"Let's begin with a basic explanation of the class trial! So, your votes will determine the results. If you can figure out 'whodunnit' then only they will receive punishment. But if you pick the wrong one…" Monokuma let out a demented chuckle, not hiding his excitement about what was to come. "Then I'll punish everyone besides the blackened, and the one that deceived everyone else will graduate!"
"And the killer is really one of us?" TK asked.
"Of course!" Monokuma answered the blond. TK sighed, even if it was small, a part of him was hoping that the bear was lying the whole time.
"Okay then… everyone close your eyes, and whoever did it, raise your hand!" Taka ordered and closed his eyes. Everyone looked at him with deadpanned expressions.
"Don't be a goddamn idiot. Why the hell would they raise their hand?" Mondo groaned while dragging a hand down his face.
"Before we move on and start the trial, can I ask a question real quick?" Kyoko spoke up to move on from Taka's dumb suggestion. "What's going on with… those pictures?"
Taka and Sakura looked at the picture of Junko that was next to them and TK did the same with the picture of Sayaka. It was a disturbing reminder of the friends they lost.
"I'd feel awful if they got left out just because they died. Friendship penetrates even death's barrier!" Monokuma cheered.
"Friendship… penetrates?" Hifumi said with his mouth agape. He was also sweating and TK wanted to move away from him but decided against it just in case Monokuma would punish him for it.
"Okay, but what about that other empty seat?" Celeste asked and everyone looked at the space between Hina and Hiro. It wasn't occupied by anyone or picture. "There were only fifteen of us to begin with, so why are there sixteen seats?"
"Oh, no reason. It's just that our little courtroom here can technically fit up to sixteen people," Monokuma answered. He then rubbed his paws together in excitement. "Okay, that about does it for the preamble. Get ready to get started! First up is the case summary. Now, let the class trial… begin!"
'Alright, TK, the trial is about to begin. You did the best you could and were able to get as much evidence in the time you were given,' TK looked around him and saw everyone was preparing for the trial as well. 'It's also not just your life on the line but everyone else's as well. So no pressure.'
It felt like the room started spinning as words shot out of everyone's mouths, like a bullet being shot from a gun.
"I assert that the one who was murdered was Miss Sayaka Maizono!" Taka declared.
"...Yeah, we know that part already," Hiro said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"And the murder took place in Takeru's room," Byakuya continued before the discussion got off topic.
"In the bathroom," Hina added.
"So it seems most likely that the killer must have taken her by surprise while she was in the bathroom," Chihiro said before tears pricked her eyes. "She didn't even have a chance to resist…"
"Hold on!" TK interjected. "I know that you spent most of your time in the gym so you probably didn't get the chance to look in my room, but the people who did can agree with me that my room had been greatly damaged. So it's safe to assume that there must've been a struggle."
"A struggle? Between who… and who?"
"Between Sayaka and the killer," TK answered.
"So you're saying… Sayaka wasn't caught by surprise in the bathroom…?" Chihiro clarified and TK nodded.
"She must have been attacked in the main room first, then she ran to the bathroom to try and hide. The killer followed her in, and that's where they finished the job…" Celeste grimly speculated.
"That much should have been obvious after taking one look at the scene. It shouldn't even need explaining," Byakuya said, annoyed that they had to explain something obvious.
"S-Sorry…" Chihiro apologized with her head.
"…Okay, so what's next?" Hiro asked.
"Next is the subject of the murder weapon," Sakura answered the clairvoyant.
"Wow… this is starting to sound like a real trial!" Hifumi said with amusement.
The room felt like it spun again as they started to talk about the next topic of interest.
"So what was used to kill her?" Sakura asked.
"There was some kind of sharp object thrust into her stomach. Without a doubt, that is the murder weapon!" Taka exclaimed with determination.
"So the killer used some random knife they had on them…" Mondo said.
"Hold on," TK interrupted the biker. TK then quickly explained himself when he saw he upset Mondo when he interrupted him. "It was a knife, but it wasn't some random knife. It was actually a kitchen knife."
"Huh? A kitchen knife…?" Mondo repeated.
"During the investigation, I discovered one of the kitchen knives was missing," TK told them.
"Which means that knife must be the murder weapon," Sakura determined.
"Ohh… yeah, I guess that makes sense," Mondo said after listening to their reasoning. "You could sorta see the weapon stickin' out of her stomach. And if you look real close, I could totally see that being a kitchen knife."
"Okay, so the murder weapon was a kitchen knife. But where does that get us? I mean, we all know TK killed her, right!?" Leon said, and TK felt a little betrayed by his words. But Leon was right, they've only talked about how Sayaka was attacked and the weapon the murderer used. That's not enough evidence to clear his name or pinpoint the murderer.
"That's r-right… Takeru's room was the s-scene of the crime. What more proof do you n-need?" Toko said and TK saw that a few of his peers agreed with her sentiment.
"Would you wait a second! I told you I'm–" TK tried to defend himself but Kyoko interrupted him.
"Let's draw our conclusions after we've presented our arguments. Otherwise, what's the point of the trial?"
"Well we can talk all we want, it's not gonna change that conclusion," Leon said and TK was confused. He expected this kind of behavior from Toko and Hifumi, but not Leon. He didn't know why the baseball player was very adamant that he was the killer.
"I don't think that's true at all. I'm sure if we keep at it, something new will reveal itself," Kyoko said and TK felt relieved that someone didn't suspect him of murder.
"You really believe that…?" Hiro asked in complete disbelief. Kyoko didn't respond, choosing to look at TK as if she was telling him to solve this case.
'She's right. There's a breakthrough somewhere I just know it. Because I sure as hell know I didn't kill Sayaka,' TK thought to himself.
"So I guess there's no question that the kitchen knife was the murder weapon. But where does that get us?" Leon asked.
"T-Takeru must have taken it f-from the kitchen right?" Toko hypothesized. "He did it in s-secret, when nobody was in the d-dining hall…"
"I didn't take the knife from the kitchen," TK defended himself and Toko looked at him with disdain.
"Next you're g-gonna say you're not the k-killer, right? Go ahead and say it all y-you want…!" Toko mocked him.
"What if I have a witness?" TK declared and Toko and a few others looked stunned. "Tell them, Hina!"
"...Huh?" Hina said, completely lost in what was happening.
"Remember what you told me in the dining hall earlier?" TK said to help jog her memory.
"Oh, yeah, I was in the dining hall last night," Hina revealed to everyone.
"And the knife disappeared while you were in the dining hall, right?" TK asked and she nodded her head.
"That's right."
"And when you were there, did you see me come into the dining hall?" TK asked and Hina started to dig through her memories of the night prior.
"Umm… no, I don't think so…" Hina answered.
"You don't 'think' so?" Byakuya remarked, not liking the girl's unsureness in her answer.
"...No, he definitely wasn't there!" Hina said with more confidence.
"The knife was taken while Hina was in the dining hall. But not once did I step foot into the dining hall or kitchen last night. So there is no way I could've taken the knife!" TK summarized while proving his innocence.
"Okay, th-then what about this…? What if i-idiot swimmer girl and M-Makoto are in on it together, a-and lying to protect each other?" Toko suggested, and a few of the others believed her accusation.
"Idiot swimmer girl!?" Hina repeated in disbelief before remembering the other thing Toko said. "Oh, and more importantly, why would I get involved in something like that!?"
"Oh, come o-on, we've all seen how ch-chummy you two have b-been," Toko smirked, and TK saw some of the others nod in agreement. "Y-You even call him b-by that p-pet n-name, TK."
"I said you all could call me that on the first day!" TK exclaimed, trying his best to defend his friend. Toko glared daggers at him but he didn't waver.
"Anyway, I'd like to ask the bear…" Byakuya spoke up to get everyone back on topic. "If there is an accomplice, do they also become 'blackened'?"
"So you ask, and so I shall answer!" Monokuma cheered. He seemed a little too excited to be able to take part in the trial. "Each murder is allowed to have an accomplice, but only the one who does the killing will get to graduate."
"So in other words, two people can work together, but one of them has no chance of profiting from it…" Kyoko summarized.
"Then there's no way anyone would work together, right…?" Mondo stated and TK had to agree with him.
"But… what if they did work together, and they just didn't know about the rule?" Chihiro suggested and they all heard Monokuma groan.
"Good grief! Enough already! No, okay!? There are no accomplices in this case!" Monokuma quickly covered his mouth, but TK could see that he was smirking. "...Oops! Did I say that out loud…?"
"Well, anyway…" TK cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. He was grateful for Monokuma's "mess up" because now it would be easier to clear his name and not drag anyone down with him. "I didn't take the knife. So I'm not the killer!"
"Okay, so then… who did take the knife?" Chihiro asked.
"Hina seems the most obvious candidate. After all, she just said she was in the dining hall…" Celeste said and TK saw the color drain Hina's face. He felt horrible that he kinda threw Hina under the bus to try to prove his innocence.
"N-No way! I swear it wasn't me!" Hina exclaimed to defend herself.
"Sure, but can you or anyone else prove that?" Hifumi asked while pointing an accusing finger at the swimmer.
"I can," Sakura said out of the blue. Some jumped when they heard her voice and the person it originated from.
"That's right! Sakura was with me the entire time I was drinking my tea…" Hina said quickly after remembering she had an alibi.
"Uhh… I hate to have to ask, but just to be sure, Saura's…" Leon said while looking around him.
"Me," Sakura said with a slight frown.
"...Right," Leon quickly said with a nervous grin. He was quietly praying that he didn't upset the girl.
"But then… couldn't either one of them have grabbed the knife?" Hiro spoke his thoughts out loud.
"Actually, no. Because… um… well…" Hina said nervously.
"Just spit it out already!" Mondo demanded.
"I stayed in Hina's room last night," Sakura revealed, filling the room with gasps.
"I got so scared thanks to those creepy videos. I wasn't really thinking, I just asked her to stay over," Hina explained. "Which means we have airtight alibis!"
"You s-stayed over…? Doesn't that v-violate one of the school r-regulations?" Toko asked.
"We're not allowed to sleep anywhere but the dorms, but it doesn't say we have to stay in our assigned room…" Chihiro said, remembering what the rules stated what they can and can't do. "So… I don't think that's a problem."
"It IS a problem!" Taka exclaimed, slamming his hands onto the podium. "A boy and a girl spending the night together!? It's… it's… unwholesome!"
"But… I'm a girl," Sakura said, her frown not leaving her face.
"Wh–!? You are!?" Taka said in shock. He then started to vigorously bow. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!"
"But if it wasn't either of you, then what other possibility is there?" Celeste said while twirling a strand of her hair.
"Actually, there is one other possibility. Right, Hina?" Sakura said and everyone turned to the swimmer.
"Oh yeah, that's true! One other person did come to the dining hall while we were there," Hina said after remembering more of what happened the night before.
"Why didn't you say so in the first place…?" Byakuya said while grinding his teeth in annoyance.
"Well, because… They're not here anymore," Hina said sadly.
'Not here anymore? Please don't tell me it's…' TK didn't have to finish his thought because Hina answered it for him.
"Sayaka. She's the one who came up to the dining hall," Hina said and everyone's eyes widened. "And then later… she wound up dead…"
"Then… Sayaka is the one who took the knife…?" TK asked after the initial shock.
"That's the only possibility," Sakura answered before adding what she remembered the night prior. "And thinking back on it, she was acting kind of unusual. When she came into the dining hall, she didn't even look at us. She just went straight to the kitchen. As she left, she said she just wanted a drink of water. But most likely…"
"Then the person who took the knife was the victim herself!" Taka deduced, even though everyone already knew that.
"She probably took it for self-defense," TK tried to reason, but he wasn't so sure himself.
"So you're saying the knife she took… was then taken from her, and she was killed with it?" Byakuya summarized what TK said and he nodded. "In that case, you may not have taken the knife, but you still could have killed her."
"What!?" TK exclaimed.
"S-See!? He did do it, a-after all!" Toko stated.
"Hold on! That's not right!" TK tried to defend himself, but he could feel his words mostly falling on deaf ears.
"So that's how you would twist the argument and send us all off in the wrong direction…!?" Hifumi said angrily. "Hm-hmm… You possess a most terrifying talent…"
'Shit! I'm back where we started,' TK thought while frustratingly running his hands through his hair. He looked around him and saw almost everyone either giving him looks of disappointment or disgust. 'If I don't convince them that I'm not the killer then we're all dead!'
"Hold on. It's still too early to decide conclusively that Takeru is the killer, wouldn't you say?" Kyoko broke the tension and TK was a little happy to have the attention off of him. "Because you see, if the room did belong to the killer, then they did something most bewildering. And until we unravel that little mystery, you simply can't declare that he's the killer."
"Bewildering? What the hell are you talking about!?" Mondo exclaimed, confused by what she was saying. TK shared the biker's confusion because he was having a hard time remembering what was weird about his room, except for the obvious.
"Something was missing from the scene of the crime that by all rights should have been there. You know what I'm talking about, don't you?" Kyoko said the last part to TK and he racked his brain trying to remember what was missing.
'What would be missing from my room? It definitely wasn't the katana, my bed, or my tool kit. I also know it wasn't my posters or pictures because what use would the killer have for those? What would the killer steal from my room to cover their tracks?' TK frustratedly ran a hand through his hair and when he did that the answer hit him like a truck.
"There wasn't a single strand of hair on the floor!" TK exclaimed and Kyoko nodded approvingly.
"So… the culprit removed some evidence?" Chihiro summed up.
"Yes. Since it's my room, why would I clean up all the hair if I was the killer? That would be pointless because it would make sense to find my hair in my room," TK exclaimed and he could see he was winning a few of his classmates over.
"The reason all the hair was gone… was to remove any trace that Sayaka had ever been there. That makes sense, does it not?" Celeste tried to dispute, but Kyoko quickly shot it down.
"No. If that were the case, they would have had to do something about the body itself, not just her hair."
"Ah-ha-ha! Yes, very true, very true!" Hifumi laughed as if he added anything to the conversation.
"Okay, then why wasn't there any hair on the ground?" Leon questioned.
"The killer got rid of it all, of course. To remove any trace that they had ever been there," Kyoko answered.
"Wait, then that means…!" Mondo said, after realizing what Kyoko was saying. TK also saw that most of his classmates understood what Kyoko was talking about.
"Precisely. It's simply beyond reason to believe that the room's owner and the killer are one and the same," Kyoko explained to them and TK mentally cheered, glad to have the stress of being a suspect off of his shoulders.
"Then… Takeru isn't the culprit?" Chihiro spoke up.
"But are you sure we can decide something so important based solely on the absence of some hair!?" Taka interjected, and TK remembered that there were still a few of his classmates that still believed he was the killer.
"No. There are other reasons that prove why Takeru couldn't have done it," Kyoko revealed.
"I would like to hear these reasons…" Sakura said gruffly.
"Do you remember anything remarkable about the bathroom at the scene? Sayaka was attacked in the main room first, then fled into the bathroom, right?" Kyoko asked to jog everyone's memories about what they already discussed.
"Yeah, then they ran after her, got into the bathroom, and stabbed her…" Mondo confirmed.
"And how did the killer get into the bathroom? Did they have any trouble with it?" Kyoko asked, mainly to the people who actually investigated the scene.
"What do you mean…?" Celeste asked, not entirely knowing what Kyoko was talking about.
"It's fairly certain that the killer had some trouble getting into the bathroom. There was clear evidence left behind. Do you remember, Takeru?" Kyoko asked the blond boy and he instantly understood what she was talking about.
"You're talking about the doorknob, right?" TK asked and she nodded.
"Huh? The doorknob? What doorknob?" Hiro asked, completely lost by the conversation and TK assumed the whole trial as well.
"The doorknob for my bathroom. The killer broke it to get in," TK explained to everyone, well mostly to Hiro. "The killer removed most of the screws, and the whole thing is about ready to fall off."
"But what does it mean?" Chihiro asked.
"In trying to bypass the lock, they ended up nearly removing the entire doorknob," Kyoko explained to everyone. "This is another most bewildering act for the room's owner. It proves Takeru is beyond suspicion."
"So what, you're saying he wouldn't break the door in his own room? But if the only choice you have is to break it, you break it! There's nothing 'bewildering' about it!" Leon questioned her logic.
"You still don't see? Okay, then…" Kyoko smirked devilishly. "Let's take a look at how the incident unfolded. Hopefully, that will help you understand…"
'Why is Leon so adamant about me being the killer? I thought we were friends.' TK started to feel betrayed because he thought that Leon would be one of the people to first defend him and not be one of his main accusers.
"The incident took place in Takeru's room. Sayaka was first attacked in the main room. She then fled into the bathroom" Kyoko started.
"Then the killer ran after her and they got into the bathroom," Mondo continued the conversation.
"At that point, the killer had to try and bust down the door because Sayaka had locked it," Leon said.
"You're wrong!" TK shot into the conversation. "Only the girls have locks on their bathrooms."
"Yes… Now that you mention it, that is true," Sakura said to back up his claim.
"Then… why didn't your bathroom door open…?" Chihiro asked meekly.
"It was stuck," TK answered.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Leon asked, confused.
"My bathroom door doesn't fit in the frame. Monokuma can even testify to that," TK said and everyone turned to the bear who was having the time of their life.
"Yup! True as true can be!" Monokuma answered before snickering. "But ya know… you're supposed to be the Ultimate Lucky Student, right? But to have such a cruddy door. Puhuhu…! That's not lucky at all!"
"So the reason the door didn't open was just because it was stuck," Kyoko said to get everyone back on topic. But the killer didn't know that and assumed it was locked. So they tore apart the doorknob to get in."
"Okay, but then why would the killer even think the door was locked in the first place? Everyone should have known you can't lock any of the boys' bathrooms," Celeste questioned.
"The killer could easily make that mistake, thanks to one important detail about the scene of the crime," Kyoko said with a confident smirk.
"They didn't know it was my room," TK stated.
"What!? Are you saying the culprit didn't even know where he was? That's… inconceivable!" Hifumi squealed in shock.
"And yet, he's absolutely right," Kyoka said.
"SAYWHAAA!?" Hifumi screamed.
"Well, to be more specific, what the killer didn't know was that Takeru and Sayaka had switched rooms. Which led to the misunderstanding about the bathroom," Kyoko explained. "If Sayaka had been in her own room, then…"
"Then there would have been a lock on the door, and they would've had to break through…!" Taka exclaimed when he realized what Kyoko was implying.
"So they had no idea how unnecessary their actions were," Sakura sighed.
"Ultimately, we can't know if it came open by force or simply by accident, but the killer must have been considerably confused, with no idea how they got the door opened," Kyoko theorized.
"Regardless, it was a pointless act," Byakuya stated. "Wasting time trying to break down a door that wasn't locked is…"
"Not something I would do since I would've known why it wasn't opening," TK answered for the progeny.
"That is… a definite possibility," Byakuya reluctantly agreed.
"So the killer would have to be someone who didn't know they'd switched rooms…?" Chihiro presumed.
"Then Takeru c-couldn't have done it…!" Toko finally accepted.
'That's what I've been telling you this whole time!' TK said in his head, though he was glad that just about everyone believed he wasn't the killer. Now, he needs to find out who the real killer is and save their lives.
