Chapter 2 – Triple Triplets
Triple the murder, Triple the fun, Triple the suspects.
"Hanamura, get over to the old building quickly." Togami commanded. It was my mouth that said those words but that was not my voice. Everyone else sees me as Byakuya Togami but I am not really Byakuya Togami, as such I will refer to actions with his name. Unless an action performed is completely and utterly of my own free will and has nothing to do with Byakuya Togami, then I will use words such as 'I'. But in reality there is little 'I' or me that exists… right now I am impersonating Byakuya Togami of how he would act if his goals were to get everyone off this island. Whether that is my own desires I am still unsure. Or whether I really have desires of my own.
"B-But what ab-" Hanamura tried to say but Togami interrupted him.
"Make up your uneducated mind. Are you now claiming that you believe Monokuma?" Togami said. Of course Togami considered what Monokuma said and the possibility, it was all certainly possible. Unlikely… but it would explain issues such as how we got to this island. But what mattered now was keeping everyone together to remove the stupid idea of killing. It should be obvious that committing a murder and getting away with it is beyond their capabilities. No one will be able to escape like that… except Byakuya Togami. But I will not let that happen.
"N-No, of course not." Hanamura responded, trying to deceive himself. He does it decently well.
"Well then you have a large amount of dishes to serve. That is the only thing you're useful for."
"Of course, my food will bring the sexy back to this island."
"Hmph, I care not for your perverted reasons but get the job done." Togami ordered, his food will bring spirit back to the group. It would be a lie to say I wasn't looking forward to it, of course that it is not something Byakuya Togami would ever admit. Eventually we arrived at the old building entrance where Togami left two locked duralumin cases. They keys were safely in my pockets.
"Hanamura stand still with your arms out." Togami said.
"Ohoho, is this why you wanted me to get here early? So we can some sweeeeet time to touch each other?" Hanamura said as I quickly patted him down.
"You're clear, now get back to the kitchen and finish off your cooking." Togami ordered before pushing him off.
"It is now 10pm…" I heard the Monokuma night time announcement say, the others should be here soon. Komaeda arrives, I search him and he is clean.
"It's good your taking such precautions Togami." Komaeda commented.
"It is my job, now carry on." Togami said. Considering how willing Komaeda was to clean the building was slightly suspicious, Byakuya Togami would have thought it was because he knows his place. I however think he more reason… But I would have to study him more first, something was indeed suspicious about him.
Next came Tsuki who had the same results, no dangerous objects.
"That was um… weird." He said.
"Carry on." Byakuya Togami ordered and Tsuki listened. Odd boy, he is hiding something and does it well to the others. Of course no one can hide something that big from me, but it doesn't seem to be something of relevance for now. More importantly is why he offered to help clean this building even though he wasn't picked. I will have to keep my eye on him.
Sato walked in next. After reluctantly allowing me to body search her we deal the issue at hand.
"The arrows will have to go and you will need to unsling the bow." Togami ordered.
"That is quite the demanding offer." Sato said bitterly.
"Do you have any conditions then?" Togami asked.
"I get to keep a single arrow."
"Preposterous, then what was the point in me taking anything?" Togami said.
"It's incredibly rude to demand all of this Togami, I don't appreciate it." Sato warned, this was going to be rather difficult, she would just leave if Togami asked for too much. An exception can be made but then Togami must warn her on the implications, as long as everyone knows that the idea of murder is stupid then nothing bad will happen.
"Hmm, I suppose a singular arrow that is kept in your quiver can be arranged. But if any incident occurs I will need to see its condition."
"Are you say-" Sato started to say but I interrupted her.
"It will help prove your innocence if it hasn't been used. Don't make this more difficult than it needs to be."
"I don't like this, how do I know you aren't tricking me?" Sato said suspiciously.
"You have the honour of the Togami household." Togami said.
"That is enough for me… for now." Sato replied as she handed me the string from her bow and all her arrows par one. The words 'honour' echoed through my mind, in reality I had no right to use that word. But then again Byakuya Togami does, and right now, on this island, I am indeed Byakuya Togami, and Byakuya Togami has every right.
Afterwards came Sonia and Koizumi.
"Arms out, I need to body check you both." Togami said.
"Hey! You do know that she is a princess!?" Koizumi interfered.
"It is quite alright Mahiru, I have never been body checked before. I am very excited!" Sonia said to both our worry, but I hid mine. She raised her arms and I did a quick check, as expected, nothing.
"Head to the large room ahead and wait for the others to arrive." Togami said to Sonia, causing her to leave. As expected then she is oblivious to various seemingly normal things to commoners but she has inner strength.
"Arms up Koizumi."
"Hm!" She made a that pissed off girl noise that I could never perfectly imitate, perhaps I need to be one first.
"How heavy is that camera?" I asked.
"Not heavy enough to kill someone!" She said, which I believed.
"Clear, now move on."
"Hold on Togami! I want you to know that just because you're the leader doesn't mean you can treat us the way you want." Koizumi said… I was at a standstill. Byakuya Togami would have claimed he does have such right and will treat any of them the way he wants, I however, would claim it is in their best interests to avoid any killings. Perhaps I should hint to her.
"Very well, if anything bad happens that I overlook then I shall reconsider my role as leader." I said to her surprise.
"O-Oh, ok then." She said before leaving me. She seems to have important morals and follows them through, yet she succumbs to peer pressure as I saw before. She has the talents to be a leader but not the self-confidence. As expected my hint to her goes unquestioned.
Soda arrived afterwards and searched him to his reluctance.
"What is this?" Togami asked.
"Agh! W-Watch where you're putting your hand!"
"A wrench!" Togami said before pulling it out.
"Well yeah… I'm a mechanic, is that so weird?" Soda said as an excuse.
"Yes, an item like this is dangerous. Why were you trying to conceal!?"
"C-Conceal it? No, I was just carrying it around."
"In your pants?" Togami specified.
"Y-Yeah!" Soda replied… this wasn't out of miss-intent, just idiocy. Togami confiscated the wrench and locked it away.
"Hey I wasn't going to do anyt-" Soda tried to say but Togami interrupted with a harsh gaze and harsher voice.
"Get going, now!" Togami shouted before shoving Soda off.
Afterwards Saionji, Tsumiki and Nidai arrived in that order. No problems with the first two.
"I'm confiscating the chain around your neck." Togami said.
"But this chain is my pride and joy." Nidai argued.
"It is dangerous, give it to me. Now!" Togami said more aggressively causing Nidai to give in.
"Alright, but I expect it to be returned after." Nidai said leaving. I unlocked one of the cases, placed the chain inside then re-locked it.
"Yo, hurry up and search me Togami." Owari said as she entered, clearly she witnessed the previous event. I searched her quickly and she was clean.
"Just like bein' back at home." She commented before leaving. That implied a multitude of things, only a few of them had me worried though.
Next was Mioda, to Byakuya Togami. To me she is Ibuki. As expected, she was clear of anything. Following her was Pekoyama, who was clear of anything except for one problematic object.
"Kuzuryū will not be attending, I saw him walk off into the opposite direction." She informed me.
"I will deal with that later, for now that bamboo sword is a danger." Togami stated.
"I have no intention of using it." Pekoyama replied.
"I only have your word for that." Togami said. "But you aren't willing to leave it behind are you?" I asked.
"The way you phrased that makes it sound like you have already thought of a solution." She replied.
"Indeed, let me hold it." Togami ordered, Pekoyama listened reluctantly. The sword was sitting inside a finely made sword bag, I tied the top end of it shut in a special knot.
"This knot cannot be undone by anyone but me, bring it back to me after the party and I will undo it. If I find it has been forced open and there is an accident of some sorts you will be placed under suspicion. Am I clear?" Togami said.
"Yes."
"I am also aware that a weapon like that is lethal, even in its bag. However, I will inform you now that blood would stain the material quite permanently." Togami warned.
"Are you implying that I would-" Pekoyama tried to say but Togami didn't let her.
"No, merely making sure that stupid idea of murder is wiped from everyone's mind. Do not take it personally."
"Hm, is that all?" She asked.
"Yes, you may go now." I said and she did. Surprising she didn't fight back, I would have if Byakuya Togami said that to me. But perhaps since she didn't, that tells me something about her… but I can't be sure for now. Next came Nanami who almost fell asleep during the body search, which gave me the same concern as I did with Owari. Byakuya Togami still didn't care.
After this came Tanaka who made things more difficult.
"Do not touch me mortal, for you will wither and die before your finger even reach me!" Tanaka warned, I know the basis on how people like him think and work. Time for another hint, I raise the tone of a different voice, the voice of someone else, and speak back.
"I am immune to such trifling magic for I am the reincarnation of darkness." Kyouma said back. Tanaka looked at me in aghast and I used that moment to quickly body check him.
"Gah! You have destroyed my magic barrier! What sort of sorcerer are you?" He questioned, I may have gone too far.
"I am the mad scientist Hououin Kyouma! But this body is no longer worthy of my presence. I shall leave this mere mortal back to it, perhaps he has survived."
"Wh-What!? Do not try to layer me with false knowledge!"
"Do not speak a word of my presence or we shall never duel! Until we meet again Tanaka!" Kyouma announced before I switched voices back to Byakuya Togami.
"Hm? Did you say something Tanaka?"
"…" He looked at me in shock.
"Is there are problem? I agreed not to search you." Togami said, in reality Byakuya Togami did not search him. Hououin Kyouma did.
"Ah… you are lucky to be alive mortal, cherish your life for San-D foresees your inevitable death!" Tanaka said before leaving. The encounter reminded me how much I missed impersonating others who talk like Tanaka, perhaps if we get off this island I can do that once again.
Hmph, here I am fantasizing about spending time with people Byakuya Togami has just met under different names. But that has proven to me that I, whoever I really am, enjoys spending time with others. All it took was a life or death situation like this. Now there are still two people to show up, one of them I don't expect to.
Hinata then came into my sights. He was certainly an interesting one to the trained eye. At first he appears to be the most normal one here, likely because he is. But that specifically makes him unique, when trapped on an island with 17 other Ultimates the one who isn't becomes the special one. Of course we don't know his talent and thus I can't judge him, there are various explanations for this.
"Arms up Hinata, I need to perform a body search."
"O-Oh, ok." Hinata responded, almost as if he was expecting Togami to say that. Almost. As I thought he had nothing on him.
"Make your way to the large room ahead, you are the last expected to arrive." Togami said. As expected he enquired about the duralumin boxes, he is more observant then the others, likely because he is still worried about the situation we're in. I suppose I'll give him a large hint later, not that it matters. Unless you get the full explanation a hint will never be enough for people to understand my being.
A lot of the people here to indeed rival Byakuya Togami in how interesting they are. Once we're off this island I will have been able to know them all well enough to add to my roster of people to impersonate. That's why I'm currently out of character, while Byakuya Togami would see this situation we're in as just a 'game' to win, I look at the bigger picture. My whole life is just a game, switching between who I want and when I want and it is taking an interesting turn, instead of taking the easy way and perform a murder like Byakuya Togami would, I will take the hard way and beat Monokuma learn the truth of what has really happened. If the world has really been destroyed, then I need to find out who the traitor to impersonate then. I need to remind myself of something, I don't look down on everyone, after not having a real life I know the importance of everyone having a life here. I will keep them all alive, I will learn from each of them, I will discover their true natures and after all that and when we escape this island, I will go back to the shadows of impersonation.
After quickly looking at the office and kitchen, I opened the doors to the large room that the party was being held in, what I saw was not what I thought it would be like. This room was… miraculously clean. More so then I had expected, the walls were sparkly clean and even decorated with generic paint portraits. Inside the room was a few tables with large amounts of food on them. The floor was covered with a large carpet that covered most… no wait, it covers all of the floor. The windows were covered with metal, there was also an air-conditioner, a few plant pots and a lamp near the back. Almost everyone was here, aside from Kuzuryū and Togami.
"Hey Hinata, how'd you like it?" Komaeda asked me.
"It's pretty well done." I admitted… this room looked astounding.
"Well I wouldn't have been able to clean it to these standards without the help from Kettei." Komaeda said.
"Haha, it was nothing, more of a duo effort." Tsuki added on.
"Well I must admit you two did a pretty good job, this place looks amazing!" Koizumi praised.
"Where did you get the carpet from?" Nanami asked.
"From the supermarket." Tsuki answered. "Monomi showed me one with a specific size, as if it was made to fit this room and I brought here."
"Wait you carried that thing here by yourself?" I said in shock.
"I did, my talent lets me do stuff like that." Tsuki said… that didn't really make much sense. This talent of his was suspicious.
"Huh? A tiny guy like you managed to move this massive carpet?" Owari questioned.
"Haha, I guess it must be unbelievable for you guys, but you can ask Nagito or Hinata. They saw the basis of my talent." Tsuki explained, seemingly uncomfortable at the attention he was getting.
"I'll vouch for him, he cleaned this place pretty quickly and well despite his stature, more than I ever could." Komaeda said.
"Hey, you helped as well remember?" Tsuki reminded.
"Yeah but without an actual talent I couldn't do much compared to you."
"Well I relied on my talent to get this done, you genuinely worked hard Nagito."
"No, no! You've got it all wrong Kettei! It's because you work hard you have a talent like the Ultimate Determined!"
"Uh… they became pretty good friends didn't they?" Koizumi mentioned.
"Ugh, I feel like I'm going to be sick from listening to them two." Saionji said.
"Hey, you got room for a third wheel?" Hanamura asked… well actually it sounded more like he was begging.
The party hadn't even started and things already seemed to be going smoothly. When Togami came in we discussed a few issues and how to resolve them. Pekoyama offered to guard a duralumin box in the office while Nanami guards the entrance and tries to get information out of Monomi. We then had a dilemma where Togami eat a large amount of food before getting annoyed at the irons skewers that were used… iron skewers… iron… skewers. He later dragged me to the kitchen.
We spent some time getting rid of 'dangerous objects' such as kitchen knives. Togami then speaks to me on his past, that his sceptical nature has caused his life to be a living hell. He seems to have gone through a lot…
"That is all, now let us return to the party." Togami said before heading to the door.
"HOLD IT!" I suddenly blurted out without much reason.
"What is it?" Togami asked.
"We didn't check… um… the meat on the bone." I said.
"Hmm? The meat on the bone? It's uncooked and not ready to be served." Togami examined.
"E-Exactly! D-Don't touch it! If you want to touch something cold, I'm sure I can supply." Hanamura said in defence of his meat.
"We didn't check it out… the meat on the bone I mean." I said... although I didn't really know why.
"I suppose, move aside Hanamura." Togami ordered.
"B-But you're going to soil the meat… if you want to soil something please just ask." Hanamura said but Togami just walked over him to the meat.
"Why are you acting… don't tell me you did something to the meat?!" Togami deduced, Hanamura tried to stand in the way but Togami shoved him aside before holding the meat up.
"What the!?" Togami suddenly before pulling out part of the bone… attached to it was an iron skewer.
"I-It's not what it looks like!" Hanamura said in defence.
"Why… I can't believe you!" Togami shouted before grabbing Hanamura and dragging him out of the kitchen. I quickly followed him to the large room where everyone had gathered.
"Everyone listen up!" Togami shouted over the noise of everyone talking. He lifted Hanamura with one hand and the iron skewer with another. "This is why you do not attempt a murder like Hanamura has!"
"What?"
"R-Really?!"
"Why you!"
"I set up this party to tell you all of something." Togami announced. "To catch someone who was intending to kill. I want you all to know that the idea of murder is way out of your control! Do not think for a second that you can attempt a murder and get away with it!"
Everyone looked in shock at Hanamura and the disguised murder weapon, someone had literally made preparations for murder.
"I didn't mean tooooooooooo! Waaaah!" Hanamura had suddenly started screaming and sobbing.
"You didn't mean to?" Sato questioned, her voice had turned harsh. "The Iron Skewer has been deliberately masked to hide its true purpose. You clearly meant to!"
"N-N-NO! You don't understand… I um, er, it was, ah, um." Slowly Hanamura's words could barely be described as words.
"We'll listen you out later." Togami said.
"Is the food safe?" Koizumi asked in concern.
"I already tried it so it should be but I don't recommend you eat anymore."
"Well I already ate some and I feel fine so I'm just going to keep eating." Owari said before grabbing some food but Togami grabbed it from her hand.
"I said no… hold on. Where is Nidai!?" Togami asked.
"He went to the toilet." Komaeda answered.
"Hmph, I will gather him, Nanami and Pekoyama. Now that I caught the killer we have less to worry about, I still need to remind you all the futile idea of murder." Togami said. "Someone restrain this moron while I collect them."
"I will." Sato offered before grabbing Hanamura as if he was a toy. Togami then left the room… all eyes turned to Hanamura.
"How could you!?" Koizumi shouted at him.
"It wa' ma' faul'" Hanamura said as some sort of reply.
"Hey you can't just change your accent like that!" Soda said.
"I'll make him talk." Sato said as she dragged Hanamura to the wall before grabbing a single arrow from her quiver. She raised his collar and stabbed and arrow into it, pinning him to the wall, hanging for everyone to show. It wasn't enough to choke him but it must have hurt.
"I-Isn't that a bit harsh?" Koizumi asked.
"No way! This trash just tried to kill one of us!" Saionji retorted.
"Maybe we should ask him why?" I said but before anyone could respond…
Beep
The lights went out and the room went completely pitch black. Nothing was visible at all. Everyone started to panic and shout at once.
"Who turned the lights off?" A worried voice.
"I-I can't see!" Another worried voice.
"E-Everyone stay calm." A nervous voice.
"Stop moving and calm down!" An annoyed voice.
"Ughhh!" A pained voice.
"Arghh!" A shocked voice.
"Can someone let me down!?"
BANG
A harsh loud noise thundered through the room. It sounded like something large had fallen over. It was met with collective cries of shock and surprise but about a split second later…
CRAAAAAAAAAAAASH
Then an even larger noise hit my eardrums, just saying it was louder was an understatement. The noise devoured every other sound so that only it could be heard. It sounded like an avalanche of wood falling. I also felt the carpet slip under my feet… and then…
Click
The lights came back on, temporarily blinding me. Once my eyes adjusted I quickly scanned the room, everyone had a look shock mixed with fear. Tsumiki was also on the floor but there was something a lot more disturbing… a large hole in the corner of the room near me. I quickly looked inside, right there I saw a black haired boy and white haired boy on the floor. Pink blood had splattered all around them… Komaeda and Tsuki… were dead.
No, they weren't dead, that was an overreaction. No… it was arguably better than that but not that much better. They were struggling over a knife, wrestling to out match each other and grab it. And then they stopped, their eyes widened as they noticed who they were fighting.
"N-N-Nagito?" Tsuki stuttered. He pushed him away and backed off himself to the wooden pile of the floor and ripped carpet that used to be there.
"What is going on here?!" Togami shouted as he charged in the room, Pekoyama behind him, he took a look at Tsumiki on the floor, then at everyone else, then at me and the hole in the floor before running over at surprising speed. He took a look at Komaeda and Tsuki, both of them covered in blood and cuts with a knife in between them on the floor.
"What happened here!?" Togami roared, causing everyone to come over and see the scene before us.
"I was attacked in the dark… and started fighting back blindly." Tsuki said in defence.
"Huh? I was attacked!" Komaeda argued.
"What?!" Tsuki said in shock.
"Both of you get up here." Togami ordered. Tsuki was the first to listen, despite the large cut from his arm he walked up the debris of wood and jumped up to grab the floor we were on before pulling himself up. I could see Tsuki had a nasty gash on his right arm, with blood staining his once blue jacket into a much pinker one. Apart from his dirty bloody clothes he had bruises on the front of his face and a cut lip. Komaeda on the other hand was less swift and couldn't lift himself up the gap from under the floorboards and the actual floor we were on.
"Errr, some help?" Komaeda asked and Togami begrudgingly put out his hand lifted Komaeda out. Komaeda looked in better condition but his clothes were also stained by dust and partly bloodied.
"What the fuck happened to you two?" Kuzuryū asked. Wait… Kuzuryū?
"Kuzuryū? When did you get here?" I asked.
"I brought him here." Nanami said. "He came by to ask why I was at the door alone, we talked and he agreed to join us with the party."
"Not because I care about you all! I was just curious on what you were doing. Clearly not so well, Hanamura over there is being hanged and you two look like you were in a cage fight." Kuzuryū said.
"What exactly happened?" Togami questioned.
"I don't know." Tsuki replied. "I was stabbed in the arm when the lights went out-"
"Upupupu!" That dreadful voice said before appearing in the room. "While I hate failed murders I need to inform you all… isn't someone missing? Puhu…"
"Missing? Ibuki sees everyone here!" Mioda said but I saw differently, and so did Togami. There were the original party members here, Hanamura was pinned to the wall and Pekoyama had joined us with Togami after the blackout. Nanami and Kuzuryū came after that but someone had still to turn up.
"Nidai! Is he seriously still in the toilet?" Togami grumbled. "Pekoyama, I want you to restrain Komaeda, Hinata you restrain Tsuki and Sato take Hanamura off the damn wall and restrain him."
"R-Restrain? Is that really necessary?" Komaeda questioned but Pekoyama had already grabbed his arms.
"Probably, we both look like we tried to kill each other." Tsuki said to mine and others surprise. I noticed Sato had already restrained Hanamura… why did I have to restrain someone?! I walked awkwardly to Tsuki, he was injured! Surely I didn't need to restrain him… No, I had to. A murder was just an attempted, and its likely him or Komaeda who had done it.
"Hold on a moment." Tsuki said before grabbing a table cloth from the floor, he then bit the edge with his teeth.
Riiip
Part of the cloth ripped off and Tsuki tied it around his bleeding arm expertly.
"Y-You're going to need something more to cover that." Tsumiki said in a worried manner.
"That can wait, we need to find Nidai and make sure he's ok." Tsuki said dismissively.
"H-He isn't dead is he?" Soda asked out loud, a cold shiver went down my spine. Dead? Could he really be dead? Two attempted murders… and a death? No… that was too much.
"Let us get a move on." Togami said before heading out, slowly everyone followed him with a worried look. Leaving me and Tsuki behind.
"Erm Hinata, are you going to grab my arms or something?" Tsuki asked expectantly.
"Y-You're bleeding from the cut… I don't want to hurt you." I said.
"Wow… I misjudged you Hinata. Sorry." Tsuki apologized. "Even though I look like I may have just tried to murder Nagito you don't want to hurt me. Anyway don't worry about me, my talent lets me ignore stuff like this. And if you don't restrain me I might look suspicious, so please…" Tsuki said before walked in front of me with his hands behind his back. "Do it."
I grabbed his arms gently, trying to avoid the bloody parts. His logic was strange… did he not mind the pain or could he not feel it? What is this talent of his… it doesn't make any sense. Does he really want me to restrain him? No… we had more important matters, we had to make sure Nidai was ok. The way Monokuma spoke about him…
We headed over to the corridor where everyone had gathered.
Bang, Bang
"Coach Nekomaru! Open up!" Owari shouted as she pounded on the toiler door.
"I'll lock pick it, just give me a mo-" Togami tried to say but Owari was fired up.
"There's no time for that! Something happened to the old man!" Owari roared before lifting her leg and…
BAAAAANG
She kicked the door off its hinges and slowly it began to creak… it slowly started to fall down… revealing what inside. My blood went cold, no… this wasn't possible. I stopped an attempted murder… it shouldn't have gone like this! Why… right there, sitting on the toilet with his face tilted up and his eyes lifeless… was Nekomaru Nidai. The Ultimate team manager.
"A body has been discovered!" The body announcement started to play… even though I had never heard it before I felt like the words it contained would roll off my tongue.
"N-Nekomaru!" Owari shouted before grabbing Nidai's shirt with one hand and the other she…
*Slap*
…slapped Nida's cheek.
"Wake up!" She shouted.
"Is he… really dead?" Pekoyama questioned. Togami then walked up to Nidai and put his fingers to Nidai's neck.
"No pulse, he's dead." Togami commented
"No he isn't!" Owari shouted. "WAKE UP!"
"L-Let him be…" Koizumi said before togging slightly on Owari's shirt. She turned around with eyes full of rage and Koizumi back up.
"Who did it?!" Owari shouted at us all, we were all in shock. Two attempted murders and an actual death. Me and most others couldn't even muster a word, even Togami hadn't expected this.
"Calm down… we need to think this through rationally." Nanami said but Owari ignored her and turned the three most suspicious ones. Hanamura who had hidden that weapon, then there was both Komaeda and Tsuki who had each other's blood on them. Of course your first thoughts would be them but there had to be more to it… but Owari's thought process never got that far.
"One of you admit to it! NOW!" Owari threatened.
"Shouting isn't going to get anywhere." Sato said as she regained her composure.
"Indeed, we must perform a thorough investigation." Togami added on.
"Who cares? One of you three killed coach Nekomaru!" Owari shouted… She was overcome with rage and couldn't be reasoned with.
"Well if you aren't going to admit to it then I'm goin' to force ya! YAARGH!" Owari suddenly let out a battle cry and raised her fist. She was quicker than anyone had anticipated, she turned to Komaeda and let her fist fly. I was in such surprise I didn't realise that my grip had let go.
THUMP THUD
Her fist met flesh and two bodies went flying, one fell straight back while the other went sideways into the wall.
"Wh-What the?" Owari said in shock. Just before her fist connected to Komaeda Tsuki had pushed him out the way, taking the punch for him. And now he lay on the floor while Komaeda looked surprised as he leaned upon the wall.
"Did he really just push Komaeda out of the way?" Pekoyama asked in slight surprise but Tsuki was lying on the floor.
"I-I'll make sure he's ok, he might be unconscious after an impact like that." Tsumiki said worryingly before kneeling next to him but Tsuki's hand pushed down on the floor as he lifted himself up shakily.
"Ha… ha… you're going to have try harder than that… if you want to hurt my friend!" Tsuki said as he pointed a finger at Owari.
"Th-That's insane!" Soda said.
"Did you just try to kill him? Or him trying to kill you?" Kuzuryū asked him.
"I-I'm sure… there's a perfectly good explanation." Tsuki said, we all looked at him in surprise. "Anyway don't you all have an investigation to perform?" Tsuki said to avert everyone's gaze. A person had just been murdered.
"Exactly!" Monokuma agreed as he appeared. "Now after that vomit worthy display of magical rainbow friendship you all have a crime to investigate." Monokuma then went on to explain that we had a class trial to take part after an amount of time, which he didn't specify, had passed. Before that we all need to get investigating for our lives. He then told us that our E-Handbooks had details about victim, their name, time of death, location of death, cause of death and any other information. Of course most of us couldn't really believe it at first… investigating a murder of our classmate… done by our classmate. As Monokuma just stood there while the rest of the room went into a state in disbelief. People didn't want to take part in this madness, this Killing Game from hell. Nanami and Sato had tried to calm everyone down but it they were outmatched by the noise. Constant denial, shouting, pleads to go home…
"SILENCE!" Togami roared over everyone else. "You can all cry and ball over Nidai's death after the trial, for now our lives are on the line so we must investigate. Is that clear?"
We all looked to our oversized leader, he was making sense even if he said it harshly. Slowly we all nodded our heads and agreed.
"Good." Togami said, sort of satisfied. "We obviously have three suspects but this does not mean that are definitely the murderer. Tsumiki I want you to treat both Tsuki and Komaeda for their wounds, the more blood they drop the harder this is. Sato and Pekoyama, I want you to watch over them in case of any other fighting." Both Tsuki and Komaeda stayed silent at this.
"Agreed." Pekoyama said.
"Fine with me." Sato said.
"There was a first aid kit at the hotel restaurant, go take them over there. The rest of us will investigate." Togami ordered before Sato grabbed Komaeda rather roughly while Pekoyama put her hand over Tsuki's arm in a soft but firm manner. The group of five, including Tsumiki, left the building.
"As for the rest of you, I will pair you up to investigate." Togami said.
"Pair up?" I questioned.
"This is to avoid the murderer destroying any evidence, by having someone around them this will become very difficult and risky." Togami explained.
"And what if the conspirer had a familiar to assist them?" Tanaka asked.
"Nope! No way! Not at all!" Monokuma announced as he appeared again. "No familiar, no accomplice, no help this time! After all, only one person can get off this island alive."
"How can we believe you? You must have murdered her!" Soda accused.
"Like the words of Monomi, 'that's a big nono!' One of you bits of boloney killed her." Monokuma said. "Now get investigating before times runs out! No more hints from me! But just so you know, after a body discovery announcement, no one is allowed to kill anyone until the trial or they end up dead! So you're all safe until then…" And with that he left.
"Everyone pair up and get investigating. I'll watch over Hanamura and interrogate him later." Togami said.
"I-Interrogate?" Hanamura gasped.
"Get going." Togami ordered…
Pair up and investigate a murder? Are we even qualified to do such a thing?
"Hajime are you going to investigate?" Nanami… or I guess Chiaki asked me.
"Oh… yeah I am."
"Do you want to pair up?" She asked me. I looked around to see that a lot of people had already paired up and gone off, probably wager to get away from the dead body. Unless I wanted to get Soda or Kuzuryū, I should accept.
"Sure, are you going to be ok investigating?"
"Yeah… I've played a lot of detective games." She said… I hope she wasn't treating this like a game. But for now I had to focus on the investigation, the lives of all of us hang on this.
Investigation Start
Case 1
P.O.V: Hajime Hinata
Assistant: Chiaki Nanami
Victim: Nekomaru Nidai
FYI: The investigation and trial will stick to one P.O.V and thus that person will be innocent. But the investigator will change for each murder so the difference between how people investigate can be seen. Assistants will generally just give small comments on evidence and points of interest. Truth bullets will automatically update without notification… depending on the investigator.
"Ok I'll start with Monokuma File then." I said before looking at it.
Monokuma File #4019
Name: Nekomaru Nida
Time of death: Around 11:30pm.
Location of Death: The toilet room in the abandoned building.
Cause of Death: Poisoning due to a liquid substance known as 'Monoquinine' causing paralysis to the nervous system. The victim died within 15minutes of indigestion of a small amount of poison that was contained within a food object.
General Information: Nekomaru died before he got to take his pants off and take a precious shit, such Despair! Upupupupu!
"Unbelievable." I said out loud after reading it through. Even in the Monokuma File he was unbearable.
"Hmm, do you know what Monoquinine is?" Nanami asked.
"Some sort of poison but I've never heard of it before. Maybe we should ask Tsumiki later. But first we need to investigate… Nidai's body." I said. In response Chiaki just silently nodded her head.
Truth Bullet
Monokuma File
Location: Unisex bathroom
I look at the scene in detail, the door lay on the floor inside the room. Kicked off its hinges by Owari. Sitting on the toilet was Nidai, like you normally would but he was slightly slumped… because he was dead. He had food stains on his shirt while lay on the floor. Apart from that there wasn't too much here. I started off with the body… there was Nidai's lifeless body. I strengthened my resolve and patted down his clothes for anything of value.
"Nothing." I said. No clue or anything like they do in the movies, no mysterious note pointing to the killer. Gah, what was I hoping for? I turned my attention to the stain on his shirt, it was a brown meaty stain from the food, still fresh. The cause of the stain was on the floor, it appeared to be a generic chicken leg you see in cartoons.
Truth Bullet
Nekomaru's body state
"Is there something wrong with the chicken?" Chiaki asked me.
"I think so, but I'm worried about getting poisoned. This thing could have been it right? The 'murder weapon'."
"Don't worry about that!" Monokuma shouted from behind my back. "In the rare case of poisoning, after the murder has been performed I will deactivate any forms of poison."
"What does that mean?" I asked. Deactivate?
"It means anything poisonous won't kill you unless you eat it!" Monokuma informed before disappearing again.
"I think it's safe… just be careful." Chiaki told me. Slowly I grabbed the bone of the chicken and lifted it up.
"Chiaki look, there aren't any bites on it."
"Yeah, and there isn't any sauce on it either." She replied. So… this can't be the murder weapon then?
Truth Bullet
Uneaten chicken leg
I put the meat back on the floor and then head out…
"Hajime wait, maybe there's something with the door?" Chiaki told me. The door…? It was possible, I asked Chiaki to move then lifted it up and placed it against the wall. There was nothing strange about it apart from the fact that the lock had broken.
"So the door was locked which is why Owari kicked it down?" Chiaki asked me.
"Yeah." I confirmed.
Truth Bullet
Locked door
After the examination I left the room to encounter Kuzuryū and Soda in the hallway.
"Hey Kuzuryū, when did you get here?" I asked.
"What? You suspecting me?" Kuzuryū said.
"No it's just that… you kinda appeared out of nowhere."
"Hey, I can't believe I got pinned with this killer while that creep Tanaka stole Miss Sonia!" Soda commented.
"Peh, I'm used to being untrusted. Well it's like Nanami said, I came by and agreed to join you all in this dumb party." Kuzuryū said. That seemed pretty suspicious, why would suddenly join us now after declaring that he wouldn't? It seemed out of character.
"He's right." Chiaki said. "When we opened the door, the hallway was dark but after a moment the lights switched back. Then we joined everyone else."
"Did anything happen before that?"
"Nothing with me, I saw no one outside." Kuzuryū said.
"I talked to Monomi for a bit until Kuzuryū scared her off." Chiaki said.
So that means both Chiaki and Kuzuryū were outside the old building during the blackout and they entered together as soon as the lights came back on.
Truth Bullet
Fuyuhiko's & Chiaki's account
"Ok thanks." I said before heading away.
"Hey! Didn't you have anything to ask to me?" Soda asked.
"Well, did you fix the lights Soda?" I asked.
"No… I couldn't find my way around in the black out."
"Anything to comment on?" I asked.
"Well… I didn't see anything bu-" Soda tried to say but Kuzuryū interrupted.
"So you were useless."
"No I wasn't!" Soda argued. Me and Nanami left them to their bickering and headed to the main room where the party had been hosted.
Location: Party Room
The once clean room was now mostly a mess, mainly because of the hole in the floor at the far back right corner room. A table had fallen down it with part of the carpet that had ripped off. What on earth had happened in here during the blackout? How had the floor collapsed and how did Tsuki and Komaeda end up inside it? Koizumi and Saionji were looking equally confused.
"What a shame, after so much work that was put into making this place look amazing." Koizumi said.
"Yeah, those idiots shouldn't have cleaned so hard if they were just going to get their own blood everywhere." Saionji said.
"Hmm, it is odd isn't it?" Chiaki said, joining in the conversation. "I'm not sure what happened during the blackout because I wasn't here… but it looks like one of them attacked the other."
"But who attacked who?" I asked. "And with what? Togami body checked everyone and the duralumin case should be locked…"
"Does it matter? We need to find out who killed Nidai, not why those two idiots trying to kill each other." Saionji said.
"Puhuhuhu! Yes, it does!" Monokuma said. "In the rare occurrence of an attempted murder that goes wrong, you must figure out how and why. After all the killer put a lot of hard work into it."
"But." I tried to argue but Monokuma wouldn't let me.
"Keep your butts to yourself! I'm not interested in them… also I'm giving you extra time for this so you better solve it! You have to figure out what happened in the dark with Kettei and Nagito, the kitchen with Teruteru and finally poor Nekomaru… Oh boy, that's a lot of work! See ya!" And he left…
"I can't believe it…" Koizumi said slowly. "We had two attempted murders and an actual death… did everyone really want to get out of here? I can't believe Komaeda and Tsuki were laughing together before the blackout and afterwards were fighting to kill each other."
"Well we don't know the intention yet." Chiaki countered. "If one of them were attacked in the dark then it's likely the other was just trying to defend themselves… I think."
Truth Bullet
Murder attempt in the blackout
"Koizumi, did you happen to take any pictures?" I asked.
"I did, but it was while you and Togami were in the kitchen with Hanamura. And since you all came back after that and showed Hanamura's hidden weapon everyone obviously moved around… Would that be a clue?" She responded.
"We can't be sure… but we should try and gather what we can for now." Chiaki said. "If you show me the photo we can figure out where everyone was at that time."
"Okay, here take a look." Koizumi said and beckoned Nanami to look at her digital camera. I tried to approach but… "Hey go do something useful Hinata!"
"Like what?" I asked.
"You can investigate the hole in the floor, Tsuki or Komaeda may have left something there as well." Chiaki said.
"Saionji can you watch him to make sure he doesn't hide anything?" Koizumi asked.
"If I see you hiding anything then I'll stab you with it!" Saionji threatened.
"I-I wasn't planning of do anything of the sorts." I said in defence… but it was no use. I turned to the hole in the floor, it wasn't too deep, about the height of the floor to my neck. It was big enough so that one of the tables could have fallen down. I carefully let myself down and checked out the wreck. There were pieces of wood from the floorboards strewn across the floor with the table broken over it. Why had the floor collapsed? Was this building not as safe as we thought?
Truth Bullet
Floor collapse
Splatters of fresh blood was visible on the fallen pieces of wood… ugh. Nidai's body didn't have any blood, which is what it had made it hard to believe he was dead. But there was indeed pink blood here, not too much… but still.
Truth Bullet
Fresh blood under floorboards
I looked at the table, it had split in two from the impact… no, that didn't make sense. It wasn't that weak, it would need more force to break open.
Truth Bullet
Broken Table
Hmm? There was tape attached under the table in a special greenish colour. It stood out and looked like it had something stuck to it before.
Truth Bullet
Green Tape
Something else should be here… there it is. The knife I saw both Tsuki and Komaeda fighting over was between them… I had no idea who struck who first. The knife was small but was stained with blood… fresh blood. Probably Tsuki's or Komaeda's. A thought suddenly struck me… I put the knife next to tape… it looked like it would fit perfectly. I'm pretty sure this was attached… meaning that this knife was stuck under the table beforehand. But how did it get here?
Truth Bullet
Bloody Knife
I turned my attention to my surroundings. There was a tiny gab between the ground and the floorboard, I could walk through here slightly bent over. For some reason the floor had green paint on it, in the shape of a line, leading from somewhere deeper. The paint matched the one on the tape… is this glow in the dark paint? It certainly does that; I can see the green line that travels under the floor clearly, even though it was much darker down there.
"Hey Saionji, there's a green trail down here." I called.
"Ew! I'm not going down there!" She responded.
"Well I want to explore it but you won't be able to see me if I go deeper." I said. Ugh if only I could investigate by myself… this would be a lot easier.
"That is very suspicious." Koizumi said as her and Chiaki's face looked down at me.
"Well can you finish the picture Koizumi? I'll go investigate this with Hajime." Chiaki offered.
"Hajime, huh? Hinata what are you trying to get out of taking Nanami here down a dark place under the floorboards!? I can't believe you!" Koizumi said.
"I didn't mean it like that! Really!" I tried to defend myself but Koizumi's glare didn't avert. I never even suggested it.
"Hm! I'll go down there instead; Nanami can you finish the picture instead?" Koizumi said. Before Chiaki could say anything Koizumi slowly made her way down here. "Don't just stand there! Get moving!" Damn when she's fired up she's completely different.
"Okay I'm going." I said before following the green paint, clearly Koizumi had no intention of staying near the small bits of blood.
"What is this? Why would someone paint a line down here?" Koizumi asked.
"I don't know, but this is too suspicious to have with these murder attempts. It has to be related to one of them at least."
"You don't know? I thought you've been investigating!"
"I have, I've collect a decent amount of evidence." I responded. It got slightly darker as we walked deeper but luckily the small amount of light from the hole in the floor showed us the way… Hmm, now that I think about it, it would be pitch black without that hole. The carpet completely covers all the bits of light above… if there wasn't a hole it would be pitch black.
Truth Bullet
Darkness under the floorboards
"Well, have you figured out who… killed Nidai?" Koizumi asked uncomfortably.
"I… have no idea."
"What!? But what about all that evidence?"
"I have a faint idea about… nothing. I think I have evidence from three different cases… so really I have nothing." I admitted.
"Gah! You're sooo useless!" Koizumi shouted at me. "But I guess this is a lot for amateurs like us… well that rules out you being the Ultimate Detective or something equally smart."
"Hey, I'm trying!" I said in my defence. Eventually we reach the end of the green line, there was a small step ladder here.
"Look at this, doesn't it seem out of place?" Koizumi asked, she was holding a white sheet that was placed on top of the dusty boxes.
"What do you mean?" I asked, there was a bunch of old random stuff here.
"It's not dusty you idiot. Compare it to everything around here and you'll see." Koizumi said, she was right. It stood out, while the white sheet looked like it had a tiny but of dust, the boxes had a thick layer.
"So it was put here recently, this has to be connected." I said.
"Look, someone cut a hole out… doesn't this seem like a head hole and arm holes?" Koizumi said before shoving it at me. "Put it on!"
I complied to her forcefulness and put it on. It looked it like it was made to be put on.
Truth Bullet
White sheet
"I'll remember that, now where does this lead to?" I asked before walking up and pushing at the part on top. "I think this is a trapdoor or something… but something is on top of it."
"Then push harder!" Koizumi ordered. What am I, a slave? A pushed harder, worried she would shout at me again.
Creaaaak
And then it opened up. "Yeah!" I said in relief before making my way up. "Huh? This is… the storage room!?"
"It is… *Cough* god this place is dusty."
"So this leads to the storage room… ok I'm getting something." I looked around, there was a bunch of towels and stuff that fell on the floor, presumably they were on top of the trapdoor. So it was covered.
Truth Bullet
Trapdoor
Truth Bullet
Green paint
"Hinata! Look at the white sheets here, they're perfectly folded."
"So why was that other one moved and cut into…?"
After looking around some more I couldn't find anything and decided to leave.
"Wait! I think… I found something." Koizumi said. "Look at the irons… they were switched on recently."
I turned my attention to it and waved my hand near it, it was indeed exuding heat as if it was turned on recently.
"So someone had turned these on… and just left them here until the blackout turned them off." I deduced.
"Yeah but something is strange… there's no water around here." Koizumi said.
"Water? Why would there be water?"
"Jeeez, you've never ironed your clothes before have you Hinata!?"
"No… my mom does it." I admitted. I had never had a problem with that before but when I said it to Koizumi I felt like she was judging me poorly because of it.
"Well when you leave an iron standing up like this it usually leaks water. You would know that if you've ever ironed before! But look around… there is no water." Koizumi lectured.
"And there is no water here or signs of it… hmm…" I tried to think as to what that meant… and I started to 'hm' like Chiaki. Luckily this went unnoticed by Koizumi.
"Well it probably doesn't mean anything…" Koizumi dismissed.
"No it definitely means something."
"Are you sure…? I'm not much for thinking about these things…" She said. Was that self-confidence issues? In Koizumi? I would have never noticed that myself if it wasn't for the fact that I was feeling similar since I forgot my talent. It kept gnawing at me, as if I was close to remembering but also distant. I put all the thoughts aside and focused on the investigation.
Truth Bullet
Heated irons
"Ok let's go, there's still more I need to investigate." I said to distract us both.
"Yeah." She agreed, we headed back over to the party room and exchanged partners and basic information. Chiaki showed me the hand draw picture of everyone position while Togami, I and Hanamura were in the kitchen. Something peaked my interest, both Tsuki and Komaeda were near the table with the lamp on it. They were probably talking, considering how much they were beforehand.
Truth Bullet
Hand drawn picture
There was still more in this room I had to look at. First though, I had a thought and grabbed the bloody knife I left before, there was something I wanted to check out later. After Chiaki pulled me back up to the floor…
"Hajime, there's a small dent in the wall." She pointed at the wall.
"Yeah, Sato hung Hanamura by an arrow there after we revealed his intentions with the iron skewer." I forgot to write that down… I think Togami still has it.
Truth Bullet
Concealed iron skewer
"How long was he hung there for?" Chiaki asked me.
"Before the blackout… until after the black out. That doesn't count as an alibi though since this was a poisoning."
"Yeah… but it's an alibi for him during the blackout. I think this shows he wasn't involved in the blackout attack."
"I suppose." I said. How did Sato get this arrow from here?
Truth Bullet
Hung by an arrow
"Ok that's everything here, we still need to check out the kitchen, office and talk to Komaeda and Tsuki." I said, man there was a lot to do and we didn't know what amount of time we had left.
"What about the air conditioner? I saw Togami looking at it while you were gone."
"The air… OH!" With a sudden epiphany I rushed over to it and remembered the 'Beep' sound before the lights went off. The air-conditioner was set to go off at 11:30, similar to the time of the murder. "Chiaki, there was an air-conditioned in the office, let's check it out." I say before heading there, she was a bit behind me.
Location: Office
The office contained three important items of objects, the duralumin case that Pekoyama guarded. The AC, similar to the other one. And finally the circuit breaker. Akane and Ibuki were also hanging out here, busy 'investigating'. I checked the AC, as I thought it was set to 11:30… but now what?
"Who and why did this?" Chiaki asked me.
"I don't know."
"Well I think it might have been Tsuki or Komaeda, they were in here the most. We should ask them later."
"Yeah." I agreed.
Truth bullet
AC times
"Hey Ibuki… do you remember what happened during the blackout?" I asked.
"Ibuki suu-uuure does Hajime! But you're too late! Ibuki has already told Byakuya everything." Mioda responded.
"Can you tell us?" I asked.
"Ok… Ibuki is a pro at this now. A lot of people were talking at the same time but this is what Ibuki heard. Now listen up…"
"Who turned the lights off?" Akane asked.
"I-I can't see!" Ibuki said cutely.
"E-Everyone stay calm." Mahiru said.
"Stop moving and calm down!" Sato commanded.
"Ugh!" Nagito shouted.
"Arghh!" Kettei screamed.
"Can someone let me down!?" Teruteru begged.
BANG
Togami figured out this was the table that fell on the floor, but as it did, then the floor began to fall.
CRAAAAAAAAAASH
And that was the floor falling and with it fell poor Kettei and Nagito.
Truth Bullet
Ibuki's account
"Hmm." Chiaki was in thought.
"I get part of it but…" I had some answers… but not all of them. I really need to get Tsuki's and Komaeda's accounts. "Thank you Ibuki." I then turned my attention to the circuit breaker, it was really high up.
"How did Pekoyama restart the switch?" Chiaki asked.
"Dunno." Owari said. "I was jumpin' up before, trying to reach it but couldn't. Then Togami came in to investigate and he told me that Pekoyama had done it."
"That's right." I realised. "During the blackout, Nidai was supposed to be in the toilet. Chiaki was outside, probably talking to Kuzuryū. Pekoyama was in this room with the circuit breaker. Togami had just left the party room to gather them… "But how did Pekoyama do it?"
"I can show you all!" Monokuma said as he appeared. "All I gotta do is stretch my body and reach for it!"
"Ew, that sounds like, totally gross!" Ibuki said.
"Aww, let me do it this time! I mean I can stretch suuuper far."
"Stop it." I said.
"No! Not this time! Did you know I can even stretch something else... something special. I stretch it suuuuuuper far and reach even that circuit breaker with it."
"T-T-That's gross!" Ibuki shouted.
"Comon Hajime, I know you want to see it."
"Go away!" I said to Monokuma.
"Fine! Screw you all!" Monokuma said before disappearing again.
"So we don't know how Pekoyama reached the circuit breaker…" I said sadly.
"She's a ninja!" Owari suddenly shouted. "I just remembered something that had been buggin' me and it was something people with swords can do. They lean their sword against the wall and step on the hilt. Amazing isn't it!?" In fact, I felt like I had heard that before.
"Wow. That's pretty cool." Nanami said with her mild shock. Could Pekoyama had been able to do that in the dark? Well if she was guarding the room, she could have remembered where it was and blindly figured it out. She was a sword master… but I would need to confirm what she did.
Truth Bullet
circuit breaker
It didn't appear that the duralumin case was here… Togami must have taken it.
"Hey Owari, I need to ask. Did you know Nidai before all this?" Chiaki asked.
"Huh? No I didn't… but you know, I felt like I did. Like I really did know him… but I don't know anymore. My gut is telling me I did but I don't remember at all. But I go with my gut no matter what!"
A familiar feeling… I can't shrug it off. Something bigger is happening here… but I need to keep focused on the investigation. "Thanks… we need to get back to investigating. Chiaki are you alright with us heading to the kitchen?"
"Sure."
Location: Kitchen
The kitchen… what were we going to find here? Me and Togami had searched through this place pretty well… but what if there was poisoning on the food? We wouldn't have been able to see that at all, but smuggling poison sure would have been difficult with the body search. And where would they have disposed of the vial? You can't litter and there aren't any bins in here. It appeared Sonia and Tanaka was in the room and talking.
"Ah, hello Hinata and Nanami. How is your investigation going?" Sonia greeted.
"Difficult." I said. "We came here to look for any clues…"
"You won't find anything!" Tanaka said. "Me and my maiden of ice here have searched from the depth of pandemonium to the high heavens of which mortal life itself is unable to reach."
"So there is nothing that looks like a glass of poison?" Chiaki asked, clearly we had the same thought.
"I am very sorry, but there is nothing of the sorts. We checked every bottle but it appeared to be just normal condiments." Sonia explained… of course. I knew there was little reason to look here but I may as well find out information that I can get out of these two. I still needed to find out what had Nidai been doing? He had been gone since I got back from the kitchen search with Togami.
Truth Bullet
Kitchen search
"Do any of you know how Nidai might have gotten poisoned?" I asked.
"Well the Monokuma Files said it was liquid poison… so I was worried it could have been in the drinks we all had." Sonia explained. "But we are all alive so I dismissed that."
"What about food, who ate the food Hanamura cooked?" I asked.
"Togami stuffed his face…" Tanaka said in a disgusted manner.
"I believe Pekoyama took food with her… Owari also ate some of the food. And so did Nidai, he took some food with him to the bathroom… that was everyone who ate the food. It was ashamed to have such nice food go to waste." Sonia said.
Truth Bullet
Food consumption
"But how was he poisoned then?" I muttered out loud. There was another 15-minute window after eating poisoned food, and the Monokuma File specified it was in some sort of food. What food was here at the party? The food cooked by Hanamura… was it really him though? Had he really planned two different attempts at murder? What about the ability to smuggle food? Could that had happened…? A knife had already been smuggled through… of course I was denying a potential possibility. It could have been Togami, then it would be easy to smuggle a knife and food… but how would he relate to the knife attack between Tsuki and Komaeda? I can't make any theory right now… too many questions for anything. I needed to go to the source of all this. Komaeda and Tsuki, the once friends, the two that had tried to kill each other, Tsuki and Komaeda…
"Hajime we should hurry up. I think we're running out of time." Chiaki reminded me.
"Yeah, let's hurry up." I then turned around and headed for the door but…
"Ah, please wait Hinata." Sonia called. "Did we… ever meet before this?"
"What?" I asked in surprise… this again? What is going on… no I don't have time for this. All of our lives depend on this trial, and I, Hajime Hinata… have no idea on what the hell happened tonight! Dammit! "We gotta go, we can talk about this later Sonia."
Location: Hotel, lower floor
We entered the hotel to find Sato clutching Komaeda's shirt and pinning him to the wall.
"Spill it out!" She said to him aggressively, very aggressively.
"S-Sato?" I called nervously. She turned around and dropped Komaeda who was still smiling somehow…
"Here for your investigation?" She asked us.
"Yeah… isn't Tsuki, Tsumiki and Pekoyama supposed to be with you?" I asked.
"Togami wanted Tsumiki to produce a Wound Examination." Sato explained.
"Is that like an autopsy for alive people?" Chiaki asked.
"I think so, Komaeda had one done earlier." Sato confirmed.
"Ok well we'll question Komaeda quickly then before heading over to them." I said. "Komaeda we need answers." I said sternly.
"Hinata… how nice it is for you to visit me. Is your investigation going well? You're going to prove my innocence right?" Komaeda said creepily.
"How can you be so sure about that?" I asked.
"Well I wasn't able to investigate because of these circumstances… so my life is in your hands." Komaeda said… why is handing his life like that?! No… no time for this. The trial was coming soon, I could feel it coming… and Monokuma said it was coming when me and Chiaki were heading over here.
"Komaeda, did you smuggle anything before the party?" I asked.
"No." That was all he said…but of course how was I supposed to know he wasn't lying?
"Can you explain what happened when the lights switched off?" Chiaki asked.
"Well… everyone started shouting but then I felt someone punch me. I tried to run but then I was tackled into the table which fell over… and then the floor crashed down. But even after that I felt hands on myself so I tried to stop the fight until the lights switched back on. Then you know what happened from there.
Truth Bullet?
Nagito's account?
"Ok that's all, now Sato I need to ask you something. How did you get the arrow past Togami?" I asked.
"We made a deal that I was allowed to keep it, you can ask him about it." Sato said.
"Chiaki do you have anything to ask?" I asked.
"Did you clean the storage room Komaeda?" She asked.
"No, Kettei said it wasn't worth cleaning. We focused on the main room." Komaeda replied.
"That's all… can you point us to where Tsuki, Pekoyama and Tsumiki were?"
"Check Tsumiki's cottage, they should be done with the Wound Examination." Sato answered so me and Chiaki turned around headed for the exit but then Sato grabbed hold of my shoulder whispered in my ear.
"Hinata, I found small bits of broken glass in Komaeda's pocket, he doesn't know how it got there. Also I'm not sure who it is but Komaeda or Tsuki is lying about something, I think both of them. I don't know what it is or how it's related but be on your guard." And with that Sato let me go and shoved me to the exit… is that what Sato was trying to get Komaeda to talk about before?
Truth Bullet
Broken glass
"5-Minutes left…" Monokuma haunted as we ran past him.
Location: Tsumiki's cottage
After knocking on her door rather hurriedly, Pekoyama opened it up and let us in.
"Tsuki, we need to ask you questions, now." I said quickly. It looked like his right arm had been wrapped up in bandages.
"Ask away." Tsuki offered.
"Did you smuggle anything before the party?"
"No, I didn't see anything like that at all."
"What happened when the lights cut out?" I asked.
"Everyone was shouting loudly, then I felt a flare of pain in my arm." He pointed at it… "I was struck first there, in retaliation I turned and grabbed the arm of my attacker. He struggled back so I tried to pin him to the floor but… well I think we ended up fall on the table. Then the floor collapsed ending up in a whole lot of pain… but I was worried I was going to get attacked again so I tried to feel out for my attacker again, that's how we ended up wrestling when the lights came back on."
Truth Bullet?
Kettei's account?
"Okay…" I said as I gathered my thoughts.
"Why was the storage room not cleaned?" Chiaki asked.
"Komaeda said we should focus on the main room because no one would be in that dirty." Tsuki said in direct contrast to Komaeda.
"Tsumiki, did you write up the Wound Examination report?" I asked.
"Y-Yes I did… I made multiple copies as well… i-is that ok?" Tsumiki said.
"That's fine, can I see it?" I asked and she handed it me. I quickly skimmed it, looking at the most important bits.
Wound Examination – Nagito Komaeda
Large bruises on his back, likely from a drop in height. Has splinters from the floor boards in his skin.
Wound Examination – Kettei Tsuki
Large cut in his right arm due to a thin blade. No permanent damage as it's only a flesh wound but a descent amount of blood was lost due to this. Has bruising on his left arm, likely from a drop in height.
Truth Bullet
Wound Examinations
"Tsumiki." I said as I brought out the bloody blade out of my pocket. "Does this knife match the cut on Tsuki's arm?"
"Y-Yes… it is the right length and width… I think you can assume it is." Tsumiki replied.
"One more question, Pekoyama did you activate the circuit breaker by yourself?" I asked.
"Yes, I was in the office the whole time. After the blackout it took a while but I was able to get my bearings and reset it. At the same time Togami came in the office with the same intentions but he was too late."
Truth Bullet
Pekoyama's account
"So? Do you think I did it?" Tsuki asked.
"Did what? There are three separate cases to solve." I replied.
"Yes but Monokuma told us something… he said the reason all of them had to be solved was because they were all connected." Tsuki explained. "He also mentioned something else about Monoquinine when Pekoyama asked about it."
"What is it?" Chiaki asked.
"I-It's a 'bear made' poison that kills within 15-minutes of consumption." Tsumiki explained. "H-However it doesn't spread very well…" Pekoyama then continued for her.
"Only a small amount of it was available, it was hidden until a student found it. Once the poison is poured it sinks deep into the material, I assume meat, but doesn't spread along it very well so all of it is consumed within one bite. It is also colourless and tasteless… making it a deadly weapon. 'Monoquinine'." Pekoyama explained fully.
Truth Bullet
Monoquinine
"Ding Dong, Bing Bong. Ok, times up folk! We got ourselves a triple murder on our hands, meaning that's triple the fun! But only one dead body… how disappointing, but then again I can't just have you all die at once… there would be no fun that! Now everyone get over to the new Monokuma Rock!" The announcement ordered… slowly I headed over to face our class trial.
I started to panic… what was I going to do? I hadn't even been able to talk to Togami or Hanamura… I tried to think about what to do… go through the evidence… think it all through…
Ammunition and brief description:
· Monokuma File
Nekomaru died of poisoning from Monoquinine with 15-minutes at around 11:30. Died in the bathroom.
· Nekomaru's body state
Nekomaru was sitting on the toilet dead with his pants up.
· Uneaten chicken leg
Nekomaru brought this to the bathroom but didn't eat it at all.
· Locked door
The door to the bathroom was locked on the inside
· Fuyuhiko's and Chiaki's account
They both were talking outside the building during the blackout and entered as the it finished.
· Murder Attempt in the blackout
Both Kettei and Nagito were thought to be fighting in the blackout… however who attacked first is unsure.
· Floor collapse
Part of the floor collapsed in the corner of the room during the blackout, ripping part of carpet with it. A table had fallen inside with Kettei and Nagito as well.
· Blood under the floorboards
Fresh blood was found under the floorboards, likely belonging to Kettei who had an open wound at the time.
· Broken table
A table had fallen down and was split in two from a heavier force.
· Green tape
Stuck under the table that fell, had the knife attached to it beforehand. The tape was coated in green paint.
· Bloody knife
Fresh blood, likely belonging to Kettei, was found on this. Matches his wound and was planted beforehand.
· Darkness under the floorboards
Without the hole in the floor, it would be pitch black due to the carpet on the floor above.
· White sheet
Had holes cut inside it, with the intentions of being worn. Found underneath the trapdoor.
· Trapdoor
Connects the storage room to underneath the floorboards.
· Green paint
Glow in the dark paint that was leading from the trapdoor to the origin point of the hole in the floor
· Heated irons
Irons that were switched on before the blackout, but for some reason didn't leak water.
· Hand drawn picture
Er… I forgot what was on this. But the only students near the hole sight was Kettei and Nagito. Picture was taken before Teruteru was accused to be concealing a weapon.
· Concealed iron skewer
Hidden in the meat on the bone by Teruteru. Found by me and Byakuya.
· Hung by an arrow
Teruteru was hung by an arrow from before the blackout to after the blackout, he was unable to move during this time.
· AC times
The air-conditioners were both set for 11:30pm, the time of the murder.
· Ibuki's account.
A memory of who said what during the blackout.
· Circuit breaker
Reset by Pekoyama during the blackout.
· Kitchen search
Me and Byakuya found no other suspicious items in the kitchen, neither did Sonia and Gundham.
· Food Consumption
Byakuya, Peko, Akane and Nekomaru ate food.
· Nagito's account?
Claims to be struck first before running away but getting tackled.
· Kettei's account?
Claims to be stabbed first before pinning his attacker in the table. After the floor broke he tried to make sure his attacker didn't strike again by pinning him.
· Broken glass
Sato found small pieces of broken glass in Nagito's pocket which he couldn't explain.
· Wound Examinations
Details explaining both Nagito's and Kettei's wounds.
· Peko's account
Reset the breaker during the blackout, Byakuya came in during that.
· Monoquinine
Small amounts of poison that kills with 15-minutes. Tasteless, colourless and doesn't spread very well but is absorbable.
That was everything… my head hurt from it. This was a lot to bear… but I had a slight miniscule idea of what happened, and all my hopes laid upon it. I looked at Monokuma rock, it was a giant rock Monokuma was facing away from us and into the ocean. Stairs had appeared leading into its… ass. That's where our class trial would be held? I hate that bear so much.
This first part was short for a reason, I wanted to hurry things along so the story could go in a new direction where I don't keep directly taking moments from the game. In my opinion the first two chapters are probably going to be the crappiest ones so to make up with it I hinted at the (whole new) bigger plot line and released the prologue with this chapter as well.
This murder was going to be crappy as well but I decided to spice it up with a lot of mysteries when I got some inspiration… I wonder if you can figure out what had happened? I don't really expect anyone to exactly what happened as not all the evidence was revealed but you might have an idea of what was supposed to happen with the 'crashing floor'.
The next few chapters after the trial will be longer with both daily and deadly life. I also added a short prologue before first chapter to hint at the bigger story. To those of you who got the various different references to different things, (mainly other games) hope you found them funny… more on the way. Any review is appreciated, thanks to all the follows/fav/reviews so far.
