"Hnn..." Gundam, along with the four he had left the pharmacy with, stops in his tracks when they see the very first arrival to Monobear Mountain. Hinata stands with his hands in his pockets, thumbs hanging out. His arms have ugly red marks and rope burns crisscrossing on the exposed skin, and his shirt is ripped in a few areas where the chain must have snagged the fabric. He notices them after a few moments.
"Ah... You guys..." Hinata narrows his eyes before snorting. "Whatever. Let's just get this over with." After a few stunned moments of silence, Komaeda clears his throat.
"Um... nothing against you being here, Hinata-kun, but how did you get out?" The luckster asks hesitantly, taking a step towards Hinata.
"Monobear. He cut me down, blabbered something about mandatory trials and you guys not coming for me, then walked away. The dick actually made me untie myself. Like, what the hell?" Hinata scoffs. "Now can we... not talk? I got used to the silence." Komaeda backs off, and Gundam glares at Hinata, who either doesn't notice or just ignores him. Togami, Mioda, Sonia, and Hanamura come onto the beach after a few minutes. Togami looks surprised and angry when he sees Hinata.
"Who let you out?" The imposter stomps up to the boy, grabbing his shoulder. Hinata turns to shoot Togami a half-lidded stare.
"Monobear. Now stop touching me." Hinata brushes Togami's hand off of his shoulder and goes back to staring at the sky, which is now a deep orange tinged with purple. Togami looks stunned for a moment, before sighing in annoyance and turning away. Sonia walks over to Gundam, eyes watering, and grabs his arm.
"Tanaka-san... I am... sorry we could not adhere to our plan of making curry rice." The princess sniffs sadly. Gundam shakes his head and places a hand on her's.
"Do not apologize. Unless you are the murderer, which I seriously doubt, then it was not your fault." He ruffles her hair, and Sonia sighs, leaning into him and mumbling something into his scarf. Gundam just lets out a quiet breath and places a hand on her lower back, rocking her gently. They wait around for a minute, when Gundam hears what sounds like an argument. He looks around the group. Only... Saionji and Koizumi are not present. Which means... His suspicions are confirmed, somewhat, when he sees four figures approaching. In reality, it's more two figures dragging two other figures. Gundam squints, trying to make out their identities. It's... Saionji and Monobear. The figures they drag along are Koizumi and Monomi respectively. Now that they're a bit closer, Gundam can make out their argument.
"Maybe if you would have just come when the announcement came on, I wouldn't have had to come and get you!"
"Just don't touch her!" Saionji protectively holds Koizumi's hand, pulling along the stunned photographer. Koizumi has something tucked under her arm. Monobear, rough as always, drags Monomi across the ground by her ears. The rabbit yelps something about how 'that huwts!'. When they finally arrive at the group, Saionji and Monobear stare each other down for a while before they both turn away at the same time with a child-like huff. Koizumi approaches Gundam, nearly backing off when she spots Sonia in his arms. The photographer pulls herself together, taking one last timid step.
"...Here." Her voice is quiet. She holds out the thing she was carrying, a wad of fabric that turns out to be his jacket. That's right, Gundam remembers, he had given it to her on the night they played the game. Koizumi silently turns away, not even letting him thank her before trying to turn away. It's a bit awkward due to the princess attached to him, but Gundam manages to twist himself and reach out, laying a hand on the photographer's shoulder. Koizumi stiffens up, but glances back at him anyway.
"..." Gundam stares into her eyes, orbs that had been filled with fear only an hour ago. They're just... sad now. "Thank you."
"Yeah. Whatever." Koizumi shrugs off his hand, heading back over to Saionji and taking her hand again. The dancer glances back at Gundam, San-D and Cham-P poking their heads out of her kimono. Gundam shrugs at her.
"Alright alright! Enough moping around! Let's get to the trial, shall we?" Monobear cackles, making that weird snapping sound that he somehow can make without fingers. The air and the ground rumble as the mouth of one of the stone Monobear heads rumbles open. The escalator slowly extends, coming to a rest on the sand. It reminds Gundam of a bloated tongue. Togami is, once again, the first one on. They file onto it one by one, Komaeda the last one on. As they ascend, Gundam's thoughts drift to the victim. Akane Owari. Was it really just today that they were horsing around in the parking lot of the Rocketpunch Market, hauling bags of food to make some dinner for everyone? As he rides the escalator into the Monobear's mouth, Gundam wonders who won't be leaving. The escalator brings Komaeda in, and the mouth snaps shut, shaking the air. Lights flash on, and they find themselves in the elevator again. There's more room this time, something Gundam isn't grateful for. The rickety elevator jumps into motion, and the students stare solemnly at the floor or the walls or the ceiling, anywhere but each other. Eventually, the elevator comes to a rickety stop, groaning with the effort. The doors slide open, revealing the court room. It appears Monobear styled it differently. The ground is concrete, like that of Jabberwock Park. A few palm trees hang out on the fringes of the room. From the walls hang tapestries that look like the night sky.
"Okay then! Get to your places, you bastards! I'm itching to start!" Monobear drags Monomi over to his throne. He ties her up and strings her up next to the ornate chair, climbing into it himself. As they file into their spots, Gundam finds himself staring at Souda's picture. It, like the other three dead kids, is X'd out. But unlike the others, the bars of the X are made with a crossing screwdriver and wrench. Gundam sneers at it. He doesn't look to his left. He can't bear the sight of Owari's photo.
"Alright! As much as I love to see you guys debate, I think we need a quick once-over of the rules!" Monobear reclines in his throne. "The goal of this school trial is to find the culprit and vote for them! If you correctly identify the culprit, the innocents 'win' and the culprit gets executed! But be careful, because if you guess wrong, everybody except the culprit gets executed and the culprit gets to leave the island. Hooray! Let's begin."
"Fine. Let's start by making sure everybody is on the same page." Togami crosses his arms. "Let's make sure we understand our motive. The game."
"What is there to misunderstand? We all played it, did we not?" Gundam sighs.
"That's true, but maybe we should go over it, just in case anybody forgot." Komaeda says. "So... what should we talk about first?
"We'll start easy." Togami huffs. "The game is undoubtedly non-fiction."
"Huh? How do you know, Byakuya-chan?" Mioda puts her hands on her trial stand, leaning forward.
"You can't take my word for it?" Monobear chuckles from his perch.
"Shut up." Togami glares at him, then turns back to the others. "Not everyone saw the special prize, I believe. They were photographs of scenes from the game. Real photographs. There was one of the flower pot, and one for each of the dead girls. Tanaka and Nidai can verify for me." The animal breeder and the coach glance at each other.
"It's true." Nidai says quietly.
"This leads us into the next point. The characters." Togami says. "Are we all in agreement that Tsumiki, Saionji, Mioda, Koizumi, and Kuzuryuu are the characters that appeared in the game?" He glances around, receiving a few nods of agreement.
"Okay, hold on. The hell are you guys talking about?" Hinata stares in confusion at the other kids. "Game? Motive? Characters? I have no idea what the heck any of this means."
"It's not important." Togami shoots a glance at Hinata. "For you anyway."
"Gee, thanks for making me feel special." Hinata snorts, leaning against his trial stand.
"...Anyway. I wanted to make this point because I wanted to point out a very obvious and likely potential culprit." Togami snorts, directing his gaze towards the silent photographer. "Isn't that right, Koizumi?" She 'eep's quietly, but stays silent, staring at the ground.
"Hey! There's no way it could have been my big sis Koizumi!" Saionji glares at Togami.
"Oh really? Because I believe it was entirely possible. In fact, I believe Koizumi is one of, if not the most suspicious candidate. She not only had no alibi all day, but was seen leaving the scene of the crime before the body was discovered." Togami glances at the dancer. "You can't tell me that isn't suspicious."
"Sure, grandiose one, it is suspicious." Gundam crosses his arms. Saionji glares at him, but he just lays a hand on her shoulder. "But, yes, let us say we are going off of the fact that she has no alibi. There is another, should we ignore Kuzuryuu and Hinata, that has no alibi. And that person is you."
"Hah. You seriously think I would murder someone?" Togami scoffs. "Are you kidding me?"
"Is it not the perfect guise? Make claims that you are the one that wants to prevent murders, keep the group together, when really you are the one plotting our downfall?" Gundam slams his hands onto his trial stand for emphasis. "You said it yourself. Our worst enemies are the others around us. You included. You are not absolved of suspicion simply because you are our leader."
"Enough!" Togami glares at Gundam, harshly cutting him off. "It wasn't me."
"And why should we believe you?!" Gundam roars back. "You are awfully quick to cast blame! It could be you! It is possible for it to be you! You have no evidence otherwise!"
"I told you, I was on the second island all day!" Togami shouts. "I didn't leave!"
"Where is your proof?" Gundam snorts. "You have none. Because you were alone."
"Stop! Just stop." Togami cuts him off, slicing his hand through the air. "This is getting us nowhere."
"Let's... talk about something else..." Komaeda chimes in. He chuckles nervously. "How about... Um... How they carried out the murder. Or, maybe more specifically, how they administered the anesthesia."
"Perhaps they caught Owari-san unaware, then stuck her with a needle and administered the medicine." Sonia offers.
"Or maybe, bang! They shot her with a tranq gun! Bang bang!" Mioda mimes out a gun with her fingers. Gundam rolls his eyes.
"They probably fed the stuff to her." Kuzuryuu scoffs. "That retard woulda eaten anything."
"B-but a-anesthesia is meant to be administered directly into the blood stream. A-at least these kinds were..." Tsumiki hesitantly corrects.
"Whatever. I didn't ask you, did I?" Kuzuryuu glares at the nurse, who bursts into tears. Gundam mulls over the options. Did any of them really work out? Not really...
"Hold on." Komaeda gently grips his chin, stopping the conversation. "Tranquilizer gun..."
"Yeah! Like the kind with tranq darts! Like in movies where they take down lumbering elephants in the sunny savannah!" Mioda places her hand over her eyes, like she's blocking out the sun. An idea hits Gundam and Komaeda at the same time.
"Darts!" The turn to each other, then to Sonia. Komaeda holds himself back for a moment, turning to face Tsumiki.
"Tsumiki-san. You said that one of the anesthetics, an uh... area one or something, was strong enough to numb a large area, right?" The luckster asks.
"U-Uhm... yes... that's true. You wouldn't need m-more than a drop... I-I think..." Tsumiki nods. "Wh-why?"
"Hear me out here, because this may sound kind of crazy." Komaeda clears his throat. "So Sonia-san found something very interesting at the crime scene, didn't you Sonia?"
"...I did?" The princess glances around in confusion.
"The darts." Gundam cuts in. "The ones we asked you to hold onto. Remember?"
"Oh!" Sonia pulls out the two darts. An image of them pops up onto the big screen. "These?"
"Hold on." Hinata stops them. "Are you two seriously attempting to suggest that the murderer used these darts to administer anesthetics to Owari? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. I mean, sure, there's blood on the darts. But so what? Why wouldn't they just use something else? Or even use the anesthesia at all?" The boy stops, snorting and crossing his arms. "Sounds like you're grasping at straws already. Sucks."
"Now you listen here." Gundam jabs a finger at Hinata, who glances over, annoyed. "It makes sense that they would want to impair the gymnast in any way possible. And do you want to know why? Because they fought. They were fighting. And who is a more ferocious fighter than Owari?"
"Nidai. I've also heard that you and Kuzuryuu aren't bad as well." Hinata rolls his eyes. "What's your point? They made her numb with some sort of anesthetic so that they could make it easier on themselves to inject the other one?" Hinata mulls it over. "That's not a bad idea, actually." He shakes his head.
"Okay." Togami raises his brow. "Lets say they did use these darts as a sort of way to 'weaken' Owari. How?"
"With a tranquilizer gun, of course." Komaeda says.
"...And where did they get a tranquilizer gun?" Togami snorts at the luckster.
"Well... I don't think they got one. I think they made one." Komaeda smiles.
"Wha-wha-wha-whaaaaaaaa?!" Mioda gasps. "They made a tranq gun?!"
"Okay. So here's what I think happened, pertaining to the initial anesthesia." Komaeda clears his throat. "Tanaka-kun and I didn't check the dart gun out very thoroughly, but the barrel was changed, that much is obvious. So say they swapped barrels, perhaps modified the insides a bit. Then they could launch throwing darts out of the toy dart gun. Not far maybe, but they just needed a bit of extra range, to reduce Owari's damage. That's what I think, anyway. It may sound unlikely and strange and impossible, but I think that's exactly what happened."
"You kidding me, man?" Kuzuryuu says, cringing. He tries to hold back a cough, failing. After a watery coughing fit, the gangster continues. "That's so dumb."
"I think so too, Kuzuryuu-kun. But it's really the only explanation for the dart gun we have thus far." Komaeda shrugs. "I'd gladly take another for why it's there." Kuzuryuu just grunts angrily and turns away.
"Um... quick question." Hanamura timidly raises his hand. "Where did this medicine stuff come from? I uh... didn't do a very thorough search of the second island..."
"The pharmacy on the second island." Togami states simply. "...What were you doing then?"
"U-Uh... That's not important? Hehe..." Hanamura chuckles nervously. "L-Lets get back to the trial, right?" Togami squints at him, but just sighs and lets it go.
"What about the other one?" Koizumi chimes in. "There were two anesthetics, right?"
"Ah, right." Komaeda nods. "The other one, that caused unconsciousness. That one's pretty easy, I think. There was a syringe at the crime scene. At least, I think it was a syringe. I ah... broke it." The luckster rubs the back of his neck. "But yeah... I think all they needed to do was have the syringe prepped with a sufficient amount of the anesthesia and they'd have been set."
"Well now that we've got that out of the way, let's discuss something a touch more important." Hinata places his hands on his trial stand, leaning forward. "Why?"
"That answer is simple as well." Gundam says, crossing his arms. "They knew what they were getting into. And that would be a fight they could not win without help."
"So you're saying they planned Owari's murder? I find that unlikely." Hinata throws a glance at Owari's picture. "I mean, Owari was way too nice to just start fights like that. Kind of. If someone wanted to draw her attention away from them so they could murder her, all they had to do was literally just give her something to eat." Hinata snorts and shakes his head. "No, they definitely weren't planning on killing Owari."
"So who were they going to kill, Hajime-chan?" Mioda cocks her head curiously.
"Seriously?" Hinata groans pressing a palm to his face. "Kuzuryuu. They were trying to kill Kuzuryuu." He turns to the gangster. "That's right, isn't it Kuzuryuu? Why don't you tell them about it?"
"You're damn straight." Kuzuryuu smirks. "I went to the park to have lunch. Suddenly, someone attacked me from the back like a coward. Knocked me out too. Guess I'm lucky that that Owari 'saved' me, huh?" Gundam narrows his eyes. Something doesn't seem... right about this.
"...Pff." Saionji blows a raspberry into the air. "That's interesting and all, big bro Kuzuryuu, but if they were going to knock you out and then kill you, why bother with the whole anesthesia fiasco?" She giggles tauntingly, shooting an angry glare at him. "I smeeeeeell a liiiiaaaaaar~"
"Liar? Liar?!" Kuzuryuu slams his hands down onto his trial stand, then winces and starts coughing. "Screw what you think. I'm not lying."
"She brings up a good point, Kuzuryuu-kun." Komaeda crosses his arms, looking skeptically at Kuzuryuu. "It wouldn't make much sense for someone to bring something they weren't going to use for a murder. It just adds to possible evidence."
"The hell are you asking me for?" Kuzuryuu glares. "I have no idea why this psychopath did what they did. All I know is that they tried to murder me."
"They're making a pretty good point, Kuzuryuu." Togami says.
"Are they?" The gangster snorts angrily.
"Yes." Gundam grunts. "They are providing reasons that show you are a filthy liar."
"Oh yeah?" Kuzuryuu, with some effort, puffs out his chest and stares Gundam down. "How so? Show me."
"What kind of person brings supplies that they are not planning on using?" Gundam crosses his arms. "They are only opening their opportunities to foil their own plan."
"Yeah yeah yeah," Kuzuryuu cuts him off. "Komaeda already said that. Why don't you give me some proof that I'm suspicious?"
"Fine." Gundam sneers at him. "Your wounds. You were undoubtedly in a fight? And with whom, one might ask? That is a simple question to answer, is it not?" Gundam chuckles morbidly and jabs a thumb at the picture next to him. Owari's. "The victim."
"You're saying I fought her?" Kuzuryuu winces, placing a hand against his chest. "That's... the dumbest thing I've ever heard."
"K-Kuzuryuu-san, c-calm down! Your wounds... m-might open up again..." Tsumiki stutters out.
"Hey! Don't defend him!" Saionji puts her hands on her hips and glares at the nurse, who bursts into tears with a waterlogged 'I'm sorry!'.
"That makes sense..." Hinata nods. "Kuzuryuu is the only one that shows any sort of wounds, and his especially look like he's been in a fight. Nidai, the only other one that could have made it through a fight with Owari without getting brutalized, was covered the entire day."
"You kiddin' me?" Kuzuryuu glares at everybody else. "It wasn't me. You need proof. Solid, hard proof. None of this speculation bull crap. Can any of you fuckers give me some solid evidence? Huh?" He crosses his arms and waits. Gundam puts his mind into overdrive. Surely there must be something... They sit for a few moments in silence. Kuzuryuu scoffs. "Yeah. That's what I thought. Now how about we talk about the real culprit. It was you, wasn't it, Koizumi?" He smirks when the photographer tenses up. "What do you have to say about that?"
"I..." Koizumi glances at Owari's picture. "I-It wasn't me."
"Feh. Liar." Kuzuryuu spits out the accusation.
"Hey! I said don't bully my big sis!" Saionji practically screams at Kuzuryuu, who just rolls his eyes at the dancer.
"If it wasn't her, then certainly she can provide some proof as to why it wasn't. Because I don't believe her for a second." Kuzuryuu snorts.
"I-I..." Koizumi stutters, at a loss for words. Gundam stares at her. Could she really have done it? He thinks back to her running away from Jabberwock Park. The fear in her eyes... was it the fear of getting caught? No... it was the fear of getting blamed. Gundam clenches a fist. It had to be Kuzuryuu. There... was really no one else. Now all he has to do is prove it. Gundam notices that the gangster is still running his mouth.
"-nothing. And if you have nothing, then that puts you as the most likely candidate." The gangster puts a hand on his hip and shakes his head. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Should have covered your tracks better." Gundam stops listening for a moment. Covering their tracks... covering his tracks... would have been impossible. Yes! That's it!
"No... No I have something!" Koizumi hastily reaches into her breast pocket, pulling out a waded up piece of paper. "S-See here?" She unravels it and hands it to Hinata, who reads it out loud.
"'Meet me in Jabberwock Park at six fifty. We're going to talk about this game.'" Hinata scrunches up his face, likely at the mention of the game he has no knowledge about, and hands the note back.
"That? That's your proof?" Kuzuryuu laughs, then clutches at his chest and takes a wheezy breath. "Urf..." He clears his throat, then continues. "That's not proof."
"What do you mean, it's not proof?" Saionji snarls at Kuzuryuu. He laughs again, weaker this time.
"I mean, she could have written that herself. Just to cover up. There's no proof that somebody else wrote it."
"That's true." Togami sighs. "Just because she got a note doesn't mean she's innocent."
"That is far from falsehood." Gundam, finally having formulated his thoughts, cuts through the slight silence that had followed Togami's words. He catches Koizumi's hurt gaze in his direction and smiles at her. "However, I believe that the murder is not in fact the righteous one."
"Yeah?" Kuzuryuu cuts him off. "Then who could have done it?"
"Perhaps if you would have let me finish, I would have told you that there is one very likely candidate for this murder." Gundam presses his lips into a straight line, staring Kuzuryuu down. He waits a few moments to build suspense, then throws his arm out, directing his index finger at the gangster. "You!"
"Me?" Kuzuryuu sneers at Gundam, scoffing. "I thought we just went though this. It couldn't have been me. Nobody has any proof oth-"
"Stop!" Gundam interrupts him. "There is one glaringly obvious point, one so obvious that it is easy to overlook. Extremely easy."
"Oh... You've figured it out too, Tanaka-kun." Komaeda crosses his arms, sly smile on his face. "Yes, he's absolutely right. I think you uh... talked a bit too much, Kuzuryuu-kun." Kuzuryuu shoots an unsteady glare at both of the boys.
"What are you two going on about?" Togami glances at them.
"It's simple, really, Togami-kun. The fact that there was evidence at the crime scene shows us that it couldn't have been Koizumi-san." Komaeda nods at the photographer. "If we use a bit of logic and a touch of clarification from Monobear, we can confirm our murderer." The rest of the group, sans Gundam, stares at the luckster like he's crazy.
"...The heck are you talking about, Komaeda?" Hinata shoots the boy a particularly confused stare.
"First things first. Sorry to go into technicalities here, but uh... Monobear? Monobear!" Komaeda waves to get the bear's attention.
"Zzz... Snrk!" Monobear wakes up with a start. "Eh? What? What's going on? Have I been sleeping?" A few annoyed groans resound through the students.
"Um... I have a question." Komaeda scratches the back of his head. "So, about the body discovery announcement. It's three people, right?"
"Yup!" Monobear happily reclines, paws behind his head. "Three students must find the body for the announcement to come on!" The bear leans forward, suddenly suspicious. "...Why?"
"One more question. Does the murderer count as one of those three students?"
"..." Monobear frowns. "..." They all sit in silence for a moment before Monobear groans. "Ugh. No. The murderer doesn't count as one of the three."
"Ah. Thank you." Komaeda smiles again. "So let's think about this for a moment. Kuzuryuu was at the scene of the crime. But whether or not he knew that the body was there is irrelevant. Because Koizumi came from the park. Which means she saw the body. Then Nidai and Tanaka saw it. According to Tanaka, he was the person that triggered the announcement. Now this leaves us with two scenarios." Komaeda crosses his arms. "One, Koizumi is innocent, and she, Nidai, and Tanaka are the three to have discovered the body. Two, which is a lot more unlikely, Togami came by at some time, told nobody about the body, and left. Koizumi revisits the scene of her crime, and meets Nidai and Tanaka on the way out." The room is silent. Komaeda just keeps smiling. "You didn't leave the second island, did you Togami-kun?" Togami sneers, but shakes his head.
"Excellent. Now let's move into the other point." Gundam smirks. "The evidence. There are two things at the crime scene that show something very important." The animal breeder flourishes his coat dramatically. "The broken syringe and the dart gun! Tell me, you foolish mortals, would you leave evidence behind?" More silence.
"Bullshit." Kuzuryuu starts quietly. "That's bullshit! Bullshit!" He slams his hands on his trial stand, face going red. He winces when his hands impact the wood, but doesn't stop. "What the hell kind of proof is that? Leaving behind evidence? Are you kidding me?"
"It's not bovine feces!" Gundam shouts back. "You left behind evidence, not because you wanted to, but because you had to! You could not leave the scene! Because you were too injured from your feud with Owari!"
"I don't believe that for a second! You can't prove I had anything to do with that stuff!" Kuzuryuu hollers back.
"That, you imbecile, is where you are wrong!" Gundam snorts, turning his head defiantly. "You are undoubtedly linked to one of the items found at the scene, one you have no business being connected to. Unless... you are the killer!"
"And what's that, huh?"
"The dart gun, you fool!" Gundam's statement stops Kuzuryuu cold. "Mioda. Tell him about the dart gun."
"Eh?" Mioda cocks her head. "The fun toy Ibuki found in the bushes?"
"...Yes." Gundam presses a palm to his forehead. "The toy."
"Oh! Well, Ibuki found a pretty cool gun in the bushes. Not normal, the shooting barrel looked very, very, very not right! It was all bent! And when Gundam-chan took the gun from Ibuki, gasp!, her hands were smeared with blood!"
"Yes, thank you." Gundam stops her before she can go on about something unrelated. "Now, timorous one, tell us about a certain wound that we found was the only thing that was exsanguinated enough to show a loss of a lot of blood."
"U-Um..." Tsumiki stops to think for a moment. "Th-there were some really deep gashes on Kuzuryuu-san's hand... I-It seemed to be the only thing bleeding a-at all, i-if we consider Owari-san's s-state as well..." Kuzuryuu tenses up.
"Thank you, Tanaka-kun." Komaeda nods. "And since the dart gun was the only thing covered in blood, I think it's safe to assume that Kuzuryuu-kun was the one using it."
"...Alright. Hold on." Hinata holds out a hand. "Someone just... go through this supposed murder plot. Just to make sure we're all on the same page here." Komaeda nods.
"I'll do it." The luckster clears his throat and begins.
"Well let's see... Everybody, except for Hinata-kun and Kuzuryuu were at breakfast today. After breakfast, Sonia-san made plans for everybody to host a 'curry day' of sorts. Well we all went our separate ways. Me and Sonia-san met everybody except for Togami-kun, Kuzuryuu, and Koizumi-san. We gathered them up and brought them back to the restaurant. We all ate lunch together. Then Owari-san left for a run. This is where the murder plot began. Our murderer had apparently collected supplies, both from the pharmacy and from the supermarket, and began setting up in Jabberwock Park. They had their modified dart gun, with their anesthesia-soaked darts and a syringe full of a different anesthetic. I think they were planning on killing or framing Koizumi-san, as they had likely sent the note she has. Owari-san must have gone by the park on her run, because... well..." Komaeda stops, taking a breath.
"Okay. Around six-thirty, thirty or so minutes before Koizumi-san arrived, the murderer engaged Owari-san in a fight. They were both competent fighters, as seen by the wounds they both ended up harboring. The culprit fired off a few shots from their modified dart gun into Owari-san. This must have slowed her down slightly. Now once she realized what was going on, she probably kicked the gun out of the culprit's hands. This is what caused the wounds, the plastic handle and trigger scraping deep gashes into their hand. But now that their range was gone, they had to get in close. They somehow managed to stick her with the syringe and inject the other anesthesia. She was probably unconsciousness within moments. Wounded too much to do anything on their own, the culprit had to use the one thing at their disposal to finish of Owari-san. The game machine. They... smashed her head into it and electrocuted her to death. They then collapsed from their wounds, not five feet from the murder they had committed. Anyone else would have taken their evidence and fled the scene. But the culprit couldn't because they didn't leave at all. Around seven o'clock, Koizumi-san arrived on the scene. Startled by what she saw, she tried to run away. It's here that she met Nidai and Tanaka, who saw the body and set off the announcement, putting us here..." Komaeda frowns. "And who is this culprit, you may ask? Well... it's the one person that was found alive at the scene of the crime. Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu." Komaeda finishes with a sigh. Kuzuryuu glares at the others.
"You... dipshits don't really believe that. Do you? Why would you?" Kuzuryuu grips his trial stand. He leers at the other students, but nobody meets his eyes.
"Ooh? It seems our trial has stalled! Let's get to voting then!" Monobear cackles, which is followed up by the collective ringing of every Student ID. Gundam pulls his out and turns it on. It goes straight to the voting screen. He doesn't hesitate to tap Kuzuryuu's picture. The screen goes blank. After a moment, the big screen lights up with the slot machine with spinning wheels. When they eventually slow to a stop, they all display Kuzuryuu's face. The screen and the Student IDs let out the same happy fanfare, and Monobear cackles. "Nice job, bastards! The murderer of Owari-san and the second contestant in our fabulous game of Mutual Killing was none other than Kuzuryuu-kun! That puts an end to this criminally short School trial!"
"What is wrong with you?!" Togami marches out of his spot, looming over Kuzuryuu. The gangster stays staring at the ground. "I thought I told you I would take care of things! You didn't have to go and do something rash!"
"Then maybe you should have done a better job!" Kuzuryuu whirls around, glaring at Togami. "You don't know me at all. I just learned my fucking sister died! Right after I lost Peko! How do you think I feel?! Huh? Did you consider that for a damn second?!"
"Yes! I did!" Togami clenches his fists.
"Then maybe you didn't think hard enough." Kuzuryuu lets out an angry puff of air and turns away. "You don't know how I work. How we work. The yakuza, when one of our own dies by somebody other than us, do you know what we do? No? That's because you lived some pompous life where you sit around in a leather chair all day stuffing chocolates down your fat throat. I'll tell you what to do." Kuzuryuu, despite just being voted to die, grins. "We get revenge. And since we already murdered that idiot Souda, I needed a bit more revenge to even out what was left. And who better to get revenge on than the bitch that was linked to my sister dying?" Koizumi tenses up in her spot. Kuzuryuu glares at her. "Yeah. You."
"I... I didn't... I don't... remember that... I-It couldn't have been me, I-"
"News flash." Kuzuryuu stops her. "It's your fault. It's your fault that my sister is dead. It's your fault that Satou girl from the game is dead. It's your fault that Souda is dead. Hell, it's your fault Owari's dead too. And now it's your fault I'm going to die." Kuzuryuu laughs morbidly. "You've got five heads on your hands. How you gonna deal with that, huh?"
"It... it's not my-" Koizumi protests.
"No, it is." Kuzuryuu snots. "That stupid girl wouldn't leave me alone. She got to the park and just would. Not. Leave. And for my damn plan to work, she had to not be there. So I had to get rid of her. I'm not picky. And don't you dare tell me that you didn't vote for me or Souda." He glares, making Koizumi wilt under his gaze.
"Cease your words!" Gundam shouts. "You taint the air with your vile accusations. I demand that you do something vital for your reputation." Kuzuryuu raises an eyebrow, making Gundam shakes his head. "...And that would be to shut the fuck up." Saionji winces when Gundam swears. He rarely ever does it.
"Oi. How about you shut up?" Kuzuryuu shakes his head. "I'm done talking to you assholes. Monobear, get me out of here."
"Sure thing, Kuzuryuu-kun! I think you'll enjoy your special punishment, tailored just for you! Who's ready... to begiiiiin? Ahahahahaha!"
A Heart of (Fool's) Gold
Kuzuryuu stands at his trial stand, when a plastic tube descends over him. He glances around in confusion as a pale green gas floods the rest of the room. A few of the students try to hold their breaths, while others simply drop after taking a deep breath of the smog. The last one standing is Togami, who glares at Kuzuryuu before he too slumps to the floor. Monobear's laugh is the only sound in the room as Kuzuryuu's trial stand descends into the ground. The screen in the room lights up with a live video feed, which begins recording as soon as the other students begin waking up from the knockout gas...
Kuzuryuu walks solemnly down a dark street with his hands in his pockets, rain pattering lightly against his head and shoulders. He looks healed, fit, and alert. Something catches his eye, and he turns to find men in trench coats, fedoras, and Monobear masks streaming out of an alleyway. He spins around. The men come from every doorway. Every car. Every nook and cranny big enough to hide in. He clenches his fists, a cocky yet sad grin on his face. He knows it's the end. One of the men reaches into his trench coat and pulls out a pistol and some extra clips, tossing them to the gangster. Kuzuryuu catches the pistol, looks it over, hefts it in his hand, sticks the extra ammo in his pockets, and flips the safety on the gun. Within a second, three of the Monomen lie on the asphalt, rain splattering against them. Kuzuryuu fires more shots into the others, barely dodging shots from the guns that the living ones now hold. Once, he runs out of bullets, but jams his hand into his pocket and pulls out a fresh clip. Kuzuryuu pops the old one and jams the new clip in. His reloading causes him to be left open for just long enough. He takes a bullet to the arm, to the legs, to the chest. But he still stays strong. He takes hit after hit, but continues to pop bullets into his enemies. They drop like flies with wet thumps until only one remains. Kuzuryuu fires a shot into their leg, causing them to collapse to the ground. He smirks, standing over his final adversary. His eyes dance with hope. He levels the gun at their head, saying something inaudible. That's when the Monoman takes off his, or rather her, mask. Kuzuryuu gasps. He finds himself staring at a blonde girl, seemingly only slightly younger than him. Despite his bleeding, bullet-riddled self, Kuzuryuu helps his sister up. They smile at each other. And then Kuzuryuu's smile drops when the cold barrel of a revolver presses up against the bottom of his head. He stares at her in disbelief. She just grins devilishly and pulls the trigger three times. Blood fountains into the air, and Kuzuryuu stares at his sister until his eyes glaze over and he falls to his knees, pistol clattering out of his hands. His lips move, looking almost like he's mouthing 'Peko', before he hits the ground. Kuzuryuu's sister soundlessly laughs, her left eye glinting red, and all of the Monomen get up and casually brush themselves off. Two of them grab the dead gangster and carry him into an alley. The rest of the Monomen stalk away, including Kuzuryuu's sister, leaving only a puddle of blood for the rain to wash away and a pistol that was filled with blanks.
"Wowee, how about that, huh?" Monobear guffaws gleefully, waggling his feet. Still groggy and confused from the knockout gas, Gundam pulls himself to his feet with the help of the trial stand. The other students manage to get to their feet as well.
"Get out. Just... get out." Togami dismisses Monobear with a shaky wave of his arm. Monobear cackles.
"Sure thing, Togami-kun! Just remember to exit the trial room when you guys are done despairing, alright? Remember, voluntary sleeping is only allowed in designated areas~" And with that, Monobear hops off of his throne, snickering, and walks away, disappearing. They sit around the room, some of them splayed out on the floor. Others stand at their stands. The silence is deafening, and Gundam thinks he may just do something about it when Togami clears his throat.
"Let's go. There's no point in moping around." The imposter sadly shakes his head and marches towards the elevator. Gundam soon follows, and shuffling behind him tells him that the others are close behind. Togami counts off as they settle into the elevator, frowning when he notices they're two short. "Who are we missing?"
"C'mon... Big sis Koizumi... please..." Saionji half leads, half drags Koizumi to the elevator. She strains to get the photographer to follow her. Koizumi just stares ahead emptily. The dancer eventually gets her into the elevator, glancing over at Gundam and Komaeda. "...Okay. Go. Hurry up." She narrows her eyes at Togami who just sighs and hits the elevator button. The doors shudder closed, and the students sit in yet another smothering silence as the elevator groans with the effort of carrying them back up. Gundam just crosses his arms. To think that Kuzuryuu... even someone like him... The animal breeder shakes his head. Awful. He feels a soft nuzzling against his neck, glancing down to find two of the Dark Gods attempting to comfort him. He smiles, despite the situation. The elevator stops with a pained squeak and they all pile onto the escalator, letting it carry them down to the beach. They split up the instant they get off the escalator, everyone going their separate ways. Gundam catches up to Saionji and Koizumi, the photographer still staring at nothing with glassy eyes. Komaeda appears beside him with a sigh.
"I can't believe it." The luckster shakes his head. Gundam nods in response. The animal breeder places a hand on Saionji's shoulder, and the two hamsters inhabiting her kimono scamper up and out, fleeing into Gundam's scarf. The four walk in silence all the way to the hotel. Just as they're about to part ways, Koizumi says something too quiet to make out. Komaeda cocks his head, frowning in concern. "I'm sorry?"
"...During the trial. You... and Tanaka. You were... smiling... Why?"
"..." Komaeda glances at Gundam. The animal breeder shrugs. Even he isn't sure what came over him. "Well... I think I'm really only speaking for myself here, but... I smiled because I was scared." With a nod of finality, Gundam walks away, heading to his cabin. Komaeda follows him, and they enter the dark cottage together. Gndam just plops himself onto the bed and closes his eyes, asleep the moment his vision goes dark.
End Act 2, Island of Broken Promises...
Remaining Students: 11