For a bunch of teenagers who had just found a skeleton , they were remarkably calm. Then again , they had been through a whole lot of shit the last month or so , and so in a way Reuben supposed they must be immune to it.
They had finished their breakfasts without much fanfare , although they all sat far away from the box containing the bones , and afterwards headed to the infirmary.
Reuben watched as Kosuke carefully pulled out the bones and arranged them along one of the beds , so that it looked like a complete person.
"I thought your speciality was the living." Arisa sniped as Kosuke finished one arm.
"How , exactly , do you suppose I treat broken bones ?" Kosuke responded , not looking at her. Arisa merely rolled her eyes in response , which was amusing despite the situation. Nobody else made a sound until the skeleton was completely laid out. Reuben wasn't entirely sure how having it out would help , but he didn't see how it would hurt , either. They needed all the information they could get.
"Could this possibly be Tamuro? Didn't she get turned into a pile of bones?" Eirik asked.
"This person is taller than her." Kosuke said, as he measured the skeleton. "And quite obviously male. "
"How can you tell?" Makoto asked curiously.
Kosuke launched into a long and complicated scientific explanation which left everyone (Reuben included) blinking in confusion.
"Okay…I suggest some of us go elsewhere to investigate, find anything that could reveal the identity of this man. " Kyouko said.
"What could we possibly find?" Janus asked.
Kyouko shrugged. "I won't know until I find it." She left the room, and Makoto (predictably) followed her. Mirai and Akihito also left , although not together.
Kosuke continued his work , then wrote some numbers down on a piece of paper.
"Fujisaki." He said "Do you know of any computer programs that could help me to determine the age of this person? "
Chihiro took the piece of paper and nodded.
"I also have another program that may help to construct an image of what the person's face looks like , if you'd like?" she (he?) said.
"That would be good." Kosuke said , writing another string of words and numbers and handing it to Chihiro .
"Onii-Chan , come help me ." She (Reuben decided it was just easier thinking of Chihiro as a she) said . Eirik nodded , and the two left the room. Those who were left shifted from foot to foot awkwardly.
This continued for a few moments until Janus decided to leave the room. Unfortunately , Shika picked the exact same moment to do the same thing , and they got somewhat stuck in the doorway of the infirmary.
The two of them stared at each other. Shika looked scared and a little defiant , whereas Janus seemed completely emotionless.
"Hey , don't go and get mad at her!" Emi jumped in , trying to intervene in whatever the situation was.
Janus turned to look at Emi. He seemed scarily disoriented , as if he had just been woken up. Reuben supposed that made sense in a way , given his circumstances. Who would want to wake up to realise that you were alone in hell?
"I was never angry at you." He addressed Shika eventually. "But I still cannot talk to you." With that , he pushed past and left.
"What's up with that?" Arisa muttered. " Let's go , Shika-Chan."
After that , Kosuke was alone in the infirmary. He looked up , sighed in relief , and then got back to his work. Reuben smiled at that.
The scene changed to show Kyouko and Makoto walking along one of the hideously wallpapered corridors.
"I am sure I know the identity of that skeleton. But I do not want to come to conclusions until I have more than my speculations to support them. " Kyouko said.
"That's probably right…but who do you think it is? "
"My father."
"Wait…what?" Makoto blinked , tried to pull information from different parts of his mind together. Reuben felt for him. "Your dad? How would that be possible?"
Kyouko made an annoyed noise "Do you not remember what I told you about him?"
Reuben didn't . But it looked as if Makoto did , for he looked around him ,and then stage-whispered "You mean about him being the principal?"
Kyouko nodded. Reuben felt as if he was missing something here? He knew that Kyouko was smart , but he wasn't connecting the dots.
Evidently , Makoto was.
"Oh…Alter Ego said , didn't it? That the principal is somewhere in the school. In his thirties or forties?"
"And Kobayashi-kun established that the skeleton was male." Kyouko supplied.
"That seems pretty solid to me." Makoto said.
"To you , perhaps. But it's scanty , and all I have to supplement it are blurry memories. "
"That's hardly your fault!" Makoto protested.
"Who would believe it , though? I have the most connections to this school and didn't say anything? How suspicions do you think that looks?" Kyouko asked.
"Oh , I'm sure they'll believe you! You've always helped with investigating and all! "
Kyouko smiled thinly at that.
"You are such an optimist. Perhaps we should change your title to that of SDHSL Optimist." Did Kyouko just make a joke?
"Teeheehee…"
Thee scenes changed back and forth a few times. Chihiro seemed hard at work in her room , typing furiously and occasionally collecting paper from the tiniest printer Reuben had ever seen. Eirik was scouring files in the library. Kosuke continued examining the bones carefully .Akihito was , for some reason , in the art room , making something tiny and elaborate out of wire. The others seemed to be wandering around looking for any type of clue anywhere they could find one.
Eventually , Monobear made an announcement.
"Okay , you bastards , stop what you're doing and head to the gymnasium , pronto! Your info-gathering time is up!Now , the time of reckoning is here! Will you , or won't you , get away with defying the system?"
Reuben thought that sounded like the voice over to a really bad movie trailer , but understandably , the others were confused.
"Not the courtroom?" Chihiro wondered as she followed Eirik , who merely shrugged.
It didn't take long for all 10 of them to gather in the gymnasium. Monobear stood at the front , and the overall scene was reminiscent of the first day . Except this time , there were less people.
"Well then , I am just going to sit here , and wait for you to misidentify that poor sod!" Monobear declared.
"Don't get too ahead of yourself." Kyouko said quietly.
"Oooh , really now?" Monobear jeered. "C'mon , on with it!"
That response did not have relevance…
"I have measured the bones , and analysed them. I won't go into the technical details , as I fear they are too complicated for the situation , but there are many fractures , none of them clean. The skull is intact , so I would presume it was the cause of the other fractures that killed this man.
According to the size and shape of certain bones, including the pelvis, I came to the conclusion that the sex of the deceased is male. He would be at least thirty. I gave Fujisaki some measurements, and she has kindly inputted them into some computer programs for me , in order to get more accurate data."
Chihiro took over.
"T-the man falls in the 35-40 age range , and is about 180 cm tall. He is definitely of Japanese origin. Ah! I also took the measurements of the skeleton's facial features , and got a rough image of what he looks like. " she held up the picture. It was a black-and-white picture , and showed a man with well-defined cheekbones and a straight nose that was not too large or too small. His eyes were just the right size to make him seem good looking.
"I was right…" Kyouko whispered to Makoto.
"Hey!" Emi said "If you know something , wanna share? We're about to die!"
Kyouko turned away from Makoto , and took a deep breath.
"I know who that is." She told them.
"So , you going to tell us?" Akihito drawled.
"That is my father."
"Your dad? Shit , that sucks. " Eirik said. Something resembling sympathy showed in his eyes. And yet , he seemed annoyed.
"But what's so special about your dad? Did he come here a long time ago , like my sister did?" Arisa asked.
"Dude , please go to that corner , think about what you said , and then come back when you have figured it out." Emi said.
"I have a point!" Arisa protested "Her dad wouldn't be turning up as a skeleton if I didn't. "
Everyone stared at Kyouko. She swallowed , looking more flustered now than she had since Reuben had first encountered these videos. The wait felt eternal. Finally , she spoke again.
"He is the principal of this school."
"And you only tell us this now because…" Kosuke asked.
"I only remembered recently. My memories have been foggy for a while." Kyouko replied.
"Well ain't that a coinky-dink?" Mirai remarked cheerfully.
"It certainly is a bit suspicious…" Janus agreed.
"Honestly!" Shika rolled her eyes "Don't any of you remember that weirdness about the dates? And Naegi-kun remembering that random song?"
"Girl has a point." Akihito shrugged.
"Well , whatever you think , I believe Kirigiri-san fully!" Makoto declared.
"I do too." Emi said. "Remember the box was placed on her chair?"
"And it was purple!" Mirai chipped in. That helps HOW , exactly?
"Woah , hold on." Janus held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Never called her a liar. Just that the situation is…abnormal."
"What's normal about any of this?" Arisa muttered.
"Oh! I just remembered something! Did-" Chihiro paused , and seemed to change gears "Remember the suspicion of the principal being in the school , because of those things we came across? "£
"Yes , yes , I do!" Emi said. The others agreed , all without mentioning Alter Ego. He supposed that they wanted to keep the existence of this 'Alter Ego' quiet. He assumed it was something related to that laptop Chihiro had taken from the library to fix. If Monobear had noticed something odd about what they were currently talking about , then he didn't reveal it.
Eventually , they all quietened down.
"So…you are all satisfied with the conclusion?" Kyouko asked quietly , looking at the faces of her classmates.
They all nodded , and Kyouko turned to Monobear.
"We have our answer. That skeleton is Jin Kirigiri: The real principal of this school and my father. "
Steam came out of the bear's ears ,and he started to go red. At least , he did on his white side.
"I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!" The bear jumped around until the steam petered out. Still dancing , it told them that they had won , grudgingly.
"But now…the real deal! I will let all the doors be opened from now! Well , sort of. And , you can attempt to solve ALL the mysteries of the school. If you do…I have no choice but to let you guys free. If you don't , then you will all have no choice but to die? Fair enough?"
"HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY CALL ANY OF THIS FAIR?!" Shika snapped. Everyone (Reuben included) jumped, startled by the ferocity of her yelling.
"Wait…wait , Shika-Chan!" Emi protested , but Shika was already storming towards Monobear.
What happened next was almost too fast to take in , but there was a bright light and plenty of screaming. It appeared as a blur on the screen , and Reuben had a very , very bad feeling about it all. And he was correct. For when the scene cleared , Shika was lying on the floor , with all manner of spikes sticking out of her and blood pooling out underneath her. Undeniably dead.
Monobear merely laughed as they all took this in with horror.
"You see? There is no choice! If you want even the slightest chance of freedom , don't be an idiot like Sayuri-san there and GET ON WITH IT."
Monobear disappeared. Everyone stood there , in shock. Then , Emi shrugged off her chunky knit cardigan she had decided to wear that day and threw it so it fell neatly over Shika.
"I guess we better get on with it then. For her sake. For everyone." Janus said.
With that , the video ended.
And now , to the final investigation and trial. Investigation chapters will be in Reuben's POV , and trial will be as-it-happens. A bit different from the norm , but I choose to do this as it will give the ending I've planned for this story more impact.
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