As more and more students were found, more and more search-and-rescue parties were ended. "We'll go to the nurse's office to regroup," Rika decided as she surveyed her team. "We can take a quick snack-n-bathroom break while I figure out who else we're looking for. I can also probably cycle some of you out if you don't want to go on another search-and-rescue, though I probably will just because I do," she shrugged.

"Seriously, Rika, where do you get all this?" Saori shook her head and sighed as Rika rattled off a very comprehensive to-do list.

"That's our Rika, always full of surprises," Marika chuckled. And of course, she tries to look after us before herself. Naughty Rika!

With the terror of the night subsiding, the Ultimate Model's gratitude for the Ultimate Volleyballer's devotion and diligence was overwhelming. It was something all of M4 felt, hence why Saori was torn between exasperation and admiration for Rika and all she'd done that night and morning.

"It's all part and parcel of being a camp and fire enthusiast," Rika agreed seriously as she led the team back to the academy.

As soon as they hit the nurse's office, Rika burst in with the most encouraging smile she could muster. "Hey, hey, hey, all! How's things?!"

"Seriously, Rika?" Saori muttered behind her. Some of the students responded positively to Rika's warmth and vibrance while others were more like Saori, not quite in the mood to deal with so much energy so early on a morning like that. Tsubaki was one such person like this. The moment Rika saw her, she shoved her way through the sea of students to reach her childhood best friend. She opened her arms for a big bearhug.

"No, Rika!" Tsubaki's voice was sharp, and Rika stopped dead in her tracks. The Ultimate Volleyballer was stung, but she understood. Swallowing her pride as best she could, she cleared her throat awkwardly and turned to the others, lowering her open arms.

"All right. What d'you need me to do?" she asked. There was nothing she hated more than being powerless when there were people who needed her help! And everyone else was playing their part, so of course, Team-Player Rika wanted in on that action!

Rinku, Maho, and Saori were assigned to medicine selection and distribution. Muni and Yuka operated and moved machinery. Noa ran back and forth between the dining hall and nurse's office, keeping both in working order and fetching snacks and refreshments from the cabinets for the others. Unfortunately, there was no time for breakfast today.

Noa actually found Muni's headband during an earlier search of the forest. She was over the moon at the chance to present it to the Ultimate Illustrator once she and Kyoko finally found their way back to the academy. At first, Muni was begrudging, fearing that Noa would use it as an excuse to bully unlimited hugs out of the smaller girl, but to her surprise, Noa was quite sincere when she returned the headband to Muni.

Well, whatever, that's a relief to me! Muni thought with a snort, but the next time she and Noa saw each other, the smiles they exchanged were real.

Rika, Marika, Dalia, and Kyoko were on sanitation, split between the dining hall and nurse's office. Their work was somewhat halted when they found that there was no bleach in either location. There were plenty of other cleaning supplies, but the shelf labeled "bleach" was completely empty. Rinku, Maho, and Saori were the only ones to experience something similar; there was no rubbing alcohol anywhere in the nurse's office.

"What kind of nurse's office doesn't have rubbing alcohol?!" Saori cried, but sure enough, the shelf labeled "rubbing alcohol" was empty.

"Could always use Monochio's Miracle Medicine," Dalia said, eyes flicking to one of the other shelves. The class was reluctant, but she reassured them that the ointment form of the MMM was legitimate. The almost-invisible scar on her cheek was proof. Eventually, the others agreed to use the medicine, but they gave its injectable form a wide berth, especially from Miyu.

Esora, Ibuki, Towa, Aoi, and Miyu were in the beds. Esora advised Muni and Yuka verbally, refusing to let her injuries keep her down. Rei was still missing, and Esora would not rest until she was found. Miyu and Towa were able to talk as well, but Aoi and Ibuki were both still out.

"Whew! It's getting hot in here!" Rika wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. "I love it! Love a good sweat!"

"Rika!" Tsubaki sighed. Seriously, did that girl have no sense of propriety?

"We could always have a sauna competition," Rika joked with a teasing wink. Tsubaki scowled at her, and Rika finally took the hint and shut up.

I wasn't kidding, though, it IS hot in here, she thought. Though of course, she knew it was because there were so many people hustling and bustling in and out of such a tiny space. There were moments when it even gave her a mild headache, but she assumed it was from all the exertion she was forcing. Little did she know, the others were noticing mild headaches as well, but none of them were sure of what to attribute it to (Tsubaki would've said Rika), and none of them thought to ask, or even mention! I ain't gonna let a little headache stop me, though!

"Attention all academy attendees. A body has been discovered." Everyone stopped dead in their tracks. What? But that was impossible! Three were needed to trigger a BDA, and three were missing, so who of the three died, and who triggered the BDA?

"Yuka, let's go!" Dalia was the first to say. "We have to find that body!"

"I'm with ya!" Yuka practically materialized beside her, punching her palm. As she passed Ibuki's bed, she shot the still-unconscious student a sad smile. Don't worry, Ibuki, girl, we got this for ya! We'll miss you though!

"Wait! Wait! You guys are just going to waltz out there?!" Saori waved her hands, turquoise eyes bulging with fear.

"Well, I was thinking of doing a salsa…" Dalia joked.

"Salsa?" Rika perked up, and when Rinku heard her, she looked up as well. Saori gave them all a disbelieving look.

Taking pity on Saori, Yuka answered seriously. "You heard Monochio, we can't just not go check it out! Our friends need us!"

They were all well aware Monochio might be luring them into a trap—at the very least, it was definitely luring them into danger—but ignoring direct commands from the Headcatster was never a good idea, and it felt cruel to just leave their friends' corpses in the woods because they were too scared to check. As they noted before, there was only supposed to be three missing students—Rei, Shinobu, and Hiiro—none of whom were very physically intimidating. Maybe Hiiro, but she was nowhere near as strong as the Muscle Trio, or even Duo.

In the end, Dalia and Yuka were granted permission to go, armed with knives from the kitchen. As soon as they realized one was missing, though, the fear and stakes increased dramatically. Rika volunteered to go with them, also armed with a knife, just to even out the numbers.

I can't tell if that makes me feel better or worse, Saori thought nervously. The trio was gone for about 10 minutes when a second BDA was made.

"Attention all academy attendees. A body has been discovered near the north wall of the school. Please proceed at once. All academy attendees."

For a second time, everyone stopped dead in their tracks. What? Had something happened with the Muscle Duo plus Rika?! Stranger still, why did Monochio tell them where the body was, and command that all of them go…? But as they decided before, it was unwise to ignore a direct summons from Monochio, so off they went. The only ones exempt from the trip were Aoi and Ibuki. Even Miyu, Towa, and Esora were brought along, the first two riding on the nurse's office's one stretcher together. It was almost comedic, but they weren't laughing when they found the body.

"Oh, holy shit!"

"Woah, what the fuck? What the fuck?!"

"Oh my God… Oh my God!"

"I think I'm gonna be sick…" The body was facedown in the grass, one arm stretched out in front of it as if the person was trying to drag themself to safety. Of course, they didn't get far before succumbing to a massive wound they sustained. They were missing a leg. The violent dash of pink behind the body told the students exactly how long the victim lasted after the injury was dealt. It was chillingly short. Even more chillingly, the leg itself was nowhere to be found. The only blood at the crime scene was the large streak beneath the victim, but that was it.

Dalia volunteered to bear the burden of identifying the body. Process of elimination already told them who it was, but for the sake of officializing the record, Dalia had to check. She knelt beside the body with long dark hair, resting a hand on the shoulder sadly.

Forgive me. She rolled the body over. Rei Togetsu… I'm sorry… Hapiara and Esora were devastated.

An eerie silence settled over the class, the industrial fans on the north wall of the school shutting off as if to accentuate the grim and dramatic nature of the body discovery and confirmation. Hiiro and Shinobu were still missing, but before search parties were sent out again, the students agreed to take a moment to regroup in the nurse's office. They all needed it.

Thank God it wasn't Shinobu… Kyoko turned away from the others to take a moment to compose herself, pretending as though she was fiddling with her cap to adjust it against the still-rising sun. Her stomach twisted in guilt. She'd been looking at Esora mere seconds ago, and the girl was doing her best to keep her own composure, but something broke inside of her after Dalia provided the fatal truth about the fate of their Ultimate Pianist. The light left Esora's emerald eyes and Yuka was the only one she would allow to come close.

"Oh, Esora…" The Ultimate Photographer whispered, letting Esora rest against her chest.

Tsubaki was also selfishly relieved that the body wasn't Hiiro's. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kyoko turn away, and she already knew what the other girl was doing. I understand… I'm still worried for Hiiro too… Every second, I'm terrified we'll hear another BDA…

ooo

Upon returning to the nurse's office, the students were met with silence, Aoi and Ibuki still unconscious. Even the room was silent, the buzz of the lights and the hum of the vents absent.

"Oh my God, Ibuki!" Saori howled and the others looked at her in alarm, some of them almost giving themselves whiplash. Of course, the moment the first students reached the nurse's office, they inspected the two unconscious friends they were forced to leave behind. "She's not breathing!"

Even more gruesome and unexplainable, her skin was now red and blotchy. Towa and Noa, of course, were the first to push their way over to her, but it was far too late. Noa came up behind Towa, wrapped her in a warm embrace, rested her cheek on Towa's short blue hair, and then closed her iridescent green eyes and wept.

"What the heck happened?! Nobody was even in here!" Towa clutched the sides of her head and howled. Aoi was genuinely unconscious—though still breathing, much to the relief of all—so no one even tried suggesting that she was only faking and struck the moment opportunity did.

The only good thing to happen to the class that morning was discovering Hiiro Yano alive. She came staggering out of the woods, dazed and clutching the side of her head. Those who found her were horrified to realize that she was missing an ear.

"H-have you see Shinobu at all?" Kyoko whispered hoarsely, eyes urgent and desperate as she clenched her hands into fists. She reprimanded herself for asking about Shinobu rather than expressing genuine concern for Hiiro, but with so many friends showing up missing body parts…

"N-no… don't think sssso…" Hiiro murmured, swaying on her feet as she grit her teeth and winced.

Damn it! Kyoko cursed in her head as she offered her arm to the Ultimate Diviner, guiding her gently to the nurse's office. Once there and stabilized, Hiiro partnered up with Noa and they poured over medical textbooks together, trying to understand what could've possibly killed Ibuki so swiftly and silently. They also sought to understand the exact science behind the effects of the mushrooms. They were mid-discussion when Aoi suddenly shot upright in bed, one brown eye shooting open. She was stiff as a board, staring straight ahead, unseeing.

"Gah!" Hiiro, Noa, Miyu, Towa, Esora, and Tsubaki all reared back with six different shrieks. It was hardly the reunion they expected. Aoi narrowed her remaining eye and scowled distrustfully at all of them. Then she voiced their sentiments perfectly.

"What the fuck is going on here?"

The PheFo's timers ran out.

ooo

The trial room had morphed again, this time appearing as if a section of the forest was cut out and somehow shoved inside the academy. The 17 podiums now resembled tree stumps, and the center of the room contained a small campfire. Seven death portraits were scattered between the survivors, flowers and vines draped around them.

The newest belonged to Rei Togetsu and Ibuki Niijima. In Rei's portrait, her face was crossed out by pink, intersecting piano keyboards. For Ibuki, it was a racetrack and a running shoe. Tsubaki's eyes were glued to the portraits, and she was selfishly grateful that neither of them were Aoi or Hiiro's. Yuka's eyes were also glued to the newest death portraits.

Oh, Ibuki… You saved my life on that very first day, kept me from getting hurt… I'm so sorry I couldn't do the same for you… She clenched her fists.

Dalia was also looking at Ibuki's portrait. Muscle Trio's down to two… Gonna have to be ready for anything. Her eyes narrowed as she thought about Ibuki's death. They heard that BDA, even if they hadn't realized at the time who it was for. No one said it, but it chilled and guilted them all to think that Ibuki had died while they were hustling and bustling all around her, and they somehow didn't notice.

But in their defense, hearing yet another BDA so soon after the first caught them all off guard, especially since this one had instructions that all the others lacked. That was still a mystery to them too—aside from no students being there before the ones coming from the hospital, there was also the obvious fact that, like Aoi, Rei had been hanging there for hours before the BDA. But that was what the class trial was for.

"All right, class, you know the drill." Monochio monotoned. "Let the trial begin." It was an unceremonious opening, but none of them were in the mood for theatrics anyway. If anything, they were more than happy to jump right into the first nonstop debate.