"Welcome one and all to the grand finale of our game." Monokuma announced. "As stated before, the rules here shall be different. During this trial, you'll determine both Tomoki Hana's killer and the mastermind. Oh, what a delight! To think it's possible that we have a three way standoff. Now then, onto our technical aspects. The proceedings will go forth as always, but once one culprit is solved, you must uncover the other. Should either answer be wrong, all but the mastermind will be executed. For the suspect to be chosen, two of you must vote on them. If all three people vote different people, a deadlock will occur and result in a Game Over for you. Now then, show we start?"

"Wait, this means we have three ways of dying, but only one way of living…" Sora let out.

"Oh, grow a pair. We're just in as dire straights as you." Aiyaka chastised. "Besides, why are you acting so frightened? Trying to throw us off your scent, eh mastermind?"

"What!?"

"OMG, you're so shaken. Finally losing your nerve?"

"Stop this, Aiyaka." Kirika interrupted. "What are you doing?"

"We gotta start somewhere. Didn't you do this sort of thing before too?"

"But her we need for be fully rational and clear headed." she sighed. "These tactics won't work. The mastermind's stayed hidden this long with practically no clues and the clues we did have died with Tomoki. If anything, we need to start with his murder."

"Wow, Kirika, you've really grown." Sora said astonished. "She's right, we need to start there."

"Fine, let's." Aiyaka surrendered. "So we know from the Monokuma Files of past that we'd be aided in our investigation. However, as if to up the difficulty, the bear left us high and dry. As such, I took the task of observing the body onto myself. Although I suspect you two did the same, I'll reiterate the details. It seems Mr. Formal had his throat slashed and bled out from there. The blood also seemed dried, likely implied it happened way earlier. And that's all I have."

"Most of this checks out." Sora stated. "Though you were wrong about one thing. Given how we split up, you would've been the first to check the body. However, when I checked it, some of the blood had yet to dry."

"Heh heh, good." chuckled Aiyaka. "I left out that detail to show you truly checked it. The blood seemed dried at first glance, but some was still wet. The killer would have no need to check the body for such a detail. So, where does that leave you, Kirika?"

"When I observed the body, I noticed that too. Although, I suspect you'll just believe I'm coasting off previous statements now."

"We'll let that slide for now." grinned Aiyaka.

"What of the murder weapon though?" questioned Kirika. " there wasn't one present at the scene and I was unable to find one."

"Same." Sora added. He observed as Aiyaka shrugged. "It seems the killer was thorough with their hiding of the evidence."

"Looks like all we can be sure of was that it was a blade." Kirika stayed. "With all the ones provided and the shape of the wound, it makes logical sense."

"Wait!" Sora interjected. "Given that we established the crime took place shortly before we got there, the culprit wouldn't have had much time to hide the weapon and rid it of any blood."

"Yeah…so, where is this going?" asked Aiyaka.

"I recall during my search that no weapon was present at the scene, so I checked where Monokuma had provided them."

"As did I." Aiyaka spoke up again.

"That's good." Sora nodded. "You see, during my search there, everything was accounted for. Aiyaka, how about you?"

"Mmm…yeah, nothing was outta place."

"And that's my point. If they used one of the provided weapons, there would be evidence that one was used as with the hammer from before. On the other hand, had the weapon been hidden, one would have been missing from the inventory. Henceforth, I believe whoever the culprit is, they used a weapon not provided by the game!"

"Okay, what exactly does this mean, Sora?" asked Kirika.

"Just think about it. Yesterday, Tomoki announced he was going to reveal the mastermind in the morning. Then he winds up dead from a weapon not from the game. As such-"

"The culprit appears to be the mastermind." Kirika let out.

"Duh, that seemed obvious." Aiyaka shrugged. "None of this clears anyone."

"But just who is the mastermind." Kirika mused.

Kirika thought deeply. Before her stood two of her surging classmates, two people who could turn out to be the culprit.

Aiyaka Tsukira, the Ultimate Influence

Sora Shironane, the Ultimate Cyclist

Everything had lead her up to this point. The eight who had died before, their deaths were ultimately on this person's hands. She thought back to them all. Taru, Suzuki, Ito, Takashi, Mitsuba, Takura, Tomoki…and Seiji, her beloved Seiji. This had to end here.

Whoever the mastermind, they'd gotten scared. What other reason would they have killed Tomoki for? He'd had all the clues, but surely she'd be able to piece it all together.

The announcements were automated, so the mastermind would have to control them somehow. The nights and times apart have them time to record, so they could be controlled at a button. Sure, they could be used from the room, but that didn't seemed to be the case. Meanwhile, if they had a remote, this would be no help.

Okay, how about the other rooms. The room with the pictures of Junko came to mind, but nothing stuck out there. Yet, the other hidden room seemed to be on the right track. The burnt body was a telling clue. With the star it was in, the identity wouldn't be confirmed from that. Kirika thought harder. What was near the body in the room that would help her out?

Yes, the metallic object!

Turning her thoughts to it, she recalled it look. While metal and skeletal in appearance, certain parts seemed electronic under the false skin-like material. Thoughts of the school life flooded back. She'd seen something similar before.

She thought harder when the answer delivered itself to her.

Genjiro's robots!

Yes, the Ultimate Roboticist has worked on some at Hope's Peak. However, since the outbreak of protesters and the Parade, he'd been one of the students who left for his safety. Since then, none of the others had seen him.

Then could that be…

She had to admit it and face the truth. Things seemed to point that the body had to be Genjiro. Though what was he doing here? Someone must have brought him there before the game. Given who he was close to school, Kirika was narrowed things down. She had developed a list.

1: The mastermind is either Aiyaka or Sora

2: The mastermind could control Monokuma from the group

3: The mastermind had the added knowledge from all the cameras

4: The mastermind had a connection with Genjiro

With all this info, Kirika at last knew the answer. The one who started it all, the one who engineered the entire event, that person was…

"It was you…Aiyaka Tsukira!" Kirika shouted, pointing at the accused.

"WH-WHAT!?" Aiyaka gasped. "What are you talking about, Kirika?"

"I realized several things during this trial and investigation. First off, the locker room in the basement contained a corpse…one that belonged to one Genjiro Taiga. Back at Hope's Peak, her always follow you more than anyone."

"Yeah, he had a massive crush on me. I mean, given my great body, why wou-wait a minute, how does that indicate me?"

"That's just one thing. Another deals with the mastermind having info others didn't. We didn't think it strange at the time, but looking back during Ito's murder, you arrived late. Yet, as you entered the room, one where you couldn't see the crime scene from the door, you knew Ito had been the one killed. During that time, you'd have no clue who it was until you got further in and saw the scene. Finally, during several instances, you seemed an expert on the rules and subtleties of the game, more so than everyone else. This may be coincidence, but I don't feel so with everything else adding up."

"Kirika…" Sora murmured.

"So, Aiyaka, let's do this an easy way. Would you mind showing us what you have on your person. And while you're at it, show us your e-handbook's content. I believe you'll have some incriminating evidence."

Aiyaka stood silently, looking down towards the ground.

"Aiyaka, say something…" Sora asked.

"Heh…"

"Heh, heh…"

"Heh, heh, heh…Wow, you totally got me." Aiyaka laughed. "Yup, I'm the one behind this all." She walked over to Monokuma and brought him with her to her podium.

"All this time and you bear-ly figured it out. Get it, bear-ly!" Aiyaka caused the black and white bear to speak.

"Why would you do this!?" Sora shouted.

"Why!?" Aiyaka spoke normally. "Simple really." As she talked, she began unraveling her bandaged arm. "You see, back at Hope's Peak, I was walking around one day when I met someone. In a way, you could say this all began there. Anyway, I believe one word sums it up the best. One simple word…" By this point, Aiyaka had unwrapped her arm, revealing it to be another having been stitch onto own upper arm. She brought it close to her face, kissing it before finishing her statement.

"Love. It all has to do with my undying love for my beloved soulmate, Junko."