The Canary's Birdcage (Danganronpa THH x OC)

3-6 Going Up Salem

"It was to get us to divide into two groups...so that we would discover both bodies at the same time!?" Hina realized

"She was also the one who suggested we split up"

"Well? If Celeste and Hifumi were working together, all those chance events suddenly become connected..." Byakuya smirked "And on top of that...that piercing cry of yours early on... That was to signal Hifumi, wasn't it? It was your way of telling him, 'We're on the 3rd floor, everything's going according to plan.' Why else would you let out a scream that could have carried across the sea?"

"Not to mention she was stalling when she was trying to decide what to scream" Quill added

"I've just realized another strange thing..." Makoto said "When we found Hifumi in the nurse's office, who we now know was only pretending to be dead... Celeste...you were the first one to say he'd been murdered. You wanted to make sure we wouldn't have any doubt in our minds."

"I-I don't believe it... Everything...the whole thing was one big act!" Hina reacted

"Hina. You were with Celeste when Hifumi's body disappeared, right?"

"Yeah... I was feeling kinda sick, so Celeste took me to the bathroom..." she was hit with a sudden realization "...Wait! Then that was-!?"

"She couldn't care less about you" Quill told her "That was just how she got you out of the room"

"Each piece isn't much by itself, but start putting them together and the picture gets very ugly indeed." Byakuya said "Wouldn't you agree, Celeste?"

"...I have no idea what you mean." Celeste deflected

"Don't bother trying to deny it. You made one fatal mistake."

"...Oh did I?"

"Well, you made several, but I believe the one he's referring to was your later slip up" Quill said

"Wh-What are you talking about...?"

"When you brought us all back to show that Hifumi's body was missing, you said 'They must really be enjoying this... Enjoying the sight of us standing around, frightened and confused... We're all going to die here. We're going to die, just like those guys died...'"

"I remember her saying that too, but...I don't understand what's so strange about it." Sakura admitted

"Well, Silver spoon, Sakura, and Toko were the first to find Taka's body in the equipment room. Then Makoto and I came to tell them about Hifumi. They then left with us, but as soon as we were in the hall we met with Celeste and we all went back to the nurse's office. During all that no one had mentioned Taka was dead. So what she said doesn't quite fit"

"Yeah, I see what you're talking about. Although I don't really get what it means..." Hiro said

Makoto suddenly picked up on Quill's hint from earlier "That's right... There's no reason Celeste should have said 'just like those guys died'... When she said that, none of us had told her Taka was dead."

"Precisely." Quill affirmed "We didn't run into her until we were in the hall, so there's no chance she could have seen it either"

"So how did you know, Celeste? How did you know more than one person had been killed? And how did you know they were both guys? Because Kyoko had also disappeared, right? So she could have been dead, too."

"Hmhmhm..." Celeste laughed "You all have such vivid imaginations, you know that?"

"Really now?" Quill sighed

"You claim that I was lying when I told you about the suspicious person I saw... Then what about the picture I took? How do you explain this picture of the costumed villian dragging Hifumi away? In other words, it is an unassailable fact that this is a picture of Hifumi being dragged away. If everything I told you was a lie, how can this picture exist?"