"So you think... that..." Komaeda trails off. Gundam understands his reasoning, staring dumbfounded at the mountain that definitely wasn't there before. It has four Monobear heads carved into the side. Gundam thinks there's some sort of American artifact similar to this.
"What is this travesty?" Gundam scrunches up his face in repulsion. The rest of the kids stand in a loose group around the base of the mountain.
"You two are late!" Koizumi shakes a finger at them.
"Yeah! Maybe you two should spend less time flirting! There'll be plenty of time if we survive the trial!" Saionji snickers, and Gundam can tell she's hiding her fear with jokes.
"You mean when." Gundam snorts, crossing his arms.
"You're awfully confident." Togami glances skeptically at the animal breeder.
"Do you seriously believe the omnipotent Gundam Tanaka would be unable to solve this case? Heh." Gundam scoffs. "How naïve."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Save the arguing for the trial, would ya?" Gundam turns to the voice of Monobear, only to be hit in the face by a piece of heavy cloth. He pulls it away to find his jacket. He shoots a look at the bear and slowly slips the article of clothing back on. "I think you'll be happy to see who I've brought with me!" Monobear roughly tosses a crying Monomi into the center of the group. Most of the kids seem startled by the rabbit's current actions, or lack thereof. Gundam turns away, giving the rabbit time to grieve.
"Monomi-chan? What are you so sad about?" Mioda leans forward, gazing down at the rabbit. Monomi doesn't respond, keeping her arms covering her head. The kids stare at her for a few moments before turning away. Everyone sits quietly for a few moments, fidgeting.
"Alright, what the hell? Are we doing this damn thing or not?" Kuzuryuu seems to have more or less calmed down, although Gundam spots a fire in his eyes he hadn't seen before. A rumble shakes the ground and the air and Souda screams again.
"A-a-a-another earthquake!"
"I-I-I don't want anyone else to die again!" Tsumiki wipes at her face with her bandaged forearm. Gundam's eyes widen when he catches sight of the mountain. He wordlessly points at it. Komaeda and Sonia turn and stare in shock as well. Eventually, all of the students gape at one of the Monobear heads on the mountain has its mouth slowly grind open. When it stops, the air stops shaking.
"Hn..." Togami stares, clenching a fist. Suddenly, a large staircase slides out of the Monobear head's mouth, colored red like a grotesque tongue. Monobear, at the top of the staircase, jumps onto the railing and slides down, splaying his arms out when he lands.
"Tadaa! Who's ready to go to court?" Monobear cackles dementedly.
"G-gimme a break, man..." Souda clutches at his head.
"This is how we enter?!" Nidai bellows, rearing back in surprise.
"This is getting ridiculous... There's no way this is real..." Hanamura casually combs his hair while he sweats uncontrollably.
"Enough. Let's go." Togami motions for the others to follow him and steps on the bottom stair. Suddenly, the stairs lurch forward, and Togami starts ascending the staircase without walking up. An escalator. Slowly, the students file onto the moving stairs, Hinata the last to climb on. When he gets on, the escalator starts retracting into the Monobear head. Gundam shudders as he passes through the mouth, one of the sharp, stone teeth grazing the top of his head. They're thrown into darkness as the mouth snaps shut much faster than it opened. Before anyone can make a sound, the lights flash on. They're in an elevator. Monobear casually reclines against the wall, smashing the one button on the control pad. The elevator shudders and drops into motion, the entire thing shaking precariously before leveling out. They stand in silence before Monobear snorts in irritation.
"Augh, you bastards are so boring! Aren't you going to have a pre-debate or something? Cmon, you have to think someone is the killer, right?" He glances around and the kids in annoyance. "Oh, you're all so boring!"
"Maybe we should talk about your trashy elevator." Togami glares at Monobear.
"Wow, Togami-kun. That really hurts my feelings." Monobear places one paw against his chest and the other against his forehead. "I'm sorry, the elevator wasn't exactly designed for someone of your ah... stature." The bear leans back and clasps his paws behind his head. "Not to worry though, I wasn't exactly expecting two of you to kick the bucket so early, so I guess that helps some." The bear guffaws loudly. Gundam clenches his fist and is about to take a step when Komaeda places a hand on his shoulder. A warning glance from the luckster restrains him. Somewhat. The bear receives glares from almost everyone in the cramped elevator. It eventually jerks to a stop with a rusty groan. The doors shudder open and the kids filter out into a mock court room. A thick layer of sand covers the floor and spills into the elevator when the doors open. The walls are wooden like those of the lodge, a grim reminder of the crime scene. While they're distracted by the decor, Monobear ties up Monomi and suspends her next to the ornate throne near the center of the room. The center of the room contains some sort of circular fixture, with sixteen stands, assumingly for the sixteen kids. Sixteen pictures sit around the debate circle, one of each kid. Monobear's eye twitches, and he raises his arms in the air and bares his teeth. "Well get on with it! Get in your places!"
Gundam takes a step toward the debate circle, and his picture slowly lowers into the ground. He looks at where it went down in surprise and distaste. The animal breeder takes his place and notices that he's between Owari and Saionji. Slowly, the other kids file into their spots. Gundam notes with disgust that two pictures refuse to descend. Pekoyama's and Nanami's. Their pictures are crossed out with blood-red 'X's. Monobear climbs up into the chair with some effort. Gundam uses the time to steel himself for the trial ahead of them.
"Ahem! Let's quickly go over the rules of the class trail, shall we?" Monobear reclines in the throne. "Your task is to identify the culprit and vote on who you think it is! If you guess correctly, only the culprit will be punished. However, should you vote for the wrong person, everybody but the culprit is punished! Alright, let's begin!"
"B-b-b-but where do we begin?" Tsumiki grasps her hands nervously, playing with the edge of her bandage.
"I say we find out with our fists!" Owari cracks her knuckles and Togami looks at her in disbelief.
"Did you listen to the rules?" The imposter crosses his arms and stares at the gymnast.
"Shut up you dipshits." Kuzuryuu waves his hand around dismissively. "Let's find out who's the most suspicious."
"Yeah, but where do we start with that?" Koizumi sighs in exasperation.
"Maybe we should talk about the crime scene first?" Komaeda suggests.
"They died on the porch, right?" Nidai asks. "Certainly they must have died instantly. One can only hope, of course."
"And they died in each other's company. Dying alone would most certainly be awful..." Sonia says, clutching at the bow on her chest.
"Hold on." Hinata interjects. "They couldn't have died at the same time."
"Yes, that's right." Komaeda grips his chin. "The piles of rubble were more or less separate. It would be likely that only part of the awning fell first, crushing Nanami. Then Pekoyama was killed later, when a different section fell."
"But why would the culprit murder two people? Wouldn't that just be harder to hide?" Hanamura asks timidly.
"Let's worry about the 'why' after." Togami crosses his arms. "We need to focus on the 'how' right now. For example, how did they get the awning to collapse on the victims?"
"Ooh, ooh! They broke it during the party!" Mioda bounces on the balls of her feet.
"Please." Gundam scoffs at her. "Was there anybody even capable of doing so? Were we not all tied up with the darkness?"
"But someone had to have done something during the blackout." Koizumi points out. "We all felt the first rumble near the end of it, didn't we?" Nods of consent.
"So anybody not in the main hall is suspicious." Kuzuryuu throws out.
"Most definitely." Nidai agrees. "But... who was out in the hall?" The group goes silent. Gundam is aware of a few, but isn't sure why they don't say so. He's about to shout out when Hinata bumps the photographer with his elbow.
"Koizumi. You took pictures, right? It says here in the Evidence tab." Hinata pulls out his Student ID. "Maybe we can figure out who was in the hall and narrow it down from there."
"Oh! That's a good idea!" Koizumi fumbles for her camera, but Monobear just chortles.
"Got you covered, bastards." A large screen on the wall lights up with a series of pictures. They showcase the same seven people. Gundam, Togami, Owari, Komaeda, Kuzuryuu, Sonia, and Tsumiki.
"So we're in the clear." Kuzuryuu says. "Now which of you bastards killed Peko?!" He slams his hands down on his stand.
"Patience. We'll find them." Togami says, staring at the gangster. "Anyway, I think all of you are missing very important point here." Everyone turns to look at him. "The how. How did the awning collapse? For all we know, it wasn't anybody's fault."
"Nah ah ah, Togami-kun!" Monobear chimes in. "It wasn't an accident! There was most definitely a murder!"
"What do you even mean, Mr. Porkfeet? It's obvious they just broke the supports with a hammer or something!" Saionji snickers.
"That's wrong!" Hinata says, somewhat louder than needed for somebody right next to him. Koizumi whacks him on the back of the head and Gundam sees the boy's eyes flicker for half a second before returning to normal. "Ow!" He glares at the photographer before continuing. "There's no way Nanami would just let somebody break the support beams while she was there. Plus, the culprit themselves would have been caught in the collapse. Furthermore, the pillar was cut too cleanly to have been done right then and there. Somebody must have set something up before han-"
"Hah! That's wrong, idiot!" Owari cuts off Hinata. "Set something up? You gotta be joking. There's no way it could have been 'set up'." The gymnast proceeds to launch a bunch of accusations at the boy. He cuts through her words with an interesting development.
"Not set up before? Then show me what they used to break the beam!" Owari slings out a few more arguments, weaker than before and more unsure of herself. Hinata shakes his head and stops her with some hard evidence. "There was something at the crime scene that could indicate that it was set up before hand! The wires!" Gundam chuckles as Hinata cuts her argument to pieces.
"Eh?" The gymnast looks at him in confusion. "Wires?"
"Ah right." Komaeda shoots Gundam a smirk from across the circle. "There were some broken metal wires found at the crime scene." The picture Komaeda took appears on the huge screen. "Having set up something before hand, the culprit could have easily sawed away at the support beams with wire until it collapsed. They wouldn't even have to be at the crime scene." Murmurs flow through the circle.
"Th-then who could have set up something like that?" Hanamura stutters out.
"I'll tell ya who!" Kuzuryuu shouts. "It was fuckin' lardass Togami and his bitch-ass cleaning crew! It had to be one of them!"
"Excuse me?" Togami looks in disbelief at Kuzuryuu.
"Yeah, you heard me, fat stuff. Who the hell else would have had a chance to set up something?" He smirks as the others look for an answer. "Yeah. That's right. None of you retards know. That's because it was one of those cleaning crew people. Hmm, let's see if I remember correctly. Oh!" He jabs a furious finger at each person when he names them. "Togami, Owari, Nidai, Hanamura, Souda, Sonia, Mioda." He smirks angrily. "Tell me, assholes, did I miss anyone? Eh? DID I?"
"Kuzuryuu, you're getting out of hand!" Koizumi shouts at him, pointing accusingly at him.
"I'm getting out of hand?!" Kuzuryuu scoffs. "Please. I'm not the bitch pissing on everyone's parade and trying to lezz it up with all the girls here! I'm trying to solve the damn murder!" Koizumi goes red and Saionji glares at the gangster.
"Hey! Stop insulting my Big sis Koizumi!"
"Piss of, gnome, I don't care for your fuckery."
"Enough!" Gundam can practically feel a vein popping out of his head at Kuzuryuu's insults. "Your childish insults get us nowhere! Do you really believe yelling at everyone will bring back your precious Pekoyama?" Kuzuryuu freezes up, gripping his stand so hard his knuckles go white. "No, you're only sullying your already disgusting reputation. Perhaps you should attempt to actually try to be useful before you foul her name as well!" He throws out an arm, pointing at Kuzuryuu.
"Y-you take that back!" The gangster slams his palms against his debate stand repeatedly. "I'll kill you myself!"
"Stop!" Togami roars. "You're all making fools of yourselves!" Kuzuryuu and Gundam shut up. "Now let's return to the case."
"R-right..." Hinata stutters out, sticking his hands in his pockets. "We were discussing... the possible murderers."
"We were saying they were Togami, Owari, Nidai, Sonia, Souda, Hanamura and Mioda." Komaeda recalls, playing with his jacket in thought.
"N-now hold on... Ibuki would never murder anyone." Mioda nervously tugs at her hair.
"Y-yeah! Me either!" Hanamura anxiously calls out. Monobear chuckles from his seat, but otherwise stays quiet.
"That doesn't matter." Togami huffs and crosses his arms. "What matters is that both of you, me, and the rest of the cleaning crew are very suspicious. We were the only ones that had time to set up anything, that much is true."
"You've got that wrong, Togami." Hinata carefully cuts in. Gundam notes that he's rather hesitant about it. And then he remembers why. "There were... two other people who could have done it."
"Oh? Enlighten me." Togami gazes at him intimidatingly. Hinata clenches a fist and swallows. He takes a deep breath.
"Tanaka. And me."
"Ah! That's right! Neither of you have alibis." Koizumi chimes in, apparently having recovered from her embarrassment. Gundam snorts. The photographer glares at him. "It's true. If you have evidence otherwise, then show it. Right now." Gundam tenses up as the rest of the courtroom looks at him and Hinata. All of this is very much true. He glances down with a sigh, staying silent.
"Hold a moment." Nidai scratches at his ear. "I realize that we are backtracking quite a bit here, but we did seem to go off on a tangent." He lowers his arm. "How did the culprit collapse the awning? I realize it must have been with the wire, but that alone could not do it." The group stares at each other for a few moments before they suddenly start speaking up, throwing out possibilities at random.
"They cut down the supports before hand and dropped a weight on the awning!" "No! They must have had tied the wire to the support beams, then used it to cut through them and drop the roof!" "They obviously had some sort of machine." Gundam opens his eyes when he hears the last person talk. Surprisingly, it's someone he wouldn't mind agreeing with.
"I concur, Hiyoko Saionji!"
"Eh?" She raises her arms in surprise. "You do?" She puts a hand over her mouth and snickers. "Thank you Big bro Tanaka, maybe you're not such a nerd after all." He glares at her.
"What are you talking about, Tanaka?" Hinata raises an eyebrow.
"I'm talking about this!" Gundam proclaims with a flourish, his coat billowing dramatically. A picture appears on the big screen. The backup generator with the wires hanging out of it. "I found this when the dark lord Maga-G escaped into the shadowland below the lodge. There are also holes in the lodge walls that suggest that this helped to saw through the support beams using the metal wire." An excited chatter goes through the group before someone Gundam loathes speaks up.
"Woah woah woah." Souda glares at the animal breeder. "I can't believe you guys are falling for this!" The other students glance around in confusion. "It was obviously him! He ain't got an alibi and he knew where this thing was! He's just trying to make us think it wasn't him! It's part of his plan!" Gundam feels like he's been punched in the gut. The other students are throwing him looks of suspicion and distrust. Worst of all, Komaeda and Saionji are looking at him in doubt.
"N-no. No! You misunderstand! There's no way it could have been me! I-I haven't been near the lodge all day!" Gundam stutters. They couldn't seriously believe the mechanic, could they?
"You've got that wrong!" Hinata's voice shocks him. The boy stares at him. "Tanaka, there is one testimony that pretty much proves that wrong."
"Wh-what?" Gundam clenches his hands. "N-no such thing exists..."
"Again, that's wrong. Owari, you told someone something earlier about the lodge, didn't you?" Hinata turns to the gymnast next to Gundam. Komaeda pales slightly.
"I remember... Owari-san, you told me you saw two people entering the lodge around lunchtime, didn't you?" Komaeda asks.
"Yeah..." Owari crosses her arms in thought. She edges away from Gundam. He can't believe this. On his other side, Saionji inches towards Hinata. The animal breeder can practically feel his heart break. No... Why doesn't she trust him?
"I-It wasn't me." Gundam desperately racks his brain for something to counter it. He thinks frantically. Nothing. "I didn't. I-i-it wasn't..."
"There are only a few people without alibis during that time." Hinata points out. "And you're the only one who has shown a large amount of familiarity with the crime scene. In fact, you're the only one period who even knew about that machine before the trial."
"I'll have your head!" Kuzuryuu shouts at Gundam. "You killed her! You killed Peko!"
"I told you that guy was no good..." Souda says to a blue-faced Sonia.
"Do we... get to voting now?" Mioda asks, pushing her fingers together nervously.
"I don't know, do you want to risk dying?" Togami's voice cuts through the mutterings of the crowd. "Did you simpletons really not find the catch in that claim?" The group looks around in confusion. Togami rolls his eyes. "Anyone?" He sighs. "Alright. Let me reiterate for you." He turns to the gymnast. "Owari. How many people did you see?"
"Eh? Two." A few people have gotten it by now, but Togami continues anyway.
"And all of you, how many people is Tanaka?"
"One." Owari answers. "So what?" Togami slaps himself in the face.
"I'm saying that if it was Tanaka who set it up, it wouldn't have been just him."
"Oh!" Owari cocks her head and smiles. "I get it! So you're saying Hinata helped him!" Hinata goes pale.
"Huh?!" The boy takes a hesitant step back.
"Yes, Hinata, did you honestly forget that you are one of the people without an alibi at that time?" Togami crosses his arms and sniffs haughtily. "In fact, you are the next likeliest person to have gone to the lodge. In all honesty, it was probably you and Tanaka that Owari saw heading to the lodge." The two boys freeze up against the accusation. The worst part, Gundam thinks, is that there is pretty much no way to counter this or to proclaim his innocence.
"I-I-I urge you to r-reconsider!" Gundam scans his mind. There has to be something to help him out of this. Komeada glances away from him. Saionji just looks betrayed. "W-We haven't even discussed everything yet! What of the blackout, or-"
"Please, what more is there to discuss? You're guilty. You or Hinata. Or perhaps you and Hinata." Togami stares down the animal breeder. "Let's just hurry up and vote them guilty." Monobear's laugh slices through their thoughts like a knife through butter.
"Them?!" The bear collapses into a fit of hysterics.
"What's so funny?" Kuzuryuu glares at Monobear.
"Could it be... that there's only one murderer?" Komaeda looks expectantly at the bear, who immediately stops laughing and frantically glances around.
"Ulp! I've said too much!" Monobear covers his mouth. Gundam mostly ignores this. He has to prove his innocence. Somehow. He once again runs over everything that's been said, hoping for something, anything, to contradict. And he finds it when he sees Hinata swaying like he's still sick and running a hand through his hair.
"Listen here, mortals!" Gundam clenches his hands, raising his voice. "You're forgetting an important aspect of this 'lunch time break'!"
"Would you shut up, murderer?" Kuzuryuu glares at Gundam. A quick glance around shows most of the kids, while not verbally saying it, agree with the gangster, their eyes filled with fury and disgust. Only Sonia, Tsumiki, and Hinata don't look at him in accusation.
"Let him make an attempt." Komaeda says quietly, his hands tightly gripping his trial stand.
"W-why should we?! He's obviously the killer!" Souda points repeatedly at Gundam.
"That is where you are incorrect, you pink-haired imbecile!" Gundam slams his hands onto his trial stand. The mechanic jumps, then eyeballs the animal breeder angrily. "There is one more person who it could have easily been! Someone who had to return to the lodge!"
"Y-yeah? Who would that be?" Souda scoffs.
"You, you simple individual!" Gundam's shout makes the mechanic stumble back.
"Wh-wh-what? I-I-I n-never left the lodge!"
"That's not true." Togami looks at Souda suspiciously. "You told me yourself, you wanted to go back to your cottage to get some tool box or something. And you were still there when we left for lunch, meaning you had all the time in the world to go to your cottage and come back." Souda soundlessly gasps.
"And me and Hinata could not have even gone near the lodge! For we must have been together during the day!" This causes everyone, including Hinata himself, to stare at Gundam in disbelief.
"Wh-... what are you talking about?" Hinata asks, confounded. "I don't remember..."
"Show them your hand!"
"My... hand?..." Hinata holds out his hand. Koizumi and Saionji, the ones next to him, lean in to inspect his hand.
"It's covered in some kind of mark... it looks like pock marks." Koizumi observes.
"Ah, but those are no mere pock marks, mortals. Those are the tooth marks of the mighty Four Dark Gods of Destruction!" Gundam grins maniacally. Some of the kids shuffle nervously and look away. Gundam cements his statement with a hearty cackle. "The great Gundam Tanaka has once again proved you wro-"
"That's bullshit!" Kuzuryuu cuts into Gundam's spiel. "You seriously think that just cause that dumbass got bit by your stupid hamsters, you're in the clear?! It had to be one of you!"
"Th-th-there must be s-something that can lead us to one of them..." Tsumiki stutters out.
"I... may have an idea..." Komaeda fumbles for his Student ID. "If I recall correctly, the door to the storage room was jammed."
"What the fuck kinda clue is that?" Kuzuryuu looks at Komaeda in disbelief. "Who cares if the damn door was jammed?"
"Because it had to be jammed from the outside. Which means someone had to have the tools to complete said action." Komaeda smiles.
"...Tools, eh?" Kuzuryuu turns to glare at Souda. "TOOLS, EH?"
"Wh-wh-what are ya yellin' at me for?!" Souda glares back. "You're gonna swap to me just cause 'a some dumb reason?!" The mechanic and gangster sling profanities at each other. Gundam, however, is busy watching Hinata. The boy clutches at his head and Gundam can see the sheen of sweat coating his forehead. Koizumi notices it too.
"H-Hinata?" She reaches out to touch his shoulder, and the boy's knees buckle. Gundam guesses he really is sick. Koizumi lets out a quiet gasp and glances around. She catches Gundam's eyes, but everyone else seems more focused on shouting swear words at each other. As he goes down, Hinata clunks his head on his trial stand. Gundam takes a startled step back at the distortion around Hinata's head. Koizumi backs up. Hinata clears his throat and stands up. His eyes are half-lidded, and he glances around uninterestedly. He glances back when the photographer's hand lightly presses against his back.
"Ah. Ms. Mahiru. A pleasure to see you again." The girl looks confused.
"Hinata?" 'Hinata' scoffs.
"Oh right, the memory thing. Very well..." He caresses his chin in thought. "Hmm... it seems we're in a trial..."
"Um... yeah? It's been going on for the last half hour now?" 'Hinata' turns to Gundam, and the animal breeder catches the red tint in his eyes. No...
"Oh. Mr. Mystery. Hello."
"K-Kamakura?..." Kamakura bows slightly.
"You know it."
"Hinata, you fucker! You gonna help out with the damn trial or are you gonna flirt with the feminist all day?" Kuzuryuu stops the debate to glare at Kamakura.
"For?" Kamakura raises an eyebrow. Everybody looks at him now.
"Quit with the jokes, man, this is serious." Souda says. He turns his head to look at Kamakura, and Gundam sees the mechanic's slight jolt as they lock eyes. Kamakura smirks and Souda starts babbling.
"Wh-wh-wh-wh-"
"Surprised to see me, Mr. Kazuichi?" Souda cowers.
"I don't know who you are..." Monobear, noticing the conversation has come to a halt, turns to the kids.
"Hey, hey, hey. What's goin' on here? What's the ho-ho-ho-ho-hello!" Monobear jumps to his feet in surprised. "Kamakura?"
"Eat sod Monobear." Kamakura stares at the bear in disinterest. "I have no time for your idiocy. Let's just continue with the trial, shall we?"
"Hold on, hold on!" The bear bares his claws and teeth. "What are you doing here?! You're not supposed to be here!"
"Hmm... how rude." Kamakura sighs. "If you really must know, I took a page from that lunatic Syo. All that time spent with Matsuda wasn't a waste, eh?" Kamakura chuckles. "It turns out, it's not that hard to lock yourself away. All you need is a trigger to get yourself out later. That's where Syo came in, of course. The whole shared knowledge but not memories thing was rather interesting. Naturally I didn't have enough time to install something more... ah... elegant. So hitting my head it had to be..." Kamakura sighs. "Are we done here, you waste of time? Let's continue with the trial. It reminds me of the first one I participated in." He turns to look a the others, who are paralyzed in fear and horror. His face settles back into a neutral expression. "Go on, continue." He looks around. "Alright, fine. Do you need a discussion topic? Here's one." A barely perceivable smile tugs at Kamakura's lips. "I went to the lodge around lunch time."
"Y-you!" Togami clutches his hand. Kamakura chuckles.
"I'm sorry, Byakuya-sama. Oh wait. You wouldn't understand that, would you?" The boy snarks, making a joke only he and Monobear seem to understand. Monobear goes blue in the face and hangs his head. "Let's discuss. Now." The boy's voice has a commanding tone to it that makes everyone, reluctantly, start up again.
"S-so... where were we?" Koizumi stutters out.
"I uh... we uh..." Souda looks for his words. Kuzuryuu seems to have no such trouble.
"We were talking about how you're the damn culprit!"
"I-I am not!"
"You fuckin' are!"
"No I'm not!"
"Shut... up!" Togami, exasperated with the childish argument, bellows at the two boys. They shut up. "Souda, as much as you argue against it, it is either you or Tanaka that went to the lodge with... Hinata. And quite frankly, both of you are very, very suspicious."
"Don't clump me together with that... 'boy'." Gundam snorts angrily.
"Y-yeah! I'm not suspicious! It's him!" Souda frantically points at Gundam.
"No. It's you." The animal breeder glares and Souda is about to respond when Togami cuts them off again.
"Do not even start."
"U-uhm... E-excuse me?" Tsumiki stutters out.
"Ooh boy, this oughtta be good..." Saionji raises her eyebrows skeptically and scoffs.
"Let her speak." Gundam scolds her. The dancer glares at him, but lets Tsumiki speak.
"W-well when I was e-examining the b-bodies with Kuzuryuu-san... I-I well uh... f-found something..." She stops to take a deep breath. Togami raises an eyebrow when she doesn't respond for a little while.
"Well?"
"H-howawa! S-sorry!" Tsumiki lets out a yelp of surprise, clenching her hands. "I-I... well... N-Nanami-san... she had some uh... strange marks on a-arm... it looks k-kind of like uh... she was lashed with a thin m-metal instrument n-no m-m-more th-than a f-few centimeters thick a-and-" She stops to burst into tears. Komaeda and Togami take a step back in surprise. The luckster takes a hesitant step towards the nurse and pats her on the back.
"I don't get it." Owari purses her lips and scratches her nose. "So like... they tortured her? I thought they just crushed her."
"D-don't be so blunt about it!" Souda yells, fisting a hand in his hair.
"I think what Tsumiki-san is saying is that..." Komaeda trails off. They stand in silence before the white-haired boy thinks of something. "Perhaps when the awning collapsed... some of the metal wire broke and hit her. The wire would match the criteria of the wounds, wouldn't they?" Tsumiki scrubs at her eyes, nodding.
"Hold a moment." Gundam looks up. "We didn't find any bloody wire."
"No. We didn't... which means that the culprit cleaned up after themselves."
"B-but that's ridiculous." Koizumi says. "It would be more natural for them to leave it there, right?"
"Exactly. They must have panicked and hid the wire." Komaeda nods. "But who would have had the time to do so, is the question..."
"Fucker! I knew it was you!" Kuzuryuu slams his palms against his trial stand and points at Souda. "That son of a bitch was 'helping' us guard the scene. And he was picking around! I asked him what the fuck he was doing and he told me he was looking for clues! That's what I get for trusting a no good, wimpy ass wannabe punk like him!"
"W-wannabe punk?!" Souda goes red in the face and shakes his fist at Kuzuryuu. "You little twit! There's no way it was me! I really was looking for clues!" He snarls at the gangster, surprisingly violent. "Why the hell would I pick up some bloody wire?! I'm not stupid!"
"Empty your pockets." Togami commands, Souda turning to him in confusion.
"E-eh?"
"You heard me. All of them. Unless you want to be seen as the culprit." Togami stares down the mechanic. Souda grumbles and starts popping open all of the pockets on his jumpsuit, turning those he can inside out. He glares at Togami when he's done.
"You happy?"
"Yes. Because now I know where you hid the wires."
"Wh-!" Souda goes blue-faced, and most of the students take a small step back, leaving the mechanic, the imposter, and Kamakura still at their stands. Gundam can tell this is the end. He knew it was Souda. But now they just have to get it out of him, something Togami seems all too ready to do. "Y-you're fuckin' lying!" Souda stomps his foot, like a petulant child. "I-It's wasn't me! You have no proof! It could have been Tanaka or Komaeda! They investigated too!"
"But there was another time you could have taken the wires too!" Togami hollers. Souda looks shocked, but continues throwing out excuses.
"Yeah? That's stupid! There wasn't a time like that! And where would I even have hidden them? You gotta have proof, fatso!" Souda glares at the imposter, tears running down his face. Togami just sighs.
"Then show us the contents of your toolbox, Souda." The mechanic freezes up.
"Wh-what?"
"You went back to your cabin to get the toolbox, remember? And then you stored it away on the porch. I was wondering where it went." Togami shakes his head as the other students slowly file back into their places solemnly.
"B-but..." Souda stares blankly. "But I couldn't have... there was no time where I..."
"Yes there was. You and Hanamura were the last to people to arrive after the blackout. Had you snuck away during the blackout, you would have had plenty of time to grab the bloodied wires and hide your toolbox. There's even a testimony proving that. Isn't that right, Mioda?"
"Eh? Really? Ibuki had no idea..." Mioda scratches guiltily at her head. Togami just rolls his eyes.
"You didn't hear his voice during the blackout. And he wasn't in the main hall before hand."
"H-hey. Wait." Nidai stops Togami. "What about Pekoyama? Surely he must have seen her when coming back." The imposter sighs.
"That I do not know. It's a shame we can't talk to the dead."
"Y-you have no proof..." Souda lightly grips his trail stand. "You don't..."
"Could you possibly mean this proof, Souda-kun?" Monobear chuckles, red toolbox resting in his lap. Souda gasps at the sight of the metal box. Monobear pushes it off him, causing it to open up and spill its contents everywhere. A spool of metal wire rolls to the center of the trial stands. The group stares at it solemnly. But the screen zooms in on something else. A chunk of the same wire, balled up. Dried blood sticks to the surface. "Upupu... my bad, how clumsy of me!"
"Well well well, that certainly was interesting." Kamakura golf claps, the light sound barely reaching the ears of the other students. "How's about a recap before we vote dear Mr. Kazuichi a murderer?" Kamakura clears his throat and begins.
"It started the night before, actually, the night of Monobear's pompous murder motive. Foolish by the way, I'm sure everyone's done it before." Kamakura stares disapprovingly at the monochrome bear, who hangs his head. "Anyway, the boy you know as Hinata jump started this whole thing by being a rather clumsy individual. He must have been too stressed out by the ridiculousness of Monobear's show, for when he returned to his cabin, he promptly passed out and smashed his head against the windowsill. Yours truly woke up about an hour later. This left me a whole night to plot out my plan. And plot I did." He chuckles. "If you must know, and I know you all so dearly do, I had a plan for almost everyone of you, like I did with our friend Mr. Kazuichi." He barely emphasizes the word 'almost' glancing at Gundam, Saionji, and Komaeda when he does.
"To start, I had to get someone interested, and who better than our friend Byakuya Togami?" Togami glares at Kamakura. "So easy to fool, you are. That sense of justice really worked in my favor though. For that letter you received? Me." Kamakura taps his chest lightly and Togami's mouth drops open. Kamakura just chuckles. "That was rather foolish of all of you, by the way. Not trying to find out exactly why the 'heir' here gathered you. What if it had been vital? It can't be helped, I suppose." Kamakura plays with a lock of hair, one Gundam doesn't remember being that long. The distortion around his head gets a bit fuzzier. "Anyway, it really worked in my favor that Togami left only one person in charge. Planning a three-man murder group is just too tedious. Unfortunately, a small wrench in my plan delayed my plot slightly. That wrench being Mr. Mystery here." Kamakura motions to Gundam, some of the other students glancing at him. "You're lucky I didn't have time to kill those hamsters too, those bites were slightly painful. But after disposing of him in his room, I headed towards the lodge. There I found Mr. Kazuichi, fixing up the awning." Kamakura yawns. "I'll save you the details, but rest assured that I was very thorough with my persuasion." Souda pulls his beanie over his eyes and sobs.
"This was a two-man job, but I let Mr. Kazuichi here have the honors of setting up the murder plot. I told him it was his chance to leave the island, I had no desire to leave. Or live. So while our mechanic was under the lodge, prepping the murder machine, as he dubbed it, I was busy investigating the lodge's power limit. It's so much easier to cause confusion with a little darkness. I was planning on the blackout being a mere distraction, but Mr. Kazuichi here apparently insisted on doing a rather foolish act that has now cost him." Kamakura chuckles. It sends a chill down Gundam's spine. "I then set up our irons and helped jam the door to the storage room. While I set the timer on the air conditioner, Mr. Kazuichi finished up with his set up. Now I know what you're all thinking." Kamakura presses a palm to his cheek, staring up at the ceiling. His voice shifts into a falsetto. "'There's no way they could have set up that fast!'" His voice goes back to normal. "Well I'd beg to differ. Mr. Kazuichi is a very talented individual when it comes to machines. And me? Hehe... well let's just say I'm rather talented myself." Kamakura smirks.
"And I left afterwards. Unfortunately, I had to trust that Mr. Kazuichi would successfully pull it off, because me being there? Let's face it, that would ruin the plan." Kamakura shrugs. "So I went back into 'my' cabin and switched back to Hinata. Then, of course, the party went on as planned. And someone died, as planned. Of course, Mr. Kazuichi had to go and admire his handiwork. He nearly got himself caught for his trouble. I'm assuming this is when he gathered the wire to get rid of some phantom 'evidence' that the wires provided. And then returned to the party like nothing had ever happened." Kamakura brushes off his pants, having somehow gotten sand on the lower legs. "I hope this doesn't need saying, but I'll reiterate anyway." The boy casually points at Souda, a smirk painted on his face. "It could only have been you, Kazuichi Souda." He leans against the trial stand and glances at the shell-shocked students. "Let's get to voting, shall we?"
"...Eh? Oh! Yeah!" Monobear happily jumps to his feet. All of the Student IDs begin buzzing, and don't stop until everyone has turned it on. Gundam gazes blankly at his. A tab called 'Voting' flashes at him. He presses it and is brought to a screen showing a picture of all the students. Nanami and Pekoyama are grayed out. The animal breeder hesitates, then pokes the picture of Souda. It flashes twice, then his ID turns itself off. He waits a moment, the others finishing their votes. Then the big screen lights up with what appears to be a slot machine display. Only, instead of regular pictures, the wheels have the faces of the kids on them. The wheels spin quickly, and Gundam catches a glimpse of his. They gradually slow down until coming to a halt with a ding. All three wheels display Souda's face. The screen broadcasts a fanfare that the IDs repeat. "Wow! You bastards got it! The murder was pulled off by none other than Kazuichi Souda!"
"What the fuck?! Why?! Why did you kill them?!" Kuzuryuu leaves his stand, marching up to Souda. He grabs the mechanic by the collar and shakes him. Souda hides his eyes.
"I... I..." He sobs quietly. "He knew so much about me... I don't know how... but h-he said he'd get me out. He promised me." Souda wipes at his eyes.
"And you believed him?! Are you stupid?!" To everyone's surprise, Souda chuckles.
"Yeah... yeah I guess I am..."
"Tell me! Why did you kill Peko?! You didn't have to!"
"I didn't want to!" The mechanic suddenly flies into a rage, pushing Kuzuryuu back. The gangster stumbles and falls onto his rear in the sand. "I tried to warn her! The damn thing nearly collapsed on me! I told her not to go and she fuckin' went anyway! It was an accident! I didn't want her to die!" He chokes up, pulling his beanie back down over his eyes. "I didn't want anyone to die..." The mechanic takes a deep breath. "I... I'm sorry guys... I let you down..."
"Y-you..." Koizumi just stares at him. She takes a few shaky steps and grabs Souda's shoulders, shaking him roughly. "Why... Why didn't you just..." Souda sees something in her eyes, because he cringes and tousles her hair.
"I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry as well! To interrupt this horribly awful feeling! Oh wait, no I'm not." Monobear cackles. "Who cares about this stupid apologies stuff? Not me, that's who! Who's ready to begin our favorite part of the trial?"
"You can't!" Koizumi turns to Monobear. "You can't kill him! I-It wasn't his fault!"
"It totally was though! He set it up! Now get into your places!" Gundam finds himself moving into his trial stand unwillingly. The others, similarly startled, do the same. And they stand facing the middle, gravely and wordlessly staring at the center of the debate circle. The only one who isn't moved is Souda. Monobear fixes that, shoving the boy backwards. He stumbles, bumping into Pekoyama's picture and accidentally knocking it over. The mechanic falls into the center of the circle, at the mercy of his classmates' empty, lifeless gaze. "It's punishment time!"
A Proper Repair
Souda, tears staining his cheeks, stands in the center of the debate circle. Everyone else remains motionless in their spots. Suddenly, a chain fires off from the hall, grabbing Souda by the throat. Monobear laughs dementedly as the chain yanks the poor murderer out, slamming his legs against one of the stands and knocking over Nanami's photograph. The remaining students find themselves and their debate stands rising up. They can only watch as the mechanic is dragged down the hall before they ascend into what looks like the ceiling, but opens up into another elevator.
Souda is smashed against and strapped to a pole in a pitch black room. A spotlight shines on him and the only other thing visible is a window where the other students stand, watching. The pole rises suddenly. A giant broken car appears in another spotlight. The pole opens up, altering its shape and Souda's form along with it. The boy's body rests in a u-shape, but is obviously painful, judging by the silent screams he releases. The pole now resembles a wrench with Souda as the head. The wrench descends, planting the mechanic firmly around a nut on the car's engine. It tightens Souda around it with a painful crunch. The wrench starts to slowly spin, twisting the nut and Souda along with it. The rotations become faster and faster, continuing even after the nut is tightened all the way, until a curtain falls down in front of the viewing window. When it pulls back up, the room is fully lit, resembling a standard garage with a fully repaired car sitting in the center. Monobear waltzes over and pops the hood, revealing a pristine engine. However, one nut on the dead center is smeared red and a small bit of yellow fabric is stuck under it. Monobear blushes, pulls the fabric scrap out from under the nut and shuts off the lights, plunging the room into darkness one last time.
"Oh yeaaaaaaah! That's the kind of thing I love!" Monobear throws back his head and cackles. They had been brought back down, and now they stand in the trial room again. Gundam stares at nothing, mouth agape in horror. That... was too brutal. The bear waltzes over to Koizumi, placing the yellow scrap of cloth into her hand. She lets out a choked off sob. Monobear cocks his head. "Did you like him? Or did you like him? Either way, that's some real despair inducing stuff, eh?" Koizumi just clutches the scrap of cloth tightly, covering her eyes with the forearm of her other arm.
"A-Are you fucking kidding me, dude..." Kuzuryuu clenches his fists, face contorted in terror.
"T-too cruel... I'm g-gonna faint..." Tsumiki sobs loudly, scrubbing at her face with her hands.
"Aa..." Hanamura clutches at his chest. "Aah... AH!" Most of the reactions range from dismayed sobs and wails to horrified silence. Gundam stands ridged, the only movements he makes are to pet the four gods nestled in his palms. Saionji seems equally shocked, tugging at the ends of her twin tails. Komaeda nervously fidgets.
"Ahahahaha! You bastards sure are enjoying yourselves, huh? Well I'll let you enjoy the atmosphere for a little while! Just remember to get into the elevator and head back soon. I think it's getting close to morning time!" Monobear stalks away, guffawing the entire time. Monomi seems to have disappeared as well.
"Bravo, bravo. What an excellent show. Shame I was only here for the finale, but it's rather likely that I'll be seeing more trials in the future." Kamakura claps quietly, that same gentle smirk creasing his face.
"Oy. Shut up." Togami points at Kamakura threateningly. "You're disgusting."
"Me, Mr. Byakuya? I'm offended, quite frankly." Kamakura scoffs. "Someone of your... ah... 'stature' is hardly a standpoint to be criticizing me from."
"That doesn't even make sense." Togami glares at him. Gundam notices that the imposter has moved himself in between Kamakura and the rest of the kids.
"Ah, it doesn't matter. I'm surprised you guys are acting like this. Shouldn't you be a bit more... ecstatic? Joyful?"
"Are you JOKING?!" Nidai howls at Kamakura. "THREE OF OUR FRIENDS HAVE JUST DIED!"
"Exactly. Although, I guess this means all is going according to plan... but not my plan, unfortunately." Kamakura sighs. "Well, I suppose it's a long elevator ride. Let's get going." The boy stalks off in the direction of the elevator. Nobody else moves.
"I-If I may speak." Sonia chimes in timidly. The rest of the students turn to her. "Despite the tragic death of our... friends... I believe I realize what we must now do." She pauses for a moment, waiting for someone to speak up or something. "W-we must gather our resolve."
"Eh? Resolve?" Kuzuryuu stares at the princess like she's dumb. "What the fuck does that mean?"
"I-It is our spirit to fight! We cannot surrender to this Monobear so easily, no?" A few kids nod in consent. "We cannot let this take a hold of us because then Monobear has us in his uh... paws?" She clenches her fists, pumping one into the air. "We must fight against this evil the only way we can. By not following these silly motives! We must survive!"
"Yes. An excellent speech. Come, let's go back to the hotel and get some sleep." Togami pats Sonia on the shoulder, and the group shuffles into the elevator. Kamakura waits for them, eyebrow raised, but says nothing. They're all silent on the way up. When the elevator creaks to a stop, they all load onto the escalator and let it carry them down to the familiarity of the beach. Tsumiki immediately collapses onto the sand. Nidai picks her up and they all head back to the hotel. For the first night since they got here, Gundam finds himself alone in his cottage. He tells himself he doesn't mind the silence, but really it disturbs him. So he does something he normally wouldn't do. He strips down to his underwear like he normally does, then lays on the bed, placing the Four Dark Gods of Destruction on his chest.
"A treat for my merciful gods..." Gundam stares at the hamsters as they settle into their 'bed'. Jum-P crawls into his scarf. Maga-G finds rest in the crook of his arm. Cham-P just curls up on his chest. San-D stretches out on his pelvis. Gundam falls asleep with his hamsters, letting the darkness wash away any thoughts of murder and execution. He needs a quick respite.
End Act 1, That Summertime Sadness...
Remaining Students: 13
Quick Note: Sorry if this chapter is a bit iffy. This was my first time writing a trial scene and midway through I realized that I had somehow managed to come up with a murder plot that contradicted the evidence I had given out, so that may be why the murder method sounds kind of off. I hope you enjoyed anyway.