CHAPTER 1 · END · First trial

“Why do we have to do this? I don’t want to follow no stupid bear’s rules!”
Andi complains as we walk out the elevator and into a new, sophisticated-looking round trial room.
“Like seriously, all because one of us had to be a-”
“Shut the fuck up, you dumb bitch.”
…
“Huh?”
“Excuse me, what?”
Every single one of us turns and stares at Jan. Why wouldn’t we? This was so mean- and so unlike the guy..! Why would he be like this?
“Jan… Why would you call Andi such a thing?”
“Yeah, what the fuck, buddy?”
We all look taken aback, especially him. He brings his hand to the front of his mouth, paler than ever before.
“But… But that wasn’t me.”
“Watchu mean, wasn’t me? Who the fuck was it, then?”
“It was me, fuckface.”
All heads turn to Oscar, now. Wha…
“No it wasn’t,” he says calmly.
“Huh?”
“One more stupid interrogation and I’ll cut you.”
Okay- everyone turns to Ciel this time, but that definitely wasn’t them. They’re standing next to me, and the voice came from—
“Over here!”
I point towards a strange shape, moving within the shadows of a gigantic red chair near the wall facing the entry. Our attention turned to it, it takes a few steps forward.
Our jaws drop as we discover…

Spoiler:

“Kumakumaaaaa!”
Monokuma comes from behind the thing and holds it between his paws. It’s also a plushed bear, the same shape as Monokuma, excepts it’s slightly thinner and smaller… and somehow creepier.
“F-For real..?”
“Eeeeek!”
Andi runs and hides behind Jan.
“Why.. ?”
“If you shield me, I’ll forgive you for insulting me earlier!”
He sighs, and the… Kumakuma, was it? Speaks up again, from between Monokuma’s paws.
“I’m Kumakuma and I’ll be the headmaster of you bitches. Starting now.”
“No…”
Emily’s voice… How dares this thing..?!
“Haha, well, maybe sometime, but not right now, you adorable thing, you. Our dear classmates can clearly tell you don’t quite have a voice of your own, hmm? Our readers would be really confused if you kept borrowing the cast’s voices.”
“What do we need me for?!”
The thing doesn’t react, rather, it goes numb.
“Upupuu…”
“How gross…”
Akiro mumbles something inaudible. Only Jan seems to understand, but he doesn’t react, obviously shaken by what just happened… Or maybe is it by Andi clinging to his back.
“Gross, you say?”
“Yeah! It’s fucking gross! Making us all think we’re insulting each other is one thing, but borrowing a voice from the dead? How sick are you?!”
“Upupu… Who knows?”
Monokuma violently chucks the Kumakuma behind and it disappears in the shadows once again; he then climbs onto the giant chair.
“Most importantly… Who cares? I want you all in front of your personal desks right now, else I’ll give the damn shirokuma a brown and pink wig!”
“Shirokuma…”
The thought is so insulting, not one of us disobeys.
Monokuma looks satisfied.
“Alright! Now, then…” he yawns. “I should explain to you what the concept of this trial is, but how about we let the weebs do it?”
“W-weebs?”
“Ugh. How cheap can you be?”
“I’m just trying to give you some time to shine, sweetheart, come on, you weren’t even there for most of the-”
“… blackened, meaning the student who has, either voluntarily or involuntarily, murdered another student within the Killing Game…”
“Whaaa-”
Why does this bear have to be so loud? I can barely hear the explanation he requested!
“We will have to discuss, using the clues we found as well as each other’s testimonies, in order to find the culprit. At some point in time, Monokuma will decide we’ve had enough time and ask us to vote.”
“’that all?”
“… Not really. If the culprit is effectively found out, they will be executed. If the majority votes for the wrong person, however, everyone but the real culprit will be executed.”
“Ex… Executed?”
“Fuck! … How… How do you even know all of this?”
“I already said it, I will say it again, PULAYU DANUGANURONUPA!”
“That’s it. I’m leaving.”
“No you’re not.”
Akiro grits his teeth. I don’t get it… What did Monokuma just say? It didn’t make any sense whatsoever…
“Come to think of it, why would a Danganronpa game only feature one Japanese character? We messed it up, didn’t we?”
“We..?”
“He’s not even totally Japanese.”
“Y-yes I am!”
Akiro’s face turns red, as it often does. I don’t completely get what’s happening but I think he may be getting tortured by Monokuma.
“You are? Well, that doesn’t make any sense.”
“Like… Like h-hell it d-d-d-”
“Of course it makes sense. Let’s move on,” Jan interrupts, crossing his arms.
“Eh, sure. Get on with it. I’m ready to be disappointed. That’s when I say the thing, right? Okay. CLASS TRIAL SUTARUTU!”*ed: american accent
“Aaaarggh!!!”
Here we are, then. We are all installed in a circle; none of us have seats, not even Keith, who’s completely leaning over his desk, like nothing else can hold him up. We didn’t get to pick our places, so Ciel and I found ourselves separated; I’m standing between Lois and Akiro instead, Monokuma’s chair being right behind the guy.

Spoiler:

There’s one empty desk… Between Jan and Chloe.

_{Template by Skriff}

I can’t see super clearly from where I’m standing but… Is this a blood-coloured heart? I… If it is, I don’t know how to feel about it.
Anyway…
“So… How do we get started? Do we just start accusing each other or what?”
“Hm, no… I don’t think that’s a good idea…”
“Why, of course, let’s proceed this way! Who here hates us all and wants us to feel pain and despair?”
“Me! Me! Me!”
“Shut up.”
“Aw come on Alice, my girl, you can’t just blame Keith from the get-go!”
“What… the… fuck?”
“What? I’m defending you!”
“You shut up too!”
“Then who gets to talk?”
“I don’t know! Someone with something interesting to say!”
“I figure Lois or Mina may lead us on the right track.”
Right. Who should we listen to..?
“The Ultimate Detective should do a much better job than myself of exposing clues.”
“Thank you.”
One quick peek at Mina, and I understand why she hadn’t been saying anything so far.
She’s too small for the desk, and she’s struggling to climb it.
“Um… D-do you..?”
“Oh damn, I’m sorry, I wasn’t even paying attention.”
Chris easily carries Mina up so that she can sit on her desk. The latter clears her throat.
“Thank you. Now, I have never directly participated in a trial, but I think we would gain from following a certain line of logic. Let’s work through this by investigating one matter at a time. We should discuss everything, including things that seem easy to figure out – which is why I’ll ask you, when did the murder occur?”
“At night.”
“Thank you, next.”
You really shouldn’t act like you couldn’t have said that yourself, Andi.
“That’s already something. Mind you, I said some things seemed easy to figure out. But do we truly have a lead in this category?”
“Well… we know for sure that it happened before Neo’s shift… And that he didn’t run into the killer…”
“Do you know what time it was when you came out of your room?”
“Actually… I do! It was 5:45.”
“And you didn’t run into anyone until Monokuma’s announcement.”
“Not until I reached the classroom. The only person who was there before me was Lois.”
“What was she doing there?”
“I walked around the academy after hearing the sound of a lock activating in the dorms, but being unable to see who got out. It was 5:39.”
“I confirm a lock activated but I did not see Lois.”
“Lois was hiding in our usual spot. I can confirm she could hear the dorms and see you without you seeing her.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“But where could the killer have gone then?”
“They could have hidden anywhere inside the academy, just like Lois did.”
“No… They couldn’t have.”
“Why is that?”
I clear my throat. I’m unsure of what I’m saying but it makes sense to me… Right now.
“If they’d gotten out of their room and then hid, when did they even commit the murder, given that they came out at 5:39 and I found the body at 5:50… And Lois had been there for 5 minutes already?”
“This math gives me a headache.”
“It should, because it doesn’t add up. What does this tell us?”
“The murder didn’t take place in that moment!”
“It confirms our theory that the killer was getting in rather than out.”
“How’s that?”
“It’s the only plausible reason why I never saw anyone inside the dormitory’s hall.”
“Why… Why would they… have locked their door when they… got… in… but not out?”
“Wasn’t that a mouthful?”
“Jeez, Alice-ce…”
“Maybe the killer was just stupid?”
“That, or they forgot.”
“Samesies!”
“Maybe they wanted to confuse us.”
“Or they’re actually hard of hearing…”
“It’s not important. The fact of the matter is that they did it.”
“Really? But how do we know for sure?”
“We’ll know for sure once we have the murderer in a corner.”
“Huh…”
“Why they did it doesn’t add anything to the crime they committed. Knowing they did it, however, clears up a discrepancy. Unless someone has a better explanation.”
No one answers. Our silence makes me think about Noah – how would we know if he had anything to say? He doesn’t seem to be trying to grab anyone’s attention. Are the two people surrounding him really the most helpful among us in his case..?
“Is this okay with you, Noah?”
… Maybe they are. Oscar may not be very talkative, but he is one of the most thoughtful people here.
Noah seems surprised to be talked to, but he quickly nods.
“Oh yeah! If you need ya girl to tell us anything for ya- just tap me on the shoulder, right? I’ll have her know ay es ay pee!”
This makes me smile. I was silly to think we wouldn’t all be there for each other. I really can’t believe there’s a killer among us… I know we all mean so well. Noah, though he’s been looking incredibly sad today, manages to smile as well, and shows Andi a thumbs-up.
“Ah, I’ll be on the lookout too.”
“That’s good to hear. Shall we move on?”
“Sure.”
“We really letting go of this question already..?”
“We can always come back to it later if we meet a dead end.”
“Huh.”
“Of course, I’ll keep in my mind that you weren’t sure about it. Now then… How about the murder weapon?”
“Knife.”
“Oh… Really..?”
“Well, duh. She was holding it.”
“Ah, that’s true..! She was holding a knife…”
“She was. However, this wasn’t the murder weapon.”
“O-Oh?”
“Lois is correct. What did you notice about the knife she was holding?”
“She was dead, yet she was holding it firmly.”
“Rigor mortis. She died holding it.”
“Ah!”
That doesn’t explain how the knife wasn’t the murder weapon.
“I-It was a… a kitchen knife.”
“Yes, but what was special about it?”
Hmm…
What was special about the knife?

Emily was the one holding it.:

It was clean.:

It wasn’t sharp enough to kill.:

…

“It was clean!”
“Oh… D-duh…”
“It’s true.”
“Correct! What does that mean to us?”
“Yes… What does it mean?”
Isabella’s voice can’t help but be sweet, and yet, it now sounds filled with hatred. Her words, pronounced without looking at anyone, send a chill down my spine, even though they’d been fine when Mina said them.
“Just like you said… It wasn’t the murder weapon.”
“That’s right.”
“Do you know what the murder weapon was, then?”
“Ah, well, it was a knife.”
“Wait, what?”
“The fatal wound was that of a small thick blade, in short, a knife.”
“But..!”
“Oh. Oh no.”
“Oh no?”
“So the two knives I found… Had been used to commit murder before they were washed.”
“You found two knives?”
“I didn’t exactly find them… But I found out that they were used. When I checked the kitchen, I saw that two had been placed incorrectly in the knife rack. I know for a fact that they were in the right position last night when I left.”
“Are you sure you didn’t just mess up when you tidied the kitchen?”
“Of course he is!”
“Jan is always very careful… He made sure everything was in perfect order last night before leaving.”
“Plus, one knife was missing.”
“Then it’s clear that is where the murderer took the weapons he used during the night.”
“Uuuh, wait. PLEASE tell me you remembered which knives were used.”
“Why now?”
“These things were coated in human blood!”
“Oh, don’t worry. I was already thinking about how much I’m never using these again.”
“Oh, right…”
“The two of them probably weren’t used to kill, though…”
“No, only one was.”
“But since I don’t know which it was, I’m not using either one of them.”
“Well thanks!”
“What a sloppy job the killer did, though…”
“O-oh, b-but only J-jan would pay atten-attention to this type of detail.”
“That is… true.”
“Aw.”
“One of us must be upset that he’s here.”
“Aw.”
Oof. That stings.
But… It must be true. The killer probably never expected anyone to notice that they’d used these two knives. I wonder who that is… No one here looks guilty…
“Whatever…”
Isabella doesn’t stop staring at the ground, even when she raises her voice.
“Why would Emily be holding one of them..?”
“To try and defend herself, maybe..?”
“With a KNIFE?!”
She finally looks up, angrily staring at Ciel. Uh-oh. I wouldn’t like to be them, right now.
“Uuh… Hum…”
“Chances are she did, which would explain why the killer had to try and get rid of blood on two knives rather than just one.”
“But what about the wounds on her arm?”
“These weren’t caused by a knife.”
I think I was told about a clue that should relate to this… What was it?

A few chairs and tables were slightly moved but none were tipped over:

There is a small piece of black fabric underneath Emily’s right leg:

Four of her nails on her left hand are bloody on the tip.:

…

“She made these with her own nails, didn’t she?”
Mina nods.
“That’s correct. The nails on her left hand, the one opposite her scarred arms, were bloody. The width and depth of said scars corresponds to them.”
“Oh, sweetheart…”
“Why?!”
“Well… That much is unclear. I thought maybe she wanted to leave a dying message, but all I found was blood all over her mouth. Maybe she was trying to bear with the pain of her wound…”
“In any case, it means the second knife wasn’t used for those.”
“Then what for? If she used them against her killer, what proof do we have of that?”
“I think… Hm. Do you think maybe the droplets of blood I found in the hall in front of the classroom were the killer’s?”
“There is… No way to tell…”
Keith sounds more and more exhausted, yet he still tries to participate every now and then.
“Oh, but there is. See, Emily’s throat was slit perfectly, in a single hit, on her jugular, which immediately burst open and bled profusely. A few drops of blood couldn’t possibly correspond to this wound. She must have been killed right where we found her.”
“How about her arm..?”
“Well, given that the tip of her index finger was bloody as well, I truly believe she was trying to leave a dying message…”
Mina’s voice sounds more hesitant everytime she mentions this potential “dying message”. She seems confused that she didn’t find one.
“Oh…”
“Then Emily really must have cut her killer somewhere in self-defense inside the hall…”
“NO! Emily would never hurt a fly! Not even someone who attacked her!”
“Well, she hurt Jan!”
“Hm?”
“What?!”
Now she stares angrily at Jan. But it wasn’t his fault..!
“She… She… What?”
“No way!”
“When?!”
“Noah asks how that could possibly have happened!”
“No he doesn’t!”
Noah shrugs, looking confused as well.
I guess only a few of us know…
“Now, now… What are we talking about?”
“Remember when she held your arm super hard and left a mark that was, like, super red?”
“O-Oh, yeah…”
“Hmm… Yes, that did happen… But it was nothing important.”
“But it did h-hurt, didn’t it?”
“I… I mean you didn’t say anything back then, but still…”
“It hurt, but I was surprised, and she didn’t hold me for very long, so I didn’t complain. I figured it was nothing but an accident.”
“What if she accidentally stabbed them, then?”
“Jesus fucking Christ… You can’t… Accidentally stab someone… Lady…”
“So you ARE still mad!”
“Whatever happened mustn’t have been very important, given the small amount of blood we found.”
“She could have accidentally struck the killer with whatever she had taken a hold of, and it happened to be a knife. Does that sound better to you?”
“…”
Isabella doesn’t respond, looking down again instead.
“In any case, she did it, which explains another clue we found.”
“Oh?”
What clues do we have left to explore..?

There is a small piece of black fabric underneath Emily’s right leg.:

A few chairs and tables were slightly moved but none were tipped over.:

There are very few drops of blood going from the hall (upstairs) to the classroom.:

“The black fabric you found, is that it?”
“Exactly. A small piece of torn black fabric had fallen underneath Emily’s legs. She, of course, didn’t wear black.”
“How about her underwear?”
See, this is the type of line that would have made a protagonist lose the game.
“Just fuck off.”
“No, but seriously!”
“… I think it’s more likely that the fabric was cut when Emily… accidentally cut her attacker and it somehow found its way underneath her.”
“Well…”
“Yes. Emily wasn’t wearing black undergarments, anyway.”
Oh.
“This means the killer must have been wearing black clothes. Since we only have one set of clothes repeated multiple times… They are wearing a version of the same black clothing right now.”
“And I doubt anyone’s underwear is involved.”
“Are these our suspects, then..?”
“That is a lot of people.”
Hmm… This makes…
“Myself, Lois, Jan, Ciel, Oscar, Noah, Andi and Chris.”

I hate to even think about blaming any of these people for what happened! ... Myself included.
“That is.. way too many people.”
“Like, everyone wears black.”
“What do we do now?”
“Je sais pas, un jacquet ?”
“What ?”
“Was this French?”
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to say this. I mean, someone around me used to say that everytime she didn’t know what to do.”
He looks genuinely confused he said it.
“It sounds sarcastic.”
“Oh, she was.”
“Hum…”
“This doesn’t lead us anywhere.”
“True. But it’s okay. How about we try to summarize what we do know for sure right now?”
“N-No… Hum, I mean… Uuh… Can I… Can I ask something f-f-first?”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“O-okay… So… Well… Lois and N-neo found the body b-but… How do we know one of them didn’t… do… do… do it? ”
“W-W-What?”
“I-I-I’m so sorry..!”
“No, it’s alright. You’re right to ask about this. We couldn’t last forever without trying to aim for a culprit.”
“Well..!”
I’m not mad at Akiro, I’m just worried there may be a misunderstanding!
“Lois didn’t… Hum, Lois didn’t have any blood on her and her clothes were in perfect condition!”
“Are you sure you would have noticed? I mean, finding a body and all that…”
“Yes! Of course I would have.”
“One of us would have. If Neo had found her out on the place of the crime, she would have only had time to change after the fact, and we all rushed in right as the body discovery announcement took place.”
“I guess so…”
“What about you, Neo..? You said you left your room at 5:45, is that true?”
I hesitate. Yes, it is… But how can I prove it?
“It is.”
“O-Oh?”
“Neo left after the mysterious locking sound. I heard the lock so I checked. It was him.”
“Ah-haha! Yeah, that’s right!”
I’m sweating profusely.
“Surely there’s no better proof than that. Neo left after I did, and we now know he hadn’t been hanging about the academy.”
“Phew… I’m… I’m glad we cleared that up…”
“One mystery still remains, however.”
Oh no.
“Still?”
“Aaaw…”
Jan brings out his Monopad, and reads it.
“If I am to believe the rules… Right. The body discovery announcement goes off when three or more people find a dead body.”
He then turns it off and puts it back.
“How come your testimonies have only let us know about Lois and Neo discovering the body?”
“Excellent question.”
“I… Isabella…”
I take a glance in her direction. She hasn’t budged an inch.
“What about her?”
“Isabella joined us in the classroom and was thus the third person to discover the body.”
“Huh…”
“Don’t worry. Isabella left shortly after Neo.”
“Eh? But why would she? It was like, super early in the morning!”
Now that I think about it, what time is it now? This all started around 6AM… It has to still be morning, or at most noon, now…
In any case… Isabella answers, her voice but a murmur.
“I wanted to meet Emily on her way back… In case she was too tired to walk on her own, since she’d taken my shift in the morning…”
“Oh… Hm… I’m so sorry for your loss…”
“She wasn’t Isabella’s to lose! We all lost her!”
“Hey, shut up!”
“No…”
No one says anything, confused by Isabella’s reaction.
“I sure fucking hope you miss her… Being here without her…”
She hit the front of her desk with her fist.
“It sucks..!”
“We… We all miss her already, Isabella…”
“Oh, wouldn’t you, Ciel?!”
“Over with this! We can’t waste our time fighting!”
“Yes.”
“Yeah… We need to find the bastard who did it…”
“But how are we gonna proceed now?”
“Well, I’m glad we cleared Isabella up.”
“Right… We were stuck on that last black fabric clue.”
“Have we used up all our clues..?”
“Hohoho…”
“Hohoho?”
“Worry not, for there is one clue left… And I now know who did it. Who’s the disgusting liar who morbidly killed our friend.”
“S-seriously?”
“Do you really?!”
We’re all taken aback. Mina seems… incredibly confident.
Did she know all along?
No…
Does this mean it’s true? There really is a killer among us. Someone who’s been lying this whole time. I’d been trying so hard to tell myself it had to be someone from the outside, or it had all been staged all along, but… Now, Mina knows.
She’s the Ultimate Detective. Whatever she says… Must be right. Whoever she blames… We’ll have to believe her.
But I’m not ready. I don’t want to think it’s any one of our friends. I tell myself – how could she know?! But deep down…
I know what the last clue is.
I know who she is talking about.
Someone who wears back clothes… And has to do with that last clue.
The killer is…

Spoiler:

…
No… I can’t bring myself to say it…
“Come on, spit it out!”
Andi looks so worried she might just explode. Her whole face is twitching in anguish.
Mine would be too… If I didn’t know what Mina is about to say.
She smiles pridefully.
“You are the culprit… Chris Vivas.”

I knew it… And yet I feel my heart drop when she says it.
“H… Huh?!”
“No… No way…”
“W… No… Ya didn’t… Girl…”
“N-No! I didn’t do it!”
She laughs nervously, but she looks in terrible pain.
“You guys believe me, right? I mean… I mean… No… No..!”
We are all in shock.
And yet…
We all believe in Mina.
…
More so than we do in Chris? My heart hurts so much. There’s no way… I don’t want to believe it, but… What can I do.. ?
“What the fuck are we talking about?! What clue? What clue was it?!”
I’m almost afraid Chris may become violent, but she only raises her voice, shaking, at the small girl standing next to her.
“Come now, why would you get so angry if you were innocent… But don’t worry, I’ll explain.”
“I… I…”
“Of course, our last clue is very straightforward.”
Mina looks at every single one of us in turn, except the accused, smiling.
“Attached to the black fabric by friction… There was a long, black hair.”
She gives us a few seconds to consider.
“Only two of us have such long dark hair, but of course, only one wears black.”
Chris is starting to breathe heavily.
“I hope it is also obvious to everyone here that in a show of strength, Chris would win against Emily no problem – just like she demonstrated by helping me up like I didn’t weigh anything. Not even a knife could protect her poor victim.”
“My… … Not…”
Chris can’t find anything to say.
I’m trembling, now. Everything adds up…
“That… Is surely true…”
Chloe… So pale…
But… Are we really all okay with this..?
“Ciel, Neo, did you get to interrogate Chris?”
No… No, we didn’t..!
“N-no…”
“Just like I thought. Obviously, the culprit wouldn’t let herself be interrogated if that could save her.”
“But they… Interrogated? What?”
She laughs nervously again.
“Seriously, what?”
She looks at Ciel, and then myself, but I look away.
I can’t do this…
We’d been advancing through the trial like we didn’t know what it meant… First there was Akiro’s question about Lois and I… But that was nothing… Compared to this. I can’t believe… Chris..!
“G-guys, I’m saying the truth! Let’s… Let’s talk this through, okay?”
“Oh, no, believe me, we’re not. No talking will save you from the facts. Everyone knows, of course, that having taken ahold of the fabric, I, as a detective, was able to tell for sure what kind it was, and compare it to Chris’ clothing.”
…
My everything hurts.
“Of course… It matches.”


… Wait, what? This voice… I heard it before…



This voice… That’s right… It was..!

“Liar!”

Noah.
“Hm?”
Everyone stares at an angry, disheveled Noah.
“Hu… Huh?”
“Shut up, you liar!”
His voice… How do I describe it? It sounds… awful. It’s extremely deep, but it goes up and down randomly, though its main trait is the impression it gives of being chipped off every syllable or so. It struggles to be loud as well.
His voice… It’s broken all over the place. But he has one. My heart starts beating fast, for no clear reason.
“Excuse-me?”
“What you’re saying. Prove it! Prove it! You can’t prove it!”
“Ha… hah…”
Chris looks like she’s about to pass out.
“Hold… Hold it together..!”
“Of course I can. I already have. Haven’t I?”
“You didn’t prove anything. You just…”
Noah breaks into a coughing fit – an incredibly painful sounding one.
“You just… Said things! But they’re not true. You’re lying.”
“Noah, it’s… it’s okay…”
“I think maybe you’re just in denial.”
“How dare you…”
He coughs again.
“And you all believe her… Show us the fabric…”
“Well, I don’t have it.”
“Of course you don’t! Liar!”
“I… I…”
“Shut up, culprit. We’re busy dealing with your loved ones in denial.”
“You shut up, you cocky bitch!”
… I may be making this up, but it feels like Noah’s eyes are, for a second, horrified by his own words.
“You can insult me however much you like, it still won’t challenge the facts.”
Noah coughs once again before managing to answer, his voice more and more strained.
“You are lying.”
He tries to make himself sound calm, but his voice is fueled by anger.
“Right, and that’s why-”
“I agree with him… I think you’re lying too.”
“Pardon?”
“Just a hunch. Let’s say… It is odd that you didn’t keep the fabric if you knew it would be such important proof of the killer’s identity.”
“I just decided to leave it where I found it, like every other clue.”
“Right.”
“O-okay, I’m with him! I m-mean it’s not voting t-time yet so we c-could still discuss! Why would we im-immediately believe you but n-not Chris?”
“Oh, come on, now. Are you really phased by the insults of an angry boyfriend?”
“N… N…”
Chris is now the one who can’t speak, muted in fear and shock.
Noah doesn’t raise his voice anymore either. He only stares at Mina, his teeth clenched.
“Well, you know what? Noah is her friend, and he believes in her! So should we! It may sound like it’s her right now, but there’s still time, and I’ll believe in Chris until the very end!”
“It does sound like we would profit off discussing this further.”
“Y-yeah! I don’t want to believe it was Chris either!”
I may have gone ahead of myself, but I’ve been feeling this way too hard for way too long already. Noah’s her best friend here for a reason. He’s the only one who… dared to raise his voice in her defense.
“What am I supposed to do with that?”
“Just convince us! If you’re right… We’ll have given everyone a chance, right?”
I nod. This… At least this is fair.
“Well, I’m not going to.”
Mina crosses her arms.
“Huh?”
“I already told you everything I knew. If someone else knows one final clue towards the supposedly real killer, then they better tell us.”
“Come on, why would you be so difficult? Just help us out, Mina… Maybe there’s another way of looking at the clues…”
“Oh, yeah, maybe there is. But maybe it’s also easier if someone whips out a final missing link that puts everything into light.”
No one knows how to answer to that. Why is Mina acting like that..? She seems so sure of herself. Is it because she knows she’s right..? But even if she is, as a Detective, she should know how to effectively convince us, shouldn’t she?!
“You know what? Maybe the accused should do it. Now that would be efficient.”
She turns around to look at Chris, dead serious.
Chris still looks extremely shaken.
“N… N…”
“Ah, there it is – you know what? If you say anything remotely useful, whatever, bring up a clue we didn’t explore enough, anything else, I promise I will help everyone think it through again. How does that sound? Because I’m giving you no other choice.”
Chris shakes her head panickedly.
“Just do it. Take your time if you want.”
Mina looks away indignantly, her arms crossed, while Chris keeps on breathing heavily, now staring at the floor.
There’s a short silence.
“Alright, Chris… Just try to think of anything. We’ll make a case for you. Don’t worry. It’ll make things easier for everyone.”
“B... Mh… Mhh…”
There’s a silence again, and no one dares to break it. I would like to encourage Chris, or tell Mina off, but nothing smart or efficient crosses my mind, and I tell myself, maybe she needs some time to muster up the courage to speak… After all, just a minute ago, she was the culprit for almost every single one of us.
Chris loudly swallows her saliva, and opens her mouth multiple times without being able to say anything.
“… Ah, but you can do it.”
I suddenly look at Noah. He has gotten rid of his angry demeanor, giving it up for his initial sad smile. He tucks his fringe behind his right ear, I think in order to look at her with both eyes, revealing the mutilated side of his face.
“Oh God…”
I notice that Chris looks up to look at him too.
“You’re the best thing to have ever happened to me, you know. So strong, so cool. So I know you can do it.  I’ll be proud of you no matter what.”
His voice is so rough, and yet his words are so sweet. This is the Noah I know and love. I’m not sure his encouragements are incredibly deep, but they’re thoughtful and loving, and it’s all they need to be his.
I look at Chris as she starts to tear up.
“O… Okay…”
The pitch of her voice goes up, crackling. She nods for a while, and we all look at her, before she finally speaks up again, her head down.
“The door…”
Weakly.
“The door? What door?”
I can tell that Andi is getting impatient.
“The door… It was… No… I mean…”
It’s unclear what she’s talking about. Did she notice something about the door to the classroom that didn’t make it to the clues we all knew? She had been looking around the hall, after all…
“You didn’t… The door…”
She suddenly looks up again.
“You didn’t lock the door!”
Her exclamation accompanied by tears, she looks at… someone.
“When you went into Keith’s room last night, you didn’t lock the door, no, I didn’t hear it.”
She’s straight up crying now, as she looks at Noah.
He keeps smiling, not answering anything.
“Is that so?”
“Why didn’t you lock it?!”
“Ah, well, I truly thought I did. But you see, I happen to be a little hard of hearing.”
He gestures to his right ear, visible with his fringe behind it. It’s partly chipped off, the remainder of it eternally bruised.
“Huh…”
“So… You didn’t notice whether it made a sound or not..?”
“That’s...”
He suffers from another coughing fit.
“That’s it.”
Chris whines louder.
“But what does that prove?”
“Chris?”
“W-we… Couldn’t figure out… Why the killer had used their lock only once…”
“So you think that makes Noah our killer instead of you? What other clues relate to him?”
Chris sniffles.
“Please… No more…”
“Leave her alone before I force you to, brat.”
Noah’s expression towards Mina is completely cold.
“Alright, alright, I made a promise, didn’t I?”
Mina uncrosses her arms and sits herself upright.
“Most of my logic can be applied to Noah as well. Show of strength – of course. Black fabric, same.”
Everyone listens in silence, with the exception of Chris’ cyring.
“As for Chris’ hair… Noah is someone particularly affectionate, and what his words can’t express, his gestures do. He hugs people easily, and Chris is his best friend among us.”
I can’t help but notice that Mina has switched from her mocking “girlfriend/boyfriend” to “best friend”.
“So her hair ended up on his clothes because of a hug…”
“W-wait, so you think it’s Noah now?!”
Mina confidently looks at Andi.
“But of course. And here’s the final clue…”
She takes something out of her pocket.
It’s a piece of black fabric.
“I knew it.”
She reaches forward to pass it to Alice, who passes it to Benjamin, who passes it to Andi, who compares it to Noah’s jacket.
“No way…”
“So?”
Andi stares up at Noah in disbelief.
“It’s the exact same stuff…”
Noah shrugs.
“Oh, well.”
“Oh, well?!”
I couldn’t help but repeat what he said. How could he react so casually? We’re… We’re accusing him now, aren’t we?! Noah!
“You know, as long as no one’s blaming my dear friend anymore, I’m fine with this.”
He coughs.
“But.. ! If we don’t find the real culprit, we’ll all lose!”
“Oh, come on, Neo. You know better than that.”
…
“No!”
Now I’m crying too.
“Are you admitting to your crime?”
“Yes, yes. You can be proud of yourself, you sly… thing.”
Coughing again.
“No… This can’t be true… Stop it…”
“But Chris, you’re the one who denounced me. And you were right. So I’m proud of you.”
“Since when…. Since when are you so cruel..?”
“… You’re asking the Ultimate Soldier.”
“Noooo..!”
“I feel like we shouldn’t be that surprised…”
“C-come on, you can’t th..!”
Ciel is interrupted by someone loudly hitting their desk, startling everyone.
“Why.”
Isabella raises her voice to look at Noah, her eyes filled with hatred.
“Why. Did you. Kill her.”
“I challenged her to a fight of protecting the one she loved, and she lost.”
“What?!”
Noah answered extremely calmly, like she was a child asking a dumb question.
“Surely you remember the motive. We barely had anytime left before Monokuma murdered one of you two anyway. You just had to look at her to know that she knew it.”
He coughs loudly again.
“Two of us has to die in order for the rest to survive. I asked her if she would do anything to protect you. She said yes.”
My head hurts so much. Isabella stares at Noah as he speaks, steaming.
“So I challenged her to a fight. Gave her two knives, and myself one. She lost, so she died first.”
Chris lets out a loud sob.
“How could you possibly think she had any chance to win against you in a fight?! You’re a trained soldier! She’s what, a model?!”
Noah shrugs, massaging his throat.
“That doesn’t mean anything. I believe what matters the most in a fight is your will to live. I used to think it was strength too, but then I killed Papa.”
“Wh… What…”
He looks down, pouting.
“Papa was so much stronger than I was, but I was able to kill him so easily… I was so frustrated too, because after everything he put me through, I wanted to see him suffer… But no, one strike, and there, he was dead. Had to run away. I don’t know who found me and put me here.”
“You… You killed your dad.”
Andi frowns, her voice deeper than usual. I don’t think I’d ever seen her so serious, especially since I expected her to try and run away from him, as she usually does from danger…
Because Noah is dangerous.
No, there’s no way that’s true.
“So you… left her no choice but to die… Even if she killed you… She would have been executed…”
Isabella speaks through clenched teeth. He looks unphased.
“She was going to die anyway. You or her. It was the same. You were all that mattered to her. I felt the same way.”
“N… No…”
“Well, I guess.”
He coughs again, and blood comes out on his hand. He looks at it without reacting.
“Your relationship was all cutesy. I haven’t known something like that. But I knew she loved you. I loved Papa too, in a way. Now he’s gone, so… I thought nothing mattered anymore, but then there was Chris, and she was…”
He laughs.
“So nice, so cool, so good-looking. She gave me so much hope. I’d never been around nice people, before. Only rapists and murderers.”
His voice gets worse and worse, and I’m the one who feels in pain.
“I was a murderer too, so I didn’t mind sacrificing myself for her.”
“B-but… Was everything… A lie?”
“What?”
“How nice you were… Your smile…”
“No! Didn’t I say it? This was my first time being surrounded by nice people. I love you guys so much. I’m so glad I get to save you.”
“Save us?! How is that saving me?! I… I don’t want this!”
He shakes his head.
“Tell that to the bear.”
“I won’t let you leave as a hero, you sick fuck.”
“Hm?”
“You’re talking of saving us, and yet, you let us go through this trial without revealing yourself.”
A pause.
That’s… true…
Noah scratches his head.
“Ah, well, maybe deep down I wanted to survive too. I don’t always know why I do some things! In any case, I always knew you’d find me out. You’re all so beautiful, and strong… I admire you.”
“Really, now.”
“Hm-hm.”
Such a weak “hm-hm” – his throat can barely handle anymore talking.
“I’m mad at the girl for blaming Chris and making her feel bad, but it’s okay, soon I won’t be able to hurt her back anymore.”
“You… You’re hurting me…”
Chris is trying to calm herself, but it barely works.
He smiles.
“Ah, well. Soon I won’t be there to hurt you anymore.”
“Hell yeah! That’s the spirit!”
“No! I don’t want this!”
“Sorry kiddos, I fell asleep somewhere during the first three minutes. But I guess you found out the very obvious murderer now, so you know what time it is… Upupu… IT’S VOTING TIME!”
The top of our desks convert into a tablet displaying a photo of each of us, and a timer counting down.
Fuck…
I quickly wipe my tears with my sleeve. I don’t want this either… But time is running fast, and Noah admitted to his crime…
And I think he wants this.
So I have no choice…
His photo displays his usual self, half of his face hidden, with a sweet smile and look.
I vote for Noah.
And then the timer ends.

“Alright, let’s see how you did…”

https://i.imgur.com/txNMG0a.mp4

“And the killer is… Noah Landon! BWAHAHAHA! Congratulations, you won!”

“Ah…”
He coughs.
“Wherever I end up, it’ll probably be a better place.”
“Like hell it will.”
“How could you do this to us… Noah…”
I’m still crying, but I’m much more stable now.
“I’m sorry.”
He nods.
“I really am. I’m so sorry. I was already broken when I wound up here, you see. You guys have so much to live for. I know you’ll make Emily’s sacrifice worth it. I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to tell her you were all saved. We won’t be in the same place.”
He nods to himself again.
“Sacrifice, huh…”
“We could have found… You didn’t have to kill… Noah… Noah..!”
She runs to him and holds him by the hand, strongly, like she’s trying to break it.
“I hope you’re really mad. I hope you’ll stay mad at me forever.”
He softly grabs her head by the chin, stroking her cheek with his thumb. He stares at her in the eyes, while she doesn’t move an inch, too distraught to think.
“I kinda like it this way.”
“Aw, isn’t that so sweet?”
“It… really is not…”
“Anyway, you know what I like? The pain and suffering of others, rather than my own. So how about I show you my prowess in executing?”
Noah lets go of Chris and takes a step back.
“No…”
She doesn’t move.
I wish I could.
I wish I could do something to keep Monokuma from hurting Noah.
He thought he was saving us, didn’t he? Maybe we could tie him up for the remainder of our time here. We’d feed him and keep ourselves safe. Then he’d serve jail time. That would be the right thing, wouldn’t it? He doesn’t truly want to die. Deep down, he wanted to survive, he said. The true culprit is Monokuma. I shouldn’t let this happen.
And yet I’m paralyzed.
The floor opens underneath Noah and Noah only, sucking him in like a vacuum. I can see the true fear in his eyes as he is taken away forever.
Chris runs towards the hole in the floor but it’s too late. It’s already closed.
The screens all over the trial room turn on and show us an image of Noah.

He’s standing in the middle of some type of field, looking upwards with worry, when gigantic boots appear from the sky and start marching on top of him. Noah is minuscule in the midst of giant soldier legs that stomp their feet solidly on the ground, forcing him to jump off it when it trembles.
Noah avoids being crushed deftly, running extremely fast, dodging, climbing over some of the feet like he’s doing parkour, but as he climbs on the final one, the wearer kicks the air, kicking him upwards into the sky.
The camera follows him as he flies into an equally gigantic window and ends up on someone’s bed. An enormous hand grabs him before he can run away, and the look of sheer terror on his face indicates that he recognizes the person holding him.
It’s a giant man, who looks a lot like him, except older, with shorter, darker hair and no scars. He inspects the small Noah, and starts smiling as he presses him between his fingers, just enough to torture him without killing him. Noah tries to scream for help, but nothing comes out – and it’s only when he breaks down and starts to cry that the giant man stops to open his mouth and place him on his tongue.
Noah barely has time to realize where he is before the giant gulps him down.
The camera follows him again, down the giant man’s throat, to the inside of his stomach, but as he falls down, his skin breaks up, letting out his own insides. He tries to hold them in, but he fails, falling away from his liver, his intestines, his everything, only being left with his lungs and heart.
When the fall finally breaks, so does his spine; he ends up in a pile of hundreds of other tiny Noah-s and closes his eyes never to open them again.

What… Was that..?
Did Noah… die?
What was that?!
I can’t make any sense out of what I just watched or… why I simply stood there, watching it.
Tears are flowing down my cheeks, but it somehow doesn’t feel like I’m crying. They’re just exiting my eyes on their own, naturally.
No one dares to say anything. We’re all completely silent, except for one…
Chris is prostrated against the floor, sobbing loudly. She cries, she cries, she cries, louder and louder. Soon, I find that I have been staring at her for multiple minutes, feeling completely powerless. Her heavy breathing, and soon, her screams, stink of complete and utter despair.
This is terrifying. I don’t know what to do. It’s almost as if… I don’t want to do anything.

But someone ends up moving towards her. It’s Ciel… They kneel in front of her.
“Chris?”
She completely ignores them, eternally sobbing.
“Chris, please listen to me.”
…
“It’s okay. Take a deep breath.”
She calms down, letting out small hiccups rather than full-on sobs, but she doesn’t comply, until Ciel inhales, then exhales deeply, as if to show her how it’s done.
She slightly moves her head to look at them, but it quickly falls back down, as if it were too heavy. After letting out one whimper, however, she inhales, then exhales, weakly.
“Again.”
Ciel’s voice is soft and encouraging. They aren’t looking at anything but her – and here I am, staring at them both. Everyone else is silent.
Chris does it again, a little better. Then another time. She lets out a few whimpers in-between, but seems to be calming down.
“Do you want to lie down?”
“Nh…”
She shakes her head.
“Okay… Do you think you can straighten your back a little?”
She shakes her head again.
“C’mon, it’ll help you breathe better.”
They extend their hand forward. She takes it, and uses it as support to bring herself a little more upright. She takes another deep breath without letting go of Ciel’s hand.
They look at her, not saying anything.
“I’m… s… I’m sorry…” she finally says. Her voice is very weak, her words cut in-between by cries.
“It’s okay, take your time.”
Somehow, this makes my thoughts awaken again. It’s as if I’d been numbly watching the whole time. Now I ask myself- should I say anything? Is there anything I can do to help? Yet, I decide to remain silent. I simply nod to show my agreement with what Ciel is saying, even though I know no one’s looking at me… I think they’re doing a great job on their own. Better than anything I could have done.
Chris has started crying again, but it feels more… normal, this time. She doesn’t scream, or groan, anymore, she simply lets go of her worries – sometimes stopping herself to take a deep breath.
It gets better and better, until she finally stops, only left with a few hiccups here and there.
“Okay…” she whispers.
People start moving around again.
It was as if time stopped while Chris was having her breakdown.
Alice slowly walks over Chris and sits on the floor next to her.
“Want a hug?”
Chris sighs and leans in for a hug without answering. Alice is paler even than usual, but she smiles sweetly as she holds her in her arms.
Jan walks towards Ciel and offers them his hand. They take it, and he helps them up.
“Thank you. You were great.”
“It’s… Only normal, you know…”
Now that this is all done, Ciel has lost their confidence. How dumb! They just did something awesome. I get closer as well.
“Shut up… You’re the best.”
My voice came out much weaker than I expected – kind of shaky. Well, I feel weak. I only now notice that I’m done crying as well… But aren’t I still sad?
When I think about Noah…
It hurts so bad…
“I… Guess I’m glad I could help.”
“I didn’t know what to do.”
Jan looks to the side, his mouth tightly shut into a grimace as soon as he said his line. If even he looks awfully upset, ha, I must look ghostly.
“Ah, well, hum… Now you know! I mean… I guess I could teach you, if you want.”
It’d be wrong to assume that Ciel themselves is particularly calm. They speak quickly, sometimes almost out of breath. Yet, somehow, it looks like they’re doing a great job of pulling themselves together.
Jan lets out a pained sigh.
“I would love that.”
Is that what everyone had been thinking? I… Didn’t even know there was something we should do.
Alice and Chris suddenly get up. Andi has joined them, but she looks like she doesn’t know what to do or say, so she just awkwardly stands beside them, looking… scared, I think.
“Can we leave now?”
Though I’m glad to see her standing and rather calm, Chris is still sniffling, avoiding eye contact with anyone.
“Y-yeah, that, exactly!”
“If anyone can get through to the bear…”
Hearing Lois’ voice from a little bit farther, I look around. A few people are alone, staring into nothingness – only Oscar, Mina and Keith stick together, as Oscar carries the latter, whose face I can’t even see. Why does it feel like…
People are missing…
…
Well, Lois is standing close to the elevator’s door, her arms crossed. She looks furious, her gaze directed towards Monokuma’s chair.
I guess he’s still over there… Ah, yes. Standing perfectly still and silent, Monokuma has two ridiculously big plugs sticking out of his ears.
“Hey, you stupid bear! Let us go!”
…
Keith sloppily extends his arm to give Monokuma the finger.
“Oh, ya want something from me?”
He pulls out the plugs and throws them away behind the chair.
“Well, I guess now that the little bitch is done whining, I can listen to you fuckers. Whatcha want now?”
“We want out!”
“What, already? But this trial was so ridiculously short! Ya sure you don’t want to discuss some things more? Like whether the killer and the victim fought in the classroom or nah? Maybe why Noah didn’t bother to get rid of one of Emily’s knives? Oh, I know, how did ya fuckers never realize your soldier friend couldn’t hear from one ear when I kept trying very hard to show you it was all gross and broken?”
“F-fuck off!”
“What does it matter now, bear?”
“I guess it’s just the difference between real life and a stupid game.”
“… Stupid?”
“You can’t plan your game perfectly as long as real humans are involved… If anything, we’ll make sure you have a bad time… Monokuma.”
Monokuma’s rendered speechless. Haha..!
“… BWAHAHA! You’re so cute! You really are my favourite character, you. You know, characters who don’t know their own Ultimate tend to be some of the most popular. You should up your game a little, miss Davids.”
Darn it…
“Tch. Right.”
“You’re seething. That’s why you’re so fun! Anywaaay…”
The bear finally stands up.
“I guess you’re free to go! See you very soon!”
I can hear a few sighs of relief as the elevator door opens. Lois rushes in first, and everyone follows.
When we’re all inside, the elevator closes and starts on its own.
I can feel my heart sink as the elevator brings us up. I feel like I’m leaving Noah behind…
I can’t even process his death. Surely… This can’t be real. He has to be alive somewhere…
But how will I ever know?
The ride upwards is completely silent, save for Chris’ pained hiccups every now and then. When it finally stops, and its doors open, we’re blinded by the light of day coming the hall’s windows…
Well, I guess Ciel wouldn’t be.
Everyone walks out and starts leaving, some on their own, some in small groups. I notice that Ciel left as soon as they could… I guess they need some alone time.
Then… What do I do?
Can’t anyone help me? I’m confused, too. I’m sad, and I’m scared. I don’t want to die like this – I don’t want Isabella to hate me.. ! Wait, what am I thinking? For some reason, I can’t bring myself to take a single step forward.
I feel like if I do, I’ll be leaving Noah forever…
But I want to see him again..! I truly… He was awesome…
“Need some help?”
“Huh..?”
Benjamin’s standing next to me… It seems. I suddenly look around… Had I been staring into nothing? Everyone else is gone.
“Where’s Lois?”
“Fuck if I know. But if there’s anything else you need…”
“Don’t you care about her?”
“…”
Benjamin stares me down.
“I guess I do.”
He turns around and leaves.
…
“Oh, no…”
I cover my face with my own two hands. What did I just say? What did I just do? Why? I start crying again, normally this time. I want to hear Emily’s voice! I want to see Noah’s smile! What can I do now that these two things are gone forever?