Heaven or Hell (Part 8) (Deadly Life)
The ride in the elevator felt longer than usual, especially with everyone talking over each other. It was safe to say that all of us were a little weirded out about leaving the trial grounds before actually finishing the trial.
"I'm so confused," Akumu admitted. "Where could Shiro/Kuro be?"
"Is he hiding in his room, maybe?" Takumi suggested.
"No," Clara said, shaking her head. "Remember, it's against the rules to be in your room during an investigation."
"Wherever he is, I'm going to have a nice long chat with him when I see him again…" Evelyn muttered.
Huh, wonder why she's so worked up. Fran must've been eliminated for sparing Shiro/Kuro, which doesn't make any sense since she knows what happened to me when I tried sparing him. Why didn't she vote to eliminate him?
"I can't believe you all suspected me of killing Satoko," Mari huffed, crossing her arms. "Do you just assume I'm the killer for every murder that happens on this ship?!"
"Get over it," Takahashi said. "We had a good reason to, it's not like we're just suspecting you because we don't like you."
"Even if that is the case." Fran joked with a smirk. Mari glared at her in response.
At last, the elevator ride was over.
The doors opened to reveal Monokuma, waiting in the room before the elevator.
"Took ya long enough!" He chastised. "Anyways, you all know the drill by now, right?"
I nodded. "Yeah, just get it over with."
The bear wasted no time in doing so as a sudden wave of exhaustion washed over me. I slowly closed my eyes, collapsed to the floor, and fell asleep.
"Alright, Seizo, so where exactly do you think Mr. Shiro/Kuro is, hmmm?" Was the first thing I heard when I woke up.
I blinked my eyes open and slowly stood up, everyone else doing the same. I looked around and noticed we were right back at the crime scene, Satoko's body still floating in the water.
I cleared my throat and quickly averted my eyes.
"Well, we're actually pretty close. Let's go." I said in response.
"Huh, really?" Koko asked, her eyes wide. "He was near us this whole time?"
"I'm not sure how close, but he's definitely on this floor." I replied. "C'mon, follow me."
I lead my classmates and Monokuma out of the pool room.
I started walking, eager to find out if I was right…
The only room on this ship that Evelyn and Fran couldn't have investigated…
I opened the door, the light automatically switched on and revealed…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
Absolutely nothing.
"What the hell, D-Lister?!" Takahashi angrily yelled, a very annoyed look on his face. "Are you seriously messing with us right now?"
"If you are, I don't find it to be very funny." Leonia frowned, putting her hands on her hips. "We're supposed to be solving the murder of Satoko, not fooling around."
"I expected better from you, Seizo." Norikazu admitted, shaking his head in disappointment.
"Calm down, you guys." I sighed. "I knew he wasn't going to be in here."
"Then why did you take us here?" Hiiro asked. "To waste time?"
"Stalling for a time in a class trial is a serious no no!" Monokuma angrily remarked.
"I'm not stalling for time either." I insisted.
"Oh!" Fran spoke up. "That's right!"
"Ah, so that's it…" Akumu realized, slowly nodding with a smile. "Nice one, Seizo!"
"What are you guys talking about?" Mari questioned, looking annoyed at Fran and Akumu's smirks. "He is literally just showing us an empty room and you guys are praising him?!"
"It's not completely empty…" Isami said, slowly raising her finger and pointing at what I wanted my classmates to see. "If you all stopped arguing for just a minute, it's pretty obvious as to why Seizo took us here…"
I smiled. "Thank you, Isami." I walked up to Monokuma and held out my hand, now completely confident in my theory. "I'm right, aren't I?"
Monokuma giggled. "Ah, damn it! I should've known you'd be the one to figure it out…" He handed me a key and I smirked.
"I knew it!" I said in a triumphant tone. "The only room, completely unsearched by everyone during the investigation, is the room inside the captive's room!"
"Captive's room?" Monokuma cocked his head to the side. "The room we are now in is called Heaven or Hell." He revealed.
"Oh, uh, ok…" I slowly nodded. "Um, the only room, completely unsearched by everyone, is the room inside Heaven or Hell!"
"I can't believe I just now remembered," Fran sighed. "We must've forgotten about it because the door is locked."
"Plus I'm sure none of the three of us ever wanted to think about this room again…" Akumu sadly smiled.
I nodded. "Alright you guys. Ready for some answers?"
"W-what if he's not in there?" Nadia nervously asked. "Or what if he's in there but he's…"
"Dead." Jack finished for her. "I'm not sure why, but I don't think that's the case. I have a feeling the Ultimate Occultist is still alive."
"Let's hope so," Sonoda commented. "If not, then we have to do another murder investigation, and it will definitely make Satoko's murder investigation a lot more complicated."
"Well we'll never find out if he's truly deceased or not if we don't open the door, correct?" Leonia asked in a slightly sarcastic tone.
"Very true," I sighed, turning the key in my hands. "Alright, here goes nothing."
I put the key into the lock and turned it. It unlocked the door without any problems.
Then, I grabbed the handle of the door, hesitating for a bit. I really didn't want to find another dead body, especially one belonging to one of the purest souls on this ship, Shiro… (on the other hand, we'd be finally rid of the loudmouth asshole, Kuro…)
I opened the door, and we all walked in the room…
…
…
…
…
…
…
"W-What the hell is this?!" I gasped.
"Is he ok?" Evelyn nervously asked.
"Shiro…" Isami quietly said.
The room we were now in looked like some sort of utility hallway, with dim lighting and various controls and pumps.
The most important thing in the room, however, was Shiro/Kuro, who was sitting on the floor, his back against the wall. His forehead bore some sort of bruise. He was strangely not wearing his hoodie...
It was a surprising sight, but I realized something and smiled.
"Is he dead?!" Clara frantically asked, rushing up to him. "No, not another one!"
"This can't be happening…" Nadia mumbled, her blue eyes brimming with tears.
"This sucks!" Takumi groaned. "Not again…"
"Relax, you guys." I laughed. "He isn't dead."
I walked up to Shiro/Kuro and Clara and knelt down beside him. Then I grabbed his shoulder and shook him as hard as I could.
"SHIRO! OR, UH, KURO, I GUESS! WAKE UP!" I yelled in his ear.
"S-Seizo!" Clara said with wide eyes.
As expected, Shrio/Kuro's eyes started to twitch and they suddenly blinked open. The boy looked at me in surprise.
"Seizo! What are you doing?!" He asked, lightly pulling away from me.
"Sorry about that," I awkwardly laughed, letting go of him and backing away. "I just needed you to wake up so everyone could see you were still alive and stop freaking out."
"How did you even know he was alive?!" Clara asked in shock. "What if you were shaking a dead body?"
"The body discovery announcement." I explained. "It didn't play when we walked in here."
"Ah, that makes sense." Norikazu nodded. "It plays when...how many people discover a body?"
"Three!" Monokuma answered.
"Noted…" Norikazu said, looking like he was thinking about something.
"I'm so glad you're ok!" Koko smiled. "Um, just so things don't get confusing, which one are you, Shiro or Kuro?"
…
…
…
"O-Oh," He gulped. "I'm, um, Shiro."
"Yeah right." Sonoda scoffed. "We can see right through your charade, Kuro."
"Nice try, but we're not falling for it again." Leonia declared, glaring at the occultist.
"Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me." Takumi remarked. "You're not fooling me again, Kuro!"
Shiro (?) looked quite stressed and embarrassed. "B-But, it's really me! I'm Shiro, I p-promise!" He insisted, hopelessly looking at the floor in despair.
"That's what you said last time, and look where it got me." Fran frowned.
"Yeah, you literally said, and I quote: 'I already told you guys. I'm not letting Shiro play this game. So no matter how many theories or plans you come up with to get rid of me; I'll still be here. And I'll knock you off one by one. I'm going to win the Traitor/Truce game'." Evelyn said. "How do you expect us to believe you're actually Shiro when you threatened our lives after saying you'd basically never give Shiro his body back?"
"T-that wasn't m-me…" Shiro (?) claimed, starting to look sad. I noticed his lip starting to quiver.. "I'm sorry K-Kuro did all of that to you but I'm m-me now, I swear. He's under c-control."
"T-that wasn't m-me," Takumi mocked, rolling his eyes. "You're such a liar, Kuro, just be nice for once and tell us the truth already!"
"You could save us all a bunch of time if you just fess up. Are you forgetting that if you're not the killer, you'll be executed along with the rest of us if we don't find out who it is?" Jack frowned.
"I think he might be telling us the truth," Clara said. "At least I hope he is...is there any way we could find out if he's actually Shiro or not?"
"I can think of one," I sighed. "Sorry in advance if you're actually Shiro…"
I pulled my fist back and then swung it forward, softly hitting Shiro on the shoulder, but enough that it'd hurt a little.
"Ow!" Shiro (?) yelped. He looked up with me with watery eyes. "S-Seizo, why'd you h-hit me?" He sniffed.
"Shiro!" I gasped. "I'm sorry! I knew if you were actually Kuro you'd yell at me and hit me back, but you really are Shiro..."
"There was an easier way of telling, you know…" Isami claimed. I jumped at the sound of her voice, I hadn't heard it in so long. "That is definitely Shiro. His mannerisms, tone of voice, and body language all point to him being in control. Unless Kuro has become the Ultimate Actor, he's telling us the truth."
"I don't think he's acting." I said. "I'm not an expert in body language or anything, but I can usually tell when someone's acting like someone they're not."
"But I don't understand," Norikazu admitted. "Kuro told all of us he'd never let Shiro take control as long as the Traitor/Truce game was going on. Did he let him have control due to Satoko's death?"
"It's a long s-story…" Shiro explained.
"One that will be revealed in the class trial!" Monokuma announced. "All right everyone, time to head bac-"
"Wait." I interrupted. "There's still something else we need to know before we go back to the trial grounds."
"Like what?" Akumu questioned.
"How Shiro was able to get into this room." I replied. "Fran, Akumu, and I were all locked in Heaven or Hell, which is the only room we know that has a door leading to this room. So how was Shiro able to get inside? None of the three of us saw him go into the room."
"Oh, uh, c-can I show them, M-Monokuma?" Shiro asked, looking up at the bear with an anxious expression.
Monokuma thought for a moment before slowly nodding. "Fineee...make it quick, though, and keep your mouth shut about anything else!"
Shiro nodded. He stood up from the floor and began walking down the hall. As we moved further down, I noticed a strong chemically smell, and that the pumps and pipes were all connected to each other.
We walked in silence down the hall…
Until we came to a dead end.
"I don't get it." Mari frowned. "You teleported in here?"
"N-No…" Shiro sighed. "Look at this."
He pressed on a spot on the wall, and it...opened?!
"What the fuck?" Taka remarked.
"I did not expect that to happen." Norikazu admitted.
Shiro opened the 'wall' more, and we all walked through.
"That explains the chemical smell." Clara nodded, looking around.
"And where all of the controls for these are." Akumu continued, tapping on one of the machines.
We were right back where we started: the pool room.
The hallway we were in before must've been a control room for the pool, and the anti-gravity machines. It made sense now, machines like that obviously needed to have a bunch of controls and power generators, and everyone knows a pool needs a bunch of pumps and shit for things like the filter and stuff.
The wall that secretly opened was the front wall of the room, in the middle of the bleachers.
"Of fucking course." Takahashi sneered. "I knew there was something off about this room but I couldn't figure it out."
Tch, I was so damn stupid…
There was something obvious I didn't bother to investigate…
Something you saw as soon as you walked into the room, but didn't necessarily suspect; making it perfect to hide Monokuma's secret.
"Well at least we now know how Shiro was able to get in there." I smiled. "Well, I guess we can head back now, Monokuma."
"Gee, thanks for your permission." The animatronic sarcastically quipped. "Time to head back, everyone!"
I braced myself, and felt the exhaustion creep over my body, and just like last time, I collapsed to the floor and fell asleep.
This time, we awoke in the trial room, in front of our stands.
"How convenient." Leonia commented, standing up and brushing her skirt off.
"Agreed!" Koko beamed, also standing up. "Though you have to wonder what effect this much drugs being injected into our bloodstream does to our body…"
TRIAL RESUME
We all stood up and composed ourselves, finally ready to continue with the trial.
Shiro looked quite nervous as he stood at his stand. I couldn't tell if it was his usual nerves, or something worse, however…
"Finally," Monokuma huffed, sitting on his throne. "I thought that little field trip would never end!"
"It was good to get some 'fresh air', so to speak." Akumu joked.
"I almost forgot why we're here…" Clara admitted, sadly looking at Satoko's portrait of her smiling face.
"Well allow me to refresh your memory." Jack said in a harsh tone, obviously still upset about the death of his friend. "Before we left, we determined that there's only one other person who could be the killer. The only one with out an alibi for the time of the murder..."
"Shiro." Hiiro finished. "All of us here have alibis but you. Can you explain yourself?"
Shiro gulped. "O-oh, um, of course! I p-promise I'm not the killer, it's a long story t-though…"
"Let's hear it." Mari said. "Only then will you be able to prove your innocence."
Shiro nodded, his face red with embarrassment. "Alright!"
Non-Stop Argument
Shiro cleared his throat. "Ok, um, so I tried talking to K-Kuro, through our t-thoughts…"
"I asked h-him if he could please l-let me have control and stop e-eliminating the others in Traitor/T-Truce…" He continued. "He, um, let me see what w-was going on, you see…"
"I kept trying harder and h-harder to regain control, and one day I f-finally almost got it back…" He said.
"Kuro was s-slipping away, his m-mind started to be overtaken by mine," Shiro said. "He needed to s-sit down for awhile, to try and regain complete c-control, so he went to the p-pool room."
"My memory was a little foggy for a while, I think he was giving a-all his strength to take b-back complete control. I t-think I remember Clara and M-Mari telling Hiiro and h-him to wait in the hallway for a little b-bit so they could c-change into their swimsuits...Oh, my hoodie went missing around that time as well.. After they were done, they went back i-inside and I started to regain control a-again. Kuro stayed quiet, watching Clara and M-Mari swim while Hiiro watched t-them." Shiro continued. "Finally, they l-left, and I took action! I fought and fought with K-Kuro, until I managed to regain partial c-control of my senses. I made us walk over to one of the a-antigravity machines, and slammed our head down to knock either him or both of us o-out."
"Luckily, it worked and o-only he was knocked out, probably because his c-control of our body was already so w-weak." Shiro revealed. "I was still pretty dazed though, and s-started to wander around, a little confused…I leaned onto the wall for support which is d-discovered the secret room. I w-went in there to look around and r-rest, and have been in t-there ever since. Monokuma came to t-talk to me, but I told him I was too weak to go to the trial...I'm ok now t-though!"
"And that's everything that h-happened." Shiro explained. "You b-believe me, right guys?"
Truth Bullet: Dented Anti-Gravity Machine, FIRED!
"I agree with that!"
"P-please help me conjure up the truth!"
BREAK!
Truth Bullet: Shiro's Account, obtained!
"Excuse me, what?" Mari asked in an angry tone. "Are you seriously using the same truth bullet twice in one trial to prove his little story? Ugh, I do remember telling him and Hiiro to wait in the hallway for like 5 minutes while me and Clara got changed though, so that's part true, but you're trying to prove the rest of his story with the dented anti-gravity machine?"
"Uh, hold on, truth bullet?" Koko repeated, tilting her head.
"Sorry about that," I nervously laughed, backing away from Mari. "But it all makes sense now. Shiro was definitely the one to bang his head into the anti-gravity machine."
"Wait a minute, I thought the killer used the anti-gravity machine to kill Satoko." Koko frowned. "But now Shiro is the one who used it?"
"Yes, I'm sure." I nodded. "After all, it explains something that didn't make sense before…"
"No one cares." Takahashi interrupted. "Anyways, that is basically what Seizo and I were thinking. Satoko is a small and no offense, weak, girl. It would be easy for any of us to grab her and push her head into one of the anti-gravity machines, and with enough force, it could definitely be a fatal blow."
"How gruesome." Evelyn frowned. "But it is definitely a possibility that we should keep in mind."
Gruesome...
Huh.
Yeah, it would be…
"Ok, so it could've been the anti-gravity machine." Evelyn surmised. "But I don't think the murder weapon matters if we can't pin point who could've done it!"
"The lack of any blood at the crime scene." I explained. "The dented anti-gravity machine had absolutely no blood on it, despite Satoko being surrounded by a pool of it! Now that we know Shiro was the one who dented it, in order to wound himself, not kill, it makes sense that there was no blood."
"Y-Yeah," Shiro nodded, moving some of his bangs to the side, revealing the faint bruise that hitting his head caused. "It hurt, but n-not enough to cause any bleeding."
"So good for Shiro," Akumu said. "Since it helps make his alibi more credible...but now the question is…"
"What was the murder weapon." I sighed, scratching my head. "Damn it...I feel like we're right back to stage one."
"We just simply have to think about what things could be used as weapons capable of causing the wound on Satoko's head." Leonia said. "However, I haven't got the faintest idea considering Takahashi and Seizo locked up a majority of the dangerous things that could be used as weapons in Takahashi's room."
"Does that mean that Takahashi could've done it?!" Koko gasped. "He could've used one of the weapons in his room!"
"I have a credible alibi, remember?" Takahashi rolled his eyes.
"Oh, that's right…" Koko awkwardly laughed.
"So it must've been something else." Fran suggested. "What were the other things that were discussed before?"
"I think someone said una silla?" Evelyn said. "A chair?"
"I find that hard to believe…" Takumi admitted. "Someone would have to be really strong in order to hit Satoko's head hard enough to cause a wound like that."
"So something else then…" Nadia sadly frowned. "I don't have any idea what it could be…"
Ugh, me neither!
I was so focused on the antigravity machine I didn't really think of anything else capable of killing Satoko.
Something hard enough to cause a mortally fatal wound that made her bleed out…
But, it also needed to be easy to use, as none of us here are exactly super strong, especially given our lack of exercise in the weeks that we've been here.
What the hell could it be?! We didn't find anything like that near the crime scene…
"Oh, Seizo!" Norikazu gasped, looking unusually energetic. Seriously, it was kind of creepy how his tone of voice went up like that… "Do you remember what we found in the gym storage room? The thing with orange spots?"
"Huh?" I raised a brow, thinking back to when I exited the air vent with Norikazu.
Norikazu sighed, pushing past me and walking up to the shelf. He picked up a baseball bat and showed it to me.
It was pretty faint, but noticeable upon closer inspection. The entirety of the baseball bat was covered in small, bright orange spots.
It was otherwise spotless, with no dust or anything, just those weird faint bright orange spots.
"No wonder you spotted this," I said. "An illustrator like you probably notices the smallest difference in color, right?"
Norikazu nodded. "Yes. Additionally, I can tell you that this isn't paint. I'm not sure what it is, but it's nothing that was painted on. In fact, it appears that the original paint of the bat has been damaged."
"Oh!" I gasped. "I didn't even think of that!"
Norikazu nodded. "I'm unsure if it's related to the murder, but it's unusual, yes?"
The thing that we found...it definitely could be the murder weapon.
Question: What could've killed Satoko?
Truth Bullet: Damaged Baseball Bat, fired!
"A baseball bat!" I said. "Anyone can swing it hard enough to kill someone!"
"That's…a gruesome statement." Koko deadpanned.
"Wait." Takahashi frowned. "What did you just say, Norikazu?"
"I'm unsur-" Norikazu started, before being interrupted by Takahashi.
"No. Before that. What was that about the spots on the paint? What color were they?" Takahashi clarified.
"Orange." Norikazu answered. "But they weren't painted on spots, it was a result of the paint of the bat being damaged."
"Orange spots…" Takahashi chuckled. "That sounds fucking familiar."
I sighed, taking the clothes out of the dryer.
Everything was nice and clean…
Except for one pair of swim suit bottoms.
"What the hell…" I muttered. I had noticed them before because they were tangled in with a shirt, but now I could see there were small stains of something dotted across them. It looked bright orange.
I don't have a sister or anything, but I'm smart enough to know this isn't blood. The weird thing was, none of the other clothes were stained, just the swim suit bottoms.
I shrugged. Not my problem; I know for a fact that I did the laundry exactly how I was supposed to.
"Ah, yes, I did notice that upon receiving the laundry." Leonia nodded. "I wonder what those spots could be."
"Well, um, they were on both the swim suit bottoms and the bat, so they must be related, right?" Nadia asked in her signature meek tone.
"But why did my swimsuit bottoms have spots on them?" Leonia frowned. "Did anyone else have the same issue?"
"Not that I can remember." I said. "I just chucked them in my hamper when I changed out of them."
Everyone had a similar answer, with Leonia being the only one to wash her swim suit bottoms.
"None of your other clothes had the spots on them so the problem must be the swim suit bottoms themselves." Evelyn surmised. "Maybe...it has something to do with the pool?"
"What do you mean?" Sonoda questioned.
"Well, both the swim suit bottoms and the bat had spots on them, for no apparent reason. We don't know where the bat's been. But we know the only place the swim suit bottoms have been is in the pool and dryer. Because the dryer isn't the problem, it must be the pool."
"That makes sense." Fran nodded. "But then why are the rest of our swimsuits free of any spots?"
"Well, Taka, did Leonia's swim suit bottoms have any spots on them before you put them in the dryer?" Evelyn asked.
"It's not like I was inspecting every single thing I was putting in the dryer, but no, I can't remember any of the clothes having any spots or stains on them before I put them in." Takahashi answered.
"So maybe the dryer caused the spots to appear!" Takumi suggested. "And I think I know what caused the spots in the first place!"
"What is it?" Clara inquired.
"It must've been the chemicals from the pool." Takumi explained. "When high concentrations of pool chemicals stain something, especially something white like Leonia's swim suit, it gives it orangish colored stains."
"And the dryer activated them?" Akumu wondered.
"I think so." I nodded. "But why?"
"Because certain pieces of clothing aren't meant to be put in the dryer!" Monokuma chastised. "The swim suits are made of special material that is protected by the chemicals of the pool, but isn't supposed to be put in the dryer; it's too fragile!"
"Well you could've told us that before then." Leonia frowned.
"Boo hoo." Monokuma mocked.
"Ok, so if the chemicals caused the spots, then why does the bat have them?" Clara questioned. "Does that mean that the bat was put into the pool?"
"I think so." I nodded. "Which means our new theory of the bat being the murder weapon just might be true. Because the bat doesn't have that special protection or whatever, the spots appeared without the use of the dryer."
"Why would someone put the bat in the pool, though?" Takumi wondered.
Hm, I think I know this one.
Question: Why did the killer put the bat in the pool?
They wanted to play underwater baseball
It would help Satoko's body disappear
To wash off the blood
"Haha, got it in one take!"
Answer: To wash off the blood
"They obviously wanted to conceal the fact that it was used as a weapon since they put it back in the storage room." I explained. "To further hide the fact that it was used as a weapon they washed the blood off in the pool."
"But why, though?" Clara wondered. "Why would us knowing that the weapon was a baseball bat be bad for the killer?"
"No idea…" Takumi admitted. "Let's figure it out!"
Non-Stop Argument
"The baseball bat...was the murder weapon this whole time?!" Sonoda asked in a shocked tone.
"Yup, but why would try and the killer hide the fact that it was…?" Akumu wondered.
"Maybe because they're the Ultimate Baseball Star and people would know he was the killer?!" Takumi suggested.
"It's obviously because they're one of the only people strong enough to use it." Mari said confidently.
"Ooo, now we can go back to the gym and look at the stop clock!" Fran said.
"To truly figure out the time of Satoko's murder…" Isami nodded.
"That sounds like a g-good idea…" Shiro smiled.
Truth Bullet: Broken Stop Clock, fired!
"No, that's wrong!"
BREAK!
"Sorry Fran, but no dice." I sighed. "The stop clock is broken, for some reason."
"Aw man," Fran frowned. "I thought I was onto something...anytime a piece of a equipment is used the stop clock goes off, which could've told us when exactly Fran died, and maybe point us to why the killer hid the fact that the baseball bat was the murder weapon. But if it's broken, then there's nothing we can do…"
"Hang on a sec." I said. "We need to think about why the stop clock was broken...like you said, Fran, we could've figured out the exact time of death since the stop clock would've gone off when the baseball bat was used...which means the killer broke it to hide that time."
"Well yeah, I thought that was pretty obvious." Mari said. "They'd have no other motive to break it, right?"
"I don't think so." I nodded. "But the killer must've known we'd be able to figure out a time when she was killed...unless...we were wrong."
"W-what?!" Shiro asked. "So she wasn't murdered w-when we thought she was?"
"I'm not sure," I answered. "But looking back...I just remembered something super important that I should've brought up a long time ago."
"What is it?" Takahashi questioned. "Come on, spit it out, you're wasting all of our time."
I looked at two people who probably knew what I was thinking about. They nodded at me.
"Alright," I said. "So basically…"
The silence was suddenly interrupted by a voice. It sounded faraway, and I wasn't sure if I was imagining it or not.
"Guys! Can you hear me? I know you're in there! Don't worry, I'm going to get help!"
"...Huh?" The masucline voice said. "Who's there?"
"Is somebody there?!" The feminine voice frantically asked. "Please, help us!"
"...I can't understand you!" The mysterious voice said. "But don't worry, I'm going to get help, just wa-"
The voice stopped, and I heard some sort of loud BANG noise, followed by a yell.
"I didn't really think much of it at the time since I was so damn tired, and I had forgotten about it until now because of everything going on with Satoko." I admitted. "But the baseball bat reminded me, as did my 'investigation' with Norikazu."
"Hm, what do you mean?" Leonia asked.
"When I got to the equipment room to look around, I noticed the vent was open and a broken plate was in front of it," I explained. "I went through it and found Norikazu also investigating. Turns out, there's a vent leading from the equipment room to the captive's room. No one ended up going into the captive's room, but I'm sure whoever that voice belonged to was going to try to…"
"And it's safe to say that it's Satoko." Takahashi finished. "In fact, I'm pretty damn sure. A broken plate you said? That reminds me…"
Satoko glared at me. "It's not going to be." She then walked over to the plate I had in front of me, and picked it up.
"The hell are you doing?" I frowned. "The kitchen isn't open, y'know, so you can't put it to wash."
"I wasn't going to wash it…" She sighed. "I need it."
"...Fine." I said. "Do whatever you want with it."
She raised a brow. "You're not going to ask me what I need it for."
"Nope." I answered. "I don't really care, do what you want with it."
"Ok…" She slowly nodded. "Well, good night."
Much to my surprise, instead of going through the door leading to our bedrooms, she went back to the door leading to the announcement room.
I narrowed my eyes. "So Satoko was the one to take the plate…"
"Which later broke." Clara finished.
"Why would she need a plate?" Mari questioned. "Was she planning on eating a meal in the announcement room by herself like some loner?"
"I doubt that's the case." I frowned. "Hm, the plate was found broken in the equipment room, which means Satoko probably took it there…"
But why?
Hangman's Gambit
"Why did Satoko need Takahashi's plate?"
?-?-? ?-?-?-?
Ok, so Satoko had the plate in the equipment room…
P-?-? ?-P-?-?
Which means whatever she needed it for was in that room.
P-R-? ?-P-?-?-?
But what could it have been? She didn't eat in there, that's for sure…
P-R-Y ?-P-?-?
Oh, and we have to remember that the plate was broken…
P-R-Y O-P-?-?
In front of…
P-R-Y O-P-E-?
The vent! That's it!
P-R-Y O-P-E-N
Answer: Pry open
BREAK!
"The vent!" I exclaimed. "Satoko needed something to pry open the vent with!"
I walked over to the vent cover, lifting it up from the floor.
It was one of those vent covers with the slots, all designed to be slightly diagonal. It's not supposed to be able to be opened: there's no screws or anything to take it off from the wall.
"I guess with enough force," I started, trying to tug on one of the slots. "You try and pry it open."
But I didn't think that was the case either; my fingers and anybody else's were too big to fit into one of the slots in order to get a good grip on it to pry it open.
So how the hell did someone open this?!
"Any of our fingers would be too big to get a good grip in order to pry it open, but a plate would do the job without any problems!" I said. "Well actually, maybe a few...My guess is Satoko tried to pry open the vent with the plate and used all the strength she could...in doing so, however, the vent suddenly broke open without any warning and Satoko dropped the plate, which broke it."
"Ooo, that makes sense!" Akumu nodded. "So the voice we heard was definitely hers! But that means…"
"The scream was hers too…" I gulped. "Which means...something we've been thinking for awhile now isn't true."
Takahashi nodded. "You're right...she wasn't killed in the pool room, after all."
"She was killed in the gym equipment room." I finished. "And her body was taken to the pool after the fact-"
"Something's off about this…"
I looked over in surprise to see Koko shaking her head.
"Sorry Seizo, but I really don't think Satoko was killed in the gym equipment room." She said. "I mean, there's so many clues pointing towards her demise being in the pool room, like we've been discussing this whole time."
"Alright," I nodded. "No need to argue, we can have a friendly discussion about this."
Koko smiled. "Alright Seizo, allow me to prove my theory!"
Rebuttal Showdown
"Remember all the clues pointing to Satoko dying in the pool room?
The bloody water, the fact that her body wasn't there until Takahashi and Mari got to the pool room?
Not to mention the dented anti-gravity machine." Koko said.
"Well, remember the anti-gravity machine was dented by Shiro.
And the water could've become bloody after Satoko's body was put in it, which could've been done at any time before Takahashi and Mari got to the pool room." I rebutted.
ADVANCE!
"Oops, sorry I forgot! And fair point.
However, remember the fact that Satoko's head was definitely bleeding a lot.
Why wasn't there any bleeding leading from the gym to the pool room?
I don't think there's any other clues or anything unusual about the gym that helps your argument, sorry Seizo!" Koko stated with an awkward laugh.
Truth Bullet: Missing Base, fired!
"Cut!"
BREAK!
"Nothing else unusual about the gym, huh?" I chuckled. "Well that's not right. Something incredibly unusual was the fact that one of the bases that Taka drew on the floor for our game of kickball is missing...and I think I know why."
"Why is that?" Koko questioned, raising a brow.
"Well, the killer obviously didn't want to leave a trail of blood if they were trying to hide the fact that the murder happened in the gym." I said. "Which means the killer must've found some way to clean the blood."
"And in the process they must've accidentally erased one of the bases!" Clara realized.
"Ah, and I know just what the killer used!" Evelyn said in an excited tone. "Which raises up a question we kinda forgot about."
"Oh, really?" I asked, my eyes wide. "What did they use?"
Evelyn nodded. "My best bet is Senza-Sangue."
She was looking in the medicine cabinet, and pulled out some sort of clear bottle. "Huh. Well, this is good to have."
"What is that?" Hiiro questioned. "Rubbing alcohol?"
Evelyn shook her head. "No. This is Senza-Sangue, a safe mixture of ammonia and bleach that makes it easy to clean up blood. It's considered safer than just mixing ammonia and bleach by themselves because Dam-Off is made up of the perfect ratio of ammonia and bleach, so it doesn't produce as much chloramines, causing a more mild affect when exposed to the smell of it. Hm, now that I think about it, this is probably what Monokuma used to clean up Silver's crime scene."
"Oh, so that's what Senza-Sangue is." I laughed. "Leonia, Akumu, Takumi, and I thought it was some sort of Italian medicine. We found an empty bottle of it in the infirmary, which means yeah, the killer most likely used it."
"Well, not surprising." Evelyn chuckled. "It's pretty hard to guess what it is based on a...name alone…" Her smile dropped as she finished her sentence.
"Even someone as smart as Leonia, Akumu, and Takumi guessed that it was a medicine…" Evelyn realized, gulping.
I realized what she was saying, my heart dropping.
Holy shit, we were just talking about how the killer cleaned up the blood, but…
"Which means that there's only a select few people who could be the killer." I realized.
"Perfect, we can finally be done with this." Takahashi sighed in relief. "Alright, this is easy. In that room was me, Evelyn, Francesca, Hiiro, and Koko."
My eyes widened. No fucking way…
No fucking way!
The room was silent, with all of the accused keeping their mouths shut.
They didn't need to say anything though.
I know who the killer is.
A weak alibi and the only one who could've committed the crime, especially given an additional piece of information we were given just a little while ago…
Fuck, why'd you do it?! I don't get it…
But I have to accuse you.
If not we'll all die and Satoko's death will be in vain.
Here it goes…
This was a lot more painful than accusing Ritsu…
I considered you a close friend of mine…
Accuse: Who killed Satoko?
Seizo
Clara
Leonia
Jack
Satoko
Akumu
Takahashi
Shiro/Kuro
Silver
Francesca
Ritsu
Evelyn
Takumi
Isami
Sonoda
Koko
Nadia
Norikazu
Mari
Hiiro
DECIDE: Hiiro
"The show's over!"
"Hiiro...it was you, wasn't it?" I said softly, my eyes refusing to look at the barista.
"Seizo...you can't be serious." Hiiro frowned. "There's no way I would still Satoko. Such a despicable crime that I have no reason for committing."
"Y-Yeah!" Koko nodded. "There's no way he did it, remember? We were playing chess!"
"Sorry, Koko, but it's true…" I sighed. "Especially because the murder wasn't while you were playing chess. Or around that time at all."
"What are you talking about?" Hiiro asked. "I thought we established the murder happened around after 2:05, after I returned from waiting for Takahashi and Mari."
"That's originally what I thought." I said. "But something Shiro said makes it clear to me that it was before then. An hour, actually."
"My memory was a little foggy for a while, I think he was giving a-all his strength to take b-back complete control. I t-think I remember Clara and M-Mari telling Hiiro and h-him to wait in the hallway for a little b-bit so they could c-change into their swimsuits. Oh, my hoodie went missing around that time as well...After they were done, they went back i-inside and I started to regain control a-again. Kuro stayed quiet, watching Clara and M-Mari swim while Hiiro watched t-them." Shiro continued.
"What are you trying to say, Seizo?" Hiiro sighed. "Say it in a way that doesn't make you sound like you're making no sense, because you aren't."
"Fine." I sighed. "Here goes…"
Double Feature
"Ahem, allow me to begin…" I started, feeling quite dejected about having to tell this story.
"We're often led to believe things that make sense, because we don't want to think of an alternative that paints a darker picture...However, in the tale surrounding Satoko Kiyomizu's death, the picture couldn't get any darker…
Here we have a girl, trying to accomplish one of her goals. She wanted to see the smiling faces of her dear friends: Seizo, Akumu, and Fran, who were thought to have perished at the hands of the evil Traitor/Truce game.
But, she was in for a gruesome fate…
…
…
…
Satoko went to the gym after playing a VR game (Sonoda's Account) at 1:00. There, she was alone for a little while before she found herself wacked over the head with a baseball bat (Damaged Baseball Bat).
It turns out, while Clara and Mari were getting changed, Hiiro was the one to strike her...He then most likely hid the body somewhere, as we know that it wasn't put into the pool until around 2:00.
Cleaning up wherever he put it was no problem since he had Senza-Sangue (Empty Bottle of Senza-Sangue) on his hands. "
"This is the final cut!"
BREAK!
…
…
…
"That one was...slightly better." Takumi admitted, his face a pale green. "Albeit still sickening…"
"You got to the point faster, which is a positive." Leonia nodded, dabbing at her sweaty, pale, forehead.
I shook my head. I wasn't in the mood for performance reviews...but it's still pretty nice to be complimented for my work! It's a hard life I live…
"There's so many contradictions in me being the killer and the murder happening at that time." Hiiro sneered. "I mean, have you forgotten? The infirmary key, it was moved!"
"An attempt to make you seem innocent." I argued.
"And what about the fact that I didn't see Satoko's body when I was waiting for Takahashi and Mari?" Hiiro continued to argue, growing less and less chill, which was unlike the Ultimate Barista.
"A lie." I concluded. "During that five minute window, you probably moved Satoko's body into the pool, broke the stop clock, and quickly cleaned up the blood."
"Tch, no way." Hiiro shook his head. "And what of the maggots, hm? Why would I put maggots in the pool?"
"That's something about which I've been thinking about myself." I admitted. "But now that we now that the Senza-Sangue was used to conceal the murder location, it all makes sense. Takahashi, you realized it too, right?"
Taka nodded. "Yup. During the investigation."
"He said something about how there could never just be one organism in the pool. He never specified what organism it had to be!" I said.
"True…" Taka nodded. "Satoko is obviously an organism since she's a human. The maggots are some type of animal, and the rose petals are plants."
"Exactly. If Mari added the rose petals, the killer must've obviously added the maggots in order to bypass the no swimming alone rule." I explained.
"Huh. That's probably right…" Taka nodded. "But something doesn't add up…" He added in a hushed tone, curiously looking at Satoko's corpse.
"What do you mea-"
"You realized it then, but I just realized it now." I said. "The killer wasn't trying to bypass the no swimming alone rule. The rose petals already fulfilled that purpose of having a human capable of swimming, Satoko, and the rose petals, an additional organism that'd mean you weren't alone. The killer realized that, but thought they'd put the maggots in to make us think that was what was bypassing the pool rule. In reality, however, they served a different purpose."
"To make us think the killer went to the infirmary solely for the maggots!" Clara realized with a gasp.
I nodded. "Exactly. Hiiro, you used the infirmary key to get the Senza-Sangue and the maggots. You cleaned up the blood with the Senza-Sangue and put the maggots in the pool. Then you hid the bottle of Senza-Sangue to hide the fact that it was used."
"You knew what the Senza-Sangue was used for since you were in the infirmary with us that day." Evelyn frowned.
"And because I was being held captive in the Traitor/Truce room, Evelyn and Koko were at Takumi's brunch, Takahashi was washing clothes, that just leaves you as the only suspect." Fran explained.
"But Koko only went to Takumi's party from 1 to around 1:30." Sonoda said. "I know you now think the murder happened around 1:00, Seizo, but what if it did happen sometime after? That means Koko could still be a suspect, right? After all, her alibi was shaky at best."
"No, because her alibi was much more solid than Hiiro's." I explained.
Koko nodded. "True, true...but Seizo, there's um, just one problem with your theory…"
"Huh?" I asked. "What is it?"
"Well, even if I could've used the vents to go to the infirmary from the game room...I couldn't have possibly have killed Satoko in the pool room since Hiiro was in there waiting for Mari and Taka. Additionally, I couldn't have waited for him to leave and gone in afterwards since he would've noticed I wasn't in the game room." Koko explained, sternly looking me in the eyes.
"Unless Koko and Hiiro were working together, Koko's right. There's no way she could've put the body in the pool at 2:00, since she thought that Hiiro was going to be in there waiting for Mari and Taka. She also could've thought that Mari and Taka were already there, since she didn't know Taka was doing laundry." I continued.
"...Well, Koko? Are you working together with Hiiro?" Isami questioned, cocking her head at the girl.
Koko narrowed her eyes and slowly shook her head. "No…"
"Leave Koko out of your pathetic theory." Hiiro demanded, his eyes glaring daggers at me.
"Huh, what you said before, D-Lister, about Koko not knowing I was doing laundry…" Takahashi said. "Hiiro did. Which completely throws away his supposed alibi from before."
I let out an annoyed sigh. "And Hiiro's too busy to do it?" I asked, glaring at the barista who did nothing but ignore me.
Leonia frowned. "Apparently so. So, would you please?" She held the laundry basket up to me.
Damn it...as much as it sucked to take orders from a photoshoot director or whatever the hell, I was the one to suggest the laundry prize in the first place.
I slowly took the laundry basket and nodded. "Sure, whatever. Just don't get annoyed if it takes awhile, a load this size will take some time."
Leonia nodded. "Thank you. And not a problem, we're in no hurry."
She shook her head at Hiiro and walked off.
Hiiro frowned. "I would've said yes to washing her clothes, but I have a number of people who've requested that I watch them while they swim. Apparently Mari booked you to go swimming with her around 2."
"No she didn't…" I protested. "I mean, she didn't tell me anything about it."
Hiiro shrugged. "If you two don't show up, then I'm not waiting for you. Be there early."
"He knew I wouldn't be done with all that laundry by 2!" Takahashi scoffed. "Which is why the asshole's alibi from before is bullshit!"
"I also have something that proves I can't be the killer," Hiiro suddenly spoke up. "Similar to Mari's alibi."
"Oh God, I'm going to be proven wrong again…" I muttered, shaking my head in disappointment at my own actions.
"I was in the pool room because I was waiting for Mari and Taka...it wouldn't be very good for me if I was killing Satoko and then the two of them walked in." Hiiro explained. He was also shaking his head at me.
"Hiiro claims he couldn't have killed Satoko, or if we change the words around to fit my current theory of moving her body to the pool room at that time, Hiiro claims he couldn't have moved Satoko's body since Mari and Taka might be there. But number one, he knew Taka would be doing laundry which would take a while. And number two…" I said.
"He told me himself to grab him from the game room before I went to the pool room!" Mari gasped.
"I checked in here at 2:00, and when you guys didn't show up by 2:05, I went back to the game room to be with Koko." Hiiro answered.
"You only gave them five minutes?" I deadpanned.
"Yes." Hiiro answered bluntly. "I told Mari before that she could find me in the game room if she happened to be late, after all."
"I ended up forgetting and just dragged Taka to the pool room without checking, but Hiiro had no way of knowing that! Besides, I didn't even show up to the pool room on time...which Hiiro knew would happen." Mari said.
"Hiiro really is the killer…" Takumi said with a sad look on his face. "But why?!"
"It doesn't matter, he killed Satoko!" Jack said with a clenched fist at his side. "He deserves to be executed."
"I can't say I'm shocked, I always found the guy suspicious." Sonoda admitted.
"This is awful, but if it's the truth, then we need to vote for him." Clara sighed. "If we don't, we'll all be dead."
Nadia was tearing up. "H-Hiiro was always so nice to us…he made us coffee every morning but now he's going to die?"
Shiro was also quite distraught. "I don't know w-why this is happening, but I'm s-sorry it did."
Hiiro was watching all of this with a cold expression. He was shaking his head at every accusation, and denying every rebuttal to his claims of innocence with a soft "no.".
He had remained calm thus far, and it looked like his chill attitude wasn't going to completely disappear anytime soon.
"Everything you say definitely could've happened." Hiiro nodded, actually agreeing with me. "But there's one irrefutable, undeniable truth that makes your entire argument false."
"And what might that be?" I questioned.
Hiiro smiled. A creepy smile, that didn't reach his eyes. One that looked fake, forced. One that made me believe Hiiro was guilty, no matter what he said. "Satoko died in the pool room, just like Koko said. There was no cleaning up blood, or erasing bases on purpose. There was also no moving her body or me killing her and doing all of the things you mentioned before in the span of five minutes. And I'll gladly tell you why."
It broke my heart to be fighting with him like this. This is the guy who was one of the first people I met here. The one who made coffee every morning no matter how tired he himself was.
But I have to end this. Refute his claim, which simply isn't true…
I'm sorry, Hiiro…
Argument Armament
"I had no part in Satoko's murder."
"It's just simply impossible."
"I already told you her body wasn't in there while I was waiting for Mari and Takahashi."
"You really think I'd lie?"
"There's no way I could've killed Satoko."
"That's an undeniable fact."
"It goes against my morals and everything I've been taught so far in my life."
"And it's impossible."
"Because…"
"Satoko died in the pool room, plain and simple! And because there's no way I could kill her and destroy evidence in five minutes, it couldn't have been me!"
"There's no way Satoko was killed in the gym and brought to the pool."
"As per the infirmary rules, nothing can be used outside the infirmary. Which means I couldn't have used Senza-Sangue and cleaned up any of the blood from transporting Satoko from the gym to the pool!"
Hiiro finished his rant, and I took a deep breath, before refuting his alibi, for the last time.
"The game's over, Hiiro…"
"YOU USED SHIRO'S HOODIE!"
BREAK!
"Huh?" Hiiro's eyes were wide. The barista looked incredibly uncomposed, almost like he's never lost an argument in his life until now, and he didn't know how to react.
"It's a shaky theory, I know." I sighed. "But one that makes sense. While you were with Kuro in the hallway, you took his hoodie, didn't you? You definitely could've since his mind was already all over the place, he probably wouldn't have even realized. I learned about the infirmary rule after talking to Takahashi. It says that a bottle or first aid can't be taken outside the infirmary. But it says nothing about the content of the bottle...Besides, it's not even an official rule, and since you're the rule enforcer who has the key, it doesn't really apply to you."
"While cleaning up the crime scene, you poured the bottle of Senza-Sangue onto his hoodie and used it to wipe up any blood." Takahashi surmised. "Pretty fucking smart, actually."
Hiiro said nothing.
It was her who came to his defense.
"N-no…" Koko shook her head. "No! Hiiro didn't kill Satoko! He was with me the whole time you said he was cleaning up the crime scene!" She insisted.
"A-and he couldn't have done it, anyway!" Koko continued. "Remember, he came to the game room as soon as he was done supervising Mari and Clara, and we went to wait for Taka and Mari toget-"
"No, Koko. Don't lie for me." Hiiro said, sadly smiling. "You know that's not true."
"Hiiro…" Koko whispered, tears streaming down her face.
"In fact, you've been lying for me for quite a while, huh?" Hiiro said. "You knew I took a little longer to get to the game room after Clara and Mari were done swimming, and I took a little longer than five minutes to 'wait for Mari and Taka'..."
"I-I dunno…" Koko sniffed. "I've always been terrible at keeping the time."
Hiiro silently nodded.
A few seconds later, he looked up at me. "I accept my defeat, Seizo. But please, before I go, convince Koko that I'm definitely the killer. I wouldn't want her to have any more doubts before I…well, before I die."
Koko stayed silent, staring at the ground as she wept.
I nodded. "Ok. I'll tell the story from the beginning. It's a shaky case, but I think it'll do before you tell your side of the story."
Here goes…
Closing Argument
"Our story begins this morning.
Satoko and a number of the others went to play a VR game in the VR room of the second floor. The others must've been having a blast, but one person was stressed out and ready to get out of there…
Satoko.
She had found an air vent, and knew it must've connected to Heaven or Hell, where the eliminated players of the Traitor/Truce game were being held. So, after she was done playing the VR game, she went to the air vent, intending to break it open and rescue us.
However, her plan was cut short. She did manage to break open the vent and say something to us, but she couldn't do anything more...as the killer whacked her in the head with a baseball bat.
Now this is the part where I don't know exactly what happened next…
I'm assuming the killer hid her body somewhere. I don't know where it could've been, but it must've been hidden quite well since Mari, who went to the equipment room around 1:45, didn't notice anything wrong.
Either after Clara and Mari were done swimming, or during the time when they were supposed to be 'waiting for Taka and Mari to come to the pool room', they sprang into action. They cleaned up the mess Satoko's head wound made using Senza-Sangue from the infirmary, which they were able to obtain due to the fact that they owned the infirmary key.
They also placed maggots in the pool to hide the fact that Senza-Sangue was used.
Additionally, they broke the stop clock to hide the time of the murder.
Now, I don't know the killer's motivations...seriously, I have no idea.
But there's only one person who could be the killer!
Isn't that right, Hiiro Sayoama, the Ultimate Barista?"
BREAK!
I swear, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
All of us…were just so confused.
"WHY?!" Jack yelled. "Why did you kill Satoko?!" The card dealer had most likely never thought Hiiro was the bad guy in all this, so this must be a shock to him. The usually stone-cold and serious young man was now sad, as tears slowly streamed down his face.
"I...I'm sorry." Was all Hiiro could say.
"Wow, wow, wow!" Monokuma remarked. "The mood in here is sooo tense! Let's lighten things up with the cheery music that comes from Voting Time!"
"W-wait, already?!" Koko gasped. "But I…"
"You know who to vote for." Hiiro said. "Come on, Koko. I'm not worth putting your life on the line."
The food critic narrowed her eyes.
Monokuma jumped to his feet. "So you all have finished your debating, huh? Considering the trial is over, it's officially time for my favorite event: voting time! Use the button in front of you to vote for who you think killed the unfortunate victim!
Who will be chosen as the blackened?! Will you make the right choice or the dreadfully wrong one? What's it gonna be? What's it gonna beeee?"
Just like before, a screen popped up on my trial stand.
This time, I wasted no time in selecting Hiiro's portrait…
I don't know why he did what he did, but the fact is clear: he killed Satoko.
About a minute later, a screen popped up behind Monokuma.
It was themed to be like the fighter selection screen for a video game. All of our smiling faces were displayed, and a cursor quickly scrolled over all of them, before getting slower and slower…
And eventually landing on Hiiro.
The word "GUILTY!" appeared on the screen, with confetti flying everywhere.
Then it turned off.
"Upupupu, that's right!" Monokuma exclaimed enthusiastically. "Satoko Kiyomizu's, the Ultimate Prodigy, killer is none other than the Ultimate Barista, Hiiro Sayoama!"
The room was so quiet...until everyone began shouting.
"This case...it makes no sense!" Takumi said.
"So many twists and turns...something doesn't feel right." Isami admitted, looking rather concerned.
"Hiiro." Jack said. "Why the hell did you kill Satoko?!"
Hiiro narrowed his eyes. "I...I'm sorry. I-"
"Hey, I want someone else to explain!" Monokuma suddenly shouted. "You know who I'm talking about, don't you, Hiiro?"
Hiiro frowned. "Are you serious? You won't even let me defend my own name?"
"Hiiro, what is he talking about?" Koko asked, still clearly sad, but now very concerned.
"Upupupu, come on, let's hear it from the mastermind of this whole murder…" Monokuma evilly giggled.
"Kuro!"
Everyone gasped, and turned their attention to Shiro...or maybe it's actually been Kuro this entire time?!
Shiro (?) quickly shook his head. "What?! N-no, I'm not K-Kuro right now! Please M-Monokuma, stop trying to lie to them!"
Monokuma crossed his arms. "Oh, relax, Shiro, I know you're not Kuro! What I'm saying is to bring him out!"
Shiro shook his head again. "H-He's not even trying to come out right now...H-He's been quiet for a-awhile…"
"What does Kuro have to do with Satoko's death?!" Jack angrily asked. "Just let Hiiro tell us or tell us yourself, Monokuma!"
"Not his or my story to tell!" Monokuma said, shrugging.
"It's true, I guess." Hiiro said. "The reason I killed Satoko...It wasn't really mine as much as it was Kuro's."
"What are you saying?" Koko questioned. "That…"
"It was Kuro who made me kill Satoko." Hiiro bluntly stated. "Or, in more accurate terms, it was Kuro who-"
"Zip it!" Monokuma demanded. "That's enough out of you, Mr. Barista! I think it's time for your punishment!"
"W-What?!" Koko gasped. "No! You can't, he hasn't even got a chance to explain himself!"
"And he never will!" Monokuma cackled. "Calm down, I'll bring Kuro out and he can explain everything after Hiiro's gone!"
"You're sick, Monokuma!" I shouted. "You gave Ritsu the chance to speak, why not Hiiro?!"
Monokuma's smile dropped off and he looked at me, his red eye glaring. "Because. Hiiro was simply the one who cracked Satoko's skull. It was Kuro who was the true mastermind behind this murder, something you all failed to figure out!"
"It's true…" Hiiro nodded. "I guess I can't say much more before he drags me away, but I promise all of you, I never wanted to kill Satoko."
"H-Hiiro!" Koko cried, completely breaking down and running over to the barista. She collapsed in his arms. "Please, don't leave me!"
"I'm sorry, Koko…" Hiiro said, his eyes brimming with tears. "I never meant for this to happen...I wanted to spend more time with you."
"You can!" Koko insisted. "Come on, we can run away! Run away from this room, run back to Earth! We can escape this nightmare, just please don't leave me!"
"I will never leave you." Hiiro said. "I will always be in your heart. Always watching over you. You can count on that."
"Hiiro…" Jack murmured. He didn't look as angry anymore, just sad. His anger was probably overshadowed by his confusion as to what the hell is going on.
"Alright, enough crying!" Monokuma said. "It's time for a very special punishment!"
"I'll never leave you Koko!" Hiiro said again, pulling away from Koko. "Always, remember that!"
"HIIRO, NO!" Koko screamed, tears continuing to spill from her eyes.
"I've prepared a very special punishment, for Hiiro Sayoama, the Ultimate Barista!" Monokuma continued.
"Hiiro, when I find out what happened, I promise I'll make Kuro pay for what he did!" I yelled, starting to cry. "He may not be the one to be executed, but he'll pay!"
"Thank you, Seizo." Hiiro sadly smiled. "And please, take care of Koko for me."
"Let's give it everything we've got! It's...PUNISHMENT TIIIME!"
"HIIRO!" Koko cried, collapsed on the floor.
"Goodbye, Koko…" Hiiro sniffed, wiping away his tears. "It's been a pleasure knowing you."
Monokuma pulled out a little gavel, and suddenly hit a red button in front of him.
There was a little screen on it that displayed:
GAME OVER!
HIIRO SAYOAMA HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY.
TIME FOR THE PUNISHMENT!
There was also a little graphic of a pixelated Hiiro being dragged away by Monokuma…
I turned to Hiiro, my vision blurry due to my tears. Koko collapsed onto the floor next to him, but not long as a chain wrapped around his neck and pulled away from her.
Before he was dragged out of the courtroom, I could've sworn I saw him mouth a certain three letter word to Koko.
Then he was gone.
Order Up!
Hiiro appeared to be in a quaint and quiet little cafe, nothing out of the ordinary, except for the fact that the patrons were all Monokumas.
Hiiro was the only server, and had a long line of thirsty and hungry Monokuma's, awaiting their morning cup of joe.
Hiiro was clearly still stressed and upset, but he took each and every one of the Monokuma's orders, making them in a flash.
Cappuccinos, macchiatos, frappuccinos, teas, coffees, smoothies…
His hands were moving at the speed of light, and he wasted no time in handing out orders, even as the line of Monokuma's continued to increase.
Then, came the more complicated orders.
Monokuma's requesting food items that the cafe didn't carry.
Monokuma's asking for their drinks to be made with Hiiro only using one of his hands.
When Hiiro couldn't comply...the Monokuma's started to become angry.
They threw their drinks at him.
Their silverware.
And then chairs.
Hiiro remained unphased as he continued to work. His body was covered in whip cream, scratches, and bruises, but nothing incredibly fatal or hurtful.
Then, Hiiro noticed the line was finally done!
He looked confused, as all the Monokuma's were all sitting down, chatting about how their days have been and their plans for later.
He thought he made it.
He made enough correct orders to be able to survive.
But…
From above, the ceiling opened up.
And from it, gallons upon gallons of boiling hot coffee rained down on Hiiro.
He was screaming in agony as the beverage started to burn his skin.
His tan skin was now bright red, and then that disappeared, eventually leaving flesh.
The coffee continued to rain down, relentlessly pouring from a pot of infinite coffee.
Hiiro's screams started to become muffled as the quantity of coffee that was pouring down increased, drowning Hiiro.
After what seemed like forever, it finally stopped.
But…
Hiiro was nowhere to be found.
Instead, a pile of ashes was now where he once stood.
No trace of the boy ever being there.
The good thing was though...at least his ashes can be used to make coffee!
Introducing: Sayoama Coffee, a blend of rich Japanese flavor with a hint of sarcasm and girl problems, coming to a store near you!
Speechless.
Stunned.
And sick.
Were just some of the emotions I felt after watching that.
Some people were crying.
Some were throwing up…
But one.
One looked completely unphased, and almost happy:
…
…
…
…
…
...
Shiro…
No.
Kuro.
A/N: Finally, we're nearing the conclusion of this case. Sorry that it's going to take one more chapter, I didn't think it would but this chapter is getting too long :monokumasweat:
A huge thank you to my friend, Partyboy, for submitting Hiiro Sayoama. It's been a pleasure talking to you on the server, and Hiiro is a character I loved having in the story. Justice will be served for him, I promise! The next chapter will feature several moments with him, so please stick around.
Thank you all for reading, see you in the next one!