Hello readers and welcome to my new chapter. So, first off, I would like to thank you guys for telling me your favorite characters, both on the reviews and the poll. I would also like to thank you for the support you're giving me about the Critics United situation. Just so you know, my current plan will be to re-upload it if it's get deleted. If it happens again, I'll move it to Archive of Our Own. Though someone suggest that I put it in Ao3 as a backup. An idea to chew on…

I also have multiple places to access my chapters, so I won't have to remake them from scratch or anything. Again, I really hope this doesn't end up deleted. But I'm prepared for it if it does happen. With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy the chapter.

P.S. Do you guys want to know the results of the poll? Or keep it a secret for the time being? Let me know in the reviews.

P.S.S. Is there anyone here that have read my e-book short stories (Adept) that I published on Amazon? Like I mentioned before, there are a few that have got the shorts during the free promotions. I'm just curious if there's anyone here that read them. Let me know on the reviews if you had, or review it on Amazon.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.

Chapter 61: Watching Ch 3: NGL! STGH! Part 20

"Then someone used that note to trick Taka, just the same as me…" Hiro realized. A small growl left his lip. "The culprit is really a cold-blooded monster! Telling people they'd found a way out…!"

"Yeah! How can they use people's hope like that?!" Hiro cried out. "That's something I thought only Monokuma could've done!"

"It's still pretty dumb to fall for it." Hina stated once again. "Seriously, that was an obvious bait. Even I wouldn't fall for that."

"Um, Hina?" When the swimmer looked at Makoto, the luckster pointed a finger towards Taka…

...Who looks all sorts of ashamed.

"O-Oh! I'm sorry Taka!" Hina stammered. "I-I didn't mean to call you dumb! It just, well, you have to be a certain state of mind to fall for something like that!" When the moral compass dropped his head further, Hina panicked even more. "T-That's not what I-"

"Hina," Sakura placed a calming hand on her friend's shoulder. "It's best that you stop now."

"...Yeah." Hina sighed morosely. "Sorry Taka."

"...It's alright." Taka sighed. Honestly, he's ashamed of himself for falling for such an obvious ploy.

"But if they gave the note to Taka… what was Hifumi doing with it?" Hina asked.

"Stuffed it down his pants, no less!" Jill added in amusement.

"Most likely, Hifumi stole it off Taka's corpse after he died." Makoto answered.

"Huh?" Hina's eyes widen in confusion. "He stole it…?"

"When I searched Taka's body, I saw that his lifeless hand was gripping a small scrap of paper." Makoto explained before holding out a small scrap of paper in other hand. "If I'm right about this, the sheet of paper this piece came from is…" The luckster aligned the small scrap with the letter in his other hand. "I knew it! It fits perfectly with the note we found hidden on Hifumi!"

"Then Taka's scrap and Hifumi's note…" Hina trailed off.

"Yup." Makoto confirmed the silent conclusion. "They're from the same piece of paper."

"And if Hifumi stole Taka's letter, it's most likely that he and the culprit took Hiro's letter as well…" Sakura mused. "Though I wonder, why they didn't went to expose Taka's letter?"

"I guess Hifumi was in a rush to hide it, and just stuffed it in his pants without thinking." Makoto guessed. "He was still planning on living, so he probably figured that no one would look inside his pants for evidence."

"Hifumi had the note meant for Taka, while Taka's corpse still grasped a small piece of that note…" Kyoko summarized. "There's only one way to explain it…"

"Taka died clutching the note. Hifumi tried to free it from his death grip…" Sakura continued for the lavender haired girl. "Leaving behind only one small scrap. Did I get all that right?"

"That means Hifumi knew the note was important…" Byakuya added.

"Exactly." Kyoko nodded. "Which proves that he was an accomplice for the murder."

"Whoa…!" Hiro gasped in shock. "Yeah, after seeing all this, Hifumi was super involved in this whole thing for sure! In fact…" He started getting more excited. "He was behind the whole thing! In FACT, he's still alive!"

"...Is there a limit to this fool's stupidity?" Byakuya asked blankly, as flat looks or facepalms were displayed. "How does he come up with these foolish conclusions?"

"I'm thinking that he doesn't process his ideas fully, and just says what comes to mind." Sayaka guessed, looking done with Hiro's stupidity herself.

"Hey! It's a perfectly valid idea!" Hiro protested. "I mean, we all did say that he was playing dead, wasn't he?"

"In the nurse's office, yes. But in the repository, he was truly dead." Makoto pointed out patiently. "The body discovery announcement was proof of that."

Hiro deflated at that. "Oh."

"Yeah. 'Oh'." Leon snarked.

"...Sorry, no." Makoto said, his voice a bit flat. "When we found him in the repository, Hifumi was truly and completely dead. "The second body discovery announcement proves that."

"So then… who killed Hifumi?" Hina asked softly.

"Whoever did is the mastermind… the true killer." Sakura declared.

"The one true blackened who devised the murder plot and put it into action…" Byakuya repeated what Monokuma told them in the very beginning of the trial. "That's who Monokuma wants us to find."

"Indeed." Kyoko agreed. "The one who planned the entire thing, persuaded Hifumi to have the plan come to fruition, and betrayed him once he lived up his usefulness."

"That mastermind of the entire case…" Makoto spoke softly.

"He was killed in the repository, so he must have been killed not long after transporting Taka's body." Kyoko mused.

"So he must have been killed after Taka's body vanished but before we found both bodies in the repository…" Sakura guessed.

"During that time, we'd all split up and were searching for Taka's missing body." Byakuya pointed out. "In other words, during that time… none of us have alibis."

"So we now can't conclude that Hiro is the killer based on alibis." Mukuro added. "And seeing this, it's more and more likely that someone set him up as the killer."

"See?! I was being set up! Being pointed as the bad guy!" Hiro quickly spoke up. An angry frown entered his face. "Oh, this no good dirty culprit got some explaining to do!"

Celeste gritted her teeth tightly, now trying to keep out any erratic breathing. "There's still the picture that was taken… and Hifumi's last words… those are still there! Those still points to him as guilty!"

"Why are you so hung up on those things?" Mukuro questioned, narrowing her eyes. "Especially when there's plenty of evidence stating that something more is going on."

"Cause those pieces of evidence lead to the conclusion that Hiro is the one to do it!" Celeste retorted, annoyance clear in her voice. "If he's innocent, then why was there a picture of Robo Justice dragging Hifumi? Why did Hifumi point to Hiro as the killer?"

"And a better question. Why would Hifumi work with anybody in the first place?" The gambler continued. "The rule has stated that only the one who did the killing is allowed to graduate. Did we not talk about this?"

Makoto winced at the tone of voice. Celeste, while mostly sounding annoyed and angered, there was also… desperation hidden in that tone. Fear. Dread.

"All will be revealed in time." Kyoko said, staring at Celeste. "But whatever is revealed, we need to accept it as the absolute truth." Celeste scowled even further, hearing some sort of implication in Kyoko's tone.

Mukuro, meanwhile, kept her eyes narrowed at the gambler. The idea that Celeste is the one who did this is looking more and more plausible, the more the gambler loses her cool. The more she fights against any other ideas.

"Wait," Hina protested. "But me and Sakura were together!"

"Stop trying to steal the spotlight, you stupid walrus!" Jill shouted at her.

"Who are you callin' a walrus?!" Hina yelled back angrily.

"Yeah!" Hina shouted in agreement, looking as angry as her future self. "I'm not fat!"

"Says your chest!"

"Will you leave my chest out of this?!"

"Anyway," Makoto spoke up, hoping to keep an argument from continuing. "This means Sakura and Hina have solid alibis with each other."

"There's also the fact that we're in Makoto's point of view, as well as Toko/Jill being unconscious during the search." Byakuya added. "Which means that leaves me, Kyoko, Hiro, and Celeste."

At this point, Mukuro had no doubt that Celeste was the culprit. Hiro's guilt is very questionable, probably doubtful, as of now. And Byakuya and Kyoko contributed much to the trial, making their guilt doubtful as well. That only left Celeste, who's been actively set on Hiro being the killer.

"Anyway, when they were killed bothers me too, but there's something that's been bothering me even more!" Hiro spoke up.

"And what might that be?" Celeste inquired.

"I swear, is this is another stupid ass thing, I'm punching this TV." Mondo said flatly. "Then Hiro."

"Why me?!"

"The weapon they used to kill Hifumi!" Hiro stated.

"The weapon…?" Sakura raised an eyebrow at this.

"Yeah, cuz I mean… according to the Monokuma File…" Hiro began explaining. "The way Taka and Hifumi was almost the same, with them having similar fractures and all. But Justice Hammer 3 and 4 were still laying around in the nurse's office and equipment room, right?"

"So if Hifumi was killed in the repository…" The fortune teller continued. "The culprit woulda had to grab one of the hammers, kill Hifumi… then put the hammer back where they found it. But wouldn't that be seriously risky for 'em?"

The group processed Hiro's rare lines of intelligence. "He's right." Chihiro realized. "That would've put too much of a risk for the culprit to do that."

"And judging by what we know so far, our culprit is careful with their manipulation." Mukuro pointed out.

"Finally. Something smart comes out of Hiro's mouth." Leon sighed in relief. "I was getting real tired of stupid coming out of it."

"Same here." Sayaka agreed.

"...I'm surprised." Byakuya remarked. "It seems there's some semblance of a brain knocking around that skull of yours, after all."

"Hell yeah, it's packed in there good and tight!" Hiro exclaimed proudly.

"He's right, though. I don't understand it, either." Sakura spoke up, getting back on the subject. "The Monokuma File makes it clear that they were killed using similar instruments. But if the hammers were already laying around those other rooms…"

"So the question is, how could the culprit have gotten their hands on either of the hammers?" Celeste asked. "Personally, I haven't a clue."

"So which hammer was used to attack Celeste? Number one or number two?!" Hina inquired.

"Those were accounted for in other rooms, too." Makoto interjected. "And I don't think either one is big enough to kill someone."

"Um… then, uhh…" Hina spoke, trying to figure out any other way.

"Man, this is hard." Hina groaned. "How could they be killed the same way, when all hammers were in their spots?"

"Perhaps they used a different weapon." Mukuro suggested.

"I don't think it is." Taka argued. "After all, they were killed with similar fractures."

"But that doesn't translate to the weapon being the Justice Hammers themselves." Mukuro pointed out.

That's when it clicked in several students' minds. 'The hammers in the repository.' Makoto realized. 'They can be used not only as one of the weapons, but as the base design of the Justice Hammers.'

"...Is it not possible they used a different weapon?" Byakuya suggested.

"I don't think it is possible!" Hiro argued. "They were both killed with the same kinda thing, right?"

"So then, what was used to kill Hifumi…?" Sakura questioned.

The non-stop debate began once more, with Sakura beginning it. "Was it Justice Hammer 3? Maybe Justice Hammer 4?" She asked.

"Well, whatever it was, there's one thing we have to figure out." Celeste stated. "How was the culprit able to move around so freely with the weapon? How did nobody witness them carrying it?

"Sounds like a Justice Hammer 5 is about to make its appearance!" Jill said excitingly. "Check out /hammertime for more info!"

"Well, one thing is pretty clear…" Hiro stated. "The murder weapon had to be one of the Justice Hammers!"

"No, that's wrong!" The bullet was shot as Makoto stated those words. "The murder weapon wasn't a Justice Hammer at all. No, it was something completely different."

"But… seriously? A different weapon?" Hiro questioned with skepticism.

"Specifically, a hammer from the repository." As Makoto pointed that out, a flashback of the luckster looking at the row of hammers was shown. "The killer could have easily used that to kill Hifumi."

"Oh yeah!" Sayaka gasped in realization. "There were hammers located in the repository."

"And thinking about, some of those hammers could also be used as a base for the Justice Hammers' designs." Hifumi mused. "They size and shape are exactly the same."

"But none of the hammers had blood on it." Hina pointed out.

"You don't think the culprit is smart enough to clean the hammer?" Byakuya retorted.

That gain a sheepish look from the swimmer. "Ok, yeah, good point…"

"Now, all the hammers in the repository were covered in flecks of grit and debris…" Makoto pointed out. "But for some reason, one of them had been scrubbed clean."

"Huh…?" Hina said in confusion.

"And the reason it has been scrubbed clean was most likely because it was used to commit murder." The luckster continued. "If the hammer got covered in Hifumi's blood, of course they'd have to clean it off. I also like to point out that the repository has all kinds of hammers - big ones, small one, and even some flat, mallet-like ones. I think whoever made the Justice Hammers used those as a base for their design."

"If that's true, that would explain the Monokuma File's note about the wounds being similar…" Sakura said.

"So Hifumi moved Taka's body to the repository, where someone used a hammer to kill him." Byakuya summarized.

"And whoever did that is the true killer - the one Hifumi was working with…" Hina stated, not looking well. "And the one who betrayed him…!"

Chihiro thought about the remaining suspects. Hina and Sakura are out, due to them being together. Jill is also out, due to being unconscious. Same with Makoto, since they're in his point of view. That left Hiro, Byakuya, Kyoko and Celeste. So out of those four…

The programmer cut that line of thinking. He rather not think on which one of them would've done it. But in his heart, he knew which one is the most likely to have done this.

"Hold on a moment. I still think it's strange to assume someone was working together with him." Celeste said in protest. "The way the 'graduation' rule works, there is no benefit to helping someone else carry out the murder. So the idea that anyone would work together like that is simply ludicrous. We talked about this, did we not?"

"And here's what our Celeste brought up before." Junko pointed out. She then got into her teacher persona, glasses on and clipboard in hand. "Let see how Makoto, Kyoko, and Byakuya untangle this argument."

"There is nothing to untangle." Celeste said through gritted teeth. "Because the idea. Is. Ludicrous. Even a buffoon like Hifumi would see that there's no benefit in acting as an accomplice."

Hifumi, still feeling vulnerable with all this new information, gave a flinch at this. Sayaka, at the same time, gazed at Celeste with concern, curiosity, and suspicion.

Why was Celeste so actively against anything Makoto, Kyoko, or Byakuya suggests? She's so set on Hiro being the killer, and reluctant to think of any other scenario. 'And thinking about it now, she's never been so pro-active in the previous trial.' The idol realized. 'Does that mean that Celeste…?'

Sayaka thought the lack of reactions from Makoto, Kyoko, and Byakuya, how each of them easily understood each part of the trial. Does that mean they know? Even before the trial?

The non-stop argument started once again, with Celeste continue to speak. "Based on the rules that have been laid out for us…" She began. "Even if more than one person is complicit in the murder, only the one who actually carried out the act can 'graduate' and survive. Assuming the rule holds true, it is simply impossible that two people worked together on this."

'No, that's wrong!' The bullet was shot as Makoto spoke up. "Since there were two murders, it's at least plausible that more than one person was involved." He stated.

"...What do you mean?" Sakura inquired.

"If there'd only been one murder, then yes, the idea of an accomplice isn't really worth considering." Kyoko spoke up. "Naturally, if only one person can be saved per murder, an accomplice has no risk versus reward benefit."

"Risk versus reward… benefit?" Makoto repeated, looking confused. (The look was mirrored by several other students.)

"The payoff for working together - the reward that balances out the risk of taking part in the scheme." Kyoko explained. "There's no point in being someone's accomplice if there's no benefit to you. However, if there were some potential reward for the risk, then cooperation becomes possible."

"But what reward is there?" Leon asked, not getting it at all. "It doesn't seem like there's any work around with the 'no accomplice' rule."

"How about this for a work around?" Byakuya spoke up. "The mastermind and Hifumi don't plan for just one murder, but two separate murders. That would be a work-around, wouldn't you say?"

Eyes widen when the idea came into their ears. "I didn't think of it that way." Junko mused. That would be something to chew on later, if doesn't get bored of thinking about it.

"You're saying that two people could act as each other's accomplices to commit two separate murders." Byakuya realized.

"I think that's what the true killer told Hifumi; they would have each have an accomplice for their crime." Kyoko confirmed. "And based on the case's events, Hifumi would have been the first to act, murdering Taka. They made him carry out the first murder so he couldn't back out of helping them later on."

"So… he was the one who murdered bro?" Mondo asked slowly. His slowly growing rage rose higher. "The one who fucking bashed him with that hammer?" Hifumi flinched at the sound and sight of the seething biker, as did a few others.

"I suggest you save your anger for the time being." Byakuya told him. "We still need to find the mastermind. The one who put Hifumi up to this, and had him targeted Taka in the first place."

"But… why would Hifumi agree to this?" Chihiro asked, trying to ignore his angry friend. "Why was he willing to kill someone?"

"Again, it probably has to do with his and Taka's rivalry." Byakuya repeated. "It's no coincidence that the two was involved in the first place."

"All this… over a computer?" Hina questioned in slight disbelief. Grief and anger soon followed. "Hifumi killed Taka because of a stupid machine?"

Again, the fanfic creator flinched. A part of him wanted to defend himself, saying that Alter Ego wasn't just a computer or machine. But even he knew that would be hollow.

Chihiro also flinched, and curled up into himself. If what Byakuya was saying is true… then it may have been his fault. He may have been the cause of Hifumi and Taka's death.

"So in this case, there wasn't one single person committing multiple murders." Makoto concluded. "Instead, each person killed someone, creating two separate incidents. And it only looked like one person because that's how the true killer designed it."

"A single suspicious individual, a similar weapon used in each crime, disappearing bodies…" The luckster listed off. "By creating one seamless set of circumstances, they made it look like one person was behind it all!"

"The mastermind picked their target and managed to convince him to go along with their plan." Byakuya spoke up. "And then, to avoid the 'no accomplices' rule, they simply… killed their accomplice. Which, if true, means that betraying Hifumi was part of the plan from the very beginning."

That revelation did not improved their mood. "So they were just using Hifumi from the start?" Chihiro questioned, looking sick.

"He was a tool from the start." Mukuro said with a grimace. "A pawn meant to be thrown away." Just like she was. Like she still is.

"That's… that's awful!" Hina shouted, sick to the stomach herself. "That's so cruel!"

"Just like what I did…" Sayaka murmured in guilt. Makoto, hearing that, grabbed her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.

'But it's a cunning plan.' Byakuya mused to himself. He had to admit, Celeste's plan was near brilliant. Unfortunately, there were too many cracks in the disguise she created. And once one was noticed, the others were easy to spot.

"Th-That's just… awful!" Hina gasped in horror. "How could anyone be so cruel?!"

"You think so? I can't help but admire its cunning." Byakuya countered. "Still, their choice of accomplice seems… odd."

The heir wasn't at all surprised when he received several looks from his classmates. "Of course you would admire that." Sakura spat out.

"How could you admire that?!" Hina asked incredulously. "What the culprit did was heartless!"

"It's also a clever way to deceive us all." Byakuya said in retort. "Regardless on the ethics of the plan, you have to respect how well thought their plan was. The only flaw is, like my future self mentioned, their choice of accomplice."

"True." Mukuro nodded in agreement. "Many of the mistakes made were mainly caused by Hifumi."

"I'm not sure how to feel about that." Hifumi said in response.

'The effort made to convince us the two murders were the same. That's the main characteristic this time.' Makoto turned his eyes towards Kyoko. 'Kyoko must have noticed that fact from the very beginning. Which is why she said not to look at this as a series of connected events, but entirely separate incidents.'

That caused heads to turn towards the detective. "Is that true, Kyoko?" Hina asked her. "You noticed that from the beginning?"

The lavender haired girl nodded in response. "My future self was probably suspicious when she heard the murders of Taka and Hifumi. Those suspicions were confirmed after a reiteration of the events."

"Wow…" Was the only thing Hina could say to that. Some of the others had looks of amazement as well, along with a few whistles.

'Kyoko is really amazing. Although…' An almost deadpan look entered his face. 'When you think about it, she's almost too amazing. Like, it's almost unnatural how good she is at this…'

That drew a snort from Leon. "Like you're one to talk, dude." The baseball star remarked. "You're able to keep up with Kyoko's monstrous level thinking…"

The luckster blushed a little at this. "I don't think it's-"

"Quit with the modesty act." Byakuya interrupted. "You have shown a remarkable level of intellect throughout the trials, both you and your future self. I bet you managed to figure out the culprit before the trials, haven't you?"

Makoto looked away at that, his red color fading from his cheeks. "Y-Yeah…"

"Wow, for real?" Jill spoke up. "You managed to figure out who planned all this?"

"Who is it?" Mondo demanded, looking ready to strangle somebody. "Who's the fucker that planned this entire shit?!"

"That will probably be revealed in just a few moments." Kyoko stated before staring down Mondo. "But refrain from trying to attack anybody. It'll be useless to even try, considering who's with us." The biker growled, but didn't try to argue with her.

Celeste, meanwhile, felt her stomach coiling painfully inside her body. Her eyes started to dilate, her skirt close to ripping from how tightly she's gripping it, and it took every ounce of willpower to keep her breathing under control. The sense of dread was creeping around her, no matter how hard she tries to keep it down.

'Why… why am I like this?' Celeste asked herself desperately. 'It can't be me. It couldn't have been. I have no reason to. I should know how risky it would be to become the blackened. It… can't have been me.' No matter how many times she repeated that in her head, those words felt far too hollow.

"I understand how an accomplice could be involved, but then who was the one pulling Hifumi's string?" Sakura questioned.

"That's problem numero uno right now!" Jill added.

'The true killer manipulated Hifumi to carry out a number of actions, and in the end… murdered him.' Makoto thought to himself. 'In the debate up till now, the way the case has unfolded… when you consider all that… there's really only one person who seems to fit.'

"It was Celeste…" Makoto stated out-loud.

At Makoto's statement, any sort of calm composure Celeste held was shattered. Her head was down, shadowing her wide eyes and dilated eyes, with her expression blank.

"Celeste?" Hina repeated, sounding shock. "She's the culprit?"

"Yes." Makoto said with a solemn nod. "As you're about to see, all evidence points to her."

"Honestly, thinking about it, it doesn't seem all that surprising." Leon remarked with a frown. "We know that Hifumi would do anything she asks, and Celeste would happily boss him around."

"True." Sayaka agreed softly. "And there's also how proactive and emotional she was being during the entire thing."

"She was also the most adamant on Hiro being the killer…" Sakura added, a frown on her face. "Not even Hina was so set on the idea of Hiro being the killer, yet she claimed she had no qualms on the idea of Hiro being innocent."

"So… she was the one who set me up?" Hiro asked, anger slowly rising up. "Trying to make me look like the bad guy in all of this?"

Hifumi was just staring at the TV, with wide, shocked eyes, slowly processing that it was Celeste that killed him. 'Miss… Miss Ludenberg…?' Hifumi thought dizzingly. 'She was the one too…?'

"Ah, so I'm the suspicious individual now, am I?" Celeste rhetorically asked. She then let out a chuckle. "I really do hate these kind of jokes…"

"A joke? I wonder…" Byakuya said in response, his eyes narrowed.

That caused Celeste to lose her smile. "So what are you saying, then, is that I specifically chose to work together with Hifumi." She interpreted. "The idea that I would choose to spend any amount of time interacting with him…" As she continued speaking, her tone got angrier, with her french accent being temporarily loss. "That I would go within ten feet of that shit-for-brains! That lazy, worthless goddamn idiot!"

Leon was tempted to point out that she always used Hifumi several times before, but decided against, not wanting the one to snap Celeste out of her blank state.

But just as she got angry, she immediately caught herself and brought her composure. "Ahem. Ah, pardonnez-moi."

"Just to be clear, there is evidence to support it." Byakuya told her.

"...Is that so?" Celeste asked back.

"It is." The Togami heir answered. "Throughout the investigation, there was certain behavior that was common only to the two of you. Considering what we've learned so far, it only further proves that the two of you were working together!"

"Certain behavior?" Sakura repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"It was during the search for Robo-Justice." Makoto explained. "Throughout the whole thing, only Hifumi and Celeste shared the same experience."

"The behavior they have in common has to do with the 'suspicious individual' in the suit, doesn't it?" Makoto spoke up. "The only ones who ever actually saw Robo Justice firsthand were Celeste and Hifumi."

"Shush." Byakuya demanded harshly. "The adults are talking now."

"S-Sorry…"

That brought more than a few scowls, but the other revelations had them biting their tongue for the time being. "Now that he mentioned it, only Celeste and Hifumi had claimed that they saw the suspicious individual." Sakura thought out loud.

"And if Hifumi was one of the culprits, then Celeste supposed claims are suspicious as well." Mukuro added with now.

That shocked Hina more, along with horrified her. "So everything they said was a lie…?"

"Apparently so..." Chihiro said with a small whimper.

"As he said, only Celeste and Hifumi ever laid eyes on the costumed individual." Byakuya repeated Makoto's deduction. "If we accept that Hifumi was one of the culprits, we can't help but suspect what Celeste has said, as well."

"Are you saying everything they told us was a lie…?" Hina asked, shocked and horrified.

"After taking Hifumi to the nurse's office, we all began our search for this individual, correct?" Byakuya reminded them. "And not too long after that, do you remember what Celeste said? 'I saw a shadow!'. We headed to the 2nd floor specifically because of what she claimed to have seen. Next, to draw us all to the physics lab, up on the 3rd floor…"

"...She let out a blood curdling scream." Sakura finished.

"And when we'd all come to see what was wrong, what was it she said?" Byakuya continued. "That she saw him. Once she'd done her job of getting us all up to the physics lab… it was time for partner to get to work."

A flashback of Hifumi's scream was played, before coming back to the present Hina. "It was to get us to divide us into groups… so that we would discover both bodies at the same time?!" She realized.

"In fact, Celeste was precisely the one who proposed that we split up." Byakuya added. "Well? If Celeste and Hifumi were working together, all those chance events suddenly become connected…"

The more Mondo heard, the more convinced that it was actually Celeste that did this. And as he listened, that vengeful anger was roaring for him to rip the head of the mastermind of this trial, along with Hifumi's head. However, his morals is screaming back not to hit a girl, no matter what. The conflict just made him even more frustrated.

Hifumi was feeling a growing sense of hurt and betrayal. Miss Ludenberg, the one he tries his best to serve and get along with, was the one to kill him. To trick him. In hindsight, it shouldn't be surprising, considering how many times she used him for her own purpose (And he willfully let her). But that didn't help the hurt he's feeling.

Through all of this, Celeste was silent.

"And a top of that… that piercing cry of yours early on…" Byakuya mentioned. "That was to signal Hifumi, wasn't it? It was your way of telling him, 'We're on the third floor, everything's going according to plan'. Why else would you let out a scream that could have carried across the sea?"

Again, the Ultimate Gambler was silent.

"I just realized another strange thing…" Makoto spoke up once more. "When we found Hifumi in the nurse's office, who we now know was only pretending to be dead…" The luckster turned towards the suspect. "Celeste… you were the first one to say he'd been murdered. You wanted to make sure we wouldn't have any doubt in our minds."

Every sentence, every point made, anything pointed out, was like a bullet piercing through her. It took Celeste everything she had to avoid an emotional break down.

Again, the gambler has yet to make any rebuttals or comments.

"I-I don't believe it…" Hina stuttered in shock and betrayal. "Everything… the whole thing was one big act!"

"We've been tricked, ever since the beginning!" Hina cried out, holding her head. "Been dancing to her tune since she showed us that picture!"

"Wowee! This is even more devious than what master did!" Jill whistled in amazement.

"If it wasn't Makoto and Kyoko, the majority of us would've immediately voted for Hiro." Sakura said with a grimace. "We would've played right into Celeste hands."

"It pains me to admit it, but I have to agree." Byakuya sighed. "If Makoto wasn't so skeptical on the idea that Hiro did it, they would've been executed."

The luckster himself was silent, his head slightly down. Despite figuring out it was Celeste during the investigation, the sting of hurt and betrayal was still growing. He didn't even need to ask why she did it. He had a good guess as to why, and thinking about only made the feeling grow…

"Hina. You were with Celeste when Hifumi's body disappeared, right?" Makoto asked her.

"Yeah… I was feeling sick, so Celeste took me to the bathroom…" Hina confirmed hesitantly. Realization quickly hit her. "...Wait! Then that was-?!"

"Another ploy to get me out of there?!" Hina voice incredulously.

"She probably didn't expect you to freeze up like you did, so she needed to think quickly and get you out of there." Mukuro mused. "Cause if you stayed there, the plan would've been ruined."

"This just keep looking worse and worse…" Leon remarked with a grimace.

"She wasn't worried about you. She just saw a chance to help Hifumi sneak out of the nurse's office." Makoto explained gravely.

"Each piece isn't much by itself, but start putting them together and the picture gets very ugly indeed." Byakuya stated confidently. "Wouldn't you agree, Celeste?"

"...I have no idea what you mean." Celeste finally spoke with an innocent look on her face.

That had several pair of eyes blinking, flabbergasted at Celeste's statement. "Does she really think that would work?" Leon asked, after a moment. "I mean, seriously? After all that?"

"She's probably gonna keep up the act for as long as she can." Byakuya stated. "But don't worry. There's still several mistakes that she has made, that had not been mentioned yet." 'Such as certain words she slipped-out…'

"Don't bother trying to deny it." Byakuya retorted. "You made one fatal mistake."

"...Oh did I?" Celeste remarked back.

"I didn't even catch it myself when you first said it," The heir admitted. "But looking back, I can say that that one little slip-up was your undoing."

"Wh-What are you talking about…?" Celeste inquired, actually stuttering a little.

"I'm talking about what you said after Hifumi's body disappeared and we returned to the nurse's office." Byakuya pointed out. A flashback of Celeste's words at the nurse's office was played.

When the flashback played, several students caught the mistake Byakuya was talking about. 'She said "those guys".' Makoto thought to himself. 'When she shouldn't have known that Taka had already died.' With that, there will be no doubt that Celeste was involved in the entire thing.

"I remember that too, but… I don't understand what's so strange about it." Sakura said.

"Then pay attention." Byakuya ordered. "Sakura, Toko, and I were first to discover Taka's body in the equipment room. Then Makoto showed up and told us Hifumi had been killed. So Sakura and I left with Makoto. Once we were in the hall, we ran into Celeste, and the four of us headed to the nurse's office. Now, the entire time we were together, none of us said anything about Taka being dead."

Makoto's eyes lit up in realization at this. "That's right… there's no reason Celeste should have said 'just like those guys died'..." He said. "When she said that, none of us had told her Taka was dead."

Celeste was silent at this.

"Exactly." Byakuya nodded. "And we didn't run into her until after we were out in the hall. So there was never any chance for her to have seen his body in the equipment room for herself."

"So how did you know, Celeste?" Makoto asked the girl. "How did you know more than one person had been killed? And how did you know they were both guys? Because Kyoko had also disappeared, right? So she could have been dead, too."

"Wow…" Sayaka breathed out. "So many holes, so many mistakes in this crime. So many things that don't make any sense…"

"And when you figure out one thing, it becomes more and more obvious as to who the killer is." Chihiro said softly.

Hina hesitantly turned towards the suspect herself. "Celeste… what are you thinking about all this?"

"Do you still think it's Hiro?" Byakuya remarked. "Or are you still in denial?"

At first, Celeste kept her head down and her mouth shut. But then, she spoke with a small murmur. "...the picture…"

The heir frowned. "Pardon?"

"There's still. The picture." Celeste spoke, louder this time. "There's still the picture, future me took, that proves Hiro is the culprit."

A scowl entered Hiro's face. "You're trying to frame me?" He cried out in anger. "Still trying to make me the bad guy?"

"How long are you gonna be in this state of denial?" Byakuya sighed exasperatedly. "No matter what you, it won't change-"

"SHUT UP!" The gambler shouted, flipping her head to form an angry, frantic glare. Her french accent was also completely gone. "Don't try to pin this on me! Robo-Justice was kidnapping Hifumi! He said Hiro's name! That all but proves he's the killer!"

Her frantic state got the others reeling back. None of them ever seen Celeste so rattled, so… emotional. Sure, there was the occasional emotional outbursts, but nothing of this scale. And because of that, she stunned the room into silence for a moment.

'Miss Ludenberg…' Hifumi doesn't know what to think right now. On one hand, the idea that she was the one to trick and kill him hurt, badly. But on the other… the frantic, almost desperate look on her face pains him as well.

Makoto also felt empathy for the gambler. Cause beneath that anger, he could see the desperation. The fear in her eyes. "Celeste…"

"I'm not the killer! I wouldn't do something so risky!" She would never take that kind of risk. She wouldn't put herself in that situation. "I'm not, I'm not, I'M NOT!"

And that's the end. What do you guys think? Is everyone in character? No one is acting OOC? I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Next up, we'll be wrapping up the trial. And again, if you want me to reveal the results of the poll, or wait to reveal it, let me know in the reviews. Review, favorite, and follow and I will see you guys later.