Chihiro stared in terror as Toko's waterlogged body bobbed gently up and down in the blood-stained waters of the pool. When she'd found Leon's body, she'd screamed upon seeing it, but she found that no sound escaped her throat when she tried to speak. She was so sure that Byakuya was wrong, and that the secrets weren't enough of a reason for someone to commit such an atrocious murder...
And yet she couldn't deny the Ultimate Writing Prodigy's body right in front of her.
"Dammit..." Sakura clenched her fist and furrowed her brow in a mix of anger and shame "I could not protect her..."
"Yet another soldier..." Taka sobbed "has fallen victim..."
"And so this deadly game of cat and mouse begins once again..." Celeste blanked.
"Tis but a dream! Tis all a dream!" Hifumi rocked back and forth in terror "in fact I haven't even been born yet! I have yet to leave my mothers womb!"
"How obnoxious..." Byakuya sneered "one of the most irritating members of this asinine group is dead. She does not need replacing."
"The fuck is wrong with you!?" Junko snapped at him "she's dead and all you can do is snark like that! Have some sympathy you motherfucker!"
"Junko..." Chihiro said, taken aback slightly by the Fashionista's unbridled anger.
"I must admit, I'm surprised..." Kyoko said "from what I remember, you absolutely despised Toko, yet in death, you act as if you've lost a close friend?"
"Of course I'm fucking remorseful...!" Junko examined her nails as a means of diverting her eyes "I mean, don't get me wrong, I hated that chick...Her very existence got on my nerves but...I dunno...It's just not right to wish death on someone...or to be happy about someone dying..."
This was a rare moment of maturity that from Junko that she didn't show very often. Usually, like Mondo, she could be pretty brash and bratty, but it seemed she really did have a strong soul.
"This is curious, wouldn't you agree?" Byakuya ignored her irritated attitude towards him "the identity of the victim aside, this is an excessively cruel way to dispose of a body...Dumping it into a large body of water...It's almost as if there was a level of animosity behind this attack."
"I can't help but agree with you," Kyoko pondered "speaking of which, where is Monokuma?"
As if on queue, the bear magically appeared in front of him, looking even more jovial than he had been when he was presenting the motive to everyone.
"Your next line is "You're the one behind it! There's no way anyone of us could have killed her!" Right!?" he boomed.
It should be noted that Makoto glared at him with pursed lips, as if he really was about to say that.
"Come now," Byakuya snarked "we're already familiar with how the killing game works and the rules of graduation. Toko Fukawa was undoubtedly murdered by one of us here."
"So...it really did happen again...?" Makoto clenched his fists "dammit..."
"You gettin' scared again?" Monokuma jeered "damn, ya'll got some tiny as fuck balls in those pants of yours!"
"If he did, he might not have a stab wound on his shoulder..." Junko grumbled under her breath, recalling when Makoto saved her from being executed for attacking Monokuma.
"Enough fucking around!" Mondo boomed "let's just get on with this already so I can kick this killer's ass!"
"For once, I agree with him," Byakuya frowned "I believe you owe us something?"
"Indeedee I do!" Monokuma smirked "you should hopefully be getting used to this by now, but I've rapidly produced all your necessary info into one compendium. It's the Monokuma File 2 baby! Time for the investigation gang! Catch you cats later!"
"I-Investigation...?" Hina trembled as Monokuma vanished "you mean...we have to go through the class trial again? Examine the body again? Suspect each other again? I...I don't even know if I can handle it...!"
"I'm with Hina!" Hiro shrieked "I-I-I-I-I don't wanna do this! I'm outta here!"
"Where do you plan to go?" Sakura looked at him with a befuddled expression "even if you refuse to investigate, we are still trapped here. You have no right, or way, to run from this."
"Get the hell over it," Byakuya leered at him "blood is just a liquid and a dead body is just an object. Need I remind you refusal to investigate will cost yours, mine and everyone else's lives...!"
"I-I get what you're saying..." Makoto asked "but I need time to prepare..."
"Prepare for what? To die a pointless death?" Byakuya spat "you're wasting precious oxygen the longer you're standing there. If you're going to prepare, do it and do it quickly."
"Wh-What...what did you just say...?" Mondo trembled with rage before turning to Byakuya and spitting in his direction "that's a whole ass person right there! She ain't no object! If you think I'm gonna let you get away with disrespectin' her like that, you got another thing coming!"
"Don't jump at each other's throats," Kyoko chimed in again "as much as most may loathe to admit it, Byakuya is not entirely incorrect..."
"How can you say that!?" Makoto exclaimed. Kyoko shook her head.
"I'm simply saying if we don't solve this murder and find out who killed Toko, then we will lose our lives..." she said with an unmoving face.
"Kyoko is right. We do not have time to dilly-dally," Celeste affirmed "if we cannot acertain the killer, the rest of us will be executed in their place."
She's right... Chihiro thought I don't want to do this...but I also don't want to die...I have to make it through this for both my sake and everyone else's...
We have no other choice...
<Investigation START>
"Hey...kid..." Chihiro turned around to see that Mondo was speaking to her "we think it's a good idea for us to investigate in groups...Wanna join ours?"
"By "ours" he means the two of us," Taka explained "what do you say?"
"Sounds good to me," Chihiro smiled "but...why trust me when there's a chance I could be the killer?"
"Let us investigate the Monokuma file before we jump to any conclusions." Taka suggested.
Chihiro firmly nodded and checked her own E-handbook. She read the information on it out loud so that Taka and Mondo didn't have to check themselves.
"The victim is Ultimate Writing Prodigy, Toko Fukawa. Her body was found dead in the school pool. The time of death is approximately 2:00am, but due to the water clogging her body, it is hard to tell. The cause of death is a deep cut on the neck made with a sharp weapon. The victim also has several other cuts and bruises over her body, the most notable of which is a large indentation in the back of her head. The murder weapon is unknown."
As Chihiro finished reading, she could feel her blood running cold...The time of death was 2:00am...That means...
"Are...Are you fucking kidding me?" Mondo asked, his face a deep shade of blue, as he came to the same realization.
"Hm? What is the matter?" Taka asked "do you two...know something?"
"Mondo and I were up here in the changing rooms around 1-2am last night..." Chihiro trembled "if Toko died here..."
"She was gettin' murdered right next door to us...!" Mondo began to sweat profusely. Taka, as soon as he heard these words, stared at them with shock and horror, but forced himself to be calm about it.
"W-Well...do not worry. There is good news to come out of this revelation!"
"What good news!?" Mondo snapped "this murder happened right next door to us and we coulda stopped it! But we didn't!"
"That wasn't your fault!" Taka exclaimed "and the good news is that the two of you are definitely innocent!"
"How do you figure?" Chihiro asked.
"Well, because you can account for each other," he reminded them "the both of you are hereby innocent."
"Are you sure?" Chihiro asked "I-I mean, yes, we're both innocent, but did it not come to mind we could be accomplices?"
"Hm...I suppose not..." Taka cringed "but would there be any point in working together?"
"I don't think so," Mondo said "after all, only one person gets to go free, so there's no need, right?"
"I guess not..." Chihiro said "but that's two pieces of evidence that we can use in the trial now..."
🔫Monokuma File 2 added to the truth bullets🔫
🔫Chihiro and Mondo's Account added to the truth bullets🔫