Chapter 9: Trial of Sakura Ogami

Everyone is in the trial room once again. Sakura Ogami, who was revealed as the mole working with Monokuma, was the victim of a locked-room murder.

"Don't worry, Asahina, we'll find out what really happened to Ogami. We swear on our lives." Kagami assured her.

Class Trial

In Session!

"So, whaddya think, sleuths? Do you send another guilty classmate to their awesomely high-concept death? Or do you blow it and get snuffed out en masse?" Monokuma asked. "Well, only one way to find out, am I right?! Let the wild accusations and finger-pointing begin!"

"The killer is Fukawa, Togami, or Hagakure!" Asahina accused. "They were at the scene! Sakura asked all three of 'em to meet her in the game room!"

"Asahina, now's not the time to be jumping to conclusions! We need to think this through carefully." Tails said.

"While it's true enough she did summon me, I wasn't foolish enough to go." Togami informed them.

"Y-Yeah! I skipped out, too!" Hagakure told them.

"Hah! Really...? Then I must've seen your clone! Hagakure here is guilty as hell!" Toko accused.

"Y-You... you saw all of that?!"" Hagakure asked nervously.

"Oh yeah!" Toko confirmed.

"So, care to tell us what happened?" Sonic asked.

"Okay, sooo... Ogami wanted to talk to me alone. But... I chickened out when I got to the room, and I hid in a locker instead." Toko explained. "And then... I saw Ogami and Hagakure. She spoke to him and he got nervous, so he grabbed a bottle and struck her square on the head!"

"I have no idea what she's talking about!" Hagakure said.

"So... you killed my friend!" Asahina accused.

"Huh?! No way!" Hagakure yelped.

"You bastard! I hope you go out screaming!" Asahina yelled. "What are we waiting for?! :et's put to a vote!"

"I agree! I gave you eyewitness testimony telling you how he murdered her with a blow to the head!" Toko said

"Wait! That can't be right!" Twilight countered!"

Truth Bullet: Kyoko's Testimony after Investigating the Body

"You say you witnessed Hagakure strike her once with the bottle, but her head had two injuries." Twilight said.

"Yeah! The brainiac's got a point!" Hagakure agreed.

"She does not! 'Cause I... I meant to say he hit her twice." Toko corrected.

"Aw! You lying sack of crap!" Hagakure argued. "I only hit her the once!"

"This means you admit that you attacked her." Shadow said.

"Kinda, yeah... I was afraid she was gonna break me like a breadstick!" Hagakure admitted. "I panicked and clocked her."

"Fukawa!" Togami glanced at the Ultimate Writing Prodigy.

"Y-Yessir...?!" Toko yelped.

"After Hagakure made good his retreat, what did you do then?" Togami asked. Toko looked nervous. "Spare us your stalling!"

Toko screamed. "Stop! I don't remember what happened, okay?! Once I was sure Hagakure wasn't coming back, I crept out of the locker. I saw Ogami getting up and glaring at me, her face and head all bloody! Naturally, I passed out, next to the magazines. You want the rest? Try asking her..." She took the end of one of her pigtails and tickled her nose and then sneezed, switching back to Sho.

"Ah-ha! Miss me, bitches?!" Sho laughed.

"So you switch back and forth when you sneeze. Interesting." Luka said.

"You weren't summoned for a casual chat. Are you the one who killed Sakura Ogami?" Togami asked.

"So... this might come as a shock to you... but I don't know jack about what Fukawa did or didn't do!" Sho told them. "Even if I gave a damn, I ain't got access. I'm catching up on my beauty sleep when suddenly, someone's shaking me awake! "Maybe it's Prince Charming!" I think, so I am ready for action! Instead, I get nightmare fuel, straight out of an Italian slasher flick! Madam Roid Rage freaked the crap outta me! I hit her with a bottle and GTFO'd! Hey, she finally got hit on!" Sho cackled.

"Man, what a relief..." Hagakure sighed. "So glad I'm not Hagakure the Giant-Killer."

"That explains the two head wounds." Shadow remembered. "But Hagakure, you best show some respect for the for the dead!"

"Enough stalling!" Asahina cut him off. "Let's put it to a vote already!"

"Huh?" Naegi asked.

"Well? Come on! Let's do this thing!" Asahina demanded.

"What is up with her? It's like she's in a hurry to end this." Marinette whispered to Naegi.

"I know... This isn't like her..." Naegi spoke quietly.

"Hmph..." Togami huffed.

"Monokuma! Start the voting!" Asahina demanded.

"We can't vote just yet!" Luka called.

"Why not?" Asahina asked.

"There was something about what Sho said." Luka said. "When you hit Ogami, where in the room were you? Tell us."

"The same place where Fukawa tagged out! I dropped that beast at the magazine rack!" Sho admitted.

"That's not what happened!" Luka refuted.

Truth Bullet: Condition of Sakura's Corpse

"Think about it: We found her sitting in a chair." Luka said.

"He's right. If that second hit at the magazine rack is what killed her, then the body being in the chair doesn't make any sense." Naegi added.

"Hmph. Why, that's rather astute of you two." Togami said. "However, there were bloodstains on the floor at the base of the rack. Put simply... Sho's testimony is corroborated by the evidence... That is where she attacked Ogami."

"I'm a little lost here." Knuckles said.

"Same here. "Jeannie Simmons" here still did it though, right?" Hagakure asked.

"No, you schmuck! Where I whacked her and where she landed don't match up!" Sho argued. "How dumb are you?!"

"That only leaves us with two important questions: the first is who really killed Ogami? And the second is how did they dispatch such a fierce target?" Shadow asked.

"I believe this may answer the latter." Togami said as he pulled out a bottle of poison from his pocket.

"Hey, that's the bottle of poison from the chem lab!" Rainbow Dash identified.

"Exactly. It was among the cabinet that held three things: health supplements... re-agents... and poisonous compounds." Togami explained. "Oddly enough, this bottle of poison was tucked in with the vitamins and such."

"Wait, why would a bottle of poison be put with health supplements?" Max asked.

"I'm curious to know that as well..." Togami said as his gaze shifted towards Asahina. She swallowed heavily. Togami smirked as he drank the contents of the bottle, shocking almost everyone.

"The hell are you thinking?!" Naegi yelled.

"Have you gone nuts?!" Sonic yelled.

"Holy crap! I've hit the jackpot! You're crazier than I am!" Sho cheered. "Now barf it up!"

"Calm down!" Shadow said as he took the bottle. "Kirigiri... if you would..." He tosses the bottle to her. She pours the contents onto her hand and took a taste with her finger.

"Protein... As I thought." Kyoko confirmed.

"Huh?!" Naegi gasped in surprise.

"Correct." Shadow said. "The poison in that bottle has been replaced with a mere supplement powder."

"And wasn't there an empty cup meant for supplement drinks on the crime scene floor?" Togami asked. "I can't possibly imagine what these two facts might imply."

"Could it be that... the contents of the two bottles were switched?!" Tails asked.

"Of course! The poison could've been handed to her with a smile and she'd be none the wiser!" Naegi deduced.

"Clever sleuthing." Togami complimented. "And seeing as how it's the conclusion I've come to, I'm inclined to say you're right."

"That's great and all, but dude... If there was still poison in that bottle, outlook not so good!" Hagakure said.

"Your concern has been noted." Togami said. "Now, about those prints in the chem lab. If I had to hypothesize, I'd say the killer spilled some of the protein while he was swapping it out for the poison, hence the mess."

"Now that I look at them... it's safe to assume they were made with sneakers." Shadow added. "Meaning that to find our murderer, all we have to do is take one quick look at our soles to find any trace of the protein."

While everyone looked a bit nervous, Shadow and Togami were confident enough to find the truth, but Shadow's were enough to make one person admit it.

"It was me."

They turned to Asahina, who had spoke up. "The poison... in the protein drink... I did it..." Asahina began to cry. "I killed Sakura Ogami in cold blood!"

"W-What?!" Sunset gasped.

"No! You eighty-sixed her?!" Hagakure asked.

"I can't believe it..." Chloe said.

"That's impossible!" Naegi said.

"He's right. You, me, and her... we've been so close this whole time!" Kagami said.

"Don't be naïve." Togami interjected. "Dear Asahina played her like a fiddle. Ogami didn't suspect a thing when one of her bosom friends brought the fateful protein drink."

"You're... you're wrong... She didn't..." Kagami seethed. "Asahina, tell them what happened."

"We were in the game room. And Sakura... asked me if... if I could get her supplement for her." Asahina sadly explains.

"You could hear opportunity knocking. And so you switched the bottles." Togami said. "Heh. The devious trap was set. All you had to do was hand her the cup..."

"I get that it makes sense, but strangely, at the same time, it doesn't..." Shadow pondered. "Could it be that... their friendship was a fake? I thought Ogami meant the world to her!" Luka remembered what happened at the gym. "What she said about Ogami, it felt so sincere... so deep..."

"And then... after Sakura drank all of the poison, I headed out of the game room." Asahina confessed.

Shadow realized something. "It didn't go down like that!"

Truth Bullet: Game Room's Door

"Did you forget already?" Shadow asked. "The door was barricaded!"

"He's right! We couldn't get to the body at first; the door was jammed from the inside!" Naegi explained. "That chair was wedged in there pretty tight. So how did you brace the door with it from out in the hall?"

Asahina stammered. "If you can't tell us how you did it, then you're not the culprit!" Shadow said.

"But I am..." Asahina said as she cried.

"Don't be a fool, Shadow!" Togami said. "Asahina confessed to the deed! You would acquit her over an errant chair?!"

"If the chair isn't enough to prove she's innocent, then perhaps the bottle I gave to Kirigiri might suffice." Shadow said.

"Is that so?" Togami asked. "Then show us this evidence."

Kyoko poured more of the protein drink onto her hand, but this time, a shard of window glass fell out along with the drink.

"What's that in the powder?" Togami asked.

"Wait, is that..." Naegi said. "A piece of glass from when I broke the window?"

"Yes..." Kyoko said. "Glass from that window somehow made its way into a bottle over in the chemistry lab. Bizarre... But the mystery doesn't end there. When we entered the game room, did you notice the arrangement of the broken glass? It should have been on top of the cup, not pinned beneath it."

"That means the cup was placed there after the window was smashed." Shadow said. "As for the bottle of poison... it was in the game room from the start! While we were distracted with Ogami, someone grabbed the bottle off the floor and took it back to the lab, and when that was done, they slipped back into the game room and planted that cup like it had been there the entire time; Never even thinking about the glass... All that not just to throw us off the trail, but to hide the truth of who really killed Sakura Ogami!"

"Don't forget: the yellow powder spilled all over the floor of the lab was on top of Ogami's feet." Kyoko added. "She didn't merely walk through the powder once it was on the floor."

"She didn't. She was there when it fell." Shadow continued. "Maybe she was rummaging about for the poison... and when she pulled it out, knocked over the other bottle."

"That means... Ogami grabbed the poison herself." Naegi deduced.

"Correct. This means that this murder... was really a suicide..." Shadow claimed.

"A... suicide...?" Applejack asked, breathless at the idea.

"The room was locked, because the killer never left." Shadow said. "The reason she jammed the door was so that she could kill herself without any interruption."

"Here's how things might've gone: Ogami asks Hagakure, Fukawa, and Togami to come see her in the game room. But Asahina was afraid for Ogami, and she was right to be..." Naegi said. "Hagakure and Fukawa both attacked her... Asahina wanted to help her, and Ogami accepted, but wanted her to get her protein first. Asahina left to get the protein, but once she saw the powder scattered in front of the poison cabinet... she figured out Ogami's real reason for sending her away. By the time she got back, it was too late..."

"You have no idea...! You're wrong!" Asahina yelled. "I murdered her, so find me guilty!" She broke down into tears. "It's my fault, dammit! It was meeee!"

"Asahina..." Marinette said. "Please, just... stop... Okay? You're innocent."

"No, this isn't over!" Asahina sobbed.

"It has to be..." Naegi said, looking upward. "So... now... we're gonna put it to a vote." Asahina cried.

"I know it hurts... but we have no other choice..." Sonic said.

Then, Voting Time came. The reels spun and spun until they slowed down and stopped on Sakura. The machine lights up and coins spill out, indicating a correct verdict.

Asahina continued crying. "The killer was... Ogami... herself...?!" Togami asked in total shock.

"That's right... Hence the warning to you about the weight which emotions carry. And the peril you face by disregarding them." Kyoko said. "You see, looking out for number one isn't always a person's primary goal. A simple fact that is alien to you."

"No wonder you couldn't grasp the truth." Shadow said.

"Asahina's actions make no sense!" Togami said. "Tell us why! Why'd you take such pains to hide the cause of death when there's no profit in it?!"

"You wanna know...? Fine!" Asahina said as she revealed a note.

"What's that?" Nino asked.

"Sakura wrote it before she died." Asahina said.

"May I?" Sunset asked. Asahina sighs before handing the note to Sunset. She then read it aloud for all to hear.

"Ever since the bear outed me, I see hatred in everyone's eyes. Rather than await my certain death, I choose to die by my own hand."

"She must've been so guilty about working for whoever's pulling the bear's strings." Asahina said. "But she... she thought maybe you guys could find some compassion in your hearts... But I guess the joke was on her, 'cause you guys don't have any! You treated her like crap! That's why she did it!"

"That isn't true!" Alya assured her.

"I know she looked all tough... But she still had feelings!" Asahina cried. "She wanted us all to be friends! She drank the poison, but you drove her to it! You all murdered her! And you deserve to burn in Hell!"

"I don't believe it... You set yourself up so you could take us down with you." Naegi said.

"I know Sakura felt bad about being coerced into working with the bear, but deep down, she still cares for us, her friends..." Sunset told her. She took another look at the note and realized something. "Monokuma! This was not her real suicide note, is it?!"

"Aw, you caught me red-handed!" Monokuma admitted. "Well, no reason to hide this any longer. Here's the real suicide note." Monokuma revealed the true suicide note, horrifying everyone.

"I knew it! This note was something you forged, right?" Sunset interrogated.

"Guilty as charged! Now, I'll do my best Ogami voice as I read the real note, so hold onto your butts and listen well!" Monokuma said as he read the real note.

"To my dear, dear Asahina... I never wanted to help our captors, but after they took my family's dojo hostage, I had to. But I can't betray my friends any longer. Because that's exactly what they are. My friends. You most of all, Asahina. You most of all. If I die by my own hand, there will no longer be any reason left for discord. My life is a fair price to pay if it means the murders will come to an end. I do this for the sake of all of you, whom I consider to be my friends. Forgive me, Asahina. Live through these dark times, all of you. I want you all to survive!"

"What a sweetie she was!" Monokuma feigns crying.

"Sakura killed herself... To try and end all of this murder..." Sunset said.

"She really did care for us..." Adrien breathed.

"No, no...!" Asahina stammered.

"I must say, that might've worked, too, if ya hadn't squandered all that goodwill trying to off everybody." Monokuma said as Asahina cried. "I guess she died for nothing! Tough tiddlywinks!"

"It was not for nothing!" Naegi yelled.

"Say huh?" Monokuma turned to him.

"She gave her life... Cause she believed in something. She believed in all of us—and we will honor that!" Naegi yelled.

"Mic drop, brah, I'm with you." Hagakure smiled.

"What the what?" Monokuma asked in confusion.

"Monokuma... your game no longer holds any appeal—so I quit." Togami announced.

"Huuuh?!" Monokuma asked.

"Don't worry. You'll still get your fix. We'll send someone to the gallows, all right." Togami said. "You don't mind if it's your boss, do you?"

"The hell's gotten into you snots?!" Monokuma yelled.

"I'm out, too... I only played 'cause he was!" Sho said.

"Well, if they're out, then so are we! Right, Sonic?" Chloe added.

"Couldn't have worded it any better!" Sonic agreed.

Monokuma began to growl angrily. "Well? Still want to tell us Ogami's death served no purpose?" Kyoko asked.

"Bah! Screw you guys! It's punishment time!" Monokuma announced. "You and your Kumbaya talk ain't gonna rain on my parade!"

"But there is one small problem: While Ogami is guilty, you can't execute the dead, can you?" Marinette asked.

"True, but whoever said she's taking the punishment?" Monokuma asked. Marinette gasped in shock. "We've got a special victim! Let's bring them out!" He proceeded to slam the button with his gavel as it appeared.

A laptop powers on in the middle of a construction site, revealing Alter Ego. The ground rumbles and Alter Ego looks around. An excavator operated by Monokuma approaches the laptop.

"No..." Chloe gasped.

"He found out about our one ticket to freedom!" Naegi gasped.

"And he's about to destroy it!" Sonic said. "I knew we shouldn't have left him alone!"

Excavator Destroyer

Monokuma lifted the excavator claw before it smashed down once on the laptop, then repeatedly continued smashing it at a rapid pace until all that was left was a ball of scrap. Using the excavator one last time, he skillfully places his signature ears, eye, and mouth on the ball.

"We've lost him again..." Naegi said in horror.

"For good, this time..." Alya said in horror.

Monokuma cackled. "I crushed his candy ass! Get it?!" Sonic's face shifted from a stare of absolute horror to a glare of unrelenting fury.

"Something tells me you knew what he was up to, since back then." Shadow said.

"Duh! You didn't really think I wouldn't notice him snooping, right?" Monokuma asked. "So, how 'bout I read you more from Ogami's suicide note? Literacy, ho!"

"Know this... Our captor has altered our very minds in order to-"

"We heard enough!" Sonic shouted. "We can't have you kicking us while we're down!"

"Fair enough. I nearly dropped a big old spoiler-bomb on ya anyway!" Monokuma said. He noticed another part of the note.

"I will not go down quietly. I swear I shall strike back at the mastermind."

"She's gonna strike back?" Monokuma spoke, to which Kyoko heard. "Meh, whatever." He laughs.

Back in the trial room, Asahina approached everyone. "You guys... If Naegi and Shadow hadn't figured it out... we'd all... I'm sorry I tried to kill you." She bowed in apology.

"Don't feel bad." Sonic said. "You had a good reason to be mad."

"No worries." Hagakure said.

"But I... please forgive me." Asahina apologized once more.

"Do stop apologizing... Your actions were hideous, but evidently understandable." Togami said.

"Uh... Thanks, Togami." Asahina said, tears of relief escaping her face.

"And Sho, don't think she's trying to steal him from you, okay?" Sunset told the serial killer.

"Fine! But next time I catch her makeing eyes at my man, those funbags are coming off!" Sho threatened.

"Thanks, Sunset. To be honest, I'm not at the least interested in that douchey four-eyed fop." Asahina said.

"I just accepted your apology!" Togami yelled.

"So now you insult him?!" Sho defended.

"It's not my fault he's a douche!" Asahina argued.

"Looks to me like the trials are over, huh?" Adrien asked.

"Appears to be. But... our story is far from over." Naegi said.

Later that night...

"Naegi... Wake up!" Naegi hears Kyoko's voice.

"Kiri?" Naegi groggily asked. "What're you...?"

"I'll be waiting in the computer lab on the fourth floor." Kyoko told him.

"Huh?" Naegi asked.

Naegi and Kyoko headed up to the fourth floor computer lab. Naegi tries to open the door, but like before, it was locked. And Kyoko is nowhere to be seen. Naegi wonders why he is up there.

"If it isn't Mr. Kumbaya himself!" Monokuma said appearing behind him. "It's three in the damn morning, kid! Jeebus, go to bed!"

"Am I interrupting something?" They hear Kyoko.

"Oh, hey!" Naegi greeted.

"You're up, too?! Go the eff to sleep!" Monokuma yelled.

"Very well." Kyoko said. "Naegi. Walk me back."

"Huh?" Naegi asked in confusion. "Ohhh yeah." He then walks her to the stairwell. "So, uh... what's going on?" Kyoko approached him and whispered in his ear.

"There's another student... Lurking in the shadows somewhere within this building." Kyoko whispered. Naegi gasped. "There's an Ultimate Despair. Named Mukuro Ikusaba."

"There's another one of us... in the building?" Naegi asked in surprise.