Now Playing - To Survive
I bit my tongue to prevent myself from letting out a scream. Kyoji was dead, and his body had been found in the middle of the night.
There were gasps and sobs and screams of horror. Another corpse. Another class trial. Another execution. That was what we would have to endure.
"Alright, alright! Everyone quiet down! Who were the first three people to find the body?" Serena called.
Emiko, Kat, and Yosai all raised their hands simultaneously.
"Wait.... You guys were part of Daichi's patrol group, correct?" Arisa asked.
"That's correct." Emiko said.
"Wait, I thought we weren't doing the patrol thing anymore, since we don't have four groups of four." I said.
"Well, me and Yosai and Kat made an agreement to keep patrolling, just in case. It's not exactly official, though." Emiko said.
"Ah. That makes sense." I nodded.
"I assume this means you three cannot be the culprit, because you discovered the body and triggered the announcement." Serena said.
"That would seem to line up." Yosai said.
Truth Bullet Added - Yosai's Account
Now Playing - Mr. Monokuma After Class
Just then, Monokuma appeared. "Well, well, well, looks like my motive triggered a murder! Wonderful, wonderful! Well, it's investigation time, and you know what that means!"
Our handbooks let out a beep as the second Monokuma File was released.
"The victim is Kyoji Moriai, the Ultimate Linguist. The time of death is estimated to be 11:30 PM. The body was discovered in the foyer of the second floor. The cause of death was blunt force trauma to the back of the head. There are no other wounds on the victim's body. The victim died instantly."
Truth Bullet Added - Monokuma File 2
"Wait." Arisa said. "Last time, didn't the Monokuma File specify that the body wasn't moved? This time, it's gone."
"Can we safely assume that means the body was moved after death?" Serena said.
"I can't tell you that or it might spoil the surprise!" Monokuma said.
"Whatever. Don't we have to start investigating right about now?" Arisa said.
Yeah... As much as I hate it, Arisa's right. If we don't catch Kyoji's killer, then we're all going to be next.
Now Playing - BOX 15
I swallowed back any hesitation and walked over to Kyoji's corpse. His head was bleeding, and there were no other wounds on his body, just like the Monokuma file said. What's interesting, though, is he held an clean knife in one hand and a torn note in the other.
Truth Bullet Added - Kyoji's Knife
"What's this?" I asked myself. Being as careful as possible, I slid the note out of Kyoji's hand.
It read, "My dear colleague Moriai,
Please meet me outside the dorm rooms at 11:30. I found something I need you to translate.
Sincerely-"
The sender's name was torn off the page.
Truth Bullet Added - Kyoji's Note
"Wait..." I whispered to myself. We might be able to find the culprit with this!
"Guys!" I called out. "Look what I found!"
Soon everyone came flocking towards me.
"Look! This note was most likely written by the murderer. Can someone go grab a piece of paper and a writing utensil so I can collect handwriting samples?"
Aiko nodded, then ran off to her dorm. A while later, she returned with a sheet of paper and a pencil.
"Thank you, Aiko." I took the paper and pencil from her and copied down what the note said in my own handwriting.
We passed the sheet of paper around, copying down what the note said. Soon, we had collected handwriting samples from every student still alive. Reviewing the samples, the handwriting on the note bore several resemblances to other students' handwriting. It was slow and neat like Namika's, was spaced relatively wide like Haruko, had heavy strokes like Takayuki, and had a slight slant to the left like Aiko. This being said, they weren't identical by any means. The culprit must've disguised their handwriting somehow.
Truth Bullet Added - Handwriting Samples
"Well, this is great and all...." Aiko said, "But we don't have a murder weapon!"
Aiko was right. There was no visible murder weapon at the crime scene.
"Alright. Think, everyone. What could be used as a blunt murder weapon?" Arisa said.
"Well, there are a lot of weapons in the warehouse, some of which are blunt." I offered.
"The frying pans in the kitchen could be used as a murder weapon, buuuutttt the culprit would have to collect one beforehand, and I was actually in the dining hall with Namika right before nighttime." Isoshi said.
"This is true." Namika said.
Truth Bullet Added - Isoshi's Account
"Well, what about the dumbbells in the locker rooms? Those could be used as a weapon." Takayuki said.
"Okay. Mizuki, you search the warehouse, and Takayuki can search the locker rooms." Arisa said.
"Uh, there's one problem." Takayuki said.
"What's that?" Arisa asked.
"I can't search the girl's locker room. Only a girl's e-Handbook can open that door. Otherwise I'll get shot."
"Well, I'll search the girl's locker room with Takayuki. That can't hurt, right?" Emiko said.
"Alright, you two search the locker rooms and Mizuki can search the warehouse. The rest of us will stay here looking for evidence." Arisa said.
I nodded and ran downstairs to the warehouse. I searched the area where the weapons were stored. None of the blunt weapons had blood on them, but there was something that I could've sworn wasn't there before. A dumbbell, stained with blood. It seems Takayuki was correct.
Truth Bullet Added - Bloodstained Dumbbell
"I have to go tell the others!" I said aloud. Quickly, I grabbed some gloves from another part of the warehouse, put them on, grabbed the dumbbell, struggling for a bit to pick it up, then quickly ran out of the warehouse.
Before I ran upstairs, though. I stopped to examine the dorm hallway. Sure enough, there was a dried bloodstain we didn't notice in our frenzy to find the body. The footprints leading away from the stain looked like they came from a pair of dress shoes. This was likely the scene of the murder. Also, strangely enough, there were white fibers by the bloodstain. Maybe they came from the culprit's clothes?
Truth Bullet Added - Scene of the Murder
We were gathering so much evidence! It looked like this trial was gonna be easy!
Quickly, I ran up the stairs to meet with the others.
"Guys! Guys!" I called breathlessly. "I think I found the murder weapon!" I raised the dumbbell to show everyone.
"So the culprit put it in the warehouse...." Emiko said.
"Huh?" I said.
"There was a missing dumbbell in the boys' locker room. We assumed it was the murder weapon." Takayuki said.
Truth Bullet Added - Missing Dumbbell
Arisa started to say something. "So, is there anything we're-"
*ding dong, bing bong*
The monitors flashed to life and Monokuma's voice screeched over the speakers. "It's the moment you've all been waiting for!" Monokuma called. "It's time for the Class Trial! Everyone, make your way to the red door for thrills, chills, and kills! Ahahahahahahaha!"
"Missing....." Arisa finished. We all let out a sigh and flocked to the red door. When we all piled inside, Monokuma appeared.
Now Playing - To Survive
"Two less people stand in here than before. When you leave, one less person will join you! That is, if you can survive! So everyone please pile into the elevator so you can experience the despairingly fun Trial I've prepared!"
We stepped into the elevator and as the door closed behind us, Serena stepped closer to me and squeezed my hand.
"Hey, I know you're nervous. But you can do this. We'll catch the culprit. And then there'll be no more murders. We'll live here together, and that'll be okay."
"I'm sorry. I wish I could believe you." I said.
"....I wish I could believe that too."
We held hands for a while as the elevator slowly descended. Every so often, it would shake and clunk, and we'd grip each other tighter for fear we'd fall.
Soon, the elevator stopped, and the doors slowly opened for the second time. Only then we let go of each other. Two portraits were standing where Daichi and Kyoji once had. What caught my eye was that the red X that was covering Daichi's face was made of a pickaxe and shovel.
Kat glanced at his portrait and quickly looked down at her feet, hiding an expression of pain.
"Uh, Monokuma?" Arisa said, "What's with Daichi's picture?"
"Oh, that!" Monokuma exclaimed enthusiastically. "You see, killers have special death portraits relating to their talent or personality. And because Daichi was just so bland, we could only draw inspiration from his talent, so his portrait is decorated with digging tools!"
".... Bland?" Kat said. "Daichi was bland?"
"Yep! Just a polite little rock enthusiast! I'd say that's pretty boring..."
"How.... How dare you?" Kat whispered, on the verge of crying.
"Whuh?"
"Daichi.... He was kind... and he was funny. He took care of me when I was sick... He fought bullies when I couldn't... He stood by me my entire life. He... He was my brother. And you.... You... YOU TOOK HIM AWAY FROM ME!!!"
Kat, who was standing at her podium, grabbed it by the edge and threw her legs over, effectively jumping over it. She swiftly skated over to Monokuma and reached out to grab him by the throat, but Takayuki had to restrain her.
"You know what'll happen if you touch him." He warned.
Kat sighed and slid back to her podium.
I walked over to mine and looked over everyone else.
One of the people standing here is the murderer.
Can I really do this again?
It doesn't matter if I can, I have to.
If not for me, then for everyone else.
We have to survive.
I won't let the person behind this kill us all.
No matter what....
We will survive!
Trial - All Rise!