Location: Kitchen Time: 6:00 pm

Everyone stopped at the words Togami spoke. Someone's dead?! That's impossible! I couldn't believe it. Everyone first looked at each other, then back at Togami.

Leon yelled, "Hey, what the hell?! Don't play like that!"

Togami shot, "Who said I was playing?"

Asahina argued, "No way! No one would kill anyone here!"

Togami looked in Asahina's direction, "And how can you be so sure about that? In your mind, you think no one would be driven to kill, but that's not how the others see it."

Fukawa stuttered, "It's t-true... I fainted at the sight of the b-blood..."

"Who then?!" I yelled with adrenaline pulsing through my veins.

Togami smirked, "Why not go see for yourself?"

Just as I was about to run out the door, the corner of my eye caught Naegi. He was shaking like a leaf in the wind. "Naegi? What's-" I started, but he darted out the room.

He screamed, "Please don't let it be you!"

"Naegi!" I called, but he didn't stop. I turned to everyone else, "Find the others who are missing. Yamada and Maizuno are missing at the moment, so hurry!" I ordered. Everyone except Togami nodded and we streamed out of the cafeteria. I darted out the dorm area trying to catch up with Naegi.

After getting to the AV room, I heard Naegi whale a blood curling scream. Please don't be what I think it is... I thought. I slowly opened the door and I couldn't believe my eyes.

Naegi was hovering over a corpse. That is... the corpse of Maizuno. She had a stab wound through her abdominal area and her neck seemed to be broken. Also, gold paint was all around her legs and arms. Naegi wailed, "Nooo! Why Maizuno!?"

I felt so sorry for Naegi, not being able to bear his wails of despair. I went over to him to rub his back. Before I could say anything, the school bells rang. Naegi and I looked over to monitor on the wall.

It flickered a little and then turned into Monokuma holding the same glass of wine. Monokuma announced, "We gotta corpse here! Everyone who is alive make their way to the gym. The Class Trials are underwaaay!" With that, the screen went back to its normal state; showing Hope's Peaks emblem.

I cursed under my breath and turned to look back at Naegi.

His face had turned from despair to anger. He whispered, "I'm going to kill you..." He then got up and walked out the AV room; leaving me there with Maizuno.

I leaned over to Maizuno, whispering a little prayer for her. Then I ran out the AV room to go to the Gym. Monokuma, you won't get away with this, mark my words! I swore.

After arriving in the Gym, I saw that everyone was already here. Naegi was off to the side shaking in anger.

"I see you made it..." a voice spoke. I turned to see Kirigiri was walking in as well. "So, you saw the corpse as well?" Kirigiri asked.

"Unfortunately..." I mumbled.

Kirigiri placed her hand on my shoulder and look into my eyes. She said, "Hey, don't beat yourself up about this. It's not your fault."

"Yeah, but-" I started, but she cut me off.

She sternly said, "You couldn't have done anything. It's not your fault." I couldn't bring myself to argue anymore, so Kirigiri let go of me.

Then all attention went to the front of the Gym, where Monokuma popped up landing on the stage. Monokuma greeted, "Hello Chumps! Finally, a killing!"

Naegi roared, "You son of a-!" He charged at Monokuma, but I was able to grab his arm. He looked back glaring at me. He growled, "Let me go!"

"Naegi, think for a moment. Remember when I did that, it didn't end to well. Don't throw your life away!" I reasoned.

Naegi exhaled deeply and took a step back. He nodded and I took my hand off his arm.

Monokuma taunted, "Aww, is Naegi angry? Did I hurt your feelings? TO BAD!"

Togami shot, "Why did you call us here, anyway?"

Monokuma cleared his throat, "Oh yeah, that. Anyway, as you all know someone has died. The corpse belongs to Maizuno! Upupupu... I'm so excited!"

Asahina asked, "Wait... quick question. If there is a dead body... wouldn't that mean the murderer can walk out of here?"

Monokuma posed, "Well if it were that easy, then nearly half of you could escape! We don't want that now, do we? Besides, you all are forgetting a very important something..."

"You're... talking about rule #6?" I asked slowly.

Monokuma clapped, "And bingo was his name-mo! Yep, that's it! You guys have to find out which one of you are the 'blackened' or, if you wish to call it, the 'villain'. You find out who that is... Well, you'll see! Upupupu!"

Leon yelled, "How the hell are we supposed to do that?!"

Fujusaki stammered, "Y-yeah, we don't even know what to do..."

Monokuma raised his paws, "Calm down, just look at your Electro ID's I gave you."

I turned on my ID, and a pop up message came up. Clicking it, a black and red folder with Monokuma's face appeared on screen:

Acquired Truth Blade: Monokuma File 1. Truth Blade? What's that supposed to be used for? I thought.

Monokuma must have read my mind. He jumped into explanation, "You each got something with 'Truth' in front of it, correct? It varies with everyone, since your talents are all different. These are a type of evidence for when you guys are in the class trials. Everyone ready? My suggestion is to go investigate the crime scene! Upupu... let's begin!" With that said, Monokuma disappeared from sight.

Starring at the screen of my Electro ID, I felt my adrenaline running like crazy. Investigate... a murder... I thought. I turned to face the crowd and found out Kirigiri, Naegi, Jade, and Togami had already left. "Hey Sakura... are you going to go investigate to?" I asked.

She shook her head, "No, sadly, I fear I would only get in the way. I'll look over the crime scene to make sure the culprit doesn't try to get rid of any evidence. I'll see if anyone else will accompany me."

"Seems like a good idea. Hopefully we can point out the villain... but I don't want to at the same time." I said to myself.

Sakura agreed, "You're right. I wouldn't want to be the one pointing the finger. However, one must enter the tiger's den to continue down the path..."

"Well put. Alright, I guess I'll see you at the crime scene." I said before running toward the AV room.

Sakura called, "We shall and Godspeed."

I opened the doors leading into the AV room. The smell of blood and death rang through my head. Shaking my head of the horrible scent, I went to investigating. First, I decided to read the Monokuma File #1 to see what it was:

Victim: Sayaka Maizuno

Time of Death: Somewhere from 3: 00 pm to 5: 00 pm

Cause of Death: _

Other Notes: The victim has suffered trauma to her neck, arms, and legs. Her right arm is severely broken, while her left is merely bruised. Her legs are in the same condition as her left arm. The victim also seems to have a stab wound in her abdominal area.

I read the Monokuma File #1 over again to make sure I didn't miss anything. I found it a little odd though that the cause of death wouldn't be in the file. I mean if Monokuma was watching wouldn't have known the cause of death? Or... did he do that on purpose? I thought to myself. I then read the Monokuma File #1 one last time. From what the file says, Maizuno had severely damaged limbs, right? I went over to the body to investigate. At first I hesitated. I mean, it was still Maizuno... I felt rather odd examining her, even if she was dead. Come on Ace, snap out of it. You have to. I thought to myself. I then looked at her right arm, which was in my opinion the biggest thing that stood out. Her sleeve was torn and her arm bent at the forearm. It was pretty graphic and it almost made me sick.

Truth Blade Acquired: Maizuno's Right Arm

I then went to look at the other limbs of Maizuno, which also seemed damaged. However, I noticed that there were black and blue marks on her left arm and legs. Another thing I realized was that was that the marks were all the same, not different sizes or shapes. Weird, why are the marks the same? And why are they only on Maizuno's left arm and legs? I thought. As I was looking, I also saw the stab wound that was in her abdominal area. Streaks of dried blood ran down Maizuno's shirt.

Truth Blade Acquired: Maizuno's Limbs

Maizuno's Bruises

Maizuno's Stab Wound

I then got up noticing someone had entered the room. It was Sakura, Oowada, and Kirigiri walking in. Sakura nodded to me. Oowada and her went to sit in one of the desks in the AV room keeping a close eye on the crime scene. Kirigiri then went to the floor examining it. She seemed to be looking at every square inch of the floor.

What is she doing? I asked myself. That's when I went over to Kirigiri. "Uh, Kirigiri? What are you doing?" I asked.

Kirigiri answered with another question, "Well, what is one thing that is weird about the room?"

Weird? What the heck is she talking about? I asked myself. I then looked at the floor, expecting the answer to pop up. Then I did discover something that was odd about the room. I looked at Maizuno's hair, which was hanging off to a side. Then I looked at the ground where it was clean.

Kirigiri smiled, "It seems as if you were able to decipher the answer... if the murder occurred here, then why is there no strand of hair on the ground?"

Truth Blade Acquired: Condition of AV Room Floor

"That is odd... maybe the killer picked up after himself?" I suggested.

Kirigiri nodded, "That's probably what happened, but something else is bothering me as well," she walked over to Maizuno's body and took a closer look at her abdominal area, "If she was stabbed, then wouldn't it the area behind her be drowned in blood?"

I looked at the floor around Maizuno, and I noticed that Kirigiri was right. The floor around her was clean as well.

Truth Blade Acquired: Area around Maizuno's Corpse

Kirigiri suddenly got up, "So, I think we can be sure of 2 things..."

"And these 2 things are?" I asked a little lost.

Kirigiri turned to me, "That Maizuno wasn't killed in the AV room and that the stab wound was post-mortem, so to say, after she was dead."

"But if she wasn't killed here, then where was she killed?" I asked.

Kirigiri shook her head, "I can't say... Honestly, she could have been killed anywhere. But I do have a hunch..." Kirigiri then walked out of the AV room, kind of leaving me hanging.

Frowning, I looked around the AV room one last time. As I did, I notice another thing unusual about the crime scene. How did the killer get Maizuno in the AV room if she wasn't killed in here? I mean, People were still walking around the halls during that time, right? Then, the answer came to me. There was something shinning in the corner of the room. I went over to investigate the object and I found it. It was a poorly hidden trolley with a blanket stack on it. The shiny stuff on the trolley was none other than... blood. It was in between some of the blankets. So, that's how the killer did it? He hid the body in between a pair of blankets? That must have been a risky move...

Truth Blade Acquired: Bloody Trolley

Then I noticed something about the trolley. You can only find the trolley's like this... in the Storage Room! I saw this exact trolley the day I found Naegi inside the Storage Room looking for plates! I thought triumphantly. So, maybe that's what Kirigiri meant by what she said... Ok, I think that's about it for the crime scene... As I was about to leave, I bumped into Naegi on the way out.

"Oh, sorry Naegi..." I apologized.

He sighed, "It's not a problem... Anyway, I still can't believe this all happened..."

"I know what you mean... no one wanted Maizuno to..." I started, but I didn't want to finish the sentence.

He clutched his fists, "If only I had gone to her sooner..."

"What? What are you talking about?" I asked confused.

He looked to me, "We had agreed to meet up a little before dinner, but I was helping Asahina try to find a way out of here from the Gym and first floor of the school building, but by the time we had finished it was time for Dinner, so we headed back to the cafeteria..."

"So... you were with Asahina the whole time?" I asked.

He nodded, "Yeah, from about 3: 35 to dinner time"

Truth Blade Acquired: Naegi's Testimony

I had better talk to Asahina and make sure that the time frame and everything matches up with Naegi's. I then waved goodbye to Naegi and dashed off to the Storage Room.

When I got there, Kirigiri was just exiting the storage room. She asked, "So, you saw the trolley in the back of the room too?"

"How did you even know if you didn't go to look at it?" I asked.

She answered, "Well, I guess you could say I knew it was there... but if you must know, I saw the trolley when I scanned the room upon entering the room."

Knew it was there? Saw it when you scanned the room? But.. How? I mean, it's not like she's a detective or anything... right? "Hey Kirigiri... If you don't mind me asking, what's your-"

She interrupted, "That's not important as of the moment. Right now, you should investigate the storage room..." Kirigiri then strutted off in the other direction.

I wonder... what's her SDHS talent...? I soon shook the thought of that out of my mind. I mean, we still haven't even investigated the Storage Room... I opened the door that lead into the Storage Room and the scene folded out like a pop-up book. The Storage Room looked as if a big struggle had occurred here...

Truth Blade Acquired: Condition of the Storage Room

I jumped into the investigation. Going deeper into the room I noticed the line of trolleys in the room. One was missing, leaving a bloody trail leading out of the room. So, at least we know that the trolley came from here...

Truth Blades Acquired: Missing Trolley

Bloody Trail

As I continued to look around, I was able to find a couple of more pieces of evidence. I found the Gold-Leaf Sword hidden in a few boxes. The sword had slash marks all over the blade and case of the sword. It was like... the blade was defending against another bladed item. It's not another sword's slash... but something much smaller attacked at the person who had the sword...

Truth Blade Acquired: Practice Sword Blade

Practice Sword Case

Who... had the practice sword? I thought. It couldn't have been Maizuno... Her hands were clean. As a matter of fact- DING DONG DING DOOOONG! I jumped at the sound of the bell. Turning to the monitor on the wall, I saw Monokuma pop on screen.

He greeted, "Time's up! Everyone, enough investigating! It's time for the Class Trial! Everyone get to the giant Red Leather Door near the AV room! I'll be waaaaiting!" Then, the screen went blank.

Darn... the moment I was deciphering... this Class Trial is about to begin.

A/N: So, who do you think did it?

What will the class trial hold for everyone else?

Let's find out next time!