Danganronpa: Obscurity’s Disgrace (SYOC) Chapter 23: Toxic Words, Venomous Actions (Part 6), a dangan ronpa kibou no gakuen to zetsubou no koukousei fanfic

Chapter 2: Toxic Words, Venomous Actions (Part 6) (Investigation)

Warning!

This is a Danganronpa Fic, so expect dark and serious themes! And also expect some choice words that might upset people - thanks to a certain Gas Station Manager! But expect fun and whimsical themes as well! I hope you enjoy!

[Pheme's Room]

"Phew!" Pheme checked herself out in her mirror. "I look so good!" She always liked taking time to compliment herself. Self love is important!

"Indeed, Miss Pheme." Asclepius seemed to agree. "And... you seem well... hidden." He worded whatever he was talking about strangely.

"Thank you!" Pheme turned around and bowed her head. "It was a lot..." She brushed herself off and sat down. "But here we are!" She began to try and find something on the computer.

"Miss Pheme? What are you doing?" Asclepius walked up behind the goddess.

"I wish to watch one of the videos The Contact provided for us!" Pheme made it to the playlist. "Considering how important she is to the case, I wish to watch a video of Ms. Alpha!" She clicked on a video without even waiting for the god behind her to respond.

Asclepius sighed and checked the time. "The stars are bound to find Mr. Mashimoto's body any second now... but perhaps a video wouldn't hurt." He'd like to learn a little more about the Ultimate Gas Station Manager anyway.

...

[Route 66, Arizona]

"So... Alpha? What do you think? What's on your mind?"

"Don't give me that shit, Uncle. I already accepted it." A 16-year old Alpha stood out side of an old gas station, along with her Uncle... who she just calls "Uncle."

"Heh. Alright." Uncle chuckled. "I just wanted to make sure my darling little niece liked what they signed up for!"

"Yeah yeah. Whatever." Alpha rolled her eyes. "You know why I took this stupid offer."

"I suppose I do." Uncle sighed. "Getting disowned by your mom will do that to you, huh?"

"Don't. Fucking. Bring. Her. Up." Alpha may have been talking with her Uncle, but she'd beat the shit out of him if she had/wanted to.

"Alright alright... I get it." Uncle tipped his hat. "But you know... I do appreciate this. Having someone to run this old boy is good. I'm glad my brother gave me this." He pulled out the deed to this place. "And now... I'm giving it to you!" He held the deed out to his niece.

It took a lot of self control for Alpha to not just rip that out of his hands. "Yeah. Sure." Even she knew that she should be careful when handling something like this. "...Thanks." She muttered.

"Heh." Uncle smirked at the sight of his darling niece. "Let's not waste time. C'mon." He started to walk closer to the gas station.

"..." Alpha didn't say another word as she slowly followed behind her Uncle.

...

"Wow... it's shit!" Alpha said exactly what was on her mind as soon as she walked in.

"Calling it shit is a little much. But I get it." Uncle couldn't deny that the place had seem better days. It was cluttered, dirty, and dusty. "I've taken care of affording the basics for you. So everything should work. You got your old computer for ordering, you got your cash register, and there's various things in the back of the lot for you to mess around with."

"Hm... yeah." Alpha slowly walked around her "new" gas station. "Fuck... this is what I signed up for? My new life?"

"That's from a different story, Alpha." Uncle shook his head. "But don't overthink it. I'll be there for you every step of the way."

Alpha rolled her eyes. "You'll be there for me... for a price." She wasn't stupid. She knew exactly the type of man her Uncle was.

"Aw, c'mon! Give your ol' Uncle some credit!" Uncle just laughed it off.

"No!" Alpha spat out. "I not hating you or anything... but you are the Former Ultimate Mob Boss. And a mob boss doesn't just give out charity for nothing in return."

...

"Heh." Uncle chuckled again, but this time a lot dryer. "Good. I'm glad you know who I am."

"How could I not? You and all the other Former Ultimates are stupid famous." Alpha didn't get the hype.

"I'd argue we Former Ultimates are more infamous than famous." Uncle shrugged. "But yeah... I'm one of the luckier ones. "I'm one of the few who actually shifted away from their talent after the FUP. Now, I'm just an entrepreneur, investor, and financial advisor." He casually flexed.

"Uncle, you're so full of shit." Alpha rolled her eyes, then cracked a small smile. "You haven't drifted away from your talent at all." She thought it was pretty obvious that her Uncle was a mobster, based on just his appearance. And also... it was his mobster connections that helped Alpha avoid any... unfortunate circumstances after what happened with her mom. Lord knows she can't pay back that debt in a day.

"I'm not sure what you mean!" Uncle purposely played stupid.

"Whatever." Alpha sighed. "Anyway, you sticking around?"

"Mm... likely not. I've got business to attend to soon." Uncle said ominously. "I'm just a phone call away though."

"Bullshit." Alpha immediately called out. "I have to go through like ten secretaries before I can even hear your hoarse-ass voice."

Almost as if he wanted to support that claim, Uncle lit a cigarette. "You know how it is." He slowly shook his head. "I mean it, you know."

Alpha blinked. "You mean what?"

"I'm there for you." Uncle kept smoking his cigarette. "You can act however you want, do what you want, and you can deny my help all you want. But no kid should have to go through the crap you already have." He chuckled. "It will be for a price and I will be asking for a small cut of your profits... but I'm here for you Ma- no. Alpha."

...

Alpha avoided looking her Uncle in the eye. "...Thanks." She muttered, barely audible.

"You're welcome." Uncle tipped his hat. "I'll leave you to it then. Have a good night." He quietly left the building.

...

"Fuck." Alpha sighed. She didn't know what the fuck she was doing here. It was such a spur of the moment choice she made... and there was no going back, whether she liked it or not. Well, the only place she could go back to is pretty shit. So... this is probably the better option. "Ugh..." She saw all the work that needed to be done. "That's a problem for tomorrow me. Right now, I gotta sleep."

She walked out the back door of the gas station and over to a trailer that her Uncle had prepared for her. Despite the atmosphere and general area she was in, the trailer was really nice. Alpha quickly got changed, then settled into bed. "Well... let's see how this shit does." She decided not to dwell on it too hard as she felt herself slowly drift off to sleep...

...

"Well shit... here it is." A now 18-year old Alpha stood outside of the newest addition to be bustling gas station.

"Yep. You did and earned this, Alpha." And Luisa Esteban, a good friend of Alpha's and the first employee she hired at the gas station, stood right beside her. "Who'd you get to be the cook for this place again?"

"Antioch." Alpha reminded her friend. "Dunno if you two have talked much, but trust me. Antioch Beverlie is a damn good cook. I trust that bitch with this."

"Ohh... gotcha!" Luisa nodded. "I've always liked Antioch's cooking. It has a certain... charm to it."

"Damn right." Alpha wholeheartedly agreed. "Anyway, enough of this shit. Let's get inside!" Without waiting for a response from her friend, Alpha barged into her new diner.

...

"Wow... it's nice!" Luisa put her hands on her hips as she looked around the new diner on the lot.

"Hm... not bad." Alpha actually smiled a little. "Antioch should be here in like an hour. When he gets here, we can started on prep for the celebration."

"Right! It's the two year anniversary of the gas station, isn't it?" Luisa was excited.

"Yep... it is." Alpha didn't exactly know how she even felt about it. "It's already been two fucking years since my life got fucking scrambled. Shit's crazy..."

"It really is..." Luisa giggled. "I'm glad I came on board here. You're a good boss, Alpha." She said sincerely.

"Fuck off." Alpha half-joked. "I ain't having any mushy shit right now. Let's just start getting prepared!"

Ah... classic Alpha. Luisa couldn't even be mad at that. "You're right. Let's go!"

...

A few hours had passed, and the diner was now pretty busy. At least, whatever qualifies as "busy" for a gas station diner.

Antioch was going crazy in the kitchen, and some of Alpha's other employees were serving and shit. It wasn't like the place was busy busy, so Alpha was actually doing much. Right now, she was just enjoying some nondescript food with her Uncle and Luisa.

"You proud of yourself, Alpha?" Uncle asked with a slight smirk.

Alpha slowly shook her head. "I got no clue how to answer that... man!" She slammed her hand down on the table. "I just want to enjoy a celebration. No mushy shit, please?"

"Heheh. Fair enough." Uncle shrugged. "Just asked because that man standing outside seems awfully proud of you." He pointed out the window.

"Huh? The fuck?" Alpha followed where her Uncle was pointing. Outside the window she saw a fancy looking guy wandering around. "This little bitch better not be..." She aggressively stood up and went outside.

"Will she be alright?" Luisa got a little concerned.

"Are you kidding?" Uncle raised an eyebrow. "She'll be fine."

His faith in his niece didn't mean that he wasn't going to watch though!

...

"Hey. You lost?" Alpha stomped her way outside.

"Hm? Ah... forgive me." The man adjusted his suit. "Would you be able to point me in the direction of Alpha please?"

Alpha crossed her arms. "Who's asking?"

"Ah! Forgive me once again!" The man bowed his head. "I am a Talent Scout with Hope's Peak Academy. I have come here to offer this "Alpha" an Ultimate title!"

Alpha stared at the talent scout for a few seconds, disbelief written all over her face. "You're fucking with me. I'm Alpha." She finally introduced herself.

"You are Alpha? Very good!" The talent scout immediately and forcibly shook her hand. "Well then Alpha, I see that you are in the middle of something, so I won't keep you for too long."

"Just get to the fucking point." Alpha was trying her best to not be rude here.

"Of course!" The talent scout handed her a letter. "We at Hope's Peak would be delighted for you to join as the Ultimate Gas Station Manager! How does it sound?"

...

Alpha slowly blinked. "You have got to be fucking me sideways you little-" She was about to go the fuck off on this guy for offering her quite possibly the stupidest Ultimate title in existence... but she got stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Alpha... that sounds nice, doesn't it?" Luisa voice took on a calming tone. "He's not mocking you, Alpha. It's a good and legitimate business opportunity, no?" She knew how feisty her friend could get sometimes, so this wasn't the first time she's done this.

"Luisa..." Alpha muttered. She tried to surpress the immediate thoughts she had at the offer. Luisa... did have a point. Calling it a business opportunity was smart. Because... she couldn't unironically stand with other ultimates. Alpha knew she was a monster. So... this is just a business opportunity. A business opportunity. A business opportunity.

"A business opportunity..." Alpha accidentally muttered.

"I'm sorry?" The talent scout kept patiently waiting for an answer.

"Uh... fuck. Sure. Yeah. Sounds good." Alpha's brain said "fuck it we ball" and took the deal.

"Really? Very good!" The talent scout vigorously shook the now Ultimate Gas Station Manager's hand.

Alpha didn't return the energy though. All she kept saying to herself... was that this was a business opportunity. She... didn't really give a shit about the fame this might bring. She doesn't care about much. She didn't even know why she accepted this nonsense... but you know what?

...She did.

...

[Pheme's Room]

The video cut off. "Oh my!" Pheme jumped up out of her seat. "I enjoyed this, but my glamourous stars need my presence!" She didn't spare a single second for a proper reaction to Alpha's first flashback as she rushed out of her room. Likely to address her stars about the dead body.

Asclepius sighed as he went to turn off the computer. "...I truly do wish Miss Pheme hadn't gone against my orders." He pulled out the form for Alpha that they had previously trashed months ago. "Oh well. Yes... oh well." That was all he could say. What could he do? He couldn't exactly un-kidnap someone. There is still a chance that this "Alpha" will have her uses. Yes... depending on what he does... Alpha could be very... very... useful.

...

[Ultimate Pop Star's Studio]

"Holy shit! Alpha!" Joji still couldn't believe his eyes. Genjiro... he was dead! And Alpha was next to him! But... she was still alive! She was still okay! "Hang on Alpha! Hang on!" Joji ran through the now broken and busted isle of the Ultimate Studio, his hands dripping with sweat. It didn't take him long to reach the stage. He didn't bother checking on Genjiro. He went right to Alpha. "C'mon Alpha! I got you!" He never thought he'd be concerned over Alpha of all people... but crazy stuff happens here.

"Don't... touch... me..." Alpha was slipping in and out of consciousness. She had no idea what was happening.

"Alright... here we... go!" Joji grabbed Alpha's body as gently as he could and princess carried her. "You'll be alright. I'll-"

"What the fuck?! Genjiro?!"

"T-This is... what i-is this?!"

"Huh... not good."

"Fuck. Genjiro is dead?!"

Yoshino, Adam, Kei, and Ji-hoon respectively all charged into Bessie's Ultimate Studio at the same time.

"Guys! Genjiro is dead! Alpha is almost dead!" Joji gave them an update. "One of you take Lake out of here! I'm gonna get Alpha to the infirmary!" He jumped off the stage with Alpha in hand and ran out.

"Got it!" Yoshino didn't question what she heard as she grabbed Lake and led them out of here. The ballet dancer wasn't doing the greatest, you see.

"Oh n-no... it really did happen again?" Adam couldn't believe his eyes.

"It looks like it." Even Kei couldn't hit a smirk or eyebrow raise as he looked around the room, avoiding looking at Genjiro's body while he did so. "The hell happened here?"

"I can only guess." Ji-hoon crossed his arms. None of the boys had moved further into the crime scene yet. The seats were destroyed. Some were slashed and others seemed like they were punched. Blood was basically everywhere. "Hey..." He didn't know if there was a rule that said he can't properly investigate yet, but considering the celebrity detective spotted two interesting things at his feet... he couldn't help himself.

"W-What are these?" Adam followed his gaze.

"A wooden board. With a little blood on it." Ji-hoon had already put on gloves, so he picked up the board. "Also..." He picked up what was next to the board. "Rosalind's sunglasses." He had a bad feelint about this, considering they all saw Rosalind's parasol outside of the room.

"That's... interesting." Kei saw a chance to focus on that wasn't the body in the room, so he took it. "Guess Rosalind has some involvement here."

"Considering the special rules surrounding her..." I'm not surprised." Ji-hoon continued to inspect the sunglasses and board.

"Indeed I am!" Pheme happily nodded. "If Rosalind Reinhardt is murdered, both members of a pair will escape! Provided they succeed in the Studio Trial of course!

"L-Let's just hope she's okay." Adam didn't know what else to do... so he just chose to silently wait for everyone else to arrive.

...

And it didn't take that long!

"My goodness! Genjiro?!"

"...Huh."

"O-Oh no!"

"Damn..."

Damien, Darren, Ayaka, then Rival all entered right after after each other.

"My dear Ayaka! Don't look!" Damien immediately went to shield his dear Ayaka from the gruesome scene.

"..." Ayaka didn't say anything as she accepted the impromptu shield. She... had a feeling thing was going to happen. God... was this her fault? Ugh... no. She can't be overthink this. She had to wait and see for now.

"They... really killed Genjiro?" It was hard for Rival to believe it.

"Looks like it." Darren took a drink from god knows where and raised it in toast. He had to show some respect to a fellow booze enjoyer.

"Is... t-this everyone?" Adam for some reason expected more than four people to enter.

"Sorry Ade! I'm back!"

"Yeah... I am too."

Yoshino and Lake re-entered the scene.

"Lake? You alright?" Ji-hoon was the first to show concern for the ballet dancer.

"I'm fine." Lake let out a deep breath. "It was just... a lot. Finding... this." They couldn't think of a good word to describe the horrid scene in front of them. No one could blame them.

"Hey Lake?" Kei saw another chance to not focus on the body. "Just a quick question. As soon as you entered this room a few minutes ago, the BDA played, didn't it?"

"Shut up!" Joji heard others already on the floor... but he didn't pay attention to them. He saw Lake enter Bessie's Ultimate Studio. "Lake! Hold on-"

He couldn't finish his thought... as he heard something... he wished he wouldn't have to hear ever again.

...

"Attention my glamorous stars! I have something very important to tell you all! What is it? Well... a body has been discovered! Everyone, please report to the Ultimate Pop Star's Studio at once!"

"Um... I think so." Lake was still a little frazzled, but they tried their best to collect themselves. "Why?"

"Hm... no reason." Kei stuck his hands in his pockets. "Just something to think about."

"You could just say what you mean, Kei!" Yoshino had enough of his vague nonsense. "Because of how the BDA works, two people must've seen Genjiro's body before Monty. I get it! We all do!"

"Sheesh... alright." Kei chuckled as his cool and mysterious persona got shot down a bit.

"A-Anyway... is this everyone?" Adam looked around. There was only ten people right now.

"A portion of us are unfortunately in the infirmary right now." Damien reminded the group and the readers. "My dear Aurora was poisoned. My dear Kuroko suffered a seizure. I saw Joji carrying an injured Alpha on my way up here as well. Then my dear Raiha is caring for her bestie. So we are missing five people at the moment."

"W-We... are still missing Rosalind though." Ayaka knew the cinematographer could be quiet, so she looked around the room for her.

"That's what I'm saying, Ms. Naganohara!" Like usual, Pheme appeared out of nowhere, popping into the room with her ten stars.

"Are you... o-okay Pheme?" Adam couldn't help but notice that Pheme looked out of breath.

"The Okukik wine have you out of breath?" Darren half-joked.

"Excuse me? I am fine!" Pheme tried her best to hide that she wasn't fine.

"Your makeup is kinda sloppy today." Yoshino had no qualms pointing that out.

"Ms. Akiyama? I didn't ask!" Pheme gave a very aggressive finger waggle. "Anyway!" She didn't want them to focus on her haphazard appearance right now. "It seems one... or two of you finally fell for motive! Mr. Mashimoto is dead... yet Ms. Alpha remains! How exciting!" She clapped her hands together, then proceeded to flinch at the contact. "Now then! I'd love to send you on your way with the investigation... but we are missing people! Where are they?"

Damien narrowed his eyes. "Shouldn't you... know where they are?"

Pheme blinked. "Should I?"

...

"Raiha, Aurora, Alpha, Kuroko, and Joji are all in the infirmary right now. That's where they are." Ji-hoon decided to just tell her.

"Oh yes! That's right!" Pheme somehow forgot that. "Hm... I can excuse their absences. I can excuse Ms. Munchkin's absence too! She's probably around here somewhere!"

"Oh... I f-forgot about Cathy." Ayaka admitted.

"Right..." Lake suddenly remembered something.

Joji slowly opened his eyes. Shit... how long had he slept? The infirmary was currently shrouded in darkness. He tried to focus on Aurora and Kuroko. Raiha was still here... sleeping next to her partner. But Cathy was gone. Hmph. He wasn't surprised. She was such a...

Cathy was gone when Joji and them woke up... hm. Is that weird? Or is it just Cathy being herself? Lake didn't know.

"Then..." Pheme didn't care for Lake's inner monologue as she continued to speak. "We still need Ms. Reinhardt here! Where is she?" The goddess looked around. "I'll excuse the other six, but not her! Where has she gone?" She acted like she couldn't just access the cameras to find her.

"You... can't find her yourself? With the cameras?" And Rival decided to voice that out loud.

"Hm... hm... hm..." Pheme ignored the backing vocalist as she looked around. "Let's see... Ms. Akiyama! Go find her!" She pointed at the horror novelist.

"Uh... sure? But why me?" Yoshino didn't get why she was being singled out here.

"Don't worry about it!" Pheme winked. "Just go! And be quick about it! We must get this investigation started, pronto!"

"Shit! Fine!" Yoshino left the crime scene, bewildered.

[Grand Lobby - 2F]

"Alright... Rosa." Yoshino left Bessie's Studio in a mild rush. "Where is... there!" She spotted the parasol she saw Joji trip over. "Damn... it really is Rosa's." She picked it up and looked it over. "There's a little bit of blood at the bottom where you hold it." She voiced her findings out loud to literally no one. "Uh... I'll just leave it here." She realized she shouldn't be investigating right now.

So she went to looking around... "Oh fuck." Sensing she was about to eat her words, she spotted a small blood trail leading from Bessie's Ultimate Studio leading to... her own Ultimate Studio? "Ah hell..." Yoshino gritted her teeth as she followed the trail to her own Ultimate Studio. She didn't see anything else that caught her interest... so she went up to the door... and opened it up.

[Ultimate Horror Novelist's Studio]

It always hits so fast. My mind ground to a halt when I entered my Ultimate Studio. Why? Well... it was... almost pristine. It wasn't destroyed. It wasn't damaged. It wasn't a horrible painting of blood. Some of the figures were knocked off the desk... but that was all.

Heh... who am I kidding? That wasn't all. My sight drifted from the scenery of my studio... and down to the ground right near the entrance. It felt like my heart stopped. I felt my hands shake. My breathing quickened. Because laying on the ground... right near the entrance of my own studio... was...

...

The body of Rosalind Reinhardt, the Ultimate Cinematographer...

...

And she was still breathing! Although weakly.

"What the fuck?! Rosa?!" Yoshino immediately bent down to feel Rosalind's neck. She could still feel her pulse! "Ah shit... don't worry Rosa! I'll get you some help!" Despite the general size difference, Yoshino was able to heave Rosalind's unconscious body up over her shoulder. "C'mon! I gotta go... tell the others!" Yoshino then ran out of her studio as fast as she could.

[Ultimate Pop Star's Studio]

"Everyone!" Yoshino kicked open the door to the Ultimate Studio.

"Goodness! Calm down, Ms. Akiyama!" Pheme acted like Yoshino wasn't currently carrying the body of her missing glamourous star over her shoulder. "What is it?" She asked calmly.

"Is that R-Rosalind?!" Ayaka widened her eyes.

"Is she okay?!" Lake felt their heart skip a beat.

"What happened?" Ji-hoon needed answers.

"She was knocked out cold in my studio! I'm gonna bring her to the infirmary!" Yoshino yelled out before immediately leaving.

...

"Phew! Good thing Ms. Akiyama found her, huh?" Pheme feigned wiping a drop of sweat from her forehead. "Anyway... I'd say we're good to go now!"

Pheme seemed plenty happy, but no one else was particularly joyful. "What... is happening?" Damien was bewildered. "Why are so many of us ending up in the infirmary this case? Why now?" He asked questions that everyone wanted the answers for.

"No use standing here and thinking about it." Ji-hoon shook his head. "What we have to do..." He looked over to Genjiro's body. "Is investigate."

"I s-suppose... we have to." Adam took a deep breath. It was illogical for him to consider that he was already growing used to this... but here he was.

"We... really do have to?" Lake felt like crying again as they looked over the scene. They... really hoped that no one else would have to die. Bessie and Aelia were more than they could handle... they didn't want to lose anyone else. Even Genjiro.

"Hey hey!" Pheme snapped her fingers to get her stars' attention. "Don't be steeling yourselves to accuse one of you of murder yet! You still need... this!" Pheme gave a more methodical snap... then everyone got a notification on their Star-Phones.

"Hm... this what I think it is...?" Kei muttered with curiosity as he checked out the notification.

"The e-evidence app..." Ayaka stared at the glowing notification marker, then slowly clicked on it. Sure enough... "The Pheme File." She clicked on file. It read:

-The victim was Genjiro Mashimoto, the Ultimate Wrestler.

-His body was found in the Ultimate Pop Star's Studio.

-Genjiro's cause of death is unknown.

-Genjiro's time of death was 11:10 PM.

"There you go!" Pheme nodded in satisfaction. "I couldn't leave my stars without the basic information you'll need! No need for thank yous! Or autographs!" She shook her head.

No one was focusing on Pheme's ramblings as a certain part of the Pheme File caught everyone's attention. "Pheme. The cause of death is unknown. Why?" Ji-hoon needed to hear what she had to say about this.

"Yeah! That's not very... fair!" Lake kinda hated that they were considering fairness like this was a game. "Bessie's Pheme File had her cause of death on it!" They frowned. "Or at least her injuries!"

-The victim was Bessie B. Blossom, the Ultimate Pop Star.

-Her body was found inside of the boarded-up room on the first floor of the Studio.

-Bessie suffered intense burns over her entire body, Bessie was electrocuted, and there is evidence of a single blow to Bessie's head using a blunt object.

-Bessie's time of death is unknown.

"If you would hold on, Mx. Beaumont, I could explain why!" Pheme shook her head disapprovingly.

"Oh! Sorry!" Lake bowed their head. They didn't know what came over them there.

"So... as you all can see, Mr. Mashimoto's cause of death is unknown!" Pheme giggled as she looked over to his body. "It is listed that way because... if you knew his cause of death, the case would be too easy to solve!"

"T-Too... easy?" Ayaka tilted her head. She didn't get it.

"Exactly, Ms. Naganohara! A gold star for you!" Pheme gave her a metaphorical gold star. "If you knew it, the trial would be too easy! So I'm afraid you'll have to figure out Mr. Mashimoto's cause of death yourselves.

"Making our jobs harder, huh?" Kei chuckled. He was up for it though.

"Past Killing Games would pull stuff like this. I'm not surprised." Darren took a drink of his drink, not just a puny sip.

"N-Not wrong." Adam didn't particularly like thinking about those past Killing Games, but he couldn't deny that Kei had a point. "But hey... a-at least we have his time of death!" He tried to look on the bright side.

"That's a good point Adam." Ji-hoon checked the time. "11:40 PM." He spoke the time out loud. "He died thirty minutes ago."

"It m-makes sense. I guess." Ayaka shrugged. "Considering t-the motive. Tracking times is probably easy here."

"So let me explain how exactly this will work!" Pheme was giddy with excitement. She was so happy her stars managed to get it. "Taking from Ms. Reinhardt's example... let's hypothetically say that Mr. Lux wanted to kill Ms. Alpha!"

A spotlight shone down on the two pairs. "What is truly encouraged here... are double murders. Again, here is a hypothetical. Let's say Mr. Lux kills Ms. Alpha, and Mr. Taylor kills Mr. Mashimoto!"

...

"In that hypothetical case... both Mr. Lux and Mr. Taylor would be the blackened! And in the Studio Trial, if they manage to deceive you all... both of them will escape this place!"

"With the handcuffs unlocking in sync... we'd probably e-easily figure out any time problems." Ayaka reasoned.

"Pretty much!" Pheme nodded in approval. "You'd likely figure out his time of death easily, so I saw no reason to hide it!"

"Ah, this is an unrelated question, Pheme..." Damien checked his own Star-Phone. "But it us awfully late. Are we to be going through the Studio Trial without rest?"

"Yes!" Pheme answered promptly.

...

Well okay then.

Rival groaned. "This... might be a pain." He was just a tired guy in general, but now he's being forced to stay up? Ugh. Well... at least, compared to the last investigation, he's in a much better place mentally. "Can we... get it started?"

"Oh yes! I'll leave you all to it!" Pheme looked around the room once again, almost like she was looking for something. "I don't see it... whatever." She muttered.

"You don't see what?" Kei sensed the mutter.

"Okay! You all better get to it! You only have a limited amount of time before the Studio Trial after all!" Pheme completely ignored Kei as she clapped her hands. "I'll see you all later! Ta ta!" With a wave, Pheme disappeared into the ether, leaving the seven stars still here by themselves.

...

"Alright." Ji-hoon nodded with force. "Let's get it started. No time to waste." He looked at Genjiro's body. "I never would've thought Genjiro would end up dead..." He spoke honestly. And if he stayed honest... he didn't exactly miss the big guy. But... he had a duty and a job to do. He couldn't simply let this go. He had to solve this case, just like Bessie's. "Let's do it everyone. I know some of you are less willing compared to others, but the quicker we bring Genjiro's killer to justice, the better. Don't overthink it. Split into groups, investigate rooms, and collect information. Like last time. We can do this." He gave his best motivational speech.

"Yeah. We can." Darren left the room.

"A-And there he goes..." Adam couldn't help but chuckle a little at Darren's antics.

"He's got it right." Kei smirked. "Let's get going. Like our glorious leader said, we got no time to waste." He then left the room, silently grateful that he didn't have to be in the presence of the corpse.

"Yes... let us do this." Damien was prepared. He then looked over to his dear Ayaka. "My dear Ayaka? How are you? Would you like to investigate together?"

Ayaka looked down at her feet. She knew Ji-hoon said to not overthink it. But... "I'm s-sorry Damien. I... want to leave. I need time to think." She then left the room.

"Hm. I see." Damien sighed. "Very well. If she wishes to be alone, I will not stop her." He looked to the remaining three. "I wish you all good luck and good findings!" He bowed his head before leaving the room.

"I don't want to be rude..." Lake couldn't even muster up the heart to look at Genjiro's body. "But I want to go. I don't want to stay here." They went to the door. "Bye guys!" They gave the happiest wave they could muster before they left.

And all that was left...

"Adam. You want to investigate together?" Ji-hoon had no problems investigating with an Ultimate Academic.

"S-Sure!" Adam nodded. He had no problems investigating with an Ultimate Celebrity Detective. Besides, he enjoyed being helpful like this. And he's already investigated with Ji-hoon before, so he was used to this.

"Good." Ji-hoon gave a satisfied smile. "We have a lot of ground to cover in here... so let's go!"

And so... the investigation begun...

...

"So... w-we go up to the stage then?" Adam wasn't sure where to start.

"Yeah. Actually- wait. No." Ji-hoon corrected himself. "I'll focus on investigating Genjiro's body. I want you to investigate out here." He gestured over the seats. "See if you can find anything peculiar. Got it?" He gave his command.

"G-Got it!" And Adam was eager to follow it.

"We can still watch each other like this. Make sure the other one isn't tampering with evidence." Ji-hoon started to walk up to the stage.

"That's, l-logically speaking, smart." Adam didn't really think Ji-hoon was suspicious to the point that he needed to watch him like a hawk, but he understood where he was coming from. "Yeah... we s-should- ah! Ji-hoon! Stop!" He suddenly yelled out.

"Why? What's wrong?" Adam's tone didn't really sound too urgent to Ji-hoon, so he just slowly turned around to took at the academic.

"It's... there's s-something at your feet!" Adam adjusted his glasses and went forward to get a better look. "Y-Yes... there's something there."

"Hey... you're right." Ji-hoon knelt down to get a better look. "It's... small glass shards?" He picked up one of the shards with his gloved hand. "There's some pink dots on all of them. Weird."

"Hm..." Adam got a closer look at one of the shards without actually picking it up. "S-Strange... where could this have come f-from? I don't r-recall any glass bottles or structures with this sort of f-feel... or holding anything with t-this tone of pink." He really flexed his memory muscles there.

"I don't know..." Ji-hoon honestly had no idea. "My first guess would be Damien's Ultimate Studio. But..." He glanced at the door. "I can't be sure."

"We've j-just started and we already have a b-big m-mystery, huh?" Adam nervously chuckled.

"Seems like it." Ji-hoon pocketed one of the larger shards. "That was a good find Adam. Keep it up." He praised the academic as he got up. "Keep me updated." He told him before he headed up to the stage.

"O-Okay!" Adam firmly nodded as he got up as well. "Now... l-let's investigate!"

...

Ji-hoon took his first steps onto the stage. He's never actually been up here before. It's not like he had any reason to be here anyway. As he stomped up to the body, he couldn't help but feel how sturdy the stage is. It felt like it'd take a lot to break it. "Makes sense it didn't break under your weight." He shook his head at the sight of Genjiro's body as he knelt down to get a closer look.

"Woah." Before Ji-hoon could get any closer, he felt his nose scrunching up. "The hell is that smell? It's so strong." He sniffed the air around him. "Is it... grapefruit?" He was no grapefruit connoisseur, but he could still recognize the smell. "Why would the air smell like... ah." He realized it quickly.

Damien gave some brief beautician lore, before grabbing all six and placing them on the counter.

"Orange, Citrus, Orange Citrus, Grapefruit, Vanilla, and... Lavender." Ji-hoon read the scents out loud before taking one of them. "Let's see... oh. That's why they're poisonous?"

That was already a major worry and clue Ji-hoon had to think about. He noted it down in his evidence app, then chose to just deal with the smell. "Let's see..." He looked over his body. Genjiro, to be blunt about it, got fucked up. Bruises, slashes, and stab wounds covered his entire body. "Stab wounds? Slashes?" He looked around. Bruises were one thing, but how the heck was he slashed and stabbed? He didn't see any possible weapon for that... huh. Weird.

He noted some things down. "Alright... let's check something else." Considering the smell of grapefruit in the air... a certain thought appeared in Ji-hoon's mind. And he wanted to see if he was right. Considering that Genjiro was laying on his stomach, it made it a little harder to do this. But the celebrity detective just backed up a little and went to move his neck- "What the?" When he went to move Genjiro's neck, it moved really easily. Almost like... "Is his neck broken?" It was hard for him to imagine how that could even happen... but that's something he needed to note down. As he moved his neck, he also came to notice Genjiro's shirt. Or, more accurately, his cape. It had multiple tears in it. Hm... interesting.

After Ji-hoon noted that, he moved Genjiro's neck to where he could see his mouth. The celebrity detective sighed and duck down to the wrestler's mouth and took a whiff. He immediately knocked back by the strong smell of chemicals. But also... "Pineapple?" He knew that Genjiro had had the pineapple rum for the drinking party... but he just didn't expect it to smell that strong. The scents of alcohol are more Darren's expertise, so he left that for later.

Now... he had one more thing he wanted to check. Ji-hoon brought his hands down to Genjiro's pockets. Thought he may as well check to see if he had anything on him. There was nothing in his left pocket... but in his right... "Ow!" He accidentally pricked his finger on some glass. Learning his lesson, the celebrity detective slowly pulled out the glass out of Genjiro's pocket. "Hm..." There seemed to be small droplets of something on the glass shards. Perhaps against his better judgement, Ji-hoon managed to take one of the droplets and put it in his mouth. Well... whatever it was, it was nasty. Didn't feel like it was a beverage or anything like that.

Alright... that was essentially all of Genjiro's body investigated, so Ji-hoon stood up. He had already gotten a lot out of this... a lot of useful information... and questions. But that's how it went.

He glanced over at where Alpha's body was. There wasn't really anything noteworthy besides for a light outline of blood from where she was. Ji-hoon was so curious on how the killer(s) managed to get the jump on Genjiro and Alpha of all duos. Why them? Why not a duo that was an easier target? It's a strange choice.

He tried to shift his focus away from the stage, but one last thing caught his eyes. The spotlights. He never really payed them any mind when they were on the first floor for Bessie's show. But they were bigger than he realized. And... he could just barely see little bits of blood on two of them. It wasn't a lot... and he couldn't tell how fresh it was from where he was standing. He'd try and use the technician's room to lower them, but Aurora informed him that the button panel doesn't work. Hm... perhaps this is nothing.

...

Adam watched Ji-hoon investigate away on the stage with a true determination of an Ultimate Celebrity Detective. He... he wanted to be useful too! So he got to work checking the seating of Bessie's Studio.

It's been said multiple times so far, but the destruction of the place really bewildered Adam. Blood was everywhere. Nearly all the seats were slashed and stabbed. He looked around the place as much as he could... but he couldn't identify anything that could be a sharp enough weapon to slash through these seats. Perhaps Genjiro's killer took it with them? It was an interesting dilemma.

And he knew it wasn't very logical to think like this... but something about seeing this once grand location destroyed to smithereens was kind of... depressing. Unfortunate.

As Adam continued to move up and down the rows of seats, he didn't find much of note. He was starting to feel a little frustrated... but it turns out he just needed to be a little patient. Because... "O-Oh!" He finally found something. Near the beginning of one of the rows, and on the surrounding seats, he saw some white fabric. It was small and indistinct enough to where he couldn't identify it... but he knew it was important. A nice find!

And he barely had to walk a few steps before he found something else of note. "W-What is this?" Adam bent down to his knees to get a closer look. "A... slab of metal?" The slab of metal was admittedly heavier than he thought, but he still managed to pick it up. This... seemed familiar to him. But... he couldn't place why it was familiar. It just was. Hm... interesting. It was too heavy to pocket, so he went and set it in an easy to spot place, then he continued to investigate.

...

It took him a while until he found anything else. Adam felt himself start to get exhausted as all he did was literally just walk up and down some aisles. It was when he was investigating the last aisle of seats... that he found something else. "W-What are these?" He spotted some dark green fabric on some of the seats. His mind obviously went back to the whire fabric he found... but he couldn't be sure how they were connected. But he was sure to keep it in mind.

...

"Adam!" Ji-hoon jumped off the stage. Luckily it wasn't that high up. "What have you found?" He already had his Star-Phone out, ready to take more notes.

"Ah!" Adam got a little scared for a second. But he quickly collected himself. "Um... I-I found a few things! First..." He directed the celebrity detective to the slab of metal.

"Oh...?" Ji-hoon picked up the slab with ease. "This... feels familiar." He examined the slab.

"Y-Yes, I thought t-the same." Adam nervously nodded. "I c-can't seem to place where it comes from though." He admitted with shame.

"No shame in that. That's okay." Ji-hoon seemingly somehow read the narration as he pocketed the slab. "That's what the trials are for."

"R-Right." Adam sighed. "I hope I can... b-be useful."

"What was that, Adam?" Ji-hoon didn't hear him.

"N-N-Nothing! It's n-nothing. I'm f-fine." Adam shook his head. "Anyway, um..." Eager to shift the topic, the academic explained his other findings.

...

"Fabric... got it." Ji-hoon was already starting to get a light idea of what happened in here... but it's not like he had any definitive proof yet. "Right. Let me explain what I got from Genjiro's body." He then explained his own findings off-screen.

...

"W-Wow..." Adam widened his eyes. "Genjiro... he got really beat up."

"Heh." Ji-hoon dryly chuckled. "That's an understatement. There's his neck too... a lot happened to him." He crossed his arms. "I want to know what happened to Alpha as well... but I'll let Yoshino and Joji handle her."

"Then t-there's Rosalind too..." Adam glanced at the wooden board.

"Right..." Ji-hoon felt like he and Adam were on the same page regarding the cinematographer. "Let's let Yoshino and Joji handle her too."

"D-Don't forget Raiha!" Adam didn't want the celebrity detective, or anyone else, to forget the slayest person in this place.

Ji-hoon didn't say anything to that, and turned around. "Adam. I'm going to keep investigating. Are you staying?"

"U-Um..." Adam took a deep breath. "Yeah. I-I am." It was logical to split up and conquer here. Let the others handle their own places. So... they got back to investigating, seeing if they could find any other important details.

[Comedy Studio]

"You know... I'm surprised you chose to investigate with me." Darren took a sip of a drink while he wandered into the scene of the drinking party.

"It's not because of you." Damien would never willingly associate with the bartender, after all. "My dear Ayaka wanted to be alone... and I respect her boundaries. Besides, I've been curious about the scene of the party as well, you see."

"Fair enough." Darren set his drink down on one of the counters. "Let's get started then."

The scene of the drinking party was left essentially untouched after a few hours ago. Everything seemed to be where they left it. "Damien." Darren said the beautician's name without looking at him.

"What?" Damien quickly answered as he started too look over some of the bottles.

"Last night... everyone left after Aurora's poisoning, right?" Darren wanted to make sure.

Damien stopped for a moment. "I... believe so."

"Let's go!" Damien called out to the remaining people in the Comedy Studio. He could tell that his dear Ayaka was feeling especially down, but he'd have to soothe her later. Now... there were more important things to do as everyone left the Comedy Studio.

"Why do you ask?" Damien didn't look at the bartender.

"No reason." And Darren didn't look at the beautician. "Anyway." With that out of the way, Darren went up to something that was on the forefront of his mind.

"Genjiro's rum, hm?" Damien joined his former motive partner as they went up to where Genjiro was sitting.

"Yeah. The shot glasses. They're interesting." Darren picked one up and took a whiff of it. "Huh. I'm getting rusty."

"I'm sorry?" Damien went back behind the bar counter to get the actual bottle of rum.

Darren did a big sniffa of the shot glass. "I didn't realize it last night. But this reeks of pineapple."

Damien narrowed his eyes, then looked at the bottle of rum. "Is that... strange? The rum is pineapple flavored."

"No." Darren shook his head. "All of these shot glasses..." He took a sniffa of each shot glass. "They all reek of pineapple. The smell is too strong." He set the shot glass he was holding down. "Smell the rum."

Damien sighed. "If you say so." He knew he shouldn't doubt Darren when it comes to alcohol. He took the cork out of the bottle and took a whiff. "Oh!" He immediately reeled his head back. "...Wow. That smell of pineapple is rather strong."

"Knew it. Something is off with these." Darren sounded abnormally confident.

"Is this your "bartender's intuition" speaking, perhaps?" Damien raised an eyebrow.

"You could say that." Darren shrugged. "Hey. You remember the cabinet with the liqueur bottles in them? Open it up." He immediately shifted the topic back to alcohol.

"Excuse me?" Damien didn't appreciate being ordered around. ...But he did it anyway after Darren didn't say anything in response. "It was... this cabinet, yes?" He opened it up.

"Yep." Darren scanned the cabinet with his eyes for a few seconds. "Alright. You can close it."

"As you wish." Damien had no idea what was going on in the bartender's mind right now. But he closed it anyway. "Why did you want to see it?"

"I wanted to so if there were any pineapple liqueur bottles in there. There wasn't." Darren started to inspect other things as he continued to speak. "I know there is pineapple liqueur here. But I didn't see it in there."

Oh really...? That piqued Damien's interest. "Are you saying it's missing then?"

"I'd assume so." Darren shrugged. What he saw did warrant calling it missing.

"I see. That's good to keep in mind." Damien wasn't an avid note-taker like Ji-hoon, and neither was Darren. But they both made sure to keep it in mind.

...

"Huh." Darren picked up another shot glass full of the pineapple rum. But this one was sitting a bit further away from the rest.

"Darren? What's the problem?" Damien thought he may as well see what his former motive partner was up to.

"This shot glass." Darren held this up. "This is... Adam's, isn't it?"

"Nah man! Go first and get some of that good shit in your veins!" Genjiro brought out some (corrupted) peak peer-pressuring.

"Ade, don't listen to him!" Yoshino was getting tired of this.

"C'mon nerd-"

"C'mon Ade-"

"C'mon nerd-!"

"C'mon Ade-!"

Like a metaphorical angel and devil, Adam kept getting conflicting messages. But... he didn't actually have to think too hard about it. In fact... Adam took small sip of the rum. "W-Woah!" The impact of the drink hit him faster than he would've calculated.

"Ah yes... I remember overhearing the scene." Damien knew it was technically morally wrong to think this way, but he was grateful that Genjiro wasn't around anymore... so moments like that can't happen again. "What of it, Darren?"

Darren narrowed his eyes as he silently inspected Adam's shot glass. He then picked up one of the shot glasses that Genjiro didn't get a chance to use. He inspected that as well.

"Darren?" Damien could see how locked-in the bartender was right now, but he wanted to know what he was thinking.

"They're the same." Darren set the shot glasses down.

Damien blinked. "I'm sorry?" He didn't expect that answer.

"Adam did take a sip didn't he?" Darren wanted to confirm.

"I... can't recall." Damien shook his head. "You and I were too busy bartending at the time."

"Right." Darren sighed. "After comparing Adam's shot glass with the full shot glass... it looks like Adam didn't drink any alcohol." He held up the academic's shot glass. "This... is full."

"Oh. I'm not sure what to make of that." Damien didn't know how to dissect what that might mean. "Of course you'd notice that though."

"Hm." Despite what was technically a compliment, Darren just stuck his hands in his pockets. "Yeah."

Damien chuckled. "That is an interesting find though. But there is a chance that Adam simply spat the alcohol back into the glass, yes? I can't imagine a man of Adam's caliber would take kindly to the taste of alcohol." He offered an idea.

"...Good point." Darren felt like Adam wouldn't really like alcohol anyway. "Alright. Let's move on." He then abruptly walked away from the shot glass scene.

Damien sighed, them inspected the shot glasses himself. "Hm... I see." He then walked away to join back up with the bartender.

...

"This is probably the final area of interest, yes?" Damien walked up to Aurora's and Pheme's seats.

"Yep." Darren nodded. It wasn't like it was a long walk, considering that Pheme was a mere two seats away from Genjiro. Only Alpha blocked him. And Aurora was three seats away from Genjiro, with Alpha still and Pheme blocking him.

Damien shook his head, then picked up Aurora's wine. "It truly was a shame what happened. I can only hope my dear Aurora will feel better."

"Yeah." It was unknowable if Darren was actually concerned about Aurora.

"Gah!" Aurora suddenly held her hand over her mouth.

"Wha- bestie? Are you feeling sick?" Raiha didn't think that Aurora drank enough to be sick, but she thought she may as well ask.

...

"It..." Aurora spoke shakily as she removed her hand from her mouth. Blood covered her entire hand.

*BLERGH*

Aurora threw up blood all over the floor.

"Aurora?!" Raiha widened her eyes.

...

"...R-Raiha..." Aurora tried to still speak with blood filling her mouth. But... "I..." She passed out onto the ground, dragging Raiha with her.

"I believe in Joji, my dear Yoshino, and my dear Raiha to take care of her, along with the others." Damien showed concern like the nice and kind human being he was, while inspecting her glass.

"Anything?" Darren watched the beautician move the glass around in his hands. "Well... it seems that it's under the halfway point. My dear Aurora nearly finished the whole glass."

"I see." Darren made a mental note about Aurora enjoying her wine. "Anything else?"

"Yes..." Damien spotted something along the rim of the glass. "There is.. a streak of pink here. You see?" He pointed it out to the bartender.

"A streak of pink?" Darren knew that Okukik Wine didn't cause that. "...Weird." He wasn't sure where that could've came from.

"No ideas?" Damien kind of hoped the alcohol messiah across from him would've known something here.

"Nope." Darren shrugged.

"I see." Damien sighed in annoyance and set the wine glass down.

"Now..." Darren picked up Pheme's wine. "Interesting."

"You've already spotted something?" Damien was a little impressed.

"It's over half full." Darren noticed. "I thought Pheme was a bigger wine connoisseur than this. I guess not." He did one of his signature shrugs before setting the glass down.

"...Is that it?" Damien expected a litte more.

"Yep." Darren nodded.

...

"I see." Damien got reminded of why he dislikes this guy. "Well then. We should-"

"Mr. Taylor! Mr. Lux! It's a pleasure to see you!" In a classic Pheme jumpscare, the goddess herself entered the Comedy Studio. "I see you've taken to investigating the scene of the drinking party? Ah, wasn't that such a fun experience?" She spoke while she collected some of the bottles sitting on the counter.

"What are you doing, Pheme?" Darren couldn't help but see that she was taking away all the special alcohol for he drinking party.

"Well!" Pheme grabbed the last bottle she needed. "Since the drinking party is over, I need to return these to your Ultimate Studio, Mr. Taylor!" She didn't stop for anymore conversation, as she quickly grabbed what she needed and left. "I'll see you two at the trial!" Nevermind! She had a little more conversation I guess. But perhaps because of that...

Damien and Darren saw that Pheme dropped something as she left the room. The boys shared a quick look, before Darren went to go a pick it up. It was a piece of paper.

"What is it?" Damien sensed they were probably somehow breaking a rule here, but he couldn't help but be curious.

"Look." Darren showed the paper to the beautician. It read:

A/G - 11:00 PM

Y/A - 11:10 PM

C/K - 11:12 PM

J/K - 11:14 PM

A/R - 11:15 PM

J/L - 11:15 PM

D/D - 11:16 PM

A/R - 11:17 PM

"What in the...?" Damien had no clue how to decipher this. "A bunch of letters and times?"

"Hey." Darren quickly pocketed the paper.

"Did I...?" A now empty handed Pheme walked back into Comedy Studio. "Is it...?" She looked around the room.

"Pheme? What's up?" Darren leaned back against nothing.

"Mr. Taylor! Mr. Lux! It's a pleasure to see you!" Pheme copied her last greeting to them. "Say, you haven't happened to spotted a piece of paper around here, have you?"

"Nope." Darren spoke before Damien could say anything.

And Damien, sensing that the bartender was going this route, knew that he had to play along. "Indeed. We have not seen a piece of paper, I'm afraid." He shook his head in an exaggerated manner.

"Drat... must've left it somewhere else. Oh well!" Pheme did seem too torn it up over it. "That's alright!" She turned around. "I'll see you two at the trial!" She waved behind her before leaving once again.

...

"Well then." Damien waited until he was confident the coast was clear. "I'm surprised, Darren. I didn't take you to be sneaky like that. My dear Catherine rubbing off on you, perhaps?"

Darren just shrugged. "Maybe." He pulled out the paper again. "This'll be useful. ...Somehow." It's not like he knew what it meant either.

"Yes... I believe you are right." Damien still had trouble processing just how clumsy Pheme could be at times. But he wasn't going to object against a free clue.

"...You staying here?" Darren walked back behind the bar and made himself a drink.

"No. I believe the room has been investigated enough." Damien shook his head. "Besides, I'd like to check on my dear Ayaka, so I'll leave you to it." He then left without another word.

...

Darren took a sip of the drink he made. Cathy was rubbing off on him, huh? He cracked a small smile.

[Ultimate Beautician's Studio]

When Lake left the crime scene, they weren't really sure where they wanted to go. Part of them wanted to go to the infirmary, but they knew the place would be pretty full up. So, instead of that, they chose Damien's Ultimate Studio. I mean, why not? Surely it'd be a nice and calm place to investigate, right?

...

Right?

...

As soon as Lake entered the Ultimate Studio, it felt like it was an assault on their nostrils. "O-Oh my god!" They immediately went to plug their nose, because Damien's Ultimate Studio reeked. It was the strongest and nastiest mix of smells that Lake had ever had the displeasure of smelling. And... they didn't have to think too hard about where the smell was coming from.

Because, just like Bessie's Ultimate Studio... Damien's Ultimate Studio was utterly trashed. All of the nice and fancy equipment, the shelves full of makeup, the mirrors you'd use to admire yourself... everything was destroyed. Blood was all over the floor. "W-What happened?" Lake had to be careful where they stepped, considering all of the rubble on the floor. They didn't even know where to start in this room. But they didn't even get a chance to think about that yet as they noticed that someone else was in here with them.

Ayaka was in the corner of the room, looking through small notes of paper, and writing stuff down on some notes of paper too. "I've got to... I've got to... N-" She kept muttering to herself, clearly unaware of the encroaching ballet dancer.

Every neuron in Lake's brain was telling them to prank Ayaka here, but they knew now wasn't the time. Instead, they gently walked up to the violinist and tapped her on the shoulder. "Ayaka?"

"KYA!" Ayaka yelped as she jumped up. She turned around in panic. "Oh. It's y-you, Lake." Her paranoia simmered down a bit at the sight of the ballet dancer. "W-What are you doing?" She frantically pocketed all of the notes she had.

"Just... wanted to investigate somewhere!" Lake happily nodded. "What are you doing? What were those notes?"

"Notes?" Ayaka felt a drop of sweat drip down her forehead. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it." She quickly shook her head. "Um... to answer your first question, I d-decided to investigate Damien's studio too. It's just... a lot." She sighed as she looked around.

"Not to mention the smell!" Lake kept plugging their nose whenever they could.

"Yeah... I'm g-glad I have my mask for this." Ayaka lightly giggled. "But... I t-think the smell comes from all of the busted makeup in the room."

"I thought so too." As Lake looked around more, they noticed a lot of glass, and what seemed to be loose makeup on the floor too. "I guess... whoever tore through Bessie's Studio tore through here too?" They couldn't imagine who'd be strong enough to- oh wait. They could imagine one person being strong enough to do this.

"Probably." Ayaka took a deep breath. "Hey, n-now that you're here Lake... do you want to investigate together?" She would've preferred to be alone right now, but being with Lake sounded... fine.

"Sure!" Lake was hoping Ayaka would say that. "Let's go!" They tried to stay as optimistic as they could as they started to look around the place with Ayaka.

...

But despite their optimistic approach... they didn't find much of anything. Both Ayaka and Lake dug through rubble while being careful to not cut their hands. It took them a while to find anything of note.

"Oh! I found something!" Lake eagerly pulled out whatever they found out of the rubble.

"What is it?" Ayaka curiously walked up to them.

"I... don't know if it's relevant." Lake admitted in hindsight. "But it's a mirror!" They had pulled out a pristine and seemingly untouched mirror. The glass gave off a perfect reflection, and the sides were lined with gold. If it was real or fake gold, neither of them knew.

"...Weird." Ayaka took the mirror. "When D-Damien and I explored this together... I don't remember seeing this anywhere." Could Damien have hidden this from her? Surely not!

"That is weird!" Lake narrowed their eyes. "...But I don't know if it matters here.

"Yeah, me neither." Ayaka admitted as she gently set the mirror on the ground. "Let's m-move on."

"Sounds good!" Lake was eager to get back to it.

...

After an unknown amount of time later, Lake and Ayaka found themselves at the last little section they've yet to dig through. The area surrounding the connecting door to Joji's Ultimate Studio. "...Hey. What's that?" And they didn't even have to dig through anything, as Ayaka immediately noticed something of interest. She bent down to pick it up. "It's... Alpha's sunglasses? Is she missing t-these?"

Lake was among the people who saw Alpha's body before Joji hauled it off, but they didn't want to think about that. "I guess so." They shrugged. "It's strange that they're in here of all places."

"I mean... we a-already knew this place is somehow connected to the murder." Ayaka pocketed the sunglasses. "It only solidifies that."

"Fair enough!" Lake giggled. "Let's be sure to get those back to her!"

"Right." Ayaka nodded. "Now, let's- wait. What's that?" In a two-for-one special, the violinist spotted something else on the ground.

"What's what?" Lake turned to see what Ayaka was starting at. "Oh!" They then bent down and picked it up. "It's... a nail gun. I think I remember seeing this when I explored Joji's Studio with Joji!"

"Makes sense." Ayaka looked at the nail gun herself. "But... shouldn't this have been collected? Didn't Ji-hoon and the boys take this?"

"I... thought so." Lake forgot about that fact for a second. "Hm... I guess we'll have to talk to them about that."

"Uh huh." Ayaka nodded, then tried to pocket the nail gun. Upon realizing it was way too big for that, she just set it on one of the few remaining shelves in the place.

...

"So... I think that's it." Lake took one last look around. "You wanna move onto Joji's Studio now?"

"O-Okay." Investigating with Lake proved to be nicer than Ayaka would've thought. So she had no reason to deny the offer as the duo walked into the neighboring room.

[Ultimate Carpenter's Studio]

"And... I thought so." Lake expected this, but the sight also made them feel... sad. And Lake feeling sad is never good thing.

"This is trashed too. M-Makes sense." Just like Ayaka said, following the trend of every Ultimate Studio on this floor besides for Yoshino's, Joji's Ultimate Studio was destroyed as well. It also had blood all over the floor.

"At least the smell is better...?" Lake tried their best to look on the bright side. But they were just afraid of Joji's reaction to the sight. They he knew he liked this room.

"Yeah." Ayaka could admit that that was a plus. "And at least t-there isn't much rubble. Just... clutter." Considering there was barely anything actually breakable in this room compared to its neighbor, the duo already had their eyes on a few things to investigate. Not wanting to waste any time, they got right to it.

...

"This is cute!" Lake spotted a small wooden figure on the floor amongst the clutter and picked it up. "I... don't know what this is though."

"Let me see." Ayaka took figure. "W-Well... it's a figure of a pretty woman. There are some letters done here too. See?" She pointed to the bottom of the figure.

"KA-?" Lake read the letters out. "Wait... the rest of the letters are cut off!"

"Maybe d-due to the damage to the room?" Ayaka guesses as she handed the figure back to Lake.

"Maybe!" Lake took back the figure. It was small enough to fit in their pocket, so they stored it safely there. As they did, they couldn't help but feel like they heard the letters KA before. Hm... it's probably nothing! Surely!

"Okay... let's k-keep going." Ayaka led the duo along as they moved along from something that likely wasn't relevant to the case.

...

"Huh... this is interesting." Ayaka picked something off of the floor. "And d-definitely not from here."

"What is it?" Lake moved to get a closer look. "It's... some dark green fabric?"

"I think it's m-more than that." Ayaka noticed a little blood on the fabric. "Considering we found Alpha's sunglasses in t-the other room, I wonder if this is from Genjiro's cape."

"Ohh yeah! His cape is dark green! I can see it!" Lake agreed with the deduction. "That gives me some thoughts about the destruction of these rooms... it almost feels like three separate crime scenes!"

"I... don't t-think that's right, necessarily." Ayaka shook her head. "But I get what you mean." Despite the little bit of blood on it, Ayaka pocketed the fabric. "Let's keep looking."

"Right!" Lake was eager to keep going.

...

"Oh... that's basically it." Lake slightly pouted. Joji's Studio was destroyed and there was clutter and there was blood... but there actually wasn't much to find.

"Hold on. There's t-this." Ayaka pointed to two boards nailed together forming an L shape on the ground. "This is w-weird... right?" It seemed weird at least.

"Oh!" Lake went over to it. "I think... this is from a simple bench Joji built! He just used three boards of wood for it!"

"...Well it's clearly missing one." Ayaka pointed out the obvious.

"Oh yeah! It is!" Lake somehow only realized that then and then and there. "I... don't think the missing board is in here though." As they looked around the room once more, they saw no wooden boards laying about. And the room that stored them was closed.

"That's... another mystery then." Ayaka sighed, then looked around too. "I also t-think that's it."

"I... think you're right." Lake nodded in slight disappointment. As Ayaka said, they had basically investigated everything of importance here already. "Well... I had fun investigating with you, Ayaka!"

"Uh... same." Ayaka had no idea how Lake could stay cheery like that. She was a little jealous. "I think... I'm going to g-go now." She glanced down at her pocket. "Bye!" She bowed her head, then clutched her head as she walked out of the room at a brisk pace.

"Bye!" Lake waved. They... probably weren't going to stick around either. They left the room as well, curious to see if they could find anywhere else to investigate.

[Grand Lobby - 2F]

"Ah... that's interesting." When Kei left the scene of the crime, he admittedly had no idea on where to go. But... that question vanished from his mind as soon as he saw a certain peculiarity.

"I wonder what- oh." It didn't take Kei long to actually find Darren. The bartender was currently standing outside of a boarded-up room. "Oh wow. Another one?"

...

"Huh." Kei walked up to it. Compared to the one on the previous floor, this one was a lot more secured. It gave off the impression that Pheme did not want anyone in there. Boards covered the entirety of the doorway, not even granting the duo a slit to look through. "Damn. Something important has gotta be in there."

...

"The one downstairs was designed to where one of you stars could eventually get in there! And one of you did! Ms. Miyahara did! Well she tried to I guess." Pheme giggled. "Anyway, none of you are getting in here. I wanted to make this a trick door too, but As- um, I meant the staff didn't want you stars in here."

"It looks like somebody ignored the rules... because that doorway is wide open." Kei couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. He already saw it a little earlier... but he was glad that there was no fire coming out of the mysterious boarded-up room this time though.

"Isn't it fascinating, lawyer human?" Cathy jumped down from who knows where and landed right next to Kei. "One of the humans couldn't control themselves, it seems! Nyaha! I don't blame them!"

"Hey Cathy." Kei casually turned to her. "I heard from Lake that you were missing. Where were you?"

"Huh? Oh! You're talking about the handcuffs that connected me the hypnotist human? Ha!" Cathy managed to roll her eyes smugly. "As soon as those handcuffs came off, I was out of there! That's all there is to it!"

"Gotcha." Kei wasn't really surprised by that response. He could see that. "You up to date on everything?"

"You mean the wrestler human being dead? Or course I am!" Cathy giggled. "Good riddance, by the way!"

"Right..." Kei turned his attention back to the now wide open doorway of the strange room. "Shall we? It's not like Pheme made any rule prohibiting entry into the place."

"I was going to go in anyway!" Cathy didn't bother to check if going into the broke any actual rules, and she pranced forward.

"Heh." Kei chuckled to himself at Cathy's antics as he followed behind her. Until... "Hold on Cathy." The lawyer stopped.

"Hm? What do you need, lawyer human?" Cathy sounded very annoyed as she turned around.

"Look down." Kei pointed down.

"Look down?!" Cathy sounded ridiculously bewildered by that as she looked down at her black leather boots. "Wait!" She shot her head back up. "You're looking at my boots! Ugh, you're so gross!"

"I'm sorry...?" Kei didn't understand the accusation.

"Humans...!" Cathy rolled her eyes. "You would be the type to be into that! No, I'm not going to step on you!"

...

Kei blinked. "Uh... no." He had no idea how she misinterpreted that to such a drastic agree. "Look down past your boots." He corrected what he said.

"Past them?" Cathy had a suspicious tone to her voice as she did as she was told. "Nyaha! I see..." She bent over more to get a closer look at the lawyer human's observation. "Black glass shards?"

"It seems so." Kei picked up a small shard of glass. "Interesting. Wonder what these are." He looked around the surrounding areas. "The ceiling... the walls... it's clean. This doesn't seem to have came from the ceiling or walls."

"Hmhmhm..." Cathy hummed as she un-bent over. She herself looked around, but couldn't see anything strange either. "I... will let you figure this out, lawyer human! This is your problem! Nyahaha!" She foisted the responsibility onto Kei as she lept on ahead into the open doorway.

"...Sounds good." It wasn't like Kei actively expected Cathy to help anyway. But he pocketed one of the shards, made a mental note of this, and followed behind the cat burglar into the mysterious room. As he entered, he noted some expected broken wooden boards on the ground.

[Ultimate EMT's Studio]

"I know! I know they broke into the Ultimate EMT's Studio! And they-"

As soon as Kei entered, he spotted Pheme on her Star-Phone, talking to someone.

"Hey. Get over here." Cathy whispered to the lawyer when she saw him enter.

"Yeah." Kei snuck as quietly as he could over to Cathy, and the duo stayed silent as they spyed on Pheme.

...

"I know that they broke into the Ultimate EMT's Studio! What do you want me to do about it! I can't go back in time and reverse what they did!"

...

"Right. Yes, I know. Please, you know there's no way I can do that! ...We'll just have to see! C'mon, you know it'll make it more interesting! Can't you see that?"

...

"Yes. Yes yes. Okay... I'll remember that for the future. That okay? ...Mm hm. Really? I'm glad! ...Alright. Bye!" Pheme hung up the phone, then turned around. Despite what some of her glamorous stars might think, the goddess wasn't stupid.

"Mr. Aikawa? Ms. Munchkin? Care to come out?" Pheme put her hands on her hips.

"Nyahaha! You saw through the ruse, I see!" Cathy seemed more than okay with being caught.

"Looks like the jig is up!" Kei acted casual about being caught as well.

Pheme waited for her snooping stars to reach her before continuing to speak. "You... heard all of that?"

"What's this place?" Kei didn't answer the question as he started to look around.

"Who were you talking to?" Cathy asked saucily as she avoided Pheme's question too.

...

"...I think I'll just take my leave!" Pheme knew she was cooked, so she decided to just cut her losses and leave. "I'll see you two at the trial!" She tried to say cheerily, but it more came out like she was holding back some aggression.

...

"So... the Ultimate EMT's Studio then?" Kei's mind was swimming with thoughts as he began to look around.

"Nyahaha! The godess is utterly ridiculous sometimes!" It's hard to tell if Cathy actually hated Pheme or not.

Without wasting anymore time, the duo started to look around together.

They first walked back over to the entrance, and faced the entirety of the mysterious Ultimate Studio. The place seemed to have been split into three main parts.

On the left, it seemed to be a mini pharmacy.

In the middle, there was a passage that led somewhere.

And on the right, there was a fake ambulance, with the back opened up.

"Let's see here..." Kei first waltzed up to the left side.

"Nyahaha! More medicine? This seems useful!" Cathy began to rifle through the shelves and drawers of medicine that lined the left side.

Kei definitely saw her yoink something, but he didn't worry about it. "You're right. Especially with four of us being injured... we'll take what we can get." He then went and looked through some of the medication himself. It wasn't really just a specific type of medication, it was just... everything. Meds for colds, flus, pain relief, stopping your heart, headaches, and everything.

"Hm... I wonder what this room is-" Cathy cut herself off as he pulled out a non-medication item out of one of the drawers. "What is this?"

"Whatcha got, Cathy?" Kei got a closer look at what she pulled out. "A small red charm?"

"This is..." Cathy narrowed her eyes, and lost a surprising amount of her smug and annoying aura as she stared at the charm.

"...Cathy?" Kei didn't expect the cat burglar to freeze up at a meer charm.

...

"What?" Cathy vigorously shook her head. "Uh... I'm fine! Anyway, finders keepers!" She jumped up onto her feet, successfully regaining her smug and annoying aura. "Let's go the ambulance side now!" She then ran off to the opposite side of the room.

"Huh." Kei wasn't sure what to make of that... so he decided to just put it in the back of his mind for now. And since they essentially investigated everything suspicious on this side, he went to join back up with the feline felon.

...

"So... it's more life half an ambulance." Kei stared at the sight before him. The right side was just half an ambulance, with the back opened up.

"Don't waste time gawking, lawyer human!" Cathy shook her head. "Let's get in there!" The cat burglar jumped on into the ambulance.

Kei couldn't help but admire how a thief like her could leap into places like this, without a fear of it being trapped. "...Oh well." He shrugged, before joining her.

...

When they went into the back of the ambulance... it was... the back or an ambulance. Wasn't anything fancy or weird. Just... the back of an ambulance.

"Aw! I'm almost disappointed!" Cathy crossed her arms.

"Don't get all pouty yet, Cathy. We don't know what's in here yet." Kei got to work looking around in the limited drawers and cabinets in the ambulance.

"Hmph! It's nothing exciting!" Cathy kept pouting. "Just EMT supplies. Scissors, gloves, bandages, and other things."

"To be expected, considering the name of the place itself." Kei bluntly answered. "Hey, it's more useful medical supplies. Can't object at that. And... oh." He stopped moving around. "What's this?"

"Hm?" Cathy sensed the intrigue in the lawyer human's voice. "What have you discovered, lawyer human?"

"Take a look." Kei showed off a key card he found. "Hazel Lenora - Ultimate EMT." He read off what it said.

"Um, I know how to read, lawyer human!" Cathy scoffed. "But is this EMT human the owner of this place?"

"We can only assume." Kei pocketed the key card, then jumped out of the ambulance. "Alright. That's pretty much everything. Just one last thing to investigate." He wanted to move at a semi-fast pace, considering he didn't know when the Studio Trial was.

"Hold on lawyer human!" Cathy didn't appreciate being left behind, so she lept out of the ambulance as well.

...

"Well! It looks like it's just this strange hole left!" Cathy peeked into the mysterious hole in the middle of the room. At first glance, it seemed methodically made. Like it was a secret passage or something. It was easily able to fit two people side by side too.

"Let's go." Kei didn't hesitate as he took a step into the passage.

"Not if I go in first!" Cathy dashed ahead of Kei.

[Secret Passage]

"Nyahaha! How exciting!" Feeling in her element, Cathy ducked into the secret passage in the wall of the Ultimate EMT's Studio.

"Fair enough you'd enjoy this!" Kei was right behind her. "You know... this is more industrial than I would've thought."

This entire secret passage had walls, floors, and ceilings made out of metal. And lining the walls were various doors. Cathy attempted to break into every single one they passed by, but she didn't have any luck. "Bah! Ridiculous!" The cat burglar almost hissed at the doors.

"Can only imagine what's behind all these doors..." Kei admittedly had an idea, but he had zero proof. So he kept to himself as the duo continued to walk further and further down the passage...

...

"Nyahaha! Let's see what is-" I saw Cathy stop in her tracks. I ended up a little behind her due to her impressive burglar speed.

"Cathy? What's up?" I asked as I approached where she was. She stayed silent and unmoving, only having a confused look on her face. "...Cathy?" I started to get more and more concerned as I got closer to her.

And when I did get closer to her... I widened my eyes in horror at the wretched sight awaiting me. It was... a body. A body that could only belong to...

...

Bessie B. Blossom, the Ultimate Pop Star.

...

Wait. What?!

Kei ordinarily would've averted his eyes away immediately from the sight, but Bessie's robo-status helped his mind a little. "W-What the?" He took a few steps closer.

"Nyaha! How strange! It's the backup dancer non-human's body!" Cathy bent down to look it over. "Did the goddess just leave it here?"

"I-I don't know." Kei realized that Bessie was laying right outside another door. So he did what he could to avoid stepping on the body, and went to the door. He tried to open it, and... "This... is unlocked." Without waiting for Cathy, he went into the door...

[Boarded-Up Room]

And Kei ended up in... the boarded-up room on the first floor?! "Wow." It felt like the theory he had about the secret passage was essentially proven now. But that's... really interesting. The door was hidden behind one of the shelve that held the trumpets in the boarded-up room. He didn't bother stepping foot into the room itself. He could tell it was the real deal. It's also... real strange. He wasn't sure if this passage was relevant to the murder or Genjiro, but he could sense it was important to the overall game. He decided to keep this in mind as he ducked back into the passage.

[Secret Passage]

"And... Cathy is gone." Kei sighed as he purposely avoided looking at Bessie's body. "Well... I guess I'm done." He shrugged. This entire place is really strange. Hazel Lenora? Ultimate EMT? Secret passage? It felt like Kei wandered into a Chapter Six room, not a Chapter Two one! But... he didn't hate having this information so early. He decided to stick around the place for the rest of the investgative period, just to see if he could find anything else...

[Infirmary]

"Coming in!" Yoshino attempted to give warning as she barged into the infirmary, Rosalind in hand.

"What the fuck?! Yoshino?! Rosalind?!" Joji immediately stood up.

"Woah! Yoshino and Rosalind bestie?" And Raiha, in her first line this chapter, stood up as well.

"Uh... shit." Yoshino groaned as the only three beds in the infirmary were being taken by Kuroko, Aurora, and now Alpha.

"Yoshino! What happened to her?" Joji took Rosalind's body from the smaller girl.

"I found her knocked the hell out in my studio! She's fine... but unconscious." Yoshino shook her head in frustration. "The hell is happening this case?! Four of us are in here now!"

"Yeah... um... fuck." Joji then realized that there were no available beds.

"Oh! Lemme cook!" Raiha got up from her chair, then started joining all of the chairs together, and and layed a spare sheet overtop of it. "There! Good enough, yeah?" She moved back to Aurora's bedside without another word.

"It'll do..." Joji groaned as he gently set Rosalind's body down on the chair-bed. "Uh... shit. Lemme find some medicine for Rosalind."

"You good Jojo? Need help?" Yoshino didn't know if she could even be of help here, but she wanted to offer anyway.

"Thanks, but I'm good! I've been in here twice so far, I know what I'm doing!" Joji oozed with confidence for some reason.

"Alright... fine." Yoshino watched Joji go off to rifle through some cabinets. "Uh..." She didn't expect to end of in here of all places for the investigation. But she may as well do what she can. She started to check up on the girls.

...

She went up to Kuroko's bed first. "Roko? How are you?" Yoshino asked, not knowing if she'd get a response or not.

"..." But Kuroko was out for the count. Her body would still occasionally twitch... but that's all- "Miyuki..." The hypnotist muttered.

"Miyuki? ...Roko?" Yoshino wasn't sure what that meant. "Who's Miyuki?"

...

Nothing. "Hm... just talking in your sleep then?" She gently smiled. She had no idea if you could talk in your sleep while unconscious, but she wasn't going to question it. And speaking of questions... Yoshino knew she couldn't question Kuroko about anything while she was in this state. She'd... just have to hold out faith for the trial then. "I hope you get better, Roko." She smiled at her friend before moving on.

...

After Kuroko, Yoshino moved over to Aurora's bed. Raiha was still standing with her bestie.

"Rai-Rai?" Yoshino came into Raiha's view. "How is Roro?"

"Yoshino..." Raiha turned to face the horror novelist with a light smile on her face. "Aurora is okay! IDK what Adam gave her, but I think she's mellowing out. Just needs a little mo' time to rest."

"Gotcha... that's good." Yoshino felt a little better knowing that Aurora was going to be okay. "Also... you... know what happened? With Genjiro?"

Raiha dryly chuckled. "Yeah. I do." Admittedly, the trendsetter wasn't very torn up over the death. It's still an unfortunate happenstance though.

"Gotcha... okay." Yoshino noticed how the usually cheerful trendsetter was definitely... more chill today. She couldn't blame her. You know... hm. Yoshino watched Raiha's face for a second... and she could swear she saw a blush on the trendsetter's face as she looked over her fallen bestie.

Huh... maybe they're more than besties. If that's true, good for them. She supported it. It ain't her business though and it ain't the time to talk about that anyway. So she quietly moved along.

...

As Yoshino reached Alpha's bedside, she saw Joji approaching her. "Alright! Got some stuff to help out Rosalind!" He wiped a drop of sweat off of his forehead. "Damn it... this is crazy."

"You're telling me, Jojo." Yoshino took a deep breath, then looked down at Alpha. "She's out, right?"

"Yeah." Joji nodded. "Found her next to Genjiro. She's badly bruised and beatup. No cuts or stab wounds or nothing. Her sunglasses are missing. She's lost some blood, but she just needs to rest. She should be good. Got no fucking idea what happened."

"Man... I wanna know how someone got the jump on her and especially Genjiro." Yoshino still had trouble believing it. "Like... how?!"

"Fuck if i know..." Joji sighed and leaned back against the wall.

As Yoshino was looking Alpha's unconscious body, an idea popped into her mind. "Yo Jojo? You checked her pockets yet?"

"Huh?" Joji looked up. "Uh... no. I haven't figured she probably wouldn't want anyone searching through her things."

"That so...?" Yoshino shrugged. "Alright, be mad at me if you want to, Alpha." She grabbed some nearby gloves and began to search through her clothes.

...

"Oh shit...?" Yoshino pulled a small bottle out of Alpha's pocket. "What's this?"

"You actually got something?!" Joji went up to the horror novelist to see more.

"Yeah. See?" Yoshino showed the small bottle she found to Joji. "It's... Adenosine."

"Adenosine? The hell is that?" Joji took the bottle to get a closer look. But despite how much he looked the bottle over, he couldn't find anything saying what it was used for. "Weird..." He popped the bottle open.

"What's in there, Jojo?" Yoshino's measly 5 feet couldn't see over Joji's 5 feet 10 inches, so she had no choice but to ask.

"Uh..." Joji lowered it down to Yoshino's level. "Was... was anything taken? I can't tell."

"Um..." Yoshino looked into the bottle. It seemed full. "Damn... I can't tell. Maybe?" She shrugged. "There's probably room in there for a few more pills. But I can't tell if anything was actually taken."

"Huh..." Joji took back the bottle. "Got no clue if this is stuff Alpha actually needs... or if it's something more. ...I'll keep it with me." He pocketed the bottle. "Stuff for the trial, I guess."

"Right..." Yoshino went back to check Alpha's clothes one more time. "That's it. Nothing else noteworthy."

"Gotcha." Joji nodded. "You wanna... look through Rosalind's pockets now?" He wanted to be as respectful as he could to a girl like Rosalind.

"Ah yeah! Sure!" Rosalind would probably be easier to search, considering she probably wouldn't punch you if she suddenly woke up, unlike Alpha. "Still feel bad about this whole chair bed thing... but it'll have to do." She walked up to the unconscious cinematographer and bent down. "Alright... let's see..." She wasted no time.

...

Joji silently watched Yoshino go through Rosalind's clothes. It didn't seem like she was going to find anything-

"What the fuck?!" Yoshino suddenly yelled.

"God damn!" Joji jumped up a little. "What, Yoshino? The hell is it?!"

"Woah! Calm the F down!" Raiha got scared too.

"Ah, sorry!" Yoshino didn't realize how loud she was. "Uh... Jojo? You should see this." The horror novelist slowly pulled two things out of Rosalind's pockets.

"What even is it- woah! What the fuck?!" Joji accidentally had the same reaction.

"Woah! Again?!" Raiha kept getting scared.

"Sorry!" Joji quickly apologized before kneeling down. "These are..." He took the two things from Yoshino.

"Yeah..." Yoshino said breathlessly. "Bess's Star-Phone and Remote." She still couldn't believe it.

"What the... what?!" Joji didn't believe it. "Why does... why she...?" He desperately wanted to know more about Rosalind apparently being the mysterious thief... but he didn't get that chance as an announcement suddenly rang out from over the monitors.

"Ah... you know... I think that's enough! You've all had your fun investigating! So... it's time! My glamorous stars, I ask that you gather in the grand theater, so that the Studio Trial can officially begin! I hope to see you there! Or wait- no. You have to be there! Ta ta!"

The three conscious people in the infirmary witnessed Pheme's face disappear from the monitor.

"Damn it! Already?!" Joji threw hands up in the air.

"Guess that we gotta get going." Yoshino groaned. "Or... Rai-Rai? You going to the trial?"

"Erm... nah." Raiha shook her head. "I wanna... stay here." She glanced at Aurora.

"Got it!" Yoshino understood completely. "Pheme'll probably allow someone to stay behind to watch these four anyway."

"Let's hope so..." Joji sighed while pocketing Bessie's Star-Phone and Remote. "Fuck... alright. Let's go Yoshino. Let's get this shit done."

"Yep." Yoshino firmly nodded. "Rai-Rai... we'll be back." There was the fact that they'd be back with one less person among their ranks after this... but it wasn't the time to bring that up.

"Mm hm! GL!" Raiha smiled and waved as she watched Yoshino and Joji leave. A lot of emotions were running through her mind... but all she did for now was just try and relax... and hope the trial went well.

[Grand Theater]

"What the hell? We were right across from here! How are we last?!" Yoshino widened her eyes as she saw nine people already in the Grand Theater.

"This is everyone? God..." Joji shook his head.

"It appears so." Kei shrugged. "We'll have to make due."

"Yeah..." Ji-hoon looked around at the ten others. "It'll be tougher this time... but it still should be-"

The door to the Grand Theater suddenly opened again. It was Raiha. "Yo...?" She looked around.

"Ah, my dear Raiha!" Damien immediately greeted his dear Raiha. "What is it?"

"Can... uh..." Raiha seemed nervous. "Can someone else stay behind, maybe? NGL, IDK if I can handle being in there by myself. I'm like, totes nervous."

"Oh." Ji-hoon groaned. "We're down to ten brains then."

"It's okay?" Raiha wasn't sure if they'd be alright with that or not.

"Well... having less people in the trial has its own pros and cons." Ji-hoon crossed his arms. "If you need someone else to help, that's fine. Let's see..." He thought about who else should stay behind.

"How about Adam?" Kei suggested. "He's the closest thing we have to a medical expert here."

"Huh..." Ji-hoon couldn't deny that that was true, but he also felt shaky about losing someone that actually has some brain cells. "Adam? You mind staying behind to help Raiha?"

"Um... o-okay! If y-you say so!" Adam didn't have a problem with it.

"Ugh, thanks Adam kinda-bestie." Raiha seemed to cheer up. "C'mon, can you tell me what you used on Aurora bestie and..."

Her dialogue with Adam faded away as the duo left.

...

"Nyahaha! Down to ten!" Cathy obviously had no problems with it. She was just along for the ride.

"I... don't know if this is... better or not." Rival yawned.

"W-Well, we're just going to have to deal with it." Ayaka didn't know if she'd like this more or not either.

"Yes yes... say, while we wait for Pheme, what say we exchange information?" Damien suggested. "With less people, it's important we all are on the same page here."

"Yeah! Good idea Damien!" Lake was ready to share what they had found out.

...

"What?!" Joji stomped my foot. "Why the hell my studio?!"

"Yes... truly? My dear Ayaka and my dear Lake?" Damien was concerned.

"Y-Yeah. Both were... really m-messed up." Ayaka didn't know what else to say other than that.

"Aw, what the hell! I've gotta go see this!" Joji ran out.

"Jojo! Wait!" Yoshino tried calling out, but to no avail.

"Do not worry, my dear Yoshino. I'll fetch him!" Damien just wanted an excuse to check out the destruction of his own studio. "We shan't be long!" He bowed his head before leaving after the carpenter.

"Down to eight..." Rival half-joked.

"It's fine. If Pheme isn't even here yet, they have time." Ji-hoon shook his head.

"I guess so!" Lake was disappointed they had to break the news to Joji. "But like Ji-hoon said, while we have the time, can I ask a question?"

"Go for it!" Kei of all people gave permission.

"Well... I actually wanted to ask you something, Kei. And Ji-hoon. And Yoshino." Lake looked down at their feet. "I remember... back when I found Genjiro's body..." They shook a little while they recalled the scene. "You four, counting Adam, barged in at the same time, right? Were you together?" They thought it'd be a good question to ask.

"That's a good question to ask, Lake." Ji-hoon never really expected someone like them to take any sort of initiative with these things. "When Kei and I's handcuffs unlocked, we were sitting in the Grand Lobby. As soon as they did, we rushed upstairs. We spotted the Ultimate EMT's Studio up there..." He was very curious about that place. "But we went into the Romance Studio first. There wasn't anything important in there. After we left, we saw Adam coming out of Joji's Studio."

"Yep." Yoshino backed the story up. "When me and Ade's handcuffs unlocked, we were right by the stairs. We split up when they did, with Ade going upstairs and me downstairs. He must've went right to Damien and Jojo's Studios then?"

"Looks like it. I don't blame him if he chose randomly. It was a lot to take in up there." Kei stuck his hands in his pockets. "Anyway, after Ji-hoon and I ran into Adam, we saw Yoshino come upstairs. A few seconds after her, it was you and Joji. There. Sounds good?" He finished the story.

"Uh... yeah! Sounds good!" Lake just asked because they thought it sounded smart, and now they have to deal with the consequences of their hubris. They didn't know what to do with this information.

"Anyway..." Cathy cut off this boring human conversation. "Horror novelist human. You say that the cinematographer human stole the backup dancer non-human's Star-Phone and Remote?!" Of course she was interested in the thievery aspect here.

"Man... I guess so." Yoshino still had trouble processing that.

"Let's... save that for the Trial." Ji-hoon stopped them. "Because... isn't Pheme taking a while? I want to get this started."

"H-Huh... yeah." Ayaka hadn't realized that the goddess hadn't arrived yet.

"Well hold on." Kei stuck his hand out. "Let's not look a gift horse in the mouth." He smirked. "Ji-hoon. Let's go check... a certain place. We can look for Pheme there too." He winked.

"A certain... ah. I see." Ji-hoon had nearly forgotten to check that certain place out. "Alright... let's go. Everyone else, stay here just in case Pheme comes back." Without waiting another word, Ji-hoon left the room with Kei.

[VIP Quarters]

"Oh... well that was easier than I thought." When Kei, along with Ji-hoon, set off to find where Pheme went, they expected a more arduous journey. But...

"Of course she'd be right where we wanted to go." Ji-hoon had wanted to check on his room anyway, so he went with his former motive partner up to his room. But...

"Oh! Mr. Aikawa! Mr. Jo! Did you come looking for me?" Pheme was currently standing outside the door to Ji-hoon's room.

"Hey, how'd you know?" Kei played along with her. "Anyway... whatcha doing?"

"This?" Pheme turned her head to face the door. "I have to stand guard while your room if fumigated, Mr. Jo!"

...

"What?!" It took Ji-hoon a second to even react.

"F-Fumigate?" It even caught Kei off guard.

Pheme giggled at their reactions. "It seems you're curious! Very well!" She quickly went inside the room, then came back out a moment later. "It's still dangerous in there, but I can allow you a quick glance!" She motioned for the boys to come closer.

"Don't mind if we do!" Kei sprung forward, with Ji-hoon close behind him.

"What is it..." Ji-hoon took a peek into his room. And... "Ah!" The sheer smell almost made him retch. It smelled horrendous in there.

"Oh boy..." Kei was doing his best to tank the smell. "Looks like Joji's box didn't work... whoops." He sighed and shook his head.

In case it wasn't obvious, the box that Joji had made to store all of the tools from the Ultimate Carpenter's Studio and the poison from the Ultimate Beautician's Studio... it was demolished. So many different tools and so many shards of glass lined the floor. The box was dragged out of hiding into the middle of the room as well.

Ji-hoon had a feeling this had happened, based on what findings they've gotten from the investigation. But still... "When the hell did this happen?" That was the main thing that plagued the celebrity detective's mind.

"I... have no idea." Even Kei had to admit. "We may not have been in the room itself, but we were out in the Grand Lobby up until our handcuffs came off. No one came and went... right?"

"No... no one did." Ji-hoon shook his head. "What in the..."

"Ah ah ah! Time's up!" Pheme slammed the door in their faces, then took out a key and locked it from the outside. "Sorry boys! Any more exposure to the fumes in room would be harmful!" She wagged her finger.

"Damn it." Ji-hoon was frustrated, but he also realized that there was a lot of poison in the air right now. "That's another big mystery to solve now..."

"Eh, it's no biggie." Kei shrugged. "We got it." He was feeling confident.

"Hmph. Of course we do. I never said I'd falter." Ji-hoon shook his head.

"Ah! I left you all waiting in the Grand Theater didn't I? My apologies!" Pheme snapped her fingers. "The elevator doors should be opening now! You best get on it Mr. Jo! Mr. Aikawa!" She curtsied. "I'll see you there!" She waved before gracefully GTFOing.

"No time to waste then, I guess." Kei chuckled. "C'mon." The lawyer cocked his head to the exit and started to walk out.

"Yeah... right behind you." So many questions were being thrown around in Ji-hoon's mind right now. But he knew... he knew that all he could do right now was get on that elevator. So, he quickly went to follow behind his former motive partner.

[Grand Theater]

When the boys got back to the Grand Theater, they saw the other eight trial attendees, including Joji and Damien, already on the trial elevator. They promptly got on to join them. Not a word was shared as the doors closed after a few seconds... and start to descend into the earth.

...

Nobody may have expressed this vocally here, but the fact that they were down eight people compared to the last trial was it's own breed of concerning. After the first trial, they were down to seventeen of them. And with Genjiro's death, they were down to sixteen. Then with four of them being injured... they were down to twelve. Finally, with two of them staying behind to watch the injured, they were down to a measly ten.

...

The elevator continued to descend further.

...

Would they be able to do this? They were down eight brains from last time. Well... it might make the trial harder and easier in certain ways.

But the sinking feeling of having to accuse friends of murder was always going to be hard. It'd never get easier. And the much emptier aura and feel of the elevator made that sink in more. Was the killer with them? What if the killer was one of the injured? What is the killer was one of volunteers who stayed behind? There were already so many different things to dwell on...

...

With theories and ideas ablaze in everyone's minds... the elevator came to a stop...

[Grand Court]

And... the doors opened. The ten who were going to attend the trial stepped into the Grand Court once again.

"Hey... given it a makeover, huh?" Kei seemed unreasonably impressed as he looked around the large room.

The backdrop and background of the Grand Court had shifted away from the movie set look and more to a stadium look. The spotlights shone with a dark blue tone, the walls were lined with impressively realistic fake seats, and the ground around everyone's podiums took on a stage-like design.

"Thank you, Mr. Aikawa! I'm glad you noticed! I'm glad you appreciate my efforts!" Pheme giggled. "But that's enough gawking! Get to it! Go to your podiums!" She urged her stars along with a clap of her hands.

"Nyahaha! I do what I want!" It may have sounded like Cathy was going to rebel, but no. She went right to her podium.

As Damien went up to his own podium, he couldn't help but notice something. "Well... look at Genjiro's podium. Something appears to be there."

"It's hard to not notice that." Joji groaned in frustration at the sight. The sight of a portrait of Genjiro's face with ropes from a wrestling ring forming a red X on it.

"O-Over here too." Ayaka looked to the podium next to her. The one that used to belong to the chapter 1 killer girl or whatever.

"Yeah... I see it." Rival narrowed his eyes at the sight of a portrait of Aelia, with a bunch of red circles and arrows on it, with the arrows pointing to her face. "Trying to get attention... even in death." He sighed. He knew now wasn't the time to think about her.

"I'm glad you like the new portraits! I thought you'd like to be reminded of your dearly departed stars!" Pheme acted like she was doing a good thing by placing these up. "Anyway... it's time to begin the Studio Trial! Let's start the intro!" Pheme snapped her fingers, which caused a familiar giant monitor to descend out of the ceiling.

"The intro? Fun." Darren broke the laws of reality to take a drink out of a black hole and took a sip.

"The intro, hm?" Ji-hoon slowly nodded. The fact that Pheme even had a TV-like intro to these trials was fascinating to him. But he made sure to focus more on what she showed off here.

...

"Hello everyone! Welcome to the Studio Trial!" Pheme's slightly muffled voice could be heard from the monitor. "Welcome... to the second Studio Trial of Danganronpa: Obscurity's Disgrace!"

A title card for "Danganronpa: Obscurity's Disgrace" appeared above Pheme's head in the video."Now... let's meet our cast!" Video Pheme snapped her fingers... which started... the opening.

First, it was a picture of Cathy, who was standing triumphantly on top of a building, with a sack full of stolen goods in hand.

"Catherine Munchkin"

Next, it was a picture of Raiha happily texting away and chatting with her followers on her phone.

"Raiha Miyahara"

Next, it was a picture of a young Genjiro, who was sitting next to an older woman injecting a needle in her arm.

"Genjiro Mashimoto"

Next, it was a picture of Bessie, looking horrified at the sight of a spotlight crushing a human body.

"Bessie B. Blossom"

Next, it was a picture of Ji-hoon, typing away on his computer and finding dirt on all the latest up-and-coming celebrities.

"Ji-hoon Jo"

Next, it was a picture of Joji, who was happily installing the framework into a house that was under construction.

"Joji Kaneshiro"

Next, it was a picture of Kei, who was in a courtroom, and smugly staring at a frightened defendant.

"Kei Aikawa"

Next, it was a picture of Kuroko, who was smiling as she hypnotized a pretty lady up on a big stage, in front of an audience.

"Kuroko Kurobara"

Next, it was a picture of Lake, who was smiling and doing elegant ballet dances in front of an audience.

"Lake Beaumont"

Next, it was a picture of Alpha, who was behind the counter of her gas station, chatting up a customer. She also seemed... somewhat happy?

"Alpha"

Next, it was a picture of Rival, who was standing far back on a stage, singing his heart out. He also seemed... happy?

"Rival Seizon"

Next, it was a picture of Aurora, who was smiling and waving to crowds of her adoring fans as she walked down the red carpet.

"Aurora Beaufort"

Next, it was a picture of Rosalind, who had a determined look on her face as she got perfect shots for a movie she was working on.

"Rosalind Reinhardt"

Next, it was a picture of Yoshino, who was in her room, surrounded by horror movie posters, and she was writing her next big hit novel.

"Yoshino Akiyama"

Next, it was a picture of Adam, who was smiling with glee as he aced another big exam, like he usually does.

"Adam Brooks"

Next, it was a picture of Aelia, who was in a dark room all by herself with only two small puppets next to her.

"Aelia Celani"

Next, it was a picture of Ayaka, who was seemingly happy as she performed away on her violin in front of a crowd.

"Ayaka Naganohara"

Next, it was a picture of Damien, who was with two other random women, and he was happily recommending them the perfect perfume.

"Damien Lux"

Finally, it was a picture of Darren, who had a content look on his face as he offered a drink to a customer as he chatted with them.

"Darren Taylor"

It cut back to Pheme, with a masked smile on her face as she faced the screen. "I sincerely hope you enjoy... I sincerely hope you enjoy Danganronpa: Obscurity's Disgrace!"

The video cut off, and the monitor began to go back up into the ceiling.

"Interesting. Genjiro's and Aelia's pictures changed..." It's more interesting to me that Damien actually remembers Aelia's name.

"That is interesting." Ji-hoon tried to think about the implications of that. But as he did... his mind just drifted back to the focus of this trial.

And that focus was on the forefront of most of their minds.

...

"Genjiro..." Yoshino and Joji muttered in unison as a imagine of his body popped into their minds.

Genjiro Mashimoto, the Ultimate Wrestler. Genjiro was a vain, cruel, rude, and power hungry man. His selfishness knew no bounds... as he lived for only himself. It's hard to say if he truly cared about anyone here. He was just an overall unlikeable man. But... he didn't deserve to die. Nobody here does. Even a man like him... they wanted to escape with. Because, despite his crude attitude, he brought an energy and flair to the group that can't be brought back.

And it can't be brought back... because he's dead. It still feels so surreal to everyone that he's gone. One of them was able to kill a man like that? How? What sort of plan was used? A backhanded one? A sneaky one? Who can say? But they were at the point where they had to face that one of was a murderer. One of them was the murderer who killed Genjiro. There are a lot of moving parts to this case... as well as people who fell victim to the whims of the case itself. But... they won't let that stop them. No matter how bright the light of fame or how blinding the darkness of obscurity... they'll solve it.

They'll bring the truth of Genjiro's murder to light!

The investigation is finally here! Woo hoo! Let's hope I didn't forget anything!

Before anything else, I legit want to apologize for how long this entire deadly life took me. I don't know why... but I just suffered a massive blow to my writing motivation for some reason. By the time you all actually read this AN, I hope my motivation will be better... and I'd say it is!

I still need to edit and adjust the trial parts... considering Trial Part 2 is currently at 38k words somehow. But that's a problem for future me.

Writing this investigation was definitely smoother than the first one... and the death fakeouts definitely helped! Those are always so fun! I was also excited to introduce the mystery that is the Ultimate EMT's Studio! What does it mean? Tell me your theories! About anything! Genjiro's murder, the Ultimate EMT's Studio, Pheme's cup size, etc.!

Alrighty... I think that's it! I hope you enjoyed the investigation and I hope you look forward to the trial coming soon(tm)!

Glamorous Stars Remaining: 16

Adam Brooks - Ultimate Academic [PROJECT DRAMA]

Alpha - Ultimate Gas Station Manager [Epifanio Therion]

Aurora Beaufort - Ultimate Starlet [WolfieRed23]

Ayaka Naganohara - Ultimate Violinist [Sempi]

Catherine Munchkin - Ultimate Cat Burglar [Nekoja]

Damien Lux - Ultimate Beautician [oddlyillregular]

Darren Taylor - Ultimate Bartender [Otterplay]

Ji-hoon Jo - Ultimate Celebrity Detective [TheRoseShadow21]

Joji Kaneshiro - Ultimate Carpenter [SureJahn]

Kei Aikawa - Ultimate Lawyer [theotakureader101]

Kuroko Kurobara - Ultimate Hypnotist [MrUtenaHolic]

Lake Beaumont - Ultimate Ballet Dancer [KadachiNova]

Raiha Miyahara - Ultimate Trendsetter [Prince PokePersona]

Rival Seizon - Ultimate Backing Vocalist [SinWriter7]

Rosalind Reinhardt - Ultimate Cinematographer [Orlando Butler]

Yoshino Akiyama - Ultimate Horror Novelist [DeathlyJazzHands55]