Danganronpa: Hope for the Hopeless/Chapter 4 - Class Trial

## Story

A silence hung in the air, and a palpable tension hung with it. But like all the previous times, our descent came to a literal grinding halt that brought us out of the shadows and into the light provided by the entrance to the class trial room. Yet, even as the elevator doors opened, none of it alleviated the rising wave of dread that I felt. And with one quick glance around, I all but confirmed that I wasn’t the only person who didn’t want to participate in the class trial.

Nonetheless, we all filed out of the elevator with only a second or two of hesitation and at a somewhat faster pace than previous times. After all, while the double doors to the class trial room were as foreboding as usual, Monokuma’s earlier threat rang in the back of my mind. And if I had to guess, I would say that I wasn’t the only person who was somewhat influenced by his threat.

Yet, I did take a moment to stop in my tracks and look around the entrance to see if the Monokuma unit that jumped crashed at the bottom of the elevator shaft. Sure enough, there were absolutely no signs of Monokuma colliding with the ground and shattering into a million pieces. So, I just shook my head and sighed.

It was then that I heard Machi speak up in what sounded like her normal tone. “So, are we going to head in and take down the monster who did this?”

“Yeah,” I said in a somber tone. “Just give me a second to open the door for you guys.”

And so, I reached out with my left hand, pushed open the left door, stepped inside, and held out my right foot to keep the door propped open for the remaining students. Of course, they entered because they had no choice, but some did so sooner than others. The first person inside other than myself was Wakuni, then came Yakawa who wheeled Senji inside, then Koike, then Machi, then Sanda, then Sama, and finally came Tanabe.

It was then that I removed my foot from blocking the door to the class trial room and looked around. When I did, I heard the door slowly come to a full close and audibly lock behind me, but I shrugged it off as best as I could and proceeded to my podium like everyone else.

The trial room, of course, was dramatically different than the previous ones. It still bore the standard hexadecagon shape, but everything else was new. For starters, I quickly identified the floor as almost completely translucent glass. Not that we derived any benefit from it being translucent since murky water lay beneath the glass floor and humanoid silhouettes bobbed up close to where the ice was only to be kept in place by shackles that connected to chains that descended into the dark depths of the water. Likewise, the walls had a semi-translucent glass though they luckily contained light blue walls behind them. About the only part of the wall was weren’t covered in glass made to look like ice were light blue pillars in each corner. And as for the roof, it was light blue like walls but it had a giant white hexagonal snowflake pattern on ice and bore a prominent three tiered glass chandelier that even looked like a snowflake. But finally, and most importantly of all, the room felt ten degrees colder than the elevator shaft.

*(Monokuma’s disturbingly dedicated to decorating the class trial room. But then again, that isn’t anything that I didn’t already know.)*

“Lets see, seven- eight- nine- nine? Where is Saeki?” Monokuma began in his usual cheerful tone as he counted with his right pointer finger. “Oh wait! Saeki’s dead! Everyone’s here so I can jump straight into explaining the rules.”

“Is that really necessary?” Senji remarked. In response, I looked in his direction and found that, like myself, Senji decided that he didn’t need to stay in a wheelchair for the class trial. “We have been through this three times before.”

“It's necessary to me!” Monokuma jeered while he put his hand by his hips as if he were about to laugh heavily. Luckily, he didn’t and just continued. “Besides, you’re all suffering from a serious amnesia problem. You might want to get that looked at actually.”

“I hate you so much,” Sama said in her usual deadpan tone and manner. All without so much as bothering to dignify Monokuma by looking up at him.

“Eh, I can’t please everyone,” Monokuma shrugged off. “Anyways, like you all should know, one of you murdered Saeki Masu and the rest of you need to figure out whodunnit and settle it by majority vote. If the majority figures it out who the blackened is, only the blackened will the punished. But if the majority is wrong, the blackened will earn the right to leave and everyone else will be punished. Are you ready for this? Because I sure am! It’s time for round four!”

After that, there was a brief pause as we thought of what to say. A few people opened their mouths to say something though none of them did. And as they did, I considered for a moment what the best starting point to the case might be. However, before I could make a decision, someone else made it for me.

“So, we seem to have a habit of talking about the body but that may be difficult this time,” Sama remarked as she began tapping her podium with her right fingers. “And yes, before you ask, I am horrified at how perfectly normal that sentence sounds to me.”

I simply nodded and frowned. We didn’t have much of a choice but to adapt to our surroundings. But at the same time, Sama’s remark was another reminder that we were getting used to being here. I doubted that anyone other than the mastermind outright enjoyed being here, but it had become normal for us and that was frustrating in of itself.

“You’re right to be troubled. On both accounts in my opinion,” Wakuni grumbled. “But luckily enough, there were at least four of us who went to the lake. And we found quite a few things while we were there.”

Koike nodded and spoke up in agreement. “We have a few pictures as well. Though I have to say, it looks almost as bad as Seno did when he uh- died.”

“Well you might as well show the others what you found if you haven’t already,” Yakawa agreed calmly enough though with some degree of disdain in his tone. “But for those of you who don’t know, I can say that it is very likely that Saeki’s ultimate cause of death was drowning. The signs that are attributed to that match up perfectly.”

It was then that everyone’s gaze shifted in Machi’s direction. And as I followed them, I saw that she already had her ElectroID out and held up to display the pictures of Saeki that she managed to take. Sure enough, almost everyone, including those who had seen Saeki’s body before recoiled. But after that, seconds passed and they all began to murmur in agreement.

“Yeah, drowning sounds about right,” Sanda said as he winced, looked down, and looked away from the picture. “How did she receive her other injuries though? Like, the Monokuma file mentioned her being tortured.”

“Well, I haven’t had much of a chance to examine the crime scene myself,” Senji said as he rested his good arm of the podium. “However, I believe it is probable that she was tortured and then dumped into the lake for disposal. I only wish I knew where she was taken.”

“I’ve got you covered Senji,” I explained calmly enough as I pulled out my ElectroID, turned it on, tapped the icon with the camera on it, and then flipped to the general picture of the rock surrounded by the various torture instruments before finally showing them to everyone else. The moment I looked up from my ElectroID, I saw that everyone’s eyes were on me. But to be honest, I hardly felt anything from it. “There are a few rings in the rock where Saeki’s wrists and ankles would have been if she were bound to it. I don’t think it’ll be necessary to go into the details, but she lost her fingers, lost an eye, had her coat removed, was cut, and was shocked. I wouldn’t be surprised if she struggled and the wire that bound her rubbed into the rock. As for where the culprit got these implements, they all available in the storage room.”

At that, I saw Yakawa bite his lip and cross his arms. If I had to guess, it was because that was the room where he claimed to be during the time that the culprit killed Saeki. And honestly, I wasn’t about to throw out any accusation yet but I had to admit that it wasn’t the best revelation for his case. Regardless, I put my ElectroID away once more.

*(He’d probably be a bigger suspect if there wasn't evidence that pointed to him being drugged.)*

Before I could continue however, Senji spoke up. “I suppose that we are in an agreement then? The culprit somehow got Saeki to the lake, tortured her, and drowned her when he was done? And I do say he. For those of you who don’t know, I saw the culprit wearing a dark blue coat under enough stage clothes to hide their secondary colors.”

Once again, there was a short pause from everyone as they glanced over at him, took the information in, and gave their various gestures or murmurs of agreement. Sanda looked up and frowned when he mentioned stage clothes. But nonetheless, nobody disagreed with him. And as for myself, I considered the possibility of being wrong. But Yakawa knew better than I did what happened to Saeki so if he said she matched all the signs of drowning, I was going to believe him until I found evidence otherwise.

“Well since we are all in agreement for now, why don’t we move on?” Senji surmised before drawing a sigh. “So, has anyone found a way to determine when Saeki was tortured or drowned?”

At that, we all drew our gazes at Yakawa. But as we did, he just slowly shook head before speaking up with dead seriousness. “I’m afraid I’m not much help. You saw me narrow the time down to somewhere between 9:00am and 12:00pm which is better than what Monokuma gave us but still a lot of time for someone to kill her. I might have been able to narrow it down further, but I only had a dozen pictures to work with instead of an actual body.”

“Ah,” Machi remarked with a frown of her own as the room began to descend into silence save for her. “I’m probably not going to like the answer, but I’m going to ask anyways in case I’m wrong. Has anyone else managed to narrow the time of death down further?”

Sure enough, Machi got what she probably expected. The room remained silent as a few people, including myself, thought back to when we discovered the body or saw pictures of it. But at the very least, I remembered that the only thing I noticed that could provide a clue about the time was a watch. One that was cracked and broken at that. So, it wasn’t much help but I spoke up just in case.

“There was a watch around her neck. The same watch that most of you saw me lend to her earlier actually-” I began. As soon as I did, Machi’s frown faded to a neutral expression but Koike cut me off.

“Oh yeah, you told us about that earlier,” Koike said with sympathy in her tone as she crossed her arms. “I hope Monokuma returns it to you once we make it through the class trial. We all know it's important to you.”

*(It really isn’t though. I have an entire section full of them in my closet and a few more back where I lived before I came here.)*

“Nope!” Monokuma cheerfully interrupted. “You, and only you, are responsible for your personal possessions. I have no culpability, responsibility, or regret if you lose something. So if it’s important to you, tough luck. Besides, you brats deserve in preserving what you have. I swear you’re the thirty-first most destruction class I’ve ever met.”

“Anyways-” I said quickly before anyone could interrupt but with a slight growl of annoyance in my tone. “The watch said 1:00pm. But that is outside of Yakawa’s time frame and the watch appeared to be broken so the time it provided isn’t that reliable.”

At that, Machi grumbled and the rest of us stopped for another moment. For all the time that we spent at the lake and all the evidence of which we managed to take pictures, we didn’t have very many answers. Furthermore, the disappointment on Machi’s face was visible.

Tanabe must have noticed because he was the one to break the silence. “It seems like we don’t know about the time of death, so maybe we should move on. At least for now. Did you find anything else at the scene of the crime? The rest of Saeki perhaps?”

“Of course your first thought is her severed eyeball and fingers.” Sama deadpanned as she brought her hand up to her forehead in what sounded like disappointment.

“It's just a bit unnerving is all,” Tanabe defended. “The search party found presumably everything else that was used to torture Saeki but the parts of her that are missing are gone. We don’t know where they are, what happened, or if there is anything else that the culprit is successfully hiding from us.”

In response, I drew a sigh. It was true that the missing body parts were a question mark. One that nagged me in the back of my mind. Likewise, he was right about the culprit possibly hiding other evidence from us. But unfortunately, nobody had the opportunity to even search for them. Yakawa and Senji were in the first aid station, Koike visited them for presumably her entire time investigating the lodge, Sama, Tanabe, and Sanda searched the kitchen and none of them showed signs of finding them, Machi was handling the incinerator control panel, Wakuni was investigating the prize room, and I failed to find anything myself. So unless someone was lucky enough to stumble on the body parts, the whole ordeal was doomed to remain a mystery.

“Believe me, I understand why it’s a problem,” I replied to Tanabe’s rescue. “That said, I don’t believe many of us had a chance to find Saeki’s eye and fingers. And I know for certain that I didn’t find them.”

*(And while I’m upset that we didn’t find them, I can’t say that I would have liked to see them.)*

“Nevermind the fingers then,” Sanda chimed in earning himself a brief glare from Tanabe that made him flinch. “I mean, they’re important and all but did you find anything else of note?”

“Aside from what we showed you, all we found at the lake itself was an overhang that lost most of its snow, two holes in the ice on the lake with one near the overhang and the other near the rock, and a sheet of ice in the snow.” Wakuni counted off with his right hand. “Nothing that explains what the culprit did or how they did it though.”

“I agree with Wakuni on this actually,” Machi explained. “Something definitely happened that caused the hole in the ice near the overlook but I can’t figure out what. The footprints we found indicate that she was dragged into the water from the hole near the shore and I haven’t been able to find anything else that could have been dropped into the lake. It's suspicious for sure but we might want to focus on something else until we have more information.”

For a moment, I closed my eyes and thought about the geography of the lake once more. As soon as I did, it was obvious that the culprit did something at the top of the ice shelf. But why they did and what they threw into the water was beyond me. I wracked my brain for answers, but nothing came up by the time I opened my eyes again.

“I assume you have something else in mind?” Yakawa asked as he reached his right hand up to subtly scratch the side of his neck before lowering it again.

“Well-,” Machi said before she paused, took a brief glance at her fingers, and looked back up at Yakawa. “We seem to have a habit of discussing alibis by this point. So we could always start there.”

“I agree with that,” Koike said with a firm nod. “Practically half the class could have tried to kill me. I think I would feel better if I knew who I could trust for sure.”

“I don’t see why not. Maybe we’ll have more luck that way,” I agreed. And as I did, I remembered my conversation with Machi from earlier. “I guess I'll start. I was in the prize room when the murder occured. I actually found Senji on my way back from it. And before you ask, I didn’t win anything.”

“I’m not sure how much time this covers, but I was ambushed and knocked out for what seems to be most of the afternoon,” Koike said as she crossed her arms and drew a sigh. “I assume whoever did that to me proceeded to murder Saeki after he caused that.”

Senji frowned and traced the edge of the podium with his left pointer finger. But he proceeded nonetheless. “When I wasn’t with Koike, I was in the front room observing the snow fall and trying to calm myself. This recent motive has been strenuating to say the least.”

“Speaking of which, we haven’t forgotten that promise,” Sama remarked as she pointed towards Senji. “We expect you to tell us everything if we make it through this class trial.”

“Of course. I should have disclosed the motive earlier. I was just concerned and worried for the person. But as I can see now, my secrecy caused more trouble than it was worth.” Senji conceded. “The point is, I am sorry and I promise to explain everything about the motive that you want to know.”

“Good to hear,” Sama replied with but a faint smile on her face. “Anyways, for those of you who don’t know, I sort of just waited roamed around the dorm area. But eventually, I decided I was hungry, spent twenty or so minutes in the general area, and then went back to my room. And if it helps, I left two minutes before Senji was stabbed and I didn’t find anything out of place when I was there.”

“Oh yeah, I could have sworn that I saw you on my way to the coat room before- before it happened.” Koike chimed in.

“Anyways,” Sanda began as he rubbed the back of his head with his right hand. “After breakfast, I went straight to the theater and spent the whole time practicing my talent before I heard Nishi and came to help. Oh, and if it helps, I didn’t find anything suspicious or missing there. I know some of you asked me if I did during the investigation.”

“I was in the greenhouse the whole time,” Tanabe explained before he shook his head and sighed. “It was a fairly decent afternoon until I found out that Senji was stabbed.”

“And I was in the storage room,” Yakawa explained. “I went there after breakfast to take inventory but I was drugged during my inventory check. About the time I woke up, I heard Nishi scream and ran to help.”

“Wait, you were drugged!” Wakuni said as he raised both of his eyebrows before gritting his teeth and shaking his head. “Well I’m glad you’re alright now but we’ll need to talk about that later. For now, as much as I hate to say it, I happened to be with Machi for most of the time. We both went outside to investigate the burned down shed and destroy any remaining motives that were there.”

“I can verify that,” Machi said with more than enough disdain in her tone as she narrowed her eyes at Wakuni and continued. “We wound up arguing for a while but we both have alibis for almost the entire time. I can also say that Wakuni wouldn’t have had enough time to do everything the culprit did before meeting up with me. The time frame involved was far too narrow.”

As soon as Machi finished speaking, I rubbed my chin with my right hand. They all had alibis, but very few of them were verifiable. I was alone on the second floor, Yakawa was alone in the storage room where most of the torture implements came from, Sama claimed to have visited the kitchen before one of the knives was taken but the only a brief moment of her alibi could be confirmed, Tanabe was by himself in the greenhouse, and Sanda was alone in the theater room from which the clothes the culprit used were probably stolen. If I only had their alibis to go off of, I would conclude that the only people who couldn’t have killed Saeki seemed to be Machi, Wakuni, Koike, and Senji.

Senji must have noticed that I was thinking about the situation because he gave a brief smile and spoke up. “Did you find something useful Nishi?”

“I was just thinking about the alibis Senji,” I said as I dropped my hand back down to my side. “Based solely on everyone’s testimonies, I can say that you, Koike, Machi, and Wakuni could not have done everything the culprit did. At least, not unless I’m missing something. On top of that, and I might as well say this now, both you and Koike claimed the culprit was male during the investigation. Correct?”

Both Senji and Koike nodded before the latter took a brief glance at the former and then looked back at me.

“Yes, as I have previously mentioned, the culprit wore a dark blue coat under some stage clothes,” Senji calmly surmised. “He did a good job of hiding his identity but not a good enough job. We know that the culprit could not have been you or Sama based on that.”

“I can confirm,” Koike confirm before all eyes turned to her and visibly she swallowed. “I saw a bulky figure that matched Senji’s description of the assailant step out of the men’s coat room. It was only a glance but- but I know that’s what I saw before he knocked me out.”

“That means that if we account for Senji and Wakuni’s alibis, the only people who could have murdered Saeki are Tanabe, Sanda, and Yakawa.” Machi explained a hint of happiness in her tone. “The case is still a headache but at least we’re down to three people.”

“If I may say so, you don’t have to be so happy about saying it had to be one of us,” Yakawa said with a slight irritation in his tone. “I get why we’re suspicious, and I didn’t do it by the way, but a lot of people don’t have verifiable alibis.”

As soon as he started, I felt a small dull pain sweep across my forehead again. Another unmistakable headache. Truthfully, based on everyone’s testimonies, it had to be either Yakawa, Tanabe, or Sanda. But I didn’t want to press the issue quite yet. At least, not before I explained one more thing to everyone.

“Machi, can we postpone the accusations for a second?” I asked earnestly. “There’s actually something that I wanted to talk to you about after we got Senji and Koike’s testimonies.”

At that, Machi stopped, visibly drew back, and replied. “I guess so.”

“Good,” I said as I pulled out my ElectroID and turned it on. From there, I turned to address the rest of the group, “Machi, Wakuni, and I found another clue as to who the mastermind is. Or perhaps a better statement would be who the mastermind isn’t.”

The entire group reacted to that. Even Monokuma who crossed his arms. But I barely paid attention to that. Instead, I flipped through my ElectroID until I found a picture that I took of the drones being burned at the site away from the path to the lake and flipped over my ElectroID to show them.

“Wakuni and I actually discovered this site but Machi helped me deduce the importance of it.” I surmised before I eyed the teddy bear for a brief moment. “Basically, Monokuma shot down two of Machi’s drones but whoever moved them to the site left snowmobile tracks. Besides not needing to use a snowmobile, Monokuma isn’t big enough to reach the pedal and steer the snowmobiles we’ve seen at the same time. Now, the latest drone was shot down after breakfast at 8:40am. So anyone who couldn’t have driven to the spot you see here on my ElectroID can’t be the mastermind.”

“Hey! I’ll have you know, it could have been anyone who shot down those drones!” Monokuma defended as he stood up in his chair.

We all glanced at him and I noticed a few beads of sweat dripping from his forehead. But I doubted that anyone believed him. And we returned to looking at each other instead of at Monokuma, Sanda proved that sentiment.

“And how many people does this exclude?” Sanda asked with the biggest smile I had seen since before he harassed Tanabe at the pool.

“That depends on when Wakuni joined Machi in searching outside,” I admitted as I drooped just a bit. “We can prove that at least six of us didn’t kill Saeki, but it would not have required nearly as much time to dispose of the two drones and almost none of us can prove that we stayed where we claimed we were for the entire time between 8:40am and when the investigation started. We’re just lucky that Machi and Wakuni are exceptions to this problem if either of them know when they met up.”

“I’m not entirely sure when Wakuni showed up but I know it was before 8:40,” Machi surmised. “I got a notice the moment my drone was shot down. The point is, neither of us could have dropped them off at that site.”

I gave a quick nod. For a moment, I bit my lip and thought about whether or not the possibility of proving their innocence was actually true. But the drones really were shot down and they really did have to be disposed of within a fairly short time frame. One where Machi and Wakuni both had each other as alibis. So thankfully enough, they really were both innocent of being the mastermind.

“In that case, you and Wakuni can’t be the mastermind behind the killing game,” I declared as I put my ElectroID away. As I did, I felt as if part of a weight was lifted from my shoulders. “I wish I could say the same for everyone else, but there’s no way to prove their whereabouts.”

“Are you positive about them being innocent?” Senji stopped to ask. “I have no issue with neither of them being the mastermind. But this is a serious matter.”

“Right,” Sama interjected before she crossed her arms. “Are you saying we shouldn’t discount them because of the motive you refused to share with us?”

“No, my motive did not implicate either of them though I stand by everything I have said thus far about the source being untrustworthy,” Senji said after he shook his head. “I simply do not wish to take this matter lightly. If we acquit someone who happens to be guilty, it could take weeks to determine it.”

“Well you don’t need to worry about that. Both Machi and Wakuni have alibis for the entire window of time that the mastermind could have done what he or she did,” I asserted. “Rest assured, they are both innocent. Unfortunately, I can’t prove anyone else innocent though.”

“Not even Senji and I?” Koike replied with a hint of surprise in her tone. “Come on Nishi.”

“Sorry Koike but both you and Senji had time before you were attacked that isn’t accounted for,” I defended. As soon as I did, they both looked away. “Hey, I’m not saying that it was either of you. In fact, I’m going to try and narrow down the list of people who could have done it as much as I can.”

“Well you’re gonna have to do it somewhere else!” Monokuma interrupted. In response, we all looked over at him and once again, he was sitting but his arms were crossed. “You’re getting WAY off topic! So unless you want me to skip straight to voting time, you’d better reign it in back to the case!”

At that, I went pale and my heart skipped a beat. Furthermore, when I looked back at the rest of the group, I noticed that they all seemed to have similar reactions. The worst of which was Sama who visibly flinched and had beads of sweat dripping down her forehead. And for the next few seconds, an eerie silence hung in the air.

“W-we can discuss the matter later,” Senji declared before clearing his throat and recomposing himself. “For now, perhaps it would be beneficial to further reduce our list of murder suspects? The crime scene itself was not much help in that regard but there might be another topic that we can use to discern who did it.”

“We uh- may be able to figure it out by considering everything the culprit had to do,” I said as I blinked a few times and before I took a few deep breaths to refocus. “For those of you who don’t know, Koike and Saeki were going to have a meeting. First and foremost, the culprit had to have known about that-”

“Which means the culprit is the same person who attacked me since obviously, they would have had to have known about the meeting in order to know where I would be and attack me,” Koike chimed in with a slight tremble of her own. “Besides that, I followed that suggestion Nishi had and I’m pretty sure Saeki did the same. I told Senji and he obviously wouldn’t attack himself, so the culprit had to have been one person who knew about the meeting and attacked both me and Senji.”

*(Yeah, my suggestion really backfired.)*

“Well. In that case, the culprit would have had to have grabbed the knife used to stab Senji from the kitchen,” Sama explained with a huff. “Not only that, but they would have to do it in two minutes or less before we discovered his body.”

“I’m not entirely sure about that. They may have been able to grab it while you were in the cafeteria,” I explained calmly enough. Though Sama bit her lip when I did. “Your point about the culprit needing to visit the kitchen still stands though.”

“In the same vein, I believe the culprit would also have had to visit at least one of the theaters and the storage room,” Senji said as he rubbed his chin with his left hand. “I know for sure that the assailant had stage clothes on him. And I am inclined to believe Nishi if she says the culprit gathered materials for the murder from the storage room.”

“In that case, the culprit had to visit a theater, the storage room, the kitchen, and the coat room just to set the murder up,” I acknowledged with a quick nod. “Now, the only question is, is there any place on that list where none of them could have gone?”

Once again, the group fell into silence. And all the while, I closed my eyes and wracked my own brain for answers. Truthfully speaking, Tanabe, Yakawa, and Sanda were all fairly suspicious. However, as far as I knew, it was possible for the culprit to avoid Tanabe and Sanda if they went a different route to the kitchen and went to the summit for stage clothes respectively, but there was no way for the killer to avoid picking up supplies in the storage room. A fact that made Yakawa the most suspicious but contradicted the evidence that he was drugged.

*(Unless he planted the evidence there or found a way to sneak up on him.)*

The moment I thought that, the image of the labyrinth picture flashed through my mind once more. It was possible that Yakawa planted that evidence to clear himself of suspicion but it was just as likely that the killer discovered the secret passage and found a way to distract Yakawa while he used it. After all, I didn’t remember the entrance making any noise when it swung open.

After about a minute of silence, my thoughts were interrupted by Senji who spoke politely but sternly as he eyed Yakawa. “If I may say so, were you taking inventory in the storage room the entire time Yakawa?”

“I was in the room the entire time, yes but I was unconscious for a good part of the time,” Yakawa replied with a slight frown. If I had to guess, it was because he saw an accusation coming. After that, he pointed up to the mark on his neck with his right pointer finger. “As you can see by the puncture mark on my neck, I was injected with something. I’m not entirely sure what though. When I pulled it out, I was in a bit of a haze.”

“You don’t seriously think my brother would do this do you?” Wakuni reasoned in a tone that almost sounded as if it were pleading. “I mean, he was attacked just like you and Koike were. He even has a puncture mark in the side of his neck.”

“I’m not saying he did do it but he is one of three possible candidates,” Senji reasoned calmly enough. “Additionally, I believe based on your testimonies that Yakawa would be the hardest person for someone planning this murder to avoid.”

“I hate to say it, but there is definitely something wrong with Yakawa’s testimony,” Sama reasoned. “The only two doors to the storage room lead either outside or into the hallway. And I don’t think that either would be quiet enough to allow someone to enter without giving them away. There’s no way that someone could have snuck up on Yakawa.”

“Yakawa, are you the person who attacked me and Senji?” Koike asked in a somewhat pitiful tone All the while, she clutched her left arm with her right hand as if this were an uncomfortable subject for her. “Please tell you didn’t do that to me.”

“Koike I really didn’t,” Yakawa answered. Instinctively, he reached his right hand out in her direction but he quickly retracted it. “I’d never do something like that. I know it looks bad, but will you at least here my full story?”

“Well, I suppose we’d better. Your account of events isn’t that great so far Yakawa but I really don’t want to mess this trial up,” Machi blurted out. “Besides, for what it's worth, I don’t for sure think you did it. Even if you are really suspicious.”

*(It seems like a lot of people are suspicious of him. But are they right to be? I did find a dart at the crime scene.)*

“Like I said earlier, I really did go to the storage room directly after breakfast and it really was to take inventory. Unfortunately, it was to take inventory of the various poisons in the poison cabinet. See, after class trail three, I didn’t want to be caught off guard if another poison was used,” Yakawa admitted before letting out a sigh. “But after some time, I heard a banging sound that came from the general storage area and went to inspect it. I went to investigate it and found a metal ball on the floor with a dent in the wall behind that. Aside from that, I found nothing. At least, not until I started to head back and felt something pierce my neck. I barely remember falling asleep and waking up but when I woke up, I heard Nishi and went to help. And that’s when we all met up.”

“But you don’t even know what struck you?” Sanda chimed in with a raised right eyebrow. “Did you see anything? Any figures? A guy in a blue coat?”

Yakawa shook his head to all the questions. And as he did, I looked around the room and my pulse picked up just a bit. The group could be right for all I knew, but from the sound of everything, they were all suspicious of Yakawa save for Wakuni who took his side. Of course, I couldn’t say for sure that the main group was wrong. But nonetheless, I quickly decided that they needed to know all the facts before they made an accusation.

“Hey guys, why don’t we lay off Yakawa for a second,” Wakuni suggested with a hint of insistence in his voice. “You remember how we nearly died the last time one of us was accused.”

“I remember, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t have done it this time. If nobody else could have snuck up on Yakawa, then the only way for the culprit to have accessed the supplies is if the culprit was Yakawa. And the culprit couldn’t have just gathered whatever they needed this morning because I figured something would happen and checked for anything out of place before breakfast,” Sama remarked before biting her lip for a moment, looking away as if to question what she would say next, looking back, and then continuing. “Besides, Yakawa can’t even tell us what pierced his neck. For all we know, he stabbed himself in the side of his neck with a thread needle and made the story up. We have nothing to say he was stabbed by anything else.”

*(No, that isn’t right. In fact-)*

My eyes went wide with a realization when the memories of the blow dart on the ground in the storage room and what Wakuni said about the prize room flashed in my mind. It took me a second after that, but I connected the dots and finally spoke up.

“Actually Sama, you’re wrong about that,” I interrupted on Yakawa’s behalf. When Sama looked towards me, I pulled out my ElectroID, turned it on, swiped my way to and through the pictures until I found the one with the dart on the floor, and showed it to the class. “He was stabbed in the side of the neck by this blowdart. And coincidentally, as Wakuni informed most of us earlier, a blow dart that had nonlethal ammunition was missing from the prize room.”

At that, Yakawa visibly relaxed. Something that was slightly more pronounced when Wakuni smiled and confirmed what I said. “That’s correct. I went to the prize room for the investigation, found the blowdart missing, picked out a more high caliber rifle since I had the opportunity to choose something.”

“Yeah, yeah. We remember you going on and on about it at the top of the elevator shaft,” Machi said with a slight growl in her tone. In response, I narrowed my eyes in unamusement as I put my ElectroID away because he only mentioned it once and Wakuni just stared her down. But if she noticed us, she didn’t show it. “Moving on, I can’t say for sure that it was Yakawa, but I saw someone’s blood on the tip of the dart. And since nobody else claimed to be knocked out, I doubt that he used it against someone else.”

“That does not clear him of suspicion however,” Senji explained calmly as he leaned his good arm against the podium to prop himself up. When he did, Yakawa and Wakuni both frowned at him. “I am not saying he is the culprit,” Senji insisted as he let go of the podium to put his left hand up and form a stop motion with it. “I am simply saying we can not afford to write him off so easily. After all, he monitors the first aid supplies. He may have simply dipped the dart in blood to avoid suspicion and used another implement to penetrate his neck.”

“Hmm, that is true. Plus, it is pretty suspicious that nobody else could have entered the storage room without getting his attention. Even if we don’t consider the sound, I think he would have had a pretty decent line of sight from where he claims to have been knocked out wouldn’t he? Since he said he was exploring the general area,” Sanda remarked as he raised his right hand to his chin in thought. “I don’t necessarily want to pin this on Yakawa either but I’m not going to dismiss the guy.”

“Actually, there is a third entrance to the storage room,” I explained. At that, most of the group looked at me with mixed expressions of surprise with the only exception being Senji who shook his head. At that, I hesitated for a second as the thought that it was possible that Senji had a reason for not explaining the secret passage crept into my mind, but I pressed on. After all, I already had everyone’s attention so it wasn’t like I could stop. “There is a secret passage between the labyrinth picture in the storage room and the wall near the purple opera feather mask picture near the mirror in the back hallway. Both doors are silent and the culprit would have had a perfect line of site to both shoot the blow dart and throw the ball.”

“Ball? Oh you mean the metal ball Yakawa mentioned. I suppose you must have found one then,” Tanabe uttered after a short pause. “Though while we’re on the topic, how do you know about a secret passage?”

“I didn’t find a metal ball, but I found a crack in the wall that indicated one being thrown. I have a picture to show you all if you want to see,” I offered as I reached down into my pocket once more with my right hand. “And Senji showed me the secret passage.” I glanced at Senji who visibly frowned back. “I’m sorry Senji but everyone needed to know for Yakawa’s sake.”

At that, everyone turned towards Senji and a brief pause of silence followed. All the while, some members of the group visibly showed some degree of disdain, a few took deep breaths including Wakuni and Sama, and I let go of my ElectroID and pulled my hand out of my pocket. Until finally, Senji gave a small nod and hung his head in shame.

“It is true I am afraid,” Senji relented with more than enough reluctance in his tone. “For the same reason I withheld the motive, I withheld my knowledge about the secret passage from most of you. I was going to tell everyone later as I promised, but perhaps it would have been beneficial to have revealed that information earlier. I still stand by the fact that Yakawa would be the hardest person to avoid being detected by however since the culprit could have avoided the rooms that Sanda and Yakawa were in entirely.”

“If we pressed Yakawa further and he turns out to be innocent then you could have gotten us killed Senji,” Machi replied in a rather warning tone before shaking her head. “Never mind that. Who did you end up telling about the passage?”

“Just Nishi and Koike,” Senji replied as he glanced at both people he mentioned. “Both of them are obviously innocent however and I could not have done it. But anyone could have discovered the secret passage on their own if we wish to assume that Yakawa did not fabricate the scene as some people have suggested.”

“I know I didn’t tell anyone,” Koike chimed in breaking her overwise melancholic silence. “Nishi, did you tell anyone about the secret passage?”

“Nobody,” I replied. “If someone other than us used it, they would have had to figure out where it was on their own.”

“We should still assume it wasn’t Yakawa now we have proof of his testimony though,” Wakuni argued as he clenched his hands against the podium. All the while, practically ignoring what Koike and I said and fixating on Senji’s last comment. “Nishi confirmed that someone threw a metal ball at the wall and that a dart was left at the crime scene. Therefore, the culprit opened the secret passage, threw the ball to lure Yakawa into position, and shot him in the neck. Just like he said.”

“Wakuni, I know you’re upset but we just want to make sure,” Sama replied in a somewhat sympathetic tone. “As it stands, he could have set up the crime scene and that is worth considering. Especially since overlooking small details nearly cost me- us the last trial.”

“On top of that, Nishi said she didn’t find any weighted metal ball at the scene,” Sanda interjected with a frown. “So that means if Yakawa is telling the truth, someone got rid of it. Now, if someone got rid of it, why would they leave the dart behind?”

“Maybe they didn’t have a choice. If the poison hadn’t fully drained into my bloodstream, they would have no choice but to wait around or leave it with me,” Yakawa asserted before he brought his right hand to the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes for a moment. “Besides, why would I put myself through all this trouble instead of simply claiming to be somewhere else?”

“Because if you had all the materials with you, you might have thought it was your best bet,” Sanda suggested with a weak shrug without so much as looking Yakawa in the eye. “Truthfully, you probably are innocent with all the evidence Nishi talked about in consideration. But the thing is, I just don’t know. I mean, everything they mentioned could have been fabricated and the last trial really threw me through a loop.”

*(It threw us all through one Sanda.)*

At that, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. He was right that we had no definitive proof of Yakawa’s innocence. But truthfully, the more this trial went on, the more it sounded as if Yakawa really had been set up. Unfortunately, though, the truth remained that we didn’t have proof and that was bothering everyone including myself if I were to be honest. So, I had no doubt that we would have trouble moving forward if we couldn’t definitely prove Yakawa guilty or, more likely, innocent.

So, I set my mind to the task of determining whether or not Yakawa was indeed innocent. After all, It would only complicate things if I couldn't. And so, I considered what I knew so far. We knew that Saeki died between 9:00am and 12:00pm, we knew that she was likely tortured and dragged off into the lake, and we knew that something was wrong with the snow from the ledge that overlooked the lake. Unfortunately, however, none of that information directly pointed towards or away from anyone being the culprit.

Fortunately, that wasn’t all I knew. Or even all that we discussed. We knew that the culprit was male thanks to both Koike and Senji’s testimonies which narrowed down half the possibilities as to who could be the culprit though Yakawa was still a suspect. We knew that the culprit had to obtain a knife from the kitchen, supplies from the storage room where Yakawa was, and clothes from either the theater or backstage at the summit. We also knew that someone could have used the secret passage to lure Yakawa into their sights and shoot him with a sleep dart but he could have set the scene up to look like that just as easily. And of course, everyone gave their testimonies as to where they were.

*(Senji was in the front room, Sama was in- wait a second-)*

I opened my eyes and spoke up as soon as it came to me. As soon as I did, I found that everyone was waiting for me to speak. “I think I’ve figured it out! Senji, you claimed to have eventually headed to the front room and waited there up until you saw the culprit correct? Were you there for longer than twenty minutes?”

“Well, yes I do,” Senji replied somewhat taken aback by me. “And I believe I was yes. I spent roughly an hour in that general area.”

“Then that proves Yakawa is innocent,” I explained as Sanda raised his right eyebrow and Yakawa, as well as Wakuni, smiled at me ever so slightly. “See, Sama was in the kitchen for twenty minutes and she didn’t leave until two minutes before we found you. So in order for Yakawa to have set up the encounter that you had with the culprit, he would have to sneak past you to get his coat. And before anyone says anything about it, the secret passage would not have helped Yakawa because both entrances are in the east wing of the lodge. Furthermore, would have had to have either walked past you and Sama or Tanabe and Sama to get the knife. So, Sama, Tanabe, Senji, did any of you see Yakawa walk past you?”

There was a brief silence as the three of them looked at each other for a moment before they looked back and shook their heads as their own different speeds. And as that happened, the tone of the class shifted. Most breathed a sigh of relief, some visibly relaxed instead, but Sama and Sanda both hung their heads in shame. And as for me, I felt as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. That was one more person who I knew was innocent and we were one more step closer to finding out who actually murdered Saeki.

“I think it's fairly safe to say that Yakawa is innocent then,” Machi concluded somewhat neutrally. “Which of course, means we can also assume that he’s telling the truth about what happened to him and infer a few more things about the culprit. Namely, that they found out about the secret passage and that they obtained a blow dart from the prize room.”

“And Yakawa is innocent, that means it had to be either Sanda or Tanabe,” Koike reasoned before taking a brief glance over at Yakawa. “I’m sorry we ever doubted you Yakawa. Especially since I know what it's like to be accused and I know it isn’t-”

“Koike, I forgive you,” Yakawa reassured. “I’m not happy about being accused, I understand why you did it. I don’t blame you for the fact that someone set me up.”

At that, Koike gave the two brothers a tired and weary but genuine smile. And although she didn’t say anything to them, the words ‘thank you’ we all but there. I saw it and as I looked around, I was pretty sure that a few other people noticed as well. Namely, Senji and both Shoda brothers.

It was nice while it lasted before Senji cleared his throat and spoke up. “Well, it would seem that I made a mistake for which I wish to apologize as well. But in light of its clarification, it would do us well to focus on the remaining suspects. It is likely that one of them is lying to us.”

At that, both Sanda and Tanabe glance at each other. At first, the latter glared at the former and Sanda quickly followed suit. But within seconds, they both stopped and looked in Senji’s direction. And when they did, Tanabe sighed.

“Well, if I was one of the only three suspects left, I suppose it was inevitable that you’d consider me,” Tanabe uttered calmly enough. “For what it's worth though, I insist that I didn’t do it. If this is between me and Sanda, then Sanda is the culprit.”

“Hey now, I didn’t do it,” Sanda said as he shook his head before he stopped and continued speaking. “You guys aren’t seriously going to believe that Tanabe is innocent over me, are you? I telling you all, I didn’t do it.”

I crossed my arms as Sanda finished speaking. Not only were both of them clamoring to prove their innocence, but they were inherently opposing each other’s testimonies. It wasn’t their fault of course, but I would have lied if I said that it didn’t complicate things. So, I considered for a few seconds that the culprit was whoever had the weakest alibi. But after that time, I reminded myself that we needed to check both of their stories to see who could or could not have done it. After all, if it turned out that neither of them could have done it and that we overlooked something, then I didn’t want to press the wrong person out of overzealousness.

“Well, everyone forced my brother to elaborate on his testimony,” Wakuni surmised in a passive-aggressive tone before he gave a quick shrug. “I think that it’s only fair that both of you guys explain your whereabouts.”

*(I don’t think that will work. During the investigation, both claimed to have gone straight to their destinations and stayed there until I called for help.)*

Sure enough, Sanda didn’t disappoint. “I didn’t leave much out of what I already told you guys. I went straight to the theater near the gym after breakfast because I wanted to practice my skills. I thought, you know, that actually delivering on a performance might cheer everyone up so I entertained the idea of brushing up on a few old tricks. But that’s about it. I was there the entire time before Nishi called out for help, and I didn’t find anything suspicious either. That’s all there is to it.”

“It's pretty much the same on my end,” Tanabe admitted freely and cautiously. “I went to the greenhouse because I wanted to spend some time thinking to myself. I went there straight from breakfast, sat around for a while, and headed straight for Nishi when I heard her yell. That’s it really.”

“Shouldn’t you have been soaked by the sprinklers though?” Sanda pressed as he leaned forward and pointed in Tanabe’s direction with his right pointer finger as if to prod him. “I mean, you haven’t forgotten about those have you?”

“Do you really think I would forget about something like that?” Tanabe replied with a scowl. “I was at breakfast when the sprinklers turned on. Honestly Sanda, I’m getting really tired of your accusations.”

“I wouldn’t be accusing you if I didn’t think you did it,” Sanda defended as he crossed his arms indignantly.

“Ah,” Tanabe muttered with a quick nod. “Well, what is to say that you didn’t do it? You had access to more stuff than I did.”

“Well, uh,” Sanda said stopping in his tracks and putting his right hand to his chin in thought. However, this only lasted a second before he snapped his fingers and his eyes widened as if he had an epiphany. “How about this? If I went into the kitchen to grab the knife, Senji would have seen me walk past him. I would have had to have snuck past him three times just to start the confrontation that Senji described.”

I bit my lip when he said that and considered what he was saying. For whatever reason, part of me was hesitant to believe him. But truthfully, it made perfect sense. Senji really was in the front room and just like Yakawa passing by him to reach the west wing where the coat room, theater, and Koike were, Sanda would have had to pass by him to access the east wing. Therefore, by my own previous logic, Sanda was just as innocent as everyone else. And so, I instinctively turned towards Tanabe.

“Tanabe, Sanda is telling the truth,” I explained as my pulse picked up with anticipation. As I did, more than a few people looked at either myself or Tanabe whose eyes went wide with what I could only guess was shock. “There is no way he could have gotten past Senji. He’s innocent for the same reason that Yakawa is innocent.”

“Well what about me?” Tanabe defended as he motioned to himself with both of his hands. “If Tanabe couldn’t have snuck past Senji, then how could I have done it?”

“Well, the problem with that is where you were when the crime occurred,” I explained as took a mental note of where he was in relation to everywhere that the culprit went. “All you would have had to have done is sneak into the kitchen through the back door while Sama was in the cafeteria. As for the rest, I don’t think that it would be nearly as difficult to sneak past Senji if you went through the back hallway. He was looking out the front window after all.”

“Face it Tanabe, we know that’s it's you” Sanda began with a sure but with some pity in his tone. “You are literally the only person who it could have been. Everyone else has already been cleared. So let's just cut to the chase.”

“Now hold up just a second,” I asserted as I held up my left hand to form a stop motion. “I know he’s the last person left, but I still want to make sure that he could actually have done it. Just to be sure.”

“I agree. He does deserve a chance to clear his name,” Yakawa calmly interjected. “Besides, there is always the possibility that we accidentally crossed someone off the list of suspects that we shouldn’t have.”

“We’ll cross that bridge if we get there,” Machi said with a dismissive wave of her right hand. “But right now, can anyone think of a reason why Tanabe couldn’t have done it?”

As soon as Machi’s question ended, silence followed again. Only this time, we all looked around at each other save for Tanabe who was beginning to take deeper breaths as if to calm himself down. As I saw it, I couldn’t help but feel a small surge of pity. But that pity died down just a split second later as the images of what the culprit, who could very well be him, did flashed through my mind.

But after about thirty seconds, Tanabe looked up, pressed both his hands against the podium, and spoke up. “How about this? We’ve stated multiple times that Sanda did not find anything missing from the theater-”

“We are already aware of that Tanabe,” Senji interjected before giving a breath sigh and shaking his head. “The problem is that you could have gotten the clothes from the summit. If you had simply retrieved them in advance, you could avoid most of the times where the culprit had to bypass potential witnesses. Truthfully, I am not inclined to believe that you did it, but I cannot think of any reason why you could not.”

At that, there were a few murmurs and one or two nods of agreement as sweat began to run down Tanabe’s forehead. Even Sama, who previously looked away, looked up at the group and more or less agreed. But I just bit my lip and looked over at Senji. Something in the back of my mind told me that he was wrong. But as I thought through the evidence, the answer as to what eluded me.

*(Well, I know it has to do with what Senji said at least.)*

And so, I took a deep breath and wracked my brain for a possible answer. This time, by focusing on what Senji said. First, he mentioned that Tanabe could have obtained clothes from the summit. That just so happened to be true. But immediately after I confirmed that in my mind, I stumbled upon the answer.

*(Wait, Tanabe couldn’t have planned the crime in advance. At least, not before Senji was already in the front room.)*

“Guys, Tanabe couldn’t have grabbed the stage clothes in advance,” I practically blurted out. “Under normal circumstances, he might have been able to. However, there is no way that Tanabe would have known that Saeki would meet Koike until after Saeki talked to Koike which is coincidentally after Senji went to the front room. Furthermore, Sama was wandering the hallways near the dorms prior to heading to the kitchen so she would have likely found Tanabe if he tried to retrieve the coat before the twenty minutes that Sama spent in the kitchen-”

“He could have snuck past me,” Sama interrupted as she crossed her own arms uncomfortably. “I hate to say it, but I wasn’t really looking for anything or anyone.”

“Well that’s not all of it,” I explained quickly as another thought came to mind. “Koike and Senji were ambushed after the killer obtained the knife from the kitchen so, at most, Tanabe would have had twenty-two minutes to do everything the culprit did other than grab stage clothes from the summit, obtain a blow dart, and set Yakawa up. There is absolutely no way he would be able to do everything the culprit did including ambushing and torturing Saeki within the time frame that the killer operated. So, Tanabe is innocent.”

Silence didn’t follow, but at that, most of the group visibly flinched and looked over in Tanabe’s direction. Likewise, most of the group had some degree of shock and regret on their faces when they looked at him. In fact, the only person who was pleased with the development was Tanabe who breathed what I could only guess was a sigh of relief. And truthfully, I couldn’t blame everyone for being alarmed. I felt my heart hammer in my chest for a moment as the thought of accusing Tanabe voting incorrectly briefly passed through my mind. But, that moment faded, and I calmed down about the same time as everyone else did.

Senji however, was the first to break the silence. “But if that is indeed the case, who could have attacked Koike and I? Who could have tortured and murdered the late Saeki?”

“Well-” I put my right hand to my chin in thought. And with that, I mentally hit a brick wall. “Based on everyone’s testimonies, nobody could have. But obviously someone killed Saeki and ambushed you two.”

“Are we going to start believing paradoxes now?” Sama asked with sarcasm dripping in her tone as she pushed her glasses up. All despite the disappointment etched on her face which, if I had to guess, came from her shortcomings over the past two class trials.

*(Poor Sama. I’ll talk to you once the trial is over. Or at least some time later.)*

Regardless, I pushed the thought to the back of my mind and replied with the first answer that came to me. “No I’m not. It's just that at least one of the testimonies I’ve heard so far is either wrong or incomplete. Specifically, either Senji’s, Tanabe’s, or Sanda’s accounts.”

“I’m not sure that I follow what you’re trying to say,” Sanda said as he rubbed his head with his right hand in what must have been confusion.

“Well, the problem is that your’s, Tanabe’s, Senji’s and Sama’s testimonies make it impossible for anyone to have committed the murder. Either because of witnesses or due to time constraints.” I affirmed. “Now I know that Sama is telling the truth since we have already established that the culprit was male and therefore, she would have no reason to lie to us, but that does not apply to you three. So, at least one of you three is lying about your testimony.”

“Wait a second,” Sanda cut in as he lowered his hands and put his right one on his hip. “You’re basing the assumption that some of us are innocent on the fact that they wouldn’t have enough time to commit the murder. But that problem applies to everyone. So obviously, the culprit found a way around that.”

“Are you still trying to insinuate that it was me?” Tanabe said as he narrowed his eyes at Sanda before shaking his head. “Don’t answer that. I already know what you think.”

“While you have a valid point Sanda, you should remember that Nishi is also accusing you of potentially lying,” Senji argued in his usual calm collected tone as he composed himself. Albeit with a stern undertone in his voice.

“You know-” Sanda began as he lowered his hands to his side. “Nishi also said that your testimony was in question.”

“That’s probably just circumstantial,” Koike chimed in while holding both hands together by her waist. “I visited Senji before the class trial started and when I did, he said some of the events that happened felt like a blur. Nishi probably just wants to know the details.”

“Sorry Koike, but I am questioning him as well,” I asserted in direct contradiction to Koike.

As I did, I took but a moment to glance over at Koike. But unfortunately, a moment was all that it took. When I looked back. All three of the accused looked like they were about to open their mouths. I impulsively opened my own to react. But almost as soon as I did, I stopped myself from saying anything. As annoying as it was, I was too late. They were already entering into a mass panic.

Sanda: “Tanabe is the culprit.”

Tanabe: “I’m not the culprit.”

Senji: “You know that I am telling the truth.”

Sanda: “I hate to say it, I really do, but Tanabe is the only person left to lack any form of a concrete alibi.”

Tanabe: “If you would ignore Sanda for a moment, I have something important to say.”

Senji: “Nishi, please be honest with me. You are a very smart individual. You must know that my testimony is true.”

Sanda: “Please just cut to the chase Tanabe. We all know it's you. And we all know that nobody is going to just ignore me.”

Tanabe: “I understand that things look bad for me. I’m not an idiot. But I’ve been in this situation before. At least consider that I might be innocent.”

Machi: “That isn’t what Nishi said. She said that you were just as suspicious as the others and you know that.”

Sanda: “Besides, if I am telling the truth, which we’ve proven, and Senji is telling the truth, which we know is true, then you have to be the culprit Tanabe.”

Wakuni: “Unlike the other times, you are the only person left who we can’t prove was where you claimed to be.”

Senji: “In that case, you should all ask yourselves this question. What reason would I even have to lie about my testimony?”

Sanda: “To be frank, you’re the last choice we have Tanabe. It literally could not be anyone else so it has to be you.”

Tanabe: “Yes, I am aware of that Wakuni. But you have to admit that there are other possibilities. For example, one of the others might not have gone where they said they did.”

Senji: “The culprit stabbed me and harmed Koike. I have every reason to assist you all in apprehending Saeki’s killer.”

It was then that I paused, took a deep breath, and took a moment to process what all three of them had said. The truth was that one or more of them was lying about their testimony but the liar or liars eluded me. So, I wracked my brain and carefully considered each scenario is at least one person was lying.

*(If Tanabe is lying, he would have had to have snuck past Senji which is possible and have ambushed both Koike and Saeki over the span of twenty two minutes which is impossible but that problem applies to everyone. If Sanda is lying, then he has the same time constraint and he would have had to have snuck past Senji and Sama or Tanabe and Sama. Either of which would have been impossible. But if Senji is lying, then he would have to- well-)*

I hadn’t stopped to think about it before. But the moment I did, my mind drew a blank. Aside from any personal aversions that he may have had to it, nothing would have stopped him from grabbing the knife after Sama left the kitchen and stabbing himself. Besides that, he could have grabbed stage clothes from the summit in advance or even after breakfast and he knew about the secret passage to the storage room. In a twisted way, everything lined up.

“I’ve figured it out,” I said loudly enough to halt the debate between the three suspects. “Senji, you are the only person who doesn’t suffer from any time constraint. If anyone else is lying, than they would have at most, twenty two minutes to do half of what the culprit did. But if you are lying, then nothing would have prevented you from stabbing yourself once everything was already finished and lying about the encounter.”

“Stab myself?” Senji remarked before he blinked three times and continued. “Nishi, listen to yourself. Do you seriously think that I would ambush koike and- stab myself? Please Nishi, you should know better than that.”

“Actually, I do think you ambushed Koike and stabbed yourself,” I replied as I stared the guy down. “All the pieces come together. You knew about the secret passage, you had the murder motive, you occupied the one place where nobody else could make their way to the coat room unnoticed, and you are the only person who had enough time to pull off everything the killer did.”

“But- but- Senji was stabbed!” Koike emphasized with clear distress in her tone as she gripped the railing with both hands. “Not only that, but he was stabbed pretty badly. You told me that he had to be stabilized for goodness sakes! So why- what reason could he possibly want to stab himself?! Let alone somewhere that might have killed him?!”

“Koike, calm down,” Senji said before taking a deep breath and recomposing himself. “I am sure that this is all just a simple misunderstanding. After all, Nishi understands that I wouldn’t have any reason to nearly kill myself.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” I asserted as I folded my arms. “The fact that you were stabbed made me cross you off the list of suspects. But maybe it was a bit prematurely. I don’t necessarily want you to be the culprit, but it is the only possibility that makes sense right now.”

“Now hold on a second,” Wakuni interrupted causing Koike, Senji, and myself to glance over in his direction. “I’m not particularly pleased with Senji right now, but for what it's worth, I don’t think he’d just mindlessly torture someone. And I know he wouldn’t try to burn Koike alive. Those two are close.”

“Yeah, there absolutely no way I could see Senji burning me alive,” Koike practically pleaded before she winced for a moment and continued. “There’s also no way that Senji would torture Saeki. Senji isn’t a perpetrator Nishi, he’s a victim. I would think that you of all people understood what we went through since it was you who nearly died last time. ”

That shut me up for a second as more than a hint of guilt stirred in me. I took another glance at Senji. Truthfully, I didn’t want to believe that he was lying to us. And most of all, Koike’s plea did resurface my own memory of passing out in the cold white snow, a thought that made me make a mental note to talk to Koike later. But despite that, there was no hiding from the truth. And that was that the round trip to the lake and back alone would take more time than the killer had if Senji were telling the truth.

But before I could say anything, Machi shook her head and then broke the silence for me. “Actually Koike, you were never in any danger. Despite everything the culprit did, he failed to do anything to the safety protocols for the incinerator. Now, I thought for a while that this was incompetence. But if Senji is the person who tied you up Koike, then it is possible that he failed to endanger you on purpose.”

*(Wait, Senji told me how the incinerator operates. He would know how the safety feature works.)*

Just to be sure, I looked around the class trial room to see everyone’s reactions. However, almost all of them showed some sign of surprise at hearing that the incinerator had a safety function on it. However, and notably, Senji just frowned while Koike put both of her hands over her mouth.

“That’s not all Senji. I know that you knew about the incinerator’s safety function. Not only that but you knew about the secret passage, you had the time to kill Saeki, and you had the murder motive,” I said before taking a deep breath and letting out a sigh. “Perhaps you wanted a confession? Maybe you were angry? I don’t know. But you had the motive as well as the opportunity and we all know you had the means. So, I have to ask, did you do it?”

“Now wait just a second.” Senji snapped back quickly as he motioned for me to stop with his right hand. “That motive might have referred to any one of you. Who is to say that I ever suspected Saeki of being the mastermind?”

“Except we have absolutely no way of verifying whatever you tell us,” Tanabe chimed in a slightly warning tone. “You withheld that information from us so you could just lie about it. I am willing to hear you out of course, but do you have anything else to say in your defense?”

“Well-” Senji drew a deep breath and looked away from the group. “Well-”

At that, he put his left hand up to his chin in what looked like thought. However, as he did, he covered his mouth and trailed off. And the moment he did that, I took a moment to glance at Koike who had traces of sweat beading down her forehead. If I had to guess, she was worried about him. And she had every right to be. Because as much as I hated it, and as much as we had relied on him in the past, it looked very much that he was at least involved in the murder. And so, an almost unbearable silence loomed over us as we waited for Senji to reply.

At least that was the case before Sama spoke up. “Please, please tell us you didn’t do it Senji. You’re the second biggest contributor to these class trials.”

“Y-yeah,” Koike begged uncovering her mouth. By this point, her eyes started to water as the implications of the case undoubtedly dawned on her as well. “T- t- tell them why you didn’t torture Saeki and put me through-”

Koike stopped herself but it was enough for Senji to look back at Koike. He lowered his hands and opened his mouth to say something. But he looked as if he couldn’t get the words out. However, after a moment, he shook his head and hung his head.

“I-” Senji began without so much as looking away from the floor. “I cannot very well deny it I’m afraid. Everything simply falls into place and it appears as if I am the only person who fulfills all the necessary requirements to have committed the murder. So yes, it is true. You all very bright peers. You would have likely proven it within minutes of now anyways so I suppose I might as well confess now with my dignity intact.”

At that, Koike’s eyes started to water and I made another promise to myself as the mood of the room descended into a practically tangible somber state.

*(Once this is over Koike, I promise I’ll make things better. I don’t know how, but I’ll find a way.)*

And that was when Machi broke the silence by hammering both of her fists into the podium. “You can’t seriously feel bad for the person who tortured and murdered my friend! WHAT THE HECK?!”

“It's uh-” I said as I stirred from the surprise of her outburst. “It's not that. Saeki was important to all of us. But imagine being Koike right now. Imagine being ambushed by the person you were closest to ever since we came here.”

It was true. Aside from Senji, by the end of the day, Koike will have been the person to suffer the most by watching the person she was closest to get brutally executed and knowing that he was the person who betrayed her. Not to mention the time she spent tied up and recovering from the effects of the drug. Fortunately though, Machi understood this as well because her facial expressions visibly softened as she looked at Koike with obvious pity.

“If I may so Senji, I’m surprised you confessed,” Sama admitted as if Machi’s outburst never happened. “Though I have to admit, it's a welcome change.”

“Well, it isn’t as if I had a means of saving myself anyways,” Senji began as he finally looked up from the floor. “My plan was doomed from the start. I unwittingly divulged crucial details regarding the means for the murder to Nishi prior to conducting the plan such as the secret passage and the incinerator controls. She had absolutely no knowledge of the plan itself I assure you but I told her everything she said I did. Despite that, I was desperate and I thought I could succeed. Indeed, I might have. Bu luck had everyone in the perfect positions at the time of the murder to prove that it was me. That it was me who- who killed an innocent person.”

“So what now?” Wakuni asked with a hint of pity in his tone.

“While I can never say for certain, I believe everything that happened during the other class trials will follow. You will all vote for me to save yourselves and I will be executed,” Senji surmised before his voice started to break. “I uh- I know there are no amount of apologies that I can say to make up for what I have done. I tortured and murdered an innocent person because I let the motive trick me into thinking that Saeki Masu was the mastermind.”

*(Yeah, you caused a lot of people a lot of grief that could have been avoided if you had just told us the truth.)*

Regardless of what I thought, I could see that the reaction of everyone else was relatively mixed. Obviously, there were people who looked genuinely sad to soon be voting for Senji. In particular, Koike started to break down into light tears. But then there were a fair share of people who were angry with him such as Machi. I myself felt felt a mixture of both with a bias towards being angry. However, regardless of how everyone felt, the task of reconstructing the case and condemning someone to death remained. And so, I drew a deep breath to grab everyone’s attention so that we could start. Yet, before I could ask about the details of the case, Sanda intervened.

“So, uh, is everyone ready to vote?” Sanda asked as gently as he could. For a few moments, silence followed until Koike cried out in protest.

“Wait!” Koike begged. When I looked over in her direction along with Machi however, she paused for a moment as if thinking of what to say next. “I- I- I want to know why- I want to know why- and- and how.”

“Well, I do suppose you all deserve an explanation,” Senji agreed with a quick nod before he swallowed hard and continued. “The why is not too difficult to determine. The motive pointed directly to Saeki Masu being the mastermind. I thought that if I could get her to confess, I could save everyone. Though in the end, I snapped and killed her. Now, Koike is another matter. I wanted to save everyone but I could not let Koike stand in my way, so I detained her as unpalatable as it was.”

“It doesn’t change the fact that what you did was wrong,” Machi interjected as she pointed and glared at Senji. “Both what you did to Saeki and what you did to Koike.”

“Believe me I am well aware of that. But once the deed was done, there was no going back and I didn’t wish to die,” Senji openly admitted. “I know you don’t like it, and I know it was abhorrently selfish, but that was my reasoning.”

“If I may ask-” Yakawa began with a surprising amount of calm in his voice. “How did you manage to do it?”

“You may ask, it is a perfectly fair question. I will do my best to answer,” Senji agreed before he began. “It all started with the motive, naturally. When I received a video that vaguely implied that Saeki Masu as the mastermind. I tried to ignore it, but the thought planted itself in my head and I- won the blow dart that Nishi mentioned earlier and bode my time. However, I never actually set anything into motion until Koike came to me about that meeting with Saeki. She never told me why, but it didn’t matter to me. All that mattered was that I had to perfect opportunity to slay the mastermind and save everyone, her included.”

Senji continued. “After that, I set up the murder. I paid a visit to the theater at the summit to grab some stage clothes, I took the secret passage to the storage room and peeked out the entrance to see if anyone was there, I lured Yakawa away, shot him with a tranquilizer dart, and grabbed the supplies I needed. While putting the weighted ball back where I found it of course. I am terribly sorry for all that as well by the way. I even had Monokuma assure me that the weapon was nonlethal before I used it against you.”

“It better not be lethal,” Wakuni cut in before slamming his right fist into his left hand warningly. In spite of that however, he didn’t raise his voice by that much. “If Yakawa winds of sick or worse thanks to some nasty surprise that weapon of your left-”

“You will do nothing because I will already be dead. Not that it matters because I can confirm that your brother is safe,” Senji interrupted as he brought his left hand up to clear his throat and our eyes drifted in his direction again. “Anyways, after I attacked Yakawa, I went to the coat room, acquired my coat, waited for Koike, ambushed her, drugged her, tied her up, stuffed her in the incinerator, and tampered with the control panel. I insist and I will to my dying breath however, that I did so to make sure the incinerator could not be activated. Monokuma said the incinerator will not burn with living organic matter inside but I did not want to take my chances. Not with Koike. I hope she was unconscious for most of it.”

Koike mouthed what looked like confirmation that she was.

“After that, I believe it is fairly obvious,” Senji said before he paused, ran both hands through his hair, and then continued. “I took Koike’s place and intersected Saeki down by the lake. From their, I bound her to that rock that Nishi showed you all, and tortured her. I exposed her to the elements and inflicted cut after cut upon her- on an innocent person because I wanted to hear her say that she was the mastermind. She screamed the loudest when I severed her sciatic- never mind that. Anyways, I finished by cutting off her fingers and gouging out an eye. I threatened to gouge the other but she broke down and confessed to being the mastermind. The only thing was, it didn’t occur to me in my anger that people can be coerced into confessing lies as she must have been. I untied her from the rock, bound her in wires and weights once more, and sent her into the water to die at about 11:55am. I uh, I actually have Saeki’s missing parts on me in a plastic bag I picked up on the way. I was going to pin them on Yakawa but I never got the chance.”

At that, and much to the class’s revulsion, he reached into a part of his vest and pulled out the bloodied, severed finger and eyeball of Saeki Masu. All contained within a single plastic bag that was stained with much less blood than I anticipated. But nonetheless, everyone except for Yakawa staggered back in shock and most of us looked away in revile. However, some of us, namely myself, Machi, Senji, and Yakawa stared at the bag as Senji put it onto the podium before he continued.

“And after that, I did everything else,” Senji claimed as people slowly turned. “I headed back and towed Saeki’s mobile into place as well, went to the kitchen where I likely missed Sama by pure chance, grabbed a knife, sanitized it, went to the front room, and stabbed myself in the back by pressing the handle of the knife against the window and pushing myself back into it all to divert suspicion from me. However, I must have hit an artery by accident because I bled more than I thought I would. And it hurt more than I thought. I crawled to the room with all the stairs in search for help, curled up in much deserved pain, and went into the early stages of shock. That was when Nishi found me. About the only good thing that became of all of this is thatI can say the detour was there when I returned from the lake at 11:55am but not before I headed to the lake at about 10:50am.”

*(Well that does narrow the time frame considerably. I may ask for people’s alibis again after the class trial. However, I do have one more question before we vote.)*

“I have a question,” I replied earnestly enough as I slowly and painfully pried my eyes away from the nauseating sight. “What caused all the other changes at the lake? The ice? The two holes in the lake? And the cliffs?”

“Oh?” Senji raised both his eyebrows in confusion for a second. “Oh yes. I did cause those. I threw the motive into the lake in a fit of rage when I discovered Saeki to have been innocent. That is what caused the hole near the cliff side anyways-”

*(But Machi said she found nothing else in the lake.)*

“-and as for the other phenomenon,” Senji continued. But by the time he did, I already stopped myself with the mental brick wall that my brain just hit. “The snow fell off the overhang when I rode past on my way to the lodge and I’m sure some water splashed into the snow when I threw Saeki into the lake.”

*(But the puddle was the size of a human. There is no way you could cause a splash that large unless you- unless you pulled someone out of the water and they dripped water all over the ground!)*

My eyes went wide as a few thoughts raced to the front of my mind. First and foremost, I knew that Senji was the only person who could have been the culprit based on what we knew. But if that was the case, then he made two contradictions for no reason at all. At the very least, a good part of my brain told me to question him on the matter.

“Senji, Machi’s drones didn’t pick up anything that wasn’t Saeki or at least tied to her,” I said with concern evident in my tone. Senji opened his mouth in response, but nothing came out so I continued. “And the amount of snow that was iced over was large enough for me to land belly first into it and for there to still be enough of a surface area for me to be able to stretch my limbs out across it.”

“Indeed, I remember you mentioning something along those lines. I am inclined to believe that was an error on your part,” Senji suggested helpfully but still sullenly.

“Senji, Machi, Koike, and I were all there to verify what she said,” Wakuni argued as he crossed his arms and frowned. “And while Machi does a lot of things wrong, like a lot of things, I don’t think her drones would miss something like a video player or something similar that Monokuma could have used to give a motive.”

“As annoying as Wakuni is, I agree with him,” Machi said as she thumbed towards him with her left hand and scowled. “I did thermal scans, I did x-ray scans, I did standard scans, I did everything under the sun thrice over and I found nothing other than what we first talked about.”

“Look, I don’t remember all the details. I had a lot of things racing through my mind,” Senji argued breaking his posture though not his tone. Furthermore, he still looked at us with the same tired watery eyes. “Do the details really matter? We all know that this is painful for all of us and that it had to be me. You said yourselves that I am the only person to lack an alibi and that only I had the time to commit the crime.”

“Senji, if you committed the murder then just give us a straight answer please,” Wakuni argued with a hint of weary impatience in his tone. “If what you are saying is true and you are sorry, just tell us what you are hiding. Please.”

Like that, at what seemed like the drop of a hat, the course of the trial shifted. As I looked around, people took suspicious glances at Senji who just looked away unable to answer in return. Truthfully, people had every right to be suspicious of his lies. But a sense of unease swept over me as the uncertainty of the matter rooted itself in my mind. After all, if he was lying about this, he could have been lying about killing Saeki. But then again, that didn’t explain how he knew everything that happened when he wasn’t there. So, I looked to Yakawa, the person who was with Senji the entire investigation, for insight.

*(I really hope I’m not making a mistake by casting doubt on Senji. But we need to know the truth. Saeki deserves that, Koike deserves that, Machi deserves that, we all deserve that.)*

While Yakawa didn’t answer me, he further cast suspicion on Senji’s confession. “You know, there has been something bugging me about the body. For a while, I couldn’t tell whether Saeki’s wounds were inflicted before or after her death. But seeing that bag of body parts is a dead giveaway. There is absolutely no way that you cut off her fingers and gouged out her eye before she died. Why did you lie about that Senji?”

“I most certainly did not lie about that,” Senji asserted as he crossed his arms indignantly. “You cannot substitute glancing at someone’s extremities for a proper examination.”

“Senji, what- what exactly is going on?” Koike said as she placed both of her hands on her hips. “Why are you arguing in favor of being guilty?”

“What is going on is that I am the culprit and I doubt anyone believes me. As for why I am doing what I am. Well, If I hadn’t made it crystal clear, I regret killing Saeki. I also hate every minute of being the blackened and truthfully have been considering confessing to my crimes from the moment we started.” Senji uttered before he looked away to avoid eye contact. “I’ve never wanted to witness you all dying in my stead but if I were to be honest, I am a coward.”

“Well regardless of you supposed reasons, you lied to us about a fair amount of your testimony,” Yakawa asserted calmly enough. “And before you say otherwise, yes, I can tell by looking at Saeki’s severed eye and fingers.”

“My apologies, but I am afraid that what you say is impossible, I simply didn’t have enough time,” Senji said with a bitter hollow smile as he turned back and looked Yakawa in the eyes. “In case you failed to notice from Machi’s pictures, Saeki was wearing the watch that Nishi lent her. However, when I dragged her towards the lake, she struggled and the watch was broken during the event. I believe that the hands shifted by an hour give or take a few minutes but I am afraid that the listed, 1:00pm I believe, doesn’t give me enough time to remove the body parts you see here. They would be fresher would they not?”

At that, Senji held the bag up once more for us to see. I was fairly certain that at least a few people looked away but for the most part, I was busy glancing at Yakawa and waiting for him to speak up. The only problem however, was that he never did. And it didn’t take me long to guess why.

*(Senji’s account puts him at the lake around 12:00pm or so, but those parts were removed beforehand weren’t they?)*

And while I couldn’t be certain, I was sure that Yakawa found a contradiction between what he knew and Senji’s proposed time of murder Saeki. A contradiction that caused everyone else to quiet down as Yakawa apparently started to concede. But at the same time, I knew that we couldn’t let Senji have this.

*(I don’t know how he managed to mess with the watch, but his testimony is full of holes. He’s lying cover something up, possibly even the identity of the real culprit. I don’t know what his ploy is yet, but I have to expose it. So maybe it's about time that I lied back.)*

“Senji,” I replied sternly breaking the silence. “That watch is much more resilient than that. Not to mention partially waterproof. It probably could have lasted for most of the day which quite frankly, I think it did considering what Yak-”

“No Nishi, I am afraid you are very wrong,” Senji interrupted with a shake of his head. “We both know that that is simply not true.”

“I’m pretty sure Nishi would know more about her own watch than you,” Sama remarked in a blank unamused tone. “I mean, it's a family gift and the last thing she has to remember her old world by. It's not like she wouldn’t care about the thing.”

“I am well aware of that. The thing is however, that she is lying. You can tell because she paused to think about what she was going to say next when she ought to have known immediately,” Senji surmised calmly enough as he lifted his left arm and wiped the water from his eyes. “The fact that it's precious to her is also a lie. I just needed an alibi in the second class trial and was more than happy to play along with her. And if I were you, I would not believe what she said about the vending machine in the first class trial or what she claimed about guarding Eto’s body in the third class trial.”

“Wait, that would mean that Nishi would have been lying her way through the class trials this whole time,” Koike said before taking a nervous glance over at me. “She wouldn’t do anything like that would she?”

*(It was only to save everyone.)*

“I’ve never lied to you guys about evidence,” I refuted. Mostly because I could not afford to lose my credibility to Senji. “We’re talking about life and death hanging in the balance. I was spotless just like everyone else. I had literally no reason not to be honest about finding the culprit.”

“Unless you were biased in favor of, or in this case, against someone. If Senji is right, you lied to save him, Koike, and Yakawa. And we know they’re your friends,” Sanda said stroking his chin with his right hand.

“I don’t want to agree with Sanda on this, but he makes a good point,” Tanabe concurred with a nod. “I hate to say it, but I think Senji is telling the truth about the time of death.”

“What about my brother? He hasn’t lied to anyone,” Wakuni growled at the accusers. “And he’s never been wrong about an autopsy before. So why are you doubting him-”

“Ooh, upupu. Do I hear what I think I hear?” Monokuma interrupted with a somewhat gleeful shriek as he practically leapt out of his chair. At that, our argument halted. But I gripped my podium in preparation for what was obviously to come as soon as I connected the dots. “Ladies and gentlemen, spotless and blackened, I, your headmaster, do humbly present the amazing Newpoint Lodge’s very own Morphenominal Trial Grounds? You know the drill, pick a side and start the debate.”

I took a quick glance at everyone around me and frowned as some looked in my direction and tapped the screen while looking at either me or Yakawa. However, I took a deep sigh, bit my lip, and looked down at the screen to see what the choices were. And just like all the other times, there were two side by side options. The question was ‘when did the murder occur?’ The rightward arrow to the left of the screen said ‘around 12:00’ and the left arrow to the right of the screen said ‘much earlier’. Like always, I picked the latter.

After a few seconds, the podiums kicked to life and began their standard movements towards each other until they aligned into two neat rows that faced each other. After that, the floor began unlocked with a mechanical whirl and gradually descended into the chamber below the standard class trial room.

When the did, the atmosphere downright sent a chill down my spine. Aside from the fact that the area felt ten degrees colder than the trial room itself, the walls on either side of us slanted inwards with slits on the top and at the bottom near the floor that let water gently and almost silently trickle into the slits near the floor. More hauntingly however, the silhouettes were much closer to us than ever before and less obscured to boot which must have been something that everyone else noticed as well because they had similar reactions to mine save for Yakawa. Finally, there was a Monokuma ice sculpture on both ends of the room.

Regardless, I took a quick glance to see who sided with me and who sided with Senji. On my side was Machi, Yakawa, Wakuni, Shiro’s portrait, Seno’s portrait, Eto’s portrait, and Saeki’s portrait. But on Senji’s side was Senji, Koike, Sama, Tanabe, Sanda, Naya’s portrait, Yasui’s portrait, and Sasori’s portrait.

*(I can’t afford to lose this one. I never could afford to lose any of them. But I especially need to win this one. Senji is using this debate to shake people’s trust in me and I can’t let that happen.)*

As soon as I finished my thought, the first person, Sanda, spoke up to oppose us albeit with some pity in his tone. “Look, I’m not sure if I want to believe it either but we have a full blown confession from him.”

“Except we don’t know if we can trust his confession or not,” I argued as I shook my head. “Whether you believe me or not right now you can’t deny the contradictions.”

“You don’t seriously think that Senji would lie about something like this,” Koike insisted with a slight hint of desperation in her tone as she clasped her hands together. “He wouldn’t put us through this for no reason at all.”

“I can think of a few reasons,” Machi said as she rolled her eyes. “We know he’s covering something up and I think he might be an accomplice to the real murderer.”

“There’s a problem with your theory Machi,” Sama cut in with a stern tone. “Senji has absolutely nothing to gain from being an accomplice. Only the culprit would graduate.”

“As Sasori showed us that doesn’t mean he might not have a reason,” Yakawa said before crossing his arms and looking over in Senji’s direction with a frown on his face.

“Trust aside, Saeki’s time of death proves that she was mutilated beforehand,” Tanabe said as he narrowed his eyes towards me. “I know what Yakawa says, but he had most of the class trial and he still couldn’t figure out what happened. Who’s to say he’s correct now?”

“From looking at her fingers and her missing eye, I can say with certainty that I’m right,” Yakawa said to my intervention. I breathed a silent sigh of relief as he did. “Senji is definitely lying about what happened.”

“Why are we even arguing about this,” Senji said while maintaining a white-knuckled grip to the podium with his one good hand but standing tall and composed nonetheless. “Can you not see that I am trying to save you all from execution? Stop making this difficult.”

“You didn’t seem to be too keen on saving us from execution when my brother was on the hot seat,” Wakuni growled as he raised and shook his right fist at Senji. “You’re the person who is making this difficult.”

“Well everything you’ve said to contradict Senji is spotty at best,” Sanda said he brushed our arguments aside with his right hand. “You are basing everything off of a broken watch and a few birds-eye pictures.”

“We have all the evidence we need and you know it,” Machi said as she slammed the podium once with her right hand. “I’ve done a lot of things wrong. But I never make mistakes when it comes to making robots.”

“This is absolutely absurd. We all know that Saeki died around 12:00pm,” Senji said as he raised his left hand for a second but quickly lowered it. “This is all just one of Nishi’s ploys to turn you against me.”

“The only person who is attempting a ploy is you Senji,” I defended as I pointed my right pointer finger at him with accusation. “And I might add that you seem fairly insistent about the time of Saeki’s death.”

“But if Saeki died sooner, why are we only finding out about this now?” Koike said as she took a glance over at Senji and then looked down at the floor.

“It’s like Yakawa said earlier-” Wakuni explained as he lowered his hand and his apparent anger subsided to a tone of pity. “He figured it out when Senji showed us Saeki’s missing body parts. My brother is the best at what he does. You can trust him Koike.”

After that, a neon showing our side lit up and the floor began to raise slowly but surely. As we did, most of the group who sided with Senji looked at me apologetically but Senji frowned in my direction. Regardless, we made it to the top and as the floor locked into place with a mechanical click and a hiss, I visibly relaxed a little. And from there, we all returned safely to our positions.

“I’m sorry we doubted you Nishi,” Sanda said as he scratched the back of his head in what looked like nervousness with his right hand. “You’ve never steered us wrong before. I can’t believe I thought for a moment that you lied to all of us.”

*(Yeah-)*

“I still insist that I am telling the truth,” Senji inisted after he drew a deep breath. “Nishi is misleading you. I am sure she has good intentions, but that does not change the facts of this case.”

“The biggest fact of this case right now is that you are lying to us,” Wakuni growled. All the while, he began to raise his voice at the man. “Just tell us the truth already!”

“I believe that I have already told you the truth, you just cannot accept what is right in front of you,” Senji said as he crossed his arms and stared back at Wakuni. “I killed Saeki Masu and you know that I am the only person who could have committed the crime-”

“Your testimony is full of inconsistencies,” I chimed in. Mostly to cut Senji off.

“Inconsistencies that you need drones and other advanced technology to detect. Might I remind you that I had no such conveniences?” Senji said as he raised his right eyebrow as if to question me. “Yes, there may have been a few minor errors in my testimony but as I have said, that entire ordeal was a blur to me. I may have forgotten a few minor details but that does not change the fact that only I lack an alibi and that I confessed to the deed.”

And that was it. I opened my mouth to say something. But even as I did, it only took me a moment to realize that Senji was going to fight me tooth and nail over the point of whether or not he was the culprit. And sure enough, he didn’t disappoint. He was calm, to an almost chilling degree, but he fired off excuses nonetheless.

“I murdered Saeki Masu,” Senji asserted as his hands dropped down to his side and he adopted a more rigid posture. “That is all that there is to it.”

“True, a few details may be incorrect, but I lacked the knowledge that you did,” Senji said as he waved his right pointer finger in an almost chastising manner. “And let’s the honest Nishi, I do not believe that we ever were completely correct about any of the class trials. People make minor errors.”

“Everyone except for me either has an alibi or lacks the capacity to have done everything that I did,” Senji asserted with an emphasis on every word he said as if everything he said was carefully construction. “It is not like we have not exhausted every single other option.”

“I understand that you do not desire to see me die, but the truth is the truth,” Senji said with a weary frown. “That has always been what you have pursued Nishi. You do not have to lie on my behalf.”

“Admit it, at least to yourself, that I had to have committed the deed,” Senji said with an almost pleading undertone. “Nobody else could have done everything that I did. But in contrast, there is not a single thing that the culprit did that I could not have done.”

That was it. That was the crux of Senji’s argument. And moreover, it was certainly enough to make me frown back at him. Under most circumstances, I might have even believed him. However, I already confirmed that he was lying several times before. So, I thought about the case, considered the steps the culprit took, and tried to find something that Senji could not have done. Surprisingly enough, it didn’t take long at all for the epiphany to hit me.

“You couldn’t retrieve Saeki,” I offered as the revelation dawned on me. At that, Senji stopped and paused for just a moment and I took the opportunity to continue. “It took me way too long to realize this, but that puddle had to have come from Saeki’s body. It's the only thing at the crime scene that is the correct size to have made a puddle like the one I found. Yakawa claims that Saeki’s hands were severed after he died. And since she wasn’t tortured, that means she drowned. So, someone would have had to have pulled her back to the surface. Something that you lack the capacity to do.”

Senji opened his mouth, but closed it immediately after I spoke up and rubbed his chin with his left hand as he threw a scowl in my direction. That was it. He had no counterargument. And as a result, the entire room fell to silence for a moment. At least, it did before Wakuni spoke up.

“What the heck Senji?” Wakuni just uttered with the irritation and pain evident in his tone.

“We’re not going to get anything from him,” Machi surmised before she bit her lip and looked over in his direction. If I had to guess, it was to check to see if Senji would respond. But just like she predicted, she got nothing from him. So, she continued. “With Senji out of the way, we need to focus on the person that he’s covering for. Since Senji could have done most of the actions, we need to find another way to eliminate suspects.”

At that, I winced. I hadn’t thought too much about it before. But most of our alibis hinged on Senji’s testimony or not being able to do the things that the culprit did. Except now that it was obvious that Senji was an accomplice, most of those alibis went away. And at that, my pulse picked up as the thought that everything we did was about to be washed away came to mind.

*(Well, at least there are some constants that we know about.)*

“Well then, correct me if I am wrong in this matter-” Senji cooly began as he uncovered his mouth and stared us all down. After that, he spoke in an absolutely chilling tone. All without changing his calm voice and demeanor. “But it appears that you’re all back to square one.”

“Not quite-” I responded as I shook my head a little too firmly. “We know that for anything that you could have done, the culprit had to have killed Saeki earlier in the day and that he or she had to have retrieved Saeki’s body. Give me a moment, and I’ll think about who could have done it.”

And so, I did. I closed my eyes and thought about what was required for the actual act of retrieving Saeki despite the fact that the thought of her corpse drew bile to the back of my throat. The wires the killer used froze at sub-zero temperatures so the killer could not have just tied one around her beforehand to later pull her out of the water. So whoever did everything had to dive into a sub-zero lake and pull the body out without freezing to death. Something that, as I recalled, Koike said was impossible.

*(She said that even she would die of hypothermia if she dove in to retrieve Saeki. Ironically, someone managed to do it despite her claims- or maybe she made that claim despite the fact that someone could do it.)*

I opened my eyes, I glanced at Koike, and my heart sank as the truth slowly but surely dawned on my and imprinted itself in my mind. It is hard to believe that Koike would ever do anything like this but her main alibi came from a story that only Senji corroborated. If he were protecting Koike, then there was no reason why they couldn’t have agreed to tell that story beforehand.

And so, with a heavy heart and a solemn decree, I turned to address Koike. “Koike, I don’t want to believe that you did this. But you are the only person that might have been able to retrieve Saeki. Not to mention that you are the only person that I can think of who Senji would cover for. So, I have to ask. Did you kill Saeki Masu?”

“N-n-n-” Koike blinked four times before she managed to speak up. “No- no. No! I would never do something like that!”

“Nishi, I don’t see how killing my other fri-” Machi began with a wide-eyed expression before she shook her head and started. “I don’t see how accusing random people is going to save us. There is no way Koike could have done it!”

“I’m going to have to agree with Machi on this one. Seriously,” Sama said with a quick nod of agreement. “It's not like Koike is the only person who loses their alibi thanks to Senji being an accomplice.”

“Thanks,” Koike uttered with a nervous smile. Likely to the two girls. “I couldn’t have said it better myself.”

“Well, I’m afraid you’re wrong about that-” I trailed off as I grit my teeth. “If Koike is telling the truth, then swimming in the lake is impossible. But since we’ve proven that someone dived into the lake to pull Saeki out of the water, that means that Koike had to have been lying. And of course, she would only have a reason to lie if she were trying to cover up the murder.”

“Now Nishi, this isn’t fair! I was tied up and in the incinerator,” Koike whined as she stretched out her arms for emphasis. “I was drugged and bound! There’s no way that I could have done any of that! Why- why won’t you believe me like everyone else?”

“Well,” I began before a took a deep sigh. Part of me didn’t want to go through with this but the better part of me pushed on. “We already established that Senji could do practically everything other than retrieve Koike’s body. He could have set up the crime scene while you were restrained. In fact, it would actually help you if he did so because suspicion would be drawn away from you.”

“Is it possible that Koike is the accomplice and that Senji is the culprit?” Machi suggested earnestly enough. “Even if Koike is the person who pulled Saeki out of the water, Senji could still have been the person to kill her.”

To be honest, that stopped me in my tracks for a moment. I put my right hand to my chin in thought and bit my lip for a moment. And frankly, I wasn’t sure how I would feel if that turned out to be true. But the answer came to me within seconds. And as soon as it did, I lowered my hand and shook my head.

“I find that doubtful,” I surmised with a frown. “Senji took several steps to make sure that we didn’t suspect Koike. Some of which set himself up. Besides, he wasn’t even able to answer all of our questions correctly.”

“Yes, it does seem like Senji is the one protecting Koike,” Tanabe concurred in his usual tone before giving a quick nod. “And as unfortunate as it is, the facts seem to point to her.”

“Did you just say you are accusing her because of me?” Senji accused as he motioned towards himself with his left thumb and raised his right eyebrow. “I am not surprised that you are upset with me but please do not drag other people into this.”

“Senji, you know we’re accusing her because of the facts,” I said with irritation evident in my tone as I shot a glare his way. “If she really is innocent, then you had better stay out of this because you will only make her look more suspicious.”

“Well, evidence has pointed towards me three times before but you proved me innocent then,” Koike said in a practically begging tone as she clasped the podium in front of her and gave a desperate hollow smile. “You don’t really think I would do such a thing now do you? You don’t seriously think that- that I would mutilate Saeki do you? Please believe me Nishi. You know that I'm innocent. You just have to believe what you know to be true.”

Once again, I stopped for a second and considered what she said. She was right in that it seemed unlikely that she would mutilate someone. But the new evidence provided alternatives to Koike torturing or mutilating Saeki. In fact, Yakawa confirmed that her wounds were inflicted post-mortem and Senji would easily have desecrated Saeki’s corpse after she died. In fact, that would explain why Koike’s shock to seeing her seemed so genuine. Because it was genuine. But of course, that wasn’t the only thing that came to mind. As soon as I linked Senji to mutilating Saeki, the geography of the lake once more flashed like an image in my mind. And with it, came a realization.

*(Wait, the second hole in the lake is near the side of the overhang where all the snow fell. If Saeki fell from there, it would mean that she got too close to the side of the cliff. If that happened, then it's possible that-)*

“You didn’t mean to kill her did you?” I said solemnly in more of an assertion than an actual question as the crushing truth dawned on me. “You didn’t mutilate her and you didn’t torture her. It happened suddenly while you two were overlooking the lake. You somehow got her too close to the edge and she went over but I don’t believe you wanted to kill her. In fact- in fact I can’t prove it, but you might have retrieved her in an attempt to save her. Is that what happened Koike?”

Apparently, that was too much for Koike. She looked at the floor, her eyes started to water once more, and finally, tears began to drip down her cheek. Internally, I winced at what I saw. It was enough to confirm everything I said but that only made it more painful to watch. And worse still, Koike shook her head in denial.

“I- I- I didn’t push her too close to some stupid ledge,” Koike stammered. “This- this is all just speculation. I- I would never hurt my friend! I’m not the culprit! Really!”

*(I never said anything about pushing her.)*

“Now look what you've done!” Senji chastised as he narrowed his eyes at me and pointed his left pointer finger at me like a teacher berating a student.

“What Nishi has done? What about what you have done Senji!” Wakuni interrupted with a growl. “You’re the one who drug this trial out Senji! You made Koike watch as the person she probably cares about most was accused. Now, I hate pressuring her just as much as you do, but she is the only person who could have dived into the water to save Saeki! And you. You just delayed the inevitable by making everyone suffer!”

“Wait- wait, is the fact that Saeki was retrieved the only reason you think I did it?” Koike said as she started to look up but didn’t quite reach us. Then, she sniffled. “That doesn’t have to be me! I- nobody can swim in the lake. She must have retrieved through some other way. I- told you before that hypothermia would set in for anyone who swam in the lake. And even if it didn’t, you would freeze to death the moment you left. It would be way too cold-”

As Koike trailed off, we all looked over in her direction. And although I couldn’t speak for the others, it was solemn. Yet, while it was solemn, it did not last long because Koike started talking again just as fast as she stopped. She did so in what last desperate rapid file debate.

“Nishi, I would never kill Saeki, I could never have killed Saeki,” Koike pleaded as tears still dripped down her chin. “You know this Nishi. Please believe me.”

“You believe me the first class trial. Remember then? And you defended me during the second and third ones,” Koike said before she took a deep breath and sighed. “I’m just asking you to do that one more time.”

“You know that I have never had any malice against Saeki. I never hated her and I never wanted to harm her,” Koike continued. This time, she looked away as her tears began to increase. “You know I would never do something like this. Why won’t you believe me?”

“I’m- I’m innocent and you know that I’m innocent,” Koike stammered. “Besides, I- it's not like I could have committed the murder. The lake would have been just as fatally cold to me as it would be to anyone else.”

“So, so if you can’t believe me Nishi, at least believe that I had no means of committing the murder,” Koike said as she fought back a shiver. “I know my talent makes me suspicious, but there isn’t anything that I had or anything that I could have done, to dive into that lake safely.”

As painful as the whole display was, I thought back in the case about what Koike just said, She had a point that the lake’s temperature was well below lethally cold temperatures as Saeki’s death likely confirmed. But as I thought through everything that I knew either the culprit or Senji used in the case, nothing came to mind that Koike could have used to protect herself. I didn’t second guess myself, her response alone screamed that she did it, but the problem was vexing, to say the least.

I thought about what Koike had in general. As I recalled, she obviously owned an ElectroID, she would have had a coat with her, and she may have had the mobile with her. And as for other possessions, I tried to pull the memory of my visit to her room from the faint recesses of my mind. It was fuzzy, but I remembered going there after the first class trial and seeing a diving suit along with other equipment such as-

*(A hypothermia kit)*

“You used the kit,” I responded to Koike. When she stopped, I clarified myself. “You had a hypothermia kit in your room. I don’t know what’s in it, but I imagine that it would have helped. And I wouldn’t be surprised if you had some coating to protect yourself from the cold temperature of the water.”

Koike didn’t argue with that. She opened her mouth and crossed her arms, but in the end, she sighed, closed her mouth, and nodded slowly. Of course, that was it. She confirmed that she did it. But for some reason, I felt empty as she did.

“You’re- yeah, it's true,” Koike swallowed. And as she did, the class looked at her in what I could only guess was shock. “I’m sorry. I’m really really sorry. I- I didn’t mean to do it. It was an accident like Nishi said. All of this happened because I wanted to take a picture of her and when she fell, I tried to slip on some of my diving gear to save her- I really did-”

“What happened?” Yakawa asked. In spite of everything, he didn’t sound angry judging by his tone. At least, not with Koike.

“Well, We both went to the lake like we planned to and- and- it happened-” Koike trailed off and shivered violently.

Koike opened her mouth to continue, but to be honest, I felt bad enough knowing that we would have to vote for her. And as soon as I saw her reaction to recounting what happened, I knew that I had to do something. So, almost compulsively, I spoke up.

“Koike,” I interrupted. “You don’t have to go over it. I think I can take care of the recount if you want.”

Koike just looked up at me, wiped her eyes with her left sleeve, and nodded. Though to be honest, the nod was just a formality and I would have genuinely been shocked if she declined. So, I took a deep breath, took a few seconds to piece together everything I knew about the case, and began.

“Alright, this is how it happened,” I began. “It all started with the motive. Because while it failed to directly cause a murder, Saeki would not have died had it not been for it. The motive this time, as everyone knew, was a clue that may or may not have directed Senji Kenazane to the mastermind. A motive that Senji seemed afraid to share with the rest of his class because as far as we know, he hasn’t told anyone about it. We all confronted him about the matter, but he only withdrew from us and later went to the prize room to obtain the blow dart that would be used in this case.”

“I’m not sure whether or not he had the blow dart by this point, but the next day, Saeki approached the blackened and planned a discussion about how to stop the motive. And for this discussion, they agreed to meet at a lake far from the actual lodge. Likely so that they would not be interrupted. In keeping with my rules, both parties informed someone else about the meeting. We don’t know who Saeki told, but the blackened told Senji. So in the end, the same rule that was meant to protect everyone nearly got us all killed,” I continued before I paused. “Seriously, that rule really backfired. Lets officially ax that rule.”

“Eh, your intentions were pure at the time,” Sanda reassured as best as he could. “But yeah, in hindsight, I have to agree.”

“Continuing,” I said with a quick unamused glare at Sanda. “The blackened meant no harm, but when they got to the lake, both they and Saeki stopped on the overhang of the cliff at some point. And as the blackened let slip, they accidentally pushed Saeki too close to the edge of the cliff to get them into position for a picture. Saeki went tumbling over the side and fell through the ice. It is likely that this is what caused the avalanche that we saw the end result of when we explored the lake. Anyways, the blackened went after her to save her using whatever diving gear that she brought with her, but it was too late. I suspect that by the time Saeki was pulled out of the water, she was already dead.”

“After that, the blackened was faced with two outcomes, die or graduate,” I continued with a frown. “Based on the fact that Senji got involved in all of this, I suspect that the blackened left immediately, went back to the lodge, and confessed everything to him. And so, they came up with a plan to trick the rest of us. The blackened would pretend to be a victim tied up in the incinerator while Senji would do the dirty work of cleaning up the crime scene. However, Senji must have left a lot of details out of the plan when they arranged the murder case. Regardless, the plan was made and all that was left was to grab the necessary items so that it could be executed.”

“That of course, was easier said than done.” I continued. “But all Senji really needed was to access the storage room as well as the kitchen. And he had a secret passage to the former location. So, he entered the passage from the hallway, probably to be safe, started into the storage room itself, and noticed someone in there. Thinking fast, Senji threw a weighted metal ball to distract the person, hid when Yakawa came into view, and shot him with a blow dart the moment he started to leave. From then on, Senji had almost everything that he needed to cover up Saeki’s death. And he started of course, by picking up the weighted ball and putting it back in its bin.”

“So, Senji took everything he needed including a knife, some ball weights, lots of wire, cables, and an electrical. The only thing he didn’t take that would have been helpful was the dart in Yakawa’s neck because the poison had not yet fully been administered,” I surmised. “Regardless, Senji went back, and he implemented the plan with the blackened. First, the blackened went to the locker room and opened their coat locker to set up the fake crime scene before returning to Senji. From there, the blackened was drugged though likely without knowing it so that they could avoid triggering a rule violation, tied up, and put in the incinerator. Once that was complete, Senji broke the incinerator controls just to make sure that nobody could force the incinerator to start with the blackened inside of it and then continued with the final stage of his plan.”

“And that was what he did,” I continued. “Senji went the mobile lodge, grabbed a plastic bag in the mobile shed, poured out its contents into another one, grabbed a mobile, and went on his way to the scene. From there, he inflicted all the injuries that we saw on Saeki’s corpse, stuffed her fingers as well as her eyeball into a plastic bag, threw Saeki into the lake and went on their way back with Saeki’s snowmobile likely in tow. Notably, Senji claimed to have seen another set of tracks on his way back, but he lacked the time to head down that path because he was too busy trying to get everyone except for Koike executed.”

At that, I shot Senji a glare and continued. “And that was that. He went to the lodge, grabbed a knife from the kitchen just minutes after Sama left, pressed the knife handle against the window, and backed up into the blade thus stabbing himself to avert suspicion. Of course, what he didn’t anticipate was that he would miss his mark and cut an artery. But he did and for a short period of time, he crawled away to find help. That about the time I ran into him and screamed. It is also the time that Senji and the blackened finished everything.”

“Once everyone arrived, Yakawa treated Senji and he pointed us to the blackened while he gave a very brief account,” I concluded. “We followed and found the blackened. Like Senji, she gave an account of a male in theater clothing knowing that she would be excluded from the list of suspects and that Senji would back up her claim. And from there, all the blackened had to do was play along and act shocked as they led us to Saeki’s body. That said, I imagine their shock was very real since we know that Senji withheld at least some of the details about exactly what he would do. That is how it happened. But as much as I hate to say it, there is only one person who could have even tried to save Saeki. And that person is you Koike Juichi, Super High School Level Diver.”

That was it. I gave a sigh and looked at Koike who crossed her arms and looked away from the group in what I could only guess was shame. And then, a silence followed for what felt like forever. It dawned on me, and as I looked around the room I guessed that it dawned on other people, that it was over. Yet if this was a triumph, it didn’t feel like one.

“Thank you Nishi for helping me out one last time,” Koike said with the misery evident in her tone. “So now what? Nishi is correct so do we have to vote now? Is this the part of the trial where I die?”

“Not necessarily,” Senji said in a rather assertive tone as he composed himself to the best of his abilities to address the rest of the class. “We could always vote for another person regardless.”

Most of the class turned their heads in Senji’s direction and most glared but only Machi spoke up. “As surprised as some of you might be at hearing this, I don’t want Koike to be executed. But with that in mind, what the actual heck?!”

“I’m saying we could intentionally vote for the wrong person,” Senji concluded without batting an eyelash at the glares. He did, however, change his tone to a more pleading one. “I’m not just saying this for Koike’s sake so please hear me out. We are dying at a rapid rate in this environment. We lose two people every three days at the very least, as of the end of this class trial there will only be half of us left, and we are barely any closer to finding the mastermind than we were when we started this killing game. If we vote for Koike now, we are only delaying some of our deaths by one more round-”

*(We can’t give up Senji.)*

“And of course, there is also the fact that this is happening to the entirety of Hope’s Peak’s Hokkaido Branch at the very least,” Senji continued. “Hundreds of people just like ourselves will die, with potential worldwide consequences, if we do not halt these killing games. The Juichi family lacks the wealth that they used to, but they still retain some of their influence. If Koike were to graduate, she would have both the means and the desire to stop the killing games. She is a good person, and potentially the only person who will ever deserve to graduate. Our sacrifice will not be in vain if we do this. So, what will it be? Are we going to slowly burn out or are we going to use our lives to make a difference?”

“Who would we even vote for?” Sanda said as he dropped his frown and rubbed the back of his head with his right hand in what seemed like confusion.

“Myself of course,” Senji said without missing a beat as he motioned towards himself with his left hand. My heart skipped a beat as some people stopped scowling at him and he continued. “I caused most of the strife here, so vote for me. Vote for Senji.”

“Senji, I think this trial has run its course,” Koike argued back at him. “Please don’t do this. You don’t have to do this.”

“I am aware of that fact, but we ought to give this a chance. They may yet decide that they want you to win Koike. Just vote for me and give this a try?” Senji said as he gave a weary smile at her. She just gave a slow reluctant nod back.

“Wait a second,” Wakuni yelled as he crossed his arms and glared at Senji. “We aren’t about to just throw our lives away! And plus, that means that everyone else gets executed too! How irresponsible can you be?”

“Y-yeah,” I said as my pulse picked up and I jumped on to whatever metaphorical bandwagon Wakuni had given us. “We can’t-”

“You know what? All this emotional talk is starting to bore me,” Monokuma interrupted in a slightly less energetic version of his usual tone. “You already think you’ve figured it out. Let's just cut to the juicy bits already! It’s voting time!”

My eyes widened and I looked back to Monokuma in horror. “Wait! I still have to finish my argument before we vote!”

“Well, you have a few moments to say whatever you want but it can’t be stopped now that I’ve started it,” Monokuma said as he flippantly brushed my concern away with his right hand. “Of course I usually go through the rules again. Speaking of which, you all know how it works. When the ballot screen comes up, tap whoever you think did it. Or else tap nobody and get executed regardless of whether the spotless are right or not.”

I didn’t so much as look down at the ballot screen. Mostly because I didn’t have the time. Instead, I frantically addressed my classmates as my heart hammered in my chest. “Please listen to me before you vote! I realize that some of you must be considering what Senji said but please remember that you aren’t the only person who is going to die if enough people go through with this! You might be ready to give up, but are you willing to just give up on us and sacrifice the lives of everyone else?”

I took one glance around the room but to be honest, I wasn’t too pleased with what I saw. A few people looked up at me, but most just looked down at the screen attached to their podiums and tapped it for better or for worse. And so, with nothing else to do, I looked down at the ballot screen that appeared on my own podium.

Just like every other time, the ballot screen was a four by four grid with the faces of everyone in it. Of course, like before, I saw a countdown timer out of the corner of my eye. Unlike all the other times, Sasori, as well as Saeki’s faces, were greyed out with X’s. More importantly, I glanced at the timer and realized that I had roughly three and a half seconds left to vote. But, I located Koike, tapped her face, and watched as the picture enlarged and turned yellow with less than a second to spare. After that, when the timer hit zero, Monokuma did his usual routine.

“Upupu,” Monokuma chimed in as enthusiastic as ever. “Who will win this trial? Will the spotless rise to the occasion or will the blackened triumph at last? Only time can tell! It's time to see the results!”

Like every time before, the monitor slowly dropped behind Monokuma to where everyone could view the results. And this time, an uncertainty other than the usual fear crept into my mind. The culprit confessed, but as the screen came to life, I held my breath in the hope that enough other people chose to correct answer.

* Senji Kenazane: 4
* Saeki Masu: 0
* Sanda Iwane: 0
* Seno Sotatsu: 0
* Koike Juichi: 5
* Shiro Michihiro: 0
* Tanabe Kenzaburo: 0
* Yakawa Shoda: 0
* Nishi Toshiro: 0
* Tasui Katai: 0
* Sama Koetsu: 0
* Machi Satu: 0
* Naya Hitomi: 0
* Sasori Renzo: 0
* Eto Uzuki: 0
* Wakuni Shoda: 0

At that, I visibly relaxed. It was true that four people decided to vote for the wrong person, that I would probably never know who they were aside from Senji and Koike who probably took two of those votes, and that I had no way of knowing if my last-minute, half thought out speech saved the group, but we won. We were alive for now. And as much as I didn’t want to see Koike die, I desperately didn’t want to watch the rest of the group, especially myself, die in her place.

*(I’m sorry Koike. I wish I could say that I was less selfish, but I want the rest of us to live too.)*

And then, as soon as I finished my thoughts, the screen transformed into the roulette from before with eighteen different spots. Including the two random adjacent spots on the wheel that denoted Monokuma and the mastermind. And like always, there was both a half-white and half-black ball in the Monokuma section and an unlit neon ‘guilty’ sign in the middle of the wheel.

Then for the fourth time, everything except the center spun rapidly and the ball was dislodged from Monokuma’s section. This time, the possibility of being wrong didn’t scare me. I would have been lying if I claimed that there wasn’t some apprehension to the possibility of being wrong in the back of my mind, but as the wheel slowed down, I had a strong enough idea of where it would land to not react. And of course, like I predicted, it finally slowed down and landed on Koike. With that, the neon sign lit up and confetti began to fill the screen until the whole thing was covered and it slowly faded to black. Finally, the monitor retracted.

“A close call, but the majority is one hundred percent correct!” Monokuma said as jumped forward to the ground and held up his hands in what I could only guess was excitement. “Koike Juichi is a hardened stone-cold killer! But boy was that a close shave! You almost had a chance to witness a triple execution by yours truly!”

I winced at that with the full knowledge that it would have involved me for failing to vote, Koike for being the blackened and having a majority of votes against her, and Senji for being tied with Koike for the majority. However, I quickly excised the thought and stepped back off my podiums like everyone else. After all, everyone began to gather around Koike. Senji took a moment longer to pocket the bag with Saeki’s fingers and eyeball and Yakawa took a moment to grab the wheelchair that he used to bring Senji into the trial room, but everyone made their way over to her. Besides, I knew that this would be the last time to talk to her.

“I’m sorry about everything. I- I didn’t mean to kill Saeki. I didn’t even want to graduate. When I first went to Senji, I asked for help hiding Saeki so that this wouldn’t happen,” Koike replied as she addressed the entire crowd. “But- uh- we figured out pretty quickly that the mastermind could just screw us over if we did that by moving Saeki somewhere else.”

“So your only choice was to graduate or die,” Tanabe finished the line of thought in a tone that sounded as though he understood her predicament at least.

“Yeah-. I- should have confessed immediately- but I was afraid to die. I still am afraid-” Koike said before she gave a violent shiver. “Listen, I know I don’t deserve this, but if I have to die, I don’t want there to be any animosity between us. So if you could-. I would appreciate it if you could find it in your hearts to forgive me. Or at least to remember me as a friend until- until- until it’s over.”

*(I know Saeki is dead because of her, but Koike didn’t mean to cause her death. And she is going to die soon. I have to say something.)*

“I can only speak for myself,” I began. “But I forgive you Koike. Saeki is dead because of you, and that is something that you are going to have to live with for whatever time you have left. But it isn’t as if you wanted to kill Saeki. In fact, you tried to save her.”

“Same,” Sama said surprisingly devoid of sarcasm. All she did was nod. “Even though you tried to get us all killed, I think I can look past that. Besides, it isn’t as if you are going to get away with what you did.”

“I’m not happy about what happened. You were negligent and someone died because of it,” Yakawa surmised as he let go of the wheelchair with and raised his right hand to point towards Koike. “However, I am not about to refuse a last request. Especially not from a friend. I also forgive you for going along with the plan to frame me.”

At that, Yakawa crossed his arms and eyed Senji out of the corner of his eye. If I had to guess, he was not quite as forgiving with Senji. Meanwhile, The rest of the group more or less gave some gestures of agreement. Koike may not get to live, but at the very least, her last request would be fulfilled.

“Hmm,” Machi began before she sighed and nodded herself. “I’m not happy with you or what you did. But I have a feeling that Saeki would want me to forgive you if she were still alive. She was annoying like that.”

“Thank you all,” Koike said as a weary smile crept across her face. “I know that no amount of apologies will make this right. I can’t bring Saeki back no matter how much I want to. But thank you all.”

“What I want to know is why Senji did everything he did,” Wakuni interrupted as he joined his brother in glaring at the man. “You would have died if Koike graduated. Do you know that?”

“Yes, I was aware of that fact,” Senji explained as he returned a scowl. “I am not happy with either of you. I have no idea who fell voted for Koike but I have a strong feeling that you both cost Koike her life. Regardless, I admit that I owe everyone an explanation.”

*(You don’t have to be such a jerk to them Senji. You nearly had them killed.)*

“Actually, Koike asked me the same question before I incapacitated her,” Senji continued as he eased up on his scowl unaware of what I thought. “The truth is, Koike may not remember me, but I remember her. Before I was accepted into Hope’s Peak, I had many clients. But one of the most memorable was the Juichi family. They were nicer than the rest, they were more understanding, and one could tell that they cared about other people. And as for Koike, she was one of a kind. She wanted to get to know me and I liked her. No, that is not right. I didn’t like her. It was more than that. It is not befitting of a servant to fall in love with their master, but I can say that I was eventually compromised-”

Koike’s eyes went wide as she wordlessly stared at Senji and she wiped her eyes once more with her right sleeve.

“I was going to hand in my resignation for that reason but the Juichi family lost the ability to pay me and I needed the money to assist my siblings and my parents so I had no choice but to move on.” Senji concluded. “I lost contact with them and I assumed that that was it. But one day, I woke up here at the lodge and I found her afraid and alone. That was when I promised myself that no matter what, I would protect her. That no matter what the cost, she would get out of here alive.” Senji looked directly at Koike. “Koike, I do not wish to throw the word love around flippantly. But I loved you. I still do.”

There was a melancholy pause after that as both Senji and Koike looked at each other. Everyone knew that this was going to be the last time that we saw Koike and that Senji would not be able to keep his promise. It didn’t make what either of them did any less wrong, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel a stir of sympathy for them both.

“Just kiss her already you idiot,” Sama blurted out cutting the silence short. “You both know this is the last time you’re going to see each other.”

Once more there was a silence. Albeit, a more awkward one as half the group either looked at Sama or just shook their heads. But as for Senji and Koike, they seemed to take Sama’s advice. After about a ten-second pause, Koike leaned in, and Senji met her halfway.

“Ugh!” Monokuma interrupted as he somehow popped up in the middle of the group from out of nowhere. When he did, we all stepped back and looked at him. “I can see that I let this post-trial break go on for way too long. Explanations are out of the way so why don’t we get right to the good stuff?”

“Could we not?” Yakawa suggested as he grit his teeth. If I had to guess, he already knew the answer to his question. “It was a negligent murder, not a malicious one. She doesn’t deserve to die for this.”

“I concur,” Senji said with a fervent nod of agreement. “As a matter of fact, I am prepared to take her place if you will let me.”

“No dice for either of you,” Monokuma argued back. “You voted for the blackened, so she has to be punished. If you really wanted to take her place, then you should have made sure that you didn’t vote for her. After all, those are the rules.”

Senji clenched his fists at that, but Koike was the person to sigh and speak up next. “I guess this is it everyone. Please remember me as a friend.” At that, her eyes widened. “Oh, and I almost forgot. I can’t believe I almost forgot! Please forgive Senji!”

“This is it! Time for the culprit to plunge into the depths of despair! No mercy! No forgiveness! No second chances!” Monokuma began dramatically before he raised his paws. “IT’S PUNISHMENT TIME!!!!”

Under Pressure

I watched as Koike was dragged into the black abyss by a shark and the screen faded to black. After that, it retracted like usual. But even after it did, the visions of Koike’s execution remained embedded in my mind. Like always, it was horrible, it was beyond what anyone deserved, and something like it nearly happened to the rest of us instead. But regardless of what could have happened, I knew one thing for sure. Koike suffered.

*(I- I’m happy to be alive but she didn’t deserve that.)*

At that, I looked away and looked at the rest of the group. When I did, I saw that Machi was the only person to still be looking at where the screen once was almost as if she were frozen in place. As for the rest of the group, Sama looked at Machi and Tanabe started to leave without even waiting for Monokuma, but the rest of the group seemed to gravitate towards Senji. And the moment I noticed that, I realized what was about to happen.

“I didn’t want to say this in front of Koike, but I can’t believe you Senji!” Wakuni shouted out of nowhere as he lifted his right hand to backhand Senji but retracted it at the last moment. “I used to think we were friends. But I sure am happy to know how important I really am to you! We won’t forget this Senji! We aren’t going to let you off with a slap on the wrist!”

“You know why I-” Senji began only to be interrupted.

“I don’t care about whatever excuse you have to spout at me Senji! This is the part where you listen to me!” Wakuni continued in the same manner as before. “If you had your way, we all would have died horrifically. You tried to have everyone executed including my brother after he saved your life! I expect this crap from the blackened, but from you?”

“I see,” Senji managed to say with an evident frown etched into his face along with the occasional glance at Wakuni as he addressed everyone else. “I presume that you all feel the same way about my betrayal?”

“Yep,” Sanda said with a single cold remark as he crossed his arms. After that, he continued. “I don’t think I need to say anything though. Wakuni has summed it all up pretty nicely.”

At that, there was another pause as Senji looked away and stepped back. During which, I could practically feel the glare of the room on Senji. However, it did not last long because Monokuma showed up from out of nowhere once again and practically sprung to the center of the new group with one mocking graceful gallop. Suffice to say, he landed feet first and immediately started speaking.

“Well, I think I wrapped that up quite nicely if I do say so myself!” The teddy bear beamed drawing the collective antipathy that hung in the air at him. Regardless, he continued as if nothing was wrong. “Anyways, the elevator is unlocked. You are all free to leave. Unless, you know, you want to keep everyone else waiting for you.”

“This isn’t over Senji,” Wakuni warned as he brought his right fist up to show Senji. After that, he lowered his hand and started to walk away. “Come on guys. I don’t want to stay in this forsaken room any longer than I absolutely have to.”

*(I second that.)*

And so, Wakuni, Yakawa, and Sanda headed to and passed through the double doors to the elevator shaft leaving me to stand alone by Senji and watch as Sama walked up to Machi to stand between her and where the monitor used to be.

That definitely got Machi’s attention because she shook her head as if snapping out of a trance, turned around, and made a beeline straight for the double doors that lead to the elevator shaft without so much as looking back at Sama. Sama followed a few feet behind her, but nothing appeared to have been said between them after that.

At that, the two of us converged towards Sama and Machi. I walked normally, but Senji fumed as he put his hands in his pockets and trudged along. Regardless, however, we grouped up just as Machi reached out and grabbed the door handle to pull the door to the class trial room open.

As she did, Sama held it open behind her and we all stepped out of the class trial room to see the elevator on the other side of the shaft just as Monokuma promised. All the while, Tanabe, Wakuni, Sanda, and Yakawa looked back at us with the former leaning against the wall in the left corner by himself and the other groups together. An awkward silence followed as the rest of us filed into the elevator and I myself hovered closer to where Tanabe was albeit while I eyed the majority of the group instead of him.

When the elevator doors rattled shut behind the eight of us and we began to ascend into the darkness that was the middle of the passage, I took a good look at my seven classmates. Not many people made it out of this trial unscathed. Everyone was at Senji’s throat. And as metal started to spark on the corner of the elevators, the scowls that I saw from the flashing light drilled that fact into my mind.

*(This is getting way too out of hand.)*

That was when I heard two low voiced speak beside me barely within earshot of me and turned around to see who they were. What I heard after that made the situation even worse but I didn’t speak up because I didn’t want to bring trouble on anyone.

“Tanabe, are you okay?” Sanda said as he reached out with his right hand. Likely to pull the guy away from the wall. “It's dangerous-”

“Since when do you care Sanda?” Tanabe said in a low voice as he swatted Sanda’s hand away with his left hand. “All you ever do is hide behind your accusations and make light of everything that happens to us. Go away Sanda, I’m not in the mood.”

Sanda complied taking quite a few steps back and I myself stepped away from him and towards the rest of the group. Namely, mostly towards Yakawa. For a moment, I forgot that the rising tension between Tanabe and Sanda was a problem. But like always, I was reminded of that fact as my desire for the group to cooperate was crushed once more. I imagined that it didn’t feel too dissimilar from a knife twisting into my heart. And truthfully, I wasn’t sure how much more of this we could take. There were only eight of us left, the group was already beginning to splinter, and as much as I searched my brain for a solution, nothing came to me.

But the worst part of it all was the fact that nobody was safe and that no relationship was safe either. I looked at Senji. Everyone considered him to be a close friend ever since we arrived. But even before the class trial, Monokuma managed to mostly pull him away from the rest of the group. The sad truth of it all was that it could happen to anyone and that it would happen to everyone if the killing game continued. But as things stood, I had no idea how to stop it. So, as the elevator continued to rise to the sound of scraping metal and to the sparks that flew in the air, a dark thought came to me.

*(If we can’t stop this killing game, then I don’t know how much longer we have. All that I do know is that I can’t keep this up for much longer.)*

## Trivia

* This is the first and only time that Nishi doesn’t refer to the culprit as culprit or killer in her closing statement.
* For those who haven’t figured it out, here is the two aforementioned patterns that every culprit has followed so far;

1. The culprit has always alternated between genders being male, female, male, female.
2. The culprit has always been someone who initially had an alibi that made it seem impossible for them to have commited the murder.

* Another pattern that has been followed is that whoever grabs the door to the class trial room and opens it on the way into the class trial room has died in the next chapter. They have followed the pattern of victim, culprit, victim.
* Koike was always doomed to die. Though originally, she was going to be a gardener who was accidentally murdered in chapter 2.