Hello readers and welcome to my new chapter. So, I wasn't able to finish up the trial on this chapter. But I did get close. And it turned to yet another very long chapter. Here, they're going to figure out that it was Mondo who did it. Hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.
A Lucky Soldier: Next chapter is up! Class trial is wrapping up and we'll be entering another inter-chapter break!
Questions:
Q: Will Spirit tell the class about the underwear friendship ritual (giving of underwear at friendship 5)?
L: I don't know what the deal is with underwear exchanging in Anime and Anime games, but since we've come this far without it, probably not. There's no reason for it (I'd like to know if I'm wrong.) and it's only in the game for fan service as far as I know.
S: Yeah, like Lucky said, there's no reason to put it in here and it's only served as fan service in the game.
Q: Will people compare Makoto's luck to Nagito's here?
L: I don't see chances of this happening until Chapter 5, and even then, that's still quite a ways off that neither I or Spirit probably thought of yet. I will say that, everyone is aware of Nagito's existence since class 78 attended Hope's Peak long enough for everyone to be close friends, and so it would only be natural that they would be aware of their senpais.
S: Same here. I don't see any comparisons happening until Chapter 5, where Makoto's lucky really shines, as well as Danganronpa 2.
Q: Sato and Natsumi in Class 77 watches the future?
L: Seeing how they are only relevant in chapter 2 of DR2, it would be sort of pointless for them to stay for the entire ride. A cast of 16 main characters is already a large roster, and adding in two characters that will only be relevant for 1 chapter wouldn't make too much sense. And this is a real shame since Natsumi is a extremely underrated character.
S: Agreed. Plus, the two of them already died by the time Class 78th got there, so there's no reasonable way for them to join group.
Chapter 38: Watching Ch 2: Boys' Life of Despair Part 15
The screen then faded into back before showing everyone in the trial room once again. "Ahem! I do apologize for keeping you waiting. Now then, let's resume the class trial!" Monokuma declared. "We've all just learned of the shocking revelation that Chihiro was actually a boy! Let's it pick up from there!"
"Yes, well….I don't know his reason for hiding it, but the fact is, Chihiro was not a girl, but a boy." Kyoko stated.
'To think that Chihiro….was actually a guy.' Makoto thought. 'The thought had never even crossed my mind….'
"It never crossed any of our minds." Junko said. She then got into her teacher persona. "Not even the geniuses Byakuya or Kyoko were able to figure it out!"
Byakuya sighed. "To think I was able to be deceived like this... I will have to be more diligent next time."
"Well, Chihiro did play a mighty convincing girl." Leon remarked with a smirk.
"And because the victim was male, he would have had no problem getting access to the boys' locker room." Kyoko continued.
"Assuming his handbook did, in fact, list his gender as male…." Byakuya pointed out. "Then yes, that would be true."
"Of course his handbook said he was a boy!" Monokuma confirmed. "He dressed like a girl, but he was a boy through and through!"
"So then, there should be no issue with Makoto's initial assertion…." Kyoko said. "The victim was killed in the boys locker room, and was then later moved into the girls locker room. And the killer could've easily used Junko's or Sayaka's handbooks to get into the girls locker room."
"So Chihiro was really killed in the boys locker room?!" Taka gasped in shock.
"I still don't understand the motive for moving the body, but….yes, that does seem plausible." Kyoko confirmed.
"Maybe it's to hide the fact Chihiro is a boy?" Makoto suggested. "So it would be harder for us to connect the dots?"
"That is the most immediate possibility." Kyoko said.
"Well….I must admit, I did find it rather odd…." Byakuya admitted. "I knew he felt a little….off. There was a certain incongruity to his 'female' body."
"This is a most titillating situation!" Jill exclaimed with a heavy blush.
"So now everything has been connected." Byakuya mused. "All the mysteries have finally become clear."
"Okay, well, connected or clear or whatever….we still think you're the killer, remember?" Hina pointed out.
The heir ignored her, and chuckled to himself. "Very interesting. This has become very interesting indeed…."
"Ahh, he's off in his own little world…." Hifumi sighed.
"Okay then, I'm starting to think that he isn't really the killer." Junko stated obviously. Even she was getting tired of watching that. "He's just too carefree about this."
"But maybe that's a trick to make us think he isn't the killer?" Hifumi suggested.
"No, I don't think that's a trick." Makoto disagreed. "While Byakuya is smart, I don't think he's capable of that kind of deceit. He still prone to surprise and panic like all of us." Especially when things don't go his way.
"What about you, Makoto?" Kyoko asked the luckster. "After everything we've learned, do you still think Byakuya's the killer?"
"Well, without a doubt Byakuya's the one that made Chihiro's death look like Genocide Jack did it." Makoto answered confidently. However, just as quickly as his confidence came, it was replaced with doubt. "But….but I….I think he might not be actually be the killer after all."
"What? But aren't you the one who accused him in the first place?" Hifumi pointed out.
"That doesn't mean that I can't say that I was wrong." Makoto said with a frown. "I'm willing to admit that I made a mistake."
"And that's a good quality to have, especially now. Pride is the one thing we can't afford to have in the trial." Sakura stated in approval.
"Also, there's nothing wrong with new information being admitted into court that would change how a case will proceed. Not everything can be made with the initial evidence available." Kyoko added.
"He just seems to be too….easy going about all this. Like he's enjoying us solving the mystery…." Makoto explained. "The way he's acting, it makes it seem like it doesn't have anything to do with him."
"And you think that might be because it doesn't have anything to do with him?" Celeste asked.
"Plus, the evidence he left behind was a little too….how can I put it? Overt." Makoto pointed out. "He consciously chose the extension cord, knowing it could connect him to the murder. At least, that's how I see it…."
Byakuya remained silent at Makoto's explanation. "And Byakuya, when you found out the murder took place in the boys locker room, it seemed to rattle you." The luckster continued. "And then again when you found out Chihiro was actually a guy. If you really were the killer, that stuff wouldn't have had any effect on you."
"Those are some good points." Celeste agreed with. "After all, human emotion is genuinely honest."
"While there isn't any concrete reasoning in there, it would be something my future self will accept." Byakuya stated.
"So….Byakuya didn't kill Chihiro?" Hina asked for confirmation.
"So that's what you're thinking, huh?" Byakuya rhetorically asked. "Well, it bothers me that you don't have more concrete reasoning, but….it's fine. I guess I'll mark it as correct, for the time being."
"Mark it as….correct?" Hina repeated in confusion.
"He's right. I am not the culprit." Byakuya confirmed. "I just happened to come across the corpse in the girls locker room, and decided to alter it."
"What?! Is he fucking serious?!" Mondo roared.
"Yeah! Does he really expect us to believe that easily?" Taka agreed with Mondo.
"And if he is telling the truth….why he would he mess with Chihiro's body like that?" Sayaka questioned, looking a bit sick.
"Are you fucking with us right now….?" Mondo growled.
"No, I am not….effing with you right now. I'm telling you the truth." Byakuya told him.
"Well I find it very hard to believe!" Taka stated.
"Go ahead, find it very hard to believe." Byakuya said nonchalantly. "You're free to be executed along with the rest of us."
"If you're really telling the truth, then….why? Why'd you do that to his body?" Hina asked him angrily.
"My reasons hardly matter right now." Byakuya replied callously. "Uncovering the culprit is much more important, wouldn't you say?"
"Like hell he is going to chicken out!" Mondo exclaimed angrily.
"Yeah! Man up and answer the damn question!" Leon immediately agreed with Mondo. If it weren't for the possibility of those chains being summoned, he probably would've punched the TV. Or Byakuya. Maybe both.
"Unfortunately, Byakuya is correct." Kyoko sighed. "We need to focus on who else could've done it first, then question him as to why he did what he did."
"And I doubt Monokuma would let the trial go astray." Makoto agreed with the detective. "So, we don't have a choice but to focus on finding the culprit."
"Now then….if it wasn't me, who was it?"
"W-Well….I don't think I can say for sure without talking about a little more." Makoto responded hesitantly.
"We're seriously gonna keep going?" Hiro complained. "We're all good, aren't we? I thought it was clear Byakuya did it!"
"Has he been listening to anything Makoto and Kyoko has been saying?" Junko questioned rhetorically. "Cause what they all said so far points to the possibility of Byakuya not being the culprit."
"Hiro, you are taking this trial way too casually." Sayaka sighed in annoyance. It's like the fortune teller forgot that if they get it wrong, then they will all die.
"No, I'm with Makoto." Kyoko said. "If there's any doubt whatsoever, we need to explore every possibility. Because if we're wrong, we all die here."
"...That's true. Very well, then, I'm with you, too." Celeste conceded.
"Damn straight! Count me in!" Hiro stated confidently.
"Do you not have a mind of your own?!" Taka demanded in frustration.
"Of course I do!" Hiro responded back in anger. "What am I, an ant or somethin'?"
"You may as well be." Byakuya remarked, with some nodding in agreement. "With the way you easily agree with the most popular opinion, it very much implies you don't have your own mind."
"Like future me said, I do!"
"Then act like it!" Taka retorted. Honestly, he's not sure how he had put up with Hiro's laziness all these months.
"Anyway, let's discuss this all as a group one more time." Makoto said, changing the subject. "We still have time to make our decision."
"That's very true…." Sakura agreed.
"Our lives are all on the line…." Hina said nervously.
"Excellent! Then shall we resume our game of hide and seek?" Byakuya inquired.
'But if Byakuya didn't do it, then who's the real killer? Who murdered Chihiro?' Makoto asked himself. 'One thing we can be sure about is that the killer is a guy. Since the crime scene was the boys locker room, you would need a boy's handbook to get in. And since Leon's Handbook is apparently broken, the killer would have had to use their own.'
"Which means the suspects are Mondo, Taka, Hifumi, and Hiro." Kyoko listed off. "Makoto is off the list, for obvious reasons. And Byakuya's guilt is questionable as of now."
"So our list of suspects are narrowed down to those four boys." Celeste summarized.
"I still think that Togami did it!" Mondo stated, but then aim his glare at Hifumi and Hiro. "But I'm willing to bet those two as possible killers!"
"Hey! Don't pick us out!" Hiro protested.
"Y-Yeah!" Hifumi quickly agreed. "You and Taka could've easily done it too!"
"Like hell we would kill Chihiro!"
"Yeah! Mondo and I wouldn't even think about harming Chihiro!" Taka agreed with his best friend.
"Perhaps we are still too hasty with our conclusions. Everyone calm down." Sakura said, mediating the room.
Kyoko's eyes narrowed in thought. 'I wouldn't be too sure about that.' She thought to herself. With the knowledge of Chihiro being a boy, a conversation during the investigation came up in her mind. One tiny detail that triggered her curiosity. And now she knows why.
'But that's still not enough….I need to find some more clues.'
After that thought, the nonstop debate started up once again. This time, it was Sakura spoke first. "Isn't there a single clue that might lead us to who did it?"
"Well, clues are one thing, but, did nobody get a look at the killer?!" Taka inquired to everyone.
"I'm sure if someone saw the killer, they woulda said something by now…." Hiro pointed out.
"Perhaps someone saw the victim at some point." Sakura suggested. "Even that might be enough for now…."
"Yeah, all we need right now is any kind of new info!" Hina agreed.
"It's over….it's all over….!" Hiro cried in misery. "You wanna know who saw the victim? The killer! And only the killer…."
"No, that's wrong!" Makoto spoke up loudly. The bullet was shot as Makoto continued speaking. "I believe someone else did see the victim before he was murdered. What do you think, Celeste?"
"Oh, right! Celeste did see Chihiro during the night!" Hina gasped in realization.
"Finally! We got something!" Taka expressed with relief.
"Hopefully, it can lead to something." Byakuya said.
"Now that you mention it, yes. I did see him." Celeste confirmed.
"Huh? Really?" Hifumi asked in surprise.
"Oh, but I suppose only Makoto knows about this." Celeste mused. "The rest of you had no idea, did you? That is why you're all making such ugly noises."
"Why bother hiding it that info at all?" Taka questioned. "That would've been something we all would've liked to know!"
"Most likely because my future self doesn't trust most of you." Celeste explained. "Any of us could be the killer, and if I told them, my life would've been at risk. The killer might've chosen to silence me, to keep it a secret."
"Then why tell Mr. Naegi?" Hifumi inquired.
"He's the most trustworthy out of all us, of course."
The silence was everyone's response to that answer. After all, no one disagreed with that. Makoto did prove himself to be a honest and trustworthy person countless times.
"Wait a minute, what about the rest of us?" Leon complained.
"Whatever, just hurry up and tell us!" Taka demanded.
"It was last night, right before nighttime." Celeste began recalling. "I saw Chihiro….in the dormitory warehouse. I saw him stuffing a track jacket into a duffel bag. And then, I assume, he headed off to exercise."
"A tracket jacket and a duffel bag?" Taka repeated in confusion. "But we didn't find anything like that at the murder scene!"
"It seems likely that the culprit destroyed them to get rid of any evidence…." Sakura deduced.
"And that's when he said something that struck me as rather odd…." Celeste continued. "Chihiro told me he was 'in a hurry'. But why would he be in a hurry? Only if someone were waiting for him, I should think."
"So Mr. Fujisaki was on his way to meet with someone, and then they were going to work out together….?" Hifumi guessed.
"But Hina and I had invited him to exercise with us plenty of times, and he always declined…." Sakura pointed out.
"Probably cuz was afraid you'd find out the secret he was hiding, right?" Hiro assumed.
"Which means that conversely, he must have trusted whoever he was meeting with very much." Celeste deducted. "Enough so that he was willing to risk his secret being revealed…."
"Uhuhu! What a marvelous friendship!" Jill commented.
"But who would Chihiro trust enough to reveal his secret?" Hina asked.
Her question, along with the dialogue itself, caused a few minds to click. 'Oh no….please don't tell me….I.. did point him towards...' Makoto thought in horror. He shook his head. 'No no no. Maybe….maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm just thinking in the wrong direction.'
Junko mentally giggled gleefully to herself. 'So it's Mondo who killed poor old Chihiro? Now that's really despairful! Oh, I can't wait to it unfold before our eyes!'
Byakuya narrowed his eyes. 'Someone he would trust….the one would fit the most would be Mondo...' However, he isn't completely sure of this. So he kept quiet for now.
"The point is, whoever he met up with is the culprit, right?" Hina summarized. "So we just gotta figure out who it was!"
"But knowing what we know, I can't even guess…." Makoto groaned.
"...No, we already have what you need to make the connection." Kyoko declared.
"...Huh?" Makoto responded back in confusion.
"Yeah, what Makoto said. Huh?" Hina said, tilting her head in confusion.
"How can we know that?" Leon remarked in confusion. "There isn't anything that can point fingers at anyone, other than Byakuya."
"I'm not sure." Kyoko said, narrowing her eyes. What her future self trying to do?
"You know who the killer is." Kyoko stated.
"S-Seriously?!" Taka exclaimed in shock.
"Wow, that was quick!" Jill stated casually.
"Too quick." Byakuya noted, his gaze focused on Kyoko. "And she's not the type to make such declarations so openly."
"So why Kyoko is saying such a thing?" Taka questioned.
"W-Who is it?!" Who's the killer?!" Mondo asked, demanding for answers.
"Think back to the track jacket and duffel bag the killer disposed of." Kyoko told them. "Focus on the details of these items, and it should become obvious who was waiting for him."
"Really?" Junko said, with obvious disbelief. "Two pieces of evidence that we don't have? Are your detective abilities dulling, Kyoko?"
"I assure you, my skills are fine." Kyoko responded back, hiding her irritation at the claim. "I'm sure my future self has arrived at a conclusion of sorts."
"What is she thinking is the question." Byakuya remarked. "Cause, like Junko pointed out, both pieces of evidence were disposed of before we could get a look at them."
"...Are you sure about that?" Celeste asked with obvious doubt. "You really think we can figure out who did it based on two pieces of evidence that we don't have?"
"What, you wanna track down some fingerprints or something?" Hifumi questioned.
"Even if we had the equipment for that, we wouldn't know how to use it!" Taka stated.
"As was noted, the evidence is already gone." Byakuya pointed. "There's nothing to get fingerprints from."
"Maybe, but we can make certain inferences, if we just take the time to talk it out." Kyoko insisted.
'Ah. I didn't make a conclusion, I'm trying to bait out the culprit.' Kyoko concluded in her mind, hiding a smirk of her own for taking such a risk. That's the only reason she can think of as to why.
"Easy for you to say…." Hina sighed. "But fine - Celeste, did you notice anything special about the bag or jacket?"
"The bag was….just a normal duffel bag from the warehouse." Celeste explained. "All the bags in there are the same, so I can't imagine what would make that one special…."
"Well, if I remember right, there was a decent variety of tracksuits to choose from…." Sakura recalled. "Do you think there might be some connection between the culprit and Chihiro's jacket?"
"Perhaps." Kyoko said in response. "Let's explore that and talk a bit more about the jacket he took."
"Um, am I the only one confused here?" Hiro asked, looking very confused.
"No, your not Hiro." Hina said, looking confused as well. "How is this gonna help us find the culprit?"
"We'll just have to see." Sakura sighed.
As they spoke, Makoto seemed to realize Kyoko's intention. "Wait, don't tell me you're trying to bait the culprit out, are you?" Makoto whispered to Kyoko. The detective nodded.
"I see you caught on."
"It the only reason I could think of as to why you would say those things." Makoto told her. "But do you think that would work?"
"I don't know. But for whatever reason, my future self is confident enough that it will work." Kyoko answered him.
The non-stop debate started once again, with Kyoko starting the debate. "First of all, we know where Chihiro was headed…." Kyoko began. "He was on his way to go exercise. So next we have to ask, why did he choose the specific tracksuit that he did?"
"What do you mean, the specific tracksuit?" Byakuya questioned.
"I got it!" Taka declared. "He picked that tracksuit because….it matched the one the culprit was wearing!"
"So what you're saying is….the killer was wearing the same blue tracksuit as him?" Mondo guessed.
Mondo's question caught the attention of the more intelligent students. One of which was Makoto, who's eyes got wide. 'Hold on…' The luckers thought to himself. 'How….'
'...does Mondo know….' Byakuya unknowingly continued, eyes narrowed.
'...what color tracksuit Chihiro has?' Kyoko unknowingly finished, her gaze focused on the biker. 'It seem the bait has worked.'
'Huh?' Was Makoto's thought. The bullet was shot as Makoto spoke up. "Hold on a second, Mondo! What did you just say?"
"...Huh? What'd I say?" Mondo asked, confused.
"When Celeste testified a few minutes ago, she said that she saw him stuffing the track jacket into a duffel bag and left to go exercise." Makoto explained. "She never said anything about the jacket's color. So why did you say Chihiro's 'blue' tracksuit?"
Several eyes widen in realization at this. "H-Huh?!" Mondo exclaimed, his anger replaced by shock.
"Now that Makoto mentioned it, why did he say Chihiro's 'blue' track jacket?" Celeste questioned accusingly. "Nobody said that it was blue."
"W-Wait!" Taka protested. "Maybe he's just guessing the color! O-Or maybe he's been told this by someone else!"
"That doesn't sound like a person merely guessing." Byakuya pointed out. "If he was, he wouldn't have said something as definitive as 'same blue tracksuit'."
Chihiro, meanwhile, is staring at the screen, with wide, anxious eyes.
Mondo recoiled in shock at this. "What are you-?! You just-!"
"Hey, Celeste. What color was Chihiro's tracksuit?" Byakuya immediately asked.
"As a matter of fact, it was….blue." Celeste confirmed.
"And before we began the trial….did you tell anyone that?" Makoto inquired.
"The only one I told about any of this was you." Celeste responded back.
"Then….how the heck does he knows about the color of the tracksuit?" Hina questioned, wide eyes.
"Could it be that Pompair is the one to kill Cherry?" Jill questioned, looking very interested.
Sakura turned to the biker. "Mondo, your future self has some explaining to do."
"H-Hold on!" Mondo protested. "Maybe…he might've…."
"I-I'm sure there's a reason why he knows!" Taka argued, supporting his friend.
"Then….Mondo, how did you know what color Chihiro's tracksuit was?" Sakura questioned, turning towards the biker.
"B-Because I-! I just-!" Mondo stammered, completely taken off guard.
"I-I'm sure he saw the clothes at some point in the investigation….!" Taka suggested nervously.
"Y-Yeah!" Taka quickly agreed with his future counterpart. "Maybe he spotted them when we were investigating."
"No, that's impossible." Kyoko said flatly. "And I think my future self is about to explain why."
"No, that can't be it." Kyoko flatly stated. "The bag and clothes were surely disposed of by the time we began our investigation."
"Then the only reason he could have known what color the tracksuit was…." Jill began. "...is if he saw Cherry with it before he died! That's the only possibility!"
"Cherry….?" Hina repeated in confusion. "Are….are you talking about Chihiro?"
Jill ignored her question. "So, how 'bout it?! Did you see the tracksuit or didn't you?!"
"J-Just by chance….I just happened to see it last night…." Mondo quickly explained. "He walked past me, and he was carrying the tracksuit in his hands."
"No, that's another impossibility." Byakuya stated bluntly. "Chihiro had it stuffed in the duffel bag, remember?"
"T-Then maybe it was hanging out of the bag?" Taka suggested. "That's possible, right?"
"No, it isn't possible." Makoto answered with a shake of his head. Despite not wanting to believe Mondo would do this, he can't look away from facts. "After all, Chihiro made it a point to keep it in the bag."
"No, that can't be it, either." Makoto interjected. "According to Celeste's testimony, when she noticed it, Chihiro made a point of making sure the jacket was completely in the bag. If you just ran into him briefly, you couldn't possibly have seen what color the tracksuit was."
Chihiro began shaking once again, disbelief entering his emotions. He can't believe that Mondo is the culprit. That Mondo….is his killer.
"Gh-! Nggh….!" Was what came out of Mondo's mouth.
"It would appear you dug your own grave." Kyoko remarked.
"Perhaps, but you handed him the shovel, didn't you?" Byakuya pointed out. "That's why you said what you did. Focus on the tracksuit, and it'll be obvious who he met with? What a bunch of nonsense…."
"...Ah, now I understand. It was all one big bluff, wasn't it?" Celeste realized. "Your true intention was to draw a slip of the tongue from the culprit….that's why you said you knew who did it, to put them on edge."
"And it looked like it worked perfectly." Junko said.
Mondo, however, disagreed. "Don't say that like I'm the culprit!" The biker said heatedly. "It wasn't me!"
"Then how else can you explain your slip of the tongue?" Celeste questioned with an arched eyebrow. "I don't hear any explanation for that."
"T-There's has to be something!" Taka stated in defense for Mondo. Like Chihiro, he can't, or doesn't want to believe that Mondo would kill the programmer. "Bro may skirt the laws, but he isn't a murderer!"
"That's right." Kyoko confirmed. "However, Mondo was my target all along. I had my suspicions about him from the very beginning!"
"W-What?!" Mondo was getting more frantic, as well as angry. "What the hell made me so suspicious?!"
"That's what I'd like to know too." Leon said with a frown. While not as bad as Chihiro and Taka, he isn't willing to point fingers at Mondo yet. "I don't remember him doing anything that would make him suspicious."
"You'll see." Kyoko told him. "But it was another slip of the tongue."
"But why….? What made you so suspicious?" Makoto inquired.
"That's a good question." Kyoko said. "There was a certain turning point that tipped me off. Maybe you didn't notice it, Mondo, but you tend to refer to men and women differently. You only call guys 'dude'. For girls, it's 'chick'. And after he was killed, you happened to refer to him as 'dude'."
"Now that Kyoko mentioned it, Mondo did say that…." Sayaka said, her eyes going wide. "I just didn't think much about it."
"W-Wait a minute, hold on! It's probably just a mistake!" Mondo argued hastily. "I probably just meant to say chick, and ended up saying dude!"
Leon looked down at this, gritting his teeth. "Sorry man, but I doubt you would make a mistake like that." The baseball play said. "Not if you been referring to guys and girls like that for a long time."
"Nggh….!" Mondo gritted his teeth at this, confliction clear in his face.
"Once I picked up on that, it occured to me Mondo knew something that we didn't."
"Y-You noticed such a tiny detail?!" Hifumi asked in shock.
"Are you a witch? She's a witch!" Jill declared. "You're positively frightful!"
"No, I'm not the frightful one." Kyoko denied, staring directly at Mondo. "Not nearly as frightful as someone capable of murdering a friend."
"Kh….!" Was all Mondo could get out at the accusation.
"Mondo….was it really you?" Makoto slowly asked. "Did you really….kill Chihiro?"
"N-NO!" Chihiro yelled, startling everyone. Disbelief and anxiety is clear in his voice, as well as on his face. "M-Mondo couldn't have killed me! He can't have! There's no reason for him to!" Tears began filling his eyes once again. The thought of the person he bonded with most, the person he admired, killing him….it was something he couldn't even think about. "He's….he's my friend." Some felt their heart clench at Chihiro's word
"Chihiro's right! Bro couldn't have killed him!" Taka quickly spoke up, the anxiety also clear in his voice. "The two of them have been close with one another ever since we've all met each other. Mondo wouldn't even have think about harming Chihiro!"
'Which makes it even more despairful!' Junko thought cheerfully. Killing the person you're close with, being killed by the person you admire most….who wouldn't want to watch that kind of drama?
"I...I….I-I-I…." Finally, Mondo snapped. "I didn't kill anybody! You've been all over me, judging everything I say, putting words in my mouth. What gives you the right to treat me like a goddamn criminal?!"
"Oh, maybe because you are one?" Byakuya pointed out.
His response was a growl. "I'm a biker, not a murderer! I may have done some stuff to earn a bit of time in juvie, but nothing seriously fucked up!"
"Y-Yeah!" Taka quickly agreed. "He would never do something like that! This is a false accusation!"
"It's true, my reasoning on that is pretty shaky." Kyoko conceded.
"Th-That was fast…." Makoto couldn't help but say.
"It was no use trying to cling on to it." Kyoko said with a shrug. "It would just delay the trial. We need more evidence to pin it on Mondo."
"And there is no evidence and no motive! Which means Mondo isn't the killer!" Taka said firmly. "Like future me said, it was a false accusation!"
"Don't get your hopes up yet. He's still a possible suspect." Byakuya warned him.
"B-But why?!" Chihiro protested.
Celeste was the one to answer that. "His two slips up can't be ignored. While there isn't sufficient enough evidence against him, his words made him a very possible suspect." She frowned. "Changing the subject, it look like our future selves are out of leads."
"Oh crap. That's a problem." Hina moaned.
"Well, this does present us with a problem." Celeste noted. "It seems we are all out of leads."
Hifumi suddenly started chuckling, drawing the attentions of others. "My time has nearly come…." The fanfic creator declared. "That's what my little ghost friend is telling me!"
Byakuya raised an eyebrow at that. "What on earth is he on about?"
"Does Hifumi have something we could us?" Makoto wondered.
"Oh yeah, that reminds me." Makoto said, remembering his conversation with Hifumi. "Hifumi, weren't you telling me you found some evidence….?"
That got the group's attention. "What?"
"Seriously?"
"What kind?"
Hifumi, who was also surprised, recovered and let out a laugh. "Finally, my chance of triumph has come!"
"Really?! What kind of evidence?!" Hina asked eagerly.
Hifumi was silent for a moment before his bravado quickly deflated. "Actually, you know….now that I'm thinking about it here calmly, it might not be all that relevant."
"Jeez, did your confidence just get up and walk way?" Hiro sighed. "It's fine, man, just tell us!"
"Agreed." Sakura nodded. "At this point, anything that can be of use is preferable."
"Hopefully, it can help pinpoint to who actually did it." Makoto sighed. Inwardly though, he's nervous about the results. The culprit is most likely either Byakuya or Mondo. And he has a feeling that it is the latter.
"I-If you really insist, then…." Hifumi said nervously before pulling out a shut down e-Handbook. "Umm….here it is."
"Hmmm?" Jill cocked her head to the side. "What do you have here?"
"It happens to be an e-Handbook. I found it laying on the ground, so I scooped it up." Hifumi explained.
"An e-Handbook, just laying on the ground?" Kyoko repeated in thought.
"Then it has to be Chihiro's, right?" Makoto deduced. "After all, it was missing in the crime scene."
"Then do you think that Chihiro's handbook have some sort of clue?" Hina asked excitingly. "Something that can tell us who the culprit is?"
"It is a possibility." Celeste mused.
"It was just laying around?" Makoto rhetorically asked. "Then it has to be Chihiro's. We know his handbook was missing from the scene of the crime, right?"
"For a fact." Kyoko confirmed.
"For a fact indeed!" Hifumi declared, getting his confidence back. "I was totally sure I'd found it!"
"Then it must hold some clue about the culprit, right?!" Hina inquired.
"...Well, that's what I was hoping. But it's busted. It won't even turn on." Hifumi informed them dejectedly.
"Another broken e-Handbook?" Taka questioned, getting his mind off of the accusation against Mondo for now. "How on earth did that one break?"
"The only one who knows is Monokuma and the culprit himself." Mukuro pointed out. "So right now, the best way to know is to ask the bear himself."
"Let's hope he's willing to give that info." Sayaka groaned. "Or if we're able to pressure him into giving it."
"I imagine the murderer broke it to get rid of any evidence after the murder." Celeste theorized.
"That's odd. I didn't think the handbooks were quite so….fragile." Byakuya commented on.
"You're right, they're not!" Monokuma answered. "They're totally waterproof and shock resistant! It would take an awful lot to break one…."
"And yet, this one does appear to be broken. As is Leon's, sitting useless in the main hall." Celeste pointed out. "For all your confidence, that is a remarkably high failure rate."
The bear merely responded with his signature laugh. "Do you think there might some kind of mystery in there somewhere?" Monkuma asked. "How, precisely, did the handbooks get broken?"
Makoto was the one to answer that. "You already told us before that the handbook has one weak point, did you?" He pointed out.
Monokuma groaned in annoyance at that. "You remember that?!"
"Of course we did." Byakuya said with an eye roll. "Did the bear honestly think we would forget that kind of information?"
"It seemed Monokuma slipped up a little." Kyoko noted.
Junko had to fight off a blush of embarrassment. 'Well, anyone can make a mistake, can't they?' She thought to herself.
He ducked his head down in embarrassment. "S-Sure, maybe I let that slip, but I never told anyone what the weak point actually was!"
"But if the handbook is supposed to never break, and two of them broke in quick succession," Sakura spoke up. "Then…."
"Then we can only assume that someone's figured out its weakness." Kyoko concluded. "You know what the weakness is, right Monokuma? So, what is it?"
"Huh? You're asking me?" The bear gasped.
"I think it's a necessary piece of information if you want this to be a fair trial." Kyoko stated.
"Yeah!" Hina agreed with detective. "So tell us already, you stupid bear!"
"But….if I tell you, and someone else decides to copy it, that would be very not good…."
"Oh come on, that's a crappy excuse!" Hina whined.
"Why would we want to break our own e-handbooks?" Leon remarked. "Just give us the damn info!"
"Just tell us already!" Hina demanded impatiently. "Why would we wanna break our own handbooks?!"
Monokuma sighed. "Oh well….I have a weakness for pushy demands. But you're sure you won't follow their examples?"
"We won't! Just tell us!" Several of them exclaimed in annoyance.
"Then allow me to make a special announcement! The weak point of my cutting-edge e-Handbook is….when it's exposed to high temperatures for too long, it will suffer a meltdown and totally brrreak!" He revealed.
"Huh?" Now the group of Ultimates are blinking in surprise at the revelation. Sayaka was the one to speak up first. "That's what the weakness was?"
"Then the handbooks must've been in the sauna!" Junko said in realization.
"What makes you think it's in the sauna?" Taka asked.
At the question, Junko got into her teacher persona. "Causing, looking at the open areas in the first and second floor, the only area that has really high temperature is the sauna."
"I flippin' knew it!" Hifumi suddenly stated.
"...You knew it?" Makoto said in shock.
"Yeah, cuz I found the handbook laying on the floor of the sauna!" The fanfic creator informed him.
"And that proves my theory."
"But, then how mine break?" Leon asked, confused. Last he check, the sauna wasn't open while he was still kicking.
As Makoto thought about Leon's question, a thought occurred. '...Maybe it wasn't Leon's.' He thought. 'Maybe it was someone. Someone who brought their e-Handbook in the sauna.' And there's only one person who would've done it. 'Mondo….you really did it, didn't you?'
"The temperature in the sauna can reach over 200 degrees. Strange how you don't get burnt, huh?!" Monokuma began explaining. "It's because as your sweat evaporates, it creates a cooling layer of air around your skin! If the hot air of the sauna were somehow pushed directly onto your skin, you'd definitely get fried! That layer of air would get blown away. That's why you may feel a burning when you move around. So when you're in a sauna, make sure to keep nice and still!"
"Wow, interesting!" Taka mused. "I learned one new fact today!"
"That is a mere trifling speck of knowledge!" Hifumi stated.
Byakuya facepalmed. "Can we not focus on meaningless information?"
"No information is meaningless!" Taka argued. "Learning is the key to a good life! No information is worthless!"
"It is when it's irrelevant to the current situation."
"Anyway…." Makoto spoke up, trying to get the trial back on track. "If you found the victim's handbook in the sauna….then the killer must've been purposely trying to raise its temperature in order to break it."
"Meaning the culprit somehow knew its weakness…." Sakura said.
"But how'd they find out?" Hina wondered. "Monokuma said he didn't tell anyone, right?"
"Indeed, quite the mystery…." Hifumi agreed.
"What if they discovered it by accident?" Kyoko suggested.
"By accident?" Sakura turned to Kyoko. "How could they found out by accident?"
"Just wait a moment. I think my future self will explain." Kyoko told her.
"What do you mean, by accident?" Sakura inquired.
"What if the killer took their own handbook into the sauna, not knowing its weakness, and it broke?" Kyoko theorized. "They'd realize it was broken, of course, and it wouldn't be hard to figure out why. And once they had Chihiro's' handbook, they knew they had an easy way to dispose of it."
"That is a good theory," Sakura agreed with, crossing her arms. "And it's probably what'd happened. But who could've done it?"
"Always come down to that question." Hiro sighed.
"I won't say it's not possible, but….who would have done something like that?" Byakuya questioned. "I don't know of anyone who took their handbook into the sauna…."
'Wait a minute….' Makoto's eyes widen in realization before closing his eyes resignation. 'Mondo. He's the only one we know of that brought their handbook into the sauna.' He also can see that Sayaka, Kyoko, Byakuya, and a few more of the others realized this as well, remembering the sauna match between Taka and Mondo.
"...I might know someone who did." Makoto declared.
"Whoa, seriously?!" Hifumi exclaimed.
"You know somebody that could've brought their handbook in the sauna?" Hina questioned in surprise.
Makoto nodded, his head bowed. "I do. My future self have seen it, first hand."
"Really? Who is it, then?" Jill questioned him with her usual energy.
"I think the one who may have taken their handbook into the sauna was…." Makoto's eyes went directly towards Mondo. "Mondo….your handbook got broken in the sauna, didn't it?"
"Wh-Wh-What?!" Mondo recoiled in shock.
"Th-The hell?!" Mondo exclaimed, looking shocked and angry.
"Why?!" Taka demanded. "Why do keep accusing him?!"
"Why do you keep thinking that Mondo killed me?!" Chihiro questioned tearfully.
Makoto winced at the looks on Taka's and Chihiro's face. "You can figure it out by yourselves." The luckster softly said. "After all, all of us here has seen it the evidence in my future self's eyes."
"Wh-What?" Chihiro stuttered, getting a bit pale.
"Remember the endurance contest Mondo and Taka had?" Kyoko told everyone. "If you can recall that moment, it will be clear why Mondo is the most likely candidate to have done this."
At the mention of their endurance, several more eyes widen in realization. "He left his clothes on during that." Leon realized. "And probably had his handbook in there."
"He did." Sayaka said with a solemn nod. "That's why he's the most likely candidate for it."
"Why?! Why do you keep accusing him?!" Taka demanded.
"Mondo and Taka had an endurance contest in the sauna not too long ago, remember?" Makoto reminded everyone. "And for the contest, Mondo just so happened to keep his school uniform on. But little did he realize, he'd also left his handbook in one of his uniform pockets. And when it was all over, Mondo discovered that taking your handbook into the sauna could easily destroy it."
Mondo let out a panicked growl at this.
'No way….no fucking way….' Mondo denied in his mind. There's no way he could've done it! There's no way he could've killed Chihiro! What reason was there?
"H-Hold on! That just speculation!" Taka protested. "You need proof! Actual, solid proof!"
'Taka….' Makoto thought with a grimace. He wish his future self is wrong. He really wish that he thinking things the wrong way. But someone killed Chihiro. And unfortunately, that someone seems to be Mondo.
"Now, wait hold on….!" Taka protested. "You've got it all wrong! He would never kill-!" He then began getting frantic. "I don't accept this! Show me the proof! The actual, solid proof!"
'I mean…..I don't want to believe it either. But….' Makoto thought in his head. 'But I found something that proves it beyond a shadow of a doubt….'
"What? What proof?!" Taka exclaimed, becoming pale. "There isn't any proof!"
"Actually, there is." Byakuya responded, remembering 'Leon's' broken e-Handbook. "It's proof that would prove without a doubt that Mondo is the culprit."
The non-stop debate started up once again, with Kyoko speaking. "Let's test Makoto assertion." Kyoko began. "If what he says is correct, then Mondo….you broke your own handbook."
"In other words, if Mondo's handbook is actually broken…." Celeste mused. "Then that proves what Makoto said is right."
"Well my goddamn handbook works just fine!" Mondo told them.
'No, that's wrong!' The bullet was shot as Makoto spoke up. "Mondo, the handbook you have right now….is it really yours?" He asked him.
"...The fuck is that supposed to mean?!" Mondo exclaimed.
"The broken handbook that was in the main hall…." Makoto pointed out. "Isn't that one actually yours?"
"What the heck are you talking about?!" Taka questioned him.
"How on earth would the one in the main hall be his?!" Taka continued for his future self. "The one he has is his!"
"Are you really sure about that?" Mukuro inquired. "I think Makoto is saying that he possibly switched them out."
"H-Huh?" Chihiro spoke up, his voice sounding weak.
"What I mean is, I think Mondo swapped his handbook out for one that actually worked." Makoto explained. "I think he took Leon's handbook and replaced it with his own. After all, Monokuma said himself that Leon's handbook never should have broken."
"That's right! The punishment it suffered wasn't nearly enough to destroy it!" Monokuma confirmed.
"So that means Mondo switching out his handbook for Leon's is the only option he had." Mukuro said with a tiny grimace. "How unfortunate."
"No kidding." Leon sighed, clenching his fist.
Taka and Chihiro looked more and more frantic, while Mondo looked down on his clenched fists and knees. "No fucking way….it can't be…." He muttered to himself.
"So then, the broken handbook in the main hall is actually Mondo's." Celeste said. "Which would mean that the handbook Mondo has right now is actually Leon's, yes?"
"But doesn't that violate the school regulation that says loaning out your handbook is prohibited?" Hina pointed out.
Byakuya facepalmed. "Did you honestly forget that I said you can borrow a dead person's handbook?"
"A-A lot of stuff is happening right now!" Hina said in her defense. Honestly, she's having a hard time believing that Mondo would kill Chihiro, of all people. It just doesn't seem possible. But the evidence is hard to argue with right now.
"Well, here's how I look at it…." Monokuma spoke up. "There is a rule about loaning your handbooks to another student. But if they're dead, they're not a student! It's kind of a grey area, I admit, but no worries! If anything, it just makes things more interesting! As such, I decree that exchanging handbooks with a corpse is not a violation to the rules!"
"Well, Mondo? If I'm wrong about this, you're welcome to say so." Makoto said softly. "I'm happy to admit I made a mistake, but…."
"S-Son of a bitch….!" Mondo cursed.
"H-Huh?" His future self's words cracked him out of his denial. What….what did he just said? Does those words mean….he admitted to killing Chihiro? 'Now that I think about, all of Makoto's words makes sense.' Mondo thought to himself. 'Makes so much goddamn sense….'
"M-Mondo?" Chihiro spoke up, growing paler. "W-What's the matter?"
"Y-Yeah, bro, a-aren't you going to say he's wrong?" Taka asked him, panic clear in his voice. "Aren't you?"
"I…." He doesn't know what to say. Everything that pointed to him being the killer fit together perfectly. Even someone with a dense head such as himself was able to follow through the trial. But if he's going to accept that, he just wanted to know why?
"What's wrong, bro? Come on, tell him he's wrong….!" Taka urged his friend. "You ARE wrong! You HAVE to be wrong….!" He then glared fiercely at Makoto. "Everything you just said is wrong! You made it all up!"
"Okay, then why don't we look back on this case one more time, from the beginning?" Makoto suggested. "That way, everything will be clear, and we'll all see if I was right or wrong!"
'The Closing Argument….' Celeste closed her eyes. 'This makes it definite that Mondo is the culprit.' This may be only the second time they've seen it, but it's clear that it tells who the culprit is.
Several of the others realized this as well. The more reserved ones like Sakura and Kyoko closed her eyes in resignation, while others like Sayaka and Leon expressed sadness or frustration through their facial expressions.
Mondo himself closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as he awaited the final explanation, while Taka and Chihiro felt their blood run colder. Consciously, they still refused to believe Mondo is the killer, but subconsciously, they knew what's about to come and what it means.
'First Daiya, and now Chihiro...
...
...
Just... why?'
And that's the end. I hope you guys liked this chapter. Another very long one. Maybe my longest, though I'm not sure. Next up, we'll be finishing up the trials. Review, favorite, and follow and I will see you later.
A Lucky Soldier's End of Chapter random rant:
I don't know if I mentioned it before, but I picked up Fate:Grand Order on my phone recently and I'm very disappointed that the story isn't completely released yet ): I picked it up to play as a visual novel, not a gatcha game but here I am being forced to play it like one otherwise my party will fall behind haha. By the way, Konosuba! was a pretty funny anime. After finishing it, I immediately found myself reading the Light Novels so, I definitely recommend the Konosuba series :)