Summary: A breakthrough, an epiphany, and the start of a Class Trial
AN: Once again…I seriously underestimate how long it takes to describe a Class Trial XD
He marched through the corridors of Hope's Peak Academy, head bowed and shoulders slumped. Several different pieces of information flitted through his mind, sketching out a picture he didn't want to consider, something that made his fists clench and the unpleasant expression on his face to sour further. Shoving the gate to the classrooms open, he marched past the creaking metal and made a beeline for the school store. He wasn't quite in the mood to see what he could get out of the MonoMono Machine, but it was pretty much the one place that no one ever visited, and he needed a place to seclude himself before he did something he was going to regret later on. Quietly slipping through the doors, he backed himself into a corner of the room before slamming a fist into the vending machine. As his hand throbbed, he slumped to the ground, folding his arms over his knees.
Naegi had started this day with the murder of a dear friend, the near-death of an acquaintance and an immediate accusation of guilt afterward that still burned deeply in his soul, that coiled around his spine and whispered darkness into his ears every time he crossed paths with someone that looked like they were watching a savage beast roam the corridors. And now…now he didn't quite know what to feel. The Luckster had a vague inkling of who exactly was the culprit, but events seemed far less clear cut than they had once been. Who was to blame for this abrupt turn of events. Monokuma, for providing the motive that served as the catalyst for the events that were sure to come? The murderer, for staining their hands with the blood of one of their classmates? Maizono herself, for reasons he was only just starting to put together?
…or was it the average teenage boy, Naegi Makoto, who had been too weak, too helpless to stop any of it?
Sifting through his pockets for something to take his mind off the increasingly dark storm of negativity brewing within, he first pulled out the disc he had shoved in there after noticing it in Maizono's trash can. He was originally going to ask her for permission to watch it but considering what happened…well, he could always apologise if the Trial went sideways. Next was the ribbon that smelled vaguely of copper and Maizono herself, a bittersweet and somewhat nauseating fragrance that made him shiver as he stuffed it back where it came from. It wasn't exactly something he should be carrying around, but Naegi was reluctant to part with it. The third and final item was his E-Handbook, which had already been updated with several new rules talking about the mechanics of the Class Trials, the first of which they would be experiencing in perhaps another couple minutes. He sighed, a sound that resembled a slowly deflating balloon as he fiddled with the sleeves of his hoodie.
Ultimate Lucky Student. What an ironic and cruel title to give to someone like him. He had come here, gently urged by the wishes of his family and the promise of guaranteed success after graduating. And now? All of that was twisted and warped, a cruel mockery of what they had once been. His family's fate was uncertain. Graduation meant killing someone, and then signing the death warrants of every other person still remaining within this school. If, by some miracle, he managed to get out of here, what was he going to do? What exactly did he have left for himself, after all this? How could he return to normalcy with all of these terrible memories, images and events that would never leave him? They were here to stay. The Naegi Makoto that walked into this school wouldn't be the same person as the one that walked back out.
He may have been caught up in his thoughts, but the click of the door handle immediately brought him back to reality as his head shot up, watching with no small amount of trepidation as a gloved hand made its appearance, followed by its owner. Kirigiri stepped into the room, movements near silent as she closed the door behind herself, her usual blank expression not changing in the slightest as her eyes swept the room, lingering on Naegi's form as she walked closer, close enough for him to note that she appeared to be somewhat agitated despite her unruffled appearance.
"I told her that you were not ready for this." Kirigiri's lips twitched briefly, a frown that quickly smoothed out back into a neutral line. It didn't take a genius to figure out what the cryptic teenager was talking about. He tried his best not to frown at the fact that she was deciding what he was and wasn't ready to handle without any form of knowledge of the Luckster bar a few tense interactions, but he pushed it aside for the time being.
"I'd prefer knowing about it beforehand rather than have to work through it in the midst of fighting for my life." Nope, he wasn't bitter. Not at all. Totally.
Kirigiri lifted her shoulders slightly in a vague approximation of a shrug. "You need to solve this case on your own. If not, you'll never come to grips with the truth of the matter."
And for a fraction of a moment, he feels a white hot rage burn through his limbs, setting off fireworks in his nerves. Naegi was glad that Kirigiri wasn't able to see his face from his position, because it was probably, no, it was certain that the expression he was currently making was something he didn't want to show anyone else. Very slowly, he took a deep breath, quenching the fire before it could spread any further. Abruptly, Naegi got to his feet, moving past Kirigiri.
"Thank you for your concern," the Luckster paused as he reached the doorway, "but I'd like to make my own decisions." And with a harsher than necessary slam of the door, he vacated the premises for the new location on his itinerary, the AV room. Considering most, if not all the pieces of the puzzle had already been discovered and was now shuffling around within his head, he might as well confirm a suspicion before he slipped back into denial or blistering fury.
Popping the disc from its case, he inserted it into the machine, sliding on a pair of headphones as the device processed the information on said disc and began playing. As expected, a voice-over from the bear himself, overlaid with a short clip of Maizono and her idol group performing on stage, looking peaceful and happy, neither of which was within sight of the prisoners within this terrible place.
And, to no one's surprise, the image glitched before switching to a new, destroyed version, with Maizono missing while her idol group members were sprawled out on stage, seemingly unconscious or even dead. A few seconds later, the pompous fanfare of the end sequence played, with the bold words "Find Out What Happened After You Graduate!" lingering before the screen cut to black. Very precisely, he removed the headphones before neatly folding them. Then, Naegi ejected the disc, placing it back into its case, which then found its way back into his pocket. Slowly getting to his feet, he walked further into the room, ignoring the surveillance camera that was probably watching his every move, and screamed.
Well, he was going to, until he remembered that sound travelled pretty well apart from the dorm rooms, and resolved to save the mental breakdown for later. Balling up a fist, he slammed it into a nearby table with enough force to make the equipment jump, then repeated the gesture twice more for good measure. By the end of it, he was feeling the distinct sensation of a heavy bruise beginning to form along the heel of his hand, but honestly he wasn't quite equipped to care about the sheer amount of self-harm he was putting himself through. The Luckster tried to forcefully calm himself back down with the help of some breathing exercises, but to no avail. His eyes were stinging with the tears he was holding back, and the way his arms pulsed with pain made him want to act out in a way that certainly wasn't normal. So he stood there, running through the clues in his head again and again in an effort to take some attention away from the awful feelings bubbling within himself and the tiny drops of blood leaking from split skin. It was fine. He was fine. He had to be fine.
Focus on the facts. Unlike the footage he had seen of his own family, Maizono's held several discrepancies that were easy to spot, even for an average teenager like himself. For one, why bother reenacting the exact same scene with Maizono's idol group members? Especially since they were in the same positions, the same attire, with no sign of harm done to them. Besides, recreating that specific image on a concert stage that was in public and completely wrecking it was far too inconvenient, even for someone who had the ability to trap fifteen students in a school like the Mastermind. It seemed far more likely that the video was a forgery, meant to taunt Maizono with the very thing she held closest to her heart.
What purpose would that serve? From the hints she had given him while talking about her career, the Ultimate Pop Sensation clearly viewed her idol group with a significant amount of importance. The dark look on her face when talking about the things she had to do to succeed. Entering Hope's Peak in the first place, drawn by the same incentive that had sealed the deal for Naegi himself. The sudden panic that came when she watched this video for the first time, just like many others had (including himself), tinged with an unsettling light in her eyes that bordered on mania. It was enough to drive her to panic, to look as though her world was falling apart around her. And with a little push…
"It would've been enough to drive her to murder." The words fell to the ground, their weight final and heavy in the silence of the empty room, save for the whir of unseen fans and air conditioners. He brought a hand up to cover his face, collapsing into a chair as he did so.
[Truth Bullet Acquired]
Naegi didn't know how long he spent there, clutching to the armrests like they could rescue him from this new hell. Still, when the school bell began its heralding chime once more, he slowly rotated his head to glance at the monitor.
Monokuma appeared, twirling a glass of alcohol in his hand, as per usual. "Had enough time to figure it out yet? If not, too bad! It's time for the Class Trial! Now then, allow me to appoint a proper location for the proceedings. Please go through the red doors on the first floor of the school! Upupupu…see you soon!" The screen cut to static before the school crest replaced it, rotating slowly in an almost mocking manner to the Luckster in turmoil. Not a word escaped his mouth as the teenager drew himself to his feet, staggering every other step as though it took far more effort for him to drag his feet along the tiles than he still had left in himself. Aimlessly, he wandered towards the set of previously locked doors at the end of the hallway, and without hesitation, opened them to step through.
(Un)surprisingly, the rest of the class was already there, filling up the small chamber leading to an elevator shaft. As he entered, their eyes all zeroed in on his form, and he did his best not to snap back at the stares boring into his skin.
"Naegi." Enoshima nodded at him, a small frown on her face and more than a little bit of concern hiding behind it. He mustered up the energy to nod back, hoping that she wouldn't press further. Not in front of everyone.
"Excellent! Despite being the last one here, you're still on time! Great work Naegi-kun, but you still have room for improvement!"
"Heh…I bet y-you chose t-to show up last cause you were afraid of being exp-posed as the murderer you are…"
"We cannot jump to conclusions without going through the proper procedures!" Ishimaru stood ramrod straight, providing a remarkable depiction of a soldier standing at attention. "Save that for the Class Trial! Then we can all reveal the details of Naegi-kun's horrendous crime!" Ah, his true feelings bled through despite pretending otherwise. Nevertheless, the teenager remained unpertubed despite the increasing intensity of the eyes locked solely on himself. The truth would be revealed soon. For his sake, and the continued survival of the other twelve innocent members of the class.
One by one, the Ultimates started to get onto the elevator, the room quickly emptying until it was only himself and Kirigiri remaining. Enoshima spared the two a glance, clapping him on the back gently before leaving them behind. He lingered, expecting some sort of dialogue from the mysterious female before they got into the thick of it.
"Naegi…" she began, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, "are you ready for this?"
It took far more willpower than necessary to not roll his eyes at the statement. "I have to be."
"Very well." Kirigiri nodded, seemingly satisfied with whatever she saw. "I hope your confidence pays off."
Naegi side-eyed her, expressionless. "This concerns more than just me. But even just for Maizono-san, I'll figure out who the killer is."
[CLASS TRIAL, START!]
[ALL RISE!]
"The fuck is this place?"
"A courthouse! Gotta have one of those if we'll be conducting some Trials. Besides, I have a feeling we'll be using this place a lot more in the future~ Anyways, find your stands everyone, and don't take too long!"
Naegi shuffled off to his assigned podium, mouth thinning into a brooding scowl at the crossed out image of his deceased friend behind the one to his left. Enoshima, two seats down, looked equally displeased, but that might also have been because she was standing next to Ishimaru. Or both.
"Okay everyone!" The rule-stickler in question bellowed in a loud voice. "Close your eyes, and whoever did it, raise your hand!"
Facepalming, the Luckster heard several people all state variations of "who would buy that" as he pulled out the Monokuma File and his E-Handbook, flipping through the evidence that had been collected earlier with assistance from Enoshima and (reluctantly,) Kirigiri. Best to make sure he didn't screw up on the first ever Trial, especially since all their lives were on the line. He didn't quite mind being accused of murder (read: he did, a lot), but he wasn't about to let someone else get away with killing Maizono Sayaka in a premeditated act of violence.
"Before we begin the trial, may I ask a question?" Despite asking for permission, Kirigiri carried on as though she had already been given the go-ahead from some unknown individual. "What's with that…picture?" Naegi felt something anxious and terrible squirm within his gut at the reminder of the absolute mockery he was standing next to, but remained silent. It was, after all, a valid question.
"Oh that~" Monokuma reclined on his throne, grinning as he did so. "I'd feel awful if our dearly departed friend got left out just because she died. This way, everyone can participate!" The Luckster grimaced, disliking the implications of that awfully worded response while Enoshima looked suitably pale for someone who had just come to the realisation that her portrait could be standing in her place as well. He tried his best to give her a reassuring look, which was received with a barely perceptible nod, the blonde girl looking far more pale than she was a couple seconds ago.
"That makes sense, but what about the other empty seat?" As if on cue, Naegi's eyes fell on the podium in question, lingering there ominously. Interesting, and somewhat concerning. Why exactly were there sixteen seats when they started off with just fifteen?
"No reason!" Monokuma flapped his hands impatiently. "Now are you going to waste more time with pointless questions, or can we start the Trial already?" He looked around in a surprisingly good mimicry of a teacher waiting for their students to say something.
"No? Good! Then let the first Class Trial begin!"
The students glanced at each other uncertainly, before, much to everyone's surprise, Naegi began the discussion.
"I've got a couple clues to prove my own innocence," he folded his arms across his chest, "but that's not the point of the Trial. So let's go over the case details, you all can throw your judgements at me and we can get this part over with."
"Nyah ha ha, spoken just like the Protagonist! But then again, how can we believe that you're telling the truth!" Yamada pointed a finger in his direction, his other hand coming up to adjust his glasses slightly.
"You can't. But the evidence speaks for itself. So start telling me why I'm the killer already."
"Well, if you aren't the one who killed the chick, what was she doing in your bathroom?" Mondo's gruff voice broke the silence, and despite the thinly veiled accusation, Naegi couldn't sense any malice coming from the Biker Gang Leader.
He hummed, fishing a key from his pocket and displaying it for the room to see. "Maizono-san and I agreed to switch rooms last night after she came to visit me. Said that someone was trying to break into her dorm."
"You having her key doesn't exactly prove your innocence," Celeste tittered lightly as she picked up the conversation, "after all, you could have just taken it from her body after killing her."
"Yeah, that's right!" Kuwata shrugged nonchalantly, looking as though he wanted to be anywhere else but here. "No matter what you say, she still died in your bathroom."
"I was just stating what happened. This Trial has barely begun, and we're not even close to being done. Now then, can we all agree that the murder weapon was a kitchen knife?" His classmates gave various noises of affirmation, bar Hagakure, who still looked as lost as he did at the beginning of the session.
"That doesn't get us anywhere."
"S-so what if the murder w-weapon's a kitchen knife? You must've just t-taken it from the kitchen when no one was l-looking."
Truth Bullet Selected: [Asahina's Testimony]
"You've got that wrong!" He pointed at Fukawa, who jumped in place and began to do a remarkable impression of a startled rabbit. "I wasn't the one who took the knife from the kitchen."
Fujisaki raised a hand timidly. "Do you have any proof to back up that statement?"
Naegi nodded, turning to look at the Ultimate Swimmer. "Asahina-san, tell them what you told me earlier." She startled, blinking rapidly before a lightbulb seemed to flicker on in her head and she hammered a fist into her own palm.
"Oh! Yeah! I was hanging out in the dining hall yesterday, so I remember when exactly the knife disappeared. When I was getting some tea to drink, it was still there. But when I went back to wash my cup…it was gone."
"So we've established the exact moment when the murder weapon was taken." Kirigiri placed a hand to her chin, but Naegi wasn't so easily deceived by the pretence at contemplation. Especially not after what she had said and done earlier. "Where does that get us?"
"Umm…" Asahina fidgeted, suddenly at a loss for words.
"Isn't it obvious?" Enoshima cut in, her tone betraying the irritation she was feeling. "If she was there the whole time before and after the knife went missing, she can tell us who took the knife."
"Exactly," Naegi followed up with his own words, "and so, here's the question everyone's waiting for. Asahina-san, did you see me enter the dining hall at any point?"
"No?" She frowned, sorting through her memories with visible exertion on her face. "No. The last time I saw Naegi-kun was when we got our motives."
"Still, that doesn't rule out the possibility of an accomplice." Togami pinned Asahina to the spot with a glare. "But I suppose we can just check with the bear. Monokuma?"
"Huh?" The animatronic startled, like he had been dozing off before the question. "Ah, I'll have to add that to the rules. Each murder is allowed to have an accomplice, but only the one who did the killing gets to graduate."
"In other words," Celeste clasped her hands together, "there's no reason to help someone commit a murder if you're not the one doing the act."
"The s-swimmer's an i-idiot—" Once again, the only thing coming out of Fukawa's mouth was an insult. "—so what if she's in on it with the k-killer here and just didn't k-know?" Naegi elected to ignore the outcry from the "idiot" in question, the suddenly threatening aura coming off the Ultimate Martial Artist and the way Fukawa shrieked and began to plead for her life.
"Yare yare! There aren't any accomplices in this case…oh I said that out loud." The Luckster gave Monokuma a suspicious look from the corner of his eye. Odd that he'd let such a vital piece of information slip by accident, but the bear had already proven himself to be a perverted seeker of entertainment, and spending too long arguing over something like this would get boring quickly.
"In that case, who's the fucker who took the knife?"
"The obvious answer would be Asahina-san, considering her presence in the dining room."
"No, that's not it." Ogami shook her head. "Hina asked me to stay in her room last night, and neither of us left the room until morning."
"Yeah! I wasn't feeling too good after we got those creepy videos yesterday. So I asked her to stay over. We both have airtight alibis!"
"You s-stayed over...? Doesn't that v-violate one of the school r-regulations?"
Fujisaki placed a delicate finger to her chin, eyes calculating and sharp. "The school rules said that we weren't able to sleep anywhere but the dorms, and nothing about whose dorm we had to stay in. That means sleepovers are perfectly fine."
"No, it isn't perfectly fine!" Ishimaru clenched a fist, looking like someone had just kicked a puppy in front of him. "A boy and a girl…sharing the same room…at night!? That's…that's unwholesome!" Naegi blinked once, then once more, quickly clapping a hand over his mouth to hide a chuckle.
"But…I'm a girl." Ishimaru stared uncomprehendingly, before sweat began to pour down his face and he defaulted to a ninety degree bow.
"Sumimasen!" He looked as though he had committed the gravest of sins. "I have no excuse for my transgressions!"
"...moving on," Celeste adopted a thinking pose as Naegi briefly wondered how she didn't cut herself with the metal claw attached to her finger, "if neither of you took the knife, what other possibility is there?"
"Asahina-san actually mentioned that when I asked earlier," Naegi clenched his jaw, ekking out the next couple words with barely restrained fury, "turns out, Maizono-san was the one who took it."
"So what you're saying…" Togami looked mildly interested at the sudden turn of events, "is that the victim herself was the one who took the weapon used to murder her?"
"He's correct. In fact, Maizono-san was looking rather suspicious when we saw her. She walked right past us without making eye contact, muttering something about needing a drink of water." Ogami folded her arms over her chest, closing an eye as she did so.
"Still…" the Affluent Progeny pointed out, "that doesn't necessarily absolve you of guilt, Lucky Student. You could have simply taken the weapon from her after breaking into her room."
"Ohohoho!" Yamada puffed up like a proud peacock, despite not having been the one to come to that conclusion in the first place. "A truly terrifying way with words you have, Naegi-dono! To think that you would lead us to evidence meant to conceal your wicked actions…the act of a true criminal!"
The "criminal" in question sighed before leaning forward, bracing his arms against the podium.
Truth Bullet Selected: [Missing Hair]
"Think what you may. But that wasn't the only thing that shows I didn't kill Maizono-san. For example, my room was completely clean, without a single strand of hair on any of the floorboards."
"There wasn't any hair?" Fujisaki tilted her head slightly. "Which means that someone cleaned up the room."
"That doesn't change anything!" Hagakure gestured like he was making some sort of grand point. "He could've just cleaned up after he killed her!"
Naegi shook his head. "It would've looked more suspicious considering this was my room Maizono-san died in. Why would I get rid of my hair from my room?"
"Well, uh—" Hagakure scratched at his head. "to cover up any traces of that Maizono lady being there of course!"
"No, that's not it." Kirigiri interjected almost immediately, with confidence. "If he wanted to eliminate the possibility of Maizono-san being discovered in his bathroom, he would've gotten rid of the body itself rather than just the hair."
"You make a good point!" Ishimaru seemed as though he couldn't say anything in a voice softer than a shout. "But can we really prove Naegi-kun's innocence based on such a circumstantial piece of evidence?"
"There are other reasons of course." The enigmatic teenager closed her eyes for a moment. "Did anyone notice anything strange about the state of the bathroom door?"
Junko perked up slightly, before raising a hand. "The knob was totally wrecked. Someone broke into the bathroom by unscrewing the panel the doorknob was connected to."
"It would make sense for the killer to have to do that considering the chick must've locked the door after running into the bathroom."
"Oh definitely," Naegi began with a glint in his eyes, "if the murder hadn't happened in my room. Remember the difference between the dorms of the boys and girls?"
"Only a fool would forget such an obvious detail. Only the females have locks on their bathroom doors. Monokuma made a point to laugh about this a couple days ago."
"That raises a new question, however," Ogami pointed out with a frown, "why did the murderer find the need to break an unlocked door?"
Truth Bullet Selected: [Switched Nameplates]
Truth Bullet Selected: [Stuck Door]
"There are two things that happened to line up perfectly in order to create such a scenario." Naegi lifted up two fingers. "First," he folded one down, "The nameplates of our rooms were switched. If you take a look at our dorm map versus the positioning of mine and Maizono-san's rooms, someone, at some point during the night, had to have switched them."
"Next," he folded his other finger and balled his hand into a quivering fist, "there's an issue with my door. You need to lift the handle up before turning the doorknob, because the door itself is misaligned with the doorframe. Something that only Maizono-san and I know, which means that if she chose to hide in the bathroom, she would've been able to access it easily while the murderer would've assumed the door was locked."
"That pretty much proves you're innocent, yeah?" Enoshima spoke up, a serious look in her eyes. "Cause if you wanted to shank the diva girl, you would've just gone straight through instead of unlocking it."
"Naegi-dono's not the killer!? Hmm…that's a plot twist I didn't expect."
"Still, who switched the nameplates?"
The Luckster swallowed, tongue suddenly feeling like lead in his mouth. He knew the answer, understood it very well. But that didn't mean he wanted anything to do with it. With a heavy heart, the teenager began to unpack what he knew for everyone else to follow along. Best to get it over and done with.
"It was most likely Maizono-san herself."
"Maizono-chan?" Asahina looked more than a little confused at the statement. "But why would she do that?"
…
Truth Bullet Selected: [Maizono's Message]
"Because…" he took several deep breaths, gripping onto the wooden podium hard enough to feel the splinters beneath his fingertips. "because she was planning on killing the person that came to her room."
Various exclamations of surprise greeted his accusation, but several Ultimates seemed as though they expected that response. Kirigiri nodded grimly, gesturing for him to continue. And despite the irritation he still felt at her earlier actions, he appreciated the silent nudge. He wasn't sure if he could've followed through with the conclusion he had gotten to otherwise. Taking several deep breaths, he continued with his conclusion, bitterness laced like cyanide in every word.
"Earlier, Kirigiri-san discovered that the notepad in my room had been used to write something, and with some minor detective work," he noted with some interest the involuntary flinch that drew from the teenager in question, "figured out that it was a message written by Maizono-san."
Enoshima ruffled through her pocket, producing the slightly tattered piece of paper and waving it briefly before passing it around for others to see. Taking that as his cue to continue, the Luckster continued with his words. "Turns out, our victim had invited someone to her room in the middle of the night, with a specific reminder to look at the nameplates in order to draw their attention to the swapped positions. If the perpetrator had checked the map on their E-Handbook, they would've noticed the deception."
"In that case, the killer must be a male!" Yamada chimed in, looking awfully triumphant despite his…interesting comment. "Any hot-blooded young man would've been excited to get an invitation like that from the Ultimate Pop Sensation, and instinctively followed her instructions!"
"Which means the one who she gave the note to must be the killer!" The Ultimate Moral Compass declared, before faltering slightly. "Still, you said that she was the one planning on doing the killing?"
"That's right," Naegi snarled, burning with anger, "I'd like to think otherwise, but the evidence checks out. She took the kitchen knife, probably swapped our nameplates, then dropped a message for an unsuspecting victim."
"It seems awfully farfetched," Kuwata shrugged slightly, unconvinced, "I mean, why didn't she just stab the guy as he walked in? He wouldn't have a way to defend himself."
Truth Bullet Selected: [Sword Sheath]
"You've got that wrong!" Naegi pulled up his E-Handbook, scrolling through to the correct piece of information. "As Enoshima-san, Kirigiri-san, Owada-san and Ogami-san must've seen, there was a replica sword in my room that had signs of being used."
Ogami nodded, eyes lost in thought, "Indeed. The sword was lying on the ground, and its sheath had been discarded to one side. In fact, the sheath appeared to have several scratches on it…"
"Almost as if someone had used it to block a sharp object, right?" He smiled slightly as the Ultimate Martial Artist gave him a grunt of affirmation. "With the only other weapon in the crime scene being the kitchen knife, it was likely that the blackened was caught off-guard by Maizono-san, but managed to get to the fake katana I had placed in my room a day or two ago. Then, after defending themself, the killer must've unsheathed the sword and used it against her."
"In fact," Naegi cast a glance across the room to check if enough people were following his train of thought, "it seems pretty likely that the killer used it to break Maizono-san's right wrist."
"Right…" Fujisaki flipped through her copy of the Monokuma File, "it did say that the only two injuries Maizono-san experienced were the stab wound that k-killed her and her fractured right wrist."
"But how do you know, Naegi-dono!" He was getting really sick of Yamada's bullshit. "Could it be that you can communicate with the dead? Or sympathise with an object's history?"
Truth Bullet Selected: [Maizono's Injuries]
Truth Bullet Selected: [Sword]
"The thing is, there's a pretty big problem with that gaudy blade." He grimaced, pushing on. "The gold dust on it comes off at the slightest touch. As you can see, there was gold dust missing from the handle of the sword and several sections of the blade itself, indicating that it had been used. But, we knew that already. What some might've not noticed, is that there were traces of glitter on her wrist, right where it was broken."
"I've got it!" Ishimaru snapped his fingers. "Because she got hit with the sword, right there on her wrist!"
"Man, it was pretty unlucky that the killer just so happened to have a weapon to save themself with, huh?" Hagakure chuckled, far too cheerful considering the situation, and his words stabbed through Naegi's heart like a knife in the dark. He bowed his head momentarily, body tensing up.
"Yeah…pretty unlucky."
"Fascinating." Celeste smiled slightly, malicious glee within her crimson eyes. "So our dear idol friend was prepared to commit murder, and even set you up to take the fall for her murder by switching the nameplates."
"Upupupupu! Naegi Makoto's first friend here tried to frame him for murder, only to get killed herself. Are you sure you're the Ultimate Lucky Student?" The (Un)Lucky Student resisted the urge to pull apart a bear with his bare hands, knowing that it would just get him into trouble.
"But Naegi-kun would've just told us about the room swap, right?" He clamped down on the words threatening to spill out, but if looks could kill, they'd have to hold a second Trial for Asahina Aoi.
"Please, don't kid yourself." Enoshima cut in ruthlessly, a frown marring her otherwise beautiful features. "Look at what happened when the body was reported this morning, and even earlier in the Trial. No one would believe him over the words of miss national treasure." Asahina flinched as though struck, but did nothing to refute the scathing claim apart from lowering her eyes guiltily. Naegi sighed, redirecting the discussion topic back to the intended path.
"Be as it may, her plan failed after the first strike was blocked. Afterwards, her would-be victim turned the tables on her."
"And so the hunter became the hunted…" Thank you, Yamada, for that enlightening comment.
"So we've finally established the series of events that occurred." Togami looked awfully satisfied for someone who had been throwing insults around while contributing to the debate. "Where do we go from here?"
"Dude's right," Kuwata shrugged almost nonchalantly, "there aren't any more clues for us to go through."
Truth Bullet Selected: [Dying Message]
"No, that's wrong!" He smiled grimly, ready to finally get to the bottom of things. "Before she passed, Maizono-san left us one last piece of information, a series of numbers."
"11037…" Kirigiri brushed her hair slightly, "it was written on the wall behind her, most likely to conceal it from the person who killed her in the first place. Logically, it must contain some clue to their identity."
"Hold on," Celeste raised a hand to stop the conversation, "can we be certain this isn't a red herring, meant to misdirect us from the truth?"
Truth Bullet Selected: [Bloodied Finger]
"Her left index finger." Naegi drummed his own on the podium. "Her palms were completely clean, and her right wrist had already been broken. The only way one of her fingers was stained with blood would be if she used it to leave that message."
"But what could they mean?" Hagakure looked deep in thought, but vaguely resembled a monkey scratching its chin.
"Hey, Ultimate Programmer," Owada glanced over to the petite figure, "you're the only one here who works with them, got any case-solving revelations?"
"W-well…" Fujisaki shrunk in on herself, "I don't see any meaning in these numbers. S-sorry…"
"Tch, it's fine. Still, that's back to square one from us."
Naegi cleared his throat, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. Like sharks smelling blood in the water, they seemed to lean towards him, anticipating whatever he had to say. Internally, he grinned. It was time.
"Don't treat them like numbers. See that line connecting the two ones? Now think about how she must've had to write them. Facing away, she might've written a word, but it looks like gibberish from our perspective. Flip them 180 degrees."
"Flip them? Oh…oh! I get it, she wrote down the killer's name!"
"That's right!" He slammed his hands down on the stand, eyes alight with a sort of twisted glee.
"And the killer is…you!"
AN: Once again, just a step or two closer to the scene that started it all. See y'all next time.