Mock Exams in March are a BAD IDEA! Especially if your school is very good at being chaotic…They're just a really, really bad idea. Not to mention, when have actual exams been in March? How does having mocks in March reflect any type of exam experience? It's a bad idea….Trust me.

Anyway, enough of my mini-rants…here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

Origami birds.

Reuben paused the video for a moment, and processed this.

Just before the chaos that was the second investigation, there had been a short video clip featuring Nanako pacing her room and making an origami bird, before leaving. If that secret was folded into a bird….

"You mean, like with a cricket bat like in the movies?" Nanako asked

Almost as soon as that flashback appeared in his head, another one came.

"So she hit him repeatedly on the head with a baseball bat?" Nanako asked sceptically.

"IT WAS A GLASS BOTTLE!" Arisa yelled.

Suddenly, it all came together.

Dai had said that the person who had killed Afar would have used a bat of some sort. In the previous trial, Nanako seemed fixated with the idea of a bat as a weapon. And Afar's body had been near sports equipment. In addition to this, she didn't seem to be the smart type, and so wouldn't think through any small quirks that could give her away.

So it had to be her. She was lying about having thrown away her secret (that type of thing was definitely more Emi or Kosuke's style. Or even Arisa's) Nanako had to be the one that killed Afar.

But…could he be sure? He hadn't even realised anything was up when he couldn't find a cast list, or when he realised that there were no credits at the end of each video. So could he trust his judgement?

Sighing, he pressed play.

Everyone stared, agog , at the origami bird.

"A bird, huh?" Dai mused. "Interesting, that. A bird tends to connotate freedom in the minds of many, you know. The wings indicating flying, soaring, following dreams etc. etc."

Shika raised an eyebrow.

"Your point being?"

"Now, I know we haven't known each other long , but who do you think the image of flying away from somewhere to follow dreams fits? Hmmm?"

"Well, I ran away to join the circus when I was 10 years old!" Shika said.

"Really?" Eirik asked.

"Yup." Shika replied. LOL

"…not quite what I was getting at, but OK then. " Dai responded after a pause.

"Hasn't everyone wanted to run away from their life at one point or another?" Emi pointed out, narrowing her eyes. "Haven't we all had dreams? Does that make all of us killers?"

"Well…humans are pretty unpredictable, and very interesting. Who knows how one may react if their dreams were threatened?"

"By a mere girl?" Emi argued.

"Kami Tarumi could be an adult, someone with power. That may be a female name, but doesn't mean the person with the name is our age. "Kyouko pointed out.

"Ah, fair enough, fair enough."

Suzu wrote something feverishly, and rang her bell. Eirik read it out.

"Could the name merely be an identity? A false identity?"

Kyouko nodded slowly.

"You may be right. But I think it is more likely that Kami Tarumi is the real identity."

"Which would mean that someone here is under an assumed name?" Janus asked.

"Correct."

"But who would that be? Nobody here has any shady past…right?" Nanako tilted her head in a confused manner. Given his theory, Reuben wasn't buying it. Not for a second.

"Well…I'd say Watari-kun has every reason to hide his name…but he's a guy." Akaya said.

"THAT'S RIGHT!" Akihito said loudly.

"Then, who? I can't think of anyone….unless…" Arisa seemed struck by a bright idea, and she scanned everyone with a scrutinising gaze, until she got to Nanako.

"Tarumi….Tamuro….Tarumi…Tamuro. They sound pretty similar, don't you think?" Arisa directly asked her.

"I have no idea what you mean." Nanako said calmly.

"But I think you do." Arisa said. "Because to me, now that everything is out in the open , it's all come together. Weren't you the one fixated on the bat when we were investigating Kevin Brown's death?"

BINGO!

Reuben grinned. It seemed that he wasn't the only one making weird connections.

Nanako merely raised an eyebrow. Reuben was sure she was faking.

"I think Ishi-san is right. "Akaya said quietly. "All of this comes back to you, Tamuro-san."

"Ludicrous!" Nanako said.

"You know what that means?" Akihito asked in amazement.

"Oh, shut up, you!"

"Anyway, I don't think there is any other explanation, so it has to be her. Right, Kirigiri-san?!" Arisa asked.

Kyouko nodded.

Nanako made an angry noise. Her façade was clearly getting harder to maintain.

"It does fit." Kyouko said. "The time of death, the origami bird, the weapon. The only thing missing is the precise motive, but we have enough. "

"Are you serious? Why would I go near that hoarder freakozoid?"

"Why would you, indeed? Perhaps you can tell us?" Janus said, giving Nanako a searching look. Was that a line…?

"But I am telling you, I-"Nanako looked around at everyone. They all looked at her as if to say that the game was up.

"Fine. FINE! It was me! Okay?"

"Well, that was easy." Shika muttered.

"But why?" Janus asked.

"Because, I TOLD YOU! I was going to burn it, and I decided to put it in a bag, so I went to the storage room to look for one, and I put it down for just a moment and then that walking toy store took it and WOULDN'T GIVE IT BACK!"

"But why is the secret so…so bad?" Janus persisted.

"Do I really have to tell you….?" Nanako pouted.

"No, you don't! But I will!" Monobear responded.

"EH?" everyone chorused.

"Upupupu, this should be fun!" Monobear rubbed his paws together in glee "Now…ah! Well, a long, long time ago, there was a boring old fishing town. And in this fishing town, a little girl with dreams lived. Her name was Kami Tarumi. "

Nanako gritted her teeth in annoyance.

"And when this little girl was 7, she acted in a school play….and her talent was spotted. Finally, someone had come along who could appreciate her talent in acting! And then….a talent scout offered her a place in a movie…and she accepted."

"Hold up, hold up! Why, exactly, is that a secret?" Emi demanded. Exactly what I was wondering.

Monobear jumped in indignation

"I was getting to that! The little girl…little Kami Tarumi, she accepted the role…but did not inform her loving parents. Instead, she left her small fishing town without looking back, and changed her name so that they couldn't find her."

"And that name happened to be 'Nanako Tamuro'." Kyouko finished soberly.

"You…you abandoned your parents?" Eirik looked positively murderous "You…had parents who loved you and you left them?!"

Nanako snorted contemptuously

"Well, why would I ever want to be associated with them? They were perfectly happy living out small, nothing- lives!"

Eirik gritted his teeth, and looked ready to deck her. Feeling the tension, Kyouko stepped in.

"Ok, that's enough. Is that all there is to this, Monobear?"

"Unfortunately, yes." the bear proclaimed.

"Ah. I see. Well….what else is there to say about that? I guess we can start the voting now, right, Monobear?" Dai asked.

Reuben was confused. Surely Dai hadn't forgotten?

"Upupu…it is disappointing that your memory is so short lived, Yoshida-kun…." Monobear replied

"You're referring to the fact that we have only identified one culprit?" Kyouko asked.

"YES! Sharp as always! You'll only win if you get BOTH the culprits! BOTH! SO GET TO IT!"

"Fine, fine, keep your fur on!" Shika said heatedly. "So…is there any evidence relating to Naegi-kun?"

"Actually…Kirigiri-san, do you have the bag, or do I?" Emi asked.

"You do." Kyouko replied calmly.

"Hehe…." Emi located it, and held it up. Reuben instantly recognised the objects as the gems found in the laundry room.

"We found these. We think they fell off a ceremonial sword or dagger or something."

"This would fit the predicted weapon type." Kyouko added.

"Yeah." Emi said. "I think the killer-attempted killer-may have forgotten that they were there…or else failed to notice they were missing?"

"Well." Akihito says "That makes sense. But who the flip owns something like that?"

There was a long, long silence. Everyone stared at each other, and Reuben watched them stare at each other, but nobody said a thing.

Then, finally , Mirai spoke up.

"I might know. "

"Really? How? Akihito asked.

"The knife you found? That's what you're referring to, right?" Chihiro asked.

"Yeah!" Mirai searched in her pockets and pulled out a small, tightly wrapped bundle. She unwrapped it, let the cloth fall to the ground, and held up the object.

A small, curved dagger, that glinted brilliantly.

At that moment, Reuben's father called him from outside the door.

"Get to bed, Reuben! It's late."

"I don't have school anymore, remember?"

"Yes…but you need to go to bed. Get off the computer, or whatever you are doing, now, okay?"

"Fine…am I working at the Bird House tomorrow?"

"Yes, you are. In the evening."

"Okay."

Reuben rubbed his eyes, suddenly realising how late it was, and checked to see how long there was left of the video. Happily, there were only a few seconds, so he shut down his computer and went to bed.

…

That night, Reuben didn't sleep. Instead, he tossed and turned and tried to get rid of the feeling that the fates of 16 teenagers were now resting on his shoulders.

…

The next day, he got to the video as soon as he possibly could, and quietly ignored the faces that stared at him from his pin board.

The video started with Mirai brandishing the dagger. Well, not really brandishing it, but still.

"Woah, Woah, don't wave it around like that!" Eirik said, alarmed.

"Relax." Mirai said. She let her arm fall back by her side.

"Where did you-"Kyouko was interrupted by Suzu approaching Mirai and asking (silently) for the dagger.

"What are you thinking now, Suzu?" Janus was ignored for a moment before Suzu held the dagger carefully by the blade, so that the others could see the handle.

"Holy crap." Emi said. Reuben blinked, and thought the exact same thing a few second later when he figured out what she had noticed.

The handle was gold (or gilt at the very least) and it was decorated. With jewels.

Even better than that was the fact that there were clear dents where some jewels were meant to be, and now no longer were.

Emi came forward, and taking the jewels from the bag, began to slowly attempt to fit them to the gaps.

And sure enough, after a bit of trial and error-they all fitted perfectly.

"Somehow, that doesn't leave any room for doubt." Akaya said in a half-whisper.

"Really? Anyone could have been carrying it as a means of self-defence, and simply have dropped it. I mean, we've all been in the laundry room." Dai pointed out.

"I doubt it. " Shika said.

"Oh, you do now, do you? And why, pray tell?" Dai asked mockingly.

"Well, if they had been around for too long, then Toar-kun would have hoarded them. And Sakamoto-san always pops up from weird places, so she would have been likely to find them too!" Shika explained.

"I think she's right." Akihito said. Shika stuck her tongue out at Dai and grinned.

"I don't." Dai responded bluntly.

"Well, surely there's only one way to find out." Janus said. Everyone stared at him.

Janus turned to Mirai.

"Sakamoto-san, where did you find the dagger?" he asked.

Mirai was silent for a long time. The tension mounted. Then, slowly, she pointed towards someone slightly off screen. Reuben had a feeling he knew who it was.

"In his room." She said. The camera then went to focus on the person she had pointed at.

Dai Yoshida.

"Is this true?" Kyouko demanded. "Did you attack Naegi-kun?"

Dai merely smirked. Reuben grinned in the knowledge that he was right.

"Answer her!" Janus ordered imperiously.

Dai smirked again, and spoke.

"Well, well, it was certainly amusing watching you all flounder. But I honestly didn't think I'd get found out so soon…or at all, for that matter. Ah, well, it was certainly amusing."

"Amusing? Are you out of your tiny mind?" Akihito asked.

"Well…I guess I was. I forgot to lock my room, after all." Dai said diplomatically.

Akihito seethed impotently in response.

"But why?" Janus asked. I want to know the same thing…

"Oh, Abandonato-san…you always want to know the 'whys' of things, don't you? Ah, it's so interesting , the things people look for." Dai looked positively insane.

"You gonna answer the guy's question or what?" Emi drawled irritably.

"Well…well…to be honest, I just wanted to find out what it felt like. Killing someone. Of course, my target insisted on still fighting, so I tried again,to no avail. The one time when having a doctor around is disadvantageous…"

There was a silence while this was processed. Reuben was a bit shocked too. He knew that Dai was a bit off, but not like this.

Then Kyouko spoke up in a dangerously quiet voice. One that was threatening to spill over into full blown anger.

"What did it feel like then?"

Dai grinned at this, and felt in the pocket of his beige suit jacket. He pulled the item out.

Another dagger. Almost identical to the one Mirai had found.

Dai adjusted his hold on the dagger, and then brandished it. Slowly moving forward as if ready to attack, he quietly replied to Kyouko.

"What it felt like…? Oh, it wasn't bad actually…Infact, I liked it. "

There will be trouble next chapter. And executions. Please leave feedback!