Danganronpa: Hope for the Hopeless/Chapter 5 - Deadly Life

## Story

Yakawa was gone. As minutes passed and we all took another glance at his body, there was no doubt about that. That meant another class trial of course, and that was a concern that hung over my head. But at the moment, the most pressing thought on my mind was the consideration of how Wakuni was coping with the situation. Unsurprisingly, he did not seem to be taking his brother’s death well.

I turned my head and opened my mouth to say something. But before I could say anything, I heard footsteps heading towards us down the hallway to my left. Sure enough, Sama, Sanda, Senji, Tanabe, and I all turned to face the direction of the noise. And when we did, we were met with a forlorn Machi that could only look down at the ground in what looked like dismay.

“I came as soon as I could,” Machi explained solemnly. “I’m glad that we’ve managed to get into Yakawa’s room. But, I’m sorry about what happened to him. I don’t think you want to get any closer and it probably isn’t even safe to get closer, but I don’t think there’s anything we can do for him.”

“Machi,” Sanda remarked with a hint of surprise as he motioned towards the drone with his right hand. “Why is your drone flying there in Yakawa’s room?”

“To get the door open,” Machi explained as she once again took a quick glance away at them. “That’s what I went to my room for. I’m just sorry that I couldn’t get it open sooner but I’m not sure if we could have saved him either way. I’m sorry.”

I took another glance at the room, the broken window, and then the condition that the drone was in. To be honest, the conclusion was almost immediate despite the fact that most of my thoughts were directed towards what Wakuni must be going through right now.

“Machi’s drone wasn’t involved in the explosion if that’s what you were asking,” I defended with a sigh. “If it were, it would be a shredded pile of wreckage on the ground. Machi, you did good getting the door open for us.”

“Indeed. Don’t blame yourself for this. Unless it is actually your fault that this happened but I digress,” Senji joined in after closing his mouth and shaking his head as if he were trying to regain his grasp on reality. “I am afraid I agree on both accounts. I apologize for my lack of tact but just from what I have seen so far, at least some of Yakawa’s organs are splattered across his bed. Aside from that, the apparent stability of the roof above him is questionable as well.”

At that, the rest of the group finally broke free of their stupors. In particular, Wakuni finally averted his gaze from Yakawa and turned to face the group. Albeit, with watery eyes that were narrowed at Senji, clenched fists, and minor trembling as if he were struggling to stand. It was then, and only then, that Senji finally spoke up after his moment of silence.

“Is that all my brother is to you guys? Just another case to solve? Something to give up on? Someone too far gone?” Wakuni yelled at the rest of us. “I- I can’t believe you guys are just going to move on like- like its nothing.”

“Wakuni, we never said that! Do you seriously think that all of these deaths mean nothing to us?” I asked rhetorically and defensively before I crossed my arms. “I hate this as much as everyone else, but what exactly do you expect us to do?”

That forced Wakuni to close his mouth, look at Yakawa’s body, and look back at me. Truthfully, Yakawa’s body was too far gone. The entrails hanging over the side of the bed told me that much. And Wakuni’s silence more or less told me that he knew it as well. But at the same time, he was understandably horrified at the situation. Probably more than the rest of us. So, an almost complete silence followed as his skin returned to its normal color and he began to look at the floor. Then, at the end of it all, he opened his mouth. It took him three tries, but he spoke up.

“I- I’m sorry for lashing out,” Wakuni struggled to say. “I- I hate to say it but- you are all right. I- I- I just- I just can’t believe- I can’t- my brother is gone.”

“We’re all here for you Wakuni,” I stepped forward and said with dead seriousness in my tone. Nonetheless, it came to me almost automatically. “If you need us for anything, we’ll be there for you. And what’s more, I promise that this won’t go unavenged. You have my word that we’re going to find the monster who did it.”

Wakuni just nodded. He didn’t smile, and he didn’t look that much more relieved that before I made the remark, but he did acknowledge it. “I know you guys will Nishi. That-” He sighed. “That’s what we’ve always done. Speaking of which I- I guess it's time to investigate- my brother’s- death.”

Once again, silence almost fell on the group as Wakuni attempted, and failed to collect himself as the only noise to permeate the area was the sound of Machi’s drone. As a result, the seven of us were left to awkwardly stare at each other as an almost palpable sadness loomed throughout the area.

After all, Wakuni may have been Yakawa’s brother, but there was absolutely no reason why anyone would want to hurt Yakawa. He treated several people in the lodge, did his best to make sure that everyone was safe, and treated everyone well enough to the point where I couldn’t think of any enemies that he made. The guy was even there for Senji and Machi when they were ostracized. He wasn’t murdered because he was a threat to graduation either because Senji and I both contributed more to class trials than he did.

*(Why did it have to be him?)*

We weren’t lost in our thoughts for too long however. Because shortly after I thought that question to myself. An all too familiar half-white and half-black animatronic teddy bear jumped up onto the floor from seemingly out of nowhere with his fist dramatically raised towards the sky. However, he lowered it when he landed gracefully on his two feet.

“Wow, it's so quiet! You would think that someone died here!” Monokuma interjected. It may have just been me, but his smile appeared to be larger than usual. “Oh wait! Someone has died here!”

“Monokuma, can this wait? We were all in the middle of something very important,” Tanabe replied in a low but begging tone before he bit his lip with what must have been anticipation of his answer.

“Nope! I’ve already told the other classes about the upcoming class trial so that sucker is set in stone!” Monokuma replied as he brushed the thought aside with his right hand. “Besides, it didn’t look important anyways.”

“So the other classes aren’t going to be exempt from the class trial?” Machi remarked offhandedly. Though she did so with both sadness and irritation in her tone. “I know the announcement implied it but you don’t have to-”

“I know I don’t have to. The thing is, I want to! So yes, in case the announcement wasn’t obvious enough, the lives of the other three classes are on the line as well. Yes indeed! A whole thirty two people whose lives depend on the outcome of the class trial!” Monokuma continued as gleefully as ever. “I don’t have a heart of stone however. I’m going to show the other classes footage of the murder so they can know if you’re on the right track or not.”

I winced at the fact that the other classes were going to know who the culprit was but be powerless to save themselves. Furthermore, I wasn’t the only one to react negatively to his response because Sama looked back at the room and winced. However, she then proceeded to look back with wide eyes as if something had dawned on her.

“Wait, Monokuma, you can’t go through with a class trial,” Sama interjected before she motioned towards the room with her right hand. “Surely you have to punish whoever did this for the numerous rules they’ve broken.”

“Nice try but no. If you look closely, the cameras are intact, no doors were forced open, and all the other rules were followed so we’re going ahead with the trial. Honestly, did you think I would call for a class trial if the culprit was going to be punished right now?” Monokuma asked rhetorically. He didn’t even wait for a response before he continued. “Anyways, I came to say that since your main body inspector is dead, I went the extra mile to make the monokuma file as detailed as possible. The class trial has to be fair after all! It's available right now if you want to check your ElectroIDs.”

Once again, I winced visibly at that. Though I didn’t know the exact details, Yakawa clearly died from the explosion. Moreover, if Monokuma was giving us detailed information, it sure wasn’t out of generosity. So, it took me a few seconds to realize what Monokuma was doing and react to it.

“Wakuni, I think it’s obvious how he died and I have a bad feeling about this case file. Don’t look at the ElectroID,” I said as quickly as I could. Wakuni already pulled his ElectroID out, but at that, he looked up and lowered it down to his side. “I promise to tell you all the important information.”

Wakuni hesitated for a second. But ultimately, he nodded and I was left to look at my ElectroID along with whoever else decided to. So, I pulled my ElectroID out of my pocket, tapped the screen, tapped the Monokuma eye icon, looked through the case menu, and selected case number five. And with that, the report pulled up.

Monokuma File 5:

Subject: Yakawa Shoda

Height: 5’9”

Weight: 146 lbs

Blood Type: B-

Birthday: December 3rd

The subject was discovered at precisely 10:32pm. Furthermore, the estimated time of death is exactly 10:29:34:459pm. The cause of death was a combination of acute organ failure due to shock, exsanguination (blood loss), hemoptysis (drowning in one’s own blood). As indicated by the age of the wounds, Yakawa was first stabbed in the lower abdomen by a pipe with a 16-inch radius that penetrated through the other side and shattered his lumbar. The victim was still alive at the time but this was when exsanguination and hemoptysis started. After that, the victim recoiled in agony as he reached his hands out to grab the shaft.

Additionally, based on the victim’s injuries, something else removed many of the victim’s organs within his lower chest cavity such as but not limited to three fourths of his small intestines and two fifths of his large intestines, his liver, his kidneys, and one half of his urinary tracts. Likewise, the victim’s right arm was splattered across the wall in the corner behind the bed up to just above the tip of humerus. The other arms was broken cleanly at the ulna, radius, and humerus but the arm remains attached due to some pieces of sinew.

Furthermore, the impact fractured five bones along his ribcage, three of them went to pierce his muscular system by one-sixteenth of an inch and exposed several pieces of tissue along his chest, arms, and legs. Finally, the victim was exposed to heated shrapnel that pierced his skin in his right leg, his lower and upper abdomen including inside his chest cavity, both arms, and his face. Despite this, the victim suffered for approximately 4.75 seconds before he succumbed to his injuries. Based on the condition of his vocal cords, he appears to have been attempting to scream despite his left lung being 42% full of blood and his right lung being 53% full of blood at the time of death.

I did everything I could to not react. And even then, I was barely able to repress the disgust and horror that I felt at reading the exact details of Yakawa’s death. Almost all of it was obvious, unnecessary, and quite frankly petty. So, If I had to guess, Monokuma put all the information in the Monokuma File to torment Wakuni.

*(Poor Wakuni.)*

As I looked up, I noticed however that Wakuni failed to obey my request because he, along with the rest of the group, were all looking down at their scrolls. In Wakuni’s case, he covered his mouth with his free hand. But all of them appeared to be at least someone disturbed by the description of Yakawa’s death.

“Wakuni, what are you doing? Don’t you trust me?” I said as I pocketed my ElectroID and put both of my hands on my hips and frowned at him. Nonetheless, my tone was more concerned than upset. “I was worried this might happen. That’s why I offered. I would have told you everything that you needed to know.”

That made Wakuni and Sanda look up and put away their ElectroIDs. But while the former just nodded and took a deep breath, the latter narrowed his eyes at me. “Nishi, you have no idea what must be going through Wakuni’s head right now. Who are you to decide what is best for him?”

“First off, you would be surprised,” I said as I glared back. “And second, do you really think that this helps? For him to know that his brother died in pain?” At that, I very quickly looked at Wakuni and clarified myself. “I doubt that it helps to know this, but he didn’t suffer for very long.”

“It helps a little bit I guess,” Wakuni began wearily as everyone else put their ElectroIDs away. “You’re right Nishi. But I saw Sama grimace and I- I couldn’t resist- I had to know what happened to my brother.”

*(Alas that never seems to turn out well.)*

Wakuni opened his mouth to continue. However, before he could continue, he was interrupted by the buzz of Machi’s drone, specifically, the one that opened the door, as it passed over his head and made its way to Machi with a clipboard in its claw arm. Once it did, Machi reached out and took the clipboard along with the notes.

“W-what are you doing?!” Wakuni shouted as he uncovered his mouth and his right eye twitched. At the same time, I lowered my hands to my sides.

“Well, Yakawa’s room clearly isn’t safe for any of us to enter but the investigation needs to continue?” Machi said in a tone of genuine confusion. “Can you think of a better way to safely examine his room?”

“No,” Wakuni replied sternly as he shook his head. After that, he pushed everyone close to the door harmlessly but forcefully away from it. “I mean- no we are not pilfering through Yakawa’s stuff-” Wakuni paused for a second as he put his right hand to his chin in thought. But he lowered it soon after. “Is this about who is going to stay and examine the body? Because that’s going to be me. Yakawa always gave everyone the utmost respect and he deserves the utmost respect. So, I refuse to let you guys prod him or pilfer through his stuff!”

“At least let us examine the room,” Senji interjected as he crossed his arms. “If Yakawa made enemies with anyone or has made any observations that we need to know, notes about them are liable to be in this room.”

“Absolute not! In fact, I know he doesn’t have anything hidden there for a fact,” Wakuni rebuked as he pointed to Senji with his right pointer finger. “Unlike you Senji, Yakawa always shared everything he knew. He never made people’s decisions for them and he was always about everything with everyone. So not, you will not be pilfering through my brother’s stuff.”

“Wakuni, I know this hurts but you need to trust us,” I pleaded with the guy. “I can take a quick look to see if there is anything that he didn’t know to tell us. Or to examine the body more closely. I promise to be respectful. You can watch me the entire time if-”

“I’m sorry Nishi but no. I know you all think it's important to the investigation, but I’m not having it,” Wakuni replied as he crossed his arms and shook his head. “This is my brother and I want to leave him intact. If I do find something, I’ll tell you all though.”

“At least promise us that you won’t stay in the room,” Sama remarked offhandedly before she swallowed. “I’m not happy to see anyone die, but it would be terrible if you died because you got too close to him. Besides that, you’ll probably catch a cold if you do.”

That was for sure. While I could definitely hear the faint hum of the ventilation shaft working overtime to make sure the hallways and the rest of the lodge remained at a safe temperature, it didn’t stop me from feeling a noticeable drop in temperature just by being close to the room. And I didn’t doubt for a moment that it was colder in the room itself.

*(Sama is definitely right. On both accounts for your safety.)*

“Fine,” Wakuni, fortunately, relented as he brought his right hand up to the bridge of his nose, rubbed it, sighed, and lowered it. “Now if you don’t mind, I need you all to scram. You ought to be searching the place by this point anyway.”

“Hmm, yes,” Senji agreed as he brought his left hand up to his chin and rubbed it in thought. “Though I would prefer to examine the crime scene more closely, the library needs to be investigated. It appears as if it may be the origin point of the giant spike if I am not mistaken.”

That perked Sama up a little bit, but other than that, an almost complete silence hung throughout the room as Wakuni motioned for us to leave and we all stood staring back at him. Truthfully, he did have a point and we did need to start investigating the other suspicious areas of the lodge, but I felt as if there was something wrong with leaving the crime scene unsearched. The others must have felt this way as well because they stayed where they were for a while before the first person finally spoke up.

The person in question was Sanda. “I suppose I could check the incinerator. It seems like culprits always try to throw something away there.”

“If anyone needs me, I will be in the storage room for a similar reason as Sanda,” Tanabe eventually admitted with a shrug. “Whoever did this probably used materials there to make the explosives in the first place.“

At that, the two of them left the scene and proceeded to travel down the hallways. Likely towards their destination. Neither of them seemed to be pleased of course, but at the very least they had ideas of where to go and they would probably be safe since they were in each other’s immediate vicinity. In fact, both of their ideas made sense.

“I have something important to take care of as well,” Machi admitted with a tone of what sounded like disappointment as she crossed her arms. “It could be nothing, but it could be important. Senji, I’ll meet you later in the library if I have the time.”

“Speaking of the library, I want to head there if it really is the source of the rod,” Sama said before she took a quick glance at the roof and muttered something to herself. Regardless, she spoke up once again and continued. “It's important to get a second opinion and let's face it, it isn’t like any of us trust him to investigate the scene of the crime by himself.”

Senji narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to say something. But in the end, he kept whatever he wanted to say to himself. Instead, he turned around and made his way to the library. At that, Sama and Machi left as well. In Sama’s case, she turned around and speed-walked away to catch up with Senji. In Machi’s case, she and her drone solemnly headed off in the direction of her dorm room with her drone in tow behind her. And so, I was left behind with just Wakuni and myself. He obviously expected me to leave and I was planning to, but before I did, I knew that there were a few things that I needed to take care of.

“Hey Nishi, I know you want to stay and examine the area, but I can’t. It’s nothing against you, but I need you to leave,” Wakuni said in a melancholy and somewhat aggravated tone. “Will you please do this for me?”

“I’m going to in a second. I’m not here to ask to investigate the room right now,” I responded. “There’s just two things I wanted to take care of before I leave. First, and most importantly, I just wanted to say that I know what you’re going through in a very literal since. So, after the trial, if you need someone to talk to, you can always come to me. Hypnosis isn’t off the table either but the point is that you can talk to me about anything you need.”

That caused Wakuni to raise an eyebrow and step back in what could only be surprise. “You did mention having a brother while you were unconscious. But I don’t remember you saying anything about him being murdered.”

“Suicide,” I corrected after I shook my head. “Although it all means the same thing to me. I was actually planning to tell everyone about it but I think now it would be best to wait until after the class trial. For now, before I leave, do you need a hug?”

“I’m not sure if that would help anything but- I guess?” Wakuni began only to be interrupted. Namely, by me.

I stepped forward and embraced him. And he more or less did the same in response. It didn’t last for very long, but when we both stepped back, he did seem ever so slightly less miserable than he did beforehand.

*(I guess misery loves company.)*

Regardless, I moved on to my second issue. “The second thing I wanted to talk to you about was alibis. I know it's hard to focus and I have a feeling that it's the very last thing you want to think about, but I need to know for sure that you were standing guard and who was in their rooms while you were.”

“That's- uh yeah that does sound important,” Wakuni grumbled to himself. After that, he brushed his right hand through his hair in what had to be stress, sighed, and continued. “After dinner, I went straight here with almost everyone else and the ones that I didn’t head here with weren’t far enough behind to have had enough time to set everything up. Anyways, everyone stayed in their rooms except for you, Machi, and Tanabe. I saw you and Machi leave at roughly similar times and Tanabe left a few minutes afterward. I hope that helps. You’re right that I don’t want to think about it but I want to make sure we catch the culprit.”

“Don’t worry about that. You’re testimony is very helpful actually,” I said as I gave the most reassuring smile I could muster. “Now, I’m going to get going now. If you need me for anything, please let me know.”

“Got it,” was all that Wakuni said in response.

With that, I waved goodbye to Wakuni at that. After all, we both knew that I had spent way too much time just standing here already. “Goodbye Wakuni. I’ll see you later at the class trial. And don’t worry too much about that either. Just do what you can and we’ll do the heavy lifting.”

Wakuni waved goodbye to me. I looked back at him, looked back at the room, and finally noticed something that nearly made me take a second glance. It appeared as if the rod that was used to impale Yakawa had a small cover that covered a very small area from the explosion. So, I made a mental note of it, waved goodbye to Wakuni again, turned around, and went on my way.

With that, I went on my way to the library. After all, if Senji was right, then it was the closest that we could go to investigating the crime scene. So, I traveled to the stairs that lead to the exit of the dorm room area, bounded up them, turned around, ascended the other staircase next to the one that led to the dorm area, and proceeded straight down the hallway. It all went without incident, but as I passed the supply closet and then the junction that led to the gym entrance on the left and the theater entrance on the right, I saw the state of the library and bit my lip.

Despite the broken lock, the door had been opened somehow. But that wasn’t the problem. The shelves appeared to be mostly intact aside from soot and char that coated the floor and walls of the library including the first two floors of bookshelves and even the ladder that was used to access the higher level shelves. All of which gave off the faint odor of ash and burnt fertilizer. But again, that wasn’t the problem. The chandelier, while intact, rocked precariously back and forth with a creak that permeated the room, and the large window in the back was absolutely fractured releasing a breeze of alarmingly cold air into the area though from what I could tell, there was almost no glass on the floor near where the window used to be. Again, the ventilation system was doing its fair share of work and it was keeping the room at a survivable temperature to its credit, but the temperature drop had to be well into the double digits at least.

The most pressing concern, however, was the floor. The floor was broken and slanted downwards for the majority of the center of the room, undoubtedly towards the direction of Yakawa’s bed, and most of the furniture that was once neatly organized was bunched together at the two lowest points of where the floor was slanted in the center of the room with only a very chairs and one table seemingly having escaped this fate. It appeared as if it were safe to walk along the edge of the room because the ground around the edge was still whole, un-slanted, and seemingly stable based on the fact that Senji and Sama were both roaming around the room while standing on it. But the majority of the floor in the center of the room was undoubtedly too dangerous to step on.

Of course, what caught my attention most of all was what undoubtedly cause the problem. In the center of it all, there has a black bulbous metal cap that looked as if it were made of plates that were haphazardly drilled together and somewhat ripped apart but mostly intact, was angled by five black legs that were also drilled on so that it would have faced the direction of the slant if the ground it stood on was perfectly horizontal, bore a hole in the top that was the same diameter as the rod that Yakawa was stabbed with, and had a grey box welded onto the side of it that was facing me that bore a countdown timer that featured a neon red 00:00:00 that flashed on and off. Additionally, I could barely make out the end of the rod that impaled Yakawa sticking out of the other end floor that it traveled through.

Senji must have noticed me as I stepped inside the library because he looked at me and spoke up. “Nishi, make sure that you stay away from the center of the room. Otherwise, the floor may give out and we would need to worry about the safety of you and Wakuni.”

At that, Sama stopped to look in my direction, looked back at Senji, and rolled her eyes. “I think Nishi knows that already Senji. She isn’t exactly an idiot.”

“I just wanted to make sure,” Senji affirmed as he gave a calming motion with his left hand. “We already lost Yakawa, but we can still have a safe investigation. I just wanted to make sure that Nishi was made aware of the dangers in this room.”

*(They’re kind of obvious though.)*

“No worries there. I’ve noticed,” I said as I put my hands on my hips and looked down at the broken floor once more. As I did, a quick question came to the front of my mind. “Oh, if I may ask, how did you guys get in here?”

“That actually went better than I thought it would,” Sama answered with a weary smile. “At first, we both thought that we would need to get Machi and ask her to use one of her drones to open the door. But Monokuma showed up and remotely opened the door for us in the name of giving us what we need for a fair trial. I just wish that someone didn’t have to die for this room to be reopened.”

*(We all do Sama.)*

“Regardless,” Senji interrupted after coughing into his left fist to get attention. “We should probably resume investigating the room. We do not know how much time we have left and I do not wish to be unprepared. I assume you wish to join us so all I have to say is be careful.”

I just nodded, pulled out my ElectroID, and took one more glance at the metal container itself. When I did, I didn’t notice anything new, but a thought occurred to me that most of the blast force was directed in the direction of where the spike was. And even then, as I looked in that direction, I noticed that the room was in relatively good condition aside from the shattered window, soot, and broken floor. Regardless, I took a picture of the general area with my ElectroID.

*(Whoever did this left this room much more intact. Relatively speaking at least. The two bombs were made by someone who knows what they are doing. The question is who?)*

Machi had the closest talent, even though robots were undoubtedly far different than bombs. But that didn’t exclude everyone else from the list of suspects. All it took was one person who refrained from mentioning prior knowledge about the subject in order to make this scenario possible.

Regardless, I looked up at what had to be the noisiest object in the room, the chandelier. It continued to creak and the glass continued to clatter as it swayed back and forth. And in general, it didn’t look as if it were in the greatest of conditions. But still seemed to hold up without any major issues and it didn’t appear to have been tampered with either. In fact, it appeared to be slowing down and stabilizing. So, I lifted my ElectroID and took a picture of the chandelier.

*(Actually, it's a really good thing that that is holding up. I wouldn’t want that falling down on our heads or collapsing the floor.)*

That’s when I found something else of note. About two stories up, I noticed a ventilation shaft with a white cover on it on the wall. At that, I looked around the area at the same elevation. And sure enough, I noticed three other ventilation shafts. All of which were ninety degrees apart from each other and all of which appeared to be in the same condition. And as I looked around at them, I thought came to the front of my mind.

*(Hmm. Someone could store something in those or move something through them if they wanted. Possibly even to circumvent the door that was locked. These don’t appear to have been utilized, but I had better see if there are any other ones that may have been tampered with.)*

I looked around once more. This time, at a lower level. When I did, I noticed four more vents about one story up. They had dust and soot on them unlike the other vents but, they were still in good condition aside from that. Regardless, at that point, I took pictures of all eight ventilation shafts. The chandelier was in the way, but I did my best.

And then, I looked up higher in the room for more possible points of entry. However, when I did, I found none. To be honest however, I supposed that was fair given the fact that there were already eight of them in the admittedly very large room however. So, I looked down, lowered my ElectroID, and turned around just in time to see Senji calmly stroll towards me.

“Did you find anything of note Nishi?” Senji asked calmly and friendly enough.

“More like the absence of something,” I responded before biting my lip, thinking about it what I was going to say, and continuing. “I saw the vents and I thought I might as well take pictures of them but they seem to be undisturbed like the rest of the room.”

“I see, so you are looking for possible ports of entry as well,” Senji remarked before he closed his eyes, sighed, and then opened them again. “That is actually my greatest concern about this case. By all regards, this murder should not have been possible because the door was locked and the culprit should not have had access to the library. Initially, I assumed that there was a secret passage, but Sama explained to me that there were none.”

At that, Sama, who wasn’t too far away from Senji, crossed her arms, frowned, and nodded at what Senji had to say. From there, she stepped closer to us and commented with evident frustration in her tone.

“Senji is right,” Sama wearily agreed. “Ever since the lock on the llibrary door broke, it irritated me. About two days after it happened, I asked Monokuma if there was a secret passage that led to the library. He said that while the lodge featured many secrets, none of them were another way to get into the library. And because this happened before the murder, Monokuma had no reason to lie about it.”

“That does complicate things,” I agreed as I brought my right hand up to rub my chin in thought. “Do you have any other ideas about how the culprit got in here?”

“I’m afraid not. I would like to say they came in through the window-” Sama began as she pointed towards the window with her right thumb. “But I can’t think of any way that they could reach the window from the outside.”

At least one answer came to mind. Namely, the fact that Machi had flying drones. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to prematurely raise suspicion against Machi and I didn’t want to jump to conclusions either. But the question did echo through my mind.

*(Machi’s apology seemed sincere and I don’t see how it would help her to apologize if she weren’t sincere about it. But, could she have been lying to us?)*

“The windows are definitely suspicious,” I almost trailed off as my gaze fixed on them and I casually began to stroll in the direction of the broken pane. “I’m going to double-check them for a moment.”

“Don’t get too close. It's pretty cold right there and it's a bit of a drop if you fall. The drop isn’t life-threatening but still,” Sama replied. Then, she muttered something in a low tone that I barely heard. “I should have brought my coat with me.”

I just nodded and made my way to the location. Admittedly, I did feel another chill sink into my bones and make me shiver as I got close to the window, but I stopped just in front of it and looked around nonetheless. Sure enough, when I did, I noticed something else that was noteworthy about the window. Something that I thought I noticed when I first entered but was confirmed for me after a second glance. And as I noticed, I felt a small rush of pride in my hunch being validated.

*(It looks like almost all the glass here is missing. The only question is, where did it go? Did most of it fall to the ground outside?)*

That was certainly a possibility, but as I stepped closer and peered out of the broken window, I failed to see any glass in the snow below. That was to be expected of course, but it did make me draw a blank expression of unamusement as I brought my arms together for warmth and stepped away from the window.

After that, I took my ElectroID, stepped back away from the window as well as the area in front of it, and took a general picture of the area that I had examined. After all, the window definitely appeared to have played a part in the murder. Even if it turned out that the culprit didn’t climb through it, it definitely had some purpose.

*(We just need to figure out what that purpose is.)*

After that, however, I put my ElectroID away and looked around the room for more evidence. Because truthfully, despite all the damage that was done to the room, there wasn’t too much actual evidence to point towards anyone. Something that stuck as a concern in the back of my mind. However, it took a few seconds of looking around the area before I found anything of note. And when I did, it was Senji taking a picture of the bomb with his own ElectroID rather than anything new. Granted, Sama was close enough to him and fingering the books that were immediately within her reach, but it didn’t appear as if she had found anything of note.

Regardless, I decided to head towards Senji and ask him a few questions about the bombs. So, I calmly but quickly approached him as he took another picture, looked up, and seemed to notice me because he took a glance in my direction before he resumed what he was doing.

“Hello Nishi, I was actually about to summon you,” Senji remarked as he pocketed his ElectroID in his left pocket and then turned to face me. “I wanted a second opinion. It appears to me as if we are dealing with a timer-based and fertilizer explosive but I wanted to know if you found anything else when you examined the site.”

“Well, I have to say you’re right about both guesses. I smell I faint trace of fertilizer as well and I noticed the countdown timer when I first took a good look at the device,” I claimed without any doubt as the image of the device flashed through my mind. I was about to say that I didn’t find anything else of note other than the fact that the culprit seemed to know what they were doing, but as I opened my mouth, something else came to me. “Actually yes. First, if this is a fertilizer based bomb, the culprit may have been able to get the fertilizer from the greenhouse. Second, the culprit seems to know what they are doing. I know it doesn’t narrow down the pool of suspects, but whoever did this positioned everything carefully, diverted explosions into certain directions, and only caused damage where they wanted to cause it. It's actually kind of alarming.”

“True,” Senji remarked with a quick nod and then what sounded like a tired sigh. “If that is the case, I will endeavor to examine the greenhouse and the tool shed in it once more to see if anything appears to be out of place. After all, it is probably hazardous to our collective health to stay here for too long. Even with the heating in place, this room seems to be getting colder by the minute. I have Sama looking through the books to see if the culprit may have read anything in regards to bomb instructions, but when she is finished searching, we will probably search elsewhere.”

“That is fair,” I agreed as I took one more glance at the door and then back at Senji. “I’m probably going to leave soon myself. At the very least, I want to search the rooms adjacent to this one before we are called to attend the class trial. I have one more question for you and then I’m going to do one more sweep of this room. But after that, I’m probably going to leave.”

“That is fair,” Senji conceded with another nod. “So, what is your question?”

“I wanted to know if you had an alibi for today,” I surmised calmly enough. “I already know about Sama’s alibi, she was with me for most of the day and in her room under Wakuni’s guard for the rest of it, but I have no idea where you were today. Actually, quite a few people didn’t know where you were today.”

“I imagine so,” Senji said as he left eye winced and he grit his teeth. “First of all, I would like to point out that I have no malicious intent regarding any of you. What you did to Koike was unfortunate, but you were merely attempting to save yourselves. No matter what it looks like- I-” Senji sighed and his posture slumped. “I have no desire for Wakuni to go through what I am going through.”

“Something tells me that I am not going to like what I am about to hear,” I responded in a weary tone as I crossed my arms. “Am I right?”

“I suspect you will not like what I have to say,” Senji confirmed. At that, I sighed internally but he continued regardless. “This morning and afternoon, I spent the majority of my time at the lake where Saeki died. I thought that it would be fitting to pay my respects to both of them where Saeki died and Koike’s fate was sealed. Following that, I proceeded to my room and took the time to be alone. I needed time to think. Anyways, that is it I am afraid. I was alone and all the evidence to support my claim is likely cleared by now.”

*(I figured that much.)*

“Thanks for the testimony. If I have the time, I’ll swing by and see if I can find any footprints in the snow,” I replied without any attempt to hide my disappointment. “Anyways, I’m going to start that last sweep of the room. If I find something, I’ll let you know.”

“Alright Nishi,” Senji agreed before he took a deep breath and resumed his more professional posture. “I promise I will let you know if we find anything here.”

With that, I turned around, walked away from Senji, and proceeded to look around the area. I glanced at the floor, the walls, the ceiling, and even the ladder that was used to access higher bookshelves. I even took additional glances at the chandelier and the damaged area. But, as I drug my feet clockwise halfway around the room, I failed to find anything.

A silence fell upon the room as I glanced at the windows once more. Once again, I found nothing. So, I proceeded carefully and methodically throughout the remainder of my path until I had completed my search of the room. And as I approached Senji and Sama after minutes of searching went by, my efforts ultimately yielded nothing else.

So, I took one last glance at the door and made a mental note of the rest of the places where I needed to search. The theatre, supply closet, and gym were all close by so I needed to search them. After that, I needed to check the greenhouse, see if Tanabe and Sanda found anything in the incinerator wing, and confirm Senji’s alibi if I had the time. Honestly, my eyes widened at the realization of just how many more rooms I had to search.

*(I had better get going before I run out of time.)*

“Senji, Sama, I’m heading out now,” I finally said to them. “If you need me, I’ll be nearby for a while longer but otherwise, I’ll see you at the class trial.”

“About that,” Sama replied as she looked away from examining the shelves and turned to face me. “I’ll do what I can to help as well. I always do. Although admittedly it doesn’t look like I’ve found anything-” Sama trailed off and put her right pointer finger to her chin in thought. “It probably doesn’t matter. You’ll probably figure everything out anyways, but I guess what I’m trying to say is let me know if you need me.”

“I concur with Sama’s final statement,” Senji surmised calmly with a nod of his own. “Neither of the Shoda brothers deserve this. None of you deserve harm or grief to come to you but that is beside the point-”

“I’m pretty sure we would have felt both if you had your way in the last class trial,” Sama deadpanned as she lowered her hands to her hips. “You did side against us by trying to hide Koike’s guilt after all.”

“Yes, and you were used by Sasori to great effect as well I believe. What is your point?” Senji muttered in a lower and colder tone than usual before he coughed into his left fist, cleared his throat, and continued. This time, in a more calm but melancholic tone. “I apologize, that was unbecoming of me. I know it is no excuse but I have had a hard day today. regardless, I wanted Koike’s life to be spared but I never desired for you to be hurt nor do I harbor any ill will against anyone other than the mastermind. The point is, despite what you might believe, you have my full support for this upcoming trial.”

“Well, thanks. Assuming you’re both innocent, I’m happy to know that I can count on you two,” I said as I forced a weary smile and waved goodbye. “I’ll be seeing you both at the class trial later. But don’t worry, we’re going to get through this and Yakawa’s killer will get what they deserve. I promise that I’ll do everything in my power to make sure of it.”

At that, I proceeded towards the door and made my way out of the library. When I did, I felt the warmer air brush against my skin and I welcomed it. It wasn’t too much warmer because the cold air from the library spilled into the hallway, but it was a welcome change nonetheless.

It was only then that I stopped to consider which room to examine first. I looked at the crossroads that led left to the theater entrance and right to the gym entrance as well as the supply closet entrance just past it. For a moment, I considered the options, all of which were equally close. But it only took me a moment to make my decision.

*(The supply closet is the fastest place to search so I might as well start there.)*

As that thought passed through my mind, I stepped a few paces forwards towards the supply closet until I was in front of it, turned left, simply reached out to grab the handle with my right hand, and opened the door to the supply closet. Just as I thought, it all went without incident though that wasn’t saying much because it was an effortless task.

The following task was not as effortless. I reached into my right pocket and looked around at the supply closet for clues. When I did, I noticed that aside from a few changes, it wasn’t too different from the janitor’s closet in front of the main greenhouse entrance. The closet had a grey dingy wall, a rack on the far end divided into two shelves, the bottom of which was at my chin in terms of height and house emergency medical kits, the top of which housed more cleaning supplies. And in the right corner was a white grey trolley. Overall, nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary.

However, I skimmed the area for a second time. And when I did, I noticed something that piqued my interest. The shelves and their contents appeared to be untouched, but the trolley was angled ever so slightly to where it wasn’t adjacent from the wall. Furthermore, I noticed a series of minor scrape marks on the floor as well as the wall just below the lower shelf and I thought I found ninety-six scrapes in total neatly lined into twenty-four square frames as if twenty-four square objects had been stored there. After that, it didn’t take too long for theories to come to the front of my mind. But one in particular immediately stood out to me.

*(It looks like the culprit used the trolley to move something and they stored rows of thin square objects here at some point in time. Or maybe they used to trolley to move the objects. They don’t appear to be very thick if the scrape marks are anything to go by, so the killer probably didn’t need to use the trolley for them. If I knew what the objects were, this would be so much easier to figure out. But either way, it looks like there is a connection between them.)*

Regardless of what the objects were and whether or not the trolley was used to move them, both areas were disturbed so I sought to take a picture of them both. First, I pulled out my ElectroID, turned it on, and took a picture of the scrape marks. They weren’t easy to see in the picture due to the lack of lighting in the closet, but they were noticeable so I turned and took a picture of the trolley which had a more noticeable disturbance but still did not appear to be out of place at first glance.

After that, I pocketed my ElectroID, stepped away from the closet, and closed the door with moderate force and the door produced an audible noise as it shut. And with that, I was finished searching the upstairs closet.

*(One room down, six rooms and checking for Senji’s footprints outside to go. Speaking of which, It’s time to check the theatre.)*

With that, I headed to the theatre, after all, it was slightly closer than the gym and the darker lighting made it a better place for hiding any potential evidence. But I didn’t make it far before the Machi surprised me from the hallway to the gym, stood in my path, and spoke up. Though when she did the last part, her arms were crossed and she failed to make eye contact.

“Hey Nishi, I need to see you in the gym right now,” Machi said in an absolutely miserable tone of her own. “I’ll explain everything once we get there. I promise that it won’t take too long but I need you to come with me. It's very important.”

“Well-” I glanced at the theatre out of the corner of my eyes. I did initially plan to head there next. But it sounded as if Machi had found something important. Besides that, I planned to search the gym anyways. So, I looked back and nodded. “Alright. I’m happy to help, especially if it is important.”

Machi just nodded. Then, without so much as a word of thanks, she turned around dragged herself to the front of the gym entrance which had an open door and looked back as if she were demanding for me to follow. Luckily for her, I did. So, I stepped through the door, then Machi followed and audibly closed the door behind me. With that, we made it to the gym without any incident.

I took a quick glance around the room. The equipment, weights, and the mat on the floor showed signs of use but Wakuni and Yakawa regularly came here so that was to be expected. Though the area including the table and equipment could probably use a closer look, I failed to see what Machi was so concerned about. In fact, it was almost as if she had barely searched the area at all. So, I stepped away from Machi and eyed her suspiciously.

“Machi, why did you bring me here?” I asked calmly but insistently enough. “I don’t see anything here that looks like an emergency.”

“It's not the location, I just needed somewhere private to make a confession,” Machi admitted as she sheepishly ran her right hand through her hair. “I wanted to start by saying I’m not the culprit, I- I decided a long time ago that I would never kill any of you-”

*(Saying you aren’t the culprit doesn’t really inspire much confidence Machi.)*

“Crap, there’s no easy way to say this. Do you remember the first class trial?” Machi struggled to say. “I’m sure you do because you were understandably pretty upset with me for a while. But do you remember how many murder plans there were?”

At that, I closed my eyes, thought back to the first class trial, and wracked my brain for answers. To be honest, it was a bit of a blur and I felt a minor headache as the images and thoughts of the event came to me. But finally, I remembered all the murder plans littered on the drop-down screen and opened my eyes.

“I remember there being eight plans,” I responded. At that, I raised my right eyebrow? “Do you think that those have something to do with murder or do you just need to apologize? Because the class forgives-”

“Yes I know that. It's not that. It’s- my fears have been confirmed,” Machi brought both of her hands up to her head in what looked like frustration and sighed for a brief moment before she continued. “You are right that none of those murder plans have anything to do with Yakawa’s death. But I do have an imitator you see. I actually made nine murder plans and the culprit must have gotten ahold of the ninth one.”

My eyes widened as she told me that and as the implications sank in. And as it did, Machi’s guilt became more understandable. Even if she was telling the truth and she wasn’t the blackened, then she was still at least partially responsible for Yakawa’s death. To be honest, I didn’t feel so much as a spark of sympathy for her though.

“Even after everything, you decided to keep this a secret from us?” I asked in a tone of outrage as I crossed my arms.

“You don’t have to be a jerk about it Nishi,” Machi immediately replied a little faster than she should have. “Besides, I didn’t keep it a complete secret. The murder plan was a bit different from this murder and it was meant to target Sama instead of Yakawa. It's close enough to make me think that the culprit was inspired by it but it is different and that is one of the differences. Uh- the point is that I told Saeki and Sama. Saeki told me not to worry about it, that anything she didn’t find was burnt up in the incinerator. Sama was ticked when she heard that I made two plans to kill her, but she eventually forgave me and she can also confirm what I am telling you.”

“And what is the murder plan?” I asked in a more neutral tone but I narrowed my eyes at her nonetheless. “And don’t hide any details from me Machi. If the murder is loosely based on it, I need to know everything.”

“I- that is fair. I was going to tell you anyways actually,” Machi said before she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them again. “Alright. So, the plan had to pilfer cherry bombs from the storage room and a photosensitive fuel gel from batteries in my room. From there, I would proceed to the library when nobody was there, use the library ladder to access the chandelier, coat the chain it hung from said fuel gel, and duct tape cherry bombs to a point in the chain. Then, when I had an alibi, when someone else did not, and when Sama was under the chandelier, I would send a drone to shine a light from outside through the window. The gel would explode, the chandelier would fall on top of Sama breaking her head open or crushing her, and everyone would think that it was the cherry bombs so there would be nothing to implicate me since the fuel would be burned up and the drone would be instructed to leave the scene. The explosion wouldn’t have been strong nor would it have destroyed the floor, but I think you understand that it follows the same principle as what this culprit did.”

I nodded slowly as I took in what Machi had to say. However, when she reached the end of what she had to say and mentioned cherry bombs for the third time, a faint memory came to the front of my mind. Namely, when I examined the box of cherry bombs. Sasori mentioned at the time that Seno destroyed them but looking back on it. A revelation came to me. Monokuma always replaced lost or missing inventory.

*(Unless it is actively being used in a murder! Then it would be aiding in murder!)*

I lowered my arms, but I scowled and spoke in a cold warning tone as I pointed at Machi with my right pointer finger. All the while, my pulse picked up considerably. “Machi, I want to know right now! Did you take the cherry bombs that Seno tried to dispose of with the intent to use them for you plan?! And don’t you dare lie to me!”

“I did-” Machi said with almost a whimper as she visibly stepped back and looked down at the ground. At that, she muttered to himself. “No more lies Machi. And no more secrets. Wakuni deserves justice. Do it for him.” At that, she took a deep breath, swallowed, and spoke up to me again though she was clearly strained. “I went much further than that. Of- of all the nine murder plans I made, I decided to go through with that one. I- I even set everything up because I am the scum of the earth. But I swear to whatever god is out there that I couldn’t go through with it. I took everything down immediately after I set it up. And ever since that mistake, I have been doing everything that I could possibly do to try to make up for it. I don’t expect you to believe me, but I swear I’ve changed and I swear that I didn’t kill Yakawa,” Her eyes started to water but she managed to collect herself somewhat. “I’m sorry, I am so sorry for this! I wish I could take it back but I can’t!”

I couldn’t help but feel a small flicker of pity of Machi as she practically begged me to believe her. And to be honest, it seemed like she was telling the truth. But the fact stood that her murder plans were probably involved in Yakawa’s murder and that she nearly went through with them some time ago if she was to be believed. At first, I glared at Machi, but as time passed, I just shook my head and sighed.

“I think I believe you. I’m not positive, but I think you’re trying to be honest with me,” I replied with some disdain in my voice. “Just so you know, I won’t be able to hide this if it comes up in the trial. If it turns out that the culprit’s plan is tied to the murder plan you nearly used, I’ll have to bring it up. The class trial is too important and aside from that, Wakuni deserves to know everyone who was involved in his brother’s death.”

“I am aware of that Nishi. If it comes up, I’ll tell them myself,” Machi replied with a quick nod before she swallowed and continued. “As of now, I just want Yakawa to have justice. It is the least I can do for him after the culprit used my murder plans as an inspiration to kill him. Speaking of which-”

At that, Machi dug into her blazer jacket for a moment. For a second, her eyes began to widen as if she had lost something. But I saw her visibly relax a moment after that. Regardless, she pulled a rolled-up slip of construction paper out of her coat and unfolded it for me. To my own surprise, it contained the same terminology that all of her other murder plans as well as a detailed blueprint of each step and measurements such as the velocity, weight, and angle of the chandelier.

“I took pictures of all of my murder plans in case I lost them,” Machi explained. “At first, I considered deleting the pictures after the first class trial, but I ultimately decided to keep them in case someone was inspired by them. Just as I feared, it looks as if someone copied me. So, I redrew the plan just in case I need to show it to anyone in the upcoming class trial. You can take a picture if you want.”

Truthfully, I didn’t want to. But the better part of me knew that it was important so, despite my initial resistance, I reached into my pocket, pulled out my ElectroID, took a picture of the horrendous scheme, and pocketed my ElectroID once more. It was then, and only then, that Machi rolled the plan back up and put it back into her coat.

“Alright,” I sighed once it was over. “Now that that business is over with, have you managed to search the gym?”

“I searched the gym while I was waiting for you, but it was just a quick glance,” Machi replied with a mutter as she brought her right hand up to her chin in thought. “I guess I’ll stay here and do a more thorough examination just in case I missed something. The last thing I want to do is make the class trial harder for you by missing something.”

I just stared at her with black unamusement at that. Moreover, she looked back at me, albeit with sorrow rather than unamusement, but she did nonetheless. And so, we watched each other in pitiful silence before I finally spoke up.

“I’m going to search the room,” I finally said with a sigh as I reached my right hand into my pocket to pull out ElectroID once more. “You’re more than free to join me if you feel like you want to.”

Machi just nodded at that. And so, we began to look around the room. The first and most obvious places to look at were the wooden walls as well as the mirrors that liked the back of the room and the ceiling. But even from a distance, it was obvious that there was nothing worth searching at any of those places. They all appeared to be in pristine condition aside from a small smear mark on the far right mirror which honestly could have been anything. Nonetheless, I did make a mental note to take a picture of it just in case.

After that was the equipment itself. There appeared to be a bench-press table, a weight machine, a treadmill, and an elliptical. All of which gave off a faint odor of sweat but that seemed completely ordinary. Nonetheless, I went to the weight machine, eyed the seat, eyed the machine behind it, and even reached out to touch the chain on the machine with my right hand. But, just as I predicted, the search of the machine was fruitless.

After that, I proceeded to the elliptical behind it. This time, I eyed the handlebars, reached out to prod the closest pedal with my right foot, and even knelt down to examine the base of the machine as well as if anything was hidden under the base of the machine. However, when it was said and done, I came up without having found anything.

I proceeded to that smudge I found in the far right corner of the room. At that, I knelt close to it and took a picture. It wasn’t much of a discovery, but again, I reminded myself that the room could come up in the class trial and it wouldn’t hurt if I could ask Wakuni if it were normal. With that, I turned around in time to see Machi leave the treadmill.

We converged at the bench press machine. And furthermore, we both eyed the machine. But like all of the other ones, it was devoid of any evidence. At that point, Machi finally decided to speak up and break the silence.

“I haven’t found anything. We still need to check the weight table but I doubt we’ll find anything there,” Machi dismissed with a wave of her right hand. Albeit with a rather sluggish tone and posture. “Have you managed to find anything?”

“Just a smudge on the mirrors which was probably caused by someone working here,” I relented. “I’ll ask Wakuni about it later but I don’t believe it's a big deal. Anyways, do you want to search the table?”

Machi shrugged. And with that, we both headed over to the table with ElectroID’s in hand and ready to scour it for clues. Sure enough, the top of it certainly looked used and the cabinets had a wide assortment of weights, squeezers, bars, rope, and dumbells, but nothing was out of place. In fact, I couldn’t find so much as a water stain on the back of any of the sections.

With that, Machi and I returned to the front of the room. I shot a few glances at the treadmill and Machi slowed down to eye me as she crossed her arms. But I found nothing, she relaxed somewhat, and we made it back to the front of the room without any incident. And that was it. There was no reason left for me to stay in the room. Or at least, that was what I thought until I remembered one last thing to ask Machi for.

*(I might as well see if she has an alibi while I’m here.)*

“Machi, before you head off to Senji, there is one more thing that you can do for me,” I told her. “In case it comes up, I would like to know if you have an alibi. For both before and after dinner since you and I were some of the only people to leave our rooms.”

“Uh- yeah of course. Anything to help with the investigation,” Machi replied after a short pause. “I spent some time alone roaming the hallway after breakfast, but Sanda came up to me, we had a serious talk about making things right for everyone, and after that, we pretty much did what you all saw us do. He suggested sitting in the electric chair while I grabbed the clue, we both made that apology dinner, and I sent him out to fetch everyone after that.”

“Do you think that he could have snuck off after you sent him to get people?” I asked just to make sure that I didn’t overlook anything. I made sure to clarify my intentions, however. “I don’t necessarily think he did it, but I want to make sure his alibi is solid just in case.”

“Well, he couldn’t have,” Machi replied firmly. “There were actually a few times that we were apart like when he went out to get people and when he had me get a blindfold for him after I strapped him to the chair. I’m not sure why he felt the need for that since I checked the wiring three times and made sure he was safe but oh well. Anyways, there were a few times when we were apart but it wasn’t long enough for any of us to have set up the bombs. Not before dinner anyways.”

“Do you have an alibi for afterwards?” I asked as patiently as I could despite everything I had just learned about Machi and the general irritation of probably not finding anything important in the room we just searched.

“I didn’t kill Yakawa, but no, I can’t prove my alibi,” Machi sighed and then shook her head. The moment she said that I bit my lip in response. Regardless, she continued. “After dinner, I went outside to search the mobile shed again. You know, to open that door that we ignored during the last investigation-”

*(Unfortunately, I have a feeling that we aren’t opening that door any time soon.)*

“I couldn’t get it to open,” Machi explained. “So, I headed back to the lodge with the intention of seeing if I could do anything with Sasori’s ElectroID in the morning. That’s when I heard the explosions, went to the coat room, headed to my room, and told that drone to open the door to Yakawa’s room. I technically have footage of the entire event but we don’t have enough time to upload any of it so all I can prove is that I entered and exited the coat room when I left and returned to the lodge. Wakuni to confirm that much. Does that help Nishi?”

“It definitely helps. Your alibi might not be solid but we should be able to confirm Sanda’s alibi at least. I’ll have to ask him later to make sure,” I remarked as I brought my right hand up to my chin in thought. As I spoke, Machi perked up a little bit. “Anyways, that’s all I have to ask of you. If you, Senji, or Sama need me for anything, you can find me in the theatre. Overwise your best bet is searching the east wing.”

“Uh- actually I’m going to take a minute or two before I meet them,” Machi admitted as she rubbed the back of her head with her right hand sheepishly. “If don’t act normally around them, they’re going to be suspicious of me and I really don’t want to throw the investigation off.”

After that, we both lowered our arms and I looked at her once more in blank unamusement for some quick but unspecified period of silence. And then, after that, I broke the silence with a quick sigh before I finally spoke up again.

“I’ll see you at the class trial Machi,” I replied blankly as I waved goodbye to Machi.

In response, Machi opened the door for me and waved goodbye. I, of course, accepted her offer and headed out the door as she gently but audibly closed the door behind me and left me alone to think for myself in the hallway.

Truthfully, I felt a mix of emotions at what Machi had told me. A part of me wanted to slap her for everything she had done, a part of me wanted to facepalm myself at the idiocy of her hiding so many dangerous secrets from us, but a part of me felt pity for her. After all, she did seem as if she were trying to change.

*(She clearly regrets what she did and she is presumably doing everything she can to make things right. If she turns out to be innocent, I should talk to her later when I get the chance.)*

Regardless, I shook my head in an attempt to clear my mind of all the thoughts attached to my own personal experiences and began to make my way towards the theatre. After all, we all had an investigation to maintain so it was the best that I could do for everyone’s sake. With that in mind, I took a few steps forwards towards the entrance to the theatre and made it to the intersection at the hallways before something happened that my me freeze in my tracks. Namely, an all too familiar announcement.

Ding dong, bing bong.

Once more, Monokuma’s voice was heard over the intercom. And what followed made my eyes widen and my heart skip a beat. “Hello, hello, hello! I’ve got some very special news for each and every one of you kiddos. It is time for Class 90th’s very own fifth class trial!!! Five murders already! The time really seems to fly by doesn’t it? Anyways, each and every student is expected to go to their respective class trial room as soon as possible. And I do mean as soon as possible because I’m going to kill you if you miss the elevator ride! Anyways, I would normally offer to guide whoever to the room but I have four classes to juggle and you all know how to get there so if you get lost, find someone who knows how to get there. Oh, and a word of warning. The elevator ride waits for no one.”

With that, the intercom flickered off without so much as an attempt at a formal goodbye. Though to be fair, the cutoff was just like the announcement itself, sudden and harsh. The investigation was frighteningly abrupt even with the time I waited around and based on the previous investigations, I should have had time to at least investigate the theatre and the east wing as I intended. But instead, it was as if we were cut off. Almost as if the investigation itself were curtailed for an unspecified reason. I swallowed.

*(I hope that we’ve found enough evidence to find the culprit.)*

It was an almost surreal sensation really. For the majority of the day, I was focused on maintaining my memories. And following the knowledge that Yakawa died and that my memories were safe, all I could think about was what Machi did and ensuring justice for Wakuni’s sake. But after the investigation was cut off, the very real possibility of guessing incorrectly came crashing down on me. It wasn’t inevitable, but the lack of tangible evidence linking someone to the crime certainly didn’t help.

Regardless, I shook my head until I was brought back to reality, turned to face the stairs, and proceeded to them as quickly as I could. After all, all that I could do at the end of the day was head to the class trial room and trust that we had enough evidence between the seven or eight of us to figure out who killed Yakawa.

From there, it was a quick but uneventful stride down to the bottom of the stairs as I took a few deep breaths and forced myself to refocus on the task at hand. After that, I marched to the front room past the AV room where I turned left right before the first aid room down the hall that led to the elevator shaft. By that point, the initial shock had worn off but a mental note to myself not to be sure of our success did remain in the back of my mind.

So, I composed myself, sighed, and reached to open the closest of the double doors and accept whatever fate was in store for me. After that, I pushed the door open with my right hand, stepped inside, and stood as the door shut behind me with what sounded like a loud thud than usual. But regardless of the noise it made, I looked around to see who else made it to the elevator shaft before me and surprisingly enough, I was third only to Tanabe and Sanda who turned around at the sound of the noise and looked me in the eyes.

“Oh, hey Nishi,” Sanda said with a minor bit of concern in his tone as he gave one quick wave to me. “Is it just me or did this investigation feel short?”

“It isn’t just you Sanda. I think Monokuma cut the investigation short. I don’t know why but the reason can’t be anything good,” I replied before I bit my lip. At that, I paused to think of what to say next. Fortunately, the perfect question came to mind within seconds. “Sanda, Tanabe, did either of you find anything important?”

“Nothing,” Tanabe claimed in a low town as he started to look towards the ground and then shook his head. “I scoured the storage room and I even switched places with Sanda when it was over. Yet, I found nothing in either the storage room or the incinerator room.”

“Tanabe is right I’m afraid,” Sanda said as he grit his teeth. “I searched the incinerator room and swapped places with Tanabe when we were both finished. If the culprit went to either of the rooms, then he or she didn’t leave anything disturbed there. But uh- you found loads of stuff I’m sure. Right Nishi?”

I looked away from the two of them for a moment. Truthfully, I only found a few things that might have been of note and the only things that stood out as helpful to me were the main bomb itself, the windows, the closet, and everyone’s testimonies. But aside from the last one, the evidence didn’t reliably narrow down the list of possible culprits.

*(I need to think about those. I think it is safe to say that Tanabe didn’t do it or we would all be dead thanks to the last blood perk but those testimonies might allow me to cross a few more people off the list.)*

I looked back at the two of them and sighed. “I found a few things actually, but not as much as I would have wanted to find. I still wanted to search the theatre, the greenhouse, and meet with you both. But Monokuma’s announcement stopped me before I could those first two things.”

“That’s a shame,” Sanda remarked as he crossed his arms. “I really don’t want to die, but this isn’t looking too good. Do you still think that we’ll be able to figure out who the monster is that murdered Yakawa?”

“Well, I’m certainly not going to write it off as impossible. And there’s no reason to believe that we can’t,” I responded in the most uplifting tone I could. “In fact, both of you can help me. I don’t necessarily think that either of you did it, but your alibis would be helpful. Especially yours Sanda if it corroborates with another alibi I heard.”

“Ah yes, I have a feeling that I know what you’re talking about,” Sanda said with a nod of his as his face shifted to a more neutral expression. “I was with Machi for most of the time this morning. First, we had a talk, I volunteered to take a ride in the electric chair, it was a little worrying, but I trusted that Machi knew what she was doing and sure enough, she did. We got the clue to the mastermind’s true identity that we showed you all earlier-”

*(I see that Sanda is pretending to be braver than he was in Machi’s account. If Machi is right, then he must have put the blindfold back in the box.)*

“After that,” Sanda continued oblivious to my thoughts. “Machi and I made that apology dinner and I went out to fetch everyone. So yeah, Machi and I didn’t have enough time to assemble those bombs before dinner. After dinner, I don’t know what happened to Machi since she said she was heading out, but I went straight to my room like I suggested and stayed there until the bombs went off. Wakuni can confirm that much.”

“Right,” I said with a quick nod of acknowledgment. At the time, I intentionally refrained from telling him what I was thinking. Then, I turned towards Tanabe. “Alright Tanabe, I’m sure you’re innocent, but just in case someone asks, where were you this morning?”

“Well, I already told you that I snooped around for a little bit after breakfast and after dinner. You know that much already Nishi,” Tanabe willingly gave as he looked up once more to face me. “But aside from that, this morning and afternoon, I went to the prize room hoping to find some way of communicating with the other classes. It took me way more attempts than I wanted to get into where the actual prizes were and when I did, I wasn’t able to find anything of note. I found two walkie-talkies, but Monokuma only let me have one and told me the other would have to be transferred to another class which is impossible to even be used the way I wanted it to. So, I left it in my room. After that, I went to dinner. And after that, I talked to you up to when the bombs went off.”

“Huh,” Sanda said with a mild shrug. “I’m curious, what were you talking about?”

“I’m afraid that’s extremely personal. It's between me and Nishi,” Tanabe cut off calmly and forcefully as he left out his right hand to form a stopping motion. “But, Nishi can confirm that I am telling the truth. At least about the part where I talked to her among a few other things.”

“Well,” Sanda looked in my direction for confirmation. I nodded, and he relented. “Alright then. If Nishi says that you’re telling the truth about it than I suppose it doesn’t matter what you were talking about and I should respect your privacy.”

As soon as Sanda finished speaking, I heard the door open behind me. At that, the three of us turned around to see an unlikely pair walk in to the room. As the door closed behind them, Wakuni and Machi made their way to the center of the room. Wakuni just looked at the front with clenched fists and heavy breaths and awkwardly looked as if she wanted to pat him on the back but retracted her hand before she could.

“Uhm, Wakuni. You know we’re doing everything that we can right?” Machi spoke up delicately. “Yakawa was there for everyone. He was even there for me when I cut my leg right after I was ousted for planning all those murders. He was- a hero. And I promise we’ll do our best to avenge him.”

I gave a nod. Machi was right. Yakawa was there for everyone who needed him and someone decided to kill what was probably the most selfless person here. It wasn’t because he was a threat either since Senji and I were larger threats. I didn’t know why they would want to do this to the Shoda brothers but regardless, a surge a pity rushed through me. After all, neither of them deserved it.

“Yeah, and we’ve found the culprit four times already, you better believe we can do it a fifth time,” I said in as uplifting of a tone as possible. “Just trust us. Yakawa will get the justice he deserves and his killer will get what’s coming to him. And after that, we can talk.”

“Hmm, you’d better find the bastard who did this! I hope Monokuma strings them up by their own organs! I HOPE HE RIPS THEM APART PIECE BY-” Wakuni stopped shouting to take several deep breaths. By the end of it, he was shaking, but he spoke in a more melancholy tone and his fists were no longer clenched. “I’m sorry. I have no right to be yelling at you guys, except the one who did it. The rest of you are my friends. And I couldn’t be more lucky to have you guys. It's just that- I don’t even know what to think.”

At that, the door opened once more and the last two members of the group, Sama and Senji, stepped inside. With that, the door shut closed and I heard the sound of a lock click into place behind it. To be frank, I winced when I did. But regardless, Wakuni heard the echo of their footsteps as they entered the room and turned around to look at them.

“Hey guys,” He said with a melancholy town as he rubbed the back of his head with his right hand and didn’t look directly at either of them. “I’m glad to see everyone made it here in one piece. How did the search go?”

“Not so well,” Sama remarked as she put her hands on her hips and shook her head in what looked like disappointment. “That said, we’ve got this. I believe we’ve found enough clues to decipher who did this and we somehow always manage to solve these things.”

“That’s what I’ve been saying,” I agreed with a quick nod of my own. Although to be honest, needing to constantly assure people that we were going to figure out who the culprit it didn’t inspire much confidence. “Relax everyone. I’m sure we can do it if we focus on the task at hand.”

“I’m trusting you with that Nishi,” Sama replied with a warning tone and a weary smile as she lowered her arms once more. At that, she visibly relaxed though only to a minor extent. “Although to be fair, I’ve pretty much had to trust you the last four class trials. How do you do it Nishi? It's amazing quite frankly.”

“Ahem, I am sure Ms. Toshiro appreciates the flattery, but we all have a stake in this case as well,” Senji explained with a mild frown of his own. “She will not be the only person that we can count on. We are all going to do our best to determine the culprit as well, correct?”

That got nods from everyone except for myself because it wasn’t aimed towards me and Wakuni who looked away and took another deep breath. Honestly, a part of me felt a warm flicker of pride in my chest at the compliment but I didn’t like being recognized as the person spearheading the class trials. In fact, if I could refute her claim, I would have for the sake of my own safety. But I couldn’t, so I dismissed the idea. Suffice to say, Senji was right and it was good that everyone agreed with him because it would be very rough trial otherwise.

*(Rougher than it already is going to be anyways.)*

As soon as I finished my train of thought, the sound of metal scraping in the elevator shaft permeated throughout the area we were standing. At first, we all understandably flinched at the shrill noise and Sanda and Tanabe both even covered their ears. But we all quickly recovered and turned to face the direction of the noise.

Our reward, of course, was the watch the elevator make its way to the top of the shaft with a few creaks and pops before it finally ground to a screeching halt at the top. Inside the elevator, was Monokuma who leaned casually against a bar on the left side of the structure. Within seconds after that, the doors opened with a hiss once more for us to step inside.

“I see everyone made it,” Monokuma said as he let go of the bar and calmly strolled into the elevator shaft where we were all standing. “As you can see, your elevator has arrived. Speaking of which, I’ve been thinking. How would you feel about me decorating the elevator? It's kind of plain in here.”

“You really want our input?” Sama interjected with a blank stare of unamusement. “I think everyone would be much happier if you focused your efforts on leaving us alone and never talking to us again.”

“You have a point. It would take away the sense of surprise from the class trial room,” Monokuma replied as he ignored Sama’s remark entirely. “It's much better to just let the class trial room stand out on itself you know? Anyways, your elevator’s here. You should all get in before it leaves without you.”

Nobody moved so much as an inch towards the elevator. Instead, Tanabe crossed his arms and asked Monokuma a question in his usual tone as he narrowed his eyes at the teddy bear. “Before we get in, we demand to know why the investigation is short.”

“Oh, you demand to know do you?” Monokuma asked in what looked like mock curiosity. From there, he raised his left hand, extended his claws, and continued the conversation in a much calmer and much more chilling tone. One that would have made my spine tingle if I weren’t used to him by now. “Listen, kiddo. You have a decent chance of turning up dead by the end of this trial. You aren’t in any position to be making demands.”

“If you don’t tell us, everyone is going to assume that the class trial is rigged,” Machi pointed out in a rather blunt tone. “And of course everyone will accuse you of siding with whoever the blackened is.”

That made Monokuma lower his hand and freeze up for a split second before he answered. “Fine. If you absolutely must know, I cut the investigation short because the spotless have already found all the clues that they will be able to find. Whether its enough or not to find the blackened is anyone’s guess, but it's all that there is and I didn’t feel like waiting. We have an audience to deal with after all.”

At that, my eyes widened and my pulse picked up as the implications raced through my mind. Throughout the investigation, we had basically only found scraps of evidence. And somehow, the culprit managed to be thorough enough to where that was all that they left. Of course, there was the unlikely possibility that Monokuma was lying, but that carried even worse implications and I doubted it since he could forgo the killing game and kill us all on the spot if he wanted us dead that badly. Still, the possibility lodged itself uncomfortably in the back of my mind.

“Hold on a second Monokuma,” I argued as I stepped forward. I brushed the notion aside with my right arm but my tone was more concerned than accusatory. “Is that really it? Did we really find all the evidence hidden around the lodge?”

“Upupu bear’s word Nishi,” Monokuma cheerfully replied as he covered his mouth with both paws momentarily. After that, he lowered them and continued. “Let's just say- hmm, how do I say this without spoiling it? I’ll just say it's complicated. But hey, it’ll all make sense in time. Possibly. I know I have quite a few executions waiting if it doesn’t. Now get on to the elevator. I’m on a schedule.”

There was a brief pause as well as a brief silence before any of us actually complied. Tanabe and Sama both glanced at the elevator itself, Senji and I flinched, Wakuni shook his fists, Machi shook his head, and Sanda looked once more at the door that led back into the hallway. But, the silence was short-lived because Monokuma spoke up once more.

“Seriously kiddos,” Monokuma said as he motioned towards the elevator with a blank tone. After that, his tone changed to his usual cheerful one but it was laced with a warning. “I will drop the elevator without you guys if you don’t stop dragging your feet.”

Monokuma’s threat worked. Because shortly after he offered the warning, we all filed into the elevator a little faster than we otherwise would have. The first person inside was Wakuni followed by Tanabe, then Senji, then myself, then Sama, then Sanda, and finally Machi. It was somewhat of a blur since most of the group had to snap their focus away from what they were doing, but we all made it on to the elevator without any trouble and took are places in what felt like a surprisingly spacious elevator. But of course, as I did, the explanation for the change in space immediately came to mind.

*(The elevator isn’t any larger. It's just that there are less of us riding in it.)*

I turned around in time to see the doors clatter shut with a metallic clatter that echoed throughout the shaft. On the other side of them of course was Monokuma himself who just waved goodbye back to us with his right hand. Not that any of us waved goodbye to him. Aside from the fact that it almost felt like he was mocking us, I heard the sound of some mechanism releasing. And so, we didn’t have the time to even if we wanted to.

The elevator began its descent after that. Within seconds, it picked up speed and the all too familiar but unwelcome sparks flew as the elevator descended to the occasional scrape and clatter. My only hope was that it wasn’t going to take us all to our deaths and that we would be able to ride back up when it was over. I didn’t dare to hope that we would all survive the upcoming trial because the culprit at the very least would be executed, but I hoped that the rest of us would get to live another day.

I took another glance at Wakuni before we descended into the darkness that was the unlit section of the shaft. His arms were crossed and he stared off in the direction of what would be the door to the class trial room when we reached the bottom. It almost seemed aimless, his eyes were glazed over, and if I had to guess, Wakuni was lost in thought. And of course, probably completely lost in grief.

*(I know I sure was when I lost Tano.)*

“Wakuni,” I shouted over the various noises that persisted throughout our descent. That made his shake his head, uncross his arms, and turned around to face me. I continued. “I want to emphasize again that we’re here for you. Both for the class trial and afterwards.”

“Nishi is right,” Sama concurred in what sounded like one of the most earnest tones I’ve heard from her in a long time. “I think we’ve made that clear multiple times already, but in case we haven’t or in case you need to hear it again, we aren’t going to leave you alone in this.”

“I know that we have had our differences, but the same principle applies to me as well,” Senji agreed as he motioned to himself with his left thumb. At that, Tanabe, Sanda, and Machi all agreed with nods of their own.

“I know you’re all here for me,” Wakuni said with a sigh. “Aside from one of you that is. And I swear I would flay you alive if it weren’t for the fact that you’re going to die anyways! But- where was I? You guys are all the best classmates that I could ask for. For now, let's just focus on getting justice for Yakawa. That’s what I want more than anything else right now.”

“Like we’ve just said earlier, we’ll do our best,” Machi assured him as best as she could despite failing to make eye contact with the man. “We promise.”

I just closed my eyes and let what he said soak in as the elevator descended into darkness. Wakuni wanted revenge, and I felt a felt a chill of when he spoke of it. But he was hurting and his one request to us was for there to be justice. It sure wouldn’t be easy, in fact, the foreboding felt almost palpable and I still wasn’t sure that the case was entirely possible, but I was certainly going to try. For Yakawa’s sake, for Wakuni’s sake, and for the sake of everyone whose lives depended on the outcome of the trial.

*(It won’t be easy, but I promise. I will do everything in my power to catch the person that did this. Whatever happens next, I’ll make you and your brother proud.)*