Chapter 3: The Manipulator's Malice Part 7 (Deadly Life)

Remaining Citizens: 12

Emma's POV

"You all know the drill by now! Now find tonight's blackened or eleven out of twelve citizens are eliminated from life! Let's get things rolling!" Monokuma shouted from his chair.

I looked around me, but then I stopped to glance at Trunks.

"... My apologies, I won't be much help during the investigation like this. Please excuse me."

Something is definitely wrong, after he saw Sucy's body, he looked so down... I really need to get a chance to talk to him.

"Let's just cut to the chase, you were right next to the body Ishigami, do you know the specific reason as to why?" Alice turned to him.

"I do actually, but I feel like you have more to say about it." He scratched his cheek, showing no interest.

"Yo, you seriously think a guy like him would be interested in coming up with a plan to kill someone? He doesn't even look like he wants to come to the trials." Ryuji pointed out.

"Regardless, you cannot count out any possibilities for now. Although one thing can be made certain as of this moment." Aoba raised a finger as he wanted for someone to answer.

"And that is… what exactly?" Gold asked as Aoba shook his head.

Ai then spoke up instead, "It's that only someone within the walls of the school was capable of committing the crime. Am I correct?"

"Indeed. Also I see that you are up and raring to go, Ai, a shame that you weren't able to help investigate…" Aoba smiles in her direction, but she scoffs at him.

"Oh don't worry, I still can help out when possible, plus I have something up my sleeve for later. For now, I'll just rely on you two, Emma, Killua." The two of us nodded at her.

"To get back on topic, it does not seem possible that Ishigami was the killer here. And few factors can contribute to this claim." Killua told everyone.

"Really now? Then do you mind sharing with the rest of us?" Alice giggles as we prepare our evidence.

Non-Stop Debate

"I didn't do it, plain as day." Ishigami stated.

"Show me your proof then. Or are you too busy being Mr. Emo?" Alice teases.

"I thought I came up with the nicknames around here, Sciency Gal." Gold put his arms up behind his head and leaned back.

"Are you all just bluffing when you say you have evidence? Just admit that you haven't found anything." Aoba said.

I looked at my evidence and found what I needed.

"That's wrong!" I exclaimed.

COUNTER

BREAK!

Truth Bullet Used: Ishigami's Account

"You see, Ishigami told us that he was led into the gym after receiving a note from an unknown individual. It was an hour before After arriving he saw the body there and was knocked out by that same person." I explained.

"In addition to that piece of evidence there's another one that shows his story is indeed true, and it is right over here." Killua grabbed Ishigami's head and showed off the large bump on the back of it.

Truth Bullet Selected: Ishigami's Head Bump

I pointed to the bump as I continued, "As you saw by his reaction while he was sitting next to the body, he was starting to wake up. A blow to the head that causes a bump like this can certainly manage to knock a guy like him out cold."

"That seems to be quite clear." I heard from Espio.

"Y-yeah, nothing wrong with what they said." Bernie agreed.

"What do you mean 'a guy like him'?" Didn't think Ishigami would be offended by that.

"Uh, sorry?" Anyways—"

"Don't get too excited."

ARGUE

"Tch, you shouldn't be going so fast when not everyone has managed to agree with your viewpoint. How do you know if Ishigami is telling you the truth about where he was?" Aoba glared at me.

"What do you think then?" I asked him in response.

"It's simple, don't automatically trust someone even if they tell you their 'alibi'."

Rebuttal Showdown

"First off, he's acting surprisingly calm in his situation, possibly indicating that he has something to hide. How can you be so sure that he doesn't have anything to do with the murder itself, we can't completely rule out everyone inside the school!"

"But Ishigami shouldn't be the primary suspect in this case." I lowered my eyebrows at Aoba before he continued.

"Really now? Then answer this, where exactly was he at the time of the murder?"

There's the contradiction! I'm starting to get the hang of the trials now!

"I'll cut down your claims!"

COUNTER

BREAK!

Truth Blade Used: Ishigami's Computer Message

"Your supposed suspect is not as guilty as you perceive him, Aoba." Killua told him.

"Yeah, look at the message Ishigami left on his computer." I pointed to my e-Handbook as a reference, "It was last edited at 6:40 pm, and when was the time of Sucy's murder?"

"Around 6:40 pm… wait a minute, didn't it originally say around 6 pm?" Aoba confronted Monokuma.

"Saw whaaat? It always said around 6:40 pm, you must have looked at it wrong puhuhu." Monokuma giggled and shrugged. (I accidentally left the timeframe of death wrong, so I fixed it, whoops)

"Anyways, if Ishigami was typing away on his computer at the time of the murder, then he couldn't have been the one to do it! It aligns with his account smoothly." Ai summed it up well.

"Hold on, if it's a laptop, he could have just brought it with him into the gym before heading back to his room and placing it there. Also, 'If I get blamed for a murder, use this as evidence.', it's like he knew he would be suspicious!" Miles brought up.

"Well for one thing, it's common for someone like me to be the scapegoat of murder mysteries. And another thing, do you think I would bother leaving a message like that if I was the killer? I knew what I was getting into as soon as I got that note, so why would I type something that makes it VERY obvious that I'm the killer." Ishigami told us in his usually depressing tone.

"Additionally, you think a guy like him would intentionally knock himself out? You think he'd be that dedicated to a murder?" Ai asked Aoba.

"I'm not a big fan of pain." Ishigami bluntly stated.

Aoba just sighed, like he gave up, "Hmph, was worth a shot, ha. Despite this however, unless it was suicide which in this case I seriously doubt, there were five of us who could have done it instead. Myself, Ryuji, Alice, Killua, and that includes you, Emma."

"Well I'm sure I can find only one killer, we've got a lot more evidence with us, right Killua?" I turned to my investigation partner who simply gave me a thumbs up in response.

"Sheesh, I feel like I'm on one of those police lineups of suspects…" I heard Ryuji say.

"How did you think I felt as the primary suspect pal?" Gold shook his head when he said that.

"Same here." Ishigami raised his hand slowly.

"Oh well, this was bound to happen eventually." Alice sighed.

Ai then began to shift our attention to another important aspect, "Perhaps we should find out how Sucy was killed before we focus on who."

She, Ishigami, Killua, and I know exactly what the weapon is, yet the circumstances leading up to it however, that is what we need to figure out.

Non-Stop Debate

"M-multiple large stab wounds?!" Poor Bernadetta looked like she was about to fall over after seeing the Monokuma File.

"Dang! What coulda made holes that big? Like she was rammed by something, maybe a Houndoom? Or uh… Donphan?" Gold just took out some red gadget and started flipping through images on it.

"I… don't think it was any of those… things you mentioned." Miles responded to Gold's rambling.

"Some kind of trap or whatever?" Ryuji asked.

"Like a pit of spikes?" Espio suggested.

Aoba shot down that suggestion, "If that was the case, then why would the killer remove the body from the pit? They could have easily fallen in themselves."

Well it wasn't a pit, but it's definitely what Ryuji said!

"I agree with you!"

CONSENT

BREAK!

Truth Bullet Used: Spears of Gungnir Instructions

"While me and Killua were out investigating each dorm room, we found a crumpled up piece of paper inside a trash bin." I started.

"The document gave instructions on a voice-activated trap in the gym that would instantly take care of someone within range, this trap was called the Spears of Gungnir." And Killua finished.

Monokuma then sat up from his seat,"Oops! I knew I shouldn't have let out the hint of that lying around, although I was right about there being no spears in the walls! Since they extend out of the floor."

"Which room were these instructions found anyways?" Ai asked us.

"Well, it was in a room with a lot of books stacked up high and a bunch of manuscripts on the walls…" Killua stopped before he remembered the smell of the room as well.

"All of the dorm rooms all had small nameplates next to them right here to signify who they belonged to." I brought up the next thing we found..

Truth Bullet Selected: Room Nameplates

But when I took a look at the nameplate pictures we had, I realized something, one of the names matched another piece of evidence we had yet to use.

Truth Bullet Selected: Bloody Message

"Eh? You found something, Antenna Girl?" Antenna Girl, was that supposed to be me, Gold?

"Well at the scene of the murder we saw a message written in blood, most likely by Sucy. At first I thought it said "TQKQ" because of the way the blood was moved, but after rereading the names on the nameplates, it's says TOKO." I pointed at the glasses girl with braids on the nameplate.

"How can you be so sure that she was the one who wrote it down?" Alice remarks.

"Simple, the blood on her fingers." Ishigami unexpectedly chimed in.

Truth Bullet Selected: Bloody Fingers

"Okay… so where does that lead us? Sucy wrote down the name of the girl on the nameplate, why?" Ryuji was struggling to piece it together.

"Perhaps she knew about the trap instructions beforehand, since they were in the room of this 'Toko' person. Planning on testing the trap for a murder of her own, but unfortunately getting caught in it herself." Trunks suddenly spoke up, startling Gold.

"Jeez, dude! I forgot you were here with how quiet you were being, even the Ninja Lizard spoke once!"

"Ninja… Lizard?" Espio was not amused by that.

Aoba was getting annoyed, "Let's move on, please. I don't believe that's the case, Sucy was known as the Ultimate Apothecary, meaning that she could have brewed some kind of poison to kill someone instead. Why waste time on a weapon that could mistakenly kill her as well?"

Ai then brought forth an idea, "Was there something else with Toko's name on it that Sucy could have seen before she was killed?"

Was there… I might need to think about this….

R O M A N C E N O V E L

"This is the answer!"

"I remember now! There was a romance novel with her name on it!" I exclaimed.

Killua's eyes lit up, "Oh right, that girl looked to be a writer from what we saw in her room. So where did you see that book?"

"I saw it twice actually, once when Aoba was holding it, and then…"

Truth Bullet Selected: Bloody Book

"Right in the gym next to Sucy!"

"Then… could it be?" Miles looked in the direction of a certain Ultimate Manipulator, who just simply sighed.

"You know you're all just asking for trouble for accusing me again, aren't you?"

"There's a possibility you could be the murderer, sure." Killua looked at him as well.

"Though there is certainly no doubt that you are somehow connected to all of this." Ai said her piece.

"Yep, and whatever connection you have to the case, we're gonna find out what it is!" I pointed a finger towards him, as he simply smiled.

"Fine then, bring it."

CITY TRIAL SUSPENDED

Yeah this trial needs a second part, especially since there's a few things that happen afterwards as well, so I can't fit it all in one chapter like usual. Oh well, the finale is next time! And it surprisingly could come sooner than usual, as long as things go well. See you all then! Also happy 20th part of the main story!