Project Arc: an Original Fanganronpa

Chapter 9, Act 1

 Anton jolted up in his stand, a humorless smile of disbelief plastered on his pale face, before he spoke up slowly.

"...Excuse me?"

Anton looked around the silent room in shock before turning his attention back to yours truly. 

...I hope I don't get killed for this stab in the dark... Although, my deductive skills should be sharp enough for my reasoning to be correct.

Merian blinked, before scowling, as she opened her mouth to object. Before she could do so, however, Ren, who was next to me, turned to me with an uneasy expression, his amber eyes clouded with worry.

"Psst, Beau, you sure about this? The poor guy's brother just died and you're grilling him like you would a suspect?"

I ignored Ren and continued to stare into Anton's figure, as if trying to drill into his facade, but to no avail. All I could see in front of me is a grieving young man who seems in no way a suspect for murder, of all things. I could feel my determination wavering, dimming, before leaving me fully with an uncertain dread. Was I wrong?

No, Beau. You thought this was the case for a reason. Just... Go on with it.

I sighed bitterly. "I'm sorry, but... the evidence points to you."

Anton stared at me, his eyes somehow full and empty of emotion at the same time, before his hand started to slowly shift to his sheath.

"She has a point!" Daichi piped up, his shiny copper eyes wide with quiet determination before Anton could try anything. "I mean... again, Anton would be the only one Henri would trust to enter his room..."

"But that's just stupid," Petre scoffed bluntly, his arms crossed. He ran his fingers through his blonde hair, and after noticing our dubious stares, spoke up again in defence. "Do any of you even have any siblings? Sure, those two may have had their differences, but would any sibling really murder the other? Look me in the eyes and tell me you really think Anton murdered Henri. That one sibling would kill another."

Petre stared at us all expectingly, his eyes lingering on me for a second longer than everyone else, daring us all to speak.

"I dunno, I would probably kill Miyah if I had the chance... She could be so annoying..." Moxie muttered thoughtfully about her own sibling, before she was met with a light smack of Satine's feather fan. "Right, not the time!" she yelped, rubbing the arm she hit as Satine glared at her.

"Read the room," Miko muttered, glaring at Moxie, "Or next time, I'll be the one to hit you with a fan. I bet Satine's just going easy on you because she likes you."

"Wait wha–"

"God, so dramatic," Mei whined with a flip of her hair. "Can't we get back on topic and put a pause on this little catfight?"

"...Back to the subject at hand," Dimitri started with a sigh, before turning to me. "You were saying?"

"R-right..." I feel like I'm getting whiplash with the amount of back-and-forth going on... I took a deep breath in and out to recompose myself, and steeled my nerves. I flipped through my notepad one more time.

"While it is true that we're lacking on the evidentiary front, I feel what we currently have is enough to pin the blame on you. To recap, the culprit has to have been someone whom Henri trusted enough to let into his room, which would've been you. Additionally, we've already established that the killer shot Henri's Monopad as to dispose of evidence, something that would've had to have happened after around 7:30, when Felix dropped off her pistol at Henri's dorm. Everyone, save for six people, was there in the dining hall for breakfast at that time. One of the six is Henri himself, so you can scratch him out, and Mei, Petre, and Dimitri weren't close enough to the victim for any suspicions we may have of them to be plausible. That just leaves you and I, Fleuret, and considering the fact that it has been mostly me trying to solve this case and speaking more in the trial out of the two of us, I think we all know who's the culprit." I looked up at Anton warily. "Any questions?"