Danganronpa: Corrupted Hope (SYOC) Chapter 18: The Solace of Hate and Envy (Part 8), a dangan ronpa kibou no gakuen to zetsubou no koukousei fanfic

Chapter 2: The Solace of Hate and Envy (Deadly Life #02)

Warning: This fic contains intense violence, lots of cursing, character death, gore and blood, sexual innuendos (thanks Maggie), and possible spoilers for the Danganronpa series, most notably the first one. But hey, everyone lurking in this fandom has at least played the first Danganronpa so no need to worry much there!

With that said, please enjoy!

"'The Mermaid Who Fears the Ocean'," Yuumi blinked as she read the title of a manuscript she was handed by Mimi. "You finished it already, Mimi?"

The two friends sat on the auditorium stage as they hung their legs over the edge, as if bathing their feet in a hot tub. Mimi herself looked especially proud of the work she had put into the sixteen-page manuscript. Really helped take her mind off of the whole Killing Game situation after all!

"Of course!" Mimi beamed. "When I put my mind to work on a new fairytale, Mimi Kazoo, the Next Witch of the North always delivers! Hope you enjoy it!"

"I'm sure I will!" Yuumi giggled as she kept Sailor Penguin on her lap as if it were a child. Opening the manuscript for Sailor Penguin to read as well, Yuumi scanned through the text and began to read it out loud: "'Once upon a time, there was a mermaid who lived in the colder parts of the South Pole with her best friend, a sailor penguin.' Oh, my goodness! Look at this, Sailor Penguin! You're in this story too!"

"Of course, how could I not include your best friend, Sailor Penguin?" Mimi giggled. "He's an integral part to your origin story!"

"And he appreciates it very much," Yuumi laughed alongside the girl in witch clothing.

The sailor continued to read through Mimi's short story and the longer she went, the more she began to smile. A live reading that made Mimi's heart warm up every time she watched Yuumi enjoy the story she crafted of her best friend. Her eyes trailed down to Sailor Penguin, the toy she would never part with and who she cherished as her own child.

"You took so much care with Sailor Penguin," Mimi noted curiously. "He still looks so clean and just… good as new!"

"Of course!" Yuumi smiled, looking up from the manuscript she was enjoying. "I always take care of my closest friends! You're no different, Mimi!"

"We're the closest of friends?" Mimi gasped. She already knew that fact. She just liked hearing it from Yuumi's lips.

"Um, the best of friends!" Yuumi giggled. "You can also be the godmother to Sailor Penguin whenever I'm not around!"

"The fairy godmother!" Mimi emphasized.

"Exactly!" Yuumi giggled.

"I will cast a Bibbidi Boppidy Boo spell on Sailor Penguin to make sure he is always protected then!" Mimi exclaimed. "Whenever you will not be able to take care of him, I, his fairy godmother will take care of him and look after him for you!"

"Well, Sailor Penguin never leaves my side," Yuumi tapped her chin. "But maybe if he ever decides to wander off then I will trust your word for it, Sailor Penguin's Fairy Godmother!"

"You got it Mama Penguin!" Mimi giggled.

The two girls continued to laugh as they scooted a little closer to each other, leaning against each other as supporting friends. The witch and the sailor who had hit it off so well at the beginning. Surely nothing bad would ever happen between two people who trusted each other so initially well at the start…

…Right?

TRIAL COMMENCE!

"Allow me to remind everyone the rules of this Prison Trial," Monohebi began, coiled up on the large throne that oversaw the 16 podiums. Occupying Kane's, Titus', and now Yuumi's podiums were their respective mugshots with two X's crudely drawn over their eyes and scribbles to represent fire that possibly hinted at the fact that they were burning in Hell. "There is a blackened among you. Your job is to argue amongst yourselves to ultimately come to a conclusion on who you think the blackened is. Once you have come to an agreement, you will be permitted to vote on who you think the blackened is. If you vote correctly, only the blackened shall receive punishment. But if you vote incorrectly, then everyone besides the blackened will be punished and the blackened will be able to escape the facility. Any questions?"

"Who did it?" The timid soft voice of Mimi Kazoo caught the snake's attention.

"Excuse me?" Monohebi asked, glancing at the fairytale writer with slight confusion.

"W-Who killed Yuumi?" Mimi repeated, this time a little louder. It certainly made her sound like Carter but more depressed and a whole lotta damaged. She shook uncontrollably, clutching onto her witch hat as she began to scream with tears rushing through her cheeks. "Who killed my best friend?! Who did it?! Please tell me!"

Monohebi watched as Mimi's eyes blurred and reddened from her tears. She remained silent as she listened to the writer's sobs echo reverberated around the room. If she was bothered to feel any sort of remorse for these prisoners, she would, but unfortunately for them, she didn't give two shits about how Mimi was feeling. With a sigh, Monohebi responded.

"Remember, I am the judge, jury, and executioner of the Prison Trials," Monohebi answered. "As such, I am not allowed to answer your-"

"I don't care!" Mimi wailed, taking off her witch hat with an expression no one had really seen from Mimi before. Anger. "I don't want to play your stupid game anymore! I don't want to argue with the others! I just want to know who did it! I just want to know who killed Yuumi!"

"Please silence your inappropriate outbursts or I will be forced to hold you in contempt of court," Monohebi's red eyes glinted venomously toward Mimi, but the young girl didn't seem like she was in any position to stop. "I do hope you remember what your fate will hold once I do…"

"That won't be necessary, Monohebi," Maggie spoke up and stared at Monohebi with a cold look before giving Mimi a sympathetic look. "Mimi, please, calm down."

"B-But the snake knows!" Mimi exclaimed, having cried so much that snot was running down her nose. "She knows who killed her but she won't tell us!"

"...I understand," Maggie once again looked Mimi in the eye with a sympathetic expression. If she was able to leave her podium, she would totally give the young girl a hug right now. The events that had transpired leading up to this Trial. It was all so hard for her. "But if you want Monohebi to tell you who the culprit is, you'll have to participate with all of us in figuring out who did it. Otherwise, Monohebi won't say anything. I know it's hard to do so, but we'll find whoever did this to Yuumi. That's a promise."

Mimi didn't say anything after she listened to Maggie speak. Instead, all she did was tremble and felt the process of crying repeat itself. Tears flowed out of her eyes. Her weight tumbled toward the podium until finally, she found herself hugging it for comfort.

"There, no need for any punishment," Ina said with a nod upon witnessing the resolution of Mimi's outburst. "Initiating contempt of court is not necessary."

Monohebi didn't say anything. Instead, she contemplated what to really make of this random outburst from Mimi. Then with a sigh, the snake shook her head before making her formal announcement, "Very well then. In that case, we can officially get started. Who was it that killed Yuumi Kizuchi?"

"Excellent, now then, may I start this topic of conversation by putting focus on the Autopsy Report?" Ina asked, folding her arms with a serious expression.

"Right, the Autopsy Report," Haruto leaned against his makeshift crutch with a grunt. "Just got one thing to say about it… Um… what the fuck?"

"I would like to agree with Haruto, minus the vulgarity," Arthur folded his arms with a frown. "The Autopsy Report this time is even less clear and concise as the last one."

"Yeah…" Jared rubbed his chin as he reviewed the Autopsy Report. "Not only is there no clear time of death, but the cause of death is all over the place as well."

"According to the report," Mayu caressed her own cheek as she read the report. "Yuumi suffered from two blows to the head. One on the back. The other on the top. One of her hands had been cleanly cut off and there was also an abnormal amount of water in her lungs."

"So, in other words, she could've died from any of that shit," Haruto growled, looking visibly shaken and slightly annoyed at how unclear this report was. "Jesus Christ. Who would do something like that?"

"That's what we're here to find out isn't it?" Cassandra gave the basketball player a sly look before frowning at the rest of her peers. "Granted. I don't think we'll get anywhere just talking about the Autopsy Report."

"Cassandra makes a good point," Maggie stated. "For the first time without any sort of insult toward any of us whatsoever."

"Then, where exactly do we start?" Mimi frowned, looking much more determined as ever before.

"Maybe we can go over everyone's alibis and whereabouts from the morning to when we found the body!" Zuri suggested with a hopeful smile. "I spent most of my time at Cell Block S, talking to Holland. Then I prepared for the pool get-together Maggie threw."

"A lot of us were preparing for the pool get-together," Jared pointed out. "And most of our pool goers don't exactly have good alibis from the moment we dispersed to the moment we gathered together."

"Ah, but I did talk to Arthur before heading to the pool," Zuri added. She wasn't ready to get discredited from the alibi-establishment process. "I spent a bunch of time talking with him before everything."

"...Y-You talked with Arthur?" Holland raised an eyebrow. Being the young lad of no emotions, raising an eyebrow probably meant that he was a little shocked by that revelation.

"H-He didn't hurt me or anything," Zuri said, as she rubbed her arms. "But it sure was an interesting... interaction I had to go through."

Arthur turned away from Zuri. Clearly, he wanted no part in being talked about by his fellow peers. Either case, whatever Arthur and Zuri were doing had nothing to do with the case.

"...I see," Holland simply said as he watched Arthur closely before sighing. "Either case, I was locked in my cell until the start of the Investigation. So naturally, I don't really have anything to do with this case..."

"That's a person we can for sure cross out," Jared said to himself as he tipped his police hat down. "Anyone else?"

"I was exercising with Mayu in my Ultimate Cell!" Barracuda announced with a cocky grin. It was clear the word 'exercise' was enough to make the large male excitable.

"Seriously," Cassandra scoffed with a slight laugh. "I still can't believe Mayu, of all people, would be in your Cell exercising."

Mayu returned Cassandra's comment with a rather dark look. Whatever she was thinking of saying in her head, was definitely not going to be anything good. But before she could even relay her first word, Ina jumped in with a comment of her own.

"Mayu has been trying hard to exercise for the past few days," Ina frowned at Cassandra. "She's made it her resolve to better her physique for the sake of her Ultimate Talent. Something that you most likely do not have. Thus, I would appreciate it if you would retract that remark about my friend."

"...Tch," Cassandra bit her lip, a little taken aback by Ina's defensive comments. Muttering under her breath as she started to bite the nail on her thumb, Cassandra grumbled. "...Prissy bitch…"

"So, were you two together at the Ultimate Cell the whole time?" Maggie looked slightly jealous that Barracuda had been spending time with Mayu, but the thought was immediately brushed aside over that harsh self-reflection she had to endure just yesterday prior.

"Mayu was there first actually!" Barracuda grinned, giving a thumbs-up to his peers. "And I guess we weren't really exercising together. More like... chatting! I came in maybe… uhh…"

"Thirty minutes later after I started, I would say," Mayu pursed her lips in thought.

"Yeah!" Barracuda laughed before clenching his fist and looking determined. "I might not know the exact time but what I do know for sure is that Yuumi was still alive by the time Barracuda arrived to exercise!"

Huh?

This was a matter worth pursuing. A lot of people had given Barracuda a look of surprise before most of them started jumping in to speak their thoughts on the matter. The only person who wasn't surprised was Cassandra, who already knew about this information during the Investigation. The first to speak up was Ina, who looked surprised by Barracuda's comment before shifting her brow to a more suspicious glance.

"How can you say that for sure?" Ina leaned against her podium; eyes narrowed.

"Easy question!" Barracuda declared, jabbing a finger in the revolutionary's direction. "I was headed to my Ultimate Cell at the time. When I made it to that big Cell Block B area, I saw Yuumi! Clear as day!"

"What was she doing?" Arthur asked Barracuda, eyes closed and mind in thought.

"Hmm, well she was going to the Ultimate Pony Cell," Barracuda rubbed his chin in thought as he attempted to remember the events. "And it looked like she had been finished with riding one of the horses!"

Abigail turned to Haruto. Didn't he mention something similar to her during the Investigation?

"Ugh, here we go again," Abigail rolled her eyes. They were at it again. Best to get some more information about Haruto's account rather than quarrel. "Forget it. When did you see her go to my Cell, exactly?"

"It was after the snake finished patching me up," Haruto revealed. "Which was super early in the morning. Don't remember the fucking time but I saw her riding a horse."

"R-Riding a horse," Abigail looked at Haruto in disbelief, almost as if she were hyperventilating. "R-Riding… R-Riding one of my horses?"

"Given the time when I left my Cell," Haruto sighed. He certainly didn't want to remember the events of his treatment from Monohebi nor the events prior to that. "I'd say it fits."

"You saw Yuumi with the horse too, Haruto?" Mayu blinked toward the basketball player.

"Course I did," Haruto confirmed, nodding toward the heiress. He looked a little bothered having to remember the scenario he had been in before he witnessed Yuumi with the horse. "...By the time the damn snake finished with my leg, it was already morning. So, I was on my way to leave Cell Block B to head down to the Cafeteria. That's when I saw Yuumi riding the horse. But instead of heading toward the Equestrian Cell, she was heading into the direction of mine and Barracuda's Cell."

"...Barracuda," Abigail narrowed her eyes. If Barracuda really did see Yuumi ride her horse, then she had to check for sure whether or not he was really telling the truth or making up some alibi. "Which horse was it. What did it look like?"

"Does that matter?" Cassandra asked, rolling her eyes.

"Hm, it was the light brown one… with the very brown mane!" Barracuda skipped over Cassandra's question and tried to recall the answer to her question. "A lot of brown on it! Yeah! The chocolate horse!"

"Yeah," Haruto consented with Barracuda. "That's the horse I saw. My guess? She was running laps with the horse for a while."

"Then it sounds like the horse Yuumi was riding was Bartholomew..." Abigail concluded.

"W-What makes you say that?" Carter asked Abigail.

"And what kind of a name is Bartholomew?" Mayu raised an eyebrow in slight disgust.

"When Haruto and I went to investigate my Ultimate Cell, Bartholomew was acting out," Abigail frowned. "He made a mess of my Cell and was freaking out. Obviously, someone had done something to him on that day, meaning, Yuumi most likely didn't take much care riding my horse. As expected of someone who is so used to the sea that she decided to ride my horse like how she rides a shark."

Abigail decided to keep Yuumi's hat and Sailor Penguin a secret. Best not to reveal her cards too early in this instance.

"I… don't think sailors ride sharks," Zuri gave a sheepish look toward Abigail.

"B-But that makes no sense!" Mimi exclaimed, unsatisfied by the current topic of discussion. "Why would Yuumi ride a horse?! Her duty is to the sea! Not to the cousins of the unicorns!"

"M-Maybe… she wanted to try out the ways of the equestrian?" Carter suggested, twirling his fountain pen around in thought.

"Or maybe she had some sort of horse kink," Maggie brought up with a slightly weak but goofy smile.

"Do not even go there," Jared looked a little disgusted by the implications of what a 'horse kink' might even entail.

Arthur frowned.

"Whatever the case is, we now have a lead on the victim's whereabouts before the discovery of her body," the snowboarder firmly stated before turning to the personal trainer. "You. What time was it when you last saw Yuumi?"

Barracuda thought of the answer long and hard, but no matter how long he thought about it, there was no stopping the inevitable truth. He didn't bother looking at the time. Instead, an estimation was in order.

"Well, as I said, I don't remember what time it was but..." Barracuda trailed off, unsure about the time.

"Ah, actually when Barracuda arrived, it was already 8:00," Mayu nodded before placing her hands on her hips and giving off a boisterous stance. "I arrived at his Cell at 7:30 so I know this for a fact!"

"Then that would put the time of death sometime after 8:00!" Jared declared. "Mayu! Barracuda! Did you guys stay in the Ultimate Cell and talk the entire time?"

"Haha!" Barracuda laughed. "Not the entire time! Mayu left after we finished chatting and exercising a bit. Then I left an hour later!"

"Think the time was… 10:00 when I left?" Mayu tapped her cheek in thought. "I know I stayed put for a while after Barracuda arrived before leaving."

"Which means I left at 11:00!" Barracuda declared.

"...But the body was found at around the time we gathered for our pool get-together, which was at noon, 12:00," Jared spoke up after a moment of remaining silent. "Meaning the culprit would have murdered Yuumi, dumped her body in the pool and attempt to flee the scene of the crime within an hour. Something like that is possible but the timing is a little tight…"

"Or… the culprit had two hours to do all of that," Cassandra smirked, an idea forming in her head.

"Two?" Zuri blinked before looking a little concerned by the logic Cassandra was about to form. In a way, she was beginning to understand where Cassandra was going with the 'two-hour' remark. "What are you saying, Cassandra?"

"Our likely suspect in the murder might be that big dumbass, fish-for-a-name," Cassandra said and pointed her finger toward Barracuda.

"Huh?!" Barracuda exclaimed. The personal trainer was caught off guard by Cassandra's sudden accusation that he felt his pecs start to shake and rumble back and forth out of fear. He clenched both of his fists and gripped the side of his podium for comfort, eyes widened, and mouth wide open. "Y-You think I did it?! No! It… It's not me! It's not me!"

"Cassandra!" Maggie glared at the unknown talent, smacking the palm of her hand on the podium. "State your basis for accusing Barry! Because this is something that I cannot forgive if you're just going to accuse him without any reason at all!"

"Then get your mind out of your fucking lewd fantasies and think," Cassandra taunted. "If we are to believe everything we've heard thus far, Mayu left an hour before Barracuda did. That means, he was left all alone and has no alibi from 10:00 to 12:00. There's no one to corroborate that he did stay in the area for an hour, so he could have plenty of time to go kill Yuumi at the pool and dump her in."

"You're the one with a wild fantasy!" Maggie glared at Cassandra, heatedly. Again, she smacked the palm of her hand on the podium, creating a large banging noise that resonated within this heated debate. "Where's your proof that Barry committed the crime, huh?!"

"You really think I would go on a tangent without support?" Cassandra smirked. "Think again. We haven't yet established a murder weapon, have we?"

"M-Murder weapon?" Carter widened his eyes. "N-No… w-we didn't. B-But why bring up... Ah! C-Could it be? C-Cassandra, did you f-find the supposed w-weapon?"

"...You bet my fucking life I did," Cassandra continued to smirk as she presented a picture of the evidence she had discovered during her investigation. "Behold. The evidence you so wanted."

The picture that was presented to the prisoners was plain as day. Taken by whatever app used by Cassandra's eHandbook, the picture taken was of a 25-pound dumbbell, covered in drying wet blood in all its glory.

"Th-That's!" Jared slammed his fist onto his podium, looking distraught. "A… dumbbell? Are you seriously suggesting that was the murder weapon?! I mean–"

"Blunt force trauma, fresh blood… it all fits," Cassandra smirked, silently humming to herself at her sound logic. "This dumbbell has to be the murder weapon or at least used at some point during the crime. Whether or not that bitch sailor died from it, I don't know yet, but it was definitely used!"

"B-But I never touched that dumbbell in my life!" Barracuda exclaimed, holding a tight stance to remain strong in this fleeting moment. Yet even a big strong boy like him had to admit that he was getting terrified of being put on the chopping block for a potentially false accusation. "It's a 25-pounder! I go for 50 and above!"

"Th-That's not the point man," Carter blinked at Barracuda in bewilderment.

"I wonder," Arthur said, listening to Cassandra intently. "But where exactly did you find this murder weapon?"

"Ah yes, the next important proof that it had to be Barry Allen, the slowest motherfucker here," Cassandra gestured to Barracuda with that same smarmy smirk. "I found it in his Ultimate Cell. It was hidden away at the dumbbell rack."

"H-Huh?!" Barracuda exclaimed, looking shocked. "I-It was there of all places?!"

"But wait, when I went to exercise, I used the dumbbell racks and I didn't see a bloody dumbbell," Mayu blinked, confused. "You would think I would notice a dumbbell covered in blood…"

"Well of course you wouldn't notice it, you dumb bitch!" Cassandra scoffed, rolling her eyes at the heiress. "He obviously acquired the fucking weapon after you left. He only hid it there after he fucking smashed that bitch's head in!"

"N-No!" Barracuda shouted. "I would never- That is an insult to my Ultimate Talent!"

"No alibi for two hours, a murder weapon found at his Ultimate Cell, and not only that, but easy access to the crime scene without being seen," Arthur noted. "I have to say, the pieces aren't entirely there but it is slowly coming together."

"What do you mean it's coming together?!" Maggie glared at Arthur. "I don't believe this one bit! Barry is a teddy bear! He wouldn't dare hurt a fly! And you guys insist he's the culprit?!"

"W-Well, technically only C-Cassandra was-" Carter began to point out.

"We assumed the same of Holland, did we not?" Ina frowned at Maggie. She looked away from Holland and Zuri's awkward glances before sighing. "I apologize, Maggie. This must be hard for you, but this is the only working theory that makes sense at the moment."

"No!" Maggie declared with narrowed eyes, smacking her palm on the podium once again. "Screw this! This isn't it! Barry's not the culprit!"

Even though Maggie and Barracuda's friendship seemed to have been hindered due to yesterday's events, it was clear there was a level of what once was between the two behind Maggie's heated defense. A level that Barracuda seemed to agree with as well.

"Y-Yeah!" Barracuda stammered, desperation in his eyes as he clutched the sides of his podium. "I-It's not me! Y-You gotta believe me!"

To believe or not to believe. That was the question. Barracuda was beyond nervous. Was he really innocent or was he truly guilty? For someone so adamant that they didn't do it, one would think that he was the culprit. Was there truly no other possibility that it may have been someone else?

"Does no one else have a counter to my theory or is it just going to be Maggie bitching over how innocent her boy toy is?" Cassandra rolled her eyes. "Cause if not, we can just get this over with and vote."

"V-Vote?" Mimi blinked before trembling. She turned to Barracuda with a betrayed look in her eyes. "Th-Then. Barry… w-was it really you? D-Did you kill Yuumi?!"

"N-No I didn't!" Barracuda exclaimed. "Honest! Swearsies! Scout's Honor! It wasn't me!"

"I… I can't forgive you!" Mimi exclaimed, clutching onto her witch's hat tightly. "I won't forgive you! W-Why would you kill my best friend like that?!"

"I… It wasn't…" Barracuda was beginning to tremble. His pecs danced around before he slowly moved his arms to hug himself tightly, his voice turning quieter. "M-Me… I-I'm not... I'm not the killer..."

"...It is rather early for a vote," Monohebi stated, surprised at how quickly the group seemed to have come to a conclusion. Er, how quickly Cassandra seemed to have come to a conclusion. "To avoid me being interrupted when I'm about to pronounce my verdict from the last trial, perhaps a little more debate should be necessary."

Jared raised an eyebrow at Monohebi. Even Monohebi was allowing them to continue debating? It seemed off. Strange even. But the police officer had no time to focus on such unimportant detail. He glanced around at his peers as he thought about any alternatives. As much as Cassandra's theory did seem to piece things together, the idea that Barracuda was the culprit troubled him. There had to be evidence proving his innocence.

"Perhaps nothing, let's just vote… unless someone really wants to prove me wrong then I suppose I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and listen to what they have to say," Cassandra folded her arms together with a smirk.

That was Jared's cue. And almost as if an idea came rushing through his head, Jared fixed his police hat and attacked Cassandra's bold statement with both a point of his finger and a determined look on his face.

"It's as Monohebi said!" he said. "We need to debate more about this a lot more. We can't just conclude anything based on the fact that the weapon was found in Barracuda's Ultimate Cell."

"Um, excuse me?" Cassandra raised an eyebrow at Jared. She didn't care if they bonded, she wasn't going to have someone just outright decline a working theory of hers like that. She slammed her fist onto her podium, leaning forward as she grit her teeth in frustration. "How can you say something like that?!"

"Because Cassandra, literally anyone could've come in and grabbed the dumbbell," Jared crossed his arms. "It's not like it was locked away in the Evidence Room or anything like that."

"Yeah, even I could've grabbed it too!" Mayu announced.

"A-At least you're honest about it," Carter sheepishly noted.

"Hmph, perhaps you're jumping way ahead of yourself there Cassandra," Arthur remarked. "Maybe think before you make an outlandish accusation. Just because the supposed murder weapon was found in Barracuda's Cell does not mean Barracuda was the sole perpetrator."

"Um, didn't you just agree with me a minute ago, asshole?!" Cassandra growled, flipping the bird at the rich snowboarder.

"Perhaps, but as much as I hate to say it, Jared is correct in that anyone could've come in and grabbed the dumbbell," Arthur pointed a stern glance toward the Ultimate Bitch. "Thank you anyway for providing us with a nice piece of evidence, however. Now we know what could have caused those head injuries."

"But to think that it was just hidden there, I mean, isn't that really odd?" Zuri asked, blinking. "Why bother hiding it in the dumbbell rack when the killer literally dumped the body and that wooden plank in the pool? Couldn't they just have… dumped the dumbbell in the pool as well?"

"Or maybe there was a reason why they had to hide the dumbbell…" Holland voiced, rubbing his chin as his expression remained stoic.

"Hey, speaking of which, when are we going to talk about that thing that Zuri mentioned?" Mayu asked, rubbing her chin curiously.

"What thing?" Ina blinked toward Mayu.

"The wooden plank thing!" Mayu exclaimed, pumping her fists out with a determined expression. "It was the most random object by Yuumi's side when she was in the pool. What is it exactly and why was it there?"

"Oh yeah, that thing..." Haruto rubbed his neck, sheepishly. "Not going to lie, I don't have a damn clue how some random wooden plank fits into all this. But if it was found next to Yuumi's floating ass, then it's gotta be important somehow."

"Th-there were small traces of blood on it, w-wasn't there?" Carter tapped his lower lip with the backend of his fountain pen.

"Maybe the killer used the wooden plank to hit her!" Mayu blurted out her suggestion.

"No, there is far too little blood for that to be the case," Arthur shook his head.

"I'm pretty sure I made the same argument last time already..." Maggie tapped her chin in thought.

"Also, I thought we just determined that the dumbbell was the actual murder weapon," Abigail yawned. "If you're thinking that the killer used both, it doesn't really make sense for a killer to switch between a non-lethal wooden plank to a highly lethal dumbbell like that."

"But it would fit with the Autopsy Report regarding those two head injuries," Jared pointed out.

"...Where exactly can you find a wooden plank anyway?" Holland asked, after a brief moment of contemplating everything that everyone had been talking about. "It does seem out of place for the Swimming Pool, and it had to come from somewhere..."

"Shut up," Cassandra snapped at Holland. "No one wants to know what an attempted murderer thinks!"

Unfazed, Holland glanced at Cassandra but didn't respond. If no one wanted to know, then guess he wouldn't say anything til someone changed their mind. He wouldn't have to wait long as Zuri was there to give Cassandra a disapproving look and speak up.

"No Cassandra," Zuri said to the prisoner with no talent. "It's best if we let everyone who has an idea speak. Attempted murderer or not!"

"Going to protect your deranged boyfriend to the bitter end, huh?" Cassandra scoffed at Zuri.

"H-He's not my boyfriend!" Zuri replied with a flustered look.

"But the wooden plank had to originally be from a place with a bunch of other wooden planks, right?" Barracuda steered the conversation back to the original subject as he attempted to guess. "Like... like a pirate ship! Or... or..."

...

"...A horse stable..."

Abigail gasped and widened her eyes. How come she didn't realize it sooner? Now that she thought about it, that was the only area that actually had wooden planks of all shapes and sizes. But what did that mean? How did something from that area end up at the Swimming Pool of all places? She thought about the wooden plank further. The rope that was tied at the end. The blood. It being at the Swimming Pool even though it originated...

"...Fuck," she cursed under her breath. "I think we might've jumped too quickly to a conclusion."

"Huh, what do you mean Abigail?" Jared questioned, looking toward the equestrian confused.

"...Are we really so sure that Yuumi died at the Swimming Pool?" Abigail pressed. "The wood with the blood. The rope. All of those components. They could've only come from one place and one place only: my Ultimate Cell. Which leads me to one conclusion..."

"Ah!" Mimi understood the answer to Abigail's conclusion, yelping frightfully as her witch's hat flew into the air before slowly and gently landing back onto her head. "N-No! Are you saying that Yuumi was killed... in your Cell?!"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Abigail scratched her head, her face noting a different expression, however. "Though... Um. Hm."

"Oi! You come up with some deduction then all of a sudden you look like you're just as confused as the rest of us!" Haruto glared at Abigail. "If you're gonna come up with something, at least back up your thought process!"

"...That's the thing," Abigail said, frowning deeply. "This whole thing is just... confusing. Yuumi goes to my cell to get Bartholomew. Once she acquires Bartholomew, she rides him. Haruto sees that before he leaves his Ultimate Cell. Then later, she finishes right until Barracuda shows up at 8. Once she enters the Cell, she gets killed. But... if that's the case, then..."

"Then how did her body end up in the Swimming Pool?" Jared finished, understanding the confusion behind the mystery.

"And if the murder weapon really is the dumbbell, how did it wind up at fish-for-brain's Ultimate Cell?" Cassandra added with a deadpan expression. "Or maybe this is just some big leap in logic and Abbygail's a dumbass."

"Perhaps with the logic that Yuumi was killed in the Equestrian Cell," Arthur said, partially agreeing with Cassandra. "However, there is no doubt in my mind that the wooden plank originated from the Equestrian Cell."

"...Abigail... you investigated your Cell, right?" Holland peered at her with a neutral expression. "...By any chance, did you happen to find anything related to this wooden plank?"

"Huh... now that I think about it, I did," Abigail said. "The entrance to Judas' stable was completely demolished. I thought it was due to Bartholomew acting up, but now things make more sense. The reason the gate to Judas ended up falling apart was because someone removed a wooden plank. And now that I think about it even more... A couple of days ago..."

Judas brayed and reared, kicking his front legs into the air as he stood on his hind ones.

Spoke too soon Abigail. Abigail leaped out of the way as Judas began to thrash about, neighing and making a sound as if it were in distress. Rushing toward its size and trying to make sure Judas' legs never hit her square in the face, Abigail held out her hands in order to try to calm him down.

"H-Hey, hey, what the hell is the matter with you?" Abigail blinked, confused as she attempted to find a moment for her to latch a soothing hand onto the horse.

Judas began to kick and whinny. The hind legs made a good impact onto the wooden planks of his stables and over and over the horse continued to thrash. Thrash. Thrash. Break. One of the wooden planks was kicked straight off and Judas continued to thrash around.

"Jesus Christ, Judas, stop!" Abigail frowned as she jumped in and hugged the horse. She felt the strength of Judas but never ceased to hold him back as she caressed the horse's stomach. "There, there. It's alright now. Okay? Just calm down. Please. I don't want you making a mess of this place."

"Of course... Judas was the one who broke the wooden plank in the first place..." Abigail frowned. "And I guess Bartholomew destroyed the rest of the gate shortly after. God. No doubt, I think the wooden plank we found was the same one that was kicked off."

"Please, so what?" Cassandra snipped at Abigail. "That doesn't prove shit. The culprit could've just taken the wooden plank from the Equestrian Cell and used it somehow at the Swimming Pool. Either way, it doesn't prove that Yuumi was killed at the Equestrian Cell."

"Nuh-uh, she totally was," Haruto interjected and looked at Cassandra, siding with Abigail's reasoning. "The mess at the Equestrian Cell wasn't the only thing we found. We also found two other important pieces of evidence."

Almost immediately, Abigail took out the two pieces of evidence that were found at the possible crime scene from her bag. Two items that would be familiar to everyone in the room. They were-

"Th-That's Yuumi's sailor hat a-and... Sailor Penguin as well!" Mimi gasped, shocked to see them again.

"Wait, you found those at the Equestrian Cell?" Maggie blinked, shocked before caressing her cheek as an attempt to remember her role in the investigation. "Well, that clears up one mystery. Or two rather. Because when we found Yuumi's body, she wasn't wearing her hat and the toy she kept carrying wasn't on her either."

"A-And Yuumi never parts with Sailor Penguin, ever!" Mimi shuddered.

"That's conclusive proof if I've ever seen it," Jared said. "I guess that means she really was killed in the Equestrian Cell. And later, her body must've been moved to the Swimming Pool. And come to think of it, it could put another piece of evidence into perspective as well."

He reached into his pockets and pulled out the note that was found in Yuumi's pockets. The one that was more legible than the one in Yuumi's hands of course.

"Hey Ina, what's that piece of paper you got along with the eHandbook?" Zuri asked, slightly confused by the equally soaked note in Ina's hand.

"Ah yes, I am not sure," Ina raised an eyebrow.

The note itself had been folded neatly but unfolding it now that it was drenched might be a harder task than she would've given a simple note credit for. Moving her fingers as slowly as possible, Ina managed to unfold the note to reveal a set of words on the note. Or rather, what was supposed to be a set of words on the note. Since the paper was drenched in water, whatever ink was used to write the note had bled into something illegible except for one word in the middle of the deformed sentence:

'CELL'

"Unfortunately, the water caused whatever was written into the note to be illegible," Ina sighed bitterly. "I can only make out one word: 'CELL'."

"Yeah, the only word we could decipher from it was the word 'CELL'," Zuri mentioned before smiling. "Which means that the word 'CELL' could be referring to the Equestrian Cell. Therefore, that note was probably instructing her to go to Abigail's Cell."

"And once she arrived there, she was killed," Ina said with a nod. "That would certainly make some sense.

"If that's the case, then why and how was she riding my horses?" Abigail frowned. "And also, why my Cell anyway?"

"Well, she was probably asked to go to your Cell for some form of ambush," Haruto said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Place is big enough to pull off something like that. The horses? I dunno. Maybe whoever asked to meet with her didn't come until way later, so she started riding the horses just to dick around."

"Okay, now that we established that she could've for sure been killed at the Ultimate Equestrian Cell, there's another thing that's been bugging me," Jared then came forward and voiced his thoughts, his face scrunched thoughtfully "What about the rope tied at the end of the wooden plank? That's the part I don't get."

"It seems this case is built on one puzzle after another," Arthur sighed, his arms crossed and hair well-kempt as he shook his head. "However, if we are to survive this Prison Trial, I suggest we turn our thinking toward the wooden plank itself."

"I agree," Ina said, nodding her head. "The wooden plank is the factor that is tripping everyone up. Perhaps instead of thinking of what exactly the wooden plank might be, we should figure out what purpose it served in Yuumi's demise."

"I think Yuumi got hit on the head with it!" Barracuda suggested with a grin.

"There's too little blood on it," Mayu said, frowning at the fitness trainer. "I established that already! Try again!"

"...I was the one who established that actually," Arthur gave a cold stare toward the heiress.

"...No... I established that first..." Maggie trailed off.

"M-Maybe it was meant to be disposed of as evidence?" Carter brought up tentatively, unsure about what to think about this simple plank.

"If the culprit wanted to dispose of evidence, they would not just throw it into the pool right next to the body," Ina pointed out.

"Could it have been used alongside the dumbbell somehow?" Zuri asked, tapping her lower lip.

"How so?" Abigail looked at Zuri, curiously.

"...Maybe, like some sort of contraption…" Zuri slowly trailed off before sighing and shaking her head. "No. That's stupid. That's definitely not-"

"Wait, Zuri, I think you might be fucking onto something!" Haruto declared, widening his eyes as he heard what she said.

"Huh?" Zuri blinked, surprised by his agreeing outburst. "I… I am?"

"Fuck yeah!" Haruto's lips curled into a grin. It was a clear difference to how he had been feeling just moments before. "I investigated the Equestrian Cell with Abigail and when she climbed the ladder to the top of the stables, she mentioned something about some rectangular imprint near the edge where some sand should've been."

"You think the wooden plank made that imprint?" Maggie asked, blinking.

"Hell yeah!" Haruto gave Maggie a thumbs-up. "A wooden plank is rectangular, isn't it? That spot is specifically located at the top of the stables right at the edge. Right at the far back middle of the Equestrian Cell. If you placed that wooden plank right on where that imprint is, like a board, it could end up being a perfect match and extend toward one of the columns!"

"Oh!" Zuri gasped, paused, then tilted her head in confusion. "Um. What?"

"What does that have to do with the case at hand?" Arthur asked. "Anything could've been placed on that sandless spot. And besides, the wooden plank isn't long enough to even stay on that spot. If you just set it there, it would immediately fall straight to the bottom of the Cell."

"Which is why you need weight, dumbass!" Haruto argued back at Arthur.

"Ah!" Zuri jumped up, seeming to understand what Haruto's suggested contraption was. "The dumbbell!"

"If you set a heavy dumbbell right on top of where the plank covers the imprint, there's no way that wooden plank would fall over," Haruto explained. "It'll stay put at the top of the stables, like a plank from a pirate ship!"

There was a moment of silence as everyone attempted to picture the contraption at hand. First, one needed that edge that was referred to. Second, the wooden plank placed directly on the edge pointing straight at the Equestrian Cell's column. Third, the dumbbell placed directly on top of the edge where the wooden plank would be extending from to prevent it from falling.

(If you still have trouble imagining it, simply place a ruler or any other flat rectangular object of some kind by the edge of your table. Make sure the object in question leans out further from the edge so that it would be possible for it to fall to the floor if it did not have any weight. Next, simply place a heavy object on top of the rectangular object, specifically where it touches the edge of your desk. This is how the dumbbell and wooden plank act together according to Haruto)

With a clear image of it in mind, everyone remained silent before finally Arthur opened his mouth to speak.

"...Well then," Arthur seemed to think that this theory had a lot of promise. "I have to admit Haruto, I never expected such creativity from the Former Ultimate Basketball Player of all people. Congratulations…

…

...

You have wasted everyone's time with a cheap science project proposal."

"Wha- Fuck you!" Haruto clenched his fist, ready to beat the rich snowboarder up.

Zuri looked at the snowboarder with a disappointed frown.

"You're not even going to give this theory a chance, Arthur?" she asked.

"Of course not!" he exclaimed. "How does a dumbbell keeping a wooden plank stable have anything to do with what killed Yuumi? Our lives are on the line. We have no time for distractions seeping out of whatever asylum Haruto came from."

"Wha- Double fuck you!" Haruto clenched his other fist, looking more than ready to thrash the rich snowboarder.

"Stop wasting time, Haruto," Mimi said softly, drooping down her witch hat. "I just… I just want to find Yuumi's killer."

Was this theory really going to get debunked so quickly? Surely it had some notable traits that they could work with. Because if not, then how else was the wooden plank used? This was their best theory and yet, it also sounded a little out there. Impossible even.

Was it?

"...I think we should give this theory a shot," Jared announced, sternly.

"Oh, and why is that?" Arthur challenged flatly, unsurprised that it was Jared who contested against his opinion.

"Because Arthur, Haruto's only missing one important thing from his theory," Jared bit back toward Arthur's nonchalant attitude, before pointing his finger like a great ace attorney. "...The rope at the end of the wooden plank!"

"Ah!" Arthur furrowed his brow as he reeled back in shock.

"If we're to go by this contraption that Haruto came up with… then suddenly, the rope at the end of the wooden plank suddenly has meaning," Jared deduced. "Think about it. The plank is placed at the edge of the stable's top. The dumbbell would've been on top of that edge of the plank. But what would've been on the other end of the plank?"

"...The rope," Maggie answered, firmness in her tone.

"Exactly. And from the way it was tied, the rope would've also been dangling as well," Jared continued. "Almost like…like something had been attached to the rope."

"Preposterous!" Arthur banged his fist onto the podium with a sneer. "This is all baseless conjecture! You don't have a shred of proof! What could've possibly been attached to the rope?!"

"...Oh!" Mimi gasped. This time, it was her turn to reel back in shock.

"...Mimi understands where I'm getting at," Jared said soberly. "And Zuri is the one who has it with her right now. The thing that must've been attached to the rope!"

Zuri pulled out the note that had been found in Yuumi's hand. It was now dry, but that didn't change the fact that the note was blank. Nevertheless, Mimi knew for sure where this was going and brought out the piece of evidence for all to see.

"The note that was in Yuumi's hand!" Jared proclaimed.

"Ah!" Arthur felt the cold snowy breeze blow back against his clothing. Unfortunately, tonight's wintery forecast was nonexistent, so he was able to tidy himself up as a means of recovery from Jared's witticisms. "I say again... Preposterous! How does a note prove that it was attached to the rope?"

"This is where I bring my second piece of evidence," Jared replied, resisting the urge to say, 'TAKE THAT' and showed everyone a torn piece of rope... Or rather it was Zuri who showed it since she had the evidence but never mind that. "This ripped piece of rope was found alongside the note in Yuumi's same hand. Meaning, it had to have been attached to the rope on the wooden plank since she must've grabbed it in her final moments."

Haruto nodded in agreement.

"And if she grabbed it in her last moments... then yeah, it makes sense why both items would be in her hand like that!" he agreed.

"So, in other words, what we can imagine from this perceived contraption is as so," Ina began, listening to everything carefully before detailing what it would look like. "We would have a wooden plank placed on the edge of the stable's top, directly pointing toward the Equestrian Cell's column. The dumbbell would be sandwiched on top of the wooden plank, where the imprint was found, to prevent it from falling. There would be a rope on the other end of the plank, which would have a note tied to it. And the note itself would be dangling."

(Again. If you are unable to picture this, add two more steps to that rectangular object explanation. At the end of the ruler or whatever long rectangular object you chose, tie a string or a rubber band at the end. Leave a portion of the string dangling over the desk. Next, with the dangling part of the string, tie something small to it and voila! You have yourself the contraption that has been established!)

"But what does that have to do with Yuumi?!" Mimi demanded, completely brushing past my explanation of the contraption! "You're all confusing me! A dangling note isn't what killed Yuumi! It was the dumbbell, wasn't it?! So how did-"

"Ah!" Arthur felt the snowy breeze blow back against him once again. He bit his lip, leaning on his podium with a deranged look in his eyes as he glared at the people who built this simple yet complex theoretical mechanism.

"A-Arthur?" Mimi looked at the snowboarder in surprise as he finally understood what may have happened.

"...I see," Arthur gritted through his teeth after a moment of silence. "This contraption... It was nothing more than a makeshift fishing pole. If the note was dangling there, then Yuumi would've seen it for sure. Curiosity would've gotten the better of her…"

"And she would've taken the note, yes," Jared lowered his police hat; he knew where this was going. "Not realizing that the note was being used as bait. Which explains why the note was blank in the first place. It was never meant to be something to be read but to be grabbed."

Zuri gasped, having figured out what could have happened next.

"And with the note connected to the plank… If she had taken the note…" she began.

"...The plank would've tipped over along with it…" Holland finished for her. "...If she actually did that, what might've happened next…?"

"Um... well... the dumbbell holding the plank would've rolled straight down, right?" Mimi said tentatively as she blinked, still slightly confused. Which is understandable. She's still-

"Wait! No!" Mimi cried with widened eyes brimmed with a horrific realization.

"...Yes..." Holland flipped his hood over his head and looked away. "The dumbbell…

…

...

would've fallen straight down on Yuumi's head…"

"Agh!" Mimi yelped as a book magically appeared, opened up and fluttered through the pages; some of the pages started spewing out of the book and flying off with the hypothetical wind. "Y-Yuumii! N-No!"

Maggie stared at everyone with an alarmed, bewildered look on her face.

"Is… Is that really what happened?" she asked in disbelief.

"It has to be," Jared replied. "It fits the theory Haruto made regarding the rectangular imprint Abigail found on the edge of the upper stall floor. It also explains why there was a rope fastened to the end of the plank. It's as Arthur said. This entire contraption was constructed like one big fishing line for the culprit's victim. The culprit's trap. And Yuumi took the bait..."

"A-And the blood on the plank…" Carter chimed in, his fountain pen moving fidgety between his fingers. "If the dumbbell had fallen along with the wooden plank, the impact would've left some blood on the plank itself too."

Cassandra folded her arms, her scowl deepening throughout the conversation.

"That was why there was a small amount of blood on it," she grumbled under her breath.

"B-But… the dumbbell is 25 pounds, isn't it?" Carter asked, clicking his fountain pen incessantly. "I mean, this t-trap required to pull d-down onto the rope, but c-couldn't she have just untied the rope holding the note? I-If she had just d-done that then the t-trap wouldn't have been set off at all. W-Was th-there a reason she needed to p-pull down the rope to get the rope?"

"Gah!" Jared sounded as his body jerked in shock, allowing his hat to slide across his face. "Y-You're right."

"Actually..." Abigail spoke up. "There might have been something else to alter that plank that would've forced her to pull the rope down in order to get the note."

There was a brief beat of silence. Then Jared coughed.

"Yeah, you're right," he said simply, nodding in agreement with Abigail. "I think the answer lies within how exactly the rope was tied at the end of the plank. The part of the rope that was dangling was pretty short."

"So, what we've got here is basically a fishing rod with a short fucking fishing line," Haruto stated cynically, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, if we're to consider the dangling 'fishing line' being short, that would necessitate Yuumi into using a little more effort to retrieve the bait," Ina explained. "By any chance, does anyone know how tall Yuumi was anyway?"

"An inch shorter than me," Mimi answered with a murmur, a mixture of emotions evident on her face from listening to the others as they went over the theories and evidence.

"E-Eh?" Carter sounded with a head shake. "I t-thought she was taller by… a lot."

"Which Yuumi are you thinking about here?" Haruto snarked at the columnist.

Arthur finally regained enough composure to contribute to the discussion at hand.

"Yuumi was indeed shorter than most of us," he said. "Therefore, I believe Ina's assessment to be more than plausible. Yuumi would have to make an extra effort in order to retrieve the note attached to the shortly tied rope."

"Maybe... it's a little too short," Jared piped in as he rubbed his chin. "I mean, with the suspended part of the rope to be as short as it was, how could the killer predict that Yuumi would be able to get the note in the first place?"

"You make a good point," Maggie said, her brows furrowed. "How did Yuumi manage to get the note and even activate the trap at all? I can't imagine she jumped up with outstretched arms. She still wouldn't have been able to reach the note."

Suddenly, Abigail snapped her fingers. Of course! That would explain the other mess in her Ultimate Cell. She thought back to her investigation and the mess that was found there. This could account for one simple thing.

One of the gates to the horses was practically broken, with pieces of its wooden components scattered across the floor. The ladder that led to the top of the horse stables was left square in the middle of the ground. And one of the horses was completely covered in rope as it brayed and reared as soon as it saw Abigail.

"The ladder," Abigail informed Maggie. "There was a ladder at my Ultimate Cell that was knocked down on the ground. My guess? She used the ladder to reach the note."

"B-But that's just an opinion, isn't it?" Carter abruptly interrupted. He held his pen up with a nervous glance, as if he were getting ready to stab some of Abigail's logic with a fountain pen. "N-No. Th-That doesn't make any sense!"

"What do you mean Carter?" Abigail questioned, raising an eyebrow as she faced the columnist.

"Th-Think back to when you, me, and Mayu went to investigate y-your cell," Carter replied. "B-Back when the cells first opened up. D-Did you forget how unstable that l-ladder was?"

First things first, the ladder that led to the top of the stables.

"Well, guess we got an answer to the horses… albeit, not a very satisfying one but still," Abigail sighed as she began to climb the ladder. As soon as she did however, she felt the ladder move slightly. "Shit. Careful with this ladder guys. It might fall over so…"

"M-Maybe Mayu should hold down the ladder?" Carter suggested.

"Um, why me?" Mayu looked at Carter with a scoff.

"It d-doesn't seem possible that Y-Yuumi would've used that ladder to get the note," Carter said. "Since it's so unstable, w-we had to have someone else hold it still. N-Not only that, b-but if she was going to get the note, th-that meant Y-Yuumi would've had to climb up the ladder on top of the stalls and retrieve the note from up top!"

"Oo!" Mayu sounded. "He has a point! If she went up top, she would've for sure noticed the trap!"

"But I am absolutely certain she didn't go on top of the stables," Abigail said, presenting more confidence that didn't quite reach her weary eyes.

"H-How can you say that so confidently?" Carter asked, confounded by Abigail's conviction.

"There's a reason why Yuumi didn't go to the top of the stables," Abigail began before presenting her evidence like some ace attorney. "It's simply because she couldn't. There was a wall of hay bales blocking the area from where the ladder would have been placed. No doubt the culprit barricaded it to avoid their trap being tampered."

"It was a hell of a lot of hay," Haruto grumbled. "Whoever put the hay there really didn't want anyone going up there."

"And the drop from the ceiling beams to the stalls isn't that difficult either, so there's no doubt the culprit who set the trap could've landed down on the bottom rather safely," Arthur noted.

"B-But then, h-how did Yuumi get to the note using the ladder?" Carter asked, tilting his head with his nose and forehead all scrunched up. "B-Because there's no way she would've used that unstable ladder without some repercussion!"

"...Well, she used it anyway," Abigail replied. "The ladder we found was laying square in the middle of my Cell, which could mean one thing."

"Yeah, yeah I can see it!" Haruto said, excitedly. "Yuumi climbed to the top of the ladder and used its instability to her advantage."

"All she had to do was move the ladder close enough to the note and grab it as the ladder was falling," Abigail concluded.

Out of nowhere, Carter's glasses cracked slightly.

"A-Ah!" he yelped. With wide eyes, Carter took off his glasses, fogged up the lens with a breath, and cleared the crack right off. That's not how glasses physically work but for a damage sprite, it's pretty ridiculous.

"With the amount of energy, it took for Yuumi to maneuver the ladder so she could grab the note as she was fell with it, there was enough force from her grabbing the rope to pull and activate the trap," Jared said.

"And once she was back on the floor with the note in her hand, the dumbbell would've fallen straight down onto her head," Cassandra summarized with pursed lips. "What a fucking way to go."

...

"So far, just to summarize everything that has been said…" Ina began to recount their entire discussion thus far. While the body was found in the pool, what they have all collectively decided was that the crime actually took place in the Ultimate Equestrian Cell. A big step to solving the crime but nowhere near close to figuring out the culprit. "We can now say that Yuumi went into the Ultimate Equestrian Cell sometime after 8:00 in the morning. Her purpose was to return a horse she had been riding and once there, she saw the note. She used the ladder to grab the note and instead instigated a deadly trap that caused a dumbbell to fall onto her head."

"That's pretty much it, yeah," Zuri said, nodding affirmatively with a solemn expression.

"B-But w-who would do such a thing?" Mimi demanded, her eyes swelling with tears. It wasn't fair to her that Yuumi of all people had to be the one set off the trap. "W-Who set up the trap?!"

"I... do not have a clue, unfortunately," Ina bit her lip, looking away. They had gone through so much and yet they weren't any closer to finding out who the culprit was in this case.

"We went through all that and yet the culprit is still… among us," Barracuda said, adding an unnecessary dramatic pause to his sentence.

Abigail was not amused. She proved that with a yawn and a small frown.

"There are still a lot of questions to this case that I really don't understand," she stated. "For starters, why was Yuumi riding my horses? She never had an interest in them in the first place."

"Also… why was the trap set up in your Ultimate Cell, right?" Zuri added, turning towards Abigail.

"Right away we can resolve that question," Arthur said, folding his arms with a hard stare. "The culprit needed a specific area they could set up this unique trap in. Abigail's Cell was the perfect place since it's the only place with a viable area to drop a dumbbell on someone's head."

"I think another question we need to focus on is how Yuumi's body was moved to the pool if she was killed in the Equestrian Cell," Jared pointed out.

"Yeah, that's a real bitch of a head-scratcher for me too," Haruto grumbled. "It would be a huge fucking risk if someone just carried her body from Point Equestrian Cell to Point Swimming Pool. They're so fucking far apart; it's basically asking someone to catch you in the act."

"...I wonder," Holland quietly spoke up. Though, it seemed only Zuri acknowledged it.

"What's wrong, Holland?" she asked, perking her head up.

Holland looked away with a blank expression.

"...There's been something on my mind," he said. "Namely, why set the trap like it was?"

"I thought I said we had that question resolved," Arthur said, narrowing his toward the game designer. "Again, the trap could only be done in Abigail's Cell. There's no other way around that-"

"No, I mean…" Holland trailed off and glanced down, appearing somewhat serious. It was really hard to tell from a guy with a monotonous face. "...Why did the culprit decide to build the trap with such mechanisms in the first place? It just seems like so much work when they could've just… I dunno, whacked someone on the head with a wooden plank… or something…"

"I don't think you of all people should get to judge how someone commits murder, freak," Cassandra snarled.

"...Ah, s-sorry," Holland replied, looking down. He knew Cassandra had a nasty personality, but God did it bother him every time she spoke to him like that.

Zuri crossed her arms and decided to intervene.

"But Holland raises a good point," she interjected. "Why would someone set up the trap like it was?"

"I th-thought we established that it was for Y-Yuumi to…" Carter trailed off.

The game designer shook his head.

"...No, actually, now if you think about it," Holland said, gripping the sleeves of his hoodie tightly. "What if the trap… wasn't meant for Yuumi…?"

"Huh, what do you mean Holland?" Barracuda asked, squaring his shoulders with a sudden look of determination.

"...It's been bugging me as to why the rope connected to the note was so short," Holland explained and crossed his arms. "If it was meant for Yuumi, shouldn't the rope have been a little longer instead? Then there would've been little use for her to go out of her way to use a ladder."

Abigail raised an eyebrow.

"What are you saying Holland?" she asked.

"...I'm saying..." Holland started. "Maybe... the trap was meant for someone else specifically..."

"S-Someone else specifically?" Zuri repeated with lifted brows.

Mimi appeared even more distraught than usual.

"W-Wait, so are you saying that Yuumi…?" she began to say as she covered her mouth in horror.

...

"...might not have been the intended target from the very beginning," Holland declared as he scratched his chin.

"N-No!" Mimi gasped, covering her eyes with her witch's hat.

"A-Are you serious?!" Carter demanded right before his lens cracked a second time. And once again, he fogged them up then cleaned them to magically fix them.

Maggie pursed her lips.

"Wait, but if Yuumi wasn't the target then…" her brows furrowed. "Then… who was supposed to be the real target?"

"...The true target would've been whoever the notes were initially for," Holland stated. "Of course, I don't have any factual evidence, but the fact that the rope was shortened like that means it couldn't have been for Yuumi in the first place. It would've been for someone much taller… at least… that's what I think…"

"A much taller person?" Jared grazed his jaw before widening his eyes. "Hold up. I'm much taller than Yuumi! You mean it was for me?!"

"We're all much taller than Yuumi, dipshit," Haruto snarked with a scowl toward Jared. "It could've been for any one of us except maybe Mimi. Unless you count an inch taller as being 'much taller'."

Abigail sighed and rubbed her jaw.

"Okay, so not just someone much taller than Yuumi but also someone that could've jumped and reached that note smoothly to activate the trap…" Abigail tiredly said through a stifled yawn.

"...Yes, and that someone would have to be… approximately 6 feet tall or more, judging by how the Equestrian Cell is structured," Holland remarked. "That would be the appropriate length for someone to get the note and activate the trap without using the ladder, in view of the fact the trap had to be extensively calculated in order for it to truly work with the least amount of effort but just the right amount of force. Simple game theory. Too many variables can make the game more likely to fail…"

"Then, it couldn't be Barracuda," Maggie pointed out. "He's gotta be taller than 6 feet. Plus, he wouldn't need to jump to get that note."

Mayu tapped her chin in thought.

"Haruto, could it be you?" she suggested, pointing a finger toward the crippled basketball player.

"First of all, if it was meant for me, to the person who might've tried to kill me… fuck you," Haruto grumbled. "Second of all, look at my fucking leg. There's no way I can jump, and the culprit would and should have known about that."

"Holland's pretty tall but…" Zuri trailed off. "...Everyone knows he's been locked in Cell #66 for the past few days, so there's no way he would make time to go to the other Cell."

"Hey Haruto, how tall are you exactly?" Maggie asked, tilting her head curiously.

"6 feet, why?" Haruto replied with an irritated expression. If she was going to suspect him anyway, then she's got another thing coming-

"Great, all of us girls here are at least shorter than Haruto," Maggie stated with a small smile. "Therefore, none of us could have been the targets."

"Which just leaves…" Jared turned his head over to the last person on the list. He narrowed his eyes. Of course, it just had to be him. It was always him. Why was it that whenever there was trouble, he had to be at the center of it? Why? "...You. Arthur. You were the target this entire time?"

Arthur didn't say anything. Being 6'6, someone that other people would probably wish harm on and outright suspicious in general, it made sense that he would be the target of a murderer. It made sense that a trap would be made just for him to fall into. It made sense that… Arthur scoffed slightly over the meta deductions that were made to figure out the target. Folding his arms, he turned to his peers, and noticed some of the slight judgmental looks they were giving him.

"And why me?" Arthur deadpanned. "Just because I'm a certain height makes me the target of the blackened? Please, you can come up with something more sufficient than that."

"Hardly anyone here trusts you or likes you and you're definitely the most suspicious," Mayu shrugged. "I'd say that's evidence enough someone would want you dead."

"Mayu does have a point," Ina pointed an unamused stare toward the rich snowboarder. "There is no doubt someone here would have some vendetta against you due to who you are..."

"Arthur... were you really the target?" Zuri asked Arthur. The two shared a glance as they remembered their conversation the day the body was found. The hour before the body was found in fact. Arthur thought closely to what he had told Zuri. The only question was... did he mean it? The Prince of Ice felt the awaiting eyes of his peers as he gently scoffed.

"I– Why are you telling me this Arthur?" Zuri looked at him, worriedly. "I mean. Are you really so desperate as to try to get me to rely on you that you'll just tell me your life's story?"

"Not at all," Arthur shook his head. "A Kingston can never beg for something like a peasant would. I just want you to understand that I am not as bad as everyone will make me out to be."

"Okay, then why go to me about this?!" Zuri was a little annoyed at how vague the snowboarder was being. Arthur merely shrugged.

"Because out of everyone here, as someone who was willing to give an attempted murderer a second chance, I thought you would give someone like me a chance as well," Arthur admitted.

...

"...'Come to the Equestrian Cell. There is something I wish to show you.'" Arthur smirked slightly, as he recited the instructions written on the note in Yuumi's pocket. "Hmph. Is that what you wanted to hear from my lips?"

"W-Wha-" Carter widened his eyes. "S-So it's true. Arthur. You were the target?"

"Not only that, but you knew," Jared snapped, glaring at Arthur. "You knew all this time and you didn't even say anything! You knew what was on that note and yet you-"

"Bastard," Ina interrupted. Her unamused stare changed into a glare. "Were you keeping this a secret intentionally? As a ploy to make fun of us to yourself while we went around in circles trying to figure out the purpose of this trap?!"

Arthur remained silent for a moment. He let everyone voice their complaints and grievances against the ice king before he finally had the floor to explain himself. He was patient. Yet his voice was so cold and so demeaning toward those who were whining about his actions. He could see Zuri look at him with a shocked expression.

"Yes, I was the target," Arthur said, chuckling to himself. "Admittedly, I thought it was quite amusing when the theory of a different intended target came up. To see everyone trying to narrow down who it could be. It was delightfully entertaining. Make no mistake, however, it was never my intention to hide the contents of that note from anyone. I simply did not think it had any relevance to the case… until now that is."

"How could it not have been relevant to the case?!" Jared demanded. "A note was used to bait Yuumi into a trap! The result of that note was the reason Yuumi died in the first place!"

"And yet, while I had my suspicions, nothing was confirmed yet," Arthur pointed out. "Everything was circumstantial. There was nothing I could say that would prove anything. In fact, what if my suspicions were wrong? We would be wandering on an entirely different path and wasting a vast amount of our discussion time over something entirely useless. No. There was no way I could reveal the contents of that note until much later. It's the basic rules of evidence presenting. I could not reveal my part in that note until a clear connection had been established. And so it has been. Congratulations. Now I will tell you about the note."

Arthur bowed. Though, to others, it came across as if he were mocking them. Mocking them for how stupid they were for not questioning him about his somewhat involvement much sooner.

"Arthur… you…" Jared growled as he clenched his fist.

Ina sighed and waved her hand dismissively.

"Nevermind that now Jared," she said. "Just tell us Arthur. Your connection to that note I mean."

"...Very well," Arthur said with a nod. "I received that note the night before the murder occurred…"

Arthur opened his door and instantly a piece of paper fell to the floor. Raising an eyebrow, Arthur reached down and picked it up, before reading the words on the paper carefully. He narrowed his eyes.

…Then without a word, he shut the door behind him…

"...I knew receiving a note so sudden like that shouldn't be trusted," Arthur explained. "But at the same time, it would be rude for whoever was waiting for me to be kept waiting. So, I thought it better to send someone else to investigate for me."

"N-No!" Mimi gasped and covered her mouth, eyes tearing up once again over the revelation. "Y-You… You didn't!"

Standing up with a jolt, Yuumi reached for the door before suddenly a note slipped through her door. She blinked. What was this? She squatted down, picked it up, read it, and stared blankly at the note.

Was this from…?

Haruto blinked in bewilderment at Arthur.

"...You… gave the note to Yuumi?" he clenched his fist. The surprised look on his face then shifted to outrage. "You just… You gave the note to Yuumi knowing full well that it was dangerous?! What the fuck?!"

"It was only a suspicion," Arthur replied as he shrugged casually. "And besides, I didn't hand her the note. I merely… slipped it under her door. And when Yuumi's death turned up, well… I thought it was just a coincidence. I mean, she was found dead in the Swimming Pool. How could I instantly connect that whatever happened in the Equestrian Cell had anything to do with her corpse in the Pool? Am I wrong?"

"But you still fucking killed her!" Haruto exclaimed. "You were the one who sent her to the fucking trap in the first place!"

"If I may ask," Mayu intervened, appearing disturbed by this proclamation. "Why Yuumi? What did she… ever do to you?"

"Well, it's simple," Arthur replied. "It wasn't hard to find out what the contents of the Advantage were. I took a little peek when Haruto was plotting his little escape attempt. Yuumi would've been the only one who would be able to use the Advantage for me. Now what was the Advantage again?"

"...Free access to roam the facility during Nighttime," Monohebi jumped in. "Rule #7 becomes null and void for anyone who received the Advantage. It is also the other exception to Rule #7 along with sleeping in Cell #66."

"And Haruto was the only other person with that Advantage," Zuri deduced. "But you couldn't go to him because he had gotten seriously injured that day…"

"If I had gone to Haruto instead, perhaps Yuumi would've still been alive," Arthur remarked and sighed. "But as I said, that is why I thought Yuumi's death was purely coincidental. Not only was her body found in the Swimming Pool at the time, but if she really did go into the Equestrian Cell during Nighttime, she wouldn't have been alive to ride a horse in the morning. That's why I thought the note had little importance to this case. And for my mistake, I apologize."

"Ugh, it's like you're trying to downplay your actions," Mayu scoffed.

"Also, if you had gone to me with the note instead, I would've been fucking dead!" Haruto yelled. "So don't you go apologizing for shit!"

"So... the reason why Yuumi died was because… of you…" Mimi trembled. "Y-You're the reason she's dead. W-Why would- H-How could you do that to her? She was innocent. She didn't deserve to-"

"Oh please," Arthur interrupted, giving Mimi a cold scowl. "Yuumi was innocent? How could I do anything to her? We're in a game of life and death. Not only that, but we were also all chosen for a reason that White Collar himself deems to be sinful. None of us are exactly innocent. We are all guilty of something. To be placed in an environment like this means we clearly did something wrong in White Collar's eyes. In any case, all I did was protect myself from a note I knew for a fact was suspicious. It was Yuumi's own fault for being naive enough to trust a random note given to her. It was her own fault for deciding to enter that Cell in the first place! If she was truly smart, she would have crumbled the note up and threw it away, but instead she chose to follow its directions. How is that my fault?!"

"...Y-You're horrible," Mimi chided.

"If being horrible is what it takes to play this shoddy joke of a game, then so be it," Arthur crossed his arms. "I am horrible. And I will do more horrible things in order to survive. Don't act like the rest of you are any different. One of you went to great lengths to attempt murder. Or have you all forgotten about that?"

Everyone remained silent as Arthur ranted about his view on the game. Holland looked away as he was so clearly referring to him. A shoddy joke of a game is what he called it. And yet he was still willing to play along in order to survive. Yuumi died so he could survive. That was the fatal truth. And it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair to Yuumi. Arthur scoffed once more.

"You know, it's really quite amusing," Arthur said as he shook his head with a crooked smile. "Yuumi was always going on and on about not trusting anyone. She broke her own friendships trying to survive and yet, look at what one simple act of naivety was able to do to her. Look at how the one time she chose to trust something… she ended up dead. It's really quite a cruel twist of fate, isn't it?"

In an instant, Abigail's eyes grew wide as she realized what exactly might've caused Yuumi to have a change of heart. She thought back to her last conversation with her…

"...Honestly, I don't," Abigail sighed, keeping her arms folded. "But it's getting to a point where hearing you say how much you don't trust anyone is getting seriously annoying. That and Mimi won't shut up about how sad she is about you. So seriously, for hers and everyone's sake, go to her room right now and talk to her. I don't care what it's about, just do it."

Blunt. Straightforward. Abigail meant every word and it showed to Yuumi. Another reason on her plate to potentially trust Mimi again. That doubt in her mind told her otherwise. She was betrayed enough as it was but…

"Anyway, that's all I wanted to say to you," Abigail sighed, yawning slightly. "In the end, it's your choice what you want to do. But for the love of God, you could at the very least just talk to her. You don't have to trust anyone just to talk."

Abigail clenched her fist as she looked down. Was it… her fault that Yuumi fell for the note?

Meanwhile, Jared gritted his teeth as he leaned against the podium with a glare directed at Arthur.

"You're beginning to sound like White Collar, you pompous prick," he said.

"Perhaps," Arthur replied, folding his arms. "But deep down, you know I'm right."

"You know, I'm not surprised you're the culprit's target anymore," Mayu chimed in, frowning toward the snowboarder. "You're actually really terrible, aren't you? No wonder someone wanted you dead."

"Hmph, to the culprit that set the trap for me," Arthur jibed with a smirk, looking around at his 'peers', as if talking to the culprit specifically. "You'll have to try better than that if you truly want me dead. Because I'm not going down that easily…"

He was met with a cluster of angry stares and disgusting expressions. Zuri avoided looking at him. Deep down, she regretted even having told him anything about her personal life. No one was happy with this latest piece of evidence. In fact, Mimi was awfully close to crying after hearing why Yuumi had wound up dead in the first place. The bitter truth was permanently stamped in her mind. Yuumi died so Arthur could live. Yuumi died because Arthur sent her to her death.

It was all his fault…

...

"Ultimately, in the end, the only reason why Yuumi was the victim of the trap was due to the fact that Arthur gave her the note that was meant for him," Maggie voiced.

"If she read it, she would've gone to the Equestrian Cell, saw the hanging note and used the ladder to get it," Zuri frowned. "And then she would've…"

"Smack," Barracuda lamented in one word.

"Fucking hell, I can't fucking believe this…" Haruto grunted, turning his head away.

"...Hmph, if only the culprit didn't set up the trap in the first place," Arthur drawled as he kept his arms folded. "Then perhaps Yuumi would still be alive. In the end, you really can't blame me for anything. I did what I had to in order to protect myself. Yuumi was naive, too unexperienced for this environment and so was the culprit. Why, they let their feelings about me cloud their judgment so severely they devised a plot to kill me cruelly."

"Y-You don't get to say that!" Mimi exclaimed, angrily, tears in her eyes. "You don't get to call her naive! You don't get to have any 'what ifs'! I can blame you if I want to because in the end, it's all your fault that she's dead! All you had to do was get rid of the note but instead, you gave it to her! You led her to her death!"

"What I don't understand is why do you even care?" Arthur questioned, frowning toward Mimi. "You two weren't even friends last I checked."

"...We may have been on bad terms, but Yuumi still cared about me!" Mimi snapped as she glared at Arthur. "She still cared about me, and I still cared about her! We were best friends! I casted a spell and everything. We might have hit a rocky road, but if she were still alive, we would've still been friends! The bestest friends there ever were! But now because of you… that's never ever going to happen! No number of spells could ever bring her back!"

"Hm, how could you even be sure that she did still care about you?" Arthur remarked, his quirked brow challenging the fairytale writer.

"She did," Abigail jumped in with a frown before she looked away. "...No matter what she did. No matter what she said. From the bottom of her heart, she still cared for Mimi…"

Abigail sighed as she closed her eyes.

"I know this because I talked to her last night," Abigail's frown deepened. "I told her that she didn't have to trust you to talk to you. And when she left, I saw her take my words into consideration. Deep down, she must've really wanted to talk to you and be friends with you still."

"...Yeah, Yuumi and I talked too," Barracuda nodded, adding to his last conversation with Yuumi. "She wanted to know how to trust people again. She went through so much as a young girl that made her distrust others. She was trying hard Mimi. She really wanted to trust you again."

"Maybe that's why she started to exhibit some trust in that note she got," Abigail sighed. "All because she wanted to believe in us. Not just you Mimi, but all of us…"

Mimi's eyes shifted between Abigail and Barracuda. For them to say such things about Yuumi. For her to hear what Yuumi had talked about with them. Mimi shuddered. It was as if Yuumi was speaking to her specifically about all this. As if Yuumi was still by her side, smiling as she used to in Chapter 1. Yuumi was a tragic death who could've survived much longer had she not trusted the one suspicious thing given to her on a plate.

These intrusive thoughts made Mimi's tear up once again… until finally the dam broke, and tears streamed down her cheeks. She sniffled quietly as everyone had enough decency to keep any remarks to themselves and let her place her witch hat over her eyes. It was a shoddy attempt at hiding her depressive state. Everyone knew that she was just sobbing away, staining her own hat with her own tears. Her voice broke as she cried to herself.

…

"Y-Yuumi…" Mimi mewled through her quiet sobs. "Y-Yuumi…"

…

DANGANRONPA: CORRUPTED HOPE

And the Trials have begun! A much longer wait and highly anticipated Trial due to that extra Daily Life chapter I included but now it's finally here! I actually aimed to release this much later but Part 1 is pretty much ready, so I decided to just publish it cause why not?

Not going to lie, compared to the last Trial, this one is making me so much more nervous. I reread this Trial like ten times, and I've reworked the beginning of the Trial four times already. As you can tell, Part 1 did not treat me very nice in how to start it given the fact I didn't know what topic the prisoners would start out with. Especially with an Autopsy Report which could've indicated so many different ways Yuumi would've died. But nevertheless, this is the final cut of Trial Part 1 so I hope you enjoy it haha XD

I had to do a lot of editing to make things make sense and sound super clear DX Especially with the explanation with the trap. I hope you guys understand what the trap looks like because I made so many extra efforts to try to help y'all picture what it would look like and how it worked D:

Either case, the more interesting parts is coming out in Trial Part 2! Part 1 was just the set-up to the excruciatingly long chapter that might be Part 2 XE Hope you all still enjoyed this first part of the Trial and I sincerely hope everything makes sense!

Speaking of which, Trial Part 2 still needs to be heavily edited since I'm going through some beta mishaps, especially since I haven't paid much mind to Part 2 than I have with Part 1, so bear with me. Part 2 will come out by the end of this week I believe :0

With that said, again, I hope you all enjoyed Part 1 and do look forward to Part 2 :D Chapter 2 is reaching its conclusion very soon! ;D

Prisoners Remaining: 13

Abigail Ellsworth - The Ultimate Equestrian (oddlyillregular)

Arthur Kingston - The Ultimate Snowboarder (SinWriter7)

Barracuda - The Ultimate Personal Trainer (Weekaro)

Carter Franklin - The Ultimate Opinion Columnist (armadas)

Cassandra Mura - The Ultimate ? (ExtraMeme)

Haruto Walker - The Ultimate Former Basketball Player (theotakureader101)

Holland Delaney - The Ultimate Game Designer (Sempi)

Ina Hamamura - The Ultimate Revolutionary (VividIsSleeping)

Jared Ceartas - The Ultimate Police Officer (Otterplay)

Maggie LaDroubi - The Ultimate Supermodel (Project Drama)

Mayu Mashiro - The Ultimate Heiress (zetsunaflame)

Mimi Kazoo - The Ultimate Fairytale Writer (Idraegan)

Zuri Auraline - The Ultimate Bassist (CandleFire45)