III - Egoistic, Easy-going Elegy of Emprise: Class Trial END

*Past chapters referenced: 13, 15, 18.

**Like last time, the execution is sectioned off for those not up to reading it. Keep in mind it's Chapter 3 though, so naturally it's a little wilder and a lot less gory than usual.

"I…" Kaede takes a breath. "I can't say who it is exactly, but… there's only one person who fits Person X's description…" She swallows. "…And that's the mastermind themselves."

The word mastermind starts to circulate the room in small, hushed murmurs but one panic-laced voice drowns them out.

"M-mastermind?!" Miu throws her arms out to steady herself on her podium. "You're kidding. There's no fucking way!" She looks over at Kaede with wide eyes. "R-right…?"

Rantaro hums. "Well, I don't know about mastermindper say, but I definitely agree that Person X is someone more intricately involved with the game than any of us are. I've got two reasons, in fact. For one, Person X hasn't come forward yet." He holds his chin and addresses the others. "Despite the blood on their hands, as far as the rules are concerned Kirumi's killer remains spotless. So why bother hiding themselves? Not like we can do anything about it now; the crime's already been committed."

"Probably because they know everyone will be mad at them?" Himiko suggests. "Maybe they think we'd do to them what happened with Kiyo last time."

Tsumugi hugs herself tightly. "We'd be more than mad. Killing one of our classmates is just plain inexcusable!"

Sighing, Kaede nods. "I know that. But… but that's the only thing that makes sense, right? We'd be able to explain the locked-room mystery in Angie's lab if the mastermind was the killer. We already know that they have access to places that we don't, so it wouldn't be too far-fetched to say that they probably have a master-key of some sorts."

"We know because of the body discovery rule that Person X didn't kill Keebo, but Tojo, and moved both bodies. So Person X, or, if we go on Akamatsu's theory, the mastermind used a master key to hide Tojo's body behind a locked door only they or Angie could access," Ryoma surmises. "Is that what you're saying, Akamatsu?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"But that doesn't explain why Angie wasn't able to get into her lab this morning," Rantaro points out. "If the mastermind used a master-key, that shouldn't have affected Angie's key whatsoever." He turns to Kokichi. "You picked the lock, didn't you? Notice anything strange about it?"

"Nope, nothing weird about it at all, just a regularly locked lock." Smiling, Kokichi cocks his head to the side. "Pretty weird, right?"

Angie sticks her hand into her pocket and fumbles around. She retrieves the key and examines it with melodramatic scrutiny. "Well, it seems normal enough to Angie…"

"Couldn't you have locked the door, then?" Maki asks. "You have the only key we know of that fits the lock."

Angie's head snaps up. "But Rantaro just said! Angie's key didn't work this morning!"

"So? You could have just been pretending that the key wasn't working earlier."

"No, she wasn't pretending, Maki," Kaede replies. "I tried opening the door with it as well."

"May I see the key, Angie?" Korekiyo asks. "Perhaps one of the blades bent itself out of shape. That would deter the key from working efficiently."

Angie pouts. "Does Kiyo have to?"

"Hmm. If it will help with clearing this issue up, I believe so, yes."

"Fine..." With a huff, Angie stretches over her podium and drops the key into Korekiyo's palm. "Please be gentle with it, it's the only key left that opens Atua's workshop."

"But of course. I'll treat it like an artefact."

Miu rolls her eyes. "Oh, get a room, it's just a fucking key! We've more important shit to be worrying—!"

"Twoooooo minutes!" Monokuma shouts.

"Hyeeeeeeh! I'm s-sorry!"

Kaede whips round. "Wait, what!? Wait a second, please, we might be close to…!" Biting her lip, she swallows back the rest of her sentence. To finding the mastermind, she thinks.

Rantaro crosses his arms over his chest. "… And that's the other reason why I think someone close to Monokuma might be involved."

"Because of Monokuma?" asks Ryoma.

"Monokuma doesn't strike me as someone who'd miss out on an opportunity to create despair, y'know?" Rantaro's face clouds over with shadow. From behind messy bangs, blank eyes stare out at his peers. "And what better despair is there than knowing a friend killed one of us and is trying to get away with it?" He chuckles darkly. "Even if it means all of our deaths…"

A chilled shiver spikes down Kaede's spine. But before she has time to gather her thoughts, Kokichi's voice cuts over her.

"So then why is Monokuma trying to steer the focus off of Kirumi's killer? Wouldn't it be more despairing for us to find out which one of our friends killed her?"

"It would," says Kaede. "Which is why it doesn't make any sense that Monokuma is trying to rush us." She sends Monokuma a glare. "It'd also mean that the mastermind knew exactly what they were doing, killing Kirumi and moving her body into Angie's lab."

"Wait, I thought Person X moved Kirumi to Angie's lab and did all that other stuff with the mannequin heads to pin the crime on Angie," says Kaito. "If it's the mastermind, why'd they frame her for Kirumi's murder and not Kiibo's? Surely they'd have known about the two-killer rule beforehand, right?"

Rantaro holds his chin. "I don't think pinning the crime on Angie was the goal here, actually. Why would they leave Maki's sickle in the room? That wouldn't help frame Angie."

"Ooh, ooh I know, I know!" Comes a voice from Kaede's left. Rolling her eyes, she and the others turn to Kokichi, who grins widely at his new-found audience. "Think back to how we uncovered the bodies this morning, who was found first? Kiibo, right? Now think about where both murders were committed."

"Kiibo was killed in Yonaga's lab," Ryoma answers. "And Tojo in the ground floor bathroom."

"Yep, yep!" Kokichi rolls back on his heels. "And now think back to what Kaito said a few minutes ago. Put those three things together, and the answer should be crystal clear!"

Kaede takes a moment to think back.

Realisation strikes her like lightning.

"No…"

"Nyeh?" says Himiko. "Did you figure something out?"

"I…" Kaede's hands find their way to the sides of her podium. Adrenaline floods her system. "I think he means that Person X moved the bodies to ensure that we'd find Kiibo first…"

"Um?" Angie slowly raises her hand, voice uncharacteristically quiet. "What does Kaede mean by that exactly…?"

"In short, Person X manipulated the crime scenes to guarantee their own survival." Kokichi explains. "They locked Kirumi's body into Angie's lab; a room none of us would be able to get into without either Angie's or my help. Then, they moved Kiibo's body from the art room to the easily accessible maid's room!"

"Not only that," Rantaro adds, "but it'd explain the mannequin heads as well. If Kaede and I hadn't checked out Kirumi's lab, we would have stumbled upon the bloody mannequin head in the hallway later on regardless. We were able to pretty much instantly identify that they were from Kirumi's lab, weren't we? So leaving the bloody mannequin heads by the doors of all the research labs leading to Angie's was Person X's way of ensuring the Kiibo's body would be discovered before Kirumi's. If we passed by one, there was another waiting just 'round the corner." Chuckling half-heartedly, he shrugs. "I mean, findin' a doll's head with blood on it is enough to put anyone on edge, but in a situation like this killing game..."

"And the only person who would have known about the rule of only the first victim being found counting towards the trial would be the mastermind themselves," Kaede concludes.

"S-so it really was the ma-mastermind…" Miu freezes in place, mouth agape and hands clutching her trial stand. "Th-then… last night when I was h-hiding…"

"Yep," says Kokichi. "Sounds like the mastermind came and went right under your nose, Miu!" His grin darkens. "If you'd just stolen even the quickest glance at the intruder yesterday, we could have outed the mastermind right here, right now!" Face quick-changing again, he innocently scratches his cheek. "But you didn't do that, did you?"

But Miu isn't listening. Trembling like a leaf, the blonde begins to frantically chatter to herself under her breath.

"Miu?" Kaito asks, "You all right?"

"All right? ALL RIGHT?" Miu's eyes widen manically and her breathing becomes erratic. "I… I f-fucking, haaaaah…" She tugs at her hair. "The mastermind could have fucking killed me…. If I'd… if I'd shown myself, they'd have ripped my tits off and shoved them up my ass!"

"Um," says Tsumugi. "Would they really have done that?"

"What Miu says is definitely plausible," Korekiyo muses. "Had she revealed herself last night, we may instead have ended up with a triple murder on our hands."

Kokichi groans loudly. "But she could have witnessed the mastermind in action!" He pouts. "Speaking of, isn't it a bit unfair that the mastermind killed someone? I thought that was our job!"

"It's no one's job!" Kaito barks back. "And if we get to the bottom of this, we might be able to prevent something like this from ever happening here again!"

"Do you seriously think it'd be that easy, even if we did figure out who it is?" Kokichi asks, then with a wry smile adds, "Then again, knowing you…"

"Huh?" Kaito flinches. "The hell's that supposed to—"

"Tiiiiiiime's up!" Monokuma announces over him, relentlessly banging his gavel on the arm of his throne.

"Aww, but we were just getting to the good part…" Kokichi whines.

Kaede sucks in a breath through her teeth. "No…. no! We can't stop here! Surely… surely we must be close to figuring it out!" She glances around the room at everyone in turn with pleading eyes. "If we can figure out who killed Kirumi, we'll know who the mastermind is! And then we might be able to end the killing game!"

"Don't disagree with Daddy!" Monophanie shouts over her. "Whatever Daddy says, goes!"

"Hey…" Monotaro tilts his head. "Can't you bastards talk about this after the trial? I don't get why you're making such a big deal about discussing it now…"

"But if we can figure them out now, whoever killed Kiibo might not get executed." Kaede replies through gritted teeth, balling her hands into tight fists.

"Nah, I'd still kill them," Monokuma says blankly. "School rules have to be adhered to, after all!"

Fidgeting with her skirt, Tsumugi lifts her head. "Um, sorry, I know I've said this before but… how are we even sure there's a mastermind to begin with?" She tilts her head. "I'm pretty sure the only thing Monokuma's mentioned in the past are those two traitors—"

"No, there's definitely a mastermind hiding among us," says Rantaro. "Whether they're included amongst the traitors though, that's something I couldn't tell ya."

Ryoma's eyes narrow. "What makes you so certain there's a mastermind, Amami?"

Rantaro taps his nose twice with one finger. "Can't tell you that, I'm afraid."

Angie hums. "That's suuuuper suspicious…"

"I know, I know. Just trust me on this one, all right?" Sighing, Rantaro's hands fall to his sides. "I promise you. I'm not withholding information because I want to, it's just…" His face darkens. Kaede swears she sees a glimmer of uncertainty flicker across his features. "Never mind. It doesn't matter. Let's talk about this another time, yeah?" His eyes flit to Monokuma. "When we're not under a time limit, perhaps."

Furrowing her brow, Kaede shakes her head and sighs. "Yeah. We've more important things to be worrying about. Like figuring out who the mastermind—"

"No, no, no, no, no! Didn't you hear me!?" Monokuma cuts in. "Your time to figure out Kirumi's killer is up! Nada! Kaput! Now chop chop and move onto to solving the real mystery here before I get angry and—"

"Oh!" Kokichi exclaims. "So Kirumi's killer is the mastermind?"

Monokuma tilts his head. "Huh? I didn't say that."

"But Kaede was talking about figuring out the mastermind's identity just there," Kokichi muses. "You're the one who said 'Kirumi's killer'. I wonder why…?"

Monokuma lifts his paw to rebuke him but lowers it again after a moment of pause. Maki crosses her arms, waiting. Miu scoffs. Korekiyo narrows his eyes. Ryoma shakes his head. From the atmosphere in the room, it's clear that Kaede isn't the only one who hears a thousand words within his deafening silence.

"You're saying you want me to call on the Exisals, are ya?" Monokuma snarls. "You want me to demonstrate to you kids again what happens when you threaten to go against your headmaster, hmm?"

Kaede freezes in place. Shuichi being shot in the shoulder flashes beneath her eyelids. Hanging her head, she exhales, defeated. "No… there's no need to do that." She bites her lip and squeezes her eyes shut.

Damn it.

Aside from Miu's panicked mumbling, the courtroom lapses back into hopeless silence. Under the weighted pressure Monokuma's forcing over them, the enthusiasm Kaede's words held prior diminished as the reality of the situation sinks in. Himiko sighs. Kaito curses under his breath. Rantaro lowers his head. Tsumugi mutters aloud, "I'm sorry, Kirumi… I'm sorry we couldn't find your killer…"

Kaede's hands tighten back into fists.

Damn it!

"I… don't think it's even possible to discern Kirumi's killer, even if we had the time to," Maki says after what feels like an age. "No one was on duty in the dorms last night, and no one has alibis in the hotel after midnight. Kirumi died three hours after that. That leaves all eleven of us as possible suspects."

Himiko's shoulders slump. "My magic isn't giving me any hints to the killer, either." She looks up. "So… do we just go back to talking about Kiibo then?"

"I don't think Monokuma is giving us any other choice," Tsumugi replies.

Straightening her cap, Kaede realises that it's up to her to take the reins and steer the conversation forward, despite her aching desire to stay on the mastermind's tail.

She starts recounting what they already know; Kiibo and Miu waited in the Ultimate Maid's laboratory at three-am for just under an hour. Kirumi showed no signs of appearing. Kiibo left the lab, presumably to search for her. What happened in between is yet to be known, but he ended up in the Ultimate Art lab, where he was killed. Later Person X, who we believe to be the mastermind, discovered him in Angie's lab and moved him down to Kirumi's lab. Shortly afterwards Miu found his body. Despite her efforts, she was unable to revive him. She took his head back to her lab, and it was in that headless state that Rantaro and Kaede found him the following morning.

"So we've already got a good deal of ground covered," says Ryoma. "The Monokuma File says he suffered from a fatal internal malfunction. Can we clarify what that malfunction was?"

"Sounds like a good place to pick up," says Rantaro. "Is everyone else all right with that?" He's met with reluctant nods and noises of approval.

"So we're really just moving on, then?" Kaito asks.

Sighing, Kaede steals a glance at Monokuma, presiding over them with watchful eyes. "I don't think we really have a choice right now…"

➢ Present your Argument

"The malfunction Kiibo suffered caused the entire floor to fill with smoke, correct?" Korekiyo surmises. "Did we ever figure out what that smoke was from?"

Kokichi shakes his head. "Miu said that Kiibo's AI chip was fried when she checked him out."

"Didn't someone mention an explosion earlier?" asks Angie. "Perhaps he pressed a self-destruct button and blew himself up!"

"If he did that, the entire school would be in shambles!" Tsumugi replies, "I don't think it was something that drastic…"

"Maybe someone attacked him?" Himiko suggests. "I dunno what with, though…"

Kaito taps his chin. "Attacked him with something that'd cause his AI chip to burn out, huh? Was there anything like that at the crime scene?"

BREAK

"Well, there was a candle on the floor when we found Kirumi's body," Kaede says. "Could that have been used to attack him?"

Miu blanches. "Th-the killer killed Kiibo with wax-play!?"

Rantaro shakes his head. "I think Kaede's referring to the clues we've uncovered so far. The broken monitors, the smoky smell, Miu's account. They all point to either light or heat being used to kill Kiibo. If that's the case, the candle we found at the scene would be the only thing to fit that description, wouldn't it?"

Tsumugi scratches her head. "So then the candle's the murder weapon? That's just plain strange."

"Where'd the candle come from though?" asks Ryoma. "I don't remember seeing candles in Yonaga's lab when Tojo, Shinguuji, and I looked 'round there a couple days back..."

"It's from one of those creepy dark rooms near the computer room," says Himiko. "I went and got it for Angie the night we were doing the resurrection ritual cuz one of the steps was to burn the book and then scatter the ashes on Rantaro's effigy." She taps her lip. "You and Kaede visited us just before we started, remember? Kokichi was there, too."

Angie tilts her head. "But, buuuut, what would a candle have to do with Kiibo dying? The Monokuma File said his cause of death was internal, right?"

Kaede crosses her arms over her chest. "But the candle's the only thing I can think of that fits."

"Maybe the killer was able to reach his AI chip with it somehow?" Kaito suggests.

Kokichi wags his finger. "But the only person who could have done that is Miu, and since she was one of the first witnesses to Kiibo's body, she's cleared."

"When you initially examined Kiibo's AI chip, Miu, did any part of his head seem loose?" Korekiyo asks. "As though he had been tampered with in some way before you got to him?"

Miu shakes her head. "No, everything other than his hands and feet were in perfect condition. His insides were fucked beyond all hell though."

"Well, the scratches on his feet would be from Person X dragging him all the way back down to Kirumi's lab," says Kaede. "Kiibo was pulled down two whole sets of stairs, there's no way his feet wouldn't have gotten damaged in some shape or form."

"That doesn't explain the damaged hands though," says Maki.

"I know it doesn't," Kaede continues. "But there was something else we found on Kiibo that just might be able to tell us something." She pulls up the image of thin silvery wire entangled around Kiibo's body on her podium screen.

Angie squints at her screen to get a closer look. "Is… that string?"

"It's wire," Kaede corrects her. "Piano wire, to be exact…"

"Aha!" Kaito exclaims. "The culprit must have stolen it from Kaede's research lab!"

"Ummm…" Himiko timidly raises a hand. "What's piano wire? I knew guitars had wires, but not pianos…"

"Oh!" Kaede claps her hands together. "Piano wire is what produces the sound on a piano. It's on the inside of the piano, you can see it when you look under the lid. Every time a key is pressed on a piano, the small hammer inside the piano hits the wire connected to that key, and the vibration produces the sound you hear. Without piano wire, the piano wouldn't be able to make any sound. Not only that, but, ah—" It's only when Kaede stops to take a breath that she notices the entire courtroom staring back at her with various looks of bemusement. Feeling the heat rapidly climb up her neck, Kaede's eyes hit the floor and she retreats into herself. "S-sorry, I tend to get carried away whenever I get asked about piano stuff…"

"Heh," says Rantaro. "You're fine. I wouldn't have expected any less of the Ultimate Pianist."

Kokichi laughs loudly. "Yeah, seriously, you really are a Piano Freak, huh?!" Like a switch had been flipped, his smile contorts into something dark. "But hey, at least we finally have a suspect now, right?"

Kaede blinks. "What? No, I didn't—"

"Okay then," says Kokichi. "I'm sure you have proof to back yourself up. Let's see it, then!"

Taking a breath, Kaede sends Kokichi an irritated glare and sighs. "If I'd killed Kiibo, I wouldn't have just told you guys that the wire I found was piano wire. I could have easily feigned ignorance, couldn't I?"

"Well," says Himiko. "Kaede seemed really surprised when she saw the wire for the first time. I know because I was there."

Kokichi shrugs. "So? That might have just been part of the act."

"Not sure if I agree with your logic, Ouma," Ryoma says, rubbing his chin. "If Akamatsu did do it, why did she go out of her way to take herself out of the body discovery witnesses earlier? Would have made things easier for her if she'd just stayed quiet."

"But that isn't solid enough evidence to prove Kaede innocent," Korekiyo points out. "Unless you can physically prove that she couldn't have done it, she must unfortunately remain on our suspect list."

"But anyone could have accessed Kaede's lab, right?" says Kaito. "Just 'cause her piano was used, doesn't automatically mean she's the culprit." He gestures over at Maki. "Just like how Maki-Roll's sickle was used to kill Kirumi! And how Miu's… medication was used to kill Gonta!"

Rantaro taps his temple. "Think of it this way; we can't prove Kaede didn't kill Kiibo, but we also can't prove she did kill him either. So until we come across something that further implicates her, I suggest we shelf all concerns until there's good reason for them."

"Fiiiine." Kokichi pouts. "I don't think she had anything to do with it anyway."

"Then why the fuck did you bring it up!?" Miu shouts.

"Well it was piano wire that was used, wasn't it? So it was inevitable that Kaede's name would be brought into it."

"Jesus." Kaito pinches the bridge of his nose. "I don't understand you at all."

Kokichi smiles sweetly. "That's fine. I wouldn't expect someone like you to."

Kaede sighs. "Guys, I understand your concerns." She presses a hand to her heart. "I swear on my life that I didn't kill Kiibo. I know I can't prove it yet… but I'm sure we'll figure something else out soon!"

"Well, is there anything else you can tell us about piano wire that might be able to help us understand why it was used in the murder?" Rantaro offers.

"Hmm." Kaede taps her chin. "Well, each piano key has its own separate wire; the lower the note, the thicker the wire, the higher the note, the thinner it is! That's how the sounds are determined." She closes her eyes and thinks back. "In the case of the wire found on Kiibo's body… it was reasonably thin, so I suspect it was one of the higher notes. But here's the thing…" She finds the image of her destringed piano on her Monopad and brings it up on the screen. "All of the wires were gone when I went to check. It wasn't just one wire— all of them were missing!"

Korekiyo brings a hand to his mask. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't there eighty-eight keys on a standard grand piano?"

"Yes, there are!"

Tsumugi brings a finger to her lip. "But we didn't come across any of the wires in the investigation, did we?"

"Maybe the culprit hid them?" suggests Angie.

"I don't think so," says Kaede. "Like I said earlier, every individual key has its own wire. But each wire is roughly only one metre. That's not long enough individually to be used as rope like what we found on Kiibo."

"But the wire tied around Kiibo was much longer than that," Ryoma points out.

Kaede nods. "Exactly. So the wire we found on Kiibo wasn't just one piano string, but multiple."

"So the killer tied all those wires together?" Himiko asks. "That sounds like it'd take a really, really long time…"

"Hypothetically it's possible." Rantaro says, "but I'd say it'd be difficult. Especially the thicker wires. Would take a lot of time and patience to tie eighty-eight separate wires of different widths together."

Kaede adjusts Shuichi's hat. "There's that, and the fact that there weren't any knots on the wire when we examined it. Otherwise we'd have figured this out much sooner."

Kaito scratches his head. "So then if they weren't tied together, how did the killer connect the wires?"

"The candle is the only other way I can think of." Kaede asserts, pulling her shoulders up. "They must have used the flame of the candle to solder the wires together and create one big long wire."

"Melting and reconnecting wires with the light of a simple candle…" Korekiyo recites. "How ingeniously devious! This killer is clearly exceptionally bright."

"Can it, creepshow!" Miu snaps. "We already established it wasn't me!"

"But why did they bother doing all of that in the first place?" asks Ryoma. "If it was just for binding Kiibo's wrists, they could have used any regular rope. Hell, it'd have been easier to just use the netting from my lab if they needed something to just tie him up with."

"That's… I don't know that just yet," says Kaede. "Maybe if we throw random suggestions out there, we might be able to figure something out? It's worked out for us before."

➢ Present your Argument

"So the culprit stole the wires from Kaede's piano…" Himiko starts. "Why'd they do that?"

"It wasn't just to disable Kiibo," Maki says. "Otherwise they could have just used regular rope."

"So then, the killer wanted to use wire for a particular reason!" Angie surmises.

"Perhaps the wire had a part to play in the murder itself?" Rantaro suggests. "That's the only other thing I can think of."

Tsumugi tilts her head. "But I thought we said the candle was the murder weapon, right?"

"Perhaps the killer combined the candle and wire?" Korekiyo muses.

Kokichi throws his arms up above his head and grins. "Or maybe they wanted to kill in a way that felt comfortable to them! Y'know, like a pianist, or something…"

Kaito rolls his eyes. "Oh, shut up! You said earlier you don't think Kaede did it!"

BREAK

"Kiyo, you might be onto something," Kaede says after mulling over the options in her head.

Korekiyo dips his hat. "Well, I was only throwing out a suggestion. Would you care to elaborate?"

Taking a breath, Kaede rearranges the events in her mind. "Well, we've already talked multiple times about the internal malfunction, right?"

"And we agree that the only thing at the scene that could have caused it was the candle," Maki adds. "What about it?"

"But we never talked about how the candle managed to cause Kiibo to rupture from the inside." Kokichi brings a finger to his cheek. "So, have you figured it out yet? You guys are getting pretty warm!"

Pulling at a pigtail, Angie veers to one side. "If Kokichi already knows what happened why doesn't he just tell us?"

"Because it's way more fun to watch you guys figure it out!" He presses a finger to his temple and grins. "This is a game after all, and spoilers are no fun in games."

Kaito rolls his eyes. "Can we all just agree to ignore him? All he's doing is lying and making things far more difficult than they need to be."

Kaede brings a hand to her face. "I don't think Kokichi's lying though, Kaito."

Miu snorts. "Yeah, and the Pope's a fucking prostitute."

"No, I'm serious. I think the wire played a pivotal part in Kiibo's murder…" Closing her eyes, Kaede searches for the answer.

Then it hits her like a thunderbolt.

"A current!" She exclaims. "The killer used the wire to make a current with the candle! And that's what caused the malfunction!"

Himiko pulls a face. "Isn't that a fruit? A currant or something?"

"A current, huh?" Ryoma mutters. "So you're sayin' they burnt one end of the wire with the candle… But you'd need an electrical source to create a functioning current. So what was the source?"

"Kiibo himself." Kaede states through gritted teeth. "They connected one end to Kiibo and burnt the other end with the candle. The heat from the candle would have travelled down the wire and overheated whatever part of Kiibo they connected the wire to."

Tsumugi tilts her head. "But how did they manage to connect the piano wire to Kiibo? There didn't seem to be any place that you could just slip a wire through on his body. And he was the Ultimate Robot for a reason, so…"

"Usually he would be, yeah." Kokichi replies. "But there was one part of Kiibo that was vulnerable at the time of his death."

Kaede turns to him. "You're talking about his head, aren't you? Miu removed the antenna, so there would have been an opening at the top of his head."

"Oh fuck," comes Miu's voice from across the room. She racked her hands through her hair. "Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck… shit! This is all my fault, isn't it…?"

Korekiyo raises his hand. "While this all seems rather plausible, and certainly fits the narrative of how Kiibo died, there is one glaring issue that stands out here." He waits for everyone to turn to him before continuing. "How on earth could the killer have known Kiibo was to arrive at Angie's lab when he did?"

"That's…" Kaede thinks for a moment, but no answers come to her. "I'm… not sure, to be honest. Perhaps it was just a coincidence?"

"My guess is Kiibo walked in on someone doing something in there." Ryoma pulls a candy cigarette out of his pocket. "Something that they shouldn't have been doing, no doubt."

Tsumugi brings her hands to her mouth. "Like… planning a murder?"

The tennis star shrugs. "Possibly. Only way we'll find out for sure is if we can pin down who did it in the first place."

Kaede straightens her shoulders. "I agree. There's so many mysteries here that I wish we could solve but—" She squeezes her eyes shut and forces herself to face reality. "But we need to figure out the culprit to Kiibo's death first and foremost."

"Right…" says Rantaro. "Let's go over what we already know."

Kokichi raises a hand. "Miu and Rantaro are cleared, because they were counted as witnesses to the body, and Monokuma said earlier that the killer isn't included in the count."

Kaito furrows his brow. "The mastermind too, but we don't know who that is…"

"There's no way the entire thing was pulled off within a night," Ryoma states. "From cutting the piano wire, to soldering it, it would have taken multiple days to prepare in advance."

"Indeed," says Korekiyo. "I think most, if not all of us have alibis from up to around midnight. And it's unfathomable to think the killer would have been able to do all of this within a matter of hours."

Kaede nods. "Yeah. It would have been physically impossible. Which would mean that Korekiyo and Himiko are automatically out since they were delirious with the Despair Disease until this morning."

"By that logic, wouldn't that mean everyone at the dorms is cleared?" asks Maki. "We were consistently going in and out of each other's rooms, and the odd time we did have to go into the school, we always made sure to go with someone else. And aside from last night, we always had someone on night shift in the lobby."

Humming, Rantaro crosses his arms. Rantaro hums. "Good point. Which would mean that it was someone staying at the hotel."

Kaede straightens her hat. "Kiibo's the victim, and Miu is a witness, so that leaves four possible options: Kokichi, Angie, Ryoma and Tsumugi."

Tsumugi shifts her weight from foot to foot. "Um, is there any way to prove our innocence?"

Kokichi runs a hand through his hair. "Weeeell, if one of us is the mastermind, we could just out ourselves… but even then, there'd still be three suspects left…"

"It's fine," says Kaede. "I don't think we need anything like that here. Even though I can't say for certain… there's one person that stands out to me. The one person that I think would have had the tools, the mind, and the personality to be able to pull off this murder the way they did."

SELECT A SUSPECT

"Well? Who is it?" asks Ryoma.

"There's still two more things we have to confirm before I can say for certain, but as of right now…" Kaede takes a breath. "Angie is the most suspicious."

"I fucking KNEW it!" Miu yells, slamming her fists into her stand. "You BITCH!" She glares daggers into the artist's small figure. "I'm gonna fucking kill you!"

"Calm down. Nothing is set in stone just yet," says Korekiyo, "It is only fair that we hear Kaede's reasoning for the accusation first."

Kaede fiddles with the brim of Shuichi's cap. "Well, she's the only one I can think of who was able to pull everything off the way it happened." Glancing down, Kaede brings back up the image of her empty grand piano. "The piano wires being cut out from my piano, for example. It was clear to me that they weren't just pulled out by force or clumsily cut with scissors. They were cleanly cut with something sharp." She narrows her eyes. "And Angie, you're the only one here who carries a scalpel on her person."

"Whoever cut and soldered those wires together would have needed a keen and precise eye," Rantaro adds. "And who here would have a keener eye for detail than our resident artist?"

"But couldn't someone have just taken a knife from the kitchen and done the same thing?" asks Tsumugi. "Just because Angie's an artist doesn't mean she automatically did it…"

"But if Ryoma is right, and the killer only worked at night-time, the cafeteria would have been closed, so access to the kitchen would have been off-limits," Kokichi points out. "And if this was preplanned, Angie would have been free to come and go as she pleased from the hotel and the school. There wasn't anyone on guard like at the dorms, and the school was empty. If she'd travelled during the night, we'd have been none the wiser!"

"But we don't know that for sure, either," Kaito counters. "Any one of you four could have done that."

Rantaro hums as he thinks. "I think we need to go over the hotel crew's alibi's again. Just to make sure we're on the right path here. Maybe we'll see something we didn't when we first went over them."

"Yeah," Kaede sighs. "I don't want to implicate Angie— or anyone else, for that matter, but if it's the only way to end this trial…" She pulls her cap lower. "…We just have to pursue this. We don't have a choice."

➢ Present your Argument

Kaito scratches his neck. "Everyone in the dorm is still out, yeah?"

"Yes," replies Korekiyo. "The main suspects remain as Kokichi, Angie, Ryoma, and Tsumugi."

"I was in the casino with Ouma until around midnight," Ryoma states, pulling himself up straight. "We headed back to the hotel together around the same time."

"I don't have much of an alibi," Tsumugi admits. "But I ran into Ryoma and Kokichi briefly as they were coming back from the casino." She taps her chin. "And… I saw Angie, too."

"What was she doing?" asks Maki. "Did you see anything suspicious?"

Tsumugi thinks for a moment. "No, not really, I said goodnight to her as I was passing but I don't think she heard me. She was just… standing there. It was almost like she was a statue."

"Ah!" Angie claps her hands. "Angie was probably praying to Atua! You should have joined her, Tsumugi!"

"Ah, um, no, it's fine…"

BREAK

"Ah!" Kaede claps her hands over her mouth. "It all makes sense now!"

"Nyeh? What does?"

Sucking in a breath, Kaede regains her composure. "When we were investigating the crime scene earlier— Kiibo's, but at the time we thought it was Kirumi's— well, that's not important, but while I was looking around the room… I couldn't help but feel like something was off about it."

While paintbrushes, carving tools, and paper are messily scattered on the workbench's surface, it appears undisturbed. Empty, even. Something is off, disturbingly so, but Kaede can't quite place a finger on it. Despite the deliberate black paint splatters decorating both the walls and flooring, along with the blood, of course, Angie's room is spotless.

"I've realised what was so off about the room now." Kaede turns her attention to Ryoma. "Ryoma, remember when you and I went and visited Angie the night before, uh." She swallows. "Before the resurrection ritual took place?"

"Yeah, I do. What about it?"

"Think back to what we saw when we entered the room. We saw the three wax effigies for the first time, right?"

Ryoma nods.

"And what else was in the room? Specifically, in the centre of the room."

"Uh…" Closing his eyes, Ryoma furrows his brow as he thinks. "Other than the Necronomicon there was… oh, you're talking about the pile of wax?"

Kaede claps her hands together. "Yes, exactly! There was a big pile of wax in the centre of the room!"

"They're Angie's wax effigies," Himiko says. "The ritual book said she had to make wax figures of all the dead people so she can bring one back to life, y'know."

"Yep, handcrafted by Atua Himself!" Angie waves her hands in the air as she dances into the centre of the room and perches herself on the noticeably smaller mountain of wax.

"So a big-ass pile of wax went missin'," says Miu, "Who the fuck cares? How does that even remotely tie into figuring out who killed Kiibo!?"

"It matters when you think of why the wax went missing," Kaede replies "Tsumugi said just there, in the debate."

Tsumugi blinks. "I-I did? All I said was I saw Angie in her hotel room last night. Isn't that more of an alibi than anything?"

"Yes," Kaede says, "But you said she didn't answer you when you said goodnight to her, right? You said she was just standing there, like a statue."

Ryoma's eyes go wide. "Akamatsu, are you implying that when Shirogane saw Yonaga last night…?"

Steeling her nerves, Kaede shakes her head. "I don't think Tsumugi saw Angie at all. I believe what Tsumugi saw through Angie's door was an effigy that Angie made of herself to act as a placeholder. It'd explain why all the wax suddenly disappeared, and why Angie was completely unresponsive to Tsumugi, one of her own student council members."

Kaede hears a quiet "not again…" come from beside her.

Sweat plastering messy red bangs to her forehead, Himiko's head falls into her chest. "Why is this happening again?" She mutters, her voice low and hoarse. She grips the edges of her podium so tightly that Kaede notices her tiny nails drawing small specks of blood. "First Tenko, now Angie… why does… why does it keep happening like this?"

"Well, Angie?" Rantaro asks, opting to break the uncomfortable quiet. "Is it true?"

"You said it yourself," Kaede persists. "That there was enough wax to make another effigy, remember?"

Patting the wax pile, Angie smiles at Kaede. "Y'know, there's enough wax left over to make a fourth effigy." She tilts her head. "Would Kaede like Angie to make her a Shuichi one when the ritual is over...?"

"If I'm wrong, tell me what you used the wax for instead. Or at least explain how the entire pile miraculously disappeared overnight."

Eerie silence descends on the courtroom. One by one, the attention of the room turns to Angie once more. The artist's expression remains unreadable, but for the first time since they'd met, Kaede thinks, Angie seems genuinely lost for words.

Kaede's finger hovers over the one picture on her screen that's yet to be showcased. "There's one final piece of evidence that I think ties you directly to this crime." She pulls up the last image. She waits as it flashes onto everyone else's screens. "The ashes Kiyo and I found on the floor near the door. That's the final piece of the puzzle."

Confusion flickers across Angie's face for a moment. Her eyes widen. "Ashes? The ones from when Atua ressurected Rantaro, right?"

Kaede takes a deep breath. "When Angie's lab first opened, Kokichi and I were there with Angie when she received both of the keys to her lab." She steals a glance at the artist. "Silver keys, might I add."

Kokichi taps his chin. "But the key Angie was using this morning was black, wasn't it?"

"Exactly," says Kaede. "That brings us to this morning when Angie, Kokichi, Kiyo, Rantaro and I were trying to get into the art lab. Angie pulled out her key and tried it in the door and it wouldn't work, right?"

Rantaro quirks an eyebrow. "Yeah, sounds about accurate, and then Kokichi picked the lock, right?"

Kaede shakes her head. "No. Just before that, I tried the key in the door, remember? It didn't seem like it was the wrong key or anything but, the key just simply wouldn't fit into the lock. It's as if it was too big or something."

"Um, sorry for interrupting," says Tsumugi. "But what does any of this have to do with the stuff you found on the floor?"

Kaede takes a breath. "When Kiyo and I were examining the dust, he said something that I originally disregarded at the time…"

"It just looks like some type of dust," Kaede says. "You think it's evidence?"

"Perhaps." Korekiyo adjusts his cap. "It's merely speculation, but is it not odd that such large particles of dust are absent anywhere else in the room, by the entrance, no less?"

"I mean, kinda. But what would they be from?"

"That's the question, isn't it? Perhaps it's the ashen remains from whatever was burned in here? Or it could be paint, as it crumbles between the fingers just as dried paint would."

"Oh! Ashes seems pretty likely, actually—"

Kaede continues. "But now that I think about it, dried paint actually makes the most sense! Angie dipped the key in enough black paint that it'd affect the way the key worked on her door, so that when interrogated, she'd be able to prove that she wasn't able to access her own lab."

Kokichi's face lights up. "So when Angie tried the key in the lock, the paint flaked onto the floor. And then after we unlocked it, the breeze from the door bursting open and us running past blew the paint flakes into the room!"

"Well?" Maki turns to Angie, eyes glinting red. "You have the key on you, right? Let's see for ourselves."

Miu snorts. "Like she's gonna let us see it now. She knows she's been caught red-handed with her panties down—"

"It's okay, Miu! Angie gave her key to Kiyo earlier. He's been holding it for so long that the paint's probably started to come off by now."

Kaede blinks. "Wait, Angie, did you just—"

Angie's smile wavers slightly. "You can still check it if you wanna, but Angie will tell you that Kaede is right. The ashes you found at the crime scene is the paint from Angie's key. So she will just admit it." She lowers her head. "Angie killed Kiibo with the wire she cut from Kaede's piano."

A heavy silence hangs in the trial room air. Kaito's mouth drops open. Several others follow suit, including Kaede's.

"Wh-what?" Miu squeaks, taking a step back and covering her mouth with a shaking hand. "What the fuck!?"

"What a calm confession," Tsumugi mumbles. "It's kind of scary…"

"Shinguuji," says Ryoma. "Open your hand. I wanna see the key for myself."

"Certainly." Korekiyo lifts and opens his hand out like a flower. Amongst the stark white bandages is a black key, but when Korekiyo tilts his hand towards the light, a glimmer of silver winks at them from beneath the layer of black. "Ah, I see. So it was indeed painted."

Angie nods. "Yep! Kiyo's super smart for guessing that as soon as he saw the dust." She tilts her head. "Have you ever considered taking up art? Atua thinks that you might have some hidden potential in there!"

"Why…" Kaede chokes out. "Angie… why…!?"

"Nyahaha!" Clasping her hands, Angie smiles at her. "Don't worry, Kaede! Angie isn't secretly evil or anything! She just did what Atua… what she thought was right. But it wasn't supposed to happen like this. This trial wasn't supposed to happen."

"Oooh, are you talking about Kirumi's death?" Kokichi asks. "The murder that was committed by the master—"

"Aaaaaand with that, times up!" Monokuma hollers from above. "The heart-racing excitement as the blackened and the spotless finally face off!"

He's joined by the remaining three Monokubs as they sing "It's… VOTING TIME!" in chorus.

Sixteen faces light up Kaede's podium screen. Angie's portrait smiles up at her. Inhaling deeply, Kaede closes her eyes, clenches her jaw, and locks in her answer. "Even if Angie did kill Kiibo… the real culprit here is the mastermind of this killing game. They're the one who reorganised the crime scenes so that Kiibo's body would be the one that counted towards this trial. They're the one we shouldbe voting for!"

"I couldn't agree more," says Kaito, mirroring Kaede's action. "There's something seriously messed up with this tria—ack!" With a grisly cough, Kaito's legs nearly give out from under him. His hand reaches up to clutch at his chest.

As Maki watches Kaito steady himself, her face softens ever so slightly. "Come on, hurry. We need to finish this."

The others hastily lock in their votes as Monokuma calls the voting period to a close. The results screen descends from the ceiling and the verdict lights up the courtroom. The bells sound, confetti falls, and the class trial is promptly adjourned.

CLASS TRIAL: DISMISSED

"Huh?" says Tsumugi. "There's eleven of us here, why are there only ten votes up there?"

Korekiyo pinches the brim of his cap. "I know exactly why." He turns to where Angie is kneeling, hands clasped in prayer a few steps away. "Angie didn't vote."

An uncomfortable silence hovers over them like a black cloud until Monokuma jumps up to announce what they already know. "You got it right once again! The killer of Kiibo, the Ultimate Robot, was indeed Miss Angie Yonaga, the Ultimate Artist! I mean, she's being executed anyway for failing to vote, but anywho! Yeesh, you guys are getting good at this." He slides back down into his chair, waving a paw. "But Miss Yumeno… it's irresponsible to vote for yourself when you know you didn't commit the crime – by doing that, you're putting your whole class in danger!"

Himiko silently turns away from the headmaster.

Kaede's hands squeeze her backpack straps. "You say that like we're supposed to be happy." She takes a loud, determined step forward. "This is all your fault! You're the reason Angie has to die!"

Monokuma tilts his head. "My fault? My fault? Ahahahaha! Miss Akamatsu, you never fail to make me laugh! Need I remind you?" He claps his paws together. "Kubs!"

Monodam jumps down and pulls a Monopad out of thin air. "RULE-NUMBER-NINE," he recites, "MONOKUMA-WILL-NEVER-DIRECTLY-PARTICIPATE-IN-A-MURDER."

"So? But just because he didn't participate in it doesn't mean the fucking person controlling him didn't!" Kaito limps over to Kaede's side, still clutching at his stomach.

"The trial is over now," Ryoma says. "You gonna tell us who killed Tojo?" He clenches a fist. "I think we have a right to know."

Monokuma throws his paws into the air. "How many times do I hafta tell you? That doesn't matter! Who cares? Not me, that's for sure! Besides…" He chuckles, bringing his paws to his face. "What's more despair-inducing than knowing a cold-blooded killer is lurking among you guys… asides from ones you're already aware of, of course! Or perhaps it's just one of them up to their old tricks? Who's to say… puhuhuhuhu— Oh! Well, there is one thing I can confirm, I suppose."

"And what is that?" asks Korekiyo.

Monokuma's already-broad smile somehow widens itself further. "The third victim of the Despair Disease… was Miss Kirumi Tojo herself!"

Kaede's mouth drops open. "What?!"

Monotaro pops out of nowhere. "You bastards thought it was Kaito, but it was actually Kirumi the entire time!"

Maki steps forward. "Wait. But the symptoms of the Despair Disease involved them taking on the persona of a dead person, right? So then who was Kirumi supposed to be? She didn't seem any different at all."

After thinking for a moment, Monokuma caves. "Fine. I'll give you a one-word clue." He crosses his paws. "Fifty-three."

Kaede frowns. "Fifty-three? But that's a number."

"It's still a word nonetheless!" Monophanie flares. "Don't be rude to Daddy!"

"Fifty-three…" Rantaro mumbles, holding his head. "Fifty-three… fifty-three... fifty-three… fifty…"

"Maybe that's the age of the dead person that went into Kirumi?" suggests Tsumugi.

Kaito shudders. "D-don't word it like that…"

"Okay," says a voice from behind Kaede.

Angie gets to her feet, dusting herself down. "Angie's fine now, you guys. She's spoken with Atua and is ready to go and be together with Him in His Kingdom now—"

"Why?"

Angie blinks. "Himiko? Whatever's the matter?"

"What do you mean, what's the matter?" The magician pulls her hat down over her eyes. "Why did you do it? Why…" Her voice falters. "Why do you have to die, too…?"

"Hey! I wanna know, too!" Miu stomps over to Angie and lifts her by parka collar. "Why the fuck did you kill Kiibo!?" she spits, "Answer me, bobble-head! WHY!?"

Even as she's being shaken, Angie's smile doesn't falter. "Because he was disturbing the peace."

Miu drops her. "H-huh?"

Humming from behind her paintbrush, Angie continues. "When Miu told Angie and everyone else about Kiibo's secret camera-eyes, the eyes that were filming all of us and sending it to the outside world, that's when Angie knew she couldn't stand around any longer." Angie lowers her brush. "She happened to see Miu and Kiibo going into the school during the night, and so Angie decided to finally carry out her final mission to Atua."

Angie glances up at Miu, who's still standing motionless, her jaw slack. "It was much easier than Angie had anticipated, too. She just waited until Kiibo was alone and asked him to take a come and take a seat in her lab."

Kaede's eyes widen. "And he trusted you because he was in your student council… he would have done anything that you asked of him."

Tsumugi points a shaking finger at Angie. "You… you used his trust in you to your advantage! How could you!?"

Miu takes a step back. "So then, it really is all my fault that Kiibo…" She collapses to the ground with a thunk, and grabs at her hair. "Kiibo…" The rest of her voice becomes muffled by leather as she presses a gloved hand to her mouth and squeezes her eyes shut.

Sighing, Angie closes her eyes. "Angie had no idea Kirumi was gonna be coming though. If she'd known that, she'd have put it off until another time."

"So then, you really had nothing to do with Tojo's murder?" asks Ryoma.

"Nope." Angie shakes her head. "That's why Angie was as surprised as everyone else when we found Kiibo in Kirumi's lab. Because she didn't leave him there! Angie's plan was to hide the body in a place where no one ever, ever accessed it, not even Angie herself!" Her gaze darkens. "Because if there's no body to be discovered, then a class trial can't be held, and no one else would have to die!"

Kaede's blood chills as she realises that Angie's words ringing across the trial room aren't the first time she's heard them come from the artist's mouth.

"Yup, yup! That's why Atua says we should do it before any damage is done!" Angie says. "Korekiyo is in Ryoma's lab right? So maybe we should just throw away the key!"

"What? And just leave him there to starve to death?" asks Kaito.

Angie leans over the table, silvery bangs casting a shadow over her eyes. "Ah, but see, there can't be a class trial if a body is never discovered."

"A-Angie..." Kiibo says. "That's... rather dark."

"And that's why you created the trick with your key," Maki mutters. "So no one could enter your lab and discover the body."

Angie wraps her arms around herself. "Even if it meant sacrificing her own wonderful room, Atua's main priority was for everyone to live here safely and peacefully from now on."

"And you did all that because Kiibo was filming us and sending the footage somewhere?" asks Kaito.

"Yes, yes!" Angie throws her arms out. "Because Angie thought he was the mastermind! Or at least, someone connected to them. Atua also thought that! And we can't live peacefully if someone is actively filming us and sending it somewhere." She pulls her jacket up over her shoulders. "Angie also wanted Himiko and Korekiyo to go back to their usual selves. She didn't want them to be sick anymore." She lowers her gaze. "Which is why we… why Angie tried to…"

Kaede's heart stops as she pieces Angie's words together in her head. Angie had tried to kill the mastermind.

Angie had tried to kill the mastermind.

Sighing, Rantaro runs a hand through his hair. "And I'm guessing you didn't confess straight away because of Kirumi, right?"

"Mhmm. Angie was planning on telling everyone right away. When everyone separated for a while when we first found Kiibo, Angie had a little chat with Atua about what she should do, but before she could get any answers…" she looks up at Rantaro. "Rantaro said he needed Angie's help to open the door of her lab."

"And that's when we found Kirumi's body," Kaede punctuates.

"Yep. So even though Angie knew she was gonna die for sure, she wanted to at least get Kirumi some justice before she left. She was also curious about what happened during the night, since everything was all over the place this morning, you know?" Pouting, she taps a paintbrush against her lip. "But all that did was leave more questions. Questions Angie will never know the answer to…"

"So Angie tried to end the killing game by stopping the mastermind, who she thought was Kiibo, but instead the mastermind pulled a fast one on her and got her killed instead!" Kokichi surmises. "That's pretty messed up of you, mastermind!"

"No…" Biting her lip, Kaede looks down at her hands and it's only then that she realises she's shaking. "No, this is wrong. This… there's something seriously wrong with this whole thing…"

"You're very dedicated to finding the truth, aren't you, Kaede?"

Kaede turns back to look at Angie. "Huh? Of course I am."

Smiling, Angie continues. "Atua can tell, you know. And so can Angie. She knows that you only ever want what's best for everyone. She can sense the kindness and sincerity brimming from your heart from here! But see, Kaede, there's one thing you must keep in mind…" She leans over, bright blue eyes darkening. "Why do you truly seek the truth? Is it really for everyone's benefit, or could it be that you have your own reasons for seeking it? Reasons you have hidden even from yourself."

Perplexed, Kaede takes an involuntary step back. "Wh-what on earth are you talking about all of a sudden!?"

Angie veers to one side, "Nothing really!" And then to the other. "Angie's just thinking aloud, is all! She does that sometimes— Ah!" She claps her hands over her mouth. "Angie's gotta do something before she goes! Himikoooo!"

Before Kaede can so much as blink, Angie skips over to the trembling magician and envelops her in a gentle hug. "Angie just wanted to say she's really, really sorry that she hasn't been able to talk to you properly recently. And she's also very sorry that it had to end like this." She lays a hand on Himiko's head. "But she promises that when she gets to heaven, the first thing she's gonna do is tell Tenko how amazing you've been!"

Fastening herself to Angie's coat, Himiko sniffles. "I haven't— hic! been amazing, I— hic! haven't done anything except— hic! cause trouble—"

"Nyahahaha!" Angie squeezes her tighter. "Don't be silly. Atua tells Angie that you're doing a very good job at protecting everyone, y'know?" She leans down and whispers into Himiko's ear, "more than Angie can even imagine…"

Himiko lifts her head. Fresh tears drip down her face. "Really?"

Angie nods and squishes Himiko's cheeks into a forced smile. "Mhmm! Really! Which is why you shouldn't cry! Smile, smile!" She releases her hold on Himiko and turns around. "And that goes for everyone else, too!"

"Angie…" Kaede exhales, feeling her own eyes begin to sting. "I'm so sorry this is… that you…"

"No, no." Angie shakes her head. "Angie did a very sinful thing. She made a grave mistake. So Angie needs to go repent for her sins now. It is finally time for her to go and be with Atua."

For a fleeting moment, Kaede swears she sees a glimmer of fear in Angie's eyes. But within an instant the artist is beaming wider than ever. "Okay, it's been super, duper fun meeting and being friends with everyone! Atua tells Angie that we'll all meet again, very, very soon! And remember…" Winking, she presses a finger to her lips. "Atua's always watching over you. So Angie will make sure she does, too!"

"And with that, it's punishment time!" Monokuma trills, slamming his gavel down onto the big red button that had appeared at some point. With a final smile and a wave, Angie spins around, slips her jacket off her shoulders, and calmly walks to her execution, leaving behind a pool of yellow.

"Bye-nara!"

GAME OVER

ANGIE YONAGA HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY.

TIME FOR THE PUNISHMENT!

Just like Tenko's, the scene constructs itself around Angie. It soon becomes obvious that it's a mimicry of a stereotypical tropical island. With the exception of the sea and sand, the palm trees, seagulls, and even the clouds are nothing but cheap cardboard stencils clumsily coloured in with crayon.

With that same peaceful smile on her face, Angie is hoisted up onto a wooden totem pole above her classmates. A dainty crown composed of flowers native to Angie's island falls atop of her head, not unlike a halo.

Fallen Angel

Ultimate Artist, Angie Yonaga's Execution:

Executed.

Monophanie, Monotaro and Monodam watch on from the sidelines, but Monokid is nowhere to be seen. Monokuma approaches the totem pole in a seashell bralette and grass skirt. He lifts a paw. Four steel nails materialise out of thin air.

The nails pierce Angie's wrists and feet to the pole's wings and base. Biting her lip, Angie barely flinches.

It's then that Kaede realises that they're about to witness a crucifixion.

For a few moments, everything is silent. A sombre gong sounds off in the distance. Angie helplessly hangs from the totem pole. And then the ground begins to rumble. Cracking an eye open, Angie looks down and sees white steam start to hiss out of the pole's base and wings. And before anyone can so much as blink, the totem pole shoots up into the sky at light-speed.

As the pole rises higher without any signs of slowing, a white sticky substance in the wind begins to cling to the totem pole and Angie's body. From the unmistakable hissing sound the substance makes when it hits the artist's bare skin, it's obvious that it is hot wax. From the screen they're being forced to watch Angie's death on, Kaede can tell that Angie's peaceful smile is the most forced she's ever seen it look.

After what feels like an age, the pole stops rising when both it and Angie are entirely doused in wax. And just like that, they begin their decent back to the ground at an equally fast pace, as the wax begins to rapidly harden.

It only takes a few seconds for Angie to fall back to earth. The moment she hits the sand, she shatters like glass. The music stops abruptly, and the camera slowly pans out to reveal the crumbled remains of the Ultimate Artist.

Just when it all seems to be over, a bright yellow light splits the waxen stones apart. and a glistening, golden, Angie-shaped ghost emerges from the rubble. Shimmering angel wings stretching out either side, Angie rises again, no pole needed this time, up into the sky with open arms, presumably to meet Atua. The execution stage begins to shake. Angie glances down. The sand starts to ripple like a wave. With a terrible growl, the ground cracks open like an egg. Lava bubbles and spurts up from the opening.

As the Monokubs watch on from the safety of the sidelines, Monodam blinks, feeling something move behind him. He looks over his shoulder.

Monokid, guitar dangerously brandished, leaps out from behind a nearby paper-palm tree and takes a swing at him.

Monodam closes his eyes, bracing himself for impact, but a weight from his side shoves him out of the way. He opens his eyes. Monotaro is on top of him, breathing heavily.

Monokid flies past them both, straight into the centre of the execution stage, joining Angie's waxen remains in being devoured by the molten pit lurking beneath the sandy surface.

Angie flies higher and higher in a desperate attempt to get away from hell's grisly grasp. Just as she reaches the part where the sky transitions into the heaven she's been yearning to enter for so long, Monokuma appears above her with a halo and his own set of angel wings, and pulls out a wind machine. He switches it on, and Angie is forcefully blown back down to Earth. Regretful tears fill her eyes as she's swallowed up by the earth's crust. Like a zipper, the ground seals itself back up. Monokuma gently flutters back down and closes the execution out with his own rendition of a hula-dance.

END

Kaede only remembers bits and pieces of the events that followed Angie's execution. She remembers Monophanie throwing up, and Monodam crying into his brother's chest. Himiko tearfully collapsing into Angie's coat. Miu wordlessly stomping out of the room the moment the doors were unlocked, and Korekiyo following suit, his head hanging low.

She remembers Kokichi crying crocodile tears, then laughing, though it was that kind of laughter that could barely be considered laughter. Kaito yelling at his insensitivity and launching himself at him, only to collapse mid-punch. Blood flying out his mouth like projectile vomit and splattering onto the leader's sheet-white uniform. Rantaro and Maki immediately flanking his sides and lifting him between them. Kokichi running ahead of them, his face a picture of horror – a face that Kaede's never seen on him before.

Most prominently though, she remembers the feelings of pain, anger, and absolute hopelessness that followed Angie's execution, and the lingering thought that persists at the back of her mind that that could have been her had Shuichi not stepped in back then.

It's mid-afternoon by the time the remainder of the group reach the surface, and the elevator doors open to the usual dazzling sunshine. Kokichi's the first out when the doors open, bolting out of the Shrine of Judgement and towards the academy. Rantaro offers to help Kaito to his room and clean him up, despite the astronaut's insistent protesting (whether he was resisting help or Rantaro in general wasn't clear to Kaede) and Ryoma opts to take Maki's place when the subject of changing his blood-soaked clothes comes up.

Himiko refuses to budge from her spot on the elevator floor, clutching Angie's yellow parka like her life depends on it. Tsumugi quietly offers to stay nearby and keep an eye on her, and Kaede decides to leave the rest to her.

Sighing, Kaede peels Shuichi's cap off her head and brings it up to her face. It reeks of sweaty-Kaede-head. Ew. Throwing it into one of Kirumi's washing machines crosses her mind as she steps into the academy for the second time that day, but then again, she isn't too sure about re-entering the room that started it all just yet.

That being said, there is one place she wants to revisit before calling it a day.

Checking that the coast is clear, Kaede quickens her pace. Hurries up the hall and ducks into the girl's bathroom before anyone notices.

Or so she thought.

"Oh." Maki glances up from washing her hands. "It's just you."

Pulling her shoulders up, Kaede walks over to the sink beside her. "O-of course, who else would it be?" She places Shuichi's hat on the side and tries washing the clamminess out of her palms.

"Well, there's still five of us left that'd use this room, aren't there?"

"Five…" Kaede mumbles. Her gaze drops to Maki's bloodstained sink. "Is all of that from when Kaito…?"

"Yeah."

"I see." Kaede shifts uncomfortably from foot to foot, painfully aware of the silence that swiftly falls between them.

Maki finishes washing her hands up and walks over to the drier. But the loud blast of hot air doesn't follow. "What did you really come in here for?"

Kaede blanches. "Wh-what?"

"You haven't even turned the tap on. You're clearly waiting for me to leave."

"Ah—!" As she glances down into her bone-dry sink, coloured heat sears through Kaede's cheeks. "R-right..." Coughing into her fist, she turns on the faucet.

"Let me guess." Maki leans against the door. "You came back to find more evidence about Kirumi's death, now that we know it happened in here." She crosses her arms. "Because for some reason, you're obsessed with trying to find the mastermind."

Kaede finishes up washing her hands. "Because if we can figure out who's behind all of this, I'm certain we'll be able to end it." Flicking the droplets off her fingers, she walks to the back of the room and starts to peek into each individual stall. "I just… don't get it, you know? Why was the killer in here? And why did they kill Kirumi? If it really was the mastermind and they wanted a class trial, wasn't Kirumi planning on killing Miu? Isn't that what started this whole mess? And if it were a case of wanting two murders, Angie was planning on killing Kiibo anyway. It's not like they had to—"

"Haven't you learnt?" asks Maki. "Angie thought Kiibo was the mastermind. Shuichi thought Rantaro was the mastermind. Look what ended up happening to them."

Despite Kaede's back being turned, she can feel Maki's burning hot gaze on her. "If we just sit around, more people will end up getting killed." Kaede kicks open the utility closet door and looks around. "Kirumi must have come in here at some point…"

Maki follows Kaede into the closet. "So you want to endanger the rest of us so that you can be hailed as a hero for ending the game. I see."

"What?!" Kaede whips round. "No! Why the hell would I do that?" Her shaking hands clench into fists. "All I want is for everyone to escape. How is that so hard to understand?" She grits her teeth. "Why would you even say something like that?"

"Then why?" Maki takes a step forward. "Why do you keep putting yourself in danger for a bunch of strangers you don't even know? Three of us aren't even on our side, or have you forgotten that?"

"No, I haven't." Kaede takes a step backwards. Her back hits the closet wall. "I just…"

Her voice is drowned out by the gravelly groaning of the wall disappearing behind her.

"Huh!?" says Kaede. "Whats— aaaah!" As the wall vanishes, she loses her balance and starts to fall backwards.

"Watch out!" Maki darts forward. She grabs Kaede's arms and yanks her back to her feet.

"Th-thanks…" Looking over her shoulder, Kaede stares open-mouthed at the blue-tinted passageway stretching out before them.

But the thing that catches her eye the most is the grisly trail of blood splattered along said passageway.

Chapter III: Egoistic, Easy-going Elegy of Emprise

END

Victims: Kiibo, Kirumi Tojo

Culprits: Angie Yonaga, Unidentified

REMAINING STUDENTS: 10

Trivia:

❃ An 'Elegy' is a melancholic composition, song, or poem expressing sorrow or lamentation those that have passed away, usually performed at funerals or rituals/séances.

❃ 'Emprise' is an Anglo-French word that means 'an adventurous enterprise'.

❃ The 'almost-meeting-Atua-but-not-at-the-last-minute' part of Angie's execution was an strikeattempted/strike parallel to Korekiyo's execution with his sister, if that wasn't obvious. Special thank you to Mod Court for co-writing the execution with me! Your ideas were absolutely MINDBLOWING!

❃ The (literal) key piece of evidence was inspired by the 1st escape game in Your Turn To Die (which I HIGHLY recommend, by the way!) and the method in which Kiibo is killed in this story was inspired by a href=" watch?v=MY4qnUGwWIU" rel="nofollow"the scene that happens at the 1.49 minute mark in this music video./a

❃ 'Despair Disease' was a reference to Chapter III of SDR2. Obviously, haha.

❃ Cookies go to Skymin for being the first person (that I saw) predict Angie as the blackened! The bonus cookie goes to Animercom for making a passing joke about Tsumugi killing someone in the bathroom as she was editing the adjacent scene all way back in chapter 18.

❃ This was initially written as a triple murder with but due to my lack of braincells and the fact that a 3rd case would have made this arc far longer than it needed to be, it was scrapped and completely rewritten last minute again. Outing the original second culprit would have led to a similar sequence of events that happened with Kiyo last time around, so that's why I decided to use someone that the cast doesn't know, but the readers do. I was lucky enough to be able to speak to both a nurse and an inventor/scientist about Kirumi's/Kiibo's death methods respectively and ensure they came out as accurate as possible to make up for the sudden change in direction!

❃ I've recently been informed that an older Kaede-protag story also has their Chapter III culprits as Angie/implied mastermind as well. My reasoning behind 'Person X' is the above bullet. And for Angie, I just wanted to give her an ending more redemptive and conclusive than what she was given in the game, and I felt like Chapter III was the most fitting time to do it considering her relevance in it. Angie is my all-time favourite fictional character and I would strongnever/strong use her and what she personally represents to me just to copy/disrespect another writer's hard work. I hope this makes sense, thanks for your understanding! Ch. III Epilogues coming soon! ≧◠ᴥ◠≦