I didn't wanna look at Makoto for any longer out of fear that I say something that's probably better off unsaid and decided to make conversation with Mondo and Sakura.
"I realized somethin' while I was guardin' the room... Ain't it possible the culprit's already destroyed evidence? Like, before we found the body... There's a garbage room here in the dorms. Could probably take care of it there..." Mondo pointed out. "Hmm, I guess you could." I responded. "Sonuvabitch! Either way, my big bro taught me never to forgive anyone who'd lay a hand on a woman. Said they deserved certain death. So whoever ofted Maizono's gettin' their fuckin' head smashed in!" Mondo exclaimed, an intense expression plastered on his face. "Haha! A respectable man I see, but...what if the killer is female?" I asked Mondo. "...I'll cross that bridge when I get to it." Mondo muttered. "Ah, Oogami, do you think Makoto did it, too?" I asked the much...much taller girl. "Mysteries... I do have not the skills for such. Whether or not Makoto is the culprit...I do not know. I will abide by everyone's conclusion, whatever that may be." Sakura said, looking the other way. "Ah, I see..." I mumbled, trying to direct my attention to something else. The next thing that caught my eye was the marks on the wall...and all over Makoto's bed. "So, were you able to find anything?" Makoto asked me. "By my calculations...a struggle definitely took place in this room." I concluded. Makoto stared at the wall behind me, a complex expression on his face.
"Uh...are you okay-" "Dammit... I was in the next room. If I had only noticed!" Makoto yelled, looking genuinely upset. "That is unreasonable." Sakura said. "Huh?" Makoto muttered. "Were you not informed? These rooms are completely soundproof. Which is to say, even in the adjacent room, you would be unable to hear anything. Perhaps this is part of Monokuma's plan. To create an environment perfect for murder..." Sakura theorized.
Makoto just looked down, still looking rather distraught, the reason? I have no idea. Near the wall was the gilded practice sword, or at least that's what it would've been if the sword hadn't removed from it, so right now it's just the scabbard. Upon further inspection, it looks like it was used during the struggle. "Huh?" Makoto muttered, I looked to my left to see Makoto inspecting the scabbard a little closer than I was. "There are marks on the scabbard like it's been slashed with a blade or something... But why... Why would there be slash marks on the scabbard?" Makoto questioned. Eh, I'd prefer not to think about it too much, no one can be drop-dead gorgeous and be smart at the same time, but I'm sure if I tried, I could probably pull it off.
To the right of the bed sat a lint cleaner, oddly enough though, it was running low on tape. Pft- pretty sure Sayaka cleaned Makoto's room right on discovering how messy it was. Next walking up to the desk that Makoto had in his room I opened a drawer, seeing a toolbox that was still sealed shut. I guess that I can understand, for what reason would Makoto need to use tools? Even if he did, I'm sure he wouldn't know how to use them.
"You think so too?" Mondo said from across the room to Makoto, making me turn my head to look at them in curiosity. "Haven't used it either? Yeah, it's not like what you'd use for construction or carpentry..." Mondo told the boy. "You haven't either, Oowada?" Makoto said. "Ain't just me. None of the other guys have. We were just talkin' about it yesterday. None of the guys've used their toolsets. Well, no shit, I guess..." Mondo grumbled. I turned my head back around to check the desk one more time, sitting on it was a notepad but by the looks of it, it didn't look all that important. "Hey, uh, Kirigiri... What...are you doing?" Makoto asked the girl, I turned around fully to observe Kyoko kneeling down, poking at the ground, or at least that's what it looked like to me. "Isn't it obvious?" Kyoko questioned. "No, not really..." Makoto admitted. "Investigating." Kyoko responded blandly. "Investigating?" Makoto muttered. Kyoko looked as if she was doing her best to observe every inch of the room. "Did you lose a contact?" Makoto asked the girl. Kyoko never responded to him, probably just super focused or something, my brother does the exact same thing.
After a little while, Kyoko stood up. Then... "Are you...a germophobe?" Kyoko asked Makoto. "Huh? No, not really..." Makoto muttered. Kyoko then nodded, taking a quick glance around the room. "I see..." Kyoko said. "What...do you see?" Makoto questioned. "There's something slightly peculiar about this room." Kyoko hummed. "Peculiar? What about it?" Makoto asked Kyoko. "I've gone over every inch of the floor...but there's not a single strand of fallen hair in this room-anywhere..." Kyoko pointed out. "N-Not even one?" Makoto muttered, sounding nervous or just confused, one or the other. "Neither from the victim, Maizono, or from you, the room's owner..." Kyoko said. "Now that you mention it, I noticed something while I was investigating just now... It looks like my lint cleaner was used without my knowledge. Maybe, using that, someone..." Makoto muttered. "I see... A room without a single strand of fallen hair... Your lint cleaner used without your knowledge..." Kyoko hummed. "You mean...Maizono? Or maybe the killer?" Makoto questioned.
"Hmm, I wonder." Kyoko muttered, averting her attention elsewhere. I watched Makoto as he slowly made his way toward the bathroom door, however, he looked hesitant, and in an instant I was by his side. "Are you just gonna stand there all day? A gruesome sight it may be, though it is a sight we must endure." I said. "...Y-Yeah, you're right." Makoto said, looking down at his fists. I sighed before slowly pushing the bathroom door open and walking inside.
Just like what I saw the first time, there was Sayaka sitting on the ground with her back pressing up against the wall behind her. Her eyes were closed and a look that I can't really describe on her face. "Sayaka..." Makoto mumbled sadly, a sickly look on his face. I sighed before hesitantly taking a step toward the deceased body. "U-Uh, Makoto...could you be useful and re-read what the Monokuma thingy said about her body? I feel like that would be a good start." I mumbled. Makoto didn't waste a moment's time before taking out his Monokuma File. "Some sort of sharp object has been thrust into her stomach. That must've been the killing blow... But whatever they used to kill her... Where'd they get it? That's definitely something we should look into later..." Makoto told me. "Wouldn't it be obvious that they got it from the kitchen- actually... never mind, what else does it say?" I asked the boy. "Ah, also according to the Monokuma File, Sayaka's right wrist is broken." Makoto read out. Trying not to instantly recoil back, I grabbed Sayaka's wrist up with two fingers on each side, trying not to touch her too much.
"Um...yeah, her wrist does look swollen and bloody, that's for sure. Oh, there's something glittery here too." I said. "Huh? What do you mean?" Makoto asked me. "Right here, where her wrist is all swollen and gros- I mean! swollen and bloody...there's something glittery." I pointed out to Makoto. "Wow, that's...pretty concerning." Makoto muttered before putting his Monokuma File away and leaning near the body. "...Huh? There's some blood on her left index finger, but that's it. The palms of both of her hands are totally spotless, so how come only her left finger...?" Makoto questioned. "Maybe she just accidentally dipped it in her blood or something." I hummed. So in conclusion...she probably broke her wrist before she was stabbed. Hmm, meaning that she most likely broke her wrist during the struggle.
After the struggle and the killer got the upper hand they probably cornered Sayaka in the bathroom...where they stabbed her. Hmm, how annoying, we didn't really discover anything important. I was about to get up from the uncomfortable crouching position I was in when I heard a loud and irritating yelp. "Wh-!?" "What is it?" I asked Makoto. "B-Behind Sayaka!" Makoto exclaimed. I carefully leaned over Sayaka's body to check what Makoto was talking about and sure enough...written in blood were the numbers 11037. I mean...I suppose that explains the bloody index finger. "Hmm, there isn't anything else to check out...we should probably leave." I pointed out. "I...I...okay." Makoto looked like he wanted to say something, however, he held his tongue.
And with that, we both walked out of the bathroom and back into the main room. "It looks like you both saw it, right? The bloody numbers... That's most likely Sayaka's dying message." Kyoko pointed out. "I've never seen something written in blood before... It really was her final message... It's as if she wrote it with life itself." Makoto muttered. "Pft- do you often talk like an aspiring poet?" I chuckled.
"But the numbers she wrote... What do they mean? 11037... I have no idea what that could possibly mean." Makoto admitted, ignoring my previous remark. "The way she wrote the numbers makes me think she wanted to use her body to block them. If she wrote them in her location, while she was sitting the way we found her...it means she must have written them by turning only her hand toward the wall. If you were to write something in that position, do you know what the result would be?" Kyoko questioned. "The result...?" Makoto muttered. "Think about it." Kyoko told him simply. "You're not gonna tell us?" Makoto asked the girl. "You need to uncover the mystery of this case yourself... Otherwise, the case will end and you'll remain unconvinced." Kyoko told us. "Haha! I have no idea what any of those fancy words mean, but I think it's pretty obvious that you're not gonna tell us." I sighed, trying to mask my irritation.
By the looks of things, it already looks like Kyoko knows what Sayaka's dying message means, I don't know two things about numbers and their supposed 'hidden meaning' so I think Makoto and I should ask the only person here who would probably know what it means, so who better to ask than the Ultimate Programmer? "There's one other thing I wanted to ask you about Makoto." Kyoko spoke up suddenly. "Do you know how the door to your bathroom got broken?" Kyoko asked the boy. "Broken...? Oh, you mean how it gets stuck?" Makoto said. "Gets stuck?" Kyoko muttered out, with a shocked expression on her face, the most amount of expression that I've yet to see on Kyoko.
"Yeah, I guess I'm the only one, but the door doesn't fit in the frame quite right. When I first tried to use it, I thought it was just locked. But once you learn the trick, it opens no problem." Makoto informed Kyoko, to be completely honest I really wasn't paying that much attention. "So the door doesn't quite fit the frame, huh? But actually, I'm referring to the broken doorknob." Kyoko clarified, making me lift my head which was previously looking at the ground. "The doorknob?" I hummed. "You didn't notice? Well, just try closing the bathroom door. I'm sure you'll see right away what I'm talking about." Kyoko told me. Doing what Kyoko said, I tried to shut the bathroom door. "Eh?" The doorknob... "Wh-What the heck!? Makoto exclaimed. The doorknob didn't even look attached to the goddamn door, how could I have possibly not noticed that!?
"Why is it like this...?" Makoto sweat dropped. "Someone must have used a screwdriver or something similar to unscrew it. Whatever it was, it's obvious this was intentional." Kyoko said. "What!? It was intentional? Why would someone want to do that!?" Makoto yelled. "I guess maybe they were trying to get the door unlocked and ended up breaking the whole thing." Kyoko theorized. "But my bathroom doesn't have a lock on it... Only the girls bathroom's can lock, right?" Makoto questioned. Kyoko then stood silently, seemingly lost in thought. Then, I guess in realization, she spoke. "I have just one question for you... You mentioned earlier that your bathroom door would get stuck, right? Did you tell anyone about that?" Kyoko asked the boy. "Oh, umm... Well, I did tell Sayaka about it last night, when we switched rooms." Makoto responded. "So what you're saying is, only you and Sayaka knew about it... Hmm... Interesting..." Kyoko had a slight hint of a smirk on her face, it kind of made me curious about how Kyoko looked with a proper grin on her face, I imagine it would look pretty angelic, they say the people that don't smile the most are the people with the most mesmerizing kind of smile, but then again that just kinda sounds pretty dumb, I smile all the time and you'll find that I have the best kind of smile out of all these folks.
"Then that clears that up." Kyoko hummed confidently. "Huh? What clears what up? I'm so lost..." Makoto muttered. "Well...see you two later." Kind of as if she had instantly forgotten that Makoto and I were here, she turned her back and left the room. "Well then, how are you doing after all of this so far?" I asked Makoto. "I still don't really understand any of this, but... We've already given my room a good once-over. Maybe We should look around somewhere else... We should start looking into where the murder weapon might have come from. And also... Maybe we should look into the DVD Sayaka got." Makoto told me. "Eh, sure...it's not like I got any better ideas. But...perhaps we should talk to everyone else, they may not talk to you because of...well, y'know, but I know they'll talk to me." I pointed out to Makoto in the kindest way I could.
So with all of that being said, Makoto and I walked out of his room, though just as I was gonna begin walking away Makoto said something that instantly piqued my interest. "Huh? Why is Sayaka's nameplate on my room?" Makoto muttered in confusion behind me. I turned around to look at whatever Makoto was talking about and to my own confusion, the room we had just walked out of had Sayaka's nameplate on it despite walking out of Makoto's room I turned my head to the side to look at what should've been Sayaka's room however it had Makoto's nameplate on the front of it. "The nameplates on my room and Sayaka's room...were switched!?" Makoto exclaimed. "Why would you and Sayaka switch rooms if one of you were just gonna switch the nameplates?" I asked the boy. "I didn't know about this! And Sayaka would've told me if she was going to do something like this, this is all...just so confusing." Makoto mumbled. I looked at Makoto with a puzzled expression, not like I was uncomfortable by time expressing his feelings to me like this however what I was puzzled about was exactly what to do about his feelings.
With a breath in and out I took a step towards the boy, putting my hand on his back. "I'm sure we'll figure everything out during the trial, I don't really like anyone here but it's not like they're all a bunch of idiots, if our lives are going to be put on the line like this, I'm sure no one will stop till we've discovered the truth...I think." I told Makoto, quickly taking my hand off of his back and slowly making my way towards the trash room. "C'mon Makoto, I really think this is a time where you can shine the brightest." I encouraged the lucky student, Makoto looked slightly more confident, he nodded before quickly catching up to me. It was a short walk to the garbage shoot so once we made it we weren't all that surprised to see a massive sturdy gate blocking the way to the incinerator, nothing is ever easy, is it? "It's the end of the line. The trash room... This is where all the trash in the school eventually winds up." Monokuma informed Makoto and I. "Yeah yeah, can you just make this quick and get this gate opened for us?" I asked the bear. "No no no! No entry beyond this point! Only the person on cleaning duty is allowed in!" Monokuma exclaimed.
"Cleaning duty...?" Makoto muttered, confused. "No no no! No entry beyond this point! Only the person on cleaning duty is allowed in!" Monokuma yelled. "Who's on cleaning duty?" Makoto asked the bear. "No no no! No entry beyond this point! Only the person on cleaning duty is allowed in!" Monokuma exclaimed again. "This is pointless, let's just go ask the others." I told Makoto. "No no no! No entry beyond this point! Only the person on cleaning duty is allowed in!" Monokuma yelled before disappearing.
Without wasting any time Makoto and I walked back into the main hall where some people were standing, the first person our eyes landed on was Hifumi so naturally, we walked up to him first. "We're looking for whoever's on cleaning duty." I told the boy. "Cleaning duty? As a matter of fact, that's me. Why do you ask? It just so happens Monokuma talked to me yesterday and asked me to take care of it. Without someone on cleaning duty, the school would be flooded with trash in no time. So I formally applied for the position! I was gonna start this morning, but after what happened, I haven't had a chance to get started." Hifumi sighed. "How very noble of you, does that mean you can open the gate in front of the trash room?" I asked him. "Of course!" Hifumi exclaimed happily.
"It's my job to gather up all the garbage and toss it in the trash room. And to do that, they gave me the key to the trash room gate! But we're supposed to rotate once a week, so eventually, you'll be in charge." Hifumi told me to which I responded with a scoff, in no world would I ever want to go near such a vile thing like trash. "Wait, hold on... You need a key to get in the trash room? And the only person on cleaning duty had access to the key? What's the point of going to all that trouble? Why not just leave the trash room open all the time so we can all throw out things whenever we want?" Byakuya questioned. "That does seem more convenient." Makoto agreed with the man. "Actually... That must be why. If anyone could go in and out of the trash room whenever they wanted...then destroying evidence would be easy. The thrill would disappear, and things would become boring." Byakuya said, a grin plastered on his face. "B-Boring...!?" Makoto yelled out, looking baffled.
"Anyway, more important than that... Hey fatty! Why'd you want the cleaning duty gig, anyway!?" Leon yelled at the fanfic writer. "I-I just decided to volunteer for something I knew no one else would wanna do. What's the big deal!?" Hifumi yelled, sweat dropping. "Liar! I know why you did it... You wanna dig through all the girls' trash! Looking for...y'know...and poking around at it!" Leon muttered. "Don't be shitty, Hifumi's eyes are probably only on the girls in his P-magazines!" I laughed out. "I have nothing to be ashamed of, you are completely right, Y/N! All my love is for 2D!" Hifumi yelled. "But there's all kinds of trash diggers like that! Maybe you'll get tired of 2D, and then turn to-" "I would NEVER get tired of 2D! After spending a significant amount of time comparing 2D to 3D, I voluntarily chose 2D! The only thing 3D is good for is to shower love and affection on 2D! Oh, and PVC figures!" Hifumi said with a hushed voice, a perverted expression on his face. "How are you not totally embarrassed to say stuff like that!?" Leon asked the boy. "If you're so worried about Hifumi's questionable mortality, there's a very easy solution. Whenever a guy has cleaning duty, Sakura can accompany them, from picking up the trash to disposing of it." Byakuya said, Sakura despite being quite the looker, is extremely intimidating...I'm sure she could scare anyone into behaving themselves.
"Whaaat!?" Hifumi gasped out, not looking very happy at the idea. "Hm? What's the matter Hifumi? I thought your loyalty only resided in 2D." I told him. "Kh-! That's not how it's supposed to-!" "Anyway, on another topic... Hifumi, since you were on cleaning duty, I have a favor to ask you." Makoto told Hifumi, cutting him off. "What, so now you suddenly want to join my party? Sorry, but you haven't triggered that flag yet. I mean, you haven't helped me recover from past trauma, or save a village, or beat a boss..." Hifumi hummed. "No, nothing like that... I was just hoping to get into the trash room and look around." Makoto clarified. "Oh, okay!" Hifumi exclaimed, a joyful look on his face. "So easy...!" Makoto sighed out.
With a way to get into the trash room, Makoto, Hifumi, and I headed back. "You'd like me to open the gate, wouldn't you? Bwehehe... You know, when I look at it, it makes me think... They said he killed his wife. He learned how to get by on the inside, but he never stopped dreaming. Get busy livin' or get busy dyin', he said. So him and Rita, they found themselves a way out..." If I didn't say anything I bet Hifumi would just go on and on, really, it was in one ear and out the other, I really couldn't care less about what he was even talking about. "Yeah yeah, sure, whatever! Hurry up already!" I yelled at him. "Okie dokie! Leave it to me!" Hifumi then quickly pulled out a key from his pocket and used it to flip the switch next to the gate. And then...well, it opened just like I thought it would. Makoto, Hifumi, and I walked closer to all the machinery on the other side.
"However, Mr. Naegi... Surely you aren't planning to use the trash room to destroy evidence, are you!? Y-You fiend...! You planned this all along!" Hifumi yelled at the poor boy. "N-No! I just wanted to see if the actual killer had tried to destroy any evidence or not!" Makoto scrambled to defend himself. "But the 'actual killer' is YOU, isn't it!? You want to see if you left anything behind! Wait... Maybe a parallel world...?" Hifumi muttered out. "Hmm, don't worry Hifumi, if I catch our boy Makoto doing anything suspicious, I'll smash his head in!" I exclaimed happily. "Wh-What!? That really won't be necessary!" Makoto told me. "...Chill, it's not like I'd really be able to do anything like that." I huffed before stepping closer to the incinerator...
"...Hm? There's something laying here. It looks like a burnt peice of...something." I mumbled, crouching down to take a better look. "A burnt piece...? Like a hunk? Like a hunk of burning love!?" Hifumi yelled. I didn't pay any mind to what he was saying and just tried to take a better look at the details. "It's a cloth, judging by the shape, it's a sleeve of a button-up shirt. And with the little bits of blood on the cuff, it probably belongs to our killer. "So...this is all that's left of some of the evidence the killer destroyed..." Makoto muttered.
This isn't really all that helpful, there are lots of people with white button-up shirts. This isn't going to be enough to figure out who the killer is. This is all getting quite exhausting, can't this just be over already?
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