Chapter 16: Second Murder Investigation

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As we all stood there, staring at Keebo, Monokuma showed up. He griped at Ibuki and Miu to quit bickering and join the rest of us in the Jam Room, which they reluctantly agreed to comply.

"Alright everybody, we've done this before, but listen up. One of you killed...huh, can you kill a robot?" Monokuma walked over to Keebo and looked him up and down. "Yep, looks close enough to dead for me. Anyway, K1-B0 is dead, and one of you killed him. So, as always, here is your Monokuma File! Make sure to read it carefully!"

Everyone's E-Handbook went off at once. I opened my E-Handbook and opened the file called "K1-B0's Autopsy Report".

"Victim: K1-B0 (aka Keebo). Time of death between 12:45pm and 1pm, in the Jam Room. Cause of death is partially due to a large speaker installed into the victim's chest. Death occurred quickly, but not immediately. There are no other external injuries visible on the victim."

Kazuichi looked over at Mikan, who seemed to be troubled by something.

"Wh-who's going to examine Keebo? I don't know anything about robots..." Mikan trailed off.

Miu spoke up. "I know Keebo better than anyone! Leave it to me!"

Ibuki stepped between Miu and Keebo. "Denied! Ibuki won't let you sabotage poor Keebo any further!" Ibuki then started foaming at the mouth.

Byakuya spoke up. "I don't think either of you should be anywhere near Keebo. Miu and Ibuki are both possible suspects."

I chipped in quickly, "However, Mikan DID say something important. Someone with knowledge of robotics needs to comb over Keebo for any possible evidence. While Soda COULD be considered a suspect, I have my doubts. I trust him to examine Keebo."

Miu nodded in agreement. "If anyone knows Keebo as well as I do, it's Mr. Pink Top over there!"

Ibuki thought for a moment, then nodded her agreement, not taking her eyes off of Miu.

"Ok, that's settled then. Soda will examine Keebo, but who will guard the scene?"

Peko spoke up immediately. "I volunteer. Maki, would you join me, as you did last time?"

Maki nodded. "I don't know anything about robots, but I know how to keep people away." She glared at Miu and Ibuki.

"Ok, so Peko and Maki will guard the crime scene. Rest of us should split up and search everywhere, for anything that could be considered evidence. And Soda...please let us know if you find anything, ok?"

"Oh, and Byakuya? I could use your assistance, if you don't mind."

Byakuya walked up to me, a questioning look on his face. I spoke lowly, so that only he could hear me.

"I need to question Miu and Ibuki, but I can't do both at once with them bickering over each other. Can you question Ibuki while I question Miu?"

Byakuya thought for a moment. "Hmmm, yes, it could be hard to question both of them at once, and we don't know how much time we have. Ok, fine. I'd rather deal with Ibuki's random nonsense than Miu's crass comments."

"Alright, thanks."

The two of us managed to separate Ibuki and Miu, and pull them into two different rooms for interrogation. Byakuya took Ibuki into Room A, while I took Miu into Room B.

I sat at the teacher's desk, while Miu leaned against a wall, arms crossed over her chest. "Ok, so what do you want to ask this gorgeous girl genius? Obviously, you want to know if I sabotaged Keebo, am I right? Well, I didn't!"

"Alright, but you admit that you have made modifications to Keebo in the past. You and Soda, to be exact. What all have you done?"

"Kaz-pooichi tweaked his optical sensors to 20/5 vision, and helped me with some other stuff. Me, I created the plugin for Keebo's speaker, which Kaz-pooichi installed, and I always did Keebo's regular...maintenance. I tell you, you put a tool in Kaz-pooichi's hand, and he sure knows how to use it! A-hahaha!"

Mentally groaning through her innuendo during a serious Q&A session, I continued. "Did Ibuki ever help with any upgrades to Keebo?"

Miu scoffed, then laughed at me. "Lil' Miss Tits-On-Her-Head doesn't know the first thing about machinery or electronics! All she can do is play her fuckin' guitar! She loaned me one so I could test Keebo's functionality, but that's all she fuckin' did with us. Nothing with Kaz-pooichi, nothing with me."

So Ibuki never assisted with any upgrades with Keebo. Only Miu or Soda did. Noted.

"So did you and Ibuki get along at any point, Miu?" I asked next.

Miu laughed at me again. "Fuck no! That girl is loud, annoying, and really fuckin' stupid! Plus, my boobs are MUCH bigger than hers. Are you sure she's even our age? I mean-"

I cut Miu off. "Ok, ok, I get it. So you two never really did much together before this upgrade. Next question, and be honest. Would you have sabotaged Keebo to set up Ibuki?"

Miu looked at me like I was stupid. "And waste all that time on Keebo, just to blow him up? Fuck no! That would be really fuckin' stupid of me! Kaz-pooichi wouldn't have, either. He liked hanging out with Keebo...maybe too much, actually...but no, I didn't set Keebo up to explode."

Satisfied that I had the answers I felt I needed, I nodded stood up. "I think we're done here." We then walked out and headed back upstairs.

Back upstairs, I ran into Byakuya alone. "Hey, Byakuya? What did you find out from-"

An alert went off over the monitors, followed by Monokuma's face appearing. "Alright, time's up. Everyone, report to the Courtroom. It's time for the Class Trial!"

Dammit! I didn't have time to talk with Byakuya about his interview with Ibuki yet! Nor did I have time to ask Soda if there was evidence of sabotage, either...Crap!

We all walked silently to the Courtyard, where again, the fountain dried up and revealed its steps. We walked down the steps and into the elevator. The elevator went down, seemingly forever, then came to a stop. The same courtroom table faced us, this time with place markers for Gonta and Keebo.

We had three main suspects: Soda, who I somewhat doubted. Miu, who certainly had access to sabotage Keebo, but no proof. Ibuki, who plugged the guitar into Keebo and did her test run.

I had a feeling Soda would be able to prove who the culprit was, and this was going to be one...ugly...trial.

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