowered beneath Takura as he was brought down.
"I've got a very special punishment for Takura Nozomi, the Ultimate Editor." Monokuma called out.
The blackened found himself in a small room. In front of him laid an assortment of manuscripts. A few Monokuma's entered, dresses in different attire. One by one, the bears handed more and more manuscripts as Takura checked off on them. The bears seemed to grow impatient as more and more papers appeared. The manuscripts were flung at the editor. A sharp sensation spread over the man as more and more cuts appeared. Finally, after being cut and bloodied all over, a final manuscript was approved as Takura fell forward in a bloody puddle on the desk. Takura Nozomi was no more.
"Man, talk about a killer deadline." Monokuma laughed. "Well, everyone can go to the mess hall. I've got a feast prepared for you. Just remember, time's almost up. This could be your very last meal."
As the remaining four ate their meals and left, Tomoki pondered what Takura had said to him. He entered his room and thought back on the words in their implications.
"I'm sorry for doing this." Takura had whispered. "The truth is I liked Mitsuba. She was a good person. However, these past couple of days thoughts have been swirling in my head. I'd wake up and feel the urge to kill. I don't know why I have this urge, but I know it's not natural. Please, use this. I feel it may help."
Tomoki thought hard. Why would Takura refuse a defense and vote for himself and yet do everything he did. Somehow, this didn't add up. As his eyes grew heavy and he drifted off to sleep, the pieces began to connect. A face appeared before him.
Yes, that face.
Tomoki fell asleep. Tomorrow was the day all would be revealed. Finally, this game would end.
Junko's legacy would live on.
The person collected their thoughts as they sat in the dark. The days of contemplation and despair were over.
Soon, yes soon, their game would take place. Sure, they had things to take care of and set up, but it would be worth it.
Class 77C of Hope's Peak would know what true despair felt like.