Chapter 2: Part 21

The sounds of the turning gears came to stop before the steel doors opened for the student body. Stepping out into the light, they saw that the monochrome bear had redecorated the courtroom with a more environmental aesthetic. The floor had a wood paneling with grass growing from in between the cracks. The actual podiums for students to stand upon were also made of wood, but instead of a professionally finished product from a carpenter, they looked as if they were carved directly from tree stumps. The railings of the podiums were decorated vines and flowers. Then there was Monokuma's throne. Instead of the golden throne he previously had, Monokuma was sat on rocking chair with palm trees on both sides of him, giving him a nice shade to relax under.

The students didn't take the time to admire the scenery like last time. Solving Kaito's death was far more important. They all stepped up to their podiums and noticed Kaito's new portrait. Instead of having a simple red 'X' over his face, Monokuma clearly took a red marker and scribbled all over the astronaut's face. Everyone found it in poor taste.

"Once again, welcome to Monokuma's Courtroom of Despair!" Monokuma cheered. "Allow your wonderful headmaster to explain the rules to you all once again. You see, all of you are tasked with discussing who is innocent and who is the blackened."

"Uh, we already know this," Chihiro said.

"DON'T INTERUPT ME!" Monokuma shouted.

Chihiro couldn't help but gulp at Monokuma's sudden outburst, however the rest of the group would come to the boy's side.

"You got a fucking problem, you fucking bear?" Mondo growled.

"Yeah," Kaede spoke up. "Chihiro's just pointing out we all know the rules! There's no reason to explain the rules again! All of us are caught up now!"

"But it's tradition," Monokuma said. "Ugh, your generation always spits in the face of tradition. Your elders always set up everything for you and you're never thankful."

"If the tradition involves killing people, then of course we're not going to stand for it," Mahiru lectured with her hands on her hips."

"Uuuuuuuuuuuugh!" Monokuma groaned. "Fine. Just start the trial already! But you better make it interesting to me or else…"

"OK, so where do we even start?" Leon scratched the back of his head. "I mean, we all know that it was a shotgun that killed Kaito."

"There's no need to drag it out," Mukuro spoke up. "I already know that Kokichi was the one that did it."

Kokichi rolled his eyes. "Wow. Way to jump to conclusions, Mukuro. What, just because I was in your room near your weapons, I just got to be the killer?"

"I mean, you do always go out of your way to make yourself the most suspicious person possible," Kaede said. "If you'd explain yourself now, we'd move on to the rest of the case."

"I mean, all of you suspect me," Kokichi said. "No matter what I say, you're all going to side-eye me and think I'm lying."

"I can see through any of your lies, Kokichi," Celestia said with a proud smile across her face. "I should be able to confirm if you're telling the truth."

"Oh, shut up," Mukuro growled. "There's no reason to play games. I already know it's Kokichi! He already explored the maze, so he knew the layout. He was in my room, so he could've taken the shotgun and the shells when I was asleep."

"Wait, you actually fell asleep around him?" Mahiru asked.

"I actually stayed up throughout most of the night," Mukuro explained. "Being a soldier, I got used to laying awake for long periods of time, but still…I was dozing off at one point."

"How long did you doze off for?" Taka asked.

"Long enough for him to make a run for it," Mukuro answered.

"Mukuro, I saw you catch him this morning," Rantaro spoke up. "He didn't have a gun or…anything that he could've used to set up that trap."

Mukuro paused for a moment.

Noticing the soldier's hesitation, Kokichi couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "Well, well, well. Looks like your reasoning wasn't good enough after all, Mukuro. Shame really. I was starting to think you were fun."

"Then how about the fact my shotgun was taken?" Mukuro asked. "You and I were the only ones that had access to it."

Before Kokichi could make another comment, Kiyo interrupted. "That should be the answer to your question, Mukuro. Only you and Kokichi were in proximity of the shotgun. So, if Kokichi couldn't take it-"

"Oh, shut up!" Mukuro shouted. "You're really going to pin this on me?! I was the one who locked the front door! I was the one trying to keep everyone safe!"

"Well, you are Enoshima's sister, no?" Angie asked with her usual cheerful smile before suddenly shifting to a cold, dead stare. "Deception is in your blood."

"Wh-what?!" Mukuro gasped.

"Y-yeah, Miss Yonaga is right," Hifumi agreed. "I mean, you lied to us when we all first got here." The nerdy boy adjusted his glasses, the light reflecting off them hid his eyes. "Perhaps you're putting on a show."

"What?!" Mukuro smashed her fist against her podium. "You want to repeat that?"

"Oh, now you're threatening us?" Hiyoko before snickering. "That means you're probably the killer. Or probably just stupid."

"All of you, stop," Chiaki said, in a rare instance of raising her voice. "We've barely gone over any of the evidence before making these accusations. We need to discuss everything before we can discover the culprit. That's what Kaito would want…I think."

"Nanami has a point!" Taka proclaimed loudly. "There are plenty of clues that we've discovered that are worth discussing. We must go over each of them to properly deduce Kaito's killer."

"So, all you better get your asses focused!" Mondo ordered the group.

"So, since we already went over the shotgun trap," Shinji crossed his arms, "let's move onto what Sayaka discovered."

"Oh, ok," Sayaka spoke up. "Well, just as we were all leaving, I noticed some green confetti was scattered across the path to the end."

"OK, so?" Leon said. "Couldn't that stuff just been from the party two days ago?"

"But Ibuki never set up confetti," Ibuki clarified. "And Ibuki would never use a lame color like green! No offense, Rantaro and Gonta."

"None taken," Rantaro smiled.

"What offense?" Gonta asked.

"OK, so green confetti, so what?" Leon asked.

Sayaka was already irritated with Leon's stupidity, but it wasn't like he was wrong to ask. Everyone needed to be on the same page. "Well, some of us were wondering if they were set up by the culprit. They would blend into the grass and bushes for most of us, but for the killer, they'd be able to notice them."
"You dare say that

"Oh, I see," Nekomaru said. "It's like some sort of invisible ink trick. Ingenious!"

"Can we not compliment the killer, please?" Mahiru asked in an irritated tone.

"OK, some bitch left some glittery pieces of toilet paper behind. So what?" Miu asked. "That's not telling us shit!"

"What about the lock by the front door?" Ryoma asked.

"What about it?" Mondo asked. "It was broken."

"Actually…it wasn't." Ryoma said.

"Wh-what?!" Mukuro gasped.

Ryoma reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the padlock. Just as he had said, the lock wasn't broken with a crowbar or some sort of industrial saw. It was simply unlocked. "See? It was unlocked."

"But…but I ate the only key we had," Mukuro said.

"I-isn't it possible to pick the lock though?" Chihiro asked.

"I mean, it is, but…" Mukuro began to fumble over her words. "I…didn't think anyone would actually try that."

"Yo, hold on," Leon spoke up again. "Did anyone even find a lockpick or something? How do we even know it wasn't just another key or something?"

"I just told you I ate the only key, idiot."

"Well…couldn't there be a spare or something?"

"How about we focus on the last pieces of evidence we do have?" Chiaki suggested. "Mahiru, do you still have that photo on you?"

Mahiru nodded and reached into the pocket of her dress before pulling out the picture of the bird's eye view of the group in the maze. Everyone leaned forward to get a good look at the placements of everyone. Around the time the gun fired, Angie's group was right by the end of maze, just past the final pathway to the motive. Then there was Kaito's group, who were right in front of the final pathway. Taka and Miu's groups were close to the end of the maze, but they were against the left and right sides of the maze respectively. Ibuki's group was practically in the middle of the maze, while Chiaki's group was towards the front left corner of the maze. Finally, Sakura's group was even further behind everyone at the front right corner of the maze. Celestia's group had ignored the assignment to their previous positions and were instead sighted at the end of the pathway, huddled around something at the end.

After memorizing the photo carefully, Chiaki stood up straight. "OK, so now that we have all the clues, it's time for us to lay them out. Once we do that, we'll start finding the answers."

"God, do you just love talking like a kid's show host?" Miu spat out.

"Yeah, it's super lame," Hiyoko snickered.

"Don't insult Chiaki like that," Nagito spoke up. "She's trying to lead us down the path of hope. The hope that we will avenge our friend, Kaito. The hope that we will bring this killer to the light. The hope that-"

"Shut the fuck up, Nagicuck!" Miu yanked on Nagito's leash. "Your stupid, buttery fingers fucked my security pad up!"

Nagito frowned as he adjusted his collar a bit. "Sorry, Chiaki…"

"Don't be sorry," Chiaki gave a sympathetic smile to the lucky student.

Sayaka closed her eyes as she began to think. 'Obviously, the best way to move forward is organize some sort of timeline with these clues.'

Sayaka opened her eyes and looked at the rest of the group. "OK, it should be safe to say that the first thing the killer had to have done is unlock the front door. And, from what I believe, the best chance they would've had to do that was last night."

"Are you sure they couldn't have done this morning, Miss Maizono?" Hifumi asked.

"I feel like it's safe to say that would be reckless for the killer," Kiyo spoke up. "Making their first move at night while everyone is asleep in their room is simply the smartest decision they could make. Plus, between 10 pm and 7 am, the killer would've had nine hours to set this up."

"Jesus, could you not sound creepy as hell?" Mondo grumbled.

"Kiyo does make a point," Taka said. "If the killer missed the morning meeting, I would've given them a piece of my mind."

"Sure, bro," Mondo said before looking back at Sayaka. "So, the killer would've used the confetti around that time?"

"I think so," Sayaka answered. "They at least had to go through the maze twice for it. Once to actually find the correct path, and once for them to leave behind the confetti for later."

"I'm still confused, why even bother with the confetti?" Tenko asked. "If they made it to the end, that means they could just take the motive, right?"

"In case you've forgotten, it was actually Ludenberg who retrieved the motive from the end of the labyrinth," Gundham explained.

"Wait, they didn't even check it?!" Tenko gasped. "That was the whole point of the maze!"

"We don't know if they checked what the motive was," Sayaka said. "They could have and simply left it behind."

"You know, it would be real nice if we actually knew what it was," Mahiru said before side-eyeing Celestia.

"Like I said, I'll reveal it after the trial," Celestia said with a smile. "As for the confetti, I think it's clear the killer left it behind for when they'd eventually set up the shotgun trap."

"And I think the only time the killer would have a chance to do that was this morning," Sayaka said.

"I believe you are mistaken, Maizono," Taka interrupted. "As I said before, anyone who missed the morning meeting would've gotten a stern warning from myself."

"But there's no other time it could've happened," Kaede protested. "Mukuro said that she was in her room all night watching Kokichi."

"The best chance someone would've had to sneak past her to retrieve the shotgun was when she left her room to catch Kokichi," Rantaro added on.

Taka placed his fist against his chin as he pondered. "Hmmm, that is quite difficult."

Ibuki raised her hand. "Oh, oh! How about we all say what we were doing before the morning meeting? That could help!"

"An excellent suggestion, Mioda!" Taka cheered. "I myself actually arrived early with Angie, Chiaki and Kaito to discuss topics for the day. Bro was sat beside me as well."

"The first thing I did after I got ready was stepping out of my room to see Mukuro tackle Kokichi," Rantaro explained. "After that, I went to get Mikan."

"I-it did take me a bit to get ready, b-but when Rantaro picked me up we went straight to the cafeteria," Mikan backed-up Rantaro's claim.

"I was talking to Chihiro on the way there," Nekomaru said. "Mahiru and Shinji walked along with us when we arrived."

"I was watching over Kiyo," Sakura said. "Unlike Kokichi, he actually made no effort to escape."

"He probably knows you'd kick his ass if he tried," Mondo said with a smirk.

"I was still with Nagicuck all night," Miu said. "And he learned not to try anything fucking stupid like when he tried to kill Junko."

"Ibuki walked with Gonta," Gonta spoke up.

"I walked with Ryoma this morning," Sayaka said. "And I also saw Leon step out of his room before going to the cafeteria."

Hiyoko crossed her arms and huffed. "I went to get Teruteru and Pudgy for Angie."

"P-pudgy?!" Hifumi gasped.

"That leaves our group," Kirumi said. "I actually gathered Gundham and Peko for Celestia before we all arrived at the cafeteria."

"Sh-shit. Does this mean everyone's got an alibi?" Nekomaru asked.

Everyone paused. After mentally retracing everyone's testimonies, they realized that everyone was accounted for. Either they were with someone the whole time or they had eyewitnesses to back them up. A sudden rush of panic flowed through everyone and they turned to one another to discuss. However, all the trust they had once had for each other was cracked with doubt. It could be seen in their eyes that they weren't just doubting each other, they were scared of each other.

Realizing how quickly the trial was turning south, Chiaki spoke up. "Hold on, we can't give up just yet. There has to be a hole in someone's story. We have to stay focused on finding it."

"OK, but where do we start looking?" Sayaka asked.

"Why don't we go back to interrogating Mukuro?" Angie asked with a smile.

"I seriously can't believe you're still on about that?!" Mukuro asked. "I was trying to help you guys. I'm not like my sister!"

"But this was a plan fitting of a soldier," Angie said. "To use a gun for a trap, marking your trail in a way no one else could notice, and the fact it was your weapon in the first place. It does line up, no?"

Mukuro's face turned red with rage and she grinded her teeth together. "How about you then?!"

"What about me?" Angie asked.

"You better not be accusing Angie, you plain bitch!" Hiyoko hissed out.

"Y-yeah!" Hifumi also jumped to Angie's defense. "Miss Yonaga was with us since the meeting. How could she have done it?!"

"If we look at the photo, Angie was suspiciously close to the where the gun trap was," Mukuro explained. "And despite the fact we were all trying to get to the motive at the end, Angie chose to stand the side and let Kaito get shot."

"Now hold on a second," Teruteru said. "Angie said we were just waiting on the rest of the group to catch up."

"Well, how did you guys managed to get to the end before the rest of us?" Nekomaru asked.

"She relied on Atua to push her down the right path, duh!" Hiyoko snapped out.

"Hiyoko, just saying Atua led her is a rather weak excuse," Mahiru pointed out. "We can't use the supernatural as an explanation."

"But we all came back from the dead," Teruteru commented.

"But it's also possible she just said that to them when in reality she was just checking the confetti as a trail," Sakura said.

"And yet, there's also the chance that she didn't see them either," Peko said. "She could've traversed the maze normally like the rest of us only to make it to the end first."

"And neither side can definitively said as true," Kirumi said.

"So, we're stuck at a dead-end again?" Leon asked.

Nekomaru clenched his fists as he growled. "Confound it!"

"Confound it?" Chihiro said with a raised eyebrow.

"The killer can't be this smart!" Nekomaru howled out. "We always figure out who did it! There has to be a clue we're missing…r-right?"

Panic spread throughout the room again. Some would attempt to save face. Celestia, for example, scanned everyone's facial expressions for any ticks or tells. Angie would keep her smile on as she held Hiyoko and Hifumi's hands. However, everyone else lacked such self-control. Tears would drip down from Chihiro and Mikan's eyes, Taka and Kaede sweat heavily, Rantaro's eyes dart to each of his fellow students, and Sakura and Gundham clenched their fists in anger.

"Damn," Monokuma spoke up. "You guys are really stuck, aren't ya?"

"Don't taunt us right now, bear!" Gundham commanded.

"We need to focus!" Nekomaru shouted.

"Focus, right, right, right," Monokuma said with giggle. "I'll let you all focus. I just really wanted to say I really love how messy you've guys made this so far. I mean, you all gotta admit a trial isn't interesting if it's straightforward, am I right?"

"Oh yeah," Kokichi said with a snicker. "It's boring if there's no challenge."

"Please, stop humoring him," Kaede said to Kokichi.

"Well, maybe I can think of a way to make it more challenging," Monokuma said. "How about a ten-minute time limit?"

…

"WHAT?!" Everyone shouted in unison.

"Upupup!" Monokuma covered his mouth as his giggled. "Oh, don't act so surprised. I've told you guys that there's a time-limit before."

"But this-this isn't fair!" Sayaka shouted. "We haven't even gone over everything!"

"Awww, well isn't that just too DAMN BAD!" Monokuma growled. "I control the game, I can make and change the rules whenever I want! So…if you all really want to get out of this, I recommend finding the killer real sooooon~"

"Shit!" Mondo shouted.

"Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh god," Miu grabbed the sides of her head.

"Celeste, can you please find out who's lying?!" Teruteru begged.

Celestia had a frown across her face. "I'm…sorry. Whoever the killer is, they've been choosing their words carefully."

"So, you're saying you don't know anything?" Ryoma glared daggers into the goth gambler.

"I can say one thing for certain," Celestia glared back at the tennis player, "Angie, Kokichi, and Mukuro are all telling the truth. They didn't set up the shotgun trap."

"Well, we're still screwed, man!" Leon shouted.

"Wait, Celestia," Rantaro spoke up. "What you just said gave me an idea."

"Oh?" Celestia covered her mouth. "What is it?"

"You said that the killer is choosing their words carefully and Angie, Kokichi, and Mukuro couldn't have set the trap," Rantaro explained. "But what if they still killed Kaito even if they didn't set the trap?"

"What do you mean by that, Rantaro?" Kaede asked. "The person who set up the shotgun trap would have to be the killer."

"But let's say this. What if someone spotted the wire trap beforehand, but instead of stepping over it, they waited for Kaito to arrive before pushing him into the trap."

"P-push him?!" Nekomaru gasped.

"Would that even count?" Teruteru asked. "Shouldn't the person who set the trap count as the killer?"

"Or would both of them be guilty?" Kirumi asked.

"Hey!" Hiyoko shouted at Monokuma. "How about you tell us, stupid bear?"

Monokuma had actually become quite invested in the progression of the trial as he leaned forward in his throne. "Well, this sort of scenario was bound to happen one of these days, huh?" Monokuma hopped up to his feet, standing on his throne as he looked towards the Heavens to decree. "For incidents involving traps and a different person pushing the victim into it, both the trap setter and the pusher will count as killers! However, since there is only one victim this time, unlike the double murders you must choose which killer will be found guilty."

Rantaro smirked. "Thank you."

"Hmmm?" Monokuma's proud grandstanding shifted to confusion as he tilted his head. "What are you thanking me for?"

Rantaro chuckled slightly. "You just confirmed my theory without realizing it."

Monokuma went silent for a moment.

Realizing just how badly Rantaro had baited Monokuma into slipping up, the rest of the student body burst into a fit of laughter. Ibuki, Hiyoko, and Miu even going out of their way to point at the plush bear, mocking him even further. A quiet growl escaped Monokuma's lips.

"A-as if!" the bear said, clearly in denial of his humiliation. "You little brats still don't know either of the killers, so….YOU'RE STILL STUCK~"

Everyone's laughter quickly quieted down. That's right. They had a duty to complete. To expose Kaito's murder and survive. Yet, Monokuma was right. They didn't know who set up the trap, and they especially didn't know who pushed Kaito. Discussion broke out amongst them once more, with doubt once again filling the room.

'There has to be something we're forgetting,' Sayaka thought to herself. 'At least one clue.' Sayaka took a quick look around to the group. It was clear that the time limit Monokuma had just imposed on them was getting to everyone. Taka and Mondo were gripping their podium's tightly, Chihiro has panting heavily, Tenko was sweating heavily, even Ibuki was panicking with froth spewing from her mouth.

'This is bad. Think, Sayaka, thing! What else did I find while investigating?!' Sayaka tapped her chin furiously as she retraced her steps. 'Wait, that ghost cutout! It was right by the exit! Kaito screamed when he saw it then…'

Sayaka paused as she reached an epiphany. A rather troubling epiphany. If Kaito was so scared that he screamed at a cardboard cutout, it would make sense for him to have jumped and stumble a bit. Then she thought back to when she heard Kaito's final scream. She heard another voice get startled just before the shotgun shot off.

'Kaito wasn't pushed, he…he got bumped into,' Sayaka thought before muttering to herself. "It…was an accident."

Tenko happened to hear Sayaka's muttering. "What was that, Sayaka?"

With Tenko's question gathering everyone's attention, Sayaka spoke louder. "I just remembered. Right by exit of the maze, there was was a cardboard cutout of a ghost sticking out."

"Y-yeah!" Kaede said. "Kaito was scared really easily. He must've jumped when he saw it."

"But Kaito wasn't the only person that was scared by it," Sayaka explained. "Someone else shouted right after he did. That other person must've jumped too…That other person didn't push Kaito…they bumped into him."

"So, it was an accident then?" Celestia crossed her arms. "That makes me wonder, would that person still be executed?"

"…From the way I was executed, I would say yes," Chiaki frowned. 'Whoever set up the trap must've hoped for this,' the gamer thought to herself. 'Kaito…I'm sorry. Whoever killed you may have found a way out of this…'

'A perfect setup by the killer.' Celestia couldn't help but be impressed. 'Maybe I should've tried something like this back at Hope's Peak.'

"O-ok, but…you know who killed then?" Gonta asked. "Gonta need to know who hurt Kaito!"

"W-wow, hold on, man!" Leon shouted. "I mean, can really just get some guy killed because of an accident? That's messed up, yo!"

"Y-yeah!" Nekomaru agreed.

"It's us or them, bitch!" Miu shouted. "I ain't dying to let some jackoff live because he can't stand up right!"

In a rather startling change in attitude and emotion, tears began to pour down from Ibuki's eyes. Everyone was a bit put off by how drastic the change was as they watched her wipe away her tears. "I…I know…I know who did it."

I'm so sorry this took so long only for it to come out so sloppily. With Christmas, New Years, and work all happening so close together, it all piled on top of me. It also made me break my promise of getting Chapter 2 done by the end of 2023. I'm sorry about that.

As for this part itself, I have a lot to say, but can't give it away. Obviously, I'm still not following the game's way of trial gameplay. Anyways, I really feel like I struggled with everyone's characterization this time around. I feel like Hiyoko's really flanderized. And with Sayaka, Kaede, Mahiru, and Rantaro being the voices of reason, Chiaki, Kirumi, Sakura, and Peko being stoic, and they can feel samey. Plus, a lot of the cast felt like they're really quiet. Maybe I'm just worrying too much. Let me know what you think.

Next part should be done quicker though. I promise. I really want to do both Chapter 3 and 4 by the end of the year. Honestly, Chapter 3 might be my favorite just from the planning. 4 will be cool. Still stuck in 5's planning though. Anyways, thank you for your patience and kind words. Leave your comments below and I'll hear from you all soon.