Crossed out portraits are standing where Chuya and Seiichi stood last trial. It seems no one is ready to get used to it yet.
CLASS TRIAL
ALL RISE!
"Let's begin with a brief explanation of the Class Trial!" Monokuma begins, sitting on his large throne-like chair "The result of the class trial will be determined by all of your votes. If you can point out the culprit, then only the culprit will be punished. However, if you vote for the wrong person, everyone except the culprit will be punished. And only the culprit who deceived everyone will be spared and will graduate!"
"Okay, let's begin." Yuna tells them.
"But where do we start this time?" Reiji wonders.
"Watanabe-kun is right, we didn't find anything that could be the murder weapon." Ginjiro agrees.
"C-could it be that the culprit has k-killed Ueda-kun without an o-object?" Yukiji suggests.
Ren nods "I agree with you, Shintani-san. The reason we didn't find something that could be the murder weapon is because the culprit used their own hands to strangle Ueda-kun."
"Ah, you're referring to the bruises on his neck, aren't you?" Kagami asks.
"The ones that Endo-san pointed out before we started investigating?" Ichiro questions.
"Those bruises were shaped like fingers." Naomi confirms "But there's something else I noticed, the two bruises on his windpipe seemed to be the shape of thumbs."
"Then the culprit must've been standing in front of Ueda-kun while strangling him." Tatsuya states.
"Guys, how often must I say this." Aika whines "You are trusting an experienced killer on everything she says. How do we know she isn't feeding us lies?"
"Endo-san helped us during the last trial too..." Kaida points out.
Aika giggles "That could've been just to gain our trust. You're too naive, Matsui-chan, that's going to be your downfall.~"
'We can definitely trust Endo-san right now. I just need to convince Yano-san so she can shut up.' Ren thinks to himself "Endo-san can't be the culprit. She has an alibi."
"Yeah, she was in the library the whole time." Ginjiro confirms "I was there too."
"S-so Endo-san and Yamasaki-kun h-have an alibi." Yukiji stutters.
"Hold on, there's something I'd like to adress before we continue." Yuna speaks up "I'd like to know who triggered the body discovery announcement."
"Well, that's something we can't be sure about." Haru says.
"Huh? And why the fuck not?" Maeko questions.
"If three people see the corpse, it triggers the body discovery announcement, correct? Well, that's a problem, because the third and fourth witness arrived at the same time."
"Hold on, Azuma-kun." Kagami pinches the bridge of her nose before taking a deep breath "First; who were those witnesses? Second; who were the first two? And third: how did you obtain this information?"
"Azuma-kun and I were the first two." Kaida admits "I wanted to see how Ueda-kun was doing but..." She looks down, sadness in her eyes.
"I was confused that Matsui would just stand still in front of a door, so I took a look inside and saw Ueda's body. We agreed that I'd find everyone on the floor we were on and she'd look for the others upstairs." Haru explains.
"He got Yamasaki and I from the library." Naomi states.
"I see... Makes sense." Reiji mutters.
"Then, may I suggest the next topic?" Ichiro asks. When no one objects he continues "How could someone possibly overpower Ueda-kun, who is incredibly fast."
"Maybe th-they ambushed him?" Yukiji suggests.
"Yeah, they sneaked up on him from behind..." Maeko begins "And, wham, grabbed his throat!"
"So the culprit ambushed and strangled him from behind..." Reiji thinks out loud.
"No, we've already established that the culprit was standing in front of him." Kagami points out.
"Maybe the culprit overpowered him.~" Aika suggests.
"As much as I hate to say this, I agree with Yano-san." Ren sighs "It's likely that the culprit overpowered Ueda-kun."
"So anyone shorter than Ueda-kun couldn't have done it?" Ginjiro questions.
Naomi sighs "That means only Yano got off the hook with that."
"Matsui-san isn't that much taller than Ueda-kun either." Tatsuya points out.
"Maybe we should discuss who else has an alibi." Haru suggests "Except Endo and Yamasaki we don't know what everyone was doing."
"Well, Fujioka-san, Shintani-san and Suzuki-kun were ill, so they wouldn't be able to do anythin' like that." Reiji says.
"The same goes for Arita-san, Matsui-san and Kisaragi-kun, who were together to take care of them around the time of murder." Ginjiro adds.
"Then that leaves Kimura-kun, Azuma-kun, Haseyama-san, Watanabe-kun and Yano-san without an alibi." Ichiro states.
"However, we just established that Yano-san couldn't have strangled Ueda-kun." Yuna says.
"We should try to narrow it down more." Kaida suggests.
"I have an idea. Everyone without an alibi, do you have long nails?" Naomi asks.
"Why d-does the length of someone's fingernails m-matter?" Yukiji wonders.
"Because there were no impressions of nails on Ueda's neck, which can only be the case if the culprit doesn't have long nails."
Out of the four, Haru is the only one who's fingernails are probably long enough to leave impressions if he weren't careful.
"Then that leaves Kimura-kun, Haseyama-san and Watanabe-kun." Kagami states.
"The hell?! You're suspecting me?!" Maeko exclaims.
"We need to suspect everyone in order to survive." Naomi huffs.
"Easy for you to say! You're not on the fucking list!"
"I don't enjoy being a suspect either, Haseyama-san. But if we can't prove our innocence we have to be suspected." Ren tells her.
"Tch. Fine, but expect me to yell a fucking 'I told you so' at all of you."
"There's something else that's been bothering me. If the culprit strangled Ueda while standing in front of him, how did they manage to grab his throat in the first place. As a ninja, Ueda is incredibly fast." Haru points out.
"You've got a point." Yuna crosses her arms and looks lost in thought.
"Then they were faster than Ueda-kun!" Aika beams.
"I doubt it." Reiji grumbles "None of us is faster than that ninja."
"Then how did they manage to grab his throat?" Ichiro wonders.
"I've got an idea." Ren speaks up after a moment of thinking "It might seem a bit far-fetched though."
"Tell us anyway." Tatsuya says.
"Maybe... Ueda-kun allowed the culprit to strangle him."
"What the fuck?!" Maeko yells.
"Why would he do that?" Ginjiro wonders.
"That's the thing I haven't figured out yet." Ren tells them.
"Maybe Ueda-kun was trying to save us." Kaida suggests.
"What good is that for him if he's dead." Naomi huffs.
"Wh-what was he trying to save us f-from?" Yukiji asks.
"From the virus." Kaida answers "I don't know if you're aware of this, but Ueda-kun earned the title of Ultimate Ninja because he's never killed anyone and rarely injured his opponents. So it isn't to far-fetched to think that he would give his life to save us."
"But if that were the case the culprit would probably want to save us as well. They're doing a very poor job then." Yuna sighs.
"They must've chickened out.~" Aika giggles "How pathetic."
"Hold on, Kimura, what makes you think that the culprit and Ueda worked together?" Haru asks.
"Well, there were no signs of struggle." Ren responds.
"That's where you're wrong!" Kagami exclaims.
"Huh?"
"No signs of struggle, huh? How about the fallen equipment we found? That didn't fall for no reason. Something must've caused it to fall. And it's crystal clear... That it fell while Ueda-kun was struggling against the culprit!"
"Fujioka-san, do you remember where we found the fallen equipment?"
"We found it near the door. So?"
"Ueda-kun's body was in the middle of his lab, far away from the fallen equipment. I don't see how moving the corpse that far from the equipment would benefit the culprit. So I think the culprit knocked the equipment over when leaving the lab." Ren explains.
"If that is the case it all adds up." Tatsuya agrees "If they really worked together, it's possible that the culprit was so shocked that he killed someone that he forgot to clean up the equipment."
"Okay, this is great and all but we haven't proven anyone's innocence with this." Naomi states.
"Actually, now that we're sure that the culprit and Ueda-kun worked together, we can prove Haseyama-san's innocence." Ren tells them.
"H-how?" Yukiji questions.
"If you can prove my innocence then fucking do it already! I'm done with being a suspect!" Maeko exclaims.
"Kisaragi-kun, could you tell everyone what you told Fujioka-san and I during the investigation?" Ren asks.
Ichiro nods "Okay. When I was swapping ice packs I heard voices talking in the hallway, both of them were definitely male."
"Since none of the boys claimed they were talking to another student in the hallway as an alibi, I think it's safe to assume that one of the voices belonged to Ueda-kun."
"So that means the culprit is male, right?" Ginjiro asks.
"Exactly."
"See, I fucking told you so!" Maeko shouts.
Yuna sighs "Kimura, you may have proven that Haseyama is innocent... But that still leaves you and Watanabe."
"You're backing yourself into a corner, Kimura-kun.~" Aika hums.
"Well, at least I myself know who the culprit is now." Ren points at the suspect "It's you, isn't it, Watanabe Reiji-kun?"
"M-me?"
"You wear a black shirt. And we found this at the crime scene." Ren shows the photo of the piece of fabric "I confirmed it doesn't belong to Ueda-kun, so it has to be the culprit's."
"Watanabe-kun killed Ueda-kun?" Kaida whispers.
"Of course not!" The pink head immediately starts defending himself "Why are ya listenin' to him?! I didn't do it! Why would I kill Ueda-kun?! It's gotta be someone else! C'mon, listen to me! It could've been Kimura-kun, he wears black too!"
'I'm sorry Watanabe-kun...' Ren shakes his head "Then care to explain why your shirt is torn?"
Reiji falls silent, then he shows his bright grin again, although even Ren can see that it's strained "Kimura-kun, could you please tell everyone what happened?"
The chess player nods "Of course. This is what happened. This morning. Right after we all had breakfast and were off to do our own thing, Ueda-kun approached the culprit. He asked the culprit to kill him to save us all. The culprit agreed. They were discussing the murder they would set up together while walking to Ueda-kun's lab, which would be the least suspicious place for him to die. Kisaragi-kun heard them talking when they were walking in the hallway, but when he looked out the door, they were already gone. In Ueda-kun's Ultimate Research Lab, the culprit wrapped their hands around Ueda-kun's throat, cutting off his airflow. It didn't take long for him to lose consciousness, and after a few minutes he had died. The culprit was so shocked that they had actually killed someone, that they knocked over some equipment when they were leaving the Ultimate Research Lab. They were supposed to admit that they were guilty right away, but something stopped them." Ren takes a deep breath "At least we know the truth now, don't we, Watanabe Reiji, the Ultimate Rapper?"
Reiji doesn't say anything, but just nods.
"Looks like you finally figured it out! It's... voting time!" Monokuma exclaims happily, pixelated figures appear on the screen in their stand "All you gotta do is select who you think the culprit is and lock it in!"
Ren selects Reiji 'I'm so sorry, you were my first friend here...'
Three spotlights appear and circle around, passing everyone, Ren flinches when the light of one spotlight shines down on him. The three spotlights connect above Reiji's head.
"That's right! The culprit who killed Ueda Seiichi is none other than Watanabe Reiji!" Monokuma beams "Woah, everyone voted for the right person, I'm impressed!"
"I'm sorry, everyone." Reiji looks down in shame "I was too scared to go through with it, even though I promised Ueda-kun... I'm a coward."
"It's okay." Kagami twirls a strand of light ash blond hair around her finger "Thanks to Kimura-kun we learned the truth in the end."
"You're stupid for being so ashamed." Yuna scolds him. Reiji looks up, ready to say something, but she continues before he can "Being afraid to die doesn't make someone a coward, everyone is at least a little scared of death, even idiots like you. It was already very brave to even agree to Ueda's plan in the first place." She huffs "Now stand with pride to face that stupid bear!"
Surprising everyone, Reiji manages to grin "Okay, boss!"
"Are you done with giving speeches?" Monokuma asks. A red button pops out of Monokuma's stand. He takes out a wooden mallet and hits the button "It's punishment time!"
GAME OVER
REIJI HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY.
TIME FOR PUNISHMENT!
Although he is clearly frightened, Reiji keeps standing facing everyone until the shackle appears and clasps around his neck to drag him off to his execution.
The Final Showdown
Ultimate Rapper
Watanabe Reiji's execution: Executed
Reiji looks at the black screen with spears next to it in front of him, he can hear the music. Lyrics appears on the screen and he starts rapping, knowing that the spears will impale him if he stops for even a second. The chain that connects to the shackle around his neck is slowly being pulled upwards and breathing steadily becomes more difficult. Reiji is now standing on the very tips of his toes and struggles to control his breathing. He can't take it anymore and has to take a quick breath, the split second he does so, a dozen spears shoot right through him and he goes limp, blood staining his clothes bright pink.
The students are shocked by their classmate's cruel fate. He suffered and died for them. He wanted to save the others and gave up his life to do so.
Twelve/sixteen