In front of us…buried and impaled by several broken pieces of wood from Yuuji's set…is…

…

Mitsuki Hanataro, the Ultimate Shadow Play Performer.

I clench my fist.

Another Ultimate and an innocent life taken because of some psycho behind Monokuma…

They won't get away with this.

…But wait.

Class trial?

"That's right, a class trial!"

I jump, startled at the voice right in my ear and the sudden weight on my back.

Monokuma laughs as he jumps off my back and in front of Mitsuki's body. "Did you forget, silly Tatsumi? Come on now, it's not like it's been months since we've last seen each other!"

…Heh?

"The motive allowed you to get off scot free if you got your target." Monokuma reminds us.. "Mitsuki was not the target of her killer." he says and hands me what I can only assume is the Monokuma File. "Get to investigating, I'll be back when I get bored!" Monokuma orders and disappears in typical Monokuma fashion as the gym starts to fill with our classmates.

Hakuma clenches his fists. He doesn't say anything and I can't see his face but his body language is pretty easy to read: he's angry.

Takagi has a mixture of emotions on his face. Obviously, he and Mitsuki didn't get along but I don't think he wanted her to die. He's the 'Ultimate Villain' but he's not a bad guy.

Yuuji also has a mixture of emotions on his face, the most prominent one being anxiety. We know Mitsuki was looking for Yuu and during her search for him she ends up dead? It's a little suspicious but it's also too easy…I don't think it was him.

Me?

I'm freaking the hell out.

I was pretty lucky during the Tragedy. I was able to stay in a safe place for nearly the entire thing and I didn't have to deal with any…bodies. Life was almost normal.

Almost…

…

…

…

"Tatsumi," Ryoji's voice pulls me out of my head. "you good, man?" he asks with a worried frown.

I shake off the feeling from earlier and give him a weary smile. "I'm…okay." I nod. "I guess we're really doing this, huh?"

Ryoji nods back and I notice that everyone else has gathered in the gymnasium.

"O-Oh, God, Mitsuki…" Kaguya cries quietly.

One of us accidentally killed Mitsuki while trying to target someone else. Her death was a mistake on her killer's part but we will find out who did it.

We have to.

INVESTIGATION START!

"S-So…there's like, a Monokuma File or something, right?" Rui speaks up.

I look down at the black and white file I'm still clutching in my hand.

"Right." I clear my throat and open it up to read to everybody.

The victim is Mitsuki Hanataro. The body was discovered in the Gymnasium. The estimated time of death is 21:23.

Her body was crushed and her torso and left leg were impaled by broken pieces of wood. The cause of death is hemopneumothorax.

A bit of blood beneath the body is smeared slightly, almost like a trail.

…

Truth Bullet: Monokuma File, obtained!

"Hemo…pneumo…what?" Min frowns, cringing as she backs away from Mitsuki's body.

"Hemopneumothorax." Katashi repeats. "It's caused by trauma to the body. In the simplest terms, she choked to death on her own blood." he says. "And even if she hadn't, there's no coming out of…whatever this is alive." Katashi says, gesturing to the collapsed set.

Jotaro cringes and scratches his head. "Sounds painful," he says.

Hakuma, snapping out of whatever trance he was just in, puts his hands on his hips and nods. "Oh yeah, it definitely was." he says, his body language more relaxed.

Mikasa frowns and asks, "How would they even know that without doing an autopsy or something?"

Katashi kneels down beside Mitsuki's body, pointing at her mouth. "Look at the blood on her lips. I'd say it's a pretty good guess." he says dryly.

Sumire and Shion stare down at Mitsuki with frightened, traumatized looks on their faces; each twin clutching onto the other's arm so tight their knuckles are turning white.

Kite gives the twins a sympathetic look and shakes his head, turning away from Mitsuki's body. "Well, we can't just stand here until Monokuma calls us for the class trial," he says. "We need to go out and investigate."

Aria closes her eyes and lets out a controlled, easy breath. "Kite is right." she says and opens her eyes. "But how should we go about it?" Aria wonders.

"I don't know about the rest of you but I'm not going to spend whatever time I might have left hanging out with a killer." Min sneers. "I'll be in my room if you need me." she says and turns to leave.

Jotaro scratches his head. "That sounds stupid. Wouldn't being alone make you an easier target?"

Min stops in her tracks. She turns around and glares at Jotaro. "...Fine. Whatever." she says and rejoins the group.

Shion, snapping out of whatever daze she was in, releases Sumire's arm and crosses her own. "I don't feel comfortable wandering around alone with a motive like this still in place." she says. "Let's split up into groups."

Kikuo makes a noise of agreement and holds up three fingers.

"You want to split up into groups of three?" I ask.

Kikuo nods and gives me two thumbs up.

I feel like he's trying to say 'It's safer that way.'

What a good kid.

Takagi taps his chin. "An excellent idea from one of my most loyal minions…" he says, trailing off thoughtfully. "But my Ultimate Spymaster also raises a good question. Are the minions with no blood on their hands still potential assassins or is that offer off the table?" Takagi wonders.

"I'm SO beary glad you asked!"

Ugh.

Monokuma appears above the broken set piece Mitsuki is buried under - somehow not toppling it - and does a little spin. "Regardless of the motive, if there's two killers, the first one will always get priority!" he says and each one of us starts beeping. "I added it as a rule so you don't forget!"

Aria hums, "So in that sense, the motive is off the table." she says. "It would be senseless for someone that isn't the blackened to kill one of us." Aria says, putting some of our classmates at ease.

Min sneers, "Oh? Thinking about that a lot, were you?"

Aria ignores her.

Hakuma wags his finger, "Even if that's the case, splitting up into groups of three would be the best for now." he says smartly. "I'll stay-"

Shion gives him a sharp look and Sumire frowns when Hakuma pauses.

"...Ah, I'll investigate with Sumire and…" Hakuma looks around. "Kikuo." he says. After Shion gives him an approving look, Hakuma continues and he turns to the two medical professionals in the group. "Katashi and Sachiko, you stay here and protect and investigate the body," he says.

Katashi gives him a blank stare. "Yeah, whatever." he says, shooting a look at Sachiko.

Sachi nods. "Other than having Katashi for company, that sounds fine." she agrees.

Jotaro raises his hand suddenly. "Uh, yeah, I'm not too smart so I think I should stay here too. Protect the body and those guys and stuff." he says, jutting his thumb at Katashi and Sachiko.

The two of them raise their hands. "I'm no longer okay with this." they say dryly in unison.

"Moving on," Hakuma says and continues to split everyone up.

Kite, Takagi, and Shion are one group.

Myself, Ryoji, and Aria are another group.

Mikasa, Rui, and Kaguya are the last group.

Hakuma asked Yuuji to stick around the gym to answer any questions about his set that any of us might have. He also asked Min to stay behind and keep an eye on things because although she may not be the smartest tool in the shed, she's bitchy enough (my words, not his) to criticize every move everyone staying behind in the gym makes.

"Any complaints?" Hakuma asks. "There shouldn't be, I put everyone with their friends so you should feel somewhat safe." he says matter-of-factly.

Sachiko nods. "I'm not participating in the investigation but with assigned groups, there's a third person as a witness if anything does happen. And on the unlikely chance that something happens, the blackened can't stop the third person from reporting to the others because they'll be breaking rule number eleven." she points out.

"Astute deduction, Ultimate Plague Doctor," Takagi compliments, striking a dramatic pose. "Harken towards me, minions! I, the Ultimate V-"

"Yeah, we'll get going now." Kite says, grabbing Takagi by the back of his collar and dragging him out of the room. "Come on, Shion." he yawns.

"Don't presume to have the authority to put your filthy commoner hands on me!" Takagi cries as Kite pulls him out of the room.

Shion shoots one last look at Hakuma before silently following Kite and Takagi out of the room.

Hakuma's and Mikasa's group soon follow suit until it's just my group and those staying behind left in the gym.

Hmm…

Ryoji looks at me with another frown when I remain silent. "Bro-?"

"Shhh. Let him think." Aria says.

Because the film set is completely broken and collapsed, there's no way to tell if anything was wrong with it just by looking at it.

I look towards the stage.

I wonder…

"Since we can't check to see if the set itself was faulty, maybe there's a clue backstage." I think out loud.

Ryoji tilts his head to the side. "Like something purposely removed from the set to make it collapse?" he asks as he and Aria follow me towards the stage.

"Exactly." I nod.

Aria smiles. "An excellent idea, Tatsumi." she praises. "And looking around here for a bit will give Katashi and Sachiko more time to investigate Mitsuki's body before we bother them."

"Exactly." I nod again.

Backstage is extremely dusty. There's boxes of old costumes, pieces of old sets, and construction tools laying around.

Hopefully there's no spiders on those cobwebs I see everywhere…

The three of us get to work on searching for anything suspicious backstage in a comfortable silence before Ryoji speaks up, "You know, most of us here are from Class 80-B, right?" he says. "I mean, not everyone from my class is here: Sting, Nemiko, Yume and the others aren't, but it's most of us, right?" Ryoji asks as he pushes a chest full of costumes to the side.

Aria raises an eyebrow. "'Sting'? What kind of name is that?" she asks.

"Oh, that's not his actual name." Ryoji says. "He's a rehabilitated Remnant of Despair that just prefers to be called by the name he went by back then." he answers simply.

Aria and I pause in our movements. "You…You have a Remnant of Despair in your class?" I ask, blinking owlishly.

"Two, actually. Another guy who likes to be called Harlequin." Ryoji says. "Besides, they're not so bad. I heard Class 80-A has an unrehabilitated serial killer - at least ours aren't actively trying to kill us." he says.

Aria and I exchange a look.

"Anyways, we're getting off track." Ryoji says. "The ones that aren't here all got detention. Do you think that was on purpose?" he asks. "Like, they were all given attention so they'd be separated from the rest of us and we'd be taken?"

I frown. "They all got detention?"

Ryoji nods.

How interesting.

"It's a possibility." Aria says. "Or it could be a coincidence." she says. "We won't find out unless we figure out who-"

"As much as I'd love to continue this conversation, genuinely, I found something." I say as I push aside some boxes, something having caught my eye. "There shouldn't be any reason for a bunch of random screws to be behind a box of hats, right?" I ask, picking up the handful of screws from the floor.

Ryoji shakes his head. "Nah, definitely not."

"Look at the state of the screws, too." Aria says. "No rust. They're new."

"That means they came from the Mastermind." I nod. "Let's take it to the film set." I say, pocketing the screws.

Truth Bullet: Loose Screws, obtained!

After looking around a bit more, we don't find anything else that seems out of place so we return to the main area of the gymnasium.

Yuuji's sitting in the bleachers swinging his feet. Min sits behind him watching Jotaro, Sachiko, and Katashi like a hawk.

Yuuji makes a move to stand up but Min swiftly pulls him back down by the back of his shirt, making him sigh.

Well, at least she's doing what she was told.

"Yuuji, Min," Aria greets as we approach the duo.

Yuuji looks a bit relieved at the company. "Hey guys." he nods. "Need something?" Yuu asks hopefully.

"Yes, actually." I say just as I'm about to pull the screws out of my pocket, I think better of it. "You made the film set yourself, right?" I ask.

Yuuji nods again. "Yeah, I found some pieces of old sets backstage and some tools so I put something together." he says and frowns, looking at Mitsuki's body. "I put it together pretty well too, I even asked Jotaro to hammer down some of the harder bits to make sure they'd be secure…"

"Before Mitsuki got here, were you regularly checking to see if the set was in order?" I ask.

Yuuji nods. "Of course! I can't have my actors getting hurt on the job." he says. "I'm the Ultimate Filmmaker, I'd notice if even a single screw was missing from my set!" Yuuji insists.

Truth Bullet: Yuuji's Film, obtained!

"I see…" I say, trailing off. I pull the screws out of my pocket. "We found these loose screws over there." I say, handing them to Yuuji so he can get a closer look. "When was the last time you checked your set?"

Yuuji frowns. "This morning. I wanted to make sure no one messed with it overnight." he says. "I was gonna check it again after I rounded everyone up, but…"

Ryoji matches his frown. "So whoever the blackened is had all day to mess with the film set," he says.

Truth Bullet: Yuuji's Account, obtained!

"We just have to establish our alibis from morning until evening." Aria says simply.

We finish up our conversation with Yuu and after confirming Min had nothing substantial to add, we move on to the group investigating Mitsuki's body.

I put my hand up to wave at them. "Hey guy-"

"There's not much of Mitsuki's body that we can look at without potentially collapsing the entire film set on top of us." Katashi says. "However, there's something stuck in her hand that we can't pull out." he says and looks up at me from his position on the floor. "We were debating having Jotaro break her hand so we can look at it." Katashi says dryly.

Ryoji jumps back, horrified. "B-Break her hand!?" he cries.

Sachiko cringes, "It is a…very uncomfortable thought, but this is supposed to be an autopsy." she says. "We should…we have to." Sachi says, sounding more like she's trying to convince herself.

Aria looks extremely uncomfortable too, but for a different reason. "I'll wait by the door if you really intend to do that." she says, an almost imperceptible shudder going down her spine.

I cough, clearing my throat. "I would also rather not be a part of that." I say. "Is there anything else you can share?" I ask.

Sachi's expression turns downcast as she looks pitifully at Mitsuki. "Not that we can do anything about it now, but Mitsuki definitely suffered before she died." she says and points to one of Mitsuki's hands. "See the marks on the floor under her fingers? Mitsuki fought for her life." Sachiko says and carefully picks up one of her arms and shows me the tips of her fingers: dark marks on each of them.

"And she fought in vain." Katashi says. "There were several stage weights attached to the set. According to Jotaro, they feel like they weigh around thirty pounds." he says, Jotaro nodding along in confirmation. "By mine and Sachiko's count, there's at least ten of them so that's already three hundred pounds keeping her pinned down, not counting all the slabs of wood."

"With all that weight pinning her down and the wood that went through her body, Mitsuki was dead as soon as the set started to collapse." Sachiko says.

Truth Bullet: Film Set, obtained!

Truth Bullet: Katashi & Sachiko's Report, obtained!

With the conclusion of their report, Katashi and Sachiko say they'll get cracking on Mitsuki's hand as soon as we leave the gym.

…Terrible pun I'm sorry.

"Hey, Aria," Ryoji says as we head towards the dormitories. "You're a medium. Why don't you just ask Mitsuki who killed her?" he wonders.

Aria sighs and shakes her head. "There's more to it than just 'asking' something of someone on the other side." she says. "And even if I did that, would you believe me?" Aria asks mysteriously.

Ryoji looks at her confused.

"Why would you - let alone anyone - believe me about communicating with the dead in this situation?" Aria asks. "Let's assume I killed Mitsuki for a second. I could just tell you 'Yeah, Mitsuki said Rui killed her.' to get suspicion off myself." she says. "Do you really want to rely on evidence you can't confirm for yourself?"

Ryoji scratches the back of his head. "Well when you put it like that…"

Aria smiles lightly. "I'm simply trying to be logical here." she says. "I'm sorry if I caused any offense."

Ryoji shakes his head and gives her a small smile. "Nah, I get it…I think." he nods. "So, where to next?"

"Hmm…maybe Mitsuki's dorm? Or the storage room?" I suggest. "I don't know where else seems important enough to investigate." I say. "Mitsuki was killed in the gym because she went looking for Yuuji, so maybe we should ask – you guys?"

"Mitsuki went looking for Yuuji?" Ryoji asks.

"Yeah," I say. "She came to my dorm after lunch to ask if we were cool and the subject came up. When she left she said she was going to look for him." I say.

"Dearest Tatsumi, you didn't think that would be important to mention?" Aria asks.

Well…

Truth Bullet: Tatsumi's Account, obtained!

I give them an awkward smile. "My bad. Let's head to the storage room first."

I guess I should also make a mental note of everyone Yuuji has worked with so far in his film.

Truth Bullet: Yuuji's Actors, obtained!

Now, onto the dormitories.

At the same time we enter the dormitories, Rui comes running out of the cafeteria screaming something unintelligible.

Alarms immediately go off in my head but quickly die down when Mikasa and Kaguya come running out after her.

Phew.

"R-Rui, wait up! We're supposed to stick t-together!" Kaguya cries.

Mikasa holds up a pair of glasses in her hands as she runs after Rui. "You forgot your glasses!"

The three of us exchange a look and silently agree to follow after them.

Just as I round the corner, I get to witness the incredibly amusing sight of Takagi walking out of the boy's bathroom and Rui immediately shoving him to the side and running in past him. "MOVE!"

Takagi blinks as he processes what just happened and breaks character: "But…that's the boy's bathroom…?" he says, sounding like he's starting to doubt himself.

Shion and Kite, leaning against the wall nearby, look like they're about to start crying from holding in their laughter.

Mikasa sighs. "Sorry about that." she says, smiling apologetically. "We made a stop in the cafeteria because Kaguya's mouth was feeling dry…apparently so was Rui's."

Kaguya fiddles with her umbrella. "Sh-She drank five water bottles." she says.

Kite puts his arm around a still flabbergasted Takagi. "Come on, Takagi." he says with a barely contained grin.

"...Was that not the boy's bathroom, Kite?" Takagi asks quietly.

"Oh Takagi." Kite says and turns back to look at us. "We'll check out Mitsuki's room."

Shion can barely hold herself together as she follows after the boys.

Mikasa nods at me, Ryoji, and Aria. "We'll wait here for her." she says.

I nod back. "Find anything interesting in the cafeteria at least?" I ask.

Kaguya shakes her head. "No. Nothing - n-nothing of importance." she says disappointedly. "...I hope we can get justice for Mitsuki."

There goes our little ball of anxiety and justice.

Walking into the storage room, it seems like Hakuma's group had the same idea as us.

And my God is the sight of Sumire standing between the giants that are Hakuma and Kikuo just as funny as the scene from earlier.

Sumire, however, doesn't look as amused as I feel.

"I can reach for it myself," Sumire insists.

Kikuo gently pats Sumire on the head as he reaches for a box that I assume she pointed out. When he pulls it down and Sumire opens her arms to take it from him, her expression sours even more when Kikuo places it down for her.

Kikuo, in response, pats her on the head again.

What a damn good kid.

Sumire sighs and sits down, beginning to look through the box.

"Fun fact, did you know that if you pick something up that you're not supposed to, you'll only hurt yourself even further?" Hakuma asks as he looks through a box on a higher shelf.

I snort, "Sounds more like common sense than a fun fact to me." I say, making our presence known.

Hakuma turns his head toward me and although I can't see his face, I can hear the smile in his voice, "Oh yes, yes it is." he says.

Sumire grumbles something under her breath.

Kikuo smiles and waves at us.

"Whatcha guys looking for?" Ryoji asks as he peers into the box Sumire is looking through.

Hakuma pulls another box off the shelf and hands it to a waiting Aria. "Tools. If the set was put together, that means something had to be taken off, right? And what better - well, only - way to do that than with construction tools?" he says.

"I see." I nod. "Any luck?"

Sumire sighs and shakes her head. "Nope. There's still tracksuits and stuff that we were made aware of from the Killing School Life but no hammers or screwdrivers or anything." she says and slides the box to Ryoji when he motions for it.

Truth Bullet: Storage Room, obtained!

"Maybe they're-"

Ding dong bing bong!

The TV in the storage room suddenly turns on and we're met with the sight of Monokuma sitting in a chair with a glass of wine. "Erm, so ah…I'm getting tired of waiting. What say we just get started, hm?" he says. "It's time for the long-awaited…" Monokuma swirls the wine in his glass. "Class trial!" he laughs.

Everyone in the room freezes.

"Now then, allow me to appoint a proper location for the proceedings. Please go through the red door on the first floor of the school! Puhuhu. See you soon!"

And the TV cuts off.

That sounded just like the first announcement from the Killing School Life…is our kidnapper just playing previous recordings?

Hm.

…

…

…

Nobody makes a sound.

That is, until Hakuma breaks the silence with another fun fact: "Fun fact, did you know that sixteen heads are better than one?" he asks in a clear attempt to lighten the mood. "It's sixteen brains against the one that killed Mitsuki. There's no way we won't figure this out." Hakuma says encouragingly.

Well, only one way to figure that out for sure, right?

Let's get to the godforsaken red door.

I just hope that the elevator is still working; no offense to Mitsuki but I don't want to join her in being crushed to death, y'know? Sachiko and Katashi made it sound awfully painful.

"Let's go."

A/N we're finishing cbr before 2024 everyone say thank you to farla for provoking me xoxo