Once again, Masashi took a look at all the evidence that he had gathered in the investigation.

List of Truth Bullets

Monokuma File - This time, there are two victims: Hikari Fey and Tanjiro Urata. Hikari Fey's cause of death was poisoning, and the victim died in the staff lounge. Though there is also a head wound, it has been determined not to have been fatal. The time of death is around 8:55 AM. Tanjiro Urata's cause of death is a blow to the head with a blunt instrument. The body was discovered in the lower theater room. It has been determined that the victim was struck on the head twice, and one of the strikes killed the victim instantly.

Security Logs (1) - Not a single person entered the ballroom or the Ferris wheel room this morning, nor has anyone entered the clothing shop since Masashi and company left it. The records of the restaurant match witness accounts. As the security system does not include the staff lounge or the public restrooms, there are no logs for them.

Security Logs (2) - A security log of the upper and lower theater rooms. Quite noticeably, Tanjiro does not appear at all in them.

Maiha's Account - Apparently, before Faye's cooking began, Kumi was talking with Tanjiro and Hikari about something. At one point, Kumi asked Hikari to write down something in his storybook, apparently because he wanted to see what her handwriting was like.

Bowling Ball - A bloody bowling ball was found near Tanjiro's corpse. It was taken from the chest of theater props in the lower theater room.

Toy Car - There is a toy car lying near Tanjiro's corpse. It is remote-controlled, and the remote control was found near the toy car.

Details of Tanjiro's Corpse - Four things were found on Tanjiro's person: his Monopad, a remote control, his camera, and his contract. The remote control does not work for the toy car lying near his body. His contract is blank, but for some reason, the paper feels slightly thicker than the other contracts. Notably, Tanjiro's right hand is covered with blood.

Bloody Handprints - There are two bloody handprints in the lower theater room. One is on the wall right next to Tanjiro's corpse, and the other is on the part of the floor next to Tanjiro's corpse. It seems that Tanjiro left the handprints behind, but why he did so is left unknown.

Mattress - On the other end of the lower theater room is a stack of white mattresses. On the topmost one is a small speck of blood. Given the distance between the mattresses and Tanjiro's corpse, it seems not to have gotten on it during a struggle.

Lower Theater Vent - There is a vent in the lower theater room that is connected to the hallway in the aft side. Specifically, it is the hallway with the stairs going up to the staff lounge. Though the vent is somewhat high, anyone can get up to it with the help of the stack of mattresses.

Perfume Smell - A sweet perfume smell is present in the music room. It was already present when Masashi, Mari, Kasumi, and Sayua investigated the room before Tanjiro's body discovery announcement played. It seems to be connected to how unusually clean the music room is.

Clothing Shop Episode - At one point, Sorao went to the clothing shop and tried on a swimsuit outfit for Masashi, Kasumi, and Sayua. This took roughly a few minutes, and Sorao then left, apparently planning to return to the restaurant.

Metallic Noise - After Masashi, Kasumi, and Sayua left the clothing shop and bumped into Mari, they all heard a faint noise from the upper decks. It sounded like something metallic had fallen onto the floor. Weirdly enough, no one else seems to have heard it.

Missing Curtain - Two red detachable curtains are usually hung over the window in the staff lounge, but one is missing. It was missing when Masashi and company found Hikari unconscious but alive in the staff lounge.

Bottle of Poison - In the staff lounge is a spilled bottle of poison. Masashi and Sorao discovered it during the investigation. The bottle of poison has quite a distinctive label because of its skulls drawn throughout. The antidote bottle was left in the staff lounge after Masashi and company left Hikari there, but its current whereabouts are unknown.

Printer - There is a small printer placed in the staff lounge. According to Monokuma, he put it there last night upon someone's request. This printer in particular can be used to print and copy documents.

Robot Toy - A small toy robot was found near a box in the staff lounge. Apparently, it can only be moved through remote control, but its remote control was nowhere to be found in the staff lounge.

Upper Theater Vent - The vent in the staff lounge is directly connected to the vent in the upper theater room. When Masashi and the others discovered Hikari in the lounge, it had already been blocked by a box placed right before it.

Suits of Armor - There are two suits of armor lying by the walls of the upper theater room. The suit of armor to the right of the vent has a slight amount of blood inside, and most of it is near the inside of the helmet. Each suit of armor is holding a club in its hands. The club in the suit of armor to the left of the vent has a small spot of blood in it.

Fingerprint Data - The only people who have touched the bottle of poison discovered in the staff lounge are Masashi, Sorao, Mari, and an unknown left-handed person. Monokuma explicitly ruled out Tanjiro having touched this bottle and any of the other bottles.

Pink Camera - One of the photos in the camera found on Tanjiro's person shows Arashi preparing for his murder scheme the night beforehand. The fact that this photo was never shown during Arashi's class trial strongly suggests that Tanjiro knew about Arashi's scheme, but purposely did not try to stop him.


"Let's begin with a simple explanation of the class trial!" Monokuma said blithely. "Well, you get the gist. Vote correctly for the blackened, and the innocent among you get to live! But vote incorrectly… well, the cleaning staff will have more work to do afterwards."

"Oh, no need to worry about that, man," Sorao said relaxedly. "I'm sure things will turn out for the best."

"I must say, I'm quite surprised that another double killing has happened," Haruyuki commented, stroking his chin. "I figured that something like this would happen only once."

Faye hung her head down drearily. "More importantly, is it just like last time? Did just one person do all this… just like Arashi?"

"Personally, with how complicated this all feels, I bet it's the work of two separate people!" Kasumi replied.

"By the way…" Mari said as she faced to her left. "Sayua, are you all right?"

Meanwhile, Masashi noticed that Sayua was awfully silent, staring blankly at the rest of them. He had figured that with her usual temperament, she would be far more distraught, but instead, every part of her countenance showed strength and resilience. Of course, it was not hard to tell that this was simply for appearance' sake. As Mari had said earlier, she must be planning to give the culprit a few choice words.

"Hmm? You talking to me?" the cheerleader asked.

"Yes, I wondered whether you felt all right," Mari answered.

"Yeah… Don't worry about it," she said, sounding strangely mild. "We've just gotta find out... the killer... right?"

"Yes. And what about you, Kumi?"

Moreover, Kumi too said not a word, looking quite pale, but Masashi sensed that his silence was partly out of fright and partly out of confusion. Learning that there were two victims once again must have shocked him so much that he had ended up screaming, which Monokuma had quelled with his tranquilizer dart.

"Um… I-I feel better, Lady Mari," he answered quietly. "I-I'll try to help as much as I can…"

Sorao chuckled heartily as he grinned. "Glad to hear that from you, little fellow! I was worried for a moment that you'd lost your speech."

"Hey, hey, enough with showing concern for your fellow human beings!" Monokuma said, tapping the arms of his throne impatiently. "Get to the good part! Now! At once!"

"You shouldn't be rushing us..." Masashi said, leering at him, though he knew that all complaints would fall on deaf ears.

"Anyway, first, I think it's best to review what happened. We moved quite a bit around the ship, after all," Mari began, also looking slightly annoyed by Monokuma's usual ill-manneredness. "First, we all went to the Moonlight City for breakfast."

Faye nodded firmly. "Yes, I wanted to have breakfast there for a change. But I never would've thought that there would be a storm so strong that it'd actually cause the other ships to be separated."

"As we were essentially stranded there, we all decided to pass the time while waiting for the storm to abate," Mari continued. "Faye, Kumi, Sorao, and I took part in cooking some treats, while Masashi, Kasumi, and Sayua went to the clothing shop. And Tanjiro and Hikari said that they'd head over to the music room as well."

"And it was you that found the antidote bottle in the kitchen, yes?" Haruyuki said.

Mari nodded. "I found it lying among a bunch of other bottles. Naturally, I was quite concerned about the implications of its presence, and so I made my way to the clothing shop to meet up with Masashi."

"And then we heard a faint metallic noise coming from above!" Kasumi added.

"A faint metallic noise? From above?" Faye said, staring at her bewilderedly.

"We still don't know what it was, but nonetheless, it caused us to go up to the staff lounge to investigate," Mari answered. "And it was then that we found Hikari lying there unconscious."

"Thankfully, she was still alive at that point, but revealed to us that she'd been attacked," Masashi added. "Not only had she been struck on the head, but she also had been fed poison. That's why I suggested that we use the antidote we had."

Sorao flicked one of the fringes of his red hair with one hand as he set the other on his hip. "Course, you didn't know what had happened to Tanjiro, so you left Hikari there by herself in that locked room, thinking it'd be all safe. So what happened next?"

"We headed down to the music room," Masashi answered, "and when we arrived at the lower fifth deck, we bumped into Haruyuki and explained the whole situation to him."

"And I, of course, played the role of messenger and alerted everyone else in the restaurant of this," Haruyuki said, raising a hand calmly. "While the four of you investigated the music room for clues, the rest of us in the restaurant decided to look for Tanjiro. We headed to the theater rooms first on Takumi's suggestion."

"Yes, and not long after we began investigating the upper theater room," Maiha added, "we heard a noise from below. It sounded like something striking someone."

"You absolutely sure about that?" Sayua asked.

Sorao gave a grim nod. "There's no doubting what kind of noise we heard. It was way different from the other noises we heard afterwards. Those sounded like stuff hitting the floor, but since we were standing on the platform holding up the upper theater room, we couldn't see what had happened underneath."

"And then you rushed over to the lower theater room and... found Tanjiro's body," Mari said. "You triggered the body discovery announcement, which alerted the four of us in the music room. We headed over to the staff lounge to get Hikari, and..."

"You found her corpse," Haruyuki said matter-of-factly. "And it was not long until I showed up, having been sent there to fetch you. And the rest is clear."

"Boy, what a complicated morning this has been!" Kasumi said, heaving an annoyed sigh. "Can't we have a simple mystery for a change?"

"What kind of question's that?!" Monokuma answered, looking agitated. "Of course you can, but that'll make the class trials short. And I'm paid by the hour, so how would I make ends' meet?"

"However complicated one may find it, there's one thing we must figure out first," Maiha replied, rolling her eyes briefly at the bear's feigned stupidity. "In a double killing, the one responsible for the earlier death is deemed the blackened. Now, which of the two died earlier?"

"Judging by this morning's events, it must've been Hikari, right?" Sayua said hesitantly. "The file says she kicked the bucket around 8:55 AM. And you guys... you heard Tanjiro being attacked around 9:00 AM."

Haruyuki nodded and clapped his hands once. "Yes, that sounds quite right. That distinct noise we heard must have been the killer attacking Tanjiro with the bowling ball."

"Then Hikari's death has gotta be the earlier one," she responded, crossing her arms as she clicked her tongue. "She died from poison… Not a good way to go out."

"H-How awful…" Kumi muttered, growing paler and paler. "Wh-What kind of villain would kill her?"

"She had been poisoned when we found her in the staff lounge," Masashi said as he heaved a sorrowful sigh. "I thought everything had been fine when she had been fed the antidote, but… she still somehow died…"

"First things first," Sorao said, "I think we need to clarify Hikari's movements beforehand. There's too much about what she'd done earlier that we don't know."


Nonstop Debate

"What had Hikari been doing before we discovered her in the staff lounge?" Kasumi asked. "Masashi, Sayua, and I were at the clothing shop the whole time, so naturally, we don't know!"

"The rest of us saw her leave the restaurant with Tanjiro around 8:15 AM," Haruyuki answered. "They said that they were going to the music room."

"But that doesn't mean they actually went there, yes?" Maiha asked. "Perhaps they headed to another room first."

"Oh, like the restrooms, you mean?" Kasumi asked.

"Not together to the same one, I would think!" Sorao added casually.

"Or maybe they went somewhere like the Ferris wheel room or the ballroom…" Faye suggested. "Maybe that's where Hikari was attacked."

"It's certainly possible," Sorao said. "None of the rooms other than the staff lounge have locks, so anyone can access them any time."

"And someone could've followed after them…" Sayua said.

Truth Bullet Chosen (Refute): Security Logs (1)

No, that's wrong!

"Wait, that can't be right," Masashi said. "Hikari couldn't have been attacked in either of those rooms. We know this for sure thanks to the security logs."

"Oh, I get it!" Kasumi said. "Since her name doesn't appear on those rooms' logs, it's safe to say she never went there this morning!"

"In fact, since the logs are blank, it's proof that no one entered those rooms at all," Mari said. "So it's reasonable to say that those rooms had nothing to do with the murder."

"What about the theater rooms, then?" Sayua asked. "Was she ever there?"

Masashi shook his head. "No, she doesn't appear at all in them. I don't think she ever headed there."

"I suppose it's safe to say that she and Tanjiro actually went to the music room, as they had planned," Maiha replied, nodding along. "But you found her in the staff lounge. However did she go there?"

"And what happened to Tanjiro?" Sayua asked. "Did… did the two of them separate or something?"

"Maybe. Tanjiro must've gone to the lower theater room later, but…" Masashi said. "Let's focus on what exactly happened in the music room first."

"Seems pretty clear to me..." she answered, still pitifully. "Someone must've shadowed her and then clonked her. Aren't there a bunch of weapons hanging on the wall in the music room?"

"But isn't it still possible that she was attacked elsewhere?" Haruyuki proposed. "You found her in the staff lounge, so is it not just as likely she was attacked there?"

"I suppose that's possible," Maiha replied. "There are no signs that the attack actually happened in the music room, after all. The killer could've simply taken the weapon from the music room."

Is that really true? Masashi thought. Is the music room not the scene of the crime? No, that can't be right...

"Actually, I think there is evidence that says otherwise," Masashi said. "Right after we left Hikari alone in the staff lounge, we went down to the music room to investigate. And we smelled something that usually wasn't there."

"'Smelled'?" Maiha said puzzledly.

"It smelled sweet," he answered, "and I'm sure it was from one of the perfume bottles in the cupboard. The fact that one of the perfume bottles is now missing just makes it all the more suspicious."

"In addition, we also noticed something weird about the room's condition," Mari said. "That is, it was quite clean."

"C-Clean?" Kumi said, looking ever so confused as he looked back and forth at the others. "I-I don't get it… A-Are you saying the killer had to be a really tidy person?"

"Er, no... I don't think it suggests the killer was a cleanly person," she answered. "Rather, the smell and the unusual cleanness suggest that the killer was trying hard to get rid of something."

"Uh, I still don't get what you're saying!" Sayua said, looking a bit annoyed. "What the hell are you talking about?"

The thing that the killer wanted to get rid of… Masashi thought. If the attack happened there, then it probably was…

"Blood," he answered. "I think the killer was trying to disguise the fact that blood had been shed there."

"I guess that'd explain why the room would be clean like that," Sorao said, scratching the back of his head. "But what does that have to do with the smell?"

"What a fool you are to have to ask such a thing," Maiha answered. "Blood has quite a distinct smell. After all the corpses we've seen, I'm sure that each of us is familiar with it."

"And we would have naturally thought that a fight had happened in the music room if we had smelled blood," Masashi said.

"It's almost like… the killer wanted to hide the fact that the crime happened in the music room!" Kasumi said.

"But why?" Faye asked. "Why move Hikari to the staff lounge afterwards? Why not just leave her there?"

"That… I don't know," Masashi said. "But all the evidence suggests that there was a cover-up—"

"Your perspective is incomplete."

The one who had objected was Haruyuki.

"Huh? What's the matter, Haruyuki?" Masashi asked.

"I'm afraid that in your haste, you've forgotten to account for one thing," the man said calmly as he raised a hand slowly. "That's why I cannot accept your explanation."

"A few things?"

"Yes. Quite unfortunate," he said as he glanced downwards. "You may have gotten a lot right these last few trials, but you're bound to miss the mark every now and then."

"But… I don't see anything wrong with my theory," Masashi replied. "It makes sense that the crime happened in the music room."

Haruyuki shook his head with a somewhat wry smile. "You are too confident in your way of thought. Perhaps a modest correction of mine will make you think twice."


Rebuttal Showdown: Haruyuki Kanagawa

"You insist that the attack happened in the music room," Haruyuki began.

"It is true that there are weapons in the room.

"And the killer could've gotten the poison and the perfume from the cupboard there.

"But I doubt that the killer could've erased everything.

"It's one thing to hide the smell, but it's certainly another thing to hide its very sight.

"And you have given us no good explanation as to how the killer did that."

"Well, that isn't exactly a mystery," Masashi replied. "The killer must've used something to wipe all the blood away."

"Wipe the blood away? With what?" Haruyuki retorted.

"I've been to the music room a few times, and I can assure you…

"There was nothing there that the killer could've used to wipe away the blood.

"I can't think of anything else that could serve the same purpose."

Truth Bullet Chosen: Missing Curtain

I'll cut through your words!

"Hang on, Haruyuki," Masashi said. "You're right that nothing in the music room was used to wipe away the blood. But that doesn't mean that there wasn't anything else in the ship to use. During the investigation, Sorao and I discovered something interesting in the staff lounge."

"Well, more like the lack of that thing," Sorao added. "Turns out one of the red curtains in the room's missing."

Haruyuki let out a small gasp as he widened his eyes. "Why, is that so? I… I was not aware of this."

"Really? Even though you came to the room to get us?" Sayua asked. "With all your talk about being an 'observer' and all that jazz, I'd think you would have a good memory."

"I was much more occupied with the sight of Hikari's corpse," Haruyuki said, sounding slightly insulted. "It's only natural that I should pay less attention to the other parts of the room, careless as I was."

"Don't worry about it. In any case, it's clear that your rebuttal isn't correct," Mari replied. "After attacking Hikari, the killer could've used the red curtain from the staff lounge to wipe away all the blood."

"And I'd say it's large enough to wipe away a puddle of blood," Sorao added.

"All right, so we have a better idea of what happened in the music room," Masashi said. "The culprit followed Hikari to the music room, attacked her with one of the weapons, and fed her the poison. Then to disguise the true crime scene, the culprit used the perfume and the curtain to get rid of all signs of blood."

"Seems pretty complicated," Sorao remarked as he glanced to the side. "Why would the killer make her drink the poison, too?"

"Well... one of the effects of the poison listed on the label is numbness," Mari said. "Perhaps the killer wanted to make sure that Hikari couldn't move just in case she suddenly tried to resist."

"That, and maybe the killer found that striking her was bloodier than they expected," Faye suggested as she grimaced. "Poison was probably a more... tasteful method. Ugh, I hate saying it..."

"Then we come to the next part: what happened after the killer placed her in the staff lounge," Haruyuki replied. "I believe you said this was a locked room mystery, since when you found her, the only door had already been locked."

"Locked-room mystery? I don't think so," Sorao said. "Tell him why, Masashi."

I'd prefer if you just did it, but all right… Masashi thought, feeling slightly bemused.

"The door isn't the only way into the staff lounge," he explained. "There's also a small vent connecting it to the upper theater room."

"Wh-What?" Sayua uttered. "There is? I don't recall ever seeing one there."

"Well, I know of it," Kasumi said, "but I also don't remember seeing a vent anywhere when we found Hikari unconscious!"

Sorao rubbed his chin. "To be fair, when we found the vent, it was already covered by a short stack of boxes. It took me all my might to even move them out of the way."

"The killer must've put the boxes in front of the vent by that point," Maiha said.

"B-But… doesn't that mean…" Kumi said, quivering. "I-It was impossible for the killer to leave the room?!"

"Yeah… if the killer moved those boxes to the front of the vent, doesn't that mean the killer couldn't enter the vent afterwards?" Faye said.

"And that'd mean the killer trapped themselves inside the room!" Kasumi said. "But when we entered the room and found Hikari the first time, I'm certain there was no one else there!"


Nonstop Debate

"There are only two ways to leave the staff lounge," Mari began. "One is through the door, and the other is through the vent."

"And the door was locked when we tried to go in," Sayua said. "The killer must've locked it from inside."

"Unless a lockpick was used," Sorao said. "Like the one Kasumi has."

"Hey, don't tell me you're suspecting me!" Kasumi said.

"As for the vent… the killer must've placed the boxes before it," Maiha said. "But doing so would've trapped the killer inside the room."

"Perhaps the killer went into the vent first," Haruyuki suggested, "and then somehow placed the boxes before it."

"A-Are you suggesting… magic?" Kumi said.

"Oh, shut up already!" Sayua said in his stead.

"I was denied the chance to answer… Not that I would suggest such a thing, of course," Haruyuki remarked, shrugging.

Truth Bullet Chosen (Agree): Toy Robot

I agree with that!

"Haruyuki, I think you're right about that," Masashi said. "There was a way for the killer to create the locked room mystery from inside the vent."

"What? Really?" Kasumi said. "How? Tell me! I want to know for, er, non-theft-related purposes, of course!"

"How convincing…" Maiha remarked snidely.

"Just get on with it!" Sayua bade.

"Um, all right…" Masashi said. "In the staff lounge, there's a certain robotic toy. It's small, but it has the ability to move heavy objects with ease and is operated by remote control."

"Oh! I see!" Kasumi said. "So the killer controlled the robot and had it push the boxes!"

Sorao let out a cry of amazement as he lurched back a bit. "Whoa, that makes total sense! It explains why we found the robot near the vent and those boxes!"

"In short, after placing Hikari on the couch," Masashi said, "the killer first locked the door from the inside. Then the killer grabbed the robot's remote control and crept into the vent. All the killer needed to do afterwards was close the vent cover and have the robot move the boxes to the front of the vent."

"And that's how the locked room mystery was created," Mari said. "A pretty simple trick, I suppose."

"Sometimes, it's the simple trick that works best!" Kasumi added.

"Hmm… But I wonder one thing," Haruyuki said. "Can the robot only be controlled by remote control?"

"Looks like it," Sorao answered.

"And did you find the remote control?"

"Er… no…" Masashi said. "But the fact that it wasn't in the staff lounge suggests it was taken away by the killer, doesn't it?"

"Of course, but the next question is: where is the remote control now?" Maiha asked. "If we knew where it is, then we may have some idea as to who the killer is."

As the others looked at one another inquisitively, Masashi thought back to the investigation and recalled all the evidence that he had found.

Wait a minute… he thought. That remote control… could it be? But that means…

"Actually… we've already found it," he answered, albeit with hesitance.

"What? Where?" Faye asked.

"It was found on... Tanjiro's person…"

A few of the others gasped, as the implication of this became clear.

"No way… Are you sure about that?" Kasumi asked.

Masashi nodded glumly. "The remote control for the robot wasn't in the staff lounge, and we found a strange remote control on him. And it can't be for the toy car in the theater room, since we'd already found its remote control near it.

"Since there are no other missing controls," Mari added, "we can safely assume that the mysterious control was actually for the robotic toy."

"But that means…"

Faye gasped again as she covered her mouth with her hand. "It was Tanjiro who attacked Hikari!"

"What… What are you saying?"

The unsettled voice had come from Sayua, who looked at Masashi with a blank but stern look.

"You… You've gotta be pulling my chain here, right?" she said, her countenance and voice utterly devoid of amusement. "You don't actually think Tanjiro was her killer."

"Erm…" Masashi said. "I don't like to say it, but I think it's likely—"

"Well, I think you're wrong!" Sayua said, suddenly raising her voice. "There's no way in hell that Tanjiro would ever do something like that! Trust me, I know him like the back of my hand! He can't attack his way out of a paper bag!"

"Right, it sounds pretty ridiculous, outlandish, and farfetched!" Faye added with outrage.

"I can't really imagine it, you know!" Kasumi said, failing to hide the surprise in her voice. "Tanjiro attacked Hikari, even though they'd become good friends… That's unbelievable!"

"I myself have some… reservations about Masashi's accusation," Haruyuki said hesitantly. "It indeed sounds rather strange to imagine such a thing."

"But… you know, all the evidence so far is pretty convincing…" Sorao said, shrugging his shoulders and looking rather accepting of it. "Can't help but agree with Masashi here."

Maiha scoffed. "For once, I concur. The rest of you are too clouded by your opinions of Tanjiro to see the truth."

"Well, this is troubling…" Mari said. "Looks like we can't decide whether Tanjiro really was involved with Hikari's death—"

"Time for something completely different!"

Once again, Monokuma silenced the class as he raised one of his paws.

"My, oh, my, you've reached a deadlock this early in the class trial! How unexpected!" Monokuma said. "But I don't mind it, really. It really gets boring if things go the same way every time, don'tcha think?"

"Well, I suppose that it's a nice change of pace to get this out of the way early," Haruyuki remarked.

"Does this always happen in every class trial?" Sorao asked coolly.

"No, the early ones didn't have it, but nowadays, the trials have it. Well, most of them, at least," Monokuma answered. "Anyway, up we go!"

Like last time, Monokuma took out his key and inserted it into the circular panel that lay before him. Once its meter glowed all the way, all the podiums and Monokuma's throne flew up into the air. After all answered the question shown on their podiums, they were then placed in two different groups, and so began the debate.


Debate Scrum

Question: Was Tanjiro behind Hikari's death?

No: Sayua, Kasumi, Haruyuki, Faye, Takumi

Yes: Masashi, Mari, Sorao, Maiha

"This whole thing's a trick! The killer planted the remote control on Tanjiro!" Sayua began.

"But we have no evidence that suggests it was planted on him, you know," Sorao said.

"Would Tanjiro really try to kill Hikari? They always struck me as sweethearts!" Kasumi said.

"It matters not even if they were sweethearts. Perhaps neither we nor Hikari knew of his true self," Maiha said.

"Even with the remote control, I see no other evidence that throws suspicion on Tanjiro," Haruyuki said.

"No, there is evidence. Specifically, the security logs for the theater rooms," Masashi said.

"I don't get it! What do the logs have to do with this?" Kumi said.

"They don't show anything, but that's the issue. Tanjiro's name doesn't appear in the logs," Mari said.

"That is weird… So if Tanjiro didn't enter through the doors, how did he enter the theater rooms?" Faye said.

"He must've entered through one of the vents in the theater rooms," Maiha said.

"But what does entering through the vent have to do with Hikari's murder?" Kasumi said.

"Remember: to create the locked room mystery, the killer must've escaped through the staff lounge's vent," Mari said.

"It's only a coincidence that both the killer and Tanjiro happened to use the vent!" Sayua said.

"Using the vent instead of the door doesn't sound like what an innocent person would do! I can't think of it as coincidence!" Masashi said.

This is our answer!

All the podiums flew back down, the opposing side having given up on the issue.

"I think it's clear that Tanjiro had something to do with Hikari's death," Masashi said. "We have two pieces of evidence that shows an undeniable pattern."

"I guess so…" Kasumi said as she adjusted her red masquerade mask. "I still can't believe it, though... Tanjiro attacking a friend? And here I thought he was such a sweet guy..."

"I can't believe it…" Sayua muttered, sounding as if most of her life had been sucked out of her voice. Though she tried to put up a bold demeanor, Masashi could sense her waning efforts. "I… I never would have thought that Tanjiro would have the guts to attack Hikari."

"Ah, but… it's the truth," Sorao said as he frowned a glum frown. "Tanjiro… He was far more despicable and immoral than I would've imagined!"

He then threw up his hands in the air, letting out a great cry of sorrow. "Oh, Tanjiro! How could you do such a thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing?!"

"Be silent already," Maiha said, looking not at all pleased. "We're conducting a class trial here. I expect even a fool like you to bear yourself with dignity."

"Aw... All right," Sorao said, quickly returning to normal.

Mari set a finger on her chin and looked toward Masashi. "That reminds me, there's one other piece of evidence that the others ought to be aware of. Show it, Masashi."

"Huh? Oh, you're talking about…"

Despite knowing that it had to be brought up eventually, Masashi still hesitated for a moment. The more he thought about it, the worse he felt about actually going through with this. He knew how dear Tanjiro had been to certain others here, and to reveal even more of Tanjiro's misdeeds would worsen the pain that they now felt.

But in the end, it was for the sake of returning to how things ought to be. He could only hope that they could bear with this as best as they could.

Masashi took out the pink camera, which he had found on Tanjiro's person. "Everyone… Mari and I found a certain photo… and it's not exactly related to this case, but…"

Sorao nearly started as he opened up his arms, his expression partly full of dread. "A-A certain photo, you say…?"

"Oh… With those words, I don't like where this is going!" Kasumi said, shuddering.

"Fortunately, no one cares," Maiha replied coldly before facing Masashi. "I bid you to show us at once."

Seeing that had already gone beyond the point of no return, he let everyone see the photograph, and as he had expected, all the others gasped.

"I-It can't be… Arashi!" Faye said, her face waxen. "I can't believe it!"

"Oh, but indeed, there he is," Haruyuki said, staring at it with amazement. "And what's that I see in his hands? Is that a bunch of arrows?"

"It is," Mari said. "It's a photo of Arashi preparing his murder scheme the night before. And clearly, someone took this photo without him noticing."

"And that someone…" Kasumi said, staring at it wide-mouthed. "I-It's Tanjiro, isn't it?"

"No… No fucking way!" Sayua said, but her denial lacked much heart.

"But... it is his camera, isn't it?" Sorao said with a sad yet assertive tone, looking far calmer now. "Tanjiro… He must've stumbled upon what Arashi was doing, and he knew what he was up to!"

"And he never told the rest of us," Maiha said. "Clearly, he wanted Arashi to go through with his murder scheme… and with his silence, he essentially acted as his accomplice."

"Despite Monokuma's words? No, wait…" Haruyuki said before he turned and looked the bear in the eye with a small wry smile. "I see now… You never denied that he had an accomplice, did you?"

Monokuma chortled as soon as everyone looked at him. "All I said was that Arashi wasn't aware of an accomplice. Of course, that doesn't destroy the possibility of an accomplice that not even Arashi was aware of. If you thought otherwise, then that's on you."

"But why?" Faye asked. "Why would Tanjiro help Arashi?"

"Perhaps there was a way that he would benefit from having Arashi succeed in killing one of us," Maiha replied as she sighed. "But in the end, we can only speculate, now that he is gone from this world."

"How cunning of him to work so underhandedly," Haruyuki said, his voice and gaze showing a mix of awe and surprise. "To think, this photograph would serve as proof of how devious his true self was."

"His true self… I…" Sayua said, her eyes even more sunken than before. "I guess… I never really knew him as well as I thought…"

"You don't deny it anymore?" Kasumi said.

"How could I?" she uttered. Though she was clearly doing her best to keep her composure, she failed to keep her voice from slightly cracking. "You have that photo on his camera… And not only did he have that remote control, but he also didn't appear at all in the security logs! Even I'm not so stupid as to keep arguing against it!"

"Sayua… I… I'm sorry for revealing all this. I know it was a bit cruel to sling mud on his name, but..." Masashi said. "But I had to... I had to uncover some of his evils for the truth's sake. I hope you understand..."

Despite his attempt to sound apologetic, Sayua simply responded in silence and hardly batted an eye at him. He knew that he ought to have worded it differently, but right now, they had greater matters to tend to.

"So… what now?" Kasumi said. "Where do we go from here?"

"Well, we've just proven that Tanjiro placed Hikari in the staff lounge, used the robot toy to create the locked room mystery, and escaped through the vent to the upper theater room," Haruyuki answered. "Those certainly are not the deeds of an innocent person, are they?"


Nonstop Debate

"I can't believe it, but Tanjiro has to be the blackened…" Faye began. "That's what all the evidence is pointing to, right?"

"Yes, such an awful betrayal," Maiha said. "He was the one who struck her with one of the music room's weapons.

"And he then poisoned her with one of the poisons from the cupboard," Sorao said.

"And he must've been the one who moved Hikari's body to the staff lounge and created the locked room mystery!" Kasumi said. "The remote control we found on him proves it!"

"And he didn't appear in the security logs for the theater room…" Mari said. "He must've entered through the vent as part of creating the locked room mystery."

"I guess… he really wasn't innocent after all…" Sayua muttered.

"That all sounds right to me..." Sorao said. "There's no one else left... Oh well."

Truth Bullet Chosen (Refute): Fingerprint Data

No, that's wrong!

"No, that's not quite right," Masashi said. "Tanjiro may have struck Hikari, but he couldn't have poisoned her. Monokuma himself confirmed this to us."

"He did?" Maiha said, sounding clearly baffled. "That buffoonish boor of a bear revealed that much?"

"I'd much appreciate it if you didn't refer to me like that in the future!" Monokuma said, glaring at her as he bared his claws for a moment. "Anyway… yes, I told them earlier that Tanjiro never touched any of the bottles in the cupboard."

"And Hikari remembered seeing a hand holding the bottle of poison as the killer made her drink it," Mari said. "I think it's clear that Tanjiro never fed her the poison."

"But… that's weird," Kasumi said as she cocked her head to the side. "Doesn't that mean that the man she remembered may not have been Tanjiro? And it was someone else who poisoned her?"

"Well, yes," Mari said, nodding. "In fact, we have proof that there may be a third party involved."

"HUH?" Sorao said, gaping. "W-We do? What are you talking about?"

"Masashi… You know what it is, yes?" Mari replied. "There was one thing particularly odd about Tanjiro's belongings… something that did not match with what the rest of us had."

That thing… Wait, could it be?

"Mari, you're talking about Tanjiro's contract, aren't you?" he said.

She nodded firmly. "The thing that stood out about it was the thickness of the paper. For some reason, it was ever so slightly thicker than the rest of ours."

"Thicker?" Faye said, looking at her curiously. "That's weird… I don't think paper can suddenly get thicker like that."

Kasumi cocked her head to the side. "So what's up with the contract?"

"And how is it involved with the so-called third party?" Haruyuki asked, though something about his voice suggested that he might know the answer. "Will someone care to enlighten us?"

The contract… he thought as the others murmured to one another. Why is his contract like that? If we don't figure it out, we won't get anywhere.


Hangman's Gambit

Question: What is the truth behind Tanjiro's contract?

?-?-?-?

There's only one thing I can think of…

C-?-?-?

The contract on Tanjiro's person isn't his true contract!

C-O-?-?

He made a forgery to fool us!

C-O-P-Y

That explains why his contract is thicker than ours!

COPY

"That's it!" Masashi said. "Tanjiro's contract is actually a copy!"

"Wh-What?" Sayua said, eyeing him with even more incredulousness. "Wh-What the hell are you talking about?"

"Tanjiro's 'contract' differs from the rest of ours by its thickness," Masashi explained. "It makes sense if it's not actually a genuine contract given out by Monokuma."

"What, really?!" Kasumi asked, nearly starting. "Are you sure that all our contracts are of the same thickness?"

"I can confirm that I used the same kind of paper for the contracts I gave out later," Monokuma answered, raising a paw.

"So… Tanjiro somehow made a fake contract to fool us?" Maiha asked. "How?"

Well, this one's actually pretty obvious… Masashi thought.

"During the investigation, Sorao and I found a printer in the staff lounge," he explained. "Apparently, Monokuma had put it there on someone's request."

"A printer?" Maiha exclaimed, looking somewhat ruffled now. "You don't mean to insinuate that…!"

"But I do. It functions like any other printer and can print and copy papers," he said. "Tanjiro could've easily made a copy of his contract."

"Yes, though I never examined it during the investigation, I feel fairly confident that the paper in the printer is of the same thickness," Mari said as she faced Monokuma. "Can you confirm that for us?"

Monokuma heaved a heavy sigh. "Well, to cut to the chase... yes, you're right on that. That contract definitely has the same thickness as my printer paper."

"Of course, by doing so, the copy wouldn't actually count as a legitimate contract, would it?" she replied. "The rules of the contracts thus wouldn't apply to the copy, would they, Monokuma?"

"You're right on that!" Monokuma said, brightening up. "If the contract didn't come from the printer in my belly and make contact with my intestinal acids, then it doesn't count, plain and simple."

"Ew…" Kasumi groaned. "Not the imagery I wanted to hear today. Or any day, really."

"Anyway, I think it obvious as to why he would make a copy in the first place," Haruyuki said. "The copy was meant to deceive us and hide what he had truly done with his contract."

"And there's only one reason why he would want to hide the state of his own contract," Masashi said as he put up a grim expression. "One of us… must've signed his contract."

The whole class murmured in shock for a few seconds at the revelation.

"So… there truly is an accomplice among us?" Sayua said, sounding more and more incredulous. "Can't believe it… Tanjiro would go that far as well…!"

"But that appears to be the truth," Sorao said, looking more collected than most of his peers. "One of us agreed to partner up with him, and Tanjiro must've thought to fool the rest of us with his fake contract."

"The deception, of course, works only if we only ever look at the contracts," Mari said, crossing her arms. "But if one of us touches the 'contract', the deception falls apart."

"Well, it certainly worked to some extent," Haruyuki said. "After the motive was revealed, whenever we showed our contracts, you always looked at them. Not once did you ever touch them."

Mari sighed as her face grew weary. "Yes… I was negligent in that part. I should've known that it would've been far too easy to get past our inspections by simply using a copy."

"Aw, don't feel bad about that," Kasumi said consolingly. "What's done is done. Let's just focus on the present now!"

"Say… if Tanjiro had a fake contract," Sorao said, raising a finger, "isn't it likely that the accomplice had one as well? It makes sense that they signed each other's contracts, don'tcha think?"

"Ah, that's right!" Faye said. "And not only that, but we also know that the accomplice has to be the blackened. We know Tanjiro didn't poison Hikari because of the lack of fingerprints, so it must've been the accomplice!"

"It certainly looks very likely," Mari said, nodding along. "Everyone, please hand all your contracts to Masashi."

Though a few of the others looked a bit unsure about this at first, as if afraid to see what would come next, in the end, no one spoke against the idea, and all the others took out their contracts and passed them along to Masashi.

Once all the contracts (including his own) were in his hand, he sorted them into one neat stack and began to fill the thickness of the papers one by one, not looking at the names on the bottom. Eventually, he felt one contract feeling slightly thicker, and after checking through all the contracts once more, he confirmed that only one of them was fake.

Here we go…

He took the paper out of the stack and slowly lowered his gaze, only to feel his heart skip a beat as he took in the sight of the name.

"No way…" he uttered. "This fake contract… it…"

"Well? To whom does it belong?" Maiha said demandingly.

"It… belongs to…"

"Out with it already!" Sayua said.

He took in one breath of air before saying it aloud.

"Takumi Takamitsu…"

Everyone else let out a gasp, and in the next second, they all stared at Kumi.

"Oh, man... looks like you have some explaining to do, little fellow," Sorao said, staring at him with great bemusement.

"I must note, you have been quieter than usual," Haruyuki added. "Perhaps you've been trying to draw as little attention to yourself as you can… though obviously, such an effort is now futile."

"N-No! I-It's not true!" Kumi said, sounding utterly unconvincing with the weakness in his voice. "I-I'm not the culprit, honest! I-I never poisoned Hikari!"

"But how do you explain your fake contract?" Mari asked.

"I-I don't know!" Kumi held up his teddy bear like a shield and had it cover the lower half of his face. "I don't know… I don't know what magic was used to make that fake contract!"

"It wasn't magic, you fool," Maiha replied. "Even a cretin like you must know how to operate a printer."

"P-Please believe me!" Kumi said, his eyes watering. "I-I never killed Hikari… I-I'd never act as anyone's accomplice!"

But she scoffed, clearly dismissing any possibility of his innocence. "What loathsome objections you utter… It's beyond clear that we have our culprit at last."


Nonstop Debate

"It's all clear now," Maiha began. "You, Takumi Takamitsu, are Tanjiro's accomplice!"

"N-No! I-It's not true!" Kumi whimpered pathetically. "I never went to the music room! And I swear, I never poisoned Hikari!"

"How do you explain your fake contract, then?" Haruyuki asked. "You must've used the printer to make a fake one."

"I-I don't know, honest!" Kumi replied. "I wasn't Tanjiro's accomplice, honest!"

"You're the only other one with a fake contract, however," Sorao said. "Pretty clear that no one else could've signed your contract."

"Kumi, is it really true?" Kasumi said, looking at him concernedly. "Have you really been lying to us?"

"I… I…" Kumi said as he buried his face into his teddy bear.

Truth Bullet Chosen (Refute): Maiha's Account

No, that's wrong!

"Erm… I don't think Tanjiro ever signed Kumi's contract," Masashi began, though he himself found the reason for it to be bizarre at best. "And there's a good reason for that."

"What? What makes you think he's innocent?!" Sayua said.

"I wouldn't say he's 'innocent'," he replied. "Mainly because Tanjiro never signed his contract… it was actually someone else."

"WHAT?!" many of the others exclaimed.

"Someone else signed his contract?!" Sorao said, looking extraordinarily surprised. "Do you know who it was, man?!"

"It… was Hikari," he answered hesitantly. "Maiha, you mentioned something interesting during the investigation. You said that Kumi had asked Hikari to write her name in his storybook, supposedly because he wanted to see her handwriting."

"Ah!" Maiha let her mouth drop and stood silently for a few seconds. "That fool… Don't tell me that he actually…!"

"N-No! No, no, no, no, no!" Kumi said, his voice lacking in composure, his cheeks reddening. "Th-That's not true! Hikari never signed my contract!"

"And why not?" Mari asked.

"W-Well… Um… Oh, I know!" he said. "Tanjiro was there as well! Don't you think he would've said something if I'd tried to have Hikari sign my contract?"

"True… Even if he was up to his own schemes, I think that Tanjiro would've said something if he had seen Hikari sign his contract," Faye said.

"And I must admit… even though I didn't pay much attention to their conversation," Maiha said, setting one hand on her cheek, "I don't think I would've missed it if he had mentioned anything related to the contracts."

"Y-You see!" Kumi said, looking a bit more relieved. "I-It's just wrong to think I would have Hikari sign my contract right there and then! And I'll have you know, I don't have that kind of magic to control her like that! So please stop saying that I did it—"

"Wait, I know!"

The outburst came from Kasumi, who looked quite unnerved as if she had stumbled upon something horrible.

"Huh? What is it?" Faye asked.

"Well, you don't know it, but during the investigation," she replied, "I told Masashi and Mari a short story about a theft of mine. And as it so happens, I used a certain trick!"


"You see, I was to steal a prized gem known as the Bandit Chief's Soul," Kasumi began, sounding too excited to pay any heed to Masashi's answer. "It was in display at a restaurant, since its owner, a famous actor, was holding a fancy dinner party. Unfortunately, guests might enter only if they had an invitation sent by the owner."

"So, uh, how did you slip in?" he asked, figuring that he might as well let her have her fun.

"Simple! The invitation itself was not hard to reproduce," she answered, "but the problem was that the owner attached his signature to each invitation. So I disguised myself as a fangirl and 'bumped' into him on the street. I begged him to give him his autograph, and he accepted... but little did he know, there was a trick to the paper he wrote on! You see, underneath it was... carbon paper!"

"Carbon paper?" Mari said. "Oh, yes, I see now... You hid the invitation underneath the carbon paper, so the autograph ended up on the invitation as well."

"Exactly!" Kasumi said. "I can show you this trick later if you want. I'm pretty sure I saw some carbon paper in the shop earlier."


"Ah, yes, you indeed said that," Mari said. "I suppose that answers our question, then."

"Wh-What? Wh-What do you mean?" Kumi said, looking paler and paler.

"It's clear that you can deny it no longer," Haruyuki answered. "You must've gotten some carbon paper from the shop and set it underneath the page on which you had that poor girl write her signature."

"So we've proven that it was possible that Hikari unwittingly signed your contract," Masashi said. "Kumi, please… tell us the truth. Did you trick her into signing it?"

"Aah… I-I…" Kumi said, quivering.

Haruyuki chuckled softly and merrily as he opened up his arms. "There may be no need to hear the answer from you. If you used the carbon paper to get her signature, then we may find the same carbon paper on you—"

"I ADMIT IT!"

The others reared back in shock at Kumi's sudden outburst.

"Wh-What…?" Faye said, staring at him with confusion. "You… admit it?"

"I-I'm sorry, but… Masashi's right!" Kumi whimpered, tears welling in his eyes. "It's true… I tricked Hikari into signing my contract!"

Though by this point it had become obvious, his admission still caused many of the others to gasp. Even Masashi nearly felt as if his heart had been cloven in half upon hearing the unsightly truth from his lips.

"Whoa there!" Sorao said, gazing at him in a befuddled way. "You really did it?"

"I can't believe it!" Kasumi said. "Why did you go so far as to use that trick?"

Kumi nodded, sniffling. "I-I knew that if I'd asked her to sign it up front, she'd have said no… s-so I had to use a little trickery…"

"But why?" Mari asked. "Why did you even want her to be your contract partner?"

Kumi said nothing for a few seconds, looking as if trying to gather his bearings again.

"I… I had a bad dream last night," he said, his voice shaky. "I-I saw Hikari… all covered in blood… a-and… I saw a fairy…"

"A fairy?" Masashi said.

Kumi nodded hesitantly as he hugged his trusty teddy bear companion. "I-It told me that if I wanted to save her… I-I would have to get Hikari to sign my contract… I didn't want to believe it at first, but… it all felt so real... and I-I didn't want to risk it..."

"Oh, what a load of bull!" Sayua said. "You've obviously just made that up! Anyone can fucking see that you planned to murder one of us and escape with her!"

"N-No! Honestly, I didn't!" Kumi replied, tears welling in his eyes.

Unfortunately, his voice had so much shakiness and uncertainty that Masashi could not even tell whether he had just lied or had truly had the so-called nightmare. If this were anyone else, it would come off as an utterly poor excuse, but this had just come from someone who seemed to truly believe in such fantastic beings. Was it possible that this deception had been done with innocent intentions?

"I… I knew that you guys wouldn't trust me if I just had my contract signed and then destroyed," Kumi continued, clearly trying to sound more confident. "I thought I could trick you with a copy. And that's why last night… I asked Monokuma to put the printer in the staff lounge."

"You WHAT?!" Sorao exclaimed, pointing at him with utter shock. "YOU'RE the one who had that printer put there?!"

"Puhuhuhuhu..." Monokuma said, leaning back on his throne laxly. "I'm sorry to say that he speaks the truth."

"H-He does?!" Kasumi said, reeling back a bit.

"Yes, just around midnight, he woke me up from my beauty sleep and pitifully told me his intentions. I was pretty moved by his sorry sight, truly," Monokuma said. "Anyway, I put the printer there and later watched his trickery at hand. Course, you guys all saw through his carbon paper trick, so if you ask me, he shouldn't have wasted his time getting that pathetic medium's signature."

"M-Monokuma!" Kumi said, facing him with great shock.

"Whether it were a waste of time or not," Mari said, "we've all heard it from the horse's mouth: Kumi was not Tanjiro's accomplice. He had used the carbon paper trick to have Hikari unwittingly become his contract partner. Thank you for confirming this for us, Monokuma."

Monokuma gasped before he covered his mouth with both paws. "Oh, whoopsie... Didn't meant to spoil that for you..."

"Wait, go ahead, spoil more for us! This is a time when spoilers are good!" Kasumi said beseechingly, but to no avail.

"What a way to prove me wrong..." Sorao said, looking truly shocked. "Never would've thought that the little fellow would go that far."

Masashi nodded, seeing the only good thing that this implied. "And what's more, Kumi couldn't have been the one who had tried to kill Hikari with the poison. It wouldn't make any sense for him to try to kill the one he had tried to save."

"Yeah… I suppose so…" Sorao said as he narrowed his eyes and gazed downwards. "Still, I wonder… what did you do after you left the restaurant?"

"I-I… I'm pretty sure I didn't do anything else," Kumi answered hesitantly.

"'Pretty sure'?" Maiha said. "What is with that answer? You either know or do not know."

"I… The truth is… I don't really remember much of what happened this morning. I keep trying to recall it, but my memory of this morning is really, really murky."

"Oh, my… looks like the tranquilizer screwed you over!"

It was Monokuma, who looked mildly amused as he set one arm on his throne and leaned his head against it.

"Hmm? Why the surprised gazes, everyone? Oh, that's right, I guess you don't know..." Monokuma said as his tone grew conniving. "The tranquilizers I'm authorized to use don't just knock targets out. Let's just say that as a side effect, they have a tendency to… make them forgetful."

"You mean, it's given him amnesia?" Kasumi said, staring bewilderedly at him.

"Well, when you put it that way, it sounds wrong," Monokuma replied sleazily. "Our legal department likes to think of it as 'temporary rearrangement of cognitive creations'."

"I don't even know where to begin with that name," Faye commented, staring bemusedly at him.

"Kumi, how much do you remember?" Masashi asked. "Do you remember what happened after you ran back to your room last evening?"

"I…" Kumi hung his head down. "I can remember everything clearly up until last night. I-I'd been lying on my bed... a-and after I had that dream, I asked Monokuma to put the printer in the staff lounge. But everything after that… it's spotty."

"Do you remember this morning's cooking session?" Mari asked.

Kumi shook his head. "No… But I can remember asking Hikari to sign my contract using the carbon paper trick."

"And what about after you left the restaurant to go to the theater rooms?" Sorao asked.

This time, Kumi looked more hesitant and shaken and glanced around a bit before answering.

"Barely anything… I was just walking around."

"Uh huh…" Maiha said, obviously doubting his truthfulness.

"Hmm, that's a little troublesome," Sorao said. "But in any case, the security logs show you walking in and out of the theater rooms. I guess you're telling the truth here when you say you have nothing to do with Hikari's murder."

"But… now what?" Kasumi said. "We thought that Tanjiro and his accomplice had made copies of their contracts and signed each other's contracts. But the only other person with a fake contract can't be the one!"

"Just to be sure... Masashi, did you check Hikari's contract?" Mari asked. "I doubt she'd ever be up to no good, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

Masashi nodded. "I touched it during the investigation, and it definitely felt like a regular one. It's safe to say no one ever signed her contract."

"So it's settled: Hikari never had an accomplice, not that she was ever planning to kill," Sorao said. "Rather, she unwittingly became Kumi's accomplice... but it wouldn't really make a lot of sense for the little fellow to kill Hikari, then."

"In that case, I would like to share my theory."

It was Haruyuki, who set a hand on his chin.

"Let us clarify the current facts: Tanjiro was certainly working with one of us," he began. "That person signed Tanjiro's contract, but Tanjiro did not sign his partner's. And as shown by the evidence on his person, Tanjiro executed the whole scheme of creating a locked room mystery. What kind of person would do such a thing?"

"Obviously someone who'd just killed another human being," Maiha answered. "No innocent person would go through such lengths to hide his deeds."

"Exactly. In other words, it seems that Tanjiro thought that he was Hikari's killer," Haruyuki said. "But we know that Hikari was made to drink the poison, and the one responsible could not have been Tanjiro. We know this for sure because of the fingerprints on the bottle, or more appropriately, the lack thereof."

"Yeah, Monokuma himself told us that Tanjiro had never touched any of the bottles," Masashi said.

Haruyuki gave a small nod, looking quite satisified. "Now, this takes me to my next point: it is clear that the accomplice was really Hikari's killer, and yet Tanjiro acted as if he had been the true killer all along. That seems rather contradictory."

"Well, they were accomplices, right?" Faye said, looking not at all befuddled. "Tanjiro was simply helping his partner cover it up."

"But that can't be true," Mari replied. "We've already determined that Tanjiro never signed anyone's contract. After all, all our contracts except Kumi's are legitimate, and Monokuma's already confirmed that Hikari signed his true contract instead."

"So there would be no benefit to helping his accomplice after all…" Kasumi said. "If they both succeeded, only the accomplice would escape this place alive! Tanjiro would've been executed alongside the rest of us!"

"Exactly, Kasumi. Only the accomplice would benefit from this. This leads me to one conclusion." Haruyuki said nothing for the next few seconds, as if to build suspense. "The partnership between the two involved deception from the very start."

"Deception…?" Sorao said quietly as he narrowed his eyes on Haruyuki. "What do you mean?"

"What else could I mean?" he said as if it were obvious. "The accomplice tricked Tanjiro into thinking that he was Hikari's killer and then secretly poisoned Hikari."

The others gasped.

"Th-That's unbelievable!" Kasumi said. "Things were already complicated enough with the whole locked room mystery, and now you're saying that the killer was a traitor, too?"

"Yeah, that's a lot to take in!" Faye said.

"Still… I must admit, it resolves the seemingly contradictory aspect of these events," Maiha said, looking far more accepting of Haruyuki's theory. "The accomplice may have had Tanjiro leave the room temporarily as part of disguising the music room as the true scene of the crime. Then the accomplice would use the opportunity to poison Hikari."

"And moreover, this would explain why Tanjiro never signed his partner's contract… that was what the latter intended all along," Haruyuki added, smiling.

"But why go that far?" Kasumi said. "Wouldn't it make much more sense to just honor their partnership? Why the betrayal?"

"If we think in terms of the outcome... if we all incorrectly voted for Tanjiro, then all of us except the accomplice would be punished," Mari said. "The true killer must've thought it beneficial somehow that Tanjiro be killed as well."

The way she put it, I can't help but think that Tanjiro was a threat to that person, Masashi thought. I wonder why… If only I had a clue on who the accomplice may be…

"Wait, there's just one thing that I don't get," Faye said. "Didn't you guys feed Hikari the antidote after finding her?"

"We did, but…" Mari said. "I fed her what I thought was a reasonable dose. Unfortunately, it seemed that it was not enough to withstand the poison."

"It also didn't help we didn't know how much poison she had been fed, too!" Kasumi added. "I don't like to say it, but maybe it had already been too late to save her!"

"Oh, man..." Sorao muttered sadly. "To think, she died after she thought that everything was okay... What a tragedy this has turned out to be."


Nonstop Debate

"The culprit must be Tanjiro's accomplice," Maiha said. "That person had the chance to poison Hikari."

"And it was all part of a betrayal!" Kasumi said. "I can't believe someone would sink that low!"

"I suppose they wouldn't make good partners in crime," Haruyuki remarked.

"Then after Hikari was poisoned, Tanjiro bore her to the lounge and created the locked room mystery," Maiha said. "He did not know that she was dying from the poison."

"And even with the antidote," Faye said, "it mustn't have been enough to save her. We don't know how much poison she had been fed."

"It's sad… She died in that room, all alone," Kasumi said. "And the five of us who found her were the last ones she ever saw!"

"Hmm… Are you sure?" Sorao said. "Maybe someone else visited her afterwards."

"Really? What makes you think so?" Mari asked.

"I don't know… just a feeling, I guess," Sorao replied modestly.

Truth Bullet Chosen (Agree): Bottle of Poison

I agree with that!

"Sorao... I think you're onto something," Masashi said, albeit unsure about where this was going.

Sorao's face brightened. "Wow, really? What makes you say that?"

"Don't forget what we found in the staff lounge," he explained. "One thing stood out quite a bit. Namely, the bottle of poison."

Sorao gasped before spouting a wide smile. "Oh, yeah, that thing! Thanks for reminding me, Masashi!"

"Seriously? You forgot something like that?" Faye said, staring bemusedly at him.

"The important thing is," Masashi said, "it definitely wasn't there when we left Hikari alone there before her death. That means that someone must've entered the room sometime later and left it there."

Mari nodded. "Yes, I'm certain that there was no bottle of poison at that time. We left the antidote bottle there instead."

"And speaking of that, where is it now?" Maiha asked.

Sorao let out a disappointed sigh as he let his shoulders sink. "Unfortunately, we didn't find it anywhere in the room. It must've disappeared after Masashi and company left Hikari in the staff lounge, since when they discovered her corpse later, it was already gone—"

"Wait a minute now!"

It came from none other than Sayua, who looked awfully agitated.

"You're getting it all wrong!" she insisted. "The antidote bottle wasn't missing. It was in the room when we found her dead body, wasn't it?"

"What?" Sorao said, his mouth open a little. "No way… You're the one in the wrong here."

"What did you say?"

Raising a finger sharply, Sorao frowned at her. "We found the poison bottle in the room during the investigation! And no one else entered the room before us, so we know the bottle is genuine. That's a fact."

"You serious?" Sayua scratched the back of her head. "Then why do I remember it differently?"

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Sorao replied rather readily, sounding more irked as his glare intensified. "You were shocked by Hikari's corpse. And not to mention that you saw Tanjiro's corpse afterwards! You were clearly going through a lot of emotions, and from my experience, that's bound to muddle a few things in one's memory. Isn't that right?"

"I… I guess…" she said, her voice growing shaky. "Dunno why I thought for sure it was the antidote bottle…"

Huh... I thought the same thing as well... Masashi thought as he furrowed his brow. I wonder what actually happened to the antidote bottle... Where exactly did it go?

"It's all right. It happens to all of us, and I'm glad to have helped you," Sorao said as he sighed and relaxed his shoulders. "What's more important is that someone entered the room after Masashi and company left. That person must've taken the antidote bottle and left the poison bottle there."

"Since it was a bottle of poison, it must've been the killer!" Kasumi said.

"But how do you suggest that person entered the room?" Mari asked. "Kasumi had locked it with her lockpick after we'd left."

"And for your information, I've already made sure to keep all my lockpicks in my room!" Kasumi interjected. "I've chosen to keep one on me, and I haven't lost it!"

Sorao smiled softly as if he had expected the question to be asked. "A no-brainer, really. Not much of a locked door if the person behind the lock opens it, is it?"

"So you suggest that Hikari willingly opened the door for her killer?" Mari asked.

"I mean, it's not as far-fetched as you think. The killer could've simply knocked on the door, claiming that Masashi and company had sent them to take care of her. Hikari would've then opened the door, and that was when the killer could've tricked her into drinking the poison."

"Ah, and then the killer simply had Hikari lock the door. And Hikari went back to rest, not knowing that she had been led to her death," Haruyuki said. "An interesting theory… It certainly would explain how the locked room was maintained."

"And the killer crept into the staff lounge with the poison when we were busy looking around in the music room?" Kasumi said.

"It certainly looks like it," Sorao said. "But what's more… the killer must've known that Hikari had been fed the antidote earlier and so wanted to make sure that it wouldn't work."

"Sounds right to me," Faye said.

Sorao then raised a finger. "Now here's the most important part: the killer was someone who had known about the fact. In other words, it's possible that someone told the killer about it."

"Told the killer... Ah!" Sayua set one fish onto her other palm. "I've got it! I've figured it out!"

"Wh-What? You do?" Faye said.

"Yeah, that's right. Now that I understand the whole theory, I know who fucking did it!" she said excitedly. "It was you!"

She then raised her hand and forcefully pointed her finger at a certain person.

"What… You accuse me?"

It was Haruyuki, who and a few others looked quite shocked at the sudden accusation.

"That's right. You're the culprit," Sayua said. "I at least remember full well what happened after we left Hikari alone in the staff lounge and headed downstairs! We bumped into you near the music room!"


Of all people, it was Haruyuki, who looked mildly surprised to see them, and to whom Masashi showed like surprise.

"Huh? What are you doing here, Haruyuki?" Kasumi asked. "Weren't you asleep earlier?"

"Indeed, after a while, I awoke, only to see that you were missing, and so I wanted to see what you were up to," he answered. "Pray tell, why do you look so troubled?"

Masashi then told him everything that had happened once they had heard that weird metallic noise. By the end, Haruyuki had looked quite astounded.


"We told you everything!" Sayua continued. "Including how Hikari was resting in her room!"

Haruyuki widened his eyes a little. "W-Well, yes, that I admit, but that is a rather flimsy reason to suspect me."

"Oh, really?" Sayua retorted. "That's not all, you yutz. You said that you would head back to the restaurant right away, but you don't actually have anyone backing you up or anything, do you? We don't actually know for sure what you did."

"A-Ah! I-I get it now…" Kumi said. "B-Before Sir Haruyuki arrived at the restaurant, he could've gone to the staff lounge somehow and killed Lady Hikari… r-right?"

"Very good, Kumi!" Sorao said, smiling. "With knowledge of Hikari's condition and no alibi, it looks like our artsy friend is looking quite a bit suspicious."

"You may think so, but," Mari said. "I don't think it was possible for Haruyuki to commit the crime."

"Huh? Why the hell not?" Sayua said.

"For one, it's impossible for him to be the accomplice," she answered. "Haruyuki was in the restaurant until he left to find Masashi and the others. But Hikari had already been attacked by then."

Haruyuki gave a small bow. "Thank you, Mari. That should be enough to ease everyone's suspicion of me."

"Well, true, you're not the accomplice... but I don't think it matters anyway."

It was Sorao, who looked awfully cheery as he opened up his arms.

"What are you insinuating?" Maiha asked.

"I'm afraid we've been mistaken about one thing," Sorao explained. "We've been thinking that Hikari's killer and the accomplice must be the same person, but... isn't it possible that they're actually different people?"

"WHAT?!" Kasumi said, lurching back. "You mean, once again, it's someone else?!"

Sorao nodded. "I'm not saying I'm sure about this, mind you, but isn't it possible that the killing was done by an opportunist?"

"An... opportunist?" Mari said, looking skeptically at him. "What are you suggesting?"

"It may have been someone who had nothing to do with the whole scheme involving Tanjiro and his accomplice," Sorao answered. "Someone may have decided to take advantage of the situation after learning about it." He turned toward Monokuma. "Captain, just to be sure… if two people try to poison the same victim at different times, the second one will become the blackened, right?"

"Do you even need to ask?" Monokuma asked. "The last one who deals an injury to the victim becomes the blackened… assuming, of course, that it was the injury that led to the victim's death."

"Ah, I see what you're saying now!" Kasumi said. "So the opportunistic killer found out that someone had poisoned Hikari… but if the opportunist secretly poisoned Hikari later…"

"Then after figuring out who Hikari's original poisoner was, we would incorrectly vote for that person as the killer, and the rest of us, including the original poisoner, would lose," Maiha finished. "Another layer of complication... Not exactly what I would expect."

"But that doesn't account for one thing," Mari said, staring skeptically at Sorao. "How did the killer obtain the poison, the same one that was used to kill Hikari?"

"Well, Tanjiro and the accomplice could've simply left the poison in the music room, since they had no use for it anymore," Sorao explained. "And all the opportunist had to do was go down to the music room and get the poison bottle from the cupboard. It would've been easy to tell which one was used based on how much poison was remaining, right?"

"True. Unfortunately, we don't have the security log for the music room, so someone could've gone there to snatch a bottle at some point," Mari replied. "But on the other hand, you don't have any evidence that it was an opportunist."

"Well, I don't, but..." Sorao said as he glanced at the others. "I'm just saying that we shouldn't disregard the possibility. Don't you think so, guys?"

"Hmm... I can't deny it," Faye said. "I suppose it doesn't really matter if Haruyuki couldn't be the accomplice."

"Yes. Though unfortunately I don't think we can find our who the accomplice was, it doesn't matter who that person was, really," Sorao added, smiling a small but gleeful smile. "All it matters is whether Haruyuki was able to commit the crime. That's all."

"Strange as your explanation may be, I can't say it is without merit," Maiha said, looking quite puzzledly at him as if she had underestimated his intellect. "He may have done the deed as a devious opportunist instead."

Wait, I see what's going on...! Masashi thought as he saw the others looking more and more convinced. Sorao couldn't accuse Haruyuki of being the accomplice anymore, but he's managed to come up with a different explanation that justifies keeping him as a suspect. He has a point, I guess, but...

Haruyuki shook his head disapprovingly as he clicked his tongue. "I'm quite surprised that you should suspect me of being an opportunistic killer. I assure you, I'm not that kind of man."

"Whatever kind of man you may be, I still don't think that you're the killer," Mari replied.

"What? Why not?" Sayua said, staring blankly at her.

"I remember what you did when we investigated the music room before the body discovery announcement," Mari explained. "You were looking out the door the whole time in case Tanjiro came by, were you not?"

Sayua flinched. "W-Well, yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"The music room is right by the stairs going up to the staff lounge," Mari said. "To go there, Haruyuki would've needed to pass by you."

Haruyuki chuckled. "Exactly, Mari. I must say, I'm surprised to see you vouch for my innocence again, but it is a welcome surprise nonetheless."

"Not so fast!" Sayua said, raising a hand. "Sure, I may not have seen him, but that doesn't mean there wasn't another way to get past me."

"Another way?" Masashi said.

"Come on, you should know this!" Sayua replied, letting out a disgruntled sigh. "The ballroom! It's connected to the stairs going up to the staff lounge, isn't it? He could've gone there after leaving us and sneaked off to the lounge!"

"That's completely possible!" Sorao added. "The hallways are dimly lit, so I imagine he disappeared from your sight rather quickly. And the ballroom's also connected to the lower fifth deck, so it was completely possible for him to go there."

Haruyuki scoffed, looking quite unamused. "I did no such thing, I assure you. I simply took my time going back to the restaurant."

"Yes, I agree," Mari said. "There's no way that he could've used the ballroom to go to the staff lounge. Tell them why, Masashi."

Erm, all right… Masashi thought. Let's see now… The reason why we can exclude the possibility of Haruyuki going to the ballroom is…

"The security logs for the ballroom," he answered. "Earlier, we figured that Hikari couldn't have been attacked at the ballroom. After all, her name never appears in the security log for that room."

"That's right. In fact, no one's names are on the log," Mari added. "That means that no one entered the ballroom this morning until the investigation."

"So Haruyuki really is innocent!" Kasumi added. "There was no way for him to go to the staff lounge at all!"

"Exactly," Haruyuki said as he took a small bow. "I'm glad that my innocence has been swiftly proven."

"Ah… the security logs…" Sorao said, looking as if he had just felt a pang of pain. "I-I keep forgetting about that…"

Faye scoffed. "I'm not surprised, really. After two separate instances of spilling coffee this morning, I don't think I'll ever have you work in a kitchen ever again."

"Wait… two?" Haruyuki said. "I remember hearing about one incident."

"What, did Sorao not mention the second instance to you?" Faye replied, sounding quite casual now. "It was right after he came back from the clothing shop or whatever. He tried to pour himself a cup of coffee, only to spill it again! And right after I had to help him clean up the previous time!"

"Ugh… S-Sorry about that…" Sorao said, sweating.

"Well, you should be! Your second mess was far more disastrous! You even got the coffee stain on a bunch of the flavoring bottles on the counter!" Faye replied, sounding more and more agitated. "And you even tried hiding your mess by putting one of them away in your pocket!"

Sorao nervously chuckled. "Once again… sorry about that. I shouldn't have underestimated you."

"Hey, get back to the topic at hand!" Monokuma said. "I'm not here for kitchen minutia! The cooking shows I watch every morning do that for me already!"

"All right, all right…" Sorao said. "So what now? We know that Haruyuki couldn't have done it since he couldn't have accessed the crime scene in the first place."

"Well, what other ways are there to go to the staff lounge?" Faye asked. "Seems like the stairs are the only way."

"And by the time we found Hikari, the vent in the staff lounge had already been blocked off as part of Tanjiro's locked room mystery," Mari pointed out. "The only way into the lounge was thus through the door."

"But to do so, the killer must've gone up the stairs, but not by passing by the music room or through the ballroom. These are seemingly the only ways available," Haruyuki said. "How, then, did the killer manage to get to the door?"


Nonstop Debate

"Going up the stairs by the music room is out of the question," Mari said. "Sayua was watching the whole time, and she saw no one."

"Nor did anyone access the stairs through the ballroom," Haruyuki said. "No names are on the ballroom's security log."

"I can't imagine the vent in the upper theater room was used," Maiha said. "Tanjiro had already blocked it off by using the robotic toy."

"So the theater rooms don't seem to be relevant here," Faye said.

"And neither do the ballroom and the Ferris wheel rooms!" Kasumi said.

"I-I still think magic could've been used…" Kumi said. "Maybe the killer was able to go through walls!"

"Let's... not go down that path," Sorao said.

Truth Bullet Chosen (Refute): Lower Theater Vent

No, that's wrong!

"There is another way to go to the staff lounge," Masashi said. "Specifically, the trick lies in the lower theater room."

"The lower theater room?" Maiha asked.

"That room actually has a vent leading to the same set of stairs going up to the staff lounge," he explained. "By using that vent, the killer wouldn't have been spotted by Sayua or would have needed to go through the ballroom."

"Oh, wow, incredible!" Sorao said, gaping. "The killer could've simply sneaked through the vent, gone up the stairs to the staff lounge, and sneaked back into the lower theater room in due time!"

"It indeed seems like the only possible route now," Mari said, furrowing her brow. "Now the question is: which of us had access to the lower theater vent?"

"Well, it'd have to be someone who went to the lower theater room at some point, right?" Sorao replied. "That should narrow our list of suspects."

"And not only that, but it also must be someone who claimed to be there for a while," Haruyuki added. "Sneaking to the staff lounge and coming back would've taken around ten minutes, I suppose."

Wait… Then… the culprit… Masashi thought. One person actually fits that description!

"Assuming that it's all correct…" he said. "The culprit must be you… Faye."

"H-Huh?" Faye said, eyes widening as everyone looked at her. "Excuse me? Don't you mean to say someone else's name?"

"Explain yourself, Masashi," Maiha bade. "What's your reason to suspect her?"

"Well, for one, Faye went to the lower theater room at one point," he explained. "And not only that, but the security log also shows that she apparently stayed there from 8:43 to 8:52 by herself…"

"My, that's nearly ten minutes she had for herself," Haruyuki remarked. "That's about enough time to commit the crime, I suppose."

Faye frowned. "The only thing you have right was that I was there by myself. But all I did was stand in the lower theater room. Sure, I was underneath the platform, so no one from above saw me, but that's not important, is it?"

"Yes, and besides, she must've known about Hikari's attempted murder," Maiha added. "But she was told of it only after she had returned from the lower theater room."

"Oh, that? I don't think that's a problem," Sorao answered. "Masashi, after leaving Hikari in the staff lounge, you bumped into Haruyuki near the music room and explained to him everything, right?"

"Yeah, that's right," he answered.

"Did you check that no one was eavesdropping on you?"

"Um… No. I wouldn't have had any reason to," he replied. "Wait... you're not suggesting that Faye happened to be eavesdropping?"

Sorao nodded as he glanced to the side. "I believe she sneaked through the vent, intending to do some kind of murderous mischief and use the security log as a fake alibi. But right after she got the poison from the music room and headed back into the vent, she must've overheard you explaining the situation to Haruyuki. That's when she must've thought to kill Hikari and make it look impossible for her to do the crime."

"That's ridiculous!" Faye retorted. "I'm no opportunist, I assure you!"

"That's what you say, but it's reasonable to suspect you," Sorao replied easily. "We know for sure that someone entered the room after Masashi and company left Hikari there to rest. And you're the only one who could do it, so…"

"And one more thing!" Sayua added. "I can't be the only one thinking this, but you've been acting awfully suspiciously lately!"

"I-In what way?" Faye said.

"For one, you apparently berated that storyteller chump real good yesterday," she replied. "Personally, I've got nothing against that, but I never expected you to do it, which made me think something funny was going on in your mind."

Despite being insulted, however, Kumi said not a word, instead looking downwards and fastening his grip on the straps of his satchel.

"And that's not all!" Sayua said. "You're the one who had us eat breakfast at the Moonlight City instead of our usual spot. Maybe instead of wanting to cook somewhere different, you were actually cooking up a scheme!"

"How dare you!" Faye replied, looking more flustered.

"Hmm..." Sorao said, rubbing his chin. "I want to say something to refute her, but... I can't. She has a point."

"Sorao!" Faye said, gaping and glaring at him. "How could you say all those things against me?! I expected better from you!"

"Did you? Didn't you criticize me for spilling coffee twice a few minutes ago?" he retorted.

"You can't compare my grievances with your kitchen performance with this!"

Haruyuki chortled at their bickering. "It seems that the spotlight is now on you, Faye. What defense do you have for yourself?"

Faye winced and stumbled on her words for a few seconds. "W-Well… you can't say for sure that I did it! Not everything's cleared up!"

"Come on, Faye... just admit it already! Make our lives easier, will you?" Sorao said.

"Well, if you're not the perp, someone had better be fucking confessing, pronto!" Sayua yelled.

"I'll say it however many times you want: I'm not the killer!" Faye exclaimed.

As the debate began, the others murmured to one another, things becoming more hectic.


Nonstop Debate

"Just because I don't have an alibi," Faye insisted, "it doesn't mean I went to the lounge!"

"Surely that's not the only reason for your innocence," Haruyuki said.

"W-Well.. What about the metallic noise that Masashi and the others heard?" she said. "They said they heard a noise coming from above."

"True… The noise was faint, but it still compelled us to investigate it," Mari said. "And it was then that we discovered Hikari unconscious in the staff lounge."

"So you see! The noise was connected to Hikari's murder, I'm sure of it!" Faye said.

"But Hikari was killed by poison, not by blunt force trauma," Haruyuki pointed out.

"And we found that nothing had fallen in the staff lounge," Sorao added. "I can't think of anything that could have made that noise."

Truth Bullet Chosen (Refute): Suit of Armor

No, that's wrong!

"No, that's not quite right," Masashi said. "I can think of something. And I admit, it has no direct tie to Hikari's case… but it doesn't mean it's not relevant at all."

"Huh? Spill it out, will you?" Sayua asked.

"For one, we still don't know what made that noise," Masashi said. "It's true that nothing in the staff lounge had fallen, but that doesn't mean the noise had come from something in that room. Maybe it came from one of the suits of armor in the upper theater room."

"Huh? The upper theater room?!" Kasumi exclaimed. "You mean, the noise came from afar?!"

"But if that had happened, we who were at the restaurant should've heard it," Maiha added. "And yet we heard nothing like that."

Mari nodded. "The theater itself is soundproof, which explains why those of you in the restaurant didn't hear the noise. But if it went through the vent… well, I imagine it'd have been barely enough to reach us at the aft side of the ship."

"That explains it," Sayua said. "But y'know, suits of armor don't suddenly make noises."

"True... but it's possible for them to fall," Masashi replied. "And when they fall, I don't imagine that it'll be all quiet."

"But suits of armor don't fall by themselves," Maiha pointed out. "I should imagine that someone made it fall."

"That's certainly a possibility… But first, now that we're on this subject, let's talk about one other important part about the suits of armor in the upper theater room," Mari answered. "We found that inside one of them is a bit of blood."

"B-Blood?" Kumi repeated, turning quite pale as if the word's mentioning had made blood spring out of nowhere. "Y-You found… blood inside?"

"Well, duh-doy, someone must've been wounded in that room," Sayua said. "Dunno how blood got inside, though."

"Now that I think about it, though..." Sorao said as he rubbed his chin in contemplation. "When I went to the upper theater room by myself around 8:43 AM, which was way before the body discovery, I think I smelled something like blood."

"What? You did?" Faye said, glaring at him with much intensity. "Why didn't you say so earlier?!"

"W-Well, I simply thought it was my imagination at first..." Sorao answered, growing quite uneasy. "I certainly didn't see any blood... and neither did Kumi, I bet."

"Th-That's right..." Kumi answered. "I-I didn't see any blood at all in the room... and I-I of course never checked inside the armor! I think I smelled blood as well... but I thought maybe it was just fairy mischief..."

"And not only that, but we also found something else!" Kasumi added. "The club held by the other suit of armor in the room had a small spot of blood!"

"I-It did?" Kumi gulped.

"Huh... I didn't really take a good look at the club when I was by myself, so I guess I must've missed it," Sorao replied.

"Just what was going on in that room?" Maiha asked.

The blood on the club... Masashi thought. There's only one reason why that would be there on the first place.

"I think someone was attacked with the club," he answered. "I can't imagine that a spot of blood happened to land on there by accident."

"But who?!" Kasumi said. "Who was it?"

Given everything that's happened this morning… Masashi thought. Only one person comes to mind!

"The blood must've come from… Tanjiro."

"Huh?! Tanjiro?!" Sayua exclaimed, suddenly bursting with life.

Masashi nodded grimly. "Only two people were struck on the head this morning: Hikari and Tanjiro. But we've already established that Hikari was attacked in the music room and carried up to the staff lounge, so the blood in the armor couldn't have come from her."

"And chronologically, it was possible," Mari added. "We've deduced that Tanjiro escaped the staff lounge through the vent connected to the upper theater room. But we still don't know what happened to him afterwards."

"Oh, I get it!" Kasumi said excitedly. "Then Tanjiro could've been attacked after he got out of the vent!"

"And as for the noise the armor made," Masashi said, "I'm not exactly sure about this, but maybe the killer and Tanjiro got into a struggle, and one of them accidentally struck the armor, which made it fall in the process."

"That would make some sense," Haruyuki replied, nodding. "I doubt that the armor would fall with a simple push, but with more force applied, it can be toppled."

"But that's weird..." Maiha said. "I can't fully reject your explanation, but have you forgotten that Tanjiro himself was found in the lower theater room, not the upper one?"

"Yeah, and when I entered the upper theater room at 8:43 AM," Sorao added, "I didn't see anyone there, let alone Tanjiro."

"Well, maybe he somehow made his way to the lower theater room after being attacked!" Kasumi suggested.

"No, that can't be right," Faye said. "When I walked to the lower theater room by myself at 8:43 AM, no one else was there. I spent my time quietly walking underneath the platform, so I'm absolutely sure of this."

"So... where did Tanjiro go, then?!"

"M-Maybe another room?" Kumi said, shaking.

"No, don't forget, Tanjiro's name isn't on the theater rooms' security logs at all. It's clear he didn't head out to the hallway," Mari replied just as Sorao was about to open his mouth.

Tanjiro seemingly disappeared after being attacked in the upper theater room... Masashi thought. No, I don't think he had left the room by that point... so he must've remained in the room somehow... Wait, I've got it!

"I think Tanjiro hid himself inside the suit of armor," he suggested. "It explains why the blood in the armor is mainly concentrated in the head area. It came from the blood from Tanjiro's head wound!"

"Oh! That explains a lot!" Sorao said. "It explains why I never saw Tanjiro... I never actually investigated the suit of armor when I was by myself, so for all I know, the guy was peeking through me then!"

"But that doesn't explain one thing," Maiha said. "Why would Tanjiro hide inside the suit of armor in the first place?"

"Maybe... he was trying to flee from the attacker?" Faye suggested.

Maiha shook her head profusely. "No, I'm afraid that I must disagree. If he had hidden inside, it must've been after he was attacked, because of all the blood. But if he had wanted to flee for safety after being attacked, he would've just run out of the door, yes? Hiding in the armor would've done him no good, since there's no lock on it."

"Yeah... I can't imagine Tanjiro choosing to get inside that armor," Sayua muttered.

Choosing... to get inside? Masashi thought. Wait a minute... what if Tanjiro didn't choose to get inside? What if he was forced in...? Ah!

"Once again, I'm not sure about this, but..." Masashi said. "What if the killer put Tanjiro inside there?"

"The killer?" Maiha said, furrowing her brow. "Why?"

Sorao raised his finger. "Actually... I've thought the same thing. In fact, now that I think about it... Mari, how much blood is inside the helmet?"

"A little but not insubstantial, I'd say," she said. "I can't say how serious the head wound must've been, but I can't imagine ending up with only a minor injury from being struck with a club."

"I see... Then one thought comes into mind!"

It was then that Sorao flashed a smile.

"Isn't it possible that Tanjiro was likely killed in the upper theater room instead?"

"Wait, WHAT?!" Kasumi exclaimed, many of the others looking as surprised as she. "What do you mean, he was killed there?! I thought he was killed in the lower theater room!"

"I thought so, too. But bear with me here. I think the killer killed him in the upper theater room and then hid his corpse in the armor as a temporary measure," Sorao said laxly.

"Temporary measure? For what?" Faye asked.

"Well, let me ask you this: how in the world did Tanjiro go to the lower theater room, anyway?"

"What do you mean?" Masashi asked.

"Tanjiro went into the vent in the staff lounge as part of creating the locked room mystery for Hikari's murder," he said. "But the vent itself is only connected to the upper theater room. There are no stairs connecting the two theater rooms, so how did he get down to the lower room? What would an ordinary person do?"

Maiha scoffed, though much of her confidence on her face had waned upon hearing Sorao's explanation. "Of course, one would just leave through the door, walk down the hallway stairs, and enter the lower theater room from there."

"But as we said earlier, the security logs prove that Tanjiro never walked through the doors this morning," Mari said. "Thus, there must've been another way for Tanjiro to get down there."

"And what's that?"

"Well, there's technically nothing stopping anyone from leaping off the platform bearing the upper theater room," she said. "That would be a quick one-way trip down to the lower theater room."

"Oh, you can't be serious!" Kasumi said. "The height difference is pretty large! Anyone trying to leap from that would leave this world pretty quickly! Even I wouldn't dare to take that leap without some precautions!"

"I see your point, Kasumi. I don't think that Tanjiro would ever think of that option," Haruyuki said rather softly. "But... if he were dead at that point... that would be a different story."

"Are you saying... the killer was actually smuggling his corpse?" Maiha said, staring straight at him.

"It certainly would make sense," Haruyuki answered. "This route to the lower theater room that doesn't involve going through the doors could be done with someone who'd already lost his life... He certainly would be in no condition to complain."

"Yeah..." Masashi said. "The killer could've just thrown his corpse onto the lower theater room without a problem—"

"Y-You're on the wrong page!"

All of a sudden, Kumi cried out, looking quite pale and holding his teddy bear like a shield.

"S-Sir Masashi... P-Please... Please stop it!" he said, his voice shaky.

"What? What's the matter?" he asked.

"Y-You're not making any sense!" he protested. "You should stop talking at once!"

"Kumi... Why do you sound so scared?" he asked. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I-I am! I am!" he said. "It's you... It's you that's not okay!"

Masashi stared at him bewilderedly. "'Not okay'? I don't understand—"

"Th-This is all part of a trick!" he said. "Yes... That's right... The fairies are playing mischief with you! You've fallen for their trap!"


Rebuttal Showdown: Takumi Takamitsu

"You keep saying that the killer could've thrown Tanjiro's corpse onto the lower theater room..." Kumi began nervously. "But that can't be right!

"Throwing the body like that would've left quite a mark on it, right?

"But you guys didn't see anything like that!

"All the injuries you found were on his head!

"I don't think the killer threw the body onto the floor at all!"

"It's true that landing onto the floor would've left quite an impact," Masashi said, "but what if the killer used something to soften the impact?"

"Soften the impact? N-No, that can't be right!" Kumi retorted.

"There was nothing in the room that could be used for that!

"A-And I don't think the killer had transportation magic to help!

"Now, please, stop it!

"You mustn't let the fairies get the better of you!"

Truth Bullet Chosen: Mattress

I'll cut through your words!

"Hang on, Kumi... There was one thing in the lower theater room," Masashi said. "You know that there's a stack of mattresses in the lower theater room."

Kumi choked on his words. "M-Mattresses...?"

"Yes. And not only that, but I also found something interesting on it," he replied. "There's a small speck of blood on it."

"Blood?" Faye said. "That has to be Tanjiro's... but are you sure it didn't get on there from the killing?"

Masashi shook his head. "The mattresses are by the opposite end of the lower theater room and quite far from the suits of armor by which Tanjiro had been attacked. I don't think even a blood splatter would've reached that far."

"Then it must've gotten on the top mattress when Tanjiro's body was thrown onto the mattresses!" Kasumi concluded. "But then why didn't the killer get rid of the blood?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say that the killer probably was in a hurry," Haruyuki proposed. "The blood in the armor... the blood on the club... and the blood on the mattress... A careful killer would've taken steps to clean it all off."

"Not to mention that the smuggling method was extremely risky," Mari added. "It helped avoid detection from the security system, but in return, if anyone happened to walk into the theater rooms during the smuggling, the whole deception would be uncovered."

"Still, we've confirmed that it's possible for Tanjiro's killer to smuggle his body to the lower room," Sorao said. "And one more thing. If Tanjiro was actually killed in the upper theater room... then the identity of the blackened changes."

"Huh? How?" Faye asked.

"Remember: in a double killing, the blackened is the one who killed earlier," he replied. "And right before discovering Hikari unconscious in the staff lounge, Masashi and the others heard a faint sound coming from above... the sound of the armor falling as part of the struggle between Tanjiro and his killer."

"Ah, I see," Maiha said, who looked a bit befuddled, though she seemed to have gotten a good grasp of the conclusions made so far. "The sound was made around Tanjiro's time of death... hence, he must've died earlier than Hikari, who died after Masashi and theo thers had tried to save her with the antidote."

"The blackened's gotta be Tanjiro's killer, then!" Sayua exclaimed, looking quite fiery as she put up a wrathful scowl. "So who is it?! Who's the bastard behind his death?!"

"Well, it had to be someone who entered the upper theater room at one point," Haruyuki concluded calmly. "And that person must've also gone to the lower theater room as well to move the body from the mattresses and set it up by the boxes."

It was then that Masashi froze.

That person... No... Only that person comes into mind.

He had not the heart to say it. At least, that was what he told himself at first.

But it makes sense... the evidence suggests it...

And it explains why that person has been acting that way as well...

I have to say it...

I'm sorry, but I have to.

"If we go by the security logs," he said with a moment of hesitance, "the only possible culprit for Tanjiro's death is you... Kumi."

"Wh-What?!"

Many of the others cried out in shock before they looked at Kumi once again, who looked far paler and shakier than he had been at the beginning of the trial.

"S-Sir Masashi...?" Kumi whimpered. "You think... I killed Tanjiro?"

"Unfortunately, that's what all the evidence suggests," Masashi answered. "You entered the upper theater room by yourself at 8:20 AM, and you left twenty minutes later. It's possible Tanjiro entered the room through the vent connected to the lounge, and you attacked him then."

"No!" Kumi squealed as he held up his teddy bear to partly cover his face. "I... I did no such thing! Really! I-It could've been... a fairy!"

"Shut up already with that bullshit!" Sayua yelled, glaring at him. Even though Masashi had not said anything else, she must have already been convinced that he was the culprit. "You think you can blame it on some figment of your lame imagination?!"

"E-Eep!" Kumi said as he reared his bear a little higher. "I-I... I was just suggesting it... A-And besides..."

"Besides what?!"

Kumi gulped and took in a breath of air. "D-Don't you know...? I was with Sir Sorao, Lady Maiha, Sir Haruyuki, and Lady Faye in the restaurant... A-And when we went to the upper theater room to look for Tanjiro around 9:00 PM... we heard Tanjiro being killed! From below!"

"Well... was he actually killed during then?" Mari responded.

"H-Huh?"

"All you guys heard was the sound of him being attacked," she explained. "But none of you obviously saw him being attacked... so for all we know, it was simply the sound of the killer pretending to kill him then by striking his corpse."

"You mean, the killer faked the time of death?" Maiha said.

"It's possible. Look at the Monokuma File," Mari said as she took hers out. "All it says is that Tanjiro was struck on the head twice. It doesn't specify which strike killed him or whether the second strike was delivered after his death."

"So... Kumi could've simply just struck Tanjiro's dead body?!" Kasumi said, gaping. "Just to make us all think that he died at 9:00 AM?!"

"It's possible," she repeated plainly. "He could've hidden the body in the suit of armor first as a temporary measure before coming up with a plan to fake his time of death and thus divert suspicion away from him. Then once he felt sure that he was alone in the theater rooms, he smuggled Tanjiro's body to the lower theater room."

"N-No... Lady Mari, please listen! You have it all wrong!" Kumi said. "Remember, I was with everyone else in the upper theater room when we all heard that sound!"

"Oh, that's right!" Kasumi said. "And since you were up there, and Tanjiro was down there... I don't think it's possible for you to fake his death with the bowling ball!"

Masashi nearly cried out in surprise, having admittedly forgotten about that fact. "Haruyuki, can you confirm that Kumi was in the upper theater room at that time?"

"Well, I can't confirm it per se, but..." he replied. "I'm absolutely certain that he never left. After all, the security logs show him leaving the room alongside us."

"Y-You see!" Kumi said, growing bolder in his disposition. "Th-There's no way I could've struck Tanjiro while in the upper theater room!"

"Maiha, Faye, Haruyuki, Sorao... did any of you keep an eye on Kumi?" Mari asked.

Sorao shook his head. "No... the five of us decided to look around the room separately. I think the little guy was standing by the door and the railing of the platform, but I didn't get a good glimpse of what he was doing."

"Neither was I, I'm afraid," Maiha added. "But I have one theory in mind. Perhaps... he threw the bowling ball from above, aiming for Tanjiro's head."

What? Striking the corpse from above? Masashi thought. That... doesn't sound totally impossible, actually. But could he actually do it...?

"No, I don't think so," Haruyuki countered. "During the investigation, I looked at the railing and the view below it. And from what I could tell, the ball wouldn't have struck Tanjiro."

"It wouldn't?" Masashi said.

"That's right. The problem is the tall stack of boxes lying underneath the platform," she replied. "It is the same stack by which Tanjiro's body lies, and it actually creates quite a tiny gap for things to fall through. From the positions of the boxes and the body, something small like a remote control could've struck him, I suppose, but something of the same size as the bowling ball couldn't have reached him. At the very least, it would've just landed on the stack of boxes."

"And I'm pretty sure we would've heard something like that," Sorao added. "Even though we were hollering for Tanjiro, I don't think we would've missed that sound."

That stack of boxes... Masashi thought as he imagined how the room had looked at the time. The only noteworthy thing I found about it was that anyone could climb it. I don't think there was anything else...

Maiha scoffed as she set one hand on her podium. "I suppose it's better to know of this now than later... And I still have my suspicions about the pitiful storyteller."

"I couldn't have faked Tanjiro's time of death, so I can't be the culprit!" Kumi insisted as he eyed back and forth at the others. "The culprit... It has to be someone else!"

"I don't know what to think!" Kasumi said. "The five of you were all in the upper theater room... and meanwhile, Masashi, Mari, Sayua, and I were all in the music room at the time! Don't we all have alibis?!"

The others muttering to one another in confusion, Masashi too found it befuddling how Kumi—or anyone else, truly—would be able to strike Tanjiro with the bowling ball while he stood in the upper theater room. He had a solid alibi, as the others' witness accounts and the security logs showed, so there was no chance of sneaking off to the lower theater room.

Was there a way for him to make the bowling ball strike Tanjiro from afar? he thought. And... am I even on the right track?

Earlier, Kumi had frantically insisted that they were all on the wrong path, having been tricked. Though it was clear that there were no mischievous fairies involved, in a way, he had not been completely off.

A trick... Is this all part of a trick?


Hello! The first part of the class trial is here! Parts of this most likely feel complicated since it covers two different killings that are pretty intertwined, so there's bound to be a lot of jumping back and forth. Hopefully, I've made the trial easy and understandable enough to follow.

Anyway, what are your guys' theories on what happened? Which character do you think is the blackened?