Chapter 2: Time to Investigate (A)
Akemi's once vivid personality had practically just gotten up and walked away. Her body was just an empty shell; our last memory of her. It was an absolute bloody mess. Not only did someone take the Ultimate Actress away from us, they also left it one hell of a mess. Okay, I know. I'm just finding reasons to nitpick at this point but it's all true. Akemi was one of the people here that I could safely call my friend. What did she do to deserve... this?
"Upupupu..." Monokuma chuckled with that sickening joyous yet villainous voice of his. "Finally..." He muttered.
"Look you sick fuck..." Juku practically growled. "What did you do!?"
"I did something?" Monokuma asked innocently. "Are you sure none of YOU did this!" He shouted it like a statement than a question.
"What!?" Shin snapped in bewilderment.
"I'm serious!" Monokuma said angrily. "This is a murder committed by one of the students; I had NOTHING to do with this!"
"You did..." I found myself saying automatically.
"Wuzzat?"
"You... you and your stupid motive!" I shouted at him. I was angry at this point. I wanted to take my frustration out on anyone, for the loss of my friend. I was gonna lunge at Monokuma but Shin (who had been conveniently standing next to me) held me back.
"Don't lose your head." He told me. I tried my best to regain my composure but it wasn't working with Monokuma around.
"Well, whatever." Atsushi brushed everyone else's shock off. He seemed unnaturally carefree about the entire situation. "I'm sure you've got something to give us, so why don't you just give it to us and let us get to investigating." For some reason, he was unusually giddy about the whole death thing. What is this guy's problem?
"Right right right." Monokuma nodded. "In your e-Handbooks I've prepared... The Monokuma File! A brief autopsy report on the dead body..." Was Akemi an it now? Just another lifeless thing in a room? "Have fun!" With that said, Monokuma just disappeared.
"As irritating as ever..." Akihiro said, voicing all of our opinions. "Whatever. We just gotta look around and stuff right? Okay then Monokuma, let your game begin."
"This isn't a game you know..." Hiroaki tried to argue. However Izanagi spoke up next.
"Are you certain?" He asked in a deadly serious voice. "This is, in fact, a game. One of survival..."
"How can you say that crap so calmly?" Destiny asked in a panic.
"It's quite simple." Izanagi went on. "We have clear opposing teams, one struggling to be the victor."
"Opposing... teams?" I repeated inquisitively.
"Oh, Akiko... how naive. I'm obviously referring to the "blackened" and the innocent of this case." Really? Could we justify this by saying it's a game, and all someone had to do is turn on everyone and kill? A game for survival?
"Again, whatever." Atsushi groaned again. "I swear everyone here just loves to hear themselves talk. I'm gonna go ahead and start now okay?"
"Wait a second." Ryota spoke up. "How can we be sure the killer won't alter the crime scene?"
"Are you suggesting someone be on guard duty?" Hotaru asked. Ryota nodded in confirmation. "Okay then, you do it."
"Huh, me?" Ryota was dumbfounded by her abrasive comment.
"But what if he's the killer...?" Miyako asked meekly.
"Then I'll be here too." Juku said. "There's no way two people could be responsible. Besides... I wouldn't be much help anyways."
"Okay." Atsushi was starting to get annoyed with all the excess, it was clear in his tone and face. "Let's just hurry. We don't have all day." I guess the moment of truth was approaching, and if I wanted to be of any help I had to start to. To avenge Akemi... to find her true killer!
Monokuma File 1: Victim: Akemi Hanako. Time of death was estimated to be around 6:47 PM. The victim has suffered a major head wound and heavy stab wounds to the abdomen. Other wounds consist of bruises and cuts along her face and arms. And finally, a sprained ankle.
That's it? Honestly, that didn't answer anything. And it doesn't clarify what the cause of death was... oh well. Looks like I'm on my own here. First I went to the body to confirm all the injuries listed in the Monokuma File. "Sorry for the intrusion." I told the body that was once Akemi. I gave her head a quick glance and... yup. There were definitely bruises and an opening in her head where the blood was coming out. It was unnerving but I had to stay strong. I checked her torso and a wound from what I could only imagine to be from a knife. And finally, I looked inside her boot and found her ankle to be swollen. All the major injuries seemed to be on the spot. I noticed that there was something... silvery on her boot. Was it... paint? I touched the strange inconsistency with her platform boots and it definitely seemed to be a paint. Still wet after about two hours I guess. What paint stays wet all day?
"Akiko." Shin called to me. "You're going over the body?"
"Um... yeah." I told him softly.
"Can you step aside for a moment?" He asked me. I nodded and he took my spot in front of her body. The discarded hunting knife now in his hand. He looked from Akemi to the knife. Back to Akemi, then the knife. He kept this repetitive process up for a moment before sighing. "Yup. This caused her stab wounds. There's at least three wounds."
"Three!? You can tell that?" I asked him in surprise.
"Of course. As an artist one of my talents is realism. I take exact measurements and exact everything basically. So I can tell just by eyeballing." Incredible. I should keep this report somewhere in the back of my mind. After talking with Shin my attention was brought to the debris scattered around her. There didn't seem to be any under her. I touched a piece and noticed there had been a layer of dust on the ground. It normally happens when you smash stone, but what stone was smashed? Maybe one of the statues or busts in the back? Could someone use this...? I checked Akemi's body, in particular, her hair. It had a similar powder on it. So the killer attacked her with a statue or bust and stabbed her with a knife... good to keep noted. But how did her ankle get busted up? And with what?
No doubt the knife came from a survival pack. Could it be...? I needed to talk to Makoto. She was out in the hall studying the blood streak that went all the way to Akemi's body. She seemed more dazed than actually concentrating. "Hey, Makoto."
"Oh. What's wrong?" She replied, somehow able to regain her composure easily.
"Well, you know the knife that was at the crime scene? Could it have been Akemi's?"
"You were thinking so too..." She said gently. "I had the same line of thought. Maybe she carried it for self-defense...?" Could that be the real reason? Next I looked down at the bloodstain. I noticed the floor had traces of mismatching gray but I paid it no mind. It went all the way to Akemi's body and there was something bothering me... I went back to her body and looked at her bloodied front. And when I looked at her back I noticed it was unusually clean... meaning she must've had to turn around while she was being dragged through her own blood. But, why two wounds? The next thing I did was examine the rose and note in her hands. As I did I noticed the hand with the rose has been coated in blood but no wounds were visible. I somehow managed to free the note from her death grip unscathed. I opened it and read it's contents. "Meet me in Class 3-1 at 6:30 for a surprise." Did the killer write this? Also I noticed the note had a hole, and how there was a major fold like it had been folded in half. Was something attached? Class 3-1, that was my next destination. I saw Atsushi and Miyako in the classroom.
The desks themselves were disorganized. Unlike the other classrooms, some sort of struggle was obvious. The desks were out of line and a couple of turned over chairs. On the floor there was a spray painted metal pole with gaps in it, exposing a rusted interior. The gaps were about the size of someone's hand. "Someone might have been holding this..." I said. But how was it relevant?
"Have you noticed the blood on it yet?" Atsushi asked me, suddenly butting in the middle of my own thoughts. I looked at the pole again and noticed faint traces of blood along the pole, like it rolled in it maybe? I didn't get it. Atushi made no sense. I talked to Miyako and asked her if she found anything.
"Um..." She said. "The paint on the pole there doesn't stick well to the metal. So it peels right off, leaving a stain." I was getting deja vu. "And I found these..." She pointed to the trash can. Inside was a pair of work gloves. They were coated with the same silver as the pole with blood stains over it. Could the killer wear these gloves? "Also, I thought I saw Akemi walk in to the main building around 6:00... I know because I had been napping until then. I was taking a walk and saw them." Huh? Her note said... "And then three other people walked in. Atsushi, Ikazuchi, and Shin."
"All guys huh?" I asked her.
"Yeah but... I think Hiroaki told me Destiny and Rei had gone in also." I think this will be important to keep later. One last thing I had to confirm. I went to find Hotaru, who had been standing in the hallway away from the crime scene.
"Hotaru, what are you doing?" Akiko said.
"Oh, I don't want to get in anyone's way. So I'm just standing here." In other words, she was being lazy. "I'm not good with this stuff anyway."
"Okay. Did you know Akemi had a rose in her hand?"
"A rose you say..." Hotaru gave a moment to contemplate it. "Actually..."
"What? You know something?" I asked her.
"Earlier today I had left my room door unlocked when I went to lunch break with everyone. When I returned, my door had been opened widely and one of the flowers I brought with me went missing. A Carola to be precise." Now that I think about it, the flower in Akemi's hand did look like a Carola rose.
"Thank you for telling me- wait. Why DID you leave your room unlocked?"
"I didn't want the key to get lost so I left it on my desk. I just never lock the door." Again. Lazy. After all that, was I done? I decided to look back at Akemi's body one last time. Not to investigate, but to talk.
"Akemi..." I muttered. No matter how much I went back, nothing had changed. She'd still be dead. She'd be dead tomorrow. Then the next day she won't get up. Then the next. Then the next... It was sad, not just for Akemi, but for anyone who dies. You'll never be able to come back. Once you die, that's it... That reality began to sink in for me, after the longest time I realized death isn't just something that's gonna happen. It's a painful moment we'll all feel. I can't say for sure if you'll go somewhere... No, I can't be thinking too much like that. We gotta avenge Akemi by finding her real killer! Whoever did this killed a classmate in cold blood and that can't go unpunished! I went walking away with determination and saw Ikazuchi in the hall now.
"Akiko!?" He seemed surprised.
"What's wrong?" I asked him.
"Oh, um. I'm looking for my gloves. I have a spare I'm wearing now but-" Ding dong ding. The announcement came on. "I-I'll tell ya later..." He seemed concerned about something, but took off before I could say anything.
"Hey, this is Monokuma. I'm just gonna say everyone get down to the shuttle bus in the field. Getting kinda bored so... yeah. Let's get it started." The announcement was then cut off. Looks like we have no choice now. We all made our way to the shuttle outside, that's when I noticed it's now nighttime. The stars and moon were out right now and there was a quiet breeze in the air. However it did nothing to carry the heavy atmosphere around the fifteen of us. One of us was responsible for committing murder on one of our classmates. Monokuma appeared out of thin air and greeted us. "Why hello everyone! Aren't we all excited!?"
"Excited...?" Ikazuchi muttered.
"This isn't a game at all." Chou said. "There's no reason to be excited..." She seemed glum for some reason too. I knew that reason: doubt. We all had it within everyone. We couldn't bring ourselves to trust each other anymore.
"Well, whatever!" Monokuma whined. "Just get on the bus and we can truly start." With that said the door to the Shuttle opened and we all filed inside and sat in our own seats away from everyone. The bus closed and it began to move on it's own like it was remote controlled or automatic. Like Monokuma maybe? Whatever it was we moved beyond the restraints Makoto pointed out earlier in the week. We were introduced to dense foliage and a long bus ride. I used the time to contemplate and mull over my information.
-Monokuma File 1: Victim: Akemi Hanako. Time of death was estimated to be around 6:47 PM. The victim has suffered a major head wound and heavy stab wounds to the abdomen. Other wounds consist of bruises and cuts along her face and arms. And finally, a sprained ankle.
-Akemi's Ankle: The victim had suffered from a hit to the ankle from something hard. There was a silvery paint on her ankle. It was still wet after a while.
-Shin's Analysis: Shin compared the stab wounds to the hunting knife that was laying around. Could the knife have been Akemi's?
-Debris and Dust: There was an abundance of debris and dust on the ground around the victim. Some of the dust seems to have been stuck to the victim's hair. Was she attacked by something of stone?
-Makoto's Account: She remembers seeing the knife from Akemi's survival pack had gone missing. Could the knife at the crime scene be the same?
-Blood Streaks: The victim was seemingly dragged through blood face down, then turned around to lean on the wall.
-Note: The note says "Meet me in Class 3-1 at 6:30." It was probably used to lure out the victim. It was folded like a note before being crumpled up.
-Rose: The victim had this clutched in her hands. It definitely isn't something you can just find. Perhaps someone...?
-Akemi's Hands: The victim's hands did have blood on them, but no injuries on them. The blood possibly came from somewhere else.
-Status of the Classroom: The classroom the note specified had been left in a state of disarray. A struggle must have taken place.
-Metal Pole: A pole found in the classroom. It's unknown where it came from but it's covered in a cheap paint that peels off immediately, exposing it's true colors. Someone may have been gripping it. Also it seems to have rolled around in some blood, too?
-Discarded Gloves: A pair of work gloves had been poorly disposed of in the trash can, showing signs of being used to hold the pole and possibly commit murder.
-Miyako's Account: Miyako claims to have seen the victim, and three others enter the school building. Shin, Atsushi, and Ikazuchi. Destiny and Rei were present in the building as well.
-Ikazuchi's Missing Things: Ikazuchi claims to have lost his gloves, whilst having a spare. Did someone steal them?
That seemed to be everything I had. By now, the bus had reached what looked like a giant courtroom. No choice now as we climbed the stairs and Monokuma directed us to our assigned spots. I was at the spot opposing Monokuma's throne and Atsushi's spot. Going clockwise, it went myself, Ryota, Makoto, Akemi (A sign had been put in her place), Juku, Destiny, Izanagi, Atsushi, Miyako, Akihiro, Hotaru, Chou, Ikazuchi, Hiroaki, Shin until coming around back to myself. One of us killed Akemi... we had to uncover the truth or we all pay the price... this was gonna be a trial of lies, of truths. A trial where contradictions and fact become one, a trial that put Hope and Despair on the line... it's, a deadly class trial!
"Court now in session!" It exclaimed on a monitor above Monokuma's "throne".
(DAWN) "Let's start with a basic explanation of the class trail," Monokuma explained. "So your votes will determine the results. If you can figure out "whodunit" then I'll punish what will now be known as the *blackened*. But if you guess the wrong one... I'll punish everyone BESIDES the blackened! And that person will be granted permission to leave this school."
"H-how is that fair!?" Hotaru stammered in confusion.
"It's the rules of the game." Akihiro replied. "Winner takes all. No questions asked."
"Uh, earth to asshole!" Juku snapped. "This ain't a game at all!"
"I'd beg to differ." Akihiro shrugged off the larger boy's comment. "Need I go into explicit detail as to why, this is in fact, a game?"
"Pleeeeeaassee do!" Juku shouted, cracking his fists. "So I can get all the crap outta you!" No one really had a response for this at all. Finally someone spoke up.
"Let's just ignore them." Izanagi declared. "It's better to do that than to carry on pointless arguments any further."
"Somehow, you remind me of someone..." Chou added. "But um... more important things, right!" The gamer seemed to be raring to go. "We have to find out who killed Akemi!"
"Right. So, how do we go about doing it?" Ryota asked. "All you guys who did the looking and stuff should know, right?"
"That doesn't necessarily mean anything." Rei replied. "Just because we have knowledge, we won't know when and how to apply it. So if we can somehow get ideas forming we can start drawing the truth from that."
"Is it really that easy?" Destiny asked. Rei remained silent as she seemingly was pondering what to say.
So, this is where it really begins. I need to be ready to speak up when I have to. Or we all die...
(-BREAK-) "I recommend we establish the common knowledge." Rei declared. "Like what happened and who was the victim."
"Very well. The victim for this case was none other than Akemi Hanako! According to the Monokuma File... she suffered two fatal injuries!" Makoto declared.
"We know that part." Ikazuchi grumbled. "But what went down exactly?"
"Well one thing is certain..." Hotaru went on. "She was taken by surprise in the art room. How else would she have gotten there?"
"No, that's wrong." I told everyone as I put up an argument. All attention was on me now...
(SOLAR) I proceeded to say my reasoning. "There's no way the crime could've started in the art room."
"Why not?" Hotaru asked.
"Well, I have several pieces of evidence. First it starts with the status of Akemi's body. Notice how there's blood covering the front half of her body, but not the back. This is only because she had been dragged through blood... And the blood that she was dragged through left streaks on the floor from the hall."
"Oh, you noticed a tiny detail like that?" Hotaru asked, amazed with my deductive reasoning. "To be honest, I didn't do much investigating myself. Dead bodies terrify me..." Then why did she try and participate in the debates anyway?
"Anyway, there's something else that makes me think that the attack never started in the art room." I went on.
"Is it evidence suggesting how it happened in the hall?" Miyako asked.
"No. It didn't even start in the hallway." I told her. I pulled up an image of the note Akemi had on her body and presented it on my e-Handbook. "This note was in her hand." '"Meet me in Class 3-1 at 6:30."'
"So the attack started in 3-1?" Shin asked.
"I think so... because of the state of the room, it can be assumed a struggle happened."
(DAWN) Ikazuchi then gave a sigh. "Okay okay... so we now know that it happened in 3-1. What good is that gonna do us?"
"Actually, it did plenty." Akihiro chuckled.
"Mind explaining for the less academically inclined?" Ryota suggested.
Akihiro gave a sigh of annoyance. "Very well. Since some of you clearly lack common sense, I guess I have no choice... Akiko, Rei. Since you can translate this "convoluted" reasoning better than I can, I leave it to you."
"Seriously?" I sighed. "Well um... you see..." I wasn't doing to good in explaining it. My brain just wasn't cooperating due to being singled out, I hated being in the spotlight.
"Each of the small steps get us closer to the full truth." Rei said, with a soft smile on her face. "So, by taking it piece by piece we'll eventually see the full truth. You just have to tough it out, okay?"
"Y-yes Ms. Naoko!" Ikazuchi saluted. Rei seemed to have some kind of affect on him, huh... But she's right, we have to find the full truth. And the best way we can do that is by taking this piece by piece...
Students Remaining: (30)
Akiko S. - Ultimate ?
Hajime "Jay" Kazuki - Ultimate Luckster
Akemi Hanako - X
Ryota Takao - Ultimate Sports Master
Akihiro Junichi - Ultimate Merchant
Shinju Suzu - Ultimate Instrumentalist
Destiny Kiro - Ultimate Vocalist
Kazuhiro Hisao - Ultimate Heir
Kohaku Mari - Ultimate Medium
Tatsuya Raiden - Ultimate Combatant
Chidori Yukimura - Ultimate Charisma
Hiroaki Hisashi - Ultimate Fanfic Author
Shin Yuzuki - Ultimate Artist
Chou Ayano - Ultimate Gamer
Amaya Chika - Ultimate Collector
Emiko Kamiko - Ultimate Fashionista
Masato Osamu - Ultimate Mathemitician
Yoichi Kunio - Ultimate Web Star
Juku Kunio - Ultimate Chef
Saburo Kunio - Ultimate ?
Natsuko Ren - Ultimate Traditional Dancer
Shigeo Kyou - Ultimate Connosseiur
Ikazuchi Michi - Ultimate Electrician
Miyako Usagi - Ultimate Hacker
Yukino Toshiko - Ultimate Doctor
Izanagi Katsu - Ultimate Gambler
Makoto Takeo - Ultimate Commander/Class President (If you want a better title)
Rei Naoko - Ultimate Student
Atsushi Tamuki - Ultimate Engineer
Hotaru Haruki - Ultimate Botanist
Yukio Yuudai - Ultimate Hero
Note: The deceased characters will have an "X" by their name if they're dead. They're not technically an Ultimate if they're dead right?
So that ends the investigation for Group A! Unfortunately, we're all out of time. The rest of their trial will be put up at a bear-y later date, bwahaha...! Aw, what's wrong? Feeling the despair of not finishing the very first class trial!? I'd be to, if I didn't already know who did it.