My heart nearly stopped. My eyes going wide, as tears slowly dropped form my eyes. Why? A dear friend of mine... someone who meant so much to us... why did she die?
I felt like I was going to throw up, as I stared at the corpse dangling upside-down. I could sense that Shishido was in a panic. And at the top of the balcony, was Naito. The person who'd screamed at the top of their lungs. Suddenly, the monitor flicked on.
"A body has been discovered! P- please head to the Balcony area of the hotel to your closest convenience." Araigu said, before it shut off.
"FINALLY!!!" Jeez! You guys take ssssoooooooooooooooo llllllloooooooonnnnnggggggg to kill!" Ressa yelled, appearing out of nowhere. "Alright! It's time I give you all a present..." he held up a tablet in his hand. "It's... the Murder File! I actually didn't name it so this is the best I can come up with on the spot..." he stared up at me for a moment, holding the file out to me. I didn't move. Even if I could, I wouldn't. I was frozen. A fear plaguing my tense body, as I stared at Furuya's corpse. "Take it!" He said, shaking it back and forth violently.
I didn't respond. I didn't move. I just stayed frozen. A dead body in front of me. Such a brutal scene. Why do we have to do this? Why do we have to kill? Why am I the one stuck here?
Ressa angrily glared at me, before placing the murder file on the ground in front of me. Then, he took out a second one, handing it to Shishido, who stared at the screen with a blank face. He looked to me, with pleading eyes.
"Um, Hirano?" He said. I didn't look to him, I just kept looking forwards.
"... yeah..." I replied. He looked to the tablet and then back to me.
"I... uh... I can't read." He responded.
"Then how did you know about the invitation..." I asked.
"I had to get Kawata to help me..." he paused, trying to think of something. "Get the words on paper to go into my head better."
"... translate?" I responded. He nodded. I finally moved my head, looking down at the murder file on the floor. It was just so... surprising. Slowly, I knelt down, and picked up the tablet. "I'll... avenge... her..." I said slowly. I looked up. Only now did I realize that everyone had arrived. Maybe I was just so surprised, that I didn't see that everyone had shown up.
"Um... we should probably move the body out of that position. So you know... we can investigate?" Morita said. Kajiwara nodded, looking to Naito, who was still on the balcony.
"Naito, I'm going to need you to slowly drop down Furuya. Just grab the rope, and lower her into my arms." Kajiwara called out. She didn't say anything in response, just doing what he asked her to do, by taking the rope and slowly lowering her. Kajiwara lifted out his arms, catching the body in his arms, before laying her out on the floor. He got down on his knees, and did a hand motion, his eyes closed, before putting his hands together.
"What was that?" Tengan asked. Kajiwara stood up, wiping the dust off any dust that may have gotten on his pants.
"It was a prayer. So she may be at rest..." He said, looking down to the body. Everyone stared at the body for a moment, unable to say anything. Without saying a thing, Yamazaki stepped forward from the crowd, looking at the body.
"What are you doing?" Arima asked, stared with a blank face.
"Investigating." He replied. Arima stayed silent for a moment.
"... why..." he asked. Yamazaki rolled his eyes.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm investigating the crime scene." He said. Everyone remained in the silence moment, many staring at him with a disturbed expression. "What!? Are you stupid? If we don't figure out who killed her, then we all die!" He snapped back, before rolling his eyes. I paused. H was right. We were being forced to do this.
"I'll... avenge... her..." I whispered.
-Investigation-
I opened the murder file. Which, began giving me info on the dead body.
Victim: Furuya Saki
Age: 17
Height: 6'1
Weight: 122
Time of Death: 1:00-4:00 PM
Cause of Death: The victim threw up a mass amount of blood, resulting in loss of bodily fluids, which ultimately took her life in a matter of seconds.
Bodily Wounds: None.
I stared at the file. This was going to be important. Well, it was always going to be important, but reading through it, I can tell that it's going to be a very big deal.
Truth Bullet 1- Murder File
I walked over to Kajiwara, who seemed to just be staring at the body.
"H- hey, do you know any about th- the murder." I said.
"Sadly, no. But I'm planning on performing an autopsy to try and determine further evidence." He replied. I nodded. That would be good. "For now, let us examine the body. I took a dry gulp, staring at Furuya. She'd want me to live on. To bring her justice. I'm just... afraid.
I stepped forward, inspecting her face. She had a mass amount of blood covering her mouth, and running down her chin. Huh... that's strange.
Truth Bullet 2- Blood on the Lips
I looked at her feet. A rope had been tied tightly around her ankles. The position of the body was in the air, where she dangled from the balcony.
Truth Bullet 3- Hanging Rope
I grabbed her hand, looking it over for a moment. Without success of finding a clue, I grabbed her other hand. My eyes went wide. On the tips of her fingers was a small amount of powder. But it's not on her palms or on the back of her hand.
Truth Bullet 4- White Powder on the Fingers
I looked to her legs. Holding her dress to her legs was a bit of duct tape. It had been placed on the skirt where it met the tights. I didn't really understand why they'd put duct tape there. Maybe to preserve the dignity of the dead body?
Truth Bullet 5- Duct Tape
I stared for a moment. The body had been hanged from the balcony. But, why would the killer do that?
Truth Bullet 6- Position of the Dead Body
I looked to the floor around her. It was just normal carpet. There seemed to be no evidence of blood anywhere close to where she was held, the floor being entirely clean. But... wait... that doesn't make any sense.
Truth Bullet 7- Carpeted Floor
Beside her body was a book. It was laid out before the body had been lowered to the ground. It just so happens, it's the mystery novel I witnessed Furuya reading during the party. I picked up the book, examining it. It's completely clean, but doesn't seem to be tampered with.
Truth Bullet 8- Mystery Novel
I paused, looking around the area. There didn't seem to be any other clues around the place. I paused, thinking to myself. I looked up at the balcony, taking a deep sigh. If I wanted to get more evidence, I'd have to go to where the body was hanged.
I climbed the stairs, meeting Naito at the top, as she at on the last step. I paused to talk to her.
"I- I'm sorry... I'm going to need some time to... overcome this. I'm sorry I won't be a help to the class trial." She said.
"It's okay. Rest and get a grip on yourself." I replied. She nodded.
I looked to the balcony. At the bottom of one of the railings, I saw what looked to be scratch marks. This must be where Furuya's body was hanged. Also, the railing is brand new looking, and the carpet is perfectly clean. I paused. Why is everything so clean?
Truth Bullet 9- Balcony Appearance
I stared at the balcony for a moment. This didn't get me anywhere. I paused for a moment, before looking down the hall. My eyes widened. Quickly, I approached the door in the middle of the hall. I opened them up, looking inside.
The kitchen floor is pretty shiny. It almost seemed to clean. And not a single hair. But, there are some foot prints on the floor, barely visible from the shiny floor. But, you can ever so slightly tell it's there.
Truth Bullet 10- Kitchen Floor
I paused, stepping into the kitchen, accidentally knocking over a trash can. Quickly, I looked over to the garbage, quickly getting down on my knees, ready to pick it up. But, as I did, I paused, staring at something laying on the floor.
I picked it up, examined it. A small pill bottle, that was entirely white. The label has been ripped off. I paused, before unscrewing the lid. I looked inside. The bottle had been in emptied and washed out.
Truth Bullet 11- Unmarked Bottle
I looked to the table. It was covered in the confetti and crumbs. I paused, looking to one corner of the table. The rest of it looked messy, but this corner was clean. Why was that?
Truth Bullet 12- Cleaned Corner of the Table
I looked over to the kitchen, staring with confusion. I paused, before walking inside. In the corner was a vast array of cleaning supplies. I walked over, and began inspecting. Most of them had been used, and seemed to be almost out.
Truth Bullet 13- Used Cleaning Supplies
I looked over to the wall. I stared for a moment. I didn't think I'd ever seen that before. I walked forward, approaching what was there. On the wall, was a single key, hanging from a hook. But there were two hooks. Where's the other key? And... if there is a key missing, then why is the door unlocked? Wouldn't that just give us more evidence?
Truth Bullet 14- Kitchen Keys
I walked back out into the dinging room. I stared at the table. Come to think of it, the plates aren't left out, here. Where are they? And didn't each with a name on part of the plate. And some of the dishes were specially designed for certain people. At least, that what Otani said. Hm...
Truth Bullet 15- Dessert Dishes
I walked back into the kitchen, looking to the sink. None of them have been cleaned, but they're all in there. Why aren't they washed though? They also look lazily thrown in there. I wonder why.
Truth Bullet 16- Plates in the Sink
"Hey Hirano!" Otani said, walking into the room. I quickly turned around. He smiled at me.
"U- um, Otani. Do you know anything about th- the keys?" I asked. He grinned.
"Oh, you mean this one?" He replied. He held out a key, that was nearly identical to the one on the hook.
"O- oh. Did you l- lock up the kitchen after th- the party?" I asked. He nodded.
"Yeah." He looked over to the key on the hook, completely surprised. "Wait, why is the key there?"
"W- what do you mean?" I asked. He looked me dead in the eyes.
"Well, before I locked up the kitchen, I noticed that both keys were gone. But I thought I had both of them, so I didn't think to much of it... maybe someone took a key to help clean up after I left?" He said, skeptically.
"W- what time did you l- lock up?" I asked. He thought about it for a moment.
"Well, I closed it at about 1:30. Furuya was still at the dining room table, so I didn't lock the door. Maybe if I had locked it up, then she'd still be alive..." he said, suddenly making the atmosphere more depressed.
"Did y- you come back?" I asked. He nodded.
"I came back to the kitchen at around 5:30 to clean up the mess. Furuya was gone by that time, and parts of the room were cleaned up. Someone also cleaned up the dishes and put them in the sink." He said.
"S- so you didn't clean th- them up?" I asked. He nodded.
"Yeah, someone else must've help out. Which is very nice." He said, suddenly beaming with joy. "And I'm guessing the person who cleaned up put the key back. How nice of them."
"Th- thank you." I said. He smiled in return.
Truth Bullet 17- Otani Katsu's Account
I walked out of the kitchen, seeing Sugai leaning back in a chair at the dining room table. He gave me a smug grin, as I walked over. He chuckled to himself.
"Oh man! That was funny!" He giggled.
"W- what?" I asked. He chuckled again.
"You don't knoooooooowwwww? Ha! Maybe you aren't as smart as I thought." He laughed again. "I tripped Shishido at the party, and that's why you got covered in cake!" He maniacally put his hands together. "It was the perfect plan..."
"What?" I replied. He laughed again.
"Oh well! You don't need to know. Oh, by the way, the cake was delicious!" He said. I didn't say anything, just staring at him. "After you left, I stole some of the cake that you had been covered in. Five second rule, am I right?" He chuckled again.
"Y- you ate everything... didn't you..." I said, with a long sigh.
"Yep! That was me! It was actually pretty surprising how simple it was to take at least one part of everyone's dessert. But hey, it was delicious! My stomach doesn't even hurt!" He replied, chuckling again. That was... interesting.
Truth Bullet 18- Sugai Tatsuo's Account
I got up from the table, before looking to see Morita standing there.
"Hey Hirano!" She said, walking over to me. "Man, this place is weird. Nothing looks the same at all!" I paused, looking to her.
"What d- so you mean?" I asked.
"Oh yeah, I've got a really good memory! It's actually a bit weird, but it's fine. Anyway, this room is way cleaner than it was after the party." She said. Hmm, that sounds important.
Truth Bullet 19- Morita Yoshies Account
I paused, thinking to myself. What had Furuya said to me awhile back? I stopped, trying to focus on that one memory. It suddenly came back to me.
-flashback-
"You don't have to s- say anything though, I mean, I- I'm probably more of a coward th- than you are." It didn't exactly make me feel better, since she indirectly insulted me, but it was more of a self burn than one on me.
"W- what do you mean?" I asked. She took a long sigh.
"W- well, I have a fear of spiders, being upside down, and small spaces. I- I don't even know how someone could have three separate phobias, b- but I do. It's kind of s- sad." She said. I smiled a bit.
"I can understand most of those. But what about being upside down? Why is that?" I asked. She nervously laughed, as Sugai paused, and slowed down his pace, letting us catch up with him.
"Um, w- whenever I'm upside down I get really s- sick, and I end up throwing up. Like o- one time, I was on an upside-down r- roller coaster, and ended up spewing my guts out everywhere." She said. I doubt she means her actual guts, but that's kind of sad.
-end of flashback-
The only people who knew about that were Sugai and I. At least... that's what I think...
Truth Bullet 20- Furuya's Confession
I paused, looking to see that Yamazaki had entered the room. I paused, staring at him for a moment. Even though I didn't really like this guy, it was best if I tried to discuss things with him. After all, he was the first one to begin investigating.
"H- hey." I said, approaching him.
"Ugh, what do you want?" He asked, rolling his eyes.
"O- oh, I just want to d- discuss some stuff about the c- case with you..." I replied. He took a long sigh.
"I'm not actually investigating. I just wanted everyone to start doing it so I wouldn't have to." He said with a scoff. I didn't believe him.
"Oh... w- well. That's okay. C- could you investigate the k- kitchen though?" I asked. He stopped, before glaring at me.
"What do you mean?" He replied.
"I- I think it was used somehow." I said. He suddenly fell entirely silent, walking away before I could say another thing. Was it something I said?
Truth Bullet 21- Yamazaki's Suspicious Behavior
Even though he was being suspicious, I probably shouldn't focus to much on it. I need to go find Kajiwara. I need to know the details of the murder better. I walked out of the dining hall, and headed back to where Furuya's dead body was. Walking down the stairs to see her corpse, I almost puked. I still couldn't believe this happened. Maybe I don't have the guts to kill someone. Quickly, I approached Kajiwara to avoid looking at the body.
"H- hey Kajiwara. Um, what did you f- find out?" I asked.
"Well, I narrowed the time of death down a bit more. It's more between 2:00 and 2:30 that the broader time frame we were given in the murder file. Also, I don't think whatever made her puke was natural. Rather, I found traces of some sort of substance in her mouth. That's all I could figure out from the short time frame." He explained.
"Th- thanks. That'll be really h- helpful." I replied.
Truth Bullet 22- Kajiwara's Autopsy
Suddenly, the monitor turned on.
"H- hello everyone-" Araigu began, before suddenly being pushed out of frame. Ressa suddenness showed up on the video feed.
"You guys are so booooooooooorrrrrriiiiiiinnngggg that I'm gust going to start the trial now! Please head to the elevator next to the stairs!" Ressa said, before the monitor suddenly shut off.
I sighed, walking over to the elevator. I wasn't quite sure why the elevator had anything to do with the fact we had to head to a trial, but I got on anyway. People slowly began to arrive, taking there time to get on the elevator. And then, it began to move. Soon... we'd have a class trial. I took a deep breath. I had to... avenge her death. Anyway I could.
-Truth Bullets-
Truth Bullet 1- Murder File
Victim: Furuya Saki
Age: 15
Height: 6'1
Weight: 122
Time of Death: 1:00-4:00 PM
Cause of Death: The victim threw up a mass amount of blood, resulting in loss of bodily fluids, which ultimately took her life in a matter of seconds.
Bodily Wounds: None.
Truth Bullet 2- Blood on the Lips
The body had blood covering its lips, on both the top and bottom one. Blood also fell down her face, directly from where the mouth is. There also seems to be blood covering the chin.
Truth Bullet 3- Hanging Rope
This rope had been tied around the victims feet, and held them off of the balcony.
Truth Bullet 4- White Powder on the Fingers
The victim had a bit of powder on her fingers. It only resides on her fingers though.
Truth Bullet 5- Duct Tape
The duct tape was wrapped around the victims wrists and around the victims legs where the tights and skirt met. It may have been used to preserve the decency of the dead body.
Truth Bullet 6- Position of the Dead Body
The dead body was hanged from the balcony over the carpeted area.
Truth Bullet 7- Carpeted Floor
The floor beneath her is made of carpet. There's no evidence that it was touched or messed with. It is entirely clean.
Truth Bullet 8- Mystery Novel
The mystery novel Furuya was reading has been laud out on the floor close to where Furuya was found. The book is completely clean.
Truth Bullet 9- Balcony Appearance
The rope was hung from the balcony's railing, with it being entirely clean. The carpet also has traces of being tampered with.
Truth Bullet 10- Kitchen Floor
The floor of the kitchen is entirely clean. Not a single speck of dust or a trace of hair. There's also no evidence that anyone walked on the kitchen floor, except for a couple of footsteps leading into the kitchen.
Truth Bullet 11- Unmarked Bottle
A white bottle was found in the bottom of a trash can in the kitchen. The bottle seems to have had the labeled ripped off, and the insides cleaned out.
Truth Bullet 12- Cleaned Corner of the Table
One of the corners of the table has been cleaned, while the rest of the table doesn't have any traces of being cleaned. Rather, the entire table is covered in crumbs, while the corner has no remnants or traces of food. There's also no confetti on the corner, while the rest of the table is covered in pieces.
Truth Bullet 13- Used Cleaning Supplies
There are cleaning supplies in the kitchen. They've all been used, with the majority of the products almost being completely used up.
Truth Bullet 14- Kitchen Keys
The kitchen had two keys. One being used by Otani Katsu, and the other one being left in the kitchen. The doors to the kitchen were unlocked, and only one of the keys was on its hook.
Truth Bullet 15- Dessert Dishes
At the gathering, everyone ate their respective dessert dishes, with most of them being specially designed for certain people. Every dish was given to someone in particular.
Truth Bullet 16- Plates in the Sink
The plates that were previously on the table after the gathering are in the sink. None of them have been washed. Otani says that he wasn't the one who put the plates in the kitchen.
Truth Bullet 17- Otani Katsu's Account
Otani locked up the kitchen approximately thirty minutes after everyone had left, at around 1:30. He remembers that there wasn't a second key when he locked up, but he thought it was on his person. He remembers walking into the kitchen at around 5:30, thirty minutes before the body discovery, to clean the dining room, only to discover that it had already been cleaned. The key had also been returned to the hook. Otani says that someone must have kindly cleaned up the dining room as a gift to him. Also, Furuya was still in the dinging hall after he left.
Truth Bullet 18- Sugai Tatsuo's Account
Sugai says that during the party, he ate every single dish as it was being delivered to their respective person. He says that he's never enjoyed any dish more in his life, with him not getting a single weird taste or deterrent. He hasn't felt sick since the taste testing.
Truth Bullet 19- Morita Yoshies Account
Morita informed Hirano about her amazing memory. She remembers the exact state of the dining room after the party. Down to the smallest details.
Truth Bullet 20- Furuya's Confession
Furuya has mentioned to Hirano and Sugai that she has a fear of being upside-down, with her throwing up every time she is. The only ones who knew this were the two of them, unless she mentioned it to someone else.
Truth Bullet 21- Yamazaki's Suspicious Behavior
Hirano had mentioned to Yamazaki about how she thought the kitchen was somehow involved. This immediately turned the conversation off, with Yamazaki walking away. Does he know something?
Truth Bullet 22- Kajiwara's Autopsy
Kajiwara said that the cause of death wasn't because of anything natural. Rather, some sort of substance caused her to violently vomit. Her time of death was also narrowed down, with it being in between 2:00 and 2:30.
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