Emi and I walk through the hall, round the corner, and approach Naomi.

"Is something the matter?" Naomi asks as we stop in front of her.

"Not exactly," I reply—whispering so that Yuna can't hear me. "The thing is…"

I tell her about our trip to the garbage pit.

"I know we weren't allowed in Mizuki's room during the last investigation," I continue, still whispering. "But there wasn't anything relevant in there last time. This time is different, though. I especially want to see the darts—one of them got stolen, and I think they might be relevant to this case." I gently grab Naomi's hand. "Please, Naomi. It's for Akiko."

Naomi thinks. "Shingo… told me to use my own judgment," she whispers. "I must admit, I… can't argue with your logic. And… more than that… I've come to trust you, Koi." Her lips curl into a very slight smile. "Okay. I don't see the harm in it. Emi—will you please take my place, and stand guard?"

"Certainly," says Emi.

With that, Naomi leads me into Mizuki's room.

I look around. There are inspirational and motivational phrases plastered on every wall. The desk is covered in files, binders, and paperwork, as well as a vase of flowers. There are more flowers atop the bookshelf, as well as a little statuette of an angel.

There are also plastic bins stacked against the wall. Lots of them. Naomi picks one up, and puts it on the floor; I hear the clattering of metal inside. "These are all dangerous objects," Naomi explains. "Mostly, they're personal possessions that we took from everyone on our first morning here."

"Yeah, I remember that," I say, recalling that time Naomi stripped my room bare and took anything sharp. "There was that big pile of dangerous things on the table… they've been here this whole time?"

"Thankfully, yes." She opens the bin, setting aside the plastic lid. "Our dorm rooms, even now, are the most secure places in the school; and Mizuki is the only person whom we can trust enough to keep these in her room."

I look inside the bin. A golden knife—I remember Ryu mentioning that. Some pocket knives—are these Kenji's? There are also large scissors, and large razor blades.

"Of course," Naomi continues, "even Mizuki doesn't demand unconditional trust. That's not how she operates… she knows that the Captain should be held accountable, like anyone else. Even though we've stopped doing room checks for most people, this room is an exception. Akiko and I have… switched off doing Mizuki's room check every morning."

"Really?"

"Yes… though, I… suppose I have no one to switch off with, now…" Naomi grabs another box, and puts it down. "Sometimes, we also do nighttime room checks… that's less consistent, though. The important thing is, we check every morning, and make sure everything is where it ought to be." She takes off the lid. "Not that we expect it to be anywhere else. The Captain almost never lets anyone come in here, other than myself and… and Akiko…"

"And Shingo, right?"

Naomi shakes her head, smiling slightly. "Mizuki admires Shingo, and she greatly appreciates his talent—he really is helpful. But… she never quite came to trust fully trust him, the way she trusts me… and trusted Akiko. Often, if he does come in here, Mizuki makes him stand by the door. There are exceptions, though. Like when 'Giftmas' came on trash day… that was absolute chaos. We needed his help as much as possible, that day."

I peer into this second box. I see… sewing kits. "Oh, right," I mutter. "Monokuma put those sewing kits in the girls' rooms, and tool kits in the boys' rooms."

"Yes—we were afraid he might replace them, like he did with the kitchen knives, but he never did. I suppose he doesn't consider them to be school property." Naomi returns to the stack, picks up a bin, and puts it down. "Thankfully, we decided not to throw out most of these things on trash day." She removes the lid. "We did throw out most of Monokuma's gifts, though. And then—as you heard—we had to retrieve several of them after the thieving incident. Cleaning the stench off them was a nightmare. Anyway… you'll find one of those gifts here."

I peek into the bin—and nearly jump back. The sight of the dart gun is still scary, even though I've seen it before. It really does look like an actual pistol.

But I'm more interested in the darts. Thin, whitish tubes, with needles on one end, and red, feathery tufts on the other end. The needles are stuck in bits of styrofoam—for safety, I assume. That must've been Shingo's idea. There are nine darts in the bin—meaning there were ten, before one was stolen. Carefully, I pick up a dart, and inspect it. The tube is semi-transparent; I can barely see a clear liquid inside.

"I don't know how much Shingo told you," says Naomi, "but these are very high-tech contraptions. They don't work like typical tranquilizer darts at all. According to the instructions, the needle has some type of heat sensor in the tip. When human skin is breached, that activates the sensor, and the sedative is released." She sighs. "We tried all sorts of things to drain the sedative… but we had no luck. There's no way to activate it without breaching human skin."

[TRUTH BULLET UPDATED: STOLEN DART]

"I see," I reply, thinking. "So, that's why Shingo said it could be used as a normal syringe. If it activates like that… you don't need to shoot it from a gun. Even a gentle prick would be enough to cause the injection."

"I suppose so."

"Though, even if the killer didn't know that, they might've thought they could inject it just from stabbing with enough pressure… I don't know how normal tranquilizer darts work, but I assume you could do something like that." I pause. "I wonder, though… was this even used in Akiko's murder? It would make sense… she drowned, so maybe she was knocked out first. Or maybe she was just weakened, and then drowned while conscious. I mean… I don't know if a person who was sedated would wake up if they were drowning. Also, how quickly does something like this kick in? Would she have time to fight back? Not to mention, they would have to get close enough to inject it in the first place. I wonder if…"

I look at Naomi—and see tears running down her face.

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry!" I exclaim, my focus shifting. "I… I was just talking without thinking, that was so insensitive, I really didn't mean to—"

"It's okay, Koi," Naomi says, wiping her face. "Really. You're doing the right thing. You're supposed to be asking these questions. I'm the one who… who is…" She pauses, and sniffs. "I'm… not myself, today."

"Naomi," I say softly, "if you want to talk about it, or…"

Naomi shakes her head. "You need to investigate. I don't want to waste your time. I don't want to be a burden. Let me… let me help you…"

This whole time, I've been ignoring the paleness in Naomi's face, the redness in her eyes, the tiredness in her voice, the unusual lack of firmness in her posture. I've been in complete investigation mode, pushing everything else aside. I feel awful about that now. But…

"Is there anything else you want to see?" Naomi asks, standing up. "I could… show you more of these bins, if you'd like…"

But… Naomi's right. I should be doing that. I don't have all the time in the world.

"Actually," I say, "I want to see the key that Emi got as a gift. The one that unlocks the hatch in the trash room."

"Oh, that?"

Naomi leads me to Mizuki's desk, and opens a drawer. Inside, I see four objects: two keys, and two e-Handbooks. I pick up the golden key, and inspect it, trying to push Naomi's crying face out of my brain. "So," I say, "this key is the only thing you know of that opens the hatch to the garbage pit?"

"That we know of, yes. Though, clearly, someone found another way. The morning after the theft, I did Mizuki's room check, and this key was exactly where I'd left it the previous night—right here in Mizuki's desk."

[TRUTH BULLET UPDATED: EMI'S KEY]

"Of course," Naomi continues, "we don't expect anyone to break into this room… Ryu pulled that trick with the tape, but so far, no one's found another way. Monokuma keeps assuring us that the locks to these dorm rooms can't be picked. Tellingly, he did not tell us this about the hatch in the trash room. We even summoned him to ask—he simply got angry, and dodged the question. It was… not a good sign. On top of that, there was the book in the Ultimate Hacker's Office which disappeared before the theft. Shingo told you about that, right?"

"Yeah. I think it was called… A Hacker's Guide to Lockpicking."

"Yes, correct. An ominous title, to say the least. If only we could find that book… then maybe… we could learn a bit more about how they did it."

I put down the golden key, and point to the silver one. "This is the key to the trash room gate, right?"

"It is… though, we never allow anything dangerous in the dumpster, so it's not all that important anymore."

I point. "And these e-Handbooks… are they Hiroto's and Ryu's?"

"Yes, they are. We took them from the Entrance Hall after… the last trial. It's a good thing we did, too… the Ultimate Yakuza's Office is locked at night, and only Ryu's e-Handbook can open it. In other words… that room is safe at night, so long as this e-Handbook stays here."

I think. "Naomi—you did the room check last night, right?"

"Yes—I've been doing them every other night, and it was my turn last night."

"And nothing was out of place? Even a little?"

"No, everything was accounted for."

Including Hiroto's e-Handbook. Which is the only key to the Ultimate Attorney's Office at night. I should make a note of that—it limits the time period when the culprit could have snuck in there to hide the ninja stars.

TRUTH BULLET: HIROTO'S E-HANDBOOK

I investigate the desk a bit more. Then I wander over to the closet, intending to look inside. "Be careful," says Naomi. "That closet is full of golf clubs."

She wasn't kidding. As soon as I open the door, a bunch of golf clubs nearly fall on me—I catch them, and quickly push them back in. "I guess these are Rin's," I mutter.

"Yes—one of them is Monokuma's gift, but they're mostly from her personal collection."

The closet also has some baseball bats, and other large objects considered dangerous. When I'm done inspecting it, I wander over to the bookshelf. Two masks, I see, are leaning on the wall—Jeff's gifts, the masks of Slicer and Amadeus.

I look at the bookshelf, and notice more of Monokuma's gifts. "This was your gift, right?" I ask, pulling out a horror manga.

"My second gift, yes," Naomi replies. "My first gift was a pen… it's one of the things we retrieved from the garbage pit, along with Mizuki's taser, Rin's golf club, and the darts."

I look at the cover. Murder at Hope's Peak Academy, by M. Akuma.

I flip through. The visual style is dark; a suspenseful tone permeates each page. There's a character who looks somewhat like Hiroto, and one who looks somewhat like Ryu. They're called Hirohito and Ryuji, respectively. The story follows Ryuji, an anti-hero horror protagonist. I'm only skimming, but it seems to follow Ryu's actual murder plot pretty faithfully.

"If I remember right," I say, "there are some pages missing."

"Five pages, yes. I still don't know why Monokuma removed them."

Finally, I reach the missing pages. Yeah—it looks like five pages have just been torn out, for some reason. On the previous page, Ryuji has just stolen a knife from the cafeteria, and is looking at it with evil intent. A textbox reads: "Now Ryuji had to hide the knife…"

After the missing pages, Ryuji returns to the cafeteria.

"Wait a moment," I say. "Ryu hid the knife by taping it to the lid of his toilet tank. That should take, like… one or two pages, at most. Why are five pages missing?"

"I know," Naomi replies. "It's very odd."

I put the manga back, and keep looking. There are other books I recognize. Classic game guides—Tsubasa's first gift. A book of poems—his second gift. I take out that one, and look at it. Poems for Gamers, by M. Akuma. "Who the heck is M. Akuma?" I mutter.

"I assume it's a pun on Monokuma," says Naomi. "Not particularly clever, if you ask me."

I flip through. Despite the title, these poems have nothing to do with games. In fact… they have nothing to do with anything. They're practically gibberish. "Are these, like… some sort of code, or something?"

"We're really not sure. We've been scratching our heads about that one."

I put it back. I see Kenji's two gifts—the textbook on ancient East Asian languages, and the book that's… written in a script I don't recognize. I take that one out, and look at it. It's a somewhat exotic-looking script, full of intricate lines—it's beautifully detailed. "According to Kenji," I mutter, "this script was used in Asia during ancient times… right?"

"Yes, so he says. He's been trying to decode it, lately; every night, he and Shingo go over the progress he's made."

"Oh, right, I remember—that's what Kenji was doing when I tried to make him join the Manga Club."

After that, I look around Mizuki's room for a few more minutes. I feel like I've seen everything I need to see, though. There are lots of weird and mysterious objects in this room… I don't know if any of it is relevant to the case, but at least I've gathered some information.

"Well," I say, standing in the center of the room, "I should really get going, now. Thanks for letting me look around."

Naomi nods. Now that I'm done investigating in here, my focus-goggles drop, and I once again see the exhausted aura Naomi is giving off. The sad story her face is telling.

"Naomi," I say softly.

"It's fine, Koi," says Naomi. "You need to—"

"No, listen." I step toward her; we're standing face to face. "I know you spent a lot of time with Akiko. I know this is hard for you. I just… I just want you to know that I'm here for you." I touch her shoulder. "When I got here, I was your fan. But… what I really want to be… is your friend."

Naomi can't hold it in anymore. The tears come pouring out.

I hug her. I feel the sobs escape her lungs as I squeeze her tight.

"I couldn't save her!" Naomi wails. "I couldn't protect her!"

"No, no," I whisper, rubbing her back. "Don't say that. Don't think like that, Naomi."

Naomi keeps crying, and I keep squeezing her, and rubbing her back.

Finally, it dies down, and Naomi halfway composes herself. She detaches from me, and rubs her eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispers hoarsely.

"Don't be," I whisper back.

"Please… keep investigating. We need to… find the culprit."

When I leave Mizuki's room, I'm surprised to find that Emi is gone. Instead, Rin has taken her place. "Where's Emi?" I ask.

Rin answers: "Shingo, like. Scooped her up? And he, like. Dropped me off here."

Soon, Rin and I are walking back toward the main hall, leaving Naomi behind us.

As we walk, I think about Naomi crying in my arms. I think about her and Mizuki crying in each other's arms. I think about Mizuki sitting by the poolside, stroking a corpse's hair, whispering absurdities, looking absolutely empty inside. I think about Akiko's brutalized corpse lying alone at the bottom of a pool. I think about all this, and feel a deep, dark anger ignite within me. An anger that guides me to an inevitable, undeniable conclusion.

This killer is evil.

This isn't like Hiroto. Ryu did something awful, something truly atrocious, driven by fear and paranoia. He tore a hole in my heart, and the pain will never go away. On some level, I can't ever forgive Ryu for what he did. But. As far as murders go, it was clean. It was professional. One stab to the heart in his sleep, and it was done.

This? This is different. This is messy.

I don't know the details. I don't know how they did it. I just know that the Ultimate Sailor drowned, and left a mangled corpse. It makes me sick to think about.

And it happened to someone who couldn't have deserved it less. Someone who brought cheer to every room she was in. Someone who kept our energy up even in our lowest moments. Someone who became a staple in our lives, after just a week and a half of knowing her.

I clench my fists, and let the fury pass through my body.

I can't let them get away with it.

"Come on," I tell Rin. "Let's keep going."

Rin and I walk through the school hallway, trying to decide where to go next.

We've almost reached the second floor staircase—when two people approach us from the gym entrance. Jun and Tsubasa. We greet each other.

"Did you investigate the gym?" I ask.

"Yeah," says Tsubasa, "for all the good it did. There's no clues in there, or anything. You know, Monokuma still hasn't fixed the stage after blowing it up?"

"Yeah, I know… it's a real eyesore."

"Well," Jun says. "We did find one thing."

"Yeah," Tsubasa says, touching his hair, "but it's not really anything important. Rin—have you been in the gym lately?"

Rin crosses her arms. "I don't know," she says. "Like… what does it matter?"

"It probably doesn't. It's just—we found your hair under the bleachers, and I was just wondering how it got there."

"Um, I haven't been under the bleachers? So, like. It wasn't my hair."

We stare at Rin.

"Uh," Tsubasa says hesitantly. "Well, it was a long, blonde hair…"

"So?"

We keep staring.

"Rin," I say calmly, "the fact that your hair was under the bleachers doesn't make you suspicious at all. The gym isn't even involved in the crime."

"I'm just saying," Rin grunts. "You don't know it was my hair."

"Well…" Tsubasa mutters, utterly perplexed. "I mean… it was blonde. Who else's hair could it be?"

"Fuck if I know. Maybe they, like. Dyed it."

"They dyed… a single hair? And put it in the gym, for some reason?"

"You can't prove that they didn't."

We stare.

TRUTH BULLET: HAIR UNDER BLEACHERS

"Heh," Jun chuckles. "I like myself a belligerent woman."

"Well, I don't like myself an ugly asshole," Rin shoots back.

"Be still, my beating heart."

With that, Jun leaves. Tsubasa awkwardly follows behind him.

There's a brief silence.

"…Anyway," I say, "where were we?"

But it doesn't matter where we were. At that moment, we hear footsteps from the staircase above, getting closer.

A moment later, we see two people walking down the stairs: Shingo and Emi. Shingo's face looks troubled. He's holding a clear, plastic bag, with… something inside.

They reach the ground, and approach us.

"What's in the bag?" I ask.

But Shingo and Emi quickly pass by us, not even acknowledging my question.

Rin and I share a confused glance. Then—without speaking a word to each other—we both start following Shingo and Emi.

We follow them all the way to the dorms. Then all the way down the hall—until they reach Yuna in the corner, and stop.

Yuna looks up at Shingo, hands on her hips. "What are your orders, Quartermaster?"

"I just want your opinion on something," Shingo replies. He shows her the plastic bag. "We found this on the second floor."

Yuna squints at it. "Hey—wait a minute!" she squeaks. "This is a chocolate almond bite!"

I sneak closer to take a look. Yuna's right—it looks like one of those chocolatey desserts that she and Takeru baked a few nights ago. Only… it's been half-eaten.

"I—I thought everyone ate theirs," says Yuna. "There's no way this is one of the gift ones Monokuma gave me, right?"

"I highly doubt it," Shingo answers. "Those have all been accounted for."

"I see only one logical explanation," says Emi. "Someone merely pretended to eat their dessert, while secretly stowing it away."

Yuna takes the plastic bag, and looks closer. "Where did you find this?" she asks.

Shingo answers: "In the boys' bathroom, in the trash can. It was in this plastic bag when we found it."

"The boys' bathroom?"

"Yes—but don't put too much stock into that. A girl could very well have thrown it in there to hide her identity."

"Wait a moment," I pipe up. "Are you implying that… this belonged to the killer?"

"We can't jump to conclusions. It could be completely unrelated. I find it suspicious, however. Since Yuna is the expert on this particular treat, I'd like to know what she thinks."

Yuna looks into the plastic bag, squinting. She holds the treat in front of her face, with the bitten-off part facing her. "No," she mutters. "No, no, no. This is all wrong."

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"There's stuff in this. White, chalky… stuff. That stuff shouldn't be here!"

Shingo takes out a magnifying glass, and hands it to Yuna. "Will this help?"

Yuna takes the magnifying glass, and uses it to inspect the treat.

Then she tears off a piece of the ball with one hand, and inspects it.

"No, no, no," she mutters. "No, no, no, no, no." She's getting louder, her expression is getting angrier. "Momoka, you big dummy. You told me you didn't! You promised! I am going to give you such a talking to!"

"Um," says Rin, "am I the onlyone who's, like. Totally lost right now?"

"They're pills!" Yuna exclaims. "There are crushed pills mixed in here! And not just any pills—they're sleeping pills! The same sleeping pills that Momoka got as a present!"

TRUTH BULLET: CHOCOLATE ALMOND BITE

"What?" I say, taken aback. "But… Shingo—you said those pills got flushed. Right?"

"Yes," says Shingo, "the First Mates flushed down all fifty of the pills in that bottle. However, the bottle itself didn't specify how many pills it originally contained. For example, perhaps there were sixty pills, and Momoka stowed away ten of them when she received them."

"I even asked her if she did that!" Yuna shouts. "She promised me she didn't! Momoka, you big dumb stupid poopoohead! You're not supposed to take something like this without a prescription! And crushing them up like this is totally irresponsible!"

"Shingo," I say, "you inspected everyone's rooms the morning after the theft, along with the Captain and First Mates. But you didn't find any pills in Momoka's room, right?"

"I wasn't looking for them," says Shingo. "We were looking for larger objects. However, this demands a different type of search. Emi—will you assist me in searching Momoka's room?"

Emi replies: "If you will allow, Shingo, might I request a different role? I would like to show this dessert to Momoka, and test her reaction. I was hoping Koi might join me for this."

"Fine. Rin—come with me."

Shingo takes the plastic bag from Yuna, and hands it to Emi. Then he and Rin enter Momoka's room.

Emi starts walking. I follow.

"Take this, Koi," Emi says, holding up the plastic bag.

I take it, confused. We keep walking. Emi speaks, keeping her voice low.

"Cleverness, Koi, is not simply a matter of logic and intellect. The art of human manipulation requires a very broad set of skills. This is your next test. I would like to see how you outwit another human in the midst of a direct conversation. Your goal is to obtain as much information from Momoka as possible. Your tools are this dessert and your words. You must decide when to lie, and when to be truthful. You must decide when to reveal information, and when not to. Every choice, I leave in your hands. I will offer only one hint: pay close attention, not merely to what Momoka says, but—far more importantly—to how she says it."

I keep this… weird monologue in mind as we approach the staircase. We climb it, and reach the second floor. We keep walking until the blue-tinted lights turn reddish. I see Jeff down the hall, guarding the Ultimate Yakuza's Office. To my right, there's an alcove with two rows of pillars, followed by a bunch of desks against the wall, beneath bolted-up windows. I'm surprised to see Kenji sitting at one of these desks. Is he… reading?

But I have to stay focused. Momoka is sitting with her back against one of the pillars, looking just as demotivated as the last time I saw her. We approach her. "Hi, Momoka," I say. "Can we talk for a moment? I just want your opinion on something."

"Hmm?" says Momoka, looking up. A spark of life enters her sad eyes. Slowly, she stands up. "My… opinion…?"

"It's just—we found something weird on this floor, and we're wondering if it's a clue, since this is the floor where the murder happened. It's probably nothing, but… it's worth a shot."

"Hmm," Momoka says, tilting her head. "Why me, though…?"

"Oh—well, it's not just you. We've been going around, asking everyone their opinion."

Wow… has lying always come this easily to me?

"Anyway," I continue, "it's one of those dessert things that Yuna and Takeru cooked up that one time. Remember?"

I hand Momoka the clear plastic bag. She takes it, and looks at the treat curiously. No reaction so far.

"I know—it probably has nothing to do with anything," I say. "But… I just want to know if anything seems weird about it. Maybe if you looked closer?"

Calmly, Momoka reaches into the bag, grabs what's left of the chocolate almond bite, and holds it close to her face.

Her eyes widen.

With unusual swiftness, she drops the treat back in the bag, and hands the bag to me. "I don't know," she mutters, her voice straining with uncharacteristic tension.

"You don't know? So, that means… something might be weird about it?"

"I don't know."

"That's not a no, though."

"I don't know… anything about this…" Momoka really is tense now. I've never seen her like this before. "I should go… check on Jeff…"

Momoka walks over to the wall by Jeff. Then she sits down—not even acknowledging him. Her eyes are still wide open.

[TRUTH BULLET UPDATED: CHOCOLATE ALMOND BITE]

Emi and I walk away, toward the desks that line the wall.

"You did magnificently, Koi," Emi whispers, smiling widely. "Your words and demeanor leave no room for improvement. I truly am proud of how far you've come."

Why am I her pupil now…?

Kenji is sitting at a desk to our right, reading his book. I decide to approach him. "Hi, Kenji," I say. "What're you reading?"

Kenji looks up at Emi and me. Hesitantly, he shows us the book cover. Its title: A Hacker's Guide to Lockpicking.

I lean closer. "You… you found it?" I whisper. "I mean—this is the book that went missing from Jun's office, right?"

Kenji nods. "Shingo says it went missing the day before the theft," he whispers. "It only turned up today… while we were investigating the classroom. Shingo… he… told me to read it, to see if I can, um, find anything. Since I'm… a pretty fast reader."

[TRUTH BULLET UPDATED: LOCKPICKING BOOK]

"You found it in classroom 2-A?" I whisper. "Where?"

Kenji looks around, as if someone might be listening. He leans closer, then whispers: "It was inside a desk. If you face the front, then… the desk is in the back-left corner."

I take a moment to process this. For a fraction of a second, I glance at Jeff and Momoka; then I wisely look away. "But, wait," I whisper. "That's the desk where…"

Kenji nods, frowning. "I know. I remember."

Just yesterday, the Manga Club had our first meeting in that classroom. Kenji, Takeru, and Tsubasa all walked in, but only Takeru joined us. Besides him, there was myself, Naomi, Yuna, and Momoka.

And the person sitting at the corner desk… that person was…

TRUTH BULLET: CORNER DESK

"Sorry for bothering you," I say. "I'll let you keep reading now."

"It's—it's fine, really," Kenji says, smiling meekly.

Soon, Emi and I leave, and return to the first floor.

We reach Yuna—standing nervously outside Momoka's door. We wait.

A minute later, Shingo and Rin emerge from Momoka's room.

"Did you find anything?" asks Yuna.

Shingo ignores her. "Emi," he says, "may we switch partners? I'd like to talk to Koi for a moment."

Soon, Emi and Rin have paired up, and I'm following Shingo down the hall.

"So," I whisper once we're out of hearing range, "did you find anything?"

Shingo whispers back: "Five pills. They were in her tissue box—beneath all the tissues. I must admit, I wouldn't have expected such an ingenious hiding place from Momoka. The jury's still out on whether her secret stash has anything to do with this case, however."

TRUTH BULLET: SLEEPING PILLS

We walk to the Entrance Hall. Then, for some reason, Shingo leads me inside. Into the room with the giant, round, metal door that takes up one wall, mocking our inability to escape. I don't go in here often… I've never liked the vibes of this room.

"Koi," Shingo says, crossing his arms. "Emi tells me that the two of you found something very interesting in Jun's room. I'd like to hear your version of how this came about."

"You mean the flash drive? I don't know what there is to tell… Emi brought me to Jun's room, and we looked around. At one point, Emi said she found something, and I saw her pull the flash drive out of a sock. After I figured out how to plug it into…"

Shingo shakes his head, and holds up a palm. "That's all I needed to hear," he says. "Your account perfectly matches what Emi told me. I just wanted confirmation." He adjusts his glasses, smiling slightly. "As a reward—and because I trust you—I'm going to show you something very interesting. I assume you remember the list of stolen items? Those items, if you'll recall, include Akiko's two compasses."

"I remember. The first one was a normal compass… but the second one pointed west."

Shingo shakes his head. "Neither were normal compasses. And the second one didn't always point west. If we were to stand outside this room, it would point south. If I had it with me now, it would point east. In fact, the second compass shows you where to use the first compass." Shingo walks over to a featureless, beige wall. "Specifically, it guides you to this section of wall. Here, if you place the first compass against the wall, it begins to go haywire—the needle swings erratically, in strange rhythms. As if it's communicating a coded message. Which is exactly what it's doing." Shingo's smile grows slightly, though he tries to suppress it. "This is one of the traps I set. Of course, I discovered the secret on the same day Akiko obtained her second compass. Nonetheless, we decided to throw out the compasses as if we'd discovered nothing. Any potential thief, then, might believe they've discovered this secret for the first time—and use it in a manner that reveals their identity."

"What kind of secret?"

"A hidden storage space. If you decode the compass…" Shingo taps a few seemingly random spots on the wall. "Luckily, my near-perfect memory allows me to do this without the compass handy." He taps.

He steps back.

I watch, in disbelief, as the wall silently opens up—splitting in two, with each side receding away from the other. Somehow, it does this without making any sound at all.

Slowly, I walk forward. There's a small, closet-like space behind the wall.

"It was empty," Shingo says, "for the last few days. Our culprit, it seemed, had failed to take the bait. Until today."

There are some objects on the floor. Shingo crouches, and picks up two small, circular things. "The compasses are here, as you can see," he says. "Along with three other items."

I crouch beside him, and look. "Hey," I say, picking up a familiar-looking cube, "this is… Hiroto's cube puzzle." I put it down, and see… "Hey, that's… that's my vibrator! I mean—the vibrator that Monokuma gave me against my will, as a prank!"

"Two of the stolen objects, as you'll recall," says Shingo. "As for the final item—that was clearly taken from the Ultimate Origamist's Office. I can confirm with photographic evidence that it was in that room yesterday evening, and is absent from there today."

I look. There's a red, paper… angel. An origami angel. I pick it up, inspecting it carefully. There's no question—Emi definitely made this. I put it back down.

"The wall closes up automatically if you step away for a moment," Shingo explains.

So we stand up, and take a few steps back. Just as Shingo said, the wall silently slides back into place, and becomes just a plain wall again.

"Quite interesting, don't you think?" Shingo asks, smiling at me.

"Yeah… definitely," I reply hazily, trying to fit everything together in my head.

TRUTH BULLET: SECRET STORAGE

"Well," says Shingo, "I'll leave our final destination up to you. The investigation has gone on quite long—I must assume it's drawing to a close soon."

I think.

"The dart," I say. "That's the only stolen object we haven't found. I… want to ask Yuna about it. Since she has medical knowledge, talking to her might be useful. I want to ask her about the sleeping pills, too."

So we leave the Entrance Hall, and return to the dorms.

However, there's someone new there. Standing outside Mizuki's room, discussing something with Naomi, holding a book open…

"Hi, Kenji," I greet him as we approach. "Hi, Naomi."

"What are you doing here?" Shingo asks.

"S-sorry I left my post," Kenji says, smiling nervously. "It's just… I found something interesting, and I wanted to share it with Naomi. And… with you, if… if I found you."

Kenji gives Shingo the book, and points to a specific passage.

"There's a lot of technical jargon," says Kenji, "but the gist of it is, something called 'RFID skimming' might be used to hack an electronic key. Actually… based on what I've read, I think it's the most likely method in this case. If the key is RFID, then… a device called a 'skimmer' can secretly read it, and copy its data. But it requires a close proximity… for some types of RFID, a skimmer needs to be within just a few inches of the device it's skimming."

[TRUTH BULLET UPDATED: LOCKPICKING BOOK]

"Very interesting," Shingo says, handing the book back to Kenji. "Keep up the good work, Kenji. Naomi—may we step in for a moment? I'd like to borrow one of the darts."

A minute later, Shingo and Naomi return; Shingo is now holding a thin, whitish dart.

He walks toward Yuna. I follow.

Yuna salutes. "What are you orders, Quartermaster?"

"Stand down, Yuna," says Shingo. "Koi wanted to ask you some questions. I'm just here to listen."

"Um…" I mutter, thinking. "So… let's start with the sleeping pills. You seem to know about those, so I thought I'd ask… based on what you saw of the chocolate almond bite, and the amount of it that was eaten—how big a dose do you think the person who bit it got?"

Yuna crosses her arms, and looks away. "It couldn't have been more than one or two pills," she says, her expression contemplative.

"What kind of effect would that have?"

"It depends on the person. Plus, the pills were crushed, and they were eaten with food, so that might change the effect a little. For a normal person, though, a dose like that would definitely make you sleepy. It would take about thirty minutes to take effect—but that can also vary, depending on the person, plus a bunch of other factors."

"Um… so… hypothetically, if someone took that dose, and then went swimming in the pool…" My voice lowers. "…Is there a chance they might fall asleep, and drown?"

"No way!" Suddenly, Yuna is full of energy. "There's no way Akiko drowned like that! Sure, it might be a little bit dangerous—but Akiko had a healthy body, and she was an amazing swimmer! It would take more than one or two sleeping pills to do her in!" She points at me. "So stop implying Momoka had anything to do with it! She did something very stupid, but she didn't kill Akiko!"

"I'm not saying she did! I just… I was trying to learn more."

"Don't chastise Koi," says Shingo. "She's looking at this case from every angle—as she ought to."

Yuna crosses her arms, frowning.

"Um," I say, "speaking of sedatives… remember that present Mizuki got?"

At my request, Shingo shows Yuna the dart. He tells her the sedative it uses—it has a complicated name—and the dose. Yuna's brow furrows. "That's some hard stuff," she says. "If you got injected with that, I don't know if you'd drown—but it'd be super dangerous to be anywhere near water. Actually, it's dangerous no matter what! You never know what kind of effect something like that could have!"

"If it's so powerful," I say, "then… does that mean it takes effect really quickly?"

"That's not how it works!" Suddenly, Yuna is energized again. "Even if you used the most powerful sedative ever, intramuscular injections take several minutes to have any effect!"

"Intra…musca…what?"

"Listen up!" Yuna lifts her chin, and raises a finger, posing like she's about to deliver an important lecture. "There are several types of injections, but the two most common ones are intramuscular and intravenous—or IM and IV for short. IV injections go directly into a vein, which carries blood to your heart, so those can kick in within just a few seconds. But tranquilizer darts are never going to hit a vein! The chances of it happening are a million billion gazillion to one! You're more likely to win ten lotteries on the same day! That's why they're designed to inject a sedative intramuscularly. IM injections go into your muscles, and get absorbed into your bloodstream. But it's a way slower process! Drugs injected intramuscularly can take fifteen minutes to kick in, and maybe even longer! In movies, someone gets hit by a tranquilizer dart and passes out almost right away—but that's totally ridiculous!"

"Okay, but… this dart has a weird feature, where it injects automatically based on a heat sensor in the tip. In other words… it can be used like a normal syringe, instead of being shot from a distance. So… hitting a vein with this would be possible, right?"

Yuna seems to ponder this. "I guess it's maybe possible," she says. "But it's still super unlikely. Even if you have a willing subject, it takes knowledge and experience to deliver a successful IV injection. And if the person you're jabbing isn't willing, then just forget it! I once saw a show about a serial killer who always injects his victims with a syringe to sedate them—and they pass out right away, which is ridiculous! I think the writers were implying that he always manages to hit a vein—but he just sneaks up on them, and sticks a needle in their neck. You'll never hit a vein doing that! Maybe it's not like winning ten lotteries—but it's at least two lotteries, and maybe three! It won't realistically happen!"

"You're full of nitpicks today," Shingo says, smiling. "You sound like Koi, every time she detects a plot hole."

"If you want to see what I mean," Yuna says, "we can go to the nurse's office right now, and I'll give you a demonstration of an IV injection! Except…" Her face falls. "I have to stay at my post, so…"

"Don't fret about that," says Shingo. "I think the investigation is almost over. You have my permission to leave."

"Okay!" Yuna exclaims, pointing down the hall. "Follow me!"

We follow her.

Eventually, the three of us enter the nurse's office. Another room I don't enter very often; thankfully, I've never had much reason to come here. There are three beds to our left, and a desk across from the door. Several cabinets line the walls—they look like they're full of medical equipment. There's also a sink, where Yuna promptly washes her hands. Then she walks over to one of the cabinets, opens it, and reaches for something.

"Wait," Shingo says, holding an arm out to stop her.

Shingo busts out his camera, and takes pictures of the medical supplies. He opens each cabinet, and takes more pictures.

"Okay," he says. "Continue."

Yuna continues. Soon, she's inserting a syringe into… some sort of liquid in a glass container. "What is that?" I ask.

"It's an isotonic solution with water-soluble electrolytes," Yuna explains. "In other words, it's a kind of salt water that you inject into a dehydrated person's bloodstream. But since I'm not dehydrated, I'm just using a little bit for this demonstration."

She puts some materials on the desk, and sits down on the chair. "First, you tie a tourniquet—like so!" She ties a piece of cloth around her upper arm, using her teeth to hold one end while her other hand ties the knot. It's impressive how quickly she ties it with this weird technique. "That'll help you find a vein. This vein, right here!" She points to a spot on her inner forearm. I squint… I think I see the vein, but I'm not nearly as confident as Yuna. "Next, you clean the skin before injection! An alcohol wipe will do!" She wipes the spot on her forearm. "Now, you take the syringe, and make sure the needle is pointing toward your heart—at this angle, just like this—and…" Yuna pokes the needle into her skin. "Now you've gotta make sure you hit a vein—so you pull back the plunger a bit, and see if any blood comes up. Which is something you can't do on that weird dart thingy, by the way!" Somehow, Yuna unties the cloth with her teeth alone. "Then you say bye-bye to Mr. Tourniquet, and… poof!" She pushes down on the plunger. A few seconds later, she pulls out the needle. "Now you've gotta apply pressure for a couple minutes." She puts down the syringe, grabs a cotton ball, and pushes it onto the injection site. "After that, you dispose of all the materials properly—and once you put on Mr. Band-Aid, you're all set!" She looks at me with intense eyes. "You see now? It's a totally delicate procedure! If you're not experienced, it's super hard to do! And if the person you're doing it to isn't cooperating—just forget it! You won't hit their vein in a bajillion years! Plus, you're supposed to use normal medical equipment. Maybe even I couldn't do it with that weird dart thingy!"

Meanwhile, Shingo is taking pictures of the bookshelf.

"Um, Shingo," I say, "what's with all the pictures?"

"It's subtle," Shingo mutters. "Very subtle. I want to compare photographs to be sure."

"What's subtle?"

As Shingo talks, he walks around, inspecting everything in the room, occasionally snapping another photo.

"As Quartermaster, I check each room daily for anything usual. This is something I'm exceptionally skilled at, as I've explained before—when I enter a room, I can account for almost everything in a short amount of time. Two days ago—the day after the thieving incident—I entered this room, and got the sense that someone had been here before. It was subtle, but a few things seemed slightly out of place. That's not unusual, though. We're all cramped together on these two floors, and we have little to do each day but look for clues. Most rooms are visited frequently—often for no reason in particular. Nothing was missing but one small Band-Aid. It seemed innocuous, so I wasn't concerned at the time. Now, though… maybe it's because we're in the midst of a murder investigation… but I'm a bit more concerned about it now." He shakes his head. "No, that's not the reason. I'm more concerned now because… Yuna forced me to look closer at the syringes. It's very, very, very subtle, but… if I compare photos now to those I took several days ago… I think I'll find that one syringe is very, very slightly out of place."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Yuna yelps. "Are you saying that… that someone used a syringe, and then just put it back without disinfecting it? That's totally super duper messed up! Someone could use the same syringe—and then they'll get infected, and die!"

"I'm not necessarily saying that. Again—we're all looking for clues every day. Things get moved around all the time. Even so…" He stares at the bookshelf. "Among other things, I'm fairly certain that someone took out one of these medical textbooks. Yuna—was that your doing?"

"No way!" says Yuna. "I skimmed through those books during our first few days, but I haven't picked them up recently! I haven't even been here at all in the last few days! I used to come here to check on Jeff's wounds sometimes, but that hasn't happened in a while!"

"For the record," I say, "I haven't been in here either."

"Well," says Shingo, "it's probably nothing. But I'm not leaving any stone unturned."

TRUTH BULLET: NURSE'S OFFICE

Yuna puts on a Band-Aid, and cleans up. Meanwhile, Shingo looks at the little digital screen on the back of the camera, scrolling through images.

Before long, we hear a familiar ring, and a familiar voice.

Ding dong, bing bong.

"Zzzzzzz…

"…Oops—looks like I dozed off! Well, that's what I get for letting the investigation run so long. Seriously, I gave you way more time than usual. So you'd better be grateful! Anyway, I'm bored now, so why don't we get started? Just go through the red door, and… well, you know the rest!"

I hear the announcement, and feel a strange mix of emotions. My investigative tension relaxes—it's finally over. I feel exhaustion start to seep in. But that's cancelled out by a new, different tension. The class trial is coming. There's still a long way to go. A lot more horror to endure before this day is done.

"Go on ahead," Shingo says, still staring at the screen. "I'll catch up in a minute."

Yuna walks to the door. Then she turns around, and looks at us, fists raised in a fighting pose. "I don't know who killed Akiko," she says. "But that person is… the world's biggest meanie! They deserve the worst of the worst of the worst! We can't let them get away with it!"

With that, she leaves.

I stand still, feeling all sorts of unpleasant things. Just a little while ago, I shared Yuna's exact sentiments. But… it's hard to maintain that anger, in the midst of my ever-growing confusion. What's even going on in this case? It makes me dizzy to think about…

"Sorry," Shingo says, putting the camera away. "Just wanted to check a few things. Thanks for keeping me company."

Finally, we leave the nurse's office. As we walk down the hall, I feel a dark energy squeezing me from all sides, growing stronger with each step.

"Well," Shingo says, "there are still a few mysterious left to solve. Overall, though, I'd say this is pretty close to being an open-and-shut case."

"…What?" I say, completely surprised to hear this. "You… know who the culprit is?"

"Not exactly. Right now, I'm only about 90% certain. Hopefully, we can use this trial to clear up the remaining 10%."

"You're really that sure? I… I just have no idea. This case is so confusing… when I think about all the evidence, it just… makes my head spin."

Shingo smiles slightly. "I haven't revealed everything to you, Koi. Let's just say I still have a few more tricks up my sleeve."

I watch Shingo confidently stride forward. Part of me wants to take solace in his attitude. But mostly, I'm just perplexed by it.

We pass through the red door—and enter the gray, drab room beyond. Across the room, a gate still blocks the elevator door.

Most people are here already. I hear hushed, whispered conversations. I count, and notice that four people are still missing.

Soon enough, Momoka enters, with Jeff following behind her. I wonder if Jeff was pushing Momoka this whole way here—because she's walking like her legs are battling a deep desire for paralysis. She walks over to a wall, and slouches against it, her face drooping, her eyes weary and hazy even by Momoka standards.

Finally, Takeru arrives—holding Mizuki's hand, and guiding her forward.

Catatonic. It's a rare word, but it's the only one that comes to mind when I see Mizuki's empty, soulless, heart-shattering stare. Her eyes are absolutely catatonic. If I asked her a question, I don't think she'd hear me. If I stood in front of her, I don't think she'd see me. It's like her soul has retreated into itself, creating a firm barrier between her reality and ours. She's so depressing to look at, it's actually painful. I have to hold back tears.

A dim spark of anger flickers within my confused mental fog.

Then the gate opens. We all enter the elevator. A tiled floor. Metal grids on all sides.

Soon, I notice the gate closing. The elevator shakes… and drops.

The elevator rattles as it descends. A steel cage. Thirteen teenagers locked inside.

Like dogs in a crate.

The facts of this case swirl around in my head. Confusion, anger, fear, heartbreak, frustration, paranoia, hope, despair… they all swirl together, creating a sickly poison that spreads throughout my body.

As the elevator slows, however, I feel my focus return.

This is it.

Do or die.

Sixteen podiums. A large, round room, with velvet curtains spread out evenly. Between the curtains, however, the walls are… glass? And behind that glass, there's… darkness. Blue darkness. Bubbles rising from treasure chests. Corals branching out as they reach upward. The dark silhouettes of fish swimming by.

An aquarium. We're surrounded by a giant fish tank.

"Whoa," says Tsubasa. "What's up with the renovations?"

From his perch above, Monokuma answers. "Do you like it? Reusing old decorations would get boring eventually. So, I decided to mix things up!" He covers his grin. "I figured an 'Undah Dah Sea' theme was appropriate for this particular trial."

"Wow," Rin grumbles. "That is, like. So fucking insensitive."

"You monster," Naomi growls. "Akiko is dead, and you're still disrespecting her?"

"Disrespecting?" says Monokuma. "Hmm… I don't think that's right. After all, Akiko was the Ultimate Sailor. A trip to Davy Jones's Locker was inevitable for her. Heck, it's probably how she wanted to go!"

I pay no attention to Monokuma's asinine words. I can't let anything distract me. If we fail at this trial, we all die. We're gathered here for a deadly judgment. A deadly choice. A deadly hope. A deadly despair. A deadly—GAH!

"Rin?" I gasp, startled.

Rin, out of nowhere, has locked me into a tight hug.

"Listen," she whispers into my ear. "I know you're probably having, like. Some sort of internal monologue? About, like. A deadly this, or a deadly that, or whatever? But, like. Don't. You've got this, 'kay? I know I'm not, like. As smart as you, or anything? But, like. I'm here to support you, no matter what. And I hope that you, like. Know that."

I hug her back. "I do," I whisper. "Thank you, Rin."

Rin walks to her podium. I walk to mine, just next to her.

I see Hiroto's portrait, with the red X over it—and my heart sinks. Memories come rushing back. But I have to let them pass through me. I can't cling onto them now.

Across the circle, I see Ryu Minamoto's portrait, which is also crossed out with a red X. And at the podium next to it… there she is. Akiko Narumi. Instead of a red X, her portrait is crossed out with a ship's steering wheel, drawn with the same red ink.

Akiko…

I still can't believe you're gone. Even now. You had so much presence; so much charisma; so much energy. Electing a Captain, becoming a pirate crew, choosing a Pirate Code… these were all your ideas. You defined so much of our deadly school life.

And now… you're gone.

You survived four bouts of skin cancer. But you couldn't survive Danganronpa.

No… you couldn't survive us.

Someone here did this to you. Someone standing in this very circle. They murdered you.

One of us committed a deadly betrayal. A deadly deception.

Now it's time to find out who.

It's time to begin our deadly class trial.

Oops… I guess I ended up doing the monologue anyway.

Oh well.

Author's Note: I told you it would get complicated.

Good luck trying to unravel this mess!

STUDENT E-HANDBOOK: TRUTH BULLETS

~·~·~

Monokuma File #2

The victim is the Ultimate Sailor, Akiko Narumi. Her body was discovered at the bottom of the pool. The estimated time of death is around 11:30 p.m. Drowning is the most likely cause of death. The cranium has suffered visible blunt impact damage. There are multiple lacerations on both of the arms. However, the victim's body does not show signs of severe blood loss.

~·~

Akiko's Left Arm

Both of Akiko's arms have been wounded; however, the damage to her left arm is worse. The cuts look deeper, and they all intersect at a single point, near the center of the inner forearm. At that point, a square inch of skin has been completely chopped off.

~·~

Bloody Dumbbell

In the weight room, on the floor, there's a 75-pound dumbbell with a bloodstained plate. A dumbbell of this size was too heavy for Takeru to swing. However, Rin was able to swing it just fine.

~·~

Drips of Blood

There are several drip-like bloodstains on the floor of the weight room. All of these are very close to the bloody dumbbell. However, there are no bloodstains beneath the dumbbell's plates.

~·~

Hair by Hot Tub

A short, white hair was found at the edge of the hot tub.

~·~

Bloody Ninja Stars

Two ninja stars were found in the Ultimate Attorney's Office, under the seat of a leather armchair. Each of them have one slightly bloodstained tip.

~·~

Hair on Armchair

A long, blonde hair was found on the armrest of an armchair in the Ultimate Attorney's Office. This is the same armchair where the bloody ninja stars were found. When confronted about it, Rin acted strangely.

~·~

Clean Ninja Stars

Two ninja stars were found in Takeru's room. They're totally clean.

~·~

Hatch

A locked hatch in the floor of the trash room, which leads to a deep shaft. It can be unlocked from either the trash room or the shaft. According to Shingo: "Typically, it stays unlocked for only a few seconds if you don't open it. Then it automatically locks every time it closes, and you must unlock it again." Near each keyhole, there's a green light that only lights up when the hatch is unlocked.

~·~

Stolen Ninja Stars

Two ninja stars were thrown out on trash day. Later, they were stolen from the garbage pit.

~·~

Stolen Dart

One of the tranquilizer darts Mizuki received from Monokuma was stolen from the garbage pit. Supposedly, this dart has a heat sensor in its needle, which detects when human skin has been breached; the sedative is then injected automatically.

~·~

Emi's Key

On "Giftmas," Emi received an electronic key within a safe. This key unlocks the hatch in the trash room. It's being kept in Mizuki's room. Naomi, who did Mizuki's room check the morning after the thieving incident, says that the key hadn't been touched.

~·~

Lockpicking Book

A certain book disappeared from the Ultimate Hacker's Office shortly before the thieving incident. Its title is A Hacker's Guide to Lockpicking. Today, Shingo and Kenji found it while inspecting classroom 2-A. According to this book, a method called 'RFID skimming' can be used to pick electronic locks.

~·~

Garbage Pit

There's a massive garbage pit under the school. An enormous amount of trash has ended up down here—including several of Monokuma's gifts.

~·~

Jeff's Laundry

Jeff claims that he was doing laundry last night. However, his room is filled with dirty laundry.

~·~

Tsubasa's Account

A few nights ago, Tsubasa stayed with Momoka in the laundry room past 10:00 p.m. Technically, they were both violating Point Eight of the Pirate Code ("Point Eight: going out at night is okay, but stay in groups of three or more!"). However, Akiko was much angrier at Momoka than Tsubasa, since Momoka is weaker than Tsubasa.

~·~

Flash Drive

Emi found a flash drive in one of Jun's socks. It contains a strange text file.

~·~

Hiroto's e-Handbook

Hiroto's e-Handbook is being kept in Mizuki's room. Naomi had room check duty this morning, and says that nothing was out of place.

~·~

Hair Under Bleachers

Jun and Tsubasa found a long, blonde hair in the gymnasium, under the bleachers. When told about this, Rin acted strangely.

~·~

Chocolate Almond Bite

A partly-eaten chocolate almond bite was found on the second floor, inside the trash can in the boys' bathroom. When Yuna inspected it, she found crushed bits of sleeping pills inside. Momoka also inspected it—and had a rather suspicious reaction.

~·~

Corner Desk

The missing book, A Hacker's Guide to Lockpicking, was discovered by Shingo and Kenji when they inspected classroom 2-A. They found it inside the desk in the back-left corner. Yesterday, during the Manga Club meeting, a certain person was sitting at that desk.

~·~

Sleeping Pills

When Shingo and Rin inspected Momoka's room, they found five sleeping pills inside a tissue box.

~·~

Secret Storage

Akiko's gifts—the compasses—can be used to uncover a secret storage area in the Entrance Hall. That area has remained empty for days. Today, however, several objects appeared inside it. These include the stolen compasses, two other stolen gifts, and an origami angel.

~·~

Nurse's Office

Shingo says that he's detected several anomalies in the nurse's office. For example, one syringe seems to have been touched, as does one of the medical textbooks. According to Shingo: "Two days ago—the day after the thieving incident—I entered this room, and got the sense that someone had been here before. It was subtle, but a few things seemed slightly out of place."