The blinding white light was met with a voice from inside.
"Welcome to the trial room!"
"Wha-what the hell?" Asked Kana.
"I just told you, welcome to the trial room! This is where all of the trials will happen. Better get used to it because you will be here a lot," said Monosaki.
"I doubt we will. This won't ever happen again!" Said Nari.
"We'll see about that," said Monosaki. "Anyway, let's get this thing started."
The large room was shaped like an octagon. In the middle of the room was a circle made up of multiple podiums. 18 to be exact. At one of the podiums, Monosaki sat in a large throne. She seemed bored and she played with her little tail. At another podium, a picture of Niko with a large red X on it was visable. The walls were light blue with little books on them. The floor was the same red carpet as the hallway.
"The hell is up with the picture?" Asked Seiko.
"Might as well have them here. It's a little unfair to the deceased ya know?" Responded Monosaki.
"And why is there 18 podiums?" Asked Seco.
"I got a discount at the podium store, 20 for 30 dollars. I needed one and 17 podiums doesnt make a good circle. Now! No more questions. Find your podiums, each one will have a name, so find your respective one."
Yashiro took her spot. To her left was Nari and her right was Fujihara. Yashiro looked up to Monosaki who yawned on her throne. Monosaki watched as the last people took their spots.
"Now, let's get started!" Monosaki said.
"S-so where do we start?" Asked Fujihara.
"Well, we should start with the CoD," suggested Maeve.
"The what?" Asked Kana.
"The CoD. Its an acronym for Cause of Death," Maeve responded.
"Well. There is really only one possibility, right?" Asked Finacal.
"And that would be..." said Asuka.
"The stab with the katana," said Seco.
"Maybe..." said Lilth.
"Ok, so now we have the Cause of Death, now what about some evidence?" Asked Kana.
"Wait a damn second you fools. How do we know the katana was the cause of death?" Said Tomohiro.
"W-well it was stabbed right through her... s-so that ha-has to be it... right?" Asked Ciaran.
"Actually," started Tomohiro while holding onto his mask, "There was blood on Niko's head. That is a possible Cause of Death."
"O-oh. L-like someone hit her with so-something over the head?" Asked Ciaran.
"Precisely," chimed Maeve, "I took a look at the head wounds as well and noticed that there was two different shapes, there was a lot of blood as well, maybe signifying that the killer was angry at Niko for some reason."
"I did find a bloody book," said Fujihara, "It looked very big and strong."
"So the book was the Cause of Death?" Asked Arisu in a Siri voice.
"It seems so!" Said Finacal while putting his hands on his hips.
Something didn't seem right. Yashiro knew there was a different answer but... she didn't know.
"Wait a second," started Nari.
"God damn it girl, we figured it out, now shut the fuck up and pay attention," yelled Kana.
"Hey pea for brains, how about you listen to the damn girl. She is onto something, but you wouldn't know that since you have too much of a fat mouth to listen to anyone. So be quiet, clam mouth," shot Yashiro.
Nari giggled then said, "When my group was in the Laundry room, we noticed the bloody bat. Maeve said that there was two wounds. One could be from the book Fujihara talked about and the other from the baseball bat."
"Oh yeah. I forgot, I was in your group," said Kana.
"So now we have the two weapons that made the head wounds, we still need to find out the purpose of the Katana," said Tomohiro.
"When Asuka, Yashiro, and I went and found Niko fighting Fujihara, we were able to detain Niko and Asuka took her Katana. Care to explain?" Said Seco.
"W-well. I don't know really. I didn't even notice it was gone," Asuka responded.
"Aha! So it was the singing slut! Easiest trial ever!" Exclaimed Seiko.
"I-it wasn't me!" Asuka yelled back.
"Oh really? I bet you can't even sing well. Its hard to sing when you have too many dicks in your mouth!" Seiko shouted back.
"You take that back! You havent even heard me sing before!"
"I don't need to to know that it sounds like a lot of cum being gurgled like water!"
"You are the flirter, not me! You swallow more cum shots than a prostitute in an all male orgy!"
"I am no prostitute! I only fuck one dude at a time!" When Seiko said that Kana's face turned red.
"Oh I'm sorry, its just hard to know if the SHSL Flirter is a WHORE OR NOT!"
"Is it bad that I think this is fucking amazing?" Asked Lilth.
"I feel the same way," said Monosaki.
"Oh shut the fuck up you stupid squirl shit. You probably suck even more dick that this bitch ass whore over here," said Seiko.
"That is rude! I don't suck dick! I am a robot! Gosh,"
"Can we please stop being rude?" Asked Finacal.
"Fuck off you dino bitch. If the stupid cock sucking whore... and Asuka want to fight, they can," said Kana.
"What the hell!" Yelled Seiko.
"Guys. We are wasting time. We need to continue the trial," said Tomohiro.
"We all know its Asuka. She was the one that was making sure the katana didn't get back into Niko's hands," stated Rie, "Might as well start the voting now since it's so obvious."
"We don't know that for sure," said Yashiro.
"How do you know that she didn't do it?" Asked Kana.
How did Yashiro know? I mean, Asuka did look pretty incriminating. The Katana that she was supposed to be guarding. The fact that she saw Niko alive this morning and now she's... wait. Wait!
"I know because Asuka saw Niko alive this morning," Yashiro said.
"Yeah, right before she STABBED her!" Yelled Seiko.
"I'm telling you, I didn't do it!" Said Asuka.
"Now that I think about it. I did see Asuka come into the bathroom while I was leaving. She held the door open for me and I also saw Niko get up and stretch a bit," said Seco.
"But what about the katana?" Asked Nari.
There has to be something that Asuka said that will make her look innocent. Yashiro had to think back to when she was talking to her.
[] Hangman's Gambit [] (feel free to join in and try to guess it)
_ _ K _ ' _ _ M _ _ K.
B? No. J? No. O? Yes!
_ _ K O ' _ _ M _ _ K.
Hmmm. G? No. C? No. S? Yes!
_ _ K O ' S S M _ _ K.
I? Yes!
_ I K O ' _ K.
Niko's Smirk! Something was off about it!
"Wait a second. Asuka, you said that when Niko went into the bathroom, she smirked, right?" Asked Yashiro.
"Yea, what about it?" Asuka responded.
"There is something off about that," chimed in Arisu.
"Exactly," said Yashiro.
"What? A girl can't smirk at someone?" Said Seiko.
"No, that's not it. Its just that it's odd that that is one of the few things she did before she died earlier today," said Tomohiro.
"How is it weird?" Asked Nari.
"She also seemed extremely cocky and happy. As far as I knew, she was the 'happy go lucky' type of girl. There was definitely something going on," said Asuka.
Everyone looked stumped for a bit. Fujihara put her hands on her side and her eyes shot wide open. She dug her hand into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper.
"Yashiro, I still have the piece of paper we found in the bloody book at the library," said Fujihara.
"Well read it!" Shouted Finacal.
"Ok, Ok," Fujihara said while opening the paper. "Niko, I challenge you to a duel in the Library. You will find your Katana stashed away in there. Wake up early in the morning. Good luck."
Everyone just looked at Fujihara. She dropped the letter and it fluttered to the ground. Everyone looked at one another.
"So what the hell was that about?" Asked Kana, breaking the silence.
"Niko was baited into her death?" Asked Seco.
"It appears so..." said Maeve.
"Who ever did this is a sick bastard," said Seiko.
"This is just horrible," said Arisu.
"Now that we have that out of the way, we need to continue!" Said Tomohiro.
"We've just been talking about what happened, how about we talk about who did it?" Asked Nari, "We have to lower the suspects a bit."
"Well it still could be anyone. Someone could easily wake up, kill Niko, and go back to bed," said Lilth.
"Asuka has already admitted to seeing Niko alive this morning, so it was her!" Yelled Seiko.
"Again, its not me. I saw her aliveat 7 this morning. And don't forget that Ciaran and Seco were also awake," Asuka said.
"Y-yea, but I was with Seco making breakfast," said Ciaran.
"Oh yeah, the eggs were perfect today," complimented Lilth.
"Th-thanks," Ciaran responded.
"So here we are, stuck again," said Nari.
"It seems like we just keep hitting dead ends," said Arisu.
"We'll all be DEAD if we don't figure out the killer," Maeve said.
"Everyone but the killer," added Yashiro.
The courtroom was silent. Everyone was just standing (or sitting in Seco's case), looking at one another. Niko was dead. Nobody knew the actual cause of death, nobody knew when it happened, nobody knew who did it. The only person who knew how it went down was the person who killed Niko.
"Let's start from the top," suggested Fujihara.
"I was the first person to wake up," started Seco, "I woke up and saw Ciaran wake up as well. He put his shirt on and I headed to the bathroom."
"That's when Asuka went in right as Seco was heading out," said Tomohiro.
"As Asuka was finishing up, Niko came in looking smug with a large grin on her face," said Finacal.
"I knew something was going on but I just didn't know what," said Asuka.
"By the time Niko got out, Seco and Ciaran had headed out to the kitchen to make breakfast," said Velia.
"So is that it? Somewhere between the time of Niko waking up and people eating breakfast, Niko was murdered?" Asked Arisu.
"It is a short time frame, yes. But it is possible," answered Tomohiro.
"Is there anything that we're missing?" Asked Velia.
"There's got to be," said Maeve.
"Was there anything else in the book?" Asked Rie.
"Oh yeah, there was," said Fujihara.
"There was a single brown hair in there," said Yashiro.
"Was it Niko's or?" Started Maeve.
"No idea," said Fujihara.
"How the hell do you not know?" Said Rie.
"We can't know just by looking at it," responded Yashiro.
"Let's just assume that it's Niko's" said Tomohiro.
"So now that's it?" Asked Seco. "There's nothing left to help us solve this?"
"W-wait. There may be one last thing!" Said Nari.
"And what could that be, pip squeak?" Asked Kana.
"W-well our group, the one that you were in, Ciaran and me checked the washing machines. They were all empty except for one. Ciaran started to open it but shut it because the smell was terrible," shot back Nari.
"Later Nari led me to the washing machine and we opened it up. We saw bloody water and I reached my hand down and found a shirt. There was so much blood that I couldn't tell the color," continued Yashiro.
"Is there any way we could clean it up?" Asked Arisu.
"I don't think so," said Lilth.
Yashiro looked around at everyone. Someone murdered Niko, and they made it look like Asuka did it. They tossed their shirt. Not Kana, Not Lilth, Not Nari, Not Tomohiro. She looked at one last person. That's it. Yashiro's got them.
"So whoever's shirt that is is the killer?" Asked Finacal.
"Who ever did it will be in a world of pain for trying to frame me!" Said Asuka while forming a fist and punching it into her other palm.
"Hey Ciaran," started Yashiro.
"Y-yes?" Said Ciaran.
"Can you take your sweatshirt off please?"
"W-why? Are you tr-trying to get me to strip or s-something?"
"No, I just have a feeling."
"Yashiro wants some of that Gambler D" laughed Seiko.
"No, I think she's onto something," said Tomohiro.
"What do you want with Ciaran? My servant wouldn't do this type of thing!" Said Lilth.
"Then he will be fine taking off his shirt," said Tomohiro.
"N-no! I d-don't want to take off my sweatshirt," stuttered Ciaran.
"Just do it! It will prove your innocence!" Shouted Yashiro.
"I was with Seco making breakfast!" Ciaran shouted back.
"Seco, was there any point where Ciaran left?" Maeve asked.
"Now that I think about it, he did say he had to use the restroom and left. When he came back he was wearing his sweatshirt!" Seco while her eyes shot open.
"I-I went to the bathroom and realized I just had my t-shirt on so I put my sweatshirt on, simple as that," answered Ciaran.
"If a guy has to pee, a guy has to pee," said Kana.
"Ciaran, just take off your damn sweatshirt!" Yelled Seiko.
"No!" Ciaran yelled back.
"Then you admit that you are guilty?!" Yelled Tomohiro.
"I did not kill Niko!"
"Take. Off. Your. Sweatshirt!" Yelled Yashiro.
"Just take it off, there is no harm in it!" Yelled Fujihara.
"There is no way that Ciaran would do that!" Yelled Lilth.
"Then make him take off his sweatshirt!" Yelled Maeve.
"Just do it!" Yelled Arisu.
"Ciaran I swear I will come over there and rip it off of you!" Yelled Asuka.
"See she is a hoe!" Yelled Seiko.
"Shut up, this is about Ciaran, not Asuka!" Yelled Nari.
"Fine! Ciaran, take off your sweatshirt," commanded Lilth.
"B-but M-master..." stuttered Ciaran.
"Just do it. Prove that you are innocent," said Yashiro.
Ciaran sighed and put his hands down by the waistband of his sweatshirt. In one quick movement he lifted it off to reveal a pale white torso. He showed a small amount of definition with the begining of a 6 pack and small things that could be considered pecs. He hung his head low as a few people gasped.
"At least he's not bad looking," said Seiko with a smirk.
"So Yashiro was right," said Rie.
"Why did you do it?" Asked Lilth while she stared at him.
"Well! Looks like you guys are ready to vote!" Said Monosaki happily.
"Wait, give me some more time, I can explain!" Shouted Ciaran.
"Use the wheel on the podium to switch through the people's faces. Once you find the person's face you want to vote, push the red button! Good luck!" Said Monosaki.
"Wait, please," pleaded Ciaran.
Yashiro scrolled the wheel until Ciaran's face popped up. She pressed the red button and waited for everyone to finish. Some were hessitant, others pushed the button incredibly quick. Finally, Monosaki broke the silence again.
"Ok! The votes are in! Everyone look behind me!" Shouted Monosaki.
Behind Monosaki, a large screen came out of the wall. A slot machine appeared on the screen and the lever pulled. The faces of everybody went past on each one. The first one landed on Ciaran. The second one also did. As well as the last one. Suddenly confetti shot into the courtroom and a big sign with 'Guilty' in big, bold, yellow words appeared infront of the slot machine. And then the screen turned off and it went back into the wall. Everyone continued to look at Ciaran. He slowly put his sweatshirt back on and kept his head down.
"C-Ciaran?" Asked Finacal.
"Why the hell did you do it, man?" Snapped Kana.
"I-i had to..." started Ciaran.
"What the hell Ciaran! I thought I was teaching you better than that!" Yelled Lilth.
"I killed Niko to get away from you!" Ciaran yelled at Lilth.
"Wh-what?"
"You are so damn annoying. I hate you! I killed Niko to escape from you!" Ciaran continued. "I wrote her the note telling her to meet me in the Library. I stole the katana from Asuka's bedside and slipped it in there for her to find."
"You little," started Asuka.
"When I saw her go in, I followed her with the baseball bat in hand. When she went to pick up the katana, I wacked her over the head. It killed her instantly. I then grabbed the large book and hit her in the same spot to cover my tracks. I opened it up and put the note in there, but I didn't realize that a strand of my hair had fallen in. I had to take some of the evidence off of me so I stabbed her katana through her to make Asuka look guilty. I looked down and noticed that my shirt was completely bloody. I ran to my bunk bed, grabbed my sweatshirt, and ran back to the laundry room. I quickly switched my shirt for my sweatshirt and tossed the bloody shirt into the washing machine. I put the baseball bat in the corner and headed back into the kitchen, like nothing ever happened," explained Ciaran.
"W-wow," said Nari.
"You little piece of shit," yelled Rie.
"I-i'm sorry... You would understand if you had a master like Lilith," said Ciaran.
"Its Lilth," corrected Lilth.
"B-but at l-least I can be free,"
"Yeah, but you're going to die," said Arisu.
"Totally not worth murdering someone, dude," said Kana.
"Very unwise," said Tomohiro.
"B-but that dying thing was a joke... r-right? I am going to be set free ... r-right?" Asked Ciaran.
"Nope, not a joke one bit!" Exclaimed Monosaki.
"S-so he's really going to die?" Asked Finacal.
"Yup!" Shouted Monosaki while throwing her hands up into the air. "Ciaran, you have been found guilty of murder."
"W-wait, please," pleaded Ciaran.
"Its now time to be punished," Monosaki continued. A small red button rose up on the side of her throne and a mallet in hand. "Let's give it EVERYTHING we've got... It's Punishment Time!" Monosaki finished shouting.
Monosaki pounded the mallet onto the red button and more confetti shot out. The whole room was quiet, before suddenly a chain was shot out of somewhere and wrapped itself around Ciaran's throat. He was jerked from his podium and dragged through a hallway. The bland grey walls soon became green with large dollar signs on them. The red carpet flew by as Ciaran was being dragged. He suddenly got dragged onto a spinning chair.
[] Ciaran's Big Busting Bang []
He was sitting at a large table. There was a Monosaki across from him. Infront of him was 3 chips with a red heart designed on it. Infront of Monosaki was 20 of those heart chips, and a deck of cards. A little sign on Ciaran's right read, 'BlackJack: Dont lose all of your hearts.'
Monosaki delt out a hand. Ciarab had a 6 on the bottom and a 7 on top, 13. Hit. 6, 19. Stay. Monosaki had a Queen and a King, 20. She took one of his heart chips. Ciaran was now down to 2.
Monosaki smirked and delt again. Monosaki had a Jack on top. He had a 5 on the bottom and a 10 on top, 15. He hit. 2, Ciaran now had 17. Ciaran goes risky and hits. 4, and now a 21. He keeps a pokerface and stays. Monosaki flips her other card to reveal an ace, 21, push. Ciaran keeps his heart.
Monosaki continues to deal. The table has turned for Ciaran's favor. He now has 17 hearts and Monosaki has 7. Suddenly Ciaran bust. A 2, King, and a 10, 22. He lost a heart. Monosaki smirked as the tables turned horribly. Ciaran lost over and over again. Busting, not having enough, pushing. Ciaran was down to his last two hearts. He had a Jack and a Queen. Monosaki had an Ace showing.
"Insurance?" The Monosaki asked.
"Yes," responded Ciaran as he put out his last heart.
Ciaran stayed at 20. Monosaki smirked as she flipped over a 5, 16. She hit and got another 5, 21. She took both of his hearts. Ciaran just stared at Monosaki. Monosaki smirked as she looked behind him. Two masked figures grabbed Ciaran and dragged him. They carried him up several flights of stairs until they finally reached a door. They carried him out the door and onto the roof. They carried him to the edge and handed him a small package. One of the two pushed him off.
Ciaran looked at the package and heard a single beep. His eyes widened as he realized what it was. He barely got a a scream out before the bomb in the package exploded. The two goons looked down and then turned away.
"That was horrid!" Screamed Arisu.
The screen turned off but all the kids continued to look at the screen. Wide eyed, jaws dropped, they couldn't believe what they just saw.
"That's just messed up," said Rie.
"How could that possibly happen?" Asked Nari.
"That's horrible," said Yashiro.
"Well, it's getting pretty late. You all better head off to bed," said Monosaki.
"Ciaran was a good servant," said Lilth as she walked off.
[] Authors Note: So encase anyone doesn't know what Blackjack is, its a card game in where you are trying to get to 21 without going over. Whoever has the closest number to 21 without going over wins. An Ace is worth either a 1 or 11, depending on how many you already have. 10, Jack, Queen, and King are all worth 10. []