We're stunned speechless.

"Hmm," Momoka says. "I confessed, so… it's time to vote, now…"

Silence. Everyone's still processing this.

"Momoka," Naomi says, clenching her fists, "how… how could you? Akiko… she wanted nothing but—"

"NO!" Yuna interrupts. "No, no, NO! Momoka, stop this! Stop it, stop it, STOP IT!"

"Hmm," Momoka sadly drawls. "Sorry, but… I killed Akiko, so—"

"THAT'S WRONG! Stop lying, Momoka! You—you're better than this!"

"Yuna," says Naomi, "I know it's hard to accept, but—"

"I don't accept it! I'll never accept it! Never, ever, ever!" Once again, Yuna's on the verge of tears. She's so tense, she's almost shaking. "Momoka may be a big, fat, stupid, lazy slob—but she would never ever hurt anyone! There's just no way!"

"Jeez, Yuna," Tsubasa mutters. "No offense, but… I'd sorta hate to have you on my defense team."

"Hmm," Momoka drawls. "Sorry, but… I'm the culprit, so… you have to vote for me…"

"Momoka," Jeff mutters, pale-faced. "I—I don't understand. Why would you—"

"She wouldn't!" Yuna interrupts. "Don't you see what's going on, here? You people drove her crazy!" She points around at all of us. "You put too much pressure on her, and—and she went bonkers! And she didn't see any way out of it except to throw the trial! But…" She points at Momoka. "But you're better than that, Momoka! I know you don't really want this! Please… please snap out of it!"

"If Momoka threw the trial," Kenji says, "then she'd die, and…" He pauses. "…Oh."

"Momoka was one of the circle votes," I pipe in, perceiving Kenji's line of thought. "She voted for almost all of us to die, so that the 'last surviving student' could graduate—according to Monokuma's rules."

"But… that's different!" Jeff protests. "We were deciding as a group. One person making that decision for everyone else… it's not the same thing at all!"

"It's morally different," Shingo says. "However, the end result is the same. If Yuna's theory is correct, then Momoka has given up on convincing us—and is trying to bring about that result by force."

"But… but that's even worse than killing Akiko! If she's trying to force us to commit mass suicide… then… that's basically the same thing as mass murder!"

"I know that!" Yuna squeaks. "That's why I know… I know you don't really want this! I know this isn't you, Momoka! It's just a temporary insanity! As soon as you snap out of it, you're going to feel like a big stupid doodoohead!" Yuna's really struggling to hold back her tears, now. "Look me in the eye, and tell me you're okay with letting me die! I know you can't! I know you don't want this, deep down inside!"

"Hmm," Momoka drawls, not looking anyone in the eye. "I don't want you to die… so, you should vote for me… since I'm the culprit…"

Jun bursts out laughing.

"Really, Jun?" Naomi scolds. "You find this situation funny?"

"It's fucking hilarious," Jun concurs. "Days of preparation. Hours of work. An incredibly complicated plan. And she folds after a few tough questions? What a farce." He chuckles. "Thanks for the laugh, Momoka. Best joke I've heard in a while."

"Hmm," says Momoka. "It's not a joke, though… I really am the killer…"

"I dunno," Tsubasa says nervously. "Jun has a point. Whoever killed Akiko put a lot of effort into it. Is that really… the person we're looking at right now?"

"The auras do not match," Takeru adds. "This assassin's aura speaks of an extraordinary will to survive. Yet no such aura exists within the girl who claims to have committed this crime."

"You see, Momoka?" says Yuna. "No one even believes you! This is just… so stupid!"

"Hmm," says Momoka. "I put in effort… to kill Akiko, but… then I felt guilty about it… so, that's why I confessed…"

"So that's how it is," Naomi says, scowling at Momoka. "In the end, you were taken down by your own remorse."

"NO!" Yuna shrieks. "That's not how it is!"

"Hmm," says Momoka. "It is, though…"

"No it's not!"

"Sorry, but… it is…"

"This is getting us nowhere," Shingo sighs. "There's a simple way to solve this. Momoka, if you did kill Akiko, you should be able to recount what you did in detail."

"Hmm… I'd rather not, though…"

"Why not?" Yuna shrieks.

"Hmm… I feel bad about it… the memories are… too painful, I guess… anyway, I already confessed, so… there's no point… we should just… vote now…"

"Momoka," I say, "I'm sorry, but I find it hard to believe that the killer would give up so easily. A lot of us find it hard to believe. If you want us to vote for you, then… you have to describe how you did it."

"That's right!" Yuna shouts. "Describe it! Tell your stupid made-up story, so that you'll realize how ridiculous it sounds!"

"Hmm," Momoka drawls. "Okay… fine…

"Here's everything that happened… in this case…"

CLOSING ARGUMENT…?

"Hmm… I guess it happened… like everyone said. The culprit used… sleeping pills… in that dessert. They fed it to Akiko… and drowned her. Then there was… that trick with the dumbbell… also, the ninja stars… those were used… and hidden in that chair… after that, the culprit… dumped Akiko's body, in the pool… I guess…

"Anyway… that's how I did it…

"Momoka Ito… that's the killer's name… and it's my name… because I'm the killer…"

There's a silence.

"Short, sweet, and to the point," says Monokuma. "You know what? I like it!"

"Are you serious?" Shingo asks, cocking an eyebrow. "You liked that one?"

"Hey, at least she followed the rules!"

"It was totally bogus!" Yuna protests. "That was vague as heck! You just said a bunch of stuff we've already talked about!" She points at Momoka. "If you used the ninja stars, then how did you even get those?"

"Hmm," Momoka says. "I'm the second thief… so, I stole them from the garbage pit…"

"No, that's wrong! You'd have to get past the locked hatch! How did you do that?"

"Hmm… I took that book from Jun's office… that's how I learned—"

"No, that's wrong! That book went missing after Emi's key got passed around! How would you know how to skim it? Why would you even have a skimmer that morning?"

"Hmm… well… I used a different method…"

"Oh, really?" Jun says, grinning. "This ought to be good."

"I shouldn't say it, though… if I do, then… someone might copy it…"

"Lame!" Yuna shouts. "That excuse is so lame!"

"Momoka, I read that book," Kenji points out. "Tell me a page number, or even just a few key words… and I'll know what you're talking about."

"Hmm," Momoka drawls. "Sorry, but… I don't remember…"

"At the very least," says Shingo, "can you tell us anything about the garbage pit? If you've been there, it shouldn't be that hard to prove it."

"Sorry… I don't remember much… I feel guilty, so… my memories are repressed…"

The conversation keeps going—but Momoka's sticking to her "repressed memories" excuse. She's started using it for every answer. I sigh, and clutch my hair. This is bad. If we keep talking in circles, then… Monokuma might get bored, and force us to vote.

"Koi," Emi whispers in my ear.

As usual, I repress my urge to scream and run.

"Do you remember what I taught you," Emi whispers, "about human manipulation?"

Is this a weird thing to whisper into someone's ear? Absolutely. And yet. Somehow, it works like a charm. Immediately, I come up with a plan.

"Momoka," I say. "You want to get this over with quickly, right? In that case, I'll ask just three questions. If your answers make sense, then I'll back off, and vote for you as the culprit."

"Hmm… I'll try to answer, I guess…"

"Okay—question one. Were the sleeping pills really enough to sedate and drown Akiko? Or was some other sedative used?"

"Hmm? No… the sleeping pills were enough…"

"Okay. Question two. You say you stole the ninja stars from the garbage pit. Was that all? You didn't steal anything else?"

"Hmm? No… only the ninja stars…"

TRUTH BULLET: STOLEN DART

"I disagree!" I say. "I think the killer did steal something else. It's the only stolen item we never found—and it's one that Jun didn't claim he stole." I point to Momoka. "If you're the killer, then you should know about the missing dart!"

"Hmm?" Momoka replies.

"A dart?" Tsubasa repeats.

"No one ever mentioned that!" says Jeff.

"I almost blurted it out earlier," I say. "Luckily, Shingo stopped me… thanks for that, Shingo."

"Preserving information can be useful," Shingo says. "I was hoping we might find a way to trap the killer. Though, I suppose trapping the non-killer is helpful enough."

"Mizuki's second gift," I continue, "was a dart gun, along with several darts. Those darts ended up in the garbage pit—with the sedative still inside, since there was no way to drain the darts without using them. After the night of the theft, one of them was missing.

"I think the killer stole that dart—and used it in the crime! Like Yuna said—one or two sleeping pills probably wouldn't be enough. If Momoka was the killer, she'd know—"

"You've drawn the wrong conclusion!" Naomi interjects.

"…Huh?"

"I'm sorry, Koi, but I can't overlook the fallacies in your reasoning. Momoka's confession may be a shock, but we need to put our biases aside. If you look at the facts objectively, you'll see that the dart is completely irrelevant!"

Naomi's weird interjection… her fast-paced speech… this is another Rebuttal Showdown, isn't it? Well, I'd better start chopping.

"Yes, Momoka may be ignorant of the stolen dart." (Cut, cut, cut…) "However, this in no way proves that she's not the killer." (…Cut, cut, cut, cut…) "In all likeliness, Jun is the one who stole that dart." (…Cut, cut, cut…) "Although he hasn't admitted it…" (…Cut, cut…) "…He may have his own, selfish reasons for keeping it hidden." (…Cut, cut, cut, cut…) "Therefore, the killer wouldn't have known about the dart!" (…Cut, cut, cut… ADVANCE.)

"But Naomi, the killer probably had to sedate Akiko. The stolen dart contains a powerful sedative. Doesn't that seem like a strange coincidence?"

"I'd say it's only a minor coincidence." (…Cut, cut, cut…) "Regardless, we know for a fact that the dart wasn't used in Akiko's murder." (…Cut, cut, cut…) "Don't you remember what Takeru said?" (…Cut, cut…) "Akiko's body didn't contain a single bruise." (…Cut, cut, cut…) "If a dart pierced Akiko's skin, it surely would have left a mark." (…Cut, cut, cut…) "Yet Akiko's body lacks such a mark—which proves that no dart was used!"

TRUTH BLADE: AKIKO'S LEFT ARM

"I'll cut through those words!" I shout. "And while I'm at it, I'll ask Momoka her third, and final, question. We all know that Akiko's arms were cut up. Momoka—can you tell me any details about that? For example, was one arm more cut up than the other?"

"Hmm?" says Momoka. "Um… I don't remember…"

"Well, some things are hard to forget. For example, if I'd cut off an entire square inch of skin from Akiko's left arm… I think I'd remember it!"

"Ewwww!" Jeff groans, cringing.

"For a while, I couldn't figure out why Akiko's left arm had been cut up so badly. But what if the killer did use the dart… and didn't want us to know it? Naomi's right—it would leave a mark. A mark they might try to cover up. That must be why Akiko's left arm is so messed up!"

"I see," says Takeru. "Although I dispelled one layer of the assassin's illusion, I failed to perceive this second layer. My training is far from complete, it seems."

"Furthermore," says Emi, "this was likely the killer's main reason for cutting up Akiko's arms. The additional cuts were added merely to confuse us."

"Also," Jun adds, "if we're all idiots, we'd think Akiko slit her own wrists. Not likely. But, as I said. This killer was throwing shit on the wall. Seeing what sticks."

"And that killer isn't you, Momoka!" Yuna shouts. "Koi proved it! So give up already!"

"Way to fucking go, Koi!" says Rin. "You tell that bitch what she didn't do!"

"It's time to end this charade, Momoka," says Shingo. "Not only are you not the culprit—you seem to barely even know very much about the crime."

"That's right!" Yuna shouts. "So take it back! Take it back take it back TAKE IT BACK! If you don't snap out of it right now… I'll… I'll make a bunch of really loud, high-pitched noises! I know how much you hate that!" She points. "So… just stop it! Please, Momoka!"

For once, Momoka is actually looking Yuna in the eye. Her expression is hard to read.

"Yuna," Momoka mutters. "You really… don't want me… to confess…?"

"Of course not! That's what I've been saying this whole flipping time!"

"You don't want me… to admit… that I'm the killer?"

"I would never want that, Momoka! Never ever ever ever! Not in a million billion bajillion years!"

"Oh." Momoka pauses. "Um… oops."

That word takes a moment to sink in.

"Oops!?" Yuna screeches. "What the heck is 'oops'?"

"I guess she accidentally confessed to murder," Tsubasa quips.

"Momoka," I say, "why did you say 'oops' just now?"

"Hmm," says Momoka. "I thought Yuna was the killer… but, she's acting like this, so… I guess I was wrong…"

This takes quite a few moments to sink in.

Yuna's reaction breaks the silence.

"WhaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAT!? WHAT!? What what what what whaaaAAAT!?"

"Hold up!" Tsubasa yells, taken aback. "You thought Yuna was the killer? And you've been trying to cover up for her this entire time?"

"Mhm," Momoka confirms.

"WHY!?" Yuna shrieks. "HOW!? WHEN!? WHERE!? WHO!? WHAT!?"

"Let's start with when," Shingo suggests. "Momoka, since when did you suspect Yuna?"

"Hmm," Momoka drawls. "I was worried for a while, but… I felt pretty sure of it… after I smelled that chocolate almond bite."

"After you… smelled it?" I repeat, recalling our earlier interaction.

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.

"Mhm," Momoka confirms. "I didn't know about the sleeping pills. I knew… that there was something weird in it, but… that's not why I was worried, though." Now that Momoka's being honest, she seems… well, not chipper, exactly. But she's obviously relieved. Like a massive weight has been lifted. She continues: "I reacted like that… because it wasn't one of the desserts… Yuna and Takeru made. It was… one that Yuna got… from Monokuma, as a gift."

"What?" Shingo says, startled. "But those have all been accounted f—" He slaps his forehead. "But of course. They were switched!"

Switched? Shingo must be talking about…

TRUTH BULLET: GARBAGE PIT

"That must be it!" I say. "Momoka, all of those desserts Yuna got from Monokuma ended up in a plastic bag in the garbage pit. According to Shingo, they were mostly intact inside the bag. But, remember—the killer robbed the garbage pit! They must have taken their own chocolate almond bite… and switched it for one of the gift ones!"

"But… why?" asks Kenji.

"Well… I'm not sure. But, for some reason, the killer must have wanted Momoka to suspect Yuna. Out of all of us, Momoka is the only one who would notice the difference! Remember when we ate those chocolate almond bites Yuna and Takeru made?"

"Hmm…" Momoka drawls, holding the treat close to her face. "The chocolate smells a little different… compared to Yuna's present…"

"Really?" says Yuna. "I didn't even notice. It's probably a lower-quality chocolate—but I think it turned out fine, thanks to Takeru's help!"

"Hmm," says Momoka. "The almonds also smell a little different…"

"The… almonds?" Yuna says, taken aback. "What are you talking about?"

"As the Ultimate Perfumer, Momoka has an incredible sense of smell. She knew the true origin of that treat. So, from her perspective… we were all being deceived by Yuna!"

"Seriously?" Yuna squeaks. "You thought that I killed someone because of one tiny, stupid little detail like that!?"

"No," Kenji says. "There must be something else. Momoka… you said that you were 'worried for a while' even before then."

"Mhm," says Momoka. "That's because… for the last few days… Yuna's smelled like ambergris…"

Well, that's not a sentence any of us expected to hear.

"I smell like… whale poop?" Yuna asks.

"Whale vomit," Momoka corrects. "Kind of…"

"Ah—I see," says Shingo. "The garbage pit again."

"Ambergris," Shingo explains. "Momoka's first gift."

"Oh, right," I say. "The whale poop."

"It's a bit worse for wear, as you can tell," Shingo says, snapping photos. "Apparently, this'd be worth a pretty penny if it were intact. More than $100,000, Momoka tells me. Of course, money is hardly our concern right now." He pauses, and frowns. "I do feel like the pieces don't quite add up. I'll have to compare photos later."

"I did compare photos," Shingo says, "and the pieces didn't add up. The culprit must've taken a tiny chunk. Yuna—have you felt anyone rubbing your clothes lately?"

"What? Nuh-uh! Never!"

"Interesting. The culprit must've been very crafty, then. Somehow, they got that smell onto you while escaping your notice."

"But Momoka noticed," I add. "Because of her great sense of smell!"

"You should've told me!" Yuna snaps. "If I smell like whale vomit, I want to know! Just come up to me and say, 'Hi, Yuna, you're smelling very whale vomity today'!"

"Well… I can see why she didn't say that," says Jeff. "But…" His face falls. "You knew all this stuff, Momoka, and… you hid it from us. You lied to us. Even before the trial started… you told Koi you didn't know anything. You were already lying."

"It's kinda ironic," Tsubasa says. "I mean—I always thought Yuna was a pain in the ass to Momoka. But, uh, as soon as Momoka found some evidence pointing to Yuna, she, uh…"

"She tried to sacrifice everyone," Jeff finishes. "For Yuna's sake."

"That's—that's not it!" Yuna stammers. "Like I said—it was just a temporary insanity! She was desperate to end everything! Her suspecting me had nothing to do with it!"

"Is that true, Momoka?" I ask, feeling skeptical.

Momoka looks away. Her eyes get a bit sadder, and her face gets a bit pinker.

"No," Momoka admits. "I think Yuna deserves to live… more than anyone, so… I wanted to help her… even if she was the culprit…"

For once, Yuna's speechless.

After an awkward silence, Momoka continues.

"The rules say… only the last surviving student… can leave the school. And, if only one of us can survive, then… Yuna always seemed like… the most obvious choice, to me. She spends her whole life… making people healthier… so that they can live longer… and be happier. She really values life… more than anyone. She'll save… lots of people, if she escapes… so, if we have to die for someone… it should definitely be her…" Pause. "When we voted… and I cast a circle vote… Yuna was the person… I had in mind. I never thought… it should be anyone else."

Silence.

"M-M-Momoka…" Yuna stammers. "Y-y-y-you…" She can no longer contain the tears; they come pouring down her face. "You… you idiot! Dummy! Stupid doodoohead! I would never ever ever want anyone to die for me! Never! Not you or anyone else! I don't want your stupid sacrifice! You should know that!"

"Hmm… I'm sorry… what I did was wrong, so… I promise… I'll never do it again…"

"Good! You did a very bad thing, Momoka! A very very very bad thing! And I… I…" She sobs into her hands. "…I shouldn't feel so happy about it! What you did was horrible! You tried to get everyone killed—just to save me! I… I should hate you! I should be super duper mad! But… I…" She sobs. "…I'm so happy, Momoka! I… I can't stop crying! I'm just… I'm so happy you feel that way! You really… you think I deserve…"

She's crying too hard to continue, now.

"Hmm," Momoka mutters, slouching. "You're right, though. I feel… really stupid. I did exactly what… the killer wanted…"

"No," Shingo counters. "I highly doubt that the killer expected you to confess. Frankly, your confession was so bizarre that it actually made you seem less suspicious."

"Yeah," Jun concurs. "Though, this crime is so incoherent, it can be hard to tell what the killer wanted. They probably half-expected us to never find the chocolate almond bite. That said." He grins. "Yuna pointed out the sleeping pills. I think that's one thing the killer did plan. Though, only if we found the chocolate almond bite."

"The killer…planned that?" I repeat. "Wait… that's right. Yuna would notice…"

Yuna walks over to the Captain's seat, takes the pill bottle from Mizuki's hands, and inspects it. She opens the lid, and peeks inside. "B-be careful," Mizuki warns.

"These are sleeping pills!" says Yuna. "I recognize this brand. I—I think that these are actually authentic!"

"Oh—I get what Jun is saying!" I say, feeling like a lightbulb just lit up in my head. "The killer didn't want Momoka to confess! They wanted Momoka and Yuna to… suspect each other! They planted clues pointing to Yuna that only Momoka would notice. And vice versa! The killer wanted to turn Momoka and Yuna against each other, so that they'd both seem suspicious! Even if we didn't vote for either of them, we'd always have our doubts—and they'd become our backup choices, in case we disproved all the other false leads." I pump my fists. "But now we have no doubts! The killer underestimated how far Yuna and Momoka would go to protect each other! Momoka tried to cover up for Yuna—and Yuna did everything she could to disprove Momoka's fake confession. In the end, their behavior completely proved their innocence. They had each other's back—and it derailed the killer's plan!"

"Well," says Jun, "calling it a 'plan' is an exaggeration. They just wanted to stir up shit. This killer's strategy was to sow chaos. I know, I keep saying it. But I want to hammer in just how boneheaded it is. This killer isn't nearly as smart as they think they are.

"Ryu? There was a smart killer. He had a plan to frame Kenji, and he went for it. Probably would've worked, too. He just got unlucky. Koi entered Hiroto's room, and screwed things up. Ryu's last mistake was to hedge his bets. He framed Koi, but kept the Kenji plan as a backup. The contradictions piled up. That's what happens when you overcomplicate things.

"This killer's nowhere near Ryu's level. They took his final mistake, and multiplied it tenfold. Suspect after suspect after suspect. They weren't confident enough in any one plan. So they kept going and going. Their goal was to create a massive clusterfuck. To confuse and disorient us." Jun chuckles. "What a dumbass. That's just a way to get tied in your own knot. In the end, all the evidence kept pointing to the most obvious answer."

"An obvious answer?" Shingo repeats, cocking an eyebrow.

"To be honest," Jun says, "there's one person in particular I've had my eye on from the beginning. I wasn't certain at first—but as the trial went on, I only got more suspicious of them. By now, it's pretty clear. This person dug their own grave."

"Um, bullshit," says Rin. "If you, like. Knew the whole time? Then why didn't you, like. Tell us?"

Jun laughs. "Yeah. Because everyone trusts me so much. Besides—I didn't know for sure. I had to wait for the right moment. Strike them while they're weakest." He grins at Emi. "If I know Emi, she's been doing the exact same thing."

"I shall not deny it," Emi says. "Indeed—there is one person whom I've suspected for quite some time. Their guilt is now all but assured. By merely asking one simple question, I believe we might seal their fate. Though, I am certain Jun was already preparing to ask it."

"Heh. Read my mind."

"Hmm," Momoka drawls. "When Jun and Emi agree like this… it's kind of creepy…"

"So true, bestie!" says Yuna.

"…Bestie…?"

"Yep! You tried to sacrifice yourself to protect me, so we're best friends now! That's how it works!"

"Oh," says Momoka. "Okay, I guess…"

"Momoka," Jun says, his grin bordering on maniacal. "You didn't recognize the pills in the chocolate almond bite. Not by sight or smell. You don't know shit about those pills, do you?"

"Hmm? No… I don't know why… there were pills in my tissue box…"

"What?" Shingo says, his eyes widening. "You didn't hide those?"

"No… actually, when I heard that… I stopped having doubts… that Yuna was the culprit. Because… she's the only person… who's been in my room recently. I thought… she was trying to frame me, so… I didn't know what to do…"

"That's so stupid, though!" Yuna shouts. "How would I even get those pills?"

"Hmm… you looked at them… when Mizuki opened my present…"

"For like ten seconds! In front of everyone! What do you think I am—a magician!?"

"Sorry… I know it's stupid… I couldn't think of anything else, though…" Her eyes droop. "I was… probably biased, because… I wanted the killing game to end so badly… and, if you were the culprit, then… that would make it easier… to end everything…"

"M-Momoka! You shouldn't—"

"Hey, uh, can we hold off on the therapy session?" Tsubasa interrupts. "How the hell did those pills get in Momoka's room? If Yuna's the only person who…" He stops. "Wait. Hold up."

"Four people did visit her room," Kenji says, eyes wide. "But… only three of them are still alive."

"You picked up on it, huh?" Jun says, his grin growing ever more menacing.

"Um," says Jeff, "d-does this mean that… there are only three suspects left?"

"One suspect," Jun corrects. "Think about the evidence we've discussed. Think about what the killer was trying to do. There's something in particular that only one of those three people could've known."

Wait a moment.

He's right.

But…

No.

But… that…

No way.

But that…

But that would mean…

That would mean… that the culprit is…

Author's Note: during Momoka's "closing argument," imagine the closing argument theme being played badly by a recorder and a kazoo, with crude crayon drawings instead of comic panels.