Review replies!
The SENDER and the TRAVELER: A murder chapter, hm? Riou and Tsukushi are quickly rising to be a cool (b)romance in my eyes, which only makes me wanna kill one of them off all the more... bringing despair is what I do, after all. Ahh, anyway, thanks a lot for the review!
Katastic Writer: Poor Tsukushi really didn't deserve Akahana and Blackjack's semi-bullying, but apparently they both had their reasons so what can you do, really? Riou and Tsukushi are a cute pair - although Frances and Blackjack are the couple to talk about for the moment... some other couples are sure to peek their heads out eventually though. Thank you for your review!
TheRoseShadow21: The 'special chapter' being a murder guess seems to be a fan-favourite, I see. It was my intention for the Verdant Views arc to be a bit heavier than the lukewarm Valley Views arc, with the first execution and trial done with, so I'm glad you noticed! Your DRV3 comments were also interesting - god bless the memes surrounding these guys. Thanks so much for reviewing!
Crimson Spider Lily: Although your 'might not be the traitor' list has good reasoning behind it, unexpected twists and turns come from everywhere in this hectic city so you have to be on your toes! You don't think I'd kill Blackjack or Frances before giving this couple proper development, do you? As always, thanks for your reviews!
ACT 2: No Hope Allowed
CHAPTER 6: Bull's Eye
EARLY AFTERNOON
Location: Motel Entrance
"Did anyone find him!?" Kikyo was noticeably worried about the recently-missing boy who we had been searching for the entire duration of the day. Everyone fell silent. "We checked every single building in this sector, as well as every nook and cranny of the city center and came up empty-handed!?" she asked, frustrated by the lack of results.
Yatarou patted her shoulder. "Calm down. He couldn't have gone far. We probably just missed him..." he comforted. "There's no way for us to leave the city unless we go with Monokuma's graduation system..."
"Don't even insinuate that!" Frances was very defensive of Yatarou's implicit suggestion. "A-Asuyo's case was special! Shizuka is just wandering around! After all that stuff we told him two weeks ago at the party, I'd hide from us too!" she protested, her voice cracking from anxiety.
"Frances, please, calm down." Blackjack held the Tapdancer tighter in her arms and delivered a quick peck on the back of her head. "She has a point." she added calmly. "Mister Matsuoka is capable of such a tactic. He hasn't been the most cooperative ever since we got to Verdant Views."
The group was forced to agree. "But Yuzuru told us he was gone..." Akahana reminded. "And she mentioned her door's lock was also broken."
"B-Broken?" Chigusa's heart skipped a beat - that much was obvious.
Wait... where-
"Someone broke into Shizuka and Yuzuru's dormitorio?" Maruko was visibly surprised by Akahana's statement.
I could've sworn she...
"O-Oh, right." Akahana was startled by the two girls' ignorance and excused herself. "I forgot to tell you two about that, since you arrived late in the morning. It seems like you've been given the briefing nonetheless."
"I guess..." Yori tilted his head. "But that doesn't help us."
Where is-
"The most mathematically sound conclusion would be that Shizuka simply doesn't want to be found." Eita swiftly calculated the probabilities of all possible outcomes and provided us with the 'mathematically correct' one, as he usually does in stressful situations.
"Don't need no math to figure that shit out, dude." Kiyoshi rolled his eyes and threw his neck backwards with an annoyed groan. "When're we giving up? I want to go to sleep!" the Custodian tapped his foot, hurrying the conversation. "We didn't find him, and we didn't find anything else! So why the fuck are we still here?"
Sh-She's g-gone too?!
"I found something!" Riou boasted with a chest filled with pride. "Well... Tsukushi and I never searched the shooting range for him. It was locked."
"Wh-Where's Yuzuru!?" I blurted out, ignoring Riou's observation. "Sh-She's not here!"
Everyone looked around in a frenzied panic and confirmed my surprise. "Wh-What!? Where is she?" Frances panicked.
"She was with Frances and I while we searched the motel." Blackjack's posture was ladylike and composed as per usual, but her voice contrasted it with a myriad of different feelings such as confusion and worry, mixed with other equally-negative ones. "And also during breakfast."
"A-And where is she now!?" Yatarou mimicked my panic and worry, but no answers arose.
Kikyo blurted out an idea that, amidst the various yelps of information, got lost in translation. "Qué, Herr Namikaze!?"
"The shoe tin grains?" Kiyoshi raised his eyebrows in confusion and eventually dismissed her suggestion as temporary madness of Shizuka and Yuzuru's disappearances.
"The shooting range, you idiot!" she repeated, earning a furrowed brow from the bored, but non-apologetic, Custodian. "Y-You said it was locked, right!? Then let's search there!"
Riou tilted his head. "But it's locked!"
"You know you're wrong when biceps brain here can point out your mistakes..." Kiyoshi made another rude remark at the young Boxer, who struggled to not stick his entire fist into his nose.
He growled. "Wh-Why you little...!" he clenched his fist.
"Guys!" I attract everyone's attention. "Let's just check it out, alright!? No harm done!"
"Yes, that'd be quite the plan." Yori complimented, but resented his disability as a new complication showed itself. "But as I am sure you remember, blind people such as myself are not the best at running. So I cannot 'hurry' there, as it were."
Propelled by sudden adrenaline and sheer panic, Riou flexed his arms and suddenly picked the Magician up, dropping his hat in the process. "Problem solved! Let's go."
"Wh-What is happening!? Riou, is this you!?" Yori broke his polite character and flailed around in panic, groping his carrier in order to identify him. He was unable to complain any further before they were both out the door, simply leaving the young leader of the Cirque des Fleurs to only shout about his lost hat.
"I'll bring it, don't worry!" Frances yelled at the running duo, picking up the top hat with one hand and her girlfriend with the other and sprinting away. "Come on, guys, no time to lose!"
AFTERNOON
Location: Shooting Range
And so, we, half-unknowingly, ran off towards a true nightmare. The second nightmare we'd been greeted by since setting foot in this accursed city. Riou and Yori had only set foot in the shooting range when that stupid announcement confirmed all the thoughts I refused to believe in.
A BODY HAS BEEN DISCOVERED!
AFTER THE DESIGNATED INVESTIGATION TIME, THE CLASS TRIAL WILL BEGIN!
"F-Fuck! No!" Riou's voice was the only thing I heard between the body discovery announcement and entering the now-unlocked range. And as footprints trickled into the room, a multitude of screaming, high and low, started taking over our voices and left our throats of their own accord.
Behind the glass pane that divided the shooting gallery and the targets area, was a sight I couldn't handle. Her legs were stretched, but awkwardly limping as tears of blood dripped down her wrists and ankles, coming from arrows that were sticking out of them and into the target, pinning her onto it like she'd been crucified, forming a grotesque image. Her eyes were dead and lifeless, and her jaw wide open. And so, for the second time, it sunk in. Someone had died.
Yuzuru Kanzaki, the Super High School Level Assassin, was hanging. Dead.
"N-NON! Herr Kanzaki! Herr Kanzaki!" Maruko's screams kept getting louder and louder with every time she called to the clearly dead Assassin in front of us, and the atmosphere of despair and fear had settled in among us once more. The frail Gardener had crumpled to the floor, eyes wide and she quickly turned around to face the wall, grasping at her stomach.
Yori was now safely on the floor, and although he couldn't see the bizarre imagery we'd been presented, he shared our tension. "Did something happen to Yuzuru!? Please, someone!"
"Y-Yori-" Frances cut herself off and just stood in silence, leaving a heavy quietness in the air.
Eventually, Riou started punching the glass and broke a hold through it. A few sprinted towards the Assassin's body in desperation, scraping themselves on the broken shards of glass on the floor. "A-AAAAAGH!" Riou whisked off the blood off his hand, groaning in pain as a shard was thrown onto the ground by force.
"She's dead." Akahana stated matter-of-factly, although there's was some weight to be heard in her voice.
"N-Not again..." I whimper. "This can't be happening..."
"Is everything okay over there?" Kiyoshi shouted from the other side of the range.
I reluctantly touched Yuzuru's pale face and felt cold... the type of cold I could only find in the deepest darkness. I felt death.
"I-Is it like... l-last time...?" Kikyo hesitantly asked. We looked at one another and glances of distrust were being thrown around like arrows in a shooting range. And the voice I wanted to hear the least was the one who spoke up.
"Duuuuuh!" a screechy robotic voice mocked the Hairstylist. "Right you are! Same premises, same rule, same conclusion! One of you guys killed this girl... and not only that, you killed a SHSL Assassin, wasn't it? So props to you, blackened, wherever you might be!"
"M-Monokuma!" Yori flinched as he heard the bear's voice. "I-Is Yuzuru truly not alive anymore...?"
"Come on, you guys, it's not that difficult to wrap your heads around the second time!" the bear cackled. "Yeah, what's-her-face is dead! Lame ass assassin, if you ask me, but hey, maybe Hope's Peak just doesn't care!"
Silence ensued, as I'd grown accostumed to. I looked at the body in front of me, lines of red scrolling down her legs, copying the circles behind Yuzuru... "What now?"
"I can't believe it!" Monokuma rolled his eyes and facepalmed. "You don't know!? It's the same old, same old, captain steroids!"
"You surely don't mean..." Yori couldn't finish his sentence, but Eita was quick to complete it.
"It's time for us to investigate this homicide and try to finger the murderer."
Monokuma cheered with fake enthusiasm. "Sounds like we have someone smart among this group! Although... fingering the murderer would be a no-no! We must keep this Mutual Killing Game kid-friendly!" he jested lewdly. "Now, get to it, kids! I don't have all day, and more importantly... neither do you! Investigation time is ticking, so take your Monokuma Files and scram! Shoo!" he concluded before seeping into the grass fields.
"D-Do we have to do this again?" I ask, with a defeated sigh. "I... I don't want to do this anymore."
"Me either... I wanna sleep." Kiyoshi's statement was, as per usual, ignore.
Akahana tried to contain her laughter but was unable to, and a stray puff of air flew from her nose as a sly smile drew itself on her face, covering her cheeks. "What's so funny!?" Yatarou confronted the Prosecuting Attorney with a furrowed brow and stomped the grass below him.
"I find it amusing that Tsukushi's resolve to find the mastermind and leave this city was so easily swayed. I thought he was serious, but I was sorely mistaken, it seems." she insulted.
I did promise to find the mastermind's identity... and to stop this sick game for once. "I meant it."
"Huh?" she was startled by my response.
"You don't know me all that well, but let me tell you. Tsukushi Hananari very rarely backs off from a challenge, especially when it involves court procedures and people that are close to him. So, Akahana... game on."
"Let us begin." Akahana stated nonchalantly. "Everyone, I am sorry to make you do this again, but alas, it must be done. It is time to investigate!"
INVESTIGATION: START!
Monokuma File #2
The victim's wrists and ankles were viciously pierced by arrows in the shooting range, inflicting bleeding wounds. Time of Death: approximately 11h45am. In addition, there were traces of leftover blood found in her throat and mouth.
TRUTH BULLET ACQUIRED: MONOKUMA FILE #2
After perusing the file Monokuma provided us with, I straightened my back and took a deep breath, preparing myself mentally for what's to come. "Okay then... let's do this." I psych myself up and give two quick pats on the cheeks, waking up to the situation we had - again - found ourselves in.
"First of all, I'd like to make one thing very clear." Akahana was talking loudly enough for the gathered people to hear, but her tone was absent, like she was talking to herself. "Monokuma, would you please come here?" she called.
"Ya called?" the bear appeared between Kikyo and Yatarou making both jump away from the plushie. "What do you want to 'make clear' exactly? I'm not telling you any information on the murder, dumbasses!"
Akahana simply shrugged and faced the bear, kneeling down to be around his eye-level. "Please explain two things to me. Firstly, the body discovery announcement."
"What of it? Three participants find a body and bam, announcement, everyone despairs, investigation, trial, death. Is that such a complicated system that you don't understand!? I thought I explained myself just fine in the beggining..."
Is that so? Riou and Yori were the only ones to find the body before the alarm went off...
TRUTH BULLET ACQUIRED: BODY DISCOVERY ANNOUNCEMENT
"And the second thing." Akahana ignored Monokuma's insult and proceeded to the heart of the matter. "Shizuka, as you know, isn't among us."
Monokuma faked surprise with a metallic gasp and raised his stubby paws up in the air. "Whaaaat!? How suspicious! What does that have to do with me, though?"
"How will the trial proceed without him?" I ask, and Akahana simply exhaled with an annoyed expression. Sounds like I hit the nail on the head.
"You want to know what has to happen before a class trial?" Monokuma sighed in annoyance and proceeded to a succint explanation. "You don't need rocket science to understand. A dead body is found, then investigation ensues, and finally, all of the city's survivors get on the elevator below Central Views's sundial and boom, you know the rest."
"For someone who wasn't too keen on helping us solve this..." Kikyo noticed. "...you sure provided us with all the info we needed. What are you up to?"
"Upupu!" Monokuma voiced a strange laughter. "You're too dumb to understand them yourselves so... what can I do? Class trials are really important, you know. Can't have you assholes simply not understanding stuff. Now I'm out! Leave me alone!"
TRUTH BULLET ACQUIRED: CLASS TRIAL REQUIREMENTS
Before Monokuma even had the chance to disappear through the usual non-sensical means, Akahana had her back turned to him and was fully dismissing him without so much as a 'thank you' for providing useful information to her. Although, thinking more about it, maybe thanking the person who shoved us here and made all this killing start isn't worthy of being thanked... I'd assume so, at least.
"Wake up!" Riou shook me and woke me from my thoughful daze. "Everyone's off investigating, Tsukushi... go and join them, this's gonna be a tough evening."
"Tell me about it..." I sigh, and face Yuzuru's body one final time. "I think I'll stay here and investigate the range..."
"Kiyo and I'll stand guard... like last time." he commented grimly and went to stand next to the target, arms crossed and a sad expression on his face that simply broke my heart. Out of all of the frowns I saw around me, Riou's tugged at me the most, probably because I knew how strongly he felt about protecting us... he must feel like a failure right about now. "Y-You can't just stand there... go on, I'll be fine over here." he dismissed me with a sad smile and I nodded hesitantly.
Our lives are on the line. I'll just have to comfort Riou later.
I approached Akahana, that was investigating the body together with Riou who, unlike Kiyoshi, was actually making an effort. "Anything out of the ordinary?" I ask.
"Yuzuru was propped up with arrows from this very shooting range, it seems." she noticed, examining the arrows that were grotesquely sticking out of her arms and legs, which apparently beared the Monokuma symbol on them, like all other apparel in the building.
"She bled to death after being crucified here then...?" Riou intervened with a theory, but Akahana didn't seem to keen on accepting it.
I noticed what I believed to be the contradiction in his claim, and beat the Prosecutor to the punch in correcting him. "That would be difficult. There's little to no blood around her wounds..."
"While that is weird," Akahana rudely objected to my claim. "it's obvious that it is the cause of death. The excess blood simply needed to be cleaned."
"Another clean freak on our hands... it's just like last time." Kiyoshi commented on the side. "Don't go pinning this on me based on that, though. Pinning this chick onto a target makes for hard work."
I raise my eyebrow at Kiyo's defensive posture but shake it off nonetheless. He's just being the lazy jackass we've come to know and- well, know.
TRUTH BULLET ACQUIRED: ARROW WOUNDS
Akahana's feminine hands were brought closer to the victim's waist, a finger wrapping around the hem of her clothes in an instant as a quick motion began undressing the hanging girl. "H-H-Hey! Akahana, what gives!?"
"Y-You're undressing the killer pipsqueak!?" Riou covered his mouth and gagged. "Th-That's messed up!" he stuttered.
"Look away." she simply stated, peeking behind and beneath the fabric, searching for any anomalies. "Hm, interesting."
I tilted my head. She couldn't possibly have found something of note in her... lady purse, right? "Wh-What's so interesting there?"
"Come and take a look, if you're that curious."
"Th-That's hardly unbecoming of a gentleman like Tsukushi!" Riou complimented and defended me in a single statement, making Akahana simply roll her eyes. "I-I'll check."
Kiyoshi snickered in the distance. "Heh, pervert."
With a groan, the Boxer ignored Kiyo's badgering and knelt in front of the Assassin, looking her in the face with an apologetic look. Mustering up the courage, he looked beneath her top and pants and widened his eyes. "W-Wow."
"How is it, how is it!?" Whether this excitement was Kiyoshi's curiosity speaking louder than his will to embarass Riou or the other way around was completely lost on me. "Would you do her if she wasn't all dead and shit!?" he questioned the muscular, taller boy rather disgustingly.
"There're bruises everywhere..." Riou's answer disappointed the Custodian who went back to looking at the body uninterested. "Like dark, dark blotches all over her body... especially on her belly."
TRUTH BULLET ACQUIRED: BRUISES ON BODY
"Bruises?" I ask. "Why?"
Akahana stood up and scratched her chin. "She might have been bludgeoned as well as shot with arrows."
"Why would someone do that!?" I ask the Prosecutor, half looking for her insight and half looking for an explanation as to who could be as vicious as that.
"All will be made clear soon enough. We haven't the time to discuss theories, Tsukushi Hananari, so stop pestering me." she spat. "In fact, I'd be much obliged if you let the body investigation to Riou, Kiyoshi and myself. Leave."
I staggered back a bit but eventually gave in to her request, after an assertive nod from Riou. If anything, I can trust him to not let any funny business occur.
Now... where to go next?
"Hey, Tsukushi, can you come over here for a minute?" Yatarou called me to the enclosed part of the shooting range, on the other side of the glass pane. He gestured to a small cord stuck on the side of it, that began at the glass pane, and went to the targets side before swirling back to the entrance. It cut off soon after it. "Do you know what this is?"
TRUTH BULLET ACQUIRED: SHOOTING RANGE'S GLASS PANE
"No idea." I answer truthfully, scratching my arm. "I didn't even notice that... do you think it's been brought here by the murderer?"
Yatarou looked at the cord thoughtfully and snapped a shot of it. "Might as well have it as evidence." he commented, checking the picture he took to assure that it was not blurry. "How was stuff on the other side?"
"Pretty grim, as you'd expect." I said sadly. "It's really grinding my gears to think that one of us could to something so brutal to poor Yuzuru."
"Guys, Maruko and I found something!" Kikyo had a clipboard on her right arm, ruffling her kimono's sleeve. "Well..." she stopped herself. "we didn't find it... which is weird."
"Huh?" Yatarou and I interjected at the same time, before I added. "You lost me, what did you say?"
Kikyo apologized for the messy phrasing and repeated herself. "This clipboard was behind the door. Maruko said it's an inventory of all items in the storage room! But according to it, there're some missing items. A bundle of four arrows, a crossbow and a longbow."
I grimaced at the thought of where those arrows were stored in. "I believe the arrow's whereabouts aren't too difficult to know, right?" Yatarou muttered sadly. "However, the missing bows seem to be important to the case at hand, riiight? Do we have any clues as to where they are?"
"Um..." A tone of brown wood slightly different from the floor caught my attention and I was able to suggest a half-answer to Yatarou's query. "What's that on the floor there?" I pointed to the site and the three of us looked directly at the corner of the room.
"The longbow!" Kikyo asserted her discovery aloud, fetching it. "This makes only one crossbow missing." she said looking around before her attention was taken by something else again. "Huh? This bow is cracked near the middle... strange, the items around here are super durable! It must have been hit pretty hard."
TRUTH BULLET ACQUIRED: MISSING CROSSBOW
TRUTH BULLET ACQUIRED: CRACKED LONGBOW
"I don't see anything else around..." I comment, and neither the Tour Guide nor the Hairstylist had any objections. "Do... Do you guys know anything else? Witness accounts are useful."
"This morning we were all mostly separated... to search for Shizuka." Yatarou noticed. "So alibis are hard to come by. Eita and I were searching the gallery, but I don't have any proof of it so... to hell with that."
Kikyo thought for a bit. "I think I can give Frances, Yori and myself an alibi. I saw them leaving the motel at around the time of death and going in the direction of the park. Ask them, if you want, I'm sure they'll corroborate."
"That gives us a little bit of leeway... I'll take Kikyo's alibi in, but for all we know you and Eita could be accomplices so..." I felt sad and frustrated at being forced to doubt Yatarou, who had been nothing but good to me since we arrived, but alas, it had to be done. "No offense, though."
"None taken!" Yatarou smiled sadly. "You're just doing your job."
TRUTH BULLET ACQUIRED: KIKYO'S ACCOUNT
"Did you notice anything wrong with Yuzuru these past few days?" Kikyo asked, looking me in the eyes.
"Well... I spent some time with her last week before the party and... she seemed really down and such. She told me about how she didn't like being an Assassin, and she wasn't supposed to be here in the city, and she wasn't proud of the role she was playing in this ga- Oh... Oh my..."
"You don't think!?" Yatarou seemed to also notice the same detail as me. "She... Yuzuru was...!?"
TRUTH BULLET ACQUIRED: YUZURU'S F.T.E.
Kikyo seemed lost, but didn't press us for any further information. Instead, the Hairstylist was put off by something else entirely. "Hey, Tsukushi. Can you tell me about your movements while searching for Shizuka? Namely, when you and Riou got to the range."
"Why the interest?" I ask, confused.
"Back at the motel... you guys said the range was locked, right? But when Riou and Yori went into the range, they went inside without any troubles!"
"That's weird... we swear it was locked when we came by! It was around noon... 12h15pm, I think. Riou tried to force it open, but it didn't work." I give her my truthful statement, recalling this morning's events.
Yatarou was confused by a small detail. "Riou tried to break in? The lock seemed fine to me, though... how could a guy his size not damage it?" he noticed, but it was eventually dismissed. We didn't have the time to theorize in full before the trial.
TRUTH BULLET ACQUIRED: SHOOTING RANGE DOOR
I looked around the room one more time. "I don't think I'll find anything else in here... I want to check out Yuzuru's room at the motel."
"What about the other buildings?" Kikyo asked. "There might be some evidence hidden away in the library, the park... anywhere."
"Well, Eita and Yori went to the library, Maruko, Riou, Kiyo and Chigusa are here... Blackjack and Frances are back at the motel... Akahana left a while ago to search the motel too." Yatarou reminded me and Kikyo of everyone's whereabouts. Maybe questioning everyone wouldn't be a bad idea, but time escapes us quickly. The motel is my biggest worry right now.
"Let's pay the gallery a visit." Kikyo suggested to the International Tour Guide, who immediately agreed. "I'll see you later... down at the plaza." her expression stiffened beyond humanity - the notion that a second class trial and possible execution were approaching finally kicked in.
A heartfelt yet quick farewell later, I sprinted towards the motel, to find the three girls I expected to find there. Two out of the three, anyway.
"Tsukushi." Frances greeted me sadly and waved weakly. "Hi..." she sighed.
"Hello..." I greet back, exhausted both physically and mentally. The atmosphere here was much more tense, since I hadn't built bonds with the Information Broker nor the Tapdancer. At least not as strong as with Kikyo or Yatarou. Distrust filled the air, and there was a heavy despair looming above us. "Did... Did you guys find anything?"
Blackjack nodded, removing her sunglasses from her collar and putting them on. "Indeed we did, Mister Hananari." she commented, but fell silent shortly after.
"Well..." I insisted. "What was it?"
"The locks around here have all been broken into." she revealed. "As you know, Yuzuru and Shizuka's room has been forcibly unlocked last night. But there is a new development to this information... every single room's lock has been broken into."
"Wh-What!? Since when!?"
Frances intervened. "She didn't notice, so she wouldn't know. I don't know anything either! She was the one who noticed the locks were broken, I didn't even look at them."
"You, a murder-mystery fan, would gloss over the locks? Don't they usually provide clues in these situations?"
"I-I can't help it... I was shaken from all of this, don't talk about it." she dismissed me quickly, as she was visibly not psychologically capable of maintaining a conversation that involved murder-mysteries - at least not any more than the situation we were in.
TRUTH BULLET ACQUIRED: MOTEL LOCKS
"I want to ask you, Mister Hananari... what of your alibi?" Blackjack asked with a suspicious look - one that screamed 'I suspect you of murder'.
"It isn't too strong, I assume." I confess. Riou and I were so close we could easily be accomplices, so there's no way she'd believe an alibi regarding just the two of us. "Riou and I went over to the shooting range, but were unable to enter past 12h15. The door was, strangely, locked."
Frances nodded absentmindedly and looked at Blackjack. "I guess those two are out of the water, then?" she asked her recent girlfriend.
"While it is possible that the murder occured while Mister Ryielo and Mister Hananari were locked out of the range, we don't have solid proof of their alibi." she noticed, as I thought she would. "But I will take your statement into consideration during this evening's proceedings."
"As I expect you to." I nodded, before realizing I had more investigation to do. "As for your alibis?"
"We were searching for Shiz- uh, him..." Frances explained. "We were both here during that time, I think."
Blackjack was then reminded of this morning's predicament. "Mister Matsuoka is still nowhere to be found... how will the trial progress without his presence?"
"Akahana has that covered, I think." I mentioned her questions to Monokuma a few minutes ago and Blackjack seemed a bit more at ease. "It's still strange that he vanished without leaving any traces... you think he's around?"
"There is no way for us to leave this city for now, so I believe it to be true that he is still in here, somewhere." Frances theorized. "But it is weird. He seemed cool enough last night... well, he was silent and distant as always, but he was acting the usual."
TRUTH BULLET ACQUIRED: SHIZUKA'S DISAPPEARANCE
Akahana left Yuzuru's room calmly with a ready expression on her face. Startled by my presence, she walked over to me with a sly smile. "The class trial is almost upon us, do you have anything else to investigate?" she asked
"I want to go over Yuzuru's room..." I raise an eyebrow at her slightly pushy tone, but shrug it off as the circumstances didn't let me have any doubts. "Did you find anything of importance?"
"A cupcake." she stated without any emotion.
"A... cupcake? From this morning?" I ask, remembering today's breakfast.
After Kikyo suggested a party - that eventually failed - Yatarou and I took it upon us to bring everyone together once again, so we scheduled a group breakfast for today. Frances and Blackjack baked the pastries again, Kiyoshi cleaned the motel entrance lobby where we ended up eating, all that good stuff. That's when we noticed Shizuka was missing.
"Why was her cupcake still there!? I thought she'd eaten it..." Frances said, disapponted. "And I worked so hard on baking one for each of us..."
Blackjack laced her fingers with the Tapdancer's and comforted her, rubbing circles on the back of it with her palm. "This is a good clue, though. You only baked one pastry for each of us, and only Yuzuru didn't eat hers... We now know Yuzuru didn't eat your cupcake, but the question remains... why?"
TRUTH BULLET ACQUIRED: GROUP BREAKFAST
"Maybe she doesn't like cupcakes?" Frances tried comforting herself as she smiled to the girl beside her, but her theory was interrupted by the speakers crackling to life and announcing the moment that was slowly but surely approaching.
DING DONG, DING DONG! INVESTIGATION TIME IS OVER, LOSERS!
GET YOUR ASSES OVER TO THE SUNDIAL SO THE CLASS TRIAL CAN PROCEED!
LATE AFTERNOON
Location: Anghern Sundial
We arrived at the central plaza, slowly trickling into the circular heart of Anghern. Both behind and in front of me was silence and sadness, footsteps coldly trodding away in the general direction of the sundial. The evening sun made it a nice shade, but no amount of beauty could save what had just happened. For the second time... there was a murder. And Monokuma made it clear to us...
It was one of the participants.
Just like Asuyo before us, someone killed Yuzuru Kanzaki and is trying to leave the city. But who could it be? And why? Last time, Asuyo had a... reasonable, although unjustifiable motive for murder. What could the traitor be plotting? What does he or she have to do with this?
"Hey, lawyer boy!" Monokuma warned. "Pay attention to your principal, if you please! Jeez... ungrateful brat."
"U-Ungrateful!?" I interjected, surprised and angry at his choice of words. "Like I have anything to be grateful to you for!" The bear was taken aback by my hostility, although he didn't make much of it. He just cackled demonically and pressed a button on a remote control he produced from somewhere behind him.
The sundial started rising, and rising. Until the elevator presented itself.
Akahana was the first to go in, her posture and overall aura unfazed, although there was a clear tension on her face. Yori and Eita followed close behind, although the Estimator's bulletproof emotionless mask remained unbroken, contrasting the gloomy Magician. Chigusa, Maruko, Frances, Blackjack, Yatarou, Riou, Kikyo and Kiyoshi eventually went inside, leaving me behind, catching the breeze with my sleeves. I entered the cold elevator and began our descent.
Looking around, the elevator seemed bare. Even with eleven other people, I felt this cold, lonely feeling of despair that didn't let go of my shivering spine, no matter how hopeful I was. And my brain wouldn't stop reminding me of her.
Yuzuru's body hanging lonely on that target... She was the first person I met in this forsaken city, and started out making friends and being generally so nice to everyone. Then suddenly, she became a completely different person. After the first trial ended and Asuyo went on to be executed, it was like I didn't know the girl standing in front of me. But even so... Yuzuru had inner turmoil that she took to her grave. She didn't deserve that.
Ding.
And so, the curtain arose above a new Class Trial.
Second Class Trial
(SURVIVORS | DEAD | STATUS UNKNOWN)
ASUYO UEMURA | KIKYO NAMIKAZE | YUKI BATORA | RIOU RYIELO
MARUKO INUBARASHI | BLACKJACK 21? | TSUKUSHI HANANARI | SHIZUKA MATSUOKA
FRANCES BAISHOU | YUZURU KANZAKI | KIYOSHI IKEDA | EITA KUROGANE
AKAHANA NAKAJIMA | CHIGUSA TAKAGAWA | YATAROU NEKOMIRIN | YORI HANAMICHI
A/N: And so, the second trial is about to commence! As usual for character deaths, I want to thank Lloyd's fics immensely for submitting Yuzuru as an OC for this story! I enjoyed writing her so much, and I believe her to be one of the most deep characters in this story, for reasons you'll find out about during and after the coming trial. Of course, I hope you keep reading, even after her untimely death, and keep enjoying this SYOC!
As a bit of a warning, don't forget I'll cut off review replies for the remainder of Act 2, as I did with the trial and execution of the first act! Even so, I'd be delighted if you reviewed anyway, because I love reading your comments on the chapters!
QOTC: Who do you think is the traitor and why?
The next three or four chapters will be entirely focused on the trial, as expected, and I hope you're as excited as I am for the twists and turns this murder has to offer! I'll see you in a few days for the beggining of Class Trial #2. Also... Happy (late) Holidays everyone! And I hope you have a great 2017! (Think of Yuzuru's death as the christmas gift you probably didn't want.)
Until next chapter... Yamazaki out!