A/N: Here's Chapter Five Deadly Life Part Four. Please read, review, and enjoy!
Danganronpa 4: Next Generation Killing!
Chapter Five: United We Stand, Divided We Fall!
Deadly Life Part Four: Denial!
Monokuma cleared his throat. "Now then, since this is the final class trial, let's begin with a basic explanation. During the trial, you'll present your arguments for who the culprit is, and vote for whodunnit. Vote correctly, and only the blackened will be punished. The rest of you can graduate into the outside world and bring the corpse formerly known as Kiki Naegi with you, thanks to Miss Maid's…humble request."
Shuichi gritted his teeth, barely holding back his incensed growl. He took a deep breath through his nose, keeping the others in the dark about his bubbling fury.
"But if you picked the wrong person…I'll punish everyone besides the blackened, and that person will graduate from Kibou University!" Monokuma grinned, raising a fisted paw into the air. "Alright, smiles, everyone! Show me a Class Trial that'll knock my paws off!"
"At least we won't have to hear you talk anymore after this…" Sokyu muttered, causing Monokuma to hang his head and sigh.
"…Just like fine art, I'm totally unappreciated by kids these days…"
"Let's just move on and discuss the case, shall we?" Kirumi suggested. "We cannot afford to let ourselves get distracted by Monokuma's antics."
"That's all well and good, but…" Tsumugi tilted her head and furrowed her brow in confusion. "…Where should we even start?"
"Well, someone needs to offer some direction." Ryoma muttered.
"Now that you mention it…I think it was always Kiki who gave our debates a sense of direction…" Keebo admitted.
"Yeah…Gonta not sure how to proceed without her…"
I was afraid of this… Shuichi realized Without Kiki, we're all lost. We…really have grown to rely on her…but we need to move forward to find her killer and bring them to justice. So, if nobody else is going to do it, I'll have to. Well, here goes… "…Perhaps we could start by trying to narrow down our list of suspects?"
"Perhaps a logical place to start would be figuring out who had an opportunity to kill her." Keebo suggested.
"Let's see…" Ryoma mused. "According to the Monokuma File, Kiki died around 12:30 in the morning."
"That would be…during nighttime, right?" Tsumugi recalled. "We should have all been asleep at that time."
"Then any of us could have snuck out of our rooms and killed her." Kirumi commented. "We need more information."
"Yeah." Ryoma nodded. "Just goin' off her time of death, it could have been any of us-"
"…Maybe…it's none of us."
"…What?" Shuichi exclaimed as everyone turned towards Gonta.
"Sorry…" Gonta rubbed the back of his head, averting his gaze. "But Gonta was just thinking…maybe…none of us are the culprit."
"But if none of us are the culprit, then who could have killed Kiki?" Ryoma questioned.
"Gonta…doesn't know…but…" Gonta took a deep breath, gathering the courage to look the other participants in the eyes. Narrowing his own, he insisted "…But Gonta can't believe that friends would kill Kiki!"
"Ano…I agree…" Tsumugi hesitantly concurred. "Kiki was always so nice to us…I can't imagine what she might have done to offend anyone, never mind enough to make them want to kill her."
"The bug geek and the otaku have a point." Sokyu agreed. "She even gave me the time of day, and I could tell she treated you all like family. It's kinda hard to believe that one of you guys would kill her."
"I understand how you all feel, but we need to at least consider the possibility." Keebo advised. "As much as it pains me to admit it, it's imperative that we use logic and evidence to narrow down suspects, rather than blind faith."
"I agree with Keebo." Kirumi nodded. "If we want to ensure that Kiki's murder doesn't go unpunished, we need to do our due diligence and investigate every possibility, no matter how painful it might be to suspect one another."
"Despair will never die!"
Startled by Monokuma's outburst, everyone turned to see the bear giggling on his throne. Shuichi felt a sense of dread tingle down his spine as he deduced what was about to come.
"Wow! A Debate Scrum right off the bat?! That's a new record! Good, good! This is already more entertaining! Now, Kibou University is proud to present its very own morphenomenal trial grounds!"
As Shuichi watched Monokuma fish out his key, he thought with sympathetic eyes I can't blame Gonta, Tsumugi, or Sokyu for believing that none of us killed Kiki. I don't want to believe it either. It'd be so nice…if they were right, and this trial would just end like that.
Shuichi gripped the rail of the podium and shook his head. He narrowed his eyes, steeling his determination for the painful argument ahead.
But I promised Kiki and Kaede I wouldn't run away from the truth anymore. That means they can't run away either! I have to convince them that there's still a possibility one of us killed her! We have to discuss it properly, or Kiki won't be able to rest in peace!
*Click*
"How could they be so stupid?!" Kiri groaned, clutching her head in frustration.
"Yeah!" Koto exclaimed. "Who else could have gotten into the school?!"
"They're either in denial…or one of them is the culprit trying to throw suspicion off themselves." Mokubo concluded.
"Well, it's certain that at least two of them are in denial." Maki agreed.
"Still…" Makoto hesitantly defended "I can hardly blame them. I didn't want to believe Sayaka or Hina planned what they did all those years ago. But eventually, we had to face the truth."
Kyoko frowned sympathetically, resting her hand on her husband's shoulder. "But you found the truth, in spite of your reluctance." She gestured towards the TV. "All we can do now is hope that Shuichi can convince them to discuss the possibility that they might have to suspect each other."
Debate Scrum Split Opinion: Was Kiki killed by a third party?
It's Possible! Gonta, Tsumugi, Sokyu
It's Not Possible! Shuichi, Kirumi, Ryoma, K1-B0
"Gonta cannot believe that friends killed Kiki!"
Shuichi's eyes softened, hesitant to rebut Gonta as he shook his head. "I don't want to believe one of us killed Kiki either, but…"
"Kiki was such a sweetheart!" Tsumugi interjected. "Why would anyone have wanted to kill her?"
"Perhaps what they truly wanted was to escape." Ryoma argued.
"Perhaps someone was able to hack their way through the door and sneak in the school." Sokyu hypothesized.
Keebo shook his head. "That is impossible. Monokuma already said after I tried to hack the door that it was unhackable."
"Maybe there's some seventeenth student we haven't known about all this time!" Tsumugi exclaimed.
"But there are only sixteen bedrooms. Where would this seventeenth student be all this time?" Kirumi inquired.
"Gonta doesn't know, but Kiki wouldn't want us to suspect each other!" Gonta objected.
"How're we gonna get justice for Kiki if we don't suspect each other?" Ryoma prodded.
"Why are you so opposed to the suspect not being one of us?" Tsumugi demanded.
"Because the rules of our confinement don't support the hypothesis that Kiki's killer isn't one of us." Shuichi answered calmly before he narrowed his eyes.
The two sides' eyes met in a fierce clash. They felt they collective wills push each other back and forth, neither side giving an inch. Eventually, Gonta, Sokyu, and Tsumugi's collective stubbornness weakened, giving Shuichi, Kirumi, Ryoma, and Keebo the chance to point their fingers at their opposing team and bring the argument to an end with four simple, yet powerful words.
"THIS IS OUR ANSWER!"
"We won't be able to move this case forward if we don't suspect each other!" Shuichi argued once their podiums shifted back into position.
He turned his head, looking up at Kiki's portrait again. Sorrow bled into his voice as he turned back to the other survivors and spoke.
"Kiki didn't want to suspect any of us during the previous Class Trials, but she did it anyway because she knew it was the only way for us to survive and get justice for the victims who already died." His eyes narrowed in determination and scolding. "For everything she's done for us, we owe it to Kiki Naegi to fight as hard for the truth as she did! We won't be honoring her memory by going in circles to avoid the issue. We have to discuss this!"
Gonta's lip quivered, his eyes lowered in shame. "…Sorry, Shuichi. Gonta…idiot…"
"Hey now…I didn't want to believe it either…" Tsumugi consoled. "I'm just as guilty of being in denial as you were."
"…So…beautiful…"
Everyone turned towards the source of the sniffling. Shuichi glared at Monokuma, who seemed to be blowing his nose into a tissue and dabbing his eyes.
"Let's just ignore Monokuma." Sokyu sighed. "It's obvious he's just taunting us."
"Let us move on, now that we've made the reluctant decision to consider everyone as suspects for the time being. Perhaps we should start by discussing the location where Kiki was killed." Kirumi suggested.
Where Kiki was killed… Shuichi mused. It wasn't the 2nd Floor, nor was it the 3rd Floor. It wasn't the 4th Floor…That's It! "You're referring to the 1st Floor, right, Kirumi."
"That is where we found her body." Ryoma commented. "So it's likely she was killed there, too."
"Okay, we know she was likely killed on the 1st Floor, but where does that get us?" Sokyu questioned. "We still don't know anything about how she was killed."
"Do you think the culprit left behind some evidence at the crime scene?" Tsumugi inquired. "Maybe they forgot to clean everything up when they were done, you know, like Teruaki did?"
"That is a possibility…" Keebo nodded. "Very well, let us discuss the scene of the crime. Perhaps we'll be able to find something the culprit left behind."
"Yeah, let's give it a try." We're finally moving on track. But we have to keep moving forward in our search for the truth and figure out what the murder weapon was!
Shuichi's thoughts were interrupted by Sokyu's repeated question. "So, we all agree that Kiki was killed on the 1st Floor, but where does that get us?"
"We can start with the cause of death." Ryoma suggested. "According to the Monokuma File, it was…"
"…Cranial Trauma." Keebo answered. "She bled out from cranial trauma."
"So either she hit her head on something…" Kirumi mused. "Or someone hit her…"
"I agree!" Shuichi exclaimed. "There's a possibility that Kiki was hit over the head with something."
"Makes sense…but what could they have hit her with?" Ryoma wondered.
"Did they use a metal bat?" Tsumugi wondered. "Or maybe a dumbbell?!"
"Ah, no. Neither of those things were found anywhere near the crime scene." Shuichi informed the cosplayer.
"If that is the case, then what could the culprit have used to induce cranial trauma?" Kirumi pursed her lips, deep in concentration.
What did the culprit probably use to hit Kiki over the head?
Shuichi hummed, sifting through all the evidence he had gathered during the investigation. At last, he recalled the bloody tool found in the vicinity of Kiki's body.
This is it! "Not too far from Kiki's body, I discovered a wrench."
"A wrench?" Tsumugi wondered. "Is there a Warp Pipe to the Mushroom Kingdom hidden inside the school? Did the plumber who grows from eating mushrooms leave it behind?"
Everyone sweatdropped at Tsumugi. "Anyway…" Ryoma suggested "Let's focus on the wrench. Where could the culprit have gotten it?"
"It's possible that it could have come from the warehouse." Kirumi hypothesized. "There are a wide variety of tools available that the culprit could have just picked up."
"Anywhere else they could have gotten a wrench?" Sokyu inquired.
"…Well…" Everyone turned towards Keebo, a hesitant grimace on his face. "…There is…one other possibility I can think of…"
Shuichi raised an eyebrow. "What is it, Keebo?"
"Well…it's just that…I gave Kiki a wrench the other day."
"What?!"
"You gave Kiki a wrench?" Kirumi inquired.
"Y-Yes…" Keebo stammered. "She helped me out with something yesterday, so I gave her an old wrench I had in my possession as an expression of gratitude."
"Ahahahaha!" Everyone turned towards Monokuma, who laughed, "What kind of moron gives a girl a wrench?! You might as well have given her a dagger. Both are equally lame, and I've seen some lame gifts given in my day!"
"What possessed you to give her a wrench, anyway?" Ryoma asked.
"She…she was feeling frustrated that she couldn't do anything to help our current situation, so I gave her my old wrench and suggested that using it to fix things around the school could take her mind off her stress."
"That's the lamest excuse I've ever heard." Sokyu spat.
"Well, why else would I have given her a…" Keebo froze, the gears finally turning in his head. "Wait…you don't think I killed her with it, did you?!"
"You could have easily taken it from her and used that story to craft an alibi."
"It…does seem plausible…" Kirumi admitted before Keebo's podium dragged to the center of the circle.
"Hold on a second!" Keebo waved his hands in a panic.
"Well, any last words, Keebo?" Ryoma challenged.
"HOLD ON A SECOND!"
"I…have a hard time believing that Keebo is capable of murder." Makoto commented with a skeptical brow.
"Indeed." Kyoko nodded. "Considering he snuck into Hope's Peak just to learn, I don't think he's even capable of malice."
"Which means he's being framed." Mokubo concluded.
"But if he's not the culprit, then who stole the wrench from Kiki?" Koto wondered.
"Yeah, who else could've used it to hit Kiki over the head?" Kiri demanded.
"It's not completely proven that the wrench was the murder weapon yet." Maki reminded them. "Just keep watching, and you'll see if Keebo really did kill your sister."
The others tensed up at the rather blunt reminder that Kiki was still gone. Silently kicking herself, Maki averted her eyes apologetically back towards the TV screen. Once they had recomposed themselves, they followed her gaze and watched Keebo defend himself.
"Just hold on a second!" Keebo objected.
"It's obvious you killed her with the wrench." Sokyu countered.
"You were the one to give it to her." Tsumugi reminded him. "You could have used it to set up an alibi."
"But that's not what happened!" Keebo argued. "I didn't even see that wrench after I gave it to her!"
"Was the wrench the only murder weapon at the crime scene?" Gonta wondered. "Are there other possible weapons the culprit could have hit Kiki with?"
"I told you, it's not the murder weapon!" Keebo insisted. "Why would I tell you about it if I wanted to get away with killing her with it? Wouldn't it make me the obvious suspect?!"
"But it's the only thing at the crime scene with blood on it." Ryoma countered. "It's easy to see how it played out. You stole it back from her, snuck up from behind, and caved her head in with the edge of the wrench!"
"That's wrong!" Shuichi narrowed his eyes, pointing at Ryoma. "It wouldn't have been possible for Kiki to be hit with the side of the wrench…because only the tips were coated in blood."
"Only the tips?" Ryoma's eyebrows raised in surprise.
"That's right. If she had been hit with the side of the wrench, blood would have splattered all over the head. But the blood on the tips seems to be evenly coated on the tips."
"If she was attacked with the wrench, then based on the blood coatings…they would have had to stab her head, not swing the blunt side into her cranium." Kirumi realized.
Shuichi nodded. "That's right, and there's one more piece of evidence that disproves the theory that Kiki was killed with the wrench." Shuichi rewound his memory, filing through his memories of the investigation. This is it! "When Kirumi inspected Kiki's body, she told me that there were no puncture wounds on Kiki's head."
"No puncture wounds?" Tsumugi tilted her head in confusion.
"That is correct." Kirumi nodded. "Her head wound was indicative of blunt force trauma, but there was nothing to indicate her head had been directly pierced by a sharp object."
"That makes it highly unlikely that the wrench was the murder weapon." Shuichi deduced. "Which means it's also highly unlikely that Keebo could have killed her!"
Keebo sighed in relief as his podium pulled back towards the center. "Thank you, Shuichi, for proving my innocence."
"Ah, it was nothing."
Ryoma shuffled his feet, averting his gaze. "Sorry for accusing you, Keebo. Guess I still have a ways to go…"
"No, it's okay. I understood why I seemed suspicious, given the circumstances."
Ryoma nodded in gratitude while Shuichi thought, It's good that Keebo's in the clear, but we can't celebrate just yet. All we know now is that Keebo didn't kill Kiki with the wrench and that the wrench was likely a red herring. But we still have a lot of questions to answer before we can determine the truth of Kiki's murder. We have to stay focused, or her killer will get away…and there's no way I'm going to let that happen!
The twins let out a sigh of relief while Makoto smiled. "I knew Keebo couldn't have killed her."
Maki nodded. "So we can cut Keebo out of the list of suspects."
"That leaves…Gonta, Tsumugi, Kirumi, Ryoma, and Sokyu, assuming we're also cutting Shuichi from the suspect list."
"Well, duh!" Kiri exclaimed. "Of course we're cutting Shuichi from the suspect list!"
"Yeah!" Koto emphatically agreed. "There's no way we're suspecting Shuichi!"
"While I'm also skeptical of the possibility that Shuichi's the culprit, we can't completely rule it out. After all…none of us thought that Gonta would try to get everyone killed by making himself look like the blackened." The twins winced at their mother's reminder from the prior case. Her eyes softening, Kyoko assured them "I'm not saying this to make you suspicious of Shuichi. I just…want you to be prepared for an unpleasant outcome."
They reluctantly nodded, steeling themselves as they and everyone else turned their attention back to the TV. One thing everyone understood, however, was that no matter how this case turned out, nothing could make the outcome a happy one.