CHAPTER 2 · 7 · Passiflora

“Ugh… Huhgh…”
“What are you waiting for? The church! On the top floor! Do you never go there or what? Go join your friends! Kumakuma doesn’t want you to miss the investigation before the class trial starts!”
I can’t believe it… This isn’t fair…
“Ha…Haa-argh…”
I can’t move… This is unreal…
I had never cried quite like that before.
I’d throw up, if I could move at all.
It’s so weird.
Underneath me lies a corpse.
The corpse of… my friend.
“Urgl…”
Where is everyone?
I can’t hear anything.
I can’t see anything. I see his face, the blood on the floor, but at the same time, I can’t see anything at all.
That’s how it feels.
Someone’s touching my arm.
I can’t move.
“Ha… Haaa…”
I’m struggling. I’m so slow.
This person moves me forcefully. I can’t see Benjamin anymore, I can’t see anything at all. They tell me something:
“S-stay with me, Neo!”
But I can’t distinguish their voice.
It’s weird.
It’s unlike me.
“Nnn…”
I’m struggling.
I’m starting to feel dizzy. That’s because they moved me. My head feels heavy, like it’s going to fall off.
It falls against them.
I don’t know who they are…
I feel more stable when I grab them.
They hug me…
And I cry.
Oh, finally!
Oh, it feels so good..!
“Nooooooooooooooo!”
So freeing..!
“BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-E-ENNNNNNN!”
I lost!
It’s me, who lost.
It makes sense…
I, I feel better. Crap. I’m snapping back. What was I doing just now..? Wow. I’m still shocked… But I feel a little less disconnected.
Benjamin died.
I should have expected it.
I’m hearing steps as they come closer and closer… Yes, of course. Kumakuma’s body discovery announcement… Why didn’t I react to it? Having Emily’s voice say this was... the worst. It's always "the worst".
In any case, everyone must have heard it.
Two people.
“Oh my God…”
They both walk in.
Yes…  I’m back…
Where am I exactly, though? Someone moved me away from the corpse, and I’m now hanging on to them for dear life. I have no recollection who they are… Maybe it’s time that I leave them alone.
“Hmpf…”
I don’t know why I just… Sort of groaned. I guess I’m still a little out of it. In any case, I finally move on my own, and the person immediately notices, loosening their embrace.
I see their t-shirt first… Arg, it’s covered in blood. This is probably my fault… It’s gross.
“A-are you o-okay?”
Akiro… I’m unclear when he came in, but he’s the one who grabbed me. He probably meant to keep me from drooling all over Ben…
Arg.
I nod.
It’s the best I can do right now.
“Okay…”
He sighs and looks down with a sad expression.
Ah, he frowns.
Ah, his lips tighten.
Right…
We’re so mad.
“This is so sad…”
Thanks for the narration, Chloe.
I turn my head to look at the scene once again – not too far from me lies Benjamin. He hasn’t moved… Of course. Next to him kneels Ciel… Staring in complete and utter silence.
I’m facing Akiro, and behind me entered Chloe and Isabella. They don’t seem to know what to do with themselves.
More steps.
“Fuck…”
He doesn’t say a word. Andi and Keith enter.
How many of us is it going to be inside this church?
Hah. A church.
Well…
Benjamin’s dead now.
…It hurts..!
One more person is coming.
“…Why?”
“…Why?”
…Crap. I imitated her.
“W-what the fuck..?”
It’s whatever right now…
...
Silence, until she speaks up.
“W-what now..?”
“Where are… they? A-Alice and Jan?”
Akiro raises his chin to look at Chris.
Alice and Jan… Akiro came in alone. It was just me, Ciel and Akiro at first.
What good does this information bring me?
“We brought the two to the infirmary, and they’re staying with them for now…”
“Wh-what? Really?”
“Ah..!”
That’s right..! Here’s another slap back to reality. This all started when Chloe and Isabella found Mina stuck under Oscar.
“Are… Are the two of them okay?”
“…Yeah.”
“Ah…”
Is that all..?
“Chris and Jan took care of Oscar, right? It helped to remove the shelf first… W-well… Let’s not worry about it for now…”
“So, what now?”
…
Keith repeated Andi's question in a snap, almost interrupting Chloe.
But this time, none of us answers immediately. Ciel… They’re still unmoving.
They…
“L-last time, Mina guided us, right..? Monokuma also a-appeared.”
“We have to investigate either way… Don’t we?”
“Investigate?”
…Haaa! Like a dagger inside my chest… Ciel’s voice is so high-pitched, but it’s their despair that stings.
“Are we just accepting that Benjamin was killed?”
They mark a pause. I look at them—and for a second they meet my gaze, as they look at everyone in turn.
“…Who did this?” they finally add, sounding surprisingly less accusatory, and much, much sadder.
…
And again, no one can answer.
Is it one of us?
One of us… One of those standing in this room? Or are they currently somewhere else?
Inside the infirmary…
No.
I don’t think so.
Here’s my problem…
I think it’s my fault.

I wasn’t able to help him.

Akiro stands up abruptly, making me jump a little.
“We… We should try our best to investigate, even if we don’t rea-really understand what’s happening. It’s… It’s the best we can do.”
“For a second… I thought you were about to say you were the one… Haha…”
This isn’t a real laugh. Andi is nervous.
She isn’t the only one… Is it better to speak up, even though we have nothing to say?
“D… Don’t.”
“I agree with Akiro… I… I can try.”
“Yeah…”
Chris glances at the corpse on the floor.
Argh..!
Solemnly…
“Let’s do our best.”
...

…

She says… To investigate?
How can I possibly..? This still feels so unreal.
In my hands…
He died.
Ben.
This bastard..!
Hesitantly, Chloe starts to walk back to the door, but at the same time, I hear more steps coming.
One of these people’s steps… Are very weird.
“Everyone..! Argh!”
In come Alice and Jan. The first comes to a full stop in the doorway, and the latter continues – without hesitation, he walks right past me.
“What happened?”
Wide-eyed—Jan stares at Akiro’s t-shirt.
Oh…
Right.
“Jan..! It’s, it’s not mine, don’t wo…”
He doesn’t seem to believe him, as he pulls it up to look underneath… But of course, there is no blood, or wound to be seen.
This is my fault.
“See?”
The pianist sighs heavily.
“Gross…”
Finally, he turns his head to the deceased. He isn’t without emotion – already pale, his face instantly turns even paler.
“C-C’mon everyone…”
I turn my head back to Alice – what is happening?
Why is everything so slow?
Why is no one doing, or saying anything?
We’re all just there…
I’m starting to feel like this again…
“We need to get moving…”
…
She speaks as though she knows exactly what I need.
“We can’t afford to stay around like this… Let’s… Share what we know and get to work.”
“To work.”
She nods, although Ciel isn’t looking at her.
“It’d be disrespectful of me to speak for Ben… So… Let me tell you… I don’t want either of you to die because we refused to keep going at this point.”
“Man…”
I spoke up without thinking. Yeah... I'd rather that than to automatically fall silent.
This is a relief… Someone with conviction.
To bring up new words… “To speak for Ben”.
Ben spoke for himself.
I finally stand up. I still feel a little dizzy, but it can’t be helped right now. I shouldn’t think about a single one of my feelings right now… I have to let the Killing Game kick in, and continue to play this part until it ends.
“Neither does he… He told me yesterday…”
Dizzy…
No, I’m a little better.
As I speak, I’m starting to accept that Ben is now in the past.
“…That he wouldn’t let anyone else die. Even… That I shouldn’t let myself die… Because my friends and family will never love someone else like they love me.”
I don’t know what I’m saying… Because they’re not my words.
“So… Ciel…”
It’s Ciel I symbolically extend my hand to. I don’t have the strength to get back close to the corpse, while they don’t have that to let go of Benjamin.
… And I want to say something meaningful, something helpful, but nothing comes out.
My words don’t matter right now.
“Hm… I guess I don’t have a choice…”
…
“Unanswered questions… Are even worse.”
Their voice sounds more normal now, more like them. Finally, they stand up too, and step away from him.
But they’re trembling.
This doesn’t feel normal, does it?
“Answer this question…” they say to the void, “why did Alice and Jan think they could leave Oscar and Mina alone in the infirmary?”
“Oscar woke up in good condition, so he’s looking after Mina,” Alice immediately replies.
“Oh… That’s a relief.”
“Okay, then… Isn’t someone missing?”
…
Myself, Ciel and Akiro. Chloe and Isabella join… They’re standing next to each other, Isabella staring at Benjamin.
“Indeed…”
Then come Keith and Andi. Standing next to one another, they’re facing away from each other, each with their arms crossed.
Then comes Chris… Still close to the doorway, she clenches her teeth.
Finally, Alice, still in the same place – and Jan, right next to me.
Oscar and Mina are together in the infirmary…
Why am I so slow?
She’s not here.
“Where is she?”
“Do you know?”
…Why do you look at me this way?
No… I don’t.
“Only he knew.”
With that said, Chris violently hits herself in the face in an attempt to facepalm.
“I-Is it possible that she… missed th-the announcement?”
“No, that doesn’t make sense…”
I answered automatically again.
Of course…
“I… We…”
We have a general idea where she is, don’t we? We just need to sea-

“Oh, phew.”

But we won’t have to.
Not that I recognize these steps to be hers… But they’re not Oscar’s, they’re not Mina's.
Someone is running towards the chapel in zigzags.
…
“Ah.”
A short lady with red hair… A face I would never forget…
She appears behind Alice, who moves out of her way.
Staggering, she walks inside the church, and practically falls in front of him.
Breathing heavily.
“No…”
“…I’m off.”
Chris suddenly leaves. How can she? I can’t take my eyes off the mysterious Ultimate.
“W… W… Wwwww… hy…”
Such few words, and yet they are slurred.
...
Nothing else...
...
“I’m… I… My condolences, Lois…”
..!
I snap back once again. The way she walked, the way she spoke, Lois made me indulge in a dazed state once again. But we decided we’d be doing something, anything…
And yet, Isabella pushes Chloe away for no reason. She takes a step towards Lois, who doesn’t react.
“So, how does it feel?”
Lois stays unmoving, and Isabella kneels next to her to grab her by the chin, and force her to look at her.
“W-what are you doing?”
The girl without an Ultimate… Doesn’t move away, or say anything.
“…Hm.”
Abruptly, Isabella lets go of her chin, which falls down immediately, as if her head were going to follow.
“The hell..?”
The Ultimate Make-up Artist stands back up and sighs.
“I won’t get anything out of her.”
“What do you mean?!”
This is making me uncomfortable. What does she mean, what does she mean—what is happening to Lois?!
I don’t know what to think, or do. Benjamin died, Benjamin is dead… But there’s something more.
What is it?
I wish I could find something, but suddenly…
“…Ahem.”
Chris comes back, followed by… Kumakuma, a gun in hand.
“This isn’t my proudest moment, but…”
“I’m threatening her with a gun!”
…
Brr.
Everyone turns their head towards Kumakuma… Some lazier than others.
“W-what? Why?!”
“I’ve been waiting for you to be all together in the same room! Well, my standards are low, but I’ll have to do with this group.”
“Aw c-come oooon… Let this eeend…”
“Whaaaat? But Kumakuma just wants to help you out! He sees that everyone is just too sad to help themselves just now… So I came up with a present!”

Haaaaa…
Ahem, ahem.
My feelings don’t matter. That’s the way I roll.
As such, this sloooow, daaaazed narration comes to a stop.

“Whaaaat? But Kumakuma just wants to help you out! He sees that everyone is just too sad to help themselves just now… So I came up with a present!”
“Is the present a gun?”
“Nah!”
Kumakuma chucks the gun away behind its back abruptly, and I catch a glimpse of Monokuma as he rolls over the whole hallway from side to side to grab it and take it away.
“Kumakuma just read the ratings! The ratings saaaaaiiid… This chapter didn’t contain enough violence compared to the first, so I decided to bring in a gun for good measure!”
“Oh, fuck off…”
Chris continues to turn her back to the bear, and I’m not sure whether she noticed that he got rid of the gun or not.
“R… R… ati… ings…”
…
No one reacts to Lois’ audible struggle. Yet, it bothers me… I take a few step backwards in her direction, but I need to pay attention to Kumakuma for now…
“Anyway, you bunch are all talk. Let’s do it! We’re gunna do something! But there’s always something else, and then you don’t do anything. That’s what happens when the little detective missy can’t guide ya!”
“Get it over with, piece of crap.”
“What? What? B-but Bella..!”
“Shut up! Get it over with!”
“Waw.”
“Huh… Shit… That’s no good at all…”
Andi places her hand in front of her mouth and Keith’s red in the face, but with the expression he’s pulling, there’s a chance it’s because of how much he hates the small white bear.
Isabella kneels down, her eyes closed, and loudly exhales.
…Kumakuma, please get it over with.
“Oh, well. At least my dada thinks I’m cute. You guys like presents, right? You like how I can leave you with presents, right?”
I think I just heard Keith genuinely growl.
“My, my! Well, here’s my present today! I call it…”
The little bear claps its paws and suddenly, each of our Monopads beeps loudly.
“The Kumakuma file!”
From the corner of my eye, I notice that Ciel immediately takes out their Monopad. Without thinking, I do the exact same thing.
A new app is available on the screen—with a black square as a logo, it is indeed labelled “Kumakuma file”.
“Check it out, check it out!”
It’s not like I have a choice… I tap the app.


…

I hate to do this… But I have to.
I take a glance at Benjamin’s corpse.
Then above…
It’s not like there’s a camera, so…
“How?”
“What?”
“How? When did you get this picture?”
The photo of Benjamin on this app is exactly the Ben that’s lying next to us right now. But I know this isn’t the position I found him in.
“I don’t really know, and I don’t really give a damn either!”
“Grmbl…”
I groaned again. Have I had this headache all along?
“So… You’re helping us.”
“Yes! See how much nicer I am than Monokuma?”
“We… still hate you.”
“…Hmm…”
…This last line wasn’t very loud.
I took a few steps backwards, but Akiro and Jan didn’t move. I see the latter tap the redhead’s arm.
“Do you..?” he whispers.
“Hm-hm.”
““Hm-hm” what?”
“H-how do we know that this is saying the t-truth?” Akiro asks Kumakuma.
“Hmm? So you can’t tell?”
“I don’t know what you mean by that.”
Gulp.
“Teehee..!”
“Ahem, aaaanywaaaays… To answer your question, I will be counting this Kumakuma file as evidence for the trial, so since I’m the one deciding of its outcome, there’s no more or less reason to believe in it than my judgment. That make sense to you?”
“…Yes.”
Jan’s the one who replied.
“Nice-u! In this case, I’m off! Have fun investigatiiiing! See you when the trial staaaarts!”
Kumakuma twirls on one of its back paws and runs out of the chapel.
“I… I guess we, we’ll be trusting this thing th-then.”
“It’s not very useful anyway.”
The app is still open on the Monopad in my hand. I take another look… And it’s true. I don’t think it tells us anything we couldn’t have found out on our own.
“Hmmm-hmm.”
…Here he goes again. Jan makes those weird “hming” noises discretely, but I couldn’t possibly miss them. I can’t help but glance at him, and see that he’s tugging on Akiro’s arm lightly, before he pulls him outside, grabbing Alice on his way, to do the same with her.
“Aaaaaand I guess we’re off…”
…Couldn’t he speak normally?
“How selfish…”
“Well, I don’t know where these guys are going, but we can’t just stay in place. Someone should stay near the body, but we should take a look around too…”
“I, uhm… Would like to look around…”
“I’m staying here.”
“Ah…”
“In this case, guess I’ll stay here after all. You can go investigate with someone else, Chloe.”
“You could come with me!”
“O-oh, is that really fine..?”
“Yeah! Completely!”
Andi grabs Chloe by the hand.
“We should go see where the others are looking first!”
“Al-alright!”
It’s her turn to pull someone outside, but the guitarist comes to a sudden, full stop before she reaches the door to turn to Keith.
“What are you gonna do?”
Keith stares at her, now much paler than when Kumakuma was there. Once again, I can’t read his expression, but I wonder if maybe he doesn’t know what he’s thinking either.
“…I’ll come with you.”
With that said, holding his back with his hand behind it, he follows the two girls in the hallway.
There aren’t many of us left… It’s my turn to say something. I look at Ciel, who’s been staring at their Monopad.
“C-ciel, let’s stay here for a minute..!”
They glance at me and don’t reply, but nod slightly with a grave expression. Do they know what I want to do..?
Lois is still kneeling in front of Ben’s body.
“Okay…”
Chris gets moving – she starts to look around the room. To make way for her, Ciels walks to one of the benches where they sit, continuing to look at their screen. Isabella stays in place…
But I feel like she’s making the choice to.
I take another few steps and kneel next to Lois. I’d strayed farther from Ben’s body than I’d realized… But here I am, next to him again.
So is she…
Ben’s reason for fighting.
“Help me,” she whispers.
“Wh-what?”
“Help… me st… stand-d-d up…”
“Stand up?”
I hesitate, but get a little closer, and she grabs my shoulder, leaning her entire weight on me.
I grab her other arm without thinking and slowly help her up… It’s like I’m holding deadweight.
Most importantly… She smells very strongly. What is that..? It’s a little nauseating. I recognize this specific smell, but… I can’t put a name on it right now.
“Th-thank y-y-ooouu…”
As soon as we stand up, she lets go of me and steps away, but seeing her staggering, I can’t help but take a step towards her and try to hold her again.
“What’s up with you..?”
“Wait…”
She manages to come to a stop, and straightening her back, inhales, then exhales deeply.
…She closes her eyes, and doesn’t say anything else immediately, leaving me to stare at her, waiting.
Lois looks… exhausted. She has a very pale complexion, which only accentuates the ridiculously deep dark circles underneath her eyes.
“O… Okay. Phew.”
“Are you… okay?”
It’s probably wrong… But I feel like I have to take care of her… Now.
“As a matter of fact, I feel… Very weird. Very weak.”
“Ah… Well, me too…”
“No, it’s not… That…”
She pinches the bridge of her nose with her thumb and index finger, frowning.
“I felt like I couldn’t move at all… And right now I don’t feel right…”
…I notice that she starts to shiver. Could it be… that she has a fever?
“And Benjamin never came… Haaah..!”
Finally, she lets out what sounds like a sob.
“That’s right… Is that why you didn’t show up on time?”
Ciel suddenly speaks up from their seat and finally stops looking at their Monopad to turn their head to us.
“Y-y-es…”
She sighs.
“Benja… Benjamin promised… He promised…”
“Ugh…”
Her body moves from left to right like she’s about to fall. I try to grab her, but she grabs my arm first, once again putting her entire weight on me.
“I don’t think we have too much time to waste.”
“I kn-know… My apologies…”
“C-c’mon, Ciel..!”
“No, I’m… I’m not in a normal state… Perhaps you should… Take that as a clue.”
…
“Noted.”
“He promised that… If a body were discovered, he’d… he’d come get me… First and foremost…”
“But he didn’t come,” Chris comments as she inspects a lone bench next to the door.
“Indeed… He never came. I felt like I was falling in and out of sleep, so… I don’t know how much time passed… Before I managed to leave.”
She’s almost just speaking to my chest.
I don’t mind, but… Doesn’t she?
“You were… Sleeping?”
“Apparently… I didn’t notice when he left this morning either… I don’t remember.”
“Is that your testimony?”
“I… guess so.”
“Okay.”
“Perhaps you should take a seat. You won’t be able to investigate in that state.”
“That’s right. I’d like to inspect Ben’s body, if that’s alright, so… ”
“Move… out of your way… I get it.”
Lois lets go of me and, struggling, walks to another one of the benches. This feels cruel… But at the same time, I can’t find a proper argument against getting moving.
“Neo, you’re… doing this with me, right?”
I nod without thinking. Of course…
I feel responsible.
“Please listen to my question first.”
Ciel was already inching closer, but I hear them stop abruptly. It’s them I turn to rather than Isabella – they look stern, nothing else.
“Just so this testimony is available to everyone… Chris.”
“Yes?”
Since Ciel doesn’t reciprocate my glance, I get to look at her instead… Crouching, Chris continues to inspect the floor without looking at anyone in particular. She’s scanning the area with her hands… Because it’s so dark in here.
“Why didn’t you come to our aid?”
“When?”
“When Chloe screamed for help, as per your request.”
Chris pauses.
“I don’t get what you mean. When Chloe ran to get me, I followed her upstairs and took care of Oscar with Jan.”
Chris and Jan “took care of Oscar”. If I understood well, they carried him to the infirmary. It can’t have been easy…
“So you didn’t come when she screamed.”
Chris slams her hand down to the floor.
“What do you mean when she screamed?!”
“Almost as soon as we found Mina, she screamed. She then went out to get help, but only found Neo and Ciel, who weren’t very useful.”
“Uuuuuuuh…”
“Besides, the reason we went downstairs was that we heard a loud noise. And yet, even though you’d promised Chloe to come if she made as much noise as possible, you didn’t.”
“I didn’t hear anything!”
“Why? Were you outside?”
“No. I was in the auditorium, like I’d said.”
“And you didn’t hear anything.”
“Nothing!”
“Neo and I didn’t hear a noise either…”
…That’s true!
“But you heard Chloe’s screaming.”
…That’s true.
“Well, we were already going upstairs.”
“But from the auditorium, Chris didn’t hear anything. Is that all your testimony?”
“Uuuh… Yes.”
“Alright.”
Isabella yawns. Is she satisfied with this conversation?
…Ciel gets closer. I guess it’s time for us to resume.

“Neo, I want to look at his wound.”
“Hem… Okay?”
I brace myself for a second, before I look at Benjamin’s body once again. He lies in between us… His eyes closed, looking almost sad, and I don’t know if it’s an illusion, but it feels like cold starts to emanate from his corpse.
…
Rah!
He’ll never talk to me again!
He’ll never move…
This drives me insane..!
“It says there’s only one injury.”
“Yes.”
Is it weird that now, I can’t take my eyes away from him? I feel like… I’m waiting for him to get up.
In any case, I see it – a single stab wound in the middle of his body. I tried to wrap my t-shirt around his torso, but since I couldn’t make it stay tight, I must have thrown it away in frustration at some point.
“How much did you move him?”
Ciel kneels in the pool of blood that surrounds Ben and touches his shoulder – but almost as if they’d gotten electrified, their arm stiffens, and they instantly jerk it a few centimetres back.
“I..? I just…”
Even though some parts feel blurry, I remember most of what I did before he died.
“I just pressed his shoulders to make him lie down…”
“Yeah…”
Ciel looks hurt.
“I just think there’s something weird about the blood…”
“A-ah..?”
“Can you… Hold him upright for a second?”
“What?!”
They loudly swallow their spit.
“I want to look at his back. I’m sorry.”
…
“D-don’t be sorry..!”
I’m the one who’s slow. Ciel’s forcing themselves to investigate. I have to leave my feelings to the side.
For this reason, I kneel next to Ben too and lean towards his shoulders. Together, Ciel and I move him up – and while they turn around to look at his back, I close my eyes, trying to ignore that his body
is
cold…
“Argh…”
“What?”
Don’t open your eyes. Get it done.
“O-okay, whatever, whatever, let’s put him back…”
It sounds like Ciel realized something, and the more panicked their voice comes off, the more high-pitched it gets. I quickly oblige, delicately placing Ben back… in the pool of his own blood.
“I’m sorry, Ben, Ben, I’m sorry…”
When I open my eyes, Ciel’s are closed. They hold their hands together, like they’re praying…
… I instinctively glance around. This man died inside a small church.
“Did you find something?”
Chris’ gaze meets mine as she walks towards us, apparently done with her search.
“It’s just…”
I look at Ciel again. They haven’t moved.
“The wound goes through his back.”
“Whaaaat?!”
Huh?
I didn’t notice that.
I guess it explains the amount of blood on the floor.
…I couldn’t have done anything, is that it? If I couldn’t even notice where he was bleeding out…
“That’s a ridiculously deep stab wound!”
“I know…”
“Is that even possible..?”
Was he stabbed twice? Is the Kumakuma file lying? I thought… For sure, someone must have just stabbed him with a knife…
“Well, I was just gonna say… I searched the entire room and couldn’t find the weapon.”
“No way… How could the killer run away… With such a long blade?”
…
How… When did the killer run away at all? Ben was still alive when we found him.
Who did this and how?!
“I, uh... I don’t know. Anyway, I think I’m done with this room, so I could report some stuff, but, uh… Did you find anything else?”
“Not yet…”
Ciel opens their eyes and sigh.
“I’m sorry, Ben. Please be nice to me one last time…”
I don’t know what they’re saying… But they move around a little and try to inspect the rest of his body.
…I couldn’t do it.
He’s still alive in my eyes.
Somehow.
“There’s something in his pocket.”
“Really?”
“What… is it..?”
…Yes. She’s still here. Holding her head in her hands… I think I was right. Somehow, she has to have some sort of fever. I’ve never seen her completely inactive.
In any case… If she wonders what it is, so do I.
Ciel unfolds what looks like a random piece of paper. There isn’t too much blood on it.
“Huuuh? Check this out!”
Ciel reaches towards me and forcefully hands me the clue. Taking it in my two hands, I look – and it immediately feels weird.
Like a threatening letter.

“I have something from your past. Meet me in the church at exactly 11.30AM. On your own to draw less  ttention. Don’t t ll  nyone”

It’s… made out of cut-out letters.
Chris looks behind my shoulder.
“That’s… What sent Benjamin to the church..?”
“This has to be from the killer!”
“But he… didn’t write this himself.”
“Who? Ben?”
I hand the note back to Ciel without really thinking about it.
“N-no, the killer. If he wrote this himself, we could have found him out from his handwriting…”
“But… Why do you think the killer’s a he?”
…
“Ah… Wait, uh…”
I don’t know why I start to panic. There’s a reason… There’s absolutely a reason. I just haven’t said anything about it yet.
“That’s because… Of Benjamin’s last words.”
“His what?!”
“What did he say?!”
“I, uh, I, uh… he was still alive when we found him.”
“That’s… Right. That’s what Ciel said.”
“And he was saying something weird, uh… nonsensical, about losing or winning… But then I asked him who’d done this to him…”
“Oh…”
“And?!”
“He… He did that thing. Of course. Where he doesn’t finish his sentence before he dies…”
No one echoes my complaint.
“But he did say… The killer… he… he’s… he.”
“Never do this again.”
“What..?”
“Wait, that’s a crazy important clue!”
“I-I know! I’m sorry! I should have said it earlier!”
I don’t know why, for some reason, I just felt like everyone already knew whatever I knew.
“It’s done now… Well, should I tell you what I found..?”
“Never do this again...” Ciel whispers to themselves.
“Uuuuh… Yes, I think so.”
The killer’s a man who stabbed Ben through his entire body… and had given him a note to make him come here. That’s all we have right now… And it feels unreal. That there’s even a killer… When I’m the one who saw Ben die, on his own.
“The thing is I don’t have much to report. Beside the lack of weapon… Actually, there’s something I’d like you to try.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, I think you should do.”
She turns around and points to the one lose bench next to the door.
“So there’s this bench on its own right there, for some reason.”
Since it sounds like she’s going to need my help, I stand up.
…I can feel the blood soaking up my trousers and flowing down my socks… I flinch. There’s nothing I can do about it…
“There are a few scratches on the floor here and there, so I can’t say for sure where it was moved, but… I’m thinking it might have been even closer to the door at some point? In any case, this bench was obviously moved from the middle of the room to here.”
“Okay..?”
“…Not to flex on you or anything, but I don’t have any issue moving it. Can you try and tell me how heavy it is?”
“Oh, sure.”
Finally something that’s not too emotionally draining. I walk to the bench and try to move it…
Hmm… It’s heavy, but it’s doable. I move it a few centimetres, then put it back where it just was.
“So?”
“It’s a bit heavy, but... If I took my time, I could probably move it all the way to there.”
“M’kay. Thanks. Can someone else..? I was thinking a girl..? Isabella?”
“What?”
“Can you come and try moving this thing around? I want to get an idea who could do it or not.”
“You know I’ve been really tired lately.”
“... Yeah, so I’ll take it into account.”
“Hmpf.”
Without much enthusiasm, Isabella stands up and walks to the bench. I step away to make way for her, and she tries to lift the bench, to no result.
“Too heavy.”
“Oh, okay. Do you consider yourself strong-armed at all?”
“No.”
Isabella turns back and kneels down in the exact some spot she’d been initially, near Ben’s body.
“Aight. Thanks.”
…It’s nice that she agreed to help.
“Is that all you found?”
“Yeah… Bench was moved, and uh… well, there are these bandages lying around…”
Oh, that’s true.
“You brought these, right..?”
Near the entrance, on the floor lies some bandage, and a pouch of blood.
“Yes.”
…It’s nice that they answered.
“Figured. Only Akiro came with you, right?”
“Also yes.”
“Okay… What was I saying? Aside from these, there’s nothing there.”
“There’s just the note.”
“I… guess so.”
So we’re done with this room, right?
We have to continue investigating. It’s going to feel weird, leaving Ben here… But I’m starting to feel okay continuing this investigation, if it makes sense. Like I’m going in the right direction, even if that means leaving him here for now.
“We’re going somewhere else, then… Right?”
“Hm-hm. We should. I was thinking… Maybe we should interrogate people, just like last time, since they started looking around before we did.”
“Oh, yeah. That sounds right.”
“I’ll be staying here, like I said. I’ll continue looking and make sure no one messes with the scene.”
“…Thank you.”
With that in mind, I actually start to feel eager to leave. She’ll take good care of him, and I need to do something else. I need to. I have to.
Ciel places the letter over Ben’s leg… Then walks up to me and grabs my hand.
“Let’s go.”
“Yeah...”
I walk around the bench… It’s in the way, that’s for sure. I walk around it and towards the door, still open so as to let in a little light.
“Neo…”
…But she makes me come to a full stop. Ciel turns their head to her, but I don’t.
“Why did it have… Why Ben? You know…”
She makes me feel bad.
“I’m not ha-happy with this…”
She makes me feel guilty.
“It didn’t have to be him…”
Why is she telling me?
I finally turn my head and look at her… She’s still in the exact same place, in the exact same position.
Does she know..?
That I feel like Ben…
“I’m sad too…”
I also liked him… After all.

Holding Ciel’s hand, I left.

After taking a few steps, I stop and look at our two hands… They’re both covered in blood. It is gross. But it’s the least of our problems too.
“Maybe we should have interrogated the girls a little more, but if they’re going to stay here, I guess it’s alright…”
I move my head up to look at them. They look lost in thought.
“Hey… Are you okay?”
“Hm?”
They turn to me, and I – I don’t like the way their eyes look. I don’t know exactly what they’re saying… But it’s at least something like “we were wronged”.
“I feel angry.”
“O-oh…”
“How about you?”
“I, uh. I don’t know, I guess.”
“…That makes sense.”
They shrug without letting go of my hand. I’m glad… I couldn’t describe why, but I feel a little better like this.
“The others left as two groups, so we should be looking for trios. Where do you think they went..?”
Cutting to the chase, I see… I should better keep up with them.
“I’m not sure? They might have been interested in the storage room, or the infirmary.”
“Makes sense… I don’t really see how other rooms would be involved in this.”
“Hmm…”
There’s another room I’d like to check, but…
“Let’s go downstairs and check if there’s anyone in the storage room.”
“Okay.”
We walk together to the stairs, and as we go down, without much surprise, catch a glimpse of Alice, Akiro and Jan. They’re leaving the weaponry room and walking into the classroom that faces it.
“…I guess they’re looking everywhere.”
Ciel speeds up a little, and I’m forced to keep up. We cross the hallway and follow the trio inside Classroom 1-A, but…
It’d be more accurate to say we bump into them, standing still in the entrance.
“Han..!”
My back stiffens when Akiro suddenly turns to us.
“Oh, fuck, y-y-ou, you almost g-gave me a, a heart attack.”
We did..?
The three of them are in the way, but Jan takes the initiative to walk forward, allowing us to see through their barrier – and immediately, I get it. My eyes widen on their own…
In the middle of the classroom lies a bloody sword.
“Well, Alice swallows her spit, I guess we just found the murder weapon.”
Ciel lets go of my hand to follow Jan to the middle of the room. Both kneel next to the sword without touching it.
“Who… Would use… Why…”
…For a reason or another, I feel unbalanced.
“There are other swords like this one in the weaponry room.”
“I g-guess one must be missing th-then…”
“Weren’t you... just there?”
I see Alice turn her head to me in a snap and, drawing my attention to her in turn, see that she frowns for an instant.
“Yeah, but it’s not like we ever ran an inventory of the place. It didn’t look messy or anything.”
“Hmpf…”
Ciel stands up, and I notice that their trousers left a stain of blood on the floor. Mine would have done the same…
“There’s that, I guess. You guys were pretty quick, by the way.”
“How s-so?”
They point to Akiro.
“I see you already got changed.”
Oh. Oh! I see. And here I was just thinking about how Ciel and I are soaked in blood… but I know for a fact I am guilty of covering Akiro’s shirt with blood too. Yet, the one he’s wearing right now is perfectly white.
“Ah, uuh, yes.”
Alice crosses her arms.
“We went to the dorms and he got changed, but we weren’t that quick about it. We immediately went back upstairs and we just looked inside the computer and weaponry rooms.”
“And uh, did you find anything?”
“There’s a reason we didn’t waste too much time. There wasn’t much we could observe. Weaponry room was tidy, computer room wasn’t.”
“The computer room was… untidy?”
“Yeah, it was nothing crazy, but the chairs were all messy for some reason. Jan tried to put them back but we told him to stop, in case it was a clue.”
“Y-you didn’t have to ca-call him out…”
That… doesn’t really matter much, right now.
“Is that all?”
“Yeah. Now we’re here.”
I see. Why did they immediately come to this floor? Maybe that means the others were already looking downstairs.
“How do we know for sure that’s the murder weapon?”
Jan hasn’t moved. He speaks in a monotone voice, but he’s frowning, and I can tell he’s concentrating.
“It makes sense.”
“Does it?”
“We just found out that the wound went through his torso and his back. It makes sense that the weapon was a long blade.”
“Oh. I see.”
“B-but why bother..?”
“Bother what?”
“Using a sw- a sword… There are other weapons…”
“I guess the killer was a little bit extra.”
“Let’s not use this kind of reasoning to find them out.”
“That’s a good idea…”
“In any case… Neo and I were looking for your testimonies.”
“Oh, right. The three of us were together from morning up until Akiro followed you to the infirmary.”
“What? Really?”
“Is it really that surprising?”
“I guess… not.”
“We met in the dormitory early in the morning and then stayed in the dining room the whole time. We even waited for Akiro outside his room while he got changed, if you want to know.”
“Of course, you both know that the reason he was covered in blood was that he held onto Neo.”
“Yes, of course…”
Are they scared that we’re going to blame either of them? Their alibi is way too solid. They didn’t leave each other’s sides.
“Duh. There wasn’t any blood on him when he followed me.”
“Tha-that’s right.”
It sounds like Akiro felt like he had to participate, but didn’t know what to add.
“What made you come to the storage room?”
“We heard Chloe screaming in the hall. We rushed out and saw her run upstairs with Chris, so we followed them.”
“And you didn’t hear anything before?”
“Nope.”
“The, the door was closed. To the dining room.”
“It doesn’t surprise me that we could only hear her when she was on our floor.”
“Oh? Really? Isabella and Chloe said they heard a loud noise from the storage room, too.”
“We didn’t hear it.”
“That’s weird…”
I agree… There is something weird about that noise. Isabella seemed to think it should have been enough to bring in everyone else, but neither we, or Chris, heard it.
“Since we didn’t hear it and we were also downstairs, it makes sense that they didn’t either.”
“Yeah.”
“W-what about y-your… testimony?”
“What?”
“Ahem…”
Akiro looks away with embarrassment.
“You asked us for our alibis, so he’s asking for yours.”
“Oh! Okay.”
I might have been a little quick to respond. I didn’t mean to make Akiro hesitate.
“Uuuuh…”
I turn to Ciel. What’s our alibi, again..?
“… Neo and I were also together the entire morning. Just like you guys. We were searching the school for clues, and when we came out of the auditorium and walked upstairs, we heard Chloe screaming.”
Ah, that’s right. I was so focused on what happened to Ben… I forgot we’d been doing anything at all.
“We tried to help her and Isabella move Oscar, but we couldn’t, so we dispersed to search for help. Chloe went downstairs… And we went upstairs.”
“And then...”
…
“I’m sorry.”
…I don’t think there’s anything Ciel, or myself can say. We then found Ben… dying.
But there was nothing we could do.
To help Oscar and Mina, we were useless. To save Ben, we were useless.
No… Ciel did their part of the job. I was useless. He was left in my hands, and he died.
...
Hm? Alice grabs my hand and pulls me towards the middle of the room – she also grabs Ciel’s.
“If I understood well, you two tried your best to help both Mina, and Ben, right? That was a lot at once. I’m really proud of you for fighting so hard.”
…I guess we both must have stayed silent for too long.
“Y-yeah, I saw… How hurt you were both, s-so… I hope you can get a break… s-soon.”
“It’s not for right now, though.”
“I… I know.”
“Not everyone would manage to be so calm and realistic in your place, you know? You’re being real cool right now.”
I chuckle nervously. I don’t really resonate with what Alice is saying, but that she’d go out of her way to reassure us… Makes whatever’s happening to me feel a little less like the end of the world. Akiro has been really nice to us too…
“As if.”
I glance at Ciel – they’re sporting a bitter smile, and tearing up a little.
“I swear!”
“That’s true.”
I don’t know why I tense up a little. Alice looks at me curiously – I really don’t know why. I guess…
Three is a little too much.
I’d rather he shuts up, before he manages to convince me.
He stands up…
“I’m thankful for the way you’re going about this. You have been nothing but helpful… Promise.”
…
I scratch the back of my head. Crap. I guess we have been doing alright, then…
“Hmm… I guess that’s something at least…”
“It’s more than just “something”! You don’t realize! We’ll talk about it after… after this, okay?” Alice exclaims, balancing our hands from left to right.
“Okay.”
I answered without thinking. This just sounds like a good plan to me.
Focus now, forget my feelings… But Alice will help me afterwards.
“Yeah… Let’s not waste anymore time, right?”
“Hm-hm. Let’s keep going while we’re at it. We have more work to do for now.”
She lets go of our hands, looking at us both in turn.
“We were checking each of the rooms on this floor. Would you like to come with us?”
Ciels shakes their head.
“We’ll ask for the others’ testimonies first.”
“Yeah. Do you know if they’re downstairs?”
“Yep. We saw Andi, Chloe and Keith inside the nurse’s office.”
I’ve been saying “infirmary”…
“Ah, that’s good, so we’ll check on Oscar and Mina too.”
Ciel dries their eyes with the back of their hands and walks to the door. I look at everyone in turn – Jan and Alice are looking at us, Akiro looks away, and Ciel waits for me in the doorway.
I have to leave again…
This time, it’s a weapon that lies in the middle of the room. Covered in Benjamin’s blood, but… I feel like I see it about everywhere by this point.
I sigh, and follow my friend.

We walk downstairs in silence. The door to the infirmary..? Darn it. The door is open, and Ciel immediately heads towards it, but I grab their hand again to make them stop.
We’re in front of the auditorium… And my spider-senses have been telling me to check something.
“Can we try something first?”
“What?”
With the door open, anyone who’s inside the infirmary can probably hear us. It doesn’t matter much, except for the fact that they’ll witness it if my theory turns out to be wrong.
“You know how Chris was in the auditorium, right behind us, when Chloe called for help?”
“Yes?”
“I was just thinking… Hmmmm… Could you go inside, close the door and scream as loud as you possibly can?”
“Uuuh… they look a little confused, why exactly?”
“It would have sounded a little less weird if I offered to be the one to scream, I guess, but since my hearing’s a little different…”
“I… Okay, if you want me to. Do you want me to yell something in particular?”
“No, whatever comes to mind.”
“…Sure.”
They look at their hand as they scratch their forehead, and head to the auditorium instead. They open the door and go inside…
“Wait, uh... After you’re done screaming, come out, okay?”
“Hmm…”
They mark a pause, holding the door open.
“No matter the setup, right now I feel like I never want to say a joke ever again…”
“Huh?”
I guess they don’t plan on explaining what they just said, since they close the door behind them.
I take another step towards the door, just to be a little closer, and I wait.
…
I’m the one who asked them to go inside, but I want to see them out immediately. Thankfully, it doesn’t take too long before they open the door again.
I’m not in a good enough mood to smile, but I feel reassured seeing their beautiful face.
“So?”
“…So what?”
“Did you scream?”
“Yes?”
They frown, but almost immediately relax their face as their eyes widen.
“Oh… Don’t tell me… You didn’t hear anything?”
“Duh!”
“Aaaah! Go away!”
… I screamed reflexively.
“Hey that’s rude! You’re being so rude right now, Mr. Voice-Actor!”
“Eurgh… What do you want?”
Monokuma was shaking his stupid little paws frenetically around, but comes to an abrupt stop.
“I can’t believe you guys didn’t know… Did I forget to tell you? … Nah, probably not. You’re probably the ones who forgot. Either way, I’m vexed that you expected any less.”
“What are you talking about..?”
Monokuma’s voice is so annoying, and I can definitely tell it’s supposed to be that of a terrible mascot… So good job on whoever cast him, but it crosses my mind that I’d still rather hear him than Kumakuma.
“My grandiose auditorium… This magnificent theatre that I, Monokuma, created…”
…We just stare at him.
“Phew, I’m glad I’m retired. You bunch might just give me depression again.”
“Nooooo… Just get on with it.”
“Upupuuu… Thanks for worrying about good ole Monokuma. What was I talking about? Oh, right!”
He claps his paws.
“The auditorium! Is! Completely! Soundproof! Should I make a Twitter thread? The auditorium! Is! Complet-”
“That’s what I thought.”
“This explains that…”
“…You know what? Fuck you. In any case, my auditorium’s amazing and you can’t hear any annoyance from the outside when you’re inside, or whatever’s being played inside when you’re outside. All hail Monokuma, yadda yadda yadda, find out the killer and despair and that’ll be that.”
The bear shakes his head, then turns around to run away. Boing, boing, boing…
“Just seeing him is enough to make me despair…”
“Hey, don’t... say that.”
Ciel shrugs.
“Either way, good on you for finding this out. It’ll probably help Chris…”
“Well, you know, being that I usually have to record…”
…
Aaah, I lost track of my sentence. I registered what Ciel was saying… Thinking that we have to help Chris reminds me of her experience last time… And that we’re gonna have to face another one of these trials.