Chapter 3: Removing Redundancies

Scientific Strikeout

Truth bullets

Monokuma file 3: Ema, found in the storage room of Fey Manor, died from a single stab wound to the throat. There was bruising along her right side.

Kyoko's report (Ema): Ema had been dead for at least 30 minutes prior to her discovery. The bruising along her body is consistent with a short post-mortem fall.

Monokuma file 4: Leon, found on the beach behind Fey Manor, died from a single stab wound to the throat. He had no other external wounds.

Kyoko's report (Leon): The weapon used to kill Leon was the same as the one used to kill Ema. The wounds to the throat were nearly identical in their placement and depth.

Cleaning Up: Apollo and Phoenix brought dishes to the kitchen around the time Leon was murdered. They passed Maya on the way back.

Missing Capo: Klavier and Peko searched for Klavier's missing capo around the time Leon was murdered.

Bloodstain on shelf: A large bloodstain was found under a canoe on a shelf near Ema's body.

Apollo's account: At 2:50PM, he and Peko entered the storage room to find board games. They did not see Ema's body at the time.

Footprints on the beach: All of the footprints on the beach came from Fey Manor; there are no footprints which come or leave in a different direction.

As usual, the trial grounds had been completely repainted. This time, the 16 podiums sat inside a painted baseball field, with home base resting directly underneath Monokuma's throne. The walls displayed empty bleachers underneath a bright blue sky, completely contrasting the mood of the students.

Phoenix took his position at his podium and analyzed the portraits of the two murdered students. Leon's displayed a bloody 'X' made out of two baseball bats. Ema's, on the other hand— instead of having any bloody markings over her face, a cadaver tag hung off of the top-right corner.

"Alright, this class trial is going to be a little different!" Monokuma began cheerily. "So, allow me to explain the rules." He clapped his paws together, and an enormous digital timer rose out from behind his throne. It currently displayed 30:00.

"I will not confirm or deny whether or not the blackened in this case killed both Ema and Leon," Monokuma said. "But, in the interest of making this case more exciting, this timer will count down as soon as I say the word 'Go.' Once it concludes, all discussion must immediately stop as you await further instruction from me. Even one spoken word, mime, or other form of communication after the timer reaches 0 will result in the immediate execution of the offending party."

Phoenix felt his eyes widen as Monokuma chortled gleefully before continuing. "If there are two murderers, then I'll let the class trial continue. But, if there is only one murderer, voting time will immediately begin! Additionally, in this trial, voting time will not commence until at least 30 minutes are up, even if you all feel like you know who the killer is within the first minute. Everyone understand?"

Everyone stared blankly at Monokuma. The rules were simple enough, but they would still add a huge amount of pressure to finish the trial quickly. Phoenix hoped they would be able to do it.

"Oh, one more thing. I'm only going to speak in this trial if spoken to," Monokuma added. "Although I usually love wasting your time with random quips, it would be unfair to do so this time. So, if you have a question, make sure you address me by name! Alright, go!"

30:00 on the clock.

At Monokuma's command, the timer began counting down. It did not take long for the first person to begin speaking.

"I have a proposal," Nagito put forward, drawing all eyes to him. "I already know who the blackened is. I am not going to participate in this trial until the final minute, at which point I will reveal the killer."

"What?!" a chorus of voices shouted simultaneously.

Nagito merely smiled and mimed zipping his lips. Less than 30 seconds in, and Nagito had already thrown all of them for a loop. Phoenix shook his head in disbelief.

"What kind of offer is that?!" Apollo demanded. "How can we be sure you're telling the truth?"

Nagito remained silent, merely shrugging.

"Let's not waste time on him," Kyoko commanded. "Discovering the truth ourselves is more important. Let me start with the results of my examinations of the body."

Kyoko wasted no time recounting the same details she had told Phoenix a few minutes ago— the wounds on both bodies were functionally identical, and death in both cases would have been rapid. The bruising on Ema's body was from a short fall, and she had been dead for at least 30 minutes.

"Ema was undoubtedly the first to die," Kyoko concluded. "With our limited time, it would be best to discuss her murder first before moving onto Leon's."

"What caused her to fall?" Makoto pondered. "Was her body moved?"

"Sort of," Phoenix explained. "We found a large bloodstain underneath a canoe on one of the shelves next to her body."

"Someone hid her there?!" Chihiro exclaimed.

"Indeed," Peko declared somberly.

"Our current theory is that the killer hid her on the shelf, then pulled her off onto the ground when they wanted the body to be discovered," Phoenix elaborated. "It would explain the bruising and the bloodstain on the shelf."

"Why was she in the storage room to begin with?" Makoto questioned.

"Maybe she was killed somewhere else, and the killer only hid her in the storage room," Apollo guessed.

Phoenix paused, expecting Makoto to object to Apollo's most recent statement. However, the luckster remained silent; Phoenix realized he wouldn't have heard Kyoko's explanation in the storage room regarding Ema's death. So, Phoenix cried out:

"Objection!"

…

28 minutes left.

The courtroom looked at him expectantly as he pointed fiercely at Apollo. It took him a moment to remember the time limit— every second that counted down marched him closer to all of their deaths. They had already used up more than 2 minutes— now was no time for theatrics.

"Remember that Ema died within a minute of her wound," Phoenix told Apollo. "The amount of blood we found on the shelf could only be explained if she was already lying there when she died."

"Phoenix is right," Kyoko concurred. "Ema was killed in the storage room and hidden under the canoe on a high shelf. Now that we know the circumstances of her death—" Phoenix felt a mild sense of whiplash from how fast she changed topics, but he knew it was necessary. "We should determine the time of her death."

"We're just going to accept this as fact? Nothing more needs to be said?" Klavier seemed incredulous.

"We don't have time for menial debates," Kyoko said, her voice as fierce as Phoenix had ever heard it, though still rather reserved.

Chiaki spoke up. "Kyoko's keeping us in line. I think it's a good thing…"

"Let's discuss when Ema… died, then," Apollo hesitated slightly, showing a hint of discomfort behind his steely facade. "When was she last seen alive?"

"She was at lunch with the rest of us," Maya recalled. "When was that?"

"That would have been around 1PM," Klavier answered, tapping his forehead. "Did anyone see where she went afterwards?"

Phoenix crossed his fingers, hoping someone would speak up, but no one answered.

Kyoko folded her arms. "In that case, can anyone provide an alibi for themselves between 1PM and 3PM?"

"Chihiro and I were gaming during that time," Chiaki reminisced. "I think that gives us an alibi…"

The class looked at Chihiro expectantly, who bit her lip and nodded. "Y-yeah, we were in the warehouse," she mumbled.

Phoenix expected Apollo and Peko to vouch for each other, but apparently Peko didn't follow Apollo everywhere he went.

The group remained silent for a few seconds, exchanging glances as they waited for someone else to provide an alibi. Unfortunately, it seemed only Chiaki and Chihiro could do so.

After a few moments, Makoto raised his hand, seemingly asking for permission to speak.

"Go ahead, Makoto," Kyoko told him, her tone reminiscent of an exasperated teacher.

"What's special about 3PM?" Makoto asked her, lowering his hand. "I thought the second murder happened closer to 4."

"Some of us were at the beach between 3 and 4," Apollo explained. "Including Leon. Peko and I went into the storage room at around 2:50 and didn't see Ema's body, but considering Ema had been dead for a while before we found her, the timeline makes more sense if she was killed before 3. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been any need to hide her to begin with."

Makoto paused for a moment, internalizing the information before nodding. "Still, a two hour window for Ema's time of death is a fairly long gap of time," he pointed out. "Is there any other way we can narrow it down?"

"Um, can I say something?" Chihiro asked meekly. Phoenix could barely hear her voice as she spoke from the podium opposite from him.

"There's no need to ask permission to speak during a class trial," Apollo chastised. "If there's something on your mind, say it."

"R-right, sorry…" Chihiro apologized. "Well, the thing is… Ema isn't usually the type to stay in her yurt all day. In my opinion, if she wasn't seen at all for two hours, she was probably… killed… um, earlier in that timeframe?"

"Not a bad course of reasoning, Fräulein Fujisaki," Klavier complimented. Chihiro's eyes widened as her cheeks turned red; she averted her gaze from the rockstar.

"For now, we can operate under the premise that Ema's death was between 1 and 2PM," Kyoko decided. "But do not treat this assumption as fact; we may have yet to uncover something which will prove otherwise."

"Are we sure we should try to deduce the truth based on an assumption?" Apollo questioned.

"We have little choice, Herr Justice," Klavier reproved. "Perhaps without a time limit we would act otherwise, but every second counts."

Apollo narrowed his eyes at Klavier, who impassively maintained eye contact with the hot-blooded lawyer. Eventually, Apollo nodded and broke away from their staredown.

"Can we hear more about this gathering on the beach?" Chiaki requested. "I think it's an appropriate next topic of discussion."

Apollo nodded, but before he could explain the party he organized to Chiaki, Kyoko interrupted.

"Do not waste words," she imposed.

Apollo glowered at her for a moment before beginning. "I invited 5 people— Ema, Klavier, Leon, Peko, and Mr. Wright— to the beach at 3PM. All of us except Ema were there by 3, and we were together the entire time until around 3:50, when Mr. Wright and I went to the kitchen to clean up and Peko and Klavier looked for a missing capo."

"I see. And that's when Leon…" Chiaki hugged herself slightly as she trailed off, her eyes glazing over as she left the final word of her sentence unsaid.

"Apollo and I were gone for fewer than 5 minutes," Phoenix pointed out. "Creating an extremely short margin of time for Leon's death."

"Perhaps this means Fräulein Skye's killer is among the 4 of us who were on the beach," Klavier rationalized gravely. "Why would the killer have bothered to hide Ema's body to begin with if they didn't know about the party?"

"Objection!" Apollo exclaimed. "We're almost sure the killer in this case killed both victims. It's impossible for any of us to have killed Leon, so that means none of us killed Ema, either.

"Plus, maybe they just wanted to hide Ema's body until they got an opportunity to kill a second person," Maya reasoned. "And they just happened to stumble upon the party."

Klavier nodded skeptically, seeming relieved to have his theory countered but not entirely convinced by Apollo and Maya's statements.

"That narrows our list of suspects quite substantially," Phoenix pointed out. "With Chiaki and Chihiro's alibi…" he trailed off, realizing who was on the list of remaining suspects.

"The remaining suspects are myself, Makoto, Maya, and Nagito," Kyoko finished simply.

Phoenix looked at Nagito, hoping to see any change in his expression, or some sort of confirmation that they were on the right track. Unfortunately, Nagito was simply looking at Kyoko with a neutral expression on his face, taking in everything that was being said with mild interest.

"Well, then it's obvious who the killer is!" Apollo exclaimed, clenching his fist. "It's gotta be Nagito!"

Even after Apollo's outburst, Nagito did not change his expression. He did not seem panicked or unsure. Perhaps he was simply skilled at hiding his emotions— or perhaps he was actually innocent.

Even so, Phoenix truly couldn't fathom any of the four suspects besides Nagito being the killer. Could it be that simple?

He glanced up at the clock.

20 minutes remaining.

"He did say he unequivocally knew who the killer was," Peko pointed out. "Perhaps he knows who the killer is because he is the killer." Nagito glanced past Franziska's portrait at the swordswoman, his uncharacteristically stoic expression never faltering.

Surely it wasn't that easy. Nagito wouldn't have performed a murder that could be solved in ten minutes without any definitive evidence. Then again, it did seem to line up— what was the alternative? That Kyoko, Maya, or Makoto was the killer? That couldn't be right. Even so, something felt off. The conversation lulled for an uncomfortable length of time as the students processed Peko's accusation.

Phoenix was first to speak up. "We have plenty of time left," he pointed out. "Maybe we should keep talking about this. I'd like to be absolutely sure it was him before continuing. Monokuma isn't going to let us start voting time for another 20 minutes regardless."

His suggestion was met with general disinterest, though he noted Chiaki and Kyoko seemed open to the suggestion.

"This feels like too quick of a solution," Chiaki noted. "We're in the third level, we're not supposed to beat it in 10 minutes."

Her use of gaming terms aside, Phoenix agreed with Chiaki.

"I would find it hard to believe Nagito would set up such a crime without establishing an alibi of some kind," Kyoko added.

"Mr. Wright, do you remember how Nagito acted during the investigation of the beach?" Apollo reminded Phoenix. "He hinted that the killer might have thrown the weapon into the lake, and he implied they hid on the opposite side of Fey Manor, waiting for the precise moment to strike. He made multiple oddly specific claims which seem to line up perfectly with what actually happened."

"Successful deductions do not necessarily imply guilt," Kyoko cautioned, holding up a gloved finger.

Otherwise, Kyoko would be the culprit in every case, Phoenix smiled slightly to himself despite the situation.

"If anything, Nagito's deductions should beg the question why he would provide evidence to implicate himself to begin with," Klavier stated. "Why would he not keep his mouth shut like he is right now?"

"Hold it, Klavier!" Phoenix exclaimed. "This is Nagito we're talking about. During the last trial, despite working with Nahyuta, he wrote a note in the book The Tragedy for the explicit purpose of comparing his handwriting with the note given to Makoto. In the end, he even gave up supporting Nahyuta," he recalled grimly. "During Dahlia's trial, he waited until I had realized Franziska was the killer before giving his side of the story which implicated her. He always plays for both sides to give everyone an equal chance of victory, regardless of whether or not it benefits him. He's also been historically fairly accurate in his deductions. The way he described events is probably what happened, even if I'm not confident he's the killer."

"Herr Wright, would you please elaborate as to what Nagito said during the investigation?" Klavier inquired. "Not all of us were there," he berated.

"Well, he hypothesized that Leon's killer was hiding behind Fey Manor during the party," Phoenix recounted. "When the rest of us left, they took the opportunity to jump out and kill him. Apollo analyzed the footprints on the beach and noticed that all of them were coming from Fey Manor, so this lends credence to that theory. Nagito thinks the killer stabbed Leon, then threw the knife into the lake and hid until the body discovery announcement telling them to go to the storage room."

"No, that's wrong!"

Phoenix looked in shock as Makoto fiercely objected to his final statement.

"Sorry, Phoenix— I probably should have mentioned this sooner," Makoto apologized, "but it hasn't really come up until now. I told Chiaki and Maya about it when they came to help us investigate, but I guess I should have mentioned it to everyone before we started the trial. Maybe I should have spoken up in the elevator, but-"

"Makoto."

The luckster blanched as his rambling was cut short by Kyoko's stern admonishment. "Ah… My point is," he stammered, "I actually found something in the kitchen that proves Nagito is wrong, at least about the killer's actions after Leon's murder. I'm not sure if it means Nagito was misleading us, or he just guessed wrong, but…"

"Explain yourself, Herr Naegi," Klavier prompted.

Makoto reached into the pocket of his green zip-up hoodie and pulled out a small object enclosed in a ziploc bag. Part of the interior had been stained, making the contents difficult to make out, even from only two podiums away. However, as Makoto held the item aloft, it became apparent that inside was a blood-covered knife. The murder weapon.

15 minutes left.

"Wh-what?!" Phoenix gasped. "Where did you find that?!"

"It was under the fridge!" Makoto said defensively. "I didn't mean to keep it from you. Like I said, it just never came up."

"Maya," Apollo asked. "Did you see anyone else come to the kitchen after we left?"

Maya bit her lip thoughtfully. "After you left, Peko came in calling for help. She told me Ema was dead and we ran to the storage room. After we discovered Ema… Peko sent me to get you and Nick, and that's when we found Leon…" she concluded weakly.

Phoenix felt vertigo setting in. He grabbed onto his podium for support as the narrow path to the resolution of this case crumbled to dust in front of his eyes. Because he knew exactly what the existence of this knife implied. Would Apollo point it out?

He looked at Nagito— the luckster was watching Phoenix with a bemused smile, his expression no longer neutral for the first time in this case. Nagito knew Phoenix had lied to him during the investigation.

"Mr. Wright…" Apollo said consolingly, "I'm sorry."

"What's going on?" Chihiro asked quietly. "Did you figure it out?"

No. It can't be her.

Apollo nodded solemnly. "It pains me to say that there's only one person who could have placed this knife in the kitchen. And that person is Maya Fey herself-"

"OBJECTION!" Phoenix shouted desperately, his cry overlapping with Apollo's firm voice. "There's just no way that's tr-"

"Objection!" Apollo responded in turn. "Mr. Wright. Please don't let emotions cloud your judgment here. Think about the timeline of the case."

"Hey, I'm not the culprit!" Maya protested fiercely. "I'd never kill my friends!"

"Let's look at the facts of the case," Apollo pushed forward, ignoring Maya's protests. "There was a bloody knife hidden in the kitchen. We know it couldn't have been hidden there after Ema's murder, since the same weapon was used in both cases, and there was only one knife found under the fridge. Maya doesn't have an alibi for Ema's death, and Ema would have been willing to go to the storage room with her for whatever reason she provided. Then, right after Leon's death, she went to the kitchen alone, the same place the knife was found."

"It has to be a setup!" Phoenix countered. "Nagito correctly pointed out that the killer could have just thrown the weapon into the lake! Why would Maya risk being caught and carry the knife all the way to the kitchen to hide it, when she could have permanently disposed of it?"

"When caught up in the act of murder, the mind can get clouded," Peko contended. "She may have felt rushed and made a mistake."

"How would Maya have even lifted Ema onto a top shelf?" Phoenix demanded.

Klavier tutted and shook his head. "I'll remind you that we cannot rule out suspects based on their apparent physical strength. Who's to say she didn't use a stepladder?"

"There aren't any ladders in the storage room!" Maya fussed. "I didn't even go there until Peko told me to!"

"Even with a ladder, Maya isn't strong enough to lift Ema up quickly enough to spill blood on herself or the floor," Chiaki declared. "I think…"

"Can't you tell that I'm not lying, Apollo?!" Maya exclaimed desperately. "Your talent should tell you I'm not guilty!"

Apollo crossed his arms and shook his head. "Once again, the item which helps me focus my talent was taken away from me, presumably by Monokuma. My talent has been severely reduced, and even if it wasn't, someone who's confident in their lie is impossible to spot, even by me. I'm sorry, Maya, but evidence is all we have, and the evidence points to you."

"That is patently false," Kyoko reprimanded Apollo. "In fact, in your haste to accuse Maya, you've overlooked that someone else is, in fact, equally suspicious for the exact same reason."

"Oh, yeah?" Apollo challenged. "Who?"

Phoenix had a horrible suspicion that he knew who Kyoko was talking about. He couldn't believe she was really about to accuse them.

"Kyoko, you can't possibly believe that's true," Phoenix muttered.

Her eyes shifted to him. "Whether or not I believe it has no bearing on this case. For the sake of the truth, I will cast my emotions aside."

"Nick, what's going on here?" Maya poked his arm, a confused expression on her face. Phoenix looked past her podium and stared at Kyoko's other suspect.

"Mr. Wright, come on," Apollo scoffed. "Tell us who this other suspect is already."

Phoenix clenched his jaw. Was this really the right course of action?

No, this is all too circumstantial… Phoenix realized. There has to be something else.

"It's Herr Naegi, isn't it?" Klavier smiled sadly. Phoenix whirled to face the rockstar, shocked that he had said it aloud.

10 minutes to go.

"What?!" Makoto and Maya exclaimed in unison.

"Herr Naegi, just to be clear— you are the one who discovered the knife under the fridge, ja?" Klavier confirmed.

Makoto seemed confused at the relevance of the question. "Yes… does that make me suspicious?"

"I think they're saying it's possible you could have had the knife with you the whole time and pretended to discover it," Chiaki explained to Makoto. "If Chihiro didn't actually see it until you showed it to her, then you could have just been pretending…"

"But… that didn't happen!" Makoto protested. "I'd never plant evidence like that!"

"Is there any evidence to that fact?" Klavier challenged.

Apollo clenched his fist. "I hadn't even considered that… How'd I miss that?"

The arguments over Makoto and Maya's guilt continued as he closed his eyes and mentally stepped away from the trial. At the moment, it seemed there were only four suspects: Kyoko, Makoto, Maya, and Nagito. Right now, the bloody knife discovered in the kitchen seemed to indicate Makoto and Maya were the only possible suspects. But, apart from Nagito, Phoenix was prepared to stake his life on the claim that none of them were guilty.

Even Nagito felt like an unlikely solution. Phoenix couldn't picture the luckster performing a plan which relied so heavily on narrow windows of time, and which was easily deduced because half of the surviving students had alibis. Plus, there wasn't really a feasible window for him to have hidden the bloody knife in the kitchen.

So who did that leave? Someone from the party? It couldn't have been him or Apollo, which left Klavier… or Peko.

Suddenly, the pieces started to fall into place. Peko didn't have an alibi for Ema's death, and she was certainly strong enough to lift Ema above her head. She also knew about the party, which would explain why she had hidden Ema's body. When she went to the storage room with Apollo before the party, she could have revealed Ema's body without him noticing. She had been in the kitchen with Maya. With enough sleight of hand, she could have dropped the knife under the fridge without Maya noticing. During the investigation, she had admitted she didn't think about throwing the knife into the lake. The only snag in this solution was Leon's death— how had she managed to kill him without anyone at the party noticing?

As he pondered this problem, he mentally returned himself to the ongoing debate.

"You and Maya are the only ones who could have placed the knife in the kitchen," Apollo declared to a protesting Makoto. "All that's left to determine is which one of you actually did."

"HOLD IT!" Phoenix interjected, bringing the debate to an end.

The courtroom fell into a stunned silence as all eyes looked to Phoenix.

"There's something we've missed!" Phoenix exclaimed. "There's one other suspect whose guilt can explain nearly every detail about this case!"

Phoenix looked at Nagito. No longer was his face unreadable— a sadistic grin had spread across his face, highlighting the insanity in his eyes. Phoenix felt like he was being stared at by a serial killer. However, the instant Nagito noticed Phoenix looking at him, he regained control of his emotions and returned to appearing relatively normal, his expression shifting at an uncanny pace.

He shook off the effect— if anything, it proved he was on the right track.

"Stop making us wait!" Maya complained. "Tell us who the killer is!"

Phoenix nodded. He looked at Peko, who was eyeing him from two podiums over with mild concern. "The true murderer in this case… is Peko!"

…

Phoenix stood there, his arm outstretched in his well-practiced pointing pose. Blood roared in his ears as he felt the truth wash over him.

And yet, no one was saying anything. There were no protests from Peko, no shocked gasps from Maya… nothing.

"Um…" Phoenix retracted his arm and grasped awkwardly at his neck. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Mr. Wright…" Apollo scoffed. "I guess even you can't always create a successful turnabout."

"What are you talking about?" Phoenix demanded. "Peko could absolutely have done it!"

"This is ridiculous," Peko scorned.

"She was quite literally by my side when Leon died," Klavier pointed out. "How could she have killed him?"

Phoenix flinched. "That's the one part I haven't figured out yet. But just hear me out! There's a chance she's the guilty party!"

"There is merit in hearing what Phoenix has to say," Kyoko decided. "I believe he may be onto something."

Phoenix nodded appreciatively at Kyoko. "Peko is another person who had the opportunity to plant the knife in the kitchen. If she was subtle about it, Maya might not have noticed her drop it under the fridge," Phoenix began. "Plus, it's actually plausible for her to have lifted Ema onto the shelf. She also had the opportunity to put Ema's body back on the ground when she went to the storage room with Apollo. The identical wounds are also more in-line with someone who has practice with blades. Finally, she knew about the beach party, which would explain why Ema's body was hidden and why Leon was killed."

Phoenix took a deep breath after he finished rattling off his reasoning; he had not taken a moment to inhale while speaking.

5 minutes.

"That would have required a lot of subtlety," Chiaki pointed out. "Has Peko really put all her skill points into stealth?"

The courtroom stood in silence as the weight of Phoenix's accusations hung over them.

"I'm sorry, Herr Wright, but I find this story impossible to believe," Klavier spoke up. "There was simply no chance for her to kill Leon. I admit I wasn't looking at her the entire time, but I would have noticed if she had stabbed someone behind my back."

"And I would have seen if she had somehow removed Ema's body from under a canoe, then placed it on the floor," Apollo added. "Even if I hadn't, I'm sure I would have seen Ema's body when leaving the storage room."

"N-Nick…" Maya whispered from Phoenix's right, "I probably shouldn't be saying this, but I think I also would have noticed if she had slid the knife under the fridge in front of me. I might not be super observant, but…" she trailed off.

Phoenix forcefully slammed his podium with both of his hands. "Can any of you say that for certain? I'm hearing a lot of 'I would have's, but no certainties. This is the Ultimate Swordswoman we're talking about. Think carefully about the previous few hours. Was there ever an instance when she was out of your sight for an extended period of time? Did she ever draw your attention somewhere else in the room? Maya— if you left for the storage room before her, she would have had the opportunity to hide the knife. Klavier, Apollo— were you really watching her close enough to guarantee she couldn't have slipped away?"

The three people who had protested to his claims withdrew in separate ways. Apollo folded his arms and glared at Phoenix; Klavier averted his gaze and fiddled with his hair drill; and Maya looked at the ground.

"Please stop with these accusations," Peko asked politely. "They grow tiresome. We have little time left— we must decide whether Makoto or Maya is the culprit."

3 minutes.

"Is there anything left we have yet to uncover?" Klavier asked.

"H-hold it!" Phoenix yelled desperately. "It's neither of them! It's Peko! I just laid out the facts of the case!"

"I believe we have exhausted all avenues for pursuing Makoto and Maya's guilt," Kyoko agreed. "With our few minutes left, let's discuss the possibility of Peko's guilt."

"You don't control the trials, Kyoko," Apollo snarled. "It can't be Peko; the rest of us agree on that. Now, I do agree that we have exhausted all avenues of pursuing Makoto and Maya's guilt. But don't worry, I have a plan."

"A plan?" Makoto repeated.

"Monokuma!" Apollo bellowed in response.

The bear, who had been silent and immobile since the beginning of the trial, finally returned to life. He stretched his paws above his head, groaning before rubbing his eyes.

"What is it?" Monokuma mumbled, feigning sleepiness.

"What happens if there's a tied vote?"

At this, Monokuma's red eye glowed— his sleepy expression became instantly sinister. "Puhuhu… A two-way tie is acceptable. So long as one of the two selected is the blackened, then I will consider it a win for the spotless. But if it's a tie between more than two people, I will consider it a win for the blackened."

Apollo smiled, his expression uncharacteristically smug. "In that case, we should split the vote between Makoto and Maya. We should be fine if we do this right."

"We're not going to vote for Peko?!" Maya gasped. "B-but… it's not me!"

Apollo shook his head. "There's no way it's Peko. Our solution is simple. We have five boys and five girls. The boys will vote for Maya, while the girls vote for Makoto. That way, we know we'll be safe!"

"An impressive proposal," Klavier applauded.

Chiaki put her hood up. "It might work…" she admitted.

"If everyone else thinks it's a good idea… th-then, I s-suppose I can go with it…" Chihiro stammered.

With one minute on the clock, Phoenix felt more hopeless than he ever had before. They were about to gamble their lives on a less-than-educated guess— one which he completely disagreed with. How had he, the Ultimate Lawyer, failed to defend his best friend from being put to death?! He was almost sure he knew the truth, but no one was willing to listen.

Then, a possible glimmer of hope appeared, courtesy of the person he thought he'd never need it from.

"Honestly," Nagito sighed, "I'm a little disappointed. I thought this mystery would have been easier to solve, but it looks like only Kyoko and Phoenix were smart enough to see through it."

Phoenix struggled to register the luckster's backhanded compliment as he watched the timer drop past 60 seconds. It seemed he intended on keeping his promise to reveal the killer.

"You are all Ultimates, are you not?!" Nagito continued, his temper seemingly rising. "It shouldn't fall to vermin like me to save you!"

"Nagito, either agree to our plan or shut up!" Apollo bellowed. "We've been through enough already!"

The timer continued ticking.

45 seconds.

"Relax. I'm going to help you out," Nagito answered. His tone was much more arrogant than usual, especially considering he was talking to someone he revered. "The killer in this case has no right to go on living. You all are far more important than them. But I expected a bunch of Ultimates to get further than this."

"Just tell us your point, Nagito," Kyoko's voice was calm but forceful. "Time's almost up."

20 seconds left.

"As you've correctly deduced, this trial isn't going to continue past 30 minutes," Nagito said as the trial approached its termination. "The killer in this case killed Ema and Leon. But… It looks like it somehow falls to trash like me to save you all. Trust me, or don't— it doesn't matter. I told you I would reveal the murderer at the end of the trial, and I will. Some among you have already come to this conclusion. I hope the rest of you realize I'm right when I say that the killer…"

3…

2…

1…

"Is Peko."

Time's up.