The lights on the walls below each of the televisions began brightening the room with a bright red light, the red light stretching out across the room but stopped just before the podiums where the students stood, creating an unlit part of the ground around them in a decagon shape.
Everyone stared at each other with blank and clueless expressions, but soon enough Monokuma raised his right hand and three of the TV's switched on with different angles of Lisa's body. Everyone noticed them right away and tried to look away but their eyes stuck to the picture.
"Are the pictures necessary?" Marcus said, his eyes the only ones not stuck to the TV.
Monokuma let out a soft laugh, "Of course! We've got to make this as exciting as possible, now let me explain the rules!"
He stood up on the tall bench and stretched his arms out, "The class trial is where you bastards will decide your fate based on the actions of an individual among you. Following one of you guys murdering another, and that person's corpse being discovered by three innocent students, the time until the class trial begins starts counting down. I explained this before, but now for the class trial explanations!"
Monokuma jumped back to his chair and gave a smile, "In the class trial, you guys are expected to debate about the murder, so I hope you all investigated, and have come to a conclusion on who the killer is. How you do this will be up to you and I will not be helping. But keep in mind what I said before, if you don't pick the correct person then everyone but the culprit will be executed!"
Monokuma let out a laugh again as he covered his mouth while everyone's expressions were still slightly blank.
"Now, enough with the silence! Get on with it!"
"Get on with what though, are you expecting us to figure out what happened to Lisa?" Lexi said as she wiped her eyes.
On Lexi's right was Stacey who was trying to avoid eye contact with everyone as she looked around the room, "We're not psychic's, we can't just tell, and we're not detectives either."
Joseph was on the right of Stacey, sticking his hands in his pocket to try and warm himself up, "T-though, some of us did investigate right? Did they find anything that might help us."
"Yeah!" Carlos, next to Joseph, said as he looked around at everyone else, "There has got to be something!"
Abby turned to face Jacob who was to her right, with Carlos to her left, and hit his shoulder lightly, "You have got to know, right?"
Jacob simply turned to Adam and stayed quiet as Adam met his gaze with a little shiver down his neck.
"Y-you expect me to start the discussion?" Adam said, only for Jacob to respond with a nod.
Adam lowered his head and took out his PAL, opening the Monokuma File as he read through the details again, his head lifting back up to speak.
"If we want to do anything, I'm going to just say we need to work out every inch of this case. A good starting point would be the murder weapon."
"The murder weapon, according to the Monokuma File, is a long metal object capable of making a big enough wound that she died from blood loss soon after being stabbed" Marco said, his PAL in his hand.
"So, could it have been a scalpel or something?" Rachel said as she shrugged and looked to her right where Simon was.
"No, we actually found the murder weapon while investigating, well Samuel did anyway."
"Oh yeah! He did, in the infirmary!" Joy said as she clapped her hands together in happiness.
"It was something in the infirmary? If not a scalpel then what could it be?" Benedict said with his right hand scratching his hair.
"Relax, it might've been just hidden there, let Samuel explain" Frankie said.
Samuel held his hips and raised his head in a heroic pose, "Behind the bookshelf was a long metal knife we assume is the murder weapon!"
Marcus sighed and slapped the boys head, "stop it, you're not being funny right now. You say it's the murder weapon but what proves it exactly?"
Samuel held the back of his head as he stared at Marcus, "Well, the fact that when we found it, it felt all wet like it had been cleaned recently."
"A bloody knife would make it clear that it was used for the killing, so finding a wet knife would be a little suspicious, don't you think?" Adam said.
"A wet knife?" Marcus said as he raised his eyebrow, he didn't look that impressed, "Is that your only reason for saying it was the murder weapon?"
"As Adam said, they could've cleaned-!" Samuel said but Marcus cut him off.
"For all we know it could've been a knife washed from dinner one night and misplaced by our cook"
"Oi!" Lexi said, going to hit the man's head, but Marcus caught her arm and lowered it down forcibly.
"I said, is that your only reason?" Marcus said again.
Samuel let out a growl and shook his head, "No it isn't, there was also a bit of blood on the middle of the knife, a tiny amount, we have picture proof."
Adam took out his PAL and opened the picture he had taken. The knife was shown on the infirmary's far left bed, the camera angle tilted so it shows the top of the handle as clearly as possible, and right there was a drop of blood, very little of it, but clearly there.
Marcus took a close look as he leant over his podium, Adam on the opposite side of the podium ring, but the PAL was big enough for Marcus to see the picture clearly. He straightened himself up again and shrugged gently.
"Believe me now that it's the murder weapon?" Samuel said.
"Well, yes I do, but if they wiped the weapon clean then why is there a little bit still there?"
"What do you mean?" Stacey said, "Obviously they missed some."
"No, he has a point" Simon said, "If you wet the knife and wash it down with a cloth, either the water or the cloth is going to get the blood off. It's weird that that part still has blood on it."
"Are you sure it was even wet?" Jacob said, finally speaking out loud.
Everyone turned towards him with a little confusion over their faces.
"Wait what?" Carlos said.
Lexi put her hands behind her back as she straightened up, "But it was wet, right Samuel?"
Samuel nodded, "Yeah definitely, Adam felt it too."
"It's true" Adam said.
Jacob shook his head gently, "Okay, you heard me wrong. I didn't mean wet as in with water. To my knowledge the infirmary has no sink that the killer could've wet the knife with, they would've had to run to the kitchen in the dormitories which has the only sink I've seen at least."
"Then how else could it have been wet?" Benedict said, "Come off it, you know something right!?"
Jacob gave a sigh and raised his face, "I'm talking about what if the knife was wet simply because of the blood itself. If the knife had been covered with blood from going into the stomach, and as a liquid it wouldn't be weird for blood to be wet like water, especially since we are 70% made of it, then wiping the blood off right after you're finished would be just like wiping water off a knife, the blade wouldn't be dripping but a simple touch would tell you everything."
"Which would explain the bit of blood that was left behind, it didn't come off because the killer must've been in such a rush they didn't notice they'd forgotten some blood."
Marcus held his hands tightly on his podium s he stared at Jacob intently, "Fantastic, so we worked out the problem with the blade, then why not the next question: where did it come from? I don't remember their being a knife lying around the school."
Everyone looked among each other, no answers coming up as to where it had been found, but then Adam's hand rose up as he stuttered.
"I believe it came from my room" he said with a little worry.
The thought hadn't even occurred to him until they were on the escalators earlier, but the knife in the infirmary, while he hadn't memorized it in every detail, seemed like it had been the same one he'd found on his first night at this school.
"Your room, now why do you think that exactly?" Marcus said.
Adam clenched his hands tightly and held onto his section of the podium ring before him, "On my first night here, in my room, there was a knife on my desk. I touched it, yes, but the confusion and anger from the events before then led me to throw it at the wall where it basically stayed and I just didn't pay it any notice after that."
"So is it still in your room? That would be the first step to proving whether it's the same right?" Rachel said.
Adam shook his head and looked around at everyone, "I hate to bring this up, but remember the second night when I was injured. Everyone came into my room, except for Marcus of course."
"I was fucking tied up, I remember it well, besides the fact I was asleep."
"Ignoring that, does anyone remember seeing a knife while inside my room? It would've been on the right side of my door in the wall."
Heads turned and foreheads were scratched but in the end no one answered.
Monokuma then smiled and clapped his hands together, a fourth TV behind Adam turning on, a camera view inside Adam's room of the door, and to its right was a crack in the wall as if it had been stabbed inside, but nothing was fitted into it.
"I thought so" Adam said with his voice fading into disappointment.
"So it was your knife then, then wouldn't that make you the most likely to have used it?" Marcus said.
"W-wait!" Joy said quickly, "As Adam said, we were all in his room, what if someone took it."
"It would've been really easy too, just walk in while we are watching Adam, and hide it behind our back or under our clothes as long as we avoid cutting ourselves" Benedict said.
Marco took a look at the TV with the view of the crack in the wall closely, his back turned to the others only slightly, "And that hole does seem to be pretty wide. If that is the same size of a cut that was given to Lisa then I can't see how the blood could've stopped from leaking out."
Marcus let out a slight growl and looked directly at Adam, "Once again, you are the prime suspect in my eyes, the only knife we know about in this school and you had it since the first day. What proof do you have that you didn't just hide the knife and use it to kill Lisa when you had the chance?"
Adam wanted to refute those words, but his voice failed and his hands grew sweaty. His eyes looked down in fear.
"If you don't mind Marcus, I'd rather we continue with the events of the murder and then head for the killer, if that is ok with you" Jacob said as he placed his hand on Adam's back, "Relax, alright?"
Adam looked up at Jacob and nodded as he cleared his throat and straightened up.
"Jeez," Marcus said as he stretched out his right hand, "Fine, we'll take the long way then. What do you wish to discuss, oh leader."
Jacob let out a slight smirk but it faded immediately, "First I'd like to get something out of the way, and it does mean I'll need to apologise but I just want to get the possibility out of the way. Was what we think a murder, actually a suicide?"
Gasps filled the room bit by bit, but only a little. Adam, Marco, Simon and Marcus were caught off guard but their faces were not in shock like everyone else's.
"I'd like to ask Monokuma something, what happens if you do commit suicide, naturally it is still murder, right?"
Monokuma let out a laugh and smiled, "Well that's obvious. Suicide is just a fancy word for murdering oneself, as long as it's not by natural causes or sickness, well I mean accidental sickness, then its ruled as a murder no matter what!"
Jacob let out a smile and stayed quiet as he viewed everyone around him.
"Is it even possible that Lisa could've killed herself?" Abby said.
"Of course not! She would never do that!" Joy said in a loud voice.
Marcus stared at Jacob, looking at his smile as everyone discussed whether suicide was actually a valid option here, and soon his own face grew with a smile.
"So that's what you are aiming for" he said.
Everyone met their eyes with Marcus immediately.
"What do you mean?" Joseph said, "Is there something wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong, more like we're on the right path but going in circles" Marcus said.
He put his hands behind his head and looked around, "So, who were the ones who saw the crime scene again? Adam, Marco, Samuel, Simon and Joy right, along with Jacob?"
Everyone except Jacob gave a nod to clarify his words.
"Then tell me this, is there even a small chance she committed suicide?"
The five of them thought on the idea for a little while, everyone else watching them, Jacob and Marcus watching intently while the others hoping desperately for an answer. Then Samuel spoke.
"It could be," he said, "I was thinking she could've walked to the classroom then stabbed herself. But then I remembered the blood trail, so what if she originally stabbed herself in the infirmary and just walked to the classroom and died on the chair because of the blood loss?"
Adam shook his head, almost feeling like vomiting at Samuels description but instead ignored it as much as possible.
"That's nowhere near possible, the Monokuma file says she died from blood loss shortly after being stabbed. I'm not an expert, but if the stab wound didn't cause her so much pain that she couldn't walk, then the blood leaking out of her from the wound would definitely cause her body to become weak before she even left the infirmary. She couldn't have made it to the classroom."
"What if she left the knife in her stomach then, and stopped the blood from coming out?" Benedict said.
"Then how did the knife get behind the bookcase? And on another note, if she had somehow committed suicide, then who would've cleaned the cloth. She wouldn't have had enough time if the Monokuma file is correct about how long it took til she died after being stabbed."
Jacob smiled even more and clapped his hands together once, "Exactly, that's all I wanted to hear. So we can mark this as a murder by someone else and no one else."
The shivers ran down everyone's spine, but they did their best to ignore it and continue.
"Alright, so with that topic out of the way, can I recommend we discuss when she was actually killed?" Marco said.
"When she was killed?" Lexi said, "I would assume it was this morning, it couldn't have been done last night or else we would've noticed the blood trail in the hallway sooner, right?"
"No, I don't think so" Samuel said, "The doors lock at 10 PM, remember. If she had been killed and moved just before 10 PM then we wouldn't have known."
"Oh another thing" Stacey said, "You keep saying how there is this blood trail, where does it trail to?"
Monokuma clapped his hands again, a fifth TV showing a view of the blood trail between the maths classroom and the infirmary as Simon spoke, "We assume she was carried from the infirmary to the classroom."
"Could it have been the opposite?" Frankie said, "Like maybe a false herring, she could've been killed in that chair, then carried to the infirmary and brought back to make the trail trick us into thinking she had been killed in the infirmary."
Jacob shook his head but it was Marco who spoke, "Unfortunately not. On the left infirmary bed when I pulled the blankets back there was a large stain of blood on the bottom of the blanket. The only way that much blood could've gotten there was if the body of Lisa had been under those blankets and the blood was leaking out of her."
"So she was murdered there then?" Joy said.
Adam's eyes then seemed to widen, Jacob noticing as he faced the boy and smiled, "Did you think of something?"
Adam faced the man with a face of horror as he started to step back. His feet almost numb and his hands were refusing to move at his will but he soon calmed himself down and looked forward.
"What was that about?" Marcus said, "Not going to start being sick here are we?"
Adam ignored the question and instead held the podium ring again as his eyes, filled with confusion and fear, looked at everyone in the room.
"You all remember when Rachel told Jacob and myself to get to the infirmary because Lisa had been hurt, correct?"
"That was at around 8 at night, correct?" Rachel said.
"I think so, but that doesn't matter. What I'm saying is, what if Lisa was dead from the very moment we entered that infirmary."
The words were confusing to most of the students, but once the meaning got to their brains their eyes widened and some of them started clenching their fists on the podium ring or their clothes.
"Dead as in, since the night before? She had been dead for a whole night before we noticed?" Joy said.
"It would explain the blood under the blanket. The killer simply stabbed her stomach and used the blankets to cover her wound. Three blankets would be more than enough to hide the red colour of blood. And the way the beds in the infirmary were done, with the ends of the blankets pushed under the mattress of the bed, the blood wouldn't easily leak off the bed accidentally."
"But Rachel was taking care of her, she would've realised if someone had killed Lisa obviously!" Joseph said.
"Not while she was trying to get Jacob and me" Adam said, "For those two minutes she was gone, the killer could've been hidden in a classroom or anything. They'd just have to wait til she left the room, stabbed Lisa's stomach, pull the blankets over her, wash the knife, put it behind the bookcase and then leave. Lisa would've bled to death very quickly."
"I saw her face though, it looked very peaceful, not like she had been stabbed. Someone's face after being stabbed would show their pain, right?" Jacob said.
"They most likely used their fingers to close the eyelids and reposition the lips. That's the best guess I have without proper proof" Adam said.
"But wait" Samuel said, "Just because she was killed in the bed doesn't mean it was last night. What if it was this morning and they just moved the body immediately after, then left the building as soon as possible?"
"Because Joy and I checked on Lisa right after finishing breakfast, and we saw no one on our way there once we were out of the dormitories" Adam said.
"I can agree to that" Joy said, "No one was there in the courtyard or even inside the school building."
"So unless they are an amazing hider, there is no doubt she was killed last night, correct?" Benedict said.
"It would seem like it, but does that mean she was moved last night too?" Stacey said.
"I can't tell, it could've been last night or even this morning. Moving the body is a lot faster all by itself, if they had waited outside the schools doors til exactly 7:30 and then rushed on with their work, they would've been back before Adam and Joy left" Jacob said.
"So there is no way to tell when she was moved then, that sucks" Joy said.
Adam took a look at Jacob who shared it back with a smile, Adam looked around the group, "I, I think by answering when she was killed, we just worked out who killed her."
Shock filled the room faster than before, but everyone was immediately looking around at each other while Adam looked down, unable to bring the words out of his mouth but Jacob held on to his shoulder.
"You need to trust them remember, didn't you tell me we're a team? If we are a team, then question them yourself and trust in them."
Adam rose his head and nodded, meeting with Marcus' eyes who were a little confused but deeply interested.
"First, I would like to clarify something. Could everyone take their shoes off?"
Everyone looked down at their shoes in a little confusion, and then back at Adam.
"Um, why?" Rachel said.
"I'm asking please, can you just slip both of your shoes off and group up behind me?"
There was a little silence, but with hesitation everyone began slipping their shoes off and walking towards the flooring behind Adam.
"Marco, can I request something of you?"
"Depending what it is, I will do my best" Marco said.
"If anyone tries running away, please stop them" Adam said.
Marco was stunned slightly, but he politely nodded and turned to keep an eye on everyone as Adam called for Samuel and Jacob.
"I need you two to start checking everyone's shoes, just flip them upside down alright?"
Samuel knew what was happening, and while Jacob didn't, they both agreed without hesitation and began taking everyone's shoes and flipping them so their soles were facing upwards.
"W-why are you checking our shoes exactly?" Rachel said.
Adam gave a long sigh as he closed his eyes and stood up, Jacob walking over with Samuel to the pair of shoes Adam was looking at. As Adam faced the group, the two of them looked down to see a bit of blood over the right shoe.
"You see, in the hallway with the blood trail, there was a footprint on one of the puddles. Someone had stepped into it at some time and not even realised it."
Adam turned and took a look at the name on the podium that the shoes were in front of, then turned back at the group.
"Please explain how you got Lisa's blood on your shoes, Rachel."
Everyone's eyes met with Rachel who's face could not be explained better than in terror. Her skin was pale and her eyes were widened, her right hand was gripping her hair tightly.
"What are you talking about, let me see?!"
She moved through the group and towards her shoes as she saw the blood nice and clear, her hand slipping off her hair and her mouth dropping.
"Upupu" Monokuma said as he laughed, "Oh my, am I the only one turned on by this development?"
Ignoring those bold words, Adam walked up to Rachel, "Please, why do you have her blood?" he said.
Rachel continued looking, her face slowly returning with colour as she looked up at Adam, "N-No, it's wrong alright. I just accidentally stepped in it while in the hallway during your investigations!"
"You were in the entrance hall with Abby, completely dazed out" Jacob said, "Stop the lying Rachel, why can't you admit it."
"Admit what exactly?!" she said with a roar from her mouth while pulling on her hair, "You think I killed the bitch? I'm not a killer alright!"
"Really?" Jacob said as he moved up closer to Rachel, causing her to back up a little til she hit the stairs and tripped backwards, her face forced to look up at the smiling Jacob before her.
"I still have three pieces of evidence it was you, if you are interested."
"S-stop staring at me like that, it's creeping me out" Rachel said as she tried climbing up the stairs but Jacob kept walking up nice and slow, following her, but his shoulder was held on to by Adam who turned him around then proceeded to slap his cheek nice and hard.
"What the hell are you doing by making her scared like that!?"
Jacob held his cheek with his left hand as he narrowed his eyes away
Rachel immediately stood to her feet and tried running for the big red doors but instead she was met with Marco who grabbed her in his arms and carried her back down to the podium ring.
"I'm sorry alright" Jacob said, "I-I just got into my old nature too much."
"This isn't one of your cold cases, this is our friend, be more sensible."
Jacob gave a slow nod, Adam holding out his right hand for Jacob which Jacob shook politely and they both walked back to their positions, Adam turning to the still confused students who were in shock.
"I know it's a lot, but can you please all move back to your seats?" he said.
Everyone slowly moved their heads as if they had just woken up, their eyes staring at Rachel and at Adam before Joy clenched up her fists and walked up to Rachel, only for Monokuma to clap his hands and have a glass wall be drawn out of the ground in Joy's path.
"I know that expression! You are not going to use violence in my courtroom!"
Joy hit the glass panel, her fists relaxing as she dropped her hands to her sides and sighed. The glass panel was lowered and she walked back to her podium in silence while not looking at anyone, especially Rachel. Soon enough, everyone else made their way back to their spot too and so Adam spoke as everyone slowly got their shoes back on.
"I'm asking you again, Rachel, did you kill Lisa?"
Rachel, now out of Marcus' grip, was trying her best not to start laughing with the smile on her face which soon was turned towards Adam.
"Because of blood? Is that all? As I said! I stepped in it accidentally while you all were busy!"
"Once again, you were never in the hallway!" Jacob said, "Stop making lies!"
Adam sighed and lowered his head, "You know, Jacob, I did say that we need to trust ourselves, but when that trust isn't returned it really hurts."
He lifted his head and looked up at Jacob, "What were those three pieces of proof you had exactly?"
"Oh?" Jacob said, "I thought you'd be able to know."
"This isn't the time for games! Just tell us them please, then maybe Rachel can see its useless to lie and maybe then she can finally speak up."
Jacob gave a slight sigh and nodded, "Well, two of them have to do with the same moment, last night in the infirmary. When Rachel and Adam left, I felt the need to check if Lisa was alright and so I checked her breath only to find she wasn't breathing at all."
Rachel's face began to grow paler as her hand tightened on her hair more.
"I instinctively pulled the blankets back to resort to C P R, but when I did I noticed the blood over the blanket and from her stomach. It was then I realised what had happened, it was also then when I came to realise Lisa was dead."
"W-wait, you knew this from the start?!" Marcus said, "You could've mentioned this earlier!"
"No, I couldn't have. You don't throw your trump card out first, you corner them with the small stuff and then give it your best. It's simple logic."
Marcus let out a growl as Jacob saw Rachel even angrier but she was smiling slightly, "So what? She was dead, we discussed it earlier. Someone must've killed her while I had come to get you."
Jacob gave a soft sigh, "Not enough for you, alright then, then how about the body discovery announcement?"
Everyone pointed their heads towards Jacob.
"What about it?" Simon said.
"Monokuma clearly stated when three people, or to be exact three innocent people, find a body that a body discovery announcement will be made. Why wasn't it made last night. If Lisa was actually killed last night, and Adam, Rachel and myself were in the room afterwards, we would've been counted as three people finding a body even if we ourselves didn't know she was dead right?"
Rachel's hand was slowly losing her grip on her hair as her eyes widened and her mouth was stuttering but not speaking.
"S-so she wasn't counted as a discovery..." Lexi said.
"Because she wasn't one of the innocent students, now that was an exciting fact" Marcus said with a smile.
"W-whoa hold up now! Just because Monokuma was lazy about his work doesn't mean anything. And what if it doesn't ring unless we are certain the persons dead? We all thought she was alive at the time remember?!" Rachel said.
Monokuma let out a growl as he leant forward, "I am not lazy! I just eat alot of honey," he said, "and besides I don't care what you guys think, a dead body is a dead body through and through! When it's found it doesn't matter what position it is in!"
Jacob raised his hand towards Monokuma as if he was telling Rachel, 'he said it, not me,' which made Rachel's growl grow.
"I-I don't care still, I didn't kill her!"
"Would you care to bet your life on that?" Adam said, cutting Jacob's argument off and surprising the boy.
"You actually have some piece of evidence?" Jacob said.
Adam clenched his fists and gave a nod, "Evidence that Rachel definitely came in contact with the victim, Lisa, yes I do."
Rachel pointed her right index finger at Adam as her left hand held her waist, "Impossible!"
"Jacob, you took a picture of it right? The fingernails of Lisa."
Jacob took out his PAL and opened the pictures tab where he brought up the picture of the red material under Lisa's nails.
"Rachel, I've noticed you've been holding your waist quite a bit today, if you were able to move your hands away from your shirt and skirt I'd like to check for any scratches that might have resulted in the pieces of fabric under Lisa's fingernails."
Rachel's eyes darted down to her left hand holding the left side of her shirt as her face went pale and her eyes simply stayed fixed to the ground below. Her hands dropped down to her sides and Adam noticing bits of her shirt cut out, tiny holes, but fitting the amount that was under Lisa's fingers.
"That would explain your bath this morning" Jacob said.
"Wait, her bath?" Frankie said.
"You saw it too, and Benedict. Honestly I have to thank Benedict, if he hadn't been perving like an idiot then I wouldn't have noticed this, but you were bathing with your shirt still on weren't you?"
Rachel looked up at Jacob with a blank expression, her mouth moving like she was trying to talk, like she wanted to prove him wrong, but her voice failed and instead she gave up.
"Silent? Then let me be your voice, I'll show you exactly how this happened and then we'll see what you think!"
Jacob held his hands on the podium before him, his eyes closing as he thought hard on the events. Everyone around him began staring at the boy, and then he began talking.
"It was probably around the time you took Lisa out yesterday. You took her for a ride around the courtyard as you had the day before, but this day was different because of that note. You had just received that note from Monokuma and whatever was written on it gave you the desire to escape, and so you chose the weakest one of all of us, the handicapped. You most likely were truthful about causing her to fall out of her wheelchair, but the only reason I assume that is you needed her unconscious since if you were to ride into the infirmary she would be wondering what you were doing. Also killing her in the courtyard and bringing her to the infirmary would just make it more suspicious, the courtyard is pretty open and you were still the only person to have been with Lisa at that time.
When you got to the infirmary, Lisa had most likely already started waking. It had been a short fall but just enough for you to get her into the place you desired the most. You took a tissue and covered her mouth to avoid her screaming, and then you plunged her stomach with the knife which caused her to bleed to death from under the blankets. You then cleaned the knife and hid it behind the bookcase, but whatever you did to the cloth that cleaned it was never found out. You then called for some help in the infirmary, and lucky for you it was only me and Adam. If there had been one more person then that would've counted for three innocents finding a body and you'd be in a real bad situation.
While you two were gone and I was staying behind, that was when I found out the real details of Lisa, but instead of confronting Rachel I decided to play along in hopes that this exact moment would occur, and like always that was the best choice.
Then comes when you moved the body. While we found no proof as to when the body was moved, I doubt you did it that night. Going back there randomly before 10 PM would be suspicious if anyone saw you. My guess would be you woke up before the announcement this morning and waited outside the doors, then when they opened you carried the body over your shoulder with her stomach facing downwards which caused the blood to drip over the floor and also on your shirt, sadly you didn't notice the blood on the floor since you were so surprised earlier that it had been on your shoe this whole time. When you put the body down on the seat in the classroom you headed right back for the dorms as you knew Adam was going to check for Lisa very soon. When you got back though, Adam and I were eating our breakfast and so you had to quickly get into your room. I remember quite well that Adam had turned at the sound of something behind him, but had instead finished his cereal and went to get Lisa, but if he had bothering checking it out your plan wouldn't have been as clever as you were hoping.
And lastly you waited til Adam and Joy left, and no one was in the dining area, so you went to the bathhouse for a little rinse, though it wasn't for a normal bath, I'd say it was because you wanted to get the blood off your shirt out. Unfortunately for you though Benedict noticed you, and through him, Frankie and I also noticed, which ended pretty badly for you. But with that, Rachel, your crime is solved and put out for everyone to see, so stop with the silence and speak up like a proper friend of ours!"
Jacob raised his head and opened his eyes as he stared at Rachel, his eyes digging into her soul almost. Rachel's eyes widened in complete fear as she was once again gripping her hair with her left hand, but slowly her hand fell to her side and her right hand flicked her hair back behind her while she turned her head.
"Did you really just call me a friend of yours?"
Jacob straightened up, his arms crossing on his chest, "We're all friends, and friends trust each other, there shouldn't be anything between them."
Rachel let her head lower slightly as she twirled the ends of her hair around her right index finger, "A friend, hm, I was stupid for not trusting in you all and going on my own."
"You admit it then?" Marcus said.
Rachel turned her head away and rested her back against her podium as she flicked her hair again, "If it makes you feel better then yes, I killed Lisa."
There were a few gasps from a couple of the students, mainly Stacey, Abby, Simon and Carlos, but everyone else were either as calm as they could be or just speechless.
"But, why did you give into it" Joseph said, his head bowed down as he tried hiding his pale expression.
"Really?" Rachel said, "Isn't it obvious, I didn't give into Monokuma, I simply couldn't take the thought that this was my life now. I'm an actress, It's my life to be able to move around and feel the thrill of the stage! There is nothing like that here."
"Yet earlier you said you were stupid for not trusting us, were you starting to cope?" Simon said.
Rachel turned back around and brought her hair over her head so it was in front of her face a tiny bit on her right side.
"I admit, I wanted to get out of here the moment I was told we were trapped. You all were nothing to me, simply random people. You were no different from the audience at my plays. But Jacob and Adam made a very good point with that little speech of theirs, it made realise just a little bit that escaping is not worth it if I get blood on my hands."
"Then what the hell happened?!" Carlo said, "We would've been alright!"
Rachel stayed quiet as she used her individual fingers to brush down her hair in front of her right eye.
"It was that stupid note, there is no other explanation" Jacob said.
Rachel looked up and met with Jacob's eyes, "Stupid?"she said, "It was not fucking stupid! An actress lives to be on the stage, I don't care if it's recording for a movie or practicing for a live play, it's my life! When you are given the opportunity for a part then you go for it, especially if it's something you've been dying for."
Rachel's hands fell to the podium as her face bowed down, a couple of drops of tears falling from her eyes.
Jacob went to speak but Adam stared into his eyes as to stop him from talking and just to allow the silence to fill the room until Marcus started speaking even with Adam beckoning him to be quiet.
"So you killed Lisa because you were too weak to cope with the situation, is that it?"
Rachel looked up at him with her eyes almost burning with anger besides the tears surrounding her eyes, but the anger fled.
"Yes..."
Rachel looked to her left, where Lisa's sign was standing upright, and made a soft smile as she wiped her eyes, "I'm sorry."
As she finished wiping her eyes there was a growl from Monokuma who stood up on the bench and leant forward, "Enough with the cry fest! Gosh, I'm going to need a few bullets for myself just to cope with this never ending show."
Everyone heard him, but only Jacob and Marcus turned to look, though everyone stayed quiet as Monokuma straightened up and raised his right hand.
"Since I can tell you have all come to a decision, let's begin by casting our votes and see if you are correct in your decision. Be careful though, if one person doesn't vote for the correct person, besides the killer, then I can't promise they'll be let off easily!"
Monokuma lowered his hand and from the ground in the middle of the podium ring rose 16 different small screens showing a list of each of the 16 students on them, with Lisa's image darkened.
"Please make a choice of who you think the killer is, you'll only get to click once so be careful."
Everyone used their fingers one by one on the screen and once they had made their decisions the screens lowered back into the ground with the students feeling themselves consumed by dread while Monokuma raised both his hands into the sky.
"With your choices made it's time to begin voting time! Lady luck, do you thing!"
"Lady Luck?" Jacob said softly and everyone looked up to the TV's as they all switched off, but then resumed themselves to a grey screen with two square icons side by side, both filled with a question mark each.
The two icons began cycling downwards through different other types of square icons, everyone realising they were containing pictures of the students themselves. Soon enough both icons on every screen stopped; the left icon on every screen had Rachel's picture fixed onto it, and the right icon had a blank picture instead.
There was a loud sound from the speakers like if you'd just won the jackpot and Monokuma started waving his arms around with a laugh escaping his mouth.
"Correct!" he said, "You all gave it your all and came out on top, congratulations!"
Even with his happy tone while saying congratulations, no one looked happy, but Jacob did have a weird look towards the screens.
"What's that second icon mean?" he said.
Monokuma looked down at Jacob with a smile and a red flash of his right eye before covering his mouth, "Are you sure you want to know?" he said.
Jacob gave a gentle nod as everyone began looking up at the blank square icon on every screen elsewhere but Monokuma instead leant forward with his arms out.
"Well I'm not telling, it's a surprise! So be patient!"
Monokuma then jumped off the bench and landed in the centre of the podium ring as he smiled, "With that finished, I'm sure you all know what's next right?"
Everyone gave a look among each other, their faces pale again but instead Rachel spoke up.
"Before, um, before anything happens, I just want to say something."
Monokuma turned to her with a little anger in his eye, "What is it, bitch?"
Rachel growled at the word but instead tried to stay calm as she spoke.
"I'm sorry for how this turned out, standing here right now is proof that it was the worst choice I've ever made for my life and honestly I regret it dearly. I'm not asking for forgiveness, after all you hardly knew me, but I am asking you to not let this get to you. You are so much stronger than me, that's clearly shown by how desperate I was to get out, I just hope you all can get through this."
With her words Monokuma's face turned away and he pretended to be vomiting, sound effects being made in-between coughs as he wiped his mouth.
"Gosh, you could've made it a little better, but that doesn't matter! It's time for my event!"
"You're talking about what you mentioned earlier, right?" Adam said.
"E-execution..." Joseph said.
Monokuma gave a twirl on his right leg as, from below him, rose a seat and also the gong from his body discovery announcement.
"Without further ado, it's time for the long awaited punishment for the Ultimate Actress, Rachel Reed!"
Monokuma spun on the seat he was standing on as, from the ground in front of him, launched a metal bar which he caught in his paw, the bar seeming to magnetized to his hand since there were no fingers.
"Time to get things rolling, it's punishment time!"
He hit the gong hard, the sound reverberating through the room as the TV's switched on to a pixelated picture of Rachel's, her neck being caught by a rope and pulled off to the right side of the screen. Everyone immediately turned to Rachel whose face was seen smiling but also crying, and then the floor below her opened up which caused her to fall down into a long pipe which headed straight down.
"R-Rachel!" Adam said but the floor closed up and the TV's changed to a camera view of a large stage that was filled with darkness except for the spotlight shining on the centre of the stage.
"Enjoy the show kids!" Monokuma said.
Rachel landed on what felt like floorboards. There was darkness everywhere and she couldn't see anything through it. Soon enough she felt a breeze and lights began turning on which revealed large curtains in front of her moving to the sides, revealing her to be on a large stage in what looked like a huge theatre.
She looked out at the audience, every single seat was filled with duplicates of Monokuma.
She felt her right arm raise itself and so she looked in its direction, a string having pierced itself through her wrist and was controlling her limb. She tried taking control by forcing her arm to pull down but control over her right arm had been lost for good. Her legs then started forcing her to walk across the stage, pieces of string also pieced through her thighs, and no matter how much she tried to she couldn't gain control back.
Her body walked across the stage with her right arm raising itself and her left arm being raised to, a piece of string also pierced through its wrist. Whoever was controlling her was forcing her to act out moments from her past plays. She turned her head around as she viewed the audience, her head being the only part of her she could control, but her legs kept her moving back and forth over the stage as her arms repeated different actions for the audience.
After a minute of being forced to move around, the audience began making sounds of disappointment and towards the stage they threw different types of food and crumpled pieces of paper in her direction, so Rachel's body began working faster. Her legs moved across the stage at twice the speed they had before, and her arms were making actions such as stretching themselves out, or holding her waist, or simply brushing at her hair, but the disappointed sounds from the audience kept growing and growing.
The audience then jumped from their seats and Rachel was caught by the Monokuma's, all of them carrying her on top of the crowd as they climbed onto the stage. At the centre of the stage two circle holes appeared as the floorboards there disappeared and Rachel's feet were pushed inside, her legs trapped and her body still out of her control.
The audience backed off as Rachel's face looked to the curtains beside her, the ends of the curtains exposing spikes along itself.
Her face went purple, and tears fell from her eyes, but then the curtains closed and her body was cut in half by the spikes, her back half falling behind the curtain and her front half falling forward onto the stage as the Monokuma audience began cheering.
The feeling of terror is usually felt when you are fearing for your life by something you are unsure about, but the feeling of being scared for your life by something you already know is another. The students were filled with blank expressions and their bodies were sweating endlessly.
The silence didn't last long though, because from the centre of the podium where the seat and gong had disappeared from jumped Monokuma who ran back to his judges seat with a large smile.
"God that felt good, what a lovely meal!"
He looked out to the shocked students who were staring at images on the TV, it was frozen on the stage with Rachel's front half laying down on the floorboards.
"Hey, are you all listening to me?!" Monokuma said.
His voice hit them out of surprise but their faces remained pale even while they looked in his direction.
"W-why did you have to do that to her?" Simon said.
"She was our friend!" Stacey said.
Monokuma let out a laugh which echoed through everyone's head, "I don't care about that, all I care about is my goal!"
Jacob clenched his fists hard as he looked up at Monokuma, "And what would that be?"
Monokuma smiled as he stood up on the chair properly, "None of your business! But before you all leave, I do have one last thing I want to explain."
He jumped onto the bench in front of him as everyone heard a sound and saw, where Rachel had just stood, a sign rising from the ground with Rachel's scared face just before the curtains had killed her. There was a large X in blood over it.
"Do you guys remember anything about the Tragedy?" Monokuma said.
If there was any way to make them more scared, this was it. Silence filled the room as Monokuma let out a laugh.
"Well for the record, did any of you see what caused the destruction of so much of the city?"
Faces began looking around but everyone shook their heads.
"I wasn't allowed to even go outside, my parents were doing their best to protect me" Samuel said.
"Same here, we were all kids back then so I doubt we would've been even allowed to come close" Lexi said.
Monokuma smiled again, "I want to show you what was the cause of most of the destruction!"
He clapped his hands and the TV's switched from Rachel's body to a picture of a large machine punched out a building right next to it as easily as hitting a ball.
What the students noticed mainly though, was that the machine looked exactly like Monokuma, only alot tall and bigger.
"W-wait" Marcus said, "I don't get it."
Monokuma let out a darker laugh as he raised his hands, "Exactly, you bastards. That glorious time known as the Tragedy may have ended, but the fact that I am still here, and that you are all my pets for this game, is proof that it can never be destroyed! Does that scare you? Are you all going to run to mummy?"
When no one answered him, Monokuma simply lowered his arms, "Gosh you are all boring. I can't even get off on this anymore, you know. Just get out of here. I don't care what happens."
He straightened his body and went to clap his hands but instead smiled, "Lastly, try not to forget what happened here. You may all have the power of friendship between you, but look where it got two of your friends! I'll see you all tomorrow, have fun!"
He clapped his hands properly, only for the floor around students to sweep up like an ocean wave and the students were launched out the red doors which closed behind them. Their bodies hit the escalators which were now heading up and out of this hidden area, their bodies rolling onto the ground behind the school building and the large doors closing on them with everyone too exhausted to even get themselves up.
It took a good ten minutes for everyone to finally get to their feet, and even then they didn't even know what to say.
Joseph, with his head down like the rest, tried speaking up, "W-what do we do..."
"What can we do" Abby said.
"Two of our friends are dead, we can't just randomly move on with it" Carlos said.
Adam gripped his pants tightly, but began to look up at everyone, "I think that's exactly what we should do, even though it seems impossible we should at least try."
"You're an idiot then" Marcus said, his face too unnaturally pale, "death is nothing to just ignore."
"Who said we should ignore it?" Adam said, everyone giving him their attention as he spoke, "Rachel said she hoped we wouldn't let what happened get to us. I get she didn't expect what happened to her, but the fact remains she wants us to at least try and work together. The fact she regretted what she did should be proof to that as well."
Jacob held Adam's shoulder as he looked forward as well, "he's right, we're friends. Even if it's only been five days since we met, that doesn't change the fact we're in this together. We can't move on from the deaths of our friends, but we can carry them with us and try our best to make the right choices from now one, right?"
The silence this time didn't last as long, everyone tried their best to smile except for Marcus who simply sighed, but even he gave a nod in agreement.
"We still need to do something about escaping without following Monokuma anyway" Marco said.
Frankie put his hands over his stomach, "And more importantly we need to eat, I hate to admit it but I am kind of hungry."
Frankie's stomach made a small noise as he finished talking, snorts of laughter being heard as Lexi sighed, "Fine, I'll try to cook something alright? Geez."
Adam and Jacob gave a smile as everyone made their way to the dorms. Everyone seemed alright for the moment, they were getting along and that was the best thing for them at the moments.
But the thought that was scaring everyone though, was how long would this happiness last? They all tried not to think about it as they joined each other in the dining area for their meal, but the thought was still in everyone's head and it wouldn't go away.
No one never wanted to see that scary room again.
But it's never easy.
Arial, sans-" )6