"Attention all academy attendees! A body has been discovered!" It was early morning when Monochio's cheerful, chipper voice pierced the air, intercoms and PheFos in every bedroom crackling to life. At first, the students scowled at the interruption, but then Monochio's words sank in.
A moment later, the class received a mass-text from Ibuki. "Hallway outside gym. Rope trap. Nagisa."
Thunder filled the halls as a swarm of students raced from their dorms. They stopped dead (pun unintended) in their tracks when they caught sight of the Muscle Trio photographing Nagisa's asphyxiated corpse, hanging in a web of netting suspended from the wall above by metal hooks.
"Nagi? NAGI?!" Shinobu shoved her way violently through the crowd, and for once, no one protested.
"Shinobu…" Yuka's voice broke, and her blue eyes welled with tears as she turned away from Nagisa's body.
"Who did this?!" the DJ snarled. Yuka could only shake her head helplessly. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
"We don't know, Shinobu," Dalia interjected, voice low and smooth. "We were here for a pre-breakfast work out—we've done that every day since waking up here—but after meeting outside the dorms, we walked in on… this." She cocked her head at the net trap, ahoge shaking slightly. Despite her calm tone, she was furious and devastated as well. We were supposed to protect them… supposed to protect each other! Who did this?!
To distract herself, the Ultimate Dancer turned back to her PheFo, taking more photos of the net trap and metal hooks.
Feels wrong—desecrating, even—to look at her body like this… But for the sake of evidence… Dalia narrowed her eyes, hating herself for even having the thought. In her defense, though, it was only at Yuka's behest. When the Muscle Trio first found Nagisa, instinct drove them to try to get her down as fast as possible. Yuka, however, stopped them.
"WAIT! Don't touch her! Not yet at least!" she cried. Ibuki and Dalia whipped around, dazed, as if unable to understand her. "Evidence…" Yuka barely seemed to comprehend her command, but the Ultimate Photographer in her spoke up for all of them. "We need photo evidence first."
As soon as she heard Shinobu's voice, though, coming up behind her and shouting for Nagisa, the pit of dread in Yuka's stomach burst open. She didn't even try to take anymore photos, knowing how hard her hands would shake, and how blurry her vision would be. She hadn't told anyone, but she spent a considerable amount of the previous evening exploring the academy. Would her absence from the rest of the group incriminate her? And even more, was she in any way to blame for failing to be there to protect Nagisa?
The rest of Nagisa's unit came running in right after Shinobu. Tsubaki was the first to get there.
"Is it true?!" she demanded. "Is sh—?!" The words died in the Ultimate Vocalist's throat. All that came out was a choked gasp.
"Oh, Nagisa!" Hiiro clapped her hands over her mouth, tears in her eyes and voice. I might've been… the last person she was seen with…
"Nagisa…" Aoi's voice was ragged, and her eyes were glazed with pain when she looked up and saw Nagisa hanging in the air, face ashen and blue. Her head lolled against her chest, windpipe sinking into a rope her head was caught in. The hooks sagged heavily under her weight, but didn't break.
Monochio was the last to arrive, painfully and disgustingly smug, its long, red, black, and white tail swishing as it sauntered over.
"Exactly as I predicted!" it sneered. "I told you it would only take a few days for you little shits to start killin' each other! In fact, I believe it's only been four! And I didn't even need to supply a motive yet! Nyahahaha! Anyway, it's time for the investigation and subsequent class trial!"
"You were serious about that?" Tsubaki sounded so sickened with disbelief that she nearly choked on her rage.
"Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you?" Shinobu narrowed her eyes and took a single, hard step forward.
"Shinobu!" Kyoko grabbed her arm, but Shinobu shook her head and shook Kyoko off. Cussing wasn't against Monochio's stupid, fucking rules.
At the same time, Kyoko winced. When Shinobu shook her off, her elbow struck Kyoko's fingers. Ordinarily, this wouldn't have bothered the other girl, but… Her brown eyes grazed the pink-tinted bandages around her hand before she swiftly withdrew the hand into her sleeve.
Damn it! People are going to ask about that… Worst time to get an injury!
Monochio only talked over them with a merry and jovial voice. "You see the timer at the top of your PheFo? Once that baby runs out, the class trial will begin! So, try not to dilly, or dally! Now, dear students, will you find the culprit, or will they slip through your fingers and leave you slipped into a noose like poor old Nagisa here? Nyahahaha! Oh, but don't worry, I have one, last, little present for you!"
As the giant robot cat turned to skitter away again, it swished its tail, and a new app began downloading on every PheFo. It was the final linking piece that would allow them to share all the evidence they collected with one another. They could store and send as many different file types as they wanted, video, audio, written, or photographed.
"No fucking way! You're kidding!" Shinobu whispered. She looked seconds away from hurling her PheFo to the ground.
Beside her, Tsubaki's lip curled as she scowled at her PheFo as well. She and Aoi stood on either side of a still-weeping Hiiro.
"Shinobu…" Again, Peaky tried to console their DJ. Her eyes flashed, but before she could speak, RONDO's DJ interrupted.
"Please, Shinobu, I'm angry too! But I want justice for Nagisa, and justice will not come if we can't challenge Monochio and figure out who did this!" Aoi's eyes flashed as she gestured to Nagisa's body. "Angry" was an understatement. Shinobu met her fierce gaze and saw a likeminded spirit.
Gritting her teeth, the pink-haired DJ nodded once. "So be it then." She would aid in their stupid little investigation, and she would play in their stupid little class trial, but once they figured out who Nagisa's killer was, it was game over for them! She forced herself to turn back to the crime scene. Once the students were satisfied with the photographs they had, Aoi and Hiiro carefully freed Nagisa from the trap. It felt wrong to leave her hanging there in such an undignified state.
"Woah!" Aoi almost buckled when the metal hooks on the wall above easily gave way, all but dropping Nagisa into her arms.
"It's as if she was waiting for us to rescue her!" Hiiro's tears fell even faster and harder as she helped Aoi support Nagisa, lowering her to the ground gently. The other students stared at the Ultimate Guitarist gravely. With the clock ticking, it was a doubly grim reminder that the hunt was on! And the class trial was right around the corner…
AN: Because I'm not interested in writing an actual, complicated mystery unless I know I have enough readers who would want it, we're jumping right into the trial and evidence will be revealed as the case progresses rather than being known (to you readers) ahead of time.
Just pretend that, in-universe, the investigation already occurred and is complete.
If enough people want it, though, I'll try to think of a better mystery for Stage II. Just let me know in the comments! Thx!