A/N: You can thank Project Eden's Garden for getting me back into the Danganronpa vibe after a hard semester of school work weighing me down. That first chapter was amazing. I both love and hate it for how it made me feel at the end, and that's exactly what that kind of game is supposed to do.
Anyway, It took several days, but I finally finished the entire trial. While it might not be the best ending, nor the most original, it is the one I am the most satisified. So please, enjoy the final trial of this story. I'll have way more to say at the end the epilogue, but that will take a bit longer than I expected to finish since google docs and/or I did an oopsie and the few thousand words I wrote ahead of time for the epilogue have just been yeeted into cyberspace. That...is fine. I'll get over that set back. Physically at least. I'll leave my thoughts and feelings until that final chapter.
CLASS TRIAL IN SESSION
Shuichi Saihara.
Kaede Akamatsu.
Rantaro Amami.
Kirumi Tojo.
Tenko Chabashira.
Kokichi Oma.
K1B0 "Keebo".
These are the seven Ultimate Students that have thus far survived the killing game of the Ultimate Academy. Everyone else had died one way or another. Now the last seven stood standing at the final trial, the portraits of their fallen friends and allies staring back at them as the survivors readied themselves to end the game that robbed the victims of their lives.
"I doubt there's any need for me to rehash the rules again at this point," Monokuma noted as he leaned on one of his throne's armrests. "But just so everyone is on the same page, Shuichi, could you explain the purpose of this trial? Since you were the one who proposed it."
"Yes." Shuichi gave a slight nod. "This trial is to solve the murder of the victim, Rin Wakuri."
"We already have a good idea as to who killed our dear old Rinny!" Kokichi added with a big smile, one that must have been forced based on the topic of discussion.
"It was the Mastermind of this killing game." Kirumi clarified.
"Oh? You think it's the Mastermind?" Monokuma tilted his head cutely. "How do you even know there is a Mastermind? Didn't the Mastermind, Tsumugi Shirogane, die after the first trial, the trial of Miss Kirumi Tojo? She claimed she was the Mastermind, and she was executed for getting caught for her crime. There is no Mastermind in this killing game now. Just me, Monokuma!"
"No. That's not true. There is a Mastermind still lurking somewhere here, and they're the one who killed Rin." Shuichi declared.
"But how can you be so sure? We couldn't find the Mastermind anywhere!" Tenko exclaimed. "I mean, I know there must be one somewhere, but how can we find them like this?"
"It will be hard to do, but I'm confident we can do it. We can find the Mastermind." Shuichi reassured his friend. "But before that, I believe we should solve exactly how Rin was killed."
"Then where do we begin? This case is kinda all over the place." Rantaro frowned as he rubbed the back of his head.
"I think we should begin by explaining everything we know about Rin. by doing so, we'll understand what he was doing before he died." Shuichi began.
"Then we should begin with his talent, yes?" Kirumi proposed.
"His talent? Was Rin not the Ultimate Hope?" Keebo asked.
"He was, but we discovered he had other talents before he became the Ultimate Hope," Kaede explained. "When he was our age, he was the Ultimate Attorney, a master of law. It said as much in the motive video he received."
"Motive video? I thought he gave that back to Monokuma without watching it." Keebo frowned.
"He did, but Monokuma must have given it back to him after the trial," Shuichi said before shooting a glare at the bear. "Rin was promised a memory he had lost, but Monokuma decided to add in a 'bonus' video along with that memory. Isn't that, Monokuma?"
"Puhuhu… Well, he was such a good sport about it, during that second trial. I figured he should be rewarded for his…virtuous personality." Monokuma grinned.
"Reward, huh? Not sure that's what I'd call it." Rantaro sighed as a dark look entered his eyes. "That motive video still makes me sick."
"Yes. A motive video from a past killing game, toying with the past Rin could not remember and taunting him with the terrors of his life." Kirumi grimaced with a snarl.
"Yep! That's another thing we learned from the video." Kokichi added. "Rin survived a past killing game! That makes him an Ultimate Survivor like Rantaro!"
"So Rin survived a past killing game?" Keebo pondered. "Then…do we know why in the world Rin would be in another killing game if he survived his previous one?"
"No, we don't got a clue. It's just like Rantaro's case." Tenko frowned.
"...No. We do know why Rin was in this killing game." Shuichi refuted.
"Huh? We do?" The martial artists blinked in confusion.
"Yes. Kokichi told me something interesting earlier." Shuichi began. "Before performing their unknowable victim trick, Rin told Kokichi a secret in order to get him to work together for the trick."
"Really?" Kaede asked before turning to the small teen in question. "What was the secret?"
"Weeeeell…If Shuichi really thinks it's important for the case…" Kokichi smirked coyly as he pressed a finger to his cheek. "Rin told me that this entire killing game was scripted by the Mastermind, and that he had stolen a script before entering the killing game."
"A script? You mean the mastermind planned everything about this killing game?" Rantaro frowned.
"Isn't that impossible? I mean, no one could predict everything that happened here, right? And they couldn't force us to do everything they wanted up to this point." Tenko shook her head.
"No…it is quite possible." Kirumi frowned. "Junko Enoshima had a similar talent to predict outcomes, did she not."
"That's right. Junko Enoshima was known as the Ultimate Fashionista early on before being known as the Ultimate Despair, but she actually had the talent of the Ultimate Analysist as well." Keebo clarified. "That was the reason she fell to despair. She could predict everything that happened in her life and grew bored of everything. Only despair could excite and surprise her."
"So the Mastermind is some kind of analyst, then?" Rantaro asked.
"Maybe. Rin did mention something about how the mastermind's talent let them predict the outcome." Kokichi nodded.
"I get it… That's what those whiteboards were for…" Kaede realized. "That was the script that Rin stole, wasn't it."
"Yes, that's what I believe. At least, I believe those whiteboards showed the killing orders of the script Rin had." Shuichi nodded.
"But there were two different whiteboards that showed different things!" Tenko shouted. "Only one of them was the outcomes we're familiar with. What's that second board for?"
"Not only that, but if Rin knew what was going to happen, then why didn't he do anything to prevent it? I'm not blaming Rin for anything. But that has to be asked if we are supposed to believe this script really did exist and that Rin had it." Rantaro pointed out.
"Yes…that second board was a script, too." Shuichi began with a stern look. "However, that board was the original script that Rin stole, according to what he told Kokichi."
"Original script?" Rantaro repeated.
"Rinny explained it to me like this," Kokichi began. "He said that he stole a script and was prepared to derail the killing game with it once he was here, but the Mastermind realized he had stolen a script and made a new one to account for him changing things."
"I see… Then one board shows the original script Rin had gotten while the other shows how the script changed into what we know and endured." Rantaro nodded. "That's why Rin couldn't do anything about it. The script changed and he stopped knowing what was going to happen."
"Yeah…that also explains how he knew about my plan." Kaede averted her gaze. "He knew that I was planning a murder thanks to the script, and he stopped it."
"But Tsumugi killing Kirumi wasn't something Rin was prepared for." Tenko frowned.
"So that's how it all got derailed…" Keebo sighed.
"Wait…I have a question." Kirumi spoke up. "Why would Rin steal a script? You make it sound like he wanted to get into this killing game."
"That's because he did," Shuichi answered. "He forced his way into this killing game. He wanted to participate."
"Wh-What!? Is he insane?!" Tenko shouted.
"That's not possible! There's no way Rin wanted to be here in this killing game!" Kaede argued.
"But he did. There's evidence for it." Shuichi noted. "For one, he said so himself to Kokichi."
"That's right. I still remember how he said it. He specifically said he 'forced' his way into this killing game."
"Not only that but there's also how things were at the very start of this game," Rantaro added. "Monokuma and the kubs acted like they had no idea who Rin was back during our first days at this academy."
Monokuma stares at me blankly for a few moments, giving me a look that just says 'What'. He then slowly turns towards his cubs, his face turning a dark shade of red.
"My cute, adorable, little cubs… What the HELL did you do to this one!?"
"Eeeh!?" The Monokubs cried out.
"What the hell did you cubs do!? Why is he even here? Why does he not have any memories? An amnesiac in a killing game is the LAST thing we need. How is he supposed to kill people if he doesn't have memories of what's waiting for him in the outside world!? I thought you all handled everything, so why does this guy just stink like a half-assed job!?"
"I-It's not our fault!" Monotaro cried out.
"Th-The flashback light didn't work on him!" Monophanie explained quickly.
"It didn't work?" Monokuma questioned. "Why didn't it work on him!? Why is he even here!? There are supposed to be 16 Ultimates here to kill each other. Not to mention he's not a high schooler from the looks of it. What were you all thinking!?"
The Monokubs stammered for a bit, not able to come up with an actual answer.
"So… not even the so-called 'god of this new world' was expecting me. I was hoping you would tell me that I was an Ultimate, but it seems not even you know."
"Right. I remember that. He acted like Rin being here was a mistake." Tenko hummed.
"Right. But right after the first trial, that all changed." Rantaro pondered. "Rin was no longer an unknown. Tsumugi acted as though she knew who Rin was, and Monokuma right after acted the same."
"WE-KNOW...EVERYTHING-ABOUT-YOU-BASTARDS." Monodam said in his robotic voice.
"Know everything about us?" Shuichi questioned.
"Does that apply to me as well?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "I thought I wasn't supposed to be here and you all didn't have any information about me."
"I wouldn't worry about that now. Around the time of the first trial, we figured out exactly who you are." Monosuke explained.
"...What?" I questioned with a serious glare.
"He's right. Tsumugi was the one to figure it out first. That's how she knew to cosplay as your dead friends to get under your skin." Monophanie added.
"...WHAT!?" I asked again but with a more deathly serious and furious tone.
"Father apparently had already suspected that you were someone like that, but regardless, now we have ways to motivate you too, so look forward to the next motive!" Monotaro cheered as the Monokubs left.
"Yeah…that's the reason why Rin's motive video even existed…" Kaede began before her eyes shot open. "H-Hang on…! Doesn't that mean…that Monokuma knew who Rin was the entire time!?"
"I think so. I think, this entire time, Monokuma and the Mastermind knew exactly who Rin was and was ready for him to try to interfere. Rin might not have been originally planned for this killing game, but the moment he entered, he was an expected player, just like the rest of us." Shuichi stated. "Acting as though they didn't know Rin was just an act to make sure he played the part they wanted him to."
"What do you have to say about that, Monokuma?" Kokichi asked.
"Who can say?" Monokuma asked with a playful shrug. "But what does this have to do with Mister Wakuri's death? You can go on and on about who he was or how he got here, but it won't help you solve anything. It's pointless now, just like Mister Wakuri himself!"
"No, it will. This explains why Rin was here." Shuichi explained. "Rin stole a script for this killing game and forced his way into the game all so he could end it. He wanted to end the killing game and prevent anyone from dying, just as he told us several times."
"That has been his goal in this game before he changed, yes." Kirumi nodded. "Then are you saying that goal has something to do with his murder?"
"It has everything to do with it," Shuichi answered. "It was the very reason why he was murdered, and it's the mindset we have to think with in order to understand Rin's mindset during this case."
"We know that Rin allowed himself to die and planned for the eventuality," Rantaro said. "So by thinking like he did when he planned this, we can understand what position he was in and what exactly he did before he died."
"Exactly, and that will help prove how the Mastermind killed him." Shuichi nodded.
"Then hurry up and let's start debating! We've had enough build-up! Let's get this thing started!" Monokuma cheered, and with that cheer, the debate truly began.
"So Rin was trying to end the killing game before he died…" Kaede began. "How was he trying to do that?"
"Didn't he already ruin the killing game with Kokichi before his death?" Tenko asked with a raised eyebrow.
"He 'ruined' it, yes, but he seemed to want more than that." Rantaro thought out loud.
"So whatever he was doing yesterday was part of his plan for this case, right?" Kaede asked.
"What exactly was Rin doing yesterday? Did anyone see?" Tenko asked.
"I spoke with Rin near the end of the day, but I did not see what he had been doing." Kirumi frowned.
"Same here. We spoke a bit, setting up that meeting in Rantaro's lab for today, but I didn't see anything out of the ordinary aside from his bandaged hand." Kokichi explained.
"The same goes for me. I confronted him early that day, but he brushed my accusations off and laughed." Rantaro sighed.
"I spoke with Rin that day, too, but he shut me off before we could really speak." Keebo frowned. "When I woke back up, Rin was already dead."
"Hmm…I've got it." Shuichi snapped his fingers. "That meeting he set up with Kokichi, that was part of his plan."
"It was?" Kokichi tilted his head at the statement.
"Yes. That's why his body is there in Rantaro's lab." Shuichi explained.
"Huh? It is? Isn't Rin's body there because that's where he died?" Tenko asked.
"That's what we were supposed to believe." Shuichi began. "But that's not the truth. The Mastermind knew about Rin and Kokichi's meeting, and decided they would frame Kokichi and anyone else who knew about the meeting for Rin's death by putting Rin's body at the location the meeting was supposed to take place."
"Huh? How'd this supposed Mastermind know that?" Monokuma asked. "The only people who knew about this meeting were Mister Wakuri, Kokichi, and Rantaro, who eavesdropped on their conversation. How would the Mastermind know about the meeting, unless you're saying one of those three are the Mastermind."
"The mastermind could know about the meeting easily by using the sixth Monokub, the nanokubs." Shuichi rebuked. "By using them as the hidden cameras placed around the academy, the mastermind could easily learn about the meeting ahead of time."
"Ah, you found out about my little, nano-sized kubs?" Monokuma asked. "They're so freakin' cute I could just blow them up!"
"Stop trying to derail the conversation!" Tenko yelled.
"So the mastermind knew about the meeting and put Rin's body there in order to make it look like that was where he did, then?" Kirumi asked.
"Yes. by doing so, they–"
"No, that's wrong!" Kaede shouted, interrupting Shuichi.
"H-Huh? Kaede, what's wrong? Do you have a problem with what I said?" Shuichi asked.
"Yes. We investigated the body together, remember? That's why I'm surprised you would say this." Kaede frowned. "Maybe I'm missing something, but from what we found at the scene of the crime, there was no way that Rin died anywhere else. We all agreed to work together in this case, so I can't let any potential contradictions fly by me!"
With that proclamation, a rebuttal showdown began between the detective and pianist.
"For what you're saying to be true, the mastermind would have had to kill Rin somewhere else and then move Rin's body all the way up to Rantaro's lab. That accusation has several problems with it. For one, the blood Rin was sitting in was undisturbed! If he was moved from one place to another, there would be traces of blood showing the path the mastermind took to move Rin's body, nor would Rin be sitting in such a big, undisturbed pool of his own blood. Another thing, if Rin wasn't killed in Rantaro's lab, where was Rin really killed? Was there any other place where he might have been killed? If those questions can't be answered, your theory falls apart." Kaede explained.
"There is another place where Rin might have been killed, his dorm room, and there's evidence for it." Shuichi began to counter. "And just because Rin is sitting in a pool of his own blood does not mean he wasn't moved. The same was true for Kirumi's case. All the mastermind needs is a way to move Rin's body safely. Once in Rantaro's lab, they could have injured Rin's body more in order to cause it to bleed more, creating the pool of blood."
"Then how did the mastermind move Rin's body?" Kaede asked. "We all searched the entire campus, didn't we? And there was nothing else with traces of blood on it. I don't see how the mastermind could have moved the body. I mean, if Rin died in his dorm room as you said, then that would mean the mastermind moved Rin from the dormitories all the way up to the fifth floor where Rantaro's lab is. That's a long way to carry a body. He would have been seen by someone and there would have been a blood trail. There was no way the mastermind could have avoided that during a long trip like that."
"No, there was a way to prevent a blood trail." Shuichi refuted. "I managed to investigate the inside of Tsumugi's lab, and there I found big black equipment trunks used for carrying cosplaying supplies and photoshoot equipment. In one of those trunks, there was a large blood stain."
"A blood stain?" Kaede gasped.
"Yes. That's right The trunk was large enough for someone to fit inside if they were positioned correctly. And with this position as the mastermind, they could easily get into the locked lab no one else had access to." Shuichi explained. "I believe this was how the mastermind moved Rin to Rantaro's lab without leaving a trail of blood. There's more to prove this, actually, and it comes from your account, Kaede."
"M-My account?"
"You claim to have been the last one to see Rin last night. You told me you saw him going up the academy while dragging a big black case with him."
"W-Wait! Are you trying to say that wasn't Rin that I saw, but the Mastermind!?" Kaede asked.
"I am." Shuichi began. "You saw this person wearing one of Rin's purple jackets, but how could that be Rin then when his body is wearing a bleached white jacket?"
"The mastermind must have stolen a jacket from Rin's dorm and put it on as a disguise just in case someone saw them." Rantaro grimaced.
"So what Kaede actually saw last night…" Tenko began. "Was the Mastermind, disguised as Rin, dragging Rin's body in the trunk up to Rantaro's lab."
"That's…sick!" Kaede shouted.
"It is." Rantaro nodded solemnly. "I have a question, though. What makes you think the real location Rin died at was his dorm room? You mentioned how there was evidence."
"Yes, there is. At least, I'm sure there used to be plenty there." Shuichi let out a small growl. "However, when we tried to investigate Rin's room, there was an explosion, and fire destroyed most of the room's interior."
"An explosion!?" Keebo shouted. "How on earth did that happen?!"
"I don't know, but I'm sure it was a little present from the culprit, don't you think so Monokuma?" Shuichi asked the bear pointedly.
"I have no idea what you're trying to suggest, Shuichi." Monokuma snarled. "I'm not the one who killed Rin. How am I supposed to know?"
"The one who's controlling you did kill him though!" Tenko shrieked. "Just tell us! Why did the mastermind blow up Rin's room if it's not important to the case?"
"Who can say? Maybe it was Mister Wakuri's own doing. Maybe he didn't want you seeing whatever it was in his room." Monokuma suggested.
"That's not possible…is it?" Tenko said before turning to the others worriedly.
"You can't say for certain. After all, you have no idea what was in the room or why there was an explosion in the first place." Monokuma sighed. "Focusing on Mister Wakuri's room won't solve anything. Let's return to the case. You have a murderer to find, after all."
"No. Rin's dorm room is where he was murdered." Shuichi pressed. "If we discuss the room and the cause of the explosion, we can for certain determine what caused the explosion."
"...Fine. Then let's discuss the room." Monokuma pouted. "You say Mister Wakuri died in his room? Prove it! Then. We won't get anywhere until you do."
"It would be easy to prove if you had not destroyed the room's interior." Kirumi pointed out with a bit of frustration.
"How did the explosion even happen? For it to ignite the whole room, there must have been some explosion." Rantaro said.
"It was! It lit the whole room on fire!" Tenko exclaimed.
"Do you think there was a hidden mechanism that activated whatever the mastermind did to make that explosion?" Kokichi asked.
"I do not think so. The explosion did not happen immediately after we opened the door." Kirumi shook her head.
"Then could it have been a time bomb set up?" Kaede asked. "We already mentioned how the mastermind is probably someone with the analytical abilities to predict all our actions and write it into a script. So maybe they set things up so that their bomb would only explode at the exact moment they wanted or needed."
"That is plausible…but that still leaves the 'bomb' itself to figure out." Keebo frowned.
"Does it have to do with the shattered glass that was at the scene?" Kirumi proposed.
"I agree. I think this bomb was held in a glass container, which then exploded, shattering the container." Shuichi explained.
"So that means there was some kind of fire starter in the container. For there to be an explosion, there has to be some fuel or starter." Rantaro said. "Shuichi, you said it was Acetone, right?"
"That's right. Kirumi pointed out how the room smelled of strong Acetone." Shuichi nodded.
"Yes, I did. I can still recall how retching the stench was." Kirumi frowned as she held a hand over her nose.
"Acetone, huh? That's definitely something that can be used as fuel." Rantaro nodded with a hum. "But Acetone can't just ignite or explode by itself. There has to be something it's reacting with." Rantaro then paused before turning to Shuichi. "But I already explained all that to you, remember?"
"Yeah. You mentioned how the glycol ethers in the water paints in Angie's Lab, if mixed with Acetone, could create an explosion." Shuichi said.
"Then we've got it, don't we? The Mastermind used a chemical reaction between those ethers and the acetone in order to create the explosion! That's one mystery solved!"
"No, not yet." Kokichi cut Tenko off. "Just because we know the chemical reaction the mastermind used for the explosion, but we don't know how they timed it perfectly to create that explosion at the right time. If they just mixed the two chemicals together, it would have exploded in their face."
"Awwwww… And I thought I summed it up so nicely." Tenko groaned.
"If this was supposed to be a time bomb, then the mastermind must have done something to delay the explosion," Keebo said. "But how would they do that without being present?"
"Not to mention Rin was killed around midnight, meaning this bomb of theirs was sitting in the dorm room all night until the investigation began," Rantaro added.
"Was there any way to slow the reaction?" Kaede asked.
"No. Slowing the reaction in any way would potentially weaken the explosion or cause it to fail entirely." Kirumi replied.
"So they must have done something to prevent the reaction until the investigation started today." Tenko hummed.
"Hmm…I see." Shuichi gave a quick nod. "I got it. The mastermind put the ethers within a container."
"Huh? What do you mean? Didn't you already say that with the jar?" Rantaro asked.
"I did. The glass jar must have had some kind of chemical in it to start the fire. Most likely the Acetone." Shuichi began. "However, I believe that while the jar had held the Acetone in it, something else containing the ethers needed for the reaction was put into the jar."
"So the ethers were also being held in a separate container?" Kokichi questioned as he pressed a finger into his cheek and tilted his head.
"I see. Acetone is acidic. Depending on what it was put in, the Acetone would slowly dissolve it." Kirumi explained.
"Once the container was dissolved, the ethers would make contact with the Acetone and react." Keebo finished. "I see, but what would be the container the ethers were put in?"
"It had to be something that would dissolve slowly in Acetone," Shuichi said. "So I think it was a tennis ball the mastermind got from Ryoma's lab."
"A tennis ball?" Kaede asked.
"Tennis balls are covered in felt and are made of rubber. They also tend to be hollow on the inside, which is only filled with air and gases to make it sturdy." Rantaro hummed. "It could work. If it sits in a vat of Acetone overnight, the ball might dissolve enough to cause the reaction when it did, but how would the mastermind get the ethers in the ball without destroying it?"
"That's solved with something else I found in the hidden room in the library: A syringe." Shuichi explained.
"Ah. They syphoned the ethers into the syringe and then ejected it into the tennis ball." Kirumi hummed thoughtfully.
"That could work. Using a syringe would only make a very tiny hole, one that could probably be easily patched up. Heck, the mastermind could have just placed the ball into the acetone in a way that made it so the tiny opening wasn't near the liquid." Rantaro said.
"So that's the trick, right?" Kokichi asked. "The mastermind filled this glass jar with acetone and then dropped a tennis ball filled with glycol ethers into the jar. The acetone dissolved the felt and rubber ball slowly overnight, fully dissolving it by the time we were about to investigate the room. Once the ball was fully dissolved, the acetone reached the ethers and caused a reaction, creating an explosion. Did I sum that up right?"
"Yes. I believe they also drenched the room in acetone, as well." Kirumi said. "They used the acetone as a fuel to keep the fire burning around the room, and it would explain why the room was drenched in the stench."
"So we figured it out! That's how the mastermind destroyed the dorm room!" Tenko cheered. "Take that, Monokuma! What do you have to say about that?"
"Hmm…I will admit, it's an impressive theory." Monokuma admitted as he leaned on his paw. "But what of it? Even if the murder did happen in that room and even if the mastermind did orchestrate that explosion, where does that leave you? You said it yourself, Shuichi. The whole room was destroyed. Burnt to a crisp because of the explosion and fire. So what's the point in discussing the room at all?"
"I hate to agree with Monokuma, but he has a point." Kaede frowned. "Sure, the fact that the explosion was set up by the mastermind proves that the murder happened in the dorm room, but we can't learn anything more than that, can we?"
"It doesn't add to the case, either." Keebo sighed. "Knowing where the murder took place doesn't help us discover who killed Rin. Not when all possible evidence left behind was burnt away. All it does is leave us with the question of why the mastermind bothered moving Rin to Rantaro's lab."
"There is a reason why Rin had to be moved, and it has to do with his cause of death," Shuichi explained.
"His cause of death? The Monokuma File didn't specify what that was, though." Tenko frowned.
"That's right, it didn't." Kaede hummed as she crossed her arms. "If we look at the previous cases where the Monokuma File hid information from us, those usually ended up being crucial pieces of evidence once we did learn about them."
"So the cause of death is important in this case…" Rantaro muttered. "But what does that have to do with the dorm room?"
"The location of Rin's death is vital in understanding his true cause of death. Thanks to the room being destroyed, there's hardly any evidence left…but there is one thing that survived the blaze." Shuichi revealed. "One thing, or rather two things survived that the mastermind could not hide no matter what they did."
"Are you referring to the two small holes we found in the room?" Kirumi asked.
"Yes. Those are the key to solving this entire case." Shuichi verified.
"Huh? Solve the entire case?" Monokuma repeated as he twitched ever so slightly. "Ridiculous! There's no way you've already solved the case just because of two little holes!"
"What are those holes, anyway?" Tenko asked. "They're super small!"
"Exactly. They're small, so it was hard to figure out at first, but after finding more evidence, I learned exactly what those holes are, and what they mean for the case." Shuichi declared. "Those holes are bullet holes. Made by the two used bullets I found in the hidden room!"
"The hidden room again? Geez, the mastermind sure was lazy when it came to hiding the crucial evidence for their crime." Kokichi hummed.
"Not like they ever expected us to get into that room, right? Perhaps they thought they could get away with such lazy disposal of the evidence." Rantaro grumbled.
"Bullet holes?" Kaede repeated before her eyes went wide. "Oh, I get it! That's why the mastermind had to change the location where the murder happened! If they didn't, they wouldn't have been able to hide Rin's cause of death!"
'That's what I believe." Shuichi nodded. "Rin's true cause of death…was that he was shot to death."
"Then in order to hide that fact, the mastermind moved Rin's body to my lab," Rantaro began. "And stabbed him with all those swords. That's why they did that."
"There's no way we would have noticed a tiny bullet wound on the body when there were a dozen swords stabbing Rin…" Tenko grimaced.
"Not only that, but the mastermind also tried to mislead us by using poison," Kirumi added. "They left that broken poison bottle in order to get us to question whether Rin was poisoned or not, and then they stabbed Rin's eyes and stapled his mouth shut in order to prevent us from seeing whether or not Rin showed the side effects."
"But thanks to Kirumi, we were able to see that Rin didn't have any of the poison's side effects, meaning he for sure wasn't poisoned," Kokichi smirked.
"Then there's no doubt. Rin was shot to death." Kaede nodded.
"But why is knowing that so important? The mastermind went through all this trouble moving Rin's body and destroying the dorm room just to hide the fact that Rin was shot, but why? What difference does it make knowing that?" Tenko asked.
"It makes all the difference because now that we know Rin was shot to death, we have an important question to ask." Shuichi began. "Why are there two holes?"
"Huh? Couldn't it just be that the mastermind shot Rin twice?" Kokichi asked.
"No, that's not possible. The two holes were on opposite sides of the room. For Rin to have been shot twice, the mastermind would have needed to shoot Rin once, and then switch places with Rin before shooting again."
"That makes no sense, obviously," Rantaro said. "Hmm…well, it would make sense if both parties fired."
"You mean both the mastermind and Rin fired a gun?" Kaede asked.
"It's possible. There was a gun in Rin's lab that we found, but there was a second gun in the hidden room, too."
"So Rin and the mastermind both were armed when they confronted each other last night," Keebo stated.
"So what? What does it mean? What are you trying to say, Shuichi?" Tenko asked.
"Yes, Shuichi. What is it you are trying to say?" Monokuma asked, his grin becoming more feral and, even more worrying, excited as he spoke. "So what if Rin and the culprit had guns on them? You can't prove that Rin shot his own gun, can you? Got any evidence to prove it? In a class trial, you can talk all you want, but only evidence really conveys the message!"
"..." Shuichi stayed silent as he stared at Monokuma with a perplexed look.
Why was Monokuma still acting the same as before? They were getting closer to the truth of Rin's murder. They were about to push him and the one controlling him into a corner. So why was Monokuma so calm about it? Why did it seem as though the bear was actually enjoying this and was pushing them to discover the truth.
Shuichi shook his head. He could think about that later. For now, he needed to keep pushing. If he loses any momentum against the mastermind, they'd lose this fight, and they couldn't risk that.
"The evidence that proves that Rin fired his own gun is the markings on one of the bullets." Shuichi answered. "In Rin's lab by the revolver Rin most likely used were bullets for the gun. On the bullets, there were words etched onto the bullets. 'Truth' and 'lies'."
"Well that's on brand for a lawyer, isn't it?" Kokichi rolled his eyes.
"The revolver in the lab could hold six bullets, but there were only five bullets in the lab." Shuichi explained. "On the other side of things, one of the bullets found in the hidden room has markings on it that the other doesn't. The markings are not legible, but I'm willing to bet that the bullet with the markings on it is the missing bullet from Rin's lab. Only Rin could have gotten that bullet, so it must have been fired from his gun by Rin himself!"
"Nope! Not good enough!" Monokuma declared. "Rin could have used that bullet at any time! You can't say that he fired it at the time of the crime, can you? That's just speculation!"
"If it's just speculation, why did the mastermind hide the second bullet in the hidden room? How would they even have gotten the bullet?" Shuichi asked.
"I don't have to prove anything. The duty of evidence falls onto you, Mister Detective!" Monokuma countered. "As long as there are holes in your argument, your theory won't hold any weight. So c'mon! Can you prove that Rin really fired that gun at the time of the crime?"
Shuichi thought for a moment before he solidified his confidence.
"Yes, I can. Rin's hands are the evidence." Shuichi explained. "I found his hands in the hidden room, and on the bandages that Rin wore yesterday before he died, there were these black smudge marks on them."
"Smudge marks? What importance could those dirt stains have?" Monokuma asked with a big grin.
"They're not dirt stains. I believe they are gunshot residue." Shuichi clarified.
"Gunshot residue?" Kaede repeated.
"Guns need gunpowder in order to fire." Rantaro began to explain. "The powder is ignited in order to create an explosion to propel the bullet out of the gun chamber. Whenever that explosion happens upon firing a gun, it creates a residue that gets on the gun, the shooter, and sometimes even the victim depending on how close the gun was to them."
"I see…then those black marks are residue from when Rin fired his gun!" Tenko exclaimed.
"I thought gunshot residue only lasted a few hours. How are you sure that's what this is?" Kokichi asked.
"Gunshot residue does not stay visible too long on a person's hand; however, it can easily stain fabrics and even if it is not visible, the residue can still remain on a person for days after firing the weapon," Kirumi replied.
"I think that's exactly why the Mastermind had to remove Rin's hands," Shuichi said. "If they hadn't cut off Rin's hands, we would have noticed the stains on the bandages right away."
"They couldn't just remove the one hand, either. If only one hand was gone, it would be extremely suspicious. We'd question it far more than if both hands were gone. After all, we simply brushed off both hands being cut off as being some kind of brutality or torture the culprit did to Rin."
"Then why not remove the bandages? Did they really need to cut off Rin's hands?" Tenko asked.
"I don't know…but maybe they had more than one reason to remove the hands." Shuichi frowned.
"I'll say. I mean, what would the mastermind have done if Keebo had seen the stains?" Kokichi asked.
"Me?" Keebo asked.
"Yes, you. I mean, you were kinda pathetic before, but now you're all decked out with super robot upgrades! What could the mastermind hide when you have vision on par with a microscope now?" Kokichi asked.
"That's…true, actually." Keebo relented. "If I had decided to upgrade my vision and then noticed what was on Rin's hand, I could have easily identified it as gunshot residue."
"So the mastermind really did cut off Rin's hands to hide the fact that Rin shot a gun." Tenko hummed as she put a hand to her chin.
"So both Rin and the mastermind had a gun and fired it," Kaede said. "But what does that mean? What's so important about Rin and the Mastermind both having a gun on them when the crime occurred? Rin still died, so I don't see how it's important."
Kaede brought up a good point. Rin still died, so one might believe it is an unimportant detail, but Shuichi had a feeling that was why they had to shift their thinking. If guns being involved in this case was so important that the mastermind had to go out of their way to hide the cause of death just to prevent them from discovering that fact, then what happened to make them do that? Why would it be important?
"Just because Rin still died doesn't mean him having a gun isn't important." Shuichi said. "I believe the reason why the mastermind had to hide the fact that guns were involved…was because both parties were hit."
"Both? You mean both of them shot each other?" Tenko asked.
"That can't be right. I mean…what are the chances?" Rantaro asked.
"It does seem hard to believe, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen." Shuichi said.
"It is possible that while Rin was shot and given a fatal wound, the mastermind could have been shot but not died, depending on where Rin hit," Keebo stated.
"Judging from the positions of the holes, they do not line up exactly. The one near the entrance is slightly higher and further to the right." Kirumi noted.
"Hmm…" Tenko hummed. "So…if we assume that Rin and the mastermind shot each other, then…if we try to imagine where the two of them were standing when they fired…Rin must have already been in the room, so if Rin was in front of the hole at the far end of the room…"
"He would have been shot in the chest. Most likely the heart." Kaede finished.
"Meanwhile, if the mastermind stood in front of the hole near the entrance, they would have been hit around the shoulder," Rantaro said.
"So…the reason why the Mastermind moved Rin's body and hid the cause of death…was because they were also shot by Rin?" Keebo asked.
"It's the only thing that makes sense." Shuichi began. "Because…if that's true, and the mastermind really was injured when they killed Rin…then a problem appears for the mastermind."
"A problem?" Kaede asked.
"Tell me, everyone…are any of your shoulders injured?" Shuichi asked as he tightly gripped both of his shoulders one at a time. "I'm not hurt at all. I can take off my jacket if you doubt me."
The students' eyes all widened at what Shuichi was implying, and they quickly answered.
"I'm not hurt either!" Tenko shouted as she spun her arms and shoulders around recklessly. "I'm still ready to go for a fight at any time!"
"I'm not hurt either," Kaede said as she pressed her shoulders tightly, showing no reaction as she did.
"Me neither." Rantaro smiled as he pulled his shirt a little to show off his unharmed shoulders.
"Aside from the wounds I still have from the last case, I'm perfectly fine too!" Kokichi smirked.
"As am I." Kirumi nodded.
"I am made of metal. A bullet would not have harmed me aside from a few noticeable dents-dents that I do not have." Keebo proudly declared.
"Then none of us are hurt. None of us have been shot." Shuichi said. "That means…none of us can be the Mastermind."
"Hold up!" Monokuma cut in. "I decided to let you all go on and on, but I can't sit here listening anymore! You're saying that not only is there a mastermind who killed Rin, but they were also injured during their crime? You're saying all of that to prove that none of you are the mastermind and culprit, correct? But how can you be so sure? I mean, anyone can fake not having an injury. One of you might even be on pain meds in order to show that you don't feel pain from the wound."
"But each of us can prove or is willing to prove that we weren't shot, and the mastermind has to be injured, or else there's no reason to hide the fact that guns were involved in the case," Shuichi said.
"If the mastermind was injured by Rin, then that proves that none of us could be the mastermind. None of us killed Rin!" Kaede shouted.
"Pwa-hahahah! I get it! This was Rin's trap!" Kokichi smiled widely. "He used himself as bait! He created a situation where the mastermind had a chance to get rid of him, but when they took it, Rin dragged them down to our level!"
"Ah! By injuring the mastermind, Rin prevented any way for them to hide and stay out of the trial!" Tenko shouted.
"So that's what he was doing. That's why he had to give his life for this…for this plan to work, someone had to die." Rantaro frowned.
"And being Rin, he figured it should be him to be the bait and die." Kirumi sighed. "After all this time, he is still the same man who would willingly rush into a murder trap just to prove something. Just to save someone."
"But can you really prove that's the case?" Monokuma asked. "Like I said, one of you could be hiding their injury or be really good at faking it. Can you really prove that none of you are the Mastermind?"
Shuichi once again found himself staring at Monokuma, who was still as calm as could be. He's still not feeling threatened? Is he still so confident he'll win this? Shuichi gritted his teeth in annoyance.
"Yes…there is more proof," Shuichi said. "Pavlov proved that for us."
"Huh? Pavlov?" Kaede repeated.
"Remember what he said about Motherkuma?"
"He said that Motherkuma could spawn spare Monokumas," Kirumi answered.
"No, hang on. He said that Motherkuma could only do that if the Mastermind said the word 'birth'." Rantaro clarified.
"So? What does that have to do with anything?" Monokuma asked, his smile growing as he spoke.
"Wait…didn't we all say the word 'birth' when we were speaking with Motherkuma?" Kaede asked.
"That's right. We all told Motherkuma to give birth to a new Monokuma." Shuichi said.
"Except for Keebo!" Monokuma added happily.
"I-I was outside the academy, fighting the Exisals…" Keebo paled at the implication Monokuma just threw at him.
"That's right, robotboy! You're the only one who didn't speak with Motherkuma. That must mean, by process of elimination, that you are the mastermind!" Monokuma shouted as he pointed to the robot.
"But Keebo tried to destroy the academy! There's no way he could be the mastermind!" Tenko shouted.
"That's right! Keebo wouldn't do something so reckless if he was the one who wanted this killing game!" Kaede nodded.
"Oh? And how do you know that wasn't Keebo's plan? How do you know that he didn't try to destroy the school for that exact alibi? How do you know that the mastermind didn't just want to destroy everything before this trial?"
"No, it doesn't. Keebo being the Mastermind makes no sense." Shuichi responded.
"Oh? How so?" Monokuma asked. "Sure, maybe none of you humans are injured, but Keebo said so himself that a bullet wouldn't do much to him. Who can say whether Keebo repaired himself after confronting Mister Wakuri?"
"But then it wouldn't make sense for Rin to trust Keebo." Shuichi refuted.
"Trust?"
"Rin said so in the video that he left for us," Shuichi said. "Rin said that he wanted Keebo to go on a rampage and that he got Keebo to do so by cutting off his antenna."
"My antenna?" Keebo questioned as he looked up at his unique hairpiece.
"That's what Rin said. I don't know why that had such an effect on you, but he said it would be the perfect distraction for us to use to explore and investigate the school in its entirety. He wanted Keebo to do what he did, and he trusted Keebo with it after he died. I don't think that's something he would have done with the Mastermind." Shuichi said.
"There's also what Pavlov told us. He mentioned that while Tsumugi had gone into the hidden room several times when she was alive, the hidden room in the library rarely gets visited by anyone now." Rantaro added.
"The only time anyone went in there, most likely, was when the real mastermind entered to dispose of the evidence of their crime," Kirumi said. "If one of us was the mastermind, we would have entered that room far more frequently."
"There's also what Pavlov mentioned about the Flashback lights," Kaede added. "Pavlov said that Motherkuma knew of ways outside of the academy to make them. The mastermind doesn't have to be with us in order to create them."
"There's also all that evidence that Shuichi found in the hidden room," Kokichi smirked as he let out childish giggles. "I don't know about you all, but if I were the mastermind and Keebo suddenly started going berserk and was attempting to destroy the school, I'd go to the hidden room and get rid of any evidence the moment I was allowed to be alone."
"That's true! It's weird how the mastermind just left all that evidence there when they could have properly disposed of it." Tenko exclaimed.
"They probably thought we would never get into that room," Shuichi responded. "But when Keebo started going berserk, it was too late. By the time we started investigating, the mastermind was unable to freely move about the school to do anything. If they did, we would have caught them. If it were one of us, that wouldn't have been an issue, but if the mastermind is someone we have never seen before, that would be something that prevented them from taking action."
"So…then it's true? None of us are the Mastermind?" Tenko asked in a hopeful voice.
"That's the only thing that makes sense. It's the only thing that answers why Rin would plan for his own murder like this. It was to show us that we really can trust each other. To show that none of us are enemies. Our only foe…is the one who killed Rin and tried to make one of us take the fall!"
"This game is twisted! They try to tell us there are rules but then they do this to us?!" Kaede exclaimed angrily.
"Not only are they fallible as shown in the last trial, but they're willing to go so far just to get rid of problems… They're willing to falsify a case against us just to fix their game." Rantaro glared at Monokuma.
"This isn't a game like Monokuma told us at the start. It's just killing. This whole case was just an elaborate excuse for premeditated murder against someone they despised." Kokichi pointed out with an evil glare.
"Got anything to say in response, Monokuma?" Kirumi pointedly asked the bear.
"..Puhuhu… Puhuhuhu…!" Monokuma, to the surprise of everyone, began to chuckle. The chuckles soon burst into manic laughter that echoed throughout the trial grounds. "Pwa-hahahahahahaha! Very well done! So, if you've made it this far, then surely you can pinpoint the one who tried to trick you all, yes?"
"H-Huh? What are you saying?" Kaede asked.
"I'm saying that it's not good enough just to say that there's a Mastermind that tried to frame you. If you're going to go so far as to say that, then why don't you try to name them? They won't show themselves unless you do, y'know."
"A-Are you encouraging us to point out who the Mastermind is?!" Tenko exclaimed.
"Well, we're not gonna get anywhere if you don't name them." Monokuma pointed out. "So hurry up! Surely if you're so confident, you can stick a name to the culprit who killed your dear, precious friend,"
Shuichi thought for a moment as he pondered the question. Could he name the mastermind? Rin seemed confident that they could drag the mastermind out to the light, but how? If the mastermind isn't any of them, then it has to be someone that they haven't met within this academy. But if that's true, how are they supposed to name the mastermind?
"If we're gunning for the mastermind, and the mastermind is someone we haven't met," Tenko began. "Then…do you think it's the person who gave Rin that riddle?"
"Riddle?" Kaede repeated.
"Rin left us a riddle he was given by someone with the initials 'K.K.'. It was that riddle that revealed the path to Rin's lab." Tenko explained.
"The lab was hidden from everyone. It wasn't even part of my Survivor's Perk. The only person who could have known about that lab is the mastermind." Rantaro nodded.
"So this K.K. is the mastermind, huh?" Kokichi hummed. "So why did they tell Rin how to get to his lab? That seemed to help Rin more than anything."
"Did it?" Kirumi asked. "We all saw the monitors that were in the back room of the lab. Whatever it was that Rin saw, I doubt it was helpful or good. At the very least, the scene does not show he was particularly happy about it at the end."
"We can't say for certain at the moment, but K.K. is our only lead." Shuichi relented. "But still…who is this 'K.K.'?"
"No one who was in this killing game has those initials." Rantaro said.
"Hang on! I think I know who the mastermind is!" Tenko shouted.
"Uh? You know?" Kokichi questioned as he rolled his eyes. "Let's just ignore her. She probably doesn't have anything useful to add."
"Hey! Don't just ignore me! I found evidence during the investigation that answers this for us! I even showed Shuichi!" Tenko exclaimed.
"Are you…talking about the Gofer Project Participation List?" Shuichi asked.
"Yes! Exactly!" Tenko nodded. "When we were looking over the list of possible participants, we came across someone who is connected with this killing game that has the initials K.K. and could feasibly be here with us now, hiding away!" Tenko declared.
"And that would be…?" Rantaro pressed.
"Kaede. You have a sister, right?" Tenko asked.
"H-Huh? Y-Yeah. A twin sister. Why?" Kaede asked.
"Your sister, Kanon Kimura, was on that list as a possible participant," Tenko revealed.
"W-Wait! You aren't saying my sister is the mastermind, are you?!" Kaede shouted.
"Hmm…It certainly is an interesting theory." Rantaro hummed as he crossed his arms. "It's suspiciously similar to the first killing game."
"R-Rantaro?" Kaede gaped.
"Junko had a twin sister, too, did she not?" Kirumi pointed out. "In fact, Junko used her sister in order to fake her death. By killing her twin sister when her sister was disguised as Junko, she made it seem as though 'Junko Enoshima' was dead, even though Junko was alive and in control of the game."
"Do you think that this is a similar case?" Keebo asked.
"If Kaede's sister is the mastermind, then perhaps Kaede is a traitor who is working for her." Kokichi offered up as a suggestion.
"N-No! That's not true! I'm not working with the mastermind, and my sister can't be the mastermind either! That doesn't make any sense!" Kaede shouted.
Shuichi thought to himself as the discussion about Kaede's sister began. Was it true? Was Kaede's sister really the mastermind? It would tie things together quite nicely, Shuichi had to admit. Kanon Kimura had the right initials, and she was connected to the killing game of the Ultimate Academy with her relationship with Kaede and her name being on the participant list for the Gofer Project. That meant that it was feasible to believe that she was there with them on the Ark.
However…something didn't add up. It was too easy. The mastermind stayed hidden this entire time and they left something with their name on it out in the open? Something that connected them with one of the killing game participants?
If the mastermind went through all this work just for a document that was left available to the students to uncover them, then why do any of it? Why try to hide Rin's cause of death if it was going to be this easy to figure out their identity?
No, that didn't make any sense. There had to be more to it. But what was Shuichi missing?
I planned it all out to the last detail. No expense was spared, and nothing is out of place or purposeless. I've left you everything you might need to solve this case."
Shuichi couldn't help but recall the words Rin left them in his video. He left them everything to solve this case, he had told them. So…does that mean he left something for them to figure out the identity of the mastermind?
Rin knew who the Mastermind is. He told Kokichi as much. However, he never revealed specifically who it was, probably because he knew something bad would happen to him or everyone else if he tried to verbally confirm the mastermind's name. So then, what could Rin have done to help them identify his killer by name? Shuichi had to examine everything Rin left for them once more. Every clue and ever shred of evidence.
Which one stands out as odd or purposeless under most circumstances?
When looking at the evidence through that lens, one clue left behind is very suspicious.
"That message…" Shuichi muttered.
"Huh? What did you say, Shuichi?" Kokichi asked.
"I was just thinking…about the message that was left in Rin's Research Lab." Shuichi told them.
"The message? You mean the one written in blood in the locked room?" Tenko asked.
"What about it? Didn't Rin write that as a declaration of war against the mastermind?" Rantaro asked.
"That's what we assumed at first, but…what if there's something more to it than that?" Shuichi said.
"What do you mean?" Keebo asked.
"Rin said that nothing he did before he died was meaningless. Everything he did was for the purpose of helping us in this final trial." Shuichi stated. "So…it doesn't make sense for that message to simply be a declaration of war against the mastermind."
"I guess that's true. I mean, it'd be weird for a declaration of war to be hidden away in the locked room at the back of Rin's lab." Kokichi admitted. "So what do you think that message is for then?"
"We've already figured out how Rin was killed. That's been solved." Shuichi began. "So…I think this has to do with something aside from the case. I think…this is Rin hinting at the mastermind's identity."
"Huh? This message?" Kaede asked. "I-I mean…I'd be really happy if that was the case so my sister and I are off the hook, but…how? How does that message help us learn who the mastermind is?"
"I don't know, but–"
"Hold it!" Monokuma shouted. "You keep going on and on about things Mister Wakuri did, but I just don't understand!"
"Huh? What are you babbling on about now?" Shuichi asked as he shot a glare at Monokuma.
"Weeeeeeeell, how do you know that message or whatever was left by Mister Wakuri? Anyone could have written it, couldn't they?"
"Huh?"
"How do you know that the mastermind didn't leave it for you guys to throw you off track?" Monokuma asked coyly as his smile grew. "C'mon, detective! You've come this far now! Are ya gonna let this stumbling block stop you from your goal? Get to proving your point!"
"W-Why are you doing this?" Shuichi couldn't help but finally ask. "Why are you…pushing us to solve this?"
"Because it wouldn't be interesting to see you all stop now! This is getting so exciting! My heart is pounding with excitement!" Monokuma cheered. "So c'mon! What proof do you have that Mister Wakuri left that message?"
Shuichi felt his resolve waver for just a moment. Monokuma was enjoying this because it was still entertaining? Were they really doing anything to harm Monokuma or the Mastermind? Was this…doing anything?
Shuichi forced that thought out of his mind. He couldn't let that bother him. It might be entertaining for Monokuma or whoever was watching, but that didn't change what Shuichi needed to do. He needed to drag the mastermind out into the open and confront them. He had to forget about how Monokuma felt. He was just a distraction. A distraction that was blocking the path to the truth.
"Rin's hands are cut up. In fact, there's a stab wound on Rin's bandaged hand." Shuichi answered calmly after collecting himself. "There is also a sword in Rin's lab that's covered in blood. If we compare that sword to the wound on Rin's hand, I'm sure they would match up."
"So that proves that Rin did write that message in his own blood." Kirumi grimaced.
"Puhuhu…so what of it? If Rin left that message, what was he trying to say? What was he pointing you towards?"
Shuichi closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. This was it. The moment he and the others were waiting for. This was going to decide everything. Shuichi had to figure out what Rin's final clue was for. What was he trying to convey to them?
The message was 'I SHALL DESTROY THIS WORLD. KARMA WILL COME, AND WHEN THAT HAPPENS, I WILL TEAR EVERYTHING ASUNDER. THIS WORLD WILL KNOW WHO I AM.'
What about that message stands out? What is strange or odd about it?
"The wording…" Shuichi mumbled before he spoke up louder. "Doesn't the wording Rin used sound a bit odd?"
"What about it?" Kaede asked.
"'I shall destroy this world. Karma will come, and when that happens, I will tear everything asunder. This world will know who I am'. Maybe it's just me, but the 'Karma will come' part sounds odd." Shuichi explained.
"Now that you mention it.." Rantaro frowned. "It would make more sense if Rin had written something like 'Karma will strike' or 'you will suffer the pain of your own karma'. Saying 'Karma will come' does sound a little odd if you think about it."
"Yes. It's almost…almost…" Kaede's eyes went wide. "Almost like he's talking about a person…"
"H-Huh? W-What do you mean? I-I don't understand just yet." Tenko stuttered.
"So it's not just me who sees it," Shuichi said. "I think…Rin is calling out the mastermind in this message, and he used specific wording to do it."
"But then…who is the mastermind?" Keebo asked.
Shuichi took in another deep breath before focusing. This person they are after is elusive. They stood off from the side lines, watching callously as they were forced to kill and betray each other safe behind whatever wall they were hiding behind. They refused to interact directly with the students, and they refused to ever show themselves unless necessary, refusing to even enter the academy unless strictly necessary like when they killed Rin.
They are someone so overly confident that they left all the crucial evidence needed to solve the case in a trashcan in the library's hidden room simply because they did not believe the students would be able to get in there. They are someone who is unable to freely move around the academy because they would not be recognized by any of the students.
They are not a participant in the killing game, and because of that…most likely, their identity is one that has very little connection to this killing game compared to other suspects. With the wording of Rin's message, Shuichi could only think of one name that could explain it, but that name was one that no one would have ever batted an eye at before. Still, if this was the truth, then-
"...Within Tsumugi's lab, Rantaro and I found a yearbook of old Hope's Peak Alumni." Shuichi began.
"Alumni? You mean students who graduated?" Kokichi asked.
"Yes. It included the 77th and 78th classes, as well as Rin's own class." Shuichi began. "I didn't think too much about it. I thought it was strange for a few reasons, but I didn't believe it was too important regarding the case since all the yearbook has in it are photos of the students and their last names. Nothing else."
"But you do not believe that now since you are bringing it up, yes?" Kirumi asked.
"...One of the names I saw in the yearbook when I was skimming through it…was one 'Von Karma'." Shuichi said.
"Huh? Von…Karma?" Tenko repeated as she blinked in disbelief.
"Are you saying…that the person Rin was trying to point us to…was this Von Karma person we've never met?" Keebo asked.
"It would explain the whole 'Karma will come' bit of the message Rin wrote, but…Are you sure?" Kaede asked. "It seems…kind of out of left field for it to be this random guy."
"I know, and I'm still not fully convinced, but it's the only lead we have that has weight." Shuichi said. "This Von Karma person is not connected at all with any of us. Not this killing game, and not even Rin. They're in completely different classes in the yearbook. But this person being the mastermind is the only thing that makes sense when taking that message Rin wrote into account."
"It does make sense to a degree. For the mastermind to be someone completely random…we would have never figured it out normally. They would have been completely safe from being discovered since none of us know this guy."
It was hard to believe. At this point, all of them wanted someone to pin all their hatred on. They wanted someone to blame. That's why they were expecting the mastermind to be one of them, potentially. They were expecting it to be someone who was connected to the killing game or one of them in some way. That way, it would be easier to blame and hate whoever was putting them through this.
But to believe it was someone none of them knew. To believe that the one who put them through this hell and killed all their friends was some stranger they would never be able to name under normal circumstances…
It wasn't satisfying at all, but even so–
"If this person really is the one who put us through this…if this Von Karma is the one who killed Rin…Then bring him out here." Kaede demanded. "We demand to see the face of the mastermind."
"If we truly have discovered your name, then there is no longer a point in hiding away. It is time for you to face punishment for your crimes." Kirumi declared sternly.
"C'mooooon! Come out already! We're getting bored of waiting for the big bad to show themselves!" Kokichi shouted in a childishly mocking voice.
"There's no point in lying anymore. We've solved your little mystery, so come out and play this game you wanted us to play so badly." Rantaro growled as he glared at Monokuma.
"That's right. Come out here! If you do, I might not hurt you as much!" Tenko shouted as she punched a hand into her other palm confidently.
"If this truly is the answer, then show yourself. It is time for you to finally show yourself to us!" Keebo shouted as well.
Monokuma listened, but all he did was laugh as he held his sides happily.
"Puhuhu… So this is your answer? The True Mastermind of this killing game…is some guy named Von Karma. Is that your answer?" Monokuma asked.
"...Yes. It is." Shuichi answered confidently.
"Puhuhu…Puhuhuhu…!" Monokuma giggled. "This is getting very interesting now, but things are gonna get boring if your supposed Mastermind doesn't show themselves. Hey, Shuichi. Why don't we look over the case again?"
"What?"
"C'mon, that's like, your thing. Present the truth and end this!" Monokuma demanded. "Cuz there are people who don't know what the heck is going on until we get to this part! Now then, let's start!"
"...Fine. If that's what it will take to drag the Mastermind out." Shuichi said as he tightened his fists. "Then…I'll prove it. I'll show you exactly what happened!"
Closing Argument: Climax Reasoning
ACT 0
"While the murder happened last night, the night after the previous trial, this case actually started a few days prior to Rin and Kokichi's unidentifiable culprit trick. Sometime before Kokichi announced that he was the mastermind. I imagine that around this time, Rin had already discovered his research lab by solving the riddle that was sent to him, and he had seen 'the truth' that was hidden in it. We don't know what that 'truth' was yet, but among the pain, anger, and despair it gave him, it must have also given Rin an idea, because he had a plan. A plan to end the killing game."
"For this plan to work, Rin first needed to prevent the next murder from happening. Somehow, Rin knew that the next murder was going to involve poison in my lab. Specifically, Strike-9 Poison. Judging by the white boards with potential murder cases we found in his lab, it's safe to say he had good reason to believe that particular poison would be used. Perhaps it was part of the elaborate plan the mastermind of this killing game had in mind, part of the 'script' as Rin described it."
"So, when he had time, Rin dropped by my lab with his Electro Radar. He disabled the cameras in my lab and then got to work. As he explained to us at the end of the trial, he began swapping the contents of the poison bottle with a harmless liquid. He wasn't completely sure this would work. If anyone had checked the poison before the attempted murder, it would have failed. Thankfully, that didn't end up happening, and thanks to that, Rin and Kokichi's unidentifiable victim plan worked flawlessly."
"However, while it ruined the killing game in a way, Rin had painted a target on his back. He had become a throne in the real Mastermind's side—a thorn that needed to be dealt with soon."
"But that's exactly what Rin expected and wanted. This was the beginning of the end. The end of the killing game, and for Rin himself."
NEW ACT 6
"The day after the trial, Rin got to work setting up his trap. The first thing he did was leave a will to be found by us, a clue that would help us find his research lab. However, he couldn't risk the Mastermind or Monokuma finding it first, as they might destroy or alter his will. So, he left bouquets of flowers at every deceased student's research lab alongside a farewell message he wrote for them. While it was an act of mourning, Rin used it to hide his will, by leaving it in a bouquet in Kirumi's lab that had his will in it instead of a morning message."
"After he had hidden his will, Rin found Keebo and ambushed him. Here, Rin destroyed Keebo's antenna, removing Keebo's connection with his 'inner voice. I don't know why he did this, but perhaps he predicted that doing this would cause Keebo to try to destroy the Ultimate Academy, allowing us more time and freedom to discover the truth he wanted to show us."
"After that, Rin set up a meeting with Kokichi to meet him in Rantaro's lab the next day. He also threatened Rantaro and spiked the anxiety and paranoia. This was bait. To give the mastermind an avenue to take advantage of what was happening and give them a way to pin their upcoming crime on one of those two for the upcoming crime."
"Rin then went to his lab to finish up his preparations. There, he entered the barren room in the back of the lab, and he stabbed a broken blade through his own hand. Rin then began to write a message on the wall using his own blood. A final declaration of war toward the mastermind. He did this to give us a final hint about the true identity of the mastermind. Along with that, he also recorded his video message, to make sure that we would understand the clues he left for us."
"Once he had finished setting everything up in his lab, he went off to face his death, but not before pocketing one last thing from his lab. A special revolver that was kept in his lab. Rin took it and hid it in his jacket before leaving."
ACT 7
"After he had finished setting up everything, Rin then waited in his dorm room. He waited and waited, and eventually, around midnight, it happened. The mastermind arrived. The mastermind had only one goal. He was going to kill Rin for disrupting the killing game, and he would use Rin's death to restart the game. To that end, the mastermind brought a gun and aimed it at Rin, ready to kill him, but just as he pulled the trigger, Rin set off his trap."
"Rin pulled out the gun he had brought from his lab and shot the mastermind at the same time. Both guns fired, and both hit their mark. Rin was shot through the chest as the bullet flew through him and into the wall behind him, a fatal wound that would be the end of him. The mastermind didn't receive a fatal wound, but they were still hit, most likely somewhere in their shoulder or upper arm, the bullet also going through their body and implanting itself in the wall behind them."
"The mastermind had completed the mission they had set out to do, and they would do a fine job at hiding their own involvement, but when Rin managed to injure them, their involvement was something that could not be hidden forever. They were now trapped within their own game, within the rules they had made for the entertainment of others. The mastermind was now chained to the very game they sought to continue. And thanks to Rin's preparations before he died, there would only be so much the Mastermind could do to hide their own involvement."
"Rin had made himself living bait, all to trap the mastermind, and that cost him his own life. Rin staggered back and fell against the wall. He took a few last breaths, and then he was gone. He left everything to us to solve. That last hope he had was the crutch of his plan."
"Now alone and stuck in a grave mess of their own making, the mastermind scrambled to hide their involvement in this crime and pin it on one of us. First, the mastermind removed the bullet that hit him and Rin from the walls of the dorm room. Once that was done, he patched up his own wound and put on one of Rin's extra purple coats before moving Rin's body. The mastermind grabbed a large supply case from Tsumugi's lab to make the move. He stuffed Rin's body into the case, and then began to move Rin to Rantaro's lab. By wearing Rin's jacket, it let them look like Rin from afar. This is what Kaede saw as she was taking her walk last night. But that couldn't be Rin, as he was wearing a white jacket instead of his usual purple one."
ACT 8
"Once the mastermind arrived at Rantaro's lab, they got to work setting up the scene. They dumped Rin's body out of the case before they began to brutalize Rin's body. First, they used one of the blades from Rantaro's lab to slice off both of Rin's hands to prevent us from ever discovering the gunpowder residue that had gotten on Rin as a result of firing his revolver."
"After that, they proceeded to stab Rin's body with all of the blades found in Rantaro's lab, pinning Rin to the wall with them as they did, making it seem impossible for Rin to have been killed anywhere else. They then stabbed Rin's eyes with a pair of daggers and stapled his mouth shut. They then took some poison from my lab and emptied it, before breaking the bottle and placing some of the shards at the crime scene. All of this was to hide the true cause of death and mislead us."
"After setting up the crime scene, the mastermind returned to Rin's room. They couldn't leave the evidence they had left in Rin's room alone, or else their involvement would be easily discovered. So the culprit set up a trick to destroy all of the evidence."
"They took a rubber tennis ball from Ryoma's lab, some different types of paint thinner and remover from Angie's lab, and a syringe from the medical bay. Using the syringe, the mastermind injected some paint thinner into the tennis ball, specifically thinner made from a mixture of glycol ethers. Then, the mastermind dropped the tennis ball into a jar of paint remover, which was mostly acetone. The mastermind then soaked the entire room with acetone before leaving."
"Slowly throughout the night, the acetone would eat through the rubber tennis ball. It requires prolonged exposure for it to fully eat through, but once it does, the acetone will make contact with the glycol ethers in the tennis ball. Once that happens, a chemical reaction will occur, creating an explosion. The explosion would then immediately ignite the acetone in the room, easily igniting it. That's how the mastermind perfectly timed a fire to start around the time we began investigating."
"An incredibly clever trick, one that might seem impossible to set up at first, but this is the mastermind we're talking about. They had all the time they could need to prepare for this trick before they attempted the murder, and even then, they had the entire night to make sure this fire trick of theirs would work correctly. They also apparently were able to predict all of our actions to create a script, meaning their analytical abilities are far beyond our understanding as well."
"That's how Rin's room burned by itself, destroying nearly all the evidence that was in the room. However, not even the flames could destroy the bullet holes left behind."
ACT 9
"After setting up the crime scene and fire, the mastermind took returned Rin's gun to his lab before taking their own gun, both of Rin's hands, both bullets that were used, the syringe he brought, and Rin's jacket that he had been wearing to the hidden room in the library and hid them in the library's hidden room, the same room Tsumugi used when she was still alive. "
"The mastermind probably believed we would never be able to get into that room, which is why they didn't dispose of the evidence properly and instead just tossed them into the trashcan in the room. But we did manage to get into that room, finding all of the evidence that was left behind."
"This was everything the mastermind did to hide their involvement in Rin's murder. They had hoped that by moving Rin's body to Rantaro's lab and by hiding the cause of death, we would believe the culprit was one of us like in the previous trials. However, now that we know that the culprit of this case was also shot, along with plenty of other evidence, there is only one truth we can believe."
"The mastermind can't be any of the survivors here in this trial. They have to be someone watching us from afar, and while that means we haven't seen or met them yet, and thanks to Rin, we have evidence to suggest their identity. We have a name, so now we just need to drag them out to fight them face-to-face!"
Shuichi then recalled the image that was in the yearbook of the supposed Mastermind. A young man with short black hair, golden eyes, and freckles who wore a bandana around their head. A normal-looking person, but one that Shuichi had to believe was guilty of a severe crime.
"Come out of hiding and face us! You can no longer watch us safely from afar. You're a part of the game now, and that means you will stand trial here! So get out here and show yourself, Von Karma, the True Mastermind of this killing game! That is the truth of this case, of the killing game itself!"
"Y-Yes!" Monokuma cheered excitedly. "What a scorching hot twist! I haven't been this worked up in so long! I can't remember the last time I felt so worked up! I can't wait to see more of this exciting development!"
"What do you mean 'watch'? Isn't it time for you to come out and reveal yourself, Mister Mastermind?" Kokichi asked.
"Who? Me? I'm not the Mastermind. I'm just everyone's favorite mascot, Monokuma!" Monokuma explained. "If you want to see the Mastermind, then-"
"I will answer any questions you have."
A new voice rang out through the trial grounds. Everyone tensed up at the deep, emotionless voice as they spun to where they had heard it come from. The stands they were all on began to move and shift, until eventually, the seventeen stands were moved to allow an eighteenth stand to float down from up high. As the new trial stand lowered to the ground, the students got a good look at the man on the stand.
He looked nothing like the photo in the Hope's Peak Yearbook. Obviously he was older than he had been when he was in high school, but the man's face was completely different from who Shuichi was expecting. Instead of short, jet-black hair, this man had long, silky, golden hair that was tied into a ponytail that reached his thighs. Bangs covered his lavender eyes, and not a single freckle marked his face. The man wore a tight, black suit and tie that he fiddled with. Once he was finished with his tie, he adjusted his black gloves before turning to the students.
"Well? Did you not want to see me?"
"Who…are you?" Shuichi couldn't help but ask.
"Who am I? You were the one who demanded I show myself." The man rolled his eyes before sighing. Then, surprisingly, the man threw his arms out as he made a grand gesture and smiled proudly "I am the Mastermind of this killing game: Kazuma von Karma. Although, I don't go by that name anymore. If you could, please refer to me by my new name: Izuru Kamukura."