Hello readers and welcome to my new chapter. So, this is gonna be the longest chapter/arc ever. 16 parts in, and we still haven't finished the investigation. Probably won't finish until the next chapter. Still, I hope you find some enjoyment in the investigation, and especially the trial itself once I get there.
P.S. Remember to check my profile for link to my short stories (Got two published so far). And when/if you have the time, and the change, to spare, try checking out my Adept short stories.
Oh, and I also decided to do a free promotion for every short I publish, a day after I update this fic. One, to hopefully get me writing these chapters faster (While also not sacrificing quality). Two, to hopefully get more readers for my original shorts. And three, so you guys can get the chance to get the shorts for free. Hope it works.
Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.
A Lucky Soldier: Hey guys, it's come to my attention that apparently I have been slipping up on my job quite a bit the past couple chapters and that is my bad. Maybe I'm getting washed up for this stuff but when you spend more time on a word editor than doing other stuff, I just fall asleep _. Anyways, I didn't look at this one feeling that way so I'm pretty confident that there's no errors on this one. And without further adieu, here's the next chapter!
Chapter 57: Watching Ch 3: NGL! STGH! Part 16
"Makoto!" The luckster, who walked out of Hiro's room, turned towards the direction of the shout. He saw Hina ran over to him. "Big news! BIG NEWS!"
"...What's wrong?" Makoto asked with slight concern.
"We found Kyoko!"
Everyone jolted upright upon that announcement. "Finally, some good news!" Leon stated with some relief. "But where has she been this whole time?"
"Hopefully, we'll find out once Makoto and Hina meet with her." Byakuya said, crossing his arms. "She owes us an explanation for her disappearance."
"What!?" That got Makoto's full attention. "I-Is she okay? Where is she?!"
The group was slightly startled at the urgency in Makoto's voice, though not too much. Those who would usually tease the luckster about this either felt it wasn't the best time, or was too emotionally unstable to do so.
"Wait, I wasn't done. There's more big news!" Hina told him, a scowl showing on her face. "Robo Justice showed up, too!"
"Robo Justice?!"
Hina nodded. "It's Hiro wearing the costume!"
That took everyone by surprise. "They finally managed to find him?!" Hina exclaimed.
"Well, we seem to be having big strokes of luck in this chapter." Celeste mused. "First everyone having alibis for the murders, then finding material for the suit in Hiro's room, and then finally finding the culprit himself wearing the costume."
"Yes. We seem to be having good fortune." Sakura agreed.
Hiro, however, disagreed, judging by the rapidly paling skin.
"Anyway, c'mon! They're up on the second floor, in the pool area!" With that, Hina ran to the stairs. Makoto followed after her as quickly as he could.
The scene switched to Makoto and Hina running into the pool area, where everyone else was waiting. As they got closer, Makoto finally spotted the two people previously missing on the far side of the pool. "Kyoko!" He exclaimed, focusing his eyes on the stoic girl. His eyes then turned towards the other person. "And…!"
"Phew! Man, I have had the WORST day!" Sighed the other person in the area, Robo Justice.
At first, Makoto was silent, staring at the suit. After a moment, he spoke. "...Hiro?"
By now, all color was lost on Hiro's face. "Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-?"
"Want to deny it now, you fucker?!" Mondo growled in fury.
"This is it!" Hina declared, anger also in her voice. "Hiro is the one in the Robo Justice suit!"
Byakuya was getting a bigger and bigger migraine the more these people speak. 'To think I would have agree with these cretins…'
"I found Hiro." Kyoko revealed to him. "He was jammed into the pool room locker. It looked like he was fast asleep, so I kicked him and woke him up."
"I still can't believe you kicked me!" Hiro complained. "You coulda been a little more gentle about it. Like, I dunno, caress my face or somethin'!"
"...That's creepy." Kyoko deadpanned.
"Anyway…" Makoto focused his attention once again towards Kyoko. "Kyoko, where have you been all this time?"
"Million dollar question right there." Leon remarked with a frown. "She completely disappeared through most of this shit!"
"Like Byakuya said before, an explanation is needed." Sakura stated.
"You just disappeared all of a sudden, without a trace…"
"There was something I had to check up on." Kyoko answered vaguely.
Her statement drew a confused and worried frown from Makoto. "What do you mean…?"
"Never mind." Was her response.
"What?!"
"Oh hell no!"
"Fuck THAT!"
"You expect us to accept that answer?!"
Makoto resist the urge to let out a sigh. Honestly, he's not that surprised. And he kinda understood why she isn't saying anything. But he still wished that the past Kyoko wasn't so secretive, or at least so vague.
"I can't never mind…!"
"Never. Mind." Kyoko repeated more forcefully. She quickly moved to change the subject, looking away from Makoto. "More importantly…"
"Are you seriously going leave him with that half-assed explanation?!" Sayaka exclaimed in anger.
"Your future self does realize that it doesn't help her standing with the others, yes?" Byakuya pointed out to Kyoko. "I, and possibly a couple others, are even starting to suspect something…"
"Byakuya!?"
"Makoto, what else should we think? That nothing she's doing by herself warrants suspicion?" The heir responded back. "Not all of us are as naive as you are."
Kyoko merely stared at the TV, the only sign of emotions being her clenching fist. She realized that what her future self is hiding must be important, something that the mastermind can't find out. But at the same time, she can understand her classmate's frustration, and even feel them herself.
'She says that, but… does she have any idea?' Makoto clenched his fist anxiously. 'Does she know people think she might be spying for the mastermind?'
"She probably does." The detective sighed. "But trust issues aren't something to easily shake off."
"So she can't even trust Makoto with some information?" Hina said with a scowl. "I mean, both of your future selves have gotten so close! She had said that she had trust him some! So why can't she just give him something?"
Kyoko closed her eyes, unable to find an answer. In hindsight, it would be so easy to say that she can talk to him later, or that they'll speak once they were at a place that the mastermind wouldn't here. So she has to admit, her future self's stubbornness to keep her cards solely to her chest is getting ridiculous.
"First of all…" The lavender haired girl turned towards the fortune teller. "Hiro, you need to explain to us why you're dressed like that."
"Oh, uh, well… I mean… I have no idea." Hiro lamely said.
"..." A blank silence filled the room at Hiro's response, with several of them staring blankly at the TV. A fully deadpanned, "What?" from Leon voiced what they thought of Hiro's answer.
"One second I was asleep, don't even know how that happened, then I woke up, and then I was here…"
"Does he actually expect us to believe that horseshit?" Mondo asked, annoyance mixed in with his anger. "He couldn't even come up with a better fucking excuse?"
"Hey! What if future me is telling the truth?" Hiro protested.
"Yeah, right. He was somehow asleep, then woke up in a robot suit?" Leon pointed out. "Do you realize how stupid that sounds?"
'Maybe. But it wouldn't be as stupid if some drugs were involved.' Mukuro thought to herself. 'And it doesn't sound like he's lying, but the possibility is always there..'
"Whatever he says, I don't care." Byakuya sighed. "I just want him to get that ridiculous suit off. It's gives me a headache just looking at it."
"Hey! That's a work of art!" Hifumi protested.
"I don't care. Do something about that costume." Byakuya ordered. "It pains me just to look at you."
"Well, um…" Hiro stuttered a little. "I dunno what's up with this thing, but I can't actually get it off…! A little help?"
"Why would you make something that you can't take off by yourself?" Celeste scoffed.
"I didn't make this stupid friggin' thing!" Hiro declared in annoyance.
Kyoko moved towards the back of the suit. "There's a clasp on the back that's keeping you from getting it off. It looks pretty sturdy. I don't think you can get it off on your own." She grabbed onto the clasp. "We don't really have a choice. Let's help him…"
Byakuya narrowed his eyes at the clasp. 'This is obviously a way to keep him trap inside the suit. There's no way he could've put that on himself, fully.' The heir deduced. 'It's becoming more and more obvious that this is a plot to frame Hiro.'
'The more we see, the more holes are there in the idea that Hiro is the killer.' Kyoko thought. 'The attempt to frame him seems almost desperate.'
'Why is Celeste trying so hard?' Makoto thought with a frown. 'This isn't like her. She's more subtle whenever she's manipulating anybody. What she's doing now is making it way too obvious that it was her.'
The scene switched to the group putting down parts of the suit, with Hiro taking off the last bit of it. "Whew! Free at last!" Hiro sighed with obvious relief.
"Isn't it kind weird how perfectly the suit fits Hiro…?" Hina pointed out.
"More to the point, nobody but Hiro would be able to wear that costume." Celeste stated.
"More and more proof that Hiro is the culprit." The present Celeste said right after. "It's like you want to be caught."
"Well, how do you know that nobody else could wear it?!" Hiro exclaimed desperately. "It could still be possible for others to wear it, like Hina or Makoto."
"We shall see if that's true." Sakura stated. "Still, it doesn't change that we found you in that suit." The scared look on the fortune teller's face told them all that he briefly forgot that little fact.
"Wait, what?" A confused and nervous look entered Hiro's face. "H-Hold on a sec!"
"Don't bother trying to act innocent." Celeste interrupted coldly. "The blueprints were in your room, as well. In other words, it is obvious to everyone that you made the costume."
"That's true. I saw the blueprints myself." Byakuya confirmed.
"Yeah… me too…" Makoto also added.
"Then it's obvious… the one who put this costume on and went around attacking everyone…" A glare slowly went up on Hina's face. "...is Hiro!"
'It is obvious. Too obvious.' Chihiro thought to himself. 'It's look more and more like someone is trying to deliberately frame Hiro for the crime.' But if so… then who? And how? That was something he has yet to figure out.
"Shall we tie him up and gag him?" Celeste suggested.
"Good idea!" Hina readily agreed. "We wouldn't want him killing anyone else…"
"T-Tie me up?!" Hiro exclaimed in shock.
Makoto winced at the scene, and winced again when he saw the angry glares some of his classmates aimed at Hiro, who looked absolutely terrified and conflicted. "Hey guys, can you stop glaring at Hiro so much? For one, it's not for sure that Hiro is the killer yet."
He could see them about to argue, and quickly continued on. "And second, even if he did, our Hiro didn't. So let's not treat him like a criminal for what his future self did."
"Besides," Kyoko spoke up, giving a look towards Sayaka and Mondo. "Some of you have no room to judge him, considering your future selves' actions in the previous chapters."
That comment draw a flinch from Sayaka, while Mondo looked away, fist clenched. Hina and Celeste merely backed off, the former still angry, but understanding Makoto's words.
Hiro sagged with some relief, though there's still some terror and confliction in his eyes and expression.
"H-Hold on, guys." Makoto protested. "I think that's going a little far…"
"He may be a suspect, but he deserves fair treatment." Kyoko said in agreement.
"The two of you are too reasonable, you know that?" Sayaka sighed.
"Some of us need to be the voice of ration." Kyoko retorted. "Letting everyone act out of their anger and paranoia will lead to chaos."
"And besides, like Kyoko said, even though he's a suspect, he deserves to be treated fairly." Makoto added. 'Especially since it looks like he doesn't know what's going on at all.'
"Yeah!" Hiro quickly agreed. "I mean… attacking? Blueprints?" A confused look entered his face once more. "I have no idea what you guys are talking about!"
Mukuro narrowed her eyes at Hiro. From his tone, words, and look, he really doesn't seem like he knows anything that had happened. So either he's a good actor, or is genuinely confused. And she very much doubt that he was any good at acting.
"You can't talk you way out of this." Hina growled. "It's been decided… you killed them!"
"What? Killed who?!" Hiro questioned in shock, and slowly rising distressed. "I have no idea what you're talking about! There must be a fake Hiro running around!"
"You're the only one who can wear this costume." Hina retorted. "So who else could possibly be the costumed attacker?!"
"How do you know I'm the only one?!" Hiro pointed out angrily. "Maybe you should try it on yourself before you convict me!"
"Fine! If you're gonna be a jerk about it, I will!" Hina agreed in annoyance.
"Let's see if someone can wear the blasted thing." Byakuya said, crossing his arms.
"I doubt it will." Hifumi spoke, looking at the costume with a critical eye. "From the looks of it, the costume was designed to fit Hiro's height and width, exactly. It doesn't seem like it's made to adjust to any other person."
The others looked at Hifumi in slight surprise. "You could tell all that with just a glimpse?" Sayaka asked him.
"Yes, of course." The fanfic creator confirmed with a nod. "I've seen cosplay like this in events I've participated in, so it's easy to tell. I've made some too."
"You make them too?" Kyoko asked.
"Of course! What part of a doujin creator would I be if I didn't do that as well?" Hifumi proudly claimed. "Although I don't wear them, I sometimes get jobs to make them for other people."
"Yeah whatever. Thanks for letting us know." Leon sarcastically said, batting that aside.
However, Kyoko was definitely not letting go of that information, and so weren't Byakuya and Makoto. Meanwhile, Celeste can only sit there silently as she felt the pit in her stomach feel that much deeper.
Without missing a beat, Hina grabbed a few of the costume parts and put them on. When she did, it was clear to everyone that the costume was too loose for her to wear. "See, look! See how loose it is?" Hina stated, trying to keep herself from falling. "I mean, come on… I'm blind as a bat in here! Can't see my feet at all. I'm surprised you got anywhere in this thing!"
"I'm telling you, it wasn't me!" Hiro cried out.
"And not to mention-!" Hina grunted. "You totally can't bend at the waist! Seems like a pretty obvious oversight…"
'Extremely limited vision, unable to bend at the waist…' Kyoko listed off. 'Hiro wouldn't have been able to walk around the school like that, much less perform any of the actions that had happened.'
"That's not a very nice thing to say!" Hiro protested.
"...Hmm?" Celeste clearly caught his words.
"Er, I mean - it's not like I made it!" Hiro backtracked. "I just got caught up in the moment…"
Byakuya facepalmed. The fool. It's no wonder he was chosen as a suspect. Celeste probably didn't need to do so much in the first place to make him a suspect.
"Well, either way… now we know for sure, right?" Hina huffed, taking off the costume. "I mean, it seems pretty clear that nobody but Hiro coulda fit into this dumb costume!"
After taking off the costume, she turned towards Hiro with crossed arms. "Well? Now you're all out of excuses."
"N-No, see… it's cuz you're a girl!" Hiro weakly argued. "If it was another guy, then…"
"Makoto, go ahead." Byakuya commanded.
"Yeah, sure. Cause Makoto is much taller than Hina." Leon remarked dryly. "Why couldn't you do it?"
"Are you actually suggesting I wear the abominable thing?" Byakuya asked, disgust clear in his tone. "I'll pass, thank you."
"O-Okay…" Not putting up a fight, Makoto picked up an arm on the floor and tried putting them on. "It's no good… the arms are too long. There's no way I can wear this…"
"See?! I told you it was impossible!" Hina exclaimed.
"You are absolutely right." Celeste agreed. "It seems this costume was made to fit Hiro's body exactly."
"Th-Then… there's another costume!" Hiro suggested desperately. "They must have one that looks the same, but… but fits them!"
"If you insist on this line of defense, then show us some evidence." Celeste countered.
"Evidence…?"
"You claim there is another suit, yes? Then you must find it and show it to us." The gambler told him.
"C'mon, seriously?!" Hiro cried out. "Where is future me suppose to even look at?!"
"Doesn't matter." Hina spoke up with a small scowl. "He's still the only one without an alibi."
"Which means he's the only who could've done it." Junko added in 'agreement'.
"Wh-What the heck?!" Hiro cried out.
"Who cares?!" Hina exclaimed. "Hiro's the only one without an alibi during this whole thing anyway! Which is how we know it's him!"
"I mean… is this really true?" Hiro asked, looking absolutely confuse. "I have no idea what's been happening. Could someone, like… tell me? If you don't tell me what's going on, how am I supposed to understand?"
A look of dread entered his face. "I think I've figured it out… someone's been killed, right? Hey, Makoto… who is it?"
"W-Well…" Letting a sigh, the luckster answered Hiro's question. "Two people were killed. Taka and Hifumi…"
"What?!" Hiro eyes widen in shock and horror. "TWO people?!"
"Why is he freaking out?" Hina questioned. "He's the one who killed them."
Mondo let out a furious growl, clenching his fist. "He better stop this fucking act, cause it ain't funny."
"B-But, it doesn't sound like he's acting…" Chihiro spoke up nervously. "He's sounds really confused."
"Not to mention he hasn't said or did anything that reveals that he knows more than he let on." Mukuro added. "No slip ups of any kind, no lack of a reaction, nothing really."
Once again, Hiro was shocked, as well as near tears. More people believe in him? Even after everything they saw?
"Perhaps he's faking ignorance." Celeste suggested. "And faking it well."
The idea drew a snort from Byakuya. He very much doubted the fool could act. He can't even lie well enough. His failed attempts at getting people to buy his fortunes are enough evidence of that.
"Why are you freaking out? You did it." Hina stated angrily.
"I did not!" Hiro immediately denied. Before he could say anything further, a thought came to his mind. "Wait, hold on… If those two are the ones were killed… that's it! I know who did it!"
That drew surprised, curious, annoyed and aggravated looks. "What is the future Hiro thinking?" Makoto asked cautiously.
"We shall see soon." Was all Kyoko said. While there's enough evidence to say that it was Celeste instead of Hiro, it couldn't hurt to learn anything else.
"You may as well tell us, then." Kyoko spoke for everyone.
"Taka and Hifumi were fighting over Alter Ego, right?" Hiro rhetorically asked, whispering to the group. "Which means Alter Ego and/or Chihiro must have done it!"
Almost everyone was giving the screen blank looks, while the actual Hiro was actually considering the idea. "Yeah! The have to be it! After all, Chihiro is protective of Alter Ego!"
The silence in the room pretty much expressed how flabbergasted everyone was in ways that words cannot express.
Byakuya's face slowly met his palm once more. 'How stupid can one be?' The heir couldn't help but wonder. He would sooner entertain the idea of Hifumi and Taka killing one another, than even give thought of a dead person or computer killing somebody.
Kyoko merely sighed. The more time goes on, the lower her opinion of Hiro becomes.
"I see…" Kyoko sighed. "That's unfortunate."
"Huh? Unfortunate…?" Hiro asked in shock.
"But why?" Hiro cried out in shock. "It's clearly a solid idea!"
Slowly, Mondo got up from his seat with a fist raised. Before he could get too close, Taka quickly got up and grabbed Mondo by the raised arm. "Bro, wait!"
"Let me go, bro." Mondo requested far too calmly. His calm demeanor actually brought chills down people's spine. "Let me beat this idiot right now. I'm only gonna beat him to near death, I promise."
"That's still bad!"
Hiro yelped and held his arms out in defense. "What's so bad about my idea?"
"Chihiro. Is. Dead." Leon said through gritted teeth. "The AI he created missing, and stuck in a computer. There's no possible way EITHER of them could kill anybody."
"If Chihiro's a ghost, he could!"
Mondo walked forward again, this time dragging Taka. The moral compass tried in vain to stop him, but the biker became an unstoppable force. Thankfully, chains shot up around Mondo, tying him up and effectively stopping him. Everyone turned to Spirit in the back corner of the room.
"Didn't I say no excessive violence before?" Spirit reminded the group. "Beating a person near death counts as such. Settle down and get back on the couch."
The biker was silent, unmoving from his position. After a moment passed, he finally relaxed and the chains around him pulled back. Without only a small growl and a huge sigh of frustration, he walked back the couch and sat down, with Taka cautiously joining him.
"...Hiro, just, shut up." Leon groaned. "You aren't any help at all." The last thing they need is more of Hiro's stupid ideas.
"Stop trying to trick us!" Hina demanded angrily. "Just admit you did it, okay?!"
"I-I'm telling you, you got it all wrong!" Hiro insisted. And again, a thought came to mind. "Ah, I know! That note!"
Once again, the group was caught by surprise. "A note?" Taka said in confusion.
"Note…?" Makoto asked in confusion.
"Last night, someone slipped a weird note under my door." Hiro explained. "And here's what it said…"
"I found a hole we can use maybe we can use to escape. Monokuma can't find out, so don't tell anyone else for now. Let's meet in the rec room at 1 am." After repeating what he read, Hiro's head dropped. "But the last thing I remember is going to the rec room, then for some reason I fell asleep. The real killer probably drugged me or something!"
Hiro gained a hopeful look at that. Others, however, were much more doubtful.
"Does he honestly believe we're gonna fall for that shit?" Mondo asked bluntly. Hiro's previous idea had actually calm him down more, after he sat back on the couch. "No fucking chance."
"Hold on, Mondo." Makoto spoke up. "I saw chemicals like that whenever I go to the nurse's office, so his story is possible."
"Wait, seriously?" Leon asked in shock.
"Yeah." The luckster nodded. "Sleeping drugs whenever Mikan or other medical professionals have to perform more serious injuries."
"How do you know that?" Sayaka asked him curiously.
"You forget that our so called lucky student gets injured regularly." Byakuya remarked dryly. "He's probably familiar with all the medicine in that cabinet."
Said lucky student opened his mouth to protest, before closing it after a moment, knowing that he can't really deny that.
"...Not a chance." Hina stated bluntly.
"No, hold on." Kyoko spoke up. "He could be onto something. The nurse's office did have chemicals that could do that…"
"Wh…?" Hina looked surprise at this, the anger temporarily gone. "Really?"
"So future me might actually have an alibi!" Hiro said, sounding very hopeful. "Maybe someone is setting him up!"
'Assuming he still has the note.' Byakuya, Kyoko, and Mukuro thought. While it's likely that Hiro is telling the truth, the killer can just snatch it away while he's asleep, and destroy the evidence.
"I told you. Someone's try to set me up…" Hiro said, frowning. "A secret passage - a chance to escape… someone wrote all that to trick me!"
"Even if that's true, you must be one dumb fish to bite every piece of bait that floats in front of you." Hina sighed.
"Hina got a point there." Junko said in agreement. "Seriously, if it's way too good to be true, it's probably isn't. Or there's a catch alongside it."
"W-Well, they've been trapped in the school for a while." Hiro defended his future self. "I was probably desperate!"
"Well, after being trapped here so long, even if you know it's a lie, you still gotta check, right?" Hiro said in defense for himself. He then cried out in despair. "They used my desire to get out of here! They deceived me!"
"See?! They used my desperation to lure me in!"
"Whatever soothes what pride you have left." Byakuya said dryly.
"I still don't buy it…" Hina sighed.
"Well you SHOULD buy it!" Hiro responded back.
"Okay… then show us that note!" The swimmer demanded.
"With pleasure!" Hiro said happily, as he reached into his pockets. "I have it right here in my… um, pocket…" A look of confusion entered his face as continued digging through his pockets. "Looks like I lost it…"
Heads were slumped and looks of disappointment were sent at Hiro when his future self uttered that last sentence.
"Oh come on!" Hiro complained, the color draining from his face.
"Well, it's been nice knowing ya!" Jill said cheerfully, waving at Hiro. "I would suggest your future self enjoy life while he still can! Maybe a party!"
"But it can't be me! I'm not a killer!"
"Shut your mouth, murderer, and accept your fate!"
"Who are YOU calling a murderer, murderer?!"
"Yeah, sure…" Hina remarked dryly.
"P-P-Please, ya gotta believe me! I wouldn't hurt a fly!" Hiro pleaded.
"As I said before, if you want us to believe you, you must provide evidence. Can you show us the note?" Celeste requested. "I have no particular issue with what you claim, but if you want us to believe you, give us a reason."
"Wh-What the heck?! For serious!" Hiro groaned.
After a moment, Byakuya spoke up. "Now then, shall we resume the investigation?" He rhetorically asked. "There's no time to waste before the class trial begins."
"Why do we need to keep investigating?" Hina questioned. "We already know who did it…" She then gave Hiro an angry glare, tears forming in her eyes. "Why…? Why did you kill them? Tell us, Hiro…!"
"It's far too soon to say that Hiro is the killer." Byakuya stated. "After all, there's still several questions surrounding the case. Questions you halfwits are too blind to see." 'Some more willfully than others.' The heir thought to himself, ignoring the angry looks he's receiving and staring right at Celeste.
The gambler noticed the stare. 'What is that look for?' She thought to herself. 'Is he implying that I'm not seeing what's obvious? Willfully so?' She shook her head. 'Ridiculous. The answer is clear. The killer is Hiro.' She ignored any bad feeling she had in her stomach.
"No… it's like I said…!" Hiro tried to defend himself.
But Hina wasn't done. "Was it really the money Monokuma offered us?" She questioned. "Yeah, that must be it… you must be totally broke, and that's why…!"
"W-Wait! That's a false accusation!" Hiro protested helplessly. "Someone, help me!"
"Just be thankful we haven't bound and gagged you!" Hina retorted angrily.
Makoto couldn't help but wince at this, feeling sympathy for the fortune teller. The accusations Hiro was facing was much worse than what his future self had to go through.
Still, he couldn't really blame Hina either. With everything that had happen, and is happening, it's difficult to use your head, especially when evidence seems overwhelming.
"If you have time to yell and carry on, you have time to search for your evidence." Byakuya advised. "Right?"
"Ah! You right!" Hiro said in realization. "I need to look for the second suit and that note!" He then began running out of the pool in neck breaking speed. "Feet don't fail me now!"
"Go future me! Find that note and suit as soon as possible!" Hiro cried out to his future self.
Leon turned to Sayaka. "How much you want to bet that he won't find anything?"
"Nothing at all." Sayaka replied back with an eye roll. "Cause that will probably be the result."
"Well, who knows?" Makoto spoke up. "Maybe he can find something else." While he had doubts that Hiro will be able to find that note, or a second suit, maybe he could be lucky and stumble on a different thing.
"I guess I'd better get back to guard duty…" Hina sighed. "I was gonna ask Toko - er, Genocide Jack to switch with me. But if she and Sakura got into a fight, we'd have a catastrophe on our hands."
"Me? Get into a fight with that muscle weight?" Jill voiced the idea in curiosity. Then she laughed it off. "While that sounds like it would be fun, I don't get into duels with people! I'm the sneaky type, you know!"
"You certainly don't act like it." Hina grumbled.
"Well, bye…" With that, Hina went on her way back to the crime scene. Byakuya and Celeste also followed suit, leaving Makoto and Kyoko alone.
"So they're back to the investigation." Byakuya said, crossing his arms. "Though it probably won't be long before Monokuma calls for the trial."
"It is no problem." Celeste stated. "They've gathered enough evidence to pinpoint Hiro as the killer. His lack of an alibi, the materials and instructions found in his room, finding him in the suit himself…"
"But is that enough to conclude that Hiro is the killer?" Taka quietly spoke up. "After all, our future selves were close to voting for Makoto for Sayaka's murder, just because she was in his room." He has been listening to the conversations and arguments happening with his classmates for a while, and he has to admit, something does seem suspicious about his and Hifumi's deaths.
"Then who else could it be?" Hina cried out in frustration. "Everyone else has alibis, and none of the other survivors can fit in the suit! So who could it possibly be?"
'Celeste would be the primary suspect..' Makoto, Kyoko, and Byakuya thought in their head. With each piece of evidence revealing itself to them, the more sure they were that the Ultimate Gambler is the assailant.
Of course, the thought didn't sit well with Makoto. One way or another, this trial is going to get ugly. He just hope that, at the very least, it won't drive a deeper wedge between his classmates.
And that's the end. I hope you guys like this chapter, and it doesn't feel to repetitive. I tried my best to keep it from being so, one of the reasons I took so long with this chapter, but I don't know how much success I had. Hopefully, Lucky's editing can fix that if it's an issue.
Again, make sure to check out my shorts whenever you get the chance, especially during the free promotions (Which will start on April's Fools Day, and end at April 5th. Don't worry, it's not a trick). Also, if/when you do, to give me reviews on Amazon. I would like to get feedback, to know how well I'm doing with my original shorts.
So, one more investigation chapter before getting into the trials. I'm gonna try to make that chapter come quicker, but I'm not holding my breath. Especially with how difficult chapter 3 is, along with the mcu marathon I'm having with my family (In preparation for Endgame). Review, favorite, and follow and I will see you guys later.
A Lucky Soldier's showerthoughts (not from shower):
I read a couple of the comments about the Ayako route thing, and I honestly would write one if I were as confident in my F/SN knowledge as I was with Danganronpa. I've only read the VN and there's really not much to go off. Well, I guess by the same token that means there's that much more freedom but we'll have to see. I've been getting involved in a lot more things in real life so my time to write just keeps going down and hell, I haven't even got to the next story I wanted to write yet T_T.
Anyways on a more Danganronpa related topic, there was another comment about the parents watching this whole thing and I can't help but just laugh at the idea of their parents arguing. Its hard to picture though since we don't know a lot of the student's parents. But even still, the idea of Makoto's dad getting up and beating Sayaka's dad is still a funny one even though I honestly doubt he would do so. I remember there were snippets about Sayaka's dad but I don't remember the details (or I'm mixing it up with someone else..). Anyways, I just thought I'd let you guys know that his idea kept me humored for a good while. Good day to you too sir :D
And just before I leave this off, I'm a bit curious as to something here: With Danganronpa finally ?ending? where has everyone else migrated to? If anyone reads this, y'all know I moved to Fate and now I'm also quite invested in the Quintuplets manga and anime :3