I only hit her once, you think, remembering with vivid clarity how your hammer violently connected with Miyuki's head. How could she have died from just one swing?
You think of her falling, of her blood arcing through the air, splattering the carpet and your shirt. You remember how she didn't move after that, how there was no pulse when you placed a shaking hand to her neck. You remember how her eyes just stared at you. No…it was definitely you that killed her. Even if it was only one swing…
Looking around your dark room, you imagine that she's staring at you even now. For the first time in a long time, you duck completely under your covers, shivering with fright.
I'm sorry, Miyuki, I didn't mean to do it, you think, desperately hoping that somewhere she hears you. I just wanted you to get away from Tidus, I swear!
You wait for a moment, hoping that Miyuki's voice comes to you and forgives you for what you've done. You wait in the darkness, hearing only the clock as the seconds pass. There is only silence; no one comes. You spend the next few minutes sobbing into your pillow, and the next few hours staring into the darkness, waiting for morning.
It is strange to feel relief when you hear Monokuma's announcement, but it is undeniably relief. You quickly take a shower, barely feeling the warm water. You take a deep breath to steady yourself. I need to stay calm, or the others will definitely think something's up, you think as you shrug into another white dress shirt.
It is right when you reach for the door that a buzzer sounds, and it takes a minute for you to realize that it's from your doorbell. When you open your door, Tadakatsu stands there, looking worried.
"Agro, were you out of your room at all last night?" You shake your head, not trusting yourself to say anything. Tadakatsu sighs. "It was worth a shot." He points down the hallway. "We're meeting outside the cafeteria. Dio has…an announcement to make." He walks down to Edwin's door and rings the doorbell, leaving you to make your way down the hallway alone. A good number have already turned up.
"Hey Dio, could you please move?" Kaori was saying as you approach, "We need to get breakfast ready."
Dio blocks the cafeteria entrance, looking a bit strange. "No can do. Tadakatsu is rounding everyone up, and then we're taking a trip to the exercise room." He scans the crowd. "You hear that, you sick bastard? I found your handiwork!" You try to act as confused as everyone else. So, it's happened, you think, slightly amazed at how calm you feel. Your heart isn't even pounding.
Kanzaki slouches off without a word, undoubtedly heading for the exercise room. Dio yells at him to stop, but he doesn't listen.
"We can't have him tampering with anything," Dio says. "Someone go after him already!" A few jump at his sharp tone, but Aika is not one of them.
"Relax, Afro, I'll keep an eye on him." She quickly leaves as well. Dio relaxes slightly, but he does not answer any questions. The others quickly join in the throng. Questions begin to shoot out of your fellows' mouths, but just as soon as Dio opens his mouth to answer one of them, bells interrupt him, and soon Monokuma's voice fills the school.
"Attention, all students! Head straight for the gymnasium on the double!" It chuckled gleefully for a moment. "I suppose you can check out the exercise room, but I want you here within two minutes! We've got a lot to do…"
You all glance at each other, and then begin running, navigating the multi-colored corridors as a crowd, miraculously not stepping on anyone's feet in the process.
"What is it, do you think?" Ichigo asks the group at large, but no one answers. Dio reaches the exercise room first, and merely points inside. You all pool in…and see her.
Someone has partially dismantled your makeshift tomb, you realize. The Ultimate Skier, pale and still, lies on her back, where she fell the night before. The way her head was positioned, her wound was partially hidden, but the bloodstained carpet around her head reveals the truth: Miyuki Hiyama was murdered.
Only you knew who had done it, however. You see Tidus start beside you out of the corner of your eye.
Aika and Kanzaki stand there, looking similarly grim.
Before anyone can react, Aika ushers everyone out into the hall again. "Come on, you guys," she says, pointing down the hallway, face set, "we've got to get to the gymnasium. No telling what Beary's got cooked up today." There was no trace of her customary smirk anywhere.
"How can you just say that," Kaori says, hands covering her mouth, "Miyuki's dead!"
Dio sighs. "Nah, she's right. Who knows what the hell the bear will do if we're late for his little party." He pauses. "We might end up like her, or worse."
Collectively stunned and shocked, the fifteen of you head to the gymnasium. You try to keep your thoughts in order, but you kept wondering, what the hell has Monokuma planned?
The bear sighs contentedly as you all pour into the gymnasium.
"Hello, hello! So glad to see you all up bright and early and on-time!" It pretends to count in its head. "Oh, I'm surprised, there's only fifteen of you today. Now why could that be…?" It asks, a paw on its chin, pretending to ponder.
"Cut the crap, you bastard!" Dio snarls. "What happened to Miyuki? Who killed her?"
The bear pauses, but soon laughs long and hard. "Well obviously, it was one of you guys who killed her! I mean, I thought that was obvious!"
Dio blanches, and falls silent. For all his bravado, Monokuma actually saying those words shatters his confidence. Looking around the room, you see every face is a picture of confusion and fear to varying degrees. You yourself have been no stranger to fear these last twelve hours…
Monokuma basks in the stunned silence, and then cannot contain itself any longer. "Come on, you guys, didn't we go over this? What happened to your friend wasn't that big of a deal: one of you just killed Miyuki so you could graduate!" Its grin widens. "It's just part of the rules! There's nothing wrong with it!"
Graduation…that's right, I can graduate now…I can get out of here…
"And…w-what if you're lying?" Tatiana stammers out, more pale than you've ever seen her. Edwin lays a hand on her shoulder to comfort her, but he too looks visibly paler, perhaps even a little sick.
Monokuma shakes its head. "Nope! It was one of you guys that killed her!" Its gaze roves the crowd, and you have the uncomfortable feeling that it lingers on you. "The person who did the deed should know that perfectly well."
Unconsciously, the fifteen of you glance at each other, undoubtedly trying to see if you can catch the killer just by looking at them. You mold your face into as neutral of an expression as you can manage.
Yosuke adjusts the brim of his hat, looking nervous. "That's the truth?"
Tadakatsu steps forward. "Where's the evidence, Monokuma! I just can't accept something like that! That one of us would kill someone, it's just unthinkable!"
"Calm down, both of you," Sylvia says, a layer of instructive authority in her voice now.
"Besides," Kanzaki says, a ghost of a smirk on his face, "Monokuma's been watching us the whole time. You'd think that if anyone knew who killed her, the teddy bear watching all the security cameras would." He pauses to glance at Monokuma. "Isn't that right?"
Monokuma nods happily. "Yes indeed! I saw the whole thing, and boy, was it a doozy!"
"So," Kanzaki continues, "that person gets to graduate now, right?"
Yes, you think. I'll be leaving soon.
Monokuma's laugh sent a shiver down your spine. "You think it's that easy to graduate, huh?" it asks the group, looking around. "You just have to ax someone and then you're home free? Well, it's not that easy!"
"Not that easy?" The question left your mouth before you could stop it.
Monokuma looks at you, grin widening. "Quite the contrary. The real fun starts right now!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Aika asks, eyes narrowing.
Monokuma laughs again. "I'd thought you'd never ask." It jumps up on stage with a mighty leap. "What I mean is, a few hours after the corpse is discovered, we'll hold a Class Trial, where the murderous blackened will face off against the righteous Heroes of Light!"
You're all speechless at this pronouncement, so it continues. "The question you'll have to figure out at this particular Class Trial is who killed Miyuki Hiyama? That answer will be decided by a vote at the end of the trial, you hear?" It chuckles. "If you come up with the right answer, the blackened villain will be punished, and everyone else will continue to live here in harmony. But get the answer wrong," it says, and it seems to look right into your eyes, "and the blackened will live on and escape from his or her sin, leaving the Heroes of Light to be punished in their place!"
I'm the villain? you think to yourself. You have a hard time wrapping your head around that thought.
Tidus speaks up for the first time that day. "What exactly do you mean by…punished? You've, uh, said that a lot." he asks, eyes wide.
Monokuma's happy laugh turns into a dark chuckle. "I'm talking executed, boys and girls!"
As cries of shock echo throughout the room, you feel your body go numb. Executed? I could die…or force fourteen people to die? You glance at Tidus, who's attempting to stammer out a reply and failing. …Even Tidus could die?
"What, you mean we could die just because we get the answer wrong?" Ichigo cries out. She looks around wildly. "Whoever killed her, just confess!" Her pink eyes are wet with tears. "This isn't funny!"
"Oh, I agree," Monokuma says, laughing, "this is a very serious matter! You can't make this decision lightly! After all, your lives are on the line!"
Dio punches his hand. "Oh, you bastard bear, leave her alone already!"
Monokuma does not look intimidated, only confused. "I'm not a bastard bear! I'm a very friendly bear, especially because I'm about to give you all a gift before you start searching for clues to lead you to the blackened!" The bear pulls out a black file with a large red number 1 on it. "This file has some data that I gathered on the corpse! Here's the first of hopefully many Monokuma Files!" It throws the Monokuma File to Aika, who catches it easily in her gloved hands.
"What's exactly in this file?" she asks, not deigning to open it yet.
"Oh, you know, the cause of death and stuff. What's in there will change depending on what I think is fair!" Monokuma says, sighing contentedly. The bear laughs again. "Well, anyway, the best of luck on your investigation! I'll get in touch with you all again soon!" Monokuma disappears, leaving the fifteen of you bewildered and alone.
"Hey, look at the School Rules," Tidus calls out, looking at his Student Handbook. "The bear's added a few."
You lean over to take a look at his Handbook, others taking their own out. Tidus was right, Monokuma had added a few rules pertaining to the Class Trial: when you would have one, who would live…and who would die. These rules made it official. You glance around the room, looking at everyone. It was a strange thought to look around a room full of people and realize that in order for you to survive the day, they would all have to die.
No one speaks for a moment.
"I'll read the Monokuma File," Aika says, flipping it open, "but should we split up after that?"
"That's what they do in those cartoon mystery shows," Yosuke says, nodding.
Dio sighs, crossing his arms. "This isn't some show, kid," he says gruffly.
Kaori jumps to his defense. "Yosuke's just trying to help, Dio!" she says. "We'll be able to get more clues that way, too!"
Honzo nods, straightening his orange glasses. "It is worth noting that in those cartoons they always get the criminal in the end." He looks around, gauging everyone's reaction. "Today will be no different."
"All right, all right! Just stop jumping down my throat," Dio says, patting his hair. "We'll split up, fine."
You all turn toward Aika, and she clears her throat, savoring the spotlight. How much does it tell them, you wonder, suppressing a shudder.
"Let's see," Aika begins, "The victim in this case is Miyuki Hiyama. The body was found in the exercise room near the Leg Press machine. The exact time of death is unknown, but the cause of death is a single wound to her head made by a blunt object." She stops, and looks around.
"That's all the File gave us?" Toshi asks incredulously, eyes wide. "We're positively doomed! I'm going to see Mazabu sooner than I thought, and that is not a good thing!"
Ichigo sniffles, looking like she was about to cry.
"So," you say, "who's investigating where?"
The File barely told them anything, you think, reassuring yourself. There's nothing left that points to me, anyway.
Edwin coughs gently into his scarf. "I will be at the crime scene," he says. "The File might not be accurate." He pauses as he adjusts his glasses and, for the first time, pulls his arms through the sleeves of his doctor's coat. "Besides, I have a…secret weapon."
"I'll go with him," Tatiana says breathlessly, wonder in her eyes as she gazes at his transformation.
"I'll make sure no one tampers with the crime scene or the good doctor's investigation," Sylvia says calmly.
"You mind if I join you?" Dio asks, looking slightly uncomfortable. "I'm not cut out for investigating, but I've got the eyes of a hawk."
Sylvia smiles politely. "Be my guest, Dio." The four begin to depart together.
Kanzaki starts to wander off, but not before calling out, "I'll be interviewing each and every one of you before the trial, so don't disappear."
Honzo quickly follows him, saying that he didn't trust him walking alone unattended at a time like this. There was something about Kanzaki that put you on edge, as well…
"I can't do this," Ichigo says, whimpering. "This is crazy." She sits down where she is. Kaori and Tadakatsu, both looking shell-shocked in their own way, join her on the floor, trying to comfort her. It's obvious that they won't be investigating at all.
"Maybe the killer tried to dispose of some evidence last night," Tidus muses. He looks around. "Anyone want to head to the trash room with me?" He holds up his trash key helpfully, attempting to smile.
"Who wants to roam the hallways with Toshi?" Toshi asks, trying to be chipper. "We'll find something, I'm sure of it!"
You won't find anything, you think to yourself. It's a ruthless thought, but Monokuma has forced you down this path, these thoughts of either you or them. Your life depends on it, after all. You try to calm your now-racing heart.
You have to fill the investigation time somehow…