POV - Mikado
"Ah... no...?" Sora's voice shook. "Why would you say that?"
"Only one person filled in the pie." Nikei explained.
"No!" I said, gripping the edges of my podium. "Sora can't the culprit! !"
Silence.
Everyone turned to look at me.
Did I just swear?
"What?!"
"WHAT?!"
"I beg your pardon?!"
"Excuse me...?!"
"Miss Sora is your sister?!"
Sora leaned on her podium. "I kinda saw this coming." She said. "You were on my side during the third scrum debate, Mikado. My full name... is Sora Sannoji."
The noises of surprise shot through us all like lightning.
"Let me explain." I spoke.
"We were two siblings. Sora was the cute sister, while I was the tough brother. I became a bounty hunter, thanks to my father who's a famous bounty hunter. Sora wasn't one. But her father wanted her to be."
"But what does this have to do with Sora never revealing her last name when we got there?" Nikei asked.
"My father wanted Sora to be a bounty hunter, like me." I spoke solemnly. "But she was more interested in... being a popstar. My dad was pissed when he found out."
"I think I can see where this is going," Syobai cringed.
"She didn't... live up to what he was expecting," I said. "Dad was so pissed that he yeeted my sister out the house."
"Y-yeeted?!" Teruya stammered in horror. I nodded solemnly.
"Yeeted is a nice word for 'disowned'. They haven't spoken since. How long? I don't know." I finished.
Nobody spoke for a while after this revelation, too horrified to even try. Even Nikei struggled to comprehend such depravity.
"So that's why she has no last name!" Iroha finally broke the silence.
"Her backstory sounds like it could have come from a Japanese anime!" Kokoro mused, eyes sparkling.
"I didn't know that the jam was poisoned! I...!" Sora sobbed. Before she could finish her sentence, Sora slammed her face between her hands on her podium. "Oh my god, what have I done?!" she screamed through a sob.
It... It was unintentional... an accidental murder!
"Sora, I think it was you." Mikado said. "Even though you are my beloved sister..."
Sora still sobbed. "It wasn't me!"
How do I get her to back down? I have to stop her from crying.
ARGUMENT ARMAMENT, START!
VS Sora
Sora was now dressed in a hot pink frilly dress with black accents. It must have cost 100 bucks to make that dress, it even had a frilly white collar. Her hair, now down, became tipped with crimson red, and her face gained multiple layers of stage makeup. There was a big hot pink ribbon in her hair. She was holding a microphone, and ready to fight.
Your conclusions are incorrect!
You're falsely accusing me!
It wasn't me you liars!
Why am I being treated as a murderer?!
I'm not the killer!
I don't want to die...
You want to kill me!
You're a terrible brother!
That's wrong!
Teruya's the killer!
We're siblings, aren't we?
If we're siblings, then you can't accuse me, Mikado...
I'm innocent! I wouldn't hurt anyone!
You're fucking wrong!
You dumb bitch!
How could have I scooped in that jam?!
SPOON ON THE FLOOR
"It's all over for you!"
Sora was struck down screaming in despair with the most powerful blow I had to offer, her dress left tattered enough to expose the bloodied gashes in her scuffed-up skin. She wiped the tears from her eyes, frozen and defeated.
BREAK!
I gasped as I remembered the final piece of evidence that would seal her fate.
This is my proof!
"Hey, Sora." I spoke. "Remember the baking session we did?"
"Yes," she said.
"Well, during the investigation, Teruya found a spoon on the floor." I revealed.
"Maybe this was the spoon used?"
"Sora, I think it was you." Nikei pointed at the girl.
The pop sensation sighed.
"I... I did it..." she breathed despondently.
"I believe it's time to go over the whole case," Teruya softly suggested. "Could we go over this one more time, from the beginning? Just in case someone still thinks I did it..." I nodded solemnly as he glanced over to Iroha, who rolled her eyes in response.
Yes... as horrible as it is... we must be absolutely certain of the truth.
I nodded.
"Okay, everyone. Here's how this case went down!"
CLOSING ARGUMENT
ACT 1
"The crime began during the all-girls baking event Hibiki Otonokoji was hosting. Iroha Nijiue - Ultimate Lucky Student - and Hibiki decided to bake a strawberry pie. Since Hibiki wasn't used to baking, someone decided to help her... someone who, unfortunately, turned out to be her killer."
ACT 2
"After Hibiki and Iroha prepared the pie, the culprit filled it with strawberry jam. Unbeknownst to the culprit, this strawberry jam was poisoned. The culprit didn't know this, however."
ACT 3
"When the pie was finished, Teruya decided to take a slice out of it. However, it's kitchen rules that the first person who eats the food is the one who made it. So, Hibiki ate the now-toxic pie instead."
ACT 4
"Hibiki was then poisoned to death, choking on her own vomit before she died. And this happened right in front of me, Nikei, the culprit, Iroha and Teruya, which triggered the body discovery announcement."
ACT 5
"As soon as they realized what they had done, the culprit panicked. Tragically, it was all in vain... Hibiki had died right there. Now that they had committed murder, the culprit did what they could to save themselves. They threw out where the poison bottle had come from. However, they accidentally dropped the spoon. They probably thought that they were gonna get away with it... but we all knew better!"
"And we all know the truth... so just admit that you're the killer, Sora! This twisted game of deceit is over. You have to give up!"
BREAK!
"...What have I done...?" Sora mumbled, covering her face with her hands. My heart crumbled as I watched her slump into a puddle on the floor and cry... here was someone who had accidentally killed... if this wasn't what despair truly was, then I had no idea what could possibly be worse.
"Hmm... This result isn't all that exciting..." Monocrow finally spoke, slumping in his throne. But then he snapped out of his disappointment and grinned. "Now then, please cast your vote!"
I wasn't sure if I wanted to do this. Pressing Sora's face meant condemning her to death, for an accident she did not mean to cause, for a life she had no intention of taking.
But I had to do it.
Sighing sadly as we were ordered to condemn yet another one of us to their death, I pressed Sora's face. Around the room, I could hear the others wordlessly casting their own votes.
Then Monocrow showed "Monocrow's Vote! Who is found guilty?", followed by the slot machine. We watched with bated breath as the slots spun...
...and landed, three in a row, on Sora's face. "Guilty!"
Class Trial End! All Rise!
We stepped down from our podiums as the trial finally ended, and Nikei pointed at Sora.
"Why would you do something like this?! Please fucking tell me!" He shouted to my sister, stepping away from her in disgust.
"At the moment, no," Sora said, as she played with one of her twintails.
"Mitsume," Syobai said. "Would you like to explain for Sora?"
I leaned forward on my podium, heart pounding in fear as I hoped the cod player's explanation was too ridiculous to be true.
It was a moment before Kokoro pulled themselves together enough to explain.
"I just trusted my gut instinct and poisoned the jam. It was beyond my wildest expectation that, minutes after I did it, people would use that jam in baking and cause a death."
I went pale.
So that's why that poison was in the bin! It had already been used!
"So...does that make Kokoro the blackened?" Iroha asked.
"Nope, nope, nope, nopety, nope." Monocrow shook his head passionately. "The blackened is Sora."
"But Kokoro-" Nikei protested.
"Nick, what are you doing?!" Syobai exclaimed.
"I'm trying to save Sora," Nikei explained. "She doesn't deserve to die."
"It's too late," Teruya pointed out. "We've already voted."
"You should listen to her," Monocrow said. "If Kokoro is the blackened then the six of you will be punished!"
Sora then burst out crying.
"I'm sorry!" She said.
"Let's get the fun underway, everyone!" Monocrow interrupted the sad moment with a laugh. "Now then, I've prepared a very special punishment for Sora, the Ultimate Pop Sensation!"
Sora broke down crying. "No! Please! I beg of you! Anything! Don't kill me!"
"Don't do this, Monocrow! It's not right!" Teruya sobbed, grasping at his hat.
"Let's give it everything we've got!" Monocrow announced. "It's punishment time!"
"No! I don't want to die! Please! Let me live! I don't want to die! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" Sora sobbed.
But nobody came.
A big red button rose on a pedestal before Monocrow.
His red eye gleamed mischievously, and he jumped on the button.
The screen below the button lit up.
Game Over
Sora has been found guilty.
Time for the punishment!
Killer Melody
Ultimate Pop Sensation Sora's Execution: Executed
Sora didn't look up from her sobbing...that is, until a long rope came and wrapped around her waist.
We watched in horror as she disappeared, kidnapped by the rope to God knows where.
We then teleported into the white room to watch the execution. Multiple possibilities formed in our minds as to what the punishment would entail, but none of us expected what we saw.
Sora was tied to a stake on a stage. But this was no ordinary stage... there was a nasty looking giant bear trap, surrounding Sora as she 'stood' in the center of it. Only her arms were free.
A cardboard cutout of her was nest to the stage, in front of an audience of Monocrows.
A score meter was there.
Maybe my sister would suffer some humiliation instead of a horrible death for once.
But then she was given a microphone, and my heart began to pound against my ribcage.
A song began to blare from speakers mounted all over the stage. It was one I recognized, as did Sora. She cringed and rubbed her ears... the music must've been too loud for her so close to the speakers. But, swallowing her fear, she cleared her throat and began to sing.
For a few moments, the music soothed my nerves, made me forget all about the punishment and our predicament. Sora was hitting every note perfectly, and the meter beside the stage began to quickly fill with light. Even she felt more relaxed as she sang, and began to sway and dance to the music.
But at the first chorus, the Monocrows booed and jeered. They produced tomatoes, eggs and other produce from nowhere in particular and began throwing them at Sora as hard as they could. Sora was gasping for breath as the rotten fruits and vegetables struck her body, painting her clothes, hair and face with stinky slime.
That's when I realized: Monocrow didn't just kill the blackened instantly. No, he liked to drag it out with torture instead.
Still, Sora's voice didn't waver, and she continued to sing.
Some of the Monocrows now resorted to pulling out stones - and throwing them at Sora along with the rotten food.
Bruises were being left behind, but Sora still managed to hit every note with perfect pitch and tone, and the meter continued to rise.
The song was nearly over. Body dripping with sweat and rotten vegetation, Sora locked her eyes on the meter, which was only a few inches from the top. Just a little more and it would be full... she would be free!
Her eyes sparkled...
No such luck.
To our horror, the meter rapidly emptied as Sora sang her final note.
Her eyes shot wide open as she stared in shock....
And the two halves of the beartrap slammed together.
The cardboard cutout of Sora was now on the ground, split perfectly in half down the waist.
And on the stage, the real Sora was in the exact same state.
We were teleported back into the Trial Room.
Familiar emotions flooded my body... grief, horror, shock... despair.
There were only six of us left now. My sister was gone. How much longer was this going to last? How much deeper into despair could Monocrow throw us?! We were so overcome by our emotions that we didn't even notice Monocrow reappear.
"I've said this before and I'll say it again." He said.
There was silence for a few seconds.
"Isn't it just awful?" Monocrow was now looking disappointed. "Someone couldn't cut free from their regrets from the outside world, and so more people had to die... You guys are still young! You need to place more value on your lives!"
He then looked excited.
"Hooray for making it to the final 6, folks! 9 down, 4 to go! Who will be the final two survivors, I wonder?"
He then vanished.
It seemed the moments after the executions would never get any easier. The fourth occurrence of a friend being murdered in such a horrifically brutal way was just as bad as the last three, if not worse.
Teruya uncovered Iroha's eyes. He had covered them the moment the microphone had been tossed.
"Is it over?!" The lucky student screamed in terror.
"Yes." Teruya said. "And don't ask what happened."
"Sister..." I whimpered, staring off into space.
A tap on my shoulder from Nikei brought me back to my senses.
"Let's get out of this place," The journalist mumbled as he walked slowly towards the elevator doors. Everyone followed suit, not speaking another word.
Received Gift!
Microphone
End of Chapter 4
Surviving Students: 6