"It wasn't me!" Muni cried quickly.

"I didn't do it!" Maho cried at the same time.

Shinobu said nothing, arms crossed and head bowed. She wore Kyoko's cap—the only thing she had left of the other girl—but it was slightly too big for her head, slipping down her face and shielding it from the others. All they could see was a shadow, but even if they could've seen more, they would've only seen an equally dark and hollow expression. She, Maho, and Muni all wore bandages, each of them seeping pink.

"I know it looks bad, but…"

"I was just trying to keep everyone calm!"
"…"

"I promise I fought with Maho more than anyone else!"

"H-hey! Don't say that like it's a good thing!"

"Sh-Sh-Shinobu…? A-aren't you going to say a-anything?" Yuka fought to conceal nervousness behind gentleness. Shinobu stayed silent.

"I mean, yeah, I did see Rinku and Kyoko a few times, but…"

"A-anyway, I know I did get into a scuffle with some of them, but…"

"Shinobu, please! There's no way you did this, right? Tell us you're innocent!" Yuka begged. Still only silence.

"I fought with Kyoko once, and I definitely wasn't strong enough to beat her!"

"But I was intentionally trying to be defensive, not offensive! You can even see how bruised up my arms are, not my knuckles!"

"…"

Even though Muni and Maho were bringing up excellent points, the students wanted and needed to hear Shinobu's side too.

The other world has whispered the truth to me! "Shinobu, you have to participate, please." Hiiro sounded like a chiding but compassionate mother.

"No, I don't," Shinobu finally growled, refusing to look up, arms still wrapped tightly around herself.

"But if we examine alibis and find them innocent while you say nothing…" Hiiro left space for Shinobu to speak, but still she refused. Hiiro sighed and shook her head. "Truly, Shinobu, I do not believe you are the killer, but you must say something, anything, or you will be found culpable."

"Why should I?" Shinobu's voice was quiet and cold. The Ultimate Hope is dead. MY Ultimate Hope is dead. The plans I worked so hard on are… also dead. Oh, what's the use anymore? What's the point?! We'll probably all end up dead soon too anyway …

"For Kyoko, Shinobu," Yuka whispered. She saw Shinobu tense up, scowling at her audacity to use Kyoko's name like that, but Yuka was as steely and stalwart as her Ultimate Abs. "Maybe you've given up, but I'm gonna keep fighting! 'Cause Kyoko would've done the same for any of us!" She punched her palm and smiled in grim determination. "This trial isn't just about us, it's about them! Our friends, we owe it to them to figure it out!"

"Do you want to die?" Shinobu grumbled. Low blow, Yuka, low blow… But she finally looked up and sighed, letting her arms fall to her sides. "Ok. Fine. Whatever. But hurling accusations around like this isn't going to solve anything! We need to discuss the facts of the case!"

"Th-that's what we were trying to do!" Muni and Tsubaki cried, then they met each other's eyes in surprise.

Yuka, meanwhile, smiled to herself. There was the Shinobu she was hoping for! Not the cynical sourpuss that tried to avoid any and all participation unless it was to complain, but the brave, bold blockhead willing to charge headfirst into battle, no matter the cost. She was not careless or reckless, per se (she could be quite the strategist when she needed to be), but either way, Yuka was glad the trial could finally begin, proper!

"I agree with that," Hiiro said, also smiling knowingly. "Let us begin with a more narrative experience. And one at a time, please."

ooo

Maho, Muni, and Shinobu slowly, steadily, carefully recounted their alibies, eyes darting distrustfully around the trial room. They were not quite working together, but each was wary of being the first to say anything wrong, knowing that they would be swift to call one another out if anything seemed off. Lying was nigh-impossible when they were all essentially competing against one another to prove their own innocence, so the others trusted them at face-value, at least for then.

"Why'd Rinku go running off anyway?" Muni asked, touching her chin and closing one eye, but it was a rhetorical question. She already had her suspicions. As her eyes darted around the trial room, they finally settled upon a certain, specific someone, selecting and singling them out from everybody else. The killer is… YOU! "Well, what I think happened was… she was going to meet up with somebody! And that somebody is… you! Shinobu Inuyose! And it's been happening on and off all week long! What's up with that anyway?" Muni pointed accusatorily at the other girl.

"We were just discussing the D4DJ Battle Time," Shinobu replied with a shrug. Welp. Knew suspicion would eventually land on me, so I can't say I'm surprised… But she still glared at the other, vertically-challenged gamer girl. Then, her golden eyes slid over to her fellow two DJs, silently imploring them to come to her aid. It was time… time to reveal… the truth!

"Hey! What are you looking at them for?! What sort of shady secrets are you three keeping?!" Muni demanded, hands on her hips.

"You wanted my alibi. Least you could do is shut up long enough for me to give it!" Shinobu snorted, eyes sliding back over to Muni.

Muni cried out indignation, crossing her arms, pouting, and even stomping her foot. The nerve of her! Doesn't she know she's a suspect too?!

While Muni and Shinobu had their silent stare-down, Saori and Maho continued their own nonverbal exchange. Of course, at first, Saori was panicked, but Maho's reassuring gaze calmed her down. Letters floated through her mind, spelling out everything she needed to say, starting with… "The three of us… had a pact… a DJ pact."

"A DJ pact?!" Some of the other students echoed in surprise, confusion, and even a bit of suspicion. Only Monochio seemed unmoved.

"My unit can back it up too, since it was our idea!" Saori added quickly, looking hopeful that the more people she had on her side, the more credible her story would be. Unfortunately…

"But are we sure we can trust them?" Tsubaki crossed her arms. Saori seemed an awful lot like she was trying to flex…

"Yes, because Maho and I can back them up as well," Shinobu said quickly, ending her silent stare-down with Muni to start one with Tsubaki. She crossed her arms even tighter, but with nothing left to say, she was forced to let Saori continue.

"My unit and I were… trying to decide who I might choose if I… won the D4DJ Battle Time. Eventually we decided that I would ask the other DJs and I…" Saori finally broke off, sorrow and nerves overwhelming her.

"We," Marika continued for her, gentle but insistent as she reached out to squeeze Saori's hand supportively, "felt guilty about what happened in the last class trial, so we decided to forfeit any chance we had of escaping. Instead, we were going to allow one of the other DJs to win…"

"What?!" For a second time, everyone cried out. Everyone, that was, except Monochio.

Shinobu quickly picked up where Marika left off. "Saori approached Maho and I after practice one day, asking who we would save if we won. Of course, at first, none of us were too hot on the idea of disclosing something like that, but…" It was time for the next piece of evidence. I got it!

Saori's calligraphy book of poetry had been the final push she and Maho needed to trust in Hope, and each other, rather than succumbing to Despair, distrust, and division. Rika and Marika's eyes shined with pride and remembrance as they corroborated Shinobu and Maho's story.

While most of the students smiled in relief that stories were aligning, one Muni Ohnaruto was still scowling, arms crossed, but this time not just because of Shinobu. The Ultimate Illustrator's worst fears and suspicions were confirmed and realized. All along, from the very beginning, there was a giant Maho conspiracy against her. Even if Maho wasn't doing it to hurt her, it still stung terribly. She tried to keep her vendetta against the Ultimate Cook alive just because anything else felt too awkward, but seeing Maho look so guilty… Muni's own shame returned in spades.

All Maho ever wanted to do was… look after us. All Muni ever wanted was to get her own way. She either would've done whatever it took to keep Rinku with her, or she would've wanted to settle scores and get even before the inevitable separation. If only she'd realized just how soon that separation was coming… If I had done something differently, could Rinku have been saved? If I just… let her go… would she still be…?

Muni had to bite her lip to keep from crying. It was a thought she could not bear to face, especially not right now.

The others were still focused on the DJ pact. It explained why Shinobu spent so much time with Rinku. She was prepping the Ultimate Explorer for release, although the secret was kept from her just as much as it was everyone else. None of the DJs wanted to incite further discord, violence, and riots by giving away their endgame gameplan. They also knew Rinku wouldn't be very happy to hear that her friends were sacrificing themselves so she could walk free. Shinobu remembered one conversation in particular that she had with Rinku.

Shinobu had asked Rinku what made her so trusting of everyone, even when they were all in direct competition with one another, and when there were Masterminds in their midst. Why wasn't Rinku more preferential with her own unit? She'd answered the question with a question and asked simply why she could not be hyped for everyone. In that, Shinobu saw that which Maho mentioned before. Rinku genuinely had no idea she was the "chosen one". She was rooting for everyone because she loved everyone, and acknowledged that no matter who won, they all deserved to go home. On the night of the D4DJ Battle Time, she'd cheered for everyone, not just Maho and Hapiara.

"Why her, if I might inquire?" Hiiro interjected politely. "I am merely curious."

"Well, I was guessing Saori would pick Rika, and I…" Now it was Shinobu's turn to break off painfully and awkwardly, tapping the brim of her cap. "Of course, Maho wanted Rinku, and of the two of us—since M4 was forfeiting—felt Rinku was the better option. Sorry to everyone else." She smiled dryly, and her gaze settled on Miyu and Towa. "You guys were on the list, not sure if that makes you feel better or worse, though…"

"N-no worries, it's… fine." Towa gave Shinobu an awkward thumbs up, and Miyu gave a likewise embarrassed smile as she tilted her head and touched her cheek. They were torn between flattery, sheepishness, and frustration at how close they'd come only to ultimately have someone else be chosen instead. Though neither of them could say Rinku was a bad choice. The sad truth was, they were all worthy—as Rinku believed and said—but Monochio loved to toy with their emotions, expectations, and moral compasses like a cat in a school full of mice, rodents, and rats.

As much as the DJ pact explained, though, it did not explain who was last seen with Rinku Aimoto. After all, even though her first departure was for and with Shinobu—in the middle of the D4DJ Battle Time—there was still a whole lot more that happened after. Muni was the next challenger to join the fray. She could no longer wait for Rinku to come back from the "bathroom" on her own.

"She said she had to use the bathroom, but… I knew it was a lie because who takes that long in there anyway?!"

"Do you really want us to answer that?" Hiiro teased.

"What? Eew! No! Gross!" Muni cried. "A-anyway… By the time I got backstage, Shinobu was gone! Only Kyoko was around."

Yuka winced. She remembered her "shutter" senses tingling the moment Kyoko took off, muttering under her breath about trying to find Shinobu. Even though the Ultimate Photographer longed to go after her two missing unit-mates, she looked to Towa for advice, and Towa seemed blissfully unaware of the storm brewing on the horizon. She was much too captivated by the D4DJ Battle Time to want to leave it. Yuka did not blame her, of course, but she blamed herself. At first, the Ultimate Photographer feared that Shinobu was up to something.

Aside from the pattern she and the others had noticed for the entire past week, Shinobu was… fiery, to say the least. And with a Talent like hers… Well, Yuka didn't have to make the dark joke for it to be blatant: an angry high schooler with a love of shooting. But there were no guns in the academy! And surely even fiery Shinobu was not so stupid that she would kill someone! She knew the price of murder in the Killing Game just as much as anyone else! So Yuka had placated herself into a false sense of security as well. It wasn't just Towa.

"If only I'd gone after them!" she lamented. "I should've trusted my gut, my Ultimate Abs! Maybe I could've…"

"We can worry about that later!" Shinobu interrupted. The guilt weighed heavily on her too, but there was no time for tears! "We've established that I was long gone by the time Muni found Rinku, and now that the rest of you guys know about the DJ pact, it should be obvious I'm not the killer!"

"Not so fast, Shinobu, we must finish the rest of the story before we make any assertions," Hiiro reminded her.

"Hey! I thought you were on my side!" Shinobu crossed her arms and pouted.

"I am on the side of truth," Hiiro replied simply. "Just because I believe you are innocent does not mean that you are. So, Muni, please continue."

The Ultimate Illustrator suddenly looked flustered. For one who craved the spotlight so desperately, she certainly got shy whenever it was hers. "W-well, you see… I got… angry… And h-hey! Don't look at me like that! I didn't do anything! I just… I wanted to keep her with me, no matter what."

Maho sighed sympathetically and continued the tale for both of them. It wasn't going to make either of them look pretty, but the longer Muni dilly-dallied, the more time she wasted. Muni scowled at her, but she could not deny a word that Maho said.

"I think we were all just… stressed. I know that's no excuse, of course, but just… everything finally spilled over. And we all got a little carried away in the madness… in the jealousy…" Now Muni's expression changed to one of surprise, and so did everyone else's.

Maho sighed again, voice shaky as she confessed to her own part in the final battle, including as much as she could about the other combatants, though her memory was far from perfect. As she told her tale, Despair settled over the trial room once again.

Damn it! If only I hadn't hesitated in joining! Despite telling Yuka that they had no time for guilt, Shinobu couldn't control her own pained wince.

And she wasn't the only one with a discontented expression. Even after all was said and done, every main alibi in place to the best of their ability, they were no closer to an answer—or even a lead or clue!

"We should've known," Tsubaki sighed and shook her head. "Of course, they'd all give stories that make them look innocent." She wasn't trying to sound callous, just pointing out the low likelihood that any of the three would say anything too incriminating. So, where did they go from there? Was there a different angle they could approach the murder from?