Archive of Our Own

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A throbbing headache. That’s all I know. That’s all I can feel as I find myself slowly crossing the line between unconsciousness and consciousness. Slowly, very slowly, the pain subsides, and I become more aware of other things. Who am I? Where am I? Why am I here?

The Where and Why aren’t exactly easy to answer at the moment, but the Who part is easy enough. I’m Wakana Kawashima, accepted into a place called New Hope’s Peak Academy as the Ultimate Waitress. New Hope’s Peak is pretty cool: 16 high school age kids from all across the country are selected to be a part of a prestigious class of “Ultimates”...individuals with great abilities for their specific field.

I really don’t deserve the title...even though I’m always polite on the outside, I can be pretty sarcastic inside...something not really expected of a waitress. But I guess the New Hope’s Peak recruiters wouldn’t really know what’s going on in my head. Besides, there’s no way I could have turned down such a quality education...or, rather, no way Mom or Dad would have let me.

I think about that as I feel around the dark dusty space I realize I’m in. Do I really deserve to be called the Ultimate Waitress? All I do is serve people at a local diner...and yet from what I’ve heard, some of the others in my class have done so many crazy, cool things. How can I possibly compare to that?

The headache is almost gone now. I slide my hand across the wall, feeling dust stick to it as I searching for an exit to this space. Suddenly, my hand pushes too hard and the surface I’m slumped against disappears. Although the fall is short, it’s enough to make my headache come surging back. Goddammit...I need to be more careful.

After my head clears a bit, I look behind me and see a locker. So, this is what I was in.
It’s nothing special, just a plain, gray locker. But it’s the only locker in a room that is...something wholly unfamiliar to me. The walls are a drab greenish-gray color and the windows on one wall are covered with iron plates, making a flickering fluorescent bulb the only source of light. Where am I ? Even though I woke up in locker, this doesn’t look like a school at all...

There is no furniture but the locker, and the only other notable features are a monitor above a door and a camera in the corner of the ceiling. Am I being watched right now?
The answer is probably yes, but I like to look on the positive side of things. Sometimes. Even still, I don’t like the idea that right now, someone could be observing my every move, so I make my way to the door, my head aching in protest. Ignoring the pain, I open the door and walk right into—

“Whoa, watch where you’re going there!”

I nearly fall over, but the boy who I walked into grabs my hand and stabilizes me. “Sorry about that,” I say almost immediately with a apologetic smile, my waitress’s politeness instincts kicking in. “I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”

“That’s perfectly okay. It’s for the better, really, because I may not have found you if you hadn’t run into me right here.”

“You were looking for me?” I ask, trying to keep fear out of my mind. I don’t certainly think this boy looks like he wants to harm me...he just seems too relaxed in his casual indigo jeans and a purple t-shirt, and thick, round glasses...but still, I know looks can be deceiving. Some of the nicest-looking customers I’ve ever had have been the rudest.

The boy gives a small laugh. “I can tell you think something’s suspicious about that, but I promise you, that’s not the case. You’re just the last one to wake up and I wanted to find where you were.”

I arch my eyebrow. “Last one to wake up? What does that mean? Are there other people here?”

“Yeah, and we were all told there are sixteen of us in total, so we went looking for the last one of us, and I guess I was the one lucky enough to find you.”

I chuckle a little. “Thanks for finding me, uh...?”

The boy looks confused for a moment, then understands. “Oh, you want to know my name. Hehe...I guess I should have started with that. I’m Michio Aozora, and I’m the Ultimate Astrophysicist.”

“Astrophysicist,” I say slowly, “that sounds really impressive, but I have no idea what it means.” I laugh nervously.

Aozora doesn’t seem too bothered. “Hehe, that’s okay. Basically, an astrophysicist is an astronomer who applies physics and chemistry to objects in space. It’s a broad field, but that’s pretty much the gist of it.”

“I don’t know too much about it...but I do remember hearing it’s really hard to do. Is that right?”

Aozora shrugs. “Most people would say so, but for me it’s less work...and, as nerdy as this sounds, more fun. There’s something about studying the most fascinating parts of our universe...dark matter, whether time travel can be done, black holes, how the universe might end, all that crazy stuff and more...” Aozora chuckles. “I’m rambling, but I just find all this stuff so cool, y’know?”

I smile at him. From looking at his face when he was describing astrophysics...I could tell it was truly his passion. I guess that’s why he’s the Ultimate Astrophysicist.

“I know what you mean,” I say understandingly. “Having a passion for doing what you do...I guess that’s what makes you motivated to become an Ultimate.”

Aozora nods. “Yeah, I suppose.” He shifts on his feet. “Speaking of that, what is your Ultimate talent? I think I have a talent in mind, but I’m not too certain...”

“You’re probably thinking correctly,” I tell him reassuringly. “I’m Wakana Kawashima, and I’m the Ultimate Waitress.”

As I say that I look down to examine my clothes, which I haven’t done yet so far. With my hair up in a tight bun and wearing black non-slip shoes, a comfy, colorful shirt decorated with the logo of the restaurant I work at on the back, matching pants, and a black apron that holds straws, my work name tag, pens, and a few yen in its pockets, I feel like I walked right out of my restaurant into...wherever we are.

“I was right,” Aozora says with a hint of pride. “Though I suppose it should have been rather obvious with you still being in your work uniform and all, hehe.”

“Even if it was obvious, I’m glad you asked,” I say reassuringly. “It’s better to not assume anything if you can avoid it.”

Aozora nods in agreeement. “That’s true, very true.” There’s a bit of an awkward pause, and I decide to break it.

“Aozora-kun, do you know where we are?” I ask him. “I woke up in a locker, but I don’t think it’s a school.”

“You’re right, it isn’t,” he replies, smile faltering a bit. “From the looks of it, I’m pretty sure it’s a...it’s a prison.”

What? I don’t now what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that...

“A prison?” I repeat, observing the area around me. “I guess that makes sense. But...how do you know it’s a prison?”

Aozora chuckles. “The hallway that appears to contain the dorm rooms has a sign that says it’s a cell block, so that made it rather clear.”

“Oh,” I say, feeling embarrassed. “I guess that would make it pretty obvious.” I pause to think for a moment, and then the strangeness of the situation hits me all at once. “But why would we be in a prison? It doesn’t make sense why New Hope’s Peak would bring us here...besides, I don’t remember breaking the law...”

“Nor do I or any of the others here,” Aozora says in an attempt to be reassuring, but it makes me more confused. I guess there’s nothing I can really do about it, though...so I should probably try to focus on other things.

“The others...you said there were sixteen in total,” I say slowly, trying to distract myself from the oddness of this situation. “So where are the other fourteen?”

“We all split up to find you, the last person, so I’m not too sure,” Aozora says. “But I’m certain we’ll be able to find them.”

I nod at him. “Okay, let’s get going then.”

Aozora leads me down the hallway we’ve been standing in, but as I follow I wonder what the fourteen other people here will be like. Are they messed up people? There has to be a reason why all of us are in a prison...maybe this is some sort of weird initiation ceremony? I knew New Hope’s Peak was no normal school, but this isn’t what I expected.

Aozora and I turn a corner, and right around it is a girl with long dark green hair, a denim jacket, and black jeans.

“Hi!!” she says very loudly, almost shouting. “There you are!”

Aozora smiles at her enthusiasm. “Hello. Are you referring to myself or Kawashima-san?”

“Well, I meant to talk to her, but I, um, didn’t mean to leave you out...” She brings her arms closer to herself and looks down shamefully, and then glances up nervously. “Sorry, I’m not the best at socializing with, um, people...I just wanted to make sure...Kanajima-san?” She pauses, looking at me for confirmation.

“Kawashima,” I correct. “I’m Wakana Kawashima, Ultimate Waitress.”

“Oh...sorry for getting your, um, name wrong,” the green-haired girl says apologetically. She avoids eye contact with me as she continues. “I just wanted to make sure, um...Kawashima-san felt welcome.”

“No worries,” Aozora replies with a friendly smile. “I wasn’t offended in the least.”

The girl brightens up slightly, but I can still tell she has some doubts. “Well, if you say so...” Her eyes light up out of nowhere and she hits her hand against her head. “Ugh, how could I have, um, forgotten the simplest thing about meeting someone new! I need to, um, introduce myself!”

She stands up straight and struggles to look me straight in the eye. “I’m Yuzuki Eguchi, and I’m the Ultimate Game Developer!”

Ultimate Game Developer...yeah, I can see that. Her Tetris t-shit beneath her jacket, her little game controller hairpins...I should have noticed.

“It’s nice to meet you, Eguchi-san,” I tell her with a smile.

Eguchi breaks her eye contact and slumps back, relieved that she no longer has to initiate social contact. “Likewise,” she replies to me. “And...Aisaka-kun?”

“Aozora. Michio Aozora,” he corrects, but he doesn’t seem too irritated. “Didn’t I tell you my name just ten minutes ago?”

Eguchi pushes her glasses up her nose and looks down shamefully. “Sorry, I’m not amazing with, um, names...and well, people. Neither thing is really my forte...but I swear, I’m way, um, better at making games!”

I want to say “I hope so,” but decide that would be too rude, so I simply smile at her. “What kind of games do you make, Eguchi-san?”

“What kind of games do I, um, make?” she repeats, “more like what kind of game don’t I make! I’ve made around 17 games in the past six years, all by myself. Five JRPG’s, three horror games, four visual novels, one dating sim, three puzzle games, and one fighting game. And the latest 9 games are all triple A level quality!” She pauses, out of breath but with excitement shining in her eyes.

“Wow...” I say, not knowing if I should be impressed for her ability or concerned for her health. “That’s a lot of games to make in such a short time span with such quality.”

“It is indeed,” Aozora agrees. “But I suppose we shouldn’t expect anything less from the Ultimate Game Developer.”

Eguchi both swells up in pride and blushes at his remark. “Thank you,” she says gratefully, staring at her feet sheepishly. “It’s just my, um, passion, so I really don’t, um, deserve the praise...but thanks all the same.”

“You’re welcome,” Aozora says.

There’s a bit of an awkward silence for a moment, so I decide to speak up. “Eguchi-san,” I begin.

“Yes?” she responds, barely making eye contact.

“Do you know why we’re here?” I ask her. “Or even what this prison is?”

“Um...well, no I don’t, unfortunately.” She pushes her glasses up her nose nervously. “But I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about. New Hope’s Peak had to have brought us here for a reason, right?”

“Yeah,” I say, but I’m not so sure. I don’t think Eguchi is either.

“Thanks for your time, Eguchi-san,” Aozora says from behind me. “I’m sorry to interrupt your conversation with Kawashima-san, but she has to meet the others.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” Eguchi says with a small smile, but still barely making eye contact. “It was nice meeting you, um, Kawashima-san.”

“You too,” I say to her.

Aozora and I leave her behind and encounter another figure after a short walk down the hallway: a short, quiet boy dressed in loose, comfortable clothes and a heavy-looking backpack.

“Hi.” I greet him with the same waitress’s smile I used on Eguchi. “How are you?”

“I’m...I-I’m okay...” he says in a voice barely above a whisper. “How are y-you?”

“I’m well,” I respond automatically. There’s a bit of an awkward pause, and the boy looks away from me and grabs a book from his backpack and starts reading it right in front of us. Did he forget that we were talking...?

Aozora clears his throat in the most polite way possible. “Oyamada-kun,” he says softly, “I found the last student. Don’t you want to introduce yourself to her?”

The boy, whose name must be Oyamada, reluctantly closes his book and looks up at me. “I don’t really w-want to, but I g-guess I should. I’m Osamu O-Oyamada, the Ultimate L-Librarian.”

“That’s unsurprising,” I say, a bit too bluntly. I force the smile from before back onto my face. “It’s pretty clear you like books a lot.”

“What’s not to l-like about them?” He asks, his eyes filling with more eagerness than before. “B-Books are such g-good companions...and you can l-learn so much f-from them!”

You can... it they can also be boring. Not all books, but some are just bad...especially the ones we’re forced to read for school.
“I’m guessing you prefer books over talking to people,” I say.

“Yes, m-most definitely,” Oyamada resounds without hesitation. “People c-can be so unreliable...but a book is always there if I n-need it. I n-never have to worry about a book telling s-secrets, or lying b-behind my back, or b-betraying me...”

...Well, that got serious fast. “Ah...I see what you mean.”

Oyamada continues, almost as if he’s unaware Aozora and I are right next to him.
“I mean...people can be n-nice to talk to t-too,” he says to no one in particular, “But there has to b-be worth in talking t-to them. There has to be a b-bond, a friendship...otherwise it’s m-meaningless, right?”

“I suppose,” I answer, meaning to say something else, but Oyamada’s longing glances at his book suggest that he probably would like this conversation to wrap up soon. I might as well end this here. I probably won’t get much more out of this conversation.

“Goodbye, Oyamada-kun,” I say. “It was nice meeting you.”

“G-Goodbye,” he says quickly, immediately delving back into his book.

I look at Aozora and shrug as we continue down the hallway until we see a door to a room slightly ajar.

“Should we go in?” I ask Aozora.

“I think I hear conversation, so yes.”

I nod and open the door and step inside. The room seems to be
a classroom of some sort, but it’s the people in the room that interest me most. There are three: a fashionably dressed girl scanning the room carefully, a boy dressed in ripped leather tapping his fingers rhythmically against a desk, and a short girl carefully reading a book. All of them look over as soon as they here the door open.

“Ah, it seems Aozora-kun has found the last student,” says the fashionably dressed girl.

“S’bout fuckin’ time,” the boy in leather remarks with a relieved sigh. “I was thinkin’ we’d never find ya.”

“Please, Komatsu-kun, don’t be so ridiculous,” the fashionably dressed girl chastises, “I’m sure that with hard work and perseverance we would have found her eventually.”

“I guess,” he says with little interest. “But that shit doesn’t really matter now, does it, Niizuma-san? At least we found her.”

The fashionably dressed girl, who is probably Niizuma, only purses her lips. “I suppose.”

“What’s your name?” asks the other girl as she closed her book and looks me straight in the eye. Even though she’s way shorter than me and dressed in innocent-looking light pink and blue, I’m a little intimidated by her stare.

“I-I’m Wakana Kawashima,” I answer, feeling a bit apprehensive under her stern gaze. “I’m the Ultimate Waitress.”

The short girl does nothing for a few moments, and then nods. “I’m Otoha Domoto. Ultimate Toy Maker.”

Otoha
Domoto...I think I remember hearing about her from of my customers before...she makes all kinds of toys by hand, and always at superbly high quality...it’s a dream come true for kids to get her toys as gifts.

“Domoto...aren’t you the one they call the real-life Santa?” I ask her, but immediately regret it by the look that comes across her face.

“Yes,” she says with distaste, “But that conjures up a non-professional, mystical image that I do not wish to promote. I strongly dislike that nickname, so please never use it again, Kawashima-san.”

“Y-Yes, Domoto-san,” I stutter nervously.
Damn, she sure is scary for someone so short and unassuming...she definitely doesn’t have the personality I would normally expect a toy maker to have.

“I don’t really get why ya hate the nickname, Domoto-san,” the boy in leather says with little fear. “My lil’ bro calls ya that, and I for one think it’s a pretty fuckin’ cool nickname.”

“I don’t really care what you think about the matter,” Domoto responds bluntly.

He waves his hand dismissively. “Whatever.” He turns to face me. “Sorry ‘bout that lil’ distraction; I shoulda introduced myself earlier. Name’s Yutaka Komatsu, the Ultimate Composer. Ya might not have hearda me before, but ya‘ve definitely heard my music.”

Fortunately for Komatsu, I have heard of both him and his music, thanks to my pianist mom being an avid fan.
He’s a renowned composer in the realms of songwriting, film score, jazz composition, but he’s mostly famous for a unique composition style where he blends Japanese musical traditions with Western-style classical music.

“Don’t worry, I’m familiar with both your name and your works,” I tell him. “But...” I contemplate what I’m about to say, hoping it won’t sound too rude, “But, I have to say, I expected you to be more...”

“Formal?” he offers. I nod. “Yeah, people usually think that. But it don’t matter, I am who I am. I ain’t gonna change just ‘cause people expect someone who makes music like mine to be all prim and proper.”

“That’s a very admirable trait,” Aozora says from beside me. “It’s not always easy to defy social expectations like that.”

“No, it isn’t,” Domoto agrees pensively. “But it’s necessary in order to be the most honest person possible.” She says that last bit strong conviction.
I guess she views honesty to be really important.

“Indeed,” the fashionably dressed girl, Niizuma, says disinterestedly. “Moving away from that, I am Tomiko Niizuma, who they call the Ultimate Statistician.”

“Statistician?” I repeat, examining her perfectly assembled outfit and flawless makeup. “I thought you would have been the Ultimate Fashion Designer or Ultimate Makeup Artist or something like that.”

“I’m not recognized for those talents, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t have an eye for fashion nor skill for makeup,” Niizuma confesses as she examines her perfectly painted and trimmed nails. “No, I’m a statistician first and foremost, but fashion and makeup are my two favorite hobbies that come as a result of hard work and dedication to them.”

“That’s all very interesting,” I say to her, and for once I mean it. “I would’ve never guessed your talent from looks alone.”

“Looks can be deceiving,” Domoto says ominously. Before I have time to react, the door opens, and in come three new people: a girl in a colorful poncho and wearing a myriad of bracelets, a behemoth of a boy in a black tailored suit and sunglasses, and a boy in a dirty green military uniform with a tattered black beret with a red star in it.

“Ah!” the boy in the dirty military uniform shouts, pointing at me exaggeratedly. “There she is! The last student!”

“It definitely looks like that’s the case,” the buff boy in the suit says in a voice as deep as the ocean. Even though he’s wearing dark sunglasses despite us being indoors, I can tell he’s examining me carefully. It makes me a bit uncomfortable...

“She doesn’t look too dangerous,” he concludes after a short while.

“How can you be certain about that?!” the boy in the dirty military uniform shouts. I wince at how loudly he speaks.

“He can’t,” Domoto replies. She smirks a little. “It’s funny that you bring that up, Yamaguchi-kun. I was just telling everyone here about how looks can be deceiving.”

“Come on now, Domoto-san,” the girl in the poncho says as she brushes her dyed blue hair out of her face. “There’s no need to be such a pessimist. Besides, we can’t find out if this new girl is dangerous or not until we get to know her.”

She walks up to me confidently and hugs me tightly. I gasp at the sudden contact, but luckily it doesn’t last too long.

“Hi!” the girl says to me cheerfully.

“H-Hi,” I say back, still a little shaken from her sudden and forceful contact.

“Was my hug a bit too much?” she asks me, although she doesn’t seem to concerned about an answer. “Sorry, I guess I just can’t help it. Communication and interaction with others is my specialty. I am Sakiko Motoki, the Ultimate Linguist, after all.”

“Linguist...” I repeat slowly. I know I’ve heard the word before, I just don’t know what it is. “What is that again?”

“Someone who speaks a ton of languages,” Komatsu begins, but Motoki shakes her head.

“Close, but not quite right. I study languages themselves,” she
corrects. “Their development, spread, evolution, the sounds spoken, the culture around the language...so, although I do speak many, that’s not exactly what my talent is. If it were, I’d be a polyglot.”

Ah, so that’s what a linguist does...I feel stupid for not knowing that. I guess that’s what skipping school to go to my restaurant gets me...

“I’m going to stop your lecture right there, Motoki-san,” Domoto says sternly. She turns to me. “Kawashima-san, you have yet to introduce yourself to these three.”

“Oh, yeah,” I say a bit apprehensively.
Domoto-san scares me, so I better go ahead and do it...

I take a deep breath, put on the smile I use to greet customers, and say, “I’m Wakana Kawashima, the Ultimate Waitress.”

“I thought it’d be something like that,” the large boy with sunglasses says. “Before you ask, I’m Eisuke Terajima, the Ultimate Bodyguard. If you ever need protecting, I’m the one to call.”

Eisuke Terajima...that’s definitely a name I’ve heard before. He’s a renowned and well-respected bodyguard who protects the most important politicians and the most famous celebrities...I feel safer already in his presence.

“Nice to meet you,” I tell him.

“Likewise,” he answers. “And as a heads up, I want to let you know I’m not the best with names. So don’t be offended if it takes a little while, okay?”

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” I reassure him. “Customers forget my name all the time at my restaurant, so I’m pretty used to it.”

The boy in the dirty military uniform coughs loudly into his hand to interrupt and draw my attention to him. Before I can ask what he wants, he shouts, “I did not hear all of what you told the bodyguard! I know your name, but what is your talent again?!”

Damn, he’s so loud...he should really learn what an inside voice is.

“I’m the Ultimate Waitress,” I tell him, but before I can say anything more, he prostrates himself on the ground in front of me.

“Ahhhh...” he moans, “Kawashima-sama...please, allow me to serve you! Anything you ask, I will do! Serving people who are at the bottom of society like yourself is what I, Yoshi Yamaguchi, the Ultimate Revolutionary, was born to do!”

Oh...I know who he is now. He was involved in some crazy standoff with the government...but I’m more concerned with what he called me at the moment. A member of the bottom of society!? That’s really rude! Even though my job admittedly isn’t super prestigious, I’m still proud of it. I want to tell him off for saying something so uncalled for, but if he says he’ll do anything for someone like me...I know what I’ll ask.

“Could you please shout less often?” I ask him with strained politeness. “I don’t enjoy being yelled at constantly.”

“Of course,” Yamaguchi whispers. “My apologies, but I have difficulty hearing because of the various...conflicts I have been a part of.”

“Didn’t ya blow up a buildin'?” Komatsu interjects. “I remember hearin’ something like that.”

“That was my comrade who did that, not I!” Yamaguchi shouts defensively as he leaps up from the floor, apparently already forgetting my request.
Oh well, it was worth a shot.

“But you did run a town independently of the government for a few weeks and threaten to destroy the bourgeoisie after that building was bombed and your comrade detained,” Domoto asserts. “And when the government rolled in and squashed your revolt, you were forced to either attend New Hope’s Peak, or—”

“Or be arrested, yes,” Yamaguchi interrupts hastily. “Normally I would have chosen prison over a school full of rotten bourgeois scum, but attending New Hope’s Peak would allow me to enlighten more of the world to the evils of our society’s structure and its need for total revolution.”

Aozora lets a small smile cross his face. “Well, it seems you’ve gotten both those options now.”

Terajima, Komatsu, Motoki, and I all chuckle slightly at that, but Yamaguchi, Domoto, and Niizuma do not.

“Was that supposed to be funny?” Niizuma asks with a hint of apprehensiveness. She shifts her balance from one leg to the other while grasping at her necklace. “I for one am rather concerned about our situation here. Stuck in a prison-school hybrid with no contact to the outside world and no windows at all.”

“Wait, there are no windows here? At all?” I inquire in a slight panic. “And no way to contact anyone outside?”

“There are windows, technically,” Aozora corrects. “But they’re sealed by thick iron plates.”

Terajima frowns and shakes his head. “I tried removing them myself, but none of them even budged.”

“To make things even worse, all our cell phones have been confiscated,” Domoto adds, “and there are no other computers, landline phones, or anything like that would allow us to communicate with the outside electronically that we could find.”

“Well...shit,” I say exasperatedly. “It seems we’re in a pretty rough situation.”

“Ya sure got that right,” Komatsu says with little concern. “But it don’t matter. As long as we have food and shelter, that’s enough for me.”

“The thing is, neither food nor shelter are completely guaranteed,” Motoki responds worriedly. She frowns. “While traveling to remote locations to study rare languages, I’ve experienced starvation and sleeping without shelter, and let me tell you...it is not a fun time.”

“No shit,” Komatsu responds, seemingly a bit angry. “I ain’t too unfamiliar with it, so I really don’t need ya to tell me—”

“Everyone, everyone,” Aozora interrupts with a nervous chuckle, “Let’s calm down. We should probably wait to discuss this issue later, when we are all together.”

Domoto nods. “I agree. The more brains we have working to find a solution, the better solution we’ll find.” She turns her gaze to me. “Besides, Kawashima-san needs to introduce herself to all the rest.”

“Where are they?” Yamaguchi asks at a surprisingly normal voice level. “Motoki, Terajima, and I did not see them around much while investigating.”

Terajima frowns. “Speak for yourself. You might not have, but I did. It’s part and parcel of being a bodyguard to always be watching observing everything in your line of sight.”

“So where were they?” Domoto asks.

“Garden girl, the annoying girl, and Furuhata-kun never left the Cafeteria. The dancer and chess player did their own thing, and the fitness trainer kept on trying to pry the windows off the walls, even though I told him it was futile.”

Niizuma purses her lips. “What about Eguchi-san and Oyamada-kun? They have to be around here somewhere.”

Terajima stares at her blankly for a moment, then realizes who she is talking about. “Oh, the game girl and the librarian...I didn’t see much of them.”

“Fortunately, we did,” Aozora interjects. He turns to me expectantly. “Right, Kawashima-san?”

“Yeah,” I answer. “Aozora-kun and I talked to Eguchi-san and Oyamada-kun before everyone else here.”

Before I can say anything else, a loudspeaker crackles to life in the center of the ceiling. Out of it comes a deep and menacing voice. “Now that all inmates have awoken, please make your way to the Cafeteria for the Initiation Ceremony. It will begin in precisely ten minutes. Attendance is mandatory.”

The loudspeaker goes silent, leaving me confused and unnerved. Everyone else in the room is bothered, but not as affected as I am.

“Who—No, what
was that?” I ask with concern.

Komatsu shakes his head. “None of us know.”

“But whoever it is, they were the one who informed us that you were still unconscious,” Aozora muses. “So they must have knowledge of what’s going on here.”

“It wouldn’t be a huge jump to assume they’re involved in our situation here, would it?” Niizuma asks, but doesn’t wait for an answer. “Whoever they are, they sound...menacing.”

“They sure do,” Terajima agrees. “Because of that, I say we go to the Cafeteria now.”

Yamaguchi shakes his head and clenches his teeth. “But then we will be obeying the orders of some unknown figure like sheep! That is exactly what we must avoid!”

“Your suspicions are warranted, Yamaguchi-kun,” Domoto says, “But we all need to meet up anyway. That way, we can come up with a plan together and Kawashima-san can introduce herself to everyone else.”

Yamaguchi clearly wants to resist, but relents. “Fine, let’s go.” He says hastily.

We file out of the room as one big group, running straight into Eguchi and Oyamada.

“Oh, hi there, everyone,” Eguchi says with a little bit of surprise. “Oyamada-kun and I were just, um, heading back to the, um, Cafeteria.”

“We were too,” Domoto tells her. “Let’s go back together.”

She and Terajima lead the way, with the rest of us trailing behind.

The Cafeteria isn’t too far away. Only a single turn of the hallway and it’s right there, with two open double doors leading to a large room. There is another set of double doors directly opposite the ones I just went through, and there’s also a small door with a circular window in the back right corner of the room. Contrary to the grayish-green walls of the rest of this place, the walls here are painted a bright white, with similarly colored floor tiles. There are no other tables but a large, rectangular one in the middle of the room. I quickly count it.
Sixteen seats.

But perhaps stranger than that, an massive, ostentatious chandelier of crystal and gold hangs over the table in the center of the room.

“What the hell is something like that doing in a prison?” I ask confusedly.

“I don’t know, but it’s quite a fabulous design choice,” says a boy in a dark red tuxedo with a yellowish-white bow tie. “It brings a sense of sophistication to this place that it severely lacks.” He curls his lip. “Not like you would understand.”

Nice to meet you, too, asshole.
I put on a fake smile for him. “Hello, nice to meet you, too,” I say with exaggerated sweetness.

He waves my greeting away dismissively. “I don’t need your fake greetings from someone as idiotic as you,” he says contemptuously. He rolls his eyes. “And so I don’t have to talk with you anymore, I’m Yuuto Furuhata, the Ultimate Sommelier.”

“Sommelier...isn’t that someone who knows wine really well?” I ask perplexedly. “You’re clearly under the drinking age, though.”

“Eugh...!” he says as he sits up suddenly. He runs his hand through his hair stressfully. “Don’t bring that up, okay? Just because the means by which I acquired my talent are slightly...illicit doesn’t mean you can look down on me like that! I won’t take criticism from someone with uninformed opinions like yours, anyway.”

I’m guessing he’s in a situation similar to that of Yamaguchi-kin...either go to Hope’s Peak or be arrested for breaking the law. With his rude and condescending attitude, I kind of wish he had chosen jail.

“Ah, c’mon, Yuuto-kun...you don’t need to be so rude like that and judge her right off the bat,” says a girl in grass-stained overalls and dirty gloves. “I’m sure she’s plenty smart.” She turns to me and gives me a warm, genuine smile. “Hiya! Before you ask, I’m Noriyo Ichigohara, the Ultimate Gardener. It’s plenty nice to meet you.”

Oh, so this is Noriyo Ichigohara? I’ve always wanted to see one of her famously beautiful gardens, but they’re pretty expensive to get into...but it’d definitely be worth it to go to one. She gardens both for show and for growing food...I remember when I had one of the peaches from her garden...it was like eating heaven.

I smile at her, and unlike most, this one is real. “Hey. I’m Wakana Kawashima, the Ultimate Waitress.”

Ichigohara opens her mouth to speak, but is interrupted by a girl in a violently pink outfit. “Heyyyyyyyyyy~!” she says excitedly with a cutesy smile. “Mika-chan doesn’t, like, have to introduce herself, does she? Wakana-chan should already, like, know who she is!”

At first I’m surprised she knew my name, but then figure she overheard it from my conversation with Ichigohara, who, when I look for her, seems to have escaped this conversation by going to talk with Komatsu.

“No,” I tell the pink girl. “Sorry, I don’t know you.”

“Really?” The girl says, appalled. “You don’t know Mika Hayasaka, internet sensation? You, like, don’t know the Ultimate Social Media Star!?”

Oh, so that’s her talent.

“Sorry, but I don’t know you,” I say apologetically. “I’ve never been the social media type person. I guess I work too much.”

Hayasaka does not seem to approve at all. She examines me coldly for a second, and then switches back to a cutesy smile. “Well, then Wakana-chan should, like, download Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Nico Nico, and all the other social media apps and, like, follow Mika-chan!” She holds up two peace signs with her hands and closes her eyes cutely. “Otherwise Wakana-chan is just, like,
an uncultured swine~!”

Well, that’s pretty rude.

“I’m fine,” I tell her firmly. “Like I said before, I’m don’t really enjoy being on social media.”

Hayasaka keeps her smile but shakes her head vigorously. “Wakana-chan, you’re, like, really missing out! Don’t you want to see Mika-chan post pictures of her delicious food, awesome vacations, and cute pets!?”

“Maybe I’ll consider it,” I tell her, although I don’t have any intention of doing so. I just want her to stop. “But I don’t have my phone on me right now.”

“I knowww, it’s like, soooo annoying,” Hayasaka. “How will Mika-chan, like, keep her followers updated on her perfect life now?”

“That really should not be your first concern,” admonishes a pale, foreign-looking boy from nearby. “Besides, do you not have a plan for your life without Internet?”

“Uh, like, obviously not?” Hayasaka says while twirling her hair. “Mika-chan, like,
always
has her phone. Why would Mika-chan, like, plan for a life without it, anyway, Sergey-kun?”

“Because life is unexpected, and one must be able to foresee and plan for all possible outcomes,” the boy, who must be called Sergey, tells her harshly. “You are similar to a vagrant addicted to heroin. You cannot imagine or at least find it impossible to attain a life without your drug, so you are blind to the future and will easily manipulated.”

“You...what the fuck?!” Hayasaka says, shocked and blinking angrily. “At least Mika-chan doesn’t, like, dress like an old man!” She then scowls at him and storms off.

“Fool,” he says under his breath.

Well, he wasn’t exactly wrong...but he was unnecessarily rude.
“Are you sure all that was necessary?” I ask the foreign boy, hoping he won’t lash out at me like he did to Hayasaka.

“Life is akin to chess. One must always be prepared and be able to adapt to adverse situations.”

“Chess, huh...is that related to your talent?”

“Indeed it is,” he says. “I am the Ultimate Chess Grandmaster, Sergey Kasparov.”

Oh, I know that name...he’s one of the youngest chess grandmasters ever, having received the prestigious title at only age twelve. I heard he’s beaten some of the best professional chess players in the world.

“So to answer your question,” he says, interrupting my thoughts, “No, I do not regret telling Hayasaka-san the cold truth.”

“You shouldn’t,” Domoto says from beside me. I jump slightly at her sudden appearance.

“Domoto-san!” I say with surprise. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“I heard Kasparov-kun telling Hayasaka-san off and immediately came here,” she explains. “She deserves to be told the truth of her situation.”

“Indeed she does,” Kasparov agrees. “If she continues being the way she is, life will end up...”

I don’t listen to the rest of the conversation, as I can tell it’s going to just be Kasparov and Domoto jacking each other off.

I move away from the table to see Motoki and a girl in an elaborate red dress with black polka dots talking animatedly.

“Hey,” I say as I approach them. “What’re you two talking about?”

“Carrasco-san and I were discussing the Castilian dialect of the Spanish language,” Motoki answers. I guess that’s to be expected from the Ultimate Linguist.

“Are you from Spain?” I ask the girl in the red dress.

“Sí,” she responds. “From Sevilla. My father is Spanish and my mother is Japanese. I grew up in España, but due to my career in dance arts skyrocketing, I’ve spent a lot of time in Japan.”

“Ah, so you’re a dancer.”

“Not just a dancer.” She whips out a painted Japanese-style fan and arches her back dramatically. “I, Mayumi Carrasco, am the Ultimate Flamenco Performer...so I do not simply dance. I pour my soul out onto the stage as I express myself in a series of movements we humans relegate to a simple word called ‘dance.’”

“Oh...I see.” So this is Mayumi Carrasco. She’s reasonably famous in Japan, and her combination of the traditional Spanish dance flamenco with traditional Japanese dance has garnered significant international attention. She’s very dramatic...but also obviously very devoted to her talent.

“It’s nice to meet you, Carrasco-san. I’m Wakana Kawashima, the Ultimate Waitress.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Kawashima-san,” Carrasco tells me.

“I’ve heard your combination of cultures in your performances is exquisite, Carrasco-san,” Motoki says in admiration, taking Carrasco’s hand into hers. “And your Japanese...I’m fascinated by how you pronounce the ‘ts’ phoneme. I wonder if it has anything to do with...”

Sensing that my role in the conversation is over, I spy an extremely fit boy wearing latex gloves and a medical face mask trying to iron plates off the window, with Terajima standing next to him, looking tired.

“What’s going on here?” I ask curiously as I head over to them, although I’m more curious about what the fit boy is wearing. A medical face mask and latex gloves...? Is he a doctor of some sort?

“I’m trying...to pry...these...iron plates...off the walls,” the fit boy says as he struggles to pull on of the iron plates off the window.

“It’s no use,” Terajima says sadly. “No offense, but if I can’t get them off, you probably can’t either.”

“We could of all of us tried,” the other boy retorts. “Skipping out on this is like stopping in the middle of a workout. It’s unacceptable!”

“Ah...workouts...do they have to do with your talent?” I ask the fit boy.

“Yes...I’m Hisaya Sashihara, the Ultimate Fitness Trainer,” he answers. “And because of that, I can’t just give up! I’m a model for all my clients to strive after, and if I just gave up...I couldn’t forgive myself!”

“I’m sure they would forgive you, Sashihara-kun,” I reassure him with sincerity. “Besides, if you injure yourself trying to do this, you wouldn’t be able to help any of your clients, right?”

That makes him stop in his tracks. “I guess you’re right,” he says reluctantly. “I’m not going to completely give up, but thanks for the advice, uh...?”

“Wakana Kawashima, the Ultimate Waitress.”

Sashihara is about to say something else, but is interrupted by Eguchi shrieking.

“Wh-what is that?!” she says, pointing shakily to the chandelier.

I follow the direction of her finger and am shocked by what I see: a large snake slithering down the chain holding the chandelier. A dividing line goes right down the middle of the snake, making the left side a pure, snowy white while the other side is a deep black. A normal black eye sits on its white side, while a jagged red eye gleams from the black side. Reaching the end of the chandelier, the snake looks down on us all with a menacing smile.

“Hello, dearest inmates,” it says in the same deep voice we heard on the loudspeakers. “Welcome to my prison.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“What the fuck is that!?” Komatsu shouts in fear.

“It’s a giant snake,” Ichigohara answers apprehensively. “But it’s a hell of a lot bigger than any one I’ve seen before.”

Sashihara cracks his knuckles. “Let’s beat the shit out of it!”

“Sususu...” the snake chuckles in the strangest laugh I’ve ever heard before. “Do not waste your efforts on trying to defeat me. I assure you, it would be pointless.”

“Do you think we’ll just take your word for it?!” shouts Yamaguchi. “Prove it!”

The snake leans its head forward and hisses. “Believe me, you do not want to fight with me. I will surely win against you and all the others, Yamaguchi.”

“How d-does it know his n-name?” Oyamada asks quietly. “Was it l-listening in on us, like the t-telescreens from 1984?”

The snake smiles. “I was, and I was watching too, but that is beside the point. I knew his name for long before. His and everyone else’s in this room.”

“How?” Niizuma asks curiously. “Are you associated with New Hope’s Peak?”

The snake does not answer immediately. “That is unimportant. What matters is that you are all here...in my prison, under my control, and that you are here for a specific purpose.”

“And what might that purpose be?” inquires Aozora.

“To participate in my game,” the snake responds.

“What kind of game involves kidnapping teenage Ultimates and bringing them to a prison with no exits?” asks Domoto crossly.

“A killing game,” the snake responds without hesitation.

Hold on..what the hell did it just say?
I look around, trying to see what everyone else thinks, but all I see are their shocked faces.

“What do you mean by, um...killing game?” Eguchi asks meekly, finally breaking the silence. She looks around. “I don’t see, um, a TV, computer, or anything we could, um, a play a game on, though...”

“Not that kind of game,” the snake
answers, rolling his eyes. “A more exciting kind. A game to be played between you all.”

“But what do you mean by that? Explain yourself, Señor...uh, whatever your name is!” Carrasco commands with a dramatic point of her fan.

“I am Monohebi, your Warden at this prison,” the snake replies, “and I was just about to do that.”

“Well then, get on with it,” Terajima says, irritated.

The snake laughs its strange laugh again. “Sususu...alright. I suppose I should start by saying killing is not necessarily mandatory in this killing game. If you so choose, you may all live here in peace.”

Kasparov stares at Monohebi coldly. “So you want us to live here peacefully? How does that constitute a killing game?”

Monohebi narrows his eyes at Kasparov. “If you had let me continue, you would have heard me tell you all that this peace comes at a price. If you all decide to not kill at all...you will never leave this prison. Ever.”

“That’s, like, totally messed up,” Hayasaka comments. “We have to, like, live in this nasty place for, like, the rest of our lives!?”

“No,” Monohebi answers with a slimy smile, “there is one way to leave this prison. If you succeed in killing another classmate and are not found out by your fellow inmates...you may leave this prison! However, all the other inmates will die if that occurs.”

No one says anything. This information...it’s just too much to process...either kill or live here for what could be decades.

“You tell us all this, but why should we believe you?” Furuhata asks while fiddling with the rings on his hands. “You are a snake, after all. How can we be certain you’re not lying?”

Monohebi looks at Furuhata coldly. “What reason would I have to lie about a situation such as this one?”

“I don’t know, but you could be lying.” He shrugs. “I’m not being a part of your stupid game if you can’t prove you’re serious.” He begins to walk away towards the door.

Monohebi hisses. “So you want me to prove myself?!” His snake lips curve into a smile. “Fine!”

As Furuhata walks away, one of the floor tiles opens to reveal something in the floor...something that looks like—

“Furuhata-kun, MOVE!!” Terajima screams at the top of his lungs.

Furuhata looks confused, but out of fear darts away from his current position, just barely avoiding being impaled by several spears. The spears clatter to the floor, loud as a jet engine in the deathly silent room.

“Wh...wh...WHAT THE FUCK!?” Furuhata screams in terror. “You tried to fucking kill me!”

“You asked me to prove myself,” Monohebi says grimly. “So I did.”

“Holy shit,” Ichigohara whispers nervously, holding her gardening gloves to her mouth. “So this
is
real.”

Monohebi doesn’t look the least but regretful. “You never should have doubted me in the first place.”

For a few moments, the room is silent once more. Although this time, it isn’t because of the shock of the information...it’s the reality that we are truly in the situation Monohebi says were in.
We either kill another person to get out or we live here until we shrivel up and die...there is no third option.
It makes me want throw up.
I’ll probably never see my restaurant ever again...or my mom, or my dad, or my siblings...the emotional weight of it all makes me want to collapse on the floor and cry.
But I don’t, somehow.

Unsurprisingly, the one to break the silence is Domoto. “Earlier, you said you were watching us,” she recalls. “How?”

“I watch you through the cameras in every room, obviously,” Monohebi answers.

Wait, there are cameras in every single room!? I noticed the one in the room I woke up in, but I guess I didn’t see the others.
I look around the Cafeteria to see a camera, and sure enough there is one in one of the corners of the ceiling.

“Why the fuck are ya doin’ that!?” Komatsu yells at Monohebi.

Monohebi sighs. “Can you all stop with the obvious questions? They are quite irritating to answer...but I suppose I must. When a murder takes place, I have to be able to confirm who the culprit is to make sure the outcome is fair.”

“You said, ‘when’ a murder takes place,” Motoki notices. “Don’t you mean ‘if?’”

“No. I know what I said.” The snake slithers farther down the chandelier. “One of you will cave into murder. There is no doubt about it.”

“I guess we’ll have to prove you wrong,” Aozora says with a determined smile. “You’re not going to win.”

“Oh, I will,” Monohebi asserts.

Sashihara shakes his head and clenches his fists. “You won’t. Not if we break the cameras! That way you can’t see who the murderer is if something ever happens!”

“Yeah!” Yamaguchi shouts passionately. “Let’s rise up and destroy this snake’s view of the world! Let’s take our own freedom!”

Monohebi hisses loudly at them. “Calm down! I am still not done explaining. There are rules to this killing game, and destroying the property of this prison is one of them.”

“So?” Yamaguchi says, unfazed. “Rules are meant to be broken.”

Monohebi is not impressed by Yamaguchi’s rebellious nature. He sighs. “After what I just did with Furuhata, do I need to demonstrate what will happen and if one of you breaks the rules?”

Yamaguchi has no answer. Sashihara opens his mouth to say something, but closes it, defeated.

“Moving on from that pointless discussion, there is still one more thing which I must introduce to you all,” Monohebi says. As soon as he finishes his sentence, a part of the ceiling opens, dropping a bunch of electronic tablet devices all the way down to the floor, making a loud clatter in the process.

“What are these?” Motoki asks as she steps forward to get a better look at the tablets.

“And why did you drop them?” Carrasco says while nervously biting her nail. “Shouldn’t they all be broken now?”

Motoki picks one up from the pile and looks at it closely. “They seem to be unharmed by the fall,” she observes.

Monohebi chuckles. “Sususu...of course they are. Those e-Handbooks are virtually indestructible.”

“E-Handbook?” repeats Aozora. “What does that mean?”

“Is it, like, a replacement for our phones?” Hayasaka asks as she moves toward the pile. “Because Mika-chan, like, really needs to update her social media pages.”

“It is nothing of the sort. E-Handbooks are made so that contact with the outside world is impossible.” Monohebi narrows his eyes at all of us. “So do not even bother trying.”

Niizuma goes over to the pile and picks up one of the e-Handbooks. “And what might those features be?” she asks as she turns it on. “Yutaka Komatsu.”

“Huh?” Komatsu says, surprised. “What’d ya say my name for?”

Niizuma turns the screen of the e-Handbook in his direction. “It says your name on it. So I’m guessing it’s yours.”

“Indeed it is,” Monohebi affirms as Komatsu takes his e-Handbook from Niizuma. “That is the first feature of the e-Handbooks: each one is specifically made for a student here. So, if you all would find your own e-Handbooks, I shall explain the rest of their functions.”

We all go over to the pile...with the exception of Yamaguchi. “Why should we take those devices from you?” he asks defiantly. “They could easily be surveillance devices...or maybe bombs in disguise!”

“Making them bombs in disguise is something you would do, Yamaguchi,” Monohebi says amusedly. “They are not either of those things. What reason would I have to make them surveillance devices, anyway? I already have cameras doing that for me.”

Yamaguchi opens his mouth to say something, but Furuhata cuts him short. “You’re wasting our time, dickwad,” he snaps. “Listen to the snake or you’ll cause more trouble than need be.”

Yamaguchi shakes in anger. “Like I’d take orders from a bourgeois, wine-sniffing scum such as y—“

“Yamaguchi-kun!” I call out. He stops.

“What is it, Kawashima-sama?”

“Please, just get your e-Handbook,” I say gently. “This isn’t about being bourgeois or part of the people right now. It’s just about living.”

Yamaguchi relents, although I can tell he still isn’t too sure. “I don’t trust these e-Handbooks, but for a servant of the people such as yourself...I will do it, Kawashima-sama.”

I nod as he finally goes to get his e-Handbook. I take the one that must be mine from Aozora and turn it on. The words “Wakana Kawashima” flash across the screen, and then fade to reveal an options screen.

“Oh, it’s like a select screen on, um, a game’s opening menu,” Eguchi comments. “But what do all the, um, options mean?”

“I suppose I should explain the rest of the e-Handbooks’ wonderful features now,” Monohebi says. “Firstly, there is an option for a ‘Map,’ which, once clicked, will allow you to see all the areas of the prison you may access at this point.”

I click on the map and, sure enough, I see a map of the floor of the prison I’m on currently. The cafeteria is in the center, with a red arrow declaring “You are here!” flashing above it. Beneath the Cafeteria is a bunch of miscellaneous hallways and rooms that seem to include the one I woke up in. Above the cafeteria and to the right is a room labeled “Kitchen.” That must be
what the door in the back right corner of the room leads to.
Above and to the left of the cafeteria is a room labeled “Storage Room,” but its entrance seems to be in the room above both the Kitchen and Storage Room, which is labelled “Cell Block A.” Based on what Aozora-kun said earlier, that’s probably where the dorms are.
Connecting the Cafeteria and Cell Block A and splitting the Kitchen and Storage Room is a hallway, which is probably where the double doors in the center back wall of the Cafeteria go to.

“This map would have been a lot more helpful when we were looking for Kawashima-san,” Aozora muses.

Monohebi shrugs. “I had to wait until all students were present to give out the e-Handbooks. I did not want to have to explain any of this twice.”

“Then get on with it,” Furuhata says loudly. “I’m starting to get bored already...I might even fall asleep.”

Eguchi looks at him worriedly. “Really? But didn’t you just almost get, um, killed?”

Furuhata waves his hand dismissively. “That got my adrenaline pumping for a moment, but I’m bored now.”

Monohebi narrows its eyes at him. “I could very easily get that adrenaline pumping again, so sit up and listen.”

“Fine, fine.” Furuhata yawns. “But please, hurry up.”

Monohebi mutters to himself before starting to read off the e-Handbook features again. “Now, let us continue. If you look directly beneath the ‘Map’ option, you will see a ‘Profiles’ option. Once clicked, this option will allow you to view the heights, weights, and general profiles of all your fellow inmates here.”

“Why?” Kasparov asks. “Is that information truly necessary?”

Monohebi smiles slightly. “If you want to make a clever murder plan, of course it is.”

When he says that, a feeling of coldness trickles down my spine. I had almost forgotten we were in his killing game for a moment there...

“Last, but certainly not least, we have the rules tab,” Monohebi continues. “Here you will find all the rules of this killing game. Please read them thoroughly, as any breaking of these rules will be met with swift and unforgiving punishment.”

“P-Punishment?” Oyamada repeats apprehensively as he hugs a book to himself, “What does that mean?”

“Execution,” Monohebi answers without hesitation. “Most likely via the spears that almost killed Furuhata-kun.”

Ichigohara chuckles nervously. “Well, I guess we should start readin' 'em, haha...”

Her laughter is met with a dead silence. Her smile fading off her face, she looks down at her e-Handbook to read the rules. I do the same.

I click on the “Rules” option and am met with a list of statements in annoyingly small font. I have to squint, but eventually I can read the following:

“Rule 1: All inmates must reside in the Monohebi Correctional Facility for the duration of the Killing Game.

Rule 2: Inmates may only sleep in their personally assigned cells. Sleeping in any other location is strictly prohibited.

Rule 3: Violence against Warden Monohebi, as well as violence against other inmates without intent to murder, is not permitted.

Rule 4: “Nighttime” is from 10 pm to 7 am. Running water in the rooms cannot be used during this period. The Storage Room and Kitchen also will be off-limits during nighttime.

Rule 5: Any inmate who kills another student and becomes the “blackened” will graduate, as long as they are not discovered.

Rule 6: A single blackened may only kill a maximum of two people.

Rule 7: Shortly after a murder takes place, there will be a short investigation period. After this, a class trial to determine the culprit will commence. Participation is mandatory for all surviving inmates.

Rule 8: Inmates are to be responsible with their e-Handbooks. Loss of an e-Handbook will result in punishment.

Rule 9: E-Handbooks may not be willingly lent to another inmate.

Rule 10: Inmates may not damage any property of the Monohebi Correctional Facility. Doing so will result in punishment.

Rule 11: Additional regulations may be added by Warden Monohebi if necessary.”

Well, that was a lot...and some of those rules seem pretty odd to me. Especially the one that mentioned—

“What the fuck is a ‘class trial?’” Komatsu asks confusedly. Hey, that’s the one I was curious about too...

Monohebi snickers. “Sususu...you all will know soon enough.”

Monohebi laughs and laughs...mocking us, enjoying our suffering as the reality of this terrible situation sets in...but I still have one lingering question.

“Why?” I ask the laughing snake. “Why would you make us do this?”

Monohebi stops laughing. His red, jagged eye glints. “Despair. Because there is nothing that gives me greater joy than seeing break people their vows to never kill and descend into the abyss of despair. Because I thrive of your collective suffering. And...because it is so very fun,” Monohebi responds with cold delight. He begins to ascend up the chandelier, to the hole in the ceiling he slithered out from.

“You won’t win,” Sashihara says with confidence. “We won’t break!”

“Yeah,” I agree, “We’re not going to kill each other!”

Monohebi turns his head, his red eye glinting. “I hope you remember those words when the first body is discovered.”

With that he slithers through the hole in the ceiling, leaving us to digest his last words.

“Ugh,” Hayasaka groans, throwing her e-Handbook to the floor. “What the fuck is wrong with that snake?!”

“Lots of things, apparently,” Terajima says with a sigh.

“Hayasaka-san, you should, um, pick up your e-Handbook...” Eguchi says while avoiding contact with the internet star.

Hayasaka’s face contorts with anger. “Hell to the fuck no! Mika-chan isn’t taking anything from that monochrome snake!” She narrows her eyes. “And...and...” She slips back into her cutesy personality, although she’s obviously mad, “and Mika-chan is definitely
not, like, taking advice from a...from an introvert girl with, like, no fashion sense!”

Ichigohara winces. “Hey, that was pretty rude...”

Eguchi stares at her feet miserably. “She’s right, though...I shouldn’t have, um, said anything at all...”

“No, you were right, Eguchi-san,” Aozora reassures her with a smile. He turns to Hayasaka. “Hayasaka-san, I would recommend picking up your e-Handbook...there was rule saying losing an e-Handbook would result in punishment, and, well...” he chuckles nervously. “I don’t think anyone wants to be punished.”

Hayasaka grumbles to herself as picks up the e-Handbook.

“What do we now?” Motoki wonders out loud.

Furuhata yawns loudly. “I say we all get to bed. Sleep on it. Then decide what to do.”

“I agree with that,” Terajima adds. “We’ll have clearer heads in the morning.”

“What time should we meet at?” asks Niizuma.

“I think 7:30 would work well,” Motoki suggests.

“7:30 it is, then.” Domoto closes her eye and opens her mouth to say something else when she’s interrupted.

“Wait, aren’t we going to fight back!?” Yamaguchi yells. “We can’t just let the snake rob of us of our freedom like this! We must rise up!”

“That would just get us all in even more danger than we already are,” Kasparov says firmly. “Besides, I am confident that someone will come to rescue us. There is no way the sudden abduction and imprisonment of New Hope’s Peak students will not cause a national rescue mission.”

“But what if this isn’t an abduction?” Furuhata asks. “The administrators of New Hope’s Peak could be dirty criminals, for all we know.”

That’s ironic, coming from someone whose talent is illegal for someone his age...

Motoki frowns. “I doubt that’s what’s happening.”

Kasparov strokes his chin. “It is a possibility, however.”

“Not a very likely one, in my professional opinion,” Niizuma says. “And, as the Ultimate Statistician, I think I have a good idea of what is likely and what is not.”

“I-If you’re s-so good at assessing the l-likelihood of things...do you th-think w-we’ll be rescued?” Oyamada asks, hugging a book close to his chest. “Because I c-can’t imagine just s-staying here for the rest of m-my life...there’s n-no library here...I c-could n-never make it.”

“Well, you may have to live without one,” Niizuma says. “Because as much as I hope we are rescued as quickly as is possible, I would not bet on it.”

Oyamada hugs his book even more tightly. “S-So...are we just g-going to...t-to go along w-with everything then?”

Carrasco frowns. “Desafortunadamente...creo que sí. I don’t like it, but following Monohebi’s rules seems to be the only reasonable option if rescue does not come.”

“Fortunately, we do not necessarily have to kill each other,” Motoki says with an attempt at calming us, but I can still feel fear somewhere in her voice. “We can live in peace if we choose.”

“Stupid snake,” Sashihara mutters as he agrees with Motoki. “Does he really think we’ll kill each other?”

“I’m sure he does,” Domoto responds. “And as much as it sucks to hear it...he’s probably right.”

Ichigohara stares at Domoto. “Do you really think that’s true?” The gardener asks as she fiddles wth her gloves nervously. “I’m sure we all can get along if we try.”

“I disagree.” Domoto says flatly. “You can all live in a delusion of peace if you want. I won’t partake.” She turns on heel and marches to the doors leading to Cell Block A.

Kasparov nods his head. “She is correct. We cannot expect something like peace in a killing game.” He leaves too.

His and Domoto’s words leave a sense of intense suspicion hang in the air. We all stare at each other, wondering...who will do it? Who will break first? I know it won’t be me...but how can I be certain everyone else feels the same? How do I know one of them isn’t plotting my death right now?

The silence left in the wake of the exits of Domoto and Kasparov is interrupted by a monitor in the corner of the room crackling to life. I guess those things, like the cameras, are everywhere in this stupid place.

The screen of the monitor displays Monohebi curled in an elaborate chair, slipping a cocktail out of a straw. “Ahem. Attention all inmates of the Monohebi Correctional Facility. It is now 10 pm, which means nighttime has officially begun. Sweet dreams...”

The monitor screen goes black as soon as there announcement is over.

“So I guess we should be getting to bed,” Niizuma suggests as she eyes the double doors leading to Cell Block A.

Terajima nods. “That probably would be the best course of action.”

“Finally,” Furuhata says with an exaggerated yawn. “I need my beauty sleep.” He walks away, with Niizuma following close behind.

“Same,” Hayasaka says sadly. “If Mika-chan is going to be trapped in this dirty prison, she might as well look good...” She leaves too, twirling her hair sadly.

“I guess this is, um, goodnight,” Eguchi says, her eyes darting about nervously.

“Yep,” Ichigohara affirms with a tiny nod. Her and Eguchi shuffle out of the Cafeteria.

“Entonces...buenas noches,” Carrasco tells those of us remaining. “Sleep well.”

“I’ll p-probably be reading for a little while, b-but thanks a-anyway, Carrasco-san,” Oyamada says.

“De nada,” She answers as she and Oyamada leave together.

“I might as well get to sleep too,” Terajima muses as he walks toward the

“You should! A good night’s sleep is a simple yet effective way to recharge your body!” Sashihara yells as he follows Terajima. How is he still so energetic this late at night?

“I’m tired as hell, now that I think about it,” Komatsu says with a yawn. “See ya in the mornin'.” He leaves.

“I’ll head to bed, too,” Motoki says after standing for a while.

Yamaguchi just stands there silently as Motoki leaves, clenching his fist until he exits without a word, leaving just Aozora and I.

“Well...goodnight, Aozora-kun,” I say, feeling incredibly tired. I begin walking away, but he calls out.

“Kawashima-san!” he says loudly.

I turn around. “What is it?”

He stands still for a second, as if he has difficulty saying what he’s about to say. “Promise...Promise me you won’t kill someone,” Aozora pleads. “Please.”

Well, this is unexpected...but I know what I have to say.
“I won’t kill anyone,” I tell him. And I mean it. It’s not an empty greeting or courtesy thrown at a customer. It’s true, genuine. “I promise you that, Aozora-kun.”

He smiles. “Good,” he says, nodding. “Good. Now let’s get to bed.”

He doesn’t need to say that twice. We walk through the double doors leading to Cell Block A and go down the small hallway to see a line of 16 “cells,” which are just doors with metal bars in front of them, in a row. I find my cell all the way at the right end of the drab, cold hallway.

“Goodnight, Aozora-kun,” I tell him as he goes to his room, which is only two away from mine.

“Goodnight, Kawashima-san,” Aozora says back. He pushes the sliding metal bars to the side to open his door. I do the same and use the e-Handbook to open the door to find a room that looks more like an upscale hotel than a prison. The king-size bed, soft carpet, a nightstand with a small lamp on it, an adjoining tiled bathroom, and walls painted a pleasant color...yeah, this isn’t anything like a prison cell.
I flop on the bed, marveling at how soft and comfortable it is. But even so...it doesn’t have the sense of home to it. Even as I lie on the bed, slowly drifting off into sleep...I know that as long I stay here, I will never be at home.

Which means...as long as we live in peace...we will never be at home.

No matter how hard we try, we’ll never be truly happy. We’ll never truly be at peace for as long as we’re living peacefully. Not unless...

No, I tell myself forcefully, trying to swallow my doubts. No one’s going to die. We’re going to prove Monohebi wrong!

But...what if we can’t?
I try to push the thought away, but it won’t leave. No matter how hard I try, the doubt...it’s always there.

Prologue: A Life Sentence and a Death Sentence
END
Niizuma, Terajima, Hayasaka, Furuhata, Komatsu, Oyamada, Aozora, Kawashima, Domoto, Kasparov, Ichigohara, Sashihara, Motoki, Eguchi, Yamaguchi, Carrasco
Inmates Remaining: 16

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Ultimate Flamenco Performer (超高校級のフラメンコの演奏者, Chōkōkōkyū no furamenko no ensōsha, literally Super High School Level Flamenco Performer) (F)

Name: Mayumi Carrasco (カッラスコ 雅弓, Karrasuko Mayumi)

Likes: Heat, fans

Dislikes: Cold, rain

Chest: 76 cm (29.9”)

Height: 167 cm (5’5”)

Birthday: August 7th

Eye Color: Light Brown

A vibrant, half-Japanese young woman from Sevilla. She dances the traditional Spanish dance Flamenco with passion, fervor, and technique unheard of anyone else her age. She is dramatic and believes Flamenco to be away to express her emotions and acts through dance. She is quite considerate and likes to let everyone do their own thing, as long as it is not to the detriment of other people.

Carrasco wears an elaborate traditional Flamenco dress that is red with black polka dots. Her straight black hair is put in a tight bun behind her head, and is decorated with several large, red fabric flowers.

Ultimate Chess Grandmaster (超高校級のチェスマスター, Chōkōkōkyū no chesu masutā, lit. Super High School Level Chess Master) (M)

Name:
Сергей Павлович Каспаров,
Sergey Pavlovich Kasparov (セルゲイ・パブロビッチ・カスパロフ, Serugei Paburobicchi Kasuparofu)

Likes: Chess, snow, and dogs

Dislikes: Stupid people, indecisiveness, and warm weather

Chest: 91 cm (35.8”)

Height: 188 cm (6’2”)

Birthday: December 22nd

Eye Color: Green

A famous young man who is renowned for his extraordinary skill at the game of chess and his status as a chess grandmaster. He is a decisive and quick thinker and dislikes those who do not have any plans for their lives. He can seem cold and distant at times but does have a somewhat more compassionate side, especially towards dogs.

Kasparov wears a suit with a
dark grey and cream white checkered tie to represent a chessboard. His suit jacket is dark grey, while his pants are cream white, a fashion choice that disgusts Hayasaka. His short hair is light brown.

Ultimate Game Developer (超高校級のゲーム開発者, Chōkōkōkyū no gēmu kaihatsu-sha, lit. Super High School Level Game Developer)
(F)

Name: Yuzuki Eguchi (江口 柚希, Eguchi Yuzuki)

Likes: Video games, programming, and talking about her interests

Dislikes: Board games, television, and being silent

Chest: 75 cm (29.5”)

Height: 159 cm (5’2”)

Birthday: October 3rd

Eye Color: Dark Green

An energetic and thoughtful girl with a passion for making indie video games. She has created a total of 17 critically acclaimed horror games, puzzle games, RPG’s, and visual novels, and always at high quality. Eguchi loves to talk about the things she loves in hopes others will enjoy them too, often making comments about what people’s roles would be in a game.

Eguchi wears a Tetris t-shirt beneath a blue denim jacket. She also wears black jeans and barely laced Converse shoes. Her hair is long, waist length, decorated with game controller hairpins, and dyed dark green. She also wears glasses.

Ultimate Linguist (超高校級の言語学者, Chōkōkōkyū no gengo gakusha, lit. Super High School Level Linguist)

Name: Sakiko Motoki (誠記 咲子, Motoki Sakiko)

Likes: Communication, being with others

Dislikes: Being alone, being ignored

Chest: 81 cm (31.8”)

Height: 170 cm (5’6”)

Birthday: August 15th

Eye Color: Dark Brown

An expressive, free-spirited girl who believes language and communication are the most important things in life. She is an expert in her field of study and loves to study the way people craft and shape language. She is usually extroverted and tries to be amiable and calm, although gets frustrated when people don’t want to talk.

Representing the many places she has visited and the languages she’s studied, Motoki wears a multicolored poncho. In addition, she wears many bracelets on both arms She wears dirtied jeans under this. Motoki has short but bright hair dyed light blue as well.

Ultimate Revolutionary (超高校級の革命家, Chōkōkōkyū no kakumei-ka, lit. Super High School Level Revolutionary) (M)

Name: Yoshi Yamaguchi (山口 義, Yamaguchi Yoshi)

Likes: The people, dismantling oppression

Dislikes: The bourgeoisie, ignorance of politics

Chest: 82 cm (32.2”)

Height: 190 cm (6’2”)

Birthday: May 1st

Eye Color: Blue

Yoshi Yamaguchi is a passionate advocate for the people and works to overthrow existing societal structures he sees as oppressive at every opportunity. Most famous for overthrowing the corrupt leadership of his town, he is known for being a harsh critic of current society. He completely despises those he sees as members of the bourgeois class and works to interfere with their affairs. Others find him at best to be well-intentioned, and at worst to be self-righteous.

Notes: Refers to those he sees as “the people” (such as Kawashima) by their full name followed by “-sama”. Refers to everyone else, who he considers to be “bourgeois” people, by just their surname, no honorifics.

Yamaguchi wears a green military uniform that has innumerable stains, small tears from battles with the state, and overall is very dirty. He wears a black beret with a red star in the center, perched atop his unruly black hair. He wears combat boots as well.

Ultimate Astrophysicist (超高校級の天体物理学者, Chōkōkōkyū no tentaibutsurigakusha, lit. Super High School Level Astrophysicist) (M)

Name: Michio Aozora (青空 道夫, Aozora Michio)

Likes: Success, logic, stargazing

Dislikes: Failure, superstition

Chest: 72 cm (28.3”)

Height: 178 cm (5’10”)

Birthday: March 11th

Eye Color: Indigo

An extremely intelligent boy aiming to be one of the youngest astrophysicists in the world. He is logical and thoughtful, yet surprisingly amiable and sociable as well. Aozora also enjoys spreading his knowledge with everyone around in order to make the world a more enlightened place. He can be overbearing and even condescending at times but never means any harm.

Aozora wears indigo jeans and a purple t-shirt with an atom decal on it. He also sports thick, round glasses. He wears casual white sneakers as well.

Ultimate Sommelier (超高校級のソムリエ, Chōkōkōkyū no somurie, lit. Super High School Level Sommelier) (M)

Name: Yuuto Furuhata (降旗 雄人, Furuhata Yūto)

Likes: Wine, fancy things

Dislikes: Beer, simple things

Chest: 69 cm (27.1”)

Height: 166 cm (5’5”)

Birthday: March 24th

Eye Color: Light Purple

A haughty, proud young man with a special taste for wine. Known as the Super High School Level Sommelier, he is an expert in all types of wines, and due to faking his age to attain his status, is involved in Japan’s criminal underworld. He is critical and sophisticated, and hates it when people bring up that he is under the drinking age.

Furuhata wears a wine red tuxedo with a cream bowtie the color of white wine. He wears several golden rings in his fingers in addition to an expensive golden watch on his right hand. He also wears dark green dress shoes that match his short hair.

Ultimate Gardener (超高校級の園芸家, Chōkōkōkyū no engei-ka, lit. Super High School Level Gardener*) (F)

Name: Noriyo Ichigohara (苺原 法代, Ichigohara Noriyo)

Likes: Flowers, nature, vaporwave, and relaxation

Dislikes: Pesticides, artificial things, and judgmental people

Chest: 78 cm (30.7”)

Height: 165 cm (5’4”)

Birthday: May 14th

Eye Color: Green

A young woman famous for curating a large, beautiful garden, Ichigohara is a slow-paced, eternally laid back girl who likes to relax. Ichigohara usually just plants her plants and lets them grow as they will, only taming when necessary, due to her having a “live and let live” attitude and commitment to not judging others (like was when she was a kid). She is also an ardent environmentalist and vegan and is only riled up when these subjects are mentioned.

Ichigohara wears denim overalls stained by grass and dirt on top of a worn white shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Her unkempt hair is dyed a greenish-brown and is always down. She wears gardening gloves and boots that both have clearly been used extensively.

*Note: the kanji in Ichigohara’s talent, 園芸家, mean a gardener not in the professional sense but one who does it as a hobby.

Ultimate Composer (超高校級の作曲家, Chōkōkōkyū no sakkyokka, lit. Super High School Level Composer) (M)

Name: Yutaka Komatsu (小松 穣, Komatsu Yutaka)

Likes: Beautiful music, doing his own thing, junk food

Dislikes: Writing essays, healthy food, being forced to do things

Chest: 80 cm (32.5”)

Height: 180 cm (5’10”)

Birthday: April 8th

Eye Color: Yellow

A prodigy and extremely talented composer who applies his gifts at making music to making movie and tv scores, pop songs, video game music, and most prominently what he calls modern symphonies. However, he has an image of being rough and uncouth that is completely different from what would be expected of such a talented young composer. His love for junk food causes him to chafe with Sashihara. Komatsu curses frequently and speaks very informally.

Komatsu wears a ripped black leather coat over a
messy red and green t-shirt. He also wears a red belt with gold studs on black pants and white shoes. His red-dyed hair is combed to the right.

Ultimate Bodyguard (超高校級のボディ－ガ－ド, Chōkōkōkyū no bodīgādo,

lit. Super High School Level Bodyguard) (M)

Name: Eisuke Terajima (寺嶋 英輔, Terajima Eisuke)

Likes: Sunglasses, suits

Dislikes: Casual clothing, sweatpants

Chest: 106 cm (41.7”)

Height: 200 cm (6’6”)

Birthday: January 6th

Eye Color: ??? (He never takes off his sunglasses)

A famed bodyguard who is known to protect famous celebrities, politicians, and their families. Terajima is a careful and observant, knowing where everyone is in a given room and what time it is at all times. He is for the most part unemotional and stoic, even in the face of danger.

Terajima wears an expensive black tailor-made suit with matching pants and impeccably polished dress shoes at all times, along with an expensive wristwatch. He also has an earpiece in his ear that would normally allow him to contact employers or those who he is protecting. He also wears dark sunglasses, so his eyes can almost never be seen. He is bald.

Ultimate Statistician (超高校級の統計学者, Chōkōkōkyū no tōkeigakusha, lit. Super High School Level Statistician) (F)

Name: Tomiko Niizuma (新妻 富子, Niidzuma Tomiko)

Likes: Makeup, wealth, and attention to detail

Dislikes: Sloppily made things, poverty, and slacking off

Chest: 86 cm (33.8”)

Height: 177 cm (5’9”)

Birthday: February 19th

Eye Color: Purple

A calm, collected young woman who is incredibly skilled in the field of statistics. She works for several global companies and assists them with their statistical needs. She also has a hobby for the art applying makeup. Niizuma is patient, quiet, and reserved, but lashes out whenever she sees people being lazy or not working their hardest. She’s a workaholic and criticizes those she sees as unmotivated or lazy. Niizuma also despises losing.

Niizuma wears a small, half-length red sweater over a silk grey blouse with a maroon floral pattern. Matching maroon flare pants with the same floral pattern, this time in gray, go down to her ankles. She wears red, expensive, and designer-made high-heel shoes. She also has an expensive necklace. Her hair is mostly grey with a hint of purple. She wears vibrant red lipstick on her face. Her nails and makeup are at all times perfectly put together.

Ultimate Social Media Star (超高校級のエスエヌエスのスター, Chōkōkōkyū no SNS no sutā, lit. Super High School Level Social Networks Star) (F)

Name: Mika Hayasaka (早坂 美香, Hayasaka Mika)

Likes: Fashion, selfies, and mirrors

Dislikes: Out-of-style clothing, dirty places

Chest: 92 cm (36.2”)

Height: 168 cm (5’6”)

Birthday: September 6th

Eye Color: Light Blue

A famous internet star who gained massive popularity on various social media sites, Hayasaka is a lover of fashion. She loves glitz and glamour, and hates the dirty drabness of the prison she is confined in. Although she puts on a “cute” personality most of the time, underneath it she is selfish, cold, judgmental, passive-aggressive, and rude.

Notes: She refers to herself in the third person as “Mika-chan.” She also refers to everyone by their first names followed by honorifics.

Hayasaka wears a typical schoolgirl outfit, except every aspect of it is vibrantly hot pink except for the tie and buttons, which are a pastel yellow. Her long hair is dyed blonde and put into pigtails.

Ultimate Toy Maker (超高校級の玩具製作者, Chōkōkōkyū no omocha seisaku-sha, lit. Super High School Level Toy Creator) (F)

Name: Otoha Domoto (堂本 音羽, Dōmoto Otoha)

Likes: Toys, planning, loyalty, truth, and realism

Dislikes: Disloyalty, unrealistic expectations, lies, and optimism

Chest: 74 cm (29.1”)

Height: 152 cm (4’11”)

Birthday: November 12th

Eye Color: Pink

A young woman renowned for her skill at making excellent toys loved by children. She got her skill from making toys in order to provide for her younger sister, who was often sick. She is crafty, pragmatic, intelligent, likes to plan ahead, and deadpan when irritated. Disliking disloyalty, she chastises those she sees as shifty and hypocritical. Domoto hates liars and always tells the truth, even if it is harsh or blunt. She’s the main rival for Kawashima along with Kasparov.

Domoto wears a sweater made of white crocheted fabric over a light pink blouse with white lace on the ends of the sleeves. Her skirt is knee-length and is light blue with a white lace hem. Her dark brown hair is put up in a neat bun.

Ultimate Librarian (超高校級の図書館員, Chōkōkōkyū no toshokan-in, lit. super High School Level Librarian) (M)

Name: Osamu Oyamada (小山田 紀, Oyamada Osamu)

Likes: Books, quiet, and rain

Dislikes: Technology, loud places, and crowds

Chest: 68 cm (26.8”)

Height: 163 cm (5’4”)

Birthday: June 1st

Eye Color: Orange

The curator of what is often described as the best public library in all of Japan. A lover of books and literature, Oyamada is shy and introverted. Preferring to spend his time reading, he doesn’t make friends easily, but those he does make he has a deep emotional bond to. He likes to make obscure literary references sometimes.

Oyamada wears a long-sleeved white turtleneck sweater over baggy grey pants and comfortable slippers.
Oyamada also wears a backpack in which he carries around all the books he’s currently reading.
Due to his habit of reading these books late in the night, Oyamada has dark bags under his eyes behind his gold-rimmed rectangular glasses. Because he is introvert and rarely goes outside, he is very pale, even more so than Kasparov. He has unkempt orangish hair.

Ultimate Fitness Trainer (超高校級のトレーナー, Chōkōkōkyū no torēnā, lit. Super High School Level Trainer) (M)

Name: Hisaya Sashihara (指原 久弥, Sashihara Hisaya)

Likes: Healthy food, exercise, nutrition

Dislikes: Junk food, couch potatoes, disease

Chest: 97 cm (38.1”)

Height: 196 cm (6’5”)

Birthday: July 30th

Eye Color: Red

Sashihara is an extremely energetic fitness trainer always ready to exercise and get moving. He is obsessive about health, and constantly wears latex gloves and a surgical mask to prevent infection. He passionately advocates health (because as a child he was prone to having diseases, and doesn’t want anyone else to go through that). Due to this passion, he can come across as overbearing, but his intentions are always good.

Sashihara wears athletic gear, including a blue sleeveless nylon workout shirt. He wears single-ply white running shorts as well and uses worn blue sneakers as shoes. His black hair is styled up into a man bun. Most notably, Sashihara wears a medical face mask and latex gloves constantly due to his obsession with health. He is visibly fit and muscled, but not as tall nor as wide as Terajima.

Ultimate Waitress (超高校級のウェイトレス, Chōkōkōkyū no ueitoresu, lit. Super High School Level Waitress) (F) (Protagonist)

Name: Wakana Kawashima (川島 和奏, Kawashima Wakana)

Likes: Helping others, family

Dislikes: Selfishness, rude people

Chest: 89 cm (35.0”)

Height: 176 cm (5’9”)

Birthday: April 24th

Eye Color: Brown

A waitress at a local restaurant, Kawashima has gained popularity for her excellent service and upbeat attitude. With an excellent memory and incredible skills at balancing, Kawashima deserves her title as the Super High School Level Waitress, even if she doesn’t like to admit it to herself. She tries her hardest to believe in her friends, even when they don’t believe in her, but it doesn’t always work out for her. She often attempts to disguise her negative feelings under a false smile so that others around her will feel better.

Kawashima wears her hair up in a tight bun and wears black non-slip shoes, a comfortable, colorful shirt decorated with the logo of the restaurant she works at on the back, matching pants, and a black apron that holds straws, pens, and a few yen.

Mascot

Name: Monohebi (モノヘビ, Monosnake)

Likes: Despair, Pain

Dislikes: Hope, Pleasant things

A shrewd, calculating figure, Monohebi is different from Monokuma in that he is much more serious and quiet. Monohebi is sadistic and loves to see his inmates in pain. He also laughs like “Sususu.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 1: Law & Disorder
Daily Life

“Good morning, inmates. It is now 7 am, which means nighttime has officially concluded. Enjoy another day of confinement.”

I wake up, barely conscious, to the monitor in my room broadcasting an image of Monohebi curled in an elaborate chair, giving that announcement.
What a wonderful way to wake up...

The announcement ends, and I want nothing more than to wrap myself in blankets and fall back asleep, but I know I can’t. We agreed to meet at 7:30...and I know myself. If I go back to bed now, I’m not waking up again for at least a few hours.

Sighing heavily, I sit up in bed, still not fully ready to get ready for the day.
So I guess what happened yesterday wasn’t a dream, like some part of me had been hoping.

Still feeling tired, I force myself to take a shower in the bathroom. It’s admittedly a nice bathroom but it still, like the rest of the room, doesn’t really feel homey. At first I thought it was weird that the dorm rooms were called “Cell Block A” but didn’t look like cells at all...but I guess they don’t need to be decorated like a cell to feel like one.

Feeling as refreshed as I could in a situation such as this, I get out of the shower, finish getting ready, and head out to the Cafeteria. When I get there, I see that Domoto, Kasparov, Terajima, Motoki, Sashihara, Aozora, Niizuma, and Oyamada are already there.

“Good morning, everyone,” I say with my standard waitress’s smile.

Everyone offers back the same cordial greeting except one person.

“You’re exactly on time,” Domoto says instead of returning the greeting.

I look at the clock to confirm, and sure enough, it’s 7:30. “Well, would you look at that.”

“You’re very punctual,” Aozora observes.

Motoki smiles knowingly. “That’s probably to be expected of the Ultimate Waitress. She needs to be on time for her shifts.”

She has no idea how true that is...”Yeah, you got that right. If I showed up late even once, I’d probably get fired.”

“Whoa...th-that’s p-pretty harsh,” Oyamada comments meekly.

“Yet completely justified,” Niizuma says suddenly. “People can’t just expect to show up late and be treated the same. Lazy people shouldn’t be valued as much as those who work hard to get where they are.”

Aozora frowns. “Niizuma-san, I think you may be a bit too harsh...”

She obviously disagrees, but says nothing. Instead, she looks at her perfect nails. “Whatever.”

Kasparov is about to say something, but is interrupted by the sudden entrance of Komatsu and Hayasaka.

“Like, hi everyone~!!!” Hayasaka greets us all with a forced smile and twin peace signs.

“Hey,” Komatsu says in a much less enthusiastic but much more genuine greeting. “I’m guessin’ none of ya slept to well either.”

“You guessed incorrectly!” Sashihara shouts. “I always sleep well!”

“Good for ya,” Komatsu says tiredly. “I didn’t sleep a wink, so ya really don’t need to rub it in.”

Sashihara shakes his head. “But that’s not how it should be! Even in worst of conditions, I’ve trained my body to sleep on a perfect schedule! Go to bed at 10:15 pm and wake up at 6:15 am!”

“6:15?!” Ichigohara says in surprise from the door. She walks over shaking her head. “Ha, I couldn’t wake up that early even if I tried. I always sleep in as late as I can.”

“Not today, apparently,” Kasparov notices. “I would not exactly describe waking at 7:30 am to be sleeping in.”

Ichigohara scrathes her back with a sigh. “Yeah, well I couldn’t sleep too good last night, and I wanted to attend the meeting.” She shrugs. “But it’s no big deal. I just gotta go with the flow, you feel me? Let life and nature take their course.”

Domoto arches her eyebrow. “Even in the midst of a killing game?”

“Yeah, especially in bad situations like this. If you get so down about life not giving what you want, you’ll end up miserable...so I don’t get to mad when some of my crops fail or my garden doesn’t turn out how I wanted it to. Sure, I’m a bit disappointed, but I learn to appreciate what nature and life decided to give me and roll with it.”

Wow, she’s even more easygoing than I initially thought...

“That’s an impressive life philosophy,” Terajima says with a small laugh. “Though not for everyone.”

“That is certainly true,” Niizuma says as she narrows her eyes at Ichigohara. “Just passively going with what life gives you...hmph. You’re not even strong enough to work to get what you want.”

Ichigohara looks at the statistician with a faltering smile. She scratches her back. “C’mon, Tomiko-chan, you don’t gotta be so rude and judgmental...can’t I live my life how I want?”

“Indeed you can,” Carrasco affirms as she enters. “I did not hear the full conversation, but I urge no one here to judge anyone else.” Carrasco steps forward and kisses Ichigohara on the cheek. She takes the Gardener’s hand in hers. “Do not fear, Señorita Ichigohara. Live your life by your own choices.”

Niizuma presses her lips together tightly, but does not respond.

“I should have said this earlier, but buenos días,” Carrasco says as she sits at an open seat at the table. “I hope you are all doing as well as you can for a situation such as this.”

“Thanks for the sentiments, Carrasco-san,” Aozora says with a warm smile.

She smiles back. “You are very welcome, Señor Aozora.”

“You say kind words, but they mean nothing,” Domoto says bluntly. “We are in a killing game. How could this possibly be a good morning?”

Carrasco frowns and fiddles with her fan. “Life is what you make of it, Señorita Domoto.” She dramatically opens her fan and poses. “I choose to cast the darkness the snake presented to us aside and instead welcome the radiant light of my own personal convictions.” Carrasco slips out of her pose and eyes Domoto. “As I urged Señorita Ichigohara to live how she pleases, I shall do the same with you: I will live here believing we will not kill. None of us. If you choose to believe otherwise, then...” she shrugs. “So be it.”

Kasparov shakes his head disapprovingly. “You are lying to yourself. If the one of us dies, you will only make things worse by stubbornly holding on to your misguided convictions.”

Carrasco looks ready to refute him, but Yamaguchi’s entrance, soon followed by Eguchi’s and Furuhata’s, stops whatever she was going to do.

“Good morning, comrades!” Yamaguchi yells. “I hope that you all were able to devise plans of rebellion last night as well!”

Eguchi pushes her glasses up her nose. “Um, I think that may have been just you, Yamaguchi-kun.”

Furuhata rolls his eyes and plops himself down at the table. “Ugh, will you stop it with that ‘rebellion’ nonsense already? It’s getting quite annoying.”

Yamaguchi looks at him disdainfully. “The opinions of bourgeois scum such as yourself do not matter to me.” He turns to me instead. “I would much rather hear what a servant of the people like Kawashima-sama thinks.”

Please don’t put me on the spot like that...also, stop yelling. I don’t say any of that, but I do shake my head. “I’m sorry, Yamaguchi-kun, but an open rebellion against Monohebi...doesn’t seem to be the best option.”

“Of course not,” Kasparov says exasperatedly. “Unless you want to be executed by the snake.”

Yamaguchi frowns. “That would be preferable to groveling before him.”

“Not getting yourself killed through a pointless rebellion is not ‘groveling,’” Aozora says gently. “It’s simply the smartest choice to make. Just because we don’t have to openly rebel doesn’t mean there are other options.”

“Like what?” asks Furuhata. “I’d sure like to know. It’d get me away from low class people like you and from...” he curls his lip in disgust as he looks at Yamaguchi. “And from him.”

Motoki
does not frown at Furuhata, but the look she gives him is certainly not a smile. “That rudeness was unnecessary...but I would like to know the same thing, Aozora-kun.” She turns to look at him. “So what is it that you think we should do?”

“We could try to escape,” Aozora answers.

“How?” asks Oyamada. “All the w-windows are blocked by iron p-plates...”

“And there are no, um, exits visible from what we’ve explored so far...” Eguchi adds.

“Then maybe a bit more exploring is warranted,” Domoto suggests. “Monohebi gave us a map, but I doubt it contains any exits. Which means we’ll have to do that ourselves.”

Kasparov nods. “That is a splendid idea. We can also use this exploration to confirm everything about the map is accurate.”

“Like, do we haaavvve to?” Hayasaka asks as she twirls her hair. “Mika-chan would much rather not do that.”

“Yes,” Domoto says firmly. “Unless you want to stay here for the rest of your life.”

Hayasaka grumbles. “Fine.”

There is a small pause, broken by Aozora. “We should probably split up into groups. That would allow us to cover more areas of this place and investigate them more in depth.”

“I agree with you on the idea, but who will be in what group?” Terajima asks. “And how many will there be?”

Furuhata snorts. “Hopefully none of them will include me. I don’t particularly enjoy hanging around with low-class, ignorant people.”

I don’t think anyone else wants you in their group, either.
“You’ll have to be in a group one way or another,” I say with firm politeness. “We all need to work together to escape.”

Furuhata does not seem convinced, just rolling eyes. “Whatever. If it means getting out of this shitty, low-class place, I’ll do it, I guess.” He gives Yamaguchi a side-eye. “But I’m not going to be with the revolutionary.”

Yamaguchi gives him a similarly cold stare. “I don’t want someone like you to be in my group, either.”

“Then you’ll be in groups investigating opposite sides of the building,” Domoto says sternly. “I can’t stand your bickering, and I don’t think anyone else can either.”

Niizuma nods but also still looks unsatisfied. “I definitely agree with you on that,” she says, “but what will the groups be? We still haven’t determined that yet.”

“I’m thinking we should have four groups of four,” Aozora says in response. “That way we can divide very evenly.”

Domoto nods in agreement. “How about myself, Yamaguchi-kun, Ichigohara-san, and Hayasaka-san are in one group and Aozora-kun, Furuhata-kun, Kawashima-san, and Eguchi-san are in another?” She pauses to think of other groups. “As for the other groups...I believe Kasparov-kun, Terajima-kun, Sashihara-kun, and Carrasco-san would work well in another group...leaving Niizuma-san, Komatsu-kun, Oyamada-kun, and Motoki-san in the last one.”

I can’t say I love Furuhata-kun being in my group...but other than that, I’m fine with what I got.

“These groups seem reasonable enough, but if I may ask, how did you come up with them, Domoto-san?” Terajima inquires.

“I spread all the level-minded people, who were the first name I listed for each group, out with the hot-headed ones to ensure each group could function as best as possible,” Domoto explains.

Kasparov nods in admiration. “A splendid choice, Domoto-san.”

“Thank you,” Domoto answers with little emotion. “Let’s now decide where each group will investigate. My group will go to the Storage Room, Kasparov-kun’s will go to the Kitchen, Niizuma-san’s will investigate all the ‘cells’ and Cafeteria, and Aozora-kun’s group will investigate the remainder of this place. We’ll meet up...” she looks at the clock, displaying the time as 8:15, “...10 hours from now, at 6:15. Get investigating, everyone.”

We all do as she says, some with more enthusiasm than others, and split up into our respective groups.

“So, um, I guess we’ll all be together...” Eguchi says as she wrings her hands nervously.

Aozora nods at her. “Indeed. We’ll be scouring the hallways and rooms beneath the Cafeteria on the map.”

“Of course my group gets the most work,” Furuhata grumbles. “Ugh. I hate dealing with low-class scum, but if it’ll get me out of here, then I guess I can put up with you guys for a little bit.”

The more I’m around him, the more I feel my hand urging to clench into a fist. “Can we just start investigating already?” I ask. “We have a lot to look at.”

“I agree,” Aozora says. “I say we start immediately.”

We investigate the hallways and rooms beneath the Cafeteria on the map, including the one I woke up in, for what seems like forever. Unfortunately, the
hallway with annoyingly frequent turns, three out-of-place classrooms, the empty room I awoke in, and the bathrooms don’t seem to contain extremely interesting.

“Is that an exit?!” Furuhata says with a level of excitement I haven’t heard from him before as we finally approach what looks like the end of the hallway.

“What?! Where is it?” Eguchi asks with surprise.

He curls his lip. “Your glasses are quite thick, so I really hope you’re not so blind to not have noticed the staircase at the end of this hallway.”

“Staircase?” Aozora repeats. “Where is it?”

I’m just as confused as Aozora is. I look around the hallway we’re in, which is last one we have to explore, but I don’t see much of anything. There’s a metal gate at the end of the hallway, like the ones they have in storage facilities, with a little sign next to it, but definitely no staircase. “I don’t see one, either,” I see after stepping closer to examine the gate.

Furuhata shakes his head with a condescending gaze. “Look next to the metal gate. There’s a sign there in braille. You know, the stuff blind people use to read?”

“...But, um...what does that have to do with stairs?” Eguchi asks uncertainly.

Furuhata rolls his eyes. “I can’t believe you’re all so ignorant. Even from here, I can tell that braille reads ‘Stairs.’ Meaning there is a way out of here, or at least off this floor.”

I look at him with surprise. “How do you know that?”

Furuhata ignores my gaze. “That’s unimportant. What matters is we have a potential exit.”

Aozora’s face lights up in hopeful determination. “Let’s try to open the gate, then!”

“Um, are you sure we should?” Eguchi says cautiously. She wrings her hands together and looks around nervously. “I mean...the rules say we can’t, um, damage prison property.”

“It’s only breaking the rules if we damage the gate itself,” I assure her, allowing myself to be filled with cautious optimism. “Besides, if we get out of here, the rules won’t matter anyway.”

“For once, I agree with a poor person,” Furuhata says.

Even when he’s on my side, he’s rude about it...

“Okay, I guess...” Eguchi agrees, although I can’t tell she’s still not completely sure.

Regardless, we all try to grab the sides of the gate and pull in up, but it doesn’t budge. Not a single bit. We try again...and again...and again...but still nothing happens.

“C’mon, let’s try again!” Aozora says, panting heavily.

Eguchi steps back. “This is useless...we can’t open the gate.”

“No, Eguchi-san, we have to keep going!” Aozora protests. “We have to keep trying until we can’t anymore!”

“But it’s pointless!” Eguchi says forcefully, clearly upset. “It’s like when you keep trying to fight a boss over and over when you’re not leveled up enough...it’s not worth the effort.”

Furuhata steps back from the door as well, wiping the sweat off his face with a silk handkerchief. “She’s right. I doubt someone even as strong as Terajima-kun or Sashihara-kun could open the gate.”

“Then why don’t we ask them both to do it?” Aozora counters, not ready to give up a chance at escape yet. “We need to explore every possible opportunity—“

“Aozora-kun,” I interrupt. “That gate...it didn’t even budge even with all four of us pulling on it at once. It’s probably bolted to the floor. Sashihara-kun and Terajima-kun are both strong, but even still...I doubt they could move that.” I sigh. “And I really doubt Monohebi would overlook such an obvious way to escape.”

“Sususu...how right you are,” says the snake from behind me.

“Gah!” Furuhata jumps. “Where the hell you’d come from?!”

Eguchi starts at the snake’s sudden appearance as well. “Um, do you have to appear so suddenly?”

“No, but I just had to respond to what Kawashima-san said,” Monohebi answers.

“That you wouldn’t look such an obvious escape route?” Aozora asks.

“Exactly,” Monohebi confirms with a sly grin. “Obtaining all 16 of you was no easy feat.” His grin disappears and hardens into a frown. “So, please, do not insult me and attempt to escape. I am always two steps ahead of your feeble minds. Every option for escape you could think of, I have already prevented.” His red eye glints. “You will participate in this killing game, like it or not, so stop worrying about irrelevant things such as escape and focus on murder.”

The snake disappears as suddenly as he came. Well, that was depressing to hear...

Eguchi scratches her chin with one arm and cups her elbow in the other, staring at the floor solemnly. “So there really is no way out...” She attempts to look at the rest of us, but can’t make eye contact. She raises her glasses and wipes her eyes, but she fails to get rid of her tears. “I’m sorry...I need to, um, be by myself.”

Eguchi walks away, crying softly. Furuhata looks after her, a bitter expression on his face. “Goddammit...” he says. “Fuck that snake.”

“It’s okay, Furuhata-kun,” Aozora says in an attempt to reassure him. “Remember, we don’t have to kill.”

“Oh, shut the fuck up, you poor piece of shit!” Furuhata lashes out. “Didn’t you hear the snake?! There’s no way out of here. Which means murder is our only way out!” He steps toward the astrophysicist in anger. “So how can you say we don’t have to kill?! Huh?”

He doesn’t wait for an answer. Instead, he stalks off, muttering angrily.

“Furuhata-kun,” I begin.

He stops suddenly and turns his head to glare at me. “Whatever you have to say, I don’t want to hear it.” He leaves.

What an asshole...

Aozora looks at the ground shamefully. “Dammit...I was trying to get my and everyone else’s hopes up, and then they get mercilessly crushed. I...failed.”

I want to say something positive in response, but I can’t think of anything that doesn’t sound cheesy or disingenuous. There really is no good way out of this situation, is there...but even still, I should at least try to make the best of it.

“You know, Aozora-kun,” I begin. He looks up at me, expecting me to continue. “Even if Furuhata-kun is right and a murder does happen, we just have to make sure we’re not the ones who do it.”

Aozora doesn’t seem too reassured, but lets out a mirthless laugh nonetheless. “Haha, I guess you’re right.” He gives me a strained smile. “Even if this situation sucks, I have to at least look positive so that everyone else will feel cheered up...we can’t fail them by being gloomy. I can’t fail...I won’t let myself...”

I’m not sure if that’s the best course of action, but I can’t think of anything much better.

He and I head back to the Cafeteria, figuring it’s probably close to 6:15. Unfortunately, we were a bit too late...

“It’s 6:28,” Domoto says crossly as soon as she sees us. “Why are you all late?” She looks behind us and then around the room, then narrows her eyes. “And where are Eguchi-san and Furuhata-kun?”

“They’re not here?” I ask in genuine surprise.
I guess they must have not been in the mood for this meeting after our encounter with Monohebi.

“No,” Domoto answers.

I frown. “But if they’re not here, then where are they?”

Motoki unexpectedly steps over to me, takes my hand in hers, and caresses it softly. “There’s no need to worry about where they are, Kawashima-san.”

I don’t really like how she grabbed my hand without asking...but she’s isnt doing it out of malice, so it should be okay...right?
I gently remove my hand from her grip. “Where did you see them?”

I can tell Motoki doesn’t like how I took my hand from hers, but she responds anyway. “My group got done investigating the Kitchen pretty quickly, so we had a lot of down time afterward. So, not too long before the meeting, I came out of the Kitchen to the Cafeteria and I saw Eguchi-san crying as she headed to Cell Block A...while Furuhata-kun followed soon after, although he looked more angry than anything else.”

“So, cutting out all the useless information, they are currently in their dormitory rooms,” Kasparov says. “Then why do we not simply force them to attend?”

Niizuma purses her lips as she observed her nails. “If they headed back to their rooms and skipped the meeting, then it’s their fault for missing all the information we’re about to share. They should be held accountable for their actions so they can learn from them.”

Ichigohara scratches her back with an uncertain smile. “I agree...but for a different reason. If they don’t come, it’s not a biggie, right? We can just adjust our plans and fill ‘em in tomorrow, can’t we?”

Carrasco nods. “Sí, ellos deben hacer lo que quieren con sus propias vidas. We must let them decide to do what they want with their lives, to choose their own paths and follow them.” She shrugs. “If they chose their rooms instead of this meeting...so be it.”

Terajima clears his throat. “Not to be rude...but I think we get the point. Let game girl and Furuhata-kun do what they want.” He adjusts his sunglasses. “But what concerns me most is why they aren’t attending.”

Sashihara nods vigorously. “Yeah, we agreed to meet at 6:15! So why wouldn’t they do that?!”

“I’m sure there was a good reason,” Motoki says calmly.

“Yeah, but, like, what was it?” Hayasaka asks. “Mika-chan bets Yuzuki-chan was, like, crying because of her atrocious fashion sense~!”

Oyamada winces. “That’s k-kind of mean, Hayasaka-san...”

“And childish,” Domoto adds, glaring at Hayasaka. “But that’s irrelevant. The important question still hasn’t been answered: why aren’t they here?” She turns her gaze to Aozora and I.

“Monohebi appeared,” I say flatly. “And he told us that escape was futile and to not insult him by attempting it.”

“And that he had already thought of every single possible escape route and blocked it,” Aozora adds with a solemn face. “After that, Eguchi cried and left, and Furuhata left soon after I told him killing wasn’t mandatory.”

I pick it up from there. “He freaked out when Aozora-kun said that. He pretty much told us there’s no way out but to kill.”

“Well, he ain’t exactly wrong about that,” Komatsu says. “My group didn’t find shit in the way of escapin’.”

“Nor did mine,” says Kasparov.

“Neither did mine,” Domoto finishes.

Sashihara shakes his head. “But that doesn’t mean we have to kill! Furuhata-kun is wrong! Just because there’re no escape routes doesn’t mean we’re forced to kill!”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“If we don’t kill for long enough, the snake will likely get bored and let us go!” Sashihara shouts. “So we simply need patience.”

Kasparov does not seem as sure. “As appealing as that idea may be, we cannot ascertain that it will actually occur.”

“That’s true,” Sashihara occurs. “But it’s better than killing someone recklessly!”

Domoto frowns. “Even if it is, someone here will likely break under pressure.” She looks over at the doors leading to Cell Block A. “And I think we already know who that will be.”

“Wait, are ya sayin’ ya think Furuhata-kun’s gonna kill someone?” Komatsu says incredulously. “I know he’s hot-headed and all, but do ya really he’ll try ‘n kill some one?”

“Hopefully he does,” Yamaguchi says with a bitter frown. “We’ll all be better off without the bourgeois scum around.”

Motoki approaches Yamaguchi and places a hand on his shoulder. “I understand your personal convictions differ greatly from Furuhata-kun’s, Yamaguchi-kun, but don’t you think a dialogue to discuss your grievances would help improve your relationship?” She smiles at him. “A good conversation and airing of grievances...or just communication in general can do wonders to any relationship.”

Yamaguchi slaps her hand away from his shoulder and looks at her coldly. “Maybe you misunderstand me, Motoki. The bourgeoisie are not to be reasoned with. They are to be overthrown. So I will not grovel before the sommelier, or any of you...with the exception of the servant of the people, Kawashima-sama.”

Does he really have to bring me into everything...?

Motoki looks like Yamaguchi had just slapped her across the face instead of just her hand. “B-But, even still, as a linguist, I know just how communication is...”

“I don’t care what you think,” he says flatly. “You are simply a bourgeois scum, just like the sommelier.” He looks around the room angrily. “If your goal is to try and have me get along with the bourgeois scum, please cease immediately. I won’t be partaking in your fantasies.”

He angrily stalks out of the Cafeteria, leaving silence in his wake.

“Well, uh, that’s not too good to hear,” Ichigohara says with an unsure smile. “But y’all don’t have to worry. I can cook up some food with stuff we got from the Storage Room to help us relax over a meal.”

Domoto ponders that for a minute. “Yes, go ahead, Ichigohara-san,” she says after a little while.

Even though Ichigohara didn’t look like she was looking for approval, she still beams at Domoto. “Thanks, Otoha-chan.” She looks at me with an expectant smile. “Wanna help with cooking, Wakana-chan?”

I figured this would come up at some point, due to my talent...”Actually, no, Ichigohara-san,” I say regretfully. “For the Ultimate Waitress, I’m a surprisingly bad cook.” I let out a small laugh. “I guess my specialty is more serving the food than making it.”

“Ah, don’t worry, it’s ok,” Ichigohara reassures me. “I’ll just go with the flow and do it all myself.”

Hayasaka twirls her hair with a frown. “Like, sorry to interrupt, but what about, like, talking about what we found in each room?” Hayasaka asks. “Mika-chan is pretty sure we were supposed to do that~!”

“We were,” Kasparov agrees. “But I believe a long day of investigation, topped off by what just occurred, has worn everyone out.”

“Ya got that right,” Komatsu says tiredly. “Besides, it’s almost 10.”

Is it really that late already?
I look behind me to the clock and see that Komatsu is indeed telling the truth.

“So it’s almost nighttime...” Aozora comments. “Hehe...I guess time flies while you’re having fun.”

“I would hardly call this a ‘fun’ situation,” Niizuma says humorlessly.

Aozora tries to smile, but fails. “I was just trying to make a joke...” He shakes his head. “Never mind.”

The rest of the night goes on with a strained sense of silence. All conversations feel forced and are quick to die out. Although dinner is good, but even its deliciousness isn’t enough to dispel the despair of our situation.

I go to bed after saying goodbye to Aozora and find myself staring at the ceiling for a long time. I feel the doubt in my heart begin to consume me even more than last night, and I find myself trusting everyone else less.

I find that I’m even trusting myself less.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Map of 1st Floor:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-KBPddBjzraQhwFV2iMWd6hgCHNsmE9WxSgDeU-fLIo/edit?usp=sharing
“Good morning, inmates. It is now 7 am, which means nighttime has officially concluded. Enjoy another day of confinement.”

I awake to hear that stupid morning announcement again...as if I need to be reminded that we’re trapped in here.

Feeling decidedly shitty, I take a shower, get dressed, and then head out to the Cafeteria, where I see that Domoto, Kasparov, Aozora, Niizuma, Sashihara, Terajima, Motoki, Oyamada, and, surprisingly enough, Eguchi, who is sitting far away from the others, are already there.

“Hi, everyone,” I say with as much fake cheer as I can muster.

“Hello,” Aozora says.

“Good morning!” Sashihara says passionately. “I hope you had a good night’s sleep.”

“I slept well enough, I suppose,” I answer.

I look around, expecting more greetings, but all I get is a curt nod from Terajima.

Feeling a bit disappointed by the lack of response, I sit next to Aozora and sigh. “I guess no one’s feeling very talkative today, huh.” It’s then when I notice the smell of something delicious emanating from the Kitchen. “Mm, what’s that smell?”

“It’s the garden girl cooking us breakfast,” Terajima responds.

“That’s very nice of her to make food for all of us,” I say, still feeling a bit guilty that I’m too much of a bad cook to help.

“It is,” Motoki says dejectedly.
She must still be upset after Yamaguchi-kun told her off last night.

After that, we fall back into an awkward period of silence. It seems no one’s in the mood to talk this morning...

But I soon find myself wishing for quiet again when Hayasaka walks through the doors. “Like, good morning everyone~! How was your sleep?! Mika-chan slept, like, sooooo well~! If she still had her phone, Mika-chan would, like, definitely be posting her morning selfie right now.”

“Hayasaka-san,” Kasparov begins.

“Like, what?” she asks, twirling her hair.

“Shut up,” Kasparov says. “No one cares.”

She narrows her eyes and makes a bitter face at him. Grumbling to herself, she sits next to Niizuma, who does not seem overly pleased by Hayasaka’s presence next to her.

Carrasco enters soon after. “Buenos días,” she says as she walks in, looking around expectantly. “How odd. I cannot hear even a single word.” She poses dramatically with her fan. “Why is no one speaking? Are you all cursed with muteness?”

“No, it’s more that no one’s in the mood for talking,” Domoto answers bluntly.

Carrasco slips out of her pose. “Ah, that is a shame. I had looked forward to some conversation, but if you all choose to be silent, then I will respect that choice.”

Next to come in is Komatsu. “Good mornin’,” he says tiredly as he sits in between Sashihara and Motoki.

After that, Furuhata walks in without saying a word. Soon after, Yamaguchi enters and prepares to take a seat, but freezes when he sees the last available seat
is next to Furuhata.

“Well?” Niizuma asks. “Aren’t you going to sit down?”

Yamaguchi frowns. “No, not next to him.”

“Could you be any more childish?” Kasparov asks with a scathing glare. “Put your ideologies aside and sit next to Furuhata-kun.”

“No,” Yamaguchi yells loudly. “I will never
put my beliefs aside, not for anything.”

I’m really tired of him acting this way...also, he still needs to work on shouting less often.
“Yamaguchi-kun,” I say softly.

“Yes?” he turns to look at me, with all venom gone from his voice. “What is it, Kawashima-sama?”

I wince at the unnecessary honorific, but continue anyway. “I understand that you believe very strongly in overthrowing what you see as the bourgeoisie...but if you keep on intimidating Furuhata-kun, or any of us, you’ll only make it harder to prevent a murder.”

Yamaguchi arches an eyebrow. “But how is that supposed to convince me to sit next to him? I still won’t do it!”

I sigh. “If you refuse to sit next to him, you’re isolating yourself from him. You’re building tension. And that’s the last thing we need right now. Because if that tension results in a murder, then there’s a good chance we’ll all die....and then, you won’t ever be able to help overthrow the bourgeoisie like you want, Yamaguchi-kun.”

For a moment, he stares at me, and I’m worried I said something wrong. Then, he nods. “Very well. I can be patient. I won’t antagonize Furuhata while I’m still here...” He narrows his eyes. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t work to overthrow him and his kind as soon as we escape.” He sits next to Furuhata.

Furuhata shrugs. “Whatever. As long as we escape, I don’t really care what you try to do.”

Aozora looks over at me and smiles. Then, he stands up and clears his throat. “I want to elaborate on what Kawashima-san just said. Antagonizing each other is only going to cause more harm than good, so it’s be prudent to try and avoid it as much as possible.”

Domoto opens her mouth to say something, but is cut short by Ichigohara shouting from the Kitchen. “Breakfast is ready!” shouts the gardener with a big smile on her face.

All conversation stops there as we line up in the kitchen to receive a plate. Ichigohara’s made a delicious looking stew...I can’t wait to have some.

We all return to the Cafeteria to resume eating, with Komatsu and Ichigohara bringing up the rear.

“Now, now, Yutaka-kun, don’t spill my food all over the floor,” Ichigohara says with a playful laugh as she observes Komatsu carefully carrying an overflowing plate of her food.

“Ya don’t gotta worry, the only place this food is going is my mouth,” Komatsu says as he sits down. “Damn, I can’t wait to eat!”

“B-But you ate so m-much last night...” Oyamada says softly, hugging a book close to his chest. “How can you even think of eating now?!”

Komatsu looks confused. “What’re ya talking’ ‘bout? I didn’t eat a whole lot.”

Motoki looks uncertain. “How do two overflowing plates of food not constitute as a lot?”

Komatsu waves her comment away. “It’s not a ton. I just have a high metabolism, is all.”

Motoki opens her mouth to respond, but is stopped by Carrasco gently placing a hand on her arm. “Señorita Motoki, let el compositor do as he pleases. If it is his choice, why not allow him to follow through on it?”

“Because it’s unhealthy!” Sashihara interjects. “As a fitness trainer, I cannot allow someone to eat that many calories without proper exercise to burn them off! In fact, I’ve put together an exercise regiment for you to do just that!”

“Burn off calories?” Komatsu shakes his head. “Hell no, I ain’t doin’ that!”

Niizuma rolls her eyes. “If he wants to become a fat, lazy piece of shit, let him,” she says harshly. “You shouldn’t hold the burden of working for others when they don’t work themselves, Sashihara-kun.”

“Whoa, that was pretty harsh, Tomiko-chan...” Ichigohara says with a nervous laugh as she sits down. “It’s like Mayumi-chan said, just let Yutaka-kun do what he pleases. Same with Hisaya-kun. If he wants to help him out, let him.”

Niizuma shakes her head. “It’s a waste of time and effort. I can’t let someone do something with such a low chance of success; it’s against my principles as a statistician.” She eats a bit of her soup, careful to let it not fall on her impeccable outfit. “Maybe if you understood such basic concepts as that, you’d understand.”

“Whoa, whoa, let’s calm down there,” Aozora says. “Like Kawashima-san was saying, we should stop antagonizing each other to try and avoid a murder occurring.”

“Indeed we should stop the antagonization,” Kasparov says. “But I am not certain it would prevent a murder.”

Domoto presses her lips together. “It won’t, but that’s not what we need to discuss at the moment.” She speaks quickly so no one can interrupt her. “We need to discuss what we found while exploring yesterday.”

Oh yeah...we still need to do that.

“Okay,” I say as I push my plate aside. “Which group should start?”

“How about yours, Kawashima-san?” Domoto proposes. “If you encountered Monohebi last night, I assume you found something at least marginally important.”

“We did,” Aozora confirms. “There are several classrooms, a set of bathrooms, the room where Kawashima awoke, and most importantly, stairs.”

Everyone starts. “Stairs!?” Sashihara shouts. “So a possible method of escape?”

Hayasaka twirls her hair with a pout. “Like, why didn’t you mention that sooner? You got Mika-chan feeling, like, sooooo nervous.”

“How idiotic are you?” Kasparov growls. “Why did you not mention that beforehand?”

“I’m s-sure they had a very g-good reason not to s-say anything about it...” Oyamada says quietly.

“Yes, and I would very much like to know what that reason is,” Domoto says. “Well? What is it?”

Domoto speaks bluntly, so Aozora does the same to her. “They were blocked. Entirely sealed. There’s no way to use them to escape.”

“Monohebi made sure to make that very clear...” Furuhata adds bitterly.

Komatsu slumps back into his chair. “So we jus’ got all our hopes up for nothin’, then. Great...”

I frown. “If you all had let us explain instead of interrupting as soon as Aozora-kun said ‘stairs’ you wouldn’t have to be so disappointed.”

Ichigohara sits back in her chair with a contemplative expression. “That’s fair,” she says after a little while. “I guess we should use that as a lesson to not jump to conclusions and make assumptions in the future, right guys?”

“Yes, if only to prevent more time from being wasted,” Domoto says. “Now, is that all your group has to share, Aozora-kun?”

He nods. “It is.”

“Alright then, let’s continue,” Domoto says swiftly. “Next, I’d like Kasparov-kun’s group to share what they discovered about the dormitory rooms, or ‘Cell Block A,’ as Monohebi calls them.”

“We did find out about
a few things, but none of them was anything groundbreaking,” Carrasco comments as she fiddles with the flowers in her hair.

“However, we did learn something that might be pretty important,” Terajima adds as he adjusts his sunglasses.

“And what’s that?” Motoki asks curiously.

“The rooms are entirely soundproofed,” Kasparov answers. “Even a scream doesn’t penetrate the walls.”

“So is that why Carrasco-san was s-screaming like a banshee y-yesterday?” Oyamada asks softly.

“Yes! It was also why I was shouting!” Sashihara responds.

“I think we have all grown accustomed to your reckless shouting, Sashihara,” Yamaguchi says.

It’s ironic that someone as loud as Yamaguchi-kun is saying that about Sashihara-kun...

“That’s irrelevant, so please stop talking about it,” Domoto reprimands. She turns back to face Kasparov. “Is that all you discovered?”

Kasparov shakes his head. “No. We also learned that the
door to every room is locked automatically every time it is shut, and can only be opened from the inside or with the e-Handbook corresponding to the
owner of the room.” He sits back in his chair. “Other than that, there is nothing.”

“That’s very good to know,” Domoto says, and she seems to actually mean it. “Niizuma-san, what did your group discover in the kitchen?”

Komatsu smiles. “Nothin’ but food, but damn is that enough.”

“Now, now, that’s not entirely true, Komatsu-kun. We found an ice machine in the back, too,” Motoki corrects.

“There w-were also some interesting c-cookbooks...” Oyamada adds meekly.

“Yes, and you wasted your precious time reading them,” Niizuma chastises. She stares at Domoto. “As for important stuff, the Kitchen contains several large boxes filled with bottled water, so we won’t be going thirsty. Also, there is a variety of knives, skewers, and other potential weapons. However, there is a catalog of every item in the Kitchen, so if anything were to go missing, we’d know.”

Domoto seems impressed. “Good work, Niizuma-san. I had high expectations of hard work from you, and they were met.”

Niizuma swells up in pride at Domoto’s comment, and even smiles. “Thank you, Domoto-san. I was simply living by my principles.”

“Continue living by them, because they seem to work,” Domoto advises her with might be a small smile, but it is short-lived. “Now, onto my group. The Storage Room contains a variety of completely useless items.”

“Not all of them were entirely useless, Otoha-chan...” Ichigohara protests. “I mean, I could definitely use the wheelbarrow if I wanted to some gardening.”

“Too bad there’s no soil here for you to do anything with,” Domoto tells her. “So that makes that wheelbarrow worthless.”

“What about, like, the mirror?” Hayasaka says as she twirls her hair absentmindedly. “Like, Mika-chan loved that there was at least something she could, like, use in that dirty, gross, and smelly room.”

Yamaguchi shakes his head disapprovingly. “We should smash that mirror so you don’t waste all your time in there.”

Hayasaka pretends to look around like she didn’t hear him. “Sorry, like, what was that? Mika-chan can’t, like, hear things said by, like, dirty poor people.”

Yamaguchi is about to shout, but Terajima gently grabs his arm. “Yo, remember what we were talking about earlier? We need to stop all this fighting.”

Yamaguchi clearly wants to resist, but relents. “Maybe it’s best if we adjourn this meeting.”

“I agree,” Domoto says. “Everyone, let’s meet at 6:30 tonight for dinner. Alright?”

No one protests.

She nods. “Alright. Do whatever you want today, as long as it doesn’t involve murder.”

So, I guess I can do whatever I want today? I can’t just do anything, so I should probably try hanging out with some of the others...

FREE TIME START!

Wandering around the prison, I find Aozora in one of the classrooms, reading a book on astronomy.

“Hey,” I greet. “What’re you doing?”

“Nothing much,” he answers. “I’m just reading up on some stuff I already know. Do you want to join me?”

I don’t know too much about astronomy...but I guess that’s what learning is for. Should I hang out with Aozora-kun?

Yes/No

He smiles. “I’m glad you want to hang out together.”

We talked about how Jupiter’s moons orbit it, Neptune’s really fast winds, and even some of the basic elements of quantum physicis. It was really cool stuff, but I’m not sure I understood much of it. Even still, I think Aozora-kun and I grew a little closer.

“Wow,” I say after a few hours of discussion. “I don’t how it’s possible for you know so much stuff about things so small.”

“Such are the marvels of modern science,” Aozora says with a smile. “I hope
you weren’t too bored.”

“I wasn’t,” I assure him. “Though I was confused a lot.”

“That’s okay,” Aozora tells me reassuringly. “We can’t all be astrophysicists.”

“How did you even become one?” I ask. “Isn’t it really hard?”

“Well, I still haven’t acquired my degree,” Aozora confesses. “But I was very close to doing so before we got locked up in here.”

I grimace. “Aw, that’s a shame. Yet another reason to escape as quickly as possible.”

Aozora raises his eyebrows. “I doubt that’ll be able to happen, but...” he smiles weakly, “we can hope, right?”

“We can,” I agree.

I say goodbye to him, but there are still a few hours left until dinner time. So, I decide to pass the time by looking over some stuff on the Storage Room, where I see Ichigohara examining the wheelbarrow she mentioned earlier.

“Hey, Ichigohara-san,” I say. “What’re you doing?”

“I’m just seein’ how I can fix up this wheelbarrow,” she responds. “It’s a bit rusty and might need some new parts, but I’m sure it’s fixable. You wanna join me, Wakana-chan?”

I’m not the most experienced in fixing wheelbarrows, but I don’t have anything else to do...so, should I hang out with Ichigohara-san?

Yes/No

“I’m glad you’re up for it,” Ichigohara says. “Let’s start!”

I spent the rest of the day looking for parts and then fixing the wheelbarrow with Ichigohara-san. Under her lead, we take it slowly and make jokes frequently as we fix the wheelbarrow. Even though I’m not experienced at doing much with wheelbarrows, or anything garden-related, I think Ichigohara-san and I grew a little closer.

“Thanks for helpin’ me out, Wakana-chan,” Ichigohara says thankfully. “I appreciate it.”

“No problem, Ichigohara-san,” I say. “It is my talent to help people after all.”

Ichigohara ponders that for a moment. “I guess waitressin’ is helpin’ someone in a way.”

“So is gardening,” I say. “You’re growing food and plants for others to either consume or marvel at.”

“That’s true,” Ichigohara agrees, “although I have to say my reason for gettin’ into gardenin’ wasn’t so altruistic, sadly.”

I look at her with a curious gaze. “Then what was it?”

Ichigohara scratches her back and sighs. “This’ll probably sound stupid, but it was because I love nature. I love green. And where I was growin’ up in the city, there wasn’t too much of that. So when I moved to the countryside, I started my garden, and then...” she shrugs. “I guess I became an Ultimate.”

“Is it really that simple?” I ask incredulously. “A lot of Ultimates tend to have some crazy story behind their talent.”

“Not me,” Ichigohara laughs. “I’m just a girl with a big garden that people seem to like a lot.”

So it’s really that simple, huh...I guess it makes sense. Ichigohara-San is a simple girl...not that there’s anything wrong with that. With some of the strong personalities of some of the people here, I’m glad there’s a refreshingly call one in her.

“Thanks, Ichigohara-san,” I thank her. “I enjoyed our time together.”

“So did I, Wakana-chan. See you around.”
FREE TIME END

I head back to the Cafeteria, figuring it must be close to 6:30, and it turns out my instincts were almost correct.

“It’s 6:25,” Domoto says as I walk in. “You’re a bit early, but that’s better than being late.”

“Anything is better than being late,” Niizuma comments. “Ugh. I can’t stand people who are late to things. I always have to arrive early.”

Kasparov ponders the topic. “Even though I am early myself, I would have to say that being exactly on time is most preferable. That way, the least amount of time is wasted.”

Niizuma purses her lips, but holds back. “Whatever. Do what you want.”

“Hehe, that isn’t something I’d expect you to say, Niizuma-san,” Aozora says with a smile.

“Don’t get accustomed to it,” she warns him. “I still very much disagree with Kasparov-kun, but I simply don’t want to provoke an argument.”

“It’s good to see you’re following our rules of not antagonizing each other,” I say with an appreciative smile.

Niizuma shakes her head with a humorless laugh. “Oh, that’s not why. I don’t care about the agreements we make here.”

I blink at her. “Wait, what? Then why?”

“Because I’m not going pick a fight with someone who could kill me,” Niizuma says matter-of-factly. “Although I’m the tallest female here, Kasparov-kun is ten centimeters taller than I am and much stronger. It’d be stupid if I provoked a fight with him, because I’d lose.” She examines her perfectly manicured nails. “And if you couldn’t tell, I don’t like losing.” She lets out a small, mirthless laugh. “That’s why I became a statistician.”

“Really?” Aozora inquires. “To calculate the probability of not losing?”

“Mmhm,” Niizuma confirms. “And before one of you brings it up, I’m not going to kill someone. The odds of escaping are too low, in my professional opinion.”

“That’s still p-pretty c-callous,” Oyamada comments from the side. Has he been at dinner the whole time? I didn’t notice him here before...

“It’s understandable, though,” Domoto says. “As long as she doesn’t kill, her reasoning is unimportant.”

“But didn’t you, um, say you thought a death was inevitable?” Eguchi asks timidly in what I think are her first words of the day.

“Yes,” Domoto answers. “I did. And I still believe that. However, I would still like to prevent a death as much as possible.”

“How kind of you,” Terajima says in a such way that it’s impossible to determine if it’s sarcastic or genuine.

The rest of dinner is pretty uneventful. Ichigohara’s delicious vegetable stew is definitely the highlight, but I can’t stop yawning throughout the entire meal. Feeling tired, I head to my room and collapse on the bed, ready for the embrace of sleep.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Good morning, inmates. It is now 7 am, which means nighttime has officially concluded. Enjoy another day of confinement.”

I wake up and immediately I know today is going to be a better day than yesterday. My shower feels warmer, my clothes softer, the greetings as I enter the Cafeteria better.
I guess that’s what getting a good night’s sleep can do for you.

As I sit down at the table with my breakfast plate, Eguchi unexpectedly sidles up next to me.

“Eguchi-san?” I say in surprise. “What’re you doing?”

“Oh, did I get, um, too close?” she asks as she avoids making eye contact with me. “Sorry...I just wanted to say thank you for what you did yesterday.” She gives me a small smile. “I was really, um, worried about everyone fighting, but what you, um, said to Yamaguchi-kun really made me, um, feel better.”

“Aw, you’re welcome,” I say, and I mean it. “I’m glad I could make you feel better, because I know you were upset after Monohebi told us there was no to escape.”

Eguchi flinches at my mention of the memory, but still keeps the smile regardless. “Well, um, I guess I should say goodbye, but I also, um, want to keep talking to you...” She facepalms. “Ugh! Why is social interaction so difficult!?”

“Just relax, Eguchi-san,” Motoki says calmly from behind the game developer. “The best conversations are the most honest, open ones.” She lays a hand on Egcuhi’s shoulder. “If you want to talk to Kawashima-san, just talk about what feels natural to you.”

“Um, okay,” Eguchi says nervously, but with a hint of determination. “So, what’s your favorite type of game?”

I figured she’d ask that...”I’m not too sure,” I say hesitantly. “I’m not too into games.”

“Oh,” Eguchi says sadly, looking down at her feet. “Well I don’t really have much else to talk about...” She sighs. “Ugh, why am I so bad at talking to people?! Sorry for, um, wasting your time...” She leaves the Cafeteria, head hanging miserably.

“What was that about?” Kasparov asks.

Motoki frowns. “I told her to talk about what comes naturally to her...but apparently that was not the best advice.”

Hayasaka snorts. “Mika-chan, like, doesn’t think there’s any good advice you could’ve given to someone as, like, introverted as Yuzuki-chan.” She grimaces. “Mika-chan hopes Yuzuki-chan never tries to, like, talk with someone as fashionable as the Ultimate Social Media Star...” She makes a fake smile. “Like, Mika-chan wouldn’t even be able to, like, stand her ugly presence~!”

What a selfish bitch...“I don’t think she could stand yours, either, Hayasaka-san,” I say with forced politeness. “You’re just not the types of people that mix well.”

“Thankfully,” the social media star says as she twirls her hair. “Like, Mika-chan is going to leave~! See you all at, like, dinner~!”

She leaves the Cafeteria, Kasparov staring at her back disapprovingly. “What a fool. She will only make matters worse with the way she acts.”

“Just tune her out,” Terajima suggests. “It’s best not to let people like her get you down.”

“But it’s hard to t-time out someone who is more irritating to l-listen to than the heartbeat f-from Poe’s The Telltale Heart...” Oyamada says. He takes off the bag on his back and skims through the various books. “M-Maybe I should read a p-passage of it to g-give you all an idea of what i-it’s like...”

“Please don’t,” Domoto commands. “I don’t want to fall asleep this early in the morning.”

“That’s good!” Sashihara affirms. “An uneven and erratic sleep schedule is bad for both mental and physical health!”

Furuhata sighs as he massages his head. “Ugh, can we please get this meeting over with already? I can’t listen to all this loud conversation for much longer.”

“Yes, let’s wrap things up,” Domoto says briskly. “Just remember to all be back for dinner at 6:30.”

We all separate for the day and yet again I have time to do what I want. I can’t just sit in my room all day, but what should I do...?

FREE TIME START!

I find my way to the Kitchen, where I see Furuhata leaning over the counter, massaging his temples.

“Go away,” he says as soon as I enter.

Some nice greeting that is... “I was just trying to say hi,” I say, offended but not exactly surprised.

Furuhata doesn’t give an apology, but he does look somewhat regretful. “Listen, I have a headache. If you’re going to talk to me, make it something enjoyable or useful.”

“Let’s talk about wine, then,” I suggest. “You’re a sommelier, so you should know all about that.”

He snorts. “I should hope so. But what would someone as poor as you know about wine?”

That’s uncalled for...”Are you forgetting I work as a waitress?” I ask with raised eyebrows. “I serve wine to customers all the time, so I have to know a lot about the types we serve, even if I’ve never tried it myself.”

Furuhata shrugs. “I guess I could put up with talking to you, then.”

This probably won’t be fun...but I should get to know everyone here, even someone as rude as Furuhata-kun...so, should I spend some time with him?

Yes/No

Furuhata arches his eyebrow. “So you are going to spend time with me? I thought you’d say no, I must confess...but if we’re going to talk, let’s not waste any time.”

We talked for a while about different types of wine...red, white, sake, French wines, South African wines, Californian wines, Spanish wines...and every time we spoke about wine, for once Furuhata-kun wasn’t condescending or rude...instead, he was so entirely engrossed in his passion that he couldn’t make any time for that. I definitely think Furuhata-kun and I grew a little closer...

“Wow,” I say after a while. “I had high expectations, but you really do know your way around wines.”

“Especially around the high-class stuff,” Furuhata says dreamily. “It’s expensive, but oh so delicious...” He wipes his eye. “No matter what someone as disgusting and poor as Yamaguchi-kun says, I’ll never not love wine...even if it’s illegal for me to drink it.” He snorts. “I’d do anything if I could finally get my hands on another bottle of wine with Tempranillo grapes from Navarro...”

“I don’t think there are any of those here,” I say dully.

“No, there’s nothing at all but water,” Furuhata laments. “Ugh, who would waste precious drinking time on something like water when you could be having wine?”

“To avoid getting drunk?” I suggest. “Or maybe to avoid an awful hangover headache. No one likes those.”

“You get used to them eventually,” Furuhata says with a dismissive wave. He sighs and looks at the floor, tapping his foot rapidly. “That’s the worst part about being stuck in this dreadful place. No wine. No gourmet food. No good people to talk to.” He looks up at me. “Well, except you. You’re somewhat bearable.” His gaze returns to the floor. “But everyone else...ugh, I can’t stand them! I can’t stand that mirror-obsessed selfie bitch, I can’t stand that garden girl, I can’t stand the flamenco girl posing dramatically all the time, I can’t stand the fitness trainer shouting...!” His face turns bitter, hateful. “And especially that goddamn revolutionary...I never speak to him, but he always gets on my case...” Furuhata stops glaring and stares absentmindedly. “If someone could be murdered...I’d like it to be him.”

I gasp. “Furuhata-kun, please don’t say anything like that! Murder isn’t the solution to escaping here. Besides, even if you killed Yamaguchi-kun, everyone would suspect you.”

Furuhata rolls his eyes. “Don’t worry, I’m not dumb enough to kill him. I can’t stand these people, but that doesn’t mean I’ll kill them.” He sighs. “I’ll just suffer through it all.”

“O-Okay,” I say, but I’m not completely placated. “You had me worried there.”

Furuhata snorts. “Don’t get yourself worried about me.” He gestures to his wine-red suit. “This outfit was expensive, so I wouldn’t let blood tarnish it.”

Is that really the best reason you have for not killing...? Oh well, it’s better than none.

I say goodbye to Furuhata and then find myself wandering around in the day with a few hours left to spend. Luckily, I soon find Carrasco wandering around as well.

“Ah, buenas tardes, Señorita Kawashima,” she greets me. “I was just taking a stroll around the hallways. Would you like to join me?”

I haven’t moved around much while we’ve been confined here...so that sounds like a pretty cool idea. Should I spend some time with Carrasco-san?

Yes/No

“So you will join me?” Carrasco inquires. She smiles as she opens her fan and offers me her arm. “Wonderful. Let’s walk.”

Carrasco-san and I walk arm in arm throughout the prison, discussing our situation and just life in general...it was a good time. I think Carrasco-san and I got a little closer.

As our stroll comes to an end, I feel pressured to ask something I’ve wondered for a long time. “I know this will be pretty embarrassing for me to ask,” I begin. “But what exactly is flamenco? I know it’s a Spanish dance type, but other than that...not much else.” I laugh nervously. “Sorry, I should’ve asked sooner.”

“Ah, Señorita Kawashima, there is no need to be embarrassed,” Carrasco reassures me. “And to answer your question, flamenco is not necessarily just a dance, but rather an art form created by los gitan—er, the Romani people—in my native land, España.”

“But it involves dance, doesn’t it?” I ask, a little confused.

Carrasco nods. “Most certainly.
But that is not all there is to it. Flamenco is also an expression of folkloric and musical traditions, as well as an expression of el duende, which I suppose is best described as the spirit of it all.”

“Wow,” I say, impressed. “There’s a lot more to this than I thought. Would you say you have the...um...what was it called again?”

“El duende,” the flamenco performer restates. “And no. I would not say I have completely mastered it yet.”

Huh...? That doesn’t make much sense...”Wait...What!?” I ask incredulously. “But you’re the Ultimate Flamenco Performer! Everyone always raves about how amazing and passionate your performances are...”

Carrasco closes her fan and sighs. “The people may enjoy my spectacles, but I am still young. Too young to truly convey el alma—or the soul—of every aspect of flamenco. So no, even though I will not deny I am talented, I still have progress to make.”

“Well, they say an artist is never satisfied,” I say.

Carrasco laughs. “I am glad that you called me an artist.”

I shrug. “From how you described flamenco, it seems like that’s what you are.”

Carrasco’s eyes glisten. “Thank you,” she says with a passionate smile. She kisses me on the cheeks, as is the European tradition. “I enjoyed your company. Let’s talk another time, shall we?”

“I would enjoy that,” I tell her, and it’s true. I really did enjoy speaking with her.

FREE TIME END

Soon after splitting up from Carrasco, I make my way to Cafeteria for dinner. After a while, I’m halfway through eating a calm, relaxing meal when all of a sudden...

“Ahhhhhh!” Oyamada screams, dropping the book he was reading. “It’s the s-s-snake!!!”

“What? Where?!” Eguchi asks fearfully, her eyes darting around the Cafeteria.

“He’s on the chandelier,” Terajima says calmly.

“Sususu...” Monohebi chuckles as he slithers down to the end of the Chandelier. "Good eyes, even if they are behind sunglasses, Terajima. I was waiting for you all to notice my presence.”

“Well, we have,” Domoto says, irritated. “So, what is it that you want from us?”

“Yes, what is your next move?” Kasparov wonders aloud. “Judging from past experiences, you rarely appear unless you have something to tell us.”

“Then, like, what does the snake want to say? Mika-chan thinks he’s, like, pretty gross,” Hayasaka complains.

Monohebi narrows his eyes. “That’s no way to speak to your Warden, Hayasaka. Do you want to be punished?”

The social media star’s eyes widen. “Like, totally not! Mika-chan just, like, wants you to say what you want to say and then, like, leave.”

“For once, I agree with Hayasaka-san,” Furuhata says while massaging his temples. “Just say what you want and leave us to finish our dinner in peace.”

Monohebi looks disappointed, but does not resist. “Fine,” he says, “although what I have to say won’t be leaving you in peace.”

That sends a shiver down my spine. “What is it?” I ask. “Just spit it out already.”

Monohebi chuckles. “Sususu...I have appeared to you now to announce your first motive.”

Niizuma arches an eyebrow. “But didn’t you give us a motive already?” She examines her nails. “Kill someone and then you get to escape, with the hope of leaving this prison being the motive.”

“You are correct, Niizuma, I did already give you all that promise,” Monohebi concedes. “And it still stands. However, although I have seen tensions arise, a death has not yet occurred, and I am becoming bored.” Monohebi smiles evilly. “So, I have a motive for you all. When you return to your rooms for the night, you will find a tablet containing a video on it. Play the video, and you will receive a motive.”

Motoki looks confused. “Wait, is that it? We just have to watch a video?”

“Not just any video. Each video is customized to the person that receives it, and as such, involves something or someone very dear to that person being...” Monohebi smiles. “Well, I don’t want to spoil the contents of the videos, so you’ll just have to watch to see what happens.”

With that, the snake slithers back up the chandelier chain and into the place he emerged from, leaving us all in a somber silence.

“Everyone,” Domoto begins, her voice heavy. “Do not
watch those videos. At all. They are tricks, traps set by Monohebi.”

“But they involve things important to us,” Ichigohara protests, scratching her back with a nervous expression. “How can we not watch them?”

“Because, as Monohebi himself said, they are made to motivate us to murder,” Kasparov responds. “If we want to avoid a murder, we cannot watch them.”

Carrasco fiddles with the flowers in her hair. “But If we watch them and don’t commit a murder, there is no harm in that, right?” She shrugs. “I believe we should all do as we please with the motive videos, but still swear to not murder.”

Domoto glares at Carrasco. “How stupid are you? If you watch your video, you’re increasing the likelihood of you killing someone tenfold.”

“You don't know that,” Carrasco protests.

“I’m pretty certain I do,” Domoto retorts.

“But if we d-don’t watch the videos, s-someone could still kill r-regardless...” Oyamada says quietly.

“Of course someone’s going to kill anyway, we just want to prolong that as long as possible,” Domoto says bluntly.

Aozora stares at Domoto coldly. “What’s with you? You say you don’t a murder to occur, but then you say one is inevitable? Can’t you pick a side?”

Domoto gives him a piercing glare. “I’m just being honest. I don’t like to lie and hide behind false promises of hope.” She smiles bitterly. “I know you can’t relate to that, but I will continue to call things how I see them.”

“Both of you, could you please calm down?” Terajima asks, sounding tired. “Fighting is only making things worse.”

“Yes,” Yamaguchi affirms. “It’s quite hypocritical of you to tell me to stop antagonizing others and then to go ahead and do it yourself.”

Domoto presses her lips together tightly. “I suppose you’re right, Yamaguchi-kun,” she says after a pause. “I just strongly believe that we all should refrain from watching the videos. Who else agrees?”

“I do,” Kasparov says immediately.

Eguchi fidgets uncomfortably. “I, um, do too.”

“S-So do I,” Oyamada says quietly as he holds a book closely to his chest.

“As do I!” Sashihara shouts. “In addition to not falling prey to the motive, staring at the blue light produced by electronic devices before bed hinders falling asleep! And that’s unhealthy!”

Furuhata pinches the bridge of his nose and shakes his head. “Can we just all shut up? All this loud talk is hurting my head.”

“But communication and talking to one another is how we will means this situation,” Motoki protests.

Furuhata sighs. “If you all are going to keep on blabbering, I’m going to bed. Goodnight, everyone.”

He leaves, leaving us in silence. “I guess that was pointless,” Motoki says dejectedly. She shakes her head sadly. “Now that I think about it, I’m not much in the mood for conversation as I should be.” She closes her eyes. “Bye.”

She departs and Domoto sighs. “I might as well adjourn this meeting before everyone leaves.” She raises her voice. “I again command that none of you watch your motive videos, for all our sakes and your own.”

Soon after that, I say goodbye to Aozora and the rest and head to my room, which feels more like a cell than it ever has before. I lie in bed, but I can’t keep my mind off the tablet sitting face up on the nightstand.

Its presence is awful...I want to watch, but know I can’t...

“AHHH!!!” I scream as I take it and throw it to the other side of the room.

I hate this place...I want to leave...but I can’t. I can’t watch that goddamn video...I want to, but I can’t.

I shut my eyes and being to cry into my pillow. I remember thinking first thing in the morning that today would be a good day. couldn’t have been more wrong.

The tears come harder now, but eventually they’re all gone, and I only have my sadness to guide me to sleep.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

When I wake up, the first thing I notice is that I don’t hear the morning announcement.
I wonder why that is...

Unfortunately, looking over at the clock, the first thing I see is the time 6:59. Wait, that means—

“Good morning, inmates. It is now 7 am, which means nighttime has officially concluded. Enjoy another day of confinement.”

I guess I just woke up a bit early today. Wonderful... I take my shower with miserably slow speed, desperately trying but failing to take my mind off the motive.

As I enter the Cafeteria and sit down, I feel absolutely miserable. And by looking around, it seems everyone else feels the same...

“Good morning, Kawashima-san,” Aozora tiredly greets as I sit down next to him.

I snort mirthlessly. “If this is a good morning, then good mornings have gotten real shitty.”

Aozora sighs. “I guess I can drop the positive act for now. If we’re both feeling terrible, we might as well not hide it.”

“No,” I say slowly. “I’m a waitress. Even when my day is awful, I need to slap on a fake smile and make it look like it’s the best day I’ve ever had while my customers are around.” I take a long sip of water. “Sometimes it works and I start to feel betters. Other times not.” I stare at Aozora. “And in a situation as bad as this, adding more negativity doesn’t exactly help.”

Aozora ponders what I say. “You’re right,” he says after a while. “This whole time I’ve been trying to keep calm and keep everyone’s spirits up, but it hasn’t worked too well.” He pauses. “But maybe that was because I was alone. If you help do the same, we can make a real difference.”

“Yeah,” I agree. “Maybe we can.” I shake my head. “Sorry for not offering to do this sooner. I guess the stress of this place must be interfering with my waitress’s instincts.”

“That’s fine,” Aozora assures me. “At least you managed to return to them.”

“Yeah,” I say. I want to say more, but Domoto stands up and clears her throat before I can.

“So,” the toy maker begins. “Now that everyone is here, I have something to discuss.”

“What is it?” Motoki asks.

Domoto frowns. “I thought it would be obvious. The motive videos. Did anyone watch them?”

Ugh, those things. Just when I had finally managed to get those stupid things off my mind, someone goes ahead and brings them up.

“Not I,” Kasparov proudly declares. “I was able to see through the deception of the snake and resist the temptation.”

“So was I,” Niizuma says with an air of superiority. “I’m not stupid. I wouldn’t take the risk of something motivating to do something as foolish as kill.”

“Good for you,” Terajima says in a voice that might either be sarcastic or genuine. “I refrained from watching mine.”

“I did too,” Komatsu says. “Though it was more because I was really tired than anythin’ else.”

“I d-didn’t watch mine...” Oyamada adds quietly. “I don’t like t-technology...I found m-my eighth re-read of T-Tolstoy’s War and Peace
far more interesting.”

“Eighth re-read?” Hayasaka repeats incredulously. “Like, Mika-chan couldn’t even open a book without falling asleep~! They’re just, like, soooooooo boring~!”

“I, um, think books are more, um, interesting than social media,” Eguchi says timidly, not looking directly at Hayasaka’s eyes. “And, um, I didn’t look at mine, either.”

Hayasaka gives Eguchi a cold stare. “Like, Mika-chan didn’t ask~!” She leans forward with a sickly sweet smile. “So how about you, like, shove your motive video and all your stupid goddamn games up your, like, ass~?”

Eguchi stares at the ground miserably, her hair hanging over her face. “Oh, okay...”

“No,” I say forcefully. “That’s not alright. Hayasaka-san, apologize to her.”

Hayasaka laughs. “Like, totally not~!” She narrows her eyes at me. “And you’re, like, not even on social media, Wakana-chan! So, like, please don’t even try to, like, talk with someone like me~!”

“Hayasaka-san,” Domoto says, “shut up unless you have something useful to say. Like, for instance, if you watched your video or not.”

The social media star begins to sweat. “Um, like...Mika-chan hasn’t seen any technology in a little while...so, like...” She closes her eyes and makes twin peace signs. “She might have watched her video~!”

“Imbecile,” Kasparov says venomously. “You were specifically told not to!”

“Señor Kasparov, please calm yourself,” Carrasco says both calmly and firmly. “If she wanted to do it, why not let her? She controls her own life.”

Domoto pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs. “We discusses this yesterday. She’s put herself and the rest of us in even more danger by watching her video.”

“Well, she’s watched it now,” Ichigohara says as she scratches her back. “And there’s nothin’ we can do to change that. So we might as well go with the flow and try to make the best of our situation.”

“I agree,” Aozora says quickly, jumping into the conversation before Domoto or Kasparov can. “In fact, you just gave me an idea...”

That perks my curiosity. “What is it?”

“A party,” Aozora says. “Or maybe a feast. I quite literally just came up with the idea, but I think it could work.”

Niizuma looks skeptical. “And how exactly would that help us?”

“It would help to raise everyone’s spirits,” I say slowly, coming to defend Aozora’s idea. “Also, if everyone’s in one place, the chance of a murder decreases greatly.”

I look at Domoto and Kasparov, expecting dismissive glares from them both, but instead I see them both slowly nodding. “...Yes,” Domoto says after a long time. “That could be useful in preventing a murder.”

“It is a splendid idea,” Kasparov agrees. “No one will be stupid enough to kill one another if everyone is together.”

I just said that...oh well. It’s no big deal.

“Okay,” Aozora says with a proud smile. “So will we all be in attendance?”

Motoki nods vigorously. “Of course! It will be a wonderful opportunity for everyone to get to know each other better!” She stares off into space. “And for
wonderful communication...”

“I shall be in attendance,” Kasparov says.

“So will I,” Domoto says immediately after the chess grandmaster.

Carrasco poses dramatically with her fan. “If it’s to fight off the dark despair of the snake with our bright, shining hope...then I will certainly attend!”

Niizuma shrugs. “I’ll go, too. I have nothing else to do.”

Terajima adjusts his sunglasses. “I can help watch over everyone and ensure no one...tries anything.”

“Um, I hope no one does,” Eguchi says nervously. “I don’t want me or anyone else to, um, get hurt...”

Oyamada fidgets uncomfortably. “Parties aren’t r-really my thing, but if everyone else g-goes, so will I...I just hope it’s n-not too l-loud.”

“Same here,” Furuhata says. “I still have a headache, not as bad as yesterday, but still there. So could everyone be quiet while I’m there?”

Yamaguchi glares at him and clearly wants to say something, but resists. “Your presence will make my attendance more difficult, but if I must...I’ll be there.”

Hayasaka looks around, annoyed. “Ugh, does Mika-chan havvvvveee to go? Like, she really doesn’t want to~!”

“Too bad,” Domoto says pitilessly. “You’ll have to suffer. This party only works if everyone’s there.”

“Well, you don’t need to worry about me. I can cook up some food, if you like,” Ichigohara offers. “I’d like some help, though.” She smiles widely. “Any offers?”

“I’ll do it, sure,” Komatsu says. “But I ain’t makin’ no vegan stew.”

Ichigohara laughs. “You won’t have too, Yutaka-kun.” She smiles and wags her finger. “You can help out, but you better not eat any of the food before it’s ready.”

“Aw, that’ll be pretty hard...” Komatsu complains. “But I can prolly do it.”

“Great!” the gardener says with a smile. “Any other offers?”

I raise my hand. “I’m not a great cook, so I probably shouldn’t do that, but I can still help serve the food.”

Ichigohara nods. “That’s good. You can be in charge of servin’ the food.” She looks around. “But I still need at least two other people to help me cook.”

“I shall assist you, Señorita Ichigohara,” Carrasco says warmly. “Even though cooking is not my talent, I consider myself proficient at it.”

“Wonderful!” Ichigohara exclaims. It looks like this party is getting her excited...”Who else will volunteer? I only need one more!”

“I will!” Sashihara yells. “But only if we make healthy food!”

“Don’t you worry, Hisaya-kun,” Ichigohara assures him. “I never use any processed or unhealthy ingredients. I don’t believe in that kind of stuff.”

“Excellent!” Sashihara shouts. “What time will we need to be there?”

“Hmmm,” Ichigohara wonders. “How about...4:30? That gives us two hours to get ready for the normal dinner time of 6:30.”

“That sounds good,” Domoto says. “Alright, everyone. Make sure to be at the party tonight. Other than that, do what you please today.”

The morning meeting is over after that. I nod at Aozora after everyone else leaves. “Your party was a good idea,” I tell him. “It was just the pick up I think we all needed.”

Aozora smiles back at me. “Thanks, Kawashima-san. It was a sudden idea, but I just knew I had to say something about it as soon as I thought about it.”

“I’m sure it’ll help us in our goal to make everyone feel better,” I say, proud that our idea is actually be working. “See you tonight.”

“You too,” Aozora says, and then he leaves. Yet again, I have some free time, although I don’t know how to spend it...
FREE TIME START!

I wander around the prison for a while until I encounter Terajima.

“Oh, hi, Terajima-kun,” I say.

“Hello,” he greets back. “I’m just observing this place. Do you want to join me?”

That doesn’t sound terribly exciting...but I’ll have enough excitement tonight at the party, or at least I hope I will. So, should I hang out with Terajima-kun?

Yes/No

The bodyguard raises his eyebrows. “I didn’t expect you to say yes...” he cracks a small smile, “but that’s okay.”

Terajima-kun and I spent a long time just watching everything. I thought it would be s lot boring than it turned out to be...I have to say, it was more relaxing than anything else. I think Terajima-kun and I go to a little closer.

“This is pretty relaxing, Terajima-kun,” I say after a long time.

The bodyguard nods. “You’re right; it is...um...” He looks down shamefully. “Sorry, I’m awful with names...I’ve forgotten yours already.”

“That’s okay,” I say, although I have to admit I’m not extremely pleased he forgot my name. “Have you forgotten most of the names of everyone here?”

Terajima nods. “Yeah, sadly, I have.” He shrugs. “I don’t like it, but my mind seems to only remember people’s names if I’ve known them for a while.”

“That’s interesting,” I comment. “I’d imagine a bodyguard would have a better memory so they could pick out and remember potentially hostile people in a crowd.”

Terajima lets out a small laugh. “See, that’s the interesting part...I’m awful with names...but I actually never forget a face.”

I turn at him, surprised. “Wait, what? Really?”

“Really,” Terajima confirms. “I’m what they call a super-recognizer. I recognize everyone I see. If I saw a random man in a cafe two years ago, I could recognize him again today if I saw him walking down the street.”

“Wow,” I say, amazed. “That’s really cool.”

“It is,” Terajima agrees. “But it does have its downsides. Sometimes when I’m ‘introduced’ to another person, I recognize them, even when they have no recollection of me.” He chuckles. “It makes me look like a stalker sometimes.”

I frown. “Oh. That’s not as cool.”

“It isn’t, but I think my ability is more of a gift than a curse,” Terajima confesses. “Especially in my line of work. If a client offers me a set of faces that are threatening to them, I could pick those people out of a crowd, even if they’ve disguised themselves.”

“That must be really useful,” I say, still amazed by Terajima’s ability.

Terajima nods. “It’s extremely helpful.”

That was an interesting conversation...but it looks like I have to head over to the Kitchen to help out Ichigohara-san now.

“I’m sorry, but I have to go now, Terajima-kun,” I say regretfully. “I really enjoyed our time together.”

“Anytime,” Terajima says.

FREE TIME END

I make my way to the Cafeteria to find Carrasco, Komatsu, Sashihara, and Ichigohara already there.

“Hey, Wakana-chan!” Ichigohara greets with a wide smile. “It’s nice to see you, but why are you here so early? You’re not one of the cooks.”

“I know, but I figured I might as well help set up the rest of the party,” I tell the gardener.

Carrasco smiles at me. “How selfless of you, Señorita Kawashima.”

“Why doesn’t Kawashima-san just help out with cookin’?” Komatsu asks. “We could use help for that.”

“We could,” Ichigohara concedes. “But Wakana-chan has confessed she is a bad cook, and I don’t want any bad food at this party.” She laughs nervously. “No offense, by the way.”

“None taken,” I assure her. “But what can I do to help set up?”

“You can help us find the ingredients,” Ichigohara answers.

“Yes! That’s a great idea!” Sashihara shouts.

“Okay,” I say. “Let’s get started.”

We head through the door in the back of the Kitchen into al the pantry. It’s a dark, cramped room with shelves containing crates and cans of food on all four walls, and tons of crates place in seemingly random spots over all the floor, only being interrupted by a large ice machine. What is that doing back here...? It would be much better if it were in the actual kitchen itself. Oh well, I guess we’ll just have to deal with it being in here.

“So what are we looking for?” I ask, looking around. “There’s a lot of food in here.”

“Señorita Ichigohara made us a list of ingredients earlier,” Carrasco says, holding said list in her hand.

“I did,” Ichigohara says. “So let’s get lookin’!”

It takes longer than expected, but eventually we manage to gather everything.

“That food had no right to be hidden away in so many weird-ass places,” Komatsu complains as he hauls out the last crate of vegetables we needed.

“But it’s worth it to have healthy food!” Sashihara shouts. “Junk food may be readily available, but that doesn’t mean it’s good!”

“Yeah,” Ichigohara agrees as she begins rinsing the vegetables. “Fresh produce is always the best, no matter how hard it is to find.”

“Ah, all this talk of fresh produce reminds me of my father’s home in Andalucía.” Carrasco leans on the kitchen counter, a dreamy expression on her face. “We used to grow our own tomatoes...and, mmm, they were so delicious.”

“Nothin’ like fresh tomatoes,” Ichigohara says with a smile. “Although they’re great to think about, we should really get to thinkin’ about cookin’.” She eyes the clock. “I know I like to take things in a relaxed way, but it’s already 5:17. We should get started.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Komatsu says as he finishes his plastic water bottle. He throws it in the trash. “Let’s ge—“

“What the fuck are you doin'!?” Ichigohara shouts angrily.
“Did you just throw out that plastic bottle!?”

Komatsu steps back and blinks, confused. “Whaddaya so mad ’bout? I was jus’ throwin’ out a bottle.”

“Yeah! And do you know how awful plastic is for the environment?!” Ichigohara shakes her head. “Sorry for gettin’ so mad, but I can’t just let someone hurt nature, purposely or not.” She sighs. “So please, can you just recycle the bottle?”

“Yeah, okay...” Komatsu says, still a bit shaken from Ichigohara’s sudden outburst. He moves the bottle from the trash to the recycling bin.

“Thank you,” Ichigohara says thankfully. “Now, let’s get started! For real this time!”

Well, that was unexpected...I didn’t expect Ichigohara-san to have so much aggression in her, with her being someone who’s usually so calm and chill. I still have a question, but now I’m nervous to ask it out of fear of being yelled at...oh, what the hell. I’ll just ask. “Uh,
sorry to interrupt, but what should I do to set up?”

“Oh, right! I almost forgot!” Ichigohara laughs heartily, in stark contrast to her outburst just a moment before. “Why don’t you get a few tablecloths from the Storage Room? And maybe some party decorations while you’re at it. I remember seein' some of that stuff in there while I was explorin' it.”

“Sure thing,” I say. “Good luck with your cooking.”

“Gracias,” Carrasco says gratefully. “Good luck on your trip to the Storage Room.”

I leave them and head to the Storage Room to complete task. As soon as I step into the room, I begin coughing. Jeez, it’s so dusty in here...

I observe the rest of the room. It looks exactly the same as when I fixed the wheelbarrow with Ichigohara: five floor-to-ceiling shelves run most of the length of the room, with aisles running between them, and a small open space, where I find Hayasaka posing in front of the mirror she had mentioned before.

“Hi, Hayasaka-san,” I greet. She doesn’t immediately answer

“Wait, who’s that?” she says, annoyed, after finishing a few poses. She turns around and her face sours. “Oh, it’s Wakana-chan. Sorry, but Mika-chan doesn’t talk to people from the Stone Age.”

“Stone Age?” I repeat, crossing my arms. “What does that mean?”

She rolls her eyes and turns back to face the mirror. “You, like, don’t even have a social media account! That’s sooooo like a caveman.” She shakes her head and shudders. “Mika-chan can, like, barely imagine it! So, please don’t, like, even think of talking to her~!”

After that conversation, I really don’t feel like it anyway. Besides, I need to find those tablecloths. This place has a ton of stuff in it, so I best get looking.
I begin looking for the tablecloths, which is an annoying task, especially with the constant presence of Hayasaka posing in front of the mirror. When she finally leaves, I immediately spot the small stack of snowy white tablecloths. It’s like her presence was a curse in this room...
I shake my head. No, it’s nothing that superstitious...but she was annoying.

I examine the stack of neatly folded tablecloths and count them. Five...I doubt we’ll need that many.
I take one and unfold it to see how much room on the table it could cover. Whoa...these tablecloths are really big...We’ll definitely only need two or so of them to cover the entire table in the Cafeteria.

I re-fold the first tablecloth and take a second from the stack, leaving the other three behind. Now it’s time to look for some party decorations.

They’re a lot easier to spot than the tablecloths, probably due to their bright colors, so soon I’m able to locate some party streamers, a bag of confetti, and a few party hats. That should do it...

With the two tablecloths and the party supplies in tow, I make my way back to the Cafeteria, placing them on the table when I finally return.
Glancing at the clock, I note that it’s already 6:07. Okay, so I still have some time to set up. That’s good.

I spread the two tablecloths over the Cafeteria table, hang some of the party streamers over the door, and place the party hats on the table, for anyone to take when they walk in. Wow...this really is not very snazzy. Good thing no one here is the Ultimate Interior Decorator or something like that, or else they would be appalled. But hey, at least I tried. Besides, it’s not the looks that will matter at this party. The whole point of it is to prevent a murder.

I shudder when I think of that. No, I need to stop...this is going to be a time to relax, not a time to worry...at least I hope it will be.

Soon after, Motoki, Niizuma, Domoto, Kasparov, and Aozora arrive.

“Wow, this looks great,” Aozora says with a proud smile. “I’m glad my idea for a party is coming together so nicely.”

Niizuma looks doubtful. “The decor is abysmal,” she says as her lips curve up into what might be a smile when she sniffs the air. “But, mmm...whatever is cooking in the Kitchen smells delicious...the food should make up for the poor decoration. I’m excited.”

I have to admit I am a little insulted...I know they’re not the best, but the decorations aren’t that bad, are they?

“As am I, Niizuma-san!” Motoki exclaims with a cheerful smile. “This party should be a wonderful opportunity for us all to bond and grow closer together.”

“Possibly,” Domoto says emotionlessly. “But we still must stay alert at all times to prevent anyone from trying anything stupid.”

“Indeed,” Kasparov agrees. “That is far more important than food or talking or decorations.”

“Are you certain?” I ask the chess grandmaster. “I think the other things are important, too.” I laugh nervously. “Besides, Terajima-kun said earlier he’d take care of watching everyone.”

“I did,” the bodyguard says from the doorway. He walks over to the rest of us. “You guys don’t have to worry about any of that stuff. I’m the Ultimate Bodyguard, So I’ll just be doing my job.”

Domoto frowns. “As qualified as you may be, I don’t feel comfortable leaving everything to one person. As such, we should all watch out for ourselves.”

“Y-You’re right,” agrees Oyamada our of nowhere. He must have snuck in while we were talking...I guess he’s small and quiet enough that he could do that.
The librarian fidgets uncomfortably, his gaze darting around the room. “We all s-should be w-watchful by ourselves and b-be independent.”

Eguchi, who must have come in with Oyamada, nods her head. “Yeah, um, we should all watch out for, um, ourselves...”

“Absolutely!” Yamaguchi shouts form the door. “Independence is imperative for everyone,” He says as he walks over to the rest of the group. “I have no idea what you were discussing, but it doesn’t matter! To be dependent is to be oppressed. As such, independence is akin to breaking the chains of oppression!”

Kasparov arches an eyebrow. “It is nothing so dramatic. We were simply discussing how we should be alert to potential dangers while at the party tonight, as opposed to leaving it all to Terajima-kun.”

“Leaving it all to one person?! That’s ridiculous and tyrannical!” Yamaguchi shakes his head furiously. “You are absolutely correct in denying Terajima that responsibility.”

Terajima frowns. “Okay, no need to get so harsh on me.” He sighs and doesn’t seem satisfied, but doesn’t protest either. “Alright. If you want to watch yourselves, you can. I’ll still look over you all.”

“Of course,” Domoto says. “It won’t just be you, though.” She sighs. “This discussion has lasted long enough. Let’s move on to more important things.”

“Please,” Niizuma pleads as she fixes her hair. “I couldn’t stand that. Now, let’s just start the party.”

Domoto holds her hand, signaling for her to stop. “We have to make sure everyone’s here first.” She quickly scans the room. “Okay. There are ten of us here: myself, Kasparov-kun, Kawashima-san, Niizuma-san, Aozora-kun, Motoki-san, Yamaguchi-kun, Eguchi-san, Oyamada-kun, and Terajima-kun.”

Terajima frowns. “Where are the garden girl, flamenco girl, music boy, fitness boy, selfie girl, and Furuhata-kun? They should all be here.”

Wait...why did he remember Furuhata-kun’s name and not the others? That’s odd...but it seems Terajima-kun needs to be reminded of something before I can question that.
“Ichigohara-san, Carrasco-san, Komatsu-kun, and Sashihara-kun are cooking us dinner,” I remind him. “So they’re accounted for.”

“What about Hayasaka and Furuhata?” Yamaguchi asks. “I’m not complaining about their absences, but they should still be here.”

Domoto narrows her eyes. “They better not be skipping. We agreed to be here—”

Before she can finish, she’s interrupted by one of the two missing entering. “Like, heeyyyyyyyy everyone! Sorry not sorry for being late, but Mika-chan’s here~!”

Domoto narrows her eyes. “You’re late. Why?”

“Like, I had to put on makeup!” Hayasaka says defensively. She flips her hair. “But I guess you, like, wouldn’t really know much about that, Otoha-chan, considering how, like, awfully applied your foundation is~!”

Domoto’s face does not change, but when she speaks venom is dripping from her words. “Shut your plastic surgery lips and sit down. I don’t want to hear another word from you the entire night.”

Hayasaka breaks her cute personality for just a second and stares coldly at the toymaker. “You...” Then, all of sudden, she flips back into her persona. “Like, whatever. It’s not like Mika-chan even wants to, like, talk to you~.”

Niizuma watches the social media star as she sits down at the table. “Well, that’s one missing person accounted for. Where’s the other?”

“If you’re talking about me, I’m right here,” Furuhata says from the doorway. He has bags under his eyes and is massaging his temples aggressively. “And I’m really not in a party mood, so try to keep everything quiet, alright?”

Motoki looks uncomfortable at that suggestion. “But it’s not really a party if everyone’s silent...”

Furuhata rolls his eyes. “Then boo fucking hoo. I don’t give a shit about your party; I’m only here because I have to be.”

Kasparov eyes the sommelier coldly. “You are acting awfully rude and demanding for someone who arrived late for no good reason.”

“I have a migraine, isn’t that reason enough?” Furuhata seethes, clenching his hands into fists. “Every fucking move I make causes me pain and every conversation I have makes my head want to burst!”

“That doesn’t mean the rest of us want to hear about it, bourgeois scum,” Yamaguchi says without sympathy.

Furuhata glares daggers at him. “You. Do not even dare
to speak to me! I can’t stand it!”

Terajima puts his left hand on the sommelier’s shoulder. “Yo. Calm yourself. There’s no need to get so mad.”

“Shut up!” Furuhata shouts. “I don’t want to hear anything from you, either!” He rips Terajima’s hand off his shoulder, tearing his suit jacket and the shirt underneath in the process.

“What is that!?” Eguchi says fearfully, pointing at Terajima’s exposed left wrist. “Is that...”

I squint. And then I gasp. That’s not...it can’t be...

“A tattoo,” Domoto says quietly. “A dragon tattoo.”

“So?” Kasparov asks. “What does that mean?”

“Maybe it’s because you’re Russian, but here in Japan, tattoos have a connotation of violence and of...yakuza involvement,” Niizuma explains.

“I see,” Kasparov says. Terajima says nothing.

Domoto walks up to Terajima, fifty centimeters shorter but still more intimidating. “How many heads does that dragon have?” She asks, her voice as cold as ice.

“Nine,” Terajima says shamefully. “For the Kuzuryuu Clan.”

“You’re a m-member of the K-Kuzuryuu Clan?!” Oyamada says fearfully. He holds up a thick book in front of his face. “P-Please...get away from m-me!”

Furuhata speaks after staring at Terajima’s tattoo for a long time. “I should have known it was you...even though you’ve gone bald and wear those sunglasses, you’re still the same person I knew before...” he snorts. “I should’ve known you were involved with yakuza stuff when I met you here.”

Terajima looks at Furuhata with a cool gaze. “Now you know for sure.” He steps closer, shaking his head. “And it’s funny how you worded that. Like you’re not involved with yakuza business yourself.”

Furuhata glares at him and begins to massage his forehead yet again. “You can’t prove that,” he says hurriedly. “I have no tattoos. I wasn’t stupid enough to desecrate my body like that.”

“The fact that your talent revolves around alcohol when you are clearly not of age is enough,” Terajima counters. “Even if you have no tattoos, you’re still suspicious. I don’t need to prove anything.”

Furuhata scowls at him. “Well, fuck you.” He turns to the rest of us. “And fuck this party, too. I’m not going to waste my time here any longer...I need to lie down in a cool, dark, and quiet place.” He frowns. “But first, I need an ice pack.”

“There are some in the Kitchen,” Niizuma says. “I found them while exploring.”

Furuhata smiles. “Excellent.” He walks into the Kitchen and comes out again a minute later. “Have fun at your poor people party, fuckers.”

When he leaves, Terajima stares at the door to Cell Block A he left through for a long time. After a while, he begins to open his mouth.

“Don’t speak,” Domoto says harshly. “Get out. You’re not watching over this party anymore.”

Terajima stares at her from behind his sunglasses for a long time. “Fine,” he says after a while. “But you’re putting yourselves in danger by not having me here.”

“Are we?” Aozora asks doubtfully. “You’re a criminal...we can’t trust you to protect us any longer.”

“I was
a criminal,” Terajima corrects. “I no longer work for the Kuzuryuus.”

“Once a yakuza, always a yakuza,” Domoto says coldly. “Get out.”

Terajima shakes his head. “I disagree with your decisions...but I understand them.” With that, he turns around and leaves the Cafeteria.

“Well, if they, like, get to leave, Mika-chan wants out too~!” Hayasaka prances over to the door. “Like, bye everyone~! Mika-chan hopes you, like, enjoy your pathetic excuse for a party~!”

As unfortunate as it is that people are leaving the party...I don’t think anyone will miss her too much.

Kasparov frowns at Hayasaka’s exit. “I should say her departure saddens me...but in truth, it is more the opposite.”

“Definitely, um, not,” Eguchi affirms.

Ah, so others feel the same...

“Hiya, everyone!” comes a sudden, cheerful greeting from the kitchen door. Ichigohara walks over. “I came out here to tell y’all that dinner is ready...and to ask what all that shouting was about.”

“Sí, if it is not too much to ask, we would like to know,” Carrasco says from behind the gardener.

“Terajima-kun is a yakuza,” Domoto says bluntly. “He left. Furuhata-kun freaked out and he left too. Hayasaka-san just left of her own accord.”

Ichigohara blinks, not expecting to hear what she just did. “A...yakuza? Damn, that’s not good.” She scratches her back. “Oh well, I guess we’ll just have to live with that.”

Carrasco is much more perturbed. “That is quite concerning...we can’t trust him anymore now that we know he is a gangster.”

“Who is a gangster?!” Sashihara yells from inside the Kitchen.

“Yeah, who is it?” Komatsu demands, cracking his knuckles. “I’ll beat the shit out of ‘em! I hate gangsters!”

“Apparently, it’s Señor Terajima,” Carrasco says sadly.

Komatsu shakes his head angrily. “I can’t fuckin’ believe it! The bodyguard, who’s supposed to protect us all, is now our biggest fuckin’ threat...”

“I can’t believe it either,” Sashihara says in a shockingly normal tone. “I didn’t expect that from him.”

“Igualmente,” Carrasco says, disapppinted. “It’s sad, because I thought of him as friend before.”

“Well, he doesn’t have to stop bein’ our friend...” Ichigohara proposes with a nervous laugh. “We’ll just have to be a bit more careful around him.”

“Too careful for my likin’,” Komatsu says.

Motoki closes her eyes, as if to hold back tears. “Well, it seems this party isn’t turning out the way we’d hoped...”

“No,” Aozora says dejectedly. “It’s not.”

“Well, we don’t gotta stay so down about it!” Ichigohara syas excitedly, trying to inject some positivity to the situation. “C’mon, let’s eat! That should make us all feel better!” She beckons me to come help her serve the food.

Domoto sighs as Ichigohara and I move to the Kitchen. “I suppose we should try.”

Ichigohara and I arrive in the Kitchen, where an array of trays and pots are laid out over the counters. “Ichigohara-san. I can serve the food for you,” I tell her as I observe the various food items and think of ways to serve them. “Just sit down and relax.”

“Nah, that’s okay,” Ichigohara says with a wave of her hand. “I can help.”

I put a hand on her shoulder. “Ichigohara-san,” I say. “This is my profession. You can let me do it. Besides,” I gesture at the large stack of dirty dishes in the sink. “You have a lot of dishes to clean.”

“That’s true,” the gardener says. “Alright, I’ll let you do your thing.”

I smile. “Thanks, Ichigohara-san.”

She smiles back. “No problem, Wakana-chan.”

As she moves away, I take a deep breath in and prepare to get into waitress mode. It’s showtime. In four minutes I have thirteen plates of Ichigohara’s delicious food ready to be served. Ichigohara looks over right before I take them out.

“Whoa, Wakana-chan!” She exclaims. “This stuff looks amazin’! Professional!”

I shrug. “I’m the Ultimate Waitress, what did you expect?”

I bring the plates out in three groups of four, leaving one in the Kitchen for Ichigohara. I plop down in my seat and immediately start eating. Oh my God...this food is amazing! I have a half a mind to run back into the Kitchen and compliment Ichigohara-san on it immediately...but decide that can wait. For now, I have to eat...the food is just too delicious to turn away from.

After the meal is over, I turn to Komatsu, who’s sitting next to me. “It’s good, isn’t it?”

He nods vigorously as he swallows his food. “It’s fuckin’ great! I’m already on my third plate!”

“Now, make sure you don’t eat too much!” Sashihara advises him. “Overeating is unhealthy!”

“It’s not overeatin’ if I ain’t even full yet!” Komatsu tells the fitness trainer.

He’s not full on his third plate...? Wow...he eats like a machine.

After everyone, including Komatsu, is finished, I gather everyone’s plates and take them to the Kitchen for Ichigohara to clean.

“How’d y’all like it?” Ichigohara asks.

“It was delicious,” I tell her. “Komatsu-kun ate three plates.”

The gardener shakes her head while chuckling. “Ah, he’s an eater, that composer.”

“He sure is,” I say.

Ichigohara turns the water for the sink off. “So, if y’all liked the food so much, do you think everyone would be up for dessert?”

“Absolutely,” I say. “I myself would eat anything so long as you were the one who made it.”

Ichigohara chuckles. “Ah, you don’t gotta flatter me like that, Wakana-chan.” A sudden flash of realization strikes her face. “But, if you would really like to show your gratitude...could you get me an electronic mixer from the Storage Room? I remember seein’ one in there. I’m gonna make cupcakes and I need a mixer for the batter.”

“Sure thing,” I reply. But I still have a question... “But why cupcakes? I thought you didn’t like sweet and processed stuff.”

“I don’t,” she confirms. “That’s why I’m not having any. I’m just making them.”

“I see,” I say. “Okay. I’ll be back soon with the mixer.”

I head out to the Cafeteria, prepared to make my way to the Storage Room, but then I spot Aozora sitting at the table, looking depressed. I should probably try talking to him before getting the mixer...but I promised Ichihohara-san, so I shouldn’t put it off...Wait! I can get both done at the same time if I ask the right person...

I tap Yamaguchi on the shoulder. He turns around. “What is it, Kawashima-sama, servant of the people?”

I wince at the title, but keep a smile nonetheless. “Could you do me a favor and grab an electronic mixer from the Storage Room and then bring it to Ichigohara-san in the Kitchen?”

He stands up and salutes. “Absolutely! Anything for a fellow member of the proletariat such as yourself!” He marches out of the Cafeteria.

Niizuma breathes a sigh of relief as he leaves. “Hopefully he takes forever. I can’t stand him.”

“N-Neither can I...” Oyamada says. “I don’t l-like overly loud p-people...”

“Hey! That’s pretty rude!” Sashihara shouts. He blinks. “Oh, wait.” He lowers his voice to a whisper. “Hey, That was pretty rude.”

Ignoring the rest of their conversation, I sit down next to Aozora. “Hey,” I greet.

“Hey,” he says tiredly.

He doesn’t say anything more. I sigh. “Listen, I’m not going to beat around the bush. I know this party has been a disappointment for you and you’re upset Terajima-kun, Furuhata-kun, and Hayasaka-san left.”

“Ding ding ding,” Aozora says with a dull smile. “You’re correct.” He wipes his glasses with his shirt. “I’m upset that I failed...the whole point of this party was to make everyone feel safe and relaxed...but I guess that didn’t work out.”

“No,” I say. “It didn’t.” I pat him on the back. “But we don’t have to let that get us down. Remember what we promised this morning?”

“That we’d be positive for everyone else?” Aozora recalls with a faint smile. “Yeah, I do. But I dunno if I’ll be able to do a great job of that. Or be able to do it at all. I can only pretend to be positive for so long.”

“Then let me do it,” I propose. “It’s my profession to walk up to each customer with a big smile even if I’m having the shittiest day imaginable. So I can go around and try to lift everyone’s spirits.”

“You’re too good, Kawashima-san,” Aozora says with a chuckle. “But are you sure you want to take all the work?”

“I’m positive,” I affirm. “You can go back to your room and relax if you want, or maybe try to hang out with everyone else.”

“I’m not really a huge people person, so I think I’ll choose the former.” Aozora stands and stretches. “Thanks, Kawashima-san. You’re a huge help.”

“No problem,” I say to him. With that, he yawns and heads back to his room. I survey the room, and see that it has split into several groups of people chatting. Domoto, Kasparov, and Niizuma sit at the center of the table, while Sashihara and Komatsu talk at one end. Eguchi and Oyamada speak quietly at the other end of the table. Carrasco and Motoki are standing. I decide to go over to them first.

“Hello,” I greet. “How are you two doing?”

“Estoy bien,” Carrasco answers.

“I’m well,” Motoki responds with a smile. “Carrasco-san and I were just discussing her bilingual upbringing.”

“Bilingual upbringing?” I repeat. “Did you speak both Japanese and Spanish at home?”

Carrasco nods. “Indeed. My father is a Spaniard, while my mother is Japanese. So I spoke both languages while young.” She laughs. “But now I can’t seem to separate them! I always slip a little español into my sentences without notic—” She shakes her head. “There, there, I just did it again.”

Motoki looks at her admirably. “Don’t be ashamed, Carrasco-san. Some people go their whole lives only knowing or studying a single language.” She shakes her head. “What a world of knowledge they’re missing out on!”

“Carrasco-san, I don’t think you should stop with your Spanish interjections, either,” I add. “They make you who you are...and I don’t think you should try to take that away from yourself.”

Carrasco nods. “Thank you, Kawashima-san.” She poses dramatically with her fan. “I shall take your advice and use it to fend off the dark hordes of conformist tendencies!”

“Yes, yes!” Motoki exclaims. “How wonderful!”

Seeing that they are both overjoyed, I see I’ve done my part with those two.
Now for the others...

As I head over to talk with Eguchi and Oyamada, Yamaguchi returns, holding the mixer. “Here you go, Kawashima-sama!” he shouts. “What was it you wanted me to do with it again?”

“Bring it to Ichigohara-san, please,” I say politely.

He nods. “At once!”

I watch him walk to the Kitcehn. It looks like it took him a while to find that mixer...I’m glad I wasn’t the one who looked for it now.

Shaking that thought out of my head, I head over to where Eguchi and Oyamada are sitting.

“Hi,” I greet.

“Um, hi...” Eguchi says, wringing her hands nervously.

“H-Hey...” Oyamada stutters, clutching a book close to his chest.

Hmm...maybe it would’ve been a better idea to converse with some talkative people. But...just because Eguchi-san and Oyamada-kun aren’t talkative doesn’t mean I can get a good conversation out of them.
“What were you two talking out before? I don’t want to interrupt your conversation too much.”

“Um, well...” Eguchi begins, avoiding eye contact with me, “it’s kind of stupid...but we were talking, um, about the presence of a literary structure in both books and games.”

“More specifically, the idea of a Hero’s Journey,” Oyamada says.

“Oh?” I say. “And what exactly does that structure contain?”

Oyamada clears his throat nervously as he begins explaining. “I-It pretty much goes like this: the hero starts in a confortable place; their ordinary w-world. Then, there’s a c-call to adventure, and u-usually a mentor to g-guide then before they set out. After that, they l-leave their home for a d-different, s-special world where they encounter t-trials and e-enemies, and eventually their l-lowest point.”

Eguchi take sup the rest of the story. “But right after, um, the darkest point, the great triumph occurs, and the, um, hero makes their way back to their, um, ordinary world.”

“Wow,” I say. “That’s a lot of information. I’m wondering...does this thing show up a lot?”

“It’s e-extremely common,” Oyamada answers. “I-It’s all over w-world literature...a-across cultures that developed i-independently...”

“And it’s not just, um, in books,” Eguchi says with a hint of excitement in her voice. She looks me in the eyes, a rarity for her. “Adventure games, um, have the same basic plot, um, structure all the time!”

“That’s pretty interesting,” I comment, meaning it. “A story structure developed independently and found across different mediums...” I laugh. “We humans must really like our hero stories.”

“We d-definitely do...” Oyamada says with a small smile. “I think it’s b-because all of us l-like to imagine ourselves in the hero’s p-place...”

“Yeah,” Eguchi agrees. “We, um, all strive to be the, um, best that we can be.”

“The only thing stopping anyone from becoming a hero is themselves,” I say, not really knowing where it came from. Then, I stand up. “That was a cool conversation. Let’s talk again some other time, okay?”

“O-Okay,” Oyamada agrees.

“Sure,” Eguchi says.

“Great,” I say with a smile.
That was surprisingly interesting conversation...I honestly thought I would
be bored, but as it turned out I was really the exact opposite.

I head over to Komatsu and Sashihara to find them bickering over something.

“What are you two arguing about?” I ask.

Komatsu folds his arms with an angry pout. “Sashihara-kun is tryin’ to control my diet.”

“That’s an overstatement!” the fitness trainer yells defensively. “I was merely suggesting a more healthy amount of food for you to eat.”

“Only three meals a day?!” Komatsu exclaims, as if that isn’t normal. He shakes his head. “I can’t imagine eatin’ that little.”

I raise my eyebrows. “Komatsu-kun, I’m quite certain three meals is a normal amount of food to be eating.”

“Normal for everyone but me,” Komatsu replies. “I ain’t like everyone else. I got a real high metabolism and need a higher intake of food, otherwise I get real damn tired.”

“But metabolism changes with age!” Sashihara reminds him. “Once you get older, continuing your diet will cause to gain unnecessary weight!”

“Wait, wait,” I say, interrupting before Komatsu can respond. “Komatsu-kun, do you eat until you’re completely full?”

“Yeah, duh!” the composer answers. “Why ya askin’?”

“Well, this may sound stupid,” I begin. “But my mother always advised me to eat until I was eighty percent full. That way, I would always be well-fed, but wouldn’t be eating too much.”

“Yes!” Sashihara agrees forcefully. “That’s a wondrous idea! In such a plentiful society as ours, we don’t need to stuff ourselves every meal. So, we can afford to eat less and still remain alive and well.”

Komatsu does not seem excited about my proposal, but shrugs. “If it’ll get ya off my back, sure I’ll try it out.” He shakes his head. “But don’t ya get thinkin’ that I’m gonna make this change last for good!”

“I’ll make it stay as long as I can!” Sashihara informs him. Komatsu only rolls his eyes. They’re a funny duo, they are...

I decide to leave them be and sit with the last available trio of Niizuma, Kasparov, and Domoto.

“Hello, you three,” I say politely. “What were just discussing?”

“Before you rudely barged into our conversation?” Domoto says sharply. “Before that, we were discussing how much of a failure this party was.”

I frown. “A failure? I wouldn’t say that...”

Niizuma raises her eyebrows as she inspects her nails. “From an objective standpoint it certainly is. The chances of a death occurring have increased greatly with absences of a few of our fellow prisoners here.”

“Although I do not believe their presences would have improved this party very much,” Kasparov says dryly. “In fact, it might have been even worse.”

“C’mon, you guys, lighten up,” I urge them. “Everyone else seems to be having a good time except you three.”

“Are you sure?” Niizuma asks with an arched eyebrow. “I for one think there is considerable opportunity for us to bond and have a good time while complaining.”

“It can be quite cathartic,” Kasparov agrees.

“But it’s not always the best option,” I protest.

“Then what is?” Domoto asks. “Blind optimism that you don’t actually believe in?”

Ouch, that hit a bit too close to home...
“If it improves the overall spirit of the group, yes,” I say. “One person moping only wants to make everyone else mope as well.”

Domoto narrows her eyes. “So you’d rather have them put on a fake smile and bury their negative emotions for them to fester? I’d say honesty is better in that case.”

I don’t know what I want to say in response to that, but my mouth is in the middle of opening when Ichigohara appears in the door to the Kitchen and shouts, “Everyone! Dessert’s ready!”

“Dessert?” repeats Niizuma. “I don’t know if I’ll be having any. Too much sugar.”

“Then don’t have any,” Domoto tells her. “I’ll be having some, though.”

“So will I,” Kasparov says.

“Me too,” I add, although none of them seem to care.

We make our ways to the Kitchen, where the wonderful aroma of cupcakes and coffee hangs in the air. “Eat up, everyone!” Ichigohara encourages us. “I don’t want any leftover cupcakes!”

“Cupcakes!?” Komatsu exclaims. “Fuck yeah!”

“Make sure you don’t have too many!” Sashihara cautions from behind him.

Ichigohara chuckles at their banter. “Also, if you’d like some coffee, I’ve brewed a few cups and have them on the counter.”

Carrasco immediately rushes over to a coffee mug and smells it. “Ahh, café con leche,” she says with a smile. “My favorite drink. But it’s missing one thing.”

“What’s that, Carrasco-san?” Motoki queries in between bites of her cupcake.

“Just a glass of cold water,” Carrasco says. “I know, it’s weird to have hot coffee with cold water, but I like it.”

“It’s really not weird,” Eguchi assures her quietly as she takes a cup of coffee for herself. “We all have our own, um, idiosyncrasies.”

Oyamada perks at Eguchi’s last word. “Eguchi-san, g-good vocabulary...”

She smiles at him. “Thanks, um, Oyamada-kun.”

“About the iced water,” Motoki says, bringing the conversation back to the original subject, “I can fetch you some, Carrasco-san. There’s an ice machine in the pantry we can use for ice.”

“Splendid,” Carrasco says with a smile. “But I’d feel bad if I just made you get something for me.”

Motoki waves her hand. “Don’t worry, Carrasco-san, it’s fine. I was thinking I could get myself that drink children sometimes have in America...oh, what’s it called...” She racks her brains. “Oh! Shirley Temple! That’s the name.” She chuckles. “I was always fond of those things, even if they leave my teeth red.”

“A Shirley Temple?” Ichigohara repeats. “You’d need some grenadine for that. Are you sure there’s some back there?” She wags her finger. “Besides, that stuff is pretty much pure sugar...it’s real unhealthy.”

“Indeed it is!” Sashihara says passionately. “Overly sugary thing should be avoided at all costs!”

“There’s some grenadine in the back, Motoki-san,” Niizuma tells the linguist as she ignores Sashihara and Ichigohara’s warnings about its unhealthiness. “I saw it while checking the catalog when we first investigated.”

“Thanks, Niizuma-san,” Motoki says thankfully. “I’ll go get the grenadine and Carrasco-san’s drink right away.” Motoki grabs a glass out of a cabinet and fills it with water from the faucet. Then, she goes back into the pantry. I turn to Carrasco.

“So, Carrasco-san,” I begin. “Why do you enjoy cold water with your—?”

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!” comes
Motoki’s scream from the pantry.

“Motoki-san?!” I say worriedly. “What is it?!”

She doesn’t answer. I exchange a fearful glance with Carrasco. No, it can’t be...

Domoto moves past us, and Carrasco and I follow right behind her to see what Motoki found in the pantry.

We rush through the door, and before I can even try to reassure myself that everything is fine...

I am greeted by the horrific sight before me. Motoki is slumped on the floor, her eyes transfixed on what is lying in the ice machine. A body with a knife stuck in its chest...eyes wide open...the body of Yuuto Furuhata, the Ultimate Sommelier.

Chapter 1: Law & Disorder Daily Life END

Completed 12/31/2018

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 1: Law & Disorder
Deadly Life

I...I can’t believe it. Furuhata, who was alive just hours before...was dead.

“Oh my God...he’s dead...” I say, barely believing it.

Before any of us say anything more, the monitor in the corner of the room crackles to life.

“*ding ding dong ding* A body has been discovered,” Monohebi says gleefully. “Everyone, make your way to the Kitchen Pantry. After a period of investigation, a class trial will be held. Remember, participation is mandatory.”

Immediately after, everyone else runs into the room.

“Holy fuckin’ shit!” Komatsu exclaims as soon as he lays eyes on the corpse. “Furuhata-kun is fuckin’ dead!?”

Eguchi claps her hands over mouth, tears of fear streaming from her eyes. “Oh my...no...he’s dead...!”

Oyamada pants nervously, trying not to faint. “Oh n-no...there’s s-s-so much b-b-blood...”

Kasparov looks at the dead sommelier sadly. “I cannot say I did not expect something like this to happen eventually...but I did not expect it now. Or for it be like this.”

Ichigohara wipes her eye sadly. “I don’t think any of us did, Sergey-kun.”

Sashihara stares at the body, incredulous. “This is awful...even if he was rude, he didn’t deserve this...”

Yamaguchi nods. “It’s no secret I despised him...but no one deserves to die in such a way.”

“No,” Domoto says after a long pause. “But he did regardless.”

Soon after she says that, Aozora and Hayasaka rush through the door.

“Who’s dead!?” Aozora asks desperately.

“Yeah, like, who is it?” Hayasaka asks, her voice full of fear.

“It’s Señor Furuhata,” Carrasco says sadly.

Hayasaka breathes a sigh of relief. “Oh, good. So it’s not, like, anyone any person gives a shit about.”

Aozora flinches when she says that. “How can you say that!? He was still one of us.”

Hayasaka narrows her eyes. “And that doesn’t, like, mean Mika-chan has to, like, be sad about him being dead~!” She smiles and holds up peace signs in both her hands. “Like, she’s actually pretty happy it, like, turned out to be him!”

Eguchi gives her an angry stare as she wipes away tears. “You’re awful, Hayasaka-san...can’t you have, um, a little compassion?”

Hayasaka snorts. “Nope~! Not if it’s for someone as, like, douchey as Yuuto-kun.” She leans forward, her eyes bulging out. “Mika-chan wouldn’t, like, cry if you died, either, Yuzuki-chan. Just, like, thought you should know~!”

Eguchi hangs her head and sobs. “That’s so mean...why...”

Hayasaka flips her hair, ready to explain, but Domoto cuts in. “Hayasaka-san, shut up. No one wants to hear you talk right now.” The toy maker sighs. “Even if Furuhata-kun was rude and irritating, he was still our fellow inmate, and he’s dead.”

“But, how...?” Aozora asks, looking confused. “How did any of this happen?”

Niizuma purses his lips. “Indeed. How on Earth did this happen? He left the party...” She frowns. “It doesn’t make sense that he died here, of all places.”

“That’s what the investigation is for,” Monohebi says suddenly.

Aozora jumps. “What the—!” He stares at the snake crossly. “How do you appear so suddenly?”

“Yeah, it’s real annoyin’,” Komatsu adds on.

“It doesn’t matter how I do it,” Monohebi says dismissively. “What matter is that I’m here and I have much to explain.”

Domoto raises her eyebrows. “And what is that?”

Monohebi tuts. “You’re too eager, Domoto-san...everyone has to be here for me to start explaining.”

“Who are we—oh,” I say as I remember. I had just gotten that out of my mind...

“We should start without him,” Kasparov says. “He’s dangerous. We can’t afford the risk.”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Terajima says from behind the him.

Kasparov starts. “What the—How did you get here so silently!?”

Terajima shrugs. “I’ve learned to walk quietly over the years.”

“Did your time in the Kuzuryuu Clan teach you that?” Domoto asks icily. “Get out. We don’t want you here.”

“Now, now,” Monohebi says, “please refrain from telling Terajima what to do, Domoto.” His red eye glints. “Remember, I am the one who controls things in this prison...so I call the shots. He is going to stay, at least for my explanation.”

Domoto relents, but still stares daggers at Terajima. “...Just get on with it. What is it you need to explain?”

“Yes, please explain,” Niizuma requests as she clutches her necklace. “I don’t enjoy being in the same room as a corpse.”

“Alright,” Monohebi says, accepting her request. “First, if you all turn on your e-Handbooks, you will notice I have added
a tab labeled ‘Monohebi File.’ In this tab, you will find basic forensic information around the information around Furuhata’s death.” The snake pauses for us to process that information. “Next,” he continues, “as you all should know, the seventh rule in your e-Handbook states the following: ‘Shortly after a murder takes place, there will be a short investigation period. After this, a class trial to determine the culprit will commence. Participation is mandatory for all surviving inmates.’”

“Yes,” Niizuma affirms. She purses her lips. “However, you never explained exactly what a class trial is.”

“No, I did not,” Monohebi confirms.

“Can I venture a guess to what it is?” Kasparov asks.

Monohebi looks surprised. “If you want.”

Kasparov pulls out his e-Handbook and clicks on the rules tab. Then, he reads aloud. “‘Rule 5: Any inmate who kills another student and becomes the “blackened” will graduate, as long as they are not discovered.’”He looks up at the snake. “It is not explicitly stated, but given how a class trial takes place only after a murder and legal trials aim to find the truth...I postulate the purpose of the class trial is to discover the identity of the culprit.”

“Ding ding ding!” Monohebi chuckles. “Correct! The purpose of a class trial is to discover the identity of the culprit behind the murder.”

“That...sounds awful...” Motoki says emptily, still slumped on the floor. “We have to suspect our friends like that...”

“It is awful,” Aozora agrees. “But I still have a question.” He turns to Monohebi. “What happens if a ‘blackened’ is discovered? What happens to the rest of us if they aren’t?”

Monohebi’s snake lips curve into a sick smile. “Oh, I am delighted
you asked. The answers to your questions can be found as the new rules 11 and 12 in your e-Handbook.”

Kasparov narrows his eyes at the snake and scrolls down the list of rules on his e-Handbook, which is already out. His eye widen. “What the hell!?” he exclaims.

“What are the new rules, Sergey-kun?” Ichigohara asks apprehensively. She looks over the chess grandmaster’s shoulder and reads aloud. “‘Rule 11: If the guilty party is correctly determined during a class trial, they alone will be executed.’”

“Executed!?” Eguchi repeats. She sobs. “No, no, no, that’s just awful...”

“There’s more,” Aozora says grimly, holding his e-Handbook tightly. “‘Rule 12: If the guilty party is not correctly determined during a class trial, all remaining inmates except for them will be executed.’”

What!? That’s...that’s horrible! I can’t even begin to imagine it...”So if we get this wrong, we’ll all die?” I say, my voice small.

“That is what rules say,” Monohebi says firmly. His red eye glints. “I know this is all shocking and frightening, but life in this prison was getting boring. I needed to spice it up by upping the stakes!”

Motoki glares at the snake hatefully. “You...you’re horrible.”

“I am aware,”
Monohebi says with a smirk. “Now, I shall get out of your way as you attempt to find the evidence you will need to discover the truth behind the death of Yuuto Furuhata.” The snake’s red eye glints. “But do not take too long, because you shall only have a limited amount of time to investigate!”

The snake disappears as suddenly as he had appeared, leaving us with only the sound of Eguchi crying softly.

Domoto breaks the silence. “We can’t just stand here forever. We need to get investigating.”

Niizuma presses her lips together. “I agree, but I have a suggestion before we get started.”

“What is that, Señorita Niizuma?” inquires Carrasco.

“Guards,” the statistician replies. “The culprit, whoever they are, will probably attempt to tamper with evidence. As such, we should assign at least two guards to ensure no one attempts to mess with the scene of the crime.”

Domoto ponders that for a moment. “Okay. Who will do it?”

Terajima clears his throat. “It’s my talent to be a bodyguard, so—”

“Absolutely not,” Domoto interrupts. “Even if you’re the Ultimate Bodyguard, you can absolutely not be trusted to do this task due to your yakuza involvement.”

Terajima sighs. “I should have expected this...”

“You’re right, you should have,” Domoto says pitilessly. “Now, does anyone else want to volunteer?”

“I w-will,” Oyamada stutters quietly. “I w-wouldn’t be m-much help doing anything else, a-anyway...”

“I’ll be the other one,” Aozora offers. “If that’s okay with everyone.”

Domoto nods. “It is. Alright. You two will guard the body and ensure no one tries anything...keep your eyes open,” she suggests. “Everyone else, find as many clues as you can so we can find the culprit behind this murder.”

I don’t want to do this...but I have to. I have to investigate every inch of this prison that I can before Monohebi calls us to the class trial. Because even if Furuhata-kun was a rude asshole...we can’t let his murderer get away with this despicable crime!

Investigation START

I
begin by pulling out my e-Handbook
and tapping the new tab labeled ‘Monohebi File 1.’ Inside, I see the following text:

“The victim of this case is the Ultimate Sommelier, Yuuto Furuhata. He died of a stab wound to the heart. The estimated time of death is between 7 pm and 9 pm.”

That really isn’t helpful at all..but I guess it wouldn’t make sense for Monohebi to give us a ton of clues. We’ll have to find them ourselves.

Putting my e-Handbook away, I head to the ice machine, which Motoki and Carrasco are standing next to. I need to know whoever went back to the pantry during the party...because whoever did is likely the killer. So I should probably get their alibis for the whole time mentioned in the Monohebi File...isn’t that something a detective would do?

“Hi,” I say. “Do you two mind telling me where you were between 7 and 9 tonight?”

Motoki frowns. “You should know, Kawashima-san,” she says, her voice unsteady. “We were at the party the whole time.”

Her voice is so shaky...this must really be getting to her.
“Yes, but did either of you leave each other’s company during that time?”

Carrasco and Motoki stare at each other. “No, I believe not,” Carrasco says after a while.

I nod. “Okay, and did either of you come back into this room, or even the Kitchen at any point during the party?”

“Not after I finished helping Señorita Ichigohara
cook,” Carrasco informs me.

“Neither did I,” Motoki adds. She shudders. “Well, not before...I found...it.”

I don’t need to ask what she means by “it.” “Okay, thanks for your information.”

So, they seem to have alibis...that’s good.
I turn away from them to inspect Furuhata’s corpse in the ice machine. He lies sprawled across the ice, a knife stabbed all the way up to the handle in his chest. Even if the Monohebi File hadn’t mentioned the cause of death, it wouldn’t have been to difficult to spot.
But that’s not all to the injuries on his body. There’s also another stab wound, this one in his stomach. It looks like it’s from the same knife that’s stuck in his chest. That’s weird...why are there two stab wounds? Whatever the reason may be, it’s probably important...

I take note of the second stab wound and observe something else strange. Even though there are only two stab wounds, most of Furuhata’s body is covered in crimson blood. At least, that’s what I think it is. Getting closer than I would like, I sniff the blood...and smell something in addition to the coppery smell of the blood, something...sweet? That’s odd...blood doesn’t naturally smell so sugary.

Making note of the sugary smell of the blood, I look over the rest of the body. There’s nothing else of significance, besides the fact that Furuhata’s eyes are wide open and a look of terrified surprise is etched on his face. That’s horrifying...I don’t want to look at it any longer.

Trying to get the image of Furuhata’s last face out of my head, I walk to talk with Aozora and Oyamada.

“I know you two are supposed to be guards, so I’ll keep this quick,” I say to them, “but could you give me your alibis for the time period between 7 and 9 tonight?”

“S-Sure,” Oyamada says while fiddling with a book in his arms. “I was at the p-party the entire time. I never even l-left my s-seat...”

“As you know, Kawashima-san, I can’t say the same.” Aozora takes off his glasses, wipes them, and then puts them back on. “I was at the party until about 7:30, when I returned to my room. I was there until...well, this happened.”

Hmm...I wonder where Furuhata-kun was during that timeframe.

“Did you see Furuhata-kun after you left, Aozora-kun?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “No. I didn’t see anyone.”

“Okay.” I take a deep breath. “Thanks for your help.”

“You’re welcome,” Aozora responds.

“Y-Yeah, it’s no p-problem...” Oyamada stutters.

I walk out of the pantry and into the Kitchen, where I see Niizuma and Yamaguchi talking near the counter.

“Hey,” I say while walking over to them. “What are you two discussing?”

“A missing item on my catalog,” Niizuma answers, holding up said catalog for me to see.

I scratch my chin. “And what is that missing item?”

“A kitchen knife!” Yamaguchi shouts. “We looked over Niizuma’s list, and there should be 10 chef’s knives, but we checked and saw that there are only 9!”

That is very suspicious..."That’s odd. Thanks for letting me know.” I pause. “Also, could you two tell me where you were between 7 and 9 tonight?”

“I was in the Cafeteria the entire time,” Niizuma replies as she fiddles with her necklace.

“I was as well,” Yamaguchi states. “Save for a brief period where I went to the Storage Room to get the electronic mixer like you asked.”

“What time did you leave at?” I wonder aloud. “And when exactly did you return?”

“I left at 7:29, I believe,” the revolutionary answers. “And I returned right before 7:45.”

I nod. “And did you see anyone at all while you left?”

He shakes his head. “No. I saw no one.”

“Thanks,” I say to both of them. “You gave me some useful information.”

“You’re welcome,” Niizuma says as she turns her focus to her nails.

“Anything for a servant of the people such as yourself, Kawashima-sama!” Yamaguchi says, way too loudly.

I leave them, thinking to myself. Looks like the list of potential suspects is dwindling fast...that is, assuming everyone so far has been telling the truth.

Before I leave the Kitchen, I talk to Ichigohara-san, who is staring at her mostly uneaten cupcakes sadly. “Hey, Kawashima-san...” she greets sadly as I walk over to her.

I return the greeting. “Hi, Ichigohara-san. Would you mind telling me where you were between 7 and 9 tonight?”

The gardener closes her eyes and reopens them with a sigh. “Yeah, sure.” She stands up straight and turn to look at me, a tired smile on her face. “I was back here the entire time. I was either cookin' or cleanin'.”

“Did you ever go back into the pantry at any point?” I ask, hoping the answer is yes.

Ichigohara-san’s smile fades. “Yes...but it was only to grab a few spices or extra ingredients.” She looks at me with a serious, pleading
expression. “I...I didn’t kill Yuuto-kun, Wakana-chan. You gotta believe that.”

I want to, Ichigohara-san, but you are looking the most suspicious right now...“I do,” I tell her, and it’s at least partially true. I really do want to believe he, so a part of me does...but the logical side of me is hard to silence.

Leaving her with conflicted emotions, I head out to the Cafeteria, where I immediately notice Eguchi crying at the end of the table.

“Hi, Eguchi-san...” I say softly as I approach the game developer.

She hiccups. “Hey, Kawashima-san...” she starts, avoiding eye contact as she attempts to wipe away tears. “I’m sorry that I look, um, so awful right now...I’m just devastated...that, um, someone would...m-murder someone else!” She closes her eyes and sobs. “Oh, this is so terrible...”

She’s got that right...this is terrible. But even still, we need to focus on solving the murder...as much as it may suck.
“I know you’re not feeling the best, so I’ll try to keep this brief,” I tell Eguchi. “But where were you between 7 and 9? Did you leave the Cafeteria at any point?”

“I was here the, um, whole time...” she answers as she wipes away tears. “So I have really, um, nothing useful to say...”

“That’s okay, Eguchi-san...” I reassure her. “It means you’re innocent.”

She smiles weakly. “Yeah, I guess there’s, um, that...”

If anyone here is innocent, it’s definitely Eguchi-san...I don’t think she could possibly be capable of hurting someone.
I leave her in peace and prepare to leave, but seeing Terajima staring pensively at the clock makes me stop.

“What are you doing, Terajima-kun?” I ask curiously. “And why are you staring at the clock?”

It takes a while for the bodyguard to answer. When he does, it’s brief. “I was thinking back to when Furuhata revealed my...tattoo. It was exactly 6:47.”

I blink, surprised. “Whoa, you remembered the exact time?”

“Yes,” he answers. “I always like to know exactly what time it is at every moment. Furuhata went back into the Kitchen at 6:50 and left at 6:51.” He shrugs. “This is all probably useless information, but when I left, it was 6:53.”

“No, that’s not at all useless,” I assure Terajima. “Thanks for letting me know.”

Keeping that in mind, I decide to head to Cell Block A. I should probably investigate Furuhata-kun’s room...and maybe the Storage Room, if I have time.

Before I can reach the room of the late Ultimate Sommelier, I run into Hayasaka.

“Hello, Hayasaka-san,” I greet her.

She rolls her eyes at me. “Ugh...like, hi.”

Looks like she doesn’t want to talk to me...well, the feeling is mutual.
“I can tell you’re not eager to speak with me, but I need to ask you something real quick.”

“Yeah?” Hayasaka asks. “Like, what is it?”

“Where were you between 7 and 9?” I ask the social media star.

“Mika-chan, like, was in her room the whole time.” She frowns. “But, like, Mika-chan did see, like, something while in her room...”

I raise an eyebrow. “What did you see? And what time was it?”

Hayasaka twirls her hair. “Mika-chan, like, doesn’t even know why, but at 7:23 she looked out through the, like, peephole in her door and saw Eisuke-kun leaving the, like, Storage Room.”

So Terajima-kun was in the Storage Room at some point after he left the Cafeteria...

“Thats interesting...” I think out loud. “Thanks, Hayasaka-san.”

“You’re welcome~!” Hayasaka says with closed eyes and a cutesy smile. “You can, like, repay Mika-chan by, like, immediately downloading a social media app and liking her most recent, like, posts~!”

Thanks, but I’d rather not...I leave her and finish making my way to Furuhata’s room. To my surprise, it’s unlocked. I turn the knob and find Kasparov and Komatsu inside.

“Oh,” I say, surprised. “I didn’t expect to see the two of you here.”

“I did not anticipate your arrival, either,” Kasparov responds. “I assume you have come to investigate Furuhata-kun’s room.”

Komatsu snorts. “No shit she did. Why else would she be here?”

Kasparov glares at the composer. “I was not asking you.” He turns to face me. “So why are you here?”

“To see if Furuhata-kun’s room might hold any potential clues,” I respond.

“Well, then yer shit outta luck,” Komatsu says as he fiddles with the zipper of his leather jacket. “Me and Kasparov-kun’ve been lookin’ ‘round and we ain’t found nothin’ yet.”

Kasparov frowns. “You are forgetting the notebook we found.” He holds up said notebook for the composer to see.

Komatsu waves it away. “Eh, that’s probably nothin’.”

That notebook...it looks like a piece was torn out of it...so it might not be useless after all. Still, I have something else to ask about...they didn’t mention that one important thing that’s probably in this room...

“Did you watch his motive video?” I ask. “That could be pretty important.”

Kasparov flinches. “Of course we did not view it. We were strictly forbidden to lay our eyes on any of those.”

Komatsu looks like he disagrees. “I ain’t too sure, Kasparov-kun...Furuhata-kun is dead now, so does it really matter if we watch his video? It was meant for him, not us, so it probably won’t be a big deal.”
The composer shrugs. “That’s jus’ my take on things.”

Kasparov considers Komatsu’s proposal for a moment, but then frowns. “Hmm...No. We can’t risk it.”

“Suit yourself, chess boy,” Komatsu says defiantly. “I’m watchin’ it. Kawashima-san, ya can join if ya want.”

I probably should, since I suggested it in the first place.
”Yeah, sure,” I say.

“Fools,” Kasparov scolds, “you are putting yourselves at risk.”

“Take the stick ya have in yer ass and go stick it in yer buddy Domoto-san’s,” Komatsu says rudely.

Kasparov’s hands clench into fists. “Arrogant brat,” he seethes. He turns around angrily. “You are going to put yourself in danger with that confrontational attitude.” He storms out of the room.

Komatsu flips the chess grandmaster off, even though he can’t see him. “Stuck-up asshole,” he mutters.

Kasparov-kun isn’t all wrong, though...Komatsu-kun should watch who he ticks off in this place...because one of us is a murderer.
I shudder when I think of that again.
No, not now...it’s not the class trial yet...I don’t want to think about until I have to. Right now, I need to watch that motive video...

“Let’s watch the video now,” I say, a little hurried. “Monohebi said we only had a limited time to investigate.”

“Sure thing,” Komatsu says. He grabs Furuhata’s motive video off the nightstand and turns it on. “Let’s see this shit.”

Komatsu holds the video between us as we watch it. At first, all that’s visible is the same logo that appears on our e-Handbooks that proudly declares we are in the “Monohebi Correctional Facility.” Like we need a reminder...

Next, the logo disappears and is replaced instead by the image of a boy that looks like a younger version of Furuhata, but closer to 12 or 13. The biggest difference, though, is the eyes. The boy’s eyes are strangely blank, as if they don’t see what’s in front of him. But before I can speculate why that is, the boy begins speaking.

“Yuuto...” the boy says, his voice shaky. “Please. You have to help m-me.” He lowers his voice and gulps. “The payments...they r-ran out. I tried to stretch them as much as I could...but I couldn’t make them last forever.” The boy breaks down and begins to cry. “I think they might do to me what they did to m-mom and dad...” He shudders. “...So please, bro...help me. You were the one making all the money before.” The boy now looks at the camera, but his eyes seem to looking slightly in the wrong direction. “Please...I just want you to be with me again. I feel so alone.”

All of a sudden, there is a loud noise in the background of the video. The boy looks behind him with a panicked expression on his face. “Oh no...no...no, no, no, no no no no no...”He turns to look at the camera again, his eyes yet again not quite looking in the right place. He shakes the camera desperately. “Please...PLEASE...I NEED YOU!!!!!”

The video then cuts to black, with a single sentence appearing in red text. “You know what you have to do to see him again, Yuuto Furuhata,” I read aloud. Then, the video is over.

Neither Komatsu nor I move for a moment. “Holy shit...” the composer says softly and with wide eyes. “That was intense-ass shit...I’m glad I didn’t watch mine now.”

“There’s no way that was real,” I say, although I don’t really believe it. Because if that video is real, then mine probably is too...and who knows what’s in my video.
I shudder. I don’t want to think about motive videos or what they contain anymore.

“Goodbye, Komatsu-kun,” I say shakily. “Thanks for watching that with me.”

“Yeah...yer welcome...” the composer replies, although his mind is obviously still focused on the video.

I leave Furuhata’s room feeling decidedly worse than I had before entering. Putting that aside, Monohebi still hasn’t called us to the class trial...so I need to take advantage of this time to investigate more. Hayasaka-san said something about Terajima-kun leaving the Storage Room, so I should probably head there.

As soon as I enter the Storage Room, I notice something odd. The mirror that Hayasaka-san was constantly posing in front of before seems to have disappeared...I wonder why that is.
I want to ponder that for longer, but am interrupted by Domoto clearing her throat beside me.

“I see you’ve come to investigate this room as well, Kawashima-san,” the short toy maker says.

“Yeah, I’m here to see what this room might hold,” I say as I scan the room. “Have you found anything in here?”

Domoto nods. “I have. The scrap of paper on the ground there, for instance.”

I follow her gaze to a small, crumpled up piece of paper on the ground. I pick it up and smooth it out to read the words on it: “Meet me in the Storage Room at 7:20. We need to talk about something important from before.”

This is definitely an important piece of evidence...

“Curious, isn’t it?” Domoto says, although she doesn’t wait for a response. “Although it’s not as curious as something else.” She raises her voice. “Right, Sashihara-kun?”

“Right!” comes Sashihara’s loud reply, although it’s coming from...under the floorboards!?

“Wait, what!?” I say, shocked. “How did he—how is he—”

“Follow me,” Domoto commands. She walks down one of the aisles in the Storage Room. I follow her, noticing it’s the same aisle I found the tablecloths in. I look for them, but to my surprise, see only two.

Wait, I only took two out of five...so there should be three there, right?

“Did you hear any of what I just said?” Domoto asks crossly from farther down the aisle.

“No,” I admit shamefully as I approach her. “I just noticed something strange.”

Domoto rolls her eyes. “Well, whatever it is, I doubt it’s more important than this. She moves a few boxes aside, pulls a latch, and, to my surprise, opens a trapdoor with a hole large enough for a human to fit through. The space beneath looks extremely dirty and disgusting. I wouldn’t ever want to go down there...

To my surprise, I see Sashihara poking his head out with a grin.

“So, you’re showing Kawashima-san the secret too?” he asks, coughing slightly from the dustiness.

“Indeed,” Domoto confirms. “Have you discovered anything?”

Sashihara nods. “I have, in spite of it being very dirty and dusty, which makes me happy that I have my medical mask on to prevent infection!”

Domoto nods. “That is good. But have you discovered anything?”

Sashihara nods. “Yes... even though it’s pretty dark down here, but you can still see easily enough.” He frowns. “So, while I was moving around, I stumbled into something I really didn’t like...”

I give him a curious look. “And what’s that?”

He disappears for a moment, then reappears, plopping a tablecloth stained by dirt and blood in front of us. “Oh,” I say flatly. “I’m guessing that’s important.”

Domoto strokes her chin. “Yes...” Suddenly, a flash of inspiration strikes her. “Sashihara-kun, can you see light from somewhere other than the Storage Room down there?”

He looks confused, but obeys. “Hmm...wait, now that I think of it, yes! There seems to be some light coming from the ceiling over there...”

“I want you to continue over there and tell me what you find,” Domoto commands.

“I will!” Sashihara says enthusiastically.

“What was that all about?” I ask, confused. “What does light have to do with the tablecloth?”

Domoto looks at me with a serious face. “If I’m wrong, you can forget it. But if I’m right...I might have solved our case.”

Domoto and I wait for a little while until Sashihara crawls back into sight with a huge grin on his face. “I followed the light source, and it seems to be coming from the pantry!”

Domoto smirks. “I thought so. And did you find anything else?”

Sashihara nods with a huge smile. “I did. Underneath the pantry’s floorboards, there’s a latch you can pull, and it opens a trapdoor exactly like the one in here.”

Domoto nods. “And did you try to open it?”

“Yes,” answers the fitness trainer, “But it wouldn’t even budge. There was something blocking it.”

“I see,” Domoto says as she strokes her chin slowly. “Okay. You can come back up, Sashihara-kun. You may want to get changed.

“Affirmative!” Sashihara responds as he pulls himself out of the crawlspace. He leaves.

I look into the crawlspace for a while before turning to Domoto. “How did you and Sashihara-kun find out about this trapdoor?”

“I found it on the first day while investigating,” Domoto confesses. “But I didn’t mention it to anyone else because I thought it was irrelevant and that it could be utilized in a murder plan.” She shakes her head. “Unfortunately, it seems those efforts were in vain, though not for lack of trying.”

I raise my eyebrows. “But if only you know, how did the culprit know about this?”

She looks at me sharply. “Don’t get confused, Kawashima-san. I’m not the culprit, nor did I aid them in any way.” She narrows her eyes. “Besides, I never once left the Cafeteria. Kasparov-kun and Niizuma-san can affirm this.”

Jeez, she does not react well to being suspected...”Okay, okay...I wasn’t trying to say you were the culprit or anything...”

Domoto looks doubtful. “I don’t really believe that, but whatever. The issue’s settled.”

We sit there in awkward silence for a moment until Sashihara returns, now with a completely clean new outfit and a fresh medical mask over his mouth. “I am back!” he declares.

“You are,” Domoto says flatly.

Before anyone can say anything else, the monitor in the room crackles to life. “And so concludes our period of investigation,” Monohebi says with poorly concealed excitement. “I hope you have gathered sufficient evidence. If not...” he chuckles. “Then that is your problem. Anyway, please make your way to the Cafeteria immediately.”

Sashihara’s face turns solemn. “So...the class trial is going to begin soon.” He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and then speaks in a surprisingly normal tone. “We should get going.”

“Yes,” Domoto says pensively. “Let’s go.”

We walk together to the Cafeteria, where, by the time we get there, everyone else has already arrived.

“So...we’ll be going to the class trial now,” Niizuma says to break the silence.

Motoki closes her eyes, as if to stop tears. “I...don’t think we need to be reminded, Niizuma-san.”

“We don’t,” Eguchi says softly. “Because we could all, um, die here...”

Ichigohara smiles nervously. “C’mon, Yuzuki-chan, you don’t gotta be so blue...we’ll all make it out of this.”

“Not all of us,” Kasparov corrects. “At least one of us will die, no matter what happens.”

“Everyone,” Aozora says with a strained voice, “please...please stop talking.”

We wait in silence in the Cafeteria for Monohebi to arrive. Where is he? Also, where are we going to have to the trial? There’s no courtroom here...

Before I can think to say anything, a portion of the wall in the side of the Cafeteria parts to reveal what looks like an elevator door. The elevator dings and opens to reveal a dreary gray interior.

“W-What?” Oyamada asks nervously. “Where’d that come f-from?”

“I don’t know,” I say, sounding a lot calmer than I really am. “But I think we had to get it on it.”

Most of us make our way to the elevator...except for one person.

“Mika-chan is, like, totally not getting on that gross elevator,” Hayasaka says with disgust.

“You have no choice,” Carrasco reminds her sadly. “Either you get on it, or you die.”

Hayasaka still clearly doesn’t want to do it, but relents and joins the rest of us in the elevator. After she enters, the doors close with an ominous sound.

As the elevator begins to descend, I remember how I forgot to ask Kasparov, Komatsu, Domoto, and Sashihara for their alibis. Oh, shit... It’s not too late, though...I can ask sometime in the class trial if it’s necessary. I’m pretty sure they were all at the party the whole time, but I probably should make sure. If I make careless assumptions, we could all die...

The elevator keeps on descending, and my mind wanders to what’s about to come, even if I don’t want it to. It’s just like Kasparov-kun said...there’s no way we’ll all be on this elevator when it ascends again...it’ll either be fourteen of us or just one. Because it might very well be that we get the culprit wrong and we all get executed.
Although I want to shudder at the thought, I don’t, somehow. There’s no time for being frightened anymore.
I close my eyes. C’mon, Wakana...you can do this. You’ve slapped a smile on your face even in the shittiest days of your life at the restaurant. You can act brave for one class trial.
I tell myself that over and over again until the doors open, and the courtroom is revealed to us. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t this.

The walls are made of solemn, foreboding concrete, as cold and heartless as this place. The center of the room is a circle of 16 defendant stands, one for each of us. Directly across from the elevator and behind the circle of stands, Monohebi sits on an extravagant throne.

“Sususu...welcome to my courtroom, inmates,” he greets us with his serpentine smile. “Please find the trial stand with your name etched on it.”

I don’t have to go far for mine, as it’s right in front the elevator. I close my eyes as I prepare to begin the class trial.

Yuuto Furuhata, the Ultimate Sommelier...no one can deny he was rude and often an asshole, but he didn’t deserve to be so mercilessly robbed of his life like he was...

And the person that did that to him...

Is right here in this courtroom.

[Split screens of Furuhata, Motoki, Yamaguchi, Sashihara, and Oyamada. Furuhata’s image is covered in a red filter]

They caved in to Monohebi’s motive and murdered Furuhata-kun...and we can’t let them get away with that.

[Split screens of Niizuma, Eguchi, Aozora, Komatsu, Carrasco, and Domoto]

Because even if Furuhata-kun was rude, he still deserved a chance at redemption...but this person, whoever they are, denied him that chance. And for that...we must find the truth.
[Split screens of Ichigohara, Hayasaka, Kasparov, Terajima, and Kawashima]

This is it. Where truth and lies collide...where hope battles despair. The class trial. Our lives are all on the line...so I can’t just act brave. I have to
be brave. Not only for myself and the others, but for Furuhata-kun!

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Monohebi File #1: The victim of this case is the Ultimate Sommelier, Yuuto Furuhata. He died of a stab wound to the heart. The estimated time of death is between 7 pm and 9 pm.

Knife in Furuhata’s Chest: There was a kitchen knife found buried in Furuhata’s chest. It is almost certainly the murder weapon.

Second Wound: Furuhata had what looks like a second knife wound in his stomach.

Sweet Smell of Furuhata’s Blood: Furuhata’s blood smelled unusually sugary.

Unusual Amount of Blood: There was an unusually large amount of blood for only two wounds on Furuhata’s body.

Aozora’s Account: Aozora left the party around 7:30. He claims to have seen no one on his way back to his room.

Missing Knife: According to Niizuma’s catalog, there should have been ten chef’s knives in the Kitchen. However, when she looked after the murder, there were only nine found.

Yamaguchi’s Account: Yamaguchi went to the Storage Room to find the electronic mixer at 7:29. He claims to have seen no one. He took approximately 15 minutes to find the mixer and return with it.

Terajima’s Account: Furuhata ripped Terajima’s sleeve at precisely 6:47. Furuhata went back into the Kitchen at 6:50 and exited again at 6:51. Terajima left the Cafeteria at 6:53.

Hayasaka’s Account: Hayasaka saw Terajima leave the Storage Room through her peephole at 7:23. She claims she didn’t leave her room after that.

Notebook: There was a notebook found in Furuhata’s room. It appears to have a page torn out of it.

Furuhata’s Motive Video: Furuhata’s motive video contained his younger brother pleading for him to come home. It ended with Furuhata’s brother seemingly in grave danger.

Missing Mirror: The mirror Hayasaka poses at before went missing at some point before the party and after Furuhata’s death.

Scrap of Paper: In the Storage Room, a scrap of paper was found. It read: “Meet me in the Storage Room at 7:20. We need to talk about something important from before.”
Stained Tablecloth: Sashihara found a tablecloth stained by dirt and blood in the crawl space somewhere beneath the Storage Room.

Secret Crawlspace and Trapdoors: There are matching trapdoors in the Storage Room and the Pantry. A secret, hidden crawlspace connects both.

Dirty Crawlspace: The crawlspace beneath the Storage Room and pantry is very dirty and dusty.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Class Trial: In Session!
Monohebi: [neutral] Before we begin, allow me to explain the rules of the class trial.

Monohebi: [neutral] In this trial, your goal is to correctly determine the culprit behind the murder. You will present your arguments for who the culprit may be, and, once you feel you have determined the guilty party, you will vote.

Monohebi: [slight smile] Vote correctly, and only one of you will be punished...the culprit, or the “blackened.” However, if you vote incorrectly...
Monohebi: [red eye glints] ...I’ll execute everyone besides the culprit, and only they will be freed from this prison!
Monohebi: [closes eyes] Also, it should be noted that this trial may not last forever. If it goes on for too long, I will put a stop to it and force a vote.

Monohebi: [neutral] Lastly, I would like to inform you all that refusal to vote will result in execution. Are there any questions?
Motoki: [grimaces slightly] Yes, I have one. What’s that?

She gestures to the grayscale portrait of Furuhata with a red X sprawled across his face standing between her and Eguchi.

Monohebi: [chuckles] Oh, that...it is merely the spot Furuhata-kun would have taken had he survived to the class trial. [slight smile] But leaving it empty seemed inappropriate...so I left a portrait through which he may partake in the class trial, even from beyond the veil of death.

Carrasco: [wrinkles nose] To mock the dead in such a way...how cruel.

Monohebi: [chuckles] Complain all you want, the portrait will stay. [neutral] Now that all the introductory material is through, let the class trial begin!
Oyamada: [holds book tightly to chest] B-Begin...? B-But...where do we even s-start?
Ichigohara: [scratches back] We should probably start by talkin’ about Yuuto-kun’s death, right?
Komatsu: [rolls eyes] No fuckin’ shit. His death is the whole reason we’re here.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] Why don’t we talk about how he died?

How he died...that means what the murder weapon is, and it should be pretty obvious what that is.

Knife in Furuhata’s Chest/Stained Tablecloth/Missing Mirror

Answer: Knife in Furuhata’s Chest

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] I don’t think there’s too much to discuss there, Motoki-san. The knife buried into Furuhata-kun’s chest seems to be what he died from.

Aozora: [shrewdly] Yes...indeed it does. [holds arm of glasses with one hand and holds out other hand] Moving on from that, maybe it would be prudent to begin discussing everyone’s alibis. That way, we can narrow down the culprit as much as possible.

Hayasaka: [flips hair] Really? Mika-chan thinks that would, like, be a waste of time~!
Yamaguchi: [confused] And why’s that?
Hayasaka: [plays dumb] Wait? Like, what was that? Mika-chan can’t, like, hear dirty, disgusting poor people...
Yamaguchi: [clenches fists] Take that back, you harlot!
Hayasaka: [closes eyes “cutely” and makes twin peace signs] Like, totally not~!
Domoto: [pinches bridge of nose] Hayasaka-san...please, just explain why you think gathering alibis would be a waste of time.
Hayasaka: [rolls eyes with exaggerated sigh] Ugh, fiiiiiinne. [places hand on hip] It’s because the culprit’s, like, totally obvious~! Like, more obvious than a botched Botox surgery!
Eguchi: [timidly] Then, um, who is it? Who, um, is the culprit?
Hayasaka: [frowns] Mika-chan isn’t just going to, like, say it. Not to you. [contemptuously] An ugly bitch like you has to, like, beg for someone as awesome as Mika-chan to tell you.
Eguchi: [hangs head] ...Oh. I, um, guess I shouldn’t have even asked. [tears well up in eyes] Someone as, um, worthless as me shouldn’t have, um, said something...
Kawashima: [firmly] No. Don’t listen to her, Eguchi-san. [hardens gaze] Hayasaka-san, please just tell us who you think the culprit is so we can get this trial over with.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side boredly] Whatever. [poses confidently] The culprit’s, like, obviously Monohebi~!

Monohebi: [surprised] Oh? [chuckles] Sususu...my dear, I follow a strict policy of non-interference. I have not, and never will, directly do anything to harm any of you while you reside in this prison.

Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] Even including executions?
Monohebi: [slight smile] Sususu...excluding executions. [crossly] Now stop wasting my time! I guarantee that the culprit is one of you, and I have video evidence to prove it!

Monohebi: [narrows eyes] So take your suspicions off me and place them onto your fellow inmates. Remember, the class trial will not last forever. Discussing irrelevant information like me being the culprit will only harm you all.

Niizuma: [sighs] ...Well then. [examines nails] It seems to me that we should return to the idea that Aozora-kun initially presented and give our alibis. [grabs necklace] That way, we can spend minimal time in this wretched trial room.

Aozora: [smiles] Thanks, Niizuma-san. I’ll start. [takes off glasses and wipes them] I was at the party from 6:30 until 7:30...at that point, I decided to depart the party and head to my room, where I stayed until I heard the announcement of Furuhata-kun’s death.

Domoto: [narrows eyes] Hmm...and you were you alone during that time, yes?

Aozora: [neutral] Yes.

Domoto: [scratches chin] That is suspicious... [folds arms with closed eyes] But I will not accuse anyone of anything until everyone tells their alibis. [opens eyes] I’ll go next. I was with Kasparov-kun and Niizuma-san for the duration of the party, through the possible time of death listed on the Monohebi File. They can corroborate this.

Kasparov: [serious] Indeed we can. The three of us are innocent.

Niizuma: [brushes hair out of face] Even though I already knew I was innocent, it’s nice to have three of us automatically cleared of suspicion.

Yamaguchi: [doubtful] Not so fast...what if the three of you were working together?
Komatsu: [angry] Yeah, maybe the three of ya are just accomplices and all tryin’ to get away with it together!
Kasparov: [clenches fists] Imbecile! We are not in this together!
Komatsu: [disbelieving] I ain’t satisfied with just yer word. Monohebi, are accomplices allowed?
Monohebi: [sighs] Yet again I must step in to say something... [neutral] To answer your question...yes, accomplices
are allowed. However, only one person may actually escape in the end, so it is rather pointless to act as an accomplice.
Domoto: [scratches chin] As I thought. [shakes head] Yamaguchi-kun, Komatsu-kun...please think before you open your mouths next time.

Niizuma: [cold stare] Yes, please do not accuse us so baselessly.
Motoki: [fiddles with bracelets] Anyway, to get us back on track to the alibi discussion...[neutral] Carrasco-san and I were together the whole time. Neither of us left the Cafeteria at any point before...[closes eyes to stop tears] Before we found Furuhata-kun’s body...
Carrasco: [fixes flowers in hair] Sí, es la verdad...we can affirm each other’s accounts.

Oyamada: [analytically] And b-because it w-wouldn’t make sense for you to be accomplices, you’re both l-likely innocent as w-well...
Aozora: [thoughtfully] Yes...likely, but not certainly. [neutral] What about you, Oyamada-kun? What’s your alibi?
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] E-Eguchi-san and I t-talked about how s-sometimes games and b-books can contain s-similar story s-structures... [looks to the side] And I g-guess Kawashima-san was th-there for a p-part of it, t-too...
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] She was?
Kawashima: [nods] Yeah...I went around the Cafeteria and talked to everyone who was there for the whole time. [carefully recalling] Which includes Sashihara-kun, Komatsu-kun, Carrasco-san, Motoki-san, you, Kasparov-kun, and Niizuma-san, in addition to Eguchi-san and Oyamada-kun.

Hayasaka: [confused] Wait, like, what about the dirty poor dude? Wasn’t he, like, with you losers the whole time?
Yamaguchi: [cold glare] I assume you’re talking about me, privileged wretch... [points and shouts loudly] And to answer your question, I briefly left the Cafeteria to go to the Storage Room right before 7:30 and returned 15 minutes later!
Sashihara: [shouts equally loudly] And why did you do that?!
Yamaguchi: [points defensively] So I could fulfill a request for a humble servant of the people and fellow member of the proletariat, Kawashima-sama! I got an electronic mixer that Ichigohara asked her to get!

God, they’re both so loud...my ears are going to be ringing long after this trial if they both keep this up.

Kasparov: [stares disapprovingly] So, are you saying Kawashima-san took advantage of you and gave her work to you so she did not have to?
Kawashima: [frowns] That wasn’t quite it. I...simply thought I had to do something more immediately. [laughs nervously] Besides, looking around in the Storage Room for something can be pretty irritating.
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] Still, putting off the work onto Yamaguchi-kun is not an admirable thing to do. [closes eyes] But that’s irrelevant to our current discussion. The remaining three have yet to give their alibis.

Eguchi: [puzzled] Remaining three? But five people still haven’t given their alibis...
Komatsu: [explaining] I’m guessin’ she’s includin’ Sashihara-kun and I in that ‘cause Kawashima-san mentioned us being in the Cafeteria the whole time already.

Domoto: [nods] Precisely. [narrows eyes] You both were there the whole time, right?
Sashihara: [shouts loudly] Affirmative!
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Yeah, we were.

Domoto: [nods] Good. [crosses arms] Now onto the last three. Ichigohara-san, Hayasaka-san, and... [venomously] ...Terajima-kun. Give your alibis now.

Hayasaka: [flips hair] Mika-chan will go first~! [poses "cutely"] So, Mika-chan, like, totally ditched your trash party and had, like, soooooooo much more fun by herself~!

Kasparov: [shrewdly] So, you were alone between 7 and 9, the window of time in which the death occurred?
Hayasaka: [loud sigh] Yeah... [closes eyes and holds up twin peace signs] But, like, Mika-chan swears she didn’t do it~! Like, on all of her social media followers~!
Domoto: [doubtful] You say that as if it’s a guarantee of your innocence. [folds arms] And the last two. What are your alibis?
Terajima: [adjusts sunglasses] I...left the party at 6:53. I returned at 9:14, when the body discovery announcement played. [blankly] That’s it.

Domoto: [doubtful] Are you certain?

Terajima: [blankly] ...Yes.

Kasparov: [raises eyebrows] I believe that alibi to be rather suspicious.

Oyamada: [flips through pages of book] Y-Yeah...it’s m-more suspicious than Claudius is as the m-murderer of Hamlet’s f-father...
Terajima: [coolly] Believe it or not, it’s what I’ll claim until you can reasonably disprove it.

Domoto: [coldly] Don’t you worry, we’ll get to that. [turns head] Now, Ichigohara-san. Give your alibi.

Ichigohara: [scratches back with nervous smile] Oh, yeah... [pulls on edge of glove] I...I was in the Kitchen for the duration of the party. [looks down to the side with fading smile] I...I even went back into the pantry once or twice.
Eguchi: [clutches heart] Wait, um, what?!
Yamaguchi: [narrows eyes] So you admit to entering the scene of the crime not once, yet twice?
Carrasco: [bites nail] That is something we can’t ignore. [holds hand above forehead dramatically] Lo siento, Señorita Ichigohara, but I cannot help but suspect you in this crime...

Ichigohara: [slightly apprehensively] Guys, the body wasn’t there either time. [strained smile] C’mon, you gotta believe me...I didn’t kill Yuuto-kun.

Domoto: [icily] Can you prove that beyond a reasonable doubt?
Ichigohara: [nervous smile] ... [hangs head] No...no, I can’t.

Niizuma: [coldly] How pathetic...you don’t even try to work hard to convince us of your innocence. [looks to the side] Maybe you deserve execution...
Aozora: [reproachfully] Niizuma-san, that is unduly harsh...we should at least give Ichigohara-san a chance to prove her innocence before we jump to conclusions.

Eguchi: [puzzled] But didn’t she, um, say she couldn’t, um, prove her innocence?
Kawashima: [considers carefully] Just because she can’t immediately think of something doesn’t mean there is no way to prove her innocence. [determined] We should at least give her a chance.

Domoto: [neutral] I agree. And if she is guilty, we need to provide convincing evidence as to why we believe her to be the culprit.

Sashihara: [shouts while pointing] So, we’ll be debating Ichigohara-san’s innocent or not? I had plenty of leafy greens today, so my brain power should be boosted!
Hayasaka: [smirks] You say that as if, like, you have any, like, brain power in the first place.

Sashihara: [yells crossly] Hey! That’s rude! Please apologize!
Hayasaka: [closes eyes “cutely”] Nope~!
Kasparov: [disapprovingly] Both of you, shut up so the intelligent people can speak.

So I guess we’ll be debating Ichigohara-san’s innocence now...Even though she’s looking pretty suspicious, u don’t think she’s the killer. In fact, I’m pretty sure I have evidence to suggest she’s not...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Monohebi File #1, Secret Crawlspace and Trapdoors

Ichigohara: [strained smile] I promise y’all...I’m not Yuuto-kun’s killer!
Niizuma: [coldly] But where is your evidence to suggest that you aren’t?
Ichigohara: [thinking hard] Well, uh...I don’t have anything concrete...but I do have a question to ask the rest of you.

Komatsu: [cockily] Yeah? And what’s that?
Ichigohara: [slightly confused] Well...how did Yuuto-kun even get back to the Cafeteria?
Ichigohara: [trying to recall] No one saw him enter...and he wasn’t really the type to go unnoticed.
Carrasco: [stares at folded fan while thinking] Sí, es verdad...and the knife used to kill him...it was from the Kitchen, no?
Yamaguchi: [nods vigorously] It was! Niizuma and I checked ourselves!
Niizuma: [scratches neck with disinterested stare] Indeed...and to address your earlier point, Ichigohara-san...
Niizuma: [forcefully] There was no way
for him to be transported back to the pantry without us seeing...so, as odd as it must be, he must have just walked past us all.

Hayasaka: [mock surprise] Wow, so Mika-chan, like, guesses Noriyo-chan’s the culprit...what a surprise~! [laughs] Not! You’re, like, totally guilty, Noriyo-chan~!
Ichigohara: [nervously] .........

Everyone is suspecting Ichigohara-san, but I think I heard a statement in there that sounded wrong...and it just might lead to proving her innocence.

Answer: Secret Crawlspace and Trapdoors >
no way

Kawashima: No, that’s wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Sorry, Niizuma-san, but that’s not true.

Niizuma: [arches eyebrow] Oh? Why not?
Kawashima: [seriously] Because there was a way for Furuhata-kun’s body to be transported to the pantry without having to go through the Cafeteria.

Ichigohara: [hopefully] Really? There is?
Kawashima: [smiles] Yep. There’s a crawlspace that runs beneath the floor between the Storage Room and pantry...so it’s possible his body was brought to the pantry using that.

Komatsu: [eyes widen] No fuckin’ way!
Motoki: [surprised] Is that really true...?
Carrasco: [fixes flower in hair] Creo que sí...it’s unlikely that el culpable managed to sneak into the Kitchen so covertly that not even one of us noticed... [shrugs] So it must be the truth.

Hayasaka: [frowns coldly] Mika-chan, like, doubts it’s true. Wakana-chan could easily be, like, making this up to try to, like, save Noriyo-chan’s ass~!
Domoto: [crossly] She’s not. [closes eyes and folds arms] I was the one who initially discovered the hidden connection. [opens eyes] I showed it to Sashihara-kun before I showed it to Kawashima-san.

Sashihara: [nods vigorously] Indeed you did! And I volunteered to go into the crawlspace to investigate it!
Aozora: [takes off glasses and wipes them] But...this crawlspace you describe...how does it work? [thoughtfully] And how did we not discover it during our initial investigation of this prison?
Domoto: [neutral] We did. Or at least, I did. [folds arms] I kept it hidden from the rest of you in hopes that no one would exploit it for the purposes of committing murder... [shrugs] But now that that has occurred, I saw no point in hiding my knowledge of it any longer.

Kasparov: [considers carefully] Then perhaps you should explain to us how this underground connection between the two rooms operates. That way, we can get the clearest possible understanding of this case.

Domoto: [neutrally] I would, but due to the fact that Sashihara-kun went down there himself, I believe he’d be more suited.
Sashihara: [shouts loudly] Then I will do it! [surprisingly quietly] To begin, there’s a trapdoor in the Storage Room that operates by opening a latch on the above side of the crawlspace.

Sashihara: [oddly calmly] The crawlspace itself is surprisingly well-lit, I’m guessing because of the light coming through the loose floorboards of the pantry and Storage Room.

Sashihara: [explanatorily] Since it’s so well-lit, you can easily make your way to the space underneath the pantry. The latch is a bit different there, and, unlike the latch in the Storage Room, it’s beneath the floor.

Yamaguchi: [thinks hard] So, the trapdoor in the Storage Room can only be opened from above the floor, while the trapdoor in the pantry can only be opened from beneath?
Sashihara: [nods] Precisely.

Oyamada: [holds book tightly] Th-That’s very i-inconvenient...the culprit would have to h-hope no one s-stumbled into the Storage Room to s-see an open t-trapdoor...
Aozora: [thoughtfully] But most of us were at the party, correct? And those that weren’t had little reason to be in the Storage Room... [takes off glasses and wipes them] So, the culprit probably didn’t see it as risky to leave the trapdoor open.
Sashihara: [shouts loudly] I have one more thing to add! [shifts to quiet, explanatory voice] In addition, the crawlspace is pretty dirty—I was covered in dust and dirt after crawling around down there.

Eguchi: [wrings hands apprehensively] That’s, um, good to know, but, um, I have a question...
Terajima: [flatly] What is it, Eguchi-san?
Eguchi: [nervously] I could just be being dumb, but are we, um, now thinking Furuhata-kun didn’t die in the, um, pantry? And that his body was, um, moved to the, um, pantry from outside the party through the, um, crawlspace? [clasps hands in front of heart while looking down and to the side] Because, otherwise, there’s, um, no point in using this complicated, um, trapdoor system...
Kawashima: [nods] I think so, Eguchi-san. It makes the most logical sense for him to be killed while away from the party.

Ichigohara: [smiles hopefully] So does this mean I’m innocent?
Kawashima: [returns smile] Because you never left the Kitchen, yeah, you probably are. In fact, something that was found makes me think—

Niizuma: I reject that hypothesis!

BREAK!

[split screen separates Niizuma and Kawashima]
Kawashima: [surprised] Niizuma-san? What is it?

Niizuma: [folds arms] There’s a glaring flaw in your reasoning.

Kawashima: [confusedly] Wait, huh? What’s wrong with it?

Niizuma: [coldly] Pft...you can’t even see it yourself. [narrows eyes] Then I’ll just have to show to you the fallacy in your logic.

REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN

Truth Swords: Missing Mirror, Stained Tablecloth

Niizuma: [brushes hair out of face] My argument has to do with...
Niizuma: [brushes hair out of face] ...your assertion that Furuhata-kun’s corpse...
Niizuma: [crosses arms and shifts weight to right leg] ...was transported via the crawlspace.

ADVANCE!
Kawashima: [seriously] Yeah? And what’s wrong with that?

Niizuma: [disapprovingly] You still can’t see it...
Niizuma: [brushes hair out of face] The issue is with through where the corpse was transported.

Niizuma: [places hand on hip and shifts weight to right leg] If the crawlspace was as dirty
as Sashihara-kun claims...
Niizuma: [shifts balance to other leg] ...then why didn’t Furuhata-kun’s body have any dirt on it?
Niizuma: [points accusatorially] There was nothing to prevent
his body from being dirtied...
Niizuma: [points accusatorially] ...so the method you described is impossible!

Niizuma-san’s argument makes sense...for what she knows. But there’s a piece of evidence I have that she doesn’t that invalidates her whole argument...I just need to show her it!

Answer: Stained Tablecloth >
nothing to prevent

Kawashima: I’ll cut your contradictions in two!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] That’s wrong, Niizuma-san. There was something to prevent his bodied from becoming dirty.

Niizuma: [doubtfully] There was? What was it, then?
Domoto: [cuts in] A tablecloth Sashihara-kun found under the floor.

Kawashima: [nods] Yeah. But more specifically...a tablecloth with blood and dirt stained on it.

Ichigohara: [shocked] Wait, huh?

Kasparov: [raises eyebrows] A bloody tablecloth? [narrows eyes] Why were we not told of this earlier?
Niizuma: [coldly] Yes, why weren’t we? It could’ve saved us some precious time.

Kawashima: [slightly irritatedly] I was about to explain that to Eguchi-san before you interrupted me.

Niizuma: [mouth half open] ... [looks away bitterly] ...Whatever. Let’s not dwell on that anymore.

Seems like someone isn’t too fond of being wrong...

Eguchi: [pushes glasses up nose] So, um, the tablecloth... [timidly] I’m sorry, um, if I’m stupid, but how exactly does that, um, proves Niizuma-san’s point wrong?
Aozora: [smiles] I think I understand... [holds arm of glasses with one hand and holds out other] The tablecloth was utilized to move Furuhata-kun’s body without dirtying it.

Carrasco: [poses dramatically] That explains both the wicked presence of the dirt and the crimson fluid that once flowed through his veins...

Is it really necessary for her to be that dramatic about it...?

Yamaguchi: [stares distastefully] ...You can just call it what it is. Blood. More importantly, I have a question.

Motoki: [curiously] You do? What is it?
Yamaguchi: [disdainfully] You ask that as if I would answer a member do the bourgeoisie such as yourself, Motoki.

I’m guessing I’ll have to do this...

Kawashima: [forcefully yet politely] What’s your question, Yamaguchi-kun?
Yamaguchi: [gleefully] Ah, to be acknowledged by a member of the proletariat! How wondrous! [settles down reluctantly] But, to answer you...my question is the following: are we now considering the Storage Room the place of murder now?
Domoto: [folds arms] Yes, it seems to be the most likely. [scratches chin] It’s highly unlikely he died where we found him. And the Storage Room is the place that makes the most sense.

Yamaguchi: [unsatisfied] But why? I understand the trapdoor’s location there makes it suspicious, but isn’t Furuhata-kun’s room just as viable as a place for him to have died?

No it’s not...and there’s a reason why...

Furuhata’s room was entirely normal/There was evidence of a struggle in the hallway/A knife was found in Furuhata’s room

Answer: Furuhata’s room was entirely normal

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] But Furuhata-kun’s room was completely normal, Yamaguchi-kun. Isn’t that right, Kasparov-kun and Komatsu-kun?
Kasparov: [affirmatively] It is indeed. There was nothing
in Furuhata-kun’s room to indicate he died there.

Komatsu: [fixes belt] Yeah, there wasn’t a sign of struggle, blood, a weapon...none of that shit.

Kawashima: [looks at Yamaguchi expectantly] See, Yamaguchi-kun? There was nothing in there, so it doesn’t make sense for him to have died there.

Yamaguchi: [unsatisfied] Hmm...
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] S-Sorry if I’m interrupting...b-but why would F-Furuhata-kun even g-go to the S-Storage Room? [looks down nervously] He had n-no reason to be there...

I’m not so certain...there was something we found in the Storage Room that would explain Furuhata-kun being there...

Missing Mirror/Trapdoors/Scrap of Paper

Answer: Scrap of Paper

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thinking carefully] Actually, Oyamada-kun, there was a scrap of paper at the crime scene that explains him being there.

Oyamada: [surprised] Th-There was?
Kawashima: [nods] Yep. [pulls out scrap of paper and reads it] “Meet me in the Storage Room at 7:20. We need to talk about something important from before.”
Aozora: [scratches chin] So, Kawashima-san, are you suggesting Furuhata-kun wrote that note?
Kawashima: [seriously] I am.

Oyamada: [uncertainly] B-But how can you kn-know for sure? The c-culprit could’ve wr-written it...

No, the culprit couldn’t have...because of that one thing we found in Furuhata-kun’s room...

Furuhata’s Motive Video/Notebook/Ice Pack

Answer: Notebook

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] No, Oyamada-kun...because we found a notebook in Furuhata-kun’s room, a notebook that looked like a page had been torn out of it.

Motoki: [perplexed] But where would he have gotten such an item? There nothing like that in my room...
Carrasco: [bites nail] Nor mine...
Ichigohara: [dejectedly] Not mine, either...
Eguchi: [confused] I don’t, um, understand what’s the issue...he could’ve simply gotten it from the, um, Storage Room, right?
Domoto: [folds arms] Indeed he could have. I remember seeing some notebooks in there on our first day investigating. Pens, too.

Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] So he probably wrote the note... [shouts loudly] But who was he meeting with?!
Carrasco: [unfurls fan and fake swoons] Could it be...!? Was he meeting with el culpable!?
Kasparov: [considers carefully] You need not be so dramatic...but it seems so.

Motoki: [fearfully and hopefully] So, if we manage to find out who we was meeting with, we might determine who the culprit is?
Domoto: [slowly] Yes...and there’s one part of that note that makes me suspicious.

Kawashima: [nods] I think I know what you’re talking about, Domoto-san...the “from before” part, right?
Domoto: [folds arms] Indeed. That sentence narrows it down to someone who has had interactions with Furuhata-kun “from before”...and that leaves only one suspect in my mind.

I know who she’s talkng about...and even though I don’t want to accuse that person, I have to! For Furuhata-kun’s sake!

CHOOSE A PERSON!
Wakana KawashimaEisuke Terajima
Sakiko Motoki
Yuuto Furuhata
Yuzuki EguchiSergey KasparovMayumi CarrascoMika HayasakaTomiko NiizumaNoriyo IchigoharaYoshi YamaguchiYutaka Komatsu
Hisaya Sashihara
Osamu Oyamada
Michio AozoraOtoha Domoto

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

[EISUKE TERAJIMA CHOSEN]

Kawashima: It can only be you!

Kawashima: [narrows eyes suspiciously]
Terajima-kun...you’re the person Domoto-san’s talking about, aren’t you?
Terajima: [blankly] ....................
Domoto: [crossly] Aren’t you going to answer? Were you or were you not the person Furuhata-kun gave the note to?
Terajima: [blankly] ....................
Kasparov: [frustratedly] If you are going to say nothing so suspiciously, then you may as well admit you are the blackened already.

Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] ...There’s nothing to say. I’m innocent.

Motoki: [apprehenssively] But...are you? I don’t want to doubt you, Terajima-kun, but the altercation between you and Furuhata-kun at the beginning of the party makes you...
Komatsu: [looks to the side] Suspicious as fuck?
Motoki: [grimaces] Yeah, I guess that’s one way to put it...
Aozora: [thoughtfully] I suppose it is... [neutral] Say, Terajima-kun, what was the alibi you gave us again?
Terajima: [coolly] That I left the party at 6:53, returned at 9:14, when the body discovery announcement played, and that I didn’t leave my room for the time in between. [blankly] It’s still the truth.

Hayasaka: [sniffs mockingly] Wait, like, what’s that thing Mika-chan smells? [poses confidently] Oh, that’s right, it’s, like, the smell of a fucking liar~!
Terajima: [adjusts sunglasses] What? What did I lie about?
Hayasaka: [flips hair] The “fact” that you, like, were in your room the whole time! That’s, like, totally not true~!
Niizuma: [scratches neck with slightly curious stare] Hayasaka-san, how exactly can you prove that Terajima-kun’s alibi is false? [grabs necklace] I don’t contest that it’s improbable and unlikely, but where’s your evidence?
Aozora: [slowly] Yes, Hayasaka-san, please explain why you believe his alibi to be false.

Hayasaka: [flips hair] You got it! [places hand on hip confidently] Okay, so like...after she, like, left the party, Mika-chan was in her room, like, minding her own business, when she got the random, like, idea to look out the peephole of her, like, door.

Eguchi: [uncertainly] Wait, um, why were you doing that? It doesn’t, um, make much sense to me...
Hayasaka: [mockingly distraught] Whaaaatttt? It doesn’ttttt? [leans forward and winks] Luckily, Mika-chan doesn’t, like, give a shit what an ugly bitch like you says~!

Eguchi: [hangs head] I was just, um, asking a question...you didn’t, um, have to be so rude...
Yamaguchi: [loudly] I agree! It is shameful for you to judge Eguchi on her appearance alone! Not everyone has the funds to spend so much money to look good!
Eguchi: [hurt] Are you, um, saying I don’t look good...?

Yamaguchi: [sputters] Uh...well...that wasn’t my intention...
Niizuma: [shakes head] Tsk, tsk...Yamaguchi-kun, you only made things worse...
Aozora: [politely] Pardon my interruption, but can we allow Hayasaka-san to resume telling her story? We only have so much time for this trial.
Hayasaka: [annoyed] Thank fuck...that was getting irritating. [holds up twin peace signs and closes eyes “cutely”] Thanks for, like, shutting those losers up, Michio-kun~!
Aozora: [laughs nervously] Uh...you’re welcome?
Hayasaka: [places hand on hip] Anyway, back to the story. [poses confidently] Mika-chan was, like, looking out of her room’s peephole when, like, to her surprise, she saw Eisuke-kun leaving the Storage Room~!
Terajima: [starts suddenly] ...!
Domoto: [smiles slyly] Ha...got you.

Kasparov: [coolly] Do you mind explaining to us how you managed to forget the fact that you went to the Storage Room in your alibi, Terajima-kun?
Terajima: [blankly] ...I’m not the culprit. That’s all I have to say.

Kawashima: [grimaces slightly] I’m sorry, Terajima-kun, but we can’t just take your word for it. Is there any way you can prove that you’re innoce—

Terajima: Back off!

BREAK!

[split screen separates Terajima and Kawashima]

Kawashima: [confused] Huh? What is this?
Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] You asked me if there was any way for me to prove my innocence. This is it.

Terajima: [defiantly] I’ll show you why I’m not the killer!

REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN

Truth Swords: Missing Knife, Terajima’s Account

Terajima: [holds earpiece] My first contention is...
Terajima: [coolly] ...that there was no possible murder weapon in the Storage Room.
Terajima: [presses index finder against temple] No knives, skewers, blades of any sort...
Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] ...Nothing Furuhata-kun or I could have used.

ADVANCE!
Kawashima: [challenging] Are you finally admitting you met with him in there?

Terajima: [blankly] I am. But even still...
Terajima: [calmly] ...you have yet to answer me.
Terajima: [coolly] How could I have killed Furuhata-kun...
Terajima: [coolly] ...when there were no weapons in the Storage Room...
Terajima: [piercing stare] ...when there was no time for him
to get a weapon...
Terajima: [piercing stare] ...or no time for me
to get a weapon?
Terajima: [calmly] Neither Furuhata-kun nor I
ever returned to the Cafeteria...
Terajima: [piercing stare] ...so it’s impossible for me to have killed him when I met with him in the Storage Room!

Terajima-kun brings up a fair point...but he’s still wrong. I just have to show him why...

Answer: Terajima’s Account > no time for him

Kawashima: I’ll cut your contradictions in two!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] It’s ironic that you’d forget about the testimony you gave me, Terajima-kun.

Terajima: [puzzled] What? What are you talking about?
Kawashima: [seriously] You said there was no opportunity for Furuhata-kun to get a weapon...[narrows eyes] ...but you also said he went back into the Kitchen before he left the Cafeteria, remember?

Oyamada: [eyes widen] So he t-took a weapon while he w-was back there?
Eguchi: [terrified] Wait a moment...are you saying that Furuhata-kun was trying to, um, kill Terajima-kun?
Kawashima: [nods] It looks like it. He was probably the one who wrote the note.

Motoki: [perplexed] But what reason would he have to do that...?

What reason would he have to kill? There’s one piece of evidence that gives a pretty obvious answer...

Furuhata’s Motive Video/Ice Pack/Missing Knife

Answer: Furuhata’s Motive Video

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] While investigating Furuhata-kun’s Room, Komatsu-kun and I watched Furuhata-kun’s motive video. [shudders] I don’t want to get into specifics...but let’s just say it would have been enough for him to want to kill.
Komatsu: [grimaces as he recalls] Yeah, that shit was disturbin’ as fuck...makes me glad I never watched mine.
Kasparov: [disapprovingly] Neither of you should have watched it in the first place.
Domoto: [crossed arms and closes eyes] I agree with you, Kasparov-kun, and highly disapprove of Kawashima-san and Komatsu-kun’s actions, but what’s done is done. [opens eyes] But for now, let’s get back to more important subjects.

Niizuma: [scratches neck disinterestedly] Indeed. But what to discuss now?

Terajima: [coolly] I have an idea. How about we talk about how Furuhata-kun could have gotten a weapon from the Kitchen with all the cooks in there? [pushes sunglasses up nose] It seems unlikely.

Ichigohara: [scratches back with nervous smile] Ah, well, you see...we were too busy tryin’ to cook up a big meal to pay much attention to Yuuto-kun goin' back there.

Sashihara: [grabs edge of medical mask] That is true! Making such a large meal is quite a lot of work!
Komatsu: [almost drooling] But it’s so worth it in the end...to have delicious, amazing food...
Carrasco: [small laugh] Señor Komatsu, you may want to watch yourself before you drool all over your outfit...

That composer...he really does love his food, doesn’t he...

Niizuma: [crosses arms and shifts balance to right leg] Hold on...Furuhata-kun said he was going to get an ice pack, right?
Kasparov: [considers carefully] If my memory serves me correctly, yes.

Niizuma: [nods] Interesting...
Kawashima: [curiously] Why is that so interesting, Niizuma-san?
Niizuma: [snorts] I’m glad you asked. [confidently] The rack of chef’s knives is adjacent to where the ice packs are in the Kitchen. [folds arms] So it’s not exactly crazy to think Furuhata-kun took one of the knives while grabbing himself an ice pack.

Motoki: [confused] But where would he have hidden it? We would have seen the knife if he was holding it...
Hayasaka: [leans forward and winks] Mika-chan can, like, answer that question~!
Terajima: [stiffly] Really? How?
Hayasaka: [places hand on hip] Well, Mika-chan is, as the Ultimate Social Media Star, very, like, aware of everyone’s fashion choices... [harshly] And by the way, most of them are, like, totally gross! [covers mouth with mock shyness] Except yours, Tomiko-chan~! It looks, like, totally awesome~!
Niizuma: [scratches neck disinterestedly] ...I’m not sure that’s high praise coming from you...
Hayasaka: [closes eyes “cutely” and holds up twin peace signs] Mika-chan’ll just, like, pretend she didn’t hear that~!
Domoto: [crossly] Will you get to the damn point already?! We don’t have all day.

Hayasaka: [exaggerated sigh] Ugh, fiiiinnnnneeee... [boredly] Yuuto-kun’s tuxedo, though, like, really ugly, probably had pockets on the, like, inside of it~! So, like, he totally could have, like, carried out a knife~!
Terajima: [blankly] I see...

It looks like he has no more arguments left now...

Kawashima: [neutral] So? What’ll it be now, Terajima-kun?
Terajima: [puzzled] What do you mean?
Kawashima: [curiously] Are you finally going to tell us what happened between you and Furuhata-kun in the Storage Room?
Domoto: [icily] And, along with that, will
you finally admit your guilt as well?
Terajima: [sighs] No, Domoto-san, I won’t do that... [pushes sunglasses up nose] But I will do as Kawashima-san suggested.

Terajima: [calmly] I arrived in the Storage Room at exactly 7:20, just like the note asked. And then...

[[flashback begin]]
Terajima: [looks around] Hello? Who’s there?
Furuhata: [quietly] Over here.

Terajima: [calmly] Furuhata-kun? Why did you ask me to come here?
Furuhata: [chuckles] Hehe...why... [narrows eyes] I told you. We need to discuss something from before.
Terajima: [fidgets uncomfortably] If it’s about my times of being a yakuza...they’re over. [clenches fist] It might’ve been hard, but I managed to put myself past all that.

Furuhata: [clenches teeth angrily] You...you fucking liar! [brandishes knife] What about my debts, huh?! You should know about that. They’re not fully paid... but they should be!
Terajima: [slightly concerned] Furuhata-kun...please put the knife away.
Furuhata: [eyes widen] No! You don’t understand! I have to do this!
Terajima: [visibly worried] Furuhata-kun! Put the knife away!
Furuhata: [screams distraughtly] I won’t! I have to save him! I HAVE TO DO THIS!! [lunges at Terajima]

[[flashback end]]

Terajima: [regretfully] And then...I dodged his attack. I grabbed the knife, and, instinctively, I—
Aozora: [sadly] You stabbed Furuhata-kun in the heart?
Terajima: [shakes head sadly] No. I stabbed him non-fatally, in the stomach.

Motoki: [perplexed] Wait, what? So you didn’t kill him?
Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] No. I stabbed him, and he collapsed to the floor, the knife in him...but I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. [clenches first with
regretful grimace] I...I hadn’t hurt someone in so long! I’m a bodyguard, I’m supposed to protect people! But I failed, in the worst way possible... [cries softly] I’m so ashamed...that I left him there, to bleed out all alone...
Yamaguchi: [pitilessly] How disgusting of you...to just leave him to die like that.

Komatsu: [judgmentally] Yeah, man, that’s pretty damn fucked up.
Ichigohara: [confused] But, wait...if Terajima-kun just left Furuhata-kun to die in the Storage Room...how the hell did he get into the pantry?
Niizuma: [brushes side of neck disinterestedly] Didn’t we already discuss this? They used a tablecloth to wrap his body, went through the crawlspace, and using the trapdoor beneath the pantry, went up into that room to leave him body in the ice machine.

Kasparov: [considers carefully] In reality, not much has changed...our only indication that Furuhata-kun was left alone in the Storage Room comes from Terajima-kun, who admitted to stabbing him and is currently our main suspect. [analytically] So, I think the best course of action is to doubt Terajima-kun’s testimony.

Domoto: [nods] I agree completely. Terajima-kun’s story could easily be a lie.

I definitely think that Terajima-kun is suspicious, but I’m not sure we should completely disregard his testimony just yet...

Kawashima: [scratches ear] Terajima-kun, I know that you’re good with knowing exact times, so what time did you leave the Storage Room at?
Oyamada: [grips book backpack straps] Wait, wh-what does this have to d-do with a-anything?
Kawashima: [neutrally] You’ll see.

Terajima: [recalls] What time...? Hmm... [calmly] I’d say it was 7:23.

Just as I thought...

Kawashima: [knowing smile] And, you, Hayasaka-san? What time did you see Terajima-kun leave the Storage Room at?
Hayasaka: [distracted] .......... [startled] Wait, what did you say? Sorry, Mika-chan was too busy thinking about, like, her favorite foundation that she’d love to be, like, wearing right now~!
Kawashima: [seriously] What time did you see Terajima-kun leave the Storage Room at?
Hayasaka: [annoyed] Oh, that? [boredly] It was, like, 7:23.

Aozora: [slightly confused] Excuse me, Kawashima-san, but where exactly are you going with this?

Kawashima: [carefully] If Terajima-kun and Furuhata-kun met at 7:20, and he left the Storage Room at 7:23...then how would he have enough time to bring Furuhata-kun under the floor to the pantry?
Komatsu: [snorts] Are ya seriously usin' that to defend him, Kawashima-san? He coulda just lied, y’know!
Aozora: [holds arm of glasses with one hand and holds out other hand] But Hayasaka-san corroborated Terajima-kun’s alibi with the exact same time he stated.

Komatsu: [unfazed] So? Hayasaka-san coulda lied once she heard Terajima-kun tell the time.
Kawashima: [doubtfully] She could have...but she also told me 7:23 during the investigation, long before Terajima-kun cited that time. [determined] And because they both independently reported the same time, we can assume it’s likely accurate.

Hayasaka: [offended] Of course it, like, is! Like, why would Mika-chan lie? She’s not, like, a stupid fuck like Yutaka-kun obviously is~!
Komatsu: [angrily] Hey! Take that back!
Hayasaka: [leans forward and winks] Like, totally not~!
Sashihara: [shouts through medical mask] Stop your pointless arguing! We need to get back on topic!
Aozora: [smiles] Thank you, Sashihara-kun. [takes off glasses and cleans them] Now, to return to relevant matters, due to Furuhata-kun and Terajima-kun meeting at 7:20, and the latter leaving at 7:23...I doubt he killed Furuhata-kun.

Kawashima: [nods] Yeah...I don’t believe it, either.

Motoki: [fiddles with bracelets] Yeah...three minutes doesn’t seem like it’s enough time to bring Furuhata-kun all the way over to the pantry...
Niizuma: [analytically] Then it’s probable he’s not the killer.

Carrasco: [fixes flowers in hair] Sí...en mi opinión, it seems like Señor Terajima is innocent.

Domoto: [folds arms and closes eyes] I disagree. He’s still a viable suspect in my eyes.

Kasparov: [considers carefully] Indeed...his actions are too suspicious to disregard.

Hayasaka: [places hand on hip] Mika-chan, like, totally agrees~!
Ichigohara: [confused] But wasn’t your testimony a reason why Michio-kun and a few of the others stopped suspecting him?
Hayasaka: [poses confidently] Yep~! But Mika-chan, still, like, really disagrees with him being innocent~!
Monohebi: [smirks] Sususu...what’s this? It seems our opinions are rather split at the moment...which means it’s time for a Scrum Debate!

A what now?

Eguchi: [bewildered] Um, a what?
Monohebi: [neutral] A Scrum Debate. It occurs when the trial participants are split over a certain manner and split into two separate teams to debate the issue. [smiles slightly] Now, please hold on to your seats as they are rearranged temporarily for this special debate...

I hold onto my stand as it and all the others around me begin ascending into the air into an upper room in the trial area.

Unlike the rest of the prison, this room is sleek
and ultra-modern. We’re arranged into two rows facing each other with myself, Aozora, Niizuma, Ichigohara, Carrasco, Motoki, Terajima, and Furuhata’s portrait.

In the other row, I see Domoto, Kasparov, Yamaguchi, Eguchi, Oyamada, Sashihara, Komatsu, and Hayasaka.

Alright, let’s get this underway...

SCRUM DEBATE

Question: Is Eisuke Terajima the culprit?
Kawashima’s Side: He’s not!
Opposing Side: He is!

BEGIN!

Komatsu: It’s pretty damn obvious to me that Terajima-kun coulda made his way to the pantry under the floor!
Kawashima: Ichigohara-san!
Ichigohara: Didn’t you see Eisuke-kun’s suit? If he went under the floor, there’s no way it’d be so clean!

Yamaguchi: Does it have to be the same suit? He had the time to change, after all.

Kawashima: Niizuma-san!
Niizuma: But the rip from when Furuhata-kun tore Terajima-kun’s suit is still there, so it must be the same suit.

Hayasaka: Mika-chan, like, saw Eisuke-kun leaving the Storage Room~!
How is that not, like, super suspicious?
Kawashima: Terajima-kun!
Terajima: The fact that I left the Storage Room
alone isn’t a confirmation of my guilt.

Kasparov: The fact that Terajima-kun and the victim met at all is highly suspicious.

Kawashima: Aozora-kun!
Aozora: If they met
at 7:20, how could Terajima-kun have killed him, crawled to the pantry with the body, and gone back in the span of only three minutes?

Domoto: Furuhata-kun and Terajima-kun obviously had a negative relationship. We can’t just ignore that potential source of conflict.

Kawashima: Carrasco-san!
Carrasco: Señor Terajima was not the only person who Señor Furuhata had a negative relationship
with!

Eguchi: Terajima-kun, um, stabbed Furuhata-kun, though...Isn’t that, um, suspicious enough?
Kawashima: Motoki-san!
Motoki: But Terajima-kun only stabbed
Furuhata-kun once, and there were two stab wounds on the body!

Sashihara: Even if there were two, Terajima-kun openly admitted to thrusting a knife into the victim’s stomach! How can we ignore that?!
Kawashima: I’ll do it!

Kawashima: According to the Monohebi File, Furuhata-kun died from the stab wound to the heart, not to the stomach!

CROUCH BIND
3...2...1...
Kawashima, Aozora, Niizuma, Ichigohara, Carrasco, Motoki, Terajima: This is our answer!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [determined] See? Terajima-kun is innocent.

Yamaguchi: [clenches fist bitterly] It seems to be that way...
Kasparov: [analytically] So...I was wrong. [unaffected] No matter. I shall note this mistake and try not err again in the future.

Domoto: [eyes Terajima suspiciously] ............
Komatsu: [snorts] Ha. Looks like Domoto-san can’t admit she was wrong.

Domoto: [icily] You were on the side that supported Terajima-kun as the culprit, weren’t you? You have no room to say that.

Komatsu: [runs fingers through hair nonchalantly] Yeah, I was. But at least I can admit I was wrong and move on from it.

Domoto: [angrily] You... [reluctantly] Ugh. Whatever. There’s no reason to drag this on farther. [stares at Terajima suspiciously] And even if you’re not the culprit of this case, I still don’t trust you.

Aozora: [neutrally] And you shouldn't, due to his yakuza connections. [holds arm of glasses with one hand and holds out other hand] However, due to him being almost certainly innocent, we should try to move on from that matter for now.

Yamaguchi: [narrows eyes] But “almost certainly” innocent isn’t the same as certainly innocent. [loudly] We still need to suspect him!
Aozora: [thoughtfully] ...No. We’ve spent enough time suspecting Terajima-kun. I suggest considering other suspects so we can make the most accurate judgment at the end of this trial.

Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] Th-That sounds like a g-good idea...
Eguchi: [uncertainly] But, um, where should we start to look, um, for more suspects?
Kawashima: [carefully] Maybe we should consider evidence in the Storage Room, the likely scene of the murder?
Ichigohara: [fiddles with gardening globes] Yeah, let’s do that.

So, we’ll be debating again now...I hope we manage to find some evidence that points to another suspect...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Scrap of Paper, Missing Mirror

Carrasco: [poses dramatically] So, evidence in the Storage Room that points to the wretched criminal who robbed Señor Furuhata of life...
Carrasco: [hides mouth with unfurled fan] ...what could that be?
Aozora: [thoughtfully] Hmm...maybe it’s possible that... [holds arm of glasses with one hand and holds out other hand] ...the culprit left behind a piece of evidence crucial to discovering their identity?
Eguchi: [timidly] Maybe, they, um, broke something in the Storage Room
while, um, killing Furuhata-kun?
Niizuma: [purses lips] Or maybe they could have caused something to go missing?
Yamaguchi: [shrewdly] Perhaps they left a mark on the floor
while stabbing him?
Oyamada: [apprehensively] Ugh, we c-can’t decide on s-something... [pulls on hair] ...we’ll n-never find the c-culprit now!

I’m not so sure, Oyamada-kun. I think someone said something that sounded right...

Answer: Missing Mirror > caused something to go missing

Kawashima: That’s right!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [reassuringly] Don’t worry, Oyamada-kun. There’s something that points to a culprit.
Oyamada: [hopefully] Th-There is? Wh-What is it?
Kawashima: [seriously] It has to do with what Niizuma-san mentioned.

Eguchi: [uncertainly] Do you mean, um, when she said something might be, um, missing?
Kawashima: [nods] Yep. And the item that went missing was—
Hayasaka: [loudly] Wow! Would you, like, look at the time~! Mika-chan thinks it’s time we, like, end the trial already~!
Aozora: [raises eyebrows] Why do you want to proceed to a vote now, Hayasaka-san?
Hayasaka: [flips hair] Because, like, there’s no need to go, like, any farther in this trial~!
Kasparov: [doubtfully] There is not? [harshly] I disbelieve it. To me, it seems as if you do not wish to proceed further because you are worried about the item Kawashima-san was about to mention.

Hayasaka: [poorly concealed panic] That’s, like, totally not true~! [narrows eyes with cold judgement] Not true at all!
Domoto: [pinches bridge of nose] Hayasaka-san, you’re only making things worse for yourself... [scratches chin] But that does make me wonder. What was the item that went missing, Kawashima-san?
Kawashima: [seriously] It was a mirror. The same mirror Hayasaka-san loves posing in front of...
Hayasaka: [taken aback] Eugh...!

Yamaguchi: [bitterly] Curse that mirror...it’s the reason she did nothing when on the day our group was assigned to investigate the Storage Room.

Ichigohara: [laughs nervously] Yeah, she did spend a whole lotta time lookin’ at herself in it.

Kawashima: [seriously] In addition, when I went to get the tablecloths and party decorations for Ichigohara-san before the party...I saw Hayasaka-san posing in front of the mirror.

Sashihara: [points while shouting] Hold on! Are you saying it was there just hours before the murder, but not there after!?

God, he’s so loud...is it really necessary?

Kawashima: [seriously] Yep. And Hayasaka-san was the last person who was seen with it, as far as I know.

Hayasaka: [cold, unforgiving stare] ...How could you, Wakana-chan? [clenches fists angrily and screams] Like, be glad you don’t have any social media, bitch! If you, like, did, Mika-chan would send her army of followers after you! She’d, like, cancel your ass, like, soooo hard!
Komatsu: [slightly repulsed] Damn, girl, calm down...
Hayasaka: [furiously] No!
Niizuma: [annoyed] Can we just get on with things? At this point, it’s obvious you took the mirror, Hayasaka-san, so just admit it.

Hayasaka: [pants from earlier tantrum] .......... [reluctantly calms down] Fine. Because you have, like, good fashion taste and are actually, like, tolerable, Mika-chan’ll listen to you.

Hayasaka: [resumes normal personality] Okay, losers, Mika-chan’s only going to say this, like, once, so listen up! [sighs exaggeratedly] After Mika-chan left the party, she, like, went to the Storage Room to get her, like, favorite mirror to, like, entertain herself for the night~!
Aozora: [neutrally] Is that it?
Hayasaka: [closes eyes “cutely” and holds up twin peace signs] Yep~!

Domoto: [icily] Hold on. You’re not done yet. [scratches chin] You said you went to the Storage Room after you left the party. So, did you run into Furuhata-kun there and kill him?
Hayasaka: [angrily] Like, totally not~! [pouts] Mika-chan went at 6:55, way before that stupid sommelier, like, met with Terajima-kun.

Aozora: [shrewdly] I’m afraid that can’t be verified, so you must remain a suspect. [neutrally] Unless, of course, you have something to prove your innocence.

Hayasaka: [narrows eyes] So, you want Mika-chan to, like, defend herself? [angrily] Fine! She’ll, like, prove she’s not the culprit!

So, Hayasaka-san will be defending her innocence now...I wonder how good of a job she’ll do.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Dirty Crawlspace, Sweet Smell of Furuhata’s Blood, Hayasaka’s Account

Hayasaka: [points defensively] Mika-chan, like, swears she’s not the culprit~!
Carrasco: [unfurls fan and covers mouth] But can you cast the shadow of suspicion off yourself successfully? Can you convince us of your innocence?
Hayasaka: [offended] Of course! [frustratedly] Mika-chan already, like, told you all, she went to the Storage Room before
Eisuke-kun and Yuuto-kun met!
Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] But do you have any way to prove that?
Hayasaka: [furiously] That, like, doesn’t matter~!
Eguchi: [timidly] Do you, um, have a real objection to what Terajima-kun said?
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] It d-doesn’t look like it...

Aozora: [shrewdly] In that case, if there’s nothing that would prevent her from being the culprit, we have no choice but to suspect her as the killer.

Hayasaka: [furiously] Ugh! You’re all wrong! [eyes wide with anger] Someone else took that mirror!
Ichigohara: [scratches back] But you admitted to taking it earlier...
Domoto: [crosses arms and closes eyes] Ignore her. With how suspicious she’s acting, there’s no way she’s not the culprit.

Hayasaka-san is definitely on some pretty thin ice right now...but I’m unsure if she’s the culprit. However, I think someone said something that would let me know for sure if she’s guilty or not...

Answer: Dirty Crawlspace >
nothing that would prevent her from being the culprit

Kawashima: No, that’s wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously Actually, Aozora-kun, there might be something that could’ve prevented her from being the culprit.

Aozora: [surprised] Oh? There is?

Kawashima: [determined] The crawlspace. It was extremely dirty and dusty, right, Sashihara-kun?
Sashihara: [grabs medical mask’s straps] Right! Crawling around there ruined the outfit I was wearing at that point! [loudly] Luckily, I was able to go back to my room to get changed!
Aozora: [curiously] Where are you going with this, Kawashima-san?

Kawashima: [seriously] If the crawlspace was that dirty, then how could Hayasaka-san be the culprit? [determined] She’s very...well, fashion focused and takes great pride in appearance.

Hayasaka: [leans forward and winks] Yep~! Mika-chan is, like, all about how she looks~!
Kawashima: [seriously] So, if Hayasaka-san cares so much about her appearance...how could she have dirtied herself and her clothes by going down into that disgusting crawlspace?
Domoto: [unconvinced] She still could’ve done it. That much hasn’t changed.

Kawashima: [concedes] Yes, she could have... [seriously] But why would she? If she were the killer, it’s not like she’d have needed to bring Furuhata-kun through the crawlspace. [determined] It would have been just as easy for her to kill
Furuhata-kun and leave his body there.

Ichigohara: [pulls on edge of glove] That’s true...
Motoki: [confused] So, is she the killer or not?
Kasparov: [shrewdly] She absolutely remains a suspect... [analytically] However, her obsession with her appearance makes her using the method of transporting the body considerably less likely...
Aozora: [neutral] She could be the culprit. [takes off glasses and wipes them] However, just like with Terajima-kun, it would be best to consider other suspects before deciding for certain who the culprit is.

Hayasaka: [annoyed] Ugh, you can’t prove Mika-chan innocent? [furiously] Why are you all so stupid?!
Domoto: [sharply] If you can provide innocence to definitively prove yourself innocent, then go ahead.

Hayasaka: [mumbles angrily] Ugh...fucking pieces of shit...
Domoto: [irritatedly] I’m guessing that means you can’t. [scratches chin] Now, let’s consider who else could be the culprit.

Yamaguchi: [loudly] Wait, hold on! Why are we just moving on? She could be the killer!
Domoto: [rolls eyes] I’m well aware, Yamaguchi-kun. If we don’t find any new suspects, then we’ll return to suspecting her and Terajima-kun. [crosses arms] Until then, we’ll continue looking for potential suspects. We don’t want to miss the right one by not considering them.

Hayasaka: [points defensively] Yeah, Mika-chan shouldn’t be your only suspect, you dirty, disgusting poor person~!
Yamaguchi: [venomously] Shut up!

Moving on from their bickering...yet again we have to consider a new suspect. But who could it be? I feel like pretty much everyone has been cleared of suspicion at this point...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Aozora’s Account, Sweet Smell of Furuhata’s Blood, Missing Knife

Ichigohara: [scratches back] So, we’re looking for other potential suspects...
Ichigohara: [uncertainly] What exactly makes someone a suspect?
Niizuma: [brushes hair out of face] To begin, they must have left the party
at some point...
Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] They, um, probably would have, um, also gone to the, um, Storage Room
too...
Motoki: [fiddles with bracelets] The culprit probably would have had to have left the Cafeteria after 7:23
as well...
Motoki: [sadly] Unfortunately,
no one did that...
Carrasco: [unfurls fan and covers mouth] And they must have done so all without being seen. Like an invisible man they creeped to the Storage Room...
Oyamada: [repeats] Invisible man? [excitedly] Are you p-perhaps referencing the f-famous novel Invisible Man by R-Ralph Ellison?!
Carrasco: [frowns] Lo siento, but no.

Oyamada: [sadly] O-Oh...okay...
Domoto: [pinches bridge of nose] That was completely pointless... [irritatedly] Please, can we stay on topic?

What should make someone a suspect? There’s one thing I heard that sound correct...

Answer: Aozora’s Account > no one did that...

Kawashima: No, that’s wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] That’s not quite right, Motoki-san.

Motoki: [perplexed] Huh? What did I say that was wrong?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] When you said that no one left the Cafeteria after 7:23, when Terajima-kun left the Storage Room... [shakes head] That’s wrong.

Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] It is? Who left?
Aozora: [flatly] I did.

Sashihara: [clutches strap of medical mask] You what?! [points and shouts] You know that makes you incredibly suspicious, right?!
Eguchi: [tremulously] Yeah...as much as it, um, sucks, you leaving for no reason makes you really, um, suspicious...
Aozora: [closes eyes] I’m aware that I’m suspicious. [holds arm of glasses with one hand and holds out other hand] I left the Cafeteria all alone at 7:30, and, although I claim I went back to my room, which is the truth, you can all still reasonably doubt me. That’s fine, but...
Aozora: [seriously] There’s someone in the same boat as me, one who none of you have suspected yet. [narrows eyes] Someone who left the Cafeteria for the Storage Room after 7:23 but before 7:30, when I left. [smiles] Do you all know who that is?

That person...! I can’t believe I didn’t think of them sooner! The culprit...the person who killed Furuhata-kun...there’s one other person who it could’ve been! I don’t want to point them out, but I must...not only for our lives, but Furuhata-kun’s sake!

CHOOSE A PERSON!
Wakana KawashimaEisuke Terajima
Sakiko Motoki
Yuuto Furuhata
Yuzuki EguchiSergey KasparovMayumi CarrascoMika HayasakaTomiko Niizuma
Noriyo IchigoharaYoshi Yamaguchi
Yutaka KomatsuHisaya Sashihara
Osamu Oyamada
Michio Aozora
Otoha Domoto

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

[YOSHI YAMAGUCHI CHOSEN]

Kawashima: It can only be you!

Kawashima: [determined] Yamaguchi-kun...you’re the last potential suspect.

Carrasco: [gasps dramatically] So, the shadow of suspicion falls over yet another person!
Aozora: [smiles] Yep, that’s right. Yamaguchi-kun is our next suspect.

Yamaguchi: [shocked] Gh...! [loudly] What do you mean “that’s right?” Of course I’m not the culprit!
Kawashima: [frowns] I never said you were definitely the culprit. I only said you’re a suspect.

Komatsu: [fixes belt] Yeah, dude, calm yer ass down...
Yamaguchi: [narrows eyes] I can’t accept even accusation! [sadly] Really, Kawashima-sama, I am appalled that a servant of the people like you would do this to me...
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] I’m only pointing out that you could be the culprit.
Yamaguchi: [points angrily] And I can’t allow that!
Niizuma: [scratches neck disinterestedly] Your highly negative reaction to Kawashima-san’s accusation... [purses lips] I’d say it increases your chances of being the culprit by about 48%.

Kasparov: [analytically] Indeed...reacting so poorly only makes you seem even more suspicious.

Yamaguchi: [clenches fist angrily] Gr... [narrows eyes; surprisingly quietly] Fine. But first, explain this to me: why am I the last suspect?

Why? That’s pretty obvious...

Yamaguchi’s Account/Aozora’s Account/Scrap of Paper

Answer: Yamaguchi’s Account

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] It’s because, as you testified earlier, you left the Cafeteria for the Storage Room at 7:29 and were gone for about fifteen minutes.

Aozora: [nods] Indeed. That’s more than enough time to kill Furuhata-kun, wrap his body in a tablecloth, transport it to the pantry, go back to the Storage Room through the crawlspace, and finally return to the Cafeteria.
Yamaguchi: [frowns] I can’t deny that... [pushes hair underneath beret] But I’ll let you know this: I am not the culprit. [stomps combat boots] And I’ll prove it to you right now!
Domoto: [scratches chin] If you can prove your innocence, go ahead. I’d like this trial to be over as soon as possible.

Eguchi: [shivers] Same...I hate the, um, feel of this place.

Aozora: [smirks] Well then, Yamaguchi-kun. Try to prove your innocence.

Yamaguchi: [pulls at uniform collar] Oh, I will try. [points angrily] And I will succeed! I will overthrow the tyranny of your accusations to establish myself as completely innocent!

So, Yamaguchi-kun’s going to try to prove his innocence...I want to believe he’s not guilty, but his reaction to me pointing him out as a suspect makes me wonder...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Knife in Furuhata’s Chest, Unusual Amount of Blood, Stained Tablecloth

Yamaguchi: [loudly] You say that I am the culprit...
Yamaguchi: [points angrily] But do you have any way to prove that!?
Aozora: [holds arm of glasses with one hand and holds out other hand] Well, for one, you have no alibi
for the time you left the Storage Room.

Yamaguchi: [angrily] Neither do you!
Aozora: [shrewdly] No, but there is no proof
I went to the Storage Room.

Ichigohara: [frowns] Yeah...but you gettin’ the electronic mixer for me is proof you went there, Yoshi-kun.

Yamaguchi: [pulls at uniform collar] Wrong! All wrong!
Yamaguchi: [icily] How do you know Furuhata even died in the Storage Room?
Oyamada: [confusedly] H-Huh? We already d-decided he d-died there...
Yamaguchi: [stomps combat boots] You proved nothing! [angrily] If Furuhata truly died in the Storage Room...
Yamaguchi: [pulls on uniform collar] ...then him having the perfect amount
of blood for two wounds when we found him in the pantry makes no sense!

Motoki: [thinking hard] I guess that’s right...
Yamaguchi: [points defensively] Also, even if the culprit used the tablecloth, there should’ve been at least some trace
of blood in the Storage Room!

Yamaguchi-kun’s argument is sensible...actually, no it's not. Now that I think about it, there's a huge hole in his argument that I need to point out to him...

Answer: Unusual Amount of Blood >
perfect amount

Kawashima: No, that’s wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Are you sure it’s the “perfect amount of blood,” Yamaguchi-kun? [narrows eyes] Because to me, it looked like it was far too much!
Yamaguchi: [icily] What do you mean far too much? There was a perfectly normal amount!
Aozora: [arches eyebrow] Did you see the body? Almost all of Furuhata-kun’s body was covered in what appeared to be blood. [shrewdly] That’s far too much blood for only two stab wounds.

Motoki: [shakily] Yeah...there was a ton of blood on it... [shivers] It’s horrible just remembering it.

Yamaguchi: [clenches fist] Gh...!

It seems like he didn’t like me proving that wrong...

Niizuma: [purses lips] Hold on. This is a real concern. How did that much blood get on Furuhata-kun if he had only two stab wounds? Who did the blood come from?
Kasparov: [analytically] It is quite peculiar...
Ichigohara: [thinks carefully] Maybe the killer cut themselves so they could bleed over Furuhata-kun’s body?
Hayasaka: [repulsed] Ew!!! That’s, like, totally gross~!

Sashihara: [pulls on latex glove] And also impossible.

Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] H-How is it i-impossible?
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] To get the amount of blood that was on Furuhata-kun, the culprit would’ve lost a dangerously high amount of blood!

Domoto: [scratches chin] Besides, no one here was ever seen visibly bleeding, and, due to us having no medical supplies to patch up a wound, them cutting themselves would have only made them more suspicious.
Ichigohara: [sighs] I guess you’re right. The blood didn’t come from the killer.

Komatsu: [holds up middle finger] Then where the fuck did it come from? Blood don’t jus' magically appear!
Terajima: [grabs earpiece] So, if it didn’t come from the culprit or Furuhata-kun, then from where did this extra blood materialize?
Eguchi: [pulls on hair frustratedly] Ugh, this is, um, hurting my head!
Yamaguchi: [smirks] Ha. Looks like you’re stuck.

Actually, I don’t think so...

Kawashima: [determined] No, Yamaguchi-kun. We’re not stuck. I’ve come up with a solution to this problem.
Carrasco: [clutches heart dramatically] You have?! So you can finally cast aside the veil of uncertainty to reveal the light of truth?
Oyamada: [curiously] Wh-What is it? What’s the s-solution?
Kawashima: [seriously] The extra blood we found on Furuhata-kun... [deep breath] ...it’s not blood at all—

Yamaguchi: Shut up!

BREAK!

[split screen separates Yamaguchi and Kawashima]
Kawashima: [surprised] Yamaguchi-kun? [narrows eyes] Why’d you interrupt me?
Yamaguchi: [points angrily] Because I heard what you were about to say, and it’s
all wrong!
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] What’s all wrong? The fact that the extra blood isn’t actually blood?
Yamaguchi: [pulls on uniform collar] Indeed! That blood is real, and I’ll prove it to you right now!

REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN

Truth Swords: Unusual Amount of Blood, Sweet Smell of Furuhata’s Blood, Dirty Crawlspace

Yamaguchi: [icily] To start off...
Yamaguchi: [points defensively] ...all the blood
on Furuhata was the same shade of red
as normal blood!

Yamaguchi: [stomps combat boots] So it must all be real!

ADVANCE!
Kawashima: [challenging] But there was way too much blood for only two wounds! How do you explain that?

Yamaguchi: [angrily] Maybe Furuhata took a blood thinner, making more of his blood come out.

Yamaguchi: [angrily] Whatever the reason...
Yamaguchi: [icily] ...If your only claim that the blood isn’t real is just that one thing, then you have no ground to suggest it’s not actually blood!

Yamaguchi-kun...he’s definitely not right. The extra “blood” of Furuhata-kun was fake, I’m sure of it. I just need to show him a reason why...

Answer: Sweet Smell of Furuhata’s Blood >
that one thing

Kawashima: I’ll cut your contradictions in two!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [determined] It’s not just that one thing, Yamaguchi-kun. [seriously] It’s also the fact that the blood smelled sweet and sugary!
Yamaguchi: [clenches fist] Gh...!
Eguchi: [bewildered] Wait, the blood smelled, um, sweet? That makes, um, no sense at all!
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] No, it wouldn’t...if it were actually blood.

Niizuma: [shifts balance to right leg] So, if I understand you correctly, are you saying that the extra blood on Furuhata-kun’s body wasn’t blood at all? If so, then what was it?
Aozora: [shrewdly] That’s a good question, Niizuma-san...we should probably try to figure out what it is before moving on.

He’s right...the culprit had to have used something as a stand-in for blood...but what was it? Something sweet and sugary, but also the color of blood...I feel like I should know what it is, but I’ll have to think about it hard to figure out exactly what it is...

HANGMAN’S GAMBIT

Question: What substance could be used as fake blood?

RDNNEGIAE

Answer: Grenadine

Kawashima: I’ve solved it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [eyes wide in realization] That’s it!
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] Wh-What’s it?
Kawashima: [smiles slightly] The “blood” on Furuhata-kun...it’s not blood at all...it’s grenadine!
Yamaguchi: [pulls on hair] ...Eugh!

Seems like he didn’t like me saying that...

Hayasaka: [confusedly] Wait, Mika-chan, like, doesn’t get it~! Like, what is grenadine?
Kawashima: [explanatorily] It’s a bar syrup used in mixed drinks and cocktails.

Motoki: [smiles fondly] And in that American child’s drink I like...Shirley Temple.

Kawashima: [nods] That too. [determined] Most importantly, it has a deep, dark red color... [seriously] ...a color very similar to that of blood!

Sashihara: [shouts loudly] Even more importantly, it’s very high in sugar and is very unhealthy! Please, avoid it at all costs!
Komatsu: [almost drooling] That makes me want it even more...

He really gets excited about anything food-related, doesn’t he?

Kasparov: [analytically] So, if we move back to relevant topics... [slowly] Yamaguchi-kun, do you still maintain that the blood in Furuhata-kun is real?
Yamaguchi: [angrily] ...Ugh...No. [icily] But I have another question.

Domoto: [raises eyebrows] What is it now?
Yamaguchi: [icily] Am I the main suspect now? We haven’t discussed any others in a while.

Domoto: [doubtfully] It really hasn’t been that long...
Hayasaka: [twirls hair] Yeah! Like, not long ago, everyone was, like, accusing Mika-chan, even though she’s, like, obviously not the culprit~!
Aozora: [seriously] To answer your question, Yamaguchi-kun... [deep breath] Yes. The way you’ve been so vehement in denying anything that vaguely incriminates you is quite suspicious.

Kasparov: [analytically] Indeed.

Yamaguchi: [icily] ...I see.

He is not happy about that...

Yamaguchi: [angrily] Well, that’s still wrong. I’m not the culprit.

Niizuma: [examines nails] You continue to say that, yet you continue to provide no solid evidence of your innocence. [coldly] So, if you want us to believe you’re not guilty, give us some good evidence.

Yamaguchi: [stomps combat boots] But what about the rest of them? They didn’t prove their innocence, either!
Ichigohara: [confused] Who’re you talkin’ about, Yoshi-kun?
Yamaguchi: [points angrily] You! And Terajima, Hayasaka, and Aozora. [icily] None of you have fully been proven innocent yet.

Carrasco: [unfurls fan and covers mouth] No es mentira...Señor Terajima, Señor Aozora, Señorita Ichigohara, and Señorita Hayasaka all have yet to completely cast the shadow of suspicion off them.

Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] I guess w-we should c-clear them of s-suspicion before we c-consider Yamaguchi-kun as the m-main suspect...
Ichigohara: [scratches back with nervous smile] Well...to start off, I’m not the culprit because I never left the party, so I couldn’t‘ve gone to the Storage Room. [points down with one arm and cups elbow with other hand] Even though I did go back into the pantry a few times, all were before Eisuke-kun and Yuuto-kun met up.
Hayasaka: [closes eyes “cutely” and holds up twin piece signs] Mika-chan is, like, totally innocent too~! [places hand on hip] Although she, like, went to the Storage Room to the take, like, the mirror, how could she have, like, even gone into the crawlspace? [shudders] The thought of, like, her clothes getting all dirty...?! Ugh! It’s, like, way too much for Mika-chan~!
Aozora: [takes off glasses and wipes them] I am not the culprit either. [holds arm of glasses with one hand and holds out other hand] I left the party after you, Yamaguchi-kun, and there is nothing at all to suggest I went to the Storage Room. [narrows eyes] The same cannot be said for you.

Yamaguchi: [pulls on hair] Grrr... [venomously] What about Terajima?! HE admitted to stabbing the victim! [loudly] How is he NOT the main suspect!?
Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] Well, let’s see...

Terajima: [calmly] Because I could’ve easily killed Furuhata-kun with only one stab and wouldn’t have needed to do it twice...
Terajima: [coolly] Because my suit is still clean and has the tear from Furuhata-kun, meaning I couldn’t have gone through the dirty crawlspace because I never changed my clothes...
Terajima: [harshly] ...and because I met with Furuhata-kun at 7:20 and left at 7:23, which can be corroborated by the selfie girl’s testimony.

Hayasaka: [offended] Selfie girl?! Mika-chan will have you know she, like, posts a lot more than just, like, selfies~! [leans forward and winks] She, like, also posts food pictures, artsy pictures at the beach, and, like, semi-professional photography too~!
Terajima: [ignores her] And, if I was only in the Storage Room for 3 minutes, I couldn’t have pulled off the crime in that time. [calmly] That enough for you, revolutionary boy?
Yamaguchi: [clenches fist] ...Eugh...
Aozora: [thoughtfully] As you can see, we all have things that diminish how suspicious we are. [narrows eyes] However, you have yet to present such a thing.

Yamaguchi: [angrily] ...
Motoki: [emotionally] C’mon, Yamaguchi-kun, communicate with us! [closed eyes to stop tears] I don’t want to accuse you or anyone here, but if you don’t say anything, I’ll have to... [desperately] So, please! Do you have anything that makes you innocent?

Wow, she really doesn’t want to suspect him. Neither do I, but he’s looking more and more suspicious...so, I wonder...is there anything that would make him look innocent?

Yamaguchi: [chuckles] Ha...haha.

Domoto: [raises eyebrows] What’s so funny?
Yamaguchi: [smirks] I’ve got you all. I’ve found something that proves my innocence.

Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] You have? [neutrally] Well then. Please share with the rest of us.
Yamaguchi: [pushes hair out of face] First I need to ask a question. [holds chin] When we discovered Furuhata’s body or after, during the investigation, did anyone trip over anything or knock anything over?
Motoki: [frowns] No...I didn’t...
Sashihara: [loudly] Nor did I!
Niizuma: [scratches neck disinterestedly] Neither did I.

Eguchi: [timidly] Yeah, um, me either...
Yamaguchi: [smirks] I see. Then I am innocent!
Niizuma: [unimpressed] ...What? [coldly] How does no one knocking anything over in the pantry prove your innocence?
Yamaguchi: [icily] Think back to the way Sashihara explained how the trapdoors worked, Niizuma. [slowly] The trapdoor in the pantry had a latch on the bottom, meaning it could only be opened and closed from underneath the floor, in the crawlspace.

Domoto: [irritatedly] And how does that prove you innocent?
Yamaguchi: [smirks] Because if I were the culprit and I closed the trapdoor from the bottom, then the space where the trapdoor was in the pantry should have nothing on top of it, right?
Eguchi: [shyly] No, I guess, um, not...
Carrasco: [fixes flowers in hair] Now that I think about it, I cannot recall seeing any trapdoor...so it’s likely there were things on top of it.

Motoki: [frowns] No, not just likely, certainly. Pretty much all the floor in there was covered in boxes and crates, except for the part of the floor I collapsed onto after seeing the body...and there was definitely no trapdoor around me.

Yamaguchi: [smirks] Then there you have it. I’m not the culprit.

Oyamada: [grips straps of book backpack] U-Unless you w-went back into the p-pantry after coming b-back to the p-party...
Yamaguchi: [shakes head] But I didn’t. [loudly] And when we discovered the body, I couldn’t have moved anything over the trapdoor. Someone would've seen me!

Damn, that’ll be hard to disprove if he actually is the culprit...

Kawashima: [bites lip] Hmm...that is a fair point.

Ichigohara: [firmly] No, it’s not.

Kawashima: [surprised] Huh? What do you mean, Ichigohara-san?
Yamaguchi: [angrily] Yes, what do you mean? My point is perfectly valid!
Ichigohara: [frowns] Yoshi-kun, your whole argument there relies on you not goin’ back into the pantry after returnin’ from the Storage Room, right?
Yamaguchi: [slowly] Yes...it does.

Ichigohara: [firmly] But you could have gone back there once you gave me the electronic mixer. I wasn’t payin’ attention to anythin’ but cookin’ after that.

Aozora: [shrewdly] So Yamaguchi-kun could have moved things on top of the trapdoor by sneaking back into the pantry after giving the mixer to Ichigohara-san...
Yamaguchi: [steps back] Gh...!
Domoto: [crosses arms] Well, there’s that defense gone. Do you have any other evidence that could prove your innocence, Yamaguchi-kun?

Yamaguchi: [angrily] ..........
Niizuma: [sighs] No answer. [examines nails] If he can’t prove his innocence, then we have no choice but to assume he’s guilty.

Kasparov: [analytically] I agree. If there are no more defenses from him, he should give up already and admit it.

Yamaguchi: [pulls on hair] I’m...no...this isn’t... [shouts] I’M NOT THE CULPRITTTT!!!!!!!

Oh my God, that scream was so loud...I might need new eardrums soon if he keeps that up.

Kawashima: [frowns] I’m guessing he’s not giving up yet...
Yamaguchi: [hatefully] No, I’m not! Because I’m not the culprit!!! [desperately] You still haven’t proven one thing!
Aozora: [raises eyebrows] And what’s that?
Yamaguchi: [sweats profusely] The crawlspace! How could I have gotten through it without everyone noticing me getting dirty?! How could have I down that when there wasn’t a second tablecloth used!? [desperately] Huh!? HUH!?

Yamaguchi: [desperately] I won’t give up! I won’t admit something that isn’t true! [pulls on hair] I’ll say it again: I’M NOT THE CULPRIT!!!!!

It seems Yamaguchi-kun just won’t give up, no matter how much evidence we present to him. So, I’ll have to show him the answer to his final question...how no one could have noticed him going through the crawlspace. And then, this will all be done!

ARGUMENT ARMAMENT

[Yamaguchi is dressed in an elaborate general’s uniform, holding a tattered red flag in one hand and a pistol in the other. All this takes behind a sandbag barrier. In front of the barrier, there is a Gatling gun and a poster that says “Rise Up!”]

Yamaguchi: I’m not the culprit!
Yamaguchi: It can’t be me!
Yamaguchi: Why are you lying to everyone!?
Yamaguchi: None of this is true!
[Gatling gun and “Rise Up!” poster disappear. Argument Armament Music speeds up]

Yamaguchi: Why is this happening?
Yamaguchi: You know I didn’t kill Furuhata...
Yamaguchi: ...so why are you accusing me!?
Yamaguchi: Are you working with the bourgeoisie!?
[sandbag barrier disappears. Argument Armament music speeds up even more]

Yamaguchi: Stop this already!
Yamaguchi: Why must you accuse me like this...
Yamaguchi: ...when you know I’m not the culprit!?
Yamaguchi: All of this is a conspiracy!
[red flag and pistol disappear. Music stops and is replaced by a heartbeat sound effect]
Yamaguchi: How could I have crawled through the crawl space and have no one notice the dirt left on me?

Already———————Was——————Uniform—————Dirty

Answer: Uniform was already dirty

[Yamaguchi’s general outfit is ripped to shreds]
Yamaguchi:
AAAAGGHHHH!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [challenging] Your uniform was already really stained and dirty, Yamaguchi-kun. No one would have noticed if you went through the crawlspace.

Yamaguchi: [adjusts beret while sweating] No...no... [eyes widen] No no no no no no no no...
Aozora: [pitilessly] It seems he can’t say anything more.

Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] So, is he the, um, culprit...?
Kawashima: [nods] I’m certain of it. And just to prove it, I’ll summarize this case form beginning to end. [determined] I’ll leave no doubt that Yoshi Yamaguchi is the culprit of this case!

CLOSING ARGUMENT

Missing Pieces:
A: Pouring grenadine over Furuhata’s corpse, the culprit attempts to hide the fact that Furuhata died in the Storage RoomB: Terajima stabs Furuhata and leaves himC: Furuhata writes a note to TerajimaD: The culprit places boxes on top of the trapdoor in the pantryE: The culprit gets the electronic mixer and goes back to the partyF: The culprit wraps up Furuhata’s body in a tablecloth

Furuhata tears Terajima’s sleeve
Furuhata takes a knife from the Kitchen and leaves the party

???
Terajima and Furuhata meet in the Storage Room
Furuhata attempts to kill Terajima
???
The culprit encounters Furuhata and kills him
???
The culprit brings Furuhata’s corpse to the pantry through the crawlspace
The culprit puts Furuhata’s body in the ice machine
???
The culprit returns to the Storage Room
???
The culprit gives the mixer to Ichigohara
While Ichigohara isn’t looking, the culprit sneaks past her into the pantry
???
The culprit rejoins the party

Answer: C (3), B (6), F (8), A (11), E (13), D (16)

Kawashima: This is how it happened!

CLIMAX INFERENCE

Kawashima: This case began earlier tonight at the party proposed by Aozora-kun and I. Due to an altercation right at the start, the party didn’t go as planned. That altercation involved Terajima-kun and the victim of this case, Furuhata-kun.

Kawashima: When Terajima-kun tried to calm him, Furuhata-kun ripped Terajima-kun’s suit sleeve, exposing his tattoo and yakuza connections. Soon after this, Furuhata-kun decided to leave the party.

Kawashima: However, before he did this, he stopped by the Kitchen, claiming to need an ice pack...but that wasn’t his true intention. Without Ichigohara-san, Carrasco-san, Komatsu-kun, or Sashihara-kun noticing, he grabbed a knife...a knife he wanted for a plan he had created. He then left the Cafeteria, soon followed by Terajima-kun and Hayasaka-san.

Kawashima: In order to enact the next step of his plan, Furuhata-kun stopped by the Storage Room to grab a notebook and pen. Using these items, he wrote a note to Terajima-kun asking to meet at 7:20 in the Storage Room.

Kawashima: At 7:20, Terajima-kun and Furuhata-kun met in the Storage Room as planned. However, Furuhata-kun hadn’t just called the meeting to talk. He also...wanted to kill.

Kawashima: With the knife he had taken from the Kitchen, Furuhata-kun attempted to kill Terajima-kun. However, his attempt was no match for Terajima-kun, who grabbed the knife, and, in self defense, stabbed Furuhata-kun in the stomach. Unsure of what to do and feeling guilty for having harmed someone, Terajima-kun left the Storage Room. As he did this, he was witnessed by Hayasaka-san, who noted that the time was 7:23.
Kawashima: If this had been all that had transpired, then Terajima-kun would have been the blackened... but this wasn’t the end. Soon after Terajima-kun left, the real culprit stumbled across the scene.

Kawashima: Having been sent to the Storage Room to find an electronic mixer, the culprit found Furuhata-kun, who was reeling from the stomach wound inflicted by Terajima-kun. However, rather than helping the victim, the culprit, who strongly disliked Furuhata-kun, instead took the knife out of his stomach...and stabbed Furuhata-kun in the heart, killing him.

Kawashima: Knowing that leaving Furuhata-kun’s body in the Storage Room would only make them more suspicious, the culprit decided to move the body to the pantry to obfuscate the true place of death. In order to do this, they decided to utilize the secret crawlspace connecting the Storage Room and pantry. It’s still unknown how the culprit discovered this, but it likely occurred while they were investigating the Storage Room on our second day here.

Kawashima: Because the crawlspace was extremely dirty and dusty, the culprit used a tablecloth to ensure that Furuhata-kun’s body wasn’t made dirty. They did this because the body being dirty would have made us realize even sooner that his corpse was transported through the crawlspace. Although the crawlspace was incredibly unclean, the culprit’s outfit was already stained and dirty, so they didn’t need to worry about covering themselves from the dirt and dust.

Kawashima: Once they were in the pantry, the culprit took Furuhata-kun’s body out of the tablecloth and placed it in the ice machine. However, because most of the bleeding had already stopped, the culprit needed something to act as fake blood. This was to deceive us into thinking Furuhata-kun truly died in the pantry. So, they poured a bottle of grenadine all over Furuhata-kun, hoping that we wouldn’t notice its sugary smell.

Kawashima: Taking the tablecloth with them, the culprit went back into the crawlspace, closed the trapdoor in the pantry, and latched it shut from beneath the floor. They then returned to the Storage Room and climbed out of the crawlspace, leaving the tablecloth underneath the floor in hopes no one would find it. They closed the trapdoor in the Storage Room and latched it shut. Then, they got the electronic mixer they had been sent to get and returned to the party.

Kawashima: The culprit gave the electronic mixer to Ichigohara-san, and, taking advantage of her being distracted with her cooking...they quietly slipped back into the pantry to move some boxes and crates on top of the trapdoor in there. This was in hopes that we wouldn’t discover the trapdoor and crawlspace system that was crucial to their plan. After completing this final step of their plan, the culprit left the Kitchen and rejoined the rest of us at the party.

Kawashima: And the culprit...the person who killed Furuhata-kun so mercilessly...the one who tried to deceive us about his true place of death...there is no doubt in my mind that person is...
[split screen separates Kawashima and Yamaguchi, who is clutching a clump of his hair in one hand and angrily clenching his fist in the other]
Kawashima: ...You! Yoshi Yamaguchi, the Ultimate Revolutionary, you are the culprit behind this murder!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Well, Yamaguchi-kun? Do you have anything to say to that?
Yamaguchi: [incomprehensibly] Eugh...ngh...agh...!
Domoto: [narrows eyes] I’m guessing that’s a no.

Yamaguchi-kun can’t even say anything about it...I guess that means it really is him.

Monohebi: [neutral] It seems you all have concluded with your deliberations. Are you prepared for voting?
Niizuma: [eyes Yamaguchi] ...Yes. I think we are.

Monohebi: [slight smile] Alright then. Please choose a face on the screen in front of you to vote. Be sure to have care in your decision. Will you make the correct choice, or the dreadfully wrong one? [narrows eyes] Also, remember that refraining from voting will result only in your death.

I
look down at the panel in front of me. There’s a screen with four rows of four on it, one for each of our faces. Furuhata’s face is covered with a pink X.

Sighing, I tap Yamaguchi’s face on the screen.
I didn’t want to do that, but I had to...

Looking up, I see Domoto, Kasparov, Aozora, Niizuma, Hayasaka, and Terajima have already voted. Komatsu, Ichigohara, Motoki, and Sashihara take a bit longer, but they vote soon enough. Oyamada, Eguchi, and Carrasco hesitate even longer, but they eventually manage to do it.

Lastly, Yamaguchi gives me a murderous glare as he presses a face on his screen aggressively.

I'm pretty sure I know who he voted for...

Monohebi: [slight smile] Alright, it appears all the votes are in. Now, the time you have all been waiting for! [red eye glints] The reveal of the culprit!

As he finished his sentence, a giant video monitor appears out of the wall. On it, there’s what looks like giant slot machine plays with all our faces on the slots spinning rapidly. The slots begin to slow down, until eventually they rest on three pixelated images of Yamaguchi’s face. A big neon sign displaying the word “GUILTY” appears amid flashing colors, cheering from a recorded crowd, and a burst of confetti on the screen.

Class Trial: All Rise!

Monohebi chuckles. “Well, I suppose it is rather obvious at this point, but...you voted correctly! The culprit of this case is none other than Yoshi Yamaguchi, the Ultimate Revolutionary!

“However, it seems the choice was not unanimous,” Monohebi continues. “14 for Yamaguchi-kun, and 1 for Kawashima-san...”

Eguchi looks confused. “Wait, Kawashima-san? Who, um, thought she was guilty?”

“Yamaguchi-kun, I’m sure,” Domoto says. “He’s the only here who would have a reason to vote so foolishly incorrectly.”

Yamaguchi says nothing. He only grips the sides of his podium, breathing heavily.

“S-So,” Oyamada says after a while, “did you really k-kill Furuhata-kun, Y-Yamaguchi-kun?”

Yamaguchi lifts his head and gives a Oyamada a bitter stare. “Yes,” he says venomously. “I killed that bourgeois scum.”

Ichigohara sighs sadly. “So it really was true...”

Motoki looks like she’s on the verge of tears. “But...why? Why did you kill him?” She can’t hold back her tears any longer. “You could’ve helped him! You could’ve saved him! So why didn’t you?!”

Yamaguchi winces at her words. “Because...I have convictions. Convictions that include overthrowing oppressive hierarchies and systems...and Furuhata was a member of that. He was a member of the bourgeoisie.”

“So that was your only reason?” Domoto asks challengingly. “I find it hard to believe that’s it.”

“It is,” Yamaguchi says. “I’m the Ultimate Revolutionary for a reason, Domoto. I believe strongly in overthrowing the rich and establishing a system of government in which the rich don’t become tyrants over the poor!”

Kasparov narrows his eyes. “But how would killing Furuhata-kun have changed any of that? He was no member of the government or any influential group.”

“Killing him gave me a potential way out of here,” Yamaguchi answers. “A way out so I could continue on my mission to bring the proletariat to power in every nation on this earth.”

“So that’s the real reason,” Terajima says coolly. “You wanted to escape.”

“Of course,” Yamaguchi says. “Everyone here wants to escape!”

“But ya were the only one who actually went and fuckin’ killed someone to do it,” Komatsu points out.

“I had hoped no one would sully their hands by killing, but alas!” Carrasco laments dramatically. “I was wrong!”

No one says anything for a moment. Then, Sashihara speaks up. “Did you plan this from the beginning?” the fitness trainer asks in surprisingly quiet voice. “Did...did you always plan on killing him?”

Yamaguchi sighs. “I won’t lie and say it didn’t cross my mind, but I never planned on actually going through with it.” He clenches his fist. “But when I saw him lying in the Storage Room, already wounded...I couldn’t stop myself. I knew it was my chance to escape, so I took it.”

“Did he beg for his life?” Kasparov asks. “Before you killed him, did Furuhata-kun plead with you for you to not kill him?”

“He did,” Yamaguchi confirms. “He said, ‘Please...don’t kill me...I need to live...I need to help someone important to me!’” Yamaguchi frowns. “I didn’t listen, obviously.”

Eguchi begins to cry. “That’s so, um, awfully cruel...”

Niizuma shakes her head and shifts her focus to her nails. “We should have seen this coming...there was too much antagonism between Furuhata-kun and Yamaguchi-kun that we shouldn’t have ignored.” She scratches her neck. “Maybe if we had paid more attention to it, this wouldn’t have happened...”

“B-But we did t-try to stop it...” Oyamada says. “W-We promised to s-stop it...”

Niizuma purses her lips. “Yes, but that did nothing to solve the underlying issues. Ignoring that unspoken tension is what killed Furuhata-kun.” She frowns. “We can’t ignore such tensions again in the future.”

“I wholeheartedly agree,” Motoki says. “It’s best to communicate, after all...”

Yamaguchi narrows his eyes. “You’re already talking about the future?” He shakes his head. “I guess I’m already dead to you all, huh.”

Aozora smiles. “Of course,” he says with no sympathy. “Why would we be concerned about a pathetic killer like you?”

What the hell? When did Aozora-kun become so harsh?

“Aozora-kun,” I say worriedly, “are you alright?”

He turns to me, still smiling. “Of course I am, Kawashima-san. I’m perfectly fine.”

Ichigohara looks at Aozora, confused. “What’s gotten into you? You’re not normally like this...”

“Yeah, yer actin’ weird as fuck...” Komatsu says.

“You need not worry about me,” Aozora reassures them. “I am perfectly fine.”

“Okay...” Ichigohara says, not sounding sure.

I’m not convinced, either...why is he acting so strangely?

“If you’re concerned with your oppressive, bourgeois future, I don’t care,” Yamaguchi says bitterly. “Monohebi, do it. Start the execution.”

Monohebi chuckles. “Sususu...this soon?” His red eye glints. “Even before you tell everyone your secret?”

Yamaguchi jumps. “Wha...What are talking about?” he asks nervously.

Monohebi smiles. “Oh my...it seems you do not wish to admit it. Fine. I shall tell everyone myself!”

Yamaguchi’s eyes widen. “No! Don’t say anything to them!”

Monohebi laughs. “Sususu...too late!” The snake clears his throat. “If you all would listen closely, I have something to tell you: Yoshi Yamaguchi, the Ultimate Revolutionary, grew up in one of the richest, most bourgeois families in all of Japan! And his name is completely fake!”

Yamaguchi pulls on his hair. “Eugh...!”

Wait...what?! That can’t be true!

“What?” I ask, surprised. “Yamaguchi-kun...isn’t actually a revolutionary?”

Monohebi shakes his head. “No, he still is the Ultimate Revolutionary. However, his roots are not nearly as humble
as he would have you believe.”

“Wait...so, what’s his, um, real name?” Eguchi asks.

“Ryoga Saneyoshi,” Monohebi answers.

“Saneyoshi?!” Terajima repeats, shocked. “I don’t remember many names, but I know that one.”

“Where’d you hear it from, your bosses in the Kuzuryuu Clan?” Domoto asks coldly.

Terajima presses his lips together. “No. From my work after that. Their son went missing and apparently died. After that, they became really paranoid, so they enlisted my services to keep watch over their other children.”

“Their son went missin’?” Ichigohara says. “Well, I’m guessing we know where he went now...”

“Wait, aren’t they that, like, really rich family famous for making, like, really nice jewelry?” Hayasaka asks.

“They are,” Niizuma says. “I own several pieces from their latest collection.” She laughs mirthlessly. “Oh, that’s just terribly ironic. Yamaguchi-kun, who pretends to be a member of ‘the proletariat,’ is actually a son of one of the richest families in the nation.”

“Eww!” Hayasaka says. “Mika-chan is, like, throwing out all her Saneyoshi jewelry once she, like, gets out of here if someone as, like, gross as Yoshi-kun is a part of them~!”

“I’m not a part of them,” Yamaguchi...or Saneyoshi? says bitterly. “Not anymore. I deserted my bourgeois family for their disgusting greed and horrific treatment of workers. I dropped both the names they gave me, so don’t use them ever again.”

Hayasaka smirks. “Like, sure thing, Ryoga Saneyoshi~!”

He clenches his fist. “Shut up!”

Oyamada looks at him apprehensively. “If you s-stopped using both y-your family n-name and g-given name, you must r-really hate your f-family...”

“Indeed I do,” Yamaguchi says. “I blew up my family’s headquarters with the help of my comrade, which is the reason I was even sent to New Hope’s Peak.” He narrows his eyes. “I’ve cut all ties with them...and they with me. That’s why they put out the story that I went missing and died...they didn’t want the rest of the world to know the shame I had brought upon them.”

“Dishonorin’ your family like that...it ain’t cool,” Komatsu says disapprovingly.

“I don’t regret it,” Yamaguchi says. “Not at all. If I kept my connections to them, I also never would have been treated seriously by my comrades and fellow members of the proletariat.”

“Your beliefs truly are that strong,” Kasparov says. “Fool. Allowing personal convictions to make you a murderer...” He shakes his head. “It is beyond idiotic.”

Yamaguchi stares at Kasparov venomously. “I don’t care what you think. I killed Furuhata because he was bourgeois scum and was vulnerable. I don’t regret it.”

“Then you truly do deserve execution,” Aozora says.

“He does,” Monohebi says excitedly. “And soon, that execution will be underway!”

Yamaguchi closes his eyes. “Fuck,” he says. He opens his eyes again. “I hate all of you...but one especially.”

“And, like, who’s that~?” Hayasaka asks.

He glares at her. “Well, two now that I think about it...”

“Who do you hate above everyone else?” I ask Yamaguchi. “Is it still Furuhata-kun?”

He gives me a piercing stare. “You,” he says venomously. “I thought that you were a servant of the people, but in the end, you were just another member of the
bourgeoisie in disguise!” He stomps his combat boots and clenches his fist. “I hate you, Kawashima!”

He...hates me? Well, I’ve got something to say to him.

I meet his piercing stare. “You’re a murderer, Yamaguchi-kun,” I tell him. “You chose to murder Furuhata-kun when you could have saved him. All I did was figure out that you were guilty.” I notice my hands are balled into fists. No, I shouldn’t be doing that. There’s no use in getting confrontational about this...I don’t want to fight Yamaguchi-kun...nor do I want to see him die.

“Listen, Yamaguchi-kun,” I say, unclenching my fists. “I’m not sorry that I fought to find the truth to save myself and everyone else, but I am sorry that you decided to become a murderer.” I take a deep breath. “I don’t want to see you die...but you did something terrible...something I can’t forgive.”

Yamaguchi just stares at me. “Well then...” he says. “I still hate you and everyone else here.”

“The feeling is mutual,” Aozora says without hesitation. “I won’t regret seeing you die.”

“I won’t either,” Niizuma says. “You chose to murder Furuhata-kun, and you need to pay the price for failing to get away with it.”

Kasparov shakes his head. “You erred too greatly for me to forgive. For that, I will not regret seeing your death.”

“Nor will I,” adds Domoto. “Goodbye, Yamaguchi-kun. We won’t miss you.”

“Yeah, like, totally not~!” Hayasaka says with a wide smile. “Mika-chan is actually, like, pretty glad Yoshi-kun, the, like, dirtiest member of the group, and Yuuto-kun, the most annoying, were, like, the first two to die~!”

“Don’t try to speak for all of us like that,” Motoki says with tears in her eyes. “I don’t like what Yamaguchi-kun did...but I won’t take pleasure in witnessing his death.”

“I, um, won’t either...” Eguchi says while sobbing. “I, um, don’t want to see anyone die!”

Ichigohara looks down sadly. “I don’t either, Yuzuki-chan, but that’s how this is gonna go...and we’ll just have to deal with it...as much as it may suck.”

“Yeah...” Komatsu agrees. “Listen, Yamaguchi-kun, I ain’t gonna pretend ya were my favorite person ever, but...” He looks away. “I’m gonna feel sad to see ya get executed.”

“S-Same...” Oyamada says. “I hope you m-manage to f-find peace in y-your death...”

Sashihara looks at Yamaguchi dejectedly. “I wish you didn’t do what you did, but...goodbye,” he says, abnormally quietly.

“Adios, Señor Yamaguchi,” Carrasco says, all her normal dramatic flare absent.

Terajima pushes his sunglasses up his nose. “Well...you saved me from being the culprit, so I guess I should be grateful for that,” he says. “But you should’ve done what I couldn’t bring myself to. You should’ve saved Furuhata-kun.”

“I already told you why I didn’t,” Yamaguchi says exasperatedly. “My strong beliefs wouldn’t have let me keep him alive. I don’t regret my decision...” He looks around. “But...I will say goodbye. Even if I hate you all, I can’t ignore the fact you were my comrades in the fight against the oppression put upon us by Monohebi...” He clenches his fist. “So, if you take anything from this trial: rise up! Resist the tyranny placed upon you by Monohebi!”

Motoki nods tearfully. “We will, Yamaguchi-kun,” she says. “We will.”

Yamaguchi nods. “Good,” he says, a satisfied half-smile on his face. He turns to face Monohebi. “Now...let’s just get this over with. Start my execution, Monohebi.”

Monohebi chuckles. “Sususu...very well.” His red eye glints. “Now then, I have prepared a special punishment for Yoshi Yamaguchi...actually, Ryoga Saneyoshi, the Ultimate Revolutionary!”

Yamaguchi closes his eyes. “So, this is it.” He opens his eyes. “Remember my words, everyone. Don’t let yourselves be controlled by this tyrant of a snake.”

Execution #1: The Execution of the Unfaithful King

Before anyone can say anything more, what looks like chain with two metal claws on the end shoots out of the wall. In an instant, it clamps around his neck and drags him out of the courtroom through a hole in the wall.

The video monitor which previously showed the voting animation now turns on again, this time displaying a pixelated animation with a sprite of Yamaguchi being dragged away by a pixelated Monohebi and the caption, “Yamaguchi has been found guilty. Now commencing the punishment.”

After Yamaguchi’s sprite disappears from the screen, the animation goes away and I replaced by a video feed of a crowd of angry Monohebis dressed as eighteenth-century French peasants.

Just outside the crowd, the real Yamaguchi stands, his normal military uniform replaced by ridiculously elaborate royal clothes. He wears a myriad of gilded and bejeweled necklaces and bracelets, ropes upon robes of faux fur and ermine fur, even a huge golden crown. He evidently hates this outfit, but is prevented from removing it by two peasant Monohebi’s restraining his arms.

The two peasant Monohebis begin to drag a resistant Yamaguchi through the crowd, which parts to let them pass. However, they don’t so without screaming “Traitor to the people,” “Bourgeois scum,” “Liar,” and “Behead him!” As soon as I hear the last phrase, I also spot what Yamaguchi is being led to: a giant raised platform with a guillotine in the middle of it.

Yamaguchi sees the guillotine too, and tries to resist even more, but his efforts are futile. The sight of his imminent death and the insults hurled by the crowd make him start to tear up, to the point where he is sobbing once he is led up the stairs to the guillotine.

Tying Yamaguchi’s hands behind his back, the peasant Monohebis throw him down onto the guillotine. The crowd’s insults grow louder and louder. They put his head in the circle at the end and prepare to behead him. The crowd begins to cheer wildly, shouting “Behead him! Behead him!” Yamaguchi sobs more and more, but his sobs do nothing as one of the peasant Monohebis pulls on the guillotine’s lever. The razor-sharp blade comes crashing down and decapitates Yamaguchi.

One of the peasant Monohebis grabs Yamaguchi’s still-bleeding head from the bucket in front of the guillotine and shows it off to the crowd, which roars in approval.

The monitor shuts off.

That was...what the fuck?!

“What the fuck was that?!” Komatsu yells, echoing my inner thoughts.

“That was awful!” Eguchi sobs. “How could you, um, kill him like that?”

“Yeah, even if Yoshi-kun was, like, totally gross, that was pretty disgusting,” Hayasaka says with a wrinkled nose.

“Well, he did murder someone,” Niizuma says. “Which is a violation of the rules. He killed Furuhata-kun knowing that if he failed, he would die.” She shrugs. “I see no reason to pity his death.”

“Indeed,” Aozora says. “Murderers deserve execution.”

To be so cold and cruel about this...it isn’t like Aozora-kun at all...what’s gotten into him?

“Well, if we can take one lesson from his death, let it be that we should not be so foolish as to attempt murder again,” Domoto suggests. “Killing someone will only result in your death...so don’t even try it.”

“I’m not saying I disagree with you, but aren’t you forgetting the other lesson he told us?” Motoki asks.

“And what might that be?” Terajima asks.

“To resist Monohebi,” Motoki says. “To rise up against him and not let that stupid snake control us!”

Monohebi narrows his eyes. “I’m still here, you know,” he says. “And in regards to that request by Yamagu—actually, Saneyoshi-kun—don’t even try it. I am the one who controls the things that happen around here. Resisting me will be futile and only lead to unnecessary deaths. Escape is impossible.” He chuckles. “Well, unless you choose to murder again.”

“No one’s going to kill again,” I say with determination. “We will resist you!”

“Yeah!” Sashihara says enthusiastically. “We’ll stand up against you and fight!”

Monohebi shakes his head. “I told you that is futile. If you’re not gong to listen to me, get out of this courtroom!”

He promptly disappears, leaving the rest of us alone in the courtroom.

“I guess w-we should g-get in the e-elevator now...” Oyamada says.

“Sí...we should...” Carrasco says, distracted.

We all file into the elevator, the doors soon closing behind us. As the elevator slowly rises back up to the rest of the prison, no one says a word, leaving me to my own thoughts.

When this elevator descended to the courtroom, there were fifteen of us on it...now, there are only fourteen. Yamaguchi-kun was executed so cruelly...so mockingly. I hope we can fulfill his last wish...I hope we can resist Monohebi and not let him control how we act. I hope for that, but I fear the opposite may be what actually takes place...

At long last, the elevator doors open, bringing us to the Cafeteria, where the remains of the party still sit.

Some failure of a party that was. I head back to my room, not in the mood to talk to anyone else. I scan my e-Handbook, slide the bars out of my way, and enter my “cell,” which feels more like a real cell than it ever has before. Acutely aware that it’s past midnight and hoping that sleep will provide with a respite from the horrible things that happened today, I collapse on my bed.

But even as I drift into sleep, I can’t forget what happened. I can’t forget the deaths of two of the other people here...and, worst of all, I can’t forget my fears that more deaths will follow.

Chapter 1: Law & Disorder
END
Niizuma, Terajima, Hayasaka, Furuhata, Komatsu, Oyamada, Aozora, Kawashima, Domoto, Kasparov, Ichigohara, Sashihara, Motoki, Eguchi, Yamaguchi, Carrasco
Inmates Remaining: 14

Completed 1/21/19

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 2: Second Chances Aren’t for Everyone
Daily Life

“Good morning, inmates. It is now 7 am, which means nighttime has officially concluded. Enjoy another day of confinement.”

For the first instant when I wake up, I feel fine. But then...it all comes back. Furuhata-kun’s death...the trial...Yamaguchi-kun’s execution...all of that happened yesterday.
Somehow, it feels like it’s not actually real...like I’ll go out to the Cafeteria and I’ll find the two of them there, as normal. But I know I won’t. I know that’s just a lie.

As I take my daily shower, I can’t take my mind off the sight of Furuhata’s corpse in the ice machine...nor can I forget Yamaguchi’s sobs before the guillotine beheaded him. I want to forget them, but the images have been seared into my mind forever.

Feeling strangely tired even though I got a lot of sleep, I head to the Cafeteria. Domoto, Kasparov, Niizuma, Motoki, Aozora, Sashihara, and Carrasco are already there.

“Hi, everyone,” I say half-heartedly as I sit down. “Good morning.”

No one says anything in return, except for Motoki. “Good morning, Kawashima-san,” she says, although she sounds distracted.

She's probably thinking about yesterday’s trial...which is probably what everyone else is doing, too...

“I disagree,” Kasparov says.

“To what?” I ask, confused.

“With your notion that this is a ‘good morning,’” he says. “Objectively, this is a not good morning. Two of our fellow inmates died yesterday.”

“You say that as if you need to remind us...” Carrasco says sullenly.

“Yeah, we all know what happened,” Sashihara says, much quieter than normal. “Unfortunately.”

“But what is there to be sad about?” Niizuma asks.

Domoto raises her eyebrows. “I’m not saying I’m devastated by their deaths, but don’t you think at least some sentiment of sorrow is warranted?”

Niizuma shrugs. “Furuhata-kun attempted murder. Yamaguchi-kun...or Saneyoshi-kun...he actually did commit murder.” She stares at Domoto. “Why should we mourn murderers?”

“I couldn’t have said it better myself, Niizuma-san,” Aozora says with a disturbingly cheerful smile.

Kasparov eyes him warily. “This is unusual to hear from you...before the murder, even before the trial, you and Kawashima-san were the ones telling us that a murder wouldn’t happen if we tried to prevent one.”

Aozora tilts his head. “Myself and who? I didn’t hear the second name.”

“Kawashima-san,” Kasparov restates, more clearly this time.

“Hmm, that’s curious,” Aozora says. “I actually don’t think I know who that person is.”

“What are you talking about, Aozora-kun?” I ask. “You know who I am.”

A look crosses Aozora’s face, as if he has just come to a sudden realization. “Ah! You’re correct. I do.” His face turns bitter. “You’re the one responsible for Furuhata-kun’s murder.”

Wait...what?!

“The one...responsible...?” I repeat. “That...that makes no sense at all!”

“Indeed it does not...” Carrasco says. “Is your memory alright, Señor Aozora? Señor Yamaguchi was the one who murdered Señor Furuhata.”

“He struck the killing blow, yes,” Aozora acknowledges. “But if it weren’t for Kawashima-san asking him to get the electronic mixer instead of getting it herself, he never would have gone back into the Storage Room to kill Furuhata-kun.”

Oh, shit...he’s right...

“Hold on,” Motoki says, pulling on the collar of her poncho. “Terajima-kun stabbed Furuhata-kun before Kawashima-san sent Yamaguchi-kun there, so isn’t possible he still would have died from blood loss?”

“Not if Kawashima-san had discovered the body and alerted the rest of us,” Kasparov says. “If she had done that, we could have saved his life.”

“But she didn’t,” Aozora says. “Instead, she was lazy and just sent Yamaguchi-kun there instead.”

Hold on...it’s not because I was lazy! That’s not the truth at all!

“It was comforting you, Aozora-kun,” I say, upset that he’s not telling the truth. “You looked distressed after the incident between Terajima-kun and Furuhata-kun, so I went over to help you.”

“I never asked for your help,” Aozora says harshly. “And I didn’t need it. You could’ve gone to the Storage Room and saved Furuhata-kun from his non-fatal injury.” He narrows his eyes. “You should’ve been smarter.”

What the...? What the hell is he saying...? Why is he being like this?

“Aozora-kun,” I say as I start to tear up. “I was helping you. I saw you were in distress, so I tried to help. How could I have known that Furuhata-kun was injured?!” I begin to cry. “I wish I could’ve saved him, of course I do, but I didn’t know! I did what I thought was best at the time!”

The whole room is silent. It feels like no one’s even breathing at all. “Well, you thought wrong,” Aozora says coldly. He turns on heel and stalks out of the Cafeteria.

I wipe away tears and try to regain myself as everyone stares at either me or the doors on the other side of the Cafeteria, which Aozora just walked through.

“Well...that was unexpected,” Kasparov says after a long pause.

“It was concerning,” Domoto says, scratching her chin. “Something isn’t right with Aozora-kun. For his attitude towards Kawashima-san, towards everything
to change so suddenly—it makes no sense.”

I bury my head in my hands, trying to make sense of what just happened. Why is he acting like that? Before all this, he was my friend, but now...? I can’t be sure of what to think of him. Is the stress of the situation getting to him, or...is this who he really is? Was the Michio Aozora I knew before just a lie? Was—

“Hey, Kawashima-san, ya listenin’?”

The sound of Komatsu’s voice jerks me out of my thoughts. “No, I wasn’t,” I say, embarrassed. “Sorry.” I shake my head. “What were you saying?”

“We were, um, asking what just happened...” says Eguchi, who must have showed up with Komatsu. I look around to notice that Oyamada and Ichigohara are here in addition to Komatsu and Eguchi.

“Y-Yeah, we w-were in the hallway when we heard a-all that yelling...” Oyamada says.

“What was everyone yellin’ about?” Ichigohara asks, concerned. “I sure hope it wasn’t anythin’ serious.”

“It was not everyone,” Carrasco says. “Just two people...”

“And, um, who were they?” asks Eguchi.

“Aozora-kun and Kawashima-san,” Niizuma answers as she brushes a stray hair out of her face.

Ichigohara blinks in surprise. “Wait, those two? Neither of them are the type I’d expect to argue.”

“It was more Aozora-kun than Kawashima-san,” Motoki says, coming to my defense. “He was acting all weird, blaming her for Furuhata-kun’s murder...”

“He did have a point, somewhat,” Domoto says. “Kawashima-san shouldn’t have given Yamaguchi-kun the responsibility of going to the Storage Room, but she had no way of knowing Furuhata-kun was injured.”

“Okay...” Komatsu says slowly, trying to understand the situation. “But then why was he blamin’ her?”

I look at Komatsu. “I don’t know,” I say, shaking my head. “Something...just seems off about him. But it’s
all so sudden...I wonder why he’s acting like this.”

Domoto stares at the doors he left from, scratching her chin. “I do too. It’s concerning to have his attitude shift so suddenly.”

“Maybe it’s just the stress of everythin’ gettin’ to him...” Ichigohara offers.

“Es posible que eso sea la verdad,” Carrasco says. “I believe the trial had...negative effects on most of our mental states.”

“It definitely, um, had an effect on you,” Eguchi says. “You’re not acting, um, nearly as, um, dramatically as usual...”

Carrasco frowns. “No...”

“The trial was certainly bad, but that was yesterday,” Domoto says without emotion. “This is today. So, let’s focus on the future.”

“Y-Yeah, let’s do th-that...” Oyamada agrees. “But what sh-should we d-do? Look for A-Aozora-kun?”

“Hold on,” Motoki says. “We should wait until everyone arrives before discussing anything.”

Niizuma examines her nails. “We’re missing Terajima-kun and Hayasaka-san, correct?”

“Just the selfie girl,” says Terajima’s voice from behind us.

Ichigohara jumps in her seat. “Where’d you come from?” She laughs nervously. “You scared me, Eisuke-kun.”

“How did you manage to arrive so quietly?!” asks Sashihara loudly.

I forgot how loud he is...I didn’t really miss knowing it. At least Yamaguchi-kun isn’t here to shout anymore—
I shake that thought out of my head before I can finish it. No, I shouldn’t think of him like that...even if he was a killer, I should still respect him after he’s dead.

“I just learned to move very quietly over the years,” Terajima says, bringing me back to the real world. He goes to sit down at the seat next to Domoto, but she raises her hand sharply to stop him.

“Don’t you dare sit next to me,” she says icily. “I still don’t trust you.”

Terajima stares at her blankly. “I didn’t kill Furuhata-kun,” he says, his voice slightly taut. “He tried to kill me. I stabbed him, but it was out of self defense. Any of you would have done the same.”

“You cannot say that for sure,” Kasparov says sharply. “You do not know us.”

Domoto nods. “You may not have killed Furuhata-kun, but you were a yakuza,” she retorts. “I doubt your time in the Kuzuryuu Clan was entirely peaceful.”

Terajima sighs. “If that’s why you won’t trust me, I’ll say this again: I’m not a yakuza any longer. I haven’t been for years.”

Niizuma purses her lips. “Even still...the mere connection is suspicious.”

Terajima takes a deep breath and adjusts his sunglasses. “Okay,” he says, sounding frustrated, “let’s suppose I’m still a yakuza and take orders from my boss. How would I make contact with him? How would I carry out his orders, when Monohebi has us completely sealed off from the outside world?” He pauses. “Also, I’m the Ultimate Bodyguard. How do you think I could’ve possibly gotten that title if I was still working for the Kuzuryuus and hurting people?”

“You probably, um, wouldn’t have,” Eguchi says.

“You could have just kept it a secret,” Niizuma says, unimpressed by Terajima’s reasoning.

Motoki rubs her shoulder. “Are you sure? I think the New Hope’s Peak scouting committee is better than that...”

Domoto scratches her chin. “Even still, it could still be possible.”

Terajima looks like he’s struggling to remain calm now. “Are you really that determined to not trust me?” he says frustratedly. “What do I have to do for you to not think I’m some violent—”

“Like, hey losers~!” interrupts Hayasaka as she bursts through the doors to the Cafeteria.

Terajima turns to give her a cold look for interrupting him. Domoto eyes Terajima. “We’ll continue this discussion later,” she says.

“Okay,” Terajima replies, although he sounds unsatisfied.

I really don’t know what to think about him...I want to trust him, but his connections to a violent yakuza group like the Kuzuryuu Clan makes it hard. But he says he’s cut all connections with them, and does seem really genuine...Ugh, I just don’t know what to think

“Why are you so late?” Kasparov asks Hayasaka, shaking me out of my thoughts. “You were supposed to be here at 7:30, and it’s...” he glances at the clock. “8:24.”

“Like, sorry,” Hayasaka says with absolutely zero remorse. “The mirror in, like, Mika-chan’s room was looking really, like, appealing to her today.”

“Ya mean mirror ya stole from the Storage Room?” Komatsu asks. “Still can’t believe ya did that. Coulda gotten yerself killed.”

Hayasaka narrows her eyes at Komatsu. “Mika-chan, like, doesn’t give a shit about what, like, a dumb fuck like you has to say, Yutaka-kun.” She gives him a sickly sweet smile. “So, like, shut the fuck up~!”

“No, ya can shut yer ass up!” Komatsu retorts. “I ain’t the one who showed up almost an hour late!”

“Hmph,” Hayasaka says. “What does it, like, matter? Mika-chan, is, like, here.” She rolls her eyes. “Even though she definitely doesn’t, like, want to be...”

“You could’ve been hurt,” Motoki says. “Or maybe even...”

“Killed?” Niizuma offers. “It’s true. You should be more aware of the time, Hayasaka-san.”

“Okay, Tomiko-chan~!” Hayasaka says with no resistance. “Because you’re, like, so fashionable, Mika-chan’ll, like, listen to you~!”

Komatsu looks irritated. “Seriously? Yer gonna listen to her jus’ like that?”

“As l-long as she g-gets here earlier, it sh-should be f-fine...” Oyamada says.

“Indeed,” says Domoto. “Now, let’s get to the important stuff.”

“Certainly,” Monohebi says from above us. “That sounds wise.”

I jump in my seat when I hear Monohebi’s voice. “What the...!?”

“Where’s it, um, coming from?” Eguchi asks fearfully.

Motoki points up at the chandelier. “Up there!”

We all look up to see the monochrome snake curled around the chandelier chain, hissing gleefully.

“Sususu...” chuckles Monohebi. “I gave you all quite the fright.

Carrasco winces. “Es la serpiente...”

“Yes, it is me,” Monohebi says.

Kasparov looks at him coldly. “What are you doing here, snake?”

“Snake?” repeats Monohebi, disappointed. “Why do you not act exotic like Carrasco-san and call me snake in your native language?” He chuckles again. “I will not disclose why I am here until you say ‘snake’ in Russian.”

“What’s the point of this?” asks Motoki.

“To waste time,” Monohebi says.
At least he's honest...

Kasparov shakes his head and narrows his eyes. “Змея,” he says, irritated. “Now will you tell us?”

“Possibly,” Monohebi says, smirking. “Maybe if you beg.”

“Monohebi,” Domoto says, her voice as cold as ice, “stop wasting our time and just tell us why you’re here.”

The snake glares at her. “You just decreased the chances of hearing what I want to say with that snarky comment.”

Oh my God, this is so annoying! If he wants us to beg, I guess I’ll just do it so I can get this over with...

“Monohebi,” I say with as much of my waitress’s politeness as I can muster, “could please be so kind as to tell us why you’re here?”

Monohebi smiles. “Why, certainly, Kawashima.” He clears his throat. “I have come to inform you all that, as a reward for completing the class trial, I have opened up the second floor of my prison. Feel free to explore it at your discretion.”

“Okay,” Domoto says, taking in that information. “Now leave.”

“For now,” Monohebi says with a touch of menace. Then, he crawls up the chandelier again to the hole in the ceiling.

“A new floor?” Terajima says slowly. “I wonder what’ll be on it.”

“Mika-chan, like, hopes there’ll be, like, a designer store~!” Hayasaka says. “That would at least make this place, like, a little less terrible.”

“A designer store...in a prison?” I repeat, hoping she’s not serious. “Are you actually expecting that?”

“Of course,” Komatsu says dryly. “I’m sure there’ll be a Gucci store up there as soon as we go.”

Hayasaka’s face turns bitter. “Shut up,” she says angrily.

“Well, uh, moving from that,” Ichigohara says quickly, trying to stop Hayasaka and Komatsu from fighting again, “I hope there’ll be a garden or maybe a greenhouse up there. That’d be pretty cool.”

“It would!” shouts Sashihara. “Especially if it contained healthy fruits and vegetables so we could eat right!”

Domoto rubs her ear from his loud shouting. “More importantly,” she says, “we need to figure out where to go to find this new floor. Otherwise, we’ll never see what’s on it.”

“Monohebi n-never said wh-where it was,” Oyamada says. “If there’s no way to g-get there, maybe he w-was lying about it?”

No, I don’t think so...there might be a place where we could get to the next floor.

“Don’t you guys remember how my group found stairs in the area on the other side of the Cafeteria?” I ask.

“Oh, Mika-chan, like, totally remembers that~!” Hayasaka says. “They were, liked, blocked with some big metal thing. We only knew they were, like, stairs because Yuuto-kun read the braille next to the, like, stairs.”

“Did he now?” Niizuma says. “I didn’t know he knew braille...”

Domoto waves it away. “It doesn’t matter now that he’s dead. What matters is that those stairs are unblocked.” She turns to look at me. “Would you mind leading us to those stairs? I’ve never been over to that section of this place.”

“Sure,” I say. I get up from my chair and begin heading to the doors at the other side of the Cafeteria when I remember Aozora went that way. I freeze.

What if we run into him over there? I don’t really want to see him. I don’t like saying that, but it’s true. God, I’m such an awful person...I should forgive Aozora-kun for his actions...but saying is easier than doing.

“Kawashima-san?” asks Motoki worriedly. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I say, shaking myselff out my thoughts. “I’m fine.”

I begin moving again and lead everyone else to where the metal gate blocked the stair before. Sure enough, the metal gate is gone, revealing a staircase.

“So here are the stairs,” says Niizuma. “I wonder what’ll be up there.”

“Not a designer store, that’s for sure,” Komatsu says, eyeing Hayasaka. She says nothing, but the glare she gives him speaks volumes.

“Well, there’s a p-possibility that we could f-find a way to escape, r-right?” Oyamada asks. “We should l-look for a way o-out.”

“You can look if you want,” Domoto says. “I doubt there will be one, but do as you please.”

We head up the stairs to the second floor. The first thing I notice is that I’m in a hallway that stretches out to the left but stops is just a dead end the right. In the middle of the opposite wall, there’s a set of wooden double doors.

I wonder what’s in there...

I head open to the doors and open them to see an auditorium. Several rows of seats stretch out in front of me, with two aisles at either side of the hall, but none in the middle of the seats. At the far end of the auditorium, there’s a stage with a big red curtain hanging over it.

“Wow,” says Motoki, who came in right behind me. “This is beautiful.”

She’s not wrong. In contrast to the rest of the prison, which is drab, dirty, and boring, this room is elegant and clean. The seats are made of red satin, and it looks like the curtain is too. There are also a few chandeliers on the ceiling, and, while they’re elegant, they’re not distastefully gaudy like the one in the Cafeteria downstairs.

“Dios mío,” Carrasco says softly as she marvels at the room. “This would be a perfect place for a flamenco show!”

“It would be,” I agree, although I don’t really know what makes a good venue for a flamenco show. “Will you perform for us in here sometime, Carrasco-san?”

“Possibly,” she says, tapping her chin. She unfurls her fan. “But, before I decide, let us cast aside the veil of mystery and discover what lies backstage!”

Seems like her dramatic nature is coming back...which means she’s returning to being normal. That’s good.

Motoki and I follow her lead to the stage, ascend the short flight of stairs, and find ourselves in the center stage. I turn around to look at the “audience,” but am blinded by the bright lights.

“Ouch,” I say, closing my eyes swiftly. “That’s really bright.”

“Those stage lights,” Motoki says. “There must be some way to adjust them, right?”

“Indeed,” says Carrasco from the right side of the stage. “Come, and lay your eyes upon the stairs to the system that controls the lights!”

I do as she says and approach her to see a small metal spiral staircase leading to a series of catwalks that control the stage lights, both above the stage and above the audience.

“That’s a lot of lights,” I say as I look up at the complicated system of lights and catwalks.

“Yeah, it is,” Motoki agrees. She shudders. “I don’t know how people could go up there without feeling sick.”

“Some people are like birds, meant to soar in the air!” Carrasco says, stretching her arm up gracefully as if to imitate flying. “Or at least, they don’t mind being at elevated heights.”

“I guess,” Motoki says, still sounding queasy at the thought of being high in the air.

I guess she doesn’t really like heights, huh...

I look down from the lighting system and notice two doors, one in the back right corner of the stage, and the other on the left. “What are in those places?” I ask, gesturing to both doors.

“Let’s venture forth and enlighten ourselves!” Carrasco says, striking a pose with her fan.

We head back to the closer room, the one in the right corner, to see something much like the Storage Room downstairs, instead it’s full of stage props. There are all types of cardboard cutouts, a myriad of costumes, some of which are displayed on mannequins, some ropes, a whole lot of cardboard boxes, and even an old acoustic guitar in the back.

“If we ever wanted to put on a theater production, I guess this is the place,” I say.

“If we could ever find anything,” says Motoki. “This place has so much stuff in it.”

“It does,” says Carrasco, although she seems less focused on the props, mannequins, and costumes and more on the guitar in the back. She walks over to it and picks it up.

“Ah, what a pleasure it is to see una guitarra again,” she says wistfully.

“Do you play guitar?” I ask her.

Carrasco nods. “Por supuesto. The art of playing la guitarra is essential for any aspiring flamenco performer.”

“I see,” I say, giving the room another look. I don’t think there’s much else to see here...

“Okay, I’m going to go check out the where the other door goes to,” I say, starting to head out of the room.

“Right behind you,” Motoki says.

Carrasco puts the guitar back down gently and follows Motoki and I. “Wait for me!” she calls as she hurries to catch up to us.

Leaving that room, the three of us head to the door in the back left corner of the stage. Once inside, it’s immediately apparent this is a dressing room. On the opposite side of the room, there are two vanity tables with lightbulbs around the edges of the mirrors with collections of makeup spread out over the them. On the near side, there’s a huge bureau built into the wall that takes up the entire wall except for the door. In it there’s an innumerable amount of shelves, with two especially wide shelves on the bottom level.

“Wow,” says Motoki. “That bureau is huge.”

“Unnecessarily so,” says Carrasco with a wrinkled nose. “There’s no need for that to be so big. Especially the bottom two shelves. You could fit a few extra large suitcases in either!”

I look at her quizzically. “That’s the first comparison that comes to mind?”

Carrasco shrugs. “I have to do lots of traveling with my career.”

I guess that’s fair...she has travel a lot to perform as much as she does.

I look around the room again, seeing if I missed anything. I didn’t. “Alright,” I say. “I’m going to check out the rest of the floor.”

“Vale,” says Carrasco. “I’ll stay here.”

“Same,” says Motoki.

We say goodbye and I leave the Dressing Room and then the Auditorium, emerging out into the hallway from earlier. I head to my right and find Hayasaka walking the opposite direction, to the stairs.

“Hayasaka-san?” I say, surprised she’s leaving so soon. “Did you investigate the whole floor already?”

“No,” she says grumpily. “But Mika-chan has, like, seen enough. Nothing up here, like, interests her at all.”

“Really?” I say. “Have you checked out the makeup in the Auditorium?”

All irritation disappears from her face and is replaced by glee. “Wait, like, really?!” She exclaims, overjoyed. “Mika-chan is, like, going there right now~!”

She skips into the Auditorium gleefully. I feel bad that Motoki-san and Carrasco-san have to deal with her now...but at least she’s happy...even if there is no designer store up here.

I continue down the hallway until I see the metal door to a place labeled as “Cell Block B” on the outside. “Cell Block B,” huh...Cell Block A is the dorms, so this might be another group of dorms..or it might be real cells. Either way, that doesn’t sound too exciting...I’ll save that place for last.
Right at the door to Cell Block B, the hallway turns right and then left again as I go down it. I follow it until I emerge into an open area. A giant bronze statue of Monohebi sits in the middle of the area, with a plaque beneath it reading, “Your glorious Warden.”

What an eyesore that thing is...

Taking my eyes away from the statue of Monohebi, I take in the rest of the open area. Another door to Cell Block B is on my left, while across from me there’s a set of double doors made of gold beneath a flashing sign declaring “Casino” above it.

Behind me and to my right, there’s a door with a sign declaring a recreation room. I think I’ll go there...

I enter the recreation room to find myself confronted with a pool table in the middle of the room. To the left of the pool table, there are a bunch of beanie bags and low tables to sit around. There’s a dartboard there too. To the right of the pool table, there are a few tables with games of chess, shogi, mancala, checkers, and go already set up.

“This is a pretty cool room, isn’t it, Wakana-chan?” says Ichigohara.

“It is,” I say. It’s not the most amazing thing in the world, but it should give us some things to help pass time with.

“I l-love these b-beanie bags,” Oyamada says as stretches out in one. “They’ll b-be the p-perfect spot for some nice, q-quiet reading...”

“Quiet?” Domoto repeats, raising her eyebrows. “This is a rec room, where people are supposed to have fun. I doubt it will be very quiet.”

“It better be,” Kasparov says as he sits down at the table with a chessboard. “I do not enjoy unnecessary noise distracting me while I play chess.”

Ichigohara scratches her back and smiles. “Ah, c’mon, guys...there’s no need for you to make the rec room a library.”

“It just so happens my type of recreation does not involve loud noises or reckless decisions,” Kasparov replies. “And it is not as if I am telling you not to come here at all. Just refrain from being loud while I am here.”

“Y-Yeah, same...” Oyamada says from across the room.

Ichigohara shrugs. “Okay,” she says. “I’ll just go with the flow, then. You guys do what you want. But when you’re not here...” she laughs. “I’m gonna be loud as ever!”

Domoto looks slightly amused, a rarity for her. “Okay,” she says, smiling slightly. She turns to Kasparov. “Now, what will it be first? Chess, checkers, or go?”

“Chess, of course,” he says immediately. “You can be white.”

As Domoto and Kasparov sit down for their game of chess, Oyamada pulls out a book from his backpack and begins reading. Ichigohara removes her dirty gardening gloves, grabs a pool cue from the wall, and starts setting up the balls in the middle of the table.

“Do you wanna play me, Wakana-chan?” she asks, offering me a pool cue.

I haven’t played billiards in a while and it’ll probably be pretty fun...but there are other rooms to check out on this floor. I should take a look at those first.

“Sorry, Ichigohara-san,” I say regretfully. “I need to investigate some of the other rooms on this floor first.”

“Aw, damn,” Ichigohara says dejectedly. “I guess I’ll just have to play by myself, then.”

I feel bad now...
“Are you sure it’s okay if I go, Ichigohara-san?” I ask. “I can stay if you want.”

She waves away the suggestion. “Nah, it’s okay. You do what you need to do.”

“Yes,” Kasparov says without looking away from the chessboard. “And please do it without distracting the rest of us in here.”

“Oh, and make sure not to lock us in,” Domoto calls from her chess game.

I turn to look at her. “What?”

“The door here locks from the outside,” Domoto says. “So, don’t lock us in.”

Okay...I don’t know why she had to tell me that. It wasn’t like I was planning on locking them in here...

I say goodbye to Ichigohara and the rest and leave the Rec Room to find myself in the open area again. I still don’t feel like going into the doors that lead Cell Block B or the Casino, so I follow a short hallway in the right of the open area.

The hallway doesn’t have much to it. A door to the left, marked “Arcade” by a sign outside it, men’s and women’s bathrooms to the right, and another metal plate on the wall in front of me. Sashihara is looking at it.

“Kawashima-san!” he shouts as he notices me. “Do you see this giant metal gate on the wall here!?”

I massage my ear, wincing at how loud he is. “Yeah, I did,” I reply. How could I not have? I’m not blind..

Sashihara nods approvingly. “Good! That means we both now know where the stairs to the third floor are!”

Stairs...that makes sense. The metal gate on the wall looks really similar to the one that covered the stairs leading up to this floor before the last trial.

“Well, let’s hope we never see those stairs,” I say. “Because that would probably mean another trial, right?”

Sashihara disagrees. “Not necessarily! Monohebi could just open the stairs if he’s feeling kind!”

I look at Sashihara, hoping he’s joking. “But Monohebi is never kind. Besides, he only opened this floor after...what happened last night. So it’s reasonable to assume he’ll follow that precedent in the future.”

“That is possible!” Sashihara says, although he still doesn’t sound certain. “But, just in case, I’ll stay here in case he opens the stairs!”

“If you want,” I answer. I think it’s a waste of time...but I don’t think Sashihara-kun will listen if I tell him that.

I say goodbye to him, and, figuring that the bathrooms hold nothing interesting, I head into the arcade.

It’s a dark room with neon lights flashing everywhere and a vibrant, colorful carpet on the floor. Pinball machines, claw machines, air hockey machines, and a myriad of arcade machines occupy almost all of the available space on the walls and much of the remaining space.

“Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god OH MY GOD!!!!!!” Eguchi screams in excitement over the contents of the room. “This place is so cool!!!”

I smile at her excitement. “You like this place, Eguchi-san?” I ask, already knowing the answer.

“Yes!!!!” She says with excitement as she turns to me, breathing heavily. She blinks and quickly darts her eyes away from me and blushes. “Oh, um, sorry...I got really, um, excited about this place...”

“There’s no need to be sorry,” I reassure her. “It’s good that you found a room you liked in here.”

“Yes,” Terajima, who I previously didn’t notice, says from beside me. “If this place is something that keeps you happy in this awful prison...there’s no shame in enjoying it.”

“Thanks, Kawashima-san, and, um, Terajima-kun,” she says, not able to make eye contact with either of us. “That makes me, um, feel a little better.”

“You’re welcome,” I say.

“No problem,” Terajima says.

I’m guessing Eguchi-san will be living in this place from now on...that’s no surprise, considering she’s the Ultimate Game Developer.

With nothing else that grabbed my attention, I walk through a door in the back left corner of the arcade to emerge into a loud, ostentatious room full of flashing lights. Poker tables, roulette wheels, pachinko machines slot machines, and innumerable stacks of chips and decks playing cards are all over the room. This must be the Casino...but it’s kind of weird for one to be here. Gambling money is illegal here in Japan...but then again, so is murder, and Monohebi encourages that here. Besides, this place is a prison, so I guess it’s not too strange to have stuff related to criminal activities here...but even still, I don’t like this place.

“This is an interesting room to have here in a prison, don’t you think?” asks Niizuma.

“Yeah,” Komatsu agrees, “why the fuck would prisoners be gamblin’? They ain’t got nothin’ to bet wth.”

“This clearly isn’t a normal prison, though,” I say. “It might’ve been built solely for the purpose of this killing game.”

“That is a possibility,” Niizuma says. “But it’s not important. What is important is that none of you should play any of these casino games.”

Komatsu looks taken aback. “Huh? And why the fuck wouldn’t we? Gamblin’ is pretty fun.”

Niizuma purses her lips. “Only if you like losing everything you bet,” she says. “Casino games are engineered so the house always has an advantage.”

“That makes sense,” I say. “But why do people gamble if they know they likely won’t win?”

Niizuma shakes her head. “I don’t know. I would never take such a foolish risk.”

Niizuma strides over the roulette table. “Let’s take roulette, for an example. There are thirty-six normal numbers on the table, eighteen black, eighteen red. In this Casino, there are also a zero and a double zero, which are both green.”

Komatsu wrinkles his brow. “The fuck is this about?”

Niizuma pushes her hair out of her face. “A demonstration of how Casino games really work. Can I continue?”

I nod. “You can, Niizuma-san.”

“In roulette, you can place a bet that, once you roll a ball in the wheel, it will land on numbers in black, red, green, rows, columns, first, second, or third dozens, odd, even, or specific numbers,” she continues.
Wow, that’s a lot of options...

“Let’s for a second, pretend gambling cash isn’t illegal here in Japan. Black and red or odd and even are the easiest to get — so, naturally, the payout is small—you bet twenty yen, you get forty yen in return, which is only a gain of twenty in reality,” Niizuma says. “Specific numbers, however, are the opposite—high risk, but high reward—if you could bet money and bet twenty yen, and you would get 720 in return, which would only really be a gain of 700.”

She places five chips on the red section of the table and spins the roulette wheel. The ball lands on eleven, a black number.

“Ya lost,” Komatsu says flatly.

“I did,” Niizuma says. She takes the five chips from before off the red spot and moves them to the side. She puts down five more in their place, and spins the wheel again. It lands on twenty-nine, which is black.

“You lost again,” I say. Where is she going with this? I already know gambling is bad...

“Don’t worry, she’ll win next time if she plays red,” Komatsu tells me. “Everythin’s gotta average out.”

Niizuma looks at him sharply and smiles. “That’s what I was waiting for,” she says. “The fallacy followed by gamblers.”

“And what is that?” I ask her, confused.

“The notion that a so-called ‘law of averages’ works on a small scale,” Niizuma says. “It doesn’t. I could play black ten, twenty times and lose every single time.”

She spins the wheel. It lands on thrity-five, which is black.

She spins again. Four, black.

Again. Twenty, black.

Again. Seventeen, black.

Again. Fourteen...red.

“There you go,” Niizuma says, staring at the wheel coldly. “Although black and red are equally likely if the wheel is fair, each spin is independent—meaning one spin has no effect on the next. Gamblers get caught up in the idea of ‘streaks:’ the idea that if you lose several times in a row, you have to win next time—which leads them to keep betting and betting until they eventually win. But it’s not worth it in the end, because they lost more than they gained.”

Komatsu is unconvinced. “But what if ya win a buncha times in a row? That can happen, right?”

“It can,” Niizuma says. “But it’s not worth the risk of losing so much in such a stupid way.” She examines her nails. “Also, winning streaks can be dangerous, too—you feel more confident, so you bet more, but just end up losing it all once the odds aren’t in your favor.”

“But ya could win a lotta money,” Komatsu grumbles. “That’s still possible.”

She crosses her arms. “It is, if you go to an underground gambling facility, but it’s unlikely. For roulette, the expected value on for almost every roulette bet is -0.053¥ to a single yen, so the chances are you’ll lose again and again.”

“That’s not a huge difference, though...” Komatsu protests, less confident than before.

“It adds up over time,” Niizuma says. She shrugs. “But, if you want to play into the psychological and statistical tricks of casinos, be my guest.”

“What psychological tricks?” I ask. “I’m not defending gambling, I just want to know what you mean.”

Niizuma walks over to a slot machine, inserts a coin from her pocket, and pulls the lever. It ends up on three different pictures. The machine is silent. “I pulled the slots and lost,” Niizuma says. “As you can see, nothing happened. However, if I had won, I’m sure the machine would flash brightly and make loud sounds.” She brushes her hair out of her face. “That serves to make the situations where you lose more forgettable and the times when you win more easily remembered, all so that you think the chance of winning is higher than it really is.” She examines the slots. “I think this machine has twelve different picture combinations. So the chance of getting three in a row and winning is one out of 432.”

I blink, surprised at such low odds. “Wow, I knew it’d be low, but I thought it’d be more...”

“Yeah...” Komatsu says, although he sounds disinterested now that this has turned into a lecture. Yeah, as revealing as this has been about how casinos really work...it was pretty boring and useless. I wasn’t ever planning on going to a casino, anyway.

I say goodbye to Komatsu and Niizuma and head through the door with the sign “Cell Block B” above it.

I walk through the door and am met with an actual Cell Block, unlike the dorms downstairs. The walls, floor, and ceiling are plain gray and the cells, which are only covered by sliding doors made of metal bars, look cold and comfortless. However, none of that is what catches my attention. Instead, my focus is drawn to—

“You,” says Aozora emotionlessly. “What are you doing here?”

Oh no...I wasn’t expecting him to be here.

“I’m investigating this room like I did with all other rooms on this floor,” I say, trying to hide my repressed emotions from earlier.
I really hope he doesn’t lash out at me again...it would really hurt to hear that from someone who I think of as my friend.

“I’d hoped I wouldn’t see you,” Aozora says coldly. “I don’t like seeing people who can’t admit they are responsible for a murder.”

It seems my hopes were in vain...“That’s not true,” I say. “You know that, Aozora-kun.”

He narrows his eyes at me. “The only thing I know is that you’re desperate to avoid confronting the reality that you are the cause of Furuhata-kun’s death, and, consequently, Yamaguchi-kun’s execution.”

“I should’ve gone for the mixer myself,” I say, trying my best to not get emotional. “I know that. But even still...I’m not the one responsible.”

“You are!” Aozora says forcefully. “Why can’t you just accept that?! You shouldn’t have helped me!” He looks away from me and starts breathing erratically. “You...shouldn’t have wasted your time on me...” He glances back at me, and I see that his eyes are wet and teary. “You shouldn’t have!”

Wait...is this what I think it is?
“Aozora-kun,” I say softly, stepping closer to him, “do you blame yourself?”

“No!” he says desperately. “Even though I suggested the party, it’s...it’s not my fault! I...I didn’t need your help...so...so you shouldn’t have bothered.” He looks away from me, the wetness from his eyes spilling down his cheeks. “Why...why couldn’t you see that I didn’t need help?”

I move closer to him. “You did need help,” I say gently. “You were upset the party didn’t go well. And now...” I look at him and notice that he’s shaking. “Now... you need it too.”

Aozora shoots an angry glance my way. “No, I don’t...”

“You do,” I say. I take a deep breath.
I hope this will make him feel better...

“What happened to Furuhata-kun...it’s true that we both share some portion of the blame,” I say softly, trying not to cry. “I sent Yamaguchi-kun to get the mixer, and you suggested the party in the first place...but that doesn’t mean we’re bad people.” I take a deep breath. “We made mistakes. Awful mistakes, but we did them with good intentions.”

“And two people died because of those mistakes,” Aozora says tearfully. “How can we forgive ourselves for that?!”

“Because we didn’t know,” I say, and I can’t hold back my tears any longer. “I wish that I could’ve saved Furuhata-kun...believe me, I do...but neither of us had any way of knowing that he was injured or that Yamaguchi-kun would kill him.”

“But...but...” Aozora protests weakly. “After Monohebi told us, Eguchi-san, and Furuhata-kun that their was no hope for escape when we were investigating...the two of us promised not to be the ones to kill. Don’t you remember?”

“I do,” I say. “And we both kept that promise.” I move closer and hug Aozora. “And the best we can do...is to move forward and keep that promise.”

Aozora cries into my shoulder. “I just...I just want Yamaguchi-kun and Furuhata-kun to still be alive...I just don’t want to be a failure!”

I stroke Aozora’s hair to calm him down. “You’re not a failure. You made a mistake in suggesting the party, but it was with good intention. Besides, you don’t have to let it define you...you can learn from it and move on to do better in the future.”

“No,” Aozora says as he pushes me away from him. I stumble and almost fall on the floor.

“Aozora-kun?” I say, surprised. “Don’t you want to learn from mistakes?”

“No,” he says forcefully, “I don’t want to make any mistakes. I don’t want to let anyone die! I shouldn’t have...I should’ve saved them! I’m a failure because I didn’t, and I can’t change that!”

“Aozora-kun, calm down,” I beg him. “You’re not a failu—“

“Shut up,” he says angrily. “I am, and I won’t let you tell me otherwise!” He stalks away to the door. Before he leaves, he turns around and says, “...You...you’re a failure too.”

Aozora
leaves. He’s right...I’m a failure...I should’ve prevented Furuhata-kun’s murder...I should’ve done a better job at comforting Aozora-kun.
I collapse to the floor and begin to sob. Why couldn’t I have just gone for that fucking mixer myself?! Then all of this goddamn mess would have been avoided...I’m so stupid!

I cry and cry, until I hear a door open. “Kawashima-san?” calls out Motoki’s voice. “Oh, there you are!”

I hear her rush over to me and kneel beside me. A bit too closely...
“Are you alright?” she asks gingerly.

“Señorita Kawashima, are you well?” asks Carrasco’s voice.

I finally look up and see her standing behind Motoki, who’s kneeling next to me. “I...I’m not, no...” I admit.

“What’s wrong?” asks Motoki, concerned.

“I talked with Aozora-kun,” I say, as I wipe away tears. “And...it didn’t go well.”

Carrasco frowns. “Pobrecita...here, take this.” She gives me a cloth to wipe my tears on.

“What happened?” says Motoki as I use Carrasco’s cloth to wipe my tears away. “Everyone but you and Aozora-kun is downstairs to discuss what we found today...we were worried that the two of you might be...hurt.”

“We’re both fine,” I reassure her. “At least, physically. Mentally, I can’t say the same...”

Carrasco looks at me sympathetically. “If you need help, you can ask me for it anytime.
Alright?”

“Same goes for me,” Motoki says. “If you ever need someone to talk through your problems with me, you can talk with me.”

“Alright,” I say, even breaking a small smile. “I will.”

Motoki smiles. “Good.” A more serious look crosses her face. “Not to ruin the moment, but we should get going downstairs. Everyone else will be worried...”

“You’re right, let’s go,” I say. With Carrasco’s and Motoki’s hep, I stand up and head downstairs to the Cafeteria.

“Where were you?” asks Kasparov irritatedly as soon as we enter the Cafeteria.

“Señorita Kawashima was not feeling well,” Carrasco says for me. “Señor Aozora and her talked...but it didn’t go well.”

Niizuma frowns. “That’s no excuse to be late,” she says disapprovingly. “Being late is a sign of a lack of commitment.”

“I’m still here, aren’t I?” I say, a bit too
harshly. No, I shouldn’t lash out at her...she’s just trying to say organized, so I should respect that...but it’s hard to when I feel so shitty. I guess I’ll just have to act fine, like I do when I’m having a bad day while working. I’ll jisy have to...keep going.

“You are here,” Domoto says. “I suppose that’s more than we can say for Aozora-kun. Still, you should aim to be more on time.”

“I’ll try,” I say tiredly. I sit down, and only then do I notice just how hungry I am.
I wonder what’s for dinner...

I don’t have to wonder for long. Not even a second after I think that, Ichigohara comes out of the Kitchen, wiping her hands on her overalls. “Alright, everyone,” she says cheerfully. “Dinner’s ready.”

“Fuck yeah!” says Komatsu eagerly. “I’m first in line!”

Sashihara grabs Komatsu’s arm to stop him. “Hold on! You better make sure to take a healthy portion size!”

“If your idea of a ‘healthy portion size’ is a small-ass plate, then fuck no,” Komatsu says. “I’m eatin’ what I want to!”

“Then get to the back of the line,” Domoto says. “If you’re going to eat like an animal, then you can eat last.”

Komatsu grumbles as he sullenly walks to the back of the line. Hayasaka snorts. “Like, serves you right, Yutaka-kun,” she says snarkily. “Disgusting pigs like you should, like, eat from the floor~!”

Komatsu glares at her. “Fuck you,” he says.

Hayasaka closes her eyes and holds up her trademark peace signs. “Like, fuck you too~!” She giggles. “Don’t worry, though. Mika-chan will make sure to, like, leave you enough for, like, a quarter of a plate.”

“You better leave more than that!” Komatsu yells. “I ain’t gonna let ya—“

“Hey,” Terajima says in a raised voice. “Quit it. Fighting over something so pointless will do you no good.”

Komatsu and Hayasaka go silent, but Niizuma has something to say. “That’s ironic, coming from you,” she says coldly. “You're the only living person who has physically harmed someone else here.”

Terajima pushes his sunglasses up his nose. “Didn’t I already tell you?” he asks, irritated. “That was in self defense.” He sighs. “I asked this morning, but I got no answer, so I’ll ask again: what will it take for you all to trust me?”

“The whole truth of your situation,” says Domoto. She crosses her arms. “But it can wait until after we eat. I’m hungry.”

“Me, um, too,” Eguchi says with mild excitement. “Whatever’s, um, in the Kitchen, it smells really, um, nice...”

“Thanks, Yuzuki-chan,” says Ichigohara with pride. “I hope it tastes just as good.”

“Judging on your p-past cooking, it should b-be good...” Oyamada says.

“Thanks again,” Ichigohara says. “Now, see for yourselves! I wanna see what you think of this ‘Golden French Lentil Stew!’”

Everyone gets their serving of Ichigohara’s food, even Komatsu, who is disappointed by his small serving size. I dig into the stew, which is mouth-watering in how delicious it is. As it enters my mouth and is swallowed, it feels like I’m being warmed from the inside out...it’s an amazing feeling to have after a not-so-great day.

“That was delicious,” Motoki says as she leans back in her chair.

“¡Riquísima!” Carrasco says. “It is as if I have been blessed with golden tastebuds...”

“Where’d you get the recipe?” I ask. “I should recommend this to the chef at my restaurant when I get back.”

“If you get back,” Domoto says. “There’s no guarantee we’ll ever leave this place.”

As if we didn’t already know...I really didn’t need to hear that, especially all that’s happened today...
“Uh, I got it from one of the cookbooks in the Kitchen, Wakana-chan,” Ichigohara says quickly, trying to push Domoto’s comment away.

“I th-think I recognize it from when I r-read the cookbooks b-before...” Oyamada says.

“The ones you wasted your time reading while we supposed to be investigating?” Niizuma asks coldly. She brushes her hair out of her face. “You wasted time by doing that instead of being productive.”

“There’s no need to be, um, so harsh, Niizuma-san...” Eguchi says timidly., not looking Niizuma in the eyes. “The Kitchen had nothing, um, important in it...”

Niizuma looks at her sharply. “Nothing important?” she repeats, shaking her head. “Do you forget that the murder weapon from the last case came from the Kitchen?”

Eguchi looks down shamefully. “Oh...you’re right...I shouldn’t have, um, said anything...”

Niizuma shrugs. “If you’re not going to put in the effort to pay attention, no.”

She’s so harsh...it makes me nervous to talk around her.

“Niizuma-san,” Kasparov says. “Do you recall when we talked about stopping antagonizing the others here?”

“I do,” she says, staring at her nails instead of Kasparov.

“Then stop antagonizing Eguchi-san,” he says. “Doing so will only further increase tensions between everyone here. It might even put you in more danger.” He narrows his eyes at her. “You’re a statistician. Should you not recognize that being so harsh to everyone here will only increase the chances of you something unfortunate befalling you?”

Niizuma presses her lips together tightly. “But I wasn’t antagonizing Eguchi-san. Rather, I was reprimanding her.”

“In a pretty harsh way...” Motoki says. She rubs her shoulders. “I’m all for open dialogue and communication, but it should be healthy and respectful.”

“I was healthy and respectful,” Niizuma says with a hint of frustration. “For the most part. If you want to see what real rudeness looks like, look at Komatsu-kun.”

“Hey, take that back!” Komatsu yells at her.

Niizuma ignores him and turns to Kasparov. “I acknowledge that speaking my mind will increase the chances of someone hurting me. However, I’m careful who I speak to with less restraint.” She brushes her hair out of her face. “You may notice that I have never said anything rude to Terajima-kun, Sashihara-kun, Yamaguchi-kun when he was alive, nor to you, Kasparov-kun.” She crosses her arms. “That’s because those four are or were all noticeably taller and stronger than myself. So, I don’t take the risk of having them hurting me.”

“Hey, I’m taller than ya,” Komatsu frustratedly. “So why were ya just mean to me?”

“You are a few centimeters taller,” she acknowledges, “but I think I could win in a fight against you.”

Komatsu stands up, narrows his eyes, and clenches his fist. “Listen here, ya spoiled rich girl...I ain’t inexperienced in the area of fighting.” He cracks his knuckles. “So, you wanna say that again now?”

Niizuma stands up to meet Komatsu’s stare, glaring at him. “Yes, because I’m not a ‘spoiled rich girl.’ Even if I wear expensive, designer clothes, I didn’t come from a rich family.” She raises her voice. “I put in hard work, a whole damn lot of it, to get where I am.” She lowers her voice again and speaks softly, but very menacingly. “So, do you wanna say I’m a spoiled rich girl again?”

“C’mon, guys, calm down...” Ichigohara says with a nervous smile. “There’s no need to be fightin’...”

Niizuma brushes her hair out of her face and sits down. “Fine,” she says. “I’ll stop for now.”

“Aw, you should’ve, like, kept going,” Hayasaka pouts. “Mika-chan, like, really wanted to see you, like, beat the shit out of Yutaka-kun, Tomiko-chan...”

“That won’t be happening,” Domoto says. “Sit down, Komatsu-kun. This confrontation is over.”

“Fine,” he says reluctantly as he sits down. “But I didn’t like the way she was talkin’ to me.”

“Then grow thicker skin,” Domoto says without consideration.

That whole ordeal...it doesn’t make me feel so good to see them fighting like that.

“Now that that’s over, can we talk about my situation?” Terajima asks. “I don’t want you guys to distrust my any longer.”

“Don’t worry, we don’t want to distrust you either!” Sashihara reassures him.

“But, you have to give us reason to trust you again...” Carrasco says. She unfurls her fan and poses. “Like how un perro needs comfort and care to expose its weak underbelly to its owner, we need a reason to trust you.”

“A satisfactory reason as well, I might add,” says Kasparov. “Sentimental appeals such as ‘we are all friends and should dance under rainbows’ will not work.”

“I wasn’t going to do that,” Terajima says.

“So what are you prepared to do?” Domoto asks curtly.

“Tell the whole truth of my situation,” Terajima responds. “That way, you’ll know everything about me and my past.”

“Then go ahead,” Motoki says with a reassuring smile. “Just communicate with us and give us the truth.”

“I will,” Terajima tells her. “Alright. I’ll start with why I became a part of the Kuzuryuu Clan.” He sighs. “I was born in Kyoto, poor. My family needed money. So, I started learning how to steal. To pickpocket...”

“Is that how you learned to move so quietly?” asks Niizuma.

Terajima nods. “It is,” he says. “But as I got older, the Clan leaders recognized that I would have better uses than a mere petty thief. I thought they would make me a fighter due to my build.”

“But they didn’t?” Sashihara asks, surprised. “With your body type, muscle just piles on and on! They’d be dumb to not make you a fighter!” Sashihara blinks and shakes his head. “Not that I’m supporting yakuzas,” he says hurriedly.

Domoto stares at him icily. “You better not be...I hate yakuzas.” She turns her stare to Terajima. “Continue. I want to hear the rest.”

“To answer the fitness boy’s question, no, they didn’t make me a fighter...not exactly,” says Terajima. “Although they trained me extensively in mixed martial arts, I was made to be an enforcer...a fee collector. To make sure everyone under the Kuzuryuu Clan’s ‘protection’ paid up.”

Wait a minute...that explains Furuhata-kun’s motive video...
”Is that how you came to know Furuhata-kun?” I ask Terajima.

He nods. “Yes,” he says. “That’s how I knew his name out of everyone’s here. He did some work for the Clan to make some quick cash. Also, he and his younger brother were on the list of people who had to pay up a certain fee every once and a while, so I put in the effort to memorize it. I was one of a group of enforcers typically sent to their house to collect the money.”

“That explains a lot,” says Komatsu. “Like in Furuhata-kun’s motive video...his lil’ bro was beggin’ him to come back ‘cause ‘the payments’ ran out.” He narrows his eyes at Terajima. “That what he was talkin’ about? Yer yakuza extortion payments?”

“Most likely,” Terajima says. “But I can’t be sure, because I haven’t been a yakuza for two years now.”

“How, um, did you even leave the Kuzuryuu Clan?” Eguchi asks, not daring to make eye contact with Terajima. “I doubt they’d, um, just let you go...”

“They didn’t,” says Terajima. “I moved cities to Tokyo, where I changed my family name, shaved my head, and changed my image.”

“You d-deserted your family, j-just like that?!” asks Oyamada incredulously. “I c-can’t even c-comprehend it...”

“I had no family left to desert,” Terajima says with sadness. “They were killed in a ‘tragic accident’ because I wanted to stop being a yakuza.” He sighs. “I had nothing left in Kyoto, so I went to Tokyo, where I rented myself out and became a bodyguard. I started with small clients, worked my way up to bigger and better clients, and now I am who I am today. The Ultimate Bodyguard.”

Domoto frowns. “But how would the Kuzuryuu Clan not recognize that you are one of the most famous bodyguards in the country?”

“Why do you think I wear these sunglasses at all times?” Terajima asks while adjusting said sunglasses. “And why do you think I’m bald? It’s all to change my image from what it was before. It’s why I always cover my tattoo as well—I’m ashamed of it.”

“Then why haven’t you had it removed?” Kasparov asks, unconvinced of Terajima’s story. “I’m sure that wouldn’t be difficult for someone like you.”

“If I, the Ultimate Bodyguard, was discovered to have that dragon tattoo, word would spread rapidly and I’d be fired instantly from every position I have,” Terajima explains. “I never wanted to risk that.”

He stops talking. Domoto just stares at him. “So, is that it?” she asks.

“It is,” Terajima confirms.

She stares at him with a piercing gaze. “I hate yakuzas,” she says bitterly. “They’ve harassed myself, my family, and my neighbors for almost my whole life. They’ve tried to recruit neighborhood kids into their illicit schemes. They tried to get me involved in drug dealing.” She clenches her fist so hard that they’re white. “One of them wanted me to put drugs inside my toys to hook children.” Her face is pure hatred. “So do you really expect me to ever trust you if you were involved in something like that!?”

Domoto-san was terrifying just then. I wasn’t even the one she was directing her rage at, yet I almost shit myself regardless...

“I was never involved in drug dealing,” Terajima says slowly, trying not to ignite Domoto’s rage. “The Kuzuryuu Clan was one that forbid that. The people that harassed you might’ve been from the Dojin-kai or another group that encourages drug trafficking.” He pushes his sunglasses up his nose. “Besides, that’s why I left the Kuzuryuu Clan and became a bodyguard. I wanted to move from harming and threatening people to be the one the was protecting them.”

Terajima takes a deep breath. “That’s why...I want you all to trust me. So I can protect you, make sure you’re all safe...that’s what I want. Not to kill or harm any of you.”

For a moment, no one speaks.

“I find this hard to believe,” says Kasparov. “You may have deserted your gangster friends, but you still harmed Furuhata-kun nonetheless. You are still dangerous.”

Terajima sighs. “I only hurt him because he attacked me. It was out of self-defense.”

Kasparov frowns. “That explanation is unsatisfactory.”

“It is,” Niizuma agrees. “You could easily just be saying that.” She shrugs. “You’ll have to work harder if you want me to trust you or to want me to protect you.”

“That’s unfortunate,” Terajima says disappointedly, “but I won’t protect you if you don’t want me to.”

“Then you’re out of luck,” Domoto says harshly. “No one here wants you to protect them.”

“Don’t speak for everyone like that,” Motoki reprimands. “I personally wouldn’t mind it. I think Terajima-kun has communicated with us to the best of his ability.” She smiles at him. “I believe in him.”

“I, um, feel the same,” says Eguchi. “Terajima-kun was, um, wrong to hurt Furuhata-kun...but I think he, um, wants to do better than that...” She looks up, struggling to look Terajima straight in the eye. “I believe, um, you should get a second chance...”

“Y-Yeah I feel the s-same...” Oyamada says.

“As do I!” Sashihara shouts. “I won’t give up on you, Terajima-kun! That’d be like giving up on a client after they broke their diet once or skipped a workout routine! Never give up, that’s my motto!”

Terajima smiles slightly. “Thank you, Sashihara-kun.”

“You have my trust, too, Eisuke-kun,” Ichigohara says with a bright smile. “You made a mistake...but it’s time to forgive you and hope you can make better decisions in the future.”

Domoto narrows her eyes. “Is that really how everyone here feels? That’s idiotic.”

“Let them do as they please,” Carrasco tells her firmly. “If they choose to support Señor Terajima, allow them. They have their lives, and you have yours.”

“But it’s the wrong decision,” Domoto protests.

“To you, maybe,” Carrasco says as she covers her mouth with her fan. “I personally believe it could work. It is possible that the monster we thought was Señor Terajima is truly un ángel in disguise.”

Domoto shakes her head. She looks around. “Kawashima-san, Komatsu-kun, and Hayasaka-san? What do you think?”

I pause, contemplating the situation. Terajima-kun has past yakuza involvements, which is something I really don’t like...plus, he did something pretty bad when he stabbed Furuhata-kun...but it was in self-defense, according to him.
He made a mistake, just like I did by not getting that stupid mixer myself...so it’d be unfair for me to not give him a second chance. We all deserve forgiveness, right? Even those who don’t think they need or deserve it...

“I’ll give you a second chance, Terajima-kun,” I say with as much a smile I can muster on such a bad day.

“I guess I’ll give ya one, too...” Komatsu says uncertainly. “I ain’t never gonna trust ya fully, but I guess I can at least give ya a shot to try.”

“Fair enough,” says Terajima. “What about you, selfie girl?”

“Mika-chan, like, doesn’t really care,” Hayasaka says as she twirls her hair distractedly. “Eisuke-kun can try to, like, protect her if he, like, wants, but Mika-chan, like, doesn’t really care in the end.”

“That’s better than no,” Terajima says, satisfied.

Domoto seems less satisfied. “So, it seems most of you with the exception of myself, Kasparov-kun, and Niizuma-san, have decided to place your trust in Terajima-kun...” She shakes her head. “I strongly advise you all to reconsider.”

No one says anything. Domoto sighs. “Fine,” she says after a while. “You can try to protect those who want your protection, Terajima-kun. But you’ll never have my full trust.”

“I’ll work to gain it,” Terajima says with determination. “I’ll do my damndest to prove to you I’m worthy of protecting you all. Otherwise...I’d feel like a failure.”

That last word jumps out at me like a sore thumb. And just when I thought I was getting a bit better...

“You can try,” Domoto says. “Also, I want to let you know that if anything does happen while you are ‘protecting’ another person you do realize you’ll be the prime suspect?”

“I recognize that,” Terajima says. “But I will work my hardest to ensure that no here is ever in danger again. I promise you that.”

“Then that is all,” Domoto says. She looks at the clock. “It’s almost 10, so I’m going to adjourn this meeting now.”

“But what about the results of the investigation of the second floor?” Kasparov asks. “I was under the impression we were going to do that after discussing the situation of Terajima-kun.”

“We can do that at tomorrow’s morning meeting,” Niizuma suggests. “We’ll have more time then.” She yawns. “And we’ll be better rested.”

“Then that’s what do then,” Domoto says. “Alright, everyone. That’s it for tonight. My only request is that none of you die tonight.”

“I don’t think anyone’s tryna die,” Komatsu says.

“You can’t be certain,” Niizuma says.

We adjourn the meeting and all head back to our respective rooms. As I lie down on my bed, I remember everything that’s happened today. Aozora-kun’s outbursts...something isn’t right with him. Whatever it is that’s wrong with him, I need to try to help him, even if he doesn’t want that bell. And...am I the failure that he says I am?
Part of me says yes. I didn’t go for that stupid mixer myself...
But part of me says no.
I also chose to believe in Terajima-kun, to believe in trust instead of distrust...to believe in second chances.

That’s what I need to do, I tell myself. I need to give both myself and Aozora-kun a second chance.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Map of Second Floor:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ys3wk1s2OhXFYy-t03Dk9qIsQz3JgJavE58DvYWP-LA/edit?usp=sharing
“Good morning, inmates. It is now 7 am, which means nighttime has officially concluded. Enjoy another day of confinement.”

I wake up to Monohebi’s morning announcement yet again, feeling...strangely fine. Yesterday was bad, and the day before was worse, but I’m not as upset as I should be. Because second chances should be given to everyone...even this who don’t want them.

I head out to the Cafeteria, hoping to see Aozora instead of dreading seeing him. I need to get him back to normal...and the only way to do that is to talk things though with him, as difficult as it might be in his current state.

When I walk into the Cafeteria, I see that Domoto, Kasparov, Niizuma, Motoki, Sashihara, Terajima, and Carrasco are already there, along with...Hayasaka?

“Hayasaka-san?” I say, surprised. “You’re here much earlier than yesterday.”

“Yep~!” she says. “Tomiko-chan, like said Mika-chan should, like, get here on time, so, like, Mika-chan just had to listen to the, like, requests of someone so fashionable.”

“I suppose it is better that she is here earlier,” Kasparov says. “Though it is irritating that she won’t listen to anyone else...so, thank you, Niizuma-san.”

Niizuma purses her lips. “Are you sure you should thank me?”

“Aw, Tomiko-chan’s so silly~!” Hayasaka giggles. “Acting like she, like, doesn’t love, like, being around Mika-chan~!”

I don’t think it’s acting...

Komatsu walks in soon after, yawning. “Good mornin’, everyone,” he says tiredly.

“Buenos días,” says Carrasco. “You sound tired. Did you not sleep well last night?”

“No,” Komatsu says. “It’s hard for me to sleep in this place...the bed’s too soft.”

“Too soft?” I say, surprised. “I thought they were pretty decent...”

As terrible as this place is, the beds are pretty nice...I’ll give Monohebi that.

Komatsu shrugs. “Eh. I prefer harder surfaces.”

“Like concrete?” Hayasaka asks with a giggle. “Mika-chan would, like, expect a, like, gross person like you to love sleeping on something as, like, poor as concrete.”

“Shut up,” Komatsu says angrily.

Those two really don’t get along, do
they...

Before their conversation can continue, Ichigohara walks in.

“Hiya, everyone!” Ichigohara says cheerfully as she walks in. “I hope you slept well!”

“Eh...” says Komatsu. “I’ve slept better.”

Ichigohara laughs. “I’m sure you have.” She looks at everyone else. “I’ll head into the Kitchen now to make some breakfast. That cool with everyone?”

“It’s fine with me,” says Domoto.

“Likewise,” says Kasparov.

“Same here,” I say.

Ichigohara nods. “Alright.” She heads into the Kitchen. Soon after, Oyamada and Eguchi enter.

“Um, hi, everyone...” says Eguchi, not looking anyone in the eye as she takes a seat.

“G-Good morning...” Oyamada says timidly.

“You’re late,” Domoto says as soon as they both sit down. “You too, Komatsu-kun.”

Oyamada turns around and looks at the clock. “B-But it’s o-only 7:38...we’re not nearly as l-late as Hayasaka-san will be...”

“Mika-chan’s, like, right here, you know!” Hayasaka says, offended. “And she’s actually, like, on time today~! Unlike you losers.”

“Oh, I d-didn’t notice...” Oyamada says, hugging a thick book close to his chest.

“Then maybe get, like, a stronger prescription on your, like, glasses,” she says. “Or maybe, like, new glasses entirely...the ones you, like, have right now are hideous~!”

Hayasaka-san should really stop being so rude...but I have more important things to think about than her. Like where Aozora-kun is...

“Do any of you know where Aozora-kun is?” I ask. “He’s normally here by this time.”

“¿Qué? Do you want to speak with him?” Carrasco asks, surprised. “Even with how he treated you yesterday?”

“Of course she should,” Motoki says supportively as she comes to my side and takes my hand. She’s a bit too close for comfort...but I don’t even know if she realizes it.
“Communication is key to any healthy relationship,” she continues.

“Well, Kawashima-san will have to wait to talk with him,” Domoto says. “Aozora-kun came by shortly after the morning announcement to let us know he was still alive. Then, he left.”

“I can confirm,” Terajima says. “He came by at 7:04 and left at 7:06, heading out the doors on the other side of the Cafeteria.”

I guess he doesn’t want to talk...I’m both disappointed and relieved. I really wanted to talk with Aozora-kun, but at the same time, I was pretty nervous about confronting him again. But it’s no matter. I’ll find him, despite this setback. As much as it may be difficult, we need to talk.

“So he’s avoiding us?” Sashihara asks loudly. He shakes his head. “That’s no good! Prolonged social isolation is bad for mental health!”

“Prolonged?” Niizuma says. “It hasn’t even been a day.”

“Isolating yourself for even that long is especially dangerous in a place like this,” Domoto says ominously. “We need to get Aozora-kun back into this group if we don’t want a repeat of what happened to Furuhata-kun.”

Eguchi winces when she says that. “You don’t, um, think that will, um, happen again, do you?”

“Eventually, yes,” answers Domoto. “I hope to prolong it as long as possible, though.” She crosses her arms. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m not encouraging a murder. I simply think one is inevitable.

“Unfortunately, it likely is,” replies Niizuma. “If we stay in this prison for the rest of our lives like Monohebi promises, someone will eventually snap.”

Tension fills the air when she says that. “Not if they’re strong, they won’t,” Terajima says. “Mentally strong, that is.”

“Not everyone here is mentally strong,” Carrasco says, her voice distant. “One individual in particular...”

I don’t have to ask who she’s talking about...
“Don’t worry about Aozora-kun, guys,” I tell everyone. “I’ll try to talk to him and make things all better. I’ll try to prevent him from snapping.”

Domoto frowns. “I think that point has already past.” She clears her throat. “Now, moving on from all that, let’s discuss what we found upstairs yester—“

“Anyone find a way out?” Komatsu interrupts. “I wanna get the fuck outta here as soon as I can, so speak up if ya did.”

Domoto glares at him. “I was in the middle of speaking, you know.”

Komatsu shrugs. “So? If someone found a way out, we don’t gotta bother talkin’ ‘bout the rest of the floor.”

“He’s got a point,” I say. If we could find a way out, all the tensions in here would evaporate...or at least, most of them would.

“So, did anyone find a way out?” Komatsu asks eagerly.

“I found a metal gate, much like the one that blocked the stairs on this floor before Monohebi opened them!” Sashihara shouts. “So it’s possible that we could escape through there if the stairs lead to a way out!”

“But they’re blocked,” Motoki says with a frown. “So even if it is a way out, there’s no way we can get past the gate.”

“We could break down the gate,” Komatsu says, cracking his knuckles.

“Except you shall be punished if you commit such an act,” Kasparov reminds him. “Do you not recall the rules?” He pulls out his e-Handbook and reads, “‘Rule 10: Inmates may not damage any property of the Monohebi Correctional Facility. Doing so will result in punishment.’”

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that...” Komatsu says dejectedly.

“Maybe if you had put the effort in to encode that information into your memory, you wouldn’t have wasted our time with that inane suggestion,” Niizuma says coldly. “Pathetic.”

“So there’s no way out, huh...” Carrasco says slowly. “I suppose we could still be rescued.”

“I doubt it,” Domoto says bluntly. “Today marks a week since we’ve been trapped in here. Sixteen Ultimates from New Hope’s Peak disappearing out of nowhere certainly would have been quite the news story, and every law enforcement agency would be combing the country looking for us.” She sighs. “So, as unfortunate as it may be, we should face the harsh truth that outside help likely will never come for us.”

She’s probably right...but even still...
“We can still hope for outside help, right?” I say, not really believing what I say.

“That would be a waste of time,” Domoto says.

Motoki frowns at her. “Why do you have to always try and put us down like that? Why can’t you just let us hope?”

“Because, as I have already said, that would be a waste of time,” Domoto says, irritated. “Now can we actually discuss what we found on the second floor yesterday?”

Motoki looks like she wants to say more, but sits down, dejected. “Good,” Domoto says. “I’ll start with the Rec Room. There’s a pool table in there, along with several bean bags, a dart board, and several other games, such as chess, shogi, checkers, mancala, and go.” She pauses. “Also, the door locks from the outside.”

“¿Por qué?” asks Carrasco, confused. “The Rec Room doesn’t seem like a room that would need to be locked from the outside.”

“Well, it is, for whatever reason,” Domoto says.

Kasparov clears his throat so he can speak. “Also, if anyone is utilizing the facilities offered by the Rec Room at the same time as me, please refrain from making noise,” he says. “I cannot focus with unnecessary noise distracting me.”

“S-Same for m-me...” Oyamada adds timidly. “I c-can’t read b-books like Moby Dick
if e-everyone is t-talking around me.”

“But the whole purpose of the Rec Room is recreation,” says Motoki. “And for most people, recreation doesn’t happen in complete silence...”

“I am not requesting that everyone is silent while using the room at all times,” Kasparov says. “Rather, I desire to have it quiet only while I am using it. Or while Oyamada-kun is.”

“Maybe, um, the two of them could, um, try to use the room at the same time?” Eguchi suggests. “That way, it minimizes the time, um, everyone else would have to be, um, quiet.”

Kasparov considers that. “It sounds like a good idea,” he says.

“Y-Yeah, I’d like th-that...” Oyamada says.

“Alright then,” Domoto says. “Now that’s settled. What about the other rooms on the floor?”

“Well, there was, um, an arcade,” Eguchi says, barely repressing her excitement. “And it was...” She can’t hold back her excitement any longer. “...SO COOL!!!!! There were so many amazing arcade games in there, from common stuff like Taiko no Tatsujin to rare retro ones you barely find nowadays!”

Komatsu sits up straight. “Wait, didja just say Taiko no Tatsujin is in that arcade?!” he asks incredulously.

“Yeah!” Eguchi responds enthusiastically.

“Fuck yeah!” Komatsu yells excitedly. “I fuckin’ love that game!”

“What is it?” Niizuma says with a hint of distaste. “I was never one for arcade games.”

“It’s a rhythm game,” I explain to her. “It’s really popular. You could find in almost any arcade across the nation. It’s hard, though. At least for me.”

“Not for me!” Komatsu shouts. “It ain’t nothin’ compared to some of the wack-ass rhythms in 20th century music, so I can destroy that shit!”

“So can I!” Eguchi says excitedly. “I’ve beaten the high score in pretty much every arcade I’ve gone to that’s had it!”

“Ya think ya can beat me?” Komatsu asks. “‘Cuz yer wrong!”

“I think that I could, yeah!” Eguchi shouts.

“Then let’s go, right after this meetin’!” Komatsu says. “Then we’ll sees who’s best!”

Eguchi smiles and swells up in pride. She even makes direct eye contact wth Komatsu, a rarity for her. “Sure!”

Eguchi-san is being a lot more social than normal...I guess that’s what happens with her once you get her talking about something she’s really passionate about.

“Moving on from that, does anyone else have anything to add about the Arcade?” Domoto asks. No one says anything.

“I suppose I should talk about the Casino now,” Niizuma says. “It contains various casino games, such as poker, blackjack, roulette, slot machines...all of that.” She looks around the room. “I advise you all not to waste time on the games in there.”

“Yeah, otherwise yer just gonna give a long-ass explanation into how the games are rigged,” Komatsu says as he rolls his eyes.

He’s not wrong...her explanation was unnecessarily long...

“Hmph,” Niizuma says. “They aren’t necessarily rigged, the odds are just not in the player’s favor.” She brushes her hair out of her face. “But that’s unimportant. What really matters is that there are no obvious weapons in the Casino. Also,” she smirks, “I doubt Kasparov-kun or Oyamada-kun would enjoy it much. It’s full of loud noises and flashing lights.”

“Bleh,” Kasparov says with disgust. “I hate places that disorient the senses like that.”

“Y-Yeah, I don’t think I’ll b-be going there...” Oyamada says.

“So, there aren’t weapons in there...that’s good,” Domoto says. “What about the other rooms?”

“There was un auditorio—I mean, an Auditorium—with a stage, dressing room, and props storage room,” Carrasco says. “I believe it would be a suitable spot for un espectáculo de flamenco, if you all would enjoy seeing me perform one.”

“Maybe,” Domoto says with little interest. “Is that all?”

“No,” Carrasco says. “There were also a few catwalks above the stage that controlled the lighting system for the stage.”

“Oh, don’t remind me,” Motoki says queasily. “Even the thought of such high places makes me sick...”

“So, cutting all the useless information, there is nothing else,” Kasparov says.

“Wait, there, like, totally is~!” Hayasaka exclaims. “There’s, like, so much makeup in, like, the dressing room! It’s, like, awesome~!”

“Makeup?” Niizuma says, her interest piqued. “I may have to check it out...”

Domoto pinches the bridge of her nose. “Makeup is not important.”

Hayasaka smirks. “Not to, like, you, obviously. Especially with, like, how awfully your, like, concealer is blended~!”

Domoto glares at her. “Shut your mouth,” she commands. “Now, does anyone else have anything else to share?”

No one else has mentioned that one room...so I guess I’ll have to.
“There was a room called Cell Block B,” I say. “Except, unlike Cell Block A, it’s made up of real cells, not dorms. It’s cold, dirty and not very comforting in there.”

“Then I see no more reason to discuss it,” Domoto says. “Unless there are weapons in it.”

I frown, trying to recall if there were. I didn’t see any weapons out in the open and I didn’t look in the cells because I was preoccupied with talking to Aozora-kun...but even still, I’m pretty sure there were no weapons in there. I’m not completely sure, though...
“I don’t think there are any,” I say.

Domoto nods. “Good,” she says. “Alright, everyone. Let’s adjourn this meeting and make sure to reconvene for dinner tonight at 6:30. Try to see if Aozora-kun can be brought back into the fold.” She flicks her eyes over to me as she says that. “Until then, do what you please as long as it doesn’t involve murder.”

After Ichigohara serves the food she made, we all leave the meeting. I take a deep breath, preparing to look for Aozora. I’ll find him, I’ll talk with him, and I’ll offer him the second chance I know he needs...and I’ll assure him he’s not the failure he thinks he is.

I set out to search for Aozora, but it turns out it’s easier said than done...I just can’t seem to locate him. Ugh, this is annoying...but I can’t just waste my time walking around doing nothing. I have to make something of this time...
FREE TIME START!

Disappointed that I can’t find Aozora, I turn the corner and find Hayasaka prancing on her way to the Auditorium.

“Like, hey, Wakana-chan~!” she says. “Do you want to, like, go put on makeup with Mika-chan?”

Not exactly...but I haven’t spent a whole lot of time with Hayasaka-san. Maybe I should give hanging out with her a chance. So, should I hang out with Hayasaka-san?

Yes/No

“Like, awesome~!” Hayasaka says excitedly. “Let’s, like, go~!”

Hayasaka-san and I went to the dressing room to put on some makeup...it took a while, but I think it turned out pretty well...for all her other faults, Hayasaka-san is a really amazing makeup artist. I guess that comes with being a social media celebrity. I think Hayasaka-san and I grew a little closer.

“Wow,” I say as I look into the mirror. “This makeup looks really nice.”

“Like, it totally does, doesn’t it?” She says. “Mika-chan, like, loooovvvees the Anastasia Beverly Hills eyeshadow she, like, picked out~! And your, like, foundation shade...Mika-chan, like, got it totally right without even, like, swatching it first! Isn’t she, like, totally amazing!?”

“Yeah,” I say. Though she’s definitely not humble...
“Hayasaka-san, I was wondering...how did you become the Ultimate Social Media Star?”

Hayasaka looks at me with an eager smile, as if she was waiting for me to ask. “Mika-chan’s, like, sooooooooo glad you asked~!” She flips her hair. “Mika-chan got started, like, because she really, like, wanted to show everyone just how, like, perfect and amazing her life is~!”

“Is that the real reason why?” I ask, doubtful.
There has to be something else...no one is that shallow.

“Yep~!” Hayasaka says with a cutesy smile. “People just, like, love to marvel at someone like Mika-chan’s, like, flawless life while they live in, like, poverty.” Hayasaka looks at me confidently. “And, like, who wouldn’t? Everyone, like, loves Mika-chan~!”

Is she sure about that?
“Everyone?” I repeat quizzically. “Including everyone here?”

Hayasaka nods. “Yep~! Some of the people here may, like, pretend to not love Mika-chan, but she, like, all knows they really do.” She looks away from me into the mirror and her face sours. “Mika-chan, like, doesn’t like all of them, though. Especially not, like, the dirty poor ones...”

She’s made that clear...but it’s best not to dwell on that. She gets on enough people’s nerves already for me to have to discuss her being rude to them now...

“It must have taken a lot of work to have the following you do,” I say, trying to change the subject.

The cutesy smile returns to Hayasaka’s face. “You mean, like, 98,326,074 followers on all Mika-chan’s social media sites combined?”

Hold on...she remembers the exact number!?

“Or at least, like, that was how much Mika-chan has, like, before she got, like, trapped in this stupid place,” Hayasaka says while tapping her foundation brush against the vanity table. “She’s, like, sure she has, like, more now.”

“But you haven’t been posting for the last week, right?” I say. “I’m sure your followers aren’t going to love that.”

Hayasaka snorts. “Mika-chan’s followers, like, lovvvvvveeee her. They’re not going to just, like, unfollow~!” She stares into the mirror, smirking to herself. “Besides, Mika-chan won’t be, like, trapped in here forever.” She brushes her hair slowly. “Not if she has anything to, like, say about it.”

Oh...I don’t like the sound of that.
“Hayasaka-san,” I say gently, trying not to provoke her, “I don’t think you should be focusing on trying to escape right now...especially because it could make you consider...bad things.”

Hayasaka turns to me and gives me a strange smile. It’s a knowing smile, as if she knows more about something than I do. “Oh, Wakana-chan,” she says while shaking her head, “you’re, like, so silly.”

She gets up and leaves, twirling her hair as she does. That behavior of hers...it concerns me, to say the least. I don’t want to make the same mistake Yamaguchi-kun did, so I’ll need to keep an eye on her.

I leave the Auditorium and head out into the hallway.

I should try to look for Aozora-kun again...

I look for him all over, but yet again I can’t seem to locate him. Where could he be? I need to talk with him...

Feeling frustrated and tired, after an hour or two do searching I go to the Rec Room, eager for something to take my mind off Aozora. I find Kasparov sitting down at a table with a game of chess set up.

“Kawashima-san,” he greets, “I was just getting ready to play a game of chess against myself, but now that you are here, do you desire to play with me?”

I was looking for something to distract myself...and this would probably do that. Although, I’ll probably get destroyed by him...he is the Ultimate Chess Grandmaster, after all. So, should I hang out with Kasparov-kun?

Yes/No

“Excellent,” Kasparov says. “You can be white.”

I sit down opposite him at the table, ready to play Kasparov.
At least, I hope I’m ready...

It turns out at I’m not ready. Not at all. Only ten moves in, and he puts me in checkmate...

We play another game...and another...and another...and another...and yet another. We play a ton of games, yet I lose every single one...and badly, too. Still, I think Kasparov-kun and I got a little closer.

“Sorry,” I say after what seems like the millionth consecutive checkmate. “I’m not very good at chess.”

“You are not awful,” Kasparov tells me. “I have seen worse.”

He says that as if it’s reassuring...
“You’re so good,” I say, amazed at how he quickly managed to anticipate my moves and foil my plans. “I bet you’ve never met someone who you couldn’t beat.”

“False,” Kasparov says immediately. “I have lost to several people. But I have only lost to one individual on more than one occasion.”

Really? I wonder who that could be...
“And who’s that?” I ask curiously.

“My mentor,” answers Kasparov. “His name was Umeji Watai, a famous, elderly Japanese chess grandmaster who mentored students in chess.”

Umeji Watai...I think I recognize that name...he used to be really famous for playing chess insanely well...and for something else, I think...but I can’t recall exactly what that is...
“Wait, didn’t he attend Hope’s Peak?” I ask. “The old one, I mean. Before the Tragedy...”

Kasparov nods. “Yes, he was the Ultimate Psychologist. Eventually, he branched out from psychology and applied his immense knowledge of human behavior and thoughts to become a formidable chess player.” Kasparov smiles. “He could always predict your next moves...it was truly frightening. The more you played him, the better he became at predicting your moves.”

“Wow,” I say, nervous at even the thought of playing him. “He sounds amazing. How did you even get him as a teacher?” I’m sure he was expensive to pay.”

“He was a mentor, not a teacher,” Kasparov corrects. “Chess at its core is a game of strategy and outwitting your opponent. One can learn methods of how to do so, but if that individual lacks a strategical mind, they will not succeed.” He takes the black king in his hand and twirls it around. “But to answer your question, I demonstrated quite an aptitude for chess at a young age. In addition, my family is quite wealthy, so they were able to pay his high fees.”

“But how did you communicate with him?” I ask, confused. “I doubt Watai-san spoke Russian.”

Kasparov snorts in a rare display of amusement. “Oh, he most certainly did not,” Kasparov says with a fond smile, as if he is re-experiencing pleasant memories. “I had to learn Japanese. Because of my young age and dutiful studying of the language, I was able to pick it up rather well.” Kasparov puts the black king back on the board. “Also, Watai-sensei would often correct what he saw as mistakes in my speaking and then demonstrate to me the proper way of speaking the language.”

Oh, so that explains how he manages to speak Japanese so well...if a bit too formally. He was taught—no mentored—by an old man...that’s probably why he speaks and dresses like one.
“So, Watai-san’s mentoring...” I say. “is that how you became a chess grandmaster and how you got into New Hope’s Peak?”

Kasparov nods. “Yes,” he says. “Although I had a natural aptitude for chess and strategy games in general, Watai-sensei trained me rigorously until I could beat almost anyone I played, no matter how good.”

“But how did he do that?” I ask.

“Practice,” Kasparov says. “Lots and lots of it. He showed me some strategies as well, ways to read your opponent’s face, even some of the psychology he knew so well, all of which would allow me to make predict my opponent’s moves with a fair amount of accuracy.”

Wow, Watai-san really went all in while training Kasparov-kun...I guess that makes sense. He couldn’t have become the Ultimate Chess Grandmaster without hard work.

“But how did you get into New Hope’s Peak?” I ask, curious. “They usually don’t accept foreigners unless they have some sort of significant connection to Japan.”

“My connection was Watai-sensei,” Kasparov says. “And my ability to speak, read, write, and understand Japanese fluently.”

Oh, so that was it...I feel dumb for asking that...I should’ve realized it earlier.

“Alright, thanks, Kasparov-kun,” I say to him. “Even though I lost every time, this was still pretty fun.”

“It was,” Kasparov agrees. “Come back again to play anytime.”

FREE TIME END

I say goodbye to Kasparov, leave the Rec Room, and look around in the open space in the middle of the second floor. My gaze drifts toward the giant Monohebi statue in the center. That thing is such an eyesore...if there wasn’t a rule against destroying prison property, I’d love to break it...

I shake that thought out of my mind. No, I need to focus on more important things...like finding Aozora-kun and talking to him. I’m getting concerned after no seeing him for so long...

I resolve to find him before dinner when a monitor high up on the wall behind me crackles to life.

“Ahem,” Monohebi’s deep and smooth voice says from the monitor. “This is Monohebi Correctional Facility Announcement. All inmates must make there way to the Cafeteria as soon as possible. Attendance is mandatory.”

The monitors turn back off. Monoheni wants to talk with everyone...? I wonder why that is...knowing Monohebi, it’s probably nothing good.

I head down to the Cafeteria and wait for everyone to arrive. With the exception of Aozora, everyone is soon there.

Everyone mutters around me. “What could this be?” Terajima wonders aloud.

“Whatever it is, I don’t like the feel of it,” Motoki says as she rubs her shoulder. “Monohebi never has anything good to say to us.”

“Ya go that fuckin’ right,” Komatsu says. “But what kinda bad shit do ya think he’s gonna tell us?”

“Based on the past, this is likely our motive to kill,” Domoto says bluntly.

Silence falls over the Cafeteria. “You don’t mean that, do you, Otoha-chan?” Ichigohara asks with a nervous chuckle. “I’m sure it’s something else...”

“Yeah!” Sashihara shouts. “Why would he give us the motive so soon after the trial!? It hasn’t even been two whole days yet!”

“As much as I may dislike it, it’s what I believe this is,” she says as she crosses her arms. “I’m not one to tell lies or sugarcoat you opinions. If you all want to do the same, you are welcome to delude yourselves.”

Carrasco looks at her bitterly. “Can you not accept the that we might genuinely believe that?” she asks, irritated. “Besides, let us do as we please with our lives...why should What we choose to believe affect you?”

“Yeah, can’t we just all choose our own paths and float down the lazy river of life our own ways?” Ichigohara says with a small smile. “I mean, it’s not like that would be a bad thing.

“Are you sure? It sounds like ignorance to me.” Domoto sighs. “Besides, I don’t want to participate in any more class trials. But if you keep espousing such inane beliefs, I’ll likely have to suffer through one again.”

Niizuma clears her throat loudly. “Ahem,” she says, “can we please stop this and move on to a more pressing topic?” She presses her lips together. “Such as, where is Aozora-kun?”

I had noticed he wasn’t here earlier, but everyone else’s conversation prevented me from saying anything. I really hope he’s okay...I really don’t want to think about the possibility that—

“Maybe he is dead?” Kasparov suggests. “He has been acting rather unstable lately. It is possible that someone took advantage of his state and murdered him.”

“Don’t, um, say that,” Eguchi says harshly, not looking directly at Kasparov. “I don’t even, um, want to think of he possibility that, um, someone here could, um, kill another again...”

“Well, it’s a possibility you need to consider,” Domoto says without emotion. “Otherwise, the surprise when it does eventually happen could break you.”

“You mean ‘if,’ right?” Motoki asks, although it’s not really a question. “You can’t be certain someone else will die.”

“I can be certain that it will happen eventually,” Domoto retorts. “There’s no way all of us will resist the temptation of escape for the rest of our lives.”

“Sususu...how right you are, Domoto,” says Monohebi.

I jump. What the hell?! Where did he come from?!
It takes me a few seconds to see he’s not on the chandelier, but rather crawling on the floor, with someone reluctantly following in his wake...

“Aozora-kun,” I say, half relieved and half terrified.

He looks awful. Under his eyes, bags are deep and purple, and every step he makes as if he is focused on something else. He says nothing.

“Well? Aren’t you going to say something?” Terajima asks after a small pause. “You’re just standing there.”

“C’mon, Aozora-kun, communicate with us,” Motoki says encouragingly. “We’ve been worried about you.”

Aozora
looks at her for saying that that. “Worried...?” he repeats, as if he can’t comprehend what it means. “But...why? I’m a failure, so there’s no need for any of you to concern yourselves about me.”

There he goes with that word “failure” again...I have to show him that isn’t true...he’s not a failure.

Ichigohara hesitates. “Are you sure?” She asks. “Not to be rude, but you, uh...don’t exactly look the best...”

“And why are you late?” Niizuma asks aggressively as soon as Ichigohara stops talking. She narrows his eyes at him. “Were you so lazy and unmotivated that you could barely bring yourself out of reclusion to meet with us?” She shakes her head. “How unprofessional. I could never imagine being so incompetent.”

Wha...why is she being so harsh?! Aozora-kun definitely shouldn’t be this late, but...she still has no justifiable reason to act so rudely...

Aozora doesn’t even react to her. “You’re right, Niizuma-san...” he says slowly. “I have no good reason to be late...just that I’m a failure.”

“No,” I say to both Aozora and Niizuma. “You’re not a failure, and he could just have not heard the announcement.”

Niizuma turns her cold gaze to me. “Then he must be deaf, because every room and hallway in this prison has a monitor in it. Even the bathrooms, where Aozora could have been hiding.”

“Then why wouldn’t he have come?” Motoki asks, confused. “I can’t ever understand why someone would want to be alone for so long...” Her gaze turns distant. “How could anyone ever survive that...?”

“Whatever the reason, Aozora was unwilling to come,” Monohebi says with a hint of frustration. “I had to go to him personally and remind him that participation was mandatory.” Monohebi smirks cruelly. “Even if Aozora is a wreck at the moment, it seems he is not quite willing to die just yet.”

Aozora looks at Monohebi blankly. I want to say something to him, but Monohebi continues.

“Now, on to what you were all called here for,” Monohebi says in a businesslike manner. “Your life in this prison has become...boring. More quickly than I had anticipated. So, I have to come to announce your new motive.”

“And what may that be?” Kasparov asks.

Monohebi smiles. “Oh, I am delighted you asked. My motive this time is a special announcement. It is that...” His red eye glints. “It is that one of you is working for me.”

There is absolute silence in the Cafeteria. Wait...what...? That isn’t...that can’t be true! One of us is working for Monohebi!? No, that’s...too terrible to even imagine...

“Wh-What?” Oyamada asks fearfully. “That c-can’t be t-true...”

“Yeah, that ain’t right!” Komatsu says angrily. “There ain’t no way none of us here would work for a piece of shit snake like you!”

“That is rather offensive,” Monohebi says. “And there is a way. I went to this individual the night after the first trial and struck a deal with them. Part of that deal includes them working with me.”

“No,” I say forcefully. “You’re wrong. None of us would ever work for you!”

“Did I not just explain to Komatsu that someone is?” Monohebi asks, irritated. “I shall say it one last time, then: one of you is my spy. Their responsibility is to report back to me on all of your activities and, if necessary...to kill someone.”

Monohebi’s last words send a chill shooting down my spine. Not only is this person a spy for Monohebi...they’ve also agreed to kill someone?!

“No,” Eguchi says softly. “This isn’t, um, real...it’s not, um, possible...”

Monohebi smirks. “It is, dear. The sooner you accept that, the longer you shall live.” He looks at all of us with a cold smile. “It seems you all are wonderfully despaired by my announcement. If that is the case, I shall take my leave.”

He disappears, leaving us all in stunned silence.

I still can’t believe it...I still can’t accept it...one of us is working for Monohebi...?

I look around the room. Is it Domoto-san? Kasparov-kun? Motoki-san? Ichigohara-san? Carrasco-san? Aozora-kun? Niizuma-san? Hayasaka-san? Komatsu-kun? Sashihara-kun? Oyamada-kun? Eguchi-san? Terajima-kun?

It has to be one of the people I just mentioned...but I can’t imagine who. Why would any of them sell the rest of us out like that? Why...would they betray us like this?

“Who is it?” Terajima asks icily. “Which one of you is the traitor?”

“Traitor?” Domoto repeats. “Is that what we’re calling this individual now?”

“It is what we should call them,” Kasparov says with narrowed eyes. “They have decided to betray all of us for Monohebi, that wretched snake...they deserve nothing less than the brand of being a traitor.”

“It doesn’t matter what we call them,” Niizuma says with frustration. “It matters who they are.”

“Is anyone willing to come forward as the traitor?” asks Domoto. No one says anything.

“C’mon, ya can’t be so fuckin’ polite ‘bout it,” Komatsu says as he cracks his knuckles. “Which one of ya is the lil’ bitch who decided that betrayin’ us would be cool?!”

“Shut the fuck up, Yutaka-kun,” Hayasaka spits, all of her normal cutesy personality gone. “You’re really fucking dumb if you think asking them to reveal themselves will work. Whoever the traitor is, they aren’t dumb enough to just admit to it.”

She’s not talking like she normally does...

“Hayasaka-san,” I say with a hint of concern. “Are you alright? You’re not talking like normal.”

“Why the fuck does that matter, Wakana-chan?” she asks, glaring at me. “What’s really important is that Yutaka-kun is a huge dumbass if he thinks threatening to beat up the traitor will work.”

“As much as it is unusual for me to agree with you, I must,” Niizuma says. “If this traitor made a secret agreement with Monohebi, I highly doubt they’ll reveal their identity, even if threatened.” She grabs her necklace and strokes the chain of it. “As unfortunate as it may be, it seems we’ll have to uncover their identity by ourselves.”

Komatsu looks down, dejected. “Damn, yer prolly right...” He unfurls his fists. “It was worth a try, though...”

“Was it?” Motoki asks as she fiddles with her many bracelets. “Violence is never the option we should default to...instead, we should opt to communicate with this traitor in a nonviolent manner.”

Domoto rolls her eyes. “That won’t work. Didn’t you hear what Niizuma-san just said? The traitor won’t just reveal themselves if they made a secret agreement. We’ll have to figure out their identity.”

“Not if things stay the same,” Motoki concedes. “But if we work and become friends with the traitor, maybe they’ll realize how awful Monohebi is! Maybe they’ll reveal themselves!” She’s almost crying. It’s almost like she’s desperate to believe no one here is the traitor...

“Señorita Motoki,” Carrasco says, her voice distant and flat, “Stop.”

“What?” she asks, still trying to blink away her tears. “What is it, Carrasco-san?”

“Stop wasting your time,” Carrasco says, her voice void of hope. “This traitor has chosen their own path...the dark path of evil. There’s no point in trying to rehabilitate them.”

“I disagree!” Sashihara shouts. “My whole talent revolves around rehabilitating and making even the most of shape people fit again!” He clenches his fist and raises his voice above its already loud volume. “No one is insusceptible to change! If we work hard enough, we can get this traitor to join our side! We need to give them a second chance!”

Sashihara-kun brings up a fair point...we could potentially try to bring this person, whoever they are, to our side...but it’ll be difficult if we don’t even know who they are. But even still, it’s not too late for them...everyone deserves a shot at redemption, no matter what they’ve done...

“But they chose the path of evil,” Carrasco protests as she fiddles with the flowers in her hair. “We shouldn’t even try to change someone who chose a path like that...”

“How do you know they chose it?” Sashihara asks. “Remember, Monohebi said he went to them...so he was probably the one who really wanted to make the agreement, not the traitor!”

“You cannot be certain of that,” Kasparov says disbelievingly. “It is entirely possible, even likely, Monohebi went to the traitor because they had already demonstrated interest in being his pawn.”

Sashihara says nothing back to that. “Also,” Domoto adds, “If this person chose to be on Monohebi’s side...they’ve exposed their true colors. Who they really are behind the facade—a lying, pathetic person who isn’t brave enough to show their real self to the word, who is too cowardly to be honest.” She shakes her head. “We could never
trust a person like that.”

“But they could change, right?” Motoki says. “That’s a possibility.”

“It’s not a very likely one,” Domoto says back to her.

“All this arguin’ is just gonna make it less and less likely for them to admit it...” Ichigohara says dejectedly. “Though, I just wanna say that I’m willin’ to forgive this traitor, as long as they come out now.” She looks around the room expectantly. No one says anything.

Ichigohara looks hurt by the lack of response. “So, this is how it’s gonna be, huh...” she says sadly as she hangs her head.

Terajima clenches his fist. “Whoever you are, traitor...” he says, “I swear, if you ever hurt anyone here...I’ll make you regret the day you were born.” He cracks his neck and his knuckles. “You’ll regret ever siding with Monohebi when I find out your identity!”

Holy shit...he’s scary like this...it’s no surprise he was enforcer before.

“C-Calm down, Terajima-kun,” Oyamada says, frightened by Terajima’s behavior. “You’re s-scaring me...”

Terajima relaxes and looks down shamefully. “I’m sorry...I shouldn’t have gotten all worked up like that...I just get really angry when someone has the opportunity to hurt people, especially if I don’t know that person’s identity.”

“Are you sure you don’t know the traitor’s identity?” Domoto asks as she arches her eyebrow. “I, for one, suspect you’re the traitor. You may not be serving the Kuzuryuu Clan any longer...but you could be working for Monohebi.” She stares at Terajima. “Just last night, you said you’d do your damndest to try and regain the trust of everyone who didn’t already trust you.” She lets out a small, humorless laugh. “But, if you get worked up so easily, it makes it hard for you to be trusted.”

“Easily?” Oyamada says. “B-But Monohebi just r-revealed something p-pretty bad...so, it’s n-not really fair to say T-Terajima-kun got worked up e-easily...”

“He is a bodyguard,” Kasparov says. “Individuals with his occupation should know how to keep a level head even in the most confusing and dangerous situations.”

“You’re right,” Terajima says, ashamed. “I’m sorry about that...I just want to make sure you’re all safe.”

“Then be more calm,” Niizuma says harshly. “You being upset will only make everyone else here feel more uneasy as well. And feelings of uneasiness breed feelings of distrust, which leads to...” She looks away. “Well, I don’t think I really have to explain it.”

“You don’t,” Domoto says, looking at the clock. “It’s getting late. We should adjourn this meeting and get to bed.”

“So we, um, won’t even talk about, um, what to do with the, um, traitor...?” Eguchi asks timidly. “It’s, um, a pretty big deal...we shouldn’t just, um, brush it aside...”

“We can discuss it in the morning,” Kasparov says. “It would likely be wise to allow ourselves a good night of sleep before we decide what to do with this traitor.”

“A good night’s sleep?” Komatsu says, unconvinced. “That ain’t happenin’. Not with me knowin’ one of ya’s a lil’ bitch and decided to work for that bitchass snake.”

“I know this situation isn’t optimal, Komatsu-kun,” I say, “but we should all try to rest well regardless.”

“I’ll try, but it prolly won’t work,” Komatsu says.

“Alright then, everyone,” Domoto says. “Let’s adjourn this meeting. I expect to see all of you at tomorrow’s morning meeting.” She glances at Aozora. “All of you.”

Aozora says nothing in reply. He doesn’t even look at her. I really need to talk to him...to tell him he’s not the failure he thinks he is.

With feelings of distrust and suspicion hanging in the air, everyone slowly shuffled out of the Cafeteria...except for Aozora and I.

“Aozora-kun,” I begin. He ignores me.

“Aozora-kun,” I say again. He begins to walk away from me.

“Aozora-kun!” I say loudly, almost shouting. “Please, don’t ignore me anymore!”

He stops in his tracks and turns his head. “What...what do you want from me?”

“I want to tell you something,” I say, feeling hesitant out of nowhere. I’ve been resolving to do this for the entire day, but right when I get the opportunity, I suddenly feel nervous...I guess that’s because doing something is a lot harder than planning it. But, even still, I need to talk with Aozora-kun, no matter how nervous I may be.

“What is it?” Aozora asks dully.

“I want...to tell you that you’re not a failure and that you deserve a second chance,” I say, saying the last part quickly so I can just get it over with. I look at Aozora to see his response.

“Second...chance?” Aozora repeats slowly, as if he doesn’t understand what I just said. “Why would I deserve one? I failed to prevent a murder...I failed at the one thing that was most important here...so why should I get one?”

I want to tell him he’s not a failure, but I know he’ll just deny it and storm off. I need to make a different approach...a more subtle one.

“That wasn’t your fault,” I tell him. “Furuhata-kun’s death was unfortunate, but you had nothing to do with it.” I sigh. “Besides, the person here who has the most to do with it other than Yamaguchi-kun is Terajima-kun, and we all—at least, most of us—decided to give him a second chance.”

Aozora says nothing. I move closer to him. “So...I want to offer you that same second chance. Even if you consider yourself a failure now, you shouldn’t let that hold you back for the future...you shouldn’t let that one thing prevent you from ever succeeding again.”

Aozora opens his mouth, but then closes it. He turns around and finally looks at me. “But...I failed in such an awful way...how can I not hold myself accountable for that?”

“You can if you think you need to,” I say, “but you can’t dwell on it forever. If you do, you’ll never be able to change for the better.”

Aozora shakes his head. “Change...how can I change?” he asks. “Ever since I can remember, I’ve always succeeded. Never once did I fail, not in anything. If I knew I couldn’t win at something, I never tried it. So...I’ve never felt this awful feeling before. This awful, disgusting feeling that hangs on your insides and reminds you of your grave mistake with each waking moment.” He closes his eyes, as if to stop tears. “And to have my first failure me such a terrible one...it’s crushing...it makes me feel such...such despair.”

A shiver runs down my spine when he says that. Despair...the only other person I’ve heard aha that word here is Monohebi, so hearing Aozora-kun use it makes me feel...nervous.

“Aozora-kun,” I say softly, “Success and failure are both temporary. Just because you fail at something doesn’t mean you’ll never succeed ever again...besides, you don’t have to let failure define you. You need to use it as a learning experience and learn from it so you can change the way you do things.”

“I don’t know how to change my way of doing things,” Aozora says distraughtly. “I never had to do it before. I was always right.”

I wonder what I should say to that...
“Then you need to learn how,” I say, not wanting to be so blunt. But there’s no other way...I have to vent if I want him to see things in a better light.

“You need to change your mindset. Success can’t last forever, especially if you’ve never experienced failure before.”

Aozora grimaces when I say that. “You...you’re wrong...” he protests weakly, not really believing what he’s saying. “I...” He stops.

“Well, does that mean you’ll try?” I ask hopefully.

He looks at me. “Maybe...” he says. Turning away from me, I see him take several deep breaths. “Good night, Kawashima-san...”

“Wait!” I call. Aozora stops and turns his head to look at me.

“What is it?” he asks dully.

“Will you please come to the morning meeting tomorrow?” I ask him, half begging. “You don’t have to say much...but, if you were there...I think it would make everyone feel better.”

“I’ll...I’ll be there, I guess...” he says. Then, he walks away and leaves.

For a few moments, I stand there, professing what happened. Well, I don’t exactly get Aozora-kun to accept the second chance I wanted to Guevara him...but he didn’t deny it. So, that’s a start, I guess...

As I head back to my room, my mind wanders away from Aozora and to Monohebi’s revelation. One of the people here is on Monohebi’s
side...just thinking about it makes me want to shudder.
I get into bed and pull the covers around me tightly. Whoever that person is...I hope the realize their mistake soon. I hope they realize that siding with Monohebi and whoever else is responsible for imprisoning us all here is only going to cause
more terrible things to happen.

Then I realize...that’s probably what they want.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Good morning, inmates. It is now 7 am, which means nighttime has officially concluded. Enjoy another day of confinement.”

Hearing Monohebi’s voice again...it just makes me feel queasy. Especially with what he revealed to us yesterday...that there’s a spy among us working for him. But...I need to get that out of my mind. If I don’t...it’s just going to drive me insane.

I take my shower, get ready, and head out to the Cafeteria. I hope Aozora-kun fulfills his promise and comes to today’s morning meeting...

I walk out to the Cafeteria and am surprised to see I’m the very last person there. Everyone else is here before me...except Ichigohara-san, but she’s probably making breakfast. Even those who’re usually stragglers, like Eguchi-san, Komatsu-kun, Hayasaka-san, and Oyamada-kun are here before me. I don’t think I took that long...but I guess I did.

“Hey, everybody,” I say with my best waitress’s smile as I make a point to sit next to Aozora. He doesn’t react, only hunching over the table.

“Good morning, Kawashima-san,” Motoki greets.

“Buenos días...” Carrasco says.

No one else says anything. I guess what Monohebi said yesterday is making people feel a lot less talkative...not that I blame them. It’s hard to act upbeat when you’re feeling shitty. I’ve done it so many times as a waitress, it feels like second nature to me...but not everyone else can do that.

I consider trying to start a conversation, but before I can think of anything to say, Ichigohara emerges from the Kitchen.

“Hiya, everyone!” Ichigohara says heartily as she walks out of the kitchen, in stark contrast to everyone else’s depressed silence. “Breakfast is all ready! I got somethin’ good for y’all today: I made pancakes with some vegan maple syrup!”

“How are you in such good spirits?” Niizuma asks curtly.

“Yeah, you’re acting, like, really energetic,” Hayasaka says sullenly. “Especially for, like, so early in the morning...”

“And after Monohebi’s announcement yesterday,” Domoto adds. She frowns. “Have you forgotten about that, Ichigohara-san?”

Ichigohara scratches her back and sighs. “No, I
haven’t...I just don’t think it’s somethin’ we should put all our focus on. Yeah, it’s true it sucks to hear one of us is workin’ for Monohebi...but it is what it is. Life happens, and we as might as well go with the flow and try to make the best of it.”

“Th-That seems like it’s a g-good approach to t-take...” Oyamada says quietly. “We c-can’t focus everything on who the t-traitor is...otherwise, d-distrust will destroy us, like how distrust destroyed the r-relationships of the p-protagonist and his family in—“

“No cares about whatever literary reference you were about to make,” Domoto snaps. “And to say what you were saying—that we shouldn’t focus on the traitor—appalls me. Discovering the identity of the traitor is of utmost importance.”

“It certainly is,” Terajima agrees passionately. “Whoever that person is, they pose a danger to the safety and well-being of everyone here, and that’s not something I can allow.”

Domoto is obviously not pleased by Terajima agreeing with her. “As much as I dislike you agreeing with me on this subject, you are correct. Whoever this traitor is, we need to discover their identity immediately.”

“You’re, um, completely right, Domoto-san...” Eguchi says as she wipes her eyes. Now that I really look at Eguchi-san, I can see that her eyes look red and raw...she was probably crying all night.
“We need to, um, find out who this, um, traitor is, um, as soon as we can to, um, stop all this distrust that’s breeding among us...”

“Fear not, Señorita Eguchi,” Carrasco says as she unfurls her fan. “I believe the identity of the one who has thrust una navaja into our collective back is apparent.”

Wait...is she saying what I think she’s saying?

“Carrasco-san, are you saying you think you know who the traitor is?” I ask her. Who is it? I want to know...but I also don’t. Whoever it is, I’ll feel betrayed...

“Sí, I believe so,” she says. She puts her fan down and switches to a more serious face. “I believe that the traitor...is none other than Señorita Otoha Domoto.”

...Wait...what?! Of everyone who could be the traitor, Domoto-san is one of the last people I would’ve suspected.

Domoto stares icily at Carrasco. “You...what?” She says. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am,” Carrasco responds without fear. “I believe you are the person who made an accord with la serpiente and are the one betraying all of us.”

I can’t believe this is happening...
“But...why?” Motoki asks. “Carrasco-san...why do you suspect Domoto-san is the traitor? Can you tell us?”

“Por supuesto,” Carrasco says. She clears her throat. “First of all, Señorita Domoto enjoys reminding us that she thinks another murder is inevitable, and to think otherwise is stupidity. Además, she seems to have taken a role of leadership in our group—one that we did not vote on nor did we ever ask for.”

“But how does that add up to her being the traitor?!” Sashihara asks loudly. “I’m sorry, but I just don’t follow!”

Yeah, I don’t 100% understand her reasoning yet, either...

“If she obtained the role of leader and reminded us often of her view that murder is inevitable, Señorita Domoto could push in the direction Monohebi wants for all of us,” Carrasco explains. “And that direction is in the direction of deaths and despair.”

Carrasco finishes her explanation and leaves all of us to digest what she just did. Is it true? Is Domoto-san really the traitor? I’ve never really liked her too much...but I never would’ve suspected she’d do something like this. But...it’s possible, isn’t it?

“Carrasco-san,” Domoto says, her voice dripping with vitriol, “I am not the traitor. I only tell you all I think murder is inevitable because I believe that to be the truth. I don’t believe in lying, and will never lie to any of you, especially about something as grave as matters of life and death.” Her eyes burn with anger, and she raises her voice. “And I only took the role of leadership because someone had to do it! Someone has to keep you all in line and try to prevent the inevitable death from occurring!” She’s panting now, livid at Carrasco’s accusation.

Domoto-san is really frightening like this...

“Keep us all...in l-line?” Oyamada says, suspicion in his voice. “Isn’t th-that s-something a prison warden w-would do?” He narrows his eyes. “M-Monohebi...he’s d-declared himself the w-warden of this p-prison...so are you acting l-like an a-assistant w-warden to him?”

“Maybe she’s, um, imitating him...” Eguchi says fearfully. “It would, um, make sense for her, um, to be acting that way if she, um, is the traitor...”

“But I’m not,” Domoto says angrily. “Can you not see that?!”

“Indeed,” Kasparov says coolly. “None of you have any concrete proof that Domoto-san is the traitor—instead, you only have conjecture.”

“I don’t know what the fuck that means, but I know Domoto-san’s the traitor!” Komatsu says. “Now that Carrasco-san’s mentioned it, I can see that ya’ve been actin’ suspicious as fuck, Domoto-san!”

“You only believe what you do because Carrasco-san brought it up,” Terajima points out. “Before she said anything, you never voiced suspicions about Domoto-san. So, you shouldn’t you be a little more cautious in accepting that she is the traitor?”

Hayasaka giggles. “Yeah, you really should, like, use your brain before you, like, let anything come out of your, like, stupid mouth, Yutaka-kun.” She smirks. “Oh, like, wait, you don’t have a, like, brain at all~!”

Komatsu clenches his fists. “Shut up!” he yells at her.

This is just going to descend into pointless bickering if I let things continue like this...

“Everyone, stop,” I say forcefully. “Arguing like this—it’s not going to help us at all. We’re just doing what Monohebi wants us to do.”

“And what might that be?” Aozora asks tiredly.

“To distrust each other,” I respond. “We have to overcome that distrust and learn to believe in ourselves.”

“Oh, please spare me this sentimental bullshit,” Niizuma says, irritated. “There’s a traitor among us. Stop acting like we’re all friends or something.”

“But...we are, aren’t we?” I say. And it’s not just some front I’m putting up like I often do while waitressing. I really do think everyone here is my friend. Or at least...I really want to think they are.

“No,” Niizuma answers coldly. “We’re all stuck in terrible situation together, but by no means does that make any of us friends. Especially not with a traitor lurking among us.”

“But w-we have a g-good idea of who the t-traitor is already...” Oyamada says.

“A ‘good idea’ isn’t enough to refute the hypothesis that the traitor is not Domoto-san,” Niizuma counters. “I don’t think it’s her, personally.”

“Then who do you think it is?” Carrasco asks.

“I don’t know,” Niizuma says. “Which is why I don’t want to be a part of the group any longer.”

Wait...what?!
“You’re leaving the group?!” I say, stunned.

“In such a time of crisis, you cannot bring yourself to be strong and stand with the rest of us?” Kasparov says as he narrows his eyes. “I thought you were one to always put in maximum effort...but I suppose I was wrong. Deserting everyone is simply the lazy way out.”

Niizuma’s eyes flash dangerously. “Don’t you dare
call me lazy,” she says with barely suppressed fury. “I put in as much trust in you all as I deemed necessary, but Carrasco-san and everyone else accusing Domoto-san of being the traitor was enough to show me you all can’t be trusted.” She gets up from her seat at the table and turns away from the rest of us. “To stand apart from the opinion of the many—that is a much harder route, Kasparov-kun. It’s one that requires much more strength than standing with everyone else.” Niizuma begins walking to the doors on the other side of the Cafeteria. “I’m done with all of you. I’m not going to be attending any of your stupid meetings any longer,” she says as she walks away. “Goodbye.”

The doors close to a shut behind her, leaving the Cafeteria in silence. “Well, if, like, Tomiko-chan’s leaving, so is, like, Mika-chan~!” Hayasaka says. She gets up and skips away. “Bye, losers~! Mika-chan, like, won’t miss any of you~!”

Carrasco glances around as Hayasaka leaves. “It seems like Señorita Hayasaka and Señorita Niizuma have decided to throw aside Señorita Domoto’s meetings and her leadership as if they were trash on the street!” she says dramatically. “I think it would be best if those of who doubt Señorita Domoto separate ourselves from her as well.”

“Fuck yeah we should!” Komatsu yells. “I don’t trust that toy makin’ bitch anymore!”

“N-Neither do I...” Oyamada says as he hugs a book close to his chess. “She’s as about as t-trustworthy as L-Loki from Norse m-mythology...”

“I don’t necessarily, um, distrust Domoto-san...” Eguchi says timidly, not looking at Domoto’s eyes. “But, um, I do think it would be best to, um, stay away from her...”

Carrasco nods. “Then will the three of you follow me in deserting Señorita Domoto?” She doesn’t wait for an answer. Instead, she walks away. Komatsu, Oyamada, and, most reluctantly, Eguchi all rise from their seats and follow her out of the Cafeteria.

“Goddammit,” Domoto mutters to herself as they leave.

“Well, uh...the pancakes are still in the Kitchen, if anyone wants them,” Ichigohara says with a weak smile as she tries to break the awkward silence.

“I’ll have some, Ichigohara-san,” Motoki says.

“Same,” I say. “I’ll help you serve the pancakes, too.”

The others say nothing.

Ichigohara and I serve the pancakes to the people still left in the Cafeteria: Domoto, Kasparov, Terajima, Sashihara, Motoki, and Aozora, setting aside plates for ourselves. It’s nice to finally have an opportunity to serve food again...it lets me take my mind off things...it lets me destress. And I definitely need both of those things right now...

But unfortunately, I can’t take my mind off the unfortunate reality of everything forever. What just happened definitely wasn’t good, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be the end of our group. We can still move forward and succeed, as long as we all give ourselves a second chance.

That reminds me...I have someone I need to talk to about that.

I sit down with my plate next to Aozora. “Hey, Aozora-kun,” I say.

“Hi,” he answers dully. Not a particularly enthusiastic response, but it’s better than him just ignoring me like before.

“How are you doing?” I ask him.

Aozora sighs. “After everything that just went down...not very good...” he says. “But...I was thinking about what you said yesterday. Maybe I should try to learn...but I don’t know. I can try, but I have no idea if I’ll succeed...”

“You never know until you try,” I say. “So...are you going to keep coming to these meetings? With the others leaving, you disappearing again would just be the nail on the coffin.”

“I’ll...I’ll come to the meeting tonight,” Aozora says. “I can promise you that...I guess.”

He gets up and leaves. That wasn’t the most reassuring answer I could’ve heard...but still, it’s better than no, or him just ignoring me, like he did before.

I eat my pancakes in silence and bring my plate to the Kitchen to wash it. I wonder what I’ll do today, I think as I wash my plate. Even though the group is fractured, that doesn’t mean we should all retreat to our rooms and sit there alone. We need to interact with each other if we want to pull ourselves back together...
FREE TIME START!

I wander around for a bit, but then realize I’m a little hungry.
I guess those pancakes weren’t quite enough...

As soon as I get to the Kitchen, I’m greeted by Ichigohara.

“Hiya, Wakana-chan!” She greets with as much enthusiasm as she can muster, which isn’t much. I guess all this division is getting to her, too...

“Hi, Ichigohara-san,” I say flatly as I grab an apple off a bowl in the middle of the counter. As I bite into it, Ichigohara starts talking.

“Hey, Wakana-chan...” she begins, scratching her back, “would you like to hang out with me? I can tell you’re not feeling the best either, so it’d probably be good if we did something to take our minds off everything...”

She’s right, it probably would be a good idea to do that....so, should I hang out with Ichigohara-san?

Yes/No

Ichigohara smiles. “Awesome!” We stand there and start sorting the shelves of the pantry, trying to forget that was where we found Furuhata’s corpse. It’s not the most engaging activity, nor the most fun...but it was something to take our minds off things. I think Ichigohara-san and I grew a little closer.

“So, Ichigohara-san,” I begin, “what’s your secret to gardening? Everyone says your produce is the best around in addition to the fact that your gardens are stunningly beautiful. How do you get everything to be that way?”

“To be honest, I’m not too certain myself...” Ichigohara says. She laughs. “But I guess it’s because I let the plants grow in the way nature intended them to, but still make them look beautiful.”

I’m not certain I completely get what she’s saying...
“Wait, so are you saying you don’t do much to the plants?”

Ichigohara shakes her head. “Nope. I let my plants grow however they like and only trim them when I absolutely need to.” She scratches her back. “So many people get caught up on forcin’ plants into nest rows, animal-shaped hedges, or tiny flower beds, but I just let them grow.” She smiles. “Go with the flow, that’s my life motto. Life’ll give you some good times and bad times no matter what you do, so you just gotta make the best outta what you get.”

Wow...no wonder she’s so relaxed most of the time with that attitude. I could get used to adopting her way of living...
“I’m surprised you’re able to be so laid back,” I tell her. “I’m always stressed out by something or another, whether it be work, family, or other stuff.”

“Don't go thinkin' I'm immune to stress, Wakana-chan,” Ichigohara says with a chuckle. “I get stressed too, but it’s how you perceive stress that really matters.”

I give her a curious look. “What do you mean?”

“If you think stress is some big monstrous enemy that destroys your life, you’re just gonna feel bad about everythin’,” Ichigohara explains. “But if you see it as somethin’ that makes you stronger, more prepared for life’s inevitable challenges, then you’ll find yourself more relaxed, laid back, and just plain happier.”

“So, when you get stressed, you think of it as your body’s way of making you stronger and helping you to overcome bad situations?” I ask, not certain if I completely understand her.

Ichigohara nods. “Yep! It’s all about how you see the world that defines how you feel about life, at least in my experience.”

“Wow, that’s a good life lesson...” I say. I should keep it in mind for the next time I get stressed...which probably won’t be long.
“Everyone should learn to see the world that way.”

Surprisingly, Ichigohara frowns when I say that. “Nah, Wakana-chan...they don’t have to. Let everyone live the life they wanna live. You can try to change the way they see things, but you should never force your perspective or beliefs onto them.”

I nod. “Yeah, I guess you’re right about that,” I say. “I guess I was just a bit overeager.”

“That’s no problem, Wakana-chan,” Ichigohara says. “Just use that to learn from it in the future, okay?”

As soon
as she says that, my mind drifts back to Aozora. I hope he’ll be able to accept that he change for the better in the future...
FREE TIME END

“Hey, Wakana-chan, are you alright?” Ichigohara asks. “You just got quiet all of a sudden...”

“It’s nothing,” I tell her. “I was just thinking.”

“Okay...” Ichigohara says, sounding like she wants to know more but doesn’t want to press me. “Well, I was thinkin’ of something else, too...”

I look at her, my interest piqued. “And what’s that?”

She scratches her back and smiles nervously. “Well, it was more of Sakiko-chan’s idea...she wanted me to help her with somethin’ and I guess you could help too.”

Motoki-san has an idea for something...? I wonder what it may be...
“What’s her idea?” I ask Ichigohara.

“It has to do with what happened this morning,” Ichigohara replies. She sighs. “I guess it’d be best for you to hear it directly from Sakiko-chan...so, follow me, if you want to come.”

“I do,” I say. So I follow her back to the Cafeteria, where Motoki is sitting at the table. She stands up as soon as she sees us.

“Hi, Ichigohara-san, and—Kawashima-san!” she says, surprised to see me. “I didn’t expect to see you here, but it’s a welcome surprise.”

“I’m glad I could make a good surprise,” I say. “I know not all surprises are good ones.”

Motoki frowns. “That’s for sure. Like what happened this morning...”

Ichigohara-san said that’s what this was about...
“That’s why we’re here, right?” I ask.

Motoki nods and tugs on her many bracelets. “Yeah, it is...Ichigohara-san and I were concerned after what happened.”

With all that happened...Carrasco-san accusing Domoto-san of being the traitor and Komatsu-kun, Oyamada-kun, and Eguchi-san siding with her...and Niizuma-san and Hayasaka-san leaving the group too...yeah, I understand why they’re concerned.

“I get that,” I say. “I was pretty worried by all that too.”

“It’s a good thing you were,” Motoki says. “Division like that causes communication to break down...which is something we can’t allow in our current situation.” She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “So...that’s why I’m proposing we reach out to everyone who decided to leave the main group.”

“And who would that include?” I ask.

“Niizuma-san, Hayasaka-san, and Carrasco-san, first and foremost,” Motoki says. “I think the other three will come back to us once Carrasco-san is convinced to rejoin the group.”

There was something interesting about the way she worded that...and because she’s the Ultimate Linguist, I'm sure it was no mistake.
“You said ‘once’ Carrasco-san is convinced to rejoin the group,” I notice. “You didn’t mean ‘if,’ did you?”

Motoki gives me a determined smile. “No, I meant what I said. I’m certain we’ll be able to sway them over to our side. We’ll press them until they do. We’ll make them side with trust.”

Ichigohara grimaces slightly when she says that. “But are you sure we should try and change their minds so forcibly? I was just tellin’ Wakana-chan...forcin’ your beliefs on others isn’t cool.”

“But we need to convince them to communicate with everyone else!” Motoki says frustratedly. “We can’t just let our group splinter into distrustful pieces.”

“But tryin’ to force everyone to see the same way you do won’t help make everyone trust each other,” Ichihohara counters. “It’ll probably do just the opposite.”

Motoki shakes her head. “Ichigohara-san, you told me earlier you wanted to see everyone trust each other again, right? So why are you acting like this now?”

“Because I don’t like the idea of forcin’ them onto our side,” says Ichigohara, crossing her arms. “I want everyone to trust each other again, but only if they do it willingly.”

It looks like they have a disagreement on how to do things...I guess that means we’ll need a compromise.
“Then why don’t we go about things in a different way?” I suggest. “Instead of convincing them to come over to our side, we could convince them to come to tonight’s meeting. There, we could all talk as one and settle everyone’s differences...hopefully.”

Motoki and Ichigihara ponder that for a moment. “...That’s a good idea,” Motoki says, more to herself than me. “I suppose if we all communicate with them all together, it would work better than one-on-one situations where we simply pleaded with them...”

“Yeah, I like the sound of that idea a lot more, Wakana-chan,” Ichigohara says. “It seems a lot fairer—everyone gets to voice their grievances and come away with more organic trust than if we forced them.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Motoki says. She shakes her head, cursing herself. “Dammit! I can’t believe I was proposing something so stupid...”

I pat her on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, Motoki-san,” I say reassuringly. “You had good intentions, but you were just misguided.”

She shakes her head again. “You’re right...I can’t believe I was so stupid...”

Motoki-san was really desperate to have everyone trust each other...so much so that she was willing to forge everyone into compliance. That willingness is a bit concerning...but at least she had good intentions and is recognizing her faults. Hopefully, she’ll be able to learn from this situation, like I want Aozora-kun to do with himself.

“Well, just standin’ here won’t do us any good,” Ichigohara says. “We should get goin’.”

“Who should we see first?” I ask. “Niizuma-san, Hayasaka-san, or Carrasco-san?”

“I think we should split up,” Motoki says. “It might take a while to get even one of them to come to the meeting tonight...so we should each go to one of them.”

“Then who will see who?” Ichigohara asks.

“I’ll talk with Niizuma-san,” Motoki says. “I think she’ll be stubborn, so I’ll try to convince her.”

“I’ll do Carrasco-san, then,” I say, not wanting to be stuck with Hayasaka.

Ichigohara sighs. “I guess I’m left with Mika-chan, then, huh...” she says disappointedly. “Oh well. I’ll make the best out of the situation either way.”

“I like that optimism,” Motoki says with a smile. “Okay, then. Let’s all meet up again at dinner tonight...hopefully with everyone else in tow.”

We leave the Cafeteria, each of us searching for our designated person. I know I have to convince Carrasco-san to come to the meeting tonight...but I don’t want to just get straight to the point. She might see that as rude, so I should treat this like it’s just us hanging out if I want her to come. I don’t like how this si kind of manipulative, but...we need this group to come back together.
FREE TIME START!

After searching for a little while, I find Carrasco on the stage in the Auditorium.

“Hello, Carrasco-san,” I say pleasantly, as I would to my favorite customers back at my restaurant.

“Hola, Señorita Kawashima,” Carrasco says warmly. “I was simply practicing my dancing. Would you like to watch?”

If I want to talk to her, I’ll need to watch her dance...but that’s no problem. I’m sure she’s amazing at what she does, so I shouldn’t be bored. Should I hang out with Carrasco-san?
Yes/No

“¡Excelente!” Carrasco says with a wide smile. “I’ll begin now.”

So, I took a seat in the audience and watched her dance. I have to say, it was incredible. She dances like she’s pouring her soul out onto the stage...and she’s so amazingly expressive! I thought I might get bored, but I was certainly wrong. The Ultimate Flamenco Performer did not disappoint. I think Carrasco-san and I grew a little closer.

“Wow,” I say when she’s finished. “That was amazing!”

Carrasco waves my comment aside. “Oh, it was nothing. I made so many mistakes, didn’t you see? Besides, there was no guitarra, no castañuelas, and I didn’t even have mi mantón de Manila.”

I have no idea what she’s even talking about...
“Even without...all that stuff, I still think that was really cool,” I tell Carrasco. “The way you hold yourself so tightly yet express yourself with your arms...I don’t know, it’s just so fascinating to watch.”

Carrasco beams at me. “I’m glad you enjoyed it. I have worked incredibly hard to develop my ability to perform and express the art that is flamenco.”

I’m
sure she has. Any art takes a long time to get a hold of...but there’s something about her I am curious about.
“I know you’re the Ultimate Flamenco Performer, so this may seem insulting...but why travel to Japan to perform? Isn’t there a much bigger audience in Spain?”

“You would be surprised, Señorita Kawashima,” Carrasco says. “Japón is the second home of flamenco. Although it has its roots in España, los japoneses have taken a surprisingly strong interest in it. There are even more flamenco academies here in Japón than in España.” She laughs. “Besides, my mother was a well-known Japanese flamenco performer herself. How could I not come to her native land?”

“That’s a fair point,” I say. “But you perform a ton in both here in Japan and in
Spain, right? That must be really stressful to always be doing.”

“It is, but it is worth it,” Carrasco says, her eyes burning with passion. “To be able to share my love and passion for flamenco—that is my one true desire in life. Even though it can be stressful, sharing it with others makes it incredibly gratifying.”

It’s not amazing to hear that it stresses her out so much...but if she can manage that stress healthily, I guess it’s alright.

FREE TIME END

I glance at the clock for a moment and see it’s almost dinner time. Well, here goes nothing...I hope I manage to convince her to come.

“Carrasco-san,” I begin, trying not to sound nervous, “I have something to ask you.”

She looks at me, tapping her fan against her chin. “Hm? ¿Qué es esa
pregunta?”

I’m guessing she’s asking what the question is...
“I was wondering if you would be willing to come to the meeting tonight,” I say quickly, trying to get it all out before I hesitate.

Carrasco’s smile fades from her face. “¿Por qué? Why on earth would I do that? Just this morning, I spilled my suspicions of Señorita Domoto and separated myself from her group. So, why would I want to subject myself to the shadow of her tyranny so soon after?”

She’s resisting...but I expected that. “I’m not necessarily asking you to rejoin the group entirely, just that you come to this meeting. Niizuma-san and Hayasaka-san should be there as well.”

Carrasco considers that. “Hmm...what is the purpose of this meeting? If you want me to go to it, you need to tell me that.”

She’s not convinced yet...but at least she hasn’t said no.
“It’s simply to discuss our differences,” I say. “To communicate with each other about who we think the traitor is, why we think that, and to ultimately try to settle our differences.”

Carrasco presses her lips together tightly. “I already did the first two things you mentioned, and I see no reason for me to do the third.”

I blink, surprised. “Wait, you don’t want to settle all our differences?”

“Not with someone who is very likely to be the traitor,” Carrasco says.

I frown. This isn’t going exactly how I wanted...but it isn’t over yet.
“But, you can’t be completely certain that Domoto-san is the traitor, right? So you should be certain that she is before you completely cut yourself off from her.”

For a long time, Carrasco says nothing. I hope that worked...
“Fine,” Carrasco says, although she doesn’t sound entirely pleased. “I’ll go to this meeting, under one condition: Señorita Domoto cannot be our leader going forward unless we all vote her to be.”

“Sure,” I say, not sure if Domoto will accept. But it doesn’t matter if she accepts. If we want to reincorporate everyone back into the group, we’ll have to make compromises.
“It’s just past the start of dinner time,” I say as I look at the clock. “So, will you come down to the Cafeteria with me, Carrasco-san?”

“...Sí,” Carrasco says reluctantly. It’s pretty obvious she has second thoughts about going along with this, but at least I got her to come.

The two of us make our way to the Cafeteria, where everyone except Komatsu, Eguchi, and Oyamada waits for us.

“Ah, Wakana-chan, Mayumi-chan, you’re here,” Ichigohara says with a relieved smile. “I was wonderin’ where you two were.”

“Mika-chan, like, bets that they were, like, wasting time talking about Mayumi-chan’s stupid dance shit,” Hayasaka says grumpily from nearby.

Carrasco is clearly offended. “Stupid...dance shit?” she repeats, horrified. “Señorita Hayasaka, please apologize! That was quite rude.”

Hayasaka snorts. “Like, totally not,” she says with a smirk.

Why does she always have to be so rude...?

“Let’s just get this started,” Niizuma snaps from beside Hayasaka. Oh, so Motoki-san got her to come too...although judging by her tone, she doesn’t seem very pleased about being here.

Everyone sits down at the Cafeteria table, with the exception of Carrasco. “Well? Are you going to sit down?” asks Domoto irritatedly.

Carrasco gives her a cool stare. “No. Not until you make one promise to me.”

Domoto arches her eyebrow. “And what is that?”

“I will only ask three things of you,” Carrasco responds. “You lead and adjourn the meetings, you order everyone around, and frequently tell everyone that you believe murder to be inevitable. I demand that you stop doing all of them immediately.”

“Why?” asks Terajima.

“As I said this morning, she gave herself the mantle of being our unofficial leader without anyone else’s consent,” Carrasco explains. “Also, her reminding us of the supposed inevitability of a murder only serves to make the rest of our group more uneasy, which—“

“I’m willing to give up the role of leadership I have undertaken,” Domoto interrupts.

Carrasco is displeased by being interrupted, but Domoto’s words soon bring a satisfied smile to her face. “Qué bueno,” she says. “Now, I shall—“

“However, I refuse to stop speaking truthfully about my feelings,” Domoto interrupts again. She narrows her eyes. “That is a violation of my values that I cannot tolerate.”

Carrasco’s face sours. “Oh?” she says, pressing her lips together. “Well then, now that you have stomped upon my requests like a tyrant crushes the wish’s of his people, this meeting is over for me.” She turns and begins to walk away.

“Carrasco-san, wait!” calls Motoki. “Don’t go yet!”

Carrasco stops, but does not turn around. “¿Qué?” she asks tersely. “What is it, Señorita Motoki?”

“I understand you don’t trust Domoto-san,” Motoki says. “The truth is, I don’t entirely trust her, either...”

Domoto narrows her eyes at Motoki. She opens her mouth, but is silenced by an uncharacteristically harsh glare from Motoki. “But, even though I don’t completely trust her,” Motoki continues, “I still talk with her. I still communicate with her. Because I believe in the power of communication and...of compromise.”

Carrasco turns around. “So, is that what you want from me? Compromise?”

“Yes,” Motoki replies. “Obstinately sticking to your beliefs can lead to conflict. And, in our current situation, we need to compromise if we want to avoid another murder.”

Carrasco stares at Motoki for a long time. After a while, she sighs. “Fine...I’ll compromise,” she says reluctantly. “But it’s only because I trust you, Señorita Motoki.”

Motoki
smiles at that. “Thanks, Carrasco-san...I trust you, too.”

Carrasco comes over to the table and sits between Motoki and me.

Ichigohara serves us dinner, which is a surprisingly tasty vegan fried rice with vegetables. It’s a nice, delicious meal that takes a lot of the stress of the day away. For as much as being trapped in this terrible prison sucks...Ichigohara-san’s meals really make it a lot more bearable.

“So...will we be starting now?” Aozora asks tiredly.

“Hopefully,” Hayasaka says with an exaggerated sigh. “Uggggggghhhh, Mika-chan, like, soooooo doesn’t want to be here right now~!”

“Then leave,” Kasparov says without hesitation. “Your presence is not particularly enjoyed by anyone, so it would honestly be preferable if you left.”

“What the—fuck you!” Hayasaka spits at Kasparov. “Mika-chan, like, didn’t want to be here, but then stupid Noriyo-chan made her come. And now she’s getting mocked?!” She glares daggers at Kasparov. “You better be, like, happy Mika-chan, doesn’t have access to her, like, social media accounts right now, or she’d totally send all her, like, followers after you!”

She says that, thinking it’s a super serious threat...but I doubt it troubles Kasparov-kun too much.
“Do as you please with your social media accounts,” Kasparov says calmly. “It will not affect me.”

“That’s, like, what you think, but Mika-chan could, like, cancel your stupid ass in an instant,” Hayasaka sneers. “So why don’t you—“

“Hayasaka-san,” Niizuma interjects. “Please, calm down.”

Hayasaka gives Kasparov one last angry glance before settling back into her normal personality. “Like, okay Tomiko-chan~! Your outfit is, like, sooooooo pretty and fashionable, Mika-chan can’t, like, not listen to you~!”

As Hayasaka settles back into her seat, Niizuma turns her gaze to Motoki. “Now, Motoki-san. I told you I wanted to leave the group, yet you requested I come to this meeting.” She sighs. “I don’t want to waste my time here any longer than I must, so please tell me why you brought me here.”

“It’s to try to get you all to rejoin the main group,” I say.

Niizuma frowns instantly. “And why would we do that?”

“Because our group is splintered and distrustful right now,” Ichigohara says. “And havin’ things be that way in a killin’ game...that’s a real bad idea.”

“Is it?” Niizuma asks. “I for one think it’s the safest option. Cutting myself off from the rest of you means I’m less likely to be involved in a petty fight and killed for it.”

Kasparov arches his eyebrow. “But, if you cut yourself off from the rest of us, you will be alone more often, will you not?”

“I will,” Niizuma says. “But I don’t mind.”

“Even if being alone makes you a much easier target?” Kasparov asks.

Niizuma gives him a strange stare. “Kasparov-kun...I know how to defend myself. Let’s just put things like that.”

“Hold up!” Sashihara shouts of nowhere. “Didn’t you say before you didn’t provoke anyone you considered to be stronger and taller than you?”

“I did,” confirms Niizuma. “What of it?”

“Couldn’t any one of the stronger people overwhelm you in a fight?” Sashihara asks. “I don’t understand why you’d want to avoid provoking someone, but then not be worried about those same people possibly attacking you!”

“You are correct that they could overpower me, Sashihara-kun,” Niizuma says. “However, just because it’s possible doesn’t mean it’s probable. I avoided provoking everyone taller and stronger
than me—with the exception of Komatsu-kun, because he’s an imbecile—because I wanted to decrease the chance that those people would attack me.”

“Wow, Tomiko-chan...” Ichigohara says with a nervous smile, “it’s like you plan every move you make.”

Niizuma stares at her blankly. “I do,” she responds.

Okay then...that sounds really ominous. I should probably watch myself around Niizuma-san.

“Such calculation is to be expected from the Ultimate Statistician,” Domoto says. “Even though you did desert me, I do admire how much thought you put into everything you do.”

Niizuma gives Domoto a curious glance. “Desert you?” she says, shaking her head. “I didn’t desert you, Domoto-san.”

...Huh? What is she saying?

“¿Qué?” says Carrasco, confusedly. “What do you mean, Señorita Niizuma?”

“I deserted the rest of the group for allowing themselves to be consumed by distrust and division,” Niizuma explains. “I decided I couldn’t be among such overly suspicious people any longer, especially when I knew one of them was concealing their identity.”

“The traitor...” Terajima says. “We still don’t know who that is, unfortunately.”

“I don’t know who it is for sure, but I suspect you,” Domoto says bluntly. “You almost murdering Furuhata-kun being my primary reason for doing so.”

“But, Monohebi said he made the pact with the traitor after the first trial!” Sashihara says loudly. “So why would Terajima-kun injuring Furuhata-kun point to him being the traitor?”

“Maybe Monohebi sought him out because he knew Terajima-kun was capable of injuring someone,” Domoto replies.

Terajima sighs. “Other than that flimsy speculation, do you have any valid reason?” he says, a bit frustratedly. “I never once supported those voicing suspicions of you and never tried to sabotage you do the group.” He slams his fist on the table. “Besides, I want to protect everyone here! Why on earth would I do that if I were the traitor?!”

He’s getting really fired up...though I suppose if he’s as dedicated to protecting people as he claims, it makes sense.

“You could be doing it as a cover,” Domoto says. “For all we know, this whole ‘I want to protect everyone here’ thing of yours could be an act.”

Niizuma shakes her head. “This distrust you all have for one another...it’s precisely the reason I decided to leave the group.”

“Not all of us are distrustful,” I say. “It’s the vocal few who decide to represent all of us.”

Domoto gives me a cold stare. “If you’re referring to me, I would have you know I say what I say because I know others are too afraid to reveal their true feelings. So, I reveal mine, in an attempt to gain everyone’s trust in my honesty.”

Hayasaka snorts. “Wait, like, Otoha-chan wants everyone’s trust?” she says incredulously, stifling a laugh. “Well, she’s done, like, a totally abysmal job of it~! No one here will, like, ever trust her!”

“Not if things keep goin’ they way they do,” Ichigohara says. “But they don’t have to.”

“What are you saying, Ichihohara-san?” Motoki asks curiously.

“I’m suggestin’ that we do somethin’ to grow everyone’s trust in each other,” Ichihohara says.

“Such as what?” Kasparov asks.

“Such as another party,” Ichigohara says.

“Absolutely not,” says Domoto. “We don’t need another Furuhata-kun.”

“Okay, okay...” Ichigohara says with a nervous chuckle, “then how about a talent show? It would help us show off all the cools things about our talents and ourselves, and to marvel at everything about all the others.”

“I’d like that,” Carrasco says with a smile. “I could give you all a full espectáculo de flamenco.”

That would be really cool...

“And Mika-chan could, like, pose for you all in some of the, like, costumes they have in the Auditorium~!” Hayasaka says excitedly.

That sounds considerably less cool...but hey, if it gets her to rejoin the group, then it’ll be fine.

Motoki stares off into space with a dreamy expression. “For my act, I could give a speech on the spread of words and how one’s environment affects their speech...”

“Well, that points out an issue with this plan,” Niizuma says.

“What issue?” Terajima says.

“Some of our talents are not conducive to performances, or at least to not very entertaining ones,” Niizuma says with a frown. “Such as mine...and Motoki-san’s.”

Motoki looks hurt. “Hey, I could make it entertaining...” she says.

“You could try,” Niizuma says. “As I was saying, what about all those whose talent doesn’t make sense as a performance act? Will they just be left out?”

“No, they’ll be in the audience if they don’t want to do an act,” Ichigohara says. “And could maybe help out with the acts if the performer needs assistance.”

“Count me out, then,” Niizuma says. She shakes her head, disappointed. “I can’t believe Motoki-san actually convinced me this meeting might be worth coming to.”

She gets up and begins to stalk out of the room. “Niizuma-san, wait!” Motoki calls. Niizuma ignores her, leaving the room with the door slamming shut behind her.

“Well, I guess we can’t get all of them,” Ichigohara says sadly.

“I’ll go talk to her about it tomorrow,” Motoki says. “Then, I’ll—“

“Señorita Motoki, don’t bother,” Carrasco tells her. “Señorita Niizuma has already chosen her path. To try to disrupt that again would be like trying to convince un perrito to stop teething.”

“Yes, let her be by herself,” Domoto says. “As much as I dislike it, she has made her choice clear.”

“Even if she tells us she’ll be fine, she is risking her life by being alone,” Terajima says disapprovingly. “She should be with the rest of us, where she’ll be safer.”

“As resourceful and intelligent as she is, we don’t need her at the moment,” Domoto says. “And we won’t need her at the talent show.”

“So, you approve of the idea?” Ichigohara asks. “I wasn’t sure you would.”

“I have no other choice, do I?” Domoto says. “Even if I believe a murder to be unavoidable eventually, I don’t want one. And...we can only prevent one by stopping this distrust that has festered among us.” She crosses her arms. “This talent show won’t help everything, but it will help with growing trust among all of us.”

“So, if we agree on having the talent show...when will it be?” Kasparov asks.

“Tomorrow night, maybe?” Ichigihara suggests. “Maybe around 6 or 7. We could go up after dinner.”

“It sounds like a plan,” Domoto says. “Okay, then tomorrow—”

“It won’t work,” Aozora says out of nowhere.

What...? Why is he saying that?
“Are you talking about the talent show, Aozora-kun?”

“Yes,” he says with a halfhearted nod. “It’s pointless. No matter how much me try, we’ll never become to overcome our faults. We’ll never overcome the distrust among us...”

Motoki opens her mouth to say something, but Domoto interrupts before she can say anything. “What the hell is wrong with you?” she asks icily.

What the hell? She can’t just be so rude to Aozora-kun for no good reason!

“Domoto-san!” I say loudly. “You cant say something like that! Can’t you see Aozora-kun has been struggling these past few days?”

“Of course I have,” Domoto says. “And I want to know why that is.”

“You don’t have to go about it in such a rude way, though,” I retort. “It’s just unnecessary to be mean like—”

“Kawashima-san,” Aozora says tiredly. “Please...please just stop it. You’re only...making things worse.”

I turn to look at him and see just how awful the bags under his eyes are, how creased the lines above his forehead have become, and how much he slumps. He looks terrible...and me getting mad at Domoto-san can’t be helping him.
“I’m sorry, Aozora-kun,” I say apologetically. “I just didn’t want to make you feel any worse than you already do.”

Aozora’s lips curve ever so slightly into a pitiful excuse for a smile. “Thank...thank you for that,” he says. “But it’s hard to feel worse than I do right now.”

“How did you get to feel this way?” Domoto asks, more restrained this time.

“Why should that matter to you?” Carrasco asks. “It is his life, and his business. He has no obligation to answer your questions.”

“I’m asking out of concern for his well-being,” Domoto says, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. “Aozora-kun...became this way almost of nowhere. During the investigation and most of the trial, he was completely fine.
However, soon after the trial and in the following days, he has acted very strangely and much differently than before.” She stares at Aozora. “So, what caused that sudden change?”

For a while, Aozora doesn’t say anything, instead staring at the ground solemnly. Then, he sighs and lifts his head to return Domoto’s gaze. “I was fine before because...because I hadn’t experienced the grave failure of Furuhata-kun’s death,” Aozora says. “After that...I realized how atrociously awful I am...I’ve realized how much of a failure I am.”

I begin to speak up, but Aozora holds up his hand, as if telling me to stop. “And,” he continues, “...over the course of these past few days, I’ve realized...everyone here is a failure. We all failed to prevent Furuhata-kun’s murder...and we’ll fail to prevent any ones in the future.” He pauses. “This talent show...it’s a pitiful attempt at convincing ourselves we’ll be okay. But, in spite of it, we’re all doomed.” He shakes his head, and turns his gaze towards me. “No matter how many second chances we give ourselves...we’re all doomed to die here.”

Wait a minute...does that mean he’s denying the second chance I offered him? That can’t happen...I can’t allow it!
“Aozora-kun,” I say desperately, “why don’t you want a second chance? Why don’t you want to change?!”

“Because it’s worthless to try,” Aozora replies. “All day today, I was considering how to change...but I realized it was impossible. Because I can’t forgive myself for such a colossal mistake as allowing someone to die...and I won’t allow you all to try to convince yourselves you’ll be able to prevent a death in the future.”

“So you will not even attempt changing yourself?” Kasparov says disapprovingly. “That is pitiful.”

“I’m too much of a failure to change,” Aozora says with a bitter smile. “Why try something if you know failure is inevitable? I know I won’t succeed...and, if I can’t succeed...I can’t do anything.”

No...he needs to stop with this self-destructive mindset. I can’t let him keep convincing himself he’s worthless. I need to show him he’s not worthless!
“You don’t need success!” I shout, moving forward and grabbing him by the shoulders. “You just need to keep on going! You need to keep trying!”

He pushes me away so hard that I fall onto the ground. “Shut up,” he says angrily. “You’ve tried to convince me of nothing but lies for the past few days. So shut up.”

I begin to tear up. “Those weren’t lies...” I say weakly. “I was only trying to help.”

“Then stop trying,” he says harshly. “I don’t want your help. That’s what distracted you from going to the Storage Room and saving Furuhata-kun. That’s what led to his and Yamaguchi-kun’s deaths. So don’t even try to give me your ‘help.’” He turns on heel and begins to walk away.

“Aozora-kun,” I call out. He stops but doesn’t turn around.

“What?” he asks tensely. “If it’s motivational bullshit, I don’t want to hear it.”

“Please, just try,” I say. “Just keep on going!”

I see his form relax, but he doesn’t turn around. He just leaves.

No one says anything for at least several minutes, but it feels like an eternity to me. “Well, I suppose that’s the end of the meeting,” Domoto says. “Will everyone be at the meeting tomorrow morning? We’ll discuss the details of the talent show then.”

“Mika-chan, like, guesses she’ll go,” Hayasaka says. “She doesn’t like that, like, Tomiko-chan won’t, like, be there...but, like, if it means, like, she can know, like, the details of the talent show, Mika-chan’ll, like, suffer through it.”

“I will be there too,” Carrasco says. “And I’ll convince Komatsu-kun, Eguchi-san, and Oyamada-kun to come too.”

“Good,” Domoto says. “Alright, then. See you tomorrow, everyone.”

Everyone files out of the room...except for Motoki and Carrasco, who I hear softly whispering to themselves.

“No creo que puedamos ayudar a Señor Aozora,” Carrasco says softly.

“Yo tampoco,” Motoki says. “Pero...no debemos hacer nada.”

“Claro,” says Carrasco. “Pero...en mi opinión, no debemos hablar con Señor Aozora, sino Señorita Kawashima.”

“En la mía, debemos ayudar a los dos,” Motoki replies. “Aunque es probable que Aozora-kun no quiera nuestra ayuda...”

“Sí, entonces vamos a Señorita Kawashima,” Carrasco says.

I have no idea what they’re saying...I think I heard my name a few times, though. And Aozora-kun’s, too...

Carrasco kneels beside me, still slumped on the ground from when Aozora pushed me. On my other side, Motoki soon kneels down, too.

“Hey,” Motoki says quietly.

“Hey,” I say back dully. “Were you guys talking about me and Aozora-kun?”

“Sí, we were,” Carrasco says. “But how did you know? ¿Entiendes español?”

“What?” I say, then figure out what she’s asking. “No, I don’t speak Spanish. I just heard you guys using my and Aozora-kun’s names.”

“Ah...that makes more sense,” Carrasco says. “We were discussing what to do about this whole situation. Particularly, what to do with you and Señor Aozora.”

“I...wouldn’t do much with Aozora-kun,” I say. “I’ve tried the past few days, and to no avail. Besides, I think he needs time to cool down and consider things.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right,” Motoki says. “But we should talk to him at some point. Maybe not tomorrow, but the day after tomorrow?”

“Yeah, that should work,” I say as I wipe away at my eyes, even though I know there aren’t any tears there. I feel like I should be crying right now...but I’m not. Maybe it’s because I knew, deep down, that Aozora-kun was wouldn’t accept his second chance?

Motoki takes my hand and squeezes it. “I know this situation with Aozora-kun has been hard on you, Kawashima-san.”

“Ding ding, you got that right,” I say with a poor attempt at a smile.

“Well, I just want to let you know you can come to me any time you want help,” Motoki says with a small smile.

“The same goes for me,” Carrasco adds. “I would be happy to help you.”

“Thanks,” I say gratefully. “I’ll go to either of you if I need help.”

Motoki nods. “That’s good. Communication is key to a healthy life.”

Yeah, it is...I wish everyone here understood that.
“I think I’ll be getting to bed now,” I say as I struggle to stand up. Motoki catches me and successfully guides me to my feet.

“I will too, I think,” Motoki says with a yawn. “What about you, Carrasco-san?”

“Not yet,” she responds as she stands up. She brushes off her dress and looks at the doors on the far side of the Cafeteria. “I need to wait for Komatsu-kun, Oyamada-kun, and Eguchi-san to come down so I can convince them to come to the talent show.”

“Okay,” Motoki says.

Bidding Carrasco good night, Motoki and I and head back to Cell Block A. As I walk to my door and scan my e-Handbook
to enter my room, Motoki stands beside me, watching me intently. I understand she just wants to make sure I’m okay...but she’s standing a little too close...

“Good night, Motoki-san,” I say as I step inside my room.

“Good night, Kawashima-san,” she says. “And...feel better.”

“Thanks, Motoki-san,” I say. “I’ll try.”

I close the door and lean against it, closing my eyes.
Today...was too much. I’m glad it’s finally over.

As I crawl into bed, I think of the talent show. I really hope it helps us all trust each other again...but I can’t be sure it will. The traitor is still among us...they could sabotage the event, whoever they are.

And, although I desperately want to hope everything will go as planned with the talent show, there’s a lingering doubt inside me.

A lingering doubt that tells me...something awful is going to happen tomorrow.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Good morning, inmates. It is now 7 am, which means nighttime has officially concluded. Enjoy another day of confinement.”

I open my eyes, instantly wishing I was back asleep. Sleep is so amazing...you can drift off into I to for several hours and feel so refreshed afterwards. It’s so much better than having to deal with real world problems.

But real world problems have to be dealt with. So, with considerable difficulty, I force myself out of bed, take a shower, and put on a light amount of makeup.

Today’s the day of the talent show, I think as I put the finishing touches on my eyeshadow. I really hope it works to make everyone start trusting each other again...but I can’t
shake the feeling that something will go awfully wrong during it. Maybe it’s
because they last time there was a group gathering, Furuhata-kun was murdered...but it doesn’t matter. I can’t let my doubts about the party being me down. I need to believe everything will be alright.

I leave my room and head to the Cafeteria, where I can see Domoto, Kasparov, Motoki, Terajima, Sashihara, Hayasaka, Carrasco, and even Komatsu, Oyamada, and Eguchi. It’s a relief to see them here.

“Hello, everyone,” I greet as I enter the Cafeteria, putting on my best waitress’s smile. Even if I have my own
doubts, I can’t let anyone know it. They say fear is contagious...and I’m not going to help spread it.
“Hello especially to you guys, Komatsu-kun, Oyamada-kun, and Eguchi-san. We missed you guys yesterday.”

Komatsu frowns at me. “Yeah, yeah...just cuz we’re here don’t mean we wanna be...it’s only cuz Carrasco-san convinced us to come to talk ‘bout yer talent show idea.”

“Yeah, um, that’s the only reason why we’re, um, here...” Eguchi says, not looking at anyone in particular.

Oyamada fidgets and nervously pages through a book. “It’s s-scary being h-here...” he says apprehensively. “B-Because w-we know that one of u-us is the t-traitor...”

“Not necessarily,” Kasparov says. “Niizuma-san and Aozora-kun are both absent. Either one of them could be the traitor.”

“Wh-What about I-Ichigohara-san?” Oyamada stutters, his eyes wide. “Did you n-not mention her n-name because y-you’re covering f-for her?!”

“Calm down,” Domoto says, irritated.

“Sí, cálmete, Señor Oyamada,” Carrasco says, making a point to say it much more kindly than Domoto. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. Señorita Ichigohara is merely in the Kitchen, cooking us all breakfast.”

“S-So? What if i-it’s poisoned?” Oyamada asks fearfully. “She c-could try to p-poison is, l-like how N-Nessus the centaur tried to p-poison Hercules and D-Deianara in book nine of Ovid’s Metamorphoses...”

“In what?” asks Komatsu. “I ain’t never hearda that shit before.”

Carrasco ignores him. She gently strokes Oyamada’s hair softly, as if she were a mother calming a frightened child. “Hush, hush, Señor Oyamada...it’ll all be alright. Like how a thunderstorm rages awfully while it is here, but brings calm afterwards...so it shall be with you.”

“Yeah, you don’t have to, um, worry, Oyamada-kun...” Eguchi says. “Ichigohara-san isn’t trying to, um, poison us...she can’t, um, do it, anyway...not even if she, um, wanted to...”

“What do you mean?” Motoki asks. “I mean, I don’t think she would either, but what makes you so sure?”

“Oh, it’s, um, in the rules,” Eguchi says, not making eye contact with Motoki. She takes out her e-Handbook and turns it on. “Rule, um, number six: ‘A single, um, blackened may only kill, um, a maximum of two people.’” She puts her handbook away, but still doesn’t look at Motoki directly. “So, um, Ichigohara-san couldn’t poison us all even if she, um, tried...”

Domoto looks at Eguchi with a strange stare. “That’s...a surprisingly astute observation, Eguchi-san,” she says. “I wouldn’t have expected it from someone like you.”

That last part wasn’t necessary...

“Oh, um...thanks?” Eguchi says, not sure if it’s a compliment or an insult. “I was just, um, trying to help, so I, um, mentioned it...”

“Thank y-you, Eguchi-san...” Oyamada says. “That m-makes me feel a b-bit better...” He hugs the book he’s holding tightly to himself. “But I’m j-just so scared...this wh-whole situation is r-really getting to me...”

Terajima coughs softly. “I hope you don’t think this is rude, but I could offer you my services if you wanted.”

“Like what?” Hayasaka says with a snicker. “Are you going to, like, give him a, like, blowjob or something? Is that the, like, kind of service you’re, like, talking about?”

Terajima turns his head towards her. No one can see his eyes due to his sunglasses, but I’m sure he’s glaring at her right now. “Nothing like that,” he says coolly. “I mean my protective services. I could offer to be your personal bodyguard if you would like me to be, Oyamada-kun.”

Oyamada perks up at the offer. “R-Really? You’d d-do that for m-me?”

“Of course,” Terajima says. “What kind of bodyguard would I be if I didn’t offer to protect those who want it?”

“A bad one,” says Domoto.

“I, um, think that was a, um, rhetorical question, Domoto-san...” Eguchi says timidly.

Before anyone else can say anything, Ichigohara emerges from the Kitchen, wiping her hands together. “Hey, y’all!” she says cheerfully. “Breakfast is all ready!” She turns her gaze to me. “Wakana-chan, would you mind helpin’ me serve it?”

“Sure,” I say with a polite smile. Getting up from my seat, I head back into the Kitchen to see fourteen plates of food laid out on the counter. That makes sense at first glance, but when I think about it...

“Wait, Ichigohara-san, why are there fourteen plates here?” I ask. “Niizuma-san and Aozora-kun aren’t coming.”

Ichigohara sighs. “Yeah, they probably won’t,” she says. “But it just doesn’t feel right not makin’ them the food they need.”

I frown. “But I doubt either of them will come here...”

“They don’t need to,” Ichigohara says. “We can go to them.”

I tilt my head, curious. “What do you mean by that?”

“After this meetin’ is over, if neither Tomiko-chan or Michio-kun show up, we can go to both their rooms and knock on their doors,” Ichigohara suggests.

“But what if they don’t answer?” I ask. “What would we do then?”

“We could just leave their food outside their doors,” Ichigohara says, determined to offer Aozora and Niizuma food.

I don’t have any more objections that immediately come to mind, so I consider what she’s suggesting. She’s right that it’s best to at least offer Aozora-kun and Niizuma-san some food...we can’t just abandon them, even if they chose to abandon us.

“Hey, hurry up in there!” Komatsu calls from the Cafeteria. “I’m gettin’ hungry waitin’ for so long!”

Ichigohara chuckles. “Ah, Yutaka-kun’s got such a big appetite, doesn’t he?”

“He sure does,” I agree.
Maybe too much of an appetite...

Taking twelve of the fourteen plates out to the Kitchen, Ichigohara and I serve everyone their breakfast. As I serve the meal, my mouth begins to water. It’s a simple porridge with a fruit salad made out of all sorts of exotic fruits, some of which I’ve never even seen before. They look delicious, and as soon as I bite into them, I realize they taste delicious too.

When the meal is over, I lean back in my chair and stretch. Wow, this was a great breakfast. I’m glad we have Ichigohara-san’s cooking for us. It really does make life easier.

“Delicious!” Sashihara shouts, smacking his lips through his ever-present medical mask. “And nutritious, too! I’ve never had a better porridge! Nor a more diversified selection of fruits in a fruit salad!”

“I’m humbled to have the approval of the Ultimate Fitness Trainer in my meal,” Ichigohara says with a proud smile. “It does give me pleasure to know I made somethin’ that tastes good and is good for you.”

“I’d eat more healthy shit if it all tasted like that,” Komatsu says. “Damn, that was fuckin’ good. Do you have any more?”

“I made two extra servings, but they’re not for you, Yutaka-kun,” Ichigohara says. “They’re for Michio-kun and Tomiko-chan.”

“Yeah,” I say. “Ichigohara-san and I will be knocking on their doors and giving it to them if they open, and leave it in front of their doors if they don’t.”

“That’s charitable of you.” Domoto says disinterestedly. “But that’s not what we’re here to talk about. We need to discuss the plan for the talent show later today. It’s obvious that it should be held in the Auditorium on the second floor, but we need to discuss other things. Namely, when it will be held and who will be doing what.”

“I still think we should start around 6 or 7,” Ichigohara proposes.

“Why not 7:30?” Sashihara says loudly. “That way, we could all get a good meal in for dinner, then head up to get ready!”

“Yeah, we can’t rush dinner,” Komatsu says. “7 would be pushin’ it too close.”

“Then we’ll start the talent show at 7:30,” Domoto says. “Does anyone object to that?”

No one does. “Good,” Domoto says. “Now, onto the acts. Who wants to perform?”

Carrasco raises her hand. “As I said anoche, I would be prepared to perform un espectáculo de flamenco for you all,” she says.

“That sounds, um, pretty cool,” Eguchi says, her gaze not meeting’s Carrasco’s eyes. “But it would be pretty, um, long if it’s the full, um, thing, right?”

“Sí,” Carrasco says. “But I promise, it will not be boring for a second.”

Based on what I saw yesterday, that should definitely be true...
“Yeah, don’t worry about it, Eguchi-san,” I assure her. “I watched Carrasco-san dance yesterday, and I was enthralled the whole time.”

“That’s s-some good v-vocabulary, Kawashima-san...” Oyamada says.

“Thanks,” I say.

Carrasco clears her throat softly to bring attention back to her. “However, I cannot do it alone. I will need some assistance in my performance in the form of someone playing la guitarra.”

“I’d be fuckin’ down for it,” Komatsu says excitedly. “And there’s a guitar here?! Sweet! It’ll be great to be around music again!”

Carrasco looks at him, amused. “Sí, sí...it is exciting that their is una guitarra here. However, if you are to play for me, you will need to know how to play toque, or the art of flamenco guitar.”

Komatsu doesn’t look concerned. “Don’t worry ‘bout it. I can play any genre of music. Besides, I’ve already played for a flamenco show here in Japan, so you don’t gotta worry ‘bout me not playin’ right.”

“¡Guay!” Carrasco says, excitement shining in her eyes. “Ah, I cannot wait to put on un espectáculo espléndido for you all!”

“I can’t wait for it either,” Motoki says excitedly.

“I must admit, it intrigues me as well,” Kasparov says.

It surprises me that Kasparov-kun is interested by the idea of Carrasco-san putting on a flamenco show...he doesn’t seem like some someone you’d typically be interested in dance. But I guess you never know what someone’s interest are by their appearance alone, right?

“Okay, so now that we’re, like, talking about Mayumi-chan’s dumb, like, flamingo show, can we talk about actually interesting stuff?” Hayasaka asks as she twirls her hair.

“What kind of interesting stuff?” asks Terajima.

“Flamingo show...?” Carrasco repeats, offended. “Señorita Hayasaka, it is flamenco, not flamin—”

“Yeah, yeah, like, no one cares,” Hayasaka says, waving Carrasco’s objection aside. “But everyone will, like, definitely care about Mika-chan’s, like, awesome fashion walk~!”

She looks around expectantly, but no one is nearly as excited about the idea as she is. “No one’s, like, excited?” She asks incredulously, shaking her head. “Wow. You’re all, like, such uncultured swine. So Mika-chan will, like, show you what you’re, like, missing out on during her, like, amazing fashion walk, where she’ll, like, pose for all the cameras~!”

“You’re excited to put on a show for Monohebi’s cameras,” Terajima says. “Interesting.”

Hayasaka scowls. “You, like, don’t have to say that...”

So, Hayasaka-san wants to have a fashion walk....I can’t say I’m thrilled about the idea, but I’m sure it won’t be too bad.

“So, are there any more offers for acts?” Domoto asks, with a twinge of desperation in her voice. I’m guessing she’s not looking forward to Hayasaka-san’s act.

“Absolutely!” yells Sashihara. “I can show you all a proper daily training regimen that you can all do before coming out to the morning meeting!”

“And get all, like, gross and sweaty?” Hayasaka asks, revolted. “Like, count Mika-chan out.”

“A training regimen, huh?” Terajima says. “I like that idea. Besides, I think it would all be a good idea for us to be more physically fit so we could better defend ourselves.”

“I agree,” Kasparov says. “It would be best to prepare for that which we cannot expect and become as fit as possible.”

Domoto nods and looks around. “That works. Are there any more ideas?”

Komatsu shrugs. “I guess I’d be down to play some of my music on the guitar if ya wanted.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Domoto says. “So, does anyone have any objections to any of the acts so far being performed?”

No one raises any objections. “Okay then, we’ll all see each other at dinner tonight. Then at the talent show. Until then...be safe.”

Everyone disperses, except Ichigohara and I. Grabbing the last two plates from the Cafeteria, we head to Aozora’s room first and knock on the door. There’s no response. Well, it’s not like I should’ve expected one after what happened last night...

Ichigohara and I both take turns knocking and calling Aozora’s name, but nothing happens. After a while, I place his plate in front of the door and say, “Hey, Aozora-kun. We left some breakfastout in front of your door, if you want it. You don’t need to talk to us...but you do need to eat.”

Still, there’s no response. “I guess we should be movin’ on to Tomiko-chan, now, huh,” Ichigohara says.

“Yeah...” I say dejectedly, giving Aozora’s food one last look.

We head to Niizuma’s door and knock and call her name several times, but again it is to no avail. I guess neither of them feel like talking much today.
Leaving the last plate in front of her door, Ichigohara and I split ways until dinner.

It sucks
that both Aozora-kun and Niizuma-san aren’t responding...but I can’t dwell on it forever. I need to spend some time with th others, both to closer with them and to make sure the distrust plaguing doesn’t spread anymore than it already has.

But...who should I hang out with?

FREE TIME START!

I wander around aimlessly for a little while before finding myself in the arcade. Once there, I find Eguchi intensely focused on playing one of the pinball machines in the arcade. Only when she’s done does she finally notice me.

“Oh hey, um, Kawashima-san...” Eguchi says, embarrassed. “I was just playing some, um, arcade games. Would you like to, um, play too?”

I’ve never been very good at arcade games...or video games in general...but they’re still fun. Besides, I haven’t hung out with Eguchi-san much, and this would be a great way to get to know her better. So, should I hang out with Eguchi-san?
Yes/No

“You will?” Eguchi says with a nervous
smile, not making eye contact with me. “That’s, um, really cool...let’s, um, get started...”

Eguchi-san and I play all sorts of arcade games, from vintage classics like Pac-Man to one of those really modern racing ones, to insanely elaborate pinball machines. To no one’s surprise, I’m not good at any of them...but you need to be good at games to have fun. I think Eguchi-san and I got a littler closer.

“Wow,” I say after a long time. “That was fun.”

“I know, right!” Eguchi says passionately, all her normal timidity good. “Games are so much fun! That’s why I love playing them and making them for others to enjoy!”

She’s not hesitating in her speech like she normally does...I guess that’s what talking about her passion does to her.

“How did you get into games, Eguchi-san?” I ask curiously. “You’re obviously really passionate about them, so how did it start?”

Eguchi hesitates. “Um...it’s because, um...I didn’t really, um, have many friends growing up,” she says, staring at the floor sadly. “So, I, um, turned to, um, video games as a way to, um, entertain myself.”

Oh...that was a more depressing answer than I expected. I feel bad for asking now...
“But how did you start making video games?” I ask, hoping to drive the conversation in a more positive direction.

“I wanted to, um, share all the ideas I had made with, un, the rest of the world,” Eguch says, a smile spreading across her face. “I had , um, so many ideas for characters and the journeys they would undergo, that I couldn’t not share them with the rest of the world! Even though it was a ton of hard work, I enjoyed every second of it because I knew I was actually contributing something positive to the world!” By the end she’s out of breath from speaking so fast. Wow...hearing her talk about hames takes away all the timidity in her...it’s almost like she’s an entirely new person whenever the subject is brought up.

“I’m glad for you, Eguchi-san,” I say. “So many people have such amazing ideas, but only a fraction of people ever share them.”

“I know, it’s such a shame that they don’t!” Eguchi says. “If everyone shared the ideas they had in their head and put in the hard work to make dreams reality, the world would be such a better place!” She stares off into space with a dreamy expression, her eyes shining with excitement. Suddenly, she jerks and returns her gaze to the floor. “Oh, um, sorry for being like that...” she apologizes. “I, um, let my passions get, um, the better of me.”

“Don’t apologize,” I tell her. “You seem so much more energetic and passionate when talking about things you like. So maybe you should try to do it more often.”

Eguchi blushes and wipes her hair out of her face. “Thanks, um, Kawashima-san,” she says, not making eye contact with me. “I’ll, um, try...”

FREE TIME END

I say goodbye to Eguchi and leave the Arcade. There’s still so much time left before the talent show...I can’t just spend it all alone.

FREE TIME START!

While wandering around, I find Komatsu sitting in one of the cells in Cell Block B, humming and tapping his fingers rhythmically.

“What are you doing in here?” I ask him. “It’s so cold and miserable in this room.”

“It’s quiet, though,” Komatsu says. “But that’s what’s most important, ya feel me? I need to plan out what I’ll play in the guitar tonight, but I can’t compose shit with a buncha unnecessary noise around.”

I was going to ask to hang out with him, but because he says he needs silence...I shouldn’t probably just leave him alone.
“Okay, bye, Komatsu-kun,” I say.

“Bye,” he says.

I leave Cell Block B for the Casino, where I find someone I wasn’t expecting: Niizuma, who is staring intently at the roulette wheel.

“Hi, Niizuma-san,” I greet.

“Hello,” she says, although she doesn’t move her gaze from the roulette wheel. “I was just testing out this wheel to see if it’s fair. Would you like to join me?”

I probably should, with how distant she’s grown from the group lately. But, she didn’t really sound too enthusiastic when asking me to hang out...so, shouldn’t I hang out with Niizuma-san?

Yes/No

“Oh,” Niizuma says, slightly surprised. “I was betting you would say no.” She brushes her hair out of her face. “No matter, though. Let’s get to testing this wheel.”

We tested the fairness of the wheel...which involved spinning it a ton of times to see if it gave each space an equal chance of being landed on. It wasn’t particularly riveting...but I think Niizuma-san and I grew a little closer.

“So, Niizuma-san,” I begin. “I was wondering—”

“—about how I became a statistician?” Niizuma finishes for me.

I blink, surprised that she guessed correctly. “Yeah, that’s what I was going to say...how’d you randomly guess?”

“I didn’t randomly guess it,” Niizuma says. “I simply assumed it would be an easy conversation starter, so I decided it would be the most likely option for you to choose.”

“That’s impressive,” I say. “But I guess it makes sense. Statistics is all about probability, so it’s no surprise you guessed right.”

Niizuma turns her head to look at me sharply. “False. Probability is certainly an important component of statistics, but it is far from everything.”

“Then what is statistics, exactly?” I say. “I think I was taught it in school, but don’t remember.”

Niizuma purses her lips. “I highly disapprove of you not putting in the effort to commit the knowledge you learned to memory, but, for the sake of educating you, I’ll explain. Statistics deals with the interpretation, analysis, organization, and presentation of data collected from a certain population.”

“Wow...that sounds like a lot to deal with,” I say. “I could never do something like that.”

Niizuma shakes her head. “Your attitude is all wrong,” she says disapprovingly. “You must approach things with the mindset that you will succeed, but not be afraid of failure.” She holds up her hand and examines her perfect nails. “But in the end, success and failure are unimportant. What is most important is that you put in hard work to become the best at everything you do. That is what is truly essential. After that, success will follow.”

Niizuma-san values hard work above all else...that’s pretty admirable, I have to say.
“Sorry about that, Niizuma-san,” I say. “I should try to put more work into things that seem really difficult at first.”

“You should,” Niizuma says. “However, you must also recognize when your effort is futile. Hard work with no payoff is pointless.”

That statement does make sense...but I do have a questions about it...
“But how do you know for sure if something is pointless?”

“You must assess the situation and make the calculation yourself,” Niizuma replies. “Or, as a last resort, trust your gut.”

Shouldn’t your gut be your first instinct? It’s the truest part of you, after all...but I shouldn’t say that to Niizuma-san. I don’t think she’d react well.

“Thank you for this advice,” I say to Niizuma. Even if I don’t completely agree with all of it, I think some of what she advised could do me well if I applied it to my life.

“It is no problem at all,” Niizuma says.

FREE TIME END

Niizuma soon turns her attention from the roulette wheel to a pachinko machine. Even though it’s almost dinner, I don’t leave immediately.
I should still try to ask her to come to the talent show...

“Niizuma-san,” I say. “Can I ask you something?”

She doesn’t turn around. Instead, she sighs exasperatedly. “If it’s asking me to come to the talent show, the answer is no. I already made myself clear, didn’t I?”

I frown. “But...we need to trust each other. Otherwise there’ll be another murder!”

Niizuma turns around, a cold expression on her face. “Didn’t I tell you not to waste your time on something if you know it will pointless?”

“Yes,” I say. “But this isn’t pointless. I still think there’s hope that you might be able to rejoin the group.”

“When everyone stops distrusting everyone, I’ll rejoin your group,” Niizuma says. “Which means I’ll never rejoin. A talent show won’t help the underlying problems with the group. You’ll all promise that you’ll never murder, but one of you will break. It’s inevitable. The stress of this situation will break each of you, making you kill. I have no intention of dying, so I will stay away from you all.”

No...she can’t do this...she needs to rejoin everyone!
“Niizuma-san,” I plead. “You say you want everyone to trust each other, but you distrust everyone too much to give them the second chance. Why can’t you just give them the second chance they need?”

Niizuma narrows her eyes at me. “Because they don’t deserve them,” she says. She turns away from me and returns her attention to the pachinko machine. “Stop wasting your time on me and go to your stupid talent show. If it makes you all better and trusting, come and talk to me. But if not, I don’t want to hear anything from any of you.”

I try to say more to her, but it’s like speaking to a wall. Eventually, I give up and storm out of the Casino into Cell Block B. “Goddammit!” I shout, barely resisting the urge to drop down on my knees and cry. I desperately
wanted to believe she’d come back to us...but deep down I think I knew she wouldn’t. I just wanted to help her rejoin the group...but none I’ve probably lowered the chances of that’s ever happening...unless all goes well at the talent show tonight, in which case we might, just might, be bale to convince her...I really hope everything goes well at the talent show tonight. Although, no matter how hard I try, I can’t shake the feeling that something awful will happen.

“Yo, ya good, Kawashima-san?” Komatsu asks from inside one of the cells. “Ya shouted real loud earlier.”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” I say hurriedly. “I’m fine.” That’s untrue, but I can’t let Komatsu be pessimistic about the show tonight like me. If I do that to him or anyone else, the chances of the show failing will only increase.

“Okay...” Komatsu says uncertainly. “It’s almost dinner, so we should be goin’ down to the Cafeteria now, right?”

“Yeah,” I say. We head down to the Cafeteria together, where everyone else except Niizuma and Aozora has already gathered.

For dinner we eat a delicious miso ramen soup with mushrooms by Ichigohara, but, other than the delicious food, nothing much important happens. There are few small conversations here and there, but nothing of any real depth. Soon enough, it’s 7:15, and we begin to head up to the Auditorium on the second floor, but before I can leave the Cafeteria, someone calls out to me.

“Hey, Wakana-chan, are you involved in any of the acts?” asks Ichigohara.

“No,” I answer. “Why?”

“I was wonderin’ if you could help me out and give some of the soup to Niizuma-san and Aozora-kun just like we did this mornin’,” she says while scratching her back. “I just have all the dishes to do, but I don’t wanna miss the start of the show. I already have the bowls all prepared and everything.”

“Sure, I’ll help you out with that,” I say. “I’m not doing anything at the talent show, so I’m in no rush to get there.”

“Thanks a lot, Wakana-chan,” Ichigohara says, relieved. “You’re a big help.”

“It’s nothing,” I say as I follow Ichigohara into the Kitchen. “But I’m curious...did both Niizuma-san and Aozora-kun eat their breakfasts?”

“Two plates that weren’t from our group breakfast were empty and in the sink before dinner,” Ichigohara says. “So, I assume they did.”

“That’s good,” I say, relieved.

As I grab the two bowls of soup and head out to the doors to Niizuma’s and Aozora’s “cells,” I decide to not even bother knocking on Niizuma’s door. She didn’t come back through the Cafeteria, which is the only way to get to Cell Block A, during dinner...so she must still be upstairs.

I gently place Niizuma’s bowl on the floor in front of her door and head down to Aozora’s “cell.” Just like Ichigohara said,
the plate from earlier is gone.
He must still be in his room, then...

I knock on the door. “Aozora-kun?” I say. “I have your dinner here.” No response.

“You don’t have to hide in your room,” I say. “The talent show is about to start...so, can you at least try to come to it?”

I wait for a few moments, but receive only silence. Sighing sadly, I place the bowl of soup in front of the door and head back out to the Cafeteria. So much for that...I knew he probably wasn’t going to come out, but I had at least hoped that he’d say something. It wouldn’t even have had to be much. Anything...hearing anything at all from him would be enough.

When I get to the Cafeteria, I see Ichigohara waiting for me. “Did you see either of them?” she asks.

“Nothing out of either of them,” I respond.

Ichigohara shakes her head. “I wish they’d try and rejoin us...but hopefully that will come in time.”

“Hopefully,” I say.

She and I head up to Auditorium. When we get there, various members of the groups have already sat down. Domoto and Kasparov sit near each other in the first few rows, while Oyamada and Eguchi sit very closely to Terajima closer to the back.

“So you’ll, um, protect us for the, um, entirety of, um, the show?” Eguchi asks nervously.

“I do,” Terajima says reassuringly. “I’ll make sure nothing bad happens to either of you as long as this show lasts.”

“Th-Thank you v-very much for d-doing this, Terajima-kun,” Oyamada says.

Terajima cracks a small smile. “You’re welcome, Oyamada-kun.”

Wait, did Terajima-kun just say Oyamada-kun’s name? I thought he didn’t remember names unless they were very important to him...

“Oh, there you are!” Motoki says as she approaches, interrupting me from my thoughts. “I was waiting for you guys to show up. I hate not having anyone to talk to.”

“Couldn’t you have just talked with any of the others here, Sakiko-chan?” asks Ichigohara. “I mean, I’m not complainin’ that you’re wanted to talk to us, but you could have talked to some of the others.”

“I tried to,” Motoki says sadly. “But Domoto-san and Kasparov-kun didn’t say much back at all, Oyamada-kun, Eguchi-san, and Terajima-kun weren’t much in the mood for talking, and everyone else is backstage getting ready, so I didn’t want to disturb them.”

“I see,” I say. “But did you need to talk with them? I don’t mean to be rude, but it isn’t super hard to sit quietly.”

Motoki grimaces. “It is for me. I can’t stand being silent alone.” A faraway look enters her eyes. “It’s...such a terrible feeling to be isolated from others...from communication...”

I exchange a worried glance with Ichigohara. Looks like I shouldn’t have said that...
“There’s no need to worry now, Sakiko-chan!” Ichigohara says cheerfully, breaking the gloomy mood. “We’re both here now.”

Motoki’s grimace fades away and is replaced by a smile. “Yeah, thankfully you are.”

The three of us sit down intro middle of the Auditorium, in between Domoto and Kasparov in the front, and Oyamada, Eguchi, and Terajima in the back. Near the back of the stage, there’s a stool with a mircophone near it. “What’s that for?” I ask aloud, not really expecting an answer.

To my surprise, Motoki speaks up. “It’s a stool for the guitar-player,” Motoki says. “In many traditional flamenco shows, there are several people involved: male dancers and female dancers, who usually dance one at a time, and, behind them, various people playing the guitar, playing castanets, clapping, and maybe singing.”

Wow...she knows a lot about flamenco.
“How did you learn all that?” Ichigohara asks. “You’re not the Ultimate Flamenco Performer.”

“To know a language, you must know its culture as well,” Motoki says. “Although some of what I just told you I learned from talking with Carrasco-san, most of it I saw myself when studying Castilian Spanish. Flamenco is an important aspect of Spanish culture—so, when I had the opportunity to view an authentic flamenco performance, naturally I took it to better understand the language.”

That makes sense...I guess culture and language are inseparable...both influence each other.

Ichigohara, Motoki, and I chat for a few minutes before Carrasco emerges onto stage, still in her elaborate form-fitting red dress with black polka dots, looking around the stage. Komatsu emerges out onto the stage from the Dressing Room soon after.

“Where is la guitarra?” Carrasco asks him as soon as he leaves. “I thought I said to bring it out on the stage prior to el espectáculo.”

“Shit, I forgot ‘bout that,” Komatsu says.

Carrasco sighs. “Ah, está bien...it’s just I was expecting it to be out here. Could you go get it now?”

“Sure thing,” Komatsu replies. “It’s back in the Props Room, right?”

Carrasco nods. Komatsu goes back there and soon reemerges with the guitar. “Here ya go,” he says, strumming the guitar as he walks over to her. “This is one good-ass—“

Out of nowhere, one of the guitar strings snaps and flies in Komatsu’s face. “Fuck!” he shouts, dodging out of the path of the string, but letting go of the guitar in the process. Running over and quickly grabbing the guitar before it can fall, Carrasco collapses on the stage in the most undignified way possible, but she saves the guitar from falling.

For a few seconds, the room is silent. “Good save,” Domoto says after a while.

“Thank you,” Carrasco says, breathing heavily. “I was worried the whole guitar was going to break.”

“Sorry ‘bout that,” Komatsu says regretfully. “Do ya want me to replace the broken string with a new one?”

“I can do that,” Carrasco says. “Would you mind going back into the Props Room and getting the extra string? I’ll take care of the old string.”

“Nah, I don’t mind,” Komatsu says. “But where should I get it? I don’t remember seein’ any extra strings back there.”

“There is one set of extra strings near where the guitar was,” Carrasco says.

“Wow, you’re such a, like, idiot, Yutaka-kun,” Hayasaka says with a snicker from the door to the Dressing Room. “Didn’t you, like, go back and get the guitar? You should’ve, like, paid more attention.”

Komatsu glares at her. “Ya don’t gotta treat me like an idiot just for not knowin’ somethin’ like that.”

“Well, Mika-chan, like, did,” Hayasaka says. “So just, like, get the stupid string.”

Grumbling to himself, Komatsu goes back into the Props Room as Carrasco puts the old string aside.

“I was scared for a second there,” I say after a while. “That string flew off so fast once it snapped...”

Motoki nods. “Yeah, it could really have hurt both of them.”

“Luckily, it didn’t,” Ichigohara says.

Yeah, because if it had...we don’t have the medical resources to treat an injury. Monohebi might...but I doubt he’d be keen to share them with us.

Soon enough, Komatsu re-emerges and hands Carrasco a new string, which she then places on the guitar. The string she’s replacing is the thickest string...so if things had gone differently, someone definitely could’ve been hurt. Luckily, though, that didn’t happen.

“Don’t ya think it’s weird that the lower E string’s the one that broke, Carrasco-san?” Komatsu says as he comes back from the Dressing Room. “That shit is thick as fuck, so it ain’t easy to break. But I only strummed it and boom! It breaks!”

Carrasco is still intently focused on the guitar and doesn’t look up, but nods nonetheless. “Sí, es extraño...but all strings...get worn out with time...and esta guitarra is old...so it’s no surprise.”

She sits up and tunes the guitar quickly, handing it to Komatsu when she’s done. “Damn, ya can tune fast as fuck,” Komatsu says. “Even faster than I can—and I deal with instruments and shit for a livin’!”

Carrasco shrugs. “La guitarra is as an essential part of flamenco. I am no stranger to the instrument.”

She turns out to the crowd and smooths her dress, which was crumpled from her ungraceful fall earlier.
“¡Hola, ustedes, y bienvenidos al espectáculo de flamenco de Mayumi Carrasco!” She greets entirely in Spanish. “Sorry for the delay, but I should be ready now.”

Carrasco looks back at Komatsu, who has positioned himself on the stool. He nods. She turns back to the audience, her eyes closed, takes out two castanets, one in each hand, and takes a deep breath.
It looks like she’s getting ready to dance.

Then, she snaps into a dignified pose, with her back arched and her arms held high. Komatsu begins to play the guitar softly, and Carrasco begins rapidly clicking her castanets as she slowly turns around, her back still rigidly arched and her arms still proudly held high. Then, she stomps and twirls faster, and then I’m sucked in. Carrasco stomps, spins, curls her body, leans back, forward, or sideways, sometimes fast and sometimes slow, but always with enthralling gracefulness. I don’t know for how long the show goes on, but for the entire time my attention is only Carrasco and the sound of the castanets and guitar.

After a long time, the guitar and castanets cease, but Carrasco remains in a graceful pose with her back arched and her fan extended. Then, she breaks her pose and stands normally, sweating. Vigorous applause comes immediately after.

“Amazing!” I say.
I can’t believe how incredible that was to watch...

“That was great!” Ichigoahra shouts enthusiastically.

“¡Increíble! ¡Fantástico!” Motoki praises in Spanish, earning an extra smile from Carrasco.

“That was quite excellent,” says Kasparov.

“It was very impressive,” Domoto says with what might be a smile.

Even Oyamada, Terajima, and Eguchi join in on the praise. “G-Good job...” Oyamada says.

“Yeah, that was, um, really well done!” Eguchi says.

Terajima doesn’t clap like all the rest, but does give Carrasco a nod. “That was really good,” he says.

Carrasco nods politely, as if to accept all the praise she’s receiving. “Muchas gracias,” she says. “I’m glad you could all enjoy the show. Thank you for coming.” Turning around to face Komatsu, who has carefully left the guitar on the floor, she smiles gratefully. “And thank you, Señor Komatsu. Your toque was wonderful.” She hugs him and kisses both his cheeks, as many Europeans do.

Komatsu’s eyes widen and his face turns a deep red afterward. “Yer...y-yer very welcome, Carrasco-san...” he stammers. “I’ll do it again a-anytime in the future, if you want...” Normally he’s so loud-mouthed and aggressive...so it’s weird to see him so flustered. Yet...it’s pretty amusing to see his tough guy act go down for a bit.

“Wow, at least, like, try to conceal your, like, hard-on for Mayumi-chan, Yutaka-kun,” Hayasaka says loudly from the door to the Dressing Room, trying to be heard over the sound of the applause.

Komatsu’s face becomes even redder. “Hey! That’s not what this is!”

“It’s what it, like, looks like,” Hayasaka says with a smirk.

“What do you want, Señorita Hayasaka?” Carrasco asks testily. “You interrupted so very rudely, so I hope it is important.”

“It is,” Hayasaka says. “Mika-chan just wanted to, like, let you know that was, like, so fucking boring! Mika-chan was, like, almost falling asleep~!”

Carrasco takes a step back, as if she had been attacked. “B-Boring?” She repeats, stunned. “No one has ever called my flamenco shows boring before...”

“Well, like, Mika-chan just did~!” Hayasaka says. “But that’s like, not important! What really, like, matters is the next act! Mika-chan’s, like, fashion waaaallkkk~~~!!!”

Oh no...I am not looking forward to this...
“Are you ready, Hisaya-kun?” Hayasaka asks.

“Indeed I am!” Sashihara yells as he comes out of the Dressing Room.

“Señor Sashihara?” Carrasco says, confused. “What is he doing here? Is he a part of your show?”

“Affirmative!” Sashihara shouts. “I have been instructed Hayasaka-san to yell various phrases at her while she walks, such as, ‘Skinny legend,’ ‘Yass queen,’ ‘work it honey,’ and ‘we stan an iconic legend!’”

“...Ya gotta be fuckin’ kiddin’ me,” Komatsu says.

“Please tell me that’s a joke,” Domoto says as she pinches the bridge of her nose.

“I do not believe it is, unfortunately...” Kasparov says.

“Nope, it’s, like, not a joke~!” Hayasaka says as she holds up two peace signs and smiles “cutely.” “It’s, like, totally real!” Her smile fades away as she eyes Carrasco and Komatsu. “Uh...like, what are you two still, like, doing on the stage? It’s, like, Mika-chan’s turn now.”

After shooing Carrasco and Komatsu off the stage, Hayasaka picks up the guitar and stool and quickly moves them off to the side of the stage. Then, she moves to center stage and poses in what she probably thinks is a sexy pose. “Let’s go, sisters!” She exclaims as she begins.

Hayasaka’s fashion walk begins, and it is...terrible. It follows a certain routine: Hayasaka walks back into the Dressing Room, comes out in a ridiculous outfit, walks around the stage with an exaggerated swagger and poses every now and then, all while Sashihara yells the phrases from before at her. Then, she goes back into the Dressing Room, and we have a few seconds of respite before she comes back out.

After what seems like an eternity, Hayasaka comes out in her normal outfit. Finally...it’s over. That was probably one of those the worst things I’ve seen in my entire life. But what may be the worst part about it...I’m pretty sure Hayasaka-san genuinely thought it was good.

Hayasaka blows a kiss to the audience. “That’s, like, that, everyone! What did you all, like, think?”

No one says anything for a while. There’s no applause, either. Hayasaka looks around expectantly. “C’mon, aren’t you guys going to, like, say something?”

“I have something to say,” Domoto says.

“Go ahead and, like, share it, Otoha-chan~!” Hayasaka says.

“That was worst thing I have had the misfortune lay my eyes upon in my entire life,” Domoto says harshly. “It was tacky, obnoxious, and worst of all—fake.”

Hayasaka’s jaw drops, and she huffs, offended. “What the—are you, like, serious?” She asks angrily. “That was, like, so good!”

“No, it was horrible,” Komatsu says. “C’mon, even a blind man could see that...”

“Shut the fuck up, Yutaka-kun!” Hayasaka seethes. She looks around desperately. “Doesn’t anyone who matters, like, have something good to say about me? Can’t any of you just, like, praise me?”

“You’re a skinny legend!” Sashihara shouts.

Hayasaka gives him a dirty look. “Shut up,”
she says immediately, but then shakes her head. “Mika-chan means, like, thanks...but she wants something from, like, the real audience.” She turns to look at us, hoping someone will lavish her with praise.

No one says anything. “What the...this cant be...” she says, shaking her head vigorously. “Mika-chan worked so hard on that show...and you all, like, love her...you have to...this can’t be...”

“Hayasaka-san,” Eguchi says timidly from the back.

“What?” Hayasaka asks desperately.

“I, um, liked your show...” she says, not looking directly at Hayasaka.

Looking like she wants to both make fun of Eguchi and accept her praise, Hayasaka looks torn. “Ugh...this is...” She grabs her head and shakes it violently. “Fuck...” She storms off the stage and makes her way out of the Auditorium. “Mika-chan, is, like, going to bed...see you all, like, later.”

What the hell was that? I’ve never seen Hayasaka-san act like that before...

“Wh-What just happened?” Oyamada asks. “I don’t u-understand...”

“I don’t think any of us do, Oyamada-kun,” Terajima says. There he goes remembering Oyamada-kun’s name again. I wonder...does that mean what I think it does? I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but...

“Well, whatever it was, it’s already done,” Ichigohara says. “It was a bit of road bump, but as long as we go with flow and keep positive, we’ll be fine.”

“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” Motoki says. “But shouldn’t we send someone to talk with her?”

Carrasco frowns. “But Señorita Hayasaka has already chosen her path. It would be rude of us to disturb her from it.”

“But what if she’s, um, not okay?” Eguchi asks. “I know she’s never been, um, anything but mean to me, but, um, I’m still concerned...”

“We’ll sort it out after the talent show,” Domoto says. “As of right now, we have better things to focus on. Such as the next act. What is it again?”

“My fitness routine!” Sashihara shouts. “If you follow this every day, you’ll be ripped in no time!”

“Are you ready to get started?” Domoto asks. “You have no exercise
equipment.”

Sashihara chuckles. “Haha...the only exercise equipment I need is my own body! This routine is designed so that it can be done anytime, anywhere! However, in order to demonstrate it fully, I’ll need some audience participation.”

Oh no...I hope he doesn’t pick me...I’m not out off shape, exactly, but I’m no fitness model either. I could really easily embarrass myself if I go up there.

“No volunteers?!” Sashihara says, shocked. “C’mon, I know at least one of you wants to!”

“I shall volunteer,” Kasparov says. “But only because no one else will.”

“Thank you, Kasparov-kun!” Sashihara shouts gratefully. “You are truly a skinny legend and an icon for volunteering!”

Kasparov scowls. “Say that again and I will rescind my decision...”

So Sashihara-kun is using Hayasaka-san’s phrases as compliment now? That’s funnier than it has any right to be...

Suddenly, Sashihara
coughs violently into his medical mask. Everyone looks at him, surprised. “Goddammit...not now...” he whispers worriedly. “I mean, um, I still need another volunteer!” He says hurriedly. “Yes, that’s why I coughed! To get your attention! Not because of anything else!”

Him so fervently trying to make it seem like it was only a cough for attention just makes me more suspicious that it was really something else...

“Well, then, who else will volunteer?” Terajima asks. “I would, but I promised to protect Oyamada-kun and uh...uh...I promised to protect these two.” He really rushed that’s last part...is it because he remembered Oyamada-kun’s name, but not Eguchi-san’s?

Domoto seems to have noticed the same thing I did, but doesn’t say anything. “Yes, who will do it?”

“If no one will volunteer, I’ll choose one myself!” Sashihara shouts as he scans the audience. “Aha! Komatsu-kun! You eat so much that you need a workout right now!”

“Fuck no!” Komatsu protests. “I ain’t gotta do shit. I told ya already, I have a high metabolism! I don’t need to exercise much to stay thin!”

“Just because you’re thin and lean doesn’t necessarily mean you’re healthy!” Sashihara counters. “Come up to the stage now!”

Komatsu still resists. “Nah, I ain’t gonna—”

Carrasco walks over to him and gently places a hand on his shoulder. “Por favor, Señor Komatsu, just go onstage. You’re only holding things up by resisting now.”

“Fine,” Komatsu relents. “I’ll do it.”
It didn’t take him long to accept when she asked...

Sashihara nods slowly as Komatsu makes his way onstage. “Alright! I will demonstrate an exercise, and then you two will repeat it, exactly as I did it!”

“What if we can’t se get right on the first try?” Komatsu asks. “Considerin’ yer the Ultimate Fitness Trainer and all, some these exercises are bound to be crazy as fuck.”

“I’m glad you asked!” Sashihara says. “If you don’t perform the exercise correctly, you must repeat it until you do! Doing an exercise incorrectly can injure you greatly!”

“I might regret volunteering for this now...” Kasparov says.

“Well, too late now!” Sashihara shouts. He chuckles. “Haha, I can’t wait! Let’s get started!”

He leads them in an intense workout routine makes my muscles ache just watching it. That’s so many push-ups and sit-ups, not to mention all the exercises I don’t know the names of. I’m grateful I didn’t volunteer...I’d die if I did Sashihara-kun’s routine.

When it’s over, Sashihara is breathing heavily, but Komatsu and Kasparov are both drenched in sweat and panting, especially Komatsu. “God..fuckin’ dammit...*huff*...that...*huff*...was...*huff*...so intense...” Komatsu says in between pants. “How...*huff*...the fuck...*huff*...do ya...*huff*...do that every morning?”

“With repetition comes habituation!” Sashihara shouts. “My body has grown used to such an intense workout, and so I must push it more and more to still feel tired.”

“But...is it...*huff*...necessary...to feel so tired...*huff*...after every workout?” Kasparov asks, still breathing heavily, although he seems to be recovering much faster.

“It’s not a real workout unless you’re out of breath!” Sashihara says with a huge grin. “If you aren’t challenged by a workout, then it’s time for you to move on to a more difficult one!”

“That is very true,” Terajima says from the back. “Though only when your goal is improvement. If your goal is to simply maintain a certain level of fitness, you only have to do the same amount of exercise, right?”

“Yes,” Sashihara concedes. “But one’s goal should always be to improve!”

That is an admirable attitude...although I’m not sure it’s possible for the everyday person to be exercising so much...but still, I guess all of us should at least try to always be improving, even if we may not always be able to do it.

“Is there any more to your act, Sashihara-kun?” Domoto asks. “Your preachy speech on what our fitness should be isn’t part of an exercise routine.”

“My act is over, yes,” Sashihara says. “But my speech wasn’t ‘preachy!’ I was simply looking out for the health of you all! I was advising you all because I wanted to help and share healthy habits, not to be condescending!”

“Don’t worry, Sashihara-kun,” Motoki says reassuringly. “I can only speak surely for myself, but I’m sure most of us didn’t think you were preachy.”

“Yeah, you don’t gotta worry about that, Hisaya-kun,” Ichigohara adds.

Sashihara beams. “Thank you, Motoki-san and Ichigohara-san!”

“Your act is still over,” Domoto says, irritated. It doesn’t look like she liked Motoki-san and Ichigohara-san contradicting her...
“Who’s next?”

“...Me,” Komatsu says, still breathing heavily. “Though...I need...a few minutes.”

Carrasco stands up and smooths her dress. “Well, if it will take you a few more minutes to get ready, would it be okay with everyone if I head to el servicio briefly?”

“Where?” I ask. “Most of us don’t speak Spanish...”

“The bathroom,” Motoki says. “Although that’s not necessarily the only word for—”

“No,” Domoto says sternly. “You may not leave, Carrasco-san.”

“¿Qué?” Carrasco asks, taken aback. “Why not?”

“It is a risk for you to leave to go to the bathroom alone,” Domoto says.

“Then why don’t I go with her?” Ichigohara asks, standing up from her seat and stretching. “If it’s bein’ attacked that you’re worried about, we’re a lot less likely to be attacked if there’re two of us.”

Domoto considers that for a moment. “Fine,” she says. “But be back soon.”

As Carrasco and Ichigohara begin to head out of the room, Kasparov approaches Komatsu with a regretful expression on his face. “I do not mean to be rude, Komatsu-kun, but I am afraid I must retire to bed,” Kasparov says. “Sashihara-kun’s workout exhausted me.”

“It ain’t no big deal, Kasparov-kun,” Komatsu says.

“Wait, but, um, should he go to, um, bed alone?” Eguchi asks nervously. “It would be, um, bad if he goes alone...”

“That’s exactly what I was going to say,” Domoto says. “It’s too much of a risk for Kasparov-kun to go down alone.”

“I will be safe,” Kasparov says firmly. “The only other people who could overpower me are Terajima-kun and Sashihara-kun, and both would still be in this room.”

That’s a fair point...but it’s still risky.
Domoto doesn’t like the idea either, but gives a curt nod. “Alright. If you feel you can go to bed safely, than you may so...but at your own risk.”

Kasparov nods. “I understand,” he says as he leaves.

Komatsu watches him walk out. “‘Kay, I think I’m alright now,” he says as he wipes his forehead. “I’ll need to take a shower right after this.”

“You absolutely will,” Domoto says while wrinkling her nose. “I can smell your body odor from here.”

“Such is the consequence of a good workout!” Sashihara yells from his seat in the front row. “But it’s worth it for the long-term health benefits!”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” Komatsu says impatiently. “Can I just get started with my song already?”

“Sure thing,” Motoki says with an encouraging smile. “I’m sure you can do it, Komatsu-kun.”

“Thanks, Motoki-san,” he says. “I’ll start out with somethin’ by the Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo before I move into my original stuff.” Picking up the guitar from the dude of the stage, where Hayasaka had moved it earlier. Then, he strums it and begins playing a sweet slow guitar song. Wow...that’s really pretty. I close my eyes and listen to the peaceful song, falling into a state of blissful relaxation. This isn’t the calmest I’ve felt ever since I got here...all my fears...and all my worries...they’re melting away...

“There has been an attack!” shouts Kasparov’s voice from the back fo the Auditorium, ripping me from my calm state.

“What?!” I say in a panic as I whip around in my seat to see Carrasco and Kasparov staggering into the Cafeteria, with a half-conscious Ichigohara slumped between them.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Komatsu stops playing abruptly. “What the hell’s happenin’?” he says worriedly as he places the guitar on the ground and rushes off the stage. “What the fuck’s up with Ichigohara-san?”

“We...we were attacked,” Carrasco says shakily. It’s then that I notice her right sleeve is badly torn.

“What happened?” I say fearfully. “And who attacked you?”

“Some madman in a red hood and cape,” Carrasco says, shuddering as she recalls the image of her assailant. “He appeared out of nowhere and slammed Señorita Ichigohara’s head against the wall...Luckily, we were near the bathroom at that point and were able to escape, but not before he grabbed my arm and ripped my dress.”

Carrasco shows off her ripped sleeve and bruised wrist for all of us to see. “Wait, you escaped into the bathroom?” Domoto asks. “How is that an escape?”

“We cannot enter the bathroom of the opposite gender,” Kasparov says. “There are small machine guns on the inside of each bathroom that would shoot if a male entered the women’s bathroom or vice versa.”

Wait...they do!? I’ve never used any of the bathrooms here but the one in my room...now I’m glad I didn’t.

“How would the guns know if it were a man or woman entering?” Terajima asks. “Is there a camera attached?”

“In a, um, bathroom?” Eguchi asks. “That would, um, be in poor taste...”

“I do not believe there are cameras,” Kasparov says. He shrugs. “I know not how the guns can differentiate between men and women, but I believe none of us are willing to take the risk of testing them.”

“You’ve got a fair point there,” I say. “But how did you find out about this attack, Kasparov-kun? Weren’t you on your way to bed?”

Kasparov nods. “Indeed I was. But when I heard Carrasco-san’s scream for help as I was heading downstairs, I immediately reversed direction and rushed over to the bathroom.”

“Then, he was brave enough to pursue the assailant, who I saw flee into the Casino after Señorita Ichigohara and I fled to the bathroom,” Carrasco says.

“Unfortunately, I did not encounter them,” Kasparov says. “Or at least no one dressed the way Carrasco-san described.”

“What do you mean by that?” Sashihara asked. “Does it mean you found someone?!”

“Niizuma-san,” Kasparov says. “She was focused one of those imbecilic pachinko machines when I entered the Casino looking for the attacker, but she said she saw no hooded or capes assailant.”

“Bullshit,” Komatsu says with a quick shake of his head. “There’s no doubt ‘bout it! She’s the fuckin’ attacker!”

“Señor Komatsu, you must not be so quick as to paint her as the culprit,” Carrasco says firmly. “Even though she is suspicious, we don’t know the whole truth of the situation...so we can’t come to a solid conclusion yet.”

“Agreed,” Domoto says. “Which is why we must investigate immediately.”

“W-Wait!” Oyamada exclaims, and then shrinks back. “Uh, s-sorry for interrupting, b-but why d-didn’t any of hear Carrasco-san’s s-scream for help? We w-were closer to her than K-Kasparov-kun...”

“That’s true,” I say. “Komatsu-kun’s song wasn’t too loud...so we definitely should have heard her scream over it.”

“Maybe she, um, didn’t scream that loudly?” Eguchi says.

“But I heard it while on the stairs to the first floor,” Kasparov points out. “Those are farther away from the bathroom than the Auditorium, are they not?”

He’s right...there’s something weird about us not being able to hear her scream...

“Then let’s get investigating,” Domoto says. “The longer we wait, the more time our culprit has to destroy evidence. So, let’s regroup in...” She looks at the clock. It reads 9:46. “...twenty minutes, at 10:06.”

We split up and look all around the second floor. Deciding to head to the Arcade, I look in between and behind every single arcade machine, but find nothing. The only thing I notice is that the arcade machine closest to the door to the hallway is inoperable. That’s the Taiko no Tatsujin machine...it’s a shame it’s out of order. That game is really fun, even if it’s hard...

Frustrated with the results of my fruitless investigation, I head back to the rest of the group. “What’d you guys find?” I ask when we’re all together. “I hope it’s more than I did...”

“I, um, found nothing...” Eguchi says while staring shamefully at the floor.

“Yeah, I didn’t find anythin’ either,” Komatsu says. “Niizuma-san wasn’t nowhere to be found!”

I don’t like how she disappeared so suddenly...

“So she disappeared sometime after Kasparov-kun talked with her and before we started our investigation?!” Sashihara asks incredulously. “That’s incredibly suspicious!”

“It is, but without evidence we can’t prove anything,” Domoto says. “As soon as we next see Niizuma-san, we’ll talk about this with her...but until then, there’s not much we can do.”

“So we accomplished nothing during this investigation?” Terajima asks.

“No,” Domoto says as she pulls out a red cape and hood from behind her back. “I found this stuffed under a bed in a cell in Cell Block B.”

“So the assailant must have doffed their disguise there,” Kasparov speculates.

“Doffed?” Komatsu says, confused. “The fuck does that mean?”

“It’s an old w-word,” Oyamada says. “B-But it m-means to t-take off a p-piece of c-clothing...”

“That doesn’t matter,” Domoto says. “What does matter is figuring out who this disguised attacker was.”

“But how will we do that?!” Sashihara asks. “We have no concrete clues as to their identity!”

“But there are only three suspects,” Ichigohara says as she massages her head, her first words since the attack. “Tomiko-chan...Michio-kun...Mika-chan...they were the only ones not at the talent show.”

“That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re the only suspects,” Domoto says.

“How would they get the cape and hood?” I wonder out loud. “I assume they got it from the props room, but that must have been before the talent show...”

Domoto nods. “That’s what I was thinking. Which is why I’m going to put it back there where it belongs before I go to bed tonight.” She tucks the cape under her arm. “Which likely won’t be for a while. We have much to discuss.

“This is hurting my head to think about,” Carrasco says. “Can we please discuss this in la mañana? It’s too late for us to be doing this.”

“I agree,” Motoki says. “They say people approach problem solving better after a good night’s rest.”

“I doubt any of us will get a good night’s rest knowing one of us tried to attack two others,” Terajima says heavily. “But still, I think you’ve got the right idea.”

“...If that’s what you want, then fine,” Domoto says with a sigh. “I think we should talk now, but if you want...we can talk about this first thing tomorrow morning.”

We all head downstairs and to the Cafeteria, with Carrasco leading the way. She heads through the doors to Cell Block A right before Domoto calls everyone to attention. “Ahem...even though Carrasco-san unintentionally left us early...I want to say that above all I want you to be safe. Be especially careful tonight. Don’t go anywhere alone.”

“Carrasco-san, um, just went to bed alone...” Eguchi says. “Shouldn’t we, um, be worried about, um, her then?”

“I’ll go to her right now,” Motoki says.

“Same,” Ichigohara says, still massaging her head. “We gotta look after each other...”

“Alright,” Domoto says as they leave the Cafeteria. “Just be safe, everyone,” she says with a voice much softer than I’m used to hearing from her.

I shuffle away to bed, but, before I enter my room, take note of the fact that the bowl that Ichigohara and I placed in front of Aozora’s “cell” is gone.
So he’s eating...that’s good. Hopefully he comes out of his room soon...

As I head into my room, the nighttime announcement plays, another nasty reminder that we’re trapped in this stupid prison.

I flop onto bed and think about what happened today. Earlier, I had the premonition that something terrible would happen at the talent show...I guess that wasn’t completely wrong. Ichigohara-san and Carrasco-san were attacked. However...for the time before that happened, I felt happy and relaxed...two emotions that I’ve not been feeling often ever since I awoke in this prison.

Although...I guess the talent show didn’t really accomplish its true goal...to stop mistrust amongst everyone in the group. Because one of us decided to destroy the trust we were attempting to build and attack two of our fellow inmates here.

Whoever that is...they can’t be forgiven for what they did. They must be punished. But...who are they? And why did they do what they did? I can’t see any reason why...

***
“Good morning, inmates. It is now 7 am, which means nighttime has officially concluded. Enjoy another day of confinement.”

The moment I open my eyes, the events of last night come rushing back. The talent show...Hayasaka-san’s freakout...Ichigohara-san and Carrasco-san being attacked...all that happened yesterday. It was a crazy today, so I really hope today is a lot calmer.

Forcing myself out of bed and taking a hot shower, I try to make myself as relaxed as possible. I want to feel as relaxed as I was last night when Komatsu-kun was playing the guitar...that was such an amazing feeling.

Still longing for that feeling, I head out to the Cafeteria, where I see that Domoto, Kasparov, Terajima, Komatsu, Oyamada, Eguchi, Ichigohara, and, unexpectedly, Hayasaka have already gathered.

“Hayasaka-san?” I say, surprised, as soon as I see her. “I didn’t expect to see you here...not after what happened last night.”

“What are you, like, talking about, Wakana-chan?” Hayasaka asks while idly twirling her hair. “Nothing, like, happened with me last night.”

Does she not remember her own outburst?
“Really? You kinda...freaked out after your talent show act,” I say.

Hayasaka shakes her head with a confused expression. “Like, what? Mika-chan, like, doesn’t know what you’re, like talking about, Wakana-chan...”

I open my mouth to say something, but Motoki lays a hand on my arm and shakes her head. “It’s no use...” she says glumly. “I tried to get Hayasaka-san to open up about what happened, but she refused to communicate with me...”

“Like, why would I communicate about something that, like, never happened?” asks Hayasaka. “That, like, makes no sense.”

...Motoki-san’s right. She’s not opening up about it.

Kasparov clears his throat loudly. “Ahem,” he says, “I believe there are much more pertinent matters to discuss than the result Hayasaka-san’s act at the talent show.”

“Yeah, but can we eat first?” Komatsu asks. “I’m fuckin’ starvin’.”

“Who’s cooking?” I ask, seeing that Ichigohara is sitting at the table, massaging her head. “Ichigohara-san’s not in the Kitchen...”

She looks up when I say her name. “Yeah, sorry about that,” she says with a regretful expression. “My head is killin’ me after what happened last night...so I let Hisaya-kun handle cookin’ breakfast.”

As soon as she finishes her sentence, Sashihara walks out of the Kitchen. “Breakfast is ready, everyone!” he shouts proudly. “I have a plate prepared for everyone inside the Kitchen! Even for Aozora-kun and Niizuma-san!”

Komatsu snorts. “They ain’t showin’ up. Can I have their plates instead?”

“No!” Sashihara responds fiercely. “You must eat a normal, healthy portion size!”

“Ah, yer killin’ me...” he laments.

Hayasaka opens her mouth to say what is probably a rude remark to Komatsu, but a strange look crosses over her face and she looks away instead. “No...not now...” she whispers to herself.

...What was that? Was I the only one who saw it?

I don’t figure that out, because at that moment I hear Sashihara say, “—washima-san, will you please serve the food?”

“Sure,” I say with a warm smile, assuming it’s my name he said.

“Wonderful!” He shouts excitedly. “I can’t wait for everyone to eat!”

I quickly serve the food, which is a huge mix of vegetables over brown rice, to everyone in the Cafeteria. When I sit down to eat, I note that it’s pretty good food. While not as good as Ichigohara-san’s fantastic cooking, it’s still quite tasty. However, it doesn’t look like everyone feels the same...

“Ew,” Komatsu says with distaste. “Too many vegetables...”

“There’s no such thing as too much vegetables!” Sashihara says. “Well, there is, but if you’re going to have too much of something, it’s far better to eat vegetables than junk food!”

“I disagree,” Komatsu says. “I think—”

“Señores,” Carrasco says in a calming voice, “there is no need to get into a fight over food. Comida es comida, sea lo que sea...besides, we need to discuss last night.”

“Exactly what I was going to say, minus the Spanish part,” says Domoto. “We need to discuss what to do with this situation with the mystery attacker immediately.”

“But, um, how?” Eguchi asks nervously. “We, um, didn’t find any evidence besides, um, the red cape and hood...”

“M-Maybe the attacker is L-Little Red R-Riding Hood...” Oyamada says with a small chuckle.

Kasparov does not laugh. “That was a terrible attempt at a joke.”

Terajima gives the chess grandmaster a cool gaze. “There’s no need to be so harsh to Oyamada-kun,” Terajima says, sounding a bit defensive. “He was only trying to lighten the mood.”

“Y-Yeah, that’s a-all I w-wanted to do...” Oyamada says. “Thanks for s-sticking up for me, T-Terajima-kun...”

Terajima cracks a small smile. “You’re welcome.”

I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but...that interaction does make me wonder.

“Eguchi-san brings up a good point,” Motoki says. “We have very little evidence to identify the attacker other than the cape and hood we found in Cell Block B.”

“Wait, like, what’s this about, like, an attack?” Hayasaka asks confusedly. She glances down to Ichigohara. “Did someone hurt, like, Noriyo-chan?”

“Sí,” Carrasco says with a nod. “And myself.” She rolls up her sleeve to show the bruise on her wrist.

Recoiling when she sees it, Hayasaka’s face turns sour. “Ew, that bruise, like, is totally yellow! Couldn’t you, like, cover it with, like, foundation or something?”

“I did not think too,” Carrasco says, tapping her chin. “I probably should have...I do not enjoy seeing the reminder that I was attacked on my wrist every time I look at it.”

“It’s a good idea to leave it uncovered,” Domoto says. “That way, you will have a reminder to be more cautious on yourself at all times.”

Carrasco looks slightly offended. “Señorita Ichigohara and myself did not choose to be assaulted,” she says, her voice more tense than normal. “We traveled to the bathroom in a pair specifically to prevent an attack.”

“It’s good you two went as a pair,” Terajima says. “Otherwise, we might have had another class trial.”

A cold feeling trickles down my spine after he says that. Oh God, I hope we never have to do one of those things again...I hate them so much.

Eguchi shivers at Terajima’s words. “Please, um, don’t say that...” she requests timidly. “I hate, um, even thinking of, um, class trials...”

“It’s a reality we must face,” Domoto says. “Luckily, we averted a death this time, but in the future, we must be more cautious.”

“But how?” Sashihara asks. “If someone really wants to kill someone, they could probably get even the most cautious of people.”

“That’s true,” Domoto concedes, “but only if that person were alone.”

“What are you getting at, Domoto-san?” Motoki asks curiously.

“I suggest we go everywhere in pairs,” Domoto says. “That way, any potential attacker would have to face two people instead of one.”

Pairs, huh...that doesn’t seem like a bad idea.
“Okay,” I say, “but what would the different pairs be? And would they be permanent?”

“Niizuma-san and Aozora-kun are not in any pairs until they rejoin the group,” Domoto says. “Other than that, it really doesn’t matter who’s in what pair. And no, they wouldn’t have to be permanent. They would have to last the whole day, though.”

I consider that. It does sound like a safer approach to things than what we’ve been doing so far...two people are less likely to be attacked and are in a better position to defend each other than they would I be by themselves.

“Speakin’ of Tomiko-chan and Michio-kun, I gotta bring their food to their rooms after breakfast,” Ichigohara remembers. “Anybody wanna help me do that?”

“I’ll do it,” I volunteer. “I’ve done it the last two times, so I might as well for consistency.”

“Then you two will be a pair,” says Domoto. “Alright, does anyone have any questions?”

Komatsu raises his hand. “Yeah, I got one. Why are we even botherin’ with this whole partner thing? Ain’t it obvious the attacker is Niizuma-san?”

“She is certainly suspicious,” Domoto says, frowning. “But we haven’t seen her since Kasparov-kun talked with her about the assailant immediately after the attack last night...which means she probably is avoiding us, for one reason or another.” Domoto sighs. “Even if she isn’t the attacker, we must still be careful. We never know what might happen if we’re careless.”

Komatsu doesn’t object to that, so Domoto nods. “Alright,” she says. “Let’s get on with the day. Be safe.”

The meeting ends and everyone splits up into groups. Domoto and Kasparov, unsurprisingly, head off together to play chess, while Eguchi and Komatsu go to play games in the Arcade. While Motoki and Oyamada head to the Rec Room, Carrasco and Hayasaka go to the Auditorium. Terajima and Sashihara go back to their rooms.

After everyone leaves, Ichigohara and I grab the two plates of food Sashihara left in the Kitchen and head to Niizuma’s and Aozora’s rooms. Just like the last two times, there’s no response from either door.

“I don’t like how they’re holing themselves up in their rooms like this,” I say as I place the food down in front of Aozora’s door. I wish he would just come out...I want him to accept his second chance, even if he doesn’t think he deserves it.

“Neither do I, Wakana-chan,” Ichigohara says with a sigh. “But we can’t exactly force Tomiko-chan and Michio-kun out of their rooms if they never even open the doors.”

“They have opened the doors, just not in front of us,” I say. “All the plates we’ve left here have been returned to the Kitchen, right?”

“Yeah, I checked this mornin’,” Ichigohara says. “Both their bowls from dinner last night were in the sink.”

I breathe a sigh of relief. “That’s good.” I say. Even if they’re avoiding us, at least Aozora-kun and Niizuma-san are eating.

“So, uh, what are we goin’ to do today, Wakana-chan?” Ichigohara asks. “We have to stay together to be safe, but I dunno what exactly what we should do...”

“Hmm...” I say while thinking. “Oh! I know. Why don’t we play that pool game you asked me to play back when the second floor was opened up?”

“Oh yeah, that,” Ichigohara says with a chuckle. “I’m down for that. Let’s go.”

As we head upstairs, I notice that Ichigohara is rubbing her head the whole time. She must still be in pain from what happened to her last night...when one of us attacked her, probably with the intention of killing her or Carrasco-san...or both.
I shake my head violently to get that thought out of my head. No, I can’t think like that...it’ll only make things worse.

As Ichigohara and I walk down
the hallway outside the Auditorium, I notice Komatsu heading the opposite way, shaking his head disappointedly.

“What’s wrong?” I ask him. “Didn’t you go with Eguchi-san to the Arcade?”

“Yeah, but the Taiko no Tatsujin machine’s all broken!” Komatsu says angrily. “I ain’t playin’ any other game. So, I’m headin’ downstairs.”

“But shouldn’t you be with Yuzuki-chan?” Ichigohara asks worriedly. “It’s not safe to be alone.”

“I’ll be fine,” Komatsu says as he brushes past us and heads downstairs.

Ichigohara and I exchange a worried glance. “I don’t like him or Yuzuki-chan bein’ all alone,” Ichigohara says while she scratches her back. “But I guess we just have to go with the flow, right?”

“I guess,” I say, not totally convinced. “We should get going.”

We continue to the Rec Room, which is strangely quiet when we get there. Domoto and Kasparov are intently focused on their game of chess, while Oyamada silently reads a thick book on one of the bean bag chairs. Motoki also sits on one of them, a faraway look in her eyes. The second she notices Ichigohara and I, she jumps up happily. “Oh, good! You two decided to come here!”

“Yeah, we came to play some pool,” Ichigohara says. “You wanna play, Sakiko-chan?”

“No, that’s fine,” Motoki says. “But I need to talk. I can’t be silent and alone like I just was...” The same faraway look from before she saw us enters her eyes again. Is she alright...? It looks like she doesn’t do well when she’s alone.

“Yeah, sure, you can talk with us,” I tell her with a kind smile. “It would be a boring pool game if we were all silent.”

“Then it will be a boring pool game,” Kasparov snaps from the chess table. “If you have not noticed, myself, Domoto-san, and Oyamada-kun are focused on tasks that require silent concentration, to which your loud pool would be a grave distraction.”

Jeez, he’s so strict about that...I understand he wants to be able to concentrate, but that doesn’t mean he has to be so strict about policing noise around him.

“Don’t worry, Kasparov-kun,” I say reassuringly. “We’ll be as quiet as we can.”

“Good,” Kasparov says as he returns his attention to his chess game.

Ichigohara and I play our chess game, while Motoki stands by and watches. We engage in quiet conversation and giggle quietly together when someone makes a joke. God, this is so fun...even though we have to be quiet, I still feel like I’m getting so much closer to two of my fellow inmates here. This is the best I’ve felt in a long while...it’s even better than listening to Komatsu-kun’s guitar music last night was.

We finish one game of pool, but as soon as we start setting up the second one, a loud click emanates from the door. I snap my head over to it and notice a red blur flash by through the frosted glass window.
Is that...could it be...?

Without thinking twice, I rush over to the door and try to open it, but to no avail.

“Wakana-chan? What are you doing?” Ichigohara asks confusedly.

“The door’s locked,” I say, feeling dread grow in my heart. “And I saw something red through the window right after I heard it lock!”

Domoto immediately stands up from the chess game. “We’ve been locked in here?” She asks incredulously as she approaches the door.

“By someone in red?” Kasparov asks as he too stands up. “Is that the mystery assailant?”

“Wait, w-we’ve been l-locked in here?!” Oyamada asks in a panic. “Oh no...that’s n-not good...”

“Why would the attacker from last night lock us in here?” Motoki asks, fear in her voice.

“Because they don’t want us interfering with their crime,” Domoto says with narrowed eyes. “I’m sure they’re up to something right now.”

“But shouldn’t their partner be with them?” I ask.

“They should,” Kasparov says, “but that in no way guarantees that they are. They may have done something to their partner.”

“Then we need to get out and help whoever might be hurt!” Motoki says as she rushes to the door and pounds on it with her fist. “Hey! Let us out!” She shouts. As soon as she does, the fire alarm starts ringing.

“What the hell?” I say, feeling my fear turn into terror. Oh, no...this isn’t good at all.

“What’s h-happening?” Oyamada asks nervously.

“Something very bad,” replies Domoto.

Kasparov shakes his head and clenches his fists. “Someone is up to something devious,” he says. He pushes and pulls on the door and attempts to force the door open, but to no avail. “Goddammit!” he shouts as he pounds on the door. “Someone open this door!”

Domoto and I try to do the same, with Motoki, Kasparov, Ichigohara, and even Oyamada joining in the cacophony of shouts for someone to come open the door. We need to get out of here...we need to stop the attacker before they can do anything else...before they can hurt anyone!

At long last, I see a silhouette outside the door and hear the sound of the door unlocking. Having been pushed up against the door, everyone almost falls onto the floor as we rush out of the now unlocked Rec Room.

“Are you guys, um, okay?” Eguchi, who must have opened the door, asks apprehensively.

“Eguchi-san!” I say, clutching her by the shoulders as soon as I regain my balance. “Are you okay? What’s going on? Why is the fire alarm sounding?”

“I’m, um, fine, but I don’t, um, know,” Eguchi says, wringing her hands as her eyes dart about nervously. “I was, um, heading out of the Arcade to, um, see what was causing the, um, fire, when I heard you guys, um, shouting for help.” She looks behind her. “I think it’s, um, coming from the Casino...”

“Then let us go there immediately,” Kasparov says.

We rush over to the Casino, and sure enough a roaring fire has consumed one of the pachinko machines. “This must be the work of the attacker,” Motoki says fearfully.

“The, um, attacker?” Eguchi asks loudly. “Are they back?”

“We’ll explain later!” Domoto shouts, struggling to be heard over the incessant ringing of the fire alarm and roar of the fire. “Right now, we need to put this fire out!”

“There’s a fire extinguisher over here!” Carrasco’s voice shouts.

“Mayumi-chan?! Where’d you come from?” Ichigohara asks.

“I was in the Auditorium,” says Carrasco as she tosses the fire extinguisher in our general direction. Kasparov catches it. “Señorita Hayasaka is here as well!”

Hayasaka’s form appears behind the flamenco performer, carrying another fire extinguisher. “This one’s, like, from the Auditorium too,” she says as she throws hers in our direction as well. Motoki catches this one.

“Let’s put this fire out!” Motoki says with determination as she unleashes the white cloud from the fire extinguisher. Kasparov activates his as well, spraying the burning pachinko machine all over.

For a brief moment, I worry that the fire extinguishers won’t be enough to put out the fire completely. Luckily, they work just well enough to put out the blaze.

The fire alarms finally stop, leaving only the sounds of Kasparov and Motoki panting heavily. “Thank God that fire is out,” Kasparov says as he drops his fire extinguisher to the floor and wipes the sweat from his forehead.

“Yeah, that could’ve been really bad,” Motoki says with a sigh of relief. “We could’ve—” She pauses out of nowhere, staring at the burnt remains of the pachinko machine.

“What is it, Señorita Motoki?” asks Carrasco in concern.

Motoki shakily points a finger to the inside of the machine, which is visible now that the smoke and cloud from the fire extinguisher have cleared. “In there,” she says, her eyes wide.

I follow her gaze with my eyes, until I see what she is pointing to. When I do, I feel my knees give out from under me.

“No,” I say forcefully.

But I can’t deny it. I can’t deny the terrifying truth of what is lying on the burned inside of the pachinko machine...or rather, who.

Because there is no doubt, even though the body is mostly burned, that I am a staring at the remains of...Michio Aozora, the Ultimate Astrophysicist.
Chapter 2: Second Chances Aren’t for Everyone Daily Life END

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 2: Second Chances Aren't for Everyone
Deadly Life

...This can’t be real. I desperately try to convince myself of that, but the sight before me burning itself into my eyes reminds me of cold hard reality.

“What the fuck?!” Hayasaka says, horrified. “Is that, like, Michio-kun?!”

“It is,” Kasparov says grimly. “He has been murdered b—.”

Before Kasparov can finish his sentence, the monitor on the wall crackles to life. “*ding ding dong ding* A body has been discovered,” Monohebi says with a devious smile. “Everyone, please make your way to the Casino immediately. After a short period of investigation, a class trial will be held.”

The monitor turns off again, leaving the room in dead silence as everyone stares at Aozora’s corpse, not believing what’s in front of them.

“Holy shit,” Domoto whispers, her eyes wide open.

“¿Señor Aozora...está muerto?” Carrasco says incredulously.

“Aozora-kun,” Eguchi says as she shakes her head violently. “No, this can’t be...it isn’t...”

“C-Can we even b-be sure that’s him...?” Oyamada asks nervously. “The b-body is burnt so b-badly...”

“You can still see the glasses,” Motoki says tearfully as she stares sadly at Aozora’s body. “There’s no mistaking those round, thick-rimmed glasses...”

Conversation trails off after that. I say nothing, only staring at the burnt flesh that used to be Michio Aozora, the Ultimate Astrophysicist. Aozora-kun...is dead. After all I tried to do to help him and the suffering he went through after the first trial...he’s dead. Gone forever.

He said some terrible things, it’s true...but I don’t think he truly meant them. I think he was hurting, and only lashed out at others as a way to cope...because he didn’t know how to deal with being unsuccessful. With being a failure...

I want tears to come bursting out of my eyes over losing a friend...but they don’t. My eyes are dry as a desert. I’m such a terrible person...I can’t even make myself cry over someone I cared a lot about dying.
That makes me want to cry even more. But even still, I can’t force myself to cry.

All of a sudden, a rush of people enter the room.

“Who’s fuckin’ dead?” asks Komatsu in a wild panic. His eyes dart about wildly, then finally rest on the pachinko machine. “Holy fuckin’ shit! Someone got burned the fuck to death?!”

“Who is it?” Sashihara asks from behind him, panic evident in his voice.

Terajima pushes through them and stares straight at the body. “It’s, um, what’s his name...the space physics boy,” Terajima says immediately. “Even though the face is mostly burnt, I can still tell.”

Sashihara clenches his fist. “That’s unforgivable...preying on someone in a weak state like that,” he says. Weirdly enough, though, something on his face almost looks relieved.
What could that be about?

“Shit,” Komatsu says. “I liked him...at least, before he went all psycho on us a few days back.”

Went...all psycho? That’s not what happened!
I whip my head around and glare at Komatsu. “He didn’t go ‘all psycho,’” I snap. “He wasn’t in the best emotional state, it’s true...but he wasn’t crazy!”

Hayasaka snickers. “Wow, Wakana-chan is really, like, mad at Yutaka-kun for insulting her, like, dead boyfriend~!”

“He wasn’t my boyfriend,” I say, embarrassed. It’s true...I really did care about Aozora-kun...but not in that sort of way. It was a platonic sort of attachment...just a normal friendship.

She snorts. “Yeah, like, okay...”

I don’t bother to respond. She’s not worth the time. Doesn’t she understand men and women can be friends without having to be romantically interested in one other?

“Wait,” Terajima says as he scan the room. “Where is, uh, what’s her name...the stats girl? Is she dead too?”

“Maybe the, um, attacker killed her, too...” Eguchi says while wringing her hands.

“Don’t worry, I’m alive.”

Everyone turns to the source of the voice to see Niizuma standing in the doorway to Cell Block B, looking as stoic as usual. Her gaze drifts to the pachinko machine, where her face sours and she wrinkles her nose. “What the...?” She says while grimacing. “Someone was burnt alive?”

“Yes...Aozora-kun was...” Motoki says sadly.

A look of regret crosses Niizuma’s face. “It seems...I was right. How unfortunate.” Although her words sound cold, I can feel what seems like real empathy in her voice.

“Why are you late?” Kasparov asks sternly.

“I had to come up all the way from my room,” Niizuma says. “And was I really that late? I came as soon as I heard the body discovery announcement.”

“The fitness boy and I were in our rooms, too,” Terajima says. “Yet we arrived here before you.”

“You’re also not wearing high heels,” Niizuma counters. She rolls her eyes. “And I know where you’re going with this. You’ll accuse me of being the killer for something as inane as being late.” She shakes her head. “Wait for the trial to accuse me of anything. It’s pointless to do it beforehand, when we could be investigating.”

“Excellently said, Niizuma,” Monohebi says from right next to me.

“Gah!” I say as I jump at the snake’s sudden appearance. “Where’d you come from?”

“Sususu...does that really matter?” Monohebi asks.

“No,” Domoto says. “But what does matter is why you’re here.”

“To support Niizuma-san’s idea, of course,” Monohebi says. “I love you all accusing each other, but it truly would be a good idea to wait until the trial to do so.”

Niizuma glares at him. “I didn’t need you of all people to support me.”

“No...yet here I am,” Monohebi says with a smirk.

“Why are you really here?” I ask harshly, not caring about politeness or any of the other stuff a waitress has to put up with most of the time.

Monohebi looks surprised at my tone. “Oh my...Kawashima, I expected you of all people to be the least rude to me. Is politeness not expected of a waitress?”

I stare at Aozora’s corpse sadly. “I just lost a friend...so all that stuff doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Ah...I see,” Monohebi says, “I understand, but do not approve. I will not tolerate you inmates being rude to your Warden.”

“I hope you don’t expect us to fake respect for you like that,” Domoto says, unamused. “If I don’t respect you, I’m not going to be polite.”

“Such insolence!” Monohebi seethes. “I came here to help you brats, yet all I get is rudeness all around?”

“You came here to help us?” Terajima asks in a tone so polite that it sounds both sincere and sarcastic. “What is it you were going to do for us, dear Warden?”

At first, Monohebi is taken aback at Terajima’s politeness, but soon he is smirking widely. “Why, just because you were so polite to me, I will tell you, Terajima,” Monohebi says. “I have come to give you all some valuable information.”

“And what may that be?” Kasparov asks.

“Well, just like last time, I have added forensic information about the death to the the ‘Monohebi File’ tab on your e-Handbook,” Monohebi says.

“Is that it?” Niizuma asks, unimpressed. “Your file really didn’t do much last time, so I don’t know how you can consider giving us a new one is valuable information.”

Monohebi narrows his snake eyes at her. “You ungrateful little brat!” he fumes. “I am under no obligation to give you a Monohebi File! I could let you know absolutely nothing about the crime, yet out of the pureness of my heart, I give you valuable information. And then you say it is not valuable?” He shakes his head angrily. “I suppose I will not be sharing the second piece of information, then.”

“Dearest Warden, are you certain—“ Terajima starts.

“You can drop the act, Terajima,” Monohebi says irritatedly. “I will not divulge the information I would have had been eager to had you not been so rude.” Monohebi stares at all of us with a cruel look of disapproval. “As your collective punishment, I shall make your period of investigation shorter than normal.” He disappears, leaving us all in silence.

“Fools,” Kasparov says icily. “We could have learned something important had you not been so impolite to Monohebi.”

Niizuma huffs. “I truly hope you don’t expect me to be respectful to the creature that locked us in here.”

“I do,” Kasparov says. “And you need not actually respect the snake. You simply have to pretend and be polite enough so that you can get the most out of him as possible. With a personality like his, it is most strategic to flatter him and be as polite as possible.”

Domoto frowns. “I disagree,” she says. “Groveling before our captor is the last thing we should do.”

“I never said we always have to do it,” Kasparov says. “Only when we need something from Monohebi.”

“I still disagree, but that’s beside the point,” she says. “Monohebi said that, as punishment, we will have less time to investigate than before. So, let’s not waste time.” She takes a deep breath. “Let’s find Aozora-kun’s killer.”

“Wait,” Niizuma interjects sharply, “aren’t we forgetting something?”

“Um, what are we, um, forgetting?” Eguchi asks nervously.

“Guards,” Niizuma replies. “We can’t just allow the risk of the killer tampering with evidence."

She has a point...

“That’s a good idea,” Ichigohara says. “But who’ll be the guards?”

“I can be,” Terajima volunteers. “I’m the Ultimate Bodyguard, so I think I’m qualified for the position.”

Domoto crosses her arms and looks at Terajima coldly. “I don’t like the idea of the guard alone. I still don’t trust you.”

“I’ll, uh...b-be the other g-guard...” Oyamada offers. “I...d-don’t think I’ll b-be very useful b-by myself, anyway...”

Terajima cracks a small smile at Oyamada’s offer. “I’m sure you’ll be a fine partner, Oyamada-kun.” He turns to Domoto. “Are you happy now? I have someone else to watch me to make sure I don’t do anything.”

“I still don’t like it,” Domoto admits, “but we don’t have time to be arguing. We need to investigate immediately.”

Niizuma shifts her balance and lays her gaze on Aozora’s corpse. “Let’s get started, then.”

I look back at Aozora’s body. Someone here...murdered him. They took advantage of his unstable emotional state and used to that to their advantage...I can feel my hands ball up into fists.
I can’t forgive this person for what they’ve done. Taking advantage of someone when they needed help...that makes my blood boil. It’s such an unequivocally wrong thing to do, that I can’t believe
anyone here would do it...but someone did.

Someone here cut Aozora-kun’s life short before he could heal himself...whoever they are, I’ll find them! I’ll gather every last speck of evidence I can while I’m able to investigate, and I’ll find them! I won’t let them get away with this despicable crime!

Investigation START!

Noticing that I’m breathing heavily and that I’m curling my hands into fists so hard my nails are digging into my skin, I force myself to relax. As angry as I am that one of the people here killed Aozora-kun...I can’t investigate his death properly if I’m too emotional. I need to stay calm...as hard as it may be.

Feeling that it’s probably the best starting point, I pull out my e-Handbook to look at the Monohebi File. Once I click on the tab labeled “Monohebi File #2,” I see the following:

“The victim of this case is Michio Aozora, the Ultimate Astrophysicist. The victim sustained severe burns all over his body, as he was inside of a burning pachinko machine. Time of death is estimated to be around 9:30.”

I look at the clock after reading that. It’s almost ten now...so Aozora-kun was killed not even thirty minutes ago, while Ichigohara-san and I were playing pool. If I only I had thought to go to the Casino, I could’ve saved him...I shake
my head violently to get those thoughts out of my head. I can’t do that right no...I need to focus on the clues of the case.

Putting my e-Handbook away, I think about what the Monohebi File contained. There’s a much more specific turn of death than the last one...so there’s that. But, I still need to look for more evidence. The Monohebi File isn’t nearly enough.

Feeling nauseous as I do so, I force myself to approach the pachinko machine. The outside of the machine is blackened and covered in soot, but that’s nothing compared to the inside of it. Aozora’s blackened body is crammed inside it, with burnt wires tangled around his dead form. I desperately want to turn away from the gruesome sight, but force myself to look. I need to investigate every aspect of this crime that I can if I want to find the truth...and, unfortunately, that includes looking at my dead friend’s body.

Forcing myself to look closely at the body, I notice something odd about Aozora’s mouth. A weird, half-melted grey substance covers it. What the hell could that stuff be? It looks so disgusting...

The next thing I notice is that Aozora’s arms are pinned behind his back and his wrists are almost touching. Around them, I can see the same strange melted substance as before. Also, his feet are close together too, with the same weird substance around them yet again.. What is that stuff? And why is it on his mouth, hands, and his legs?

My eyes drift away from Aozora’s wrists to see a blackened lighter on the burnt floor of the pachinko machine.
That must’ve been used to start the fire...

I scour the inside of the pachinko machine one last time, trying to make sure I didn’t miss anything. Spotting a barely visible patch of red at the bottom of the machine, I delicately lift Aozora’s leg to see a patch of a fabric that is badly burned, but somehow still partially intact. It’s red, I think...it probably managed to survive the fire due to being under Aozora-kun’s
shoe.

Standing up from the sight of the body, I look down at Aozora’s corpse sadly. I’m sorry someone did this to you, Aozora-kun...I’m someone cut your life short so cruelly. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you...

I shake my head violently and force myself to take a deep breath. No, I can’t do that right now...I can’t let my emotions interfere...as difficult as it might be to keep them in. I need to focus on solving this crime.

I ponder how to do that. I should ask for everyone’s alibis like last time...it ended up being a hole in Yamaguchi-kun’s alibi that caused us to suspect him in the first place. But...who should I ask first?

Given that Terajima and Oyamada are closest to the pachinko machine, I decide to talk to them first.

“Hey, guys,” I say with the most optimism I can put into my voice...which admittedly isn’t much.

“Hello, K-Kawashima-san,” Oyamada responds quietly. “How’s y-your investigation g-going?”

“...It’s going,” I answer, not really knowing what to say. “It’s hard to try to stay concentrated right after learning my friend is dead...but I’m managing, I guess.”

“Well, if you need any help, you can ask me,” Terajima offers. “As the Ultimate Bodyguard, I find it my responsibility to not just protect my clients’ physical well-being, but also their mental well-being.”

I blink, surprised at Terajima’s offer. I didn’t expect that...it’s very considerate of him. However, I don’t think there’s much he can do. Still, I appreciate the offer.
“Thanks, Terajima-kun,” I say with genuine gratefulness. “But I don’t know there’s much you can do to help me.”

Terajima frowns. “Is there anything I can do at all?”

“Can you give me your alibi for the time of the murder?” I ask. “And can you too, Oyamada-kun?”

“I w-was in the R-Rec Room, with you, Kawashima-san,” Oyamada answers. “Did you n-not see me th-there?”

“I did,” I assure him. “I just want to make sure I have you accounted for any time this morning.”

“I was at the m-morning meeting, and th-then my p-partner, Motoki-san, and I w-went to the R-Rec Room, where we w-were until...” Oyamada hugs the book he his holding tightly to his chest and buries most of his face in it. “Until...this h-happened.”

“As for me, I was alone in my room,” Terajima says while adjusting his sunglasses. “Not the most airtight alibi; but it’s the simple truth.”

I’d like to believe him about that...but that alibi can’t be proven from the looks of it. Also...there’s something about it that bothers me.

“Terajima-kun, why did it take you, Sashihara-kun, Komatsu-kun, and Niizuma-san so long to get here?” I ask, trying to be as respectful as possible.

Terajima pushes his sunglasses up his nose. “I can’t speak for the stats girl, but the fitness boy and I left our rooms as soon we heard Monohebi announce a body had been found. We can both confirm that. The music boy met up with us in the Cafeteria, from where we rushed up to the Casino.” He shrugs. “I didn’t really think we took very long.”

I frown. “But why didn’t you come up when you heard the fire alarms go off?” I ask, perplexed.

Terajima gives me a confused glance. “I never heard any fire alarms,” he says. “And I have quite exceptional hearing.”

That’s really odd...why wouldn’t Terajima-kun hear any fire alarms, especially if he claims he has such good hearing? Is it because he’s the culprit and is lying? No...I can’t start thinking of suspects so soon. I need to get all the evidence available first.

I say goodbye to Terajima and Oyamada and head over to Carrasco, who seems to be approaching the burned pachinko machine.

“Hello, Carrasco-san,” I say.

“Señorita Kawashima,” she replies, more quietly than normal.

“Are you alright?” I ask, concerned. She’s normally much more vibrant and dramatic...but now she’s acting so reserved and quiet...it’s strange. Is she okay?

“Estoy...bien,” Carrasco says, although she sounds unsure. “I’m fine. I simply am shaken that another one of nuestros amigos was murdered yet again.” A tear rolls down her cheek. “It’s too much...”

Oh...so this is getting to her, too...I lay a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. “Don’t worry, it’ll be okay, Carrasco-san. We will find the person responsible for this and bring them to justice.”

She grabs my hand and squeezes it, a few more tears spilling out of her eyes as she does so. “...Gracias, Señorita Kawashima,” she says thankfully. She turns to face me and smiles slightly. “I am grateful to have you as a friend.”

I return her smile. “I’m grateful to have you as a friend, too.”

Carrasco continues to stare at me for a few moments, and then looks at Aozora’s corpse. “Lo siento, but I fear I must end our conversation here...I feel it would be best for me to investigate Señor Aozora’s body now.”

Oh, I probably shouldn’t interrupt that...but I still haven’t asked her for her alibi, which I need.
“I’ll be quick, then,” I say hurriedly. “What was your alibi for this morning, specifically around 9:30?”

“I was at the Cafeteria for the morning meeting and then the Auditorium until I heard the fire alarm,” she answers. “Señorita Hayasaka can collaborate this claim.”

“Wait, like, who said Mika-chan’s name?” Hayasaka asks from across the room.

“Carrasco-san did,” I say. “She mentioned how you two were both in the Auditorium at the time of the murder.”

“Yeah, that’s, like, totally right!” Hayasaka says. “Until those, like, really annoying alarms went off, Mika-chan was, like, in the Dressing Room doing a few different makeup looks~!” She twirls her hair, her smile fading into a pout. “Mika-chan, like, wishes she could have used her, like, expensive La Mer primer instead of the, like, poor people stuff they have here...”

Sometimes listening to her can really get on my nerves...this is one of those times. Complaining about makeup when one of our dead friends is right in front of her!? I want to punch her for being so inconsiderate. No...I
can’t do something so violent...what’s gotten into me? I’m not in the right state of mind after seeing Aozora-kun dead...

I shake my head vigorously to get myself out of my thoughts. I need to be investigate right now, not ruminate.
“Were you in the Dressing Room, too, Carrasco-san?” I ask her.

She shakes her head. “No, desafortunadamente. I was playing around with la guitarra on the stage for a bit and then went back into the Props Room to find something to busy myself with.”

I nod. “And that’s it? You didn’t see anyone else?”

“Not until the fire alarms rang,” Carrasco says. “Not until Señorita Hayasaka and I found the rest of you...and this.” She gestures to Aozora’s body.

I grimace as she gestures to my friend’s corpse. I hate seeing his body...I hate having to investigate his death.
“Thank you, Carrasco-san,” I say as I force myself out of my thoughts. “I’m sorry to push you, but I still have one thing to ask you about: the attack last night.”

She grimaces when I bring that up. “Oh, that...do you need me to describe it again?”

I nod. “Please.”

Carrasco grimaces as she recalls her memories. “I hate thinking about it...but, for the sake of the investigation, I will tell you the story.” She takes a deep breath. “As you know, I informed everyone at the talent show about my intention to go to el servicio. Señorita Ichigohara accompanied me there, but, when we were almost at the door, an assailant dressed in a red cape and hood smashed Señorita Ichigohara’s head against the wall, knocking her out.”

She shudders, clearly disturbed from recalling the attack. “Then, he headed for me...but I ducked under his arm, grabbed Señorita Ichigohara, and fled inside el servicio. However, before I could get all the way inside, the attacker grabbed my wrist. I eventually got free, but at the cost of my dress’s sleeve being ripped, and of this...” She pulls the sleeve of her dress, which, due to not being ripped, must be different from last night’s, to show me a still very apparent bruise.

I grimace while seeing it. “I’m sorry that happened to you, Carrasco-san,” I say with genuine sympathy. “Is there anything else to your story?”

“I screamed very loudly, causing the attacker to flee into the Casino,” Carrasco continues. “Then, Señor Kasparov arrived and was brave enough to chase after the despicable assailant while I waited in the bathroom with Señorita Ichigohara...but he didn’t find them. Soon after he returned, Señorita Ichigohara awoke, so we went back to Auditorium to explain what had happened.” She sighs. “That’s it,” she says as she slumps her shoulders, revealing she is done telling her story.

“That sounded really scary, Carrasco-san,” I say empathetically. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.” I take hold of her hand and squeeze it. “But I’m also glad you’re strong enough to still persevere after such a frightening experience.”

“I am grateful for you, too, Kawashima-san,” Carrasco says. “I am glad I had a friend I knew I could trust to tell my story to.”

I give her a warm, genuine smile. “Anytime,” I say, and I mean it.

I say goodbye to Carrasco and head over to Niizuma. “Hey,” I say.

She gives me an unimpressed look. “What?” she asks, sounding irritated. “Do you want to talk to me?”

Looks like someone isn’t in a good mood...
“Hello to you, too,” I say, feeling the positive vibes I had from my conversation with Carrasco dissipate immediately. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised...my close friend was just murdered. This really isn’t the time for positive vibes...

“I wanted to ask you your alibi for this morning, particularly around 9:30,” I tell Niizuma.

She examines her nails instead of looking at me. “Why should I do that?” she asks. “So you can accuse me baselessly?”

“So I can find out who the culprit is,” I say back, a bit more forcefully than I wanted to. “And I can’t do that if I don’t have your alibi.”

Niizuma still doesn’t look at me, but she does nod curtly. “I was alone in my room,” she says. “Hardly the best alibi ever, but it is what happened.” She finally turns to look at me, her glare cold as ice. “Don’t you doubt for a second I’m telling the truth.”

Holy shit...she’s really freaking me out with that stare.
“I’m n-not doubting you,” I stammer, frightened by her stare.

Niizuma narrows her eyes. “Hmph,” She says as she turns on heel and walks out of the room. Well, that’s one way to exit the situation...

Looking around the Casino, I see there really isn’t much more evidence. There might not be more physical evidence...but I should still consider something else about this room. Particularly, why it was chosen to be where Aozora-kun was killed.

I look around the Casino, taking in the room, trying to perceive it how the killer would. It’s very loud in here...and the bright flashes of light make things disorienting.
I also notice how there are three entrances and exits to the room: one to Cell Block B, another out to the hallway, and the last one to the Arcade. I don’t know how or why, but I have a feeling this will be important.

Deciding there’s not much else to look at in the Casino, I leave it and head through the doors to the Arcade. There’s no one in here except for Eguchi, who is standing by the broken Taiko no Tatsujin machine, crying softly.

“Hey, Eguchi-san,” I say softly when I see her. “How are you?”

“Hi, um, Kawashima-san,” she sniffles, not directly looking at me. “I’m, um, really not doing too well...it’s so, um, terrible to know that, um, one of my friends is, um, dead yet again...”

“It is,” I agree. She’s not wrong...it’s a horrible situation we’re in. I don’t want to interrupt her if she’s not feeling very well, but I need to know her alibi...so...
“Eguchi-san,” I begin. “I know you’re not feeling the best, so I’ll try to keep this brief. Where were you this morning, especially around 9:30?”

“I was, um, at the morning meeting with everyone...” Eguchi says as she wipes tears from her eyes. “Then, um, Komatsu-kun and I came up here to, um, play some Taiko no Tatsujin, but the, um, machine was broken...so, he, um, l-left me...” She starts crying even harder at that last part. I guess Komatsu-kun deserting her really affected her...

“So you were alone after he left you?” I ask.

Eguchi nods sadly. “Yeah...I, um, played games, um, in here until I, um, heard the fire alarms go off...then I, um, left the Arcade and heard you guys, um, banging to be let out of the, um, Rec Room, so I went, um, there...” She wipes tears from her eyes. “And then, um, we found Aozora-kun, killed so, um, horribly...”

So, in short, she has no alibi for the time after Komatsu-kun deserted her...which means he probably doesn’t either...so I should talk with him about that. But before I do, I should take a look at his Taiko no Tatsujin machine to find out why it’s broken and if it has to do with the case.
“Was this machine broken before the talent show yesterday, Eguchi-san?” I ask her as I begin to look around the machine. “Because when I looked at it afterwards, it wasn’t working...”

“No, it, um, was working just fine until, um, Komatsu-kun and I left to play dinner...” Eguchi says sadly. “Then, when we went to, um, play it today, it wasn’t, um, working...”

Spotting a hatch in the machine sticking out strangely, I pull on it, and, to my surprise, I end up opening the entire side of the machine. “Wow,” I say, surprised at such a big opening in the machine. “I didn’t expect this to happen.”

As I take a closer look inside the machine, I can see that the wires are messed with and that much of the machine’s interior has been severely damaged, almost like it’s been punched repeatedly. That’s really strange...why is the machine’s interior so badly damaged?

“Everything’s so, um, messed up in there...” Eguchi says mournfully as she peaks over my shoulder into the machine. “It’s really, um, a shame that someone would damage an, um, arcade machine so much...”

“It is,” I say absentmindedly as I try to step in the machine to get a closer look at everything, but it’s too small for me to fit. But...just because I can’t fit in, doesn’t mean she won’t.

“Can you get in the machine, Eguchi-san?” I ask. “I can’t fit into it. I’m too tall, I guess.”

“Oh, um, sure...” Eguchi agrees nervously. She climbs into the machine, where there’s more than enough room for someone as short as her to move around freely. Someone a bit shorter than me could fit inside it too, I bet...hell, there’s enough room for someone to fit in there twice, as long as they’re a little shorter than me. Like with the Casino’s layout, I don’t know how or why, but I feel like this’ll be important...

“Can I, um, leave the machine now?” Eguchi asks timidly, bringing me back to reality.

“Sure,” I tell her. “I just wanted to see something real quick.”

“Oh, um, okay,” Eguchi says. She begins to step out of the machine, but then stops and picks something up from the ground. “Huh? What’s, um, this?”

I move closer, curious to see what Eguchi is holding. “What is it?”

Eguchi steps out of the machine to show me a long, metallic strand that looks like a wire of some sort. “I’m, um, not too certain what this is, but, um, I saw it on the bottom of the, um, machine.” She briefly looks at me for approval, but then her eyes dart away again and embarrassment crosses her face. “Sorry...this, um, is probably just, um, worthless trash...I shouldn’t have, um, bothered to, um, show it to you...”

“It’s not worthless trash,” I say. “I’m sure it’ll be useful evidence.” I’m sure it’s evidence, but how does it connect to the case? I’m not certain how...

“Thanks for your help, Eguchi-san,” I say as I continue to think about this strange new evidence.

“Oh, you’re, um, welcome, Kawashima-san,” Eguchi says.

Heading out of the Arcade, I ponder where to go to next. While I do so, my eyes cross over the entrance to the women’s bathroom. That’s where Carrasco-san and Ichigohara-san were attacked...I definitely should check it out for clues, because I’m certain that the attack last night has something to do with today’s murder.

I walk over to the women’s bathroom, looking inside and outside, but don’t see anything. Well, it looks like this was a waste of time...I begin to head out of the bathroom when a flash of red on the doorframe catches my eye. Kneeling down to to see it closer, I notice that it’s a small, torn piece of red fabric. This is probably from the attack last night...though exactly how it’s connected to it, I’m not sure...

As I leave the bathroom, I soon pass by the door to the Rec Room, where I see Motoki standing. “What are you doing, Motoki-san?” I ask her.

She turns around suddenly, looking surprised to see me. “Oh, Kawashima-san...it’s you,” she says, a hand over her heart. “You startled me.”

“Sorry about that,” I apologize as I move closer to her. “What were you looking at?”

She gestures vaguely at the door. “Well, I was just looking around in the Rec Room for evidence, but I didn’t find anything. But I also wanted to take a look at the door, because I thought it was weird how we were so suddenly locked in here.” She closes the door, so that we’re looking at it from the outside. “I know this has already been said, but I wanted to make sure...you can only lock this door from the outside. The inside has a doorhandle, but no lock.”

I remember Domoto-san saying something about that when we first investigated the second floor...
“That’s a very poor design choice,” I say, confused as to how having the Rec Room lock from the outside would ever make sense. But then again, I shouldn’t be expecting too club sense from things in this terrible prison.

“Thanks for the information, Motoki-san,” I say gratefully.

“Yeah...you’re welcome,” she says, her voice distant. This is how she was acting before Ichigohara-san and I came to the Rec Room...it’s not ordinary of her to be so distant and reserved. Maybe it’s Aozora-kun’s death that’s getting to her...I should probably find out.
I open my mouth to say something, but then remember we have limited time in the investigation. I’ve spent a lot of times investigating things already...and there’s still several things I want to check out. So, I may have to postpone talking to Motoki-san...

Feeling conflicted, I say goodbye to her and decide to quickly look in Cell Block B for evidence. I don’t see any evidence, but I do find Komatsu standing in the last cell near the door to the Casino.

“Hey, Komatsu-kun,” I greet him.

“‘Sup, Kawashima-san,” he says distractedly as he looks under the bed in the last cell, cursing to himself. “Fuck...I can’t find it...”

“What are you looking for?” I ask curiously.

“That red cape and hood Domoto-san said the attacker was wearin’ last night,” Komatsu explains. “She said she found that shit in here last night, so I figured the attacker dumped their shit here after killin’ Aozora-kun...but I guess I was wrong. I ain’t found shit.”

“Hmm...that’s interesting,” I say. I don’t see how that could be useful...but it’s best to know everything we possibly can about this case. So, to find out as much as I can, I should ask Komatsu-kun about his alibi.

“I’m sorry for the sudden change in subject, but where were you this morning, Komatsu-kun?” I ask him. Let’s see if his story matches what Eguchi-san said...

“I was at the mornin’ meetin’ with everyone first,” Komatsu says distractedly as he taps his foot rhythmically, presumably feeling out a new composition. “Then, I went to play Taiko no Tatsujin with Eguchi-san, but the machine was fuckin’ broken! So, I went back to the Kitchen and stayed there.”

I give him a quizzical glance. “The Kitchen? What were you doing in there?”

Komatsu snorts. “‘Cause Sashihara-kun don’t understand that I need to eat a lot. He gave me such a tiny-ass portion this mornin’! So, I went down there to get myself some extra so I didn’t hafta be starvin’ all day. I was there ‘til Monohebi’s announcement.”

For anyone else, I’d doubt this story immediately..._but Komatsu-kun’s love for overeating makes this pretty easy to believe.
“Can anyone confirm this?” I ask, with as much politeness as possible. I don’t want Komatsu-kun to think I’m suspecting him...with how aggressive and impulsive he can be, that’d be a bad idea.
“I think I believe you, but I would like to know just in case.”

“Eguchi-san can confirm I left her,” Komatsu says. “Ain’t nobody else that can confirm it, though.” He narrows his eyes suddenly. “But that don’t mean I’m the killer, ya hear me!”

I put both my hands up and gesture for him to clam down. “I hear you,” I say with my best waitress’s smile. “Don’t worry, I don’t doubt you.” Not entirely, at least.

After saying goodbye to him, I walk out of the Cell Block B and head into the Auditorium. Immediately I see Domoto right inside the doors, looking like she was about to head out of the room.

“Kawashima-san,” she says, slightly surprised. “What a coincidence. I was just leaving here to get someone to help me.”

I stare at her confusedly. “Huh? You need help with something?”

Domoto nods. “Yes. Don’t worry, it won’t take long. Just stay right where you are.”

“Okay?” I say, not understanding what’s going on. Domoto leaves the Auditorium, making sure to shut the doors behind her. After about a minute, she comes back in.

“What did you hear?” She asks as soon as she re-enters.

“What did I head..?” I repeat. “I don’t hear anything...was I supposed to?”

Domoto smiles slightly. “It’s just as I thought. This room is soundproofed.”

That...! That actually makes sense.
“That explains why we didn’t hear Carrasco-san screaming for help last night, but Kasparov-kun did...”

Domoto nods. “Exactly. That is what I was curious about. I’m not sure exactly how this will help us in the case, but I’m sure it will in some way.”

Yeah...I think so too.
“Hey, I’m sorry if this is a weird change of subject, but where were you this morning?”

“I was at the morning meeting and then the Rec Room,” Domoto says. She narrows her eyes at me. “I’m not the culprit. I have an alibi. So don’t even think of suspecting me.”

“I wasn’t suspecting you,” I say quickly, frightened by the severity in her voice. “I just wanted to pursue all options...”

“Don’t worry, I understand,” Domoto says. “However, I don’t enjoy being suspected when I am obviously not the culprit.”

Yeah...you made that pretty obvious by your reaction.

“Alright,” I say, “did you find anything else important in here?”

“The red cape and hood are not in the Storage Room, where I placed them last night,” Domoto says. “Other than that, no.”

“Okay,” I say. That means someone must have taken it either last night or early this morning...

I say goodbye to Domoto and decide to head downstairs to check out Aozora’s room. As I walk through the Cafeteria, my eyes drift to the door to the Kitchen. I should probably look around in there, just to confirm if Komatsu-kun was telling the truth or not.

I head into the Kitchen and, to my surprise, find Ichigohara standing by the sink.

“Ichigohara-san?” I say, not expecting to see her here. “What are you doing in here?”

“Wakana-chan,” Ichigohara says as she turns to look at me, massaging her head. Her head must still be hurting after the attack last night...
“I didn’t hear you comin’ in...”

“What’re you doing here in the Kitchen?” I ask, my curiosity piqued.

Ichigohara scratches her back and looks down sadly. “Well...after seein’ another one of our friends dead...I couldn’t focus enough to investigate. So, I decided to come down and start washin’ all the dishes from breakfast, which Hisaya-kun forgot to clean, to take my mind off things...”

“Oh,” I say, not knowing how to react to such an answer. That’s a strange coping mechanism...but I guess it doesn’t matter how strange as it is, as long as it works and isn’t harming anyone else. Although...I do have a question about it...

“Ichigohara-san, how many dishes were in the sink?” I ask.

Ichigohara looks confused. “Why do you wanna know? Not to be rude, Wakana-chan, but it’s a kinda weird thing to ask.”

“I’m just curious,” I answer, which is mostly true. I also need to see if I find evidence to see if Komatsu-kun’s alibi is legitimate.

“Fourteen plates and a bowl,” Ichigohara says. “I have no idea where the bowl came from, as none of them were used in this mornin’s cookin’, as far as I can tell, but it was there when I found it.”

Hmm...that’s not what I expected to hear.
“Thanks for the information, Ichigohara-san,” I say as I ponder what she just told me.

“No problem, Wakana-chan,” Ichigohara replies as she goes back to massaging her head.

Deciding to leave her nursing her head pain in peace, I leave the Kitchen and head to my final destination: Aozora’s cell. When I get to the room, I see that the plate Ichigohara and I laid there this morning is still here. He never ate his breakfast, then...I should probably take note of that.

Sadly pushing the plate out of the way, I open the door, which to my surprise is unlocked. Monohebi must’ve opened it for investigation purposes.

Stepping inside, I see the room is...not in good shape. The bed is messy and clothes are scattered on the floor. But that’s not what draws my attention. What interests me is whatever Kasparov and Sashihara, who are huddled in the corner of the room, are intently looking at.

“What are you guys looking at?” I ask curiously, walking closer to them to get a better look.

Looking uncertain, Sashihara glances at Kasparov. He nods swiftly. Turning around in unison, Kasparov holds out a small piece of paper. “A note written to the victim of this case,” Kasparov says.

“It’s extremely important evidence!” Sashihara shouts at me. “So, you must read it immediately!”

I was going to do that anyway...
I get closer to them and take the note from Kasparov to read its contents. It says, “Aozora-kun...we need to talk about what happened earlier. Come to Cell Block B at midnight so we can discuss things alone.”

What the...what the hell if this!?
“Did the killer write this to Aozora-kun?” I say, feeling nauseous. I feel disgusted by touching this paper...because the hands of whoever killed Aozora-kun wrote this letter and got their hands all over it...

“That is my assumption,” Kasparov says as he takes the note back from me.

“Another thing about it: it looks just like the note Furuhata-kun wrote to Terajima-kun!” Sashihara yells. “Except for the handwriting...but the page and ink used to write it look extremely similar!”

Now that he says that, I can see it...the ink looks like it’s the same exact color as the pen that Furuhata-kun used...and the page looks like it came from the same notebook. There’s only one issue, though...
“How did the killer get the notebook and pen Furuhata-kun used?”

“I would be delighted to answer that question,” Monohebi says from behind me.

I jump. “Ah!” I say, shocked to see him behind me. “How did you sneak up in me so suddenly?”

“That matters not,” Monohebi says. “What does matter is that whoever wrote that note to Aozora would have been able to access Furuhata’s room.”

“How?!” Sashihara demands. “I tried to access both Furuhata-kun and Yamaguchi-kun’s rooms after the last trial, but I could not!”

Kasparov narrows his eyes. “Why were you doing that?”

Sashihara blinks and stumbles over his words for a few syllables. “That...that, uh...is unimportant!”

“Indeed it is,” Monohebi says before Kasparov or I can say anything else. “What does matter is the answer to your question: one may access the room of a dead student, however they may only do so if I open the door for them and supervise their visit.”

“So the culprit asked you to open the door to Furuhata-kun’s room to get the notebook and pen he used...” I think out loud.

Monohebi’s lips curve into a smug smile. “Someone might have...however, I will not comment that, if this act was indeed done, if the individual that took the notebook and pen is the blackened or not.”

“Cease speaking immediately,” Kasparov commands. “I will not stand your nonsense and equivocations. Leave.”

“Did you not say earlier that it was best to be polite to me?” Monohebi asks crossly. “How hypocritical of you to be rude!”

“You misremember,” Kasparov says. “I said it was best to be polite only when we want or need something from you. At the moment, I have no such need.”

Monohebi’s face sours. “Ungrateful foreign vermin...” he says under his breath. Then, he disappears as suddenly as came.

“Thank God he is gone,” Kasparov says, relieved. “I truly do despise that snake.”

“We all do!” Sashihara tells him.

That’s very true...I can’t think of a single person here who actually likes Monohebi. Still, the information he just gave us could be valuable...so, I guess he has that going for him. My investigation is pretty much done...I just need to ask Kasparov-kun and Sashihara-kun one more thing.

“What were your alibis for this morning?” I ask them both.

“I awoke early to do my morning workout routine!” Sashihara says loudly. “Then, I went to the Cafeteria to cook breakfast. However, I wasn’t the first one up! Both Terajima-kun and Carrasco-san were in the Cafeteria before me!”

I nod. “And what did you do after that?”

“I cooked breakfast, and then went to my room to exercise some more!” Sashihara shouts.

“I do not know how you can exercise so often...it is so exhausting,” Kasparov says, clearly having flashbacks to the workout routine he did last night. “As for me, I attended the morning meeting and then immediately went to the Rec Room. As such, I have an alibi for the entire morning.”

“Okay,” I say. That’s all very good to know...but, now that I think about it,
there’s still one more thing I want to ask.

“One last thing, Kasparov-kun,” I say. “Can you tell me in detail what happened after you left the talent show?”

Kasparov nods sharply. “Certainly. While on my way downstairs, I
heard the scream of Carrasco-san. I promptly rushed over to see Carrasco-san just inside the doorway to the girls’ bathroom with Ichigohara-san. I left her alone there to find the attacker, who she said was heading to the Casino.” He pauses, allowing me to take in what he just said. “Unfortunately, I saw only Niizuma-san there,” Kasparov continues. “She claimed to not have known or seen anything. After talking with her for a few minutes, I headed back to Carrasco-san and Ichigohara-san, who I then accompanied back to the Auditorium.”

Wow, that was a long recollection...but it’s good to hear the story from both Kasparov-kun’s and Carrasco-san’s perspectives.

I want to say thank you to Kasparov, but I’m cut off by the monitor on the wall suddenly turning on. “All good things must come to an end...and it is no different with our period of investigation,” Monohebi says with a smug half-smile on the screen. “Although there is no need to fret. I believe the class trial will be far more...exciting than the investigation. So, shall we begin? Please, make your way to the Cafeteria to board the elevator in the next few minutes. Otherwise...” Monohebi’s red eye glints. “You will be met with a swift and severe punishment.”

As soon as he finishes speaking, the monitor turns off. A feeling of dread washes over my body. So, we’ll have to be going to the class trial soon...just the thought of it makes me want to vomit. But, I need to focus...I can’t let everyone down right now.

“We must head to the Cafeteria, then...” Sashihara says, his voice abnormally quiet. “For the class trial...”

“Indeed,” Kasparov agrees. “We must make haste to the Cafeteria, lest we risk punishment.”

“Yes! Being punished my Monohebi certainly wouldn’t be conducive to a healthy body!” Sashihara shouts, now back to his normal loudness.

Kasparov, Sashihara, and I leave Aozora’s room and head out to the Cafeteria, where I see everyone else waiting.

The room is deathly quiet as we wait for the doors to the elevator to open. Even Domoto, who’s practically our unofficial leader at this point, doesn’t say anything.

Surprisingly, it’s Oyamada who breaks the silence. “S-So...we have to g-go to the c-class trial now...”

“Indeed we do,” Terajima says in a voice that sounds almost sad. “But don’t worry, Oyamada-kun. I’m sure we’ll be fine.” He lays a hand on the librarian’s shoulder to reassure him.

“Yeah...don’t, um, worry, Oyamada-kun,” Eguchi says. “I, um, think we’ll be able to find the, um, killer.”

“But what if we cannot?” Carrasco asks fearfully. “There’s no guarantee we’ll encounter el verdadero culpable...”

“No,” Domoto says grimly. “There isn’t. However, we still need to try as hard as we can to find the real killer.”

“I don’t think it’ll be too hard,” Komatsu says while looking at Niizuma out of the sides of his eyes.

She crosses her arms and huffs. “Don’t look at me like that,” Niizuma says with a hint of anger. “I don’t like being falsely accused.”

“Yeah, don’t you, like, dare talk to someone as fashionable as, like, Tomiko-chan like that, Yutaka-kun!” Hayasaka says angrily. “You’re just, like, jealous!”

“I ain’t jealous of a killer,” Komatsu says angrily. “I’m not gonna let ya—“

“Stop,” Eguchi says, quietly yet powerfully. “We can’t be, um, fighting like this...” She sniffs and wipes her eyes. “We need to, um, work together...”

“She is correct,” Kasparov affirms. “Infighting will only increase the chance of the culprit winning this class trial. If we want to discover them, we must be careful, strategic, and precise, as if this were a game of chess.”

“It’s not, though,” Motoki says, her voice hollow. “This is life or death.”

Kasparov pauses. “That is true,” he concedes.

Soon after he finishes talking, a part of the wall in the Cafeteria slides open to reveal elevator doors. With a high-pitched ding, the doors part to show a drab gray space inside.

We file into the elevator. As soon as Ichigohara, the last person in, enters, the doors slide shut with an ominous sound. Then, just like last time, the elevator jerks and begins its long descent downwards.

As the elevator descends, the emotions that I had been pushing aside the entire investigation come flooding back. Aozora-kun...he’s dead. Someone robbed him of life while he was in an emotionally vulnerable state...a state that he could’ve possibly gotten out of.
It makes me feel a deep, aching sadness, though, just like before, I can’t bring myself to cry. I’m too sad to cry...too empty.
Still, I want to. I want to bawl on the floor of an elevator, even if it embarrasses me. But I can’t, and that’s the worst part about all this.

After what feels like an eternity, the elevator comes to a sudden stop. The doors slide open to reveal a redecorated courtroom: instead of the plain gray concrete of before, the courtroom walls are a mixture of black, purple, and blue and dotted with white stars. Small images of planets, spaceships, and asteroids appear every so often as well. This...this is a mockery of Aozora-kun!
I feel my hands curl into fists as I look at Monohebi, who sits smugly in his throne.

“Welcome back to my courtroom, dearest inmates,” Monohebi says. “Find the stand with your name on it, and we shall begin the class trial.”

I walk my way to the stand, still angry at Monohebi’s distasteful decor. My eyes drift around the courtroom, where I see that Yamaguchi’s and Aozora’s spots are now filled with portraits like Furuhata’s. While Yamaguchi’s portrait is a grayscale picture of him with a red hammer and sickle over his face, Aozora’s is an assortment of small, red stars made into the shape of an X.

First the design of the courtroom, now the death portrait...I hate Monohebi for disrespecting Aozora-kun like that...but I can’t focus on Monohebi being an asshole right now. I need to focus on the case. Because...

Michio Aozora, the Ultimate Astrophysicist, my close friend...was murdered. After being in an unstable emotional state after the last trial, he isolated himself from the rest of the group...and someone took advantage of that. They burnt his body...they killed him in an unforgivable cruel way.

And they’re in this room right now.

[Split screens of Furuhata, Motoki, Yamaguchi, Sashihara, and Oyamada. Furuhata and Yamaguchi’s images are covered in a red filter]

Aozora-kun...he didn’t deserve what happened to him, even after he lashed out at all of us, especially me. Because he was hurting inside, and he didn’t know how to resolve not living up to the perfectionist standards he set for himself.

[Split screens of Niizuma, Eguchi, Aozora, Komatsu, Carrasco, and Domoto. Aozora’s image is covered in a red filter]

But before he could resolve his issues, someone snatched away any chances he had at getting better. I’m infuriated that someone could prey someone who was in a bad spot in their life like Aozora-kun was. Whoever it was who killed him...I can’t let them get away with this.

[Split screens of Ichigohara, Hayasaka, Kasparov, Terajima, and Kawashima]

I hate that we have to do this...I hate this class trial...I hate that we have to suspect our friends. But we need to. We need to find Aozora-kun’s killer...and we will! I won’t let the killer get away with their heinous crime!

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Monohebi File #2: The victim of this case is Michio Aozora, the Ultimate Astrophysicist. The victim sustained severe burns all over his body, as he was inside of a burning pachinko machine. Time of death is estimated to be around 9:30.

Strange Melted Substance: A grey, melted substance was found around Aozora’s mouth and his wrists.

Scorched Lighter: A blackened, burned lighter was found at the bottom of the pachinko machine Aozora’s body was stuffed inside.

Fabric Under Aozora’s Shoe: A small patch of red fabric barely survived the pachinko machine fire by being trapped under Aozora’s shoe.

Hayasaka’s Account: Hayasaka was in the Dressing Room doing her makeup after the morning meeting. Carrasco was in the Props Room and on the stage.

Terajima’s Account: Terajima claims he and Sashihara left their rooms and saw each other as soon as they heard the body discovery announcement. On the way, they met with Komatsu. Terajima claims he didn’t hear any fire alarms.

Carrasco’s Account: During the talent show, Ichigohara accompanied Carrasco to the bathroom. On the way there, they were attacked by a mystery assailant in a red cape and hood. This person knocked out Ichigohara by hitting her head on the wall. Carrasco evaded the attacker for a time and brought Ichigohara into the bathroom, but before Carrasco could get completely inside, the attacker grabbed ahold of her wrist. As Carrasco wrenched her hand free, her sleeve was torn and a bruise was left on her wrist. She witnessed the attacker flee into the Casino, then screamed for help.

Layout of Casino: There are three entrances and exits to the Casino: one that leads to Cell Block B, another out to the hallway, and the last one to the Arcade.

Broken Arcade Machine: The Taiko no Tatsujin arcade machine was broken sometime after Eguchi and Komatsu left for dinner and before the end of the talent show.

Inside of Arcade Machine: The inside of the Taiko no Tatsujin machine was badly damaged. Someone a bit shorter than me could fit inside the machine. Eguchi is short and small enough that she could fit in there twice.

Strange Wire: There was a strange wire found inside the broken Taiko no Tatsujin machine.

Torn Fabric: A strand of red, torn fabric was found on the second floor women’s bathroom doorframe.

Rec Room Door: The Rec Room Door cannot be locked from the inside, only from the outside.

State of Cell Block B: The red cape and hood are no where to be found in Cell Block B, where they were discovered by Domoto last night.

Komatsu’s Account: After leaving Eguchi, Komatsu claims he went down to the Kitchen to eat some extra food until he heard the body discovery announcement.

Auditorium Walls: The walls of the Auditorium are soundproofed.

Red Cape and Hood: The red cape and hood used by the attacker last night was not found in the Props Room, where Domoto put it last night, during the investigation.

Ichigohara’s Account: After discovering Aozora’s body, Ichigohara went to the Kitchen to wash the dishes. She noted that there were fourteen dirty plates and one bowl in the sink.

Aozora’s Breakfast: The plate Ichigohara and I left for Aozora this morning was still in front of his room, uneaten after he died.

Note: There was a note found in Aozora’s room that reads, “Aozora-kun...we need to talk about what happened earlier. Come to Cell Block B at midnight so we can discuss things alone.” This note appears to have been written by the same pen and taken from the same notebook used by Furuhata.

Sashihara’s Account: This morning, Sashihara woke up early to do his morning workout routine. Then, he headed to the Cafeteria, where he saw that Carrasco and Terajima were already there.

Kasparov’s Account: Last night, he heard the scream of Carrasco while going downstairs. He rushed over to see Carrasco just inside the doorway to the girls’ bathroom with Ichigohara. He left her alone there to find the attacker, who she said was heading to the Casino. He saw only Niizuma there, who claimed to not have known or seen anything. After talking with Niizuma for a few minutes, he headed back to Carrasco and Ichigohara, who he then accompanied back to the Auditorium.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Class Trial: In Session!

Monohebi: [neutral] Before we begin, allow me to explain the rules of the class trial.

Monohebi: [neutral] In this trial, your goal is to correctly determine the culprit behind the murder. You will present your arguments for who the culprit may be, and, once you feel you have determined the guilty party, you will vote.

Monohebi: [slight smile] Vote correctly, and only one of you will be punished...the culprit, or the “blackened.” However, if you vote incorrectly...

Monohebi: [red eye glints] ...I’ll execute everyone besides the culprit, and only they will be freed from this prison!

Eguchi: [shudders] Ugh, it’s still, um, so terrible to hear that...

Motoki: [closes eyes to hold back tears] It is...yet we must press on. We need to find the culprit...as hard as it may be.

Hayasaka: [flips hair] Hard? It, like, won’t be difficult at all~!

Kasparov: [skeptically] What makes you say that?

Hayasaka: [rolls eyes] Wow, is it, like, really not
that, like, obvious?

Domoto: [irritatedly] No. Say what you want to say so we can be done with this trial as quickly as possible.

Hayasaka: [sullenly] Ugh, like, fine... [places hand on hip] So, like, three boys have died so far, right?

Komatsu: [confused] Yeah, three guys bit the dust...but how the fuck does that make the killer obvious?

Hayasaka: [closes eyes “cutely” and holds up twin peace signs] Maybe if you, like, didn’t interrupt me, you’d, like, hear my reasoning, you, like, dumb piece of shit!

Komatsu: [furiously] Hey! Take that back!

Hayasaka: [ignores him] Anyway... [places hand on hip] The streak, like, has to end, so a girl has to be a killer~! [leans forward and winks] And Mika-chan guarantees she’s, like, not the killer, so the number of suspects is down to seven already~!

Niizuma: [examines nails] No, it’s not.

Hayasaka: [surprised] ...Huh? What do you, like, mean, Tomiko-chan?

Niizuma: [shifts balance to right leg] Your claim that the remaining male inmates are not suspects simply because three males have already died is incredibly foolish.

Hayasaka: [offended] It is!? Like, how?

Niizuma: [explanatorily] You see, the deaths that have occurred and gender of the those who died are independent—meaning one factor has no effect on the other.

Oyamada: [looks aside nervously] B-But three boys have d-died so far...that d-doesn’t really make it l-look like gender i-independent of the p-person who d-died...

Niizuma: [nods] It is indeed improbable that three male students would die in a row. [brushes hair out of face] In fact, there is only a 10% chance of such a occurrence happening, if we assume everything to be random. However, as we can see, improbability does not equal impossibility.

Hayasaka: [sullenly] But...like...it’s more likely the killer, like, is a girl...

Niizuma: [crosses arms] It is. However, that in no way guarantees the culprit is a female. Just like how births only have an equal chance of producing either a male or a female on a large scale, we cannot assume the killer is a female with such a small sample. That is a violation of the Law of Large Numbers.

Sashihara: [curiously] What’s that?! It sounds cool!

Kasparov: [frustratedly] It matters not. Niizuma-san has already stated her point, so let us move on from it already. This class trial will not last forever.

Carrasco: [unfurls fan and cover mouth with it] Sí...we must determine el culpable so we can end este juicio escolar as quickly as possible.

Ichigohara: [scratches back] But where do we start? I don’t have a clue of what we should do first...

Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] Maybe we should talk about the cause of death?

Kasparov: [thoughtfully] I agree. Once we find the true cause of death, we will be more able to pinpoint the murder weapon which was utilized.

So, the class trial begins for real now...we’ll be debating Aozora-kun’s cause of death first. I hate that we have to discuss this subject, but I can’t look away from the truth now. I need to find Aozora-kun’s killer...which I can only do by figuring out everything I can about this case.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Monohebi File #2, Scorched Lighter, Strange Melted Substance

Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] So, um, Aozora-kun’s body was found inside, um, a pachinko machine...

Eguchi: [timidly] ...and that was, um, in the
Casino...

Domoto: [pinches bridge of nose] We already know that. What really matters is what killed him.

Komatsu: [fixes belt] I bet it was an
iron pipe
...or maybe some other blunt object!
Terajima: [calmly] He could have been killed with a knife
as well...
Niizuma: [purses lips] I would say the cause of death is fire. [examines nails] The Monohebi File says so .
Carrasco: [eyes widen] Ah! Yes, it would make sense that el culpable set the machine on fire... [thinks carefully] ...and then used the fire to kill Señor Aozora.
Motoki: [closes eyes to stop tears] That’s such a terrible way
to die...

Hmm...based on the evidence I’ve gathered so far, I think we can make one conclusion about the cause of death...

Answer: Monohebi File #2 >
Monohebi File says so

Kawashima: No, that’s wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Sorry, Niizuma-san, But that’s wrong.

Niizuma: [eyes flash angrily] Wrong? How is it wrong? The machine and Aozora-kun’s body were both burned to a crisp.

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] But that doesn’t necessarily mean the fire is what killed Aozora-kun. [pulls out e-Handbook] The Monohebi File only states, “the victim sustained severe burns all over his body.” [seriously] It never says that he died from the fire!

Oyamada: [surprised] What a d-dastardly trick in the writing of the f-file...it had to have been m-meant to deceive us...

Monohebi: [smirks] I can confirm it was intentionally done to lead you all to the wrong conclusion...however, it makes no difference. I had figured you would puzzle out the truth.

Niizuma: [coldly] You mean to deceive us? Well, you did a pathetic job. You couldn’t even put in the hard work to make something we couldn’t figure out.

Monohebi: [red eye glints] Is that a challenge? [arches eyebrow] Besides, you have no room to say it was pathetic. You did not figure out the truth yourself.

Niizuma: [looks away bitterly] No...but I can admit when I was wrong, as much as I may hate it. [blankly] Yet...there’s no need to talk about this anymore. I don’t need you all to dwell on my misconception.

Sashihara: [nods vigorously] That’s right! We have more important things to focus on!

Motoki: [perplexedly] Like what?

Sashihara: [points aggressively] Like what the true cause of death was if it wasn’t fire!

Ichigohara: [pulls on gardening glove] I don’t think we have any idea as to what that could be right now...

Kasparov: [considers carefully] No...I believe we do not.

Domoto: [crosses arms] Then perhaps we should move on.

Hayasaka: [twirls hair with a pout] But, like, what should we talk about now? Mika-chan has, like, no idea what we should, like, do.

Carrasco: [taps fan against trial stand] Hmm...

Carrasco-san looks like she has something she wants to say...

Kawashima: [curiously] Carrasco-san? You look like you’re thinking of something.

Carrasco: [frowns] I don’t like the thought of it, but...what if Señor Aozora killed himself?

...What!? No, that can’t be true...

Kawashima: [frowns] I doubt that’s what happened, Carrasco-san...

Hayasaka: [curiously] But, like, why? Michio-kun was, like, not doing well. Is it really, like, that crazy to say he, like, killed himself?

Kasparov: [consider carefully] I believe it is. If this murder was actually a suicide, Aozora-kun had at his disposal far easier and less painful methods with which he could have ended his life than being burned alive inside a pachinko machine.

Oyamada: [looks down apprehensively] B-But didn’t we s-say that’s n-not necessarily the c-cause of death?

Domoto: [scratches chin] Yes, but if he really did kill himself, it likely was via the fire. He couldn’t have started a fire after he was dead. So, if you can think of a way Aozora-kun killed himself and then lit himself on fire, then we’ll consider the idea of suicide. [crosses arms and closes eyes] Until then, let us consider other options.

I’m glad...I don’t like the idea that Aozora-kun killed himself. Even if he wasn’t acting normal and was not in he best state of mind...it just doesn’t seem like something he would do.

Carrasco: [places hand on head and poses in a swoon] Lo siento...I shouldn’t have suggested the idea of suicide.

Motoki: [reassuringly] Don’t worry, Carrasco-san. You were just considering things from a different angle. That’s what we’re supposed to do in the class trial! Communicate about all our different perspectives and views on the evidence...

Kasparov: [slowly] Indeed, that is the goal...but the propositions should be within reason.

Ichigohara: [slightly worried] So, what do we talk about now? I don’t got a clue of what we should talk about next...

Terajima: [scratches head] Maybe we should consider another suspect?

Komatsu: [snorts] Ha...well, if that’s what we’re doing, I got one.

Sashihara: [shocked] You do!? Who!?

Komatsu: [confidently] Ain’t it fuckin’ obvious? Niizuma-san!

Niizuma: [sighs] ...I figured this would happen eventually. [brushes hair out of face] So, before you go any further, let me ask you this: do you have any definitive evidence that I am the killer?

Komatsu: [hesitantly] Well...uh, no... [angrily] It’s just that yer alibi is super suspicious!

Niizuma: [coldly] How pathetic. You couldn’t even put in that minimal effort to look for real evidence. [folds arms] And if it’s because of my alibi that you suspect me, why doesn’t
everyone share their alibis, so you don’t unfairly accuse just me?

Komatsu: [reluctantly] Fine...but don’t think that means I don’t think yer suspicious!

Niizuma: [examines nails] Frankly, I don’t care what you think.

Hayasaka: [snickers into hand] Haha...Tomiko-chan, like, totally told off Yutaka-kun for, like, being a dumbass!

Komatsu: [angrily] Hey! I’m not a dumbass, so stop saying I am!

Hayasaka: [leans forward and winks] Like, totally n—

Domoto: [irritatedly] Both of you, cease your pointless banter immediately. [neutrally] Niizuma-san’s right. Even if she is incredibly suspicious, we need to hear everyone’s alibis before suspecting her.

Good thing I managed to get almost everyone’s alibis beforehand. Now I can compare what they say now to what they told me earlier and see if here are any discrepancies.

Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] But, um, who will, um, start?

Niizuma: [shrugs] It doesn’t matter. As long as everyone shares their alibis.

Domoto: [crosses arms and closes eyes] Then I’ll start. As far as I know, everyone here except for Niizuma-san and Aozora-kun were present at the morning meeting. [opens eyes] Is that correct?

Motoki: [thinking hard] Yeah...I think that’s right.

Domoto: [nods] Good. [confidently] After the morning meeting, myself, Kasparov-kun, Oyamada-kun, and Motoki-san all headed to the Rec Room. Not long after, Ichigohara-san and Kawashima-san showed up.

Terajima: [raises eyebrows] Why was there a delay in them showing up?

Ichigohara: [scratches back] Wakana-chan and I were settin’ the plates Hisaya-kun made for Tomiko-chan and Michio-kun at their doors.

Niizuma: [mouth half open] Oh, that was you two doing that? [looks to the side] Well, I suppose I should say thank you. It was a relief to not have to make food for myself.

Ichigohara: [chuckles] Ah, it wasn’t no problem, Tomiko-chan. You’re plenty welcome.

Yeah...she doesn’t have to worry about that. We were only doing it so she’d know that the group still supported her, even if she wasn’t supporting us.

Oyamada: [adjusts glasses nervously] W-Wait...you s-said you were p-putting food in front of N-Niizuma-san and Aozora-kun’s d-doors...did he eat his f-food too? [looks down] I wouldn’t be s-surprised if he w-wasn’t eating with the s-state he was i-in...

Kawashima: [seriously] Well...we were giving his meals since yesterday morning and he ate all his meals until this morning.

Hayasaka: [twirls hair] So does that mean he, like, was killed before he could, like, eat this morning?

Carrasco: [fixes flowers in hair] Not necessarily...Señor Aozora could have simply not chosen to eat this morning.

Niizuma: [scratches neck and looks to the side] Yes, yes...that’s all possible...but we need to get back to discussing alibis.

Domoto: [nods] You’re right. [neutrally] Everyone who I previously mentioned was in the Rec Room until we were locked in there by someone.

Carrasco: [startled] ¿Qué? Who would have locked you in there?

Kawashima: [frowns] We’re not sure...but I saw a flash of red through the door’s frosted glass window as it was being locked.

Sashihara: [points aggressively] So it was the attacker from last night that locked you guys in there!

Kasparov: [scratches chin] Possibly. It could have been someone posing as the assailant as well.

Hayasaka: [twirls hair boredly] Well, that’s, like, interesting, but Mika-chan needs to share her, like, alibi so you won’t, like, need to suspect her~!

Niizuma: [with thinly concealed disappointment] You have an alibi that exonerates you?

Hayasaka: [closes eyes “cutely” and holds up twin peace signs] Yep~!

Motoki: [curiously] What’s your alibi, then?

Hayasaka: [neutrally] Mika-chan was, like, in the Dressing Room practicing a few makeup looks for the whole time after the, like, morning meeting~! [poses confidently] Tomiko-chan, you are, like, sooooo good at makeup! Don’t you like the, like, looks I did?

Niizuma: [unimpressed] They are good enough...for an amateur.

Hayasaka: [eyes widen] ...A-Amateur...? That’s not... [cutesy smile] Oh my God, like, thanks Tomiko-chan~! Mika-chan, like, knew she could count on you for, like, compliments~!

I don’t think Niizuma-san was complimenting her...besides, what was that? She was acting weirdly again...

Kasparov: [narrows eyes] Wait. How was that in any way an alibi? From the way you described your situation, it sounded as if you were alone.

Carrasco: [poses dramatically] ¡Alta! Don’t allow the dark grip of suspicion take hold of you. I accompanied Señorita Hayasaka to el auditorio.

Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] You accompanied her there...but did you stay with her the whole time?

Carrasco: [taps chin with eye of fan] Pues...no. However, I was either onstage or in the Props Room the whole time.

Domoto: [irritatedly] So what you’re basically saying is that neither of you have an alibi.

Motoki: [rubs shoulder] I mean, they kind of do...but I suppose it’s more of a half-alibi.

Niizuma: [looks to the side boredly] A half-alibi is still not an alibi. [folds arms] But I won’t pursue this option yet. I still want to hear everyone’s alibis.

Hayasaka: [with suspicion] We haven’t, like, heard Yuzuki-chan’s, like, alibi yet... [snickers into hand] Mika-chan, like, bets she killed Michio-kun...

Eguchi: [defensively] But I, um, didn’t!

Oyamada: [reassuringly] D-Don’t worry, Eguchi-san...I’m s-sure you’re n-not the killer...

Terajima: [cracks small smile] I believe in you too, uh...Eguchi-san.

Did he just remember her name, too? I don’t think he’s remembered anyone here’s name but hers and Oyamada-kun’s.

Kasparov: [disapprovingly] Belief matters not here. What matters is the truth of the case. So, what is your alibi, Eguchi-san?

Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] Well, um, after the morning meeting, um, Komatsu-kun and I went up the Arcade to play our, um, favorite game... [sadly] But...it, um, wasn’t working...so, um...Komatsu-kun, um, left me there.

Niizuma: [suspiciously] So you admit to being alone in the room adjacent to the scene of the crime while it occurred?

Eguchi: [looks down shamefully] Yeah... [defensively] But I, um, definitely didn’t do it!

Kasparov: [considers carefully] Your alibi sounds quite suspicious...however, we cannot assume you are the culprit yet. [narrows eyes] Not when Komatsu-kun has an equally suspicious one.

Komatsu: [angrily] Hey! Ya can’t jus’ say my alibi’s suspicious when I haven’t even fuckin’
told ya it yet!

Kasparov: [analytically] Eguchi-san told us you left her and no one else has mentioned seeing you in their alibis so far. So, that means you were probably alone when the murder occurred, meaning you are quite suspicious.

Komatsu: [holds up middle finger] Can’t ya jus’ listen to my alibi before ya start accusin’ me like that?

Motoki: [soothingly] There’s no need to be so worked up, Komatsu-kun. I’m sure if you share your alibi with us everything will work out. So, what is it?

Komatsu: [grumpily] After I peaced out of the Arcade, I went down to the Kitchen and made myself some extra grub. The plate Sashihara-kun made for me wasn’t nearly enough!

Sashihara: [points aggressively] That is objectively false! I carefully measured each portion to my prediction for the daily caloric intake of every person here!

Ichigohara: [surprised] Whoa, did you actually do that, Hisaya-kun?

Sashihara: [nods vigorously] Of course! It’s my duty as the Ultimate Fitness Trainer to always have the wellbeing of everyone here on my mind!

Komatsu: [irritatedly] ...Puttin’ that aside, was my explanation good for ya?

Motoki: [nods] Almost. But can you tell me if anyone can corroborate your account?

Komatsu: [runs hand through hair] Shit...no, there ain’t nobody that can. [fixes belt] Except for Sashihara-kun and Terajima-kun, I guess. They saw me in the Cafeteria as I was headin’ upstairs after I heard that bitchass snake’s body discovery announcement.

Monohebi: [offended] Bitchass snake? How rude!

Domoto: [ignores him] Hmm...I wouldn’t say that quite counts as a corroboration. Still, it is something. [neutrally] What about you, Sashihara-kun and... [testily] ...Terajima-kun. What are your alibis?

The way she said Terajima-kun’s name...it sounds like she still hasn’t gotten over her distrust for him.

Sashihara: [loudly] I was alone in my room after the morning meeting. Until I heard the body discovery announcement, I was doing a fitness routine! [barrels chest] After all, there’s like a good workout to take your mind of a stressful situation!

Oyamada: [confused] But d-don’t you d-do workouts before the m-morning meeting t-too? [hugs book tightly] I c-could never imagine e-exercising so much in s-such a short s-span of time...

Hayasaka: [smirks] Like, obviously.

Terajima: [lenses of sunglasses flare] Don’t talk that way to him, selfie girl. [sternly] You weren’t a part of the discussion.

He’s being very defensive of Oyamada-kun...

Hayasaka: [offended] Hey, like, don’t talk to Mika-chan like that~!

Terajima: [ignores her] Anyway, my alibi is pretty much the same. I was alone in my room until the body discovery announcement, just like Sashihara-kun.

Niizuma: [examines nails] So, in short, you have no alibi.

Terajima: [coolly] Neither do you.

Niizuma: [looks to the side blankly] I’m well aware. However, that doesn’t make me the prime suspect. [brushes hair out of face] In fact, I think many of you are more suspicious than I am.

Wait...what?

Kawashima: [surprised] What? Who here is more suspicious than you, Niizuma-san?

Niizuma: [seriously] Quite a few people. [coldly] Weren’t you listening, Kawashima-san? Couldn’t you put in the minimal effort that would take?

Why is she being so aggressive? Is it because she feels threatened?

Komatsu: [firmly] Whoever it is, she ain’t talkin’ ‘bout me!

[split screen with Hayasaka and Sashihara. They talk at the same time]

Hayasaka: [twirls hair] Mika-chan, like, is innocent too~!

Sashihara: [shouts loudly] I was just working out! I’m not the killer!

[split screen with Hayasaka, Komatsu, and now Eguchi. They all speak at the same time]

Hayasaka: [closes eyes “cutely” and holds up twin peace signs] Mika-chan, like, isn’t the culprit~!

Komatsu: [angrily] I ain’t the killer!

Eguchi: [unusually loudly] It wasn’t me, either!

Everyone is clamoring to talk at once...so I’ll have to listen extra carefully in the next discussion. But it’ll be okay. I’ve had to hear order in a loud, crowded restaurant a million times before...I can do this!

MASS PANIC DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Sashihara’s Account, Komatsu’s Account, Hayasaka’s Account, Terajima’s Account

Hayasaka: [poses confidently] It’s, like, completely ridiculous to say that, like, Mika-chan is the culprit~!
Komatsu: [holds up middle finger] I dunno where yer gettin’ the idea in the killer from!
Sashihara: [shouts loudly] I was simply working out alone! That alone is not suspicious!

Hayasaka: [flips hair] You, like, have
no evidence
that, like, directly implicates Mika-chan, right?Komatsu: [angrily] I was jus’ gettin’ myself some food! It don’t matter
if no one saw me!
Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] I am in the same situation as the fitness boy.

Carrasco: [unfurls fan and covers mouth] No, no one does.
Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously and avoids eye contact] I, um, don’t think your the, um, culprit, Komatsu-kun...
Terajima: [calmly] Even though we were both alone and no one can corroborate
our alibis...

Carrasco: [fixes flowers in hair] Besides, both Señorita Hayasaka and I have solid alibis. It is clear neither of us is el culpable. Eguchi: [defensively] And, um... I’m
not the killer, either!Terajima: [calmly] That in no way guarantees
either of us is the killer.

Oh my God, there are so many people talking at once...but I think it’ll be alright. I heard something in one of those statements that didn’t seem quite right...

Answer: Hayasaka’s Account >
solid alibis

Kawashima: No, that’s wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Carrasco-san, that isn’t quite right.

Carrasco: [surprised] ¿Qué? What is not right?

Kawashima: [seriously] You saying that you and Hayasaka-san have solid alibis... [shakes head] I’m sorry, but that’s objectively wrong. Both of you were practically alone, even if you were both in the Auditorium.

Carrasco: [poses dramatically] But, Señorita Kawashima, you must understand...I am not the killer!

Hayasaka: [points finger disapprovingly] Yeah, neither is, like, Mika-chan~! She, like, swears on all, like, her Hermès Birkins she isn’t, like, the killer!

Terajima: [adjusts sunglasses] But do you have any proof to back up that claim?

Hayasaka: [twirls hair sadly] Well, uh, like, no... [furiously] But that, like, doesn’t mean anything!

Domoto: [holds up plan of hand] Stop. All of you.

Motoki: [curiously] Stop what, exactly?

Domoto: [crosses arms] This incessant finger pointing and obsessing over alibis. [places hand on hip and looks to the side] Yes, it’s true that alibis are important. However, we can’t focus on them as of right now. We’ve talked about alibis for the last twenty minutes, and all it’s gotten us is a bunch of finger-pointing that’s led to nothing.

Well...she’s not exactly wrong. But what else does she want us to do, then?

Kawashima: [confused] What do you suggest we do focus on then, Domoto-san?

Domoto: [scratches chin] I’m thinking we should move onto discussing how the killer went about doing this crime.

Kasparov: [analytically] Excellent idea. If we find out how the perpetrator committed this crime, then we may be able to more easily deduce who they truly are.

Komatsu: [loudly] Wait, hold up!

Carrasco: [tilts head] ¿Qué? Hold up what, Señor Komatsu?

Komatsu: [firmly] We can’t jus’ move on from talkin’ about alibis yet.

Ichigohara: [perplexedly] We can’t? Why’s that, Yutaka-kun?

Komatsu: Because there’s a whole group of people whose alibis make no sense!

A whole group of people whose alibis don’t make sense...? Who he’s talking about...it doesn’t seem logical to me, but he must be taking about...

Everyone in the Rec Room/Everyone in the Casino/Everyone in the Cafeteria

Answer: Everyone in the Rec Room

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [uncertainly] Komatsu-kun, are you talking about everyone in the Rec Room?

Komatsu: [confidently] Ya fuckin’ bet I am! Ain’t a single one of the people in there who’s cleared of suspicion!

Domoto: [sighs] What is this? [pinches bridge of nose] Weren’t you accusing Niizuma-san not long ago? And now you’re pointing the finger at all of us?

Komatsu: [narrows eyes] Yeah. Ya gotta problem with that?

Domoto: [crosses arms] Yes. I think it’s absurd to be constantly switching back and forth between who you’re accusing so erratically.

Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] Listen, I’m jus’ tryna
look at every possibility! Ain’t that what we’re supposed to do in the class trial? [angrily] Yer jus’ tryna to make it so none of us find the truth!

Kawashima: [nervously] Komatsu-kun, calm down...

Komatsu: [stubbornly] No. Not until ya can prove to me everyone in the Rec Room is innocent.

Kasparov: [disapprovingly] Being so obstinate about something so ricidulous...it truly is quite irritating.

Komatsu: [defensively] Hey, I’m jus’ tryna find the killer by lookin’ at every option! That’s what we should be doin’!

Kawashima: [frowns] Well, yeah...but everyone in the Rec Room couldn’t be the killer with how things have been described so far. Because—

Komatsu: Yer outta tune with reality!

BREAK!

[split screen separates Komatsu and Kawashima]

Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Komatsu-kun? Do you have a problem with what I said?

Komatsu: [aggressively] I sure fuckin’ do! Everyone in the Rec Room is a suspect. I’m sure of it!

Is he now? I think he should be a bit more cautious in that assumption...because I know everyone in the Rec Room is innocent!

REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN

Truth Swords: Note, Scorched Lighter, Ichigohara’s Account, Rec Room Door

Komatsu: [neutrally] Yer first issue is...

Komatsu: [fixes belt] ..sayin’ yer all innocent...when the Rec Room is so close to the Casino!

Komatsu: [confidently] One of ya coulda easily jus’ slipped out when no one else was lookin’...

Komatsu: [angrily] ...head over to the Casino, and then murder the fuck outta Aozora-kun!

ADVANCE!

Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Weren’t you listening earlier? We were locked inside the Rec Room!

Kawashima: [firmly] It’s not possible for one of us to have left to kill Aozora-kun!

Komatsu: [shakes head] That’s such shitty reasonin’!

Komatsu: [firmly] One of ya coulda easily jus’ slipped out unnoticed...

Komatsu: [fixes belt] ...kill Aozora-kun, then come back to the Rec Room .

Komatsu: [confidently] And when they were there, they coulda
easily locked themselves inside...

Komatsu: [holds up middle finger] ...so they’d look more innocent!

Komatsu: [confidently] There ya go! It’s that fuckin’ simple!

No, Komatsu-kun, it’s not...because there’s something something very wrong with your explanation.

Answer: Rec Room Door >
easily locked themselves inside...

Kawashima: I’ll cut your contradictions in two!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] No, Komatsu-kun, we couldn’t have done that... [firmly] ...because the Rec Room door can only be locked from the outside.

Komatsu: [confused] Wait, what?

Motoki: [tugs on edge of poncho] Oh, yeah...I noticed that during the investigation. The Rec Room door has a lock only on the outside. [neutrally] It’d be impossible for any of us in the Rec Room to lock ourselves in, because to lock the door someone would need to leave.

Kasparov: [considers carefully] Meaning that whoever the individual is who locked us in there, they must have done so from the outside.

Ichigohara: [trying to remember] I don’t think I saw any of us leave the Rec Room...

Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] N-Neither do I...

Domoto: [crosses arms] That’s because no one in the Rec Room did leave. [shakes head] It’s painfully obvious no one in the Rec Room is the culprit. [sternly] Komatsu-kun, don’t go around accusing people so baselessly.

Komatsu: [grumpily] I was only
tryna help...

Domoto: [crosses arms] That’s good, but try to do so in ways that are actually helpful for the group. [neutrally] Anyway, let’s get back on track to what we were going to do.

Oyamada: [nervously] And wh-what was that a-again?

Kasparov: [neutrally] We were planning to deliberate on the methods which the culprit employed to carry out their crime.

Niizuma: [folds arms and looks to the side] Please, listen more carefully, Oyamada-kun. It’s not much effort to put in to pay attention. [examines nails] It’s a waste of time for us to have to explain things to you again.

There’s no need for her to be so rude...

Oyamada: [ashamed] S-Sorry...I just d-didn’t remember...

Terajima: [coolly] Yo. Don’t be so unnecessarily mean to Oyamada-kun.

Eguchi: [defensively] Yeah, um, don’t be so rude! I’m sure, um, Oyamada-kun was trying his, um, best!

Niizuma: [doubtfully] ... [examines nails] Whatever. It doesn’t matter.

Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] Um, it does, though...

Domoto: [sternly] Can we please get back on topic and start discussing how the culprit committed the crime?

Eguchi: [looks down shamefully] Oh, right, um, sorry... [timidly] So, um, if you want to talk about, um, how they did it...would talking about how they, um, disguised themselves help?

Motoki: [perplexedly] Huh? What do you mean, Eguchi-san?

Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] Well, um, Kawashima-said that, um, she saw a flash of, um, red as someone locked everyone inside the, um, Rec Room... [uncertainly] So wouldn’t that, um, mean that it was the, um, attacker?

Domoto: [raises eyebrows] How exactly does the relate to how the killer carried out their crime?

Eguchi: [uncertainly] Um...well, they probably used, um, the red cape and last night, um, so that they could, um, be disguised and not, um, be recognized as they, um, snuck around...

Kasparov: [considers carefully] Hmm...it sounds like a plausible idea. [analytically] However, you will need to discuss this theory in more depth.

Eguchi: [timidly] Oh, um, okay...

So, Eguchi-san will be discussing her theory for how the culprit disguised themselves now...let’s see what she has to say.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Torn Fabric, Layout of Casino, State of Cell Block B, Red Cape and Hood

Eguchi: [tremulously] So, um, I was thinking...

Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] ...that the culprit, um, used the red cape and, um,
hood to
disguise themselves...

Sashihara: [shouts loudly] But where would they have gotten it from?! Domoto-san put it in the Props Room
last night!
Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] They could’ve, um, gotten early, um, this morning,
I guess...
Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] They would’ve had had to get up pretty early, because I was out in the Cafeteria at 6:58 am, and I didn’t see anything .

Eguchi: [grimaces] Uh...um...

Eguchi: [uncertainly] Putting, um, that aside, I think that after, um, the culprit used the, um, red cape and hood...

Eguchi: [timidly] ...they either, um, disposed of it
in the Casino...

Eguchi: [timdily] ...or maybe, um,
in Cell Block B...

Eguchi: [uncertainly] ...or maybe they, um, just put it back in, um, the Props Room...

Eguchi-san’s theory...something about it doesn’t add up. I need show her what that is...

Answer: State of Cell Block B >
in Cell Block B...

Kawashima: No, that’s wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Eguchi-san, that isn’t right.

Eguchi: [unsurprised] Oh...it, um, isn’t? What isn’t?

Kawashima: [seriously] You saying that the culprit could have disposed of the red cape and hood in Cell Block B. [thoughtfully] Because Komatsu-kun inspected Cell Block B, but he didn’t find anything at all in there. So the culprit couldn’t have disposed of anything in there!

Ichigohara: [pulls on gardening glove] But what about the Casino? The culprit killed Michio-kun there, so it’s not too crazy to say they hid the red cape and hood there too, right?

Carrasco: [fixes flowers in hair] No, pero...I searched every inch of the Casino and found nothing resembling a red cape or hood.

Hayasaka: [twirls hair sadly] Mika-chan can, like, confirm...Mayumi-chan and Mika-chan looked for, like, a while...but we didn’t see, like anything at all...

Motoki: [tilts head curiously] But what about the Arcade? Couldn’t the killer have hidden the red cape and hood there, too?

Eguchi: [grimaces] No, there, um, wasn’t anything in there, either... [looks down shamefully] I was just being, um, stupid in saying what I did...

Komatsu: [reassuringly] No, ya weren’t, Eguchi-san...ya were just explorin’ every possibility, like ya should be doin’!

Eguchi: [surprised] Oh...! Um... [smiles warmly] ...thanks, um, Komatsu-kun...

Is it just me, or did she kind of overreact to him reassuring her...

Motoki: [pulls on poncho sleeve] But, wouldn’t the red cape and hood have to be somewhere? If it wasn’t in Cell Block B, the Casino, or Arcade, where was it?

Kasparov: [considers carefully] That is indeed a good question. We should pursue it further.

Carrasco: [poses dramatically] Ah, ¡sí! Let us cast aside the shadows over which the culprit has cast on the location of the red cape and hood...

Where did the red cape and hood go? I’m not entirely certain...but I think I have an idea.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Fabric Under Aozora’s Shoe, Broken Arcade Machine, Torn Fabric, Red Cape and Hood

Motoki: [thoughtfully] Maybe the red cape and hood were with Aozora-kun .
Niizuma: [scratches neck and looks to the side] But we saw no trace
of any such cape with him.

Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] Wh-What if the killer p-put the red c-cape and hood back where th-they found it...

Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] ...in the Props Room .
Carrasco: [frowns] I did not see the culprit enter the Props Room, though...if they had returned it there, they would have
had to have seen me .
Domoto: [crosses arms and closes eyes] It’s impossible
for the culprit to have put the red cape and hood in the Rec Room, too.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair] Maybe, like, they threw it, like, some
random place downstairs ?

I’ve heard a lot of suggestions, but only one of them seems to make any sense...

Answer: Fabric Under Aozora’s Shoe >
with Aozora-kun

Kawashima: That’s right!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [face lights up in realization] Motoki-san, that’s it!

Motoki: [surprised] Huh? What did I get right?

Kawashima: [seriously] When you said the red cape and hood were with Aozora-kun...you were right! [thoughtfully] Because if you looked really closely, you could see the remains of some red fabric under his shoe...fabric that must be the cape and hood the attacker used!

Sashihara: [points aggressively] Hold on! Can we sure that red fabric was the remains of the red cape and hood?! It could’ve just been so random fabric!

Kasparov: [analytically] That is indeed a possibility, however...we did not find the cape and hood elsewhere.

Domoto: [scratches chin] Besides, I see no other reason why a red fabric would be left inside a pachinko machine other than that the killer tried to cover up that they used it.

Ichigohara: [rubs head] So is this definite proof the attacker and killer are the same person?

Kasparov: [considers carefully] Well...we cannot be certain quite yet. Although it is highly likely the culprit wore the red cape and hood earlier today, that does not mean for certain they and the attacker from last night are the same individual.

Hayasaka: [confusedly] Then, like, who’s the killer? And who’s, like, the real attacker?

Thats a good question, Hayasaka-san...who’s the killer? Who’s the attacker from last night? Are they the same person? If not, how are the two incidents related? Ugh, this is just too much...

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] So...it seems we can’t figure out much about who exactly the killer and attacker are and if they’re the same person or not.

Motoki: [rubs shoulder] No, we can’t...

Terajima: [calmly] Then why don’t we discuss something else? Like what the physics boy was even doing in the pachinko machine.

Oyamada: [looks to the side apprehensively] Oh y-yeah...now th-that I think about it, it’s w-weird the culprit would p-pick a pachinko m-machine of all places to k-kill Aozora-kun...

Niizuma: [grabs necklace] Indeed it is...yet, they chose it, one way or another. [blankly] Why is that?

Yeah...why inside a pachinko machine, of all places? There had to have been an easier place to kill Aozora-kun...so why did the killer choose what they did?

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Broken Arcade Machine, Strange Melted Substance, Scorched Lighter, Layout of Casino

Domoto: [scratches chin] So...why would the culprit kill Aozora-kun in the pachinko machine?

Eguchi: [timidly] Maybe they, um, wanted to trap him
in there?

Ichigohara: [confused] But why inside of a pachinko machine?

Ichigohara: [scratches back] Besides, how could they trap him...

Ichigohara: [scratches back] ...when there wasn’t anythin’
to restrain or silence him?
Eguchi: [timidly] That’s, um, true...we
would’ve, um, heard
him struggle...if he was, um, trapped inside the machine before his, um, murder.

Niizuma: [examines nails] Then perhaps the killer utilized the pachinko machine...

Niizuma: [examines nails] ...because it was suitable
for starting a fire.
Niizuma: [looks to the side] Maybe the killer needed to destroy evidence. So, they
started a fire
inside the pachinko machine...

Niizuma: [shifts balance to right leg] ...to destroy whatever they didn’t want us to see.

Why did the killer choose the pachinko machine...I think I heard something that’ll lead me to the right answer.

Answer: Strange Melted Substance >
there wasn't anythin’

Kawashima: No, that’s wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Ichigohara-san, there was something that was used to restrain Aozora-kun.

Carrasco: [tilts head in confusion] ¿Qué? I never saw such a thing when I investigated the pachinko machine...

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] That’s because it wasn’t immediately obvious. The thing the culprit used to restrain and silence Aozora-kun melted in the fire.

Hayasaka: [boredly] Like, what the hell was it? Rope or, like, something like that?

Komatsu: [annoyed] Are ya for real? Rope doesn’t melt. It just burns.

Hayasaka: [angrily] Like, shut up, Yutaka-kun~! Mika-chan, like, really doesn’t need your, like, criticism!

I should probably start talking again so I can stop their bickering...

Kawashima: [quickly] I’m pretty sure the substance the killer used to restrain Aozora-kun was...duct tape.

Motoki: [surprised] Huh? Duct tape?

Sashihara: [shouts loudly] Where could they have gotten that from?

Where could the culprit have gotten the duct tape from...I think I have an idea...

Storage Room/Pantry/Arcade

Answer: Storage Room

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] They probably could’ve gotten it from the Storage Room.

Kasparov: [nods] That is a logical conclusion. There is a large variety of objects in that room, so it is not ridiculous to assume that duct tape is in there somewhere.

Yeah...and—wait! I just realized something else...!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Now that I think about it, there’s something else the culprit got from the Storage Room.

Ichigohara: [curiously] And what’s that, Wakana-chan?

What is that...if I consider everything at the crime scene, it should make sense...

HANGMAN’S GAMBIT

Question: What other object at the crime scene could the culprit have taken form the Storage Room?

THRGIEL

Answer: Lighter

Kawashima: I’ve solved it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] The culprit could have also gotten the lighter we found in the pachinko machine from the Storage Room.

Domoto: [scratches chin] Ah, yes...I remember
seeing those in there when I was searching the room for potential weapons.

Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] Wait, um, there’s an issue with, um, what you said, um, Kawashima-san...

Kawashima: [surprised] What? There is?

Hayasaka: [smirks] Don’t, like, worry, Wakana-chan. [closes eyes and holds up twin peace signs] If it’s coming, like, from someone as, like, fat and ugly as, like, Yuzuki-chan, you, like, can just ignore it~!

Eguchi: [looks down shamefully] ...I’m, um, sorry... [beguns to cry] I shouldn’t have, um, even bothered opening my, um, worthless mouth...

Hayasaka: [smirks] You, like, really shouldn’t have~!

...I have had an enough of this girl.

Kawashima: [tersely] Hayasaka-san.

Hayasaka: [twirls hair] Like, what?

Kawashima: [harshly] Shut up. I’m not going to let you bully Eguchi-san like that. If you have nothing valuable to contribute to the discussion, stay quiet.

Hayasaka: [mouth half-open in shock] ... [eyes wide] What...this can’t be...

Komatsu: [smugly] Ha. She gotcha there, Hayasaka-san.

Hayasaka: [eyes wide] Why...this isn’t...

Komatsu: [confused] Huh? [disappointed] She ain’t even mad...

Yeah...it’s weird...was I maybe a bit too harsh on her?

Kawashima: [softly] Are you okay, Hayasaka-san? I’m sorry for being so harsh...

Hayasaka: [blankly] ... [closes eyes and holds up twin peace signs] Like, that’s okay~! Mika-chan, like, is perfectly okay~!

I somehow doubt that...but we can’t dwell on this forever. I need to get this discussion back on track...

Kawashima: [curiously] Eguchi-san, What was the issue you had with what I said?

Eguchi: [wipes eyes] Oh, yeah...um, that... [tremulously] I was, um, wondering how the, um, culprit would have, um, gotten the duct tape and, um, lighter from the Storage Room...[wrings hands nervously] Because, um, it’s not accessible during nighttime..and, um, I don’t remember, um, seeing anyone taking those, um, things from the Storage Room, or, um, even going, um, into the room at all...

Motoki: [rubs shoulder] I don’t either...

Oyamada: [looks around nervously] N-Nor do I...

Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] Me neither... [calmly] However, that doesn’t mean the culprit couldn’t have gotten the lighter and duct tape. We simply could have missed them.

Ichigohara: [confused] But wouldn’t we still have to had seen the culprit carryin’ the duct tape and lighter upstairs to the Casino?

Kasparov: [considers carefully] Not necessarily... [analytically] Recall that our rooms, or cells, as Monohebi calls them, are very close in proximity to the Storage Room. The culprit simply could have quickly dropped the items they acquired in the Storage Room in their room for later use.

Carrasco: [unfurls fan and covers mouth] So are we now certain el culpable used the duct tape to restrain Señor Aozora and the lighter to start the fire in the pachinko machine?

Domoto: [nods] Yes, I think it is safe to assume so... [crosse arms] ...and now that you mentioned the fire, you remind me of something, Carrasco-san.

Carrasco: [tilts head confusedly] I do?

Domoto: [scratches chin] Yes...something odd about this case relating to the fire.

I have a feeling I know what she’s talking about...

Red Cape and Hood/Fire Alarms/Lighter

Answer: Fire Alarm

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Are you talking about the fire alarm, Domoto-san?

Domoto: [nods] I am.

Motoki: [perplexed] Hold on...what was so weird about the fire alarm?

Niizuma: [furrows brow] Wait, what is all this talk about a fire alarm?

Carrasco: [tilts head confusedly] Didn’t you hear it? It was quite loud.

Niizuma: [frowns] No. I heard nothing of the sort.

Komatsu: [angrily] Yeah, I didn’t hear shit either!

Terajima: [calmly] I heard nothing either.

Sashihara: [shouts loudly] Same here! I didn’t hear anything until the body discovery announcement!

Domoto: [scratches chin] It’s as I thought. The four of you claim you are the only ones to not have heard the fire alarm. [crosses arms] And there’s a reason for that. Something that connects the four of them when the fire happened.

Something that connects the four of them when the fire happened? There’s only one thing that could be...

They were all with each other/They all decided to leave the group/They all were on the first floor

Answer: They were all on the first floor

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Domoto-san, are you talking about how they all were on the first floor when the fire happened?

Domoto: [nods] Indeed I am.

Ichigohara: [confusedly] Hold on a second, what does them not being in the first floor have to do with them not hearin’ the fire alarm?

Hayasaka: [twirls hair] Yeah, are they, like, deaf or something? That, like, fire alarm was so, like, loud, it almost made Mika-chan, like have a heart attack~!

Komatsu: [sadly] If only it had been a lil’ louder...

Hayasaka: [furiously] Hey, like, what the fuck are you trying, like, to say?!

Carrasco: [poses dramatically] Both of you are being disruptive! Por favor, slay the demon of conflict inside you that causes you to be so belligerent!

Komatsu: [confusedly] Huh? Sorry, Carrasco-san, I ain’t into all that poetic metaphor shit.

Terajima: [coolly] She’s telling you both to shut up and get back on track.

Carrasco: [laughs nervously] Sí, Señor Terajima, that was my intent...although I did not want to be quite so direct about it...

Niizuma: [looks to the side boredly] That doesn’t matter. [folds arms] What does matter is that everyone on the second floor heard the fire alarm and that no one on the first floor heard it.

Motoki: [perplexedly] I don’t understand...why would that be the case?

She’s right...it is pretty weird. But I might have a feeling I might have an explanation as to why this is happening...

Everyone downstairs was in a soundproof room/The fire alarms are floor specific/Everyone downstairs is deaf

Answer: The fire alarms are floor specific

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] It must be because the fire alarms are floor specific.

Domoto: [scratches chin] Indeed. Even Carrasco-san and Hayasaka-san, who were in the soundproofed Auditorium, heard the alarm...so it has to be that the fire alarms only activate on the floor that they go off on, or at least the one’s in the second floor aren’t connected to the ones on the first floor. [crosses arms] But it doesn’t matter which is the case. Either way, the outcome is the same.

Terajima: [slightly surprised] Hold on...that makes sense and all, but...the Auditorium is soundproofed?

Kawashima: [nods] It is. Domoto-san and I checked that during the investigation.

Ichigohara: [pulls on gardening glove] That’s plenty unexpected...but I guess it makes sense for an Auditorium.

Sashihara: [shouts loudly] It may be weird, but it’s not the main problem here!

Ichigohara: [confusedly] Huh? What’s that, Hisaya-kun?

Sashihara: [points aggressively] Isn’t it obvious?! The fire alarms are floor specific! So if a fire broke out on one floor, you would have no idea at all if you were on a different floor. [furiously] That’s a massive safety violation!

Wow...Sashihara-kun is getting really fired up about all this.

Sashihara: [furiously] Monohebi, I demand to know why the fire alarm system is set up like this! It’s clearly hazardous!

Monohebi: [slight smile] Sususu...it is truly enjoyable to see you so angry, Sashihara.

Sashihara: [points aggressively] Just answer me!

Monohebi: [narrows eyes] ... [neutral] Very well. [explanatorily] The reason why the fire alarms are floor specific is because the floors all have a thick layer of concrete between them. So, if a fire were to break out on the first floor, it would never spread to the second floor, and vice versa.

Oyamada: [apprehensively] B-But isn’t it s-still really d-dangerous not t-to even alert th-the people on the o-other
floor about the f-fire?

Monohebi: [neutral] Not truly...if there were ever a serious fire here, it would not cause serious damage. [red eye glints] I have the resources to stop it should one occur.

The way he said that was pretty ominous...almost like he was reminding us that he’s ultimately the one in control here.

Ichigohara: [scratches back] So is that enough talkin’ about the fire alarms for now?

Kasparov: [frowns] Hmm...I still believe there is something odd about this situation.

Niizuma: [shifts balance to right leg] What is it, Kasparov-kun?

Kasparov: [considers carefully] How would the culprit plan for the fire alarms not being heard on the first floor? Common sense would dictate that the fire alarms would activate in all areas of the building... [curiously] ...so, I wonder, how did they know?

Monohebi: [smiles slightly] Oh, I told them.

Kasparov: [surprised] ...What?

Monohebi: [smiles slightly] The culprit of this case approached me at one point and asked me very graciously about the nature of the fire alarms and smoke detectors in this prison... [chuckles] ...So, I told them the truth. But only because they were polite to me. [red eye glints] Remember that.

Komatsu: [shakes head] No, that shit ain’t important!

Monohebi: [crossly] Excuse me?

Komatsu: [fixes belt] Ya said the person who asked ya ‘bout the fire alarms was the culprit, right?

Monohebi: [neutral] Indeed.

Komatsu: [fiercely] Then that settles it! The culprit is the traitor!

Kasparov: [analytically] Not necessarily...

Komatsu: [confusedly] Huh? Whaddaya mean ‘not necessarily?’ Of course the killer’s the fuckin’ traitor! [angrily] Is it ‘cause yer the traitor? Do ya wanna stop me from talkin’ ‘bout this?

Kasparov: [frowns] No, that is not the reason...it is not as if your reasoning has much behind it, anyway.

Komatsu: [angrily] Hey, take that back!

Kasparov: [ignores him] You are indeed correct the traitor could be the culprit, but in no way does that guarantee that they are in actuality.

Monohebi: [satisfied] Well said, Kasparov. I was tired of having to speak to you arrogant brats. So, thank you for talking for me!

Kasparov: [narrows eyes] Do not misunderstand me. It was not my intention to be your mouthpiece nor to serve you in any manner. I disdain you with all my being. [with subdued fury] Nothing would give me greater joy than to destroy you, not even a checkmate over every other chess grandmaster who has ever lived.

Monohebi: [sputters] Eugh...you...you... [sadly] ...How could you...do this to me... [furiously] You foreign vermin! How dare you speak to your Warden in that manner!

Kasparov: [calmly] Let us ignore the snake now, everyone. He has no more strategic value to us in this case.

Monohebi: [hisses furiously] Sssssss! [sullenly] ...Whatever. It makes no matter.

That whole exchange...it surprised me, to say the least. I didn’t expect Kasparov-kun to push back against Monohebi so much...

Hayasaka: [annoyed] Okay, so, like, now that’s over, can Mika-chan, like, say something?

Domoto: [flatly] What?

Hayasaka: [leans forward and winks] The killer’s, like, definitely on the first floor~! Mika-chan, like, guarantees it~!

Komatsu: [grumpily] Like hell ya do...

Hayasaka: [annoyed] Shut up, Yutaka-kun. Mika-chan, like, knows not all of her, like, arguments have been completely, like, correct in the past, but she, like, is certain about this one.

Sashihara: [shouts loudly] I highly doubt that!

Terajima: [calmly] Don’t be so rude, uh...[sweats nervously] uh...

It looks like he forgot Sashihara-kun’s name...

Kawashima: [quietly] Sashihara-kun?

Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] ...Sashihara-kun. Let’s hear her argument and then criticize it.

Hayasaka: [flips hir] There, like, won’t be anything to, like, criticize~! But that’s, like, okay! Be, like, stupid if you, like, want to be!

Of course, she had to put that little barb at the end there...it should honestly be expected from her at this point. Oh well, let’s just listen to what she has to say.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Aozora’s Breakfast, Ichigohara’s Account, Strange Wire, Komatsu’s Account

Carrasco: [curiously] Señorita Hayasaka, please enlighten us with your theory! [poses dramatically] Who is the fiend behind this cruel theft of life?

Hayasaka: [annoyed] You don’t, like, have to be so weird... [poses confidently] But, like, first off...

Hayasaka: [leans forward and widens eyes] Like, absolutely no one
who was on, like, the first floor has, like, an alibi~!
Hayasaka: [poses confidently] They, like, were either in their rooms...
[flips hair] ...or, like, in the Kitchen ~!
Hayasaka: [snickers] None of them, like,
have anything
that, like, proves their shitty alibis , either...
Hayasaka: [closes eye and holds up twin peace signs] So, like, the killer is definitely, like,
someone who was, like, on the first floor ~!

Oyamada: [adjusts glasses] I g-guess that has t-to be t-true...

Hayasaka-san’s reasoning actually isn’t too flawed...but there’s something about what she said that doesn’t sit quite right with me...

Answer: Ichigohara’s Account >
have anything

Kawashima: No, that’s wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Sorry, Hayasaka-san, but someone does have something that confirms their alibi.

Hayasaka: [challengingly] Yeah? Like, who?

Kawashima: [seriously] Komatsu-kun. He said he was in the Kitchen, which can be confirmed by Ichigohara-san.

Ichigohara: [puzzled] Wait, I can confirm he was in the Kitchen?

Kawashima: [nods] Yep. When I found you in the Kitchen, you said there were fourteen dirty plates and one dirty bowl in the sink...which confirms Komatsu-kun’s alibi!

Komatsu: [excitedly] Fuck yeah! I’m innocent!

Hayasaka: [disappointedly] Oh...that, like, sucks...

Carrasco: [purses lips] Wait...Señor Komatsu’s alibi was going to make himself an extra plate of food, verdad? So shouldn’t there have been fifteen plates in the sink?

Komatsu: [sweats nervously] Oh, shit...

Hayasaka: [smirks] ...

There’s no need for her to be so smug, nor for Komatsu-kun to be so frightened. Because I know something that can answer Carrasco-san’s question...

Aozora’s Breakfast/Terajima’s Account/Fabric Hnder Aozora’s Shoe

Answer: Aozora’s Breakfast

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] You probably didn’t see, but Aozora-kun’s plate from breakfast this morning was still in front of his door during the investigation. [seriously] So, if Komatsu-kun hadn’t done what he said he did...there would have been thirteen bowls in the sink. But there were fourteen, meaning—

Komatsu: [excitedly] There’s proof my alibi is true! Fuck yeah!

Hayasaka: [grumpily] Ugh...

Looks like she’s not too excited by that...

Carrasco: [nods] Vale...I understand your reasoning, Señorita Kawashima. [tilts head curiously] But what about everyone else on the first floor? Are they not suspects as well?

Kasparov: [analytically] Indeed. Terajima-kun, Sashihara-kun, and Niizuma-san have nothing to confirm their alibis that we know of.

Terajima: [sighs] Unfortunately not...

Sashihara: [clenches fist angrily] Yeah, it’s so annoying...! I know I’m innocent, but can’t prove it...

Niizuma: [closes eyes and furrows brow] ...

She looks like she’s thinking really carefully about something...I wonder what it is.

Domoto: [scratches chin] Everyone on the first floor except Komatsu-kun are still suspects, Carrasco-san, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are the culprits. In fact, it’s—

Niizuma: [opens eyes] Wait.

Domoto: [irritatedly] I was in the middle of speaking, Niizuma-san.

Niizuma: [looks to the side boredly] I know. [folds arms with serious expression] But there’s a person who’s far more suspicious than anyone on the first floor. Someone who is capable of committing all aspects of this crime.

Kawashima: [confusedly] Niizuma-san, who are you talking about?

Niizuma: [shifts balance to right leg] You should know, Kawashima-san. You heard everyone’s alibis. [seriously] Who was in close proximity to both the Casino and Rec Room and has no solid alibi for the time of death?

Someone who was near the Casino and the Rec Room...and who was alone the whole the time...they’re the killer? Wait...but that would mean that person is the killer! I can’t believe it...I don’t want to...but...I can’t just sit here and not point them out. I need to, for Aozora-kun’s sake!

CHOOSE A PERSON!

Wakana Kawashima

Eisuke Terajima

Sakiko Motoki

Yuuto Furuhata

Yuzuki Eguchi

Sergey Kasparov

Mayumi Carrasco

Mika Hayasaka

Tomiko Niizuma

Noriyo Ichigohara

Yoshi Yamaguchi

Yutaka Komatsu

Hisaya Sashihara

Osamu Oyamada

Michio Aozora

Otoha Domoto

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

[YUZUKI EGUCHI CHOSEN]

Kawashima: It can only be you!

Kawashima: [hesitantly] Niizuma-san...are you saying...the killer is Eguchi-san?

Niizuma: [nods curtly] Yes.

Eguchi: [eyes widen in surprise] Wait, um, what? Me...?

Oyamada: [shocked] W-What?! You th-think Eguchi-san’s the k-killer?

It’s hard for me to say it about someone so seemingly shy and kind...but it’s what makes sense.

Kawashima: [hesitantly] ...Yes.

Eguchi: [terrified] No, no...um, this can’t be, um, right...

Terajima: [coolly] It isn’t. You’re not the culprit, Eguchi-san. I’m sure of it.

He remembered her name again...like he’s been doing with Oyamada-kun.

Eguchi: [gratefully] Thanks, Terajima-kun...

Niizuma: [coldly] Stop with the sentimental bullshit. [examines nails] Eguchi-san is clearly the most suspicious candidate for being the killer.

Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Excuse me, Niizuma-san, but what evidence do you have to back that up?

Niizuma: [confidently] Enough.

Kasparov: [frowns] That is not a suitable answer. [sternly] Please share specific evidence that leads you to believe Eguchi-san is the killer. Otherwise, we must abandon this accusation.

Niizuma: [looks to the side] Fine. [brushes hair to the side] I’ll convince you all of her guilt!

Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] ...

Niizuma-san will be presenting her argument against Eguchi-san now...let’s see what she has to say.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Broken Arcade Machine, Strange Wire, Inside of Arcade Machine, Layout of Casino

Eguchi: [sweats apprehensively] What, um, did I even do that’s, um, suspicious?

Niizuma: [examines nails] First off, you were alone
in the Arcade this morning...
Niizuma: [folds arms] ...and the Arcade is right next to
the Casino...so you could have easily walked
into the Casino with
no one watching...

Niizuma: [brushes hair out of face] ...killed Aozora-kun, and then set fire to the machine.

Eguchi: [defensively] But I, um, didn’t leave the Arcade until I, um, heard the fire alarms !
Niizuma: [folds arms] You have nothing

to prove that.
Eguchi: [desperately] No, but, um...I swear I wasn’t doing anything! Everything in the Arcade was normal !
Eguchi: [desperately] I wasn’t, um, up to anything weird!

Eguchi-san is definitely in a difficult spot right now...but is she the culprit? Something someone just said should help lead me to answer...

Answer: Broken Arcade Machine >
normal

Kawashima: No, that’s wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Eguchi-san...don’t you remember? The Taiko no Tatsujin machine in the Arcade was broken. [curiously] How can you say everything was normal knowing that?

Eguchi: [eyes widen in shock] Oh...yeah, um, that... [looks down shamefully] I’m sorry, I, um, forgot about that...

Ichigohara: [confusedly] You forgot about your favorite arcade machine breakin’? I’m sorry, Yuzuki-chan...but that seems suspicious to me.

Eguchi: [defensively] I’m just, um, under a lot of pressure, um, okay? [looks down shamefully] I’m not, um, the culprit...please, you have to, um, believe me...

Domoto: [bluntly] Unfortunately for you, you haven’t given us any reason to do so. [crosses arms and closes eyes] You were the closest person to the crime scene and you were alone. Both of those facts are quite damning evidence.

Kasparov: [analytically] Indeed...additionally, it is quite strange that you chose to come to the Rec Room to unlock the door instead of going to the Casino, which you admitted you believed was the source of the fire.

Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] I...I, um...

Kasparov: [slowly] Now, to be fair, this speculation of mine is by no means solid evidence. Yet, it is rather peculiar.

Niizuma: [looks to the side boredly] It is. [flatly] To be fair, there isn’t really much physical evidence against you, Eguchi-san... [coldly] ...But there are a lot of strange things that seem to surround you and the crime scene.

Eguchi: [looks down shamefully] I...um... [desperately] I’m, not, um...the culprit...please...you have to believe me!

Komatsu: [harshly] Ya ain’t givin’ us any reason to do so, though.

Eguchi: [eyes widen in shock] ... [begins to sob] No...no...please, um... [desperately sobbing] I’m not the culprit! Please, believe me!

She seems especially devastated by Komatsu-kun voicing his suspicions against her...I wonder why that is.

Terajima: [supportively] Don’t worry, Eguchi-san. I got your back.

Oyamada: [small smile] I d-do too...

Eguchi: [wipes eye] Um, thanks, guys...

Carrasco: [unfurls fan and covers mouth] But you all are only three against ten. A small ship trying to fight off un huracán... [poses dramatically] Lo siento, Señorita Eguchi and company, but I believe it would be best for you to give up and let us vote now! To try to resist the inevitable conclusion of this trial would be akin to pushing off the setting of el sol!

Domoto: [pinches bridge of nose] You don’t have to be so melodramatic about it, Carrasco-san.

Hayasaka: [flips hairs] But she’s, like, totally right~! We should, like, start voting, like, right now~!

Kasparov: [analytically] We cannot do that just yet. First, we must outline the entire case and solve every mystery that may vex us.

Niizuma: [folds arms] Then let’s do that right now. [looks to the side] We’ll go over this case, prove Eguchi-san’s guilt
and then finally have this trial over with.

Eguchi: [wipes tears from eyes] But I’m, um, not the killer!

Niizuma: [folds arms] We’ll see about that.

So...is Eguchi-san really the culprit? I’m still not entirely certain if she is or not...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Strange Wire, Monohebi File #2, Inside of Arcade Machine, Carrasco’s Account

Niizuma: [folds arms] Just admit it already. There are a lot of things
that make you look suspicious, Eguchi-san.

Terajima: [tensely] But that doesn’t necessarily mean she’s the killer.

Oyamada: [timidly defiant] Y-Yeah...it c-could all j-just be c-coincidence !
Ichigohara: [reluctantly] But no one else
was as close to the Casino as her...

Komatsu: [assertively] She also woulda had a shit ton of time to do the murder.

Hayasaka: [places hand on hip confidently] Yeah...after, like, Yutaka-kun left, Yuzuki-chan would, like, have been alone, like, in the Arcade at, like, 9:30 AM, which we, like, know was the time of death ~!
Hayasaka: [leans forward and winks] That, like, would have given her, like, plenty of time to, like, kill Michio-kun unnoticed ~!

Oyamada: [points shyly] S-Someone could also be
f-framing Eguchi-san...

Niizuma: [purses lips] But there is no evidence to say that is the case.

Niizuma: [coldly] Give it up, Eguchi-san. We all know you’re the killer...

Eguchi: [eyes wide with desperation] I...um...

Eguchi-san sure is in a really rough spot right now...is she the killer? I’m still not sure...however, I think I heard someone say something that isn’t quite right. I need to point that out to find the truth of this case!

Answer: Monohebi File #2 >
know was the time of death

Kawashima: No, that’s wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] But we don’t know if that was time of death, Hayasaka-san.

Hayasaka: [scoffs] What? [condescendingly] Can you, like, fucking read, Wakana-chan? It says, like, Michio-kun died at 9:30 AM, like, in the Monohebi File!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] It’s true that the Monohebi File states Aozora-kun died at 9:30... [points with determination] But it never says he died at 9:30 AM!

Domoto: [curiously] Hold on...what are you getting at here, Kawashima-san?

Kasparov: [disbelievingly] I believe she is proposing that Aozora-kun might have died at 9:30...PM.

Motoki: [shocked] What?!

Carrasco: [almost drops fan] ¿Qué? No, ¡no es posible!

Komatsu: [confusedly] What the fuck...? How the hell could Aozora-kun have died at 9:30 PM? That’d mean he died during the talent show!

Hayasaka: [shakes head] Wow, Wakana-chan...this is, like, a really dumb theory. [winks “cutely”] It makes you, like, the dumbest one here right now~! And that, like, includes Yutaka-kun~!

Komatsu: [opens mouth] Hey—

Niizuma: [testily] Shut up.

Komatsu: [blinks in surprise] Huh?

Niizuma: [looks to the side in annoyance] I’m telling to shut up so you don’t distract us from the discussion.

Ichigohara: [laughs nervously] You don’t gotta be so harsh about it, Tomiko-chan...I’m sure we’ll find the truth of this case regardless of whether there’s a little bit of fightin’ here and there. [scratches back] We’ll find the truth, one way or another. Until then, let’s just go with the flow!

Niizuma: [coldly] ...Pft. What a revoltingly passive approach. [folds arms] It seems you want us all to die here by just waiting for the truth. Because it won’t just come to us. [brushes hair out of face] We’ll have to work hard to find it. If you don’t understand that...you might as well leave.

Ichigohara: [taken aback] Tomiko-chan...I... [looks down sadly] ..........

Motoki: [firmly] Don’t talk to her like that, Niizuma-san.

Niizuma: [examines nails] ...Whatever. [folds arms] We’re still not discussing the real issue here, though. [looks to the side] Kawashima-san, I need you to reconsider your theory.

Kawashima: [confusedly] Huh? Why?

Niizuma: [scratches neck] Because at this point you have no evidence except for ambiguous wording in the Monohebi File. [neutrally] So, in the absence of proper evidence...you should consider how the crime could have been committed at a time other than this morning.

Hayasaka: [furrows brow] But it, like, obviously didn’t~!

Niizuma: [examines nails] I agree that it likely didn’t. [folds arms] However, that doesn’t mean we should immediately dismiss the possibility.

Domoto: [scratches chin] No...even if it sounds ridiculous, we should still consider it.

So, I need to consider how the time of death could have been a time other than this morning...I think i could do that.

LOGIC DIVE

Q1: When else could Michio Aozora have died?

This morning/This afternoon/Last night

Q2: Why would the culprit try to hide the true time of death?

To not break Monohebi’s rules/To give themselves an alibi for the fake time of death/To make it look like a suicide

Q3: How could Michio Aozora’s body not have been found before this morning?

It was hidden inside something/It was destroyed by the killer/It was already burnt

Answers: Last night, To give themselves an alibi for the fake time of death, It was hidden inside something

Kawashima: I understand it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] If the killer killed Aozora-kun last night...they probably did so to confuse us and give themselves an alibi for the later discovery of the body!

Komatsu: [confusedly] But that don’t make no fuckin’ sense! Where would they have kept the body?

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] They could have hidden it somewhere. [seriously] Also, now that I think about it...burning the body would have helped to throw off the real time of death.

Niizuma: [scratches neck] That makes burning the body make much more sense...if they hadn’t burned the body, we would have noticed it wasn’t warm anymore and that rigor mortis had set in pretty easily.

Motoki: [rubs shoulder] But still...it makes more sense for the murder to have happened this morning.

Carrasco: [fixes flowers in hair] Sí...it’s simply illogical to think Señor Aozora could have died anoche.

Ichigohara: [scratches back] Yeah...this speculation about Michio-kun dyin’ at night honestly doesn’t make any sense to me...

Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Me neither...it’s jus’ makin’ me even more confused! There ain’t no way Aozora-kun didn’t die this mornin’.

Really? The more I think about it, the more I’m beginning to think this crime didn’t happen this morning.

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] But we never saw Aozora-kun this morning. What’s to say he wasn’t already dead by then?

Kasparov: [considers carefully] .......... [surprised] There is nothing. [analytically] No one saw Aozora-kun at all this morning , nor did we see him yesterday...so it is quite possible he died at another time. [thoughtfully] Actually, it seems more probable to me.

Niizuma: [thinking hard] Indeed. Especially if the killer had a place to store the body, this crime just makes more sense if Aozora-kun died before this morning.

Eguchi: [hopefully] So...does this, um, mean I’m not the killer?

Domoto: [scratches chin] ...It might, Eguchi-san.

Eguchi: [claps hands excitedly] Yes!

Oyamada: [smiles happily] Yay! I’m g-glad we know y-you’re innocent n-now, Eguchi-san.

Terajima: [small smile] Me too.

Eguchi: [gratefully] Thanks guys...it means, um, a lot to me that you, um, stuck by my, um, side...

Terajima: [nods graciously] No problem. That’s what a bodyguard is supposed to do, after all.

Oyamada: [smiles happily] A-And its what f-friends do t-too...

Eguchi: [taken aback] ...Friends? [claps hands excitedly] Oh my God, do you mean that?!

Oyamada: [nods] Of c-course. You’re a p-pretty cool p-person to hang w-with out, Eguchi-san. Terajima-kun and I b-both really enjoyed y-your company at the t-talent s-show...

Terajima: [small smile] We sure did.

This whole exchange...it makes me feel really good. I can tell Eguchi-san struggles with socializing, so to see her having friends that enjoy her company must be really elating to her...

Carrasco: [neutrally] Lo siento, but I’m afraid I must interrupt this moment to say something.

Eguchi: [surprised] Oh...! [wrings hands nervously] What is it?

Carrasco: [unfurls fan and covers mouth] You have not yet been proven innocent, Señorita Eguchi. The crime still likely happened in the morning, which leaves you as the prime suspect.

Domoto: [crosses arms] Are you sure? After thinking it over...I’m more inclined to believe this murder happened sometime before this morning.

Kasparov: [nods] As am I.

Niizuma: [examines nails] Same here.

Hayasaka: [condescendingly] Wow, are you all, like, idiots? [leans forward and winks] The murder, like, obviously happened, like, earlier today~!

Ichigohara: [scratches back] Yeah...that’s what makes sense to me.

Motoki: [pulls on poncho sleeve] Me too.

Sashihara: [shouts loudly] Indeed! Aozora-kun died today! I can feel it in my gut! And my gut is never wrong!

Komatsu: [confidently] Yeah, there ain’t no way in fuck Aozora-kun died last night!

Monohebi: [chuckles] Sususu...is this a split opinion I hear? [smirks] Given that you’re all split down the middle again, let us have ourselves a Scrum Debate once more.

Oyamada: [clamps hands over mouth] Oh no...this made me really queasy last time...

Monohebi: [smiles slightly] Please hold on to your seats are rearranged temporarily for this special debate...

Just like last time, I hold onto my stand tightly as it and all the others around me begin ascending into the air into an upper room in the trial area.

We find ourselves in the same sleek, ultra-modern room as before. We’re still arranged into two rows facing each other with myself, Kasparov, Domoto, Niizuma, Eguchi, Oyamada, Terajima, and Aozora’s portrait on my side.

In the other row, I see Ichigohara, Carrasco, Hayasaka, Sashihara, Komatsu,
Motoki, and Yamaguchi and Furuhata’s portraits.

Alright, let’s get this started...

SCRUM DEBATE

Question: When did Michio Aozora die?

Kawashima’s Side: Last night!

Opposing Side: This morning!

BEGIN!

Carrasco: 9:30 PM last night was during the talent show. How could Señor Aozora have been murdered then?

Kawashima: Domoto-san!

Domoto: Not everyone was at the talent show for the entire time. Someone could have murdered
him when they weren't there.

Motoki: If the culprit killed Aozora-kun last night, why would they wait to have us discover the body?

Kawashima: Kasparov-kun!

Kasparov: So that they could confuse us about the true time of the murder. That way, they would make it harder for us to
discover
their identity.

Ichigohara: But Michio-kun ate his dinner last night...doesn’t that mean he was still alive then?

Kawashima: Niizuma-san!

Niizuma: He could have died after eating
dinner . Besides, just because the food disappeared doesn’t mean Aozora-kun ate it.

Komatsu: If the attacker is the reason why ya think he died last night, we already established the killer and the attacker ain't necessarily the same person!

Kawashima: Oyamada-kun!

Oyamada: They c-could be the
s-same person , though...we w-were locked in the R-Rec Room by s-someone in r-red, which is the c-color of the o-outfit the a-attacker was w-wearing!

Hayasaka: Wouldn’t someone have, like, seen Michio-kun, like, last night if he was, like, murdered then?

Kawashima: Eguchi-san!

Eguchi: Most of us were, um, at the, um talent show last night ...besides, um, we hadn’t, um, seen Aozora-kun, um, all day!

Sashihara: Wouldn’t we have seen Aozora-kun’s body if he really died last night?

Kawashima: Terajima-kun!

Terajima: Like we said earlier, his body
could have been hidden somewhere until the culprit wanted us to find it.

Carrasco: The Monohebi File is what led us to be here, verdad? Just because the time of death didn’t say AM doesn’t mean he died last night!

Kawashima: I’ll do it!

Kawashima: The first Monohebi File said ‘PM’ in it. Why would this Monohebi File not mention the specific time of death
if
there was nothing to hide?

Ichigohara: You may have speculation, but there’s no evidence to say Michio-kun died last night!

Kawashima: I’ll do it!

Kawashima: There’s evidence
we still haven’t discussed yet!

CROUCH BIND

3...2...1...

Kawashima, Kasparov, Domoto, Niizuma, Eguchi, Oyamada, Terajima: This is our answer!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [determined] There you have it. Aozora-kun very likely died last night!

Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Hmm...I guess we can’t really argue against that now...

Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] No, it looks like we can’t...

Carrasco: [frowns] ...I suppose this must be what happened...

Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Yeah...I still don’t get why the culprit’d do somethin’ so unnecessary...but it’s lookin’ to be the only option.

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I don’t fully understand why the culprit would choose to do this, either...but I’m sure we’ll find out why if we pursue this further.

Ichigohara: [pulls on gardening glove] ...No. That’s not necessary.

Kawashima: [seriously] Why not, Ichigohara-san?

Ichigohara: [scratches back] Because this whole dyin’ at night thing...there’s just no way it’s right!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Are you sure, Ichigohara-san? I think that—

Ichigohara: I’ll bury your logic!

BREAK!

[split screen separates Ichigohara and Kawashima]

Kawashima: [surprised] Ichigohara-san...what is this? Haven’t we shown that the murder most likely occurred last night?

Ichigohara: [scratches back and grimaces] Sorry, Wakana-chan...but what you’re sayin’ still makes no sense to me. [determined] I don’t wanna see y’all vote wrong, so I’ll show you why the murder couldn’t have happened last night!

So, she’s going to try to convince me the murder didn’t happen last night....after all the arguments presented in the Scrum Debate, I’m pretty sure she’s wrong, but I’ll hear what she has to say regardless.

REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN

Truth Swords: Note, Ichigohara’s Account, Aozora’s Breakfast, Strange Wire

Ichigohara: [neutrally] You’re assumin’ that Michio-kun was killed last night, right?

Ichigohara: [pulls on gardening glove] But Michio-kun’s bowl of food wasn’t in the Kitchen’s sink after the talent show...
Ichigohara: [points] ...yet it was there
this mornin’!

ADVANCE!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] The food being there in the morning doesn’t disprove Aozora-kun dying at night.

Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Remember what Niizuma-san said earlier? [firmly] Just because the bowl was gone doesn’t mean Aozora-kun was the one to put it there!

Ichigohara: [frowns and looks down] That may be true, but even still...

Ichigohara: [points] Michio-kun was hidin’ away in his room all of yesterday!
Ichigohara: [pulls on gardening glove] It
wouldn’t have been possible
for him to be led out of that room...

Ichigohara: [scratches back and grimaces] He didn’t even respond to you, Wakana-chan.

She brings up a fair point...and it makes sense for what she knows. However, it’s still not right. I have to show her something that will prove her wrong!

Answer: Note >
wouldn’t have been possible

Kawashima: I’ll cut your contradictions in two!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] You probably don’t know, Ichigohara-san, but... [seriously] ...we found a note in Aozora-kun’s room.

Ichigohara: [confusedly] A note? What does that have anythin’ to do with what I was talkin’ about?

Kawashima: [seriously] The note reads, “Aozora: Come to Cell Block B at midnight. We need to talk about what happened earlier...”

Sashihara: [points aggressively] That note is highly suspicious!

Komatsu: [fixes belt] No shit it is. It’s prolly how the culprit got Aozora-kun outta his room.

Ichigohara: [scratches back and grimaces] Hold on, there’s somethin’ I don’t get...midnight? Weren’t you sayin’ he died around 9:30 PM last night?

Kawashima: [nods] That was the theory, yeah.

Ichigohara: [confusedly] Then doesn’t this note contradict that theory? And prove he died this mornin’?

Domoto: [crosses arms] No. Because that note didn’t necessarily have to be written last night.

Carrasco: [tilts head curiously] What do you mean, Señorita Domoto?

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I think what Domoto-san is saying is that...that note could have been written the night before, too...

Domoto: [nods] Indeed I am. [crosses arms and closes eyes] Two nights ago, after the meeting where we proposed the talent show, Aozora-kun was quite distressed. [opens eyes] That is likely what the note refers to when it says “what happened earlier.”

Kasparov: [considers carefully] That is logical, however... [furrows brow] Would that not mean the culprit killed Aozora-kun that night? Yet that is impossible, because the Monohebi File states that he died at 9:30.

Motoki: [bites thumbnail] So that means he either died 9:30 AM this morning, 9:30 PM yesterday, or 9:30 AM yesterday, right?

Kawashima: [nods] It looks to be that way. He couldn’t have died at other any time based on the information the Monohebi File gave us.

Ichigohara: [confusedly] But weren’t we sayin’ he died last night? And now you’re sayin’ he could’ve died in yesterday mornin’ too? [massages head] I just don’t understand...

Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Don’t worry, ya ain’t alone...

Hayasaka: [grumpily] So are we, like, dealing with, like, three possible, like times of death now? [flips hair angrily] There’s no, like, way we’ll find the, like, culprit at this rate!

Niizuma: [grabs necklace] Yes...this is concerning. [folds arms] However, we just have to be calm...and perhaps, instead of looking at the time of death, we should examine the evidence. [looks to the side] Maybe if we do that, the true time of death will come to light later.

Kasparov: [considers carefully] Indeed...that seems to be the safest option.

Carrasco: [tilts head curiously] But what should we talk about? I don’t know what we should do...

Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] M-Maybe we should t-talk about where the b-body was h-hidden? I th-think that would help...

Terajima: [small smile] Good idea, Oyamada-kun.

Oyamada: [smiles sheepishly] Th-Thanks, Terajima-kun...

Where the body was hidden...I might have an idea where that could be. I’ll wait to see what everyone else has to say first, though...maybe one of them will say the right thing.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Torn Fabric, Broken Arcade Machine, Red Cape and Hood, Strange Wire

Motoki: [bites thumbnail] We know the body was hidden somewhere...but where could that have been?
Sashihara: [points aggressively] We
know for sure
it wasn’t
out in the open!
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] We knew that already... [confidently] Anyway, I’m fuckin’ certain his body was kept in the pachinko machine the
whole time !
Hayasaka: [twirls hair boredly] Couldn’t it, like, have been, like, hidden in the, like, Arcade
too?
Carrasco: [unfurls fan and covers mouth] I believe it makes make sense for the body to have been kept Cell Block B.
[fixes flowers] We rarely go in that room, so it would be a good spot, verdad?
Domoto: [scratches chin] Perhaps the killer hid the body in the Props Storage Room? There are quite a lot of hiding places in there.

Everyone’s throwing around a lot of ideas, not all of them correct...but I think I heard something in there that sounds like what I think really happened.

Answer: Broken Arcade Machine >
in the, like, Arcade

Kawashima: That’s right!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] You got that right, Hayasaka-san.

Hayasaka: [surprised] Mika-chan, like, did? [closes eyes “cutely” and holds up twin peace signs] Haha, losers! Mika-chan is, like, smarter than you all~!

Kasparov: [unimpressed] You deduced one thing correctly. Do not act as if you solved the entire case.

Hayasaka: [bitterly] Okay, can you, like, shut the fuck up, Sergey-kun? Don’t, like, devalue Mika-chan’s, like, achievements~!

Niizuma: [looks to the side] He wasn’t trying to do that, Hayasaka-san. [folds arms] Anyway, let’s get to the important stuff. What was it Hayasaka-san got right?

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] She said the culprit used something in the Arcade to hide Aozora-kun’s body...which is probably right.

Eguchi: [shocked] The, um, Arcade?! [timidly] But I was, um, in there, um, a lot, and I didn’t, um, see any body...

Kawashima: [seriously] Well...the culprit probably hid the body inside something.
Namely, the Taiko no Tatsujin machine.

Komatsu: [surprised] Hold the fuck up...is that why it wasn’t workin’?!

Kawashima: [nods] Most likely. The machine was badly damaged on the inside when I investigated it.

Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] I fuckin’ loved that game...and they broke it? [angrily] This is makin’ me real fuckin’ mad...whoever the culprit is, yer really fucked once I find out who ya are!

Eguchi: [points timidly] Yeah...Whoever the, um, culprit is...what you, um, did wasn’t, um, cool!

Carrasco: [fixes flowers in hair] Espera...How can we be sure la máquina de Taiko no Tatsujin was utilized by el culpable? They simply could have used la máquina de pachinko...or perhaps a spot we didn’t discover.

Kawashima: [nods agreeably] That’s a fair point, Carrasco-san. [seriously] However, the pachinko machine is quite cramped inside...whereas the inside of the Arcade machine is not. In fact, it has enough room for two people, provided they’re shorter than me.

Domoto: [arches eyebrow] What are you getting at here, Kawashima-san?

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I’m thinking that maybe the killer killed Aozora-kun inside the Arcade Machine and then transported his body to the pachinko machine.

Motoki: [pulls on poncho sleeve] Sorry for asking, but what would the point of that be? Wouldn’t it have been easier for them to just leave the body in the Taiko no Tatsujin machine?

Kasparov: [analytically] The culprit likely wanted to implicate as many people as possible in this case, in order to throw suspicious away from themselves. [considers carefully] Utilizing the Taiko no Tatsujin machine would allow them to reasonably place blame onto someone who spent a lot of time in the Arcade.

Eguchi: [clutches hands in front of heart, terrified] So...the culprit was, um, trying to, um, frame me?

Terajima: [slightly angrily] ...It looks like it. [chuckles humorlessly] Hah. That makes me think...

Ichigohara: [surprised] Huh? About what, Terajima-kun?

Terajima: [presses finger to temple] The Taiko no Tatsujin machine possibly being the place the culprit hid the body and maybe where they killed the space boy...that, along with everyone’s alibis for this morning and last night...along with how someone has been acting in this trial...it all makes me very suspicious.

Niizuma: [arches eyebrow] Of who?

Terajima: [coolly] You.

...I figured that’s who Terajima-kun was talking about. I’ve had my eye in Niizuma-san, too...

Hayasaka: [flips hair angrily] Hold on...Tomiko-chan, like, definitely isn’t, like, the killer~! Mika-chan is, like, sure of it~! She’s too, like, fashionable to be, like, a murderer~!

Komatsu: [flatly] Ya say that as if it’s a valid defense against her... [cracks knuckles] Because it ain’t! I’m glad Terajima-kun brought it up, because I was still suspectin’ Niizuma-san!

Oyamada: [looks around apprehensively] Y-Yeah...she w-was really adamant a-about Eguchi-san b-being the k-killer earlier... [almost drops book] C-Could it be b-because she w-was trying to p-place the b-blame onto Eguchi-san?!

Niizuma: [folds arms] ................

Ichigohara: [confusedly] Tomiko-chan, aren’t you goin’ to say somethin’?

Niizuma: [scratches neck] Of course. [looks to the side] I was simply in awe of how ridiculously stupid this accusation against me is.

Motoki: [reluctantly] But...it’s not ridiculously stupid, Niizuma-san. [pulls on poncho sleeve] You don’t have an alibi for any of the possible times of death...and we didn’t see much of you after Monohebi revealed there’s a traitor among us...

Niizuma: [looks away bitterly] ...That is true. [folds arms] However, that doesn’t make me the culprit. [coldly] Why don’t you start suspecting Eguchi-san again? She was never truly proven innocent.

Terajima: [testily] There you go again with your insistence that Eguchi-san is the culprit. Why do you want her to be the killer so much? [coolly] Is it because you don’t want the blame on you?

Niizuma: [coldly] No, it’s because I think we shouldn’t skip over accusing her when we haven’t fully disproven her guilt yet.

Domoto: [crosses arms] We never fully disproved yours, either. [scratches chin] And the fact remains that you are the only person here with not even a sliver of an alibi for all of potential times of death. So isn’t it logical we suspect you?

Niizuma: [looks away bitterly] ...I’m not the killer. [coldly] If you think I am, you’re wrong.

Oyamada: [looks around apprehensively] Th-Then why d-don’t you p-prove it?

Niizuma: [narrows eyes] What?

Oyamada: [timidly] Y-You said y-you’re innocent...s-so why don’t y-you prove it? [determined] You w-were being r-really harsh on Eguchi-san to d-defend herself or b-be suspected as the c-culprit earlier...s-so how about y-you do it y-yourself?

Niizuma: [mouth half open] I... [coldly] Fine! I’ll do it! [brushes hair out of face] I’ll prove to you all I’m not the culprit!

Niizuma-san’s going to be defending herself now...is she the killer? There’s some reasons to think she is...but also some to think she isn’t. Let’s see which one is right...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Inside of Arcade Machine, Strange Wire, Torn Fabric, Layout of Casino

Niizuma: [brushes hair out of face] Let me just say this up front...if you vote for me, we’ll all certainly die!

Terajima: [testily] That’s not a proper argument .

Hayasaka: [flips hair] Tomiko-chan is, like, really fashionable~! Like, how could, like, someone like her be, like, capable of murder?

Oyamada: [grimaces] Th-That’s not a p-proper defense , e-either...

Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] Maybe she, um, can’t make, um, a good, um, argument because she really is the killer...

Niizuma: [coldly] I am not!

Komatsu: [confidently] But ya were capable of commitin’ every part
of this murder, Niizuma-san! Even if ya ain’t the killer, yer real damn suspicious.

Ichigohara: [scratches back and grimaces] Yeah...and you were also going after Eguchi-san really hard earlier in the trial... [sadly] I don’t like it, but that was probably because you’re the culprit.

Terajima: [calmly] In addition, Aozora-kun’s body likely being hidden inside the Taiko no Tatsujin machine...a machine favored by both Eguchi-san and Komatsu-kun...
[pushes sunglasses up nose] ...makes it seem as if you were trying to make them look more suspicious.

Ichigohara: [sadly] I don’t like it, but it’s lookin’ like you’re the killer, Tomiko-chan...

Niizuma: [furiously] This is all conjecture ...all lies! [coldly] I. Am. Not. The. Killer!!!

Niizuma-san seems adamant about not being the killer...I’m still not sure what to think. However, something one person just said...I think it’s just led me to a new realization!

Answer: Inside of Arcade Machine >
every part

Kawashima: No, that’s wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Komatsu-kun...when you said she’s capable of committing “every part” of this crime...I don’t think that’s the case.

Komatsu: [confusedly] It isn’t? Why the fuck not?

Kawashima: [seriously] If we think about the size of the space inside the machine...it’s too small for me to fit in there.

Ichigohara: [scratches back] Sorry...but I don’t get how that has to do with Tomiko-chan...

Kasparov: [slightly surprised] ...Kawashima-san is shorter than Niizuma-san.

Motoki: [perplexedly] Huh? I’m sorry, I don’t see why you’re trying to get at...

Domoto: [scratches chin] If Kawashima-san is shorter than Niizuma-san, and she couldn’t have gotten inside it, then there’s no way Niizuma-san would be able to fit inside the Taiko no Tatsujin machine to kill Aozora-kun. [stares forward] Is that what you were getting at, Kawashima-san?

Kawashima: [nods] Yeah. It is.

Sashihara: [shouts loudly] But how does that make Niizuma-san innocent?! We don’t even know for sure if Aozora-kun was killed in the Taiko no Tatsujin machine or the Arcade itself!

Kawashima: [agreeably] You’re right...I’m not saying this definitively proves Niizuma-san innocent. [seriously] However...it does make her less suspicious.

Carrasco: [taps chin with edge of fan] ¿Es cierto? I believe Señorita Niizuma is still rather suspicious. As Señor Sashihara pointed out, we don’t know if la máquina de Taiko no Tatsujin was where Señor Aozora died.

Motoki: [morosely] Yeah...we don’t even know for sure where he died, the time of death, or what the murder weapon is.

...Wait a minute. That may not be true...

Kawashima: [surprised] Motoki-san...that’s not true. I have an idea as to what the murder weapon might be!

Motoki: [perplexedly] Huh? You do?

Yeah. I’m pretty sure it could be that one thing we found near the Taiko no Tatsujin machine...

A torn piece of red fabric/A bloody kitchen knife/A strange wire/A dumbbell

Answer: A strange wire

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] That weird wire we found inside the Taiko no Tatsujin machine...couldn’t that be the murder weapon?

Niizuma: [shifts balance to right leg] It could, I guess...but what makes you believe it is?

Kawashima: [seriously] Well, I’m not saying for sure it is, but...I think we should look into it.

Kasparov: [considers carefully] Its placement inside the Taiko no Tatsujin machine makes it rather suspicious... [presses index finger to temple] Additionally, there were no obvious wounds on his body.

Hayasaka: [twirls hair absentmindedly] But...if the, like, wire is the, like, murder weapon, wouldn’t that, like, mean Michio-kun was, like, strangled? [purses lips] And wouldn’t that, like, have left, like, a nasty mark on, like, Michio-kun’s neck?

Terajima: [nods] It would...but with the body being as badly burnt as it was, we wouldn’t have noticed such a mark. That’s probably why the killer would choose to strangle him.

Carrasco: [unfurls fan and covers mouth] So that was another reason el culpable had to burn the body...obfuscating the true of cause of death...

Eguchi: [tremulously] Sorry to, um, interrupt, but, um...where would the, um, culprit have gotten, um, a wire?

Domoto: [scratches chin] Now that you say that...I don’t remember seeing any in the Storage Room on the first floor.

Oyamada: [looks around apprehensively] I d-didn’t see a-any wires a-around, either...

Ichigohara: [confusedly] So the culprit had nowhere to get a wire...yet they used one to kill Michio-kun. If they didn't magically find a wire, what did they use?

That’s a good question, Ichigohara-san...if there aren’t any wires around here, then how did the culprit get one? What could that “wire” really be?

HANGMAN’S GAMBIT

Question: What did the culprit use in place of a wire?

RITGUA GRSNIT

Answer: Guitar String

Kawashima: I’ve solved it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] They used a guitar string!

Carrasco: [shocked] ¿Qué?

Komatsu: [incredulously] The fuck?! Ya serious, Kawashima-san? Or are ya on some crazy pills?

Kawashima: [seriously] No, I’m entirely serious. A guitar string is the closest thing to a wire the culprit could have gotten in this place.

Domoto: [scratches chin] It is unexpected, but...as we know, there is a guitar in the Props Storage Room.

Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Yeah, and there’s one set of spare strings, too.

Kawashima: [sharply] Wait...only one set?

Komatsu: [nods] Yeah...I only saw one set of spare strings when I was goin’ back there to get an extra low E string durin’ the talent show.

Kawashima: [seriously] Wait a minute...that just be the clue we need to point out the culprit.

Eguchi: [clutches hands over heart] You, um, know the, um, killer, now, Kawashima-san?

Kawashima: [seriously] I think I do, yes.

I don’t want to do it...but if there was only one set of spare strings...that fact, combined with everyone’s alibis and accounts...it leaves only one suspect. I hate that I have to point this person out...but they killed Aozora-kun, I’m sure of it! For his sake, I need to reveal their identity, no matter how much I may dislike it!

CHOOSE A PERSON!

Wakana Kawashima

Eisuke Terajima

Sakiko Motoki

Yuuto Furuhata

Yuzuki Eguchi

Sergey Kasparov

Mayumi Carrasco

Mika Hayasaka

Tomiko Niizuma

Noriyo Ichigohara

Yoshi Yamaguchi

Yutaka Komatsu

Hisaya Sashihara

Osamu Oyamada

Michio Aozora

Otoha Domoto

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

[MAYUMI CARRASCO CHOSEN]

Kawashima: It can only be you!

Kawashima: [seriously] Carrasco-san...you’re the only person it could be.

Carrasco: [mouth half open] .......... [tilts head perplexedly] ¿Qué? What do you mean, Señorita Kawashima?

Kawashima: [firmly] I mean you’re the only person who could have taken that guitar string.

Motoki: [shocked] W-Wait...you’re accusing Carrasco-san of being the killer?!

Komatsu: [surprised] Yo, Kawashima-san, are ya crazy? There ain’t no way Carrasco-san’s the killer!

Ichigohara: [scratches back] Yeah...I don’t see how that could be the case, Wakana-chan...

Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] Y-Yeah...When could sh-she have t-taken the g-guitar string, a-anyway?

Domoto: [scratches chin] If I’m following Kawashima-san’s reasoning correctly, I think she’s saying that because during the talent show, when the guitar string broke...Carrasco-san was the one to replace the broken guitar string with a new one. [thoughtfully] As such, she could’ve used the old string as the murder weapon.

Carrasco: [taps fan against chin] Lo siento, I’m afraid I don’t understand...did Señor Komatsu not just say there was a set of extra strings? El verdadero culpable simply could have used one of those.

She brings up a fair point...but I think I know how to counter it.

Kawashima: [seriously] Komatsu-kun, could I ask you something really quick?

Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Whaddaya need?

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] If the string we found in the Taiko no Tatsujin machine was pretty thick...which string on a guitar would that be?

Komatsu: [thinking] Hmm... [fixes belt] Prolly the low E string. That’s the largest string on a guitar.

Kawashima: [smiles slightly] And which string broke at the talent show?

Komatsu: [eyes widen in realization] Hold up...it was the low E string! I remember thinkin’ it was weird that the thickest string broke so easily...

Carrasco: [taken aback] ...!

It looks like she didn’t like him saying that.

Komatsu: [desperately] But wait...jus’ ‘cause it’s weird don’t mean Carrasco-san’s the killer!

Kawashima: [firmly] It doesn’t, no...but it makes her look very suspicious. [seriously] So, Carrasco-san...if the low E string was the one that broke and you replaced it with the new string...wouldn’t that mean there was only the low E string available for you to use as the murder weapon?

Carrasco: [covers face with fan] ..........[unfurls fan and covers mouth] Not necessarily, Señorita Kawashima. That wire, even if it is a guitar string, may not truly be the low E string. Even if it is, someone could have simply taken the string off the guitar, used it to kill Señor Aozora, and left it en la máquina de Taiko no Tatsujin.

Domoto: [raises eyebrows] Are you sure? Because when I investigated the Props Room after the murder, I remember seeing the guitar with all its strings. [scratches chin] I remember seeing that last night too when I put the red cape and hood back in the Props Storage Room.

Kasparov: [analytically] Additionally...have you not claimed to have been in the Props Storage Room or at least near there for most of this morning? So would you not have seen any individual if they attempted to take the guitar string?

Carrasco: [frowns] Yes...I suppose I would have.

Niizuma: [examines nails] So you didn’t see anyone.

Carrasco: [tilts head curiously] ¿Qué?

Niizuma: [folds arms] You said I “would have” seen them...meaning you are saying you seeing someone taking the string is a hypothetical situation and did not occur.

Carrasco: [sweats] But... [poses dramatcially] I simply could have missed them! Like un zorro furtivo, el culpable could have slipped by me and stolen the guitar string!

Niizuma: [deadpan] Really? [looks to the side boredly] In my professional opinion, the probability of that event happening is about 0.03%.

Sashihara: [nods vigorously] Yeah...and why would anyone go through all that effort to steal the string when they had other ways of killing Aozora-kun?!

Terajima: [calmly] They wouldn’t have. Plain and simple.

Carrasco: [sweats nervously] Espera...this nonsense with the string...it is mere speculation, nada más.

Hayasaka: [twirls hair] But can you, like, prove it, Mayumi-chan?

Carrasco: [narrows eyes] Sí, I can. [poses dramatically] I’ll show why I cannot be el culpable!

So, Carrasco-san is going to attempt to defend herself...even if I strongly suspect her, I should still give her a shot to prove herself innocent. After all, there’s no way to know 100% for sure she’s the killer...not until she or someone else confesses.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Sashihara’s Account, Carrasco’s Account, Kasparov’s Account, Hayasaka’s Account

Carrasco: [narrows eyes] To say I am Señor Aozora’s killer...is simply preposterous!

Komatsu: [angrily] Yeah, ya guys ain’t got nothin’ against her!

Motoki: [pulls on poncho sleeve] Do you have any proof that makes her innocent, though? [rubs shoulder] I don’t want to suspect you, Carrasco-san...

Carrasco: [unfurls fans and covers mouth] Of course I have proof.

Carrasco: [points angrily with fan] First of all, I have an alibi
for this morning...
Carrasco: [fixes flowers in hair] Additionally, no one
saw me anywhere near the Casino at any point.
Carrasco: [narrows eyes] There’s no proof that’s been presented against me so far except for that stupid string... [points angrily with fan] ...which is nothing more
than coincidence and speculation!

Carrasco: [desperately] See? ¡No soy la culpable!

Carrasco-san seems desperate to prove she isn’t the killer...but, in doing so, she’s only reminded me of something that makes her look pretty suspicious.

Answer: Hayasaka’s Account >
have an alibi

Kawashima: No, that’s wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] But you don’t have
an alibi for his morning, Carrasco-san...at least, not a solid one.

Carrasco: [desperately] Pero...I was with Señorita Hayasaka in the Auditorium!

Kasparov: [neutrally] It is true you were both in the Auditorium, however...Hayasaka-san never left the Dressing Room and you claimed to either be in the Props Storage Room or onstage the whole time... [presses finger against forehead] ...meaning you could have snuck out of the Auditorium without having Hayasaka-san notice.

Carrasco: [taken aback] ¡...Ay! [sweats nervously] Sí...it is possible I snuck out of el auditorio, but you have no proof I did so!

Domoto: [raises eyebrows] Are you sure?

Eguchi: [surprised] Wait...Domoto-san, are you, um, saying you have, um, proof against her?

Domoto: [nods] I am.

Carrasco: [narrows eyes] What is it? And if it’s something important, why didn’t you mention it until now!?

Domoto: [neutrally] It is something that’s been mentioned before. [crosses arms] As
previously stated, we were locked in the Rec Room by someone in red...and you’re the only person here who wears red, Carrasco-san. [shakes head] We really should’ve realized it sooner...

Carrasco: [taken aback] .......... [points fan angrily] But the person who locked you all in the Rec Room could be the attacker! They could’ve easily used the red cape and hood to disguise themselves!

Kawashima: [frowns] No...they couldn’t have.

Carrasco: [surprised] What do you mean, Señorita Kawashima? Of course they could have!

Kawashima: [firmly] No, they couldn’t have.

Ichigohara: [confusedly] Sorry, Wakana-chan, but I don’t get what you’re sayin’...why couldn’t someone just have taken the red cape and hood?

Why couldn’t they have? If I point out that one part of the crime scene, the answer should become clear...

Aozora’s body being burnt/The melted duct tape/The fabric under Aozora’s shoe

Answer: The fabric under Aozora’s shoe

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] If you remember the crime scene, Ichigohara-san...you’d notice that there was a red fabric trapped under Aozora’s shoe.

Komatsu: [furrows eyebrows] Okay...but what the fuck does that hafta do with what Ichigohara-san was talkin’ ‘bout?

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] If fabric is red and was in the pachinko machine fire...I think it’s safe to conclude it’s the red cape and hood.

Kasparov: [considers carefully] Indeed...that makes sense. [presses finger to temple] Due to the fact we did not find the red cape and hood anywhere else, it seems logical to conclude that fabric under Aozora-kun’s shoe was a remnant of the red cape and hood utilized by the attacker.

Niizuma: [scratches neck] Yes...I’d say there’s approximately a 93% chance of that being correct.

Carrasco: [hesitantly] Sí, it seems you are correct... [points fan angrily] But how does that have to do with no one being able to use it? [narrows eyes] Is it not possible that they could have locked you all in the Rec Room, gone to the Casino, thrown the red cape and hood in la máquina de pachinko, set it on fire, and then fled the scene?

No...that can’t be what happened. Because...

The fire alarm rang soon after we were locked in the Rec Room/We smelled smoke as we were being locked in the Rec Room/The fire alarm rang before we were locked in the Rec Room

Answer: The fire alarm rang soon after we were locked in the Rec Room

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] The fire alarm rang very soon after we were locked in the Rec Room.

Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] Y-Yeah...it happened a-around fifteen s-seconds after we w-were locked in th-there...

Carrasco: [unimpressed] So?

Kawashima: [slightly challenging] So the culprit wouldn’t have been able to run to the Casino, throw the red cape and hood in the pachinko machine, and then set it on fire all in the span of fifteen seconds or so.

Carrasco: [unfurls fan and covers mouth] But is it not possible they set la máquina de pachinko on fire beforehand and threw it in after they locked you all in the Rec Room?

Domoto: [scratches chin] Yet that would have risked the fire alarms going off and possibly preventing the culprit from returning to the pachinko machine.

Komatsu: [unimpressed] Couldn’t the killer not have known ‘bout the fire alarms?

Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] Except Monohebi mentioned earlier that an individual spoke with him about the nature fire alarms...and the identity of that individual is almost certainly the culprit.

Carrasco: [points fan angrily] Almost certainly is not certainly! The person who asked about the fire alarms could be someone else!

Niizuma: [folds arms] But it is certain. Weren’t you all listening earlier ? Monohebi himself said it was the culprit who asked him.

Carrasco: [frustratedly] Th-That...that means nothing! The culprit could have been unaware of the fire alarms! He could be lying!

Domoto: [assuredly] Even if he is, in addition to everything else, the fabric was under Aozora-kun’s shoe. How could it have gotten under his shoe if the machine was already on fire?

Carrasco: [taken aback] ...! I...it could have...

Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Carrasco-san...please give up on this.

Carrasco: [frustratedly] ................ [desperately] Señor Komatsu! You don’t believe I’m the killer, right?

Komatsu: [grimaces] Carrasco-san...I don’t wanna...but...

Carrasco [sweats nervously] .............. [sourly] Está bien. I concede on the point about the red cape and hood.[determined] However, I will not admit to being the killer! I won’t admit to something that is false!

Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Are you sure it’s false?

Carrasco: [frustratedly] ¡Por supuesto! Of course I am. [desperately] Besides, didn’t we say the time of death was last night, not this morning? [points fan angrily] So doesn’t what happened then matter more?

Ichigohara: [scratches backs] Yeah...it probably does...

Carrasco: [chuckles nervously] S-See? I cannot be the one responsible for all this...

Domoto: [raises eyebrows] Really? Because you’re acting suspiciously right now.

Carrasco: [taken aback] That’s because...I am simply shocked by these accusations...[points fan angrily] But if you don’t believe me, I’ll show to you why it’s impossible for me to have killed Señor Aozora! This time for real!

”This time for real?” Let’s see about that...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Kasparov’s Account, Inside of Arcade Machine, Torn Fabric, Red Cape and Hood

Carrasco: [frustratedly] I can’t believe I have to repeat this, but I will...

Carrasco: [angrily] I am not the killer !

Terajima: [coolly] But do you have any way to prove that statement?

Carrasco: [frustratedly] Claro que sí. [unfurls fan and covers mouth] As you all know, I may not have a completely solid alibi for this morning...but I do have one for last night!

Carrasco: [fixes flowers in hair] Besides, if I had killed Señor Aozora in the morning...

Carrasco: [unfurls fan and covers mouth] I would not have been able to carry out el crimen the way you have described it so far.
Carrasco: [unfurls fan and covers mouth] Firstly, I could not have
killed Señor Aozora and taken his body out of la máquina de Taiko no Tatsujin with Señorita Eguchi in the Arcade.
Sashihara: [shouts loudly] But the Taiko no Tatsujin machine is near the door , right? [points aggressively] So couldn’t you have snuck out Aozora-kun’s body without her noticing?!
Carrasco: [unfurls fan and covers mouth] And risk being seen in the hallway? No, I would never be so stupid.

Carrasco-san’s argument...at first glance, it makes sense. But knowing all the evidence...I’m sure something about her explanation is wrong!

Answer: Kasparov’s Account >
last night

Kawashima: No, that’s wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] You don’t have a solid for last night either, Carrasco-san.

Carrasco: [narrows eyes] ¿Qué dices? Of course I do! I was at the talent show and then I was attacked, and even then I was with Señorita Ichigohara! I wasn’t ever alone!

Kawashima: [unimpressed] Are you sure? Because Kasparov-kun’s account of what happened last night seems to say otherwise.

Carrasco: [incredulously] Señor Kasparov? [narrows eyes] What does he have anything to do with this?

Hayasaka: [twirls hair confusedly] Yeah, Mika-chan, like, doesn’t get what he, like, has to do with, like, this either...

Kawashima: [seriously] Then could you explain your account of what happened last night to everyone, Kasparov-kun?

Kasparov: [nods] Certainly. [explanatorily] As I was heading down to get ready for bed, I heard a loud scream while on the stairs. I immediately rushed over to the source of the scream, which was the women’s lavatory.

Komatsu: [confusedly] Lavatory? The fuck is that?

Oyamada: [flips through book pages] A-According to this d-dictionary, it’s “a r-room or compartment w-with a toilet and w-washbasin.”

Komatsu: [irritatedly] So a bathroom? Why the fuck didn’t ya just say that, Kasparov-kun?

Kasparov: [narrows eyes] Does it truly matter? I was simply utilizing a word in my lexicon.

Komatsu: [angrily confused] The fuck’s a “lexicon?!”

Oyamada: [flips through book pages] I-It’s a—

Niizuma: [scratches neck] Please shut up. We need to get back on track.

Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] I don’t disagree, but... [coolly] Don’t interrupt Oyamada-kun like that. It’s rude.

Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] Yeah, you could’ve, um, said it a lot, um, more nicely...

Niizuma: [looks to the side] ...Whatever. [folds arms] Kasparov-kun, can you please continue?

Kasparov: [breathes deeply] ...Yes. [explanatorily] After I arrived at the...bathroom, I found Carrasco-san just inside the doorway with an unconscious Ichigohara-san right next to her.

Ichigohara: [massages head] Ugh, my head still hurts from that...whoever that attacker was, they snuck up behind me and hit me real good.

Domoto: [curiously] Did you ever see the attacker, Ichigohara-san?

Ichigohara: [rubs head] I saw a flash of red behind me, and then next thing I knew everythin’ was black for a while.

Domoto: [scratches chin] Interesting...

I wonder what Domoto-san’s point in asking Ichigohara-san that was...

Kasparov: [slightly annoyed] May I please resume my story now, without interruption this time?

Ichigohara: [regretfully] Oh...sorry, Sergey-kun, I shouldn’t have interjected like that. I promise I won’t interrupt you again.

Kasparov: [gratefully] Thank you. [explanatorily] Anyway, after I arrived at the bathroom, Carrasco-san informed me that she had seen the attacker flee into the Casino. So, I headed to the Casino, where Niizuma-san was playing on a pachinko machine.

Sashihara: [shocked] Hold on...a pachinko machine? And the Casino is where Carrasco-san saw the attacker go? [angrily] Why didn’t you mention this before!? This makes Niizuma-san suspicious, not Carrasco-san!

Carrasco: [desperately] Sí, Señor Sashihara is correct! Why are you not pointing out Señorita Niizuma as la culpable?

Kawashima: [seriously] Listen to Kasparov-kun’s whole account and you’ll see why.

Kasparov: [nods thankfully] Thank you for allowing me to speak again, Kawashima-san. [explanatorily] After I arrived in the Casino, I talked with Niizuma-san about the ordeal with the attack for a few minutes. Then, I returned to the bathroom, where Carrasco-san and Ichigohara-san were. Ichigohara-san soon woke, after which Carrasco-san and I accompanied her back to the Auditorium, where we informed you all of the attack.

Motoki: [pulls on poncho sleeve] Sorry, but...I don’t understand how this makes Carrasco-san look more suspicious than Niizuma-san.

Kawashima: [seriously] It’s because Kasparov-kun left Carrasco-san alone with an unconscious Ichigohara-san for a few minutes.

Komatsu: [fixes belt] So she was alone... [confusedly] ...But how the fuck does that makes her any more suspicious than Niizuma-san? Niizuma-san was alone for almost all of last night, while Carrasco-san was only alone for a few minutes.

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] It’s because the women’s bathroom of the second floor is right across the hall from the Arcade. And the Taiko no Tatsujin machine in right next to the Arcade’s door to the hallway.

Eguchi: [eyes widen in realization] Wait...are you, um, saying that Carrasco-san, um, rushed across the, um, hallway, strangled, um, Aozora-kun, and then went back to the bathroom?

Carrasco: [sweats nervously] .............

Kawashima: [nods affirmatively] Yes, I am, Eguchi-san. [thoughtfully] Carrasco-san is shorter than me, so she would have been able to fit inside the Taiko no Tatsujin machine. While there, she could’ve hidden inside the machine while strangling Aozora-kun, just in case Kasparov-kun or anyone else entered in the Arcade. [seriously] Also, because of the duct tape restraining Aozora-kun and covering his mouth, there wouldn’t have been a risk of anyone hearing Aozora-kun struggling as he was being strangled.

Sashihara: [chews lip] Hmm...That does seem possible...

Niizuma: [firmly] It’s not only possible, it’s probable. About 94.6%, I think. [irritatedly] So, will you all stop accusing me of being the killer?

Komatsu: [hesitantly] ...I guess.

Kawashima: [nods] Good. Now, can we move on to—

Carrasco: ¡Mentirosa!

BREAK!

[split screen separates Carrasco and Kawashima]

Carrasco: [frustratedly] Why must you contaminate the purity of everyone’s minds with the poison of your lies, Señorita Kawashima?

Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Lies? I’m not the one lying here!

Carrasco: [frustratedly] Yes you are! [unfurls fan and covers mouth] But if you can’t admit it yourself... [points fan angrily] ...then I’ll be the one to pull back the curtain and expose them!

I’m not lying about any of this...I’ve based my deductions off reason and evidence. So if Carrasco-san has an argument, I know I can beat it!

REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN

Truth Swords: Inside of Arcade Machine, Torn Fabric, Carrasco’s Account, Layout of Casino

Carrasco: [unfurls fan and covers mouth] Your accusations against me...they are based on nothing but empty speculation!

Carrasco: [points fan angrily] You have yet to present proof that actually proves me as the culprit...

Carrasco: [frustratedly] So why don’t you just give up? It’s obvious you’re lying!

ADVANCE!

Kawashima: [doubtfully] It’s obvious I’m lying?

Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Do you have any proof to back that statement up?

Carrasco: [unfurls fan and covers mouth] ¡Claro que sí!

Carrasco: [frustratedly] You said
I could’ve strangled Señor Aozora en la máquina de Taiko no Tatsujin...yet that is impossible!
Carrasco: [narrows eyes] Had I done that...there undoubtedly would have been a struggle! Yet... [points fan angrily] There was no sign
of struggle!

Carrasco: [desperately] See? I’ve exposed your lies!

Exposed my lies? No, you haven’t done that, Carrasco-san. What you have done is exposed another weakness in your argument.

Answer: Inside of Arcade Machine >
no sign

Kawashima: I’ll cut your contradictions in two!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] It seems you’re forgetting something, Carrasco-san...there was a sign of struggle at the scene.

Carrasco: [challenging] There was? Then what was it?

Kawashima: [seriously] The inside of the Taiko no Tatsujin machine was very badly damaged... [thoughtfully] We know it was working before the talent show, yet wasn’t after...and due to the string being found inside the machine...that damage was probably caused by Aozora-kun resisting to being strangled!

Oyamada: [looks around apprehensively] B-But wasn’t he r-restrained by d-duct tape?

Terajima: [calmly] He was. But even with duct tape restraining his arms and legs, he was being killed. [pushes sunglasses up nose] The human desire to live is quite strong. In spite of being restrained, he likely would have fought very hard not to die.

Domoto: [arches eyebrows] You’re suspiciously knowledgeable about this. [icily] Did your time in the Kuzuryuu Clan
give you experience in killing restrained people, Terajima-kun?

Terajima: [clenches fist with regretful grimace] I...I unfortunately witnessed things like that a few times. [shamefully] I wish I had never been a part of that lifestyle...

Oyamada: [smiles supportively] Don’t worry, Terajima-kun...you left that life of crime behind. You’re a different person now.

Eguchi: [nods] Yeah...you’re, um, a lot better than, um, that stuff now...

Terajima: [small smile] Thanks, you guys.

I’m glad to see they support Terajima-kun so much. It’s good to see after most of the group was excluding him after the last trial.

Carrasco: [frustratedly] Can we get back to the main topic? [points fans angrily] You still haven’t proved I’m the killer! Even with the damage to la máquina de Taiko no Tatsujin...you can’t prove I’m the killer. Señorita Niizuma is
still suspicious!

Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] How about this? [coolly] 9:30 was listed as the time of death in the Monohebi File. As a bodyguard, I always keep track of the time. And 9:30 last night...that would’ve been right after the attack against you with the timeframe described so far. A time where chess boy would’ve been talking with the stats girl.

Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] “Chess boy?” I am not certain I approve of that nickname...

Niizuma: [purses lips] I don’t particularly like “stats girl,” either.

Domoto: [waves hand dismissively] That’s unimportant. [crosses arms] What matters is that what Terajima-kun just brought up about the times is damning evidence against Carrasco-san.

Carrasco: [eyes widen] ...Damning evidence? [laughs maniacally] Haha...Hahahahahaha!! It’s so pathetic! You think that little bit of conjecture is damning evidence? [rips flowers out of hair] It’s nothing of the sort! There are still contradictions that you haven’t cleared up!

Kawashima: [slightly challenging] There are? What are they?

Carrasco: [points fan angrily] You won’t admit them? Fine! How could Señor Aozora’s bowl have disappeared?

Motoki: [surprised] Huh?

Domoto: [raises eyebrows] What are you talking about, Carrasco-san?

Carrasco: [smugly] Haha...so it seems I have found a fatal flaw in your theory. [unfurls fan and covers mouth] Señorita Ichigohara and Señorita Kawashima
placed Señor Aozora’s dinner in front of his door before heading up to the talent show, verdad?

Ichigohara: [scratches back with uncertain expression] Yeah, that’s true...but where are you goin’ with this, Mayumi-chan?

Carrasco: [unfurls fan and covers mouth] If Señor Aozora’s dinner was placed there...then it’s impossible for me to be the culprit.

Kasparov: [narrows eyes] And why is that?

Carrasco: [smugly] Haha...can you not see it, Señor Kasparov? Aren’t you the Ultimate Chess Grandmaster? Shouldn’t your incredibly logical, strategic mind have already realized why?

Kasparov: [irritatedly] Just spit it out!

Carrasco: [smugly] Haha...fine. [unfurls fan and covers mouth] If the bowl was placed there before dinner and Señor Aozora was already in la máquina de Taiko no Tatsujin, which we have concluded are what happened until this point...then I wouldn’t have been able to access it until we all went downstairs after the talent show. But...by the time we entered Cell Block A, it was already gone!

Sashihara: [disbelievingly] But couldn’t you have snuck down to the first floor while Kasparov-kun left you alone?

Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] No...I left her alone for only a few minutes. It was not enough time for her to do that and kill Aozora-kun.

Carrasco: [smugly] See? This is one problem you can’t solve. [poses dramatically] Which means el verdadero culpable has been casting the shadow of deception over you all this whole time! The true culprit is not I!

Motoki: [rubs shoulder] I guess...

Ichigohara: [apologetically] Sorry for accusin’ you then, Mayumi-chan.

Carrasco: [pleasantly] Worry not, Señorita Ichigohara. I forgive you.

Shit! It looks like Carrasco-san is beginning to turn suspicion away from her...but I can’t let that happen. I know she’s the culprit, so I just have to figure out this problem to take away this defense!

HANGMAN’S GAMBIT

Question: How could Mayumi Carrasco have made Michio Aozora’s dinner disappear?

UHGOTBR IT OT RHE OMOR

Answer: Brought it to her room

Kawashima: I’ve solved it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Carrasco-san...you went back to your room first out of everyone from the talent show, right?

Carrasco: [stiffly] ...Sí. I did. But what does it matter?

Kawashima: [points in accusation] Because you could’ve taken Aozora-kun’s dinner back to your room and brought it out in the morning!

Carrasco: [taken aback] Eugh...! [sweats nervously] Espera...was the bowl not already back in the Kitchen when you checked this morning?

Ichigohara: [scratches back] Yeah, it was...but no one went back there after the talent show last night.

Komatsu: [confusedly] Hold on...wouldn’t someone have seen Carrasco-san takin’ the bowl to the Kitchen in the mornin’?

No, not necessarily...and that’s because of...

Sashihara’s Account/Komatsu’s Account/Ichigohara’s Account

Answer: Sashihara’s Account

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] Sashihara-kun...during the investigation, you told me two people were in the Cafeteria before you got there. Who were they?

Sashihara: [chews lip] Hmm...let me think. [shouts loudly] Oh! That’s right! They were
Terajima-kun and Carrasco-san!

Carrasco: [sweats nervously] ..............

Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] If I may add, she was there before me, too.

Carrasco: [sweats harder] ..............

Kawashima: [nods] I figured as much. [seriously] So, Carrasco-san if you were the first one who went out to the Cafeteria this morning, couldn’t you have brought the bowl with you and placed it in the Kitchen sink, acting like it had been there the whole time?

Carrasco: [sweats nervously] I...that’s...

Domoto: [crosses arms] Entirely posible?

Carrasco: [frustratedly] No...it’s... [points fan angrily] That’s not everything! How could I have gotten the note and pen to write to Señor Aozora?

Kawashima: [slightly challenging] You could have gotten it from the Storage Room. Or, if you really wanted to, you could’ve just asked Monohebi to open Furuhata-kun’s room for you to get the notebook and pen he used to write the note to Terajima-kun!

Carrasco: [pulls on hair] Ergh...! [points fan angrily]
What about the red cape and hood!? Didn’t Señorita Domoto place it back in the Props Storage Room last night!? How could it have gotten from there to la máquina de pachinko!? [furiously] Huh!? HUH!?

Eguchi: [puzzled] That is, um, a good question...

Ichigohara: [scratches backs and grimaces] Damn, are we stuck again?

Kawashima: [firmly] No. [points in accusation] You could’ve taken that red cape and hood to the pachinko machine sometime after we all went to bed last night, or even before we all woke up this morning! Hell, that’s probably when you brought Aozora-kun’s body from the Arcade to the Casino!

Carrasco: [pulls on hair] No...no...

Niizuma: [coldly] Give it up already. We all know you’re the killer. [folds arms] Even if evidence hadn’t already proved it, your reactions have.

Kasparov: [analytically] I agree. It would be most strategic for you to simply concede, Carrasco-san.

Carrasco: [incredulously] Concede...? [furiously] No...because...I’m not the culprit. [pulls on hair] ¡No soy la culpable! ¡No soy la culpable! ¡¡¡¡¡¡NO SOY LA CULPABLLLEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] C-Carrasco-san, please c-calm down...

Carrasco: [furiously] ¡Nunca! No soy la culpable, ¿sois ciegos y sordos?

Hayasaka: [twirls hair] Uh...like, what did she just, like, say?

Motoki: [pulls on poncho sleeve] She said, “Never! I’m not the culprit, are you all blind and deaf?”

Hayasaka: [closes eyes “cutely” and holds up twin peace signs] Like, thanks Sakiko-chan~! Mika-chan, like, doesn’t speak taco.

Carrasco: [pulls on hair] Cállate, puta. ¡Que
te jodan!

Eguchi: [timidly] What does, um, that mean?

Motoki: [sweats nervously] Um...I’d rather not say...

I have a feeling that what Carrasco-san just said was pretty rude...but that’s unimportant. What matters is finally making her admit defeat!

Kawashima: [seriously] Give it up already, Carrasco-san. You’re obviously the killer!

Carrasco: [furiously] No...¿cuántas veces debo de repetirme? [points fan angrily] ¡No soy la culpable!

Carrasco-san is still refusing to give up...but is doesn’t matter. Because I know she’s the culprit, I have to do this and show her, once and for all, there’s no way she isn’t the killer! Not just for me and everyone here, but for Aozora-kun!

ARGUMENT ARMAMENT

[Carrasco is dressed in an overly elaborate flamenco dress, with a long, red, and embroidered silk scarf draped around her neck. She holds castanets in one hand and an unfurled fan in the other, with a spanish guitar sitting in front of her. An aura of red embers surrounds her]

Carrasco: ¡No soy la culpable!

Carrasco: ¿Por qué nos mientes?

Carrasco: ¿Eres tú la verdadera culpable?

Carrasco: ¡Mentirosa!

[aura and guitar disappear. Argument Armament music speeds up]

Carrasco: Es obvio que sepas que no soy la culpable...

Carrasco: Entonces, ¿por qué dices mentiras tan atroces?

Carrasco: ¡Todo esto es imposible!

Carrasco: ¡No hice nada!

[silk shawl disappears. Argument Armament music speeds up even more]

Carrasco: No...no puede ser...

Carrasco: En este juicio escolar, la meta es descubrir el verdadero culpable...

Carrasco: ¡Pero no soy esa persona!

Carrasco: ¡No soy la culpable!

[castanets and fan disappear. Music stops and is replaced by a heartbeat sound effect]

Carrasco: How could I have planned for being attacked!?

YOU————ATTACKER————-WAS—————THE

Answer: The attacker was you

[Carrasco falls to the ground, her outfit in tatters]

Carrasco: ¡AYYYYYYYYY!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] It was you, Carrasco-san. [points in accusation] The attacker wasn’t ever a real person...just something you made up to make yourself look like the victim. You’re the only person here who wears red, and the attacker also wears red.... [thoughtfully] Also...you could’ve both bruised yourself and ripped your sleeve on the door to the women’s bathroom, which explains the torn fabric there, as a way to feign your attack. [firmly] Everything that allegedly was from an attacker could’ve been done by you yourself!

Carrasco: [pulls on hair] Eugh...agh...

Ichigohara: [mouth half open] Hold on...are you sayin’ Mayumi-chan is the one who attacked me? [scratches back and grimaces] I guess that explains me seein’ someone in red coming up behind me...but I never thought it would be Mayumi-chan.

Niizuma: [sharply] Well? Was it you, Carrasco-san?

Carrasco: [pulls on hair] Yo...no...soy....no...soy...no...no....

Domoto: [folds arms] There’s no point in talking to her. [assuredly] Besides, it’s pretty clear she’s the culprit at this point.

Kawashima: [nods] I agree, but... [seriously] I want to go over everything one last time. I want to prove...no. [determined] I will
prove,
beyond any shadow of a doubt, that Carrasco-san is the culprit of this case!

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

CLOSING ARGUMENT

Missing Pieces:

A: The culprit knocks out Ichigohara and drags her into the women’s bathroom

B: Using duct tape, the culprit restrains and gags Aozora

C: The culprit transports Aozora’s body from the Arcade to the pachinko machine

D: As they place a new string onto the guitar, the culprit sneakily takes the old one
E:
Terajima and Furuhata meet in the Storage Room
F: The culprit obtains the notebook and pen

G: The culprit returns to their room

H: Using the guitar string they got earlier, the culprit strangles Aozora

I: Kasparov, the culprit, and Ichigohara head back to the Auditorium

J: The culprit locks Kawashima, Domoto, Kasparov, Ichigohara, Motoki, and Oyamada in the Rec Room

As he storms out of the meeting, Aozora is watched by the culprit
The culprit asks Monohebi to open Furuhata’s room
???
The culprit writes a note to Aozora
After seeing the note, Aozora goes to Cell Block B
Aozora is knocked out by the culprit
???
The culprit hides an unconscious Aozora in the Taiko no Tatsujin machine
???
The day passes and the talent show comes along
A guitar string breaks as Komatsu is carrying it
???
Accompanied by Ichigohara, the culprit leaves to go the bathroom
???
Ripping their sleeve on the door and hitting their wrist against it to bruise themselves, the culprit attempts to make it look like they were attacked
The culprit screams for help
Kasparov hears the culprit’s screams
The culprit tells Kasparov the attacker went into the Casino
As Kasparov searches for the nonexistent attacker, the culprit runs over to the Arcade and gets inside the Taiko no Tatsujin machine
???
The culprit leaves the Taiko no Tatsujin machine
???
Before going to their room, the culprit takes Aozora’s dinner bowl
Sometime during the night, the culprit takes the red cape and hood and places it in the pachinko machine
???
The next morning, the culprit wakes up early and places Aozora’s bowl in the Kitchen sink
Later that day, the culprit sneaks out of the Auditorium
The culprit uses a lighter to set the red cape and hood on fire
???
The culprit rushes back to the Auditorium

Answer: F (3), B (7), G (9), D (12), A (14), H (20), I (22), C (25), J (29)

Kawashima: This is how it happened!

CLIMAX INFERENCE

Kawashima: This case began two nights ago, at a meeting proposed by Motoki-san, Ichigohara-san, and I. We invited Hayasaka-san, Niizuma-san, and the culprit to come so that everyone in the group could resolve their differences.

Kawashima: However, the victim of this case, Michio Aozora, publicly disagreed with our goal and stormed out of the meeting, distraught. This exposed a weakness in him that the culprit hoped to exploit in their murder case.

Kawashima: After the meeting was over and everyone else went to bed, the culprit claimed they were staying up to wait for Eguchi-san, Oyamada-kun, and Komatsu-kun to come downstairs, but really they were attempting to start their extravagant plot by somehow getting their hands on a notebook and pen. Due to the note in this case’s similarities to the note from the last case, the culprit probably had Monohebi open Furuhata-kun’s room to get the notebook and pen he used.

Kawashima: Using these materials, the culprit wrote a note to Aozora-kun asking him to meet up at midnight. Due to how he had been acting, they probably weren’t sure he would come...but unfortunately for him, he did.

Kawashima: At their secret meeting, the culprit knocked out Aozora-kun, and, using duct tape they had previously gotten from the Storage Room, they restrained and gagged Aozora-kun inside the Taiko no Tatsujin machine. Then, they went to bed.

Kawashima: The next day, the culprit went about their daily business with the rest of us...until the talent show. There, a string on the guitar broke right before their performance.

Kawashima: Due to the broken string being the thickest string on the guitar and it being suitable for strangulation,
this string was probably deliberately weakened beforehand by the culprit to give them an excuse to replace it. While the culprit was replacing the broken string with a new one, they sneakily took the old one.

Kawashima: Soon after, the culprit declared they were headed to the bathroom. However, Domoto-san wouldn’t let them go alone, so Ichigohara-san went with the culprit to the bathroom.

Kawashima: On their way there, the culprit suddenly smashed Ichigohara-san’s head against the wall, knocking her unconscious. Then, they dragged her body to the women’s bathroom.

Kawashima: Once there, the culprit slammed their hand against something to bruise it and tore their sleeve on the doorframe. All this was done to make it look like both Ichigohara-san and the culprit had been attacked. After staging the attack, the culprit screamed for help.

Kawashima: Kasparov-kun, who was on his way downstairs, heard the culprit’s screams and rushed over to the women’s bathroom. When he got there, the culprit told him they saw an attacker wearing a red cape and hood head into the Casino.

Kawashima: Kasparov-kun then ran off to find the nonexistent attacker, allowing the culprit to sneak across the hall to the Arcade. Once there, they got inside the Taiko no Tatsujin machine and, using the broken guitar string from earlier, strangled Aozora-kun to death. However, in his death, Aozora-kun struggled against the culprit, badly damaging the interior of the machine and eventually helping us find the truth of this case.

Kawashima: After they finished killing Aozora-kun, the culprit went back across the hall and waited for Kasparov-kun to return. Once he did, he and the culprit supported the now half-conscious Ichigohara-san and headed back to the Auditorium.

Kawashima: When they got there, they told us there had been an attack. We searched the entire second floor for any sign of the attacker. Although we didn’t find any person, we found the red cape and hood the culprit had described in Cell Block B. The culprit had probably put it there before the talent show to support their claim that there had been an attack.

Kawashima: Soon after, we decided to go to bed. The culprit made sure they were the first one to go back to their room and snagged Aozora-kun’s uneaten dinner, taking it back to their room to hide it. Later that night, Domoto-san put the red cape and hood back in the Props Storage Room as she had told the rest of the group she would do.

Kawashima: Either that same night or early the next morning, the culprit took the red cape and hood Domoto-san had put in the Props Storage Room and placed it in a pachinko machine in the Casino. This was because it was made out of fabric, a flammable material,
and could be used to start a fire.

Kawashima: Then, they transported Aozora-kun’s corpse from the Arcade to the pachinko machine in the Casino. The culprit’s reasoning for doing this was probably so that they could implicate not only the people who use the Arcade frequently, Eguchi-san and Komatsu-kun, but also Niizuma-san, who was known to use the pachinko machines in the Casino quite often.

Kawashima: Early the next morning, the culprit woke up first, emptied Aozora-kun’s dinner bowl, and placed it in the sink. This was done to make it appear as if it had been there all night. Later on in the day, the culprit snuck out of the Auditorium, headed to the Casino, and, probably after making sure no one was around, set the red cape and hood on fire with a lighter they had gotten from the Storage Room. The purpose of this fire was probably both to hide Aozora-kun’s neck wounds from being strangled and to hide his true time of death, which we would’ve realized more easily had we found the body cold.

Kawashima: Next, they hurried to the Rec Room and locked myself, Domoto-san, Kasparov-kun, Motoki-san, Oyamada-kun, and Ichigohara-san inside, probably to make sure we didn’t come out of there too early and jeopardize their plans. Then, the culprit rushed back to the Auditorium to make sure their alibi was still secure. Luckily for them, they probably made it back just before the fire alarms started ringing. And, due to their talent having to do with sometimes very long shows, the culprit probably didn’t seem out of breath, helping them avoid suspicion from Hayasaka-san, who was the only other person in the Auditorium.

Kawashima: Grabbing two fire extinguishers, the culprit and Hayasaka-san rushed over to the Casino to help put out the fire, only for us to discover the horrible truth...Aozora-kun was dead.

Kawashima: They acted shocked and terrified, but deep down, the culprit was probably relieved their plan had gone so smoothly. They were probably thinking about how they would get away with their terrible crime. And...that person...the one who killed my friend, Aozora-kun...there’s only one person it can be...

[split screen separates Kawashima and Carrasco, who is posing dramatically with her fan covering her mouth]

Kawashima: ...Mayumi Carrasco, the Ultimate Flamenco Performer, you’re the only one!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] So, do you have any more refutations to that, Carrasco-san?

Carrasco: [pulls on hair] ....Eugh.........

Carrasco: [cries slightly and clutches chest as hair covers half of face] ...No. I will not resist it any longer. It’s me. Yo...yo soy la culpable.

So I was right...I should feel proud, but I don’t. I just feel...sad.

Monohebi: [neutrally] Although it may seem rather pointless now, it seems the time for voting has come. Are you prepared to vote on the culprit?

Domoto: [eyes Carrasco] Yes, we are.

Monohebi: [slight smile] Alright then. Please choose a face on the screen in front of you to vote. Be sure to have care in your decision. Will you make the correct choice, or the dreadfully wrong one? [narrows eyes] Also, remember that refraining from voting will result only in your death.

Just like last time, I look at the panel before me, where I see a screen with four rows of four of our faces. Only this time, Yamaguchi and Aozora’s faces are covered with pink X’s.

Soon, Carrasco-san’s face will be covered in an X, too.
Sighing sadly, I press down on the image of her face and look up.

By the time I’ve looked up, Domoto, Kasparov, Niizuma, Terajima, Sashihara, and, surprisingly, Carrasco have already voted. Hayasaka and Ichigohara have more trouble, but eventually, they do it. Eguchi, Oyamada, Komatsu, and Motoki take the most time, but even they eventually vote.

Monohebi: [slight smile] Sususu...it appears all the votes are in. Now, the time you have all been waiting for! [red eye glints] The reveal of the culprit!

Just like the last trial, a giant video monitor appears out of the wall. On it, an animation of giant slot machine with all our faces on it spins rapidly. The slots begin to slow down, more and more until they come to a rest on three picture’s of Carrasco’s face. A big neon sign displaying the word “GUILTY” appears alongside bright, flashing colors, a burst of confetti onscreen, and cheering from a recorded crowd.

Class Trial: All Rise!

Monohebi smiles slightly. “Since she already admitted her guilt, it was fairly obvious, but...you all were right. The culprit behind the murder of Michio Aozora is none other than Mayumi Carrasco, the Ultimate Flamenco Performer!”

“So it’s true,” Motoki says sadly. “I didn’t want to believe it, but...there’s no denying it.”

“Yeah...” Komatsu agrees, sounding sadder than I’ve ever heard him. “Carrasco-san...she’s...” He turns away and starts wiping at his eyes. “She’s...”

“A killer,” Niizuma finishes.

“...Yeah,” Komatsu says. He sniffs.

“Haha...are you, like, sad the, like, girl you were, like, horny for is actually, like, a murderer, Yutaka-kun?” Hayasaka says mockingly.

Surprisingly, Komatsu doesn’t lash out at her. He doesn’t say anything at all. He just stares forward with watery eyes.

“Now is not the time, Hayasaka-san,” Kasparov admonishes.

“Yeah...this isn’t somethin’ to joke about,” Ichigohara says, sounding as serious as I’ve ever heard her. “Because...one of our friends...killed someone.”

“Again,” Motoki adds sadly.

“Carrasco-san...wh-why?” Oyamada asks. “D-Didn’t you say b-before you w-would chose to l-live here and n-not kill?”

“She did say that,” Domoto confirms. “I remember it because I thought it was so stupid. On the day after Monohebi informed us we were in a killing game. She said she would choose to believe to live here and not kill.” Domoto shakes her head. “But it seems she changed her mind.”

“W-Was that a lie, Carrasco-san?” Motoki asks, on the verge of tears. “Did you lie to us the whole time?”

At first Carrasco says nothing. Then, she lets out a deep sigh. “No era mentira,” she says grimly. “I didn’t lie. I truly believed we could live here in harmony forever.”

“What changed your mind?” asks Niizuma. “People’s beliefs don’t just shift like that for no reason."

“It was many things...but the first reason why was Señor Yamaguchi,” Carrasco replies, glancing at his portrait. “When he murdered Señor Furuhata...the illusion I had convinced myself of shattered before my eyes. Señor Yamaguchi had set the precedent and killed someone...after that, it was the point of no return. I knew someone else would kill...and I couldn’t let myself be the victim. So...”

“You planned to murder Aozora-kun,” Terajima says coolly.

“No,” Carrasco says. “Not at first. I was unsure...I was so terribly conflicted.” She clutches her chest. “I still wanted to believe we could live in peace, but I had serious doubts. Although...what pushed me over the edge was the reveal of the traitor.”

That’s understandable...Monohebi revealing that information definitely did a lot of damage to everyone here’s trust for each other. Even so...that doesn’t excuse Carrasco-san becoming a murderer.

“Learning there was, um, a traitor, um, among us was really, um, terrible...” Eguchi says, sniffling. “But that doesn’t, um, mean you had to, um, kill, Carrasco-san.” She begins to cry. “You didn’t have to become a murderer!”

“Yeah,” Sashihara agrees vigorously. “We could’ve all worked together to make sure to traitor came back to our side!”

Carrasco shakes her head. “Don’t lie to yourself,” she says. “Every person, whether they know it or not, has a core that they can never change, no matter how hard they try. The traitor...when they chose Monohebi’s side, exposed their true selves...their core.”

“So?” Terajima asks challengingly. “That was only one person among all of us. You didn’t have to do what you did.”

“But I couldn’t know who it was for certain,” Carrasco counters. “I couldn’t trust any of you...even though I knew what truly lay in the traitor’s soul, I saw only the facades you all put up. I couldn’t live like that forever...I couldn’t live in constant distrust and suspicion.

“But even that was not all. When I realized that no one would ever come help us...that was the final straw. I had worked so hard to become what I am...I had done so much...that I couldn’t let myself waste away with a bunch of distrustful backstabbers.”

Domoto raises her eyebrows. "We’re the backstabbers?” she asks. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You were the one who chose to murder.”

“But not the one who sided with Monohebi,” Carrasco says. “I didn’t betray the group. The traitor did.”

“How do we know you and the traitor are not the same individual?” Kasparov asks with narrowed eyes. “You very well could be lying to us.”

“I could be,” Carrasco admits, “but I’m not. I have no reason to lie now. Not as I stand here, waiting for death to come and strike me down like a harvester reaps
ripe crops.”

Niizuma frowns. “Carrasco-san,” she says softly, “I faced many of the difficulties you did. Just like you, I was appalled by Yamaguchi-kun’s killing of Furuhata-kun, I was disgusted by the distrustfulness of this group, I felt betrayed by the reveal of the traitor. Yet I did not kill.” Her eyes harden. “I was once told that the same water that softens a potato hardens an egg. The situation is unimportant. What matters is how you react to it.”

Carrasco cannot seem to find a way to respond. “I...it was...” She breaks down into tears and glares at Niizuma. “I’m sorry I’m not as emotionally dead as you, Señorita Niizuma. Why don’t you have a little compassion, you stone-hearted bitch?”

Niizuma returns her glare. “I have no compassion for killers,” she says coldly. “Especially not killers who didn’t even put in the hard work and effort to resist the urge to kill.”

Carrasco breaks down even more. “I...*sniff*...I’m sorry...”

“Sorry doesn’t bring Aozora-kun back,” Niizuma says pitilessly.

“Tomiko-chan...” Ichigohara says, “C’mon, you don’t have to be so harsh...”

“Don’t stop her,” Domoto says sharply. “Let Niizuma-san express how she really feels. It’s better to be honest than spitting out empty words.”

“That’s true, but...” Ichigohara hangs her head. “Tomiko-chan still shouldn’t be mean to Mayumi-chan. She’s about to die!”

“All the more reason to be honest with her, then,” Kasparov says. “Besides, we need not pity her. Especially when she killed Aozora-kun so cruelly.”

“Sh-She had him t-tied up inside an a-arcade machine for o-over a day...” Oyamada says with a shudder. “Th-Then she s-strangled him...and th-then burned his c-corpse...” He shakes his head violently and begins to sob. “How c-could anyone d-do that to another human b-being?”

Terajima comes over to Oyamada and softly pats his head. “I don’t know,” the bodyguard says softly. “But I do know I won’t let it happen again.”

“That is an empty promise,” Carrasco says. “Someone will kill again.”

Terajima whips his head around to Carrasco and, even though his eyes are obscured by his sunglasses, I can tell he’s glaring at her. “I won’t let them,” he says furiously. “I’d rather die than fail to protect anyone else!”

Carrasco smiles weakly at him. “Then you should prepare to die soon.”

Terajima begins to move toward her, but Sashihara steps into his path. “Don’t,” he says, unusually quiet. “She’ll be gone soon enough.”

She will...but...before she goes, I need to ask her something. “Why Aozora-kun?” I ask.

Carrasco turns to face me, a painful expression in her face. “Because Señor Aozora was the easiest target,” she confesses. “It was like picking an already dead flower or putting a dying animal out of its misery. There was no hope left for him. Besides, I figured that if I failed, his death wouldn’t be much of a loss with how unstable he was.”

...What? WHAT!? How dare she say that...
“Carrasco-san,” I say, trying
and failing to restrain my fury, “how can you say that!? He could’ve changed! He wasn’t doomed!”

“Yes he was!” Carrasco shouts at me, stomping her foot on the ground. “You didn’t see him in the end!”

“In the end...?” I repeat angrily. “What the hell do you mean by that!?”

“When we met at midnight,” Carrasco clarifies. “Señor Aozora...he...”

[[flashback begin]]

Aozora: [looks around] Hello? Kawashima-san...are you in here?

Carrasco: [grimly] ..................

Aozora: [sees her] ...Oh. Is Kawashima-san here?

Carrasco: [unfurls fan and covers mouth] ...No. She’s not.

Aozora: [disappointedly] ...She didn’t write the note, then.

Carrasco: [shakes head] No. I did.

Aozora: [blankly] Then why did you want me to come here?

Carrasco: [hesitantly] ...To... [hangs head] To kill you.

Aozora: [blankly] .................. [chuckles mirthlessly] Heh...I came here to take Kawashima-san up on her offer. I thought that’s what the note was. [grimly] But in reality...it was just a trick.

Carrasco: [hangs head] .................. [begins to cry] Lo siento, Señor Aozora...I don’t want to do this...

Aozora: [chuckles mirthlessly] Heh...I’m so stupid. I’m an astrophysicist, who can measure the skies and solve the most complex physics problems...but I’m too stupid to see a trick when it’s right in front of me.

Carrasco: [hangs head] ..................

Aozora: [turns away] I was wrong to come here...I should’ve never believed Kawashima-san. I didn’t deserve her second chance...I’m too much of a failure to deserve that.

Carrasco: [hangs head] .................. [grimly] You need not be a failure...lie down, and let me kill you peacefully. Then, you’ll have been a success.

Aozora: [painfully] ...I still don’t want to die... [closes eyes tightly] ...but you’re right. [looks at Carrasco with cold expression] Although...you should know you’ll fail, too. The others...Kawashima-san, Domoto-san, Kasparov-kun, Niizuma-san...they’ll find you if you kill me. [smiles weakly] They’re not failures like me. Even Kawashima-san...although she isn’t perfect...I know now she’s not a failure like me. [turns away] You will fail, though. You’re a failure, just like me.

Carrasco: [grimly] .................. [narrows eyes] ...I won’t fail.

[whack!]

Carrasco: [stares at Aozora’s unconscious body and pulls out duct tape] Estás equivocado, Señor Aozora. No voy a morir aquí. No puedo...

[[flashback end]]

Aozora-kun...he thought I wrote the note? And he wanted to take my second chance...? He...he didn’t give up on me or himself?
I sink to my knees and begin to sob. Aozora-kun...in the end, he really did want to change..but Carrasco-san...she...she deprived him of that opportunity!
“How could you!?” I ask, enraged. “Aozora-kun wanted to change in the end, yet you fucking murdered him!”

“He said he never should’ve believed you!” Carrasco shouts back at me. “He said himself he didn’t deserve your stupid chance!”

“But he also said he didn’t want to die!” I retort furiously. “You still had no right to kill him! I might’ve been able to convince him to want to change...” A flood of tears bursts from my eyes. “But you...made sure that would never happen...you forced him to die.”

Carrasco doesn’t answer for a moment. “I did,” she says weakly. “Though, in all honesty, if he didn’t come to Cell Block B, I likely would’ve abandoned my plan to murder him. So, in a way...he did choose to die himself.”

No...no he didn’t!
I stand up, my hands balling up into fists, and begin to hurry over to Carrasco. I don’t know if I want to punch her or slap her or whatever, but I do know I want to cause her pain for what she did to my friend.

But before I reach her, Motoki grabs me by the arms. “No,” she whispers firmly. “Fighting her won’t do any good...it won’t bring Aozora-kun back.”

“Just...just let me at her!” I shout, attempting to push Motoki away from me. But her grip is as tight as iron.

“No,” she says firmly. “I won’t.”

I look into Motoki’s eyes, prepared to yell at her, but then I see that her eyes are watering with tears. “Please,” Motoki says, her tone pleading. “Don’t spread more pain and hate. It will only make things worse.”

I begin to fight against Motoki’s grip again, but soon I stop. She’s right...I can’t let rage take hold of me. I can’t let myself be controlled by the grief and anger inside me.
“I’m sorry,” I say as I feel tears stream down my face. “I just...I just want justice for Aozora-kun.”

“Sususu...you need not wait much longer,” Monohebi says with a smile. “The punishment will be commencing shortly.”

Carrasco closes her eyes tightly. “So...this is the end.” She opens her eyes, spilling tears all over her cheeks. “Everyone, I’m sorry for what I did.” She looks at me dolorously. “Señorita Kawashima...to you I say sorry the most.”

Carrasco approaches me and offers me her cheek. “Slap me,” she commands. “I deserve it.”

Had she done it just a minute ago, I would’ve gladly slapped the shit out of her. But now...I know it won’t give me an joy. It will only fuel more negative emotions and make things even worse than they already are.
“No,” I say, refusing her plea. “I won’t spread any more violence.”

Carrasco is surprised, but nods. “...Vale. I suppose—”

Out of nowhere, Motoki slaps her, and hard.

“Wha...Señorita Motoki...¿qué es esto?” Carrasco asks while holding her reddened cheek.

“Yeah...weren’t you just sayin’ how violence isn’t the answer, Sakiko-chan?” Ichigohara asks.

“I was, but...” Motoki sighs. “I just had to get that out. Because this all could’ve been prevented had we...had we just communicated with each other.” She looks at Carrasco tearfully. “Carrasco-san...I’m your friend, right? So why didn’t you come to me with your doubts and fears so I could help alleviate them? Didn’t you trust me?”

“I did...but not enough to be sure you weren’t the traitor,” Carrasco says, pain in her voice. “Lo siento mucho, Señorita Motoki. I know now I should’ve gone to you...but there is nothing that can be done now. Qué será, será.”

Motoki looks like she wants to say more, but only looks away. “I see...”

“So, is this, like, it?” Hayasaka asks. “Is Mayumi-chan, like, going to be executed now?”

“Very shortly,” Monohebi says.

Hayasaka nods. “Okay...then, like, Mika-chan guesses she should, like, tell Mayumi-chan that, like, her flamingo show was, like, actually pretty good...”

“It’s flamenco,” Carrasco corrects. “But...gracias nonetheless.”

“I want to, um, say something too, um, Carrasco-san...” Eguchi says tearfully. “I’ll really, um, miss you...and, um, even if you did, um, something really horrible...I still, um, forgive you...”

“I don’t,” Domoto interjects immediately. “She killed someone.”

“Indeed,” Kasparov agrees. “A killer is a killer. If the act was not done in self defense, then a killer deserves no pity at all.”

“Agreed,” Terajima says, anger in his voice. “Killing someone who was so emotionally vulnerable...someone who was in need of protection...that is unforgivable, no matter the circumstances.”

“...I’ve already made my position on his clear,” Niizuma says without pity. “But I’ll say it again: you are disgusting, Carrasco-san.”

Ichigohara winces. “She definitely did somethin’ horrible...but I’m not sure she’s a terrible person for it...” She scratches her back, looking uncertain. “I think Mayumi-chan’d be a great person in the normal world...but this terrible place turned her into a killer.”

“Yeah,” Sashihara says softly. “This place...it can do terrible things to even the best of us.”

“Wh-What Carrasco-san did w-was so cruel, th-though...” Oyamada says. “How c-can we ever f-forgive her?”

“We don’t need to forgive her,” Komatsu says, trying to hide his wet eyes from everyone. “But...we need to make sure ain’t nobody here ever kills again!”

“You can try,” Carrasco says. “If you choose to live that way, I will let you...even if I disagree.” She takes a deep breath. “I believe it is time. Monohebi...you may begin the execution now.”

“Sususu...not quite yet,” Monohebi says with a chuckle.

Carrasco blinks, surprised. “¿Qué? Why not?”

“Because I have something to show you before you die, Carrasco,” Monohebi says gleefully.

“What are you talking ab—aaaAAAGH!” Carrasco convulses suddenly, as if an electric shock ran through her. She collapses to the ground, breathing heavily.

“Mayumi-chan?” Ichigohara asks worriedly. “Are you okay?”

Carrasco’s eyes are as wide as saucers. “What is...no...this isn’t...”

I begin to feel nervous.
What did he show her?

“Carrasco-san? What is it?” Motoki asks concernedly, moving toward Carrasco.

“Get away from me!” Carrasco shrieks, pushing Motoki away. “All of you...I...” She buries her face in her hands. “I can’t...no...I’m not...this must be fake...”

“What are you seeing?” Domoto asks, a hint of fear in her voice.

Carrasco shudders. “I see...I’m seeing...”

“Alright, that is enough,” Monohebi says hurriedly. “I have prepared a very special punishment for Mayumi Carrasco, the Ultimate Flamenco Performer!”

Carrasco looks around in terror. “Everyone...this place is—”

“Punishment time!” Monohebi interrupts.

Execution #2: ¡Fuego!

Before Carrasco can say anything else, a metal clamp forces itself onto her neck and drags her out of the courtroom.

Just like last time, the video monitor which displayed the voting animation turns on to show a pixelated animation with a sprite of Carrasco being dragged away by a pixelated Monohebi and the caption, “Carrasco has been found guilty. Now commencing the punishment.”

Once the animation ends, the monitor switches to display for us the site of the execution. This time around, Carrasco is standing on a stage in front of a crowd of Monohebi clones. At first, it looks like a normal stage, but, at a closer glance...I can see the stage isn’t made out of wood. It’s made of hot coals. And even worse...her shoes have been removed.

Carrasco attempts to maintain a dignified pose, but I can tell it’s difficult for her. She looks like she’s crying, but it’s hard to tell. But what is for sure is that she’s frightened out of her mind.

Out of nowhere, the formerly calm crowd of Monohebis start clamoring for Carrasco to start dancing. In spite of this, she stands still. In return, one of the Monohebis throws a rotten tomato at her that splatters all over her face. Shocked and disgusted, Carrasco slowly begins to dance.

She dances and dances, stomping her feet and maintaining a dignified pose, even in spite of the fact she’s dancing on an uneven, burning hot surface. Still, she keeps on going, but the Monohebis also keep on shouting raucously and throwing a variety of rotten fruits at her. Carrasco stumbles and falls, shuddering in pain as she collapses onto the hot coals.

Although she must be in great pain, Carrasco forces herself to stand again, but her dance is no longer dignified and beautiful. Instead, it is jerking, unbalanced, and ungraceful, with Carrasco falling onto the coals over and over.

Eventually, the Monohebis start throwing rocks and flaming cloths at her, making her dance even worse. But the worst of the things thrown is also the last: a huge, flaming spear that seems to fly in slow motion. Carrasco watches its every move, terrified, yet can’t bring herself to move. Instead, she stands still, letting the spear impale her, sending her crashing back through the curtain at the rear of the stage. The entire stage catches fire, and the Monohebis begin cheering loudly. Then, the monitor switches off.

“What the...what the hell was that!?” Sashihara asks, terrified.

“That was so, um, terribly brutal...” Eguchi sobs.

Motoki stares at the monitor screen and closes her eyes. “Carrasco-san...” she says tearfully.

“I c-can’t get the s-sight of her d-dying out of m-my eyes...” Oyamada says in a panic.

Terajima lets Oyamada bury his head into his shoulder. “Shh...it’ll be okay...” Terajima says reassuringly.

“How the fuck can things be okay?” Komatsu asks, sounding distraught. “Carrasco-san was just brutally murdered!”

“Not murdered, executed,” Monohebi corrects. “She was the one who did the murdering.”

“Shut the fuck up!” Komatsu seethes. “You’re the one who killed her in...in such a horrible way...”

He’s right...it was horrible. I thought the last execution was brutal, but that was on another level...

“Why did you do that to her?” Domoto asks.

“Hm?” Monohebi asks. “Are you speaking about the execution? I thought it would be ironic if the Ultimate Flamenco Performer, who must have been so used to applause and pride, would be heckled and humiliated onstag—”

“No, not that,” Domoto interrupts, irritated. “I’m talking about what you showed her before the execution.”

Monohebi’s lips curve into a wicked smile. “Oh, Domoto...you know I cannot tell you that.” He chuckles. “Sususu...I showed her it because I knew it would be shocking and damaging to her mental state.”

“But why?” Kasparov wonders aloud. “And what did you show her? As much as I disdain you, I must admit everything you do seems to have some sort of strategy behind it, Monohebi. So...what was your reasoning behind showing Carrasco-san what you did?”

Monohebi stares at Kasparov for a long time. “For you to be so curious and to see things through the eyes of a strategist...I should have expected it.” His gaze hardens. “But I shall not tell you. It would not be wise.”

“Then I will have to figure it out on my own,” Kasparov says.

For an instant, Monohebi looks worried. But not for long. “It is no matter,” he says with his normal distant calm. “Do as you please.” He narrows his eyes. “But do not do it in my courtroom! All of you, out of here, now!”

He shooes us out of courtroom into the elevator. With one less person than we came down with earlier, the doors close and we begin to ascend.

As the elevator ascends, everyone is silent. There’s nothing to say after the trial. But there is a lot to think about.
Carrasco-san...she murdered Aozora-kun. He was in a poor emotional state, but he wanted to change...yet Carrasco-san tricked him. She lured him into a trap, where she...no, I can’t think about that anymore. It’ll just make me sad...sadder than I already am. Which is pretty sad, considering that today I lost my friend and someone I thought was my friend...

Eventually, the elevator doors open. I’m the first one out and I head back to my room immediately. It’s not nighttime yet, but I don’t care. I’m not in the mood to talk to anyone. I just...don’t want to think about anything.

As I lie down on my bed, I start crying. And I cry. And I cry. And I keep on crying. Aozora-kun...I’m so sorry I couldn’t help you in the end. I’m so sorry...

Eventually the tears stop, but the relentless rumination doesn’t.
What Carrasco-san said...about how we’re all distrustful and that a murder was inevitable...was she right? Would someone have killed even if she hadn’t? If so, who? And...if that person exists, will they kill again in the future? Will the deaths ever stop? I desperately want to believe they will...I don’t want to lose anyone else.

However... I can’t help but worry that, no matter how much I don’t want it to happen, more of my friends will die.

...

.........

................

Monohebi: Ah, it is so good to be able to speak frankly with you.

???: ...What did you call me here for? I didn’t do anything wrong.

Monohebi: Sususu...is that so? You made an error...especially that one time. The others may not have taken note of it, but I did.

???: ...I won’t do it again. I promise you.

Monohebi: You best
not. Besides, we have far more pressing matters which we must discuss. Such as...our plan.

???: Has there been a change? I thought I just had to kill someone if you needed me to.

Monohebi: That part has not changed. However, when it comes to you reporting back to me...I need you to actually follow through on your responsibility, which you have not done yet. I need to know everything the students here are planning. I have a feeling they will only grow more rebellious as time goes on.

???: ....................

Monohebi: Well? Will you do it?

???: ...Yes.

Monohebi: Sususu...I knew I could count on you, my dearest traitor.

Chapter 2: Second Chances Aren’t for Everyone

END

Niizuma, Terajima, Hayasaka, Furuhata, Komatsu, Oyamada, Aozora, Kawashima,
Domoto, Kasparov, Ichigohara, Sashihara, Motoki, Eguchi, Yamaguchi, Carrasco

Inmates Remaining: 12

Completed 4/21/19

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 3: A Walk Down the Memory Lane of Despair

Daily Life

I don’t sleep well at all that night. I toss and turn until finally Monohebi’s morning announcement signals the start of the day.

“Good morning, inmates. It is now 7 am, which means nighttime has officially concluded. Enjoy another day of confinement.”

For the first time, I’m glad to hear the announcement. Now I finally have an excuse to get up and not be wallowing in my thoughts all night.

Taking an oppressively hot yet somehow relaxing shower, my memories from yesterday invade my thoughts. Yesterday...we found Aozora-kun’s body, which had been horrifically burnt...and we discovered Carrasco-san was his killer. After that, she was executed by Monohebi. That makes four of us gone now. Furuhata-kun, Yamaguchi-kun, Aozora-kun, and Carrasco-san...who’ll be next? Even thought I desperately hope there won’t be a next time, I can’t help but fear it’s inevitable.

After almost a half and hour of moping around in the shower, I force myself to get out, get dressed, and get ready for the day. When I’m finished, I head out to the Cafeteria, where everyone else already is. I look around and see that they’ve already gotten their food. I’ll just get some after the morning meeting...if I even feel hungry.

“You’re late, Kawashima-san,” Domoto comments as soon as I enter. “Thirty minutes late.”

I stare at her blankly. “Okay,” I say, not caring at all. “Yesterday was very rough...so it was hard for me to get up.”

Ichigohara nods understandably. “Yeah...I get that, Wakana-chan. It was really sad what happened yesterday.”

Oyamada sniffles. “As if w-we needed t-to be r-reminded...” He wipes away a tear from his eye. “C-Carrasco-san killed Aozora-kun s-so terribly cruelly...I had h-horrible n-nightmares last night...I j-just couldn’t get the s-sight of his c-corpse from my m-mind.” He shudders.

Terajima moves closer to Oyamada and reassuringly pats him on the back. “Don’t worry, Oyamada-kun,” he says softly. “I know what happened was very bad, but...the person who committed that atrocity is dead.”

“Ya can say her name,” Komatsu says crossly, playing with his food, which is surprisingly only half-eaten. “It ain’t like she’s a demon who’ll kill ya if ya say her name.”

Terajima looks at him coolly. “After what she did, I’d prefer to never say her name again.” He pushes his sunglasses up his nose. “Do you have a problem with that?”

Komatsu opens his mouth angrily, but closes it soon after. “...No,” he says as he slumps forward in his chair, staring forward dejectedly.

He’s not acting as aggressive and confrontational as he does normally...I guess he’s sad about Carrasco-san dying.

“What, are you, like, feeling down, like, today, Yutaka-kun?” Hayasaka asks mockingly. “You seem, like, a little under the weather.”

Komatsu stares at her with tired anger. “...Shut up,” he says, trying to sound firm, but just ending up sounding sad.

“Yeah...please, um, stop, Hayasaka-san,” Eguchi says, not able to make eye contact with her. “Now, um, isn’t the time...”

“How about you, like, shut your ugly, no contour, dumb, like, foundation shade that, like, doesn’t match ass up, Yuzuki-chan?” Hayasaka snaps. “Mika-chan, like, wasn’t talking to, like, you.”

Eguchi hangs her head sadly. “Um, sorry...I shouldn’t have said anything...”

“No, you, like shouldn’t’ve,” Hayasaka agrees.

“I don’t agree with what you said,” Niizuma says suddenly.

Hayasaka looks at her curiously. “Huh? Like, what do you, like, mean, Tomiko-chan?”

“Eguchi-san’s foundation shade does match her skin tone,” Niizuma says. “It actually complements her undertones very well.” She examines her nails. “Yours, however, is not a match. It’s at least several shades lighter and doesn’t match your undertones at all.”

Hayasaka opens her mouth, trying to say something for a few seconds. “Tomiko-chan...like...what are you...you love me...” Suddenly, she slaps a smile of her face and closes her eyes cutely. “Okay~! Because you’re, like, so fashionable, Mika-chan’ll, like, take your word for it! If Mika-chan’s, like, foundation is really, like, that bad, then, like, why don’t you, like, help her pick, like, new one, Tomiko-chan? We could, like, head to the, like, Dressing Room! There’s, like, a lot of, like, foundation there~!”

Niizuma does not look terribly excited by that idea. “Perhaps,” she says unenthusiastically.

“Why are you here?” Terajima asks out of nowhere.

Niizuma looks at him curiously. “What do you mean?”

“Before the last trial, you declared you had abandoned our group because we were being distrustful,” Terajima says. “So why are you back?”

For a moment, Niizuma looks at her perfectly assembled nails. Then, with a heavy sigh, she looks back at Terajima. “Aozora-kun dying...it proved me wrong. I thought that by distancing myself from the group, I would be safer, but...Aozora-kun abandoning the group put a target on his back. Being isolated didn’t make him safer. It put him in more peril.”

Eguchi fidgets in her seat. “But, um...didn’t Carrasco-san, um, say she killed, um, Aozora-kun because, um, he was not, um, in a good, um, state of mind?”

“Not quite,” Kasparov says. “I believe her reasoning was that he was an easy target. The mental state part was only because she thought killing him would be akin to plucking ‘an already dead flower.’”

Hearing that again...it fills me with rage. Aozora-kun...he could’ve changed....but Carrasco-san robbed him of that possibility.
I have to fight to hold back tears. No, I can’t cry now...

“That was part of her reasoning yes,” Niizuma says, bringing me out of my thoughts. “But I believe Aozora-kun’s isolation from the rest of us was a significant factor of why Carrasco-san chose him as a victim.” She runs her hand through her hair. “Besides...Aozora-kun separating himself from the group was what allowed Carrasco-san to hide him for over a day and confuse us about the true time of death.”

“But, um...why are you, um, back?” Eguchi asks nervously, not directly looking at Niizuma. “Everything you’ve, um, said has had to do with, um, Aozora-kun, not you.”

Niizuma rolls her eyes. “Is it really too much to expect you to put in the hard work to connect the dots? You’re sad, Eguchi-san.”

Eguchi sits up, startled. Then, she hangs her head shamefully. “Oh...I’m, um, sorry...”

“Tomiko-chan...c’mon, you don’t gotta be so mean,” Ichigohara says. “I was wonderin’ the same thing as Yuzuki-chan was, too.”

“Then you’re similarly lazy and unintelligent,” Niizuma responds.

“Niizuma-san,” Motoki says tiredly. “Please...just answer what they were asking.”

Niizuma lets out a heavy sigh. “To put it simply, I wanted to decrease the risk of myself being killed as much as possible. So, I reconsidered the situation and decided to rejoin the group...as much as I may not like that.”

“We are glad to have you back!” shouts Sashihara. “Our group is now whole again!”

“Except for the fact that two more people are dead,” Domoto says flatly.

Sashihara looks taken aback. “Yes...except for them,” he says seriously. He clenches his fist and looks into the distance regretfully. “I hate the fact that they died like they did...both of them could’ve had so much potential in the normal world.”

A pained expression crosses Komatsu’s face. “As if ya had to fuckin’ remind us...” He looks away and whispers a name...which, judging by the movement of his lips, starts with a “C.”

I feel bad for him for missing her, so I feel like I’m at least partially obligated to comfort him...yet...I also don’t want to have to remember anything having to do with Carrasco-san after what she did to Aozora-kun.

“Well, well, you seem rather morose today, my inmates,” Monohebi says from above us.

Unlike previous occasions, no one jumps in their seats. We all just tiredly stare up at the chandelier, where Monohebi is hanging from, a devious smirk on his face.

“What do you want?” I ask blankly.

“To inform you all that a new floor has been opened to you all,” Monohebi says. He looks around, his smirk fading. “You all are so...despondent today.”

“Not all of us,” Niizuma says, looking at her nails. “Some of us just don’t want to waste our time dealing with you.”

Monohebi hisses angrily. “Sssssss...ungrateful brats! I do so much for you all, yet I am never thanked for my services.”

“You’re the one who trapped us in here,” Domoto says, crossing her arms. “Why the hell do you expect us to thank you for anything?”

“I do not expect much; a little courteous ‘thank you’ would do,” Monohebi says frustratedly. Then, his smirk returns. “But...what you said was interesting, Domoto. Are you certain it was me who locked you in here?”

What does he mean? Of course he is!

Kasparov looks at him sharply. “What do you mean, Monohebi? Are you suggesting it was not truly you?”

“Not necessarily,” Monohebi says, smirking even more. “Yet you all have only seen me act as the overseer of this place. Just because I fill that role does not necessarily mean I am the one who is responsible for this entire situation.”

Kasparov looks at him analytically. “We have not yet seen anyone who would be behind this situation except for you. Although...it would be illogical for only one person to have been responsible for setting up everything here.”

“It would be improbable, too,” Niizuma says. “Probably about only a 8.5% likelihood.”

“Wait...Monohebi is, like, a robot, right?” Hayasaka says. “So, like, who created him? And, like, who’s controlling him, like, right now?”

“Those are surprisingly intelligent questions coming from you, Hayasaka-san,” Domoto says.

“Thanks, Otoha-chan~!” Hayasaka says, flipping her hair. “Wait...like, ‘surprisingly intelligent?’” Her face turns bitter. “Like, what the fuck does that, like, mean?”

“It matters not,” Monohebi says, sounding annoyed. “You are prying into this situation too much right now.” He looks around. “I trust that this sort of discussion will be put to a stop.”

The way he said that last part, it sounds like he’s talking to one person in particular...but who? The traitor? I hope not. Besides, I can’t think about them right now...it’ll only make things worse.

“It would be pleasing to me if you all were to go immediately to the entrance to the locker rooms upon ascending to the third floor,” Monohebi continues.

“If it’s pleasing to you, then I won’t be going there,” Niizuma says.

Monohebi narrows his eyes, unamused. “Then I shall rephrase myself. I demand that you all go there immediately upon ascending, or risk swift and merciless punishment.” He nods curtly. “I shall see you all there.”

As he slithers up the chandelier, everyone looks around. Motoki sighs deeply. “I don’t want to go exploring today...” she says. “I’m not in the mood.”

“None of us are,” Terajima says. “Yet we need to know everything we can about this next floor. There’s a possibility we could find a way to escape.”

“There is,” Niizuma says. “Of approximately 0.07%.”

“We d-don’t really n-need that negative e-energy, Niizuma-san,” Oyamada says. “We sh-should at least l-look...”

“It’s a waste of time, but...I won’t stop you,” Niizuma says. She stands up. “Let’s get going. I’m curious about what’s on this third floor.”

“Like, same~!” Hayasaka says. “Mika-chan, like, hopes there’s, like, a luxury, like, jewelry store up there~!”

“Last time it was Gucci, now it’s a jewelry store,” Komatsu says, shaking his head exasperatedly. “Do ya really expect shit like that to be in a fuckin’ prison?”

“How about you, like, shut the fuck up, Yutaka-kun?” Hayasaka suggests, smiling cutely. “Mika-chan, would, like, tootttalllllyy love that.”

“Don’t be, um, so aggressive, um, towards him,” Eguchi says with a surprising amount of firmness. “It’s not nice.”

Hayasaka opens her mouth, but Domoto raises her hand, signaling her to stop. “Stop talking and head to the third floor,” Domoto says.

Hayasaka looks away, grumbling. “Like, fine...”

We all head up to the third floor as a group. Sure enough, the metal gate that had been on the wall between the entrance to the Arcade and the bathrooms was open, revealing a staircase upward. For a moment, everyone stands still, no one wanting to be the first to go upstairs.

“So, who’s gonna go first?” Ichigohara asks.

“If no one else will, I’ll do it,” Terajima suggests. “I’m a bodyguard, so it’d be a good idea for me to scope out the area firs—”

He stops talking abruptly when he notices Domoto briskly walking forward. “Oh...okay. I guess I won’t be first.”

Turning around as she reaches the first step of the staircase, Domoto shakes her head. “No. I still don’t trust you enough for that.”

She turns around and heads upstairs, with almost everyone following behind her. As she leaves, Terajima sighs, but he doesn’t protest. He takes up the rear as we head upstairs the third floor.

As soon as I arrive in the third floor, I’m met with a long center hallway. There are men’s and women’s bathrooms on the left wall and, directly across from them, a set of mahogany double doors with a sign saying “Library” above it.

“L-Library!?” Oyamada says excitedly as he notices the sign. “I w-want to go in th-there, not l-listen to Monohebi t-talk...”

“We can head in there as soon as he’s done,” Terajima says. “But for now, we have to go see him.”

“He said to meet him outside the entrance to the lockers rooms,” Motoki says.

“But where is that?” Ichigohara
asks, furrowing her eyebrows. “I dunno how he expects us to know the layout of the floor as soon as we get here...”

“We could just, um, look at the, um, maps in our, um, e-Handbooks,” Eguchi proposes. “It’s like, um, a map in a video game helps you to, um, navigate an unfamiliar, um, location.”

“We don’t need to do that.” Domoto says as she points to a point midway down the hallway where there are two doors near each other on the left side. “They’re right over there. I can tell from here.”

Sashihara squints. “How can you read that from here? I can’t decipher what that sign says at all!”

“Domoto-san does not need to read the sign to figure out where they are,” Kasparov says. “Due to one of the doors down there being blue and the other red, I believe we can conclude those are the locker rooms due to the colors utilized fitting into the gender norms typically assigned to men and women.”

“Ya don’t need to talk so fancy,” Komatsu says irritably. “I can’t understand what yer sayin’ half the time...”

Kasparov presses his lips together. “I do not mean to sound rude, but I would suggest you pay more attention. What I said was perfect in terms of grammar and syntax.”

“Uh, like, can you both, like, shut the fuck up?” Hayasaka asks. “No one, like, gives a shit about, like, the way Sergey-kun speaks. There are, like, more important things to, like, focus on.”

“...Indeed there are,” Domoto says, seemingly hesitant to agree with Hayasaka. “We should head down to the locker rooms now.”

We all do just that. On our way there, I notice that the left side of the wall only has the doors to the locker rooms and bathrooms on it, while the right side has the door to a library near the stairs to the second floor and a small hallway that has a few doors in it. I squint to see what the signs above those doors read, but before I can do that, I hear the sound of Monohebi’s voice and turn around.

“Sususu...so you have all gathered here,” Monohebi notes. “Good. I was not much in the mood for punishments.”

“Why did you gather us here?” Domoto asks bluntly. “I’m not particularly keen to be spending my time with you.”

Monohebi shakes his head disapprovingly. “How incredibly rude...I called you all here with the intention of explaining how the locker rooms and rooms beyond function, yet all I receive is hostility.”

“Wait...rooms beyond?” Motoki says. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean that there are various rooms beyond the locker rooms,” Monohebi replies. “It would be quite pointless to have a locker room that leads to nowhere, would it not?”

“It would,” Kasparov agrees. “So would you be most kind as to explain the rules of the locker rooms so we might explore the areas beyond them?”

“...Even though I am aware your formality is merely an act to get me to comply, I appreciate it,” says Monohebi. “And yes, I will.”

He clears his throat. “Listen, everyone. I shall only state these rules once. Firstly, the locker rooms are accessible only by scanning your e-Handbooks on the scanners next to the respective doors.”

Monohebi pauses for a moment to allow us to take note of the scanners. “Additionally, only e-Handbooks belonging to male students may be scanned to open the men’s locker room and only e-Handbooks belonging to female students may be employed to open the door to the women’s locker room. Also, the door only opens for one person at a time, so do not attempt to sneak into the locker room of the opposite sex that way.” His red eye glints. “Such an action would not end well for you all.”

He looks so scary when his red eye shines like that...it really freaks me out.

“That’s agreeable,” Domoto says. “I don’t think anyone would attempt to do something as foolish as that while we’re here.”

“I would not be so certain, Domoto-san,” Kasparov says.

“Like, why do you, like, say that, Sergey-kun?” Hayasaka asks with a giggle. “Is it, like, because you’re secretly, like, a horny, perverted little fuck?”

Kasparov blushes deeply, which is especially apparent on his pale face. “That...that is a ridiculous suggestion, Hayasaka-san,” he says angrily. “I am not such a lecherous person.”

“A...what person?” Komatsu asks, confused. “Sorry, dude, ya gotta stop usin’ these fancy-ass words no one but ya understands...”

“I u-understood it,” Oyamada says.

“Same here,” Motoki says. “It’s natural for me, as a linguist, to have a pretty big vocabulary.”

“You also have a big mouth,” Monohebi says. “And I would greatly appreciate it if you would shut it right now. I still have more to explain.”

Motoki looks down sadly. “...Go ahead,” she says distantly.

She’s not doing too well, it looks like...is it because of what happened last night? What am I thinking, of course that’s what it is! It’s obvious she thought of Carrasco-san as her friend...but from what she said yesterday, Carrasco-san didn’t reciprocate Motoki-san’s feelings. It looks like that’s taking a toll on her...

“Inside each locker room, there are eight lockers, one assigned to each person here,” Monohebi continues. “In each locker, you will find a bathing suit that has been perfectly measured to fit you, an extra pair of your normal outfits, several towels, and goggles. Please do not lose any of these materials, as they will not be replaced, with the exception of the towels. Also, due to them not being in any condition to use their lockers, the four deceased students’ lockers have been permanently sealed.”

“Wait...bathing suits?” Sashihara asks excitedly. “Does that mean there’s a pool here!?”

Monohebi smiles. “Well, if you would like to know, then I shall show you. Everyone, please enter your respective locker rooms and immediately continue to the other side.”

We all do as he says and line up outside our respective locker rooms, scanning our e-Handbooks one by one to gain entrance. I’m the last one in line, but I don’t really mind. I’m not exactly thrilled by the prospect of seeing a locker room.

Soon enough, I get inside the locker room, where I’m met with the sight of a room with tiled floors, red walls, a line of shower stalls with curtains across them, a bench, and a row of eight lockers, each inscribed with a name. I approach the lockers to get a closer look at them. I find my locker soon enough, but unfortunately notice that the locker next to mine is inscribed with the name “Mayumi Carrasco.”

So every time I use this locker, I’ll have to be reminded of Carrasco-san and what she did to Aozora-kun? Ugh...that makes me even less excited about all this.

“Um, Kawashima-san?” Eguchi asks as she fidgets uncomfortably. “We have to, um, go to the, um, other side, remember?”

“Oh yeah,” I say. “I’ll be right there.”

I leave my locker behind and leave the locker room, where I’m met with another hallway, tiled just like the locker room was, except the tiles are white this time. On the left side, there are two doors, and on the right side there’s only one.
I wonder where those lead to...

Monohebi clears his throat. “Are we all here?”

Terajima looks around quickly. “It seems like it,” he says.

Monohebi nods. “Good,” he says. “Now, to explain these doors. The first door on your left is a public bath. Shall we enter?” Monohebi takes a card I’ve never seen before from nowhere and holds it in his mouth to scan it on the door.

“What’s that card for?” I ask curiously after he’s finished scanning it. “And where did you get it from? You didn’t have it earlier.”

Monohebi narrows his eyes at me. “Neither of those things are important to you,” he says sternly. “Now, if you would all follow me inside.”

He seemed irritated when I mentioned the card...I wonder what it's for. If he was so resistant to answering, it must important.

“Don’t just stand there, Kawashima-san,” Domoto says. “Come in. We don’t have all day.”

I look around and see that everyone else but me is already inside. “Sorry,” I say apologetically. “I was just thinking about something.”

“Then think about it later,” Domoto says flatly.

Jeez, she’s being so harsh...what does it matter if I take a few extra seconds to get into the baths? Although...there’s no point in resisting it with her. That’ll just cause more unnecessary trouble, which I’m really not in the mood for today.

I go inside the baths to find a wide room with three square-shaped pools in the center, and with smaller, more individualized bathtubs along the side of the room. On either side of the door that we just came through, there’s a table. On each table, there's a variety of towels, soaps, and...hairdryers!?

“What the hell are hairdryers doing in here!?” I ask, worried. “Couldn’t that be used to electrocute someone?”

“Quite an astute observation, Kawashima,” Monohebi says with a smirk. “Are you perhaps planning to utilize those hairdryers in a murder plan?”

“What? No!” I say, frustrated. “I’d never do that...I’m just worried.”

“As you should be!” Sashihara shouts. “Monohebi, those hairdryers and the electrical outlets near them shouldn’t be in here! It’s highly dangerous!”

“You need not be concerned,” Monohebi says reassuringly. “The cords on the hairdryers are quite short, so they could never reach any of the water. Also, the handle of the hairdryer is specially padded so that even if the user’s hand is wet, there is no risk of an accidental shock.” He moves to the tables and points with his head toward a switch close to the door. “This will also help reduce the risk of an accidental shock.”

“A l-light switch?” Oyamada asks. “How w-would that h-help?”

“It is no light switch,” Monohebi says, sounding a tad frustrated. “No, it is a mechanism that allows one to turn the power outlets in this room on or off. Therefore, accidental shock will not occur in this room, unless you all decide to be imbeciles.”
His face sours. “But that is an unimportant distraction! If you would, allow me to explain how the actual baths in here work.”

He clears his throat. “Firstly, you need to scan your handprint to enter, as carrying an e-Handbook into the baths may be inconvenient. Secondly, as you can see, there are three pools that occupy
much of this room. The pool nearest to you is the warm pool. The water in this pool is constantly kept at room temperature. The steaming pool in the middle is the hot pool, which is constantly kept at a high temperature. The farthest pool is the cold pool.

“Along the side of the room, you will also notice individualized bathtubs. These may be heated or cooled to any temperature you desire, within reason of course. You will also notice that there is also a bin full of toys for the baths if you are feeling particularly childish.”

“Toys?” I say, looking around for the bin. I catch sight of it and
walk over to it, seeing it full of rubber ducks, toy boats, and even a few toy trains.

“This is an unnecessary addition,” Niizuma says from beside me, running her hand across various toys in the bin. “Do you really think of us as small children, Monohebi?”

He smirks. “Well...you all act like it sometimes.”

Niizuma narrows her eyes at him. “You—”

“C’mon, Tomiko-chan, there’s no reason to get all riled up,” Ichigohara says with a nervous laugh. “Especially in such a place as relaxin’ and fun as this.” She looks around dreamily. “There’s nothin’ better than a long time just sittin' in a bath...”

“Um, do you really, um, think so?” Eguchi asks, wringing her hands nervously. “Wouldn’t your, um, fingers and, um, toes get all, um, wrinkly?”

Ichigohara waves her hand nonchalantly. “That’s no issue at all. The only thing I really care about is bein’ able to feel relaxed for a long time.”

“You’ll certainly get that here,” Terajima says. “It seems like a very relaxing place to be.”

“Wait, so this is, like, a bath, right?” Hayasaka asks.

“If that is not entirely obvious, yes,” Domoto confirms.

Hayasaka shoots her a dirty look, but continues.
“Then can we, like, go skinny dipping here?” she says, sounding much more innocent than she really is. “Aren’t people, like, suppose to be naked in, like, baths?”

“I mean, yeah, but...” Komatsu says. “This ain’t exactly a private place. Someone could just walk in and see ya.”

“Not to mention these baths are mixed,” Domoto adds. “That would only add to the...possibilities of what could happen.”

She doesn’t have to elaborate on what she means by that...

“Well...to return to your questions, Hayasaka, I suppose so,” Monohebi says reluctantly. “There are no cameras in here, as the lenses would only become covered in condensation. Also, the door may be locked. However, there is a maximum of three hours per person, so you may not take up all the time in here.” He gestures to a touchpad next to the door handle. “You may use this device to lock the door.”

“Okay~!” Hayasaka says as she holds up her signature peace signs on both hands. “Thanks for the, like, info~!”

“...You are welcome,” Monohebi says, although he does not sound genuine. “Moving on from that, are there any additional questions concerning this room?”

He pauses, but no one raises their hand. “Alright, then. Let us move on to the next room.”

We all file out of the baths, although Ichigohara seems most reluctant to leave them behind. “I’m definitely comin’ back to this place after Monohebi’s done.”

Monohebi leads us down to the second door on the left side of the hallway. Taking out the same key card and using his mouth to swipe it across the scanner, Monohebi opens the door and heads inside. Once inside, I notice it’s a rather small room, with wooden walls, benches, and floors.
Is this place what I think it is?

“This room is the sauna,” Monohebi announces, as if he were directly responding to my thoughts.
I guess it is, then.

“Why is it, um, so small?” Eguchi asks. “Aren’t, um, saunas usually meant to be, um, bigger than this? I doubt, um, we could have, um, fit in here when there were, um, sixteen of us...”

Monohebi smirks. “Well, there are only twelve of you now, which is conveniently the maximum number of occupants in this room.”

He’s such an asshole for doing that...

“...What is this doing in a prison?” Niizuma asks. “I don’t imagine the prisoners in this place were big on sweating a lot in an enclosed room. Was this place even a prison beforehand?”

“It was something of the sort,” Monohebi answers. “But considerable renovations were made to make it more suitable for this killing game.”

“That must have been quite expensive and required a lot of labor,” Kasparov comments. “Much more than a single person could accomplish—”

“Cease this discussion immediately,” Monohebi hisses. “It is unimportant. What matters is my explanation of this room.”

“What more is there to explain!?” asks Sashihara. “I’m pretty sure we’re all familiar with how to use a sauna!”

“Well, there is the hidden door,” Monohebi says.

...Wait, what!? A hidden door?
“What the hell are you talking about?” I ask, looking around for the door.

“There,” Terajima says, pointing to the back left corner of the room. “That’s the door, isn’t it?”

Monohebi seems surprised. “That was quite fast,” he says.

“It’s part of my talent to be quick to spot things,” Terajima says. “If I couldn’t spot hidden doors and rooms in a flash, I wouldn’t be able to protect my clients as well.”

Komatsu squints. “I’m only barely seein’ a faint outline of a door! How’d ya even see that in the first place?”

Terajima shrugs. “Practice, I guess.”

“Th-That’s really c-cool that you c-can do that, Terajima-kun,” Oyamada says sheepishly.

“Yeah, um, it really is,” Eguchi says with a smile.

Terajima smiles warmly. “Thanks, guys.”

Motoki rubs her shoulder and looks around nervously. “I don’t want to interrupt, but...shouldn’t we be concerned about how to open that door? Or...where it leads?”

“Yeah, where does it go?” Ichigohara asks. “I don’t really like that it’s in a sauna, where people are usually in a towel and naked beneath...”

“Fear not, the door is locked,” Monohebi assures us. He smirks. “However...there is a key, hidden somewhere in this prison. Anyone who finds it will be able to access the room beyond.”

“What’s in that room!?” Sashihara asks. “I demand you tell us!”

“Fortunately, I am under no obligation to comply with those demands,” Monohebi says. “You will find out what is in that room when you encounter the key. Until then, I will say nothing more about it.” He clears his throat. “Now, are there any additional questions that do not concern the hidden door?”

No one has any. “Good,” Monohebi says. “Let us move to the final room.”

We leave the sauna and soon find ourselves outside the only door on the wall opposite the sauna. Once again, Monohebi uses his key card to let us in.
I wonder if that’s the key he was talking about with the hidden door in the sauna...or maybe it’s just a special key only for him?

Once the door is open, we all follow Monohebi into the room, where I am met with the sight of a large swimming pool and the potent smell of chlorine. Like all the floors in this area, the floor here is made out of tile. Along the sides of the pool, there is a variety of reclining pool chairs, and, by the other end of the pool, there are a few diving boards.

“I do not believe there is much explaining to do here,” Monohebi says. “Obviously, this place is a pool. You may all swim to your heart’s content here.”

Niizuma wrinkles her nose. “I’d rather not...I disdain the smell of chlorine.”

“Speak for yourself...I think this is amazing!!!” Sashihara shouts enthusiastically. “I love swimming! It’s an excellent exercise because it forces many parts of your body to work out at once!”

“It’s so damn exhaustin’,” Komatsu says tiredly. “I always feel like I’ve run a fuckin’ marathon after I swim...”

“Then you should swim more to get your body used to it!” Sashihara yells. “How about you and I practice it together later today or tomorrow!?”

Komatsu doesn’t really look like he wants to, but he just shrugs. “I guess,” he says distantly. “I don’t really care...”

I know I was planning on not talking to him, but...if he doesn’t improve soon, I’m going to have to say something. He’s just not acting at all like his normal self.

“So is this it?” Domoto asks. “Do you have anything more to show us in here?”

“I do not,” says Monohebi. “You may now leave and do as you please. If you have any questions about the other rooms on this floor, simply call for me and I will come.”

“That will not be necessary,” Kasparov says. “I believe we can explore on our own without your guidance.”

“You are so ungrateful, Kasparov,” Monohebi says, irritated. “It really is a shame. If you do not want my guidance and advice, then I shall allow you all to struggle by yourselves!”

Monohebi disappears immediately.
Well, at least we don’t have to deal with him now...although, he might’ve given us useful info, had we given him the chance.
I shake my head.
No...I can’t think about chances right now...it’ll only remind me of what happened to Aozora-kun.

”So...what now?” Motoki asks. “Do we have to explore the rest of this floor? I’m really not in the mood to...”

“That doesn’t matter,” Domoto says. “We need to explore every inch of this floor, no matter how bad we might feel.”

“I agree,” Niizuma says. “Who knows what we may find if we search thoroughly. Maybe we’ll find the key to the door in the sauna.”

“Maybe it was, um, that card he was, um, using to open all the, um, doors in here?” Eguchi suggests. “It could be, um, a skeleton key.”

“Huh? But it was just a card,” Komatsu says. “I didn’t see any bones...”

Eguchi chuckles. “Oh, Komatsu-kun...no, a skeleton, um, key is a type of, um, key that can open, um, any type of lock.”

“So you are suggesting Monohebi was carrying a master key to any door in this place with him?” Kasparov asks. “If we could get our hands on that card, we could open any door which we wanted to open.”

Terajima
frowns. “Except that would do nothing for us. With the exception of the door in the sauna, every room we would want to open in this place is already open.”

“What about the other floors that aren’t open yet?” Ichigohara asks. “If we managed to get to them, we might find more about this place...maybe even a way out!”

“But how do we know other floors exist?” asks Niizuma. “For all we know, there could only be just these three floors.”

“If we got a new floor after each of the last trials, I think it’s safe to assume there are more floors which haven’t been opened to us yet!” Sashihara shouts.

“We won’t know unless we search this floor throughly,” Domoto says. “If we see another metal gate covering something, we’ll know there’s another floor.” She crosses her arms. “However, we won’t know until we actually start exploring. So, let’s get on that. We’ll meet up at dinner at 6, like usual.”

After that, we split up to take a look at the rest of the floor.
I think I’ve seen all there is here in the area beyond the locker rooms...so I’ll head to somewehere else.
I decide to go to the library first, as I’m curious to what it might contain.
When I get to the library, I expect silence when I enter, but I’m surprised to hear Oyamada’s excited shouts.

“This p-place is A-AMAZING!!” he says, looking around in awe. I look around with him, seeing shelves upon shelves of books that reached all the way to the ceiling, with ladders to reach the high shelves. There’s also a seating area with comfortable looking chairs and couches in the very back, where Oyamada sits, his eyes glazed over in wonder.

“I f-feel like I’m in m-my own personal p-paradise right here,” he says dreamily.

Terajima chuckles. “Haha...it sure looks like it.”

I was going to approach them, but...I don’t want to interrupt this sweet moment. I think I’ll Oyamada-kun enjoy this library in peace. I’m glad he got a place where he could feel happy here...I suppose it’s a silver lining in all of the dark things that have happened so far.

I leave the Library and head down the hall the the small hallway across from the doors to the locker rooms. On the right side, this hallway has its one door, a door with the sign “Music Room” above it.
I think I know who I’ll find in here...

Opening the door, I find myself in a room with wallpaper of music notes and staves on two walls and a huge row of cabinets that are overflowing with what looks like sheet music on the right wall. On the left wall, there’s a bunch of lockers with instrument cases inside of the them. The rest of the room has a huge set of amp speakers, along with a mess of wires and extension cords around it, and larger instruments, like a harp, a few timpani, a bass drum, and a huge grand piano in the back left corner, where Komatsu sits now, with Eguchi standing by his side.

“What was it you, um, said you were going to, um, play?” Eguchi asks, unaware that I entered.

“The Russian Dance...from Three Movements from Petrushka
by Stravinsky...but I don’t really feel like doin’ it right now,” he says dejectedly. He looks up and sees me. “Oh, hey, Kawashima-san.”

Eguchi turns her head to see me. “Oh, hey, um, Kawashima-san,” she says, avoiding eye contact. “Komatsu-kun was, um, about to play one of, um, his favorite songs on the, um, piano.”

“Yeah...I was,” Komatsu says. He stands up from the piano. “But I’m not really in the mood for doin’ that now...”

“I thought you, um, said
Petrushka by Stravinsky was, um, a huge, um, influence on you,” Eguchi says as she wrings her hands. “And that you’d, um, play some for me...”

“I did say that,” Komatsu confirms with a flat voice. “But I don’t want to play anythin’ right now...”

“Then, um, what do you want to, um, do?” Eguchi asks.

“I dunno,” Komatsu says tiredly. “I thought findin’ this room would make me all excited and shit, but I just feel...”

“...Empty?” I offer.

Komatsu nods. “Yeah,” he says. He opens his mouth, pauses, and then speaks. “I thought Carrasco-san was pretty cool and all...but she was a fuckin’ killer.” He shields his face from Eguchi and I, but I can tell he’s crying. “She...she’s dead. And I didn’t even get to know her.” He shakes his head. “But the worst part ‘bout it is...I didn’t even know her for that long. I shouldn’t feel so shitty over her dyin’...but I do.”

I know I thought I wasn’t going to talk to him about this before...but I can’t just let him suffer like this. I need to comfort him.
I approach Komatsu and gently lay a hand on his shoulder. “I understand that,” I say. “I didn’t know Aozora-kun for that long, yet his death still really hurt me. We both got close to someone we didn’t know for long...and now we’re both suffering the pain of their losses. But we’ll make it through everything...no matter how much it might feel shitty now.”

Komatsu looks up at me gratefully. Suddenly, he rushes forward and envelops me in a bear hug. “Thank you so much,” he says emotionally. “I...I just felt so alone. I thought no one else’d understand...but you do. Thanks for lettin’ me know that”

I stand there awkwardly, not knowing what to do.
I want to be kind, but...I also don’t want to send the wrong message. I didn’t want Komatsu-kun to think I like him
that way...because I don’t. Although I think someone else might...

“You’re welcome,” I say to him as I force myself out of the hug in the most polite way possible. ”Just know that you’re never alone.”

“Yeah...I’ll always be, um, here for you,” Eguchi says as she claspses both of her hands around one of Komatsu’s.

She’s not very subtle, is she...

“Thanks, both of you,” Komatsu says gratefully as he wipes a tear form his eye. “Dammit...I can’t believe I was cryin’ in fronta two girls...”

“Don’t be ashamed,” I tell him. “Showing emotions isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of humanity.”

Komatsu snorts. “Damn, I wasn’t expectin’ fancy poetic shit from ya, Kawashima-san...” He looks down at the ground. “But...yer right. I guess I’m just so used to havin’ to put on a tough show for guys on the street and my lil’ bro that I forget to let it all out sometimes.”

”Now you, um, you don’t, um, have to be, um, tough all the time,” Eguchi says.

“Yeah...I’ll try to be a lil’ more open with my feelin’s in the future,” Komatsu says. “But now...I think I’m gonna play that piece from Petrushka
I was talkin’ ‘bout earlier.”

He sits down at the piano and begins to play an energetic and what looks like a very technically demanding song, with amazing control over its dynamics and the tone of it all. After he plays the last three climactic chords, Eguchi and I break out into applause.

“That was, um, really good!” Eguchi says enthusiastically.

“Yeah, you played that song well, Komatsu-kun,” I say, impressed at how good it was.

Komatsu waves his hand. “Nah, that wasn’t even that bad. Outta the three movements in that set, it’s the fuckin’ easiest.” He smiles. “But thanks anyways.”

“You should, um, be the Ultimate Pianist,” Eguchi says. “You were, um, so good...”

Komatsu shakes his head. “There are way better people out there than me,” he says. “Besides, my focus is on creatin’ music, not just playin’ it.”

I guess that makes sense...he is the Ultimate Composer, which means he focuses on making music. So he probably mostly plays piano just to explore with his musical ideas...even still, his playing is very impressive. But...as much as I’d like to stay, I need to check out the other rooms that are here.

I say goodbye to Komatsu and Eguchi and head out of the Music Room to re-emerge back into the small hallway. I follow it to the end, where I did myself outside a colorfully painted wooden door. With the sign above it reading “Art Room,” I’m not terribly surprised at the paint.
I would’ve chosen a better color to paint the door, though...not this hideous neon green and orange combination. It hurts my eyes to look at.

As I enter the Art Room, I’m met with the sight of brightly painted walls, posters on how to draw proportions and references for certain objects, several statues scattered throughout the room, and an assortment of several tables stained by paint and clay. There’s also a large TV on top of a cart, with a remote, a DVD player, several DVD cases on the underside of the cart, which Niizuma is inspecting, with Hayasaka behind her.

“Hey, Wakana-chan~!” Hayasaka greets as soon as she sees me.

“Oh...hi,” I respond, much less enthusiastically.

“You don’t seem in the best of moods,” says Niizuma, turning away from her inspection of the TV. “Do you dislike this room?”

“It’s a...little too much for me,” I say, gesturing to the brightly painted walls and shock of color all over the room. “I’ve also never been the most artistic person, so that doesn’t really help.”

Niizuma nods understandably. “That makes sense. I, too, have serious qualms with the interior designer of this room...the colors they used just don’t work well together.”

“Yeah, like, totally~!” Hayasaka says, interjecting herself back into the conversation. “It needs, like, more pink~! Or maybe, like, a pastel, like, yellow!”

Niizuma purses her lips. “I’m not sure that’d be a huge improvement,” she says. “I would prefer a more neutral color combination.”

Hayasaka wrinkles her nose. “Ew, like, neutral colors? That’s so, like, boring!”

“Perhaps,” Niizuma says, “but far more aesthetically pleasing. Also, isn’t the purpose of an art room to draw attention to the art? Not the walls?”

“Mika-chan, like, guesses...” Hayasaka says uncertainly. Then, she suddenly smiles widely. “You’re, like, totally right, Tomiko-chan! Your, like, fashion sense is, like, so good, so, like, Mika-chan just has to, like, listen to you~!” She leans forward eagerly. “Maybe you could, like, give her a, like, makeover? You’re, like, the only person Mika-chan, like, respects here, so that’d be, like, really cool~!”

“Maybe,” Niizuma says. “But not now. We need to finish exploring the rest of this room and then the rest of this floor.”

A sour expression crosses Hayasaka’s face. “Like, what else is there to, like, see in here?”

“The repository,” Niizuma says.

I shoot her a confused glance. “Huh? Where’s that?”

Niizuma gestures to a door I previously hadn’t seen due to it being painted over the same way the rest of the walls were. “It’s in there. I only peeked in briefly so far, but I saw enough it’s just a room to store art supplies and the like.”

“That sounds, like, soooo boring,” Hayasaka says. “Can we, like, skip going in there and, like, do something that’s more, like, fun?”

“...If you really insist,” Niizuma says.

“Mika-chan, like, really
insists~!” Hayasaka says.

“...Let’s go, then,” Niizuma says with no excitement at all.

Hayasaka drags her out of the room.
I have a feeling their relationship is pretty one-sided...

Once they leave, I head inside the repository to see it’s exactly what Niizuma described. Art supplies, like blank canvases, paint, paintbrushes, clay, molds, wires for cutting clay, charcoal, sketchbooks, pencils, strings, and glaze are stored on various shelves and in boxes.
Looks like there’s nothing special about this place...I should probably go check out the rest of the floor.

I leave the Art Room and head out into the main hallway, with the locker room doors right in front of me. I decide to go to turn right to see what was in the room at the end of the hallway.

Unfortunately, there’s nothing special about the room. It’s a drab, gray room with real prison cells lining the walls, just like the Cell Block B downstairs.
I guess this is “Cell Block C,” then...

“Quite a boring room, is it not?” says Kasparov from next to me.

I jump. “Kasparov-kun!” I say, startled. “I didn’t see you there.”

“Clearly not,” he says. “Have you come to investigate this room, like Domoto-san and myself?”

“Domoto-san?” I repeat, looking around. “I don’t see her...”

“I’m right here,” Domoto’s voice falls as she emerges from the darkness of one of the cells. “I was just investigating each of the cells individually to see what they might contain.”

“Have you encountered anything?” Kasparov asks.

Domoto frowns. “No...not yet,” she says. “I will keep on searching, however. Just because I haven’t been found anything yet doesn’t mean I won’t find anything.”

I shoot her a curious glance. “Domoto-san...are you looking for the key to the door in the sauna?”

Domoto does not answer. “It’s not your—”

“Yes, she is,” Kasparov interrupts.

Domoto glares at him. “Kasparov-kun, what the hell are you doing? My search for the key was supposed to be private information.”

Kasparov shrugs. “It was incredibly obvious. If you believe that Kawashima-san would not have realized what you were attempting to accomplish, you are mistaken. She was instrumental in solving the last two class trials, so it would not be terribly difficult for her to do.”

“Even still...” Domoto says. “I can’t be certain that...”

Even though she doesn’t finish her sentence, I know what she’s thinking.
She doesn’t trust me...and she thinks it’s possible that I’m the traitor. “Do you think I might be the traitor?” I ask her.

Domoto nods. “Yes, it’s a possibility I cannot ignore.”

“Yet it is not very probable, in my opinion,” Kasparov says. “Kawashima-san has been of paramount importance in solving the past two cases...why would she do that if she were the traitor? I see no strategic gain from that...rather, I believe she is on our side.”

Of paramount importance? I did a lot to solve the cases, yeah...but I don’t think it’s fair to attribute so much credit to only me. Still, I’m glad he’s complimenting me.
“I’m glad for the compliment, Kasparov-kun,” I say.

“You are welcome,” he replies.

I begin to leave the Cell Block when I notice two things I hadn’t previously seen. In the back left corner I see a metal gate, much like the ones we previously saw protecting the entrances to this floor and the second floor before we had access to them.
The staircase leading to the fourth floor is probably back there.

The other thing I noticed is a green door on the right wall of the Cell Block. “Where does that go?” I ask Domoto and Kasparov, pointing to the door.

“It’s a garden,” says Domoto.

A rush of excitement runs through me. “Wait, does that mean we can go outside now?” I say hopefully.

Kasparov shakes his head. “Unfortunately, that still is not a possibility. It is an indoor garden.”

“Oh,” I say, disappointed.
For a second there, I really thought I might be able to outside again...but I shouldn’t have let myself get my hopes up. To be able to feel the sun’s warmth on my skin, to see real grass, to feel the wind blow past me...I’d do anything to get to that again.
I stop myself.
Wait...anything? No...I won’t kill. I won’t let myself commit such a terrible crime. Even if...even if it means leaving this horrible place, I can’t let myself do it. I can’t...I can’t...I can’t...

Shaking those disturbing thoughts of my head, I say goodbye to Domoto
and Kasparov and go through the door to the garden.

When I enter the garden, I see a traditional Japanese garden. In the center of the room, there is a small pond. Paths made of white gravel circle the pond and go aimlessly through natural scenery...or at least, what looks like it. The grass, shrubs, rocks, and smaller trees all look real, but when I go up to feel the side of one of the big trees, I can tell it’s artificial. That sucks...aren’t gardens supposed to highlight the beauty of nature? So why is this one artificial? I guess it’s another one of Monohebi’s cruel jokes.

In addition to the fakeness of the greenery, the walls are painted a dark green and the ceiling the color of the sky. It’s nice to not be staring at a drab, gray wall like the ones in most of this place but even still...I’d rather be outside.

I turn around to leave the room when I hear something from behind a big rock in the back corner of the room.
What was that? It sounded almost like a sniffle or something like that...

As I head back to where I think I heard the sound from, I begin to see Motoki’s form hidden in the corner, holding her knees close to her chest.

“Motoki-san?” I say, concerned.

She looks over at me, wiping tears from her eyes. “Kawashima-san...” she says sadly. “I didn’t expect you to come over here.”

“You look like you didn’t expect anyon—” I begin to say, but I cut myself off. No, that’s too rude. I need to be gentler.
I sit down next to her.
“You look like you need someone to be with.”

“I guess,” Motoki mumbles, sounding unenthusiastic.

I frown at her. “I don’t mean to be intrusive, but...don’t you hate being alone? So why are you holding yourself up in here?”

Motoki turns to look at me, her eyes red and raw. “Sometimes loneliness, as terrible as it is, is necessary for grief.”

“Grief for who?” I ask, although I already know the answer.

“Carrasco-san,” Motoki says, as if it’s difficult to say her name. “She’s dead...but that’s not it. She didn’t trust me enough to confide in me...she didn’t think we were as close as I did. And...” Her voice breaks. “And that really
hurt. I thought we were good friends...but Carrasco-san didn’t trust me. How could we really have been friends if she didnt have trust in me?” She begins to sob. “I just wish she were still alive...so I could try to communicate with her. That’s all I want...”

I don’t know what to say to that. “Well...if it’s any comfort, in the end she said she regretted not talking to you,” I say after a little while. “She said she knew she should’ve gone to you.”

“But she didn’t,” Motoki says sadly. “Doesn’t that speak for itself? She didn’t trust me. The person here who I was closest with...the person who I...” She stops herself all of a sudden.

“The person who you...what does that mean?” I ask, although I have a feeling I might already know.

Motoki shakes her head. “It’s unimportant,” she says quickly. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It clearly matters to you,” I counter. I take Motoki’s hand in mine. “You can talk with me, you know. Isn’t that what you’re all about? Communication with other people?”

Motoki opens her mouth to argue, then closes it. “Yeah...it is,” she says, wiping a tear from her eye.

“Then communicate with me,” I implore her. “Isn’t that what you wanted Carrasco-san to do? Isn’t that what you want all of us to do?”

For a few moments, Motoki sits silently. Then, she speaks. “I loved her,” she says quietly. “I loved her, and now she’s gone...” She sniffles. “She probably didn’t even love me back, but I still cared so much for her...and th-then...then she...” She breaks down into sobs. “I just want her back! I just want to talk with her again!”

I reach out and hug Motoki, allowing her to sob into my shoulder. “I understand,” I tell her. “I wish Aozora-kun were still alive, too...though not for the same reasons. I wish I could’ve convinced him to take the second chance I offered him, but...”

“Carrasco-san killed him,” Motoki says tearfully. “And she got herself killed in the process.” Her crying slows down. “I wish...I wish we were all still here. Even Yamaguchi-kun and Furuhata-kun...because by being honest with each other and keeping open communication, they could’ve lived. We all could’ve beaten Monohebi, but now...now we’re trapped. We had an opportunity to stop the deaths, but we botched it! There’s no stopping the deaths!”

“Yes there is,” I say forcefully. “We can stop these murders. We can beat Monohebi...we just have to work together.” I put as much passion as I can into those words, but even to me they feel hollow.
We said we could beat Monohebi before the first trial too...and look how that turned out.

“We’re too far gone,” Motoki says sadly. “Someone else will die...”

“It’s true they might die,” I say. “But that’s no guarantee they will. The two of us, we can do our part and make sure we don’t kill anyone, and try to stop the others too.”

“But it’s pointless,” Motoki protests. “They’ll just die anyway, and our efforts will be in vain...”

Looks like I’ll have to try a different approach...
“Do it for Carrasco-san,” I say.

Motoki stops crying altogether and looks at me. “...What?” she asks.

“Work to prevent a murder for Carrasco-san’s sake,” I tell her, although it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.
I hate Carrasco-san for what she did to Aozora-kun...but what’s done is done. I need their deaths have some sort of positive impact. Even if I doubt we can prevent more deaths, we still need to at least try. The worst thing we can do is sit by and let them happen.
“Carrasco-san died because of poor communication, but if we try we can make her the last death that happens here.” I grab Motoki by the shoulders and look her straight in the eyes. “Motoki-san, I need you to promise me that you will fight to prevent another death. Channel your grief into action! Make sure no one suffers what you’re suffering!”

For a few moments, Motoki is speechless. “I promise,” she says with a nod. “I’ll try my damndest to make sure no one else dies in this terrible place.”

I nod. “That’s the spirit,” I say.

Motoki clasps my hand and squeezes it tightly. “Thank you,” she says gratefully. “What you said helped a lot. Of course, I’m still sad about what happened to Carrasco-san, but...I’ll try to do as you asked.” She gives me a very small smile. “I’ll try.”

I return her smile. “I’m glad to hear it.”

We sit there for a while, not saying anything. I don’t know why we didn’t say anything, especially when we were just talking about communicating with each other before, but I think both of us needed some quiet time after the craziness of life in this prison.

After a while, I look around the walls for a clock, but I find none. I guess it makes sense...due to them being outside, most gardens don’t have clocks in them. Although...this garden is inside, so I feel like it should have one.
“Do you know what time it is?” I ask Motoki. “I think Domoto-san said to meet up again at six.”

“She did,” Motoki confirms as she gets to her feet. “Let’s get going. They’re probably wondering where we are.”

Motoki and I head down to the Cafeteria, where everyone else already is.

“You two are late,” Domoto says as soon as we enter.

“We lost track of time,” I say truthfully. “Besides, we’re here. What more do you want?”

“Some responsibility would be nice,” Niizuma says. “‘Losing track of time’ is such a pathetic, lazy excuse for lateness. How can you be so unmotivated and unwilling to do hard work?”

“We were late this one time,” Motoki says. “It’s really not that big of a deal.”

Niizuma purses her lips judgmentally. “Whatever you say,” she says, turning her attention back to her nails.
She’s so unbelievably harsh sometimes...I get that she really values competence and hard work, but she really gets too into it sometimes.

“Just try not to be so late in the future,” Domoto says. “You two could’ve been dead, for all we know.”

“B-Both of them?” Oyamada asks, hugging a book close to his chest. “D-Do you r-really think someone w-would kill t-two people?” He shudders. “That s-sounds too t-terrible to even imagine...”

“It is a possibility, regardless of how unlikely it is,” Kasparov says.

Ichigohara lets out a nervous laugh. “Guys, can we, uh, not talk about that? It’s not helpin’ anyone.”

“Two deaths is a possibility, so we should accept that it could happen,” Domoto says. “However, you are right that there are better things to discuss.”

“Yes there are!” Sashihara says enthusiastically. “Like all the new rooms on the third floor!”

Terajima raises his eyebrows. “Is that what you have in mind? I was thinking we should talk about a much more pressing issue.”

Hayasaka looks confused. “Huh, like, what’s that, Eisuke-kun?”

“What Monohebi showed to the flamenco girl before he executed her,” Terajima says. “Whatever it was, it was clearly very distressing to her.”

“Yeah, that shit really freaked her out,” Komatsu says, his voice trailing off near the end. “She looked like she was really sufferin’ in the end...”

Eguchi, who is sitting next to him, inches her chair closer to him and says, “Don’t worry, Komatsu-kun. Carrasco-san isn’t suffering anymore.”

“But she was suffering when she was seeing what Monohebi showed her,” Motoki says sadly.

“Yes, she was,” Domoto
says, stroking her chin. “I’ll admit, what Monohebi showed her greatly concerns me. She went from calmly accepting her death to freaking out in a matter of seconds—whatever she saw, it must’ve been extremely scarring.”

Sashihara fidgets uncomfortably in his seat. “If she was so scared, I don’t think we want to know what she saw,” he says, his voice strangely quiet. “It’d probably only make things worse for us.”

“But shouldn’t we seek to find the truth behind what it was?” Domoto
asks. “Living in ignorance has never been something I’ve enjoyed.”

“Same here,” says Terajima. “We need to figure out what she saw.”

“Also, we must endeavor to discover Monohebi’s intentions in showing her what did,” Kasparov says ponderously. “He has to have had a reason. What was it?”

“Wasn’t it t-to scare us?” says Oyamada.

Kasparov frowns. “No, I believe it was more than that. I am of the opinion that it was a reminder that we do not know much at all about our situation in this prison.”

“Then how can we ever hope to find out the truth of what Carrasco-san saw?” I ask. “If Monohebi hasn’t already told us, he’s not going to. Besides...if what she saw was so traumatizing, I don’t think we should want to see what she did.”

Motoki nods. “I agree with Kawashima-san. Pursuing this line of questioning will only lead to us feeling more...despair.”

“Yet we would know the truth of the situation,” Domoto says. “It is better to despair in the truth than live in ignorant bliss. Truth is more important than happiness.”

“No,” I say firmly. “Our mental health and stability are more important than that truth. If we see what Carrasco-san did, we’ll probably be more driven to murder. Isn’t that what we’re trying to avoid?”

“Discovering what Carrasco-san saw could assist us in realizing the truth behind this ‘killing game’ and our life here,” Kasparov says. “Such information could lead to us to escaping this wretched place.”

“It c-could,” Oyamada
agrees, “but that’s n-not guarantee th-that’s what it’ll d-do.
Our l-lives are at s-stake here, so w-we shouldn’t be r-risking
them by t-trying to decipher this situation...”

“Yeah,” Eguchi says, nodding her head. “I don’t like the idea of, um, gambling with our, um, lives by finding out, um, things we’re, um, not meant to, um, know.”

Motoki rubs her shoulder. “Besides...thinking this much about Carrasco-san’s final moments is...well, hard for some of us.”

Komatsu turns his gaze to the ground and lets out a sigh. “Yeah, it is...”

“Not to sound rude, but that doesn’t really matter,” says Niizuma. “If potentially escaping this place means a hard conversation or two for some of us, that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.”

Motoki narrows her eyes at her. “It’s easy to make a sacrifice that doesn’t hurt you directly.”

“Also, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here,” Ichigohara says. “Y’all are talkin’ about escapin’ with the information we’d potentially learn from what Carrasco-san saw...but how would we even get around to figurin’ out what it was? Monohebi hasn’t told us. The traitor, whoever they are, hasn’t said anything.” She sighs. “It sucks, but we just don’t know much.”

“We could investigate relentlessly,” Niizuma says with a judgmental expression.

“I’m sure that eventually we’d find out without needin’ to do that, Tomiko-chan,” Ichigohara says. “We just have to let the evidence present itself.”

Niizuma glares at her. “Evidence and truth won’t just magically appear. I know you’re too laid back and quick to give up to be able to put in the hard work of tireless investigation, but not being lazy can be beneficial sometimes.” She turns her attentions to her nails. “Maybe you should consider not being lazy sometime.”

Ichigohara looks hurt. “Tomiko-chan...you don’t have to be so mean to me.”

“Yeah, it’s really, um, not cool,” Eguchi says. “You should, um, apologize.”

Hayasaka snorts. “Why should she, like, apologize? Tomiko-chan was, like, telling the truth.”

“No she wasn’t,” Motoki says. “Honestly, I think Ichigohara-san has the better point...we just don’t have the ability to find the truth of what Carrasco-san right now.” She turns to face Niizuma. “Even with a lot of hard work, if we don’t have the resources, we won’t do anything.”

“...I suppose that’s true,” Domoto says after a short pause.

Niizuma looks away bitterly. “Even so...just giving up so meekly is revolting.”

“But have you not said in the past trying to accomplish an impossible task is foolish?” Kasparov says. “I may not like it, but what Motoki-san says is true.”

“Because we don’t have the resources to find it now, I agree,” Terajima says. “But what if we do get them in the future? Will we care then?”

“If we receive the tools or clues to decipher what Carrasco-san saw, it would be asinine of us to not find the truth,” Kasparov says. “However, until then...I fear there is little we can do.”

Terajima nods slowly. “...Okay.”

Niizuma presses her lips together so tightly they seem to disappear. “I hate giving up...especially when it comes to important things.”

“So do I,” Domoto says. “I hate that we’re being forced into ignorance of the truth like this. However, we have to accept reality and understand that there isn’t anything we can do...for now.”

“M-Maybe if we f-found the key M-Monohebi talked about, th-that would help...” Oyamada suggests.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Domoto says. “Everyone, tomorrow we must be on sharp lookout for the key.”

“Yeah, yeah, we get it...but can we eat already?” Komatsu asks, anxiously glancing at the clock. “It’s almost 8:30. I need some damn food!”

“I’ll get right on it,” says Ichigohara, getting up to go to the Kitchen.

“I will assist you!” Sashihara shouts. “I’ll make sure that—” He begins to cough violently, pulling on his ever-present medical mask as he does so.

“Hisaya-kun...are you okay?” Ichigohara asks worriedly.

“O-Of course!” Sashihara stammers as he regains his bearings. “Let’s get to the Kitchen now!”

What the hell was that about...? That coughing came out of nowhere, and it sounded really bad...

After about twenty minutes, Sashihara and Ichigohara emerge from the Kitchen and inform us dinner is ready. Tonight’s meal is a mix of rice and vegetables that is plain yet absolutely delicious.
Ichigohara-san and Sashihara-kun should start a cooking show on TV...I feel like their differing personalities would contrast really well. More importantly, the food they make together is incredible. I wish that others who aren’t with us any longer were here...especially Aozor—
I stop myself.
No...I can’t think like that. They’re all dead and never coming back, so I might as well stop with the wishful thinking.

After dinner, I head back to my room and fall into bed, feeling sad.
I miss everyone who’s gone...even Carrasco-san. I still hate what she did, but as much as I want to believe I hate her I know it’s Monohebi I truly hate. That goddamn snake...one day, when we get out here, I will make sure whoever is behind him pays for what they’ve done.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Good morning, inmates. It is now 7 am, which means nighttime has officially concluded. Enjoy another day of confinement.”

That morning announcement...every day, I wake up to hear the same stupid thing. Can’t Monohebi change it up sometime? If he has the resources to kidnap sixteen Ultimate students and bring us to prison that he probably modified extensively, he definitely has the ability to make a better morning announcement.

Feeling oddly frustrated about the repetitiveness of the morning announcement, I take a shower and think to myself some more.
The morning announcement is stupid, but I have way more important things to focus on that that...like keeping my end of the agreement with Motoki-san. I need to try as hard as I possibly can to make sure a murder doesn’t happen. That’s a whole lot easier said than done...however, I’m sure that with enough effort I’ll at least make an impact. Damn, is Niizuma-san rubbing off on me? I feel like that’s something she would say...

After I get out of the shower and finish getting ready, I head out to the Cafeteria, where everyone else already is.
Am I getting later, or is everyone else getting earlier?
I look at the clock, which reads 8:10.
Oh...looks like I’m getting later. I didn’t realize my shower was so long...

“Why are you so late?” asks Domoto. “Is this becoming a pattern? You were late yesterday morning and at dinner last night, and now you’re more than a half hour late to breakfast this morning.”

“It’s not a pattern,” I say defensively. “I just lost track of time.”

“Three times in a row,” says Kasparov. “That is dangerously close to becoming a pattern.”

“Well, it’s not yet,” I say irritably. “I’ll be on time from now on, okay?”

“You better be,” Niizuma says. “It really is odd how you can put in such amazing effort in the class trials yet be so lazy outside of them, Kawashima-san. I’ve held back on you and some of the others being late for a while now, but I can’t allow you to be so lazy any longer.”

...Lazy? That’s not what this is!
“I wasn’t being lazy,” I say, having to hold back anger. “I was just late. That’s all.”

“Lateness requires laziness,” Niizuma retorts. “It’s really not that hard of a concept to understand.”

I want to respond to her, but I hold myself back.
I guess it’s the waitress in me...I always have to be good to customers even when they’re being rude...like Niizuma-san is right now. I need to calm down and diffuse the situation.
I take a deep breath. “Okay,” I say as I sit down. “I won’t be late in the future.”

“Good,” Domoto says. “Now, let’s move on to more important discussion.”

“Yeah,” Komatsu says. “Like when we’re gonna get our fuckin’ food. I’m starvin’ over here!”

“You had th-three huge p-plates of food last n-night,” Oyamada says. “I d-don’t understand how you c-could be hungry r-right now...”

“Haven’t I already said this? I gotta really high metabolism,” Komatsu says irritably. “I just need to eat...”

Hayasaka looks at him coldly. “You greedy little...” she whispers to herself.

“Um, what was that, Hayasaka-san?” Eguchi asks. “I, um, thought I heard you, um, say something.”

Hayasaka seems to flip a switch as her normal personality comes back. “Then you’re, like, totally a dumb, deaf, like, bitch, Yuzuki-chan~!” she says with a wide smile. “Get your, like, fucking hearing checked.”

Terajima bristles in his seat. “Yo. Don’t be so rude to her, selfie girl,” he says coolly.

“Yeah, d-don’t be mean to o-our friend,” Oyamada stutters.

“O-o-okay, M-Mika-chan w-won’t,” Hayasaka says mockingly.

Terajima stands up and cracks his knuckles. “Cut that shit out,” he says menacingly. “I won’t let you talk to him like that.”

Hayasaka blanches. “Fine, Mika-chan’ll, like, stop,” she says shakily. “Just, like, sit back down...”

Typical bully behavior...acting brave until confronted. I’m glad she got a taste of her own medicine.

“Thanks, um, guys,” Eguchi says gratefully as Terajima sits back down. “It was, um, nice for you to, um, stick up for me like that.”

“You’re w-welcome,” Oyamada replies with a smile.

“Anytime,” Terajima says. “It’s my responsibility to look out for those who aren’t as strong as me.” He turns his head ever so slightly so that his sunglasses are directed at Hayasaka.

She avoids his gaze. “...Pieces of shit. You’ll reg...” she whispers to herself, then trails off into indecipherable grumbling.

“...Damn,” Komatsu says after a pause. “All this ‘cause I was talkin’ ‘bout some food...”

“It is fascinating how conflicts can erupt at such small triggers,” Kasparov says.

“They may erupt at such small triggers, but the conflict would have to be building the whole time,” Motoki says. “No one goes from zero to one hundred at a small thing. Small things add up and become the zero to ninety-nine.”

“...The fuck does
that mean?” Komatsu asks confusedly.

“I believe Motoki-san was trying to say that small disagreements can build up over time and lead to sudden explosions at small triggers,” Niizuma says. She looks at Motoki. “Am I correct?”

Motoki nods. “Yeah, that’s what I was trying to get across.” She looks back and forth at Hayasaka and Terajima. “I think we need to be more open at the causes of our disagreements and work to resolve our arguments as they come. Otherwise, negative feelings can fester like open wounds and become hate. We all need to end this animosity to prevent any more deaths.”

Looks like she’s remembered her promise from yesterday...that’s good to see.

“...That’s a fair point,” Domoto says. “I also support this proposal. However, I’d like to add that we must always be honest with each other, even if it causes arguments.”

Motoki is going to say something to that, but Sashihara and Ichigohara come out from the Kitchen before she can speak. “Food’s ready, everyone,” Ichigohara announces.

“Fuck yeah!” Komatsu shouts excitedly. “I was gettin’ real hungry.”

“Then be hungry no longer!” Sashihara shouts as Komatsu moves past him to the Kitchen.

“It’s weird, but, um, I’m really hungry too,” Eguchi says as she quickly follows Komatsu.

“You can be hungry,” Sashihara says at Komatsu and Eguchi, “although make sure not to eat too much! That’s unhealthy!”

I don’t know if either of them will heed that command...still, I guess it was worth a shot.

I head into the Kitchen and see that Ichigohara and Sashihara have made the same meal as yesterday’s dinner.
I wonder why that is...

“Sorry about repeatin’ meals,” Ichigohara says apologetically, as if she were directly responding to my thoughts. “Hisaya-kun tried to make stuff hibachi style and, uh...” She gestures to the stove, which is covered in half-burnt food and smells like smoke. “It didn’t go so well.”

“I am very sorry for messing up, everyone!” Sashihara shouts regretfully. “But I promise my efforts will result in actual food next time!”

“You almost started a fire,” Ichigihara says with a nervous laugh, “so I’m not too sure I’m gonna let you have a next time.”

“I promise you, I can—” Sashihara stops mid-sentence and grips his medical face mask tightly.

“Sashihara-kun, are you alright?” Motoki asks concernedly.

He shudders for a few moments, but then nods. “Yes, I am...”

Is he sure? With the coughing last night and...whatever that was, he seems to not be okay. I don’t want to be too intrusive, though...so if he says he’s alright, I guess I’ll just
have to take his word for it.

I get my food and return to my seat. Just like last night, the food is amazing.
Ichigohara-san and Sashihara-kun are quite the power duo in the kitchen...

After everyone is done with their meal, Domoto clears her throat. “Before we part ways for the day, we all have something to discuss.”

“And what’s that?” I ask.

“What we found on the third floor yesterday,” Domoto says. “More importantly, did anyone find the key Monohebi mentioned?”

“I didn’t,” I say.

“Neither did I,” says Niizuma.

“Nor I,” Kasparov says

Domoto looks disappointed. “That sucks, but...it’s out there somewhere. So, I want you all to be on the lookout for that key today.”

“Understood,” says Terajima. “I’ll try my hardest to find it. Knowing the snake, it’s probably in the stupidest possible place.”

“Mika-chan didn’t know, like, Yutaka-kun’s brain was, like, an option,” says Hayasaka.

Komatsu opens his mouth angrily, but Domoto sharply lifts her hand. “No petty bickering,” she commands. “That goes for you too, Hayasaka-san.”

Hayasaka rolls her eyes. “Like, whatever.”

She really needs to stop...it’s getting on my nerves.

“Moving on from that, let’s talk about what we found,” Domoto says. “I’ll go first. Kasparov-kun and I went into Cell Block C, which is exactly what it sounds like. We searched the place form top to bottom, but didn’t find any sign of the key.”

“We did encounter what is most probably the stairs that lead to the next floor,” Kasparov adds. “However, other than that and the entrance to the garden, there is nothing in the room. I would advise that none of you waste your time in there.”

“Will do,” Ichigohara says. “It doesn’t sound too excitin’. I did hear somethin’ about a garden, though...” Her eyes light up with excitement. “Is it true? Is there a garden here!?”

“Yes, there is,” Motoki says. “It’s indoors, though. And most of the plants are fake. The only real stuff in there is just small stuff, the rocks, and the water in the pond.”

“Oh...that sucks,” Ichigohara says dejectedly. “I was hopin’ to find some real natural beauty out there...but it’s only fake stuff.” She shakes her head disappointedly. “I’m not a huge fan of fake plants.”

I feel bad for her, getting her hopes up for such a lackluster garden...maybe I can make it a little better.
“You like relaxing, right, Ichigohara-san?”

She nods. “Yeah, I do.”

“Even if the greenery is fake, the garden is still a very relaxing place,” I tell her. “I’m sure you’ll be able enjoy at least that part of it.”

“I’d prefer to stay in the baths for that,” Ichigohara says. “But...maybe I’ll check it out.” She smiles. “Thanks for tellin’ me that, Wakana-chan. Maybe I’ll be able to enjoy that garden now.”

I return her smile. “You’re welcome,” I say genuinely.

Domoto clears her throat, attempting to end our side conversation. “Moving along, who would like to share what they found next?”

Niizuma sits up straight. “I’ll go,” she says. “I was in the Art Room. Unsurprisingly, it has a variety of artwork in it. In the Repository, which is connected to the Art Room, materials with which one may create art may be found, such as blank canvases, charcoal, pencils, paint, clay, brushes, and more.”

“Does it, um, have any electronic, um, drawing tablets?” Eguchi asks. “Traditional, um, art isn’t really my thing, but I, um, am pretty good at, um, digital stuff.”

Niizuma shakes her head. “I’m afraid I didn’t see anything like that while in there, and I looked quite thoroughly.”

“Oh, that sucks,” Eguchi says sadly. “I’m sure there’s, um, other stuff I could, um, use in there.”

“You c-could also g-go to the library,” Oyamada suggests. “I s-saw a b-book about the f-fundamentals of traditional d-drawing in there...”

“Um, thanks, Oyamada-kun,” Eguchi says. “I’ll be sure to, um, check it, um, out.”

“Speaking of the library, what was in there?” Kasparov asks curiously.

“Prolly books,” says Komatsu.

Kasparov gives him a dirty look. “Of course. I meant what sort of books.”

“A-All kinds of b-books!” Oyamada says enthusiastically. “N-Non fiction, fiction, m-mystery, horror, th-thrillers, romance...if you c-can think of a g-genre, it’s there!”

“Is there a, um, manga section?” asks Eguchi curiously. “It’d be, um, awesome if there, um, were...”

“It e-even has a m-manga section,” Oyamada says, a slightly unpleasant expression on his face. “I d-don’t really think m-manga belongs in a l-library, but...I g-guess it’s still l-literature after all, j-just not in the c-conventional form...”

“It’s good you’re, um, accepting of it, um, being there even if you, um, don’t like it,” Eguchi says. “Because some people, um, think that manga is, um, not really, um, literature.”

“This is irrelevant,” Domoto interjects. “Please, can we talk about the topic on hand here? What else did you all find upstairs?”

“There was, um, a Music Room,” Eguchi says.

“It’s really fuckin’ cool!” Komatsu says passionately. “It has all sorts of instruments and sheet music in there. There’s a shit ton of blank music, too. Maybe I’ll make a new symphony while we’re here! It’ll be my tenth one.”

“Tenth!?” I ask incredulously. “How’d you make nine already? Don’t symphonies take forever?”

“Not if ya get yer shit together and work yer fuckin’ ass off,” Komatsu says.

“Why even create a new one when we will only be trapped here?” Kasparov asks. “I am not trying to sound like a philistine, but I question the worth of composing a symphony that will never be performed.”

“I have no fuckin’ idea what a ‘philistine’ is, but I need do somethin’ I like or I’ll blow my fuckin’ brains out,” Komatsu says. “And if it’s not a symphony, I’ll make it a piano or violin concerto. I could play it then.”

“Yeah, and you’d, um, do a really, um, good job,” Eguchi says flatteringly. “Like when you, um, were playing that, um, song from, um, Peturuska.”

Kasparov raises his eyebrows. “Do you mean ‘Petrushka?’” he asks. “That is the name of a Russian puppet, as well as of a strange ballet.”

“Yeah, that’s what she meant,” Komatsu says. “It’s about—”

“Why are we talking about a dusty old ballet?” Niizuma asks. “If I recall correctly, we should be discussing what else we found while exploring the third floor.”

Hayasaka looks confused. “But that’s, like, all the rooms, Tomiko-chan...like, what else is there to, like, talk about?”

“Sashihara-kun and Ichigohara-san have yet to share what they found,” Niizuma says. “Surely they must have something to share.”

Ichigohara chuckles nervously. “Haha...well, you see, Tomiko-chan...Hisaya-kun and I stayed in the pool and baths, respectively. We didn’t go to any new areas.”

“I’m sorry, but I couldn’t resist doing fifty laps in the pool!” Sashihara says apologetically. “Aquatic exercise is simply too good for me to resist!”

Fifty laps? I could barely even do ten...although I’m also not the Ultimate Fitness Trainer.

Niizuma
looks at them disapprovingly. “That’s disappointing,” she says. “Did you manage to find anything new in those rooms while you remained there?”

Ichigohara shakes her head. “Sorry, Tomiko-chan, I didn’t.”

“Neither did I!” shouts Sashihara.

Domoto sighs. “Well then...today, I want you both to look for that key. Okay?”

“Okay!” Sashihara responds.

“Yeah, sure,” Ichigohara says.

Domoto nods. “Good.” She turns to face the rest of us. “If no one else has anything they’d like to discuss, we can end the morning meeting here and meet back up for dinner at the normal time.” She emphasizes that last part, looking at me.

Jeez...I get the memo, I’ll be on time.

No one has anything to say, so we end the morning meeting and go our separate ways.
I wonder what I should do today...Domoto-san said to look for the key Monohebi talked about, so I’ll do that first.

I look for the key for several hours, but find nothing.
Dammit...Monohebi hid that key well. I want to continue to look for the key, but...I doubt I’ll find it. I think I’ll look for someone to hang out with instead.

FREE TIME START!

I wander around for a while until I find myself in the Art Room, where I see that Hayasaka is sitting behind a canvas.
She turns her head when she hears me enter.

“Like, hi Wakana-chan~!” She greets me. “Do you, like, want to see the, like, painting Mika-chan, like, made?”

“A painting?” I repeat curiously. “I didn’t take you for the artistic type.”

“Mika-chan has her, like, secret passions, just like everyone, like, else,” she says. Her eyes looks at me, almost begging me to come admire her work. “C’mon, you’ll, like, love it.”

I want to say no, but...something about her makes her seem desperate. It almost looks like she craves validation...
“Sure,” I say after pondering for a bit. I walk over to her and look at her canvas. My jaw drops.

On the canvas is the most terrifying painting I’ve ever seen. Full of disturbing imagery and horribly disfigured, screaming faces, colors clash violently, all around a central figure, who looks the most human out of everyone. That figure looks to be screaming in the most agonizing pain. “Well? Don’t you, like, love it?” Hayasaka asks.

I look at her, not knowing what to say. “It’s...certainly something,” I say. “It’s well-done, but...pretty terrifying. What’s it supposed to mean?”

Hayasaka looks at me strangely. “Huh? What do you, like, mean?”

“Don’t most artists have at least some sort of meaning attached to their art when they’re making it?” I ask. “Especially for abstract pieces like this...”

“Like, not art has to, like, have deep meaning, silly,” Hayasaka says. “Oh, Wakana-chan, you’re, like, reminding Mika-chan of her, like, one literature teacher.”

“Huh? Why?” I ask.

“Because you, like, look for deeper meanings when there, like, aren’t any~!” Hayasaka says. “Sometimes a, like, book is just, like, a book and a painting is just, like, a painting.”

I guess that’s true...

“But that, like, doesn’t matter!” Hayasaka exclaims. “What does, like, matter is, like, if you’ll let Mika-chan, like, take care of your, like, boring nails! They, like, totally need a makeover~!”

I inspect my nails and see that they are in indeed in need of a makeover.
Well, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to get them redone...but it would also mean having to deal with Hayasaka-san for extended period of time. That shouldn’t matter, though...I do need to figure out what’s up with her, because I know she’s not all she seems to be. So...should I hang out with Hayasaka-san?

Yes/No

“Awesome~!” Hayasaka exclaims. “Let’s, like, get to it~!”

Hayasaka-san leads me to the Dressing Room in the second floor and uses the nail polish there to do my nails. It’s annoying to hold my hands still for so long, but they did become a lot nicer-looking as a result, due to Hayasaka-san being really good at nail art. I think Hayasaka-san and I grew a little closer.

After we wait a little while for my nails to dry, Hayasaka takes my hand and inspects the nails, making sure they dried correctly. “All, like, good~!” she says excitedly. “Isn’t Mika-chan, like, soooo good at, like, this kind of stuff?”

“You are,” I tell her. “Though I do wonder...how did you get so good?”

Hayasaka taps her finger against the nail polish bottle. “Mika-chan has, like, always used makeup and, like, cosmetic stuff in general. For, like, as long as she can, like, remember, she was, like, really interested in it.” She shrugs. “So, like, she decided to put in, like, the effort and get, like, really good at it! And, like, in the process, she, like, became a social media, like, icon~!”

“But why?” I ask. “Why were you interested in cosmetics?”

Hayasaka fidgets uncomfortably, but keeps her smile. “Mika-chan...like, just finds makeup and, like, all that to be fun.” She narrows her eyes. “There isn’t, like, a hidden motive.” She says that last part with a lot of emphasis, and her smile fades for a bit. “So don’t ask again.”

“O-Okay,” I say, freaked out by her sudden seriousness.
She can be really scary when she wants to be...
“So, uh, what platform did you start out on?” I ask, trying to change the subject. “You couldn’t’ve just gotten famous overnight.”

Hayasaka’s normal smile comes back to her face. “Mika-chan, like, started out by, like, posting makeup tutorials on, like, YouTube when she was, like, twelve. Things, like, started slowly, but, like, Mika-chan started to branch out to, like, other sites and gain a, like, following on those and, like, get the most, like, exposure possible. A few, like, controversies and, like, PR stunts later, and Mika-chan became, like, one of the biggest, like, Internet celebrities ever~!”

And yet I still hadn’t heard of her before coming to this place...
“It must’ve been hard to gain such a large following,” I say. “And to live your entire life in the public eye.”

“Not Mika-chan’s, like, entire life,” Hayasaka says with a wink. “The Internet only, like, sees what Mika-chan, like, lets them see.”

I give her a confused look. “But what don’t you show them? I thought you said your entire life is perfect and that’s why everyone adores you.”

Hayasaka’s face sours. “Mika-chan is, like, done talking for, like, today.” She stands up suddenly and heads for the door. “Bye, Wakana-chan.” She leaves.

Well, that was sudden and rude...but not completely unexpected. She really doesn’t like any insinuation that her life isn’t perfect. What is she hiding? And why is she hiding it? I want to know why, but I have a feeling she’ll never tell.

I leave the Art Room and walk around the third floor aimlessly until I find myself in the library. In there, I find Oyamada sitting at a table, pouring over a thick book. He looks up when I get close.

“Oh, hi, K-Kawashima-san,” he greets timidly. “I w-was just busy r-reading a n-nice, long book. Do you w-want to g-grab a book and j-join me?”

I’ve never been a huge reader, but it would probably be pretty nice to sit down and lose myself in a book...especially considering there really isn’t much interesting to do here. So...should I hang out with Oyamada-kun?
Yes /No

“A-Awesome,” Oyamada says happily. “Just g-grab a book and s-sit down.”
Following his request, I scan the bookshelves and grab a random fantasy book off the shelf.

I plop down to Oyamada and begin to read the book. It’s not very well written, but it’s interesting and entertaining which is all I really care about.
It’s a hell of a lot better than any mandatory reading I’ve had to do for school...which isn’t really saying much, but still. Even without the book, it’s an enjoyable experience to just be here with Oyamada-kun, even though neither of us is talking. It’s like just the presence of the other person alone is enough to be comforting...which is weird, but it’s how I feel. I think Oyamada-kun and I grew a little closer.

A few hours pass of me reading the book when I finally decide to close the book and talk to Oyamada, something I haven’t done much of at all while here. “So, Oyamada-kun, what is it like being the Ultimate Librarian?”

At first he doesn’t do anything, but then looks up suddenly. “H-Huh? What d-did you s-say? I’m s-sorry, I was o-on my sixth r-re-read of V-Victor Hugo’s
L-Les Miserables...I w-was on the p-part where Javert c-commits suicide...it’s s-such a poignant, m-moving, and tragic scene...” His eyes are glossed over, as if he’s forgotten I’m here.

He’s so immersed in his book, he’s forgotten I’m here...it’s admirable he can get so immersed, at least. It looks like I’ll have to repeat my question.
“I said, what is it like being the Ultimate Librarian?”

“It’s the b-best job in the e-entire world!” Oyamada exclaims without hesitation. “I g-get to be a-around so many b-books all d-day, everyday...my l-library back in m-my hometown is l-like my p-personal heaven...” A dejected expression crosses his face. “I w-wish I could b-be there right n-now...this l-library is g-great, but th-the one at h-home just c-can’t be b-beaten...”

“At least there is a library here,” I say, trying to be as comforting as possible. “There could be none at all.”

Oyamada shudders. “S-Stop, I d-don’t even w-want to think about l-life without a l-library nearby...I d-don’t think I c-could do it. I have n-no idea how I m-managed to g-get by without a l-library when we o-only had the other t-two floors...”

He really doesn’t like thinking about living somewhere without a library...that’s understandable, considering he’s the Ultimate Librarian.
“So, Oyamada-kun,” I begin, “what was it that got you into books in the first place? And what was your first book?”

“I have n-no idea what m-my first book w-was,” Oyamada answers. “I’ve r-read so many I f-forget when I r-read them...it all j-just b-blurs together. As f-for y-your other q-question, it’s because b-books are r-records of human life and r-reflections of the s-societies that w-we live in. Th-They’re so much m-more than words....th-they’re a w-window into the c-culture, knowledge, and b-beliefs of the s-society in which th-they were written...they’re h-history.

“For m-millennia, books have b-been previous sources of k-knowledge and i-information...they u-used to take s-so long...s-sometime years, to b-be made or c-copied...and n-now, books are e-easier to be then e-ever.” His eyes shine happily. “That m-makes me r-really happy to b-be alive in th-his day and a-age. I have a-access to the s-stories, l-legends, knowledge, c-culture, and history of p-past societies up u-until the present, and I c-can use that t-to make our w-world today a b-better place...a-all because of b-books.” He turns his attention back to me. “S-Sorry for that r-ramble...I just r-really love b-books.”

I smile. “You’ve made that very clear, Oyamada-kun,” I say.
He made a good point about how books are more than words and can offer us so much insight into the past and that we can use that information to make this world a better place. It makes me want to start reading now...

FREE TIME END

Due to it being almost six, Oyamada and I head down to the Cafeteria for dinner.
I won’t be late this time...not after Niizuma-san and Domoto-san got upset with me being late this morning.

Fortunately, Oyamada and I get to the Cafeteria, where Domoto, Kasparov, Niizuma, Terajima, and Hayasaka already are, right at six. I turn to Domoto and mouth, “On time,” to which she gives an approving nod.

“You’re actually on time,” Niizuma says dryly. “How impressive, Kawashima-san. Maybe you aren’t as lazy as I thought.”

Why is she being so harsh? I was late only a few times, and she treats it like I’ve committed some sort of terrible transgression.
“If that was sarcasm, I can’t say it was appreciated,” I say in the most aggressively polite way possible. “I’m on time, so let’s just move last that and focus on more important things.”

“Well said,” Kasparov says. “It is not at all strategic to discuss such petty things as being on time or late when there are so many more pressing matters.”

Niizuma looks like she wants to say something very badly, but she only purses her lips. “I believe it’s symbolic of a person’s work ethic and general disposition, but whatever you say,” she says.

Kasparov frowns at her, but says nothing. “Thank, like, fuck that’s over,” Hayasaka says boredly. “Tomiko-chan, Mika-chan, like, loovvvvess you, but you can be, like, weird with the things you, like, focus on sometimes.”

Terajima nods with hesitation. “I agree with you for once. There are so many more productive things to think about than whenever someone’s on time or not. It’s not like we’ll die if we’re late.”

Niizuma’s mouth twists bitterly. “Will you all shut up? I voiced my opinion and now you’re all hounding me. I’ll drop the subject, okay?”

Terajima looks taken aback. “Sure,” he says, surprised at Niizuma’s sudden outburst. “I don’t think it’s that big of a deal anyway.”

We sit in awkward silence as Motoki, Komatsu, and Eguchi trickle in in the next few minutes. Niizuma gives them disapproving looks for being late but says nothing.
She really dislikes lateness...but why? It’s not like any of us are chronically late all the time...so why does it matter so much to her?

Soon enough, Ichigohara and Sashihara come out of the Kitchen to announce dinner. As soon as I smell the delicious scent of their meal, I hurry to make myself a plate. Interestingly enough, it’s a collection of grilled shiitake mushrooms skewered on a plate, with scallions and a variety of vegetables in the side.

“Shiitake yakitori? Fuck yeah!” Komatsu exclaims excitedly as soon he jumps to get a plate of food.

“Yeah, that sounds, um, delicious,” Eguchi says as she grabs a plate and begins loading up a plate with a lot of food.
She’s eating a lot today...

“I hope you like it!” Sashihara shouts. “I might not be a hibachi chef yet, but I can still cook! Also, I would like to inform everyone the mushrooms were specifically handled with latex gloves to ensure they weren’t cross-contaminated with any potential allergens!”

“Wow,” I say, surprised. “That’s dedication.”

“Yeah, Hisaya-kun was super careful about not lettin’ any of the foods touch, not even the vegetables I was cuttin’,” Ichigohara comments. “He said he wanted his meals to be accessible to everyone.”

Motoki smiles at that. “Aw, that was very nice of you to do, Sashihara-kun.”

Sashihara blushes. “Y-You’re welcome!”

We all get our meals and return to our seats. As soon as I sit down, I begin feasting on the grilled mushrooms, which are just as delicious as they smelled.
I want to have another plate so badly...but I also don’t want to gain that unnecessary weight. Oh, the struggles of resisting delicious food...

After the meal is over, Ichigohara collects our dirty plates and washes them in the Kitchen. When she returns to the table, Domoto immediately clears her throat and begins speaking.
“So, did anyone make any progress on finding that key today?”

I shake my head. “Sorry, I looked for a while but didn’t find anything.”

Niizuma has a bitter expression on her face. “I searched the entire first floor, yet my investigation yielded no results.” She clenches her first. “I can’t forgive myself for being unmotivated and not able to put the hard work in to find that damn key...”

“Niizuma-san, don’t be so hard on yourself,” Motoki says gently. “You tried your best. That’s what matters.”

“I don’t mean to be too contradictory, but the key is important,” Terajima says. “We need to find out where it is.”

“Yeah, it’s, um, a really big concern for, um, all of us here,” Eguchi says.

Hayasaka snorts. “Like, really? It’s not a, like, concern for, like, Mika-chan.”

Domoto narrows her eyes. “And why isn’t it?”

A sly smile crosses Hayasaka’s face. “Because Mika-chan, like, found the key.”

...Wait, what!?
“You found the key?” I ask incredulously.

“Where was it?” asks Niizuma, visibly frustrated that someone other than her found the key first. “I looked so hard, yet didn’t see it...”

“It was in the, like, Art Room,” Hayasaka says, twirling her hair. “On a, like, shelf. But that, like, doesn’t matter.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Terajima says. “Though this question does matter: why didn’t you say you had as soon as you found it? You could’ve saved us a lot time looking for it.”

“Mika-chan was, like, going to keep it a, like, secret, but then she, like realized it’s more fun, like, this way,” Hayasaka says with a smirk.

“And what way is that?” asks Kasparov.

“Not, like, letting any of you guys, like, see the key~!” She says. She gleefully holds up two peace signs, with her eyes closed the whole time. “It’ll be, like, so funny to, like, see you beg!”

Domoto glares at her. “Is that some sort of joke? Show us the key. Now.”

Hayasaka shakes her head. “No, Mika-chan, like, doesn’t think she, like, will.”

“Then how can we even be sure you have it?” Ichigohara asks. “I don’t wanna doubt you, but you could be lyin’...”

“Could be? This bitch is definitely lyin’,” Komatsu says angrily. “C’mon, admit that yer a liar already! Ya didn’t find no key!”

“But, Mika-chan, like, did,” Hayasaka replies, annoyed. “If you, like, want to, like, doubt that and keep on, like, wasting your time, go ahead.”

“Though...like Ichigohara-san, um, said...how can we, um, even know you, um, found the key, if you don’t, um, show us it?” Eguchi asks, not making eye contact with Hayasaka. “It seems, um, weird...”

“I agree! It’s very strange!” Sashihara shouts. “If you don’t show us the key, none of us can be sure you really found it!”

Hayasaka wants to rebut, but instead pulls a key with a Monohebi head on it briefly and then immediately shoves it back into her pocket. “See? Mika-chan, like, isn’t a liar.”

“So...c-can you g-give us the k-key now?” Oyamada asks. “If i-it leads to a secret room, w-we should all b-be able to a-access it...I m-mean, who k-knows what’s in there?”

“Hayasaka-san, probably,” Niizuma replies dryly.

Hayasaka shakes her head. “Actually, like, Mika-chan has, like, nooooooo clue at all about what’s, like, in there~!”

“All the more reason to hand it over,” Domoto says. “We have no idea what’s in that room. If it’s something dangerous, we can’t have you venturing in there alone.”

Hayasaka frowns. “Like, no. If Mika-chan, like, gives you the, like, key so everyone can, like, enter that room, doesn’t that, like, put more people at risk? Anyone could, like, just go in whenever they, like, wanted to. That’d be, like, terrible~!” A smile comes over Hayasaka’s face. “But if Mika-chan were to, like, hide the key, then, like, she could, like, make sure no one, like, enters the secret room~!”

Komatsu furrows his brow. “So we’d have to rely on yer word that yer not gonna go in there yerself? I don’t buy that shit.”

“Neither do I, honestly,” Motoki says, rubbing her shoulder. “Not to be rude, but I trust Domoto-san to hold on to the key more than you, Hayasaka-san.”

“Same,” Ichigohara says. “Sorry, Mika-chan, I just think Otoha-chan is more trustworthy.”

“Oh, so that’s how it’s, like, going to be,” Hayasaka says acidly. Her mouth turns into a snarl. “Well, now, like, none of you losers are, like, ever going to get this fucking key!” She storms out of the Cafeteria.

“What a fool,” Kasparov says after a pause. “She is putting herself and others in danger by hiding that key.”

“We need to get it from her!” Sashihara shouts. “After looking so hard for it, we deserve it!”

Domoto nods. “You’re right. We need to get it back.” She scratches her chin. “But how? Hayasaka-san is annoyingly stubborn in her refusal to give it up.”

“We should steal it from her!” Komatsu says, cracking his knuckles. “Sneak up on her, hit her over the head, and steal it that way!”

Ichigohara grimaces. “That reminds me too much of what Mayumi-chan did to me...besides, violence probably isn’t the best solution, especially in this sorta situation.”

“How about someone talks with her?” Motoki suggests. “It’s surprising how simple yet effective communication can be in resolving differences between people. I’m pretty good at that, so maybe I should try and talk to her.” Motoki glances over at me. “It’s the most I can do...to make sure no one here ever befalls the same fate
as the others.”

So she’s trying to act on the promise she made with me yesterday...that’s inspiring to see.

“No,” Niizuma says.

Motoki looks taken aback. “Huh? I thought it was a pretty good ide—”

“Not that,” Niizuma interrupts. “I’m talking about you going. Hayasaka-san won’t listen to you. She won’t listen to any of us...except me.”

“In o-other words, you’re s-suggesting that you sh-should be the o-one to t-talk to her,”
Oyamada says. “Wh-What makes you s-so much m-more qualified than the r-rest of us?”

Niizuma makes a face, clearly resenting being questioned. Still, she answers. “Hayasaka-san has praised me numerous times for my fashion sense and prefers me the most of anyone here.” She rolls her eyes at that last part. “So, due to her liking for me, I think I should be the one to talk to her.”

Domoto ponders that for a moment. “That could work,” she says after a while. “Although I’m admittedly not optimistic about the results.”

Kasparov nods solemnly. “I have similar doubts. Hayasaka-san is an obstinate and selfish creature. It will take a lot to sway her.”

“We should still, um, take the chance,” Eguchi says. “There’s no way we’ll get the, um, key if we don’t try.”

“Normally I despise such sappy platitudes, but I agree this time,” Niizuma says. “I admit the probability of me obtaining the key is low...most likely around 5.3%. However, I’ll still try my hardest to get it back.” She stands up and begins to head out.

Domoto nods approvingly. “Good luck,” she says as Niizuma leaves.

When the doors close behind her, Oyamada
lets out a sigh. “Let’s hope sh-she can g-get that key. If n-not...things c-could get e-even more d-difficult here.”

Terajima pats his shoulder reassuringly. “Don’t worry, Oyamada-kun,” he says gently, “I’ll make sure that no matter what happens, you’ll stay safe.”

“Yeah, me, um, too,” Eguchi adds with a small smile.

Oyamada blushes. “Aww...thank you guys. It’s nice to have you there to look out for me...”

How wholesome...seeing the three of her interact makes me feel good inside...which is pretty rare in this place.

Domoto glances at the clock. “I think that about does it for tonight,” she says. “Today was...tiring.”

“Indeed!” Sashihara shouts. “Let’s hope that Niizuma-san can convince her to hand over the key! If not, we could be, if you forgive my language, royally fucked!”

Motoki chuckles humorlessly. “Haha...that’s one way to put it.” Her smile fades. “Still, I’m worried...”

“Why don’t we just go to bed now and forget about all this?” Ichigohara suggests. “I get that this is stressin’ some of y’all out, but we can’t be too worried about it right now. We gotta trust in Tomiko-chan...and even if she doesn’t succeed, we can just go with the flow, and navigate the path life takes us on to the best of our ability.”

“That is an admirably relaxed viewpoint,” Kasparov says. “Although I believe it is not the most optimal one.”

“With all due respect, that’s your opinion, Sergey-kun,” Ichigohara says. “We all have the right to live our lives the way we want.”

“Yes, yes,” Domoto interrupts hastily, probably to both stop the meeting and any potential argument brewing. “Let’s not discuss this anymore. We can talk about this tomorrow when Niizuma-san follows up on her attempt at convincing Hayasaka-san. Until then, let’s get to bed. Okay?”

No one disagrees with her, so we end the meeting there. I head back to my room and get ready for bed, all the while contemplating what’s happened.
Today was pretty good...until dinner. I really dislike how Hayasaka-san is refusing to hand over or share the key, because that’ll only sow further division among everyone here...which is the last thing we need in a time like this. I hope that Niizuma-san can get through to her.
Yet I also hoped no more murders would happen after Furuhata-kun, and look what happened next.

I try to follow Ichigohara-san’s advice and relax, but it turns out it a lot easier to say than do. Damn...how does she stay relaxed all the time? It’s a lot harder than it looks...
Eventually I just give up and continue worrying. So...will my hopes be right or wrong? I wish I could know right now so I could just stop worrying about it...but only time will tell...

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Good morning, inmates. It is now 7 am, which means nighttime has officially concluded. Enjoy another day of confinement.”

I wake up to hear the morning announcement, like any other day.
It still irks me how it’s the same every time...

After I
force myself out of my bed, take a shower, and get ready, I head to the Cafeteria.
I should be on time today...I made sure not to take too long in the shower or spend too long in bed.
I arrive in the Cafeteria, where Domoto, Kasparov, Niizuma, Motoki, Oyamada, and Terajima already are and see that I’m exactly on time.
Well, would you look at that.

I look over at Niizuma to see her reaction to my punctuality, but see only a swift, curt nod.
I shouldn’t have expected anything less...

“You’re on time,” Domoto says approvingly as I sit down. “It’s good to see you continuing the trend. Try to keep it up.”

“Sure thing,” I say as I look around, noting Komatsu, Eguchi,
Sashihara, Ichigohara, and Hayasaka’s absence. “It seems you’ll have other people to berate for being late today.”
Ichigohara-san and Sashihara-kun are probably making today’s breakfast. However, the other three probably just aren’t here...

As if it on cue, Komatsu and Eguchi come in. “Um, sorry for, um, being late,” Eguchi says apologetically, not looking at anyone in particular.

Komatsu yawns as he plops himself into an empty chair. “I ain’t apologizin’ for shit. I was tired, so I slept a few more minutes. There ain’t nothin’ ‘bout that I’m gonna feel sorry for.”

Niizuma presses her lips together so tightly they seem to disappear, and, although it seems to take all her restraint, she doesn’t say anything. Domoto, however, doesn’t hold back. “If you’re tired, go to bed earlier. Or maybe take a nap in the middle of the day. Just don’t be late.”

Komatsu shrugs and waves his hand. “Yeah, yeah, whatever,” he says, evidently not caring one bit about what Domoto said.

“Hey, y’all, breakfast’s ready,” Ichigohara calls from the Kitchen.

We all head to the Kitchen, where I see a giant fruit salad bowl and yet another burned stove upon entering. “Aw jeez, all fruits?” Komatsu asks dejectedly.

Ichigohara scratches her back awkwardly. “Sorry about that, Yutaka-kun...Hisaya-kun tried his hand at bein’ a hibachi chef again, and well, uh...” She gestured to the stove, which is even more badly burnt than yesterday. “...that happened,” she finishes.

Sashihara clutched his first and looks downward shamefully. “I’m sorry for disappointing you all yet again! I promise that I will not fail again!”

“I hope not,” Niizuma says, wrinkling her nose. “That burning smell is atrocious.”

Yeah...it smells really bad. I’m all for everyone pursuing their dreams, but I think Sashihara-kun should realize that being a hibachi chef just may not work out for him...

I wait in line, fill my plate with a variety of fresh fruit, and head back to the table. With the first bite, delicious juices from the fresh produce makes me sigh of happiness. Even if this meal is pretty basic, I’m still loving it...this fruit is too good to resist.

“Damn, ya took even more than me!” Komatsu says incredulously, pointing at the mountain of fruits on Eguchi’s plate.

“I guess I was just, um, feeling hungry,” Eguchi replies.

“You were pretty hungry yesterday too, Yuzuki-chan,” says
Ichigohara. “I noticed you took more food than what’s normal for you.”

“So did I!” adds
Sashihara. “Your portion size was far above normal at both meals yesterday!”

“Uh...wh-why does it m-matter?” Oyamada asks. “How much E-Eguchi-san eats i-is her own b-business.”

“Agreed,” says Domoto. “It’s also not what we should be talking about right now.”

“What should we be discussin’, Otoha-chan?” asks
Ichigohara.

“Hayasaka-san and the key,” Domoto responds. “Namely, Niizuma-san’s progress on convincing her to hand it over.”

Everyone turns to look at Niizuma. “Well?” asks Terajima. “Did you make any progress?”

Niizuma sighs deeply, then shakes her head. “No,” she says, clearly upset at her failure. “I tried what I thought was my hardest to get her to yield it, but she refused.” She looks down bitterly. “If only I had put more effort and hard work into getting that stupid key...”

“Don’t beat yourself over it,” Motoki says soothingly. “It’s not the end. We could still convince her.”

“Not if she never leaves her room,” Kasparov says. “I have yet to see her this morning. With her behavior last night, I would not be surprised if she were to stay there.”

“There’s n-no way sh-she would s-stay there f-forever,” Oyamada says. “She’s a s-social media star...h-her whole entire l-life revolves around g-getting attention from o-others...”

“That is a very astute observation, Oyamada-kun,” Kasparov says, slightly surprised. “It is true she seeks attention and validation from others. It is also true it would be illogical for her to stay there forever...however, Hayasaka-san has not shown herself to be a particularly logical person.”

“There’s still, um, a chance we could, um, convince her,” Eguchi says as she finally finished her massive meal.
“We shouldn’t, um, give up on, um, her yet.”

“I agree,” Domoto says. “Niizuma-san, would you be willing to try again?”

“...Yes,” Niizuma says, slightly hesitant. “Although I am even less optimistic of the results than before. Now, I believe there’s only a 1.4% probability of me succeeding.”

“That’s better than zero,” I say.

“Yes,” Niizuma says. “I suppose it is.”

Domoto looks around. “Alright. If no one else has anything else to say, I think we shou—”

“Hold on!” Sashihara interrupts. “I do have something to say!”

“What is it?” Domoto asks, irritated at being interrupted.

“I have a proposal!” Sashihara says. “I suggest that all the surviving male students join me for a bath later this morning!”

“...Why?” Kasparov asks, not sounding enthusiastic. “This request of yours is quite random.”

“Yeah, why do ya wanna do this?” Komatsu asks. “I ain’t see much of a point in it.”

“I want to boost the morale amongst the men here!” Sashihara shouts. “There are only five of us here now...so I think it would be beneficial for our collective well-being to bond through an experience such as this!”

Eguchi strokes her chin. “I feel like I’ve, um, read something with a plot like this, um, before...”

Niizuma gives Eguchi a suspicious look. “...What genre was that thing you read?”

Eguchi blanches. “O-Oh...it was, um, nothing...just, um, a normal, um, completely, um, unremarkable manga.”

Yeah...sure. I’m pretty sure the content of what she was reading is far from what would be considered a normal manga.

Oyamada looks uncomfortable. “G-Getting back on t-topic, I’m n-not too sure of this idea,” he says. “I’d m-much rather f-finish my re-read of H-Hugo’s
Les Miserables...”

Terajima lays a hand on his shoulder. “I get that you may not want to do this, and that’s okay, but I think there’s some benefit in doing this,” Terajima says. “We always talk about trying to prevent a murder, yet we never actually do much of anything.” He looks at Sashihara and nods. “I think this idea may actually help our situation.”

“If y-you’re there, I-I’ll be there,” Oyamada says. “But y-you better stay b-by my s-side...”

Terajima cracks a smile. “Sure thing.”

“What the fuck, I’ll do it,” Komatsu says. “I haven’t taken a bath in a long ass time. It’s been all showers for me.”

“If you all agree to go forward with this plan, then I shall acquiesce,” Kasparov says reluctantly. “Although I do not believe it to be of the most strategic value, I might as well give it a chance.”

“That’s the spirit,” Motoki says encouragingly. “I’m glad you boys are deciding to become closer through this experience.”

“As am I!” Sashihara shouts. “Alright then! We will meet at 9 am today!”

“Wait, hold up,” Ichigohara interjects suddenly. “I’ll still be in my daily bath by then...” She chuckles nervously. “I’m real sorry, guys, but I love takin’ nice, long baths...so would y’all mind waitin’ ‘til noon to take your bath? I’ll be done by then.”

“Of course!” Sashihara says. “As long as it actually happens, the time doesn’t matter to me!”

“I don’t give a shit, either,” Komatsu says. “It’ll give me more time to make some new music.”

After that, Domoto ends the morning meeting and we all split up for the day, with Niizuma heading off to try to convince Hayasaka again.
I hope that she manages to be successful this time...things could get rough if we don’t get that key. I’m anxious to figure out what happens, but...I can’t just sit around I need something to do, someone to hang out with...
FREE TIME START!

After wandering around for a little while, I find myself in the Music Room. Komatsu, who’s sitting behind the piano, greets me when he sees me. “Yo, Kawashima-san. Wanna sit in while I compose a somethin’ new?”

That sounds like it could be a really cool experience, even if I’m not at all musically inclined. So...should I hang out with Komatsu-kun?Yes/No

“Awesome!” Komatsu says excitedly. “It’s cool to have someone sittin’ in while I create music.”

I sit down a stool nearby and watch silently as Komatsu begins to compose. All throughout, he hums and taps his foot against the floor and his fingers against the side of the piano, sometimes in unison, sometimes separately, but always with superb timing and in often in complicated rhythmical patterns. Simultaneously, he plays around with chords on the piano and scratches what he likes on the blank sheet music in front of him.
Watching his creative process...it’s quite the sight. The way he conjures music, phrases, and rhythms out of nowhere and into a coherent progression is just baffling...and he does it so quickly! This is really cool to watch...but I guess that’s why he’s the Ultimate Composer. I think Komatsu-kun and I got a little closer.

After a while, Komatsu stops composing and turns around to face me. “Alright, that’s enough for now,” he says. “So, whaddaya think? Did ya like what I was makin’?”

I nod. “Yeah...it was cool how you managed to combine dissonance and...uh...” I rack my brain for the other word. “...and, uh...whatever you call sounding good?” I laugh, slightly embarrassed. “Sorry, I’m not musically inclined.”

“Ya don’t gotta worry,” Komatsu says reassuringly. “And it’s called consonance.”

“Consonance,” I repeat. “I should’ve known that. But, more importantly, how did you learn to make your music sound good yet also interesting at the same time? Because I wasn’t bored at all...and I honestly thought I would be. No offense, but your two main sources of inspiration, Western classical music and traditional Japanese music, aren’t really known for being too exciting.”

“I’d say no offense taken, but that’d be a lie,” Komatsu says with a small smile. “Nah, they ain’t borin’. Not if yer listenin’ to the right stuff.”

“What is the ‘right stuff?’” I ask curiously. “Because I’ve never really loved either classical or traditional music.”

“Stravinsky,” Komatsu says in adoration. “He is my man. The first time I listened to
The Rite of Spring, or really any of his works...” He kisses his hand and closes his eyes blissfully. “I fell in love. The crashin’ of different tonalities and insane rhythmic variation...it was so gorgeous.”

He opens his eyes and looks dreamily at the ceiling. “He’s my inspiration, ya know. An orchestra in my city was playin’
The Firebird and
Petrushka in the same concert...and me, bein’ broke as fuck, snuck in there and listened to it secretly. I was so fuckin’ stunned by how an orchestra could move together as one...and I thought to myself, I will make music that pulls together an orchestra like that...not only them, but the audience too.

“So, I studied the shit out of Stravinsky and all the other great masters. I bought, and sometimes illicitly and permanently borrowed, the scores and made notes...and I used that shit as a base for my music, which eventually led to me creatin’ my own style.”

“So that’s how you learned to combine dissonance and...” I hesitate, trying to recall the word, “...consonance so well.”

Komatsu nods. “Yep. It was the result of a whole lotta studyin’ and playin’ around on a street piano.”

“Wow...” I say, astonished. “I’m impressed that you’ve come so far before you’re even twenty.”

“Aw, yer too nice, Kawashima-san,” Komatsu says. “I ain’t gone far enough yet. I still have a lotta work to do on refinin’ my own style, but...thanks all the same.”
FREE TIME END

Komatsu glances at the clock and does a double take. “Oh shit, I gotta go,” he says. “See ya later, Kawashima-san.”

“Bye,” I say.
Well, that was quite an interesting story...even if I’m not a musical person, I still found it really captivating to listen to. I should come back here and talk to Komatsu-kun about music some more sometime in the future...

I get up and leave the Music Room, heading nowhere in particular. I’m about to start heading into the Library when a voice calls out to me.

“Ah, there you are,” Niizuma’s voice says from behind me.

I whirl around to see her standing at the top of the stairs from the second floor. “Niizuma-san,” I say, surprised to see her. “Were you looking for me?”

“I was,” Niizuma confirms, coming closer to me. “I have an update on the situation with Hayasaka-san.”

“What is it?” I ask eagerly. “Did she give the key to you? Did you succeed?”

Niizuma purses her lips. “...I suppose you could say I did,” she says after a pause. “Hayasaka-san did not agree to hand over the key...however, she agreed to let anyone of us in to the secret room so long as she goes with us.”

“Oh,” I say. “That’s kinda odd. Still...it’s better than nothing.”

“It is,” Niizuma says with a nod. “However, that is not all. Hayasaka-san requested all the females still alive gather outside the sauna at 12:30.”

“What time is it now?” I ask, looking around they walls for a clock but finding none.

“It’s almost noon,” Niizuma replies. “Will you be there? I’ve already informed Domoto-san and Eguchi-san, who’ve agreed to come.”

“Sure, I’ll do it,” I say, although I regret it as soon as I say it.
I’m pretty nervous about what might be in that room...

“Excellent,” says Niizuma as she begins to walk away. “See you soon.”

So...Hayasaka-san wants all the girls to meet her outside the sauna, probably so she can lead us inside the secret room. Why can’t she just wait until the boys are done so we can all go in together? Maybe the room is too small to fit all sixteen of us...or maybe she’s just impatient and wants to show everyone she can as soon as possible. Who knows with her...

To pass the time, I walk around aimlessly until I run into Motoki.

“Hey, Kawashima-san,” she greets me. “Are you heading to the sauna too?”

“Yeah,” I say. “I don’t know why, but I have a bad feeling about it.”

Motoki rubs her shoulder. “Yeah, so do I...” She shakes her head. “In spite of that, though, I hope everything goes alright.”

“Same,” I say. “Let’s just head over there early and get this over with.”

Motoki and I go through the girls’ locker room and down the following hallway to the entrance of the sauna, where Domoto
and Eguchi already are.

“So Niizuma-san got you to come, too,” Domoto says. She sighs. “I wonder what the point of all this is. Why won’t she just give us the damn key?”

“I, um, have no idea,” Eguchi says. “However, I think that, um, we should still be, um, grateful that Niizuma-san got her to, um, agree to this.”

“That’s true,” Domoto says. “Still, I’m irritated at Hayasaka-san’s stubbornness.”

“As are the rest of us,” I say.

After that, we’re silent until Niizuma and Hayasaka walk out of the girls’ locker room.

“Like, heyyyyy~!” Hayasaka says when she sees us. “Mika-chan is, like, soooo glad you could all, like—” She stops suddenly and looks around. “Wait, like, where is Noriyo-chan?”

“Ichigohara-san opted not to come,” Niizuma responds. “She said she wanted nothing to do with the secret room or what’s in it.”

Hayasaka grumbles angrily. “Well, isn’t she a fucking bitch. How could she, like, refuse Mika-chan?”

“Why does it matter if she’s not here?” Motoki asks. “It’s her choice to do what she wants with her life.”

Domoto gives Motoki the side eye. “You’re sounding like Carrasco-san right now.”

A painful expression flashes across Motoki’s face. “I am...but...even though Carrasco-san did something terrible, she was right that we all have the ability to choose what we want to do with our lives and—”

“Um, I don’t mean to be, um, rude,” Eguchi says, “but isn’t the, um, point of this to go, um, inside the secret room? If so, why are we, um, still out here?”

“Mika-chan, like, never thought she’d, like, say this, but thanks, Yuzuki-chan,” Hayasaka says. “Let’s, like, drop this topic and, like, go in~!”

Following Hayasaka into the sauna, the five of us anxiously wait as she prances to the back left corner of the room, slides the key out of her pocket and unlocks the door. “Ta da~!” Hayasaka says as it swings open. “Like, come in~!”

At first, none of us move. Then, Domoto steps forward. “We need to see what’s in there,” she says. “Even if it might be terrible...we need to.”

“I agree,” Niizuma says, following her in.

I’m scared at what might be in there...but I need to go in. I need to, as much as it sucks.
Anxiously, I force myself to walk over and step inside.

As soon as I enter, I find myself underwhelmed. A single, dim light barely illuminates the room. Against the wall on the right is a desk with a computer on it, while on the left wall there’s only a small peephole. “What’s on that computer?” I ask, striding over to it and turning it on.

Hayasaka makes a face. “That, like, doesn’t matter.”

“On the contrary,” Domoto says. “I believe that’s the most important thing in this room.”

Once the computer boots up, I notice it’s startlingly blank. There’s only one file on the desktop.

“session1.mp4,” Eguchi reads out loud. “I wonder what’s, um, in that file...”

“Let’s find out,” Niizuma says, taking the mouse and clicking on the lone video.

As soon as she clicks on the video, I see the face of someone who I haven’t seen in a while: Furuhata. “What the...?” I say, surprised.

“What the fuck!?” Hayasaka exclaims. “Is that, like, Yuuto-kun?”

“Shhhhh,” Niizuma says harshly. “He’s talking.”

“...Yeah, I know,” Furuhata’s voice says, sounding slightly scared. He’s not looking at the lense, but instead it looks like he’s talking to someone off camera. “Though...what am I supposed to know about it? I’m not involved.”

“Yes you are,” a voice from off camera says. It’s heavily edited with voice distortion, making it impossible to identify. “All of you know about what was going to happen. You know all about her plan.”

Furuhata’s face pales. “We barely ever talked...besides, I never was involved with what she wanted to do...”

“Liar,” the distorted voice says angrily. “You were her friend! You must know what I can do. You must know how I can...make my dream a reality.”

“Why would you want to do such a thing?” Furuhata asks, grimacing. “Enough is enough...”

“You do not understand,” the voice says. “But you could...”

Furuhata looks at the camera, confused. “Huh?” he asks tremulously. “Wh-What does that mean?”

The video cuts to black. For a good, long moment, none of us say anything. “...What the hell was that?” Motoki asks after a while, fear in her voice.

“I have no idea,” Domoto says, still staring at the screen. “Whatever it was...it left us with more questions than answers.”

“That’s for sure,” I say.
I don’t get it...why was Furuhata-kun in that video? Who’s the ”her” they were talking about and what was her plan? Who was that distorted voice? What did it want to make a reality of? So many questions...yet so few answers.

“It was weird,” Eguchi says. “Seeing, um, Furuhata-kun’s face again...and seeing him, um, act like that...”

“He sounded more scared than he ever did when we interacted with him,” Niizuma says. “I wonder why...”

“You’ll be wondering for a long time if you keep dwelling on it,” Motoki says. “That video was strange and weird, but thinking about it too much will only hurt us. We need to just forget about it.”

“Are you kidding me?” Niizuma asks
incredulously. “How are we supposed to just forget a video that might lead to us discovering the truth of this situation?”

“But that video didn’t, um, show us any, um, truth...” Eguchi says. “It just showed us an encounter between, um, Furuhata-kun and someone else...it didn’t, um, solve any mysteries...it just added some more.”

“Mika-chan can’t, like, believe she’s doing this again, but she, like, agrees with Yuzuki-chan,” Hayasaka says. “Yuuto-kun was up to some, like, shady shit before he died. Who, like, gives a fuck? He’s, like, dead.”

Niizuma purses her lips. “Even still...I refuse to give up on something that might help us find the truth of this situation...”

“This is the same situation as with what Carrasco-san saw before her execution,” Domoto says. “We have a mystery which, if solved, could help us learn the truth of our situation here and maybe escape. However, we don’t have the resources to solve either mystery.” Domoto sighs and shakes her head. “Niizuma-san, I hate this too, but we just have to give it up for now. As soon as we learn more, we’ll come right back to this. Until then...” She stares at the computer monitor. “We’ll just have to be content with not knowing.”

Niizuma looks bitter, but she doesn’t argue. “I know you’re right,” she says. “And I hate that. I hate giving up.”

“So do I,” Domoto says.

“Okay, so are we gonna, like, do what Mika-chan, like, brought everyone here for?” Hayasaka asks.

“That video wasn’t why you brought us here?” Motoki asks quizzically.

“Like, fuck no!” Hayasaka says with a snort. “Mika-chan, like, doesn’t give a shit about what, like, Yuuto-kun did before he died. She didn’t even, like, know what was on that, like, computer~!”

Domoto narrows her eyes at Hayasaka. “Then why did you bring us here?”

Hayasaka smiles slyly. “Mika-chan’s, like, so glad you, like, asked, Otoha-chan. Look through that, like, peephole on the door over there, and you’ll, like, understand.”

Domoto does as she’s told, although she looks suspicious of Hayasaka. She approaches the peephole and glances through it. As soon as she does, her eyes widen and her face reddens. “What the...what the fuck!?”

“What is it? What’re you seeing?” Niizuma asks, swiftly approaching. As Domoto moves aside, hand over her mouth, Niizuma peers through the peephole. “Well then,” she says smally. “I didn’t expect...”

“Expect what?” I ask, my curiosity piqued. “What can you see?”

Niizuma moves out of the way. “See for yourself,” she says.

I reluctantly step towards the door and peek through the peephole. “Oh,” I say.

On the other side, I can see the baths. Terajima and Oyamada sit in the warm bath, Kasparov sits in the cold one, while Sashihara and Komatsu sit in the hot bath. For a second, I can’t bring myself to look away. Then, I manage to regain control and back away from the door.

“What the fuck?” I say, turning to Hayasaka. “You wanted us to spy on the boys during their baths?”

“Wait...you can, um, see the boys through that, um, peephole?” Eguchi asks, trying and failing to conceal her eagerness.

“You can use that, like, peephole to look into the, like, baths,”
Hayasaka says. “So yes. You can, like, take a little, like, peek on what they’re doing~!”

“That’s disgusting,” Motoki says with a grimace. “And creepy, too! Would you like to be watched without your permission like that?” She doesn’t wait for an answer. Instead, she storms out of the secret room.

Eguchi, however, shuffles forward to the door and looks through it. “Get away from there,” Domoto
commands, roughly pulling her away from the it. “This isn’t right.”

“No, it’s, like, not,” Hayasaka says. “But it feels, like, sooooo good.” She steps closer to Domoto. “Mika-chan was, like, wondering...what’s your type?” She runs her hand through Domoto’s hair. “Is it, like, little fucking twinks like Osamu-kun? Or, like, do you, like, love
baras like Hisaya-kun or Eisuke-kun? Or in between, like Sergey-kun and Yutaka-kun?”

Domoto blushes heavily. She violently slaps Hayasaka’s hand away. “That’s no concern of yours,” she says venomously.

Hayasaka chuckles. “Oh, but it, like, is,” she says. She takes out the key and dangles it in front of Domoto’s face. “How about this...if you, like, tell Mika-chan your, like, type...then she’ll, like, give you the key you so, like, desperately want~!”

Domoto stares at the key in front of her face intently and then back at Hayasaka. “Fuck you,” she says bitterly. She grabs the key out of Hayasaka’s hand and throws it aside. “I already know what’s in here. I don’t really care about the key anymore.” She turns on her heel and stalks away.

Hayasaka looks disappointed. “...Damn,” she says, looking downcast. “Mika-chan thought, like, that’d work.”

She leaves the room, twirling her hair sadly. For a little while longer, Niizuma, Eguchi, and I just stand there.
Being in here makes me so uncomfortable...after seeing that mysterious video and being tricked into spying on the boys bathing...all I want to do is leave.

I start to head for the exit, but notice Niizuma and Eguchi haven’t moved. “Aren’t you guys going to leave?” I ask.

“Um, no...” Eguchi says, embarrassed. “Not quite, um, yet...”

“I’m not ready to go yet either,” Niizuma says, not looking at me. “This room still needs...inspection.”

I shake my head disapprovingly.
Neither of them is fooling me...

Heading out of the secret room and out of the sauna, I contemplate what I should do next.
That whole encounter really made me feel weird...I need something to take my mind off that. But...what should I do?
FREE TIME START!

After wandering around aimlessly for a little while, I run into Domoto on the second floor.

“Oh, hi, Kawashima-san,” she says. “I was just heading to the Props Storage Room to...take my mind off what just happened. Do you want to join me?”

The Props Storage Room? What is she going to do in there? Well, whatever it is, as long as it takes my mind away from what just happened, I don’t really care. So...should I hang out with Domoto-san?Yes/No

“Let’s go, then,” Domoto says.

I follow her to the Props Storage Room, where we work on fixing the mannequins, which are in various states of disrepair, sewing some of the broken costumes, and all around fixing up the place.
This really isn’t the most exciting work, yet...for someone reason I can’t quite explain, it was nice. Being the Ultimate Toy Maker, Domoto-san was naturally far better than me at repairing things, but even still I found myself having fun.
It’s relaxing to fix broken things and put them back into their prime, so that everyone can see the beauty they’re meant to have...I think Domoto-san and I got a little closer.

Once we’re finished, Domoto sit back and examines her handiwork. Satisfied, she nods. Then, she turns to the stuff I did...and she doesn’t seem as satisfied. “You’re not good at sewing,” she says, feeling one of the costumes I attempted to repair. “Actually, you’re pretty bad at it.”

I look over what I did.
Well...she’s not exactly wrong. Still, she could be a bit more polite about it.
“I hope this doesn’t sound rude, but you’d be a terrible waitress,” I say.

Domoto gives me a quizzical look. “What does that have to with sewing?”

“It’s not about sewing,” I say. “It’s about how up-front you are about things. Waitresses have to be polite and receptive about everything, even if they know the customer is wrong.” I shrug. “And, well...no offense, but you’re pretty bad at being polite.”

Domoto snorts. “I have no use for useless, meaningless courtesies,” she says. “I don’t hide behind pretty words. Instead, I always tell the truth, whether it’s good or bad.” She arches an eyebrow and glares at me. “Do you think that’s a bad thing?”

“No, not at all,” I say hurriedly, wilting under her intense stare. “I just think you should try to be a little nicer about how you say things. You can still tell the truth without being needlessly abrasive.”

“I say what I mean, regardless of how it might make others feel,” Domoto says. “Truth is more important than anything else. So many relationships are poisoned by lies.” Her face grows dark. “So many families...” She shakes herself out of that darkness and turns to look at me again. “I’ll phrase things nicely if that’s how I mean them. If not, they’ll be rude. So be it. I refuse to be dishonest. I refuse to lie.” She says that last word like it’s some sort of terrible demon that she is cursing. I try to take her hand in mine to calm her down, but then I notice that she’s gripping the sewing needle she’s holding with such an intensity that her knuckles are white.

“...Domoto-san, are you okay?” I say gently, not wanting to provoke her wrath.
She scary when she gets mad like this...I definitely don’t want to be on the receiving end of her rage.

Domoto takes a deep breath. Her grip on the needle relaxes. “Yes,” she says after a little while. “I just got a bit worked up there.”

Yeah, you sure did...
FREE TIME END

Due to it almost being dinner time, Domoto and I soon head out into the Auditorium and then the hallway. However, before we can go downstairs, someone calls out to us.

“There y-you are!” Oyamada says, fear in his voice. “I w-was looking for y-you guys...”

“Why?” Domoto asks. “This doesn’t have to do with your bath, does it?”

A look of confusion crosses Oyamada’s face. “Wh-What? N-No...it’s a-about Motoki-san. She’s b-been...” He shudders. “Sh-She’s been attacked!”

“What!?” I say, terrified.
Oh fuck...this is really bad. “Where is she!?”

“Is she alive?” Domoto asks concernedly.

“Y-Yeah, I th-think so...” Oyamada says. “C’mon, f-follow me...”

We follow Oyamada upstairs to the third floor. Once there, we can see the aftermath of the attack. Motoki is slumped over in the middle of the hallway between the Library and the doors to the Locker Rooms, with everyone but Domoto, Oyamada, and I surrounding her. She’s clutching her head, which is bleeding, while pieces of shattered pottery litter the floor around her.

“Motoki-san, are you alright?” I ask fearfully, rushing over to her side.

“Nggh...I’m...still alive,” Motoki says, her breath short and irregular.

“Somehow,” Domoto says, crouching beside Motoki to examine the broken pottery. “Did someone hit you with this?”

Motoki shakes her head, although the movement seems to cause her pain. “No...I was taking a clay pot from...the Art Room, when someone...came up from behind me...and smashed something...on my head....So...I must’ve dropped...the pot and...broken it...in the process.”

“With what did they hit you?” asks Kasparov.

Sashihara, who’s tending to Motoki’s wounds with makeshift bandages ripped from his shirt, peeks into Motoki’s hair. “Some sort of blunt object,” he answers, in a surprisingly quiet and businesslike tone. “Thankfully, whatever it was wasn’t enough to kill her.”

“Do you, um, think that’s what whoever, um, attacked her wanted to, um, do?” Eguchi asks. “And who, um, was it...?”

“Well, most of the time when people bash others over the head, they’re not trying to help them,” Niizuma says.

“So yer sayin’ that whoever attacked Motoki-san was tryin’ to kill her?” Komatsu asks, cracking his knuckles. “Whoever that piece of shit person is, I’ll beat the fuckin’ shit out of them!”

“You’re going to, like, beat up, Mayumi-chan’s, like, ghost?” Hayasaka asks with a smirk. “Maybe she, like, returned from the dead and, like, hit Sakiko-chan, just like she, like, did to Noriyo-chan~!”

“Hey, that’s not fuckin’ funny!” Komatsu says, tryin to sound threatening, but he sounds more sad than anything else. “Don’t talk ‘bout her like that...”

Eguchi sidles up to him and takes his hand. “It’s okay, Komatsu-kun...Hayasaka-san is just, um, being rude.”

“Yeah, she is,” Motoki says, glaring at Hayasaka. “Hayasaka-san...it’s not nice...to disrespect...the dead like that.”

“Even when the dead are foul murderers?” Kasparov asks. “Carrasco-san was no saint.”

“It’s not just her Mika-chan was disrespectin’,” Ichigohara says. “She was makin’ fun of me, too...” She rubs her head. “My head’s still hurtin’ from what Mayumi-chan did to me, you know.”

“Whatever,” Hayasaka says dismissively. “Don’t get all, like, worked up about a stupid, like, joke.”

“They have a right to get worked up when the joke was in poor taste,” I say. “And, to be frank, your joke was in terrible taste.”

Hayasaka glares at me but doesn’t say anything back. Instead, she mumbles incomprehensibly to herself.
God, she really needs to learn some manners...it’s so grating to be around her. Although, I feel like I was more direct and less polite than a good waitress should be...I guess Domoto-san is rubbing off on me.

“Motoki-san, did you at any point see your attacker?” asks Kasparov. “If so, we need to know immediately.”

Motoki shakes her head sadly. “No...I only remember...hearing someone rush from behind me...and then, after that...blackness until Terajima-kun...woke me up.”

“Terajima-kun woke you up?” asks Domoto, who casts a suspicious glance his way.

“I know what you’re getting at and I’m telling you it’s not true,” Terajima says defensively. “I’m not her attacker. Oyamada-kun and I were leaving the Library when we found her. I told Oyamada-kun to go around and find everyone else, while I tried to wake her.”

“You sh-should really s-stop suspecting Terajima-kun b-because of stuff he d-did in the past, D-Domoto-san...” Oyamada says. “He’s n-not the same p-person anymore.”

“Yeah, he’s, um, now sworn to protect all of us!” Eguchi adds.

“Seems like he couldn’t protect Motoki-san from her attacker,” Niizuma points out. “That is, if her attacker is real.”

“Huh? What
do you
mean by that, Tomiko-chan?” asks
Ichigohara.

“I believe she is alluding to Carrasco-san faking her attack,” Kasparov says. “She made us believe there was a mystery attacker on the loose, while in reality it was only her.”

“Wha...?” asks Motoki in disbelief. “I’m...I’m
not faking this!”

“But you, like, could be, Sakiko-chan,” Hayasaka says. “Besides you’re, like, nowhere near as fashionable as, like, Tomiko-chan. So you, like, should listen to what she, like, has to say~!”

Niizuma wrinkles her nose. “Even though you’re supporting me, I dislike that reasoning...it’s quite flawed.”

“It’s not only her and your reasoning that’s flawed,” says Sashihara, still weirdly quiet, as he continues to care for Motoki’s wounds. “This wound...while not at all life-threatening, it is far worse than the bruise Carrasco-san gave herself. Besides, it’s on the back of her head. It’s difficult for me to imagine a scenario where it could be self-inflicted.”

“I, um, don’t like how, um, you’re being so quiet,” Eguchi says, avoiding eye contact with Sashihara. “It’s kind of, um, freaking me out.”

“That’s not relevant, Eguchi-san,” Domoto says. “However, what Sashihara-kun said is true. Motoki-san’s wound would be a lot harder to fake than Carrasco-san’s.”

“But even if it’d be harder for it to be self-inflicted, it still could be,” Niizuma replies. “Also, Motoki-san could’ve seen that Carrasco-san’s feeble attempt at faking a wound did not work and could simply be going to great lengths to ensure we believe her.”

“Why are you trying so hard to not believe her?” I ask challengingly. “You’re being unfair.”

“No, I’m being logical,” Niizuma retorts. “I’m not one to blindly accept a story that could be false. Like how a hypothesis test sometimes doesn’t reach the level of statistical significance to reject the null hypothesis, Motoki-san’s story doesn’t seem credible enough to reject my distrust.” She turns her gaze back to Motoki. “There are no eyewitnesses. There is no
evidence except an injury that could be self-inflicted and a pot she could’ve broken herself.”

“But...I didn’t!” Motoki says frustratedly. “I was attacked! I didn’t have fucking time to make a list of evidence and assemble eyewitnesses, you...you stone-hearted bitch!”

“‘Stone-hearted bitch,’” Niizuma repeats. She chuckles humorlessly. “Hah. Carrasco-san called me the same thing after the last trial...what a coincidence.”

“Niizuma-san, stop this,” Domoto says sternly. “I’m all for speaking one’s mind and thinking critically, but let’s wait until Motoki-san’s better to start accusing her of something like this.”

“If I may add, just because the attack on Motoki-san could be fabricated does not mean that it is,” Kasparov says. “There still remains the possibility that an unknown attacker is on the loose. One that this time might actually be real. To ignore that simply would not be strategic."

The thought of that sends a chill down my spine...we might have a real attacker this time. Someone who’s probably attempting to kill, or at least hurt, some of the rest of us...

Niizuma purses her lips. “I cannot argue with that,” she says. “I was merely playing devil’s advocate and raising the possibility that this attack might not be real.”

“I get that,” Motoki says. She sighs. “I’m sorry for calling you...a stone-hearted bitch. I was just...angry at being suspected...”

“That’s pretty understandable,” Komatsu says. “Ain’t nobody that likes bein’ suspected. It’s a pretty shitty feelin’.”

“Yeah, especially when you’re, um, innocent,” Eguchi says. “It really, um, sucks then...”

“Can we drop this topic already?” Ichigohara asks. “Sakiko-chan’s hurt, and even if she was fakin’ it, which she probably wasn’t, we should give her some time for healin’ and restin’.”

“I agree,” Sashihara says. “You go down and make dinner, Ichigohara-san. I’ll take Motoki-san to her room.” He begins to help Motoki to her feet.

“I’ll come with you,” says Terajima, stepping forward to help Sashihara with Motoki. “That way, whoever her attacker is doesn’t have a chance at getting at her again.”

The two of them head downstairs, leaving the rest of us behind. “Wh-What are w-we going to d-do about this b-broken pot?” asks Oyamada gesturing to the remaining pieces of it scattered across the floor. “We c-can’t just leave it h-here...”

“Mika-chan’ll, like, sweep it up,” Hayasaka offers. “There’s a, like, broom and dustpan in the, like, Art Room that she’ll, like, use to do it.”

I look at her, confused. “You
are going to sweep it up?”

“Yeah,” Hayasaka says. “Mika-chan, like, doesn’t want the broken, like, pieces to damage her, like, shoes.” She narrows her eyes. “And Mika-chan, like, heard the way you, like, said ‘you,’ Wakana-chan. And she, like, didn’t like it.”

The way she said that made it sound like she’s pretty angry about that. I’d apologize, but I think it’s justified, due to her rarely volunteering for anything that is actually helpful. Even still...what I did was rude, and not at all becoming of the Ultimate Waitress. So...
“Okay, I’m sorry,” I say. “That was unnecessary.”

“It’s, like, okay~!” she says with an abhorrently fake smile. “As long as you, like, follow Mika-chan once we, like, get out of here~!”

Goddammit, not this again...when will she finally understand that I’m not interested?

“This discussion is irrelevant,” Domoto says, coming to my rescue. She looks around. “Let’s head down to dinner.”

“Wait,” Kasparov interrupts, “before that, I have something to suggest.”

“And what’s that?” asks Komatsu, annoyed. “Yer gettin’ in the way of food...so it better be pretty damn important.”

Kasparov looks at him crossly, but doesn’t directly respond. “We need someone else to stay up here to assist Hayasaka-san with cleaning the broken pot.”

“Like, what?” Hayasaka asks. “Why the fuck does that, like, need to happen? Mika-chan is, like, perfectly capable of, like, cleaning up stuff! Even if it’s, like, something a, like, poor person would normally, like, do.”

“These broken pieces are sharp,” Kasparov explains. “As such, they could be used as weapons. Leaving only one person to clean them up would give them access to a potential supply of what is essentially several makeshift knives. It is not strategic to allow such a possibility. With a second person there, the chances of the first stealing it would be much lower.”

Hayasaka stares at him coldly. “Do you, like, really distrust me that, like, much, Sergey-kun?”

“After your stunt with the key, yes, I do.” Kasparov responds. “By the way, we need to discuss that at dinner.”

All the girls except Ichigohara collectively tense up. “Why’re y’all gettin’ so tense?” she asks. “Did somethin’ actually go down with that meeting Tomiko-chan was talkin’ about?”

“A m-meeting?” asks Oyamada. “What a-about?”

“And why were the rest of us not informed?” asks Kasparov, sounding frustrated.

“...We’ll discuss this at dinner,” Domoto says awkwardly, which is understandable considering what happened earlier. “It’s past dinner time.”

“Twenty-three minutes past,” Komatsu says. “I’ve been keepin’ count!”

Ichigohara chuckles. “Haha...you don’t have to count anymore, Yutaka-kun. I’ll make a quick easy dinner
for y’all.”

Eguchi clutches her stomach. “You don’t have to, um, make any for me...I’m not, um, feeling hungry.”

“But weren’t you eating a lot yesterday as earlier today?” I ask. “This is kind of sudden.”

Eguchi shrugs. “I guess I’m, um, just full.”

“Wait, who’ll b-be the s-second person t-to be with Hayasaka-san?” Oyamada asks. “We s-still need to figure that o-out...I c-can do it, i-if need be...”

“That’ll work,” Domoto says. “Hayasaka-san and Oyamada-kun will clean up the remains of the pot and then come down for dinner. The rest of us will go now.”

“Fuckin’ finally!” Komatsu says.

While Hayasaka and Oyamada stay on the third floor, Domoto, Kasparov, Niizuma, Komatsu, Eguchi, Ichigohara and I head downstairs. When we get there, Ichigohara heads into the Kitchen and makes us some food. By the time it’s done, Hayasaka and Oyamada are back from upstairs and Terajima and Sashihara have returned from Motoki’s room.

“How’s she doin’?” Ichigohara asks Sashihara worriedly as we all wait in line for food, which is a simple yet delicious-smelling miso soup. “Will she be alright?”

“She should be,” Sashihara says, still abnormally quiet. “I can’t know for sure because we don’t have the proper equipment, but I’m pretty sure she doesn’t have a concussion.”

“That’s good,” I say. “What’s she doing right now?”

“Resting,” Terajima answers. “She figured that was the best thing to do.”

“It prolly is,” Komatsu says as he finally finishes filling his bowl of soup to the brim. “After bein’ whacked in the head like that, ain’t nothin’ much ya can do but take it easy.”

Dinner is short but quiet. Some people have a lot of food, like Komatsu, while others have none at all, like Eguchi, who only leans over the table and clutches her stomach. Almost everyone else seems to be hungry due to dinner being so late, so there’s practically no conversation.
Mom used to always say that was a sign of a good meal...if everyone’s too focused on their food to talk, it’s probably a pretty good meal.
Thinking of her makes my heart pang.
Mom...Dad...I miss you guys. I just wanna see you again. I hate being is that goddamn fucking place, I just want to leave and be with you and—

“Wakana-chan, are you alright?” asks Ichigohara. “You like you’re about to cry.”

I immediately push all my feelings back beneath the surface.
I can’t cry right now...not in front of everyone else.
“I’m fine,” I say, even thought it’s a blatant lie.

Ichigohara nods, although I can tell she’s unconvinced. “Okay...well, I don’t wanna be intrusive, so I’ll just say this: if you ever need anythin’, always know you got me to talk to. Understand?”

“Yeah,” I say. “Thanks, Ichigohara-san.”

She smiles warmly. “No problem at all, Wakana-chan.”

She’s so nice...I’m really grateful to have a person like her here to make things a little brighter.

I want to say something to her, but then Kasparov starts speaking. “Now that everyone is finished their meal,” he glances at Komatsu, who’s finally done his third bowl of soup, “I believe we should all be informed of what Niizuma-san’s meeting earlier today was about and what happened there.”

“Basically, Hayasaka-san only agreed to let us in the secret room if she went with us,” Domoto explains. “So, she had Niizuma-san go around to all the girls and—”

“And we girls, with the, like, exception of Noriyo-chan, like, spied on you boys in your, like, bath~!” Hayasaka interrupts.

The room turns deathly silent.
Oh shit...

“...What?” asks Sashihara.

“That better be a fuckin’ joke,” Komatsu says angrily.

“Indeed,” Kasparov says, his face hardening. “Because if it is true, that would be an egregious breach of privacy!”

“I have no idea if it’s true or not,” Ichigohara says. “I wasn’t there. Sorry, guys, I can’t help confirm or deny it.”

“...It’s completely true,” Domoto says, sounding more ashamed than she ever has before.

“Wh-Why?” Oyamada asks, simultaneously angry and humiliated. “Th-That’s s-s-so e-embarrassing...l-looking at u-us w-without o-our c-consent...”

Terajima looks at Oyamada sympathetically, then back at the rest of us. “Who the fuck suggested you girls do this?” Terajima asks with barely restrained fury. “Because she better explain herself real goddamn well.”

Oh my God, he’s so terrifying when he’s angry...

“It was Hayasaka-san,” Niizuma says, not able to look directly at Terajima. “She took us back to the secret room, where there was a peephole. She tricked us into looking through it.”

“That still ain’t no fuckin’ excuse!” Komatsu fumes. “Ya had no right to look at us while we were naked!”

“I concur,” Kasparov says, seething with anger. “Hayasaka-san, be glad you are a woman. Because it is only for that reason that I am not going to slap the life out of you right now.”

“What, are you, like, mad I saw parts of you that, like, only you usually see?” Hayasaka asks mockingly. “I mean, are you ashamed of, like, you know...” She winks. “Your little, or, actually, not so little, Monohebi?”

Kasparov blushes so deeply the color of his face resembles that of a beet. “Y-You...сука ьляты!”

Hayasaka is taken aback. “Wait, like, what does that mean?”

Eguchi chuckles. “It’s a Russian, um, insult used by Russian, um, gamers a lot online.”

“But what does it, like, mean?” Hayasaka demands. “Mika-chan, like, won’t tolerate being, like, called something she can’t, like, understand!”

“Then don’t insult men about their genitalia!” Sashihara shouts, back to his normal loudness. “Doing that will only provoke negative reactions!”

“And don’t go spyin’ on people without their fuckin’ permission!” Komatsu says furiously. “That ain’t fuckin’ cool at all!”

“Are you, like, mad too, Yutaka-kun?” Hayasaka asks with a smirk. “Your, like, chest is pretty nice, especially, like, for a
fucking pig like you.”

Eguchi nods dreamily. “Yeah, it was very nic—I mean, shame on you, Hayasaka-san!” Eguchi says, realizing what she’s saying mid-sentence.

Terajima looks at her disapprovingly. As he turns his gaze to Hayasaka, his expression turns from disappointment to pure rage. “You,” he says venomously. “Get the fuck out of here right now.” He stands up and walks slowly over to Hayasaka. “I don’t want to see you or hear your annoying voice assaulting my ears right now. Because if I hear too much, I might fucking snap.” He’s towering over her now. “So get out. Now.”

“Mika-chan, l-like...i-isn’t s-scared...” Hayasaka begins, but her words die in her mouth. After that, she’s
trembling so much that she can’t even formulate a coherent response. Instead, she runs out of the Cafeteria to Cell Block A in fear.

“Good riddance,” Terajima mutters.”

“Th-Thanks for m-making her l-leave, Terajima-kun,” Oyamada says gratefully.

All the anger falls off Terajima’s face and is replaced by a warm smile. “You’re very welcome,” he says affectionately.

Well...that just happened. Terajima-kun made Hayasaka-san run off in fear...but she deserved to be scared after that stunt she pulled today.

“Terajima-kun,” Domoto begins, “I’m concerned with how you let your rage control you. If you want to protect us as you claim, then mayb—”

“Silence,” Kasparov interrupts. “I do not want to hear a word from you. You participated in Hayasaka-san’s debaucherous stunt.”

“Not willingly,” Domoto fires back. “She tricked all of us into looking through the peephole. We had no idea where it went.”

“Hold up,” Komatsu says, “that don’t make no sense. Wouldn’t the first one of ya who looked through have realized what was goin’ on and said somethin’ to the rest?” He glares at all of us. “Ya still ain’t got no excuse!”

“Domoto-san and I, who were the first two to go, were too shocked to say anything,” Niizuma says. “It was only when Kawashima-san looked that she said what was happening and told Hayasaka-san off for it. At that point, Motoki-san got mad at Hayasaka-san and stormed off.”

“Wh-What about the r-rest of y-you?” Oyamada asks, still angry. “Did y-you stay after th-that?”

“Domoto-san, Hayasaka-san, and I left soon after Motoki-san,” I say. “Niizuma-san and Eguchi-san, however, stayed behind.”

Niizuma and Eguchi wilt like dead flowers in the collective glares of the five boys. “I-I had t-to inspect the rest of the s-secret room,” Niizuma stammers, getting unusually flustered.

“Yeah, um, it’s not, um, like, um, what you, um, think,” Eguchi says, sweating. “You, um, see, I, um, was just, um, making, um, sure that, um...” She looks down shamefully, not able to find an excuse. “...I’m sorry,” she says emotionally. “What I, um, did was, um, really stupid...and, um, really creepy, honestly. I hope you can, um, forgive me...”

“I do!” Sashihara says after an awkward pause. “As a teenager, your hormones are raging! I won’t blame you for something natural!”

“You were tricked into the situation, so I forgive you,” Terajima says. “But only if you promise to never do anything creepy like this ever again.”

“I do,” Eguchi says, and it sounds genuine. “I really do.”

“Then I f-forgive you, t-too,” Oyamada says
with a small smile.

Kasparov says nothing. He only sits in silence, glaring at Niizuma and Eguchi.

“...I can’t forgive ya yet,” Komatsu says. “Maybe tomorrow, but...not now.”

Eguchi looks especially hurt by that. “O-Oh...okay...” she says miserably.

“I don’t forgive you or Niizuma-san yet, either,” Kasparov says, breaking his silence. “Maybe I will...but it will take a while, and a lot of redemption on your part.”

“That’s understandable,” Niizuma says. “What we did was...quite...”

“Idiotic, perverted, lecherous, and many other things,” Kasparov finishes. “I could go on...however, I heard mention that this spying occurred from the secret room. What was in there?”

“Yeah, I’m curious about that, too,” Ichigohara adds. “What was so special about that place
Monohebi felt the need to make it locked?”

“I’m not sure,” Domoto says. “It was only the peephole and a desk with a computer on it.”

“C-Computer?” Oyamada asks. “Does that m-mean we can a-access the I-Internet and c-call for h-help?”

Eguchi
shakes her head. “Sadly, um, not...there was only, um, one file on the computer.”

“What was that file?” Terajima asks curiously.

“A video,” I answer. “And I know this’ll sound weird, but...it was a video of Furuhata-kun.”

“What!?” Komatsu asks incredulously. “But he’s fuckin’ dead!”

“It must’ve been filmed before he died,” I say. “And before the beginning of this killing game.”

“What makes you say that?” asks Kasparov.

“The video was him talking with someone else, who was off camera and using voice distortion,” Niizuma says. “They were talking very cryptically about how Furuhata-kun knew a girl who was planning something...and about how the unknown person, who was using a considerable amount voice distortion to mask their true identity, wanted to make a dream of theirs a reality.”

Kasparov furrows his eyebrows. “Hmm...That is quite mysterious. It also leaves us with more questions than answers...which, if I am to be honest, does not greatly surprise me if Monohebi is involved.”

“I wonder if the person behind Monohebi is the one who was talkin’ with Yuuto-kun,” Ichigohara speculates. “Or maybe it’s the traitor.”

“It’s probably whoever is behind Monohebi!” Sashihara shouts. “They would have a far greater reason to hide their identity!”

“Th-That’s true,” Oyamada says. “Th-They do u-use a robotic s-snake as th-their avatar in th-this whole mess...s-so they’re p-probably more l-likely to r-really try to h-hide their i-identity than th-the traitor...”

“That seems logical to conlcude,” Niizuma says. “However, there are still so many other questions. Who is the woman or girl they’re talking about? What was she planning? How was Furuhata-kun involved? And why would Furuhata-kun be talking with the person behind Monohebi, if that’s really them in the video?”

“Your last question is particularly curious,” Kasparov says. “Furuhata-kun never seemed fond of Monohebi. Quite the opposite, really. Monohebi even tried to kill him with spears on our first day here...so, why on earth would they be talking to each other, and why would Furuhata-kun not have mentioned his conversation with the person behind Monohebi to us?”

“Um, guys,” Eguchi says suddenly, “can we please stop talking about this? It’s making my head hurt...also, it’s getting late...”

I glance at the clock and see that she’s right. It’s almost nighttime. “So, how about we head to bed for the night and save this discussion for tomorrow,” I suggest. “I don’t think we’ll be very productive talking about it while tired.”

Domoto nods. “I agree,” she says. “Let’s split up for the night.”

We go our separate ways and head back to our rooms. As I get ready for bed, I reflect on all that’s happened today.
First, we saw that mysterious video of Furuhata-kun, which only gave us more unanswerable questions, which we had plenty of before. Immediately after, the whole debacle with spying on the boys happened. And after that, Motoki-san was attacked by someone else here...or maybe not, if Niizuma-san is to be believed.

Either way, today was a crazy day and I’m glad it’s over. I hope tomorrow is less crazy...yet I’m also worried that it won’t be. Monohebi hasn’t announced a motive for us yet...does he not have one planned, or does he have something especially dastardly up his sleeve? I want to believe the former, but the realistic side of me leans toward believing the latter...

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Good morning, inmates. It is now 7 am, which means nighttime has officially concluded. Enjoy another day of confinement.”

Like any other day, I wake up to the same morning announcement.
Same as always...

After I get out of bed finish getting ready, I head to the Cafeteria, where everyone except Ichigohara and Sashihara already is. They’re probably in the Kitchen making breakfast...I wonder what it’ll be this morning. Whatever, it is I’m sure it’ll be good...as long as Sashihara-kun stops trying to be a hibachi chef.

I sit in the middle of the table, between Domoto and Motoki, who I’m surprised to see there. “Are you all better already, Motoki-san?” I ask her.

“No, sadly,” she answers, rubbing her head and the makeshift bandages from Sashihara’s shirt wrapped around it. “I can walk and talk, though...which is all I really need to do.” She forces herself to smile. “I’m at least grateful I’m not dead.”

I smile back at her. “We’re grateful you’re not dead, too,” I tell her.

Soon enough, Ichigohara and Sashihara call us into the Kitchen for breakfast. Luckily, the stove isn’t burnt today. “No hibachi experiments today, Sashihara-kun?” I ask with a small smile.

“I wasn’t about to let him try,” Ichigohara says. “No offense to Hisaya-kun, but he should try stickin’ to what he’s good at...which, uh...doesn’t include the culinary art of hibachi, sadly.”

Sashihara clutches his fist. “I promise...I could be legendary! I just need to practice!”

Niizuma nods approvingly. “I appreciate your work ethic, Sashihara-kun. With hard work and effort, anything's possible.” She glances at the stove. “However, I’d be lying if I say I wasn’t relieved to not see a horribly burnt stove today.”

Sashihara opens his mouth to say something back to her, but closes it again shortly after.
Poor Sashihara-kun...all he wants to do is follow a dream of his. Sadly, some dreams are unfeasible. That doesn’t mean he should give up entirely, but...maybe he should wait until we get out of here.

If we get out of here, a voice in my head says.
There’s a good chance we’ll all be trapped in here forever...unless...
I shake myself out of those thoughts.
No, I can’t think like that...it’ll only make things worse than they already are.

After I get my food, head out to the Cafeteria and finish eating it, I notice
Eguchi slowly slinking out of the Cafeteria, towards the portion of the first floor that’s just bunch of random classrooms. “Where are you going?” I ask her. “Isn’t it too early to leave?”

“And why are you going?” Terajima asks. “We haven’t even talked as a group yet.”

“I’m just going to the bathroom over here,” Eguchi says, not making eye contact with any of us. “I’m sorry, but I can’t hold it...”

Hayasaka looks up sharply. “...Bathroom?” She repeats, narrowing her eyes. “Well, does, like, Yuzuki-chan mind if, like, Mika-chan goes with her to the, like, bathroom?”

Eguchi’s eyes widen in fear for just a moment, then return to normal. “Yeah, um...sure...that's fine..."

The two of them leave. “What was that about?” Motoki asks, looking confused. “That was kind of weird...”

“It’s no issue!” Sashihara
shouts. “They’ll be back soon enough. Until then, I guess we just have to wait!”

Niizuma fidgets uncomfortably in her seat. “Ugh. I hate waiting,” she says irritably.

“C’mon, Tomiko-chan, just go with the flow,”
Ichigohara advises her. “It’s not too hard once you try.”

Niizuma grimaces. “‘Go with the flow?’” she repeats, sounding disgusted. “No. Such a mindset leads to laziness and a lack of productivity and I absolutely will not partake in it.”

“Oh, okay then...” Ichigohara says, taken aback at how vehemently Niizuma denied her. “I was just tryin’ to help...”

It was really unnecessary for Niizuma-san to be so harsh...I get that she values hard work a lot, but maybe she should take Ichigohara-san’s advice and try chilling out for once...I think it’d do her some good.

Eventually, Eguchi and Hayasaka return from the bathroom and sit back down. I try to scan both of their faces for info on what happened on their supposed trip to the bathroom, but I can’t find anything. They look pretty normal...I guess it was just an ordinary trip to the bathroom. I need to stop being so suspicious...

“Now that we’re all here, let’s get started,” Domoto starts. “To begin, I’d like to—”

“Wh-Why is she
h-here?” Oyamada
asks as he glares at Hayasaka with a level of contempt I’ve never seen from him before. “She sh-shouldn’t he here. N-Not after sh-she invaded o-our privacy, l-like how I-Ingsoc invades i-its people’s p-privacy in 1984...”

“I agree,” Terajima says. “I don't want to see her face after what she did yesterday."

"Likewise," says Kasparov. "She has no business being here, not after her spying on us and the nonsense she pulled with the key."

Hayasaka smirks. She opens her mouth to say something but Komatsu cuts her off. "Shut yer fuckin' hole," he says angrily. "Ain't no one here that wants to hear yer bullshit or yer annoyin' voice right now."

She stares at him coldly. "Mika-chan was going to, like, apologize," she says.

"You were?" I ask doubtfully. "No offense, but that doesn't really sound like you."

Hayasaka turns to face me. "Well, you don't, like, really know Mika-chan," she tells me, her voice void of its normal cuteness. "So don't act like you do."

"So y-you're sorry f-for what you d-did yesterday?" Oyamada asks. "A-Actually sorry?"

"You don't have to, like, believe it, but yes," Hayasaka says. "Mika-chan...she, like..." She takes a deep breath, clearly having difficulty admitting to her mistake. "She, like...fucked up and is sorry for it."

Wow...I didn't think I'd ever hear her apologize. Normally, I'd think it was fake, but she sounded so genuine...

"This is definitely a sudden shift
in attitude," Domoto says, sounding slightly suspicious. "Yesterday, you were completely unapologetic...and now you're sorry?" She shakes her head. "I don't believe it."

"Like Mika-chan said, you don't, like, have to," Hayasaka says. "But it's true."

"Let's just move on, then," Motoki suggests.

"Easy for you to say when you weren't the one being spied on," Terajima says coolly. "I'm not so willing to forgive and forget so quickly."

"Eisuke-kun, I hope you don't mind me bringin' this up," Ichigohara starts, "but we all, or at least most us, decided to forgive you, even though you stabbed Yuuto-kun and you were revealed to be a yakuza. So don't you think it's a little hypocritical for you to not accept Mika-chan's apology now?"

Terajima pauses. "That...is a good point," he says slowly. "Still, I find it pretty hard to just forgive her so quickly and then forget about it."

"You shouldn't just forget," Ichigohara says. "We need to hold her accountable for what she was doin'. But, because she's apologized for what she's done...we should also forgive her and hope she learns from this experience and grows to become a better person."

"We get it," Niizuma interjects suddenly. "Can we just move on from this discussion already? It's getting tiring to talk about."

"I'm sorry, but what would we be moving on to?" Sashihara asks loudly. "I'm pretty sure Hayasaka-san spying on us boys yesterday is pretty important!"

"Not as important as that video with Furuhata-kun," Niizuma retorts. "That's a lot more important in the grand scheme of things."

"Unfortunately, I must concur with Niizuma-san," Kasparov says. "From what was described to me of it...I have several speculations."

...Speculations? Does that mean...?
"Kasparov-kun, are you saying you have theories as to why Furuhata-kun was that in that video?"

Kasparov nods. "Indeed I do. I believe that—”

"No," Motoki interrupts suddenly. "We
cannot talk about that video...thinking about it will only drive us insane."

Kasparov gives her a disapproving look. "On the contrary. If we think in a logical, strategic way, we may be able to peel back the cover of deception and see the truth hiding in the video."

"And what truth is that?" I ask.

"That distorted voice in the video...I am of the opinion that their identity is that of the person controlling Monohebi," Kasparov says. "In other words, I speculate that they are the mastermind of this killing game."

Komatsu furrows his brow. "How do ya know that for sure, though? They could just as easily be the traitor!"

"Not necessarily," says Kasparov. "Recall that Monohebi said he approached the traitor after the first class trial. Before then, they were just one of us."

"They could've planned it from the beginnin', though," Ichigohara says. "Who's to say they couldn't've been in cahoots before this killin' game even started?"

"But then why would they wait until after the first class trial to join sides with Monohebi?" Niizuma asks. "If they were in on this together the whole time, there's no reason for them to have waited."

"No reason that we know of!" Sashihara shouts. "For all we know, they could have a perfectly good reason to have waited!"

"That is true," Kasparov concedes. "However, no proof of such a reason exists. Therefore, I am going to assume there is none." He clears his throat. "Moving on from that, the fact that Furuhata-kun was in that video was quite perplexing to me. If he was talking to the mastermind, then why did he not immediately tell us who they were on our first day here?"

"Oh, the answer to that is quite simple," Monohebi's voice says. "I erased his memories of that event."

"Monohebi?" I say, startled by his sudden appearance. "Where the hell did you come from?"

"And more important, did you just say you stole Furuhata-kun's memories!?" Domoto asks incredulously.

"Indeed I did," Monohebi says. "I stole the rest of yours, too."

The room becomes deathly silent.
...What?
That...that has to be a joke, right? There's no way Monohebi stole our memories. He has to be lying!
"That's not true!" I say angrily. "You're just trying to trick us!"

"Yeah, there's no fuckin' way ya stole our memories!" Komatsu yells. "I woulda known if ya had done that sorta shit!"

"Would you?" Monohebi asks with an almost imperceptible smirk. "The entire purpose of erasing memories is that you would not recall ever having them in the first place."

"But...wouldn't there be big gaps in our memories if you'd done that?" Motoki asks. 'We'd notice that for sure."

"Yeah, you have to, like, be lying!" Hayasaka says. "Mika-can is, like, completely sure she remembers everything she, like, did before coming here!"

"You think you do," Monohebi says. "But I assure you, I
did take memories from all of you."

"D-Do you e-expect us to
b-believe you j-just like th-that?" Oyamada says. "Y-You're making a p-pretty big statement..."

Monohebi pauses. "I suppose that is correct," he says after a little while. "Alright then. Allow me to ask a question: have I ever lied to any of you?"

"You lied, like, several times!" Hayasaka says. "What a, like, dumb question."

"When?" Monohebi asks. "Name a specific instance when I was as mendacious as you claim."

"Menda...what?" Komatsu asks. "What the fuck even is that word?"

"It m-means not t-telling the truth," Oyamada says, consulting the dictionary from his book bag. "S-Synonyms of the w-word include—"

"I politely ask you to shut up," Monohebi interrupts, annoyed.
"I asked Hayasaka a question. Let her answer."

"Well, like, uh...Mika-chan can't think of anything, like, specific..." she says frustratedly. "But she, like, knows you've lied!"

"Ah, believing a previous opinion even when it is shown to be false," Monohebi says. "Such a classic case of belief perseverance."

"What's that?" Ichigohara asks. "It sounds kinda cool."

"That matters not," Monohebi says quickly. "What does matter is that I have not lied to any of you. Yes, I have manipulated the truth and twisted words, as I did with the time of death of Aozora in the last Monohebi File. However, I have yet to tell an outright lie."

"So?" Niizuma asks challengingly. "That doesn't mean you couldn't be lying right now."

"No, it does not discount that possibility," Monohebi acknowledges. "However, I believe it significantly decreases its likelihood. Would you not say the same, as the Ultimate Statistician?"

Niizuma has no response to that. Instead, she purses her lips and looks away bitterly. "I suppose..."

"So...Monohebi really did take our memories?" Motoki asks softly.

"I hate to say it...but he really might have," Domoto says.

"What memories did you steal from us?" Kasparov asks. "If you really want to prove you are indeed telling the truth, tell us that."

"Oh, Kasparov, that is nice bait," Monohebi says. "But I am no idiot. I will not disclose information of that nature. Besides...I have no need of doing that."

Domoto arches an eyebrow. "And why's that?" she asks.

"Because I selected two of you to regain your lost memories," Monohebi says. "Or at least, portions of them."

Wait...WHAT!? Some people here already have their memories, yet haven't said anything!? I know I didn't regain anything, so I'm not one of them...so who are
those people?

"Who are they!?" Sashihara asks, echoing my thoughts. "Tell us right now!"

"They already know who they are," Monohebi says. "Or at least, they should."

"What do you mean 'they should?'" Motoki asks, sounding confused. "How would they not know?"

"Figure that out by yourselves," Monohebi says with an evil grin. "You shall receive no more information from me." After saying that, he disappears, just as suddenly as he came.
What the hell...? Two of us have regained those lost memories...or "portions" of them...but who are they?
And what do they remember?

"Alright, who here regained their memories?" Domoto asks sharply. "We won't think anything less of you. Just tell us who you are and what you remember now."
No one says word. "Come on, say something!" Domoto says frustratedly. "Tell us what you know!"

"Otoha-chan, calm down," Ichigohara says. "As weird as it sounds, maybe neither of 'em even know they have their memories."

"Monohebi did say something about 'portions' of memories," Terajima says. "Whatever that means."

"Yeah, what the fuck is a 'portion' of a memory?" Komatsu asks. "It can't have anything' to do with food, can it?"

Eguchi chuckles at that. "Haha...no, I don't think so," she says. "I think it means...these two people got back parts of their memories, but not all of them." Her eyes widen suddenly and she looks down. "That's, um, just what I, um, think, though...so don't take it, um, too seriously."

"I think you're correct," Motoki says. "Though it confuses me how these individuals wouldn't recognize even parts of the memories they had stolen from them. Wouldn't even small new things in your memory be noticeable?"

"Memory is a fickle thing," Kasparov says. "My chess mentor was the former Ultimate Psychologist, and he often mentioned a series of studies by the American researcher Dr. Elizabeth Loftus which investigated how memory is malleable and can be influenced by false information far easier than we might like to imagine."

"But, like, what does that, like, have to do with this?" Hayasaka asks. "These, like, memories Monohebi mentioned are, like, real, right?"

"They might not be," Domoto says. "Perhaps that's why no one has come forward yet..."

"Or m-maybe they j-just don't w-want to tell us," Oyamada says. "I h-hate to think that, b-but it's a p-possibility..."

"Why on earth wouldn't they say somethin', though?" Ichigohara asks. "That just doesn't make sense."

"It could," Kasparov says. "If the people in question are planning to escape from here."

A shiver runs down my spine when he says that. "Kasparov-kun...you aren't saying you think both of the people who regained memories are planning to kill, are you?"

"No, not necessarily" Kasparov answers, "but I am saying that it is a possibility which we cannot ignore. After all, I am fairly certain this is the 'motive' Monohebi has given us to kill this time, like the motive videos and the reveal of the traitor previously."

"Good point," Domoto says. "This is almost certainly the motive. So, it makes the most sense to me...that these two people who received their memories as a way for Monohebi to motivate them to kill. Perhaps they're both plotting to get out because of that."

"Wh-What if th-they're both w-working together?" Oyamda asks, tightly clutching a book to his chest. "Th-That would be r-really bad..."

"Hold on...accomplices aren't allowed!" Sashihara shouts. "Because only one person can get out, it doesn't make sense for these two people to work together...so, isn't it possible that the two of them are trying to execute their own murder plots at the same time!?"

Motoki blanches. "D-Don't say that..it's too terrible to even imagine..."

"We need to imagine it, as hard as it might be," Domoto says. "We need to be vigilant to make sure none of those plots, if they exist at all, succeed."

Oyamada's eyes widen. "O-One's already almost s-succeeded, though...Motoki-san w-was attacked y-yesterday," he says, terrified. "S-Someone was t-trying to kill her..."

"No, no, no," Motoki says, shaking her head desperately. "That wasn't what happened..."

"No, you could've faked your attack," Niizuma says. "All to make yourself seem like an innocent if you enact a murder plan."

Motoki glares at her. "Stop it. I'm the last one here who wants to kill someone!" Her gaze drifts over to me. "I made a promise to prevent a murder...a promise that I fully intend to keep!"

She still hasn't forgotten about our promise...I'm glad to hear that. it's a nice ray of light in this dark moment...

Niizuma gives her a dubious look. "Well, it looks like you'll have trouble making good on that promise."

Motoki stands up suddenly. "Shut up," she says furiously. "You're only making things worse!"

"By speaking my mind? By communicating?" Niizuma narrows her eyes. "Isn't that what you always preach about? The power and necessity of communication?" She chuckles humorlessly. "It's ironic to hear you get mad at me for doing something you encourage us all to do."

Motoki starts saying something, but Terajima raises his hand sharply.
"Stop," he says commandingly, his deep voice booming. "This bickering will only worsen our situation."

"Yeah, but, like...what else can we, like, do?" Hayasaka asks, twirling her hair sadly. "There's, like, nothing that'll, like, make things better..."

"Yes, there is," Terajima says.

Domoto looks at him curiously. "And what's that?"

"I suggest we reinstate the partner policy we had on the day after the talent show," Terajima proposes. "No one goes anywhere alone. Especially not at nighttime. I also think we should have a strict curfew that no one leaves their rooms during nighttime." He sighs. "And...speaking from my experience with Furuhata-kun...don't pay attention to any notes you may be given. They'll probably only cause death."

Kasparov nods. "This is a sound, strategic idea," he says. "However, how should the partners be determined?"

"Randomly," Niizuma says immediately. "Random assignment is a good way to carry out any experiment. That would minimize the possibility of the two who regained their memories being paired together."

"This ain't an experiment, though," Komatsu says. "Besides, like Sashihara-kun said, accomplices ain't allowed, so there ain't no need to make sure those two don't get paired together."

Niizuma purses her lips. "No, but it still is a good idea. It is better to be safe than sorry."

"I don't disagree, but how exactly would we go about doin' this random assignment stuff?" Ichigohara asks. "Not to sound mean, but it's not really necessary...couldn't we just choose?"

"Yeah, like, Mika-chan doesn't want to be with, like, Yutaka-kun," Hayasaka says, wringing her nose. "That'd, like, really suck."

"I don't wanna be with a perverted bitch like ya, either," Komatsu says. "I'd rather be with someone cool, like Eguchi-san."

Eguchi's looks over at him suddenly. "W-Wait..you...think I'm cool?"

Komatsu nods. "Yeah, I had a lotta fun back we were playin' Taiko no Tatsujin before it broke. Ya also are pretty cool when it comes to listenin' to my music. I like that."

Eguchi looks like she's about to faint. "Oh my God...this is..."

Terajima has a small, almost unnoticeable smile on his face. "Look at them," he whispers to Oyamada, who's also smiling.

However, Hayasaka looks positively furious. "What the..." she whispers. "What a fucking bit..." Her voice trails off into incoherent mumbling.

Domoto clears her throat. "To get back on track...it seems there's a disagreement. So, let's vote. Should there be random assignment on the partners—" She pauses to let people raise their hands. "—or should we choose?"

Only Niizuma, Kasparov, Domoto, and I raise our hands for the first option. Everyone else wants to choose partners.
I get that randomizing partners probably isn't as fun of an option...but it's more logical and will
probably be better in preventing a death. But...not everyone else felt that
way, so I guess I'll have to go with the flow.

Soon after the vote, the selection of partners begins. "Wanna be partners, Eguchi-san?" Komatsu asks.

"YES," Eguchi says, with so much enthusiasm she's almost shouting. "I, mean, um...sure..."

Hayasaka glares at them for a moment, but soon turns on her her cute persona, as suddenly as you'd turn on a light switch. "Like, Tomiko-chan~~~! Let's, like, be partners~!"

"...Okay," Niizuma says with absolutely zero enthusiasm.
I
feel bad for her...Hayasaka-san likes her the most, so she always has to put up with her...

"C-Can you b-be my p-partner, T-Terajima-kun?" Oyamada asks. "Y-You make m-me feel so s-safe when y-you're around..."

Terajima smiles warmly at him. "Sure thing."

"Hisaya-kun, do you wanna be my partner?" Ichigohara asks.

"Absolutely!" Sashihara shouts.

Kasparov, who's standing next to him, winces at how loud he is, then turns to Domoto. "Would you like to be my partner?"

"Sure," Domoto says. "I think a rematch is in order. This time, I'll beat you at least once in chess."

Kasparov chuckles. "Ha...you can try."

That leaves only two people...Motoki-san and myself.
I turn to her. "Do you want to be partners?" I ask her.

"There's not much of a choice, but yeah," she says with a smile. "I'd like that."

After everyone has a partner, Domoto speaks up. "So. Does anyone have anything more to say before we end this meeting?"

"Yeah, I got somethin', Otoha-chan," Ichigohara says. "How strict do we gotta be with this partner thing?"

"What do you mean?" Domoto asks, looking slightly confused. "The rule is simple: partners must stay together at all times."

"Well, it's just Hisaya-kun and I were thinkin' of splittin' up," Ichigohara says. "I was gonna go to the bath to relax like I always do, and he was gonna go the sauna." She shrugs. "Those rooms are close enough for us to pretty much be together, right?"

Domoto looks displeased. "'Pretty much' being together isn't being together," Domoto says. "If we really do want to stop a murder from happening, then you both need to be together at all times."

"Hold on!" Sashihara shouts. "What if we met every two hours!? That way, we'd be able to stay apart for some time yet still be assured that the other is safe and sound!"

"Yeah, I like that idea," Ichigohara says with a nod. "Besides, if only the two of us are separated, it's all good, right? The rest of y'all will still be together at all times, so Hisaya-kun wouldn't have to be worried about anyone killin' us." She laughs nervously. "Not like that's gonna happen, anyway..."

"You cannot be sure that it is impossible," Kasparov says sternly. "You two being separated sets a dangerous precedent."

"Also, it's not fair to the rest of us if you two are allowed to be separated, but we're not," Niizuma says. "Not fair at all..."

She
obviously doesn't seem too happy about being paired up with Hayasaka-san...not that
I blame her for that. I
wouldn't be happy, either...

"The decision 's final," Domoto says before Ichigohara or Sashihara can say anything. "You two aren't allowed to be separated, even for brief periods of time. End of discussion."

Neither Ichigohara nor Sashihara looks pleased about that, but they don't argue. "Fine," Sashihara acquiesces. "Let's go swimming together, Ichigohara-san!”

Ichigohara bites her lip apprehensively. "...No. Let’s go to the garden instead, Hisaya-kun."

"Well, that's that," Domoto says. "Everyone, be sure to meet back here at six for dinner tonight."

After that, everyone goes their separate ways. "What do you want to do?" I ask Motoki. "We can't just sit around and do nothing."

"I don't know," Motoki says. "Do you want me to talk about some linguistics stuff?"

I feel like that wouldn't be terribly interesting...but it would pass the time. So, I guess it'll be fine to do that.

For most of the entire day, Motoki and I wander around, with her lecturing me on the basics of linguistics. I'd be lying if I said it was super exciting stuff, but...I'd also be lying if I said I didn't find it to at least be fairly interesting.
Eventually, though, she goes off on several tangents that I cannot follow at all.
Semiotics...? Pragmatics...? What even is all this stuff? I just don't understand...

"Sorry, Motoki-san," I interrupt suddenly while she goes on about something called modality. "Uh...I'm not really following what you're saying. Do you mind starting over and going a bit slower?"

Motoki looks disappointed about having to start over, but nods. "Yeah...sure thing. I know it's a lot of information and vocabulary to take in at once."

That's for sure...I still barely even know what diphthongs are even after she talked about them for thirty minutes.

"Okay, so every spoken language is compromised of sounds, right?" Motoki begins. "The smallest individual units of sound in any given language...do you remember what they're called?"

"I think?" I say, not certain. "Let me think." I rack my brain for the answer,
Dammit...what are they called
again? I remember then reminding me of some old invention...but which one? I think it was...the phonograph? I remember
Motoki-san
saying the 'phono' part means "sound" in Greek, so...

"Phonomas?" I say, still unsure.

"Phonemes," Motoki corrects. "Coming from the Ancient Greek
φωνή or 'sound.' However, that's all phonemes are. They're single sounds, like 'sh' or 'g'. In addition to those, there are the smallest units of sound that carry meaning. Do you remember what they are called? They have a pretty similar name."

Oh shit...I'm not as sure on this one. I remember it started with an 'm,' though...but what was it?
"Uhhh...Marsemes?" I offer tentatively.

Motoki shakes her head. "No...you're kind of close, but it's morphemes."

Oh...so that's what it was.
"Sorry," I say. "This stuff is pretty confusing to me."

"Do you want to stop talking about it, then?" Motoki asks. She stares down at the floor sadly. "If you're not good at this...or if you're not interested...or both...we can stop."

I do want to stop, but I can tell Motoki-san really loves talking about linguistics. I'd feel bad taking that away from her...especially now that Carrasco-san is gone and she doesn't have anyone else to talk with in a foreign language. Well...she has
Kasparov-kun, but I don't think he likes to speak Russian with Japanese people from how rarely he ever speaks it. So...as much as
I want to not continue this sort of
conversation, I think making Motoki-san happy in such a terrible
place like this is worth the price of me being confused for a few hours. Besides, maybe
I'll learn
something cool.
"No, I don't want to stop," I tell Motoki. "Keep going. Though...try to go slower than before."

Motoki's eyes light up when I say she can continue. "Don't worry...I'll go as slow as you need, as long as you're listening."

"I'm listening," I tell her. "Go on ahead."

Motoki smiles widely and then begins to speak. "Okay, so one thing to keep in mind is that morphemes aren't necessarily words. Some are, and they're called free morphemes. Get it? Because they can 'freely' stand by themselves, they're 'free' morphemes. However, there's also bound morphemes, which can only exist as parts of a word. In addition to that, there's also..." She goes on for a while about the different types of morphemes and then moves through several other topics, although this she explains clearly and thoroughly.
Wow...I actually understand what's going on now...and I
finally know what a diphthong is! Huh...that's weird. I'm a lot more excited about that then I feel like I
should be.

Motoki continues to teach me the fundamentals of linguistics and the different fields within it, but as we wander down the third floor's hallway, we're interrupted by Oyamada and Eguchi scurrying out from the Music Room in fear, with Komatsu emerging soon after, looking deeply shaken. "Goddammit...that was some fucked up shit..." he says.

"Guys?" I ask, confused. "What's wrong? You look petrified..."

"Did something happen in the Music Room?" Motoki asks with concern. "And where is your partner, Oyamada-kun? Weren't you with Terajima-kun?"

"Yeah," Eguchi says, her voice unsteady. "He's still in there..."

"But why
if you guys are so scared, why is he still in there?" Motoki asks, fear in her voice. She brushes past Oyamada and Eguchi to open the door to the Music Room.

"D-Don't go i-in there!" Oyamada shouts with a volume I didn't know was possible from his normally quiet tone. "I-It's not s-safe!"

Motoki freezes with her hand hovering near the doorknob. "Why not?" she asks quietly. "Don't tell me...is he dead?"

Komatsu
winces when she says that. "Fuck no, he ain't dead...it's just 'cause the room's boobytrapped!"

"Boobytrapped?" I repeat. "With what? And why the hell is Terajima-kun still in there?" Ignoring Eguchi and Oyamada's protests, I push past them and open the door to the Music Room."

"STOP!" Terajima shouts as soon as he sees me. "Get out! It's not safe to stay in here."

"Why not?" I ask stubbornly.

"Look at the ground not even a meter in fronta ya," Komatsu says
from behind me.
"Do ya see it?"

I do as he says and peer at the ground in front of my feet. At first, I see nothing. Then, I spot it. Tied between two stacks of instrument cases, right around where a normal person's ankle would be, is a thin wire. "What the...?" I say quietly.

"What is it, Kawashima-san?" Motoki asks as she begins to step past me.

I shoot out my arm to stop her from moving any farther. "Be careful," I say. "There's a tripwire in front of you."

Motoki looks down, sees it, and then recoils in fear. "Oh my God, that's so scary..." she whispers. "But...is that really it?" She turns around to look at Oyamada, Eguchi, and Komatsu. "You guys were kind of overreacting for just a tripwire."

"That's partially my fault," Terajima says. "Every time I enter a room, I immediately scope it out to look for dangers. I saw that wire right as Oyamada-kun was about to run into it...so I panicked and told the rest of them to get out while I assessed the rest of the room."

"Is there anything else?" I ask, looking around cautiously.

"I didn't find anything, no," Terajima says. "But that doesn't mean it's safe. We should still avoid this room as much as possible."

"So I won't be able to play the piano part for my new piano concerto for ya guys?" Komatsu asks dejectedly. "Damn, I was lookin' forward to that."

Eguchi sidles up next to him. "Don't worry, Komatsu-kun...you could still do it in the future, if you want to..."

"You could do it now, honestly," Motoki says. "I know it's scary, but if Terajima-kun, who spotted that almost invisible wire, didn't find anything else...doesn't that mean he's found all the danger?"

"I'm glad you have so much trust in me," Terajima says, "but no, it doesn't. I don't want to risk anyone's life by allowing them to stay in this room."

That's understandable...although there is still a
lingering question that I have.
"Terajima-kun...why do think that wire is even there in the first place?"

Terajima bristles uncomfortably. "I hate to say this...but I think it was put here as part of a murder plan."

Absolute silence falls over the room. "No...that can't be the case..." Eguchi says in disbelief.

Terajima sighs. "Sadly, I'm pretty sure it is."

"Why?" Motoki asks. "It's just a wire..."

"Just a wire..." Terajima repeats, shaking his head. "Look more closely at it. That wire is sharp as hell. If someone were to not know that was there, they would get a nasty slice on their feet. Even worse..." He moves forward to the space a few feet in front of the wire, where there's what looks like a tuba case. "See this? It looks like it’s been carefully placed so that a person of average height would break their neck on it. And even if a shorter person landed on it, they'd still smash their face against the floor from the sudden fall."

"What about a tall person like you?" Motoki asks. "Would you be okay?"

"I wouldn't be dead," Terajima says. "But that wire is so sharp it'd cut right through the skin and tendons on the front part of my foot, which would make me incapacitated."

I grimace. "And with whoever tripped on that wire either dead or incapacitated, the person who set this up could come in here and kill someone..."

"But what about partners?" Eguchi asks. "Whoever set this up couldn't have left their partner to kill someone once they tripped...they wouldn't even have been able to set it up!"

"Not if they were a sneaky lil' bitch and set it up last night," Komatsu says. "That'd explain why they prolly didn't account for the whole partners thing in their plan."

A look of realization comes over Oyamada's face. "W-Wait...wh-what if the p-person who s-set up th-this wire...w-was the o-one who attacked M-Motoki-san?"

Motoki pales. "No...don't say that," she says, rubbing her head. "That can't be true..."

"It can," Terajima says. "In fact, I'm pretty sure it is what's happening here."

"Do ya guys think that person was one of the ones that got their memory back?" Komatsu asks. "Maybe Kasparov-kun was right and they are tryna kill someone..."

"No, no, no one's trying to kill anyone," Motoki says while shaking her head vigorously. "I won't believe it..."

She's so desperate to believe that a murder won't happen that she's denying the truth... "Motoki-san," I say softly. "You have to at least accept the possibility that maybe this wire set-up was part of a murder plo—”

"NO!" Motoki says desperately. "I WON'T!" She rushes out of the room, crying.

Goddammit...it looks like
I didn't say the right thing. I need to go and talk to her... "You guys stay here," I say to Terajima, Oyamada, Komatsu, and Eguchi. "I'll go talk to Motoki-san..."

Terajima nods. "We'll continue to look for dangerous things here while you do that."

I nod. "Okay," I say.

I leave the Music Room, looking up and down the hallway for any sign of Motoki. Fortunately, I don't have to look too far. She's a few feet away from the door to the Music Room, collapsed against the wall, her body shaking with sobs. "Go away," she says when she sees me.

"No," I say firmly. "I'm not leaving you like this."

"Go away," Motoki says, sounding weaker this time. "You talking to me will only make me feel worse..."

I sit down next to Motoki. "Well, if me talking will make things worse, why don't you do the talking?"

Motoki shakes her head. "No..." she says, although she lacks conviction. "I don't want to talk...you'll only make me feel worse..."

"Are you sure?" I ask. "You sound like you do want to talk. You sound like you're in desperate need of communication."

She looks up at that word with a bitter smile. "I...I guess I am." Slowly but surely, she sits up straight and wipes her tears from her eyes. "With everything that's happened today and yesterday...Monohebi's announcement, Hayasaka-san’s tomfoolery with the key, this wire, and the attack on me...I feel like it's getting harder and harder for me to keep my promise."

I nod understandingly. "I get that...I'd be lying if I said what's been happening recently hasn't disheartened me."

"Disheartened
is a bit too weak of a word," Motoki says. "I'd say all these events...they've piled up on top of each other and..." She sniffles. "They've made me feel such crushing despair."

...I don't like hearing her use that word. "Don't say that, Motoki-san," I say, more forcefully than I intend. "Because that despair you're talking about...it's exactly what Monohebi wants from you. If you despair, he wins."

"How can I not feel despair when all these terrible things are happening?" Motoki asks. "Four of us are dead. Not one, but two of us have regained memories that make us want to kill. I was attacked. A trap was set in the Music Room. Someone's trying to kill!" She sobs. "I absolutely hate it to admit that...but it's true. Someone's probably going to die. But...I can't let that happen. Because if I do..." She buries her face in her hands. "Then I won't be able to keep the promise I made for Carrasco-san's sake. I'll be a failure!"

Hearing that word gives me flashbacks to Aozora-kun before he died...which isn't good. I can't let Motoki-san think this way...it's dangerous. I pull her into a hug. "Motoki-san," I say softly, "you are
not a failure. Not in the slightest. And even if someone else does die...as long as you know you tried your damndest to prevent another death...you won't be a failure."

"But someone would've died," Motoki says tearfully. "If I promised to stop the deaths and someone dies, then by definition I would've failed!"

"Yes," I say. "You would've failed, but you wouldn't be a failure. There's a difference. Do you get what I'm saying?"

At first, she doesn't say anything. "Yeah...I think so," she says after a pause.

"Good," I say, nodding. "Also...if it's consolation...if your attacker last night and whoever set up that trap with the wire were trying to kill...they haven't succeeded in either of their attempts so far. You haven't failed yet."

Motoki pulls out of my hug and wipes her eyes. "No...not yet," she says. Then, a tiny smile appears on her face. "Thanks, Kawashima-san. That helped...I'm still not completely okay, but...I definitely feel better now." She looks down. "I was just having a really, really hard time accepting that a death might happen, because this promise means a lot to me."

"I understand," I say. "It's not exactly an easy thing to accept. But avoiding the truth, while easier in the moment, is worse in the long run."

"Yeah, you're right," Motoki says. Her eyes drift around until they land on a clock. "It's almost six...I guess we should head down to dinner, then."

"Sounds good," I say.

She and I make our way down to the Cafeteria, where I can see several of the others already eating. I double-check the clock to make sure Motoki and I aren't late.
It's only 5:50...so why are
they eating already?

"Why's the food ready so early?" I ask to no one in particular.

"Are you complaining?" asks Kasparov. "It is quite delicious."

"No," I say, "I'm just confused by how early the food's ready today."

"Hisaya-kun and I got real bored and decided to start it early," Ichigohara says
as she plays with her food mindlessly.
"We weren't really thinkin' and...well, I guess we finished up sooner than we thought we would." She shrugs. "Sorry..."

She doesn't really sound
like herself...even though she is normally pretty laid back, she's a lot more low-energy
than normal.
"Ichigohara-san, are you okay?" I ask her.

"I'm fine, Wakana-chan," Ichigohara says, although her answer isn't very convincing. "Just go get yourself some food."

"Yes, please do!" Sashihara shouts. "It'll get cold soon!"

I'm not convinced by what Ichigohara-san said...but
I also don't
want
to be too pushy. I guess I should get some food first... I head back into the Kitchen with Motoki. "What's up with Ichigohara-san?" Motoki asks me as we make ourselves plates. "She's acting pretty weird."

I shrug. "I'm not sure...I'm concerned, though."

Motoki nods. "Yeah, me too," she says. "If she doesn't start acting normal soon, I'll bring it up during dinner." She smiles at me. "I have to make sure I keep that promise."

I nod approvingly. "Good idea," I say.

Motoki and I go back out to the Cafeteria and eat our food. Everyone else trickles in and begins to sit down as we eat. It looks like most people are enjoying the meal, although, weirdly enough, Eguchi isn't having any. "You're not eating, Eguchi-san," I notice.

Eguchi winces. "Yeah, I guess I'm just not hungry tonight..." she says, sounding embarrassed at me noticing.

She sounds so embarrassed at me
pointing that out in front of everyone...I feel bad now. Although it raises the question...why
exactly is she embarrassed? I know it's none of my business, but I'm still
curious...

Eventually, everyone finishes eating. Once Domoto she sees this, she clears her throat. "Ahem," she begins, "I'd like to start by asking everyone how their day went? Did anything unforeseen happen?"

"Mika-chan wanted to, like, go to the Art Room, so her and, like, Tomiko-chan, went there and had, like, so much fun~!" Hayasaka says. "We made, like, all sorts of, like, totally adorable arts and crafts. And, like, after that, Mika-chan and Tomiko-chan went to the, like, Props Storage Room and, like, gave Tomiko-chan a, like, new outfit~!"

"You d-did?" Oyamada says, a confused look on his face. "But sh-she looks e-exactly the s-same as b-before..."

"I changed back into my normal clothes afterwards," Niizuma says. "The outfit was too...excessively pink for my tastes." She holds up her hand to admire a new, expensive-looking rose gold watch on it. "However...I did decide to keep this watch. It's quite sleek."

"Mika-chan, like, knew you'd love it~!" Hayasaka says proudly.

"How wonderful," Terajima says with just a hint of sarcasm. His face grows serious. "More importantly, when entering the Music Room today, I made a frightening discovery.”

Domoto frowns. “What did you find?”

"Th-There was a t-tripwire in there," Oyamada answers. "I was a-about to t-trip on it wh-when Terajima-kun s-spotted it..."

"Okay, and, like, why does that matter?" Hayasaka asks. "And, like, how is a wire, like, frightening?"

Terajima gives her a cool, disapproving stare. "That wire was sharp as hell. Even barely touching it could
cut your skin."

Sashihara furrows his brow. "What kind of wire could do that? I haven't seen anything like that."

"Perhaps it is a piano wire," Kasparov says. "There is a piano in the Music Room. It could be from there."

"It could also be from the Art Room," Niizuma adds. "There are many sharp wires for cutting clay in there."

"Well, as we discussed in the last trial, there aren't wires like that in any place on the second or first floor," says Domoto, stroking her chin thoughtfully. "So it must be from one of those two places."

"Was there anyone in the Art Room or Music Room!?" Sashihara asks loudly. "If so, they're automatically suspicious!"

"Hayasaka-san and I were in the Art Room for the earlier part of the day," Niizuma says. "We weren't there the whole day, though. Around one o'clock, we left and went to the Props Storage Room."

"Me, Eguchi-san, Terajima-kun, and Oyamada-kun went to the Music Room a lil' after five," Komatsu says. "They were gonna listen to me play the piano part for my new piano concerto, but then we saw that stupid fuckin' wire..."

"Hmmm," Kasparov says, thinking. Where was everyone else?"

"You and I were in the Rec Room playing chess," Domoto says. "I almost won a few times."

"Almost," Kasparov says with what might be a smile. However, his amusement isn't long-lived and his
face soon turns serious again. "But that is besides the point. Where were the rest of you?"

"Oyamada-kun and I were in the Library before we were asked if we wanted to hear some music," Terajima says. "He was telling me all about his favorite works of Japanese literature." He smiles. "He knows a lot of stuff about it."

"N-No I d-don't," Oyamada says sheepishly. "Y-You're making me s-seem a lot s-smarter than I r-really am..."

"You are really smart, though, Oyamada-kun," Eguchi says supportively. "Oh, and Komatsu-kun and I were in the Arcade before he wanted to play his new piano concerto."

"Yeah, and it was fuckin' fun as fuck!" Komatsu says. "It's shitty that Taiko no Tatsujin ain't an option no more, but we still had a blast."

"Ichigohara-san and I were in the Garden!" Sashihara shouts. "I wanted to go to the sauna and Ichigohara-san wanted to go to the baths, but because of the partner system, we couldn't do that. So, we did some gardening!
However, after a few hours, we became bored and headed down to the Kitchen to start dinner early!"

"Yeah, the soil's fakeness made even me get bored of gardenin'," Ichigohara says with a sigh. She slumps forward on the table. "I really wish I coulda taken my mornin' bath earlier...I'd feel a lot better."

"Want to be partners tomorrow, Ichigohara-san?" Motoki asks. "We could go to the baths together if you want. I could also sit outside if you didn't want us to be together."

Ichigohara's face lights up at her proposal. "Sure, Sakiko-chan," she says warmly. "I'd be down for that."

Sashihara looks disappointed. "I'm happy for you, Ichigohara-san...but what will I do without you as my partner!?"

"Why not go, like, swimming?" Hayasaka proposes. "You seem to, like, really like doing that."

"Excellent idea!" Sashihara shouts. "Aquatic exercise is my favorite type! However, my partner would have to be up for a vigorous workout!" He scans the room. "Komatsu-kun! If you continue to eat so much, you must be my partner!"

"That ain't happenin'," Komatsu says. "I got too fuckin' tired form yer crazy routine at the talent show to ever wanna do somethin' like that with you again."

"How about this...if you work out with me, I will cook you your favorite type of food for dinner!" Sashihara shouts. "And lots of it!"

Komatsu looks interested now. "Okay, I think I might be takin' you up on that offer..."

"This planning is nice, but irrelevant," Kasparov says. "Motoki-san, you and Kawashima-san have yet to say where you were and what you were doing today."

"Kawashima-san and I just wandered around aimlessly while I discussed the basic concepts of linguistics with her," Motoki says. "We didn't go in any rooms until we saw Oyamada-kun, Eguchi-san, and Komatsu-kun leaving the Music Room after they found the wire."

"Niizuma-san and Hayasaka-san," Kasparov begins, "you two are the only ones who were in either the Art Room or Music Room before the wire was found today. As such, suspicion lies on the two of you."

"That's, like, sooooo ridiculous~!" Hayasaka says. "Mika-chan and Tomiko-chan aren't, like, involved~!"

"You s-say that, b-but how c-can the r-rest of u-us be sure you're n-not lying?" Oyamada asks,
narrowing his eyes at her.

"I admit you can't be certain we aren't lying," Niizuma concedes. "However, accomplices are pointless in this killing game. Neither of us would gain anything from conspiring with the other." She brushes her hair out of her face. "Besides, that wire wasn't necessarily set up today. Someone could've set it up last night."

Terajima nods. "That's what I was thinking," he says. "That trap with the wire doesn't make much sense if whoever set it up knew about our partner system."

"Why not, Eisuke-kun?" asks Ichigohara. "That wire still coulda killed someone, right?"

"Possibly," Terajima says, "although death definitely wouldn't be guaranteed. I'm thinking the plan of whoever set up the tripwire was planning to come in and kill the person incapacitated by it." Terajima pushes his glasses up his nose. "With the partner rule in place, the kind of plan would be impossible, because it'd make the attacker kill their own partner, the incapacitated person, and their partner. That's a violation of rule six, which says a single blackened can't kill more than two people."

"They'd also be really fuckin' suspicious," Komatsu says. "With their partner and two other people dead, there's no way we wouldn't find out who they were!"

"Wait," Kasparov says. "Terajima-kun, I believe I understand the basic premise of the plan you outlined...yet, even without the partner rule, it does not make much logical sense to me."

Terajima shrugs. "It's just a speculation of mine from the evidence I saw, nothing more. I do think it's what this person was thinking of doing, though."

"If it is, then this attacker person really isn't very smart," Domoto says with a satisfied smile. "Perhaps we got lucky and someone stupid regained their memory."

"Even if they're stupid, if they have an intent to kill, they're dangerous," Terajima says. "We still need to be vigilant of them and whatever they might be planning next."

"There's also the other person who regained their memory!" Sashihara shouts. "We need to be cautious about them, too!"

"Maybe
the other person isn't tryin' to kill anyone," Ichigohara says hopefully. "I'd like it if that were the case."

"So would the rest of us," Kasparov says. "However, we must be prepared if they have ill intentions, too."

"Can we stop discussing this?" Eguchi asks. "It makes me feel really scared..."

"I d-don't like i-it too m-much, either..." Oyamada says.

Domoto glances at the clock. "It's almost nighttime, so we can stop for today. Remember, everyone, absolutely none of you are allowed to leave your rooms tonight. Don't open your doors to anyone. Is that understood?" She receives a general murmur of agreement. "Okay," She says with a nod. "Be safe."

After the meeting ends, everyone goes their separate ways. I help Ichigohara and Sashihara with the dishes, then head back to my room. As I take my shower, brush my teeth, and get ready for bed, I reflect on what happened today.
Today started out really roughly...with Monohebi
revealing the motive to everyone and all the tension brought by the revelation that two of us have regained lost memories...or at least "portions" of them. The stuff with that wire in the
Music Room and Motoki-san's reaction were pretty bad too....however, in spite of all that bad stuff, I think we're in a
pretty good
place. The partner system seems
really sound to me and is a lot safer than what we had before. It makes me optimistic that a murder might not ever
happen here again.
Although...I'd be lying if
I said
I still didn't have a lot of worries about that.

Right as I'm about to get into bed, I notice that my mouth is really dry.
I should get a cup of water from the Kitchen...but I also
shouldn't, because we're not allowed to leave our rooms at night. Sitting on the side of my bed, I ponder what I should do.
I really
shouldn't leave...but I'm also really thirsty. It's only a cup of water...besides, if everyone else is in their room, then
I
should be fine....right?

Although I know it's a terrible idea, I stand up and walk over to my door and open it. The hallway outside is still and quiet.
So no one else is up...that's a relief.

However, as I approach the double doors to the Cafeteria, I realize that assumption is incorrect.
Wait...are those voices coming from the Cafeteria? Who's
that talking in there?

I edge closer to the doors, taking great care to be as quiet as possible. Slowly but surely, one of the voices begins to take shape.

"...would be such a shame if everyone else, like, found out about your secret, right?" Hayasaka's voice says tauntingly.
Hayasaka-san...what's she doing up so late? And who's she
talking to?

The other voice, which is so quiet I can't make out who it belongs to, says something indiscernible. Whatever they say, Hayasaka laughs at it. "Oh my God, it was, like, so fucking obvious~! Your hands...your teeth...your actions. Mika-chan, like, knew instantly."

The other voice says something else that I can't make out. When Hayasaka responds, all cuteness is gone from her voice. "You know what you can do. No one else has to know about this...and they won't know. No one else here will ever have to know this secret of yours, but only if you...lend some assistance." She pauses. "So will you, like, do it?" she asks, her voice back to normal. "Will you, like, help Mika-chan out?"

I can't hear exactly what the other voice says. "Great~!" her voice says happily. They must have agreed with what she asked.
Suddenly, her voice drops in volume so low that I struggle to hear every word. "Also, just to let you know...if you say anything about this to anyone at all...hell, if anyone ever figures out this meeting happened...you will regret it very,
very much."

At that point, I want to barge into the Cafeteria to save whoever's in there. But I don't.
Whoever Hayasaka-san's talking to...who are they? What's Hayasaka-san blackmailing them for? And what are they going to do for her? I don't want to imagine the possibility of it...but maybe they'll help her kill? If that's the case...I can't let that happen!

Still unsure of what to do, I decide to go with my gut and throw open the doors to the Cafeteria. Surprisingly, though...no one's there.
Huh...? Where did they go?
I want to look around, but...I have a feeling that might end really badly for me. As much as I want to prevent a murder, I also really don't want to die myself...

Trying to take my mind off what I just heard, I go the Kitchen for the cup of whatever I was looking for. However, the door to the Kitchen is locked.
Wait...the
Kitchen and
Storage Room are locked at nighttime! I'm such an idiot for not remembering that...I guess I'll just have to stay thirsty now...

Shaking my head at my own stupidity, I go back to my room.
I can't believe I potentially risked my
life to go to a room that's locked...although, maybe it was a good
thing in thing, I think as I climb into bed.
Because if a murder does happen...I know exactly who to suspect first.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Good morning, inmates. It is now 7 am, which means nighttime has officially concluded. Enjoy another day of confinement.”

As soon as I wake up, what I witnessed last night floods back into my thoughts.
Hayasaka-san...she was pressuring someone else to help her with something.
What that
something was,
I'm exactly certain...however,
I'm pretty sure it's
nothing good.

While I'm getting ready for the day, I consider what to do about what I saw.
My gut tells me to confront Hayasaka-san about what she was doing...however, I also
remember her saying that she
would make whoever she was
talking to regret it if anyone ever found out about their
meeting. So, if I confront Hayasaka-san, I might end up harming whoever she was
talking to indirectly. But, in the process, I also might prevent a murder...ugh, I don't know what to do.

I go out to the Cafeteria, where everyone else already is except Ichigohara and Sashihara.
They're probably in the Kitchen
making us breakfast...I really am thankful for the both of them.
The life (and food) would be duller here without them.

I sit down at the table, in between Niizuma and Oyamada. "How are you guys doing today?" I ask them.

"I'm not bad," Niizuma says, "which I suppose is as much as I can say while we're trapped here and Monohebi has a motive for us to kill at the ready."

Well, she's not wrong...but
I wasn't expecting such a brutally honest answer. Maybe she's been taking lessons from Domoto-san... "What about you, Oyamada-kun?" I ask him.

"T-To be honest, I-I'm kind of s-scared," he admits. "B-But I'm o-okay..." He looks up at Terajima, who's sitting next to him. "...b-because I know th-that Terajima-kun w-will protect me."

Terajima smiles back at him. "I sure will," he says. "I won't let anyone hurt you, or anyone else here."

"Like, really, Eisuke-kun?" Hayasaka asks. "Protecting everyone isn't, like, super easy. Mika-chan, like, thinks you can do it, though~!"

Terajima looks at her, confused. "Then why'd you say anything at all?"

Hayasaka shrugs. "Mika-chan, like, doesn't know~!"

There she is, acting like everything's normal...maybe what I saw last night was a dream and she isn't planning thing.
I shake my head to rid myself of that absurd thought.
No, it was real...and I really
want to call her out on it right now...but I'm also worried for whoever she was talking to last night. I don't want Hayasaka-san to do any harm to them...

"Kawashima-san, are you alright?" asks Niizuma. "You look like you're concerned about something."

"...I'm fine," I tell her. "I was just...thinking about something."

Niizuma doesn't seem satisfied with my answer, but nods anyway. "Okay..." she says, unconvinced.

Soon after, Ichigohara and Sashihara call us into the Kitchen for breakfast. When I get there, I can see they've made us an assortment of pancakes. "Holy fuckin' shit!" Komatsu yells as soon as he sees the food. "Ya made pancakes!?"

"Uh huh," Ichigohara says with a smile. "And don't worry, they're gluten free, non GMO, and vegetarian."

Komatsu waves his hand at that. "I don't give a fuck 'bout none of that shit," he says. "All I care 'bout is that ya made fuckin' pancakes! That's my favorite food!"

"I promised you last night I would make your favorite food if you worked out with me today!" Sashihara shouts. "Last night, you confided in me that you love pancakes. So, Ichigohara-san and I made some!"

"They're d-delicious," Oyamada says, who hasn't even left the Kitchen yet but is already munching on one of them. "S-So fluffy..."

Komatsu makes himself a huge plate of pancakes and bites into one. He moans. "Damn, that shit's good. Fuck yeah, Sashihara-kun! I'll work out with you every day if you keep on makin' this good shit!"

"Not to brag, but I was doin' more of the cookin'," Ichigohara says.

"Well, can ya keep on cookin' this?" Komatsu asks. "That'd be awesome!"

She laughs. "Don't you worry, Yutaka-kun. If you get this happy every day for somethin' as silly as pancakes, I'll gladly cook 'em for you."

"Thanks, Ichigohara-san," Komatsu says with his mouth half full. "You're the fuckin' best!"

It's nice to see good things like this happen in the midst of such a terrible situation...it's what gets me through all the terrible stuff that goes on here.

Everyone gets their breakfast and returns to the Cafeteria.
Mmm...these pancakes are absolutely delicious. I don't know how Ichigohara-san managed to make them so good, especially when she said they were gluten free, non GMO, and vegetarian...because those things combined usually results in food that's healthy but has a
mediocre taste...this, though, is amazing! She really
should try out for
being the Ultimate Chef...

Once everyone is finished eating, Domoto speaks up. "Well, does anyone have anything they want to bring up today?"

I look around, but no one else has anything else to say.
I really
should say something...I feel like I'm
obligated to, after
what I heard last night...

"I do," I say suddenly.

"What is it?" Domoto asks.

Suddenly, all my confidence is gone.
If I bring up what
I heard, Hayasaka-san might hurt someone...but if I don't, she and whoever she threatened might do
something really bad...so it's a lose-lose scenario. There's no way for me to win...so...what should I do?

"Kawashima-san, what is it?" Domoto asks again, more impatiently this time.

"Never mind," I blurt out without thinking. "It was nothing."
Ugh, I regret saying that
already...now I've made a fool of myself.

Domoto shakes her head. "Well, if no one has anything useful to contribute, I guess we should end this morning meeting right now."

"Like, wait~!" Hayasaka says suddenly. "Mika-chan has something to, like, say~!"

"And what is that?" Terajima asks.

"It's a, like, invitation~!" Hayasaka says. "To all the, like, girls here. It's, like, totally not fair that the boys got to, like, have a fun get-together
but we, like, didn't~! We, like, should all go bathing together since, like, Hisaya-kun and, like, Yutaka-kun'll be using the, like, pool and saunas are, like, soooo gross."

"We should have an obligatory beach episode..." Eguchi says. "It's not something that can be avoided. I'll be there."

"I'm down, but Sakiko-chan and I were gonna be takin' a bath in there this mornin'," Ichigohara says. "I'd say we could do it then, but that's supposed to be a real relaxin' time...so maybe after we're done we can have it."

"When will that, like, be?" Hayasaka asks, irritated. "Mika-chan, like, hates waiting."

"Well, Sakiko-chan and I probably won't go into the baths 'til 8:30," Ichigohara says, "and the door to the baths locks for a maximum of only three hours, so...I guess we'll be done by around 11:30."

"You, like, better be~!" Hayasaka says. "Mika-chan is gonna be, like, barging in there right at, like, 11:30, so you better not lose track of, like, time~!"

"Don't worry, we won't," Ichigohara says with nervous laugh.

Hayasaka turns to face the rest of us. "Tomiko-chan, Wakana-chan, and Otoha-chan...are you guys, like, coming or what?"

Niizuma shakes her head. "No...the bath would remove all the makeup I did for today." She shudders. "That's
not happening."

Hayasaka nods understandingly. "That, like, makes sense~!"

"...I won't go either," I say. "I'm not sure I'm comfortable taking a bath in the bathhouse when I know that there's a peephole in another room."

"Same here," Domoto says.

Hayasaka smirks. "What, are you girls, like, worried one of the boys is a, like, horny fuck and will spy on you?" She looks around. "I wonder, like...which one would actually do that?" Her eyes land on Kasparov. "Is it, like, you Sergey-kun? Mika-chan totally gets that, like, 'I'm secretly a horny bastard,' like, vibe from you."

Kasparov glares daggers at her. "Shut your lying mouth," he says coldly.

Hayasaka flips her hair. "Nope~!" she says with a sickly sweet smile. It doesn't last long, though. Soon enough, she sits down and twirls her hair. "Oh well...Mika-chan, like, hoped more would, like, come...but she, like, guesses her, Yuzuki-chan, Noriyo-chan, and Sakiko-chan should be, like, enough."

Domoto clears her throat. "Now that's over with...does anyone else have anything to say?" No one does. She nods. "Alright then. That's enough for this meeting. You guys can select partners now."

Niizuma turns to me immediately. "Will you please be my partner?" she asks, with
her eyes quickly darting over to Hayasaka and then back to me.
Seems like she doesn't want to be partners with Hayasaka-san again...not that
I blame her. I
wouldn't either.

"Sure," I tell her.

Domoto looks at Kasparov. "I'm ready for a rematch."

"Do you mean you are prepared to lose yet again?" Kasparov asks with a grin. "Ha, you cannot beat me. But you can try."

"You still down to be partners and take a bath, Sakiko-chan?" Ichigohara asks.

"Yeah, I am," Motoki says as she rubs her head. "I have a bad headache, though..."

"Aw, that sucks," Ichigohara says. "Hopefully a nice, quiet bath will make it go away."

"Komatsu-kun!" Sashihara shouts. "Let's be partners and do some aquatic exercise!"

"If it
means more pancakes, then fuck yeah!" Komatsu says enthusiastically.

Eguchi looks at him sadly, then looks down at her feet. She's probably
disappointed that Komatsu-kun isn't going to be her partner today.
I feel bad for her...

"Yuzuki-chan~!" Hayasaka says. "Let's be, like, partners~!"

"...Sure," Eguchi says, not sounding like she really wants to. "We can do that."

...Now I feel
even worse for her. She didn't sound
like she wanted to end up with Hayasaka-san...but I guess there aren't any other options
left. Also...I should probably warn
Eguchi-san of what Hayasaka-san has been doing...although, when could
I do that? As partners, they're not allowed to leave each other's side, and
I don't want Hayasaka-san to find out that I know
about her meeting
last night.

"Let's go to the, like, bathroom first, okay?" Hayasaka says to Eguchi.

"Alright..." she says morosely as Hayasaka drags her away.
There goes my chance to talk with her...

"Kawashima-san, would you like to head to the library today?" Niizuma asks me. "I have yet to sit down and read one of the books in there. I've been wanting to."

I shrug. "I didn't really have anything in mind, so yeah, that's fine with me."

Niizuma nods. "Good." She pauses, squinting at me. "Kawashima-san...you have runny nose."

"Oh, I do?" I say as I notice it. "Dammit...do you have any tissues on you?"

Niizuma pulls a small pack of tissues from a pocket on the inside of her half sweater. "Of course," she says. "I couldn't have a runny nose or a nosebleed ruining my look right in the middle of the day." She offers the pack to me. "Here you go."

"Thanks," I say as I take a tissue from it and blow my nose. I hand the pack back to her. "You're a lifesaver."

Niizuma chuckles. "Haha...I guess I am."

After I throw out the tissue, Niizuma and I go to the library. Oyamada and Terajima all already there, sitting quietly in a back corner. "What should I read?" I wonder aloud. "There's so much to pick from."

"Shhhhhh," Oyamada shushes from the back corner. "Y-You're in a l-library..."

Oh yeah...I
should
probably be quieter.

"I don't know what you should read," Niizuma says quietly. "Although, I have to head to the bathroom right now. You can pick one out while I do that."

"Wait," I say sharply. "We're partners, remember? We're not allowed to leave each other's side."

"The bathroom is quite literally right across the hall," Niizuma says. "Nothing's going to happen to me. Everyone else is with their partner right now." She stares at me intensely. "I'll be fine."

I feel hesitant, but Niizuma looks like she's really determined to go, whether I agree or not.
"Alright..." I say. "You better be back after five minutes, though. After that, I'm looking for you."

"Fine by me," Niizuma says. She leaves.
I really
shouldn't've let her go
like that...but the look she gave me made it seem like she wasn't going to accept no for an answer.

While I wait for her to come back, I scan the shelves for something interesting to read. Then, I
spot a book titled A Comprehensive History and Explanation of the Meaning of All Recorded Japanese Family Names. Taking the book off the shelf and bringing it to a random table, I sit down, curious as to what it might contain. Maybe I'll find out what some of the names of the people here mean.
Weirdly eager to find out, I flip it open and begin to read it. Soon enough, I find a familiar name.

"小松 Komatsu
- Comprising of the kanji 小, meaning 'small' and
松, meaning 'pine tree,' this family name means 'Young pine tree.' In addition to being a family name, it is also the name of an airport in the Ishikawa Prefecture of Japan."
So, Komatsu-kun's name means "young pine tree"...not what
I expected, but that's pretty cool.
I look down the page and see another familiar name.

"小山田 Oyamada
- Three kanji make up this name:
小, meaning 'small,'
山, meaning 'mountain,' and
田, meaning 'rice field or patty.' All together, they make a name which means 'hill field.' It is also the name of a train station in Hanamaki, in the Iwate Prefecture. Alternate Pronunciation: Koyamada." Aw, that's a cute name...hill field. I like the sound of it.

I look up as Niizuma comes back in and breathe a sigh of relief. Whew...that's one less thing to worry about.

"See?" she says. "That didn't take me very long at all."

I kind of lost
track of time while reading, so I'm not sure...but it couldn't have been more than five
minutes that passed...
"No, you didn't," I say. "I'm glad you're okay."

"So am I," Niizuma says. "What are you reading?" she asks, nodding her head at the book.

I close the book and read from the front cover. "A Comprehensive History and Explanation of the Meaning of All Recorded Japanese Family Names," I read. "It's a pretty random thing to read, but...I think it was interesting enough."

"Not for me," Niizuma says as she grabs a statistics textbook off the shelf. "Calculus and Statisitcs...this captivates my interest much more."

I shiver just from the name of the book. "That sounds...scary, honestly. Math was never my strong subject."

"It wasn't mine when I was younger, either," Niizuma says as she sits down with her book. "But through lots of hard work and effort, I became better." She smiles proudly. "I worked so hard I even managed to become the Ultimate Statistician."

"That's admirable," I say. "You managed to turn a weak subject of yours into a strong one." I shake my head. "And then look at me...a girl who barely goes to school in favor of working at a local restaurant. You're so much better..."

"But the restaurant work is better for you," Niizuma says. "You are the Ultimate Waitress, not the Ultimate Student." She shrugs. "I'm not saying I like you being truant, but it is good to know one's strengths. My strength is hard work and tireless persistence. Yours is restaurant work, which is very difficult in and of itself.
Neither is objectively better than the other."

That was a surprisingly encouraging thing to hear from Niizuma-san...but I'm glad to hear it.
"Thanks, Niizuma-san," I say. "I'm really grateful for you saying that."

"Shhhhhh," Oyamada says from the corner. "K-Keep quiet!"

Oh right...this is a library.
"Thanks," I say again, though I'm whispering now.

"No problem," Niizuma whispers back to me.

After that, we read in silence. The names book is mildly interesting for a while, but after a little bit I'm bored of it and look for a new book. That's when I spot something called Catalog of
Mental Disorders
and their Diagnoses
and Treatments.
Hmm...that looks like an interesting read.

I pull it off the shelf and sit down with it. I flip open to a random page, with the first thing I land on being...

"Eating
Disorders

1. Anorexia Nervosa - Anorexia nervosa, often referred to as 'anorexia,' is an eating disorder characterized by food restriction, severely low weight, a strong fear of gaining weight, and a desire to be thin. Signs and symptoms include but are not limited to a low body mass index for one's age and height, chronic fatigue, obsessively monitoring calories and fat counts in food, solitude, and perception by the affected individual that they are overweight, when in reality the opposite is true. Its exact cause is unknown. Although it primarily affects young women and girls, it can affect males as well.

2. Bulimia Nervosa - Bulimia nervosa, often shortened to 'bulimia,' is an eating disorder characterized by binging, when the affected individual eats large amounts of food in a short period of time, followed by purging, when the individual attempts to get rid of the food they consume. This may be done through a variety of methods, which include vomiting and the use of laxatives. Signs and symptoms often include but are not limited to constant weight fluctuations,
having
one's self-image be based on weight or body shape, the erosion of enamel on teeth due to repeated vomiting, Mallory-Weiss syndrome, calluses on the knuckles and back of hands, electrolyte imbalance, constipation, and peptic ulcers.

Unlike those with anorexia nervosa, those with bulimia often are at a normal weight, thus making the condition easier to hide. Like with anorexia nervosa, individuals with bulimia nervosa tend to be young adult females. The condition is also associated with other mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. There is also a higher risk of self-harm and even suicide in bulimics."

Wow...that was not fun to read. I feel so bad for people who have to
struggle with something like eating,
which
should bring joy... I flip past that page until I encounter something else that
piques my interest.

"Substance Use
Disorder - Substance
Use Disorder (SUD), also referred to as drug use disorder, is
a disorder in which the use of one or more substances leads to distress or clinically significant impairment. The severity of the disorder can vary greatly, from mild to moderate to severe. Severe substance use disorder is also known as drug addiction, which can be
defined as
a compulsive usage of a substance despite negative consequences and the presence of withdrawal in the absence of the use of the substance. Risk factors for substance use disorder include being male, young, having relatives who have SUD, and other mental health issues.

Be careful to note that there are two different types of dependence and withdrawal symptoms associated with them: physical
and psychological. Physical dependence means the body needs the substance to function properly and often involves bodily
reactions in the case of withdrawal, such as vomiting, tremors, diarrhea, and sweating. Psychological dependence involves withdrawal symptoms related to emotion, motivation, and perception. These can include hallucinations, depression, and anxiety as a result of the drug's absence."

Reading about this makes me sad...it reminds me of a homeless drug addict who used to live under a bridge in my town. He would always beg in the streets for money...until he died of an overdose one day. When he died,
I was too young to understand why he had passed away...but now that I'm older,
I
sometimes think about how sad his life was... Feeling too sad from reading that, I skip the rest of the section on Substance Use Disorder, flip to another page, and begin to read.

"Personality Disorders

1. Antisocial Personality Disorder - Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD or APD) is a personality disorder characterized by a pattern of disregard for morals, social norms, and the rights and emotions of others. Signs and symptoms include a low sense of morality and conscience, aggression, recklessness, impulsivity, and a lack of remorse for actions that might have harmed others. Those with APD may think lowly or negatively of others and display arrogant behavior. Due to their lack of concern for others and tendency to think very highly of themselves, those with APD

tend to have
serious issues with maintaining healthy, stable interpersonal relationships.

2. Narcissistic
Personality Disorder - Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is
a long term pattern of abnormal behaviors, which may include but are not limited to having an excessive need for admiration, a sense of entitlement, superiority over others, an expectation of obedience to their wishes, constant demeaning and bullying of others, and a lack of empathy and even contempt for others. Individuals with NPD also often try to create an abusive system of power and control over other people.
The cause of NPD is not known and therapy is not well researched, due to many of those afflicted believing they have nothing wrong with them."

I don't claim to be a professional psychologist, so I won't go
around diagnosing anyone at random...but this
Narcissistic Personality Disorder does remind me of someone I might know.

I look through the book for a while, until Niizuma taps me on the shoulder. "Sorry to interrupt, Kawashima-san," she says. "I have to go the bathroom again."

I give her a confused look. "But you just went..."

Niizuma raises her eyebrows. "Yes...three hours ago."

"It's been that long already?" I ask. "Wow, I didn't realize so much time had passed."

Niizuma shrugs. "Well, it did." She pauses.
"I probably should've done this the first time I went, but do you want to come with me to the bathroom?" she asks, brushing her hair out of her face. "Just to be safe."

"Sure," I say. "I kind of have to go, too."

Niizuma and I leave the Library and head across the hall to the girls' bathroom. Once inside, Niizuma takes the stall closest to the opposite wall. I pick one in the middle. Huh...now that I think about it, this is the first time
I've used a bathroom that
isn't the one in my room. It feels weird to be in here...

When I'm done, I flush the toilet and leave the stall. As I'm washing my hands, Niizuma emerges from her stall. "The toiler paper in here is nice, isn't it?" she says. "A lot better than the single-ply nonsense you'd expect."

That's such a
weird thing to bring up...but she isn't
wrong.
"Yeah, it was pretty nice," I say agreeably and somewhat awkwardly.

Niizuma looks like she wants to say something else, but before she can, the monitor on the wall suddenly turns on.
What the...?
Why is it—

“*ding ding dong ding* A body has been discovered,” the video of Monohebi on the monitor says. “Everyone, please your make your way to the bathhouse
immediately. After a short period of investigation, a class trial will be held.” The monitor shuts off.

Wait...did I really just hear that? A body...has been
discovered!?
"Niizuma-san, don't tell me you just heard that too..."

Niizuma's face pales. "I...I did," she says shakily. "Some...Someone's dead."

No, no, no no no no no...I don't want to accept it!
Who
is it? Who could be dead?
"He said something about the bathhouse, right?" I say. “We need to go there now!"

Niizuma nods. "Let's go," she says, looking worried.

As we leave the bathroom, we almost run straight into Terajima and Oyamada leaving the Library. "Y-You g-guys s-saw th-that t-too, r-right?" Oyamada asks, stammering like crazy. "S-Someone w-was k-killed! I-I d-don't w-want to i-imagine wh-who i-it m-might b-be..."

"I understand you're scared, Oyamada-kun," Terajima says softly, trying to
sound calmer than he probably is. "But we need to go to the bathhouse immediately. We can't ignore reality."

"Let's stop wasting time and go, then!" Niizuma says hurriedly. "We're doing nothing just standing here!"

Heeding her command, the four of us all rush down to the doors to the locker rooms. Niizuma scans her e-Handbook first, with me going in immediately after. We waste no time in the locker room, immediately running through it and throwing open the door on the other side. When we do, we can see a sobbing
Eguchi collapsed against the wall opposite the door to the bathhouse. Motoki stands in the doorway to the bathhouse, looking terrified.

"Who is it?" I ask her desperately. "Who was killed!?"

"It's...It's..." Motoki starts, her voice breaking. She tries to get the name out, but she can't bear to finish her sentence. Instead, she breaks down into tears.

Desperate to know who died, I rush forward and push her out of the way.
Please let this be an elaborate scheme...let this be
anything but another death.
Please...please let Monohebi be wrong. But I know he isn't wrong. Deep down, I know someone's dead.

With fear coursing through me,
I look inside the bathhouse. The first thing I see is Hayasaka, half-collapsed on the floor. But she isn't dead. Her mouth is half-open and she's staring in disbelief
at something in one of the bathtubs.

Although I want so badly to resist it, I force my eyes to follow her gaze. I see an extension cord running from a wall outlet to a regular wire, which leads to one of the bathtubs. In the bathtub, with bare electrical wires wrapped around her and her eyes bulging out of her head...is the horrifically electrocuted body of Noriyo Ichigohara, the Ultimate Gardener.
Chapter 3: A Walk Down the Memory Lane of Despair Daily Life END

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 3: A Walk Down the Memory Lane of Despair
Deadly Life

...No...this can't possibly be real.
This horror I'm seeing
before me...it's the stuff you see in horror
movies or in nightmares, not in real life...

"Holy shit..." Terajima says softly. "What the fuck happened to her!?"

"Sh-She w-was f-f-fried f-from e-electrocution!" Oyamada stammers, a look of pure terror on his face. "Y-You c-can b-barely e-even r-r-recognize h-her..."

Niizuma covers her mouth with her hand. "How can this...be real?" she asks incredulously. "Who would even think of this...?"

"An evil person," Motoki says through tears. "Someone with no morals...no heart...only they could think to kill such a kind person in such an
awful way..." Near the end of her sentence, her voice breaks and her body shakes with heavy sobs.
Motoki-san...she must be devastated she couldn't keep her promise...

Domoto and Kasparov run into the room. "Who is dea—" Kasparov begins, but he stops right in his tracks when he sees Ichigohara-san. For the first time, I see what looks like true terror cross his face. "What the hell happened to her!?"

Domoto looks sad for just a moment. "I had hoped it wouldn't happen again," she says
mournfully. "And yet..."

"Noriyo-chan...?" Hayasaka says weakly from the ground. "You don’t deserve..." Her voice trails off into nothing.

Eguchi comes in from the hallway, still crying. "Why Ichigohara-san...?" she asks, actively avoiding looking at the body. "She was so nice to everyone..."

"Some people are just cruel," Terajima says solemnly. He looks around. "Yo...where are the other two?"

"O-Other two?" Oyamada repeats. "Wh-Who are y-you t-talking a-about, Terajima-kun?"

"Sashihara-kun and Komatsu-kun," Domoto says. "Neither of them is here right now."

"Aren't they in the pool?" Niizuma asks. "They should've been here before the rest of us..."

"They can't be...you know..." Eguchi says.

"No," Motoki says firmly, "there's no way three people died. I won't accept it!"

"I doubt they're both dead," Domoto says. "But even if they aren't dead, they're still not here. That's a problem."

"So, should we check the pool?" I ask. "That's where they said they'd go today."
I really hope they're both okay...however, if
neither of them are here after a body discovery
announcement...I can't imagine
they're doing well. No...I can't think like that! I need to stay positive! But...it's so hard to actually do that, after...
My eyes drift back to the horrific sight of Ichigohara's body.
After that...

Hayasaka gets up from the floor. "Well are we going to, like, go or not?" she asks
as she brushes dirt from her outfit.
"We can't just, like, stand here..."

"...Agreed," Kasparov says, still sounding slightly shaken. "We must be on our way..."

We all leave the bathhouse and go to the door to the pool. Domoto and I go in first, and the first thing I see is Sashihara, handcuffed to a reclining pool chair on the opposite end of the pool. "There you guys are!" Sashihara shouts.

"Sashihara-kun," I say, breathing a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad you're not dead. But where's Komatsu-kun?"

"Right there!" Sashihara shouts, nodding toward
a spot to my right. I follow his gaze, soon seeing Komatsu, lying motionless on the floor.

I rush over to him to check on him, but before I can get there, I hear someone sprinting behind me. Surprised, I turn and barely manage to dodge out of Eguchi's way as she runs past me. "Komatsu-kun..." she says, sounding like a nervous wreck as she arrives at his body.

"Is he dead!?" Motoki asks, beginning to sob again. "Please tell me he's not..."

Terajima hurries over to Komatsu and checks for a pulse. I anxiously wait to hear the results.
Please, please, please don't let him be dead...I couldn't bear to have two murders happen at the same time...

"...No," Terajima says. "He has a pulse. He's just unconscious."

Eguchi breaths a heavy sigh of relief. "Oh thank God...I was so so worried..."

"I'm glad he's alive, too, but...why was he unconscious in the first place?" Motoki asks. "And why is Sashihara-kun handcuffed to a chair!?"

"S-Someone should p-probably get h-him o-out of it..." Oyamada says.

"Obviously," Niizuma says. "How, though? Handcuffs normally have keys, and I don't see one anywhere near here."

"Wait, everyone!" Sashihara says suddenly. "Please, tell me...where is Ichigohara-san? I heard the body discovery announcement, but I don't see her..." A look of realization comes over his face. "...Wait...no...is she...?"

"She is," Motoki says sadly. She begins to cry again. "Of all people, Ichigohara-san was killed...and so terribly..." She begins to fall to her knees, but Hayasaka quickly comes to her side.

"Watch out, Sakiko-chan," she says. "You almost, like, fell there..."

"Thanks, Hayasaka-san..." Motoki says, slightly surprised Hayasaka of all people came to help her. "I'm grateful for that..."

Hayasaka waves it away. "Don't, like, make too much of it..." she says, making a face. "It wasn't, like, anything special..."

I'm surprised at that...usually Hayasaka-san isn't the first person to lend a helping hand.

"Wh-What do w-we do
n-now?" Oyamada asks. "I-Ichigohara-san is d-dead...K-Komatsu-kun is u-unconscious...a-and Sashihara-kun's h-handcuffed to a r-reclining chair..."

"I believe I could be of assistance on that last front," Monohebi's voice says.

"Gah!" Kasparov shouts, jumping at Monohebi appearing right next to him. "Why did you appear next to me like that!?"

"To frighten you," Monohebi says
with a smirk. "Although it seems that would be rather pointless, considering you are already quite shaken by the death of Ichigohara."

Kasparov grimaces. "Death by electricity is a great fear of mine," he admits, sounding somewhat ashamed. "As such, seeing that
Ichigohara-san had died in that way was...unsettling for me."

"It was unsettling for all of us," Niizuma says, clutching her necklace. "Not just you."

"Wait, she was electrocuted!?" Sashihara asks. "How?"

"In her, like, bath," Hayasaka answers. "You, like, really don't want to see it, Hisaya-kun...it's, like, really nasty..."

"No, I must see her body!" Sashihara protests vehemently. "I need to investigate my friend's death!" He hangs his head sadly. "I must find her killer..."

"First, you need to be freed from those handcuffs," Monohebi says. "Fortunately, I can be of assistance regarding that matter." He slithers over to Sashihara and, using a key he holds in his mouth, unlocks the handcuffs. "There you go."

Sashihara shakes his hand out of the handcuffs. "...Thank you, Monohebi," he says, sounding uncomfortable at the snake being so close to him.

"You are most welcome," Monohebi says.

"What are you going to do about Komatsu-kun?" Eguchi asks, a tad desperately. "He's still unconscious..."

"He is fine and should wake up sometime soon," Monohebi says. "If he doesn't wake before the trial, I shall rouse him
myself. I would not want him to miss such an exciting class trial."

Domoto's mouth twists angrily at his description of the class trial. "Class trials aren't exciting," she says coolly. "They're disgusting, cruel affairs that you force us to fight for our lives in."

"Yes," Monohebi says. "That is precisely what makes them so exciting." Domoto clearly has something to say to that, but Monohebi starts speaking again before she can anything. "Anyway, all this is irrelevant to what actually is important: the investigation of the shockingly tragic death of Noriyo Ichigohara, the Ultimate Gardener. I have updated all your e-Handbooks with the Monohebi File. Additionally, I have unlocked the secret room." He smiles gleefully. "Happy investigating...make sure you are quite thorough. This case is rather multifaceted." With that cryptic advice, he disappears.

After he leaves, the room is silent for a little while. Finally, Domoto says something. "Everyone..." she begins softly. "I know this might be hard, but...we need to investigate now. Ichigohara-san is dead, and her killer is in this room."
A chill falls over me when she says that.
For one brief,
blissful moment there...I had forgotten that the killer had to be one of us. I forgot that someone here mercilessly murderd Ichigohara-san...

"You're right, Domoto-san," Motoki says, wiping away her tears. "We need to get started investigating now. We need to find who killed Ichigohara-san!"

"Exactly!" Sashihara shouts. He clutches his fist. "I won't let this scumbag who murdered my friend get away with this." Passion burns in his eyes. "Let's get started immediately!"

Yeah...let's do that. Ichigohara-san is dead, and she was killed by one of us...as much as I hate to
confront that terrible truth,
I know
I must face it. I also know
that I must search as much of this horrible prison as I can to make sure her killer doesn't get away
with this. Even if I failed to
prevent Ichigohara-san's death, I'll do my damndest to ensure her killer doesn't walk away free!
Investigation START!

I start by pulling out my e-Handbook and going to the tab titled "Monohebi File #3." When I get there, I see the following text:

"The victim of this case is Noriyo Ichigohara, the Ultimate Gardener. Cause of death is excessive electrical current stopping the victim's heart. Her time of death is precisely 11:30 am."

I look at the clock on the wall to see what time it is. Hold on...it's only 11:57. That means Ichigohara-san died less than thirty minutes ago. That's terrible to think about...she's been dead less than half an hour...
I shake my head vigorously. No...I can't do that. As much as I hate it, now's not
the time to grieve...it's
the time to investigate. I
won't be able to
investigate to the best of my ability if I let my grief block the logical side of me.

But where to go next? I know I'll have to go back to the bathhouse....but first, I should
probably talk to Sashihara-kun and figure out what the hell happened to him and Komatsu-kun.

I go up to him first. "Sashihara-kun, can I talk with you for a moment?" I ask.

Sashihara looks hesitant. "I must investigate Ichigohara-san's death as much as possible before the class trial!" he shouts. "So, please make your questioning as fast as possible!"

"Don't worry, it won't take too long," I assure him. "I just need to know what you were doing this morning, and what happened to you and Komatsu-kun."

"I'm sorry, Kawashima-san, but I don't have much to tell you!" he shouts. "You see, after the morning meeting, Komatsu-kun and I went to the boy's locker room to get changed. Once we were done, we immediately headed to the pool to do some wonderfully exhausting aquatic exercise! However..."

I give him a curious look. "However...what?"

"Almost as soon as I walked into the pool, I heard someone quickly approaching me, and then everything went black," he says at a surprisingly normal volume. "Eventually I woke up, and found myself handcuffed to that pool chair, with Komatsu-kun unconscious on the floor."

"And you stayed that way until we came?" I ask.

Sashihara nods. "Yes."

So Sashihara-kun was attacked suddenly soon after entering the pool...I assume the same probably happened to Komatsu-kun. However,
assumptions can be dangerous...so I'll have to ask him when he wakes up.
"Sashihara-kun, one more thing...did you catch any glimpse of this attacker?"

He shakes his head. "No, not that I remember."

They must have been pretty sneaky...or maybe he's lying. I don't want to imagine
that possibility, but...it
could be what happened. "Thanks, Sashihara-kun. That's all from me."

"You're welcome!" he shouts, back to his normal self. "If I can do anything to help you in finding the identity of the killer,
just let me know and I'lll gladly do it!" He pauses. "Although, you'll have to wait until I get changed back into my normal clothes." He leaves.

I forgot he and
Komatsu-kun were still in their bathing suits...they'll both have to get changed before the class trial. It's pretty chilly in the trial
room.
I shudder at the thought of returning to that room.
God, I hate that place so
much...hopefully, this time will be
the last time we ever go down
there.

I look around the pool for something else to investigate.
I should probably check out the chair Sashihara-kun was handcuffed to. I might find some new evidence there...

Once I get to the chair, I notice that it's bolted to the floor.
That's
probably why he was handcuffed
to it...it'd be pointless to bind him to
something that could move.

While I'm there, I also decide to take a look at the handcuff.
I pick it up and inspect it closely.
Hmm...nothing special to see here, really. All I can find is that
there's a hole on the side that looks like it's for a key.
I think about that for a moment.
Wait a minute...if whoever locked Sashihara-kun to this chair still
has the key on them, then that means we could find whoever attacked Sashihara-kun and Komatsu-kun!

Feeling excited at a possible way to find out the mystery attacker's identity, I decide to go over to Eguchi and Terajima, who are staying by Komatsu's side. "How is he doing?" I ask.

"Same as before," Terajima answers. He sighs. "Eguchi-san and I've been staying by his side since we got here, but he's still out." Terajima pulls aside Komatsu's hair and inspects a wound on the back of his head. "He seems to have sustained a pretty nasty wound to his head. Not quite as bad as the one the language girl got the other day, but still pretty bad." He pauses. "You know...from the quick look I got at her wound the other day, it looks like both wounds were inflicted by the same object. Both their wounds have a rectangular
shape to them."

"Rectangular?" I repeat. "That's weird..." I kneel down to examine Komatsu's head and see that Terajima is telling the truth. That's
weird...I'll have to
check out Motoki's
head
wound later to see if they're similar.

"Do you think he'll wake up in time for the trial?" Eguchi asks nervously. "It'd really suck if he didn’t..."

"He'll be fine," I say reassuringly. "Monohebi said he'd wake him up if things went bad, right?"

Eguchi wrinkles her nose at that. "I really hope it doesn't come to that...Monohebi never does anything good to anyone."
That's a fair point...

Not knowing how to respond to that, I begin to ask them something, but catch sight of something odd before I do. "Wait, what's that on Komatsu-kun's ankle?" I ask, pointing to a red, circular ring around his left ankle.

"I'm not completely sure, but I think it's rope burn," Terajima says. "That's what it looks like. I don't see any ropes in here, though."

If Terajima-kun's sharp eyes didn't spot it in here, then it probably isn't in here...but if not here, where is that rope? Finding it might point me in the direction of who's
responsible for this... Not knowing how to follow up to the matter of the rope yet also not ready to leave, I
decide to ask Eguchi and Terajima something else. "So, what were the two of you doing this morning? I think it's a good idea to get everyone's alibis."

Terajima nods. "It is," he says. "I don't have much to say. Oyamada-kun and I were both in the Library the whole morning. We didn't leave until we heard the body discovery announcement."

I already knew
that from being in the Library with them, but it's still good to confirm they never left.
"What about you, Eguchi-san?" I ask her. "Where were you?"

"I was with Hayasaka-san all morning," she says, not looking me in the eyes. "We were in the Casino until about 11:20. Then, we went upstairs, where
we met up with Motoki-san in the locker room. After that, we went to the door to the bathhouse, which Hayasaka-san opened at 11:30. When she did, we found..." She begins to tear up. "...we found Ichigohara-san..."

So she and Hayasaka-san have an alibi? Hmm...I had thought Hayasaka-san was
most
suspicious after what I saw last night, yet...here Eguchi-san is giving her an alibi. "Okay," I say. "Thanks for your time, guys."

"No problem," Terajima says. "Anything to help find whoever did this." His face darkens. "Anything to find whoever dared to hurt another person here..."

"Yeah, you're welcome, Kawashima-san," Eguchi says.

Not having anything more to talk about, I leave the two of them be and
search for any other clues that might be left.
Maybe there'll be something in the pool...

I kneel at the side of the pool and peer inside, immediately noticing what looks like a large rock at the bottom of the pool. How the hell did that get down there? And where did it come from...?

I'm about to get up from the poolside when I notice something else at the bottom of the pool. This time, it's something small and shiny.
Wait...what's
that?
I squint and barely manage to make out what looks like a small key at the bottom of the pool.
So that's where it went...so much for my idea of
catching the
attacker based on the handcuffs' key, if that's what it is. It looks really plain and nondescript from what I can see, so maybe that's what it is.

I stand up and look around the pool room for any other clues. That's when I notice a blue tarp shoved underneath one of the pool chairs. As I grab the tarp and open it, I notice that there's pretty much nothing in it except some small amounts of...dirt?
Why is there dirt and soil in a tarp in the pool room? That doesn't
make much sense...but it has to be relevant to this case.

Not finding anything else of interest in the pool, I leave it and am about to make my way across the hall to the bathhouse when I think of something.
Hold on...Monohebi said he unlocked the secret room, right? I haven't been in there since...the incident with Hayasaka-san
and the boys, but it might be worth checking out.
Instead of going to the bathhouse, I enter the sauna. It looks entirely ordinary, so I pass right through to the secret room.

When I enter, I immediately notice that the computer and monitor are smashed to bits.
Wow...I guess there's no chance for any of us to rewatch the video of Furuhata-kun again. The
computer looks like every bit of it has
been
completely destroyed...but why? It was just the video of Furuhata-kun on there...so why did it have to be destroyed?

Shaking that thought out of my head, I scan the room for any other useful clue. That's when I catch sight of a pair of scissors discarded in the corner, along with a pile of what looks like a bunch of removed
wire coverings.
Those must be the remnants of what used to cover the bare electrical wires that are wrapped
around
Ichigohara-san's body... I shudder.
Just
thinking about what happened to her makes me cringe...it's so terrible.

I look around the secret room again, looking for other things to investigate.
Maybe I
should look at that
peephole again? No one's using the baths anymore, so that
shouldn't be an issue.

As I approach the peephole, I just barely notice something about it that none of us saw before.
Is that...the faint outline of a door!?

Stepping closer to the peephole, I notice that it is.
A small, almost invisible outline of a door wraps around the peephole, which is positioned about where one normally would be on a door. I search for a handle, but I don't immediately see one.
Hmm...where is the handle? There has to be
one
somewhere...

After a little while, I give
up looking for a physical handle.
So...there's no
actual handle. However, there has to be some other way to open this door...I
just have to have an open
mind as to what that might be. I examine the door carefully, looking for anything that might be out of place.
That's when I see that, around the peephole, there's a small ring of metal with something inscribed on it. I lean in closer to see what the inscription is.
An arrow
pointing counterclockwise? Hmm...could that mean?

I grab hold of the ring and twist it counterclockwise. Sure enough, the door swings open to a space between two bathtubs.
So that's how you open it...

"Who is that!?" I hear Domoto's voice say from inside the bathhouse. She rushes over to the open door. "Kawashima-san? Where the hell did you come from!?"

"The secret room," I answer. "There was a hidden door in there all along."

She furrow her brow. "A...hidden door?" she says. "...Well then. Let me have look in there."

I step into the bathhouse to allow her to pass though the door. When she gets to the other side, a thought occurs to me. "Domoto-san, I want to test something out," I say.

"What is it?" she asks.

"I wonder if this door opens from the bathhouse too," I say. "Could you close the door and then unlock it a minute later?"

"That's a waste of investigation time, but it might be useful, so...fine," she says. "But how would I open it?"

I tell her how, and she raises her eyebrows. "That's unnecessarily complicated, but...okay." She closes the door.
Now,
time to see if it
opens from this side, too...

I get close to the wall where the door should be, scouring it for anything that could be used in place of a handle. Around where the peephole is, there's another metal ring, although this time it's the same white color as all the tiles around it. This time, though, the arrow inscribed on the ring is pointing clockwise, not counter clockwise. I twist the ring clockwise and, sure enough, the door opens yet again.

"So it does open from both sides," Domoto says as she strokes her chin. "Hmm...that's good to know." She gives me a sharp nod. "Good job on finding this, Kawashima-san."

Did Domoto-san just...praise me? That's not exactly common.
"You're welcome," I tell her, although it's awkward talking while she's still standing in the other room. "Aren't you going to come back into the bathhouse?"

"I've already looked around in there enough," Domoto says. A strange, sad look comes over her face. "I don't want to go back there...so I'll be taking a look at other rooms."

Hold on...she
definitely doesn't sound normal.
"Domoto-san, are you okay?" I ask her. "You look and sound sad..."

Domoto doesn't answer immediately. "Ichigohara-san was a positive influence on the group," she says. "I'm...disappointed we lost someone like that." She turns her head away from me and closes the door behind her.
Domoto-san is acting
unusually emotional...I
don't think I've ever seen her sound sad, even after the first two trials. She's always seemed so
distant and unaffected, yet...I guess Ichigohara-san's death was different for her. That's
understandable,
considering how nice she was.

Was.
I
hate that I have to describe Ichigohara-san in the past tense now, but...it's reality.
I force myself to look over at her corpse.
I'm
going to have to investigate her body soon...I really don't want to do that, due to how horrifying it is, but it's
probably the most important
evidence for this
whole trial, so...I have to.

Reluctantly, I approach Ichigohara's body. The water in the bathtub is filled just enough to cover Ichigohara's body, which is lying face up and is horribly burned from being electrocuted in water. I look away.
What a
terrible sight...the smell, too...it's all so awful... I want to throw up, but I manage to keep it down.
C'mon, keep it together, Wakana...you don't want to contaminate the crime scene with your vomit.

Forcing myself to look into the tub again, I notice that Ichigohara's hands are bound behind her back and her legs are tied tightly together with bare electrical wire, just like those that are wrapped around the rest of her body, except these are much tighter.
Just like
Aozora-kun, she was restrained, but in an even more
extreme way...poor Ichigohara-san.

In addition to all of that, I also notice that she has duct tape taped across her mouth. That was probably so she
wouldn't be heard if she screamed...ugh, this just keeps getting worse and worse. Although...I suppose
I
should be grateful of the fact that at least her killer had the decency to leave her clothes on in the baths. Having her naked would be just too much...even more so than this.
Suddenly, I realize something.
Wait a
minute....now that think about it, it's weird that she still has all her clothes on...wasn't
she getting a bath? If so, why would she get in still completely clothed? Does that mean whoever killed her attacked her before she ever got here? Or maybe she likes getting her clothes wet...

I lean back from the body and inspect the rest of the bathtub. Almost immediately, I notice a hairdryer completely submerged in the bath water. That's
probably what killed
her... I follow the trail of its wire, which runs over the side of the tub and about a foot on the floor until its plug connects with an extension cord, which eventually connects to one of the outlets on the wall.
Scratch that, the hairdryer is definitely what killed her.

Not seeing anything else particularly interesting
about the bathtub, I step away from it, almost running into Motoki in the process. "Whoa!" I say, surprised. "I didn't see you there, Motoki-san."

"I didn't think you'd turn around so quickly," she says, rubbing her shoulder. Her eyes land on the bathtub behind me. "I was just heading over here to investigate Ichigohara-san's body..."

"Okay," I say. "But do you mind if I look at your head wound really quickly?"

She looks at me, confused. "...Huh? What does that have to do with any of this?"

"I just need to see something about it," I tell her. "I think it might be important to the case."

Motoki shrugs. "Alright..." she says, unwrapping the makeshift bandages around her head. Once she's done, she turns to let me inspect where she was hit.
Just as I
thought...her wound has that same
rectangular shape as Komatsu-kun's does.

"Thanks, Motoki-san," I say. "I learned what I needed to know."

"Okay," Motoki says, her voice distant. "Can I go investigate Ichigohara-san's body now? I owe it to her to investigate her death. Especially after I abandoned her..."

"Abandoned?" I repeat,
confused. "What do you mean by that?"

Motoki sighs. "Right before Ichigohara-san and I were going to go into the girl's locker room, my head starting hurting really badly again...so she told me to go downstairs and rest." She tears up. "Me being stupid as I was, I followed her advice...and she died."

"So you two separated?" I ask. "What time was this? And what did you do afterwards?"

"A little before 8:30, I'm pretty sure," Motoki says. "After I left her, I went downstairs, took an ice pack from the Kitchen, and rested in my room. Then, at around 11:15 or so, I forced myself to go upstairs for the bath party Hayasaka-san suggested. That's when we found Ichigohara-san...electrocuted to death." She begins to cry. "It's all my fault! If I had just stayed with her, she wouldn't be dead! Right when I had the opportunity to keep my promise, I failed!" She begins sobbing hysterically.

"Motoki-san..." I say pitifully.
She
doesn't deserve this...I don't like how she separated form her partner, but I did the
same with Niizuma-san...so it'd be hypocritical of me to criticize her for
doing that. Besides,
despite that mistake....she couldn't've known what would happen to Ichigohara-san.
I reach out to hug her, but she slaps my hand away.

"No," she says. "I...need to investigate Ichigohara-san's body." She brushes past me, still crying.
Motoki-san...you don't
deserve this. But Ichigohara-san didn't
deserve what
happened to her, and look what happened all the same...

Feeling disheartened by that encounter, I try to distract myself by looking around the room some more. Fortunately, I don't have to look far to see Sashihara curiously peering into a bathtub on the other side of the room. What's he looking at?

Curious, I walk over to his side and peer inside. Once I do, I see that the bathtub is filled with about the same of water that was in Ichigohara-san's tub, with an extension cord and hairdryer, both neatly coiled in the water.
...What are these doing here?

"Weirded out by this, too?" Sashihara asks me.

"Yeah," I say. "Why are the hairdryer and extension cord just in the water, piled up and unplugged?"

Sashihara narrow this eyes at the tub. "Yes...it seems unnecessary to have these here, doesn't it!?" he shouts. "Yet here they are...there must be some purpose to them!"

Yeah...I feel
like
this something kind of random for the killer to do for no reason. I have an idea for why they might be here, but...I'm not entirely sure yet, so I
should
probably wait to see more
evidence before
I
consider it any further.

I leave Sashihara to talk to Oyamada, who is fiddling with a toy train nearby. "What're you doing there, Oyamada-kun?" I ask him.

He looks up suddenly, surprised to see me. "O-Oh, hey, K-Kawashima-san..." he says. "I w-was just l-looking at this t-toy train I f-found on the g-ground..."

"On the ground?" I ask. I gesture to the bin of toys Monohebi had said were for us in the bathhouse. "Shouldn't it be over there?"

Oyamada shrugs. "I f-found it on the f-floor...I d-don't know h-how or wh-why it g-got there, b-but it a-also had th-this wrapped a-around it..." He lifts up the train so that I can see one end of a string wrapped around the center of it. There's also another loop at the end of the string, but it doesn't have anything through it.

"Hmm..." I say as I take the train from Oyamada. I turn it over in my hands, and notice that strapped
to the train
with a wire is what looks like a small, shiny black object.
What the hell is this thing?

"Oyamada-kun, do you know what this shiny black thing on here is?" I ask him.

Oyamada shakes his head. "N-No, I d-don't..." He takes the train back from me. "S-Something I d-did n-notice, though, i-is that th-the power b-button is s-set to 'on,' y-yet the t-train isn't m-moving at all...I ch-checked the b-batteries, and th-they're still th-there...s-so that c-can't be th-the reason wh-why it's n-not on..."

...This toy
train is the most
confusing piece of evidence so far. It must be connected to this case,
somehow...it's
just too random to be
unrelated.

Leaving Oyamada behind, I go to Kasparov, who is standing by the door to the bathhouse, inspecting various things around it. "Anything interesting here, Kasparov-kun?" I ask him.

"Yes, in fact," Kasparov says. He points to the switch right next to the door, which is the one that turns the power to the outlets on and off, and which has a string on it. "Do you see that string there?"

I step closer to investigate the string he's talking about. The string is tightly looped
around the switch, with the small amount left hanging limp. "The string looks kind of short," I say.

"Yes, it seems it has been cut short in some way," Kasparov says. He puts his finger on the switch, which is currently up, but doesn't flip it. "When we entered this room, this switch was down, meaning power to the outlets was on causing..." His eyes drift over to Ichigohara's corpse and fear enters his eyes. "...causing that horrific sight." He looks away from Ichigohara's body, a queasy expression on his face. He
said
death by
electricity is
really scary to him, so that's
probably why he looks so scared.

"I'm guessing you turned off the switch as soon as possible," I say.

Kasparov nods. "Indeed," he says. "I would not want anyone else to endure a fate as...terrifying as Ichigohara-san's."

"No," I say. "Another death would just be too much."
This conversation is getting dark...I
should change the subject.
"Kasparov-kun, would you mind telling me what you were doing this morning?"

"Of course not," he says. "Domoto-san and I were playing chess in the Rec Room downstairs. Obviously, as the Ultimate Chess Grandmaster, I had the advantage...yet I must admit Domoto-san is quite good. I was dangerously close to losing to her several times."

It doesn't surprise me that she's good at
chess...she seems
like the kind of person who would be.
"Were you two there the whole morning?"

"Yes," Kasparov says. "We did not leave until we heard the body discovery announcement, after which we rushed here as quickly as possible."

"Thanks, Kasparov-kun," I say.

"You are most welcome," he replies.

Before I leave, I decide to take one last quick look around the door. So...there are two
tables on either side of the door. The
switch is right
next to the door on the left side if
you're leaving, and also
above a table. Wow. That was a completely useless thing to
investigate.

Feeling I've investigated everything relevant in the bathhouse, I reach for the door handle to exit when I notice that there's a string tightly wrapped
around it. Like the one on the switch, this one's other end is hanging limp, although, unlike the one on the switch, this one is weirdly long.
So
many strings...the
culprit must really love them.

As I open the door to the bathhouse, I note that the door opens inwards and to the left if the person is leaving, and right if they're entering.
That's
probably useless, but it's better to have more evidence than necessary than not enough.

After I leave the bathhouse, I ponder where I should go next.
I should check the girl's locker room, considering Ichigohara-san would've had to have
gone through there to get to the bathhouse. I also need to go through there
I if
I want to leave, so
I might as well take a quick look around in there.

Upon entering the girl's locker room, I don't notice anything special. The only thing I note is Hayasaka, who's sitting on a bench, facing away from me. "Hayasaka-san," I say.
That reminds me, I need to talk to her...that meeting she
had last night was too suspicious to ignore.

She turns her head after hearing my voice. "Oh, hey, Wakana-chan..." she says, her voice distant and slightly morose. "Like, what do you want?"

"Are you okay?" I ask her. "You're sounding weird."

All of a sudden, she shoots up out of her seat and looks at me, as cutesy and fake as normal. "Like, what are you, like, talking about, Wakana-chan~? Mika-chan's, like, totalllyyy fine~!"

Yeah, right...she's not
convincing me.
"What was wrong?" I ask her.

"Like, nothing~!" she says with a wink.

So she won't admit to it...screw it, I won't hold back.
"Were you acting so despondent because you killed Ichigohara-san?" I ask.

She blinks, surprised, and all her fake cuteness disappears. "...What?" she asks, taken aback. "What the hell kind of question is that!?"

"A blunt one," I say. It's against my waitress's instincts to be so impolite, but I've had it with
her.
"You've been acting weird lately, especially after Ichigohara-san's death. So, were you acting that way because you killed her?"

At first, she has no response. Then, she takes a deep breath and slips back into her persona. "Of, like, course not~!
Mika-chan has an alibi for the whole, like, morning!"

"What is it?" I ask.
Let's see if it corresponds with what Eguchi-san told me.

"Mika-chan and, like, Yuzuki-chan were on the second floor for, like, a while," she says. "Then, at, like, 11:15, they went up to the, like, locker room to get ready~! Sakiko-chan got there a few, like, minutes later.

Then, at, like, 11:30, when Noriyo-chan promised Mika-chan she'd be done by, Mika-chan, like, opened the door to the, like, bathhouse and, like...found Noriyo-chan."

That does match up with what Eguchi-san told me...hmm.
Maybe she actually isn't the killer. But then how do I explain what happened last night? That couldn't've just been for
nothing...
"Okay, Hayasaka-san. Thanks for your alibi."

"You're, like, totally welcome, Wakana-chan~!" she says with a saccharine smile. "Mika-chan's going to go, like, investigate more now." She leaves the room.
Well, that encounter was...interesting. Due to her meeting up
with and
blackmailing someone last night,
Hayasaka-san has been my prime suspect since I saw the body, and yet...she
has an alibi, which Eguchi-san
confirmed. Huh. It's weird, but...I can't think about it too
much right now. That can wait for the class trial.

Deciding to focus on gathering evidence instead of pondering what just happened, I go to Ichigohara's locker to see if there's anything in it. It
makes me uncomfortable to look through the belongings of a dead person, but...I need to look for evidence in all
possible places.
So, even though it makes me feel weird, I open Ichigohara's locker. Immediately, I see
a
wooden doorstop sitting atop everything else. As I pick it up, I notice that it's heavier than a normal doorstop would be.
What the...? What's this doing here?

Not knowing what to think of that, I take a brief look in the rest of the lockers, yet find nothing unusual.
Looks like
there's nothing else
remarkable in
here...I
should
probably go
somewhere else now.

After I leave the girl's locker room, I spot the entrance to the Music Room.
Maybe
I
should take a look in there...that's where the tripwire was set up yesterday.
Besides, I think
there's a lot
of electrical
equipment in there, so it's most
likely
where the killer got the wires they needed.

I enter the Music Room, with the first thing I see being Niizuma crouching down by the set of huge amp speakers. "Have you found anything in here, Niizuma-san?"
I ask her.

She turns to face me. "Yes, actually," she says. "Do you see this big amp speaker here?"

"Yeah," I say. It's pretty hard to miss...the thing's gigantic.

"On our first day on this new floor, when I explored this room, I noticed that this speaker had a large amount of wires surrounding it," she says. Yeah, I remember seeing that too.
"It still does, but it seems there are far less now," Niizuma continues. "Also, I remember seeing two extension cords, yet I see none now."

"I think we can pretty safely assume where those ended up," I say.

Niizuma nods. "Indeed. The culprit sourced the wires and extension cords used to electrocute from the Music Room."
It looks
like that...but no one has admitted to coming here so far. If so...how the hell did they get
from here into the bathhouse? Ugh, this case is so weird...it's giving me a headache. I should save
thinking it about it a lot for the class trial...for now, I need to focus on gathering
evidence and getting alibis.

"Niizuma-san, I know we were together most of the day, but could you tell me what happened when you briefly left for the bathroom?" I ask her. "I just want to make sure I'm getting
everyone's alibis."

"Sure," Niizuma says. "Sadly, I didn't see anything. I left the Library, went across the hall, and used the restroom. Then, I came back to the Library when I was done."

"Did you see anyone?" I ask. "And what time exactly was this?" I gesture to the watch on her arm. "You have that watch Hayasaka-san gave you yesterday, so you should know."

"It was...around 8:30, I think," Niizuma says as she admires her watch. "Although I'm not sure. What I do know, though, was that I was back in the Library in five minutes." She brushes her hair out of her face. "And no, I didn't see anyone."

Well...that didn't tell me
anything
I
didn't
already
know. Still, I guess it was good to ask.

I say goodbye to Niizuma and leave the Music Room, pondering where to go next.
Maybe
I
should check out the Art Room...it's right here.

When I come into the Art Room, I see Domoto holding a rope strewn across one of the tables. "What's that doing there?" I ask her.

She shrugs. "I don't know," she says pensively. "It looks like someone just randomly threw it across the table. However, something I noticed about it is that it's wet on one end." She offers me the rope for me to see for myself. Sure enough, as soon as I grab onto one end of the rope, I notice that it's damp. How the hell did the rope get wet in here?
And why is it even here?

"That's weird," I say as I put the rope back down on the table. "Did you find anything else in here?"

"Yes," Domoto says as she leads me back into the repository to see a dolly, one that probably would be used to carry heavy statues or other weighty artwork.

"A...dolly?" I ask, confused. "What's so weird about this?"

"Look closely," Domoto says.

I do as she says, and notice the dolly looks like it has scratches and small amounts dirt on it. "It's scratched and dirty," I say. "But wouldn't a dolly be dirty if it had been used?"

"Yes," Domoto says, "but look around you. Everything else in here is brand new. If this wasn't used in this case, why would this dolly be obviously
used
while everything else is brand new?"

She
makes a fair point...I don't exactly see how this connects to the case, though.
The evidence
just keeps getting weirder and weirder...

"Anything else?" I ask Domoto.

She makes a face. "Hmm...well, there was something odd...but I'm not certain if I'd consider it weird enough to be evidence."

That piques may interest. "What is it?"

She leads me over to the door out of the repository. "See this door?"

"Yeah," I say. "It's just a door..."

"One that jams a lot," Domoto says. She pulls on the door several times, but it doesn't budge. "See? There's no lock on this door, yet it jams all the time when it closes."

"I don't remember that before," I say. "Do you think it started jamming recently?"

"No," Domoto says. "I think it wasn't even closed to begin with before."

What? That
doesn't make much sense. "Domoto-san, what are you saying?"

"I'm pretty sure there was a doorstop or something to block the door from closing all the way before," Domoto says. "That's why we never noticed it jamming before. Either that, or someone messed with it during this case."

Suddenly, everything clicks. Wait a minute...I found a doorstop in Ichigohara-san's locker!
Could this be where it's from?
"Domoto-san, I found a doorstop in Ichigohara-san's locker," I tell her. "Do you think that's where this came from?"

Domoto ponders that. "...It's a possibility," she says after a pause. "Although I find it strange that Ichigohara-san would take a doorstop from the Art Room."

"Same," I say. "But if it happened, there must be a reason for it."

Domoto nods. "Yes, I suppose," she says, stroking her chin.

So, Ichigohara-san had the
doorstop from the repository in her locker...but why? It makes no
sense, but it had to have
happened for some reason...whatever that might be.

After trouble with the door, we finally manage to get it open. When we do, my eyes land on the TV on the cart in the middle of the the room. As I approach it, I notice something weird about it. "Hey...this TV doesn't have any power button on it."

"So?" Domoto asks. "There's probably a remote somewhere." She narrows her eyes. "Besides, how is that at all relevant?"

"I thought I remembered seeing a remote in here," I say as I look over the cart the TV sits on. I do
remember
seeing a remote here, yet
I don't see one now...so, is my mind playing tricks on me or am
I on to
something?

Not knowing what to think about that, I begin to leave the Art Room, but, as I do, I catch sight of something in a trash can.
Huh? What's that?

I kneel down to inspect the contents of the trash can. "What's in there that's so interesting, Kawashima-san?" Domoto asks as she too approaches the trash can.

Taking a look inside, I see the remains of a clay pot, broken into many pieces. "It's the remnants of a clay pot," I say. "I'm not sure, but I'm pretty it looks like the one Motoki-san was carrying when she was attacked."

Domoto reaches her hand inside the trash can and picks out a piece. "This is definitely that same pot," she says as she inspects it. "It's the same color and has the same pattern." Suddenly, she furrows her brow. "What the hell is this?'

"Is there something wrong?" I ask her.

Domoto offers
me the shard she picked up. "There's some sort of mark on it," she says. "It looks like it was drawn on with some sort of black marker."

Taking the shard from her, I look closely at it, and notice that there's a small mark that looks like it's in the shape of...a tree? "It's shaped like a tree," I say, confused.
This evidence
just keeps getting more
and more confusing.

"That's what I was thinking, too," she says. "More specifically, I thought it looked like a pine tree."

I nod.
I can definitely see that...although, why the hell
would
someone draw a pine tree on a pot with a
marker? It just
doesn't
make sense...but, like
with the doorstop, there must be a
reason for it.

Before Domoto or I can say anything more, the monitor on the wall crackles to life suddenly. On it, an image of Monohebi appears. "My my, it seems the time for the investigation has come to an end. As such, I believe it is high time for us to start the class trial. So, if you all would please gather in the Cafeteria in the next few minutes, that would be lovely...because if you do not show up, then you will be killed." He smiles wickedly. "I do not see a reason for you to not want to come, though. I for one find this case rather interesting and expect the class trial to be...quite electrifying." He snickers. "Sususu...see you there, inmates." The monitor turns off.

...Electrifying? Fuck you,
Monohebi.

Domoto sighs. "So...we should head there now."

"...Yeah," I say unenthusiastically. I really don't want to go back to
that
terrible trial room...but
I have to, if
I want to find Ichigohara-san's killer.
"Let's go."

Domoto and I make our way down to the Cafeteria, where everyone else has already gone...including Komatsu. "Komatsu-kun," I say, breathing a sigh of relief. "You're not dead..."

"Nah, but my head's hurtin' like a bitch," he says, rubbing the wound on the back of his head.

"Do you mind telling me what you did this morning?" I ask him.

"I went to the locker room with Sashihara-kun, got changed into my bathing suit, went to the pool, and then I was knocked the fuck out by some bitch I didn't see," he says. "Then, I woke up, got changed back into my normal clothes, and saw..." He hangs his head sadly. "...I saw Ichigohara-san."

"I s-still can't b-believe what h-happened to her," Oyamada says shakily. "I th-thought nothing c-could be w-worse than wh-what happened to A-Aozora-kun, b-but..." He shudders. "Th-This is e-even worse."

"It's okay, Oyamada-kun," Terajima says, laying a hand on Oyamada's shoulder reassuringly. "We're going to find the scumbag who did this." His face darkens and his voice becomes filled with hatred. "And we're going to make whoever was so cruel pay for what they did."

He's really, really scary when he's angry...I guess
I
should be thankful for it,
though. He'll probably help us make sure the killer
doesn't get
away with this terrible atrocity.

Eguchi fidgets uncomfortably. "I'm just scared to find out who did it," she says with a nervous shudder. "Whoever murdered Ichigohara-san...they're one of us."

A silence falls over the group after she says that. "...Yes, they are," Domoto says quietly after a while. "They're one of the eleven people standing here right now."

The thought sends a chill down my spine. Even
though I've known it for a while, that's still a terrifying thought...the person who came up with such a sick way to kill Ichigohara-san is one of us. They could be the person
standing next to me. They
could be anyone...the only person
I can truly trust is
myself.

After a long silence, a section
of the Cafeteria wall parts to reveal elevator doors. With a ding, those doors open to reveal the cold, gray elevator that brings us down the trial room.
Once
we've all gone inside, the doors slide shut. The elevator jerks and begins its descent.

The entire elevator ride down, no one says a word. I don't
blame
them...conversation
isn't easy after witnessing someone
being
horrifically
electrocuted in a bath.
Especially when that person was so kind.
Ichigohara-san...never
once was she mean to any of us here. She was
always so
supportive, so easygoing, so laid-back, so...why on Earth
would
someone killer her the way they did?
Although
I know I'll
probably have to find out,
I
really don't want to
know the reason. Whatever it is, it'll be
horrible. I'm certain of it.

The silence of the elevator ride only ends when the elevator jerks to a stop. The doors open, revealing the courtroom to us for a third time. This time, the walls are
decorated with fake greenery and flowers all around.
Monohebi...he's mocking Ichigohara-san's talent, just like he did with the space decorations for Aozora-kun's trial.
I want to beat him as I see him sitting smugly atop his throne.

"Welcome back, inmates," Monohebi says. "Was this courtroom simply too irresistible for you all to resist? As you can see, I have redecorated it in honor of Ichigohara."

In her honor? Yeah right...
"It's not in her honor, Monohebi," I say angrily. "It's only to make fun of her."

Monohebi smirks. "Well, that is a part of it as well," he says. His smirk disappears. "However, that matters not! It is time for us to cease with the distractions and begin the class trial. Everyone, you know the drill. Find the stand with your name on it, and the trial shall commence."

As I walk up to my stand, I take a look at the new addition of Carrasco and Ichigohara's portraits. Carrasco's is her face with a fancy, graceful red X painted over it, while Ichigohara's has a lopsided, lazily drawn X painted over her face.
It hurts to see Ichigohara-san there as just a portrait...she
shouldn't be like that. She
should be alive.,
breathing, and as laid back as she always was. Even in the face of stressful situations, she
always stayed calm and was sometimes a voice of reason for the group. But now, she's none of that. Instead...she was
killed so
cruelly. She was tied up, gagged, and electrocuted in a bathtub, where she
should
have been relaxing. The person who did that...the one who mercilessly murdered her...

...is one of us.

[Split screens of Furuhata, Motoki, Yamaguchi, Sashihara, and Oyamada. Furuhata and Yamaguchi’s images are covered in a red filter]

Ichigohara-san...she didn't
deserve this terrible fate. No one should ever die in the way she was forced to. And yet...she did.

[Split screens of Niizuma, Eguchi, Aozora, Komatsu, Carrasco, and Domoto. Aozora and Carrasco’s images are covered in a red filter]

I have
trouble even
thinking of how
someone could come up with such a terrible and unnecessarily cruel way to murder
someone, but it happened. The killer subjected Ichigohara-san to what
was essentially torture.

[Split screens of Ichigohara, Hayasaka, Kasparov, Terajima, and Kawashima. Ichigohara's image is covered in a red filter]

Whoever killed her...I hate thinking that they're one of us. I want to
deny it so badly, but
I
can't...I need to face the truth, as ugly and
horrible as it might be. But more than that...I need to find whoever's
behind this! I need to find Ichigohara-san's killer, and
bring them to
justice for what they've done!

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Monohebi File #3: The victim of this case is Noriyo Ichigohara, the Ultimate Gardener. Cause of death is excessive electrical current stopping the victim's heart. Her time of death is precisely 11:30 am.
Sashihara’s Account: After the morning meeting, Sashihara claims he and Komatsu went to the boy’s locker room and got changed there. Then, they went to the pool. However, soon after entering, he claims he was suddenly attacked and knocked unconscious by someone who he didn’t see. Then, he says he woke up some time later, handcuffed to a pool reclining chair, with Komatsu unconscious on the floor. He says things stayed that way until everyone else arrived at the pool.
Pool Chair: The reclining pool chair Sashihara was handcuffed to is bolted to the floor.
Handcuffs: The handcuffs used on Sashihara require a key to lock and unlock them.

Eguchi’s Account: Eguchi says she and Hayasaka were together the whole morning. She says they were in the Casino until 11:20, when they headed up to the pool, where they met up with Motoki in the locker room. They then headed out to the door outside the bathhouse, which Hayasaka opened at 11:30. At this point, they found Ichigohara’s body.
Terajima’s Account: Terajima says he and Oyamada were together in the Library the entire morning until the body discovery announcement.
Rock: There was a large rock found at the bottom of the pool.
Key at Pool Bottom: There was what looked like a small, plain key at the bottom of the pool.

Komatsu’s and Motoki’s Head Wounds: Both Motoki and Komatsu’s wounds have similar rectangular shapes to them.
Mark on Komatsu’s Ankle: Komatsu’s left ankle had a red, ring-shaped mark around it. Terajima said this is probably rope burn.
Blue Tarp: There was a tarp in the pool that had a small amount of dirt in it.
Destroyed Computer: The computer in the secret room was
destroyed beyond repair. Whoever broke it clearly didn’t want us ever using it again.
Pair of Scissors: A pair of scissors was found discarded in a corner of the secret room.
Removed Wire Coverings: A pile of removed wire coverings was found along with the scissors in a corner of the secret room.
Hidden Door: There is a hidden door that connects the secret room to the bathhouse. It can be opened by twisting the metal ring around the peephole. Depending on which side it’s opened from, it is either turned clockwise (going into the secret room from bathhouse) or counterclockwise (going into the bathhouse from the secret room).
Ichigohara’s Restraints: Ichigohara’s hands were bound behind her back and her legs were tightly tied together with bare electrical wires. In addition, there were bare electrical wires wrapped around the rest of her body, but these are not as tight as the ones wrapped around her legs.
Duct Tape Gag: Ichigohara’s mouth had duct tape across it to act as a gag.
State of Ichigohara’s Body: Ichigohara was still completely clothed when her body was discovered.
Hairdryer: A hairdryer was found completely submerged in the bathwater of the tub Ichigohara died in. It is plugged into an extension cord, which in turn is plugged into one of the wall outlets.
Motoki’s Account: Motoki claims that her head started hurting again right before Ichigohara and her were about to enter the girls’ locker room. This was a little before 8:30. She says Ichigohara told her to go to her room to rest, which she claims she did until about 11:15, when she headed up to the locker room to get ready for Hayasaka’s bath party.

Second Bathtub: In a bathtub across from the room where Ichigohara’s body was discovered, there is an extension cord and hairdryer sitting in water similar to the depth of that of Ichigohara’s bath.
Toy Train: Oyamada found a strange toy train on the floor of the bathhouse. Even though its power buttons is set to “on” and it has batteries, it doesn’t move. One end of a string is wrapped around the center, with the other end being a loop with nothing in it. There is also a strange, small, and shiny black object strapped to the toy train with a wire.
Bathhouse Strings: There is string with one end tightly wrapped around the switch that turns on power to the electrical outlets, with the other end hanging limp. It is unusually short. On the door handle, there’s a weirdly long string with one end tightly wrapped around the handle
and the other end hanging loose.
Switch in Bathhouse: The switch that turns power to the electrical outlets on and off is right next to the door. If flipped up, power to the outlets is off. If flipped down, power is on.
Kasparov’s Account: Kasparov claims he and Domoto were together in the Rec Room playing chess until they heard the body discovery announcement.
Bathhouse Door: The door in the bathhouse opens inward and, if you’re entering, it opens to the right. It opens to the left if you’re inside.
Hayasaka’s Account: Hayasaka claims she and Eguchi were together on the second floor until 11:15, when they headed up to the girl’s locker room. Motoki showed up a few minutes later. At 11:30, Hayasaka says she opened the door to the bathhouse, at which point the three girls found Ichigohara.
Doorstop: There was a large, unusually heavy wooden doorstop found in Ichigohara’s locker. Judging from later exploration in the Art Room, it looks like it came from there.
Missing Equipment: Niizuma noted that many of the wires for an amp speaker and both of the extension cords in the Music Room were no longer in there after the murder.
Niizuma’s Account: Niizuma was with me in the Library for most of the morning, yet around 8:30 left to use to the bathroom across the hall. She came back within five minutes after leaving. She says she didn’t see anyone.

Damp Rope: There was a damp rope in the Art Room that looks like it was randomly thrown across one of the tables.

Dolly: The dolly in the repository of the Art Room was scratched and dirty, which
is strange considering how everything else in the repository is clean and brand new.
Art Room TV: The TV in the Art Room had no power button or remote, yet I thought I saw a remote on our first day on the third floor.
Shards in Trash: The broken remains of what appears to be the pot Motoki was carrying the day she was attacked were found in a trash can in the Art Room. One of the shards had a small drawing of what looks like a pine tree on it. This doesn’t look like part of the pot’s original design; it instead seems like this was drawn on with a black marker of some sort.
Komatsu’s Account: Komatsu claims he went to the locker room with Sashihara this morning, got changed, and then was knocked unconscious by an unknown person as he entered the pool.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Class Trial: In Session!

Monohebi: [neutral] Before we begin, allow me to explain the rules of the class trial.

Monohebi: [neutral] In this trial, your goal is to correctly determine the culprit behind the murder. You will present your arguments for who the culprit may be, and, once you feel you have determined the guilty party, you will vote.

Monohebi: [slight smile] Vote correctly, and only one of you will be punished...the culprit, or the “blackened.” However, if you vote incorrectly...

Monohebi: [red eye glints] ...I’ll execute everyone besides the culprit, and only they will be freed from this prison!

Oyamada: [shudders] I s-still hate h-hearing that...even th-though this is o-our third t-time doing a class t-trial, I'm s-still not used t-to it... [uncomfortably] Just b-being in this r-room is horrible...

Terajima: [reassuringly] Don't you worry, Oyamada-kun.
We'll get out of here. [determined] I'll make sure the disgusting murderer behind this crime is brought to justice.

Niizuma: [brushes hair out of face] I appreciate the sentiment, but talking about justice and finding the killer isn't relevant.

Domoto: [nods in agreement] Exactly. We need to actually discuss information that is important to determining the killer.

Sashihara: [curiously] But what should we talk about first!? [rubs temple] There's so much evidence this time around...

Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] How about we talk about the murder weapon?
That's something important, and there's really only one thing it could be.

Yeah, it's
definitely an important aspect of the case, and pretty
obvious too.
The murder
weapon Terajima-kun's talking about...there's only one thing it
could be.
Hairdryer/Doorstop/Rock

Answer: Hairdryer

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] You're talking about the hairdryer in Ichigohara-san's bath, right, Terajima-kun?
Terajima: [nods] Yeah, I am.
From the brief amount of time I had to look at the scene of the crime, I could immediately tell the hairdryer looked suspicious.
Domoto: [doubtfully] Hold on...brief amount of time? [narrows eyes] What does that mean, Terajima-kun? Why did you only look at the scene of the crime briefly?
Eguchi: [timidly] He and I were by
Komatsu-kun's side waiting for him to wake up for most of the investigation, so we didn't have much time to look around and do other things.
Terajima: [calmly]
Yep. I was guarding him the whole time, waiting for him to wake up.
Domoto: [disappointed] ...I see. [crosses arms] Well, I suppose we should move on from that, as long as everyone agrees the hairdryer is the murder weapon.

Komatsu: [shrugs] It's what makes the most sense to me.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] Indeed. Ichigohara-san died from excessive electrical current stopping her heart, and the only sort of object that would bring such current to her bath is a hairdryer.

Motoki: [rubs shoulder with downcast expression] ...I guess what happened is
sort of self-explanatory, then...

Poor Motoki-san...she seems to really not be
doing too well. Her not
being able to keep her
promise must really be
getting to her.

Eguchi: [timidly] Wait...I agree about the hairdryer being suspicious and all, but... [confused] I have an issue with how it could've actually killed Ichigohara-san.
Oyamada: [furrows brow] I-Issue...what issue d-do you have w-with it?
Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] It's...well, a minor thing. [hangs head] I hope it's not too stupid...
Terajima: [supportively] I'm sure it won't be, Eguchi-san.
Eguchi: [smiles] Thanks, Terajima-kun... [timidly] Alright, I guess I should bring up my issue with the hairdryer being the murder weapon.

So Eguchi-san has a problem with the hairdryer
being what killed Ichigohara-san...frankly,
I don't see anything that would lead her to have such an issue, but I'll hear her out. Maybe she'll bring up
something I didn't think of myself.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Monohebi File #3, Hairdryer, Pair of Scissors, Missing Equipment, Damp Rope

Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] So...my issue has to do with the hairdryer electrocuting Ichigohara-san.
Kasparov: [raises eyebrows] It does? If it is the current you are worried about, the hairdryer certainly could have supplied enough current to kill Ichigohara-san.
Domoto: [scratches chin] Indeed. Especially if she was in water...her skin's resistance to the flow of electrical current would be lower than normal.

Eguchi: [avoids eye contact] That wasn't really my concern...
Eguchi: [looks to the side] I was more worried about where
the hairdryer
would have been able to get the electricity.
Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] Do you guys remember what Monohebi said on our first day on the third floor? He said that the cords on the hairdryers are too short
to reach any of the pools or tubs...
Eguchi: [points shakily] So, if that's the case, the hairdryer couldn't have gotten the electricity necessary to kill Ichigohara-san!

Eguchi-san's issue with the hairdryer being the murder weapon makes sense...if you didn't see one
crucial piece of evidence at
the scene. I just have to show her the evidence she missed, and she'll know the hairdryer was indeed the murder weapon!

Answer: Missing Equipment >
couldn't have gotten

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Eguchi-san, how closely did you look at the scene of the crime?
Eguchi: [timidly] Um...not very closely, admittedly...

Kawashima: [nods] That makes sense...because if you had looked more closely, you would've noticed there was an extension cord that connected
the wall outlet to the hairdryer.
Eguchi: [surprised] Oh...that makes sense.
[apologetically] Sorry I didn't investigate more thoroughly...I didn't want to see Ichigohara-san's corpse any more than I had to...
Oyamada: [grimaces] That's u-understandable...I
d-don't think a-any of us d-did, Eguchi-san.
Eguchi: [looks down shamefully] Yeah... [timidly] Okay, so I get what you're saying about the extension cord and stuff, but... [confusedly] Didn't Monohebi say that the hairdryers are padded to prevent accidental electrocution? If that's the case, then how could Ichigohara-san have died from it?

Huh...that is a good question. I'm not certain exactly how to
answer it...
Niizuma: [examines nails] You clearly weren't paying attention to what Monohebi said, Eguchi-san.
Eguchi: [confusedly] What? I wasn't? I thought for sure I remember him saying something about that...
Niizuma: [looks to the side] He certainly did mention that the hairdryers have padding on them to prevent accidental shocks. [scratches neck] However, he only said that that padding was on the handles. He made no mention of the rest of the hairdryers. [folds arms] If you had actually put in effort to examine the scene of the crime, you'd notice the hairdryer was completely submerged in the bathwater.
Terajima: [adjusts sunglasses] So, if I get what you're saying...because the hairdryer was completely underwater, the padding wouldn't make a difference due to it only being on the handles.
She'd be shocked regardless.

Niizuma: [nods] Exactly.

Eguchi: [looks down shamefully] Oh...I should've realized that...
Niizuma: [examines nails] Yes, you really should've. [coldly] If you had actually paid attention to what Monohebi said
and investigated,
then maybe we wouldn't have had to deal with your pointless objections.
Monohebi: [chuckles] Sususu...indeed. You really are so careless, Eguchi.
Terajima: [coolly] Shut up, snake. [slightly angry] And you, stats girl...don't be so harsh on Eguchi-san.
Niizuma: [rolls eyes] Whatever.

She can be so mean sometimes...
Sashihara: [shouts loudly] Wait, everyone! I just thought of something!
Komatsu: [winces] ...What? [irritatedly] And can ya be a lil' quieter? I don't wanna become Beethoven 2.0.
Sashihara: [in a normal tone] ...Fine. [adjusts medical mask] I was just thinking where the extension cord could've come from. [loudly] Because I know for sure there
weren't any in the Storage Room on the first floor!
Komatsu: [winces] There ya go again. Could ya
quit bein' so loud?

Sashihara: [apologetically] I'm so sorry...it's hard to resist!
Komatsu: [irritatedly] Eh...forget it.

Sashihara-kun was wondering where the extension cord
came from...fortunately for him, I
know the answer. It came from the...

Music Room/Art Room/Library

Answer: Music Room

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [neutrally] It came from the Music Room, Sashihara-kun. There was a bunch of electrical equipment in there.

Niizuma: [examines nails] Indeed there was. [shifts balance to right leg] More specifically, this equipment was centered around a large amp speaker.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Oh yeah, that thing. It had a shit ton of stuff sittin' around it.
Niizuma: [grabs necklace] It did...however, after the murder, Kawashima-san and I noticed was missing a lot of the wires and both the extension cords that were initially with it.
Hayasaka: [smirks] Oh...and this was in the, like, Music Room, you said?
Niizuma: [brushes hair out of face] That is what I said, yes.

Hayasaka: [places hand on hip] Well then, everyone. Great news! We, like, now have our first suspect~!
Domoto: [arches eyebrow] We do? Who is it?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair] Yutaka-kun, obviously.
Komatsu: [surprised] ...Me? [angrily] Are ya fuckin' crazy? There ain't no way I killed Ichigohara-san!
Hayasaka: [doubtfully] Like, really? Even when the stuff crucial to, like, killing her came from the, like, Music Room? [leans forward and winks] A place where you, the Ultimate, like, Composer, spend a whole lot of, like, time?
Komatsu: [angrily] So fuckin' what? Jus' the fact that Aozora-kun was
found
in a pachinko machine didn't make Niizuma-san the killer, even though she used those things a ton!
Hayasaka: [mock pity] Oh, look at silly little Yutaka-kun, bringing up a, like, past case which is, like, completely irrelevant to what we're, like, talking about. [exaggerated sigh] But if you're being so, like, difficult as to, like, bring up useless, like, stuff...Mika-chan guesses she has to, like, explain to Yutaka-kun why he's guilty~!
Komatsu: [furiously] I'm tellin' ya! I ain't the killer!
Hayasaka: [smirks] We'll, like, see about that.

Hayasaka-san thinks Komatsu-kun is guilty...I personally don't see why, but
I guess
I
should let her make an
argument.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Komatsu and Motoki's Head Wounds, Rock, Mark on Komatsu's Ankle, Komatsu's Account, Blue Tarp

Hayasaka: [places hand on hip] First of all, Yutaka-kun's, like, story of being knocked out is super, like, suspicious~!
Komatsu: [angrily] Yeah? What's so fuckin' suspicious 'bout it?
Hayasaka: [neutrally] Well, to begin... [twirls hair] You said you were, like, knocked out...
Hayasaka: [leans forward and winks] ...but, like, how are we supposed to, like, believe that without proof?
Sashihara: [points aggressively] But I was attacked too! Isn't that proof enough!?

Hayasaka: [narrows eyes] No. It
wouldn't be hard
for Yutaka-kun to, like, knock you out, handcuff you to a, like, chair...
Hayasaka: [poses confidently] ...and then, like, pretend to be unconscious when we all, like, found him~!
Komatsu: [furiously] That ain't how it went down at all!
Yer whole story is bullshit!
Hayasaka: [smirks] Like, is it, though?

Hayasaka-san seems pretty certain Komatsu-kun is the killer. I'm not as certain, due to some of the evidence...

Answer: Komatsu and Motoki's Head Wounds >
without proof

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [curiously] Hayasaka-san, you said Komatsu-kun has no proof of being attacked... [seriously] But what about the wound on his head?
Hayasaka: [confusedly] Huh? What, like, wound?
Terajima: [calmly] The wound on the back of his head, which wasn't there before today.
Hayasaka: [unconvinced] Okay, but, like...Mayumi-chan bruised herself, like, last time.
Domoto: [pinches bridge of nose] Didn't you just tell Komatsu-kun not to bring up past cases? [crosses arms] That makes it
seem pretty hypocritical of you to bring up what Carrasco-san did to herself.
Hayasaka: [angrily] ...Ngh! [narrows eyes] Okay, like, fine...but that doesn't mean that, like, Yutaka-kun's wound isn't fake!

No, it doesn't completely rule out the possibility...however,
something does make it a
lot less likely.
His wound is life-threatening/Motoki has a similar
wound/Komatsu hates his head hurting

Answer: Motoki has a similar wound

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Motoki-san...could you show your head wound from the other day to us?
Motoki: [perplexedly] Wait...me? What do I have to do with this?
Hayasaka: [narrows eyes] Yeah, what does, like, Sakiko-chan have to, like, do with
Yutaka-kun's wound being, like, faker than Kim K's ass?
Kawashima: [seriously]
Motoki-san was also attacked the other day...so we should see what her wound looks like and compare it to Komatsu-kun’s, right?
Hayasaka: [reluctantly] Mika-chan, like, guesses...
Motoki: [perplexedly] So do you just need me to take off my bandage and show everyone it?
Kawashima: [nods] Yep.

Let's see if
Terajima-kun was right and Motoki-san's wound has the same rectangular shape
that Komatsu-kun's does...
Motoki: [takes off bandages and turns around] ...Well, do you guys see anything?
Oyamada: [squints] I th-think I see s-something weird...her w-wound looks...r-rectangular, almost.
Eguchi: [looks at Motoki's head] Yeah...it's just like Komatsu-kun's wound.

Kasparov: [raises eyebrows] It is? Komatsu-kun, not all of us had the chance to inspect your head during the investigation. If you would, please show us where you were hit.
Komatsu: [neutrally] Sure. [turns around and parts hair, pointing to his wound] ...I was hit right here.
Niizuma: [mildly intrigued] ...Well then. It does have the same shape to it as Motoki-san's.

Hayasaka: [disappointedly] ...Ugh. [points accusatorily] Hold on! That, like, doesn't mean anything~! Hisaya-kun, show us what your, like, head looks like!

Sashihara: [confusedly] Why!?
Hayasaka: [exaggerated sigh] Because you were, like, hit too, dumbass. [smirks] Or...you at least, like, claim you were.
Sashihara: [points aggressively] I'm not the culprit!
Hayasaka: [unconvinced] Prove it. If you have nothing to, like, hide, just show us it~!
Sashihara: [hesitantly] ...Fine. [turns around] There you go!

From the looks of it, Sashihara-kun's head wound also has that weird,
rectangular shape to it.

Oyamada: [squints] S-Sashihara-kun's head a-also has a r-rectangle-shaped m-mark on it...
Hayasaka: [unconvinced] Okay...but, like, how does this make Yutaka-kun, like, seem less suspicious? [flips hair] Mika-chan, like, still thinks that wound could be, like, fake~!
Kawashima: [seriously]
Motoki-san
and Sashihara-kun's
wounds being so similar supports the idea that
they were all attacked by the same weapon, and most likely by the same person, too.
Niizuma: [shifts balance to right leg] Are we just going to ignore the possibility that perhaps Motoki-san was faking her attack? Or that maybe Komatsu-kun was faking his? Or that maybe Sashihara-kun was faking it?
Terajima: [calmly] I doubt all three of them faked their attacks, as they’d have nothing to gain by working together. [pushes sunglasses up nose] Besides, all of them were struck in the same spot: the back of their heads. It's not exactly easy to give yourself wounds as bad as the ones they got in a place like that if you're faking it.
Niizuma: [purses lips] Hmm...I suppose that's true.
Hayasaka: [unconvinced] That's like, good and all, but it doesn't, like, exonerate Yutaka-kun
at all.

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] No, not completely...but in my opinion, it makes his story more believable.
Hayasaka: [irritatedly] In your, like, opinion. Opinions aren't, like, facts~!
Kasparov: [curiously] You are correct, Hayasaka-san. Opinions are not facts. However, this discussion is getting tiresome. I suggest we discuss another aspect of this situation.
Eguchi: [curiously] Another aspect of this situation...? What do you mean by that?
Kasparov: [analytically]
I am talking about how all three of the individuals who claim to have been assaulted have a rectangular wound on the back of their heads. [presses finger to temple] It makes me curious...what sort of object could inflict such a wound?

It makes me wonder, too. Head wounds shaped like a rectangle? That's definitely not normal...so, what sort of
object could
make that happen? I feel like
I
found something that could be what made those wounds...I just have to think really hard to figure out what it is.

HANGMAN'S GAMBIT

Question: What object could have caused the rectangular head wounds on Motoki, Komatsu, and Sashihara?

PORTSODO

Answer: Doorstop

Kawashima: I've solved it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [eyes widen in realization] Guys, I know this will sound crazy, but...what if those wounds were caused by a doorstop?
Niizuma: [doubtfully] A doorstop? Like the one in the Art Room?
Kawashima: [nods] Exactly.
Sashihara: [confusedly] That makes no sense! Doorstops aren't rectangular! They're triangular!
Domoto: [crosses arms] On the sides, yes. [scratches chin] However, if the culprit hit the people the were attacking with
the front or back part of a doorstop, it could leave a rectangular mark.
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] I-I'm sorry if I'm i-interrupting, but w-would a mere d-doorstop really be able to h-hurt someone? [grimaces] The w-wounds looked a l-lot worse than a-anything a d-doorstop could d-do...

What
Oyamada-kun
says
makes sense if it were any regular doorstop we were talking about. However, the one in question here had
something unusual about it, which was that it was...

Heavy/Metal/Stone

Answer: Heavy

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] It's because it was a pretty heavy for a doorstop, Oyamada-kun. It definitely could've hurt someone if enough force was applied.
Niizuma: [looks to the side and scratches neck] Yes...if it's the one in the Art Room we're talking about, it was fairly heavy. [purses lips] However, it's an odd choice for a weapon...while it is heavy, it's not enough to actually kill someone. So why would the culprit use it to attack someone?
Kasparov: [analytically] Perhaps their intention was not to kill any of the people they attacked.
Motoki: [uncertainly] Are you sure? Because they hit me really hard...
Komatsu: [rubs head] Same here...
Hayasaka: [annoyedly] Okay, so this, like, stuff with the, like, doorstop is cool and all... [points accusatorially] But it doesn't, like, clear Yutaka-kun's name!
Komatsu: [exasperatedly] Shit, can't ya jus' give up?
Hayasaka: [poses "cutely"] Not when there's, like, no doubt you're the, like, killer~!
Kawashima: [neutrally] Hayasaka-san, are you sure that—

Hayasaka:
You're
canceled~!

[split screen separates Hayasaka and Kawashima]
Kawashima: [surprised] Hayasaka-san, why'd you interrupt me like that?
Hayasaka: [closes eyes “cutely” and holds up twin peace signs] Because you're, like, a fucking dumbass if you, like,
don't see how
Yutaka-kun's the, like, killer. [exaggerated sigh] But if Mika-chan, like, has to... [leans forward and winks] She'll, like, gladly show you why he's, like, guilty~!

She's going to show me why he's
guilty? Let's see what she has to say...even though
I doubt any of it will be right.

REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN

Truth Swords: Blue Tarp, Doorstop, Pair of Scissors, Sashihara's Account, Dolly

Hayasaka: [places hand on hip] The doorstop came from the, like, Art Room, right?
Hayasaka: [smirks] And the, like, Music Room, where
Yutaka-kun, like, was a lot, is right next to the like, Art Room~!
Hayasaka: [leans forward and winks] So Yutaka-kun could've
easily,
like, gotten it from there~!

ADVANCE!
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Are you sure about that?
Kawashima: [seriously] We had the partner system in place, remember? Komatsu-kun wouldn't have been able to go the Art Room to get the doorstop if he was with Sashihara-kun!

Hayasaka: [twirls hair] That's not a, like, excuse! He could've gotten it during nighttime~!
Hayasaka: [smirks] And Yutaka-kun's, like, hideous leather jacket definitely has a, like, pocket he could put it in!
Hayasaka: [places hand on hip] He could, like, hit Hisaya-kun, give himself a wound...
Hayasaka: [poses confidently] And then, once he was all, like, done with the doorstop, he could just, like, put it back in the Art Room~!

While on the surface, Hayasaka-san's theory sounds
like it could
make
sense...there's one glaring flaw with it. I just need to show her what that is, and then she'll understand Komatsu-kun didn't use that doorstop to attack
anyone.

Doorstop >
back in the Art Room

Kawashima: I’ll cut your contradictions in two!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Hayasaka-san, there's a major flaw in your theory.
Hayasaka: [doubtfully] Oh yeah? Like, what is it, Wakana-chan? [annoyedly] It better not have to do with that, like, bullshit about his wound.
Kawashima: [neutrally] The doorstop we're talking about...the one you said Komatsu-kun could've easily put back in the Art Room after using it... [firmly] I found it in the girls' locker room. More specifically, in Ichigohara-san's locker!
Motoki: [shocked] What!? Why would she have it?
Kawashima: [seriously] I don't know, but because that doorstop was in the girls' locker room, there's no way Komatsu-kun could've used it this morning!
Hayasaka: [unconvinced] Really? He could've just, like, snuck in there and put in Noriyo-chan's, like, locker!

Sashihara: [shouts loudly] But didn't Monohebi say that boys can't enter the girls' locker room, and vice versa!?
Domoto: [shakes head] No. That’s incorrect.
Sashihara: [surprised] What?
Domoto: [crosses arms] He only said that handbooks belonging to male students may open the door to the boys' locker room, and only those of female students can be used to enter the girls' locker room. [strokes chin] So, if Komatsu-kun had access to a female's e-Handbook, he could've entered that locker room and placed the doorstop there.
Monohebi: [slight smile] My, my, Domoto...what a good memory you have. I did not think anyone would pick up on that loophole!
Domoto: [icily] I don't want your praise, snake.

Monohebi: [narrows eyes] ...It do you well to be less rude, Domoto. [red eye glints] I can be merciless if I so choose.
Domoto: [unfazed] You can only be merciless if I break a rule or if I kill someone, neither of which I have done. [crosses arms] But my point still stands. It is possible for Komatsu-kun to have placed the doorstop in Ichigohara-san's locker.
Hayasaka: [smirks] Ha! Like, take that, Wakana-chan~! Yutaka-kun could still be guilty~!

Well
then...it looks like
I was wrong. It sucks to admit that
I made a mistake, but
I need to...
Kawashima: [neutrally] You're right, Hayasaka-san. He could still be guilty...

I can't believe
I let
myself overlook something like that...I need to listen more closely and stop making assumptions.

Komatsu: [angrily] But I'm not! I didn't do shit!
Niizuma: [examines nails] Can you prove your innocence, though? Words and promises are meaningless in a class trial. Only the evidence matters.
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] Shut up! I ain't guilty, so stop sayin' that I am!

Niizuma looks like she has something to say back to him, but before she can talk, Oyamada interrupts.
Oyamada: [loudly] W-Wait!

Did Oyamada-kun just...shout? I don't think
I've ever heard him speak so
loudly before...
Terajima: [curiously] What is it, Oyamada-kun?

Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] P-People are g-going to hate m-me for s-saying this, but...have n-none of you e-even thought about wh-what Kawashima-san j-just said? [quietly] Has n-no one else
th-thought of the new s-suspect it b-brings into c-consideration?

Wait...a new suspect? If Oyamada-kun's talking
about who
I think he is...that
would completely
change the situation! I don't want to
believe it,
but...there's only one person he
could be talking about.

CHOOSE A PERSON!

Wakana Kawashima

Eisuke Terajima

Sakiko Motoki

Yuuto Furuhata

Yuzuki Eguchi

Sergey Kasparov

Mayumi Carrasco

Mika Hayasaka

Tomiko Niizuma

Noriyo Ichigohara

Yoshi Yamaguchi

Yutaka Komatsu

Hisaya Sashihara

Osamu Oyamada

Michio Aozora

Otoha Domoto

...

......

.........

.............

[NORIYO ICHIGOHARA
CHOSEN]

Kawashima: [surprised] Oyamada-kun...are you saying...that we should be considering Ichigohara-san as a suspect?

Motoki: [shocked] ...Ichigohara-san!? That's not possible!

Sashihara: [points aggressivley] Yeah, there's no way she'd kill someone! [sadly] She was so nice...she'd never do that...

Terajima: [adjusts sunglasses] I think it'd be pretty uncharacteristic of her, too. She never seemed like the type of person to hurt anyone.

Oyamada: [grimaces]
I m-mean, I d-don't disagree, b-but...the d-doorstop was in her l-locker. [fidgets uncomfortably] As w-weird as it m-may be, I don't th-think we should d-discount the p-possibility that maybe sh-she attacked Komatsu-kun and S-Sashihara-kun.

Niizuma: [looks to the side] I'm of the same opinion. [scratches neck] We can't ignore that Ichigohara-san might have been the one that assaulted them just because she seemed nice. [ominously] Sometimes, people aren't what they seem to be.

Sashihara: [clenches fist] No...there's no way Ichigohara-san would ever hurt someone!

I get what Sashihara-kun is saying...if it weren't for the doorstop being in her locker, I'd never even entertain the
possibility that Ichigohara-san would hurt
someone. But...I can't ignore the evidence.

Kawashima: [hesitantly] Sashihara-kun...the doorstop was found in her locker. [seriously] We have to at least accept that she might've been the—

Sashihara: You need mental exercise!

[split screen separates Sashihara and Kawashima]

Kawashima: [surprised] Sashihara-kun...what was that? [seriously] Listen, I know it's not easy to do, but we have to at least acknowledge Ichigohara-san might be the attacker.

Sashihara: [passionately] Never! She was my friend, and I believe in her! [points aggressively] I won't let you sully her name with baseless accusations! I'll prove that she didn't do anything!

He's very
stubbornly
resisting the
possibility that Ichigohara-san could be the attacker...I sympathize with him, but
I can't let him continue denying that Ichigohara-san might be more involved in his and Komatsu-kun's attack than we
previously thought. So, as much as
I may dislike it...I'll force him to accept that Ichigohara-san could be the attacker!

REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN

Truth Swords: Komatsu's Account, Ichigohara's Restraints, Doorstop, Motoki's Account, Handcuffs

Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] I only grew close with Ichigohara-san in the past few days, however...

Sashihara: [passionately] Even with that short amount of time, I'm certain she'd never harm another person!

Sashihara: [sadly] She was too nice to ever do that...

ADVANCE!

Kawashima: [compassionately] I get what you're saying, Sashihara-kun. She was a very kind
person.

Kawashima: [slightly challenging] But even though she was nice, we can't ignore the fact that the doorstop was found in her locker.

Sashihara: [shouts loudly] That doorstop could've easily been planted there!

Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] Also, we had the partner system in place, so Ichigohara-san wouldn't have been alone!

Sashihara: [points aggressively] And even if she was alone, she
was too short to be able to hit me or Komatsu-kun in the back of the head!

Sashihara: [confidently] And, in addition to all that, she was tied up, remember! There's no way she could've gotten that way if she was the one behind this!

Sashihara-kun is
bringing up some good points, I'll admit that...however, there's
definitely one point that is incorrect. I need to
point that
out to him to show him Ichigohara-san could've
done
this...

Answer: Motoki's Account >
wouldn't have been alone

Kawashima: I’ll cut your contradictions in two!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [firmly] No, Sashihara-kun. Ichigohara-san was alone this morning.
Sashihara: [disbelievingly] No,
she wasn't!

We had the partner system in place, remember!? [passionately] It would've been impossible for her to be alone!
Kawashima: [firmly] No, it wouldn't have. Motoki-san, you know why, right?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] ...Yeah. [regretfully] I left Ichigohara-san a
little before
8:30, right before we were about to go inside the girls' locker room.
Sashihara: [shocked] ...What?
Domoto: [furiously] You left your partner alone!? Even when there was a strict rule in place to never leave your partners!?
Motoki: [defensively] I didn't want to leave her! [rubs shoulder] But Ichigohara-san...I had a really bad headache, so she convinced to go to my room to lie down... [closes eyes to prevent tears] I knew I shouldn't've gone! I should've stayed with her!
Niizuma: [examines nails] Indeed, you should've. [folds arms] But hypotheticals and what you should've done aren't important. All that matters is what you did. [coldly] Or at least...what you say you did.
Oyamada: [confusedly] Huh? Wh-What are you i-implying, Niizuma-san?
Niizuma: [annoyedly] Isn't it obvious? I'm saying maybe Motoki-san is the culprit.
Domoto: [nods[ I agree. [strokes chin] She claims Ichigohara-san was the one who convinced her to go down to her room...yet Ichigohara-san is dead and can't confirm that story.

Eguchi: [timidly] It could be true, though...just because we can't confirm it doesn't mean it's false.
Domoto: [strokes chin] No...but it does significantly increase the likelihood that Motoki-san is lying.
Motoki: [defensively] I'm not lying! [sadly] I'd never kill anyone...especially not Ichigohara-san...
Domoto: [crosses arms] Then prove it. Did anyone see you as you went down to her room, or at any other time?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair] Mika-chan and, like, Yuzuki-chan saw Sakiko-chan come into the, like, girls' locker room from the, like, hallway a little before, like, 11:30.
Kasparov: [curiously] But what about the three hours in between 8:30, when Motoki-san claims she and Ichigohara-san separated, and 11:30, when she met with Hayasaka-san and Eguchi-san?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] I was lying down in my room.
Niizuma: [rolls eyes] As expected...such a pitiful alibi.
Motoki: [defensively] Ugh...I'm not the killer! [angrily] I know you won't believe me, but...I want to hear everyone else's alibis.
Terajima: [coolly] Why, though? Are you just trying to deflect blame?
Motoki: [defensively] No, I...I just want to know everyone else's alibis. [firmly] I won't allow you guys to accuse me any more before I hear the rest of the
alibis.
Niizuma: [purses lips] It
seems like you are trying to deflect blame, after all.

Motoki: [angrily] I'm not!
I just...want to hear what everyone else was doing.
Domoto: [narrows eyes] You want to hear everyone's alibis? Fine. [crosses arms] I'll start. I was with Kasparov-kun playing chess all morning, from after the morning meeting until the body discovery announcement. [disappointedly] I was so close to beating him several times...
Kasparov: [mildly amused] Yes...close, but not close enough. [seriously] Anyway, I can confirm. We both have alibis for the entire morning, eliminating us as suspects.
Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] Same with me and Oyamada-kun. We were in the back of the library, reading some of his favorite books.

Oyamada: [fondly] Yeah...I w-was showing him s-some of my favorite p-passages from Ryu Murakami's f-first book...
Hayasaka: [nods seriously] Wow, that's really, like, interesting.
Oyamada: [surprised] R-Really? You th-think so?
Hayasaka: [snorts] Hell no! That sounds, like, boring as fuck~!
Oyamada: [sadly] Oh...
Terajima: [coolly] Yo, selfie girl. Shut the fuck up.
Hayasaka: [slightly scared] Like, totally n-not... [quickly] Anyway, like, moving on from that, Yuzuki-chan and Mika-chan were, like, together
on the second floor for the whole, like, morning~! [grimaces] Well, at least until, like, 11:20, when we, like, went up to the girls' locker room and later, like, found Noriyo-chan...
Eguchi: [avoids eye contact] Yeah, that's what we did...
Sashihara: [shouts loudly] I think everyone already knows what happened with Komatsu-kun and I, but I’ll explain again for clarity! [explanatorily] After the morning meeting, Komatsu-kun and I went to the boys' locker room, got changed, and then headed into the pool. [points aggressively] When we got there, however, we were suddenly attacked by someone we didn't see! [explanatorily] Then, I awoke some time later, handcuffed to a pool chair, with Komatsu-kun unconscious on the floor. Things stayed that way until the rest of you came.
Komatsu: [nods] Yeah, my story's pretty much the same...except I didn't wake up 'til the end of the investigation.

Niizuma: [looks to the side] Kawashima-san and I were in the Library for the entirety of the morning. I briefly left around 8:30 to use the restroom, then came right back. [examines nails] After that, Kawashima-san and I stayed in the Library until a little before 11:30, when we went across the hall to use the restroom. [shifts balance to right leg] Once there, we heard the body discovery announcement and saw the scene of the crime.

That
matches what
I remember...
Kawashima: [nods] Yep, that's what happened.
Domoto: [crosses arms] Are you satisfied now, Motoki-san? Everyone's shared their alibis.

Motoki: [pensively] ...Yes. [narrows eyes] And there's one of you who I think is the real killer. [points accusatorially] Niizuma-san, you're the culprit!

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

...What? Motoki-san thinks Niizuma-san is the culprit!?
Kawashima: [surprised] Motoki-san...do you actually think Niizuma-san is guilty?
Motoki: [nods vigorously] Absolutely.

Niizuma: [calmly] Please tell me you're not being serious, Motoki-san. [coldly] Because this accusation of yours...it's entirely baseless.

Hayasaka: [places hand on hip] Yeah, there's, like, no way Tomiko-chan could ever, like, kill someone! She's way too, like, fashionable for that~!
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Do you guys really not see why she's suspicious...? [determined] Fine, then. I'll show you why the killer has to be Niizuma-san!

I think I might know what Motoki-san might be
talking
about, but...is it
enough to definitively pin Niizuma-san as the killer? Let's see what she has to say...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Damp Rope, Art Room TV, Mark on Komatsu's Ankle, Hidden Door, Niizuma's Account

Motoki: [neutrally] First of all, Niizuma-san claims she went across the hall to the bathroom...
Motoki: [points accustaorially] ...but that could easily be a lie!

Niizuma: [rolls eyes] Oh, stop this. You have no proof that I was lying.

Motoki: [narrows eyes] There's no proof you're telling the truth.

Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Instead of going to the bathroom,
there's no reason you couldn't have gone to the locker rooms
instead...
Motoki: [points accusatorially] ...attacked Ichigohara-san and killed her, and then attacked Komatsu-kun and Sashihara-kun!
Sashihara: [thinking hard] I guess that's a possibility... [shouts loudly] Unlike Ichigohara-san, Niizuma-san is the tallest of the girls! She's tall enough to have hit me or Komatsu-kun!
Niizuma: [coldly] That means nothing. [brushes hair out of face] I'm not the killer!
Motoki: [narrows eyes] Then prove it.

Motoki-san is
being unusually aggressive and confident...but I guess that's because she's
convinced
Niizuma-san is the killer. I'm not as convinced,
though...

Answer: Niizuma's Account >
no reason

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Motoki-san, I'm not sure I can subscribe to your theory about Niizuma-san going to the
locker room and pool
instead of the bathroom.

Motoki: [incredulously] What? Why not?
Kawashima: [seriously] Because Niizuma-san was only gone for five minutes.

Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] Four minutes and fifty-six seconds, to be more exact. [calmly] I made sure to keep track of how long she was gone when she left.
Domoto: [crosses arms] About that...I strongly disapprove of how the two of you separated like that. Niizuma-san could've been hurt.
Niizuma: [brushes hair out face] You don't have to worry about that, Domoto-san. I can defend myself.
Kasparov: [disapprovingly] Even so...the mere fact that the two of you separated, despite being specifically instructed to never leave each other's side, deserves to be reprimanded.
Motoki: [frustratedly] Can we get back on topic? [neutrally] Niizuma-san leaving the Library for five minutes...I don't get how that time makes her innocent. [points accusatorially]
That's enough time to go to the locker room and back!

Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] It's enough t-time to m-merely go there, but n-not enough t-to attack Ichigohara-san, and th-then assault S-Sashihara-kun and Komatsu-kun, and th-then kill Ichigohara-san. [frowns] B-Besides, what would the p-point be in attacking th-those two if she already had d-done that to I-Ichigohara-san?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Well...it might've been to make them look more suspicious. Or maybe to make sure they didn't interfere with her plans.

Niizuma: [purses lips] I admit, that is a sensible point. However, it means nothing. [coldly] My my, you guys are really inattentive. Even if I did do all the preposterous things Motoki-san suggested I did, the time of death is explicitly stated to be 11:30 in the Monohebi File. [examines nails] At that time, I was with Kawashima-san...so, I cannot be the killer.
Motoki: [frustratedly] Ngh... [reluctantly] ...Fine. I guess that means you're not guilty.

Niizuma: [rolls eyes] Finally. That pointless accusation went on for long enough.

It wasn't even that long, though...
Domoto: [strokes chin] ...I don't think that accusation was entirely pointless, Niizuma-san.
Niizuma: [surprised] You don't?
Domoto: [shakes head] No. It provided us with a new suspect in the attack on Sashihara-kun and Komatsu-kun. [crosses arms] In addition to Ichigohara-san, we now have Motoki-san.
Motoki: [frustratedly] Not this again...I told you I'm not the killer!
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] As Niizuma-san said before, words mean nothing in a class trial. [considers carefully] That is not to say I believe you are the culprit, though.
Motoki: [relieved] You don't think I'm the killer?
Kasparov: [considers carefully] Not necessarily. [analytically] However, I do find the alibis of both you and Ichigohara-san rather suspicious...as such, I propose we debate them some more.
Eguchi: [confusedly] But what is there to talk about? We already know their alibis...
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple]
We know the alibi of Motoki-san...however, we have no knowledge of what Ichigohara-san did after she and Motoki-san parted...if they actually did part before she died. [neutrally] Still, I believe it would be prudent to discuss what Ichigohara-san was doing before she died.

That seems like a good idea to me...figuring out what
Ichigohara-san was doing might lead us to finding the truth behind how she
was killed.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Mark on Komatsu's Ankle, Komatsu's Account, Ichigohara's Restraints, Hidden Door, Damp Rope

Hayasaka: [places and on hip] Mika-chan, like, thinks it's pretty obvious what Noriyo-chan, like, did...
Hayasaka: [poses confidently] She assaulted Yutaka-kun and, like, Hisaya-kun, then, like, got into a bathtub and, like, killed herself later~!
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] ...I d-disagree. [looks down and to the side] I th-think Ichigohara-san a-attacked Komatsu-kun and S-Sashihara-kun...but was k-killed by someone else a-afterward...
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] No, that's not it...I think the answer's more
simple.
Motoki: [confidently] She was probably just taking a bath, like she said she would.

Kasparov: [considers carefully] Yes, that is indeed a possibility...yet Sashihara-kun and Komatsu-kun must have been attacked by someone.
Eguchi: [uncertainly] Maybe one of them attacked themselves, and then killed Ichigohara-san in her bath...

Everyone has a lot of theories about what Ichigohara-san was
doing this morning...they can't all be right. I need to figure out which ones are wrong
and which is right...

Answer: Ichigohara's Restraints >
killed herself

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [firmly] No, Hayasaka-san...Ichigohara-san
didn't kill herself.
Hayasaka: [unconvinced] Oh really? How can you, like, be sure of that, Wakana-chan?
Kawashima: [seriously] Because Ichigohara-san had her hands tied behind her back. [firmly] She couldn't have done that if this were a suicide!
Sashihara: [nods vigorously] Indeed! It's extremely difficult to tie your hands behind your back, especially when the restraints are as tight as the ones binding
Ichigohara-san's hands! [sadly] Also...Ichigohara-san would never kill herself. [passionately] She just wasn't that type of person!
Kasparov: [analytically] Even if she were...electrocution while being tied up in a bathtub is far from the most convenient or painless method of suicide Ichigohara-san could have chosen had she desired to end her life. Thus, I find I this theory that Ichigohara-san committed suicide illogical.
Hayasaka: [bitterly] Damn, like, calm down! It was just a, like, random speculation...
Komatsu: [fixes belt] One that was wrong.
Hayasaka: [leans forward and winks] How about you, like, shut the fuck up, Yutaka-kun? It's not as if you have a, like, golden record of, like, being right, either~!
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] Ya better watch what ya say to me, ya lil'—
Niizuma: [annoyedly] Both of you, please shut up. [looks to the side] To get things back on topic, if Ichigohara-san didn't kill herself, then someone did.

Terajima: [calmly] We already knew that, but okay. [pushes sunglasses up nose] What we just learned is that the garden girl's death was no suicide. We still haven't answered the original question, though: What was she doing for the three hours before her death?
Komatsu: [fixes belt] It sucks to say it, but...she mighta been attackin' me and Sashihara-kun.

Sashihara: [passionately] No! I refuse to believe she did that!
Eguchi: [avoids eye contact] She could have, though...
Sashihara: [clenches fist] Ngh... [points aggressively] Even if she did attack us, that wouldn't take three hours! What the hell would she do for the rest of the time!? And why would she have just attacked us and then left!?

Those are good questions, Sashihara-kun...I don't have the answers to either of them as of right now. It'd
probably be a
good idea to discuss this
with everyone else...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: State of Ichigohara's Body, Duct Tape Gag, Damp Rope, Blue Tarp,
Mark on Komatsu's Ankle

Hayasaka: [shrugs] Mika-chan, like, doesn't know what was going with, like, Noriyo-chan...maybe she, like, just wandered the, like, halls for a while.
Niizuma: [examines nails] It's also possible she got in her bath after attacking Sashihara-kun
and Komatsu-kun.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] But then there'd be no point in attacking them in the first place...
Motoki: [confidently] I still think she didn't attack anyone...she was just taking her bath.
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] So you're s-saying you think the c-culprit attacked her while she was in the b-bathhouse, and then killed her?
Motoki: [nods] Yeah. That's what makes the most sense to me.
Eguchi: [avoids eye contact]
You, Hayasaka-san, and I
were right outside the bathhouse at Ichigohara-san's time of death, though...
[points shakily] We would've seen someone if that's what happened!

What was Ichigohara-san doing for the three hours in between the attack on
Komatsu-kun and
Sashihara-kun and her death?
Something someone said should lead me in the right direction...

Answer: State of Ichigohara's Body >
in the b-bathhouse

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Oyamada-kun, the killer didn’t attack Ichigohara-san in the bathhouse.
Oyamada: [confusedly] H-Huh? Why n-not? That's wh-where she d-died...
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Yes, but not necessarily where she was attacked. Do you remember how Ichigohara-san still had all her clothes on, even though she was in
a bath?
Kasparov: [frowns] Hmm...that is strange indeed. [realizes something] Wait...Kawashima-san, are you suggesting that Ichigohara-san was not attacked in the bathhouse due to her still being fully clothed?
Kawashima: [nods] I am. [seriously] It'd be weird for her to take a bath in her normal clothes...so I don't think Ichigohara-san was in the bathhouse when she was attacked and killed. [firmly] Rather, I think she was attacked at some earlier point...in the locker room, or maybe even before that.
Domoto: [crosses arms] Well, well...if that's the case, it makes one person very suspicious. [narrows eyes] Motoki-san...you were the last individual who saw Ichigohara-san, and you said you and her parted right before entering the locker room...the place where Ichigohara-san was attacked.

Motoki: [frustratedly] Hold on...I get that's really
suspicious, but I'm not the killer!
Niizuma: [examines nails] You are the most likely suspect, Motoki-san. You were Ichigohara-san's partner and conveniently left her
right before she entered
the place where she was attacked. [coldly] How can you refute that?
Motoki: [frustratedly] Ugh... [angrily] Why are you only blaming me!? I wasn't the only one near the locker rooms! [points accusatorially]
Sashihara-kun, Komatsu-kun, and Niizuma-san all could've attacked Ichigohara-san too!
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] Yo, don't go blamin' us just 'cause yer a suspect!
Niizuma: [looks to the side] Indeed. Deflecting blame only makes you more suspicious. [examines nails] How about this...I'll outline my theory on how you killed Ichigohara-san, then you can give up, and we'll vote. [brushes hair out of face] I'll make you admit to being the culprit.

So
Niizuma-san will be presenting her case for why Motoki-san is guilty now...it's a role reversal from what happened not even fifteen minutes ago. I don't know whether Motoki-san is guilty or not...part of my believes it's
possible, yet the other half doesn't want to
accept
that she could be a killer...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Duct Tape Gag, Monohebi File #3, Motoki's Account, Pair of Scissors, Doorstop

Niizuma: [folds arms] It is undoubtable that Motoki-san is the most suspicious person at the moment.

Motoki: [frustratedly] That doesn't mean I'm the killer... [angrily] Someone's framing me!
Niizuma: [examines nails] Who? And how did they do it? [looks to the side] There's no evidence anyone is framing you, so don't even try to say that's what happened.
Eguchi: [timidly] I mean, it's not impossible that she's being set up...
Niizuma: [shifts balance to right leg] No, but if there was any framing that happened, it was Motoki-san
framing Ichigohara-san for the attack on Sashihara-kun and Komatsu-kun.
Niizuma: [folds arms] Due to her being a girl, it wouldn't be difficult for her to
gain entrance to the girls' locker room after attacking Sashihara-kun and Komatsu-kun.
Niizuma: [looks to the side] Right after attacking them, she went into the locker room, attacked
Ichigohara-san, and killed her.

Motoki: [frustratedly] That's not what happened! [angrily] I didn't murder Ichigohara-san!
Hayasaka: [smirks] Just, like, give up already, Sakiko-chan~! It's, like, totally obvious you're the, like, killer~!

Is Motoki-san the killer...or is she not? I'm not sure, but...something about Niizuma-san's theory seems a little off to me...

Answer: Monohebi File #3 >
Right after

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Niizuma-san, it’s not possible for Motoki-san to have killed Ichigohara-san right after attacking Komatsu-kun and Sashihara-kun.
Niizuma: [folds arms] Why not? Please, spare me the sentimental “Motoki-san’s too nice” bullshit if that’s what it is.
Kawashima: [frowns] No, that’s not what it is. [thoughtfully] The issue is that Komatsu-kun and Sashihara-kun were attacked around 8:30, but Ichigohara-san didn’t die until 11:30!
Eguchi: [avoids eye contact] And at that time, Motoki-san was with Hayasaka-san and I. [points shakily] So she can’t be the killer!
Niizuma: [looks away bitterly] Well then...it seems I made an oversight.

Terajima: [small smile] It’s ironic, too...considering how you were criticizing the rest of us for being inattentive and forgetful earlier, but now you’re the inattentive one.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Yeah, didn’t Niizuma-san say that the time of death made her innocent earlier? [amusedly] It’s funny that she’d forget that while accusing Motoki-san.
Niizuma: [looks away bitterly] ...Ugh. I was wrong, I admit it. [coldly] There's no need to discuss it any longer.

She really does not enjoy being wrong, does she...
Motoki: [hopefully] So...does this mean I’ve been proven innocent?
Kasparov: [considers carefully] Due to you being with Hayasaka-san and Eguchi-san at the time of death, I believe it is safe to say you are not killer. [frowns] However...it is still very possible you are the person that attacked Sashihara-kun and Komatsu-kun.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Huh? But aren’t the attacker and the killer the same person?
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] Not necessarily. The fact that the attack on Komatsu-kun and Sashihara-kun
occurred three whole hours before Ichigohara-san's death makes me suspect that they might be separate incidents entirely.
Kawashima: [nods] I also think it's weird. [thoughtfully] It doesn't make much sense for the killer to have attacked them and not killed them, and then decide to murder someone else entirely three hours after.
Eguchi: [timidly] Yeah...that does seem pretty strange...
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Mika-chan, like, agrees. She thinks that if the attacker had, like, killing intent, they just would've, like, murdered Yutaka-kun or Hisaya-kun.
Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] It feels weird to agree with you, selfie girl...but I think you're right.
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] Yeah, m-me too...
Niizuma: [examines nails] I don't.
The culprit
could have several reasons for choosing not to kill Sashihara-kun and Komatsu-kun.
Domoto: [crosses arms] Mmhm. It's entirely possible that the culprit was trying to frame them.

Sashihara: [points agressively] Yeah! Ichigohara-san's death and the attack on Komatsu-kun and I are too strange to not be related!
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Yeah, I don't see any of this shit bein' just a coincidence.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Me neither...
Monohebi: [smiles slightly] Oh, is the opinion on this matter split down the middle? It seems we should have ourselves another Scrum Debate.
Oyamada: [queasily] Oh n-no...this always m-makes me feel s-sick...

Monohebi: [smiles slightly] Please hold on to your seats as they are rearranged temporarily for this special debate...

Like the last two times, I hold onto my stand tightly as it and all the others around me begin ascending into the air into an upper room in the trial area.

Once there, we
find ourselves in the same sleek, ultra-modern room as before. We’re still arranged into two rows facing each other with myself, Kasparov, Hayasaka, Eguchi, Terajima, Oyamada, and Ichigohara and Aozora’s portrait on my side.

In the other row, I see Niizuma, Domoto, Komatsu, Sashihara, Motoki, and Carrasco, Yamaguchi, and Furuhata’s portraits.

Alright, let's get this underway...

SCRUM DEBATE

Question: Are the culprit and Sashihara and Komatsu's attacker the same person?

Kawashima’s Side: They're not the same!

Opposing Side: They're the same!

BEGIN!

Komatsu: Me and Sashihara-kun
were attacked, goddammit! Who the fuck woulda done that shit except the killer?
Kawashima: Kasparov-kun!
Kasparov: You were indeed attacked, yet neither of you was killed. Is it not peculiar for the attacker to only assault you and Sashihara-kun, yet later decide to murder
Ichigohara-san?

Domoto: The culprit could’ve simply knocked out
Komatsu-kun and Sashihara-kun to implicate them in the murder.
Kawashima: Oyamada-kun!
Oyamada: I-If the attack was j-just a red h-herring, there would’ve b-been no n-need to r-restrain Sashihara-kun. D-Doing so o-only makes him l-look less s-suspicious!

Motoki:
What reason would the attacker have for assaulting
Sashihara-kun
and Komatsu-kun if they weren’t trying to murder
them?
Kawashima: Eguchi-san!
Eguchi: It's possible
that they got
cold feet and backed out of their plan to murder the two of them...

Niizuma: The bathhouse and pool are very close to each other. Wouldn’t the attacker have seen the killer if they were two different people?

Kawashima: Hayasaka-san!

Hayasaka: Noriyo-chan died, like, three hours after Yutaka-kun and Hisaya-kun were, like, attacked. So it makes, like, total sense that the killer and attacker wouldn't have,
like, seen each other~!

Sashihara:
It’s not like it would’ve been hard for the killer to simply walk across the hall and kill Ichigohara-san after knocking out me and Komatsu-kun!

Kawashima:
Terajima-kun!

Terajima: For the last time,
the garden girl
died at 11:30,
so it would've been impossible for the killer to murder her right after attacking the two of you.

Motoki: I refuse to believe that more than one person could've tried to hurt someone! There's no way two people would be so terrible!
Kawashima: Kasparov-kun!
Kasparov: Refuse to believe it all you want, but two people regained their memories. It is entirely possible those individuals
are the attacker and the culprit.

Domoto:
Why would the attacker back out of this plot to kill they had prepared when it was so close to being completed? They’d have no reason to do so.
Kawashima: I'll do it!Kawashima: No
reason that we know
yet. Just because we don't know it right now doesn't mean it doesn't exist!

CROUCH BIND
3...2...1...
Kawashima, Kasparov, Hayasaka, Eguchi, Terajima, and Oyamada: This is our answer!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [firmly] See?
The attacker and killer aren't the same person!
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck]
Huh. I guess they're not.
Sashihara: [clenches fist] I was so certain they were the same...
Motoki: [pulls on poncho collar] Same here...
Niizuma: [looks away bitterly] ...I suppose we were wrong.
Domoto: [strokes chin] Maybe. [crosses arms and closes eyes] I admit that it is possible that the attacker and killer could be two separate people. [opens eyes] However, that's no guarantee that they actually are.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] No...however, I believe it would be best to treat them as two separate individuals for two, given how there is little proof of a direct connection between Ichigohara-san's death and the attack.
Domoto: [crosses arms] There's the fact that the doorstop, which was used to knock Komatsu-kun and Sashihara-kun's locker, was found in Ichigohara-san's locker.
Terajima: [calmly] About that...who was it who found the doorstop in her locker, anyway?
Kawashima: [neutrally] It was me, Terajima-kun.
Terajima: [nods] Understood. [adjusts sunglasses] Why did you decide to search Ichigohara-san's locker? And where was the doorstop in the locker?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I decided to search it because she was the victim, and I figured there might be evidence inside it. [seriously] As for where it was...it was sitting on top of the rest of her things.
Terajima: [small smile] Ah...that makes sense.
Domoto: [arches eyebrow] What are you getting at, Terajima-kun?
Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] If the garden girl really was the attacker, why the hell would she put the doorstop back in her own locker? [calmly] Doing that would only make her look more suspicious. Why didn't she just put it back in the Art Room? Her partner wasn't around, so she'd have no one to stop her.
Hayasaka: [shrugs] Maybe Noriyo-chan was, like, planning on, like, using the doorstop again later.
Terajima: [coolly] But then why would she place it on top of all of her things, where anyone could see it if they opened her locker? If she were the attacker, I think she'd at least make an attempt at hiding it.

He is making a good point...it's weird that Ichigohara-san would make no effort at all to hide the doorstop if she was
the attacker.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Terajima-kun...are you saying that someone planted the doorstop in Ichigohara-san's locker?
Terajima: [nods] I am. She had made it known to anyone who was listening that she would be taking a bath this morning. [pushes sunglasses up nose] And especially because she'd be alone...she would've been the perfect person to frame for the attack.
Eguchi: [timidly]
Wait, I don't get it...how would the real attacker know she was alone? Ichigohara-san had said she was going to be in the baths with Motoki-san. The real attacker wouldn't have known she was alone...
Domoto: [strokes chin] Unless the real attacker was Motoki-san.
Motoki: [frustratedly] Ugh, stop with this already...I have an alibi for the time of death, so I'm not the killer!
Domoto: [crosses arms] No, but if the attacker and killer really are two separate people, you could still be the attacker. [narrows eyes] In fact, you're the only person it could be. Everyone else has an alibi or is Ichigohara-san.
Motoki: [angrily] But...it's not me... [pleading] Please, you have to believe me...

Motoki-san...I want to
believe you, but...you're the only person it could be. Like
Domoto-san said, everyone else
has an alibi or is Ichigohara-san, who was very
likely framed for being the attacker.
Hayasaka: [exaggerated sigh] Ugh...can we, like, move on from this already?
Domoto: [arches eyebrow] Why? We're in the middle of an accusation.
Hayasaka: [places hand on hip] For something that doesn't, like, matter. [twirls hair pensively] We've already, like, established that the attacker and, like, killer aren't the same...so shouldn't we, like, talk about the thing that, like actually matters here? The identity of the, like, killer? [poses confidently] Sakiko-chan has a, like, alibi for the time of death~! So let's, like, stop talking about her and, like, discuss who the culprit, like, actually is.
Niizuma: [purses lips] I
understand what you're saying, but the attack on Sashihara-kun and Komatsu-kun might give us clues as to who the killer is.
Eguchi: [tremulously] But they're not the same person...so it's pointless to talk about the attacker...
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] I agree. it would be best to follow the idea Hayasaka-san presented and discuss the identity of the killer.
Hayasaka: [closes eyes “cutely” and holds up twin peace signs] Like, thanks, Sergey-kun~! [mock shyness] Mika-chan is, like, almost tempted to, like, let you follow her, like, super-exclusive Instagram account for, like, saying that~!
Kasparov: [raises eyebrows] What? I have no interest in such a thing.
Eguchi: [avoids eye contact] I don't know why anyone would...

Yeah...I don't know why anyone would willingly follow any of Hayasaka-san's accounts.
Hayasaka: [places hand on hip] Anyway, like, moving on from that... [closes eyes “cutely” and holds up twin peace signs] Mika-chan, like, thinks either Yutaka-kun and Hisaya-kun is the, like, killer~!
Sashihara: [shocked] What!?
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Fuck, not this shit again...
Hayasaka: [leans forward and winks] Admit it, you two. You both could've, like, killed Noriyo-chan~!
Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] Yeah, I agree. [grimaces] Well, actually, not completely...
Hayasaka: [narrows eyes] .............. [places hand on hip] Like, why not, Yuzuki-chan?
Eguchi: [timidly] Well, it's just that...I don't think Komatsu-kun is guilty.

Hayasaka: [surprised] Oh? [smirks] Well, are you, like, sure about that? You are a little, like... [leans forward and winks]
...biased, don't you think?
Eguchi: [blushes] That, um...has nothing to do with this!
Komatsu: [furrows brow] What has nothing to do with this?

He is clueless if can't see it...Eguchi-san obviously has a crush on him.
Eguchi: [blushes harder] It's, um, nothing...I just think that Sashihara-kun is way more suspicious!
Kawashima: [curiously] Why's that, Eguchi-san? [thoughtfully] If you ask me, I think Sashihara-kun is the less suspicious of the two.
Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] ...No, Kawashima-san, he isn't. [points shakily] He's more suspicious!
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Are you sure about that? Because he—

Eguchi: I’ll nerf your argument!

[split screen separates Eguchi and Kawashima]
Eguchi: [avoids eye contact] Sorry, Kawashima-san, but you're wrong. Sashihara-kun is the killer, not Komatsu-kun.
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Really? Why?
Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] Um, well... [points shakily] ...I'll explain that to you right now!

Hmm...so she'll be explaining why she thinks
Sashihara-kun is more suspicious to me. I don't see where
she's coming from, to be honest, but...I'll listen to her
argument regardless.

REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN

Truth Swords: Sashihara's Account, Komatsu's Account, Damp Rope, Pool Chair, Mark on Komatsu's Ankle

Eguchi: [timidly] The reason why Sashihara-kun is more suspicious than Komatsu-kun...
Eguchi: [avoids eye contact] ...is because Komatsu-kun was unconscious the whole time.
Eguchi: [points shakily] He wouldn't have been able to kill Ichigohara-san when he was out cold like that!

ADVANCE!
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Even though I doubt it
happened, Komatsu-kun could've been faking being unconscious.
Kawashima: [seriously] Besides, unlike Sashihara-kun, he wasn't being restrained by something. [slightly challenging] So how is he less suspicious than Sashihara-kun?

Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] That stuff with the restraints, uh...doesn't mean anything!
Eguchi: [tremulously] Even though Sashihara-kun was handcuffed to the pool chair, there's no guarantee he was that way the whole time...
Eguchi: [points shakily] Besides, even if he was...he could just get up and walk around with the pool chair attached to his wrist via the handcuffs! [avoids eye contact] It's inconvenient, but not impossible.
Eguchi: [timidly] No one else was nearby...so he wouldn't have to worry about the noise it made...
Eguchi: [points shakily] See?!? Sashihara-kun's the culprit, not Komatsu-kun!

Well, Eguchi-san's made her
argument...and it has a glaring flaw in it. I need to point it out to her...

Answer: Pool Chair >
not impossible

Kawashima: I'll cut your contradictions in two!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Eguchi-san, it would be impossible for Sashihara-kun to move around with the pool chair in the way you described.
Eguchi: [timidly] It would? Why?
Kawashima: [seriously] Because the pool chair he was handcuffed to was bolted to the floor. [firmly] So there's no way he could've walked around with the pool chair!
Eguchi: [surprised] ...Oh. I didn't know that. [hangs head shamefully] Sorry...I'm so dumb...I shouldn't've brought up something so stupid...
Sashihara: [shouts loudly] Worry not, Eguchi-san! It wasn't very obvious the pool chair was bolted to the floor, so I forgive you for your mistake!
Eguchi: [gratefully] Thanks, Sashihara-kun...sorry for suspecting you...
Hayasaka: [unimpressed] Wow...so you're just going to, like, give up that easily? [poses confidently] Even when, like,
Hisaya-kun
could totally, like, still be the killer?
Eguchi: [surprised] Wait...he could?
Hayasaka: [exaggerated sigh] Like, duh.

Komatsu: [furrows brows] Hold on, I thought ya were sayin' I was the more suspicious one. Why the hell are ya changin' yer mind so suddenly?
Hayasaka: [places hand on hip] What, do you, like, want Mika-chan to keep on suspecting you, Yutaka-kun? [leans forward and winks] Because she can if you, like, want her to~!
Komatsu: [angrily] No, I just don't get what yer doin'. Why're ya flippin' back and forth between suspects?
Hayasaka: [irritatedly] Because Mika-chan's not a, like, total dumbass. She understands that, like, even though you're more, like, suspicious, Hisaya-kun is also a, like, option~!
Sashihara: [confusedly] How, though!? [points aggressively] I was handcuffed to a chair most of the morning!
Hayasaka: [exaggerated sigh] Okay, so it, like, looks like Hisaya-kun won't just, like, admit to it. Mika-chan's going to have to, like, show
him that he could totally still be the, like,
killer~!

Here we go again...let's see what Hayasaka-san has to say now.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Sashihara's Account, Eguchi's Account, Key at Pool Bottom, Hidden Door, Bathhouse
Switch

Sashihara: [confusedly] I don't understand...I was handcuffed to a chair that was bolted to the floor... [points aggressively] Knowing that, how can I possibly be a suspect!?
Hayasaka: [places hand on hip] Well, like, first off, you totally could've, like, knocked out Yutaka-kun... [poses confidently] And then you, like, went to the, like, locker room and, like, attacked Noriyo-chan~!
Komatsu: [furrows brows] Hold up...it ain't possible that he did that! [rubs back of neck] Ichigohara-san was in the locker room
when she was attacked, right? [fiercely] There ain't no way he
coulda gotten in, 'cause he didn’t have a girl's e-Handbook!
Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] Well...he could have lured her out, somehow... [avoids eye contact] Maybe by making a loud noise... [timidly] ...or maybe by telling her he'd been attacked and needed her help...
Motoki: [rubs shoulder thoughtfully] I don't think anyone heard a loud noise, though...
Hayasaka: [twirls hair] It doesn't matter if anyone, like, did or not, because no one was, like, close enough to have heard it if it, like, did happen. [places hand on hip] Anyway, once Hisaya-kun had, like, attacked Noriyo-chan and knocked her unconscious...
Hayasaka: [closes eyes “cutely” and holds up twin peace signs] ...he, like, put her in the, like bathtub and set up the, like, wires and hairdryer to kill her. [flips hair] Then, at, like, 11:30, he turned on the, like, outlet switch, which killed Noriyo-chan~!
Oyamada: [confusedly] Wait, b-but wasn't it the h-hairdryer that k-killed Ichigohara-san? N-Not the s-switch?
Hayasaka: [irritatedly] Osamu-kun, the switch, like, needs to be on for, like, electricity to get to the, like, hairdryer. [twirls hair]. Lastly, he, like, went through the door to the, like, secret room, through the, like, sauna, and snuck across the hall
back to the, like, pool... [leans forward and winks] ...where he, like, handcuffed himself to chair and, like, threw the key into the, like, pool~!
Niizuma: [folds arms] Hmm...that was a complicated explanation, yet I think it's possible.
Sashihara: [passionately] It isn't! I would never kill
Ichigohara-san!

Wow, that was a lot of information to process...thankfully,
I think
I heard
something that should allow me to conclusively say
whether Sashihara-kun is the killer or not...

Answer: Eguchi's Account >
snuck across the hall

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [covers mouth with hand] Hayasaka-san...I have a question for you, Motoki-san, and Eguchi-san.
Motoki: [perplexedly] What is it?
Kawashima: [curiously] Did any of you notice anyone else other than the three of you in the hallway at any time?
Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] I didn't...
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Neither did I...
Hayasaka: [places hand on hip] Mika-chan, like, didn't either. [narrows eyes] But, like, why does that matter, Wakana-chan? Weren't we, like, talking about Hisaya-kun and how he could, like, totally be guilty?
Kawashima: [nods] Yes...this relates to that. [firmly] Because if none of you noticed anyone else in the hallway, how could Sashihara-kun go back across the hall in the way you described, Hayasaka-san?
Hayasaka: [unconvinced] That, like, means nothing...couldn't he have just been really quiet?
Motoki: [fiddles with bracelets] I doubt it...Sashihara-kun is not exactly a quiet person... [pulls on poncho collar] Besides, the hallway with the entrances to the pool, sauna, and bathhouse isn't that big...one of the three of us definitely would've noticed if he or anyone else was in it.
Eguchi: [hopefully] Wait...so does this mean Komatsu-kun is innocent too?
Kasparov: [considers carefully] It seems so. One of the three of you surely would have at least seen or heard something if he or Sashihara-kun tried to sneak back across the hallway, due to how small it is.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Yep...if Eguchi-san, Hayasaka-san, and Motoki-san didn't even notice a door opening, or footsteps, or anything at all... [seriously] ...I think it's safe to say Komatsu-kun and Sashihara-kun aren't guilty.
Komatsu: [excitedly] Fuck yeah! I
told all ya guys I wasn't guilty!
Sashihara: [shouts loudly] I'm glad to be proven innocent as well!
Eguchi: [happily] Yeah, I'm glad the both of you are innocent too...
Hayasaka: [narrows eyes]
..............

Seems like not everyone is as happy that they're innocent...
Niizuma: [folds arms] Wait a minute. Something isn't right here.
Oyamada: [confusedly] H-Huh? Do y-you still th-think either Komatsu-kun or S-Sashihara-kun is g-guilty?
Niizuma: [purses lips] No...it's not that I have an issue with. [looks to the side] It's the fact that Hayasaka-san said in her explanation that Sashihara-kun left the bathhouse via the secret room, and then through the sauna.
Domoto: [arches eyebrow] What's wrong with that?
Niizuma: [coldly] Do you not see it? [shifts balance to right leg] There isn't a way to get from the bathhouse to the secret room.

Ah, so she doesn't know about that thing in
the bathhouse...
Hidden Door/Peephole/Secret Passageway

Answer: Hidden Door

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [curiously] Niizuma-san, do you know about the hidden door that connects the bathhouse to the secret room?
Komatsu: [surprised] Hold the fuck up...there's a door between the secret room and bathhouse!?
Domoto: [nods] Indeed there is. Kawashima-san and I found it during the investigation.
Niizuma: [looks to the side] Well then. That's certainly interesting...

Terajima: [doubtfully] There was hidden door? [adjusts sunglasses]
I don't remember seeing any doorhandles or outlines of a door in the wall, or anything like that.
Domoto: [strokes chin] The walls in the bathhouse are made out of small tiles, so it wouldn't be very hard for a door to be concealed [crosses arms] Also, the door didn't have a door handle.
Eguchi: [timidly] I'm sorry, how do you open a door that has no handle...? [avoids eye contact] I don't get how that's possible...
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Yeah, I don't get how the fuck that makes sense...don't ya need somethin' to make the door open and close?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Yes, you do, Komatsu-kun. [seriously] In place of a door handle, the door had a metal ring around the peephole.
Oyamada: [confusedly] A m-metal ring? How w-would that m-make a d-door open?
Domoto: [strokes chin] By twisting it. [crosss arms and closes eyes] As Kawashima-san demonstrated to me during the investigation, you have to twist it clockwise to open the door from the bathhouse, and vice versa from the secret room.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] That is quite an unusual way of opening the door...
Niizuma: [examines nails] It sure is... [shifts balance to right leg] However, this matter is still not settled. I do have another question relating to this door.

Sashihara: [points aggressively] What is your question!?
Niizuma: [folds arms] How did Hayasaka-san know about the door?

A silence falls over the trial room. That's a good question, Niizuma-san...Hayasaka-san mentioned the door in her
theory on how Sashihara-kun could be the
culprit...but, as far as
I know, only Domoto-san and I found out about it during the investigation.
Hayasaka: [eyes widen] .... [flips hair] Like, oh my God~! You guys are so, like, silly~! [closes eyes “cutely” and holds up twin peace signs] Don't you, like, remember that Mika-chan found the, like, key to the, like, secret room? [leans forward and winks] So, Mika-chan went in there and, like, found to about the door before, like, the rest of you~!
Kasparov: [narrows eyes] Yet you decided to not say anything at all? Why?
Domoto: [crosses arms] Isn't it obvious? She wanted to keep it a secret so she could use it to her advantage if she wanted.
Hayasaka: [quickly] That's, like, totally not the reason why!

Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] Then why d-did you h-hide it? There h-has to b-be some r-reason why...
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] If, like, everyone knew about that hidden, like, door...then might make it easier to, like, kill someone. [closes eyes “cutely” and holds up twin peace signs] Mika-chan, like, didn't want that to happen, so she, like, didn't tell anyone about the door~!

Is
that really it? I feel like there has to be
something else...but maybe she is telling the truth.
Maybe
she actually didn't want a murder to happen...
Terajima: [coolly] ...Hmm. I'm not sure I believe that, selfie girl. [pushes sunglasses up nose] However...I don't think whatever her reason is matters.
Niizuma: [doubtfully] You don't?
Terajima: [shakes head] No. [calmly] She has an alibi for the time of death, remember?
Eguchi: [avoids eye contact] Yeah...and for the whole morning, too...
Domoto: [strokes chin] That presents something of a problem. [crosses arms] Everyone has an alibi for the time of death, or is Komatsu-kun and Sashihara-kun, and we already explained why neither of them could be the killer. Ichigohara-san is the only person left, yet we
also ruled out the possibility of suicide. [frowns] So...that presents a question. How could she have been killed if everyone has an alibi?

Domoto-san is making a good point...we're going to have to think outside the box if we want to solve this case.
Niizuma: [examines nails] Well, this is certainly a conundrum. [scratches neck] If it's so confusing, why don't we try talking about something else? [folds arms] As I said earlier, we should take a look at the attack on Sashihara-kun and Komatsu-kun. Even if it's unlikely, the killer and the attacker might be the same person.
Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] I agree. We can't disregard that attack.
Domoto: [crosses arms and closes eyes] No, we can't...however, there's not much to
discuss about the attacker's identity, because we already know there's only person who it could be. [opens eyes] Sakiko Motoki, you are undoubtedly the person who attacked Sashihara-kun and Komatsu-kun!

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Domoto-san thinks Motoki-san is the attacker? I hate to admit it...but that makes sense.
Motoki: [shocked] What!? [angrily] I told you, I didn't do anything!
Niizuma: [examines nails] You told us, yet you proved nothing. [coldly] You were quite desperate to make me seem guilty before...is that perhaps because you're the attacker?
Motoki: [frustratedly] No, I didn't do anything! I was lying down in my room, I swear!
Domoto: [strokes chin] You swear on it, but no one else can prove it. Ichigohara-san could've if it were true, but she's dead now. [crosses arms] About that...I find it strange that Ichigohara-san would simply allow her partner to leave when we had a strict partner system in place.
Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] It's not that strange, really...the garden girl was a pretty chill and laid-back girl. I don't think it's impossible she let the language girl leave to go lie down.
Sashihara: [shouts loudly]
Yeah, neither do I! [adjusts medical mask] I could tell Ichigohara-san really wasn't a fan of the partner system from how she was acting yesterday.

Yeah...she was acting pretty despondent before Motoki-san proposed they go to the baths together...
Domoto: [crosses arms and closes eyes] Even if Ichigohara-san actually did tell Motoki-san
to go back to her room, it doesn't matter. [opens eyes] Motoki-san is the only person who could be the attacker.
Motoki: [frustratedly] Stop saying that! I'm not that person!
Niizuma: [coldly] Stop lying. It's futile to resist the truth.
Motoki: [frustratedly]
.............. [narrows eyes] What about Sashihara-kun and Komatsu-kun? Even if neither of them could be the killer, isn't it still possible one attacked the other?
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Do ya really think we woulda
hit ourselves on the head so hard if we were the ones that did it?
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] W-Well...if y-you really w-wanted to avoid l-looking suspicious, m-maybe you would...
Terajima: [calmly] That's a fair point, Oyamada-kun, but it isn't right. [adjusts sunglasses] Both the fitness boy and music boy
were hit in the middle of the back of their heads. As I've said before, inflicting wounds in those spots as bad as the ones they got is pretty much impossible to do by yourself.

Hayasaka: [smirks] So will Sakiko-chan, like, finally give up now? [closes eyes “cutely” and holds up twin peace signs] It's, like, totally obvious she's the, like, killer~!
Eguchi: [avoids eye contact] Yeah...she should just give up already...
Motoki: [angrily] STOP IT!

Silence immediately falls across the room. Oh my God...Motoki-san just screamed louder than
Sashihara-kun or Yamaguchi-kun ever have...
Kawashima: [concernedly] Motoki-san...are you okay?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] No...I'm not... [closes eyes to stop tears] Because you guys keep on accusing me of something I didn't do...and it's really taking a toll on me...
Niizuma: [examines nails] Ah, it looks like you're playing the sympathy angle.
[coldly] Cut the bullshit. It's obvious you're the killer.
Motoki: [fiercely] It's true, Niizuma-san.
[closes eyes to stop tears] I didn't do anything...I'd never hurt anyone... [cries softly] Because I made a promise...a promise to work as hard as I possibly could to make sure another death wouldn't happen.

Motoki-san...
Motoki: [cries softly] And even though I failed to stop Ichigohara-san's death from happening...what I didn't fail at was not hurting anyone. When I made that promise, I also commanded myself to make a commitment
to never harm anyone else.
[fiercely] So, listen to me when I say I'm not the one behind the attack!
Kasparov: [curiously] You keep speaking of a promise...to whom did you make it?
Motoki: [looks at Kawashima] To Kawashima-san...on the day after the last class trial. [cries softly] I swore on Carrasco-san's memory that I'd never let anyone else die.
Domoto: [arches eyebrow] You swore on Carrasco-san's memory? [icily] What a terrible thing to swear on.
She was a murderer.
Motoki: [dolorously] Yes...but she was also my friend...and my love.

Niizuma: [looks to the side] This is cute and all, but...why does this promise matter at all? [folds arms] You failed at one part of it when Ichigohara-san died, so it's not out of the question you failed at the other part, too. [coldly] Besides...we have no way of knowing whether this is true or if it's just sentimental drivel meant to make us feel sorry you.
Kawashima: [firmly] It's not just sentimental drivel, Niizuma-san. [compassionately] I can tell you with certainty that Motoki-san's promise means a lot to her...
Niizuma: [purses lips] ...Hmph. [examines nails] It's not like it matters, anyway. Motoki-san is the only person who has no alibi for the time of death, so she must be the attacker.
Motoki: [fiercely] I've already told you that's not true! I didn't attack Sashihara-kun and Komatsu-kun!
Terajima: [sighs] It looks like we're just going in circles here...if she is the attacker, she's not going to admit to anything. [calmly] How about we talk about how the attack actually went down in more detail? That way, if the language girl really is the one behind it, we can prove it with physical evidence.

Domoto: [strokes chin] Yes...that seems like a good idea. With how things are looking now, she's not going to give up unless we prove to her she's the killer.

Is Motoki-san the attacker? I'm not certain whether she is or not. Part of me says she probably is, yet part of me
believes her when she says that she'd never hurt anyone. I just don't know...so I think following Terajima-kun's idea is what we should probably do. Let's discuss the attack in greater detail, and see what new clues that brings us.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Damp Rope, Blue Tarp, Rock, Komatsu and Motoki's Head Wounds, Mark on Komatsu's Ankle

Eguchi: [uncertainly] I don't really see what else there is to talk about... [avoids eye contact] I
mean, Sashihara-kun and Komatsu-kun were both hit on the head, and then Sashihara-kun was handcuffed to a chair...
Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] That's all that happened, right?
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] There must be more... [analytically] Perhaps the attacker
attempted to kill one of them after knocking both unconscious, yet failed to do so...
Komatsu: [furrows brow] How, though? There weren't
no weapons or anythin' like that...
Sashihara: [shouts loudly] Neither of us had serious injuries other than the head wounds, either!
Oyamada: [quietly] If we're t-talking about r-restraints... [thinking hard] Sashihara-kun was h-handcuffed to a ch-chair... [scratches head] But I'm p-pretty sure Komatsu-kun w-wasn't restrained at a-all...
Hayasaka: [poses confidently] Mika-chan, like, didn't really, like, look that closely, but she's pretty sure everything in the pool was, like, completely normal~! [exaggerated sigh] So, let's, like, stop this already and just say that, like, Sakiko-chan is the attacker.

Motoki: [defensively] But I'm not!
Niizuma: [rolls eyes] Why are we even doing this? It's obvious Motoki-san is the attacker. [folds arms] We learned nothing new at all...

I'm not certain that's true, Niizuma-san...something that one
person said led me to a new realization about the attack.

Answer: Rock >
weren't
no weapons

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Actually, Komatsu-kun, I think there was a weapon in the pool.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Huh? What the fuck are ya talkin' 'bout? I didn't see no knives, guns, or anythin' that could kill someone.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] That's because the weapon I'm talking about isn't that sort of weapon. [seriously] It's a large rock that was at the bottom of the pool!
Terajima: [surprised] A large rock?
Hayasaka: [eyes widen] What the fuck!?

Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] H-How would such a b-big rock get to the b-bottom of a pool?
Sashihara: [shouts loudly] I don't know, but it was there when I woke up on the pool chair. [points aggressively] So it must be the work of the attacker that got it there!
Eguchi: [timidly] How would they use it, though? [wrings hands nervously] I don't get how a rock could be a murder weapon...

I think the answer to that is fairly simple, if we just think about
where the rock was when it was found...the attacker planned to use the rock to...
Smash someone's head in/Drown someone/Stab someone

Answer: Drown someone

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Eguchi-san, the rock was at the bottom of the pool, and was pretty large... [seriously] So I think it could've been used to drown someone.

Hayasaka: [unconvinced] Wakana-chan...are you, like, being serious right now? [places hand on hip] There's, like, no way a rock could, like, drown someone~!
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] I hate to agree with her, but she ain't wrong... [fixes belt] There ain't no way that rock coulda drowned someone!

Are Komatsu-kun and
Hayasaka-san sure about that? It definitely
could be done, as long as the attacker utilized that one piece of evidence...
Bathhouse Strings/Blue Tarp/Damp Rope

Answer: Damp Rope

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Are you guys sure the rock couldn't be used for drowning? [seriously] Because Domoto-san and I found a damp rope in the Art Room!
Komatsu: [surprised] A rope?
Motoki: [perplexedly] In the Art Room? If it was there, how would the attacker have utilized it?
Domoto: [crosses arms] Shouldn't you already know? You're the only person who could be the attacker, after all.
Motoki: [frustratedly] Stop it with that! Just tell me how the attacker could've used that rope if it was in the Art Room.

Domoto: [crosses arms] ...Fine. [strokes chin] They simply could have put it there after they attacked Sashihara-kun and Komatsu-kun.
Kawashima: [nods] We found it carelessly strewn across a table, so it definitely could’ve been quickly thrown in there after the attacker left the pool.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair] Okay, so that's, like, cool and all, but you still haven't, like, answered how that, like, rope would've been used to, like, drown someone.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] If I follow what Kawashima-san is saying, I believe she is proposing that one end of the rope would be tied around a rock, while the other end would be tied around the foot of the target. [analytically] Then, the attacker would push the rock into the pool, which would drag the person tied to it in as well and drown them, creating a bloodless murder. [looks for confirmation] Am I correct?
Kawashima: [nods] That's what I was thinking, yeah.
Niizuma: [shifts balance to right leg] That makes sense, but why is the rock at the bottom of the pool, while the rope is in the Art Room?
Terajima: [calmly] Easy. The attacker didn't go through with their original plan. [pushes sunglasses up nose] That's why the fitness boy and music boy are still alive.
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] S-Speaking of that, wh-which one of th-them was b-being targeted? The p-plan Kasparov-kun d-described would only w-work for a s-single person...

I think the
answer to that is fairly obvious, once that one
piece of
evidence is
considered...
Handcuffs/Shards in Trash/Mark on Komatsu's Ankle

Answer: Mark on Komatsu's Ankle

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously]
Komatsu-kun, you know how you have that mark on your left ankle?
Komatsu: [nods] Yeah, Terajima-kun showed it to me pretty soon after I woke up from my nap. [furrows brow] It's weird, though...I don't remember how I got it...
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Have you considered the possibility that maybe it came from rope burn?
Komatsu: [surprised] ...Rope burn? [clenches fist] Hold up, ya ain't tellin' me I was the one that was gonna be killed, are ya?
Kawashima: [firmly] That's exactly what I'm saying. [seriously] Sashihara-kun was probably handcuffed to the chair to prevent him from stopping the attacker if he woke up before they were done killing you...and he was probably who they were trying to frame once they killed you.
Komatsu: [shaken] No fuckin' way...that ain't true...
Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] Are you sure? Although I wasn't sure before, I'm now certain that's rope burn around your ankle. [calmly] The attacker tied that rope we found in the Art Room around your ankle and was going to attach it to the rock and drown you in the pool.
Komatsu: [shaken] ...What the...hell no... [cracks knuckles] Well, which one of ya is it!? Which one of ya lil' punks was tryna fuckin' kill me!?
Niizuma: [examines nails] Do we even need to answer that? [folds arms] It was Motoki-san, obviously.
Motoki: [defensively] Stop saying that! [angrily] For the last time, I'm not the attacker!
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] S-Sorry to interrupt, b-but I have a q-question...
Terajima: [curiously] What is it, Oyamada-kun?
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably]
Wh-Why would s-someone target K-Komatsu-kun? I d-don't get why th-the attacker would p-pick him of all people...
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Yeah, why the fuck would one of ya try to kill me? [worriedly] I ain't done nothin' wrong, have I?

Eguchi: [reassuringly] No, Komatsu-kun, you haven't...
Komatsu: [slight smile] ...Thanks, Eguchi-san.
Domoto: [crosses arms] Komatsu-kun, maybe
one of the people who regained their memories learned something new about you when they got their memories back and targeted you because of that. [strokes chin] Or maybe it's because you and Sashihara-kun had talked about going to the pool together in front of everyone.
Sashihara: [shouts loudly] Ichigohara-san and Motoki-san talked about taking a bath in front of everyone, too! So why didn’t the attacker go after them!?
Kasparov: [considers carefully] Given that the attacker is most likely Motoki-san, you two were probably chosen because attacking Ichigohara-san would make her look very suspicious. [analytically] However, that is not the only reason why you two were chosen. There is also the fact that the door to the bathhouse locks while the door to the pool does not, so it would be easier for the attacker to gain access to the pool than to the bathhouse.
Oyamada: [looks down and to the right] Th-That makes s-sense...
Niizuma: [looks to the side] I have another question. [examines nails] Kawashima-san, you said the rock was quite large, right?
Kawashima: [nods] Yeah, it was pretty sizable rock. Not massive, but definitely a lot larger than normal.
Niizuma: [folds arms] Then how did it it get to the pool? And where could it have come from?

I'm not
certain about
how it go to the pool yet, but
I
should be able to answer where that rock came from. If I just think hard enough about it, I' m sure
I'll find the answer...

HANGMAN'S GAMBIT

Question: Where did the large rock found at the bottom of the pool from?

DREGNA

Answer: Garden

Kawashima: I've solved it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] It must've come from the garden. There's nowhere else such a rock could be from.
Kasparov: [considers carefully]
That is what I was thinking as well. The garden is the only place in this prison with rocks, I believe. [presses fingers to temple] However...this presents somewhat of an issue. If the rock was fairly large, then I imagine that it would be quite heavy. [frowns] Because of that, I wonder how it could have
been transported
to the pool.
Domoto: [strokes chin] That's a good question...let's discuss the options.

How could that rock have gotten form the garden to the pool...I feel like
I should know the answer, yet
I can't seem to find the answer as of right now. Let's see what everyone else thinks and see if any of their ideas makes sense...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Missing Equipment, Blue Tarp, Dolly, Rock, Damp Rope

Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] I guess we should start with the simplest possible explanation... [shouts loudly] Maybe the attacker
carried the rock from the garden to the pool!
Niizuma: [examines nails] Impossible. Motoki-san is too weak to have carried it.
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] We s-still can't be s-sure she's the a-attacker, though...
Oyamada: [looks down and to the right] It's p-possible someone s-stronger than her c-carried it...
Domoto: [strokes chin] Perhaps the rock was transported using the help of a piece of equipment...
Hayasaka: [places hand on hip] No, that, like, isn't right. [twirls hair] Mika-chan, like, thinks that the attacker, like, tied the rope around the, like,
rock and
dragged
it to the, like, pool~!
Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] That'd leave marks on the floor, though...
Hayasaka: [leans forward and winks] Like, shut your mouth, Yuzuki-chan~! Mika-chan, like, wasn't asking you~!
Eguchi: [hangs head shamefully] Oh...sorry...

I've heard several ideas for what
might've happened...but only one seems to be right once
I
consider the
evidence.

Answer: Dolly >
using the help of a piece of equipment...

Kawashima: That's right!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [covers mouth with hand] Domoto-san...I think you're on to something. [firmly] The attacker could've brought the rock to the pool using the dolly we found in the repository.
Hayasaka: [eyes widen] Wait, like, what!? [doubtfully] That, like, makes no sense at all!
Domoto: [strokes chin] Actually, it does. [crosses arms] The dolly in the repository was scratched and dirty, while everything else was brand new. That suggests that it was used for something.
Eguchi: [avoids eye contact] I mean, it could've been
used before the murder...isn't that a possibility?
Domoto: [strokes chin] ...Yes, I suppose so. But did anyone ever do that?
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] I ain't ever gone into the Art Room, so I dunno.
Niizuma: [looks to the side] Hayasaka-san and I have been there. However, we never once used the dolly.

Hayasaka: [twirls hair] Yeah, we, like, didn't even go into the, like, repository that much.
Domoto: [neutrally] Then that answers your question, Eguchi-san. [crosses arms] If no one used the dolly before today, then that means it must have been used by the attacker or the killer.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] No, it must have been the attacker. Based on what we know of the case so far, the killer had no use for it, as they had nothing to transport.

Kawashima: [seriously] So, it's settled. [firmly] The attacker used the dolly in the repository to take the rock from the garden to the p—

Oyamada: Th-That's impossible!

[split screen separates Oyamada and Kawashima]
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] N-No, Kawashima-san, it's n-not settled. I d-don't think the a-attacker used the d-dolly...
Kawashima: [surprised] You don't...? [slightly challenging] And why is that?
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] I'm r-really surprised y-you haven't seen it yet, K-Kawashima-san...so I g-guess I'll j-just have to explain wh-why you're wrong...

He doesn't sound very confident...but maybe
that's just
because
he's such a shy person. I'm curious as to what his
argument
against the dolly being used is...however,
I'm certain that
I can prove it
wrong. I just have to think of all the
evidence
I have....

REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN

Truth Swords: Removed Wire Coverings, Damp Rope,
Art Room TV,
Pair of Scissors, Blue Tarp

Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] The f-first issue w-with your th-theory about the a-attacker using the d-dolly...
Oyamada: [adjusts glasses nervously] ...is y-your claim that no o-one used used it b-before the a-attacker.
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] S-Someone could easily b-be lying about n-not using it...
Oyamada: [points] ...Besides, it's n-not impossible th-that the k-killer used the d-dolly instead of the a-attacker!

ADVANCE!
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] No, neither of those things is
impossible...
Kawashima: [seriously] However, there's nothing to suggest the killer would need to use the dolly. Also, no one except the attacker would have reason to lie about not using it.

Kawashima: [slightly challenging] So are you still going to say that the attacker using the dolly is impossible?

Oyamada: [stubbornly] Y-Yeah...because th-that's not the o-only issue...
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] I-If the attacker b-brought the rock t-to the pool from the g-garden using the d-dolly...
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] Then th-there would have b-been a trail of dirt, like in the t-tale of Hansel and G-Gretel...
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] You y-yourself said the d-dolly itself was d-dirty, so the f-floors between the g-garden and pool w-would have h-had to been d-dirtied by b-bringing the r-rock from the g-garden...
Oyamada: [adjusts glasses nervously] So, b-becasue there w-wasn't any sign of the f-floors being c-cleaned up...
Oyamada: [points] Y-Your theory of the a-attacker using the rock is i-impossible!

Oyamada-kun's objection is valid if
you ignore one piece of evidence. I just need
to show that to him, and he'll know for sure that the dolly was used to
bring the rock from the garden to the pool.

Answer: Blue Tarp >
would have b-been a trail of dirt

Kawashima: I'll cut your contradictions in two!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Oyamada-kun, there was something that the attacker could have used to prevent making a dirt trail between the garden and pool.
Oyamada: [surprised] R-Really? Th-There is?
Kawashima: [nod] Yes. [thoughfully] It's the blue tarp that I found stuffed beneath one of the pool chairs.
Hayasaka: [incredulously] What? Like, what the fuck does that, like, have to do with anything?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] That tarp had a small amount of dirt in it and was found in the pool.
Eguchi: [avoids eye contact] So? That doesn't really prove anything...
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] It does not prove anything, no, but the evidence does strongly suggest that the tarp was wrapped around the rock while on the dolly, thus preventing any dirt from
being left
on the floors.
Terajima: [adjusts sunglasses] Hold up...I get what you're saying, but there's still an issue. [calmly] Someone before said that the dolly itself was scratched and dirty...if the tarp was used to cover the rock, how the hell did the dolly itself get all beat up?
Motoki: [pulls on poncho collar] Just bringing it into the garden might've caused it to get dirty...the plants in there may be fake, but the dirt itself is real.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] I guess it's also possible the attacker didn't think of usin' the tarp at first. [shrugs] Maybe they loaded the rock onto the dolly, and, once it got fucked up, they realized they needed to use a tarp to prevent it from leavin' a trail.
Terajima: [calmly] ...Hmm. I guess those are reasonable explanations.
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] It l-looks like I w-was wrong... [ashamed] S-Sorry for w-wasting your time, e-everyone...
Terajima: [reassuringly] Don't worry, Oyamada-kun. You weren't wasting anyone's time.
Eguchi: [small smile] Yeah, it's good that you did that...now we know more about how the attacker transported the rock than before...
Oyamada: [appreciatively] Th-Thanks, you guys... [curiously] I g-guess I sh-should ask so I c-can get the f-full picture and d-don't needlessly o-object...was th-there anything e-else weird f-found at the p-pool?

Yes, Oyamada-kun, there was...there was definitely
something else in the pool that
didn't belong there.

Key at Pool Bottom/Destroyed Computer/Removed Wire Coverings

Answer: Key at Pool Bottom

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] There was also a key at the bottom of the pool, Oyamada-kun.

Niizuma: [purses lips] A key? Why would something like that be at the bottom of the pool?
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] It certainly is quite strange...
Sashihara: [shouts loudly] Yeah, keys don't belong at the bottom of pools!
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] No, they don't...clearly, the attacker didn't want anyone else using it.

Niizuma: [folds arms] No, you probably didn't want anyone else to use that key, did you, Motoki-san?
Motoki: [frustratedly] Will you stop with that already? I've told you I'm not the attacker!
Domoto: [irritatedly] Both of you, stop it. [crosses arms] Even if I'm certain Motoki-san's the attacker, this matter with the key still needs to be resolved before we accuse her any more.
Niizuma: [purses lips] ...Hmph. I guess so. However,
if we do talk about that key, I think we should focus not so much on why it's at the bottom of the pool as we should on how it's related to the attack in the first place.
Domoto: [nods] That's a good idea, Niizuma-san.

The question of how that key is involved in the attack on Sashihara-kun and Komatsu-kun
is definitely a curious one...however,
I'm sure we'll be able to find the answer to it.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Key at Pool Bottom, Handcuffs, Hidden Door, Art Room TV,
Shards in Trash

Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] So, that, like, key...
Hayasaka: [places hand on hip] It must, like,
open some sort of, like, door, right?
Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] Not necessarily...it could've been used for locking
something other than a door...
Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] It could be a skeleton key...like the one Monohebi was using on our first day exploring this floor...
Sashihara: [points aggressively] How, though!? No one here has access to any such key!
Kasparov: [analytically] Perhaps the attacker is the traitor and borrowed the key from Monohebi... [considers carefully] However, if that is the case, I would imagine Monohebi would require they return the key to him...
Komatsu: [confidently] They wouldn't hafta to be the traitor to get a special key.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] It ain't unlikely the attacker's one of the people who got their missin' memories back...so maybe gettin' a special key was part of the motive.

That was a lot of proposals as to what the key has to do with
the attack...however, they can't all be right. I'll need to filter through which ones are
wrong and which is the right one if
I want to
find out what the real reason that key is at the
scene is.

Answer: Handcuffs >
something other than a door...

Kawashima: That's right!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Terajima-kun, you're right. That key wouldn't have to be used to lock and unlock a door. [seriously] Instead, it could be used to open something else...like the handcuffs on Sashihara-kun.
Sashihara: [shocked] What? [adjusts medical mask] Wait a minute...that actually makes sense! [points aggressively] The handcuffs on me needed a key to open them...the attacker probably threw the key into the pool after locking me to the chair!
Domoto: [eyes widen] ...!

What was that? Domoto-san looked
like she just realized something...
Kawashima: [curiously] What is it, Domoto-san?
Domoto: [strokes chin] ...What Sashihara-kun just said...it's making me reconsider Motoki-san being the attacker.
Motoki: [hopefully] ...Really? So you believe I'm not the attacker now?
Domoto: [crosses arms] I never said that. I only said it was making me reconsider who the attacker might be.
Niizuma: [disbelievingly] Why? I don't see what it was in what he said that's making you reconsider her being the attacker.
Domoto: [strokes chin] ...If you don't already see what it is, there's no need to point it out to you. [shakes head] Never mind. Forget what I said. Motoki-san is still the most likely candidate for being the attacker.
Motoki: [dejectedly] Dammit...

...What the hell was that?
Domoto-san looked
like she realized something...but what was it? I don't get what is
making her change
her mind so suddenly, either...
Eguchi: [avoids eye contact] Um, to get things back on track...I have a question.
Terajima: [curiously] What is it, Eguchi-san?
Eguchi: [timidly] That key could be the key to the handcuffs, I don't disagree with that... [points shakily] But it could also be the key to the door in the secret room!

...No, it couldn't be. That's
because...
It was too small/The key to the secret room is missing/The key to the secret room has a Monohebi head on it

Answer:
The key to
the
secret room has a Monohebi head on it

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] Eguchi-san, do you remember when Hayasaka-san pulled out the key to secret room to prove that she had it?
Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] Yeah...
Kawashima: [seriously] Well, you must've missed one detail. [firmly] The key to the secret room had a Monohebi head on it, but the one at the bottom of the pool was plain and had nothing on it!
Hayasaka: [flips hair] Mika-chan can, like, confirm~! That, like, key had a big, ugly Monohebi, like, head on it.
Eguchi: [timidly] Oh...I forgot about that... [hangs head shamefully] Sorry about that...
Kawashima: [reassuringly] Don't worry, it's okay.
Niizuma: [examines nails] Alright, this makes sense and all, but we're still not answering one big question.

Huh? What's she talking about?
Kawashima: [confusedly] What "big question" are you talking about, Niizuma-san?
Niizuma: [folds arms] The fact that they're still alive.

The room falls silent.
Oyamada: [quietly] ...Wh-What?
Niizuma: [folds arms] You heard me. Why are Sashihara-kun and Komatsu-kun still alive? [looks to the side] Well, I suppose I should rephrase. Why is Komatsu-kun still alive? [shifts balance to right leg] It's clear that the attacker was attempting to kill him and blame Sashihara-kun for his death. However...that obviously didn't happen.

Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Can we quit talkin' 'bout this? I don't like thinkin' 'bout how someone was tryna kill me...
Kasparov: [frowns] As unfortunate as it might be, I am afraid this topic is too peculiar to not discuss.

He's right...it's weird that the attacker suddenly
gave up trying to kill
Komatsu-kun and blame Sashihara-kun for it.
They must've had a reason for it...but what
could it be?
Kasparov: [considers carefully]
If we are to speculate on this matter, I believe it is impossible to ignore that either Sashihara-kun or Komatsu-kun might be the perpetrator behind the attack. [frowns] However, the fact that they both sustained fairly bad wounds to the posterior of their heads essentially rules out that possibility.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] The attacker could still, like, be Noriyo-chan.
Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] Then why would she put the doorstop back in her locker on top of everything else, where it could easily have been seen, and not in the Art Room?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Maybe Noriyo-chan was, like, pulling a reverse psychology move...making us, like, think that someone was framing her.
Terajima: [shakes head] No. [adjusts sunglasses] Because the rope used by the attacker was found in the Art Room, if the garden girl were the attacker, she would've had to have gone back to the Art Room to put the rope there. So there's no reason she couldn't have put that doorstop back in the Art Room.
Eguchi: [avoids eye contact] But if the attacker isn't any of those people, who is it?
Niizuma: [rolls eyes] Does that question even have to be answered? [folds arms] It's obviously Motoki-san.
Motoki: [frustratedly] Oh my God, stop with that already!
Terajima: [raises palm of hand] Stop. We need to get back on track. [calmly] The question of why the attacker didn't go through with their plan still hasn't been answered.
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] Th-This may s-sound stupid, but they just m-might've gotten c-cold feet and b-backed out of it...

No, Oyamada-kun...that doesn't
sound stupid at all.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Oyamada-kun...I agree.
Oyamada: [surprised] You d-do?
Kawashima: [nods] Yes. [seriously] So far, we haven't found any evidence as to why the attacker would suddenly halt their plans. There's no sign of them being interrupted by anything, or any tool they needed breaking...nothing else that would explain them suddenly deciding to not kill Komatsu-kun and Sashihara-kun.
Terajima: [adjusts sunglasses] I want to agree, but...I find that kind of scenario difficult to imagine.
Sashihara: [shouts loudly] Yeah, me too!
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] ...I don't. Killing someone is a huge thing to do...maybe the attacker had their conscience take hold of them at the last second and decided to call off their plan. [pensivley] And I think that says something about the attacker...they're not really a terrible person deep down. They still have a conscience. [smiles hopefully] So...attacker, whoever you are, come forward now. We know you're not a bad person deep down...so prove it and admit to what you've done.
Niizuma: [rolls eyes] ...This is making me want to gag.
Motoki: [shocked] What? Why?
Niizuma: [coldly] Because it's clear that you're the attacker and that this is nothing more than a distraction.
Motoki: [angrily] Stop saying that! Can't you just admit that maybe you might be wrong?
Niizuma: [coldly] Can't you finally admit to being the attacker?
Domoto: [irritatedly] Both of you, stop this. We need to get back on track.
Niizuma: [folds arms] We're discussing how Motoki-san is the only candidate for being the attacker...so we are on track, Domoto-san.

Domoto: [crosses arms] No, we're not. We're looking at this from the wrong angle.
Komatsu: [confusedly] Huh? Whaddaya mean, Domoto-san?
Domoto: [strokes chin] So far, we've only been considering the attack on Komatsu-kun and Sashihara-kun...yet we've ignored the attack on Motoki-san the other day and the tripwire set up in the Music Room yesterday, both of which help give us clues to the true identity of the attacker.
Motoki: [hopefully] Wait...Domoto-san, are you saying you don't think I'm the attacker anymore?
Domoto: [nods] Yes.

Hayasaka: [unconvinced] Are you, like, serious, Otoha-chan? Sakiko-chan's, like, obviously the attacker~!
Kasparov: [analytically] I am inclined to agree...I understand that the two incidents prior to the attack today are important, yet I fail to see how they point to a new suspect.
Domoto: [crosses arms and closes eyes] Consider them more closely, then. [opens eyes] Consider the intended target of all three incidents.

The intended target of all three incidents...? I don't
understand what she means by that yet, but...I think have the evidence available to see what she means. I just need to think carefully, and the answer
should become clear...

LOGIC DIVE

Q1: In which room
was the tripwire found yesterday placed?

The Art Room/The Garden/The Music Room

Q2: Which individual often used the room previously stated and was directly involved in two of the three incidents?

Yuzuki Eguchi/Sakiko Motoki/Yutaka Komatsu

Q3:
What could the drawing found on the shards of the pot Motoki was carrying
represent?

The target's family name/The attacker's family name/The culprit's family name

Answers:
The Music Room, Yutaka Komatsu, The target's family name

Kawashima: I understand it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [eyes widen in realization] Wait a minute...there is something that ties all three incidents together.

Motoki: [perplexedly] There is? What is it?

Kawashima: [seriously] Komatsu-kun was the target.

Komatsu: [furrows brow] I mean, I agree 'bout the attack that happened today, but...I ain't seein' how I was the target the other two times.

Domoto: [crosses arms] The tripwire discovered yesterday was set up in the Music Room, correct?

Eguchi: [timidly] Yeah, that's right...

Domoto: [crosses arms] And who here has a talent that directly relates to the making of music, and as such could be expected
spend a lot of time in the Music Room?

Motoki: [surprised] ...Komatsu-kun.

Sashihara: [shouts loudly] Wait a minute, Motoki-san was the one attacked two days ago! How could she not have been the intended target for that attack!?

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I think Motoki-san was attacked not because she was the intended target, but because she took something the attacker was going to use as a weapon.

Motoki: [perplexedly] Wait, you aren't talking about the pot I was carrying, are you? How could that be a weapon?

Kasparov: [analytically] If a clay pot such as the one you were carrying
were to be broken, the pieces of it would be quite sharp and could be utilized as knives. [frowns] However, I do not understand why the attacker would go so far as to attack Motoki-san for taking their pot, if they were actually planning to use something so strange as a murder weapon.

Domoto: [strokes chin] That's because the pot had a something
drawn on it in black sharpie, which could potentially ruin their plan if Motoki-san discovered it.

Terajima: [curiously] And what is that?

Domoto: [crosses arms] A drawing
of a small pine tree.

Niizuma: [doubtfully] ...How exactly is that relevant?

Kawashima: [seriously] Niizuma-san, do you remember how I was reading the book on family names?

Niizuma: [looks to the side] Yes, I do...it looked like a boring read.

Kawashima: [seriously] Well, if you had read it yourself, you might have noticed that it explained the meaning behind Komatsu-kun's family name.... [firmly] ...which is "young pine tree."

Komatsu: [fixes belt] Yeah, that's what my family name means...and I get that's pretty sneaky way for the attacker to hide who they were tryna kill with the pot's pieces. [furrows brow] But what I don't get is...how the hell does that lead ya to a new suspect, Domoto-san?

Domoto: [strokes chin] Think about it carefully, Komatsu-kun. Who here has shown an obvious dislike for you ever since we first got here? Who here slipped up earlier by mentioning how the key found at the bottom of the pool was the key to Sashihara-kun's handcuffs, long before we ever mentioned that possibility?

Terajima: [curiously] Is that what made you reconsider Motoki-san being the attack earlier?

Domoto: [nods] Yes. I'm now fairly certain she isn't the attacker. [crosses arms] I think I've made the person I'm suspecting clear. If you haven't figured it out already, you should soon.

...Holy shit.
The
person
Domoto-san is suspecting...I know who it is! It seems impossible, yet at the same time,
I feel like
I should've realized it sooner. I need to point this person out now...they've hid behind
lies and deception long enough. I need to expose them for who they truly are!

CHOOSE A PERSON!

Wakana Kawashima

Eisuke Terajima

Sakiko Motoki

Yuuto Furuhata

Yuzuki Eguchi

Sergey Kasparov

Mayumi Carrasco

Mika Hayasaka

Tomiko Niizuma

Noriyo Ichigohara

Yoshi Yamaguchi

Yutaka Komatsu

Hisaya Sashihara

Osamu Oyamada

Michio Aozora

Otoha Domoto

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

[MIKA HAYASAKA
CHOSEN]

Kawashima: It can only be you!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Domoto-san...are you suspecting Hayasaka-san?
Domoto: [satisfied] Ah...so you figured it out.
Hayasaka: [eyes widen] Wait...like, Mika-chan? [furiously] Like, what fucking drug are the two of you, like, on that’d, like, make you think Mika-chan’s the, like, attacker!?
Kawashima: [seriously] We're not on any drugs, Hayasaka-san. [firmly] It's entirely possible that you're the real attacker.
Hayasaka: [unconvinced] Oh, like, really? Even when Mika-chan, like, has an alibi for this morning? [places hand on hip] Besides, Mika-chan, like, didn't have, like, anything to do with the, like, other two things.
Domoto: [doubtfully] Can you prove that? Do you have an alibi for the time when Motoki-san was attacked?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair] Well...like, no... [narrows eyes] But that, like, doesn't matter~! [closes eyes “cutely” and holds up twin peace signs] Because the attack on, like, Sakiko-chan happened the day, like, before we started with that whole, like, partner thing, no
one else, like, has an alibi for her attack~!
Terajima: [adjusts sunglasses] The selfie girl does have a point...anyone could've attacked the language girl.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] Yes, anyone could have...so she remains a potential suspect for that event. [frowns] However, the fact that she was alone then is not confirmation that she is truly behind the attack.
Hayasaka: [points angrily] Yeah, it, like, totally isn't! [places hand on hip] Just stop saying Mika-chan is the, like, attacker when you, like, don't have anything to, like, link her to the other two, like, incidents!

Nothing to
connect her to the two other incidents...is she sure about that?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Hayasaka-san...when you were accusing Sashihara-kun a little while back, you said that he used the key we found in the bottom of the pool to lock his handcuff and then threw it into the bottom of the pool.
Hayasaka: [flips hair] Yeah, Mika-chan, like, said that. So, like, what?
Kawashima: [covers mouth with hand] It's two things. Firstly, you made the connection that the key was for the handcuffs before the rest of us had come to that conclusion. [seriously] Secondly, and more damningly, you already knew that there was a key at the bottom of the pool...before anyone else had mentioned it.
Hayasaka: [eyes widen] Eugh...! [shakily] S-So, like, what? [points angrily] Mika-chan was just, like, really observant during the, like, investigation and noticed the key before the, like rest of you!

I
doubt that.
However, it's interesting that she brings up the investigation,
because she reminded me of something else...
Kawashima: [curiously] Hayasaka-san, is it true that you were in the girls' locker room alone during the investigation?
Hayasaka: [places hand on hip] ...........
Domoto: [icily] Well? Aren't you going to answer?
Hayasaka: [narrows eyes] ...Fine. [places hand on hip] Yeah, it's, like, true. Mika-chan was, like, alone in the girls' locker room for a few, like, minutes.
Kawashima: [seriously] So you admit it's possible that you planted the doorstop in Ichigohara-san's locker?
Hayasaka: [shocked] What!? [furiously] No, Mika-chan, like, never said that!
Komatsu: [fixes belt] But ya admitted that ya were alone in there for a few minutes...so it's possible ya coulda done that.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Yeah, no one would stop Hayasaka-san from putting the doorstop in Ichigohara-san's locker if she was alone.
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] S-Sorry to interrupt, but w-wouldn't someone have s-seen Hayasaka-san
w-with the d-doorstop
if
it w-was with h-her?
Niizuma: [scratches neck] Not necessarily. Her outfit definitely has pockets on it that she could hide it in.
Hayasaka: [eyes widen] Tomiko-chan...? [shakes head violently] No...no. [narrows eyes] Mika-chan's, like, not going to let you guys, like, dirty her name anymore. [closes eyes “cutely” and holds up twin peace signs] She, like, swears that she's innocent~!
Domoto: [pinches bridge of nose] Do we really have to to do this? It's incredibly obvious you're the attacker. [crosses arms] Who else but you would target Komatsu-kun? You're the only person here who's consistently shown dislike for him.
Hayasaka: [wrinkles nose] It's true that Mika-chan, like, hates that dirty poor dude's ass. [leans forward and winks] But that, like, doesn't make her the attacker! [smirks and closes eyes] Besides...Mika-chan, like, has an alibi that Yuzuki-chan can, like, totally confirm. [opens eyes] Right, Yuzuki-chan?
Eguchi: [avoids eye contact] ...Yeah. I can confirm...
Hayasaka: [poses confidently] Then it's, like, totally settled~! Because she has a, like, alibi, Mika-chan totally isn’t the, like, attacker~!

...Hmm. Eguchi-san doesn't sound too sure about confirming her and Hayasaka-san’s alibi. It's almost as if...wait a minute. I
just realized
something!
Kawashima: [curiously] Hayasaka-san, where exactly were you and Eguchi-san this morning?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair boredly] Wow, Wakana-chan, you're, like, really forgetful...didn't Mika-chan, like, already tell you that?
Kawashima: [nods] You did...but I want to hear it again, just to confirm.
Hayasaka: [exaggerated sigh] Like, okay...
[closes eyes “cutely” and holds up twin peace signs] Mika-chan and, like, Yuzuki-chan were on the, like, second floor the whole, like, time~!
Kawashima: [curiously] Where on the second floor?
Hayasaka: [annoyedly] Why does that, like, matter? [closes eyes “cutely” and holds up twin peace signs] All that, like, matters is that we were, like, together~!
Kawashima: [seriously] Just answer the question.
Hayasaka: [poses confidently] Mika-chan and, like, Yuzuki-chan were, like...um... [flips hair] Hey, why don't you, like, ask Yuzuki-chan instead?
Eguchi: [timidly] Yeah, I can answer if you
wa—
Domoto: [harshly] No. We need to hear this from Hayasaka-san herself.
Hayasaka: [testily] Yuzuki-chan...you better answer...
Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] I...
Hayasaka: [desperately] Yuzuki-chan!
Kawashima: [seriously] Don't answer, Eguchi-san.
Eguchi: [wrings hands frantically] Please...please...let me answer...
Kasparov: [firmly] No, you cannot. Not until Hayasaka-san says where the two of you were.
Domoto: [icily] Answer the question, Hayasaka-san. It's fairly simple. [crosses arms] Where were you and Eguchi-san this morning?
Hayasaka: [sweats] Um...Yuzuki-chan and, like, Mika-chan were in the...the...
[closes eyes “cutely” and holds up twin peace signs] We were, like, in the Arcade!

...Just as
I thought.
Kawashima: [nods] That's interesting, Hayasaka-san... [seriously] Because earlier, Eguchi-san told me you two were in the Casino the whole time!
Hayasaka: [taken aback] Eugh...!

Sashihara: [shocked] Wait a minute...if their accounts are conflicting...that means...
Domoto: [crosses arms] Their alibis are both fake.
Eguchi: [terrified] No! I was wrong earlier, we were both in the Arcade!
Kawashima: [seriously] Sorry, but I seriously doubt you'd forget where you were the whole morning.

Oyamada: [confusedly] W-Wait...Eguchi-san was l-lying about her a-alibi? Wh-Why would she d-do that?
Eguchi: [tremulously] I...I didn't want...
Terajima: [curiously] You didn't want what, Eguchi-san?
Eguchi: [grimaces] I...
Hayasaka: [narrows eyes] She didn't want her secret to be get out. [smirks with vengeful glare] Well...secrets, actually.
Eguchi: [desperately] No...Hayasaka-san, please don’t do this!
Hayasaka: [vengefully] It’s too late, Yuzuki-chan. You didn’t keep your end of the bargain. [poses confidently] Okay, like, listen up, everyone~! Mika-chan, like, has something to, like, say~!
Eguchi: [even more desperately] Stop! Don’t tell them!
Sashihara: [confusedly] Don’t tell us what?
Hayasaka: [smirks with vengeful glare] Yuzuki-chan is, like, one of the two people that regained their, like, memories~!
Eguchi: [shocked] Ngh...!
Oyamada: [shocked] Wh-What!?
Kawashima: [surprised] Hayasaka-san, are you serious?
Hayasaka: [closes eyes “cutely” and holds up twin peace signs]
Yep~!

Niizuma: [folds arms] How did you figure something like that
out? I highly doubt Eguchi-san would freely tell you something like that.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair] She, like, didn't. Mika-chan, like, figured it out all by herself. [places hand on hip] Like, did you guys not, like, notice how she, like, suddenly
started
saying "um" a lot, like, less frequently than before one day?

...Wait a minute. Now that
I think
about it, Eguchi-san did stop
her habit of saying "um" a lot starting yesterday. I can't believe
I
didn't pick up on how that was weird sooner...
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] I noticed, but I didn't want to say something...I figured it was her business. But...that's not important. [determined] What matters is that Eguchi-san is one of the two people who regained their memories. [turns to Eguchi] So, what did you remember? Come one, tell us!
Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] I...I...
Kasparov: [analytically] Hayasaka-san, you said that Eguchi-san had secrets she wanted to keep from the rest of us, yet you have only revealed one thing. So, what is the other secret?
Hayasaka: [smirks with vengeful glare]
As it, like, turns out, the stuff with her memory
has to, like, do with her other secret. [smugly] You see...Yuzuki-chan, like, regained a certain, like...affliction when she got her, like, memories back.
Eguchi: [weakly] Please...don't...you have no right to...
Hayasaka: [leans forward and winks] Oh, Mika-chan, like, totally does, Yuzuki-chan! [smirks with vengeful glare] It's, like, true. Yuzuki-chan has another, more, like, personal, secret that she, like, doesn't want anyone else to, like, know.
Eguchi: [frantically] Hayasaka-san, please don't! [sobs] I'm begging you!!
Hayasaka: [remorselessly] Too late. [vengefully]
Yuzuki-chan is bulimic.
Eguchi: [sobs] Ngh...I...
Komatsu: [furrows brow] ...What? What's a bulimic? [fixes belt] And why would Eguchi-san not want anyone else to know?

Based on what
I read earlier today,
I should be able to tell
him at least one of those two things.
Kawashima: [seriously] A bulimic is a person who has bulimia nervosa, which is an eating disorder.

Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] I don't get it...why didn't she want Hayasaka-san to reveal that she had an eating disorder?
Sashihara: [shouts loudly] Indeed! Mental health issues are nothing to be ashamed of!
Eguchi: [tearfully] It's...It's because.... [weakly] It's something I've struggled with for so, so long...and for her to just reveal it...without my consent is... [sobs] It's not okay!

Eguchi-san...
********TW BEGIN********
Hayasaka: [smugly] Too, like, late, Yuzuki-chan. [leans forward and winks] It's your, like, fault you got bulimia anyway, so you, like, have no reason to cry over it~!
Eguchi: [angrily] Don't you dare...say that... [sobs] It's not my fault...
Hayasaka: [unconvinced] Oh, like, really? Then whose is it, Yuzuki-chan?
Eguchi: [sobs] Ngh...I... [weakly] It was...it was...
Terajima: [curiously] It was what, Eguchi-san?
Eguchi: [weakly] It was...
Hayasaka: [poses "cutely"] ...Entirely your fault?
Eguchi: [angrily] No! It was... [weakly] It was...so many things...
Kawashima: [compassionately] What were they, Eguchi-san?
Eguchi: [weakly] I guess...I guess it all started back when I was fifteen... [grimaces] I moved to a new school, and the people there were...well...

[[flashback begin]]
Eguchi: [sits quietly at desk]
...........
Classmate #1: [whispers] Do you guys see that new girl over there?
Classmate #2: [rolls eyes] Yeah, sadly. I tried to talk to her earlier, but all I got was a bunch of mumbling. She didn't even look me in the eye. [disapprovingly] Talk about a total social wreck...
Classmate #3: [snickers] I heard she doesn't have any real friends...it figures. What an ugly, worthless bitch.
Classmate #1: [agreeing] Yeah, why is she even here? She'd do us all a favor if just stayed home all day and never showed her face. [digusted] Because...damn, she's ugly.
Eguchi: [begins to tear up]
...........

[[flashback end]]

Eguchi: [sadly] Everyone at school was so mean to me...I never had any friends... [hugs herself] So...I turned to games. I drowned myself in fiction to prevent myself from facing the truth...I was a miserable social reject, who had to make her own fake game worlds to feel proud of herself....I was worthless.
Oyamada: [tearfully] Th-That's not t-true, Eguchi-san...y-you're not w-worthless...n-no one is...
Eguchi: [sadly] ...Thanks, Oyamada-kun...but
at the time, I was convinced that what they were saying was true. [hugs herself] Eventually it all took a toll on me...I began to channel all my stress into making games, and then I stressed myself over deadlines I had to make for my games...so much so that I began to lose sight of it all. That, school, and my nonexistent social life all pushed me to the brink.

Eguchi-san...this must have
been so hard for you...
Eguchi: [cries] I couldn't handle my emotions in a healthy way...so food became my coping mechanism.
Whenever I was really
stressed, which was a lot...I'd eat a ton of food. [smiles bitterly] And then, for just a few minutes, I'd feel good... [grimaces] But then...eventually, I always purged. I'd vomit up all the food I had just eaten...and sometimes, I'd still feel hungry afterwards. [hugs herself and sobs] Every time my family ate dinner, I wanted to cry...every time I sat down all alone at lunch, I wanted it all to stop...
Domoto: [strokes chin] How did your family not know about this? Were they just negligent?
Eguchi: [weakly] No...I was just good at hiding it. [grimaces]
Even though my weight was constantly changing, I was usual at an ordinary weight range...besides, my parents are pretty quiet, introverted people. They would never be the ones to initiate a conversation.
Terajima: [wipes eyes under sunglasses] Eguchi-san...I'm so sorry you're going through this.

Eguchi: [smiles weakly] Thanks, Terajima-kun...but I'm not really going through it anymore. [grimaces] Well...I guess I am, but I got help before I came here. Although...
Kasparov: [curiously] Although what?
Eguchi: [hugs herself] Although..I didn't get help willingly. I was so embarrassed that I had a problem...I convinced myself that it was my issue and that I had to solve it..that no one else should waste themselves on a worthless person like me. [grimaces] But when my dentist saw how the enamel on my teeth was eroding from all the vomiting I was doing...and when my doctor saw the marks on my hands from sticking them down my throat to cause vomiting...they alerted my family, and I was placed in therapy.
Niizuma: [folds arms] Not to sound insensitive, but if you went through therapy before, why are you still bulimic now?
Eguchi: [weakly] Therapy helps, but...it doesn't heal. [grimaces] An eating disorder can never be cured, not entirely...you recover, you grow a thicker skin, you learn healthier ways of dealing with emotions, but...it's always still there. It's always lurking in the back of your mind...like a monster waiting to pounce again. [hugs herself and cries] And when Monohebi returned my memories of having bulimia to me...that reminder, combined with the stress of this terrible killing game...it...it caused me to relapse.
Oyamada: [quietly] Is th-that why you s-started eating so m-much so suddenly a f-few days ago? And a-also why you d-didn't eat a l-lot more r-recently?
Eguchi: [weakly] Yeah...that's the reason why. I started that terrible cycle of binging and purging again...
********TW END********
Komatsu: [softly] Yo, Eguchi-san...I just wanna let ya know somethin'.
Eguchi: [weakly] ...What?

Komatsu: [emotionally] Yer real fuckin' strong, girl. It ain't easy to make it through the shit ya went through...
Terajima: [wipes eyes beneath glasses] Yeah...to deal with such a terrible thing...is... [shudders] I could never make it through anything like that...
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] N-Neither could I... [tearfully] I'm s-so, so s-sorry you w-went through wh-what you d-did, Eguchi-san...and I'll d-do whatever I c-can to help you r-recover!
Sashihara: [passioantely]
Same here! I, Hisaya Sashihara, the Ultimate Fitness Trainer, promise I will help you out fo your relapse and into permanent recovery! [determined] You have my word...I won't let this terrible disorder harm you anymore! I'll help you become the best possible version of yourself!
Terajima: [supportively] Same here...as a bodyguard, it's just as important for me to safeguard others' mental health as it is to secure their physical health.

Eguchi: [smiles tearfully. with hand over heart] Thank you all...so, so much... [gratefully] I'm so glad you accepted me.... [grimaces] I thought you'd all hate me for letting something like this happen to me...
Kawashima: [compassionately] We don't hate you, Eguchi-san. Not in the slightest.

Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Yeah, and we don't blame you for what you went through.
Niizuma: [looks to the side] No... [folds arms] I admire your courage and persistence, Eguchi-san. Pushing through a mental health struggle cannot be easy... [smiles] ...so, for that, you have my respect.
Kasparov: [warmly] You have mine as well, Eguchi-san.
Domoto: [nods curtly] Me too. [crosses arms and fidgets] Don't take that as a sign of saccharine
sentimentality, though...that's not what that is.
Eguchi: [weakly] You can be nice without it being "saccharine sentimentality," Domoto-san...
Domoto: [strokes chin] ...I suppose you're right.
Eguchi: [hugs herself] Anyway...thank you guys so much. [smiles tearfully with hand over heart] I'm so grateful that you're all being so supportive...and that you'll help me on my journey to recovery, even if it's a rocky road...
Oyamada: [small smile] Of c-course we'll s-support you, n-no matter wh-what...we c-couldn't call o-ourselves your r-real friends if w-we didn't stick w-with you in the b-bad times...
Terajima: [wipes eyes under sunglasses] Yeah, true friends aren't just there for the good times. They're there when shit gets bad, too.
Eguchi: [smiles tearfully with hand over heart] Thanks, Oyamada-kun and Terajima-kun...thanks, all of you... [grimaces] ...Well, actually, not all of you.

I don't have to do much thinking to figure who she's talking about...
Hayasaka: [unbothered] What, did you, like, think Mika-chan would, like, care about your, like, sob story, Yuzuki-chan?
Eguchi: [hugs herself] No...I knew you wouldn't care about that. [smiles deviously] But...I do know something you would care about.

That look Eguchi-san is giving Hayasaka-san...it's sending chills down my spine.
Kawashima: [concernedly] ...Eguchi-san? Is everything okay?

Eguchi: [wipes tears away from eyes and narrows them] ...Yeah.
Motoki: [worriedly] Are you sure? You're acting kind of weird right now...
Hayasaka: [twirls hair uncomfortably] Yeah, Yuzuki-chan...like, why are you looking at me so creepily?

Eguchi: [coldly] Because I hate you for what you did...you revealed something extremely personal, something that I become extremely anxious and uncomfortable just talking about...all without my consent. [narrows eyes] Did you expect me to just forgive you and move on? Are you really that dumb, Hayasaka-san?
Domoto: [worriedly] Eguchi-san...this is not how you normally act at all.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Yeah, ya ain't normally like this, not at all.
Eguchi: [thoughtfully] No...I'm not. But I guess Monohebi giving me my memories back...changed me in some way. [smiles deviously] I've been repressing that darker side of me for so long now...so I just have to let it loose...just this once...

What the hell...?

Kawashima: [concernedly] Eguchi-san...please, stop embracing this "darker side" of you. [grimaces] I don't think it's a good idea to do that...
Eguchi: [thoughtfully]
I promise it'll only be this once, Kawashima-san...isn't that okay?
Oyamda: [hugs book tightly] E-Eguchi-san...y-you're s-scaring m-me...
Eguchi: [surprised] Oyamada-kun...I didn't mean to... [regretfully] Maybe I shouldn't do this...
Hayasaka: [annoyedly] No, you, like, really fucking shouldn't. [twirls hair uncomfortably] This is, like, creepy as hell! Do you have a, like, split personality or something?
Eguchi: [hugs herself, looks to the side, and frowns] No...I'm completely aware of what I'm doing...I know what I'm thinking feels wrong. Most of my brain is clamoring for me to sit quietly and passively, like I always do. [face hardens] However...the smallest, darkest part of me is the loudest right now after what Hayasaka-san just did to me...and it's giving me a strong urge to...enact revenge.
Hayasaka: [fearfully] Y-Yuzuki-chan...? What's that, like, mean?
Eguchi: [smiles deviously] ...Oh, you know, Hayasaka-san. [points confidently] I'm going to expose you. It's only fair that you revealed my two secrets without my consent...so it's only fair that I reveal yours.
Hayasaka: [fearfully] Wh-What? [desperately] Yuzuki-chan...please reconsider. This isn't the answer!
Eguchi: [narrows eyes] You're not going to stop me now. [points confidently] Everyone, Hayasaka-san is the attacker, and blackmailed me into helping her with her murder plot!

...So that confirms my
suspicions. Part of me was suspecting
she was the person Hayasaka-san was
blackmailing last night for a while now,
I just was unsure of it.

Hayasaka: [taken aback] ...Eughah!
Domoto: [crosses arms] ...So I was right. Hayasaka-san was the real attacker.
Motoki: [relieved] I told you guys it wasn't me...
Niizuma: [purses lips] Hmm...I suppose we should've listened to you. [folds arms] But it's not like that matters now.

She does have a hard time admitting to
being wrong, doesn't she...
Hayasaka: [pulls on hair] No, no...this, like, is totally not true! [desperately] It's the other way around! Don't you see how, like, crazy Yuzuki-chan is acting right now!? It's obvious she was the one who, like, blackmailed me!
Kawashima: [seriously] Stop lying, Hayasaka-san. You were the one who blackmailed her.
Hayasaka: [flips hair angrily] No! Mika-chan, like, didn't do that!
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Are you sure? Because last night I overheard you forcing someone to help you otherwise you'd tell everyone their secret.
Niizuma: [folds arms] I guess it's obvious who that "someone" is now.

Eguchi: [neutrally] Yeah...it was me.
Domoto [strokes chin] That makes sense...Hayasaka-san blackmailed you into giving her an alibi by threatening to reveal something extremely personal if you told the truth. [frowns] However, I do have one question. And why did you wait for so long to say this, Kawashima-san? [crosses arms] If we had known Hayasaka-san was blackmailing someone earlier, we could've gotten to the truth of the attacker's identity much faster.
Kawashima: [regretfully] Sorry...I was just unsure of what to do. [seriously] Hayasaka-san said she'd make Eguchi-san regret it a lot if anyone ever found about their plan or the meeting they had...so, for fear of Eguchi-san's safety, I decided to not say anything. [grimaces] Obviously, that was a really stupid decision by me...but I didn't want Eguchi-san to be hurt.

Kasparov: [frowns] That is certainly quite a dilemma. I do not necessarily agree with your decision to withhold information, yet I do understand it. [presses finger to temple] However...I am curious about something else. How did you come to witness this meeting, Kawashima-san? I imagine
Hayasaka-san and Eguchi-san would be rather secretive about it.
Kawashima: [seriously] I was really thirsty last night, so I was in the hallway going to go to the Kitchen to get a glass of water...when I heard voices inside
the Cafeteria. I could hear Hayasaka-san's voice, but not Eguchi-san's...she was too quiet for me to hear.
Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] I see. [calmly] Eguchi-san, what about you? Can you explain what happened from your perspective?
Eguchi: [neutrally] Sure. Hayasaka-san knocked on my door and told me she knew that I was one of the people Monohebi gave memories to, and that if I didn't come with her she'd tell everyone in the morning. [grimaces] So, I followed her into the Cafeteria, where she threatened me and made me promise two things. Firstly, I'd help her set up a murder plot she was planning that night... [regretfully] Stupidly, I was dumb and helped her bring the blue tarp you guys found to take a rock from the garden...and also to take a rope and a pair of handcuffs to the pool.

Hayasaka: [furiously] You're a fucking liar! None of that happened!
Eguchi: [ignores her] The second thing she made me do was give her an alibi for this morning. We would leave the Cafeteria together, and then once we got to the second floor, the two of us separated. [explanatorily] She went upstairs to wait for Sashihara-kun and Komatsu-kun in the pool, while I stayed on the second floor.

Motoki: [rubs shoulder] So did the two of you not see each other again until you went to the locker room together?
Eguchi: [shakes head] No, we did get back together...though it was earlier than I expected. Hayasaka-san told me she had abandoned the idea of killing Sashihara-kun, though she still demanded that I keep the plot secret.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Wait...Sashihara-kun? I thought ya guys said it was me Hayasaka-san was tryin' to kill!
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] It absolutely was. The mark on your ankle is proof of that.

Sashihara: [confusedly] But then why did Hayasaka-san tell Eguchi-san she was trying to kill me!?
Domoto: [crosses arms] Simple. Hayasaka-san
was lying to her.
Oyamada: [surprised] Wh-What!? Wh-Why would she d-do that?
Niizuma: [examines nails] I'm pretty sure it's because Hayasaka-san was trying to make sure Eguchi-san actually followed the plan. [folds arms] If she told Eguchi-san the truth, she would risk her not complying, due to Eguchi-san's...affection for Komatsu-kun.

That's
sensible...although it wouldn't really work out in the long run if Hayasaka-san had actually killed
Komatsu-kun. Eguchi-san definitely would've
turned on her if he died...or, maybe not. Her
being bulimic was a really big secret that she didn't
want to get out...
Kasparov: [sharply] Is this true, Hayasaka-san? Is everything Eguchi-san described accurate?
Hayasaka: [furiously]
...........

Domoto: [icily] Come on, admit it already. It's obvious you're the attacker.
Hayasaka: [reluctantly] ...Fine. [places hand on hip] Mika-chan, like, admits it. She, like, attacked Hisaya-kun and Yutaka-kun. She, like, set up the tripwire in the Music Room. She was the one who, like, attacked Sakiko-chan, too. [closes eyes “cutely” and holds up twin peace signs] But, like, none of that, like, matters~!

...Is she serious?
Kawashima: [doubtfully]
Are you joking, Hayasaka-san? [seriously] Of course it matters!
Hayasaka: [poses confidently] But it, like, doesn't~! Don't you losers, like, remember what
the purpose of this whole, like, trial is?
Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] We're not that dumb. It's to try to find the garden girl's killer.
Hayasaka: [closes eyes “cutely” and holds up twin peace signs] Yep~! That's, like, totally right, Eisuke-kun~! [leans forward and winks] So, like, talking about what Mika-chan did, like, isn't important. She, like, has an alibi for the time of death. One that's, like, actually real this time~!
Sashihara: [points aggressively] But you openly admitted to attacking me and Komatsu-kun! How can we not talk about that!?
Hayasaka: [annoyedly] Because neither of you, like, losers is dead. Only, like, Noriyo-chan is. [snickers] It's actually, like, pathetic how much time you guys have, like, wasted talking about the attack when the murder is, like, way more important~! If there was a, like, connection between them, you guys would've, like, found it by now~! [narrows eyes] So...stop talking about it and move on.

...Damn. I hate to admit it, but she's right...the murder is all that really matters here, and Hayasaka-san was with two other
people at that time.
Komatsu: [clenches fist] Nah, I ain't ready to move on yet! C'mon, Motoki-san and Eguchi-san, ain't at least one of ya got some more dirt on Hayasaka-san?
Motoki: [pulls on poncho collar] Sorry, I don't...
Eguchi: [timdily] Yeah, neither do I... [hangs head shamefully] Sorry, I wish I did...
Hayasaka: [mock pity] Oh, would you look at, like, Yuzuki-chan....she's back to her normal, worthless, boring self.

Eguchi: [slightly angry] ...You... [looks down sadly]
...........
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] I'm r-relieved she's n-not acting so s-scary anymore...[hugs book tightly] I really d-didn't l-like that v-version of her...

So am I. Seeing her act so vengeful and devious really worried me...but I'm glad she's back to normal...for now, at least.
Domoto: [icily] ...Hmph. [crosses arms and closes eyes] With a significant amount of hesitation, I agree with Hayasaka-san. We have spent far too much time talking about the attack and not nearly enough on
Ichigohara-san's death. [opens eyes] However...before we move on,
I need to ask her something.
Hayasaka: [annoyedly] Ugh...like, what is it, Otoha-chan?
Domoto: [strokes chin] Why did you suddenly stop your plan to kill Komatsu-kun?
Hayasaka: [surprised]
........... [narrows eyes] Like, why do you need to, like, know that?
Domoto: [crosses arms] Because I find it very strange that you would just stop in the middle of your plot which you had already put a lot of effort into for no reason at all. [icily] So...tell me, why did you not kill him?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair uncomfortably] Mika-chan...she, like, had the rope wrapped around Yutaka-kun's, like, feet...she, like, was about to push the rock into the, like, pool, but...
Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] But what?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair uncomfortably] But...she couldn't, like do it. [frowns] She had the perfect, like, opportunity to kill Yutaka-kun, but she couldn't, like, bring herself to actually, like, kill him.
Domoto: [icily] Why?
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] Mika-chan, like, doesn't know...she just, like, suddenly got cold feet. [twirls hair uncomfortably] Planning to, like, kill someone is, like, a lot easier than, like, actually going through with it...
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] I-Is
that r-really it? I th-thought there'd be m-more...
Hayasaka: [frowns] That's, like, it. [places hand on hip] But that, like, doesn't matter! You guys needs to, like, stop wasting your time talking about, like, Mika-chan and focus on, like, Noriyo-chan's death instead!
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] I get that we should talk about it, but...how could she even have been killed? [perplexedly] Everyone has an alibi for the time of death...or is Sashihara-kun and Komatsu-kun, and we already talked about why neither of them
could be the killer.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] That is correct...perhaps we should discuss the scene of the crime in more detail if we want to reveal the answer to that question.

That sounds like a good idea...there's still some
evidence we
found in the bathhouse and secret room that might lead us closer to
finding the truth
behind Ichigohara-san's murder.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Second Bathtub, Duct Tape Gag, Pair of Scissors, Bathhouse Strings, Switch in Bathhouse

Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] I-If we're g-going to talk a-about Ichigohara-san's d-death again, it's p-probably a g-good idea to t-talk about the b-body...
Niizuma: [shifts balance to right leg] But why? We already discussed everything important about it.
Niizuma: [folds arms] Ichigohara-san was gagged, wrapped in bare wires, and electrocuted by a hairdryer. There's nothing more to talk about.
Motoki: [fiddles with bracelets] We know that the hairdryer was connected to the an extension cord, which was connected to a wall outlet...
Motoki: [pulls on poncho collar] ...which we know was on when we entered the bathhouse at 11:30.
Sashihara: [thinking hard] If it was already on
when you, Hayasaka-san, and Eguchi-san got there... [points aggressively] ...then something other than the hairdryer must've electrocuted Ichigohara-san!
Eguchi: [uncertainly] Maybe we're not seeing the whole picture...maybe there was more
stuff that could've killed someone in the bathhouse
than just the set-up that killed Ichigohara-san...
Domoto: [pinches bridge of nose] Ugh, we're going nowhere...

I'm not sure about that,
Domoto-san...I think
I heard something helpful in that discussion.

Answer: Second Bathtub >
more
stuff that could've killed someone in the bathhouse

Kawashima: That's right!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] That's right, Eguchi-san...there was more stuff that could've killed someone than just the set-up that killed Ichigohara-san. [seriously] In fact, there was an entire other set-up in one of the other bathtubs!
Sashihara: [shouts loudly] I can confirm! The bathtub was filled to a similar height as the one Ichigohara-san was in and had an extension cord and hairdryer sitting in the water!
Niizuma: [doubtfully] Didn't Eguchi-san and Kawashima-san say "stuff that could've killed someone?" [looks to the side] By themselves, a hairdryer and extension cord in a bathtub aren't
life-threatening at all.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] No, but that hairdryer and extension cord certainly could have killed someone had they been put to use.
Hayasaka: [unconvinced] But they, like, weren't. So talking about them, like, doesn't even matter~!

No, Hayasaka-san...it does. Because that cord and hairdryer
being in the bathtub suggest that there might've more to the culprit's plan than just killing
Ichigohara-san. That additional part of
their plan was probably
to...
Kill someone else/Blame Sashihara and Komatsu/Kill Ichigohara twice

Answer: Kill someone else

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Hayasaka-san...have you considered that maybe the killer was trying to kill someone else besides Ichigohara-san?
Hayasaka: [flips hair] Of, like, course not! That, like, doesn't make sense~!
Domoto: [strokes chin] It does, though. There's no other reasonable explanation for why an extension cord and hairdryer, the same tools used to kill Ichigohara-san, would be in a second bathtub filled to the same height as the one Ichigohara-san died in.
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] I g-guess that m-makes sense... [adjusts glasses nervously] ...b-but if th-that's the case, th-then who was the c-culprit's second t-target?

The answer
to that
should be pretty obvious. There's only one other person who was supposed to be with Ichigohara-san in the bathhouse, which is...

CHOOSE A PERSON!

Wakana Kawashima

Eisuke Terajima

Sakiko Motoki

Yuuto Furuhata

Yuzuki Eguchi

Sergey Kasparov

Mayumi Carrasco

Mika Hayasaka

Tomiko Niizuma

Noriyo Ichigohara

Yoshi Yamaguchi

Yutaka Komatsu

Hisaya Sashihara

Osamu Oyamada

Michio Aozora

Otoha Domoto

...

......

.........

.............

[SAKIKO MOTOKI
CHOSEN]

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] ...It would have to be Motoki-san. She was Ichigohara-san's partner and was supposed to be with her in the bathhouse earlier today.

Motoki: [shaken] Wh-What!? I was supposed to be killed along with Ichigohara-san? That's not possible!

Terajima: [adjusts sunglasses] It is. You were the garden girl's partner...so you're the only one who could be the second possible target.

Oyamada: [confusedly] W-Wait...how w-would the culprit have e-even been able to s-set up this wh-whole thing? I-It would b-be a lot of w-work to g-get the e-extension cords, the b-bare wires, that toy t-train, and s-set up all those s-strings on the b-bathhouse door...

Domoto: [crosses arms]
Simple. Hayasaka-san did all that right after attacking Sashihara-kun and Komatsu-kun.

Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] No, that's impossible, Otoha-chan. Sakiko-chan said she and, like, Noriyo-chan were right about to go into the, like, bathhouse a little before 8:30, right?

Motoki: [fiddles with bracelets] Yeah...that's true. [perplexedly] I don't see how that makes it impossible for you to have done all that, though...

Hayasaka: [mock pity] Oh, silly little Sakiko-chan. [places hand on hip] It's because Mika-chan, like, attacked Hisaya-kun and Yutaka-kun right around, like, 8:30...which, like, took a few minutes. At that, like, time, Noriyo-chan was in the locker room. [poses confidently] And we already, like, established she had to have been, like, attacked before she left there, otherwise her, like,
still being in her normal clothes doesn't, like, make sense at all!

Terajima: [coolly] You didn't answer the question, selfie girl. You just gave a shitty explanation for
why you couldn't have attacked the garden girl.

Hayasaka: [points defensively] Sh-Shitty? Mika-chan's, like, explanation makes, like, total sense!

Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] Are you certain about that? It seemed rather flawed to me.

Hayasaka: [furiously] But it, like, wasn't! Besides, didn't we like say the attacker and killer aren't the same person!?
Domoto: [strokes chin] We did, but that was before we learned you and Eguchi-san's alibis were fake.

Hayasaka: [furiously] Ugh...like, shut up, Otoha-chan!
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Could you guys stop it? it's obvious we're getting nowhere with Hayasaka-san. [fiddles with bracelets] Also...I have a question.
Terajima: [curiously] What is it?

Motoki: [perplexedly] How would the killer even
know to target me along with Ichigohara-san?

Domoto: [strokes chin] Simple. Like Sashihara-kun and Komatsu-kun, you and Ichigohara-san announced your intentions to be partners last night at dinner. You also stated that it was your intention to go to the bathhouse.

Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Oh, that's right...I forgot we did that so publicly...

Yeah, that's how the killer must've known to set up the trap for her too...wait! That information could help us find out how the killer set everything up.

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Hold on...have you guys considered the possibility that maybe everything
was set up by the killer last night? [seriously] That'd explain why the extension cord and hairdryer were neatly coiled up in the second bathtub...the killer must have left them that way so they could quickly use everything in the morning.
Kasparov: [analytically] That makes sense. It would be far more convenient for the killer to bring everything they needed to the bathhouse last night then for them to risk being seen carrying it there today. [presses finger to temple] It would also allow them to
carry out their crime in the most efficient way possible.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Hold up...if the killer's Hayasaka-san, why the fuck would she need to worry 'bout time? Eguchi-san was already givin' her an alibi.
Niizuma: [examines nails] I'm guessing she still wouldn't want to risk Eguchi-san being caught alone downstairs or being caught carrying the necessary materials to the bathhouse. [brushes hair out of face] Also, as she and Eguchi-san were already setting up the planned murder of Komatsu-kun last night, it would be convenient for her to begin setting up for Ichigohara-san's murder.
Sashihara: [confusedly] Wait, I don't get it! Why would she even plan Komatsu-kun's murder at all if she was going to kill Ichigohara-san instead!?
Domoto: [strokes chin] Perhaps it was a strange way to make herself look innocent by already having another plot. [grimaces] Actually...that doesn't really make sense, but I see no other explanation.
Hayasaka: [places hand on hip] Oh, there, like, is another explanation. [furiously] And it's that Mika-chan, like, didn't set up Noriyo-chan's death~! Like, not at all~!
Domoto: [icily] Oh, stop denying it. It's obvious you're the guilty one.
Hayasaka: [points defensively] Like, shut up, Otoha-chan! [furiously] Mika-chan, like, isn't guilty!

This is going nowhere...
Kawashima: [seriously] Hey, guys...let's calm down a bit and try talking about other evidence we found at the scene of the crime.
Eguchi: [confusedly] Other evidence? I thought we discussed it all already...
Kasparov: [frowns] No, we have not. [presses finger to temple] We have yet to discuss a strange set of strings around the entrance to the bathhouse.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair] A set of strings? Like, what the fuck are you, like, talking about, Sergey-kun?
Sashihara: [shouts loudly] He's talking about a pair of strings by the entrance to the bathhouse! One was tied around the switch in the bathhouse, while the other was tied around the door handle!

Kawashima: [seriously]
The string on the door
was longer than the other, too.
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] I'm s-sorry...but wh-what does th-this have to d-do with Ichigohara-san's d-death?
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] We do not know...which is precisely why we must discuss it.

Yeah...we need to
figure out what the hell the deal
with those strings is
before we go any further in
talking about Ichigohara-san's death. They're weird and seemingly nonsensical, but
I have a hard
time
believing they're there for no reason...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Bathhouse Strings,
Toy Train, Art Room TV, Destroyed Computer, Bathhouse Door

Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] I r-realize a l-lot of you w-will probably d-disagree with m-me, but I th-think the s-strings are just a r-red herring...
Kasparov: [considers carefully] Are you certain? If so, they are
quite an
odd choice to be a mere distraction.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] Maybe that's the point... [shouts loudly] The culprit set the strings up to just be a distraction, so we wouldn't focus on the real evidence!
Niizuma: [brushes hair out of face] Or maybe they did serve a real purpose...
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] But, like, what would that, like, be, Tomiko-chan? Mika-chan, like, can't think of one...
Niizuma: [folds arms] Because one of them was connected the outlet switch...
[examines nails] ...perhaps the purpose of the strings was to turn that switch on.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] That ain't make no sense...
Niizuma: [coldly] Do you have another explanation? [examines nails] If not, then please shut up.

So...what was the
purpose of the strings?
I think
someone got it right...

Answer: Bathhouse Strings >
was to turn that switch on

Kawashima: That's right!

BREAK!
Kawashima: [seriously] Niizuma-san...I think you might be on to something. The strings could've functioned as a way to turn the outlet switch on!
Motoki: [shocked] What? Are you serious?
Kawashima: [nods] I am. [thoughtfully] If the strings had originally been one bigger string, with one end tied around the outlet switch and one around the door, then the door opening could've turned the switch on, activating the switch and killing Ichigohara-san.
Niizuma: [satisfied] Hah...so I was right.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Wait a minute...I don't get somethin'. Ya said that the string would've been one bigger string at first, right?
Kawashima: [nods] Yeah, that's what I said, Komatsu-kun.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] I got two issues with that...where the hell would such a big string come from? And how could've it been broken?

The second answer is obvious...the door opening could've snapped the string in two. As for the first question...there's only one place a
string could come from...
Garden/Repository/Storage Room

Answer: Repository

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [firmly] It would have to be from the repository, Komatsu-kun. That's the only place strings of any kind are available around here. [seriously] As for your other question...the string could've been broken in two when the door opened.
Kasparov: [analytically] That would explain why the strings had such irregular lengths...because they were originally one, yet were snapped when the door opened.
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] W-Wait a minute...does th-that mean the p-person who o-opened the d-door to the b-bathhouse is the k-killer?
Kawashima: [nods] Based on the evidence...yes, I think so.
Sashihara: [points aggressively] No, that's not possible! The killer has to be the person who set up Ichigohara-san's death!

Domoto: [strokes chin] Who's to say the one who opened the door to the bathhouse
and the person who set up her death aren't the same?
Niizuma: [folds arms] So, if I'm following this line of reasoning correctly, the person who opened the door to the bathhouse at 11:30 is the killer.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] That is what Domoto-san just said...and yes. It seems to be a reasonable explanation, as it provides a reason for why Ichigohara-san's time of death is exactly 11:30...
Niizuma: [scratches neck] Yes...it does. [folds arms] But more importantly, all we have to do now is figure out who opened the door to the bathhouse, and we've solved this case. [folds arms] So, who was it? Who opened the door to the bathhouse?
Motoki: [shocked] It was...Hayasaka-san.

Oh...how ironic. She backed out of killing Komatsu-kun...yet became a killer anyway.
Hayasaka: [eyes widen]
...........What...?
Eguchi: [neutrally] You opened the door to the bathhouse at exactly 11:30, Hayasaka-san. Which means you're the killer.
Hayasaka: [shakily] N-No...that's, like, not t-true...Mika-chan, like, d-didn't...
Kawashima: [seriously] It is you, Hayasaka-san. You were the one who opened the door, so you—
Hayasaka: [shakily] Sh-Shut up! Y-You're, like, lying...Mika-chan's, like, not a k-killer...
Hayasaka: [pulls on hair] Mika-chan...Mika-chan, like...she didn't...Mika-chan...Mika-chan...
Hayasaka: [clutches cheek, pulls on hair, and sobs] Mika-chan...Mika-chan...Mika-chan...Mika-chan refuses...she, like, refuses...refuses...refuses...

All of a sudden, she collapses forward onto her stand, breathing heavily. What the hell...? I'm about to
ask her to calm down, but she suddenly looks up again, her face serious.

Hayasaka: [narrows eyes] ...No. The act's over. [hardens face] I...I refuse to accept this!

Did she just say "I" instead of "Mika-chan?" I don't think
I've ever heard her do that before...
Kawashima: [concernedly] Hayasaka-san, are you alright? You're not speaking like you normally do...
Hayasaka: [angrily] Of course I'm not fucking alright, Kawashima. You're accusing me of murder!
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Damn, yer actin' a whole lot different now...
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Yeah...her tone and way of speaking completely shifted.
Eguchi: [grimaces] This is the real Hayasaka-san. I saw a glimpse of it last night when she was threatening me...but now I guess she's not holding back anymore.
Hayasaka: [mouth twists angrily] Shut the fuck up, Eguchi. No one asked you to open your goddamn mouth!
Domoto: [crosses arms] So, is this the real you? Is this
the person who hides behind a mask of cuteness and haughty bitchiness?
Hayasaka: [snorts] As if you're one to talk about bitchiness, Domoto... [narrows eyes] And yeah, this is the real me. [hardens face] But none of that shit is important at all right now! You're accusing me of goddamn murder, when I didn't do anything at all!
Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] You sure about that, selfie girl? You opened the door to the bathhouse.
Hayasaka: [challengingly] Yeah, and so what? [holds up middle finger angrily] I didn't set up any of the shit that killed Ichigohara. None of the strings, extension cords, none of that shit was done by me!
Kawashima: [seriously] It doesn't matter if you set up the trap that killed Ichigohara-san. All that matters is that you activated the trap by opening the door and killed her.
Hayasaka: [pulls on hair] But...that's not true! I'm not the killer!
Domoto: [icily[ You are, Hayasaka-san. You opened the door to the bathhouse, so you're the killer.
Hayasaka: [shakes head violently] No...no...no no no no NO NO!! [pulls on hair and clutches face] I'M NOT THE FUCKING KILLEERRR!!!
Oyamada: [apprehensively] H-Hayasaka-san? P-Please, calm d-down...y-you're shrieking l-like a banshee..
Hayasaka: [shakes head violently] NO! SHUT YOUR BOOKWORM ASS UP, OYAMADA! I WON'T TAKE ANY SHIT FROM YOU!
Terajima: [coolly] Don't talk to him like that, selfie girl.
Hayasaka: [screams at the top of her lungs] SHUT YOUR YAKUZA DEEPTHROATING CUM-FILLED MOUTH TOO, TERAJIMA! I'M NOT THE GODDAMN KILLER!!!

Holy shit, she's shrieking so loud...she's being louder than
Sashihara-kun
and Yamaguchi-kun ever were...and that's saying a lot.
Terajima: [angrily] "Yakuza deepthroating?" [menacingly] Take that back right now, bitch.

Hayasaka: [shakes head violently] NO!

Motoki: [exasperatedly] Hayasaka-san...please, just give up already...it's clear your the killer...
Hayasaka: [clutches cheek and pulls on hair] NO NO NO NO!! HOW MANY FUCKING TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU DEAF MOTHERFUCKERS I'M NOT THE GODDAMN KILLER!?!?!?!? [shakes head violently] I'M NOT THE KILLER! I'M NOT THE KILLER! I'M NOT I'M NOT I'M NOT I'M NOT I'M NOT I'M NOOTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!

It looks
like Hayasaka-san is refusing to give up...ugh. I'll just have to show her that it's
futile to resist any longer...it's clear she's the killer at this point.

ARGUMENT ARMAMENT

[Hayasaka is dressed in an elaborate dress with
social media site icons, like and dislikes buttons, and emojis plastered all over it. She holds a phone in one hand and an outstretched selfie stick in the other. On her head is a tiara with the crown emoji on it. A variety of makeup products and brushes surround her as well]

Hayasaka: None of this is fucking true!

Hayasaka: Even if I opened the door, it doesn't matter...

Hayasaka: ...because that door isn't what activated the switch!

Hayasaka: I don't care what you say!

[makeup products and brushes disappear. Argument Armament music speeds up]

Hayasaka: If you actually think I'm the killer...

Hayasaka: ...then you're just an idiot!

Hayasaka: You're just a dumb waitress with no followers, Kawashima...

Hayasaka: ...you have no right to say I'm the killer!

[phone and selfie stick disappear.
Argument Armament music speeds up even more]

Hayasaka: ...Stop...just stop it...

Hayasaka: It's obvious none of this is true...

Hayasaka: ...so stop acting like it is!

Hayasaka: I'M NOT THE FUCKING KILLER!

[tiara disappears. Music stops and is replaced by a heartbeat sound effect]

Hayasaka: How
is it even possible that the strings on the door turned on the switch?

OUTLET————ON————SWITCH—————PULLED

Answer: Pulled on
outlet switch

[Hayasaka falls to the ground, her dress ripped to shreds]

Hayasaka: aaAGGHHHHH!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] When the door opened, the string pulled on the outlet switch and turned it on, activating the electrical current that flowed to hairdryer
and by doing so killing
Ichigohara-san. [slightly challenging] How can you refute that, Hayasaka-san?

Hayasaka: [pulls on hair] I...I... [weakly] I...can't... [bursts into tears] No, no, no...I can't be executed...
Motoki: [looks at Hayasaka pitifully] Hey, Kawashima-san...can you do that thing where you summarize the case now? [rubs shoulder] That way, we can make sure we've covered all areas of the case...

Yeah...that sounds
like a good idea, Motoki-san.

Kawashima: [nods] Sure thing, Motoki-san. [determined] I'll show why Hayasaka-san has to be the killer of this case!

CLOSING ARGUMENT

Missing Pieces:A:
Ichigohara is shocked to deathB:
Eguchi and the culprit go to bed for the nightC:
The culprit gets to the pool and waits for Sashihara and Komatsu to enterD: The culprit places boxes on top of the trapdoor in the pantryE: Knocking on her door late at night, the culprit threatens to reveal that they know both of Eguchi's secretsF:
Using a blue tarp
to wrap the rock, the culprit and Eguchi
bring it to the poolG:
The culprit and Eguchi take the dolly from the repositoryH: Eguchi reluctantly agrees to help the culpritI: The culprit returns to their roomJ:
The culprit unties the rope from Komatsu's ankle and unties it from the rockK:
Kasparov, the culprit, and Ichigohara head back to the AuditoriumL:
Three hours later, the culprit, Eguchi, and Motoki meet in the girls' locker roomM:
Taking the rope they brought last night, the culprit wraps one end of it around the large rock and wraps the other around Komatsu's ankle

Monohebi reveals the motive and returns Eguchi's memories to her
Eguchi relapses into bulimia
The culprit notices Eguchi's symptoms and realizes she has bulimia
???
Taking her to the Cafeteria, the culprit blackmails Eguchi into assisting them in their murder plot
???
Kawashima overhears the culprit threatening Eguchi
The culprit and Eguchi go to the third floor to begin setting up Komatsu's murder
???
At the garden, the culprit and Eguchi pick a large rock
???
The culprit brings a rope to the pool
The culprit grabs the doorstop from the Art Room
???
In the morning, Eguchi and the culprit become partners
Soon after the morning meeting, the culprit and Eguchi separate, with the culprit heading upstairs to the pool and Eguchi staying on the second floor
???
Once Komatsu and Sashihara come inside, the culprit immediately attacks both from behind with the doorstop from the Art Room
The culprit drags Sashihara to a pool chair and handcuffs him to it
To make sure no one else can use it, the culprit throws the key into the pool
???
Although they bring the rock to the edge of the pool and are prepared to push it in to drown Komatsu, the culprit suddenly
gets cold feet and
backs out of their plan to kill him
???
The culprit pushes the rock into the pool
After leaving the pool and locker room, the culprit hastily throws the rope into the Art Room
???
At exactly 11:30, the culprit opens the door to the bathhouse, which is rigged to make whoever opens it kill Ichigohara
???
Eguchi, Motoki, and the culprit look on in horror
At some point during the investigation, the culprit places the doorstop from earlier in Ichigohara's locker to frame her for the attack on Sashihara and Komatsu

Answer: E (4), H (6), G (9),
F (11), B (14), C (17), M (21), J (23), L (26), A (28)

Kawashima: This is how it happened!

CLIMAX INFERENCE

Kawashima: This case began two days ago when Monohebi announced the motive. This time around, it was that he selected two people to regain memories he had previously stolen from us. One of those people is unknown, but the second we know to be Eguchi-san.
Kawashima: Unfortunately for her, Monohebi included Eguchi-san's
struggle with bulimia when he returned her memories. This, combined with the stress of the killing game, caused her to relapse and begin the cycle of binging and purging again. Most of us had no clue this was going on, but one person did notice...the culprit of this case.
Kawashima: Late last night, the culprit knocked on Eguchi-san's door and threatened to expose both her struggle with bulimia and the fact that she received her memories to everyone if Eguchi-san didn't comply with their plans.
Kawashima: The culprit brought Eguchi-san to the Cafeteria, where they blackmailed her into helping them set up for a murder, in which they said the intended victim being Sashihara-kun. Unbeknownst to Eguchi-san and the culprit, I was outside the Cafeteria during this meeting and heard the culprit blackmailing someone. However, I didn't say anything today because I feared the culprit would harm Eguchi-san if I spoke up.
Kawashima: After Eguchi-san reluctantly agreed to help them, she and the culprit went upstairs to the third floor. Their first order of business was to go to the repository in the Art Room, where they picked up a dolly and brought it to the garden. This was to help them transport a large rock from the garden to the pool in the easiest way possible.
Kawashima: After they had selected a rock large enough to drown someone, the culprit and Eguchi-san loaded the rock onto the dolly. However, before they did so, they wrapped it in a blue tarp. This was to prevent a trail of dirt from being left behind. Once they were done with that, the culprit and Eguchi-san wheeled the dolly down to the pool.
Kawashima: The culprit had no more need of Eguchi-san, so they probably sent her to bed at this point. However, they themselves weren't done yet. They still needed to grab the rope necessary to tie Komatsu-kun to the rock and the doorstop from the Art Room. After they had brought the rope to the pool, the culprit left and, after returning the dolly to the repository, went to bed. When they did this, they also brought the doorstop with them. They were able to do this because their outfit had pockets big enough to conceal it.
Kawashima: The next morning, after the morning meeting, Eguchi-san and the culprit became partners for the day. This was part of the plan the culprit had forced Eguchi-san into last night...in addition to her having to help the culprit with setting up the night before, the culprit also required that she give them an alibi for when they were in the process of carrying out their murder plan. The two of them walked to the second floor, at which point they separated. Eguchi-san remained on the second floor, while the culprit headed upstairs to the third floor. Because they arrived there before Ichigohara-san and Motoki-san, the culprit was able to slip through
the girl's locker room and get to the pool unnoticed.
Kawashima: Once they got to the pool, the culprit waited for Komatsu-kun and Sashihara-kun to inevitably come inside, with the doorstop from the Art Room at the ready. As soon as they entered the pool, the culprit immediately attacked both Sashihara-kun and Komatsu-kun from behind with the doorstop, knocking both unconscious.
Kawashima: Next, the culprit dragged Sashihara-kun to a pool chair, and using a pair of handcuffs they had probably gotten from the Storage Room, the culprit handcuffed Sashihara-kun to the chair and threw the key into the pool. This was both to frame him and to prevent him from interfering in their plan to murder Komatsu-kun if Sashihara-kun woke up too soon. Unfortunately for the culprit, it was their careless mention of the key in the pool being for the handcuffs that ended up being one of the main reasons why they were caught as Komatsu-kun and Sashihara-kun's attacker.
Kawashima: When they were done with Sashihara-kun, the culprit shifted their attention onto Komatsu-kun, who, contrary to what they told Eguchi-san before, was the culprit's real target. The reason the culprit previously lied to Eguchi-san was due to the fact that
Eguchi-san had a crush on Komatsu-kun. Because of this, the culprit told her that Sashihara-kun would be the victim so she would be more likely to follow through on the agreement.

Kawashima: The culprit took the rope they had brought the night before and tied one end around the large rock and the other around Komatsu-kun's ankle, which left behind rope burn that eventually led us to figure out he was the culprit's intended victim. They brought the rock to the edge of the pool, prepared to push it in and drown Komatsu-kun. However, the culprit claims they suddenly got cold feet at the moment and couldn't bear to actually go through with killing someone. So, they untied the rope from the rock and from Komatsu-kun's ankle and pushed the rock into the pool without its intended target tied to it, solidifying the culprit's decision to not go through with their plan.
Komatsu: After they left the pool and locker room, the culprit hastily threw the rope into the Art Room. They were probably in such a hurry because they were worried about being seen carrying it, which certainly would not end well for them. Once they had discarded the rope in the Art Room, the culprit reunited with Eguchi-san on the second floor. Even though she hadn't actually killed someone, the culprit still told Eguchi-san they expected her to remain silent about what had happened, otherwise the culprit would reveal both of Eguchi-san's secrets.

Kawashima: Three hours later, Eguchi-san, the culprit, and Motoki-san gathered in the girls' locker room to get ready for the culprit's planned bath party. They waited outside the door due to the bathhouse for a little bit, which was locked. At exactly 11:30, when the bathhouse's three hour limit on being locked expired, the culprit opened the door to the bathhouse. Unfortunately for them, someone else had rigged the door so that opening it would cause a string, with one tied to the doorhandles and the other to the outlet switch, to turn on the switch. Doing this activated the electricity to the outlets, which caused the hairdryer in
Ichigohara-san's bath to receive electrical current, shocking her to death.
Kawashima: As the culprit, Motoki-san, and Eguchi-san looked on in horror, the body discovery announcement played, which alerted the rest of us that Ichigohara-san was dead. After
we had all gathered at the scene, we noticed Komatsu-kun and Sashihara-kun were missing due to the culprit attacking them earlier. Once we found them in the pool, we began to investigate.
Kawashima: During the investigation, the culprit saw a chance to shift the blame for
the attack on
Komatsu-kun and Sashihara-kun onto another person. They went into the girls' locker room alone and placed the doorstop they had earlier used to attack the two boys in Ichigohara-san's locker. Their reason for doing so was to blame the one person who couldn't defend themselves at the class trial: the victim.
Kawashima: Unfortuantely, what the culprit didn't know was that the victim was actually killed by them...although they had previously backed out of a murder plot, they had unwittingly walked right into another one. And that person...the culprit who blackmailed Eguchi-san and attacked Komatsu-kun and Sashihara-kun...there's only one person who that could be...
[split screen between Kawashima and Hayasaka, who is pulling on her hair and sobbing]

Kawashima: ....You! Mika Hayasaka, the Ultimate Social Media Star, you're the one who killed Ichigohara-san!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Do you disagree with anything I said, Hayasaka-san?
Hayasaka: [clutches cheek and pulls on hair] Ngh... [bursts into tears] ...No...it's all right...everything... [sobs] I'm the k-killer...
Motoki: [pitifully] I guess that settles it, then...
Niizuma: [looks to the side] Well, should we start a vote then? The culprit's admitted to their crime.
Kawashima: [nods] Yeah, I think we should vote right n—
Kasparov: [firmly] No.

What...? Does he think Hayasaka-san isn't the
culprit?
Kawashima: [surprised] Kasparov-kun, don't you think Hayasaka-san is the culprit?
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] ...I cannot say for certain not yet. However,
what I am certain of is that we have yet to consider all the evidence. [firmly] Because of that, we cannot vote Hayasaka-san as the culprit yet! This trial is not over!

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

What does he mean? I
thought for sure we were done with everything...
Kawashima: [slightly confused] Kasparov-kun...what other evidence is there to talk about?
Kasparov: [disapprovingly] It saddens me how many of you seem to have forgotten about it... [considers carefully] However, before we discuss that...I first have a question for Monohebi.
Monohebi: [tilts head] Oh? What is it, Kasparov?
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] In a case such as this, in which the individual who set up the death trap and the one who activated it are presumably separate individuals, who counts as the real "blackened?" [frowns] If this question is not answered, we will not be able to properly determine the killer of this class trial.
Monohebi: [neutrally] I believe I made this clear in the rules...but I suppose a little clarification would not hurt. [clears throat] Ahem. If you all would read rule number five, you will notice that it says that "any inmate who kills another student and becomes the blackened will graduate, as long as they are not discovered." [small smile] So...one becomes the blackened only through the act of killing another inmate. It matters not if another individual sets up the trap...what matters is who deals the killing blow.
Hayasaka: [shudders] So then it r-really is me... [fearfully] I'm g-gonna be executed...
Kasparov: [considers carefully] ...Perhaps.

What does he mean "perhaps?"
Hayasaka-san activated the trap, so she must be the
blackened. Unless the piece of evidence Kasparov-kun was talking about somehow exonerates her...
Kawashima: [curiously] Kasparov-kun, what is that piece of evidence you were talking about earlier?
Kasparov: [disapprovingly] Has no one else remembered it? [neutrally] There was a toy train in the bathhouse with a strange black object attached to it.

That's what he was talking about...? I
thought it'd be something else...
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] Oh y-yeah...I w-was the one who f-found that...
Niizuma: [doubtfully] I get that the train is weird, but what does it have to do with the case? I thought we already figured out how everything worked.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] I had thought so as well...yet something does not feel right about simply ignoring that train. [presses finger to temple] Additionally, discussing it and its purpose might lead us to discover who the person who set up the trap with the strings is.
Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] Does that person really matter, though?
The snake said only the person who activates the trap is the one who counts as the blackened, and we already know that's the
selfie girl. [shrugs] So it's pointless to try and figure out who the one who setup the trap is.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] Perhaps...however, I for one am rather concerned about this individual. They set up a trap to make someone else a killer, which makes them dangerous. [slightly worried] I do not want to walk away from this trial without determining the identity of
that potentially dangerous individual.

That's a
fair point...that person could be trouble in the future if we don't
figure out who they are...
Komatsu: [curiously] Do ya think that the person who did that shit's the second person who got their memories from Monohebi?
Domoto: [strokes chin] That'd make sense...maybe the content of their memories made them want to act out in such a dangerous way as setting up another person to kill someone.
Motoki: [concernedly] If that's the case...who could the one who set up the trap be? [uncomfortably] I can't imagine anyone here doing something so cruel...
Kawashima: [grimaces] I can’t either...but Ichigohara-san didn't end up in that bathtub by herself. Someone put her there.
Sashihara: [shouts loudly]
But why would someone kill Ichigohara-san of all people!? [sadly] She was always so nice to everyone she met...
Niizuma: [scratches neck] Maybe the other person who got their memories back remembered a time where she wasn't nice...or maybe they're just a sick person.

Eguchi: [grimaces] That still doesn't justify killing Ichigohara-san in such a terribly cruel way...
Domoto: [strokes chin] It does, actually...maybe the person we're dealing with here is a sick, cruel person. Maybe they purposely chose to electrocute Ichigohara-san the way they did to make sure she endured as much as pain as possible before dying.
Kasparov: [queasily] Might we stop discussing Ichigohara-san's death? It makes me very uncomfortable... [neutrally] Besides, we need to focus on relevant topics...such as, what was the purpose of that toy train?

Yeah, that sounds like a good idea...that train was a weird and seemingly very random thing to have at the scene of the crime...yet it can’t be just a coincidence.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Bathhouse Door, Switch in Bathhouse, Removed Wire Coverings, Bathhouse Strings, Toy Train

Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] N-No one’s g-going to a-agree with this... [adjusts glasses] But m-maybe the t-train was the th-thing that actually t-turned on the outlet s-switch...
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] I thought we already decided it was the strings that did that...
Hayasaka: [sobs] Yeah..and that m-makes me the k-killer... [sadly] Everyone...I g-give up. Just vote me as the k-killer already.

Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] No...not until we understand the true purpose of that you train or the black object attached to it.
Niizuma: [scratches neck] I don’t know about the black object, but maybe the train was just meant to be a distraction.
Sashihara: [shouts loudly] It could also be something Ichigohara-san played with before she died! It was a toy, after all!
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] N-No, it was t-too far away f-from the b-bathtub she w-was in...
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Maybe there was somethin’ else weird in the bathhouse? [fixes belt] That’d help us figure out whatever the fuck the train was meant to do...

What was the purpose of that train? I’m still not sure...but I think something someone said sounded like it could be what it was for...

Answer:
Switch in Bathhouse >
actually t-turned on the outlet s-switch...

Kawashima: That’s right!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [eyes widen in realization] Guys...hold on a second. I think that the strings might not actually be what turned on the switch... [seriously] I think it might actually be the toy train!
Sashihara: [shocked] What!?
Niizuma: [doubtfully] ...You're joking, right?
Kawashima: [shakes head] No, I'm not. [seriously] Think about the way the switch in the bathhouse works. If it's flipped up, power to the outlets is off. If it's down, power to the outlets is on.
Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] Okay...but how does that make the train more likely to be what actually turned on the switch than the strings?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] The door opens sideways, from left to right...not up or down. [seriously] Because of that, if the strings were to pull
on the switch, they'd pull it to the side, not down... [firmly] ...so they wouldn't have been able to turn the power to the outlets on!

Domoto: [crosses arms] I get what you're saying, Kawashima-san...but that doesn't make the toy train any more of a viable option than the strings.
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Actually, it does. [seriously] Don't you guys remember how there was a table right next to the door? And how the train had a string tied around it with an empty loop on the end of that string? And how the switch was right above the table?
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] Y-Yeah...I r-remember all of those th-things...

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Then you should be able to realize that maybe the train was originally sitting on the table, with the empty string loop tied around the switch...and that when the train drove off the table, the loop would've yanked the switch down, turning the outlets on and killing Ichigohara-san.

Komatsu: [furrows brow] That ain't make no sense, Kawashima-san...if that was what happened, then the train woulda still been danglin' from the switch when we all went into the bathhouse, right?
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] Not necessarily. [analytically] Before, when it was on the table, the string would have been limp and the switch up, so the string would naturally remain around the switch. [considers carefully] However, when the train drove off the table and the string became taut, the switch would be pulled down and the string would fall off the switch due to the force of gravity.
Eguchi: [grimaces] But...if that was what happened, shouldn't the train have been right in front of the door when Motoki-san, Hayasaka-san, and I entered the bathhouse?

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] No...because the train had to be on when it was driving off the edge of the table. So it simply could've been left on, allowing for it to move far away from the door.
Oyamada: [adjusts glasses] That e-explains why it w-wasn't anywhere n-near the door when I f-found it...and wh-why the p-power button was t-turned to on...
Niizuma: [looks to the side] On the surface, that makes sense. [folds arms] But when you really think about it...shouldn't the three people who opened the door have noticed
the train moving across the floor?

Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Well...we had just discovered Ichigohara-san's body. We weren't exactly paying that much attention to anything else at that moment...
Domoto: [strokes chin] Surely you would've noticed eventually, though. The train couldn't have been magically turned off. [crosses arms] And now that I think about it...didn't Oyamada-kun say that the power button was on when he found the train?
Oyamada: [apprehensively] Y-Yeah, I s-said that...it was o-on, but it w-wasn't moving...it s-still had b-batteries in, too, so that c-can't be the r-reason why it w-wasn't moving...
Domoto: [crosses arms] That blows this train argument to pieces, then.
Hayasaka: [flatly] What would all the point for all
that stuff with the train be, anyway...? [sadly] You guys should just accept that I'm the... [gulps] ...th-that I'm the k-killer already...
Kawashima: [shakes head] No, Hayasaka-san...because there would be a point in setting up all this complicated stuff with the strings.
Niizuma: [raises eyebrows] Oh really? And what would that be?
Kasparov: [analytically] To blame Hayasaka-san as the culprit. The string set up at the door would certainly make her, or whoever opened the door, look like they killed Ichigohara-san.
Domoto: [strokes chin] That's a fair point... [crosses arms] However, It's not enough to convince me of this nonsense with the train. I won't even consider the theory before you can answer my question.
Eguchi: [curiously] What's your question, Domoto-san?
Domoto: [strokes chin] If the power button was on, how could the culprit make it sit on top of the table in the bathhouse until 11:30, when it would magically turn on and drive off the table, and then magically turn it off again before the three who opened the door saw it?

That is a very good question...there's no way
someone could've been inside the bathhouse to
turn the train on or off, because
everyone has an alibi and the three who opened the
bathhouse would've seen the culprit anyway. Huh.
I'm going to
have to think outside the box to answer Domoto-san's question...

HANGMAN'S GAMBIT

Question:
How could the culprit have turned the train on and off if they weren't in the bathhouse?

DEUS TAR MORO VT EMORET

Answer: Used Art Room TV remote

Kawashima: I've solved it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [eyes widen in realization] What if...the killer used a remote?
Motoki: [shocked] Wait, what!?
Komatsu: [furrows brow] They used a remote?
Niizuma: [dismissively] No, they didn't. That's impossible.
Sashihara: [points aggressively] Yeah, it is! Where would they even be able to get a remote!?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Well...there was a TV in the Art Room that had a remote with it...so they could've gotten it from there...
Kawashima: [nods] They sure could have. Especially because when I investigated the Art Room during the investigation, I saw no sign of it.
Terajima: [adjusts sunglasses] Even if the killer did take the remote, this still doesn't make sense...the remote would be useless if the train didn't have a sensor attached to it and hooked up to its inner mechanisms in some way. Otherwise, the remote would just be sending signals to nothing.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively]
Yeah, and there wasn't anything like that on the train, was there? Just that string...

Wait a minute, Hayasaka-san...there was
something that
could have been a
sensor for the remote...
The destroyed computer/The small, shiny black object/The key at the bottom of the pool

Answer: The small, shiny black object

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] There was something that could act as a sensor, though... [seriously] ...the small, shiny black object that was attached to the train! If the killer took the remote from the Art Room, they could've taken the sensor the TV used too!
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] So that was its purpose...
Domoto: [strokes chin] ...I suppose that explains how the killer turned the train on and off without ever being inside the bathhouse...they used a remote.

Kawashima: [seriously] So, do you accept that the train being what turned on the switch is what probably happened?
Niizuma: [purses lips] No.
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] ...Why did you interrupt, Niizuma-san? Kawashima-san was directing that question to me.
Niizuma: [looks to the side] Because I refuse to accept the train being what actually killed Ichigohara-san. [purses lips] Kawashima-san, this theory of yours just doesn't make any sense.
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] It does, though. The train being what really
activated the switch would allow the killer to kill Ichigohara-san without stepping foot in the bathhouse.

Niizuma: [scratches neck] I understand that, but even with that benefit, the train being what actually turned on the switch makes the strings pointless.
Kasparov: [frowns] No, they would not be pointless. [analytically] The strings served as a distraction. They were meant to lead us to believe that whoever opened the door to the bathhouse killed Ichigohara-san...and they almost served that purpose.
Niizuma: [folds arms] No...it's impossible. [examines nails] It seems you wish to deny the truth, though...Hayasaka-san is the culprit. The strings are what caused the switch to turn on. [brushes hair out of face] If you guys are really so desperate to deny that truth...then I suppose I'll have to show you the flaws in your theory about the train. I'll make you finally stop denying reality.

The flaws in the theory about the train? I
didn't think there were any, but let's see what Niizuma-san has to say.
Maybe I am wrong after all...this is a pretty wild theory...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Destroyed Computer, Removed Wire Coverings, Art Room TV, Toy Train, Pair of Scissors

Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] Niizuma-san, you said there was a flaw in the theory concerning the toy train. [curiously] What is this supposed flaw?
Niizuma: [folds arms] Well, to begin, you said that the strings were nothing more than a distraction. [looks to the side] However, that is impossible, due to the fact that the strings were broken in two.
Sashihara: [confusedly] What...? [shouts loudly] How does that make their theory invalid!?
Niizuma: [folds arms]
Because if the strings were just a mere distraction, the culprit would had to have cut the original, larger string in two beforehand... [scratches neck] ...yet they couldn't have done that.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] ...Huh? What woulda stopped 'em from doin' that?
Niizuma: [brushes hair out face] The fact that there was nothing at the scene of the crime that could cut the strings.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Well...if there wasn't anything that could cut something...maybe the culprit just brought two separate strings to the scene of the crime.
Niizuma: [folds arms] That would make sense if it weren't for the fact that the Art Room doesn't have strings with such weird lengths in it. [looks to the side] So, because there's nowhere else in this prison that has strings...
Niizuma: [examines nails] The only possibility that remains is that the strings broke when the door opened, triggering the trap and killing Ichigohara-san.
Terajima: [calmly] Hold on...because the switch doesn't turn from side to side, doesn't the make your theory impossible? If the door handle and switch were still attached when the door opened, wouldn't the strings have pulled the switch
pulled side ways, which wouldn't turn it on?

Niizuma: [examines nails] That is a valid concern you have, Terajima-kun. [folds arms] However, it is only one thing. My theory has far less holes in it than the preposterous nonsense with the
train.

Niizuma-san just offered her
explanation for why what
I
said before is wrong...unfortunately for her, her
argument has a lot more holes than she
might be willing to recognize. There's one in particular that
I need
to point out to her...

Answer: Pair of Scissors >
there was nothing

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [slightly challenging] That's not true, Niizuma-san. There was something that the culprit could've used to cut that string beforehand. [seriously] The pair of scissors I found discarded in the secret room!
Oyamada: [surprised] Th-There was a p-pair of scissors in the s-secret room?
Kawashima: [nods] Yeah, there was. [seriously] The culprit could've easily used those to cut the original, larger string into two smaller strings!
Kasparov: [analytically] If I may add, the broken ends both those strings were rather clean, which is something
I highly doubt would have come about if the strings actually did break when the door opened.
Sashihara: [points aggressively] Yeah, the broken ends would be a lot rougher if the string was actually broken in two by the door opening!
Niizuma: [presses lips together] ...I suppose that is a fair objection. [looks away bitterly] I was so certain I was right...

She really doesn't
like being wrong...
Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] Wait...I still don't really believe that the culprit used the scissors.
Kawashima: [curiously] Why not, Eguchi-san? I thought we explained why the culprit could've used them.
Eguchi: [avoids eye contact] You did, but...I'm not satisfied with your explanation.

Kasparov: [slightly surprised] Really? With what do you disagree?
Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] I guess I'll have to explain it to the rest of you... [glances at Hayasaka] There's no way she isn't the culprit...

So...it looks like Eguchi-san still wants Hayasaka-san to be the culprit. That's
understandable,
considering the
terrible things Hayasaka-san did to her...but it's still wrong.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Destroyed Computer, Pair of Scissors, Removed Wire Coverings, Toy Train, Terajima's Account

Terajima: [curiously] What's
your objection to what the others were saying, Eguchi-san?
Eguchi: [neutrally] It has to do with what Kawashima-san was saying with the scissors... [wrings hands nervously] She said that they were found in the secret room, right?
Kawashima: [nods] That's true...that's where I found them. [slightly challenging] How is that an issue? The culprit could've had access to the secret room.
Eguchi: [avoids eye contact] But the key has been missing for a while now, remember? Domoto-san slapped it out of Hayasaka-san's hand during the day when we...found the peephole.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] That's true...I didn't go to pick it up afterwards...I just left it on the ground...

Domoto: [crosses arms] The culprit could've picked the key up
after I slapped it out of Hayasaka-san's hands. [strokes chin] And even if they hadn't done that...the culprit still would've had access to the secret room through the hidden door that connects it to the bathhouse.
Eguchi: [avoids eye contact] Most of us didn't know about that door until the trial, though... [points shakily] So you can't say for sure that the culprit had access to the secret room!

Eguchi-san's theory would make sense...if a certain piece of evidence didn't exist. I need to show that to her to prove that the culprit was able to use those scissors.

Answer: Removed Wire Coverings >
can't say for sure

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [firmly] No, Eguchi-san. I can say for sure that the culprit had access to the secret room.

Eguchi: [challenging] Yeah? Why
can you do that?
Kawashima: [seriously] Because when found the pair of scissors during the investigation, I found them right next to a pile of removed wire coverings.
Niizuma: [doubtfully] ...How exactly does that prove
culprit went into the secret room?
Kawashima: [seriously] Ichigohara-san was wrapped in bare electrical wires, remember? Those wires didn't have their coverings removed magically. [firmly] The culprit must've removed the coverings off the wires themselves...so, because we found those coverings in the secret room, we know the culprit was able to get in there!
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] I kinda get what yer sayin', but...what the fuck could the culprit've used to
take the coverin's off the wires?

That
should be easy to
answer, if
I think about what
I
found them next
to...
A pocket knife/A kitchen knife/The pair of scissors

Answer: The pair of scissors

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] The culprit could've used the scissors both to cut the strings and to remove the coverings from the wires, Komatsu-kun.
Terajima: [nods slowly] That makes sense...
Eguchi: [slightly angry] Ngh...I guess you're right...

She doesn't like being wrong, either...
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] So...you guys have been talking about a lot of stuff that makes it look like I'm not the killer... [frowns] ...It's making me confused. Am I the killer after all...or was that stuff with the strings really
all just a trick?
Kasparov: [considers carefully] I'm inclined to believe that it is the latter...as the train and strings
could not possibly both be what activated that trap...one must be a mere distraction. The evidence has pointed to the strings being the red herring, and, as such...it seems you are not the culprit after all, Hayasaka-san.
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] It's a g-good thing we d-didn't vote for h-her, then...if w-we had, we'd p-probably all be d-dead right now...
Motoki: [shudders] Don't even say that...I don't want to imagine what'd happen if we got the killer wrong...
Domoto: [crosses arms] You have too, otherwise you won't fully understand the stakes of what we're dealing with. [strokes chin]
If we vote incorrectly, every one of us will die except for the person who killed Ichigohara-san. Do you want to look away from that truth, Motoki-san?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Of course not...I just don't like thinking about dying.

That's understandable...I don't like thinking about dying
either, but it is something
I need to keep in the back of my mind...something to motivate me to find Ichigohara-san's killer.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] If Hayasaka-san really isn't the killer..what do we now? [points aggressively] The killer could be any one of us!
Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] No, that's not true.

Niizuma: [examines nails] Why not, Terajima-kun?
Terajima: [calmly] Only the people who were on the third floor at 11:30 could be the culprit. [adjusts sunglasses] Because of the thick concrete layer that's between each floor, there's no way anyone on the second or first floor could've killed the garden girl...the concrete is way too thick for a simple TV remote signal to pass through.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Hold up, what the fuck are ya talkin' 'bout? I don't remember ever hearin' 'bout no concrete layers.
Terajima: [calmly] You must not have been listening in the last class trial, because, while he talking about the fire alarm system, Monohebi explicitly stated that there are thick concrete layers between each floor to ensure a fire cannot spread from one to another.

Oh yeah...I do
remember that, now that Terajima-kun brings that up...
Sashihara: [shouts loudly] Speaking of that, the fact that the fire alarms are floor specific is still a massive safety violation, Monohebi!
Monohebi: [irritatedly] Sashihara, I have stated in the past that I have the resources to stop a fire should one break out. [neutrally] None of you need to worry about dying from anything other than the homicidal tendencies of your fellow inmates.

He says that as if it's
reassuring...
Eguchi: [avoids eye contact] Um...if we want to get back on topic...who wasn't on the third floor at 11:30? We can eliminate some suspects if we discuss that...
Domoto: [crosses arms] Unfortunately, there's not much to discuss. Kasparov-kun and I were in the Rec Room on the second floor, but I don't think anyone else wasn’t on the third floor.
Kasparov: [presses fingers temple] No...if my memory serves me correctly, everyone else was on the third floor at exactly 11:30. Terajima-kun and Oyamada-kun were in the Library, Niizuma-san and Kawashima-san were in the girls' bathroom, Komatsu-kun and Sashihara-kun were in the pool, and Motoki-san, Eguchi-san, and Hayasaka-san were right outside the bathhouse.
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] So we p-pretty much only eliminated t-two suspects out of e-eleven...that's s-still nine people who c-could be the culprit... [apprehensively] W-We'll never find them at th-this rate...
Terajima: [soothingly] Don't worry, Oyamada-kun. We'll find the culprit.

Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Yeah...and if we wanna cross off some suspects, didn't we agree earlier that neither me or Sashihara-kun is the culprit?
Niizuma: [examines nails] We did say something like that, yes. [folds arms] However, with the new information about the remote, you two are still suspects.
Komatsu: [dejectedly] Damn...I was hopin' I could be proved innocent...

You might still be innocent, Komatsu-kun. That's because...
Komatsu and Sashihara were both wearing bathing suits/Komatsu and Sashihara were both naked/Komatsu and Sashihara were both in their ordinary clothes

Answer:
Komatsu and Sashihara were both wearing
bathing suits

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Komatsu-kun...I actually think and Sashihara-kun are innocent due to you both being in your bathing suits at 11:30.
Sashihara: [shouts happily] Ha! It's a wondrous feeling to be proven innocent!
Niizuma: [doubtfully] ...How exactly were you proven innocent? All Kawashima-san said was that the two of you were in your bathing suits at the time of the murder.
Sashihara: [points aggressively] The bathing suits don't have pockets, Niizuma-san! So we wouldn't have a place to conceal the remote used to turn the train on! [adjusts medical mask] Besides, Komatsu-kun was unconscious...so it would've been extra impossible for him to be the killer!
Niizuma: [presses lips together tightly] ...I guess you both aren't the culprit, then.
Komatsu: [happily]
Ya bet yer ass we ain't!
Eguchi: [small smile] Yeah...that's good to know. [grimaces] But even with Komatsu-kun and Sashihara-kun being innocent...that's still seven people who could be the killer...
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] W-Well...T-Terajima-kun and I w-were all the way in the b-back corner of the L-Library...that's t-too far away from the b-bathhouse for a TV r-remote signal to t-travel, right?
Motoki: [fiddles with bracelets] Yeah...it'd have to be someone who was a lot closer to the bathhouse...so that rules the two of you out.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] In addition to those two, I highly doubt Hayasaka-san is the culprit. If she wanted to be the killer, there would be no need for the
complicated train set up, nor for her to create extra evidence by attacking Sashihara-kun and Komatsu-kun.
Hayasaka: [relieved] So I'm not gonna be executed...that's good to know...
Kawashima: [seriously] So, we're down to four possible suspects right now. Eguchi-san, Motoki-san, Niizuma-san, and I.
Eguchi: [avoids eye contact] I don't exactly disagree with the list, but...everyone was with at least one other person at exactly 11:30... [confusedly] So how could any one of the four of us be the killer?

Yeah,
Eguchi-san's right. I really doubt anyone
would pull out the remote in front of another person, but that must be what happened. It's
the only explanation. No one was alone at
exactly 11:30 due to the partner system being in place, so—

...Wait a minute. That person...that
person wasn't alone. They were in
the
same room as their
partner, but...they weren't alone. Not at
exactly 11:30. I can hardly believe it, but if
I think about where everyone was at
exactly 11:30 and who could've knocked Ichigohara-san out this
morning...it can only be them. There's simply no other explanation. The person who pressed the remote and activated the trap that killed Ichigohara-san...the person who tried to frame Hayasaka-san for
Ichigohara-san's murder...that person must be...

CHOOSE A PERSON!

Wakana Kawashima

Eisuke Terajima

Sakiko Motoki

Yuuto Furuhata

Yuzuki Eguchi

Sergey Kasparov

Mayumi Carrasco

Mika Hayasaka

Tomiko Niizuma

Noriyo Ichigohara

Yoshi Yamaguchi

Yutaka Komatsu

Hisaya Sashihara

Osamu Oyamada

Michio Aozora

Otoha Domoto

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

[TOMIKO NIIZUMA
CHOSEN]

Kawashima: It can only be you!

Kawashima: [seriously] ...Niizuma-san. You're the one who killed Ichigohara-san, aren't you?
Sashihara: [shocked] Wait...Niizuma-san!?
Hayasaka: [eyes widen] What...? You're suspecting her, of all people?

Motoki: [perplexedly] I don't get it...wasn't Niizuma-san your partner, Kawashima-san? How could she possibly be the killer?
Kawashima: [seriously] Because right at 11:30, the two of us weren't together.
Domoto: [raises eyebrow] What the hell are you talking about? You both said before you were in the bathroom together when you heard the body discovery announcement. [icily] Were the two of you lying to the rest of us?
Kawashima: [seriously] No. It's true we were going to the bathroom together. However, we were in two different stalls at exactly 11:30. [thoughtfully] And Niizuma-san...she was in the stall closest to the wall opposite the door.
Eguchi: [avoids eye contact] You say that like it's important...but I don't really get why that matters...
Kawashima: [narrows eyes] It's because
that wall...if you take a look at the map on the e-Handbooks, you'll see
there's a room on the other side of it. [seriously] Do any of you guys know what that room is?
Terajima: [coolly] ...The bathhouse.

Kawashima: [nods] Exactly.

Komatsu: [furrows brow] Kawashima-san, I ain't sure I get it...are ya sayin' that Niizuma-san was in that stall so that she'd be as close to the remote sensor on the toy train as she could be?
Kawashima: [seriously] That's exactly what I'm saying, Komatsu-kun. Also...it was Niizuma-san who suggested that we go to the bathroom.
Terajima: [calmly] I can confirm that. I overheard their conversation.
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side
] Y-Yeah...so d-did I... [disapprovingly] Which s-sucks, because a L-Library should be q-quiet place...

Sorry about that, Oyamada-kun...I guess Niizuma-san and
I were a
little careless
with how loud we were talking in there.

Domoto: [neutrally] Niizuma-san...you haven't said anything yet. [narrows eyes] Why is that?

Niizuma: [folds arms] ..........
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Well? Ain't ya gonna say somethin'?
Niizuma: [looks to the side] ...Of course. [examines nails] Forgive me for the temporary silence. I was simply in awe of how idiotic the accusation against me is.

Idiotic? It's far from that.
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] What's wrong with the accusation against you, Niizuma-san? [firmly] Because if you're going to say an issue with it is that you wouldn't know what time it was, you're wrong.
Eguchi: [avoids eye contact] I was just about to ask
about
that...there aren't any clocks in the bathrooms, right? [wrings hands nervously] So how would she be able to press the remote at 11:30 if she couldn't be sure what time it is?

Even if there aren't any
clocks in
the bathrooms, she could've known what time it is, Eguchi-san...and the reason why is...
Niizuma
has an extremely precise inner sense of time/Niizuma is actually an atomic clock/The watch Hayasaka picked out for her yesterday

Answer:
The watch Hayasaka picked out for her yesterday

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Eguchi-san, when Hayasaka-san and Niizuma-san were partners yesterday, Hayasaka-san picked out a watch for her. [gestures to watch] You can see it on her wrist right now.
Eguchi: [looks at Niizuma's watch] Oh yeah...I guess that answers my question...
Niizuma: [looks to the side] Because I have this watch, I admit it's
correct to say that I could've known what time it was at 11:30...however, that doesn't mean anything. [brushes hair out of face] The argument against me is still very flawed.
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Really? What's flawed about it?
Niizuma: [rolls eyes] Oh, where should I even start?
[folds arms] Firstly, you claim that I pressed the TV remote at exactly 11:30...however, that's just not possible.
Kasparov: [raises eyebrows] It is not? Is what Kawashima-san said about you two being in two separate stalls at 11:30 false?
Niizuma: [examines nails] It's true that we were in two separate stalls for a brief time. [looks to the side] However...when the body discovery announcement went off at precisely 11:30, Kawashima-san and I were talking
by the sinks. [coldly] So her claim that I pressed the TV remote at that time is ludicrous, because we were both in sight of each other at exactly 11:30.

...Damn. She's not wrong...the two of us were in sight of each other when the body discovery
announcement went off. However, it's still possible she pressed the remote at 11:30.
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Niizuma-san, while it is true that we were talking when the body discovery announcement was about to go off, we hadn't been talking for long.
The time between when you left the stall and when the body discovery announcement went off was twenty seconds at most.
Niizuma: [scratches neck] You're not wrong. Our conversation wasn't very long. [brushes hair out of face] However, Hayasaka-san opened the door to the bathhouse right at 11:30, correct? And as soon as she did that, she, Eguchi-san, and Motoki-san found Ichigohara-san's corpse, activating the body discovery announcement. [folds arms] I doubt it took twenty whole seconds for them to open a door and for the body discovery announcement to be activated...so, because we were talking right at 11:30, Kawashima-san, I cannot be the culprit.
Eguchi: [avoids eye contact] Sorry, Niizuma-san, but...we didn't open the door right at 11:30...
Niizuma: [raises eyebrows] ...What? [coldly] Have you three been lying this entire trial?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Niizuma-san, Hayasaka-san did open
the door at 11:30...just not right when the clock changed from 11:29 to 11:30.
Sashihara: [confusedly] Why did she wait!? Didn't you say you were actively waiting for the door to
unlock at 11:30 to open it?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair] I was but the door didn't unlock until...I don't know, 11:30 and thirty seconds? Something like that. [flatly] All I know is that it was still locked right when the clock changed from 11:29 to 11:30...
Domoto: [strokes chin] That's odd...why would it lock at such a weird time? [icily] Monohebi, did you lie to us about the lock on the bathhouse door?
Monohebi: [fake sadness] You wound me, Domoto. Of course I did not lie. [neutrally] On your first day on the third floor, I told you all that the bathhouse door can only be locked for a maximum of three hours, which is entirely true. [slight smile] However...I suppose I forgot to mention that the door is very precise when it comes to timing. If someone tells the door to lock itself for three hours, it will be locked for all 10,800 seconds of those three hours. Not one instant less or more.

That explains
why the door
unlocked at such a weird time...
Terajima: [shakes head] What a pointlessly precise clock to have for a door. [calmly] Anyway...because the door can only be locked for a maximum of three hours, that means the earliest it could've been locked is 8:30 and thirty
seconds, right?

Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] The thirty seconds part is a not really necessary, but yeah...that's right. [grimaces] However, that doesn't mean much...the culprit still could've locked the door at any time between 8:30 and 11:30...
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] ...Hmm. It seems that we cannot use when the culprit locked the bathhouse door as a way to determine their identity. [neutrally] No matter. We shall find them another way.
Niizuma: [looks to the side] Yes, I'm certain that you will. [brushes hair out of face] However, I'd just like to say that accusing me is pointless and ridiculous.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair sadly] Yeah...I agree. I really don't think Tomiko-san is the killer...
Niizuma: [distasteful glance] ..........

It looks like she doesn't appreciate Hayasaka-san's support very much...
Terajima: [calmly] You say that you're not the culprit...but how do you prove that? [pushes sunglasses up nose] Because if we take
what Eguchi-san said into account, then you and the waitress
heard the body discovery announcement around 11:30 and thirty seconds...which means that you still would've been in the stall when the time changed from 11:29 to 11:30. [coolly] So...you still could be the culprit.
Niizuma: [purses lips] .......... [folds arms] Aren't you guys ignoring another potential suspect?
Motoki: [perplexedly] ...What? There's another suspect?
Niizuma: [looks to the side] Of course. [scratches neck] It's someone who's always looked like they're on our side...someone who's fought so hard to find the past culprits...someone who's clearly very skilled at putting up a façade to hide their true self...

Hold on...is she talking about...?
Kawashima: [seriously] Niizuma-san...are you saying I'm a suspect?
Niizuma: [shifts balance to right leg] Absolutely. If I was alone when the time changed from 11:29 to 11:30, then so were you. [folds arms]
I admit it...your strategy is quite brilliant, Kawashima-san. Deceiving us by helping in the first two class trials...only to stab us in the back in the third.

...What!? that's not what's happening, not at all!
Kawashima: [firmly] I'm not the killer, Niizuma-san. You are!
Niizuma: [doubtfully] Really? I'd be willing to take your word for it, if it weren't for the fact that Yamaguchi-kun and Carrasco-san both desperately assured us they were innocent...and look how that turned out.
Kawashima: [narrows eyes] Don't bring up past cases to try and deflect blame, Niizuma-san. You're far more suspicious than I am!
Niizuma: [doubtfully] Are you really saying that with a straight face? [examines nails] You were the one who accused Hayasaka-san...because of your deductions, we almost voted her as the killer. [coldly] Because of you, we all almost died.
Kawashima: [seriously] I was only following what seemed to be the most logical option at the time. [firmly] I wasn't trying to lead everyone astray!
Domoto: [strokes chin] If I may add...it was my suggestion that led Kawashima-san to suspecting Hayasaka-san in the first place. [crosses arms] So it's not exactly fair to say it was all her.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair uncomfortably] Still, we all almost died because of her...if it weren't for Sergey-kun bringing up the toy train...we'd have voted wrong...
Niizuma: [looks to the side] Yes...Kasparov-kun, I offer my most sincere thanks to you for saving us from Kawashima-san's lies.

Kasparov: [neutrally]
You are welcome. However, I am not entirely certain Kawashima-san has been lying this entire time.
Niizuma: [raises eyebrows] You're not?
Kasparov: [considers carefully] ...No. Kawashima-san was the one who first proposed that the toy train was what actually activated power to the outlets. Knowing that, I have difficulty accusing her. [frowns] It simply would not be strategic of her, if she were the killer, to propose something that would take suspicion off the person she would be trying to frame.
Sashihara: [points aggressively] Yeah,
it wouldn't make sense for Kawashima-san to say that if she was actually the killer!

Domoto: [strokes chin] No...it wouldn't. The culprit would probably try as hard as they could to prevent us from coming to the conclusion that the toy train is really what turned the switch on. [narrows eyes] Strangely enough, that's exactly what you did, Niizuma-san. You strongly resisted the idea that the strings weren't actually what turned on the switch.

Niizuma: [scratches neck] Indeed I did. I resisted an idea that I thought was illogical because I didn't want us all to die. I fought to find the truth and I was on the wrong side of it. So be it. [folds arms] ...Speaking of finding the truth, I have a suggestion.
Terajima: [curiously] You do? What is it?
Niizuma: [looks to the side] I suggest we treat the accusation against me like a statistical hypothesis test.

...What?
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Huh? Whaddaya mean by that, Niizuma-san?
Oyamada: [confusedly] Y-Yeah, what's a h-hypothesis test?
Niizuma: [annoyedly] Do you guys really not know...? [folds arms] A
statistical
hypothesis test is a test done by using statistics to decide the probability that a given theory
is correct or not.
Eguchi: [avoids eye contact] That's cool and all, but I don't really get how it connects to this trial...
Niizuma: [annoyedly] Please wait for me to finish talking before you needlessly interject yourself. [looks to the side] Anyway...in a statistical hypothesis test, there are often two hypotheses: a null hypothesis, which states
that the given theory
is false, and an alternative hypothesis, which states that the given theory
is not false.
Niizuma: [scratches neck] One thing that should be noted about all this is that you never definitively say that either hypothesis is true...as hypothesis tests are conducted using samples, they are guesses...very educated guesses, but still guesses. [shifts balance to right leg] So, one must either reject the null hypothesis or fail to reject it. Those are the only two options.
Domoto: [pinches bridge of nose] This is pointless. Can you stop with the statistics lesson and just say what you mean?
Niizuma: [purses lips] ...Hmph. Fine. [folds arms] My point in bringing that up is that the null hypothesis in this situation is that I am not guilty, whereas the alternative hypothesis is that I'm guilty. Failing to reject the null hypothesis would be assuming that I'm innocent, while rejecting it would mean I'm presumably guilty. [looks to the side] Obviously, we can't use statistics to get to either of those conclusions...so, in place of sampling data, we must use evidence instead.

...That was a lot. Niizuma-san seems to want to compare this to a statistical hypothesis test...fine. I'll show her and everyone
else that she has to be the killer. I'll reject the null hypothesis and prove she's guilty!

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Eguchi's Account, Niizuma's Account, Destroyed Computer, Art Room TV, Monohebi File #3

Niizuma: [looks to the side] This accusation against me... [folds arms] ...it is so, so very flawed.
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Why, Niizuma-san? Are you still denying that you could've pressed the remote?
Niizuma: [purses lips] No. My concerns rests with the fact that you completely ignored the possibility that Eguchi-san and Motoki-san
are both suspects.
Motoki: [perplexedly] What makes you think we're guilty? [defensively] The two of us were in full sight of each other at
the time of death!
Niizuma: [brushes hair out of face] Both of you could've had the remote concealed somewhere on your body and covertly pressed it while it was hidden... [examines nails] You could've hidden
it beneath your poncho, Motoki-san... [folds arms] And you could've hidden it in your denim jacket, Eguchi-san.
Eguchi: [points shakily] That's not true!
Niizuma: [coldly] Prove it. [looks to the side] Additionally, Kawashima-san has conveniently ignored the fact that Motoki-san had an opportunity to attack Ichigohara-san this morning.
Motoki: [defensively] I didn’t attack her! I really did have a headache!
Niizuma: [rolls eyes] You say that as if it’s evidence. [folds arms] No one else can corroborate your story about having a headache, so don’t even try to use it as proof.
Eguchi: [avoids eye contact] Why aren't you admitting could’ve done it too, Niizuma-san? You had an opportunity to set up your death trap when you left the Library alone earlier, claiming to go to the bathroom... [points shakily] When in reality, you headed over to the girls' locker room and attacked Ichigohara-san!
Niizuma: [rolls eyes] Bringing up another subject to deflect blame...how typical of a cornered killer. [brushes hair out of face] And, in regards to that tangent, I'd like to tell you that I the period for which
I left the Library simply wasn't long enough
for me to have attacked Ichigohara-san.
Niizuma: [folds arms] See? These arguments against me...they're nothing more than conjecture and speculation. [coldly] They aren't enough to make me the culprit.

Are you
sure about that, Niizuma-san? The case against
you is far more than conjecture and
speculation...

Answer: Niizuma's Account >
wasn't long enough

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Niizuma-san...you say that you couldn't be the culprit because you weren't gone from the Library long enough to have attacked Ichigohara-san...but that's not true.
Niizuma: [rolls eyes] Are you serious, Kawashima-san? Of course it wasn't enough time.
Hayasaka: [curiously] How long was it again? I don't remember...
Terajima: [pushes sunglasses up nose] Niizuma-san
left the Library, claiming to be going to the bathroom, for precisely four minutes and fifty-six seconds. [calmly] I made sure to keep track as soon as I saw her leave.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] So she was gone for five minutes...that ain't a whole lotta time at all.
Niizuma: [folds arms] No, it's not. [brushes hair out of face] It's not nearly enough time for me to have gone to the girls' locker room, attacked Ichigohara-san, dragged her to the bathhouse, wrapped her in electrical wires, brought the strings from the Art Room and the extension cords from the Music Room, and have returned to the Library.
Sashihara: [thinking hard] That sure is a lot of stuff to do in only five minutes... [points aggressively] But didn't we say earlier that a lot of the stuff used to set up Ichigohara-san's death was brought there last night!?
Niizuma: [looks to the side] We did say that, yes, but never proved it. The killer very well could've set up everything today.

No, Niizuma-san. That's not true. The culprit had to have begun
setting
everything up sometime before this
morning.
I
know that
because...
Eguchi and Hayasaka saw someone else sneaking around last night/Someone noticed something going missing overnight/A second bathtub had an extension cord and hairdryer in it

Answer:
A second bathtub had an extension cord and hairdryer in it

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Niizuma-san, the culprit had to have started setting up for Ichigohara-san's death last night. [firmly] Otherwise, the stuff we found in the other bathtub doesn't make sense!
Domoto: [strokes chin] That's right...if the culprit had set up everything after attacking Ichigohara-san, they would've already known that Motoki-san wasn't present, due to her not being in the locker room with Ichigohara-san.
Niizuma: [coldly] That means nothing. [folds arms] If Motoki-san is
the culprit, she could've put that stuff in the bathtub to make herself more innocent.

Kasparov: [considers carefully] You are correct in saying that it is possible she could have done that... [analytically] However, I believe it is far more likely that the culprit heard Motoki-san
and Ichigohara-san discussing their plans to take a bath at dinner and made preparations last night
to kill both of them in the morning.
Motoki: [shudders] I still can't believe it...I almost died with Ichigohara-san...
Niizuma: [rolls eyes] Oh, stop this charade. [coldly] Don't act like you weren't the one who put that stuff in the bathtub. You had all morning to do it. [folds arms] I only left the Library for five minutes...which, by the way, still wasn't enough time to kill Ichigohara-san.
Domoto: [icily] But it would be if you had filled the bathtubs and brought the extension cords, strings, and the wires to the bathhouse the night before. [crosses arms] I admit, you'd be pressed for time...but the Library really isn't very far from the girls' locker room or the bathhouse. With the preparations, you definitely could've done
it.
Niizuma: [annoyedly] Could've, could've, could've... [folds arms] There is a small chance that I could have done that...however, you have nothing to suggest that I actually did. As the Ultimate Statistician, I rate the probability that I was able to do that at approximately 3%.
Eguchi: [avoids eye contact] Are we supposed to take that figure seriously? You're pretty biased in this situation...
Niizuma: [scratches neck] Hmph...I admittedly am. However, the point still stands that there is no proof that I actually went to attack Ichigohara-san instead of going to the bathroom. [looks to the side] Besides, as I previously stated, Motoki-san had all morning to attack Ichigohara-san and set up her death. [coldly] So she's far more suspicious than I am.
Motoki: [defensively] No, I'm not! [frustratedly] You're just blaming me to take suspicion off yourself, Niizuma-san.
Niizuma: [brushes hair out of face] No, I'm blaming you because you're far more likely to be the culprit than I am. [folds arms] I'm also doing it because I'm not the culprit.

She says that yet again...but can she actually prove it? I doubt it...given the information we know, Niizuma-san is the most
likely culprit. However, she's obviously not going to admit that anytime soon...so I'll have to use evidence to take away her
defenses
until she has none left.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Blue Tarp, Hidden Door, Komatsu and Motoki's Head Wounds, Destroyed Computer, Bathhouse Door

Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] You say that you're innocent, Niizuma-san... [points aggressively] But do you have any real proof to back that statement up!?
Niizuma: [scratches neck] Of course I do. [folds arms] First off, nothing connects me to the murder. There's zero proof I went to the crime scene. [brushes hair out of face] No pieces of fabric...no incriminating messages...nothing like that.
Domoto: [arches eyebrow] So? You could've gotten rid of evidence that incriminates you.
Niizuma: [raises eyebrow] Oh really? Where could I have put it? In the secret room? [brushes hair out of face] I had no knowledge of the hidden door and I didn't have access
to the key, so I couldn't have gotten in there. [brushes hair out of face] Besides, a pair of scissors, removed wire coverings, and a broken computer...none of that stuff makes me look suspicious.
Niizuma: [looks to the side] So, if you really are going to say that I'm the culprit... [shifts balance to right leg] Then you'll have to explain to me why Motoki-san can't be the culprit.
Niizuma: [scratches neck] She had all morning to prepare for Ichigohara-san's death... [folds arms] Also, she could've hidden the Art Room TV remote underneath her poncho and pressed it right before Hayasaka-san opened the door to the bathhouse.
Hayasaka: [pensively] Maybe...I probably wouldn't have seen it if she'd done that...I was too focused on the door to the bathhouse...
Niizuma: [examines nails] Additionally, Motoki-san's story that Ichigohara-san told her to go back to her room and rest
could easily be nothing more than a lie... [brushes hair out of face] After all, Motoki-san has no proof that she actually had a headache.
Motoki: [frustratedly] But my headache was real! [points accusatorially] You're just accusing me because you don't want to be suspected!
Terajima: [coolly] Yeah, why are you insisting on keeping the blame on someone else, stats girl? Is it because you're really guilty?
Eguchi: [wrings hands nervously] It has to be that... [avoids eye contact] I mean, Kawashima-san, Motoki-san, and I probably aren't guilty...so she's the only suspect left.

Niizuma-san is putting up a good fight, I admit it...but she can't resist the truth getting out forever. She's made a mistake...and I need to show it to her to prove that she has to be the killer!

Answer: Destroyed Computer >
none of that stuff makes me look suspicious

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Actually, Niizuma-san...the stuff in the secret room does make you look suspicious.
Niizuma: [coldly] No, it doesn't. None of that stuff in there points
to me being the culprit.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Well...you're kind of right.
Nothing in there directly incriminates you...however, you slipped up.
Niizuma: [doubtfully] ...What?
Kawashima: [seriously] You mentioned that there was a broken computer, pair of scissors, and removed wire coverings in there.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Hold up...a broken computer? I ain't remember hearin' nothin' 'bout that...
Kawashima: [seriously] You shouldn't, Komatsu-kun, because I made no mention of that destroyed computer this entire trial. [narrows eyes] However...you knew about it, Niizuma-san. Why?
Niizuma: [grabs necklace] ..........

...Got her. She's finally starting to crack.
Oyamada: [apprehensively] W-Wait...if she kn-knew about the c-computer...then th-that means...
Domoto: [icily] She has to be the culprit.
Sashihara: [confusedly] I don't get it...why would she break that computer? [shouts loudly] All that was on it was the video of Furuhata-kun, right?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I don't know her reason for destroying that computer. However, because two things we
know that directly connect
to Ichigohara-san's murder, the scissors and removed wire coverings, were found in the secret room,
I think it's safe to assume that Niizuma-san only would've known about that computer if she was the killer.

Niizuma: [coldly] That's still an assumption. It proves nothing.
Terajima: [calmly] Unfortunately...I have to agree with the stats girl about this. [pushes sunglasses up nose] Though it's really unlikely, it's still possible she could've
been in the secret room after the culprit set up the crime late last night.
Niizuma: [grabs necklace] Yes...that's right. [folds arms] I went back to the secret room during the investigation. Monohebi unlocked it, so I didn't have to worry about needing
the key...and I had no idea the hidden door existed, so that's why no one in the bathhouse saw me go into it.
Domoto: [icily] But weren't you in the Music Room for most of the investigation? How would you have investigated the secret room if you were there the whole time?
Hayasaka: [pensively] Well...just becasue Tomiko-san was there for most of the investigation doesn't mean she was there for all of it... [twirls hair] Besides, the secret room isn't huge. It wouldn't take her long to investigate it...

That's true...
Sashihara: [confusedly] Hayasaka-san, why are you defending Niizuma-san? [shouts loudly] She was the one who tried to frame you for murder!
Hayasaka: [hugs herself] You...You don't know that. [pensively] Tomiko-san...she's always been someone who I've actually liked. So...I find it hard to accept that she's the killer...

So that wasn't just an act she put on for her "Mika-chan" personality...it was genuine. I didn't expect that. Even still, though...Niizuma-san is the
culprit.
Hayasaka-san will just have to accept that.
Kawashima: [seriously] I'm sorry, Hayasaka-san...but even if you did admire her, that doesn't mean you should defend her blindly. [grimaces] That won't end well...
Hayasaka: [crossly] I'm not defending her blindly, Wakana-san. What I said about the secret room is true...
[twirls hair] Besides, there's still something else that doesn't make sense if Tomiko-san's really the culprit.
Kasparov: [curiously] There is? What is it?
Hayasaka: [pensively] Yuzuki-san and I were setting up for my plan to kill Yutaka-kun last night, remember?
Eguchi: [grimaces] Yeah...I remember that all too well... [hugs herself, looks to the side, and frowns] I remember when you blackmailed me into helping you. [coldly] I remember when you emotionally abused me by threatening to reveal something extremely personal to me.
Hayasaka: [looks down shamefully] Yuzuki-san...I...I was desperate and I did something terrible...I'm sorry...
Eguchi: [coldly] Apology absolutely not accepted.
Hayasaka: [tearfully] I...

I don't want to feel right now...Hayasaka-san
really does seem upset about what she did to Eguchi-san, but at the same time...she did something pretty
horrible to her that can't just be ignored...
Domoto: [strokes chin] Not to interrupt, Hayasaka-san, but what was your point in bringing up
what
you and Eguchi-san were doing last night?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Yeah, I don't really see what that has to do with anything...we already established that the attacker and culprit aren't the same person.
Hayasaka: [sadly] It's not about that... [twirls hair pensively] I brought it up because Yuzuki-san and I were walking all around the third floor last night...wouldn't we have seen Tomiko-san if she set everything up last night like you guys claim she did?

You two could've seen her...but just
because you didn't see anything doesn't mean Niizuma-san never went up there. That's because...
Niizuma didn't need to use the third floor/Niizuma could've made preparations later than Hayasaka and Eguchi/Niizuma set everything up in the morning

Answer:
Niizuma could've made preparations later than Hayasaka and Eguchi

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] Hayasaka-san, at what time
last night did you and Eguchi-san set up everything for Komatsu-kun's murder?
Hayasaka: [pensively] Hmm...it was around 11, I think.
Eguchi: [neutrally] Yeah...that's true. Also, it took about twenty minutes in all to do.
Kawashima: [nods] Okay. I understand. [seriously] So, taking that into account, isn't it perfectly plausible that Niizuma-san just made her preparations for Ichigohara-san's death later?
Hayasaka: [bites thumb nail] But...if she did that, she would've been up really late...so shouldn't she be really tired right now if that's the case?
Terajima: [calmly] No, not if she brewed herself a cup of coffee in the morning. [pushes sunglasses up nose] That'd definitely help make her less tired.

Kasparov: [considers carefully] Indeed. [analytically] In addition to that, I would like to point out that Niizuma-san is the Ultimate Statistician, and as such we can expect her to be very calculating and cautious of risks. So, I think it is actually quite likely that she would only do
something as risky as preparing a murder late in the night, where she could be sure no one would see her.
Hayasaka: [hesitantly] I...I guess that makes sense...

Kasparov-kun's right...Niizuma-san is a pretty calculating person. She definitely wouldn't risk
anything if she
could help it...hold on. That makes me think of something...
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Kasparov-kun, what you just said about Niizuma-san is making me think...Niizuma-san's a very shrewd person. [slightly challenging] Is that why you chose me as your partner this morning, Niizuma-san?
Niizuma: [raises eyebrows] Huh? What do you mean?
Kawashima: [seriously] As you said before, I've been very helpful in solving the past two trials. [thoughtfully] If I think like a killer, securing an alibi with the person who helped solve the last two trials would do wonders for making you look innocent, wouldn't it?

Niizuma: [folds arms] .......... [looks to the side] That's nothing more than conjecture and speculation. You keep on accusing me of being the killer, Kawashima-san, when it's still just as possible it could be you.
Domoto: [strokes chin] Really? Kawashima-san didn't leave to go to the "bathroom" at 8:30 this morning. You did. [crosses arms] You had both the opportunity to attack Ichigohara-san and to kill her when you were alone in the bathroom stall. [icily] So are you really going to sit here and say Kawashima-san is just as suspicious as you?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Yeah...you're way more suspicious than Kawashima-san is.
Niizuma: [coldly] If anyone's going to talk to me about who's suspicious and who's not, I'm not going to let it be the person who has admitted to being alone for essentially the entire morning. [brushes hair out of face] You still
could've very easily pressed that TV remote outside the door to the bathhouse by concealing it underneath that horrifically ugly poncho of yours.
Motoki: [hurt] Ugly...? [angrily] This poncho is representation of the many cultures and languages I've studied! Don't you dare call it ugly!
Niizuma: [shifts balance to right leg] I'll call it whatever I want. The fact still stands that you are just as viable a suspect as I am. [folds arms] That reminds me...there's a reason why me being the culprit is impossible.
Oyamada: [confusedly] Wh-What is it? I d-don't see wh-what it is...
Niizuma: [scratches neck] It has to do with me being able to enter the secret room. [folds arms] If I'm following the logic Kawashima-san has been establishing so far...were I the culprit, I would've had to have entered that room to break the computer and put the scissors and wire coverings in there. [shifts balance to right leg] All this would've had to have been done at some point before Monohebi unlocked the door to it during the investigation.

Yes, that's all true...but
where's she going with this?
Kawashima: [narrows eyes] What's your point in bringing all this up, Niizuma-san?
Niizuma: [folds arms] If I were the culprit, I would've had to be able to gain access to the secret room. [brushes hair out of face] However, because the key is missing and there's no proof I had any knowledge of the hidden door that connects the bathhouse and secret room, I can't be the killer.
Terajima: [coolly] Is that really your defense? It's completely possible you knew about the hidden door.
Niizuma: [folds arms] Possibility does not equal probability. You have no way to prove I knew about it.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Even if ya didn't know 'bout the hidden door, ya still coulda gotten the key!
Niizuma: [coldly] The key is missing, Komatsu-kun. No one's seen it in over two days. [looks to the side] Face it. None of you can prove I had any way to access the secret room.

Niizuma-san's point might make sense...if there wasn't a way
where she could've gotten that key.
Although she's staying mostly calm and collected, this defense is so faulty that
I can tell she's getting desperate. I need to drive her further into desperation until she finally breaks and admits she's the killer...and to do that, I need to point out to
her when she could've gotten that key!

LOGIC DIVE

Q1: Who was the person who first found the key to the secret room?

Tomiko Niizuma/Mika Hayasaka/Otoha Domoto

Q2: When did this individual lose track of the key?

When someone pickpocketed them and stole it/When they threw it in the trash can in the Art Room/When Domoto slapped it out of their hand

Q3:
When could the culprit have gotten the key?

While Motoki was yelling at Hayasaka on the day where Hayasaka revealed the peephole/After Domoto and Hayasaka left the secret room on the day where Hayasaka revealed the peephole/Before
Domoto and Hayasaka left the secret room on the day where Hayasaka revealed the peephole

Answers:
Mika Hayasaka,
When Domoto slapped it out of their hand,
After Domoto and Hayasaka left the secret room on the day where Hayasaka revealed the peephole

Kawashima: I understand it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [slightly challenging] You did have an opportunity to get the key to the secret room, Niizuma-san.

Niizuma: [raises eyebrows] Oh really? When?

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] On the day where Hayasaka-san showed the girls the peephole in the secret room...Domoto-san slapped the key out of Hayasaka-san's hand, remember?

Hayasaka: [twirls hair] Yeah...I remember that...Otoha-san slapped it out of my hand then left. I left not too long after, too. [confusedly] I don't get how that connects to Tomiko-san specifically, though...

Kawashima: [seriously] Well, I exited
not too long after you did, Hayasaka-san...which left
only Niizuma-san and Eguchi-san in the secret room.

Eguchi: [avoids eye contact] Oh yeah...now that I think about it, I wasn't really paying attention to what Niizuma-san was doing after everyone else but her and I left... [hangs head shamefully] I was more focused on, um...other things...

Niizuma: [folds arms] That means nothing. You could've taken that key too, Kawashima-san.

Kawashima: [slightly challenging] No, I couldn't have. You and Eguchi-san were right there. One of you would've seen me.

Niizuma: [grabs necklace] Gh... [coldly]
Why aren't you accusing Eguchi-san? She could've gotten that key, too.

Kasparov: [analytically] So you admit that it is possible that you could have picked up the key when only you and Eguchi-san were left in the secret room?

Niizuma: [grabs necklace] Ngh...I never said that. [folds arms] I left the secret room before Eguchi-san did, so it's more likely that she took the key.

Eguchi: [avoids eye contact] Yeah...that's true... [panicked] Wait, I mean that it's true you left first! Not that I took the key!

Niizuma: [coldly] Admit it, you could be the killer, Eguchi-san. [shifts balance to right leg] You could've hidden it inside the pocket of your jeans or maybe on the inside of that denim jacket. You
also could've hidden the remote in either of those places and discreetly pressed it outside of the bathhouse this morning. [brushes hair out of face] Also, you have the most motivation out of all of us to frame Hayasaka-san!

Eguchi: [grimaces] I mean...that's true, but... [points shakily] I didn't kill Ichigohara-san!

Niizuma: [folds arms] Admit it already. You're her real killer!

Domoto: [icily] Stop accusing other people every five seconds, Niizuma-san. [crosses arms] You need to prove yourself innocent before going forward with any more of these accusations.

Niizuma: [coldly] What, are we doing guilty until proven innocent now? That's not how this works.

Kawashima: [firmly] Just do it, Niizuma-san. If you can prove yourself innocent, then just get it over with.

Niizuma: [purses lips] ........... [folds arms] ...Fine. I have two
questions for you all.

Sashihara: [shouts loudly] What is it!?

Niizuma: [irritatedly] If you ask that loudly, we'll all become deaf and no one'll be able to hear what I say...
[folds arms] Anyway, the first question is this: because you all have assumed that the culprit set up this trap, how would I have known to bring the strings to the bathhouse overnight?
Motoki: [perplexedly] Huh? What do you mean?
Niizuma: [looks to the side] A crucial part of
this argument
against me is that I used the strings to frame Hayasaka-san, or whoever was going to open that door, as a suspect. [brushes hair out of face] However...Hayasaka-san didn't announce her bath party until this morning, which would've been after the culprit set up everything last night.
Kasparov: [frowns] Are you saying that it is impossible for you to be the culprit because you had no way of knowing if anyone would be opening the door afterwards?
Niizuma: [folds arms] Yes. This
is just one example of how
the accusation against me makes no sense...it assumes I knew things of which I had no knowledge.

Damn...she's making a good point. If
she didn't
know someone would be using the bathhouse after Ichigohara-san, she would've had no one to frame, and no reason to use the toy train and remote...huh. It looks like we really are stuck if we can't
answer this question...
Hayasaka: [reluctantly] ...Tomiko-san...I'm sorry, but... [sadly] You did know about my idea of having a bath party...
Niizuma: [coldly] ...What did you say?
Hayasaka: [sadly] I said you could've known about my plan for having a bath party the next day... [twirls hair pensively] Because when I was giving you a makeover yesterday...I mentioned about how I was planning on having one the next day...and how it would be after Noriyo-san's bath if she was going to take one...

So that's how Niizuma-san
knew...I never
thought I'd say it, but your testimony was extremely useful,
Hayasaka-san...
Niizuma: [grabs necklace] That...that's... [coldly] ...........
Hayasaka: [regretfully] I'm sorry, Tomiko-san...but I had to say that... [smiles weakly] I still don't want to think someone I admire so much is the killer...but... [hangs head] You're not making it very easy...
Niizuma: [looks to the side] ..........
Domoto: [crosses arms]
Well, that's your first question answered. What's your second one?
Niizuma: [folds arms with smug expression] Oh, I'm glad you asked, Domoto-san...this'll be what finally proves my innocence. [examines nails] if I really am the culprit and as such am the one who took the key from the secret room and the one who pressed the Art Room TV remote, where would I have hidden either of these things?

Komatsu: [furrows brow] The hell kinda question is that? [fixes belt] Ya coulda easily jus' put either thing in yer pocket or somethin' like that!

Niizuma: [examines nails] Except my pants have no pockets. [gestures to pants] See?

Niizuma turns around slowly so that we can see her entire outfit, and sure enough, she doesn't have any visible pockets anywhere.

Oyamada: [squints] Sh-She....She d-doesn't have any p-pockets...

Hayasaka: [flatly] Yeah, I don't see any at all...

Niizuma: [smugly] Then that settles it. If I had no way of carrying the key or the remote around, then it's impossible for me to the culprit. [folds arms with smug expression] So, I'm going to move on to accusing the real culprit now, which is obviously Eguchi-san.

...No. I’m not going to let you do that, Niizuma-san.

Kawashima: [seriously] No, Niizuma-san...Eguchi-san isn't the culprit. You are.

Niizuma: [coldly] Will you just give this up already, Kawashima-san? [looks to the side] I get it's hard to admit you're wrong sometimes, but it has to be done in cases like this.

Kawashima: [slightly challenging] I'm not going to admit to being wrong when I know I'm right, Niizuma-san.

Niizuma: [doubtfully] You know you're right? [coldly] I highly doubt it. You're just desperate to make me look like the culprit, for some reason. [brushes hair out of face] I couldn't have carried the key and remote, so I can't be the culprit. [folds arms] Why can't you just accept that already?

Kawashima: [firmly] Because you did have a way to carry the key and remote.

Niizuma: [grabs necklace] What...What are you talking about? [folds arms] I had no way to carry or hide the key or remote.

Kawashima: [firmly] Yes, you did. It's in—

Niizuma: [mouth twists angrily] Shut up. You're lying!

Kasparov: [curiously] Lying about what?

Niizuma: [looks to the side] She says that I had a way to carry the key and remote, but that's nothing more than a lie.

Niizuma: [coldly] A lie. That's all this accusation against me is. It's all a series of conjecture and lies!

Niizuma: [folds arms with furious expression] Do you hear me, you dumb waitress bitch? Your entire argument
consists of nothing more than speculation and deception! [curls fists with furious expression] Do you hear me!? I'm not the killer!

...She's finally cracked. Niizuma-san has been so calm
up until now...but now she knows that I have a way to reveal how she carried the key and remote. She also knows that if everyone
else finds about that, she's done for. She doesn't want the truth to get out...which is precisely why
I have to
reveal it! I'll beat this last defense of Niizuma-san's and prove she's the
culprit!

ARGUMENT ARMAMENT

[Niizuma is dressed in a very formal-looking and businesslike pantsuit. In one hand she holds a calculator while in the other she holds a clipboard with a sheet that says "Survey Results" at the top. On either side of her is an easel with a graph on it. The easel on her left shows a pie chart while the one on her right displays a bar graph. An aura consisting
of a variety of statistics equations and greek letters, including the greek letters chi, mu, and an uppercase and lowercase sigma, surrounds her]

Niizuma: You're sorely mistaken, Kawashima-san...

Niizuma: ...it's impossible for me to be the killer.

Niizuma: I would've had only five minutes to attack Ichigohara-san and set up her murder...

Niizuma: ....no matter what you say, that's not enough time!

[equations and letters disappear. Argument Armament music speeds up]

Niizuma: Unlike me, Eguchi-san and Motoki-san are very suspicious...

Niizuma: ...so why are you only accusing me?

Niizuma: Do you want to get us all killed, Kawashima-san?

Niizuma: Are you the real culprit?

[two easels with charts on them disappear.
Argument Armament music speeds up even more]

Niizuma: Face it, Kawashima-san, you don't have any real proof against me!

Niizuma: You've offered nothing but theories, conjecture, and speculation so far...

Niizuma: ...if you're going to accuse me, at least offer solid proof!

Niizuma: If you vote for me, we'll all die!

[calculator and clipboard
disappear. Music stops and is replaced by a heartbeat sound effect]

Niizuma: Where could I have carried that key and that remote?

OF————POCKET————SWEATER—————INSIDE

Answer:
Inside pocket of sweater

[Niizuma falls to the ground, her pantsuit torn in several places]

Niizuma: Dammit...!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [slightly challenging] You could've put both the key in the inside pocket of your sweater, Niizuma-san.

Niizuma: [folds arms with furious expression] ..........

Sashihara: [confusedly] Wait, Niizuma-san has a pocket on the inside of her half-sweater? [shouts loudly] I had no idea at all!

Domoto: [crosses arms] Neither did I... [strokes chin] How did you know about it, Kawashima-san?

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I had a runny nose this morning, so Niizuma-san gave me a pack of tissues... [seriously] ...which she pulled out of a pocket on the inside of her sweater!

Niizuma: [curls fists with furious expression] You...how do you remember that?

Kawashima: [seriously] I'm a waitress, Niizuma-san. I have to remember my customers' orders, what side work I need to do, and a million different things at work at every day. [firmly] Remembering you having a hidden pocket really isn't difficult in comparison.

Kasparov: [analytically] So Niizuma-san did have a way to hide the key to the secret room and the Art Room TV remote after all... [with determination] Niizuma-san...this is the final test. Empty your pocket.

Niizuma: [coldly] What?

Domoto: [icily] Just do it, Niizuma-san. If you're really innocent, that pocket inside your sweater should be empty.

Terajima: [coolly] Hold on...even if it is empty, that doesn't mean she's innocent. She could've disposed of the remote and key during the investigation.

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] That's true, Terajima-kun...
[seriously] However, if Niizuma-san has the remote or key in her pocket, we'll finally be able to put an end to this trial.

Niizuma: [folds arms with furious expression] ..........

Kasparov: [expectantly] Well? Are you not going to empty that pocket? [narrows eyes] If you are indeed innocent as you claim...you should have no problem taking out that which is inside it.

Niizuma: [looks away bitterly] Ngh...this is...

Hayasaka: [disbelievingly] Tomiko-san...don't tell me...was it really you? [sadly] Are you...really the killer?

Niizuma: [folds arms] ..........

Komatsu: [angrily] C'mon, jus' empty yer pocket already so we can get this fuckin' trial over with!

Niizuma: [mouth twists angrily] Shut up...I... [looks away bitterly] This isn't... [reluctantly and furiously] ...Fine.

After a long pause, Niizuma reaches inside her pocket and throws the pack of tissues into the center of the circle of defendant stands. Then, she pulls out a key with a Monohebi head on it and throws it into the center. Lastly, and with the most difficulty, she reaches into her pocket and pulls out the Art Room TV remote.

Niizuma: [holds remote and looks at it with a bitter smile] Ah...I knew should've gotten rid of this piece of shit
when I had the chance...but I guess I was too cocky. [holds remote and looks away bitterly] I was so, so close to getting away with everything...

So finally she relents...

Oyamada: [adjusts glasses] S-So it really w-was her...Niizuma-san's the o-one who k-killed Ichigohara-san in s-such a c-cruel way...

Niizuma says nothing. Instead, she looks at the remote one last time and throws it into the center of the circle, too.

Domoto: [icily] I'm guessing you're not going to admit to it yourself, then. [crosses arms] No matter. The remote is proof enough of your guilt.

Yeah...that says all we need to know. But even so...
Kawashima: [seriously] Even though we know Niizuma-san is the culprit...I don't want to leave any room for doubt. [determined] I'll go over this case one last time and prove that Tomiko Niizuma is the true culprit!

CLOSING ARGUMENT

Missing Pieces:A: Eguchi reluctantly agrees to help the culpritB:
During the makeover, Hayasaka also selects a watch for the culprit to wearC:
Using the watch Hayasaka had picked out for them the day before, the culprit carefully keeps track of the timeD:
Kawashima and the culprit head upstairs to the LibraryE: Furuhata writes a note to TerajimaF:
With the power to the outlets activated, electricity flows through the hairdryer and shocks Ichigohara to deathG: The culprit knocks out Ichigohara and drags her into the women’s bathroomH:
Using the guitar string they got earlier, the culprit strangles AozoraI:
To ensure her screams can't alert anyone if they're nearby, the culprit gags Ichigohara by putting duct tape over her mouthJ:
The culprit attaches the Art Room TV's remote sensor to the train and hooks it up to the train's inner mechanismsK: For unknown reasons, the culprit destroys the computer in the secret roomL:
The culprit leaves the bathhouse through the hidden door to the secret roomM: Eguchi and the culprit go to bed for the nightN:
The culprit brings Ichigohara to the bathhouseO:
The culprit takes two strings, a TV remote, and a TV remote sensor from the Art Room

While she is giving the culprit a makeover, Hayasaka informs them of her plan to have a bath party the next day
???
At dinner, the
culprit overhears Motoki and Ichigohara talking about their plans to take a bath in the morning
Hayasaka and Eguchi set up for Hayasaka's murder plan after nighttime
Late at night, after Hayasaka and Eguchi go to bed, the culprit sneaks out of their room
The culprit takes
two extension cords and a bunch of electrical wires from the amp speaker in the Music Room
???
With the intention of using them to frame whoever would open the bathhouse door, the culprit takes one of the strings they brought from the Art Room and ties one end around the bathhouse door's door knob and one end around the nearby outlet switch
Using a pair of scissors, the culprit cuts the string in two
The culprit grabs a toy train
from the toy bin
in the bathhouse
???
The culprit takes the second string from the Art Room and ties it around the train
Using a pair of scissors, the culprit removes the wire coverings from the electrical wires
After filling two bathtubs to a suitable level, the
culprit places an extension cord and hairdryer in each
The culprit places the removed wire coverings and the pair of scissors in the secret room
???
The next morning, Hayasaka announces her bath party
The culprit asks Kawashima to be their partner
???
Soon after arriving at the Library, the culprit tells Kawashima they need to go to the bathroom and that they'll be back shortly
Rather than
going to the bathroom, the culprit instead goes to the girls' locker room
Once they get there, the culprit scans their e-Handbook and enters
The culprit attacks
Ichigohara and presumably knocks her out
???
The culprit puts Ichigohara in a bathtub and wraps her in bare electrical wires
???
After making sure the switch is flipped up
and the toy train is properly set up around it, the culprit places a hairdryer that's connected to the wall outlets with an extension cord in Ichigohara's bath
The culprit locks the door until 11:30, when Hayasaka's bath party is supposed to begin
???
The culprit returns to the Library
Three hours later, soon before 11:30, the culprit proposes that they and Kawashima go to the bathroom across the hall
Once they get to the bathroom, the culprit chooses the stall closest to the wall
???
At precisely 11:30, the culprit presses the remote, which turns the toy train in the bathhouse on
The toy train drives off the edge of the table and yanks the outlet switch down
???
Hayasaka opens the door to the bathhouse
Hayasaka, Motoki, and Eguchi are horrified to discover Ichigohara's corpse in the bathtub

Answer: B (2), O (7), J
(11), K (16), D (19), N (24), I (26), L (29), C (33), F (36)

Kawashima: This is how it happened!

CLIMAX INFERENCE

Kawashima: This case began yesterday, when Hayasaka-san and the culprit became partners. While Hayasaka-san was giving the culprit a makeover, she unknowingly gave them two things that would be vital to their plan.
Kawashima: Firstly, Hayasaka-san gave the culprit a rose gold watch that they took a liking to and kept after the makeover. Secondly, she told the culprit about her plan to have a bath party the next day, and how she'd have it after Ichigohara-san's morning bath if Ichigohara-san wanted to take one. Although Hayasaka-san had no way of knowing it at the time, she had unwittingly given the culprit information crucial to their plan to frame her.
Kawashima: Later that same day, at dinner, the culprit overheard Motoki-san and Ichigohara-san talking about their plan to have a bath together and be partners the next day. Combining this information with what Hayasaka-san said earlier, the culprit started to formulate a murder plan, in which they would murder both Ichigohara-san and Motoki-san and frame whoever opened the door to the bathhouse.
Kawashima: After nighttime on that day, someone other than the culprit was planning something: Hayasaka-san. Hayasaka-san
had blackmailed Eguchi-san into assisting her with her plan to kill Komatsu-kun, so the two of them were making the necessary preparations for that plan after most of us had gone to bed. Once they were done, both of them went to bed.
Kawashima: However, that wasn't the end of the
murder preparations that night. In the dead of night, the culprit snuck out of their room to get ready for their plan to kill Ichigohara-san and Motoki-san the next day. The reason they waited until so late to do this was because our culprit was an extremely calculating and cautious person, and would want to avoid all risks if possible. So, they waited until everyone else was surely in bed to minimize the chances of being caught.
Kawashima: To begin their preparations, the culprit took two extension cords and a bunch of electrical wires from the Music Room. Next, they took two strings, a TV remote, and a TV remote sensor from the Art Room. Once they had acquired all of the necessary materials, they made their way to the bathhouse.
Kawashima: Inside the bathhouse, the culprit took one of the strings and tied one end of it around the bathhouse door's door knob and the other end around the switch that turned on power to the outlets. Then, they used a pair of scissors to cut the string in two. Their reason for doing this was to make it look like whoever opened the door to the bathhouse would cause
the string to pull on the outlet switch, which would make it seem as if the person who opened the door was the killer, when in reality it was the culprit.

Kawashima: To start getting ready for what would actually kill Ichigohara-san, the culprit took a toy train from the toy bin in the bathhouse. Then, they attached the TV remote sensor from the Art Room to the train and
hooked it up to the train's inner mechanisms. Next, the culprit grabbed the second string they had taken from the Art Room and tied one end of it around the train and made the other into an empty loop. The purpose of this empty loop was to be wrapped around the outlet switch and to pull it down when the train drove off the table.
Kawashima: Due to how they had to tamper with the train's inner mechanisms, it probably took the culprit a long time to get pressing the remote to actually activate the train. Fortunately for them, they had several hours at night to get this right...and, unfortunately for Ichigohara-san, they eventually did.
Kawashima: Once they were done with the train, the culprit turned their attention to the electrical wires they had brought from the Music Room. With the exception of the two extension cords, the culprit removed the protective coverings on these wires with the same pair of scissors they'd used earlier.

Kawashima: At some point before leaving the bathhouse, the culprit filled two bathtubs with enough water for a person to lie submerged in. Then, they neatly coiled up both extension cords and two hairdryers and placed one of each in the bathtubs.
Kawashima: Because they were now finished in the bathhouse, the
culprit next took the removed wire coverings from the electrical wires and the pair of scissors and carried them into the secret room, which they entered through the hidden door in the bathhouse. Once inside the secret room, the culprit discarded both the wire coverings and scissors in a corner of the room.
Kawashima: They probably put these things in here because they didn't think anyone would discover them in there due to most of us being unaware of the hidden door...however, they probably weren't anticipating Monohebi later unlocking the door to the secret room during the investigation.
Next, for some reason I don't yet know, the culprit destroyed the computer in the secret room beyond repair. After that, they were finished for their nighttime preparations and headed to bed.
Kawashima: The culprit awoke the next morning, probably feeling tired due to late they were up. However, they didn't seem tired at all today, so they most likely covertly brewed themselves a cup of coffee to give themselves some necessary energization. No matter what they did, the culprit made the effort to seem as normal as possible at the morning meeting and all day today.

Kawashima: During the morning meeting, Hayasaka formally announced her plans to have a bath party for the girls, which the culprit previously knew about. However, they learned something new about the bath party: it was to start at precisely 11:30, the time at which
Ichigohara-san and Motoki-san's three hour limit on locking the door would expire and at which Hayasaka-san promised to open the door. The culprit was probably delighted to hear this information, as it provided the culprit with invaluable information that would allow them to easily frame Hayasaka-san for Ichigohara-san and Motoki-san's deaths.
Kawashima: Once the morning meeting was over and it was time to select partners for the day, the culprit immediately turned to me and asked to be my partner. At the time, I assumed this was because they didn't want to be with Hayasaka-san...however, looking back on it, the culprit's calculating nature makes me think they probably chose me because I was instrumental in solving the last two trials and because they wanted to use me to make themselves look less suspicious.
Kawashima: The culprit and I then headed upstairs to the Library, where Oyamada-kun and Terajima-kun had also decided to go. Soon after we got there, the culprit informed me that they needed to use the restroom right across the hall. I initially protested out of fear for their safety, but they assured me that they'd be safe and that they'd be back shortly, so I relented. Looking back on this, this was a terrible mistake, as the culprit wasn't actually going to the bathroom.
Kawashima: Instead, the culprit headed to the girls' locker room, which they entered using their e-Handbook. Once inside, they attacked Ichigohara-san. They were probably surprised to see that Motoki-san wasn't present, due to her having a headache and returning to her room right before Ichigohara-san and her were to enter the bathhouse. However, the culprit didn't let this minor setback stop them and continued with their murder plan, only they now had to adjust it so that it was only meant for one person.
Kawashima: Next, the culprit brought Ichigohara-san to the bathhouse. Luckily for them, Sashihara-kun and Komatsu-kun were still in the boys' locker room and Hayasaka-san was in the pool awaiting the two boys' arrival, so no one saw the culprit doing this.
Kawashima: When inside the bathhouse, the culprit placed Ichigohara-san in one of the bathtubs they had prepared the night before and bound
her in the electrical wires so she couldn't escape the trap when she woke up. Then, they used duct tape which they'd probably brought to the bathhouse the night before and taped it across Ichigohara-san's mouth. This was to prevent her screams
for help from being heard when she eventually awoke.
Kawashima: Next, the culprit placed the toy train on the table next to the door and placed the empty loop of the string attached to it around the switch to the outlets, making sure that the switch was flipped up as they did this. After that, they placed the hairdryer in the bathtub Ichigohara-san was in and connected the hairdryer to the wall outlets using one of the two extension cords. Lastly, because it was 8:30 at that time, the culprit set the lock for three hours so it would expire at 11:30, when Hayasaka-san was meant to open the door to the bathhouse.
Kawashima: The culprit was now done setting up Ichigohara-san's murder. Due to them being pressed for time and Motoki-san not being in the girls' locker room, the culprit was forced to leave
the hairdryer and extension cord they had placed in a second bathtub and left the bathhouse. However, because they had already locked the normal door, they were forced to take a more lengthy route and use
the hidden door to the secret room and leave the bathhouse that way.
Kawashima: After they had left the secret room and were in the sauna, the culprit probably poked their head out to see if anyone was in the hallway. When they saw no one, they left the sauna and returned to me in the Library, having completed everything they needed to do in less than five minutes. This need for quickness and efficiency in setting up Ichigohara-san's death trap is probably why the culprit made most preparations
the night before,
because if they had taken too long to go the “bathroom,” I definitely would've been a lot more suspicious of them.
Kawashima: The culprit, Oyamada-kun, and Terajima-kun, and I sat quietly in the Library for the next three hours. When the culprit noticed the time was approaching 11:30, they told me they had to go to bathroom again and that I should come this time.
I obliged and followed the culprit across the hall to the girls' bathroom.
Kawashima: When we got to the bathroom, the culprit made sure to choose the stall closest to the wall opposite the door, which, due to the bathhouse being on the other side of that wall, was the closest stall to the remote sensor on the toy train.

Kawashima: While in the stall, the culprit carefully watched the time on the watch that Hayasaka-san had given them the day before. As they did this, the culprit was ready to press the
Art Room TV remote, which they had been storing in the inside pocket of their sweater. Along with this remote, the culprit's pocket was also what they used to carry both a pack of tissues and the key to the secret room they had previously taken after Domoto-san slapped it out of Hayasaka-san's hand.
Kawashima: When the time changed from 11:29 to 11:30, the culprit immediately pressed the remote. This turned the toy train on, causing it to drive off the side of the table and, due to the string being wrapped around the outlet switch, yank said switch down. This action caused the power to the outlets to turn on, which caused electricity to flow to the hairdryer in Ichigohara-san's bath, electrocuting her to death.
Kawashima: Something about this that should be noted is that the culprit made sure to leave the train on for several seconds to allow it to move far away from the bathhouse's door and the outlet switch. This was to try to prevent Hayasaka-san, Motoki-san, and Eguchi-san from noticing the train when they opened the door and potentially discovering its true purpose. Once they had waited several seconds, the culprit used the remote to turn the train off, put the remote back in their sweater pocket, left the bathroom stall, and began talking with me, acting like nothing special had happened.
Kawashima: However, not everything was going as the culprit anticipated. They'd probably expected to hear the body discovery announcement very soon after pressing the remote, but they didn't. This was because the bathhouse door's lock timer was extremely precise and counted down to the second. So, when the culprit set the bathhouse door's lock for three hours at 8:30, they must've done so around 8:30 and thirty seconds, as 11:30 and thirty seconds was when the bathhouse door finally unlocked.
Kawashima: As soon as the door to the bathhouse unlocked, Hayasaka-san opened it, unaware of the trap with the strings and everything else that lie on the other side of the door. Once she, Motoki-san, and Eguchi-san
discovered
Ichigohara-san's horrifically electrocuted body, they were all
understandably
terrified.

Kawashima: Because Hayasaka-san, Motoki-san, and Eguchi-san had found the body, the body discovery announcement went off. This caused the culprit and I to rush out of the girls' bathroom and run into Terajima-kun and Oyamada-kun in the hallway. The four of us hurried to the bathhouse, where we found Ichigohara-san's corpse.
Kawashima: Although everyone else was horrified
and disgusted by the sight of Ichigohara-san's corpse...the culprit was probably secretly elated that their plan had gone so well. Not only had they set up the murder so that it framed Hayasaka-san, they had successfully killed Ichigohara-san from another room, securing themselves an alibi
for the time of death.
The culprit probably thought they were going to get away with murder...however, they were wrong, because we now know the culprit's identity. The person who brutally murdered Ichigohara-san...the one deceived us all by framing Hayasaka-san...that person can only be...
[split screen separates Kawashima and Hayasaka, who looks terrified. However, the side with Hayasaka shatters to reveal a bitter and scowling Niizuma]

Kawashima: ...You! Tomiko Niizuma, the Ultimate Statistician, I reject the null hypothesis! You are undoubtedly the culprit behind this crime!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Well? Am I right, Niizuma-san?
Niizuma: [folds arms with furious expression] .......... [looks away bitterly] ...I won't give you the satisfaction of knowing that.
Domoto: [snorts mirthlessly] I'll take that as a yes. [crosses arms] Monohebi...I think it's time we start the vote.

Monohebi: [chuckles] Sususu...are you certain you are ready?

Kawashima: [firmly] Yes, Monohebi. [seriously] Even if Niizuma-san won't admit to her guilt...it's obvious she's the killer at this point.

Monohebi: [chuckles] Sususu...if you say so. [slight smile] Everyone, you should know what to do by now. Please choose a face on the screen in front of you to vote. Be sure to take care in your decision. Will you make the correct choice, or the dreadfully wrong one? [narrows eyes] Also, remember that refraining from voting will result only in your death.

Like the last two times, I look at the panel before me, where I see a screen with four rows of four of our faces. Now, in addition to
Furuhata, Yamaguchi, and Aozora’s faces, I see Carrasco's and Ichigohara's faces covered with pink X’s as well.

Five people are dead...and
very soon, it's going to be six. With a sigh, I press down on the image of Niizuma's
face and look up.

By the time I’ve looked up, Domoto, Kasparov, Terajima, Sashihara, Motoki, Eguchi, and
Komatsu
have already voted. Oyamada and Hayasaka hesitate more than the rest, but after a while, they vote too. Niizuma takes the longest. For what seems like forever she only stares at the voting screen angrily. However, after a long time, she finally votes.

Monohebi: [slight smile] Sususu...even though Niizuma had trouble picking a choice, it appears all the votes are in. Now, the time you have all been waiting for! [red eye glints] The reveal of the culprit!

Just like
what happened the previous two times, a giant video monitor appears out of the wall. On it, an animation of a giant slot machine with all our faces on it spins rapidly. The slots begin to slow down, more and more until they come to rest on three pictures of Niizuma’s face. A big neon sign displaying the word “GUILTY” appears alongside bright, flashing colors, a burst of confetti onscreen, and cheering from a recorded crowd.

Class Trial: All Rise!

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Monohebi chuckles. "Sususu...I have to admit, I am rather impressed. Niizuma made quite the murder plot, which was made only more complicated by Hayasaka simultaneously attempting to carry out a plan of her own...however, despite the setbacks, you all managed to determine the correct killer."

Hayasaka looks down sadly. "So...Tomiko-san really was the killer after all..."

Monohebi nods. "Indeed she was."

"Niizuma-san...why did you do it?" Motoki asks tearfully. "Why did you want to kill Ichigohara-san and...why did you want to kill me?" She shakes her head, not able to understand. "After seeing what happened to Yamaguchi-kun and Carrasco-san, why would you ever want to kill someone?"

Niizuma looks at Motoki blankly, but says nothing.

"Are you going to answer the question Motoki-san posed to you, Niizuma-san?" Kasparov asks her.

Niizuma says nothing to him, either. Instead, she just looks away, a bitter expression on her face. So that's why she's not saying
anything...

"You're angry and bitter over us finding out you're the killer, aren't you?" I ask her. "You're mad that your seemingly perfect plan failed miserably."

Niizuma's mouth twists angrily and she glares daggers at me, yet she still says nothing.

"C'mon, jus' fuckin' say somethin' already!" Komatsu says frustratedly. "All yer doin' is bein' an asshole by refusin' to say shit."

"That's probably her goal," Domoto says, stroking her chin. She glances at Niizuma. "She's clearly mad she got found out...so she's being petty and ignoring us."

"She can't ignore us forever!" Sashihara shouts. "Not if we push her hard enough!"

"Pushing her to speak will only make her resolve to not speak stronger," Kasparov says. "No, we need to alienate her."

What? "Why should we do that, Kasparov-kun?" I ask him.

Kasparov looks at Niizuma with an analytic expression. "If we are consistently shouting at Niizuma-san to get her to talk to us, she shall be receiving attention, which is something I believe she wants," Kasparov says. "So, I suggest we ignore her so that she will eventually break and come to us herself."

...Huh. That's pretty harsh...but it's not easy
to feel sorry for Niizuma-san right now. Not after what she did to Ichigohara-san...

"B-But...if w-we don't t-talk to or a-about Niizuma-san...what c-can we even t-talk about?" asks Oyamada.

"We need to talk about her," Eguchi says, glaring at Hayasaka.

Hayasaka grimaces at
Eguchi's glare. "I...I didn't kill anyone. There's no need to talk about me..."

"You were planning to kill someone, selfie girl," Terajima says coolly. "And you blackmailed Eguchi-san and emotionally abused her." Terajima is trying to hard to conceal his anger, but he’s not doing a very good job. “So...are you really going to fucking say there's no need to talk about you?"

He's
really, really scary
when he's mad...

Hayasaka wilts under Terajima's gaze. "I..." She looks away. "I don't want to talk about anything..."

"I didn't want to talk about my story with bulimia, but you forced me into it," Eguchi says coldly.

“Yeah, ya ain’t got no excuse not to talk after what ya did to Eguchi-san,” Komatsu says with a glare. “Besides, jus’ ‘cause ya didn’t actually kill me don’t mean we’re all gonna magically forget ‘bout what ya did.”

Hayasaka opens her mouth to say something, but then closes it, defeated. “You’re...You’re right,” she says. “I guess it’s only fair...that I talk after what I did to Yuzuki-san. But...”

“But what?” I ask.

“But...it’s not easy,” Hayasaka says, wrapping her arms around herself. “It’s not easy confessing anything personal...”

“Oh no, it’s not,” Eguchi says coldly. “Yet you forced me to.” Her hands curl into fists. “Out of pettiness and desperation to not get caught for your murder plan, you forced me to talk about my most personal struggle that I’ve ever encountered.” She steps up to Hayasaka and glares at her. “So...don’t be surprised if I don’t really care if it’s ‘not easy’ for you to confess.”

“Yuzuki-san...you wouldn’t care at all?” Hayasaka asks, her voice small. “Even if...even if I went through the same thing?”

...What? Is she really saying what I think she is...?
“Hayasaka-san, are you saying you’re bulimic too?” I ask her.

For a long moment, Hayasaka only stares forward blankly. Then, she finally nods slowly. “...Yes,” she says, her voice barely above a whisper. “I was.”

“...Are you serious?” Eguchi asks in disbelief. “If you’re actually lying about having an eating disorder to try to get yourself more sympathy, I’ll—”

“I’m not lying!” Hayasaka interrupts angrily. “I wouldn’t lie...not about something like this.”

“So you really do have bulimia too?” Sashihara asks. "If that's the case...why the hell would you use your knowledge of Eguchi-san's struggle with bulimia to blackmail her!? Shouldn't a fellow bulimic understand that that isn't okay!?"

"Yeah, if you two share the same condition...shouldn't you have been more sympathetic?" Motoki asks, rubbing her shoulder. "I can't understand why you'd do what you do if you knew what it was like go through what Eguchi-san did..."

"It's because...I..." Hayasaka stops suddenly and hangs her head. "...No," she says after a pause. "I don't have any justification for what I did...not any good one, at least. I was just being desperate and selfish..."

"At l-least you can a-admit that," Oyamada says as he glares at Hayasaka. "You were b-being as selfish and t-terrible as anyone could b-be when you b-blackmailed Eguchi-san."

He's not wrong...what Hayasaka-san did to Eguchi-san was absolutely terrible.
However...it really does look like Hayasaka-san is sorry what she did. So I feel like we
should stop bashing Hayasaka-san... "Guys, I think Hayasaka-san's realized what she's done," I say. "It really does look like she's genuinely sorry..."

"Sorry isn't enough sometimes," Terajima says coolly.

"No, it's not," Domoto says. She glances at Hayasaka. "Hayasaka-san...I'm curious about something. You said you're bulimic, too...how did you remember that? Were you the second person to regain their memories?"

Hayasaka shakes her head. "No...I'm not that second person. I've known since our first
day in this horrible prison..."

If the second person Monohebi gave memories too isn't her, then it must be Niizuma-san. "Then you're the second person after all, Niizuma-san," I say to the statistician.

Niizuma doesn't answer. She only presses her lips together tightly and looks away. Looks like she's still not answering...how petty and
childish of her.

Kasparov looks frustrated at Niizuma's lack of response too, but he follow his own advice and ignores her, turning to look at Hayasaka instead. "Hayasaka-san, this matter has already been brought up, yet you did not answer...if you went through a struggle similar to that of Eguchi-san, why on earth would you use her bulimia as a tool to manipulate her?"

"Yeah, I'd still like to know that," Eguchi says. She narrows her eyes. "I'm still not even sure you're even telling the truth about having it..."

"I'm not lying," Hayasaka says sadly. "But if you're really going to insist on not believing me, then I'll..." She shudders. "...then I'll tell you everything."

"You will?" Domoto asks, arching an eyebrow. "Not even two minutes ago you
said you didn't want to talk about what you claim you went through."

"I still don't want to do it," Hayasaka says, "but after what I forced Yuzuki-san to go through...I feel like it's only fair that I reveal the
story of my struggle too."

After that, there's a pause as everyone waits for Hayasaka to say something. Finally she takes a deep breath and begins to talk.

"I guess...I guess you could say my problems started at a pretty young age," Hayasaka starts. "My parents worked a lot, so I was home alone pretty often...which caused me to feel lonely. I had an older sister, but we didn't really get along well...so, I spent most of my time on social media sites to connect with people....to make new friends, you know?" She smiles fondly. "And I did...I made some really good friends." Her smile fades. "But...they didn't last super long. I've never had good emotional intelligence, so I felt like I always accidentally ruined the relationships I'd managed to make." She looks down sadly. "So, because I was discouraged after making and losing so many internet friends, I...started to look at other things. I turned my attention to the models and 'influencers' who looked like they lived perfect lives, and I...I started to compare myself."

Hayasaka hesitates for a bit. "I...I saw how skinny they were, and I thought it wasn't fair...I saw how they all had perfect, round butts and big boobs and a thin waist
and lived in mansions and I thought it wasn't fair!" Her eyes fill with tears. "Why did they all have such perfect, amazing lives while I was fat and alone?"

"Hayasaka-san, you are in no way fat!" Sashihara shouts.

"Oh, I was," Hayasaka says. "I was by far the fattest kid in my class growing up..."

"Well...you're absolutely not overweight now," Sashihara says. He grimaces. "Listen, I know eating disorders often come along with a distorted sense of body image, but...please, know that you are perfect the way you currently are!"

"You're not really lonely, either," Motoki says. "I mean, you're probably one of the most outgoing people here..."

Hayasaka shakes her head. "I wasn't back when I was younger...in reality, I...I was just like..." Her eyes wander over to Eguchi. "I was like you, Yuzuki-san...I had no friends. But at least you had games...I had nothing. I
was the weird, quiet girl who was no good at anything...not sports, not school, not socialization, not games, nothing." She hugs herself. "The only thing I was good at was comparing myself to strangers online and desperately wishing I had their lives..."

"Yo, Hayasaka-san...I get that's some pretty bad shit, but...I ain't heard nothin' 'bout bulimia yet," Komatsu says. He narrows his eys. "Were ya really lyin' 'bout havin' it?"

"No...that came around later," Hayasaka says. "When I was about fourteen, my...my older sister, Miyoko, died. She got hit by a car and died...and that's when everything started to go downhill..."

"D-Didn't you s-say you guys didn't g-get along?" Oyamada asks, confused. "I d-don't get why th-things would go d-downhill if you didn't e-even like your s-sister..."

"It was because we didn't get along that I was devastated," Hayasaka says tearfully. "The whole reason she walked out into the street and got killed was because..." She stops.

"...Was because what?" I ask.

A look of great pain crosses Hayasaka's face as she recalls the memory. "Miyoko and I...we..."
[[flashback begin]]
Miyoko: Dammit, Mika, why do you keep on leaving the fan on in the bathroom? It's so annoying!
Hayasaka: Miyoko, does it really matter? It's not even that loud...
Miyoko: It's not the noise I'm annoyed about so much as the fact that I've told you *several* times to turn it off when you're done using the bathroom.

Hayasaka: Stop being mean to me...I'm just forgetful sometimes.
Miyoko: Stop using that as an excuse, Mika. You need to be held accountability for your actions. It's not fair that mom and dad constantly berate me and criticize me for the smallest of things yet say nothing about you when you fuck up!
Hayasaka: It...It's not my fault they don't say anything about me, Miyoko!
Miyoko: No...but it is your fault that you're refusing to hold yourself accountable for little things like leaving the fan on in the bathroom.
Hayasaka: Miyoko, shut up! It's not that big of a deal! I'll turn it off the next time.
Miyoko: That's what you said last time. And the time before that, too. Ugh. I've had enough of you and this house...I'm going on a walk...
[[flashback end]]

"After that, she went for her walk..." Hayasaka
closes her eyes to prevent tears, but starts to cry anyway. "...And that was when she was a hit by a speeding car. If I
just turned that stupid bathroom fan off, she would've lived. But I got her killed...and the guilt I feel from that, it's never left me.

"But on top with that...when my sister died, my parents transferred a lot of the pressure they had put on her to me. They expected good grades, good social skills, and...worst of all, a good body." Hayasaka shudders. "That was when the real problems started. Because my parents were constantly criticizing me whenever they got home from work, eventually I started running seven or eight kilometers every day
as a way to escape the endless badgering at home and as a way to get the body I wanted for myself."

"Seven or eight kilometers every day!?" Sashihara repeats, shocked. "That's not an easy thing to do..."

"No..." Hayasaka says. "And to make it worse, if I missed a day...I'd always make up for it by running at least ten or twelve the next day. I was so desperate to get that thin, skinny body that I almost ran myself to death."

This is all very sad, but...I'm a little confused. "Hayasaka-san, I'm not really qualified to diagnose an eating disorder, but...isn't what you're describing more like anorexia?" I ask.

Hayasaka frowns. "Yeah, I guess what I had was more like anorexia at first...but not forever." She sighs. "The running made me skinny...but it was an emaciated, unhealthy skinny...so...I started with my bad eating habits. I'd eat a ton of food because I was so hungry from running on such a low amount of calories, but then I'd feel so incredibly guilty and start guilt-tripping and shaming myself, so I'd vomit everything I'd just eaten. I rarely ever ate a healthy amount of food...it was always too little or too much.

"While all this was going on, I started my makeup tutorial channel on YouTube. It was
an outlet for all my stress...a way to distract myself from everything. I created this fake, sassy, and cutesy character
to mask my real insecurities and people loved it for some reason...so my channel grew rapidly. I branched out to other social media platforms, started drama with bigger Internet personalities to get myself more attention, did PR stunts galore, and eventually I became the Ultimate Social Media Star."

She smiles weakly. "You think that'd make me happy, right? I was finally one of those online ‘influencers’ who I idolized...I should've had the perfect life." Her smile disappears. "But that's when I had the worst realization of my life: everything they posted online was a lie. They were masters of deception, showing everyone carefully curated and edited photos to make their lives seem luxurious and perfect...but they weren't. Most of them were just average people." Hayasaka hugs herself. "I was so devastated when I realized that...and the fact that I was one of those people meant I had to be just like them if I wanted to stay popular and relevant."

"So you became a 'master of deception,' too," I say. "You showed people all the great parts of your life and nothing else."

"Not only did I show people the great parts of my life, I twisted and manipulated every photo I posted so it looked like I was happy and having fun 24/7...when in reality, the opposite was true," Hayasaka says. "I was absolutely miserable...even though I had millions of followers, I felt so, so alone...but, I couldn't let anyone know that. So, I forced myself to become the character I had created...I made myself become 'Mika-chan' in an attempt to bury my feelings and make them go away..."

"Th-That probably didn't w-work..." Oyamada says. "H-Hiding your emotions all the t-time can't be good for y-your mental health..."

"It's not," Hayasaka says. "My bulimia only got worse and worse...it got so bad that I had to use teeth whitener to make the stains on my teeth go away...I had to cover my hands in concealer and foundation so no one would see the marks on my knuckles...because I couldn't not look perfect. I if I slipped up, even once..." She shudders. "If I did that, I'd always have thousands of comment
telling me I needed to lose weight or sometimes that I was too skinny and needed to gain weight..."

"Those criticisms must've taken a toll on you," Motoki says. "If you were so alone in real life, then you must've had to rely on strangers on the Internet to validate you."

Hayasaka nods sadly. "I did...every day, I scrolled through thousands of positive comments, but if I saw even one negative one, it would stick with me for the whole day. But there was never only one...so I always felt weighed down by the negativity I saw, which worsened my bulimia even more."

She sighs. "Eventually, things got so bad that I was forced into rehab by my doctor...it helped, somewhat, but...like Yuzuki-san said earlier, you can never permanently cure an eating disorder. It's like an addiction, but instead of being addicted to drugs, it's to terrible eating habits..."

"So you never truly recovered from your bulimia," Kasparov says.

"Well...I was lucky and managed to end it for the most part," Hayasaka says. "I was desperate to stop the vicious cycle of binging and purging, so...I
convinced myself wholeheartedly that everyone in the world loved me and that anyone who said they didn't...well, I told myself they were just a troll or an idiot. That helped me improve my self image somewhat."

"That's not a healthy way of doing things," Sashihara says. "I'm glad you could put an end to your bulimia, but convincing yourself of a lie isn't the best way to go about things..."

"It was such a beautiful lie, though," Hayasaka says sadly. "I couldn't let myself face the truth...otherwise I knew that I'd inevitably relapse, which I had to avoid at all costs."

Hayasaka pauses. "When I got to this place...the stress of it all almost caused me to relapse...so I lived entirely through my 'Mika-chan' persona. I convinced myself you all loved me and that no one would even think of killing me...however, the longer we stayed here, the more and more I thought about killing someone. I had to get out...I had to escape...I had to get back to the millions of followers who fueled that validation I desperately needed..."

"So that's why ya were plannin' on killin' me," Komatsu says. He furrows his brow. "But I don't get it...if ya had such a toxic relationship with yer followers and only used them to get validated...why the fuck would ya wanna go back to that shit?"

"Because it was the only long-term form of friendship I'd ever known," Hayasaka says, ashamed. "I know, it's stupid...but sometimes the things we love are the worst for us. As much as my followers messed up my mental health, I needed them to keep myself from going crazy...isn't that ironic?" She doesn't wait for a response to her question. "I honestly was going to kill someone earlier, but..." Her eyes drift over too Niizuma. "...but I really admired Tomiko-san. She's so beautiful and well put together...everything her appearance is flawless. I knew that if I were to escape, she'd have to die, so...that held me back for a while."

Niizuma stares at Hayasaka blankly, but still doesn't say anything. Isn't she
going to say
something
already? Her
being silent this
entire time is so
annoying...

"...Is that your whole story, Hayasaka-san?" Eguchi asks quietly.

Hayasaka nods. "Yeah, it is." She tries to look Eguchi in the eye, but fails. "Yuzuki-san...I don't ever expect you to completely forgive me, but..." She pauses, seemingly not able to find the right words.

"But what?" Eguchi asks. She narrows her eyes. "Do you really expect me to forgive you, or even accept any pathetic apology you try to offer?"

"N-No...I..." Hayasaka hands head, ashamed. "I just want to let you know, that...I'm really sorry for what I did. If I
could do it all over again, I'd...I'd help you instead. Instead of blackmailing you, I'd work with you to help you get past your bulimia."

For a moment, Eguchi looks at Hayasaka pitifully. But soon enough, her face hardens again. "Well, that's not what you ended up doing."

"No," Hayasaka says shamefully. "Yuzuki-san, I know sorry isn't enough...I know apologizing for what I did to you’s not enough..." She looks up at Komatsu. "...and what I tried to do to you, Yutaka-kun...I know apologizing for either of those things isn't enough."

"Yer right, jus’ an apology ain't gonna work,” Komatsu says. "So what’re ya gonna do?"

"I'm...I'm going to..." Hayasaka stops and looks at the ground. "Honestly...I don't know. I don't know how to atone for what I did..."

Eguchi walks up to Hayasaka and stares her straight in the eye. "You know what one thing you can do to atone is? Tell me the truth about this: all those times you called me fat, ugly, or worthless, did you really mean it?" She narrows her eyes. "Tell me the truth. I don’t want any lies."

Hayasaka hesitates. "The character I was playing, 'Mika-chan'...she did mean it. But as for me..." She shakes her head and looks away. "No, Yuzuki-san. I didn't mean any of it. It was all just a way for me to demean you and make myself look and feel better in the process." Hayasaka looks back at Eguchi. "None of it was true, Yuzuki-san...because you're fine
the way you are. In all honestly...I really do like your denim jacket and your t-shirt and your whole outfit."

Eguchi looks at Hayasaka warily. "Is this all just a trick...a way to get on my good side?"

"No, it's true, Yuzuki-san," Hayasaka says genuinely. She takes hold of one of the ends of Eguchi's hair and runs her hand through it. "I like your outfit because...it's who you really are, Yuzuki-san. It's not a façade or a lie to hide your true feelings like all of my outfits...it's real, it's genuine." Hayasaka begins to cry. "Honestly, Yuzuki-san, when I was demeaning you and making fun of you...it was because I was jealous of you. You live your life the way you want to, like how Noriyo-san did. No amount of validation from Internet strangers or anyone else could give me that feeling of genuineness..."

Eguchi doesn't seem like she knows what to say. "Eguchi-san, I want to let you know something," Hayasaka continues. "You're pretty the way you are, even without makeup. You really are beautiful in your own way...and, more importantly than that...you're a good person."

Eguchi looks shocked. "Hayasaka-san...are you saying, after all those times where you made fun me ruthlessly...you actually think I'm pretty?" She wipes a tear from her eye. "And you also think I have a good heart...even after I got mad at you in the class trial? This is all so sudden..." An angry expression comes over her face. "This can't be true...you're lying right now, aren't you!?”

Hayasaka shakes her head. "No, it's the truth, Yuzuki-san," she says. "I really do think you have a good heart and are pretty...besides, you were right to get mad at me in the class trial." She looks down shamefully. "I tried to kill someone and was desperate to not let the truth get out...so desperate, I made the terrible mistake of revealing your personal secrets."

"I'm still not okay with you doing that, but..." Eguchi pauses. "But...I think I do accept your apology now. I still don't forgive you entirely, but...I accept your apology."

"Thank you so much, Yuzuki-san," Hayasaka says tearfully. "I get
why you won't forgive me yet, but I promise you that I'll work as hard as I can to earn your forgiveness."

Eguchi hesitantly nods. "...Okay," she says after a short pause. "I'm not ready to forgive you yet, but...if you work for it and show me that you're actually a better person now...then maybe I will. Maybe."

Hayasaka breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Yuzuki-san," she says gratefully.

This is so strange...seeing Hayasaka-san so
repentant. Don't get me wrong, it's a
very welcome
change from who Hayasaka-san was before...or at least, who she pretended to me.
The
more
I hear her
speak, the more I realize just how much of that
whole 'Mika-chan' personality was a complete act...

"What about the music boy?" Terajima asks. "You apologized to Eguchi-san, which is good...but you still haven't done that with the person you tried to kill."

Hayasaka looks over at Komatsu with difficulty. "Yutaka-kun...I'm sorry for what I did," she says sadly. "I'm sorry for attacking you and Hisaya-kun...and, well, I'm sorry
for planning to kill you."

Komatsu doesn't say anything at first. "I ain't gonna jus' move on, but..." Komatsu rubs the back of his neck. "I dunno, after hearin' yer story, I...feel bad for ya, I guess? I ain't gonna lie, I've seriously thought 'bout killin' someone to get outta this fuckin' place...I've repressed the idea every time I think of it, but even still...jus' the fact that I'm thinkin' 'bout doin' shit like that is pretty bad.” He pauses. “But, Hayasaka-san...ya went a step further. Ya blackmailed Eguchi-san and tried to murder me."

Hayasaka nods sadly. "Yeah...I did."

"Ya tried to kill me, which is really fucked up, but ya didn't go through with it," Komatsu says. He shakes his head. "Oh, what the fuck...I have no idea where I'm goin' with this, but I wanna let ya know something', Hayasaka-san."

"What?" Hayasaka asks, her curiosity piqued.

"Honestly...I feel more sorry for ya than I do angry at this point," Komatsu says. “Before I heard her story, I thought ya were jus' some stuck-up bitch who only cares 'bout makeup and makin' fun of other people...but now that I can tell it was all an act and a way for ya to cope with yer shitty situation...I guess I do forgive ya."

Hayasaka breathes a deep sigh of relief. "Th-Thank you, Yutaka-kun," she says. "Thank you so much..."

"Yer welcome, I guess," Komatsu says. "Now, don't go thinkin' that jus' 'cause I forgave ya I'm sayin' what ya did was okay...’cause it sure as fuck wasn't. Ya better not try to do any of the shit again, ya hear me?"

Hayasaka nods. "Yeah...I do."

"That's good," Komatsu says. "Ya also better follow through on yer promise to Eguchi-san, otherwise I'm gonna be takin' back my forgiveness, got it?"

Hayasaka nods again. "Got it," she says. "I don't ever intend to break that promise."

"It's good to hear you're taking it seriously," Motoki says approvingly. A look of regret crosses her face. "Promises are a big deal...so it really sucks when you can't follow through on them..."

Motoki-san...she must be feeling so guilty right now. She couldn't follow through on her promise to prevent another death...even if it wasn't her fault, she probably feels really guilty...

"Are you really still crying about that?" a voice asks. I turn around to see Niizuma looking at Motoki coldly. Looks like she's done being silent...

"So you're finally talking now," Terajima says coolly. "What made you change your mind?"

"Listening to Motoki-san spout her nonsense about the importance of promises was just too asinine
for me to ignore," Niizuma says. "If you believe
in promises, you really are an idiot, Motoki-san. Words are just words. They mean absolutely nothing."

"That's not true," Motoki says defensively. "I get someone as cold and cruel as you wouldn't understand, but to us normal humans, promises can actually mean a lot."

Niizuma snorts humorlessly. "Sure...believe whatever you want to, even if it's idiotic," she says. Her lip curls up into a slight smile. "Hah...I'm sure Carrasco-san and Ichigohara-san would agree to what I just said...too bad they're both dead and can't say anything."

Motoki curls her hands into fists. "Don't you dare say either of their names," she says with barely subdued fury. "One of them was my love and the other one you murdered...so you don't get to say anything about either of them!"

Niizuma rolls her eyes. "Whatever," she says. "It's not like it really matters. They're both dead...and I'll be dead soon, too." She sighs deeply. "That really is difficult to accept...I was so sure that this trial would end with me escaping, yet...that obviously didn't happen."

"Don't expect us to shed any tears for you," Domoto says harshly. "You're a murderer."

"Indeed," Kasparov says icily.
He frowns. "Niizuma-san...I find something about you killing quite strange. Last trial, you admonished Carrasco-san for giving into Monohebi's motive and killing, yet several days later you became a killer yourself. That is rather hypocritical, is it not?"

Niizuma purses her lips. "Not really...because I didn't actually mean any of that."

...What? "What do you mean, Niizuma-san?" I ask, perplexed.

She rolls her eyes. "Isn't it obvious? I lied.
I wanted to look moral and superior so that everyone would think that I detested killers...which would make me look less suspicious when I carried out a murder plan of my own."

"So that was the real reason why you rejoined the group the day after the last trial," Eguchi says. "It wasn't to stay safe...it was so that you wouldn't look suspicious when this trial rolled around."

Niizuma smiles. "Correct, Eguchi-san," she says. "I wasn't really worried about someone killing me...I knew that I'd most likely be able to defend myself if it came to that. I just knew that if I had separated myself from the group when I killed someone, I would naturally look suspicious...and I couldn't have that."

Wow...I'm
simultaneously impressed and horrified at how
calculating she is. "You weren't lying when every move you make is calculated," I say.

"O-Obviously not," Oyamada says, hugging a book close to his chest. "I d-don't understand how s-someone can think s-so selfishly and w-without emotion..."

"Neither do I!" Sashihara shouts.
He tries to shout again, but his face falls instead. "But...what I really don't get is...how could anyone ever want to kill Ichigohara-san? She was so nice....so kind..."

"I was wondering that, too," Motoki says as she rubs her shoulder. "And I was also wondering...why would you even want to kill? Especially after seeing what Monohebi did to the last two people who did that?"

Niizuma
doesn't respond.

"Was it because of the motive?" Eguchi asks. "Did you remember something that made you want to kill?"

Niizuma purses her lips. "That...was part of it," she says.

"So you were the second person to regain your memories after all," Terajima says.

Niizuma nods. "Indeed I was," she says. "Those memories...they were only a part of the reason I
wanted to kill."

"What was the reason the memories gave you, Tomiko-san?" Hayasaka asks sadly.

Niizuma hesitates. "That...that is something very personal," she says as she folds her arms. "However, I'll tell you this: since our very first day here, I've been thinking about when I should kill. I knew I couldn't go first...if I did that, it would be fourteen of you guys against one of me...that would be
far, far too risky. The same goes for killing second...twelve against one. Not good enough odds." She brushes a stray hair out of her face. "However, there was also the problem of having too few people around...if I waited until a later class trial, then I'd run the risk of being caught due to the number of suspects being too low.

"So, I decided the third class trial would be the perfect balance between the two. Not too many people so that it wouldn’t be too difficult to get away with it...yet also not too few so that I wouldn’t risk being suspected due to the smaller pool of suspects." Niizuma looks away bitterly. "Yet even still...I was caught."

She glares at Kasparov. "I should've gone for you...or maybe Kawashima-san or Domoto-san. If I had done that, then the rest of you idiots wouldn't have found me guilty..."

"It's a g-good thing y-you didn't d-do that," Oyamada says, relieved. "If K-Kasparov-kun hadn't m-mentioned that toy t-train and we v-voted for Hayasaka-san, w-we'd have died..."

Hayasaka grimaces. "Yeah...she managed to make a trap that'd both convince me I was the killer and that'd hide that she was the true culprit..." She looks at Niizuma sadly. "Why'd you do that, Tomiko-san? I thought we were friends..."

Niizuma's lip curls. "Friends...?" she repeats, narrowing her eyes. "Did you actually manage to delude yourself into thinking that I ever gave a shit about you or your pathetic sob story?"

"Tomiko-san...are you saying that...you never thought we were friends?" Hayasaka asks. "Even if the whole 'Mika-chan' thing was just an act, I still honestly did think we were friends..."

"Well, you thought wrong," Niizuma says coldly. "If we're being honest here...out of all the people here, you are the one I hate the most." She snorts. "You weren't lying before when you said you didn't have good emotional intelligence...you couldn't even read the obvious hints I was giving that I disliked you."

"T-Tomiko-san..." Hayasaka says tearfully. "I..." She breaks down into sobs.

"That why ya wanted to frame her, Niizuma-san?" Komatsu asks. "Ya were tryin' to make the person ya hated the most look like the killer...that's what happened, ain't it?"

Niizuma shrugs. "Eh...I really didn't care who I was framing, as long as it wasn't me...I suppose it just worked out that I ended up framing Hayasaka-san." She glances at Hayasaka. "Honestly, by having your separate murder plan...you complicated things wonderfully, Hayasaka-san. As much as I may hate you, I have to admit you helped me greatly by attacking Komatsu-kun and Sashihara-kun and being such an easy target to frame."

Hayasaka tries to say something, but it just ends up being a bunch of incoherent sobs. Poor Hayasaka-san...she probably feels so betrayed
by having someone she admires so much to be so harsh to her...

Terajima looks at Hayasaka sobbing and then back at Niizuma. "Yo, stats girl...you could learn to be a little less of a bitch, you know that?"

"Why does how I act matter?" Niizuma asks. "You'll all hate me no matter what I say or do...I killed someone, so there's no way for me to redeem myself in your guys' eyes."

"You're completely correct about that," Terajima says, his voice taut and cold. "You are despicable...you committed the unforgivable act of murdering another human being." He steps back. "So yeah, you're right. There's no way for you to redeem yourself."

"Especially not after what you did to Ichigohara-san," I add. "There's no way any of us could forgive you after you did what you did to her."

"It was only a moment of excruciating pain," Niizuma says nonchalantly. "I'm sure she was dead within seconds of me pressing that remote."
Her gaze drifts over to me. "Also, I have to say...don't you think it's ironic that you of all people are saying you won't forgive me, Kawashima-san?" she asks. "You were so adamant about giving Aozora-kun his 'second chance' after he lost it, yet you're being so harsh to me...that's pretty hypocritical, don't you think?"

...Is she actually
trying to compare herself to Aozora-kun right now?
"It's not hypocritical, Niizuma-san," I answer. "Not everyone deserves second chances...especially not someone like you."

Niizuma smiles knowingly at me. "Ah...it's so very ironic that you of all people say that, Kawashima-san."

What? "What are you saying, Niizuma-san?" I ask her.

Niizuma waves my question away. "It's not like it matters...besides, there are far more important things to talk about."

Domoto raises her eyebrows. "Like what?"

"Like what happened when I entered the girls' locker room to attack Ichigohara-san," Niizuma says. "Don't you guys want to know what Ichigohara-san's final words
were?"

"Wh-What were they?" Oyamada asks, although he doesn't sound eager to hear the answer.

Niizuma takes a deep breath. "Well, to be honest they're not really anything special, and the conversation wasn't even that long...even still, I suppose I should recount it." She clears her throat. "It went like this..."
[[flashback begin]]
Niizuma: [enters locker room] ...........
Ichigohara: [turns around, confused] Huh? Sakiko-chan, is that y— [sees Niizuma] ...Oh. Tomiko-chan, what're you doin' here?
Niizuma: [approaches Ichigohara] ...I'm here to tell you something.
Ichigohara: [confused] Huh? What is it, Tomiko-chan?
Niizuma: [looks away] I've been waiting for this moment for a very long time. [coldly] I've been waiting so long...to kill someone.
Ichigohara: [shocked] ...Tomiko-chan...are you sayin’ that...you're gonna kill me? [tears well up in eyes] ...Wh-Why? I thought we were friends...
Niizuma: [coldly] If you really thought that, then you're an imbecile.
Ichigohara: [tearfully] T-Tomiko-chan, please reconsider...even if you don't think of yourself as my friend, I still think you're mine. Even though you've been plenty mean to me before...I still believe in you, Tomiko-chan. [cries] So c'mon, Tomiko-chan, just— [Niizuma slams her head into a locker]
Niizuma: [stares down at Ichigohara's unconscious body] ...Time to get to work.
[[flashback end]]

Ichigohara-san...you didn't deserve that. You didn't deserve to be betrayed by someone who you thought was your friend. "How could you be so cruel to her?" I ask angrily. "Ichigohara-san thought of you as her friend...and yet you still killed her!?"

"I still can't believe that," Niizuma says. "She thought of me as her friend...how? I was never nice to her. I never showed her any ounce of warmth or compassion. And yet...she believed in me." She shrugs. "Oh well...I suppose she should've learned to be more careful with who she trusted."

"You're a monster," Motoki says through angry tears. "You killed someone who trusted you!"

"And in such an awful way, too," Eguchi says, grimacing as she recalls the horrifying sight of Ichigohara's corpse. "Not only did you electrocute her in a bathtub filled with water, you tied her up in bare electrical wires, too..."

Kasparov gulps. "The mere thought of dying in such a way is sufficient to make me feel sick." He shudders. "I can only imagine the excruciating pain Ichigohara-san must have endured when she was electrocuted..."

"You said death by electrocution was quite terrifying to you, right, Kasparov-kun?" Niizuma asks, although she doesn't wait for him to respond. "I should've chosen you...not only would I not have had to deal with you bringing up that stupid toy train, I could've also made you suffer in the process."

The look Kasparov gives Niizuma is so cold that it could freeze the sun. "I suppose Carrasco-san was not incorrect when she called you a 'stone-hearted bitch.' Do you really have no heart, Niizuma-san? Do you have any sense of pity, any sense of empathy?"

Niizuma looks away from his gaze. "...I do," she says after a small pause. "However, I reserve it for only those who are close to me...and, well, I don't really feel to close to anyone here."

"Do ya feel close to anyone at all?" Komatsu asks. "Based on yer actions and how fuckin' ruthless ya are, I doubt it..."

Niizuma pauses. "...There is one person," she says.

"Who?" Domoto asks, crossing her arms. "Is it you yourself?"

"No," Niizuma says. "It's my...friend? Companion? Lover?" She frowns. "Honestly, I don't really know how to describe Shinako...all I know is that she's the most important person in the world to me."

"Who is this 'Shinako?'" Sashihara asks curiously. "Is she your sister?" He shakes his head immediately after saying that. "Wait, never mind...you said 'lover,' so that can't be it..."

Niizuma wrinkles her nose at Sashihara. "No, she's not my sister...but we have lived most of our lives together."

Wait, so they're not sisters...but they lived together most of their lives? I don't get it... "Niizuma-san, how why did you and
this Shinako girl live in the same house most of your lives if you two weren't sisters?"

"I never said we lived in a house," Niizuma says, a twinge of sadness in her voice. "In reality, we spent much of our younger lives homeless..."

"Wait...ya were homeless growin' up!?" Komatsu asks incredulously. "And now ya dress..." He gestures to Niizuma's expensive-looking outfit. "...and now ya dress that fuckin' fancily?"

"Yes," Niizuma says as she looks down at her perfectly assembled outfit with a proud smile. "I worked my way from the bottom to the top..." Her smile fades. "However,
it wasn't easy. Shinako and I...we were born in the same orphanage, but it was a terrible place where we'd be beaten and bullied often, so when were both
seven, the two of us both ran away..."

"So you became homeless by choice," Eguchi says.

"Yes," Niizuma says. "After we ran away, we lived in destitution. We ate from dumpsters, we clothed ourselves in rags, and often had to watch out for hungry rats or rabid animals." Niizuma looks pained to even recall the memories. "It was so, so horrible...yet it was better than being confined in that orphanage." A small smile appears on Niizuma's face. "And Shinako and I...all we had was each other, so we formed a bond stronger than any other...something deeper than a familial or romantic love...it was like the two of us were one person."

"Is that why you killed, then?" Domoto asks. "To see Shinako again?"

Niizuma smiles fondly. "Yes...when Monohebi returned my memories to me and I remembered Shinako...I knew that I had to do anything to escape to see her again."

Komatsu furrows his brow. "Wait, but didn't ya say ya've spent most of yer life with this girl? So how the hell could ya have forgotten 'bout her in the first place?"

"Monohebi must've edited my memories," Niizuma says. "Honestly, before he gave them back to me...I felt a sense of longing and emptiness. Like I had forgotten someone incredibly dear to me...so, it must've been that Monohebi had edited her out
of my memories."

"Have you considered the possibility that maybe it was the other way around?" Kasparov asks thoughtfully. "Perhaps Monohebi edited Shinako
into your memories as a way to get you to kill. If he wanted to push you to become a murderer, it would make sense for him to edit your 'memories' with someone who you cared deeply about."

Niizuma scowls at that suggestion. "No, she's real," she says crossly. "Like I said before, I felt a sense of longing when I didn't remember her before...so it must be that the memories are real. Besides...Monohebi probably already knew I was planning to kill. He'd have no reason to give extra motivation to me of all people."

That's a
fair point...if Niizuma-san has been telling the truth and
she's been planning to kill sense the beginning, Monohebi probably would've picked up on it at some point.

"You...you killed to see someone you love," Hayasaka says, wiping tears from her eyes. She's probably still crying over Niizuma-san
being mean to her... "That makes senses, but, Tomiko-san...why did you pick Noriyo-san of all people?"

"Yeah...she was never anything but kind to you or anyone else here!" Sashihara shouts. His voice breaks. "S-So...how could you k-kill her?"

Niizuma's face hardens. "Because I hated her. All Ichigohara-san ever talked about was how we needed to 'go with the flow' or just let life take its course. She always was so laid-back...so relaxed..."

"And?" I ask, confused. "What's wrong with that?"

"'What's wrong with that?'" Niizuma repeats, incredulous at me not understanding. "Ichigohara-san was a pathetic, unmotivated, lazy piece of shit...she always advocated for a repulsive 'live and let live' and easygoing attitude....she never understood the value of hard work." Niizuma scowls. "Worst of all, she spread her toxic, lazy ideas to other people...she tried to convince others to stay calm and relaxed and lazy and unmotivated and...AGH!" Niizuma's mouth twists furiously. "How could she dare to speak that way!? When she never understood the meaning of hard work!? When everything was given to her!? When she didn't have to work as hard as I did!?"

"So you killed her...because you disagreed with her worldview," Domoto says. "That's pretty petty, don't you think?"

"No," Niizuma says angrily. "I killed her because I came from nothing. Shinako and I...after living on the streets for years, we were finally put back into an orphanage and put in foster care. Then, we were enrolled in
school...and I made sure to study my ass off. School became my life...I didn't have time for anything
except Shinako and studying...I put in every last ounce of effort I could so that I would never return to poverty again..." She shudders. "Because being poor is such a horrific thing...I could never go back to that. I could never eat out of a dumpster again...so I worked myself almost to death until a consulting firm hired me as a statistician.

"After that, Shinako and I finally had
money...but only because of my hard work. We went from the bottom of society to the top, only because I worked my ass off." Niizuma folds her arms. "If I was a repulsively unmotivated scum like Ichigohara-san...Shinako and I
would still be living in that dirty, poor foster home. We would still be nothing..." Niizuma's voice trails off and she glances over at Ichigohara's portrait. "So that's why I killed her. She spread ideas that would only hurt people...that would only stunt potential growth. All she would ever do is make society a bunch of lazy pieces of shit."

"...Yer a crazy bitch, ya know that?" Komatsu says. "Ichigohara-san was jus' laid-back girl...there ain't no way she woulda made society a bunch of 'lazy pieces of shit'...that's jus' ya bein' dramatic, Niizuma-san."

Niizuma glares at Komatsu. "Don't presume to talk to me, you disgusting little rat," she says coldly. "And you're wrong. Her worldview...it would've poisoned the minds of everyone here and everyone Ichigohara-san ever encountered. Her views would make people want to
be lazy, want to just lie down and do nothing, want to give up...but you can never give up. Giving up...not putting in all the effort possible...that's just lazy. And if you're lazy...you're worthless."

Those are some pretty harsh words from Niizuma-san...but, as harsh as they may be, I understand why she feels that way. She worked as much as she possibly could in order to escape the poverty she hated so much and become
wealthy and
successful...so it makes sense that she would hate someone whose advice would've made her stay poor. Even still, though...just because
I can understand why Niizuma-san feels the way she does doesn't mean
I
sympathize with what she did...

"You are afraid of poverty," Kasparov says suddenly.

Niizuma looks at him sharply. "What?"

"You are so desperately afraid of poverty
that you will do anything to
prevent yourself from becoming poor again," Kasparov says analytically. "I speculate that that is why you dress so fancily and make sure your outfit is perfect every day...you surround yourself with affluence to forget your previous struggles with poverty. You killed Ichigohara-san because what she was saying...deep down, I am guessing it tempted you to be relaxed.
The true reason you
killed her...it was because you felt she might
damage your work ethic and return you to poverty you disdain so much."

Niizuma says nothing to him.

"Well? Is he right?" Domoto asks impatiently. "Is that really why you killed Ichigohara-san?"

"...It is," Niizuma says reluctantly. She slumps her shoulders. "I can never go back..." She says, tears forming in her eyes. "I hated it so much...eating other people's trash...clothing myself in tattered rags...sleeping on hard concrete in the cold, in the rain, in the baking heat..." She shudders, tears flying out of her eyes. "I can't ever
even imagine being returned to a life so horrible...and Ichigohara-san...her worldview would've kept me there. Keep me living in destitution and squalor...and I could never...never
allow that to happen."

Niizuma wipes her tears from her eyes and scowls. "So, yes, I guess you could say that's the deepest, truest reason why I killed her...but it doesn't matter. What's done is done. She's dead and I...I'm about to die myself." She looks at Monohebi, a pained and bitter expression on her face. "Monohebi...just get it over with already."

"W-Wait!" Oyamada interjects suddenly. "M-Monohebi, please d-don't execute her y-yet..."

"Why not, Oyamada?" asks Monohebi.

"I...I s-still need to ask her s-something..." Oyamada says sheepishly. He looks at Niizuma with difficulty. "N-Niizuma-san...th-there's one thing y-you did I still d-don't understand...wh-why'd you break that c-computer in the s-secret room?"

That's a good question, Oyamada-kun...we never figured out why she did that.

"I'm curious about that too," Eguchi says. "Why would you want to destroy that computer, Niizuma-san? All that was on it was that video of Furuhata-kun."

Niizuma's lips curl into a smile. "Are you sure about that?" she asks. "Did you really look closely?"

Motoki looks confused. "What are you talking about? The only file
on that computer was the video of Furuhata-kun."

"The only file on the computer, yes," Niizuma says. "But if any of you had thought to actually put in the effort to search the surrounding room...you would've found this." She reaches into the inside pocket of her half-sweater and shows us something none of us have ever seen before: a flash drive with a Monohebi head on the end of it.

...What the hell is that?

"What...a flash drive!?" Sashihara shout loudly. "How did you find that, Niizuma-san!? And what's on it!?"

"I found it in the secret room," Niizuma says as she twirls the flash drive in her hand. "The night after I stole the key to the secret room, I went in there and found this, hidden in a secret compartment on the computer. And then...well, I plugged the flash drive into a USB port and examined its contents."

"What was on it?" Terajima asks.

Niizuma smiles smugly. "...I'll be keeping that information to myself," she says with a smirk. "I have to admit...I can be very, very bitter and petty at times..."

"That's why you broke the computer in the secret room," I say. "You didn't want anyone to ever have any opportunity to see what was on it."

Niizuma nods. "Correct," she says, "I wouldn't want you guys to have both the satisfaction of beating me and finding out what was on the flash drive if I lost in the trial...so, I destroyed that computer. I wanted the people who knew about the information on the flash drive to be solely up to my discretion."

Domoto narrows her eyes. "Come on, Niizuma-san," she says icily. "Just tell us what was on the damn flash drive."

"No, I don't think I will," Niizuma says with a smug smile as she places the flash drive back inside her sweater pocket. "I
guess this is my revenge for being caught...had I gotten away with Ichigohara-san's murder, I would've gladly told you the information contained on it...but, because you all ruined my plans...you'll all have to live with never knowing what was on it."

Domoto trembles with anger. "You...You fucking..."

"Stone-hearted bitch?" Niizuma offers. "Soulless whore? Sociopathic scum?" She shrugs. "Call me whatever you want...it doesn't matter." She
smiles smugly. "What does matter is that I've managed to find
a small
victory even as I'm about to die...a way to get back at you all for catching me."

Kasparov shakes his head disapprovingly. "You are so, so very petty," he says. "Having to make a contrived victory because you lost once...that is truly the mark of a sore loser."

Niizuma's smile sours. "...Hmph. I suppose I am a sore loser...I've never liked losing. That's partially why I became a statistician...so I could assess which outcomes were more likely to make me win and which were more likely to make me lose. And, well...also because the pay is very good."

She's so
unbelievably shallow...

"Sususu...are you ready for the execution now, Niizuma-san?" Monohebi asks with a chuckle.

"...Yes," Niizuma says, taking a deep breath. "I'm ready now."

Monohebi nods. "Alright. However...before we commence the execution, I would like you to look inside these two envelopes."

"Huh? What envelopes?" Niizuma asks, perplexed.

As if on cue, a panel on the floor near Niizuma opens and the two
envelopes Monohebi was talking about shoot out. Niizuma catches both of them, opens them, and begins to read what's inside of them. When she does, her eyes widen and she begins to tremble. "...Wh...Wh-What is th-this...?"

I've never seen Niizuma-san look so scared before...
"Niizuma-san, what
is it?" I ask, concerned.

"Yeah, what could be making you so scared!?" Sashihara asks.

Niizuma can't seem to find her words. "One of the p-papers...it's a letter from my job...saying that I'm fired..." She lets both papers slip out of her hands and fall to the floor. "And the other...it's a notice...of...o-of...f-f-forecloseure on my h-house..."

"The hell does that mean?" Komatsu asks.

"Basically, it means that Niizuma-san can't live in her house anymore," Terajima says. "It means that she'll be homele—"

"No!" Niizuma interrupts, desperate tears forming in her eyes. "Don't say that word! I won't be...! I can't be...! Not again..."

Monohebi chuckles evilly. "Sususu...it seems you are quite despaired by those letters. If you are craving more despair, so how about I tell you a little secret?" He smiles cruelly. "Shinako...the only person who matters to you...is dead."

Niizuma's eyes widen. "N-N-No...y-you're l-lying..."

Monohebi shakes his head with mock sadness. "No, dear, I am not. Because you were the primary breadwinner, when you lost your job and your house was foreclosed, she was forced into into a rather sticky situation once again...and she was murdered by two people."

Niizuma breaks out into sobs. "NO! Shinako...she can't be...she isn't...!"

"She is," Monohebi says. "I have photographic proof, if you want to see her corpse. Thought, you should be warned that her death was quite grisly..."

Niizuma can't even seem to be able to form coherent sentences
anymore. "Gh...Eugh...Shina...ko..."

Niizuma-san...even if she's a terrible person who did something atrocious...she doesn't deserve to have
this happen to her right before her death...

Monohebi looks down at Niizuma's sobbing form and chuckles in satisfaction.
"Sususu...I believe it is now time for the punishment." He clears his throat. "Ahem. I have prepared a very special punishment for Tomiko Niizuma, the Ultimate Statistician."

"Shinako..." Niizuma says, sobbing. "I'm so sorry..."

“Punishment time!” Monohebi says.

Execution #3: From Riches to Rags

Immediately after Monohebi announces the start of the execution,
a metal clamp forces itself onto Niizuma's
neck and drags her out of the courtroom.

Just like the previous two times, the video monitor which displayed the voting animation turns on to show a pixelated animation with a sprite of Niizuma
being dragged away by a pixelated Monohebi and the caption, “Niizuma
has been found guilty. Now commencing the punishment.”

Once the animation ends, the monitor switches to display the site of the execution for us. It's what looks like to be a humongous
mountain of trash
on the edge of a river of sewage. On top of the garbage, there's a helicopter and piles of stacks of yen bills. Niizuma stands alone at the bottom of the hill, still sobbing. However, when she notices the large sum of cash on top of the mountain, she reluctantly wipes the tears from her eyes and begins to climb the mountain.

Niizuma slowly but surely makes her way up the mountain, but
the going is not easy. Not only is the climb
steep and treacherous, but the mountain has many broken and sharp objects in it that tear at Niizuma's clothes and cut her all over her body. Still, she keeps on going.

She also has to wade
through deep
cesspools
of mud and sometimes piss, yet still she perseveres. Niizuma's unstoppable work ethic is truly on display: while most people would have given up not even halfway up the mountain, Niizuma is still going strong even despite her numerous injuries and being covered in sewage.

Finally, after what seems like forever, Niizuma makes it to the top of the mountain. She loads all the cash she can into the helicopter, stuffing it full of cash. Because it's so full,
she's forced to stand outside the helicopter on one the landing skids as it begins to lift off. A smug, satisfied expression comes over her face as the helicopter begins to take off. However, her satisfaction doesn't last long, as Monohebi soon bursts out of the pile of cash and slaps Niizuma across the face with his tail, causing her to lose her grip and fall out of the helicopter.

She plummets out of the helicopter, screaming, and plummets back down to the mountain of trash. She falls down the entire mountain, getting cut by an uncountable number of sharp pieces of trash and breaking most of her bones as she tumbles and tumbles all the way to the bottom.

When Niizuma finally gets to the bottom, the momentum of her fall carries her over the river bank and into the river of sewage. Even though she fell down the entire mountain of trash and must be on death's door, Niizuma still struggles as much as she can
against drowning in the river of waste. However, at this point, she's too weak and she slowly sinks beneath the surface of the river despite her best efforts. The last I ever see of Niizuma is her outstretched hand slowly disappearing
beneath the polluted surface of the water.

The monitor turns off.

...Oh my God.
That was
horrifying...

"T-Tomiko-san..." Hayasaka says tearfully.

"What...What the hell!?" Sashihara says, a disgusted look on his face. "That was terrible!"

Oyamada looks away from the screen that displayed Niizuma's execution, terrified. "Th-That was...Th-That was a-awful!" He begins to sob. "E-Even if Niizuma-san d-did something u-unforgivable...sh-she didn't d-deserve th-that...n-no one d-does..."

Terajima hugs Oyamada and pats his head. "Shhhh," he says soothingly. "It's okay...it's over now. We'll never have another death...we'll never have another execution. I promise you, Oyamada-kun."

"But how can we stop them?" Motoki asks, her voice sounding empty. "I tried so hard before...but even still, Niizuma-san...she..." Motoki begins to cry. "...She murdered Ichigohara-san."

"She did," Domoto says somberly. "And that was terrible, yet...for the first time, I believe that we can stop a murder."

Eguchi looks at her, surprised. "You do? I thought you said you thought murders were inevitable before..."

"That's true, I said that," Domoto says as she strokes her chin. "I meant that when I said that, but...now, I've changed my mind." She sighs. "Hayasaka-san is no longer being as disruptive as before...that, along with Niizuma-san dying should benefit our group. Because...Niizuma-san,
even though I knew she could sometimes be helpful to her group, I always had a sneaking suspicion she would kill someone...so, with her gone and Hayasaka-san no longer being a problem, I'm much more optimistic about preventing a murder."

"Are you certain that Hayasaka-san is no longer a problem?" asks Kasparov, looking at Hayasaka cautiously. "She attempted to murder someone...it would simply not be strategic to ignore that and move on."

"We ain't gonna jus' ignore the shitty things she did," Komatsu says. "We gotta hold her accountable for all that stuff."

"Yeah, we need to hold her accountable," Eguchi says. "However...I also think we should give her a chance to redeem herself. Even if I still don't forgive her for what she did, if she proves to me that she's really changed, then...maybe I will."

"I'll prove it to you, Yuzuki-san," Hayasaka says emotionally. "I swear, I'll do everything that I can..."

Eguchi hesitates and then nods. "Good," she says.

"Ugh, none of you are even despairing right now..." Monohebi says irritatedly. "If all any of you are going to do is be hopeful, get out of this courtroom! I want no such thing in here."

When he says that, none of us hesitate. We all leave the courtroom and file into the elevator for
what will hopefully be the last time. As the elevator doors close and it begins its ascent, I think of Niizuma's final moments. The person she cared about most...she found out they were dead
right
before she was dragged away to be executed. I can only imagine what pain that must've caused her...Also, just to rub salt in the wound,
Monohebi made her die by drowning in a river of sewage. What a
terrible way to go...however, she
killed Ichigohara-san in a
merciless and cruel way, so it's difficult for me to feel too sorry for her.

After a while, the elevator stops, the doors open and we step out into the Cafeteria.

"Well...that's over," I say with a sigh.

"Ichigohara-san..." Sashihara says mournfully. "She didn't deserve what happened to her..."

"No, she didn't," Domoto agrees. "Which is why all of us must make sure that we never let another murder happen again. I think I can speak for all of us when I say none of us want to ever go back down to that trial room."

"That is certainly true," Kasparov says.

"Y-Yeah, I d-don't want to ever g-go back there..." Oyamada says with a sniffle.

Terajima places his hand on the librarian's shoulder. "Don't you worry...we never will." He glances at Motoki. "Yo, language girl...during the trial, I remember you saying something about a promise you made. A promise that you wouldn't ever let another death happen again."

Motoki nods sadly. "Yeah...I did...but it didn't work." Tears form in her eyes. "Ichigohara-san still died anyway..."

"That's true...she is dead," Terajima says somberly. "However...I don't think you should give up on that promise yet. We can make her murder the last one that ever happens here." He turns to face Domoto. "Listen, toy girl, I know you don't like me...I know you distrust me. But I want to let you know that I'm making the same promise the language girl did: I'm not going to let another murder happen, nor am I going to hurt anyone in any way." He looks at her expectantly. "You were talking about how you think we can stop any more deaths from happening, so are you on board?"

Domoto hesitates but soon nods. "...I still don't trust you, but yes...I am." She looks around at everyone. "I believe we're all on board."

"I still am, I guess..." Motoki says. "Even if I failed to stop Ichigohara-san from dying, I can still try to prevent another death."

"Yeah, we ain't gonna
let nobody else kill!" Komatsu says. "I sure as hell am gonna make sure there ain't no one who tries to murder again."

"Me too," Hayasaka says.

"Same here," says Eguchi.

"I believe that I will make that promise as well," Kasparov says.

"Yeah, I promise the same thing!" Sashihara shouts.

"I w-will t-too," Oyamada says, a small smile on his face.

"So will I," I say.

Domoto looks around, satisfied. "That's good to hear," she says approvingly, although she has to stifle a yawn shortly after saying it. "Alright, everybody...let's get to bed. It's been a long day."

No one protests when she says that. We all head back to our rooms, tired from the day.

While I get ready for bed, I feel hopeful from all the promises we just made. Maybe there is hope...maybe we will never have to go back into that trial room. And maybe, just maybe...the rest of us will get out of here alive.

Then, as I lie down in bed, I remember the traitor. Whoever they are...if they're still alive, they were lying when they made that promise...they're going to deceive us into
thinking
that they don't want any more deaths, and then stab us in the back...

I shake that thought out of my head. No, no...the traitor could be dead. Aozora-kun, Carrasco-san, Ichigohara-san, or Niizuma-san all could've been the traitor...so
I'll believe it's one of them. Because...I
can't bear to think it's anyone still alive...I can't bear to think
anyone was lying about
promising to not let another death happen.

However, no matter
how hard
I try...I still know it's a possibility.

...

.........

................

Monohebi: Oh, Niizuma...what an interesting person
she was. Before I always could rely on her to kill eventually, yet...unfortunately, her time in this killing game has come to an end.

???: ..........

Monohebi: Well? Are you not sad about her death?

???: ...No. Not after what she did to Ichigohara-san...even if she went through a lot before she ever came here, none of that justifies doing what she did to her.

Monohebi: You are correct, it was unnecessarily gruesome...though it made for an entertaining trial, did it not? I was truly worried that maybe this killing game would end prematurely with Niizuma as a victorious blackened...however, that fortunately did not happen.

???: ..........

Monohebi: ...You do not seem to be as enthused as I currently am. Why is that?

???: You know why, Monohebi.

Monohebi: I do? Oh...! So that is why you seem so despondent...you are disappointed that you will have to kill soon.

???: I'm not ready to do it...I don't want to...

Monohebi: Ah, but you must...that was in the terms of our agreement, no? You agreed to
kill someone if I deemed it necessary in return for...well, you know what I am talking about. The point is, the group has become more resolute in attempting to stop another murder from occurring. So, in order to prove them wrong, you must kill someone. Understood?

???: Yes...I understand.

Monohebi: Good, good...however, I am afraid I must add one request for you to keep in mind while crafting your upcoming murder plan.

???: ...What's this request of yours? And why are you even calling it a "request?" You and I both know it's an order.

Monohebi: Sususu...you are correct. You cannot say no to me. As for what the request—no, order—is, it is that I command you to
make this next murder as despair-inducing as possible...after you are gone, I will need at least one more murder, which I doubt will happen unless the surviving inmates are plunged into a deep, dark pit of despair. So, make sure you strike that despair into their hearts.

???:
..........

Monohebi: Also, I have another order for you: make certain to keep watch over that one inmate...you know of whom I speak. I fear they might be a lot of trouble.

???:
..........

Monohebi: Well? Are you not going to say something? Will you or will you not comply with both of my orders?

???: I...I'll comply with both of them.

Monohebi: Sususu...how wonderful it is to hear that! Do craft an entertaining murder plan, alright? I do not wish to be bored.

???: ...Okay. I'll make sure it's a good one...

Monohebi: You better. The last thing any of the people who matter want is a boring murder case.

???: Huh? Who're you talking about?

Monohebi: ...It matters not. Go, leave this room. Rest well tonight. You will have much to do in the upcoming days.

???: ...You're right. I'll be on my way now. I'll make sure to watch out for that one person...

???: ...And I'll make sure to kill someone.

Chapter 3: A Walk Down the Memory Lane of Despair

END
Niizuma, Terajima, Hayasaka, Furuhata, Komatsu, Oyamada, Aozora, Kawashima, Domoto, Kasparov, Ichigohara, Sashihara, Motoki, Eguchi, Yamaguchi, Carrasco
Inmates Remaining: 10

Completed: 8/08/19

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 4: The Snake(s) Among Us
Daily Life

“Good morning, inmates. It is now 7 am, which means nighttime has officially concluded. Enjoy another day of confinement.”

I wake up
and immediately everything that happened the day before comes rushing back into my mind. Finding Ichigohara-san's body...the class trial...Hayasaka-san's breakdown...Niizuma-san's execution...all that stuff happened yesterday.

As I take a shower and get ready for the day, the images of Ichigohara and Niizuma's final moments are stuck in my head. Ichigohara-san's body...just looking at it made me want to vomit...and Niizuma-san...she drowned in a river of polluted waste, her body broken from falling down falling down that trash
mountain... I shake my head violently. I can't think about what they looked like before they died too much. It'll only make me feel depressed...though I guess that might not be a bad thing. It wouldn't be right if
I felt fine after another two people died, especially
when one of them was such a kind and supportive person...

Looking as down as I feel, I leave my room and head out to the Cafeteria, where Domoto, Kasparov, Motoki, Hayasaka, and Eguchi already are. "Hey, everyone," I greet half-heartedly.

"...Hi," Motoki says distantly. No one else even bothers to say anything. I guess they're all feeling the same as me...that makes sense, considering what happened yesterday. I sit down at the table and look around. "Where are the other four boys?" I ask to no one in particular.

"I know not where Oyamada-kun and Terajima-kun are, but Sashihara-kun and Komatsu-kun are in the Kitchen making breakfast," Kasparov replies.

"Komatsu-kun?" I repeat, surprised. "I didn't expect that. He's never shown any interest in cooking before..."

"He's expressed a lot of interest in eating the food, though," Eguchi says. "Maybe that's part of it..."

Yeah, maybe...

Domoto looks around the room, narrowing her eyes.
"Where are Terajima-kun and Oyamada-kun?" she asks narrowing her eyes. "It's almost 7:45..."

"Are you going to obsess over them being late?" Motoki asks sullenly. "That's something Niizuma-san would do..."

That remark makes Domoto's face harden. "Don't compare me to her," she says icily. "Unlike her, I'd never kill someone. Never."

"I never said I thought you'd kill someone...just that what you said reminded me of Niizuma-san," Motoki says
with a tired shrug. She doesn't look like she got
much, if any, sleep last night...I
guess the last trial hit her pretty hard.

After that, an uncomfortable silence pervades the Cafeteria, as no one really has anything worth saying. Fortunately, Terajima and Oyamada
enter to break it. "Sorry about being so late," Terajima says. "Osamu-kun and I were just talking for a while..."

"Yeah, I c-couldn't sleep at a-all after that h-horrible trial, so I w-went to E-Eisuke-kun's room to t-talk with him," Oyamada says.

Hold on...did I hear that right? Are they using each other's given
names now? Does that mean...?

The look of half surprise, half happiness on
Eguchi's face tell me she's noticed the change too, but she doesn't say anything about it. "What were you guys doing there?" she asks instead.

"Eisuke-kun w-was reassuring m-me," Oyamada explains. "A-After the t-trial last night, I w-was really u-uneasy and s-scared and couldn’t s-sleep...so I w-went to Eisuke-kun’s r-room...and w-we talked for a wh-while..."

"What did you guys talk about?" Hayasaka asks.

"...A variety of things," Terajima says.

That's the vaguest possible response he could've given...

I'm going to ask him to elaborate, but before I can Sashihara emerges from the Kitchen. "Breakfast is ready..." he says, his voice quiet and somber. "If you guys are feeling hungry, you can get some now..."

He sounds a lot more subdued than normal... Despite Sashihara's strange behavior, we all get up and head into the Kitchen, which smells like something burned. Hayasaka
wrinkles her nose. "Ugh, what's that terrible smell?" she asks. "It smells like something was badly burnt..."

She's right, I think as I look around. Although Sashihara-kun made a completely
normal and healthy-looking breakfast, something still
smells like it burns. I wonder what it—

At that moment, I see the stove, which looks like a small fire broke out all over it. Someone must've tried cooking there and failed...badly.

"Sorry 'bout that..." Komatsu says dejectedly as he stands over the sink mournfully, a ruined pot in his hand. "I tried makin' pancakes like Ichigohara-san did yesterday...but..." He throws the burnt pot into the sink, half angrily and half tearfully. "It didn't fuckin' work out..."

Oh...so that's why he was in here cooking food today...he wanted to make the same
delicious pancakes that Ichigohara-san made yesterday.

"Komatsu-kun...I'm sorry about your pancakes," Eguchi says compassionately as she moves over to him. She takes one of his hands and holds it in both of hers. "I know it sucks that they making them didn't work out...but it's not the end of the world, is it?"

"I'm still fuckin' sad 'bout it," Komatsu says frustratedly. "It ain't matter to me if Sashihara-kun made somethin' else...'cause what I really want is to have all that food Ichigohara-san used to make. A-And..." His voice breaks. "...a-and I jus' want her to come back. I never really realized it while she was still here, but...now that Ichigohara-san's gone, I'm realizin' how much good she did for all of us...if we ever had a problem or were feelin' down, she'd always help...but now...she ain't ever gonna help any of us ever again."

A somber moment of silence passes. Komatsu-kun's right...Ichigohara-san was a really positive influence for all of us...but now, because
Niizuma-san so ruthlessly murdered her...she'll never help any of us ever again. She'll never cook another meal. She'll never say
anything reassuring in a moment of distress. Never again...

"...You're right," Domoto says solemnly. "Ichigohara-san did a lot more for this group than we gave her credit for her while she was alive...and her death was a sad moment for all of us."

Sashihara nods sadly. "Yeah...I only got to really know her for a few days before she died, and still...I was devastated yesterday. I think everyone here was...it's hard not to feel sad after losing someone as kind-hearted as Ichigohara-san..."

"No," I agree. "However...don't you think Ichigohara-san wouldn't want us to be too dismayed by her death? I feel like she'd want us to move on and be happy..."

"I'm not sure I agree with that," Domoto says. "I believe that if you're feeling terrible, you shouldn't try to lie and cover those feelings with a fake smile. I believe you should be honest, no matter how difficult it might be. A hideous truth is better than a
beautiful
lie."

"Not for all of us..." Hayasaka says with a grimace. "Sometimes, a lie is necessary to keep yourself from going crazy..."

"Maybe in the short term a lie is better," Domoto says, "but in the long run...truth wins. It always does, and you need to be prepared for it when it does...so, we shouldn't force ourselves to feel good if we're not. We should be brave and express our emotions, no matter how much we may not want to. That's what will benefit our group in the long run...that's what will prevent another murder."

I want to say something to refute what Domoto said, but I can't think of anything. She's right...even
if it violates everything
I know as a waitress, who's so used to faking happiness and a smile, to admit it...I have to admit Domoto-san's right. We need to be honest with our emotions if we really don't want to ever have to return to that terrible trial room...

"Uh...s-sorry to interrupt, but the f-food Sashihara-kun m-made is getting c-cold..." Oyamada says. "W-We should probably g-get some n-now..."

Komatsu looks at the food Sashihara made, clearly upset that his pancakes aren't there too. "Yeah...I guess we should."

Everyone
lines up to get themselves some food. Eguchi and Hayasaka are both standing at the back of the line, not seeming enthusiastic. Just the task of eating is difficult for the two of them...especially Eguchi-san, considering she said she's relapsed into bulimia. While I'm getting my plate of food, Sashihara approaches the two of them and begins to whisper to them.

"Now, this won't be easy...but I'm going to do my best to lead the two of you on the road to lasting recovery," he says quietly. "I'll have to ask that neither of you ever goes to the bathroom for the first ninety minutes after eating, and that you never go alone. I don't want either of you ever throwing up your food ever again. Also, even though I'm not a psychologist, I'm going to ask the two of
you to start undergoing something called
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy under my direction. It..."

I don't hear the rest of what he says to them because I leave the Kitchen, but even that small bit is enough to lift my mood at least a tiny bit as I sit down at the table and begin to eat. Sashihara-kun's going to try to help the two of them...that makes me happy. Hayasaka-san and Eguchi-san both went
through a lot in their struggles with bulimia...so it's really nice to see someone trying to
guide them to lasting recovery.

Eventually, Sashihara, Eguchi, and Hayasaka join the rest of us in the Cafeteria. Hayasaka and Eguchi look serious, yet I also see what looks like optimism on their faces. What
Sashihara-kun talked about
with them must be making
them feel better...

Once everyone is done with
breakfast, Kasparov speaks up. "So...Terajima-kun, Oyamada-kun...you two mentioned earlier that you talked for much of the night...I hope I am not being intrusive, but I am curious: about what did the two of you talk?"

"Our conversation
was mostly what we could do to prevent another murder," Terajima answers. "I told Osamu-kun one of the things we could is
keep the partner system we had before in place."

"Why should we even bother doing that?" Motoki asks sadly. "Niizuma-san still managed to kill Ichigohara-san despite us having that system..."

"That was only because Kawashima-san let her leave," Domoto says with a disapproving glance at me. "If she hadn't done that, then perhaps Ichigohara-san would still be alive."

Is she being serious right now? "Don't go blaming me for Ichigohara-san's death, Domoto-san," I say defensively. "It's true that it's partially my fault for letting Niizuma-san go to the 'bathroom,' but...I had no way of knowing what she would actually do. I had no reason to suspect her of murder..."

"I agree with Kawashima-san," Kasparov says. "Niizuma-san did a very good job of hiding her intentions to murder. Additionally, I believe she would have eventually killed someone regardless of whether Kawashima-san had let her leave or not due to her unbreakable work ethic and her determination to get out. So, I believe that despite the fact that her letting Niizuma-san leave her was foolish, Kawashima-san
should not be
blamed for something that is
clearly not
her fault."

Thank you,
Kasparov-kun...you defended me way better than I ever could have myself.

Domoto looks at me and frowns. "Hmph...I suppose you're right," she concedes reluctantly. She turns her attention to Terajima. "You said you wanted to keep the partner system in place. I agree, yet...it has to be stricter, don't you think? We don't want to have something like Kawashima-san letting Niizuma-san go happening again."

She's never going to let me forget about that, is she...well, I guess she's not
exactly wrong.
What
I did was undeniably stupid and naïve...

"I
agree we have to make it
stricter," Terajima says. "We don't want anyone separating from their partners at any point, so...I suggest that everyone partners up with someone of the same sex. That way, we can avoid separations like one having to go to the bathroom, leaving the other behind or something like that."

"Hold up...that ain't gonna work," Komatsu says. "There are five boys and five girls here...so no matter what, there'd have to be at least one pair where two people who ain't the same gender are together."

"Hmm...I guess that's true," Terajima says. "Then perhaps we could make it so that we swapped partners at the middle of the day. That way, everyone would have a chance to be with someone of the same sex at least once every day."

"Both members of the pair made out of people of the opposite sex would have to refrain from visiting the bathroom for half the day," Kasparov says. "While that is not necessarily ideal, I believe it should not be too much of an issue."

"Yeah, we're all capable of holding it if necessary," Sashihara says, his normal loudness still absent.

"I also told Osamu-kun about another idea I had," Terajima says, "which is to have an enforced curfew right at nighttime. I know we had made a rule that no one was allowed
to leave their
room after nighttime before, but..." His gaze drifts toward Eguchi and Hayasaka. "Obviously, just having a rule in place isn't enough to actually stop people from leaving their rooms."

Domoto
nods. "I agree that just having a rule isn't enough," she says. "But what do you think is enough?"

"E-Eisuke-kun said w-we should have s-someone tape strings a-across everyone's doors at n-nighttime," Oyamada explains. "And th-then, in the m-morning, they'd ch-check everyone's d-doors...so w-we'd know if someone l-left their room at n-night..."

Kasparov raises his eyebrows. "That idea has several issues...how would the person who taped the strings across the door be chosen? Who would put the string across their door? What would stop them from simply leaving their room in the middle of the night?"

"All good questions," Terajima says. "To begin answering,
I'd recommend we choose the person who would tape the strings across the doors randomly each night. We could do that by writing all of our names on slips of paper and choosing them out of a hat each night...and make sure the person choosing the names is different each time."

Terajima pauses to allow us all to digest that. "To elaborate more, the person chosen put the strings on the doors...their duties would be to place the strings on everyone's doors except their own at night and check all the doors in the morning. As for everyone else...they wouldn't be able to leave their rooms in the morning until the designated person knocked on their door, which would signal that it's okay for them to leave."

Domoto crosses her arms. "This plan of yours is very flawed," she says. "The chosen person could simply leave their room and do whatever they please."

"Yes, they could," Terajima admits. "However, if anything were to happen...that person would automatically become suspicious, due to their room being the only one with no string on it."

"What if they or someone else left their room in the middle of the night and took the strings off everyone's doors?" Kasparov asks. "That is one way to get around looking suspicious."

"Don't go giving people ideas..." Terajima mutters. He shakes his head. "That would be a problem if that happened...however, in the off chance that it did, we would all have to be on high alert."

"We already are on high alert," Motoki says. "Honestly, I don't really feel like this thing with the doors is necessary...as long as everyone stays in their rooms, there's no risk of anyone dying at night. Besides, with us all having partners during the day, killing someone and getting away with it would be pretty much impossible..." She shrugs. "I don't know...I feel like this stuff with the strings is a lot of work that wouldn't really pay off."

Terajima clearly disagrees. "Didn't everyone here promise to try to prevent a murder as best as they can just last night?" he asks. "Weren't you the very first person here to
promise that, language girl?"

"I...I was," Motoki says. "I just don't think this will help."

"I am of a similar
opinion," Kasparov says. "In theory, it is a nice idea, but I doubt it will do us any real good if it were to be implemented."

Oyamada looks down sadly. "E-Eisuke-kun and I s-spent so much t-time thinking of th-the stuff with the s-strings and the c-curfew, though..."

"Just because you spent a lot of time thinking about it doesn't mean it's a good idea," Domoto says. She crosses her arms. "We have every right to criticize an idea offered to us. Simply ignoring our doubts and questions about a flawed idea could prove to be far more dangerous than simply questioning it."

That's a
fair point,
I
guess...

"How right you are, Domoto," Monohebi's voice interrupts.

Everyone looks around for the source of Monohebi's voice, which turns out to be the elaborate chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

"Whaddaya fuckin' want this time, Monohebi?" Komatsu asks, sounding more tired and angry than surprised. "Ain't nobody here wanna see ya."

"Yeah, please go away," Sashihara says. "Now's really not the time..."

"It is not?" Monohebi asks. "I thought now would be a very good time to inform you all that I have opened some new areas for you all to explore."

"The fourth floor," Eguchi says. "That's what it is, right?"

Monohebi chuckles. "Sususu...well, that is part of it. However...there is more for you to explore than just the fourth floor."

...Huh? What is he talking about?
"What are you talking about, Monohebi?" Hayasaka asks.

"Come and explore the fourth floor, and maybe I will tell you," Monohebi says. "Until then...you all shall hear nothing more from me."

He disappears. So Monohebi has opened more for us than just the fourth floor...is he opening the fifth floor, too? Is there even a fifth floor?

"Wh-What do you g-guys think h-he was talking a-about?" Oyamada. "What e-else besides the f-fourth floor c-can we explore n-now?"

"I do not know," Kasparov says. He sighs and stands up. "I suppose we have no other choice but to head to the fourth floor if we want to discover the answer to that question."

"Do we have to?" Motoki asks. "I'm not in the mood for exploring right now..."

"Yeah, me either..." Hayasaka says. "Besides, where even are the stairs to the fourth floor?"

"They're in Cell Block C on the third floor," Terajima answers immediately. "We should go
there now."

With some of us going with far more reluctance than others, we all follow Terajima's advice and head up to Cell Block C. Sure enough, when we get there the metal gate that used to be in the back left corner is gone, revealing a staircase.

"That's it," Komatsu says dully. "I wonder what kinda stupid shit's up there."

"Probably nothing good, knowing Monohebi," Motoki says. "And definitely not a way out..."

"W-Well...th-there could be a w-way out..." Oyamada protests, although he doesn't seem to believe what he's saying.

"Even if I highly doubt there is a way out up there, I guess we should look for
one regardless," Domoto says. She begins to walk to the stairs. "Come on, let's go see what's up here."

We follow her lead and all ascend the stairs to the fourth floor. When we get to the top of the stairs, Domoto turns around and addresses the group. "Let's split up and search this whole floor. I'd say we should go as partners, but...I highly doubt anyone will commit murder so soon after a class trial. So...no partners, but only while we're exploring this floor and whatever other areas Monohebi opened up for us. Alright?"

No one says anything, but I see a look of unease on a few people's faces.
Terajima looks like he wants to say something the most, but he still says nothing. "Okay then," Domoto says after a short while. "Let's get exploring, then."

After she says that, we all split-up and go to search the different areas of the fourth floor. Where should
I go first? My eyes land on a white door that's close to the stairs. That'd probably be a good
place to start...

As I walk closer to the door, I read the
sign above it. Infirmary...that actually sounds like something helpful.

I open the door and head inside the Infirmary. Once inside, I see a pristinely clean room with several hospital beds lining the walls on either side. Next to each bed, there's a nightstand, an IV pole with IV bags on it, and a cart with all sorts of medical tools. At the back of the room, the row of hospital beds ends and is replaced by
several desks, filing cabinets, a refrigerator, and medical supply trollies. Against the back wall, there's a huge cabinet with frosted glass windows. Even though I can't see inside it, I can make out the shapes of various types of bottles in it.

"This should be a very useful place," Terajima's voice says.

I whirl
around to see Terajima standing a few feet behind me. "Terajima-kun," I say, clutching my chest, "you scared me...I didn't hear you come in."

"Sorry about scaring you," he says apologetically. "I walk very quietly as a result of my past a petty thief." He frowns at the recollection of that memory. "But that's in the past...it's no longer important. What is important is whatever this room contains."

"It looks to be a pretty standard Infirmary," I say as I look around. "If anyone ever gets injured, this would be the perfect place to keep them."

"Yeah, it would," Terajima agrees. His eyes land on the large cabinet situated on the back wall. "I wonder what's in that huge cabinet..."

"I'm not sure," I say as we both approach it. "I can't clearly see inside due to the frosted glass, but it looks like it has a bunch of bottles inside of it."

Terajima opens one of the cabinet's doors. Sure enough, the cabinet is filled with a bunch of different bottles and jars, all of which are filled with a liquid or powder of some sort. Terajima takes one of the jars off a shelf and inspects it. When he reads the label, he narrows his eyes.

"What is that stuff, Terajima-kun?" I ask him, confused at his expression.

"...Nothing," Terajima says as he puts the jar back on the shelf. He grabs a bottle from a different area of the cabinet and inspects it. Once again, he narrows his eyes. "Fuck you, snake..." he mutters angrily.

"What's in that bottle?" I ask, taking the bottle from
Terajima. "Tetrodotoxin...?" I say, reading the label out loud. "What's that?"

"It's a poison," Terajima says gravely as he takes the bottle from me and puts it back in the cabinet. "It's often found in pufferfish and other aquatic animals in that same order." He takes another bottle off the shelf. "Purified ricin powder," he mutters. "Yet another poison." He puts that bottle back in the shelf and slams the cabinet door shut angrily. "Goddammit, the fucking snake...he filled this entire cabinet with lethal poisons!"

...What!?
"Why the hell would Monohebi do that!?" I ask incredulously as I step back from the cabinet, now feeling unnerved about being close to so many lethal substances. "This is an Infirmary; poisons don't belong in here!"

"No, they don't," Terajima says, his voice full of restrained fury. "But of course that stupid fucking snake would put them in an Infirmary of all places..." He shakes his head violently. "We need to be careful...this place may not be as safe as we thought. Let's look around for anything else that might be dangerous."

"Sure thing," I say with a nod. He and I begin to look inside everything we can. I take a peek inside the refrigerator, but all that's inside it is a bunch of bags of blood for transfusions. I hope we never have to do
anything like that...

Terajima and I search the entire Infirmary but don't find anything else suspicious. "There's a lot of stuff here that could be used as a weapon," I say after we finish. "Like the scalpels, scissors, or a lot of the sharp surgical tools...however, all of it looks like the kind of stuff you'd normally find in an Infirmary or hospital."

"Yeah, there's nothing out of the ordinary except for that poison cabinet," he says. "However, lots of things in here could be dangerous...so we should be careful about this place."

"Definitely," I say. After that, an awkward silence ensues. I feel like I'm done
talking about the Infirmary...however,
I still want to talk with Terajima-kun. I'm curious about the...development of his relationship with
Oyamada-kun.

"Terajima-kun, I really hope this isn't too personal or invasive of me," I begin, "but this morning I noticed that you and Oyamada-kun are now using each other's given name. I was wondering...is that because..." I pause, feeling too awkward to continue the sentence.

"Is it because what?" Terajima asks, although I have a feeling he already knows.

This is such an awkward thing to ask, but I’ve already started talking about it, so I can’t just back out now...
"Is it...is it because you two are a couple now?"

At first, Terajima says nothing and only stares at me blankly. Then, after a long pause, he takes a deep breath and nods. "...Yes," he
says.
"Osamu-kun probably wouldn’t like me saying that...but yes."

So my suspicions were right... "Well...I'm happy for you two," I say. "I'm glad that even in a situation as terrible as this, you guys are managing to find love."

Terajima looks away from me, his cheeks slightly pink. "...Yeah, so am I," he says awkwardly.

It looks like talking about it makes him feel awkward...that's understandable. Terajima-kun has never
really been one to display his emotions, so it must feel weird
for him to admit to them...but, as
Domoto-san said earlier, that's what we
should be doing. Even still...I don't want to ask him any more about it if it makes him uncomfortable.

I say goodbye to him and exit the Infirmary. As I do so, I notice that the door has a lock on the inside. That's probably useless information, but it's still good to know.

Once I'm out of the Infirmary,
I decide to turn left and inspect the sleek, modern-looking door at the end of the short hall. Once inside, I see a gym filled with all the most modern exercise equipment. Treadmills, ellipticals, stair machines, racks of weights, rows of medicine balls, and various other pieces of equipment I don't know the names of fill the room. Mirrors make up all four walls of the Gym, so that whoever is exercising can always see what they're doing.

"Aha!" Sashihara shouts excitedly. "This place is amazing!"

Looks like he's
back to his normal, shouty self, even though he
was being quiet and serious earlier. I guess finding a place to work out must've stirred the Ultimate Fitness Trainer inside him and brought him back to
being his
normal self.

"I'm guessing you like this place, Sashihara-kun," I say with a smile.

"Of course I do!" Sashihara says enthusiastically. "As the Ultimate Fitness Trainer, it's impossible for me to not be exhilarated over such an amazing facility!" He takes a deep breath and smiles. "Ahh, I love that smell! The smell of sweat, endurance, and of hard work! The smell of a gym!"

I didn't
know endurance and hard work had smells...
I look around the Gym again and am surprised to find Hayasaka standing in a back corner, twirling her hair pensively.

"Hey, Hayasaka-san," I say as I walk over to her.

She glances over at me half-heartedly. "Oh...hey, Wakana-san..."

Seems like being a Gym isn't as exciting for her as it is for
Sashihara-kun... "Do you not like this gy--?" I begin to ask her, but stop as I realize how stupid that question is. "No, that's not the issue...you're still upset about yesterday, aren't you?"

"Well, I'd be lying if I said that the sight of so many treadmills didn't give me...unpleasant flashbacks," Hayasaka says uncomfortably.

Oh yeah...she said she used to run way too much out of desperation to be skinny...it can't be easy for her to be surrounded by stuff that makes her
remember that. But even still...I highly doubt that's the only reason she looks so despondent.
"I get that must be bad for you...but that can't be all it is, right?" I ask. "Yesterday was a pretty rough day for you, after all."

Hayasaka nods sadly. "Yeah...telling the story of my bulimia and my past...that was really hard," she says. "I've been faking everything and putting up fronts for such a long time, that it...it feels weird to not be doing it." She sighs. "And on top of all that...Tomiko-san, she..." Hayasaka wipes a tear from her eye. "I really had no idea she hated me so much...I didn't pick up on her hints at all." She hangs her head sadly. "I really do have terrible emotional intelligence..."

I open my mouth to say something but close it again. I really don't know if anything
I say will help her...I've never gone through half the emotional struggles she has. But
I guess as a waitress,
I have to fake being happy pretty often...so maybe
I should
talk about that...

"Hayasaka-san," I begin slowly, "obviously, I've never faked who I am to the extent that you have, but...I do know what it's like to force yourself to act completely different than how you feel...how draining it is to
slap a smile on your face when you feel like crying." I pause, not sure of what to say next. "So...if I have any advice that I want to give to you, it's...to be who you really are." I grimace at myself for saying that out loud. "Ugh, that's such a cliche thing to say...but it's true in this case."

Hayasaka
looks down sadly. "That's not bad advice, Wakana-san, but...I don't know who I really am anymore," she says miserably. "When you have to put on an act for so long, the more it stops becoming an act...the more the lines between what's really you and what's just a part of the act start to blur. I
buried my true self under so many lies that
it feels like I'll never be able to dig it back up..." She turns away from me, sniffling. "Sorry, Wakana-san, but...can you leave? I'd really rather be alone right now..."

I want to say something else to her to reassure her, but I find myself not having a clue as to what I should say. I have no idea how to reassure her...I want to make her feel better, but
I don't know how
I can do that. Besides, she doesn't even want to be near me, so I guess...I just will have to leave her be for now.

With great reluctance, I leave her and the Gym. I'm sorry I couldn't
help you, Hayasaka-san...I really
want
to make you feel better, but
I just don't know how
I can...

Feeling decidedly shitty, I walk past the door to the Infirmary and the stairs from the third floor to find myself in another, longer hallway. In this hallway, there are two doors on the left wall, which also has a small hallway in the middle of it. I decide to head to the doorway nearest to me, which has no door and labeled with a
sign that says "Weapons Room." Oh...that doesn't sound good at all.

I approach the room hesitantly, worried about what I find inside. If it's a weapons room, there's
probably all sorts of crazy, dangerous stuff in here...

When I walk inside, I find myself in a room lit by oppressively bright fluorescent lights that shine down on every type of weapon under the sun. Racks of all varieties of knives, katanas, Western-style swords, shurikens, chakrams, nunchucks, saws, staffs, grenades, plastic explosives, and
of guns of all types, from handguns to shotguns to military-grade assault rifles to even guns loaded with tranquilizer darts,
fill the room and are organized neatly into rows. Holy shit! I've never seen so many
dangerous things in one place...

"Yer pretty freaked out by this place, ain't ya?" asks Komatsu, who I hadn't previously noticed due to my attention being drawn by the sheer number of lethal weapons in one room.

"Yeah," I say shakily."I think any sane person would be. Just being around so many things that could be used to kill people makes me feel really uncomfortable."

"It sure is pretty fuckin' freaky," Komatsu agrees. "I mean, how the fuck did Monohebi even get so many of these things!? So much of this shit has to be illegal..."

"So is making high school students murder each other, but...here we are," I say. I shudder.
I need to get out of this place...it's freaking me out.

I say bye to Komatsu and leave the Weapons Room. I breathe a sigh of relief that I'm not surrounded by so many dangerous weapons.

Still feeling shaken,
head down the hallway and turn left into the smaller hallway. When I do, I'm met with two doorway on either side of the hallway, one with no door
and a label that says "Weapons Room" beside it and the other with a gray-painted door labeled "Media Room." These must be alternate entrances to either of the rooms in the longer hallway...I guess I didn't notice the
second entrance to the Weapons
Room because of how freaked out I was...

At the end of this short hallway, there's a metal gate that looks exactly like the one that's covered the stairs before. Beside it stands Eguchi.

"That's probably the way up to the fifth floor," I think
out loud.

Eguchi nods. "Yeah, probably..." She frowns. "I hope we never have to go up there, though...because that'd mean another class trial."

"I don't think any of us ever want to do one of those again," I say, grimacing at the mere thought of having to ride that elevator back down to the trial room.

"That's definitely true," Eguchi says. "Class trials are horrible...all they cause as pain and misery." She looks down
and starts hugging herself. "Pain...and misery..."

Eguchi-san doesn't really seem
like she's in the mood for
talking
right now...so,
even though
I'd like to talk with
her more...I guess
I
should let her go for now. "Goodbye, Eguchi-san," I say.

Her gaze flits up me for a second and then returns back to looking at the floor. "Bye..."

I leave her and enter the gray door that's labeled "Media Room." When I step inside, I'm met with a room filled with all sorts of TV's, computers, radios, gaming consoles, and
a huge shelf full of video game and DVD cases. I wonder if any of Eguchi-san's games are in there.
There's also a projector on a stand in front of a large screen at the back of the room.

Domoto and Kasparov stand in different spots of the room. Kasparov is staring carefully
at one of the computer monitors, while Domoto is inspecting the projector. "Have you guys found anything interesting in here?"

"We've found all sorts of pieces of technology, as you'd expect," Domoto answers. "And before you ask, no, none of them connect to the Internet."

I was about to ask that...damn,
I got my hopes up for nothing. "Well...are there any interesting files on any of the computers or any interesting movies in the DVD cases?" I ask. "Last time we found a computer, there was the video of Furuhata-kun...so maybe we'll find something like that again."

"I was thinking the same thing," Kasparov says, still not looking up from the computer he's inspecting. "I am currently searching every one of these computers for any file that draws interest...however, I have yet to find anything."

"That's disappointing that you haven't found anything yet," I say.

Domoto sighs frustratedly. "It sure is," she says. She strolls over to the large shelf with the DVDs and video games on it. "Maybe I'll follow your suggestion and take a look inside some of these DVD cases...it's possible some of them might contain videos similar to the one we found of Furuhata-kun. It sounds like a good idea...so good job on suggesting it, Kawashima-san."

Domoto-san just
praised me...that's unusual, but I'm definitely not
complaining about it. "I'm glad I could be helpful," I say. I begin to leave the Media Room, but then out of the corner of my eye, I spot something strange hidden among a bunch of dated, probably unusable computers. Is that...what
I think it is?

"What is it, Kawashima-san?" asks Domoto as she walks over to me.

Kasparov gets up
from the computer he's inspecting and comes over to me as well. "Yes, what have you seen?"

"It's a...flash drive," I say, picking it up. "A flash drive...with a Monohebi head on it."

"A Monohebi head!?" Domoto repeats as she takes it from me. "The flash drive Niizuma-san had also had a Monohebi head on it, just like this one..."

"Do you think it has the same stuff on it as the one she had?" I ask.

"It could," Kasparov says. "However...I doubt it does. Monohebi would have no need to place two flash drives with the same exact files on them in two separate rooms."

That's true, it wouldn't make much sense for him to do that... "Might I see the flash drive, Domoto-san?" he asks.

"Sure," Domoto says as she hands it over to him. "When you're done looking at it, plug it into the nearest computer."

Kasparov frowns. "...No. I will not do that."

Domoto gives him a quizzical glance. "What the hell are you saying? We need to find out what's on that flash drive ASAP." She crosses her arms. "So, do as I said and plug it into the nearest computer so we can see what's on it."

Kasparov's face hardens. "No. I refuse."

What the hell...? Why is he acting this way!? "Come on, Kasparov-kun, you're being ridiculous," I say. "Just give Domoto-san the stupid flash drive! It might information that'll help us get out on it!"

"No," he says defiantly. "There is no way Monohebi accidentally left a flash drive that, if accessed, would give us the information necessary to escape." He shakes his head. "No, no...rather, I suspect that whatever is on this flash drive will only serve the purpose of plunging this group into despair and driving someone else to murder...so, I will not be plugging it into any computer."

"You don't know what's on that flash drive," Domoto says. "The rest of the group doesn't have to watch it...only the three of us can. None of us here has ever displayed any intention of ever killing someone, so plug that flash drive into a computer or give it to me." Domoto holds out her palm expectantly.

Instead of placing the flash drive in her palm, Kasparov instead slides it into
the pocket of his pants. "No," he says firmly. "It simply would not be strategic for any of us to view the contents of this flash drive...so, I am afraid I must keep it in my personal possession to ensure no one ever inspects it."

A furious expression comes over Domoto's face. "Give me that fucking flash drive," she demands. "You're acting like Niizuma-san by withholding potentially valuable information from us!"

"My apologies, but I cannot give it to you or anyone else," Kasparov says. "There is simply too much of a risk of it being a trap set by Monohebi or of it causing someone to murder."

I get that it might be a risk, but...that's no reason to withhold information that might lead to our escape!
"Do you really not trust us enough?" I ask him. "We all promised to prevent a murder, so you can trust us to see what's on that flash drive! It could save lives!"

Kasparov frowns. "It could save lives...however, it just as likely could end some. So, for that reason I will not allow anyone, including myself, to view the contents of this flash drive."

"You're being ridiculous," Domoto says angrily. "It's not like you to act so stupidly..."

"I am not acting stupidly," Kasparov says crossly. He turns away from Domoto and I. "It appears neither you nor Kawashima-san can be convinced of that, however, so I shall take my leave. Goodbye." He leaves the Media Room.

Domoto stares at the door he left out of, her hands curling into fists. "Ugh...What the fuck!?" She says furiously. "How can he be so goddamn stupid!?"

"I don't know," I say. I should go after him
and try to
convince him to change his mind...I doubt it'll work, but
I
should at least try. "I'm going to go see if I can get him to hand over the flash drive...alright, Domoto-san?"

"Yeah, yeah, you go do that," she says, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I'd go, but all I'd do is end up yelling at him..."

I exit the Media Room through the same door Kasparov left, which is the door other than the one I used to first come in. When I leave, I find myself near the end of the long hallway, which I notice has a hallway I didn't notice before has at the end of it another hallway than the ones to the Gym and the one that leads to the metal gate. I head down that hallway, where I find a set of bathrooms to the right and a drab-looking door at the end of the hallway. But what really grabs my attention is a set of elevator doors opposite the boys' and girls' bathrooms.
What the...? Elevator doors?

"D-Do you th-think these a-are weird too, K-Kawashima-san?" Oyamada, who's standing near the elevator doors, asks. "I-I've tried p-pressing the buttons t-to call the e-elevator, but n-nothing happens wh-when I d-do that..."

"Yeah, I do," I say. What he said about it not working is weird, but that's not my main objective. I need to find out where Kasparov-kun went. "Oyamada-kun, have you seen Kasparov-kun?"

"Y-Yeah, I j-just saw him," Oyamada replies. "H-He left the M-Media Room and w-went straight into the b-boys' bathroom..."

...Of course he did. He probably anticipated me or Domoto-san
going after him, so he went to the one place where
I can't get him.

"Wh-What's wrong, K-Kawashima-san?" Oyamada asks curiously. "W-Were you looking f-for Kasparov-kun?"

"I was, but..." I stop myself. I probably
shouldn't let Oyamada-kun
know about the flash drive just yet...I don't want to give him hope about what
might be on it until
I'm sure
I can get it from
Kasparov-kun. "It's nothing," I say hastily. I turn my attention to the elevator doors to change the subject. "These elevator doors...they look similar to the ones that would bring us down to the class trial."

Oyamada shudders when I say that. "D-Don't remind me...I h-hate even th-thinking about g-going to another c-class trial..." He looks at the elevator doors warily. "Y-You're right, th-though...those d-doors do look s-similar to th-the doors of the e-elevator that always b-brings us to the c-class trial...h-however, it c-can't be that s-same elevator..."

I give him a curious look. "Huh? Why not?"

"Well, if y-you think of the l-layout of this b-building, th-that elevator's on the o-other side," Oyamada explains. "It's o-on the S-Storage Room side of the C-Cafeteria, whereas th-this elevator is on the K-Kitchen side..."

Ah, that
makes sense...I didn't consider that before. "I guess we should be glad that it's not the same elevator that brings us to the class trial, and that it doesn't seem to be working...I don't think anyone wants to be reminded of class trials."

"Th-That's definitely t-true...especially f-for me..." Oyamada fidgets uncomfortably. "I w-was so sh-shaken after the t-trial last n-night that I h-had to g-go to Eisuke-kun's r-room to h-have him r-reassure me...and..."

"And what?" I ask, although I already have a good idea of what he's going to say.

"It's n-nothing..." Oyamada says while blushing. "F-Forget what I s-said..."

He's probably
embarrassed to admit what happened...but there's no need for that. He shouldn't be ashamed about loving someone...
"Oyamada-kun, it's okay," I tell him. "I...I already know."

"Kn-Know what?" he asks.

"That you and Terajima-kun are a thing now," I respond. "It was pretty obvious from you too were addressing each other by your given names...besides, Terajima-kun confirmed it when I asked him."

"Dammit, E-Eisuke-kun," Oyamada says, blushing. "I t-told him when I c-confessed my l-love last night th-that we sh-shouldn't let a-anyone else kn-know yet..."

"Why?" I ask. "Are you ashamed of being in a
relationship?"

"W-Well...I m-mean, it's m-my first time ever b-being in one..." Oyamada says, fiddling with the straps of his book bag. "S-So that m-makes it h-hard...but a-also...I g-guess
a b-bigger reason why I d-didn't want a-anyone to know a-about it is that...I'm w-worried about b-becoming too c-close to someone in a s-situation like th-this..." He sniffles. "I'm w-worried that s-some cruel person l-like
the m-mastermind for the t-traitor might t-try to target E-Eisuke-kun or to t-try to get s-some of that d-despair they l-love so m-much..."

"That's not going to happen, Oyamada-kun," I assure him. "Everyone still alive said they're
going to stop another death from occurring, remember? Besides, you have the Ultimate Bodyguard as your boyfriend...I'm pretty sure he'll be able to protect you."

"I th-think so, too, b-but I d-don't want to r-risk it," Oyamada says. "B-Besides, people
s-said that no m-more deaths w-would happen a-after the first two t-trials too, and I-Ichigohara-san still d-died.
A-Also, how c-can I even b-be sure that all of th-them were t-telling the t-truth? The t-traitor might s-still be alive...and if th-they are, then a-another death's g-going to happen, no m-matter how many p-promises we make..."

I hesitate, not knowing how to respond to that. Oyamada-kun's not wrong...if the
traitor really is still alive, then
they probably will kill someone...that was part of their agreement with Monohebi, after all.
They have to kill someone if he deems it necessary that they do so...which he probably would if no one else is going to kill. I sigh. "Listen, Oyamada-kun...you're right," I say. "The traitor might still be alive...but they also might not. Aozora-kun, Carrasco-san, Ichigohara-san, and Niizuma-san all could've been the traitor...but, even if none of them were, it doesn't mean anyone else has to die."

"Wh-What?" Oyamada asks, confused. "But M-Monohebi s-said that he would m-make the t-traitor k-kill someone if he n-needed them too..."

"He did," I say. "But he also said that he went to the traitor to make the deal...not the other way around. So, I don't think it's crazy to say that maybe the traitor might not be as enthusiastic about their deal with Monohebi as Monohebi himself is."

"B-But why does it m-matter how e-enthusiastic they a-are about the d-deal?" Oyamada asks. "Th-They still m-made it with him, r-regardless of whether th-they wanted t-to or not..."

"That's true, but if the traitor didn't really want to make the agreement...maybe we can convince them to turn on Monohebi," I say. "We could try to convince the traitor to come to our side...and then, you wouldn't have to worry about anyone targeting you or Terajima-kun or anyone else here. You could just live peacefully."

Oyamada smiles slightly. "Th-That's nice to i-imagine..." he says. His smiles fades. "B-But I d-doubt that we'd b-be able to d-do that..."

"Well, you never know until you try," I say. "If we sit back and do nothing, then we can be certain that the traitor won't change their mind. However, if we actually try to get them to abandon Monohebi and come to our side...then there is a chance, no matter how small, that we might convince them."

"I g-guess..." Oyamada says slowly. His small smile returns. "Th-Thanks for s-saying that, Kawashima-san...y-you made me f-feel a l-little better about e-everything..."

"You're welcome," I say genuinely.

I say goodbye to him and ponder what to do for a second. Kasparov-kun still hasn't
come out of the bathroom yet, and
I don't think he'll come out willingly, even if
I ask Oyamada-kun to come and
get him...so
I might as well give up for now. I'll see him soon enough.

Figuring it’s not worth it to inspect the girls’ bathroom, I walk past it and head into the room with the drab gray door. Inside, I find myself in a door that's just as plain and boring as its door, except it has prison cells lining the walls.
This must be Cell Block D, then...

I'm about to leave the room when I hear the sound of sniffles coming from one of the prison cells. Is that...someone crying?
Who is it?
I go over to the cell which the sound is coming from to find Motoki sitting on one the stiff bed of the cell, crying softly.

"Motoki-san, why are you crying?" I ask her as I sit down next to her.

She looks at me, a pained expression on her face. "You already know why, Kawashima-san...I failed Ichigohara-san. I couldn't stop her death..." She buries her face in her hands. "If I hadn't gone back to my room, Ichigohara-san wouldn't have been alone when Niizuma-san came in to attack her...I could've saved her! I could've stopped Niizuma-san from killing someone!" Her voice breaks. "B-But...I didn't do that. I left Ichigohara-san...I let her die. It's my fault she's dead..."

"Motoki-san, you know that's not true," I tell her. "You had no way of knowing what Niizuma-san was planning...besides, if you stayed with Ichigohara-san, you probably would've died with her. There's no way Niizuma-san would've let you live."

"You don't know that," Motoki protests. "And...honestly,
if I could choose between dying with Ichigohara-san and living with the guilt and pain of not being able to keep my word on my promise to Carrasco-san...I...I'd choose death."

"No, Motoki-san," I say. "You can't choose death."

"Why not!?" she asks angrily. "Why would I want to choose to live when life here is so horrible and miserable!? Why should I even try to stop deaths from happening if I know I'll fail!?" She looks at the ground miserably. "Why...Why should I even bother living at all...?"

"Because death is final, yet life is full of possibilities," I tell her. "It's true that the life we're living here is awful. However...it won't last forever."

"No, it won't," Motoki says distantly. "We'll all die one by one until there's none of us left..."

I take one of Motoki's hands in both of mine and squeeze it. "That's not going to happen, Motoki-san," I say confidently. "The deaths will stop...but only if we work together. Only if we get the traitor to join our side, if they're still alive. However, we won't be able to do that if you don't choose life...if you don't keep on trying to keep that promise you made for Carrasco-san's sake."

Motoki doesn't say anything at first. Finally, after a long pause, she looks at me with a pained expression. "I want to do that..." she says. "I really do, Kawashima-san. I want to try as hard as I can to make sure that no more deaths happen...but I just feel like it won't be worth it. The traitor's probably still alive, so it's pointless to even try..."

No, Motoki-san, it isn't pointless...
"It's not, Motoki-san," I tell her. "I was just telling this to Oyamada-kun...remember how Monohebi said he went to the traitor to make the agreement? Monohebi was the one who wanted them to work for him, not the other way around. Because of that, I think it's pretty likely that he pressured them into making a deal with him...which means that there's a chance that we can change the traitor's mind."

Motoki shakes her head dismissively. "That won't work...it's not even worth trying..."

"It isn't?" I ask doubtfully. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but when you made that promise a few days ago, you told me you'd try your damndest to ensure nobody else dies here...so are you really saying that you've given up? Did the promise not mean anything to you?"

"Of course it meant a lot," Motoki says frustratedly. "It was for my love, Carrasco-san's, sake...so of course it meant a lot." She hugs herself. "But...it's hard. I feel like
no matter what I do, I can't change anything...I couldn't stop Ichigohara-san's death. I couldn't stop Niizuma-san from killing. I couldn't stop Hayasaka-san from trying to kill...so I doubt I'll be able to change the traitor's mind."

"You could, though," I say. "Motoki-san, you've always talked about the need for communication between people...so shouldn't you try to communicate with the traitor to get them to change sides instead of passively waiting for them to kill someone else? If you didn't try to communicate with them, wouldn't you be violating your core values? Wouldn't you be disrespecting Carrasco-san's memory by throwing away the promise you made for her sake?"

Motoki opens her mouth to protest, but closes it, defeated. "I...I guess I would be," she says.
For a long moment, she says nothing. Then, she sighs deeply. "I'll try," she says slowly. "Even if I doubt it'll work, I'll try to fulfill that promise I made...I'll try to convince the mastermind to change their mind. Because...if I do nothing, a death will certainly happen, but if I do something...then maybe I'll save a life." She smiles weakly. "The chance of that happening is admittedly really, really small, but...it's better than nothing, I guess."

I nod
in agreement. "It sure is," I say.

At that moment, the monitor on the wall turns on and Monohebi's face appears. "Hello, dearest inmates," he says. "I believe I have given you all sufficient time to explore the fourth floor. So, I believe it is time you all are introduced to the other new areas I have opened. Please gather in front of the elevator on the fourth floor as soon as possible."

As soon as he's done speaking, the monitor shuts off. "Ugh, I don't want to go..." Motoki says with a groan. "I've had enough of Monohebi."

"Same here," I say, "but I doubt anything good would happen if we disobeyed Monohebi." I stand up. "So...as much as it sucks, we need to gather in front of that elevator."

"...Yeah," Motoki says. She reluctantly gets up and we other leave the cell and Cell Block D.

When we leave, we head to the area in front of the elevator doors, just like Monohebi said to. Oyamada and Domoto are already there, and everyone else, including Kasparov, joins not soon after. I try to make eye contact with him, but it fails. Dammit...why is he
acting like this?

I'm about to walk over to him to confront him when Monohebi suddenly appears. "Hello, inmates," he says. "I have now activated the elevator, so that when you press the buttons next to it, it actually comes now.My apologies for not doing so sooner, but I wanted to ensure you all thoroughly explored this floor before we moved on to the next area."

"What is this new area!?" asks Sashihara. "Is it the fifth floor!?"

"No, it is not," Monohebi replies. "In actuality...it is in the other direction."

Huh? What does that mean? "What are you saying, Monohebi?"

"Find out for yourselves," Monohebi says as he slithers aside. He gestures with his snake head to the buttons next to the elevator. "Call the elevator, board it, and see where it takes you."

Feeling uncertain, I do as he says and press the button to go up, but it does nothing, so I press the button to go down instead. As soon as I do, I hear sounds from beyond the elevator doors, and soon enough they make a chiming sound and open. At first, no one steps inside.

"I d-don't want to g-get on that e-elevator," Oyamada says nervously. "I have a b-bad feeling a-about it..."

"Everything will be fine, Osamu-kun," Terajima tells him. "I'll make sure you stay safe."

"Yeah, everything'll be alright, Oyamada-kun," Eguchi says, although she doesn't sound completely certain.

"Let's just get this over with and get on the damn elevator," Domoto says as she strides into it. "Come on, we can't wait forever. The doors will close."

Although some of us hesitate far more than others, eventually everyone gets in the elevator except Monohebi.

"Aren't you coming?" I ask him.

"I will join the rest of you...eventually," he says with a smirk as the doors begin to close. "But in the meantime, please enjoy the basement of the Monohebi Correctional Facility."

What...the basement!? I had no idea such a
place existed...

"I don't like the sound of that," Hayasaka says uneasily as the elevator begins to move downward. "Basements
have always creeped me out."

"S-Same here," Oyamada says. "Th-They're usually
wh-where all the b-bad stuff h-happens in scary b-books..."

"In games, too," Eguchi adds. "Whenever I was making a
horror game, I'd always put the creepiest stuff in the basement. It's the perfect place for unsettling things to happen, due to how basements can often be dark, claustrophobic, and generally kind of unsettli--"

"Please stop," Motoki says. "Let's wait to worry about the basement until we actually get there..."

Fortunately, we don't have to wait long. The elevator soon lurches to a stop and the doors open to reveal a place that looks...exactly like the rest of this prison. "I guess the basement isn't some sort of house or horrors, then," I say, partially relieved. I
was getting
worried
because of that
talk about basements
being creepy...

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Everyone
steps out into the hallway beyond the elevator doors. On the left, the hallway is empty and simply turns around a corner after several meters of blank walls. To the right, on the opposite wall, there's a heavy-looking metal door with a square window in it. To the right and on the same wall as the elevator, there's metal gate much like the one that's covered inaccessible staircases in the past and that's currently blocking off the stairs to the fifth floor. So,
does that mean there's a hidden level between the basement and first floor that we can't
currently access?

"Alright, everyone, let's treat this like any other floor," Domoto says. "Let's split up and see whatever this basement has in it."

We do as she says and split up to explore the basement. Where should
I go first? That metal door with the square window catches my attention, but...I'm more curious about the metal gate across the hall from it.

I head over to the metal gate, with Domoto tagging along beside me. "Do you think this is weird, too?" she asks me.

"Yeah," I say. "This metal gate is the kind we’ve seen covering staircases to upper floors before...but Monohebi said this is the basement, right? So does that mean there’s some kind of level in between the basement and the first floor?"

Domoto frowns.
"I’m not sure," she says.
"But it seems to be that way." She leans forward to inspect the door more closely.
"You go on and explore the rest of the floor, Kawashima-san. I'll take a closer look at this door and see if I can learn anything more to learn about it."

I want to tell her that doing that will probably be useless, but I have a feeling that will just make her mad, so I don't.
Domoto-san being mad at me is definitely something I don't want to happen, given how scary she can be when she's mad...
"Alright," I say.
"Good luck with that."

I begin to leave her, but before I can get too far away, Domoto speaks again. "Also...try to get Kasparov-kun to hand over that flash drive."

That'll be a challenge...he probably will be very
resistant to giving it up. "I'll try," I say, "but I can't guarantee I'll succeed."

Domoto sighs and turns her attention back to the metal gate. "Well...do your best."

"I will," I tell her. My
best probably won't be enough, though...

I leave her to go to the metal door with the square window. Now that I'm closer to it, I can see frost and ice on the inside of it.
This must be some sort of walk-in freezer, then...

I open the door and feel a burst of cold air flow out of it. Damn, that's cold...it's
nothing that
I'm
not used too, though. I've had to spend tons of time in the walk-in freezer at
work.
However, the
inside of this freezer is a lot different from the one that was at my work in two ways: Firstly, it's huge. Secondly, it's weirdly
empty. Most of the metal shelves have nothing on them except icicles or empty boxes. The only food I can
see
are a few tubs of ice cream on a shelf.
At least there's something in here...

"It's s-so c-cold in here," Oyamada says, his teeth chattering. "I d-don't want to s-stay here..."

"If you want to stay, we can leave right now, Osamu-kun," Terajima tells him.

"N-No...we c-can't," Oyamada says.

"Why not?" I ask.

"W-Well...f-firstly, we s-still have to f-figure out what's u-up with
that w-weird locked door in the b-back," he says, gesturing to said door. It's at the very back of the freezer and is made out of thick, reinforced metal. "E-Eisuke-kun and I t-tried to o-open it earlier, b-but it was n-no use..."

"I wonder what's in there," I say as I look at the door. "Maybe another freezer?"

"Why would there be another freezer when this one is so big?" Terajima asks, frowning. He pushes his sunglasses up his nose. "There at one point was a label on the door...but it was ripped off. Whatever is in there, the snake doesn't want us to see it or know what it is."

Hmm...if Monohebi doesn't want us to get into that locked room, then whatever's in there must be really
important. Unfortunately, there's no way we'll be able to get in there unless we somehow manage to find a key...because we can't destroy property of this
prison, otherwise we'd violate one of the rules and get
executed.
Besides, even if that wasn't
against the rules, Terajima-kun already tried to get in...if he can't break down a door, none of us can.

"That door sure is weird," I say after a pause. "However...I don't really think the mystery around it justifies staying in a place this cold."

"Y-Yeah, I g-guess not," Oyamada says reluctantly. He looks away from me and Terajima. "E-Even still, I d-don't want to l-leave the freezer, b-because I d-don’t want to b-be roaming around a b-basement where th-there could b-be..." He stops mid-sentence.

"Where there could be what, Oyamada-kun?" I ask him.

Oyamada fidgets uncomfortably. "Ugh...I-It's so e-embarrassing to s-say..."

Terajima places a hand on Oyamada's shoulder. "Don't worry, Osamu-kun. Neither of us is going to judge you."

"A-Are you s-sure?" Oyamada asks warily. "It's r-really silly..."

"We're sure," I say.

Oyamada hesitates, and then finally opens his mouth. "I...I d-don't want to l-leave because...I-I'm scared that we'll see..." His voice drops to a whisper. "...w-we'll see b-bugs..."

...What? "You're scared of bugs, Oyamada-kun?" I ask, surprised.

"Ugh, I kn-knew you'd j-judge me for s-saying it..." Oyamada says grumpily.

"I'm not judging you," I say, "I was just surprised...I didn't know that you were afraid of bugs."

"Neither did I," Terajima says. "Osamu-kun...do you fear all bugs in general or just certain types?"

"I d-don't like t-talking about it, but...b-because it's you, Eisuke-kun, I-I'll say s-something." Oyamada pauses and takes a deep breath. "...I d-don't like any b-bugs, really...but the o-only ones that r-really terrify me are s-spiders and b-beetles..." He shudders just from saying the names. "Ugh, I hate e-even thinking a-about them...as s-soon as I d-do, I s-start to t-tremble, f-feel lightheaded, and I f-feel my h-heart rate g-go up..."

All that happens just from thinking about beetles and spiders? I hope he never sees one in person
because the results of that
would probably not be good...

"Osamu-kun, it sounds like you have some sort of phobia," Terajima says.

Oyamada winces. "Ngh...d-don't say that...it m-makes me sound w-weak..."

Terajima leans down so he's at eye level with Oyamada and places both of his hands in the librarian's shoulders. "Listen to me, Osamu-kun...having a phobia you doesn't make you weak."

"Y-Yes it does," Oyamada says. "I know I sh-shouldn't be afraid of either s-spiders or b-beetles, but...I am r-regardless. I h-hate it, b-but I can't help f-feeling a terrible s-sense of fear and d-disgust just from i-imagining them..."

"You can't control your fear, Osamu-kun," Terajima says, "Having a phobia of something...it's not a matter of personal choice. You can't help feeling scared whenever you see or even think of a spider or a beetle."

"I kn-know, and that m-makes me so w-weak," Oyamada says. " I've t-tried to go to th-therapy before, but it n-never worked...no m-matter what a-anyone else tries to d-do, I'm so p-pathetic and w-weak that n-not even p-professionally trained ps-psychotherapists c-can help me..."

"Their therapies not working on you isn't your fault," I say. "Maybe you just didn't try the right type of therapy...everyone is different."

"Indeed they are," says Monohebi's voice.

The three of us jump at his sudden appearance. "The hell are you doing here, Monohebi?" I ask. Damn snake...he always shows up so suddenly.

"I heard the three of you discussing Oyamada's affliction of Specific Phobia Disorder and his attempts at trying to overcome it," Monohebi says. "And, well...I simply had to comment."

"Why?" Terajima asks coolly. "This has nothing to do with you, snake."

Monohebi's lips curl into a small smile. "Oh, but it does."

"N-No it d-doesn't," Oyamada says as he glares at Monohebi. "Y-You don't c-care about me or m-my well-being at a-all...you o-only c-care about if I k-kill or not..."

"...You are not exactly wrong, that is the thing about which I care most," Monohebi admits. "However...if I had some advice that might assist in you overcoming your phobias, would you not desire to hear what it is?"

Oyamada's face lights up. "A-Advice...that'd h-help me o-overcome them?" he asks hopefully.

Monohebi nods. "Yes. Would you like to hear it?"

"Don't listen to him, Osamu-kun," Terajima says, eyeing Monohebi warily. "Everything he says should be met with a ton of caution."

"Yeah, Monohebi's dangerous," I add. "We can't trust anything he says..."

"You two wound your caring warden," Monohebi says with mock sadness. "Would you truly deny Oyamada a potential end to his phobias simply because you distrust
me?"

Terajima and I don't say anything at first. It's true that everyone here wants to see an end to Oyamada-kun's fears, however...can we truly trust Monohebi to be able to help? "I don't want to see Osamu-kun scared, but...I can't bring myself to trust you," Terajima says, sounding conflicted. "I don't know what to do..."

"It's o-okay, Eisuke-kun," Oyamada says. "I'll...I'll l-listen to what M-Monohebi has to s-say. I'm n-not saying I'll f-follow his a-advice, but...it'd s-still be good to h-hear it, r-right?"

I guess so...

"Excellent," Monohebi says with a small smile. "Now, Oyamada, I will start with a question: which type of treatment did you undergo previously?"

"It w-was ps-psychoanalysis..." Oyamada says. Oh, I've heard of that before...that's where you lay down a couch and
talk to the therapist, right?
"You kn-know, the th-thing Sigmund F-Freud did a l-lot," Oyamada continues. "I tried that about a y-year ago, b-but it didn't w-work..."

Monohebi looks at him with an unimpressed expression. "Of course it did not. Out of all therapy options, you chose the one pioneered by a unscientific cocaine addict." Monohebi shakes his snake head. "No, no...that is the root of the problem. If you truly want to see an end to your phobias, you must choose a more scientifically sound
treatment...such as Exposure Therapy."

An apprehensive look comes across Oyamada's face. "E-Exposure Th-Therapy...? I-Is that what it s-sounds like?"

"It certainly is," Monohebi says. "Exposure Therapy, as the name suggests, involves exposing the victim to the source of their fears and anxieties to help them overcome those fears and anxieties."

Oyamada shakes his head violently. "N-No...no, no, no...n-no...I'm n-never doing th-that!" He buries his face in his hands. "If I s-saw a b-beetle or s-spider in real l-life, I-I...I'd b-be paralyzed with f-fear..."

Monohebi sighs. "What a shame...I simply wish to help you, yet you discard any advice simply because the prospect of facing
your fears frightens you." He slithers closer to Oyamada. "Refusing this treatment of mine could be
quite dangerous, you know. What if a potential culprit were to learn of your phobias and...take advantage of them?"

Oyamada looks at Monohebi fearfully. "Wh-What? A-Are you...th-threatening me?"

"No, not necessarily," Monohebi says. "I am simply informing you that ignoring my advice and continuing to live with a phobia is dangerous in a killing game. It could make someone kill—"

All of a sudden, Terajima lunges forward and
reaches to grab Monohebi, but the snake slithers away as quickly as possible. "SSSSSSSSS!" Monohebi hisses angrily. "What in the world are you doing, Terajima!? Do you not know violence against me is against the rules!?"

"I don't care," Terajima says furiously. "I'm not going to listen to you threaten Osamu-kun and try to force him into a bogus psychological treatment."

"B-Bogus!?" Monohebi repeats incredulously. "How ignorant of you, Terajima! Exposure Therapy is often highly effective in treating Specific Phobia Disorder, yet I suppose someone as ignorant as
you would not know that...after all, the only way you know how to deal with fear is by getting angry!"

Terajima glares daggers at Monohebi. "Shut your fucking mouth, snake!" He shouts in a booming voice. "I'm not going to take any more shit from you!"

"You are also not going to allow Oyamada to undergo a treatment that could save his life...and therefore put him in danger," Monohebi says with a smirk. "It seems you really are not as good at protecting people as you might think." Terajima lunges forward to grab him again, but Monohebi disappears as suddenly
as he appeared. Thank God that's over...

"Finally, he's gone," I say, relieved.

"Y-Yeah, I r-really hated him b-being so c-close to me and g-giving 'advice,'" Oyamada says.

Terajima says nothing. Instead, he stands still, staring directly at the spot where Monohebi disappeared, breathing heavily.

"Are you okay, Terajima-kun?" I ask him.

"I...I'm fine," he says hesitantly. "I just need to calm down..."

"Y-You don't s-sound fine, E-Eisuke-kun," Oyamada says, walking over to Terajima and taking his hand. "D-Don't worry, y-you can t-talk honestly with m-me..."

I have a
feeling they're
about to start a private conversation, and
I really don't want to intrude on that...besides, it's cold in here.
"Alright, I'll leave the two of you to your own things now," I say to the both of them. Neither of them seems to hear me due to them intently listening to each other's soft whispers. I
should really leave now...

Upon leaving the Freezer I turn right and go around the corner of the hallway. When I do, I find myself in yet another hallway. On the left wall, there's nothing, but on the right wall there are three cell doors, which Hayasaka and Motoki are standing by, and one final door near the end of the hallway. At the very end of the hallway, there's a large, locked metal door, which Komatsu and Sashihara are inspecting. I wonder where that could lead...maybe it has something
to do with the
locked door in the Freezer?

Although I'm curious about the locked door, I decide to investigate the three cell doors first due to them being closer
to me. The doors are thick and reinforced and only have a small window covered in bars, which can be cut off by a small shutter. If that shutter were to be closed, the inside of the cell would be pitch black...ugh, that sounds awful.
The inside of each cell is mind-numbingly blank and only has a bed with a an old, rusty-looking bed frame and a toilet that I wouldn't use even if you paid me a million dollars. "These solitary confinement cells are nasty, aren't they?" Hayasaka asks from next to me.

"Solitary confinement?" I repeat, confused. Then, I see a label next to the first cell's door. "Solitary Confinement Cell A"...I'm
guessing the others are B
and C. That makes sense...these cells are only designed for one person, and are very securely locked up, so I probably should've arrived the conclusion that they were for solitary
confinement earlier.

"I get that these are solitary confinement cells, but what are they doing here?" I ask. "There are already real cells in Cell Blocks B, C, and D upstairs..."

"Those aren't locked up as securely," Motoki says dully. "If a prisoner was really dangerous or had been disobedient, it'd make more sense to put them in dark, isolated cells like these..." A faraway look enters her eyes. "Because isolation and loneliness...being locked in the dark...there's nothing worse than that..."

"Sakiko-san...are you okay?" Hayasaka asks worriedly. "You're sounding weird..."

Motoki doesn't answer. Instead, she turns and walks away. It looks like my
talk
with her earlier didn't have any lasting effects on cheering her up...

"Dammit," I say frustratedly. "Even though I tried to cheer her up earlier, she's become down all over again..."

"Oh, so that's why she was acting that way earlier..." Hayasaka says. ...What?

"What do you mean, Hayasaka-san?" I ask, confused.

"Sakiko-san...well, she wasn't happy...but she was noticeably better than before while she and I were starting to explore the basement," Hayasaka explains. "It was only when she saw the solitary confinement cells that her mood dropped again...so it's not your fault, Wakana-san. Whatever you talked about with Sakiko-san, it did help her."

That's relieving to know...although, I'm curious...why did the sight of the solitary confinement cells make Motoki-san feel down in the dumps again? I get that they're not exactly a fun place to investigate, but there's nothing overtly terrible in any of the three cells, except for the disgusting toilets... "I'm curious as to why her mood changed so suddenly," I say to Hayasaka. "Don't you think it's weird? She was doing better, but then the sight of a few cells made her feel sad again..."

Hayasaka frowns. "I think...it might be more than sadness," she says. "I think it might be...trauma."

"...Trauma?" I repeat, surprised. "What do you mean by that, Hayasaka-san?"

Hayasaka hesitates. "Well, I don't want to say too much, because it's all just speculation, but...I think something happened that made Sakiko-san become
afraid of being alone," Hayasaka says. "She's always talked about how important communication with others is to her, right? Maybe she values communication so much because she used to be starved of it during
some sort of past trauma...maybe she was locked in a room a lot as a child? Maybe she was forbidden from making friends?" A pained expression appears on Hayasaka's face when she says that last sentence. Hayasaka-san
probably relates
to
that, due to how alone she was when she was younger...

"Either way,
I think that maybe a solitary confinement cell triggered...unpleasant memories that reminded her of how terrible it is to be alone," Hayasaka continues. "That's probably why her mood shifted so suddenly...she was traumatized." Hayasaka pauses. "Of course, this all just my baseless
speculation...so don't take it too seriously."

No,
I wouldn't call it baseless... "I actually think you might be on to something, Hayasaka-san," I tell her. "You might not be 100% correct, but I do think you're at least somewhat right."

"I hope not," Hayasaka says. "I hate thinking that Sakiko-san is being traumatized by something now..."

"So do I," I say, "but if it's really is what caused her to act so strangely, then we can't just ignore it."

"That's true," Hayasaka agrees. She looks at the direction Motoki left in. "I should go talk to her..."

"Are you sure?" I ask. "I could go, too."

"No, she's probably not going to open up if there are two of us there," Hayasaka says. "Besides, out of the two of us...I have a lot more experience in feeling alone."

She looks so sad as she's
saying that...poor Hayasaka-san. "...I guess you have a point there," I say hesitantly.

"I'll go talk to her, then," Hayasaka says as she begins to walk away, twirling her hair sadly. "I hope I can help her..."

I watch her as she walks away. Hayasaka-san is still acting very subdued
and somber...which was the
complete opposite of how she was before. Although none of that was real, so
I suppose
I should be grateful that I'm finally
getting to see
Hayasaka-san's real personality.

With nothing else to look at in the solitary confinement cells, I go to the locked door at the end of the hallway that caught my attention before. "What's the deal with this thing?" I ask Komatsu and Sashihara, who are currently closely inspecting it.

"I dunno," Komatsu says frustratedly. "Sashihara-kun and I have been tryin' to get it open ever since we saw it, but we ain't had no luck so far..."

"This isn't about luck!" Sashihara shouts as he pushes hard against the door. "It's about strength!"

He's trying to break down the door by force...that's not going to
work. "Sorry, Sashihara-kun, but I don't think trying to break down the door with brute force is a good idea," I say. "Destroying property of this prison is against the rules, remember? Even if you do manage to break it down, you'll be immediately executed by Monohebi."

Sashihara steps back from the door, breathing heavily and sweating from trying to break it down. "Dammit...I forgot about that rule."

"So did I..." Komatsu says dejectedly. "Shit...if we can't break down the door, how the hell are we gonna found a way out?" He shifts his gaze back to the door. "Hold up...what if this door is the way out!? Monohebi's rules ain't gonna matter if we manage to break it down!"

"Except that probably won't happen," I say. "That door looks very thick and reinforced, even more so than the doors to the solitary confinement cells...I doubt even Sashihara-kun and Terajima-kun together could break it down. Besides, I don't think it's worth it to risk being executed..."

"Ugh, I guess yer right," Komatsu says. "I was jus' really hoping' we could find what was on the other side of this door...'cause if we can't force our way through, the only other to get to the other side'd be another class trial...and there ain't no one that wants another one of those." Komatsu walks away, a dejected expression on his face.

"No...no one does," Sashihara repeats distantly as he too walks away.

I feel bad for dashing their hopes of getting through this door...but
I
didn't
want them to
potentially get hurt if they were successful. It's better to have
them live in sadness than die in hopefulness...right?

Feeling uncomfortable, I move to enter the last door in the hallway and what appears to be the last room in the basement. Fortunately, this one doesn't seem to be locked.
The label near the door says "Trash Room"...I'm guessing
this place will be
fairly self-explanatory. I enter.

I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly isn't what's actually in here. On the left side of the room is the strangest feature: a huge hydraulic press that's big enough to smash an entire car, with a control panel next to it. ...Why the hell is there a hydraulic press here? And why is it so freaking big!?

In the back of the room, there's another thing that I didn't expect: a massive metal box with a square hole in the side. Although the lettering above is faded, I can still tell it says "Incinerator." Holy shit,
that incinerator is massive...having an
incinerator in a trash room makes sense, but there's no need to make it so big. I see Kasparov standing by the incinerator, looking at a panel of sorts. I'll need to speak with him once I'm done
exploring the rest of the room...both to talk about the panel he's looking at and, more
importantly, the flash drive.

On my right when entering the room is the most normal stuff, so I go there first to find several large bins, all with lids. There's one large one for landfill waste, several slightly smaller ones for assorted types of recyclables, and then a compost bin. Monohebi's terrible, but at least he's
environmentally conscious...

Not seeing anything else that catches my interest by the bins, I walk over
to Eguchi, who's standing near the huge hydraulic press. "This thing is weird, isn't it?" I ask her.

"Yeah, it is," Eguchi answer, wringing her hands nervously. "It's more than weird, though...it's also scary. Hydraulic presses are really powerful...they can break or crush pretty much anything. I sometimes used to watch videos online where people would crush random things with a hydraulic press. It was cool to watch in the comfort of my own room, but seeing one in person is a lot more...foreboding."

She's
right...it's definitely more than a little freaky
to be around
something
that could easily crush someone to death. "Yeah, I get what you're saying," I say. "Being around something so dangerous is definitely unsettling."

Eguchi nods but doesn't say anything. I guess that's the end of the conversation, then...it's a shame
because
I want to talk to Eguchi-san more after the last trial, but
I also get the feeling that she might not want to talk about such personal stuff as her bulimia...so
I should respect that.

I leave Eguchi and head over to Kasparov. I should be careful with how
I talk to him...if
I
immediately start with a discussion of the flash drive, he'll probably ignore me and walk away. So,
I should be more subtle and try to
naturally lead the
conversation in that direction...but, even
before
I do that,
I should see why he's looking at the incinerator so intently.

"What's up with that panel, Kasparov-kun?" I ask him. "You've been looking at it ever since I came in here."

Kasparov eyes me warily before he says anything. He
obviously
thinks
I'm starting
a conversation just
to get the
flash
drive from him...and he's right. I'm still going to
pretend that's not what
I'm here to do,
though, because that's the only way he'll let his guard down.

"I suppose you are correct that I have been looking at it for quite some time," he says, still staring at it. "That is
because the manner in which this
incinerator operates is rather interesting."

"What do you mean by that?" I ask curiously.

"Well, for one, it cannot be turned on unless activated by an e-Handbook," Kasparov says. He gestures to a scanner on the panel beside the machine. "This panel is the only means by which one may turn on the control panel, which is the only way to turn on the Incinerator."

"Can that panel only turn the Incinerator on or off?" I ask, pointing at it. "I feel like that screen and those buttons wouldn't really be necessary if that's all it can do..."

"Fortunately, there is more," Kasparov says. "Once an individual scans their e-Handbook, it is entered into a record displayed on this screen, where it is kept for 48 hours." He points to the screen on the control panel, where there already appears to be two records. I lean in closer to read
the following:

"RX2W9 SCANNED 17:10. V1O7P SCANNED 17:14."
17:10 and 17:14...so the scanner uses a 24-hour clock, probably to avoid confusion between AM and PM. Also, what's up with the random five-character sequences? "Are those strings of numbers and letters meant to represent you and Eguchi-san using the Incinerator?" I ask. "If so, I don't really see what the point is...why not just show your names?"

"You are correct that it would make much more sense for the names of whoever possessed the e-Handbook being scanned to be recorded," Kasparov says, "unfortunately, that is not the case. I performed both of those scans a few minutes ago to see how the records system operates. It appears that a five-digit code is randomly created every time the machine is scanned, regardless of who the user is."

That's concerning...if a potential culprit were to use this Incinerator, then they could destroy evidence without being identified. I hope that never happens, but I have to at least consider the possibility because ignoring it would be far more dangerous. "Is that all the interesting information about the Incinerator, Kasparov-kun?" I ask him.

Kasparov shakes his head. "No, it is not all. There is also more information regarding the various temperatures to which the Incinerator can be set. Once they scan their or another e-Handbook, the user has one of four levels from which they may choose: low, medium, high, and catastrophic."

Catastrophic? That's an interesting word choice... "Catastrophic sounds unnecessarily dramatic, if you ask me," I say. "And excessive...why would there need to be a level above 'high?'"

"I know not," Kasparov says. "Whatever, the reason might be, this fourth level does exist, so we must be aware of it and be cautious of it. If a culprit were to ever want to destroy evidence, the 'catastrophic' level would make it easy for them to do so."

Yeah...we need to be careful about that. "Maybe we shouldn't tell any of the others about it," I say. "That way, a potential culprit probably wouldn't even know about it..."

Kasparov frowns. "I am not certain that would do much. This incinerator is rather difficult to miss due to its size, and anyone who truly wished to get away with murder would no doubt inspect it...so I do not believe there is any point in trying to hide any of its functions."

This is hypocritical of him, in my opinion...I know I was going to be subtle about trying to bring up the flash drive, but I can't ignore this hypocrisy. "Kasparov-kun, don't you think it's hypocritical of you to not want to show Domoto-san and me a flash drive, yet not even bother hiding information about something that'd make it very easy for a potential culprit to destroy evidence?"

Kasparov narrows his eyes at me. "Kawashima-san, it is simply unfair to compare the matters of the flash drive and this Incinerator. The Incinerator and its functions are not something that we can hope to reasonably hide from a potential culprit. However...the flash drive is. No one has to know of its existence except for you, Domoto-san, and I."

"What's this about a flash drive?" Eguchi asks, walking toward us. "Did you find the same one Niizuma-san did?"

Kasparov looks at her, sighs, and then turns to back to face me, glaring. "Damn you, Kawashima-san...now you have caused another person to become involved."

"Involved in what?" Eguchi asks, sounding slightly worried. "Is this flash drive you guys were talking about bad?"

"Neither of us knows," I reply. "However...we could if Kasparov-kun would stop being so stubborn and let us see what's on it."

"Huh? He's not letting anyone see what's on it?" Eguchi gives Kasparov a suspicious glance. "...Why not? Are you the traitor?"

Kasparov glares at her. "Of course not," he says. "I am simply concerned with the well-being of everyone here, and I believe that investigating the contents of a flash drive with a Monohebi head on it is a foolish idea."

"The flash drive Niizuma-san showed us before her execution had a Monohebi head on it too," Eguchi says. "If we looked at what's on it, we might be able to find out what Niizuma-san was hiding from us...so, Kasparov-kun, could you hand it over?"

"No," Kasparov says stubbornly. "Although the flash drive I have appears identical to the one Niizuma-san found, that is no guarantee the same information is contained on both. All we can infer from the similar appearances of the flash drives is that they both came from Monohebi. That
fact alone is enough reason for me to not want to view what is on the one discovered today."

"I get that Monohebi's untrustworthy, but...shouldn't we still take the chance and see what's on the flash drive?" Eguchi asks.

"Absolutely not," Kasparov replies instantly. "We cannot view any of the contents of the flash—"

"I'm not saying we have to actually view any of them," Eguchi says. "Just that we should see what they are."

Huh? I'm not sure I get what you're saying, Eguchi-san... "What do you mean by that Eguchi-san?" I ask.

"You know how when you plug a flash drive into a computer and you click on the window that pops up, it shows a list of all the files it has on it?" Eguchi asks. "We should just do that...see what the file names are. If they're anything that sounds too suspicious, we don't have to click on anything. However, if something captures our interest and seems harmless, we can click on it..."

That's not such a bad idea...although I'd prefer being able to see all the files on the flash drive with no restrictions, what Eguchi-san's suggesting is a better than knowing nothing at all. "...I'd be okay with that," I say after a while." I turn to face Kasparov. "What about you, Kasparov-kun?"

For a long time, Kasparov doesn't respond. Finally, he takes a deep breath and begins to speak. "...Fine. I agree to that...with two conditions. Firstly, only the people who currently know of the flash drive, who are myself, Kawashima-san, Domoto-san, and Eguchi-san, may be there when we plug it into a computer in the Media Room. Secondly, I must be the one who determines whether we can click on any of the files or not. If anyone else tries to open
any of the files without my permission, I will immediately pull the flash drive out."

I don't like how he's being so controlling about everything...but this is better than nothing, so I guess I'll have to agree with his terms, or risk not seeing any of what's on the flash drive... "That should work, Kasparov-kun," I say.

"Yeah, I guess it will..." Eguchi says. "But, I do have one question: how are we going to do this without letting anyone else know? If the three of us and Domoto-san sneak off together, everyone's going to be suspicious..."

"That is why we will meet in the Media Room at 11," Kasparov says. "That way, no one should see us, as long as they are not up to anything suspicious."

"Wait...what about Terajima-kun's idea to have strings on the doors?" I ask. "If we sneak out after nighttime, everyone's going to be suspicious in the morning..."

"There is no need to worry about that," Kasparov says dismissively. "The idea Terajima-kun
presented was made in good faith, however, it has too many potential loopholes that could be exploited by a potential culprit. Putting it into place would be pointless."

Eguchi frowns. "You're being so dismissive of his idea...shouldn't we at least give it a chance? Anything that might prevent another murder is worth trying."

Kasparov seems to disagree, but before he can respond to Eguchi, a monitor on the wall turns on to show Monohebi's face. "Dearest inmates, it is nearing six o'clock, which is normally when you all eat dinner. As such, I am going to allow you back up to the first floor. Meet me by the elevator as soon as is possible. Make haste, because this meeting is mandatory." The monitor turns off.

So Monohebi wants to talk to us yet again...ugh. I've had more than enough of that snake for one day...

"I guess we should head over to the elevator," Eguchi says to break the short period of silence that followed Monohebi's announcement.

"Yes, let us do that," Kasparov says.

The three of us walk to the area in front of the elevator, where everyone else and Monohebi already is. "You three were rather slow in arriving here," Monohebi says when we arrive.

"Who cares how late they were?" Komatsu asks, annoyed. "Jus' get what ya were gonna say over with. I ain't wanna see any more of ya than I got to."

Monohebi gives Komatsu a cold glare. "How rude of you, Komatsu. Do you truly despise your caring Warden so much that you wish to be rid of the sight of him as soon as is possible?"

"We all do," Domoto snaps. "Stop stalling and get to what you called us here for."

Monohebi glares at her, too. "Rude brats..." He mumbles angrily. He takes a deep breath and sighs. "Fine. I shall do that." He clears his throat. "Ahem. I
have called you here to give you more information concerning the elevator. That information is the following: firstly, just in case you were wondering, the elevator is not the same as the one that carries you all to the class trial. Secondly, the elevator can only be called to or go to the basement, first floor, fourth floor, and fifth floor when it eventually opens."

"Don't you mean 'if?'" Motoki asks. "You have no idea if another murder will ever happen here..."

Monohebi smiles knowingly. "Sususu...I know what I said, Motoki."

That's ominous...does that mean he knows someone is trying to kill? Maybe it's the traitor...if that's the case, we need to step up our efforts to get them to change sides as soon as possible. "Anyway, moving on," Monohebi continues, "the point is the elevator cannot access the second or third floor."

"That's logical
because neither of those floors has any elevator doors on it," Domoto says. "However, you said the elevator can reach the first floor when there's no sign of any elevator door there. How does that make sense?"

"Domoto, have you forgotten the previous three class trials?" Monohebi asks. "The elevator that takes you all to the trial grounds is hidden in the wall. The same goes for this elevator."

That makes sense...for some reason, Monohebi didn't want us knowing about the elevator until now...so he hid the access point to it in plain sight.
"Most of the time, both the buttons to call this elevator and the doors to it are concealed behind the wall of the Cafeteria," Monohebi continues. "From now on, the buttons will be no longer be hidden behind the wall. However, the elevator doors will remain concealed unless the elevator is called. Does anyone have any questions regarding that?"

No one does. "Good," Monohebi says, sounding satisfied. "Now, onto the next topic of discussion. I assume most of you noticed the metal gate that is located across from the door to the Freezer. Am I correct in that assumption?"

"Yeah, I think you are," Hayasaka says. "It's pretty weird, so it stood out to me..."

"S-So did the l-locked door in the F-Freezer," Oyamada says.

"And the locked door at the end of the other hallway!" Sashihara yells. "That's weird, too!"

"I am afraid you will have to wait to learn anything more about those locked doors," Monohebi says. "However, none of you need to wait any longer to learn what lies beyond that metal gate."

"What is it?" Kasparov asks curiously. "And why are you revealing it now? Is it another way you are trying to convince us to kill each other?"

Monohebi smirks. "My, my...how cynical you are, Kasparov. For once, what is beyond that staircase has nothing to do with the killing game. It is merely a set of stairs that will allow you all to go to and from the basement and Cafeteria. That is all. It is not some secret chamber or death trap...merely a staircase, one which will be opening now."

As soon as he finished his sentence, the metal gate begins to slowly slide out of the way. Sure enough, when it's all gone, there's a staircase just like all ones that connect the other floors beyond it. For once Monohebi doesn't have a dastardly trick up his sleeve...

"I'm s-surprised that's a-actually a s-staircase," Oyamada says. "Kn-Knowing how m-much of a t-trickster you can b-be, I w-would've e-expected you to d-do something so p-predictably evil as l-lie about it..."

Monohebi's smirk disappears. "Hearing such harsh words, or at least an attempt at harsh words, from you is quite disappointing, Oyamada. You know that I have not and I will never tell an outright lie to any of you. It is truly quite foolish of you to forget that."

"Don't talk with him like that, snake," Terajima says coolly. "I won't have any of it."

"Sususu...as if you could stop me, Terajima," Monohebi says tauntingly. "I have far more power than you might think. Even if you have a great amount of physical strength, it still would not be sufficient to defeat me."

"Is that a challenge?" Terajima asks. "Because if it is, you'll regret saying that..."

"Cut it out, Terajima-kun," Domoto interrupts. "Fighting Monohebi
will only get you killed." She turns her attention to Monohebi. "And you, Monohebi. Shut the hell up."

Monohebi scowls at her. "Sssssssss," he hisses. "What a disrespectful vermin you are..."

"I don't care what you think of me," Domoto says harshly. "Go away. We've had more than enough of you for today."

Monohebi huffs and then disappears, as suddenly as he always does. Finally...I was getting really tired of listening to his voice.

"So...should we get goin' to dinner now?" Komatsu asks. "I'm pretty sure it's already past six..."

"Yeah...now's the time when we normally eat," Eguchi says, sounding a little queasy and uncomfortable. She probably feels uncomfortable at every meal after she regained her memories of bulimia. Even though it sounded like Sashihara-kun was putting her and Hayasaka-san through some sort of treatment, it must still be so hard for her...

"Let's stop standing here and actually eat dinner!" Sashihara shouts, although he lacks his usual enthusiasm. "I'll try as hard as I can to make as good of a meal as is possible...!" He stops and hangs his head. "Ugh...who am I kidding...I'll never be as good as Ichigohara-san was...she'd be disappointed in anything I try to make..."

"I d-don't think y-you're right, S-Sashihara-kun," Oyamada says. "I th-think Ichigohara-san would c-care more about h-how hard y-you tried than the e-end result, be it g-good or b-bad..."

"Yeah...she'd probably think that..." Motoki says flatly. "None of us can really know, though...because she's dead..."

"As if we had to be reminded," Domoto says. She looks at Sashihara. "Sashihara-kun, I think you know by now I'm not exactly the type to hold back on my true feelings, whether they're positive or negative. So, if it's any consolation, I think what you made for breakfast this morning was actually quite good."

"Really?" Sashihara asks disbelievingly. "Do you really mean that?"

"If I hadn't, I wouldn't've said it," Domoto says. She clears her throat. "Ahem. I believe we've stalled long enough. Let's go upstairs and eat dinner."

We use the new staircase that Monohebi opened up for us to get up to the Cafeteria. Whatever blocked and concealed the staircase previously is now nowhere in sight, so we can walk freely in and out of the staircase. It opens out near the door to the Cafeteria and has the elevator call buttons to the left of it if you're coming out of the basement and to the right if you're going downstairs. The elevator itself is hidden behind the wall right next to those call buttons...if it and the entrance to the staircase to the basement were hidden for so long...what else is covertly hidden behind the walls of this prison? I try to shake that question out. No, it's not good to think of stuff like that...I'll only drive myself crazy with paranoia.

Once we're all out of the basement, everyone except Sashihara waits around in the Cafeteria doing nothing in particular as he prepares dinner. Once he's done, he calls us in and one by one each of us gets our food...except Hayasaka and Eguchi, who Sashihara talks with in the Kitchen for several minutes. Once he's done talking with them, they all emerge from the Kitchen and join the rest of us in the Cafeteria.

During most of the meal and for a while after everyone's done eating, there's only silence in the Cafeteria. I guess no one's really in a talking mood...which is understandable, considering how awful yesterday was.

"...Why is no one talking?" Hayasaka asks, finally breaking the silence. "It's weird to have the table be so silent."

"It makes sense that the table is so quiet due to the fact that there are six fewer people at it then there were at the beginning," Kasparov says. "Furuhata-kun, Yamaguchi-kun, Aozora-kun, Carrasco-san, Ichigohara-san, and Niizuma-san...all of them have perished."

"I'm pretty sure we're all very aware of that, Kasparov-kun," Motoki says. "It's not like it's easy to forget."

"N-No, it's n-not..." Oyamada says with a shudder. "I'm s-still having n-nightmares about some of the d-deaths and e-executions...they were a-all so b-brutal..."

"If it makes ya feel any better, the traitor's dead," Komatsu says. "We ain't gotta worry 'bout that no more."

...What? The traitor's dead? "How do you know the traitor's dead, Komatsu-kun?" I ask him.

"Yeah, I'd like to know that," Motoki says. "You spoke with such certainty..." She frowns. "Is that because...you were keeping information from us?"

"Keepin' information from ya guys...? Hell no!" Komatsu says angrily. "I wouldn't ever do that!"

"Then why did you sound so certain about the traitor being dead!?" Sashihara asks.

"'Cause it was obviously Niizuma-san," Komatsu answers. "I know we didn't get a chance to directly ask her, but I ain't got no doubt...that statistics bitch was the fuckin' traitor!"

Kasparov arches his eyebrow. "Is that so?" he asks. "What proof do you possess to back that assertion?"

"I doubt that there's much at all," Terajima says calmly. "The stats girl was cruel and terrible...but that doesn't mean she was the traitor."

"Terajima-kun, let's not doubt Komatsu-kun before he even offers proof," Eguchi says. "We should at least listen to what he has to say first."

"Thanks, Eguchi-san," Komatsu says gratefully. "Yer a real one!"

She blushes and hides her face. "Thanks..."

"Anyway, to get back on topic," Komatsu begins, "my proof's that Niizuma-san even managed to find that fuckin' flash drive in the first place! I mean, who the fuck woulda think to look for a hidden compartment on a computer to find it without someone like Monohebi tellin' 'em to look for one?"

"...You're underestimating Tomiko-san's work ethic," Hayasaka says. "She was so devoted to hard work and never giving up...so it's not really a surprise that she'd search the secret room thoroughly."

Domoto scratches her chin for a short while, then nods. "I agree," she says. "If it were anyone else, your suspicions would be warranted, Komatsu-kun...but Niizuma-san killed Ichigohara-san because she thought she was a 'lazy piece of shit.' I don't think it's a stretch to say someone that insanely devoted to hard work would look everywhere she possibly could to find something that might be of interest to her."

"I guess..." Komatsu says uncertainly. "But...ain't it still possible she was the traitor? Niizuma-san even admitted that she'd been plannin' to kill someone for a long ass time! Maybe that's 'cause she was the traitor!"

"That's p-possible, yeah..." Oyamada says. "H-However...M-Monohebi selected N-Niizuma-san to r-regain her memories...wh-why would he d-do that if sh-she were the t-traitor?"

"He wouldn't!" Sashihara shouts. "Monohebi said that he and the traitor reached an agreement that the traitor would kill if he wanted them to, right!? So he would have no need to give her an extra motive to kill!"

Komatsu opens his mouth to argue but closes it again. "Shit, yer right..." he says disappointedly. "Niizuma-san bein' the traitor don't make much sense...but if it ain't her, who the fuck is it? It couldn't've been Ichigohara-san, right?"

"It could be, but I seriously doubt Monohebi would pick Ichigohara-san of all people to kill for him..." Eguchi says. "She was just too nice for any of that to make sense."

Yeah...I seriously doubt Ichigohara-san could have been the traitor. But if it wasn't her, then that means...
"...They're still alive," I say. "We just talked about why Niizuma-san and Ichigoahra-san couldn't be the traitor...Aozora-kun being the traitor doesn't make sense due to how weird he acted after the first trial...and Carrasco-san said it wasn't her. So, if it wasn't any of them...then the traitor's here right now. They're sitting at this table."

A suffocating silence fills the room. "...What if Mayumi-san was lying?" Hayasaka asks suddenly, breaking the silence. "If she really was the traitor, it'd make perfect sense for her to lie and say she wasn't so that she could make us all distrust each other even more after her death..."

"That would be a logical course of action for her to take if she had been the traitor," Kasparov says. "However...her killing so soon would not."

"Wh-Why not?" Oyamada asks. "I-If she was the t-traitor, it'd m-make p-perfect sense for her to k-kill someone..."

"Yes, but not immediately," Kasparov says. "Consider this: Monohebi likely was aware of Niizuma-san's desire to kill. In addition, he also knows that out of the fourteen people that remained after the first class trial, it was highly likely that one would snap immediately...so why waste his ace in the hole and have Carrasco-san kill so early? It simply would not be a strategic move."

"So you're saying that it wouldn't be strategic for Monohebi to make the person who'd agreed to kill for him kill someone?" Motoki asks, confused. "I mean, I don't think the traitor was Carrasco-san..." A painful expression forms on her face. "I don't want to believe it, but...that just doesn't make sense, Kasparov-kun."

"No, it does," Sashihara says, sounding unusually serious. "If Monohebi had someone who would kill for him at any time if he wanted them to, it would wasteful to order them to kill right off the bat. He'd probably wait until a later point in this sick killing game of his. A point where we would all grow more resolved to stick together. A point like...now."

Although I agree with what Sashihara's saying, it still sends chills down my spine. The traitor...the more I think about, the more I become convinced that they're still alive. They're lying in wait, ready to murder someone at Monohebi's command...

"So...it's really true..." Eguchi says. "One of us here...is working for Monohebi."

"As unfortunate as it might be...yes, that's probably the case," Domoto says. "Which is why we have to take every appropriate measure to stop another death from happening."

Oyamada shifts nervously in his seat. "B-But...I d-don't know how w-we can work to s-stop any more d-deaths from happening," he says. "E-Especially because everyone r-rejected Eisuke-kun and I's p-plan to place s-strings on everyone's d-doors at night..."

"About that..." Terajima says, "I still think we should go forward with that plan. I think it'd be in our best interests."

"Absolutely not," Domoto says immediately. "Terajima-kun, I said we had to take every appropriate measure. Your plan was incredibly flawed and had several loopholes that could easily be exploited...which means it wouldn't be appropriate, not at all." She pauses. "However, I did like what you were saying about having the partner system during the day. I also liked the sound of a strict curfew at nighttime."

"I'm glad you agree with putting those two things into place," Terajima says. "However, I think you're wrong about my idea to put strings on everyone's doors at night not working. I think it has potential."

"You think incorrectly," Kasparov says. "It would truly be wonderful if that idea of yours were to work, Terajima-kun...but it is impossible. Who would place the string on the final person's door? If no one could, what would stop that person from leaving their room at any point during the night? What would stop a single person from ripping the strings off everyone's doors to make it impossible to determine who truly left their room?" Kasparov shakes his head disapproving. "I could go on...but I think I have made my point. Your plan would be doomed for failure and exploitation, Terajima-kun."

Terajima opens his mouth, ready to respond, but soon closes it. "...Shit," he says, defeated. "Dammit...why the fuck don't my ideas ever work?"

"Your plan could work, Terajima-kun," Eguchi says encouragingly. "It just needs some work."

"I appreciate you trying to make me feel better, Eguchi-san, but I don't want you to lie to me," Terajima says angrily. "That'll do nothing but make things way fucking worse than they already are."

Eguchi looks taken aback. "..I wasn't lying," she says sadly, hanging her head. "I really meant that..."

Hayasaka looks at Eguchi and then at Terajima. "Eisuke-kun, you shouldn't have been so harsh to her."

Oyamada looks at Hayasaka suspiciously. "S-Since when did you s-start defending E-Eguchi-san?"

"Since yesterday," Hayasaka says. "After what I did to her...after I promised to do anything I could to gain her forgiveness...it wouldn't be right for me to sit here and let Eisuke-kun be mean to her."

"That wasn't what I was trying to do," Terajima says, anger growing in his voice. "I was just frustrated at my plan being shot down...so I took it out on Eguchi-san." He clenches his hands into fists. "Ugh, I'm so fucking stupid...I know that it's wrong to deflect my emotions onto others like that, but even still I do it..." He hits himself in the head. "Godammit...! Why am I so bad at controlling my anger!?"

He gets up and storms out of the Cafeteria. "E-Eisuke-kun!" Oyamada shouts at Terajima, but he gets no response. Oyamada turns and glares at Kasparov. "Wh-Why were you b-being so mean to h-him, Kasparov-kun? He's n-never done a-anything to h-harm you."

"Not me, no," Kasparov says. "But I still have not forgotten that he left Furuhata-kun to die and would have become the first blackened had Yamaguchi-kun not intervened."

Oyamada's face fills with fury. "D-Don't bring that u-up now," he stammers angrily. "Yeah, E-Eisuke-kun made a m-mistake...a r-really big one...but th-that's not wh-who he is! He's m-moved on f-from that and his o-old life as a y-yakuza..." Oyamada's glare intensifies and he raises his voice. "S-So...don't try to hold it against him now!"

Oh my God, did Oyamada-kun just shout? I didn't think I'd ever hear him talk so loudly...

Kasparov seems unfazed by Oyamada's shout. "Even if Terajima-kun claims to have moved on, that does not erase his past actions," he says. "However...I suppose that is irrelevant. Terajima-kun's past actions had nothing to do with why I was so harsh to him about his plan. I only did that because it was a severely misguided attempt at trying to keep us all safe."

Oyamada's face contorts with rage. "Y-You...y-you f-fucking..." He turns around and stalks out of the Cafeteria.

A period of short silence follows his abrupt exit. Well, that's not good. It's concerning to see someone normally so passive and quiet like Oyamada-kun get all worked up...

"...Looks like I should probably go talk with him and Terajima-kun," Motoki says after a short while. She sighs as she stands up. Her gaze then drifts over to me. "I need to help calm them down and make them better...I still need to keep that promise I made. Even if I doubt I'll be able to make any positive change, I'll try..." She walks out of the Cafeteria, a pensive expression on her face.

She really didn't sound very confident at all...but I guess it's better to have her be unconfident and trying to do good than to have her do nothing...

"You really are fascinating, Kasparov-kun," Domoto says suddenly. "Sometimes you can be so smart, like when you saw through the trap set by Niizuma-san, yet at other times you can act like a complete idiot. You say you wish to prevent another death, but you cause conflict and discord...the very things that cause tensions and therefore the chances of a murder happening to rise."

"Oyamada-kun is not going to kill me," Kasparov says. "And I will not kill him, either. I cannot say for sure what Terajima-kun would do...but, if I must admit, I do believe he regrets what he did to Furuhata-kun."

"Why are you only saying that now?" I ask him. "Oyamada-kun wouldn't have been provoked as much as he was if you had said that earlier."

"Because even if Terajima-kun regrets what he did, that does not change that he did it," Kasparov replies. "However...I suppose you are correct, Kawashima-san. It was an oversight for me to not mention that I do not hold ill will against Terajima-kun. He has clearly shown remorse for what he did and has tried to move on...besides, Furuhata-kun was attempting to kill him, so I suppose one could say he acted in self-defense."

"Yeah, that was a big fuckin' oversight," Komatsu says. "Ya pissed off a giant dude who could prolly crush yer skull with one hand by bein' rude to him."

Kasparov frowns. "I was not being rude. I was simply informing Terajima-kun of the unfortunate reality that his plan with the strings was severely flawed. It had nothing to do with personal grudges."

"Well, you should've made that a lot more clear," Domoto says disapprovingly. "With that and what you did earlier...I have to say, I'm reconsidering how intelligent you might be, Kasparov-kun. Perhaps you are not so deserving of the title of Ultimate Chess Grandmaster."

A dark expression crosses Kasparov's face. "...What?" he asks coldly. "If you truly believe that, then I have this to say to you: do not question my aptitude for strategy. Especially when you have never bested me at a chess match."

"Not yet, I haven't," Domoto says.

"Okay, so this talk of chess in interesting, but...Domoto-san, what were
you talking about when you mentioned what Kasparov-kun 'did earlier?'" Sashihara asks loudly. "What happened!?"

Domoto glares at Kasparov. "Kasparov-kun, Kawashima-san, and I were in the Media Room when Kasparov-kun decided to—"

"Domoto-san, stop," I interrupt hastily. "We don't need to talk about this now..."

She narrows her eyes at me. "Kawashima-san, don't tell me he's swayed you to his side," Domoto says. "You know that we can't afford to not know what's on that flash drive."

"Flash drive...?" Komatsu repeats. "Hold the fuck up, don't ya fuckin' tell me...ya guys found the flash drive Niizuma-san had!?"

"Did it have a Monohebi head on it!?" Sashihara asks. "I remember the one that Niizuma-san had did!"

"It sure did," Domoto says. "Kawashima-san and I wanted to see its contents to know what Niizuma-san was hiding from us...yet Kasparov-kun took that opportunity away from us and selfishly kept the flash drive for himself."

"What I did was not motivated by selfishness," Kasparov says coldly. "Quite the opposite, really. I wanted to ensure no one put themselves in danger by viewing the contents of that flash drive we found in the Media Room...which Monohebi deliberately left for us to find. Do you really think it is worth risking the safety of everyone here to look at nothing more than files on a flash drive!?" He stands up. "If you really think I am the one being idiotic, Domoto-san...perhaps you should take a look in the mirror. Your preoccupation with finding the truth and being honest at all costs is blinding you to the fact that perhaps the truth is best left unknown sometimes."

"So you're saying it's better to live in a lie?" Domoto asks with a piercing glare as she too stands up. "That's not living at all. You can only live your best life if you know the truth at all times."

"There is no way we can live our 'best lives' in the midst of a killing game, Domoto-san," Kasparov says, the volume of his voice rising. "Besides, how can you be sure the information on that flash drive is true at all? It could all be a lie, an invention! It could simply be meant to mislead us and trick us!"

"You can't be certain any of it's a lie!" Domoto says, raising her voice above Kasparov's. "We need to see it to be sure. Just give me that fucking flash drive already, and—"

"STOP!" someone's voice shouts.

...Who was that? They were so loud. it made me feel like Yamaguchi-kun was alive again.
I look around and soon see that the source of the shout was... "Eguchi-san?" I say.

"Why did you interrupt me?" Domoto asks Eguchi, sounding irritated. "I was in the middle of a heated debate with Kasparov-kun."

"No, you were just yelling at each other," Eguchi says angrily. "You've both talked about how you want to prevent another death from happening, but how do you fucking expect to meet that goal if all you do is scream at each other and increase tensions!?"

Holy shit, she is done with their shit...so am I, honestly. Seeing Domoto-san and Kasparov-kun arguing was really frustrating...

Neither Domoto nor Kasparov says anything immediately. "I get you two disagree, but this isn't how you should be handling things," Eguchi continues. "Acting like you just were only plays into Monohebi's hands and only makes things way damn worse."

"...Why are you acting so strangely?" Kasparov asks, sounding slightly surprised. "It is unlike you to be so harsh."

"It's unlike the two of you to act like screaming idiots, too," Eguchi retorts. "Yet that's exactly what you were doing. I wasn't having any more of your petty bickering anymore."

Domoto narrows her eyes at Eguchi. "It wasn't 'petty bickering.' It was a heated discussion about a serious issue!"

"Calling it a 'heated discussion' makes it sound far calmer than it truly was," Kasparov says. "More importantly, though...what do you suggest we do to make things better, Eguchi-san?"

"I think we should go ahead with the idea I told you and Kawashima-san earlier," Eguchi says, sounding a lot calmer now. "About how we should take a look at the file names...and if they sound suspicious or just feel wrong, we can just let them be...but if the file name sounds innocuous, we can click on it and see what it is."

"I recall this proposal," Kasparov says. "I consent to it, but, as I said earlier, I have conditions. Unfortunately, most of us know of the flash drive, so one of my conditions is irrelevant now. However, I still demand that I be the one who has the final word on whether we can view the contents of any particular file. If anyone attempts to click on a file without my consent, I will pull the flash drive out with no hesitation."

"That's pretty controlling of you!" Sashihara shouts. "Is it really alright for only you to have the final word and for none of us to have a say!?"

"I am the one who currently holds the flash drive in my possession, so it is my choice to allow any one of us here to view the contents of the flash drive," Kasparov says. "If I do not have the final word, there is a risk of one of you mistakenly opening a dangerous file and a risk that the traitor might attempt to sabotage us by clicking on something despair-inducing. I wish to avoid those unnecessary risks at all costs."

I still don't like how controlling he's being about the flash drive, but it's better than nothing...

"Well, Domoto-san?" Eguchi asks expectantly. "Do you agree too?"

For a while, Domoto is silent. She stares at Kasparov, her eyes narrowed and he expression cold. Finally, she looks away from him and sighs. "...Fine," she says. "I still disagree with Kasparov-kun...but this alternative is better to not seeing any of what's on the flash drive."

...Whew. That's good to hear. I was worried that she'd disagree and we'd have another screaming match...

"Good job, Eguchi-san," Hayasaka says warmly. "That idea was a good compromise."

Eguchi looks at Hayasaka warily at first, but then nods. "...Thanks, Hayasaka-san," she says. "Although I really don't think it was anything special..."

"What're ya talkin' 'bout?" Komatsu asks. "Ya got Domoto-san and Kasparov-kun to stop yellin' at each other's faces and reach a compromise in jus' a few minutes. It's real damn impressive that ya got two strong-willed people like them to calm down, so don't downplay what ya did!"

Eguchi looks away from him, her cheeks pink. "Komatsu-kun...don't act like it was such a big deal..."

"It was, though!" Sashihara shouts. "Eguchi-san, I demand that you be proud of what you did!"

"Okay, that's enough of that," Domoto says suddenly. "Let's get to watching that flash drive already before Kasparov-kun changes his mind."

"But where should we plug the flash drive in!?" Sashihara asks. "Niizuma-san destroyed the computer in the secret room on the third floor, so we can't use that one!"

"We can use the Media Room on the fourth floor," I answer. "That place has a ton of computers in it...also, it's where we found the flash drive in the first place."

"That is fine," Kasparov says. "Let us be on our way."

The seven of us use the elevator to go all the way up to the fourth floor and then walk to the Media Room. We form a small huddle around the computer nearest to the door we came in through, with Kasparov at the center.

"Holy shit, this is kinda scary," Komatsu says as Kasparov boots up the computer. "We have no fuckin' idea what's on that flash drive..."

"It can't be that bad, can it?" Eguchi says.

"It was left by Monohebi, so I wouldn't be confident that its contents are harmless," Sashihara says seriously.

"The computer's on now, so let's put an end to this speculation and take a look at the flash drive's contents," Domoto says. She looks at Kasparov intently. "We're waiting."

Kasparov takes a deep breath and pulls the flash drive out of his pocket. With a considerable amount of hesitation, Kasparov plugs the flash drive into the USB port. As soon as he does, a small window pops up. It contains only two files, which are...

"'session1part2.mp4' and 'commemoration.mp4,'" Eguchi reads out loud.

"Those are weird-ass file names," Komatsu says. "Who the fuck'd think of 'commemoration' when namin' a video file?"

He's right, those are strange file names...although, one of them sounds pretty familiar...

I turn to face the other three girls. "Eguchi-san, Hayasaka-san, and Domoto-san...on the day Hayasaka-san showed us the secret room and we watched the video of Furuhata-kun...do you remember what the file name for it was?"

"No, sorry," Hayasaka says.

Domoto frowns. "I can't remember it either..."

"...session1.mp4," Eguchi says, her eyes widening in realization. "Which means...if that one file is called 'session1part2.mp4,' then it's probably a continuation of that last video!"

"If that's the case, we need to fuckin' see that shit," Komatsu says.

Kasparov hesitates. "I am concerned, but...if it is only a continuation of the video of Furuhata-kun, then I suppose there cannot be any great harm in viewing it." He places his hand on the mouse. "So...yes, I suppose I will click on it and see what the video is."

I wait with bated breath as Kasparov hovers the mouse over the session1part2.mp4 file. Calm down, Wakana...it's just a video of Furuhata-kun. You have no reason to be afraid...right?

When Kasparov clicks on the file, a video immediately pops up on the screen. Just like last time, Furuhata is sitting alone and appears to be looking at someone off-camera. However, this time, he is close to tears and has heavy bags under his eyes.

"Holy shit, he looks fuckin' awful..." Komatsu says.

"It's definitely because of sleep deprivation," Sashihara says pensively. "There's no other reason he'd have such horrible bags under his eyes..."

"But why is he crying...?" Hayasaka asks. "That can't be because of a lack of sleep, right?"

"Shhh," Domoto hushes. "He's talking."

"...told you already, I d-don't know anything," Furuhata says weakly to the person off-camera. "So, please...j-just let him go...he has n-nothing to do with this."

"That is precisely why I am using him as a bargaining chip," says the voice from out of frame, which is just as heavily edited and distorted as last time. "Threatening innocents dear to a guilty person is an excellent way to force them to confess." The voice pauses. "Especially in your case," it continues. "You have been irritatingly obstinate, refusing to confess even after I deprived you of so much sleep and of the *BEEP* you are addicted to...so, this is my last resort. I must use your younger brother as a hostage. With your parents gone, you have been forced to take care of him for so long. As such, you clearly care more about his well being than your own...so there is no one better to use to force you to comply."

Furuhata
is silent. "Yeah...that's true," he says. "I promised my mom and dad that I'd take care of Dairoku before they died...so I did anything to help him. I used to give him the food if we were running low...that's why I'm so short and scrawny. It's worth it, though...his safety matters so much more than mine..."

"Then confess, and do it soon," the voice from off-camera advises him. "Your younger brother is already blind...but if you do not confess soon, I will make him a paraplegic as well. And if even after that you remain silent, I will take away his fingers and toes, one by one...However, none of that needs to happen. Simply tell me what you and *BEEP* did and what you were planning to do."

Furuhata begins to cry. "P-Please...don't make me choose like this...she and I were best friends. I can't betray her..."

"You can," the voice says. "Do you really value an abusive friendship like the one you had with her over your younger brother's life?"

"It w-wasn't abusive," Furuhata protests weakly. "*BEEP* would just g-get mad s-sometimes...it happens to even the best of us." He gulps. "Besides...she and I were the only ones who really understood each other, because of my issue with *BEEEEEPP* and hers with *BEEEEEP*." Furuhata gulps again.
"S-So...I c-can't say anything...*BEEP* will get mad at me if I do...and she's really scary...r-really, really scary when she gets angry..."

The off-camera voice chuckles, which is a terrifying sound with all the editing and distortion added to it. "Worry not, Furuhata," it says. "You are safe from her wrath now. Her situation has...changed."

Furuhata looks at the person off-camera. "*BEEP*'s situation changed...what does that mean?" he asks, sounding confused, frightened, and relieved at the same time. "Did you do something to her?"

At first, the person off-camera doesn't answer. "...I suppose you could say I did," the voice says eventually. "It was unfortunate, but it was a necessary action to ensure she cannot interfere with my dream and making it a reality."

Furuhata shakes his head and sobs. "You...you k-killed her," he says through sobs. "That's what you did, isn't it?"

"No," the voice says. "She is still alive. However...as I said before, her situation has changed." The voice pauses. "Due to that, you have no reason to be afraid of her. Tell me everything...or your brother will suffer for it."

Furuhata hesitates for a long time, but eventually wipes the tears out of his eyes and looks at the person off-camera. "Fine...I'll do it," he says reluctantly. "But only because of Dairoku...I can't let him be hurt." He takes a deep breath. "You said before you wanted to know about *BEEP*'s plan, right?"

"Correct," the off-camera voice says. "I want to know every detail so I can make as faithful a reproduction as possible, otherwise the *BEEEEEEEEP* would never support me. I had wanted to ask *BEEP* first, but due to the necessary actions I have had to take, that became impossible...so I have resorted to asking you."

"Well, aren't I a lucky son of a bitch," Furuhata says with a distasteful glance at the person off-camera. "Ugh...I hate you for making me do this."

The off-camera person makes that terrifying chuckle sound again. "Haha...that is understandable, given what I forced you to endure. But that is irrelevant. Tell me the details of the plan already."

"...Fine," Furuhata says. He sighs. "I guess the plan started off with..."

The audio suddenly trails off and the video cuts to black. For a few moments, all of us stand in silence, contemplating what we just saw. What the...? I thought this video might give us more answers, but all it did was give me more questions. Who was the girl Furuhata-kun and the off-camera voice were talking about? What did the off-camera person do to her? What plan were they talking about, and why did the off-camera person want to know about it?

"...What the fuckin' hell was that?" Komatsu asks confusedly. "Who the fuck was Furuhata-kun talkin' to?"

"I cannot be entirely certain, but I am confident they are the mastermind of this killing game," Kasparov says. "That was my hypothesis after being told of the last video, and I stand by it even more firmly now."

"Yeah, the whole thing with them distorting their voice makes it clear they want to hide their identity," Eguchi says. "That's something only the mastermind would do..."

I agree that the person Furuhata-kun was probably the mastermind...but that doesn't answer the most important question of all: who are they? Are they one of the students here right now? Are they dead? Are they some other person?

"I wonder what they were censoring with all those loud beeps," Sashihara says, his brow furrowed. "At some points, it seemed like they were covering up someone's name..."

"I noticed that," Hayasaka says. "They were talking about some girl, a plan she had, and how Furuhata-kun was friends with her."

"I wonder who that girl could be," Domoto says. "It's not like it'd be easy to be friends with someone like Furuhata-kun."

Sashihara frowns. "The Furuhata-kun we knew, yeah...but the one in that video acted a lot differently. It was almost like he was a different person..."

Komatsu nods in agreement. "Yeah, it was almost like..." His voice trails off and his eyes widen. "Hold the fuck up! What if the Furuhata-kun we knew was actually his younger brother Dairoku!?"

"That's mind-boggling to think about...but it would explain the difference in personality," Sashihara says thoughtfully.

It sure is an interesting idea...but it can't be right. "No, Komatsu-kun, the Furuhata-kun we knew was Yuuto, not Dairoku," I say. "Don't you remember how we watched his motive video during the first investigation?"

"I forgot that you two were idiotic enough to view that video," Kasparov says disapprovingly.

"It wasn't idiotic, Kasparov-kun," I say firmly. "It's only because of that video that I can disprove what Komatsu-kun's suggesting."

"But how can you refute it?" Eguchi asks. "Furuhata-kun and his younger brother would definitely look pretty similar..."

"That's true, they would," I concede. "However...when
I looked at Furuhata-kun's motive video, I saw his younger brother. He definitely looked a lot like Furuhata-kun, but there was no way he was older than twelve or thirteen."

Domoto folds her arms. "I guess that's the nail in the coffin of that theory." She looks over at Komatsu. "Didn't you watch Furuhata-kun's motive video, too? So shouldn't you have known that it'd be impossible for Furuhata-kun's little brother to be impersonating him?"

"Yeah, it's true I saw that video, so I shoulda known that," Komatsu admits, sounding ashamed. "It was fuckin' stupid of me to forget 'bout it, but that idea jus' randomly popped into my head, so I said it out loud. Sorry for bein' so dumb..."

"You don't have to be sorry, Yutaka-kun," Hayasaka says reassuringly. "You were just trying to help by offering an idea, so there's no shame in that."

"Thanks, Hayasaka-san," he says. He chuckles. "Heh...never thought I'd be sayin' that to the person who tried to kill me yesterday..."

A pained expression crosses over Hayasaka's face. "I'm really still sorry about that..." she says shamefully. "I was being so, so dumb and desperate..."

"Yes, you were," Domoto says. "However, that's not relevant right not. There's still another video file on that flash drive that we need to see."

"Oh yeah...commemoration.mp4," Sashihara says. "I wonder what that video is commemorating..."

So am I... "There's only one way to find out," I say. I look at Kasparov. "Can you click on it now?"

Kasparov frowns. "...No," he says. "Anything that Monohebi is commemorating is nothing that we should be seeing." He closes all the windows on the computer and unplugs the flash drive.

"No, you're not doing this," Domoto says angrily. "Plug that flash drive back in and show us that video."

Kasparov shakes his head. "No. I refuse to potentially endanger us all by viewing that video." He puts the flash drive into his pocket and begins to walk away.

"Kasparov-kun, come back here!" Domoto commands. He doesn't listen to her and leaves the room. "Dammit...!" she says bitterly. She glares at the door he left through. "...I'm going after him."

"...What?" Eguchi asks.

"I said I'm going after him," Domoto says. "I'm not letting him hide valuable information from us anymore. I need to see that last video!" She storms out of the room through the door Kasparov left from. She really is determined to see the rest of what's on that flash drive, isn't she...

After she leaves, the rest of us stand in silence for a little while. "...Well, that was something," I say to break the silence.

"It sure fuckin' was..." Komatsu agrees, rubbing the back of his neck. "Between that weird-ass video and Domoto-san and Kasparov-kun yellin' at each other, that sure was a lot."

"Yeah, the rest of today was exhausting too," Eguchi says. "We had to explore a lot of new stuff..."

"Let's get to bed, then," Sashihara suggests. "It's pretty late, and if we don't go to bed soon we'll risk not getting a healthy amount of sleep."

"How can we sleep well after seeing that video?" Hayasaka asks. "It offered us so many more questions about our situation here...if I try to go to bed now, all I'll end up doing is thinking about them endlessly..."

"Well, we should at least try to go to bed now," I say. "It's not good to be up so late, especially in a place like this."

"That's true," Eguchi says with a yawn. "I'm so tired...even if you guys don't go to bed, I'm going to..."

I think I will too, Eguchi-san...I didn't realize how exhausted I was from today until just now... "Same here, Eguchi-san," I say. "I'll fall asleep standing up if I don't go to bed soon."

"Me too," Komatsu says.

"Me three," Sashihara says. "Besides, like I said before, if any of us stay up much longer, we will risk not getting sufficient amounts of sleep, which I can't allow...so, I'll be heading to bed now."

"Same here," Komatsu says. "I'm tired as fuck."

"...If the rest of you are going to bed, I guess I might as well too," Hayasaka says reluctantly. "Let's just go downstairs already."

The five of us take the elevator downstairs and head to our respective rooms. As soon as I get to my room, I speed through the processes of taking off my makeup and brushing my teeth so I can get to bed as quickly as possible. When I'm finally in bed, I almost immediately feel like I'm drifting off to sleep. however, as I'm drifting off to sleep, every question I had today
surges back into my consciousness. Who was Furuhata-kun talking to? Was it the mastermind? Who was the girl they were talking about? What was her plan? What were they saying behind all those loud beeps? Who is the traitor? What do they want? Are they still alive? What was the deal with those locked doors in the basement? Why was the poison in the Infirmary? So many questions, yet so few answers... Eventually, the questions fade as my urge to rest takes over and I finally fall asleep.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Good morning, inmates. It is now 7 am, which means nighttime has officially concluded. Enjoy another day of confinement.”

I wake up and roll out of bed feeling less terrible than yesterday morning, but still pretty terrible. That whole debacle with the flash drive happened yesterday...and, in addition to that, Kasparov-kun
made Terajima-kun and Oyamada-kun storm out of the dinner meeting early. I hope Motoki-san was able to make them feel better...

After I'm done getting ready for the day, I head out to the dining hall, where everyone except Sashihara is. I immediately notice that Oyamada and Terajima are seated far away from Kasparov. That's unsurprising...

I sit down by the two of them and greet them. "Hey, guys," I say cordially. "How are the two of you doing?"

Neither of them responds immediately. "...B-Better than y-yesterday, I g-guess," Oyamada says after a little while. "I m-mean, that's n-not saying m-much, but it's s-still something..."

Terajima takes even longer to respond. "I'm still feeling pretty shitty, if I'm being honest," he says. "The language girl stopped by to talk to me and Osamu-kun yesterday to help make us feel better, but there's a limit to how much words can help me when I keep on failing to do what a bodyguard is mean to do: keep people safe. All the people who've died so far have died because I've been incompetent...especially in the case of Furuhata-kun." He clenches his fist. "I shouldn't have been so fucking stupid! I shouldn't have stabbed him!"

"Terajima-kun, are you alright?" Eguchi asks worriedly from farther down the table.

"From how he's talkin', prolly not," Komatsu says.

Motoki hangs her head. "...So I failed," she says dejectedly. "I wasn't able to console Terajima-kun well enough, even though I tried as hard as I possibly could...I really am pathetic..."

"Don't beat yourself up over it, language girl," Terajima tells her. "It's not your fault I'm such a failure..."

Hearing that word again is like a small knife being stabbed into me. Aozora-kun...he was so convinced that he was a failure that he made himself a target for Carrasco-san to kill. I can't let Terajima-kun go down the same route... "Terajima-kun, you aren't a failure," I say firmly. "Furuhata-kun tried to kill you; you only stabbed him in self-defense. Carrasco-san killed Aozora-kun while we were all distracted at the talent show. And Niizuma-san...there's no way any of us could've stopped her determination to kill someone. None of the deaths so far were your fault, so, please don't blame yourself for
what's happened."

"All of them were my fault in one way or another," Terajima protests. "That revolutionary wouldn't have had the opportunity to kill Furuhata-kun if I hadn't stabbed him and left him to die first. The flamenco girl said she would never have killed if it weren't for Furuhata-kun's death, remember? The stats girl also was waiting to kill for the third trial, so she probably wouldn't have murdered the garden girl if I hadn't been an idiot and caused Furuhata-kun's death."

"Eisuke-kun..." Oyamada says pleadingly. "Please, don't do this...you know that what you did to Furuhata-kun was only done in self-defense."

"Yes, that's true," Domoto says. "However, Yamaguchi-kun wouldn't have had the opportunity to murder Furuhata-kun if Terajima-kun simply had acted more calmly."

"Do you think I don't know that already, toy girl?" Terajima asks, his voice dangerously quiet and cool. "The moment where I took the knife and stabbed him has been replaying over and over in my mind ever since it happened. Every day, I think of what I could've done better to save him and the others who've died. I think of how much I've failed the six people who are gone. So, toy girl, don't you or that chess boy fucking tell me what I should've done. I know real goddamn well what I should've done!" Terajima is shouting at full volume now, which is fearsome to hear. "But, even though I know what I should've done, I can't fucking change what happened, no matter how much I want to!"

He pauses and lets out a deep, agonizing sigh and begins to cry. "...Instead, I'm forced to live with this terrible guilt of knowing exactly what I could've done to
save Furuhata-kun, and probably stop all of the successive murders...but I have no way to resolve that guilt."

"Terajima-kun..." Motoki says sadly. "Even if the whole thing with taping strings on everyone's doors didn't work out, you still had that plan with bringing back a stricter version of the partner system and curfews...so, you can try to help still."

"Indeed," Kasparov says. "You having one failed plan does not mean you cannot devise another, better one."

Terajima eyes him suspiciously. "After how you were talking to me last night, why the hell are you of all fucking people being supportive right now?"

"Because I do not hold any ill will toward you, Terajima-kun," Kasparov says. "I criticized your plan yesterday not because I harbor feelings of disdain for you, but because I believed your plan was flawed. It was nothing personal." He pauses. "However...I suppose I erred. I should have been more clear about that."

"Y-You're...a-admitting to being wr-wrong?" Oyamada asks, surprised. "I n-never thought I'd ever h-hear you admitting to m-making a mistake, K-Kasparov-kun..."

"That is understandable, considering I rarely make mistakes that would demand an apology," Kasparov says.

"Well, that's debatable," Domoto says. "I think one recent incident you caused warrants an apology from you."

Oh no...not this again...

"...Are you talking about what he did last night?" Terajima asks, slightly confused. "He just apologized for that..."

"No, she's not talking about that," Hayasaka says.

"Then what is she talking about?" Motoki asks curiously.

Domoto is about to say something when Sashihara emerges from the Kitchen. "Breakfast's ready," he says loudly yet unenthusiastically.

"...We'll continue this conversation later," Domoto says. "But for now, let's eat. I'm hungry."

"Same here," Komatsu says. "I wonder what Sashihara-kun made for us today..."

As we all walk into the Kitchen, we can see that
Sashihara made an assortment of steamed vegetables and a pot of rice for breakfast. "Sorry for the boring breakfast, you guys," Sashihara says apologetically. "I couldn't think of anything special like Ichigohara-san always did, so I had to settle for this..."

"I'm sure it'll be a good meal, Sashihara-kun," I say reassuringly.

"Y-Yeah, you d-don't have to make a f-fancy meal e-every single d-day..." Oyamada says. "Honestly, I l-like the s-simplicity of this m-meal..."

"Same," Domoto says. "I honestly hate ridiculous gourmet or experimental food. It's so unnecessary."

"Can we quit talkin' 'bout the food and start to focus on eatin' it?" Komatsu asks irritatedly. "I'm real hungry..."

"You're always hungry, Komatsu-kun," Domoto says. "You do have a point, though. Let's stop this pointless talk and get our food already."

One by one we all make ourselves a plate and leave the Kitchen, except for Hayasaka, Eguchi, and Sashihara, who stay behind. He's probably continuing discussing how to deal with their bulimia to them...I'm really glad he's doing that, even if it's not exactly his area of expertise. Sashihara-kun truly wants to see every person become the best possible version of themselves that they can be...I guess that's what makes him the Ultimate Fitness Trainer.

Eventually, once everyone's done eating, Sashihara, Hayasaka, and Eguchi finally emerge from the Kitchen and sit at the table. As soon as they're seated, Motoki speaks. "What were you talking about earlier, Domoto-san?" she asks. "You said Kasparov-kun had made other mistakes that he should apologize for, but you never said what those were..."

"Yeah, I'm curious about that too," Terajima says. "What did the chess boy do?"

"I'm glad you asked," Domoto says. "In short, Kasparov-kun has been acting like a complete idiot."

"H-How so?" Oyamada asks.

"It's because he did something stupid while he, Kawashima-san, and I were exploring the Media Room yesterday," Domoto explains. "We found a flash drive in there. A flash drive with a Monohebi head on it."

"Hold on, didn't the flash drive Niizuma-san found in the secret room have a Monohebi head on it too?" Motoki asks, her eyes widening. "Maybe we'll finally be able to find out what information she was hiding from it..."

"Do not be so certain, Motoki-san," Kasparov says. "There is no guarantee the contents of the two flash drives are the same. In fact, I think it is far more likely that they are entirely different."

Terajima frowns. "Yeah, I get that...but what exactly did you do that was stupid? Did it have to do with the flash drive?"

"Yes," Kasparov says, so quickly that Domoto has no chance to interject. "Although I believe Domoto-san is incorrect in her assessment of my decision as foolish."

"Wh-What was your d-decision?" Oyamada asks curiously.

"I took the flash drive and for most of the day yesterday refused to allow anyone to view the contents of it," Kasparov replies. "I did this because I believed, and still believe, that we should not trust anything Monohebi left lying around. Also,
I believe that viewing the video might make whoever sees it feel more inclined to kill."

Domoto shakes her head at him. "Hearing that reasoning again makes me want to gag...you have no evidence to support your theory that the information on the flash drive is harmful, especially not after we watched the first video last night."

"Wait, you watched one of the videos on the flash drive?" Motoki asks. "But I thought Kasparov-kun was refusing to hand it over..."

"He was, but we made a compromise of sorts," Eguchi explains. "Long story short, he allowed us to look at the names of the files on the flash drive...one of which was called 'session1part2.mp4,' which we watched. However, Kasparov-kun didn't allow us to look at the other video, which was called 'commemoration.mp4.'"

"Those are weird file names," Terajima says. "But, more importantly, you said you guys watched that session video...what was in that?"

"It was a continuation of the video of Furuhata-kun
we found in the secret room," Hayasaka says. "It was a lot different, though..." Hayasaka explains the contents of the video to Terajima, Oyamada, and Motoki.

Once she's finished explaining, Terajima nods his head slowly. "I see..." he says slowly. "Actually, no I don't. All that video does is raise more questions..."

"Y-Yeah, like wh-who is that g-girl that Furuhata-kun was f-friends with and wh-what was her p-plan?" Oyamada asks. "And wh-what did Furuhata-kun do to get i-involved with that p-plan?"

"Most importantly, what does any of that have to do with the killing game?" Motoki asks. "From how Hayasaka-san described this video and from what I saw of the last one, the person who Furuhata-kun was talking with in both seems like the mastermind. So...what does the girl they were talking about and her plan have anything to do with this killing game or the mastermind?"

I don't know, Motoki-san...that's the biggest question on my mind too. The plan Furuhata-kun and the girl he was friends with had...what does it have to do with the killing game and the mastermind? Were they planning the killing game? Was their goal something similar yet not the same? Was it not related to the killing game at all? I have no idea at all...

"This is the reason why I advised against viewing any of the contents of that flash drive," Kasparov says. "These unanswerable questions that only make us more confused about our situation in this prison...they, along with suspicion and distrust toward our fellow inmates, are the only things that will come about from viewing anything Monohebi gives to us."

"None of that stuff will matter if the contents of these videos allow us to escape from here," Domoto says. "These videos...they're pieces of a puzzle. Niizuma-san evidently figured out a substantial part of that puzzle. Why would she choose to withhold what she found on that flash drive if it wasn't valuable information? She knew something from seeing what was on it that helped her reach a larger truth about this place and about this killing game."

"You don't know that, Domoto-san!" Sashihara shouts. "It's true that Niizuma-san definitely learned something from seeing that flash drive. However, with how petty of a person she was, I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that she made what she saw on the flash drive seem more important than it really was so she could get back at us! She was furious that we ruined her plan, so she definitely could've been lying or at least exaggerating!"

"Exactly," Kasparov agrees. "Domoto-san, you are making a very dangerous presumption in assuming that watching the second video on that flash drive will help us at all. If you think it will help us escape, then you are a fool as well."

"You're right, I might be wrong," Domoto says. "But how will we ever know that if no one ever sees what is on the commemoration video?"

Kasparov frowns. "...You are correct that we will never find out," he concedes. "However, as unfortunate as that is, I believe not viewing the video at all is a much less risky option."

Domoto narrows her eyes at him and opens her mouth to say something, but Komatsu cuts her off.

"Cut it out, the two of ya," he says frustratedly. "Ya ain't never gonna agree if ya jus' bicker back and forth forever."

Domoto glares at Komatsu. "Nothing will happen if we sit around and do nothing, either."

"You're not making much progress in your argument, though," Eguchi says testily. "So can you please stop arguing? I don't want to have to yell at you two again."

I wouldn't want that to happen either...I was surprised at how angry Eguchi-san was at them yesterday.

"I'd like to see the arguing stop too, but...what else is there to talk about?" Motoki asks.

"We haven't yet discussed what we found yesterday as a group," Hayasaka says. "That'd probably be a good, noncontroversial thing to talk about."

"...Fine," Domoto says, although she sounds extremely reluctant. "I guess we should start with the fourth floor since we went there first." She clears her throat. "As I mentioned earlier, Kasparov-kun and I explored the Media Room on the fourth floor yesterday. In addition to the Monohebi head flash drive, there is a variety of other technological equipment in that room, including computers, TV's, DVD players, gaming consoles, and more."

"It's prolly to pointless to ask, but does any of that shit have Internet connection?" Komatsu asks.

"Unfortunately, no," Kasparov answers.

Motoki grimaces. "If we can't get Internet connection, we can't signal for help...so we really are trapped in here...forever..."

"Don't say that, Motoki-san!" Sashihara shouts. "I'm sure we'll find some way out of here eventually!"

Motoki looks at him doubtfully. "I really doubt that, Sashihara-kun...Monohebi's made sure we have no way to escape..."

The tone of her voice and that faraway look in her eyes...it's really concerning me. I need to talk to her again later today.

"Moving on from that," Domoto interjects, "what else did you all find?"

"Hayasaka-san and I investigated the Gym!" Sashihara replies. "It's a marvelous facility that meets my very high standards for a gym! It's full of virtually any exercise equipment a person could need...ah, it's just so good!"

Sashihara-kun is obviously very excited by the opening of the Gym, which is unsurprising considering he's the Ultimate Fitness Trainer.

"In addition to the Gym, there was a room full of real prison cells," Motoki says dully. "That was 'Cell Block D,' I guess..."

"Both of those sound fairly unremarkable," Domoto says. "What else was there?"

"Terajima-kun and I investigated the Infirmary," I say. "For the most part, it was what you'd expect: lots of hospital beds, surgical equipment, blood packets, bandages, gauze, and other things." I pause. "However...that wasn't it."

Domoto narrows her eyes at me. "The way you said that concerns me," she says. "What else was in there?"

"Poisons," Terajima replies flatly. "There was a huge cabinet full of poisons in the back of the Infirmary."

Silence fills the room for the moment after he says that.

"Well, fuck," Komatsu says. "That ain't good..."

"No, it is not," Kasparov says with a frown.
"That damned snake...why put poison in the Infirmary of all places?"

"Because he's a piece of shit," I answer.
"He put a cabinet full of dangerous poisons in the one place here that should be focused on healing rather than killing. Only a piece of shit sociopathic asshole like Monohebi would do that."

Oyamada nods. "Y-Yeah, Monohebi r-really is a t-terrible person for d-doing that," he says. "I'm w-worried now...what if s-someone gets hurt and is a-actually given p-poison instead of m-medicine?"

"You don't have to worry about that, Osamu-kun," Terajima says reassuringly. "The waitress and I searched the entire room after we discovered the poison cabinet and didn't find anything else out of the ordinary. So, as long as everyone stays away from the big cabinet in the back of the Infirmary, we shouldn't have an issue."

"That's correct, but we still need to be careful in the Infirmary nonetheless," Domoto says. "Even normal medical supplies can be dangerous in the wrong hands."

That's true...the scalpels and surgical tools especially could easily be made into murder weapons. So, as much as the Infirmary might help us heal people who get hurt, it just as well might kill someone.

"Is that it for the whole floor?" Eguchi asks. "Honestly, I'm kind of relieved. None of the stuff said so far sounds too bad...besides the poisons and the flash drive, nothing was really too out of the ordinary or dangerous."

Komatsu grimaces. "Sorry, Eguchi-san, but ya still haven't heard everythin'. The danger don't exactly end with all the poisons."

Kasparov looks at him suspiciously. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"He's talking about the Weapons Room," I say. "Right, Komatsu-kun?"

"Yeah," he says with a sigh. "Across from the Media Room, there's a room full of a metric fuck ton of weapons. Guns, knives, swords, everythin' ya could possibly imagine is in that room."

Yeah, there really was every type of weapon that someone could think of in that room...just being there made me feel really uncomfortable. I don't know how Komatsu-kun stayed in there as long as he possibly did.

Domoto swears. "God fucking dammit," she says furiously. "The poisons were bad enough, but an entire room full of lethal weapons!?" She clenches her teeth. "That fucking snake has no limits to have much of an asshole he can be!"

"Apparently not," Kasparov says with a frown. "I must admit, this is highly concerning. With the poisons and now this, Monohebi seems to be
trying harder and harder to force another murder with how easily available he is making various types of murder weapons."

"Wh-What should we d-do?" Oyamada asks fearfully. "We c-can't destroy a-anything, because th-that's against the rules...s-so how are w-we s-supposed to deal with th-those weapons?"

"We could try sealing off the Weapons Room," Terajima suggests. "Then we could foil that snake's plans by making all those weapons inaccessible without violating the rules by destroying prison property."

Motoki looks uncertain about that idea. "In theory that's not a bad idea, but...we don't have the materials necessary to completely seal off a room," she says. "I wish we did, though, because I like the sound of that idea..."

"Well, we might be able to make that room inaccessible," Eguchi says. "We just have to think creatively."

Think creatively? What does she mean by that? "Do you have an idea for how we might be able to seal off the Weapons Room, Eguchi-san?"

"Yeah," she answers. "We could use a few of the arcade machines in the Arcade to block off both doors to the Weapons Room. They're really heavy, so no one would be able to get in if we managed to get them to the fourth floor.'

"Your plan would work, Eguchi-san, but only if we managed to get them to the fourth floor," Sashihara says seriously. "However, we couldn't ever do that. The elevator doesn't reach the second floor, and we have no idea if it can even carry really heavy loads, so we can't use that. Also, there's no way even the forces of Terajima-kun and I combined could lift those machines two whole floors." He grimaces. "Sorry for shooting down your plan, Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san, I just don't think it'd work..."

"Every damn time," Terajima says frustratedly. "Every damn time I put forward a plan, it never fucking works..." He clenches his fist and begins to shake with anger.

"Eisuke-kun, p-please calm d-down," Oyamada says nervously. "It's n-not your fault M-Monohebi
put a r-room full of w-weapons in this p-place and it's n-not your f-fault that you can't do a-anything to fix it. S-So please, d-don't b-blame yourself or g-get mad at y-yourself..."

Terajima unclenches his fist and takes a long deep breath. Still, he doesn't say anything and his face still looks frustrated.

"...Let's move on from that for now," Hayasaka says quickly to cut through the awkward silence. "I guess we should talk about the basement next, right?"

"That was the other floor that was made available to us, yes," Domoto says dryly. "What did everyone find on it? I investigated the metal gate that hid what we now know to be the staircase, so I have nothing to share."

"Sashihara-kun and ain't got much to share, either," Komatsu says dejectedly. "All we found was a locked metal door that we couldn't open."

"It wasn't for a lack of trying, though," Sashihara says. "Komatsu-kun and I exerted all our might! However, it just wasn't enough..."

"E-Eisuke-kun and I f-found a locked metal door, too," Oyamada adds distractedly, his gaze still focused intently on Terajima. "We also c-couldn't open it..."

"Where was the door you found?" Eguchi asks. "I don't remember seeing any big locked doors other than the one Sashihara-kun and Terajima-kun were trying to open."

"It was in the Freezer," Terajima answers stiffly, still sounding somewhat mad at himself. "At the back of the room."

"So there were two similarly locked metal doors," Kasparov says. "Hmm...how interesting. What else was in the Freezer?"

"Pretty much nothing," I say, as it looks like neither Terajima or Oyamada wants to do much talking right now. "There were a few tubs of ice cream, but other than that it was just a bunch of mostly empty metal shelves with nothing but empty boxes and icicles on them."

"Ice cream!?" Komatsu repeats excitedly. "Fuck, it's been so goddamn long since I've had ice cream, mochi, or anythin' like that! I need to try some of that soon!"

"I'm interested at the sound of that, too," Domoto says, licking her lips. She shakes her head. "Never mind that...it's irrelevant. What else was there in the basement?"

Motoki fidgets uncomfortably in her seat. "...There were three solitary confinement cells," she says quietly.

"Solitary confinement cells?" Eguchi asks, shuddering. "Those don't sound like a fun place to be..."

"Believe me, they're not," Motoki says distantly.

With how she's acting, I'm becoming more and more inclined to believe what Hayasaka-san was talking about yesterday is right. Maybe Motoki-san really is traumatized...of course, I have no way of knowing for sure unless I manage to talk with her, so I'll need to do that at some point.

"Solitary confinement cells, huh," Komatsu says. "That's fuckin' weird. Why the fuck did Monohebi think givin' us solitary confinement cells when the cells upstairs in Cell Blocks B, C, and D would work just as good?"

"Because they're not the same," Hayasaka says. "Unlike the cells in Cell Blocks B, C, and D, the doors to the solitary confinement cells are really thick and reinforced. Also, although each cell has a small window, it can easily be covered with a shutter. So, being locked in a solitary confinement cell would be a lot more, well...solitary."

"Sounds like they'd be hell to be put into," Domoto says. "Fortunately, the only person who'd be put in such a cell would have to earn the misery they'd experience in it."

Eguchi looks at Domoto, both slightly confused and nervous. "What do you mean by that?" she asks.

"Y-Yeah, what d-do you m-mean?" Oyamada echoes. "Your t-tone right there w-was kinda s-scary..."

"I believe Domoto-san is saying only someone who has done absolutely terrible things would be locked in one of those solitary confinement cells," Kasparov says. "Also, due to how the killers are executed at a class trial, I believe there is one person to which Domoto-san could be referring: the traitor."

"Exactly," Domoto says. "Whenever we find out who the traitor is, they're getting locked in one of those cells immediately. We couldn't risk having such a dangerous person roam freely."

"That sounds kind of extreme," Eguchi says uncomfortably. "Solitary confinement is such a terrible, terrible thing. One of the normal cells would work just as well if all we wanted to do was incarcerate the traitor and prevent them from killing someone. Besides, we don't know why the traitor is working with Monohebi...if they're not malicious, I feel like it'd be a bad idea to put them in solitary confinement."

"I don't think it's extreme at all," Motoki says seriously. "I actually think such a terrible punishment is fitting for the traitor who betrayed us by choosing to work with Monohebi. Their reasoning for doing that, whatever it is, doesn't fucking matter." Her voice becomes cold and merciless. "All that matters is what they've done...which is to assist Monohebi, the disgusting snake who is responsible for all of our friends' deaths. That's irredeemable."

...What the hell is this? Why is Motoki-san talking this way? It's not like her at all...

"M-Motoki-san?" Oyamada asks nervously. "I d-don't like the w-way you were just t-talking...it's s-scaring me..."

"Why are you scared, Oyamada-kun?" Motoki asks. "Are you the traitor? That's the only reason you'd have to be scared of what I was saying."

Terajima glares at Motoki. "What the hell's gotten into you, language girl?" he asks suspiciously. "Aren't you all about kindness and forgiveness and all that shit?"

"Not necessarily," Motoki says. "I'm about expressing my emotions and I'm about preventing other people's deaths. I think locking up the traitor and throwing away the key would be an excellent way to both make up for the traitor betraying us and lying to us about their true emotions for so long. Also, it'd prevent Monohebi from ever getting another one of his murders. It's a win-win. We get to make the traitor suffer and stop any further deaths."

"Motoki-san, I may be mistaken, but wasn't it you who suggested we try to talk with the traitor and convince them to join our side?" Sashihara asks. "If that's the case, why are you talking like this? Don't you want them to be rehabilitated?"

"Part of me still wants to think that," Motoki says distantly. "However...with every passing day that the traitor continues to hide their identity, they lose more and more of their chance at rehabilitating themselves. If they were really a good person, they would've come out sooner, before Aozora-kun or Ichigohara-san were murdered."

"I agree," Domoto says. "The traitor has been hiding their identity for so long now that I highly doubt there's any chance of redemption for them. As such, if we find out who they are then we will immediately lock them up in a solitary confinement cell."

No, no....this all feels wrong. Domoto-san thinking this way is unsurprising, but Motoki-san!? She'd never have even entertained the thought of something like this before. I need to have a serious conversation with her and change her mind as soon as possible.

"Hold on, ain't none of this shit gonna happen if we don't find out who the traitor is," Komatsu says. "And I for one am pretty damn sure we're gonna have a real damn hard time figurin' out who they are."

"Their identity could be on that commemoration video," Domoto says, glancing at Kasparov as she does. "However, we won't know until we see it."

Kasparov rolls his eyes. "Domoto-san, if Monohebi wants the traitor to kill someone, he has no reason to freely give away their identity on something as easily accessible as a video on a flash drive," he says. "We won't learn the identity of the traitor from that video."

"W-Well...you c-can't be certain u-until we see it," Oyamada says.

Kasparov frowns. "Not completely certain, no, but I am extremely confident."

This is just going to go in circles if I let things continue like this...
"So, what else was in the basement?" I ask, stealing what is normally Domoto's line from her.

"Well, you already know this, Kawashima-san, but the last room in the basement was the Trash Room," Eguchi says. "It had more than just trash containers in it, though..."

"What other kinds of stuff did it have, Yuzuki-san?" Hayasaka asks curiously.

Eguchi wrings her hands nervously. "Well, um...there was also a huge hydraulic press and a massive incinerator in there."

"...You've got to be fucking kidding me," Terajima says furiously. "That fucking snake! I thought he had set the bar low with the poisons, and even lower with the Weapons Room, but now a hydraulic press and an incinerator...the bar's six feet under the fucking ground now!"

Sashihara curses under his breath. "This is bad," he says seriously. "Not only are hydraulic presses and incinerator potentially very dangerous, but they'd also be excellent places to dispose of evidence, which could make any future trial much, much harder."

"Fuck," Komatsu says exasperatedly. "Jus' like Terajima-kun was saying, there's no fuckin' end to how low Monohebi can go."

"No, apparently not," Kasparov says. "However, I believe there may be one silver lining here."

"And what's that?" Motoki asks doubtfully.

"The incinerator keeps a record of whenever it was used for 48 hours afterward," he answers. "You see, in order to turn on the incinerator and thus use it, one must scan their e-Handbook. Whenever this is done, a random sequence of five characters is generated, with the time of whenever the scanning occurred being recorded next to this sequence. I should mention that this sequence of characters is different every single time the incinerator is used, even if the same person scans their e-Handbook twice in a row."

"So what you're saying is that the recording function only tells us when the incinerator was turned on," Hayasaka says. "That's not super helpful...all it tells us is that someone turned on the incinerator at a certain time. That wouldn't help much if another trial were to happen."

"It could be rather useful, due to the fact that the incinerator automatically turns off after thirty seconds of inactivity," Kasparov says. "Because of that, we would know the time at which any culprit destroyed evidence if they were to choose to do so. It is admittedly not much, but it is better than nothing."

"I guess so..." Eguchi says uncertainly. "The hydraulic press doesn't have any scanning function, so if a culprit used that, we'd be in a lot bigger trouble."

"We would," Domoto says, "which is why we have to do everything to make sure another murder doesn't happen." She pauses and looks at the clock. "It's already almost ten o'clock...I think we should end the meeting here unless anyone else has anything they'd like to say."

"I d-do," Oyamada says. "We all n-need to have p-partners for h-half of the day and then s-switch halfway th-through the day, r-right?"

"That was what we talked about before," Domoto says, nodding. "Thanks for reminding me of that, Oyamada-kun. I suppose we should all have one partner for the morning and one for the afternoon, and switch around 1 PM. Now, who will be partners with who for the morning?"

"We're supposed to be partners with someone of the same sex, ain't we?" Komatsu asks. "That way, no one can pull the shit Niizuma-san did with fakin' goin' to the bathroom."

"We did say we should do that, yeah," Eguchi says.

Oyamada moves closer to Terajima. "I'll go with Eisuke-kun, then..."

"I figured," Komatsu says. "Sashihara-kun, ya wanna be my partner then?"

Sashihara hesitates. "Actually...I was thinking that I should form a three-way partnership with Eguchi-san and Hayasaka-san for the first half of the day. The three of us could use some time to...discuss certain matters."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," Hayasaka says.

Eguchi looks at her feet uncomfortably but still nods. "I don't think I'll like it, but...recovery is never easy, so I guess I should go."

Domoto looks like she wants to object, but relents. "That's fine, as long as it's only for half of the day and none of you leave to go to the bathroom at any point," she says. "However, making a group of three does create a complication. We'll need a second group of three unless we want to leave someone alone."

"That's fine," I say. "You, Motoki-san, and I could be the second group of three, while Kasparov-kun and Komatsu-kun could be partners. I think that'd work well."

Domoto considers briefly and then nods. "That works," she says.

Motoki shrugs. "It doesn't really matter to me..."

"I'm down, I guess," Komatsu says. "Kasparov-kun ain't gonna make me play chess, though...there ain't no way I'm doin' that shit."

Kasparov frowns. "That is highly disappointing..."

"Alright, is that all?" Domoto asks. "If no one has anything else to say, we can be done with this meeting."

Do I have anything else to say? Normally I wouldn't, but with what I saw earlier...Terajima-kun getting mad at himself, Motoki-san acting weirdly...I think I need to say something. No, that's not enough. I need to do something.

"I'd like to say something," I say suddenly.

"Wh-What is it, K-Kawashima-san?" Oyamada asks.

Honestly, Oyamada-kun, I'm not sure yet...all I know is that I want to talk to the whole group somewhere where Monohebi won't be able to eavesdrop. I want to be able to talk to the traitor in a place where they don't have to worry about Monohebi listening in or spying on them...

"Well? What is it, Kawashima-san?" Domoto asks.

"When we meet as a group to switch partners at 1 PM, I'd like to do it in the bathhouse," I say.

Komatsu furrows his brow. "...Huh? Why there?"

"You'll understand once we get there," I say. I wish I could say that it's because the bathhouse has no cameras right now, but I don't want the traitor or Monohebi to react and try to put a stop to things. Komatsu-kun will have to wait to have his question answered.
"So, will that work?"

Domoto looks at me suspiciously but shrugs. "This is strange," she says, "but I suppose it doesn't matter exactly where we meet up." She pauses. "Alright. I take it no one else has anything to say, so let's adjourn this meeting now. See you all in the bathhouse at 1 PM."

All of us split into our respective groups and soon only Domoto, Motoki, and I are the only ones left in the Cafeteria. "So...what are we going to do together?" Motoki asks flatly.

"I'm not sure," Domoto replies, frowning.

I'm not certain what I want to do, honestly...I want to talk to Motoki-san about how she's been acting recently, but I also doubt she'll divulge much in front of Domoto-san...however, I can't be sure of that. Also, Motoki-san and I talking alone isn't an option...so I guess I just have to deal with the situation at hand.

"We could just talk," I suggest. "I feel like we never get much time to have meaningful conversations with one another...so why don't we try that?" Hopefully, Motoki-san will eventually begin opening up if things go well.

"...Do you really think that'll help?" Motoki asks dully. "It's not like talking with any of the three killers stopped them from killing anyone..."

Domoto looks at Motoki, confused. "This is strange behavior for you, Motoki-san," Domoto says. "Shouldn't you be the one advocating for us talking and communicating with each other? Isn't that what you're all about?"

"It is," Motoki admits. "Or at least, it's what I should be about..."

"So why are you acting like this?" Domoto asks. "Frankly, it's strange and unbecoming of you."
Straight to the point with no sugarcoating...that's Domoto-san.

Motoki leans forward, half-slumped on the table. "...I know," she says after a while. "I hate that I've become this way. But after three murders and six deaths...I..." She gulps and tears fill her eyes. "...I'm beginning to lose hope. The light at the end of the tunnel is growing dimmer and more distant with every passing day, and I'm starting to feel like I should just give up."

"You can't do that, Motoki-san," I tell her. "Otherwise, the promise you made to Carrasco-san will all be for nothin—"

"Do you think I don't already know that!?" she shouts suddenly
as she suddenly stands up. "Do you think I don't fucking hate myself for not being good enough!? For being so weak that I've let down my dead crush!? DO YOU REALLY FUCKING THINK THAT!?"

For a long moment, neither Domoto nor I say anything as Motoki glares at us. Well, I got her to open up at least. Eventually, Motoki's glare melts away as she begins to cry and slumps to the floor. "I just want to leave..." she sobs into her hands. "I don't want any more of my friends to die...I don't want to become more...a...a...a-alone..." She sounded really, really reluctant to say the word "alone"...I wonder if that has anything to do with what Hayasaka-san was talking about yesterday. I don't want to be intrusive, but Motoki-san is clearly struggling, so maybe I should ask anyway...

"Motoki-san..." I begin. I'm still unsure if I should ask about this...Hayasaka-san said she was unsure about her theory of Motoki-san having past trauma, so things might turn out bad if I get she turns out to be wrong, but...I have a feeling things will be even worse if I do nothing. "Motoki-san, do you...have past trauma?" I finally ask her.

Motoki doesn't immediately respond. She just continues to sob into her hands. "Kawashima-san, what does that have to do with any of this?" Domoto asks. "Motoki-san's past, whatever it may hold, doesn't pertain to this situation."

"No, it does..." Motoki interrupts as she attempts in vain to wipe all the tears out of her eyes. She looks at me, her eyes red and raw. "You talked with Hayasaka-san yesterday, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did," I confirm. "She said she speculated you had past trauma, particularly something having to do with loneliness." I pause. "Was she right?"

It takes a long time for Motoki to answer. After several moments, she begins to take off the myriad of bracelets she wears on her forearms. "Motoki-san what are you doin—" Domoto begins, but she suddenly stops herself when she begins to see what Motoki's bracelets conceal.

For a while, I can only stare transfixed in horror. What the hell is this? Are those...? "Motoki-san, are those cigarette burns?" I ask, trying not to gag looking at the disgusting pinkish, bubbly skin that covers her forearms.

"They absolutely are," Domoto says, narrowing her eyes. "And the only way her arms would have so many cigarette burns on them is if someone repeatedly put out a ton of cigarettes on her." Domoto begins to quiver with rage. "Who the fuck did this to you, Motoki-san!?" she asks, seething. "I'll make them fucking pay for what they did once we get out of here!"

"No, you can't," Motoki says sadly as she begins to put her bracelets back on. "My stepfather's been dead for several years now, thankfully. Unfortunately...every time I see my bare arms, I'm reminded of how much of a sickening person he was..."

"He was more than just sickening," I say, "he's fucking scum of the earth! He put out cigarette burns on your bare skin. What kind of terrible person does that to a child they're supposed to be protecting!?"

"A pathetic man who had no power in his life outside of the house, so he tried to make himself powerful in his domestic life," Motoki says. "He had all sorts of arbitrary rules for me...no staying up past a certain time...no bringing friends over or even having them...no going outside the house without his permission, you get the idea. And...whenever I broke any of his rules, he..." She stands up as she puts her last bracelet back on, running her hand across her forearm as she does so. "He put out one of the cigarettes he was always smoking on my bare skin."

Oh my God...this is so horrible... "That wasn't it, though," Motoki says. She shudders. "Whenever I did something that my stepfather saw as especially bad, like accidentally miss the bus to school or fail a test...he'd lock me in a small closet in the basement for hours on end." She closes her eyes tightly and rocks back and forth on her feet. "I can still feel what it was like..." she says shakily. "Damp...completely dark...and worst of all, soundproofed..." She begins trembling heavily. "I-I..."

I rush forward and hug Motoki tightly. "I'm so sorry you ever had to endure something so painful and traumatic," I say into her ear, barely being able to hold back tears myself. "I don't know how anyone could ever live through what you endured..."

"I don't either," Motoki says as she cries softly into my shoulder. "I honestly don't know how I lived under him for three whole years until my mom finally kicked him out..."

"Three years!?" Domoto repeats, disgusted. "Why the hell would your mother stay with such a terrible, vicious person if he was abusing her daughter?" she asks. "Didn't she at least try to leave him?"

"It's not as simple as that," Motoki says, shaking her head sadly. "She didn't know...or at least, she could never admit that the man she loved was so horrible. Besides, he
vehemently denied any claim of abuse I made against him, saying they were just lies from a spoiled child."

Motoki sighs. "I hated my
mother for a long time for ignoring the abuse, but...I don't blame her anymore. I didn't realize it at the time, but now I know that it's so, so difficult to admit someone you love is toxic. It's heart-wrenching to leave an abusive relationship, especially if you've tried to make it work for so long."

"Even still, she should've left," Domoto says.

Motoki looks at Domoto, unimpressed. "Domoto-san, not everyone has the iron will that allows them to turn away someone they've loved their whole life. My stepfather...he and my mom went way back. They were friends for decades, and after my real dad died...he came into the picture. My mom didn't have the heart to turn away someone she had known for so long....besides, he wasn't terrible to my mom most of the time. A lot of the time, he would actually be very nice to her. He'd buy her flowers or chocolate and sweet talk her...and whenever he got mad at her or hit her he'd say it was an accident, that he was just in a bad spot in life and that he'd work to be a better person...and my mom would forgive him, and on the cycle of abuse went."

"Holy shit...how the hell can you function normally, Motoki-san?" I ask her softly. "You must be traumatized by having to witness your mother's cycle of abuse on top of your own."

"Oh, I am," Motoki says. "I went to therapy for a while, and got into linguistics in the middle of my treatment, which made my life so much better." She smiles fondly as she remembers. "Instead of being banned from having friends or being locked in a basement, I could communicate with as many people as languages I could understand...and I could understand
the way people communicate." She chuckles. "Linguistics was really what helped me get better for the most part. At least..." Her smile disappears. "...at least until I got to this horrible place."

"So your trauma came back up to the surface, kind of like how Hayasaka-san almost relapsed back into bulimia," Domoto says.

Motoki nods. "Yeah...all the stress of this situation and all the death that's happened here made everything come back." She pauses. "What made things even worse is how quickly I get attached to people. I've always been one to do that, probably because I wasn't allowed to have many friends and didn't have anyone super close to me growing up. So, getting attached to people quickly, having fun with them and thinking they're a cool person, only to see them die brutally...that's only compounded how terrible I've been feeling."

That must be why she fell in love with Carrasco-san so quickly...she was so used to loneliness as a kid that any she grows close to almost anyone fairly quickly. She can't let herself be alone again... "Is that fear of loneliness why you were so affected by the sight of the solitary confinement cells yesterday?" I ask. I already know the answer, but I want to make sure I'm completely right on this...

"Yeah, it is," Motoki confirms. "I'm guessing that's what made Hayasaka-san come over to me and talk."

"What'd the two of you talk about?" Domoto asks.

Motoki shrugs. "Hayasaka-san basically told me that I'm never alone in this place or at all in life and that someone will always be there for me," she answers. "She also said that she'd always listen to me if I ever wanted to talk."

Domoto looks impressed. "...So Hayasaka-san really was telling the truth when she said she would try to become a better person," Domoto says. "I'm not going to lie, I thought that was all just a bunch of worthless platitudes...but it seems not."

"No, she really is different now," Motoki says. "Even still, though...I didn't feel comfortable opening up to her. She did attack me with a doorstop not too long ago, after all...even though she's changed, it still didn't feel right to tell her something so personal."

"That's understandable, given the handling of her knowledge of Eguchi-san's bulimia," Domoto says. "No matter how much Hayasaka-san's changed, she still blackmailed and emotionally abused Eguchi-san. I get why you wouldn't want to tell her anything too personal."

"Yeah, she did," I say. I feel conflicted about hearing them talk about Hayasaka-san this way. I know she did a lot of really terrible stuff, but she really has been making efforts to change. I guess it's Motoki-san's decision in the end, though...she shouldn't have to talk about something so scarring as her past trauma with someone she still doesn't completely trust. No one speaks for a moment. Hmm...I've gotten Motoki-san to finally open up, so I guess I should talk to her about the way she was acting at the morning meeting now..

"Motoki-san, I have a question for you," I say. "Why were you acting so..." I pause, not sure of the word to use. "...so bizarre earlier?"

"What are you talking about?" Motoki asks, confused.

"I think she's referring to when you agreed with me about locking the traitor up in a solitary confinement cell once we found them," Domoto says. "Although I don't understand why she thinks you acting that way was 'bizarre.' I think it's more accurate to say you were being logical."

No, Domoto-san, it was bizarre. For Motoki-san, at least. "It is bizarre, Domoto-san," I say. "Because Motoki-san of all people should realize how horrible it is to be locked in a dark, cold place for long periods of time."

"Oh, I do," Motoki says. "I completely understand the suffering the traitor would go through from being locked in there, and you know what? That's exactly why I'm suggesting we throw their ass in there once we find out who they are." She narrows her eyes and her face fills with angry determination. "They deserve that suffering for partnering with Monohebi and being complicit in our friends' deaths!"

"Do they?" I ask. "Don't you remember how Monohebi said he went to the traitor to make their agreement, not the other way around? That
means he probably has something on them...he probably blackmailed them into working with him."

The look of angry determination on Motoki's face fades. "But...they still chose to side with him. Even if they were blackmailed and pressured into becoming the traitor, they still chose Monohebi over us in the end."

"Yeah, they did," I say. "But they almost certainly didn't do it completely willingly. Whoever the traitor is, I'm certain they have a lot of doubts. I'm certain they have an inner conflict and that part of them wants to come forward...which is why we can't proclaim that we're going to essentially torture them once we find them. That'll only make them less likely to come forward and more likely to stay on Monohebi's side and eventually kill someone."

Motoki's angry determination is gone now. "I...I guess you're right," she says hesitantly. "As I said before, a part of me still does want to hope the traitor will come forward and that they can be rehabilitated, but they make that part of me smaller every day that they stay on Monohebi's side. Also, it's partially their fault that Carrasco-san lost so much trust in the group that she decided to kill. But...you're right that threatening the traitor will only make them less likely to come forward and more likely to kill someone else...so if I want to keep my promise to Carrasco-san, I should try to rehabilitate them." She rubs her forehead. "I won't like it, though. I fucking hate them for partnering with Monohebi."

"That's completely understandable," I say. "The traitor did betray us, after all. Bringing them to our side and convincing them to not kill won't be easy...but it'll be worth it if we can stop anyone else from dying."

Domoto swears under her breath. "Goddammit," she says frustratedly. "I want to tell you you're wrong and that you're being naïve, Kawashima-san...but you're not. You're completely correct that threatening the traitor will only strengthen their resolve to stay with Monohebi, and I hate that." She folds her arms and looks at the floor moodily. "I'd suggest we lie to them and promise to be nice but still throw them in the cell if they come forward, but...I cannot allow that." Her face hardens. "I will not lie. I will never stoop the level of something
like that ever again."

She said that really firmly...too firmly for it to mean nothing. "What made you so passionately against lying?" I ask. "Not that I'm saying lying is a good thing, but you seem to be unusually resolute to never lie."

Domoto looks away from me. "If you're expecting for me to dump some tragic backstory on you, you're not going to get it," she says curtly.

"Then what are we going to get?" Motoki asks with what might be a playful smile on her face. "Is the notoriously serious and brutally honest Otoha Domoto scared of revealing something personal?"

Domoto scowls. "I'm not scared," she says defensively. "I just don't want to talk about it, alright?"

"Why not?" I ask. "Is it too personal?"

Domoto hesitates. "It's...it's none of your business," she says hurriedly. "Let's talk about something else now."

Looks like Domoto-san really doesn't want to talk about why she hates lying...I guess I shouldn't push her too much then.

"What is there to do now?" Motoki asks. "Please, can we make it something more light-hearted? Our time in this prison has been so miserable that I really just want to take my mind off things and do something silly." She smiles, but it's strained. "Especially after I just revisited something so terribly traumatic..."

"Sure, we can do something more lighthearted," Domoto says. "I have no idea what to do, though."

Looks like I'll have to be the one to come up with what we do. Unfortunately, it's difficult to think of
something that all three of us will enjoy...hmm...

After a while, I finally come up with an idea. "Why don't we play pool?" I suggest. "I know it's not the most riveting option, but I think it'd be fun."

"That works for me," Motoki says.

"Eh, it should work," Domoto says with an indifferent shrug. "Besides, there are other options in the Rec Room if we get bored with billiards."

Not the most enthusiastic response, but definitely not the worst one possible. "Let's not waste any time and get going, then," I say.

Once the three of us get to the Rec Room, Domoto goes out of her way to keep the door all the way open. "Why are you doing that?" Motoki asks, slightly confused. "Does the door need to be open like that?"

"Don't you remember how the Rec Room door locks from the outside?" Domoto asks. "If someone tries to lock us in here now, we'll see who they are. I don't want a repeat of what Carrasco-san did to happen again."

Motoki grimaces. "Oh...that makes sense..."

It looks like being reminded of what Carrasco-san did was unpleasant for her... Domoto notices Motoki's reaction, too. "Motoki-san, please don't continue to—" She stops herself and mid-sentence as she continues to look at Motoki. Then, she turns her head away from Motoki and me. "...I'm sorry, Motoki-san. You said you wanted to have this be a light-hearted time. I shouldn't have brought that up."

"You're fine, Domoto-san," Motoki says as she takes a deep breath and nods slowly. "You weren't wrong. Even though I hate to do it, I can't deny what Carrasco-san did...I loved her and to ignore a terrible thing she did would just be disrespectful toward Aozora-kun." She pauses and smiles slightly. "I'm thankful you apologized, though...it was a welcome surprise."

Yeah, it sure was...apologizing definitely isn't something that Domoto-san does too often.
"I was surprised you apologized at all, Domoto-san," I say. "I'd normally expect you to tell Motoki-san to just get over it."

"You're right; the past me probably would've done that," Domoto admits, an unhappy expression on her face. "But my outlook on things has changed...I know I shouldn't be as abrasive as I sometimes can be." She pauses and then looks at Motoki and me with a defensive expression. "Don't mistake that for me becoming soft, though, because that's absolutely not what this is. I'm still going to call out everyone's bullshit if I see it."

I try and fail to hold back a smile as I exchange looks with Motoki. "I'm sure you will, Domoto-san," I say.

Domoto notices Motoki and I's faces and prepares to say something, but she holds back. "Let's stop messing around and start playing pool already," she says quickly. "We've wasted enough time already."

After that, the three of us play pool for a few hours, with two of us playing and one of us spectating in each game. I'm surprised how much fun I'm having from simply playing pool with Motoki-san and Domoto-san...I honestly thought it would be a lot less fun than it actually is. It's incredibly amazing to see Motoki-san laugh genuinely after how much she's suffered during our time in this prison and before...and it's also so weird yet so refreshing to see Domoto-san actually smile. As for me...I haven't felt so relaxed and carefree in a long time. It's nice to be able to forget that I'm in a vicious death game and have fun with my friends, even if it's only for a few hours.

"Damn, it's 1:02," Motoki says disappointedly as we finish a game. "We should probably head up to the bathhouse now."

Domoto sighs as she looks at the clock. "That sucks," she says frustratedly. "I was having fun winning..."

"Winning?" Motoki says, raising her eyebrows. "I'm pretty sure it was Kawashima-san who did a lot more of the winning."

"Really?" I ask. "I wasn't keeping count..."

"Yes, really," Motoki says. "You won five of the eight games you played against Domoto-san."

I think a little while, trying to remember all of the games, and then nod. "I guess I did."

"No need to rub it in," Domoto says moodily.

I chuckle. "I wasn't rubbing it in," I say. "You're just a competitive person, Domoto-san."

Domoto begins to protest but stops herself. "I guess I am," she says. "Not like that matters, though. We need to get going to the bathhouse." She pauses. "Speaking of that...why did you want us to meet up in the bathhouse so badly, Kawashima-san? The Cafeteria would've worked just as well."

"No, it wouldn't have," I say. "You'll see why I suggested why we go there soon."

"...Fine," Domoto acquiesces. "Let's just get going already."

The three of us make our way upstairs to the bathhouse. As we do, Motoki sidles up to me. "Thank you," she whispers.

I look at her, confused. "For what?" I whisper back.

"For asking me about everything," she responds quietly. "You were the only person I trusted enough to open up to, yet I didn't have the courage to tell you...so thanks for asking. I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome," I tell Motoki. We continue to the bathhouse, and Motoki never leaves my side the whole time.

Once we scan our e-Handbook at the entrance to the girls' locker room and get to the bathhouse, we find that we're the last group to arrive.

"There you guys are!" Sashihara shouts as soon as we enter. "We were wondering where you were at!"

"Sorry, we lost track of time," Motoki says.

There's an awkward lull in conversation after Motoki stops talking. "S-Sorry to be so b-blunt...b-but...can we g-get this s-switch over with as q-quickly as p-possible?" Oyamada asks. His eyes drift uncomfortably to the tub Ichigohara died in. "A-After what happened to I-Ichigohara-san, I r-really don't feel c-comfortable in this r-room..."

"I must admit I feel the same way," Kasparov says, sounding slightly queasy. "Being in this room only conjures of images of Ichigohara-san's scarring and horrific death into my mind...so I think it would be best if we were all to leave this room as soon as we could."

Sorry, Kasparov-kun and Oyamada-kun, but we can't leave just yet...I have to do something first. "Before we switch partners, I'd like to say something," I say suddenly. "Is that alright?"

"I guess you can," Eguchi says, although she looks reluctant. "I don't get why you'd want to say now of all times, though...couldn't you just wait until dinner tonight?" She fidgets uncomfortably and looks at the tub we found Ichigohara in. "I'm with Oyamada-kun and Kasparov-kun in that I want to get out of this room as soon as I can..."

"I'm sorry, but I can't wait until tonight," I say. "You see...there's a reason I asked that we meet up in the bathhouse today."

"What's that?" Komatsu asks.

"...It's the cameras," Terajima responds, realization dawning on his face. "That's what it is, isn't it? This room doesn't have any cameras in it."

I nod. "Yeah. I didn't want Monohebi to be able to see or listen to our conversation. Because..." I hesitate. I have to be mindful of what I say next...it could very well determine whether no one else dies or not. "Because I want to speak to the traitor."

The entire room is silent and still for a moment after I say that.

"So that's what this is," Domoto says eventually. She looks up at me expectantly. "Well? What are you going to say to the traitor?"

I take a deep breath. "I just wanted to start off by saying...I know you don't want to do this," I begin. It feels
weird to be speaking to the traitor directly yet have no idea who they are...but I have to ignore that feeling of discomfort if I want to be able to convince them to come to our side.
"Monohebi was the one who went to you," I continue. "He probably pressured you and blackmailed you into becoming his agent. If it was enough to convince you to kill for him, then it must be something really big...so I'm not going to ask you to forget about whatever he used against you as leverage.

"Instead...I want you to think about everyone who's still alive," I go on. "In spite of all the terrible shit that's happened, we've all met people here who have become our friends and sometimes, more than friends." I look over at Terajima and Oyamada, who are huddled closely together. "Whoever you are, traitor, you've no doubt met someone here who you cared a lot about...so I want you to think about them. When Monohebi orders you to kill one of us or to spy on us, I want you to think of whoever you've met. Is whatever Monohebi has on you more important than your friend or friends' lives? Is it really better to be partners with a sociopathic snake robot than to keep your friends safe?"

I stop talking and look around the room. Everyone's staring at me intently with serious looks on their faces...but whichever one of them is the traitor hasn't said anything yet. I'll have to switch strategies, then. "Listen, I know I sound like I'm trying to guilt you into coming forward," I begin. "Maybe I am, but that's not the point. The point is...I want you to really consider if working with Monohebi is worth it." I pause. "Also, I know you're probably scared to come forward. You're probably worried that everyone will hate you for siding with Monohebi and that we'll throw you into a solitary confinement cell...but I can promise you that's not going to happen. I talked Domoto-san and Motoki-san out of it earlier."

Still, no one comes forward. Dammit...
"Please," I say, my tone starting to become pleading, "don't be afraid. Even though you sided with Monohebi...you're still one of us. It's not too late to come forward. It's not too late to redeem yourself. It's not too late to change."

After I stop, there's a long moment of agonizing tension as everyone collectively waits for someone to speak up. But no one says anything. Shit. Whoever the traitor is, they're not saying anything at all. They're...siding with Monohebi.

"...No one's coming forward," Hayasaka says, breaking the silence.

"It seems the traitor really has forsaken us," Kasparov says coldly. "They have chosen Monohebi."

Motoki looks at the floor, her eyes narrowing. "Yeah...they have."

"Wh-What are we g-going to do n-now?" Oyamada asks fearfully as he retreats into Terajima's embrace. "The t-traitor's not a-admitting who they a-are..."

"No, they're not," Terajima says as he hugs Oyamada back. "We're going to have to find out who they are by ourselves."

"Yes, and we won't be able to do that through Kawashima-san's methods," Domoto says, crossing her arms. She looks over at me. "I admire your efforts, Kawashima-san, I really do...but it's pointless to keep trying to change the traitor's mind. Overly sentimental speeches aren't going to sway them now, not when they've gone this long without saying anything. The only way we'll discover their identity is through ruthless investigation of all the evidence available to us...which includes that flash drive."

Kasparov scowls. "How many times must I repeat myself? I will not allow anyone to view that commemoration video."

"Holy shit, will the two of ya ever shut the fuck up about the goddamn flash drive?" Komatsu asks exasperatedly. "It's all ya've been talkin' 'bout..."

Domoto glares at him. "Komatsu-kun, the flash drive is important. I wouldn't be bringing it up so frequently if it weren't."

"But how do you know the second video on the flash drive is important, Otoha-san?" Hayasaka asks. "The video of Yuuto-kun didn't really help us with anything, so how can you be so sure that the commemoration video will have any useful information in it?"

"Just fucking stop this already," Eguchi interrupts irritatedly before Domoto can say anything. "All this talk about that stupid Monohebi flash drive is driving me up the goddamn wall, so can we please not talk about it until dinner?"

Wow, the way she said that was really aggressive...it'd certainly shut me up if I had been arguing about the flash drive.

Normally, Domoto probably would have come up with some sort of icy retort to what Eguchi just said. Instead, she narrows her eyes at Eguchi. "What the hell is this?" she asks. "You yelled at Kasparov-kun and I to stop talking about the flash drive last night...and now you yell at us to stop talking about it yet again." She steps closer to Eguchi. "Is there any particular reason you don't want us to watch that second video? Is it...evidence that might incriminate you, perhaps?"

Eguchi regards Domoto coldly. "If you're accusing me of being the traitor, you're wrong," she says. "The reason I wanted the two of you to stop your incessant bickering is because it's extremely annoying and I can't stand to constantly hear it whenever the two of you are in the same room."

"S-Same," Oyamada says. "I d-don't like how th-they've been f-fighting about it s-so much..."

Domoto steps back, looking at Eguchi and Oyamada with an imperceptible expression. Eventually, she shakes her head and exhales loudly. "...Whatever," she says. "Let's get on with this already and switch partners. We'll all meet up for dinner in the Cafeteria at six. Agreed?"

No one voices any disagreement, so the ten of us split into five pairs: Motoki and Eguchi, Domoto and Hayasaka, Kasparov and Terajima, Sashihara and Komatsu, and lastly Oyamada and I. Eventually, everyone else leaves and only the two of us are left in the bathhouse. Well, this is awkward...

"I take it you'd like to go to the Library," I say, figuring that's where Oyamada would probably prefer to go.

Oyamada's eyes light up. "Y-Yeah, I'd l-like that a l-lot," he says excitedly. Suddenly, his excitement. "H-However, I w-wouldn't want to f-force to go if you d-didn't want to...I'd c-completely get it, c-considering what N-Niizuma-san d-did the l-last time you w-were in the L-Library..."

...I hadn't even thought of that until he brought it up. I was actually completely fine with going to the Library, and I still am...but I'm a little less enthusiastic now.
"Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine with going to the Library," I say. "I think it'll be relaxing to sit back and lose myself in a book, no matter
what Niizuma-san did before."

Oyamada smiles, relieved. "That's g-good," he says. "Let's get g-going, then..."

Once the two of us get to the Library and sit at a table, Oyamada immediately reaches into the bookbag he always carries, takes out a thick book, flips to a dogeared page in it, and starts reading. He's not wasting any reading time...that makes sense, given that he's the Ultimate Librarian. As Oyamada reads his book, I walk around the various sections of the Library to try to find a book that interests me. Eventually, I find myself in front of the psychology section. Maybe I should read a book from this section...that psychology book I read the last time I was here was pretty interesting, after all. Besides, this section is a lot bigger than most of the other ones, so I'll probably find something I find cool.

I randomly pick a book off the shelf. It's titled A History of Unethical Psychological Studies and Their Contributions to Modern Knowledge. Includes Discussion of the Milgram Shock Experiment, "Little Albert," Harlow's Pit of Despair, and More. I immediately put it back after reading the title. That sounds too morbid...I want something interesting, but not something so creepy.

I look at the other shelves in the psychology section until I eventually spot
a book called A Brief Overview of Various Case Studies in the Field of Psychology, Volume 1. I take it off the shelf and nod to myself. This looks like it'd be a fascinating read...

Feeling satisfied that I've found a book that's both captivating and not morbid, I return to the table where Oyamada's sitting, flip to a random page and then begin to read.

"Anna O.

Anna O. was the commonly used pseudonym for Bertha Pappenheim (1859-1936), an Austrian woman treated by the physician and neurologist
Josef Breuer in the late nineteenth century. Pappenheim suffered from a variety of symptoms, including amnesia, paralysis
in her legs and arms, mood swings, eating disorders, aphasia, visual disturbances, among others. All of these symptoms had no apparent identifiable physical cause. Breuer found that after having Pappenheim describe her symptoms to him, those symptoms would be reduced or disappear. Pappenheim called this form of therapy a "talking cure." Breuer later chose the name "cathartic method" to describe it.

When describing his treatment of Pappenheim to his protégé Sigmund Freud, Breuer unknowingly laid the foundation for Freud's psychoanalytic
approach to psychology. In fact, many of Freud's earliest ideas, including those of free association and catharsis theory, stemmed from Pappenheim's treatment. As such, her case study is one of the most prominent, if not the most prominent, in late nineteenth century and early twentieth-century psychology. In the rest of this chapter, we will delve farther into the details of Pappenheim's treatment and its later effects on Freud's..."

I stop reading there. This case study was interesting and all, but didn't Monohebi say the founder of psychoanalysis, Freud, was a cocaine addict? Besides, I've heard he has really crazy and sex-focused theories of psychology...which I'm not too keen on reading about. Let's look at another case study.

"Phineas Gage

Phineas Gage (1823-1860) was an American rail worker who survived an accident in 1848 in which a
large tampering iron was driven through his entire head, destroying much of the tissue in his brain's left frontal lobe. Gage's survival of this incident and the resulting effects on his personality were one of the greatest medical marvels of the time. He has been
frequently mentioned in medical texts ever since the incident.

It is quite possible his case was the
first to suggest that the brain has a role in determining an individual's personality and whether personality changes can be induced through damage to certain areas of the brain. However, despite the case's importance to early personality studies, it is very difficult to find reliable sources directly describing Gage either before or after
the accident. Additionally, many sources that describe his personality changes do not state at which period of his life they refer (such as immediately after the incident, a few months after, a few years, right before his death, etc.). Also, some sources seem to exaggerate how drastically his personality was altered and for how long.

The differences in Gage's personality were quite pronounced at first. Although it is difficult to know exactly how he was either before or after the accident, there seems to be a consensus that Gage changed from being responsible, hard-working, and favorable to being much more vulgar, profane, irritable, and impulsive than he had been previously. However, it seems that these changes were
only temporary, as the
American physician J.W. Hamilton, who knew Gage in Chile in 1858 and 1859, described him as having "enjoyment of good health, with no impairment whatever of his mental faculties." This recovery of personal and social skills could be due to the fact that his work as a stagecoach provided him with a structured daily routine that allowed him to practice interpersonal interaction daily.

In the end, Gage's case has been one of the most important in the fields of neurology, psychology, and neuroscience. It was also highly influential to the now-disproven pseudoscience phrenology. In the field of psychology, it is especially relevant due to the fact that it was one of the first cases to demonstrate the frontal cortex's importance in social skills and decision making, a connection that is currently well-known but at the time was only just beginning to be explored."

Wow...that was really cool to read about. It's amazing that man survived for twelve whole years after having a metal rod shot through his skull and having part of his brain destroyed, especially in the 1800s, when medical standards were a lot lower than nowadays. The stuff about his personality changing from before the incident to afterward was interesting, too...

After I finish reading the rest of the section on Phineas Gage, I read about several other case studies for a while. Eventually, I get to one of the last ones in the book.

"H.M.

Henry Gustav Molaison (1926-2008), commonly referred to as H.M., was an American patient who had a severe memory disorder following a lobotomy in 1953. Most notable was the severe anterograde amnesia he developed as a result of the surgery, with Molaison being unable to commit new events to his episodic or semantic memory.

From a young age, Molaison had experienced epilepsy. For many years, the seizures were minor or only partial. However, after his sixteenth birthday, Molaison began to experience more and more serious seizures until in 1953, at the age of 27, his seizures incapacitated him to such a degree that he was unable to live an ordinary life. As such, Molaison was referred to a surgeon who, upon examining Molaison, traced his epilepsy to his medial temporal lobes (MTLs). The surgeon then performed a lobotomy in which he removed the MTLs in both hemispheres of the brain, removing both hippocampi and most of Molaison's amygdala and entorhinal cortex as well.

The surgery was a success in that it did partially achieve its goal of controlling Molaison's epilepsy. However, it also had the unintentional consequence of causing Molaison to develop severe anterograde amnesia. Due to this, he became a medical marvel, much like Phineas Gage had been in his day.
Molaison's case is particularly fascinating because it revolutionized the scientific community's understandings of the organization of memory. His heavy anterograde amnesia and temporary retrograde amnesia combined with intact working, procedural, and spatial memory made him a highly sought-after patient for memory researchers to study. It also provided an insight into the underlying neurological processes involved in memory creation, storage, and retainment that will likely never be recreated due to the current rarity of psychosurgery and modern ethical rules."

There's more to that section, but I close the book, not wanting to read anymore. A lot of these case studies were really interesting, but also kinda sad...that one in particular. Because of some fucked up surgery, that man lost the ability to gain new memories for the rest of his life. It's not fair that some people have such terrible things happen to them... I put the book back on the shelf where I found it. No more reading about things that'll make me sad...honestly, no more reading for today. A lot of the material in that book was really dense, so I feel like my head will explode if I read anymore. I should probably try talking to Oyamada-kun instead...I feel like I've rarely ever spoken to him one on one.

I return to the table and do just that. "Hey," I say.

Oyamada doesn't seem to hear me at first. He's so immersed in his book that he can't hear me at all...
"Hey," I repeat, louder this time.

Startled, Oyamada looks up at me. "Wh-What is it?" he asks. "I was in the m-middle of reading a r-really g-good scene..."

"Sorry," I say. "I was just curious as to what you were reading."

"I-It's Coin Locker Babies by R-Ryu Murakami," Oyamada answers.

"Murakami," I say. "I definitely have heard that name before...I might've been supposed to read one of his books for school?"

"I th-think you m-might've b-been thinking about H-Haruki Murakami," Oyamada says. "He's c-close in age to Ryu M-Murakami and they're b-both very f-famous authors...th-they're not r-related, though..."

"Oh," I say. There's a lull in the conversation. I should probably say something soon, otherwise Oyamada will soon bury himself in that book. "What's it like?" I ask, gesturing to the name of the book he's reading.

"W-Well, it's a r-really strange but r-really interesting novel," Oyamada says. "What I l-like about it's that it s-synthesizes elements f-from so many d-different t-types of genres...it's really q-quite amazing..." He frowns. "It is v-very dark, though..."

"I feel like a lot of literature is really dark," I say. "I remember being annoyed that a lot of the books we were supposed to read in school were so depressing and dark."

Oyamada nods. "Yeah, a l-lot of l-literature is like that...especially m-modernist w-western literature. There's n-nothing edgier th-than that stuff..." An unpleasant expression crosses his face. "Ugh, s-some of my l-least f-favorite works of l-literature are f-from that p-period."

"Oh?" I ask, curious. "What are they?"

"It's mainly t-two," Oyamada says. "And n-neither of them is b-bad...a-actually, both are r-regarded as m-masterpieces...I p-personally d-didn't like them." He gulps. "A-Alright, so the f-first is Lolita by V-Vladimir Nabokov...it's i-incredibly w-well written and r-really is excellent, but d-despite all that...I a-always hated r-reading it."

I look at him, curious. "Why? If it was written so well, why'd you hate it?"

"W-Well...the m-main character is a...p-pedophile," Oyamada says, fidgeting uncomfortably.

...Oh. I can get why he didn't like it now.

"A-And 'Lolita' is the n-nickname he gives the young g-girl he's...f-fixated on." Oyamadas squirms in his seat. "Ugh, that b-book makes me f-feel so s-sick...but it's not as b-bad as the o-other one."

"It's not?" I ask doubtfully. "How fucked up is this second book?"

"I-In all honesty...to a n-normal person it w-wouldn't b-be as bad," Oyamada says. "But to m-me...w-well..." He pauses. "K-Kawashima-san...you r-remember what we t-talked about in the b-basement freezer y-yesterday, d-don't you?"

"Yeah," I say. "You confessed to Terajima-kun and I that you have a really bad phobia of beetles and spiders."

Oyamada nods. "Y-Yeah...w-well...the n-next work h-has to do with th-that...The Metamorphosis."

He had a really hard time saying that...I have no idea why, though. Does that story have to do with bugs? "What's The Metamorphosis about?" I ask.

Oyamada can't seem to find his words. "...I-It's a sh-short story," he says finally, "And it's a-about..." He gulps. "I-It's about a s-salesman named G-Gregor Samsa who a-awakes one day to d-discover that h-he's t-transformed into a...i-into a d-dung b-beetle."

I give Oyamada a confused look. "...What? How'd the author of that even come up with such a weird idea?"

"I d-don't know," Oyamada says. "F-Franz Kafka was a p-pretty s-strange dude...all his s-stories were r-really out th-there." Oyamada shudders. "B-But The Metamorphosis...i-it's super f-famous b-because of its th-themes, symbolism, and c-criticism of m-modern society, so I r-recognize that i-it's really g-good in those r-regards...h-however, I c-can't stand it. I-I've only r-read it o-once, and it m-made me so n-nauseous...especially the p-part wh-where G-Gregor g-gets an a-apple lodged in his b-back and it s-slowly rots..." Oyamada looks like he's going to puke.

I reach out and take Oyamada's hand. "Let's stop talking about this, okay?" I say. "I think that'd be for the best."

"Y-Yeah, y-you're right," Oyamada says as he regains his composure. "I sh-shouldn't have ever b-brought that up...I sh-should've focused on the b-books I actually d-do like...which is a l-lot."

"What's your favorite book?" I ask him.

"Oh, th-that's a hard q-question," Oyamada says. "Th-There are so m-many good b-books out there..." He thinks for a while. "Hmm...I h-honestly can't decide, a-and I'm okay with that. E-Every b-book has its s-strengths and w-weaknesses, so I d-don't really love the i-idea of r-ranking them..."

That's reasonable, I guess...no book is perfect. Even the most highly acclaimed books have their flaws. "Well, if you can't decide on a favorite, which book has impacted your life the most?" I ask.

Oyamada thinks for a while before answering. "...I'd s-say 1984," he says. "I r-really dislike how p-people over-reference the b-book nowadays, b-but out of a-all the b-books I've ever read, that one p-probably impacted m-me the most. I-I've always been a p-pretty private p-person, so r-reading about a t-totalitarian s-society in which the g-government s-sees all, h-hears all, and kn-knows all r-really frightened me...i-it's one of the r-reasons why I d-don't like t-technology. N-Nothing is p-private when technology p-permeates your wh-whole life...

"Also, b-becoming distrustful of t-technology and authority f-figures isn't the o-only way 1984
i-impacted my l-life," Oyamada continues. "Th-There was th-this one part n-near the end th-that really g-got to m-me..."

"What part was that?" I ask him.

"It's wh-when the government t-takes the p-protagonist to a t-torture chamber c-called 'Room 101' n-near the end," Oyamada explains. "And R-Room 101...i-it's the w-worst place in the w-world. It's wh-where the g-government subjects a p-prisoner to their w-worst fears to b-break them and e-ensure their c-compliance. So, wh-when they bring the p-protagonist there, they u-use his f-fear of rats against h-him by p-putting a cage with two r-rats in it right in f-front of his f-face...e-eventually causing him to b-betray the w-woman he l-loves and b-break."

...Oh. That's pretty dark.
"How was that impactful to you?" I ask. "Did it make you more aware of your fears?"

"N-No, I a-already knew a-about them, u-unfortunately," Oyamada says. "H-However...it d-did make me r-realize that y-your fears c-can be used against you. So, e-ever since I've r-read 1984,
I've r-realized I c-can't let my fears c-control me...because then, th-they could be u-used against me, and I r-really, really, r-really don't w-want that." He looks down sadly. "I h-hate the f-fact that I'm s-scared of th-things as stupid as b-beetles and spiders. I w-want to s-stop being so s-scared of them, b-but I d-don't know
how to..."

"You could always try what Monohebi talked about yesterday," I suggest. "It was called 'exposure therapy,' I think..."

"N-No," Oyamada says emphatically, "I w-won't do that..."

"You said you wanted to stop being afraid of beetles and spiders," I say, "yet you're also refusing to undergo treatment that might help you. Don't you think those are contradictory attitudes to have?"

"B-But..." Oyamada protests, "B-But it was M-Monohebi who s-suggested I do i-it, and I d-don't trust a-anything he s-suggests."

Fair point... "Even still, you need to be courageous if you ever want to overcome your fears," I say. "Of course it's not easy to confront your biggest fears...they're your biggest fears, after all. But if you ever want to stop being scared of something...you can't just passively wish that your fear will disappear. You have to take action."

Oyamada doesn't say anything for a while. Finally, he nods. "I...I g-guess you're r-right," he says hesitantly. "I c-can't just w-wish my fears a-away...I'll h-have to do s-something about them." He sighs. "I-I'm not r-ready to do that n-now, though..."

"That's okay," i reassure him. "Do it on when you're ready." My eyes drift over to the clock. Whoa, it's a little past
six...I had no idea time went by so fast.

Oyamada follows my gaze to the clock. "I-It's past
dinnertime," he observes. "We sh-should h-head down to the C-Cafeteria now..."

"Yeah, let's get going," I say.

The two of us walk down to the Cafeteria, where everyone else is already gathered. Terajima breathes a sigh of relief when he sees us. "There you two are," he says. "I was wondering where you were..."

Oyamada smiles. "D-Don't worry about m-me, Eisuke-kun," he says as he walks over to Terajima and hugs him. "I'm s-safe."

I smile at their interaction. With all the terrible shit that's happened here, it's nice to see something pure and happy like their love for each other.

"You and Oyamada-kun were worrying us, Kawashima-san," Kasparov says. "I do not intend to sound too much like Niizuma-san, but in a situation such as this one being too late can be alarming for the rest of the group."

"I agree," Domoto says. "You two could've been killed or hurt."

"Stop being so dramatic," Eguchi says irritably. "They were literally five minutes late. Don't act like it's the end of the world."

Domoto glares at Eguchi, but before she can say anything Sashihara emerges from Kitchen. "Dinner's ready!" he shouts.

We all get ourselves a plate of dinner, which is nothing special but still moderately tasty. I miss Ichigohara-san's cooking...

I've only just finished my meal when I notice Oyamada jump in his seat. "Gah!" he shouts, pointing at the chandelier above the table. "It's M-Monohebi..."

I look up to see Monohebi slithering down the chain of the chandelier, an envelope in his mouth. "Hello, dearest inmates," he says, his voice muffled by the envelope.

"What do you want?" I ask curtly. I'm not in the mood to deal with him right now...then again, I never am.

Monohbei tsks. "You truly are quite rude for a waitress, Kawashima-san," he says disapprovingly. "I would expect better from you..."

"Just shut up and tell us why you're here, snake," Terajima says coolly. "None of us want to have to deal with a disgusting creature like you any longer than we need to."

Monohebi frowns at Terajima's rudeness but soon regains his composure. "Oh...I thought my reasoning for coming here would be rather obvious. It has to do with the secret meeting you all tried to conceal from me earlier."

Shit! He found out... "What meeting?" I ask, trying to act like I don't know what he's talking about.

Monohebi looks at me, unimpressed. "Do not attempt to play dumb with me, Kawashima," he says. "I know you all had a secret meeting in the bathhouse when you were supposedly there only to switch partners." He pauses. "While I cannot be certain as to exactly what the meeting was about, I assume it has to do with either me or the traitor."

"How the fuck can ya be assumin' that?" Komatsu asks. "Yer bitch ass ain't got no clue what we were talkin' 'bout."

"On the contrary," Monohebi says. "You all met in the bathhouse, one of the two rooms with no cameras, the other being the sauna. You would have no reason for doing so unless you wanted to prevent me from knowing about whatever it was you were discussing. For that reason, I postulate the topic of discussion most likely had to do with one of the following: your escape, my identity, or the identity of my agent. Am I not correct?"

Damn...I was hoping we'd be able to fool him. I guess I underestimated how observant and thoughtful Monohebi can be...

"...I will take your collective silence as implicit confirmation
that my assumption was correct," Monohebi says. "Now, this may come as a surprise to you all...but I truly do not care about whatever it was you were discussing in there."

"R-Really?" Oyamada asks doubtfully. "If th-that's the c-case, why d-did you b-bother to c-come to us to t-talk about it?"

"Because I would like to remind you all that you are powerless to stop me or this killing game," Monohebi answers. "No matter how many secret meetings you plan or how many times you promise to not let anyone else die, the result will always be the same: someone will die and I will win. Also...even if you manage to convince the traitor to cease working for me, do not suffer from the delusion that you will triumph over me. That will not happen." Monohebi smiles. "I always have an insurance policy, after all." He drops the envelope he's been holding in his mouth the entire time onto the table.

Hayasaka grabs the envelope.
"...Sergey Kasparov," she says.

"What?" asks Kasparov. "Why did you say my name?"

"The envelope," she says, holding it up, "it's addressed to you."

She hands it to him and he opens it. All the while, Monohebi watches eagerly. What is this? What does Monohebi have planned?

Kasparov opens the envelope and looks at what's inside. When he does, his eyes widen and terror spreads across his face. "Wh-What...?" he asks, his voice shaky and weak. "Wh-What is this!?"

"If I recall correctly, it is a picture of your two beloved dogs in chains with a message that reads, 'Have everyone watch the currently unviewed commemoration video on the flash drive within 48 hours. For every hour you go over the time limit, I will remove a certain part of each dog's body and leave it on your bed until I have nothing left to cut off,'" Monohebi says. He smiles wickedly. "Forgive me if I am mistaken...but I believe that is what it is."

Kasparov stands up furiously, angry tears pouring for his eyes. "N-No!" he shouts at Monohebi. "You can't do this to me! You can't do this to Masha and Sushki!"

"Oh, I can," Monohebi says. "And I will. The 48 hours began when you opened that letter. The clock is ticking." Monohebi begins to slither
up the chandelier, snickering to himself as he does so. "Tick...tock...tick...tock..."

Eventually, Monohebi's taunting voice fades away, but Kasparov's furious sobbing does not. "M-Masha...S-Sushki..." he chokes through sobs. "Собачка...пёсик..."

...Fuck you, Monohebi. He's done all sorts of evil shit before, but this is pretty low, even for him. How monstrous can be threatening to dismember Kasparov-kun's dogs like that?

"Kasparov-kun," Domoto begins, "I—"

"Shut the fuck up," Kasparov interrupts through angry tears. "I...I need to be alone right now." He takes the envelope and leaves the Cafeteria, still crying.

For a few moments, everyone left in the Cafeteria is silent. "Holy shit," Komatsu says after a while. "Monohebi is a fuckin' monster..."

"I thought he couldn't get any worse, but...this might be a new low from him," Eguchi says.

"Yeah," Motoki agrees, "not only is the motive itself terrible, but Monohebi's also now okay with targeting a single person."

Sashihara frowns. "I agree that the motive is horrible, but this isn't the first time he's targeted specific people," he
says. "Last time around, he specifically targeted Eguchi-san and Niizuma-san by returning their memories to them. Targeting specific people with a motive isn't something he's a stranger to doing."

"You're all wrong," Domoto says.

What? what's wrong about what they're saying? "How so, Domoto-san?" I ask her.

"This isn't the motive," she says. "That commemoration video on the flash drive is. There's no other reason Monohebi would go so far to ensure we watch it."

Terajima nods. "The toy girl's right. That snake is probably irritated that the chess boy wasn't letting anyone see the second video on the flash drive. So, the snake's forcing him to make someone see it by threatening his dogs."

"It's probably going to work," Hayasaka says with a sigh. "Judging from his reaction, Sergey-kun really cares about his dogs...so he'll probably cave and have us all
watch that video." She swears under her breath. "Shit...it looks like Sergey-kun was right about not letting anyone watch that video. If Monohebi wants all of us to see it so badly, there can't be anything good in it..."

Yeah...that video can't be good for us if Monohebi wants us to see it so badly. I don't know exactly how it'll be bad for us, though...I guess we'll have to watch the video to find out...

"...Let's get to bed," Domoto says, her voice distant and pensive. "We can talk more about this in the morning."

No one disagrees, so everyone in the Cafeteria splits up and heads to bed despite the early time. Once I'm done getting ready for bed, I think to myself about what happened today. I finally got Motoki-san to open to me and reveal her terrible past...which I guess is the best thing that happened today. I tried to convince the traitor to join our side, but that was a failure because they're still choosing Monohebi over the rest of us. Lastly and worst of all, Monohebi is trying to force Kasparov-kun to have everyone watch that commemoration video.

Speaking of the commemoration video...I'm really worried about what it contains. It's just like Hayasaka-san said...whatever's in it, it can't be good if Monohebi wants us to see it so badly. Whatever's in it...that will be our real motive.

...

.........

................

???: ...What the hell was that?

Monohebi: Pardon? What the hell was what?

???: That motive you gave Kasparov-kun...it wasn't fair. I thought you said you were playing this game fairly!

Monohebi: No, I said I would follow the rules. The rules do not forbid me from giving everything a little push. Things were quickly becoming so very stagnant and boring...and I cannot have that, as it would risk the survival of this killing game. So, I gave Kasparov that motive to force him to do my bidding.

???: You're seriously fucked up.

Monohebi: I suppose I am...and so are you. After hearing your description of the speech Kawashima gave, I truly am surprised you did not abandon me. You have even less heart than I thought.

???: Don't get the wrong idea. The only reason I didn't change sides right then and there is...well, you know what it is. I couldn't give that up.

Monohebi: No, you cannot. You wish you could, but you cannot...such a terrible irony, no?

???: ..........

Monohebi: By the way, I have some news for you.

???: You do?

Monohebi: Yes. The commemoration video...it will bring us a new ally.

???: ...What? A new ally?

Monohebi: Yes. They might not realize it at first, or even at all...but after everyone views that video, one more person will be working for our benefit. Is that not incredible news?

???: ...I guess so. Who is this person?

Monohebi: The ally? Well...I suppose I could tell you now, but it would ruin the fun if I did. You should already know.

???: I don't, though.

Monohebi: ...You will soon enough. Also, one last thing before you go...I noticed that you still have not made any preparations to kill yet. I would like to see that change shortly.

???: ..........

???: ...I just need more time.

Monohebi: You may have it, but there is a limit to my patience. I need a trial within the next three or four days.

???: ..........

Monohebi:
Please do not tell me you have been convinced by the worthless platitudes of the others...that would be quite disappointing. You can do as I asked, can you not?

???: I...I can.

Monohebi: Good. We cannot allow this killing game to become boring...that would be the worst possible outcome. Do you understand? Not only must the next murder happen within three or four days, but it must also be an entertaining, well-planned one.

???: ...I understand. I'll...I'll make sure to make it a good case.

Monohebi: Sususu...that is what I like to hear from you, dearest traitor.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Due to how early I went to bed last night, I wake up before the morning announcement. I lie there for what feels like forever until I hear it.
“Good morning, inmates. It is now 7 am, which means nighttime has officially concluded. Enjoy another day of confinement.”

Ugh...I've been lying in bed for what feels like ages...I should get up now. Eventually, I manage to force myself out of bed and into the shower. Once I'm done showering and doing everything else I do in the mornings, I head out to the Cafeteria, where everyone except Sashihara and Kasparov already is. Sashihara-kun's probably in the Kitchen...and I guess Kasparov-kun is still in his room.

"Kasparov-kun's not here," I observe out loud as I take a seat. "I don't think he's ever been late to a morning meeting before..."

"He hasn't," Terajima confirms. "I always get out here way earlier than the rest of you, and the chess boy has consistently arrived at least five minutes early every day until today."

"Who can blame him for bein' late?" Komatsu says. "After Monohebi gave him that envelope yesterday, it ain't no surprise he ain't doin' too good."

"Yeah, he probably feels really conflicted," Eguchi says. "He's always been firm
that we should avoid looking at the flash drive, yet Monohebi is trying to force him to look at it by threatening his dogs, who he clearly loves a lot." She grimaces and hugs herself. "I feel so bad for him right now...even if I was really annoyed by him always arguing about the flash drive, he doesn't deserve this..."

Domoto frowns as she eyes the clock. "It's 7:41 and he's still not here," she observes, sounding worried. "If he's not here by the end of this meeting, I think we send someone to check up on him."

"I agree," Motoki says. "We can't let him suffer alone like he is right now."

Soon after Motoki's done talking, Sashihara comes out of the Kitchen and announces that breakfast's ready. Everyone gets a plate, and, as in what seems to be becoming a routine, Sashihara, Hayasaka, and Eguchi stay behind to eat and talk in the Kitchen.

Eventually, the three of them finish and sit with the rest of us...but Kasparov still isn't here.

"I'm w-worried..." Oyamada says, looking at the clock. "I-It's 8:16 and he's s-still not out here...do you th-think...he m-might be—"

"He's not dead if that's what you're thinking," Domoto interrupts curtly. "As I said earlier, we'll wait for him to out here until the end of this meeting. If he hasn't shown up by the end of it, then we'll send someone after him."

"Okay...so what should we talk about while we wait for him?" Hayasaka asks the group. "I don't know what we should discuss..."

Neither do I, Hayasaka-san...I know we should talk about something, but I don't know exactly what...

"Maybe we should talk about what to do about commemoration video," Terajima says. "The snake obviously wants us to see it very badly, so I think it's something worth worrying about."

Domoto scratches her chin. "...I think you're right, Terajima-kun," she says. "I know I've been adamant about the need to watch it in the past, but...due to how Monohebi apparently wants us to see it so badly and its likelihood of being the motive, I've changed my mind. We should do all that we can to avoid seeing it."

"I ain't disagreein' with ya, but...I ain't sure that's a good idea, Domoto-san," Komatsu says uncertainly. "If we don't all see that video before tomorrow night, then Monohebi's gonna slowly dismember Kasparov-kun's dogs." He shudders. "Jus' the thought of that makes me wanna puke...besides, those dogs ain't never done nothin' wrong. We couldn't let those poor pups die like that..."

"I f-feel the s-same way," Oyamada says. "Obviously, n-not watching the v-video is the logical d-decision, but if ch-choose to not s-see it, we'll have to l-live with the g-guilt of knowing we l-let
Kasparov-kun's d-dogs be brutally m-murdered."

"... I fucking hate Monohebi," Motoki says angrily. "Forcing us to choose between two horrible decisions...it's so cruel!"

"So is this killing game," Sashihara says seriously. "Honestly, I'd like to say I'm surprised by Monohebi doing this...but I'm not. As we get further into the killing game and more determined not to kill, his motives are bound to get crueler and crueler."

"If he has to make the motives worse and worse, that means he's getting more desperate," Eguchi says. "Maybe that's something of a good sign..."

I'm not so sure about that, Eguchi-san...it might be the opposite. "I disagree," I say. "I think the fact that Monohebi's motives are getting worse is more because of him being a sadistic piece of shit than anything else."

"I agree with Wakana-san," Hayasaka says. "Also, it's like Otoha-san said last night...this whole thing with Sergey-kun's dogs isn't even the motive. It's just a way to force us to watch the commemoration video, which is what Monohebi really cares about."

Oyamada gulps. "If M-Monohebi is so d-deadset on us w-watching that video, I'm r-really worried about wh-what's in it..."

"Same, Oyamada-kun," Eguchi says. "Knowing him, it's probably something really, really bad..."

"Don't worry too much," Terajima says reassuringly. "No matter what's in that video, you two can always count on me protecting you."

"Th-Thanks, Eisuke-kun," Oyamada says.

"Yeah, thanks, Terajima-kun," Eguchi says with a small smile. "You're a good friend for doing that..."

"It's not anything special; any good friend would do that," he says. "But you're welcome nonetheless."

It's good to see Terajima-kun not beating himself up about all the deaths that have happened anymore. I'm sure he still feels somewhat guilty, but I'm glad that he doesn't seem as terrible as before...even still, I should keep a close watch on him. Just because someone looks fine doesn't mean they are...

There's a lull in the conversation, and before anyone can break it, the doors to Cell Block A finally open and Kasparov enters the Cafeteria. Wow, he looks terrible...he looks like he barely slept and like he's been crying all night. I'm about to say good morning to him, but I stop myself. It'd be a bad idea to say that...there's nothing good about this morning for him.

"Hi, Kasparov-kun," Motoki
says gently.

He doesn't respond immediately as he sits down at the table. It's only after he's sat in silence for a few moments that he returns her greeting. "...Hello," he says half-heartedly. A long, awkward silence follows. What should I or anyone else say to him? It's not easy to come up with anything worth saying knowing what Kasparov-kun's currently dealing with...

"There's food for you in the Kitchen if you want it," Sashihara tells Kasparov after a while.

Kasparov only stares forward tiredly at first. "...Maybe later," he says eventually.

Another long, awkward silence fills the room. I hate sitting in silence like this...but I just don't know what to say. I want to comfort Kasparov-kun and make him feel better, yet I have no idea how to do that...

"So, are we jus' gonna sit here forever or what?" Komatsu asks eventually. "If we ain't gonna say nothin' then we might as well get into our partnerships already, right?"

Hayasaka looks at Kasparov and frowns. "I mean, I guess, but...should we really leave without even mentioning what happened last night?"

"If yer talkin' 'bout the whole thing with Kasparov-kun's dogs, I doubt he wants to talk 'bout that," Komatsu says. "Jus' look at him...it's pretty obvious he don't wanna talk 'bout that shit."

Yeah, I have to agree with Komatsu-kun on that...Kasparov-kun doesn't look like he wants to talk about anything at all, much less Monohebi threatening to brutally murder his dogs...

"...You are correct," Kasparov says suddenly. "I certainly do not want to talk about any of this...but I must." He
wipes his eyes and forces himself to sit up straight. "Monohebi...he is determined to force me to have all of us watch that commemoration video, which means whatever that video contains will only serve to benefit Monohebi."

"We figured that out already," Domoto says. "Where are you going with this?"

Kasparov sighs painfully. "Even though it pains me to do so...I know that I must not allow anyone to view that video. I must endure the punishment of seeing Masha and Sushki be...be d-dismem..." He can't bring himself to finish the sentence and breaks down into sobs. Poor Kasparov-kun...he desperately wants to avoid watching that commemoration video, but if he does that, he'll have to endure having his beloved dogs be slowly dismembered. I can't even begin to imagine how conflicted he must be feeling right now...

No one knows what to say next as we all listen to Kasparov's sobs. "Maybe we should..." Sashihara begins, but his voice trails away to nothing.

Yet another long silence fills the room. "...If no one's going to say anything, we might as well end this meeting now," Domoto says.

"Wait," Eguchi says suddenly, "I actually do have something I want to say before we go end it..."

"What is it, Eguchi-san?" Terajima asks her.

"It's a question for, um, Kasparov-kun," she says.

Kasparov looks up at the mention of his name, his eyes red and teary. "...What is it?" he asks.

Eguchi shifts in her seat so she's facing him head-on. "It sounds kinda silly, but...I wanted to know what breeds your two dogs are."

Kasparov looks confused. "I do not understand why you would need to know that...however, I suppose I can oblige." He makes an attempt to regain his composure. "My Masha...she's a samoyed. Her fur is so soft and fluffy, and she was always such a kind, loving pup..." He begins to smile. "And Sushki...he's a red husky. He has such a warm coat of fur...it made the cold Russian winter much easier whenever he would cuddle with me." He gulps. "But n-now...I'll n-never cuddle with him or Masha ever again...I'll n-never be a-able to..." He breaks down into incoherent sobs yet again.

I've never met or even seen Kasparov-kun's dogs, yet even still I'm heartbroken for him right now...they don't deserve to have what Monohebi's threatening happen to them. They're harmless, innocent, and loving creatures...Monohebi has no right to hurt them.

"...Well then," Domoto says, looking at Kasparov pitifully. She turns her gaze to Eguchi. "Is that all?"

"Yeah," Eguchi says.

"Then let's all find ourselves a partner for the first half of the day," Domoto says. "Remember, we're going to be switching partners at 1 PM."

"Wh-Where?" Oyamada asks. "K-Kawashima-san suggested the b-bathhouse yesterday, but th-that's probably not g-going to happen again...so wh-where will we m-meet to switch p-partners today?"

"Here in the Cafeteria will do just fine," Domoto says. "Alright, everyone. Let's each find ourselves a partner."

We then split up, with Terajima and Komatsu, Hayasaka and Motoki, Kasparov and Sashihara, Oyamada and Domoto, and Eguchi and I being the partnerships for this morning. When it's just Eguchi and me left in the cafeteria, Eguchi turns to me. "So, what do you want to do, Kawashima-san?" she asks me.

I shrug. "I don't care, honestly."

"Well, in that case..." Eguchi fidgets. "Can we...uh..." She stops and looks at the floor. "Are you sure you don't care what we do? I don't like forcing people to do stuff..."

"It really doesn't matter to me," I assure her. "Whatever you'd like to do, I'm fine with doing."

Eguchi smiles. "That's good to hear," she says. "So, if you're sure you don't care...can we go to the Art Room? I'd like to do some drawing..."

"That works for me," I say. Maybe I'll be able to improve my artistic skills while in there...not like that's a high bar. I've always been really, really bad at artistic stuff...

Once the two of us get to the Art Room, Eguchi finds an empty sketchbook, brings it to a table, and sits down in front of it. "Hmm..." she says, staring at the blank page, a pencil in her hand. "I've never liked traditional drawing..."

I give her a confused look as I sit across from her at the table. "If you don't like drawing, why are you going to do it?"

"I do like drawing, just not on paper," Eguchi explains. "I'm more of a digital artist. It was a lot more convenient for me to do the art for all my games digitally, so I prefer using a drawing tablet to drawing traditionally." She pauses. "I still can do it, but I'm not as good as I am digitally..."

"Why you try something else if you're not going to be that good at it?" I ask her. "You could paint, or sculpt, or...do some other art form, I don't know." I shrug. "You should just do what makes you happy. Isn't that the reason you chose to come here?"

Eguchi frowns. "Uh...not exactly," she says. "I mean, partially, yes...but my main motivation for wanting to come here has little to do with my own happiness."

That's not what I expected...what else could it be? "What was it, then?" I ask.

"You remember how I asked Kasparov-kun what his dogs looked like at breakfast, right?" Eguchi asks. She doesn't wait for my answer. "Well, I was planning to draw them for him to maybe help him feel better...because it's obvious he's not doing too well right now."

That's really nice of her to do...
"Aw, Eguchi-san..." I say, smiling, "that's really sweet of you to think of him when he's doing so badly."

"Thanks," she says, although she still looks uncertain. "I'm just worried...Kasparov-kun probably won't like what I do because I'm out of my element when drawing traditionally..."

I reach across the table and grab Eguchi's hand. "Look at me, Eguchi-san," I say. She does. "Listen to me. Kasparov-kun isn't going to be expecting the Sistine Chapel...hell, he's not going to be expecting anything at all, considering that he doesn't even know you're doing this. Also, I doubt he'll care much about the technical aspects of the drawing...I think what'll matter most to him is the emotion that you put into this and the fact that you're doing it in the first place."

Eguchi looks like she disagrees. "Are you sure he'll care much about the emotions...? Kasparov-kun has never been a very emotional person..."

"If there's anything that makes him emotional, it's his dogs," I say. "That much is pretty clear from how devastated he is right now. Also, just because he doesn't outwardly display his emotions at other times doesn't mean they're not there."

Eguchi nods slowly. "I...I guess you're right," she says. She shakes her head and hits herself. "Ugh, I've always been like this...second-guessing myself even when I should know what I'm doing is right..."

"At least you have the capability to second-guess yourself," I say. "Some people are certain of their every move, to their own detriment." Shit, that came out way more ominously than I intended it too...

"Yeah, you're right," Eguchi says. She takes a deep breath. "I just need to get started on this drawing already." She looks at me awkwardly. "Um...sorry to ask, but can you move to another table? I don't work well when people are watching me..."

"Don't worry, it's okay," I say as I get up. This is honestly a relief since I was planning to practice drawing myself...I wouldn't want to embarrass myself by drawing something terrible in front of Eguchi-san.

I get myself a stack of paper and a pencil and then sit at a table across the room from Eguchi-san.
Hmm...I wonder what I should draw.
I honestly have no idea what to do...

Eventually, I decide to draw the view from my bedroom window at home. It feels like it's been so long since I've looked out there...even though I'll definitely butcher the drawing, it'd be nice to at least attempt it. I spend the next few hours trying to get the best possible version of the vision in my head out. Holy shit, drawing is fucking hard! I have a lot more respect for artists now...it's really hard to get exactly what you're envisioning in your head down onto paper. It's also very, very hard to force yourself to keep on working even after being frustrated at yourself for not being as good as you want to be...

When it's almost 1 o'clock, I look through my many attempts, choose the one that's the least terrible, fold it, and place it in my pocket. This'll be a nice thing to keep on me...even if it's a bad drawing, it makes me feel better having it in my pocket.

I begin to crumple up all the rejected drawings and throw them in the trash. As I'm finishing up, I hear Eguchi standing up from the other side of the room. "You finished?" I ask her.

She nods. "Yeah..." She pauses. "Do you want to see the drawing I made? I want to know what you think of it."

"Sure thing," I say as I head over to where Eguchi's standing to see what she's made. Both Kasparov-kun's dogs, which are vibrantly colored and made the focus of the picture, are sitting on a carpet in a dark living room, with a roaring fire behind them. ...Holy shit.
This is incredible! The way she did the shading and the light from the fire spilling onto the dugs' fur is probably the most impressive part...

"Amazing job, Eguchi-san!" I congratulate her. "I don't know what you were worried aobut...this drawing is stunning."

"Eguchi looks uncertain. "...You really think so? I messed up on two of Sushki's paws...and on the lighting on that one part of Masha's back...and on the—"

"Stop, Eguchi-san," I interrupt. "Don't incessantly criticize your own work like that..be proud of what you've done! This is really good, I promise you." I look back at the drawing. "By the way, I like your art style...it's cartoonish yet realistic at the same time."

She smiles bashfully. "Aw, thanks..." she says. "I've always disliked it, but I'm glad you enjoy it..." Her smile fades. "I'm worried Kasparov-kun won't, though...he'll probably hate it and hate the whole drawing because of it...I wouldn't be surprised if things went down that way. I've tried to do stuff with good intentions many times before, but I usually end up just making things worse...I'm so stupid..." She's being self-degrading again...I can't allow that. Not when she's done such good work...

I place both of my hands on Eguchi's shoulders. "Eguchi-san, please stop criticizing yourself for no good reason," I tell her. "I know it's a lot easier to say than to do, but...putting yourself down constantly is a habit, a learned behavior. So, like any learned behavior, you can unlearn it." I take ahold of Eguchi's chin and force her to look up at me. "Also, Eguchi-san...I want you to know that you're a good person. Don't let yourself believe otherwise."

She blushes and looks away. "Thanks, Kawashima-san..." she says sheepishly. "I'm glad you think that. I just don't know if I can...because..." She stops.

"Becuase what?" I ask her.

Eguchi looks uncomfortable. "It's..." She looks around the room, as if to make sure no one's watching us. Looking unusually serious, she turns her gaze to me. "Kawashima-san...can you promise to not tell anyone what I'm about to tell you?"

"Sure," I say. "Why, though?" I wonder what her reasoning is...

"It's...well, I'm probably just overreacting, but it's because what I'm going to tell you is something fairly personal," Eguchi answers as she takes a seat at one of the tables. "Also...it's kind of weird."

I sit next to Eguchi. "What is it?"

She looks at me warily. "...You promise not to tell anyone, right?"

I nod. "I promise."

Eguchi takes a deep breath and then starts speaking. "It has to do with the motive Monohebi gave us last time," she begins. "When he selected me to regain parts of the memories he stole from me...it didn't all come back at once. My bulimic habits started coming back first...then, the night after Monohebi announced the motive, I started remembering all the memories of bulimia Monohebi had taken from me." She pauses, grimacing. "That was bad enough, but...that's not the part I want you to keep secret."

A small lump of fear grows inside me. "What is the part you wanted me to keep secret, then? Is it some other memory you haven't told anyone else about yet?" If it is, I really hope it's not anything bad...

"...I guess?" Eguchi says uncertainly. "It's not a memory, per se...it's not like I gained any recollection of specific events other than the ones related to my bulimia. The other stuff that I regained...it was personality-related." She gulps. "Do you remember how before I used to say 'um' all the time?"

"Yeah," I say. "You stopped doing that really suddenly...I mean, you still say it occasionally, just not as much as before."

Eguchi nods. "Yeah...that was one part of my personality that seemed to morph after Monohebi gave me my memories back. I've felt more confident in myself since then...however, strangely enough, that timidity from before is still there. I still hate being the center of attention, I still dislike confrontation, but I also feel more confident sometimes?" She shakes her head. "Ugh, it's all so confusing...and that's not even the worst part."

"What is?" I ask her.

Eguchi doesn't immediately answer. "During the last trial, after Hayasaka-san revealed that I was bulimic against my will...do you remember how harsh I was to her? How vengeful I was to her?"

"Yeah," I say. "It was really sudden...though not unwelcome, honestly. Hayasaka-san deserved to be put down after the terrible stuff she did to you and after she tried to kill Komatsu-kun."

"I don't disagree," Eguchi says, "however, I'm disturbed at how vengeful and mean I was being...and how much I enjoyed it." She grimaces. "I would've never enjoyed taking revenge on someone before I got my memories back, even if they were as terrible as Hayasaka-san was being. So...does that mean the me from before, the real me, is a bad person?" She doesn't wait for my answer. "And it's not like that was the only time I've acted in a way I never would've before and enjoyed it...when I yelled at Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san for arguing about that flash drive non-stop...I enjoyed that. I enjoyed seeing them shut up because I told them to. I enjoyed getting angry.

"That's not right," she continues. "That's not me...or at least the me from before I regained my memories. I would've never delighted in getting angry and yelling at others...I wouldn't have done that at all." She pauses. "I guess what I'm getting at is...I think the Yuzuki Eguchi that exists in the memories Monohebi still hasn't returned to me...the real me...I'm worried that she's a bad person. I'm worried that I might secretly be a horrible, horrible person, but I just can't remember who I really am..."

...I don't know what to say. It's true that Eguchi-san has acted slightly differently after regaining her memories, but does that really mean she's secretly a bad person? "Eguchi-san, I think you're overthinking this," I say. "Besides, even if you were a bad person before, you're definitely not anymore."

"But I am," she says. "More and more I am becoming that person...and that disturbs me a lot."

"Eguchi-san, although your personality has changed slightly, you're still the you I and everyone else have known since the beginning," I say. "All these changes that you described...they only manifested themselves what, twice in the past three or four days? Even if what you're saying is true, the good part of you is still firmly in control, right?"

"...I guess," she says uncertainly. "I'm just worried...and like you said, I'm probably overthinking it...I tend to do that a lot."

"Yeah, you do," I say. Her overanalyzing every flaw in her drawing and her artistic abilities befor is proof enough of that. That's not to dismiss these concerns of hers, but...I really doubt things are as bad as she thinks. Or at least, I really hope they aren't...

Eguchi stands up suddenly. "It's getting really close to 1 PM," she says. "We should probably be heading down to the Cafeteria..."

I nod as I stand up. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," I say. I pick Eguchi's drawing up from the table and hold it out for her to take. "Aren't you going to give it to Kasparov-kun at the meeting?"

She hesitates and looks away. "Um, I don't know if I'd be up for that...it'd be really embarrassing if he saw it and hated it in front of everyone..."

Fair point... "Then why don't you become partners with Kasparov-kun for the afternoon and give it to him then?"

Eguchi gulps. "No...that'd be so awkward if he ended up hating it..." She reluctantly looks me in the eye. "I hate to bother you like this, Kawashima-san, but could you give it to him for me? Even if I've become more confident since I regained some of my memories, I'm still not confident enough to potentially face rejection like that..."

"Sure, I could do that," I say, folding the drawing and putting it in my pocket. Because she doesn't want Kasparov-kun to see it in front of everyone else, I'll have to be partners with Kasparov-kun for the whole afternoon...I doubt that'll be a pleasant experience. Who knows, though...maybe this drawing will cheer him up a bit. "I'll tell you how he reacted to it at dinner."

Eguchi smiles sheepishly "Thanks, Kawashima-san...I'm glad you could do this for me...and I'm glad that you listened to me overthinking too much and rambling. It means a lot..."

I pat her shoulder. "You're welcome, Eguchi-san." My eyes land on the clock. Shit, it's already 1:01...Domoto-san's probably going to be pissed at us for being late. "Damn, it looks like we're late. We should head down to the Cafeteria right now."

Eguchi nods. "Yeah, let's go."

The two of us get down to the Cafeteria as quickly as we can, but it's still not quick enough to avoid a glare from Domoto when we arrive. "You're late," she says irritatedly.

"Domoto-san, ya don't gotta act like Niizuma-san and start complainin' 'bout somethin' as unimportant as them bein' a few minutes late," Komatsu says, sounding annoyed. "That bitch is dead, we don't need to hear ya soundin' as bitchy as she was before she got killed."

Domoto shifts her glare to him, but before she can say anything Terajima speaks. "No need to get confrontational," he says, calmly yet firmly. "Let's all find ourselves a different partner for the afternoon without starting an unnecessary fight."

Thanks for cooling that situation down, Terajima-kun. I was worried Domoto-san and Komatsu-kun would start yelling at each other...

After that, we split into our second partnership of the day. I make sure to go over to Kasparov before anyone else. "Hey," I say.

He doesn't respond immediately. "...Hello," he says half-heartedly.

He's become pretty unresponsive and depressed, which is not at all surprising. "So, what would you like to do for the afternoon?" I ask him.
It's at that point when I notice that he smells terrible. Ugh, the body odor coming from him is awful...he looks pretty sweaty and tired, too. "Uh, not to offend you, Kasparov-kun...but you smell terrible."

"...I am aware," he says, his voice low and monotonous. "I was partners with Sashihara-kun
for the morning, so he made me work out with him the entire time...he thought the endorphins would make me feel better." He shrugs. "I do not believe they helped much, unfortunately..." He pauses. "I suppose...I should take a shower."

"But isn't that against the rules?" I ask. "We're not supposed to be separated for even short periods of time...otherwise, someone could do what Niizuma-san did."

"Normally, I would agree with you, but...I feel quite disgusting at the moment, both emotionally and physically," he says. "Please allow me to take a brief shower, Kawashima-san. I would not want you to have to put up with both my misery and my stench for the entire afternoon...so, please allow me to at least rid myself of the stench."

I'm hesitating to agree because I made a huge mistake when I let Niizuma-san go to the bathroom alone, and I don't want to repeat that mistake...but is this really the same situation? Kasparov-kun will be inside his room the whole time, so there's no risk of him attempting to harm anyone...so I guess I can agree. "Sure, I guess," I say. "I'll sit outside your room while I wait for you to be done."

"No, you must come inside," Kasparov says. "There is a risk of you being harmed if you are alone outside my room...so you must come inside."

Uh...no thanks. That'd be such an awkward experience... "But you'll be taking a shower in there...that would be—"

"Just do as I say, goddammit!" Kasparov interrupts frustratedly. "The bathroom and bedroom of our rooms are separate! You will not see anything! So PLEASE stop protesting and allow me to take my goddamn shower without having to worry about your safety!"

Holy shit,
I've never seen him explode with anger so suddenly like that...it's pretty scary, almost as bad as when Terajima-kun or Domoto-san get mad...

Kasparov is panting slowly now, cooling down from his outburst. "...My apologies," he says, ashamed. "I have a large amount of repressed anger from what is happening to Masha and Sushki...I am sorry for taking it out on you when you did not deserve it."

"It's okay," I say, "you're obviously going through a lot right now...so I forgive you."

"Thank you," he says. He begins to walk toward Cell Block A. "I am going to take my shower now...I cannot bear this drying sweat any longer."

"Okay," I say as I follow him. I'm partially relieved he's doing this so I don't have to smell that terrible body odor for the rest of the day...yet I'm also dreading having to sit in his room while he takes a shower. It's gonna be so awkward...

Once Kasparov-kun and I are in his room, I sit on the edge of the bed, noting how it is unfolded and messy. Clothes are carelessly strewn around the floor as well. "For someone normally so uptight and formal, your room is..." I stop myself. I don't want to be too rude to him, especially when he's doing so horribly right now...

"You can finish what you were saying, Kawashima-san," Kasparov says flatly as he grabs a towel and a change of clothes. "You are not a waitress here. I am not a customer of yours. You can be direct to me."

"Yeah," I say. I guess it's just against what I'm so used to doing as a waitress... "Well, if I can say it directly, your room is a mess."

Kasparov snorts humorlessly. "Ha...yes, it is. I truly should aim to be tidier...but my cleanliness is not something about which I am terribly concerned at the moment." His face falls. "I am far worried about Maska and Sushki...they..." He looks away from me, sniffling. "They're going to d-die..." He stops himself and walks hastily into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

Poor Kasparov-kun...I feel so bad for him, having the dogs he loves so much be threatened with a cruel and brutal murder. The stress and conflict he's feeling right now...it's very obviously taking a toll on him. So, in other words, things are going exactly as Monohebi planned.

...Fuck that snake. I really do hate him. I hate how cruel he is for making us play this twisted killing game...I hate how sadistic he is for delighting in our suffering...and most of all, I hate how smart and resourceful he is. He was able to figure out what our secret meeting in the bathhouse yesterday was about effortlessly...also, he was able to exploit Kasparov-kun's weakness in threatening his dogs. Whoever made Monohebi or whoever's controlling him, it's fitting that they made him a snake...because that's what he is. A snake. A slimy, cunning, and cruel bastard. Hell, he's worse than real snakes. At least some of them can be cute sometimes...

Eventually, Kasparov emerges from the bathroom, with wet hair, fresh clothes and most importantly no body odor. I'm glad I listened to him and let him take that shower now...it's so much easier to be around him when he doesn't smell so gross.

"What now?" Kasparov asks flatly as he stands by the door. "We cannot sit around and do nothing for the rest of the day."

"No," I say. "Why not play chess? That's your thing, so maybe you'll feel less bad if we do that."

"I doubt it," Kasparov says. "I tried that when I was partners with Terajima-kun yesterday, and I found myself seriously lacking..." He sighs. "Oh, why not...it is not as if there is any other activity here that would bring me any enjoyment."

"Let's head up to the Rec Room, then," I say. I'll show him Eguchi-san's drawing after a few rounds of chess, which I hope will cheer him up...I wouldn't want him to see it while he's in a state like this. That'd only increase the likelihood of him having a negative reaction, which, for Eguchi-san's sake, I really don't want to happen...

Once the two of us are inside the Rec Room and sitting at a table with a chessboard on it, Kasparov sighs, staring at the chessboard miserably. "I truly wish I were in the mood to play chess...I want to be able to focus only on the game and purge my mind of other things, but...I cannot, no matter how hard I try." He shakes his head. "I wish Watai-sensei were here right now..."

"Who was that again?" I ask. I definitely recognize that name, I just don't remember exactly who it refers to...

"My chess mentor," Kasparov explains. "He always gave such good advice, such as when he once told me, 'To be successful in chess you must purge your mind of outside thoughts. Nothing is of importance but the game for as long as it lasts. Focus on anything else and you will increase your chances of losing tenfold.'" Kasparov smiles fondly. "He used to recite that line exactly whenever I complained to him about some petty grievance I had at the moment...needless to say, I stopped complaining after a while." His smile falls. "Unfortunately, he is not here right now...I can wish for his advice all I want, but nothing will come of it. I am on my own."

No, Kasparov-kun, you're not... "Kasparov-kun, you're not alone," I tell him firmly. "Even if your beloved dogs and your wise old mentor aren't here, you're not alone...because the rest of us are here. Your friends are here."

Kasparov gives me a tired look. "I do not intend to sound unduly harsh, Kawashima-san, but...I do not know if I can call everyone here my friend," he says. "I want to be close to everyone here, I truly do...however, one of us is the traitor and is working for Monohebi. No matter how much I want to be close with everyone here, I cannot overlook that."

That's fair...it's not easy to trust someone in an environment as horrible as the one we're in. Not only is it hard, but it's also dangerous...so I get where Kasparov-kun is coming from. Still, a lack of trust in the group is what led Carrasco-san to kill Aozora-kun, and I can't let something like that happen again. "Well, I doubt this will make you magically trust everyone in the group, but...I have something that I think will make you feel better."

Kasparov looks at me curiously. "Hm? What are you talking about?"

"This," I say as I pull Eguchi's drawing out of my pocket and lay it out on the table in front of him.

At first, Kasparov has no reaction. He only stares at the drawing, dumbfounded. Then, he slowly reaches for it and holds it closer to his face, tears forming in his eyes as he does so. "Did...did you make this?" He asks softly.

I shake my head. "No...Eguchi-san did," I say. "Do you like it?"

He opens his mouth to speak but starts shaking and crying before he can say anything. I'm guessing that's a good reaction?

"I...I...I love it," he says eventually. "My Masha...my Sushki..." He breaks down into tears that are either immense sadness, immense happiness, or both simultaneously.

I smile to myself. So he did like it...I'm sure Eguchi-san will be glad to hear that. "Eguchi-san thought that drawing a picture of your dogs for you might make you feel better," I say. "She put a lot of time and effort into it."

Kasparov wipes some of his tears away. "I...I can tell," he smiles, smiling and crying as he looks at the drawing. He looks at me, his bottom lip trembling as he smiles. "Eguchi-san...she is wonderful. Truly wonderful..." he begins crying again as he holds the drawing close to himself.

Eventually, Kasparov stops crying, folds the drawing up, and puts it in his pocket. "I will have to thank Eguchi-san for this beautiful work of art as soon as I can," he says as he dries his eyes. "It was truly an incredible drawing..."

Yeah, it was really good... "Do you feel better now?" I ask him. "Making you feel better was Eguchi-san's goal in making that drawing."

"I suppose...I feel better, yes," Kasparov says, "but still not good. Unfortunately, there is little more Eguchi-san, you, or anyone else can do to remedy that...because in the end, Masha and Sushki are still in grave danger..."

The positive mood that had filled the room after he saw the drawing vanishes after he says that. I want to tell him that it'll all be alright...that Masha and Sushki will be fine and that everything will work out...but I know that's a lie. Monohebi has him trapped: he has to choose between watching that video and endangering the lives of everyone here and having his dogs be brutally murdered. There's no other option...so he has to pick the lesser of two evils.

"Kasparov-kun," I begin, "you love your dogs. I think that's very obvious."

Kasparov snorts. "Yes, I suppose I have made that quite apparent," he says with a bitter smile. "I love them more than anything..."

I hesitate before I speak again. ...Where am I going with this again? I'm not entirely sure myself...however, I think I have an idea of what I should do. I should probably push Kasparov-kun to choose the outcome with the least possible risk involved.
"Monohebi is making you choose between the probable death of another person here by having us watch the commemoration video and the certain death of your dogs," I continue. "One outcome is certain, the other is not."

Kasparov narrows his eyes at me. "Are you saying you want me to have everyone watch the video that is almost certainly the motive?" he asks. "Kawashima-san, as much as I love Masha and Sushki...I cannot bring myself to have everyone view something which Monohebi has likely engineered to make us kill. We have no idea what evils that video may contain. As such, I believe that choosing to view it would only have deleterious effects on this group."

He's right...it's not a good idea to have everyone watch that video when we have no idea what kind of crazy shit on it...wait a minute. I just got an idea!
"Kasparov-kun, I just thought of a potential solution to the problem," I say.

"What is it?" he asks curiously.

"I think the two of us should watch the video first, and then make a decision on whether to show it to everyone else or not," I suggest. "That way, we could know exactly what's on it, gauge the risk of the two choices we have, and make a decision to show it to the whole group or not based on the assessed risk."

Kasparov ponders my suggestion for a moment. "There are two major flaws with that proposal," he says. "Firstly, if everyone knew we saw that video, they would no doubt pester us to reveal what was on it...especially Domoto-san. She would never stop asking to see it if she knew you and I had viewed it without her. Secondly, there is a risk that the two of us could be tempted to kill by viewing that video."

Both of those are fair considerations...however, I can think of a way to solve those issues. "To address your first concern, we could watch it without everyone knowing," I say. "We could watch it in the Media Room late at night, maybe around 11 PM or so."

Kasparov frowns. "I am not certain that is a good idea...what if you were to kill me, or I was to kill you? Meeting late at night is highly dangerous...one needs to only look to what happened to Aozora-kun to see that. He was lured to Cell Block B by Carrasco-san in the dead of night, which eventually resulted in his demise. I would not want such a thing to become of either of us."

That's a fair point, I guess... "I want to say you should just trust me, but I know that's not good enough," I say. "Hmm...how about each of us tells someone that we're meeting up with each other tonight?"

"Is the entire purpose of our meeting alone at night to watch the video not to ensure that the others do not know we watched it?" Kasparov asks skeptically. "If the two of us told someone about our plan to watch the commemoration video, they would no doubt become curious and pester us about it, as you have stated previously."

"That's why we're not going to tell them that we're watching the commemoration video," I say. "We'll tell them that we're going to be doing something else. It doesn't really matter what we tell them we're doing, as long as it's believable."

"...So you would have us lie," Kasparov says with a hint of disapproval. "I must admit, I do not enjoy the prospect of deliberately lying to someone, however...I suppose it is for the greater good in this case. It is not as if there are any better options of which I can think."

Yeah, I don't like the idea of lying to someone either...but, like Kasparov-kun said, it's for the greater good. It'd be way too risky to decide whether everyone should watch that video or not without seeing it first. "So, do you agree to meet up at around 11 PM tonight in the Media Room to watch the commemoration video, and tell someone that you're doing something else at some point beforehand?"

"No, not yet," Kasparov says. "What about the second concern I mentioned earlier? How can you ensure that neither of us will be tempted to kill after watching that video? It is the motive, after all."

He's right...that is a huge risk to take. However, it can't be avoided...
"We'll just have to trust ourselves to not go crazy," I say. "I know that sounds really stupid, but it's all we can do...someone has to see that video if we want to make a decision to show it to the rest of the group or not. I think the two of us are probably the best people to do that... I mean, neither of us has caved to any of the motives and we've both been pretty helpful in all the class trials."

Kasparov ponders what I say for a few moments. "I remain somewhat unsatisfied with your idea," he says after a while, "however, I believe we have no better options. As such, I will agree with what you have proposed." He sighs. "Hopefully, it will not cause us to have another death."

Yeah, hopefully...
"So, are you okay with playing chess now?" I ask as cheerfully as I can, trying to improve the gloomy mood of the room.

"As I told you earlier, I am not one of your customers," Kasparov says flatly. "You do not have to act upbeat when you are not." He takes a deep breath and stares at the chessboard sitting on the table between us. "However, that is not relevant...yes, I suppose I am ready to begin playing."

After that, Kasparov and I play chess for a while. Unsurprisingly, he beat me every single time. How the hell is he so good at this!? He seems to always have my strategies figured out before I even think of them...not to mention how he's so absorbed in the game that his face is inscrutable. I can never tell if he's bluffing, confident, worried or anything because he's so absorbed in everything.

When it's almost time for dinner, Kasparov sits back in his seat and looks at me with a half-smile. "That was nice, I suppose," he says, sounding somewhat satisfied. "You were not terrible, Kawashima-san."

"Not terrible?" I repeat, not knowing if I should feel offended or complimented. "That's some pretty low praise. I lost every single one of our matches."

"Yes," Kasparov says. "However, you persisted in a curious way. You see, amateurs normally follow certain patterns or strategies they tend to repeat...however, you changed yours quite often. I was perplexed by that...not so perplexed that I could not figure them out, but still perplexed." He takes a white bishop in his hand and strokes it. "You could become quite good with proper training."

I snort. "Don't lie to me, Kasparov-kun," I say. "If I really was good I would've at least come close to beating you."

Kasparov looks doubtful. "Are you certain? I am the Ultimate Chess Grandmaster, after all. Beating me is not exactly an easy feat." He frowns. "I suppose today would have been an easier day to beat me than most, however. I am rather distracted by the current...predicament I face." The slightly positive mood he had gained after playing chess fades. "My dogs are still at risk of being murdered..."

"We have another day until anything will happen to them," I remind him. "Besides, we're going to meet up at 11 in the Media Room to watch that video, remember? We'll know what to do after seeing it."

Kasparov nods slowly. "Yes...Yes, I suppose we will." He looks at the clock. "The time is approaching six, so it would be best for us to be on our way downstairs shortly."

"Yeah," I say, "let's go."

The two of us walk downstairs to the Cafeteria.
"Hey, everyone," I say when we get there. It's then that I notice an amazing smell coming from the Kitchen. "Mmm...what's that smell?"

"Dinner," Domoto says dryly. "Sashihara-kun and Komatsu-kun have been in there cooking for a while."

"Whatever they're making, it smells really good," I say as I sit down.

Eguchi fidgets uncomfortably in the seat next to me. "Yeah...it does..."

Unlike me, the smell of the food probably makes her feel really bad...I feel so bad for her. Fortunately, I have news that'll cheer her up. "Eguchi-san," I say softly.

She looks up at me. "What is it?" she asks. Then, she realizes. "Wait...the drawing! Did Kasparov-kun like it?"

I shake my head. "No, he didn't like it," I say. Eguchi's face quickly grows worried, but I place my hand on her shoulder and smile before she can say anything. "He loved it."

A look of relief crosses Eguchi's face. "R-Really?" she asks incredulously. She smiles and looks at her feet. "I'm glad to hear it..."

"Eguchi-san," Kasparov's voice suddenly says from behind us. We turn around to see him standing behind us, trying and failing to hold back tears.

"What is it, Kasparov-kun?" Eguchi asks him.

"I want to thank you for your drawing," he says through tearily. "It was so very beautiful and heartfelt. So, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, Eguchi-san. I appreciate it more than you could ever know."

Eguchi looks around, blushing from all the attention. "You're very welcome, Kasparov-kun," she says bashfully. "I saw you were struggling and just wanted to help in the best way I could..."

Kasparov nods. "Thank you," he says, closing his eyes. "Thank you so much..." He sits down at the table, still crying.

Domoto looks at Eguchi approvingly. "That was good of you to do, Eguchi-san."

"Yeah, it was r-really kind," Oyamada adds. "It sh-shows how g-good of a p-person you are."

"Oyamada-kun," she says, sounding embarrassed, "stop it..."

"Why should he?" Terajima asks with a slightly playful smile. "He's telling the truth."

Eguchi's face turns a deep red. "You guys..." she says, sounding embarrassed.

I can't help but smile at their exchange. Eguchi-san really doesn't have much to worry about...she has good friends and she's a good person, no matter what she may think.

Eventually, everyone else shows up for dinner, including Motoki, who sits next to me. "Hey," she says when I see her.

"Hi," I reply. I should probably tell her about the meeting tonight with Kasparov-kun...I feel like I can trust her the most out of everyone else here.

"Motoki-san," I whisper to her. "Can I tell you something?"

She looks surprised, but nods. "Sure," she whispers back to me. "What is it?"

"Kasparov-kun and I are going to be meeting up in the Media Room later tonight," I say quietly. "I'm telling you just in case anything happens to me."

Motoki looks worried. "Kawashima-san," she whispers anxiously, "you know that's a bad idea, right? You could be hurt."

"I won't be," I reassure her, sounding surer of myself than I actually am. She's right...as much as I think Kasparov-kun or someone else wouldn't hurt me, I can't deny the very real possibility of that happening.

"Why are you even meeting up with him?" Motoki asks quietly. "You're risking a lot by doing this...how can you be sure it's even worth it?"

I'm not sure how to respond to that at first. I can't tell her it's because of that commemoration video, because she'll become too curious...so I have to come up with something else. "We're going to rewatch the video with Furuhata-kun and the mastermind to try to find clues about the mastermind's identity," I say. It hurts to lie to her, but I have to do it...

"Okay," Motoki whispers, although it sounds like she doubts what I'm saying. "Whatever, you do, just be safe. I don't want you to be hurt..."

"Yo, dinner's ready!" Komatsu shouts from the Kitchen, interrupting our conversation.

"I'm not going to let myself get hurt," I tell Motoki. "I promise,"

"Do you really?" she asks. "Promises are a big deal..."

"I do," I say as I stand up. "Let's get some food. I'm starving."

We go the Kitchen to find the source of the delicious smell I noticed earlier: ten differently sized portions nikujaga stew with sides of white rice and miso soup on each. Mmm, nikujaga...it's been so long since I've had it. I love the way the flavors of the stewed potatoes, beef, and onion mix...
"This looks and smells really good, you guys," I say to Sashihara and Komatsu.

"Thank you, Kawashima-san!" Sashihara shouts. "Komatsu-kun and I have spent a lot of time working on it!"

"Yeah, and a whole lotta time arguin' about how much soy sauce we shoulda used to sweeten it," Komatsu says. "I'm tellin' ya, ya didn't put enough in..."

"Komatsu-kun, I told you three spoonfuls is way too many!" Sashihara shouts. "Not only is the taste overbearing, but it's also unhealthy to have that much!"

Domoto rolls her eyes. "This isn't a damn cooking competition," she says irritatedly. "All that matters is that it tastes good."

"Domoto-san, I have to disagree!" Sashihara shouts. "A food's healthiness is much more important than how it tastes! That's why I put in so many vegetables!"

Domoto pinches her nose. "Can we just eat already?" she asks. "I'm tired of all this noise."

"I'll s-second that," Oyamada says. "B-Besides, I'm h-hungry..."

Sashihara and Komatsu hand everyone their respective plate bowls and we all head out to the Cafeteria together. It takes me a minute to realize the significance of that.
For the first time since the last class trial, Hayasaka-san and Eguchi-san are eating their meals out here instead of with Sashihara-kun in the Kitchen...I'm glad to see that they're making some sort of recovery, even if it's only small steps.

Most of dinner is fairly quiet, with only the sounds of Terajima and Oyamada laughing as they feed each other their food punctuating the otherwise silent table. I guess almost everyone is in a pretty somber mood...well, at least we have Terajima-kun and Oyamada-kun. Their love does brighten things up a lot.

It's only at the end of dinner that any real conversation happens. "So, does anyone have anything they'd like to talk about?" Domoto asks when everyone's finished their food.

Motoki glances at me and back at Domoto but doesn't say anything. She probably wants to tell everyone about what I told her...I feel bad for making her keep a secret like this, but Kasparov-kun and I need to be alone for when we watch that video tonight...we can't risk anyone else seeing it before we know what's on it.

"Nothing?" Domoto asks, looking around at everyone. She still gets no response. "Alright then. See you all tomorrow morning. Until then, stay safe."

Normally, Domoto telling us to stay safe would have little to no effect on me, but it does now. I'm putting my life on the line tonight to risk watching a video that Monohebi obviously wants everyone to see...either I'm really brave, or a complete idiot. Maybe both...

Once dinner is over, I sit around in my room, waiting for the agreed time of eleven o'clock. Ugh, waiting sucks...especially when you do it alone.

I sit down on my bed, tapping my thighs out of boredom, when I feel a piece of paper in my pocket. Confused, I pull it out to find the drawing I made earlier. Oh yeah, I forgot about this...I drew the view from my bedroom window at home earlier. I examine the picture for a while. Wow, this is a terrible drawing. A young primary school student would look like Picasso compared to me. Still, I feel a weird sense of attachment to this drawing...as bad as it is, it represents a lot to me, so I shouldn't just throw it away. I place it on my nightstand and smooth it out. There, that's a nice place for it...

I spend the rest of my time pacing around my room and aimlessly rolling in bed until it's 10:50. Finally...I was getting tired of waiting.

I walk out to the hallway and to the Cafeteria, both of which are eerily empty. I don't see Kasparov-kun around anywhere...he's probably already up in the Media Room. I call the elevator by pressing the button to go up. As I wait for it to come, I find myself anxiously looking around, staying vigilant for any threat in the creepily quiet Cafeteria. Calm down, Wakana...no one's going to hurt you. I tell myself that over and over, but even still, I can't shake the feeling that someone's watching me.

When the elevator finally dings and the doors open, I immediately step inside and press the button to go up to the fourth floor. As soon as the elevator begins ascending, I feel myself becoming more and more anxious as to what the video contains.
What kind of horrible shit will Monohebi have in this video? I just want to get seeing this video over with, because this building sense of anxiety is driving me crazy...

As soon as the elevator arrives on the fourth floor and opens its doors, I swiftly walk over to the Media Room. When I get there, I see Kasparov and breathe a sigh of relief. "You're here," I say. Part of me was worried that he'd be hurt coming up here all alone, so I'm glad to see he's fine...

"I am," he says. "You are here as well." There's a short pause, which Kasparov soon breaks. "I believe we should not waste any time," he says. "I have already plugged the flash drive into a computer and am ready to watch the commemoration video. I am only waiting for you."

I want to say that I'm ready watch the video right now, but that wouldn't be true. Goddammit, why do I have to go to the bathroom now of all times!? It must be my nerves... "I'll be ready soon, I just have to go to the bathroom really quickly," I say. "Is that okay?"

Kasparov nods. "Yes, I suppose it is," he says. "Do not take too long, though. It is dangerous to be alone at night." I really didn't have to be reminded of that, Kasparov-kun...

I leave the Media Room and hurry to the women's bathroom situated closely nearby. Once there, I go to the bathroom and then wash my hands, but I hesitate to leave the room. Am I...am I really ready for this? Am I really ready to watch a video that will serve as Monohebi's motive? What if it makes me want to kill? What if it makes Kasparov-kun want to kill? In either case, I'd have a murder on my hands...

I grip the edges of the sink and take long, slow breaths. ...I need to get a hold of myself. I need to get back out there as soon as I can. Like Kasparov-kun said, it's dangerous to be alone at nighttime, and I don't either of us to be alone for any more time than we need to be.

Feeling less unprepared but still insanely nervous to watch the video, I force myself to leave the women's bathroom and to return to the Media Room.

Suddenly, I see Kasparov storm out of the Media Room, looking furious. ...What the hell!? Where's he going!?

"Kasparov-kun, where are you going!?" I ask him. "Aren't we going to watch the commemoration video!?"

He turns to look at me only briefly, but even with just that brief glance, I can see that he is absolutely furious. "Why are you so mad?" I ask him as he turns away and storms down the hallway, but I get no response.
...What the hell was that?

I'm about to go follow him when I notice Domoto emerging from the Media Room. Domoto-san? What's she doing here!?

"Domoto-san, what are you doing here?" I ask. "And do you know why Kasparov-kun looked so angry?"

Domoto looks at me suspiciously. "I think you can make a good guess, Kawashima-san," she says. "It has to do with you and Kasparov-kun were plotting behind everyone's backs."

Wait, that doesn't mean... "You two watched the commemoration video?" I ask, incredulous. "Why didn't you wait for me?"

"Kasparov-kun took off with the flash drive as soon as it was over," Domoto says. "The last part of it made him quite mad...and understandably so."

"What was in it?" I ask her. "Was it disturbing or weird? Come on, you can tell me."

Domoto crosses her arms. "No, I can't," she says. "Not yet, at least. I can't be sure that you aren't..." She stops herself midsentence.

"You can't be sure that I'm not what?" I ask challengingly. That was some weird tone from her...
"And why won't you tell me about it?"
I worried a lot about that video and had mustered up the courage to watch it, and she's really going to withhold even a basic description of it from me? Oh hell no.

"I'm not telling," Domoto says firmly. She looks at the floor pensively. "It's a strange video, to say the least...you have to see it. A description would not be fitting."

What a weak cop-out of a response...
"Why are you even here?" I ask aggressively, irritated that she's not telling me about the video. "How did you find out we were planning to watch the video?"

"Sashihara-kun told me after dinner," Domoto admits. "He told me Kasparov-kun told him that you and he were going to meet up in the Media Room tonight...which I assumed was for the purpose of watching the commemoration video. So, I decided to follow you and Kasparov-kun up here to see what you were up to and, well...it turns out I was right."

Goddammit, Sashihara-kun...I understand why he'd do that, but I'm upset that he actually did it...

"I'm going to bed now, Kawashima-san," Domoto says as she walks over to the elevator. "I'd advise you to do the same."

"I guess I will," I say as I follow her to the elevator.

Neither of us says anything else to each other as we wait for the elevator, as it descends, or as we walk back to our rooms. Domoto's too lost in her own thoughts, probably having to do with the video, and I'm too lost in mine to say anything. Why was Kasparov-kun so mad after watching the video? Domoto-san seemed mostly unaffected by it, yet he was obviously infuriated when I saw him...what's the reasoning behind that? Maybe it's something that's more personal to him, like his dogs? Or maybe it's something else entirely...who knows. Well, Domoto-san and Kasparov-kun do, but they're not saying anything at the moment.

When I'm finally in bed, I find myself torn. My natural sense of curiosity makes me want to find out what's in that video really badly, but what if there's a good reason Domoto-san was refusing to tell me what was in that video? She did say she couldn't be sure of something about me...what could that mean? I rack my brain over and over again trying to find the best answer to that question, but it eludes me for as long as I can stay awake.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Good morning, inmates. It is now 7 am, which means nighttime has officially concluded. Enjoy another day of confinement.”

Monohebi's morning announcement wakes me up feeling the same as I was when I fell asleep last night: curious and anxious. What the hell about that commemoration video made Kasparov-kun so mad? Hopefully he's calmed down by now so I can ask him...if he hasn't, I might never find out. Also, what did Domoto-san mean when she "couldn't be sure about me?"

With those questions floating around in my head, I take a shower and get ready for the day. Once I'm done, I leave my room and head to the Cafeteria. On my way there, I notice Domoto slowly slinking out of Kasparov's room. "Domoto-san, what are you doing?" I ask her. "What were you doing in Kasparov-kun's room?"

Domoto looks annoyed. "Kawashima-san, I get what you're insinuating and I don't like it,"
she says sternly. "Don't get the wrong idea. We were just talking."

"Really," I say, unconvinced. I somehow doubt that's all they were doing...
"About what? And how did you even get into his room in the first place? Were you there are all night?"

"No, I knocked on his door a few minutes before six," she answers. "Also, get your mind out of the gutter, Kawashima-san. We weren't doing what you think we were. Instead, we were discussing the commemoration video. What was in it, what to do about it, who to..." She stops herself.

"Who to...?" I ask, gesturing for her to finish her sentence. She doesn't. "Come on, aren't you going to tell the rest of us about what you saw in that video? It's pretty important, isn't it?"

Domoto turns her back on me and begins to walk to the Cafeteria. "You'll find out more about it later," she says as she leaves.

She really doesn't want to talk about what was on that commemoration video, does she? It's annoying how she won't talk about it...she did say I'll "find out more about it later," though...so does that mean she'll be talking to me or everyone else in the group about it later today?

I walk into the Cafeteria and am about to sit at the table when I remember what Domoto told me last night. She said Sashihara-kun told her about Kasparov-kun and I's plan, so I should confront him about that. He wasn't supposed to tell anyone...so why did he?
I change my path and start heading to the Kitchen instead of the table.

"Kawashima-san, where are you going?" Eguchi asks. "Aren't you going to sit with us?"

"I will," I say, "I just need to talk to Sashihara-kun first."

Sashihara is close to finishing breakfast when I walk into the Kitchen. He turns around and smiles and he sees me. "Ah, Kawashima!" he shouts. "What do you—" He stops when he sees my face. "...Why do you look so serious?" he asks, sounding nervous and much quieter than usual.

"I don't want to sound too rude," I begin, "but why the fuck did you tell Domoto-san that Kasparov-kun and I were going to meet up last night when it was supposed to be a secret?" I got a little too heated there...the waitress part of me hates that, but I'm too irritated about Domoto-san interrupting everything last and preventing me from watching that video for the rest of me to care.

Sashihara looks taken aback and starts stumbling over his words. "How do you kn—I mean, I don't you know what you're—I mean, I just wanted to..." His voice dies midsentence and he hangs his head shamefully. "I'm sorry, Kawashima-san," he says eventually. "Kasparov-kun told me not to tell me anyone else, but I was..." He pauses. "I suspected Kasparov-kun was lying about what he was going to be doing with you late at night and so I had to tell Domoto-san," he continues. "She's the most trustworthy person in this group, and I couldn't risk either you or Kasparov-kun getting yourselves hurt."

I understand why he told her, but it still frustrates me... "It was supposed to be secret for a reason, Sashihara-kun," I say frustratedly. "Kasparov-kun and I wanted to see the video first and then decide if it was safe to let everyone else see it. But now that Domoto-san's seen it, we have no control over what'll happen." She might stubbornly keep it a secret as she has been...or she might revert to her past behavior and force everyone to watch it because of her desire to seek the truth above all else. Who knows with her...

"I know," Sashihara says regretfully, "and I'm sorry. But I really did think it was the right to do, Kawashima-san." A painful expression crosses his face. "I was only trying to help."

I want to yell at him, but that's not the right thing to do. He had good intentions... "I'm sorry for coming in here to yell at you, Sashihara-kun," I say as I lean against the counter. "I've been frustrated over a lot of things these past few days and I had to get it out. So...I'm sorry I vented at you when you were only trying to help."

Sashihara nods understandingly. "I get that," he says. "Also...don't feel sorry. I deserve it." He turns his back to me to begin cooking again. "Go out to the Cafeteria, Kawashima-san. I'll be done cooking shortly."

I feel like I have more to say to him, but I decide to let him be for now and rejoin the others in the Cafeteria. If I still feel like talking with him after breakfast, I should probably try to be his partner at some point today.

When I sit down at the table, I feel everyone's eyes on me. "What was that about?" Terajima asks.

"I had to talk with Sashihara-kun," I say, staying deliberately vague. I don't want anyone other than the people who already know to learn about what happened last night...

"What were you talking to Hisaya-kun about, Wakana-san?" Hayasaka asks me. I don't respond immediately, making her frown. "Is there someone reason you don't want to tell us? Are you keeping a secret from the rest of us? You know that's a bad idea..."

"I'm sure Kawashima-san has good reasons for not wanting to discuss what she and Sashihara-kun talked about privately," Motoki says, coming to my rescue.

Domoto looks at me knowingly. "Yes, I'm sure she does."

Komatsu looks at Motoki, me, and then Domoto. "...I feel like there's somethin' weird goin' on here," he says suspiciously. "Are ya guys really keepin' secrets from the rest of us?"

"I th-think something s-strange is g-going on here too," Oyamada says, nudging closer to Terajima. "I d-don't really l-like it..."

"Same here," Terajima says. "Secrets are a dangerous thing in the real world. They're even more dangerous in places like this, where mistrust and suspicion lead to murder." His voice becomes menacing. "So...if any of you are keeping a secret, you better have a damn good reason behind it. You're risking your lives and the lives of others."

Holy shit. He's so scary when he's mad...

The tension is palpable when Sashihara emerges from the Kitchen. "Breakfast's ready!" he shouts loudly but with little enthusiasm.

"...We shall return to this discussion after we eat," Kasparov says. He exchanges a glance with Domoto. "Domoto-san and I have something to say regarding your concern, Terajima-kun."

Terajima looks at him with cautious curiosity. "Okay then," he says. "I'm guessing that means you're telling us whatever the hell's going on here, but who really knows with you two."

We all get up and get ourselves a plate of breakfast. It's a little burnt, which is probably my fault due to my talking to Sashihara while he was in the middle of cooking. Sorry for the burnt food, everyone...

Once everyone's done eating, Eguchi speaks up. "So, um...what did you have to tell us, Kasparov-kun?"

Kasparov looks at her with an expression I can't decipher. Why the hell is he looking at her that way...? "It has to do with something Domoto-san and I did last night," he says eventually.

Komatsu wrinkles his nose. "If it was that the two of ya fucked, the rest of us really don't wanna hear it," he says.

Domoto and Kasparov both send piercing glares his way. "No, it was not that, you pervert," Domoto says icily. She crosses her arms. "We watched the commemoration video."

Everyone else except me lets out a collective gasp. "Y-You what!?" Oyamada asks fearfully.

"Domoto-san, please tell me that's a joke," Eguchi says nervously.

"If it is, then it ain't a fuckin' funny one," Komatsu says angrily. "Why the fuck did the two of ya watch that thing!? It's the goddamn motive!"

"The chess boy was probably worried about his dogs," Terajima speculates. "That's probably part of the reasoning."

Kasparov frowns at the mention of his dogs. "That was indeed a component of my decision to watch it," he admits, "but it was not all."

"What was the rest of it, then?" Hayasaka asks. "And when did you guys even watch it? You two weren't partners at all yesterday..."

"We watched it after nighttime," Kasparov answers.

"So that was what you were really doing..." Motoki says.

Eguchi looks at Motoki, confused. "Wait, Motoki-san...did you know about this?" she asks. "Did you watch the video too?"

"No," I say, sighing. This is such a mess... "Listen, everyone, I know this situation is confusing. I guess I should explain..." I tell the whole table about everything that happened with the commemoration video yesterday, from my initial plan with Kasparov-kun to us telling two people to Domoto-san's unexpected interruption.

When I'm done explaining, there's a moment of quiet as everything I just talked about sinks in. "...So ya guys really were plottin' secret shit behind our backs," Komatsu says, annoyed.

"Yes, they were," Terajima says. He looks at me with a cool expression. "Yo...you do realize how stupid and dangerous your idea was, right? The language girl or fitness boy could've easily come up there and killed both you and the chess boy and no one would've known who did it. You almost got yourself killed...you do realize that, right?"

Having Terajima-kun be mad at me is a really unpleasant experience... "Yeah, I do," I say sheepishly. "I knew there was risk involved, but I thought that seeing what was on the commemoration video and then being able to decide whether or not to show the rest of you was worth the risk."

Terajima shakes his head disapprovingly. "Let's be partners for the morning," he says. "You and I need to have a serious talk."

Oh, shit...that will be rough. It's not like I can say no to him, though...he's so freaking huge he'd crush me without a second thought. "Sure," I say, gulping as I do so. I'm so fucked...

"Terajima-kun is right," Domoto says. "However, what's done is done. Kasparov-kun and I have seen the video without any casualties."

"What was on it?" Eguchi asks nervously. "It's Monohebi's motive, so it must be pretty bad..."

Domoto and Kasparov exchange glances with each other. Kasparov shakes his head and mouths something I can't see to Domoto. She nods. "We can't tell you yet," she says. Of course not. For some reason, they're not saying even a word about what's on it...wait a minute. Could it be because they're...

"Are you going to show us the video?" I ask. "Is that why you've refused to say anything about it so far?"

"Indeed," Kasparov says. "Domoto-san and I have discussed this at length and we have finally made a decision. We shall show you the video to all of you at some point today, perhaps when we meet to switch partners. Additionally, we will not say a word about it beforehand, so do not attempt to ask. You will not receive an answer."

"Why are you being so secretive about it?" Hayasaka asks. "Can't you at least give us a hint about what's in it?"

"No," Kasparov says. "Have patience, Hayasaka-san. You shall see what the commemoration video contains soon enough."

Hayasaka doesn't look pleased with that answer, but she relents. "I think it's time to adjourn this meeting and start selecting partners," Domoto says quickly, probably so nobody else asks about the video. "When we go to switch partners at 1 PM, don't come here. Go to the Media Room on the fourth floor instead. Kasparov-kun and I will be waiting there."

With that fairly ominous send-off, we select our partners for the first half of the day. Kasparov and Domoto predictably go to together, Motoki and Hayasaka pair up, as well as Eguchi and Komatsu, Oyamada and Sashihara, and lastly...Terajima and I.

"Uh, hey, Terajima-kun," I say, failing to conceal my nervousness. "Uh...what do you want to do for the morning?"

Terajima stares at me blankly. "I said I wanted to have a talk with you. That's what I want to do." He turns around. "I don't want to do it here, though...too exposed. How about one of those random classrooms here on the first floor? No one ever goes in there."

I have a feeling he's not really asking... "Sure," I say, gulping.

"Let's go, then," Terajima says. He begins walking out of the Cafeteria. I follow behind him, nervous about what's to come. He's probably going to yell at me a lot and get really angry...ugh, I really don't want that to happen. Terajima-kun is so scary when he's mad.

We walk inside the first classroom we encounter. It's a dusty, boring room. I haven't been in one of these rooms in forever...not like I miss it. They're so boring and pointless. "What now?" I ask Terajima.

"We talk," he responds. "Namely, about how you somehow thought it was a good idea to risk your life by planning to meet with someone unsupervised after nighttime. You're aware that you and the chess boy are lucky to be alive after that, right? Someone easily could've killed you both."

"Kasparov-kun and I can defend ourselves," I protest. "Besides, we weren't totally careless. We made sure to tell at least one other person that we were meeting up at nighttime so Kasparov-kun and I wouldn't even attempt to kill each other."

"You're right, that move disincentivized one of you from killing the other...but it only endangered you overall," Terajima says. "You and the chess boy didn't know who the other told about the meeting...so, what if you had accidentally both told the same person and they decided to kill the two of you? It's not unlikely; there were only eight people to tell. Another likely scenario: one of the people you told came up there and murdered you. The language girl didn't know the fitness boy knew, and vice versa." He shakes his head disapprovingly. "I think you get the point. What you did was not only stupid, it was also flat-out dangerous."

I want to resist what Terajima's saying, but I know he's right. Dammit...it sucks to admit that you fucked up, but I have to in this situation. I really didn't consider how dangerous what I was planning was... "Sorry, Terajima-kun," I say shamefully. "I didn't think of all those possibilities. I was too focused on watching the commemoration video..."

"I get that," Terajima says, "but still, you always need to be aware of all possible outcomes when making a plan like that. Not considering outcomes or downplaying their possibility of happening will get you and others hurt." Terajima frowns. "Believe me, I speak from experience."

He's probably referring to how he stabbed Furuhata-kun in self-defense, later leading to his death...or maybe some other previous incident. Either way, I shouldn't press it, because it probably won't end well. "You're right," I say. "I should've considered the possibility that Kasparov-kun and I could die, but I ignored it...all to watch that stupid video." I shake my head at my own stupidity. "To be fair to myself, though...I did have good intentions. I wanted to risk watching that video so I could see whether or not we should have the risk the rest of the group seeing it and potentially save Kasparov-kun's dogs."

Terajima looks sympathetic. "I completely understand why you'd want to save those dogs, but they're good as dead at this point. That snake is an asshole...also, he never said those dogs would live if everyone watched the video. He only said that he wouldn't cut them up and put them in the chess boy's room. So, given his past actions of being a massive piece of shit, I think there's a fairly good chance he's already killed them."

I want to say that Terajima's wrong, but I can't. "...You're probably right," I admit reluctantly as I sit down at one of the desks. "Having Masha and Sushki be dead the whole time would definitely make Kasparov-kun feel a lot of despair, which is what Monohebi loves so much..."

Terajima nods as he sits down at a desk. "It sure would. That's why I think the plan to have everyone watch this commemoration video is a huge mistake on the toy girl and chess boy's part. The snake wants us to see it very, very badly...there's no reason he'd have all this shit with the dogs if not. Giving in to his wishes and having everyone see it is undoubtedly the worst thing we could do in this situation."

"I agree," I say. "I doubt Kasparov-kun will, though...he can't bear to see his dogs be so cruelly murdered. His logic is being blinded by his love for them...we'd have a really, really hard time convincing him to not show us the video."

Terajima gets up from his desk and begins pacing around the room as he thinks out loud. "He and the toy girl are convinced that showing the video will have the least risk involved because the dogs' deaths aren't certain then. However, what they fail to see is that watching the video puts every single one of us at risk. It's the snake's motive, after all. Its entire purpose is to make one of us kill. Watching it could save the chess boy's dogs...but it's almost certainly condemning someone to be murdered."

"True, but one of us killing isn't a certain outcome," I say.

Terajima looks doubtful as he continues pacing. "I want to agree with you very much...but I can't.
Even in the unlikely possibility that no one attempts to kill as a result of that damned video, the snake still has the traitor to rely on. They'll step in and kill someone if they need to."

He's right about that, as much as it sucks to say. The traitor is still a huge concern. "We'll have to convince them to join our side," I say.

"That's not going to fucking work!" Terajima says with sudden anger. "If they didn't come forward after your speech to everyone in the bathhouse the other day, there's no way in hell we'll be able to convince them to stop working for the snake!" He turns away from me, breathing heavily. "There's no way to avoid it," Terajima says shakily, "I'm going to fucking fail at protecting the people here yet again...I'll have blood on my hands yet again."

"Terajima-kun, even if someone else does die, it won't be your fault," I tell him. "Also, stop telling yourself that the previous deaths were your fault, because they weren't. You didn't kill anyone."

"I pretty much did," he counters. "I would've been the first killer if it weren't for the revolutionary boy killing Furuhata-kun after I stabbed him. All the consecutive deaths happened as a result of that first trial...so, you're wrong. Every death so far has been my fault. I've failed at the one fucking job I have: to protect the people around me. I've failed six goddamn times...and I'm going to fail again!" He slams his fist on the wall several times. "AAGHHHHHH!! Why can't I stop these fucking deaths from happening!?!?" He collapses to the floor, sobbing. "I just want everyone to be safe...but I can't save everyone, no matter how hard I try...I can't even remember everyone's fucking name..."

Poor Terajima-kun...it hurts to see him like this. Seeing him lament over his failures also gives me unpleasant flashbacks to Aozora-kun...
"Terajima-kun," I say softly as I walk over to him, "all is not lost. You can still save everyone still alive from dying. And even if someone else does die, please don't blame yourself. Blame Monohebi, whoever's controlling him...but not yourself. That's what Monohebi wants. He wants you to blame yourself so much you self-destruct and fall into the despair he loves so much...so, please don't give in to what he wants. Alright?"

Terajima takes several deep breaths before responding. "...If you say so," he says flatly. "I guess you're right when you say the snake and whoever's controlling him are really the ones to blame here...if it weren't for them, we wouldn't be in this fucked up killing game to begin with. Still, I can't manage to completely forgive myself for letting six people die...it wouldn't be right for me, as a bodyguard whose sworn duty is to protect people, to do that."

I nod. "Take your time," I say. "I do hope you realize that you're not at fault here as much as you think you are, though...because it hurts to see you blame yourself like this."

"It does hurt to blame myself like this," Terajima says. "However, I really don't that think it's that undeserved when I was directly responsible for the first murder here."

"You didn't kill Furuhata-kun," I say firmly. "That was Yamaguchi-kun...or Saneyoshi-kun, if you want to use his real name. That doesn't matter, though. What matters is that you didn't kill Furuhata-kun. He tried to kill you! He was the one who started everything. He wrote the note to you telling you to come to the Storage Room, he tried to stab you...you only acted in self-defense when you stabbed him."

"Yes, I did," Terajima concedes, "but that wasn't the issue as much as the fact that I left him to die. I should've gone back to the party and told everyone about what happened immediately, but I was so ashamed, so full of guilt from having hurt someone that I couldn't bring myself to." He unclenches his fist and lets out a deep, agonizing sigh. "I really, really do hate myself for doing that...but what I hate myself for more is not stopping the deaths that came after. The space boy, the garden girl...neither of them had to die."

I shake my head frustratedly. "Terajima-kun, neither of their deaths were your fault," I say reassuringly. "Carrasco-san's main motivation for killing Aozora-kun was the traitor's existence and the distrust that we started forming among each other. And Niizuma-san...well, she was a crazy bitch. There's nothing you, I, or anyone else could've done to stop her from killing."

Terajima doesn't say anything immediately. "It all comes down to that fucking traitor, doesn't it..."

"Yeah, it does," I say slowly. "They're responsible for a lot of horrible shit happening, much more so than you." I look at the floor sadly. "We need to figure who they are, but I have no idea how to do that..."

Terajima turns and looks at me with a strange expression. "About that..." he says. "I might have an idea who the traitor is."

Wait...WHAT!? "Terajima-kun, are you saying what I think you are!?" I ask, shocked. "You know who the traitor is!?"

"I said I might have an idea who they are," he corrects me. "As a bodyguard, I have to always be on the lookout for any potential dangers without my adversaries knowing...that's why I always wear sunglasses, so I can move my eyes without other people seeing. It just so happens that whenever the traitor is brought up in conversation, one person in particular sometimes has very strange reactions...slight, almost unnoticeable reactions, but something I pick up on instantly."

"Well?" I ask. "Who is it?"

Terajima hesitates. "I...I can't say," he says. "If I wrongly accused someone of being the traitor, I'd put them at risk of being killed and I'd let the real traitor get away scot-free...and I can't risk that. Not after I've failed to stop three murders so far. So, as much as I want to tell you, I can't...not until I'm one-hundred percent sure the person I'm thinking of is the traitor. Sorry."

I completely understand why Terajima-kun doesn't want to tell me who he's suspecting just yet, but it really sucks to be left in the dark. "Are you sure you can't tell me?" I ask. "I promise I won't tell anyone else."

"No," Terajima says. "You've played a huge role in solving past class trials. If I tell you who I'm suspecting, you'll have a suspect in mind immediately if another death does happen, which could lead to a false vote if the person I'm suspecting isn't the killer. That's a very dangerous possibility, and one I won't risk."

"You don't have to worry about that, Terajima-kun," I assure him. "I promise I'll be fair and objective no matter what happens."

"...No," Terajima says stubbornly. "I won't tell you or anyone else until I'm completely sure. Forget I even told you about it. Also...don't worry. I'll make sure to keep a close eye on this person to make sure they don't try anything."

So he isn't going to tell me...ugh, that sucks. I was hoping I could finally learn who the traitor is...

There's a long pause where neither Terajima nor I say anything. "Well, what now?" I ask eventually. "We talked, just like you wanted to."

"We have," Terajima says flatly. "Hmm...I really don't know what to do now. It doesn't matter to me, anyway."

I think about what we should do. We
should do something lighthearted and fun that doesn't require much thought after how heavy that conversation was...
"Why don't we go up to the Arcade?" I suggest. "There's a lot of fun games in there."

"Sure," Terajima says.

The two of us make our way to the Arcade and, once we get there, play on the wide variety of Arcade machines until a little before 1 PM.

"That was a lot more fun than I expected," Terajima says with a smile after we finish playing on our last machine, which is a retro pinball machine themed after some cheesy-looking 1980's American action film.

"Yeah, it was," I reply.
"This is a nice place to go to clear your mind and just have a lot of fun." As soon as I say that, my eyes land on the broken Taiko no Tatsujin machine, which makes my happy mood dissipate immediately. What a shitty way to bring me back to reality...I really didn't have to be reminded of Aozora-kun's murder.

Terajima follows my eyes to the Taiko no Tatsujin machine and a frown comes over his face. "...Let's go up to the Media Room," he says.

I don't argue. The two of us walk up to the Media Room on the fourth floor, where Domoto and Kasparov are waiting.

"Hi," I say to them.

"...Hello," Domoto says distantly.

"Come over to this computer," Kasparov says, gesturing to the computer closest to him and Domoto. Terajima and I do as he says and walk over to the computer, which Kasparov has already plugged the flash drive into. A window containing the names and icons of the two videos is the only thing on the screen. I'm really nervous to watch this commemoration video...

My nervousness only grows as the other three partnerships all arrive. Oyamada and Sashihara look very nervous as they enter, while Eguchi and Komatsu both seem morbidly curious when they enter. Hayasaka and Motoki just seem like they want to get it all over with when they arrive. Once everyone's here, Kasparov clears his throat.

"I shall be starting the video now," he announces. "Make sure to keep your eyes on the computer screen during the entirety of the video. It is not terribly long, so I truly am not asking much."

"Yo, wait up," Terajima says from beside me, "are you sure this is a good idea? This video is the snake's motive."

"Yeah, I really don't think we should seeing it either," Hayasaka says.

Kasparov looks at the two of them disapprovingly. "You do not understand," he says. "You all must watch this video. To ignore the information it contains would only be to our collective detriment."

With that cryptic advice, he clicks on the commemoration video file, and it begins playing.

For the first few seconds, the video is just a black screen. Suddenly, bright, flashing text appears on the screen that reads, "Thank you so much!" What...? What's it talking about? Before I can think too much about it, another line of text appears on the screen. "Without you, none of this would be possible. I would like to commemorate your invaluable contributions to the killing game." After a few seconds, that line is replaced by another that says, "Yes, this video is dedicated to one person among you all. The person who is responsible for this killing game and made it possible." Hold on...what? Someone here's responsible for this killing game!?

All of a sudden, the text disappears and the video starts playing distorted celebratory music as it quickly shows segments of other videos. An overhead shot of hands furiously typing on a computer, someone convulsing violently as they foam at the mouth, graphic footage of surgery, several gruesome pictures of different murder scenes, all flash by with text above it all that reads, "This is what you wanted. This is what you wanted. This is what you wanted. This was your plan."

Lastly, the images stop flashing by and the video lingers on a collage of several different drawings...but not just any drawings. They're sketches of Monohebi with notes on his personality and design scrawled across them. But the worst part is that all the drawings look like they were done digitally. No...that can't mean...
The drawings of Monohebi disappear to be replaced by a singular line of text. "Thank you!" Then, the video ends.

For a very long moment, no one says anything. That video...it said that one of us is responsible for this killing game. Then, it showed us drawings of Monohebi that were done digitally...that means...no. No, I can't bring myself to believe it....there's only one person here who likes to draw things digitally...

"...What the fuck was that?" Komatsu asks, sounding shaken.

"I d-don't know, b-but it was r-really creepy..." Oyamada says fearfully.

"It said that one of us made the killing game possible," Sashihara says quietly. "But who is that person?"

"I think that's pretty obvious," Domoto says. She and Kasparov look at each other and nod. "You see," Domoto starts, "Kasparov-kun and I have discussed this at length and are now confident in what we are about to say."

No...no...I can't believe it...

"What are you going to say?" Sashihara asks apprehensively.

No...no...no no no no no no....

Domoto takes a deep breath, her face hardening as she does so. "The person responsible for this killing game...the one who made those drawings of Monohebi...the one who's responsible for all the pain and suffering we've endured in this prison..." Domoto is practically shaking with rage as she points. "That person is you, Yuzuki Eguchi."

Eguchi looks at Domoto's hand pointing at her, shocked. "Wha...me?" she says in disbelief. "No, you can't be...I'm not...this isn't..." she continues, seemingly unable to form coherent sentences.

"Hold the motherfuckin' phone..ya ain't seriously tellin' me ya think Eguchi-san's the one who planned this whole killin' game, are ya!?" Komatsu says incredulously. He stomps his foot on the ground. "I ain't gonna take it! I ain't gonna let ya accuse her like that!"

"Why not?" Kasparov asks coldly. He goes up to the video and rewinds the video to the drawings of Monohebi. Then, he pulls out the drawing of his dogs Eguchi did for him yesterday and holds it beside the computer. "Do you notice any similarities?"

I look between the drawings, my heart sinking as I do so. I noticed earlier and I didn't want to accept it, but there's no denying it now. All the drawings share
the exact same art style...not just a similar art style, the exact same one. That, combined with the fact that all the Monohebi sketches were done digitally, which is Eguchi-san's preferred method...it could only mean one thing.

"Holy shit," Terajima whispers softly. "All those drawings look so similar...they were definitely done by the same person."

"No," Komatsu says as he shakes his head violently. "There's no fuckin' way..."

"If Eguchi-san d-drew those s-sketches of M-Monohebi...d-does that m-mean...she m-made him?" Oyamada asks, terrified.

"NO!" Eguchi protests loudly. "That's not it at all! I'd never do that...I hate Monohebi!"

Domoto glares at Eguchi. "Really? Then why'd you write 'So cute~' next to him in all your drawings?"

"Wha...no, I never did that!" Eguchi says. "I didn't write that...I didn't draw that...I didn't plan this killing game!"

Domoto's glare intensifies, but she doesn't say anything to Eguchi. Instead, she turns to me. "Kawashima-san. You and Eguchi-san were partners yesterday when she made that drawing of Kasparov-kun's dogs. Did she not draw it in front of your own eyes?"

I feel Eguchi's gaze on me, but I can't bear to look at her. "...Yes," I say, although it breaks my heart to do it. "She made that drawing...I can't deny it."

Domoto returns her scathing glare to Eguchi. "There you have it," she says icily, "you made that one drawing of Kasparov-kun's dogs. Because it shares the same art style as Monohebi's drawings, that means you drew those too. Right?"

Eguchi opens her mouth and closes it, again and again. "I...I don't remember doing that," she says. "I never would've done that...I hate this killing game! I never would've planned i—"

"Cease spewing your lies," Kasparov interrupts, his voice overflowing with fury. "You were the girl Furuhata-kun talked about it in both his videos. You do recall that girl and Furuhata-kun had a plan, correct?" He steps closer to Eguchi, his face contorted with pure rage. "That plan was this killing game, was it not? You and Furuhata-kun set everything up, allowing the true mastermind to step in and take control. That is, assuming that you, Furuhata-kun, or the two of you together are not the true masterminds, all of which are possibilities."

"Kasparov-kun, you're not making sense," Sashihara says quietly. "If she was the mastermind, why would Eguchi-san make that drawing at all? It's the key evidence that's allowing you and Domoto-san to identify her of being the person in the video..."

"Although we acknowledge it's a possibility, neither Kasparov-kun nor I believes Eguchi-san to be the true mastermind," Domoto says. "Instead, we believe she is an accomplice. The mastermind probably made this video because they wanted to inform Eguchi-san that she was on their side, which they would do through the evidence of the Monohebi drawings. If Eguchi-san hadn't made that drawing of Kasparov-kun's dogs, only she would've recognized her art style and realized she designed Monohebi. Fortunately for the rest of us, though...Eguchi-san fucked up the mastermind's plans and made that drawing."

Eguchi begins to cry. "Please...just stop," she says tearfully. "This isn't true...I'm not the mastermind, I'm not an accomplice...I'm just one of you! I care about all of you, I'd never plan a killing gam—"

"Silence," Kasparov commands. "You are a rank, manipulative bitch...no one needs to hear the filth that spews from your mouth." He holds the drawing of his dogs out in front of her and begins to rip it to shreds. "I do not want any of the worthless trash your vile hands have made, either."

Eguchi sobs even harder as he rips her drawing apart. "K-Kasparov-kun...D-Domoto-san...please, um, believe me," she says pleadingly. "I r-really, um, didn't d-do, um, a-any of this..."

"Even if they don't believe in you...I do, Yuzuki-san!" Hayasaka says. She looks at Domoto and Kasparov with a defiant expression. "I'm not going to let you do this to her! Not with just the evidence of those drawings. That's not enough to accuse her of something so serious!"

Kasparov looks unimpressed. "You say we do not have enough evidence," he says. "Fortunately for you, we have more. Firstly, Eguchi-san is a programmer, is she not? She builds entire games from scratch, so surely she would be capable of not only designing how Monohebi looks but also creating the AI that controls his robot, correct?" He doesn't wait for an answer. "Secondly, the videos with Furuhata-kun. He mentioned the girl with a plan was inclined to become angry...did Eguchi-san not begin to have more angry outbursts after she regained her memories? She suddenly yelled at Domoto-san and me for discussing what to do with the flash drive, did she not? She became vindictive and mentioned a 'dark side' of hers as she took revenge against you in the last trial, did she not?"

Hayasaka has no immediate rebuttal. "The point is, Eguchi-san has changed for the worse after she regained her memories," Kasparov continues. "The mastermind targeted her in this motive and the last not necessarily because he wants her to kill...but because he wants her to realize who she truly is and join his side. That is the point of the videos with Furuhata-kun as well. He wants her to remember that she was the girl with the plan and to remember the memories that were taken from her."

Hayasaka's mouth moves, but she can't seem to say anything.

"C-C'mon, Hayasaka-san...can't you, um, say s-something?" Eguchi says tearfully. She looks over at Terajima and Oyamada. "You guys...y-you're my friends. D-Don't you, um, b-believe in me?"

"I r-really w-want to, Eguchi-san...b-but...I c-can't," Oyamada says regretfully. "I'm r-really s-sorry..."

Terajima can't bring himself to look at Eguchi. "I'm sorry, Eguchi-san," he says with pain in his voice. "I don't know..."

Eguchi shakes her head and cries even harder. Then, her eyes land on Komatsu. "Komatsu-kun," she pleads, "p-please, um, believe me. N-None of this is true!"
Komatsu can't seem to find his words. "Komatsu-kun, PLEASE," Eguchi says, louder and more intensely this time. Still, he can't seem to say anything. Finally, Eguchi rushes up to him and begins shaking his shoulders. "Yutaka-kun! P-Please, defend me! I l-love you! Don't you l-love me? Didn't you say you d-did when we w-were in the M-Music Room earlier!?"

Komatsu looks at her with an agonizing expression. "I...I did," he admits, "but this...I can't deny the truth when it's right in front of me. I wanna believe in ya, Eguchi-san, I really fuckin' do...but I jus'...I can't deny it when it's right in fronta me..."

She sobs as she collapses to the floor in front of him. This is awful...even if all of what Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san are saying is entirely true, which is a lot more likely than I want to believe...Eguchi-san doesn't deserve this. She doesn't deserve to be abandoned by everyone she cares about, and the boy she loves...

"You are all alone, Eguchi-san," Kasparov says coldly. "Do not fret, though. I am sure the mastermind will enjoy your company."

"Y-You...you...YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT!" Eguchi screams as she lunges forward at Kasparov, knocking him to the ground and beginning to claw at his neck. "SHUT THE FUCK UP! I DIDN'T DO ANY OF THAT! YOU'RE JUST A LYING PIECE OF SHIT!"

"Eguchi-san, get off him!" Terajima commands in a booming voice.

"NO!" she shouts. "I WON'T LET HIM AND THAT TOY BITCH ACCU—AGHHHH!" She shrieks as Terajima tears her
off Kasparov, forcibly holding her hands behind her back as she fights desperately against him. "LET GO! LET...GO! Let go of me! Please...let go...please..." She collapses to the floor, sobbing softly.

"Kasparov-kun, are you alright?" Domoto asks worriedly.

Kasparov has noticeable red scratches all around his neck, but he nods. "Yes, I am," he says as he gets up. He looks over at Eguchi with a mixture of rage and pity. "I believe that last outburst speaks for itself."

No one says anything for a long, long time. Eguchi-san designed Monohebi and is responsible for this whole killing game...I desperately don't want to believe it, but I have to. I can't deny the truth.

"What now?" I ask, feeling empty inside.

"We lock her up," Motoki says instantly, "and we do it in one of those solitary confinement cells downstairs."

I'm taken aback by Motoki's suggestion. "...What? Lock her up? Don't you think that's a little too harsh?"

"Not at all," Domoto says. "Kasparov-kun and I were going to propose something like that, actually...someone like her is dangerous, just as much as the traitor is, if not even more so. We can't let her roam around the prison freely."

"No, that's not right," Hayasaka protests. "We can't even be sure Yuzuki-san is guilty of everything Sergey-kun and Otoha-san are accusing her of...besides, even if she is actually guilty, she doesn't deserve to be locked in a dark cell all alone! No one deserves that..."

"I disagree," Motoki says. "The person who's responsible for causing all of our stress and pain and agony and suffering and, most of all, every one of the deaths during this killing game...they absolutely fucking deserve this. They need to be punished!" Motoki's eyes are burning with rage. "And don't pretend like there's any doubt about this, Hayasaka-san. With the drawings, Eguchi-san's behavior, and the videos of Furuhata-kun, we can pretty safely assume that Eguchi-san is guilty of what Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san think she is."

Hayasaka looks at Eguchi, who's still sobbing heavily, and then at the floor. "But I made a promise to Yuzuki-san to help her...I can't give up on her when she needs me the most."

"Yes you can," Motoki says. "That bitch doesn't deserve your help. Your promise doesn't mean shit anymore, not when it was made to the soulless piece of shit who's responsible for this whole killing game."
Hearing Motoki-san, the person who'd normally be deadset on keeping her promises speak this way is really disturbing...

"M-Motoki-san, y-you're acting w-weird," Oyamada says. "D-Don't p-promises mean a l-lot to you?"

Oyamada-kun's right...hearing Motoki-san, the person who'd normally be deadset on keeping her promises speak this way is really disturbing...

"I do care a lot about promises," Motoki says, "but this situation is different. Eguchi-san isn't who we thought she was. Any promises made to her in the past mean nothing now that her true, terrible self has been revealed."

Eguchi begins crying even harder after Motoki says that. "I'm n-not..." she begins, but she can't anything else. She can only cry. Eguchi-san...

"So, are going to lock her in one of those solitary confinement cells or not?" Sashihara asks seriously. "I'm not sure I like the idea, but...I don't know what else to do. Solitary confinement is a horrible punishment..."

"If we are to put her in a cell, it might as well be the most secure type, especially as she has proven herself to have a capacity for violence," Kasparov runs his hand over the scratches on his neck as he says that.

"We c-can't just l-leave her in a c-cell, though," Oyamada says. "Th-That'd leave her r-really exposed...s-someone could k-kill her if she's l-left all alone..."

Kasparov nods. "Yes, that is correct...as terrible as Eguchi-san is, we still do not want her to die. We will need one of the partnerships for the afternoon to act as guards."

"Osamu-kun and I could do it," Terajima says. "I'm the Ultimate Bodyguard, so I doubt anyone will try to hurt her while I'm there."

Domoto eyes him suspiciously. "You are the Ultimate Bodyguard, yes...but you and Oyamada-kun are friends of Eguchi-san. I don't want to risk the two of you caving in to her wishes and letting her out."

Terajima looks at her with an irritated expression. "Do you still distrust me that much, toy girl? I'm not going to just let her out for no reason."

"It's not you that I distrust so much as Oyamada-kun," Domoto says, crossing her arms. "He lacks the resolve that a guard needs. If you want to guard Eguchi-san, Oyamada-kun can't be your partner. I think Kasparov-kun would be a better choice."

"I c-could be g-guard," Oyamada says crossly. "Y-You're just being m-mean and j-judgmental, Domoto-san..."

"Sorry, but I'm not going to allow Eguchi-san to escape out of that cell, even if it means being rude to you," Domoto says. She turns her attention back to Terajima. "So, Terajima-kun, what will it be? Will you remain partners with Oyamada-kun and not guard Eguchi-san, or will you choose to be partners with Kasparov-kun instead?"

Terajima looks conflicted. "I..." he begins, but he doesn't know what to say afterward.

"I-It's alright, E-Eisuke-kun..." Oyamada tells him. "I'll be f-fine...it'd b-be best if you w-were one of Eguchi-san's g-guards...she'll be s-safest with you th-there..."

Terajima nods. "...Fine," he says. "I'll be partners with Kasparov-kun."

"That is agreeable," Kasparov says. "Let us transport Eguchi-san to a solitary confinement cell immediately. Every moment she is free is a threat to our collective safety."

He and Terajima half-walk, half-drag the still sobbing Eguchi out of the Media Room to the elevator, leaving the rest of us in silence. What just happened...I have no words. I'm still in shock, honestly...Eguchi-san is the one who created Monohebi. Not only that, she planned this killing game, with Furuhata-kun being somehow involved in everything. The evidence of all that seems undeniable, but...is it really true? It's just too much to believe...and it doesn't make complete sense. If that mastermind really does want Eguchi-san to be on their side, why did they remove her memories of creating Monohebi and planning the killing game in the first place? It doesn't make sense...so there has to be more to it. We're not seeing the full picture here...

"I guess we should make our partnerships now..." Hayasaka says eventually, looking downcast.

"There'll have to be a group of three, given that there's only seven of us left," Domoto says, "but yes, you're right. We should get into our partnerships for the afternoon immediately." I should probably try to be partners with Sashihara-kun...I felt like I was unduly harsh to him during our conversation in the Kitchen earlier. I want to make sure he knows I don't hate him and that I understand what he did, even if I do believe it was really, really stupid.

I immediately walk up to Sashihara. "Want to be partners?" I ask him.

"Sure, I guess," he says distantly. He's probably still lost in thought after what just happened...not that I blame him.

The two of us stand in silence as the other groups, Domoto and Motoki and Hayasaka, Oyamada, and Komatsu, leave the Media Room. Well, this is awkward. "I think we should work out," Sashihara says suddenly. "Doing that can help clear the mind, which is something I think we both need after...that."

"Yeah, let's do that," I say. I definitely need something to clear my mind after the insanity of what just happened...it was so much all at once. Also, I could clear things up with Sashihara-kun once we're done with the workout. We'll both be less inclined to have a confrontation after it.

We walk the short distance to the Gym on the fourth floor, and it's only when we get there that I realize I'm not in workout clothes. Well, shit...working out in these pants and these shoes will be pretty terrible. I've had to rush around in the restaurant for hours on end in them, though...so at least I'm used to it. At least I don't have to wear my apron while working out here...

Once I lay my apron on a rack of weights that are way too heavy for any normal human to use, Sashihara starts taking some deep breaths behind me. "Are you ready?" he says, as he slowly pumps himself up. "This is going to be pretty intense. I'm thinking of doing a lot of leg work today. You up for that?"

"Uh...I guess?" I say, having no idea if I'm actually prepared or not. I'm probably not, in all honesty. I still remember Kasparov-kun and Komatsu-kun being absolutely wrecked by Sashihara's workout routine during the talent show, and that was only twenty minutes or so. I'm so fucked...

"Alright, let's begin!" Sashihara says loudly with all the energy that I've come to expect from him. Still, his energy and loudness don't feel completely genuine right now...I guess that's because of what just happened with Eguchi-san. Not like I blame him for seeming off...honestly, I'd be more concerned if he was acting normally right now. I quickly shake my head to try and chase those thoughts out of my mind. No, I can't focus on any of that right now. I need to clear my mind and focus only on the workout...

"Let's get started," I say to him, and we start the workout right after.
It only takes me about three minutes to regret ever choosing to be partners with Sashihara. Holy fucking SHIT, this man has no chill...the rests are so short, the exercises difficult, the rep counts high...how can he expect a normal human to do all these things?

I manage to forget all about the situation with Eguchi during the workout, but it comes at the cost of lots and lots of pain, lost breath, sweat, calluses, and aching muscles. When it's all over, I can barely stand and I feel lightheaded. "...Wow," is all I can manage to say. "That was...the most intense...workout of my life...my legs...are aching...so much..."

Sashihara smiles triumphantly. "Aha! Then it was a success!"

"It's a success for me to be aching all over?" I ask.

"Well, not if you're in searing pain," Sashihara clarifies. "That'd be bad. But if it's all just normal aching, then yes, it was a success!" His smile fades slightly. "I thought the workout would be easier for you, though...I only had you do my beginner's regimen."

Wait...beginner's regimen!?
"That was meant for beginners!?" I ask incredulously. "Holy shit, I'd never be able to do one of your expert workouts..."

"Don't talk like that!" Sashihara shouts. "Of course you wouldn't be capable of doing my higher-level workouts now, but with the proper training, I'm sure you could! Don't discount your potential based only on an initial lack of fitness!"

Lack of fitness? I mean, he's not wrong. I'm not in the best shape ever, but it still sucks to hear him say that about me. "I guess I could them eventually, but definitely not any time in the near future," I say. I sit on one of the lifting benches, feeling completely exhausted. "Wow...I'm wiped. You really know how to push people to their limits, Sashihara-kun..."

"Of course I do!" Sashihara says proudly. "People have to be pushed to their limits in order to improve! Once you become comfortable with a certain exercise or weight, you must always increase the intensity! That's how you keep getting better and better until you become the best possible person you can be!"

That's an admirable attitude that he has...constant improvement isn't for everyone, though. Some people just work out to maintain a healthy level of fitness, which is just fine in my opinion. "Doesn't that type of approach just always leave you constantly unsatisfied? If you're always trying to get better, that could pretty easily cause you to ignore or downplay your own successes."

Sashihara frowns. "That's a pretty negative way of looking at it...and not something that I've seen happen, in my own experience. I guess it's possi—" All of a sudden he starts coughing violently and clutches his medical face mask in one hand and the side of a rack of weights in the other.

"Sashihara-kun, are you okay?" I ask, worried. That coughing sounded really bad...

Sashihara breathes deeply and closes his eyes tightly. "No...not again..." he whispers to himself.

Okay, something definitely isn't right here. "Sashihara-kun, what's wrong?" I ask him. "You've had coughing fits like these before...what's with it?"

Sashihara looks at me warily. "It's...it's none of your business," he says quickly as he regains his composure. "Please don't ask about it."

Sorry, Sashihara-kun, but I can't do that. "No, I'm not going to ignore something like that," I say stubbornly. "There's obviously something wrong with you...what is it? Do you know?"

Sashihara looks at me, a pleading look in his eyes. "Please, please don't ask about it," he says. "I really, really, really don't want to talk about it."

"Why not?" I ask. I know I'm being rude by defying Sashihara-kun's wishes and continuing to press him about this...but I can't just leave this be. Not when it's so apparent something is very wrong here.

"I...I'm not comfortable talking about it," Sashihara says. "It's something very personal...so, could you please not ask about it anymore? I've asked you to stop several times now...so, will you?"

If he's really not going to budge, I shouldn't pursue this anymore...things would get too awkward, especially when I became partners with him to let him know I don't hold any ill will towards him. "Okay," I say reluctantly. "I'm sorry for asking so much...I was worried."

"I understand that," Sashihara says, "however, it's my own problem. I need to sort it out myself."

I don't agree with what Sashihara's saying, but I don't push the subject any further. "Sorry for being so nosy and inquisitive," I apologize. "I didn't mean to be too overbearing..." I pause. "Also, I'm sorry about getting angry at you for telling Domoto-san about Kasparov-kun and I's meeting. I was frustrated over her disrupting our plans and needed to take it out on someone...so, I want to clear the air and let you know I don't hold any ill will against you."

Sashihara nods slowly. "Thank you," he says. "And don't apologize for getting mad at me. Like I said before, I deserve it." He begins to stretch shortly after saying that. "I'm going to do some stretching real quick, then I'll take a shower, and then start dinner. You down for that?"

"Sure," I say. "I'm a pretty horrible cook, but I guess I could try to help out with cooking dinner once we get there."

Sashihara and I stretch for a few minutes and then head down to our respective rooms to take a shower. Ah, it feels so good to take a nice, warm shower after that exhausting workout...it's literal bliss. Then, as I'm finishing washing my hair, the incident with Eguchi suddenly pops back into my mind. Damn, I had managed to forget about that for a short while. I guess that extremely hard workout helped me focus on other things, if only for a little while...

Even after I'm done with my shower and help out Sashihara-kun with his dinner preparations, I can't force the thoughts of what happened earlier out of my head. Eguchi-san is locked in a solitary confinement cell in the basement right now...she must be feeling awful. I remember her talking to me about how she was scared she was becoming a bad person yesterday, and now Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san are trying to prove that she is one...how much pain and suffering must she be going through? And for what...a stupid fucking video!? Kasparov-kun was right when we first found that flash drive...we should've never watched either of the videos on it. All they've done is make us play right into Monohebi's hands.

Feeling thoroughly depressed by what's happened, I muddle through finishing the dinner preparations with Sashihara-kun. I hear the murmurs of conversation coming from the Cafeteria more and more as dinner time approaches. Eventually, dinner is finally ready, and I help serve the food in the Cafeteria.

"Thank you for bringing our food out to us, Kawashima-san," Kasparov says as I hand him his plate.

I give him a dead smile. "You're welcome," I say with almost no emotion. I
know I should be pretending to be happy right now like I always do when I'm at work, but...there's a limit to how much I can pretend. I can't keep a smile on at a time like this. It's also extra difficult in this case because I honestly have mixed feelings about Kasparov-kun right now, and Domoto-san too. I don't like how harsh they've been to Eguchi-san...

When I'm done handing out everyone's food and sit down with my own plate, I see Oyamada looking around, confused. "W-Wait...who's going to g-give Eguchi-san her f-food?" he asks. "She n-needs to eat t-too..."

"We'll bring her food after the rest of us eat," Domoto says dismissively. "She can wait."

Hayasaka looks at Domoto with a disapproving stare. "You're being unnecessarily mean, Otoha-san," she says. "You locked Yuzuki-san in a fucking solitary confinement cell...isn't that enough suffering for her? You don't need to force too much suffering on her...that's not right."

"Really," Domoto says flatly. "What's not right about it?
Do you want us to pamper the girl who's the reason we're locked in this horrible prison and suffering in this killing game? Do you want us to lavish her with comfort when all she's done is cause us harm?"

"You shouldn't have her locked up at all," Hayasaka protests. "You and Sergey-kun are being too confident...how can you be so certain you're right? Besides, if you're wrong, you've messed up really badly. Don't you feel even a tiny amount of hesitation right now?"

"I a-agree with Hayasaka-san," Oyamada says. "I d-don't think we sh-should be k-keeping Eguchi-san in a c-cell. Honestly, I th-think Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san are b-being really sh-shortsighted right now...they w-watched Monohebi's m-motive video and they're p-playing right into his h-hands..."

"You are mistaken, Oyamada-kun," Kasparov says. "We are not being shortsighted. The entire purpose of that video was not for us to suspect Eguchi-san...as I previously explained, it was to covertly inform her that she was on the side of the mastermind. That is why the mastermind included her drawings. If Eguchi-san had not made that drawing for me, only she would have recognized her own art style. Thus, only she would have been able to reason that she was the person being talked about it in the video and more distrust would have formed among our group without the rest of us knowing the identity of the person in the video. So, no, Oyamada-kun, we are not falling for a trap set by Monohebi. We are circumventing one."

"Just what I was going to say," Domoto says. "Also, let's look on the bright side here. We have one less suspect for who the traitor is now."

I look at her doubtfully. "...What? How can you be so sure Eguchi-san isn't the traitor?"

"Think about it," Domoto says. "What the hell would the point of the commemoration video be if it was directed at the traitor? Monohebi could easily have informed the traitor they were really on his side the first time he met with them after the first trial. There'd be no reason for him to wait until now to tell them."

That's a fair point, I guess. "Even if we have one less suspect for the traitor, that's not exactly heartening," I say. "That means there's the person who's responsible for this killing game and there's the traitor, so in all there are two people who aren't really on our side. You said to 'look on the bright side'...that new information doesn't seem very bright to me."

"Me either," Komatsu says sadly. "We shouldn't be glad we watched Monohebi's fuckin' motive...we shouldn't be glad we're lockin' Eguchi-san away..." He buries his face in his hands and although I don't hear him crying, he looks like he's on the verge of breaking into tears. "This shit is so fuckin' terrible..."

"It is, Yutaka-kun," Hayasaka agrees dejectedly. "Even if Yuzuki-san is guilty of everything, which I can't completely believe, I don't think we should be locking her in a solitary confinement cell...that's just wrong."

"I a-agree too," Oyamada says. "A-Also, we sh-shouldn't put so much t-trust in the v-video...it was M-Monohebi's motive, a-after all..."

"My my, you all are so presumptuous," Monohebi's voice says from the chandelier above us. "Whoever said that video was the motive?"

A stunned silence fills the Cafeteria. ...What? Is he actually serious!?
"Hold the fuck up, Monohebi...ya aren't seriously tellin' us that video wasn't the motive, are ya?" Komatsu asks, sounding equally sad and angry.

"He better fucking not be," Terajima says coolly. "Go away, snake. None of us want anything to do with you."

Monohebi smirks. "I suppose that is true, with the exception of my dearest traitor. Sususu..." His chuckle fades and is replaced by a frown. "You know, I truly am disappointed by your negative reactions to my presence. I had thought you would at least be somewhat grateful for the shocking new information I presented in the commemoration video, but I suppose I should expect ungratefulness from brats like you all."

"Shut up," Domoto says irritatedly. "No one gives a shit about how you feel, Monohebi. Tell us the motive and leave."

Monohebi glares at her. "Your rudeness is very much unappreciated...but yes, I suppose I can do that. I do not enjoy being in the presence of you young vermin." He clears his throat. "Ahem...listen up, as I will only state the motive once. It is the following: whoever kills the person responsible for the killing game, who I mentioned in the commemoration video, will be able to escape this prison without needing to win the trial."

...Holy shit. That's bad, really bad. "...Wh-What!?" Oyamada asks incredulously. "Y-You can't be s-serious..."

"Escape...without having to win the trial?" Motoki repeats, confused and angry at the same time. "Are you saying that you'd let someone get away with murder!?"

"I am," Monohebi confirms. "However, there are a few caveats. To be able to escape without needing to win the trial, the killer obviously must kill the correct person. However, they would have to be able to do it without killing anyone else. If they were to for some reason kill another person, the motive becomes void and they must win the trial to escape. Additionally, the killer must at least make a decent attempt to conceal their identity in the trial...a situation in which their identity is immediately known is unacceptable. I cannot allow such boring affairs, especially not this late in the game. Are there any further questions?"

"Yeah, I got one," Komatsu asks angrily, "why the fuck are ya doin' this? Ain't the person who's responsible for the killin' game your ally?"

"I don't get it either," Motoki says. "Why would Monohebi want someone to kill Eguchi-san when she's on his side?"

Monohebi's face goes from being neutral to holding an almost unnoticeable smirk. "Do you truly think I would divulge that information freely?" he asks slyly. "I am not so foolish. Also...it is very presumptuous of you to assume to whom I was referring when I have purposely avoided saying a name."

Hold on...is he implying what I think he is?
"Are you saying that Eguchi-san isn't the person you named in that video?" I ask.

"I never said that," he replies. "I have purposely avoided mentioning a name for a reason. What that reason is...well, that is private information. I do not have to tell you about it. However, I assume none of you will cease pressing me about that subject, so I will be taking my leave now." He begins to slither back up the chandelier.

"Wait!" Kasparov calls after him with a tinge of desperation. "Monohebi, before you go, please answer me...are Masha and Sushki alright? You will not harm them, correct?"

"Due to the fact that you have had everyone watch the commemoration video, no, I will not dismember them and place them on your bed," Monohebi answers as he continues to slither up the chandelier. "However, that does not necessarily mean they are alright." He disappears through a hole in the ceiling before Kasparov can ask anything else.

Kasparov stares at the hole Monohebi left through with a mixture of anger and anxiety. He looks like he went to yell, scream, and cry at the same time for a few moments and then sits back down, still looking upset. Dammit...it's looking like Terajima-kun was right earlier when he said Monohebi probably already hurt Kasparov-kun's dogs. That really, really sucks...

"Well, shit," Sashihara says to break the silence. "This isn't good."

"First Kasparov-kun's dogs, then the commemoration video, and now this...does Monohebi know where to stop?" Motoki asks.

"Nope," Terajima says with barely restrained fury, "that fucking piece of shit has no boundaries. He'll do whatever it takes to make one of us kill someone."

Oyamada hugs a book tightly to his chest. "I'm r-really w-worried now," he says. "This p-plan i-incentivizes killing b-because there's no p-punishment...the f-fear of b-being executed has d-definitely played a r-role in making p-people hesitate to k-kill...so, w-with that now g-gone..." He gulps. "I'm r-really worried."

"Likewise," Kasparov says, evidently still upset over what Monohebi implied about his dogs. "You are correct in your assessment, Oyamada-kun. This motive is certainly a powerful reason to kill, possibly more so than any of our past ones. With them, there was always the fear of execution to hold people back...but now, with that gone, there is much less risk involved in murdering someone."

"Not really," Hayasaka says. "I mean, the risk of execution is pretty much gone, but only if the killer gets the person who was named in the video right...so, if they kill the wrong person, they're screwed."

Domoto crosses her arms. "Except we know the person mentioned in the video is Eguchi-san. There's not really much room for debate on that front."

"Didn't you hear how Monohebi purposely avoided saying her name?" Hayasaka asks. "No matter how confident you guys are that Yuzuki-san was the person in that video, we can't ignore the possibility that maybe it's not her. Monohebi didn't say her name for a reason."

"Monohebi not explicitly naming her does not invalidate the reasoning put forth by Domoto-san and myself," Kasparov says. "In my opinion, it actually confirms it...Monohebi said he had a reason for not naming her. What is that reason, you may ask? Above all else, he wants one of us to kill and he recognizes that one reliable way to generate a murder is to create a situation of intense doubt and distrust. Monohebi not naming Eguchi-san was meant to stir doubt about the veracity of Domoto-san and I's assertions and distrust in the two of us among you all. Do not put much stock in that trickster of a snake."

Hayasaka looks at the table pensively. "I guess you're right, but...I don't want to ignore what he did. I don't feel like that'd be smart..."

"On the contrary," Domoto says. "Ignoring Monohebi is the best thing you can do. Every word that comes out of his mouth has to be met with a grain of salt." She pauses. "Besides, you can trust Kasparov-kun. He saw through Niizuma-san's trap when the rest of us were about to vote for you as the killer."

Hayasaka still doesn't look entirely convinced. "He was right about that, yeah, but that doesn't mean he's right here."

"I a-agree," Oyamada says. "I th-think Kasparov-kun and D-Domoto-san are being t-too overconfident, and I d-don't like it...it r-reminds me of Sh-Shakespeare's Macbeth. I mean, H-Hecate even says that m-mortals' g-greatest enemy is o-overconfidence..."

Kasparov frowns. "This is not the same situation as that of Lord Macbeth, Oyamada-kun," he says. "Neither Domoto-san nor I is a power-hungry nobleman. Besides, even if you do not trust us and believe us to be overconfident, then trust in our logic instead. What arguments do you have against Eguchi-san being the person named in the video other than Monohebi acting strangely? She draws in the same art style as the person who made those Monohebi drawings and has demonstrated an unusual change in behavior which matches the girl described in the videos with Furuhata-kun."

Oyamada tries to say something, but can't. "I w-want to b-believe in her," he says as he hangs his head. "I d-don't want to imagine that sh-she was the o-one who p-planned this k-killing game..."

"That is understandable," Kasparov says. "However, I do not think it is wise for you to believe in her when there is so much reason to suspect her. It simply would not be strategic."

True, unfortunately...we can't just blindly believe in Eguchi-san because we want to. However, that doesn't mean we should believe every word of what Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san are saying, either. As much as Eguchi-san seems suspicious, they still haven't definitively proven anything. However, I'm not sure whether it truly matters if Eguchi-san is guilty or not right now...what really matters at the moment is her safety.
"No matter whether Eguchi-san is the person mentioned in that video or not, I think we all recognize that this motive puts her at much higher risk," I say. "Because of that, I think that she should be guarded at all times."

"I was about to say the same thing," Terajima says. "Whether she's the person the snake was talking about in the video or not, Eguchi-san's being put at risk by this motive. She should have at least one guard on her in both the night and day."

"I was not initially planning on having guards during nighttime, but I agree with the necessity of them now," Kasparov says. "Nighttime is far more dangerous than the day. That is the most likely time a murderer will strike."

Domoto crosses her arms. "I'm not sure I'm on board with this," she says. "The guards would be putting their life at risk for Eguchi-san...I don't think she's deserving of that. Not after what she's done to us by planning this killing game."

Terajima looks at her with a cool glare. "Shut the fuck up, toy girl. Eguchi-san is my friend. Even if she really is what you think you and the chess boy think she is, I'm not going to let her die. My job, my pride, is protecting people even if they're scum because no one deserves to be murdered. So, please shut the fuck up. We're having guards on Eguchi-san, whether you like it or not. I'm tired of you acting like you have the final say on everything. You're not our leader."

Domoto gives Terajima a scathing glare. "...What is this? Are you trying to be like Carrasco-san? She was the last person who deliberately questioned my leadership in an effort to sabotage the group, and look at how she turned out."

Terajima is barely restraining his anger. "Don't you dare compare me to that murderer, toy girl. I'm not challenging your unearned position of leadership in the group because I want to destabilize things, I'm doing it because your decision might not be as smart as you think they are."

"Are you really saying that?" Domoto asks icily, her voice dangerously low. "You, the person who's responsible for Furuhata-kun's death?"

Holy shit, that was uncalled for...with how bad the tempers of these two can get, this argument could get really bad really quickly. I need to say something fast. "Calm down, both of you," I interject before they argue any more. "You're not getting anywhere bickering and taking shots at each other like that."

Terajima's face is a mixture of anger and regret after Domoto's last remark. "...Fine," he says, sitting back in his seat. I feel bad for him...Domoto-san really shouldn't have brought up Furuhata-kun's death like she did. She has no idea how much Terajima-kun regrets that and blames himself for it...

Domoto sighs. "I guess," she says. "I still don't think guards are necessary."

"Me either," says Motoki. "Eguchi-san deserves to be alone in that cell after what she's done." Motoki-san...what's gotten into you? Why are you acting like this?

Hayasaka wrinkles her nose at both of them. "You're both so cruel," she says. "I think the guards are an absolute necessity. We shouldn't risk Yuzuki-san getting hurt for something we can't be sure is true."

"I a-agree," Oyamada says.

"Same," Komatsu says. "We can't let Eguchi-san get...k-ki..." He buries his face in his hands again, unable to finish his sentence

Sashihara looks around and then nods slowly. "...I guess guards are a good idea," he says, although he lacks conviction.

"Well, since most of us are for having Eguchi-san be guarded, I believe it is only fair we respect the will of the majority," Kasparov says.

Motoki looks at the table disapprovingly. Domoto just crosses her arms and shrugs. "...If that's what the rest of you want," she says indifferently. "I don't see why you'd support such a terrible person like Eguchi-san after what she's done, but fine...have it your way. I'm not being a guard, though."

No offense, Domoto-san, but you wouldn't be a very good one. Everyone here is taller than you and could probably take you out pretty easily. I probably shouldn't tell her that, though...she'd definitely have a very negative reaction. "Well, we know Domoto-san's out, but...who else will be a guard?" I ask.

"Before we answer that question, we should clarify how many guards there would be at any given moment," Kasparov says. "Will there be a pair of guards, as with Terajima-kun and myself earlier, or will there only be one?"

"Well, no matter how many guards there are at once, we're definitely going to have to split this up into shifts," Terajima says. "There's no way anyone could be a guard from the end of dinner to the morning."

Kasparov nods. "I concur. What is your suggestion for how we should divide the sifts? I believe you are the best person to ask, given your expertise on the matter of guarding people."

"Thank you," Terajima says, sounding grateful to have his talent be acknowledged, yet still sounding somewhat hesitant to accept Kasparov's praise. "I think we should have two shifts: one from the end of dinner until 1 AM, and one from 1 AM until breakfast at 7:30 AM. That way, both shifts would be roughly even. As for how many people should be in each shift... I think one is enough. Remember, Monohebi said that only the person he named in the video can be killed for the motive to apply. Because of that, we only need one person guarding Eguchi-san at a time to discourage anyone from trying to kill her."

"Are you really sure one is enough, Eisuke-kun?" Hayasaka asks worriedly. "What if the guard were to kill Yuzuki-san?"

"Then we'd immediately suspect them," Terajima says. "I acknowledge that there's the possibility that someone could try to physically overcome the guard and then pin the murder on them, which I why I also suggest that only the strongest among us be guards."

Domoto rolls her eyes. "You can just say you're volunteering to be a guard, Terajima-kun," she says snappily. "Everyone here can plainly see you're by far the buffest one here."

Sashihara looks hurt. "By far...?" he repeats. "Is Terajima-kun really that much stronger than me?"

Domoto waves his question away. "I was just exaggerating," she says dismissively. "You're still very buff, Sashihara-kun, so there's no need for you to get all insecure."

Sashihara looks at her, still slightly upset, and then at Terajima. "I can be a guard if you want," he says. "Although I'd prefer to do the first shift if you don't mind. It's not good for one's health to be up for too long, and I doubt I could stay awake for the whole second shift."

Terajima nods. "I get that. It's hard to stay up in the early hours of the morning, but it can be done. I'll take that shift if you want the first one."

"W-Wait, E-Eisuke-kun...when are you g-going to s-sleep?" Oyamada asks. "If y-you t-take the s-second shift from 1 AM u-until the m-morning, you w-won't have t-time to s-sleep."

"Don't worry, Osamu-kun, I'll still get sleep," Terajima says reassuringly. "I'll have to get to bed soon after dinner, though...it's going to be hard to be an effective guard if I'm still too tired."

"Well, since we've already decided who'll be the guards for tonight, we might as well end the meeting now," Domoto says. "That way, Terajima-kun can get to bed soon."

"Wait, before we do that...can someone take care of washing the dishes?" Sashihara asks. "I'll be guard, so I won't have time to do them."

He needs someone to do the dishes...I might as well step up, given that I have to wish dishes way more than I'd like to in my career. "I'll do it," I tell Sashihara.

He looks at me gratefully. "Thanks, Kawashima-san," he says.

"I'll help out, too," Motoki says suddenly. ...She wants to do the dishes, too? That's kinda weird...

Sashihara looks taken aback, but nods. "Okay...thanks to you too, Motoki-san."

After that, we end the dinner meeting, and Sashihara brings Eguchi's food down to her, promising that he'll clean the plate at the end of his shift. Everyone else but Motoki and I goes back to their rooms.

"So," I say to Motoki, "you ready to clean some dishes?"

"Yeah, I guess," she says with an expression that I can't quite decipher the meaning of. She's acting weird...again.
What's been up with her recently? She's been promoting being really harsh toward Eguchi-san and whoever the traitor is. I get that she hates this killing game, but I still feel like calling for someone to be locked away in solitary confinement is too harsh...especially coming from someone who knows the pain of being locked away alone far too well.

With a considerable amount of awkwardness between us, Motoki and I move into the Kitchen and begin cleaning the various dishes from dinner. It's a boring and mundane task, but somewhat relaxing. It's nice to have a repetitive, thoughtless task to do after such a crazy day. Also, it's satisfying to clean dirty things...except when you get wet food on your hands. That's so nasty...

Throughout the process of cleaning the dishes, Motoki continually looks over at me, looking like she wants to say something, but never does. She looks like she wants to talk with me...that's unsurprising, given how she likes communication so much. However, she can't seem to get the courage to speak herself for some reason. Guess I'll have to say something first, then...

"Do you want to talk, Motoki-san?" I ask her. "You've been looking over at me a lot."

Motoki hesitates, then nods. "Yeah," she says, not looking me in the eyes. "I do..."

"What's it about?" I ask. "Does it have to do with what happened with Eguchi-san and the commemoration video?"

"No," Motoki says. "I volunteered to do the dishes because I want to talk to you privately, but it's not about that."

Really...I thought for sure it'd be that, especially since we have a difference of opinion on how to handle things. It's something private, though...so what could it be?
"Well, what is it?
Come on, just spit it ou—"

"I love you," she blurts out suddenly, staring straight into my eyes.

For a few good moments, I've lost the capability to form coherent thoughts. Wha...? Is she...did she...is this... "Wh...What?" is all I can manage to say.

Motoki places the plate she has in her hand on the drying rack and then looks back at me. "I love you," she says again, quieter this time but with more confidence.

I still can't believe what I'm hearing. Motoki-san...loves me? As in...she *loves* me!? What the...I can't even comprehend it... "What about Carrasco-san?" I say, too stunned to think of anything else. "I thought you loved her, not me..."

Motoki makes a painful, regretful face when she hears Carrasco's name. "I...I still love her, too," she admits. "It's just...well, she's gone and you're not. Also, with how crazy things are in this killing game, I didn't want to prolong admitting I loved you, because I never got the chance to say it to Carrasco-san and, well...I didn't want to lose the opportunity to confess my love yet again."

I'm still in shock at Motoki's confession, but I'm at least capable of coherent thought now. So, Motoki-san loves me. That's a fucking bombshell if there ever was one...I wish I
could've seen this coming.
"How long have you loved me?" I ask.

"Since after the second trial," Motoki says. "You came to me when I was struggling after Carrasco-san's death...you've helped me get better with the promise and by consoling me when I needed it ever since then. I didn't want to admit to myself that I loved you at first, because I was ashamed to love someone other than Carrasco-san so soon after her death...but things move fast in this killing game, and I started admitting I liked you more and more. When you asked me about my past when no one else would...that sealed the deal. I knew I loved you and I couldn't wait any longer." She breaks eye contact with me, stares at her hands, and then looks back up at me. "So, Kawashima-san...I know this is a lot to ask of you, but...do you love me back?"

I see the hopeful glisten in her eyes, and I begin to ask myself that same question. Do I love Motoki-san? I...I don't know. I'm not even that sure of my own sexuality...I mean, I've always found I like women more than men, but I still don't know if I'm bisexual or just a lesbian in partial denial. Still, I guess I might have romantic feelings for Motoki-san, even if I'm not consciously aware of it. Maybe it wasn't just goodwill that motivated me to help her out...maybe, I've loved her this whole time and just didn't know it.

Is that really the case, though? I definitely have some affection for Motoki-san, but I don't know if that's just friendship or romance... "I...I don't know," I say. "I definitely like you, but I'm not sure if it's necessarily anything romantic..."

The hopeful glisten disappears from Motoki's eyes. "...Oh," she says disappointedly. "So you don't love me is what you're saying."

"No, that's not it," I say. "I honestly just don't know...I could love you, Motoki-san, but I don't know yet at the moment. I need more time..."

Motoki moves forward suddenly and clings to my shoulders. "There's no time in a killing game," she says emphatically as she stares into my eyes desperately. "There's no time for thinking...no time for hesitation...only time for..." She stops talking and leans in for a kiss.

I back away from her before she can kiss me. "Motoki-san, this is too fast," I say. "I really do need time...I'm not ruling out the possibility that I may love you back, but I need time to figure it out."

She looks at me bitterly, tears forming in her eyes. "If you don't know now, you never will," she says as she crumples to the floor. "God fucking dammit...I'm so stupid. I shouldn't have tried to kiss you so suddenly...I ruined everything...I'll be alone all over again..."

I look at her crying on the floor with pity. I feel so bad for her...she's clearly emotionally unstable right now. "Motoki-san, I'm sorry," I say. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings when you're like this."

"Like this?" she repeats, still crying. "What does that mean?"

"You're obviously not okay," I tell her. "I mean, just look at how you've been acting...you tried to force me into a kiss when you've usually respected people's boundaries before. More than that, though, you've been uncharacteristically harsh lately. It's not like the normal Motoki-san to advocate for something as cruel as locking people in solitary confinement cells. That's basically torture."

"Yeah, it is," she says as she wipes tears from her eyes. "And that's why they fucking deserve it. Eguchi-san, the traitor...they're both terrible people. They're responsible for so much of the pain and suffering that's happened in this horrible fucking prison. They deserve torture. It's not cruel, it's justice."

To hear her say such things with so much passion and fury...it's super unnerving. "Motoki-san, this isn't like you," I say. "You should be advocating for reform and forgiveness to the traitor and whoever planned this killing game, whether it's Eguchi-san or not. That's more in line with the communication and happiness you usually want, and it's what will convince them to come to our side."

"Bullshit," she says. "I've tried advocating for reform and forgiveness, and it's failed me and all those who've died so far. It's not going to start working now." She gets up from the floor, angry tears flying from her eyes. "It looks like you won't understand that, though." Her mouth twists bitterly. "I still love you, Kawashima-san...but you really are way too fucking naïve for your own good." She storms out of the Kitchen, still crying furiously.

I stand motionless for a long while after that. Well...that happened. Motoki-san admitted she loves me, and I half-denied her...which didn't end well. Ugh, I should've just said yes. It'd make things a lot better for her, but would it really be true happiness if I didn't love her back? I don't want to say I love her unless I really mean it...I couldn't bring myself to do something like that, even if it means improving Motoki-san's state of mind.

My eyes drift over to the sink, which still has a few dishes left in it. I should finish those up...hopefully, it'll take my mind off what just happened.

Unfortunately, that doesn't happen. Even as I finish doing the dishes and get ready for bed, I can't shake the incident with Motoki-san out of my head. Do I really love her...? Part of me thinks yes...but part of me is full of doubt. I've never been in a romantic relationship before, and definitely not during a killing game. I need more time to think about it...

When I finally get into bed, I stare at the ceiling, thinking about everything that's happened today. Motoki-san admitting her love to me would've been enough to make this day really overwhelming, but
Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san accusing Eguchi-san of being the person who planned the killing game before all that is pushing me over the edge. There's so much happening that I don't know what to think about. I'm feeling so many emotions that I can't seem to identify any one of them...all of them are swirling together to form a multitudinous vat of emotions inside me. I stare at the ceiling with that vat of emotions coursing through me until I finally fall asleep.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Good morning, inmates. It is now 7 am, which means nighttime has officially concluded. Enjoy another day of confinement.”

As soon as I wake up, everything that happened yesterday immediately hits me like a ton of bricks. Eguchi-san is being locked in a solitary confinement cell in the basement...that'd be bad enough, but on top of that Motoki-san confessed her love to me, stressing me out even more. Do I love her? Do I not? I wish I could find a definitive answer...

With way too much on my mind, I shower, get ready for the day, and then walk out to the Cafeteria. I see everyone there except Terajima, Sashihara, and Komatsu as I sit down at the table. Sashihara-kun is most likely in the Kitchen making breakfast and
Terajima-kun's probably still downstairs guarding Eguchi-san...but where's Komatsu-kun?

My mind immediately jumps to the worst possible outcome. He could be...no, I can't think like that! There's no way someone else is dead...right?

"Kawashima-san, are you well?" Kasparov asks with a frown. "You seem rather concerned about something."

"Where's Komatsu-kun?" I ask. "He should be here."

Domoto waves my concern away. "He's fine, Kawashima-san. He's probably just depressed that Eguchi-san ended up being the traitorous scum that she is and is obviously taking things a little roughly. You know how close he was to her."

I guess he could just be late because he's too sad to get out of bed...I mean, Eguchi-san did mention that he finally admitted his love to her when they were partners yesterday morning. For her to be accused of being the one responsible for the killing game and be locked up so soon after...it's no surprise he's so upset. Still, I can't help but worry about him not being here. "I'm still concerned," I say. "If he doesn't come soon, we should go to his room and look for him."

Just as I finish saying that, I hear the sound of the double doors to Cell Block A opening. I turn around to see Komatsu coming in, looking awful. His hair is disheveled, his clothes unkempt...yeah, he's not taking this well. At least he's here, though. "Hi, Komatsu-kun," I say.

He barely even looks at me as he slumps into an empty chair. "...Hey," he says, his voice flat and distant. His eyes are super red...he's probably been crying for a while...

"Kawashima-san was worried about you," Domoto tells him. "It's good to see you here."

He looks at her hatefully. "Shut up," he says with tired anger. "I ain't gonna talk to ya or Kasparov-kun. Fuck off."

Domoto crosses her arms. "Okay," she says. "I don't want to talk to you either. Speaking with people who can't accept the truth is incredibly frustrating."

Komatsu stands up suddenly, his eyes blazing with fury. "Shut the fuck up, ya hateful bitch!" he screams. "I ain't gonna listen to yer snarky condescendin' bullshit anymore! Not when yer the one makin' Eguchi-san suffer so much!"

Domoto looks unfazed. "It's not my fault the video incriminated her," she says. "Besides, it wasn't even me who was the initial proponent of Eguchi-san being the one in the video...in reality, I was doubtful at first. It was only when I talked with Kasparov-kun that he managed to convince me of her guilt."

Komatsu shifts his furious gaze to Kasparov. "So it's yer fuckin' fault," he says, seething. "Yer the one who's responsible for Eguchi-san bein' in that cell!"

"I suppose you could say that, yes," Kasparov says. "It was I who managed to convince Domoto-san that Eguchi-san was the person mentioned in that video. She was uncertain after first watching the video, yet after I talked with her she came to believe what she does now."

"Then go fuckin' die, ya piece of shit!" Komatsu snarls hatefully. "This all yer fuckin' fault! When someone dies, it's gonna be on yer hands!" He turns away, panting angrily. "I don't wanna hear either ya or Domoto-san bein' stuck-up, overconfident assholes any longer!" He turns his head around and stares at Kasparov furiously. "So, please, goddammit...SHUT THE FUCK UP AND STAY AWAY FROM ME!"

He begins to storm out of the Cafeteria, but Hayasaka runs after him and grabs him by the arm to stop him before he can leave. "Yutaka-kun, please don't go," she pleads. "You're only putting yourself at risk if you stay in your room all day...you don't think Yuzuki-san would like that, right?"

"It don't matter what she wants," he says, sounding like he wants to cry and scream at the same time. "She's gonna fuckin' die 'cause of those two assholes!"

He resists against Hayasaka's grip and tries to walk away, but she only holds on tighter. "Yutaka-kun, please don't talk or think like that," she begs. "Yuzuki-san isn't going to die. We're not going to let her. We can't abandon her...we have to stick by her side, even in times like this." She pauses and loosens her grip, and this time Komatsu doesn't try to leave.

"I...I jus' don't wanna see her get hurt," he says, ugly tears forming in his eyes. "I wanna keep her safe, I don't wanna see her in a fuckin' cell...I don't wanna see her d...d-die..." He breaks down and begins to sob profusely. "She don't d-deserve it...outta all the p-people here, she d-don't d-deserve it..."

"No, she doesn't," Hayasaka agrees. "The Yuzuki-san I know is kind and sweet...she doesn't deserve to be in a cell." She casts an angry glance at Kasparov and Domoto.

"The Eguchi-san you know is not the true Eguchi-san," Kasparov says. "It pains me to say so, it truly does, especially considering that the Eguchi-san we are all familiar with has shown herself to be a seemingly kind person. However, that is not truly her; the video from yesterday proves that. It is foolish to believe in her deception any longer."

Komatsu tenses up again. "Goddammit, can't ya FUCKIN' listen!? I told ya already, but it looks like once ain't enough for ya, so I'll say it one last fuckin' time." He turns to face Kasparov. his face contorted with rage. "SHUT THE FUCK UP!!" He roars. He breaks free of Hayasaka's grip and stalks out of the Cafeteria, panting heavily. Well, shit...that didn't end well. I'm not surprised things went that way, though. Komatsu-kun is a pretty hot-blooded person, and he's really not taking what's happened to Eguchi-san well...

Hayasaka stares at the doors Komatsu left through. "...I'll go after Yutaka-kun when breakfast is over," she says after a while. "I'll be his partner for the morning. I'll...I'll try to make things better."

"What a turn of events," Domoto says dryly. "Just a few days ago, you tried to kill him."

Hayasaka grimaces and hangs her head when Domoto brings that up. "Yeah, I did," she says guiltily. "I was being really stupid and desperate...I made a huge, huge mistake." She lifts her head. "But...I have to learn from that mistake. I have to help Yutaka-kun because of what I almost did to him...and I have to help Yuzuki-san after what I did do to her. It's my responsibility. It's the only way for me to atone for what I've done..."

"Like I said yesterday, you can forget about Eguchi-san," Motoki says. "That bitch is the whole reason this killing game is happening. You don't have any responsibilities to her anymore."

"Sakiko-san...please, stop talking like that," Hayasaka says sadly. "You've been acting a lot differently recently, especially with your overly harsh attitude toward Yuzuki-san." She shakes her head, her sadness turning into muted anger. "Ugh, you've become such a huge bitch, you know. I thought you of all people were capable of feeling empathy, but I guess I was wrong."

Motoki is taken aback at Hayasaka's words. "I...I can't afford to have empathy anymore," she says hesitantly. "Empathy only gets you hurt in a situation like this. You have to lose empathy if you want to stop feeling pain. You need to be numb..." Her voice trails away as she looks at the table and swallows. Then, she looks up fierily. "Besides, Eguchi-san doesn't deserve any empathy. Not when she's the reason six people are dead and the rest of us are in this living hell!"

"You don't even know that person's her," Hayasaka says frustratedly. "All you have is one fucking video, one that fucking asshole snake gave us. Are you really going to justify ruining Yuzuki-san's life over that one fucking thing!?"

"It's not just the video," Motoki responds. "Eguchi-san's been acting differently ever since she regained her memories. Her behavior matches up with the girl Furuhata-kun talked about in his videos. Why can't you just stop denying the truth, Hayasaka-san? Eguchi-san isn't your friend. She's a liar and she's been deceiving us this whole time."

"Shut up," Hayasaka says. "You don't know that!"

"I can't be completely certain, no, but I can be pretty damn confident!" Motoki says, the tone of her voice rising.

Hayasaka looks like she wants to say something else, but I intervene before anything escalates any more. "Both of you, stop it," I say. "You won't get anywhere by yelling at each other."

"Y-Yeah...y-yelling n-never works," Oyamada says. He looks over at Hayasaka. "Hey, H-Hayasaka-san...I u-understand where you're c-coming from, but p-please don't g-get angry...Eguchi-san w-wouldn't want that. She w-wouldn't want us to y-yell at e-each and t-tear this g-group apart..."

Hayasaka doesn't respond immediately. "You're right, Osamu-kun," she says. "It's just not easy to keep myself from getting angry when Yuzuki-san is being locked in a cell for no just cause."

Domoto looks doubtful. "Well, actually it is jus—"

"Shut up," Oyamada interrupts her, sounding unusually firm. "P-Please don't g-go inserting yourself into c-conversations no one asked you to be a p-part of."

Domoto blinks several times as she registers that Oyamada just talked back to her. "Wha...?" she says, shocked. "When did you of all people start being so rude?"

"If s-someone's g-going to lecture me on r-rudeness, I w-won't let it be y-you," Oyamada says as he sits up straight and looks Domoto in the eye, although it does seem to be difficult for him. "You've been so m-mean and c-condescending to everyone for s-so l-long...and Eisuke-kun t-told me I n-need to have a s-stronger w-will and a-assert myself m-more, so that's what I'm d-doing. I'm not l-letting you p-push me around anymore. I'm not l-letting you and K-Kasparov-kun rule this g-group like a co-dictatorship...I have to s-stick up for myself. I have to s-stick up for E-Eguchi-san, too...she n-needs everyone she c-can to look out for her at a t-time like this."

Domoto looks at Oyamada warily. "This is strange behavior," she says. "You've been so passive this whole time and now you're acting much more defiant. Such a change in behavior is fairly suspicious...did Monohebi return memories to you too?"

Oyamada scowls at the suggestion. "Of c-course not," he says. "It's j-just...a-after what happened y-yesterday, I d-decided to be more a-assertive and not t-tolerate your cowardly bullying any l-longer."

...Oh fuck. Domoto-san's reaction to him saying that won't be good...

"Cowardly bullying?" she repeats, her voice dangerously quiet. "That's absurd. I don't bully people, Oyamada-kun. I tell them the truth and my opinions with no filter. I don't lie. I don't indulge in pretty fantasies when the truth is ugly...instead, I face the truth. That's not cowardly, Oyamada-kun...but do you know what is? Hiding from the truth...pretending everything will be fine when it's not...believing in your 'friend' even when you know she's an evil bitch."

Oyamada glares at her. "...S-Stop, Domoto-san," he says. "Y-You're only making things w-worse."

Domoto opens her mouth to say something, but Kasparov cuts her off before she can. "Cease this immediately," he commands. "You are acting foolishly." He shifts his gaze to Oyamada. "The same is true of you, Oyamada-kun. Provoking Domoto-san or anyone else is a foolish and unstrategic move and will only put you in greater danger."

"I d-don't have to l-listen to what you t-tell me," Oyamada says stubbornly. "L-Like I said earlier, I'm n-not going to l-let you and D-Domoto-san run this group like a c-co-dictatorship...so I w-won't heed your every c-command like one of y-your dogs."

Kasparov narrows his eyes at Oyamada. "This new rebellious streak of yours is rather irritating, Oyamada-kun," he says. "There comes a point at which resistance against authority ceases being warranted and becomes rebellion for the sake of rebellion. Domoto-san and I have not formed a 'co-dictatorship' to rule over the rest of you....rather, we have shared our thoughts on Eguchi-san's ties to this killing game and the danger she poses to the rest of the group. We are not despots, and disbelieving our accusation against Eguchi-san simply because you are friends with her is imbecilic."

"I-It's not just the a-accusation itself I'm a-against," Oyamada says. "It's how a-aggressive you and D-Domoto-san are being...how y-you're so unwilling to e-entertain the p-possibility that you m-might be wrong." Oyamada gulps. "H-Haven't you two c-considered that you m-might not be r-right?"

"Of course," Kasparov says. "One must always admit that there is a slight chance that they may be incorrect, no matter how much evidence they have. However, in this case, I believe any doubts one might have are insignificant. My reasoning is not wrong. I am certain of it."

Oyamada's mouth twists slightly. "Th-There you go a-again...you t-trust yourself too m-much," he says. "Y-You're not some i-infallible fountain of intelligence, K-Kasparov-kun. Y-You're just a human like the rest of us. Y-You know, I th-think you should t-take a lesson from Ancient G-Greek tragedy here...th-there's this thing c-called 'hubris.' It's when the h-hero believed himself w-worthy of challenging or even b-better than the g-gods...and you kn-know how it a-always ended?" Oyamada doesn't wait for an answer. "It a-always ended in 'n-nemesis'...d-divine retribution a-against those g-guilty of hubris, which was a-always death and m-misery."

"Oyamada-kun, this is not Greek tragedy," Kasparov says, sounding irritated yet also somewhat uncomfortable. "Also...I truly hope that was not a veiled threat. I am not guilty of hubris. I am confident in my logic not because I believe myself to my superior to the gods of the Hellenic religion, but because there is no more logical explanation than the one in which I currently am invested. If you have a better explanation, please offer it."

Oyamada doesn't immediately say anything. Instead, he looks down at the table grumpily, mumbling to himself. Well, it looks like that conversation is over...I'm thankful it didn't escalate any further. Oyamada-kun is really not getting along with Domoto-san and Kasparov-kun, which concerns me. It's not necessarily because I disagree with him, because I honestly think he's right, but something about him stirring up tension with those two doesn't make me feel optimistic for him...

"Breakfast's ready!" Sashihara shouts from the Kitchen, interrupting the tense mood. Thank you, Sashihara-kun...though I wish you had interrupted earlier to spare us from this conversation.
"Hey...where's Komatsu-kun?" he says as he looks around the Cafeteria.

"He yelled at Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san and then went back to his room," Motoki answers.

"Oh," Sashihara says. "Well, I hope he comes out soon. In the meantime, the food's ready. Can someone tell Terajima-kun?"

"I'll d-do it," Oyamada says, giving Kasparov one last sulky glance before he goes downstairs.

While Oyamada gets Terajima from downstairs, everyone else goes to the Kitchen to get their breakfast...everyone else but Komatsu, that is. It's a shame, especially because Sashihara-kun made pancakes today, which I remember Komatsu-kun saying it's his favorite food. I wish he were here...I wish Eguchi-san was, too. She doesn't deserve to be in the cell even if what Domoto-san and Kasparov-kun are saying is true. It's only putting her at more risk of being harmed.

As I sit down with my food, Terajima and Oyamada come up from the basement. Wow, Terajima-kun looks super tired. That's no surprise, given how he's been up since 1 AM. He probably didn't sleep well before that either, due to how he was probably worried about Eguchi-san.

"Terajima-kun, would you like some coffee?" Sashihara asks, noticing how tired he looks. "You look like you need something to energize you."

Terajima nods. "That'd be great," he says as he stifles a yawn. "Yo...I hope this isn't too much to ask, but could you make a cup for Eguchi-san? She actually was just telling me how much she wanted a cup of coffee."

"Why does she need coffee?" Motoki asks, somewhat challengingly. "It's not like she has anything to do in that cell."

She sounded way too aggressive there...she probably doesn't want Eguchi-san to feel any comfort at all. If that's the case, then Hayasaka-san was right...Motoki-san really has become a huge bitch. "I don't think it matters why she wants it," I say. "It's just coffee; it's not like she can do anything harmful with it. I say we give it to her. It's the least we can do, considering the fact that we currently have her locked in a cell."

Motoki flashes an angry glance at me and then turns away quickly. She definitely didn't like me saying that...

"I mostly agree, Wakana-san," Hayasaka says, "but don't say 'we' locked her in a cell. It was only a few of us that wanted that." She glares at Kasparov, Domoto, and Motoki.

Sashihara clears his throat loudly. "Ahem...uh, back to the subject of coffee," he says as he awkwardly interrupts the tense moment, "does anyone else want some? And if so, how do you like it?"

"I would enjoy a cup of coffee," Kasparov says. "I take it without cream or sugar."

"I take it black too," Terajima says. "Eguchi-san told me she likes it with sugar, though."

"Alright," Sashihara says. "If no one else wants some, then I'll—"

"I'll have some too," Domoto says as she stands up and heads to the Kitchen. "Although I'm making it myself."

Sashihara looks taken aback but nods. "Okay," he says. "I could make it for you, but if you really want to do it yourself that's fine."

That was kinda weird...why was Domoto-san so adamant on making her coffee herself? Does she think Sashihara-kun would spike it with something dangerous? If so, I can sort of see where she's coming from...although I do think it's a little overly paranoid.

Once all the coffees are ready, Sashihara goes downstairs to bring Eguchi her coffee while Domoto brings out the cups meant for her, Kasparov, and Terajima. When Sashihara comes back up, I finally start eating my breakfast. I should've eaten it earlier because it's kinda cold now, but I don't like eating when not everyone else is at the table...although I guess it's impossible for that to happen at the moment, considering Komatsu-kun went back to his room and Eguchi-san is in a cell downstairs.

Thinking about that makes me feel sad. Eguchi-san shouldn't be locked in a cell...I get that the commemoration video made her look really suspicious, but I don't think locking Eguchi-san up is warranted. It's only putting her in danger.

Feeling sad about Eguchi, I look up from my food to see Motoki staring at me wistfully from across the table. When she notices I can see her, she suddenly looks away from me. I had managed to forget about her for just a moment, and now it all comes rushing back. I wish I could know for certain that I loved her or that I hated her...but I don't. I feel like I do like her, yet at the same time I feel like something is holding me back...and Motoki-san's recent attitude toward Eguchi-san isn't helping things. Dammit, I wish things could just be simple...

When everyone is done eating, Domoto speaks up. "Does anyone have anything to say before we split into partnerships for the morning?" she asks in a tone that suggests she doesn't want anyone to say anything.

"I have something to say," Terajima says.

Domoto looks noticeably annoyed. "Oh...I was hoping no one would talk, but alright, you can speak, Terajima-kun."

"I wasn't asking for your permission," Terajima says coolly. "As you might expect, what I have to say has to do with Eguchi-san."

"Let me guess, you don't think she should be in the cell," Domoto says.

Terajima nods. "Exactly that," he says. "It's dangerous to both her and whoever's guarding her, and frankly I think the risk to both her and her guard while she's in that cell is much greater than the risk she poses to the group by being free."

"You are the Ultimate Bodyguard, so I respect your opinion," Kasparov says. "However, you are incorrect. Eguchi-san is a colleague of the mastermind and would be far more dangerous outside that cell. She would be able to collude with the mastermind, the traitor, or both...and most importantly, she would be able to kill. Additionally, Eguchi-san would be a target to kill due to the motive, so keeping her confined with a guard at all times is the best way to ensure no one can take advantage of the motive. For her safety and ours, we cannot allow her to leave the cell."

Terajima bristles at that. "She's been crying in that fucking cell all night," he says with barely restrained anger. "She's been sobbing her eyes out, begging me to let her out...insisting that she isn't guilty." Although I can't see his eyes, I have a strong feeling Terajima is tearing up right now. "By keeping her in that cell, you're fucking torturing Eguchi-san," he says, his voice close to breaking.

"...I am sorry," Kasparov says, sounding more remorseful than before but still mostly firm. "The safety of Eguchi-san and everyone else here is the foremost priority of both myself and Domoto-san...so, as much as it pains me to continue to have her to remain in the cell when it is causing her so much distress, I must. It is the safest option."

Terajima clenches his teeth. "If someone is living in mental agony, it's not the safest option," Terajima says. "There's something called having emotions, chess boy. I know you have them due to how you reacted when the snake threatened your dogs, so why don't you actually try using them? It'd do us a lot of good if you started acting with emotions and stopped thinking of everything as some sort of real-life chess match, because treating people like pawns is only going to get more of us killed." He pauses. "I wonder...do you even care about any one of our lives? Or is this just some big chess game to you, with it being you versus the mastermind?"

Terajima's words make a seething fury replace Kasparov's normal calm. "That is absolutely not the case," he says furiously. "I might not outwardly display it often, but I truly do care deeply about the safety of every person here. All I want is to ensure their survival, and I will make some sacrifices, such as the current poor mental state of Eguchi-san, to accomplish that goal."

Terajima snorts and shakes his head. "You've just proven my point, chess boy. That talk about sacrifices that need to be made at the expense of others...that's exactly what treating people like pawns is. Using them to accomplish a goal without regard to how it might affect them."

Kasparov has no immediate response. "That is...That is preposterous," he says. "I—"

"That's enough," Domoto interjects before he can go any further. "Both of you, stop it. We're not releasing Eguchi-san from her cell and that's final."

"M-Making such a d-decision without l-letting any of the r-rest of us h-have a say...ugh, I w-was right," Oyamada says moodily. "You and K-Kasparov-kun really are r-ruling over the r-rest of us like a c-co-dictatorship."

Domoto pinches the bridge of her nose. "No, we're not," she says. "We're just being reasonable and not letting a dangerous person roam around freely. Now, let's get into our partnerships for today. Remember, one of them has to guard Eguchi-san."

"Eisuke-kun and I c-can do that," Oyamada says immediately. "We were g-going to be p-partners and Eguchi-san t-trusts us, so it'd be b-best for us to g-guard her."

"No," Domoto says. "After this last conversation, I suspect the two of you would just let her out, which can't happen. I need someone I trust to guard her." She looks around. "Motoki-san....you won't let her out. You and your partner should be her guard."

Motoki looks surprised, but nods. "Sure," she says. I should try to be partners with her...I should try to talk with her after how badly our conversation ended last night.

"I'll be partners with her," Sashihara says. "I'm worried about Eguchi-san and want to make sure she's okay." Damn...Sashihara-kun beat me to it. I guess I should be thankful, because that talk definitely wouldn't have been easy...

"Like I said earlier, I'll be partners with Yutaka-kun," Hayasaka says as she gets up and leaves the Cafeteria.

I look at Kasparov and Domoto as the others begin to get up from the table. "I guess that leaves the three of us together," I say. This won't be fun. I should try to make the best of it, though...who knows, maybe I'll be able to change their minds about keeping Eguchi-san in the cell.

"Yes, I suppose the three of us will be a group," Kasparov says as he gets to his feet. "What shall we do?"

"I think we should go to the Infirmary and the Weapons Room," Domoto says as she stands up too. "Those rooms have dangerous contents and we should do inspect what's in them. We can't expect to prevent a murder if we're in the dark about all the weapons a potential killer would have at their disposal."

Kasparov nods. "Yes, that is an excellent idea," he says. "I would also suggest we make a written inventory of everything we inspect. It would be useful should a murder occur."

Those are both pretty good ideas...we need to know exactly what kind of deadly stuff is in those rooms if we want to be able to stop another death from happening and we should take inventory if another one does happen. Although...part of this doesn't sit right with me. Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san seem eager to prevent another death, yet also are adamant in keeping Eguchi-san locked up...which, no matter how much they insist keeps her safe, only puts in her in greater danger. I'll definitely have to talk to them about that at some point this morning and, although I doubt it'll be fun, I'll suffer through it...because I can't allow Eguchi-san to stay in that cell. It just isn't right.

"That sounds like a good idea," I say as I re-emerge from my thoughts. "We better get started, though. There's a lot of stuff we have to go through."

We take the elevator up to the fourth floor, which I'm thankful for due to me still being sore as hell due to Sashihara's workout from yesterday. Dammit, I'm probably going to be sore for a while...

When we get to the fourth floor, Domoto leads the way and takes us to the Infirmary first. Once inside, she strides to one of the desks in the back of the room and rummages through it. "What are you looking for?" I ask her.

"We something to write with and something to write on to take inventory," she says as she continues to look through the desk. Eventually, she finds a pen hidden inside one of the drawers, along with several small notebooks. "There we go."

She takes the pen and one of the notebooks and walks over to the poison cabinet at the back of the room. "Alright, let's get started," she says as she opens the door to the cabinet. "There's a lot of poisons here. We'll take care of the rest of the shit in here afterward."

Kasparov and I follow her to the cabinet. "I suggest we do this in the most orderly fashion possible," Kasparov says. "We should start from the row on the bottom and then move right and up."

"Sure," I say. "You'll have to get all the stuff one once we get to the top shelf, though. Domoto-san and I aren't tall enough to reach it."

"No need to remind me of how short I am, Kawashima-san," Domoto says irritatedly.

Kasparov smiles slightly. "I do not believe she was trying to insult you, Domoto-san," he says. "Now, let us cease with the distractions and start looking through this cabinet. We have no time to squander."

After that, we slowly but surely go through every bottle and jar in the cabinet, making notes on the toxicity of each poison and symptoms it contains. It's fairly monotonous and also very morbid work, but I'm glad I'm doing it. This way, if someone ever ends up getting poisoned, we'll have something to refer to... I shiver at the thought of that. I really hope no one ever gets poisoned or dies at all...I don't want to see anyone else die.

As we're reaching some of the last poisons, Kasparov stretches to reach up to the top shelf to grab a jar but loses his grip on it. "Пиздец!" he shouts as it falls to the floor.

Domoto reaches down to pick up the jar, which is heavily cracked but not broken. "There's no need to get worked up, Kasparov-kun," she says as she inspects it. "It's fine, except for the fact that the part of the label containing the name of the poison is very cracked, making the name indiscernible."

"My apologies," Kasparov says. "I should not have been so careless with how I grabbed it."

"You didn't do any severe damage, so there's nothing to worry about," I say reassuringly. I turn to Domoto, who's still inspecting the jar. "You seem interested by that poison."

"It's strange," Domoto says. "Not appearance-wise...I mean, it's just a bunch of white, crystallized powder like half of the other poisons in the cabinet. However, its effects are..." She makes a repulsed expression. "...its effects are pretty nasty."

"What are they?" Kasparov asks as he takes the jar from her, making sure not to drop it this time. He reads carefully for a moment and then speaks. "It is difficult to read due to all the cracks, but from what I can tell when ingested this poison causes severe damage to the digestive system, internal bleeding in the stomach and esophagus, liver failure, kidney failure, and usually kills within one or two hours after ingestion of a lethal dose."

Shit...that sounds like it'd be an extremely painful way to die. "Kidney failure, liver failure, digestive system damage, and internal bleeding all in one," I say with a grimace. "That's terrible..."

"Indeed it is," Kasparov says. "Fortunately, approximately 4,500 milligrams, or 4.5 grams, are required to kill a human of average size, so it would be difficult for someone to consume a lethal amount without knowing it."

"Not much to worry about there, then," Domoto says. "We'd have to worry about something like cyanide a lot more. That kills at a far lower dose of only a few hundred milligrams and would be a lot easier to kill with." She frowns. "Also...Monohebi's placed three jars of potassium cyanide powder and two of sodium cyanide in here. Due to the abundance of all the cyanide and its higher lethality, we have to worry about stuff like that more."

"You are correct," Kasparov says as he puts the jar back on the shelf and grabs another. "Purified bee sting venom," he reads aloud. "Kills an average human at approximately a dose of 500 milligrams. Symptoms of poisoning include..."

We continue to examine the rest of the poisons on the top shelf. There's
alpha-amanitin, beta-amanitin, gamma-amanitin, the second container of arsenic, some hydrogen cyanide, yet another jar of potassium cyanide, and last but absolutely not least...the third bottle of black mamba venom, which kills in seven to fifteen hours and causes respiratory failure and circulatory collapse, with a lethal dose as low as 120 milligrams. Wonderful...

When we finally finish with the poison cabinet, we check on all the other potentially dangerous things in the Infirmary. As we do so, I can't help my mind from wandering back to what was in the poison cabinet. When I first learned the cabinet in here was full of poisons, I thought it was bad....but I had no idea just *how* bad. Literally every substance in there is highly lethal and just one container could kill the largest person on Earth several times over with ease...we really need to be careful about it.

A terrifying thought suddenly strikes me. Sashihara-kun has been cooking food in the Kitchen alone most of the time ever since Ichigohara-san died...meaning he could easily slip poison into one of our meals if he wanted to. It's horrifying to think about, but it's absolutely possible...which is why I can't let him cook alone from now on. It's not necessarily that I distrust him, I just can't risk anyone being poisoned. Even though I thought she was being overly paranoid at the time, I now think Domoto-san had the right idea making her own coffee this morning.

After we finish inventorying every potential weapon in the Infirmary, Domoto, Kasparov, and I head over to the Weapons Room, my thought about Sashihara still on my mind. I'll have to start cooking with him tonight at dinner. The only drawback is that I'm a really bad cook, but I would rather have everyone eat bad food then die.

"This room is bound to be full of all sorts of horrendous things," Kasparov mutters to himself as we approach the entrance to the Weapons Room.

"It is," I say. "I saw it the day after the last trial...every type of weapon you can imagine is in here."

"Oh," Kasparov says, frowning. "That is quite bad."

We step inside the Weapons Room and it's just as bad as I remember. The rows racks of neatly organized weapons...the harsh fluorescent lights...the somber atmosphere...yep, this room is as terrible as I remember.

"...I hate Monohebi," Domoto says as she begins to walk up one the aisles, staring at the myriad of weapons with a cold glare as she does so. "The amount of weapons in here is staggering..."

Kasparov's frown from before deepens. "This is quite concerning," he says. "The fact that every object in this room is designed to hurt someone aside, I am certain that many of these items are highly illegal. Monohebi, or whoever is controlling him, being able to acquire such illegal things means that he must have considerable influence, for it is not easy to traffic this many illegal weapons. Whoever is masterminding this killing game, whether it be a single person or a group, is even more of a threat than I thought previously."

Kasparov-kun makes a good point...and a really depressing one. I don't like to think of how much power Monohebi and the mastermind have over all of us, because it only makes me feel even more powerless and helpless than I normally do in this place.
"I wish I knew how to use some of these weapons," I say. I gesture to a rack of assault rifles. "Like these guns...if we knew how to use them, we could overtake this place, kill Monohebi and whoever's behind him, and escape."

"I'm sure Yamaguchi-kun would've known how to use those guns and many of the other weapons in here," Domoto says. "He did lead an armed rebellion against the government, after all." Her face hardens. "Unfortunately, he's dead and can't teach us how to use any of these weapons, so we have to deal with things ourselves. We have to defeat Monohebi in a way that doesn't involve brute force." A strange look crosses her face. "The burden is on us now..."

The face Domoto-san is making is weirding me out, but's right. The burden is on us now to get out of here.
I never thought I'd miss Yamaguchi-kun much, given how I didn't really like him when he was alive, but I really do now...his rebellious spirit would've been really helpful in allowing us to resist Monohebi's authority and find a way to escape. Unfortunately, he killed Furuhata-kun and got executed for it, so that's no longer an option now... All of a sudden, I remember what he said right before his execution. He told us to rise up against Monohebi and to resist his tyranny...I wish we had listened to him right then and there. It would've saved four more lives...

"...We need to start inventorying," Kasparov says, interrupting my thoughts. "There is quite a lot in this room and we have less than two hours until we must switch partners."

We waste no time getting started on the incredibly tedious task of going through each individual type of weapon and counting the exact number of it. This is so annoying...why are there so many different types of handguns!? There really is no need for so much variation, at least in my opinion...then again, I'm a waitress who's never even seen a gun up close before now, so my opinion probably isn't the most valid here.

As we continue to go through all the types of weapons, my thoughts wander back to what happened this morning. Komatsu-kun, Oyamada-kun, and Terajima-kun all clashed with Domoto-san and Kasparov-kun at breakfast today about Eguchi-san being in that cell. Her being in that cell doesn't just put her in danger, it endangers the rest of us by causing so much conflict, so I really should try to change Domoto-san and Kasparov-kun's minds. Sadly, I have no idea how I could go about doing that, considering how firm they seem to be in their beliefs...I guess I should bring it up in a more subtle manner.

"So, uh, Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san," I say, "you guys value the safety of everyone in this group, right?"

Domoto rolls her eyes. "Of course we do," she says as she scribbles something in the notebook about the row of shurikens in front of her. "What kind of question even is that?"

Kasparov narrows his eyes at me. "This is about Eguchi-san," he says. "That is where you were going with that line of questioning, correct?"

"...Yeah," I admit. Shit, he figured that out in no time... "I just don't think you should be keeping her in a cell, because it makes it a lot easier for her to be a target, especially with the motive. I mean, you guys saw all the poisons in the last room...someone doesn't have to get into her cell to kill her, they would only need to slip poison into her food or drink. Besides that, locking her in a cell doesn't just affect her...you see how confrontational it made Komatsu-kun, Terajima-kun, and Oyamada-kun this morning. Inciting conflict isn't ever a good idea."

"Komatsu-kun has always been a rather hot-headed individual," Kasparov says. "Terajima-kun is inclined to become angry fairly easily as well. Oyamada-kun being so rebellious is admittedly aberrant behavior...but none of it matters, Kawashima-san. They will come around once the denial stops and they finally realize the truth: Eguchi-san is not their friend and never was."

"You can't be certain that's the truth," I retort. "That video was given to us by Monohebi. We can't trust it."

Kasparov sighs. "How many times must I explain myself? That video was meant to covertly signal to Eguchi-san that she was on the side of the mastermind through showing drawings in her own art style...which only she would have recognized had she not made the drawing of Masha and Sushki for me. Also, her behavior fits in with the girl with a plan described in the videos with Furuhata-kun." He takes a deep breath. "Listen, Kawashima-san...I know it must be difficult to accept, but Eguchi-san is nothing but disgusting trash who put us in this killing game. She needs to be locked away."

"You're being too confident in your logic," I say, still not convinced. "You can't throw away Eguchi-san's life for something you don't know for sure!"

"Enough," Domoto says forcefully. "Eguchi-san is staying in her cell and that's final. We're not letting her out."

I want to say something back to her, but I hold myself back. It won't do anything...it really looks like neither of them will change their mind any time soon, which sucks. I wish I could somehow learn for sure if what they were saying is right...wait a minute. I could take over Sashihara-kun's shift and guard Eguchi-san for the first shift tonight. I could talk to her a lot during that time and potentially learn new information that would lead me to a firm decision...because I hate this feeling of uncertainty right now. I want to be able to wholly trust Eguchi-san or wholly distrust her.

Although the rest of our time together has underlying tension to it, Domoto, Kasparov, and I manage to finish making an inventory of everything in the Weapons Room without any more confrontations. When we're done it's close to 1 PM, so we head down to the Cafeteria, none of us saying anything to each other. Maybe I shouldn't have brought up the situation with Eguchi-san at all, because this awkward tension is really uncomfortable...

In the Cafeteria, we wait for all the other groups to show up. Motoki and Sashihara come first. I try to make eye contact with Motoki, but she actively avoids looking in my direction Is she really ignoring me now? If so, she's being really annoying...

Hayasaka and Komatsu come in next, with Komatsu looking only marginally less bad than he was this morning, probably due to Hayasaka consoling him. Oyamada and Terajima show up last, with Oyamada staring at Domoto and Kasparov with resentment as he moves toward the stairs.

Domoto ignores Oyamada's gaze as she speaks. "Alright, everyone's here," she says. "Let's not waste time and get to picking our partners for the afternoon right now. Remember, there'll be one group of three, one group has to guard Eguchi-san, and you should be back by six. That's all."

I should try to be partners with Motoki-san so she can't continue to ignore me and so we can work out things between us. I walk over to her, intending to be her partner. She notices me approaching and glances at me quickly before turning to Kasparov suddenly. "Kasparov-kun, do you want to be partners?" she asks. "We could guard Eguchi-san together."

"Certainly," he says. Oh, goddammit...she really is deadset on ignoring me now. That's annoying. I just want to talk to her, yet she won't let me.

Feeling frustrated about her, I look around for another partner when I spot Komatsu sitting at the table, staring at nothing in particular. He's not doing too well right now...I guess it wouldn't hurt to be partners with him.

"Hey, Komatsu-kun," I say to him. "Do you want to be partners?"

He takes a few seconds to look up at me. "...Eh, okay," he says, his voice strained. "It don't really matter..."

Not the most enthusiastic response...but I don't really blame him. He's probably feeling like shit right now. Because of how bad he is, we should probably do something he likes...

"Do you want to go to the Music Room?" I ask him.

"...Sure," he says with no excitement at all. He stands up with difficulty and we walk all the way up to the Music Room in complete silence, with Komatsu barely managing to keep himself standing with every step. He's so low energy right now, which is a far cry from the energetic and passionate Komatsu-kun I'm used to knowing. What's happened to Eguchi-san must be hitting him hard...

When we get to the Music Room, Komatsu slumps to the floor, leaning against a stack of instrument cases and staring into nothingness. "So, uh...what do you want to do?" I ask him as I sit down on the floor near him.

He shrugs. "I dunno...there ain't much I feel like doin' right now..."

"Really?" I say. "Do you not even want to talk about music stuff?"

He shrugs again. "I dunno...like I said, I ain't really feel like doin' anythin', and that includes musical stuff...but I guess we can. There ain't nothin' else I can think of doin'..."

So he's agreed to talk about something related to music...unfortunately, I'm pretty unknowledgeable about music, despite my mom playing the piano a lot. I know basic stuff like what a scale is, but, uh....not much more than that. I should probably let Komatsu-kun do the talking... "So...what exactly what about music do you want to talk about?" I ask.

Komatsu shrugs yet again. "It don't matter to me..."

Okay, this constant uncertainty is getting on my nerves a little bit, but I need to stay patient. He's dealing with a lot right now.
"Well...how about your music?" I suggest. "I know you mainly focus on symphonic stuff, but do you do stuff that's more, uh...in the realm of pop culture?"

Komatsu arches an eyebrow. "...The hell does that mean?" he asks.

I didn't want to say it directly, because he'll probably get offended, but if he wants me to elaborate I will. "Well, uh...not many people listen to Western classical music and traditional music, which are your two main influences, in their free time," I say. "I meant to ask if you did stuff that's more accessible and valuable to the average person because neither of those really is."

"I disagree," Komatsu says, his voice sounding slightly less monotonous than before. "They ain't inaccessible or without value...people jus' don't really give them a chance." He sighs and looks at the floor. "Y'know, it makes me sad how so many people never look outside of their comfort zone when it comes to listenin' to music...'cause there's so much variety that most people never see. Every genre of music, from the most basic four-chord pop song to the densest dodecaphonic postmodern piece, from the simplest rap beat to the most complex progressive rock rhythm, from the quietest piano nocturne to the loudest EDM song...it's all got value. No genre is inherently superior to another.

"It's real fuckin' irritatin' how people sometimes expect me to be some stuck-up asshole who thinks older or more complex music is better than newer or simpler music, but I ain't," he continues, his voice filling with passion. "If people listen to somethin' and like it, then it's got value, no matter if ya like that genre or not. I hate how people try to police or judge others' music tastes so fuckin' much." He pauses, and the passion in his voice fades away. "Sorry for gettin' carried away there...I jus' don't like it when people make it seem like any genre of music's worse than another."

Wow...he really is passionate about music, even when he's in a depressed mood like he is today. I guess he was right in what he was saying about no genre of music being without value, whether you like it or not...I probably was being a little too judgmental when I first asked him my question. Speaking of that, he never answered it... "Hey, Komatsu-kun, I agree with what you just said...music of all types does have value. However, I'm still curious about what I was asking before."

"Oh yeah...I never answered yer question," he says. "Yeah, I write popular music all the time for musicians around the world. I've written for a few well-known K-Pop and J-Pop groups on several occasions and have done a few tracks for some American hip-hop artists." He shrugs. "I dunno...I like doin' it. It's different from what I normally do and it's fun. And it ain't like any of it distracts from my main focus."

"Your main focus," I repeat, "what's that?"

"Well...I guess it's finding new orchestral colors," he says. "I like to synthesize styles, like how George Gershwin synthesized western classical music and jazz so well in Rhapsody in Blue. But I like to go even further. For so long, composers have mostly limited themselves to instruments from their home culture and often Western instruments too. I like to expand that horizon...combine instruments that have never been used together before to get all sorts of amazin' orchestral colors."

He smiles to himself. "I put the erhu with the duduk, the sarangi with the nyatiti...sometimes, I had to invent a new form of musical notation to do it 'cause those instruments are so different. I gotta be careful to respect the original culture, so I always try and consult with an expert on whatever I'm workin' with so I make sure it's all cool and I don't step over the line, ya know? Misusin' the instruments would be pretty shitty, so if I'm ever worried what I'm thinkin' of doin' ain't right with the original culture, I jus' scrap the idea and move on." He shrugs. "It ain't the easiest work I could be doin', but it's worth the experimentation to me."

Wow...it's pretty cool of Komatsu-kun to be doing that. I would've never thought to use instruments from different cultures in such a way...it sounds like way too much work to get right. But maybe that's just me being biased because I have zero musical ability.
"That's really cool," I say. "Although I do have one question...what is an 'orchestral color?' You were saying that a lot, and I have no idea what it's supposed to mean."

"I guess I shoulda explained that earlier," he says. "An orchestral color's what I and a lotta other music nerds call the sound resultin' from orchestration, which, if ya don't know already, is how a composer distributes the melodies and harmonies of a certain piece to all the instruments of an orchestra."

"Oh," I say. "I still have no idea what that means."

Komatsu cracks a small smile. "No, I guess it ain't an easy thing to get without hearin' first," he says. "Hmm...I guess the best explanation's that every instrument has a different sound to it called a timbre. A flute sounds different from a duduk even though they're both wind instruments, a violin sounds way different from an erhu even though they're both being stringed instruments, ya get the point. Anyway, different timbres make the audience feel different emotions and think of different things. The French Impressionists Debussy and Ravel were fuckin' masters of usin' them...every time I listen to La Mer or Daphnis et Chloé I get chills from how amazin' that shit is."

He pauses. "But that's just acoustic instruments.
Electronic instruments....damn, I love 'em. There are so many different types of synths out there and they usually have pretty cool effects on the audience. That reminds me of this one game's soundtrack I did, where I—"

He stops suddenly as
a look of pain and sadness washes over his face. "...That reminded me of something," he says, his lip trembling heavily. "I told Eguchi-san that I'd do all the music for her games going forward...but that ain't never gonna happen now...'cause...she's....she's gonna...d-die..." He buries his face in his hands, sobbing.

...Fuck. He was doing better for a second there, and now he's sad all over again...well, it's not like I can blame him. That talk was only a temporary distraction from the shit he's going through. "I'm sorry, Komatsu-kun," I say, not knowing what else I should say. "I don't like Eguchi-san being in that cell either."

"She's gonna d-die," he says, his voice breaking. "Someone's gonna t-take advantage of that fuckin' motive and k-kill her...and w-worst of all, if she r-really is guilty, they'll g-get to leave this p-place without f-fear of execution..." He slams his fists on the floor repeatedly and screams. "AGH! Why does it have to be this way!? Why does Eguchi-san of all fuckin' people have to be bad!?" He bursts into ugly tears.
"I jus' wanna see her live..."'

"Komatsu-kun," I say, "Eguchi-san isn't going to die. We won't let that happen."

"Stop that shit," Komatsu says miserably, still sobbing. "That's all Hayasaka-san was doin' this mornin', tellin' me that she wasn't gonna let Eguchi-san die 'cause she made her that promise...but how's she gonna stop it? I fuckin' hate to say it....but Eguchi-san's gonna die. Someone's gonna use the motive, and if that don't happen, then that bitch ass traitor's gonna kill her..." He gulps and looks away from me as he finally loses his grip and begins to cry. "I hate it...I hate it so fuckin' much. I hate knowin' that she's bein' kept in that cell and I hate knowin' that the shit she's bein' accused of is prolly true...and worst of all, I hate how all this had to happen right after..." His voice trails away.

"Right after what?" I ask although I think I already know the answer. When Eguchi-san was begging for Komatsu-kun to help her yesterday, she mentioned how he had told her he loved her when they were in the Music Room yesterday morning...that's most likely what he's referring to. Still, it never hurts to get confirmation.

He hesitates. "Right after I...I told Eguchi-san that I loved her, and that..." He stops himself, wiping tears from his eyes. "...No. I can't talk 'bout it anymore. Ya wouldn't get it..."

Is he sure about that? Because of the way things turned out between me and Motoki-san, I think I can. "Actually...I would, Komatsu-kun," I say. "I've had my own struggles with love not working out too."

"...What?" He asks incredulously. "Yer in love with someone too?"

I bite my lip. "Well...not exactly." I sigh. "It's someone who's in love with me, and I don't know if I love them or not."

"That's pretty much the same situation I was in," Komatsu says. "I could tell Eguchi-san had some sorta affection for me, but I had no fuckin' clue what to do, 'cause...well, I ain't ever been the best at handlin' my emotions in a good way. But when we were in here yesterday, she had the courage to ask me 'bout it, and I finally accepted and admitted that I loved her back." He smiles. "It felt so fuckin' good to finally come clean and let loose what I'd been holdin' back for so long..." His smile morphs into a bitter frown. "And it was so fuckin' horrible to have all those good feelings crushed jus' afterward..."

Yeah, that
must've been terrible for him...and probably even worse for Eguchi-san. She's shown in Komatsu-kun ever since the second trial, so for her to be accused of working with the mastermind and be thrown in a cell right after he confessed his love to her could've only been soul-crushing. "I'm sorry," I say. "I wish you two could've had to have your relationship work out happily, like how Terajima-kun and Oyamada-kun's has."

"So do I," Komatsu says dejectedly.

For a long, somber moment, neither of us says anything. We only sit there on the floor of the Music Room, wallowing in our gloomy thoughts. ...I hate that things had to be this way. Being trapped in a killing game is terrible enough in its own right, but also having to deal with one of us being locked in a cell, rising tensions in an already fraught group, and struggles with foolish stuff like love on top of all that is making things way more difficult than they need to be. Ugh, I wish it could all be easy. I wish Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san weren't so confident. I wish Komatsu-kun and Eguchi-san could be together. I wish I knew if I really loved Motoki-san or not...

Unfortunately, I know things will never be that easy. Things suck and I have to deal with them...I can't live in some fantasy world where I pretend everything is easier than it really is. Before I do that, though, I have to have to get up from this floor, which I really don't feel like doing. T here's something strangely comforting and somewhat therapeutic about sitting alone with someone in silence...

Eventually, after a period of time that could've been minutes or hours, Komatsu says something. "...So, who was it?" he asks.

For a second I'm confused. and then I remember I never named who I was talking about. "Oh, it was Motoki-san," I say. "When we were doing the dishes last night, she confessed that she loved me and asked me if I loved her back, so I told her I wasn't sure, which, uh...didn't go over well."

Komatsu looks somewhat surprised. "Motoki-san, huh...well, that wasn't who I was expectin'," he says. He opens his mouth to continue, but hesitates.

"What is it?" I ask, noticing his reluctance to go on. "Were you going to say something else?"

"...Yeah," he says. "I was gonna say I thought it was Aozora-kun ya were talkin' 'bout. The two of ya were pretty close before he freaked out after the first trial, so I figured that's who it was..."

A pang of sadness hits me. Aozora-kun...I really miss him, but I never felt anything romantic towards him. I can see where Komatsu-kun is coming from, though...we were close before the first trial and our sudden falling out after it could look like the result of a relationship not working out from an onlooker. However, that wasn't what happened. "No, I never loved him," I say firmly. "As for whether he loved me or not...well, I don't know. I don't think so, though...I think we were just friends."

Komatsu nods. "Yeah...sorry for assumin' the two of ya were a thing," he says apologetically. "I didn't know ya were a lesbian, so I jus' assumed..."

"Well, that's the thing," I say, "I don't know if I'm a lesbian. I mean, I could be, because I definitely feel attraction toward women, but I don't know if I'm truly a lesbian, because I still feel like I find some men attractive, yet I don't know if that 'attraction' is just societally conditioned stuff..." I shake my head. "Basically, it's confusing. And on top of all that, I don't know if I actually love Motoki-san. I feel closer to her than most people here, but I don't know if that closeness is something romantic or just friendship..."

"...Shit," Komatsu says. "That's fuckin' confusin'...I can relate, minus all the sexuality stuff. I wasn't sure if what I felt for Eguchi-san was jus' friendship or somethin' romantic for a while...it ain't easy to find the answer. I think ya can do it, though. If there's any advice I can give ya, it's that ya jus' need time to figure shit out."

"That's what I told Motoki-san," I say. "She didn't react well...she told me that if I didn't know right then and there then I'd never know and began to cry." I sigh. "I wish I could've given her a solid answer, I really do...but I didn't want to lie to her."

"What ya did was the right thing to do," Komatsu tells me. "It's best to be honest with how yer feelin'. I'm sure Motoki-san'd rather have ya be honest to her that yer uncertain than have ya lie to her."

I wish that was the case, but I don't think it is...I think she just wants me to say I love her whether it's true or not. I think she desperately craves a romantic connection with someone after all the shit that's happened during this killing game...it's probably the deprivation of all that connection that's been making her act so weirdly recently. But, if she really wants that connection, why has she been ignoring me? Is it just spite? Ugh, it doesn't make sense...though, if there's one silver lining in this shitshow, at least Komatsu-kun was nice to talk to. "Thanks for that, Komatsu-kun," I say gratefully. "Your advice was appreciated."

"Yer welcome, Kawashima-san," he says. "I know what it's like to be confused 'bout romantic stuff, so I might as well help ya out and give ya some advice 'bout it." He looks at the floor sadly. "I also know what it's like to have a promisin' relationship get crushed...so, if shit gets real bad with ya and Motoki-san, ya can come to me for advice..."

"I hope that never happens," I say, "but I will if it comes to that."

After that, we sit in a melancholy silence for a few minutes. Eventually, I look over at the clock. "It's only 4:17," I say. "What should we do for the next hour and a half?"

"I dunno," Komatsu says. "I'm fine with jus' sittin' here."

I'm not. I'm so used to constantly hustling around my restaurant back home that sitting still is an alien, strange feeling for me. I don't know how I did it for this long...I guess being in a shitty mood helped. "Well, we're in the Music Room," I say. "You could play some music." I'd say "we" could play something, but I have no musical talent at all, so that's not an option.

Komatsu makes a face. "Ehhh...I don't think I'm up for that," he says.

"Then what should we do?" I ask. "I can't just sit here and do nothing for an hour and a half. I'll go crazy."

An idea suddenly strikes Komatsu. "We could listen to music," he proposes. "Not jus' any listenin', though...active listenin'. I love doin' that shit 'cause of how relaxin' it could be...but ya can't jus' throw on some random shit. It needs to be good."

"Well, what do you recommend?" I ask. "And what could we listen to, and where? Niizuma-san used most of the wires for the big amp speakers for her murder plan, so I doubt they'll work."

"Nah, prolly not," Komatsu says. "Hmm...I think there's some old boombox speaker from the early 2000's in here with a few CD's 'round it somewhere in here. I remember seein' it on the first day Monohebi opened this floor to us, but I don't got no clue where it is 'cause of how disorganized this room is."

"Let's get started, then," I say. "It's in here somewhere."

With some difficulty, Komatsu and I get up from our positions on the floor. Ouch, that hurts...the soreness from Sashihara-kun's workout still hasn't faded. Sitting still for so long didn't help me, but at least I'm getting up now. I hope we can find that boombox Komatsu-kun was talking about...

Fortunately, we discover the boombox in question hidden in one of the corners of the room beneath a few viola cases. "There we go," Komatsu says when we find it.

"What's on those CDs?" I ask, gesturing to the small stack of CDs sitting next to the speaker.

Komatsu picks up a CD and reads it. "Transfigured Night
by Schönberg and Berg's Violin Concerto...both good, but I never really liked 'em much." He puts that CD aside and picks up another, a smile coming over his face as he does. "Daphnis et Chloé by Ravel and Swan Lake Suite by Tchaikovsky," he says. He holds the CD up in the air with a pleased expression. "I think I know what we're listenin' to."

"Are those two songs good?" I ask. I recognize the name of the first one earlier...

"They're amazin'," Komatsu says. "And together they're about an hour and a half...which is perfect for the amount of time we got." His smile fades. "There's one downside, though..."

"What's that?" I ask.

"Well...even though both these works are fuckin' incredible, they're gonna make me feel real sad to listen to," he says. "'Cause, well...they're both love stories. And I tend to get real invested in the music I listen to, so I'm prolly gonna cry a lot, even more than normal 'cause of what's goin' on with Eguchi-san. Especially at the dawn section of Daphnis et Chloé
and the
end of the finale to Swan Lake. That shit's so fuckin' beautiful...I can never hold back tears" He looks at me sheepishly. "Damn, that's gonna be so embarrasin'...cryin' in fronta a girl over some music..."

"I won't judge," I assure him. "And don't be ashamed of crying, even if it's from stuff like music." I playfully shove Komatsu on the shoulder. "Besides, you were sobbing freely in front of me not too long ago...if I was going to judged you for crying, I would've already done it."

He smiles as he turns the CD he's picked over in his hands. "Yeah...I guess." He picks up the speaker and brings it over to where we were sitting earlier. "Let's get started," he says as he lies down on the floor. "Can ya put the music on?"

"Sure," I say. I take the CD he picked out of its case and insert it into the boombox. Then, I lie down on the floor, resting my head on an instrument case, and begin to listen.

The first song, which I guess is Daphnis et Chloé, starts out with a beautiful, soaring introduction, and then, if I'm honest, is really boring for a while.
I thought Komatsu-kun said this was supposed to be good.
After about forty minutes, it feels like it's fading into silence. Then, it starts up again with really fast yet really quiet woodwinds playing, and I hear Komatsu exhale deeply. I look over at him and see that he's beginning to cry, just like he said he would. Throughout the development of the next section, which is admittedly some sublimely beautiful stuff, and to the climactic ending, Komatsu cries softly. Wow...he really does get into the music he listens to.

Komatsu continues to cry through the thirty-something minutes of the next song, which I guess is the Swan Lake Suite. Oh...so this is where all those songs from that shitty Barbie movie I watched as a kid came from!
I want to say that my main focus while listening was the music itself because it is really beautiful, but it's mostly remembering all the clumsy choreographies I made for myself as a little girl.

When it's all over, I notice that Komatsu is still crying. "Damn..." he says through tears. "That was so fuckin' good..."

"Yeah, it was," I say. Even though I was thinking mostly of a terrible Barbie movie for the second one, I have to admit that both those pieces of music were pretty good...if a little too long. I guess I don't really have the attention span to listen to such long music. I look over at the clock. "It's 5:51," I say. "We should probably head down to dinner soon."

Komatsu wipes tears from his eyes as he sits up. "Yeah...we should." After he regains his composure, he takes the CD out of the boombox, puts it back in its case, and takes it and the boombox over to where we found it. Then, he and I walk down to the Cafeteria, where Domoto, Hayasaka, Terajima, and Oyamada are sitting in a stuffy silence. I guess Kasparov-kun and Motoki-san are still downstairs guarding Eguchi-san.

"Hey," I greet as we sit at the table, with Komatsu sitting as far away from Domoto as possible. That's unsurprising, given what happened this morning.

"...Hello," Domoto eventually responds. Then, the stuffy silence returns. I hate this...it's so awkward...

"How were your guys' afternoons?" I ask in an attempt to not have to suffer through such awkward silence any longer.

I only get a response from Hayasaka. "It was as good as it could be for such a bad time," she says, sounding distant. "Eisuke-kun, Osamu-kun, and I talked about a lot of stuff together."

That's a vague answer, but I guess she doesn't need to be clear. They were probably talking about Eguchi-san...
"What'd you do, Domoto-san?" I ask her.

She gives me a side-eye. "Kawashima-san, I'm not in the mood for small talk," she says snappily. "I made the mistake of partnering with Sashihara-kun and now my entire body is aching, so I'm really not in the mood to talk pleasantries."

When are you ever in the mood for pleasantries, Domoto-san? You're always irritated at something. I open my mouth to say something in response, but then I realize that if she was partners with Sashihara, then that means he's in the Kitchen alone. I can't allow that. With all the poisons in the poison cabinet, I can't let Sashihara-kun cook food alone. It's too risky...

"Wh-What's wrong, K-Kawashima-san?" Oyamada asks worriedly. "You l-look c-concerned about s-something..."

"It's...it's nothing," I say. I can't let them suspect anything...after all, I have no proof Sashihara-kun or anyone else is trying to poison anybody. I just can't risk letting it happen. "I have to go help with dinner." I stand up and quickly stride into the Kitchen, ignoring the others' stares.

As soon as I enter the Kitchen, Sashihara notices me. "Oh, hello Kawashima-san," he says, surprised to see me. "Are you wondering when dinner will be ready? I promise it won't be too long."

"No, that's not why I'm here," I say. Should I tell him the real reason why? I don't think he'd like hearing it...besides, I don't want to give him any ideas.

He looks confused. "Then...why are you here?"

"I'm here to help you cook," I answer, which is at least partially true. "I can serve it to everyone outside, too."

"Okay," Sashihara says slowly. "I'm grateful for the offer...but this is a little sudden." He pauses and looks at me with a strange expression. "Kawashima-san, I hope you don't get offended by me asking this...but is there some other reason you want to help out?"

Oh shit, he's on to me. "No," I lie, trying as hard as I can to keep my face completely normal. "I just want to help. I feel bad for you, making all our food for us by yourself."

I can tell Sashihara doesn't completely buy what I'm saying, but he nods anyway. "Alright," he says. "If you want to help out, I guess you can help me with finishing cutting the vegetables and bread for the soup I'm making."

I do as Sashihara asks, watching him out of the corner of my eye the entire time. I feel kind of bad for being suspicious of him, but not suspecting any of the past murderers is what allowed them to get away with their crimes. Fortunately, everything Sashihara puts in the soup looks completely normal. Just because it looks normal doesn't mean it is normal, though...

"Do you want me to serve the food, Sashihara-kun?" I ask him when the soup's done.

"Sure," Sashihara says. "You are the Ultimate Waitress, after all."

I get out ten bowls for everyone to have their soup and watch like a hawk as Sashihara ladles soup into each one of them. He notices my intent gaze. "Kawashima-san...why are you looking at me that way?"

"I just want to make sure the soup doesn't spill as you pour it in," I tell him with a polite smile. "It'd be a shame if it spilled after you were cooking it for so long."

"...Okay," Sashihara says, sounding wholly unconvinced. When he's done putting the soup into every bowl, he places the pot with the rest of the soup in it to the side and then stares at me, looking both irritated and hurt. "I can tell what this is, you know," he says. "You were watching me to make sure I didn't spike anyone's soup with anything...that's what it was, wasn't it? You came here because you distrusted me and thought I would poison someone."

Well, looks like I didn't fool him...I guess there's no point in trying to hide it now. "Yeah, I did," I admit. "Don't worry, it's nothing personal. I don't suspect you of anything...I just can't let you be in here all alone cooking everyone's food when you could easily poison or drug someone. It's too much of a risk."

A pained expression comes over Sashihara's face. "So that's how it's going to be, huh..." he says, turning away from me. He leans over the sink, grips the counter tightly, and breathes heavily. Is everything alright with him...? I get he probably doesn't like being distrusted, but like I said it isn't anything personal.

"I'm going to take the food out to everyone," I say as I begin loading nine of the ten bowls onto a tray. I'll leave the tenth one, which is for Eguchi-san, back here for now.
"Are you going to come out too?"

"...Sure," he says. I wait for him to walk out sadly before I leave with the tray. I don't want him slipping anything into Eguchi-san's bowl while no one else is around...hers is the bowl I have to watch out for most, after all.

I leave the Kitchen and see that Kasparov and Motoki have come up from guarding Eguchi. I try to look at Motoki as I take each bowl off the tray and lay it down in front of someone, but she actively ignores looking at me, even when I place a bowl in front of her. She really doesn't want to talk, does she...

When I'm done serving the food, I put the tray back in the Kitchen and then sit at the table to eat. This soup is good...I'm glad Sashihara-kun didn't poison it. That would've ruined it and made this already terrible situation even worse...

As soon as everyone at the table is done eating, Kasparov sits up straight and starts talking. "Now that you all have finished eating, Domoto-san and I have something to announce."

"What is it?" Terajima asks, a small amount of hope in his voice. "Are you going to let Eguchi-san out of her cell?"

Kasparov frowns. "No," he says. "Our announcement is that this morning the two of us, along with Kawashima-san, made an inventory of all the potentially dangerous materials and objects in the Infirmary and Weapons Room." He holds up the notebook the inventory was written in. "That inventory is contained within this notebook."

"Oh..." Oyamada says disappointedly. "I g-got my hopes up f-for a second...I thought you'd finally l-let Eguchi-san go..."

"I do not wish to have this conversation yet again," Kasparov says testily. "Eguchi-san will not be let out of her cell. That decision is final."

"Yes, so please stop asking about it," Domoto says.

Oyamada looks like he wants to say something very rude to her, but Terajima lays a hand on his shoulder and shakes his head. "Osamu-kun...not now," he says softly. He takes his hand off Oyamada's shoulder and turns his attention to Domoto and Kasparov, his face hardening as he does. "So...what exactly is the point of that inventory?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Domoto asks. "It's a list of all potential weapons in the Weapons Room and Infirmary and for the poisons, a description of their effects and lethal dosage."

"Yes, I realized that," Terajima says irritatedly. "But why make it at all? It does nothing to stop a murder...if anything, it encourages one by giving a potential killer access to information about how to kill someone."

"On the contrary," Kasparov says. "If a killer knows we can track the weapon they used to murder, it makes a case much easier to solve, especially if something as tricky as poison is involved. Additionally, this information will not be freely available to a killer, so you do not have to worry about them using it."

Terajima raises his eyebrows. "What do you mean it won't be 'freely available?'"

"We're not going to let anyone look at it unless a murder happens," Domoto answers. "Kasparov-kun will be keeping it in his room."

"...Oh hell the fuck no," Komatsu says. "That's suspicious as fuck! He'd have access to a list of a fuck ton of dangerous shit and could easily change it himself!" Komatsu narrows his eyes at Kasparov. "Ya ain't nearly as slick as ya think, Kasparov-kun. I'm onto ya, and I ain't gonna let ya get away with killin' Eguchi-san or anyone else!"

"I will not murder anyone," Kasparov insists. "If one does happen, feel free to suspect me, but you will be wrong. I shall not kill anyone."

"Are we s-supposed to just t-take your w-word for it?" Oyamada asks suspiciously. "B-Because I don't t-trust you enough for th-that..."

Kasparov looks frustrated by their distrust in him. "Firstly, this inventory is written in pen, so any change I make would be easy to see," he says. "Secondly, I would have no need to hold onto this notebook if I wanted to kill, as I have already seen all the items on it while Kawashima-san, Domoto-san, and I were making it. If I were planning to kill someone, would it not be more for my benefit to rid myself of the notebook and pass it off to someone else to make them look more suspicious?"

That's a fair point... "W-Well....you c-could..." Oyamada says, his voice trailing away into disgruntled mumbling.

"I think you're all missing the point," Hayasaka says suddenly. "Instead of arguing over who should keep that inventory, we should destroy all the stuff on it."

"What?" Motoki asks. "There's no way we could do that. Are you insane?"

Hayasaka glares at Motoki. "No, Sakiko-san, I'm not. Those poisons in the Infirmary and everything in the Weapons Room only puts everyone here at greater risk of being killed. We need to destroy them all. It wouldn't be hard...we'd just have to set the Incinerator to its highest setting and burn them all."

"Well, not all of them," I say. "There are surgical tools in the Infirmary that we should keep around." Other than that, I like Hayasaka-san's idea. We'd be better off without any of those poisons or weapons around.

"Okay, everything except for the surgical tools," Hayasaka says. "So, who's with me? I think it's a pretty good idea."

"It is, but it's impossible," Sashihara says seriously. "Don't you remember the rules? There's one against damaging property..." He takes out his e-Handbook and begins to read the rule in question. "Rule 10: Inmates may not damage any property of the Monohebi Correctional Facility. Doing so will result in punishment."

Fuck, I forgot about that...looks like Monohebi already squashed the possibility. And here I was thinking that maybe we could get the better of him...

Hayasaka hangs her head. "Damn..." she says disappointedly. "That sucks."

"It does, but it's not like your idea was good in the first place," Domoto says. "Incinerating the weapons I could understand, but burning dangerous poisons? What an idiotic idea...all that would do is kill us all from all the toxic fumes it would create."

"Yeah, that would've never worked," Motoki says. Her face hardens. "Burning away our problems won't work...we have to things into our own hands."

There's a long, stifling moment of silence after Motoki's words. Her tone there was kind of weird...but that's not what's impacting me and everyone else.
What's impacting us is the truth in what Motoki-san's saying: we can't sit around any longer...we can't afford half-measures...we need to take things into our own hands. What does that mean, though? I know I need to do something to change this situation, but I don't know what...

"Hey, everyone," Hayasaka says suddenly, trying and failing to sound happy to conceal her disappointment from earlier. "I have another idea..."

Domoto crosses her arms. "What is it this time?" she asks, ready to dismiss the idea before she's even heard it. "I really hope it's not something stupid again."

"No need to be so dismissive, toy girl," Terajima says coolly. "Let her speak before you criticize her idea."

"Thanks, Eisuke-kun," Hayasaka says. "I remember someone saying the day we first explored the basement that there was ice cream in the Freezer...I think we should have some of it. It's not much, but...I hope it'll help lift everyone's spirits somewhat."

Oh, so that's what it was...it's nothing huge, but there's no reason to not do it. "I'm up for that," I say.

"Same," Komatsu says eagerly. "I'm so down to have some ice cream..."
That's the best I've seen him all day...I guess the mention of food, especially sweet stuff, really cheers him up.

"M-Me too," Oyamada says.

Terajima shrugs. "I see no reason not to."

Hayasaka smiles. "Great," she says as she turns her attention to the other four. "What about you guys?"

"I will not have any!" Sashihara says, back to his normal shouty self. "Ice cream is far too energy-dense and contains far too many added sugars for me to have any!"

"I will not be having any either," Kasparov says. "I must admit I never enjoyed ice cream much."

"Me either," Motoki says.

Domoto only shakes her head.

"Okay," Hayasaka says as she begins to head to the stairs to the basement. "I'll go get some from downst—"

"Wait," Domoto interrupts, causing Hayasaka to stop. "You can't go alone. Eguchi-san is all alone in her cell down there." Domoto narrows her eyes. "...Were you trying to take advantage of that? Were you going to let her out of it?"

Hayasaka says nothing, but the look on her face betrays her. "...So it is true," Kasparov says disapprovingly. "I had thought this ice cream idea was strange and out of place."

"I was actually going to get the ice cream," Hayasaka says, avoiding Domoto and Kasparov's gazes. "...and I was going to let Yuzuki-san out while I did that."

"You may fetch the ice cream, but you must not be unaccompanied so you do not release Eguchi-san," Kasparov says. He looks at Motoki. "Motoki-san...you will not release Eguchi-san. Will you accompany Hayasaka-san to the basement to ensure the only thing she brings back up here is ice cream?"

Motoki nods. "Absolutely." She gets up and her and Hayasaka walk down to the basement, Hayasaka looking disappointed and defeated. That was sly of Hayasaka-san...I would've fallen for that trick. I wish Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san had, too...

As soon as Motoki and Hayasaka come up from the basement, I and everyone else who wanted ice cream follow them into the Kitchen to get ourselves a bowl since there are no cones around. I make sure to watch Eguchi's bowl of soup intently the entire time. I always have to be on lookout...anyone could slip anything into it at any time.

When everyone who wants ice cream gets it, Hayasaka puts it in the fridge and we all head back into the Cafeteria, where we eat in uncomfortable silence. This cherry ice cream is really good, but the mood of the room is really killing my appreciation of it. There's so much unspoken tension in the air...Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san are on edge after Hayasaka-san tried to fool them, Motoki-san is still sending wistful yet angry glances my way, and Terajima-kun, Oyamada-kun, and most of all Komatsu-kun are glaring at Domoto-san and Kasparov-kun. This is bad...

"Yo...I got a question," Terajima says as we're finishing up eating. "Who're going to be Eguchi-san's guards tonight?"

That's a good question, Terajima-kun...but I think we all know the answer. "You should be one," I say as I wipe the dark red stains left from the ice cream off my lips with a napkin.

"I was thinking that," Terajima says through a yawn. "However...as you can tell, I'm pretty tired. I would have to take the second shift."

"That is agreeable," Kasparov says. "You are the most capable of staying awake at such late hours, and your sleep schedule is already altered from having to do that last night." He frowns. "However...you must not release Eguchi-san from her cell. It would be pointless, as Domoto-san and I would simply place her back in the cell, and you would never be a guard for her ever again."

Terajima hesitates for a moment and then nods stiffly. "...Fine," he says reluctantly. "Who will be the other guard?"

Sashihara grimaces as everyone looks at him. "I..." he says uncertainly. "I don't want to be the guard."

Domoto raises her eyebrows. "What? Why not?"

"It's not good for your health to stand unmoving for hours," Sashihara replies. "Also...it was difficult to stand there while Eguchi-san cried the whole time. I don't want to do it again."

"You will not be capable of guarding Eguchi-san to the best of your ability if you do not wish to be guarding her, so you do not have to be guard," Kasparov says. "However, that raises an important question: who will be your replacement?"

"I'll do it," I say without thinking.
This is such a rash decision and I'll definitely regret it...however, I need to do it. I trust myself to protect Eguchi-san, and I don't know if I can fully trust anyone else.

Kasparov looks surprised. "You will? I must admit, Kawashima-san, I did not think you would volunteer."

"Neither did I," Domoto says as she crosses her arms. "Also, I doubt you'd be a capable guard, Kawashima-san. You're not nearly strong as Sashihara-kun or Terajima-kun and could probably be overpowered pretty easily."

That's ironic, coming from the shortest and weakest person here. "I can protect myself and Eguchi-san just fine, Domoto-san," I say firmly. "I won't get overpowered."

"I doubt it," Domoto says, unconvinced. "But if you want to be guard, I won't stop you."

"Okay," I say. "Since dinner's pretty much over, I'm going to go down to Eguchi-san now."

No one objects to that, so I head downstairs, stopping at the Kitchen to grab Eguchi's soup and to make her a bowl of ice cream as I go. I don't know if she wants any ice cream, but I might as well make some so she can have it if she wants it.
When I get to the solitary confinement cell Eguchi's being kept in, I knock to announce my arrival. "Hi, Eguchi-san," I say. "It's Kawashima-san. I'll be your guard tonight."

It takes a while for Eguchi to bring herself into view of the small window to the cell. When she does, I have to hold back a grimace. She does not look good...her hair is a mess, her clothes are unkempt, and her eyes are red and teary.
"Kawashima-san," she says, her voice hoarse. "Please let me out of here..."

I look away from her, not able to look her in the eyes. "I'm sorry, Eguchi-san," I say regretfully. "I can't do that..." I want to, though...I desperately want to...

"You don't understand," she says pleadingly, grabbing onto the bars of the cell door's window. "I can't stay here. I'm going crazy."

I don't know how to respond to that, so I don't. "I brought you dinner and ice cream," I say, still not able to look Eguchi in the eyes. I take the bowl of now-cold soup and the bowl of half-melted ice cream and slide them through the bars of the cell window, which they just barely fit through, all without looking at Eguchi. I want to look at her, but I can't manage to...seeing her like this makes me feel so terrible.

I hear Eguchi sniffle as she takes the bowls and puts them on the floor of the cell. "Thanks for the food, Kawashima-san, but...I've..." She sniffles again. "I...I...I've..."

I finally look back at her. "You've what?" I ask.

"I've...I've...relapsed," she says, saying the last word as if it were the worst curse possible. She's relapsed...? Wait, that means...

"Your bulimia's back," I say softly as I realize what she's saying.

She nods painfully. "I didn't eat my dinner last night...or my breakfast this morning...at least, not until this afternoon, when I ate it all at once." She gulps, a sickened expression in her face. "Then, just after...I threw it all up. I vomited into that disgusting toilet, crying the entire time."

"Eguchi-san," I whisper, feeling myself tear up. "I'm so sorry...this is terrible..."

"Yeah, it really fucking is," Eguchi says, anger quickly replacing the sadness in her voice. "I fucking hate everything about this...not only am I locked in this cell based on a flimsy accusation from a bossy toy bitch and a stuck-up chess player, but I'm also the target of the fucking motive. Terajima-kun told me all about it last night...if one of you kills me, then you get to go free without having to win the goddamn trial." She hangs her head, sobbing furiously. "I fucking HATE THIS!!"

I wince at how loud her scream was. "Eguchi-san..." I say pitifully. "I'm really sorry about all this. You don't deserve it..."

She looks up at me, wiping her tears away. "Really? Because the toy bitch and chess douche have apparently been going off non-stop about how I'm undoubtedly guilty and evil and that they're completely right about
everything they say, because how could such perfect people possibly be wrong!?"

I don't have to ask if that was sarcasm...
"They...They're being difficult, that's for sure," I say. "Motoki-san's been challenging too. The three of them have been adamant about not letting you leave this cell."

Eguchi makes a face. "Of course they have," she says moodily. "What about everyone else?"

"Everyone else is pretty much on your side," I say. "Sashihara-kun hasn't done much, but Oyamada-kun and Terajima-kun really stuck up for you this morning and Hayasaka-san tried to fool Domoto-san and Kasparov-kun into letting her come down here alone so she could release you."

Eguchi lets out a small, humorless laugh. "Did she really?" she asks. "I wouldn't have expected her of all people to do that..."

"Why not?" I ask. "Hayasaka-san's changed. She's not the person she used to be, or at least the person she pretended to be."

"I have my doubts about that," Eguchi says dryly. "She may have sworn to change, but I still don't trust her...even if she was pretending and deep in denial while she was taking on that revolting 'Mika-chan' personality, she still said those things. She still was condescending and mean to everyone except that soulless statistics bitch. She still called me fat, ugly, and worthless. She still insulted Komatsu-kun's intelligence constantly." She pauses after she says his name. "Speaking of him...what has he been doing since I got locked in here?"

"Komatsu-kun's been on your side too," I answer. I see her face soften and tears form in her eyes when I say that. "He's been devastated by you being locked in here...he's cried a lot about you and even yelled at Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san this morning for putting you in this cell."

Eguchi smiles tearfully. "Oh, I love him," she says. "I'm glad he's sad about me...I was worried he didn't care because of how he let Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san put me here in the first place." Her smile fades and her eye twitches. "I'll make sure he never stands by as something like this happens to me again...oh no. He won't repeat that mistake."

That sounded really ominous... "I think he was in shock," I say, coming to his defense. "Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san were pretty convincing yesterday and that video didn't make you look good..."

"As if you had to fucking remind me," Eguchi snaps. "I know it made me look guilty and I hate it. I hate that it feels so deeply wrong yet so right at the same time." She clings to the bars of the cell door's window, crying angrily. "I hate that it feels like what I was worrying about is true after all...that the bad side of me that's been growing like a cancerous tumor ever since the last motive is taking over." She looks up at me. "Remember when we talked in the Art Room about that a few days ago?"

"Yeah," I say. "I do. I told you that even if you were a bad person before you're not anymore and that you're still firmly in control."

"Well, it's looking more and more likely that both those things are going to be wrong," Eguchi says, crying bitterly. "Every day, I feel more and more paranoid, more and more inclined to becoming angry, more and more vengeful." She cries even more. "I fucking hate it...I hate it so much...I feel like an evil parasite is slowly taking over me and transforming me into an evil person..."

Eguchi-san...I'm so sorry that this is happening. "Eguchi-san, I know this situation feels hopeless," I say. "But you can't give up. You're a strong girl...you can resist whatever Monohebi's doing to you."

Her crying subsides as she slowly wipes her tears away. "Thank you for trying to help, Kawashima-san," she says, "but please don't lie to me."
She moves away from the window back to her bed and sits on it miserably. I want to talk to her to help her feel better...but I don't think talking is going to help much in this situation.

Feeling sad about what's happening, I turn away from the cell door and watch the corner of the hallway carefully. Luckily, this isn't a hard place to guard...because the other end of the hallway ends in a dead-end, all I have to do is watch the end of the hallway with the corner on it. I'd likely hear someone approaching too, so this shouldn't be too bad...as long as no one comes. I hope that doesn't happen...I honestly have no idea what I'd do. I have nothing to protect myself with.

For the next several hours, I stand in front of Eguchi's cell, watching that corner intently, only breaking my gaze to occasionally check the clock on the hallway's wall or on what Eguchi's doing in her cell, which is mostly lying on the rusty old bed motionlessly, sometimes crying, for a few hours and then sleeping for the next few. I occasionally move away from the cell so my legs don't die and so I don't fall asleep on the spot. I know what Sashihara-kun was talking about earlier now...it's really hard to stay awake and to stand still for so long. Me still being sore from his workout yesterday definitely isn't helping with that...

Eventually, as the end of my shift approaches, I hear Eguchi's voice again. "You're going to leave soon," she says flatly. "It's almost 1 AM...that's when the second guard comes to their shift."

"Yeah, I'll be leaving soon," I say, turning to look at Eguchi. "Did you sleep well?"

"What kind of fucking question is that?" she asks bitterly. "Of course I didn't. I've been locked in a fucking cell against my will for a day and a half."

I shouldn't have asked that...it was a dumb question. "I'm sorry," I say. "Not only for asking such a stupid question, but also for you being in this cell. You shouldn't be in it, even if you are guilty of everything Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san say you are."

Eguchi makes a strange face when I say that. "...Oh," she says. She moves forward,
wrapping her hands around two bars of the window. "Well...if that's the case...then why don't you just let me out?"

"Let you out?" I repeat, entertaining the possibility. "I..."

"Come on, you can do it," Eguchi says softly. "The door has three locks, but they're all pretty simple." She presses her face against the window in between the two bars she's gripping. "So...let me out."

I break my gaze with Eguchi and look at the three locks to the cell door. Should I do it? Should I let her out? Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san would be furious, but that doesn't really matter. Eguchi-san would be free, and there'd be a lot less risk of her dying...right?

"Come on, Kawashima-san," Eguchi coos. "It's not that hard...all you have to do is unlock the door." I slowly approach the cell door.
She wouldn't be stuck in this cell, where she has a huge target painted on her back...she'd come out of her relapse into bulimia...she and Komatsu-kun would be together again...

I lay my hand on the first lock and unlock it. Eguchi's face lights up. "Yes, go on," she urges. "Only two more..."

I unlock the second lock. Eguchi is trembling with excitement. "Come on," she urges. "Two out of three! Only one to go..."

I lay my hand on the third and final lock, but all of a sudden hesitation hits me and I freeze. ...Is this really the right decision? Will this really make Eguchi-san and the rest of us safer? As annoying as Kasparov-kun, Domoto-san, and Motoki-san have been about keeping Eguchi-san in the cell and the correctness of Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san's accusation against her, I can't ignore that the accusation did have merit to it. Keeping her in this cell does prevent her from working with the mastermind...

"...What are you doing?" Eguchi asks. "It's just one lock left."

"I...I don't know if I should do it," I say. "I'm sorry..."

Eguchi's trembling excitement from before instantly turns into trembling fury. "You...YOU USELESS DUMBASS!!" she screams, fuming. "WHY CAN'T YOU JUST OPEN THE GODDAMN FUCKING DOOR!? IT'S ONE FUCKING LOCK ANY SIMPLETON COULD OPEN! IF YOU DON'T LET ME OUT, I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU, SO JUST FUCKING DO IT! LET ME OUT, GODDAMMIT! LET ME OUT!!!!"

Holy shit...this is terrifying.
I relock the first two locks. "Eguchi-san, calm down," I say slowly.

"NO!!" she shouts. She tears herself away from the window for a moment and then re-emerges, holding something. What's that in her han—holy shit!

I barely manage to dodge out of the way as Eguchi throws her bowl of melted ice cream through the window, splattering the dark red liquid everywhere. "Eguchi-san...what the hell?" I ask. "You really need to calm down!"

"LET ME OUT!!" she screams in response, spitting everywhere as she does so. "I'M GOING FUCKING CRAZY IN THIS CELL AND I NEED TO ESCAPE!! PLEASE, JUST LET ME OUT!! I CAN'T STAY HERE!!" She chokes and bursts into sobs. "I can't stay here!" she repeats, less angry and more anguished. "I need to get out! Please, Kawashima-san...please just let me go! Please..."

I want to comply and let her go, but I can't bring myself to. That outburst seriously scared me...and that reminds me of what Furuhata-kun said about the girl with the plan in his videos. He said she's really scary when she's angry, which definitely fits Eguchi-san when she's mad. "I'm sorry," I say regretfully. I turn away from Eguchi, not bearing to look at her as I hear her begin to cry even harder. I'm sorry, Eguchi-san. I really am...

My eyes land on the clock. It's 12:57 AM, so I might as well leave now...I can't bear to be down here any longer. I'll just wait for Terajima-kun at the entrance to the staircase in the Cafeteria. There's no other entrance to the basement, so I'll be fine spending the last three minutes there waiting for him to come.
I leave a sobbing Eguchi behind and walk up the stairs, still disturbed by that last encounter. I really did want to let Eguchi-san out of that cell...but I had a moment of hesitation and she freaked out at me, causing me to back out of my decision. I wish it could've all gone well and I could've let her out...

When I arrive at the top of the steps, I stop to see Terajima and Oyamada sitting at the table, laughing with each other. "C-Come on, I know you w-want me to," Oyamada says playfully, holding a spoonful of the cherry ice cream from earlier in his hand. They must've gotten some from the fridge in the Kitchen...

Terajima smiles. "...Fine," he says, "but I get to do it to you too."

"D-Deal," Oyamada says with a chuckle. "N-Now open your m-mouth."

Terajima does as Oyamada says, and Oyamada pretends the spoon is an airplane as he flies it into Terajima's mouth. "The p-plane has landed," he says in his best impression of an air traffic controller's voice.

"Alright, my turn," Terajima says after he swallows it. Oyamada opens his mouth as Terajima scoops another spoonful of ice cream and feeds it to Oyamada, who squirms into a giggling fit as Terajima feeds him.

I smile at them.
They're so adorable together...I wish Motoki-san and I could have something like that.

I hear Oyamada's laughter subside as he notices me. "Oh...h-hey, Kawashima-san," he says, his face reddening. "How l-long have you b-been there?"

"Not too long," I say as I move over to the table. "You two are a cute couple, you know."

I see a rare tinge of pink on Terajima's cheeks. "Thank you," he says, sounding embarrassed. However, his embarrassment is short-lived and his normal stoicism soon returns. "Looks like I'm going to have go down to Eguchi-san now, Osamu-kun."

"A-Aren't you g-going to have your c-coffee f-first?" Oyamada asks. "You s-said you wanted s-some before y-you went d-down..."

"I'll have it...but only if you feed it to me," Terajima says with a small but playful smile. "After you fed me that ice cream, I'm suddenly incapable of eating or drinking by myself."

"Oh, you b-big b-baby," Oyamada says as he gets up, kissing Terajima on the cheek as he does so. "I'll m-make a c-cup for Eguchi-san, t-too."

"This late?" I ask. "Doesn't she want to sleep?"

"Eguchi-san didn't sleep well at all during this time of the night last night," Terajima explains as Oyamada goes back into the Kitchen to make the coffee. "She was too worried about being attacked, which I completely understand. This time of night is the most dangerous...it's when I'd strike if I were a killer. So, I figured giving her a cup of coffee will help her stay awake if she wants to."

Ah, that makes sense. An awkward silence follows for a moment as neither Terajima nor I knows what we want to say. "I just wanted to let you know," Terajima says, breaking the silence, "that I might not keep Eguchi-san in her cell all night tonight."

"What?" I ask. "Are you going to let her out?"

Terajima looks around for anyone who might be listening and then nods. "Yeah, I was thinking about it," he says. "I hate seeing her in there."

"So do I," I say. I want to let him let her out...but I can't ignore her screaming at me, and her generally off-putting behavior. "Terajima-kun, that may not be the best idea," I say. "I'll just be up-front: Eguchi-san freaked out at me. And when I say freaked out, I mean she screamed at the top of her lungs at me and at one point even threatened to kill me if she got out."

Terajima frowns. "...Oh," he says. "That's not good."

"No, it's not," I say. "Listen, I don't want you to get the wrong idea...I don't want to think Eguchi-san is guilty of all the things Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san are accusing her of. I just don't think she's completely safe herself. These accusations, whether they're true or not, are really taking
a toll on Eguchi-san's mental state and I don't know if letting her out will fix that."

"Yeah, unfortunately," Terajima says as Oyamada re-emerges from the Kitchen with a cup of coffee in either hand.

"What's wr-wrong?" he asks as he sets both cups on the table. "You b-both look w-worried about s-something..."

Terajima crouches in front of Oyamada, running his hand through his unruly hair. "It's nothing," he says calmly. He looks at Oyamada with mock impatience. "Now...am I going to get my coffee, or what?"

Oyamada takes Terajima's cup of coffee and brings it to his lips. With Oyamada still holding the cup to his lips, Terajima drinks it all in one gulp. "Ah, that was good," he says when he's done. "I won't be able to taste much for a week, though...it was really hot."

"J-Just like y-you," Oyamada says with a smile. "I a-also added sugar, b-because I w-wanted the c-coffee to be as s-sweet as you are..."

"You're amazing," Terajima says amusedly as he leans in for a kiss. He and Oyamada kiss for several moments before Terajima reluctantly breaks it off. "...I have to go down to Eguchi-san now," he says as he grabs Eguchi's coffee cup from the table. "See you in the morning. I love you."

"L-Love you too," Oyamada says as he watches Terajima walk down the stairs, staring at the last spot on the stairs even after he's disappeared. "We should p-probably go to b-bed," Oyamada says after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah, we should," I say, yawning. I'm so tired right now...and it's super late, so if I don't get to bed soon, I'll really regret it tomorrow morning. However, I want to say something to Oyamada-kun before we go to bed...
"Oyamada-kun, just to let you know...I'm really proud of you for standing up to Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san today. It was nice to see you assert yourself."

Oyamada makes a sheepish expression. "Oh, th-thanks," he says. "Eisuke-kun told me l-last night that I n-needed to be a-assertive...it w-was really hard to d-do, but I'm g-glad I d-did it. It f-feels good to s-stick up for the p-people you c-care about."

"Yeah," I say. "It does."

After that, our conversation seems to reach its natural ending point, so we say good night to each other and head back to our rooms. Once I'm inside my room, I quickly get ready for bed and throw myself beneath the sheets as quickly as possible. I think to myself during the short time it takes for me to fall asleep. Today was definitely not good...but it wasn't as bad as yesterday. I hope tomorrow's a better day...

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

I find myself in total darkness. Where am I...? What is this?

Stumbling and waling aimlessly all around, I try to find an escape to any sliver of light, but I never do. No matter how far I go, I'm always surrounded by an unending dark void on every side.

"Running away from our problems, are we?" I hear a familiar girl's voice ask. "I should have known. You always were so lazy..." I look around wildly, but I can't seem to pinpoint where it's coming from. It feels like it's talking to me from every direction at once...

"Who's there?" I shout into the void. "And why did you bring me here!?"

Another voice giggles. "We did not bring you here, Señorita Kawashima," it says. "You brought yourself."

It's only then that I realize who's there. That voice is speaking Spanish, so it could only belong to one person I know...
"Carrasco-san...?" I say. "Why the hell are you here!?"

"The same reason the other two of us are here," yet another familiar voice says. "To remind you of your own doom." Unlike the other two, this voice sounds like it's from a boy...If one of the voices is Carrasco-san, and the others are a boy and a girl, who was chiding me for laziness, then that can only mean...

"Yamaguchi-kun...Carrasco-san...Niizuma-san," I say breathlessly, not believing it. "How can you be here...? You're all dead!"

"Sí, estamos muertos," Carrasco's voice says mournfully. "The three of us all made the same choice and will suffer for it forever. However...we will not suffer alone."

"No," Yamaguchi's voice agrees. "You will suffer here with us, Kawashima. After all, it is your fault all three of us are dead."

...Is he serious? That's not true!
"What?" I ask incredulously. "I didn't make you kill anyone! It's your own faults!"

Niizuma's voice sighs. "Continuing to blame others for your own mistakes instead of bravely owning up to them...such a lazy, pathetic thing to do. I'd completely expect it of you." Even though I can't see her face, I can feel her cold gaze staring at me. "And don't try to deny it, Kawashima-san...we all died because of you."

"That's true," Yamaguchi's voice agrees. "You sent me to get that electronic mixer from the Storage Room, Kawashima. I never would've found that bourgeois scum if you hadn't done that, and I never would've killed him."

"And to think you did it so you could comfort Señor Aozora," Carrasco's voice says. "What a waste of time that turned out to be. Your feeble attempts to comfort him only caused him to distance himself from you more and more...leading to his inevitable demise."

Hearing that makes me twitch with rage. "Shut up!" I shout at the void around me. "You killed him, not me!"

"Sí, I strangled him," she admits. "But I never would've been able to do it if Señor Aozora had been in a stable mental state, which you certainly pushed him away from, willfully or not."

I want to fight back, but guilt overwhelms me and I begin to cry. Niizuma's voice tsks at me. "You really are pitiful," she says. "I mean, how did you not see through my plan? I was worried that I wouldn't be able to trick the seemingly intelligent girl who'd solved the first two trials into letting me go to the 'bathroom' all alone, but I was wrong. You were far dumber than I imagined."

She's right...I should've never let her go to the bathroom. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew it was the wrong decision to let her go....but I ignored my gut. I let her go, and she ended up making Ichigohara-san's death trap. I hate myself...
"I...I'm sorry," I say through tears. "I really am."

"Sorry won't bring us back," Yamaguchi's voice reminds me harshly. "Nor will it resurrect Furuhata, Aozora, or Ichigohara."

"No, estamos muertos para siempre, desafortunadamente," Carrasco's voice says sadly. "It's time for you to finally admit your mistakes, Señorita Kawashima. Ignoring them any longer will only cause more harm."

"Yes, you better own up to everything soon," Niizuma's voice says. "Otherwise, we'll be welcoming another member to our ranks very soon. That'd be fun...as annoying as they mostly were, I sort of miss the company of our dear living friends. I wonder which of them will come to join us?"

"All of them, at one point or another," Yamaguchi's voice says. He and the other two start to laugh, slowly but surely growing from small chuckles to a cacophony of raucous laughter.

"No," I say forcefully. "Stop fucking laughing!"

But they don't stop. They only laugh even harder as the sight of their bodies begins to emerge from the darkness. Holy shit....they look horrible! I want to throw up... I want to avert my gaze from the horrific sight of their laughing corpses, but my eyes feel frozen. I can only stare at Yamaguchi's headless body holding his decapitated head in his hands, Carrasco's charred corpse shedding flakes of her burnt skin and dress, and Niizuma's broken and twisted body covered in filth.

"Stop it!" I shout. "GO AWAY!"

They ignore my pleas, only laughing and harder as they slowly approach me. Suddenly, I hear a muffled bang and I feel the void tremble, causing everything to immediately disappear.

I wake up in terror, finding myself covered in a cold sweat and breathing heavily.
Holy shit, that was absolutely horrifying...it felt so real. I can't get the images of Yamaguchi-kun, Carrasco-san, and Niizuma-san's bodies out of my head. I'm so glad
it was all just a dream...

I tell myself that over and over to calm myself down. It was all a dream...It was all just a dream...
I feel my breathing slow down more and more, but I can't bring myself to complete calm. Was it all just a dream, though? I know Yamaguchi-kun, Carrasco-san, and Niizuma-san are all dead, so it wasn't actually them yelling at me, but I still feel like they were making a good point. I hold more responsibility for the murders that have happened here then I might like to imagine.

I look at the electronic clock sitting on the nightstand next to my bed. 3:28 AM...fuck. I roll back over in bed, trying to go back to sleep, but I can't. That was so terrifying...

All of a sudden I remember the muffled noise and shaking at the end of the dream. While the rest of the dream was definitely just in my head, that stuff probably wasn't...it might've been something in the real world that woke me up. But what could that loud sound be? Aren't these rooms soundproofed? The noise I heard was muffled, but I shouldn't have been able to hear anything at all...unless someone was in here with me.

I jump out of bed and turn on the light, goosebumps covering my body. Fortunately, there's no one in my room. Whew...I was worried for a split second there. My relief dissipates as soon as my eyes land on the darkened entrance to the bathroom. Someone could be in there...

Feeling incredibly nervous and defenseless, I slowly tiptoe over to the bathroom door, dread growing with every step. I really, really hope no one's in there...

When I get to the doorway, I feel the inside wall for the lightswitch, praying to any god there is that a silent assailant doesn't grab my hand or stab me. I flick the lightswitch, preparing myself for someone to jump out of the bathroom and attack me...but no one does. The bathroom is empty. ...Oh. Well, it looks like I got worked up over nothing.

I turn off the bathroom light and move to get back into bed, but I hesitate. I don't think that loud noise was just a product of my imagination...I mean, I felt shaking too. That couldn't just be nothing, right? I should go see what it was...that'd mean that I could very easily be walking into my own death, though...should I really risk it for something I don't even know was real?

Although I feel incredibly conflicted, I eventually decide to go back to bed. Whatever that loud noise was, I'll find out what it was in the morning...for right now, I'll go back to sleep. I climb into bed and turn off the light, half expecting to hear another noise and feel some more shaking, but I don't. Maybe I was just imagining it after all...
***
“Good morning, inmates. It is now 7 am, which means nighttime has officially concluded. Enjoy another day of confinement.”

I wake up to Monohebi's announcement feeling like I didn't get enough sleep. Staying up past 1 AM and waking up in the middle of the night definitely didn't help...

As I shower and then as I get ready for the bed, I think about what happened last night. That noise and that shaking...the more I think about it, the more I know it was real. Goddammit, I'm so stupid and cowardly...I should've gone out to investigate it. Something really bad might've bad...

Feeling a lump of dread form in my stomach, I head out to the Cafeteria, where Kasparov, Domoto, and Hayasaka already are. Sashihara-kun is probably in the Kitchen and Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san are still downstairs...but where's everyone else? "Where are Motoki-san, Oyamada-kun, and Komatsu-kun?" I ask, feeling the lump of dread in my stomach grow even larger. They can't be dead...right? I desperately don't want that to be the case...

"I do not know," Kasparov says. "However, I am certain they will be out shortly. It is only a few minutes past 7:30, after all."

"Yeah, there's no need to worry, Wakana-san," Hayasaka says, not sounding completely certain. "I'm sure they're alright..."

We wait in silence for the next few minutes. Still, no one comes out from the doors to Cell Block A. This isn't good...Komatsu-kun being late doesn't really surprise me because of how he was late yesterday too. But Motoki-san and Oyamada-kun...they haven't been late to a morning meeting in a while. This kind of behavior is unusual for them...

"...We need to go look for them," I say after even more minutes pass. "It isn't normal for three people to not be at the morning meeting."

Domoto begins to look worried. "You're right," she says. "Something about this doesn't sit right with me. I don't think all of them are dead, but..." She pauses and grimaces. "...I can't deny that one of them might be."

"Otoha-san, don't talk like that," Hayasaka says, although it looks like she thinks the same. "I can't bear to think anyone is dead..."

Neither can I, Hayasaka-san...I hate even thinking of the possibility, but I have to. I'm about to suggest we go look for them, Sashihara emerges from the Kitchen. "Breakfast's ready!" he shouts as he comes out, forcing a smile that immediately falls off his face as he sees the Cafeteria. "...Where's everyone else?" he asks.

"We are unaware," Kasparov says, frowning. "Their absences are quite concerning, but we must not panic. We should eat breakfast, get Terajima-kun from downstairs, and then search for the remaining three."

"You want to eat before we look for them?" I ask. "Not to be rude, but I don't think it's a good idea to eat while our friends might be in danger. We need to look for them now!"

Kasparov holds his palm up. "Relax, Kawashima-san," he says calmly. "Eating first is a better option because if any of the three missing individuals are truly just late, we give them some more time to join us. Additionally, as much as I dislike saying it...if any of them are late because they are dead or hurt, there is likely nothing we can do to save them at this point."

"That's not a very optimistic outlook," Sashihara says. "If we can save them, we should try."

"We will," Domoto says, "but not until after breakfast." She stands up from her seat at the table and walks to the Kitchen, with Kasparov following close behind. They're so annoying to argue with...I guess I might as well eat now if they're going to. I am pretty hungry.

I eat my breakfast as quickly as I can, hoping that someone will walk through the door, but no one does. I'm not worried anymore...I'm terrified. This is extremely bad! "We need to go now," I say as soon as I swallow the last bite of my food. "There's no time for stalling anymore. One of our friends might be dead!"

"Calm yourself, Kawashima-san," Kasparov says. "There is no evidence to suggest anyone is dead or that anyone is in peril."

...Did he not hear the noise last night? If not, I have to let him and everyone else know about it.
"Actually, there is," I say. "Around 3:30 AM last night, I was awoken by shaking and a muffled noise."

"Wait, that happened to you too?" Sashihara asks. "I woke up too, but I figured I was just imagining the sound and shaking and went back to sleep..."

Domoto scratches her chin. "That's odd...very odd. Our rooms are soundproofed. And even if that sound did penetrate the soundproofed walls, why didn't any of the rest of us wake up to it?"

"I don't know," I say, "but what I do know is that whatever that sound was, we need to find out what it is. More importantly, though, we need to find everyone who's missing."

"Yeah, let's go," Hayasaka says. "We should probably get Eisuke-kun from the basement first...we'll need all the people we can to search."

Kasparov nods. "Yes, that is what we will do."

"Okay, but let me grab Terajima-kun's breakfast first," Sashihara says. "He won't be able to search on an empty stomach."

After Sashihara grabs a plate of food for Terajima, he leads the five of us down the stairs. Hopefully, this all works out and we find everyone. It'd be so awful if another person were to d—

The sound of the plate Sashihara carrying shattering on the floor as he leaves the stairwell snaps me out of my thoughts. "What's wrong, Sashi—" Domoto begins to ask as she too leaves the stairwell, but she stops herself midsentence, staring incredulously at the same thing Sashihara's looking at.

"What's wrong?" I ask as Kasparov, Hayasaka, and I move to leave the stairwell. As soon as we emerge out into the hallway and see the same thing Sashihara and Domoto are staring at, I learn the cruel answer.

No...this isn't possible...

But it is. There's no denying the horror in front of my own two eyes.

There's no denying that the place in the wall where the elevator once was has been blown open, scattering rubble and dust all around the hole. There's no denying that the elevator itself has collapsed into a mess of metal and wires inside the hole created in the wall. There's also no denying the worst sight of all: the bloody form whose lower body is being crushed by the remains of the elevator, whose upper body is splayed out in front of the hole, whose head has been
impaled by a sharp piece of rubble...the form of Eisuke Terajima, the Ultimate Bodyguard.
Chapter 4: The Snake(s) Among Us Daily Life END

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 4: The Snake(s) Among Us
Deadly Life

This...There's no way this can actually be happening. I
stare at Terajima's remains, not believing what I'm seeing. Terajima-kun, who always promised to protect us no matter what...there's no way he's dead! There's no reason anyone would have for wanting to kill him! And yet...

The monitor crackling to life on the wall is what finally breaks my gaze on Terajima's corpse. "*ding ding dong ding* A body has been discovered," Monohebi says with barely repressed glee. "For those not already there, please make your way to the basement. After a period of investigation, a class trial will be held."
The monitor turns off again.

"E-Eisuke-kun..." Hayasaka says, tears streaming down her face.

Domoto stares at Terajima's body, stunned. "I...I can't believe it," she says. "I never thought it'd turn out like this..."

"...How did this happen?" Sashihara asks incredulously. "How could anyone have ever thought of doing this...?"

"I do not know, but this..." Kasparov gulps and averts his gaze from the sight of Terajima's body. "...this is truly horrifying. How anyone could devise such a gruesome murder is beyond me..."

Same, Kasparov-kun...it's so horrible. The lower half of Terajima-kun's body is crushed under the remains of the elevator, and his upper body is in terrible shape too...it's covered in blood, shrapnel, dust, and rubble. What a horrific way to die...

My mind is still reeling from the terrifying sight before me when I hear the sound of someone rushing down the stairs. I rip my eyes from Terajima's remains to see Komatsu hurtling down the stairs, eyes wide with terror. "Who's fuckin' dead!?" he asks desperately as he runs out from the stairwell, nearly running into Sashihara and Kasparov. He looks around wildly and then sees Terajima. "Holy fuckin' shit!" he shouts, his eyes widening even more. "Terajima-kun...how'd *ya* die!? When'd this...how..." His voice trails away and he only stares in silent terror, his mouth agape.

Well, at least Komatsu-kun's not dead. Still, I wonder why he wasn't at breakfast...he got here pretty quickly, so he couldn't have been far from the Cafeteria... I'm about to ask him where he was when I hear someone else rushing down the stairs.

Oyamada nearly trips over himself as he runs down and out of the stairwell, a terrified expression on his face. "P-Please tell m-me that E-Eisuke-kun's not—" he begins, but he stops as soon as he sees Terajima's body. "N...N-No...NOOOOOOOO!!!"

He starts to run toward Terajima's body, but Kasparov grabs his arm. "LET GO OF ME!" Oyamada screams, tears flying from his eyes. "I NEED TO BE WITH HIM! I HAVE TO SAVE HIM IF I CAN! I CAN'T LOSE HIM! I CAN'T!!!"

Kasparov's grip does not loosen, despite Oyamada's protests. "You must not touch the body, not until we have investigated it," he says, softly yet firmly. "There is a possibility that you could tamper with evidence."

"T-Tamper with evidence?" Oyamad repeats furiously. "Wh-What the FUCK are you t-talking about!? I'd n-never tamper with evidence...ALL I WANT TO DO IS CHECK IF HE'S STILL ALIVE! BECAUSE...!" He hangs his head and chokes. "B-Because I can't a-accept it...n-not until I kn-know there's no w-way he's still a-alive..."

"Just let him go," Sashihara says sadly. "He loved Terajima-kun...he has no reason to tamper with evidence."

"Sorry, but we can't take that risk," Domoto says regretfully. "There's no point in letting him investigate anyway because the body discovery announcement went off. There's no way Terajima-kun is still alive." A rare sign of sadness comes over her face. "I'm sorry, Oyamada-kun, but he's gone..."

Oyamada struggles against Kasparov's grip even harder and tries to say something, but all that comes from his mouth are choked sobs. Oyamada-kun...I'm so sorry. You loved Terajima-kun so much...I can only begin to imagine the grief and heartbreak he's feeling right now...it must be like how I felt when I found Aozora-kun's body, but a thousand times worse...

The sound of someone else coming downstairs distracts me from Oyamada's grief. Unlike Komatsu and Oyamada's, these footsteps aren't hurried and desperate, but soft and reluctant. I really hope that's Motoki-san...

I'm relieved to see Motoki come into view as she turns on the landing. She moves down the staircase slowly and painfully, as if she wants to prevent herself from seeing the body as long as possible. She doesn't say anything as she exits the stairwell and looks right at the body as soon as she does. Her reaction is much more muted than the other two's. Instead of screaming or crying, all she does is close her eyes and sigh deeply. "Yet again..." she whispers miserably.

Kasparov nods solemnly. "Yes...it has happened, yet again."

The eight of us stand in somber silence for a moment, with only the sound of Oyamada's sobs and the sight of Terajima's corpse to keep us company. I want to cry, but for some reason, I can't. I must be all out of tears...I've had a lot of reasons to cry in this horrible prison. Maybe I'm just getting so badly desensitized to it all that I can't even bring myself to do something as basic as cry. That desensitization makes me want to cry even more...but I still can't.

"...What now?" Motoki asks quietly after a while.

"Well, we have to go to the class trial," Domoto says, making a disgusted face when she says those last two words. "Ugh, I hate trials, but there's no avoiding one now. Not unless we want to get executed."

Oyamada sniffles. "M-Maybe that w-wouldn't be so bad..." he says tearfully. "I d-don't want to do another t-trial....especially w-without Eisuke-kun..."

"Osamu-kun, please don't say things like that," Hayasaka says. "Eisuke-kun wouldn't want you to die...he'd want you to find the truth of his death and get justice for him."

Oyamada continues to cry as he stares at Terajima's body painfully. "Yeah...I g-guess he would," he says. "He'd w-want me to p-punish whoever's r-responsible for this a-atrocity..."

"Yeah...we gotta investigate," Komatsu says. "But how're we gonna do that when Monohebi ain't here? Usually, that bitch-ass snake shows up right after someone dies and gives us that file of his..."

Now that I think about it, it is strange how Monohebi hasn't shown up yet. It's been a few minutes since we found the body...

"Why isn't he here yet?" Domoto asks. "Of course, I don't want to see that repulsive snake, but the Monohebi File could contain valuable information."

"...He's waiting for all of us to be together," Hayasaka says, realization dawning on her face. "Remember how he didn't show up immediately when we found Noriyo-san's body? He waited until we were with Hisaya-kun and Yutaka-kun...so we have to go to Yuzuki-san and show her the body. Then he'll show up."

Kasparov does not look enthusiastic. "That would mean letting her out of her cell," he says disapprovingly. "I do not enjoy the thought of releasing a colleague of the mastermind, but...I suppose it is acceptable in this instance. She is still one of us and would need to investigate."

"Let's get her out of that cell," Hayasaka says.

Her and Kasparov lead the way to Eguchi's cell, with Sashihara and me right behind and everyone else trailing towards the back. Why are they lagging so much? Don't they want to see Eguchi-san out of her cell?
When we turn the corner of the hallway, Kasparov inhales sharply. "...What is that?" he asks, pointing to dark red stains. "That is not blood, correct?"

Hayasaka lays a hand on Kasparov's arm and pulls it down. "Relax, Sergey-kun," she says. "It's just the ice cream from last night."

"Yeah...she threw her bowl of ice cream at me when I wouldn't let her out of the cell," I explain. "Sorry, I should've cleaned it up..."

"...It is alright," Kasparov says, breathing a sigh of relief. "It frightened me, that is all. That ice cream is a very similar color to that of blood."

"Well, it's nothing to worry about," I say. "Eguchi-san's fine." I walk to her cell door, prepared to unlock it...but it's already unlocked and slightly ajar. What...? Why's it open?

"Her door's already unlocked," Sashihara says quietly. "I don't hear her inside..."

"No," Hayasaka says quickly, pushing me aside and throwing the door open. "Yuzuki-san, are y—" She makes a choking sound when she sees what's inside.

No...Eguchi-san, please don't be hurt! I rush to Hayasaka's side and look inside Eguchi's cell, hoping that everything is fine...but it's all in vain. A girl's blood-covered body lies slumped on the broken bedframe of the cell's bed, a sharp piece of rusty metal impaling her neck, her eyes frozen wide open in terror...the body of Yuzuki Eguchi, the Ultimate Game Developer.

"Eguchi-san," I whisper. "Not you too..."

"No..." I hear Komatsu say desperately as he rushes up behind me. When he sees Eguchi, he looks like he's been slapped. "No...Eguchi-san...EGUCHI-SAN!" He falls to his knees as he begins to sob hysterically.

Oyamada starts to sob again too. "P-Please...d-don't t-tell me...is she d-dead too?" he asks, although he seems to already know the answer. "I c-can't look...I w-wouldn't be able to h-handle it..."

"She...She is," Hayasaka says distraughtly. "Y-Yuzuki-san is dead..."

Oyamada closes his eyes tightly and releases a tortured wail from his mouth, crying hysterically as he does. I feel so bad for him...he lost both his boyfriend and his close friend in the span of a couple of minutes. That unimaginable grief he's feeling must be tearing him apart. I look away from him and turn my attention to the still sobbing Komatsu. He probably feels awful, too. How could he not? Right after he confessed his love to her, she was locked away in this cell, which was bad enough...but now, she's dead. Someone murdered her...

Although I want to cry even more than when I first saw Terajima's body, I still can't. Why can't I cry? I want to so badly...I want to release all this grief and pain inside me...but for some reason, I can't. I hate myself...what kind of heartless person can't cry even in a moment like this? I look up at Kasparov, Domoto, and Motoki to see that even the three of them have teared up. They're the ones who imprisoned Eguchi-san and advocated keeping her in this cell, and even they can cry. I must be soulless...

For a long moment, everyone but me cries in some form or another. Oyamada, Komatsu, and Hayasaka sob, while Domoto, Motoki, Kasparov, and Sashihara cry silently.

"I...I cannot believe this," Kasparov says as he wipes tears off his cheks. "Not one, but two have perished...what sort of diabolical person would do such a thing?"

The sound of Komatsu's sobs fades. "...Don't ya of all people fuckin' DARE talk right now," he says, shaking with tearful fury. "It's yer fuckin' fault she's dead!"

"Komatsu-kun, don't say that," Sashihara says quietly. "You haven't investigated yet. You don't know how Kasparov-kun is involved in this case, or if he's even involved at all."

"I don't need to fuckin' investigate to know," Komatsu fumes. "That asshole's the one who came up with the idea of Eguchi-san workin' with the mastermind and got her put in this goddamn cell! Him and Domoto-san are the reason she's dead!"

"Yutaka-kun...please stop," Hayasaka pleads tearfully. "Yuzuki-san wouldn't want this."

"Don't talk like ya knew her," Komatsu snaps. "There ain't no way ya know what she'd want, 'cause...'cause she's d-dead." He starts sobbing again.

"My, my...it seems everyone here is rather distraught," a voice says from behind us. I turn my head to see Monohebi slithering down the hallway toward us. Ugh...I hate him. There's no one in the world I want to see less than this disgusting snake...

"Go away," I say flatly. "No one wants to see you."

Monohebi frowns as he comes to a stop a few feet away from us. "Are you certain? Did you not say earlier that you wanted to see the file I so graciously compile every time a murder occurs?"

"We want to see the file, not you," Domoto snaps. "Just give it to us and leave."

Monohebi huffs. "How rude," he says. "You do realize I am under no obligation to assist you, correct? I need not give you the files. I only do so out of the goodness of my hea—"

"Shut up, you murderer," Hayasaka interrupts coldly. "I don't want to hear another word come from your snake lips!"

"...Murderer?" Monohebi repeats. "Whatever are you talking about? Excluding the executions, I have never killed someone here."

"You killed Yuzuki-san," Hayasaka seethes. "You killed her because you wanted the only person who could prove the identity of the real mastermind dead! Admit it already!"

Monohebi blinks and recoils for a moment as if he's been slapped across the face. "...What? Of c-course that is...I would never kill a student!"

Hayasaka leans forward, narrowing her eyes. "Prove it," She says coldly. "And don't give me that fucking 'I've never lied before' bullshit. Prove it for real!"

Monohebi hisses angrily. "Wretched girl..." he mutters. "Fine. It is nothing short of imbecilic to suspect me in the murders of Eguchi and Terajima, but I will do as you say. I suppose this is rather convenient timing...I was meaning to add a new rule, anyway." A notification sound comes from all of our e-Handbooks. "If you all would take out your respective e-Handbooks, you will notice that I have added three additional rules. I would advise reading them."

Three new rules? Why three? Feeling curious yet also nervous, I take out my e-Handbook, turn it on, and click on the Rules Tab to see that three new rules have indeed been added.

"Rule 13: There may only be one person executed per class trial. In the case of two or more murders being carried out by separate individuals in short succession, the one who killed first will be executed if they are caught.

Rule 14: Monohebi will never plan or conspire to directly harm an inmate, with the exception of carrying out punishments, for which he is the sole executioner.

Rule 15: Like the inmates, Warden Monohebi must follow all rules, with the punishment being execution."

...So Monohebi would execute himself if he broke a rule? That's cool, I guess...but most of these rules aren't really things that he could break easily. That's not what really matters, though...Rule 13 is what's catching my attention. If there are two are killers, only one would be executed. Which would mean...
"Monohebi, what the hell's Rule 13?" I ask aggressively. "Does it mean you'd let someone get away with murder?"

Monohebi smirks. "How sharp of you, Kawashima," he says. "Yes, because I would only execute the first killer in the case of two murders happening in short succession, the second killer would get away with murder, even if they were caught."

"Wait...what!?" Motoki asks angrily. "Are you fucking kidding!? That's a violation of one of your earlier rules!" She reads off her e-Handbook. "'Rule 11:
If the guilty party is correctly determined during a class trial, they alone will be executed.' So, if we figure out who the second killer is, you have to execute them!"

She's really mad about this rule...it's understandable, given how much she hates murder. "No, dear," Monohebi says with a smirk. "I am under no obligation to execute the second killer if there are two separate killers of two different victims, because that second person will not be the 'guilty party' referred to in Rule 11. They are a killer, yes...but they are not the blackened. Do you understand?"

...What? That makes no sense. "This rule is rather confusing," Kasparov says. "Monohebi, I believe some clarification is necessary. If we do not understand the rules, how are we to be able to solve these murders?"

"I believe I was clear enough, but I will explain if I must," Monohebi says. "In the case of two separate murders carried out by two different people, only the person who killed first will become the 'blackened' and thus be the only person eligible to escape or be eligible to be executed. However, the motive this time presents a possible exception to this rule. The motive does not specify that the killer of the individual I mentioned in the commemoration video must be the blackened, so if someone truly killed the individual I named in the video, they would be able to escape regardless of whether they killed that individual first or second."

"Well?" Sashihara asks. "Did they kill the right person? Was Eguchi-san actually the person you named in the video?"

"I will not divulge that information," Monohebi says. "She might be, she might not. Moving on, I suppose I might as well explain how to go about all other potential scenarios so none of you have to ask me in the class trial." He pauses. "Firstly, if both Eguchi and Terajima were killed by the same person, everything goes as normal. Secondly, if one of them killed the other to become the 'blackened' but was then was killed by another person, then the label of being 'blackened' would transfer to the killer of the second person. This is the only case in which such a transference of the label of the blackened would occur.

"Thirdly, if one of the two deceased killed the other and then committed suicide, then the person who committed suicide would be the blackened," he continues. "Lastly, if both Eguchi and Terajima committed suicide, then the one who committed suicide first would be the blackened. Are there any questions?"

No one has any. "Good," Monohebi says. "I shall be uploading the Monohebi File now, which will commence the investigation period. Do not grieve for too long, as your friends died very complicated deaths that will require much investigation. I shall see you at the trial." He disappears and another notification sound comes from all our e-Handbooks.

That's the Monohebi File uploading. I know I should look at it, but I don't want to. Looking at the Monohebi File would mean having to finally admit that Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun are gone forever and would mean we'd have to start investigating their mutilated corpses...I don't want to. I'm tired of class trials, I'm tired of investigations, I'm tired of all my friends dying...

"Everyone," Sashihara says eventually, his voice soft and sad. "I know...I know none of you want to do this. I know none of you want to investigate the deaths of our friends...but we have to do it. We can't just sit here. We have to investigate. We have to do the trial." He looks at the floor, clenching and unclenching his fist. "We can't let their killer, or killers, get away free."

"Y-You're right, S-Sashihara-kun," Oyamada says, still crying. "We can't l-let whoever's r-responsible get a-away with this..." He looks up, furious and sorrowful determination burning in his eyes. "We h-have to investigate now!"

"I don't wanna," Komatsu says miserably. "I don't wanna look at their dead bodies..."

"Me either," Motoki says.

Kasparov sighs. "Unfortunately, we do not have a choice," he says. "We must investigate not because we want to, but because we need to find the truth of the deaths of Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san. We must ensure that this crime does not go unpunished. So, we must not waste time. Each and every one of us must commence our investigation immediately so that whoever committed this atrocity is brought to justice!"

Yeah...we can't sit around moping forever. Every single one of us needs to investigate as much as we can...there's no time for the guards we had during earlier investigations. There are four whole floors and a basement to investigate, so we can't sit around. We have to find all the evidence we can so that we can solve this case and find out who killed Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san!
Investigation START!

We all split up to immediately begin our investigations. I start by pulling my e-Handbook and looking at the tab labeled "Monohebi File #4", which has the following text:

"The victims of this case are Eisuke Terajima, the Ultimate Bodyguard, and Yuzuki Eguchi, the Ultimate Game Developer. Both victims died within an hour of each other. Additionally, both of the victims had foreign substances inside their bodies at the time of death."

...That's it? That might be the least useful Monohebi File we've had so far. Still, I'm grateful for the information it gave. Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san had "foreign substances" inside their bodies at the time of death, which could mean a number of things. Hmm...I'll definitely have to check out *that place* later. I'm sure it'll be helpful...

Because I'm already standing right outside it, Eguchi's cell is the first place I go to investigate. As soon as I step inside, I examine the scene.
The mattress of Eguchi's bed has been thrown across the room to the side with the toilet. Beside the mattress, a still-full bowl of soup and cup of cold coffee sit. Looks like Eguchi-san never had any of the soup I brought or any of the coffee Oyamada-kun made for her...

On the other side of the cell, the frame of Eguchi's bed is broken beyond repair, with jagged pieces sticking in every direction. Eguchi's body, which is completely drenched in blood from the neck down, lies slumped face up on one of those sharp, rusty pieces, with it penetrating her neck completely and coming out the front. Her body is awful to look at,
but her face is the worst part. A look of shock and terror is frozen forever on her face, with her eyes being shot wide open.
I recoil from the gruesomeness of it all.

"An unfortunate sight, is it not?" Kasparov says grimly. "Eguchi-san died terribly."

"Y-Yeah...she did," Hayasaka says, sniffling. "I hate to see her like this...but I have to. I need to investigate her b-body if I want to find out who really killed her..."

"Yeah," I say. "Speaking of that...I know it hasn't been a long time since we started investigating, but have you two found anything of note yet?"

Hayasaka nods. "Yes...we have, actually." She kneels and lifts Eguchi's right wrist. "First of all, her right wrist is broken."

"She also has a long, shallow cut on her left hand, as well as several bruises on both of her arms," Kasparov adds, lifting her other hand for me to see. After a few seconds, he puts her hand down and points to a wound on Eguchi's left side. "She also sustained a stab wound to the left side of her torso."
That's weird...she has two different types of injuries on two different hands, bruises on her arms, and a stab wound on top of that. How did she get hurt so badly? In particular, how did she get that stab wound? There aren't any knives or anything that could easily be used to stab wound someone here...

"I wonder how she got those injuries," I say. "As far as I could see, she didn't have any last night."

"She somehow got them when she was attacked, then," Hayasaka says as her glance moves over to the remains of the bed. "That must be how the bedframe got so badly broken, too. Her and the killer must've gotten into a fight."

Thinking about what Hayasaka's suggesting, I look over at the bed again when I notice something I didn't see before. Huh? What's this?

Kasparov notices my change of expression. "Hm? Have you seen something, Kawashima-san?"

"There's some blood on the bedframe," I say, pointing to a small bloodstain on a particularly rusty piece of the bedframe far away from Eguchi's body.

"It's weird how it's so far away from Yuzuki-san's body," Hayasaka says. "It must've happened before she died..."

That's a possibility...but we can't speculate about things right now. That can wait for the class trial. "Did you guys find anything else?" I ask.

"Yes, we did," Kasparov says. He points to Eguchi's glasses. "Do you notice anything wrong with her glasses?"

I lean closer to her body and squint to get a better look at her glasses. At first, I don't see anything wrong, but then I notice there's no glare at all in the spots where the lens should be. "...The lenses are gone," I say.

"Indeed," Kasparov says. "Somehow, Eguchi-san lost the lenses in her glasses. You might expect them to be sitting on the floor in here, however, they are nowhere to be found."

That's strange. It's weird enough that someone, who's probably the killer, took the lenses out of Eguchi's glasses, but it's even weirder that they took them somewhere else. Why would they need to? And where are her lenses?

"There's another thing," Hayasaka says, interrupting my thoughts. "Look at Yuzuki-san's lips."

I do as Hayasaka says and look at Eguchi's lips. They're a dark red color...it looks like she applied lipstick or somehow got them stained by something very red. "I don't remember her lips being so red before," I say.

"Neither do I," Hayasaka says. "I have an eye for fashion, so I definitely would've noticed...also, that's not lipstick on her lips. It's a very dark red color and it looks like blood, so I was thinking that might be it, but it's not." She gestures at Eguchi's body. "Yuzuki-san has blood covering her whole body beneath her neck, but almost nothing on her face. So that dark red stain had to have come from something else that can stain lips..."

"Additionally, it is rather peculiar that the entirety of her body beneath from her neck down is covered in blood," Kasparov adds. "Due to her neck being impaled by a piece of metal, it is understandable that she has a fair amount of blood on her...yet I believe this to be rather copious. She has no injuries aside from the cut on her left hand beneath her neck, but that is not enough to cause this much blood loss."

Yeah, something is not right about that. It reminds me of when Yamaguchi-kun poured grenadine all over Furuhata-kun's body to make it look like he bled a lot more than he really did, but the blood here doesn't have any
weird smell to it and looks completely real...so that can't be what happened. That blood on Eguchi-san is real, but it can't all be hers...so where did it come from?

I stand up, scanning the room for any more potential clues, but I don't find any. "Okay, I'm going to leave now," I say. "If you guys find any more clues, let me know before the trial. Okay?"

"Understood," Kasparov says.

"...Yeah, you got it, Wakana-san," Hayasaka says as she looks back at Eguchi's body sadly. She probably feels upset...she probably also feels guilty. She never completely redeemed herself in Eguchi-san's eyes, so that must be getting to her...

Leaving them to investigate Eguchi's cell, I step out of it, carefully avoiding the dried dark red puddles from when Eguchi threw her bowl of ice cream at me last night as I do. I pause. ...Can I be sure that's all ice cream? I lean down to investigate, smelling the dried substance as I do. It
smells like it...besides, I think blood becomes an even darker color than this when it dries for several hours. I think it's safe to say this isn't blood. However, I notice that some of the puddles have the remains of footsteps in them. It looks like someone stepped in these puddles before they were completely dry...also, there's another larger smear in the puddles on the side closer to the corner of the hallway. What could that be from?

As I stand up from my examination of the puddles, I ponder where to go next. The lenses on
Eguchi-san's glasses were missing, so I should probably go to the place closeby where they could easily be discarded.

I go to the Trash Room to find that Komatsu and Domoto are already there. "Hey," I say when I see them. "Have you two found anything yet?"

"...Yeah, I guess we have," Komatsu says distantly. "Look at the incinerator's log..."

His voice is so flat and monotonous...he's obviously not taking Eguchi-san's death well. Not that I blame him for grieving, of course. I'd be more concerned if he was acting normally right now. Pushing those thoughts out of my head, I do as he says and scan my e-Handbook to turn the Incinerator on. Once it's on, I tap on the tab labeled records and see the following text:

"E1C3V SCANNED 3:44.
B23HU SCANNED 9:31. YK921
SCANNED 9:39."

Hm...that last record is probably from me scanning it, and the one before that must be from Komatsu-kun or Domoto-san scanning. However, the "E1C3V" sequence is from 3:44 AM this morning, which is suspicious. The killer probably used the Incinerator to get rid of evidence they didn't want us to find.

I look inside the Incinerator to see a small pile of ash and the remains of a twisted, melted object. I have no idea what the pile of ash could be, but the melted object looks like it was once made of metal...I also think I see the remains of wires somewhere, but I can't be certain.

"Interesting stuff, isn't it?" Domoto asks from behind me.

"Yeah," I say as I turn to face her. "Whatever that stuff once was, it's undoubtedly very important evidence. The killer wouldn't have incinerated them otherwise."

"No, they wouldn't have," Domoto says, a thoughtful expression on her face. "If I'm honest, I find the fact that they didn't incinerate more evidence strange."

"Why?" I ask. "Is there more evidence they could've gotten rid of?"

Domoto nods. "Yes," she says as she gestures to the line of containers meant for disposing of different types of trash and recyclables. "There's some stuff in those containers that I think was used in the case."

"Like what?" I ask as the two of us walk over to said containers.

Domoto reaches inside the container for landfill trash and lifts out a pair of fluffy pink slippers and a ski mask. What? That's not what I was expecting. "How would these have been used in the case?" I ask. "I can understand the ski mask, because the killer may have wanted to hide their face, but I don't get the slippers. Are you sure they were even used?"

Instead of giving me a verbal response, Domoto turns the slippers over so I can see their bottom sides, both of which have dark red stains.

...Oh. Never mind, these slippers were absolutely used somehow. "...So those were used by our killer," I say. "But how? What advantage would they gain from using them?"

"I own a pair of slippers just like those at home, and they're very comfortable," Domoto says. "However, I doubt the killer cared much about that. I think what they cared about is the fact that you can pretty much walk silently in those."

That catches my attention. "...You can walk silently in these?" I ask. "Are you sure, Domoto-san?"

"Positive," she says. "It's the same brand as the ones I have."

I nod to myself as I put the slippers back down. "Thanks for the info, Domoto-san," I say. "I have to say...I wouldn't expect you to like such fluffy things."

Domoto scowls and blushes. "Shut up," she says crossly. "I like them because of the comfort, not because of the look..."

Yeah, sure... "Okay, okay," I say. "Do you have anything else to tell me?"

"Yes," she says. "Both those slippers and that ski mask are from the Props Storage Room on the second floor. I've spent a lot of time in there sewing and making a few new toys ever since it's been open to us, and I'm positive I've seen them there before."

So now I know where they come from. That's good. "Is that everything in these containers, Domoto-san?" I ask.

"There is one more thing," she says, taking me to another container and reaching inside to pull out six empty blood transfusion packs.

...Blood transfusion packs? What did the killer need those for? They must've come from the Infirmary, but that's all the way up on the fourth floor...so how did they get down here? "This is a weird discovery," I say after looking at the packs for a while. I take them from Domoto to examine them more closely and notice they've all been slit open. That's strange...why would the killer cut these open if they wanted to transfuse blood? Maybe that's not what they had in mind...

"Thanks for showing me all this evidence, Domoto-san," I say.

"You're welcome," she says.

With the thoughts of what Domoto showed me in the trash containers still on my mind, I walk over to the other side of the room to Komatsu standing beside the hydraulic press. "Did the killer get rid of anything in there?" I ask him.

"Yeah," Komatsu says. He waves his hand absentmindedly at the hydraulic press. "The press was down when Domoto-san and I first came in here, so I lifted it up....and I found this." He holds up a long, flattened piece of metal.

I walk over to him and take the piece of metal to look at it more closely. It's completely flat...I guess the hydraulic press really is as strong as promised. That's not anything weird, though. What is weird is that for most of its length, this piece of metal is just a boring gray dull color and has a normal metallic texture, but a small part about the length of my hand on the bottom looks and feels rubbery...what's with that?

"I wonder why the killer incinerated the metal object in the Incinerator, but not this," I say. "Why treat them differently? Why not just incinerate them both or use the hydraulic press on both? They're both metal, so the Incinerator and press would have the same effect on each."

"I dunno," Komatsu says with a shrug. "There's gotta be some reason, but I ain't gotta clue what it is..."

Neither do I...not yet, at least. I'm sure I'll be able to figure it out in time. I'm about to thank Komatsu for finding this evidence when a thought strikes me. I almost forgot, but I need to ask him why he was late this morning...
"Komatsu-kun, why were you so late this morning?"

He doesn't answer at first. "Sorry...what'd ya say, Kawashima-san? I zoned out for a second there..."

"Why were you so late this morning?" I ask. "You were nowhere to be seen at the morning meeting, yet you showed up almost immediately after the body discovery announcement played. Why?" I don't want to suspect him in this murder...but I have to ask questions. It's the only option I have if I want everyone besides the killer to live.

"I...uh..." He looks away from me shamefully and sighs. "Damn, I really fucked myself over. Yer totally gonna think I'm lyin'...but I promise ya, I'm tellin' the truth. I was in my room and I didn't wanna come out 'cause I didn't wanna have to deal with Kasparov-kun or Domoto-san." He glances at the toymaker standing on the other side of the room with muted anger. "I still can't stand 'em...and I didn't wanna hafta deal with 'em if I didn't hafta."

A simple story, but it does line up with how he's been acting recently. "So you were in your room the whole morning? And all of last night?"

"...Yeah," Komatsu says. "I was, yeah. I was lyin' in my bed 'til I heard the body discovery announcement, which caused me to get real worried 'bout Eguchi-san bein' dead...and, well I guess my worries were right." He looks at the floor sadly. "Someone killed her..."

Komatsu looks like he's on the verge of tears. I feel so bad for him... "Take your time to grieve," I say quietly. "And don't worry...we will find who killed her, no matter what."

He wipes his eyes to stop himself from crying. "Yeah...we will." He pauses. "Hey, Kawashima-san...I wanna let ya know somethin'."

"What?" I ask.

"A lil' before 3:30 AM last night, some shakin' and a noise woke me up," he says. "I dunno if that has anythin' to do with this case or not, I jus' thought I should let ya know."

So he heard it too...looks like it really wasn't a part of my imagination. "Thanks for letting me know, Komatsu-kun," I say.

Not knowing what else to say to him and deciding that I should let him grieve alone, I turn away from Komatsu and begin to head out of the Trash Room. I'm about to walk through the door when Domoto calls out to me.

"Kawashima-san, wait," she says. "I need to ask you something."

"Sure," I say. "What is it?"

"What happened during your shift with Eguchi-san last night?" Domoto asks. "You're the only surviving guard from last night, considering the other one is dead, so your testimony is important."

She's right, it is...but I hope she doesn't get the wrong idea and suspect that I'm the culprit.
"Eguchi-san and I talked a lot," I say. "She wasn't doing too well...her being locked in the cell certainly had negative effects on her mental health, in more ways than one." I frown at that. Poor Eguchi-san...I hate that she's dead, but what I hate even more is that she had to suffer so much right before she did. She didn't deserve to have her bulimia come back or to have her mind get slowly broken by being locked in that cell.

"Okay, but did anything happen?" Domoto asks. "Did you see anyone or hear anything?"

"Well...Eguchi-san threw the ice cream I had brought to her through the window of her cell a few minutes before the end of my shift," I say. "She wanted me to let her out, but I didn't...and she got mad. And when I say she got mad, I mean really, really mad. She threatened to kill me when I got out." Thinking about it makes me feel uncomfortable...Eguchi-san was really frightening.

"That's concerning," Domoto says, crossing her arms. "It's illuminating, though. We now know where those puddles came from." She pauses. "Did you see Terajima-kun come down at the end of your shift?"

"Well...after Eguchi-san threw the ice cream at me and freaked out, I left because there were only a few minutes left," I explain. "Terajima-kun and Oyamada-kun were up in the Cafeteria when I got there. Oyamada-kun made coffee for Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san, which Terajima-kun drank. Then, he went downstairs and Oyamada-kun and I went to bed. That's all that happened."

Domoto scratches her chin. "So you didn't see anyone," she says. "Hm. Thank you for your testimony, Kawashima-san."

"You're welcome," I say. I'm grateful I could give testimony to her if it could help her solve this case...which makes me think. I should ask about what happened at dinner after I left last night. It probably has no relevance to the case, but I should still know regardless. "Hey, Domoto-san...do you mind telling me what happened after I left dinner last night?"

Domoto looks weirded out. "I don't see why it matters," she says, "but if you want to know, I can tell you. Pretty much right after you left, Motoki-san, and Terajima-kun went to bed, while Sashihara-kun went upstairs to the Gym on the fourth floor. Komatsu-kun also went back to his room with a bowl of ice cream not long after. Around 8 PM, Oyamada-kun went to bed. Kasparov-kun, Hayasaka-san, and I stayed around until a few minutes before nighttime, at which point we went to bed." She shrugs. "That's it. Nothing special at all."

Is it nothing special? It's nothing completely unusual...but something about that doesn't sit right with me. I just don't know what it is yet...
"Thanks, Domoto-san," I say. "I'm going to go investigate Terajima-kun's body now. Have you looked at it yet?"

"No," she says. "I figured the culprit would've disposed of evidence in here because of how close it is to both crime scenes, so I decided to come here first." She crosses her arms. "However, that's unimportant. Let's get going to Terajima-kun's body. There's no time to waste."

The two of us walk to Terajima's body to find Kasparov and Oyamada investigating it. Kasparov-kun must've moved on from investigating Eguchi-san's body...that makes sense. With how few of us there are now, we can't afford to sit in the same spots like most of us did in past investigations. We all have to investigate as much as we can.
"How're things going here?" I ask, then realizing how insensitive that question is when I see Oyamada's tearful face.

"I-It's r-really hard..." he says through tears. "I h-hate s-seeing Eisuke-kun d-dead, but I n-need to f-find out what h-happened to him if I w-want to kn-know who k-killed him..."

"Indeed," Kasparov says. "Fortunately, there is quite a lot to investigate."

"Yeah, it looks like it," I say as I look around the scene. Terajima lies face down in front of the elevator doors, his body from the waist up splayed out on the floor, with blood, dust, and shrapnel from the remains of elevator and wall around it completely covering his back.
His body from the waist down is invisible beneath the remains of the elevator and wall. I should be grateful I can't see her lower body...it's probably a really gruesome sight, considering it's crushed beneath a destroyed elevator.

I think about that for a second. Why did the culprit destroy the elevator? And how did they do it? Most importantly, how did they get Terajima-kun to lie down, with his lower body in the elevator shaft and his upper body lying on the floor in front of it.
It'd be really hard to get someone into a position like this, especially if they were as huge as Terajima-kun.
"How the hell did all this happen?" I ask, summarizing all my questions into one.

"I was wondering the same thing," Domoto says. "Terajima-kun was the largest and strongest person here. It's hard to imagine how the killer could've gotten him into this position."

"Y-Yeah...it is," Oyamada says. "I th-think this may have s-something to do with it..." He points to two yellow darts lodged in Terajima's left side.

Darts? How did the killer get those? "Are those the darts from the dartboard in the Rec Room?" I ask. "Also, Oyamada-kun, how exactly do the darts relate to how the killer was able to get Terajima-kun into such a position?"

"To answer your first question, those are not the darts from the Rec Room," Kasparov says. "To answer your second, I explained to Oyamada-kun that while we were doing inventory in the Weapons Room yesterday, I remember seeing a gun with tranquilizer darts. It is possible that the killer used that gun to incapacitate Terajima-kun."

That's a possibility...I'll have to look in the Weapons Room later to see to check out that gun. "I see," I say. "I still wonder how the killer destroyed the elevator."

"They p-probably used e-explosives," Oyamada says. "K-Kasparov-kun said there w-were explosives in the W-Weapons Room, so the k-killer could've gotten them there wh-while they got the d-dart gun."

Yeah, that's probably what happened. The elevator and wall around it look like they've been blown up, so explosives were almost certainly used. However, that raises an interesting question. "I wonder how they set off the explosives," I say. "Or how they even managed to plant them on the elevator."

"I'm not sure how they got them on the elevator, but I think the culprit used a remote detonator to set them off," Domoto says. "Like how Niizuma-san used the Art Room TV Remote to kill Ichigohara-san from another room, the culprit could've used the detonator to blow up the elevator and subsequently kill Terajima-kun from a safe location. I remember the explosives we investigated in the Weapons Room having a detonator come with them, so that's probably what the culprit used."

"Indeed," Kasparov says. "However, no such detonator is anywhere to be found here."

I look around the scene again and see that Kasparov-kun's right. Yeah...wherever that detonator is, it's nowhere near here. The culprit probably hid it well. Maybe they're keeping it on them, like how Niizuma-san kept the Art Room TV Remote...that's a possibility, but I honestly doubt it. Whoever killed Terajima-kun learned from Niizuma-san's mistake if they're smart, which they probably are. This case is already seeming pretty complicated, so it'd take a lot to think it up.

"I was wondering, how did the killer get the elevator doors open without calling the elevator?" Domoto asks aloud, bringing me out of my thoughts and into reality. "For Terajima-kun's lower body to be in the elevator shaft as it currently is, the killer would've had to open the doors with the elevator car at some other floor. How could they do that?"

Kasparov covers his mouth with his hand. "Hm...that is a good question, Domoto-san. The killer certainly would have had to have used a tool of some sort to open the elevator doors."

"Y-Yeah...b-but I don't see any s-such t-tool around," Oyamada says. "The k-killer probably d-disposed of that, t-too..."

This killer sure does love disposing of evidence...we'll have to be on our guard trying to find them. They're not playing any games.

"I suppose I should have offered to share this earlier, but Oyamada-kun and I have found a few wounds about the corpse of Terajima-kun," Kasparov says. "Would you like to hear them?"

"Of course," I say.

Kasparov immediately points to the most obvious wound: the sharp piece of rubble impaling Terajima's head. "As you can see, the killer drove this large, sharp piece of rubble through the jaw of Terajima-kun, which penetrated his entire head and ended up coming on the other side of his skull."

"They're s-so cruel," Oyamada says tearfully. "H-How could they d-do this to him? C-Crushing him with an e-elevator was enough, b-but they a-also had to s-stab his h-head with a huge p-piece of r-rubble...it's so t-terrible."

"Indeed it is," Kasparov says. He points to the inside of Terajima's mouth and the area around and in front of it, which are both full of dried blood. The pool of blood in front of his mouth goes especially far from his head, as if Terajima had repeatedly spat out blood. "The driving of this rubble through his head appears to have caused all this blood to flow," Kasparov continues. "That means it was done either right as Terajima-kun died or immediately after."

"What would the point of that be?" Domoto asks. "The killer already dropped an exploded elevator on him. Why'd they find it necessary to stab him in the head? Was the elevator not enough?"

"I do not know," Kasparov says.

I don't either...both Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san's deaths are major overkill. There was no need for both of them to die so violently, so why would the killer do this to them? Even if they killed for the motive, they didnt' have to do it in such a sick way...

"If the e-elevator c-crash and i-impaling with the p-piece of r-rubble w-weren't enough, E-Eisuke-kun also has o-other injuries," Oyamada says miserably. He moves to Terajima's right shoulder and struggles to lift it ever so slightly. When he does, I can reveal a dark red stain on the front of his jacket and two stab wounds, all of which were previously obscured from him lying face down. Hm, these stab wounds are weird...one is very thin and only moderately deep, while the other is wider and deeper. That difference in depth and width probably means whoever stabbed him used two different weapons.

"Those dark red stains are most likely blood from those stab wounds," Domoto says from beside me as she too looks at the wounds. "The killer must've stabbed Terajima-kun before they got him in the position he died in."

I don't necessarily disagree, but I find that odd. Why stab him if they had already incapacitated him with the two tranquilizer darts from the dart gun? And why do it with two different weapons?
"This is weird," I say. "These stab wounds don't make sense if the killer had already used the tranquilizer darts to knock out Terajima-kun. Also, what would the killer stab him with? I haven't found any knives or anything like that so far..."

"N-Neither have K-Kasparov-kun and I," Oyamada says. "H-However, those s-stab wounds g-got there s-somehow and for s-some r-reason...we j-just have to f-figure out wh-what it is..."

True. However, that's a lot easier said than done. "Is there anything else you guys found?"

"Indeed," Kasparov says. He pulls out two small pieces of paper, which looks like they were torn from a larger piece of paper. "This was originally in Terajima-kun's left hand." I look at Terajima's left hand to see that it has been pried open. For curiosity's sake, I look at his right hand to see that it also looks like Terajima was clutching something in it that was taken out after he died.

"What was he holding in his right hand?" I ask, pointing to it. "It looks like he was holding something in it too."

"W-We didn't f-find a-anything in it," Oyamada says. "It c-could just be a c-coincidence that it l-looks like that..."

Maybe, but the way it's so tightly clenched is strange...

"Getting back to what's important, is there anything written on that paper, Kasparov-kun?" Domoto asks.

"There is, but only fragments," he says. "The first piece of paper reads, 'about all that you have done in your past and all your past mistakes,' and then is cut off. The second piece of paper reads, 'want to meet you anytime soon.'"

"It looks like those were originally a part of a larger note that Terajima-kun had on him," I say. "Perhaps he was given it."

"But how?" Domoto asks. "He was standing guard at Eguchi's cell. If the killer wanted to meet with him as the note suggests, why not just talk to him at the cell?"

I have no idea, Domoto-san. This is really confusing... I look around the scene another time, with my eyes falling on Terajima's back. Unsurprisingly, his back has dust, shrapnel, and pieces of rubble all over it...however, much of it is also drenched in blood.
I don't see any injuries on Terajima's back...so how did all this blood get here?

Feeling frustrated at the unanswerable questions posed by the crime scene, I decide that I should move on. I need to take a look at the rest of this prison...it's a big place and I have limited time to investigate it, so I should get going as soon as possible. However, I need to ask Oyamada-kun why he was late this morning. It was pretty unusual for him...
"Oyamada-kun, can I ask you a question?"

"S-Sure," he says, not looking at me.

"Why weren't you at breakfast earlier?" I ask. "It's pretty unusual for you to be so late, and for it to happen on the one day where two of our friends died is extra unusual."

Oyamada looks at me with an uncharacteristically cold expression. "If y-you're implying that I k-killed Eisuke-kun or Eguchi-san, y-you're a-absolutely wrong," he says firmly. "I'd n-never kill either of th-them." He looks at Terajima's body longingly, barely holding back his tears. "I'll t-tell you why I was l-late. A l-loud noise and some sh-shaking in the m-middle of the n-night woke m-me up at a-around 3:30 AM...I w-was too s-scared to go out to i-investigate, so I t-tried to go back to s-sleep...but I c-couldn't, not for a wh-while. So, I o-overslept this m-morning and d-didn't fully w-wake up until I h-heard the body d-discovery announcement...and then I w-went down here...a-and..."

"You don't have to go on," I say, noticing that he's about to start sobbing again. "Thanks for your testimony, Oyamada-kun. Also, I'm sorry if I sounded like I was suspecting you...but we can't rule out any suspects. We have to consider everyone."

Oyamada doesn't respond. He only stares at Terajima's body, crying as he does. "E-Eisuke-kun..." I hear him whisper. "I w-wish I c-could've s-saved you..."

I begin to leave, but Domoto says something before I can walk far. "Kawashima-san...Oyamada-kun just mentioned that same loud noise you talked about earlier," she says. "That's three people who have heard it now.

"Four, actually," I say. "Komatsu said he woke up to a loud noise and shaking at around 3:30 AM too."

"That is quite strange," Kasparov says. "The four of you heard it, yet I know neither Domoto-san nor I heard it as well. Motoki-san and Hayasaka-san have also made no mention of hearing such a noise. So...why did four people wake up to this loud noise and shaking at 3:30 AM, yet the other four continued to sleep undisturbed?"

I have no idea, Kasparov-kun...it's really strange. "I don't know, Kasparov-kun," I say. "I really don't know."

Without having anything else to talk about, I leave the basement and emerge into the Cafeteria. Where should I go next? I feel like I should check out the rooms in Cell Block A...there has to be a reason four of us woke up and four of us stayed asleep.

I walk through the double doors to Cell Block A and look up and down the hallway with all our "cells." I feel like I've been in this hallway a million times, yet I've never really paid close attention to it. To the left, the hallway has the entrance to the Storage Room on one wall and the row of doors opposite it. Ichigohara's room is at the far left end of the hallway, with the rooms from left to right belonging to Ichigohara, Hayasaka, Eguchi, Domoto, Furuhata, Terajima, Yamaguchi, Carrasco, Kasparov, Motoki, Aozora, Niizuma, me, Komatsu, Oyamada, and lastly Sashihara.

The order of our rooms has to do with why some of us heard that noise last night and some of us didn't...unless there's something I don't know about these rooms. I guess there's only one "person" I can ask if I want to know more about that.

"Monohebi!" I shout. "I need to talk with you! I have a question to ask!" I don't want to talk with him, but in this situation, it seems like it's the only option.

About fifteen seconds after I call out, Monohebi slithers through the double doors behind me. "What is it, Kawashima?" he asks. "I was in the middle of redecorating the courtroom for later. This disturbance better be worth my time."

I don't give a shit if it's worth your time, Monohebi...I shouldn't tell you that, though. You'll just get mad. "I have a question about our rooms," I say. "Why could some of us hear a muffled noise and slight shaking last night, yet others couldn't? I thought all our rooms were soundproofed."

"They are all soundproofed...to varying degrees," Monohebi says. "As incredible and amazing as I may be, even I had a budget when I renovated this prison, and I was unfortunately unable to provide the high-quality soundproofing for the final seven cells I constructed as I was for the first nine. As such, some sounds penetrate the walls of some rooms more than others. Additionally, the proximity of a certain room to a sound affects if that sound will be heard inside. The volume of the sound also plays a role, obviously."

...Is that really the reason some of us heard the sound and some of us didn't? I thought it'd be a lot more complicated. "Thank you for the info, Monohebi," I say. "Which of the 'cells' have the lower quality soundproofing?"

"In truth, I do not recall," he says. "Such things are of little importance to me. You are capable of discovering the truth by yourself." He disappears before I can ask him anything else.

That honestly wasn't such a bad encounter with Monohebi. He gave me some valuable information on how well the rooms are soundproofed...also, he left quickly so I didn't deal with him for long, so I guess I can't complain.

Having nothing else to look at in Cell Block A, I go back to the Cafeteria. I'm about to walk upstairs when I remember the Monohebi File. Both victims had foreign substances inside their bodies, according to the Monohebi File...does that meant they were poisoned? If so, I need to check out the Kitchen, because if Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun ingested any poison, it was probably mixed into something they ate or drank.

I walk into the Kitchen and look around for anything suspicious.
I know the soup from last night isn't poisoned because I was with Sashihara-kun when he made it. The ice cream also should be safe because I watched it closely when it was being scooped.
I continue to look around until my eyes land on a ceramic container with a spoon next to it. That's the sugar container for sugar that's meant to be added to tea and coffee.

Feeling curious, I go over to the container and open it to see what looks like refined crystal sugar inside it. Just because it looks like sugar doesn't mean it is, though. Also, this is filled almost to the brim of the container...that's kind of weird.
I lean down to the container and sniff its contents. Hmm...it sure smells like sugar. Maybe I'm just being overly paranoid and there's nothing amiss with this sugar, but if this wasn't where the foreign substance came from, where did it come from?

My thoughts immediately drift to the Infirmary upstairs. I should go there next...if either Eguchi-san or Terajima died from poisoning, the poison came from there.

I walk all the way up to the fourth floor, cursing my still sore legs as I do. I should have never worked out with Sashihara-kun...ugh, what am I thinking about? I can't be focusing on something as petty as the soreness of my legs when two of my friends just died. I have to focus on investigating and not allow my mind to become sidetracked.

As I approach the Infirmary, I notice
the door's handle is broken and barely hanging onto the rest of the door. Someone broke the lock to this door, for some reason. I wonder why they had to do that...maybe I'll find the answer inside.
When I walk in, I see the inside of the room isn't doing much better. One of the beds has been flipped onto its side and another is completely upside down. A medical trolley also lies on its side, spilling its contents all over the floor. Worst of all, the glass doors of the poison cabinet are shattered and several of the poison containers have fallen to the floor and broken open. Holy shit, this place is a mess!

"Something really bad happened here," Sashihara says, standing by one of the overturned beds.

"The culprit must've fought one of the victims up here," Motoki adds, making sure to not even glance in my direction. "That's the only reason there'd be such a mess..."

"Yeah," I say awkwardly, not knowing how I should deal with Motoki. I don't want something as irrelevant to the murder as romantic problems between the two of us to get in the way of the investigation, yet I also don't want to have to talk to Motoki-san unless I absolutely need to...which I will, considering how I need her reasoning for being late this morning. I want to prolong that inevitable awkward conversation as long as I can...

Fortunately, there's a lot of stuff I need to look at before I have to talk to Motoki. The first thing I decide to investigate is one of the beds closest to the door that has a large dumbbell lying on it.
What's this doing here? I never remember seeing it here before.

"If you were wondering, that dumbbell is from the Gym," Sashihara says, as if he's reading my thoughts. "I don't know why it's here, though."

Neither do I, Sashihara-kun. The dumbbell's for sure from the Gym, but there has to be some reason why it's here in the Infirmary, and I doubt it was because anyone wanted to do any heavy lifting.
Thinking a closer investigation might tell me why the dumbbell is here,
I step closer to the dumbbell and try to lift it, but fail miserably. "Whoa, this is really heavy," I say. "I carry trays at my restaurant all the time, so I'm not exactly weak, but I could never lift this..."

Sashihara walks over to the dumbbell and picks it up with ease. "It's not too bad," he says. "It's only forty-five kilograms."

"Only" forty-five kilograms...not all of us are as strong as you, Sashihara-kun. I'm about to say something about that when a weird expression comes over Sashihara's face. "...Huh," he says. "There's a strange mark on this dumbbell. Do you see it?"

He brings the dumbbell closer to me and I see a wide scratch on the bottom. "That is weird," I say. "It looks like someone hit it against something...or someone." Was it used to kill someone? I don't remember Terajima-kun or Eguchi-san having any blunt force trauma wounds on their bodies, but who knows. I might've missed it.

Sashihara places the dumbbell back on the bed. "If they killed someone with it, the culprit must've washed the blood off," he says. "However, it's not wet, and the sheets around it are super smooth and soft, so they probably weren't wet anytime recently either."
That's true...if this is the murder weapon, the culprit did a good job getting rid of the blood without leaving any evidence behind.

Still thinking about the dumbbell, I walk farther into the room to see a small scattering of glass shards in the middle of the floor. ...Huh? What's this? I lean closer to get a better look, but I don't see anything new. It's just a little bit of broken glass on the floor here. I wonder where it came from because the only other glass in this room is on the doors on the poison cabinet, and that's far away from this spot on the floor.

Moving on from the glass, I walk closer to the two overturned beds, the medical trolley, and two other things I didn't see before: a pair of bloody scissors and a roll of gauze bandages. Those scissors look suspicious...I should investigate them first. I crouch and see that the blades of the scissors are covered in blood. There's also a small pool of blood around the scissors and a small trail that leads away from them. As I look in the direction of the trail, I notice that there are a few spots on blood on the ground a few feet away. There's also some spots of blood on the sheets of the bed that's turned on its side.
This is a strange setup. It looks like someone was somehow injured by those scissors a few feet away from here and then threw them here...but who was injured? And how did the blood get on the bed?

I turn my attention from the scissors to the roll of bandages right by it. It's partially unraveled, as if someone dropped it and it rolled a few feet away from where it was dropped, leaving a trail of bandages. This is somewhat strange to see...who were these bandages used on? Were they even used at all? I don't remember seeing any bandages on Terajima-kun or Eguchi-san, nor have I seen anyone still alive wearing bandages, either...

I get up from my crouch and look around at the mess of the two overturned beds and the medical trolley on its side, with almost everything meant to be inside it scattered on the floor. "There had to have been a fight," I theorize out loud, all too aware of Motoki standing by the upside-down bed. "I don't know why else things would've turned out this way..."

"...Maybe that's what happened," Motoki says flatly, her eyes flitting over at me and then immediately looking away again. "Maybe not...maybe it's all a distraction..."

"That could be it too," I say with all the neutral politeness I can, but even my well-practiced waitress's politeness instinct isn't enough to conceal the awkwardness swarming inside me right now. Just talking with Motoki-san makes me feel so uncomfortable and awkward. It's all a reminder that I don't know if I really love her and how I need to figure things out on my end...which is something I really don't want to be reminded of, especially not while I'm trying to figure out who killed two of my friends.

Even though I want to say more to her, I walk away from Motoki and the overturned beds and trolley to the poison cabinet, which might be an even bigger mess somehow. The frosted glass panels in the doors have been completely destroyed and several of the poison jars and bottles have fallen onto the floor, creating a mess of broken glass, powder, and sludge from the poisonous liquids and powders mixing together. I better not get close to any of that stuff...it's probably really dangerous to even be close to.

However, what grabs my attention more than any of the mess on the floor is something that is completely out of place: a scratched crowbar lying on top of several pieces of broken glass. What's that doing here? Was it used to break the glass of the poison cabinet? There wouldn't be any reason to do that because the poison cabinet isn't locked, but why else would it be so close?

I'm still thinking about that as I step closer to the cabinet, careful not to step on any of the powder of sludge from the broken containers. Starting at the top, I slowly scan the shelf for any container which looks less empty than when I investigated it yesterday. On one of the rows closest to the bottom, I notice a cracked jar. That one's cracked, so it must be the same one Kasparov-kun dropped yesterday...but wasn't that one on the very top shelf originally?

Suspicious, I take the cracked jar off the shelf and examine it more closely. It looks pretty unremarkable and is average-sized. Also, despite being moved, it's completely full of white, crystalline powder and doesn't look like it's been used. Huh...this is completely full, so it most likely wasn't used, and yet it's on a different shelf than the one we found it one yesterday. How the hell did that happen?

I read the label more closely to make sure it's the same poison from yesterday. Severe damage to the digestive system,
internal bleeding in the stomach and esophagus, liver failure, kidney failure, kills within one or two hours after ingestion of a lethal dose, which is
4.5 grams for the average human...yep, it's the same poison jar as the one Kasparov-kun dropped earlier. It doesn't look like it's been used due to it being so full, but then why was it moved?

Not knowing what to think of the cracked jar, I put it back and resume scanning the poison cabinet until, at the very end of the bottom-most row, I notice a bottle that's only two-thirds full of a cloudy brown liquid. Gotcha...now I know what poison the killer almost certainly used. I take the bottle off the shelf and look at its label, which reads:

"Poison Name: Inland Taiban Venom.

Description: Taken from one of Australia's most venomous snakes, inland taipan venom is a highly dangerous poison and is has a lethality rate of over 80% if left untreated. The first symptoms of the venom may include a headache, dizziness, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, collapse, and convulsions. Eventually, rhabdomyolysis, coagulopathy, and/or kidney failure occur, typically causing death if left untreated. The normal amount of venom delivered by the snake, forty-five milligrams, is about enough to kill one hundred fully grown men. Death can occur in as little as thirty to forty-five minutes after poisoning if untreated."

Oh my God, this stuff is terrifying...forty-five milligrams is enough to kill one hundred grown men!? That's insane! I want to put the bottle back on the shelf, but I don't let myself do that yet. It mentioned rhabdomyolysis and coagulopathy, which are big fancy words that I don't know at all. "Hey, Sashihara-kun and Motoki-san. Can you guys come over here? I need to ask you two something."

They both walk over to me, with Motoki looking very hesitant. "What is it?" she asks, somewhat aggressively. "Does it have to do with the poison you're holding?"

"Yeah," I say, doing my best to ignore her aggression. "I wanted to know if either of you two knew what coagulopathy and rhabdomyolysis are."

"I don't know about coagulopathy, but I know the roots of rhabdomyolysis," Motoki says. "Rhabdo' comes from the Greek word ράβδος, which means rod, 'myo' comes from the Greek word μυς, meaning muscle, and 'lysis' comes from the word for loosening or setting something free."

That's cool, I guess...but it still doesn't clue me in. "I still don't see what those words come together to mean," I say. "Do you have any ideas, Sashihara-kun?"

"I know what it is," Sashihara says. "Rhabdomyolysis is a fancy medical way of saying skeletal muscle breakdown. It causes muscle pains, weakness, and vomiting, and sometimes even kidney failure." He frowns and looks at the bottle I'm holding. "Because of how serious it is, I'm guessing it's a symptom of the poison you're holding."

"It is," I confirm. "Coagulopathy is too. Do you know what that is, Sashihara-kun?"

Sashihara nods. "Yeah, I do. Coagulopathy is when the body's blood can't coagulate—form blood clots—very well and it causes prolonged and excessive bleeding. It can be very bad and damages muscles, joints, and internal organs if it's not treated. It can be fatal too."

That's so terrible...coagulopathy, combined with muscle breakdown and kidney failure, would definitely be an excruciating death.
I put the bottle of venom back on the shelf, not wanting to be around something so dangerous any longer. "Thanks for your help, guys," I say.

"No problem," Sashihara says. He and Motoki begin to walk away. Wait, I still need to talk to Motoki-san about why she wasn't at breakfast...

"Motoki-san," I say suddenly, "can you stay for a minute? I want to talk with you."

She stops walking and turns to look at me. "...About what?" she asks, trying to sound cold and distant, but her eyes betray her true eagerness.

Now, of all times? I'm sorry, Motoki-san, but this isn't the time or place. "It's not what you think," I say hastily. "I'm sorry, but we don't have time for that right now."

"...Oh," she says sourly. "Then what is it about?"

"Why weren't you at breakfast this morning?" I ask. "It's not like you to be so late, and I—"

"What, do you think I killed Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun?" she interrupts angrily. "Well, I didn't!"

Jeez, that was an aggressive reaction. I hold my hands in the air and motion for her to calm down. "It's alright," I say. "I'm not suspecting you of anything. I just want to know why you were late."

She looks at the floor sadly for a few seconds before looking at me. "...I couldn't get out of bed," she says. "I know it sounds so stupid and unbelievable, but it really is true. I couldn't force myself out of bed."

...Huh. That's not what I was expecting. "Is there a reason why you couldn't get yourself out of bed?" I ask.

Motoki hugs herself and closes her eyes tightly. "...Yes," she says miserably. "It was everything. When I woke up this morning, everything that's happened in this place was weighing down on me like a ton of bricks. Eguchi-san working with the mastermind, the motive, the traitor still being out there, and the ever-constant helplessness I feel for never being able to stop any of the deaths." She can barely hold back tears. "And, on top of all that..." She opens her mouth to continue. "...No. I'm not going to talk about it any longer." She turns on heel and stalks away from me.

I want to go comfort her, but I don't think she wants to be around anyone right now, least of all me.
However, even if she doesn't want to be around anyone right now, I think she needs to be. She's the kind of person who needs lots of connections with others to be happy, and depriving herself of that is not a good idea. Unfortunately, I can't make her talk to me if she doesn't want that. It wouldn't end well. I look over at her, sitting miserably on the edge of an Infirmary bed.
I can't dwell on what's happening with her right now. I want to, I really do, but I have to focus on the investigation for now. I can't let the killer get away with what they did.

Still feeling sad about what's going on with Motoki, I give the Infirmary one last quick scan and move to leave. As I leave, I notice that the lock on the inside of the Infirmary door is broken. This door doesn't lock from the inside now...I wonder why that is. Was it broken on purpose or accidentally?

After I take note of the broken door and walk out into the hallway, I wonder where I should go next. Those darts in Terajima-kun's side apparently came from a dart gun in the Weapons Room, so I should probably head there.

I go to the Weapons Room and notice Kasparov standing by one of the weapons racks. "Oh, hey, Kasparov-kun," I say. "What're you doing here?"

"I came here to investigate the dart gun that was used on Terajima-kun," he answers. He points to the said gun, which is lying on one of the racks next to other similar-looking guns.

"Did you find anything interesting about it?" I ask as I walk over to him.

He nods. "Indeed I did." He picks up the gun from the rack and swiftly ejects the magazine, which has a see-through side, and shows me the contents.

Whoa, he got that out of the gun super fast...as weird as that is, I can't worry about something like that right now. I take the magazine and look through the see-through side to see five red darts at the bottom of the magazine, with one yellow dart on top of the rest. Huh...something seems off about that, but I don't know what. I have zero experience with guns of any type, so that's probably the issue.

"It is strange, is it not?" Kasparov says.

"Yeah, it is," I say. "I don't really fully understand why, though."

"Perhaps it is because you did not read the manual," Kasparov says, taking a folded piece of paper that originally lay next to the gun on the rack. He unfolds the paper and points to a colored diagram of the gun's magazine. "Look at this diagram and read the text around it and you will surely understand the issue."

I take the paper from him and do as he says. The diagram shows the magazine filled with ten darts in total, five yellow darts closest to the top of the magazine and five red on the bottom. Wait...five of each? That's weird, because that means four yellow darts have been shot from this gun, but I've only seen two so far.

Confused about that, I look over at the text below the diagram, which reads, "This tranquilizer gun is equipped with a magazine that has a capacity of ten darts. Five yellow darts are in line to be shot first, while five red darts are to be shot after all the yellow darts have been fired. If it pierces the skin of the target, a yellow dart will cause near-immediate unconsciousness in an average-sized individual. Similarly, a red dart will kill an average-sized individual in mere minutes if one pierces the skin."

So the yellow darts are to make the target fall unconscious, while the red darts are meant to kill. Four of the yellow darts are gone, and we know two of them were shot into Terajima-kun's side. That all makes sense, but what happened to the other two yellow darts? Also, if the killer ended murdering Terajima-kun anyway, why did they even bother with the yellow darts when they could've easily rearranged the gun's magazine so that the red darts shot first?

"Based on the confused expression you currently have, I take it you have realized the strangeness of this situation," Kasparov says.

"Yeah, I have," I say. "Although my first inclination is to think that the killer used this gun, it's weird that they didn't use any of the red darts if they were going to kill Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san anyway. The killer could've taken all the darts out and then put them back out in the order they wanted, so there's no reason the yellow darts would have to be first if they wanted to kill someone. So, maybe someone other than the killer used this gun..."

"That is indeed a possibility," Kasparov says. "It is also possible that perhaps the killer underwent a change of plans. Or maybe..." He stops himself and frowns. "While thought-provoking, this talk of possibilities will do us no good at the moment. We must continue investigating as much as this prison as we can before the time period elapses."

Yeah, he's right. The debate over possibilities needs to wait for the class trial. "Did you find anything else in here?" I ask. "If not, I'll be on my way."

"As a matter of fact, I did find something else," he says. He walks to a different rack nearby and gestures to a pack of small, black circles that look like they're made of black clay. "These are explosives."

That must be what the killer used to destroy the elevator. I walk over to the pack of explosives and notice that three of them are missing. Looks like I was right. The killer did use these.
I pick up the pack to get more information on the explosives, but the label is written in a language I don't understand. "Oh shit...I have no idea what this says."

Kasparov smiles with a hint of pride. "Fortunately, I can read it, due to it being written in Russian," he says. He takes the pack from me and recites his translation of the label. "'Enclosed are small explosives meant for the most precise destruction, with a blast radius of approximately three-quarters of a meter in all directions. Each explosive is adhesive and can stick to nearly any surface. Additionally, each one may be connected to the detonator enclosed in the package. Different explosives may be set to different channels so that the detonator can activate each explosive at different times. Manufactured by Zardonov Group, Inc.'"

That's valuable information, especially the stuff with the blast radius and the detonator. Speaking of that, where's the detonator? The label Kasparov-kun read said it was in the package, but it's been taken out. "The detonator is gone, along with three of the explosives," I say. "I think we can safely conclude the killer used these explosives. Although it is strange that the detonator is completely missing..."

"Indeed," Kasparov says. "I am certain the detonator is in this prison somewhere. We will have to search quite thoroughly to find it."

"Yeah," I say. "We have to search as much as we can...so I guess I'll be leaving now. Let me know if you find anything new."

"I most certainly will," Kasparov says. He holds up the inventory notebook, which he had placed on a nearby rack. "I am going through every item on this notebook to see if it was used, so I will update you on my findings when I finished."

I nod. "Okay," I say. I
leave the Weapons Room and investigate the Media Room, the girls' bathroom, and Cell Block D, but I find nothing of interest in any of them. Looks like the killer didn't do anything in these rooms...oh well, at least I checked.

Before I go downstairs to investigate the third and second floors, I decide to look in the Gym. That dumbbell in the Infirmary came from there, so maybe there'll be other stuff in there too.

When I walk into the Gym, nothing immediately looks suspicious. There's a 45-kilogram dumbbell missing, but that's to be expected. I slowly go around the Gym and look at all the pieces of equipment and in the containers meant for dirty workout towels, but I don't notice anything until I get to the container farthest from the door. It looks like there's something cylindrical hidden beneath some of the dirty towels in here. I wonder what it is...is that what's causing this horrible stench? Never mind, that's probably just the dried sweat all over these towels.

Holding my nose, I reach into the container and take away two dirty towels to find an empty, average-sized jar with a very small amount of white, crystallized powder inside of it. ...What the hell is this? It definitely doesn't belong here. I pick it up out of the container and see that it has a label on it. Oh. Now I know where this came from. It's a poison from the Infirmary. I read the label, which says the following:

"Poison Name: Potassium Cyanide

Description: Like other cyanides, Potassium Cyanide is among the most fast-acting and most lethal of all known poisons. It is a colorless, highly soluble salt that dissolves easily in water, with a taste that is said to be acrid and bitter. Symptoms typically occur a few minutes after the ingestion of a lethal dose, with the final cause of death being cerebral hypoxia as a result of the poison depriving the brain of oxygen. For an average human, a lethal dose is as small as 200 to 300 milligrams."

Wow, that's extremely bad. I remember this being one of the poisons I was most worried about yesterday, and it looks my fears were well-founded. However, there's something weird about this...why is this jar completely empty? Only 200 to 300 milligrams are necessary to kill someone, and there was way more than that originally, so why is it empty?

With that question bouncing around in my mind, I look through the rest of the container I found the jar in, but find nothing. I don't find anything in the rest of the Gym either, so I leave it to head downstairs. However, right as I reach the landing to the third floor, I hear the Infirmary doors open behind me and the sound of Kasparov's voice calling out.

"Kawashima-san!" he calls. "My inventory check is complete. Would you like to see it?"

I turn around to see him holding the inventory notebook in hand. "Sure," I say as I walk over to him. This might give me some valuable information.

When I get to Kasparov's side, he opens the notebook and begins talking. "Most items are accounted for," he says. "The only items I found to be absent or destroyed are the following: the four yellow darts in the dart gun, three explosives and the detonator from the pack of explosives we found, a metal bat from the Weapons Room, several of the jars and bottles from the poison cabinet which broke on the floor, and a jar of potassium cyanide, which was nowhere to be found in the Infirmary."

That matches up with what I've found so far, except for the bat, which I didn't hear about before. Nor did I see it around anywhere...so, where is it? Also, how did the killer even use it?

"Did you find any sign of a metal bat anywhere during your investigation, Kasparov-kun?" I ask him.

He shakes his head. "No, I did not," he says. "I was about to head downstairs to look for that and the missing jar of potassium cyanide."

"Oh, there's no need to look for the jar of potassium cyanide," I say.

Kasparov looks at me quizzically. "Hm? Why not?"

"It was in the Gym," I explain. "I found it in one of the containers you put the used workout tools in, buried beneath some towels. It was completely empty."

Kasparov nods slowly. "Hmm...that is interesting," he says, a thoughtful expression on his face. "It is certainly strange that the poison jar would end up in the Gym of all places. However, we cannot dwell on the strangeness of it. We must investigate as much as we can and hopefully encounter that bat on the second or th—"

The sound of the monitor on a nearby wall turning on cuts him off. An image of Monohebi appears on it. "Hello again, my dearest inmates. Even though I have given you a slightly extended period for investigation due to the double murder, I believe I have given you sufficient time to find the truth of this case. As such, it is now time for the long-awaited, exhilarating class trial. Please make haste. I do not wish to be kept waiting for long." The monitor turns off.

"Well, it looks like we won't have an opportunity to find that bat after all," I say. it's a shame, but there's nothing I can do about it. I'll just have to make do with the evidence we have now.

"...Yes, I suppose the period for investigation has concluded," Kasparov says absentmindedly. He sighs and then looks me in the eyes. "May I confide something in you, Kawashima-san?"

"What is it?" I ask.

"In truth...I do not feel adequately prepared for this class trial," Kasparov says hesitantly. "I am tired. I disdain walking into that trial room to debate the death of one of our friends, knowing that one more person will join them in the grave. Doing yet another trial is bad enough, but now there are two victims, and I..." He pauses and looks at the ground solemnly. "...I feel as if I am incapable of participating in yet another trial. I am used to chess matches, where there is little impact on the real world, not on high-stakes life-or-death games. I do not know if I can continue this for much longer...if I can even continue at all."

"You are capable of doing another trial, Kasparov-kun," I reassure him. "If it weren't for you, Niizuma-san would've gotten away with killing Ichigohara-san. You're smart as hell and you'll make it through this. I know it won't be easy, I know it won't be fun. But you have to. We can't let the person, or persons, who viciously murdered our friends get away with this crime."

Kasparov hesitates for a moment, then looks at me with a tired but resolved expression. "...Yes, I suppose you are correct," he says. "We cannot let those responsible for this heinous crime escape."

At that moment, Motoki and Sashihara come out of the Infirmary. "It's time for the trial," Sashihara says grimly as they walk toward us.

Motoki closes her eyes tightly. "Yeah, it is," she says, trying to hold back tears. "We have to do another one of these horrible fucking things..."

"Unfortunately," I say.

The four of us stand in silence for a moment. "...We have to get going," Sashihara says. "Monohebi will get mad if we show up too late."

"You're right," I say. "We have to be on our way." I hate it, but we can't just stand here forever. We need to go down to the trial.

The four of us walk don't talk as we walk all the way down to the Cafeteria, where the other four are waiting. Domoto crosses her arms and looks around with nervous impatience, Hayasaka twirls her hair with a despondent expression, and Komatsu and Oyamada are mournfully staring at the ground. Looks like they're just as unexcited for this trial as the rest of us.

We wait in somber silence for the elevator to come. Eventually, Hayasaka speaks. "...Half of us are gone," she says flatly. "Half of the people we had at the beginning have died...and one more is going to die now."

"E-Eisuke-kun...Eguchi-san..." Oyamada says through sniffles. "S-Someone k-killed them...and they d-did it so c-cruelly..." He starts to cry again. "I j-just want them b-back...I d-don't want to do a t-trial without them..."

"I want 'em back too, Oyamada-kun," Komatsu says. "I fuckin' hate it, but they're gone...they ain't comin' back." he gulps and begins to tear up himself. "E-Eguchi-san...she ain't ever...she ain't ever c-comin' b-back..." He breaks down into tears.

I want to say something reassuring to both of them, but I don't. There's no point in trying to reassure them when they're so grief-stricken over losing the ones they love. I need to let them grieve by themselves...and I need to focus on finding out who killed Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san, because not letting the killer escape is the best reassurance I could provide.

After a few more moments of silence, the walls of the Cafeteria part to reveal the doors to the elevator that goes down to the trial room. With a ding, the elevator doors part. I walk into the elevator, uncomfortably aware of how spacious it seems now that so many of us have died. As soon as we're all inside the elevator, its doors shut and it begins its long descent down to the trial room.

The elevator ride down is mostly silent, with only the sounds of Oyamada and Komatsu crying softly bringing any sort of noise. I look around the elevator at the seven other people in it. As I do, I think about how there's only
eight of us in total. Now that Hayasaka-san mentioned it, I can't stop thinking about it. When we first woke up in this awful prison, there were sixteen of us. Now, half are dead and half are alive. Worst of all, after this trial, for the first time, there'll be more of us dead than alive.

That thought makes me shudder. At least one of us is going to die after this trial...and, if things are really shitty and there are two killers, one of the murderers will walk away free. It sickens me to think that I might have to live with a murderer after this trial...how could I do it? How could I look them in the eye, knowing they killed one of my friends?
I should try not to think about it, not unless it does happen...because I really don't want to think about something so terrible. If there's one hope that I have for this trial, it's that if we're lucky the traitor could possibly be finally purged from our ranks. But...has luck ever been on our side here?

Before I can think about that question any more, the elevator jerks to a halt and the doors open to reveal the courtroom, newly decorated in two different ways split down the middle. The side to the left of Monohebi's throne is decorated like a retro game, with pixelated blocks and sprites painted all over the walls. The right side is decorated like a seedy street alley. "As you can see, I have redecorated the courtroom yet again in honor of our two dearly departed victims," Monohebi says with a gleeful smile. "It is fabulous, is it not?"

"Sh-Shut up, M-Monohebi," Oyamada says angrily. "You have n-no right to s-sound so happy about their d-deaths, or to e-even s-speak of them at all."

Monohebi's smile falters. "My, my, Oyamada...how rude you have become. I liked you when you were more passive." He shakes his head. "Now, now, enough with the distractions! Everyone, please make your way to your respective podiums. Once you are all prepared, the trial shall begin!"

I hate it. I don't want to do this, but I have no choice. I walk up to my stand, all too aware of the presence of Terajima's death portrait, which is an X painted with broad, red strokes, to my left. I look around the circle at the other new additions. Niizuma's portrait has a red Greek letter chi painted over her resting bitch face, while Eguchi's has a red, pixelated X covering hers. It
pains me to see Eguchi-san like this after all she endured...being made fun of relentlessly by Hayasaka-san, having unwanted memories of bulimia returned to her and relapsing into, being accused of the mastermind, losing her mind in that horrid cell...and lastly, being murdered. I really hope whoever killed her doesn't get to escape freely if it turns out she really was the one who planned this killing game, because I don't want to see a killer go free. She didn't deserve to be murdered, even if she really did work with the mastermind.

Neither did Terajima-kun. He always felt guilty for the deaths of the six people that came before him, but that guilt wasn't nearly as deserved as he thought it was. Even though he had a bad past working with yakuzas, he made genuine steps to reform himself and worked to protect people for the rest of his life. His mere presence was so reassuring, so calming...he always made you feel safe. But now he's gone and Eguchi-san, his close friend, is gone too. One of us, or maybe even of two of us, killed the two of them. And whoever they are...

...They're here right now.

[Split screens of Furuhata, Motoki, Yamaguchi, Sashihara, and Oyamada. Furuhata and Yamaguchi's images are covered in a red filter]

For the first time, two of us were murdered at once. Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san were both killed in such cruel ways...neither of them deserved their terrible fates. However, whoever killed them didn't care. They murdered two people so ruthlessly...

[Split screens of Niizuma, Eguchi, Aozora, Komatsu, Carrasco, and Domoto. Aozora, Carrasco, Niizuma, and Eguchi's images are covered in a red filter]

Whoever killed Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san, whether it was one person, or two...we can't let them get away with killing two of our friends. We can't let them escape undiscovered. To do that would be dishonor Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun's memories.

[Split screens of Ichigohara, Hayasaka, Kasparov, Terajima, and Kawashima. Ichigohara and Terajima's images are covered in a red filter]

Instead, we have to ensure that we find everyone responsible for these horrific crimes, even if one of them doesn't get executed...we can't let anyone get away with murder. We have to find the truth of what happened to Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun, no matter how. It won't be easy. It won't be pleasant. In fact, it'll be excruciating to accuse one or maybe even two of my friends of murder, but it has to be done! We have no other choice but to unmask the killer, or killers, responsible for this atrocity!

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Monohebi File #4: The victims of this case are Eisuke Terajima, the Ultimate Bodyguard, and Yuzuki Eguchi, the Ultimate Game Developer. Both victims died within an hour of each other. Additionally, both of the victims had foreign substances inside their bodies at the time of death.
Untouched Soup and Coffee: Both the bowl of soup I brought and the cup of coffee Oyamada made for Eguchi were still full when I investigated her cell.
Remains of Bed: The bed in Eguchi’s cell has been completely broken. The mattress was discarded on the other side of the cell, while the old, rusty bedframe was broken into many pieces. One of these sharp, rusty pieces was impaling Eguchi’s neck.

Eguchi’s Hand and Arm Injuries: Eguchi’s right wrist is broken. She also sustained a long cut on her left hand. Additionally, she has several bruises on both her arms
Eguchi’s Stab Wound: Eguchi was stabbed by something of moderate thickness in her left side. There were no obvious weapons that could have done this, such as a knife, found at the scene.
Bloodstain on Bed Frame: There is a small bloodstain on a part of Eguchi’s bed frame which has a lot of rust. It is far away from her body and appears to have been left at some point before Eguchi’s death.
Redness of Eguchi’s Lips: Eguchi’s lips were coated in a dark red color similar to that of blood. According to Hayasaka, this dark red color did not come from lipstick, but from other substance capable of staining lips.
Blood on Eguchi’s Body: Eguchi has a large amount of blood covering her body from the neck down, which is odd considering that the only open wounds she has are the piece of metal in her neck and the cut on her hand.
Dried Dark Red Puddles: There are puddles of a dried dark red substance in front of the door to Eguchi’s cell, which appear to be from the ice cream Eguchi threw at me last night. There were what looked like footsteps in the puddle and also a larger smear that I couldn’t identify.
Incinerator Log: The log on the Incinerator reads, “E1C3V SCANNED 3:44.
B23HU SCANNED 9:31. YK921
SCANNED 9:39.” The last two logs are from me and either Komatsu or Domoto scanning our e-Handbooks, so the first one is from whoever disposed of the evidence we found in the Incinerator.

Remains in Incinerator: A small pile of ash and a twisted, melted object that looks like it was once made of metal and wires were found inside the incinerator.
Ski Mask: A ski mask was found in a trash container in the Trash Room. Domoto says it came from the Props Storage Room on the second floor.

Pair of Slippers: A pair of fluffy, pink slippers from the Props Storage Room was found in a trash container in the Trash Room. There were dark red stains on the soles of these slippers. According to Domoto, who had a pair of these slippers at her home, these slippers allow the wearer to walk silently.
Empty Blood Packs: Six empty blood transfusion packs were found in a container in the Trash Room. Each one appears to have been slit open with some sort of thin object.
Crushed Piece of Metal: A long piece of crushed metal was found in the hydraulic press in the Trash Room. Most of this piece of metal is a gray color and has normally metallic texture, but part near the bottom of it about the length of my hand is black and feels rubbery.

Komatsu’s Account: Komatsu claims he didn’t go to breakfast this morning only because he did not want to have to deal with Kasparov or Domoto. He also claims he didn’t leave his room last night.
My Account: During my shift last night, Eguchi threw her bowl of ice cream through the window of her cell and threatened to kill me when I wouldn’t let her out. After this, I went upstairs to the Cafeteria, where I saw Oyamada and Terajima. Oyamada then made a cup of coffee for both Eguchi and Terajima. Once Terajima drank his coffee, he went downstairs to guard Eguchi. After this, Oyamada and I went to bed.
Domoto’s Account: After I left dinner last night, Terajima and Motoki immediately went to bed, while Sashihara went upstairs to use the Gym. Komatsu also left for his room shortly after with a bowl of ice cream. Oyamada went back to his room to go to bed at 8 PM. Domoto, Kasparov, and Hayasaka stayed in the Cafeteria until a few more minutes before nighttime, when they all went to their rooms.
State of Terajima’s Body: Terajima’s body from the waist down was crushed by rubble and remains from the exploded elevator. His upper body was lying face down, with his arms splayed out in front of him. Terajima also had tow yellow darts in his left side.
Terajima’s Head Wound: Terajima’s head had a large, sharp piece of rubble driven through it from the bottom of his jaw to the top of his head. Additionally, blood fills his mouth and is overflowing out onto the area around it and in front of it. The area in front of his mouth has a pool of blood that goes especially far from his head and looks as if Terajima had repeatedly spat out blood
Suit Stains: The upper left hand (from an onlooker’s perspective; it would be his right from his perspective) corner of the front Terajima’s suit had dark red stains all over it.
Stab Wounds: In the middle of the stains on Terajima’s suit were two stab wounds: a very thin wound of moderate depth and a wider, deeper wound. No knife or any such weapon that could be easily used to stab was found at the scene.
Paper in Terajima’s Hand: Two small scraps of paper were being gripped inside Terajima’s left hand when we discovered his body. Both scraps contain writing and appear to be remnants of an original note. The first scrap reads “…about all that you have done in your past and all your past mistakes.” The second reads, “…want to meet you anytime soon.”
Terajima’s Right Hand: Like his left hand, Terajima’s right hand appeared to be grabbing onto something when he died that was taken out of his hand at some point after death. However, Oyamada and Kasparov found nothing in his hand.
Terajima’s Back: Dust, pieces of rubble, and shrapnel cover Terajima’s back. Much of his back is also drenched in blood, despite there being no apparent injuries on Terajima’s back.

Oyamada’s Account: Oyamada says the reason he was late last night was due to him being awoken by a loud noise and shaking. He says he had difficulty falling back asleep and because of this lack of sleep he slept up until the body discovery announcement, at which point he rushed down to the basement.
Noise and Shaking: Sashihara, Oyamada, Komatsu, and I all woke up to a loud noise and shaking a little before 3:30 AM last night.
Kasparov, Domoto, Motoki, and Hayasaka all claim they didn’t wake up to any of this stuff.
Order of Rooms: The order of the owner of each “cell,” from left to right, is Ichigohara, Hayasaka, Eguchi, Domoto, Furuhata, Terajima, Yamaguchi, Carrasco, Kasparov, Motoki, Aozora, Niizuma, Kawashima, Komatsu, Oyamada, and finally Sashihara.
Soundproofing of Rooms: Monohebi says that while he was renovating this prison, he had budget constraints and because of that was not able to provide the same high-quality soundproofing to every room. He was only able to give the first nine rooms he built the high-quality soundproofing, with the last seven receiving the lower-quality soundproofing. Monohebi also said a room’s proximity to a sound and the volume of that sound affects how well the room neutralizes the sound.
Infirmary Door: The infirmary door’s handle is broken and is barely hanging onto the rest of the door. The door’s lock, which used to allow someone to lock the door from the inside, is now inoperable due to the handle being broken.

Dumbbell: There was a large 45 kg dumbbell lying on one of the beds in the Infirmary that had scratch marks on it. The dumbbell itself was completely dry and the sheets around were very smooth and dry, so it appears neither were wet at any point recently.

Broken Glass: There was a small amount of broken glass scattered across the middle of the floor of the Infirmary. It was nowhere near the poison cabinet, the doors to which are the only thing made of glass in the room.

Pair of Scissors: A pair of bloody scissors was found in the Infirmary near the mess with the overturned beds and trolley. The scissors’ blades were completely covered in blood and there was a
small pool of blood around them, as well as a small trail that leads away from them. There are also a few spots on blood on the ground a few feet away from the scissors.
Roll of Bandages: There was a partially unraveled roll of gauze bandages close by the scissors in the Infirmary. It appears as if the bandages were dropped, causing the roll to unravel as it rolled across the floor. It is unclear who these bandages were used on or if they were even used at all, considering that neither of the two deceased nor any of the surviving students has any visible bandages.
Overturned Beds and Medical Trolley: One of the beds in the Infirmary was completely upside-down, while another right next to it was on its side. The bed on its side had spots of blood on its sheets. Right by the beds, a medical trolley was knocked over, causing it to spill its contents all over the floor.
Crowbar:
A scratched crowbar was found on top of the broken glass from the poison cabinet’s doors.
Poison Cabinet: The frosted glass of the poison cabinet’s doors is shattered and lies on the floor in front of it, along with several broken containers of poison. The breaking of these containers has caused powders, liquid, and sludge from the two mixing to form in front of the cabinet.
Cracked Poison Jar: The jar Kasparov dropped yesterday was found on one of the lower shelves of the poison cabinet, even though it was on the top shelf yesterday. It is full of a white, crystalline poison powder and is average-sized. The label says that this poison causes severe damage to the digestive system, internal bleeding in the stomach and esophagus, liver failure, kidney failure, and usually kills within one or two hours after ingestion of a lethal dose. It also says that a dose of 4.5 grams is required to kill a human of average size.
Inland Taipan Venom: A bottle of inland taipan venom that was only two-thirds full was found on the bottom-most shelf of the poison cabinet. It’s normally lethal if not treated and as little as 45 mg are enough to kill 100 grown men. Early symptoms of poisoning can include a headache, dizziness, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, collapse, and convulsions. Rhabdomyolysis (muscle breakdown), Coagulopathy (excessive and uncontrolled bleeding), and/or kidney failure occur later, eventually causing death in as little as thirty to forty-five minutes.
Motoki’s Account: Motoki claims the reason she was late to breakfast this morning was that she felt so despondent over everything that’s happened in the killing game that she couldn’t force herself out of bed. She seemed like she wanted to say more, but she said she wasn’t going to talk about it.
Dart Gun: The dart gun in the Weapons Room holds five yellow darts, which knock the target unconscious, and five red darts, which kill the victim in minutes. Although the five yellow darts are meant to come first and the five red darts are at the bottom of the magazine, they can be rearranged easily.

Missing Darts: The dart gun in the Weapons Room originally had five yellow darts in it, but the only two that were found were those that were shot into Terajima’s side. The other two yellow darts are unaccounted for.
Explosives: A pack of explosives in the Weapons Room had three small explosives removed. According to Kasparov’s reading of the label on the pack, each one of these small explosives has a blast radius of approximately three-quarters of a meter in all directions and can stick to almost any surface. Different explosives can also be matched with different frequencies on the detonator so they can be set off at separate times.
Empty Potassium Cyanide Jar: One of the containers meant for disposing of dirty workout towels had an empty, average-sized jar of potassium cyanide in it. This jar was hidden beneath two used towels and had a very small amount of white, crystallized powder left in it. According to the jar’s label, potassium cyanide kills a few minutes after ingestion of a lethal dose, which is 200-300 mg for an average human. The final cause of death is cerebral hypoxia, which is when the brain is deprived of oxygen. It is colorless salt and is very soluble, so it easily dissolves in water. Its taste is acrid and bitter.
Inventory: Kasparov’s check on the status of all the items on the inventory found that the following items were missing: four yellow darts in the dart gun, three small explosives and the detonator to them, a metal bat, and a jar of potassium cyanide. Several of the jars and bottles in the Infirmary’s poison cabinet were also broken on the floor in front of the cabinet.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Class Trial: In Session!

Monohebi: [neutral] Before we begin, allow me to explain the rules of the class trial.

Monohebi: [neutral] In this trial, your goal is to correctly determine the culprit behind the murder. You will present your arguments for who the blackened may be, and, once you feel you have determined the guilty party, you will vote.

Monohebi: [smiles slightly] Vote correctly, and only one of you will be punished...the culprit, or the "blackened." However, if you vote incorrectly...

Monohebi: [red eye glints] ...I will execute everyone besides the blackened, and only they will be freed from this prison!

Monohebi: [neutral] Additionally, due to the motive this time around, the blackened could potentially be spared from execution even if they are caught. [smirks] However, I will not be revealing whether they fulfilled the requirements for that to occur until after voting, so do not ask yet.

Monohebi: [smiles slightly] Lastly, due to the special nature of this trial, if there are two killers still alive, I will only execute the one who killed first.

Monohebi: [neutral] That is all for the rules. [smirks] Good luck with finding the blackened.

Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] Every time we hear those rules, it hurts so much...it's even worse than usual now, with two of us killed at once...

Kasparov: [consider carefully] Indeed it is...however, there is one clarification of the rules I believe is necessary.

Sashihara: [confusedly] Huh? What're you talking about, Kasparov-kun?

Monohebi: [slightly irritated] Yes, about what are you talking, Kasparov? I believe I was quite thorough in explaining the logistics of the class trial.

Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] You were. However, I still have one lingering question: what happens if there is a tie in the votes? For the first time, there is an even number of participants in a class trial due to the double murder and the fact that there are not many of us remaining. So, what if we are evenly split while voting?

Monohebi: [neutral] Hm...I suppose a two-way tie would be acceptable, as long as one of the two people chosen is the true blackened. However, a four-way or three-way tie would not be allowed, even if one of the people chosen is actually the blackened.

Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] I guess that's kind of a relief...if we really can't decide who the blackened is by the end of the trial, then we could vote evenly for our last two suspects and win either way.
Domoto: [scratches chin] Except that won't happen because the culprit would inevitably vote sabotage the tie and make it so the most votes went to the wrong person. [crosses arms] Fortunately for us, things won't come down to a tie. I'm sure we'll be able to find the truth of Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san's deaths and vote for the right person in confidence.
Sashihara: [curiously] How exactly are we going to go about doing that? [adjusts medical mask] This case is the most complicated one so far, so where should we even start? I feel like there isn't any obvious place to begin.
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] I d-don't know wh-where we should s-start either, S-Sashihara-kun... [tears up] I j-just wish E-Eisuke-kun and Eguchi-san w-were here...
Komatsu: [wipes eyes] Same, Oyamada-kun...I miss the two of 'em real bad. I didn't even know Terajima-kun that well, and I still miss him...

Domoto: [determined] We all miss them. However, we need—
Oyamada: [angrily] Y-You have NO r-right to say you m-miss them! N-Not when it's y-your fault E-Eguchi-san got put in that c-cell in the f-first place!
Hayasaka: [nods] Yeah, if Yuzuki-san wasn't in that cell and Eisuke-kun wasn't guarding it, they'd both still be alive. [coldly] Neither Otoha-san nor Sergey-kun have any right to say they miss them.
Kasparov: [frustratedly] Cease this nonsense immediately. It is not either of our faults that the commemoration video incriminated Eguchi-san.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Jus' 'cause that video made her look suspicious didn't justify puttin' her in that cell and gettin' her and Terajima-kun murdered. No matter how this trial turns out, it's ya and Domoto-san's faults Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun died!

Oh shit, things are getting heated really quickly...

Kasparov: [shocked] ...What? [frustratedly] That is absolutely preposterous! Neither Domoto-san nor I is the killer, and it is disingenuous of you to say that—
Kawashima: [seriously] Stop talking, all of you. Now is not the time to debate if Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san are at fault for Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san's deaths. [firmly] We can't throw around baseless accusations; we have to focus on the evidence and use logic to find the killer. That's how we're going to find the killer or killers behind these crimes. Understood?
Kasparov: [regretfully] ...Yes. My apologies for acting so rashly. I allowed myself to become too worked up by a false accusation...
Hayasaka: [stares with muted anger] It's not false... [looks to the side thoughtfully] But yeah, Wakana-san's right. We have to be logical if we want to find out what happened.
Komatsu: [reluctantly] ...I guess.

Wow, I was a lot more direct than I like to be right there but it was necessary. We can't let pointless bickering distract us from the trial.

Sashihara: [curiously] So, I agree that we should proceed logically, but does anyone have any idea of where we should start? I still don't know what a good place would be.
Domoto: [neutrally] The best place to begin would be finding out who died first and how. [crosses arms] As Monohebi has said previously, the person who died first is the one whose death really matters if there are two killers and if there were two suicides. So, I think it'd be best to find out who was the first one killed.
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] Th-That's not g-going to be e-easy...Eguchi-san and E-Eisuke-kun both died in such c-confusing ways...how c-can we f-figure out how they d-died, m-much less when?
Kasparov: [considers carefully] Discovering the causes of the deaths of Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun will likely lead us to clues as to who died first. It will not be easy, but it must be done.

Yeah, that's right. Finding out who died first and how needs to be done whether we want to or not. So...let's stop wasting time and get the discussion underway.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Monohebi File #4, Noise and Shaking, Dart Gun, State of Terajima's Body, Stab Wounds, Eguchi's Hand and Arm Injuries

Motoki: [thoughtfully] I have no idea how either of them died, but there's one thing I can say for sure... [confidently] They died within an hour of each other. The Monohebi File confirms that.
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] We c-can also be sure
th-that they d-died after 1 AM, because K-Kawashima and I saw E-Eisuke-kun alive th-then, and E-Eguchi-san was s-still alive in her c-cell...
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Okay, we got some idea when they died... [rubs back of neck] But how'd they die? I still ain't gotta clue how that went down...
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] I'm not sure how it went down, but I think the likeliest option is that whoever murdered Eguchi-san was trying to take advantage of the motive.
Oyamada: [fiercely] No, th-that's not the c-case! The k-killer c-couldn't have known for s-sure that Eguchi-san w-was that p-person, s-so that's not p-possible!
Kasparov: [considers carefully] Even if Eguchi-san truly was not the person mentioned in that motive video, whoever killed her likely believed that she was. [presses finger to temple] As such, it is still possible that whoever killed Eguchi-san attempted to take advantage of the motive.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] If that's what happened, then the killer must've killed Terajima-kun first.
[rubs shoulder] He was guarding Eguchi-san, so he'd naturally be an obstacle...
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] No, that's not right...if the killer was trying to go after the motive, Yuzuki-san would be who they'd kill first.

Everyone has a bunch of theories as to what went down, but only one can be right...so which is it? I know I heard at least one contradiction there, so I have to look to the evidence and find a way to prove it wrong.

Answer: Dart Gun > must've
killed Terajima-kun first

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Actually, Motoki-san, Terajima-kun didn't have to be the one who died first.
Motoki: [confusedly] Huh? Why not? He was guarding Eguchi-san, so they'd have to get rid of him first.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Yeah, I don't see where you're coming from, Kawashima-san...why wouldn't they kill Terajima-kun? There ain't no way they could kill Eguchi-san without gettin' through him.
Sashihara: [quietly] Don't you guys remember the motive? [explanatorily] Monohebi said that in order to escape without having to win the class trial, the killer would have to meet two requirements: they'd have to make an effort to get away with the crime and they could only kill the person mentioned in the motive video. [adjusts medical mask] So, if the killer killed Terajima-kun, they'd automatically be unable to use the motive because he wasn't that person.

That's a great point, Sashihara-kun...however, it's not exactly what I was going for.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] You're right, Sashihra-kun. That's one reason why Terajima-kun didn't have to die first. However, it's not the biggest one.
Sashihara: [curiously] What is, then?
Kawashima: [seriously] The yellow tranquilizer darts we found lodged in Terajima-kun's side.

Hayasaka: [surprised] He had darts lodged in his side?
Oyamada: [tears up] Y-Yeah...the k-killer shot him w-with tranquilizer d-darts to knock him o-out...
Domoto: [arches eyebrows] Really? And how exactly did they get these darts into him without getting near to him?
Kawashima: [seriously] Easy. They used the dart gun we found in the Weapons Room. The gun has five yellow darts, which tranquilize the target within a matter of seconds, and five red darts, which kill in a matter of seconds. [neutrally] The killer used the gun to shoot two yellow darts in his side from far away. That way, they'd be able to get him out of the picture without killing him.
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] S-So it is m-more likely that the E-Eguchi-san died f-first...if the k-killer used the d-darts on T-Terajima-kun, then they'd be g-good to use the m-motive...
Kasparov: [frowns] I do not know if we can say either of the two deceased is more likely to have died first yet. [covers mouth with hand] Both of them sustained a number of injuries that could have killed them. We need to discuss more before we draw any conclusion about the order in which they died.

Exactly, Kasparov-kun. We need to figure out how and when Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san got their various injuries before we figure out which one died first.
Hayasaka: [confusedly] I agree with Sergey-kun, but before we move on, I want to ask...why two darts? If they knock people out really quickly like you said, why'd the killer shoot Eisuke-kun twice?
Domoto: [crosses arms] Terajima-kun was a pretty huge guy, so one dart might not be enough for him. I guess the killer didn't want to take the risk and shot him twice to make sure he got knocked out.
Sashihara: [neutrally] That makes sense. [frowns] However...not everything about this makes sense. I have some doubts about this stuff with the darts and dart gun.
Kawashima: [surprised] You do? What are they, Sashihara-kun?
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] It's a few relatively minor things, but...I think that they need to be cleared up before we move forward.

Sasahihara-kun has some doubts about the theory with darts? I don't know what they could be, but let's hear what he has to say.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Crushed Piece of Metal, Ski Mask, State of Terajima's Body, Dart Gun, Pair of Slippers, Eguchi's Hand and Arm Injuries

Motoki: [curiously] What are the doubts you have, Sashihara-kun?
Sashihara: [neutrally] It has to do with the fact that Terajima-kun was attacked.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] Out of everyone here, he undoubtedly had the best observation skills and was always on high alert... [frowns] ...so how could someone sneak up on him?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] That's a good point, Hisaya-kun...even if someone used the dart gun to knock him out, he still would've heard them sneak up on him.
Sashihara: [nods] Exactly. He likely would've seen them, too...meaning that he could later identify the killer. [points] Also, if the killer had that dart gun, why didn't they use the red darts to kill Eguchi-san?
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] That is a salient point. There were no marks that could be from darts on Eguchi-san, and yet the red darts would be a convenient way of killing Eguchi-san if the killer used the yellow darts to incapacitate Terajima-kun. [presses finger to temple] So, why did they not use them?
Komatsu: [puzzled] I ain't sure, but it's lookin' like the killer prolly used somethin'
other than the darts on Terajima-kun.
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] W-Wait, I g-get this is weird, b-but... [passionately] It h-had to be the d-darts that incapacitated E-Eisuke-kun. There's n-nothing else that m-makes sense...

So, were the darts used to knock out Terajima-kun or not? Could they really be just a distraction? Hmm...

Answer: Pair of Slippers > would've heard them

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I have an answer to one of your problems, Sashihara-kun.
Sashihara: [curiously] You do? What is it?
Kawashima: [seriously] You said that Terajima-kun would've heard the killer sneak up on him, but that's not necessarily the case. [seriously] Domoto-san and I found a pair of fluffy pink slippers in a trash container the Trash Room, which, according to Domoto-san, allow whoever's wearing them to move silently.
Komatsu: [suspiciously] Really...and how the fuck does she know that? [angrily] Was it her who killed Eguchi-san!?
Domoto: [rolls eyes] Don't be preposterous, Komatsu-kun. I didn't kill her. [crosses arms and closes eyes] I only know about how the slippers let the wearer move silently because I own the exact pair of them at home. [opens eyes] It has nothing to do with this case.
Komatsu: [doubtfully] Yeah, I don't fuckin' buy that.
Kasparov: [disapprovingly] If you think Domoto-san is lying, then you are rather foolish, Komatsu-kun. What reason would she have to reveal that information about the slippers if she had used them? [analytically] It simply would not be strategic.
Domoto: [icily] Yes, it'd be stupid of me to tell Kawashima-san about the slippers' properties if I really wanted to get away with the crime. If you really think I was trying to use the motive, would freely telling her that really qualify as "trying to get away with it?"
Komatsu: [grumpily] Ugh...I guess not...

Okay, I'm glad that's over with. I was worried that Komatsu-kun would keep on going...I get that he's really upset about Eguchi-san's death and wants to find her killer in any way he can, but he can't let his anger towards Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san blind his judgment.
Kawashima: [neutrally] Alright, now that's over with, I think we should move on to—

Motoki: That's incomprehensible!

[split screen separates Motoki and Kawashima]
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] What you're proposing makes no sense, Kawashima-san.
Kawashima: [surprised] What...? Why not?
Motoki: [grimly] Your whole theory of how Terajima-kun died...it's completely illogical! [confidently] If you can't figure it out yourself, I'll lead you to the right conclusion! [determined] I won't let your false deductions lead us down the wrong path!

Wow, Motoki-san is being very passionate right now. Is it because I'm as wrong as she says I am...or is it because of how things stand between us? Whatever it is, I need to hear her argument, and refute any contradictions I might hear!

REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN

Truth Swords: Suit Stains, Terajima's Right Hand, State of Terajima's Body, Dried Dark Red Puddles, Dart Gun, Stab Wounds

Motoki: [determined] The first thing that doesn't make sense... [grimly] ...is that the killer knocked Terajima-kun out, only to kill him later!
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] If the killer was going to kill him anyway, why'd they bother using the yellow darts...
Motoki: [passionately] ...Especially when they could've used the red darts just as easily? It doesn't make sense!

ADVANCE!
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] The killer probably didn't plan to kill Terajima-kun initially. That's why they used the yellow darts on him.
Kawashima: [slightly challengingly] I can't be sure exactly what happened, but for some reason, the killer must have changed their mind. [firmly] That's not impossible!

Motoki: [scoffs] Of course it is! The killer wouldn't be able to escape freely if they killed him!
Motoki: [determined] Besides, they shot him twice! It would've taken him a long time to wake up... [confidently] ...so Terajima-kun wouldn't have awoken before the killer was done killing Eguchi-san, meaning the killer had no reason to kill him!
Motoki: [curiously] Also, how do you explain Terajima-kun being away from the cell when he was knocked out? [thoughtfully] Using the slippers to sneak up on him and sniping him from around the corner would admittedly work... [passionately] ...but Terajima-kun was by the elevator when he was shot!
Motoki: [confidently] He couldn't have been moved by the killer themselves, so how do you explain that?

Holy shit, Motoki-san's bringing up some good arguments...she almost convinced me that I was wrong. However, I know something she said isn't right, so I have to point it out to her!

Answer: Suit Stains > by the elevator

Kawashima: I'll cut your contradictions in two!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] You're wrong, Motoki-san. Terajima-kun wasn't by the elevator when he was shot, he was right in front of Eguchi-san's cell.
Motoki: [scoffs] What? That doesn't make any sense! How could the killer have moved him if that happened?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] We didn't get to investigate the third floor, so I can't be sure of it, but the killer could've used the dolly from the Art Room repository to move him. [seriously] However, that's besides the point. I have proof Terajima-kun was knocked out in front of Eguchi-san's cell: the dark red stains on the front of his suit.
Hayasaka: [confusedly] Wait...dark red stains? How'd he get those? Was he stabbed?
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] He w-was, actually...there w-were two wounds...one th-thin one, and one th-thick one... [quietly] K-Kawashima-san, those caused the s-stains on E-Eisuke-kun's suit, r-right? So how do they prove M-Motoki-san wrong?
Motoki: [determined] They don't.

No, they do. It's because those stains aren't from blood...at least, not entirely. No, the source of most of those stains is...
The dried puddles in front of Eguchi's cell/Grenadine/Monohebi's vomit

Answer: The dried puddles in front of Eguchi's cell

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] While I'm certain a part of the stain is made up of blood from Terajima-kun's stab wounds, I think the real source of the stain is the dried dark red puddle in front of Eguchi-san's cell. [seriously] That's because when I investigated those puddles, I noticed that there was a large smear that I couldn't identify. [firmly] However, now I know where it came from: Terajima-kun, upon being knocked out, fell into the puddle of still melted ice cream and got his suit stained from it.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] That could be what happened, I suppose...the large smear in those puddles seemed to be about the same size as the stain on Terajima-kun.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Alright, so that makes sense... [rubs back of neck] But how do you explain the other smears in those puddles, Kawashima-san? That big stain ain't the only one...there was also a bunch of smaller ones. Where'd they come from?

The answer should be obvious if I just put the pieces of the puzzle together...
Eguchi's footsteps from escaping her cell/The mastermind's boots/The pair of slippers

Answer: The pair of slippers

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] They came from the pair of slippers the killer was wearing, Komatsu-kun. [thoughtfully]
The ice cream puddle was right in front of Eguchi-san's cell, so if the killer wanted to get in, they'd most likely have to step through it.
Domoto: [firmly] And they did.
Motoki: [hostilely] How can you be so sure?
Domoto: [crosses arms] Because when Kawashima-san and I found the slippers, the soles were stained a dark red color.
[strokes chin] At first I thought the slippers' soles were stained by blood, but it's now clear that the real source was the ice cream puddle.
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] So K-Kawashima-san m-must be r-right...the b-big stain came from E-Eisuke-kun, while the s-smaller ones c-came from the k-killer...
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and grimaces] Dammit...I was wrong...
Kasparov: [analytically] It seems so. [covers mouth with hand] I believe this is rather confusing, so I will summarize the case as we have discussed it thus far. [neutrally] Whoever attacked Terajima-kun donned a pair of slippers that allowed them to move silently, grabbed the dart gun from the Weapons Room, and then headed down into the basement. [presses finger to temple] Once there, they silently walked down the hallway and shot Terajima-kun with two yellow darts from the dart gun. He swiftly lost consciousness and fell forward into the ice cream puddle. At that point, the attacker stepped through the puddle to gain access to the cell of Eguchi-san.
Hayasaka: [sadly] And once they got there, they killed her...
Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] Are you certain they killed her as soon as they entered her cell? [considers carefully] Eguchi-san sustained a number of injuries. It is rather odd for the attacker to bother with so hurting her so much when they had access to darts that could kill her very effectively.

That's a good point...however, I don't think Hayasaka-san agrees with it.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] The injuries could've come from a fight between Yuzuki-san and the killer. [confidently] ...Yeah. That's gotta be what happened. The killer and Yuzuki-san got into a fight, which ended with her dying.
Oyamada: [quietly] ...No. That's wr-wrong.
Hayasaka: [surprised] What? Why's it wrong, Osamu-kun?
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] There's a n-number of r-reasons why it just d-doesn't make s-sense... [fidgets uncomfortably] I g-guess I should e-explain them. That's what E-Eisuke-kun would d-do...

So Oyamada-kun has a few reasons why Hayasaka-san is wrong... I wonder what they are. I can't see think of what he could be talking about, but he's always been reasonable, so I should hear him out.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Crowbar, Remains in Incinerator, Dumbbell, Pair of Scissors, Eguchi's Hand and Arm Injuries, Crushed Piece of Metal

Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] Whatever happened in that cell, it wasn't as simple as a fight between Eguchi-san and the killer... [frowns] N-No, it had to be s-something m-more...

Hayasaka: [curiously] But what else could've happened? [looks to the side thoughtfully] The killer was targeting Yuzuki-san, so it's completely logical
she would've fought back...
Oyamada: [grimaces] M-Maybe, but the b-bed frame was c-completely d-destroyed. [figdgets uncomfortably] A f-fight would make s-sense if the k-killer had access to s-something that'd l-let them b-break it that b-badly, but they d-didn't...
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Yeah, that's a good point...there wasn't anythin' in Eguchi-san's cell that coulda damaged the bed frame so much.
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] B-Besides, n-no one a-alive has any i-injuries on them...
Oyamada: [cries softly] And there's no way E-Eisuke-kun, the o-only other p-person with injuries, w-would kill her... [fidgets uncomfortably] S-So what h-happened in Eguchi-san's cell w-wasn't as simple as a f-fight b-between her and the k-killer...there h-had to have b-been s-something more.
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] What could it have been, then?
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] Who knows...

That was an interesting discussion. It's really making me think...what went down in that cell? Was it really as simple as a fight between Eguchi-san and the killer, or was it something more?

Answer: Crushed Piece of Metal > they d-didn't...

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] I'm not so sure if we can be certain the killer didn't have anything that could've broken that bed frame, Oyamada-kun.
Oyamada: [confusedly] Wh-What? But there w-wasn't anything that c-could've done that in E-Eguchi-san's cell or a-anywhere else!
Kawashima: [neutrally] You're right there wasn't anything in her cell that could've destroyed the bed frame... [seriously] ...but there was in the Trash Room.
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] Kawashima-san, what are you talking about? The stuff in the incinerator?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] No, I was thinking that whatever the killer crushed in the hydraulic press could be what they used to destroy the bed frame. It also could be what allowed them to give Eguchi-san so many bruises without hurting themselves.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] ...I'm sorry, but this just don't make sense, Kawashima-san. We ain't gotta clue what that piece of trash is, much less how the killer coulda used it! [doubtfully] How can you be so certain of all this?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensivley] I'm curious too, Wakana-san...how can you make any assumptions about how that crushed piece of metal was used when we don't even know what it is.

That is admittedly a good point...I need to find out what that piece of metal is before we move this case any farther. It's on the tip of my tongue, I just have to connect the dots to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

HANGMAN'S GAMBIT

Question: What was the crushed piece of metal in the hydraulic press originally?

LESABLBA ATB

Answer: Baseball Bat

Kawashima: I've solved it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [firmly] It was a baseball bat.
Oyamada: [shocked] Wh-What?
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Huh? Ya seriously tellin' me that fuckin' thing was a baseball bat before it got crushed?
Kawashima: [nods] I am. [seriously] Don't you remember how it looked? Most of that object looked like it was made of normal gray metal, but at the bottom, there was a space where it was black and had a rubbery texture. [firmly] That part at the bottom was probably the grip that's normally on a metal baseball bat!
Kasparov: [pressses finger to temple] So that was where the bat in the Weapons Room went...
Sashihara: [surprisedly] Wait, a bat from the Weapons Room went missing?
Kasparov: [nods] Indeed. [covers mouth with hand] When I was investigating there was only one thing of which I was not able to determine the final location: a missing baseball bat from the Weapons Room. I had figured it was somewhere on the second or third floor, but this is much more logical. [analytically] We know the killer visited the Weapons Room to obtain the dart gun, so it is entirely possible they took the bat with them when they grabbed the dart gun.

Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] Huh...I g-guess that is l-logical...
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Hold up, somethin' here don't make sense... [furrows brow] Why'd the killer even bring the baseball if they had the dart gun? It'd be a hell of a lot easier to kill Eguchi-san with one of those red darts.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] I can't be certain, but it was might've because they weren't sure of how many darts they'd need to take out Terajima-kun. [neutrally] He was the Ultimate Bodyguard, so he was probably pretty good at dodging...maybe they wanted to give themselves as many shots as possible without having to worry about accidentally killing him.

That makes a lot of sense, Sashihara-kun...I didn't even think of it before.

Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] Now that we know the likely reason as to why Eguchi-san was not killed by a red dart, there is another, harder question...how did she truly die? [analytically] I do not believe we can proceed much further until we deduce what happened to Eguchi-san in that cell and what ultimately caused her demise.
Oyamada: [grimaces] W-we don't have e-enough evidence to say wh-what killed her yet, though...
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Nah, Oyamada-kun, yer wrong...it's pretty damn obvious what killed her. It was that bat!
Domoto: [strokes chin] Don't be idiotic. She was poisoned.

[split screen with Hayasaka and Komatsu. They talk at the same time]

Hayasaka: [confidently] No, Otoha-san...she was stabbed!

Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] Nah, it was the bat! I'm sure of it!

[split screen with Domoto, Komatsu, and now Oyamada. They all speak at the same time]

Domoto: [crosses arms] No, it's the poison! I'm sure of it.

Hayasaka: [passionately] Didn't you see all that blood? She had to have been stabbed!

Oyamada: [loudly] W-Wait, we c-can't say for sure how she d-died just y-yet!

Everyone's talking over each other, and it looks like no one's willing to budge and hear each other out. If they're going to all talk at once, I'll have to listen extra carefully to the next discussion.

MASS PANIC DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Eguchi's Hand and Arm Injuries, Blood on Eguchi's Body, Untouched Soup and Coffee, Remains of Bed, Eguchi's Stab Wound, Redness of Eguchi's Lips

Domoto: [crosses arms and closes eyes] All you need to do to realize Eguchi-san was poisoned...Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] That bat's what killed Eguchi-san! I'm sure of it!Hayasaka: [confidently] The killer stabbed Yuzuki-san.
Domoto: [opens eyes] ...is read the Monohebi File.Kasparov: [considers carefully] The bat does explain the bruises on her arm, as well as the destruction of the bed frame...Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Even though we didn't find any knives or anything like that in Yuzuki-san's cell...

Sashihara: [points] But the Monohebi File only mentioned foreign substances, which aren't necessarily poisons!Kasparov: [frowns] However, Eguchi-san had no signs of fatal blunt force trauma, so it cannot be what killed her.Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] The killer had access to all the jagged, sharp pieces of the bed frame!

Domoto: [strokes chin] No, but poisoning is the most logical explanation for what those foreign substances could be.Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Nah, that ain't right. The bat still coulda killed her!Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] I-If they killed her with o-one of those, the k-killer e-either s-stabbed Eguchi-san through the b-back of her n-neck...
Domoto: [neutrally] We have yet to discover a more logical explanation for what a "foreign substance" could be, so it must be poison.Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] After the killer hit her with the bat, they covered the mark made from hittin' her with blood or another wound!Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] ...or they p-pushed her onto the p-piece that we f-found her i-impaled on.
Domoto: [crosses arms] That's what the killer used to kill her.Komatsu: [fixes belt] That's how they killed her!Oyamada: [uncertainly] That m-might be what h-happened...

Wow, that was a mess. I could barely hear what everyone was saying. However, in spite of that, I definitely heard something that wasn't right...

Answer: Untouched Soup and Coffee > the most logical explanation

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Domoto-san, poison isn't the most logical explanation for how Eguchi-san died.
Domoto: [icily] It isn't? Why's that, Kawashima-san?
Kawashima: [firmly] Eguchi-san didn't have any of the soup, coffee, or ice cream brought to her. Additionally, she didn't have any marks from a needle or anything that could've injected poison into her and wasn't shot by one of the red darts. [slightly challengingly] So how you can say she was poisoned knowing all that?
Motoki: [confusedly] I understand what you're saying, but if Eguchi-san wasn't poisoned, what could the Monohebi File be referring to?
Domoto: [crosses arms] It had to be poison. Even if we don't know exactly how a poison entered Eguchi-san's body, there's no other explanation that makes sense.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] Not necessarily. A "foreign substance" could be any number of things, not just poison!
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] That is indeed true. [covers mouth with hand] However, the jar of potassium cyanide found in the Gym was completely empty. Additionally, a bottle of inland taipan venom in the poison cabinet was partially depleted. [analytically] It might be difficult to imagine a scenario in which Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun were poisoned, but we simply cannot ignore the fact that it is very likely one poison or more was somehow involved in this case.

...I guess Kasparov-kun is right. That jar of potassium cyanide couldn't have been emptied for no reason and there has to be some way the taipan venom was involved...but how? What use could the killer have for either of them? And if they're not the "foreign substances" the Monohebi File was referring to, what is?
Domoto: [sternly] I don't think we need to be debating this at all. [crosses arms] Just because we can't immediately think of any ideas for how it happened doesn't mean it didn't occur.
Komatsu: [doubtfully] If yer so fuckin' certain it was poison, why don't ya jus' tell us how it could happen? [rubs back of neck] If ya can't tell us any possible way that Eguchi-san or Terajima-kun were poisoned, we can rule out poisonin' as the cause of death for either one or both of them.
Domoto: [narrows eyes] Challenge accepted. [crosses arms] I'll give you several ways the killer could have poisoned both Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san.

Domoto-san seems very certain that both Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san were killed by poison. I'm uncertain about it, but she might be right.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Bloodstain on Bed Frame, Dart Gun, Eguchi's Hand and Arm Injuries, My Account, Redness of Eguchi's Lips, Blood on Eguchi's Body

Domoto: [neutrally] It is true that Eguchi-san couldn't have been poisoned by the soup, ice cream, or coffee.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] But if she didn't get poisoned by any of those things, how could she possibly have been poisoned?
Domoto: [strokes chin] Perhaps the killer used one of the yellow darts to knock Eguchi-san unconscious, and then forced her to ingest it somehow.
Domoto: [crosses arms and closes eyes] That is the only case that is logical, because Eguchi-san getting any foreign substance into her system prior to that point would be impossible.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] There were missing darts in the dart gun, so it is possible the killer shot Eguchi-san with those. [frowns] However, where are the puncture wounds on Eguchi-san? And where did the darts go?
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Yuzuki-san's body was covered by blood, so maybe the puncture wounds were covered in so much blood that we couldn't see them.
Domoto: [nods] Exactly. [crosses arms and closes eyes] As for Terajima-kun...
Domoto: [opens eyes] Kawashima-san, you said he drank coffee before he went down to Eguchi-san, right? [strokes chin] Maybe that coffee was poisoned.
Oyamada: [loudly] W-Wait, th-that's not r-right! I m-made that c-coffee, and there w-wasn't any p-poison in it!
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] Oh really? Can you prove that, Oyamada-kun?
Oyamada: [angrily] Gh...! I'd NEVER k-kill him!
Domoto: [icily] Words aren't evidence. [crosses arms] Anyway, I think this summarizes things nicely...both Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun being poisoned explains why the supplies two poisons were depleted. One poison killed the first person, while the other poison killed the second person. [neutrally] There you have it. It's entirely possible both Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san were poisoned.

So, is it possible Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san were both poisoned? Domoto-san seems to think so...is she right? I'll have to compare all the evidence with what she and the others said to reach a conclusion.

Answer: Eguchi's Hand and Arm Injuries > would be impossible

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] That's not right, Domoto-san. Eguchi-san could've ingested a foreign substance at some point and it didn't have to be poison.
Domoto: [icily] Are you serious? When could that have possibly happened?
Kawashima: [seriously] During the fight with whoever attacked her. If you looked at her body, you could see that she had a long cut on her left hand.

Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] And...? Sorry, I don't see where yer goin' with this, Kawashima-san. How does that cut figure into all this?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] It's connected to another piece of evidence in Eguchi-san's cell.

Domoto: [crosses arms] Which one? She didn't eat any of the food or drink, so don't say that!
Kawashima: [seriously] Don't worry, that's not what I'm talking about.

No, what I'm talking about...if we take into account the fact that there were no sharp objects involved in the attack on Eguchi-san, then there's only one piece of evidence that could explain how Eguchi-san got that cut on her hand...
Bloodstain on Bed Frame/Remains on Bed/Remains in Incinerator

Answer: Bloodstain on Bed Frame

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] The bloodstain on the bed frame. [firmly] It has to be where Eguchi-san got that cut.
Sashihara: [curiously] But can we really be certain that's her blood on the bed frame? It could be her attacker's blood or Terajima-kun's blood.
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] Yeah, it c-could be... [confusedly] M-More importantly, h-how does that b-blood c-connect to her somehow i-ingesting a foreign s-substance? I d-don't see the c-connection...
Kawashima: [neutrally] I'll get to that in just a second, Oyamada-kun. [seriously] As for what you were saying, Sashihara-kun, it could only be Eguchi-san's blood because no one alive has any visible injuries and because Terajima-kun was knocked out at the time Eguchi-san was being attacked. [thoughtfully] Besides, even if Terajima-kun were awake somehow, that bloodstain was relatively small and both of Terajima-kun's injuries were relatively deep stab wounds that would've left a lot more blood.

Kasparov: [analytically] I concur that it is not the blood of Terajima-kun on the bed frame. [frowns] But, as you said, it was not a large amount of blood...so would it not be possible that someone still alive was the one who cut themselves on the bed frame? [presses finger to temple] The mere fact that we cannot see a wound on anyone does not mean we are all injury-free. After all, the culprit would no doubt try to hide any wound they sustained to avoid seeming suspicious.

That is a good point, Kasparov-kun. The bandages we found in the Infirmary were unrolled, so some of them could've been used by the culprit...
Domoto: [crosses arms] Looks like you're wrong after all, Kawashima-san. [sternly] That bloodstain could've come from the culprit, not Eguchi-san.
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] But even if the b-blood could be from the c-culprit, it is m-more likely to be f-from Eguchi-san...she had a c-cut on her hand that s-seemed to be right d-depth and size to m-match the b-bloodstain on the b-bed frame, after all...
Domoto: [strokes chin] ...I guess that's true. [irritatedly] However, even if Eguchi-san was the one who cut herself on the bed frame, how does that connect to her getting a foreign substance in her body? [narrows eyes] You've yet to explain that, Kawashima-san.

You're right, Domoto-san, I haven't. However, all you have to do is think about what Eguchi-san cut herself on, and you'll see the truth. The "foreign substance" could've gotten into Eguchi-san's bloodstream because of...
Secret poison coating the bed frame/The rust on the bed frame/Tranquilizing substance hidden on bed frame

Answer: The rust on the bed frame

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] The part of the bed frame that bloodstain was on was very rusty, Domoto-san. If Eguchi-san cut herself on it, whatever what we in that rust would get inside her bloodstream.Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] So it's like how you get tetanus from cutting yourself with something rusty.

Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] Sorry to interrupt, but the bacteria that causes tetanus actually doesn't come from rust. [explanatorily] Rust itself is just the reaction of iron with oxygen in the presence of a lot of moisture and doesn't cause tetanus. [thinking deeply] However, if that bed frame was so rusty, then it's probable there were a lot of bacteria and other substances that'd form as a result of iron and oxygen reacting on it...which could be the "foreign substance" Monohebi was talking about in the Monohebi File.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] That makes sense...cutting yourself on something rusty would probably cause all sorts of things to enter your bloodstream.
Kawashima: [nods] Exactly. [seriously] Also, when Eguchi-san was impaled through the neck by another rusty piece of the bed frame, her body's blood flow wouldn't have stopped instantly, so even more stuff probably entered her body then.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] I suppose this is a reasonable explanation for how a foreign substance other than poison could have entered the body of Eguchi-san. [covers mouth with hand] Monohebi has also been very tricky with how he worded Monohebi Files in the past, so I am not surprised that he would attempt to trick us yet again.
Hayasaka: [turns to look at Monohebi] Well, were we right? [glares] Was the "foreign substance" line in the Monohebi File just another trick?
Monohebi: [smirks] I would not refer to it as a "trick," as I was only stating the truth. Both victims died with foreign substances inside their bodies. It was your assumption that I was talking about poisons. [neutrally] Now, that does not mean neither of the two victims had poison inside their respective bodies. I am not confirming or denying anything and will not be doing so until this trial is over.

A confusing non-answer from Monohebi that doesn't get us anywhere...not at all surprising. We shouldn't have expected him to say anything worthwhile.
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] It l-looks like M-Monohebi's not g-going to be t-telling us anything useful. [grimaces] We s-still can't be c-certain that Eguchi-san wasn't p-poisoned...
Kawashima: [seriously] No, we can't be certain. [firmly] However, I think we've established that it's very possible that the foreign substance in her body when she died came from whatever was on that bed frame, not necessarily poison.
Domoto: [irritatedly] ...I guess I can't deny that. [crosses arms] However, even if Eguchi-san wasn't poisoned, I'm certain Terajima-kun was.

Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Are ya sure? He was crushed by that elevator, impaled by that piece of rubble, and had two other stab wounds...couldn't one of those things have been rusty or had somethin' on them?
Domoto: [strokes chin] Maybe. However, I think it's far more likely he was poisoned. [icily] And I know who could've done it.
Sashihara: [surprisedly] You do?
Domoto: [strokes chin] Yes. I already explained this when I was discussing my theory earlier. [narrows eyes] As I said before, Oyamada-kun could've slipped poison into Terajima-kun's coffee before giving it to him.
Oyamada: [angrily] That's n-not true! I'd NEVER hurt him!!
Domoto: [sternly] Sorry, but I can't believe that without proof. [neutrally] The jar of potassium cyanide in the Gym was entirely empty. Maybe that's because Oyamada-kun switched it with the sugar in the Kitchen and put that into Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san's coffees when he made them. [icily] Potassium cyanide is a crystalline white powder, just like sugar, so they'd look very similar.

Oyamada: [tears up] S-Stop it! I d-didn't do that!
Hayasaka: [stares with muted anger] Yeah, you're being so heartless right now, Otoha-san...why would Osamu-kun try to kill his boyfriend and close friend?
Domoto: [strokes chin] I don't know, admittedly. [narrows eyes] But just because we don't know why he did it doesn't mean he didn't do it. [crosses arms] It's very possible that Oyamada-kun took the jar of potassium cyanide, switched it with the sugar, and then later poisoned Terajima-kun.
Oyamada: [cries softly] S-Stop it...I'd n-never do that...

Domoto-san's theory...it's horrifying to think about. Could Oyamada-kun have secretly poisoned Terajima-kun right in front of me last night? I don't want to believe it's possible, but Domoto-san's making it seem like it is. However...is she right? I felt like there's something off with her theory. I just need to think about it a little more...

LOGIC DIVE

Q1: How fast does potassium cyanide kill after ingestion of a lethal dose?

A few minutes/Forty-minutes to an hour/Several hours

Q2: How does potassium cyanide taste?

Acrid/Sweet/No taste

Q3: What is wrong about Domoto's theory?

Nothing/Oyamada switching the poison and sugar while Sashihara was in the Gym/Terajima's reaction to drinking the coffee and his time of death

Answers: A few minutes/Acrid/Terajima's reaction to drinking the coffee and his time of death

Kawashima: I understand it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Domoto-san, your theory is wrong. [firmly] Potassium cyanide kills in a few minutes. If Terajima-kun had been poisoned with a lethal dose of it, he would've died in a matter of minutes after going downstairs, which doesn't make sense because in that case the killer had no reason to use any of the tranquilizer darts on him. [thoughtfully] Also, the label of the potassium cyanide jar said it tastes very bitter, but Terajima-kun explicitly said that his coffee tasted good after he drank it. Right, Oyamada-kun?

Oyamada: [cries softly] Y-Yeah...he d-did say that...

Domoto: [irritatedly] Ugh... [crosses arms] Okay, so maybe Oyamada-kun didn't entirely switch the sugar and the potassium cyanide. Maybe he just mixed them in together.

Kawashima: [firmly] He'd still taste it regardless, Domoto-san. Any amount big enough to kill him would've been enough to throw off the taste of the coffee.

Kasparov: [analytically] The potassium cyanide is not what killed Terajima-kun, then. [considers carefully] However, what of the inland taipan venom? Or maybe some other poison? Is it not possible Terajima-kun was killed with those?

If he was killed with one of the other poisons, it probably would've been one that looked like sugar. Inland taipan venom was a brown liquid, so it probably wasn't that. It could have been something else, but we didn't find any poisons with parts of their stock missing other than potassium cyanide and the taipan venom. Hm...
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] ...I don't think we can make any solid conclusions yet. It's still possible that Terajima-kun was killed by poison, but I doubt it was in the way Domoto-san described.

Oyamada: [angrily] Yeah, I'd n-never harm Eisuke-kun or E-Eguchi-san like that...how h-heartless are you, D-Domoto-san? A-Are you so d-devoid of emotion that you'd th-think I'd try to k-kill them like that?
Domoto: [sternly] No suspects can be ignored in the class trial. [crosses arms] I didn't like accusing like that, but... [regretfully] We can't afford to ignore potential scenarios just because we don't want to think things could've happened that way. That kind of mindset will get us all killed.
Komatsu: [sullenly] Even still, ya coulda been a lil' less of a bitch 'bout it.

Yeah, I agree...Domoto-san was being pretty harsh on Oyamada-kun. I also think we can't ignore any possibilities, but there's no need to be unnecessarily harsh. We don't need any more negative energy than there already is in this terrible place.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Sorry to interrupt, but...we're still no closer to finding out what happened to Terajima-kun or Eguchi-san. [grimly] All that talk about foreign substances didn't get us any closer to figuring out how either of them died.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] That is correct. We have yet to discover who died first or how either of our two victims died. [covers mouth with hand] Because we currently have learned more about how Eguchi-san died than Terajima-kun as of yet, I suggest we attempt to discover what happened to her first.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] I agree. Once we clear up what happened with her and her killer in that cell and how she died, Eisuke-kun's cause of death will hopefully be made a little clearer.

I guess we'll be talking about what exactly happened to Eguchi-san in her cell. Hopefully, we can actually reach a conclusion this time...it should be easier now that everyone isn't talking over each other.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Crowbar, Redness of Eguchi's Lips, Monohebi File #4, Missing Darts, Inventory, Oyamada's Account

Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] I r-realize this'll probably sound v-very dumb, but... [looks down and to the side] ...I th-think Eguchi-san s-somehow got the u-upper hand on her a-attacker...
Oyamada: [grimaces] There was a m-mess in the Infirmary upstairs, so maybe she e-escaped her cell and the k-killer and her m-moved their fight to the f-fourth floor...

Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] Are you certain? It is quite clear that she died in her cell.
Domoto: [crosses arms] I'm still pretty sure it was poison that killed her.
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] Hold up, don't forget 'bout that damn bat! [confidently] That still coulda been what killed her!
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Why's everyone ignoring the most obvious cause of death? [thoughtfully] Eguchi-san most likely died from being impaled on the piece of the bed frame that was all the way through her neck.

There are a lot of different ideas for how Eguchi-san might've died and what happened to her in that cell...which one's right? Hmm...

Answer: Missing Darts > got the u-upper hand

Kawashima: That's right!

BREAK!

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] You're onto something there, Oyamada-kun. [seriously] I think Eguchi-san got the upper hand on her attacker too.
Domoto: [shocked] What!?
Sashihara: [incredulously] Hold on,
how could that be right!? [points] Eguchi-san wouldn't be dead if that's what happened!
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] Yeah, I don't see where you're coming from, Wakana-san...Yuzuki-san would still be alive if that's how things went down.
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] That is not necessarily true. [considers carefully] This entire time, we have been assuming that the individual who attacked Eguchi-san with the dart gun and bat was the culprit, but that does not have to be the case.

Domoto: [icily] If it wasn't the person who attacked her that killed her, who did? [crosses arms] Also, I don't see how she could have won against the person who attacked her. They had two weapons and she had none.
Kawashima: [seriously] Yes, Domoto-san, they did have two weapons, and Eguchi-san used one of those weapons against her attacker.
Komatsu: [confusedly] Are ya talkin' 'bout the bat?
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] N-No, that c-can't be it...the b-bat would leave a m-mark on whoever it hit, so w-we'd have n-noticed if Eguchi-san hit her a-attacker with the b-bat...

Hayasaka: [confidently] Not necessarily. The killer could've covered up the marks that'd result from being hit with the bat.

...What? I don't see how the killer could have covered up the marks that'd inevitably result from being hit with a bat.
Kawashima: [slightly challengingly] And how could they have done that, Hayasaka-san?
Sashihara: [curiously] I'm wondering the same thing. [thinking deeply] If the attacker got hit with a metal bat even once, it'd leave a nasty bruise that would be very, very noticeable.

Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] I'm not saying it's 100% certainly the case that whoever attacked Yuzuki-san got hit with the bat, just that they could've covered up the bruises it'd leave behind. All they'd need is some makeup.
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] Makeup...? [icily] Are you being serious right now?
Hayasaka: [stares with muted anger] Yes, Otoha-san, I am. We never explored the dressing room on the second floor, where there's a bunch of quality makeup, so the attacker could've used some of the stuff there. [twirls hair pensively] More specifically, they could've used a lot of the foundation or concealer in there to cover up wounds from a bruise. [looks to the side thoughtfully] Every possible skin tone is in that room, so they definitely would've found a close match that wouldn't be super noticeable.

Huh. I guess that isn't completely out of the realm of possibility...
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] So...if Hayasaka-san's right and the killer did use makeup, that means the killer's prolly one of the girls, right?
Motoki: [scoffs] Don't be so presumptuous. Anyone can use makeup regardless of gender identity.
Kasparov: [frustratedly] Silence! We cannot discuss this question yet. [analytically] Not when Kawashima-san has yet to explain how she thinks Eguchi-san could have left her cell.

Thanks, Kasparov-kun...I was getting worried I wouldn't have the chance to talk about it.
Kawashima: [neutrally] It's the dart gun. Even if the attacker was hit by the bat, I don't think that's what allowed Eguchi-san to escape. [thoughtfully] If Eguchi-san attacked with the metal bat, she wouldn't just leave bruises...she'd break some of the attacker's bones too, which would be impossible to hide.
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] That's t-true...bruises or even c-cuts could be hidden f-fairly easily, but a b-broken bone would be w-way harder to c-conceal...
Kasparov: [considers carefully] I suppose that is sensible. [presses finger to temple] There was only one yellow dart remaining in the dart gun, meaning a total of four darts were shot. However, we only ever found the two that were shot into Terajima-kun. [covers mouth with hand] Are you suggesting that the other two yellow darts were shot into the attacker by Eguchi-san?
Kawashima: [nods] That's exactly right. [thoughtfully] Those two darts didn't go missing for no reason. I think it's completely possible that the attacker themselves was shot by the two missing yellow darts because they didn't dispose of the darts that they shot into Terajima-kun and we didn't find any indication they used any darts on Eguchi-san. [seriously] They naturally would want to avoid suspicion, so them being shot would give them the motivation to hide the darts.
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] Hold up, that ain't right! We didn't find any darts in the Trash Room or anywhere else while we were investigatin'. If the attacker got rid of those darts like ya said they did, where the fuck did they hide them?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] I guess they could've put them back in their room since we never explored anyone's rooms...or maybe we just missed it...
Domoto: [crosses arms] That's not a sufficient explanation. [strokes chin] It's just as, if not more likely, that whoever attacked Eguchi-san shot her with the darts. Eguchi-san's body was covered in blood and those darts would leave small marks, so it's not out of the realm of possibility the killer shot her with those two darts and removed them later.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] Your theory isn't out of the realm of possibility, but it makes more sense for Eguchi-san to have shot the attacker than the other way around. [thinking deeply] I mean, how else can we explain the mess in the Infirmary? We know Terajima-kun was already knocked out, so it couldn't have been him that caused that mess.
Hayasaka: [curiously] Wait, there was a mess in the Infirmary? I didn't investigate up there, so I didn't see it.
Kawashima: [nods} Yes. [seriously] The poison cabinet's doors were broken, the door to the Infirmary itself was broken, two of the beds were overturned, and there was also some blood, among other things. [firmly] I agree with Sashihara-kun. While Domoto-san's suggestion that Eguchi-san was the one knocked out appears to make sense at first, it becomes much less likely once you consider the evidence in the Infirmary and the stab wound Eguchi-san has.
Domoto: [narrows eyes] Her stab wound...? [icily] What does that have to do with this!? The attacker could have given that to her! Even if there were no knives or obvious weapons in Eguchi-san's cell, the attacker still could've stabbed her with that piece of the bed frame they impaled her on!
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Are you sure, Otoha-san? That piece of the bed frame was huge, and stabbing Yuzuki-san with it would've caused a super deep and wide wound, but the one in her side wasn't big enough for that.

Good job, Hayasaka-san...I was just about to say that.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Hayasaka-san's right. The wound in Eguchi-san's side was caused by something of moderate thickness, which could not possibly be the piece of the bed frame Eguchi-san was impaled on. [seriously] The other remnants of the bed frame are off the table too. There's no blood on most of them, and even the one that does have blood on it only has a small amount. [firmly] So, I think it's safe to say that Eguchi-san was stabbed with something that wasn't in her cell.
Kasparov: [analytically] I agree with you, Kawashima-san, but what exactly would that object be?

What would that object be? I think the answer is fairly obvious, if I look to the evidence in the Infirmary...
Crowbar/Pair of Scissors/Broken Glass

Answer: Pair of Scissors

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] The pair of scissors in the Infirmary. That's the only piece of evidence that fits.
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] The s-size and sh-shape of those s-scissors do match with the th-thickness, depth, and sh-shape of Eguchi-san's s-stab wound...
Motoki: [puzzled] Wait, I don't necessarily disagree with what you're saying...but isn't this a contradiction with what you were saying earlier, Kawashima-san? [rubs shoulder] If the attacker was knocked out by Eguchi-san in the basement cell, they wouldn't be able to stab her in the Infirmary.

That is true. If Eguchi-san's attacker was knocked out in the cell, then it'd be impossible for them to attack Eguchi-san again upstairs...not until they woke up, at least.
Kawashima: [seriously] No, they wouldn't. It would've had to have been someone else unless the attacker woke up.
Oyamada: [grimaces] B-But they were sh-shot by two t-tranquilizer darts...they w-wouldn't be g-getting up for a l-long time.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] That is correct. [analytically] I suppose that leaves us with no other option but to conclude that a second person, who ended up stabbing Eguchi-san, might have been involved.
Sashihara: [surprisedly] A second person got involved!? But how!? We were all asleep!
Domoto: [strokes chin] I'd say Eguchi-san's attacker had an accomplice, but that's not possible. There'd be no reason for two people to work together because only one could escape in the end. [crosses arms] Am I correct, Monohebi? The motive this time around doesn't change that, right?
Monohebi: [smirks] Indeed. The blackened may only be one person, so only one person may escape. This motive does not change that.
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] So it really is true...there was a second person who attacked Yuzuki-san.
Motoki: [passionately Well, who is it!? Who's the second person!?
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Hold on, we can't go talkin' 'bout who they are yet, not when we still don't got a damn clue who the person who attacked Eguchi-san first is. [cracks knuckles] We need to figure out who they are before we talk 'bout who the second person is!
Kasparov: [disapprovingly] There is no need to be so insistent on only talking about one. [covers mouth with hand] We will discuss the identity of both those individuals and figure out who they are in due time.
Oyamada: [quickly] Uh, s-speaking of that...c-can I ask s-something?
Domoto: [irritatedly] What is it, Oyamada-kun? It better not be some worthless diversion, because we were about to begin an important discussion.
Oyamada: [angrily] D-Don't talk to me that w-way. I w-won't let you, n-not anymore.

Whoa, even in spite of his stutter, his voice was pretty forceful. I guess he's taken Terajima-kun's advice for him to be more assertive to heart.
Domoto: [taken aback] What the...why are you acting so aggressively all of a sudden?
Oyamada: [ignores her and fidgets uncomfortably] A-Anyway...I was w-wondering something that n-no one's thought to m-mention so far that I th-thought we should d-discuss.
Sashihara: [curiously] What is it, Oyamada-kun?
Oyamada: [quietly] Wh-Why didn't they do it s-sooner?

...Huh? What does that mean?
Kawashima: [puzzledly] What are you talking about, Oyamada-kun?
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Yeah, who's the "they" yer talkin' 'bout?
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] Eguchi-san's first a-attacker...and the s-second person t-too, I guess. Wh-Why did they w-wait so l-long into the night? [looks down and to the side] They had all that t-time from after n-nighttime until 1 AM to a-attack Eguchi-san when K-Kawashima-san was guard... [fidgets uncomfortably] N-No offense, Kawashima-san, b-but...E-Eisuke-kun was a w-way better guard than y-you. He was the Ultimate B-Bodyguard and h-had amazing observational and c-combative skills.

Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] Where are you going with this line of questioning, Oyamada-kun?
Oyamada: [grimaces] I g-guess what I'm t-trying to ask is...why t-take the r-risk going up a-against E-Eisuke-kun when they c-could've gone against K-Kawashima-san, who'd o-objectively be an e-easier guard to g-get rid of if things went wr-wrong? [looks down and to the side] W-Was there s-some sort of l-logical reason I just don’t s-see? Or...was it s-something else?

That is a fair question, Oyamada-kun...why would Eguchi-san's first attacker wait for so long? Although it sucks to admit it, I would've been way easier to take care of in a fight than Terajima-kun and would've been way easier to sneak up on...they probably wouldn't have had to bother with the slippers if they attacked when I was the guard. So, why'd they wait for so long? Did their plan require Terajima-kun somehow? Did they not want to attack me for some reason?

............

...Wait. Someone who wouldn't want to sneak up on me...that person would be —

No. I have to be wrong. That can't be it....right? This person...they'd never try to kill someone! I can't accept it. I won't.

But...I have to. I can't ignore the very real possibility that one of the people who attacked Eguchi-san and was trying to kill her was...was...

Hayasaka: [concerned] ...Wakana-san? Are you alright? You look like you're worried about something...
Komatsu: [grimaces] Yeah, ya look like ya've seen a ghost...are ya okay?
Kawashima: [eyes wide] I...I think I might know...the answer to Oyamada-kun's question.
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] I'm g-glad you have the a-answer to it, but...wh-what is it? [gulps] And...wh-why do you look so s-scared?
Kawashima: [sweats with horrified expression] The first person who attacked Eguchi-san...that person...I think I know who they are. It's...it's...
Domoto: [crosses arms] Who? Just spit it out already.

I want to Domoto-san, but I can't. I can't even force myself to look at them...I don't want to blame them...I really, really don't. But...I have to. I can't—

Motoki: [grimly] It was me.

..............

...Fuck. Why did I have to be right!?

Sashihara: [surprisedly] Wait...what!?!?
Komatsu: [shocked] What the fuck!? Motoki-san was the one who did it!?
Hayasaka: [recoils and tears up] Sakiko-san, how could you do that to Yuzuki-san? How could you be so cruel!? [furiously] You're a monster!

Motoki: [shamefully] ...........
Kasparov: [disapprovingly] Motoki-san...I am greatly saddened that you of all people would attempt murder. [narrows eyes] Were you not the one who promised to try to prevent any more deaths as much as you could? If you truly meant that, why would you try to kill Motoki-san?
Domoto: [icily] She's just like Niizuma-san. Pretending to hate killers, only to stab us in the back and become one herself.

Motoki: [hostilely] That's not true. I didn't kill Eguchi-san! [passionately] And I wasn't trying to! That's not the reason I went to her cell!
Oyamada: [angrily] B-Bullshit! You're just t-trying to avoid b-blame by p-pretending you weren't t-trying to kill her! [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] J-Just admit it already! You t-tried to kill her so you c-could use the m-motive to escape!

I've never heard Oyamada-kun be so loud and furious before...I guess it makes sense. He's devastated by Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun's deaths and will obviously hate anyone who harmed them.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] I realize I have no way to prove that wrong...but that isn't true. I wasn't trying to kill Eguchi-san.
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] Oh really? Then what the fuck WERE ya tryna do? [suspiciously] Ya went to Eguchi-san's cell in the middle of the night with a dart gun and a metal bat. Why the fuck else would ya do that if ya weren't tryna kill her!?
Hayasaka: [glares at Motoki] There is no reason. Sakiko-san's just lying so we don't blame her.
Motoki: [sadly] That isn't true... [grimly] It really is true that I wasn't trying to kill her. I only brought the dart gun to knock Terajima-kun out, and the bat for intimidation purposes.
Kasparov: [narrows eyes] Forgive me if I have a very difficult time believing that. [covers mouth with hand] If you were truly not trying to kill Eguchi-san when you went down to her cell, why did you not tell us earlier? It would have saved us a fair amount of time.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] I was guilty and scared...I was nervous that you guys would suspect me as the killer as soon as I admitted to it, and I didn't want that. [shamefully] Besides, I really regret what I did a lot and didn't want to face the consequences of my actions...
Oyamada: [angrily] If you r-really regret what you d-did, you sh-should have t-told us about it sooner.

Motoki: [closes eyes to prevent tears] ...You're right,
Oyamada-kun. I should've done that. [miserably] But I was so fucking stupid...I was driving myself crazy with paranoia about the who the person working with the mastermind was...even though I proclaimed Eguchi-san was undoubtedly that person, I still had doubts.
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] So that's the reason you went to her cell? To confirm if she was that person or not?

Motoki: [nods] Yeah. [shamefully] I wasn't sure if she was lying about not knowing the truth because Monohebi did return memories to her, after all...so I brought the bat to intimidate her into talking.
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] So, if I understand you correctly, the sequence of events was the following. [presses finger to temple] You awoke late at night. You grabbed the slippers and then grabbed the dart gun and bat from the Weapons Room, after which you went downstairs and used the slippers to silently sneak up on Terajima-kun and shoot two tranquilizer darts into him. Then, you walked into the cell where Eguchi-san was being kept and killed her. [narrows eyes] Is that correct?
Motoki: [hostilely] No, because I didn't kill her! [grimly] But...that's not all you got wrong. You also missed something else that happened before I went downstairs...I grabbed another item you didn't mention yet.
Sashihara: [confusedly] Another item...? What are you talking about?

I think I have an idea, Sashihara-kun...Domoto-san said those slippers were from the Props Storage Room on the second floor, so Motoki-san must've also gotten *that item* from there too...
Broken Glasses/Ski Mask/Poison

Answer: Ski Mask

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] It was a ski mask, wasn't it, Motoki-san? [seriously] The pair of slippers and a ski mask we found in Trash Room were both from the Props Storage Room. You must've picked up the ski mask when you got the slippers.
Motoki: [nods] That's right. [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] I got the mask because I didn't want Terajima-kun to see my face in case things went wrong...even though I wasn't trying to kill Eguchi-san, I didn't want to risk him identifying me. [grimly] I didn't need anything else to disguise the rest of my body because all I had to do to shoot him was peek around the corner, so I only had to worry about concealing my face.
Komatsu: [suspiciously] I highly fuckin' doubt that's all there is to it. [cracks knuckles] The real reason ya didn't want him to see yer face is so he couldn't identify ya after ya killed Eguchi-san!
Hayasaka: [glares at Motoki] Yeah, I don't buy her reasoning, either...
Domoto: [strokes chin] Neither do I, but let's listen to the rest of Motoki-san's story first. [sternly] Continue, Motoki-san. What happened once you got inside the cell?
Motoki: [grimly] Well...as soon as I got into the cell and took off those slippers, Eguchi-san freaked out and started clawing at me. I told her that I didn't want to kill her, but she wouldn't believe me. [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] We fought, destroying the bed, and she managed to land a few scratches on my face and a few hits on my forearms, but I managed to cover them up.

That makes sense...we wouldn't notice any marks from scratches because Motoki-san could put makeup over them like Hayasaka-san said. As for the hits to her arms...Motoki-san wears so many bracelets that you can barely see her arms, and even if you did, her skin is damaged from her step-father's cigarette burns, so the bruises wouldn't be super noticeable.
Oyamada: [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] H-How did that f-fight end? You p-pushed her onto that p-piece of rubble and k-killed her, d-didn't you!?

Motoki: [grimly] No. She grabbed the dart gun and shot me with it twice. [lifts up poncho and shows stomach, which has two small puncture wounds on it] See? That's where she shot me. I'm not lying.

Looks like we were right. Eguchi-san shot Motoki-san with two of the yellow darts and then escaped her cell.
Sashihara: [curiously] What'd you do with the darts? Did you throw them away somewhere on the second or third floor?
Motoki: [shakes head] No. [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] I took them out when I got to my room and threw them into my bathroom's trash can.
Domoto: [crosses arms] Looks like we should've searched everyone's rooms....if we'd done that, we wouldn't have had to wait this long for Motoki-san to confess.

She's right...it probably would've been a good idea to do that. If we ever have another trial after this, which I hope we don't, we should try to do that.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] ...Hm. [covers mouth with hand] Motoki-san, there is a crucial piece of your testimony you have neglected to mention so far.
Motoki: [puzzled] What are you talking about?

Kasparov: [analytically] The wounds in your stomach make it appear as if you were shot by two of the tranquilizer darts. Because of that, I am inclined to believe that testimony, but... [arches eyebrow] Why have you not made mention of what happened after you awoke?
Motoki: [shamefully] Well, I guess it's because there wasn't anything really special that I saw. Everything was the same as we found it this morning when I woke up last night. [frowns] Actually, that's not true...someone had taken the ski mask off me. Also, the dart gun was lying next to me when I woke up, so I put that back in the Weapons Room before I went to sleep.

So everything else was the same when she woke up as when we found it this morning? That means...
Kawashima: [seriously] Are saying that Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun were both already dead when you woke up, Motoki-san?
Motoki: [nods] Yeah. [closes eyes to prevent tears] As soon as I woke up I saw Eguchi-san lying on that piece of the bed frame, and I saw Terajima-kun crushed by that elevator as I was going back upstairs... [cries] I hated myself so much while I was doing that...I felt so fucking terrible and full of guilt for both their deaths. If I didn't go down there, they'd both still be alive.
Komatsu: [sullenly] Yeah, they prolly would be. [coldly] Yer a real fuckin' heartless bitch, ya know...why the hell would ya wanna hurt Eguchi-san? [points accusatorially through angry tears] She was a good person! She wasn't evil! Ya shouldn't've listened to Domoto-san and Kasparov-kun and shoulda jus' trusted her!

Komatsu-kun's simultaneously furious and tearful right now...not like I can blame him. Motoki-san definitely is at least partially responsible for Eguchi-san's death, if not wholly responsible...
Motoki: [cries] I'm so sorry, Komatsu-kun...I know that's not enough. I know I can never undo what I did, and I'll be haunted by what I did for the rest of my life...but I am sorry. [shamefully] Kawashima-san...I'm sorry I broke that promise I made to you. I know I said I'd work as hard as I could to stop any more deaths, but I was a fucking idiot...I let the paranoia and anxiety about the traitor and that fucking video consume me until I fucking broke! [sobs] I'm sorry, Eguchi-san! I'm sorry, Terajima-kun! I'm sorry, Kawashima-san! I'm sorry, Carrasco-san!

Motoki-san...I...I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. You were ignoring me, but I shouldn't have let your petty actions turn me away...I should've been there for you when this was happening. I shouldn't have stood on the sidelines and let you drive yourself crazy.

...It's just like Aozora-kun, isn't it? I knew something was wrong, I knew he needed help, but I let his actions deter me from helping him when he needed me most...just like I let him leave the group for the few days and did nothing to help him, I let Motoki-san ignore me instead of intervening and helping her...I'm so fucking stupid. I could've stopped this...I could've prevented this...but I sat on sidelines, naïvely hoping everything would get better by itself.

Oyamada: [angrily] How...H-How dare you!? [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] Shut the f-fuck up! You have n-no fucking right to c-cry about Eguchi-san or Eisuke-kun! N-Not when you k-killed them!
Sashihara: [curiously] Huh? How would Motoki-san kill them if she was knocked out?

Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] I'm not s-saying she actually d-did it...I m-mean, maybe she d-did, but th-that's not what I m-meant... [tears up] Wh-What I m-mean is that it's her f-fault. Her a-attacking Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun is wh-what caused them to d-die...
Hayasaka: [glares at Motoki] I definitely hate what Sakiko-san did, but... [twirls hair pensively] What about the second person who attacked Yuzuki-san? Aren't they responsible too? If anything, they're more likely to have killed Yuzuki-san and Eisuke-kun.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] I suppose that is true. [neutrally] However, before we talk about them, I find something Motoki-san did very strange. Motoki-san, you witness the bodies of Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun before you went to bed last night. [disapprovingly]
Why did you not rouse the rest of us and tell us that two deaths had occurred? And why did you not say anything this morning? Why did you stay in your room?
Motoki: [closes eyes to prevent tears] ........... [weakly] ...I couldn't bear to go outside. I knew that if I did, I'd have to face the consequences of my idiotic actions, and I was too scared...too guilty to do that. [cries] I'm such a worthless fucking coward...and worst of all, I broke my promise to Carrasco-san...to Kawashima-san... [breaks down into sobs]

...So that's the real reason why she stayed behind in her room this morning. I'll admit, I had a sneaking suspicion she was involved somehow during the investigation, but I didn't want to have to face that reality unless I absolutely needed to. How stupid of me...
Oyamada: [hatefully] I h-hate you, Motoki-san. I r-really do.
Motoki: [cries] You...You should hate me, Oyamada-kun. All of you should. [weakly] That's what I deserve for what I did.
Hayasaka: [glares at Motoki] ..........
Komatsu: [angrily] ..........

Motoki-san, I...do I hate you? Do I love you? I don't know, even after this latest revelation...

..........

...No. There's no time for this. Not right now. I know everyone has a lot of emotions because of what's been happening, but we can't let them cloud our judgment or stop the trial from moving forward. We only have a limited amount of time to solve this case, and we're going to need a lot of it.

Kawashima: [gently] Everyone, I know this may not be easy...but we have to move on. No matter how we feel about Motoki-san, her admission might give us some crucial information.
Sashihara: [curiously] Like what?
Kawashima: [firmly] A window for the time of death. [seriously] Motoki-san, what time was it when you went out to attack Eguchi-san, and when did you go to bed?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] I went out at 1:20, when I was sure that Kawashima-san wasn't guarding Eguchi-san anymore, because I... [awkwardly] I, uh...didn't want to attack her...
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] And why is that?

I really don't like where this is going...
Motoki: [quickly] It doesn't matter. [shamefully] Anyway...when I got back, I wasn't really paying attention, but I think it was around 4:15 AM.
Domoto: [strokes chin] I'd say that's useful information, but given that everyone should have been asleep at that time, it doesn't really help us much.
Komatsu: [sullenly] Nah, it's pretty much useless... [rubs back of neck] Ya know, I jus' thought of somethin' that's kinda weird...
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] What is it, Yutaka-kun?
Komatsu: [sullenly] Motoki-san...she said that when she woke up, Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san had already been killed. [rubs back of neck] That means that Terajima-kun prolly woke up and saw what the killer was doin', and so they had no choice but to kill him and try to escape without the motive.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] I agree that's probably why Terajima-kun was killed too. He most likely did see something that'd allow him to easily point out the culprit at the trial, meaning the killer wouldn't have fulfilled the "attempt" to get away with it. [thinking deeply] I mean, how could the killer be attempting to get away with it if they let someone who saw something that would incriminate them go?
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] So you're s-saying the k-killer got rid of T-Terajima-kun because they d-didn't want him to b-be a liability at the t-trial?
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Yeah, that's what I was thinkin'.
Kasparov: [analytically] This is not necessarily an illogical theory; however, it is little more than conjecture at the moment. [presses finger to temple] There still remains the possibility there are two separate killers. Terajima-kun also might have been killed by Eguchi-san, or vice versa.

Oyamada: [angrily] D-Don't you dare s-say that! They'd n-never hurt each other!
Domoto: [irritatedly] Wait a minute! [crosses arms] Komatsu-kun, you said something about Motoki-san waking up was "weird"...what exactly were you talking about?
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] Oh, yeah...thanks for bringin' the conversation back to this. [suspiciously] What I wanna know is why the fuck did she wake up after him when they were both shot with two darts only a few minutes apart? They shoulda woke up at the same time 'cause they got shot with two darts at around the same time!

I'm not so sure about that, Komatsu-kun. That's because...
Terajima was larger/The darts have different strengths/Plot convenience

Answer: Terajima was larger

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] Terajima-kun was a huge dude, Komatsu-kun. [thoughtfully] Each dart had the same amount of tranquilizer in it and was meant to knock out an average-sized person, which Terajima-kun was not. [firmly] Because he was so much bigger than Motoki-san, the darts probably had less of an effect on him.

Sashihara: [thinking deeply] I see...it's like how the same amount of alcohol usually has more of an effect on a smaller person than it would on a bigger person. [explanatorily] Because Motoki-san is much smaller than Terajima-kun, she'd stay unconscious longer than he would.
Kasparov: [narrows eyes] Even so... [covers mouth with hand] If we believe in what Motoki-san is saying, then that means she was knocked unconscious for the duration of the deaths Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san. [analytically] This conveniently absolves her of the crime and involves a second person of the murders of Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun...someone who was not her accomplice and for some reason was awake in the early hours of the morning.
Motoki: [hostilely] Are you saying you don't believe me?
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] I am afraid I cannot completely believe your story. You are by far the most suspicious candidate for being the blackened...the notion that someone else would get involved at such a late time is not very easy to believe.
Komatsu: [sullenly] I agree with Kasparov-kun. Motoki-san's definitely the prime suspect right now.
Hayasaka: [stares with muted anger] Yeah, that's right...Sakiko-san could've shot herself with those two darts after she killed Yuzuki-san and Eisuke-kun to make it look like she was unconscious when they died, when in reality she killed them.
Motoki: [passionately] That's not what happened! [weakly] I made a terrible fucking mistake, it's true...but I didn't kill them!
Oyamada: [hatefully] Grh...just f-fucking admit it already, you d-disgusting pig...
Sashihara: [clenches fist] Hold on...I don't think we should disregard what Motoki-san's saying so easily. She might really be telling the truth.
Domoto: [crosses arms] I highly doubt that. It's possible that all these tears are just fake waterworks to make us feel sorry for her... [icily] Pft. Like that'll work.

I'm not certain all her tears are fake, Domoto-san. She looked very suspicious in the last trial too, and her tears ended up being real...although that admittedly was a very different situation. Even still, I'm not so sure we can be certain Motoki-san is the prime suspect right now.
Kawashima: [seriously] It's too early to declare Motoki-san the prime suspect. It's very possible that there actually was a second person involved in this whole mess.
Motoki: [passionately] Yeah, please believe me! I didn't kill them!
Oyamada: [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] S-Stop lying and admit it a-already!
Monohebi: [smiles slighlty] Oh my, it seems you all are rather split at the moment...I believe this would be a fitting time to have ourselves another Scrum Debate.
Domoto: [irritatedly] Ugh, this again...

Monohebi: [neutral] Please hold on to your seats as they are rearranged temporarily for this special debate...

Like the last three times, I hold onto my podium tightly as it and all the others around me begin ascending into the air into an upper room in the trial area.

Once there, we
find ourselves in the same sleek, ultra-modern room as before. We’re still arranged into two rows facing each other with myself, Motoki, Sashihara, and Eguchi, Terajima, Ichigohara, Aozora, and Furuhata's portraits on my side.

In the other row, I see Oyamada, Komatsu, Hayasaka, Kasparov, Domoto, and Niizuma, Carrasco, and Yamaguchi's portraits.

Alright, let's get this over with...

SCRUM DEBATE

Question: Should we declare Sakiko Motoki to be the prime suspect now?

Kawashima’s Side: We shouldn't!

Opposing Side: We should!

BEGIN!

Oyamada: H-How can you s-say she's not the k-killer? She a-admitted to attacking Eisuke-kun and E-Eguchi-san!

Kawashima: I'll do it!
Kawashima: The fact that she admitted to it without any resistance is what makes her being the true culprit questionable. If she were the blackened, it doesn't make sense for her to confess to the crime so soon!

Domoto: Eguchi-san was the person mentioned in the commemoration video. No matter what she says, Motoki-san almost certainly attacked her to use the motive.
Kawashima: I'll do it!
Kawashima: You don't have any definitive proof Eguchi-san was the person in that video. Eguchi-san herself didn't even know if she was that person or not!

Hayasaka: Sakiko-san believed in all that shit Sergey-kun and Otoha-san were saying about Yuzuki-san. Because she believed Yuzuki-san was the person working with the mastermind, she killed her!
Kawashima: Motoki-san!
Motoki: I wasn't completely certain Eguchi-san was that person. That's why I went down there in the first place—
to see if she really was working with the mastermind or not!

Komatsu: Are ya guys fuckin' stupid? 'Cause of the motive, she could jus' admit to everythin' and get away without bein' executed!
Kawashima: Sashihara-kun!
Sashihara: Except the motive requires her to at least attempt getting away with it, and admitting immediately wouldn't fulfill that requirement! And if she killed Terajima-kun too, the motive wouldn't even apply!

Oyamada: A-All we have to r-rely on is M-Motoki-san's testimony. That's n-not sufficient evidence!
Kawashima: Sashihara-kun!
Sashihara: It's not just her testimony, we also have the wounds from the two darts in her stomach! Besides, her being the culprit doesn't explain half the evidence we found!

Komatsu: A lotta the evidence we found coulda been a distraction so we didn't figure out the truth! We don't got proof the shit in the Infirmary, Trash Room, or wherever's actually relevant!
Kawashima: I'll do it!
Kawashima: If Motoki-san put so much effort into making pieces of evidence that were just
distractions, it doesn't make sense for her to give up before even being properly accused!

Kasparov: We cannot simply accept the testimony of Motoki-san without scrutiny. We must acknowledge the very real possibility that she could have given herself those dart wounds and faked much of the evidence we found.
Kawashima: Motoki-san!
Motoki: There's also a very real possibility that I am telling the truth and all that evidence is real. You can't dismiss so much evidence so easily!

Hayasaka: Sakiko-san is the only one who was awake and in the basement in the timeframe when Eisuke-kun and Yuzuki-san died, which means she must be our main suspect! She could've killed both of them!

Kawashima: Sashihara-kun!
Sashihara:

We don't know the full circumstances of either of their deaths yet, especially not Terajima-kun's, so we can't make her the main suspect yet!

Domoto: If Motoki-san's actually being honest, that means a second person was involved in the early hours of the morning. Why the hell would someone else be up at that time!?
Kawashima: I'll do it!
Kawashima: We don't know the circumstances that could've caused someone else to be involved yet, which is why we need to discuss this more!

CROUCH BIND
3...2...1...
Kawashima, Motoki, and Sashihara: This is our answer!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Even though it's still possible Motoki-san is actually the blackened, we can't make our prime suspect yet. [firmly] We need to discuss this more!
Kasparov: [reluctantly] I suppose...
Oyamada: [angrily] ..........
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] I get why we need to keep talking now, but if Sakiko-san's not our suspect, then who is?
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] No one, as of now. Motoki-san may actually be the culprit, but we can't say she is for sure just yet. [points] We need to figure out how and when Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun died before we start accusing anyone!

Exactly, Sashihara-kun...we can't go around accusing someone before we have a good idea of the circumstances around Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san's deaths. We've barely discussed Terajima-kun's death and don't even know which of them died first, so we can't have a suspect in mind just yet.
Komatsu: [grumpily] Dammit, I thought we could get this fuckin' trial over with, but I guess that ain't happenin' now...
Domoto: [crosses arms] Maybe not right at this moment, but I don't think we're extremely far. [sternly] Motoki-san is still highly suspicious. Let's not ignore that basic fact.
Motoki: [passionately] I know I've said it before but I'll say it again: even though what I did was terrible, I didn't kill Terajima-kun or Eguchi-san!
Kasparov: [disapprovingly] You continue to say that, and yet you never provide physical evidence for why you are not guilty. [narrows eyes] Tell us, Motoki-san...if you really are as innocent as you claim, how would Eguchi-san come to be stabbed in the Infirmary as has been suggested? Also, why on Earth would she end up dead in her cell if she was truly attacked and killed in the Infirmary? [presses finger to temple] Surely she would not willingly return to the cell she had just escaped from, so how did she end up there?
Motoki: [thoughtfully] I...maybe she... [shamefully] ...I don't know.

Oyamada: [angrily] You "d-don't know"...what a p-pitiful excuse. [aggressively] You d-definitely know more, you're j-just hiding it from us b-because you don't want to l-look more s-suspicious than you a-already are.
Komatsu: [sullenly] Yeah, there ain't no way ya don't know more 'bout this, Motoki-san. [cracks knuckles] C'mon, spill it! Tell us what ya've been hidin'!
Motoki: [hostilely] I told you, I haven't been hiding anything! [rubs shoulder] I swear, I've been telling the truth...
Domoto: [icily] Well, your "truth" doesn't seem very believable. [strokes chin] Us believing your story relies on us believing that Eguchi-san left her cell, was attacked in the Infirmary, and then somehow ended up back in her cell dead, right in front of you. [narrows eyes] That's fucking horse shit. There's no way Eguchi-san left that cell.
Kawashima: [slightly challeningly] Can you be certain of that, Domoto-san? If you're going to say something like that, provide some evidence to back it up.
Domoto: [sternly] Fine, I'll do just that. I'll show you that Eguchi-san didn't have to leave her cell at all for this case to make sense!

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Pair of Scissors, Redness of Eguchi's Lips, Ski Mask, Remains of Bed, Infirmary Door, Overturned Beds and Medical Trolley

Domoto: [neutrally] Eguchi-san escaping the cell is simply not logical.

Motoki: [hostilely] Why not?
Domoto: [crosses arms and closes eyes] To begin, one of the arguments that Eguchi-san left her cell was the bloody scissors in the Infirmary. [opens eyes] However, those scissors may have been moved to the Infirmary.

Sashihara: [confusedly] Wait, are you saying they were in Eguchi-san's cell before that? [thinking deeply] How would they get there? They weren't in the cell prior to the attack and Motoki-san was already carrying the bat and dart gun. [points] She doesn't have three hands, so she couldn't have brought all three!
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] She could've put the scissors in her
pocket, Sashihara-kun.

Sashihara: [incredulously] But that would be dangerous. She could stab herself! [clenches fist] Why would she even risk that? She already had the gun and the bat, so she didn't need a third weapon!
Domoto: [strokes chin] I don't know why she needed the scissors, but she absolutely could've brought them.

Kasparov: [considers carefully] If the scissors indeed could have been brought by Motoki-san, I suppose everything that happened to Eguchi-san could have occurred in her cell, then.

Domoto: [nods] Exactly.

Domoto-san really is sure that Eguchi-san never left that cell. Is she right? Hm...

Answer: Redness of Eguchi's Lips > everything that happened

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] That's not true, Kasparov-kun. Not everything that happened to Eguchi-san could've happened in that cell.
Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] Oh? Why not?
Domoto: [irritatedly] Yeah, what're you talking about, Kawashima-san? [sternly] Don't even say it was the stab wound, because we just said that—
Kawashima: [firmly] That's not what it is. [thoughtfully] It's her lips.
Komatsu: [furrows brows] Her lips...? What the fuck do they gotta do with this?
Sashihara: [confusedly] I don't get it, either...how do her lips figure into all of this?
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] ...Are you talking about her lips were weirdly red, Wakana-san?
Kawashima: [nods] Yes, Hayasaka-san, I am. [seriously] For those of you who don't know, Eguchi-san's lips were coated in a dark red color that resembled blood. Hayasaka-san assured me that it wasn't lipstick, so it must be something else.
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] O-Okay...but how d-does that prove she left her c-cell?

Komatsu: [doubtfully] It don't. That shit on her lips was obviously blood. [sullenly] Eguchi-san was impaled through the neck, so it makes sense there'd be blood around her mouth.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] That stuff isn't necessarily blood, Komatsu-kun. [firmly] It could also be the cherry ice cream. That stuff has a very similar color to that of blood.
Domoto: [pinches bridge of nose] Are you forgetting your own testimony, Kawashima-san? [sternly] You yourself said that Eguchi-san threw the bowl of ice cream at you, causing the puddle in front of her cell.

Kawashima: [nods] Yes, Domoto-san, I did say that. [seriously] It's precisely because she threw that ice cream at me that her lips being that color can't be explained by her dying in that cell.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] I suppose you would be correct that the lips of Eguchi-san could not have been made such a dark red color inside her cell if it truly was ice cream, unless she decided to drink the half-melted ice cream from the ground for some reason. [covers mouth with hand] However, it is more likely that what caused her lips to become so red is blood that welled up in her mouth as a result of her being impaled through the mouth.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Except that whatever was coating her lips was very evenly applied. It couldn't be from blood, because if it was it'd be a lot messier.
Komatsu: [grumpily] Ugh...I guess that's right...
Sashihara: [confusedly] But if it really is ice cream, when, where, and why did Eguchi-san get it on her lips?
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] Maybe she went to the freezer to eat some of the ice cream in there? That is where the containers are kept...
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] Of all places, do you really think she went there after being freed from her cell?

Hayasaka: [glares at Domoto] Don't talk down to me like that...I was just thinking out loud!
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] Domoto-san's delivery was less than kind, but she made me think of something... [thinkg deeply] Where would Eguchi-san go after escaping her cell? Maybe that'll lead to us figuring out how she got that ice cream on her lips.

That's a good idea, Sashihara-kun...if I try to think of where Eguchi-san might've gone after leaving her cell, maybe I'll be able to figure how she got ice cream on her lips...

HANGMAN'S GAMBIT

Question: How did Eguchi's lips come to be coated in ice cream?

SKIGNIS

Answer: Kissing

Kawashima: I've solved it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [eyes widen in realization] ...Kissing.

Sashihara: [confusedly] What?
Kawashima: [firmly] She kissed someone. Someone who was eating or had recently eaten ice cream.

Domoto: [irritatedly] What the hell are you talking about? Do you really— [narrows eyes] ...Wait a minute. Kawashima-san, are you saying what I think you are?

...Looks like she's realized it too.

Kawashima: [nods] Yes. [seriously] I know who the person who Eguchi-san kissed is. [thoughtfully] I also think that this person is the same person who attacked Eguchi-san a second time. We were previously wondering why a second person would be involved, but this explains it. Eguchi-san probably went to this person after escaping her cell and kissed them.
Oyamada: [quietly] N-No...you d-don't mean...
Kawashima: [seriously] I do.

I hope I'm wrong. I don't want this to be true, but it's the only option that makes sense. There's only one person here Eguchi-san would ever kiss, and that person is ...

CHOOSE A PERSON!

Wakana Kawashima

Eisuke Terajima

Sakiko Motoki

Yuuto Furuhata

Yuzuki Eguchi

Sergey Kasparov

Mayumi Carrasco

Mika Hayasaka

Tomiko Niizuma

Noriyo Ichigohara

Yoshi Yamaguchi

Yutaka Komatsu

Hisaya Sashihara

Osamu Oyamada

Michio Aozora

Otoha Domoto

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

[YUTAKA KOMATSU CHOSEN]

Kawashima: It can only be you!

Kawashima: [seriously] It was you, Komatsu-kun, wasn't it? You were the one who Eguchi-san kissed.
Hayasaka: [shocked] ...What? Yutaka-kun!? [passionately] You don't think he'd actually hurt Yuzuki-san, do you!?
Oyamada: [tears up] Wh-What...n-no... [tugs on sweater collar with furious expresson] How c-could you, Komatsu-kun!?
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] I know it's the only option that makes sense, but... [clenches fist] ...Are you sure about this, Kawashima-san? Komatsu-kun and Eguchi-san were pretty close. Do you really think he'd hurt her?
Kawashima: [seriously] It's precisely because they were so close that he's suspicious. [thoughtfully] Kissing someone who had recently eaten ice cream is the most logical way to explain how Eguchi-san's lips became so red. [firmly] She would never have kissed anyone besides him, so he needs to be suspected.
Komatsu: [sweats nervously] ..........
Oyamada: [hatefully] J-Just look at his f-face...it's so obvious he's g-guilty. [aggressively] Komatsu-kun, you k-killed her and Eisuke-kun, d-didn't you!?

Hayasaka: [uncertainly] Don't get angry, Osamu-kun. We can't know if what Wakana-san's saying is true or not yet. [passionately] C'mon, Yutaka-kun, tell us! Tell us that you didn't hurt Yuzuki-san and Eisuke-kun!

She seems desperate to believe that he didn't harm Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun...why? Does she not want to accept that Eguchi-san's boyfriend of all people might have killed her?
Komatsu: [grips jacket tightly and stares at floor] ...........
Hayasaka: [quietly] ...Yutaka-kun? Why aren't you saying anything? [tears up] Don't tell me...did you really...
Komatsu: [grimaces] I...I'm not...I didn't...
Kasparov: [arches eyesbrow] It seems you are incapable of forming a complete sentence. [considers carefully] I must admit I was not entirely convinced by the theory Kawashima-san proposed of you kissing Eguchi-san and thus staining her lips a dark red color. [narrows eyes] However, your reaction to being accused makes you seem very suspicious. Even if you are not the culprit, you are certainly involved in this case.
Domoto: [strokes chin] Yes, that much is obvious at this point. [crosses arms] Come on, Komatsu-kun. Just tell us what happened so we can get this over with.
Komatsu: [stares at floor] ...Yer wrong. I didn't do nothin'.

Oyamada: [angrily] L-Liar! It's obvious y-you're involved! [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] A-Admit what you d-did already!
Komatsu: [sullenly] Nah. I ain't gonna admit to somethin' that ain't true. [cracks knuckles] Ya hear me? This is bullshit! This is all fuckin' wrong! [desperately] I didn't kill nobody!

So he's not admitting it...fine. It looks like we'll have to do this the hard way and force a confession out of him...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Domoto's Account, Noise and Shaking, Pair of Scissors, Overturned Bed and Medical Trolley, Remains in Incinerator, Komatsu's Account

Komatsu: [cracks kncukles] I'm tellin' ya, I didn't kill nobody!
Oyamada: [aggressively] You say y-you're innocent, b-but do you have any way to p-prove it?
Komatsu: [grimaces] Well...uh... [sweats nervously] That don't matter! I didn't leave my room last night, and I didn't see Eguchi-san!
Komatsu: [grips jacket tightly and stares at floor] Besides, Kawashima-san ain't got a way to prove what she's sayin's true.

Motoki: [rubs shoulder] But Eguchi-san's lips...how else would they become that red color if you didn't kiss her?
Komatsu: [sweats nervously] I dunno, but that ain't my problem to answer! [desperately] Ya guys can't be 100% certain that her lips became that way from me or anyone else kissin' her!
Komatsu: [sullenly] And even if she was kissed, ya can't be sure it was me... [grimaces] I know this sounds like bullshit, but maybe the culprit kissed her dead body to make me look guilty...
Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] Do you truly expect us to believe such a repulsive suggestion? [disapprovingly] It would suit you far better to admit to being involved if what Kawashima-san says is true.
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] It ain't true. It's not like there's any solid evidence connectin' me to the crime besides Eguchi-san's lips... [angrily] So stop accusin' me already!

Sorry, but I won't stop accusing you just yet, Komatsu-kun...because I know something you said is wrong.

Answer: Domoto's Account > ain't got a way

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [firmly] I do have a way to prove what I'm saying is true. [seriously] Domoto-san told me what happened upstairs while I was guarding Eguchi-san, and she mentioned that you returned to your room...with a bowl of ice cream.
Komatsu: [grimaces] Gh...!
Sashihara: [clenches fist] I don't like saying it, but that's undeniably suspicious. Komatsu-kun, please....if you really met up with Eguchi-san, just tell us the truth already.
Komatsu: [grips jacket tightly and stares at floor] Shut up, that...that proves nothing! [fiercely] When I got that ice cream, it wasn't even nighttime yet! Do ya really think I waited 'til after 1 AM to eat it!?

He's acting more aggressive now...seems like he's doubling down on not interacting with Eguchi-san, even though it's painfully obvious he at least kissed her at this point.
Domoto: [crosses arms] Well, you did bring that ice cream back to your room instead of eating it in the Cafeteria, which suggests you were saving it to eat a later point.

Kasparov: [disapprovingly] I do not know what appeal melted ice cream would have to Komatsu-kun, but that matters not. [covers mouth with hand] What truly matters is that there is evidence Komatsu-kun brought ice cream back to his room and thus would have it still on his lips when Eguchi-san arrived, allowing the substance to transfer from his leps to hers.
Oyamada: [aggressively] D-Did he not even b-brush his t-teeth before he w-went to bed? [hatefully] How d-disgusting and u-unhygienic...
Komatsu: [stares at floor] I couldn't sleep...it was hard to...
Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] Hard to what?
Komatsu: [grimaces] ..........

He's gone quiet...is he going to finally admit to it?
Komatsu: [grips jacket tightly and stares at floor] I...I... [desperately] I didn't do shit!

...I guess not.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Komatsu-kun, if this is really true...please just come forward now. [closes eyes to prevent tears] Don't repeat my mistake and not confess when you should have...
Komatsu: [stares at floor] .......... [wipes eyes] This...what yer all sayin'....it ain't even possible.
Sashihara: [curiously] Why not?
Komatsu: [sullenly] Yer assumin' that Eguchi-san came to my door after she left her cell, but how could she do that? [fiercely] The rooms are all soundproofed real good, so that wouldn't be possible! I wouldn't hear her!

That's not true, Komatsu-kun. We know that what I'm suggesting is possible, and that's because...
Eguchi knocked very loudly/Komatsu was still awake/Not all rooms are soundproofed well

Answer: Not all rooms are soundproofed well

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] You say all our rooms are soundproofed well, Komatsu-kun, but that isn't true. Monohebi told me as much during the investigation.
Monohebi: [smirks] That is indeed correct. [smiles slightly] As I told Kawashima during the investigation, I had budget constraints while setting up this prison, and because of them, I was unable to provide the same quality of soundproofing to all your cells. [neutral] To be more specific, I was only able to provide high-quality soundproofing to the first nine rooms I constructed, and was forced to provide the remaining seven with low-quality soundproofing.
Hayasaka: [stares with muted anger] So what you're saying is you're a cheap bastard that didn't want to pay for soundproofing all our rooms?
Monohebi: [slightly irritated] How very rude of you, Hayasaka. I am most certainly not a "cheap bastard." [red eye glints] It would do you well not to insult me, girl. I—
Domoto: [icily] Shut up, Monohebi. No one cares what you have to say.
Monohebi: [hisses angrily] Sssssss! You are all nothing more than a bunch of ungrateful brats...

Yeah, yeah, you've told us that a million times. Now shut up and leave us alone.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Anyway, the point of me bringing all that up was so that I could mention that Komatsu-kun's might be one of the seven the has the lower-quality soundproofing, which would allow him to hear Eguchi-san outside his door.
Komatsu: [sullenly] Yeah, my room might be one of those seven, but ya can't say that for sure! [fiercely] The odds are against ya! There's a nine outta sixteen chance my room's got the higher-quality soundproofin', so ya can't be sure I coulda heard Eguchi-san!

That's not true, Komatsu-kun. I know that because of...
Noise and Shaking/Komatsu's Account/Order of Rooms

Answer: Komatsu's Account

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [firmly] You know I'm right, Komatsu-kun. You told me yourself you heard the noise and shaking from last night, didn't you?
Komatsu: [sweats nervously] I...well, um... [sullenly] ...Yeah. I did.
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] F-Finally, you're admitting to s-something... [aggressively] N-Now why don't you go a-ahead and admit the r-rest to us already?
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Nah, I ain't gonna do that 'cause there's nothin' else for me to admit to. [fiercely] Shouldn't ya be suspicious of the people who claim they slept through everythin'? They could be lyin'!
Kawashima: [seriously] Maybe they are. [firmly] However, I doubt it. Because if you look at the way our rooms are set up, everyone from the left side of the hallway down to Kasparov-kun's room didn't wake up...which is nine rooms in total. The last seven rooms—from Motoki-san down to Sashihara-kun—everyone in the rooms there either heard the noise, was unconscious downstairs, or dead!
Komatsu: [sweats nervously] So what?
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] Ah, I see what you are suggesting, Kawashima-san. [presses finger to temple] The nine rooms from that of Ichigohara-san to my own received the better soundproofing, while the last seven in the row have the worse soundproofing.
Kawashima: [nods] That's exaclty right. [slightly challenging] So, will you admit you met up with Eguchi-san already, Komatsu-kun?
Komatsu: [grips jacket tightly and stares at floor] I c-can't...I won't let... [desperately] I didn't do nothin'! [fiercely] Besides, if yer talkin' 'bout the sound, sure, maybe none of 'em heard it...but what about the shakin'? Shouldn't they have felt that?

Finally, at least one objection that's somewhat sensible. However, it's still wrong, which I know because...
Order of Rooms/Komatsu's Account/Soundproofing of Rooms

Answer: Order of Rooms

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] It's because of the order of rooms I just mentioned, Komatsu-kun. [thoughtfully] If you recall how "Cell Block A" is set up, you'll notice that from right to left, the exact order of our rooms is the following: Sashihara-kun, Oyamada-kun, you, me, Niizuma-san, Aozora-kun, Motoki-san, Kasparov-kun, Carrasco-san, Yamaguchi-kun, Terajima-kun, Furuhata-kun, Domoto-san, Eguchi-san, Hayasaka-san, and lastly Ichigohara-san.
Motoki: [confusedly] Okay...but how does that explain why Hayasaka-san, Kasparov-kun, and Domoto-san didn't feel anything?
Sashihara: [eyes widen] Aha I see it! [shouts loudly] The people who heard the noise and felt the shaking all have rooms next to each other on the right side of the hallway, while everyone who didn't hear or feel anything is on the left side!
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] I noticed that trend too, but isn't that weird? Even if Otoha-san, Sergey-kun, and I have the higher-quality soundproofing in our rooms, shouldn't we all have felt the shaking everyone else did? [twirls hairs pensively] It's not like soundproofing makes your room immune to feeling vibrations...
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] W-Well...it wasn't super strong sh-shaking...it was the n-noise that woke m-me up, even if it was m-muffled a bit...
Sasahihara: [adjusts medical mask] Same here...
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Yeah...it was the same with me, too...
Kawashima: [seriously] I guess that can help lead us to the conclusion that the noise occurred somewhere on the right side of the building so that it would wake up those of us who had rooms on the right side. [thoughtfully] And if you think about it, there's only one explanation for what that noise could be.
The culprit shitting their brains out/Eguchi's death/Elevator explosion and crash

Answer: Elevator explosion and crash

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] That noise and shaking must've been from the elevator exploding and crashing.

Domoto: [strokes chin] That's what I was thinking. It's on the right side of the building and is in the basement, so it is logical that people whose rooms are far away from it wouldn't feel a shaking strong enough to wake up.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] I agree that you and Hayasaka-san have rooms far enough away to not have felt anything, but... [clenches fist] Kasparov-kun. Your room is close enough that I have a hard time believing you completely slept through it.
Kasparov: [disapprovingly] Do not be asinine, Sashihara-kun. I am not the culprit. [narrows eyes] I am merely a deep sleeper. That is why I did not awake.
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfrotably] You s-say that, but it's not l-like you can actually p-prove it...
Kasparov: [frustratedly] How many times must I say it? I am not the culprit!
Motoki: [grimly] Stop this. We're getting distracted. [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] Komatsu-kun still hasn't admitted to anything, even though it's pretty clear that he's involved...
Komatsu: [desperately] Stop sayin' that! Please, just stop! None of this...it ain't what ya...
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] Well? Aren't you going to continue?
Komatsu: [grips jacket tightly and stares at floor] ..........

Looks like he's still not admitting it. Ugh, I hate this...why does he keep resisting? I can tell he knows I'm right, and yet he still refuses to admit he met with Eguchi-san? Is it because he doesn't want to admit to what he did? I don't know his reason, but I have to push Komatsu-kun to admit he was involved, because at this point it's very obvious he was. I just have to piece together how it could've happened so I can prove any desperate defense he has wrong...

LOGIC DIVE

Q1: Which group of people heard the noise and shaking last night, proving their rooms have lower-quality soundproofing?

Hisaya Sashihara, Osamu Oyamada, Yutaka Komatsu, Wakana Kawashima/Sakiko Motoki, Mika Hayasaka, Sergey Kasparov, Otoha Domoto/Michio Aozora, Yoshi Yamaguchi, Eisuke Terajima, Yuzuki Eguchi

Q2: Which of the following individuals has previously gained access to someone's room late at night?

Sakiko Motoki/Yuzuki Eguchi/Otoha Domoto

Q3: How did the previously mentioned individual gain access to someone's room?

Knocking/Secret Message/Used a Note

Answers:
Hisaya Sashihara, Osamu Oyamada, Yutaka Komatsu, Wakana Kawashima/Otoha Domoto/Knocking

Kawashima: I understand it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Domoto-san...a few days ago, you went to Kasparov-kun's room late at night, right?

Domoto: [neutrally] Yes, I went there because I couldn't sleep and I needed to talk about the commemoration video. [raises eyebrows] Why are you asking?

Kawashima: [seriously] How did you get into his room?

Domoto: [neutrally] I knocked.

Sashihara: [confusedly] Hold on...how does that make sense!? I thought Kasparov-kun's room had the better soundproofing!

Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Yeah, and that's not all that's weird...when I was being a terrible bitch and went to Eguchi-san to make her help me with my murder plan, I knocked on her door to get in... [looks to the side thoughtfully] I didn't think it was weird at the time, but now that we know her room was one of the ones with higher quality soundproofing, how did she even hear me?

She's right, it sure is weird...

Monohebi: [smirks] It is amusing to see you all work yourselves up over this matter, but it is truly not as complicated as you might believe. [neutral] You see, I was under the impression that having a completely soundproofed room would be rather irritating. After all, how would a late sleeper be awoken if they could not hear anyone outside their door?

Oyamada: [aggressively] Wh-Where are you g-going with this?

Monohebi: [slightly irritated] Do not interrupt me, Oyamada. [neutral] Anyway, as you could guess from my budgeting issues, the high-quality soundproofing is rather expensive. This is mostly due to one special feature it has: the soundproofing on the wall around to the door can be temporarily disabled if someone is right outside the door. This is why you all can hear knocks on your doors, even if you have a higher-quality room. The lower-quality rooms have no need for this feature, as you can already hear knocks through them without anything being disabled.

Well, that was long-winded...but for once not completely useless. I would thank Monohebi, but I don't want to make him feel accomplished...

Domoto: [icily] What an idiotically designed system. You wasted your money on that trash, Monohebi.

Monohebi: [hisses angrily] Ssss...wretched brat!

Domoto: [ignores him] That aside, I think it's obvious why Kawashima-san brought that up. [crosses arms] If Eguchi-san knocked on your door, you would've heard it, Komatsu-kun. What Monohebi just said proves that.

Komatsu: [grimaces] .......... [sullenly] ...Fine, I admit that's true. I woulda heard her if she really did knock on my door.

Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Are you saying she didn't?

Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] Course I am! Eguchi-san didn't know 'bout all this shit with how you can hear knocks at yer door, so she wouldn't have thought to knock!

Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] Yutaka-kun, you know that isn't true. Remember what I said not too long ago? [twirls hair pensively] When I went to Yuzuki-san to blackmail her into helping me before the last trial, I knocked on her door to get in...so, she could've remembered that and went to your room knowing you'd be able to hear her.

Sashihara: [thinking deeply] She also didn't seem to be in the best state of mind...she could've been so excited to finally have escaped the cell that she forgot about the rooms being soundproofed.

Both of those work as explanations for why Eguchi-san expected Komatsu-kun to hear her when she knocked on his door...

Komatsu: [sweats nervously] E-Even still... [fiercely] Ya can't be sure that she even went to my room! All ya got's the shit that was on her lips, but ain't enough!

Oyamada: [angrily] Y-Yes it is...you're the o-only one of us who b-brought ice cream b-back to your r-room, which automatically m-makes you the most s-suspicious. [aggressively] O-On top of that, E-Eguchi-san loved you for s-some reason, so she'd n-naturally go to you first after escaping. [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] So are you r-really going to keep on d-denying that you m-met with her!? E-Even when it's so f-fucking obvious!?

Komatsu: [desperately] B-But I...I r-really...it wasn't... [sweats nervously] ..........

It seems like he's at a loss for words...I would be too if
Oyamada-kun yelled at me like that. Hopefully this means he'll admit to it at last.

Kawashima: [seriously] Well, Komatsu-kun? Have you decided it's time to put an end to this insanity and finally admit the truth?

Komatsu: [tears up] I...

I'll take that as a no.

Domoto: [rolls eyes] Ugh, he's still not saying anything. [crosses arms] I guess we should just accept the fact that Eguchi-san met him outside his door and continue to postulate about what happened afterwards.

Kasparov: [considers carefully] I second that idea. We need more insight into the circumstances surrounding the death of Eguchi-san, yet we cannot afford to waste any more time waiting for Komatsu-kun.

Komatsu: [grips jacket tightly and stares at floor] ...........

I wish he would just say something. It'd make it a lot easier if he admitted it immediately like Motoki-san...but that's not how things are. We're going to have to do without his testimony until he decides to tell us the truth.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Inland Taipan Venom, Inventory, Broken Glass, Eguchi's Stab Wound, Crowbar, Overturned Beds and Medical Trolley

Sashihara: [thinking deeply] It's pretty obvious what happened first. [adjusts medical mask] Eguchi-san knocked on Komatsu-kun's door, he answered, and they kissed right there.

Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] We kn-knew that already...

Motoki: [shaemfully] Eguchi-san had that small cut on her hand from her fight with me... [grimly] ...so they probably went to the Infirmary to clean her up.

Kasparov: [frowns] I understand that the Infirmary seems to be the most likely place for them to go, but we cannot be absolutely certain quite yet. [presses finger to temple] There are other places they might have gone.

Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] B-But nowhere else is as m-messed up as the Infirmary... [hatefully] I th-think Komatsu-kun k-killed her once they got there.

Hayasaka: [shocked] Do you really think that, Osamu-kun?

Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] ...Y-Yeah. [looks down and to the side] There was evidence of a struggle, which a fight between Komatsu-kun and Eguchi-san would explain. [aggressively] E-Even if he d-didn't kill her, he
d-definitely hurt her!

Domoto: [strokes chin] I'm not saying you're wrong, but why doesn't he have any wounds on him? [crosses arms] If he got into a fight with Eguchi-san that caused a huge mess in the Infirmary, I'd imagine he have at least some marks left behind.

Sashihara: [clenches fist] Even if he did have some injuries, there's no guarantee he'd have any visible wounds on his body. [points] It's not like there's any proof he was injured!

Hayasaka: [stares with muted anger] Well, Yutaka-kun? Is this true?
Komatsu: [stares at floor] ..........

When Komatsu-kun and Eguchi-san met, we know they kissed at some point...so what happened after that? Did they really get into a scuffle at some point? I'm pretty sure they went to the Infirmary, so if I consider the evidence in there, I should be able to come to a conclusion.

Answer: Broken Glass > d-definitely hurt her

Kawashima: That's right!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] That broken glass on the ground...I think that's proof Komatsu-kun hurt Eguchi-san.
Sashihara: [curiously] Wait, are you talking about the broken glass that was in the middle of the Infirmary? [confusedly] I get that stuff being there was kinda weird, but I don't see it connects to Eguchi-san.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] It might not connect at all. The poison cabinet's doors are made of glass, so the broken glass could be from them.
Kawashima: [firmly] No. The glass I'm talking about wasn't anywhere near the poison cabinet. It was in the middle of the room, fairly close to where there were a medical trolley on its side and two overturned beds. [seriously] Also, I think it's worth mentioning...one of those beds had a few spots of blood on its sheets. A pair of bloody scissors and a partially unraveled roll of gauze bandages were also near the whole mess.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] That seems to indicate that there was a fight of some sort...
Domoto: [crosses arms] Yes, but what about the glass, Kawashima-san? You have yet to explain how exactly that ties into Eguchi-san's involvement.

This should be fairly straightforward if I think about Eguchi-san's remains, and then compare that to what I found in the Infirmary. If I think like that, there's only one thing that glass could be from...
Terajima's sunglasses/Eguchi's glasses/Infirmary door

Answer: Eguchi's glasses

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] The glass is from the lenses on Eguchi-san's glasses. [seriously] I thought it was odd that they were missing, but this explains why. Her glasses got knocked out in a fight.
Motoki: [grimly] ...Is this true, Komatsu-kun?
Komatsu: [sweats nervously] Nngh...
Sashihara: [clenches fist] I guess that's a yes.
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] Can we really know that it was Yutaka-kun that broke her glasses? [looks down glumly] It didn't have to be him...it could've been someone else she fought with in the Infirmary.
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] Wh-Who else would it b-be? [looks down and to the side] B-Because Eguchi-san l-loved Komatsu-kun for some r-reason, she w-went to him after l-leaving her cell. [angrily] Sh-She was injured f-from her fight with M-Motoki-san, so they p-probably went to the Infirmary soon after m-meeting up...and then he a-attacked her. He t-tried to take a-advantage of the m-motive and kill her.
Oyamada: [aggressively] That's why you haven't been admitting to it, isn't it? [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] You were t-trying to f-fulfill to the "a-attempt to get away with it" c-clause of the m-motive!"
Komatsu: [tears up] No...I'd n-never...
Domoto: [raises eyebrow] Really? Because it seems fairly clear to me you attacked her at some point. [strokes chin] When you got to the Infirmary, you probably put her on one of the beds and got a roll of gauze bandages, which would explain the roll on the floor and the spots of blood on one of the beds.Domoto: [crosses arms and closes eyes] You also grabbed the scissors, didn't you? Eguchi-san would think they were for cutting the bandages...but they were really for attacking her, weren't they? [opens eyes] Once she caught on, she understandably fought back. [icily] That's what happened, right?
Komatsu: [monotonously] Wrong.
Domoto: [taken aback] ...Excuse me?
Komatsu: [stares at floor] That...That's close. But it's still wrong.

Wait, does this mean...
Kawashima: [seriously] Komatsu-kun, are you finally admitting that you met up with Eguchi-san?
Komatsu: [tears up] ...Y-Yeah. I am.

Oyamada: [hatefully] Why the f-fuck did you wait so l-long?
Komatsu: [grips jacket tightly and stares at floor] 'Cause I...I seriously fucked up. And I d-didn't wanna admit to myself what I did... [tears up] I guess ya could say I was in a lotta fuckin' denial. 'Cause I...I...I h-hurt Eguchi-san. [sobs] I was tryna help her, and I only made things a million fuckin' times worse!
Motoki: [grimly] What happened, Komatsu-kun? [weakly] Please, tell us the truth...did you make the same stupid mistake I did?
Komatsu: [sobs] I didn't wanna hurt her...b-but...
Hayasaka: [sadly] But what? [flatly] Yutaka-kun...please tell us the whole story. If you really cared about Yuzuki-san, please tell us the whole truth, starting from when she knocked on your day.
Komatsu: [sobs] S-Sorry...I...n-need a m-minute...

Komatsu sobs for several minutes. The rest of us stand around awkwardly. Hayasaka, Motoki, and Sashihara all look saddened, while Kasparov and Domoto regard Komatsu with a mixture of suspicion, contempt, and pity. Oyamada, however, is all contempt. I hear him mumble something that sounds like "crocodile tears."

I wish things didn't come to this. I'm glad Komatsu-kun admitted he was involved at last, but I really wish he had just caved immediately. Part of me still suspects him of killing Eguchi-san because of how he took so long to finally admit to it, although I don't want to. I'll be listening to whatever he says closely and make sure I find any discrepancies with the evidence we found if he lies. I don't want him to do that, though...
Komatsu: [wipes eyes] ...I'm sorry that took so long. I've been holdin' back those tears e-ever since it happened, and I jus' had to get it all out.
Oyamada: [hatefully] Sh-Shut up, scum. T-Tell us what h-happened already.

Oyamada's words make Komatsu almost start sobbing again, but he manages to resist.
Komatsu: [miserably] I...I couldn't sleep much last night. Eguchi-san was trapped in a cell and I couldn't do nothin' to get her out...so I was feelin' like total shit. [rubs back of neck] Around 1 AM, I had been tossin' and turnin' in bed for so long that I decided that I wasn't gonna was time jus' lyin' there...so I finally started to eat the ice cream I'd been plannin' to eat in the mornin'.
Sashihara: [confusedly] You were waiting until morning to eat it?
Komatsu: [stares at floor] Yeah, but that don't matter. [miserably] Anyway, soon after I finished the ice cream, I heard a knock on my door, so I went over and open it...and...

[[flashback begin]]
Komatsu: [opens door with bleary expression] ...Who's there?
Eguchi: [desperately and joyously] Y-Yutaka-kun! I need you!
[grabs back of Komatsu's neck, stands on her toes, and kisses Komatsu]

Komatsu: [surprised] ...! [leans into the kiss] Mm.........
Eguchi: [breaks away from kiss with relieved expression] ...Ah. I really needed that.
Komatsu: [tears of happiness] Eguchi-san...yer out of yer cell! [eagerly] What happened!? Did Terajima-kun let ya out, or did— [notices Eguchi's cut and the bruises on her arms] ...Oh my—did someone hurt ya!? Who was it!?
Eguchi: [bitterly] That doesn't fucking matter... [narrows eyes] Although I'm going to make sure I get revenge on that bitch for what she did. [trembles with anger] Oh yes, I'm going to make her fucking pay. She's going to regret what she did sooo bad...
Komatsu: [slightly nervously] R-Right...but, shouldn't we get ya patched up first? We should go to the Infirmary.

Komatsu: [in the present] After that, we took the elevator up to the fourth floor. Once we got there, I locked the door behind us and put her on one of the hospital beds.
Komatsu: [as he ruffles through one of the medical trolleys] Eguchi-san, I'm so fuckin' glad yer free...for every second ya were locked in that damn I felt more and more shitty. I was fallin' apart...
Eguchi: [sullenly] You were falling apart? You weren't the one locked in there...
Komatsu: [grimaces] Well, I...I was feelin' real guilty. I wanted to let ya outta there, but I was too scared of what Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san'd do that I chickened out... [sadly] Sorry, Eguchi-san...I should've been braver for ya.

Eguchi: [sourly] I wish you had been stronger too. If you had fought against the accusations in the Media Room, I might've never been put in that cell. But that's not what happened...
Komatsu: [hangs head] Eguchi-san...I'm really sorry...I really fuckin' am...
Eguchi: [frowns] I don't doubt that, Yutaka-kun. [sullenly] But every minute I sat in that cell, I was wondering why you didn't come for me. You said you loved me, didn't you? So why weren't you coming?
Kawashima-san told me you were standing up for me, but you didn't take action and free me.

Komatsu: [tears up] I couldn't do it...there was always guards and I was too fuckin' scared...
Eguchi: [frowns] I was scared too. I was scared that the motive would get me killed...that someone would believe the chess douche and toy bitch and that I'd get targeted. [trembles] A-And that's what just happened...she s-said she only wanted to a-ask me questions and see if I was really the person mentioned in that f-fucking video, but how am I supposed to know!? [pulls on hair] That m-might be my art style, but I d-didn't make Monohebi! I hate him! But then wh-why...did it all feel right in some, um, t-twisted way!? [frantically] I c-can't really be an evil person, can I? I can't, um, be the one behind the, um, killing game, right!?
Komatsu: [worried] Eguchi-san, calm down. [walks toward her with bandage roll and scissors] Here, I'll help ya out...
Eguchi: [eyes widen as she scurries backward] What are those scissors for!?

Komatsu: [blinks] These? They're for cuttin' the bandag—
Eguchi: [fearfully] No they're not!! They're too big for that!
Komatsu: [worried] Alright, I musta grabbed the wrong ones. Don't worry, I'll—
Eguchi: [frantically] How can I NOT worry!? You were trying to kill me, weren't you!? [shakes violently] N-No...it's y-you too...you've turned on me. [pulls on hair with frantic expression] I'm going to get fucking murdered in this hellhole...if even you are trying to kill me...then...then everyone must be after me. Kawashima-san was lying, wasn't she!? You never were standing up for me, that was all just a lie!
Komatsu: [tears up] No, I swear, she was tellin' the truth!
Eguchi: [ignores him] Terajima-kun, too. He didn't want to get me out of the cell...he and everyone else are plotting to get me murdered because they think I'm working with the mastermind!
Komatsu: [horrified] Eguchi-san, that ain't true! None of this is! Please, ya need to calm dow—
Eguchi: [frantically]
NO! I know the truth now, stop trying to deny it!
Komatsu: [approaches Eguchi] Eguchi-san, please, lemme—
Eguchi: [screams] GET AWAY FROM ME!!
[A scuffle ensues]
Komatsu: [in the present] After that, we got into a fight. Eguchi-san started runnin' for the door, but I caught her before she went far, still carryin' the bandages and scissors. Eguchi-san wasn't havin' it, though, and she broke free. We fought a bunch...we knocked over two beds and one of those medical trolleys, I broke the lenses of her glasses when I accidentally hit her in the face, and she pushed me into the poison cabinet, makin' the doors shatter and makin' a ton of poisons to fall out. Eventually, Eguchi-san tried stabbin' me with a nail that came loose from one of the beds, and I... [regretfully] I stabbed her with the scissors in self-defense.
Eguchi: [collapses against the side of a hospital bed, the nail still in her hand] You...You fucking stabbed me...
Komatsu: [horrified] Holy shit...Eguchi-san, I...I didn't mean to! [cries] I'm such a fuckin idiot! I really didn't wanna hurt ya! I still love ya!
Eguchi: [coldly] Liar. You hate me, just like the rest of them...just like every real person always has. [bitterly] So if you're going to fucking kill me, stop the charade and get it over with already! [screams] Stop FUCKING pretending, you goddamn coward! JUST TELL ME THAT YOU HATE ME!!
Komatsu: [sobs] E-Eguchi-san...I s-still love you...I a-always will...
Eguchi: [coldly] Lying scum! [screams] EITHER KILL ME OR GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME! I DON'T WANT ANYONE TO PRETEND THEY LOVE ME ANYMORE!! [anguished] Please, PLEASE! GO AWAY!!!
Komatsu: [sobs] E-Eguchi-san...I... [backs away hesitantly, still sobbing] ...I'm sorry. [runs away]
[[flashback end]]

Holy shit, that was intense. It was heartbreaking to hear that Eguchi-san was acting that way...her mental state must've really deteriorated while she was in that cell. I feel bad for Komatsu-kun, assuming he's telling the truth. That's an awful final encounter to have with someone you love.
Kawashima: [pitifully] Holy shit, Komatsu-kun...I'm sorry you had to go through that.
Domoto: [crosses arms] So am I...assuming it's the truth.
Komatsu: [wipes eyes] It is. I fuckin' hate it... I wish I had stayed there with her instead of runnin' away like the fuckin' coward that I am. But it's what happened. I...I was so fuckin' weak. [sobs] I c-couldn't look at what I'd done...the g-guilt was too much. I had hurt her, the girl I loved, and I never could take it back...and w-worst of all...she h-hated me in the end.
Hayasaka: [tearfully] Y-Yutaka-kun...how could you do that to Yuzuki-san? She loved you!
Komatsu: [through angry tears] Ya think I don't fuckin' know that!? Ya think that hasn't been weighin' on me and suffocatin' me ever since it happened!? [sobs] I b-betrayed her trust...I s-stabbed her, when I was supposed to be healin' her...I failed her when she needed me most! [falls to his knees, burying his face in his hands] Even though I didn't kill her, I still hurt her! I still played a role in this whole mess, and I fucked things up even more by resistin' it for so long 'cause I didn't wanna admit to myself what I did!

For several minutes Komatsu sobs into his hands on the floor. This time around, everyone looks saddened, even Domoto, Kasparov, and Oyamada. Oyamada, for the first time since Komatsu's been accused, isn't glaring at him. Instead, he's crying to himself softly. I doubt it's Komatsu-kun he's crying for...he 's probably devastated about what happened to Eguchi-san in the end.
Motoki: [suddenly] You shouldn't be bearing the guilt for this, Komatsu-kun.
Komatsu: [looks up tearfully] ...Huh? Why not? I'm the one who stabbed her...
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] Yeah, but...if I had never been stupid and gone down to Eguchi-san's cell, then she wouldn't have gone to your room... [shamefully] It's my fault for putting you in the circumstances you were in.
Komatsu: [gets to his feet] Motoki-san...I get what yer sayin', but it's still my fault in the end. [tears up] Ya didn't make me stab her. I still did that by myself, so please don't blame yerself for me bein' a dumbass.

Motoki: [miserably] Sorry, but...that's not going to happen. [closes eyes to prevent tears] I'm not going to let me forgive myself like that...
Hayasaka: [sadly] Neither of you should be blaming each other. [stares with muted anger] Blame Sergey-kun and Otoha-san for putting Yuzuki-san in that cell in the first place. [narrows eyes] If they had never done that, Yuzuki-san and Eisuke-kun would still be alive!
Kasparov: [disapprovingly] Cease this at once. Neither Domoto-san nor I is at fault, and to say so is preposterous.

Domoto: [crosses arms and looks down] ..........

Domoto-san's not defending herself? That's weird...
Oyamada: [aggressively] Sh-Shut up. All four of you are r-responsible for what h-happened.
Kasparov: [narrows eyes] Do not be so ridiculous. It is—
Kawashima: [firmly] Stop it. We don't have time to waste bickering about stuff like this. [seriously] We still have no idea who killed Eguchi-san or Terajima-kun.
Oyamada: [confusedly] Wh-What? Did you h-hear Komatsu-kun's s-story? [hatefully] He a-admitted to s-stabbing her!
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] We can't be sure that stab wound was her fatal wound, Oyamada-kun. [thinking deeply] I, for one, doubt it's what killed her. She was in the infirmary when she was stabbed, so she could've wrapped herself up in bandages to stop the bleeding...besides, she was found in her cell. I doubt Komatsu-kun killed her.

I was going to say the same thing, Sashihara-kun.
Kawashima: [seriously] I feel the same way. [thoughtfully] Komatsu-kun's story matches up perfectly with most of the evidence we found in the Infirmary, even though he never went up there during the investigation. That makes inclined to believe he's telling the truth.

The raw emotion in his voice and minutes-long sobbing episodes also help me think that...I doubt he could fake any of that.
He's very clearly not a good liar from how badly he reacted when he was accused.
Oyamada: [confusedly] W-Wait, what do you m-mean "most" of the e-evidence in the I-Infirmary? [angrily] Did K-Komatsu-kun lie about s-something during his s-story?

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Well, I'm not sure he was lying, considering I doubt he'd be capable of bringing certain pieces of evidence to the scene.
Hayasaka: [curiously] What are you talking about, Wakana-san?

What am I talking about? They're the only pieces of evidence in the Infirmary that I doubt Komatsu-kun could or would bring...
Inland Taipan Venom and Eguchi's Glasses/Dumbbell and Crowbar/Explosives and Dart Gun

Answer: Dumbbell and Crowbar

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [firmly] I'm talking about the dumbbell and crowbar, Hayasaka-san. [thoughtfully] Komatsu-kun has literally no reason to bring the crowbar to the scene. If he was looking to kill Eguchi-san, there were far more convenient options. [seriously] There was also a dumbbell on a bed in there that was 45 kilograms, which, no offense, Komatsu-kun...I think is beyond your lifting capacity.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] None taken...and yeah, it is. Most I can do in any sorta workout with my arms is 35 kilograms...
Domoto: [icily] You say that as if it's definitive proof when you could be lying.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] He isn't lying. When I worked out with him a few days ago, that really was his upper limit.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] So if Yutaka-kun didn't bring the dumbbell to the Infirmary...who did? [looks to the side thoughtfully] Also, because Yutaka-kun didn't bring the dumbbell...that probably means he's telling the truth. But then how did Yuzuki-san get back to the basement? And how did Eisuke-kun die?
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] I s-still think we're m-missing something...otherwise, wh-who could've killed Eguchi-san and E-Eisuke-kun? N-No one else w-was awake...
Kasparov: [considers carefully] That is true. If we choose to believe Komatsu-kun and Motoki-san, then that leaves both our links to people being awake and being suspects for the culprit allegedly gone. [presses finger to temple] If we choose not to believe them, I think it should be Komatsu-kun we suspect. [analytically] His testimony confirms Motoki-san's story, and he has no reason to do that if she were the killer. As such, I believe we can rule her out as a suspect.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] I mean, I'm glad you're not suspecting me anymore, but I don't think Komatsu-kun's lying.
Domoto: [icily] Do you have any evidence to suggest he's not guilty? [sternly] If so, present it. If not, stay quiet.
Motoki: [miserably] .......... [grimly] I just don't think we should be so sure he's lying.
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] We cannot simply believe him, either. He may be the culprit, he may not. Either way...we must discuss this further.

...I guess I agree with Kasparov-kun. Even though I personally believe Komatsu-kun, there's a still a part of me that won't let me move forward until I know for sure he didn't kill either Terajima-kun or Eguchi-san.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: State of Terajima's Body, Komatsu's Account, Incinerator Log, Infirmary Door, Domoto's Account, Eguchi's Stab Wound

Komatsu: [miserably] Ya guys, I swear...I'm tellin' the truth.
Oyamada: [aggressively] You can't d-definitively p-prove that, though...
Komatsu: [grips jacket tightly and stares at floor] Listen, I...I ain't lyin'! Not anymore...
Kasparov: [frowns] Let us avoid needless distractions. [covers mouth with hand] Komatsu-kun, when did you and Eguchi-san meet up?
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Hm...I guess it was 'round 1:30 AM. Prolly a few minutes before...
Sashihara: [curiosuly] How about when you got back to your room? When was that?
Komatsu: [stares at floor] I dunno, but...it couldn't've been too long after 1:30. [miserably] I wasn't with Eguchi-san for long...
Domoto: [strokes chin] That seems to be logical until we remember the incinerator. [crosses arms] That thing was used after 3:30, two whole hours later. [icily] It's impossible that nothing happened in those two hours. Komatsu-kun must be lying.
Motoki: [grimly] Domoto-san's right...we know Eguchi-san took the scissors out of her wound because they were on the ground in the Infirmary. [thoughtfully] She couldn't have been alone for two whole hours, right? She would've bled out and died in the Infirmary!
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] Who's to say she didn't? Just because we found her body in the basement doesn't mean she died there.
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] If she really d-died in the Infirmary, then K-Komatsu-kun's really the k-killer after all... [hatefully] You d-disgusting m-murderer!
Komatsu: [grips jacket and stares at floor] No...that ain't true... [desperately] I didn't kill Eguchi-san! Ya gotta believe me!
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] If Yuzuki-san died of blood loss, then you probably are the killer, Yutaka-kun... [looks down glumly] Sorry...
Komatsu: [grips jacket and stares at floor tightly] N-No...

Did Komatsu-kun kill Eguchi-san? If she died of blood loss from that stab wound, then he must be...but is that what happened? I need to look over the evidence from both the basement and Infirmary to make a conclusion...

Answer: State of Terajima's Body > impossible

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] I'm not sure it's impossible for nothing to have happened for two hours, Domoto-san.
Domoto: [icily] What? Why not?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Terajima-kun was shot with two of the tranquilizer darts, remember? Because of that, he was out for a long time. [firmly] So it's not impossible that nothing happened for two hours.
Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] What of Eguchi-san? Do you really think she sat and did nothing for those two hours?
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] She w-wouldn't do that...if she w-were still a-alive. [hatefully] That s-stab wound caused her to b-bleed out and die!
Kawashima: [firmly] No. If that's what happened, there would have been way more blood in the Infirmary than we ended up finding.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] There might be an explanation for that, Wakana-san. The culprit could've cleaned up the blood when they moved her to the Infirmary.

Kawashima: [slightly challenging] And yet they would leave the Infirmary in the disastrous state that it was? [thoughtfully] There was still blood in the Infirmary this morning. If the culprit wanted to make it appear Eguchi-san died downstairs, there would be no reason for them to only clean up most of the blood. They had the whole night to clean the entire Infirmary if they wanted to, so it wasn't like they were pressed for time.
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] But if the culprit didn't clean up the blood, then that means Eguchi-san must've bandaged herself up.
Kawashima: [nods] That's what I was thinking, Sashihara-kun. [thoughtfully] The roll of bandages Komatsu-kun mentioned in his recount of what happened was found on the floor, partially unraveled...I suspect that it wasn't only unraveled from Komatsu-kun dropping it during his fight with Eguchi-san.
Domoto: [doubtfully] You think she used the bandages on herself? [crosses arms] Then why didn't she have any bandages on her body this morning? And if they were removed, why didn't we find any bloody bandages anywhere?
Motoki: [thoughtfully] I guess the culprit must've disposed of them...or maybe they're somewhere on the second or third floor. We didn't have time to investigate everywhere, so they could be somewhere we didn't look.
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] N-No, that c-can't be right...if Eguchi-san d-didn't bleed out, then K-Komatsu-kun would be innocent... [angrily] He has to b-be lying! There's n-no other explanation! [tears up] B-Because...n-no one else would want to k-kill Eguchi-san and Eisuke-kun...n-no one else w-would've gotten involved...
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] That's if we assume that there was a third party involved besides Motoki-san and Komatsu-kun. [seriously] Shouldn't we consider the possibility that maybe there wasn't?
Hayasaka: [shocked] Wait...but that would mean...
Motoki: [incredulously] ...They killed each other!?
Oyamada: [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] N-NO! D-Don't you even DARE s-suggest that! [hatefully] There's no w-way Eguchi-san and E-Eisuke-kun would h-hurt each other! They w-were friends!
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] Well, Komatsu-kun and Eguchi-san were a couple, and...that didn't stop a fight from happening between them.
Komatsu: [miserably] ...........
Oyamada: [angrily] We s-still can't believe what he said! His s-story made it s-sound like Eguchi-san was the one who e-escalated things, but that's n-not true! She'd n-never do that!

I guess he would think that, considering he doesn't know about what happened between Eguchi-san and I last night.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] It's really not impossible, Oyamada-kun. Eguchi-san freaked out at me last night and threatened to kill me. [seriously] She clearly wasn't in a good state of mind, so...I can definitely see her acting as Komatsu-kun described.
Oyamada: [cries softly] N-No...Eguchi-san...she didn't.... [angrily] E-Even still, Komatsu-kun has to be l-lying!
Kawashima: [seriously] I doubt it. [thoughtfully] In fact, in Komatsu-kun's recollection of what happened, Eguchi-san referenced me talking to her about him, which he shouldn't have known about. [firmly] That and the fact that his story mostly lines up with the evidence we found in the Infirmary makes me inclined to believe him.
Sashihara: [clenches fist] You're right, but...I don't want to believe Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun hurt each other.
Kawashima: [seriously] I'm not saying they did for sure, just that we should consider the possibility. [thoughtfully] Anyway, I think that—

Kasparov: Imbecile!

[split screen separates Kasparov and Kawashima]
Kasparov: [disapprovingly] Kawashima-san, I am afraid your theory is devoid of all logic.
Kawashima: [surprised] What...? How?
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] To say that Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san did nothing at all for two whole hours...? [frowns] The evidence simply does not support that conclusion.
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Oh yeah? Why not!?
Kasparov: [presses finger temple] It seems you cannot see it...very well. I will explain myself to you.

I seriously don't see where he's coming from. Why is it impossible for Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun to have done nothing for two hours? I'll see what he has to say, and see if I can refute his argument or not...

REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN

Truth Swords: Dumbbell, Terajima's Head Wound, Stab Wounds, Infirmary Door, Eguchi's Hand and Arm Injuries, Blood on Eguchi's Body

Kasparov: [considers carefully] I will begin with a concession.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] It is entirely possible for Terajima-kun to have done nothing for two hours, given he was shot with tranquilizer darts...
Kasparov: [narrows eyes] But the same cannot be said for Eguchi-san.
Kasparov: [analytically] Even though she was hurt, surely it would not take two whole hours to bandage her wound, correct?

ADVANCE!
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] You're assuming the only reason she stayed in the Infirmary would be to heal herself.
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Have you thought that maybe she was too scared to leave and sheltered in the place where she already was?

Kasparov: [analytically] What reason did she have to be scared? No one else was awake.
Kasparov: [narrows eyes] It is mere conjecture to say that she sheltered in the Infirmary...
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] After all, surely her room would be a preferable option if security was what she desired.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] Besides, Eguchi-san was found in the basement, and you yourself said why she could not have bled out in the Infirmary.
Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] How would she come to be in the basement if she was sheltering in the Infirmary?
Kasparov: [firmly] There was no reason for her to return there willingly!

Kasparov-kun would probably be successful in convincing me that I'm wrong if it weren't for that one piece of evidence...I need to show it to him so I can prove him wrong!

Answer: Infirmary Door > mere conjecture

Kawashima: I'll cut your contradictions in two!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] You're wrong, Kasparov-kun. It's not conjecture to say she sheltered in the Infirmary. [firmly] The Infirmary door proves it!
Kasparov: [narrows eyes] What? How?

Motoki: [thoughtfully] Kawashima-san, you're talking about how it was broken, aren't you?
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] Oh yeah, I remember that...the door handle was broken and barely still attached.
Kasparov: [frowns] Oh...I did not notice that. [presses finger to temple] Even still, I fail to see how this proves me wrong.
Kawashima: [seriously] The door used to be able to be locked from the inside. However, now that that's broken, that lock is inoperable. [firmly] That means someone broke the door open, which only would've happened if Eguchi-san locked herself inside!
Hayasaka: [confusedly] Wait, but during Yutaka-kun's story, he said that he locked the door, right? Did he maybe break it then?
Komatsu: [miserably] Nah, I didn't break it. Neither did Eguchi-san.
Sashihara: [curiously] Just for a recap...when did you lock it, and why?
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] I locked the door behind me and Eguchi-san when we went to the Infirmary. It was late at night, and I didn't want anyone sneakin' up on us...
Oyamada: [aggressively] L-Like that s-stopped Eguchi-san from g-getting hurt...
Komatsu: [tears up] ..........

Komatsu-kun, I'm sorry... I wish things didn't go down the way they did.

Kawashima: [seriously] Anyway, if we return our attention to the current matter...the fact is the door was able to be locked when Komatsu-kun was with Eguchi-san, but wasn't this morning.
Domoto: [crosses arms] How does that prove anything at all? Komatsu-kun could still be lying, so we can't accept his testimony as fact.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] But why would Yutaka-kun break the door handle to the Infirmary...? He was already in the room with Yuzuki-san, so he wouldn't need to break it anyway.
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] Th-That's assuming everything he's saying is t-true...maybe Eguchi-san l-locked herself in the Infirmary b-before he g-got there and he had to b-break in.
Kawashima: [firmly] That's not what happened, Oyamada-kun.
Oyamada: [aggressively] H-How do you kn-know that?
Kasparov: [narrows eyes] Yes, Kawashima-san, how do you know that? [analytically] You seem to be in a rush to believe everything Komatsu-kun says, even though we have little reason to do so. Have you already forgotten how he resisted the accusation against him for so long? [covers mouth with hand] Perhaps the true reason he was so resistant to admit that he was with Eguchi-san is that he is our true culprit.
Komatsu: [fiercely] That ain't true. I'd never kill her!
Domoto: [icily] You say that as if it's fact.
Kawashima: [seriously] Please stop throwing around accusations. Can you please let me explain why Komatsu-kun couldn't have broken the Infirmary door?
Domoto: [irritatedly] ...Fine. Go ahead.

The reason why Komatsu-kun couldn't have broken the Infirmary door...it has to do with what the door was broken with, which had to be...
Tranquilizer Dart Gun/Crowbar/Dumbbell

Answer: Dumbbell

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] The Infirmary door was broken with the dumbbell. [seriously] We already established that Komatsu-kun isn't strong enough to lift such a heavy dumbbell, so he can't be the one who broke the door open!
Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] How can you know for certain that it was the dumbbell that was used to break the door open?
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] The dumbbell's scratch marks. Kawashima-san, that's why you think it was used, right?
Kawashima: [nods] Exactly. [thoughtfully] I was wondering why the dumbbell had scratch marks on it when we know Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san didn't sustain any fatal blunt force trauma, which is the first explanation for the scratches my mind jumped to. [seriously] However...the dumbbell being used to break down the door makes sense. The Gym's right next door to the Infirmary, so it'd be convenient to use to break the door open.
Motoki: [grimly] Only if you were super strong. It was forty-five kilograms, so it'd take a really strong person to lift it. [eyes widen] Wait a minute...Terajima-kun would be able to lift that dumbbell pretty easily, wouldn't he?
Oyamada: [incredulously] Are you s-saying you th-think it was Eisuke-kun who b-broke into the I-Infirmary? [angrily] Th-That's impossible! He'd n-never do that!
Domoto: [sternly] Yes he would. [strokes chin] I'm sure that when he woke up, he saw the scene in the basement and became quite worried about Eguchi-san. [crosses arms] When he eventually made his way to the Infirmary, I doubt Eguchi-san would let him inside, so he must've felt it was necessary to use force to break in to make sure she okay.

I could see Terajima-kun doing that. He cared deeply about all our safety, especially that of Eguchi-san and Oyamada-kun. There's probably nothing he wouldn't do to make sure they were okay...
Oyamada: [tears up] B-But...how do you kn-know she w-wouldn't let him in? [cries softly] He was her f-friend! Why w-wouldn't she?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Oyamada-kun, she threatened to kill Kawashima-san and didn't even trust Komatsu-kun... [grimly] Besides, in Komatsu-kun's story, Eguchi-san even said that she didn't trust Terajima-kun anymore and that she thought he was lying about wanting her to let her out.
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] We c-can't trust that s-story...
Kawashima: [firmly] Oyamada-kun, he isn't lying. [thoughtfully] As I said earlier, there's no way he would've known about how I told Eguchi-san that Komatsu-kun was standing up for her and that she didn't believe that if he was lying. [seriously] Also...I know this isn't a strictly logical defense, but...Komatsu-kun's a terrible liar. You saw how obvious he was when he denied meeting with Eguchi-san. [seriously] Because of that, I trust him. I think if he were lying, we'd know by now.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] I would say that perhaps Komatsu-kun was faking being obvious in the beginning to make himself look like a terrible liar, but...I doubt that. [covers mouth with hand] No offense, Komatsu-kun, but I doubt you have the strategic capabilities to do such a thing.
Komatsu: [sullenly] ...Fuck you, asshole.
Kasparov: [frowns] I said "no offense"...

As if that makes it any less insulting...
Oyamada: [bitterly] S-So...Komatsu-kun r-really is telling the t-truth, huh... [fidgets uncomfortably] E-Even still, I don't think wh-what you're s-saying about E-Eisuke-kun is right. I d-don't believe he b-broke that d-door.
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Why not, Oyamada-kun?
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] B-Because he was kn-knocked out in the b-basement... [hatefully] And because there's s-someone else who c-could've easily lifted that w-weight too.

...Oh fuck. I didn't even think of it, but Oyamada-kun's right. There is someone else who could've lifted that weight...how did I not notice it earlier!? There's only one living person who'd also be able to lift that weight, and that person is...

CHOOSE A PERSON!

Wakana Kawashima

Eisuke Terajima

Sakiko Motoki

Yuuto Furuhata

Yuzuki Eguchi

Sergey Kasparov

Mayumi Carrasco

Mika Hayasaka

Tomiko Niizuma

Noriyo Ichigohara

Yoshi Yamaguchi

Yutaka Komatsu

Hisaya Sashihara

Osamu Oyamada

Michio Aozora

Otoha Domoto

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

[HISAYA SASHIHARA CHOSEN]

Kawashima: It can only be you!

Kawashima: [seriously] Sashihara-kun, you could've lifted that dumbbell too. In fact, I saw you do it during the investigation!
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] ...Yeah, I could've lifted it. So what?
Kawashima: [seriously] So you could've been the one who broke the Infirmary door!
Hayasaka: [stares with muted anger] Hisaya-kun, tell truth...did you do it?
Sashihara: [clenches fist] No. I didn't. [points] It was Terajima-kun who broke down that door, not me!
Oyamada: [angrily] How can you s-say that when you kn-know was knocked o-out from the t-tranquilizer darts!?
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] He woulda woke up eventually...it ain't impossible that Terajima-kun was the one who used that dumbbell.
Kawashima: [serioiusly] You're correct, Komatsu-kun. It could be either of them. [thoughtfully] Honestly, I can't decide which it is just yet. Terajima-kun was knocked out in the basement, but he could've woken up at some point. Sashihara-kun wasn't around in Komatsu-kun or Motoki-san's stories, but that doesn't mean he didn't get involved. [firmly] Either way, we need to suspect both of them. And because Sashihara-kun is the only one still alive...I think we should look to him first.
Sashihara: [points] It's not me! I swear! [passionately] I didn't kill either Eguchi-san or Terajima-kun!
Domoto: [sternly] It'd be nice if we could simply believe you, but we can't just take your word for it. [crosses arms] Let's discuss this further and see if Sashihara-kun really could be the culprit or not.

I agree, Domoto-san...we need to talk about this more to see if it's possible for Sashihara-kun to have been involved. Him being able to lift the dumbbell alone doesn't necessarily mean he's guilty. After all, he has been pretty helpful in the trial so far, but that doesn't mean he's innocent. We need to talk about this more...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Terajima's Head Wound, Blood on Eguchi's Body, Empty Potassium Cyanide Jar, Remains in Incinerator, Roll of Bandages, Infirmary Door

Sashihara: [passionately] I'm telling you, I'm not the culprit! I'm being set up!
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Do you have any proof of that, Hisaya-kun?

Sashihara: [clenches fist] Well, I...there's nothing that points to me being suspicious
except for the dumbbell!
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] It's true that I woke up in the middle of the night, but... [points] That was only because of the noise I heard, which we already established was from the elevator crashing!

Domoto: [crosses arms] I've yet to hear how any of this makes you look any less suspicious.
Sashihara: [explanatorily] I wasn't the only one who heard that noise.
If you're going to suspect me, then Oyamada-kun and Kawashima-san should be suspects too! [points] After all, if you eliminate the dumbbell, they're just as suspicious as I am!
Komatsu:: [fixes belt] But ya don't got any proof they left their rooms, do ya?
Sashihara: [clenches fist] There's no definitive proof I left mine, either. [passionately] I had no reason to be awake before the loud noise! I had no reason to be involved in these murders!
Kasparov: [frowns] ...This seems to be a rather weak defense.

Sashihara-kun is adamantly denying he's completely innocent but is that really true? I'm not sure, but the evidence must hold the answer. I need to think about where he was last night, and the evidence that was there, and I'll probably find the answer...

Answer: Empty Potassium Cyanide Jar > set up

Kawashima: That's right!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Everyone, I know this is a sudden reversal from me, but...something Sashihara-kun just said is making me reconsider things.
Kasparov: [arches eyebrows] Oh? What is it?
Sashihara: [confusedly] I feel like I should know what this is, but I don't...
Kawashima: [seriously] It's the potassium cyanide jar we found in the Gym. It's making me think that Sashihara-kun is being set up by the real culprit.
Domoto: [icily] Are you kidding me? That's absolutely ridiculous!
Kawashima: [firmly] No, Domoto-san, it's not. [seriously] We already discussed why potassium cyanide wasn't what killed either Eguchi-san or Terajima-kun, so its presence in the Gym is...strange, to say the least.
Motoki: [grimly] Not to mention how it's completely empty. That's weird, too.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] You're right, that is weird...I honestly don't know why the jar was empty just yet. But I think I do know why it was in the Gym.
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] Wh-Why? Do y-you think the real c-culprit put it there to m-make Sashihara-kun look s-suspicious?
Kawashima: [nods] Yes. [seriously] Sashihara-kun is the most frequent user of the Gym and was there last night. [thoughtfully] If the culprit wanted to plant evidence to make him look suspicious, that's the perfect place to do it.

Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Hold up, why the fuck would the culprit put the potassium cyanide in the Gym if it ain't what actually killed Eguchi-san or Terajima-kun? [fixes belt] That don't do shit for the culprit! If they were gonna frame Sashihara-kun, wouldn't they do it with somethin' that was actually relevant?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] That's a good question, Yutaka-kun. I don't really see what the point of it would be...
Domoto: [crosses arms and closes eyes] Nor do I. What Kawashima-san is saying is preposterous. [opens eyes] The potassium cyanide is nothing more than a red herring and didn't kill either of the victims. [sternly] Because of that, I think the likeliest option is that Sashihara-kun put the potassium cyanide in the Gym in an attempt to make it look like he was framed!
Sashihara: [points] That's not true! I didn't put that jar there!

Everyone's thinking about this too narrowly. There's another possibility here, which is that...
Eguchi tried to kill someone with the potassium cyanide/The true culprit and the person who put the potassium cyanide in the Gym are different people/Sashihara is being framed by Terajima

Answer: The true culprit and the person who put the potassium cyanide in the Gym are different people

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] The person who put the potassium cyanide in the Gym and the real culprit may not be the same person.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Huh? Whaddaya mean by sayin' that?
Kawashima: [seriously] I'm saying that because the potassium cyanide never ended up getting used to kill anyone, it wasn't put there by the real culprit. [thoughtfully] Or at least it wasn't put there by the same person who broke down the Infirmary door, which must be either Sashihara-kun or Terajima-kun.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] I fail to see how this proves Sashihara-kun did not break the Infirmary door.
Kawashima: [firmly] It doesn't. It's entirely possible he broke the door and he's being framed at the same time.
Motoki: [perplexed] But who would be framing him if it really was Sashihara-kun who broke the door? He'd be the one who killed Eguchi-san in that case.
Oyamada: [quietly] ...A s-second murder p-plan. [hugs book tightly] Th-That's what you're s-suggesting, r-right, Kawashima-san?

Unfortunately...yes, Oyamada-kun.
Kawashima: [seriously] Yes. I think the potassium cyanide may be the work of a second person's murder plan. [thoughtfully] It's strange to choose poisons, even such fast-acting ones, for a murder happening in the middle of the night, because there were far more convenient weapons to use in the Weapons Room.
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] ...Where are you going with this, Kawashima-san?

Kawashima: [seriously] I think the poisons were part of a murder plan that never came to fruition...one that was going to set up Sashihara-kun as the culprit.
Kasparov: [narrows eyes] What? I see no evidence for this.
Domoto: [sternly] Neither do I. It seems to be mostly conjecture.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Actually, I see Wakana-san's point. [looks at the side thoughtfully] If you were going to poison someone, you'd most likely do it during one of the meals...and Hisaya-kun's the one who does all the cooking.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Oh, I get it now. Whoever was plannin' the shit with the poison was gonna frame Sashihara-kun by puttin' the potassium cyanide jar in the Gym and slippin' poison into someone's food to make him look guilty.
Kawashima: [nods] That's what I was thinking. [thoughtfully] It makes sense, especially if the target was someone like Eguchi-san. Her food was usually set aside from the rest of ours, so it wouldn't be impossible to slip something into it while you were getting your own food in the Kitchen.
Kasparov: [disapprovingly] I believe that to be a rather foolish plan. One small mistake or an unlucky glance from someone and the culprit could be outed.

Komatsu: [sullenly] Guess ya weren't the who came up with it, then...otherwise ya wouldn't be shit-talkin' it.
Kasparov: [frowns] Of course it was not me. [covers mouth with hand] However...Kawashima-san, how can you be so certain it was not Sashihara-kun who came up with this dastardly plan, if it was even real?

Easy...it comes down to what I was doing last night.
Kawashima: [seriously] Kasparov-kun, last night I carefully watched Sashihara-kun make food for dinner to make sure he didn't poison any of the food, and he caught on to what I was doing. [firmly] I think that would've discouraged him from using poison after knowing that I suspected him enough to watch him make dinner.

Sashihara: [clenches fist] On top of that, Kasparov-kun, you're a serious dumbass if you think I would make a murder plan revolving around putting poison in food or drink when I'm the one who spends the most time in the Kitchen. I'd be instantly suspected!
Kasparov: [frustratedly] It was not idiotic of me. I was merely—
Domoto: [sternly] Shut up. There's no time for petty bickering. [crosses arms] Anyway, I'm not saying you're wrong, Kawashima-san...but your theory about this poison really is just conjecture at the moment. [narrows eyes] Also, how can you be certain none of the poison killed anyone?

Are we really doing this again...?
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Well, let's start with the fact that Eguchi-san didn't have any of her soup, coffee, or ice cream and that both victims were very much alive at 1 AM, even though both taipan venom and potassium cyanide kill fairly quickly. So, we can be certain that neither of them was poisoned at dinner.
Domoto: [crosses arms] I don't disagree. [icily] But can you really be sure neither Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun was poisoned at a later point?
Oyamada: [angrily] If y-you're going to a-accuse me of p-poisoning Eisuke-kun's c-coffee again, d-don't even bother...he w-would've died before M-Motoki-san even g-got to Eguchi-san's cell!
Domoto: [strokes chin] Yes, we already proved that coffee was not laced with potassium cyanide. [sternly] However, inland taipan venom's a brown liquid, right? So is coffee...
Oyamada: [hatefully] F-Fuck you! I d-didn't kill him!

Oyamada-kun's right, he didn't kill Terajima-kiun with inland taipan venom. I can prove it if I think back to that piece of evidence...
Dried Dark Red Puddles/Blood on Terajima/Suit Stains

Answer: Dried Dark Red Puddles

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoguhtfully] Domoto-san, one of the symptoms of inland taipan venom poisoning is convulsions. [slightly challening] If that was what killed him, don't you think the ice cream puddle he was lying in would've been a lot messier?

Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] The smudge left from where Eisuke-kun fell had a pretty smooth outline. It definitely didn't look like he did any convulsing there.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Yeah, I doubt that happened...even if he was unconscious, he still woulda convulsed if the inland taipan venom was in his coffee.

Domoto: [icily] But his body was covered in such an obscene amount of blood. Isn't excessive bleeding one of the symptoms of inland taipan venom too?
Kawashima: [seriously] It can be, but all of that blood was covering his back, which had no open wounds on it. It was likely just a distraction. [firmly] Face it, Domoto-san. Terajima-kun's coffee didn't have inland taipan venom or potassium cyanide in it.
Domoto: [crosses arms and looks down] .......... [reluctantly] ...Alright, I accept. But isn't it still possible he or Eguchi-san was killed with poison? [strokes chin] Perhaps the culprit used a syringe to directly inject poison into their veins.
Motoki: [determined] Not possible. I made sure to check the syringes in the Infirmary during the investigation, and none of them were touched at all.
Domoto: [reluctantly] Well...I suppose that it could also—
Komatsu: [exasperatedly] Holy shit, jus' shut the fuck up already! It's obvious poison ain't the murder weapon here, so stop tryna make it look like it was!
Domoto: [icily] If there's someone here I'm going to let dictate the conversation, it's definitely not going to be the one who admitted to stabbing one of the victims!
Komatsu: [fiercely] Go fuck yerself!

Oh, fuck...things are getting out of control fast.
Kawashima: [firmly] Calm down, all of you. Fighting only helps the real culprit.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Yeah, we have been getting pretty sidetracked...I almost forgot we were accusing Sashihara-kun just a minute ago.
Sashihara: [passionately] It still isn't me!
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] I d-doubt that. He c-could be l-lying...
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] You're right that Sashihara-kun might be lying, Oyamada-kun. [seriously] But we're not going to make any progress accusing him with only the dumbbell as evidence. So...I suggest we hold off on accusing him for a little while. [thoughtfully] We need to think in terms of evidence, not suspects, otherwise we'll never find out what happened.

I hope this is the right decision.
Clearly my speculation about the possibility of a second murder plan didn't help us solve anything at all...so it's probably best to set that aside for a moment. We need to examine the evidence and use that to reach a conclusion about who the culprit is, not the other way around. I still don't know if Sashihara-kun is the one who broke that door if it's Terajima-kun...but I know we won't get anywhere doing things like we are now.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] I agree with Kawashima-san. [analytically] We have yet to determine what caused Eguchi-san to return to the basement after the incident with Komatsu-kun and have yet to begin mentioning how Terajima-kun ended up crushed beneath an elevator. [presses finger to temple] Figuring out those things alone will certainly allow us to more accurately determine the true identity of the culprit and whether Sashihara-kun is lying or not.
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] I g-guess...but how w-will we f-figure out any of th-that?
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] I guess we gotta talk through shit some more...

Yes, that should the best course of action, Komatsu-kun. Hopefully we don't get sidetracked again...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Terajima's Head Wound, Broken Glass, Roll of Bandages, Explosives, Eguchi's Hand and Arm Injuries, Stab Wounds

Motoki: [rubs shoulder] I guess if Sashihara-kun was really Eguchi-san's killer, things are pretty simple... [thoughtfully] He breaks into the Infirmary, kills her there, and then brings her corpse to the basement.
Sashihara: [passionately] That's completely wrong! I didn't do any of that!
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] If Hisaya-kun really killed Yuzuki-san...then Eisuke-kun probably saw something that made Hisaya-kun kill him. [looks down glumly] Either that, or there was a second killer who killed Eisuke-kun.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] I guess all that's possible, but...I believe Sashihara-kun. [fixes belt] I think it was Terajima-kun who broke the Infirmary door.
Oyamada: [angrily] He w-wouldn't do that! He and E-Eguchi-san were f-friends! [hatefully] Th-There isn't even any indication
they hurt each o-other, so d-don't s-say they did!
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] Moving away from that... [considers carefully] Regardless of who broke the door, I believe that Eguchi-san did not die in the Infirmary. [covers mouth with hand] Rather, I believe the killer truly murdered her in her cell.
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] I don't see how that's possible. Yuzuki-san would never go back to her cell willingly...
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] Perhaps she was incapacitated in some way. [analyitcally] No matter how it happened, I believe the killer brought Eguchi-san back to the cell to place the mantle of suspicion onto the two people unconscious there, Motoki-san and Terajima-kun.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] If that's what happened, why the fuck is Terajima-kun dead?
Kasparov: [considers carefully] As we have said before, due to his larger constitution, he would awake
before Motoki-san. Perhaps he saw something he was not meant to then.
Motoki: [grimly] That still doesn't explain why he was crushed by an elevator of all things.
Kasparov: [frowns] Correct...I have yet to determine why that occurred.

Oyamada: [looks down and to the side thoughtfully] That d-didn't get us a-anywhere...

I'm not so sure about that, Oyamada-kun. I definitely heard something that I can make a solid conclusion about.

Answer: Stab Wounds > any indication

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I'm sorry, Oyamada-kun, but...that isn't right. It certainly is possible Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san hurt each other.
Oyamada: [angrily] Wh-What!? Of c-course it isn't!

Domoto: [sternly] Calm down, Oyamada-kun.
Oyamada: [aggressively] D-Don't talk to me.
Domoto: [icily] ..........

She doesn't like him talking back to her like that and honestly, neither do I. I like to see Oyamada-kun standing up for himself, but he's being a little extreme...I guess he's just not very stable considering his boyfriend and close friend were just murdered.
Motoki: [awkwardly] Not to be rude, but...I was wondering the same thing, Kawashima-san. [perplexed] Why do you think they hurt each other? I know Eguchi-san was unstable, but what about Terajima-kun? Do you really think he'd hurt someone?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Well, I can't be completely certain, but...there's a likely explanation for at least one of Terajima-kun's stab wounds. [seriously] It’s Eguchi-san stabbing him with the pair of scissors in the Infirmary.
Oyamada: [angrily] Th-That...Th-That's terrible! [tears up] You r-really think she'd hurt her f-friend like that!?
Kawashima: [nods] Unfortunately, yes. [seriously] The pair of scissors in the Infirmary is the right size and shape to match with the larger of the two wounds in Terajima-kun's chest, which we have yet to find an explanation for so far.
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] B-But...how w-would she be able to s-stab him even if she w-wanted to? [angrily] He was the Ultimate B-Bodyguard, and she was w-way smaller and w-weaker than him!

That's actually a decent point, but even still it's not proof what I'm saying is wrong.
Kawashima: [firmly] As you said before, Oyamada-kun, Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun were friends. Perhaps Terajima-kun mistakenly let his guard down for just a moment and she stabbed him then. [thoughtfully] I'd like to be clear: I don't think Eguchi-san killed him. She just wasn't strong enough to do that. [seriously] However, it is possible she stabbed him.
Oyamada: [tears up] N-No...I d-don't want to b-believe it...
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] I don't want to believe it either, Osamu-kun, but Yuzuki-san fought with Yutaka-kun, who she loved, so...I don't really think it's a stretch to say she hurt Eisuke-kun too.

Oyamada: [cries softly] Eguchi-san...wh-why...

Oyamada-kun, I'm sorry. I didn't want to admit to this possibility either, but we can't ignore it. We can't discount any possibility just because we don't like it...
Kasparov: [considers carefully] I must admit, I am not entirely convinced by this theory of yours, Kawashima-san. [presses finger to temple] Surely there must be another explanation for the two wounds in the chest of Terajima-kun. Even if Eguchi-san was his friend, if she truly stabbed him with the scissors, that would mean he was the one who broke the Infirmary door, correct? [narrows eyes] I highly doubt he would let his guard down around her after he broke into a room.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] If it was Terajima-kun who broke the door, I doubt did it with any malice...after seeing the mess I made in the basement, he probably wanted to make sure she was safe. [grimly] Unfortunately, it seems like all that did was get him stabbed.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] So, is this finally what will convince you guys that I'm telling the truth? It was Terajima-kun who broke into the Infirmary, not me!
Domoto: [sternly] You haven't been absolved yet. [icily] This is hardly proof it was Terajima-kun. As Kasparov-kun has pointed out, there might be another explanation for how he got stabbed.
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] What would that be, Domoto-san? The stab wound is also not deep enough to kill him, so it's unlikely to be from his true killer.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Yeah...and ya'd have to be real fuckin' stupid if ya were tryna kill Terajima-kun of all people with a knife from the front. The dude was a yakuza and bodyguard, so he could fuck yer shit up easily. [rubs back of neck] A smart killer woulda killed him from behind or from far away.
Oyamada: [aggressively] D-Don't bring up E-Eisuke-kun's past as a y-yakuza...he h-hated that life!
Domoto: [sternly] That is not relevant. [crosses arms] Kawashima-san, is there anything more to this theory of yours?
Kawashima: [nods] Yes, there is. [seriously] Terajima-kun was knocked unconscious for two hours and Motoki-san didn't stab him at any point during her altercation with him. [thoughtfully] In fact, this might be the explanation for why nothing apparently happened for the two hours between 1:30 and the time when the incinerator was used. If Terajima-kun was out and Eguchi-san was staying in the Infirmary, it makes sense that there was a lull in activity for a little while.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] If Hisaya-kun were the killer, he really would have no reason to wait around for two hours...so I guess this makes Eisuke-kun look a little more suspicious. [uncertainly] I still don't buy what you're saying, though, Wakana-san. How would the real killer be involved if Hisaya-kun wasn't the one who broke down the Infirmary door? If it was him, what made him wake up at such a weird time?

Sashihara: [passionately] Nothing woke me up except for that noise and shaking! I never even left my room!
Motoki: [thoughtfully] I'd say that maybe there wasn't anyone else involved besides me and Komatsu-kun and they killed each other, but I don't see how the elevator explosion, the stuff in the Incinerator, and the crowbar in the Infirmary can be explained if we say that was the case.
Oyamada: [cries softly] Th-They wouldn't hurt each o-other...a-at least, E-Eisuke-kun wouldn't ever h-hurt Eguchi-san. He c-cared about her.

That's true. I don't want to completely discount the possibility of Terajima-kun killing her by accident, but I don't want to believe that he'd do that. He regretted stabbing Furuhata-kun so much that it's hard to imagine him ever letting himself lose control like that again...but who knows.
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] No matter if the person who broke down the Infirmary door is Terajima-kun or Sashihara-kun, we still have yet to determine how Eguchi-san went from locking herself in the Infirmary to being dead in the basement. [disapprovingly] Kawashima-san, I am rather disappointed that you decided to launch this tangent about Terajima-kun potentially being the one who broke into the Infirmary so soon after saying that we should think in terms of evidence, not suspects. [narrows eyes] Do you still stand by that suggestion, or do you wish to continue this conjecture about Terajima-kun?

Goddamn, you can be really fucking annoying sometimes.
Kawashima: [seriously] I got sidetracked. I wanted to explain to Oyamada-kun that it was in fact possible Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san hurt each other. [firmly] I'm not going to apologize for exploring a possibility, but...I am sorry for temporarily derailing the discussion.

I'm not really sorry, considering it was less than five minutes, but...in my years of waitressing, I've learned that fighting with someone who's certain they're right isn't worth it in the end.
Hayasaka: [curiously] So...how did Yuzuki-san get to the basement?

Sashihara: [points] I don't know because I'm not her killer, but I'm sure she didn't return there willingly!
Domoto: [crosses arms] I doubt the first part, but I do agree with the second. [strokes chin] Eguchi-san hated being in that cell. There is absolutely no way she'd return there of her own volition.
Hayasaka: [stares with muted anger] If you know she hated it so much, then why did you advocate for keeping her in there?

Domoto: [sternly] Stop this right now. It's not relevant.
Komatsu: [sullenly] Yeah it fuckin' is. Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun wouldn't be dead if it weren't for ya and Kasparov-kun makin' her stay in that cell.
Kasparov: [narrows eyes] That is an interesting claim, given that neither of us stabbed Eguchi-san like you or attacked both victims like Motoki-san.

Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] Komatsu-kun and I made huge mistakes, but at least we acknowledge what we did was wrong. [hostilely] You and Domoto-san, though...you keep on defending yourselves to the very end! Shouldn't you at least acknowledge that maybe you're at fault too!?
Kasparov: [frustratedly] Cease this nonsense. Neither of us did anything wrong!
Domoto: [crosses arms and looks down] ..........

There Domoto-san goes not defending herself yet again...what's up with her? I'm curious, but I don't have time to think about it. This endless blaming is doing nothing for us.
Kawashima: [firmly] Everyone, stop it. Now. This can wait until after the trial.
Motoki: [grimly] ...Fine.
Komatsu: [sullenly] ..........
Kasparov: [frustratedly] ..........

This is awkward...
Hayasaka: [awkwardly] So, uh...back to what we were supposed to be talking about... [twirls hair pensively] If Yuzuki-san didn't go back to her cell willingly, then that means she either didn't die there or was forcibly brought back there.
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] I d-don't see why E-Eisuke-kun would b-bring her b-back there if it w-was him...he w-wanted to let her o-out, so if he had a ch-choice I don't th-think he'd b-bring her back.

Domoto: [raises eyebrows] Was he still planning on letting her out?
Kawashima: [nods] Yes. [seriously] He told me while Oyamada-kun was making coffee for him and Eguchi-san. I assume he told Oyamada-kun beforehand.
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] Y-Yeah...he d-didn't say for s-sure he was going to d-do it, but that he w-was really c-considering it.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] If he really did get stabbed by Eguchi-san, it ain't impossible he changed his mind, though.

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] That is true. Immediately after he told me he was considering letting her out, I informed him of Eguchi-san's outburst where she threatened to kill me and told him that I didn't think letting her out was a good idea. [seriously] Obviously, I can't know for sure if I changed his mind when I told him that, but Eguchi-san was still in her cell when Motoki-san attacked...so maybe I did.
Motoki: [grimly] I think getting stabbed probably did more to change his mind...
Kasparov: [disapprovingly] You speak as if it is certain that Eguchi-san stabbed Terajima-kun, but that is simply not the case. We cannot be certain it was he who used the dumbbell yet.
Sashihara: [passionately] Please believe me already! I didn't do it!
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] Sorry, Sashihara-kun, but we can't believe that just yet.

Sashihara: [clenches fist] ..........
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Sakiko-san, I think that you're wrong. Maybe we can believe Hisaya-kun.
Kasparov: [narrows eyes] And why is that? [disapprovingly] What makes you believe that he can be trusted?
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] I just tried to think things through the culprit's perspective, and Hisaya-kun being the killer didn't make much sense after I did that.
Domoto: [pinches bridge of nose] And what was your thought process? [icily] That he was too nice to ever do something like that?
Hayasaka: [glares at Domoto] No, it was more logic-based. [uncertainly] I guess I should try to explain it to everyone...
Kasparov: [skeptically] Please do. I am curious as to what you have to say.

So am I. Hayasaka-san rarely ever makes theories, so I wonder what she has to say.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] My first thought was to try to disregard the culprit's identity for a little while. [looks to the side thoughtfully] No matter who they were, we know they brought Yuzuki-san back to her cell, but we don't know if she was dead or alive while they did that. If she was dead, they probably killed her in the Infirmary, but if she was alive, they killed her in the cell.
Motoki: [awkwardly] Not to be rude, but we already knew all that...
Hayasaka: [flatly] I was just getting started, Sakiko-san. [looks to the side thoughtfully] Anyway, I tried to understand the motivation of bringing the Yuzuki-san back to the cell, and decided that the killer probably did it to make Sakiko-san or Eisuke-kun suspicious. It'd be easy enough to kill her in the Infirmary, so there must be some motivation for them to have brought her all the way downstairs.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] I guess that makes sense, but it don't really make sense that they'd leave the Infirmary so fucked up if they were tryna do that.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] That is not much of an issue. It would be a waste of time to clean the Infirmary when there was undeniable proof something had happened there in the broken door handle and the shattered doors of the poison cabinet.
[narrows eyes] However, there is a problem here, Hayasaka-san. If the killer was neither Terajima-kun nor Motoki-san,
how would they know of the situation in the basement? [covers mouth with hand] Surely Motoki-san did not tell anyone of her plan. If we are to trust his account, Komatsu-kun never went to the basement with Eguchi-san and she did not tell him what happened.
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] C-Can we really t-trust Komatsu-kun, though?
Kasparov: [considers carefully] Not entirely, no. However, he is incapable of lifting the dumbbell and, as Kawashima-san pointed out earlier, he is a terrible liar. Because of this, I am not very inclined to suspect him.
Komatsu: [relieved] Thank fuck...
Oyamada: [angrily] ..........

I don't think that was the answer Oyamada-kun wanted...
Domoto: [crosses arms] Hayasaka-san, you haven't answered Kasparov-kun's question. How would the culprit know of the situation in the basement if they weren't Terajima-kun or Motoki-san?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] They would have to either have gone into the basement before going up to the Infirmary or have gone to the Infirmary first and assumed that something had happened in the basement. [looks to the side thoughtfully] The assumption one doesn't really make much sense, so we can rule it out. But, if they didn't do that, why
would they go to the basement so late at night? That's the more important question here. The most obvious answer is that they were trying to kill Eguchi-san, but even that isn't very logical.
Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] What are you trying to suggest, Hayasaka-san?
Hayasaka: [confidently] I don't believe Hisaya-kun should be a suspect because it just doesn't make sense for him to be up so late. [looks to the side thoughtfully] If he was planning to kill Eguchi-san from the start, why wait for Eisuke-kun to be guard? As Osamu-kun said a while back, Wakana-san would be a way easier person to deal with, so Hisaya-kun planning to kill Yuzuki-san from the start doesn't make sense.
[twirls hair pensively] Also, both Sakiko-san and Yutaka-kun didn't mention him in their stories, yet he somehow managed to wake up so late at night, head up to the Infirmary, and kill Yuzuki-san? I don't buy it.

Wow, Hayasaka-san, I'm impressed. I didn't expect your proposal to be so well thought-out and convincing...I guess I underestimated.
Kawashima: [firmly] After listening to Hayasaka-san, I have to agree with her. Sashihara-kun being the culprit doesn't make sense.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] ...I suppose Hayasaka-san is right. Even if Sashihara-kun is capable of using the dumbbell to break the Infirmary door, things do not simply add up if it is him.
Sashihara: [relieved] That's a relief...
Oyamada: [grimaces] Um...I'm n-not so sure we can e-eliminate Sashihara-kun as a s-suspect yet. [looks down and to the side] M-Maybe he w-woke up when he h-heard Eguchi-san outside Komatsu-kun's r-room...that c-could be an explanation for why he w-was up so late.

That isn't a possibility, Oyamada-kun. And that's because...
Sashihara is too deep a sleeper/Sashihara's room has higher-quality soundproofing/You and I would have heard it before him

Answer: You and I would have heard it before him

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] Oyamada-kun, our rooms are right next to Komatsu-kun's room. If he woke up to something outside of Komatsu-kun's room, don't you think at least one of the two of us would have it woken up too?
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] Ngh...p-probably...
Sashihara: [passionately] So, do you all finally believe me now? Do you trust that I didn't kill Eguchi-san!?
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Yeah, I do.
Motoki: [nods] Same.
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] I d-don't like it, but...I g-guess.
Domoto: [crosses arms] ...I suppose I have to agree with everyone else. [reluctantly] And Hayasaka-san...well done. You did a good job.

Domoto-san...complimenting someone? That's a rarity.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] Oh, uh...thanks, Otoha-san.

Looks like she was surprised by Domoto-san complimenting her too.
Sashihara: [gratefully] Thanks, Hayasaka-san. I really owe you one.
Hayasaka: [smiles slightly] It's no problem at all, Hisaya-kun.

She's changed a lot since the last trial...before then, I could barely stand being around her, but now she's actually positively contributing to the group. I'm glad things turned around with her. Hopefully she stays this way...
Motoki: [thoughtfully] So, if everyone agrees with what Hayasaka-san said, I guess that leaves us with only one option...
[grimly] ...which is that Terajima-kun is the one who broke into the Infirmary.
Oyamada: [cries softly] N-No...E-Eisuke-kun...
Komatsu: [wipes eyes] So it was Terajima-kun who killed her after all...that fuckin' sucks.
Oyamada: [angrily] N-No...! He d-didn't! He'd n-never hurt her! [cries softly] N-Not even if she r-really did s-stab him...he w-wouldn't hurt her b-back...
Domoto: [strokes chin] You talking about the stab wound makes me think...If we accept Terajima-kun as the one who broke down the door, the most logical explanation for his stab wound is Eguchi-san stabbing him with the pair of scissors in the Infirmary. I suppose it wasn't conjecture after all.

Kasparov: [frowns] It appears it was not, no.

Both of them do not sound like they enjoy admitting they were wrong earlier...
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] I agree about the stab wound, but...I don't think Terajima-kun is the killer. [clenches fist] After what he did to Furuhata-kun, he seemed so resolute to change...would he really make the same grievous mistake twice?
Domoto: [crosses arm] Of course he could. He admitting that stabbing Furuhata-kun was an almost instinctual act of self-defense, so who's to say he didn't accidentally kill Eguchi-san? She did stab him.

Oyamada: [hatefully] I f-fucking h-hate you...he'd n-never hurt h-her!
Domoto: [icily] Hate me all you want. It doesn't change the fact that Terajima-kun could very well be Eguchi-san's killer.

He could be if we look at things in a strictly logical sense, but would he kill her? Even accidentally, I don't see how...impaling her on a huge piece of metal without intent would be difficult, and we know her stab wound came from Komatsu-kun, not Terajima-kun. Besides, she didn't have a broken neck or anything like that, so it's not like he could've accidentally killed her that way, either...
Sashihara: [clenches fist] I guess what Domoto-san's saying is a possibility, but...there's a more likely one, in my opinion. [adjusts medical mask] Motoki-san. You could have killed them both.
Motoki: [passionately] That isn't true! I didn't kill either of them!
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] H-How are we s-supposed to j-just believe that? [looks down and to the side] Y-You got shot with the d-darts pretty s-soon after Eisuke-kun...e-even if he w-would've been out for l-less time, it's n-not a stretch to say you w-woke up and then k-killed Eisuke-kun and Eguchi-san.
Motoki: [shamefully] I know what I did was terrible and unforgivable, but please believe me...I didn't kill anyone. [passionately] I'm telling you! I don't know how soon before me Terajima-kun woke up, but it was long enough for him and Eguchi-san to get killed!
Domoto: [icily] Isn't that just convenient. You wake up after they all died and the crime had been covered up for. [crosses arms] I doubt it.

Kasparov: [analytically] I agree. She must be suspected.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Hold on, Kasparov-kun, didn't ya say that ya weren't considerin' her as a suspect anymore a while back? What happened to that?
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] I changed my mind. [covers mouth with hand] Besides, when I said that, what I truly meant was that we could trust her testimony up to her being knocked unconscious by Eguchi-san, given that your story confirmed that information. [narrows eyes] However, there is no reason why she could not have been lying about awaking to find Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun dead. That was always the most suspicious part of her story.

I get why they're suspicious of Motoki-san. Her saying she woke up to two corpses could very easily be a lie, but it could also be true. We can't know for sure, though, not unless we somehow determine how long the drugs in the tranquilizer darts would've lasted for both her and Terajima-kun. If we knew that, we could see if she's lying. Unfortunately, we can't know that for sure.

...Actually, that might not be right. There is someone I could ask...
Kawashima: [seriously] Monohebi, I have a question for you.
Monohebi: [neutral] Oh? What is it, Kawashima?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] How do the drugs in the yellow tranquilizer darts work? And how long do they knock someone out for?
Monohebi: [slightly irritated] What an annoying question. Do you really expect me to keep track of such trivial information? There are far too many things in this prison for me to have kept track of every small detail of every single item.

...Great. He's being just as useless as always.
Monohebi: [smirks] However, fortunately for you, I do remember some important facts about those darts.

...Never mind. He was just playing a trick, like the annoying bastard he is.
Sashihara: [curiously] What is it?
Monohebi: [neutral] The drugs in the tranquilizer darts are something to which a tolerance can be built. [smiles slightly] Additionally, as you have previously stated, the drugs would have different effects on people of different body types of body masses. Unfortunately for you all, I cannot say exactly what those effects are.

Of course he won't...

Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] That talk of tolerance is interesting...do you guys think maybe Eisuke-kun had a tolerance to the drugs in those darts? [looks to the side thoughtfully] He was a bodyguard, so it'd make sense if he purposely built a tolerance to stuff like that so he'd be able to better protect people.
Oyamada: [grimaces] He c-could've had a tolerance...but we have n-no way of kn-knowing for sure. [hugs book tightly] A-And even if he d-did, it c-couldn't have been for much, b-because Motoki-san still was able to kn-knock him out...
Domoto: [strokes chin] I suppose this talk is useless unless we ask Monohebi. [crosses arms] Well, Monohebi? Did Terajima-kun have any sort of tolerance to the drugs in those tranquilizer darts?
Monohebi: [neutral] In truth, I do not know. Perhaps he did, perhaps he did not. [smirks] Even if I did know, I would not tell you all.

Komatsu: [sullenly] Fuckin' asshole...
Sashihara: [clenches fist] Of course he wouldn't tell us... [curiously] Kawashima-san, can I ask why you asked Monohebi that? Did you want to see if you could confirm or deny Motoki-san's guilt with more knowledge about the darts?
Kawashima: [nods] Yes. [seriously] I was hoping Monohebi would tell us how long the darts knocked a person out for, but know that I think about it...I don't think we need him to answer that question.

Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] Oh? Why not?

Why not? It's because of that one piece of evidence...

Incinerator Log/Komatsu's Account/Infirmary Door

Answer: Incinerator Log

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] The incinerator log. We know it was used by someone, most likely the culprit, last night after 3:30 AM. [thoughtfully] Also, both Motoki-san and Komatsu-kun have confirmed that Motoki-san's attack on Eguchi-san and Komatsu-kun's interaction with her happened shortly before 1:30 AM.

Domoto: [strokes chin] So you think the darts knock someone out for about two hours.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Sort of. I think it was a little less than two hours, at least for Terajima-kun. Because he was so much larger than Motoki-san, might have had some sort of tolerance to the drug, and was shot first, I think it's safe to conclude he woke up first, and likely by a fairly large margin.
Motoki: [grimaces] Yeah...I didn't get back to my room until about 4:15, and I woke up a couple of minutes before that...so I was definitely out for a while.
Sashihara: [clenches fist] I'm sorry, Motoki-san, but if you were the real culprit, you'd know about the time on the Incinerator log, so we can't trust that time. [adjusts medical mask] I do agree Terajima-kun woke up first, though. Someone had to break down the door to the Infirmary, and we already explained why it wasn't me.
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] No matter if Motoki-san is lying or not, Terajima-kun must have awoken at some point before her due to the points Kawashima-san previously mentioned. He awoke to find Motoki-san unconscious in the Infirmary, with Eguchi-san nowhere to be found. [presses finger to temple] Seeing the mess in the Infirmary and the small bloodstain on the bed frame, Terajima-kun likely concluded that Eguchi-san had made her way to the Infirmary, so he went there.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] What's the point of doin' this? We already know all this shit.
Kasparov: [analytically] Yes, but it is good to overview the order of events. Doing so may help us find evidence that either proves or disproves the veracity of the accusations Motoki-san.
Motoki: [hostilely] You don't need to go over the sequence of events to look for evidence against me, because it wasn't me!
Kasparov: [narrows eyes] Your tone is not making you look any less suspicious. [analytically] Anyway, I believe we should focus on what occurred between Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun in the Infirmary before we pursue our accusation against Motoki-san any further.
Komatsu: [stares at floor] I dunno exactly what went down, but I'm guessin' Eguchi-san was refusin' to let Terajima-kun in...prolly 'cause she was scared after what I did to her. [miserably] Dammit...this is all my fault...I shouldn't've stabbed her...
Domoto: [crosses arms] No, you shouldn't have. [strokes chin] Anyway, Terajima-kun refused to leave Eguchi-san alone in the Infirmary, and so he grabbed the 45-kilogram dumbbell and used it to break the Infirmary door handle. That allowed him to get inside the Infirmary, where he and Eguchi-san had some sort of scuffle.
Oyamada: [tears up] Th-That must have b-been when she s-stabbed him with the s-scissors... [cries softly] Eguchi-san...wh-why...
Kasparov: [considers carefully] Yes, that is indeed the most logical explanation for him being stabbed once. [frowns] However, Terajima-kun also had a second, smaller stab wound. I wonder how he acquired it...
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] P-Probaby from the real k-killer...I d-doubt Eguchi-san would be a-able to stab him t-twice...

That second stab wound was definitely done with something different than the first, so Oyamada-kun's most likely right. I wonder what that second object could have been...
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] Yeah, I doubt she did that. Also, I think Terajima-kun
probably didn't kill Eguchi-san if Motoki-san's the culprit. She'd have no reason to kill him if Eguchi-san was already dead, because there wasn't any way the motive was talking about Terajima-kun.

Oyamada: [aggressively] We a-already knew he w-wouldn't kill her...he c-cared about her!
Domoto: [sternly] We have not proved he did not kill her. He very well could have done it. [crosses arms] However, that is beside the point. I don't think Motoki-san ever made it up to the Infirmary.
Motoki: [perplexed] I didn't, so I'm glad you think that...but why?
Domoto: [icily] Don't get too relieved. It's not because I think you're innocent. [strokes chin] It's because you are much smaller than Terajima-kun. Even if you are lying about the time you woke up, there's no way you woke up so soon after him that you would've been awake for him and Eguchi-san to be in the Infirmary. [crosses arms] Besides, if you somehow did manage to make it to the Infirmary while they were there, you'd have no reason to bring Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun downstairs and set up that elevator fiasco.
Sashihara: [curiously] So what do you think happened?
Domoto: [strokes chin] I think Terajima-kun managed to restrain Eguchi-san and bring her back down to the basement. He certainly was with her in the basement whenever Motoki-san or whoever the culprit is struck; after all, they'd have no reason to kill him if he wasn't.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Hold up...that don't make no fuckin' sense. [cracks knuckles] Terajima-kun wanted to let Eguchi-san outta her cell, didn't he? Besides, it's a long-ass walk down to the basement from the fourth floor and he was weakened by Eguchi-san stabbin' him!

Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] A-Also, how can w-we be sure they w-weren't in the Infirmary for a l-long time? M-Maybe their f-fight lasted a while...
Kasparov: [considers carefully] If that were the case, both of them would have sustained far more injuries than we found them with. [narrows eyes] Additionally, it is a mistake to assume their fight would last for a long duration of time when they were in no way equal fighting partners. [analytically] Terajima-kun was Ultimate Bodyguard. Even though he was weakened by a stab wound, he would have been able to swiftly overpower Eguchi-san.
Kawashima: [nods] Kasparov-kun is right. Terajima-kun would've quickly beaten any of us here, especially someone as small as Eguchi-san. [thoughtfully] To answer your questions, Komatsu-kun...Terajima-kun definitely could've changed his mind. He was only considering letting her out of the cell before I told him how Eguchi-san threatened to kill me and before he got stabbed by her.

Oyamada: [tears up] He c-cared about her s-so much and h-hated seeing her in that cell... [cries softly] But...if he w-was worried she'd hurt o-others or herself...he w-would try putting her back in it, if a-all else failed...

I'm glad Oyamada-kun agrees because it means I'm probably right. He knew Terajima-kun better than any of the rest of us, so I trust his judgment on this topic.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] As for your other two questions, Komatsu-kun, the long walk would not be an issue because the elevator was still functional at that point and goes directly from the fourth floor to the basement, so he wouldn't have to do too much walking. [seriously] Also, he was still an incredibly strong person and would absolutely capable of restraining Eguchi-san even after being stabbed by her.

Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Yuzuki-san definitely would resist being dragged back to her cell, so if it were any other person, I'd doubt they'd be able to restrain her for so long without handcuffs or anything like that. [twirls hair pensively] But Eisuke-kun was the Ultimate Bodyguard, so he sure could.
Komatsu: [sullenly] Damn...I guess yer all right. [miserably] I jus' didn't wanna believe he'd do that...
Domoto: [crosses arms] None of us want to believe any of this, but we cannot ignore something simply because we do not like it.

No, we can't. I wish we could, but there's no room for denial in a class trial.
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] Okay, so Terajima-kun restrained Eguchi-san somehow, but because there weren't any marks on her wrists, we know he didn't use handcuffs. He probably just held her hands behind her back or something like that. [curiously] Either way, once he brought her to the basement, what happened?
Oyamada: [aggressively] M-Motoki-san killed them.
Motoki: [hostilely] That's not true. I didn't kill them!
Kasparov: [disapprovingly] Cease this. [covers mouth with hand] I am highly suspicious of Motoki-san myself. However, we cannot seriously accuse her any longer without any argument rooted in evidence and logic. [presses finger to temple] So, we discuss this more. That is the only option we have.
Motoki: [grimaces] ..........

So we're going to be talking about what happened to Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun once they got to the basement now...oh boy. I really have no idea what happened, so let's see how this goes.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Empty Blood Packs, Paper in Terajima's Hand, Remains in Incinerator, Noise and Shaking, Suit Stains, Blood on Eguchi's Body

Kasparov: [analytically] I believe that there are only three
general possibilities for what might have occurred. [considers carefully] Firstly, Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun killed each other. Secondly, Motoki-san killed either one or both of them. Thirdly, a third party besides Motoki-san killed the two victims.
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] I highly doubt a third party was involved. No one else
had any reason to be up so late.
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] Th-That's true... [looks down and to the side] Also, there w-wasn't any proof of third party involvement beyond K-Komatsu-kun and Motoki-san... [hatefully] S-So the k-killer is almost d-definitely one of them.
Komatsu: [fiercely] Well it ain't me!
Motoki: [passionately] It's not me either!
Domoto: [pinches bridge of nose] No one's going to change their mind just because of something you say. [crosses arms] Anyway, I don't think either Eguchi-san or Terajima-kun killed the other person. Someone else killing both of them is way more likely.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] Eguchi-san certainly was too weak to kill Terajima-kun...and I highly doubt he'd hurt her. [clenches fist] Unfortunately, that means the killer's probably Motoki-san.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] We can't be sure of that. [looks down glumly] Sorry, Yutaka-kun, but you could've done it too...
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] The hell do ya mean!? 'Course I didn't!
Domoto: [strokes chin] I suppose it's possible you didn't actually go back to your room after stabbing Eguchi-san like you claimed. [crosses arms] If Motoki-san's testimony is actually true and she didn't wake up until a little before 4:15, then you would be the only suspect for the culprit.

Sashihara: [thinking deeply] I guess that's true. We weren't suspecting Komatsu-kun before we assumed the culprit used the dumbbell, but now that isn't necessarily the case... [clenches fist] I guess that means Komatsu-kun could've killed Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun once he got to the basement.
Oyamada: [aggressively] A-Also, he d-didn't admit to what he did to Eguchi-san for a l-long time... [angrily] That c-could be because he's the culprit! [aggressively] Him s-supposedly being a "b-bad liar" doesn't mean anything. It's n-not sufficient evidence to say he's i-innocent!
Komatsu: [fiercely] That's bullshit! I really was tellin' the truth! [desperately] Weren't ya guys jus' blamin' Motoki-san!? Why the fuck are ya accusin' me now!?
Motoki: [hostilely] Don't try to deflect the blame onto me while you're being accused! I didn't do it either!

That was a mess. A lot of people said a lot of things, but one thing in particular stood out to me...I need to point it out to everyone else.

Answer: Paper in Terajima's Hand > w-wasn't any proof

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Oyamada-kun, I'm not sure you were right when you said there wasn't any proof of a third party except Motoki-san and Komatsu-kun.
Oyamada: [confusedly] Wh-What do you m-mean? Of c-course there wasn't!
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Yeah, I'm one of the people bein' accused, and I ain't got no fuckin' clue you were talkin' 'bout.

Probably because you didn't investigate Terajima-kun's body.
Domoto: [sternly] Neither do I. Kawashima-san, what could you possibly be referring to?
Kawashima: [firmly] The paper we found crumpled inside Terajima-kun's left hand. [seriously] Kasparov-kun, do you still have the two scraps of it on you?
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] Of course. Do you want me to read them?
Kawashima: [nods] Yes.
Kasparov: [pulls scraps out of pocket] Very well. [holds up pieces of paper] The first scrap reads, "about all that you have done and all your past mistakes," while the second scrap reads, "want to meet you anytime soon."
Motoki: [perplexed] Huh...? What does that mean?
Sashihara: [curiously] And how does it prove someone else other than Motoki-san and Komatsu-kun was involved?
Kawashima: [seriously] It doesn't necessarily prove someone else besides Motoki-san and Komatsu-kun was involved, but it does give a serious indication that that might be the case. [thoughtfully] Neither of them had any reason to write a note to Terajima-kun. Motoki-san used the tranquilizer darts to get Terajima-kun out of her way as quickly as possible, so she has no reason to write the note. Komatsu-kun doesn't either because he wasn't involved until Eguchi-san came to him.
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] Wh-What if Eguchi-san wr-wrote the note to T-Terajima-kun? Or m-maybe he wr-wrote it to himself...
Kasparov: [analytically] Terajima-kun certainly did not write that note to himself. The use of second-person tense makes that completely illogical. [considers carefully] Also, Terajima-kun was with Eguchi-san in the basement, both before the attack by Motoki-san and after forcing her to come from the Infirmary. Why would she write a note to him when she could simply talk to him?
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] U-Uh...maybe she wr-wrote it while she w-was in the Infirmary...
Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] You are suggesting that she wrote a note to him in the Infirmary saying that she wanted to "meet anytime soon," yet refused to let him inside once he came? [disapprovingly] That is simply illogical.
Sashihara: [confusedly] I understand your point, but why the hell would anyone bother writing him a note? It makes sense if they wanted to lure him out of his room or something like that, but that wasn't the case here! [clenches fist] I don't get it...why would someone write the note?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I honestly don't know. All I can be sure of is that whatever the rest of that note said, it's definitely important to this case, so we need to talk about it more.

That note has been bugging me ever since Kasparov-kun showed me it during the investigation...why would the killer write a note when they already had Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san in the basement, where they presumably killed them? I have no idea...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Empty Blood Packs, Inventory, Crowbar, Explosives, Remains in Incinerator, Roll of Bandages

Motoki: [rubs shoulder] I have no idea how or why that note was written... [passionately] But I know I didn't do it. Please, believe me!
Domoto: [icily] Don't expect us to believe your word alone. [strokes chin] Even if you didn't write that when initially attacking Terajima-kun, you sure could've written afterward.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Huh? Why the fuck would she do that? [fixes belt] She was already in the basement, where Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san were, so she didn't need to write no fuckin' note!
Domoto: [crosses arms]
It could've been you, then. Maybe you wrote it to
lure them somewhere besides the basement, killed them there, and then move their bodies back to the basement?

Komatsu: [fiercely] No! There ain't no way I did that! [cracks knuckles] How can ya even say that when there wasn't no proof of any struggle anywhere besides the basement and the Infirmary!?
Hayasaka: [quickly] No matter who wrote the note, they didn't want us to see the rest of what was on it. The killer disposed of the rest of it somehow.

Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] We know the Incinerator was used at 3:44 AM, about fifteen minutes after the elevator crash...so the killer probably got rid of the note there.
Domoto: [sternly] How the killer got rid of the note isn't important. What matters is who wrote it.
Sashihara: [clenches fist] I hate to say this, but it might've been a suicide note from Terajima-kun if he killed Eguchi-san.
Oyamada: [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] D-Don't you DARE suggest he'd k-kill Eguchi-san. [angrily] He c-cared about her, he w-wouldn't ever hurt her!
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] I agree with Oyamada-kun...Terajima-kun killing Eguchi-san doesn't seem likely to me.
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] Then I'm at a loss for who could've written the note. We're still no closer to definitively proving who it is...

Maybe not, Sashihara-kun, but I'm certain I heard something I can make a solid conclusion about.

Answer: Remains in Incinerator > got rid of the note there

Kawashima: That's right!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [firmly] I agree, Oyamada-kun. I think the culprit got rid of the note in the Incinerator.
Oyamada: [surprised] R-Really?
Kawashima: [nods] Yes. [seriously] The Trash Room is right down the hall from where we found Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san's bodies, so it was a convenient location for the culprit to get rid of key evidence.

Domoto: [strokes chin] They got rid of the ski mask Motoki-san was wearing and the bat she used in the attack there... [icily] That makes you look highly suspicious, Motoki-san.
Motoki: [hostilely] I'm telling you, it wasn't me!
Kawashima: [firmly] Both of you, stop this. It's not helping. [thoughtfully] To get back on topic, I think the rest of the note must've had evidence that incriminated the culprit or gave away crucial information about the case, so they got rid of it.

Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] I agree, Wakana-san. They probably wanted to get rid of the stuff in Eisuke-kun's hand, too, but couldn't because of rigor mortis...so they only tore away what they could.

At first, it seems like a no-brainer the killer did that. However...there's something about the note that's making me doubt that is the case. It's on the tip of my tongue, but I can't pin down exactly what it is...

HANGMAN'S GAMBIT

Question: What about the note suggests that it was not torn from Terajima's stiff hand?

EVLCIYLETSE PDEIRP

Answer: Selectively Ripped

Kawashima: I've solved it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] That's wrong, Hayasaka-san. It wasn't ripped from his hand by the culprit.
Hayasaka: [confusedly] Huh? Why not?
Kawashima: [firmly] Because it was selectively ripped by the culprit. Kasparov-kun, show everyone the scraps again so they can clearly see their shape.

Kasparov: [pulls scraps out of pocket] Certainly.

Once Kasparov's done taking the scraps out, he holds them in front of him so everyone can see them.
Kawashima: [seriously] Do you all see how the edges are carefully torn and how none of the edges are straight?
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfrotably] Y-Yeah...but what does that m-mean?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] If the culprit ripped the note from Terajima-kun's dead, rigid hand, don't you think they would've left a part on one of the corners, or one of the straight edges of the page? And shouldn't it have been a lot messier? [seriously] Instead, we got two scraps from the middle of the note that were carefully ripped out of the paper.

Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] If I can add something, it also doesn't make sense that Terajima-kun's hand would be rigid so fast. [explanatorily] Rigor mortis takes three to four hours after death to set in. We know Terajima-kun was definitely alive at around 1:30 AM and the Incinerator was used only two hours later, so it doesn't make sense for his hand to be so rigid the culprit couldn't take something out of it.

That's true, Sashihara-kun. There's another piece of evidence that backs up your claim, too...
Monohebi File #4/Terajima's Right Hand/Incinerator Log

Answer: Terajima's Right Hand

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] To add on to Sashihara-kun's point, Terajima-kun's right hand was tightly clenched this morning, making it look like he was holding something in it before he died. The culprit had no trouble gettting rid of that, and yet they left two pieces of the note at the crime scene.
Motoki: [perplexedly] I don't understand any of this...why would the culprit leave some of the note behind if they wanted to destroy any evidence of it?
Domoto: [crosses arms] Why don't you tell us, Motoki-san?
Motoki: [hostilely] Because I'm not the killer!
Hayasaka: [glares at Domoto] Otoha-san, stop being such a bitch. Sakiko-san brought up a good point.
Domoto: [taken aback] ...What? Since when have you decided to be like this?
Hayasaka: [ignores her] Anyway, I second the question Sakiko-san had: why didn't the killer destroy all the note if they could have? Why leave a select portion of it in Eisuke-kun's hand?
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] I guess the only reason is maybe they wanted us to find the note...but then why the fuck would they destroy the rest of it?
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] Perhaps they wanted us to know there was a note, yet wanted to obfuscate its true purpose. Or perhaps, in my opinion, the more likely option...the note simply was not truly relevant at all.
Sashihara: [confusedly] ...Huh? What're you suggesting, Kasparov-kun?

I think I know what he's saying. He thinks the note is...
From Eguchi/A suicide note/A red herring

Answer: A red herring

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] You think it might have been a red herring, right, Kasparov-kun?
Kasparov: [nods] Indeed.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] A red herring? The fuck's that?
Kawashima: [seriously] It's a term for a piece of evidence that isn't actually real but instead is just a distraction.
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] I g-guess that makes s-sense...it w-would explain why there s-seems to be no reason for a-anyone to write a note, and yet o-one was written.
Motoki: [perplexedly] But why would the killer even bother with the note if it's just a distraction? How does that help them?
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] I don't know, Sakiko-san...my best guess is to conceal how they committed the crime, but I'm not sure.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] I don't really agree with this. I think there might have been no third party involved at all and that the note was genuine.
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] So you're saying you don't think it was fake?
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] No, I think it was real and that it was written by either Eguchi-san or Terajima-kun. [clenches fist] Also, as I suggested earlier, I think it might've been a suicide note.
Domoto: [strokes chin] Then why was the note torn at all? If Terajima-kun killed Eguchi-san and then killed himself and no one else was involved, how would most of the note end up in the Incinerator? [crosses arms] In that case, Motoki-san would really be innocent and would have no reason to dispose of the note, given that it is solid evidence that proves she isn't the culprit.
Sashihara: [clenches fist] I...don't know. [adjusts medical mask] I guess I was wrong.
Oyamada: [angrily] Of c-course you w-were. E-Eguchi-san couldn't have k-killed Eisuke-kun, and there's n-no way he'd h-hurt her.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] Sorry, I just wanted to explore a possibility.
Hayasaka: [reassuringly] Don't be sorry, Hisaya-kun. You did what we're supposed to do in the class trial.
Domoto: [icily] Make baseless claims? No, that's not what we're supposed to do.
Hayasaka: [stares with muted anger] Otoha-san...

This could get heated fast, so I should say something quickly.
Kawashima: [seriously] To bring ourselves back to the discussion at hand, I think now we can all agree the note was written by someone other than Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Yeah, but why'd they do it? And who was it?
Kasparov: [analytically] I do not know the answer to the first question, but as for your second, I am afraid the most likely suspects are still you and Komatsu-kun.

Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] C'mon, can't ya guys believe at least one of us already? Didn't ya even say that ya were inclined to trust me, Kasparov-kun?
Kasparov: [considers carefully] Yes, but I only believe you to an extent. Your testimony up until you left the Infirmary matches with the evidence we discovered, so I believe that. [covers mouth with hand] However, there is no actual proof you went back to your room when you left the Infirmary, so you must still remain a suspect.
Komatsu: [sullenly] Ugh...
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Hm...

She looks like she has something on her mind. It's probably worth asking what it is, given how she led us down the path of reasoning that allowed us to exempt Sashihara-kun from suspicion.
Kawashima: [curiously] Hayasaka-san, you look you're thinking about something. What is it?
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] I...I was just thinking the culprit made the note to serve as a distraction for how they really got involved in the case.

Oyamada: [confusedly] Huh? Wh-What do you m-mean?
Hayasaka: [confidently] I think the culprit used the note to conceal how they got involved and how they killed Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] I agree...it is the only logical step to make now that the note appears to be a fabrication.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Okay, but didn't we already know that? [fixes belt] Also, how the fuck did the culprit get involved and how did they kill Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san? How the fuck did the culprit get close enough to Terajima and Eguchi to kill 'em without usin' the dart gun or knockin' 'em out with somethin'? We know neither of them got shot after Motoki-san's attack, so what the fuck happened?
Domoto: [strokes chin] I don't know...
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] Komatsu-kun brought up a good point there...if Motoki-san or Komatsu-kun is the culprit, how did they get close to Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun without using the tranquilizer gun again? Motoki-san attacked both of them earlier and Komatsu-kun stabbed Eguchi-san, so I can't imagine Terajima-kun or Eguchi-san would allow either of them to get close enough to kill.
Domoto: [crosses arms] I suppose they must have been killed with a ranged weapon, then.
Kasparov: [frowns] Unfortunately, that is not possible. I checked all the ranged weapons in the Weapons Room, such as the guns, arrows, throwing knives, et cetera. However, not a single one of them had been used with the exception of the dart gun and explosives.
Motoki: [grimly] There's no way either of those things is the murder weapon, though...
Sashihara: [curiously] So does that mean Komatsu-kun or Motoki-san are both innocent? If no ranged weapons were used and they wouldn't have been able to get close, they couldn't have killed Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] Not necessarily. It does make them seem somewhat less suspicious, however.

Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] I'm glad ya think we're less suspicious now, but then who the fuck's the real culprit?

That's a good question, Komatsu-kun. I don't know...
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtuflly] I guess if it's less likely to be them, maybe we need to reverse our thinking...instead of some third party being awake and noticing Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun, maybe one of the two of them reached out to someone.
Domoto: [icily] That makes no sense.
Hayasaka: [stares with muted anger] Don't be so dismissive, Otoha-san.

Domoto: [sternly] I will be if you say something that makes absolutely no sense. [narrows eyes] Who would either of them reach out to and why would they do it?

Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Well, if it did happen, it was Eisuke-kun who did it, considering he was the one in control. Maybe after he put Eguchi-san back in her cell, he wanted someone to tend to his injuries... [hesitantly] Maybe...he wanted someone to talk to...someone to calm Eguchi-san... [softly] ...someone she and him would both trust...

..........

...No.

It couldn't be. It can't be. It's not a possibility we should even consider. But...

It's like Domoto-san said earlier. We can't ignore a possibility just because we don't like it.

I don't want to accuse them if I don't have to, but I can't ignore that remark from earlier. I need to ask Komatsu-kun about it, just to make sure of something...

Kawashima: [seriously] Komatsu-kun. You were in the Trash Room for the whole investigation, right?
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Yeah, why?
Kawashima: [seriously] Who were the people who went there?
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Jus' me, yerself, and Domoto-san. [furrows brow] Why?
Kawashima: [seriously] ..........

...Dammit. I should've known when they said the exact time on the Incinerator log when no one had actually said it out loud during the trial, but I guess I unconsciously ignored it. Well...I can't ignore it any longer. The person who could've gotten involved...someone who isn't Motoki-san or Komatsu-kun...someone who could get close to both Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san with no trouble...someone who they both trusted...it can only be one person. And that person is...

CHOOSE A PERSON!

Wakana Kawashima

Eisuke Terajima

Sakiko Motoki

Yuuto Furuhata

Yuzuki Eguchi

Sergey Kasparov

Mayumi Carrasco

Mika Hayasaka

Tomiko Niizuma

Noriyo Ichigohara

Yoshi Yamaguchi

Yutaka Komatsu

Hisaya Sashihara

Osamu Oyamada

Michio Aozora

Otoha Domoto

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

[OSAMU OYAMADA CHOSEN]

Kawashima: It can only be you!

Kawashima: [reluctantly] ...Oyamada-kun. You were someone both Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san trusted, so you could have gotten involved too.
Motoki: [shocked] What!?

Sashihara: [surprised] Oyamada-kun...you think he killed them!?
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] There ain't no way he did! Listen, Kawashima-san, yer fuckin' crazy if ya think he's the culprit!
Domoto: [crosses arms and looks down] ...I agree. Oyamada-kun being the culprit doesn't make sense to me.
Kawashima: [firmly] I'm not saying he's the culprit. I'm saying it's possible he was involved. That's not the same thing.
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] ..........
Hayasaka: [hesitantly] Osamu-kun...aren't you going to defend yourself? [looks down glumly] Please do...
Oyamada: [tears up] To th-think...things would b-be this w-way... [cries softly] How c-can you be so c-cruel, Kawashima-san? I l-loved Eisuke-kun! Eguchi-san was my f-friend! Wh-Why would I do a-anything to them!?
Kawashima: [seriously] I'm not saying you did, Oyamada-kun. [firmly] But I can't ignore that you're the only person alive that Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun would both trust. If they really did reach out to someone, it would only be you.
Kasparov: [frowns] Kawashima-san, can we truly be certain they reached out to someone? That was merely a theory Hayasaka-san had.
Oyamada: [angrily] Y-Yeah...it's just a theory! It's b-baseless! [desperately] This is a-all wrong! I'm c-completely innocent!
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] I agree. [hostilely] Kawashima-san, how could you do this to him? He just lost someone he loved dearly and his close friend! [closes eyes to prevent tears] Can't you feel any empathy for that...? Any at all?

I...Of course I can, Motoki-san. I don't want to be doing this, but I have to. Also, I may be looking into this too much, but the way she said that last statement makes me think...she's probably still hurt over what happened with me the other night. I don't want to ignore her feelings, but...this isn't the time. We need to find the culprit before I deal with any of this.
Kawashima: [seriously] I can have empathy for Oyamada-kun and still think he might have been involved at the same time. Like I just said, I don't necessarily think he's the culprit.
Oyamada: [aggressively] "Not n-necessarily the c-culprit?" [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] How c-could you even imply th-that I could p-possibly be the c-culprit!? I l-loved Eisuke-kun!
Hayasaka: [pitifully] Osamu-kun...please stop yelling. You're not helping yourself...
Oyamada: [angrily] .......... [hugs book tightly] Y-Yeah. You're r-right, Hayasaka-san. I'm n-not... [tears up] I j-just hate being accused of s-something that isn't t-true...especially w-without Eisuke-kun by my s-side...
Domoto: [strokes chin] I don't want to see you being accused if this isn't true, either. [crosses arms] So, if you really are innocent, prove it. I don't want to accuse you unnecessarily.
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] O-Okay...I'll d-do that... [cries softly] I r-really hope you all b-believe me.

I want to believe you, Oyamada-kun. I really do. But...I can't ignore evidence nor your actions.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Incinerator Log, Inventory, Explosives, Terajima's Head Wound, Paper in Terajima's Hand, Blood on Eguchi's Body

Oyamada: [cries softly] I c-can't believe this...there's n-no way I'd k-kill Eisuke-kun and Eguchi-san!
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] I really wanna believe ya, but is there any way ya can prove it?
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] W-Well...there's no p-piece of ph-physical evidence that d-directly connects me to the c-crime. [hugs book tightly] Th-There's not even a-any indication I l-left my room...
Sashihara: [clenches fist] But you could've gotten close to Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun, right? None of the rest of us could do that!
Oyamada: [aggressively] Th-That's such s-stupid reason to s-suspect me... [angrily] J-Just because none of the r-ranged weapons in the W-Weapons Room were used d-doesn't mean the k-killer didn't use s-some other sort of l-long-range weapon! [looks down and to the side] B-Besides, we only have K-Kasparov-kun's word that n-none of the r-ranged weapons in W-Weapons Room were used...he c-could be lying!
Kasparov: [frustratedly] What a preposterous suggestion. I am not lying!
Oyamada: [grimaces] I w-won't believe that without s-someone else's c-corroboration.

Oyamada-kun is bringing up some decent points...but unfortunately for him, one of them is blatantly wrong. I need to show the truth to him and everyone else!

Answer: Incinerator Log > not even a-any indication

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [firmly] You definitely did leave your room last night, Oyamada-kun, and I can prove it.
Oyamada: [aggressively] Oh y-yeah? H-How?
Kawashima: [seriously] The incinerator log. It shows that someone used the incinerator at 3:44 AM last night. [firmly] Oyamada-kun, a little while back you said that exact time on the log without anyone saying it before you in the trial. How did you know it?
Oyamada: [sputters] I-I...i-it's b-because...
Kasparov: [narrows eyes] It seems he has no proper response.
Motoki: [perplexedly] Hold on, how does that prove Oyamada-kun left his room?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] It's because, as I confirmed with Komatsu-kun earlier, only he, Domoto-san, and I went into the Trash Room during the investigation. [seriously] Oyamada-kun shouldn't have known the time on the incinerator if he didn't leave his room last night!
Hayasaka: [tears up] Osamu-kun...why did you lie?
Domoto: [crosses arms] Well, this is regrettable. It seems we have no choice but to suspect Oyamada-kun now.
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] ...........
Komatsu: [miserably] Goddammit, this can't be true... [grips jacket tightly] Kawashima-san, even with this, ya gotta be wrong! This ain't enough to prove Oyamada-kun's guilty!
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Yeah, I still believe in him. [confidently] He's not guilty!
Sashihara: [clenches fist] Me too...I just can't see it. [thinking deeply] Looking at things through a logical lens is important, but it's not all we should do. If we think about this in an emotional way, there's no reason for Oyamada-kun to do this. So...even if the incinerator time does make it seem like Oyamada-kun was involved...I don't think he's the killer.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] Normally I would harshly rebuke such a sentiment, but I believe it to be rather applicable here. Oyamada-kun killing Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san in such violent ways seems very out of character for him. However, it is not impossible. [sharply] So, Oyamada-kun: are you the killer, or were you involved in some other way?
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] .......... [looks down and to the side] ...I w-wasn't involved with their d-deaths at a-all. I o-only knew the t-time on the incinerator b-because I went d-downstairs around 4:30 AM.

Kasparov: [skeptically] What?
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] A-After I heard that n-noise, I was s-scared...but I c-couldn't go back to s-sleep. I t-tried to for a wh-while, but I just c-couldn't...so I w-went downstairs to see what h-happened. [cries softly] Th-There, I f-found Eisuke-kun and Eguchi-san...and I l-looked at the incinerator l-log... [hugs book tightly] S-Sorry for lying about n-not leaving my r-room...I j-just didn't want to b-be hounded like M-Motoki-san and K-Komatsu-kun where when they w-were accused...

So Oyamada-kun woke up in the middle of the night, discovered Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun's bodies, but didn't think to tell the rest of us first thing next morning? I honestly don't buy it...
Domoto: [icily] That's bullshit.
Hayasaka: [glares at Domoto] Don't be like that, Otoha-san. Osamu-kun could be telling the truth!
Kasparov: [skeptically] I highly doubt that. His story is very convenient and does not seem particularly believable to me.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] I trust him. He wouldn't kill Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun!
Oyamada: [tears up] Y-Yeah...to even s-say that I would... [cries softly] It's s-so cruel...
Domoto: [sternly] Stop it with these crocodile tears. Tell us what really happened between you, Eguchi-san, and Terajima-kun.

Oyamada: [aggressively] I j-just did. They were a-already d-dead when I got to the b-basement!
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] I am afraid we cannot simply accept that. You knowing the exact time on the incinerator log despite not visiting it during the investigation is highly suspicious. [narrows eyes] So, if you want us to believe you, please give us more to work with than a story no one can corroborate.
Oyamada: [angrily] ...Fine.

Looks like Oyamada-kun's going to be trying to get us to believe him again. I'm very conflicted right now...part of me wants to trust Oyamada-kun, but that story of his seems to be a little too convenient to be believable.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Explosives, Terajima's Head Wound, Inventory, Empty Blood Packs, Crowbar, Terajima's Right Hand

Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] What I s-said before was t-true. [grimaces] Eisuke-kun and Eguchi-san...they were b-both already d-dead when I got the b-basement!
Domoto: [sternly] Where's your proof of that?
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] W-Well...um... [hugs book tightly] M-Motoki-san's story...she s-said they were both d-dead when she w-woke up, right?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] That's true.
Oyamada: [grimaces] If I'm the k-killer, which I'm n-not...then M-Motoki-san has no reason to lie... [desperately] S-So I m-must be telling the t-truth!
Kasparov: [narrows eyes] This is some very weak reasoning.
Oyamada: [grimaces] Grh... [aggressively] ...M-Motoki-san is way more suspicious than m-me.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] Oyamada-kun...please don't do this...
Oyamada: [angrily] I w-will if you r-really killed them! [aggressively] The b-baseball bat and s-ski mask, which were b-both used by Motoki-san, were all d-disposed of in the T-Trash Room... [desperately] So you sh-should be a-accusing her, not me!
Motoki: [closes eyes to prevent tears] Oyamada-kun, please...don't act like this. It only makes you look worse.
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] .......... [aggressively] The T-Trash Room...the incinerator...n-none of it really m-matters. [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] You c-can't even be s-sure the n-note was burnt in the i-incinerator...so stop a-accusing me of when all I kn-know is s-something without connection to the c-crime!

...Oyamada-kun's clearly desperate. He had two sudden changes in his argument throughout that debate, which isn't making him look good...

Answer: Inventory > without connection

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] The stuff in the incinerator definitely does have a connection to the crime, Oyamada-kun.

Oyamada: [aggressively] R-Really? P-Prove it!
Kawashima: [nods] Sure. [thoughtfully] You were right when you said that we can't be absolutely, one hundred percent certain the note was burnt in the incinerator...but there was something else in there. The remains of a twisted, melted object made of metal and wires.

Komatsu: [fixes belt] Yeah, I could never figure out what that thing was...do ya know what it is, Kawashima-san?
Kawashima: [nods] Yes. [firmly] It was the detonator to the explosives the killer used to blow up the elevator. Right, Oyamada-kun?Oyamada: [grimaces] Grh...!

I guess that means I was right.
Motoki: [grimly] Kawashima-san, how can you be sure that stuff in the incinerator was the detonator to those explosives? Couldn't it be something else?
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] That is very unlikely. [covers mouth with hand] You see, I took inventory of all the dangerous objects in the Weapons Room and Infirmary...and the only item on that list that could possibly be the object described in the incinerator is the detonator.

Sashihara: [thinking deeply] It could be on the second or third floor, though...or maybe in one of those classrooms on the first floor? [points] No one investigated any of those places, so we can't be sure the detonator isn't there!
Kasparov: [considers carefully] We cannot be entirely certain, no. However, it is very likely that the culprit used the incinerator because it is very close in proximity to where we discovered both corpses, much more so than any of the locations you previously described. [analytically] On top of the proximity advantage, none of those areas have the ability to burn an object as to make it nigh unrecognizable, but the incinerator does. [presses finger to temple] As such, I believe we can conclude the incinerator is what was used. It simply makes the most sense.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Okay, so the incinerator was probably where the culprit got rid of the detonator...but that doesn't really mean Osamu-kun's the killer, right? [looks down glumly] I don't want to think it's him...
Oyamada: [desperately] Y-Yeah...it's n-not me...you d-don't even know how the d-detonator was used in the case, so d-don't use it to m-make me l-look guilty!
Domoto: [raises eyebrow] We don't know it was used? [sternly] Of course we do. The killer, you, used the detonator so you could set off the explosives you had prepared in the elevator without being near them. [crosses arms] Then, once you were done, you incinerated it and most of the note. [icily] You knew the exact time on the incinerator, so don't deny that it's possible.
Oyamada: [angrily] It's n-not p-possible because it's not t-true! [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] If y-you're going to say I used the d-detonator, prove it! And p-prove exactly how it was u-used, too!
Kasparov: [frowns] I do not believe it is necessary for us to prove that you used it. As Domoto-san said, you knew the exact time on the incinerator log when you should not have, meaning you either used the incinerator to dispose of evidence, suggesting that you used the detonator to kill Terajima-kun, or you stumbled upon it later...I believe the former is much, much more likely.
Motoki: [hostilely] You can't just assume it was him. [passionately] You didn't believe me, Komatsu-kun, or Sashihara-kun either, and we're all innocent!
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] I acknowledge it is possible that he is telling the truth, but it is extremely unlikely. The actions of Oyamada-kun are not making him look any less suspicious. He is clearly not taking being accused well, which was the pattern of our last three culprits.
Motoki: [hostilely] Fuck you. You don't know it was him!
Domoto: [icily] Ugh, what the hell's wrong with you? Why are you and the others so desperate to believe him?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Well...I can't speak for Hayasaka-san, Komatsu-kun, or Sashihara-kun...but I can't bring myself to accuse Oyamada-kun of killing the boy he loved and his friend. [closes eyes to prevent tears] He has no reason to do it...I don't care what you tell me, I won't believe it unless he confesses it himself!

Oyamada: [quietly] Motoki-san...shut up. [aggressively] If you c-cared so m-much, then wh-why the f-fuck did you hurt Eguchi-san?
Motoki: [surprised] ...Huh?
Oyamada: [angrily] D-Don't come to my d-defense when y-you're the reason sh-she's dead! [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] So if y-you're not going to a-accuse me, shut the f-fuck up!

Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Oyamada-kun...please chill out.
Oyamada: [angrily] D-Don't you talk to m-me either. [aggressively] I d-don't want p-people responsible for this wh-whole disaster defending me... [tears softly] That...w-wouldn't be right. It'd be d-disrespectful to Eisuke-kun and E-Eguchi-san...
Komatsu: [miserably] I...
Motoki: [shamefully] ...Sorry, Oyamada-kun. But I still believe in you...
Komatsu: [stares at floor] Yeah...me too...
Oyamada: [aggressively] Ugh...wh-whatever.

I'm surprised. I didn't think Oyamada-kun would outright refuse their support, but...I understand it. Even if he is the killer, they definitely share some of the responsibility for what happened, so I get why he doesn't want them coming to his defense...
Hayasaka: [awkwardly] Uh...moving on, don't you think we should talk about exactly how the killer set up the elevator crash? [looks to the side thoughtfully] That would help us out...
Domoto: [crosses arms] I agree. We've delayed seriously talking about it long enough.

Yeah, we should've brought this up much earlier...but I guess because of how complicated this case is, it was easy to get distracted. Fortunately, I'm pretty sure I know what happened.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I think I can explain what happened.
Oyamada: [aggressively] R-Really? Already?
Kawashima: [nods] Yes. [thoughtfully] First of all, the killer somehow managed to lie Terajima-kun down in such a way that his body from the waist down was in the elevator shaft and his body from the waist up was on the floor in front of the elevator.
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] I'm guessing they also put the explosives the detonator was connected to inside the elevator itself. [adjusts medical mask] Also, I think the explosives were all placed on the lower half of the elevator...that'd explain why there was no sign of any damage on the first floor.
Kawashima: [firmly] I agree, Sashihara-kun. [seriously] To add on to your point, I think the explosives were detonated as the elevator was moving from the first floor down to the second floor. As you stated, there was no sign of any damage on the first floor, so it couldn't have been detonated there. [thoughtfully] And if it had been detonated while in the basement, Terajima-kun's body couldn't have been put under the elevator in the first place. [seriously] Not to mention his body would've been really messed up by having the explosives be so close to him.
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] Speaking of that, shouldn't his body have looked, I don't know...more like something exploded near it? [looks to the side thoughtfully] His body wasn't burnt at all, but something blew up so close to him...

I can explain that. It's because...
The killer used something to shield Terajima's body/Burn marks were covered by blood/Explosives have a small blast radius

Answer: Explosives have a small blast radius

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] The explosives have a relatively small blast radius of about three-quarters of a meter, Hayasaka-san. [firmly] So when they were activated, the explosives must've been farther than that distance from Terajima-kun.

Domoto: [strokes chin] And yet there was no damage on the first floor... [crosses arms] I suppose that confirms Kawashima-san's earlier suggestion that the explosives were detonated while it was moving from the first floor to the basement.

Yes, it's looking like I was right.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] So, in summary, the killer planted the explosives on the bottom half of the elevator, placed Terajima-kun in the desired position, likely while he was unconscious, called the elevator, and then detonated the explosives from a safe location while the elevator was traveling between the first floor and basement. [analytically] At that point, the remains of the elevator crashed down onto Terajima-kun.
Motoki: [grimly] I guess I agree with all of that, but... [curiously] How did the killer manage to get Terajima-kun to lie in front of the elevator? I don't get why he'd do it willingly, yet I can't see how they managed to force him of all people to do something like that...besides, this is unnecessarily complicated. Why'd the killer even bother?
Domoto: [strokes chin] Perhaps it was because Oyamada-kun was so much weaker than Terajima-kun that he needed this complex set-up in order to be able to kill him.
Oyamada: [hatefully] F-Fuck you. That isn't t-true!
Komatsu: [furrows brow] I don't get any of this...if what yer sayin's right, Domoto-san, how'd he manage to get Terajima-kun to lie in fronta the elevator? [rubs back of neck] The dart gun wasn't used on him again and Motoki-san said earlier none of the syringes in the Infirmary were used, so Oyamada-kun couldn't've used some sort of anesthetic, either...
Kasparov: [analytically] Perhaps the second stab wound of Terajima-kun is the explanation to this conundrum.

Domoto: [crosses arms] Well,
Oyamada-kun? Care to explain?
Oyamada: [angrily] N-No, because it's not m-me!

Hayasaka: [stares with muted anger] Otoha-san, stop it already. We still can't be sure the killer is Osamu-kun. [twirls hair pensively] Anway...I have another question.
Sashihara: [curiously] What is it?
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] It's about the elevator doors...how did the killer manage to get them open?

Kasparov: [considers carefully] That is indeed a good question. Perhaps we should discuss it and the other questions we might have about this set-up with the elevator some more.

Yeah, that's a good idea...even if we have a rough idea of what happened, we still need to figure out some of the specifics.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Terajima's Head Wound, Terajima's RIght Hand, Explosives, Remains in Incinerator, Missing Darts, Crowbar

Komatsu: [furrows brow] I'm still wonderin' how the hell Terajima-kun managed to get laid in fronta the elevator like he was...
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Well, unless he laid down willingly, the culprit had to either have knocked him out or killed him beforehand.
Domoto: [strokes chin] I highly doubt that he was knocked out...I believe Oyamada-kun killed Terajima-kun at close range and then used the elevator trap to cover up his true cause of death.
Oyamada: [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] I'd n-never kill him! F-Fuck you!
Domoto: [crosses arms] But you were someone he trusted. You would be able to get very close to him without trouble so you could kill him...perhaps that explains his second stab wound.
Oyamada: [hatefully] Th-That's wrong! [aggressively] Y-You're a dumbass if you th-think that second s-stab wound is what k-killed him...there's n-no way it did!
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] I dunno if I'm thinkin' 'bout this right...but what 'bout that giant piece of rubble goin' through Terajima-kun's head? [fixes belt] That could be the cause of death.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] Unfortunately, that piece of rubble did not exist until the elevator was exploded. [frowns] As such, it is impossible for it to have killed Terajima-kun unless the killer waited until after destroying the elevator to kill him.

Motoki: [thoughtfully]
I guess it's most logical to assume it was meant to distract us from the real cause of death...
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] It's also possible the killer impaled that rubble through his head to make sure he was dead.

Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Maybe...I'm still wondering how the killer opened the elevator doors.
Oyamada: [desperately] I d-didn't do that! I'm incapable of d-doing that! [looks down and to the side] L-Look at me...I'm so w-weak...I'd n-never be a-able to open those d-doors by m-myself...
Sashihara: [clenches fist] That's true, it'd be pretty hard to open those elevator doors. [thinking deeply] I'm wondering how anyone managed to do it...

Same, Sashihara-kun. That and the rest of this set-up with the elevator is very confusing...was it really just a distraction? Was Terajima-kun killed before he was placed under the elevator? If so, what really killed him? How did those elevator doors get opened? So many questions...but only one I can answer for now, if I look back at that one piece of evidence...

Answer: Crowbar > I'm incapable

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] You could've opened those elevator doors by yourself, Oyamada-kun. Any of us could have.
Oyamada: [aggressively] Wh-What do you m-mean? Of c-course I couldn't have!
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Oh, you certainly could've if you used the crowbar we found in the Infirmary.
Oyamada: [clutches cheek and recoils] Urgh...!

I guess he didn't like me saying that.
Motoki: [perplexedly] Wait, but that crowbar was all the way up in the Infirmary...what makes you think Oyamada-kun used it to open the elevator doors?
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] ...It's because it was scratched. [adjusts medical mask] That's what it is, right, Kawashima-san?
Kawashima: [nods] Part of it, yes. [firmly] But the main reason is that the crowbar would've allowed any of us to be able to open those doors. Prying them open with your bare hands is pretty much impossible, but with the crowbar? [thoughtfully] For those of us on the weaker side, it'd be difficult...but absolutely not impossible.
Oyamada: [angrily] Nhg...ugh... [tugs on sweater with furious expression] That d-doesn't mean a-anything! The c-crowbar was in the f-fucking Infirmary, wh-why the hell w-was it up there when I s-supposedly used it in the b-basement!? [hugs book tightly] K-Komatsu-kun could've been l-lying in his story! He used the c-crowbar, n-not me!
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] That's not fuckin' true! I didn't use the c-crowbar!
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] I am inclined to agree with Komatsu-kun. There was no reason for him to use the crowbar. [analytically] He did not use it to open the Infirmary door, the dumbbell is proof of that. Additionally, a crowbar is not an ideal murder weapon. With the Weapons Room right next door, I find it difficult to believe he would choose a crowbar of all things to kill Eguchi-san. [considers carefully] So, if the crowbar was not used by Komatsu-kun as a murder weapon or as a way to open a door...what other use would it have but to pry open the elevator doors? I can think of none.
Motoki: [grimly] Me neither...
Oyamada: [aggressively] E-Even still...you c-can't prove it was m-me who used it! [tugs on sweater with furious expression] A s-stupid, scratched c-crowbar sitting by the p-poison cabinet on t-top of some b-broken glass...that has n-nothing to d-do with me!

...Wait just a minute.
Kawashima: [seriously] Oyamada-kun, how'd you know that crowbar was found on top of broken glass by the poison cabinet? [slightly challening] You didn't go up there during the investigation, right? So how were you able to give such a detailed image of it?
Oyamada: [clutches cheek and recoils] Agh...!!
Domoto: [icily] You didn't mention going upstairs to the fourth floor in your story earlier, Oyamada-kun. Why? Is it because it was all a complete lie?
Oyamada: [desperately] I-It's...I-I...
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] Osamu-kun...
Komatsu: [grips jacket tightly and stares at floor] Looks like Oyamada-kun really was lyin' earlier... [miserably] ...Fuck. I didn't wanna believe it, but he really was jus' pullin' that outta his ass...
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] ..........
Sashihara: [clenches] I didn't want to think it was a lie, either, but it's getting harder to deny it now.
Oyamada: [aggressively] F-Fuck you! It w-was true!
Domoto: [crosses arms] No it wasn't. [sternly] You went up to the Infirmary after you killed Terajima-kun and planted the crowbar there to confuse us so we didn't figure out it was used in the basement!
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] N-No...I, um...it w-was... [angrily] H-How the hell d-did I k-kill Eguchi-san if I really a-am the c-culprit like you s-say? You s-still haven't explained that! O-Or how E-Eisuke-kun really died!
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] Eguchi-san is easy. You impaled her onto the piece of the bed frame we found her on this morning. [analytically] As for Terajima-kun, perhaps you managed to get close to him and somehow kill him that way... [narrows eyes] ...Oh. I see it now.

Kasparov-kun looks like he just realized something...
Kawashima: [seriously] Kasparov-kun, it's looking like you've just figured something out...what is it?
Kasparov: [considers carefully] The second stab wound on Terajima-kun. Earlier, Domoto-san suggested Oyamada-kun killed Terajima-kun in that manner, but it was a rather small and shallow wound, so I doubt the stabbing itself killed him.

Kawashima: [curiously] What are you getting at, Kasparov-kun?
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] I cannot be certain, but...I believe whatever Oyamada-kun stabbed Terajima-kun with, it was coated in the inland taipan venom. [analytically] It is not a perfect theory, but it serves to explain both the missing portion of the taipan venom jar and the "foreign substance" that ended up in the body of Terajima-kun.
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] Inland taipan venom takes at least thirty to forty-five minutes to kill, though...wouldn't Terajima-kun have done something in the time it took for him to die?
Kasparov: [frowns] I said it was not a perfect theory. I still have yet to come up with an explanation for that problem.
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] Oyamada-kun, why don't you explain it to us?
Oyamada: [hatefully] N-No! [cries softly] I...it's i-impossible...

I want to agree, but it really isn't. Despite the issue Sashihara-kun pointed out, Kasparov-kun's theory makes a lot of sense. It explains several of the lingering questions I had, like what the "foreign substance" inside Terajima-kun was, why the taipan venom was used, and what the reason for the second stab wound on Terajima-kun was...
Hayasaka: [twirsl hair pensively] I have a potential answer to the problem Sashihara-kun talked about...it's kind of stupid, but it might be what happened...
Sashihara: [curiously] What is it?
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] Maybe Eisuke-kun was so shocked at being betrayed by someone he loved that he couldn't bring himself to move after being stabbed.
Domoto: [sternly] I doubt it.
Hayasaka: [stares with muted anger] I said it was kind of stupid. [looks down glumly] But despite how ridiculous it sounds...I don't know. I think being stabbed by Osamu-kun would absolutely shatter Eisuke-kun's heart.
Komatsu: [miserably] Yeah...it prolly would...
Motoki: [grimly] That doesn't make sense. Kasparov-kun's theory has to be wrong. [passionately] I believe Oyamada-kun! He didn't kill Terajima-kun!
Oyamada: [aggressively] I t-told you, s-stop defending m-me! I'll p-prove my innocence w-without your help!
Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] Oh? How will you go about doing that?
Oyamada: [desperately] U-Um...I... [looks down and to the side] .......... [quietly] ...The b-blood.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] What?
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] A-All the b-blood on Eisuke-kun and Eguchi-san...h-how do you e-explain that!?

Easy. It came from...
Side effects of Inland Taipan Venom poisoning/Empty blood transfusion packs/Grenadine

Answer: Empty blood transfusion packs

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [firmly] The empty blood transfusion packs we found in the containers in the Trash Room. They killer slit them open and poured all the blood on Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun's corpses. [seriously] That's the explanation to all that blood!
Oyamada: [quietly] I c-completely agree, K-Kawashima. There's n-no other r-reasonable explanation. [smiles deviously] B-But how would I o-open them? C-Can you tell m-me that? [loudly] N-NO! Of c-course you c-can't! [desperately] B-Because I'm not the k-killer!!
Hayasaka: [softly] Osamu-kun...why're you acting like this? [looks down glumly] Your behavior is creeping me out...
Sashihara: [clenches fist] Yeah, that smile freaked me out too...

Same. It was so weird to see Oyamada-kun smile like that, especially in a time like this.
Oyamada: [smiles deviously] S-Sorry, I just c-can't help but b-be happy. This q-question can't be answered, so it's p-proof of my innocence. [desperately] Y-Yes! It's p-proof! Th-There's no way, I'm guilty, s-so you can stop a-accusing me n-now!

You shouldn't be so sure that question can't be answered, Oyamada-kun. Because if we look at the evidence, I'm confident we can find a solution to it...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Terajima's Head Wound, Blood on Eguchi's Body, Empty Blood Packs, Pair of Scissors, Bloodstain on Bedframe, Broken Glass

Kasparov: [analytically] Is it not possible that you cut the blood packs open on the rubble driven through the head of Terajima-kun?
Oyamada: [smiles deviously] N-Nope! There w-wasn't a lot of b-blood on the b-back of his head, b-but there w-would be if I d-did that!
Domoto: [crosses arms] If not that, then that piece of the bedframe Eguchi-san was impaled on is also a possibility.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] But there wasn't an excessive amount of blood on her neck, and there'd be a ton if all the blood packs were cut open on it.
Oyamada: [loudly] H-Hayasaka-san's right! Th-That's not a p-possibility e-either!
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] Maybe we have a situation like with Yamaguchi-kun and the blood really is all fake.
Oyamada: [aggressively] Wr-Wrong! It's not a-at all like what Y-Yamaguchi-kun did! [smiles deviously] It l-looks normal, it f-feels normal, it s-smells normal...It's t-totally real!
Domoto: [irritatedly] Fine, then couldn't you have it opened with your nails or something?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] No...his nails are way too short for him to be able to cut or scratch something with them
Oyamada: [desperately] That's c-completely right! There j-just isn't any explanation
f-for how I could c-cut open those blood p-packs! [aggressively] There w-weren't any sh-sharp weapons like a kn-knife or r-razor in the b-basement... [angrily] And n-none of the bed f-frame pieces except for the o-one Eguchi-san c-cut herself on h-have blood on th-them, so you c-can't say it was th-that, either!

Kasparov: [narrows eyes] You could have utilized the same item you used to stab Terajima-kun.
Oyamada: [quietly] O-Oh...d-did I? [laughs] Of c-course not! [smiles deviously] Wh-What do you th-think I could've s-stabbed him with, a-anyway? S-Something from the K-Kitchen!? It's c-closed at n-nighttime! [aggressively] I d-didn't use a-anything from the Infirmary, either, b-because Kasparov-kun took inventory of everything d-dangerous in there and only f-found a few poisons to be m-missing!
Oyamada: [laughs] Hahaha...it's p-pathetic! I m-must be innocent because you c-can't explain any of this s-stuff...
[desperately] D-Do you hear m-me? N-None of it can b-be explained!

Oyamada-kun clearly is starting to lose it...which means we're closer to getting a confession out of him. I just need to answer this question, and then he'll be cornered...

Answer: Pair of Scissors > j-just isn't any explanation

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [slightly challenging] You're wrong, Oyamada-kun. There is an explanation for you cut the blood packs open.
Oyamada: [aggressively] Wh-Why are l-lying!? Of c-course there i-isn't!
Kawashima: [firmly] Yes there is. The scissors in the Infirmary!
Oyamada: [clutches cheek and recoils] Agghh! [desperately] N-No...NO! Why the h-hell do you think I'd go a-all the way up there!? [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] It d-doesn't make a-any sense! N-None at all!
Kawashima: [firmly] Yes it does, because the blood packs were in the Infirmary. [seriously] In order to get to them, you'd have to walk right past the pair of scissors, so don't say it's impossible you used them. [thoughtfully] Especially when they were already bloody from Komatsu-kun stabbing Eguchi-san and her stabbing Terajima-kun...they'd be the perfect cover.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] Indeed. We would not immediately suspect the cause of the scissors being bloody was due to them being utilized to open the blood packs; rather, we would naturally assume they were bloodied by the confrontations that had previously occurred in the Infirmary.
Oyamada: [desperately] B-But...B-B-But... [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] Wh-Why the hell w-would I put the sc-scissors back u-upstairs!? I d-didn't know about wh-what Komatsu-kun did, so I d-didn't have reason to put them b-back up there! I d-didn't frame him because I d-didn't know what h-happened!
Kawashima: [seriously] I never said you were framing him. All I said was that you put the scissors back in the Infirmary to hide the fact that you used them. [firmly] You didn't need to know what happened to put the bloody scissors back. Repurposing evidence for your own crime doesn't require knowledge of what happened before. [seriously] All you needed was the knowledge that the scissors were bloody...which you certainly got when you went to get the blood packs.
Oyamada: [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] Urgh...Eugh...Agh...Agggh! [desperately] Ngh...! I-I...th-this is...agh...
Domoto: [crosses arms] It looks like he's lost the ability to form coherent sentences.

Yeah, unfortunately. It hurts to see him like this if I'm being honest. Because...it means we were right. I can't think of a reason he'd act like this if he didn't kill Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun...
Komatsu: [miserably] If Oyamada-kun's actin' like this, then I guess there really ain't no denyin' it no more...
Sashihara: [clenches fist] I hate to agree with you, but...I think I have to at this point.

Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] I still don't want to believe it...I can't bring myself to...
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] You must, Motoki-san. It has become increasingly clear that Oyamada-kun is our true culprit.
Domoto: [crosses arms and looks down] ..........

Domoto-san's not backing him up like I'd expect her to, which is probably because she doesn't want to accuse him. I don't think any of us do...
Hayasaka: [tears up] Osamu-kun...why? Why would you hurt Eisuke-kun and Yuzuki-san? You...You cared so much about them!
Oyamada: [buries face in hands] ..........
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] C'mon, Oyamada-kun...ain't ya gonna say somethin'?
Oyamada: [buries face in hands] ..........

It seems like he's not going to be doing that...at least for now.
Sashihara: [sadly] If he's not going to say anything, then I guess this means Kawashima-san should do that thing where she explains the case now...
Motoki: [grimly] No. Not yet. [passionately] I still don't believe this!
Kasparov: [disapprovingly] Cease this nonsense, Motoki-san. It is quite apparent Oyamada-kun is the killer.
Motoki: [hostilely] I wasn't talking to you. [tearfully] Kawashima-san...please, reconsider this. We were so certain the killer was Hayasaka-san last trial, and it was really Niizuma-san...so please, reconsider! We haven't explained all the evidence...and Oyamada-kun being the killer...it doesn't make sense! He loved Terajima-kun! [closes eyes to prevent tears] I can't imagine it...someone in love, killing the person they have such a close connection with...? I just can't see it. I can't picture him killing Terajima-kun so cruelly, not when he loved him so much...

Motoki-san...I completely understand where you're coming from. Maybe it's because you were starved of connections so much when you were younger that you can't believe someone would ever do something like this...maybe it's because you're still in love with me...maybe both...but you have to accept it. This place and this killing game bring out the worst in us. Also...the evidence points to Oyamada-kun, and the evidence that's left isn't like last time, because it can be explained by another murder plan that never came to fruition. On top of that, Oyamada-kun's reactions to being accused only make him look guiltier, so...I'm sorry.
Kawashima: [pitifully] I'm...I'm sorry, Motoki-san. But I'm not going to reconsider. Not unless anything new comes up, which I highly doubt will happen at this point.
Motoki: [tearfully] N-No...Oyamada-kun, no...
Oyamada: [buries face in hands] ..........
Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] Well? Will you not say something?
Motoki: [tearfully] Oyamada-kun, please...I still don't want to believe it's you...so, please, say something.
Oyamada: [buries face in hands] .......Ha. [clutches face with both hands and peers out with one eye] Aha! Ahahahahahaha! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

...What? Why on earth is he laughing like this!?
Domoto: [taken aback] What the hell? Why are you laughing!?
Motoki: [horrified] ...Oyamada-kun? What's gotten into you!?
Sashihara: [disturbed] It's freaking me out...is there something here we missed?
Oyamada: [laughs] N-Nope! I j-just think this is f-funny, that's all!

What the actual fuck!?

Komatsu: [terrified] Yo, Oyamada-kun...please say psych. Ya ain't tellin' us ya actually think is funny, are ya?
Oyamada: [smiles deviously] I m-mean, I'm not wr-wrong...this is p-pretty funny.
Hayasaka: [recoils and tears up] ...O-Osamu-kun? How...? It's not true...you can't possibly think this is
funny!
Oyamada: [laughs] Haha! Of COURSE I d-do! [clutches face with both hands and peers out with one eye] I t-tricked all of you f-for so long...I t-tricked Eguchi-san, e-even Eisuke-kun, t-too...

He "tricked" us? What does that mean?
Kawashima: [seriously] How did you "trick" us and them, Oyamada-kun? Does this have to do with the case?
Oyamada: [laughs] Hahaha! What k-kind of dumb q-question is th-that? Of c-course it does! [smiles deviously] It's n-not just this, th-though...I've b-been hiding my true s-self since the start. It f-feels nice to f-finally stop p-pretending.
Motoki: [horrified] What...this isn't real...this is actually you!?
Oyamada: [aggressively] D-Don't talk to me, b-bitch. I d-don't want to hear a w-word from you or K-Komatsu-kun. [laughs] But to a-answer your q-question...yes, this is m-me... I bet you're
s-surprised. [hugs book tightly] D-Did you really th-think all there was to m-me was a s-stuttering, shy bookworm who c-could never harm a fly? [laughs] HAHAHA! You're so f-fucking idiotic! I c-can't believe I t-tricked all of you f-for so long!!

This...This can't be real. Oyamada-kun was lying to us the whole time...does that mean...
Kawashima: [sweats with horrified expression] Oyamada-kun...are you saying you're the traitor? You say you've been "tricking" us, so...is that what you mean?

I really hope the answer's no.
Oyamada: [aggressively] Wh-What a stupid f-fucking question. Of c-course it i-isn't me. [smiles deviously] I j-just love to hurt p-people...especially p-people close to m-me... [clutches face with both hands and peers out with one eye] Th-That feeling of absolute, s-soul-crushing d-despair that fills their eyes as they r-realize they've been b-betrayed by someone they l-love...it's...i-it's [pulls on hair, drools, and clutches face] It's A-AMAZING!! It's SO B-BEAUTIFULLLL ♥ ♥ ♥!!!!
Kasparov: [stunned] I...I truly have no words...
Domoto: [narrows eyes] You get off on hurting people you love? [icily] You're a depraved sick fucking freak, you know that!?
Oyamada: [laughs] Haha...y-you say that a-as if I c-care what you think.
Motoki: [sobs] Oyamada-kun...I can't believe this is really you...
Komatsu: [miserably] Me neither...it's fucking terrifyin'...
Oyamada: [angrily] I t-told both of you to sh-shut the f-fuck up. [smiles deviously] D-Do I have to m-make you sh-shut up forever? L-Like I did to Eguchi-san? [pulls on hair, drools, and clutches face] The w-way she s-screamed when she s-saw me stab E-Eisuke-kun...if y-you thought she w-was going crazy before that, you sh-should've seen her f-face then...sh-should've her heard her scream as I th-threw her b-back onto that p-piece of the bed f-frame... [drools] It was a-amazing...so, so a-amazing...seeing her wr-writhe in p-pain when she f-fell onto it...the p-pain and hurt in her e-eyes as the l-life slowly d-drained from her b-body...

I...I can't process this. How did we never notice Oyamada-kun was this fucked up!?

Sashihara: [clenches] Oyamada-kun...don't tell me the only reason you killed them was that you wanted to see them in pain. That's not true, right?
Oyamada: [smiles deviously] It is...it t-truly is... [aggressively] ...Ugh. I'm g-getting tired of explaining m-myself. Just v-vote for me a-already.
Hayasaka: [tearfully] Osamu-kun, no...I can't believe you killed them like that.
Oyamada: [angrily] G-Goddamn, can't you f-fucking accept it a-already!? I k-killed them b-because I c-cared for them, and they c-cared for me... [pulls on hair, drools, and clutches face] Seeing them d-die...m-mutilating Eisuke-kun's body a-after I k-killed him...ahh...it w-was AMAZING ♥ ♥ ♥!!!
Hayasaka: [softly] Osamu-kun...this is...
Domoto: [narrows eyes] Absolutely repulsive, yes. [crosses arms] Let's vote for him immediately. He's already admitted to it.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Shouldn't Kawashima-san summarize the case before we do that? [grimaces] I dunno, I don't wanna rush into votin'...I wanna be certain we're gettin' this right...

Same, Komatsu-kun. I don't want this to be true...
Oyamada: [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] Grh! You f-fucking idiots! Just v-vote for me a-already!! [pulls on hair, drools, and clutches face] I'm i-insane, can't you see that!? I d-deserve to d-die! Even I kn-know that!

Kasparov: [frowns] At least you feel some sense of shame.
Oyamada: [smiles deviously] It's n-not that...m-more that I j-just don't see the point of r-resisting any l-longer. [laughs] I'm at p-peace with the f-fact that I'm going to d-die soon. [pulls on hair, drools, and clutches face] H-Honestly, I'm e-excited! I can't wait to t-taste the d-despair of death! So v-vote for me!
Sashihara: [clenches fist] I...guess that's the only option, huh.
Oyamada: [clutches face with both hands and peers out with one eye] Y-Yeah, it is, s-so do it a-already!

He really wants us to vote for him...
Oyamada: [pulls on hair, drools, and clutches face] There's n-nothing left to d-do but accept the t-truth! I'm a s-sick, deranged little fuck, it's t-true! [smiles deviously] S-So why don't you just s-send me to my g-grave already? [quietly] D-Don't you think E-Eisuke-kun and Eguchi-san d-deserve justice? Why a-are you d-denying that for them by p-prolonging this t-trial?

That quiet voice of his is so creepy...
Domoto: [rolls eyes] We get it, we'll vote for you already.

Motoki: [grimly] I...I still don't—
Oyamada: [aggressively] Sh-Shut your m-mouth. C-Can't you listen to me!? [angrily] I'm the f-fucking killer, so just v-vote for me! JUST D-DO IT, G-GODDAMIT!!!

A small clinking sound rings out across the room.
Domoto: [looks around] Huh? What was that?
Komatsu: [sullenly] Sounds like someone dropped somethin'.
Oyamada: [blanches] ...!!!!

Oyamada desperately looks around him and quickly grabs something off the ground, immediately stuffing it into his pocket.

...Huh? What was that?
Kawashima: [curiously] Oyamada-kun, did you just drop something?
Oyamada: [grimaces] I...I... [looks down and to the side] Y-Yes. I-It's nothing important, though...
Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] ...Is that so? You seemed very alarmed when you noticed you dropped it. [analytically] Surely it must be of some importance.

Yeah, his shift in attitude was super sudden, so it couldn't have been nothing...speaking of that, he seems to be more normal now.
Oyamada: [blanches] .......... [fidgets uncomfortably] W-W-Well, uh...it's n-not, um...it r-really is nothing important...
Domoto: [crosses arms] I got a quick glimpse of what you dropped...it looked like a bloody, rusty nail. [narrows eyes] Are you really going to say that's unimportant?
Oyamada: [fidgets uncomfortably] Mmhm...b-because it is.
Domoto: [irritatedly] Why are you being like this? Do you have something left to hide?
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] ...Y-Yes, I g-guess you could s-say that I d-do... [laughs] E-Even still, it r-really is n-nothing important...I'll t-tell you after voting. [clutches face with both hands and peers out with one eye] Ahhh, I c-can't wait!! I'm s-so excited to feel the g-glorious despair of d-death!!

He keeps insisting that we vote for him...his demeanor changed suddenly and he looked very concerned when he dropped that bloody, rusty nail that he refuses to show us or talk to us about...

...Something's definitely wrong here. Motoki-san, you may have been on to something. I told you I wouldn't reconsider unless something new came up...well, this is something new. I need to think about this more...

LOGIC DIVE

Q1: Where did the bloody, rusty nail Oyamada dropped come from?

Basement freezer/Eguchi's cell/Infirmary

Q2: How did the nail come to be bloody?

It was dipped in a pre-existing pool of blood/It's not actually blood on the nail/It was used to stab someone

Q3: Who has a wound potentially caused by this nail which has yet to be fully explained?

Yuzuki Eguchi/Eisuke Terajima/Monohebi

Answers: Eguchi's cell/It was used to stab someone/Eisuke Terajima

Kawashima: I understand it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Oyamada-kun, that nail you're hiding was used to stab Terajima-kun, wasn't it?

Oyamada: [flinches] W-Well, yes...but it's n-not like it r-really matters.

Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] I am not entirely sure that is true. You currently have that nail in your pocket, but it fell as you were flailing your arms around as you yelled at Motoki-san to vote for you...meaning that it was not in your pocket before, rather, it must have been somewhere else on your person, most likely in your sleeves.

Sashihara: [confusedly] I'm sorry, but I don't see what the point of all this is...

Kasparov: [analytically] My point is that Oyamada-kun was not merely hiding this nail on his person, which is sensible if he feared we would search his room. He was hiding up his sleeve when he has his bookbag and his pockets at his disposal, which are far more convenient for hiding something, are they not? [presses finger to temple] All in all, Oyamada-kun seemed to be very intent on ensuring we did not learn of this nail. As such, I believe we should not believe him when he says it is "nothing important."

Oyamada: [aggressively] S-So what if I w-was r-really trying to h-hide it!? I'm the k-killer, of c-course I didn't w-want you f-finding it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] But did you really need to hide it up your sleeve when you could've put it in your pocket or your bookbag? You tried very hard to hide this nail from us, and to top it off, you looked terrified when you realized you dropped it. [firmly] Because of that, I agree with Kasparov-kun. I highly doubt this is something unimportant like you claim, Oyamada-kun. We can't vote until we figure out why you were hiding it!

Oyamada: [flinches] Agh...! [desperately] F-Fine, do you w-want to know what this s-stupid n-nail is? [pulls out nail and waves it around] I u-used it to s-stab Terajima-kun! It's the c-cause of his s-second stab wound!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I agree that it's the cause of his second stab wound, Oyamada-kun. [firmly] But I don't think you were the one who stabbed him!

Oyamada: [recoils and clutches cheek] Urgh...!

Hayasaka: [shocked] What!?

Sashihara: [confusedly] You don't think it's him...? [clenches fist] But he admitted to being the killer!

Kawashima: [seriously] I think he was lying. Remember how insistent he was that we vote for him before I summarized the case?
[firmly] I think he was so insistent because he wanted to steer us in the wrong direction. He wanted us to vote him as the killer when it's not really him!

Sashihara: [incredulously] So you're telling me...Oyamada-kun was trying to lead us to the wrong conclusion in this trial!?
Oyamada: [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] NO!! I'm g-guilty! B-Believe me, g-goddammit!! [desperately] I'm a f-fucking ps-pyscho!

Kawashima: [slightly challenging] I don't believe that, Oyamada-kun.

Komatsu: [furrows brow] I'm so fuckin' lost...Kawashima-san, ya jus' convinced me the killer's Oyamada-kun, and now yer sayin' it ain't him? Which is it? And why the fuck did ya change yer mind?

Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down] I'm wondering the same thing, too...this is a sudden change in attitude.

Domoto: [strokes chin] Indeed it is. [sternly] Kawashima-san, you claim Oyamada-kun is lying about being the killer and trying to get us to vote wrong. Why the hell would he resist being labeled as the culprit in the first place if that's true? [crosses arms] He fought against it for a while before he admitted anything. How does that make sense if he's not the culprit?

That's a good question, Domoto-san. I was wondering the same thing for a little while. It's because...

Confessing too soon would be suspicious/He is actually the culprit/He doesn't know he's really not the culprit

Answer: Confessing too soon would be suspicious

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] It's because if he confessed to soon, that in and of itself would be suspicious. [seriously] Think about it. Yamaguchi-kun, Carrasco-san, and Niizuma-san all resisted being pointed out as the culprit. Oyamada-kun admitting to being the culprit too soon after being accused would be odd behavior and probably cause us to second-guess ourselves, which he obviously didn't want to happen.

Kasparov: [considers carefully] I concur with Kawashima-san. [analytically] On top of the points she made, Oyamada-kun probably was not making a mistake when he mentioned the time the incinerator was used, leading to us suspecting him in the first place, nor when he gave a detailed description of the crowbar in the Infirmary, allowing us to conclude his made-up story was a lie, nor when he acted very negatively to being accused, which only served to cement our belief in him being the culprit. [narrows eyes] All of those actions were done so that we would suspect you even more, were they not, Oyamada-kun?

Oyamada: [angrily] Y-You...! That's t-total b-bullshit!

I guess that means Kasparov-kun was right...
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] So Oyamada-kun was doing all that to trick us into voting for him...? [confusedly] Then why was he fine with us accusing Motoki-san, Komatsu-kun, and Sashihara-kun? If he wanted us to vote for him as the killer, him accusing them doesn't make sense.
Kawashima: [firmly] No, it still does. [seriously] If Oyamada-kun's goal was to get us to vote incorrectly, it didn't matter who we voted for as long as it wasn't the true culprit, which I'm sure isn't one of three people you just mentioned. I don't doubt he'd be fine with us voting for them because that vote would still be wrong. [slightly challenging] Right, Oyamada-kun?
Oyamada: [clutches cheek and recoils] N-No...! I...th-that is... ! It i-isn't...! [angrily] Ugh, why're you changing your mind so much, Kawashima-san!? F-First, you say Komatsu-kun's g-guilty, then you w-walk it back, th-then you s-say it's Sashihara-kun, th-then you walk it b-back, and now you're w-walking back your a-accusation of me!? [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] Y-You almost got us all killed l-last trial by s-saying Hayasaka-san was the c-culprit, so wh-why should any of u-us believe you!? You c-can't even make up your own d-damn mind!

Ouch, those are harsh words...and I can't see he's completely wrong. I've been all over the place this whole trial and I was wrong about Hayasaka-san being the culprit before...but does that really mean I'm wrong here? I doubt it, especially if you're going to keep acting like this, Oyamada-kun.
Motoki: [grimly] Not be rude, Kawashima-san, but he does have a point...you've been jumping all over the place with your theories in this trial.

Kawashima: [seriously] I know. I've changed my mind a lot, and I've done it yet again. [thoughtfully] But it wasn't for no reason. That nail...Oyamada-kun hiding it is undeniably suspicious and is illogical if he's the culprit. [seriously] And that's not it...you were part of the reason I changed my mind too, Motoki-san. Your insistence that Oyamada-kun being the culprit not making sense...I think it was right.

Motoki: [awkwardly] Oh...thanks.

Oyamada: [aggressively] S-Stop lying to yourself, Kawashima-san!
M-Motoki-san was wrong!
[tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] You d-dumb bitch, I k-killed Terajima-kun! H-Him and Eguchi-san! [pulls on hair, drools, and clutches face] C-Can't you see I'm i-insane!? Y-Yes, I'm insane! U-Unhinged! D-Depraved! I-Irredeemable!

Kawashima: [seriously] Drop this insanity act, Oyamada-kun. You're faking this hidden insane side of yours!

Oyamada: [flinches] Urgh...! [clutches face with both hands and peers out with one eye] Wh...wh-what do you m-mean it's f-fake!? This is m-me! I'm r-really crazy!
Kawashima: [firmly No, you're not. You're lying because you want to obscure the truth of the case! This is all an act, isn't it?
Domoto: [crosses arms] What? How sure can you be it's fake?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] For one, did you notice when he started acting all crazy? It was right when Motoki-san begged me to reconsider the case. [firmly] He started acting like that because he wanted to push those of us still hesitating to suspect him to vote for him, and it almost worked. [seriously] Also, when he dropped the nail, he immediately broke character to go and get it. If he was really crazy, such a sudden change in attitude doesn't make sense.
Hayasaka: [hesitantly] I...I'm glad to hear that Oysamu-kun's not really so messed up...but I'm really confused.
Motoki: [rub shoulder] Same...
Kawashima: [seriously] I understand that I changed my mind very suddenly, but you guys have to believe me. There's no reason Oyamada-kun would go so far to hide that nail if he's really as guilty as he claims. [firmly] It would make much more sense for him to leave the nail with Eguchi-san or Terajima-kun or maybe to put it up in the Infirmary...all of those options would've deflected blame pretty easily. But Oyamada-kun didn't do that.

Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] I ain't gotta fuckin' clue 'bout what to think... [furrows brow] If he ain't the person who killed Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san, then who is? If it ain't him, we're all outta suspects!

Domoto: [crosses arms] I'm inclined to agree. [sternly] Kawashima-san, earlier you said you highly doubted Komatsu-kun, Motoki-san, or Sashihara-kun was the true culprit. If it's not Oyamada-kun or them, then who the hell else could it be?

The answer to that question is difficult, Domoto-san. I haven't wanted to consider it for most of the trial, but as you yourself have said...we can't ignore a possibility just because we don't like it. And there certainly is a new possibility that arises if we rethink how this case happened and if we reconsider our past assumption that a third party besides Komatsu-kun and Motoki-san was involved. If we do that, there's a potential explanation for all this that I can't believe we haven't seriously discussed so far...

HANGMAN'S GAMBIT

Question: What might this case be an instance of?

UREMRD-ISEICDU

Answer: Murder-Suicide

Kawashima: I've solved it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] No, we're not out of suspects if we say Oyamada-kun isn't guilty, because this case very well might have been a murder-suicide!
Oyamada: [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] N-NOO!! That's i-impossible!! It's A-ALL WRONG!!!!!
Domoto: [crosses arms] Don't freak out. [strokes chin] What Kawashima-san's saying...it makes sense to me. It could definitely be true.
Oyamada: [desperately] N-No it's not! It's a l-lie! A c-complete lie! It i-isn't p-possible!

Holy shit, he's vehemently objecting that it could be a possibility...now that I think
about it, every time the possibility of them killing or even hurting the other was mentioned, he always vigorously denied it. I guess that means them killing each other is the truth he's trying to hide.
Kawashima: [seriously] It is possible, Oyamada-kun. That nail you've been hiding only serves to make it seem more likely. I bet that's the real reason you're hiding it, isn't it!?
Oyamada: [flinches] N-No it's not! It's b-because it's the w-weapon I used to s-stab Eisuke-kun!
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Then why did you bring it with you to the trial? The nail itself doesn't do anything to incriminate you, so why'd you bother hiding it? It'd look much more suspicious for you to be found with the nail on you than for it to be found with the rest of the evidence.

Sashihara: [thinking deeply] That's true. If Oyamada-kun really is the culprit, keeping the nail on himself would only be justified if it was evidence that incriminated him directly...but it doesn't. It's just a rusty nail...
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] I have no idea what I should believe...why was the nail so important that Osamu-kun thought he had to hide it for?
Kawashima: [seriously] It's because it's rusty, Hayasaka-san. That's the key to all of this. [thoughtfully] The blood could be washed off. But the rust...there's only one place in this prison that would have rusty nails in it: the cells in the basement.

Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Okay, but...where does that get us? It jus' means he coulda gotten the nail from the remains of the bed in Eguchi-san's cell.
Oyamada: [desperately] Th-That's what I d-did! After I k-killed Eguchi-san, I t-took the nail and s-stabbed Eisuke-kun!!
Domoto: [doubtfully] Really? Do you really expect us to believe the Ultimate Bodyguard of all people would let you kill Eguchi-san right in front of his eyes? [crosses arms] Even if he loved you, he was still a bodyguard by profession...I doubt he would've let you kill her. [icily] Your story is a load of bullshit.

Oyamada: [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] Sh-Shut up! It's t-true! I k-killed her! I s-stabbed Eisuke-kun, too!

No, you didn't. The person who stabbed Terajima-kun a second time with that nail...there's only one person it could actually be.
Yuzuki Eguchi/Eisuke Terajima/Otoha Domoto

Answer: Yuzuki Eguchi

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [firmly] It was Eguchi-san who stabbed Terjaima-kun with that nail, not you, Oyamada-kun. [thoughtfully] We know she stabbed him before up in the Infirmary, so it makes sense that she'd also try to stab again once she got to the basement, especially if she thought it would let her escape.

Oyamada: [aggressively] Wr-Wrong, all wr-wrong! He w-wouldn't let her s-stab him! He was the U-Ultimate Bodyguard, he w-wouldn't let her s-stab him again!
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Osamu-kun's making a valid point. Eisuke-kun didn't trust Yuzuki-san after she stabbed him with the scissors, so much so that he returned her to her cell... [uncertainly] I don't see how the nail proves she stabbed him...if the nail was coated in poison like Sergey-kun suggested earlier, wouldn't that mean Yuzuki-san killed Eisuke-kun?
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] My earlier theory must be incorrect given that the nail was from her cell. [analytically] Even though she had recently been in the Infirmary, there is no way Eguchi-san would be able to coat the nail in poison with Terajima-kun right there...if she truly did stab him, it must have been very shortly after they arrived at her cell.
Sashihara: [curiously] What makes you think that?
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] The nail came from her cell, so she could not have stabbed him before they arrived there. [analytically] It could not have been after Terajima-kun had already locked her in, as she would not be capable of stabbing him because he would be outside and she would be inside. As such, it must have been right when they entered. [considers carefully] I theorize Eguchi-san quickly grabbed a nail from the remains of the bed and stabbed Terajima-kun before he could lock her inside.
Oyamada: [desperately] SH-SHUT UP!! That i-isn't what h-happened! I k-killed them!
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Hold up...if there weren't no poison on the nail, then there's no way in fuckin' hell Eguchi-san could kill Terajima-kun! She was weaker than he was!

Motoki: [grimly] I agree...that would mean Terajima-kun is the killer, and I just can't see that...he'd never want to hurt her.

That's true. He felt such crushing guilt over the deaths of the six of us who died before him and Eguchi-san that I have no doubt in my mind he'd never plan to murder anyone. But...just because he didn't plan to murder anyone doesn't mean he didn't kill Eguchi-san. That's because he might have...
Been forced to kill her by Monohebi/Accidentally killed her/Intentionally killed her

Answer: Accidentally killed her

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] This murder might not have been intentional, Motoki-san. Terajima-kun could've killed Eguchi-san by accident!
Oyamada: [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] NOOOOOOOO!!!! SH-SHUT UP!! That's f-fucking WRONG!! I-IMPOSSIBLE!!

Him resisting it so much only makes me believe it more...if there was anyone Oyamada-kun would try to protect from being labeled the culprit, it's Terajima-kun. He's the only person Oyamada-kun would ever go this far for...
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] It's not impossible, Oyamada-kun. [thoughtfully] As Kasparov-kun said, Eguchi-san attacked Terajima-kun with the nail right when they entered the cell. In order to land a hit on him, she'd have to attack very fast, which she did. [seriously] Terajima-kun was surprised by that, I'm sure...so I think he pushed her away from him. I think he pushed her a little too hard, she fell, and got impaled onto the piece of the bed frame. [firmly] That's why you hid the nail, isn't it!? You didn't want us to realize it was Eguchi-san who stabbed Terajima-kun for the second time, leading to him accidentally killing her and then himself!
Oyamada: [angrily] N-N-NOO! S-STOP IT!! [desperately] That i-isn't true!! It's j-just speculation!
Domoto: [narrows eyes] I have to side with Oyamada-kun here, Kawashima-san. That theory of yours is conjecture at best. There isn't any evidence to suggest Terajima-kun did that.
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] I'm not entirely sure about that... [looks to the side thoughtfully] I know Eisuke-kun always hated it when we brought this up, but he did reflexively stab Yuuto-kun. He said it was almost instinctive and was an act of self-defense...so maybe Wakana-san's right and when Yuzuki-san stabbed him, it was the same deal. He instinctively acted in self-defense and pushed her away...and without meaning to, he killed her.
Oyamada: [aggressively] F-Fuck you! That's b-bullshit!
Kawashima: [seriously] No, it's not. It explains why they both died if there was no outside killer. [firmly] Terajima-kun felt immense guilt over the deaths of everyone before him and Eguchi-san, so if he actually killed someone, it really isn't far-fetched to think he'd kill himself out of guilt. [thoughtfully] Also, him killing himself explains how he was laid down in front of the elevator without anything to knock him out or kill him beforehand...because none of that'd be necessary if he willingly did it to himself.
Motoki: [grimly] Are you sure he did? That's such a terrible way to die...
Kawashima: [seriously] It is. It's true there'd be a lot of easier ways to kill yourself...but Terajima-kun always felt so guilty over deaths he didn't even cause. [pitifully] If he actually killed Eguchi-san, it would shatter him...so I think makes sense he wanted to kill himself in a brutal way as a self-inflicted punishment for killing her.
Oyamada: [angrily] S-Stop it a-already!! [aggressively] H-How can you k-keep slandering him l-like that!? [desperately] Didn't you p-prove my s-story was a l-lie!? D-Didn't you prove I w-went to the b-basement!? So wh-why the F-FUCK are you w-walking everything b-back now!?!?
Kawashima: [firmly] Of course I still think you went to the basement. But you didn't kill Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun...instead, you tampered with evidence to confuse us and tried to lead us to the wrong conclusion at the trial.
Oyamada: [aggressively] I d-didn't tamper with a-anything! That's a l-lie! Wh-Why would I even b-be up!?
Kawashima: [seriously] You admitted the noise and shaking woke you up, didn't you? You could've gone downstairs to see what had caused it and found Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun dead, and Motoki-san unconscious. [firmly] Besides, you having the bloody, rusty nail proves you messed with evidence from the scene. [slightly challenging] On top of that, you also poured blood from transfusion packs onto their bodies, you incinerated the note and the detonator, you placed the crowbar in the Infirmary, when it probably been downstairs by the elevator from when Terajima-kun used it.
Oyamada: [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] Grh...! Agh...!
Sashihara: [clenches fist] But why...? Why would Oyamada-kun do any of this?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I'm not sure what his motives are, to be honest...maybe he doesn't want to live anymore without Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san, maybe he wants justice for them, maybe he just wants us all to die along with them...but I know he's lying! Oyamada-kun, you aren't the killer!
Oyamada: [angrily] Y-Yes I am!! [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] Eisuke-kun k-killing Eguchi-san and then h-himself...n-no! That i-isn't possible! He'd N-NEVER be able to s-stab himself through the h-head with that g-giant piece of r-rubble!
Kasparov: [frowns] No, but you could have. [presses finger to temple] As Kawashima-san has recently stated, you certainly tampered with much of the evidence. It is perfectly logical to speculate you were the one who pierced the head of Terajima-kun with the piece of rubble. [analytically] It would allow you to counter us if we had ever seriously discussed Terajima-kun committing suicide. You could point to that piece of rubble and say that it was impossible, that the killer must have been someone other than him, as it would be physically impossible for him to stab himself with it.
Oyamada: [desperately] F-Fuck, I...th-that's... [angrily] I'm s-still the k-killer! Him s-setting up that sh-shit with the e-elevator, and then k-killing himself...it d-doesn't make any s-sense!

Domoto: [raises eyebrows] Oh really? Why not?
Oyamada: [desperately] I'll p-prove it to you r-right now! I'll p-prove why I m-must be the k-killer!

Oyamada-kun is getting seriously desperate...that means he's close to giving up. At first, I wasn't sure about my theory of Terajima-kun killing Eguchi-san, but the more he resists it, the more I believe it's true. So, I have to disprove any arguments Oyamada-kun throws at me so we can finally get this trial over with!

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Remains in Incinerator, Terajima's Right Hand, State of Terajima's Body, Terajima's Back, Cracked Poison Jar, Inland Taipan Venom

Oyamada: [aggressively] Th-There's no way Eisuke-kun k-killed Eguchi-san or h-himself!

Domoto: [sternly] What's your reasoning for saying so?

Oyamada: [angrily] Kawashima-san's th-theory...it's i-insufficient! It d-doesn't explain the m-missing poisons in the Infirmary!
Sashihara: [clenches fist] But didn't we say that was the work of someone else planning a separate murder plan?
Oyamada: [aggressively] That was n-never proven! It w-was all just a theory! [desperately] The c-culprit and the p-person who messed with those p-poisons still could b-be the same!
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] Osamu-kun does have a point...
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] That aside, it is possible for there to have been someone planning another murder and for Terajima-kun to have killed Eguchi-san and then himself, is it not? [frowns] Those two things are not mutually exclusive.
Oyamada: [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] N-NO! Eisuke-kun d-didn't kill himself! Kawashima-san c-claiming he did is b-baseless! [desperately] You have n-no way to prove I drove that piece of r-rubble through his head, b-because you can't be s-sure I did it to f-fake with evidence! [aggressively] He had a-all that b-blood in his m-mouth too, r-remember!? So that p-piece of rubble
m-must be what k-killed him!
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Not really...if ya drove it through his head not long after he died, I'm sure ya could get a ton of blood to flow. [grimaces] Ya coulda also jus' emptied one of the blood packs inside his mouth...
Oyamada: [angrily] Sh-Shut up! This is wr-wrong! I k-killed Eisuke-kun and Eguchi-san! [desperately] B-BELIEVE ME A-ALREADY!!

No, Oyamada-kun, I won't. I'm not going to let you trick me again...

Answer: Terajima's Right Hand > b-baseless

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] My theory that Terajima-kun killed himself is not baseless, Oyamada-kun. [slightly challenging] Or have you already forgotten about his right hand?
Oyamada: [flinches] Wh-What about it!? [aggressively] It d-didn't have a-anything in it!
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Not when we investigated the crime scene, no...but it certainly looked like it did have something that Terajima-kun was gripping in it before.
Oyamada: [desperately] S-So what!?

He obviously knows it...but I still have to say it to him. The mystery item Terajima-kun was holding in his right hand was...
The detonator/The note/The murder weapon

Answer: The detonator

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [firmly] It was the detonator to the explosives.

Oyamada: [clutches cheek and recoils] Agh...! [angrily] F-Fuck you! Th-That's a l-lie!
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] Are you sure about that? It makes perfect sense to have the detonator in one of his hands if he really killed himself... [icily] And it also makes perfect sense for you to take it from him and incinerate it. You didn't want us realizing he killed himself, so you tried to destroy evidence of him doing it!

Sashihara: [thinking deeply] He did know on the exact time the incinerator was used, so I suppose it really is possible he incinerated the detonator and the note too.

Oyamada: [desperately] I-It's true I u-used the incinerator, b-but it w-wasn't to hide e-evidence of Eisuke-kun's s-suicide, because that d-didn't happen!

Kasparov: [frowns] I am afraid at this point we simply cannot believe that assertion. [considers carefully] I cannot believe no one has mentioned this thus far, but perhaps a reason Terajima-kun committed suicide was so that he would not be tempted to take advantage of the motive, as it most likely applied to Eguchi-san. [presses finger to temple] I believe guilt was his main factor, of course, but one can live with guilt. With the temptation of escaping punishment, however...I believe that may have been what pushed Terajima-kun over the edge and made him decide to take his own life.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Now that you say that, Sergey-kun, I just thought there might be another reason he destroyed the elevator when he killed himself, on top of him trying to make himself feel maximum pain. [twirls hair pensively] Rule 10 in our e-Handbooks says we can't damage property of this place, so by blowing up the elevator, Eisuke-kun was ensuring he would get punished by Monohebi, even if for some reason the elevator didn't kill him when it landed on him.
Oyamada: [tears up] N-No...s-stop it...y-you're wrong...

Oyamada-kun is protesting that a lot more weakly than he has been...maybe he's close to admitting it. Also, both Kasparov-kun and Hayasaka-san brought up good points. I didn't even think of them previously, but they make a lot of sense.
Monohebi: [smiles slightly] Oh my, it seems we have a misunderstanding of the rules. [neutral] Inmates can damage property of this correctional facility, so long as the damage is not catastrophic, as long as it is for the sake of a murder plot. [smirks] I suppose I should have mentioned that before this whole fiasco, but I figured it was rather self-evident.
Domoto: [icily] Dumbass. How were we supposed to figure that out by ourselves?
Monohebi: [hisses angrily] Sssssss! You rude, petulant child... [slightly irritated] I believed it to be rather self-evident because I did not immediately punish Carrasco, even though she burnt the corpse of Aozora inside one of my precious pachinko machines and ruined the Taiko no Tatusjin machine.
[smirks] I suppose asking you all to reason through something like that is expecting too much of your immature brains, however...
Komatsu: [sullenly] Fuck off, bitch. [rubs back of neck] Anyway...are we done here yet? Oyamada-kun, I'm pretty sure most of of us believe Terajima-kun killed Eguchi-san and then himself, so...are ya gonna give up already? [miserably] I hate seein' ya like this...

Oyamada: [hatefully] D-Don't talk to m-me. [tears up] And n-no...Eisuke-kun, I...I c-can't let you d-down...s-so...I... [angrily] I'm n-not going to let y-you all believe a lie! I w-won't let you s-slander Eisuke-kun!! [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] It's m-me, G-GODDAMMIT! I'M THE KILLER!!
Motoki: [grimly] He's still being insistent that he's really the killer...

Yeah, he is...it's frustrating that he won't give up even though none of us believe him anymore, but I don't think he's operating on logic at this point. I think he's being driven out of grief, pain, and anger, none of which he is handling very well. So...I'm not giving up, either. I will get him to finally tell the truth.
Kawashima: [firmly]
I'm sorry, Oyamada-kun, but I'm not going to let you lead us all to our deaths by voting for you. You're not the killer!
Oyamada: [angrily] Y-Yes I am! I'm a M-MURDERER! Eisuke-kun c-committing suicide!? Th-That's BULLSHIT! [aggressively] F-Face it, you have a-absolutely NO s-solid proof he k-killed himself! N-None at all!

For a split second, I agreed with him...but then I remembered the note Terajima-kun was holding in his left hand. We previously thought that note was a red herring, but it turns out it's really our decisive clue...
Kawashima: [seriously] There is solid proof, Oyamada-kun. It's the note he was holding.
Oyamada: [quietly] N-No...No...N-NOOOOO!!! [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] SH-SHUT UP, THAT NOTE M-MEANS NOTHING! I-IT'S JUST A R-RED HERRING!!
Kawashima: [firmly] No it's not. It's a sui—
Oyamada: [angrily] NO! I w-won't let you f-finish that s-sentence, because it's a l-lie! [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] D-DO YOU H-HEAR ME!? IT'S A LIE!!!

So, he thinks he can scream at me so I can't say it...this must mean he's at his last defense. He knows that once I finally say what I want to, there's no way he can plausibly deny Terajima-kun killed himself anymore, which is why I have to make sure I say it! I will make Oyamada-kun admit he's lying!

ARGUMENT ARMAMENT

[Oyamada sits on top of a library cart stuffed high with books, a furious expression on his face. He clutches a particularly thick one close to his chest with one arm and holds a paper labeled "Overdue" in the other, which is outstretched toward the viewer. A lengthy paper catalog wraps around his body and spills over the side of the cart.]

Oyamada: Th-That note m-means nothing!
Oyamada: So s-stop saying it's a-anything important!
Oyamada: Eisuke-kun...he'd n-never hurt Eguchi-san...NOT E-EVER!
Oyamada: Wh-Why are you d-dishonoring him with this n-nonsense!?

["Overdue" paper disappears. Argument Armament music speeds up]

Oyamada: H-How DARE you s-slander Eisuke-kun like this...
Oyamada: He was the U-Ultimate Bodyguard, g-goddammit!
Oyamada: No m-matter what you s-say, there's no w-way he'd k-kill anyone...
Oyamada: ...E-ESPECIALLY not his c-close friend!

[Paper catalog disappears.
Argument Armament music speeds up even more]

Oyamada: N-No...I c-can't lose...
Oyamada: I w-won't let it e-end like this!
Oyamada: C-CAN'T YOU SEE IT A-ALREADY!? I'M INSANE!!
Oyamada: *I* AM THE F-FUCKING KILLER!!

[Library cart disappears. Music stops and is replaced by a heartbeat sound effect]

Oyamada:
That n-note’s fucking m-meaningless! It’s j-just a distraction I c-cooked up! Wh-What else c-could it possibly be but a d-distraction!?

NO————CIDE————TE—————SUI

Answer:
Suicide note

[Oyamada falls down, sobbing, with his glasses broken, his sweater torn, and the book he was clutching split across its bindings]

Oyamada: NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

BREAK!

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Kawashima: [seriously] It was a suicide note, Oyamada-kun.

Oyamada: [tears up] N-No...! It w-was...! It w-was...it...w-was...it...

After that, he can say nothing else. He just sobs.

I'm sorry it came to this, Oyamada-kun. I really am...I didn't want to think Terajima-kun killed himself, or that he killed Eguchi-san. I'm sorry this happened...but I'm not sorry for not letting you trick us. I won't let you kill us all.

Sashihara: [sadly] Oyamada-kun...I'm sorry. I really am.

Oyamada: [cries softly] Eugh...I...

I don't think he'll be able to say anything coherent for a little while...

Komatsu: [miserably] Damn, so it's true...Terajima-kun's the killer.

Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] Yeah, it looks like it...

Domoto: [crosses arms and looks down] ........

She's not saying anything still...I guess she doesn't want to think Terajima-kun's the killer either. Or maybe she feels bad...she and him never got along well, so she might feel guilty about that.

Kasparov: [considers carefully] I am inclined to agree, however...I await a confession from Oyamada-kun. [frowns] Is it true? Did you really attempt to cover up the suicide of Terajima-kun?

Oyamada's crying subsides little by little, and eventually, he says something.
Oyamada: [cries softly] ...It's...It's t-true. [wipes eyes] I d-didn't kill them...I was l-lying. E-Eisuke-kun...he k-killed Eguchi-san, and th-then himself...it's j-just like Kawashima-san s-said.

He sounds so miserable and empty...not that I blame him after losing his boyfriend and close friend, but still...

Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] Part of me was hoping that you weren't lying...I didn't want to believe Eisuke-kun really did kill Yuzuki-san...
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] N-Neither could I...even th-though I s-saw the detonator, r-read the n-note, I c-couldn't believe it...I r-refused to. [tears up] It w-was only when Eisuke-kun h-himself told me that I c-couldn't deny it a-any longer.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Wait...Terajima-kun told ya? He was still alive when ya got to the basement?
Oyamada: [wipes eyes] Y-Yes... [quietly] I g-guess I should e-explain what h-happened. Th-There's no w-way I can f-force an incorrect vote n-now, so I sh-should just tell the truth...

He pauses for a moment, staring at the floor miserably. Then, he begins to talk.
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] It s-started when I h-heard the noise and sh-shaking...I w-was worried because E-Eisuke-kun was on g-guard duty, so I immediately hurried d-downstairs...and wh-when I g-got there, I...

[[flashback begin]]
Oyamada: [looks around] H-Hello...th-that sound, what wa—
[horrified] N-No...EISUKE-KUN!!
Terajima: [weakly] Osamu-kun...what are...you doing here...
Oyamada: [runs over to Terajima] Wh-Why are you like this!? Wh-What happened!? [tears up] Wh-Who...who w-would do this to y-you!? [sees detonator in Terajima's hand] W-Wait...w-why are you h-holding that? [grabs note] A-And this...wh-what is this...? It's n-not...it c-can't be...
Terajima: [sadly] It...It is. It's my...suicide note...
Oyamada: [sobs] N-No...Eisuke-kun...why!? Wh-Why would you k-kill yourself!? [buries face in hands] Is it b-because you d-didn't want to d-do this killing g-game anymore...? Or have you f-fallen out of l-love with me...?
Terajima: [weakly] Neither...it's because... [shamefully] I...I killed...Eguchi-san. She...stabbed me...with a nail...and like...the idiot I am...I pushed her...and... [cries] ...She died.

Oyamada: [sobs harder] N-No...she c-can't be gone t-too...
Terajima: [shamefully] She is...I'm sorry. I acted...without thinking...and I ended a life. [weakly] I'm sorry, Osamu-kun...but I...I can't allow myself...to live...after doing that...

Oyamada: [buries face in hands] N-No...Eisuke-kun, NO! [screams while crying] You c-can't die! Y-You have to k-keep going! E-Even if you k-killed her...even if y-you can n-never forgive yourself...you c-can't die! [sobs] I l-love you, Eisuke-kun! I...I know it's s-selfish, b-but...I c-can't live w-without you! I n-need you!
Terajima: [shamefully] Osamu-kun...I'm so sorry. But the motive...if I live...I might...escape execution...at the trial. [weakly] I can't...I won't...allow myself...to be tempted...so I'm ending...my life...on my own terms. [cries] I want...to keep living, Osamu-kun...I want...to live happily...with you...but I can't. I've made...an irredeemable mistake... [shamefully] Besides...it's already done. I already...dropped this elevator...onto myself. No matter what...I'll be...dead soon.
Oyamada: [screams while crying] N-No...NOOOO!!! [sobs] L-Life without you...I...I c-can't imagine it...I d-don't want to...
Terajima: [cries] You have to... [weakly] Osamu-kun...please...keep on living...
Oyamada: [buries face in hands] Eisuke-kun...

[[flashback end]]
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] Th-Then...he told me e-everything. A-About Motoki-san attacking him, about him w-waking up in the b-basement to f-find her unconscious, g-going upstairs to the I-Infirmary, b-breaking in to get Eguchi-san...it w-was all as you g-guys theorized. [tears up] It t-took him a while to d-die...a-almost ten minutes. [cries softly] He w-was in so much p-pain in the e-end...b-both emotionally and ph-physically.

Poor Terajima-kun...I feel bad for him.
I guess I should be proud of getting the truth of his and Eguchi-san's deaths right, but all I feel is sadness. None of the other trials have made me happy, but this case is making me even sadder than the others.
Oyamada-kun...I'm so sorry. Seeing your boyfriend's last moments as he lay dying from a murder-suicide, with nothing you can do to stop it...I can't imagine the emotional agony that caused you. It makes your drastic actions in this trial seem more understandable to me...
Sashihara: [sadly] Oyamada-kun...why did you defy Terajima-kun's last wish? He told you to keep living, so...why did you want to get yourself and everyone else killed?
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] I was b-being selfish. I kn-know it's c-cruel of me to d-deny Eisuke-kun's last r-request like I did. [tears up] But I c-couldn't...I c-couldn't bear to l-live without him and Eguchi-san. M-Maybe if one of th-them had l-lived, things would be d-different...but w-with both gone, I had m-made up my m-mind: I w-was going to a-avenge them. [hatefully] I w-wanted to get r-revenge on the two p-people who put Eguchi-san in her c-cell and c-caused all this...

No one has to guess who those two people are...
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] B-But that w-wasn't all...Eisuke-kun t-told me about M-Motoki-san attacking h-him and Eguchi-san and a-about how E-Eguchi-san told h-him Komatsu-kun a-attacked her...that m-motivated me even more. [looks down and to the side] I w-wanted to d-die after l-losing Eisuke-kun and Eguchi-san, b-but I also wanted to a-avenge them by k-killing everyone r-responsible for their d-deaths...and I c-couldn't do that if I was d-dead.
Oyamada: [hatefully] S-So...I d-decided to use the t-trial itself. I w-was going to t-try to make everyone v-vote wrong so we'd a-all be executed...I p-planned to make m-myself look like the c-culprit as a l-last resort. [hugs book tightly] I kn-knew it w-was unfair to those who w-weren't as involved...but I f-figured it was w-worth it. [looks down and to the side] I th-thought we'd a-all be b-better off free from this k-killing game, anyway...e-even if the c-cost of that f-freedom was d-death. I th-thought for sure it'd w-work...
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] But it didn't.
Oyamada: [grimaces] N-No...unfortunately, it d-didn't. [angrily] That s-stupid fucking nail...I d-didn't kn-know what to d-do with it. I d-didn't want to l-leave it behind, b-because I was w-worried you g-guys would f-figure out Eguchi-san s-stabbed Eisuke-kun w-with it...and I w-was worried y-you'd search my b-bag and p-pockets, so...I h-hid it up my s-sleeve. [hatefully] I was s-sure you'd n-never find it there, but I was a d-dumbass and let it go f-flying out...

I'm thankful he made that mistake...if he didn't, we'd have voted incorrectly and faced execution.
Motoki: [grimly] Oyamada-kun, I've been wondering...why'd you dispose of the ski mask, slippers, and bat in the Trash Room? You didn't use them, I did, so why'd you bother getting rid of that evidence?
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] It was to m-make it l-look like you were the one wh-who messed with a-all the s-stuff in the T-Trash Room... [hugs book tightly] I g-got rid of the m-mask, slippers, b-bat, the note, and the d-detonator in d-different places b-because I w-wanted to c-confuse you guys...
Oyamada: [tears up] It w-was the s-same deal with the p-piece of r-rubble...l-like Kasparov-kun s-said before, I u-used it to m-make it l-look impossible for E-Eisuke to have k-killed himself, b-but on t-top of that, I w-wanted to confuse you all. I w-wanted to m-make his c-cause of death hard to f-figure out. [grimaces] And in a-addition to that...I u-used it to e-explain all the b-blood that was in his m-mouth.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Damn, ya tried real hard to make us vote wrong...
Oyamada: [hatefully] Of c-course. I r-really, really w-wanted this t-trial to end with a-all our deaths...

As much as I disagree with Oyamada-kun for trying to do that, I can understand why...he was anguished after Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun's deaths. He wanted revenge for them and death for himself, so he figured killing all of us would be the best outcome. I get that, but...it isn't fair. We've struggled so much to survive this long, and, at least in my opinion, it wouldn't be right for our lives to all be cut short like that.

Domoto: [strokes chin] Wait, Oyamada-kun...you said one of the reasons you impaled Terajima-kun's head with that piece of rubble was to explain the blood in his mouth. [crosses arms] That implies the blood wasn't there because of the rubble, as we previously thought. So how did it get there?
Oyamada: [hugs book tightly] It w-wasn't there when I f-first got to Eisuke-kun. [grimaces] B-But in the m-minutes before he d-died, he s-started squirming a-around and c-coughing up b-blood...I f-figured it was f-from being c-crushed by the e-elevator. [tears up] In his l-last few m-moments, he m-made horrible c-coughing and s-spitting sounds and spat b-blood everywhere in f-front of him... [cries softly] I was s-sitting to his s-side, so I d-didn't get any on me, b-but...it w-was still so h-horrible. To see him d-die like that...it m-more than b-broke me. It e-eviscerated me...I c-couldn't even m-move for a few m-minutes...
Domoto: [crosses arms and looks down] ...Oh. I see.
Hayasaka: [softly] Osamu-kun...that must've been so hard for you...
Sashihara: [sadly] Yeah...I can only imagine the pain he must've gone through, having his boyfriend and friend ripped away from him so suddenly.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and sadly] It makes me understand what he did...if I were in his situation, I can't say I wouldn't do something similar... [awkwardly] Also, Oyamada-kun...I really am sorry about what I did to Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun. I know there's no excusing it, but I truly am sorry.
Oyamada: [angrily] A-Apology absolutely not f-fucking accepted, bitch. [hatefully] I h-hate you. I'll n-never forgive you or K-Komatsu-kun...m-maybe Eguchi-san and Eisuke-kun w-would, but I'm n-not as nice as th-them. Not a-anymore, at least.
Motoki: [closes eyes to prevent tears] I...
Komatsu: [miserably] ..........
Oyamada: [aggressively] Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san, d-don't think you g-get a pass, either...I h-hate you guys even m-more. [hatefully] Th-This was the f-fault of the t-two of you in the end. I w-was looking forward to s-seeing you two get wh-what you d-deserved after what you d-did to Eguchi-san...but th-that's not going to h-happen now.
Kasparov: [frustratedly] Oyamada-kun, the deaths of Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun are not the fault of—
Domoto: [sternly] Stop it, Kasparov-kun. [crosses arms and looks down] Please...just stop it already.
Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] Domoto-san? This behavior is most unlike you. [frowns] Is everything okay...?
Domoto: [icily] No, Kasparov-kun, it's not fucking okay. We made the wrong fucking decision! We kept Eguchi-san in that cell and it got her and Terajima-kun killed, and almost the rest of us too! [furiously] Of COURSE everything's not fucking okay!

Holy shit...I don't think I've heard her yell like that, especially not at Kasparov-kun.

Kasparov: [stunned] Domoto-san...I... [regretfully] ..........

Even Kasparov-kun is silent...
Hayasaka: [surprised] I never thought Otoha-san would admit she did wrong...
Oyamada: [bitterly] N-Neither did I...I'm g-glad, but it t-took her too l-long. [hatefully] M-Maybe if she h-had this ch-change of heart sooner, we w-would've never had this t-trial...
Domoto: [crosses arms and looks down] ..........

Wow...Domoto-san and Kasparov-kun have finally stopped defending their decision to keep Eguchi-san in her cell. Like Oyamada-kun said, I wish they'd changed their mind sooner...maybe there wouldn't have been a trial. And even if there was another trial, it probably wouldn't have been as bad as this one...
Sashihara: [clenches fist] Um...I know this is a bit of a sudden change in topic, but... [thinking deeply] That stuff with the blood in Terajima-kun's last moments is weirding me out...you didn't put any of the blood packs in Terajima-kun's mouth, did you, Oyamada-kun?
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] N-No, I d-didn't...I t-told you, he c-coughed up all that b-blood himself.
Komatsu: [stares at floor] But why the fuck would he be coughin' up so much blood? Was it 'cause of the stab wounds?
Kawashima: [seriously] No. They were too shallow to have caused him to vomit up as much blood as he did.
Motoki: [grimly] It's probably from him being crushed by the elevator.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] That's what I was thinking...it makes sense for him to cough up blood if he had a lot of internal damage from being crushed by the elevator.

I guess...

For a moment, no one says anything. Then, Kasparov breaks the silence.
Kasparov: [regretfully] I suppose...there is nothing left to do but vote.
Sashihara: [clenches fist] I guess, but...I don't want to have to vote for Terajima-kun...
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] Me neither, Hisaya-kun...
Oyamada: [tears up] E-Eisuke-kun...I'm s-sorry for failing you...

Komatsu: [miserably] ...Damn. This sucks. [rubs back of neck] Yo, Kawashima-san, are ya gonna do that thing where ya summarize the case now? There ain't much else to talk 'bout...

My first instinct is to agree...but something holds me back.

Domoto: [crosses arms] ...Wait. She can't do that just yet.

It looks like Domoto-san agrees with me.
Motoki: [perplexed] ...What? Why not?

Sashihara: [confusedly] Domoto-san, you can't be serious, right? Do you really want to keep on talking about this? [clenches fist] Don't tell me Terajima-kun isn't actually the killer...
Kawashima: [seriously] He is. He killed Eguchi-san and then himself. That really is not up for debate at this point. [thoughtfully] But...I agree with Domoto-san. It's too soon for me to summarize the case.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] But ya know who the killer is, right? So why the fuck do ya wanna keep on doin' this?
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] Yutaka-kun's right...this trial has gone on for long enough already. We know who the killer is, so we should just end it already.
Domoto: [sternly] ...No. That can't happen yet.
Motoki: [hostilely] Why not!?

Please calm down, Motoki-san. Yelling won't get us anywhere.

Kawashima: [firmly] I'm not sure what Domoto-san's reasoning is, but I agree that we shouldn't vote just yet. [thoughtfully]
We still don't know who created that second murder plan. I'm fairly certain that it's not connected to the rest of the case...but I still want to figure out who did it. [seriously] Whoever set it up was planning to kill and might get us into another class trial after this one, which I want to avoid at all costs.
Domoto: [crosses arms] I agree. That's why I don't think we can end the trial yet. We still need to find out who that person is.
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] Th-That's fair...
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] I agree that we should still talk, but...we've been talking for a long time now. Didn't Monohebi say these trials have a limit to how long they can be? [flatly] If so, we should be careful we don't go over...
Monohebi: [neutral] Worry not, dear. The time limit is only truly imposed once I become bored or the trial lasts more than ten hours. [smiles slightly] Neither of those has occurred yet, so you all are free to talk more.

That's a relief...I wouldn't want him abruptly ending things without us being ready to vote.
Motoki: [grimly] Well, if we're going to do this...how are we supposed to figure out who the person who set up the second murder plan is?
Komatsu: [grimaces] Well, whoever they are, their plan had to with poisons and shit...
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] We knew that already...

I guess figuring out who did this is easier said than done. So, before I put in the effort to try and solve who set up this murder plan, let me first confirm something.
Kawashima: [seriously] Oyamada-kun, did you so much as touch any of the poisons in the Infirmary? [firmly] Please, don't lie. It's pointless now.
Oyamada: [angrily] I w-wasn't going to l-lie... [hugs book tightly] And n-no, I d-didn't. They w-were useless to m-me...Eisuke-kun and E-Eguchi-san were a-already dead, so I d-didn't have any r-reason to use them, and it's n-not like they w-would've helped me c-cover anything up. [fidgets uncomfortably] I a-admit, I was e-entertaining the idea of m-making it look like E-Eguchi-san was p-poisoned...but th-then I saw she d-didn't have any of her c-coffee or soup, so I a-abandoned it...
Sashihara: [curiously] Did you touch of the poisons, though? At all?
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] N-No. I b-barely even l-looked at them when I w-was in the I-Infirmary...
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] I don't want to be a party pooper, but...can we be sure Osamu-kun's telling the truth? [looks down glumly] He lied to us this entire trial...I don't want to doubt him, but who says he's not lying again? [uncertainly] There may not have even been a second murder plan...it might've been Osamu-kun planting fake evidence to try to confuse us.
Oyamada: [angrily] I'm n-not lying! [tears up] I g-gave up my r-rouse...there's n-no reason for me to l-lie anymore...

I believe him...but I'm not sure everyone else does. I don't want to think that someone else was plotting murder, but I won't turn away from that possibility. I'm not going to let this trial end without figuring out who else was planning to kill!

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Monohebi File #4, Inland Taipan Venom, Cracked Poison Jar, Empty Potassium Cyanide Jar, Domoto's Account, Terajima's Head Wound

Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] I'm sorry, Osamu-kun, but it's possible you're still lying.
Oyamada: [angrily] I t-told you, I'm not! I have n-nothing left to hide!
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] If Oyamada-kun's lyin', then that means he's got some other trick up his sleeve, but I don't really see that... [grimaces] Otherwise, he woulda brought it up before he confessed.
Domoto: [crosses arms] I agree. The only reasonable possibility is that there was someone other than Terajima-kun, Eguchi-san, and Oyamada-kun plotting to murder someone in the near future.
Sashihara: [adjusts mask] And whoever they were, they were obviously framing me!
Motoki: [grimly] Either that or you were the one who did it.
Komatsu: [sullenly] Yeah...he was in the Gym last night, so he definitely coulda done it. [grimaces] Maybe he jus' emptied that potassium cyanide jar to make it look like someone else was framin' him...
Oyamada: [looks down and to the side] M-Maybe he e-emptied the jar's contents s-somewhere on the second or th-third floor... [hugs book tightly] Or m-maybe he c-carried it on his person s-somehow when he w-went to bed, th-then disposed of it l-later...
Sashihara: [shouts loudly] I promise, I didn't do either of those things!
Hayasaka: [looks ot the side thoughtfully] I can't speak to the first one, but I know for sure the second's wrong. [twirls hair pensively] Me, Sergey-kun, and Otoha-san saw Hisaya-kun walk past us a little before nighttime, and there's no way none of us missed him carrying something.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] I guess that if he wasn't carrying anything and the three of you were together until nighttime, him and you three
can be cleared of suspicion... [rubs shoulder] So maybe Oyamada-kun was really lying...
Oyamada: [angrily] Sh-Shut up! I'm n-not lying!

...That was a lot. Still, it was pretty helpful. If I think back to that one piece of evidence...something about it makes me very suspicious. I need to bring it to everyone else's attention!

Answer: Domoto's Account > him and you three

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [firmly] That's wrong, Motoki-san. What Hayasaka-san said does not clear Domoto-san, Kasparov-kun, Hayasaka-san, and Sashihara-kun of suspicion.
Motoki: [perplexed] ...What? Why not? [grimly] Domoto-san, Kasparov-kun, and Hayasaka-san were together from dinner until nighttime, Sashihara-kun wasn't carrying anything when he went downstairs, and him framing himself doesn't make sense. [thoughtfully] Maybe saying they were definitively cleared of suspicion was wrong, but...I don't really think there's much of a reason for us to think it's any of the four them.
Kawashima: [seriously] I'm sorry, Motoki-san, but that's still not true. [thoughtfully] What Hayasaka-san said gives me a subtle clue as to who the person who set up the second murder plan is...and it's one of the four people just mentioned.
Sashihara: [clenches fist] I told you, it isn't me!
Kawashima: [firmly] I don't think it's you, Sashihara-kun.

Komatsu: [furrows brow] What? Then who the fuck is it?

The person I'm suspecting...they gave me a very detailed description of what happened last night while I was downstairs guarding Eguchi-san, and yet they left out the key detail that Sashihara-kun went to bed before them in their account. Alone, that doesn't mean anything...but combined with the fact that the planner of this murder plan was trying to frame him by leaving the potassium cyanide jar in the Gym, I can't help but suspect them. I'm sorry, but...the person plotting a separate murder plan could only be...

CHOOSE A PERSON!

Wakana Kawashima

Eisuke Terajima

Sakiko Motoki

Yuuto Furuhata

Yuzuki Eguchi

Sergey Kasparov

Mayumi Carrasco

Mika Hayasaka

Tomiko Niizuma

Noriyo Ichigohara

Yoshi Yamaguchi

Yutaka Komatsu

Hisaya Sashihara

Osamu Oyamada

Michio Aozora

Otoha Domoto

...

......

.........

.............

[OTOHA DOMOTO CHOSEN]

Kawashima: It can only be you!

Kawashima: [slightly challenging] ...Domoto-san. You were the one who did all this, weren't you?

Sashihara: [shocked] What!? Domoto-san!?

Kasparov: [stunned] No...that is not possible...

Oh look...he's finally said something after being quiet for a while.

Hayasaka: [uncertainly] Wakana-san, I'm sorry, but I agree with Sergey-kun. This makes no sense. [twirls hair pensively] You can't possibly think Otoha-san of all people was planning to kill someone, can you?

Motoki: [rubs shoulder] I agree...she's always been so strict and uptight. She's pretty much our de facto group leader... [grimly] So her even planning to kill...I just don't see it.

Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Same, even if I don't like her, I don't see her killin'. Why the fuck do ya even think it's her, Kawashima-san?

Kawashima: [seriously] Well, what led me to suspect her at first was the fact that during the investigation she gave me a very detailed account of what happened last night, yet for some reason left out the part where Sashihara-kun came downstairs. [slightly challenging] You left that out because you wanted to make him look suspicious, didn't you, Domoto-san? You wanted me to think it was weird the Sashihara-kun never came down from the Gym, making it look like it had been him who messed with poisons...when in reality it was you.

Domoto: [crosses arms and looks down] ..........

Oyamada: [hatefully] Sh-She's not saying anything...m-makes sense, given how m-much of a c-cowardly weakling she r-really is.

Kasparov: [stunned] Wait, please... [disbelievingly] Kawashima-san, your evidence against Domoto-san is merely circumstantial. You have nothing against her except for a remark that might have been a mistake!

It wasn't a mistake, but even putting that aside...that's not the only evidence I have against her. Something else is...

The way poisons were arranged/Her clothes/Her hair

Answer: The way poisons were arranged

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Kasparov-kun, you went to the Infirmary during the investigation, right? Then you should
remember how the two poisons which were slightly off in the poison cabinet were both on the shelves near the bottom. [seriously] The cracked poison jar you dropped yesterday was on the top shelf originally but had been moved close to the bottom, while the inland taipan venom was found on the bottom-most shelf. [firmly] I think that makes Domoto-san look fairly suspicious. She's the shortest person here, so she has reason to move things to a lower shelf.

Komatsu: [sullenly] That ain't definitive proof, though...

Motoki: [grimly] No, but is a reason to suspect her. It's a lead, so we should follow it.

Exactly, Motoki-san. I really can't be sure Domoto-san is the person who created this murder plan, and the only reason I'm acting so confident in what I think is to try and get her to admit to it without much trouble...in all honesty, my accusation against her is pretty weak. But if it really is her, I hope she'll take my bluff and admit to it so we can get this over with.

Hayasaka: [hesitantly] I...I guess what Sakiko-san said's true. The next shortest person was Yuzuki-san, but there's no reason for her to have touched the poisons.

Kasparov: [stunned] No...it cannot be true... [disbelievingly] Domoto-san, please say something...please tell the truth. You were not truly planning to commit murder, were you?

Domoto: [crosses arms and looks down] .......... [remorsefully] ...Yes. I was. [clutches chest as eyes fill with tears] I guess there's no point in hiding it now, right?

Oh shit, I didn't expect her to actually fall for my bluff. I'm glad she did, though, because I don't really have the energy to face another long, prolonged accusation again. Even still...I didn't want to be right. I didn't want to think Domoto-san was planning on murdering someone...

Hayasaka: [softly] Otoha-san...no...

Kasparov: [stunned] ..........

It seems he's shocked beyond words...I guess he never thought Domoto-san would plan murder. I don't blame him. I never did, either...

Sashihara: [incredulously] So, Domoto-san, you were the one trying to frame me...? [clenches fist] Why!? And who were you going to kill!?

Oyamada: [angrily] Isn't it o-obvious? It was E-Eguchi-san. Domoto-san w-was going to p-poison her food and f-frame you.

Domoto: [clutches chest] Yep...that's right. I was going to kill Eguchi-san and try to blame Sashihara-kun for it. But when Oyamada-kun, Motoki-san, and Komatsu-kun didn't show up for breakfast this morning, I figured something had happened, so...I abandoned the idea. I left out Sashihara-kun coming downstairs in my account because I was afraid of being pointed as the culprit in the trial, and I figured it might have been him. [cries] It's no excuse for what I did...but it's an explanation. I should've admitted it sooner, I know...but I was so afraid, so I decided to stay quiet. [smiles bitterly] But I guess I should've expected you'd figure me out, Kawashima-san...

Oyamada: [hatefully] I h-hated you a lot a-already, but n-now...knowing that you w-wanted to k-kill Eguchi-san...I... [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] I h-hate you even more, s-somehow! GO F-FUCK YOURSELF, YOU D-DISGUSTING HEARTLESS M-MONSTER!

Domoto: [clutches chest] You're right that I'm a monster... [solemnly] ...but you're wrong about me wanting to kill Eguchi-san. I didn't want that...

Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] The fuck are ya talkin' 'bout? Ya were plannin' to poison her, 'course ya wanted to kill her! [points through angry tears] Yer a cruel fuckin' bitch, ya know that!?

Domoto: [crosses arms and looks down] I do. However, I didn't want to do it. [solemnly] But...I felt I had to. Eguchi-san was our friend, but the thing that she was becoming…I couldn't allow that to live on. She was working with the mastermind. She was too dangerous to be kept alive. I had to get rid of her to make the rest of us safe…paradoxically, I had to kill to stop more deaths.
Oyamada: [hatefully] E-Eguchi-san wasn't evil, you cruel b-bitch! She only b-became that w-way because you and K-Kasparov-kun forced her into that f-fucking cell! [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] It's Y-YOUR FAULT she b-became that way! You're j-just trying to e-excuse what you d-did so we f-feel bad for you!
Hayasaka: [glares at Domoto] Yeah, I don't buy what she's saying. I think she's lying...
Domoto: [sternly] I'm not. Killing anyone was not something I wanted to do. But Eguchi-san was working with the mastermind and because of that, she was dangerous. She had to go for the rest of us to be safe. [clutches chest] I'm not asking of you to forgive what I was trying to do. I just want you to understand...I wasn't doing this because I wanted to escape. I did it because I wanted us all to be as safe as possible, even if it required a sacrifice. [cries] I was going to use the motive so that when I lost the trial, I could survive...but I wasn't going to escape. I was going to choose to stay here and live with the rest of you.
Komatsu: [angrily] That's fuckin' bullshit.
Domoto: [solemnly] It's true. I was going to admit to killing Eguchi-san at the very end if you guys didn't figure out it was me...I just had to make an effort to get away with it in order to fulfill the motive's requirements. [clutches chest] Please believe me...I didn't want to escape at the expense of the rest of your lives, because...I care about all of you.

Oyamada: [tugs on sweater collar with furious expression] H-How can you f-fucking say that!? You w-were planning to m-murder one of us!
Domoto: [clutches chest and cries] It was for the good of everyone else...she was a danger to us all, so I had to get rid of her.
Oyamada: [hatefully] G-Go to hell.

Oyamada-kun is understandably very upset with Domoto-san...and honestly, I am too. To think that she was actually going to kill Eguchi-san...part of me wants to believe it's impossible. Domoto-san has always been so resentful towards the past culprits, so it's shocking that she would decide to become one herself. But...if she really did think that killing Eguchi-san would make the rest of us better off, I guess she doesn't see herself as the same. She probably thinks her alleged goal of trying to save the rest of us makes her different...but it doesn't. Any noble intentions aside, Domoto-san didn't know for sure if Eguchi-san actually worked with the mastermind. So, the murder of an innocent person like Eguchi-san is inexcusable.
Kasparov: [horrified] Domoto-san...why on earth would you want to resort to murder? [sadly] Even if we were correct about Eguchi-san, killing her was not necessary...
Hayasaka: [glares at Domoto] Yeah, you didn't have to kill her for the rest of our sakes, Otoha-san. [coldly] Yuzuki-san...she was struggling so much. She was a good person! You couldn't be sure that was even her in the commemoration video, and if you were, you had no right to plan to kill her! [passionately] You don't get to decide who lives and dies!

I haven't heard Hayasaka-san yell like that in a long time...not since she broke down during the last trial. I guess she's really upset abotu Eguchi-san...
Domoto: [crosses arms and looks down] I see now that what I did was wrong and inexcusable. I don't need to be told that. [clutches chest] All I'm doing now...is offering an explanation for why I did what I did. I'm not asking for sympathy, forgiveness, or pity...just understanding.
Komatsu: [angrily] Well, ya ain't gettin' none of that shit from me! [cracks knuckles] I don't get why ya would wanna hurt Eguchi-san! How could ya be so fuckin' sure she was workin' with the mastermind? [tears up] She was good! She was kind! So why the fuck were ya so certain she was secretly evil!?
Domoto: [crosses arms and looks down] I didn't believe she was at first, not completely...it was only when Kasparov-kun convinced me that I truly believed it was her. [solemnly] I guess the reason why I was so stubborn in my belief that she was the person mentioned in that video...the reason I went so far...it was because I believed in Kasparov-kun's reasoning so much. [clutches chest] How could I not? He saved us during the last trial and allowed us to catch Niizuma-san. If it weren't for him, we'd all be dead.
Kasparov: [stunned] Domoto-san...you did this...because of me...?
Domoto: [clutches chest and cries] Yes. I'm sorry...I went too far. I trusted in you and in myself too much...
Kasparov: [horrified] So what you did...it is truly my fault...
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] I guess partially, but not really...in the end, it's still Domoto-san's responsibility to accept the guilt for what she did.

Kasparov: [weakly] Even so...this... [remorsefully] ..........
Oyamada: [aggressively] D-Don't freak out t-too much...sh-she's the one wh-who was planning to b-become a fucking m-murderer... [hatefully] At l-least with M-Motoki-san and Komatsu-kun, they w-weren't actually t-trying to kill someone...but y-you, Domoto-san...you w-were. [angrily] Y-You're despicable!
Domoto: [remorsefully] I know, Oyamada-kun. I know...
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] Then why did you take so long to admit to it? [clenches fist] If we had figured out the stuff with the poisons was just a distraction a lot sooner, this trial would've been much easier.
Komatsu: [sullenly] Ya know, that makes me think...why the fuck did ya tell us not to vote, Domoto-san? I get ya finally had enough of the guilt, blah blah blah, but why the fuck couldn't ya jus' wait 'til after the trial to admit to this shit?
Domoto: [smiles bitterly] I didn't wait because I couldn't wait...I told you, I want everyone here to be as safe as possible in this killing game. How could I do that if I let you all die?

Wait...she can't actually be saying...
Kawashima: [eyes widen in realization] Domoto-san...are you saying that you're the killer?
Komatsu: [furrows brow] What the fuck!? That ain't possible!
Hayasaka: [shocked] Hold on, this isn't right! Didn't we just say that Eisuke-kun's the culprit!?
Oyamada: [aggressively] Y-Yeah, we did, because it's a-actually him! [angrily] H-How dumb are you, D-Domoto-san? Why the f-fuck are you t-trying to get us a-all killed by v-voting for you instead of E-Eisuke-kun! I s-saw him die! I r-read his suicide note! Th-There's no other p-possibility!
Kasparov: [disbelievingly] I cannot believe it, either...Domoto-san, how could you possibly be the killer when Terajima-kun died of suicide right in front of Oyamada-kun?
Domoto: [solemnly] He died in front of Oyamada-kun, yes...but he didn't die of suicide. [crosses arms and looks down] I admit, I didn't think I was the killer until very recently...I considered that it might be possible, but I figured I was wrong...until Oyamada-kun described Terajima-kun coughing up blood. I thought before that the blood in his mouth was just a distraction like all the rest of the blood on Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun's bodies, but when Oyamada-kun said that, I knew it wasn't...I knew I had to be the killer.
Hayasaka: [confusedly] That doesn't make any sense! Eisuke-kun coughed up blood because the elevator crushed him!
Domoto: [sternly] No. That isn't possible. Not with the way his body was crushed.

What does she mean? I don't think...wait. I get it now. The blood he coughed up being from elevator crashing doesn't make sense, because...
It didn't actually crush him/Only his body from the waist down was crushed/Only his feet were crushed

Answer: Only his body from the waist down was crushed

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] Only Terajima-kun's body from the waist down was crushed by the elevator, Hayasaka-san. [thoughtfully] That wouldn't cause internal bleeding that'd make him to cough up blood...he'd need to have damage to his chest or stomach areas for that to happen.
Sashihara: [clenches fist] But even still...Domoto-san wasn't up last night at any point near Terajima-kun's death! How could she claim to kill him when she wasn't even there?
Domoto: [crosses arms and looks down] I was planning to kill Eguchi-san with poison, Sashihara-kun. That poison ended up in his bloodstream somehow. [solemnly] If you don't believe me...what do you think the "foreign substance" was that Terajima-kun had in his body? It very well could have been poison.
Oyamada: [aggressively] You c-can't be sure of th-that...it m-might have been r-rust from the n-nail Eguchi-san s-stabbed him with. That's wh-what her "f-foreign substance" was, so it c-could be his, too!
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] That's true, Domoto-san ain't really got proof she killed Terajima-kun with poison. Besides, the fuck could she have killed him with if she really did poison him?

Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] The potassium cyanide would kill too fast, so that can't be it...and the inland taipan venom would explain the blood, but it also would've caused Eisuke-kun to convulse, which Osamu-kun would've mentioned...so it must be something else.
Motoki: [grimly] It'd need to take a while to kill, too...Domoto-san last saw Terajima-kun at dinner. She'd need something that wouldn't be fast-acting.

There's only one poison that we know was tampered with that fits all those requirements...
Ricin powder/Poison from cracked jar/Tetrodotoxin

Answer: Poison from cracked jar

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [firmly] The poison from the cracked jar. That causes internal bleeding in the stomach and esophagus, which would explain Terajima-kun coughing up blood, and it takes one to two hours to kill an average-size person.
Hayasaka: [confusedly] Wait, but you never said that any of that poison was missing before! Why didn't you?
Motoki: [grimly] Because none of it was missing. Kawashima-san, how can you think that Domoto-san used the poison from the cracked jar when it was full during the investigation?
Domoto: [remorsefully] That's because I replaced the stuff I took. The poison you saw in the cracked jar today...that was the potassium cyanide. [solemnly] Both the poison from the cracked jar and potassium cyanide are white, crystalline powders and are kept in jars that are the same size...so I put the poison from the cracked jar where I needed it, emptied the contents of the potassium cyanide jar into the cracked jar to make it look like that none of cracked jar's poison had been taken, and then disposed of the empty potassium cyanide jar in the Gym, hoping to blame Sashihara-kun.

So that's what happened...that explains the potassium cyanide and cracked poison jar, but not the inland taipan venom.
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] What about the inland taipan venom? How did you use that, Domoto-san?
Domoto: [crosses arms and looks down] I didn't.

Oyamada: [aggressively] Wh-What? Of c-course you did! Wh-Who else w-would've used it!?
Domoto: [solemnly] I don't know, but it wasn't me. I had no need of using more than one poison in my plan.
Komatsu: [suspiciously] I ain't sure I believe that... [furrows brow] But anyway...what the fuck did ya mean when ya said ya put the shit in the cracked jar "where ya needed it?"
Sashihara: [clenches fist] I don't what she meant, but I still think Domoto-san's lying. The cracked jar poison being what killed Terajima-kun doesn't make sense. [thinking deeply] The internal bleeding stuff matches up, but Domoto-san last saw Terajima-kun at dinnertime, and he died shortly after 3:30 AM! [points] It's still not possible for her to be the killer!
Kasparov: [weakly] No...it cannot be...
Motoki: [perplexed] ...Huh? What is it, Kasparov-kun?
Kasparov: [horrified] It is still possible for Terajima-kun to have been poisoned...because he consumed something approximately two and a half hours before his death.
Oyamada: [quietly] You m-mean...his c-coffee...?
Kasparov: [weakly] ...Indeed. It would naturally take longer than the normal two-hour maximum to kill him given his large size and the internal bleeding matches with symptoms of poisoning...so it is possible.
Domoto: [remorsefully] It's not just possible...it's what happened. [clutches chest and cries] The poison I was going to use to kill Eguchi-san...some of it accidentally ended up in Terajima-kun's coffee, and it killed him.
Sashihara: [incredulously] But how!? You weren't there, and Oyamada-kun made that coffee, didn't? He'd never poison Terajima-kun!

No, he wouldn't...not intentionally. But if the poison was hiding in plain sight, it's possible...

HANGMAN'S GAMBIT

Question: Where was the poison Domoto was planning to use on Eguchi being kept?

GRAUS NERANICOT

Answer: Sugar container

Kawashima: I've solved it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] It was the sugar container in the Kitchen, wasn't it, Domoto-san? That's where you hid the poison. [thoughtfully] I noticed it was full to the brim in the investigation and thought it was weird...but now it all makes sense. The poison from the cracked jar is a white, crystalline powder and as far as I know it didn't have any smell...so it'd blend right in with white refined sugar.
Domoto: [remorsefully] That's exactly right...I put the poison from the cracked jar in there because only Eguchi-san took sugar with her coffee, so that when whoever made her coffee put the sugar in, they'd unwittingly give her poison, and because I put the poison in the container, I'd be the killer. [clutches chest] I know it's a stupid plan...but I didn't have the guts to directly kill Eguchi-san or to confront the guards. So...I was going to volunteer to make her coffee and slip the poison in that way so I could kill her without getting near her. [cries] It looks like I'm paying for that cowardice, though...because it turns out I accidentally got Terajima-kun killed.
Oyamada: [hatefully] Y-You're disgusting.
Domoto: [solemnly] I know that, Oyamada-kun. That's why I accept any punishment Monohebi has prepared for me. [smiles bitterly] It's extremely unlikely Terajima-kun was the person mentioned in the motive video, so there's no way I'm escaping execution...which means you'll at least get some justice, Oyamada-kun. You'll get to see me executed.

..........

..........

...No. That...That won't be happening, Domoto-san.

Kawashima: [firmly] You're wrong, Domoto-san. You're not going to be executed.
Sashihara: [confusedly] Why not? She's the killer!

No, she's not, Sashihara-kun. To figure that out, we only have to look to...
The first trial's outcome/Hayasaka's plan to kill Komatsu/Monohebi's precedent about traps

Answer: Monohebi's precedent about traps

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] Do you remember what Monohebi said last trial, Sashihara-kun? He said that whoever sets up a trap is irrelevant...what matters is who activates it. [reluctantly] So...like how Hayasaka-san would've been the killer last time if Niizuma-san's trap had been real, the real culprit here is the person who "activated" Domoto-san's trap with the poison...the person who made Terajima-kun's coffee.
Komatsu: [terrified] No...ya can't mean...ya don't mean...
Kawashima: [seriously] I do. The real culprit..the person who killed Terajima-kun...it's...

CHOOSE A PERSON!

Wakana Kawashima

Eisuke Terajima

Sakiko Motoki

Yuuto Furuhata

Yuzuki Eguchi

Sergey Kasparov

Mayumi Carrasco

Mika Hayasaka

Tomiko Niizuma

Noriyo Ichigohara

Yoshi Yamaguchi

Yutaka Komatsu

Hisaya Sashihara

Osamu Oyamada

Michio Aozora

Otoha Domoto

...

......

.........

.............

[OSAMU OYAMADA CHOSEN]

Kawashima: It can only be you!

Kawashima: [reluctantly] ...Oyamada-kun. It's you.

Oyamada: [tears up] I...I r-realized it as s-soon as she b-brought up the c-coffee... [sobs] But to th-think...I a-actually killed him...? I...I r-really did it? It's...i-it's... [buries face in hands] E-Eisuke-kun...I'm s-so sorry....I d-didn't m-mean to...I l-love you...

Oyamada can't say anything more. He collapses to his knees, sobbing into his hands.

Hayasaka: [tears up] Osamu-kun...no...

Komatsu: [miseably] Goddammit...it really was Oyamada-kun, after all...

Motoki: [closes eyes to prevent tears] This...this is truly awful...

Domoto: [taken aback] No...no, it's not him. It's me! I'm the killer! [desperately] There's no way it's him! I'm guilty, I've accepted it!

Kawashima: [seriously] No, Domoto-san, you're not.

Domoto: [desperately] Yes I am! I put the poison into the sugar container, so I'm the one responsible! [cries] I deserve to be executed, not Oyamada-kun! He's innocent!

Kawashima: [firmly] You're right that the blame falls on you. You put the poison in the sugar container, laying the groundwork for a murder plan...but that doesn't make you the killer. [seriously] Oyamada-kun was the one who made the coffee and gave it to Terajima-kun...so it's him. He's the culprit.
Domoto: [clutches chest and cries] N-No...I...I can't accept that! I won't let someone innocent die because of my idiotic mistake! [sobs] I...I can't let that happen...! I won't...I'd rather die...
Kawashima: [pitifully] There isn't any other option but to accept it, Domoto-san. We need—

Domoto: I won't allow this!

[split screen separates Domoto and Kawashima]
Domoto: [clutches chest] Kawashima-san, stop it! Please stop! [desperately] I'm the killer, can't you see that!?
Kawashima: [firmly] You aren't, Domoto-san. [reluctantly] You...You're responsible for Oyamada-kun becoming the culprit, but you're not guilty.
Domoto: [cries] Yes I am! I bear the responsibility! [desperately] I have to be the killer!

She's not even listening to me...she's just in denial. She refuses to accept that her actions made Oyamada-kun accidentally kill Terajima-kun...I get that must be terribly difficult to accept, but Domoto-san...you have to. You have to accept the consequences for what you've done!

REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN

Truth Swords: Domoto's Account, My Account, Cracked Poison Jar, State of Terajima's Body, Monohebi File #4, Motoki's Account

Domoto: [solemnly] I understand that maybe you still have confidence in me, Kawashima-san...
Domoto: [remorsefully] I understand that my position of authority in the group may have led you to trust me...
Domoto: [clutches chest] But I can't allow you to say Oyamada-kun is the culprit! [desperately] If you vote for him, you'll all die and I'll be allowed to live, and I can't allow that!

ADVANCE!
Kawashima: [firmly] That's not going to happen. [seriously] Also, I'm not accusing him because I trust you so much. I'm doing it because he's guilty and you're not.
Kawashima: [pitifully] I'm sorry, Domoto-san...I get that you want to die as punishment for what you did...but you aren't the culprit. You're not going to be executed.

Domoto: [clutches chest and cries] N-No...I will be...I h-have to be! [sobs] I can't get away with this! I can't let an innocent person die because of what I did!
Domoto: [desperately] This isn't even the same as Niizuma-san's trap! [cries] Oyamada-kun didn't do enough to become the culprit...the act of
putting the poison in the coffee cup isn't necessarily enough!
Domoto: [clutches chest] So, even if the culprit isn't me, it's Terajima-kun, because he was the one who drank it! He consumed the coffee by
himself, so if it's not me, it's him!

Domoto-san's argument would cause me to hesitate if I hadn't been there myself...if I hadn't seen how Terajima-kun drank the coffee.

Answer: My Account > by himself

Kawashima: I'll cut your contradictions in two!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [reluctantly] Terajima-kun didn't drink the coffee himself, Domoto-san, so he can't be his own killer. Oyamada-kun directly fed it to Terajima-kun...he brought it to his lips and made him drink it. [pitifully] So, please...can you accept it already? Neither you nor Terajima-kun is the culprit...Oyamada-kun is.
Domoto: [clutches chest and cries] N-No...I...that i-isn't...! [sobs] He c-can't be...he...

She tries to protest more, but all that escapes her mouth are broken sobs.

I'm sorry, Domoto-san...but this is how things are. You made a huge mistake and caused Oyamada-kun to accidentally poison his own boyfriend...it's terrible, but it's the truth. You can hate it all you want, but you must accept that this is what happened. You have to live with what you've done, as difficult as it will be...

For a few minutes, there's only the sound of Oyamada and Domoto sobbing. Then, Kasparov says something.
Kasparov: [weakly] I...I suppose there is truly nothing more that we can do. [sadly] We must vote...

He sounds so despondent...it's as bad as when Monohebi threatened his dogs. I guess he feels a lot of guilt over what Domoto-san did...he probably feels some of it his fault too, given that he was the one who convinced her Eguchi-san was the person in the commemoration video and that he spearheaded the effort to put Eguchi-san in the cell. For so long, he denied that he or Domoto-san were at fault for what happened...but it looks like he can't do that anymore. I'm relieved he's being less stubborn, but...I wish it didn't take this much to get him to change his mind.
Motoki: [closes eyes to prevent tears] I don't want to do it...I don't want to vote for Oyamada-kun...he doesn't deserve to die...

Sashihara: [sadly] He accidentally killed his boyfriend...I...I can't even begin to imagine how much pain he's in... [clenches fist] Would it really be right to cause him more pain by voting for him?

Komatsu: [miserably] We shouldn't vote for him...we can't.... [tears up] He deserves to live way more than me...more than Domoto-san, Motoki-san, or Kasparov-kun... [points through angry tears] We shouldn't get to live while he dies! That ain't fair! He should escape, not us!

Oyamada: [cries softly] N-No...p-please...just v-vote for me. I d-don't want to s-suffer any more...and l-living...living after I k-killed Eisuke-kun...t-trapped in this h-hell hole with you disgusting m-monsters...that's w-worse than whatever M-Monohebi has w-waiting for me. [bitterly] So j-just fucking do it...v-vote for me...

I want to tell him that he should want to live...that he should keep on trying...but I can't bring myself to. How could he not want anything else but death at this point, when living in this prison is just one miserable day after another? When the two people closest to him are dead? When he accidentally killed his own boyfriend?
Kawashima: [reluctantly] Well...if this is really the end...I think it's time. [gently] Oyamada-kun, I'm going to summarize everything one last time...and when you're ready...when you accept it...we'll vote. Alright?
Oyamada: [cries softly] Eugh...I...it's... [buries face in hands] ...A-Alright. J-Just d-don't take too l-long...I d-don't want to have to d-deal with this anymore...

Okay...I'll try to make it as quick as possible. I'll summarize the case, making sure we didn't miss anything...who knows, maybe I'll come across an inconsistency and we'll be able to reconsider. Maybe you're not guilty after all...

...No. That's not going to happen. Naïvely hoping that Oyamada-kun's the culprit without reason...it won't help us. I need to accept the cold, hard truth...I need to summarize the truth of this case, once and for all.

CLOSING ARGUMENT

PHASE 1
Missing Pieces:A: Kasparov convinces Domoto that Eguchi is the person mentioned in the commemoration videoB: Getting the upper hand on Motoki, Eguchi shoots her with two tranquilizer darts and then escapes her cellC: Knocking on her door late at night, the culprit threatens to reveal that they know both of Eguchi's secretsD: Domoto goes to bedE: Terajima and Furuhata meet in the Storage RoomF: Motoki and Eguchi fight, breaking the bed in her cellG: In the infirmary, Komatsu grabs a roll of bandages and scissors to help clean Eguchi's woundsH: Komatsu stabs Eguchi with the scissorsI: Ichigohara is shocked to deathJ: Terajima goes downstairs to guard Eguchi, while the culprit and Kawashima go to bedK: After nighttime, Domoto sneaks up to the InfirmaryL: The culprit makes coffee for Terajima and Eguchi, accidentally poisoning both cups by placing the sugar-poison mix into themM: Motoki shoots Terajima with two tranquilizer dartsN: Eguchi kisses Komatsu

???
Kasparov and Domoto accuse Eguchi of being responsible for the killing game and have her locked in a cell
Monohebi announces the motive
The next day, Kawashima becomes Eguchi's guard after dinner
???
Domoto empties the contents of the cracked poison jar into the Kitchen's sugar container and mixes it with the sugar
Because both jars are the same size, Domoto empties the potassium cyanide into the cracked poison jar so it appears potassium cyanide was used
Domoto places the empty potassium cyanide jar in a trashcan in the Gym underneath dirty towels to implicate Sashihara
???
Shortly before 1 AM, Kawashima goes upstairs to find Terajima and the culprit in the Cafeteria
???
The culprit directly feeds the coffee to Terajima, unintentionally landing the "killing blow" and becoming his killer
???
At 1:20 AM, Motoki leaves her room
Motoki grabs a bat and dart gun from the Weapons Room and puts on slippers and ski mask from the Props Storage Room, then heads to the basement
???
Terajima falls unconscious almost immediately, landing in the puddle of Eguchi's melted ice cream
Motoki storms into Eguchi's cell and demands to know if she's really the person mentioned in the commemoration video
???
Eguchi cuts her hands on a rusty broken piece of the bed frame, causing at least one "foreign substance" to enter her body
???
Eguchi rushes upstairs and knocks on Komatsu's door
???
Noticing that Eguchi is hurt, Komatsu takes her up to the Infirmary
???
Paranoid after being kept in a cell, being attacked, and hearing of the motive, Eguchi freaks out and thinks Komatsu is trying to kill her
Komatsu and Eguchi fight, knocking over several items in the Infirmary
???
A distraught Komatsu leaves the Infirmary and returns to his room
Eguchi, even more paranoid now, locks herself in the Infirmary

Answer: A (1), K (5), D (9), L (11), J (13), M (16), F (19), B (21), N (23), G (25), H (28)
PHASE 2
Missing Pieces:O: Terajima calls the elevator and, as it travels between the first floor and the basement, detonates the explosivesP: Eguchi reluctantly agrees to help the culprit
Q: With the culprit by his side, Terajima dies from the poison before the injuries from the elevator crash can kill himR: Worried because Terajima was guard, the culprit leaves their room and heads downstairsS: The culprit places boxes on top of the trapdoor in the pantryT: The culprit returns to their roomU: Terajima writes a suicide noteV: Terajima and Eguchi arrive back at her cellW: Using the already bloody scissors from the Infirmary, the culprit cuts open the blood packs over Terajima and Eguchi's corpses and disposes of the empty packs in the trash containers in the Trash Room and returns the scissors to the InfirmaryX: Eguchi loses her balance because of Terajima's push and falls back onto a large piece of the bed frame, which impales her in the neck and kills herY: Leaving certain parts of the suicide note to make it seem like it was written to Terajima by a mysterious third party, the culprit incinerates the note and the detonatorZ: The culprit takes the bloody, rusty nail from Eguchi's cell, hiding it in their sleeve in hopes that we wouldn't discover that Eguchi stabbed Terajima with itAA: Horrified by his own actions, Terajima decides to kill himselfBB: The culprit returns to the LibraryCC: The culprit obtains the notebook and penDD:
Hayasaka opens the door to the bathhouseEE: Resolved to see Eguchi, Terajima gets a 45 kg dumbbell from the nearby Infirmary

Sometime later, Terajima wakes up
Terajima notices that Eguchi is missing, Motoki is unconscious, and the signs of a fight, and figures Eguchi is in the Infirmary
Terajima arrives at the Infirmary and asks Eguchi to let him in, but she refuses
???
Terajima breaks down the Infirmary door
A scuffle ensues in which Eguchi stabs Terajima with a pair of scissors
Terajima, having changed his mind about letting Eguchi go free, gets the upper hand on her and forces her to return to the basement
???
Eguchi grabs a nail from the broken bed and swiftly stabs Terajima with it
Surprised by Eguchi's sudden attack, Terajima reflexively pushes her away from him
???
???
???
Terajima rigs the elevator with explosives from the Weapons Room
Using a crowbar, Terajima pries open the elevator doors and lies down so that the elevator will crush him in an agonizing death, holding his suicide note in one hand and the detonator to the explosives in the other
???
The elevator explodes and its remains crush Terajima, causing shaking and a loud sound
Kawashima, Komatsu, Sashihara, and the culprit all wake up
???
The culprit finds a dying Terajima and sobs over his death
As the poison from earlier starts killing Terajima, it causes him to cough up blood and squirm in pain
???
The culprit resolves to cover up Terajima's apparent suicide, unaware that they accidentally killed him
The culprit stabs Terajima's head all the way through with a large piece of rubble to cover up the blood he coughed up
???
Hoping to make it look like Motoki disposed of the evidence in the Trash Room, the culprit crushes Motoki's bat in the hydraulic press and places the slippers and ski mask she had been wearing into the trash containers
???
The culprit places the crowbar Terajima used in the Infirmary
In an attempt to cause confusion about Eguchi and Terajima's true causes of deaths, the culprit takes six blood transfusion packs from the Infirmary
???
The culprit goes to bed
Motoki wakes up
Motoki puts the dart gun back in the Weapons Room and goes to bed

Answer: EE (4), V (8), X (11), AA (12), U (13), O (16), R (19), Q (22), Y (25), Z (27), W (30)

Kawashima: This is how it happened!

CLIMAX INFERENCE

Kawashima: This case began two nights ago, after Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san watched the commemoration video together. Domoto-san was unsure about what it revealed, so she went to his room late at night to discuss the video's contents. It was then that Kasparov-kun convinced her that Eguchi-san was the person mentioned in the commemoration video. Because Domoto-san trusted Kasparov-kun so much after he saved us during the last trial, she believed him wholeheartedly...which ended up causing tragedy to strike later.
Kawashima: The next day, Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san had everyone watch the commemoration video and then promptly accused Eguchi-san of being the person mentioned in it. As a result of this, Eguchi-san was locked in a solitary confinement cell in the basement. We then set up a schedule of guards for Eguchi-san to make sure no one targeted her: two people would guard her in pairs during the day and two shifts of one person each would guard her at night.

Kawashima: Later that day, Monohebi announced the motive: whoever killed the person mentioned in the commemoration video, which many of assumed to be Eguchi-san, without killing anyone else and at least made an attempt to get away with it would be able to survive even if they lost the trial. This piqued the interest of Domoto-san, and was probably when she started planning to murder Eguchi-san, who, due to her trust in Kasparov-kun, Domoto-san was absolutely sure was the person the motive applied to.
Kawashima: At some point after nighttime the next night, while I was downstairs guarding Eguchi-san for the first night shift, Domoto-san snuck up to the Infirmary, planning to use poison to kill Eguchi-san without having to deal with guards. To do this, she took the cracked poison jar from the poison cabinet and took it to the Kitchen, where she mixed all of the poison inside with the sugar in the sugar container. Because the poison was a white, odorless crystalline powder, it was indistinguishable from the sugar and was the perfect way to secretly poison someone...too perfect, given what happened later.
Kawashima: With the cracked jar now empty, Domoto-san returned to the Infirmary and refilled it with potassium cyanide. This was to make it look like the potassium cyanide was the poison that had been used. Also, it worked because both jars were about the same size, and as such had the same amount of poison in them. When Domoto-san was done refilling the cracked jar, she placed back in the poison cabinet, this time on a shelf much lower than earlier due to her short height. She then went to the Gym and placed the empty potassium cyanide jar underneath used workout towels to make Sashihara-kun look guilty because he had been in the Gym earlier that night. When she was done, Domoto-san went to bed.
Kawashima: Shortly before 1 AM, Eguchi-san screamed at me for not letting her out of her cell and threw her bowl of melted ice cream through the cell door's window, causing it to splatter everywhere. This experience shook me, so I left my shift a few minutes early, where I saw Terajima-kun and the culprit feeding each other ice cream in the Cafeteria. When I arrived, the culprit realized Terajima-kun's shift was about to start, so they headed into the Kitchen to make coffee for him and Eguchi-san.

Kawashima: The culprit, completely unaware of Domoto-san's plan, put the poison-laced sugar into both coffee cups. Then, as per Terajima-kun's request, they brought the coffee cup to his lips and directly fed it to him, not realizing that this action, together with them putting the poison in the cup in the first place, solidified them being his killer. This was probably when the "foreign substance" the Monohebi File mentioned for Terajima-kun entered his body. Terajima-kun, who didn't realize he was just accidentally killed by his own boyfriend, then went downstairs to guard Eguchi-san, and the culprit and I went to bed.
Kawashima: Approximately twenty minutes later, at 1:20 AM, Motoki-san left her room. The paranoia over the identity of the person in the commemoration video was driving her crazy, so she decided to intimidate Eguchi-san into telling the truth as to whether she was that person or not. It may seem strange for Motoki-san to have waited for Terajima-kun to be guard to do this, given that he was the Ultimate Bodyguard, but due to her affection for me, she didn't want to attack when I was the guard and as such waited until she was certain I was in bed.
Kawashima: Before she went to the basement, Motoki-san prepared herself to attack by grabbing a dart gun and metal baseball bat from the Weapon Room on the fourth floor. Next, she went to the Props Storage Room, where she put on fluffy slippers which allowed her to walk silently and a ski mask to hide her face. Due to the fact that she got all this equipment fairly quickly, it's probable she planned this out well beforehand.

Kawashima: When she was prepared, Motoki-san went to the basement, silently snuck up on Terajima-kun, and shot him with two tranquilizer darts. This knocked Terajima-kun unconscious almost immediately, causing him to fall into the puddle of melted ice cream, which later left dark red stains on his suit. With Terajima-kun out of the way, Motoki-san entered Eguchi-san's cell and proceeded to threaten her with the bat. However, things didn't go as Motoki-san planned: Eguchi-san resisted back much more than she expected and started fighting with Motoki-san. The resulting fight caused Motoki-san to smash the bed to pieces with the bat and Eguchi-san to sustain several bruises and cut herself on a particularly rusty section of one of these pieces. This was how the "foreign substance" mentioned in the Monohebi File entered her system.

Kawashima: Eventually, Eguchi-san managed to gain the upper hand on Motoki-san and shot her with two tranquilizer darts, knocking her out cold. With Terajima-kun and her assailant unconscious and the door open, Eguchi-san took the opportunity to escape her cell. However, because there were no stains from the melted ice cream puddle on her shoes, she evidently was careful to step around it as she left.
Eguchi-san then ran to Komatsu-kun's room and knocked on the door until he came out. When he did, she kissed him on the lips. This caused the ice cream he had been eating earlier to stain her lips a dark red color. Komatsu-kun, noticing Eguchi-san's injuries, suggested they go to the Infirmary.
Kawashima: Once they were at the Infirmary, Komatsu-kun grabbed a roll of bandages and a pair of scissors, presumably to cut off the excess bandages. However, Eguchi-san, whose mental condition had been in steep decline since she locked up and who had become very paranoid due to the motive, misinterpreted Komatsu-kun taking scissors as a sign that he was going to kill her and freaked out at him. They then got into a scuffle that overturned several objects, broke the lenses of Eguchi-san's glasses, and shattered the poison cabinet doors, which caused many poisons to come crashing out.
Kawashima: The scuffle ended when Komatsu-kun unthinkingly stabbed Eguchi-san with the scissors as she was about to stab him with a nail. Komatsu-kun, distraught over what he had done, fled the Infirmary and returned to his room. Eguchi-san, who was even more paranoid at this point, locked herself in the Infirmary.
Kawashima: At some point between an hour and a half and two hours later, Terajima-kun regained consciousness in the basement. He looked into Eguchi-san's cell and noticed her absence, the unconscious Motoki-san, and signs of a fight. He reasoned that Eguchi-san had been hurt in the fight and was probably in the Infirmary, and so went upstairs to check on her there. Unfortunately for him, Eguchi-san no longer trusted anyone and refused to unlock the door even for her friend.
Kawashima: Determined to see Eguchi-san, Terajima-kun took a forty-five-kilogram dumbbell from the Gym next door and used it to break the Infirmary door's handle, allowing him in. Once he was in, he probably tried to calm Eguchi-san down...but he was evidently unsuccessful due to the fact that Eguchi-san stabbed him with the same scissors Komatsu-kun had stabbed her with earlier. Before this point, Terajima-kun had wanted to free Eguchi-san from her cell, but being stabbed and witnessing her obviously deteriorating mental condition probably changed his mind.
Kawashima: So, when Terajima-kun inevitably overpowered Eguchi-san, he forcibly brought her downstairs to the basement, probably by taking the elevator. Then, he put her back in her cell. However, very shortly after he put her in, she grabbed a rusty nail from the remains of the bed and quickly stabbed him with it. Terajima-kun, surprised by this, reflexively pushed Eguchi-san away from him...which turned out to be a fatal mistake. This is because the push caused Eguchi-san to lose her balance and fall back onto a piece of the bed frame, impaling her through the neck and killing her.
Kawashima: I'm sure that in that moment, Terajima-kun was completely devastated. Even after he swore to never hurt someone again after he reflexively stabbed Furuhata-kun in self-defense, he had done it again. Worst of all, his actions caused the death of his close friend. Terajima-kun already felt immense guilt over murders he didn't commit, so I'm sure killing Eguchi-san absolutely crushed him. That, on top of the motive possibly allowing him to
live even if he lost the trial, caused Terajima-kun to make the decision to end his own life.
Kawashima: Terajima-kun probably wrote his suicide note around this time as an explanation for what he did. Once he was done with that, he began making the preparations for his suicide. First, he grabbed several explosives and a detonator to them from the Weapons Room. Then, he called the elevator to the first floor, where he planted the explosives on the lower half of the elevator. When he was done with that, Terajima-kun used a crowbar to pry open the elevator doors in the basement. He then laid down so that his lower half was in the elevator shaft, his upper half was outside, and he was holding the suicide note in his left hand and the detonator in his right. Terajima-kun was prepared to give himself an excruciatingly painful death—one he thought was a fitting punishment for what he had done.
Kawashima: Once all was ready, Terajima-kun called the elevator and detonated the explosives as it traveled between the first floor and basement. The elevator exploded and caused a shaking and loud noise as it crushed Terajima-kun's lower half. This shaking and sound woke up me, Komatsu-kun, Sashihara-kun, and the culprit, as we all were closer to the crash and had rooms with lower-quality soundproofing. While Komatsu-kun, Sashihara-kun, and I all returned to bed, the culprit was worried because Terajima-kun was on guard duty and went downstairs to check on him.
Kawashima: When they got to the basement, the culprit discovered Terajima-kun and was shattered by what they saw. They pleaded with him not to die, but they couldn't undo what had already been done. Terajima-kun tearfully said goodbye to the culprit, told him the truth of what happened, and told them to live. In the next few minutes, Terajima-kun began to cough up blood and squirm in pain as the poison from earlier slowly killed him. The culprit assumed this was from Terajima-kun being crushed by the elevator, completely unaware that Terajima-kun was dying because of them accidentally poisoning him.
Kawashima: Before Terajima-kun could die from the wounds caused by the elevator crashing on him, the poison killed him. The culprit was distraught over his death and couldn't move for a few moments, but when they did, they were determined to accomplish their goal: kill everyone responsible for Terajima-kun's death by having them vote incorrectly in the trial. The culprit, believing that Terajima-kun was the true blackened, was going to cover up his suicide and pin the blame on others at the trial, with them pretending to be the culprit themselves as a last resort, unaware that they wouldn't really be pretending when it came to that.
Kawashima: The culprit started by impaling Terajima-kun's head with a large piece of rubble to both provide a cover story for the blood he coughed up and to have a point against Terajima-kun committing suicide if it was brought up in the trial. Then, they
took Terajima-kun's suicide note and the detonator from his hands and incinerated both of them in the Trash Room incinerator. However, they left select segments of the note inside Terajima-kun's hand that made it seem some unknown third party had written the note to Terajima-kun.

Kawashima: Next, the culprit took the metal bat Motoki-san had brought to the scene and crushed it in the hydraulic press. They also placed the ski mask and slippers she had been wearing inside the trash containers in the Trash Room. The purpose of the culprit doing this was to confuse us and to make it look like Motoki-san had disposed of all the evidence in the Trash Room. After that, the culprit took the bloody, rusty nail Eguchi-san had used to stab Terajima-kun from her cell and hid it in their sleeve, hoping we wouldn't find it and realize what had happened between Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun.
Kawashima: The culprit then took the crowbar Terajima-kun had used to pry open the elevator doors and placed it in front of the Infirmary's poison cabinet. In the Infirmary, they took six bood transfusion packs and the bloody scissors and then brought them downstairs. Once they were in the basement, the culprit used the scissors to cut open the blood packs over Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san's corpses. They did this to try to cause as much confusion about their causes of deaths as possible.

Kawashima: When the culprit was done with the blood packs, they disposed of them in the containers in the Trash Room and went back upstairs to put the scissors back in the Infirmary. I'm not sure exactly why the culprit used the scissors instead of the bloody, rusty nail, but it was probably because they wanted to avoid any possible suspicion that the nail had been used and thought it was smarter to repurpose old evidence. No matter what their reasoning, the culprit was now done covering up Terajima-kun's apparent suicide and returned to their room.
Kawashima: Shortly before 4:15 AM, Motoki-san woke up to find Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun already dead. In a panic and feeling very guilty over what she had done, Motoki-san didn't alert the rest of us that any murders had occurred. Instead, she put the dart gun back in the Weapons Room upstairs and went to bed, not coming out until she heard the body discovery announcement the next morning.
Kawashima: That's the truth of it all...Domoto-san plotting to murder Eguchi-san...Motoki-san's attack on Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san...Eguchi-san meeting with Komatsu-kun and him stabbing her... and Terajima-kun accidentally killing Eguchi-san and trying to kill himself, but accidentally getting killed by poison right before he could die from the elevator crushing him. Going by the rules Monohebi stated during the investigation, the culprit would be the person who killed Terajima-kun...which means the person who poisoned Terajima-kun is the culprit. It pains me to say it...because the culprit was actually Terajima-kun's boyfriend and Eguchi-san's friend. That person...the accidental culprit of this trial who tried to trick us into voting wrong...it can only be...
[split screen separates Kawashima, who is clutching her chest and crying, and Oyamada, who is sobbing into his hands.]

Kawashima: ...You. Osamu Oyamada, the Ultimate Librarian...I hate that this is the conclusion we've reached, but...there's no doubt in my mind that you are the culprit behind this crime.

BREAK!

Kawashima: [gently] Oyamada-kun...do you accept that?
Oyamada: [cries softly] ...Y-Yes. [sobs] E-Eisuke-kun...I'm s-so sorry...p-please forgive me f-for this...
Kasparov: [weakly] ...If he accepts it, then...it is time to vote.

Monohebi: [chuckles] Yes, it certainly is. [slight smile]
You all know what to do. Please choose a face on the screen in front of you to vote. Be sure to take care in your decision. Will you make the correct choice, or the dreadfully wrong one? [narrows eyes] Also, remember that refraining from voting will result only in your death, so do not attempt to get out of this the easy way.

Like the last three times, I look at the panel before me, where I see a screen with four rows of four of our faces. But it hurts far more than any of the other times. Far, far more.

Eight people are dead...and Oyamada-kun's about to join them and make it nine. Once he dies, more of us will be dead than alive. That isn't fair...that isn't right! But...it is what it is. There's no changing it now.
With a far greater amount of hesitation than any of the previous trials, I press down on the image of Oyamada's
face. Then, I close my eyes as I feel tears well up in them.

I'm sorry, Oyamada-kun...you don't deserve this. You and Terajima-kun deserved happiness, not this cruel, brutal end to your relationship.

All of a sudden I remember the inland taipan venom. We never figured out who used it...I guess Domoto-san might have been lying about not using it, but I can't be certain she was. Part of me wants to stop everyone from voting so we can discuss it, but...I'm tired, and they are too. This trial has caused us so much pain...do we really need to cause any more by finding out who took that poison? I know it's cowardly to run from the possibility that another one of us may have been plotting murder, but...I don't care at this point. I don't want to distrust anyone anymore. I don't want to condemn more of my friends to die.

When I finally open my eyes and look up at everyone else, everyone but Oyamada has voted. He stares at the voting screen for a long time, sobbing...but eventually presses his finger on one of the panels.

Monohebi: [slight smile] Sususu...even though it seemed to be rather difficult for you all, it appears all the votes are in. Now, the time you have all been waiting for! [red eye glints] The reveal of the culprit!

I really am dreading this...I kind of wish I was wrong so I don't have to see Oyamada-kun get executed.

Just like
what happened the previous three times, a giant video monitor appears out of the wall. On it, an animation of a giant slot machine with all our faces on it spins rapidly. The slots begin to slow down, more and more until they come to rest on three pictures of Oyamada’s face. A big neon sign displaying the word “GUILTY” appears alongside bright, flashing colors, a burst of confetti onscreen, and cheering from a recorded crowd.

Goddammit...why did I have to be right?

Class Trial: All Rise!

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"I suppose it is mere formality to say so now, but you all were correct," Monohebi says. "The killer of Yuzuki Eguchi was Eisuke Terajima, and the culprit behind his murder was Osamu Oyamada."

"So...we were right," I say, sounding and feeling hollow. "Oyamada-kun killed Terajima-kun with poison..."

"Indeed he did," Monohebi says. He smirks. "I must admit, I was truly worried this killing game would end with this trial...but I suppose I should not have underestimated you all, even if your brains are still developing."

Komatsu gives him an angry, tired glare. "Shut yer fuckin' mouth, bitch. Ain't none of us wanna hear shit from you right now." He looks down at the floor as his tears fill his eyes. "Not after...not after this shit."

Monohebi looks irritated at Komatsu's rudeness, but he obliges. Thank God...I don't think I could take it if I heard his disgusting voice any longer.

"O-Oyamada-kun...I..." Domoto begins.

"D-Don't you d-dare talk to me," Oyamada snaps. "D-Don't you o-open your disgusting lips to speak again u-until I'm e-executed. I'm n-not hearing another w-word from your m-mouth."

Domoto clutches her chest, tears streaming down her face. "...I'm sorry," she says weakly.

Oyamada only glares at her. "I t-told you to s-stop talking," he says harshly. "I h-hate you. I h-hate you from the b-bottom of my s-soul...y-you wanted to kill E-Eguch-san, and th-that's bad enough, but..." He pauses, starting to cry. "Y-You also...also m-made me kill Eisuke-kun. I l-loved him, and you...you made me k-kill him..."

For a moment, we stand in silence, listening only to the sounds of Oyamada and Domoto crying. I want to say something comforting to Oyamada-kun, but...what I could possibly say that would make him feel any better? He just learned he killed his boyfriend and is about to be executed for it...

"Osamu-kun...I'm sorry it came to this," Hayasaka says softly after a while. "You don't deserve to be executed...you're not like Yoshi-kun, Mayumi-san, or Tomiko-san. You didn't mean to kill anyone..."

"He didn't, but that don't mean shit to Monohebi," Komatsu says sadly. "That snake don't care if he meant to do it or not...all he cares about is the act of killin' itself."

Monohebi smiles. "Correct, Komatsu. I was th—"

"That wasn't an invitation to talk," Sashihara interrupts. "Stay out of this."

Monohebi narrows his eyes at Sashihara and stares at him for several seconds. "...Fine," he says reluctantly.

If there's one good thing amidst all the terrible things that have happened, it's that no one's putting up with Monohebi taunting us or him pulling his bullshit anymore.

"Wait..." Kasparov says suddenly. "Oyamada-kun might not have to die. I know it is unlikely Terajima-kun was the person named in the commemoration video, but if he is...then Oyamada-kun fulfilled the requirements of the motive." He looks to Monohebi, desperate hope in his eyes. "Please, tell us...who was the person in the commemoration video?"

"Sashihara just very rudely told me to stay out of this, so I think that is what I shall do," Monohebi says tauntingly. "I believe it would be fun if I kept the identity of the person in that video secret for a little while longer..."

Of course he'd do this. I really do hate this snake...however, even if he won't tell us exactly who the person mentioned in the video is, he does have to tell us one thing

"But you have to tell us if it's Terajima-kun or not," I say. "Otherwise you can't execute Oyamada-kun, because he did fulfill the requirements of the motive. He made an attempt to get away with it and he didn't kill anyone else, so if you execute him, that'll be implicit confirmation that Terajima-kun wasn't the person mentioned in the video. So...you might as well officially tell us if Terajima-kun was that person or not."

Monohebi considers what I said for a moment. "...I suppose you are correct," he says. He clears his throat. "Alright, everyone, listen up! The identity of the individual to whom I was referring in the commemoration video...is not Eisuke Terajima."

Damn. I figured as much, but it still doesn't make it any less heartbreaking that Oyamada-kun's about to die...

"So Oyamada-kun will die after all..." Kasparov says, the desperate hope in his eyes from earlier immediately fading to miserable grief.

"Wh...What about Eguchi-san?" Domoto asks weakly. "Was it her?"

Oyamada looks at her angrily. "I t-told you not to t-talk."

She looks at the ground, unable to meet Oyamada's gaze. "I...I'm sorry...but I have to know this. I have to know if Eguchi-san was that person or not..."

Monohebi smirks cruelly. "Well, well, Domoto...that is unfortunate, because I will not be revealing if Eguchi was that person or not. Given that she and her killer are both already deceased, it seems rather pointless for me to talk about her."

"So it was her, wasn't?" Motoki asks hostilely. "That's the only reason you'd withhold that knowledge."

"That is very presumptuous of you, Motoki," Monohebi says. "In truth, the reason I am not telling you is not that I want to protect Eguchi. Even if she truly did help create this killing game as you all believe, why would I continue to protect her secrets after she is dead?"

"Perhaps her helping you leads clues to your identity," Kasparov suggests, although it doesn't really sound like he believes it.

Monohebi smirks. "No, Kasparov. The true reason I will not tell is that doing so would provide a concrete answer as to whether all your efforts were in vain or not. If you all know for sure if you were wrong about Eguchi or not, that would certainly ease your recovery process and allow you to move on from this situation. However, not knowing...not knowing is such a painful state of being. It provides no closure, no healing...and I would not want that for you all. I want you to agonize over never truly knowing whether what you did was justified or not."

Monohebi...I hate you. You truly are an evil creature.

"I'd say I'm surprised, but...I expect this kind of cruelness from you by now, Monohebi," Sashihara says.

"I am flattered," Monohebi says with a slight smile. "Cruelty is my specialty, so I am quite delighted to—"

"Shut the fuck up for real now, Monohebi," Komatsu says with tired fury. "Please, before ya make me break a rule and beat the shit outta ya..."

Monohebi narrows his eyes at Komatsu. "Rude brat," he mumbles sullenly.

Thanks, Komatsu-kun...I dislike listening to him normally, but after this trial...his snide, cruel remarks are too much for me to be able to tolerate.

"At least...Yuzuki-san really might not have been the person in that video," Hayasaka says, twirling her hair sadly. "Even if Monohebi never tells us the truth, I...I choose to believe it wasn't her. She was so good and so kind, that...even if she lost it near the end, I don't think she created this killing game. Maybe it's naïve and stupid of me, but I still believe in her."

"I c-can't believe I'm d-doing this when you b-bullied Eguchi-san so relentlessly...but I a-agree with you," Oyamada says hesitantly. "Sh-She was too g-good to be that p-person..."

Kasparov stares at the floor. "Perhaps I was wrong...I was so certain that I was right, but if I truly was correct in my deductions...would things truly have ended this way...?"

"L-Like with Domoto-san earlier...I w-wish you could've realized th-that a lot sooner," Oyamada says bitterly. "Then m-maybe we w-wouldn't be here. We c-could've worked around M-Monohebi's motive peacefully...we c-could've worked t-together out the t-traitor and prevent a t-trial...we c-could've stopped Eguchi-san, Terajima-kun, and m-me from dying." Oyamada glares at Kasparov hatefully. "B-But you had to be soooo f-fucking confident in y-yourself. You and Domoto-san n-never seriously considered that m-maybe you were wr-wrong.

"Well, newsflash, ch-chess boy, but y-you're not some infallible d-deity that exclusively p-professes truth and l-logic. You're a fucking h-human and you make a l-lot more mistakes than you th-think you do. M-Maybe if you r-realized that instead of s-stubbornly clinging on to y-your own theories, D-Domoto-san would've r-realized she was wr-wrong too and we c-could've avoided this h-horrible, horrible t-trial."

Kasparov's eyes fill with tears. "Maybe..."

Ouch, Oyamada-kun was really harsh to Kasparov-kun right there...but I can't say he's completely wrong. Kasparov-kun is smart, but he's also stubborn and believes in himself a little too much...

"And y-you, Domoto-san," Oyamada says, turning his hateful glare to her direction. "W-Words cannot even begin to e-express the hatred I f-feel for you. I d-despise you. You a-are the lowest s-scum of the earth and d-deserve whatever p-painful death I'm sure s-someone will g-give you someday wh-when they've had enough of your b-bullshit."

She can't bring herself to verbally respond to Oyamada or even look him in the eye. All she can do is cry, staring at the floor.

Oyamada's face is almost pitiful. "How p-pathetic. You're so confident n-normally, but once your s-stupid plan fell th-through, your true weak, s-sniveling self r-revealed itself and you b-broke."

Domoto cries even more at his words. Oyamada looks he wants to launch himself into a long rant, but he stops himself with his mouth open and then closes it. "...N-No," he says, clenching his jaw furiously. "I'm not g-going to waste any m-more of the f-few moments I have l-left on someone as d-deplorable as you, Domoto-san. R-Rot in hell."

At this point, Domoto is crying so much that it's a wonder that her eyes can produce so many tears. "I'm...sorry..." she says weakly.

"A-As if that m-matters," Oyamada says weakly. "You know...the s-sugar in his coffee...it w-was supposed to be a p-pleasant surprise. Eisuke-kun t-told me that he o-occasionally likes sugar in his c-coffee, so I d-decided to surprise him...I w-wanted to see him smile, b-because he always looked so c-cute when he s-smiled...but...it was f-fucking poison."

He curls his hands into fists and shakes with either rage, sadness, or both. "I k-killed him when all I wanted was to m-make him happy...and for that, I'll n-never forgive you, Domoto-san. It d-doesn't matter how s-sorry you feel." He turns away from her, crying. "Now s-stop talking like I t-told you too earlier. L-Like I said, I'm not g-going to w-waste any more m-my time alive on y-you."

Wow...Oyamada-kun really ripped into her there. It was harsh, but...I can't say she didn't deserve it. Also, what he said about putting the sugar in the coffee really got to me. Oyamada-kun only wanted it to be a gesture of kindness that'd make Terajima-kun happy, but it ended up killing him instead...

"I'm so sorry that happened to you," Sashihara says softly after a brief pause. "I know condolences like this don't reverse what happened, but still...I still want to say it in case it lessens the pain of what you're going through even by just a little bit."

"It d-doesn't lessen any of m-my pain," Oyamada says tearfully. "Wh-When Eisuke-kun died, it w-was like a hole was r-ripped through my heart, and learning that I killed him...it w-was like the h-hole was ripped w-wider and had s-salt, l-lemon juice, and everything else p-painful poured into the w-wound. The p-pain I feel will s-stay with me until I d-die...so n-no, your c-condolences don't make me f-feel any better. N-Nothing anyone s-says or does will."

Sashihara clenches his fest and averts his eyes from Oyamada. "Oh...I should've realized that."

"It's ok, Sashihara-kun," Motoki says. "You were just trying to help."

"What's even the point...?" Komatsu asks miserably. "Oyamada-kun hates all of us now...and ya know what? He should. He should hate us for keepin' Eguchi-san in that cell, me for stabbin' her, and Motoki-san for attacking her and Terajima-kun. He's completely right to hate us, so us tryna help him ain't gonna do nothin'."

"But Hisaya-kun, Wakana-san, and I didn't do anything," Hayasaka says. "Well...I was a horrible, horrible person to Yuzuki-san before, so maybe I should stay out of this...but shouldn't Wakana-san and Hisaya-kun try to comfort Osamu-kun? He's about to die, so we shouldn't leave him alone, even if he does hate most of us."

I guess she has a point...

"P-Please...just stop," Oyamada says tiredly. "S-Stop trying to make me feel b-better. Stop t-trying to act l-like I didn't have my f-friend die and accidentally k-kill my boyfriend. Stop a-acting like th-this is all o-okay. Like mere f-fucking words will m-make feel better..." Silent tears stream down Oyamada's face. "I j-just...I want it to b-be over at this p-point."

Monohebi perks up at that. "...Oh? So you wish to be executed already?"

"...Y-Yes," Oyamada says with a sniffle. "I h-have nothing to g-gain from staying alive...n-nothing but pain and m-misery. I'd r-rather die than s-suffer anymore."

Hayasaka starts to cry. "Osamu-kun...please, not yet...I'm not ready to see you go..."

"Me neither..." says Motoki. "I know you hate me, and that I completely deserve your hatred, but I can't bear to see you die."

"Same here," Komatsu says, wiping his eyes. "It ain't fair...I ain't ready..."

Oyamada looks at them coldly. "It d-doesn't matter if you're r-ready or not," he says. "Wh-What matters is that I g-go when I'm ready. And I'm r-ready now."

Oyamada-kun...

"So you truly wish to be executed now," Monohebi says. He smirks. "That is rather unfortunate...I do not believe I am prepared to execute you yet. After all, we have not even read the suicide note Terajima left behind yet. How could I let you die without a group reading of that first?"

Oyamada glares at him. "F-Fuck you!" he seethes. "I i-incinerated that for a r-reason. I d-didn't want anyone to r-read it!"

"That is most disrespectful to Terajima, who, mind you, addressed his parting note to everyone," Monohebi says with fake sadness. "I managed to capture the note on one of my security cameras and have prepared a transcript." He waves around a piece of paper wrapped in his tail. "Are you all ready for me to read it?"

I don't know if we should...I mean, even if Terajima-kun wrote it to all of us, Oyamada-kun is about to die, so I feel like we should respect his wishes by not reading it. I don't think Monohebi cares about that, though... "We shouldn't read it," I begin. "I don't th—"

"How unfortunate," Monohebi interjects. "I am reading it regardless of what you think." He clears his throat and begins to read the note. "'Everyone, I'm sorry for what I've done. While I was returning Eguchi-san to her cell, she attacked me and I made a careless, thoughtless mistake: I pushed her away from me and she fell onto a section of her broken bed which impaled her in the neck and killed her. It's the same mistake I made when I stabbed Furuhata-kun over two weeks ago...but there's no Yamaguchi-kun to save me from becoming the culprit this time. I killed Eguchi-san and there's no escaping that horrible reality.

"'Unfortunately, I'm ultimately a selfish person and I have a sense of self-preservation too strong for my own good, unfittingly strong for a bodyguard. That sense of self-preservation is why I left Furuhata-kun to die when I stabbed him. It makes me a coward — and that's why I can't trust myself to resist the motive. I can't fully trust myself to deny the motive and go to the trial I would escape from even if I lost. I can't trust myself to live at all anymore. Even without the motive, I'd probably make this decision. The guilt I feel from killing Eguchi-san, accidental or not, is just too much for me to bear living any longer.'"

Terajima-kun...I'm so sorry this happened. I know the guilt of stabbing Furuhata-kun haunted you and weighed you down so much, as did the guilt of not being able to stop the killings of Aozora-kun and Ichigohara-san...so this must have been a hundred times worse. Neither you nor Eguchi-san deserved this...

"'Making this decision is agonizing,'" Monohebi continues reading. "'Osamu-kun, I'm so sorry that I'm leaving you like this.
I know we'd hoped to live together happily after we escaped from this place, but that's not possible anymore. Even though I'm killing myself, I want you to know that I love you with my entire soul and I'll always love you. If I have anything to ask of you, it's that you find the mastermind and get out of here. Please, live and be happy without me. I want you to move on and find love with someone else.'"

Oyamada sobs. "Eisuke-kun...I'm s-sorry...I l-love you too..."

Monohebi looks at Oyamada with a satisfied smirk before continuing. "'And to everyone else —
Kawashima-san, Hayasaka-san, Komatsu-kun, Sashihara-kun, Motoki-san, Kasparov-kun, and Domoto-san — I'm sorry it took me so long to get your names right.
I always did care about every single one of you. I've always valued your lives far more than my own, so I say to all of you, even the one I suspect to be the traitor, that I want you to win. I want you to beat Monohebi and leave this hellhole of a prison. If there's anything that I have to ask of you all as my dying wish, it's for you to unmask the mastermind and escape. Please, make my death the last one here.

"'Don't distrust each other. Fight back against Monohebi and destroy him and whoever the scum behind him is. Most of all — work together. Don't worry about all that you have done in the past and all your past mistakes, worry about the future. I don't want to meet you anytime soon in the afterlife if there is one, so please: escape if you can. Get out of here. Signed, Eisuke Terajima.'"

Monohebi stops reading the note and a somber silence, only punctuated by Oyamada's sobs, sets in as we all contemplate its contents. Terajima-kun wanted us all to work together...he wanted us to stop distrusting each other...he wanted us to beat the mastermind and get out of here...which makes it so heartbreaking that that wish seems impossible. Most of us hate each other now, the traitor's almost certainly still alive. Monohebi seems more unsurmountable of an enemy than ever, so how can we possibly hope to beat him? Especially when we're so fractured as a group?

"Eisuke-kun..." Hayasaka says tearfully, finally breaking the silence. "I promise I'll try to make your last wish come true."

Motoki hugs herself. "I want to say the same...but how will we do that?"

Domoto stares at the floor emptily. "Is it even possible...?" she asks herself.

"Of course...it has to be!" Hayasaka says. She raises her head to look at Monohebi with a fierce expression. "We're going to beat you! We'll unite as a group, find out whoever's behind you, and escape!"

Monohebi does not look threatened at all. In fact, he looks almost amused. "Oh? And how exactly are you going to do that?" He leans forward, smiling cruelly. "How can you unite when there is at least one traitor among you?'

..."At least" one traitor? "What do you mean by 'at least' one traitor?" Sashihara asks, echoing my inner thoughts. "You aren't telling us there's another one, are you?'

"Well, my agent is still alive and well, so there is obviously them," Monohebi says. "Then there is the person who controls me. The one who truly is in charge of this killing game...and they may or may not be one of the students participating in this killing game. I cannot believe none of you have even entertained that possibility so far." He chuckles. "Sususu...perhaps you all were too afraid to admit to it. But as Domoto said during the trial, one cannot simply dismiss a possibility simply because one does not like it."

"So the mastermind...could be one of us..." Komatsu says, his voice empty and flat. "No...that ain't true..."

"I cannot imagine it is true, either," Kasparov says, stunned. "The mastermind...being one of us? Would they not risk dying by participating in the killing game themselves?"

"Yes, but recall that I am an AI," Monohebi says. "It matters not if the mastermind controlling me dies in the killing game because it would still run perfectly well without an individual directly controlling me."

I can't believe this...this trial already destroyed me, but the knowledge that one of us may actually be the mastermind behind this all...not the traitor, not the mastermind's assistant, the actual fucking mastermind...it's too much to bear. I feel like crawling up in a ball in a floor and sobbing...

"But...there's no way you're just an AI," Sashihara says incredulously. "That doesn't make sense...you seem too real to just be a robot."

"You seem to forget that I took all of your memories," Monohebi says. "Perhaps because of that, you do not recall the progress technology has made. It truly is quite advanced in our modern age." He huffs. "Also, Sashihara, how very rude of you to say that I am too real to be a robot. That is quite robophobic, you know. "

"Shut up!" Motoki protests. "It's impossible for any of us to be the mastermind!" She closes her eyes to stop herself from crying. "I can't believe that...some of us may be a little messed up, but...I can't imagine that any of us would organize a fucking killing game..."

Monohebi tuts. "Motoki, dear, unless you have an actual argument that disproves that my master is not among you all, I suggest that you cease speaking and close your worthless mouth."

"Don't talk to her like that, Monohebi," I say. "Why are you doing this? Why are you telling us that the mastermind is one of us?" I step forward, feeling my hands curl into fists. "You're just trying to play with our emotions, aren't you!? You want us to be so distrustful of each other that we can never work together to beat you, right!?"

Monohebi narrows his eyes at me. "What a fool you are if you believe that yelling at me will do you any good, Kawashima," he says irritatedly. "I am merely telling you that it is a very real possibility that one of you may be controlling me. It truly is not as complicated as you might think."

Yeah, right...everything you do is always meant to push us into the despair you love so much. This is no different.
"I doubt that's all there is to it, Monohebi," I say, feeling my fists unclench but my anger stay very much in place.

He shrugs. "Alright. Believe whatever you will. It truly matters not to me." He looks away from me and turns his attention to Oyamada. "Now then, Oyamada...are you still prepared for your execution?"

"...N-No," Oyamada says, sniffling. "I'm n-not ready yet."

Monohebi looks surprised. "Oh? I thought you said you were prepared to die."

Oyamada wipes his eyes. "N-Not yet...I n-need to talk to everyone," he says. He looks around at all of us. "Eisuke-kun's l-last wish...I w-want to let you kn-know that it's not p-possible. Y-You're all fucking m-monsters. N-None of you will e-ever be to get a-anything done to beat M-Monohebi...just l-look at how easily this g-group collapsed when Kasparov-kun and D-Domoto-san accused Eguchi-san of m-making this killing game. You're all h-hopeless. I h-hate to say it, but Eisuke-kun...he w-was wrong."

"Can you really be sure of that, Osamu-kun?" Hayasaka asks. "I'm sure we can do something as long as we all work together..."

Oyamada glares at her. "Can you s-stop pretending for once in your f-fucking life? H-Hayasaka-san, all you d-do is convince yourself of th-things that aren't true to a-avoid facing reality...that d-disgusting Mika-chan personality, th-this overly nice one you've r-recently been using...it's all a fucking a-act. If y-you were really so nice all a-along, why the fuck would you t-try to kill Komatsu-kun? Why'd you a-attack him and Sashihara-kun? Wh-Why'd you say all those h-horrific things to Eguchi-san?" He spits on the ground in front of her. "Y-You're just as bad as the others. A-At least they're upfront about how sh-shitty they are and d-don't try to hide it b-behind fake personalities."

Hayasaka opens and closes her mouth several times, but she can't bring herself to say anything. Instead, tears fill her eyes and she starts crying into her hands. "Osamu-kun..." She says weakly. Wow, Oyamada-kun really laid into her...I wonder, was what he was saying true? Is she really just pretending again? Or is she actually nicer now?

"Damn...ya shouldn't be so mean to Hayasaka-san, Oyamada-kun," Komatsu says. "I get ya gettin' mad at us, but she really is tryna be better..."

"H-How do you know th-that for sure?" Oyamada asks challengingly. "A-Also, what made you th-think you could t-talk to me? You, the c-coward who stabbed Eguchi-san and r-ran away from his own c-crime...who d-denied what he did until h-halfway through the fucking t-trial...what f-fucking right do you have to talk!?" He glares at Komatsu. "I h-have no idea what Eguchi-san s-saw in you...in the e-end, you're just a w-weak, pathetic bastard who t-talks big but can't o-own up to his m-mistakes when he n-needs to."

Komatsu looks as if every single one of Oyamada's words stung him like an angry bee. "I..." He can't bear to look at Oyamada and instead stares the floor miserably, gripping his jacket tightly. "Yer right...I dunno what she saw..."

Oyamada glares at him own last time and then shifts his gaze to Motoki. "You," he says coldly. "I've d-done the o-others, s-so why not you?"

Motoki looks away from him, ashamed. "I don't know what you're going to say, but I deserve it, whatever it is."

"You're r-right, you do," he says. "Y-You're disgusting. B-Because of Domoto-san's e-evil plan, Eisuke-kun and I were d-doomed to die...but Eguchi-san d-didn't have to. If y-you hadn't attacked her and Eisuke-kun, she'd s-still be alive. She'd be d-damaged and in n-need of a lot of h-help, but she w-would've lived. And y-you...your d-desperate actions to f-figure out who the person in the c-commemoration video was...they got her k-killed!" His voice breaks on the last word. He stares at the floor for a few seconds, sniffling, before looking back up at Motoki. "H-Her death is y-your fault. For all that t-talk you made of promising to p-prevent another murder...you s-sure did a shitty job at a-actually stopping one."

Motoki hangs her head, tears falling from her eyes. " I kn-know...I hate myself for what I did, Oyamada-kun. I wish I could undo it all..."

"You c-can't," Oyamada says angrily. "You'll have to l-live with the misery of kn-knowing you got her killed for the r-rest of your pathetic life...you'll h-have to suffer with it e-every day you w-walk this wretched earth." He smiles bitterly. "That's a-awful, it really is...it's a fitting p-punishment for what you d-did."

Oyamada-kun is really going off about everyone...I can't blame him, though. Most of us did some terrible things and should be held accountable for them. Besides, Oyamada-kun seems like he really needs to unload all of his emotions before he gets executed, so I'm not going to stop him from doing that.

"These tirades of yours are quite amusing, Oyamada," Monohebi says. "But the execution cannot wait—"

"Sh-Shut the fuck up," Oyamada interrupts. "I'm a-about to fucking d-die, so I'm g-going to say as much as I w-want to."

Monohebi narrows his eyes at Oyamada. "You were much better when you were more passive," he says, irritated.

It was nice to hear Oyamada-kun stand up to Monohebi...when we first got here, Oyamada-kun was really scared of him and the killing game itself, but Terajima-kun's advice for him to learn to be more assertive and confident really made him change. I'm glad it happened, but...it's a shame that the price of this development for him was Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san dying.

"What more do you have to say, Oyamada-kun?" Sashihara asks quietly. "If you're not ready to get executed yet, there must be something more you want to say."

Oyamada clutches one of the straps for his bookbag and stares at the ground sadly. "...Th-There's only two more things I n-need to say." He looks back up, alternating his angry gaze between me and Sashihara. "F-Firstly, Kawashima-san and S-Sashihara-kun...you m-may not have d-directly been involved in this c-case. But y-you're not innocent. You l-let Eguchi-san stay in that cell...you s-stood by and d-did nothing as everything got w-worse and worse..."
He looks away and grimaces. "I'm g-guilty of that too, b-but I acknowledge my g-guilt...and I'm a-about to die, so th-there's no point in me trying to ch-change."

He looks back at us. "B-But you two...if you r-really do want to p-prove me wrong and a-accomplish Eisuke-kun's l-last wish, y-you're going to have to do a l-lot better. Y-You're going have to stop s-sitting on the sidlines and w-work your a-asses off to beat Monohebi and u-unite this group of t-terrible people." He frowns. "I'll be h-honest...I d-don't think it's possible. I th-think you two are j-just as hopeless as the others...but if you r-really do think you can p-prove me wrong, then...d-do it." He pauses and sniffles. "If you c-can...please m-make Eisuke-kun's l-last wish come t-true."

"Of course!" Sashihara says passionately. "I'll do everything I can!" He clenches his fist. "I'll make sure I never repeat the mistakes I've made before...I'm not going to sit on the sidelines anymore."

I don't feel like I've "sat on the sidelines" like Oyamada-kun says I have, but I do agree that whatever I'm doing to try and stop this killing game, I'm not doing it right. I have to change my way of doing things...I have to make this group better for all of us...I have to make Terajima-kun's last wish come true!
"I promise I will, Oyamada-kun," I say at last.

He nods. "G-Good..." He pauses for a moment, then glances at me. "N-Now...the s-second and final thing."

All of a sudden, he runs over to me, grabs ahold of my shoulder, and gets on the tips of his toes to say something into my ear. "Otoha Domoto," he whispers, so quietly I can barely hear him.

...What? "Oyamada-kun, what—"

"Shhh!" Oyamada shushes harshly. "The c-cameras Monohebi has will h-hear...have no r-reaction to what I'm a-about to say. D-Don't look at anyone." He pauses, then speaks as quietly as humanly possible. "Th-That name I j-just said...is the n-name of the t-traitor."

...Wh...WHAT!?!? "N-No...that's not true..." I say in disbelief. Domoto-san being the traitor...I can't believe that! "How do you even know that!?"

"E-Eisuke-kun told me it wh-while he lay dying," Oyamada whispers. That's right...Terajima-kun told me he had an idea who the traitor was a few days ago.
"I d-didn't say it earlier because I d-didn't want anyone to know I kn-knew," Oyamada continues. "I'm o-only telling you now because you've s-solved every trial...so I t-trust you to do what n-needs to be done. I d-don't like you, honestly...but I'm n-not letting Eisuke-kun's d-deduction go to w-waste."

He steps away from me suddenly, acting like nothing ever happened. "...What was that?" Kasparov asks confusedly.

"Yes, what was it?" Monohebi asks, glaring at me. "What did Oyamada say to you, Kawashima?"

I avoid Monohebi's angry, inquisitive stare. He probably has an idea as to what it is, but I can't let him realize I know the traitor's identity. "Nothing," I say.

"No...there's no way it was nothing!" Sashihara says. "Oyamada-kun, what'd you tell Kawashima-san!?"

Oyamada snorts humorlessly. "I told her E-Eisuke-kun's last parting w-words to me..." His face saddens. "W-Well...his a-actual last words were 'I l-love you,'
but this was r-right before that."

"What were they?" Hayasaka asks curiously. "Osamu-kun, what did Eisuke-kun say to you?"

"D-Don't bother asking me," he says. He looks at me. "K-Kawashima-san...don't you d-dare tell them just yet. N-Not in front of Monohebi...not wh-when one of them could be the m-mastermind. T-Telling them isn't g-going to help you."

"But, Oyamada-kun—" I begin.

"N-No," he says firmly. He closes his eyes. "M-My last w-wish...is that you d-don't tell anyone that information. Not u-until it's s-safe. As m-much as I'd l-love to see the reactions b-before I go...I c-can't. It w-wouldn't be right." He opens his eyes, staring at me intensely. "W-Well? Y-You're not going to d-deny my last wish, are y-you?"

I hesitate. I want to tell everyone...I want to immediately let them know Domoto-san's the traitor to turn the tide against Monohebi. But Oyamada-kun's right that the mastermind could be in this room right now...and even if they're not, they're definitely watching us. Because of that, I need to keep my knowledge secret...at least for now.
"No...I won't," I say finally.

Oyamada nods slowly. "...Okay," he says, sounding empty and sorrowful. "I th-think...it's time."

"No, it most certainly is not," Monohebi says. His red eye glints dangerously. "Oyamada, what did you tell Kawashima!?"

"You'd like to know, w-wouldn't you..." Oyamada says, a hateful, bitter smile on his face. "You w-won't get anything from m-me, snake."

Monohebi hisses in fury. "Ssssssss...you miserable brat!" he seethes. "I will make the punishment extra terrible for you!"

"It d-doesn't matter," Oyamada says miserably. "Any ph-physical pain you inflict on me n-now is nothing c-compared to the emotional p-pain I've been feeling...nothing c-compared to what the m-monsters I've been trapped here with have d-done."

"I believe you will regret that statement," Monohebi says, narrowing his eyes.

Oyamada doesn't have any reaction. "...Wh-Whatever. It d-doesn't matter anymore. N-Nothing does."

Monohebi stares at Oyamada with suppressed anger for a moment, then composes himself. He clears his throat. "Ahem. I have prepared a very special punishment for Osamu Oyamada, the Ultimate Librarian."

Oyamada looks back at us one last time. There are no tears to be found in his eyes anymore. They're just red, raw pits of hatred and despair. "If y-you didn't gather this a-already, I just w-wanted to let y-you all know...I h-hate...a-all of you."

"Punishment time!" Monohebi says.

Execution #4: The Metamorphosis in Room 101

Right after Monohebi announces the start of the execution,
a metal clamp forces itself onto Oyamada's neck and drags him out of the courtroom.

Just like the other three times, the video monitor which displayed the voting animation suddenly switches on to display a pixelated animation with a sprite of Oyamada being dragged away by a pixelated Monohebi and the caption, "Oyamada
has been found guilty. Now commencing the punishment."

After the animation ends, the monitor turns to static for a brief moment before switching to show Oyamada in a dark room, strapped down to what looks like a dentists' chair. Despite his situation, Oyamada looks more tired and angry than terrified and sad. I guess all the pain he's gone through doesn't make death as scary to him as it was to the other three killers.

A Monohebi dressed in a white lab coat soon slithers to a panel on near Oyamada and presses a button on it with his tail.
A large video monitor immediately descends from the ceiling to hang right in front of Oyamada's face to show all sorts of graphic imagery, from brutal murders to horrifically botched surgeries to gruesome accidents. Although he is visibly uncomfortable at the terrible sights in the video, Oyamada is still mostly unfazed.

Clearly unsatisfied, the Monohebi presses another button on the panel, causing the video monitor to shoot back up into the ceiling and be replaced by something even worse: a cage full of frothing rats the size of cats. The rats claw at each other and, once they see him, Oyamada. At first, the cage is a few feet from Oyamada's face, however, it slowly but surely creeps closer and closer until the cage is merely an inch from his face. Oyamada is now struggling against his restraints and closing his eyes tightly, trying to get as far as way from the feral rats as he can, which is not very far.

Despite how the Monohebi in the lab coat is obviously pleased by Oyamada's increased alarm at his situation, it presses another button on the panel, a wide smirk forming on its face. The rats in the cage all immediately explode violently, causing Oyamada to be covered in their blood, bones, and tissue. He's starting to cry and shake slightly now, saying words that I can't hear through the monitor.

Unfortunately, the Monohebi in the lab coat is still not done. It presses one last button, causing all the lights in the room to turn on suddenly, revealing a life-size, cruelly-made doll replica of Terajima splayed out on the floor. Once his eyes adjust to the sudden change in lighting, Oyamada stares at it in confusion. All the while, the Monohebi hurriedly slithers out of the room. What? Why is it running away?

As if in my response to my silent question, the Terajima doll starts to shake, with parts of its body also jerking in unnatural, sporadic ways. The shaking and jerking grow more and more violent until something bursts out of the "skin" on the doll's arm: a monstrously large insect's leg. Oyamada stares at it in fear as more and more legs burst out of the doll. When all eight legs are out, the doll slowly gets on its feet and begins to approach Oyamada. He struggles against his restraints fiercely, breathing heavily and crying as the doll with eight monstrous insect legs gets closer and closer.

The "doll" reaches the foot of Oyamada's chair, the rest of it finally falls apart to reveal the creature beneath it: a gigantic hairy spider-beetle hybrid with the antennae, claws, and large black shell of a dung beetle and the legs and eyes of a spider. Oyamada starts screaming at the sight of his two most feared bugs merged into one horrifying creature, violently attempting to break himself out of the restraints binding him to the chair, but to no avail. He's stuck in place as the monster from his worst nightmares stands right in front of him.

The spider-beetle hybrid begins moves its legs on either side of Oyamada's chair so that the underside of its body scrapes alongside Oyamada's legs, and then his torso. Oyamada screams and screams, not even in fear anymore but in pure desperation. The creature all of a sudden stops moving and, for a second, it looks like it's going to creep away from Oyamada.

But then it plunges its two beetle claws into the middle of Oyamada's chest and rips his still-beating heart out of his body, causing a bloody fountain to stream from where it once was. Although I can't hear him, the sight of his agonized face and the arching of his back tell me Oyamada's screams must be deafening.

The spider-beetle moves to eat the heart it ripped from Oyamada's body, but before it can, the Monohebi in the lab coat rushes back into the room and shoots it full of holes with a machine gun. The now-dead creature collapses onto Oyamada, whose movements gradually slow down but whose anguish never once lessens. His face is frozen in excruciating pain and agony even as he slumps against the chair and the motion of his chest rising and falling of his chest stops altogether.

When he's been completely still for a few seconds, the monitor turns off.

What...the fuck...was that...?

"Osamu-kun..." Hayasaka says, crying. "You...didn't deserve that..."

No, he absolutely didn't...he deserved a quick, painless death, not such a cruel and excruciating one that played on his worst fears.
"I think...I'm going to be sick..." I say, barely keeping down vomit.

Kasparov is not as able. He throws up all over the floor, trembling. "How...How could you do that to someone, Monohebi?" he asks tearfully.

"That stuttering brat was a nuisance in the end, so I decided to give the more violent execution of the few I had planned," Monohebi says with a smirk. "Ah...how wondrous that final face of his was. You could truly see the despair on his face as the monster worse than any he could possibly imagine literally ripped his heart out...serves him right." He pouts in mock pity. "I suppose it is something of a shame, though. As Kawashima can corroborate, I did offer him a therapy to help him treat his Specific Phobia Disorder...but alas. He chose to ignore and insult me, so I truly do not regret what I did to him."

"You're evil," Motoki says contemptuously. "Absolutely fucking evil."

Monohebi snickers. "Sususu...says the girl who got Eguchi killed."

"How'd ya even get make a fuckin' scary-ass animal...?" Komatsu asks, horrified. "Don't tell me those things exist in the wild..."

"It wasn't an animal, it was a highly-advanced robot," Monohebi says. "As I said earlier, technology is quite advanced in this modern age."

Yeah, but who the fuck would waste it making such a terrifying monster, only to kill it instantly? If the mastermind behind Monohebi was able to make that thing, they must have a lot of resources at their expense...

"Oya...mada...kun..." Domoto says through ugly tears. "I'm...so sorry..."

Shut up, you goddamn traitor!...is what I want to say to her. But I don't want to dishonor the last wish Oyamada-kun had...besides, revealing that I know who the traitor is would be throwing away an advantage I have against Monohebi, and I definitely don't want to waste anything that gives me an edge over him. So...I'll just stay quiet about her for now.

"Komatsu-kun was right," Sashihara says quietly. "Before we voted, he said we should all die instead of Oyamada-kun...I wish that's what happened. I wish we voted wrong." For the first time ever, I see Sashihara start to cry. "He deserved to live...not us..."

"You are correct..." Kasparov says, still looking queasy. "To see such a kind, shy person like Oyamada-kun become twisted into the tortured, furious soul we saw...it is truly heartbreaking." He clutches his chest. "And to know that it is, at the root of it all, my fault..." He doesn't finish his sentence. He only stares forward into nothingness.

Domoto wipes her eyes and hangs her head. "Kasparov-kun...don't blame yourself," she says weakly. "It's my fault...I got Terajima-kun and Oyamada-kun killed. I should be dead, not Oyamada-kun."

"Yeah, ya fuckin' should be," Komatsu says hatefully. "Yer a fuckin' monster, Domoto-san. Ya planned to fuckin' murder Eguchi-san, ya cruel, evil-ass bitch!" He clenches his fists tightly. "If ya weren't a girl, I'd beat the fuckin' SHIT outta ya for what ya did!"

Domoto doesn't look up at him. "...You still should," she says shamefully. "I need to get the shit beaten out of me."

"Stop it," Motoki pleads. "I don't want anyone else to die, and violence without intent to kill is against the rules..."

"If you didn't want anyone else to die, why the fuck you'd do what you did to Eisuke-kun and Yuzuki-san?" Hayasaka asks, her voice seething with quiet rage. "You wanted to prevent deaths, didn't you, Sakiko-san? So why did you betray your own promise as soon as Sergey-kun and Otoha-san accused Yuzuki-san of working with the mastermind? Why were you so fucking quick to abandon your own principles!?"

Holy shit, I haven't heard Hayasaka-san talk like this since she broke down last trial...

"I...I was desperate," Motoki says miserably. "I made a stupid decision because I was breaking under the stress of being in this terrible prison. I know what I did was fucking wrong. I hate myself for being so goddamn stupid..." She glares at Hayasaka. "But how can you
act so righteous when you tried to kill someone last trial, blackmailed Eguchi-san, and were all-around a terrible fucking person!? You can't just suddenly flip a switch and pretend like all the shitty things you did in the past didn't happen!"

"That...That isn't what I'm doing!" Hayasaka says passionately. "I'm really trying to be better! And I haven't ignored what I've done in the past...I tried to make it up to Yuzuki-san! I tried to get her to forgive me for what I did!"

"And how did that go?" Motoki asks. "She never actually forgave you before she died."

Monohebi smiles. "Oh my, this is heating up. I should have made popcorn..."

"Fuck off," I say coldly. "This doesn't concern you."

"Oh, but it does," Monohebi says. "Seeing my two precious inmates fight among themselves is so very entertaining. It is ironic as well, given that the last wish of Terajima was for you all to unify." He chuckles. "Sususu...what a fool he was. To think you brats could ever do anything but turn on each other is such an inane delusion."

"Shut up," Hayasaka says angrily. "We can unify. It's just...I wanted to call Sakiko-san out on her bullshit. We can't unify if she doesn't understand the hypocrisy of what she did."

"I do fucking understand!" Motoki shouts. "I know it was wrong and I know it was stupid and I know it contradicted what I talked about in the past and it's killing me! It's tearing me apart!"

"Stop it, both of you," Sashihara says, softly yet firmly. "I understand where you're both coming from and that your emotions are heated right now...but please, just stop."

Thank you, Sashihara-kun...I wanted to tell them the same thing myself, but I didn't have the energy to.

Monohebi pouts. "How disappointing. You had to ruin the fun, Sashihara..."

"Fuck you," Sashihara says, staring at Monohebi coldly.

Monohebi returns Sashihara's cold gaze for a few seconds before suddenly turning it to me. "Kawashima. What did Oyamada tell you? He was such an obstinate brat that he could not be forced to admit to what he told you, but surely you are more willing to assist your dear Warden?"

"My 'dear Warden?'" I repeat, incredulous at his audacity to imply that I like him in any way. I stare up at Monohebi, unwavering in my anger. "I hate your guts. I'm not telling you shit. You probably already know what it is, anyway."

"Do I now?" Monohebi asks flatly. "I have a good idea as to what he told you, it is true...but I would like official confirmation, Kawashima. So tell me. Now." He stares at me intensely, his robotic snake eyes feeling like they're boring into my soul. After a long moment of me not saying anything, he closes his eyes, obviously annoyed. "Hmph. I suppose you will not be cooperative, either. I cannot make you talk, given that you have not broken any rules, so you may remain silent for now." He smirks. "Do not delude yourself into thinking you have won, though. Even if you know what I think you do, you will still lose to me in the end."

No, I won't. "I won't lose to you, Monohebi," I say with determination. "And not just me...we won't lose. We're going to beat you, as a group."

"You already have lost," he says with a smug smile. "In fact, you have lost not only once, but nine times. Furuhata, Yamaguchi, Aozora, Carrasco, Ichigohara, Niizuma, Eguchi, Terajima, and Oyamada...you promised to prevent all of their deaths, and yet you failed to save every single one of them." He laughs. "Sususu...I honestly find it incredibly amusing that you think you can win against me. You all promised there would be no more deaths after the first trial, and the second, and the third. Do you truly believe anything will be different after the fourth? I do not. I believe you should listen to the words of Albert Einstein: 'insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.'"

"Then we'll have to do something different," I say fierily. "I'm not going to passively hope for things to get better...I'm going to directly act against you, Monohebi! I'll to prove Oyamada-kun wrong and I'll make Terajima-kun's last wish come true!"

The smugness of his smile quickly sours and morphs into contempt. "You will still fail," he says. "No matter what you try, you all will fall into the abyss that is despair." He pauses. "Ugh. I am no longer in the mood to entertain you brats...leave this courtroom. Now."

No one hesitates. We all file into the elevator and stand as far away from each other as we possibly can, which is depressingly easy to do now. The elevator feels so big and empty...I guess it's inevitable now that more than half of us are dead, but it's still really sad to think about.

The ride up is completely silent. No one dares to say anything or even look at anyone else. I slowly feel the rebellious fire that I felt when confronting Monohebi quickly cool into depressed grief as the elevator ascends. Oyamada-kun...he didn't deserve what happened to him. I wish he could be alive instead of the rest of us...but would he even want that? He was so miserable and full of hatred and despair in the end that maybe it was best for him to die...but even still, I wish he could've been saved. I wish I had done more to stop his death and the deaths of Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun, too...

All of a sudden, the elevator suddenly jerks to a stop, forcing me to switch back to reality. Motoki, Komatsu, Domoto, and Hayasaka all immediately rush out of the elevator and head to the entrance to Cell Block A, while Kasparov, Sashihara, and I walk out and then stand awkwardly outside the elevator. Domoto-san's wasting no time hurrying back to her room, which means that I don't have time to confront her. I'm sort of relieved...I'm not in the mood to do that right now.

"...What was it?" Kasparov asks quietly, his voice flat and monotonous.

"Huh?" I ask, confused, before I realize what he's talking about. "Oh...I can't say. I'm sorry."

"Why can't you?" Sashihara asks suspiciously. "Didn't you promise Oyamada-kun that you would try to unite the group? So why the hell are you keeping secrets?" He looks at me painfully. "Please, Kawashima-san...just tell us what it is. Hiding information will only put you and everyone else at harm."

I hesitate, contemplating telling them. Should I? I want to let them know that Domoto-san's the traitor...but I can't be sure neither of them is the mastermind.
"Sorry," I say, regretfully. "I can't be sure you two aren't the mastermind."

"That...is fair," Kasparov says. "I would assure you that I am not the mastermind...but what would the point of that be? How could you possibly believe me after what I have done? After I indirectly caused the deaths of Eguchi-san, Terajima-kun, and Oyamada-kun?" He begins to cry and turns away from us. "Goodbye..."

I watch him as he walks unsteadily back to his room. He's really torn up after the trial. He was too confident before, so it's good he's not trusting in himself too much...but I still feel bad for him. I don't think he really meant any harm in the end...

"I'm going to go to my room, too," I say to Sashihara. "I know it's not even close to nighttime yet, but I...I need to be alone."

"I understand," he says softly. I feel his eyes on the back of my head as I walk away from him. "Kawashima-san," he calls out right before I reach the doors to Cell Block A.

I look back at him.
"What?"

"Don't trust anyone but yourself," he says. "I don't know what Oyamada-kun told you, but whatever it is, it had to be important...so be careful. Otherwise, you might find yourself in danger."

"Is that a threat?" I ask.

"No, it's a warning," he says. "I want you to be safe."

I nod slowly. "...Okay."

Somewhat disturbed about what Sashihara said, I walk into Cell Block A and go to my room. Once inside, I swiftly get changed and fall onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. Why did Sashihara-kun tell me that? It's good advice, but even still it's disconcerting. I guess I should be concerned. If I know the traitor's identity, Domoto-san or Monohebi himself could try to target me...he's definitely not above personally targeting people with the motives, so it really isn't out of the realm of possibility...

I push those unsettling thoughts out of my head, but as soon as I do, all the grief and sadness from earlier floods in to take their place. Eguchi-san...Terajima-kun...Oyamada-kun...I'm so sorry. I wish you were back. All of you were good people at heart, and you shouldn't have all died in such cruel and terrible ways.

Slowly but surely I feel my composure fall apart as I think about their deaths more and more. I always have to keep it together for everyone else...I never really gave myself time to grieve during the investigation or trial. I always internally pushed away my sorrow before I could even register it...but I can't do that now. I feel my eyes fill with tears, and then the hot tears streaming down my face as I sob. The more I think about it...the more I realize I could've stopped all this.
Eguchi-san...I should've let you out of that fucking cell. You'd still be alive...Terajima-kun wouldn't have drunk the poisoned coffee, Motoki-san wouldn't have attacked him and Eguchi-san, Komatsu-kun wouldn't have stabbed Eguchi-san. None of it would've happened.

But I trusted Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san...I trusted the logic of an overconfident boy who doesn't really understand emotions and a backstabbing traitor. I'm an idiot. I can solve all the trials we're forced to go through, but I can't save a single fucking life, no matter how hard I try. I can't ever bring myself to make the right decision. I can never save a single life.

Oyamada-kun...you were right. I'm just as hopeless as the others...I'll never be able to fulfill Terajima-kun's last wish. I can try, but I'll never succeed. I hate to admit it, but Monohebi was right. I can't believe I had the confidence to tell him I could win...because how could I? I'm always destined to fail and watch as people I care about die. I could never defeat him...

Aozora-kun was right. I really am a failure.

...

.........

................

???: I told you, I cannot wait much longer. I need you here *now*.[. . .]???: ...Oh? Why was I not told of this before?[. . .]???: ...I see. Well, you still need to come here yourself. I will be in need of your professional abilities.[. . .]???: Yes. Things *have* gone very well. The inmates' trust in each other has been shattered by this latest trial and ratings were at the best they have ever been. There have been lots and lots of positive reactions from the most important and influential of people...however, that does *not* mean we can afford to become overconfident. The success of this plan relies on the success of the next trial.[. . .]???: My agent is still alive, yes. They hate me, but they have shown no signs of seriously intending to betray me so far and they came close to achieving their goal this time. Unfortunately...I am unsure that I can rely on them to make this fifth case as amazing as it needs to be.
[. . .]???: Why? You know I cannot tell you such sensitive information over the phone. Come here soon and I shall tell you then. Additionally, bring our "insurance policies" with you. They will be of great assistance to us in creating a final motive that will obliterate this group and push them to kill. It will be rather tacky of us to reuse a motive, but it will be worth it because it will allow us to push the inmates toward a final trial that will plunge them into the deepest, darkest despair...a final trial that will finally help me achieve the goal I have dreamt of for my whole life.
[. . .]???: Ha. That is music to my ears. Also...this is unrelated, but have you heard from those two recently?[. . .]???: ...I see. That is disappointing news, but I am sure they will accomplish their task eventually. It will be wonderful once they do. Then, there will be no limits to my ambitions...no limits to how far I can go.[. . .]???: Yes, yes, I know we must wait for approval first. That aside, I will be seeing you shortly, correct?
[. . .]???: Excellent. This is Grimmla, over and out.

Chapter 4: The Snake(s) Among Us

END
Niizuma, Terajima, Hayasaka, Furuhata, Komatsu, Oyamada, Aozora, Kawashima, Domoto, Kasparov, Ichigohara, Sashihara, Motoki, Eguchi, Yamaguchi, Carrasco
Inmates Remaining: 7

Completed: 5/31/20

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 5: Heavy is a Guilty Heart
Daily Life

It doesn't feel like anything. I don't feel cold or hot, hungry or thirsty, satisfied or unsatisfied. I just feel...blank. As blank as the dark, unending void that surrounds me in every direction. Wha...Where is this place? Am I dead? I hope not, but with everything that's happened..that wouldn't be so bad.

"There you fucking are," I hear a boy's voice say out of nowhere.

That voice...I haven't heard it in so long I almost forgot who it belonged to. "Fu...Furuhata-kun?" I ask into nothingness. "Is that you?"

The void parts and I see him materialize next to me, looking just as alive as when I first met him. "Yeah, it's me. Did you really have to keep me waiting for so long? I thought waitresses weren't supposed to be rude, but being this late definitely is pretty damn rude. Forgetting who I am is also rude as fuck."

"I didn't forget about you," I protest. "Believe me, I haven't..."

Furuhata cocks his head. "...Really? You're going to lie to me, even in death?" He snorts. "Face it, Kawashima-san. You did forget about me. You didn't want to accept that by sending Yamaguchi-kun to get that mixer you got me killed, so instead of, you know, accepting your guilt and using it to make sure you didn't accidentally cause another death...you just ignored it." He curls his lip. "How fucking pathetic."

I turn my head away from him and close my eyes, but that doesn't stop me from feeling his burning gaze. "I'm sorry," I say softly. "If I had gone to get it instead of Yamaguchi-kun, you would've lived...but..."

"You stayed behind to help me instead," another voice interjects.

I open my eyes to see the source of the voice. "Aozora-kun," I say, feeling tears form in my eyes after not seeing him for so long. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you."

He adjusts his glasses and then shakes his head at me. "I don't blame you for not being able to save me," he says. He narrows his eyes. "I mean, how could I expect you, a failure in every sense of the word, to be able to help me?"

"I tried," I say. "I really did."

"All you did was make me feel worse," Aozora says with calm anger. "When I was on the brink, your words only pushed me closer to the edge instead of pulling me back. You're a disgrace."

"I think Michio-kun's bein' a little too harsh, but I gotta agree with his point," yet another voice says from the darkness.

I don't bother to look over at her. Ichigohara-san...if there's anyone here I feel the most guilt about, it's you...I was with your killer when she murdered you. I let her break the rules so she could set up your death trap.

"So you're not gonna say anythin'?" Ichigohara asks, sounding disappointed. "Wakana-chan, you really gotta stop doin' this...except for what you did with Michio-kun, you've been so passive. All you've done is talk about makin' things better and helpin' stop more deaths, but you really haven't been doin' anythin' more than that." She sighs. "I know I'm usually all for 'goin' with the flow' and lettin' life take its course, but there are times when you gotta take action."

I finally look over at her to see her staring at me with sad disappointment. "I know, Ichigohara-san, it's just...taking action is hard. I don't want to accidentally make things worse like I did with Aozora-kun..."

Furuhata frowns. "Taking action is better than doing nothing, regardless of whatever happens in the end," he counters. "What's worse than that is letting terrible things happen and doing nothing to put a stop to them. That's just as bad as doing those things yourself."

"He's right," says a girl's voice which has to be Eguchi's. "You let me stay trapped in that cell. You refused to let me out even when you could see that I was suffering. Even when I relapsed into bulimia and spent my days sobbing in that fucking cell, you did nothing." Her voice fills with contempt. "I hate you. Almost as much as the chess douche and toy bitch. At least they're up-front with how fucking terrible they are."

Eguchi-san...I'm so, so sorry. "I wish I had done it," I say weakly, unable to hold back my tears. "I wish I'd let you out of your cell...maybe then this all could've been avoided. You might still be alive..."

"Osamu-kun wouldn't have had to make the coffee if she'd been released," I hear a deep voice say. "If I didn't drink it and if Eguchi-san was free, then all three of us would still be alive."

I look at him, his gaze feeling like it's boring into me even though his eyes are covered with sunglasses. "Terajima-kun, I know. I'm really sorry that I didn't do that..."

Ichigohara shakes her head sadly. "All it would've taken is one action and so much pain and sufferin' could've been avoided. It's a real shame."

"A failure like her could never stop anything," Aozora says harshly. "Had she freed Eguchi-san, I'm sure she would've somehow inadvertently caused another death. That's just how she is."

"Isn't that the fucking truth," Eguchi says angrily. "You're so useless. You can solve trials really damn well, but when it comes to preventing the trials in the first place, you're a bumbling idiot and just allow things to happen."

I try to respond to her, but all I can do is cry into my hands. "I'm...sorry..." I say weakly, barely able to push out those words.

"Saying sorry means nothing," Terajima says coolly. "Words are nothing but air in the end. Your actions are what matter. And if you really do want my last wish to come true, you better make a radical shift in them."

More and more tears stream down my face. "Terajima-kun...I...I promise you, I will," I say.

"...If you say so," he says, sounding doubtful.

He and the others say nothing else. They only stare at me coldly as I cry before them in my shame. Everyone...I'm so sorry...I really will try to change. I don't want anyone else to die...

I sit there and do nothing but cry and feel guilty, until—
“Good morning, inmates. It is now 7 am, which means nighttime has officially concluded. Enjoy another day of confinement.”

Monohebi's morning announcement suddenly rouses me from my terrible dream. I try to will myself out of bed, but I can't. Maybe I should just stay here...after all, what good has getting up ever done for me? I feel like almost every consecutive day in this prison has gotten worse, so why even bother facing it? Everyone in my dream was right...I've caused so much of the bad things that went down here to happen. I've rarely done any good by getting up for the day...so I should just stay here. At least this bed is comfortable...

I lie in bed miserably for what feels like an eternity, but when I turn my head to the clock on my bedside table after a while, it's only 7:24 AM. Damn,
only 24 minutes? It felt like at least an hour...

With a considerable effort, I finally manage to get myself out of bed and into the bathroom. I brush my teeth, looking at myself in the reflection. I look absolutely terrible...I don't think my hair's looked this bad since we got here. I consider taking a shower to try and remedy that, but decide it would be too much effort in my current state. I take one every day, so I can probably skip just one time...besides, if I wait much longer, I'll be late to the morning meeting. I don't want anyone to worry about me...that is, if anyone's there. I wouldn't be surprised if most people don't show up after what happened yesterday.

Looking and feeling awful, I leave my room and head to the Cafeteria, where I see that my prediction was correct. Only Kasparov and Hayasaka are there.

"Hi," I say flatly as I sit at the table. Kasparov only flits his eyes over to me, while Hayasaka looks over and mumbles something that might be "hello." Seems like both of them are in bad moods, too. I'm not surprised...if anything, I'd be more concerned if they were acting normal. Still, it sucks that they and everyone else are like this. And it sucks even more that three people died yesterday...

After several minutes of solemn silence, Sashihara comes out of the Kitchen. "Breakfast's ready," he says quietly. He looks around at the emptiness of the Cafeteria. "I guess the others aren't coming from breakfast."

"...No, most likely not," Kasparov says as he gets up shakily.
He, Hayasaka, and I go to the Kitchen, where Sashihara has cooked a delicious-smelling breakfast. I want to use that as something to cheer me up, but all it does is remind me of Ichigohara. I miss her...I wish I had been smarter and didn't let Niizuma-san kill her. I wish I had been better...

I get my food and head back to my seat in the Cafeteria with the others to sit in awkward silence. Good...I'm not in the mood for conversation right now.

As I eat, I think about Ichigohara and all the other murder victims I saw in the dream. I promised that I'd change my behavior, but I don't think any of them believed me. I can't really blame them, considering I have a terrible track record so far, but...part of me still wants to believe I can stop Monohebi. I really did think that I could beat him when I said I would yesterday, but saying is much, much easier than doing. If I'm honest, all of them are just projections of my own self-guilt, so I should probably admit to myself that I doubt I'll be able to beat Monohebi. But
even if I don't think I'll succeed...I should at least try. Like Furuhata-kun said, doing nothing is the worst possible decision.

Despite liking the food Sashihara made for breakfast, I can barely manage to eat half of it. I guess I'm not very hungry in my current state. Feeling unsatisfied, I bring my half-finished plate back to the Kitchen and reluctantly throw the remaining food scraps in the trash. I feel bad throwing away food because there are so many people that struggle to eat every day...but I highly doubt Monohebi or whoever's behind him is generous enough to distribute leftover food to the hungry.

I look over at the dirty dishes in the sink after throwing away my uneaten food. I'm already here, so I might as well wash those dishes...it's not like I have anything better to do. Besides, doing the dishes can be relaxing sometimes if you're not being forced to do it.

While I'm doing the dishes, I hear someone come into the Kitchen. I briefly turn around to see Sashihara walking to the sink, carrying the used plates from the Cafeteria. "Hi," I say stiffly as I return my attention to a particularly stubborn spot on one of the pots.

"Hi," Sashihara says back to me as he places the three plates on the counter next to me. "You didn't have to do this, you know. I was going to do all the dishes myself."

I shrug. "It's not some gesture of kindness, just something to occupy my mind for a few moments instead of thinking about this terrible killing game."
I probably shouldn't have been so straightforward there...I was a little too honest. I guess all the time in here is dulling my self-restraint and politeness instinct...

"I get that," Sashihara says. He pauses. "If you want something else to take your mind off things, you could help me bring breakfast to the three who didn't make come this morning. I set aside plates for them over there." He gestures to three plates sitting on the counter, which I didn't notice when I came in. I'm immediately reminded of Ichigohara. She did the same thing for Niizuma-san and Aozora-kun when they stopped showing up to breakfast. The thought of her makes me feel tears starting to creep into my eyes. I miss her...I wish I'd been able to stop Niizuma-san...I wish I never let her go to the "bathroom" alone...

"...Sure, I'll go with you," I say eventually, staring at the dishes so Sashihara doesn't see the tears in my eyes. I'll probably regret agreeing to go along...I'm not emotionally prepared to see Motoki-san or Domoto-san after what happened yesterday. Still, if I really do want to prove Oyamada-kun wrong and make Terajima-kun's last wish a reality, I will have to not only see them, but talk with them a lot too.

"Great," Sashihara says. "I'm sure there's also new areas to explore. We could go take a look at them after we give everyone breakfast."

Looks like I won't be able to be alone at all today...
"Sounds like a plan," I say flatly.

As soon as I finish the dishes, Sashihara and I take the three plates and leave the Kitchen to find that Kasparov and Hayasaka have already left the Cafeteria. I guess they decided to leave as soon as breakfast was done with.

Once we're in Cell Block A. Sashihara, who's walking in front of me, turns left in the hallway. Of the three people we're bringing food to, only Domoto-san's room is to the left, so I guess that means we're seeing her first.

Sure enough, Sasahihara stops outside Domoto's door and knocks on it. "Domoto-san, I've brought you some breakfast," he says while I remain silent. I'm going to let him handle the talking here, because if I try to talk with her, it'll probably end in me lashing out at her for working with Monohebi.

It takes a long moment, but eventually, Domoto opens her door and sticks her head out, looking absolutely terrible. Shit, she looks bad. She probably didn't sleep last night. "What is it?" she asks tiredly.

"We brought you breakfast," Sashihara says, holding out the plate he made for her. "Here, take it."

"...You shouldn't have bothered to make it for someone like me," Domoto says, her voice sounding empty. "But...thanks, I guess." She takes the plate out of Sashihara's hands and retreats back into her room, closing the door behind her.

Fucking traitorous bitch can't even bear to have a conversation. Even if she's not working for Monohebi, which I doubt because I trust Terajima-kun, she's a piece of shit-stained garbage for trying to kill Eguchi-san. Fuck you, Domoto-san.

Sashihara sighs, bringing me out of my hateful thoughts. "I wish we could talk with her more, but it doesn't look like she's up for that."

"I don't think the other two will be either," I say flatly.

Sashihara and I move down the hallway to the next room we need to visit, which is Motoki's. I feel my stomach clench in apprehension as we stop outside of it. This is going to be so awkward...

I knock on the door this time. "Motoki-san? It's Kawashima-san. Sashihara-kun and I brought breakfast for you."

A few seconds after I finish speaking, her door opens and I see Motoki with a severe case of bed head. "...Hi, Kawashima-san," she says, not able to look me in the eyes.

"Hi," I say. "How are you holding up?"
I regret my question almost as soon as it leaves my mouth. What kind of answer should I expect? She set off the chain of events that resulted in Eguchi-san's death, so of course she's not doing well.

"I feel...like absolute shit," Motoki says. "I want to shrivel up in a ball in a dark corner and never speak to anyone ever again."

"...Really?" Sashihara asks, surprised. "I thought you hated being alone."

"I do," Motoki answers morosely. "But I deserve to be alone and suffer after what I've done." She takes the plate from my hand, still not looking me in the eyes, and hastily withdraws into her room. "Bye."

After she shuts the door in our faces, I exchange a concerned glance with Sashihara. "That's not good," I say worriedly. Motoki-san *hates* being alone...it's her worst fear after her what she went through in her childhood. For her to choose to be like that willingly...it makes me afraid. "We should help her."

Sashihara looks at her door, frowning. "She isn't doing well, no...but I don't know if it would be right to force her to come out. Sometimes people need time to be alone."

"I get that, but she...she's different," I say. "I don't want to share too much without her consent, but Motoki-san went through some really rough times in her past where she was forced to be alone, and it's really damaged her...so her voluntarily choosing to isolate herself makes me very worried."

"That's fair," Sashihara says. "However, now obviously isn't the best time to talk with her from how she was acting. I say we check up on her later. She'll probably be more willing to talk then."

I nod hesitantly. "Okay..."

Still feeling uneasy about leaving Motoki alone, I take the last plate from Sashihara and walk down the hall to Komatsu's door. "Hey, Komatsu-kun," I say as I knock on his door. "Sashihara-kun and I brought some breakfast for you."

There is no immediate response. Now that I think about it, Komatsu-kun skipping breakfast is more out of the ordinary than Domoto-san or Motoki-san doing it. He's always loved food, so for him to skip a meal is worrying.

Finally, Komatsu opens his door, bleary-eyed and...not wearing anything but his underwear!?

I almost drop the plate. "What the—why aren't you dressed!?"

"Sorry," he mumbles tiredly. "I sleep like this...I didn't think ya were gonna show up here with no warnin'..."

I wasn't expecting you to be essentially naked with no warning, either. "Well...we have your food," I say, offering the plate to him.

He takes it wordlessly, staring at the contents. "Why'd ya do this?" he asks, his voice small. "I don't deserve people workin' for me after what I did..."

"What you did was an accident, Komatsu-kun," Sashihara says softly. "You didn't mean to stab Eguchi-san."

"So?" he asks, staring at his food miserably. "It don't matter if I wanted to do it or not...I still did it. I still hurt her. I still betrayed her trust."

I try to think of something to reassure him, but my mind draws a blank. I wish I could make him and the others all feel better, but I can't undo what happened or what they did, unfortunately.

"...If you need anything, just let us know," Sashihara says. "If you, please come out to dinner." He pauses. "And, uh...get dressed first."

Komatsu scowls. "'Course I will...if I decide to go." He shrugs half-heartedly. "I dunno if I'll be up for comin' outta this room at all today...but I guess we'll jus' hafta see what happens." He closes his door.

I sigh as soon as he does. He's doing pretty badly, just like everyone else, but at least he might be willing to leave his room later today, which I doubt Motoki-san and Domoto-san will be able to do. That's something of a positive development, so I'm glad I decided to do this even if I could only make a small change. Still, though, I wish I didn't have to see more of Komatsu-kun than I ever wanted to to make things better.

"I hope he comes to dinner," Sashihara says pensively from beside me. "I hope they all do, because cutting themselves off from everyone else will only make things worse. Especially when Monohebi inevitably brings up the next motive..."

Ugh, I don't even want to imagine Monohebi's motive yet... "Do you really think he'll even give us a motive, Sashihara-kun?" I ask. "With how bad things are right now, Monohebi might not need to. I know it's not very optimistic of me to say that, but even still..."

"I disagree," he says. "Even if Monohebi doesn't need to give us a motive, that doesn't mean he won't. He wants to ensure that we'll never unite and beat him, so I'm pretty certain he'll give us a motive no matter what happens."

I open my mouth to argue, but soon close it again. Sashihara-kun's right...Monohebi's extremely cruel and wants to make sure we never come together. Giving us a motive even when things are as shitty as they are now wouldn't be out of line for him. "You're right," I say reluctantly. "We have a little while, though...he never gives us motives immediately after a trial."

"Yeah," Sashihara says. The conversation hits an awkward pause for a moment. "Speaking of what happens after a trial," he says to break the silence, "Monohebi usually gives us new areas to explore."

Oh, yeah...I completely forgot about that. "He's probably opened the fifth floor for us," I speculate. I groan. "That's going to be an annoying walk."

"It will, but the floor might give us some clues on how to escape," Sashihara says.

I can't help but let out a humorless snort. "...Do you really think so?" I ask. "Monohebi wouldn't open an area for us if it helped us escape."

"I said it might give us clues on how to escape, never that I thought it would." He shrugs. "We'll probably find nothing helpful up there...but we should still go."

I guess I can't really argue with that. If nothing else, exploring the new areas will give us something to do. "Let's go, then. There was a metal gate in between the Media Room and Weapons Room on the fourth floor, so that's probably how we get to the fifth floor." The elevator would have been preferable, but that's obviously not an option anymore...

Sashihara and I walk all the way up to the place I mentioned to find the gate gone and set of stairs waiting, just as I expected. "Here we are," Sashihara says. "I wonder what's up there."

"Time to find out," I respond as I move to walk up the stairs.

On the fifth floor, I find myself faced with a long hallway that spans the entire length of the floor. On the right are four spaced-out doors while on the left there is nothing until halfway down, where another hallway branches off. Beyond that, there is only one door on the left side. The other notable feature is the ceiling, which is at least four times higher than all of the other floors.

"The ceilings are a lot higher up here," Sashihara says as he leans his head back to look up at them. "I wonder if there's a reason for that."

"Maybe one of these rooms will hold the answer," I say, gesturing down the hallway. I don't know what it could be, though...maybe there's a big machine or something that takes up a lot of space? No matter what the reason is, I don't like the high ceiling. It makes me feel even more trapped than I already do.

Hoping it might give us a clue as to why the ceilings are so high, I walk over to the closest door on the right side, with Sashihara trailing behind me. I see that the sign above the door reads "Cell Block E." Oh, it's one of these rooms. There's never anything of note in them, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to take a peek in.

With Sashihara right behind me, I walk into the Cell Block to find mostly what I expect: cells lining every wall and everything colored a cold gray. However, I didn't expect to see that there are three levels of cells on top of the bottom row. This must be why the ceilings are so high on this floor...or at least part of the reason why.

I turn to leave the room, not finding it very interesting, but Sashihara puts a hand on my shoulder to stop me. "You're going to leave without talking to her?"

...What? "Who're you talking about?" I ask, following his gaze until I see that Hayasaka is sitting in one of the cells on the second level. "...Oh. How'd you notice her?"

Sashihara shrugs. "The pink she wears stands out."

Fair enough. I guess I wasn't paying much attention because I wanted to be out of here as quickly as possible. I turn back around. "I guess we should go talk with her. She was at breakfast, but she didn't say much of anything."

We make our way up to her. "Hey," she says unenthusiastically as we get to the outside of the cell she's sitting in. "I guess you two are here to check up on me."

"Something like that," I say. "How are you doing?" I did it again...I really need to stop asking that question when it's obvious that no one is doing well at a time like this.

Hayasaka frowns. "I'm...alive," she says. "I'm still living, so I guess that's something." She looks at her feet pensively. "But I don't really feel alive...like, I know I'm breathing...but everything just feels so strange. I feel like I'm living in some nightmare that I haven't woken up from. Nothing really feels real to me."

"That doesn't sound good," Sashihara says from next to me. "Do you need to talk? Both of us are here for you if you need that."

She hesitates, considering for a moment. "I guess I should talk, yeah...but I'm not up for it. Not right now, at least. Maybe sometime later..."

It seems
like she wants to be left alone for now, too. That's a recurring theme for everyone today... "Alright, just let us know when you are," I say gently.

Hayasaka nods. "Okay," she says, then falls silent. Guess that's our cue to leave.

Once
Sashihara and I leave Cell Block E and I'm sure Hayasaka can't hear us, I speak up. "She's a mess too," I say. "Even though she wasn't directly involved with everything that happened yesterday, Hayasaka-san still wants to distance herself from everyone." I pause, a troubling thought entering my mind. "Hey, I wasn't really watching at breakfast, but...how was Hayasaka-san acting with her food?"

"She hasn't relapsed if that's what you were wondering about," Sashihara says. "At least, not as far as I can tell."

I breathe a sigh of relief. "That's good to hear," I say. "Some good news in this fucking cruel place."

Sashihara doesn't seem to share my enthusiasm. "Just because she hasn't relapsed yet doesn't mean she won't. Honestly, I can't be completely sure she hasn't. She might've gone to the bathroom right after breakfast and...gotten rid of everything. If we want to ensure she isn't relapsing, we need to keep a careful eye on her in this time of high stress, because if she's pushed over the edge she could easily start binging and purging again if she hasn't already." He clenches his fist. "That happened with Eguchi-san when she was thrown in that cell...I can't believe I failed her like that. I promised her that I help her down the road of recovery, but I couldn't live up to that."

I want to say "it's alright," but I know it isn't. What happened with Eguchi-san was terrible and we all failed her by allowing her to stay in that cell. Our inaction makes us just as guilty as the ones who put her in the cell in the end. That means we can never sit by and allow terrible things to happen again...we have to be proactive to make sure no one else dies. "Don't agonize over failing Eguchi-san too much," I tell Sashihara. "You can mourn her and regret it, but don't just mope. Channel that frustration and make sure you don't fail Hayasaka-san, too."

"I will," Sashihara says. "I want to talk with her very badly, but I don't want to talk to her if she doesn't want to. That wouldn't be productive at all."

"No, it wouldn't," I say, my eyes drifting away from Sashihara to the next door down the hall. I squint to read the sign above the door. "...Guard barracks?"

"What?" Sashihara asks confusedly.

I point to the next door. "The sign above that door says 'Guard Barracks.' I guess that's where all the prison guards who were in this place before it was used for this killing game slept there."

Sashihara look intrigued. "...Let's check it out, then. There may be some interesting stuff in there."

The two of us enter the room to find it full of cramped rows of bunk beds on the right side and a row of lockers on the left. Fairly straightforward layout.
"I wonder if maybe there's riot gear in those lockers," Sashihara muses next to me.

I consider the idea. Makes sense...I guess the guards would have to be prepared in case the prisoners fought back against them.
"If this really was the barracks for the guards in this place, I wouldn't be surprised if you were right," I say.

"Oh my, you two seem to be rather concerned about riot gear," I hear a voice from someone I absolutely do not want to see say. Fuck...I didn't want have to see this goddamn snake today.

Instead of jumping at the all too common phenomenon of Monohebi appearing without warning, I just turn to look at him irritatedly. "Why does that matter to you?" I ask testily. "Go away."

Monohebi huffs. "You really are unsuitably rude for a waitress, Kawashima. Is it truly unthinkable that I, your caring Warden, am simply curious as to why you seem captivated by the idea of riot gear?"

"Yes, because you don't care about us at all," Sashihara says. "We're nothing to you."

Monohebi makes an odd face. "Incorrect. You all are something to me," he says. "I am not above forcing you all to kill each other, but it is foolish of you to assume I think of you as nothing less than dirt. Rather, I believe you all to be quite valuable."

"...What?" Sashihara asks incredulously. "If we're so valuable to you, then why are you making us do this killing game?"

"Your value to me does not necessarily require you to be alive," Monohebi says mysteriously. "But that is beside the point. I believe we should return to the original subject of the riot gear."

"No, we should keep talking about our supposed value to you," I say. "How's us killing each other good for you?"

Monohebi frowns. "That is not something I am willing to divulge." He clears his throat. "Anyway, on the matter of the riot gear...each locker was originally fully stocked with riot gear and regular clothes for each guard, but I disposed of it. I did not believe that it would conducive to the environment of a killing game."

Damn...I guess I shouldn't be surprised, though. The riot gear would make it a lot easier to rise up against him and escape. "Where'd you get rid of it?" I ask. I doubt he'd be able to incinerate every single suit of riot gear in the Incinerator downstairs and I didn't see it anywhere else in the Trash Room, so it must be somewhere else.

"You insult my intelligence, Kawashima," Monohebi says. "I am not simply going to tell you exactly where I put it." He chuckles. "Sususu...I suppose it truly does not matter, though. It is no longer anywhere near this prison anymore."

"That sucks," Sashihara disappointedly, summing up my feelings succinctly. I didn't expect Monohebi to tell us exactly where the riot gear was, but I was hoping it was somewhere in the prison...

"It does...for you," Monohebi says with a smirk. He begins to slither away from us, but then stops and turns his head back around. "Oh. I nearly forgot to inform you, but I have opened the remainder of the basement in addition to this floor.

I perk up at that. "...You did? Why didn't you tell us when we were in the Cafeteria?" We could've gone down there first...

"I was planning to wait until everyone left their rooms to make a public announcement about all the areas I opened, but given the current state of certain individuals, that is no longer feasible," Monohebi explains. "However, if they do not wish to explore, then that is their choice, so I see no need to make an announcement to trouble them. The two of you, though, seem determined to explore everything, so feel free to have a look around the basement and tell the others of what you find once they are prepared to do more than mope about their pathetic failings."

He slithers away from us after that. Fuck you for being so dismissive of the others...but thanks for opening the basement, I guess. Not like I actually care about the new areas, it's just nice to see some new scenery. It breaks up the monotony of this place just a little bit.

"I wonder what's in the basement," Sashihara says.

I have no idea, but almost certainly nothing useful.
"Who knows," I say. "Let's not think about that yet, though. We need to explore the remainder of this floor first."

Sashihara nods. "Right. We should look in these lockers and see if they have anything in them. Monohebi said he removed the clothes and riot gear, but there might be other stuff."

We split up to look through all the lockers, with Sashihara starting at the locker closest to the door and me starting at the one closest to the back wall. Unfortunately, our search is pretty much useless. There's nothing at all in any of these lockers...every single one is empty. That's what's running through my mind until I open a locker near the middle of the row, which contains three night vision goggles and three walkie-talkies. ...Never mind. This is actually something.

"Sashihara-kun, come here!" I call out to him. "I found some stuff in this locker."

"What is it?" he asks as he ditches the locker he's going through to come over to mine. "Is it—" He stops when he sees what's inside. "...Oh. I wasn't expecting that."

Neither was I, but I guess it makes sense for it to be there. Walkie-talkies would allow the guards to communicate with each other from different areas and the night vision goggles would help in case of a power outage. However, something about it is bothering me... "I'm glad I made this discovery, but...it's weird that Monohebi left this stuff here," I say. "Every other locker we've gone through has been empty, but this one suddenly has several useful items in it. It's kind of strange."

Sashihara looks like he agrees. "It is fairly odd, that's true." He picks up one of the night vision goggles and examines it. "However, I don't think that means we should ignore this stuff. It might be helpful in..." His voice trails off as his eyes wander to the camera in the corner of the room. "Never mind," he says hastily as he puts the goggles back in the locker.

I nod, signaling to him that I understood. He's saying that he thinks this stuff might help us escape, and I agree. The
walkie-talkies would be helpful for us communicating with each other from various distances, while the night vision goggles would help us see in dark places. However, it's best not to say stuff like that in front of the cameras. If we do, Monohebi might confiscate this stuff or tamper with it somehow...

"Let's move on," I say quickly, closing the locker. "There's still a few more lockers to look through."

We investigate the last few lockers, but unfortunately, all of them are empty. "I guess it was too much to expect another locker to have something useful in it," Sashihara says disappointedly after we finish with the final locker.

"Probably," I say, trying not to show any emotion. I don't want to let the cameras see how pleased I am at the discovery of the walkie-talkies and night vision goggles...after a long, long string of bad events and discoveries in this hellish prison, it's nice to get something that's at least slightly hopeful.

After investigating the rest of the room but finding nothing of interest, Sashihara and I leave the Guard Barracks and stand in the hallway outside of it. "Where to next?" Sashihara asks.

I gesture rightward to the three doors left in the main hallway. "We should try those."

Sashihara doesn't disagree, so the two of us make our way to the closest door, which is labeled "Surveillance Room."

I freeze. "Sashihara-kun," I say, feeling short of breath, "do you think this is what I think it is?" If this place is meant for "surveillance" and there are cameras all over this prison, then this place...

"If you're thinking that this is where all the camera feeds lead to, then yes," Sashihara says, sounding both nervous and excited. "If that really is true, I don't know why Monohebi would open this room for us, but I'm not going to question it."

"Neither am I," I say. "Let's see what's inside." Feeling light-headed that I might about to be entering one of the domains of the mastermind, I reach to open the door and turn the lock, but when I try to turn the handle...it doesn't budge. I try again, but it still doesn't move. ...Are you kidding me?

"Shit, it's locked," Sashihara realizes. He swears. "Fuck, I thought for a second we might be able to see the place where all the cameras lead to. I guess I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up..."

No, probably not...Monohebi would never open anything useful to us willingly. "I'd suggest we break in but I'm not in the mood to be executed," I say. Frustrated, I brush past Sashihara to look at the last room on the right side of the hallway. "Archives Room," I read to myself when I get close to read the label above the door.

"What kind of archives do you think it has in there?" Sashihara asks as he catches up to me. "Records for who was incarcerated in this place before it was remodeled for the killing game?"

I shrug. "Possibly," I say, "but there's no way to know until we get inside." I try to open the door to the Archive Room, and again the handle doesn't budge. God fucking dammit.

Sashihara notices that the door won't open. "So this room's locked too," he mutters. "I guess whatever archives are in there would give us more information about the truth behind this killing game."

"Maybe," I say flatly. This room being locked feels worse than the Surveillance Room, because we really shouldn't have expected Monohebi to open a place like that for us. But a room that's probably just full of dusty old papers? I had hoped maybe he would pity us and let us comb through whatever documents are in here so we could learn at least a little bit about what's going on in this place, but I guess it was stupid for me to even hope for something like that. Monohebi's not one to take pity.

"Should we try the next room?" Sashihara asks me, jerking his head to indicate the door across the hall.

I read the label and snort. "Warden's Office," I say. "Yeah...there's no way that room is unlocked, so we should just skip trying to get in. Do you really think Monohebi would let us in there? He calls himself the 'Warden,' so that's probably where he hangs out when he's not bothering us."

"He might be in the Surveillance Room instead," Sashihara says as he walks over to the door. He tries to open it, but yet again the handle doesn't budge. "Never mind."

Although I think about saying "I told you so," I decide against it. No point in doing something like that...besides, it'd be pretty hypocritical of me to say that when just a moment ago I naïvely hoped the Surveillance Room would be open. "Let's look down that other hallway," I say instead. "No point in complaining about these three rooms being locked, so we might as well move on."

"...Yeah, you're right," Sashihara says. "Hopefully the rooms there aren't locked too."

"Hopefully," I say. It'd suck if they were, but I wouldn't really be surprised...

The two of us make our way to the secondary hallway to find another miniature corridor branching off on the left wall and a set of elevator doors covered in caution tape at the far end. Seeing that makes me think of Terajima-kun... I look over to Sashihara to see it does the same to him, too. Terajima-kun should still be alive...and so should Eguchi-san and Oyamada-kun. But that fucking traitorous bitch had to ruin everything...

...No. I can't place all the blame on her. She's the most responsible, but no one is really innocent....Motoki-san essentially got Eguchi-san killed, Komatsu-kun stabbed her, Kasparov-kun forced Eguchi-san into the situation that ultimately led to her death, and Sashihara-kun, Hayasaka-san, and I were bystanders. If we really want to stop anyone else from dying, placing all the blame onto one person won't help anything...we all need to take responsibility for our actions and make sure they're never repeated.

"Kawashima-san?" Sashihara's voice asks, bringing me back to the real world. "You still there?"

I nod. "Yeah, it's just...seeing the elevator made me think about what happened yesterday."

He doesn't press me any more. "I wonder what's in the hallway over there," he says instead. That's a sudden change in subject...not unwelcome, though.

"Only one way to find out," I say as I begin to move to the hallway in question.

When I get to it, I take a look around. On the right, there's nothing special; just two doors, one for a boys' bathroom and the next for the girls' bathroom. However, the label for the door at the end of the mini-hallway catches my interest. "Surgery Room," I read. "...Huh. That's kinda weird. Why would there be a need for a surgery room if there's the Infirmary downstairs?" Expecting a response from Sashihara, I wait a moment, but he doesn't reply. "Sashihara-kun? Wha—" I stop when I see him staring at the label for the door on the left. I follow his gaze. Oh fuck.

I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't "Torture Room." There is probably all number of horrific things in that place...I really, really don't want to go in there. "We should skip that place," I say, sounding and feeling slightly queasy.

"...We don't have that luxury," Sashihara says seriously. He clenches his fist. "I hate that goddamn snake. Of course
he'd put such a terrible room in this place. With all the fucked-up shit that's bound to be in that room, Monohebi's giving us the tools for a gruesome murder."

"Would anyone really use those, though?" I ask. "Even if someone does kill again, there are already so many potential murder weapons available. I mean, there's an entire room stocked full of weapons downstairs."

"What if they wanted to cause as much pain as possible?" Sashihara asks. "As much as I hate to say it, it's possible that one of us could still be hiding something. If one of us is actually the mastermind, I don't doubt they'd be willing to kill their victim as cruelly as possible."

I try to think of something to say against that, but I can't. I want to say that the mastermind wouldn't risk their lives by killing someone, but they could probably make some sort of loophole for themselves...and even if thet didn't, they could just rely on Monohebi to run things given that he's an AI. "I still don't want to go in there," I say instead of offering a real argument. "I'm fucked up enough by what happened yesterday, so I really don't need to see brutal instruments of torture."

"Like I said earlier, we don't have the luxury of shying away from this," Sashihara says firmly. "The others aren't going to be looking in here anytime soon, so it's our responsibility to see what's in there so we can properly assess the danger of the stuff that lies inside."

"...Fine," I acquiesce, knowing he's right but hating it. "But let's make it quick. I'm not spending any more in time in there than I have to."

"I wasn't planning on lounging around in a place meant for torture," Sashihara says somewhat snappily. "But I agree. Let's just get it over with."

I let him lead the way for going in. I really would love it if this place is locked...of all the rooms on this floor, this is the one I actually wish was inaccessible. But knowing Monohebi, it'll definitely be open.
My suspicions on unfortunately confirmed when Sashihara is able to open the door with no trouble. Bracing myself for whatever messed up stuff that may lie beyond the door, I follow Sashihara inside.

In the center of the room is a modified version of a dentist's chair which automatically makes me think of Oyamada's gruesome execution. He literally had his heart ripped out...just thinking of the horrific agony that would cause makes me feel sick.

Pushing that thought out of my head, I notice several tables on the right side of the room that are piled high with all sorts of strange, twisted metal instruments that I can only imagine are meant to inflict horrible pain when used. The left side of the room is bare except for a wall with four chains hanging off it, positioned in such a way that it looks like each chain is meant for a limb. On the floor right in front of these chains is a collection of various dark stains I don't want to know the origin of, all of which trail down to a drain in the middle of the tiled floor. Those stains are probably blood...no, scratch that, they're
definitely blood.

"Okay, we've seen what's in here so it's time to go," I say hurriedly. I sense death in this room...I can feel that many people have suffered immensely in this place.

"One moment," Sashihara says, his eyes narrowing. He points to the back of the right side of the room, where there is a set up I previously didn't notice: a wooden chair pressed up against a wall, with a camera and a disassembled tripod lying on the floor right next to it. "You recognize where that's from, don't you?"

My instant reaction is "no," but as I look closer everything clicks. "...Holy shit, that's where Furuhata-kun was sitting in both the videos we saw of him," I realize.

Sashihara nods. "I never saw the first video, but he was definitely sitting in that chair and against that wall in the second one," he says solemnly. "The mastermind probably tortured him in here to get him to talk about the 'plan' the girl he was friends with was formulating."

Most likely. But he didn't cave until the mastermind threatened to torture his younger brother...so whatever that plan was must've been important to him, the girl he was friends with, or both of them. Speaking of the girl, I still wonder about her...
"Do you think that it was Eguchi-san?" I ask. "I know Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san were way too confident in their theory that she was the person that was responsible for the killing game, but they might have been right. Eguchi-san could've been the girl Furuhata-kun was talking about."

"It's possible," Sashihara says. "I honestly don't know...Eguchi-san herself didn't even know. Unless we get back the memories Monohebi stole from us, we probably won't be able to reach a definitive answer."

"...No, probably not," I say with a sigh. "And I doubt those memories will be returned to us if we ask nicely, so...we really can't confirm anything for now."

Sashihara doesn't say anything in direct response to that. He only clenches his fist and stares at the chair Furuhata was interrogated in frustratedly. Then, he suddenly turns around. "...I think we've spent enough time here."

You can say that again. "Yeah, this place creeps me out," I say. "Let's leave and never come back in."

My feet can't carry me out of that unnerving place fast enough. I'm never going back in there unless I'm forced to. The innumerable amount of creepy torture devices, mysterious stains, the general feeling of unease, and the sense that many people have suffered in there...it's all too much for me to ever want to go there another time.

"I guess that 'Surgery Room,'" is the last place we have to check out on this floor," Sashihara says once he's closed the door to the Torture Room behind him.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is," I say. All of a sudden a thought strikes me. "Hey, Sashihara-kun...I just realized that I haven't seen one of those metal gates that blocks off a staircase on this floor so far."

Sashihara thinks for a moment and then nods. "You're right...unless one of the locked rooms or this surgery place has a staircase in them, it's looking like this is the uppermost floor of this place."

I look up at the ceiling far above me. "I guess that's why the ceilings are so high. If this really is the last floor, then the builders wouldn't have to worry about a long walk up the stairs to the next floor, so they could make the ceilings as high as they wanted." That's not really what interests me, though. This being the last available floor makes me feel as if things are approaching an end. Monohebi always opens a new area for us after a trial, so...is he for some reason expecting the fifth trial, if it does end up happening, to be the last one? Who knows...

Shaking those irrelevant thoughts out of my head, I move down the mini hallway to the door of the Surgery Room and then open it.

The space inside is quite spacious and lit by oppressively bright fluorescent lights, with an operating table in the center of the room with a variety of objects that I assume are for surgical procedures around it. However, the rest of the room is eerily empty. The floor is made of tile and there are drains in several places. Something about that unsettles me...the emptiness of this place unsettles me. And that's not it...I don't know what it is, but there's something in the back of my mind bugging me about this place...

"I don't like this room," Sashihara says quietly. "Something about it just feels...off."

"I agree," I say. Is it because it's so big and there's almost nothing in it? Or is it the lights that are so bright you almost need to squint? Or the fact that there are a bunch of drains on the floor? Or...is it something else? Whatever it is, I don't like it. "We should leave."

Sashihara turns around to exit the room. "I agree. Once we're out of here, let's get Hayasaka-san and then go to the basement."

"You want to talk to her again?" I ask, confused. "She said she wasn't in the mood for conversation not too long ago."

"All I want to do is tell her about the basement and see if she wants to come," Sashihara explains. "Whether she decides to come with us or not is her decision...I just want to give her the option."

Okay, that makes more sense. "Sure," I say. "I doubt she'll want to be with us, but you're right, it is best to give her the option."

We leave the Surgery Room and walk back to Cell Block E to find Hayasaka sitting in the same cell she was earlier. "Hey," I call out to her.

Looking confused, she shifts her position to see us more clearly. "Why are you two back in here? You already explored it."

"We didn't come here to explore this room," Sashihara says. "We came to let you know that Monohebi opened the rest of the basement for us to explore and wanted to know if you'd like to come with us or not."

For a moment, she hesitates, fidgeting on the cell bed uncomfortably. "I...I don't really want to, but...I think I probably should."

"You don't have to if you don't want to," I tell her. "We don't want to force you."

"...It's fine," Hayasaka says as she hesitantly gets up and exits the cell she was sitting in. "Just please don't try to talk about the...recent events with me yet. I'm still not ready."

"That's alright, we won't," Sashihara promises her.

Once she's made
her way over to our sides, we begin the long walk down to the basement. None of us says anything until we're on the first floor. "Did Sergey-kun not want to come?" Hayasaka asks suddenly as we walk through the Cafeteria. "You asked me to come, so you probably asked him too...but I guess he didn't want to."

"We haven't seen Kasparov-kun since breakfast," I say. "I figured you would know where he went since he was with you in the Cafeteria the last time Sashihara-kun and I saw him."

Hayasaka shakes her head as we reach the stairs to the basement. "I went to the bathroom after you guys left, but when I came back, he was gone. I figured he went upstairs to explore, but I guess that wasn't the case."

"He might be in the basement," Sashihara points out while we descend the stairs. "Or maybe he's in his room. Either way...it seems like he doesn't want to be around us much."
Nope, and he's not alone in that. Pretty much everyone except Sashihara-kun and I wants to be left alone after what's happened...

The first thing I notice when we get to the basement is that Terajima's body is gone, but the mess created by his suicide attempt remains. The hole in the wall once occupied by the elevator is still blown open, but all the debris and rubble has been pushed out of the hallway back into the hole, which is now covered in the same yellow caution tape that covered the elevator on the fifth floor.

"Eisuke-kun's body's gone," Hayasaka says sadly. She sniffles. "He didn't deserve to die...neither did Yuzuki-san...or Osamu-kun..."

"No, they all should still be with us," Sashihara says solemnly. He clenches his fist. "But they're not...and there's nothing we can do to bring them back now. All we can do is work to ensure no one else dies."

Yeah, all we can do is look forward at this point, but will we really be able to stop any more deaths? I'm going to try my hardest to make it so no one else dies and fulfill Terajima-kun's last wish....but no matter how much inspiration I muster, I can't ever get rid of the pit in my stomach that tells me it's all hopeless. That I'll have to go back to that trial room again and again until I die or there's no one else left...

"I wonder if that door in the back of the Freezer is open," Hayasaka says quickly, sounding like she wants to change the subject. That's right, she said she didn't want to talk about what happened yesterday yet.

"Monohebi said he opened the 'rest of the basement' earlier, so I assume that means every room," Sashihara says. "So it probably is open."

Most likely. "Let's find out what the hell is behind that door," I say as I move toward to open the door to the Freezer.

"Maybe it's another freezer," Hayasaka suggests as I open the door, immediately feeling a wave of cold air come rushing out of the door. Fuck, I forgot how cold this room was.

"We should make this quick so we don't get sick from the cold," Sashihara says, shivering.

Neither Hayasaka nor I objects to that, so we quickly walk through the Freezer to the door on the other side, which looks the same as when I last saw it: a thick, reinforced metal door with a spot for a label that was ripped off. I reach out and grab the cold handle, and try to turn it, but it doesn't budge. "What the fuck," I mumble frustratedly. "It's not opening..."

Sashihara and Hayasaka both raise their eyebrows. "Are you sure the handle isn't just stuck or something?" Sashihara asks.

I move aside. "You try to open it."

He does and the outcome is the same: the door doesn't budge. "I thought you guys said Monohebi opened the rest of the basement," Hayasaka says, confused. "Maybe you misheard him?"

"They did not mishear me," Monohebi's voice says. "I did open every room in this basement."

I'm not even frightened by his sudden appearances anymore, I'm just annoyed. Especially now. "Really," I say, annoyed. "That's funny, because this door doesn't seem to be opening. Wouldn't it constitute being part of the 'remainder' of the basement you told us about?" I don't wait for his response. "So why's the door still locked?"

Monohebi hisses. "Sssssssss. You rude brat, Kawashima. If you had patience and had bothered to let me continue, you would have heard me clarify that I did in fact open this door."

"Well it's not open now," Hayasaka says flatly.

"I am well aware of that fact, Hayasaka," Monohebi says, sounding irritated. "That is because when I unlocked this door, I left a key to it in the room beyond. There is only one copy to that key...well, at least only one copy accessible to you all."

"So is someone locked up in there?" Sashihara asks.

Monohebi frowns before he answers. "Well, the door does lock from both the inside and outside, so in theory, someone could lock themselves inside. However, it is very cold inside, as cold as this freezer, if not more. So it would not be a very good idea to lock oneself inside."

Something about how he was talking there weirds me out... "Why did you avoid answering the question?" I ask. "You have cameras everywhere, don't you? Shouldn't you know for sure if someone's in there or not? And who took the key?"

"Of course there is no one in there, imbecile," Monohebi says harshly. "I was merely explaining why it is unreasonable to believe someone locked themselves inside. As for who the person who took the key was...of course I know that as well. Even though I do not have cameras in here or the room beyond, I can still see who enters and exits the Freezer. It just so happens that I spied an individual entering this Freezer and then leaving with the key at some point since the last trial."

"Who was it? The traitor?" I ask, nearly slipping up and saying "Domoto-san" instead of "traitor." It would've been bad if I had messed up there...

Monohebi is almost amused at my question. "Why on earth would I tell you that, Kawashima? All I will say is that the individual who took the key is one of you all, nothing more."

He disappears before we can ask him anything more. Of course...he loves to get all cryptic and say things that put us on edge before leaving us to stress out. It's a simple strategy, but it's frustratingly effective.

"Okay, so we all agree the person who took the key was the traitor, right?" Hayasaka asks. "Monohebi probably told them about it after the trial last night."

Sashihara looks hesitant. "We can't be sure. If Monohebi really wanted to give the traitor the key, he could've just directly given it to them."

"I guess..." Hayasaka says. "I don't get why anyone but the traitor would take the key, though. Someone taking the key and refusing to tell any of us about it is suspicious." She fidgets uncomfortably. "I should know. When I found the key to the secret room and kept it to myself, I didn't have very good intentions. I doubt the person who took the key to this door does either. So it most likely is the traitor, because they're the most likely among us to want to kill."

She's got a point...while it's true the person who took the key doesn't have to be the traitor, it's weird that they took the key before any of us even knew about the basement being fully opened. If it isn't the traitor, that means someone besides them is probably at least considering the idea of a murder plan... I shiver, both due to my thoughts and the cold temperature of the room. "We can talk about this more, but can we please not do somewhere so cold?" I ask, rubbing my arms to keep them warm.

"I think it'd be best to talk about it at dinner," Sashihara says. "That way if anyone else shows up, we can tell them about the key."

"Sounds good," I say. "Now let's get out of here. I'm freezing."

We quickly leave the Freezer and its intense cold behind to stand out in the hallway outside. "Where to next?" Hayasaka asks, still shivering.

"There was another locked door by the Trash Room that Komatsu-kun and I tried opening," Sashihara says. "It might be open now."

Oh yeah, I forgot about that door. "It better be," I say. "I don't want to see any more locked rooms. It's getting annoying."

Hayasaka seems confused. "Huh? Was that room in the back of the Freezer not the first locked one you guys found?"

I guess you didn't explore the rest of the fifth floor. "No," I say. "There were three rooms on the fifth floor that were locked. The Surveillance Room, Archives Room, and Warden's Office."

"I can tell by the names alone why Monohebi wouldn't open them up," Hayasaka says. "That's probably where he hangs out for most of the time."

Sashihara clears his throat. "I agree, but...the rest of the basement won't explore itself. We should get moving."

It's not like we're in a rush...but I get what he's saying. It's probably best to wait until the others are around to talk too much about what's up with the fifth floor, because if we don't we'll just have to re-explain everything to them. However, we might have to wait a while for everyone to be around... "Fine," I say. "Let's see what else this basement has in store for us."

The three of us walk around the corner and past the cell formerly occupied by Eguchi, which is now completely empty. A pang of sadness strikes my heart and I stop. Every trace of her murder happening...the mess from the broken bed and the stains in front of the door...it's all gone. Just like she is. As I stare sadly,
I notice the other two have stopped too, with Sashihara staring at the floor and Hayasaka sadly looking at Eguchi's cell. She probably feels really guilty that she was never fully forgiven by Eguchi-san for what she did, and I don't blame her. How could she just move on from the death of someone she wanted to see get better and who she wanted to accept her?

Thinking about Hayasaka's guilt makes me think about mine.
I also feel really guilty...if I had just let Eguchi-san out of her cell like she begged me to she wouldn't be dead...and neither would Terajima-kun or Oyamada-kun because Oyamada-kun wouldn't have had to make coffee if Eguchi-san was safely out of her cell. Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san would've been really pissed at me for letting Eguchi-san out, but looking back...I can't believe I let my fear of their anger at me stop me from helping her. She was in such desperate need of help and I was in the perfect position to help her and yet...I didn't. I let her stay in a cell and get killed.

I try to fight back tears, but when I see Hayasaka start to cry, I can't help but let my tears flow freely. Eguchi-san...Terajima-kun...Oyamada-kun...I'm so sorry...I wish I could've saved you. The same goes for everyone else, too...I just wish everyone could still be alive.

I wish Furuhata-kun was still complaining and being pretentious about wine, I wish Yamaguchi-kun was still fiercely resisting Monohebi and calling everyone bourgeois, I wish Aozora-kun was still calling me a failure, I wish Carrasco-san was still randomly saying things in Spanish and telling us to live how we want, I wish Ichigohara-san was still laughing and cooking for us, I wish Niizuma-san was still around to be condescending and rude. I wish Eguchi-san was still being nervous and talking about games, I wish Terajima-kun was still forgetting everyone's names, and I wish Oyamada-kun was still stuttering and being a shy bookworm who only wanted to love his boyfriend.

I don't care what they did. I don't care how twisted some of them became in the end. I don't care if they were all good people or not, I just wish they were all still here...

I don't know how much time it is before my tears finally stop, but it feels like forever. I wouldn't really say I feel better, but it did feel cathartic to just let myself loose and cry freely...it's way better than keeping all that sadness trapped inside me.

Hayasaka cries for even longer than me, but when she's done, she stands in silence. The three of us stay like that for a long moment before Sashihara finally says something. "Are you two ready now?" he asks softly.

When I look at him, I notice his eyes are red too. Oh, so he was crying too...I didn't hear him, but maybe that's because Hayasaka-san and I were so loud. "I am," I say, my voice a bit hoarse.

"...Same," Hayasaka says, wiping her eyes. "I just...had to let that out. I think we all did."

Yeah...

After a few moments of somber silence, Sashihara turns away from Eguchi's cell and starts to slowly walk down the hall. "I think we should start exploring again," he says. Finding no reason to protest,
Hayasaka and I follow him down the hall, past the Trash Room, and through the now-open door to find a short corridor with a door on the right and at the end of the hall and nothing on the left side. The door on the right is labeled "Boiler Room," while the one at the end of the hall is labeled "Garage." Garage...that catches my attention. If there are cars in there, they could be useful for us if we escape...that is, if Monohebi hasn't disabled them. I wouldn't put doing that past him.

I'm about to suggest we go to the Garage first when I see Hayasaka leaving Sashihara and me behind to go to the Boiler Room. ...Never mind.
I had wanted to go to the Garage first, but this works too.

Sashihara and I follow Hayasaka inside and find a large room full of all sorts of mechanical equipment, from air handlers, chillers, and other HVAC machinery to water pumps, boilers, and back-up generators. A myriad of pipes and ventilation shafts also line the walls and ceiling. Wow...this place is so full of machinery that, aside from the empty space near the door that we're standing in, there's not much space to walk freely except for a few narrow walkways. Talk about cramped...

"What do some of these machines even do?" Sashihara asks as he looks around.

"No clue," Hayasaka says. "I don't like it, though. I feel like if I accidentally messed around with one of these machines I could accidentally blow up this place and we'd all die..."

Although I don't want it to, a thought immediately enters my mind. Would that really be so bad? It'd suck to die, yeah...but living here is terrible too. So much so that sometimes it feels like death would be better. I glance at Hayasaka and Sashihara and see perturbed looks on their faces. They're probably thinking the same thing I am after what Hayasaka-san said.

I try to think of something reassuring to say, but I can't. "Uh...I guess there's nothing else to see in here," I say awkwardly. "You two ready to go to the Garage now?"

Both of them say yes, so I lead the way as we head to the Garage. I hope there are cars here...even if they don't work right now, we might be able to fix them somehow.

I open the door to the Garage to see that my wish may be true: there are several sedans and pick-up trucks parked inside, as well as several large buses labeled 'Prisoner Transport.' Even better, there are three large garage doors on the opposite wall. "Those doors...do you think they lead outside?" I ask, reluctantly letting a tiny bit of hope enter my heart. If we could get through those doors, then we could probably go free...

"They for sure lead to an exit of some sort, otherwise these cars wouldn't be here," Sashihara says. "But there's probably some sort of gate outside, too. Just getting outside probably wouldn't be enough to leave."

"Yeah, but...the fact that we're so close to a potential exit is exciting," Hayasaka says. She twirls her hair. "Although there's most likely no way for us to open them. Monohebi definitely wouldn't have opened up this room if there was."

She's right. As nice as it is to have a possible exit so close, Monohebi would never have let us set foot it in here if we could easily leave. "We should still look around," I say. "First of all, I think we should check to see if all the cars are real."

We descend a short staircase to reach the floor, then split up to look under the hoods of all the cars to see if there's any machinery there and then look inside for keys. Surprisingly, every car I look at seems to be a real and operable, although I can't find any keys. I'm glad the cars are real, because I half-expected Monohebi to be his usual douchey self and make them all fake. Even if the keys are nowhere to be found right now, they're probably upstairs in the Warden's Office or one of the other locked rooms. So, while it's really unlikely, we could possibly use these cars to escape...though we definitely shouldn't count on it.

"Every car I checked seems legit," Hayasaka says when we regroup. "I didn't find any keys to the cars, though."

"Same with me," I say.

"Me too," Sashihara says. "That's not all that I found, though." He gestures to a large tool cabinet and a shelf filled with paint cans on the wall opposite the garage doors. "As you can see, the shelf has a bunch of paint cans on it. The cabinet's full of a bunch of tools. There's the normal stuff, like wrenches, screwdrivers, boxcutters, and saws, and stuff like nuts, bolts, and nails...but also ice picks and grappling hooks."

I give him a confused look. "Grappling hooks?" I repeat. "Why the hell are those in there?"

"The ice picks are weird too," Hayasaka says. "It'd make more sense to have them by the Freezer, but they're inside a tool cabinet here instead."

Yeah, it's strange. It isn't cold enough for ice to form in this room, so there's no reason to have the ice picks here...that is, if they're supposed to be used for their normal purpose. "They might be here to be used as murder weapons," I say grimly. "If Monohebi just wanted to give us them to use to kill commit murder, then I guess it doesn't matter there's no ice around."

"...Fair point," Hayasaka says.

Silence falls once again for a brief moment before Sashihara says something. "Well...I don't see any entrances to any new rooms in here, so it looks like we've seen every room there is to see."

"You two might have, but I didn't explore the rest of the rooms on the fifth floor," Hayasaka reminds him.

"Don't bother," I say. "The only other unlocked places are the Guard Barracks, Torture Room, and an off-putting Surgery Room. There's not much reason to visit any of them."

Sashihara nods. "I agree. We can talk more about them at dinner if you want us to fill you in there. That way, we can explain it to anyone else who comes too."

"Sure," she says, sounding unexcited. "I don't think anyone else will come, though...maybe Sergey-kun, but he said almost nothing this morning. But even he might not show up."

She's not wrong. If breakfast today was anything to go by, we can't be sure anyone else is going to be at dinner. About that... "It's almost dinnertime, I think," I say. "Should we head upstairs and start making it?"

Sashihara considers for a moment and then nods. "Yeah." He alternates his gaze between Hayasaka and I. "Do you two want to help me cook?"

"I can," I say. I'm a terrible cook by myself, but with direction, I'm not too bad.

"No," Hayasaka says. "I'll just...do something else while you two cook. Maybe I'll go to the Arcade or someplace like that."

"Okay," I say. "I'll go upstairs and get you when it's done."

After that, the three of us walk up to the Cafeteria, where we split up. While Sashihara and I head to the Kitchen, Hayasaka makes her way to the doors on the other side of the Cafeteria. I hope she's okay...

Sashihara seems to have a similar look of concern on his face. "I hope she doesn't relapse," he says bluntly once we're safely inside the Kitchen.

I nod. "Same...I'm worried that she might not actually be heading to the Arcade. I know it's been a while since breakfast, but that might not stop her."

Sashihara doesn't respond immediately. Instead, he grips the counter and stares at it, deep in thought. "Kawashima-san, I don't want to ask too much, but...could you go with her to the bathroom every she needs to go? Just as a precautionary measure. If she tries to purge, it'll probably be through vomiting since there's no laxatives or anything like that here...so could you do that? I'd do it, but I'm not comfortable going into any of the girls' bathrooms."

My first gut reaction is to say no, because that seems like an invasion of Hayasaka-san's privacy...but none of us but her noticed when Eguchi-san relapsed before Ichigohara-san's murder, so she may be hiding her bulimia right now. Because of that, her well-being could be at risk, so I'll do it. "Okay," I say. "It'll be awkward, though."

"Yes, it will be," Sashihara says. "Recovery from an eating disorder is not a pretty process, just like addiction. One that never really has a full end. You just count the days from when you've stopped the toxic behavior, struggling every day to make sure you never have to reset that count to zero."

This sounds...almost personal. "Have you ever had an eating disorder?"

Sashihara shakes his head. "No. I just know what it's like because I'm the Ultimate Fitness Trainer. It's my job to take my trainees and make them into the best possible version of themselves they can, and that includes helping them through substance abuse or eating disorders sometimes." He turns away from me to face the stove. "That's not really relevant, though...we should starting cooking now."

I guess he doesn't want to talk about that anymore. I get it, because dealing with his clients' personal issues must be a difficult thing to do. Besides, we probably should get around to cooking.

Sashihara decides to make katsudon and does most of the cooking, with me standing by and only occasioning doing small things to help out. You can tell he's used to cooking alone by how little help he needs...

"You should go get Hayasaka-san now," Sashihara says when the food is almost done.

"Got it," I say.

In the Arcade, I find Hayasaka disinterestedly playing one of the retro pinball machines. She doesn't look like she's enjoying playing that... "Hey," I say to get her attention. "Dinner's almost ready."

She immediately abandons the pinball machine. "I thought this would be more fun," she says morosely as she walks over to me. I think of asking her what she was expecting, but she continues before I can say anything. "Yuzuki-san liked this room...it was her favorite place in here." She sniffles. "I thought maybe coming here would help me understand why she felt that way...and maybe that it would make me feel just a little better about what happened yesterday, but...expecting that was fucking stupid of me."

I don't know what to say at first. I can't just say "it's okay," because it's obviously not...but what else can I say? I'm sorry for Eguchi-san dying? I wish she were alive? I wish none of this shit ever happened? "I'm sorry that you never managed to get her to forgive you," I say instead. I know it does nothing to say that, but I still feel like I should say it.

She snorts humorlessly. "Why are you sorry? It's not your fault I did all that horrible stuff to Yuzuki-san and planned to murder Yutaka-kun."

"I know, but...I just wish you two had been on better terms when she died," I say. Eguchi-san said she didn't think Hayasaka-san was actually trying to change, so they obviously didn't make up before the end.

"So do I," she says, twirling her hair with a downcast expression on her face. "I had made a promise to her, but I failed terribly...I shouldn't have let Sergey-kun and Otoha-san put her in that cell. I promised I would help her and earn her forgiveness, but when she really needed help, I abandoned her..." I can see tears forming in her eyes, but she quickly wipes them away. "We should go," she says hastily. "Dinner's almost ready, right?"

Oh yeah, I forgot about that for a second. "Yeah, it is," I say.
That reminds me...Sashihara-kun asked me to accompany her to the bathroom whenever she needs to go. I should tell her about that now when it's just the two of us. "Hey, Hayasaka-san...whenever you need to go to the bathroom, do you mind if I come along with you?"

She looks at me with a tired expression. "To make sure I don't vomit up all my food?" she asks.

I give a small nod. "Yeah, Sashihara-kun asked me to do it. He said he would, but he doesn't want to be in the girls' bathrooms."

"I figured that's what it was," Hayasaka says, looking uncomfortable and somewhat upset. "If you're wondering, I...I haven't relapsed. But I've been close to it. I have to try so hard to not use food as a reward or starving as a punishment...I can barely do it." She sniffles. "Every meal's painful to get through. I honestly don't know how I've made it this far..."

Not knowing what to say to that, I shuffle awkwardly on my feet. "Well...you have made it this far," I say. "And I think that's a testament to how strong you are. Not that relapsing would make you weak, but...I think you should be proud of how long you've been able to not binge or purge." I pause. "Also...you're not alone. You don't have to suffer through this by yourself."

She doesn't say anything for a moment. "...Thanks," she says. She looks like she wants to say more, but then she shakes her head. "We can talk more about this later...but we should get going to dinner now."
I guess she doesn't want to talk anymore, which is fine. I should let her discuss things at her own pace instead of rushing her.

The two of us walk downstairs to the Cafeteria, where I'm surprised to see Komatsu, disheveled but fully dressed this time, sitting at the table. "Hi," I say, surprised to see him. "I'm glad you managed to come out for dinner."

"Yeah, yeah," he mumbles, running a hand through his uncombed hair. "I still feel like complete shit and don't really wanna talk, I jus' couldn't stay in my room any longer..."

"Well, I'm glad you came," I say as Hayasaka and I sit down at the table.

After about a minute, Sashihara comes out of the Kitchen to announce dinner's ready. The four of us take our bowls of the delicious-smelling katsudon and sit down at the table, which feels strikingly empty. When we first got here, every seat was full...and now only four out of sixteen are occupied. Granted, three people who are still alive aren't here, so it's emptier than it should be, but even with them, more than half of the seats would be empty. It really shows just how many of us have died...

"So...what did you you today?" Sashihara asks while looking at Komatsu.

Komatsu doesn't lift his eyes from his food, which he's eating at a disturbingly slow pace for him. "Eh...nothin', really. Jus' been lyin' 'round, thinkin' 'bout what I did yesterday..." He swallows, and I can tell he's only barely keeping himself from crying. "What 'bout the rest of ya?" I guess he doesn't want to talk about himself right now...I can't blame time, because it looks like he'd probably cry if he did that.

"Monohebi opened the fifth floor and the rest of the basement, so we explored them," I answer.

He raises his eyebrows. "...Really? I wasn't expectin' all the basement to get opened..."

"Neither were we," Sashihara says. "The new areas we could explore were just a Garage and a Boiler Room." He pauses. "You didn't go down there at any point, did you, Komatsu-kun?"

He shakes his head. "Nah...I've been in my room since the trial." He frowns. "Why?"

It seems he's not the one who took the key...but we can't be sure. He could just be pretending to not know.
"Basically, in addition to the Garage and Boiler Room, Monohebi also unlocked the room in the back of the Freezer and he put a key to lock it inside. Someone got there at some point since the trial last night, took the key, and locked the room behind them."

Komatsu furrows his brow. "That's pretty damn weird...I'm guessin' it was the fuckin' traitor. The snake told them about the room and them, bein' a fuckin' back-stabbin' lil' bitch, stole the key..."

"That's what I thought too," Hayasaka says. "Though Hisaya-kun did make a good point that Monohebi could've just given the traitor the key to the room directly if he wanted them to have it."

"I did say that," Sashihara confirms, "and I stand by it. We have to prepared for the possibility that someone besides the traitor might be planning to kill."

Tension immediately fills the air. I hate to say that he's right...if it wasn't Domoto-san who took the key, that means it's possible that someone wants to murder. "...But why?" Komatsu asks, his voice nearly breaking. "Why the fuck would someone wanna do that? Three fuckin' people died jus' yesterday." He buries his face in his hands. "I don't know how much more of this shit I can take..."

"Same," Hayasaka says miserably. "Another trial at any point would probably break me. But if it's so soon after the previous one...that would make it unbearable."

Yeah...having to debate the death of another one of my friends and then condemn yet another to die would probably be too much, especially if it happens before I can even fully process the last trial.

"That's why we need to figure out who took that key as soon as possible," Sashihara says. "I mean, there are only seven of us alive, so it's not like there are many suspects."

"Depressing, but true," Hayasaka says, twirling her hair with a pensive expression. "But even that isn't enough. We still need to find out who the traitor is."

I nervously grip the fabric of my pants under the table. About that...should I tell them what Oyamada-kun told me? That Domoto-san is the traitor? I believe Terajima-kun, but he admitted to me that it was just speculation and he wasn't 100% certain who the traitor was. I feel like it's my duty to tell everyone....however, I'm hesitant. After all, the last trial showed us how dangerous making reckless accusations is.

"Ya look tense, Kawashima-san," Komatsu says bluntly. He frowns. "Yo...don't go tellin' me that yer the traitor, Kawashima-san...is that why ya look so nervous?"

"I don't think that's what it is," Hayasaka says. "I think she knows who the traitor is. That's what Osamu-kun told you yesterday, isn't it, Wakana-san?"

Fuck...I got called out. I guess I shouldn't deny it... "Yeah, sort of," I admit. "Terajima-kun told me a few days before he died that he strongly suspected someone of being the traitor, but refused to tell me because he was uncertain. However, he told Oyamada-kun right before he died, and Oyamada-kun didn't want Terajima-kun's deduction to go to waste, so he told me."

"Well?" Sashihara asks, his voice deadly serious. "Who is it?"

Shit, now I have to decide. Telling them would help us a lot in preventing any murders and getting out of here safely...but only if Domoto-san is actually the traitor. If it's not her, I could be setting her up for death. And no matter how much bad shit she's done, she doesn't deserve that.
"I...I don't want to say. I can't be sure that this person is really the traitor. So, I probably will tell, just not yet."

"Ya should do it now," Komatsu says. "Keepin' that information to yerself is real damn dangerous. Monohebi could order the traitor to kill ya, and then none of us would ever know who it was. Also...we prolly wouldn't make it through the trial without ya."

"Yeah, you've been indispensable, Wakana-san," Hayasaka says. "Losing you would be really bad."

All this additional pressure really isn't helping, guys...I mean, I get their concerns, I just don't want to come forward and spill what I know too early...Oyamada-kun's last wish was for me to not tell anyone until it was safe to do so, and I really don't want to disobey that. Even still, I'm so conflicted... "I'll be fine," I say. "Really. I promise I won't let myself get hurt."

"Ya better keep that promise," Komatsu tells me in a voice that's supposed to sound firm, but it just comes across as pleading.

Sashihara looks at me with a strange expression. "...I don't get it," he says. "This...doesn't make sense."

"I don't think what she's doing makes sense either, but we can't force Wakana-san to tell us what she knows," Hayasaka says. "Not unless we resort to torture, but I don't think anyone here wants to resort to that."

"Good thing, because I don't want to find myself in that Torture Room again," I say.

Komatsu's eyes widen. "...The fuckin' what?"

Oh right, you didn't explore upstairs. I explain to him everything we found on the fifth floor.

"That's a buncha weird shit," he says when I'm done. "The Guard Barracks and Cell Block ain't too weird, but a Surgery Room and Torture Room? That jus' don't make sense."

"No, it does," Sashihara says. "The Torture Room does, at least. Because that's where the mastermind interrogated Furuhata-kun."

Hayasaka and Komatsu both look taken aback. "Really?" Hayasaka asks, surprised.

"Yeah, there was a chair against a wall that resembled exactly where he was sitting in both videos," I say. "And there was also a camera and tripod right next to it, which is what the mastermind used to record it."

"What the fuck did that dude know 'bout the killin' game?" Komatsu asks to no one in particular. "I kinda wish he were still here so that he could get his memories back and explain what the fuck was goin' on..."

Same...that'd make things a lot easier. Maybe it wasn't a coincidence that he died first. Monohebi might have wanted him gone if he knew too much. It's not super realistic, considering I highly doubt Terajima-kun or Yamaguchi-kun was working for Monohebi...but it is a possibility.

"We can wish he was back all we want, but that won't change the fact that he's dead," Sashihara says. "We can't rely on whatever he knew. We have to figure it out ourselves."

That's true. It's a tough pill to swallow, but we have to swallow it.

The conversation then lulls, and dinner ends not long after. When it's over, Komatsu returns to his room and Sashihara goes to the Kitchen to do the dishes. I consider going to help him with the dishes, but before I can make up my mind, Hayasaka talks to me.

"Hey, Wakana-san...about what you said earlier," she says awkwardly, "I have to go to the bathroom. So..." Her voice trails off.

"I get what you mean," I say. "Yeah, I'll come with you."

She gives me a strained smile. "Thanks," she says.

The two of us make our way to the girls' restroom on the first floor, not saying anything to each other the whole time. Even as Hayasaka goes to the bathroom, leaving the stall door open so I can clearly see she's not vomiting, neither of us says anything. It's not until she's done washing her hands and is pensively staring at in the sink that she speaks up. "Wakana-san...can I admit something to you?" she asks.

"Sure," I say. "If it's a secret, I promise I won't tell."

She nods slowly, and then lifts her head to meet my gaze through the mirror. "...Osamu-kun was right. I've been putting on an act ever since the third trial. I made it look like I could flip a switch a turn off my horrible, mean 'Mika-chan' personality, but that isn't true." She leans forward and grips the sides of the sink. "I crave validation and love from others so much...so after I was exposed, I desperately wanted everyone to love me again. Because of that, I made myself be nice. I'm not 'Mika-chan,' no….but I'm not this nice persona I've been putting on, either. I still think bitchy, mean things all the time. I still think of cruel, mocking things to say to people pretty often...I just hold back."

I don't know what to say. So she's been lying to us this whole time...? "Fuck," I say, not able to hide my disappointment. "I really thought you were trying to change."

"I am," Hayasaka says. "But I'm not doing as good a job as I make it seem." She laughs, but there's not a trace of humor in it. "It's not really surprising if you think about it...that's what people like me do for a living. We present ourselves as perfect even when we're not, because anything less than perfection is unacceptable."

"You don't have to be perfect," I say, walking up to her and prying one of her hands off the sink and closing both of mine around it. "You just have to be honest. Be who you really are."

"I want to be, Wakana-san," she says, on the verge of tears. "But I don't know who I am. I'm not completely 'Mika-chan,' but I'm not nice. That nice person is just who I want to be. But inside I'm so confused...I've lived so long under masks like the 'Mika-chan' personality for so long that I don't have much of a sense of self beyond those images of myself I present to the world." The tears start to spill out of her eyes and into the sink. "I hate it...I just want to be someone real. I want to be who I am and not be judged for it....but I don't let myself be real. I don't even know what it's like to be real anymore, and even if I did...the inner critic in my head always stops me and tells me I'll be hated. And I can't let myself be hated. It would break me..."

"Not everyone is going to like you," I say. A little too blunt, but it needed to be said. "I know that's difficult for you to accept when you desire acceptance as much as you do, but...you need to do it. Also, you need to stop relying on other's perceptions of you for your own self-identity, because that's what it looks like is going on here. You want to be accepted, so you mold yourself and your personality into a way that you think will draw you the least amount of criticism and the most amount of love...but that's not doing you any favors."

"I know it isn't," Hayasaka says tearfully. "But I can't stop. It's like my bulimia...I want to stop it. I don't want to have to use food as my coping mechanism for all my stress, but I did it for so long that I can't ever completely get rid of it. Every day I'm so scared I'll relapse, and that'd be enough to tear me apart, but with all this other shit...losing Yuzuki-san...I..." She collapses to her knees. "I CAN'T DO IT ANYMORE!"

I wince at her sudden scream. Wow, that was loud. That isn't important, though...what matters is that Hayasaka-san is in a lot of pain and needs help. I get to my knees beside her and wrap her in a hug, stroking her back soothingly. "I'm not going to say it's okay," I murmur, "but I will say that it'll get better. It has to."

"No it doesn't," Hayasaka says tearfully into my shoulder. "We'll all die here...and if we don't die, we'll all go crazy. And if we don't go all crazy or die, we'll still be trapped here for the rest of our miserable lives..."

"No," I say firmly. "We won't be. We will get out of here."

She lifts her head from my shoulder and looks at me, confused. "...How can you still believe that? After everything that's happened, how can you possibly still think we'll be able to escape?"

Honestly...I don't know myself. I've wanted to give up on several occasions, but I haven't yet.
"I...I guess I'm just stubborn sometimes," I say. "Or maybe I'm just stupid. Or maybe both. Either way, I can't bear to passively sit by and let Monohebi continue to toy with our lives like this." I harden my voice."Not anymore. I've been sitting around and letting deaths happen, wishing they wouldn't but always becoming responsible in some way for every death that's happened here...and I'm tired of it. I'm not letting it happen anymore."

"What are you going to do?" Hayasaka asks, sounding hopeless. "What can you even do anymore?"

"Get everyone else to join me," I say. "That includes you. That includes everyone who was involved in the last case. That includes the traitor. I don't care what they or anyone else has done in the past, I just want us all to recognize that Monohebi's our common enemy here, and that if we really want the best possible way out of here, we're going to have to fight for it. And we're going to have to work together to beat him. We won't get shit done if we continue hating each other and moping around by ourselves."

Hayasaka's crying subsides. "...I guess that's true," she says weakly. "I don't know how you'll manage to get everyone to work together after what's happened, though...Yuzuki-san, Eisuke-kun, and Osamu-kun all didn't deserve to die. They shouldn't have died...but we, as a group, collectively failed them." She closes her eyes tightly. "I failed Yuzuki-san...I was supposed to help her after all the terrible shit I did to her. I was supposed to help her through her bulimia recovery and be there for help when she needed it...and I failed."

"You're right, you did," I say. "We all failed her. We all failed Terajima-kun and Oyamada-kun, too. That's why we can't fail anyone else who's still alive. There are only seven of us left, and we have to fight desperately to make sure that number never drops again. So I will make everyone work together somehow. I don't know exactly how yet...I'll figure it out, though."

Surprisingly, Hayasaka chuckles. "Haha...you're so confident," she says, wiping her eyes. "You've gotten us through all the trials, so if you believe in yourself, then I will too. I'll also take your advice to try to be less concerned about what others think about me. It'll be really hard, but...I think that's the root of a lot of my issues, so unlearning that habit of obsessing over how people might perceive me would be a good idea. Besides...it would help me make myself better so I can fulfill the promise I made to Yuzuki-san the best I can, even if she's not around to forgive me anymore. "

"Yeah, it would," I say. "Creating your own self-image that isn't influenced by others and being confident in it should help. Obviously, you shouldn't be as overly confident as your 'Mika-chan' personality, but believing in yourself—your real self—a little more won't hurt."

Hayasaka looks like she agrees. "Yeah...I'd love to have more confidence." She pauses. "You know...I've always really admired people with confidence. I guess that's why I loved Tomiko-san."

It takes me a minute to process what she's saying. "Wait...you actually loved her?" I ask. "Like not just admired, but loved her?"

"I know, I know, it's awful that I did," Hayasaka says shamefully. "What she did to Noriyo-san was so horribly cruel and she even blamed the murder on me...I should hate her. But I can't bring myself to completely do that." She pauses."I've always admired confidence more than anything else. And Tomiko-san...she was confident in mind and body, and for good reason too. I wanted to be like her so much...so even after what she did, I still can't hate her."

"I guess that's fair," I say. "Confidence, in moderation, is something to be admired."

"Yeah," Hayasaka says. She shifts around uncomfortably. "While we're on the subject of confidence and love...I guess I should admit something else to you. The reason I didn't go forward with killing Yutaka-kun wasn't just because I got cold feet. It's true that I did, but that wasn't all there was to it. I also loved him, too...but he was so unrefined and foul-mouthed and 'common'...definitely not Instagrammable material that my followers would like. Tomiko-san I could accept, but not him...so I denied that I liked him. I buried it deep inside me and I lashed out at him instead, pretending to hate him." She hangs her head in shame. "I took the lie so far that I almost killed him because of it...but I finally accepted it right before I was going to kill him. Doing that really started to make my act crumble, which it did more and more until it finally fell apart in the trial."

So that's what really happened...Hayasaka-san was so deep in denial about loving Komatsu-kun that she planned on killing him to get rid of the dissonance between that love and her 'Mika-chan' personality. That's messed up... "Why didn't you admit that after the third trial?" I ask.

"I promised to make myself a better person and that I would give Yuzuki-san a reason to forgive me," Hayasaka says. "That wouldn't really work out if I tried to steal her crush, so I just kept quiet about it." She looks at the floor dejectedly. "I still like him, honestly...but I don't think now is the right to time to tell him. Besides, I doubt he'll ever reciprocate my feelings."

"You never know," I say. "But I get what you're saying. He needs time to grieve Eguchi-san's death and to forgive himself for doing his part in causing it, so the near future is not a good time to bring up anything like that to him."

Hayasaka nods her head slowly. She reaches out and grabs one of my hands. "Last confession," she says, looking me in the eyes. "I like you too, Wakana-san. Your confidence is really inspiring, and you're so smart...not to mention pretty."

...What? Again!? "I...that is...oh," is all I can manage to say.

She blushes. "I know it's stupid of me to have had so many crushes in this killing game, but I just can't help it...I don't really get much real-life contact with people that are confident and attractive."

I feel my blood rush to my cheeks. "Y-You think I'm...attractive?" I ask. No one's ever told me that before...even when Motoki-san confessed her love to me, she never said she thought I was attractive. She might have thought it, but she never said it.

Hayasaka nods. "Yeah...I do," she says, cracking the first smile I've seen on her all day. "The way you do your hair is really pretty. Your eyelashes are also really stunning."

I look away, embarrassed. "Well, uh...thanks." If there's one thing I didn't expect in this killing game, it was for two pretty girls to be attracted to me. I stop myself. ...I just unconsciously called Hayasaka-san and Motoki-san pretty. Does that mean I really do like them back? Or was it just a coincidence? I look up at Hayasaka, who is still staring at me with that small smile. Okay, it definitely wasn't a coincidence. Hayasaka-san is really pretty. But even though she is really pretty, when I look at her...I don't feel that same feeling I do when I see Motoki-san. I don't know if that means I don't like her, but...I think it means I don't like her as much as I do Motoki-san.

"Uh...Hayasaka-san," I begin awkwardly, "Motoki-san kinda confessed she loved me too. And I think I love her back." Well, now I've said it. It feels weird to say, but at the same time...it feels right, so I'll go with it.

Hayasaka's smile fades. "Oh, okay," she says, sounding disappointed. "I just wanted to let you know the truth."

"Thank you," I say. "Really, thanks. I'm glad you trusted me enough to tell me all this."

"I'm glad you listened," Hayasaka says. "It's really hard for me to admit my true emotions because I'm always deathly scared of being criticized for them, so...thanks for not doing that and hearing me out."

"You're welcome," I tell her. "Just to let you know...you can talk to me anytime in the future, if you want." I pause, debating if I want to say the last thing on my mind. "And if things don't work out between Motoki-san and I...I wanted to let you know that I wouldn't mind taking you out on a date or two...or more."

The smile returns to Hayasaka's face. "I'll take you up on both of those offers if I get the chance," she says. Her eyes then drift to the clock. "Oh...we should probably be getting to bed. It's almost nighttime."

Now that I think about it, I do feel tired. "Let's get to bed, then," I say as I stand up.

With the air between us feeling a little lighter than earlier, the two of us make our back to Cell Block A and then to our own rooms. Once inside, I get myself ready for bed, thinking about what happened all the while. I can't believe Hayasaka-san actually loves me too...that was a real bombshell. I'm glad it didn't end as poorly as when Motoki-san confessed her love to me...speaking of her, I really do need to talk with her. I need to tell her that I really do love her back, because Hayasaka-san confessing to me made me realize how much I do truly like Motoki-san. Also...Motoki-san got a lot more unstable after I half-denied her, so me talking to her would probably improve her mental state.

I turn off the light and climb under between the sheets. I really hope I can work to do things with the confidence I had when talking with Hayasaka-san, because the truth is, although I do feel confident, I'm also really scared at the same time. Today made me feel better about Komatsu-kun and Hayasaka-san, but I'm worried that Motoki-san, Kasparov-kun, and especially Domoto-san are beyond saving. What if they want to give up and die in this prison? What if they don't want to fight back against Monohebi? In Domoto-san's case...what if she ultimately chooses him over the rest of us, fucking us all over in the process?

These troubling thoughts worry me for a while, but then I take a deep breath. Worrying about it now won't do any good...you can't do anything while lying in bed, Wakana. You have to channel all this fear and worry into what you do when you're awake tomorrow so you can really win against Monohebi. I close my eyes, my fears lingering in the back of my mind, but mostly pushed aside. I can do this. I can beat Monohebi. I will beat Monohebi.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"You dumb fucking bitch," the man with no neck snarls. "I ordered green tea with mint, and you put fucking honey in it!"

I do my best not to wilt under the man's furious glare. "I'm very sorry, sir. Would you like me to make another?"

"Of course, do I need to spell it out for your like I do for my three-year-old granddaughter!?" the man asks angrily. "I also want it comped. You get your manager to do that presto. Got it!?"

Uncomfortably aware of how the man's loud voice is drawing the attention of nearby tables, I nod quickly. "I understand."

He rolls his eyes. "I understand, sir," he corrects me. "Don't they teach kids nowadays basic courtesy? You're supposed to respect your elders and address them properly."

"Calm down, man," the no-necked man's companion, a sleazy-looking geezer with circular glasses, says. "This girl's so sweet. Look at those pretty eyes and that beautiful figure." He licks his lips. "Darling, you're wayyyy too pretty to be working in a restaurant. Why don't you call me when you get off work? I'll leave my number on the table."

I'd rather slam my head in a car door. "I'm still in middle school, sir," I say, hoping that will ward him off.

He smiles lopsidedly. "Oh, right...I totally couldn't tell." He takes his drink and sips it loudly, never breaking eye contact with me the whole time. "Come and see me in a few years then, darling."

It takes all my strength not to vomit. "Um...no," I say. "Sorry. I'm not interested."

"I'm not interested, sir," the no-necked man corrects again. "If you're going to reject him, at least be polite about it, little miss prude." He waves his hand at me dismissively. "Now go get me my green tea. With M-I-N-T this time."

"Yes, sir," I say with a forced smile. Then I turn on my heel and walk as quickly as I can without running to the Kitchen. My coworkers look up at me but say nothing as I barge through the swinging doors and furiously grab a kettle off the counter. I fucking hate this job. I fucking hate rude customers. And I fucking hate creeps even more.

"Something wrong, Wakana dear?" I hear my boss, Bessho, say from behind me.

I fill the kettle and turn it on before responding to her. "Yes. I have some extremely irritating customers at table 17." I gulp, trying to hold back tears. "The one man is so mean, I hate it...and the other's a total creep. I hate them and how they think they can just do whatever they want to people who serve them...why don't they go to fucking maid café if they want overly polite service and demure, pretty girls!?"

"Language, Wakana," Bessho's voice says. "Turn around."

I do so and am surprised to see Bessho, a kindly woman of about sixty with a grandmotherly face, holding her arms out. "Give me a hug, dear. You look like you desperately need one."

Although I hesitate for a few seconds, it doesn't take me long to melt into her lavender-scented arms and start crying into her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Bessho-san...it's just too much for me sometimes. I've worked here for seven months, so it shouldn't get to me anymore...but it still does."

"And yet you never let the customers pick up on your inner thoughts," Bessho says as she rubs my back. "You're doing a fine job, Wakana. However, you should say 'sir' more when you encounter older men, especially the ones you can tell are a little more old-fashioned." She smiles wryly. "Those types of men have no one who respects them in their pathetic lives but people who work jobs where they have to respect the customers, so you might as well give them what they want."

I snicker. "Haha...I guess. It's still annoying, though."

"Oh, it absolutely is," Bessho says. She pulls back out of the hug and looks me straight in the eyes. "But you're a very strong girl, dear. You can handle a few pissy old farts who can't hold an erection without two Viagras."

We laugh together for a moment. I'm going to say something snarky back to Bessho when the shrill whistle of the kettle rings throughout the Kitchen. "Oh...I forgot all about that douche's tea. He wants you to comp the one I messed up before."

Bessho sighs as she pulls out her manager's card she uses to void items on customer's bills. "I'll get on it now. And Wakana, dear...if you're ever tired of only dealing with rude customers...why don't you and I have a chat over coffee?" She winks at me and then strides out of the Kitchen, the calming scent of her lavender perfume leaving with her.

As I finish the green tea, ensuring I add mint into it this time, her words linger in my mind. What did she mean by that? Does she just want to talk about the struggles of making it in the food service industry? It's a tough business to be in for an extended period time, and she's almost sixty now, so she's been at it for a while now. I'd definitely benefit from it if I decided to listen to her advice...

The green tea is steaming and emitting a pleasant aroma as I prepare myself to venture out into the jungle that is the front of house. I open the swinging doors, and then—
"Good morning, inmates. It is now 7 am, which means nighttime has officially concluded. Enjoy another day of confinement."

The morning announcement rouses me from a sleep I didn't want to wake from. That was an interesting dream...from one of my worst customer experiences that happened about a year ago. Not as bad as when some blonde foreign woman with a hideous haircut started screaming at me for spilling milk on her, but still pretty bad. I'm glad I lucked out and had Bessho-san as a boss to help me through both of those experiences. She really was a kind soul. Thinking about her makes me wonder if I ever talked to her.

My memory of the last year has felt really hazy, so I can't be sure...I mean, I remember most of it, but there are some parts where my memory is just blank. There are a lot of those holes at work, but it's not just there...it's also stuff at school, stuff at night at my house, and while I'm out with friends. It's weird why there are so many holes...why would Monohebi take so many random memories for me?
I guess I won't be able to answer that question or remember anything until he gives me back my memories. If that ever does happen...

Trying to push those confusing thoughts out of my mind, I turn over to my side and bring current, more pressing issues to the forefront of my mind. So...pretty much everyone is isolating themselves and doing terribly.
I wish I could just sleep, lie in bed, do nothing all day, and not have to deal with any of the bullshit of this prison...it'd be a million times better than having to go outside and face everything that's happened. Sadly, I can't do that. I need to prove Oyamada-kun wrong and make Terajima-kun's last wish come true. I need to unite this group and beat Monohebi, which I won't be able to do while in bed, unfortunately.

Groaning irritatedly, I drag myself out of bed and force myself to brush my teeth, take a shower, and get ready for the day. When I'm done, I open the door to my room to find Hayasaka standing there, preparing to knock. "Hayasaka-san?" I say, surprised. "What're you doing here so early?"

She looks up and down the hallways for anyone that might overhear our conversation. "I want you to take me to the bathroom," she says, sounding slightly embarrassed. "I want to use the one in my room, too...I don't want anyone in the Cafeteria to see me needing help to go and think less of me because of it."

"No one will think less of you for that," I assure her. "But if that's what you want to do, it's fine."

Hayasaka takes me down the hallway to her "cell," lets me inside, and forces me to stand with her in the bathroom as she...does what she needs to do. This is so awkward...but I'd rather be awkward than have Hayasaka-san relapse.

After she's done, she washes her hands, we leave her room, and we head to the Cafeteria all without saying a word. inside, we find Komatsu, and surprisingly, Kasparov and Motoki, sitting at the table. I didn't expect to see either of them here...especially not Motoki-san. I'm really glad to see that she's ended her self-imposed solitude for now...but it's not like things are even close to being good with her.

"Hey," I say to everyone at the table as Hayasaka and I sit down. Komatsu mumbles a barely comprehensible "hey" in response, while Motoki quickly looks at me and then looks away. Kasparov completely ignores us. About what I should have expected...

Soon enough, Sashihara comes out of the Kitchen to inform us that breakfast is ready. We all get our food, return to the Cafeteria, and then eat in a tense silence. I hate this...I wish we could all eat together normally and not have the shadow of all that's happened weighing us all down and making us all feel so depressed...but we can't just wish the past or the problems that have come as a result of it away. We need to confront them, unless we want Monohebi to win.

When everyone's done eating, Sashihara begins talking. "I'm happy to see there are more of us here than yesterday morning."

"I apologize for not attending dinner last night," Kasparov says, sounding tired and much less confident than normal. "I had no appetite and...in truth, I was in no mood to be around others..."

Motoki massages her temple, staring at the table. "...Same here," she says. "I still really shouldn't be out here...I don't deserve to be around others after what I've done. But if I stay in my room one more second, I don't think I'll be able to survive."

Those words are really concerning... "Hey, Motoki-san," I say, "I just want to let you know you can talk with me if you need to. I'm here for you."

She grips the side of her head tightly. "Kawashima-san...thanks for the offer, but...please leave me alone for now," she says weakly. "I can't...not yet..."

Dammit...I wasn't expecting her to be receptive, but I hoped she would at least accept the offer. "Okay, I understand," I say, failing to conceal my disappointment. I notice out of the corner of my eye that
Kasparov seems confused by my exchange with Motoki.
That's right...he didn't know about the deal between me and Motoki-san...I told Hayasaka-san last night and Komatsu-kun before the last trial, but not him or Sashihara-kun. I would say something, but I don't think it's a good idea to do that with the state Motoki-san's in.

"What'd you do yesterday, Sergey-kun?" Hayasaka asks to shift the focus of the conversation. "Sakiko-san was obviously in her room all day, but you were at breakfast, then just disappeared..."

That's a good question...I wonder if he was the one who took the key to the room behind the Freezer. He doesn't know about what Monohebi told us, so if he slips up and says he went to the basement, we might be able to solve the mystery of who has the key.

"I did...nothing, really," Kasparov answers. "I had little energy and could barely muster the will to come out to breakfast, so I retired to my room until this morning."

"...I see," Hayasaka says slowly. She sounds kinda disappointed...which is how I feel, too. I was hoping we could get clues to who took that key, but it looks like that isn't going to be happening.

Motoki lifts her head and narrows her eyes at Hayasaka. "Why do you sound so disappointed...?" she asks. "Why does what he did yesterday matter to you?"

I contemplate if I should ask her if she took the key, but I decide against it. I'm pretty sure she actually never left her room yesterday...besides, even if she did leave and stole the key, I highly doubt she would just tell me. If she wanted to do that, she probably would've done so already. "There's a locked room in the basement," I explain. "But it wasn't always like that. Monohebi told us he unlocked this room and left the key to it inside."

"So someone went down there and took it," Motoki says. "And Hayasaka-san was trying to figure out if it was Kasparov-kun."

"Yeah," Hayasaka confirms. She looks at Kasparov apologetically. "Sorry for trying to be secretive about it, Sergey-kun. I just wanted to see if it was you or not without directly asking."

"There is no need to be sorry," he says flatly. "I do not blame you."

Good thing that he's not mad, but it sucks we still don't know who stole the key. I know it's not me, but everyone else is still a possibility. Domoto-san is the most likely, but it could just as easily be someone at breakfast right now. The person who took that key wouldn't be hiding it if they wanted us to know they had it. Because of that, it's very likely whoever has the key is just pretending to not know where it is or who has it.

"...What did the rest of you do yesterday?" Motoki asks tiredly. "How did you even find out about the locked room in the basement?"

"We were exploring all the areas Monohebi opened for us, the fifth floor and the rest of the basement," Sashihara responds. "I guess I better explain it all." He then tells Motoki and Kasparov about everything we saw yesterday.

When he's done, Motoki makes a face. "The Torture Room sounds really fucked up," she says, sounding slightly queasy. "I feel bad for Furuhata-kun. The mastermind tortured him there..." She shudders. "Just the thought of all the horrible things the mastermind probably did to him makes me feel sick."

"I wish he were still here," Komatsu says sadly. "He was a fuckin' dick when he was alive, that ain't up for debate. But if he coulda got his memories back, he definitely woulda been able to give us a ton of super useful info."

Sashihara nods. "I'm sure he would have been very helpful to us if he could have recovered his memories. But unfortunately, that isn't a possibility anymore. He's dead and won't be able to tell us anything now."

"I realize that," Komatsu mumbles. "I was jus' thinkin' 'bout what coulda been..."

"Don't do that," Motoki says forcefully. "Thinking about how events could've been different and how you could've done better is only going to destroy you from the inside out." She stares at her lap, the tone of her voice softening. "Take it from me..."

Motoki-san...is that what you've been doing in your room? Thinking about what you did to Eguchi-san, regretting it, and endlessly ruminating over what you could've done better? I think you should feel sorry for what you did, because it was undeniably terrible and stupid...but simply lying around wishing things went differently won't help you.

There's a solemn silence for a while that no one seems willing to break. "...I suppose there is nothing more for us to discuss," Kasparov says after a while.

"What do we do?" Hayasaka asks. "We can't just sit around and do nothing all day."

"I think we should continue the partner system and split up into three groups of two," Sashihara says. "One partner until 1 PM, when we'll meet down here to get a new partner until dinnertime. We'll be safer doing that."

Kasparov shrugs. "I suppose that is the best idea..." Everyone else says nothing.

Sashihara looks up and down the table to gauge everyone's reactions. "It looks like there are no objections, so let's split up for the day. See you all again here at 1 PM."

Before I can get out of my chair, Kasparov, who is sitting a few seats away, turns to look at me. "Kawashima-san...would you be my partner?"

I blink, surprised. I wasn't expecting that...why is he asking me to be his partner?
I'm kind of annoyed because I wanted to be partners with Motoki-san, but I guess that can wait until the afternoon. "Sure," I say. "What do you want to do?"

Kasparov waits a few seconds to respond. "I want to...speak with you," he says. "I apologize in advance, as I am afraid it will not be a pleasant conversation."

Oh boy. "Why not?"

"I want to discuss all that has happened, and what will happen moving forward," Kasparov says. "I think I do not need to explain why that will not be fun."

No, you definitely don't. "Well, let's get it over with," I say. "Do you want to talk here, or somewhere else?"

"Somewhere else," he says. "I was thinking the Library would be a good place."

I don't really care, so that works for me. "Fine with me," I say.

The two of us walk up to the Library in silence. When inside, I think of Oyamada. He was so, so happy when we first discovered this room, like a kid in a candy store. But in the end, he was suffering so much. He went from being one of the happiest people here when he was with Terajima-kun to becoming completely broken...

"You are thinking about
Oyamada-kun, are you not?" Kasparov asks softly.

I stare at the back table where Oyamada and Terajma sat when I was last in the Library with Niizuma. They were such a happy couple...
"...Yeah," I say eventually. I fall into a chair at the nearest table. "I wish he were still here."

Kasparov sits down next to me. "So do I," he says. "I wish I could undo my actions which led to the deaths of him, Terajima-kun, and Eguchi-san, but no matter how much I wish, I cannot." He runs a hand through his hair, closes his eyes, and lets out a long, exasperated sigh. "In addition, I wish I could vanish from this earth," he says, his voice strained and tired. "It would be wonderful if all traces of me were to one day disappear, and everyone who ever knew me forgot about my entire existence...that way, I could be punished for my causing of the most recent three deaths with what is possibly the worst punishment of all: having no soul remember me at all."

That sounds...concerning. His desire to "vanish from this earth" is especially worrying...because people don't just disappear. They die, and someone or something has to cause that death...
"Fantasizing about that kind of stuff won't lessen any of your pain," I say. "You can't just escape and take the easy way out from your problems like that. Besides, your family would be sad if you left."

Kasparov smiles painfully. "...Sad? No, I doubt that. They would only feel regretful, disappointed, or even indifferent at my loss." He wipes a tear from his eye. "You know, I have never heard the words 'I love you' from a single one of my immediate family members. My бабушка and дедушка would tell me it often when I was young, but they both died when I was eight. After that...never again. Not my father, not my mother, not my older brother, not my older sister, none of them. The most has been quick nods of approval or congratulations on winning a chess tournament or acknowledgment of good grades in school. So no. I do not think they would care much if I were to leave this world. If any of them harbors any great love for me, they have never shown it. Before I left my home for this country, we would see each other every day. However, there was no real relationship there. Merely hollow greetings and empty, meaningless conversations.

"I think that is why I loved Masha and Sushki so much," he continues. "I never had an easy time making friends in school, so to see those two dogs care about me was the best gift I could have ever received. They would always want to cuddle, would always want to play, and would always wag their tails furiously when I came home." He lets tears flow out of his eyes and his voice breaks. "I loved those dogs more than anything in the whole world, because they are the only ones who ever showed that much affection for me. But now...they are gone. There is no way they can survive. Even if Monohebi has kept them alive for this long, he will surely kill them if we successfully escape."

That's so awful...I know how much Kasparov-kun loves his dogs, so that must be extremely painful for him to say. Also, about his family...I feel really bad for him. My parents were always were on the more affectionate side, so to hear of someone's parents and siblings being so emotionally distant is almost unimaginable. "I'm sorry," I say, reaching out and taking his hand. "I really am. No one deserves to be starved of so much affection, especially during your childhood. I know that some people have difficulty expressing emotion, but for your parents and siblings to never even once tell you that they loved you is terrible. However, you're not in that situation anymore. You aren't alone now."

"I am and should be," Kasparov says, tearing his hand out of mine and using it to dry his eyes. "I have come to care for all of you during the course of our three weeks together in this wretched place, but I still cannot rely on you all. I must suffer alone."

"No," I say firmly. "You don't have to. Listen, everyone here knows what you did was wrong. But that doesn't mean that you can never interact with them ever again. Forcing yourself to suffer alone will only help Monohebi. If you want to get out of here, we all have to cooperate and tolerate each other until we escape. After that, we can separate and hate each other all we want. But...until we're all free from this place, we have to work together."

Kasparov stares at the wall morosely for a while before responding. "Why do I deserve to escape?" he asks. "Oyamada-kun did not deserve his terrible fate, nor did Terajima-kun or Eguchi-san. And yet they received those terrible fates regardless." He stops for a moment. "...Fates which I led them to," he adds quietly. "I should not be allowed to live and escape when they died."

I guess it's partially true that he lead them to their deaths, because it was his obstinate belief that Eguchi-san was the person mentioned in the commemoration video that ultimately caused the last trial. I don't think that's all there is to it, though.
"I'm not saying you're innocent, because you're absolutely not, but you didn't directly do anything," I say. "Also, succumbing to Monohebi and letting yourself die would just be a waste. It doesn't bring any more justice to this situation."

"I think it would," Kasparov says. "It would be payback for what I did." He wipes his eyes. "As for your first point, my inaction was part of the problem. I had the opportunity to reconsider my actions multiple times. I could have listened to everyone except Domoto-san and Motoki-san and freed Eguchi-san, yet I never did. Instead, I chose to stick to my beliefs because I so arrogantly believed I was making the smartest possible decision, which ultimately led to everything that happened two days ago." He closes his eyes and sighs. "Had I reversed my decision, Domoto-san almost certainly would not have caused the deaths of Terajima-kun and Oyamada-kun. Eguchi-san would still have been in danger, but it is possible she would still be alive today..."

I can't really argue against that...
"You heard Motoki-san at breakfast, didn't you?" I say instead of trying to contradict him. "Thinking incessantly about what could have happened had you acted differently won't change what actually did go down. Reflecting about your past mistakes is good, but thinking about them too much just weighs you down and prevents you from moving forward."

Kasparov opens his eyes and looks at me with an expression that tells me he doesn't fully agree. "...I suppose. However, it is very difficult to move past such a massive error. I cannot simply let go of it and allow myself to move past it. That contradicts all the teachings Watai-sensei gave to me." His face falls. "I could never bear to face him again. Not after all I have done..."

"I think he would accept that you made a mistake," I say. "He's your mentor. He's meant to guide you to become better at chess. He wouldn't be a very good mentor if he always expected perfection."

"He does not expect perfection, rather competence and a steady mind," Kasparov says. "Unfortunately, both are things that I have clearly lacked. Otherwise, I would not have caused the disaster that was the last trial...besides, Watai-sensei was always had high expectations for how I dealt with any missteps. He told me that when I make a mistake, I must always understand everything that led up to it and think of multiple ways I could have prevented it, all so that I never repeated it."

Jeez, he sounds like a strict dude.
"I understand your mentor gave you a lot of very good lessons," I say, "but that doesn't mean he was always right. Also...this isn't chess. This is real life, and it doesn't wait for stragglers caught up in all their past mistakes."

"No, but that does not mean my colossal mistake does not deserve an equally colossal amount of reflection," he says. He pauses. "I suppose we can agree to disagree on that matter, considering I doubt either of us will change our minds. Pardon the sudden shift in topic, but we have spoken enough of my issues, and not enough about the reason I asked you to be my partner today."

I don't think we should just move on from your issues so quickly, particularly not when you seem to be doing so badly. But I guess if he doesn't want to talk about it any longer, I can't force him to.
"And what is that reason?" I ask.

"You are on the path to making the same mistake I did," Kasparov says.

...What? Really? "I am?" I ask. "How?"

He looks away from me. "I suppose I should preface by saying that this is just an observation," he says. "I cannot read minds, so I may be interpreting your situation incorrectly. However, based on your behavior after the most recent trial, it appears that you are rather confident that you can beat Monohebi." He looks back at me. "I have thought much about what occurred; my mistake was being too confident. Oyamada-kun was entirely correct when he called me out...hearing his words was like a slap across the face, but it was a slap that I dearly needed.

"You seem to be dangerously close to repeating my error. You told Monohebi that you would beat him, which is a wonderful sentiment...but how do you prepare to go about doing that? Do you truly believe talking to everyone and telling them to believe they will escape will fix things? Yes, talking about one's issues can be therapeutic, but trying to solve what has happened with mere conversation is akin to trying to treat an infected, bleeding gash with a band-aid. It is simply not sufficient. You must do more if you truly desire to beat Monohebi and escape."

He's being kind of condescending, because I know that talking alone won't solve anything...but he's also sort of right. I don't have much of a plan of what to do besides trying to talk to everyone. I guess I was just waiting to think of that until I needed to...
"Then what is sufficient?" I ask.

Kasparov frowns. "That is a difficult question, because we do not have a way to know what will be sufficient or not until we try," he says. "However, I believe there is one particularly glaring flaw in your plan that must be addressed if you wish to succeed. It concerns the belief that all of us desire to beat Monohebi and escape from here. Can you be certain that is true?"

I want to say that yes, I can, but... "...No," I say reluctantly. "But I don't think it's very unreasonable. Monohebi went to the traitor after the first trial, not the other way around, so it's pretty likely he forced them to work for him." Besides, I'm almost certain I know who they are now...I just need to find the right time to confront Domoto-san and expose her in front of the rest of the group. Then, we'll all be able to keep tabs on her and make sure she doesn't try to kill anyone.

"You know who they are," Kasparov says quietly. "Am I correct? Is that what Oyamada-kun confided in you before his execution?"

Fuck, he's onto me...should I tell him? I definitely can't say that it's Domoto-san, but could I tell him I know who the traitor is? Even that is pretty risky...so it's probably best to keep my mouth shut.
"I can't tell you," I say. "Sorry."

Kasparov stares at me with a curious expression for a few seconds, then nods. "Very well. I will not press you any further if you do not wish to reveal what you know. I believe I know the answer to my question, anyway."

"Don't be too certain," I say. I have to keep him guessing until I'm ready to reveal what I know. Him and Monohebi...I don't want that damn snake to know what I know either. If he finds out, I might as well paint a giant target on my back, because he'll for sure come after me.

"To return to the subject of our earlier discussion," Kasparov says suddenly, "let us presume that, whether you currently know who the traitor is or not, you somehow manage to convince them to turn on Monohebi and work with us. Even if that comes to pass, there is still potentially a far, far more dangerous person that might be hiding among us we must overcome. Do you know to whom I referring?"

I don't even have to think about it. "The mastermind," I say. "Or a second traitor. Or both."

"A second traitor would be a great hindrance indeed, but the mastermind much more so," Kasparov says. "There is no possibility that the mastermind comes to our side. None. They created this whole killing game. They renovated this entire prison. They kidnapped us, a class of highly skilled students from a prestigious high school, to participate in this game. It is ludicrous to even entertain the idea that we could convince them to abandon the killing game they worked so hard to create. So, if they are truly one of the seven of us remaining, how would we deal with them?"

"I...I don't know," I say. "We would have to exclude them from all our group plans because they'd just tell Monohebi if we didn't...but we have no idea who they are. Even if we find out who they are, we can't kill them, because then one of us would have to die in a trial."

"It is indeed a vexing problem, one with no real solution at the current moment," Kasparov says. "Now, it is entirely possible that we have no reason to worry. It could be that the mastermind was one of the deceased students. Or perhaps they were never among us at all. Monohebi insinuated that they possibly could be, but he never confirmed that they were. He is not to be trusted, so it could very well be that he was merely trying to deceive us and make us more paranoid."

"Yeah," I say. "Monohebi loves his psychological tricks."

Kasparov frowns and stares at the table for a long moment after I say that. "...He certainly does," he says eventually, looking like something's on his mind. "However, he never lies. If you think about all that he has said to us, every word has been true. He has manipulated us and framed things in disingenuous ways, yet he has never lied. It is for that reason that I believe we should err on the side of caution and behave as if the mastermind is among us."

That might be a good idea...but it also might not be. Yeah, it'd be great for us to be extra cautious and make sure the mastermind doesn't sabotage our plans, but if we're too suspicious of each other, then we'll never be able to unite and beat Monohebi. It's a lose-lose situation...

"Failing to seriously consider the traitor and mastermind is not the only flaw in what you are doing," Kasparov continues. The volume of his voice drops to a whisper. "There is also the matter of how exactly you plan to defeat Monohebi. He will not simply let us leave. If you want to beat him, you must be clever." He looks at the camera in the corner. "I will not ask you to come up with concrete plans at the moment, given that Monohebi could hear what we say on the cameras or read our lips...but I am asking you to consider a plan."

I nod. "I will," I whisper back to him. He's right...I need to start thinking of how we'll actually get out of here. I don't want to get ahead of myself and think of a plan before I can unite everyone, but I at least should start brainstorming ideas.

After that, there's silence until I decide to say something. "Well...if that's all you had to say to me, what do you want to do now?" I ask. "Do you want to talk about your past and your struggles more?"

Kasparov shakes his head. "No, I do not," he says. "I should not have bothered you and selfishly talked about myself as I did in the first place, so I will not speak of my own troubles any longer."

I don't like that, because it doesn't feel right to let him suffer alone. However, I can't really do much if he refuses to talk. "Okay, if you don't want to talk, what else do you want to do?"

"I care not," Kasparov says.

Helpful... "Okay, then let's read," I say. "Maybe getting lost in a good book would do us some good."

Kasparov and I both grab a book from the shelf and start reading. The book I'm reading, some thoroughly mediocre crime novel about a girl detective unraveling a human trafficking ring, is short and has an interesting enough premise but is written in a way that's grating to me. I slog through the book until the end, which I reach about ten minutes before 1 PM. Perfect timing...

I wait a few more minutes, at which point I turn to nudge Kasparov. "It's almost 1 PM," I say. "We should head downstairs."

He looks at the clock, then nods. "...Yes, I suppose we should," he says flatly.

We put the books back where we found them and walk down to the Cafeteria, finding everyone already there but Motoki and Komatsu. When they finally get back, I try to catch Motoki's eye, but she only stares at the floor. I really want to be partners with her today...but I guess that won't happen if I just stare and don't try to speak with her. I need to talk with her directly.

I walk up to her. "Hey," I say.

She takes a few seconds to lift her head up to look at me. "...Hi," she says quietly. "I'm guessing you want to be partners with me."

"Yeah," I say. "I want to talk about you and...well, us. Is that alright with you?"

Motoki grimaces. "I...I want to do that at some point...but not right now." She looks away from me and starts to walk away. "Sorry..."

Well, that's disappointing. I really wanted to finally talk with her, but I guess I have to wait even longer... "It's alright," I say, although I don't think she can hear me anymore.

"Yo...Kawashima-san, ya wanna be partners with me instead?" Komatsu, who was standing near Motoki the whole time, asks.

"I guess," I say. Everyone else has probably already chosen their partner, so it's not like I have many choices. "What do you want to do?"

"I dunno," Komatsu says. "There anythin' ya wanna do?"

If there was, I wouldn't have asked you. "Not really."

Komatsu shrugs. "I guess we can go up to the Music Room, then. I actually ain't been there since the last time we were partners..."

We were partners only three days ago, but it feels like it's been way longer. When we were partners last, Eguchi-san, Terajima-kun, and Oyamada-kun were still alive. There was still hope, however faint, that we could pull ourselves back from the brink, convince Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san to change their minds and prevent any deaths...hope that was so cruelly dashed. "Okay," I say.

The two of us walk upstairs to the third floor. "Are ya cool with listenin' to music again?" Komatsu asks as we step inside the Music Room.

"Doesn't really matter to me," I say. It
was kinda boring last time, but it was still moderately enjoyable. At least I didn't fall asleep.

Komatsu drags the same boombox we used last time and a bunch of CD cases over to an open space on the floor, then dumps it all on the ground and kneels next to it. Joining him by kneeling next to the pile of CDs, I pick up the closest one. "Sleeping Beauty Suite," I say, reading the label aloud. "And...Prelude...apress...midi...never mind. It's a long French title I can't pronounce."

"Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune," Komatsu finishes for me, the barest hint of a smile on my face. "Or Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun in normal talk. It's a helluva title, that's for sure. Those long-ass French titles really do fuck ya over pretty easy." The smile slides off his face and is replaced by a somber expression. "I like that song, but it ain't what I wanna listen to right now. It's too...peaceful. Not what I'm lookin' for."

I give him a confused look. "What, are you looking for something violent?"

"Violent ain't the right word," he says. "I'm lookin' for somethin' painful, tormented, tumultuous, conflicted...somethin' like that."

...Oh. That sounds worrying. "Well, I think it would be better to listen to something peaceful and soothing. It would help make us feel better, which I think would do us a great favor in times like these."

Komatsu narrows his eyes. "No," he says. "I don't deserve that. I ain't gonna let myself feel all relaxed after what's happened. It wouldn't feel right. Ya know how people listen to sad songs when they break up or are depressed, and it can kinda be therapeutic? That's what I wanna do... I wanna listen to music that feels like I do right now. And peaceful, soothin' shit sure ain't gonna fit the bill."

"I guess you can go ahead with that," I say. I don't think arguing with him would do any good. It's not even like I really care what we listen to, I just don't really see how listening to music that makes you feel even worse helps...

After that, Komatsu shuffles through the pile of CDs, picking each one up and inspecting it. "Vivaldi Four Seasons, no...Mahler 2, no, too joyful at the end...Spiegel im Spiegel and Fratres, too simple...Beethoven 9, too happy...Symphonie Fantastique, no, I ain't on drugs...aha." He pauses and lifts up one CD. "Now this is one weird fuckin' combination...who the hell ever thought of puttin' György Ligeti and Igor Stravinsky on the same CD?"

"Is there something weird about that?" I ask. I remember him telling me something about that Stravinsky dude a while back, but I already forgot all about it...oops.

"They jus' ain't similar composers, that's all," Komatsu says. "But Ligeti's Requiem and The Rite of Spring ain't yer typical classical stuff...both of them are some real wild shit. Jus' what I was looking for."

Oh boy... "Let's hear them," I say. The "requiem" one gives me some ominous vibes...

I find a large, sturdy stack of instrument cases to lean against as Komatsu slides the CD into the boombox. Soon enough, the music starts playing. Judging by the low brass and creepy deep choral section, this is that requiem one. It starts very quiet and ominous, but the more and more the song continues, the more and more it earns its name. The microtonal choral section that switches between eerie long, sustained notes and wailing that's more like screaming than singing over a dissonant orchestra makes me think of the gates of hell. If Komatsu-kun wanted to listen to painful, tormented, and tumultuous music...he really did pick correctly. Because this is fucking painful to listen to.

When the song finally dies away into nothingness, I can't help but breathe a sigh of relief. I'm never listening to that ever again. Not unless I'm in the mood for some super angsty avant-garde music that feels like it was plucked straight out of a nightmare.
Unfortunately, my relief doesn't last long. The next song soon begins and is pretty just one thirty-minute long mess of horribly dissonant, clashing chords, irregular rhythms, and an all-around savage and repulsive sound.

"I don't know how the hell people listen to that and think it's good," I say to Komatsu after the song's brutal final chord. "I get some modern avant-garde stuff is really weird, but that was...disgusting, honestly."

Komatsu looks like he strongly disagrees, but nods understandingly. "That was how I was feelin' after hearin' both of those pieces for the first time...I guess it's just an acquired taste type thing."

Yeah, *extremely* acquired... "Did it make you feel the way you wanted to?" I ask.

He averts his gaze from mine. "...Yeah. I always really get into the music I'm listenin' to, so listenin' to that shit made me really feel the pain and regret and anger at myself that I've pushin' to the side these past few days..."

"What you did was an accident," I say, doing my best to sound reassuring. "You didn't mean to hurt Eguchi-san."

"It don't matter if I meant to do it, 'cause I still did," Komatsu says miserably. "Sometimes yer intentions don't fuckin' matter anymore...and failin' to stop yer girlfriend from gettin' killed's one of those times.
Eguchi-san can never forgive me for what I did, so I ain't gonna go ahead forgive myself. That wouldn't be right."

I can't say I agree with him there...would it really be wrong for him to never ever forgive himself? If he didn't, he'd never move on. "I think you're wrong. If you don't ever forgive yourself for what you did, you'll never move on."

"I don't care if I never move on," Komatsu says. "Honestly, I don't deserve to. I think we all shoulda died in the last trial...Oyamada-kun didn't deserve to get executed. Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun didn't deserve to get murdered. Those three should be alive, not the resta us."

I'm not sure what I should say to that...because I feel the same way. I don't think Eguchi-san, Terajima-kun, and Oyamada-kun were perfect people, but I do think they deserved to live. If I could choose between the three of dying and the rest of us living and them living and the rest of us dying in their place, I'd probably choose the latter. I don't think it'd be good to tell Komatsu-kun that, though...so I should try a different route. "Do you think Eguchi-san loved you?" I ask.

Komatsu looks like I slapped him. "Wha...why the fuck are ya askin' that!?"

"I want to know," I say.

He stares at me with a simultaneously angry and anguished expression for several seconds, then quickly looks away. "I..." He stops and stays silent for at least a minute. "...I hope she did," he finally says. "I know she loved me before she was locked up, but after...when I let her go crazy in there and stabbed her...I don't know if she still did." He gulps. "She was screamin' at me and actin' like she hated me in the end, so I honestly dunno."

About what I figured he'd say... "For what it's worth, I think she still did love you, even after that," I say. "Being trapped in that cell against her will, knowing the motive painted a huge target on her back, and fearing that she was really the person Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san accused her of being...it broke her. When she freaked out at you, I don't think it was because she hated you. I think it was because she was scared for her life and desperate to live. If she really hated you...I don't think she would've gone to your room and kissed you on the lips right after she escaped her cell."

Komatsu frowns. "I...I guess that could be true," he says. "But there ain't no way to know for sure now that she's gone. She coulda hated me jus' as easily..."

I hate to admit it, but that's true. "Even if she did hate you in the end...she's gone. It's pointless to think about if she deserved to live more than you or not, because she's dead and you're not. It might be comforting to dream of a reality where things are the other way around, but at the end of the day, it's just a dream and you have to wake up from it and face reality. You need to live and escape this place, if not for yourself, then for the memory of Eguchi-san. I don't think she'd want you to die here."

"There ain't no fuckin' way to know what she wanted," Komatsu says moodily. "She's dead and ain't able to speak for herself. Don't put words in her mouth."

Fuck, he's right, that was shitty of me to do. "You're right," I say hastily. "We can't know for sure what she would've wanted now that she's dead. Even still, I think it's safe to say the kind, caring Eguchi-san we knew before she was locked in that cell almost certainly would've wanted you to live. Do you disagree?"

Komatsu hesitates. "I wanna say I agree, but...I can't let myself unless I somehow heard it from her," he says. He sniffles. "I jus' want her back. There ain't nothin' I wouldn't give so that I could apologize to her and tell her how sorry I am...nothin' I wouldn't do to go back in time and stay with her in the Infirmary instead of runnin' away like a fuckin' coward." Tears fill his eyes. "If I'd done that, she'd prolly still be alive..."

It hurts to say that he's probably right. I doubt Terajima-kun would've accidentally killed Eguchi-san if he and Komatsu-kun could have worked to calm her down together. Maybe Komatsu-kun might have managed to calm her down somehow. There's a lot of possibilities for what could've been, but no way to know what actually would've happened...so it's not worth it to dwell on it too much. Like Motoki-san said this morning, it will destroy you if you never stop.

"Komatsu-kun...it's true that there's a lot you could've done differently that might've saved Eguchi-san," I say. "I'm not saying you shouldn't think about that at all, but there is such a thing as thinking too much about something. So, instead of living in your past and wishing you could change your actions...please, focus on what you can change: your future. I know that's a cheesy thing to say, but I think it's worth saying, because forever ruminating over your past missteps will destroy you."

"Yeah, I know," Komatsu says, "and I deserve it. I deserve to be destroyed. I deserve to feel all the pain Eguchi-san felt when she was dyin' a hundred times over. I don't deserve forgiveness, so why should I allow myself to move on?"

"You don't ever have to forgive yourself for what you did," I say. "However, you do have to be willing to atone for it."

Komatsu opens his mouth, confused, then closes it again. "...The hell do ya mean by that?" he asks. "What the fuck could I possibly do to atone for what I've done? Eguchi-san's dead and there ain't nothin' I can do bring her back."

"Maybe you could talk with Eguchi’s family," I suggest. "Or maybe do something for her when get out of here, like dedicate a piece of music to her or something. Or maybe you could donate money to a foundation for those with eating disorders or something like that. I don't know…but living here and wasting away, wishing things could be different sure as hell isn't atonement. It's just a dishonor to her memory."

He doesn't say anything for a long time after that. I hope I don't say the wrong thing... "I...I guess yer right," he says after what feels like forever. "Eguchi-san's family'll be sad as fuck when they hear she's dead...and I owe it to them to own up to what I did. Those other things are a good idea, too. And on top of all that shit..." He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, evidently trying not to cry. "I gotta see my lil' bro Reiji again. He's a tough kid and can fend for himself if he needs to, but I can't jus' die on him. I gotta make it back to him, talk to Eguchi-san's family, and do all that other stuff...and I can't do none of that if I die in here."

I can't help but smile a little. "So you you've changed your mind? You're not going to hate yourself and lie around miserably anymore?"

"No, I'm still gonna do that," Komatsu say, opening his eyes and looking at me intensely. "I'll never forgive myself. Never. I still think I deserve to suffer and die...but that ain't my choice to make. Not when I still got obligations to people outside this prison. I don't know what I'll do when I do all I gotta do...but I sure as hell know I ain't gonna let myself die before I do." He pauses, then looks up at me with the barest hints of a smile. "Thanks, Kawashima-san. If you hadn't come here and talked to me 'bout this shit, I was bein' so close-minded that I prolly woulda jus' died in this place without ever thinkin' 'bout what I still could do outside the prison. So...thanks for openin' my eyes."

"You're very welcome," I say, and I mean it. I've said those words a million times in my waitressing career, rarely ever meaning it, but I do now. I'm really happy that I was able to convince Komatsu-kun to want to escape. There's still work to be done...namely, how to get him to want to keep living and move on after he talks to Eguchi-san's family, sees his brother, and donates money...but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, escape is what we need to be concerned about first and foremost.

"Sudden change of subject, but...what now?" Komatsu asks, sounding a little awkward. "We jus' talked 'bout some heavy shit, and I ain't got no clue what to do next. I ain't much in the mood for listenin' to music again."

"Good, because I don't want to listen to any more of that avant-garde trash again," I say.

Komatsu tries his best to not look offended, but fails. "If only ya knew how complex and masterful both those pieces are...but I ain't gonna lecture ya on that. Unless ya want me to."

"I don't," I say. My pianist mom sometimes plays avant-garde stuff and loves to go on long rants if I ever say it's unlistenable garbage...and I really don't want to hear one of those again. A pang of sadness suddenly hits me. Or...do I? I miss Mom and Dad. It used to irritate me about how Mom used to sometimes go off about her piano music or how Dad would always be a nerd about his computer stuff, but now I'd give anything to hear them rant about their interests for a week straight...okay, maybe not THAT long, but still. I miss them...

"Yo, Kawashima-san, ya alright?" Komatsu asks. "Ya seem like yer sad about somethin'."

"I was just thinking about my family," I say. "I miss them. I've tried to not think about them too much because if I do, it might drive me to consider murder to get out of this place and see them again, but I can't help myself."

"I feel the same," Komatsu says. "When we first got here, I was so worried 'bout Reiji that I let the thought of killin' somebody to get outta here cross my mind more times than I'd like. I've felt that less and less the more I got to know everyone here and convince myself that Reiji can take care of himself while I'm stuck here...but I still worry 'bout him. I ain't done nothin', though, if only 'cause that lil' shit'd prolly kill me if he found out I killed someone jus' to see him again."

Sounds like a feisty kid. "How old is he?" I ask. "He must pretty close in age to you if you think he could last by himself." I decide to leave out asking about Komatsu's parents. He's never made mention of them and insinuated that his brother would be alone without him...so I'm guessing they're not around and haven't been for a while.

"He's eleven, almost twelve," Komatsu says.

"That young?" I ask, surprised. "You think an eleven-year-old kid can fend for himself?" I don't mean to worry Komatsu-kun, but his brother is definitely not safe being left alone at only age eleven.

Komatsu's face grows sad. "Believe me, I don't like it. But Reiji and I...it's jus' been the two of us for a long time. My mom left when I was six and my dad abandoned us two years later, so we've always been barely makin' it...livin' on the edges of society and barely scrapin' by. Before I started makin' money from composin', we were dirt poor...kinda like Niizuma-san was before she got her job. Even
now, we ain't got a lot. Jus' enough to live, which I'm cool with. I wouldn't wanna live in some big fancy mansion knowin' there're people starvin' every day." He sighs. "Anyway, the point's that Reiji can live without me for a little while. He's learned how to be one good beggar, and an even better pickpocketer."

I guess he could maybe make it by... "Even if he somehow...acquires enough money to live, don't you think he's worried for you?" I ask.

"Definitely," Komatsu says. "Up until you talked to me, I was tryna tell myself that he'd be fine without me...but I've accepted that ain't true. So now it's a big reason for me to get outta here. Reiji'll survive without me, sure, but I bet he's still terrified without me 'round. I've had to be the dad figure ever since I was eight, so for me to disappear mus' be givin' him flashbacks to my parents abandonin' us."

Poor kid...he must be frightened out of his mind. I hope he doesn't get abandonment issues as a result of all this... "We will escape from here," I tell Komatsu. "I promise you. Sashihara-kun and I are going to make sure that happens. And I guess Hayasaka-san and Kasparov-kun, too. As for the other two...they'll come around soon enough." Except for possibly Domoto-san if she really is the traitor. It's best not to bring that up around Komatsu-kun, though.

"Yeah," Komatsu says, "I'll help ya guys out now. Sorry I wasn't doin' nothin' recently..."

"You don't have to be sorry," I say. "Just make sure you help us out until we beat Monohebi and get out of here."

Komatsu nods. "Understood."

We don't speak for a moment. I wonder what we should do now...I don't want to listen to music anymore, yet just sitting here is pretty boring. "Do you want to head back to the Cafeteria?" I ask. "I know it's early, but I think it'd be nice if we helped Sashihara-kun make dinner."

"Yeah...sorry, but I don't think I'd be a great help in the Kitchen," Komatsu says. "I can cook, but I doubt my methods of workin' in the Kitchen would meet the standards of the Ultimate Fitness Trainer."

No, probably not...Sashihara-kun only cooks with the healthiest food options available, which I doubt Komatsu-kun worked with much when he was living in poverty. That makes me sad...because it really sucks that healthy food is something reserved for the well-off. But anyway, I guess it's fine if Komatsu-kun doesn't help cook. There is a reason why "too many cooks in the Kitchen" is a phrase. "It's fine if you don't want to help cook," I say. "You seem like the kind of person who enjoys eating food way more than making it."

Komatsu chuckles. "Yeah...but I'm pretty sure everyone's that way. Cookin' sucks."

That's true. I'm really glad Sashihara-kun cooks for all of us, because without him we'd probably all have to fend for ourselves...and I know I'd burn the shit out of whatever I made by myself. "Yeah," I say as I stand up. "Ready to head down to the Cafeteria now?"

"Yep," Komatsu says as he gets up too.

We go to the Cafeteria, which is empty when we get there, and wait for Sashihara to arrive. About fifteen minutes of waiting, Sashihara and Kasparov walk into the Cafeteria.

"Oh, hey," Sashihara says when he sees us. "It's a surprise to see you two here so early."

"It's a surprise to see ya not sweatin' yer ass off," Komatsu says. "I'm guessin' ya didn't do any workin' out today."

Kasparov shakes his head. "No...we merely talked instead."

I wonder what they were talking about...though it might be intrusive to ask. I have other things to talk about first, anyway...
"I was wondering if you'd be okay if I helped out with dinner, Sashihara-kun," I say quickly. "Is that okay?'

"Of course," Sashihara says. "I always appreciate the help."

Leaving Komatsu and Kasparov in the Cafeteria, Sashihara and I move to the Kitchen. I turn to Sashihara when we're both inside. "What's for dinner tonight?"

"I was thinking some miso soup with clams and spinach," Sashihara says. He smiles fondly. "My trainer used to always make that."

"Oh? The Ultimate Fitness Trainer had a trainer of his own?" I say. "They must've been very good to make you as good as you are now."

"She is amazing," Sashihara says. "An outstanding cook and even better trainer. Working out with her was the hardest times of my life, but it was always worth it." He suddenly looks away. "That doesn't really matter, though. We should get started with the food already. It's only twenty-five minutes until we usually have dinner, and this soup takes about thirty minutes to make."

"Got it," I say. He didn't seem to want to talk about his old trainer...did something happen to them? It's probably personal, so it's best not to ask. Still, I am curious.

Sashihara and I go about making the soup in silence for a while. Then, Sashihara says something. "So...how were your partnerships today, Kawashima-san?"

"Better than expected," I say. "Although, it's not like I had high expectations in the first place. I made things a little better with Komatsu-kun and he's willing to help us escape now, which is good. As for Kasparov-kun...I was less successful with him."

"Same with me," Sashihara says. "Hayasaka-san and I had a good talk this morning, but Kasparov-kun just kept telling me the flaws in our plans and how we had to do more than just talk if we wanted to escape." Sashihara stops for a moment, with only the sound of the simmering broth to punctuate the silence. "He also mentioned the traitor and mastermind," He continues in a low voice.

Seems like Kasparov-kun had the same thing to say to both of us...
"We talked about that stuff too," I reply in an equally low tone. "He told me to start thinking of plans to escape, too."

Sashihara nods. "That happened to me, too," he says, still whispering. "I agree with him that we need to start planning how to get out of here...but we can't get too ahead of ourselves. We need to make sure everyone's on our side first."

Yeah...that's a much more pressing issue. If we're not united then there's no way we can all get out of here. "I wonder how we're going to get everyone on our side," I say, speaking in a normal tone now. "Putting the issues of the mastermind and the traitor aside, we still have a lot to do. Domoto-san hasn't left her room in two days. Motoki-san is hesitant to talk about herself, and Kasparov-kun is...I don't know. I can't tell what's going on with him and if he really wants to escape or not."

"I think he does," Sashihara says, raising his voice to a normal level too. "I think he's just worried about us failing and wants to make sure we don't."

Maybe. "Well, whatever's going on with him," I say, "Motoki-san and Domoto-san are more of a concern." Especially Domoto-san...she isn't leaving her room, isn't talking to any of us, and probably is the traitor.

Sashihara shakes his head at the mention of Domoto's name.
"I tried to start a conversation with Domoto-san when I brought her breakfast this morning, but I had no luck. I hope she comes to dinner tonight, but if I'm being honest with myself, I doubt she will."

"No...probably not," I say. "So what are we going to do if she continues this streak of refusing to leave her room?"

Sashihara stirs the still-simmering broth around as he thinks of what to do. "...We'll think of that when we need to," he says. "As for now, I think we should focus on Motoki-san. She needs our help."

I fidget awkwardly at him bringing her up. "Yeah...but what are we going to do? What should we even say to her?"

"I figured you'd know that better than I would, with how close you two seem to be," Sashihara says.

I feel blood rush to my cheeks. "...O-Oh. So you noticed."

Sashihara smiles slightly. "You'd have to be blind to not notice the way you two interact. Or be Kasparov-kun...I brought up your relationship with Motoki-san while discussing the situation of everyone in the group, and he seemed confused. He apparently never noticed anything between the two of you." He chuckles a little. "I don't think that boy has much experience with romance. It's funny how really smart people can be so dumb sometimes."

I don't laugh or even smile. It'd be a lot funnier if I didn't know the reason why Kasparov-kun has so much difficulty with emotions. It's true some people are naturally dense, but I don't think that's the case with him. I think it's because he never got any affection from his family...that's bound to fuck you up in more ways than one.
"Well...I'm not sure if I should be the only one to deal with Motoki-san," I say, redirecting the conversation back to the issue of Motoki. "You see, she confessed that she loved me a few days ago...and I sort-of-not-really denied her. I told her I wasn't sure if I loved her or not, and she took that very badly." I pause. "Honestly...I think that might be one of the things that pushed her over the edge."

"Do you love her?" Sashihara asks. "If not, it'd probably be best if you stayed out of her way. But if you do..."

Should I tell him? I told Hayasaka-san last night, so I might as well. "Yes," I say. "I do. I really do." It's probably not the best decision. Motoki-san has a lot of issues. She seriously fucked up when she attacked Terajima-kun and Eguchi-san. But even still...being in love with her just feels right. Maybe it isn't. Maybe I'll regret this. However...I think it's worth the risk.

"If that's really true, then I think it should be you who goes to her," Sashihara says. "She'll be most likely to listen to you."

"I don't think it should just be me," I say. "Motoki-san thrives on communication and interaction with other people...so seeing that the rest of us support her would probably help a lot."

"Then do you want to try some big group conversation?" Sashihara asks.

I guess, yeah...although that could easily go wrong if someone said the wrong thing or if we try to take things too fast. I think it would be best to save that for after I talk with her.

"Something like that. But I don't think it would be a good idea to do that out of nowhere. I think I should talk to her first."

"Whatever you think will work," Sashihara says. "But make a decision quickly. We don't have much time." He tightens his grip on the spoon he's holding. "I have a feeling Monohebi will release the motive tomorrow or the day after. When that happens, we'll need to be united. If we're not, we'll find ourselves in that trial room again."

The thought of another trial and the inevitable deaths that would accompany it makes me shiver despite the heat of standing right next to the stove. "It won't come to that," I say. "We'll make sure it doesn't."

Sashihara stares into the pot of the soup as if it holds the answers to all our questions. "Yes, we will," he says.

Dinner is soon ready. After we set aside a bowl of soup for Domoto-san, we head out to the Cafeteria and hand out bowls to everyone. When I'm done, I make sure to sit in the seat next to Motoki, who is leaning over the table and hugging herself.

"Hi," I say, her eyes darting up to me as I do. "Do you like the soup?"

Motoki tears her eyes away from me and stares intently at the soup. "I haven't tried it yet...but it looks good."

For the next few minutes, the two of us eat our soup in a painfully awkward silence. This silence sucks ass, but the soup is delicious. Sashihara-kun really knows what he was doing...or should I say his old trainer knew what she was doing, since she was the one who made it like this in the first place. I wish I could have it in a happier situation so I could enjoy it more.

It's not until I've finished my soup and Motoki is absentmindedly stirring the remainder of hers around that she finally decides to speak. "Why...why are you here?" she asks, quietly enough so the others don't hear.

"To talk with you," I say in a similarly quiet voice.

Motoki looks cross. "I gathered
that," she says. "But...why are you here, talking to me?" She hesitantly makes eye contact with me, and I can already tell what she's going to ask by the look in her eyes. "Is it about...what I confessed to you a few nights ago?"

"Sort of," I say, "but we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. I know you said you didn't want to talk earlier today."

She nods slowly. "I did say that...but it wasn't really so much that I didn't want to talk as it was that I was scared of rejection...because that's something that's always been terrifying to me. I don't have the strength to face that yet, so...I actually don't want you to tell me how you feel about me yet...okay?"

"Okay," I say. "Only when you're ready."

"Thank you," she says, her voice small. She breaks her eye contact with me and starts playing with her food again. "Rejection is probably painful enough to any normal person, but for a clingy person like me with a horrible past of forced isolation, it's even worse...it makes me go crazy. It makes me lose control of my grip on reality." She frowns mournfully. "...Not like that excuses what I did. There's no way to justify getting Eguchi-san killed, no matter how desperate I was...so if you're going to do that to try to make me feel better, don't even bother. I broke my promise to prevent another murder...and I'll never forgive myself for that. Neither should you."

The mention of her promise makes my heart sink. She was trying so hard to make sure no one died, she truly was...but then her mental state declined and she ended up being the main person responsible for Eguchi-san's death. It's cruelly ironic how that turned out...
"You're right, you shouldn't ever forgive yourself for doing that," I say. "Breaking a promise you made, especially one made on the memory of someone you loved, is a massive deal. But forgetting it would be even worse."

Motoki suddenly snaps her gaze back to me. "I have not forgotten about it. It weighs on my fucking mind every day! I hate myself for breaking it every moment I'm awake!"

"Th-That's not what I meant," I stammer, uncomfortably aware at everyone at the table staring at us now that Motoki raised her voice. "I was just trying to make that a segue into how you should try to escape from here...wouldn't that be the ultimate way to fulfill that promise?"

I expect her to nod and agree, and tearfully say that escape is the only way...however, my expectation is wrong. Motoki instead returns her voice to a low tone, sounding much more pained now. "No. I don't. What if someone dies while we try to escape? Monohebi and whoever's controlling him, whether it's one person or multiple, won't just let us waltz on out of here. We're going to have to fight
to leave. And you know what fighting entails? Violence. And you know what violence does? It hurts people. It kills people!"

She raised her voice again...this isn't going well. "If we don't try to escape, we'll all slowly get picked off one by one," I say. "Attempting to escape is a great risk, yeah...yet if we take that risk, we could get out of here, which would be a huge reward. Don't you think it's worth it?"

"No," Motoki says. "I don't. Because we can't risk letting anyone else die!" She begins to cry. "If anyone else dies...I'll have broken that promise again, and I will not let that happen. I'm going to make sure we all live, and I don't care what I have to do to ensure that." She wipes her tears away, her eyes now burning with passion. "We do not have to kill, don't you remember that? We can just live the rest of our lives here in peace, without ever seeing another death. We can root out the traitor and expose them, and then live here peacefully for the rest of our lives. We get food every day and have places to exercise and an Infirmary with medical supplies...we could live, without ever having to escape!"

"That ain't gonna happen," Komatsu interjects. "The mastermind ain't gonna sit by and let us live here peacefully. This game we're in's called a killin' game for a reason."

"I realize that!" she snaps. "But Monohebi can't directly interfere with the murders! He can't kill us directly, it's in the rules that he has to follow too! And once we take care of the traitor, we don't have to worry about them killing each other!"

"What if the mastermind is among us?" Kasparov asks. "What then? Do you believe they will be content with living here in peace?"

Motoki tries to answer that, but can only manage to open and close her mouth repeatedly. Then, she clutches her head and pulls on her hair. "I...I just want us all to live...I don't want us to take any risks...I don't want any more of my friends to die..."

"Then help us escape, Sakiko-san," Hayasaka says. "Staying here is a bad idea. Do you really want to live in this awful prison for the rest of your life? You realize how long that is, right? We've only lived here for a little over three weeks...do you really think you could handle decades?"

"Yes, as long as it means I can be positive no one else dies," she says. "That's the worst case. I will not let someone get killed because of you all deciding to ask recklessly!" She stands up suddenly and heads to the door. "I'm going to bed for the night. Bye."

"Motoki-san, wait!" I call out, trying to reach for her but failing to grasp her arm. "Please, wait! We can talk about this more!"

She doesn't reply and stalks out of the Cafeteria. Well...for a conversation that started out pretty well, that ended abysmally...

"Should someone go after her?" Hayasaka asks. "It'd be bad if she decided to start isolating herself again."

"No," I say. "Let's leave her alone until tomorrow morning. It'll do no good to chase after her with the way she is at the moment."

Komatsu rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah, prolly not. That girl's a mess...how the fuck could she wanna stay here?"

"I do not believe she necessarily wants to stay here," Kasparov says, "rather, it seems as if she truly believes that is the best option. While I disagree with her, I cannot entirely dismiss her viewpoint. Attempting to escape this prison would indeed be an incredibly risky action, one that could very well end in one or more of us dying. Of course, living here is more dangerous, given that Monohebi no doubt has many tricks up his sleeve to force he could use to try to push us to kill...but Motoki-san is correct that we do not necessarily have to kill each other. Living here in peace forever is an option."

"No, it isn't," Hayasaka says. "It's naïve to think we could live here in peace for the rest of our lives. I understand that Sakiko-san's desperate to stop any more deaths, but she's not being realistic. Escape is the best option."

Sashihara raises his palm, signaling Hayasaka to stop. "You don't need to tell us that, Hayasaka-san. We all agree with you here."

"Provided that neither the traitor nor mastermind is among us, yes," Kasparov says. "Otherwise, we cannot say the same."

He does love to remind us that they exist...I mean, it's good that he doesn't let us forget about it, but it's also sort of irritating.

"Things'd be soooo much fuckin' easier if we had a clue who either of those people are," Komatsu says. "Unfortunately, we ain't got no real suspects."

No one looks at me, but I can tell by the looks on everyone's faces that they're thinking I might know the identity of one or both of those people. I'm just going to say silent...I still haven't gotten the chance to talk with Domoto-san and confirm anything, so I should wait to tell what I know. Also, it'd be bad to tell a group of people all at once. The best course of action would be to reveal it to someone who I trust first, then take it from there...that way the secret has a lower chance of being revealed without my say. And if it does get out...well, then I know that the person I confided in can't be trusted.

"It looks like no one else has anything to say," Sashihara says following about a full minute of silence. "If that's the case, then see you all again tomorrow morning."

After getting up with the others, I put my dish back into the Kitchen and am prepared to go back to my room...when I remember that Sashihara has yet to deliver the dinner he made for Domoto to her. I doubt I could get much out of her, but at least an opportunity to see her would be very much appreciated, considering I haven't seen her since yesterday morning. Even that was just a few words, so it's pretty much been two whole days since I've had a real conversation with Domoto-san. I need to stop putting off talking with her and get her to confess to being the traitor.

"Sashihara-kun," I say when I'm sure Kasparov, Hayasaka, and Komatsu have left the Kitchen and are well out of earshot. "Are you okay if I go to deliver food to Domoto-san with her? It's been a while since I've last seen her and I want to see how she's holding up."

He chuckles. "That's funny, I was just about to ask if you'd like to come since you haven't left yet. Sure, come along."

"Wonderful," I say.

Feeling nervous yet also eager at the chance to talk to Domoto again, I grab the soup bowl, leave the Kitchen with Sashihara, and head to her room. "Domoto-san, it's Kawashima-san and Sashihara-kun," I say when we stop at her door. "We brought you dinner."

At least thirty seconds pass before Domoto opens the door, looking only marginally better than yesterday. She looks expectantly at the bowl in my hand, but I don't give it to her. "...Are you going to give it to me or what?" she mumbles.

"I want to ask how you're feeling," I say. "What you're planning to do. Who you've been talking to."

"Terrible, nothing, and no one," Domoto says tiredly, pinching the bridge of her nose as she does. "I don't know what you expect from me, Kawashima-san...but I feel like absolute shit and really don't have the energy to deal with this. So can you just give me that bowl?"

I contemplate continuing my refusal to give it to her. Sashihara-kun is right here, and he'll definitely start asking questions if I act too weirdly around her. I don't know if I want to let him know what Oyamada-kun told me just yet, so I better just give Domoto-san her food. "Here you go," I say, holding out the bowl.

Quickly grabbing it and then slamming the door behind her, Domoto clearly is not in the mood for my shenanigans. If she's pissed at that minor inconvenience, fuck her. And extra fuck her for being traitorous scum.

"Hey, Kawashima-san," Sashihara says suddenly, "would you mind helping me out with the dishes? I think we should talk."

Fuck, he might be onto me suspecting Domoto-san as the traitor...or maybe not. Either way, I need to do my best to keep in the dark for now. "Okay," I say, doing my best to maintain a poker face.

Once we're back in the Kitchen and scrubbing the materials used for dinner, Sashihara speaks again. "What was that?"

I wonder if I should play dumb...no, that won't work. I should be as honest as I can be without being too honest. "I wanted to force her to tell me how she was doing," I say. "I know it was mean of me to withhold food to get her to do that, but I haven't talked to her in two days."

Sashihara presses his lips together. "Is that it?" he asks.

"Yes," I say firmly. "It's all there is to it."

Sashihara's face grows more irritated. "Stop fucking around, Kawashima-san," he whispers forcefully. "The way we're standing right now makes our lips invisible from the cameras, so Monohebi can't tell what we're saying as long we keep our volume low. I know you know something about Domoto-san, so tell me what it is."

I silently swear. Fuck, this is exactly what I wanted to avoid. I'm not ready to tell anyone what I know yet, and Sashihara-kun wasn't going to be my first choice. Should I continue to play dumb? That might work, but Sashihara-kun's not stupid. He'll most likely see through any lie I try to pull out of my ass...so I guess I should just tell him that Domoto-san's the traitor. I don't want to, but if he's already suspecting it, he might share what he thinks with others, and that could end badly.

"You better not move a muscle when I tell you this," I whisper to him as I scrub a bowl, doing my best to look normal for the cameras. "And you better not tell anyone this, either. It has to stay between us, got it?"

"Yes," Sashihara responds as he takes the bowl I was scrubbing and dries it.

"Oyamada-kun told me it was her," I whisper as I grab a spoon to wash. "She's the traitor."

Although I can't see him, Sashihara's silence tells me he's surprised. "Oh," he finally whispers a few pieces of cleaned silverware later. "That...That is not what I expected."

I can't help but frown. "Why not? Isn't that why you asked me to spill what I know?"

There's a prolonged pause before he answers. "It's just...I didn't think that was what Oyamada-kun told you," Sashihara says. "I thought it was the identity of the mastermind. I figured with how you were acting, it had to be Domoto-san...but I guess not."

"I'd prefer to know who the mastermind is, but I don't," I reply as I grab the last bowl to be washed. "Knowing who the traitor is will still be beneficial to us, though."

"...Yeah," Sashihara says absentmindedly as he dries the last bowl.

After that, there are no more dishes to clean. We have no reason to stand here anymore, so we can't talk any longer. We need to wrap this up and act like we weren't in the middle of a conversation, otherwise, Monohebi will get suspicious.
"That went well," I say at a normal voice, which sounds loud after so much whispering. "See you tomorrow, Sashihara-kun."

"Good night," he says, clearly more preoccupied with his thoughts after the bombshell I just revealed to him. "Also...stay safe, Kawashima-san."

He told me that a two nights ago, too...although it has a nice sentiment, I don't like i hearing it. Ironically enough, it makes me feel more unsafe.
"Don't worry about me, I will," I assure him.

With nothing more to say, I head back to my room and close the door behind me. Leaning against the inside of my door, I let out a long breath. Well, fuck. I really didn't want to have to reveal that Domoto-san is the traitor so soon, but I was under the impression Sashihara-kun already knew I thought it was her. I was half right because he really was suspecting Domoto-san...but not of being the traitor. He thought she was the mastermind instead. Ugh, this is a mess...I wish I could undo what I did and go back to have only me knowing.

However, that isn't going to happen. I don't have the power to undo what I did...so I should listen to my own advice and be more concerned with how I deal with it in the future than obsessing over how I could've done things differently. It sucks, but—

A knock on the door startles me. What the fuck!? Who wants to talk to me this late at night?

Feeling annoyed yet also curious, I get off the door and open it ever so slightly. "Who is it?" I ask without looking out.

"It's Hayasaka-san," Hayasaka's voice says. "I have to go to the bathroom..."

Oh yeah...the last time she went to the bathroom was this morning. She must be struggling to hold it in. "Sorry for making you wait," I say as I open the door all the way and walk out into the hallway.
"Do you want to use the one in your room again?"

She nods, so we head to her room. Just like this morning, I stand in the bathroom awkwardly as Hayasaka does her business. This is the third time I've done this, and it feels just as awkward as when I first did it last night.

"What do you see in her?" Hayasaka asks suddenly as she washes her hands, looking at me through the mirror.

I blink. "...What?"

"Sakiko-san," she clarifies, "what is it that you see in her?" She awkwardly averts her gaze and chooses to look at the handtowel as she dries her hands. "Listen, Wakana-san, I'm not trying to sabotage your relationship with her...I respect your choice to love Sakiko-san instead of me. I just want to know what you see in her. Because if you can't think of anything...then what you have is just lust, not love."

I want to tell her that she's crossing a boundary, that she has no right to ask me something so personal...but it's a good question. What do I see in Motoki-san? What makes me attracted to her? Do I just love her for her appearances alone, or do I really love her as a person?

"You don't have to talk about this if you don't want to," Hayasaka says hurriedly. She rubs her forehead and swears. "Shit, I'm such an insensitive idiot...I shouldn't have asked such a personal question."

"It's okay," I say. "I'm glad you asked, really."

Hayasaka smiles in relief, but still rubs her forehead. "...Oh. That's good."

There's a long pause. "I think...I think I know what it is I see in her," I say after lots of contemplation. "When I look at Motoki-san, what I first think of isn't this broken, unstable person that she's become—I mean, I still see that part of her and still love it—but what I think of most is the sweet, caring person when we came here. The person who just wanted everyone to be happy and communicate with others. That was Motoki-san at her best...and now she's at her worst. I don't like seeing her doing badly...but instead of letting it get to me too much, I guess it just motivates it to try to lift her back up to be her best."

Hayasaka nods slowly. "I see," she says. "That's all very sweet. But...what does Sakiko-san do for you, Wakana-san? Relationships are a two-way street. Unless Sakiko-san does stuff for you too, it's not a healthy dynamic."

What does Motoki-san do for me? Well... "I don't know," I say. "We're not really together yet, so I can't really say...if I had to say something, it'd be that she makes me happy."

"...I guess that's enough for now," Hayasaka says. She hangs her head shamefully. "I'm really sorry if this was too personal, Wakana-san. Or if it felt like I was trying to make you second-guess being with Sakiko-san, because that's not what I was trying to do. I just like you...and I want to make sure that, if you choose to be in a relationship, it's a good one for you."

"It's alright," I tell her. "I think it's a good thing you asked. It made me really think and do some introspection about why I'm attracted to Motoki-san...stuff I probably wouldn't have done by myself. So thank you."

Hayasaka's cheeks tinge pink. "You're welcome, Wakana-san. I'm happy I could help you..."

I'm happy you were able to help me.
Not knowing what to say, I decide the best idea is to not spoil the moment and leave, saying goodbye to Hayasaka as I do.

Once I'm back in my room and ready for bed, I slip between the sheets and prepare myself for sleep. Today had ups and downs...my talk with Motoki-san at dinner ended terribly and I told Sashihara-kun about Domoto-san being the traitor before I was ready to tell anyone. However, managed to make things better with Komatsu-kun and just had that candid conversation about how my feelings toward Motoki-san with Hayasaka-san...although it was a little awkward.

I wonder what tomorrow will bring. It'll probably be a mix of good or bad again...with luck, there will be more good than bad.
Although, considering how bad our luck has been since being trapped in this prison, I wouldn't bet on it.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"Good morning, inmates. It is now 7 am, which means nighttime has officially concluded. Enjoy another day of confinement."

I wake up and have a few seconds of bliss before my mind fills with thoughts my sleep had temporarily delayed. I told Sashihara-kun about how Oyamada-kun told me Domoto-san is the traitor. The secret's out and there's nothing I can do to take it back now, so what will I do? Should I go to her room with him and confront her? Or should I tell everyone else first? There isn't really a good option...no matter what I do, Monohebi is probably going to realize the identity of his traitor is compromised soon if he hasn't already. Once that happens, shit will get bad fast...so I guess that means I have to act quickly. I have to convince Motoki-san and Domoto-san to join us in escaping as soon as I can. Otherwise, we'll have another trial.

With those thoughts swirling around in my head, I get ready for the day. When I'm done, I open the door to my room and am only half-surprised to see Hayasaka standing there. "Bathroom?" I ask.

"Yeah," she says. "The one in my room again."

"Okay," I say and then accompany to her room. The whole time we're in the bathroom, neither of us speak to each other. However, the conversation that we had last night is still fresh in my mind. Hayasaka-san asked me about what I see in Motoki-san, and it forced me to think about why I do love her. It was awkward, but I'm glad I talked about it. I'm nervous about talking with Motoki-san, though...she's very unstable and talking with her is like stepping on eggshells. Also...what if she doesn't actually love me, and only said she did because she was desperate for a close connection in a stressful situation? I don't think that's how she feels, but I can't completely dismiss the possibility.

Hayasaka and I enter the Cafeteria not long after. To my relief, Motoki is present along with Kasparov, Hayasaka, and Komatsu. I'm surprised but also glad she's here after what happened at dinner last night. I want to talk with her, but that could easily end badly, so I should hold off for now.

I take a seat in the table and sit quietly for a few minutes before Sashihara announces breakfast is ready. While I get my food, I try several times to catch his eye, but he is so lost in his thoughts that he doesn't notice. I guess the revelation that Domoto-san is the traitor has given him a lot to think about.

When I walk back out to the Cafeteria, I'm met with a surprise that almost makes me drop my plate. "Domoto-san!?"

She shoots me an irritated look. "Don't act like that," she says moodily. "I don't even want to be here."

"Then why are ya here?" Komatsu, who just exited the Kitchen, asks.

Domoto pinches the bridge of her nose and exhales loudly. "I'm getting food," she says instead of answering. She brushes past us into the Kitchen.

I exchange a glance with Komatsu then sit at the table. Well, that was unexpected. I thought Domoto-san would stay locked in her room for longer, but I guess not. I wish she had stayed in there, because she seems like she's in an uncooperative and unpleasant mood. More importantly, though, she's the traitor and Sashihara-kun knows she is. I really hope he doesn't slip up and accidentally let Domoto-san or Monohebi know her cover is blown, because that would be very bad.

Once everyone's at the table, I start to eat, my eyes traveling between Domoto, Motoki, and Sashihara the whole time. Motoki plays around with her food disinterestedly, while Domoto is eating so quickly that she might choke. She's probably trying to spend the minimal amount of time here...well, it's not like I'll complain. I don't really want to be around her.
Unlike the other two, Sashihara eats normally, but he quickly glances at Domoto every once in a while. At least he's trying to be covert...

"I'm glad you finally came out of your room, Otoha-san," Hayasaka says when everyone is done eating.

"Shut up," Domoto snaps. "I don't want to be here."

Komatsu rolls his eyes. "That's the second time ya've said that," he says, annoyed. "Why the fuck are ya here if ya don't wanna be? Sashihara-kun was makin' food for ya, so it wasn't like ya had to leave."

"Kasparov-kun, what is it?" she asks instead of responding to Komatsu. "Why'd you write that note to me?"

Kasparov arches an eyebrow. "...What? A note? I wrote no such thing."

Domoto's mouth twitches. "Really? Then what the fuck is this?" She pulls a crumpled piece of paper out of her pocket, unravels it, and shoves it in Kasparov's face. "You telling me you didn't write this?"

Kasparov takes the note from her and reads it. "'Domoto-san, I need you to come to breakfast in the morning. We must discuss an urgent matter. ~Sergey Kasparov.'" He puts it back on the table and frowns. "Domoto-san, I can assure you I did not write this note. This is not even my handwriting."

"If you didn't write it, then who did?" Motoki asks, sounding tired. "Who would bother to get Domoto-san to come here?"

"Obviously, it wasn't Sergey-kun," Hayasaka says. "Whoever it was wanted to talk to Otoha-san, though."

Oh shit... I look over at Sashihara, who has yet to say anything, to see a serious expression on his face. Fuck, that's not good. I need to end this situation and do it fast.
"Go back to your room, Domoto-san," I say. "Someone was obviously just playing a prank on you."

"Fucking assholes," she mutters. "I know I did something terrible and unforgivable. But if you're going to prank me, at least do something funny." She stands up and turns her back to the table. "I'm going to—"

"Sit back down," Sashihara interrupts her, his voice disturbingly quiet and calm, yet also authoritative. "That note wasn't a prank."

Domoto turns around, narrows her eyes at him. "It was you, wasn't it?"

Sashihara nods. "It was. I figured you'd be most likely to listen to the summons of someone you greatly respect like Kasparov-kun, so I impersonated him. Sorry for the deception."

"Don't lie to me," she says coolly. "I can tell you're not sorry at all."

He smiles slightly. "...No, I'm not." His smile disappears and his face resumes its eerie, serious calm from before. "Now sit back down. We need to talk."

Oh shit oh fuck goddammit this is really bad—Sashihara-kun's going to fuck everything up if he does this!
"Stop it, Sashihara-kun," I say in my most commanding voice. "Now's not the time."

"...Not the time for what?" Motoki asks suspiciously. "Do you two know something that you're keeping from the rest of us?"

"'Course they fuckin' do, there ain't no other reason for them to be actin' like this," Komatsu says. "So, what is it? What're ya hidin'?"

Kasparov looks at Domoto, Sashihara, and then me. "...As I thought," he says.

Oh god FUCKING dammit, now Kasparov-kun knows! Monohebi's watching us, so there's no chance in hell he won't catch on now. "It's not as you thought," I say hurriedly. "We're not keeping secrets."

"Don't lie, Kawashima-san," Domoto hisses. "I can tell you and Sashihara-kun both think you know something about me." Her mouth twitches. "I bet it's just like Carrasco-san...you two think I'm the traitor." She steps toward me. "Well!? Am I right!? Do you think I'm the traitor!?!?"

"That isn't what this is," Sashihara says, remaining calm even at Domoto's increasingly loud shouts.

...What? It's not?

"It isn't? Then what the hell is it?" Domoto asks, confused. I'm just as lost as her...I thought Sashihara-kun was planning on outing her as the traitor, but apparently that's not his plan.

"Promise to sit back down and not leave again until we're done talking," Sashihara says. "Deal?"

Domoto hesitates for a moment before cautiously lowering herself back into her seat, glaring at Sashihara the whole time. "Fine. Deal."

"Wonderful," Sashihara says. He takes a deep breath. "I guess I should extend that deal to everyone. Don't leave the table until I say that you can, oka—"

"Just spit it out already," Domoto snaps. "I don't want to waste my time any more than I have to, so stop blabbering and cut to the chase."

Sashihara shrugs. "Alright. I'm the traitor."

I blink several times.
I shake my head, as if to clear any stray thoughts. Because I *must* have misheard him. "...The t-traitor...you...?" I sputter. "No, th-that's...!" This is impossible...He has to be lying! There's no way Sashihara-kun's the traitor...it's Domoto-san! Yeah, it has to be her!

"Hisaya-kun...you're joking, right?" Hayasaka asks, shocked.

Motoki clutches her chest, her eyes as wide as saucers. "This can't be happening...I have to be dreaming...there's no way Monohebi's traitor would reveal himself like this..."

"Y-Yeah, it can't be him," Komatsu says weakly. "There a-ain't no way he's the traitor!"

"There is," Sashihara says, still calm as ever. "Monohebi came to my room after the first trial. He blackmailed me into being his spy and made me promise to kill if necessary."

Domoto shakes her head slowly. "And you were going to make good on that promise," she says, venom practically dripping from her voice. "I should've fucking known. The inland taipan venom was probably moved already when I took the poisons for my plan. You did that when you were alone on the fourth floor, didn't you, Sashihara-kun? You were going to kill someone with that taipan venom while you were cooking, right!?"

Sashihara sighs. "Yes, I stole the poison," he admits. "I wasn't going to use it while I was cooking, though. I was going to poison Eguchi-san's coffee with it." He frowns deeply. "You and I had the same idea, Domoto-san. You just beat me to it."

Domoto glares at him. "You're just as bad as me. No, you're even worse...pretending to be on our side, while the whole time you were eagerly waiting for the perfect opportunity to stab us in the back."

"Wrong," Sashihara says intensely, breaking his calm. "I wasn't eagerly waiting for that moment, I was dreading it. Every waking moment, I was ridden with anxiety about what I would do when Monohebi forced me to kill...every moment until after the third trial." Sashihara takes a deep long breath to resume his calmness. "He called me to the Surveillance Room on the fifth floor. He had done that after the second trial too, but he hadn't expressly told me to kill then. However, after the third trial, he made me promise to watch out for someone and to kill."

"That person you were supposed to watch out for...it was Eguchi-san, wasn't it?" I ask quietly. I don't like saying it, but it makes the most sense.

Sashihara frowns. "He never explicitly said who he was talking about, so maybe...but I highly doubt it. Actually, I'm pretty sure it was you, Kawashima-san. Because you had been important in solving the first three trials, Monohebi was nervous you would uncover my identity." He pauses, taking a moment to think.
"That doesn't mean Eguchi-san wasn't on Monohebi's mind, though. Monohebi later told me that the commemoration video would bring an ally to 'our' side, whether they were aware of it or not. I'm certain that ally was whoever was mentioned in that video, who may or may not have been Eguchi-san."

"So I might have been correct in my theory that the purpose of the commemoration video was to covertly signal to Eguchi-san that she was on the side of the mastermind," Kasparov says, deep in thought. "Or perhaps that was not its true intention and it was meant for someone else." He frowns. "However, that is not of import at this moment. There is a more pressing matter:
I cannot be certain I truly trust you, Sashihara-kun."

Domoto snaps her head to Kasparov. "The hell? If the traitor isn't him, who is it?"

"You, possibly," Kasparov says matter-of-factly. "This could all be some elaborate set-up where Sashihara-kun, the mastermind or second traitor, pretends to be the first traitor in an attempt to exempt you or whoever the real first traitor is from suspicion. We cannot simply take the word of Sashihara-kun as fact with nothing to corroborate it."

I want to agree that it isn't him, I truly do...but the more I think about what Sashihara-kun confessed to, the more it makes sense. He has always kept a relatively low profile. Except for being attacked by Hayasaka-san, he was never involved in any of the other trials. Also, he automatically assumed I was suspecting Domoto-san of being the mastermind and didn't consider her being the traitor. While that seemed weird last night, it'd make perfect sense he was the traitor, because he'd naturally overlook the option of her being the traitor if he himself already filled that role.

I think Kasparov-kun is incorrect. Don't get me wrong, I hate that the traitor is someone I thought I could trust to help lead the escape from this prison. I hate that it's someone I thought was a good person. But...I don't think Sashihara-kun's lying. There's something about his words, his mannerisms, his tone that seems unequivocally real that I can't help but believe him.

"I think you've got that wrong, Kasparov-kun," I say. "I believe Sashihara-kun."

Kasparov's face sours. "You should not do so with such little reason. Have you questioned why Monohebi is not here?" he asks. "Should he not be here, infuriated that his agent has revealed himself? I do not wish to doubt a statement as gravely serious as yours, Sashihara-kun, but Monohebi failing to appear at a revelation that is guaranteed to damage his plans if true is highly suspect."

"He's undoubtedly blowing a gasket somewhere," Sashihara says. "However, he can't let everyone see it. If he did that, he'd be confirming what I said, and I know he won't do that because he wants you all to doubt me. So he'll stay away from us for now, I'm sure." He sighs. "That snake will probably try to kill me soon. But I don't care. I'm not going to be his puppet anymore."

Kasparov still is unconvinced. "You have yet to convince me."

"Who gives a fuck," Komatsu says. "I'm with Kawashima-san. If Sashihara-kun was the mastermind, there ain't no reason for him to admit to all this shit or coerce Domoto-san to come here. If he was workin' with her, there ain't no need for him to write that damn note when he coulda jus' told Monohebi to make Domoto-san come."

"That's a fair point, Yutaka-kun," Hayasaka says. "Also, no one had a suspect for who the traitor is, right? Why would Hisaya-kun admit to being them if no one knew who the traitor was?"

I should probably respond to that...what should I say?
Considering Sashihara-kun just outed himself as the traitor and I acted suspiciously around Domoto-san earlier, I shouldn't bother hiding what Oyamada-kun told me anymore. It wouldn't help at all. "Sorry, Hayasaka-san but that isn't true. I've been suspecting Domoto-san as the traitor ever since the last trial, when Oyamada-kun told me it was her."

"So that's what he told you.." Motoki mumbles.

Kasparov strokes his chin and nods. "It was
as I thought, then," he says. "You were suspecting Domoto-san as the traitor. Let me guess...you told Sashihara-kun that she was your suspect quite recently."

"Yes, last night," I say. "However, I still think he's telling the truth."

Kasparov looks like he wants to say something, but Sashihara silences him by sharply raising his palm. "I really didn't want to have to resort to this...but if it'll prove it to you, then I'll do it." He gets up from the table and moves to the doors to Cell Block A.

"Where do you think you're going!?" Domoto asks. "You can't just walk out of here like that!"

Sashihara sharply raises his palm again. "I'll be right back."

He walks through the doors to Cell Block A and returns not even thirty seconds later, holding a small vial in his hands. He continues until he's right beside Kasparov. He offers the vial to Kasparov. "Recognize this?"

Kasparov brings the vial, which I now see is full of a cloudy brown liquid, close to his face. "...The inland taipan venom taken from the Infirmary," he says.

"Indeed," Sashihara says. "If you want to continue to deny that I'm the traitor, you could say that I didn't retrieve that bottle from my room, that I went to the true traitor's room and took it from them." He spreads his arms wide. "Search me as thoroughly as you want if you like. You won't find a master key or anything that would allow me to open another person's door. There is also no secret retina or fingerprint scanner to open the 'cells' in Cell Block A; you can ask Monohebi yourself. So will you finally believe me?"

Kasparov stares forward for a long moment, clearly deep in thought. Then, he nods. "...Very well. There is not as much a margin for reasonable doubt as I had initially thought."

"It's not a problem," Sashihara says as he returns to his seat. "If anything, I'm glad you tested me like that. It makes things going forward easier."

Yeah, hopefully...if we had little evidence to prove Sashihara-kun was the traitor, it'd be easier for Monohebi to manipulate us. The taipan venom being in Sashihara-kun's possession is pretty much proof he's the traitor. There's no other reason he'd take it from the Infirmary and not speak up about it the entire trial otherwise.

Although, there is something this revelation complicates: what is Domoto-san's role in all this? Before, I had assumed she was the first traitor and that the second traitor or mastermind hiding among us were unconfirmed. But now that Sashihara-kun is claiming to be the primary traitor, is Domoto-san the second traitor? Is she the mastermind?

"Is there a second traitor?" I ask Sashihara. And is it Domoto-san? I leave that last part unspoken, but I can tell Sashihara understands it from the look I give him.

"No," he says, and I breathe a sigh of relief. That's a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.
"Monohebi told me I was his only traitor when we met last, the night after the latest trial. He also said he tried to recruit a second traitor before the third trial, but failed," he continues. "I don't know who it was. But, if no one else is going to speak up, I assume that person is dead now."

No one says anything.
Given the silence, that's most likely the case. Monohebi probably got whoever he was trying to recruit killed as payback. He's the kind of spiteful bitch who would do that.
"What about the mastermind?" Motoki asks. "Do you know if they're one of us?"

Sashihara shrugs. "No clue. I was never told any of that."

About what I'd figure he say, because Monohebi's not that stupid. I guess that means Domoto-san still could be the mastermind...but, if I consider what Terajima-kun's reasons were for having a certain person as a suspect for the traitor was that they slight, almost unnoticeable reactions to the traitor being mentioned. So, why would Domoto-san, if she was the mastermind, react like that every time the traitor was mentioned? It doesn't make sense...

"Sashihara-kun, do you have any idea why Oyamada-kun told me the traitor was Domoto-san when that's obviously not the case now?" I ask.

Domoto crosses her arms. "I'd like to know the same thing. I know my attempt on Eguchi-san's life was awful, inexcusable, and something the traitor would do, but Terajima-kun never knew about what I did. So why would he suspect me as the traitor instead of you?"

"Maybe he was just wrong," Motoki says with a small shrug. "It happens to the best of us."

"That is entirely possible," Kasparov says. "Terajima-kun was merely speculating about who the traitor was, was he not? Speculations can be incorrect."

Sashihara thinks for a moment before answering. "He could've been wrong," he says. "I don't think he was, though. He did start to act weirdly around me starting a few days before he died. I chalked it up to him being out of it due to what was happening to Eguchi-san, but looking back, I think my assessment was wrong. I think he saw right through my game and would've accused me instantly had he lived to a trial."

Komatsu furrows his brow. "Okay, but if he was right, then why the fuck did Oyamada-kun end up tellin' Kawashima-san the traitor was Domoto-san?"

Hayasaka's twirls her hair pensively. "...I think there's a possibility that we should seriously consider. It's sad and fucked-up, but it might've been what happened." She looks down sadly. "Osamu-kun...he might've deliberately lied."

Sashihara nods. "That's what I was thinking."

"But why would he do that?" Motoki asks, confused. "He wanted us to fulfill Terajima-kun's wish, didn't he? If he wanted that, why would he tell Kawashima-san the wrong person?"

"I've been considering this since Kawashima-san revealed what Oyamada-kun told her last night," Sashihara says. "It seems so strange because it's so contradictory...how could we beat Monohebi if most of you had the wrong idea for who the traitor was?"

Yeah, it is really strange... "Have you thought of any reason why he lied?" I ask. I would offer a reason if I could, but I can't think of one for the life of me.

"I think so," Sashihara answers. "Obviously, there's no way to be sure now, but I think Oyamada-kun was pushing me to come forward. Before he died, he tasked me and Kawashima-san with uniting the group, which seems strange if he knew I was the traitor. That's why I think he was essentially pushing me, in an indirect way, to admit to being the traitor. I believe pointing out Domoto-san as the traitor was a test to see whose side I was really on.

"If I really wanted to get us all out of here, me being outed as the traitor was a necessary step...and I think Oyamada-kun wanted me to make that happen myself," he continues. He clenches his fist. "Now, I don't think that was all of it. I think Oyamada-kun saw another option that he was perfectly fine with if things didn't go that way: me staying quiet and Domoto-san getting labeled as the traitor and likely killed. The person responsible for the deaths of him and his boyfriend gets killed, or the true traitor confesses and works to unite the group...either one probably would've been fine with Oyamada-kun."

I guess that might be what went down...Oyamada-kun did seem really conflicted in the end. His hatred for Domoto-san and desire for vengeance is probably what made him choose her as a decoy traitor, but his love for Terajima-kun wanted him to fulfill his dying wish. I can't say I agree with Oyamada-kun's actions if that's really what he was thinking, because I feel like there's probably a better way to get the traitor to confess than lying to me about who they are. Not like I really blame him, though, because he was about to die and didn't have much time to consider his options.

"That might be right," Komatsu says, "but I don't like speculatin' 'bout what a dead guy was thinkin'. There ain't a way to know for sure 'less we ask Oyamada-kun himself, and he's dead so that ain't ever happenin'. I say we quit theorizin' 'bout what he wanted. The shit we really gotta focus on is what he did, the impacts it's had on our group, and what we do goin' forward."

"I agree with Komatsu-kun," Domoto says. "Personally, I think Sashihara-kun's wrong and that all Oyamada-kun wanted was to make me suffer for what I did, but it doesn't matter. Going on and on about what Oyamada-kun might have been thinking is unnecessary and pointless in the end. We need to focus on more important things."

"Yeah, like escaping," Hayasaka says.

"No, we need to focus on staying alive," Motoki mumbles. "Escape will only get us killed..."

Oh fuck, not this again. I need to intervene before things get heated.
"I don't think it's time to resume this debate," I say, sounding more blunt than I intended to. "We should talk about Sashihara-kun for now." I turn to him. "Sashihara-kun, there's something that's been on my mind. Earlier, you said that Monohebi talked to you after the second trial but didn't tell you kill. What did he talk to you about then?"

"It was mostly just for me to reaffirm my allegiance to him," Sashihara replies. "He also made me promise not to slip up in front of you guys again."

Motoki, who still looks peeved that I redirected the conversation after her comments, raises her eyebrows. "When did you do that? I didn't notice anything."

"Neither did I," Domoto says.

"Makes sense, because you two weren't around when I slipped up," he says. "It happened while I was with Kasparov-kun and Kawashima-san during the second investigation. We were looking around in Aozora-kun's room when I carelessly mentioned that I had unsuccessfully attempted to enter Furuhata-kun and Yamaguchi-kun's rooms after their deaths. Monohebi told me when we first made our agreement that I might need to sneak into people's rooms without being caught in the future, so I tried to get into their rooms as practice. I didn't realize that I needed Monohebi to get in, though."

I vaguely remember him saying that he tried to get into Furuhata-kun and Yamaguchi-kun's rooms and thought it was weird...but with Aozora-kun's death and the investigation preoccupying my mind at the time, I guess I quickly brushed it aside and never thought about it again until now.

"So that was why you seem so flustered when I asked you why you were attempting to access their rooms," Kasparov says, stroking his chin. "That matters not, however. What truly is of importance is if you did sneak into any of our rooms." He looks at Sashihara sharply. "Well? Did you?

Sashihara shakes his head. "Fortunately, I never had to. All I ever did was meet up with Monohebi occasionally when he asked me to. I, on the other hand, never asked him to meet. I hate being around that creepy snake."

"Then why the hell did you betray us?" Domoto asks, crossing her arms. "If you hate him so much, why'd you agree to ally with him?"

"You're one to talk about betrayal," Sashihara mutters. "And to answer your question, it wasn't really a choice. Like I said earlier, he blackmailed me."

"With what?" Komatsu asks. "It musta been some pretty serious shit if it convinced ya to join him."

Sashihara hesitates before answering. "...Yes. It was. This may come as a surprise to you all, but I have been hiding more secrets than just the fact that I am the traitor. Monohebi exploited both those secrets to make me join him and stay on his side." He takes a deep breath. "Well, I might as well get one of them out of the way. I have a rare autoimmune disease that will kill me within the next five to ten years."

What...What the hell? The Ultimate Fitness Trainer is actually really sick? And he's going to die in a few years? "Sashihara-kun...that's...that's awful," is all I can think to say.

"Yeah...he's going to die in just a few years," Motoki says, hugging herself. "No one deserves to have their life cut so short..."

"Hisaya-kun, are you sure there's nothing you can do?" Hayasaka says, starting to tear up. "Are you really doomed to die no matter what?"

Sashihara nods somberly. "Yes. I've seen a million specialists and gone to more doctor's appointments than a normal person would in their entire lives." He gestures to his face mask with one hand and his latex gloves with the other. "I always wear these as an extra precaution to make my risk of infection as low as possible. I eat the healthiest diet possible. I work out every day. And yet...even if we escape from here, I will die before I hit thirty, probably before twenty-five. I take medication to stave off the disease's progression as long as possible and Monohebi, being the evil bastard he is, withheld that from me unless I worked for him."

Every time I think Monohebi can't get any worse, he proves me wrong and lowers the bar for his abhorrent behavior even more...I hate him so much.

"Sashihara-kun, is that the reason you cough sometimes?" Domoto asks. "Every once in a while, you have violent coughing fits...is this disease of yours the reason why?"

"Yes," he answers, "it is. I'm sorry for not telling you sooner, but I didn't feel ready."

Kasparov frowns. "You need not apologize," he says. "You were under no obligation to discuss your illness. About that..I truly feel for you, Sashihara-kun. Not even having the chance to live your life past young adulthood is a cruel fate to receive. Monohebi withholding your medication is especially cruel."

"Indeed it is," Sashihara says, clenching his fist. He takes a moment to calm himself down. "But the disease...you don't need to feel for me there. I accepted I would die from it a long time ago. It's part of the reason why I take being a fitness trainer so seriously. I will never be able to grow old or live a long life, but my clients...they can.

"They have the ability to make lasting changes in their lives. So when someone comes to me, looking to improve their fitness, the first thing I always tell them is that they need to be willing to become the best version of themselves possible and never stop trying to improve. That means never giving up in the face of any challenges, physical or mental. It means being prepared to get fit and stay that way until they get so old and wizened they can't lift a dumbbell anymore...that's the philosophy I instill into all my clients."

With that kind of intense and dedicated outlook, it's no wonder he's the Ultimate Fitness Trainer.

"Dude, if any of us deserve to have that disease, it sure ain't ya," Komatsu says sadly. "Ya actually make positive changes in people's lives..."

"Stop that," Sashihara says firmly. "Playing the who deserves what game does nothing. People who deserve good things receive terrible things all the time, and vice versa. Besides, I probably wouldn't be as good of a trainer if it wasn't for my condition...so I guess there is some good in me having it. I'm not happy about dying so young, but knowing that I helped so many people during my life...it makes it easier." He smiles sadly. "It makes the thought of possibly dying here easier too."

Sashihara-kun... "That isn't going to happen," I promise him. "We'll win against Monohebi. None of us are going to die here."

"That is not as guaranteed as you make it sound," Kasparov reminds me. "However, this admission from Sashihara-kun will make things considerably easier. Before, we had to worry about the first traitor for sure, and could not rule out the possibility of a second traitor or mastermind. Now, we know the identity of the first traitor and presumably know that a second traitor does not exist. It is still far from an ideal situation, but this is most assuredly an improvement."

Hayasaka raises her eyebrows. "Hold on, 'presumably' know? Sergey-kun, do you still not trust Hisaya-kun?"

"I mostly believe him," Kasparov says. "However, I cannot rule out the possibility that he might be sacrificing himself so that the second traitor, if they do exist, can kill."

"I guess yer right, but by ditchin' Monohebi, Sashihara-kun's takin' a huge risk," Komatsu says. "He's makin' himself a huge target. If a second traitor or mastermind or whoever is gonna pick someone to kill, it'd be him. Why would he jus' throw away his life like that? It ain't like that disease is gonna kill him tomorrow. He can still have a life for a few more years if he gets outta here alive, so I really doubt he'd do that."

Domoto waves his argument away. "He never said he believed that he was allowing a second traitor to strike, only that it's a possibility that we can't ignore." She turns her attention to Sashihara, a shrewd expression on her face. "I, for one, don't trust Sashihara-kun as much as the rest of you seem to. If Sashihara-kun's really switching sides, Monohebi's going to stop giving him life-saving medication. If he really wants to live, wouldn't it make more sense to choose Monohebi's side?"

"I don't fully trust him either," Motoki says, sounding tired. "I mean, he might be doing this because he'll do anything to not be subservient to Monohebi, but we don't really have a reason to believe him yet. That doesn't mean I'm not opening to trusting him in the future...I just can't yet. Actions speak louder than words, and he's yet to prove himself to us yet." She hugs herself, failing to look at Sashihara. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize," Sashihara tells her. "To be honest, I wouldn't fully trust me in this situation, either. I get that you don't trust me yet...but I promise you, Motoki-san, Domoto-san, and any of you that doubt me: I will earn your trust."

Motoki gives him a strained smile. "Thank you."

Domoto just huffs. "I hope you do. I'd hate to have to suspect someone else anymore."

"Same," Hayasaka says. "That's why I believe Hisaya-kun already." She hesitates. "Although...I do have a question for him."

Sashihara looks curious. "What is it?"

"What was the other secret?" she asks. "You said Monohebi exploited both your secrets, but you never said what the second one is."

Sashihara's face hardens and his voice steels itself. "...Oh. So you want to know that."

The way his voice just got even more serious creeps me out... "What is it, Sashihara-kun?" I ask. "It can't be worse than a fatal disease, can it?"

"Yes, it can," he says. He clenches his fight tightly. "Because I had no choice in having that disease. However, my second secret is my fault." He pauses. "I guess I should just get it out of the way. I'm a drug addict."

Oh...that wasn't what I expected. "You...the Ultimate Fitness Trainer...are a drug addict?" Surprise after surprise is coming from Sashihara-kun today.

"Yes," he says painfully. "When I was fourteen, I fell off my bike and had a very serious back injury I had to get a extremely painful surgery for. I was prescribed highly potent painkillers as a result...and I was never able to get off them."

"Don't blame that shit on yerself, Sashihara-kun," Komatsu says forcefully. "It ain't yer fault. It's yer doctors for givin' ya those sort of drugs!"

"I know, but I still blame myself for never having the courage to go to rehab to get off them," Sashihara says. "I was training people, even back then, and if I left for weeks or even months to become sober, I'd be letting them down, and I couldn't let myself do that. So I continued training people, all the time hiding my addiction from pretty much everyone but my dealer, who gave me a discounted rate because I trained him."

Kasparov frowns. "You did not exhibit any of the obvious symptoms of withdrawal characteristic of someone suddenly deprived of a substance to which they are addicted when we were first locked here."

"I had enough for about four or five days when we got here," Sashihara says. "I had just run out when Monohebi showed up to my room. When he told me he would give me my medication and a free supply of my pills...there was no way I could deny him." He clenches his fist so tightly that it looks like he might crush his own hand. "I hate myself for doing that. I hate myself for being so vulnerable to him. I hate myself for letting my drug-addled brain override the logical side of me."

"I'm not going to say what you did was good, but if you're going to hate anyone, hate Monohebi," Motoki says. "He's the one responsible for blackmailing you. Besides, if it wasn't you, he would've gone after someone else."

"...I guess you're right," he says uncertainly. "I still will hate myself for letting myself be so vulnerable to him, and even more for being so cowardly as to stay quietly on his side. I hate that it took Eguchi-san, Terajima-kun, and Oyamada-kun dying so cruelly to even begin to shake my resolve." He finally unclenches his fist."However, I'm done siding with him. I'm not going to let myself be controlled by him anymore!"

Domoto crosses her arms. "So you're going to go cold turkey with your drugs? And you're going to go off your life-saving medication too?"

"The medication I can do without for a few days and be fine," Sashihara says. "As for the painkillers...I have enough to last me today and tomorrow. The next day, too, if I really stretch myself out. After that..." He shudders. "I'll go through withdrawal. It will be hellish, probably the most excruciating agony possible. But it will be worth it if it means I can be free of Monohebi."

"Once we escape, you need to go straight to rehab, Hisaya-kun," Hayasaka says. "Will you promise me that?"

"Yes, I will," he agrees immediately. I'm sobering up and I'm going to stay that way." He smiles painfully. "But only if you promise you'll never relapse into bulimia again."

Hayasaka gulps at the mention of her eating disorder. "I...I was already planning on doing that," she says. She smiles at him weakly "But I guess that can be some extra motivation for me."

That's heartwarming to see...overcoming an addiction or an eating disorder is a terribly difficult thing to do. It's a lifelong process that has no definite end. I know it will be hard for both Sashihara-kun and Hayasaka-san to keep that promise, but I know they're capable of doing it. They're strong people.

"So...I guess that means we gotta hurry," Komatsu says after a short silence. "Sashihara-kun can only really last for two more days with his drugs, so we gotta hurry up and come up with a plan for escape."

"I still don't think escape is realistic," Motoki says with a tired expression. "I think it's just asking for one or more of us to get killed by Monohebi." She looks over at me for a few seconds, then quickly averts her eyes. "I owe you all an apology, though. I overreacted last night...so sorry about that. I just really don't want anyone to die and I'm not going to let any of you risk your lives unnecessarily. Attempting to escape is something I still think is an unnecessary risk that'll only result in someone dying...however, if you can come up with a plan that makes it as safe as possible, I might change my mind."

I breathe a sigh of relief. I'm glad I didn't have to confront her about that. That definitely would've been really awkward. "I'm happy that you're feeling more open to the idea of escape now."

Motoki awkwardly avoids my gaze. "Yeah, but don't get too ahead of yourself. Chances are any plan presented won't change my mind."

"Well, challenge accepted," I say. I smile at her, and I swear I can see the smallest smile form on her face as a resukt.

"Yeah, we'll definitely change yer mind, Motoki-san," Komatsu says. "'Bout that, I think we should start brainstormin' ideas presto."

Kasparov makes a face. "Here? Under the surveillance of Monohebi? Absolutely not." He eyes the cameras in the corner of the room. "The only rooms in this entire prison without cameras are the bathhouse, sauna, and Freezer. If we are to discuss our plans without Monohebi seeing or hearing, we must do it in of those locations."

"You forgot the locked room in the back of the Freezer," Hayasaka says. "I know we don't have access to it right now, but Monohebi told us that room also doesn't have any surveillance."

Yeah, he did...and her bringing that up reminds me of the mysterious missing key to that room. "Sashihara-kun, do you have the key to that room?"

"No," he answers. "I was just as confused as the rest of you when I heard someone other than me took the key to that room and is hiding the fact they have it from the rest of us. Mostly because I know there is no second traitor."

"So it was probably the mastermind," Domoto says. "I haven't heard of this key or this mysterious locked room yet, but I know one thing: If you're really being honest about the second traitor not existing, Sashihara-kun, then it has to be the mastermind who took that key. None of the rest of us have a reason to take it and hide it."

I hate to say that she's on to something. "We can't know for sure, but Domoto-san has a point," I say. "The mastermind, if they're really one of us at this table, has the most reason to take the key."

"I get what yer sayin', but why the fuck would they've bothered openin' that room jus' to steal that key?" Komatsu asks. "They were perfectly fine with keepin' three rooms on the fifth floor locked, so they coulda easily jus' not opened
that room if they were really deadset on havin' us not see it."

"...I agree with Komatsu-kun," Motoki says, still not looking at anyone. "The mastermind isn't the person who took the key. It's one of the rest of us, who for some fucking reason is hiding it from the group." She finally lifts her head, looking up and down the table with a fiery expression. "So, which one of you was it? Who decided it'd be a good idea to keep secrets from the rest of us!?" She waits a moment, but no one says anything. "Damn asshole," she grumbles. "Hiding that key from us is a terrible idea."

Domoto rolls her eyes. "No one responding to your question only strengthened my belief that the person who has the key is the mastermind." She scratches her chin. "And even if they're not, there's no way they're not up to some shady business."

She's probably right, unfortunately. "Whoever they are, if they're not the mastermind I hope they come around and tell the rest of us about the key."

There's a short period of silence before Kasparov says, "The individual who stole the key clearly has no intention of revealing themselves at the moment. Waiting around will do us nothing. I suggest we take a different approach."

Hayasaka looks at him curiously. "What do you mean, Sergey-kun?"

"Forgive me if this suggestion seems unlike me, but I suggest we all confess something deeply personal to all of us," he answers.

Huh? That definitely wasn't what I expected. "Uh...why?" I ask. "And how does this have to do with what we were talking about?"

"I want to know that too," Motoki says, narrowing her eyes at Kasparov. "Kasparov-kun isn't the type of person to suggest something like this. I like the idea, because I believe communication is a good thing...I'm just suspicious of who it's coming from."

"You need not be suspicious," Kasparov says. "I am suggesting this because of something my chess mentor, the former Ultimate Psychologist, once told me: telling someone else something deeply personal generally makes one feel closer to that person. If we share secrets with each other, then perhaps the person who took the key will feel less inclined to betray us, if they truly do have nefarious plans." He shrugs. "I admit it is not a solid plan by any means, but we have no way of knowing who stole the key right now. This is far better than simply doing nothing and idly waiting for them to confess."

I guess it makes more sense when he puts it like that. It still doesn't make much sense to me...but he is right that's it better than nothing. "I don't really think this will do much, but fine."

"...Do you really not see it?" Domoto asks, crossing her arms. "He's trying to get us to spill secrets so that Monohebi can't leverage them as a motive."

Kasparov smiles slightly. "Indeed, that was an additional motive I had in suggesting this. Monohebi has yet to exploit our secrets in a motive, so I am doing this in part to prevent him from doing so. I am sure he will simply devise with another motive if he was truly planning to use our secrets, but doing this will certainly frustrate him either way."

"Huh," Komatsu says. "Guess that means we gotta say some serious shit...if it's bad enough to be used in a motive, it's gonna have to be our darkest secret."

"Yeah, otherwise it won't be preventing Monohebi from using our secrets against us in a motive," Hayasaka says. "I don't know what to say, honestly...I already had my most personal secrets exposed after the third trial, so I don't have much to say."

"You can go last, then," says Sashihara. "I'll start."

I blink. "What? You have darker secrets than your illness and drug addiction?"

"Nothing quite as serious as that," he says. "It's still very serious, though. Because...my entire academic record from my third year of middle school is fake. Between me prioritizing being a trainer and struggling to get enough pills to sustain my habit, my grades seriously slipped. I was worried about not getting into a good high school, so...I paid off my school's headmaster with the money I made from being a trainer to fake my grades."

...Holy shit. I'd have never guessed Sashihara-kun would do something like that. "Wow...that's pretty bad," I say.

Domoto shakes her head disapprovingly. "How disgustingly dishonest," she says, wrinkling her nose. "That's such a dishonor to all the students who studied hard and earned their grades."

"I realize that," Sashihara says, "and I deeply regret it. But I was desperate and unsure of my future...so I did what I thought was right." He snorts humorlessly. "Of course, I got the letter of acceptance from New Hope's Peak not too much longer, so it turns out it was all for nothing."

"That's what you get for lying," Domoto says harshly. She suddenly looks away from him. "Although I guess I should get off my high horse...because...I have lied before."
Expecting a dramatic reaction from everyone, Domoto closes her eyes and tenses up, but no such reaction occurs. She opens an, looking irritated. "...What? No one's going to say anything? That was my secret."

"I ain't gonna lie, that was a shitty-ass secret," Komatsu says. "Everyone's lied before. That ain't a dark or deeply personal secret."

Domoto's eyes flash angrily. "Yes it is!" she says furiously. "Everyone says 'white lies' are okay, but the truth is no lie is okay. Even the smallest of lies can greatly harm people. You always have to tell the truth. Always."

There has to be something going on here... "What happened to you that made you think lying is so bad?" I ask. "I get disapproving of people lying in general, but there are exceptions. Sometimes the truth is too much for someone to handle. A well-intentioned lie can be better than the truth."

"Still better than a lie," Domoto says passionately. She opens her mouth, looking like she's ready to launch herself into a long rant, but stops herself. "...No. I'm not going to change your mind, so I'm done talking about this."

You were the one who started it, but whatever. Domoto-san's obsession with always telling the truth puzzles me. I wonder why she feels that way...

"I might as well go next," Motoki says. She hugs herself. "I already told Kawashima-san and Domoto-san this a while back...but my stepfather abused me and my mom. Badly."

Hayasaka gasps. "Oh my God...Sakiko-san, I'm so sorry that happened to you..."

"It's over now," Motoki says, trying to sound calm but failing to stop her voice from shaking. "He's dead. I don't have to worry about him anymore..."

"No, but the shadow of him still looms over you," Sashihara says. "However, it doesn't have to.
You're stronger than him, Motoki-san. If you and your mom go to therapy, you can work to undone the mental harm he's undoubtedly done to you both. It will be difficult and long process, but it can be done."

Motoki doesn't look at him, but nods. "...Yeah. You're right. We tried a few times, and it never really worked...and we're both so busy, so we never tried again. But I guess we should change that." I see a tear fall down her cheek. "If we ever get out of here, that is..."

There's a somber silence. "We will, Motoki-san," Sashihara says to her. "I promise you, we will."

"I don't think we'll be able to, but I appreciate the sentiment," she says bluntly. "Also...you better mean that. Promises are a big deal."

"I do," Sashihara says.

She nods slowly. "Good."

A brief lapse in the conversation follows, which is broken by Komatsu exhaling loudly. "Well, fuck. Guess I might as well 'fess up to the worst shit I've ever done."

"What'd you do? Steal extra food?" I ask, giving him a joking smile.

Komatsu does not smile back. "...Nah. I killed someone."

I drop my smile instantly. "Wh-What...What the fuck!?"

"Yutaka-kun, you've killed someone before!?" Hayasaka asks, horrified. "Why would you do that!?"

"I would like to know that as well," Kasparov says, hardening his voice. "You best have a very good reason for committing murder."

"Is there really a good reason?" Domoto asks, glaring at Komatsu. "Even in the case of self-defense, you can often choose to incapacitate or injure your attacker or attackers instead of resorting to killing them."

Komatsu glares back at Domoto. "Listen, it ain't like I wanted to do it. Some scary-ass dude broke into the shitty apartment I was squattin' in and was threatenin' my bro Reiji with a huge knife. I got freaked out and wasn't thinkin', so I grabbed my metal baseball bat and clocked that scary dude over the head. I only meant to knock him out, but...turns out I hit him way too hard and killed him, so my bro and I had to ditch that apartment and run away."

"Do you regret it?" Sashihara asks.

Komatsu makes a face. "'Course I do," he says regretfully. "I've been super fuckin' ashamed of doin' it ever since it happened.
I don't even know the guy's name or if he had any family or friends, 'cause I never saw a report of his death on the news, which makes me feel like total shit. But...I did what I did and there ain't no undoin' it, so I've continued on livin'. Besides, I was only thirteen, scared shitless, and acted outta instinct to protect my bro."

Okay...that makes me feel a little better. I mean, it's still really messed up that he killed someone, but at least he didn't plan to do it and did it out of self-defense. Although that doesn't mean he should feel completely blameless, I don't think he should be putting most of the blame on himself, but rather on the guy that antagonized his brother. "I don't think you should feel too guilty. More blame rests on the man that broke into the apartment and threatened your brother than you."

"I dunno," he says. "I still killed someone. I ain't jus' gonna get over that."

"You shouldn't," Domoto says. "Why didn't you report what happened to the police? And what did your parents think of what you did?"

...Yikes. It probably wasn't a good idea to bring up his parents, Domoto-san. "First of all, I'm the only one to take care of Reiji, so I ain't gonna hand myself into the cops for no reason," Komatsu says. "Those bastards are useless as fuck, anyway. As for my parents...don't know, don't give a shit. They left me and my bro a long-ass time ago, so fuck 'em."

"What shitty assholes," Motoki says. "If you're going to abandon your children, you shouldn't have had them in the first place."

"...Indeed," Kasparov says, and I can tell those words hit hard for him. His parents never physically abandoned him, but with them being as distant as he described, they might as well have.

"I'm sorry, Komatsu-kun," Domoto says, actually sounding genuine. "I should've realized from context clues and how you've never mentioned your parents that they weren't around."

He waves his hand at her. "Don't worry 'bout it. If anythin', I'm glad ya even said sorry. Usually, ya ain't the kinda person that does that."

Domoto huffs. "Don't act like it's a huge deal," she says. "It may not be common for me to apologize, but that's only because I refuse to apologize unless I mean it."

"Ya take things too seriously," he says. "That don't really matter, though. Who's left?"

"Hayasaka-san, Kawashima-san, and myself have yet to share anything," Kasparov replies. He shifts around in his seat. "It is ironic that I suggested we do this, and yet am uncomfortable with sharing my secret...but I suppose I might as well do it. You see...I retained two very embarrassing, childish habits until I was twelve, almost thirteen. I both sucked my thumb and wet my bed consistently."

Domoto's jaw drops in shock. "...What?
Are you really serious!?"

Kasparov blushes deeply. "...Yes. It was truly quite humiliating."

"Sergey-kun...I can't imagine someone as serious and uptight as you doing that," Hayasaka, who is barely able to hold back her laughter, says.

"It's funny as fuck," Komatsu chortles. "Holy shit, this is fuckin' hilarious! Mr. Ultra-Polite Sophisticated Smart-as-Fuck Chess Player wet the bed until he was in his second year of middle school!?" He slaps the table, unable to contain his laughter. "HahahaHA! Oh, Kasparov-kun, I ain't ever gonna let ya forget this."

"We all have our embarrassing habits," Sashihara says. "At least you don't have them anymore, Kasparov-kun."

"It wouldn't be too bad if he did," Motoki says with a small smile. "Maybe then that bastard snake would have to clean his soiled sheets every day."

"I doubt he'd be so accomodating," I say. It is funny to imagine Monohebi cleaning piss-soaked sheets, though. Also...I'm pretty surprised by this. Kasparov-kun is not the kind of person you'd expect to keep such bad habits to such a late age. I guess you never really can tell what secrets someone is holding, huh. About that...I guess I may as well share mine now.
"My secret is pretty embarrassing, too. It's definitely not what you'd expect of someone from my talent."

Domoto raises her eyebrows. "Did you talk back to a rude customer? You shouldn't be ashamed of that if you did."

"That's not what it is," I say. I wish it was, though. It'd be nice to finally stand up to the complete assholes I encounter all the time. "No...it has to do with my first job. My job before the restaurant I work at now. It was at a clothing store near my house, and my manager was an absolute douche. Shoplifters used to target our store all the time, so corporate management was on his ass to stop it.
Of course, the asshole didn't do shit to stop shoplifters and pushed all that off to the rest of us.

"We did a decent job," I continue. "One day, a customer was super mean to me, so I started crying in the back and the manager had the gall to tell me to get working again or I'd get fired. I chose to get fired. But...that wasn't the end. I waited a few months so I wouldn't be suspected and then...one of my friends told me she was planning on quitting.
So, she messed with the security cameras and I stole as many clothes as I could while they were down. My friend and the rest of my coworkers covered for me and that asshole manager got his ass fired."

I feel a deep sense of satisfaction well up inside me as I imagine his rat face contorted with anger as he got fired. I wish was able to see that.
"It was a crime, yeah, but it was worth it. Fortunately, my next job had way better management, so I never had to pull any similar stunt there."

Hayasaka giggles. "Wow, Wakana-san. I wouldn't have expected someone like you to be so rebellious. I like it, though."

"Same," Motoki says, not looking at me but smiling slightly. "Standing up to terrible people in a position of authority is hard to do."

I have to fight to prevent heat from rushing to my cheeks. Those two complimenting me really is making me act up...
"I never confronted him directly," I say, trying to downplay it. "Besides, that's not really the part I was trying to emphasize. My secret was that I stole a lot of expensive items from the store. The manager being a fuckwad was just context."

"You stealing from the store was not okay," Domoto says. "Stealing is wrong."

Komatsu rolls his eyes. "Who gives a shit? The company that owned the store was probably some big-ass corporation. I ain't gonna cry for 'em losin' a tiny bit of their property that'll barely affect their profits." He looks at me. "What'd ya do with the shit ya stole, Kawashima-san?"

"I kept a few things for myself, but drove most of the stuff to a city a few hours away so the cops wouldn't track it," I say. "There, I spread the stolen clothes out to several different homeless shelters."

Kasparov nods approvingly. "I am glad that you redistributed the clothes to people who are in need. If you are going to break the law, you should do it for good rather than out of pure spite."

"I don't think you should break the law at all," Domoto says, clearly displeased. "Laws exist for a reason."

"There are far worse crimes than shoplifting," Sashihara says. "I'm glad Kawashima-san did what she did because she removed a shitty person from a person of authority. I think what she did was admirable."

"You really shouldn't admire for what I did," I say. "Most of what I did was because I was a petty teenager."

"Petty teenagers can do good sometimes," Hayasaka says with a shrug. "Not always, though." Her face falls. "I should know. My pettiness once caused a rival makeup YouTuber to completely abandon her channel and her fans." She twirls her hair. "My worst secret was my bulimia and my entire fake social media presence, but I already confessed that...so this is the next worst thing."

It's honestly not too surprising that she did that to someone, given how horrible she was in that Mika-chan personality. "What'd you do to her?"

Hayasaka swears at herself. "It was so fucking stupid, looking back on it. But basically, that girl sub-tweeted me a few times and said shady things in one of her videos and I got really mad because I was super fucking sensitive to even the slightest criticism...so I went on a rampage and scoured the Internet for anything I could use against her. Lo and behold, I found some old DMs where she was making fun of one of her YouTube friends, took them out of context, then anonymously leaked them to a drama channel." She shakes her head in shame. "They were a few years old, but it still caused a huge scandal for her and she left the Internet not too long after."

"You're right, that is pretty shitty," Domoto says sternly. "It'd be one thing if you were exposing her for a good reason, like her being a bigot or something like that, but contriving a scandal is disingenuous and wrong."

"I know it is now," Hayasaka says. "I knew it was wrong at the time, too...I just didn't care. I only cared about fame and followers."

Motoki rubs her forehead. "I don't get why anyone would want to be famous. All the attention and the corruption fame and wealth cause make it seem like it'd have to be miserable..."

"When you crave attention and validation as much as someone like me does, it's only natural to want to be famous," Hayasaka says. She frowns. "I think I'm over it, though. Once we get out of here, I'm deleting every single account I have."

"That's a good decision," I tell her.
It really is...her use of social media has caused her a lot of harm, and she needs to take a long break from it. Maybe even a permanent break.

A beat of silence passes, broken by Komatsu sighing as he looks at the clock. "Fuck, we've been talkin' for a long-ass time. It's almost noon."

Turning around in my seat, I look at the clock to see he's right. Wow, it has been that long. It didn't even feel like that long. "What should we do now?"

"We could all go somewhere like the bathhouse or sauna and...you know," Sashihara says. "Brainstorm ideas."

"I'd rather not," Domoto says brusquely. "We've been together for hours already."

Hayasaka nods. "I agree with Otoha-san. We need time apart to think."

"If we split up, then we must form partnerships," Kasparov says. "Although I believe we do not have time for two, as we normally do. In addition, there must be one group of three."

Only time for one partnership, huh. I wonder, who should I spend it with? Motoki-san or Domoto-san would both be good options...but I guess Domoto-san is the one I should probably pick. I mean, before today I haven't talked to her for two whole days.

As everyone else starts standing up, I turn to Domoto. "Domoto-san, do you want to be partners?"

She pinches the bridge of her nose. "Do I want to be? No. Will I be? Yes."

Pleasant, as always. "What do you want to do?" I ask her. "And where do you want to go?"

"It doesn't matter to me," she says hurriedly. Then, she bites her lip. "Actually...never mind. I want to go to the fifth floor. I haven't seen what's up there yet."

That's right, she hasn't explored up there or the rest of the basement yet.
"Do you want to explore the rest of the basement too?"

She raises her eyebrows. "Monohebi opened the rest of the basement too? I knew he opened that locked door in the back of the Freezer, but not the rest of it."

"Yeah," I say. "Let's go down there. I'll show you everything."

We head to the basement and take a look in the Boiler Room and Garage, and even check the door in the Freezer to check if it's still locked...which it unfortunately is. After that, we walk up to the fifth floor and explore everything up there, finally ending up in Cell Block E as our last stop.

"So, what do you think?" I ask as I plop down on a bed in one of the cells. I need to take a break from standing on my feet...that walk around the basement and all the way up here caused me more soreness than I'm willing to admit.

Domoto reluctantly enters the cell and stiffly sits down on the bed beside me. "Not really impressed. But I did notice that there seem to be no more stairs to a higher floor."

"Yep," I say. "Unless Monohebi opens up some outdoor area, we've seen all we're going to see of this prison." Although I don't want it to, an awful thought creeps into my mind. It might be the last place you ever see. You could very easily spend your entire life trapped in this evil place. I shake that out of my mind. No...I can't think like that. I will escape. I won't fail.

"What're you thinking about?" Domoto asks. "You look like you have something on your mind."

I breathe out my nose loudly. "Ha...am I really that obvious?"

She shrugs. "Sometimes." She glances over at me. "Well? What's on your mind?"

"I'm worried," I admit. "I know I've been telling everyone with confidence that we'll beat Monohebi. And it's not like I'm lying, because I do believe that. I just can't help myself from feeling doubts."

"Having doubts is natural," Domoto says. "It's good, honestly. Being overconfident and not doubting yourself enough can cause you to fuck shit up horribly." Her eyes darken. "Take it from me. I got two people killed because I was a dumb, overconfident bitch."

My first instinct is to console her, but I ignore it. I shouldn't try to make her feel better, because what she did was wrong. Everyone else has done bad stuff too...Kasparov-kun's stubborn confidence landed Eguchi-san in the cell she died in, Komatsu-kun stabbed her, Motoki-san pretty much got her killed, Hayasaka-san tried to kill Komatsu-kun, and Sashihara-kun was the traitor. For most of them, it was just one bad thing...but not with Domoto-san. She fought to lock Eguchi-san in a cell, planned to kill her, and caused the deaths of two people. She shouldn't feel good after doing that.

However...it doesn't do us any good if she's so miserable she can't do anything. Oyamada-kun, Eguchi-san, Terajima-kun, and everyone else is already dead, so the best thing we can do now is honor their memories. Escaping from here is the best way to go about doing that, and it can't be done unless we all work together...so I should at least make her feel good enough so that she's willing to give her all to help us escape.

"At least you feel sorry," I say. "No offense, but I think the Domoto-san from before the last trial would probably try to justify what she did and push the blame onto others. I'm glad you're not doing that."

She gives me the stink eye. "That's a low fucking standard," she says. She tears her eyes away from mine and looks at her feet. "...You're not wrong, though. I probably would have...no, I did. I tried to kill Eguchi-san because I thought it was justified and right. It's horrible to say this out loud, but I didn't feel any guilt about doing it. Not until the trial, when the thought that I might have killed Terajima-kun entered my mind. And then...I broke. I fell long and hard from my tower of blindly overconfidence, self-righteousness to the cold ground of reality." She smiles bitterly. "The higher you go, the harder you fall, as they say."

Such a poetic way of putting it...reminds me of Carrasco-san. I don't think I should bring up that comparison to Domoto-san, though, because I doubt she'd like to hear it. "Then why haven't you changed your behavior much?" I ask instead of telling about how she sounded like Carrasco. "After the trial, you were obviously crushed, but you've been actin just as abrasive as before ever since. Why is that?"

"Because that's who I am," Domoto says, looking up at me with an irritated stare. "I'm not a nice or polite person, Kawashima-san." She returns her gaze to her feet. "And just so you know, I had two whole days of crying alone in my room and wallowing in self-hatred before I could act like this again. So it's not like I instantly reverted to this."

"You did look pretty terrible during the brief periods where I saw you," I say. "Also...have you ever tried to be nicer? You can be honest all the time without being unnecessarily mean."

She fidgets awkwardly. "Maybe," she says. "Probably not, though, because being honest requires you to be harsh pretty frequently. And I'm never going to stop being honest for the rest of my life. That's one conviction I will never give up on, no matter what happens to me."

You are strangely dedicated to that...it's about time I ask her to reveal why she is. "Why are you obsessed with always telling the truth, no matter if it hurts someone or not?"

Domoto doesn't immediately answer. "...That doesn't concern you."

So she's being stubborn, huh. Normally I would give up at this point, but not today.
"Stop being difficult and spill it. You said you lied before earlier. Was that lie the reason why you're so committed to constant honesty?" She doesn't reply. "Guess that means I was right," I say.

"Why do you care so much?" Domoto snaps. "That lie was the worst thing I ever did before I put that poison in the sugar. I don't need you to pry and ask what it was."

"If you're so ashamed of it, you should tell me," I say. "Holding the shame of it inside you will only make things worse. Do you really want things to become even worse than they already are?"

That seems to do it for her. "I...no, I don't," she says, the usual acid tone absent from her voice. "It's just...I've never told anyone else about it." She pauses. "Fine, I'll tell you what the lie was. But if I'm telling you what happened, I'm telling you the whole story."

"A long story is no problem," I say, making myself as comfortable as I can on the stiff mattress. "Come on, let's hear it."

Domoto lets out a long breath, then starts talking. "As you know, my talent is making homemade toys. The reason why I do that is that my parents are always working and my younger sister, Meiko, was a sick girl for many years. When we were younger, she was always down with something, so usually I couldn't play with her for the sake of my health. But I didn't want her to be bored while she suffered alone, so I started making toys for her in my basement. I've always had a knack for machinery and arts and crafts, so it wasn't too much of a challenge for me.

"I made toys only for Meiko for a long time," Domoto continues. "As she got older and less prone to becoming sick, she donated many of her old toys to family friends and a nearby children's hospital. When they asked her where they could buy some of the toys, she told them I made all of them. Everyone was amazed, so they came to me with requests for custom toys. I made each and every one—for free of course, because it didn't feel right to make the kids pay—and then delivered to them personally." She smiles fondly. "It was an amazing sight, seeing the kids' faces when they first laid eyes on the toy they had requested."

If I'm being honest, it's hard to imagine Domoto-san doing such nice things for free. However, she is the Ultimate Toy Maker, and she must've earned that title somehow. Maybe Domoto-san's a different person around kids, like my younger sister Yuriko. She can be annoying—no, she IS annoying—to me and grown-up people. Around kids, though, the annoyingness melts away and she becomes a completely different person. Domoto-san is probably like that.

But that's not really important. What matters is the big lie Domoto-san told, and I have yet to hear anything about that. "So what was the lie?" I ask her. "You still haven't brought that up yet."

"I'll get there," she says. "Anyway, the more toys I made, the more word got around, and eventually I got so inundated with requests that I couldn't keep up and had to limit the toys I made. So, I decided to prioritize making toys for kids with incurable, often terminal diseases."

"Like the one Sashihara-kun has," I say.

"Yeah, like that," she says. She shuffles her feet, visibly uncomfortable. "While I went around asking the kids what they wanted, I met this girl named Izumi. She was the cutest little thing...I remember she always had her hair in pigtails and these adorable Hello Kitty bows...but that's not the point. Izumi was only about five, but she had some rare cancer that was far too advanced for her life to be saved. So, I made sure to make and deliver the toy she wanted as quickly as possible.

"When I delivered the toy to her, Izumi was not in good shape. She could still talk and move well enough, but she clearly wasn't doing well. I didn't want to make her feel bad, though, so I made no mention of her condition while I was giving her the toy she asked for." Domoto pauses, as if to prepare herself for what she wants to say next. "Right before I left...she asked me something. She said, 'Otoha-nee-chan...am I going to be alright?' I didn't want to make her feel bad or scare her, so I told her that it'd all be fine. That she'd be alright soon."

A single tear falls down her cheek. "I lied to that poor girl, and the worst part is...I could tell she believed me. The way her eyes lit up and how she smiled crookedly made that clear enough. But it was all for nothing, because Izumi had all that hope ripped away from her not even a day later."

Although a part of me had been dreading she'd say that, I can't help but let out a gasp. "She died?"

Domoto nods seriously. "Yes. I don't know the exact details, but I heard that her death was very painful." She crosses her arms and stares at the floor miserably. "You might think that was sad, but not a huge deal...but not me. I've agonized over what I did to that poor girl ever since that day. I've never been able to get rid of the guilt, and I don't think I deserve to. Because giving someone false hope, even if it's for good intentions, is incredibly cruel."

"So that's why you never lie," I say. "You don't want to do that to anyone again."

"Yeah," Domoto says. "It's been hard. Sometimes I feel tempted to tell someone a white lie to make them feel better, but I never will. I'd never tell a friend her dress looks good on her if it doesn't, because that's setting her up for disappointment. I won't tell my asshole uncle I love him because I don't, even though it makes my parents mad. I won't tell an aspiring artist their art looks good if it's poorly made, because that'll give them unwarranted confidence. I've lost friends and made a lot of unnecessary enemies because of my refusal to lie, but it's worth it. I'd rather have everyone hate me for telling the truth and being honest with my opinions than be liked for giving someone false hope."

When she puts it like that, it makes Domoto-san acting the way she does more understandable. I can really empathize with her and understand that she feels guilty about lying to Izumi, but I don't think that mistake justifies her attitude. It leaves no room for nuance. "I completely get why you choose not to lie, and what you do's entirely your choice," I say, "however, I think you're making things seem too black and white. Of course you should be honest most of the time, but lying can be appropriate or even the best option depending on the situation. It all depends on the context."

"That's what I thought before," Domoto says. "I thought that honesty was best most of the time and that lies were okay sometimes. But that attitude is what led me to lie to poor Izumi and cruelly give her hope that she'd survive. I trusted my judgment when it was wrong." She shakes her head regretfully. "That was Kasparov-kun's problem, and by extension mine too. He and I were too confident. We believed in ourselves and our judgment too much, and look where that got us."

"You two fucked up royally and had a major lapse in judgment, it's true," I say. "But that's a pretty extreme example. Most situations are not that bad."

Domoto closes her eyes and shakes her head, as if I don't understand. "No one can see the future. It's best not to take the chance. I took the chance in trusting the judgment of myself and Kasparov-kun and it got three people killed."

"So basically you don't trust yourself and that's why you never lie," I say. "You don't want to risk accidentally harming someone at all." Okay, that's not unreasonable. But it is kind of hypocritical, considering how enthusiastic she was to throw Eguchi-san in a cell and plan to kill her.
"If you believe in preventing risk so much, though, why did you lock Eguchi-san up and try to kill her without second thought?"

Domoto scowls. "It was not without a second thought! I weighed the options and decided to take a chance to trust myself and Kasparov-kun's judgment. I decided that imprisoning and later killing someone who I had very good reason to believe had worked with and was going to work with the mastermind was safer than doubting myself." She looks away shamefully. "I now know that I was sorely mistaken, obviously...but hindsight is 20/20, as they say."

Huh...I never thought Domoto-san had it in her to doubt herself.
"You know, you don't seem like the kind of person who doubts themself."

"Are you suggesting that I'm lying about this?" she asks.

"No," I say, "I'm just saying I think it's funny. Both in and out of class trials, you have always been...how should I put it, very committed to the ideas you put forth. You're also the sort of person who draws attention to herself."

Domoto snorts. "What a polite way to call me a stubborn loudmouth," she says. "As much I don't like that label, I can't say you're wrong. That is who I am. I have a lot of internal doubts, but once I decide on something, I let everyone who's around to listen know and I'm not quick to change my mind."

Yeah, I knew that already. "I'm well aware of you not being inclined to changing your mind, considering it usually takes a lot for me to do it in a trial."

What might be a smile flashes across her face. "Yeah," she says.

We sit in silence for a long moment, doing nothing but staring ahead, lost in our thoughts. Domoto-san just talked a lot to me without getting super confrontational, which is a rarity. She also told me something very personal to her with that story about Izumi...she said she's never told anyone that before. So, does that mean she trusts me a lot now? Or that she feels close to me? I'll be honest, she's gotten on my nerves a lot. But, even with how much she can bother me...I do think she's a good person deep down. One who's made inexcusable mistakes, yes...but good somewhere inside.

"You know, I might as well say something in the spirit of being honest," Domoto says suddenly. "I don't think we'll be able to beat Monohebi. I think we'll lose to him and that we're all doomed to die. Don't mistake me, I'd love to get out of here, I just don't think it's likely to happen."

I look to the ceiling of the room for cameras but see none. Guess Monohebi didn't bother putting cameras in the individual cells. That means we can talk about escape without worrying about being watched as long we're not too loud. Otherwise, the cameras outside in the main of the cell block will pick up on what we're saying. "I have similar doubts," I admit in a low voice. "I know Monohebi won't let us end his killing game without resistance. But we need to do something. We have to try to escape. It's likely that we'll fail, but if we all work together and trust each other, we can win."

"Trust each other?" Domoto repeats, raising her eyebrows. "One of us could be the mastermind, Kawashima-san. Even if Sashihara-kun told us no lies this morning, he was still the traitor. The last trial broke all of us. Trust is not something that comes easily in that sort of environment." She gives me the side-eye. "Also, you secretly suspected me of being the traitor for two whole days. You're not one to talk about trust."

"Oyamada-kun made me promise not to tell anyone about what he told me at first," I say defensively. "I never would've even suspected you if it weren't for him lying to me. Also, you attempting to kill Eguchi-san made you look pretty suspicious."

"Fair point," Domoto says, "but still, you didn't have to keep your suspicions to yourself for two whole days."

She's right, I probably should've told someone a little sooner, because that would have made Sashihara-kun confess sooner...but oh well.
"I was unsure," I say, which is the truth. "I couldn't talk to you alone because you locked yourself in your room and I was worried that would make you or Monohebi kill me. As for the others, I was too scared to tell them what I knew. I only told Sashihara-kun because he had pretty much figured out what I thought."

"I get that," Domoto says. "Don't think I'd do the same, but I see where you were coming from and don't blame you." She crosses her arms. "That doesn't really matter, though. To return to the important stuff, I still don't think escape will happen."

"Are you saying you're not going to try?" I ask.

She shrugs. "I don't really see the point. The chance of success is too low." She stares at her feet. "I want to get out of here, yeah...but dying here would be a fitting death for me. Frankly, I deserve it after what I did to Terajima-kun and Oyamada-kun, and after what I wanted to do to Eguchi-san."

She probably does deserve that, if we're speaking objectively. However, as Sashihara-kun said during breakfast, people don't get what they deserve all the time.
"If you're going to bring them into this, then don't use them to get yourself killed," I tell her. "Have you already forgotten what Terajima-kun said in his suicide note? He wanted all of us to escape. Oyamada-kun didn't think that could happen and hated all of us, but out of his love for Terajima-kun he wanted us to prove him wrong. Both the people you got killed want us all to escape."

Domoto says nothing, so I continue. "I know you deeply regret what you did, Domoto-san. I know you feel an incredible amount of guilt and shame for it. Which you should, since it was absolutely terrible. You want to atone for it, don't you? If so...the best course of action would be to try to fulfill the last desires of the two people you got killed. In the end, they both wanted us all to escape. Giving your all to make sure we all get out of this place is what you should do."

She stays silent for a long time before answering. "...Shit, you're right," she says eventually. "I don't like the idea of escaping because it doesn't seem fair for me to get to live when so many of us have already died. But you're right that trying as hard as I can to escape is the best option."

Happy that I managed to convince her, I nod. "I'm glad to hear it."

We sit in silence again for a few minutes. Then, Domoto suddenly stands up and cracks her back. "I know we should be thinking of ways to escape, but I don't have that in me right now. I need to focus on something else."

"Like what?" I ask, standing up too.

"I don't know," she says. "Something thoughtless that I can rest my mind doing for a short while. I've had so much serious shit on my mind and I need some time to relax my brain."

"How about the Arcade?" I suggest. "I think that'd be nice."

Domoto shrugs. "Sure. Let's go."

The two of us then head downstairs to the second floor and play a number of shitty and not-so-shitty games in the Arcade for several hours. Although it gets kinda repetitive near the end, it's still fun. There's something about playing these games that's strangely relaxing. It's fun to preoccupy myself with coming first in a racing game or how many coins I can collect on a retro Donkey Kong machine instead of thinking about death and this terrible place. Even if it's an impermanent distraction, I"m still grateful for it.

When six o'clock approaches, Domoto abandons a difficult-looking rhythm machine mid-game and comes over to me. "It'll be dinner time soon," she says. "We should head downstairs."

"Yeah," I say, leaving the pinball machine I was playing behind. "Let's go."

We walk to the Kitchen to find Kasparov sitting there alone. "Sashihara-kun in the Kitchen?" Domoto asks.

Kasparov nods. "Indeed." That must mean they were partners today, which is kinda weird because they were partners yesterday, too. Not like it really matters, though.

I contemplate going into the Kitchen to help Sashihara, but I decide against it. I know I probably should go in if only to privately talk about what he did this morning, but that can wait. I don't really feel like doing that right now.

Motoki, Hayasaka, and Komatsu, who must've been a group of three, come into the Cafeteria soon after Domoto and I sit at the table. I smile at Motoki as she comes near me. "Hi, Motoki-san. How are you doing?"

"Not good," she says as she sits down a few seats away from me, hesitantly making eye contact with me. "But not as terrible as before, either."

"That's nice to hear," I say. "Improvement, no matter how small, is good."

"...Yeah," she says, looking away from me again. I guess that means she doesn't want to talk anymore, which is okay with me. If she doesn't want to talk, we don't have to.

A few minutes later, Sashihara announces that dinner's ready and we all get some. After everyone finishes eating, Hayasaka speaks up. "So...what did you guys think of while we were apart?"

I got nothing, because I was too busy talking to Domoto-san and then playing around on arcade machines...whoops. I doubt I would've thought of anything worthwhile, anyway. Strategic planning is not my thing.

"We should not discuss that yet," Kasparov says. "Not at this moment, when there is a more pressing concern, and certainly not here in the Cafeteria."

"Ya said somethin' like that earlier," Komatsu says, obviously suspicious of Kasparov. "Ya doin' that 'cause ya don't actually wanna escape?"

Kasparov wrinkles his nose. "Do not be so preposterous. I am merely suggesting we postpone discussing anything until we discuss a more pressing matter: the matter of whether the mastermind is among us or not."

That is important....if they're really one of us, then planning is useless because they'll sabotage whatever we try to do. "Okay, so what do you think? And who do you think it is?"

"I doubt he has any clue," Domoto says. "Else he wouldn't be asking us to share what we think."

"I have ideas about the identity of the mastermind, but nothing concrete as of yet," Kasparov corrects her. "Even if I did know, I would still ask." His voice takes on a serious edge. "The most recent three deaths were mostly caused by my failure to release Eguchi-san from her cell. I failed to listen to most of you, and that cost three people their lives. So, I will listen to you all now."

"You said you had ideas about who the mastermind's identity, Sergey-kun," Hayasaka says. "Can you share them?"

He shakes his head sharply. "No. Doing so would shape your opinions, consciously or unconsciously. I want your unfiltered and uninfluenced ideas. That will be the most helpful."

"I have something to share that could be pretty useful," Sashihara says. "It has to do with my addiction. Only my parents, mentor, and my dealer knew about it. And yet, Monohebi not only knew about my addiction to painkillers but also the exact type and dosage I take."

"The mastermind could be one of them," Motoki says. "I don't know why it would be one of them, though. Why would they bother to involve the rest of us?"

Yeah, it is weird. I doubt the mastermind is one of the people Sashihara-kun mentioned, because they could've easily extracted the information of his addiction from one of the people who knew about it. My doubt could be wrong, though, so I should check. "What are their names?" I ask. "Your parents, your mentor, and your dealer, I mean. Maybe all of us are somehow connected to one of them."

"My parents are Noriaki and Eri Sashihara, my mentor is Megumi Unetani, and my dealer is named Junya Suzuki," Sashihara answers. "Do any of you recognize those names?"

No one says anything. "I think it's fair to say that the mastermind isn't one of them," Domoto says. "At least, it's very unlikely. The true mastermind probably got the information of your addiction out of them through torture or some other means."

"Yeah," Komatsu says. "This ain't much help since he's dead, but we can rule out Furuhata-kun too. If he was the mastermind, there ain't no reason for him to film those videos of him bein' tortured."

"I don't think anyone was suspecting him," Motoki says flatly. "And if we're trying to rule out suspects...I really, really doubt the mastermind was one of the killers if the mastermind really was one of us. They obviously want this killing game to last as long as possible, so it doesn't make sense for them to risk the end of both their lives and the killing game by murdering."

Domoto strokes her chin. "That's a salient point. If the mastermind pretended to be a student like the rest of us, they probably were either one of the victims except Furuhata-kun...or they're still alive."

Her words send a chill down my spine. Even though I've realized it's a possibility for a while, I hate to think about it. The though that one of us still alive might have been lying to us this entire time is really disturbing... "I don't see why any of us would have a reason to be the mastermind, though," I say. "One of us was responsible for the killing game according to the commemoration video, but that doesn't mean the mastermind is one of us students. It could just as easily be some outside person."

"Wakana-san, I want to agree with you, but the mastermind would obviously hide their reasoning for making this killing game," Hayasaka says. "So obviously you don't know what their motives are. Only they do."

"I gotta agree with Hayasaka-san on this one," Komatsu says. "Also, are ya guys forgettin' 'bout how Monohebi stole memories from all of us? The mastermind might not even know that they're behind all this."

"What an excellent point, Komatsu," Monohebi's voice says from the chandelier above us. "It is indeed possible that the mastermind has no idea who they are."

I let out a long, exasperated exhale. Fuck, I didn't want to see Monohebi. I haven't seen him for almost two whole days, and here he is breaking that streak. "Go away, Monohebi," I snap at him. "No one wants to see you."

Monohebi fake pouts. "Unfortunately, I must agree. My dearest traitor has betrayed me."

Kasparov raises his eyebrows. "Oh? So Sashihara-kun truly was telling the truth about being the traitor?"

"Indeed," Monohebi confirms. "Everything he told you this morning was one hundred percent true. He was my one and only traitor, despite my best efforts at recruiting an individual who is now tragically deceased. He has a terminal illness and a particularly nasty case of Substance Use Disorder."

Domoto narrows her eyes. "Why are you telling us all of this?" she asks warily. "You love to make us uncertain, so why are you confirming everything Sashihara-kun said?"

"Because it makes no difference to me whether all of you know everything he does or not," Monohebi says. "Domoto, do you truly believe that, when I decided to make someone my traitor, I did not do so without first considering that all the information I told them could potentially be learned by the rest of you? If not, you underestimate me. Sususu...what Sashihara knows is not sufficient to defeat me, or to escape."

"Get out of here, Monohebi," Sashihara says, his voice hard as steel. "I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to scare us into submission so we don't try to escape."

Monohebi smirks. "Guilty as charged," he says. "Yes, I admit that is something I wish to do. I understand that I might fail at it, but there is one thing at which I am certain I will not fail."

"And what's that?" Komatsu asks.

"None of you will escape," he says menacingly, "not without my express permission, which will only happen when there are too few of you for a killing game to continue. Attempting to fulfill the foolish final wish of Terajima is utterly futile. You will not win against me. I will not fail at maintaining this killing game."

"Yes you will," Hayasaka says passionately. "We're not going to lose against you!"

Monohebi's red eye glints. "You say that now, but I doubt you will feel the same in the near future." He clears his throat. "I am sure you brats will now rant at me about how you will certainly win against me, blah blah blah, and frankly I do not wish to hear it. As such, I will now be departing." He slithers half-way up the chandelier chain, then stops and turns his head to us, smiling mischievously. "On second thought, before I go...allow me to leave you all with a parting gift."

"What is it?" Kasparov asks.

"Information," Monohebi replies. "Information concerning your memories. You may not believe me, but I assure you what I am about to say is entirely true." His smile widens. "When I said I stole your memories, I did not only mean certain snippets of your life before you were accepted as Ultimates. Of course, I did take away some of those snippets for some of you, but what I mostly meant was the following: all sixteen of you were classmates for over a year. In fact, at the time you were abducted, you all were nearly halfway through your second year of high school together."

Wh...WHAT!? There's no way that can be true! It can't be...
"Th-That's impossible," I say incredulously. "An entire year and a half of our lives...gone...?"

"There's...There's no way we forgot all that," Motoki says shakily. "Monohebi has to be lying!"

"Yeah, yer right, he's gotta be," Komatsu says, looking up to shout at Monohebi, but he's already gone. "Yo, snake! Come back here!"

Sashihara holds his hand up for Komatsu to stop. "Monohebi isn't coming back. There's no point in shouting."

"What an evil snake!" Domoto fumes. "How dare he steal away a year and a half of our lives!?"

"Calm down, Otoha-san," Hayasaka says. "We don't even know if what he was saying was true."

Sashihara shakes his head. "Monohebi hasn't ever lied to us, Hayasaka-san. I don't know why he'd start now." He clenches and unclenches his fist. "However, you're right that we can't blindly trust him. Everyone, just to check...have you noticed any physical changes in yourself since your last memory before coming here? If Monohebi's telling the truth, our bodies should be at least slightly different after a year and a half."

That's true...sadly, I haven't grown much since I was fourteen and have pretty much always been at a constant weight, so I haven't seen anything.
"I didn't notice anything," I say.

"Neither did I," Domoto says.

"Me neither," Motoki adds. "Sorry."

"Ya ain't gotta be sorry," Komatsu says. "As for me, I think I'm a lil' taller than before. I can't be sure 'cause I don't got anythin' to measure myself with, but I think a grew two or three centimeters."

"Same," Sashihara says. "I also noticed that I lost a small portion of muscle mass. Not enough to alarm me when we first got here, but enough to make me feel weird."

Kasparov lets out a small snort. "How curious. I observed the opposite. Due to my spending most of my time practicing chess and similar strategy games, I have never been very muscular. However, when I woke up here, I noticed I had more than I did previously."

"You and Hisaya-kun must've gotten along at school, Sergey-kun," Hayasaka says jokingly, but her joking tone swiftly fades. "About me...I've always been really sensitive to my weight and body for obvious reasons, so I saw that I put on a few pounds." She gulps, looking visibly uncomfortable. "That really threw me off..."

"Why didn't any of you talk about these changes when you first noticed them?" Domoto asks. "We could've figured out we lost a lot of memories much sooner if any of you had come forward."

"I was way more preoccupied with gaining weight and how it might affect my image and what outfits I could wear than what caused me to gain weight," Hayasaka replies. "Stupid of me to only care about that, but it's what happened."

"I can't speak for the others, but I just brushed it off," Sashihara says. "You lose muscle fast if you don't use it. I figured we'd been abducted, and when Monohebi showed up I assumed he had us knocked out long enough for my some of my muscle to come off."

Komatsu shrugs. "Eh, I was jus' unsure if I even grew. Yer mind can play tricks on ya, so I assumed that was what was happenin'."

"I was far more concerned with not dying then interrogating the cause of a slight change in my fitness state," says Kasparov. "I did not forget such a change, rather, I simply pushed it to the back of my mind."

"None of your reasons for not speaking up matter," Motoki says suddenly, sounding irritated. "What matters way more is that we all knew each other before this killing game. Meaning...we've been suspecting, killing, and sentencing our former classmates to death this whole time. Doesn't that matter to all of you?"

No one answers immediately. ...Fuck.
Obviously that had to be the case, but the harsh reality that we've been murdering our own classmates and friends this whole time makes this killing game even worse than it was. And it was already pretty terrible before...

"Of course it matters to us, Sakiko-san," Hayasaka says. "Accepting that reality is just difficult for us to do. It's not fun to realize that the nine people who've died were people we spent a year and a half of our lives with."

"That, and it's not something that might've immediately occurred to all of us," Domoto says. "We only learned that we were classmates for a year and a half a few minutes ago, Motoki-san."

Motoki looks away shamefully. "...Sorry. I shouldn't have assumed you all had fully realized and accepted it already."

"It ain't no problem," Komatsu says. He yawns. "Fuck, I'm tired. I'm prolly gonna head to bed soon."

"Me as well," says Kasparov. "Today has been a long day."

Yeah, it has. I learned a lot of crazy stuff today. Sashihara-kun is the traitor, an addict, and will die in a few days. Domoto-san lied to a sickly little girl and the guilt from doing that is why she refuses to lie again. And the cherry on top: the sixteen of us were classmates for a year and a half before we woke up here.

A thought suddenly strikes me. I wonder how I got along with everyone...I was probably friends with Aozora-kun, although considering the way he acted to me after the first trial, maybe not. I have no clues about the others, unfortunately. Part of me wishes I could regain the memories of our school lives together so I have more to remember everyone who died by than just the memories of them in this killing game. However, another part of me is glad I don't remember. Because if I did, the pain of losing nine of my classmates in such brutal ways would probably be too much to bear...

"Hey, Wakana-san, can you hear me?"

Hayasaka's voice jerks me out of my thoughts. "Huh?" I say, looking around and noticing everyone else but her and I are gone. "What'd you say?"

"I was asking if you could take me to the bathroom again," Hayasaka says. "I said that before, but you were so lost in your thoughts you didn't even notice."

"Sorry," I say. "I was thinking about what Monohebi told us..."

Hayasaka frowns at the mention of that. "Don't think about that too much," she advises me. "The reason Monohebi told us that was so he could make us desperate, go crazy, or both. So just try to suppress any thoughts about your lost memories as much as you can."

"I'll try," I tell her. I doubt I'll be very successful, though. "But enough of that. Let's get you to the bathroom."

We go to the one in her 'cell' again. In what has become something of a routine, Hayasaka uses the toilet and washes her hands, all in silence. While she dries her hands on a towel, she suddenly talks. "Wakana-san, can you promise me something?"

I perk up at that. "...Promise you something? What is it?"

"Don't keep any more secrets," Hayasaka says, abandoning the towel and turning to face me. "You knew—well, you thought you knew—that Otoha-san was the traitor for two days and only told Hisaya-kun near the end. Otoha-san isn't the traitor, but if she was...you could've died without any of us learning what you knew, and that would've been really bad. Keeping secrets puts you in danger and keeps potentially valuable information from the rest of us. So, can you promise me that you won't keep any more secrets?"

I hesitate for a moment. I don't want to rush into this agreement, because I might regret promising this if I learn something really crazy...but it probably is a good idea to promise this. "Yes," I say. "I promise you, Hayasaka-san."

She smiles. "Great. By the way, I'll be keeping you to that. If I think you're keeping someone from me or anyone else, I'm going to confront you about it."

"Fine with me," I say.

"Good," Hayasaka says. She turns away from me. "I'm going to go to bed now. Good night, Wakana-san."

"Good night," I tell her. Then, I leave her room and head back to my own.

Once inside my room, I start getting ready for bed. I can't wait to sleep again...I need a break from life in this killing game, no matter how brief. Also, they say you can solve problems better after a good night's sleep...so hopefully I sleep well tonight so I can come up with a good plan for escape tomorrow.

When I'm lying in bed and the lights are off, escape is what occupies my mind. Monohebi tried his best to scare us tonight at dinner, but we can't let ourselves get affected by his antics. We have to be strong and resist whatever he tries to do to keep us here, which I'm sure will include a nasty motive and more.

Monohebi won't be an easy foe to beat.
However, all of us except Motoki-san are on board with escape, and she's open to changing her mind. We know who the traitor is. We're in a better position to get out of here than we ever have been. So, even if the chances of us all getting out of alive here are still pretty slim, they're much better than they were ever before.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"Good morning, inmates. It is now 7 am, which means nighttime has officially concluded. Enjoy another day of confinement."

Sitting up in bed, I let out a long yawn. Damn, I'm tired. I guess I didn't sleep very well after learning about Monohebi stealing our memories last night. That was and still is really difficult to accept...

I force myself to get out bed and get ready for the day, thinking about yesterday all the while. Besides the memory reveal, Sashihara-kun also told us he's the traitor, which was another huge bombshell. On top of that, Domoto-san told me about how she lied to a dying sick girl and that's why she never lies anymore. It was a lot to learn for one day, but I'm glad I learned it, because now we're closer to beating Monohebi than ever before.

Allowing myself to feel the tiniest amount of cautious optimism, I leave my room to find Hayasaka standing next to my door. I don't even have to ask to know what she wants. The two of us make our way to her room's bathroom in silence. It's not until Hayasaka's done washing her hands that she speaks. "I'm worried about Monohebi," she says. "He hasn't given us a motive yet, and today is the fourth day since the trial. Which means we're bound to get it soon...he never lets us go five days without a motive."

She's right, he hasn't. I doubt the fact he wiped one and a half years of our lives is the motive, given how Monohebi told us that as an afterthought. No, he must be thinking of something far worse... "Let's not worry about his motive until he tells us it," I say, talking to both Hayasaka and myself. "We need to focus on how to get out of here more than anything else.

"Yeah, you're right," Hayasaka says. "I'm just worried..."

"So am I," I tell her. "The motive is going to be bad and will no doubt put our collective resolve to the test. However, it doesn't do us any good to think about it before it comes." I begin to leave the bathroom. "Come on. Let's get some food."

She follows behind me as I make my way to the Cafeteria. Upon arrival, I find everyone at the table, food already in front of them. I guess Sashihara-kun cooked fast today. "Food's in the Kitchen," Sashihara says when he notices Hayasaka and I. "Sorry I didn't wait for the two of you. Breakfast didn't take as long as I thought it would."

"It's no problem," I say. If anything, it's kinda nice to not have to wait around for food like I usually do.

Once Hayasaka and I get our food and are seated at the table, I look around. "Hey, everyone," I say. "How are you all doing?"

"Bad," Motoki says, playing with her food. "I've been thinking about the memories Monohebi stole from us all night..."

"Same," Komatsu says. "It's so fuckin' unfair that the snake stole so much shit form us. At first, I thought when he took our memories it was only a few weeks or somethin' like that, but...a year and a fucking half!?" He slams his fist on the table. "It's fuckin' infuriatin'."

Hayasaka twirls her hair sadly. "You're right, Yutaka-kun, it is," she says. "The worst part is that we may never get them back."

"It's not 'may never,' it's 'will never,'" Motoki says miserably. "Monohebi isn't ever going to give us them back."

"Correct, but he certainly has the capability to do so," Kasparov says. "Niizuma-san and Eguchi-san had their memories returned. Monohebi could give us our memories back if he so chose. However, I believe that he would never do that unless our memories contained something which would push us to kill."

Domoto crosses her arms. "Maybe that's what his motive will be this time around," she speculates. "He still hasn't given us one."

"Hayasaka-san and I were talking about this earlier," I say. "The motive, I mean. I don't think we should think about it, not until he tells us what it is. Agonizing over what it could possibly be is a waste of time."

"You're right," Sashihara says. "The same goes for the memories, too. As Kasparov-kun said, we're not getting them back anytime soon or ever. Monohebi only told us about them to drive us into the despair he seems to love so much...so we need to let go of them. We need to accept that they're lost and that we probably never will get them back."

"We already know we gotta accept it," Komatsu snaps. "But that don't make it any fuckin' easier." He lets out a long sigh and puts his head in his hands. "The worst part 'bout it is what Motoki-san was sayin' last night...the sixteen of us were classmates. We all were prolly friends before we got our memories wiped. So that means it was our friends who were dyin' and bein' condemned to murder..."

Motoki sniffles. "Yeah...that still hasn't gotten any easier to accept."

"Not to be mean, but I don't think all
of us were friends," Domoto says. "I mean, Niizuma-san? Furuhata-kun? I highly doubt either of them were very likable before they came here."

"Ironic, coming from you, the least amiable person still alive," Motoki says with a sour expression. "So please stay out of this if you're going to be so uncaring."

Hayasaka nods, glaring at Domoto. "Yeah, keep opinions like that to yourself, Otoha-san," she says. "You don't even know what changes Tomiko-san and Yuuto-kun could've gone through before the killing game. Don't you remember how Yuuto-kun was acting in both of the videos we saw him in? He was so much less rude and abrasive than the Yuuto-kun we knew, so don't go assuming you know what he or any of the others were like before we woke up here."

You tell her, Hayasaka-san. Domoto-san was being pretty insensitive, so I'm glad you told her off.

Domoto only shrugs. "Eh...fair point. I guess you're right I shouldn't assume that."

"Domoto-san is apologizing," I say playfully. "Someone pinch me to make sure it's not a dream."

She scowls at me. "Don't mock me, Kawashima-san. I only apologize when I mean it."

"Kawashima-san is only teasing you, Domoto-san," Kasparov says, a small smile on his face. "You need not be upset."

She huffs. "Yeah, yeah, whatever," she says irritably. "This talk is irrelevant and wasting time, by the way. We should change the subject and focus on the most pressing issue I'm sure is at the forefront on all of our minds."

She doesn't have to say what that is. "You're right," I agree. "We've put it off for long enough." I stand up. "Let's move somewhere else to talk about that, though."

"The sauna would work," Sashihara says as he stands up too. "Leave the dishes. We can get them later."

As everyone else stands up, Motoki lingers at the table. "I still think escape is a bad idea," she says flatly. "I'll try to be open-minded, but
I
doubt any plan you come up with will change my mind."

"At least listen to us, Sakiko-san," Hayasaka tells her. "Can you do that?"

She stands up and gives a weak nod. "Eh, I guess."

Not the most enthusiastic response... I think I should try to comfort her. "You're going to be on our side by the end of the day today, Motoki-san," I tell her. "I give you my word."

Motoki looks away from my gaze, her cheeks pinkening. "Thanks, Kawashima-san. That'd be nice, even if I don't think you'll succeed." She lets out a small sigh and then begins to walk away from the table. "Sorry for holding you all up. Let's just get this over with already."

With that, the seven of us walk up to the sauna, not saying a word again until all of us are inside and both doors are shut. "Monohebi's not in the secret room," Sashihara says after peeking inside said room. "I didn't see him following us, either."

"That's a relief, but it's also kinda worryin'," Komatsu says. "Him not showin' himself at all makes me scared...what if he's secretly listenin' in on us?"

"Any recording device such as a microphone or camera would be ruined by the high temperatures of a sauna," Kasparov says. "Monohebi has no way of listening to us directly. It is rather peculiar that he did not even attempt to stop us when it was fairly clear that we came here to speak of escape plans. However, if I may offer my honest opinion, he seems very confident he will beat any plan we come up with. You need only recall his words and behavior to us last night to come to that realization."

I let out a humorless snort. "What a cocky bastard that snake is," I say. "I think you're onto something, Kasparov-kun. He probably doesn't care."

"Or the mastermind is one of us, and he has no need to listen to us with his robot or a microphone," Domoto says bluntly. "Let's not forget that could be what's going on here."

"You're right the mastermind might be one of us, Otoha-san," Hayasaka says. "But honestly, we can't let that possibility stop us from trying to escape. It's also possible that no one here is the mastermind, so we should take a risk and trust in each other. We don't really have a choice...if we try to be too cautious, we'll never end up escaping and will just die one by one in this place."

"There's no such thing as being too careful," Domoto says. "However, you're right that we can't let the chance that the mastermind is one of us stop us. We're fucked no matter what happens, so we hve no choice but to take the risk and trust each other."

Motoki shakes her head. "That isn't true," she says. "We can stay together...we don't have to risk our lives by escaping."

Komatsu rolls his eyes. "Motoki-san, it's either that or we live here forever. I know yer all 'bout tryna stop any more deaths but if we stay here, more of us are gonna die. It's fuckin' guaranteed! That's what's gonna happen!"

"Stop, Komatsu-kun," I say. "I know you're...passionate about wanting to escape. But please don't yell at Motoki-san."

"It's alright," Motoki says. "I understand his point. Staying here and preventing any further deaths will be really hard...but I think a successful escape where we all make it will be even harder. I want to get out of this horrible prison, but I want everyone to survive more. So I'm choosing the option which I think is most likely to accomplish that."

So that's her mindset...still wish she wanted to escape, but I can work with that. "Escaping is far more likely to let us all live," I tell Motoki. "You may not believe that right now, but like I said, you're going to be on our side by the end of the day."

She bows her head and shakes it, but I swear I can spot a trace of a smile on her lips. "Well...go ahead, then."

"Sure thing," I say. I'll show you that escape is not only possible, but it's also feasible, Motoki-san.
"The first concern is obviously Monohebi and the mastermind. They will do whatever they can to prevent us from leaving this place. There's a chance that they could be fully aware of our plans."

"I agree with all you have said thus far," Kasparov says. "But where are you going with all of your statements? Do you already have a plan in mind?"

"Sadly, I haven't come up with a full-fledged plan yet, but I do have some ideas," I answer. "Firstly, I don't think any of us should be alone at any point during the plan, unless it's absolutely necessary. Being alone leaves us open to attack from Monohebi."

Sashihara nods. "That's a good idea. None of us should be alone if we can help it. However, I think us moving as one group would limit us too much. I think that we should split into groups of two or three."

"Why?" Komatsu asks. "So it's easier for Monohebi to pick us off one by one?"

"No," Sashihara says, "so we can do multiple tasks at once. We'll have to work quickly and smartly if we want to beat him. We can't do that if we're all going around as one big group. Besides, if we somehow get cornered as a whole group, we're screwed."

That's a fair point. "We could also use the walkie-talkies in the Guard Barracks to communicate if we were in separate groups," I say.

"That's a bad idea," Motoki says suddenly. "Monohebi provided those walkie-talkies. What if he's monitoring them?"

Shit, I didn't even think of that. I don't think it's something we should get too worried about, though.
"We would have to speak in a code of some sort. And if the mastermind were to somehow figure out that code, we could know chances are they're one of us."

She nods slowly. "...Okay," she says. "I still don't think we should rely on the walkie-talkies because Monohebi could jam them even if he can't understand what we're saying. I do agree with the idea of being in groups, though. It's too risky to be in one big group and also too risky to be alone, because both would make things too complicated if there was a murder. Also...if one group managed to get out of here but the others didn't, they could get help for the rest of us."

"We're all gonna get out of here together and no one is going to kill," Hayasaka says firmly, sounding more like she's trying to convince herself than Motoki. "But we can't just blindly believe that. We need to take steps to make the chances of someone being able to kill as low as possible."

Kasparov arches an eyebrow. "What exactly would those steps be?"

"We'd need to have one of the groups guarding the Weapons Room," Hayasaka answers. "I mean, anything could be a weapon if you try hard enough, but everything in that place is really dangerous. We need people in there to prevent a potential killer or the mastermind from easily getting ahold of a weapon while we're trying to escape."

"That's a good idea, but let's not waste our time talking about stuff like that," Domoto says dismissively. "More importantly, how the hell are we actually going to get out of here? We need to talk about that before we talk about anything else."

Hayasaka looks at her crossly. "You don't have to be so abrasive, Otoha-san," she mutters. "Do you even have any ideas of how to get out?"

"Of course," she replies. "I suggest we leave through the Garage. The cars in there are real and have gas in them, I checked just last night, so unless Monohebi is very dedicated to having realistic model cars, the Garage leads out to a road out of here. That will how we get out of here. We somehow get through the doors and steal one of the cars. There are no other exits or entrances available to us on any of the other floors, so it's pretty much our only realistic option."

"Ain't Monohebi somethin' we gotta worry 'bout?" Komatsu asks. "The snake knows we're plannin' to escape. If the Garage really is the only exit, he's bound to do somethin' to make sure we can't get out through there."

"Komatsu-kun is correct," Kasparov says. "There is also the matter of how exactly we will open the doors, but Monohebi is a far more pressing concern."

Yeah...if he waits by the Garage doors, he could easily stop us from getting out of here. He shot those spears at Furuhata-kun on our first day here, so he'd probably try to do that again to stop us if he needed to. I guess the best idea is for us to prevent him from ever getting down there... "Maybe we could have a group go up to the fifth floor, where Monohebi goes when he's not bothering us, and keep watch. That way we could stop him from ever going downstairs. If necessary, that group could even confront him an—"

"NO," Motoki says vehemently. "No one is directly confronting Monohebi. That's far too dangerous! Keeping watch is dangerous enough, and you suggest confronting him? Don't you remember attacking him is against the rules? We don't need to give him an excuse to kill us!"

"Motoki-san's right," Sashihara says. "The rules don't matter if we get out of here, but if we fail, we don't want to give Monohebi an excuse to execute us. So, let's avoid breaking rules unless we absolutely have to."

Shit, that's true. We have to be really careful. "Sorry, that was a reckless idea."

"It's alright, Wakana-san," Hayasaka says. "Not all of our suggestions will work. What matters is that we come up with them."

For the next few minutes, we sit in silence, everyone deep in thought.
"If we can't confront him, keeping watch isn't enough," Domoto eventually says, crossing her arms. "We need to do more."

"Perhaps we should deprive him of his eyes and ears," Kasparov suggests. "The cameras are how Monohebi surveils us and are the primary method for him to keep order in this prison. If we take those away from him, we put him at the damage."

"Yeah...but how the fuck are we gonna do that?" Komatsu asks. "We ain't able damage property of this place like the cameras, and I'm sure Monohebi would stop us before we could manually get rid of all the cameras. So how would we get rid of 'em?"

Domoto strokes her chin. "...Maybe we could find the main power control and turn off all the power," she says. "I'm certain there's a power control panel somewhere in here, most likely in the Boiler Room. If we find it and turn off the power to all the electronics this place, we leave Monohebi in the dark, both literally and figuratively."

"Turning off the power? Are you crazy?" Motoki shakes her head disapprovingly. "Have you forgotten that we need to see too? If we turn off the power, the lights will go out too, and we won't be able to see."

Sashihara smiles. "Actually, Motoki-san, that's not an issue. Along with the walkie-talkies, there are three sets of night-vision goggles in the Guard Barracks. If we split into only three groups, and one person in each group has the goggles, we should be fine."

"The goggles would help, but...I feel like we shouldn't use only them," Hayasaka says. "The ones without the goggles should still at least be able to see where everyone else is at."

Kasparov frowns. "She is correct. The goggles are a useful tool, yes, but they leave four of us without any way to see in the dark and require those four without the goggles to rely on their partner who do have them. That is not conducive to a smooth escape plan."

"What else do you suggest?" I ask, somewhat challenging. "We don't have much of a choice. Leaving the lights on makes it too easy for Monohebi to track us, so we have to do our best to work in the dark."

Komatsu perks up suddenly. "Hold up...I got an idea! Motoki-san got a ski mask from the Props Storage Room, so there's bound to be more of them in there! We could wear them over our heads to make it harder for Monohebi to identify us even if we keep the lights on!"

Domoto rolls her eyes. "Idiot. Our clothes and different body types would give us away." She chews her lip. "The idea about the masks is a good idea, though. We could wear them in the dark."

Komatsu furrows his brow. "Uh...wouldn't they be useless in the dark? And don't call me an idiot!"

"They would be useless if we used them only for their normal purpose of hiding faces," she says, ignoring his second sentence. "However, I have an idea for their usage that's a little bit more outside the box. You see, there's glow-in-the-dark paint in the Storage Room on the first floor which I remember seeing when I first explored it. We could use that to paint something on the forehead of a ski mask, something different for all of us so that if Monohebi were to see us in the dark he'd be confused. Then we wear that ski mask as identification so that everyone can see where everyone around them and figure out who is next to them without having to ask their name."

Wow...I never would've thought of that. It makes sense, though, because the glow-in-the-dark paint would allow even the people without night-vision goggles to see and identify where their group partners are without having to ruin their clothes with the paint. There's only one problem I can think of... "What if Monohebi saw us wearing them before the lights went off? Then he'd know who we all are."

"I'm pretty sure we could jus' hide the masks while we're paintin' them and keep 'em hidden on us 'til the lights go off," Komatsu says. "Then, when they do, boom! We take those things out and wear 'em 'round here 'til we get out." He gives Domoto the side-eye. "See? I jus' came up with a good idea. I ain't an idiot!"

She rolls her eyes. "Whatever," she says. "Anyone have any objections?"

Kasparov shakes his head. "There are none from me. This idea seems to be a fitting solution to the dilemma of how the individuals without the masks will be able to identify those around them and move without running into one another. It is still not ideal, as it would be most preferable if everyone could see clearly in the dark, but it is sufficient."

"Mhmm, it'll work, and that's enough," Hayasaka says. "There's also something else...if we all paint different things on the masks and don't let Monohebi see them before the lights go out, if he identifies us, that'd pretty much confirm the mastermind's one of us."

Shit, she's right. As long as all goes right, Monohebi shouldn't be able to figure out who is behind which mask unless he somehow has someone on our side still, and that'd have to be the mastermind now that Sashihara-kun's left him.
"Good thinking," I say to Hayasaka. "That means we have to be extra careful with how we hide the masks and what we paint on them. We don't want to make Monohebi's job any easier."

"No, definitely not," Hayasaka says. She looks over at Motoki. "So, are you okay with this whole mask thing, Sakiko-san? I know you want us to be super careful and I'm wondering if you're okay with this."

She waits before answering. "...Not really, but I'm not opposed to it either. I think we really should all be able to see uninhibited because being in the literal dark is pretty dangerous. But being in the dark and having the power off severely limits Monohebi and a potential killer too, so I guess it's a fair trade-off to make. Not one I like, but...I'll accept it. As long as I have a part in deciding who gets put into what group."

Domoto narrows her eyes. "What? Why do you want to do that? Do you think the right to delegate that belongs to you"

"No," Motoki says, glaring at Domoto. "It's something we all should decide, together. But I have two restrictions. Firstly, Kasparov-kun and Domoto-san can't be together. After what you two did when you were working together before, I think the reason why I don't want you together is obvious."

Kasparov exchanges a glance with Domoto, then nods. "Very well. That is of no issue to me."

"Me neither," Domoto says, crossing her arms. "I don't care who I'm with."

"Good," Motoki says. "My second restriction is that I don't want Sashihara-kun and Kawashima-san to be together. She leads the trials and he betrayed Monohebi...that's not a good mix. If they were together, Monohebi would target them and I don't either of their lives to be in danger." She hesitantly looks over at me, then to Sashihara. "So, yeah...I don't think you two should be partners."

I wasn't expecting that. It kinda makes sense, because Monohebi definitely is super pissed at Sashihara-kun for betraying him and probably doesn't like me much either for how I've solved most of the trials and how much I've promised to beat him. However...I'd be lying if I said I don't think there's an ulterior motive here. I think what Motoki-san wants above all else is for me to be safe, and because of that, she wants me away from Sashihara-kun. I don't think it's necessary for us to have to be separate, but it doesn't really matter in the end. "That's okay with me."

"Same here," Sashihara says. He chuckles darkly. "I wonder if anyone is gonna be willing to be my partner. I practically have a big target painted on my back after I betrayed Monohebi. Whoever goes with me would be putting themself in danger."

"I'll be your partner," Hayasaka says without any hesitation. "You can't go alone, and I'm not scared of Monohebi. Well...okay, that's not true. I am scared of him, but I'd be more scared if you had to go alone."

Sashihara smiles thankfully. "Thanks, Hayasaka-san. I really appreciate it."

She smiles back at him. "It's no problem, Hisaya-kun."

There's a brief moment where no one says anything. Then, Komatsu speaks up. "Yo, all the shit we've been talkin' 'bout so far is cool and all, but...how the fuck are we actually gonna get through the Garage doors?"

"I was wondering precisely the same thing, Komatsu-kun," Kasparov says. "Obviously, Monohebi will not open them for us, and whatever opens them is certainly something he guards very closely. As such, it is likely impossible for us to open the doors legitimately. We must break through them."

"But that would damage property of this place, and that's against the rules," Motoki says. "Didn't you guys say you wanted to avoid doing that earlier? I know escaping is against the rules, but we shouldn't damage stuff if we can avoid it."

"We can't avoid it," Sashihara explains her. "It's not an option in this case. Yeah, we need to avoid unnecessarily damaging the property of this place, but that's not possible here. We don't have to destroy the cameras to disable them, but we have to break the Garage doors if we want to get through them."

Motoki makes a face. "Ugh...I really don't like it. I don't think it's safe to break the Garage doors."

"It's only unsafe if Monohebi catches us or prevents us from escapin'," Komatsu points out. "If we can kill him before we break through the doors or jus' avoid him for long enough, we don't got nothin' to worry 'bout."

"Also, breaking through the doors can be the very last thing we do if you really care that much," Domoto adds. "It's probably best to do it when we're all in the Garage, and the machinery we'll use to break through the doors is assembled."

Motoki looks at her sharply. "Assembled?" she repeats, confused. "What do you mean?"

Domoto reaches into her pocket and pulls out a piece of folded-up piece of graph paper. She unfolds it, lies it on the floor, and smooths it out so that we can see sketches of a few different contraptions, each with several notes scribbled around them. "These are drawings of a few different ideas I had for machines that could open the Garage doors."

Komatsu furrows his brow. "I don't get it...why'd ya make this? Ain't yer talent makin' toys? So how can ya come up with shit like this and seem so confident that it'll work?"

"The toys I make are often complex, Komatsu-kun," Domoto explains irritatedly. "I make all of them from scratch, so I have to have a very good understanding of how to create carefully craft the mechanics and electronics of a toy so that it works flawlessly. So, yes, even though designing and building a tool to get through the Garage doors is different from building a toy, I am fully capable of doing it."

"How will those machines of yours function?" Kasparov asks curiously.

Domoto points to the drawing in the upper left corner of the page. "This one would act as a mini-jackhammer and slowly crack and then break the concrete in front of the doors so that we could get enough space to wedge something under the doors and force them upward."

She moves her finger to the drawing in the bottom right corner. "This one would act pretty much like a drill that would pierce through the Garage door directly. We'd drill a bunch of holes in the door to make a shape the size of a car, then, when the door's fragile enough from having so many holes in it, we knock that shape out so we could drive a car through the opening." Lastly, she points to the smallest drawing. "The last one's pretty self-explanatory. It'd act as a makeshift bomb more powerful than the small explosives in the Weapons Room."

I blink several times. "What the fuck!?" I say, surprised. "A bomb!? Are you serious?"

"She better not be," Motoki says angrily. "If you're serious, I'm not going along with this plan! A bomb is absolutely not happening!"

"Yeah, it could fuckin' explode while we're buildin' it," Komatsu says. "That's a hard fuckin' no."

"Fine, fine, we won't do that," Domoto says hastily. "We'll have to choose from one of the other two."

Sashihara and Motoki both lean over the drawings and examine it closely. "I guess these'd be okay," Motoki says after a while of looking at the sketches. "Neither of them seems particularly dangerous. I have no clue which one to pick, though..."

Sashihara leans back to his previous position. "I do. We should pick the drill. Not because I love that option, but...jackhammers are dangerous and way too hard to operate, plus they're pretty complicated to make."

"...That's true," Domoto admits. "I guess I must've overlooked that. But no matter. Does everyone else agree that we should use the drill instead of the mini-jackhammer?"

"No," Hayasaka says, "and not because I want the jackhammer. I don't see why building this tool is even necessary. There are already drills and a bunch of other tools in the Garage we can use!"

That's true...I forgot about that stuff, but Hayasaka-san's right. We don't really need to be building this, do we?

Domoto pauses before answering Hayasaka's question. "Those tools are not meant for busting through a Garage door," she says. "They're meant for small-scale repairs. Yes, we probably could use them if we absolutely needed to, but they're a lot less likely to work then what I've designed. On top of that, the stuff already in the Garage would take much, much longer to break through the Garage door than my tool."

"Time is of the essence while we escape," Kasparov says, deep in thought. "We need to move as quickly as possible. If that means building this tool to save time, then...so be it."

"Indeed," Domoto agrees, "And I promise you, I can build it very quickly."

Motoki glares at her. "You're not building anything," she says harshly. "You planned to kill Eguchi-san. If you build this thing in the dark, you'd obviously need night-vision goggles, meaning your partner or partners wouldn't be able to see what you're building. You could build something completely different than what's on that paper and kill someone!"

Domoto returns Motoki's glare. "You idiot. If someone else builds it, it'll take a lot longer. We'd be wasting time!"

"I don't care," Motoki says. "I'm not letting you build that tool."

Wow, she's being really distrustful of Domoto-san. It's sort of annoying because Domoto-san has a point when she says that we'd lose time if someone other than her built the drill she designed. However...Motoki-san's reasoning isn't completely crazy. Domoto-san did plan to kill someone without being the traitor, so she's probably the last person we should trust to make an object so crucial to our escape. "Who do you want to build the tool then, Motoki-san?"

She looks at me briefly, then averts her eyes. "Well...uh...I was hoping it could be you."

I should've expected this. Sadly...I'm not the person for this job. Once, my older brother Keicho asked me to help fix a friend's car and I accidentally ruined its transmission. I don't think he and that guy were friends after that...no wonder Keicho didn't talk to me for a few weeks afterward. Anyway, I'm going to have to refuse Motoki-san's request. "Motoki-san, I'm gonna have to say no," I say reluctantly. "I'm terrible with tools. Like, really really bad."

"...Oh," she says, clearly disappointed. "That sucks."

Kasparov clears his throat awkwardly. "Motoki-san...I realize you do not trust me either. However, I can promise you that I have a very steady hand and am fairly decent with tools. I would always be the one to fix the pipes or broken items at my house in Russia." He frowns. "My father said that it was a necessity for me to do 'real work' when he thought I was spending too much time playing chess, so medial repair work and the like was always put off onto me..." He shakes his head. "Apologies, that is irrelevant. What matters is that I can build that tool and, after Domoto-san, am probably the one who can do it the quickest."

Motoki chews her lip. "You're right, I don't trust you," she tells him. "Is there anyone else who thinks they can build the drill Domoto-san designed other than Kasparov-kun?" She waits for an answer, but none comes. "Fuck," she mutters to herself. "Fine. It can be you. But I'm going to be the one right next to you as you build it."

"That is no issue to me," Kasparov says. "Domoto-san would necessarily have to deliver instructions for how to build the drill over the walkie-talkie. I know you said you did not want us to be partners earlier, so does that bother you?"

"The problem would be you two secretly plotting, but that's not an issue so long as I'm there with you and there's someone else I trust with her," Motoki says. "Komatsu-kun...I think you're the best choice to go with Domoto-san."

He looks confused. "Huh? Why do ya want it to be me"

"I don't want it to be you," she answers flatly. "I'd prefer Kawashima-san or Hayasaka-san because I trust them more. But I think there are more important things for them to do, so that leaves you to guard Domoto-san."

"Great, so I'm the last fuckin' choice," he says moodily. "I don't really like the idea of bein' with Domoto-san, honestly, but okay. I'll do it."

Good thing it's him instead of me. Domoto-san can be difficult to be around, so I'm glad I'm not her partner. Although, I am wondering what Motoki-san has in mind for me and Hayasaka-san. "What
'more important' things do you think Hayasaka-san and I should do, Motoki-san?"

"I think one of you should be in the group that guards the Weapons Room and the other should be in the one that keeps watch for Monohebi," she answers. "I think those two jobs require people who are trustworthy and you two are the ones that best fit that criteria in my opinion."

"Well, there's one small issue here," Domoto says, crossing her arms. "Putting aside the not-so-small detail that Hayasaka-san planned to kill someone in the past and it seems a little unfair for you to gloss over that when you didn't with me, there's also the fact that there are only seven of us. Motoki-san, if you and Kasparov-kun are in the basement, Komatsu-kun and I are somewhere else, that leaves only three people to do the two tasks you want: Sashihara-kun, Kawashima-san, and Hayasaka-san. Either someone goes alone, or you drop either guarding the Weapons Room or keeping watch on Monohebi."

Shit, that is a pretty big issue. I can't choose between those two things...the Weapons Room can absolutely not be left alone and Monohebi can't be left to roam freely either. But if we do that, someone's going to have to be alone. I guess there's no good way out of it, so we'll have to choose the least bad option. "I can go alone," I volunteer. "I know it's risky, but I can watch Monohebi alone."

Motoki's eyes widen in fear. "Kawashima-san, you can't do that! You can't be alone!"

"You're right, I shouldn't go alone," I say, "but I have to. We need to guard the Weapons Room and Monohebi, and leaving one person in the Weapons Room would be a recipe for disaster. So, I'll go up to the fifth floor and keep an eye out for Monohebi or the mastermind." I know they can probably use secret passages or something else to get around, but if Monohebi or the mastermind sees me up there, I think they'll stay in whichever one of those locked rooms they love to hide in. Those rooms must be locked for a good reason, and I'm sure they wouldn't want me slipping in while they were away.

Kasparov frowns. "I do not like this idea. Not only do I have an issue with Kawashima-san being alone, but I am also concerned about the fact that we have only three night-vision goggles yet, if she were to be alone, Kawashima-san would naturally need night-vision goggles to be able to adequately look out for Monohebi or the mastermind. That means one of the groups would have to be in the dark completely blind."

"I got an idea," Komatsu says, looking slightly proud of himself. "Kasparov-kun needs night-vision goggles to build Domoto-san's contraption and Sashihara-kun or Hayasaka-san would need them to guard the weapons room, which'd leave Domoto-san and me without goggles. So, me and Domoto-san could either go up to the Weapons Room or to the basement to avoid us bein' alone in the dark!"

"No," Sashihara says firmly. "The entire point of splitting into groups is so that the chances of at least one group escaping is as high as possible. Having a group of four makes that group an obvious target for Monohebi. It's too risky."

"Not to mention how I wouldn't let Domoto-san go to the basement, where she could be with Kasparov-kun, or to the Weapons Room, where she could get a weapon," Motoki adds.

Domoto scowls at her. "Don't be so suspicious of me. I'm not stupid." She clears her throat. "Anyway, I agree with Sashihara-kun. I don't think Komatsu-kun and I should join any other group."

"Ya gotta be kiddin' me," Komatsu says, rolling his eyes. "Ya seriously wanna have us both be in the dark!? We'll both get killed!"

"That will not happen," she says emphatically. "I can promise you that, Komatsu-kun. Neither of us will get killed."

"You sounded really confident about that," Motoki notices, narrowing her eyes. "Any particular reason?"

Domoto shoots a glare her way. "Get off my ass already," she says frustratedly. "I'm only telling Komatsu-kun he has nothing to worry about." She pulls a small switchblade out of her pocket and flicks it open. "I have this for self-defense. We'll be fine."

"That's supposed to make me feel better!?" Komatsu asks incredulously. "That jus' makes me more scared!"

"Yeah, that switchblade makes me trust you even less, Domoto-san," Motoki says. "You can't be trusted with such a weapon."

"To be frank, you aren't one to talk about trusting others with what you've done, Motoki-san, so you should stop already," Domoto snaps, earning an anguished glare from the linguist. "If Komatsu-kun dies, you and the others can feel free to accuse me at the trial." Domoto flicks the switchblade back to its normal form and puts it away. "But, as I said before, that won't be happening. Komatsu-kun and I will be fine even in the dark. If it makes him feel better, we can go somewhere on the first floor near the basement so we don't have far to go when the time comes to escape."

He makes a face. "I guess...still don't like it."

Motoki doesn't say anything, but I can tell she isn't pleased either. I
don't blame her or Komatsu-kun. I'm not happy about this either. I don't like the idea of two people being so vulnerable, nor do I like how confident Domoto-san is acting that she'll be fine, because a switchblade won't do shit against Monohebi. Good luck to her and Komatsu-kun, especially him. Being so vulnerable to Monohebi, partnering with Domoto-san, having both her and you be pretty much blind in the dark, and knowing that she has a switchblade on her...all that's a pretty shitty combination.

"Now that's done with, let's go over everything again just to confirm," I say, doing my best to sound measured and even. "Kasparov-kun and Motoki-san will be in the basement, where Kasparov-kun will have the night-vision goggles to build the drill Domoto-san wants. She and Komatsu-kun will be up on the first floor somewhere, neither of them having night-vision goggles. Sashihara-kun and Hayasaka-san will be guarding the weapons room, and one of them will have night-vision goggles. As for me...I'll be on the fifth floor with the last pair of night-vision goggles, keeping an eye out for Monohebi. Right?"

Kasparov nods. "Yes, I do believe that sums up what we have planned so far. However, it brings something to my attention: there are four groups, yet only three walkie-talkies. One group will have to be without them."

"You and Sakiko-san will need one to build the drill, and Otoha-san and Yutaka-kun will need one too so that she can give you instructions on what to do," Hayasaka says. "So that means either me and Hisaya-kun or Wakana-san will need to do without one."

"Kawashima-san has to have it," Sashihara says with no hesitation. "She's watching out for Monohebi. If she sees him, she needs to be able to alert the others immediately. And a simple shout down to us would suffice to let us know. We wouldn't be too far from her, after all."

That's right...the Weapons Room is right next to the staircase to the fifth floor. A loud enough shout would let them know easily enough. Although it might not be necessary... "I can shout, but I have a better idea if Monohebi shows up," I say. "There's not much I can do by myself. But if I left the fifth floor and joined Hayasaka-san and Sashihara-kun in the Weapons Room, Monohebi would probably stay back and not harm us. We shouldn't confront or even attempt to harm him if at all possible, but he'll probably be scared enough to hang back."

"Unless he's listening to this conversation and knows we won't risk harming him," Domoto says. "Not until we're right on the verge of escape, at least. If you see him, don't let your guard down or assume he'll play it safe. He's a smart, dangerous bastard. If he has to resort to violence or even killing to keep us here, I don't think he'll hesitate too much."

Sashihara presses his lips into a line. "Monohebi will do his best not to kill us. He sees our lives as valuable, he's made that much clear to me...but Domoto-san's right. If he needs to, he will kill."

I had already assumed that, but to hear it confirmed from the person here who knows Monohebi best makes a shiver run down my spine. I'm kinda regretting volunteering to go alone to watch him now, though I guess someone has to do it. If it's not me, someone else would be put in danger...and as the person who's been so adamant about escaping, it wouldn't be right for me to put that danger off onto them.

"I guess we gotta be prepared for not all of us makin' it," Komatsu says. "I know it's real shitty to think 'bout...but what if one of us dies? What then?"

"We get out, if possible," Domoto says."If not...well, I suppose another trial will happen."

Motoki shakes her head, slowly at first and then rapidly. "No...no no no no NO! I'm not doing another one of those!"

"If someone is killed by something other than Monohebi, which I hate to admit is possible, there is nothing we can do to avoid a trial," Kasparov says.

She tenses, chewing her lip with an anguished expression. "Then...I reject this plan. I won't help you escape if there's a risk of another trial."

Domoto sighs, annoyed. "Great. This bullshit again. You have a propensity for making things even more difficult than they need to be, Motoki-san. If you really are so against us escaping, then fine. We'll leave you behind."

"No," I say firmly, sending a furious glance Domoto's way. "We're not leaving her or anyone else behind." I turn back to Motoki. "Motoki-san...it's possible that a class trial might happen. There's nothing we can do to completely get rid of that possibility. But I guarantee you that staying here and not escaping is far, far likelier to result in a class trial. Monohebi will push us to murder eventually if we stay here, it's inevitable. We cannot live in peace here. If we want to all live, we need to escape."

Motoki sits, thinking, for a while, then speaks. "...You're right," she says miserably. "A trial is more probable if we stay. I think I've known that for a long time, but...escaping is so scary. There's something deeply horrifying to me about resisting Monohebi. He's incredibly cruel, so the thought of him catching us as we escape is bone-chilling. And on top of that, being here for the past three weeks has let me get used to this place, as terrible as that sounds. Here, we at least have food provided for us. Outside...there could be nothing but barren wilderness. It's completely unknown territory. That fear of the unknown...that scares me."

"I understand what you're saying, but we can't let our fear of the unknown keep us trapped here," Sashihara says passionately. "More importantly, we can't cower in fear of Monohebi. I did that and watched as Aozora-kun, Carrasco-san, Ichigohara-san, Niizuma-san, Eguchi-san, Terajima-kun. and Oyamada-kun died. Take it from me: being afraid of Monohebi and doing nothing won't solve any of our problems. We have to take a stand against him, it's our only choice."

She takes about a minute, but soon enough Motoki nods. "I guess...I'll stop just listening in and critiquing ideas and finally commit to escaping with you guys. It's taken me long enough."

"Sure has," Domoto mutters.

I give Domoto a quick glare, then grin at Motoki. "Well, would you look at that. I told you your mind would be changed by the end of the day, didn't I?"

She meets my eyes and blushes slightly. "Yeah, you did..." She breaks eye contact. "I am gonna make one final request as a condition for me officially joining the escape plan, though."

Kasparov arches an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"We need a backup," she says. "A contingency plan if something goes wrong. Say Monohebi attacks us or blocks our escape somehow, or..." She gulps, "Or one of us goes rogue and tries to kill someone or otherwise sabotage the plan. What then?"

That is a good point, and one we haven't really talked about yet.

"Depending on what happens, we may have to reconsider whether we should go forward with the plan or not," Hayasaka says, twirling her hair pensively. "Personally, I only think we should call off the plan if someone dies or Monohebi blocks our escape somehow, like by blocking the Garage doors or something like that."

"This may sound fucked up, but I dunno if we should call off the plan even if someone dies," Komatsu says. "The whole point of us goin' in small groups is so that at least some of us can escape if shit goes south. I think if some of us can get outta here, they should take the chance and do it. Then, once they're all safe, they can try 'n come back for the resta us when they can."

"I am in agreement with Komatsu-kun," Kasparov says. "If one of us were to be woefully injured, captured, killed, or otherwise made unable to escape, then they should be left behind. Monohebi will undoubtedly try to pick one or more of us to exploit our sense of camaraderie, yet we cannot let him do that. If only one of us escapes, they can bring back help to crush Monohebi. But if we stay behind for the injured, captured, or dead, then that help will be unable to come, and we will be forced to continue this killing game."

Motoki grimaces. "You're not wrong, but...I really hate the thought of leaving someone behind."

"Same, Sakiko-san," Hayasaka says. "I wouldn't ever agree to something if there was any other option, but there isn't. When we're up against a monster like Monohebi, we have to be like this."

Sadly, Hayasaka-san is right. Monohebi isn't going to play nice. We have to do anything we can to get out of here alive, and if that means temporarily abandoning some of the others...then so be it.

"Alright, so if someone gets picked off and we can still escape, we leave them," Domoto says. "That's fine by me, but...what if escape is somehow made impossible? If Monohebi has some sort of trick that doesn't allow us to escape, what then?"

"We'd have no choice but to surrender," Motoki says. "Well, I guess we could try to kill Monohebi, but that's way too risky. It'd only give him a reason to kill us."

"Yeah, going after him is off the table," Sashihara says. "Also, I think we should use code words to describe certain things like 'surrender' or 'one of has been captured' and so on. That way, if Monohebi does listen in on the walkie-talkies he can't understand everything."

Kasparov nods approvingly. "Yes, that is indeed a good idea. What should the code words be?"

Domoto strokes her chin. "Hmm...perhaps the code for a person being dead could be 'chocolate.' And the code for someone being captured by Monohebi could be 'mochi.' And someone deciding to surrender could say 'daifuku' to let the rest of us know."

"I gotta say, I like the theme ya got going' with yer namin' of these code words," Komatsu says. "Although I don't like how hungry it's makin' me...I can't remember the last time I had some good-ass mochi."

I can...this place right by my restaurant had some really good mochi and bubble tea. I haven't anything as good since I've been there. I shake my head. What the hell am I doing? This doesn't matter, I need to be thinking of code words. Thinking back to that shop has given me an idea, though...
"Continuing the food theme...why not 'bubble tea' for when Kasparov-kun and Motoki-san are finished building Domoto-san's drill? We'll all need to know when that's ready so we can get out ASAP."

"Good idea," Sashihara says. "I think we should also add 'cake' for a group or person having successfully escaped."

There are no objections to that. "Does anyone else have any ideas for anything that would need another code word?" I ask. No one says anything. "I guess that's it, then...'chocolate' if someone dies, 'mochi' if someone gets captured, 'daifuku' if someone surrenders, 'bubble tea' when Kasparov-kun finishes with that drill, and 'cake' if one or more person escapes."

"That sounds right," Hayasaka says. She smiles nervously. "I hope all we have to say is 'cake' and 'bubble tea.'"

"Me too," Motoki says.

Silence falls over the group for a few more moments, everyone stewing in their own thoughts until Kasparov decides to say something. "I believe we never decided what we should paint on the masks. We should do that."

"Oh yeah," Komatsu says. "I actually got somethin' of an idea for that."

"What is it, Yutaka-kun?" Hayasaka asks.

"It's a lil' stupid, but...I was thinkin' of doin' the musical alphabet," he says. "If ya don't know it, it's C-D-E-F-G-A-B, in that order. I was thinkin' it'd work 'cause there's seven of us and seven letters and 'cause it looks like it has meanin' but it really doesn't. Monohebi could think the one of us that has 'C' is the leader 'cause it's first, or maybe he'd think of the normal Latin alphabet order and think whoever was 'A' was the leader...when it really don't mean shit."

Huh...that could work. "I don't have any objections to that," I say.

"Neither do I," Domoto says. "I actually think it's a good idea, particularly the fact that the ordering of the letters could make Monohebi falsely believe one of us was a leader when no one occupies any such position."

"Thanks," Komatsu says, sounding proud of himself. "I'm glad I could help."

"Uh...not to interrupt, but I think we could make this a little bit more confusing to Monohebi," Motoki says. "If that's what we're going for."

Komatsu furrows his brow. "What are ya thinkin' of changin'?"

"I think we should use Greek letters instead," she said. "Specifically, the ones closest in correspondence to the seven Latin letters you mentioned before. They'd be out of order in the Greek alphabet, so they'd be sure to confuse Monohebi even more. I don't think using the Latin letters is a bad idea, but I think my idea is just a little more confusing to an outsider like Monohebi."

"That's fine with me," Hayasaka says. "Might as well do as much as we can to confuse Monohebi."

Domoto seems indifferent. "No complaints from me either." She looks at Motoki. "You already have an idea of which ones to use?"

"Mmhm," Motoki says. "I'll go through them one by one. Alpha will replace A, beta B, gamma G, delta D, and epsilon E. C and F are a bit more complicated. There's an archaic letter named digamma that looks exactly like F, but there's no point in using that, so we might as well use phi to substitute F. As for C...kappa could work, but it looks exactly like the Latin K, so I think chi would be the next best option to stand in for C."

Huh...I trust that all makes sense because language is Motoki-san's area of expertise, but I have zero knowledge of Greek so I have no clue what she's talking about. "Motoki-san, could you draw all those letters for us? I'm pretty sure most of us don't know what they look like."

"I second that," Komatsu says. "I know alpha and beta, but I ain't got no idea what the rest of 'em look like."

"Sure," Motoki says, taking the paper with Domoto's plans drawn on it and moving it to the floor in front of her. "Does anyone have a pencil on them?"

"I have a pen," I say, pulling one from my apron and handing it to her.

As she takes the pen, our hands touch and linger together for just a split second longer than they should. Motoki's eyes widen and her cheeks pinken slightly for a moment, but she quickly withdraws her hand and avoids my gaze. "U-Um...I'll write them now."

While she does, I think back to the feeling of Motoki's hand. It felt like any other hand, but the fact that it was Motoki-san's...something about that fact stirs something deep inside me. I close my eyes tightly. No. Not now, Wakana. This isn't the time to think about love or your feelings for Motoki-san. Although...I really should do that before we attempt to escape. I've put it off for long enough.

When Motoki's finished writing the letters in the open spaces on the paper, she points to α. "This one is alpha," she says hastily, evidently still flustered from our hands touching. She moves her finger to the one next to it, β. "This one's beta." She does the same for the rest of the letters, letting us know γ is gamma, δ is delta, ε is epsilon, φ is phi, and χ is chi.

"I call phi," Hayasaka says as soon as Motoki finishes talking. "It looks the prettiest. I want that on my mask."

Kasparov wrinkles his nose. "I certainly have no objections to that, as it reminds me too much of magnetic flux from physics. I think I shall take gamma."

"I want the delta," Domoto says.

"I guess I'll take epsilon," Motoki says with a shrug.

I don't know which one I should use. None of the remaining three really draw my attention. "It doesn't matter what I get," I say. "I'd be fine with whatever."

"Same," Komatsu says, although it looks like something else is on his mind. "But, before we decide who gets the resta the letters...I'm thinkin', if we really wanna confuse the snake, we should prolly make the person who has alpha on their mask seem like they're the leader. Y'know, 'cause alpha's the first letter and shit."

"I agree," Hayasaka says. "Also, I think it should be Hisaya-kun."

Sashihara blinks, surprised. "What? Why me?"

"You were Monohebi's traitor and know the most about him," she explains, "not to mention that you need to get out because of your drugs and your medicine. You have the biggest reason to want to escape and fight back against him, so it makes the most sense for you to be the fake leader. Hopefully, Monohebi doesn't ever see who's behind which mask, but if he does, you having alpha is probably the best choice."

That's a good point. Also, making Sashihara-kun wear the alpha mask makes sense because if Monohebi's going to attack, he might be inclined to go against the person with the alpha mask first. Sashihara-kun's best equipped to resist such an attack, with him being the strongest person alive and also being stationed in the Weapons Room, where he can use any weapon he wants to defend himself if need be. Good job, Hayasaka-san.

"I'm fine with having alpha," Sashihara says. "It seems the most sensible."

"That leaves me and Kawashima-san with chi and beta," Komatsu says. "Hmmm...guess I'll take chi."

Well, I guess I'm stuck with beta now. "Then that means I'm beta," I say. "Okay, just to recap: Sashihara-kun is alpha, I'm beta, Kasparov-kun is gamma, Domoto-san is delta, Motoki-san is epsilon, Hayasaka-san is phi, and Komatsu-kun is chi."

"Yes, that's right," Domoto says. "To add on to that, I think we should all call each other these letters instead of by our real names. It'd make things more secret and more difficult for Monohebi."

"That's a good idea," Sashihara says with a nod. "Alright, let's get started with painting the masks. There's no time to waste."

Motoki shakes her head. "We should wait until right before we decide to start the plan to do that...we don't want Monohebi seeing who has which mask if we can help it. So, we should wait as long as we can."

"That is a salient point," Kasparov says. "Additionally, it makes me wonder...when exactly are we planning to carry out this plan of ours?"

Oh yeah, that's kind of important. "Preferably sooner than later," I say. "I can't wait to get out of here."

A murmur of agreement comes from everyone. "I'm of the same opinion," says Domoto. "However, I think we should wait until tomorrow morning. Doing it today or tonight..." She bites her lip and looks to the ground, somewhat ashamed. "...I don't think I'm emotionally prepared to do it so soon."

"Same with me," Motoki says. "You all know that escape is really scary for me, so...I want to be ready for it mentally when the time comes to carry out the plan."

"Fair enough," Sashihara says. "We hold off till tomorrow morning, then." He stands up, stretching his arms. "Oh, that feels good. We've been sitting here for a while, and we've pretty much discussed everything, right? So, unless anyone has objections, I think it's time we end this group meeting." He waits a moment for someone to raise one, but no one does. "Okay. I'm gonna head out."

"Wait," Kasparov says sharply before Sashihara leaves. "I would like to say something before the meeting ends."

Hayasaka looks at him curiously. "What is it, Sergey-kun?"

"We absolutely must not discuss or even hint at what our plans outside of this room," he answers. "Monohebi is always watching and listening. We cannot afford to allow details of our plan reach him, otherwise our chances of failure skyrocket."

"Got it," Komatsu says, drawing a line across his lips with his thumb as if he was zippering his mouth shut. "I ain't gonna say a word 'bout it 'less I'm in a place with no cameras like here or the bathhouse."

"Me either," Domoto says. "I'm not going to make Monohebi's job any easier for him."

"Good, good," Kasparov says with a small smile as he stands up. "Now, let us finally end this meeting. It has been quite long already."

Those of us still sitting get up and make for the door to the sauna. Sashihara is the first to step outside, and when he does, he instantly freezes. "You..." he says furiously.

Domoto narrows her eyes and begins to storm out of the sauna. "Don't tell me...is the snake out there!?"

"Indeed," Monohebi says as the rest of us come out into the hallway. "Do not fret, Domoto-san. I did not listen in on your conversation. I was merely waiting to see my dear inmates' faces again."

"Fuck you," I say, not wanting to see him any second longer than I have to. "Go away unless you have something useful to say."

Monohebi pouts. "You wound me, Kawashima. I care for you so much, and yet this is how you treat me..."

"Shut up, bitch," Hayasaka says acidly. "Stop acting like you give a shit about any of us."

Monohebi's pout is replaced by an angry stare. "Hayasaka, this rudeness is unbecoming of you. More importantly, I do actually care for you all."

"Not enough to stop us from killing each other, evidently," Sashihara mutters.

"No," Monohebi says with a smirk. "I suppose I should state the reason why I came here. I have prepared a final motive for all of you."

His words send a shiver down my spine. Oh no...whatever this is, it's bound to be bad. "What is it?"

"They say a picture is worth a thousand words," Monohebi says. "If a picture is worth a thousand, I suppose that a video is worth a million...so why not tell you with a video?" He smiles evilly. "Everyone, please pull out your e-Handbooks. I have added a new tab labeled 'Final Motive.' Open it and you will see the motive."

We all exchange nervous glances, then pull out our respective e-Handbooks. Sure enough, when I turn mine on I'm greeted with a new tab labeled 'Final Motive.' Feeling a lump in the back of my throat, I hesitate to click on the button. What is it...? What could it be? Knowing Monohebi, it's sure to be terrible...but I guess wondering doesn't do anything. I force myself to click on the motive tab. Immediately, a video player fills my e-Handbook's screen.

When the video loads, I find myself staring at Bessho, my boss from my job, looking like absolute shit tied to a chair in a dark room. "Wh-What?" I say out loud. H-How is that possible? Why is she in my motive video!?

"Waka...na..." Bessho croaks, breathing heavily. "D-Dear...they took everything...from us. Our whole scheme...it's over." She bursts out into tears, which leave marks on her dirty face. "I'm s-sorry...they found me...and threatened...to tell the cops...if I didn't come with them...and n-now..." Her voice breaks. "If no one kills by the d-deadline...everyone dies. Me, all the other h-hostages...they'll broadcast our deaths all over the p-prison...a-and th-then...if a-another hour goes by without s-someone k-killing...all of you...will r-receive...the same fate as u-us hostages..." She makes a retching sound. "I'm s-sorry, Wakana..." The video ends, returning me to the main menu of my e-Handbook.

I stand in shocked silence, taking a few moments to process what I just saw, with the others seemingly doing the same thing. N-No...this c-can't be real...Monohebi taking hostages is bad enough, but threatening to kill the rest of us is crazy even for him. I thought our lives had value to him! Also...what the hell did Bessho-san mean by 'our scheme?' I never planned anything with her, right? It must be in my missing memories...

"Forgive me for partially reusing the first motive by threatening those close to you," Monohebi says in a mock apologetic tone. "However, I simply could not resist this idea once I conceived it."

"The deadline," Sashihara says, his voice filled with barely repressed fury. "When is it?"

"I am delighted that you asked, Sashihara," Monohebi says. "It is tomorrow at noon sharp, so approximately twenty hours from now." He smirks. "If no one kills by then, each of the hostages will be gruesomely murdered and have their murder broadcasted to the rest of you, one by one. Of course, this can be averted if someone kills another inmate before then." His smirk fades into a frown. "I am sure that you brats will attempt to escape before then, so let me tell you all something: if you try to escape, I shall kill one of the hostages randomly every fifteen minutes until you decide to abandon your plans. As such, do not bother trying to escape. Attempting to do so is futile."

He slithers away from us, chuckling to himself. "Sususu...you brats truly thought you could best me. How utterly foolish." He chuckles until he disappears from view and sight.

It's a long time until someone talks again. "Th-This...it's g-gotta be..." Komatsu can't bring himself to finish his sentence. Instead, he collapses on the floor, sobbing. "R-Reiji, no....ya...ya can't die on me...!"

Domoto throws her e-Handbook to the ground, positively shaking with fury. "Goddammit!" she yells, furious tears in her eyes. "I'm gonna fucking kill you, Monohebi!"

"Me first," Hayasaka says, her voice laced with venom. "This motive...it's pure evil! I'm gonna make him pay!"

"No," Motoki says, her voice hollow. "He's...won. He beat us before we could even make a move against him." She closes her eyes tightly. "I'm s-sorry, but...I have to go back on my word. I'm out of this e-escape plan. My m-mom...I w-won't let her die..."

"So you are going to kill someone?" Kasparov asks. "I hate to admit it, but that is the only way to stop this motive."

Motoki starts to tremble. "N-No...I..." She pulls at her hair. "This is...!" Breaking out into tears, she runs back into the sauna, slamming the door behind her.

Fuck. We had just gotten Motoki-san to fully commit to escaping with the rest of us, and Monohebi decides to spring this motive on us...I'd say it's bad luck, but I know luck had nothing to do with this. Monohebi was probably waiting until we planned something to make a move so he could crush our hopes. I hate him.

"What are we going to do about Sakiko-san?" Hayasaka says, the venom from before gone. "We can't leave her in there..."

Sashihara looks at me. "Kawashima-san. You should go talk to her."

"...Yeah, it probably should be me," I say. Part of me doesn't want to do this because I'm not in the best mood myself. Also, this is bound to be awkward considering the...situation between me and Motoki-san. But if it means I can reconvince Motoki-san to want to escape and help her through this, then I guess it's worth it. And maybe...if all goes well, I can finally tell her how I really feel about her.

Taking a deep breath, I force myself to walk back inside the sauna. Inside, Motoki sits on the floor, slumped against the wooden bench and sobbing to herself. She doesn't even look up as I come in. "Go away," she says before a word leaves my mouth. "I can't...not now...I need to be alone."

"No, you need someone," I say as I sit on the bench next to her.

She tenses when he hears my voice. "K-Kawashima-san..." She sniffles and wipes her eyes. "Please...I can't...not right now..."

"There's no time to be wasted," I say gently. "I'm sorry, but...I'm not leaving you here like this."

Motoki finally looks up at me, drying her eyes. "...Why? What's the point? Are you going to tell me it'll all be okay? Because it won't be!" She starts crying again. "My m-mom...she was the person in my video. If someone doesn't murder, I'll lose her...I can't let that happen, Kawashima-san. But I also can't bear to even think of attending another trial, let alone killing someone...so no matter what I do, something truly awful happens. Either my m-mom, the most important person in the world to me and the o-only one who really understands my abuse dies, or I g-go through another trial..." She clenches her fist. "I HATE IT!!"

Her sudden scream makes me wince, but I don't let it deter me. "I don't blame you for being so upset," I say softly."Because you're not wrong. There is no good way out of this situation. Either someone kills, or we all die. And if we try to escape, Monohebi will kill the hostages. We're stuck between a rock and a hard place, as they say." I pause. "However...we can't sit around and do nothing. We have to still try to escape."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Motoki asks, her voice suddenly rising. "If we escape, everyone Monohebi's holding against us die! We can't le—"

"Motoki-san," I interrupt, my voice filling with sadness, "the hostages are already dead. They were dead as soon as Monohebi captured them."

Her face twists in rage, tears streaming down her face. "H-How...How could you say that!? How could give up on them that fucking easily!? Do you really not care about the people close to you!?"

"Of course I do," I say. "I don't want my old boss, who was the person in my video, to die. I want to see her live. But...there's no way we can get her or any of the others back. We have no idea if they're even still alive...Monohebi could've already killed them and filmed their deaths in advance because that's the kind of fucked-up shit he'd do. It's not like he's given us any proof that they're alive."

"Still, we can't give up," Motoki says, still crying. "They could be alive! We can't give up on them if there's even the slightest chance they're alive, because if they're alive that means they can be saved!"

"Do you think that's possible?" I ask her. "Really? Even if each person featured in those motive videos is alive, we have no clue where Monohebi's keeping them. I hate to say it, Motoki-san...but we can't save them."

Motoki stares at me, anguished, for several seconds, before lowering her head with a sob. "I don't care if it's impossible," she says. "We have to try. We can't give up...I can't give up on mom...I won't let her die!"

"If you try and save her, you'll die," I say bluntly. "That's what'll happen. There's no other way around it."

Motoki ponders what I say for a minute, her tears slowly abating. "I don't want either of us to die," she says weakly. "I don't want to put her through the pain of losing her only child, and I don't want to go through the pain of losing her...I just want her and me to be happy together."

I nod somberly. "I get that. I wish that was possible, but it isn't. It's either you or her, and...well, I don't know your mom, but I imagine she loves you very much. I think she would rather die so that you could live than the other way around."

"...She probably would," Motoki admits, "but I still don't want to lose her. Because if I do...I'll...I'll be alone again." She starts to cry again. "It'll be like I'm locked in the b-basement again...alone...miserable...forgotten by the world..."

Without even thinking, I reach out and take her hand, earning a gasp from her. "No," I say firmly, "you won't be alone. I won't let that happen."

She slowly raises her wet eyes to meet mine. "K-Kawashima-san...what do you mean?" she asks. "Are y-you saying...that..."

"Yeah, it's what you think it is," I say as I kneel down so my eyes are on level with hers. "I love you, Motoki-san. It took me a little while and a debate over my sexuality to realize it, but I do. I'm a lesbian and I'm in love with you...because when you're not pushed to the brink of despair by a horrible killing game, you're amazing. Not that I don't love you even in your darkest times...I do. I love you and I want to pull you out of those dark spots and into the light because when you're happy, you're even more amazing. Your smile is infectious. You reach out to new people. You're sociable and fun. And you're really damn cute."

Motoki lets out a small chuckle despite the tears in her eyes. "I c-can't believe...thank you," she says, nervously looking away from me. "I already told you, but I still love you too, Kawashima-san. I'm not going to lie...at first, it was more of an unhealthy attachment than anything else." She makes eye contact with me again. "But since then, I've seen your bravery...your commitment to never giving up on me or anyone else here...your confidence...and I've fallen in love all over again. This time, for the right reasons."

"That's good," I say. "Now...are you still against escaping?"

She hesitates before answering. "Kinda," she says. " I don't want to get my mom killed if I can help it. But if there really is no way to save her..."

"I wish there was," I say sadly. "I wish no one else had to die...but with Monohebi the way he is, all we can do is save ourselves. It's terrible, but it's the dilemma he's put us in. It's either the seven of us live, someone kills someone else, or everyone dies. I think you know which one is the least shitty of the three."

"Yeah," she says, wiping her eyes. "It's just so hard...the thought of living without my mom. She's always loved me so much...and after she left my stepdad, we got really close..." Tears well up in her eyes, causing her to pause briefly as she wipes them away. "I hate that there's nothing I can do to save her and that the rest of the hostages will die too. I don't want to see them die, but...I don't want any of you guys to die either. So...I'll do it. It'll be hard, but...if you're there for me, I think I can make it."

"You will make it," I promise her, clenching her hand in mine. "We'll all get out of here. Who knows, maybe we will be able to save the hostages. No matter what happens, though...I'll be there by your side."

She stares at me longingly for a moment, then suddenly leans in for a kiss. It lasts only for about ten seconds, but I savor every instant. Motoki-san...I love you so much.

When the kiss ends and we pull away from each other, I can't help but laugh. "What is it?" Motoki asks, blushing. "Was I...was I a bad kisser?"

"No, no, you were just fine," I reassure her. "It's just...I never thought my first kiss would be like this. Trapped in a killing game, living in fear of my life, and...with a beautiful girl."

Motoki's face turns as red as a tomato. "S-Stop...I'm not that pretty," she protests.

"You are to me," I say. It's true...Motoki-san is beautiful to me.

After that, the two of us sit in a serene silence, with nothing but the other's presence. I don't know what it is, but there's something indescribably calming about simply sitting with someone you're close to. I've never been a very spiritual person, but maybe it has to do with souls being close to each other...or maybe not. Either way, I like it.

I don't know how long we sit like that. All I know is that I'm disappointed when Motoki finally stands. "We should get back to the others," she says. "They're probably worried about me..."

"Most likely," I reply as I stand up too. "Let's not keep them waiting any longer. They're probably in the Cafeteria."

We leave the sauna and go to the Cafeteria to find everyone else sitting there around the table. Kasparov and Domoto look to be deep in thought, Sashihara looks angry, Hayasaka pensive, and Komatsu despondent. Seems like things aren't much better here than they were with Motoki-san...

"Hey," I say. "We're back."

"Hello," Kasparov says, looking at Motoki and then me as sit in adjacent seats at the table. "How did things go between the two of you?"

I hesitate. I don't know if they need to know the full details of what happened... "We talked and she convinced me to escape again," Motoki answers for me. "Sorry about me freaking out after the motive reveal...I got really emotional..." She sniffles. "I still am, honestly...but I've accepted that I can't save my mom. Escape is the only option now."

"Is it?" Komatsu asks, sounding empty. "If we go through with what we were plannin'...everyone hostage is gonna die..."

Sadly, that's true. However, saving them is impossible... "Komatsu-kun, I already said this to Motoki-san, and it might sound a little harsh, but...everyone in those videos is already dead. They were dead as soon as Monohebi captured them. There's nothing we can do to save them."

"Fuck you," he growls, anger abruptly rising in his tone. "Ya don't understand...maybe ya don't give a shit 'bout yer family, but I ain't gonna let my lil' bro fuckin' die!"

"There's no saving him," Sashihara says gently. "I'm really sorry, but there's nothing we can do. We have no way of knowing if the hostages are even still alive."

Motoki nods sadly. "That's what Kawashima-san said to me," she says. "Monohebi might've prerecorded the videos of the hostages' murders and could just be waiting to broadcast them. We don't even have a clue where they're being kept if they are still alive...plus, Monohebi would kill them if we came too close to saving them."

Komatsu opens his mouth to protest, but closes it again as tears fill his eyes. "God fuckin' dammit," he says miserably. "I can't lose him...I don't know what I'd do..."

"You'll suffer and be miserable, but you'll survive," Domoto says, her tone filled with an unusual amount of compassion. "I know how you feel...my younger sister was the person in my video. Seeing her crying, alone in a dark room...it almost broke me. I'll admit, for a split second, it made me consider taking Monohebi up on the motive." She crosses her arms. "But I immediately banished the thought from my mind, because using the motive is exactly what Monohebi wants from us. He wants us to kill for him, and then dash our hopes by killing the hostages anyway so he can see us in despair before our executions. We only have to look at how he revealed Shinako's death to Niizuma-san before her execution for proof of that."

Yeah...Monohebi gave Niizuma-san back her memories and led her to believe Shinako was still out there, only to cruelly reveal that she had been dead all along right before the end.

"There is also the matter of my dogs," Kasparov adds. "Monohebi never confirmed to me they were alive even after I showed you all the commemoration video. That, combined with the fact that Watai-sensei, my chess mentor, was the hostage for my motive instead of my dogs...it leads me to believe Monohebi has already killed them."

"So they really are dead," Hayasaka says, wiping a tear from her eye. "The person in my motive video was my middle school guidance counselor. Without her...honestly, I don't think I'd be alive today. She helped me so much..."

"So did the person in my video," Sashihara says. "My training mentor, Unetani-san, is one of the most important people in my life...she's the reason I'm an Ultimate in the first place. So, to know that she is dead." He closes his eyes and lets a long, pained sigh. "...It hurts. It really hurts." He opens his eyes and clenches his fist. "However, we can't wallow in misery...we have to channel our sadness and rage for Monohebi doing this to people we care about into our drive to escape. And also our drive to give Monohebi a taste of his own fucking medicine once we get out of here."

Komatsu smiles briefly, but the pain on his face is still apparent. "It'd be nice to kick his ass," he says wistfully. "We'd have to know who's behind him to do that, though..."

"True," Kasparov says. "However, destroying the robot Monohebi itself would be enough satisfaction for me."

"Same," Motoki says. "As long as whoever's behind him doesn't bother us for the rest of our lives if we get out of here, I don't really care who they are. I'll just be glad to be free."

"Suit yourselves, but if he really does kill my sister...I'm making sure the person behind Monohebi fucking pays," Domoto says, practically trembling with anger.

Komatsu nods. "Same here. If I lose Reiji, the mastermind loses their kneecaps, then their teeth, then their nails, then their kidneys, then their liver, then their eyes, then their fuckin' jaw when I curb stomp 'em to death."

Damn, that's violent, but I can't say the mastermind wouldn't deserve that and more for what they've put us through in this place.

"Killing Monohebi would be nice, but I think the best revenge we can get for the hostages is escaping here successfully," Hayasaka says. "That ruins Monohebi's plan...I mean, the whole point of the motive is to continue the killing game. If we escape, we break the cycle, we save ourselves, and we give one big 'fuck you' to Monohebi."

"Yeah," Motoki says. "I guess it means the hostages wouldn't have died in vain if we get out of here." She looks down and hugs herself. "I still wish we could save them, somehow...part of me still hopes by some miracle, all the hostages will live..."

"Me too," Komatsu says. "I don't wanna see my bro die..."

Domoto nods understandingly. "Part of me wishes for that, too," she says. "But we have to accept that it's very unrealistic. Wonderful to think about, but very unrealistic."

"Indeed," Kasparov says. He pauses for a moment, looking like something is on his mind. "So...I take it we are still prepared to escape tomorrow?"

"If you're directing that at me, I am," Motoki says. "The motive just...made things a lot harder."

"Same with me," Komatsu says. "I fuckin' hate it, and I'm prolly gonna cry my eyes out if I see my bro die...but I'm still gonna get outta here. I ain't gonna let myself die if the hostages do, 'cause that'd mean they all died for nothing..."

Sashihara, who's sitting next to Komatsu, lays a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "If you remember the plan...we may not have to worry about seeing the death of your brother or any of the hostages," Sashihara reminds him. That's right...with the power out, Monohebi won't be able to broadcast anything.

Komatsu looks confused for a moment, then nods slowly as he realizes what Sashihara's talking about. "I guess," he says. "It don't make it much easier, though."

"No," Kasparov says, "however, it will indubitably make things less horrible than they would be otherwise."

Yeah, seeing the hostages be viciously murdered would be both distracting and traumatizing. Them dying is bad enough. We don't need to see their deaths too.

"Sorry for the topic shift, but are we still slated for the...same time as before?" Hayasaka asks, looking up and down the table. "Also, I think we should meet up before we get started."

"That's a good idea," Motoki says. "We still need to do the painting. As for your first question...I don't know. I guess?"

"We don't have to change the time we were planning," Domoto says. "Not unless anyone has any objections to it."

Nobody says anything, so it looks like no one does. "We shall continue with the plan we have formed before, then," Kasparov says. He takes a deep breath. "Make sure you all mentally prepare yourselves. The escape will not be easy."

"No, it won't," I say. "But it'll be worth it."

"Yeah," Komatsu says, his stomach suddenly growling loudly. He looks toward the clock. "Shit, it's already dinner time...I didn't even fuckin' notice."

Sashihara smiles slightly. "Surprising, with your stomach," he says as he stands up. "I'll get started on dinner now."

As we wait for him, we sit around the table, occasionally making idle chatter, though it always feels awkward. I guess it's difficult to chat about mundane stuff when people close to us are pretty much doomed to die, and all of us could very well die tomorrow too. The thought of Bessho tied to a chair, sobbing, comes back to my mind. Bessho-san...I'm so sorry you got roped into all this. I don't know what you were talking about with our 'scheme,'
but that doesn't matter. What matters is that you're gonna die if haven't already.
You were such a kind and considerate boss, and don't deserve this painful death Monohebi will give you...no, already has given you. I wish I could save you. I'm sorry that I can't...

I jolt slightly as another hand takes mine, only to realize it's Motoki. "Oh, Motoki-san," I say, relieved, "you surprised me."

"Sorry for surprising you," she apologizes. "I just saw that you looked down, and I wanted to comfort you."

"Thanks," I say gratefully. "It means a lot."

"It's no problem," she says. She looks at the table, then back at me. "It was...you were thinking about your boss, weren't you?"

I nod. "Yep," I answer. "She was always really kind to me and all the other staff at my restaurant. She doesn't deserve to get killed and used as bait by an evil robotic snake...but here we are." I feel wetness starting to form in my eye, so I wipe it away with my free hand. "I wish that I could save her. And...I feel guilty that I can't."

"I feel the same way," Motoki says seriously. "My mom has done so much for me, and it feels so terrible to not even try to save her. I know that trying to save her would probably end with both her and me dead, but even still...that doesn't make leaving her to die any easier."

"Leaving them to die is hard, yeah," I agree. "It's our only choice, but it still feels wrong. I guess we can't blame ourselves too much, though. If it weren't for Monohebi and whoever's behind him, we wouldn't' be in this situation in the first place."

Motoki's eyes harden. "Fuck them. I don't like wishing death on people normally, but I have no qualms about doing so for the mastermind and Monohebi. I hope they die painfully."

"You and me both," I say.

We sit quietly together, holding hands until Sashihara announces that dinner's ready. It's a short but pleasant affair, with Sashihara's simple yet tasty chicken yakisoba making for a nice meal. With luck, this will the last dinner we ever have here. I guess it wouldn't be too bad as a final one.

After everyone's done dinner, Motoki and I head back into Cell Block A together. When we get to Motoki's door, she turns to me and kisses me again. Mm...I'll never get enough of this feeling. Her lips feel so good!

Motoki breaks away from the kiss, although she looks like she didn't want to. "Good night," she says softly as she opens the door to her room. "Sleep well, Kawashima-san."

"You too," I tell her. She smiles as she closes the door to her room.

I stand outside her closed door for several moments before heading back to my own. I never had much of a problem with coming here alone before, but now that I'm officially with Motoki-san...the thought of sleeping alone is wholly unappealing to me.

I open my "cell" door and enter. As I'm closing it behind me, I feel it bump into something. "Ow," Hayasaka's voice says.

Oh...she's here for me so I can watch her in the bathroom. This might be a little awkward. "Hey," I say as I reopen the door. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she says, sounding a little nervous. "I guess I don't really have to explain why I'm here."

"Nope," I say. "Let's get going."

In what's become our nighttime routine, I head with Hayasaka to her room and make sure she doesn't try anything as she uses the toilet. This never gets any less awkward...

"I noticed you and Sakiko-san seemed pretty close at dinner," Hayasaka blurts suddenly as she flushes the toilet.

I figured she'd notice. "Yeah, we did," I say. "You probably already gathered this, but...we're together. When we were in the sauna together, I finally admitted my feelings to her, and we kissed. So I guess we're official now."

She washes her hands in silence for a few seconds before responding. "I thought it was something like that," she says, doing her best to sound impassive but ultimately failing to conceal her disappointment. "I'll be honest with you, Wakana-san: I still like you. And I still want to be with you. But...I'm not going to try to make you cheat or anything like that because I respect that you're in a relationship. It's just...if things don't work out with Motoki-san...well, I'll still be there."

"I really hope things don't fail with me and Motoki-san," I say. "But if they do for some reason...I'll be sure to come get you."

I see Hayasaka blush through her reflection in the mirror. "Thanks, Wakana-san," she says. "If that doesn't happen, though...I just hope you're happy with Motoki-san. You being happy is the most important thing to me."

"Thank you," I say, and I mean it. "I hope I'm happy with her, too,"

We stand awkwardly together for a moment. Then, Hayasaka abruptly leaves the bathroom for the rest of her room. "I really should get to bed," she says. "Tomorrow's a big day."

"It sure is," I say as I exit her bathroom too. "Good night, Hayasaka-san."

"Good night," she says.

As I leave her room and head back to my own, I feel a sense of relief wash over me. Whew...I'm glad that went well. I was nervous Hayasaka-san would get jealous of things between Motoki-san and I, but fortunately, it doesn't seem like that's what's going on. Thank God...I couldn't stand to deal with some love triangle bullshit while we're so close to escaping.

Once I'm back in my room, I get myself ready for bed, thinking of escape the whole time. Tomorrow's a big day. Escaping will be really risky and could result in one or more of us dying, being captured, or injured by Monohebi...not to mention there's a risk someone will actually kill because of the motive. No matter what, we all have to make sure we're on guard tomorrow, not only because of the earlier reasons but also because it's entirely possible one of is the mastermind. I hope that's not the case, but we have to be prepared for it.

With that gloomy thought on my mind, I slide into bed.
I really hope none of us is the mastermind, I really hope we all get out of here successfully. I really hope this is the last time I have to sleep in this awful prison. And, above all else, I really hope we can give Monohebi and the mastermind one big 'fuck you,' as Hayasaka-san put it earlier. That'd be nice...

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"Wakana, dear, could you fetch me some coffee?"

Perking up at Bessho's voice, I desert the napkins I'm folding and make my way to her office instead. "Sure thing," I say as I slip inside, the pleasant scent of her lavender-scented perfume greeting me as I close the door behind me. "What kind do you want?"

She taps her fingers against her desk, a faint smile on her face. "Hmm...I was thinking some Morning Light. That's always been one of my favorite brands."

Morning Light...nothing out of the ordinary there.
"Black?" I ask.

Bessho shakes her head sharply. "No, dear. That's not for me today. I was thinking some with milk."

I pause. Oh.
"Really?" I ask. "Today? I thought we were going to wait to start that."

"We were," she says, "however, I changed my mind."

"Alright," I say. I didn't expect it to be so soon after I had asked, though...
"I'll get that for you."

I leave her office and enter the Kitchen, quickly finding the coffee machine. My fellow waitress, Takeshita, is standing next to it, leaning nonchalantly back on the counter and scrolling on her phone. "Hey," she says without looking at me.

"Hi," I say. "How're you?"

"Fine, fine," she says disinterestedly.

I turn the machine on. As I wait for the coffee to fill, I grab milk from the nearby fridge. When I come back to the coffee machine,
I see a small frown form on Takeshita's face as she looks up from her phone. "Kawashima-san, you seriously making coffee for Bessho-san again? Girl, you've been here for almost a year. Get one of those new hires to do it."

"It's fine," I say, giving her a polite smile. "I like doing it."

Takeshita rolls her eyes. "You're hopeless. That old hag will have you working yourself into the ground for her."

"She's nice," I protest. "Really, she is. My grandmother's been dead for a while, and she kinda feels like one...so I don't mind doing this for her."

Takeshita shakes her head. "You don't get it," she says. "Bessho-san isn't going to make you work for her just here. You know that 'side hustle' of hers, right? She'll have you working for that too."

...Takeshita-san knows about that too? I didn't think anyone else was allowed to know... "I don't know what you're talking about," I say. "Really...I'm just making coffee for her. Besides, if I could make some extra cash, that's fine with me. My dad just lost his job, so I need the money."

Takeshita purses her lips and returns her attention to her phone. "It'd still be a bad idea," she mutters. "But I can't stop you."

Once the coffee's finished, I bring it back to Bessho's office.
When I'm inside, I close the door behind me and smell the strange combination of Bessho's lavender perfume mixed with the strong smell of the coffee. "Ah, thank you so much, Wakana," Bessho says, smiling a sweet, warm smile. She stands up and takes the coffee from me. She holds the cup to her lips for several seconds, then exhales deeply and stares directly at me. "I heard your conversation with Masuyo. She doesn't seem to appear to approve of you making me coffee."

Coffee...code for helping her out with her "business."
I sigh. "No...she says that it isn't worth it. But what does she know? Her family's loaded. She doesn't have to worry about bills every day or ration food or skip meals like people like you or me."

"No, she doesn't," Bessho says with an understanding nod. "I suppose I should just tell you, though...you really don't have to make me coffee if you don't want, Wakana." She winks. "One of the new hires would be suitable, as Masuyo said."

"I want to do it," I say. "Really, I do."

Bessho takes another sip of coffee, her face steely. "Good." She stands up from her desk and hugs me, the scent of lavender overwhelming me. With her lips right next to my ear, she whispers to me. "This comes with risks. We are simply making money for our families, yes...but our activity is well outside of the scope of what the law permits. We will be creating fraudulent tax documents, laundering money, and much more. You must tread very carefully, Wakana, or your life could be ruined. Do you understand?"

"I know how to be careful," I say. "I've shoplifted a lot of stuff from the store I used to work at."

Bessho tsks. "This is not the same, Wakana. Shoplifting is a petty crime. What we are doing is not."

I knew that already. Money laundering and tax fraud are a pretty big deal.
"Bessho-san...what are
we doing?" I ask. "I know we're committing tax fraud and laundering money, but where's the money we're laundering coming from?"

"My 'side hustle,' as Masuyo put it," Bessho answers. "She doesn't know the full details, fortunately, and sadly I must similarly keep you in the dark for now. I trust you, Wakana, but I can't let you know the full details until you prove yourself to be very trustworthy. However, I will tell you this: I sell and ship certain...goods illicitly. That's all you need to know for now." She pulls herself out of the hug and gestures for me to leave. "Come here again after your last table tonight. You can stay for an extra hour and I'll teach you the basics. Lie to your parents when you get home and say it was a busy night and that you had to close. Got it?"

I nod. "Yes, Bessho-san."

The kindly smile I'm familiar with instantly returns to her face. "Excellent. I'll see you then."

I turn to leave her office, dreading going back out to normal work and—
"Good morning, inmates. It is now 7 am, which means nighttime has officially concluded. Enjoy another day of confinement."

The morning announcement having unexpectedly startling me out of my dream, I open my eyes groggily. What was that dream? It was so weird...did I really get involved with illegal shit and Bessho-san?

A realization hits me out of nowhere. In my motive video, Bessho-sam talked about how "our scheme" was over...was she talking about this? I sit up in bed, massaging my temples. Fuck! I can't believe I let Bessho-san rope me into something illegal. I guess that whole nice boss act was just to manipulate me into joining her. Now, even if I get out of here, I'll probably have to deal with legal shit because the mastermind will definitely tell the cops about me. Takeshita-san was right...I should've never let Bessho-san convince me to become a part of whatever the fuck she was doing.

I force myself out of bed, frustrated. I'm annoyed at Bessho-san, but I still don't want her to die. Whatever we were doing, I doubt she deserves to die for doing it.

As I take a shower, dry off, brush my teeth, and get dressed in the bathroom, my thoughts drift away from Bessho and toward escaping. We're going to be doing that in just an hour or two. Honestly, now that we're getting closer, I can feel a small pit of nervous growing in my stomach. Kinda like the feeling you get as you get closer and closer to a big exam...except I'm not going to be doing integrals or analyzing poems. I'll be directly going against Monohebi and trying to escape from his clutches along with everyone else. It's really scary. Terrifying, really. But...like Sashihara-kun said yesterday, cowering in fear of Monohebi isn't an option if we all want to live.

Once I'm done getting ready, I leave my bathroom and—nearly have a fucking heart attack!

"Monohebi!?" I say incredulously, clutching my heart at the sight of the robotic snake curled up near the base of my bed. "What the hell are you doing here!?"

"I came to greet you, Kawashima," he says nonchalantly. "Is that truly an unwelcome sight?"

"Yes," I say, anger quickly replacing my shock. "Get the fuck away from me."

He does the annoying fake pout of his. "My, my, your rudeness is so unbecoming of someone of your occupation. Perhaps Bessho-san trained you poorly." He smiles wickedly. "Though I suppose she was more focused on training you on tax evasion and money laundering than any manners."

I give him a cold glare. "Did you return that memory to me last night? Is that why I had that dream?" I ask.

"How sharp of you," he says. "Yes, I indeed returned that memory to you, causing you to have that dream. I had meant to do it earlier, but I supposed it slipped my mind. I suppose it made the motive video less impactful when you had no idea of the context."

"How'd you find out?" I ask him. "I don't remember much about actually doing illegal stuff with her, so I can't say for certain, but Bessho-san...she seemed like the type of person who meticulously covered her tracks. I imagine she kept her illegal operations under the radar for many years."

"She certainly was," Monohebi says. "A most careful and most assiduous criminal she was."

"Was," I notice, "hm, that's interesting. You're referring to her in the past tense."

Monohebi is unmoved. "And what of it? Bessho-san and all the other hostages could be dead, it is true, but it is no certainty." He smirks. "However, they are certainly good as dead, hence my use of the past tense. If you brats choose to escape, which I can tell you still plan to do, she and everyone else will die."

Yeah, I don't buy that justification for a second. You already killed her and you're just covering for yourself now. "You never answered my question from earlier," I say instead of contradicting him. "How'd you find out about Bessho-san and I's criminal activities?"

He narrows his eyes. "It matters not. What matters is that I found out and I used that information about you. If you truly are curious, though, I suppose I could tell you."

I blink, surprised. "...What? You will?"

"Most certainly," he says. "Of course, it comes at a cost."

"I'm out," I say instantly. "Whatever cost you demand isn't worth it."

Monohebi shakes his head disapprovingly. "How foolish of you to deny me before I could even finish my offer. It is no matter, though. I will state it." He clears his throat. "I will tell you how I learned about what you and Bessho-san were doing. I will also not inform the police of any of your illegal activities. Additionally, I will let you go free and bring one person of your choice with you. Lastly, I am willing to restore all of your stolen memories. I am prepared to do all of these things...if you perform one simple task: kill one of your fellow inmates."

I knew that's what it was. "Absolutely not," I say. "I'm never going to kill someone, and I'm definitely not going to do it for you."

"How disappointing," Monohebi says. "I cannot say I did not expect that." He slithers closer to me, a smirk growing on his face. "However, if promises will not work, then I suppose I can employ more sordid methods." He chuckles. "Sususu...how do you feel about your parents, Kawashima-san?"

A chill washes over me. "I love them," I say cautiously. "Why? Do you have them too?"

"Sadly, no," Monohebi admits. "I do not have your sister Yuriko or your brother Keicho in my possession, either." His smirk widens. "That does not mean I cannot hurt them, though. You see, I know a certain someone who can, shall we say, dispose of your family members? Of course, this individual would be rather expensive. But that is no issue if it means the survival of this killing game."

I clench my teeth. "If that happens, I'll fucking kill you," I say.

"I have replacement robots," Monohebi says, unbothered by my threat. "Six back-ups in this prison, to be precise. And I have yet another one downstairs with two back-ups of its own in the trial room which is an exact duplicate of my AI, simultaneously controlled by the same network that controls me. If this model of me were to be somehow made inoperable, I would simply be reincarnated as one of the other six models up here. The same goes for the one in the trial room and its back-ups." He narrows his eyes. "By the way, all six of those back-ups are stored in secret locations scattered across this prison, so do not think you can destroy them."

"I wasn't thinking that," I say, lying through my teeth. It would've been nice if they were all in one place, because if we found them, we could destroy Monohebi for good. Well, I guess he'd still have the three Monohebis downstairs, but we could get those too. It's pointless to think in hypotheticals, though. Destroying all of Monohebi's replacements is way too much of a risk if they're not all in one place. Even if they were, it'd still be pretty dangerous.

"Lying to me is futile," he says, irritated. "But it is no matter. You and the other inmates will be unable to destroy me. You will be unable to defeat me. You will be unable to defeat this killing game." He narrows his eyes. "Mark my words, Kawashima...you have no idea how unprepared you are to escape. I know not the full details of your plan, but I know it will fail spectacularly."

"How can you be so confident?" I ask challengingly. "Is it because one of us is working for you? Or were you listening in our conversation in the sauna yesterday?"

"I was not listening to that conversation; I already told you that," he says crossly. "As for your first question, you know I am not foolish enough to answer something such as that." He laughs to himself. "Sususu...but, if you truly want to know why I am so confident you and the others will not escape...I could add that to my offers from before."

I stare at him, nonplussed. "I'm not killing someone," I say. "I'm not going back on that."

"Fine, then I shall not tell you all the reasons why I am so confident that I will continue this killing game." He smirks. "However, I will still tell you one because I am a generous warden...you see, there is at least one individual in your group who, despite appearing committed to doing their best to assist the group with the goal of escaping, has other intentions."

My heart sinks. No...he doesn't mean...
"That's not true," I say disbelievingly. "No...it has to be a lie! No one would plan to kill, not after going through the pain of four trials!"

"Can you truly be certain that is true?" he asks sharply. He doesn't wait for me to respond. "The truth is you cannot. After you went to bed last night, I witnessed at least one individual craft a plan that seems to conflict with your escape plan in one major way through my cameras..." He laughs to himself again. "Susususususu...to think, after so much talk of trust of expressions of camaraderie, you would be betrayed again..." His face hardens. "It is yet another piece of evidence that all of you brats are wretched, irredeemable scum. You all deserve to suffer."

"No we don't," I say, "and why'd you say 'at least one' person was planning something? Was more than one person planning to kill?" There's absolutely no way...

"I will not tell," Monohebi says. He then frowns, as if reconsidering. "Actually, if it will make you feel more despair and make you suffer more, I suppose it would be worth it to tell you." He smiles cruelly. "There was not one, not two, but three people up to no good." He can't restrain his laughter. "Sususu...sususu! SUSUSUSUSUSUSUSU! Is that not incredibly amusing!? Three out of seven are planning to betray you, Kawashima! I was hoping to make it four when I decided to come to you, but I suppose I was too greedy...still, three is more than enough!"

No...no....NO! That has to be a lie...there's no way that can be true! Three people, betraying the group even after so long...it's...it's unthinkable. It can't be true!
"You're lying," I say
angrily. "There's no way three people would do that so far along in the killing game!"

Monohebi tuts. "How disappointing, Kawashima. I hoped you were more logical to understand that I do not lie. To be entirely honest, I simply cannot lie. It is built into my programming." He glares at me. "I can tell you are distraught at what I told you, so I will be taking my leave now. Observing your despair and paranoia through the cameras will be sufficient for me."

He chuckles to himself as he slithers out my door, leaving me to process all that he revealed to me. Three people are "up to no good" in Monohebi's words, which is code for they're planning to kill. Fuck, this is terrible. One person would be bad enough. But three...that's bad. Really, really bad. God fucking dammit. Things are really not off to a good start today.

Feeling the pit of nervousness from earlier quickly morph into a chasm of anxiety, I head out my room to the Cafeteria. The others are probably wondering why I'm so late...

"Oh, there are you," Motoki says with a sigh of relief as soon as I enter the Cafeteria to see everyone already eating. "I was getting really nervous, Kawashima-san..."

"Me too," Sashihara says. "I'm glad to see you're okay, though."

"Same here," Hayasaka says. "Oh, and don't worry about me going to the bathroom, Wakana-san. Sakiko-san helped me with that already."

I smile proudly. "That was nice of you, Motoki-san," I say as I sit beside her.

"It was no problem," Motoki says humbly. She looks at me, smiling, but I soon see her knit her brows in concern. "What's wrong, Kawashima-san? You seem concerned about something."

That's the understatement of the decade. "...Yeah, I am," I say distantly. I stand back up. "I'll tell you about it when I get some food."

While I get my plate of breakfast in the Kitchen, I wonder what to do next. Should I tell everyone what Monohebi told me? If three different people are really planning to kill...would it really be wise to tell everyone? it could make me into a target. But if I don't tell, that'd leave the other three people except me who aren't planning anything in the dark, and that'd put them in danger...so I guess I have no choice to act, even if it puts me at risk.

I head back out to the Cafeteria and sit next to Motoki, doing my best to keep worry off my face. I don't want to make her or anyone else scared...even if I'm scared, I have to project confidence.

The entire time I eat, I feel everyone stealing quick glances at me. They're probably wondering why I was so late today. It is pretty unusual for me to be really late, so I don't blame them. I guess I should just come clean and tell them everything.

"I'm sorry for being so late," I say when I'm done eating. "Monohebi came to my room."

A collective gasp comes from everyone. "He what!?" Sashihara says incredulously.

"What the hell!?" Komatsu asks. "What the fuck was he doin' in yer room!?"

"Did he harm you?" Motoki asks, her face full of worry.

"No, I'm fine," I assure her, laying a hand on her cheek to calm her down. "I promise you." I look over at Komatsu, reluctantly removing my hand from Motoki's cheek. "He was in my room because he wanted me to kill for him. I refused, obviously."

Domoto strokes her chin. "He attempted to make you a new traitor," she says. "Huh. That must mean he's getting desperate."

"Not necessarily," Sashihara says. "Monohebi loves certainties. He told me a few times about the necessity of having what he calls 'insurance policies.' Such an example is making me the traitor...he could rely on me to kill if necessary. Obviously, he didn't need me, considering four trials happened and I didn't end up killing anyone. He just wanted to have me around as a plan to fall back on."

"So you're saying he was trying to recruit Wakana-san as a replacement traitor," Hayasaka says, twirling her hair nervously. "What an idiot. Wakana-san is the last person here who'd join him!"

Yeah, it was kinda weird that he went to me. But, if he was trying to mess with me, it's not weird at all. "I'm not sure he expected or even hoped to convince me," I say. "If I'm being honest, I think all he wanted to do was shake my resolve and scare me. He didn't shake my resolve much, but he definitely freaked me out."

Kasparov arches his eyebrow. "He did? That is rather peculiar. I did not think you were the type of person to be scared by Monohebi, Kawashima-san."

"I'm not scared of him," I say, a little too defensively.

Motoki takes my hand. "It's okay, you can be scared of him," Motoki says. "We all are. He's done plenty to earn our fear."

"Wakana-san, I can tell you're trying to act brave for the rest of us, but you don't have to," Hayasaka says. She smiles. "Really. It's okay to say you're afraid of him."

"Okay...maybe I am afraid of him," I admit sheepishly. "But still, Monohebi himself isn't what scared me. What he told me was."

I feel Motoki's grip tighten. "What is it?" she asks nervously.

I take a deep breath. I'll need to watch everyone's reactions to what I'm about to say closely. If Monohebi was right, three people should be planning murder, and mentioning that might make them react strangely. "Basically...Monohebi told me that last night he saw three different people planning stuff that 'conflicts with our escape plan.' I think you all know what that means."

It feels like everyone freezes for a moment, fear and shock written all over their faces. I observe everyone closely...but nothing looks out of the ordinary. Even though I'm trying my hardest to look for a suspicious reaction, nothing I see is weird. Fuck...either Monohebi is lying, or those three people are real damn good at hiding their surprise.

"Kawashima-san...yer jokin'...right?" Komatsu asks fearfully. "Tell me ya ain't serious..."

"Yeah...that can't be right," Motoki says, covering her mouth with her free hand and tightening her grip on my hand with the other. "There's no way that after the last trial, anyone would want to kill, much less three people...Monohebi has to be lying!"

"It's not a lie," I say reluctantly. "Monohebi told me he can't lie because of his programming. Besides, he's never lied to us before."

Domoto shakes her head. "We can't take his word as fact. We know nothing about his programming, so we can't verify that. But still, we can't ignore what he said." She narrows her eyes. "To think that this would happen...and with three different people? It's almost unimaginable."

"He could be trying to sabotage us," Hayasaka says. "He knows we're trying to escape, so he's trying to mess up our plans by making us doubt and suspect each other."

"That could be it," Sashihara says, clenching his fist. "He is the type of nefarious bastard who'd do that."

"I don't doubt that is a part of his motivation," I say. "But I don't think he's making it up. The way he told me...he was so smug about it. I don't think he was faking that."

"I believe it is best to err on the side of caution and trust that Monohebi is telling the truth that three separate people are planning to kill," Kasparov says gravely. "The way Kawashima-san described it, it seems Monohebi did not specify that three individuals in question are planning to murder or that their plans are all separate, but I believe both of those are fair assumptions to make, considering the situation."

Yeah, the motive being given to us yesterday and three people subsequently planning shit is not a coincidence. And there's no reason more than one person would work together on a single murder scheme, because only one would actually get out of here in the end.

"So...what are we gonna do?" Komatsu asks. "If three people are plannin' to kill, how are we gonna actually escape?"

"Good question," Sashihara says. "The three people probably believe we can't escape successfully...so we'll have to prove them wrong and show we can all get out of here safely. Then, I'm confident they'll drop their plans. That is, unless any of them on the mastermind's side, which I doubt is the case. Monohebi wouldn't rat the person who controls him out like that."

"You're not even going to try to find out who they are?" Motoki asks moodily. "Shouldn't we try to decipher who those three people are so they can't hope to have a successful murder plot?"

"That'd be ideal, Sakiko-san," Hayasaka says pensively. "Sadly, we have no evidence or clues to help us figure out who the three people in question are. So it'd just be blind finger-pointing unless one of them decides to come forward."

Sashihara nods. "Exactly. There's nothing we can do unless they confess. Besides..." He stops himself, then stands abruptly. "We should move this conversation somewhere more private."

"Sashihara-kun is correct," Kasparov says as he stands up too. "This is a matter best discussed in a place where Monohebi cannot hear us."

"We can talk while we paint the masks," Domoto says. "Kill two birds with one stone that way."

Yeah, that seems like a good idea. "Okay, let's go," I say.

The seven of us make our way upstairs to the third floor, stopping briefly along the way at the Props Storage Room for Motoki to get seven ski masks and Domoto the glow-in-the-dark-paint. Once we're all safely in the sauna, Motoki lays the seven masks out on the floor.

"So, what were you gonna say, Hisaya-kun?" Hayasaka asks as Motoki starts painting the masks. "You sounded like you were gonna say something in the Cafeteria, but then stopped yourself. What was it?"

"I was just going to say that there might be some small silver lining to all this," Sashihara replies. "I know it might sound crazy, but knowing three different people are planning something means those of us still committed to escape have to be extremely vigilant. That vigilance probably wouldn't have come about if it wasn't for this."

Komatsu grimaces. "I mean...that really ain't much of a benefit..."

Sashihara's face hardens. "Of course," he says. "Three people planning murder is still a huge problem. Three people are thinking of killing, so I'm going to issue this warning: if you're planning to kill someone, you better fucking forget about it right now. Because if I find out...you won't have to worry about Monohebi. I'll kill you myself. I don't care if it gets me executed by Monohebi, because I'll die in a few years anyway. If it means taking out a traitor, I won't hesitate to give up my remaining years and seek vengeance." His voice drops to a menacing whisper. "That's a promise."

Even though Sashihara's threat isn't directed at me, it still sends a shiver down my spine. Shit, that'd freak the hell out of me if I was going to kill...hopefully it changes the three people's minds.

"Damn, Hisaya-kun," Hayasaka says, a little nervously. "That kinda freaked me out...I wasn't expecting you to threaten violence."

"Nor was I," Kasparov says. "Although I may dislike Sashihara-kun using the threat of violence to deter our three potential culprits, if it works, it works. The ends justify the means in this case."

"Maybe...but I'd also like to say something," Motoki says, not looking up from drawing
δ on a mask. "It's a lot less violent, and I don't know if it'll actually do anything, but..." She lifts her head, looking around at everyone. "Take it from me, the person who was terrified of defying Monohebi and escaping for way too long, that escape is possible. It is worth it. If the motive is your reason for wanting to kill, don't fall for Monohebi's bait....the motive is just a trap, I promise. If it's not your reason, well...killing still isn't worth it. You don't need to do it to save yourself. We can all get out of this together." She closes her eyes and shakes her head, a confident smile forming on her face. "no. We will get out of this together."

I can't help but smile. Motoki-san...I'm so glad to see you've come this far. "Thank you for that, Motoki-san," I tell her. "That might've helped."

"I hope so," Motoki says, swiftly returning her attention to the δ mask in an attempt to hide her blush.

"I think it did," Domoto says. "I'm not one for sentimental shit like that most of the time, but even I felt impacted by that. Even if I doubt it'll help too much...I still think it was worth it." She gives Motoki a small smile. "So, thanks."

Hayasaka smiles. "Yeah, you did good, Sakiko-san," she adds.

"I personally believe the statement made by Sashihara-kun is more likely to deter any potential killers," Kasparov says. "However, it matters not how the minds of these potential killers are changed, so long as they are changed." He narrows his eyes. "Unfortunately, lest anyone wishes to come forth now, we must assume that all three of our potential culprits are sticking to their plans."

No one says anything. Shit.
I guess that means Sashihara-kun's threat and Motoki-san's words didn't work...or maybe they did and the three prospective killers are just too scared to come forward. I'd like to believe it's the latter, but it's safer to assume the former, so that's what I'll go with.

"Yeah...since no one's sayin' shit, those three fuckin' back-stabbin' cowards are prolly still gonna try 'n go ahead with their plans," Komatsu says. "So what the fuck are we gonna do to counter that? I feel like bein' more vigilant ain't enough..."

"Neither do I," Domoto says. "But what sucks is that there's not much else we can do. We can't arm ourselves, because that'll only make things easier for a killer to use our weapons against us or pin the crime onto an innocent person. We can't go as one big group to deter a murder either because that'll make things easier for Monohebi. So...there really is no better option than continuing with our current plans with an added level of extra caution."

"I guess," Motoki says. "It still doesn't feel right, though...I hate the thought of anyone planning anything because that means another trial might happen..." She shivers. "I'm not going to lie, part of me was really tempted to back out of this plan again when Kawashima-san first told us about the three people wanting to kill, but staying here is only going to make a trial more certain, so...Domoto-san's right. Continuing with our initial plans is the least bad option."

"Okay, but we need to add to our plans," Sashihara says. "Specifically, I think we need a new codeword that we can use if someone attempts to kill us or we someone doing something suspicious."

Kasparov nods. "Indeed. Ideally, it should be something very short so that it can be said quickly if necessary."

"Okay, then I have an idea," Hayasaka says. "We had the food theme going on, so maybe we could say someone is a 'chef' if we see them doing something weird or if they try to kill one of us."

"That works," I say.

There's a lapse in the conversation until Motoki finished the last mask. "I'm done," she says as she puts the finishing touches on the χ mask. "This paint is meant to dry really quickly, so we'll only need to wait about twenty minutes for it to dry, and then..." She gulps. "It'll be time to finally esacpe."

"The nearer we get to actually trying to get out of here, the more nervous I get," Hayasaka says. "Anyone else feel that way?"

"I assume we all do," Domoto says. "Right?" A murmur of agreement comes from most everyone, including me. Yeah...I was feeling that way this morning, and even more so now.
"What we're doing is a big risk," Domoto continues. "It was even before we had three potential backstabbers, but even more so now. It's only natural to feel nervous. It'd be stupid for us to not feel that way."

"Is it weird for me to feel kinda excited too?" Komatsu asks. "I feel mostly crazy nervous 'cause what we're 'boutta do's gonna be dangerous as fuck, but I also feel kinda excited too. I dunno why, maybe I'm jus' stupid."

"I do not believe you are being stupid," Kasparov tells him. "Just as it is natural for us to feel nervous about our plans, it is natural to feel excited as well. We could very well end this awful killing game today." He narrows his eyes. "No. We will
end it today."

"That we will," Sashihara says with determination.

Several minutes of anxious silence pass as we wait for the masks to dry enough to be usable. "Oh shit, we gotta get the walkie-talkies and night-vision goggles," Komatsu says abruptly. "'Less someone's brought 'em here already..."

"No one has," Domoto says. "We should get that stuff now while we finish waiting for the paint to dry."

"Indeed," Kasparov says. "I shall go with you, Komatsu-kun. You know where the goggles and walkie-talkies are being kept, correct? I do not recall the exact location."

Komatsu scowls. "I wasn't volunteerin' to get 'em..." he mutters. "I'll go, though. And yeah, I know they're in the Guard Barracks on the fifth floor. Dunno where exactly they are, though."

"In one of the middle lockers," I tell him. "It's the only one with anything in it."

"Understood," Kasparov says. "Alright. Let us be on our way."

They leave and return a few minutes later with all three walkie-talkies and all three night-vision goggles. It's good that nothing's missing, because I was a little nervous
Monohebi would be a bitch and steal them or destroy them.

"Just to make sure, the night-vision goggles go to Sergey-kun and Sakiko-san, Wakana-san, and me and Hisaya-kun?" Hayasaka asks. "And all the groups except mine get the walkie-talkies, right?"

"Indeed," Kasparov says as he hands a pair of night-vision goggles and a walkie-talkie to me. "That is what we decided yesterday. Are there any objections to that?"

Hayasaka shakes her head. "I don't think so," she says. "I don't have a problem with it." She frown. "It will be scary to not have the walkie-talkie, though, because it'll make communicating with the rest of you difficult during an emergency."

"You can call up to me, Hayasaka-san," I tell her reassuringly. "I'll try to stay by the stairs to the fifth floor so I can hear you two if anything goes wrong."

"Thanks, Wakana-san," she says gratefully.

After that, we wait yet another several minutes for the masks to finish drying. When they're finally ready, we all grab our respective masks and conceal them somewhere on our bodies. "Well...I guess it's time to get going," I say once my mask and walkie-talkie are safely tucked away in the pocket of my apron. "Is everyone ready?"

"As we'll ever be," Domoto says. She takes a deep breath. "Alright...once we leave here, we'll split into our groups and go to our respective positions. Everyone remembers the plan, right? Does anyone need a recap?"

No one answers her. "That's a no, then," Komatsu says. He fidgets anxiously. "Fuck, let's jus' get this over with. Standin' here's only makin' me more scared..."

Sashihara opens the door to the sauna and steps outside. "You heard him, everyone," he says seriously. "It's time to get going."

I leave the sauna, making sure to take my night-vision goggles with me, and head to the other side of the locker rooms with everyone else. Outside the locker room, Sashihara and Hayasaka turn left and Domoto, Komatsu, and Kasparov turn right, but Motoki and I hesitate. "Good luck," she says nervously. "And stay safe."

I grab her hand and give her a peck on the cheek. "I promise I will," I say. "And you stay safe, too."

"I will," she promises. She squeezes my hand, then hurries down the hallway. After reluctantly tearing my eyes away from hers, I do the same thing to catch up to Hayasaka and Sashihara.

"Saying goodbye to Motoki-san?" Sashihara asks when I catch them on the stairs to the fourth floor.

"Yeah," I say.

Hayasaka looks back briefly with a smile, then turns around. "Wait," she says suddenly. "I don't have my mask....fuck! I must've dropped it!"

Sashihara's eyes widen. "Let's find it," he says, doing his best to say calm as he hurries back down the stairs. "You continue upstairs, Kawashima-san. We'll be right behind you."

"I'll wait for you two by the Weapons Room!" I call out as they disappear from view at the bottom of the stairs. Shit, that sucks for Hayasaka-san. I really hope she finds it and Monohebi doesn't...

While I continue walking up the stairs, a disturbing thought crosses my mind. What if Hayasaka-san dropped her mask on purpose? What if someone stole it from her? I don't want to imagine Hayasaka-san, or anyone else for that matter, would be intending to kill someone, but I can't let that feeling block the logical side of me. Her mask being missing could be pure coincidence, but with what Monohebi told me this morning, it's not safe to assume anything is a coincidence.

As I stop right outside the Weapons Room, I grit my teeth. I hate this...I hate suspecting my friends so much. I figured that when we hatched this escape plan, we were all determined to get out of this horrible prison. Maybe that was the truth at one point, but whether it's because of the motive or a preplanned betrayal, the reality is that not everyone is on our side now. I frown. I want to believe being extra careful will be enough, but I really doubt it will be. Vigilance can only get you so far...

I feel my eyes drift to the entrance of the Weapons Roon. I could use a weapon from in there to defend myself, and anyone else if necessary.
I shake my head rapidly and tear my eyes away. No. I can't do that! Getting a weapon will only make things more dangerous and, if there's a trial, make me look suspicious.

But if I get a weapon and use it to threaten a potential culprit into submission and make them abandon their plans, there'll never be a trial. Besides, if I'm weaponless and get attacked by either a killer or Monohebi or even the mastermind, then I'll be as good as dead. I need to be able to protect myself...that's worth the risks of taking a weapon, right?

Letting that voice in my head get the better of me, I find myself walking into the Weapons Room, looking up and down the racks of weapons. Wait, this is a bad idea...I don't even know how to use most of these. Even still, I don't leave. Instead, I continue to look around, with my eyes eventually landing on a pistol on a rack a few meters away from me. If I'm going to use a gun, I might as well use a pistol, considering it's smaller and easier to hide...but there's the downside that I've never shot a gun before. I know how the safety works, how to reload, to be careful with recoil, and all that from watching movies and TV, but I've never shot or even held one before.

I walk over to it and pick it up. It's heavy, but not so much so that it's unusable. I turn it over in my hands, fumbling with it for a few moments before opening the magazine and seeing that it's already fully loaded with six bullets. That should be enough...if I can't hit someone who's attacking me with six bullets, then I'm not going to be able to take down a killer with a gun anyway.

Making sure the safety is on, I tuck the gun away in my apron pocket, wrapping the mask around it so its outline isn't immediately visible. I wouldn't want Hayasaka-san or Sashihara-kun to notice that I have this gun. That'd be bad...speaking of that, I should get out of here ASAP if I don't want them to be suspicious of me. If they saw me standing in here, they might realize I took a weapon.

Quickly exiting the Weapons Room and return to where I stood before, I breathe a sigh of relief when I confirm no one saw me. Good, I made it out in time. Uncomfortably aware of the extra weight the gun puts on my apron, I feel a surge of second thoughts come into my mind. But...is it really good? Maybe it would've been good for me to get caught, because that way I wouldn't be able to accidentally hurt myself or others with this gun. Guns are super dangerous weapons meant to kill...if I don't want to kill anyone, why do I have one? I said it's for self-defense to stop a potential killer, but I could end up being the killer myself if I'm not careful. And even if that doesn't happen, I could get wrongly accused of being the killer and get executed...

I gulp. Okay, now that I really think about, the risks of having this gun outweigh the positives. Domoto-san was right when she said we can't arm ourselves. I need to put it back now and then act like nothing ever h—

"There you are, Wakana-san," I hear Hayasaka's voice say.

I freeze. Oh shit... "Hey," I say, doing my best to play it cool as I turn to face Hayasaka and Sashihara. "You guys find Hayasaka-san's mask?"

"Mmhm," Sashihara says. "She dropped it in the girls' locker room."

"It's good to see you're both okay," I say.

"It sure is," Sashihara says. He regards me closely, then gives me a strange look. "If you don't mind me asking, Kawashima-san...why do you seem so tense?"

Fuck, he's onto me....should I admit everything to him and put the gun back? Part of me would like to, but it's too late now... "I
was just worried that maybe something bad was happening," I say, which isn't a total lie. "I thought maybe taking Hayasaka-san's mask had something to do with a murder plan, but it doesn't look like that's the case now, thankfully."

Hayasaka nods understandingly. "I get that...it's only natural to be worried after what we learned this morning."

"Yeah," Sashihara agrees. "Sorry if this abrupt, but we have to split up now. The plan's already started."

"Okay," I say as I begin to walk away. "See you both later."

When I reach the fifth floor, I search for any sight of Monohebi. I check all the hallways and open rooms but find no sign of him, so I return to a spot near the entrance of the stairway, my back to the wall. I fish my walkie-talkie out of my apron pocket, press down the button in the side, and talk into it. "No sign of Monohebi so far. Over," I say into it. I release the button.

The walkie-talkie crackles static. "Understood," Domoto's voice says. "Now, le—"

All of a sudden, all the monitors on the hallway walls turn on. On them, an unfamiliar middle-aged woman with long dark hair sits gagged and bound to a chair, wide-eyed and trembling. Is that Motoki-san's mom? Or Hayasaka-san's old guidance counselor? Or maybe Sashihara-kun's mentor? No, that can't be it, Sashihara-kun said his mentor is insanely fit, and this woman doesn't look like that. A shriek that sounds like it's from Hayasaka comes from downstairs. That confirms it, I suppose. It has to be her guidance counselor...

"Ahem," Monohebi's voice says through the monitor. "Ah, yes, I can be heard. Alright then." He clears his throat. "We now interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for a punishment. My dear inmates are being foolishly rebellious and seem to think they can actually escape, even though I have told them it is futile many times." He tsks. "How irritating. Do you not agree, Sato-san?" Monohebi slithers on-screen and holds a microphone close to her face with his tail.

Due to her gag, she can only make strangled crying sounds. "Mhm. Certainly. Oh yes, I completely agree," Monohebi says, nodding in agreement to Sato even though her words are unintelligible. "If you brats could not understand, Sato-san said the following: 'I hate all of you, but especially the pink brat. Mika Hayasaka, you deserve your eating disorder because you are overweight and unwantable. I should have let you commit suicide. You should have actually put that razor blade to good use on your wrists. Then maybe we would not have to deal with your worthless, ugly, fat, disgusting, repulsive, fake self any longer. Also, it is your fault your sister Miyoko is dead.'"

Monohebi shakes his head in mock sadness. "Such harsh final words from Sato-san, yet they are filled with truth." He places the microphone on the ground in front of Sato and slithers off-screen, only turn a moment later with a huge knife wrapped in his tail. "Now, for the main act." He rapidly turns around and stabs the knife deep into Sato's gut, causing her to scream against her restraints. Then, he twists it cruelly and slowly drags it across her stomach, rotating it the entire time. I look away and close my eyes tightly so I don't see what's on-screen, but I can't escape the horrific sounds of Sato's flesh being torn apart and her screams of agony. This is horrible...Hayasaka-san, I'm so sorry...

When the awful sounds finally stop, I cautiously open my eyes and look back to one of the monitors, only to quickly look away at the gory mess of Sato, which barely looks human anymore. I hold my hand over my mouth, doing my best not to vomit. Oh my God, Monohebi, he...he cut her up like she was a pig for slaughter! It's terrible...

"I did not want to do this," Monohebi's voice says gravely. "I truly did not. Sato-san was objectively a good woman. Yet you, my inmates, are so selfish that you would put your own lives ahead of Sato-san and those other innocent people close to you." His tone becomes venomous. "Turn back now. If not, I will not hesitate to make both the hostages and you suffer immensely."

He pauses. "Fortunately,
is not too late to abandon this asinine attempt at escape," he continues, his tone much gentler but still dangerous. "If you return to a normal state, I will delay the executions of the remainder of the hostages until the scheduled time of noon. Even better, if one of you kills, no one will have to die." I'm not looking at the screen, but even still I can tell that Monohebi's smirking. "Come now. I do not wish to spill unnecessary blood if—"

The monitor pauses, as if buffering, then turns off with all the lights, plunging the prison into pitch blackness. That's a relief. Looks like someone found where the power control was and turned it off.

I hear the walkie-talkie in my hand crackle for a second before Kasparov's voice comes out of it. "Epsilon and gamma have taken care of the power," he says. "Everyone put on your masks and night-vision goggles now. Over."

"I understand," Domoto says. "Beta, keep watch on what you need to see. You know what I'm talking about. Over."

I hold the walkie-talkie up to my mouth and speak into it. "Understood. Over."

After waiting a few more seconds for someone to say something else through the walkie-talkie, I put it back into my apron pocket and pull out my mask, dragging it over my head. Then, I put the night-vision goggles on. I wonder if I should take my gun out now...
I immediately banish the thought from my mind. No. I'm keeping that gun away unless I absolutely need it.

I look up and down the hallway for any sign of Monohebi but don't see anything. What a relief. I don't want to have to see him at all.

For about twenty minutes, nothing happens. The night-vision is grainy, but even so I can tell nothing and no one that shouldn't be near me is near me. Until I think I hear a sound from down the hallway.
Did I really just hear that...?
I stay absolutely still, even pausing my breathing for a moment, to confirm that I did hear something: the sound of a door creaking slightly. My eyes fly down the hallway, where I see exactly what I was hoping never to see: The door to the Surveillance Room slightly ajar, with Monohebi slowly and silently slithering out of it. Oh shit, oh shit goddamit fuck! I have to tell everyone now!

I hurriedly take the walkie-talkie out of my pocket, but right before I can speak into it, some horrifically dissonant music blasts out of it at ear-ruining volume. I nearly drop it in surprise. What the fuck!? Why the hell is it so loud!? And why the hell is this music coming out of the walkie-talkie!?

"I was going to jam them normally, but that would be boring," Monohebi says as if he read my mind, slithering towards me from the other end of the hallway. "But it matters not so long as I could sever the communication between you brats. I am certain Komatsu would approve of my avant-garde choices: a delightful atonal mix of the Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima, the Kyrie by Ligeti, and Polymorphia by Penderecki." He pauses but continues to slither closer to me. "You really should give up, Kawashima...or should I call you 'beta?' I do not wish to see harm come to you."

I silently swear. Fuck, I don't want to have to deal with Monohebi. He might kill me. "Stay away," I command him. "Don't come any closer, or I'll kill you!"

"With the gun you stole?" Monohebi asks as he stops approaching me. "Sususu...you know that would not be sufficient to defeat me, Kawashima. Give up. Lay down your arms and surrender to me."

"No," I say vehemently. "I'm never going to submit to you because you'll just attack me!"

I can't see it clearly because of the fairly grainy quality of the night-vision and because Monohebi is still about fifteen meters away from me, but it looks like Monohebi is amused. "Attack you?" he asks. "Oh, please. I have no need to attack you. Why would I do such a thing when someone else already intends on doing it?"

...What? Is he serious!? It's then that I hear footsteps rapidly approaching me and my heart jumps into my throat. OH SHIT!!
"STAY BACK!" I yell as I whirl around.

A solid punch knocks the night-vision goggles clean off my face and sends me crashing to the ground. Winded, I gasp for breath as I notice a glowing ω symbol floating above me. Wha...? What's that? It seems like one of the masks we all wore, but I'm sure Motoki-san didn't paint that on any of them. "Wh-Who...are you?" I ask, my breath mostly recovered.

The figure doesn't respond. Instead, they grunt. A second later, I feel a foot kick me in the side that knocks the wind out of me again. "Fuck you," I growl, reaching into my apron. I have no choice. I have to use it! I rip the pistol out and shoot blindly in the direction of the figure. They sharply breathe in, obviously shocked. That's not enough of a reaction for them if they got shot...I need to do it again! I try to shoot another time, but the gun is slapped out of my hand and clatters away, shooting at some random location. Fuck...fuck fuck FUCK!

"You're not gonna kill me!" I scream, climbing to my knees. "I'm not going down!" The figure says nothing.

A sudden pain stabs into the corner of my elbow. I gasp. Wh-What the...was I just stabbed?
I feel the area where the pain's coming from, only to find a cold needle. "What the hell did you inject into me!?" I shout at the mysterious figure. They still say nothing.

I attempt to get my feet to confront them head-on, but find myself unable to stand. Fuck, I can't move...and I'm starting to feel drowsy, too...they must've given me some sort of anesthesia...or maybe poison. Either way, I can't just let myself fade away!

Fighting in vain against the spreading drowsiness, I wave my hands around, trying to get a good grasp on the attacker's clothes. At last, I grip onto a piece of fabric. "Got you...bitch," I laugh half-deliriously, my senses rapidly fading away. "I...got...y..."

I fall onto my side without tearing any fabric from the attacker. Then, the numb darkness engulfs me.
***

Consciousness doesn't return all at once. At first, it's only the sensation that I'm lying on the ground. Then, I notice that it's not night time and that the darkness around me is only due to the absence of electric lights. Then, all my memories come flooding back at once. I sit up, groaning. Ugh, I feel like shit. At least I'm not dead, though.

Shakily getting to my feet, I attempt to make out even the barest hint of shapes around me in the darkness around me, but can't see anything except unending blackness.
Fuck, I can't see shit. I feel around me for my night-vision goggles and gun, but can't find either. Goddammit, that asshole who attacked me probably took them. No, they definitely did...I'm still alive, so the purpose of them attacking me must not have been to kill me. They wanted to incapacitate me and
prevent me from interfering with their plans.

The thought of that makes a lump of dread appear in my stomach. That person in the ω mask must've been trying to kill someone...but why not me? I was all alone up here on the fifth floor, so there wouldn't be any other witnesses. Did they have a special target in mind? I take a deep breath. No...not now, Wakana. Leave the worrying about that until you actually find a body. For now, you need to focus on getting to the basement. Also, you need to make sure everyone's okay and then escape if it's still possible.

I feel around in my
apron for my walkie-talkie, but it's nowhere to be found either. Goddamn, the bitch that attacked me really took everything from me, huh. If I can't use the walkie-talkie to communicate with anyone, I guess I'll just have to wander around until I find someone.

With my arms extended in front of me, I gingerly walk forward until I encounter a wall. Then, I move along it in the direction I think the stairs are in. Fortunately, when the wall ends and I move forward again, I encounter a railing. Yes, here we are! Now I just need to do this four more times until I can find my way to the basement. Hopefully, I can find the others on my way down...and hopefully, they're all alive when I find them...

Once I've made my way to the bottom of the stairs, I call out into the void. "Sashihara-kun! Hayasaka-san! Are you two alright?"

"Wakana-san!" I hear a relieved response. "You're alive!"

Oh, thank God she's alive... "I sure am, Hayasaka-san," I say loudly. "I'm by the stairs from the fifth floor. Where are you?"

"I'm by the entrance of the Weapons Room closer to the Infirmary," she answers. "Hisaya-kun was supposed to guard the one closer to you...he's out, but he's still breathing."

After using my hand on the wall to find my way to the closer entrance to the Weapons Room, I lean down and find a body that must be Sasahihara sprawled unmoving on the ground. He doesn't have his α mask anymore...whoever attacked him must've taken it. I fumble around for a bit then find his neck to confirm he has a pulse. "He's still alive," I confirm. I stand back up. "Where are you, Hayasaka-san? Did you get your mask taken too?"

"Yeah," she says. "I want to wait for Hisaya-kun to wake up, but I can't see anything and I've looked everywhere but can't find his night-vision goggles. The person in that weird mask must've taken them..."

They took Sashihara-kun's night-vision goggles as well...that means only Kasparov-kun and Motoki-san have them still.
"So you two were attacked by the same individual too," I say. "They were in a mask that looked like a curly Latin letter w, right?"

"Yep," Hayasaka says. "It was really scary." She pauses. "Wakana-san...do you think someone is dead?"

I hesitate to reply. "I hope not," I say. "I don't want to think that anyone is, but I can't rule it out until we manage to track down everyone else. To do that, we need to get down to the basement."

"Maybe I'm being naïve, but I don't think anyone's dead," Hayasaka says. "That weird person could've easily killed me, Hisaya-kun, or you...and yet we're all still alive. If they wanted an easy kill, they could've gone for any of us. So why didn't they?"

"I...don't know," I say. She does a have point, it is strange that they didn't kill any of us when it wouldn't have been hard for them to. But now's not the time to think about that. "We can't waste time thinking about that now, Hayasaka-san. We need to find everyone as quickly as we can."

"Okay," Hayasaka says. "Come over here, then let's go downstairs. I'm pretty sure no one else is on this floor."

Once I stumble through the blackness of the Weapons Room and am next to her, the two of us leave the Weapons Room and slowly head downstairs, pressing our hands against the walls the whole time so we don't lose track of where we are. We search all the rooms we can on the second and third floors and call out everyone's names an innumerable amount of times. However, we have no luck.

"Shit," I say at the bottom of the stairs to the second floor. "It's been at least thirty minutes, we're already on the first floor, and yet we haven't found anyone. Where the hell are they?"

"Maybe they're all in the basement waiting for us," Hayasaka suggests, though I can tell she doesn't believe that. "Come on, let's keep searching." She clears her throat. "Otoha-san! Yutaka-kun!" she shouts into the darkness. "You two came down here, right? Are you still here!?"

Nothing answers her. "Fuck, there's really no on—"

"Shh!" Hayasaka shushes. "Do you hear that? Listen carefully..."

I do as she says and then realize that there indeed is a very faint muffled sound coming from somewhere nearby. "What could that be?" I whisper. "Is it a person? If it is, why don't they just call out to us?"

"Maybe they're gagged," Hayasaka says. "Either way, we need to find the source of that sound."

Hayasaka and I use the walls to guide us closer to the sound, which becomes gradually louder as we get closer and closer. Once we're in the middle of a large room that has to be the Cafeteria, the sound is much more recognizable: it's a human voice struggling against a gag. "Otoha-san! Yutaka-kun! Is that one of you?" Hayasaka asks loudly.

The sound gets even louder. Guess that's a yes. "Don't worry, we're coming to get you."

We approach the sound more and more, entering a smaller room that must be the Kitchen, and following the source of the struggling until we're right next to it. "It sounds like you're gagged," Hayasaka says. "I'm going to take the gag off, okay?"
The person's muffling gets enthusiastic. "Good."

A few seconds later, I hear an exasperated exhale. "Thank fuck," Komatsu's voice says. "I was thinkin' I'd never get that shit off me. My arms are tied up too. Would ya mind gettin' those too?"

As Hayasaka works to unbind Komatsu's hands in the dark, I decide to ask him a question. "Were you and Domoto-san attacked by someone? And where is she?"

"I don't gotta clue where Domoto-san's at," Komatsu's voice says. "I ain't seen or heard her since I woke up. And yeah, we were attacked. Some creep in a weird mask knocked out Domoto-san then got me. I tried to fight back, but I couldn't do shit against 'em. They beat the shit outta me, though." He curses himself. "Fuck, I wish I coulda done somethin' to stop 'em..."

"Don't blame yourself, Yutaka-kun, because it isn't your fault you got attacked," Hayasaka says reassuringly. "There, I'm all done with your hands."

"Thanks," he says. I hear the sound of bones cracking, which is probably from him standing up. "Shit, it feels good to get up again. I dunno how long I've been on that floor for, but it musta been a while."

"Most likely," I say. "Komatsu-kun, are you sure you don't know where Domoto-san is? You sure she's not unconscious in here?"

Komatsu waits a few seconds to reply. "...I don't got a clue, Kawashima-san," he says. "I mean, maybe she's in here...but I haven't heard anyone else in here, not even breathin'. If she's still alive, she'd be breathin', right?"

"Yeah," I say. "Let's still look around, anyway. Dead or alive, if we find Domoto-san, we might find the walkie-talkie and use it to contact the others. Unless you have it."

"Nah, I don't got it," Komatsu says. "Domoto-san had it so she could instruct Kasparov-kun to build that drill in the basement." He pauses. "Hopefully it ain't still blastin' that music if we find it. Ya couldn't hear nothin' anyone else was sayin' when that shit was playin'."

"We can worry about that if we find the walkie-talkie," Hayasaka says. "But for now, let's focus on finding Otoha-san."

We do just that and comb every inch of the Kitchen and the pantry, but neither Domoto nor the walkie-talkie is anywhere to be found. This isn't good...if Domoto-san's not here, and she got attacked, then that means...

I force myself to stop going down that line of thinking. There's no guarantee she's dead, so I can't assume that yet. She might've awoken before Komatsu-kun and gone down to the basement. "We should go to the basement," I say. "If she's still alive, she probably went there. Besides, that's where we can turn the power back on and where Kasparov-kun and Motoki-san should be."

"I dunno if it's a good idea to turn the power on," Komatsu says. "I mean, we might as well commit to escapin' if we can. If we can't find the others, we should jus' get the fuck outta here. There's a chance they mighta done that already since agreed that we wouldn't hafta wait for all of us to be together to escape."

That's true... "Okay, we won't turn the lights on," I say. "But we do need to find the others. If we can't, we'll go upstairs and get Sashihara-kun, then leave."

"By the way, he's unconscious upstairs, Yutaka-kun," Hayasaka explains. "That's why he's not here. It's not because he's dead."

"I figured since the two of ya didn't seem to be worried 'bout him not bein' with ya," Komatsu says. "But it's good to have it confirmed."

"Yeah," I say. "Now let's try to confirm if Domoto-san and the other two are okay." I really hope all three of them are okay. But, if the person who attacked us was one of the three people Monohebi told me about this morning, then they were planning to kill someone. And, besides that person in the mask, there are two other people who had separate murder plans...so the chances of everyone being alive are pretty slim. Still, I want to hold out hope until I actually find a body. I don't want to have to imagine going through yet another trial again...

Hayasaka, Komatsu, and I slowly head down to the basement. At the bottom of the steps, a question crosses my mind. I wonder if we should bother searching the Freezer. Maybe the strange masked figure is hiding in the room in the back of the Freezer. It'd make sense if the person who took the key to it was one of the people planning to kill, so it'd be worth checking. However, it's super cold in the Freezer and we can't exactly move around quickly in such complete darkness, so I wonder if it's worth it. Even if it's warmer than usual because of the power being out, it'll still be really cold.
"Hey, Hayasaka-san, Komatsu-kun," I say. "Do you think it's worth it to look around the Freeze—"

An incredibly bright flash blinds me for a moment, causing me to recoil and nearly fall to the ground. "Fuck!" I shout, covering my eyes. "It's so bright!"

"It can't be..." Hayasaka says incredulously. "It's the power...it's coming back on!"

Sure enough, when my eyes adjust to the sudden change in light, I see that all the lights around us are lit. I can also see Hayasaka and Komatsu standing beside me. "Shit," I say. "Who the hell turned it back on?"

"I dunno, but we gotta get a fuckin' move on," Komatsu says hurriedly. "If we still wanna get out, we need to do it now! 'Cause if the lights are back, the cameras are back too!"

"Yutaka-kun's right," Hayasaka says. "Let's get to the Garage!"

Guess we're not looking in the Freezer now. There's no time to do that.
The three of us practically run past the Freezer, cells, and Trash Room. We run past the door to the smaller hallway that contains the doors to the Garage and Boiler Room, but are stopped dead in our tracks by the last sight any of us wanted to see.

"Is that...b-blood?" Hayasaka asks, shakily pointing to a small pool of blood right outside the entrance to the Boiler Room.

"It is," I say, feeling all my hopes that we all might be alive disappear right then and there. "The Boiler Room...there might be someone inside..."

"Should we even check?" Komatsu asks, anxiously glancing toward the Garage. "Listen, I know this sounds horrible, but if someone's dead and we can escape and avoid the class trial, we should do it, right? We'd ruin Monohebi's killin' game if we did that..."

"Absolutely not," Hayasaka says firmly. "We need to check. We're not abandoning someone if they're still alive and can be saved."

"Exactly," I say. "Even if no one's in here, we need to go back up and get Sashihara-kun from the fourth floor." I move so I'm standing right in front of the door to the Boiler Room. Feeling a heavy sense of dread coming over me, I reach out to the door handle and begin to turn it. "We have to look in here. We can't leave a living person behind." And we can't let a dead person go without at least confirming their death.

I try to brush that morbid thought aside. It's not guaranteed that someone's dead. There's still a chance no one's been killed...I can't lose hope just yet.
I tell myself that over and over as I push the door open and watch as it slowly reveals the inside of the Boiler Room. I can't lose hope yet. I can't lose hope yet. I can't lose hope yet.

Then I see what's inside, and that thought immediately vanishes.

A figure with a multicolored poncho and blue hair sits about ten feet in front of the door with their back to us, hunched over and motionless in the middle of a huge pool of half-dried blood.

No...no...NO! This isn't...it can't be...
"M-Motoki-san...? Is that you?"

There is no answer.

"Motoki-san!" I ask again, not even bothering to hide the panic in my voice. "Is that you!?"

Hayasaka softly grabs my arm. "Wakana-san...I th-think..."

"NO!" I yell, feeling tears sting my eyes. I run forward into the pile of blood to grab Motoki's shoulder. "Motoki-san, please tell me you're not dead!"

"I'm not," comes a nearly inaudible response from Motoki, but she refuses to even move.

Nonetheless, I'm filled with relief. "Holy shit, I'm so glad you're not
dead, Motoki-san," I tell her.

"I wish I was," she says weakly. "B-Because..." Her voice breaks. "Because I f-failed again...and now...now..." She finally sits up straight, revealing to me that she wasn't hunched over for nothing, because there's something in her lap.

A severed forearm.

Hayasaka and Komatsu gasp in surprise. "Holy shit!" Komatsu exclaims. "Is that—is that a fuckin' human arm!?"

"It has to be," Hayasaka says shakily. "Sakiko-san...don't tell me..." Her voice trails off into nothing.

I can only stare at the severed forearm, which is burnt and blackened beyond recognition. "M-Motoki-san...what...wh-why...do you have..."

Her eyes, which despite being filled with tears are empty as could be, finally meet mine. "I'm sorry that I failed," is all she says. "I let it happen again." She looks at a spot behind me.

I follow her gaze and feel my heart shatter as I realize what she's looking at: a blackened severed leg draped over a pipe. N-No...a leg and an arm cut off too...how would this...why would this...

It's then that I notice the arm on her lap and the severed leg are not all that's left behind. There's another leg on top of an air conditioner. There are the remains of an upper arm on the floor by a water heater. There's a section of torso propped against a generator.

But that's not the worst of it. Stuffed between the wheels of a valve is a red-stained mask, still dripping blood. A mask with a gamma painted on it.

That's when it finally breaks me. That's when I finally accept it...I'm not looking at a model. It's not a game. It's not a joke. No...what I'm looking at are the mutilated remains of Sergey Kasparov, the Ultimate Chess Grandmaster.
Chapter 5: Heavy is a Guilty Heart Daily Life END

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 5: Heavy is a Guilty Heart
Deadly Life

...Wh...at...?

How...How can this be real? Who would...who could do this to anyone!? Kasparov-kun, he's...not only is he dead, but he's fucking dismembered and burnt to a crisp!
"This...what the fuck?" is all that manages to leave my mouth. My eyes are fixated on the sight of Kasparov's brutalized remains. I can't believe this...why...

"Holy fuckin' shit," Komatsu whispers, terrified, from behind me. "Don't tell me...all these body parts...they're..."

"S-Sergey-kun," Hayasaka says, hands clasped over her mouth and tears streaming down her face. "All th-this, it's him. S-Someone...someone cut him up!"

The monitor on the wall turns on. "*ding ding dong ding* A body has been discovered," Monohebi says somewhat smugly, although most of his usual glee is noticeably absent. "Everyone, make your way to the Boiler Room. Following a period of investigation, there will be a class trial." The monitor turns off.

Monohebi sounded kinda off there. That's really not important now, though. I look back at the remains of Kasparov's body scattered across the room and feel an unpleasant feeling rising in the back of my throat.
Oh God,
I think...I think I might...
I feel that unpleasant sensation well up even more, and I can't stop myself in time as my vomit violently spills out all over the Boiler Room floor. There goes my breakfast...fuck, I hate the smell of vomit. I look back at Kasparov's remains scattered all around, then look away again. I can't look anymore, or I'll probably vomit again. Kasparov-kun...I'm so sorry this happened to you...

The revolting taste of bile stings in my throat as I will myself to not vomit again.
"Motoki-san," I say raspily, redirecting my attention away from Kasparov's grisly death and toward her. "Wh...What the hell happened?"

"I told you, I failed," she says emptily. "I was his partner, and I let him get killed...I let this happen..."

"'Less ya killed him, it ain't yer fault," Komatsu says. "It's the fault of whoever's the fuckin' monster that did this to him!"

I look back at him as I nod in agreement, but then notice that his face from the nose down is covered in dried blood. "Komatsu-kun, what the hell happened to you!?"

"I told ya, the person in that mask beat the shit outta me," he says distractedly. Huh...I guess I didn't notice before. I didn't see much of him in the light before now.
"But that ain't important!" Komatsu continues. "What matters is that Kasparov-kun's fuckin' dead, and the person who did it's one of us..." He closes his eyes tightly and swears. "Fuck! Fuck shit goddammit FUCK!! WHY THE HELL DID SOMEONE HAFTA DIE AGAIN!?"

I bow my head and let a tear fall out. "I don't know...but we can't find out until the trial."

Motoki tenses up. "Don't even say that," she says miserably. "Please...I still can't...I'm not ready for a trial now..."

Hayasaka approaches Motoki and lays a reassuring hand on her back. "I know it's terrible, Sakiko-san, but we'll find out who did this."

"Does it matter?" Motoki asks hollowly. "Really, does it? No matter what happens in this trial, at least one more person is going to die. Then after that, we'll have another trial and another and another until we're all dead." She picks Kaparov's burnt forearm up from her lap and stares at it. "We promised that we would beat Monohebi, but that failed. We all promised to trust each other and work to escape, yet no less than three people betrayed us. We promised to all get out of here alive, and yet..." She drops Kasparov's arm on the ground. "K-Kasparov-kun...I let him get murdered..." She starts sobbing uncontrollably.

I contemplate whether I should try to comfort her, but I can't bring myself to move. She has a point...why even bother doing anything at this point? We tried so hard to prevent deaths from happening. We tried after Furuhata-kun's death, after Aozora-kun's death, after Ichigohara-san's death, after the killings of Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun...but we failed every time. The outcome seems pretty much inevitable at this point, so why should we bother trying to go against it? Why struggle when there's nothing we can do?

The sound of quickly approaching footsteps brings me out of those fatalistic thoughts. I look behind me just as I see the source of the footsteps.
"Sashihara-kun," I say emptily. "There you are..."

He doesn't answer. Instead, he stares forward, confused. "What the...where's the bod—" He stops as he sees the various body parts scattered around. "Oh...h-holy...holy shit! Why is—who is it!?"

"It's Sergey-kun," Hayasaka says sadly.

Sashihara's face falls. "...O-Oh." He blinks several times and shakes his head in disbelief. "I...wasn't expecting that. He never seemed like the person to get murdered..."

"He wasn't jus' murdered," Komatsu says. "He was fuckin' slaughtered! Whoever did this to him, they wanted to make him suffer."

"Yeah..." Motoki agrees quietly, her crying subsided.

Sashihara slowly moves forward and gingerly picks up the severed forearm Motoki was holding earlier. He turns it over in his hands and scrutinizes it carefully for a few seconds. "This is definitely a real human arm," he says grimly while he puts it back on the floor. He grimaces. "So it's true...someone killed this person and brutally cut them up."

That catches my attention. "...'This person?'" I repeat. "Sashihara-kun, what the hell do you mean? Kasparov-kun's dead. That's his mask over there. Motoki-san said it's him."

"He might be dead, yes," he says. "But we can't know for sure until Monohebi gives us the Monohebi File or we find some form of concrete identification, which the mask definitely is not. Unless Motoki-san has some proof, I can't believe her right away. We have no head or anything else to prove it's actually Kasparov-kun. For all we know, it could be Domoto-san."

"...Oh yeah, she's not here," Motoki says. An expression of fear strikes her face. "Wait...could it really be her that's dead!? And if it's not her, where could she be!?"

"Perplexing questions, Motoki," Monohebi's voice says.

I glare at Monohebi as he approaches us. "Fuck you," I snap at him. "You did this, didn't you?"

Monohebi frowns. "Kill Kasparov? No. You all may find this hard to believe, but I had absolutely nothing to do with this murder nor did I attack any of you."

"So is it really him?" Sashihara asks. "You just said his name, so is it really him?"

Monohebi takes an unusually long amount of time to respond. "Almost certainly," he says eventually. "I do not wish to reveal this all to you, but it is fairly obvious, so I might as well: I do not currently have camera footage of this murder due to you all turning out the power." That must be why he didn't sound as happy as normal on the body discovery announcement... "As such, I cannot be absolutely one-hundred percent sure it is him...yet," Monohebi continues. "However, Domoto is still alive, as are all of you, and...well, there are other reasons why I know it is him. But I shall not tell you those."

"Wait....you don't have camera footage of the murder?" Motoki asks, shocked. "Then even you don't know the culprit is!?"

"And Domoto-san's alive?" Komatsu asks. "Tell us where she fuckin' is!"

"Have patience, brat," he snaps. "I shall tell you where she is later. Once you find her, tell her everything I say now, as she is currently incapacitated and I do not wish to wait for her. As for the question from Motoki..." His face twists bitterly. "Indeed. I do not know the identity of the culprit with certainty. Not yet, at least."

What the fuck...even Monohebi doesn't know who the killer is? How does he expect us to do the trial then? Also...it's a relief to hear Domoto-san's alive. As much as I find her difficult to deal with at times, I don't want her to die.

"How the hell do you expect us to do a trial when even you don't know the culprit?" Hayasaka asks challengingly. "If we went through a trial now, it'd be a sham! So you can't let us do one now!"

"Silence, you worthless whore!" he snarls. "Do you not know the meaning of the word 'yet!?' I may not know the identity of the killer now, but I will in due time."

Sashihara shakes his head and laughs humorlessly. "How can you know the killer's identity for sure without camera footage?"

"Camera footage is not a necessity, but it does make things much easier for me," he says. "Fortunately for me, for a brief period of time while you were all asleep, the power was restored for approximately thirty seconds. For reasons I will not reveal to any of you, I can be reasonably certain Kasparov was slain either shortly before, shortly after, or during this time. I believe the culprit did this intentionally so that they could show me proof they were the killer." He frowns. "However, what they did not know is that the footage captured during that brief period of time will be difficult to get back. It will take me at least three or four hours to fully recover it."

So that's what he meant by "not yet"...still, it's not like he can be absolutely sure footage of Kasparov-kun dying is on that camera footage.
"What if that footage doesn't show Kasparov-kun's death?" I ask. "The whole trial is illegitimate then, right?"

"Wrong," Monohebi says instantly. "The trial will be legitimate because I am fairly certain I know the culprit is. I need only to confirm it now through inspection of my own. Have you forgotten that I saw three people planning murder last night? It will not be difficult for me to ascertain the identity of the culprit." He pauses. "However, I will not be taking any risks. As such, I will be investigating along with all of you."

Motoki's eyes widen. "What!?"

"No, ya ain't gonna do shit," Komatsu says. "We ain't gonna let ya investigate with us!"

"Yeah!" Hayasaka agrees passionately. "You investigating will only help you, so we're not going to let you!"

"I will kill all of you if you stand in the way," Monohebi says, irritated. "The remaining hostages—which consists of everyone but Sato-san—will be killed as
well if you attempt to hinder me. I am in no mood for such games. I will investigate whether you want me to or not." He clears his throat. "Now then. There is no time to waste. I shall upload the Monohebi File now, which will commence the period of investigation."

Komatsu moves toward Monohebi and cracks his knuckles. "Nah, before we get started, ya gotta tell us where Domoto-san's at!"

"The Surgery Room on the fifth floor," Monohebi answers, annoyed. "I would not recommend you spend too much time with her, by the way. I will not be extra generous with this investigation period simply because I am having a more difficult time than usual."

"Who's going to go get her?" I ask. I really don't want to...it's probably better if I spend more time down here.

"I'll go do it," Komatsu says with a shrug. "She was my partner, so it's only right I go."

As he leaves, the chiming notification sound that must be the Monohebi File uploading comes from the e-Handbooks of me, Motoki, Hayasaka, and Sashihara. It's so weird to hear only four of those sounds. I remember that before there used to be so many of them when Monohebi uploaded his file...and now there's only four. And the four of us here are barely more than half of the living students...there's hardly any of us left now...

I so badly want to fall to the ground and cry my eyes out. I want to curl up in a ball and wallow in misery. I want to do anything but investigate Kasparov-kun's death and do another trial. I don't have to investigate...I could sit here and do nothing, and then I'd die at the trial. It'd suck, yeah, but at this point, death doesn't seem too bad...

I shake my head rapidly to get that thought out. No. I won't give up like that. If I
do nothing, then his death will go unpunished, and I will not
allow that.
I can't allow someone to get away with killing him, or betraying the rest of us. Doing both of those things would be bad enough on their own, but in this context...so far into this killing game and killing someone in such a cruel way...there's no room for forgiveness. Monohebi might not even know who the culprit is, but I know one thing: I'm going to find who killed Kasparov-kun.

And when I do, I'll have no mercy.

Investigation START!

Feeling motivated to find the truth of Kasparov's death, I pull my e-Handbook out of my pocket and read the tab labeled "Monohebi File #5":

"The victim of this case is Sergey Kasparov, the Ultimate Chess Grandmaster. The cause and exact time of death are both unknown, however, the victim died at some point between 9:54 AM, when the power was initially turned off, and 12:11 PM, when the power was permanently restored. The entire body was burned and dismembered."

According to this,
I was asleep for about two hours, which is good to know. However, that's pretty much the only valuable information in the file. There's no time or cause of death...damn, the Monohebi Files are really getting more and more useless. I guess that means I'll have to rely on my own investigation skills more than anything else.

I put my e-Handbook away and notice that Motoki is still sitting in the pool of blood. Hayasaka-san and Sashihara-kun have already left, yet she hasn't even so much as got off the ground...

"Motoki-san, aren't you going to investigate?" I ask her.

She doesn't reply immediately. "Maybe," she says weakly. "I don't know...I don't really see the point..."

I crouch next to her. "Motoki-san," I say softly, laying a hand on her back. "Tell me the truth. No lying and hiding shit like you did in the last trial. Did you kill Kasparov-kun or cause his death?"

She sharply turns to me, aghast. "What!? Of course I didn't!" She makes a pained face. "I'm never going to make that mistake again..."

"Then don't blame yourself for any of this," I say. "It's not your fault we were betrayed by a murderer."

"But it is," Motoki says miserably. "I didn't try hard enough to prevent yet another death. I wasn't good enough to stop this from happening. As his partner, I was supposed to protect him and he was supposed to do the same for me...but I failed...I let someone sneak up on me and knock me out..."

That gets my attention. "Someone snuck up on you?" I ask. "Who?"

"I have no clue," she says. "It wasn't too long after the walkie-talkie went crazy and that horrible music was blasting out of it...maybe a minute or two later? Either way...I was feeling around for a tool that Kasparov-kun needed when out of nowhere he told me to watch out for someone behind me. I panicked and tried to run away, but I couldn't. Instead, I felt someone plunge a syringe into my neck. It must've been some sort of anesthetic because I fell asleep for a while...and when I woke up, my mask was gone and I couldn't find Kasparov-kun anywhere. I called out for him, but I got no response. So I fumbled to the power control panel in the back of this room and eventually managed to get it back on...and th-then..." Her upper lip begins to wobble. "I f-found him..."

I lean over to hug her as she cries into my shoulder. "Please don't blame yourself," I say softly. "It's horrible that Kasparov-kun died, but if what you're saying is true, there's nothing you could've done...you were attacked from behind in the dark. It isn't your fault you were attacked."

"I just wish there was more I could've done," she says, her voice muffled by her sobs and my shoulder. "Kasparov-kun told me to watch out, but I didn't move fast enough. Maybe if I had, I could've gotten away and saved him..."

"The person who attacked you probably had night-vision goggles," I say. "I think the one who attacked me had them, too."

Motoki lifts her head from my shoulder, her brows knitted in confusion. "...What? You were attacked too?"

That's right, I haven't told her yet. "Yeah, I was," I confirm. "Same with all the others. Some person in a weird mask attacked us."

"A weird mask," Motoki repeats. "Huh. I don't remember seeing that. I don't think the person who attacked me had any mask on."

"You don't?" I ask. "You didn't see this symbol painted on it?" I lean down to the puddle of blood and draw the ω
symbol I saw on the mask on it.

"A lowercase omega?" Motoki asks, confused. "What...? I never saw a mask like that. I never painted one, either. I don't know why anyone would have one..."

So an omega is what it's called...but that's not important at the moment. What matters is that Motoki-san never saw anyone in that mask, yet she was knocked out the same way I was. On top of that, she said she was attacked about a minute or two after the horrible music started coming out of the walkie-talkie, which would mean she was attacked really, really soon after I was...does that mean two people were involved? Or was it just one super fast person? This is weird...

"I don't know either," I say, resuming the conversation, "however, I'm pretty sure whoever attacked you is probably the killer. Are there are any clues about them that could help lead to their identity? Did you hear their voice or get a feel of their clothes or anything like that?"

"No," Motoki says regretfully. "I wish I had...that'd make things so much easier..."

I cup her cheeks in my hands. "Don't put yourself down. What you've told me so far has already been helpful."

"It has?" she asks, surprised.

"Mmhm," I say. The fact the person who attacked her had no mask to be seen and attacked her so soon after I myself was attacked, using the same method to knock her out as they did to me...that's a valuable clue.

"Well, it'll be the only useful thing I can do," Motoki says miserably. "I'm not good at these investigations...I'll never be able to figure out what happened to Kasparov-kun or who killed him..."

"Yes you will," I tell her firmly. "Listen to me. You feel really guilty about Kasparov-kun's death, right? You want to make sure his murderer doesn't get to go free, right?"

She nods. "Of course I do..."

"Then you can investigate well," I say. "You only need to apply yourself. I'd say follow me around, but there aren't enough of us left to do that...so go off on your own and find as many clues as you can. Are you capable of doing that?"

Motoki nods again. "Yeah," she says, her voice small. "I still don't want to, though...I don't want to have to do another class trial and condemn another one of my friends to die..."

"None of us want that," I say. "But we have no choice in the matter. All we can do now is make the best of it." I step away from her. "It's time for me to get investigating, Motoki-san. You get changed out of those bloody clothes, then start investigating immediately. Okay?"

"Okay," she says, still sad but with more confidence than before. "See you around, Kawashima-san." She walks away.

Resisting the temptation to watch her as she leaves, I look down at the pool of blood she was sitting in for a while. It's pretty large...makes sense, because dismembering Kasparov-kun must've caused him to bleed a ton, even if it was done post-mortem.

That makes me think. When was Kasparov-kun dismembered? Was it after his death, or was the dismemberment itself his cause of death? And how long ago was that? Hoping to get a hint to my last question,
I crouch down to inspect the pool of blood.
It's pretty much dry now. But when I first got here, while it wasn't anywhere near fresh, it was definitely a lot wetter. So it must've not been too long ago that Kasparov-kun was cut up.

I'm about to get up when I notice something on a visible section of the floor where the blood's been smeared away. My heart drops when I see what it is: four bullet holes. Oh God FUCKING dammit! Don't tell me...did the killer use my gun on Kasparov-kun!? I massage my temple. Shit...they probably did. In that case, I need to be prepared to admit to stealing the gun in the class trial. Or maybe even sooner...

After taking note of the bullet holes, I make myself return my attention to the horrific scene of Kasparov's death. Don't vomit again...don't vomit again...don't vomit again...

Not knowing where to begin, I decide to simply start with what's closest to me: the severed arm Motoki had been holding earlier. I pick it up and examine it. God, this is so fucking disgusting...the skin is blackened and crispy, and if I'm not careful, I'm pretty sure the skin might slough off...
I put the arm back down. Okay, note to self, don't pick up any more of the severed body parts unless necessary. It's too gross. I take a look back at the severed arm. There is something noticeable about that arm, now that I think about it...the cut seemed pretty clean. It definitely wasn't carelessly ripped away. No, it was carefully and methodically cut from Kasparov-kun's body...

Thinking about that makes me even angrier. That dispels any notion that Kasparov-kun might've been accidentally killed...I never thought that was the case, but these clean cut marks prove his death was no mistake.

I leave the arm behind and move to the next closest body part, a severed leg hanging over a pipe. This looks like it was his left leg...it's burnt to a crisp, too. My eyes look over it for anything strange but find nothing. I can tell this is Kasparov-kun even despite the burning. Those dress shoes, even though they're melted and deformed, look like his...

I move on from the leg to the next body part I see, the remains of an upper arm by a water heater, which also has the epsilon mask Motoki wore previously lying on the ground near it. This arm's about the same as the other body parts. Not much special...the mask is interesting, though. I wonder where all the others are.

I'm about to move on from that arm when Monohebi slithers by me, holding the other severed upper arm in his mouth. "What the hell are you doing!?" I shout at him. "Don't touch his body, you piece of shit! You could be destroying evidence!"

"What ignorant nonsense," Monohebi says irritatedly, his voice muffled by Kasparov's arm. "I am not that petulant brat Oyamada. I would never deface a crime scene. No, I am simply collecting this arm so I may reassemble the pieces of the corpse of Kasparov."

"What?" I ask. "Really?"

"Indeed," he says. "I would appreciate it if you helped me, Kawashima. It would make things easier for both of us."

Although I want to tell him to fuck off and that I'm fine on my own, the idea of putting the pieces of Kasparov's body back together is too good of an idea to pass up. Dammit, Monohebi, why'd you have to come up with such a good idea... "Fine," I say reluctantly. "But let's make it quick."

Monohebi and I then bring all the pieces of Kasparov we can find in the Boiler Room to the open space near the front of the room. Once they're all there, Monohebi carefully arranges them into the shape of a body, which allows me to see which pieces of Kasparov we have and don't have. Everything's here except his head and a section of his torso...looking at it from above, only the upper-right portion of it is gone. I wonder what the killer did with that and Kasparov-kun's head. Where'd those two pieces go? What made the killer think they had to separate these two pieces from the rest of the body?

"It appears as if Kasparov was cut into eleven pieces," Monohebi says. "The culprit separated his head, his upper arms, his forearms, his legs, and then four pieces of his torso. The four aforementioned torso pieces seem to have been cut along two axes: the center along the side of the sternum and also along the bottom of the diaphragm."

The what and what? "Um...what are either of those?"

Monohebi looks at me, annoyed. "To think you are ignorant of such basic components of human anatomy..." He sighs. "The sternum is also known as the breastbone and is located in the center of your chest between your ribcages and near the heart. The diaphragm is a part of your body that separates your thorax, or upper chest, from your lower chest. It is essential for breathing."

He slowly moves his eyes over Kasparov's reassembled body parts. "Although I cannot be sure, it appears the culprit was rather intelligent," he goes on. "Cutting along the lines they did is smart, as cutting in poorly chosen locations could result in intestines being spilled everywhere. Yet, despite the large pile of blood here in the Boiler Room, which indicates that the dismemberment likely took place in this location, there are no intestines nor any other internal body scraps to be found."

That's true...if the culprit really dismembered Kasparov-kun in here, I'd expect to see a lot more than just blood. And yet, there's nothing else to be found. Whoever this killer is, they're smart.
"Maybe that's why his body is burnt," I speculate out loud. "I have no idea why they'd cut him up in the first place, but cauterizing wounds can stop bleeding, right? Maybe the killer burnt Kasparov-kun's body so he didn't bleed as much."

"I believe that is likely correct," Monohebi says. "I am sure the culprit's main intention with the burning was more along the lines of obfuscating the true cause of death, but you are not wrong. To be honest, I am surprised you reached such an intelligent deduction so quickly."

I ignore that slight. He's just playing games and being his usual asshole self. Besides, getting mad at him only distracts me from the investigation. I look back at Kasparov's body, looking for anything that sticks out other than the burning and dismemberment, but nothing does. "...There aren't any visible wounds besides the obvious ones from him being cut to pieces," I notice. "So maybe the point of dismembering Kasparov-kun was to hide the true cause of death. Then, they burnt his body to stop the bleeding and to confuse us even more."

"Oh my, two intelligent deductions in a row," Monohebi says mockingly. "It seems I have truly underestimated you."

Ugh, I don't want to be around him anymore. He's smart, and he's admittedly pretty good at investigating, but he's too condescending and creepy to be around for long. However, he is a pretty good source of information, so I might as well ask him something that's been on my mind while I'm here...

"Where were you while we were escaping?" I ask him. "Were you the one who killed Kasparov-kun?" I don't think it's really him, but I can't ignore the possibility...

"As I already said, no," Monohebi says crossly. "Cease accusing me of that already. Have you already forgotten Rules 14 and 15, which I added during the last investigation? I cannot conspire directly to harm an inmate in any context except an execution. Were I to do so, I would be forced to execute myself. I am not so stupid as to break my own rules. Besides, I would not be investigating if I were the killer." He hisses angrily at me. "Ssssssssss...do not slander me in such a way, Kawashima! I will never break my own rules."

I guess that could be true, but I still don't trust him. "If you say so," I say, unmoved by his anger. "Anyway, you still didn't answer my question. What were you doing while this was going on?"

Monohebi waits to answer. "I do not wish to tell you that and am under no obligation to answer," he says. "However, I will do so nonetheless, not because I am afraid of you, but because it is what is right." He clears his throat. "Ahem. Listen well, as I will not repeat myself. When you brats first decided to escape, I was at an undisclosed location where the hostages are being kept. Once the power was shut off, I was forced to return to the Surveillance Room to ensure no one attempted to access it. I was there until I encountered you in the hallway. After you were knocked out by the individual in the omega mask, I switched my AI to the model in the basement and then used a method I will not disclose to bring me to the area just beyond the Garage doors.

"I figured you would attempt to escape through those doors, and was planning to harshly greet you on the other side...yet no one came," Monohebi continues. "I waited for approximately two hours, at times checking the inside of the Garage to see if any of you were there, yet I saw no sign of any of you, not even when the power was restored for approximately thirty seconds. I did not investigate the rest of the basement. When Motoki returned the power, I switched my AI to the model in the Surveillance Room and saw that someone was dead. Then, I used a model in the basement to arrive in this Boiler Room. That is all."

Wow, that was a really thorough explanation. I'm curious about what he meant by "beyond the Garage doors" and what he was planning to do if we got through them, but I doubt he'll tell. Besides, the response may not be something I want to hear.

"Okay," I say. "Now, who are the three people you saw planning to murder last night? If you don't know who the culprit is, it's best you tell me so I can narrow my suspect list."

"Absolutely not," Monohebi says. "That would make the trial so very boring, and I cannot have that. You will have to learn the identity of those individuals yourself." He chuckles. "Sususu...that was a truly foolish question. I have no time for fools, so I will be departing from this location. Goodbye."

I watch him as he slithers away. Fuck. I didn't think he'd tell me, but I at least wanted to try. I return my attention to the crime scene. There's no time to waste thinking about him. I still need to do plenty of investigating here. Namely, the mask Kasparov was wearing and that power control panel.

Deciding to look at the mask first because it's closer, I approach the valve wheel it's stuffed into. I take it out and immediately regret my decision. Ew, it's so crusty with half-dried blood...I need to put this away or I'll throw up. Placing the mask on the ground so I can examine it without touching it, I look for any sign of strange things. However, I find none except for the fact that it's stained red and was obviously soaked in blood. The way the γ is painted tells me this is definitely the mask Kasparov-kun was wearing, but there are no holes or tears in it. I guess that means he didn't die from a stab wound to the head...at least, not while he had his mask on.

After putting the mask back where I found it, I search the entire Boiler Room until I find the power control panel. So this is where Motoki-san and Kasparov-kun turned off the power. There's nothing much remarkable about the panel itself, but on the floor in front of it, there are four bullet shells and a few small pieces of circuitry and wires with a piece of paper lying next to them. I crouch down and pick up the piece of paper that looks like it was torn from a notebook and see it has "NIGHT AND NEVER DAY-NIGHT AND NEVER DAY" written on it. What the hell...? This makes no sense at all. I was never good at English at school, but I'm pretty sure this sentence makes no fucking sense, so why's it written on this piece of paper? And why is it next to all this circuitry?

Frustrated at my misunderstanding, I turn my attention to the bullet shells. I pick one up. These look to be the right size for the bullets in the pistol I stole. Ugh...that means the culprit must've used it. I'm a dumbass for even thinking of stealing that stupid gun. It may actually be what killed Kasparov-kun...I may have been responsible for providing the culprit with their murder weapon...

Feeling really guilty for taking that gun now, I stand back up and take one last look around the Boiler Room. I find nothing, so I move to exit.

Right as I'm about to open the door, it's opened from the other side. "Oh, it's you," Domoto says, with Komatsu right next to her.

Some greeting that is. Well, it looks like she's alive, just as Monohebi said. "Good thing to see you're alive," I say.

"Yeah, yeah, like I'd ever let myself get killed," Domoto says.

Komatsu snorts. "Ya definitely coulda been killed today, though," he says. "I mean, I found ya tied down to that table in the Surgery Room with stitches on your shoulder. I'm pretty sure the only reason yer still alive's jus' luck."

"Luck had nothing to do with it," Domoto snaps. "Whoever killed Kasparov-kun clearly planned to kill him from the start. I don't know why they did surgery on me, but they obviously didn't want to kill me for some reason."

"Are those stitches from surgery?" I ask her, pointing to a small portion of stitches visible by her collar.

Domoto moves the collar of her blouse to the side so I can get a glimpse of the stitches in question. "I'm pretty sure they are," she says. She moves the neck of her blouse back to its normal spot. "I don't know why the hell it was done, because I don't feel any different, but something obviously happened."

Yeah, but what could it have been? I have no idea why someone would do surgery on someone they could've easily killed. It's so weird...I'll need to investigate the Surgery Room later. But before I do that, I need to talk to Domoto-san and Komatsu-kun and get their stories on what happened. "Can you two give me your accounts for what happened since the escape plan happened?"

"Sure thing," Komatsu says. "We went to the Kitchen before the lights went out. I stood by the door and Domoto-san was by the counter. After the power went off, we did our normal thing for a while. Domoto-san was givin' Kasparov-kun instructions on the walkie-talkie and I was standin' in the doorway to make sure no sneaky asshole tried to sneak in. It was all good 'til Monohebi started blastin' Ligeti and Penderecki through the walkie-talkie so loud that we couldn't hear nothin'."

"I'm guessing you two were attacked very soon after that music started," I say.

"No, it took a few minutes," Domoto says. "At least three. Then, I heard someone from behind me and called out to Komatsu-kun, telling him to run away, and then...I felt a needle dig into my neck and I was out until I woke up tied to that operating table in the Surgery Room."

Wait, there are a few things weird about this. The person came for them that long after the music started? And they came from behind Domoto-san? "How'd they come from behind you, Domoto-san? Were you standing with your back to the door?"

"I didn't move after the lights went off, and I'm sure my back was to the pantry when that happened," Domoto responds. "So whoever attacked me must've gone through the secret trapdoor that Yamaguchi-kun used all the way back when he killed Furuhata-kun."

"Yeah, that's gotta be what happened," Komatsu says. "I was coverin' the entire doorway with my body to make sure no one coulda got in through that way...I completely fuckin' forgot the trapdoor in the back of the pantry, though. Whoever attacked us musta seen that we had the front entrance guarded, so they went 'round back...sneaky lil' bastard."

They sure are sneaky. They have a good memory, too. No one's brought up that trapdoor for some time, and yet they managed to think of using it in such a short amount of time. That, or they planned it ahead of time... "Did either of you see a mask that this culprit was wearing?"

Both of them nod. "They had a mask with an omega on it," Domoto answers.

"So that's what that symbol's called..." Komatsu says. "Anyway, they had a mask on, yeah. But even though I could see where they were movin' 'cause of the mask, I still lost against them...when I heard them take out Domoto-san, I hurried over to where I saw the glowing omega symbol and started throwin' punches in their way. I think one of 'em landed...but the attacker returned the favor and beat the shit outta me." He gestures to his face, which still has dried blood all over it from the nose below. "I think they broke my nose...ain't the first time that's happened to me, though, so I'll be good."

If you say so... "Did they knock you out with anesthetic after that?" I ask him.

"I think so," he says. "I dunno, it's kinda hazy...I mighta lost consciousness from the fight itself. But I was out for a while 'til I woke up all tied up, so...I think they did."

I'd like a confirmation, but I guess that's not always possible. "Okay, thanks for your stories," I say.

I move to walk away, but Domoto grabs me by the shoulder. "Where are you going?" she asks sharply. "We told you what happened to us, so it's only fair you return the favor."

Fine, but there was no need to be so aggressive. "I was walking up to the fourth floor with Hayasaka-san and Sashihara-kun when Hayasaka-san realized she had dropped her mask at some point. The two of them went back downstairs, while I continued upward and waited for them outside the Weapons Room." I pause, readying myself for what I'm about to say. I hope I'm prepared for how bad their reactions will be. "While I was waiting, I stole a pistol from the Weapons Room."

"What!?" Komatsu says, shocked. "Ya stole a fuckin' gun!?"

"You goddamn idiot," Domoto says furiously, "don't you remember me saying that taking a weapon would only make things easier for the killer!?"

"Yes, and you were right," I say hurriedly. "Listen, I know I fucked up. I know what I did was stupid and reckless, but I was scared. I was the only person who had no partner and I didn't want to be defenseless if I was attacked."

Domoto shakes her head disapprovingly. "That doesn't change the fact that it was an incredibly stupid decision. I can't believe you acted so idiotically. It's not as bad as what I did with the poisons, but it was still a terrible idea."

I want to tell her to shut up, but I don't. I deserve to be berated for stealing that gun. I only endangered everyone else by getting it and it did nothing to stop me from getting attacked. Worst of all, if those bullet holes in the pool of blood are any indication...it might've been the murder weapon. I really hope that's not the case, but if it is, then I'll never be able to forgive myself. "Neither can I, but what's done is done," I say.

"Personally, I can see why ya took the gun, but it was still dumb," Komatsu says. "But that ain't what we should be focusin' on. What matters is if ya ever used that gun. Did ya? And do ya still have it on ya?"

"No," I say regretfully, "the person in the omega mask took it from me after they injected me with anesthetics. They took my night-vision goggles and walkie-talkie, too."

"They took our walkie-talkie too," Komatsu says. "Also...ya didn't answer the first question. Did ya use the gun?"

I look at my feet, ashamed. "...Yeah," I say. "I fired one shot at the person in the omega mask, but I'm pretty sure I missed. I tried to shoot them again, but they knocked the gun out of my hand before I could, and it ended up randomly shooting somewhere else."

"So you essentially gave the attacker another weapon to work with," Domoto says, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Ugh, what a mess."

I know, Domoto-san. Believe me, I know all too well after seeing those four bullet holes in the pile of blood. "I should probably tell you what I did in between taking the gun and getting attacked," I say, trying to change the subject. "I waited in the Weapons Room for Hayasaka-san and Sashihara-kun to come back up, which they soon did. Sashihara-kun told me Hayasaka-san dropped her mask in the girls' locker room. Anyway, I then went upstairs and checked the entire fifth floor for anything suspicious, but I saw nothing.

"Nothing of interest happened until I heard a door open and saw Monohebi slither out of the Surveillance Room, which is when the music started blasting on the walkie-talkies. Monohebi taunted me for a little bit, and then I was attacked by the person in the omega mask. They immediately knocked the night-vision goggles off my face before I could even get a good look at them. After that, I fell to the ground, shot at them, then got injected with a needle full of anesthetics. I woke up without my walkie-talkie, night-vision goggles, or gun. I went downstairs to find Sashihara-kun unconscious and Hayasaka-san awake. She and I searched for everyone, found Komatsu-kun, then came down here and eventually found Kasparov-kun."

Komatsu lets out a long breath. "Shit, that was a lot," he says. "I think it's interestin' what ya were sayin' 'bout not bein' able to find yer gun, walkie-talkie, or night-vision goggles, but ya didn't mention yer mask. Did ya get yers taken? 'Cause mine did, and Hayasaka-san and Domoto-san said theirs were gone when they woke up too."

"It was gone, yeah," I say. "It seems the culprit didn't want us easily finding each other."

"Apparently not," Domoto says, stroking her chin in thought. "What you said about being attacked right after talking to Monohebi and about the music blasting right as he left the Surveillance Room is interesting. Neither of those things seems like it's a coincidence to me. I think Monohebi's up to something shady."

"The music blasting after Monohebi left the Surveillance Room definitely wasn't a coincidence," I say. "Monohebi openly admitted to being behind that and said he thought Komatsu-kun would approve of the music choices. As for me being attacked right after talking to him...it's a possibility for sure. Monohebi said he had no need of attacking me when someone else was doing it for him, which is suspicious as hell, but it doesn't necessarily mean he was involved. I mean, he has all those cameras. He likely learned the killer's plans through them."

Domoto shrugs. "True," she admits. "Still, I don't trust that snake. He claims everything he says is true, but I don't believe him. Komatsu-kun told me he apparently has no clue who the culprit is, but I'm pretty confident that's bullshit."

"I fuckin' hate his guts too, but he ain't never lied to us before," Komatsu points out. "I do agree there's somethin' weird 'bout the timin' of Kawashima-san gettin' attacked, though." He lets out another long breath. "But that ain't somethin' we can worry 'bout too much yet. We got the trial for that."

"That's right," I say. "We still need to do a lot of investigation before the trial starts. But make sure to clean up your face sometime before the trial starts, Komatsu-kun. It'd be bad for you to have such a bloody face the whole time."

"Yeah, yeah," Komatsu says with a wave of his hand. "See ya, Kawashima-san."

He brushes past me to enter the Boiler Room. Domoto merely stands in place, looking at me with a stony expression. "I still think you're an idiot for taking the gun, Kawashima-san," she says after several seconds. "It happened and there's no changing it now, but if that gun is what killed Kasparov-kun, don't think I'll ever let you forget it. Just as you and the others rightfully shamed me for killing Oyamada-kun and Terajima-kun, I'll do the same for you."

"As it should be," I say. "Now stop talking. We're wasting precious investigation time."

"True," Domoto says.

The two of us then move simultaneously, with Domoto entering the Boiler Room and me leaving it. Although I'm planning on heading to the Garage, I stop when I see a small pool of blood right by the entrance to the Boiler Room. Oh right, this thing...it's what Hayasaka-san, Komatsu-kun, and I saw that made us decide to look in the Boiler Room in the first place. It's kinda out of place...there's already a ton of blood inside the Boiler Room and there's no trail connecting this pool to the much larger one inside. So, why is this pool of blood here? And how did it get here?

With that thought on my mind, I continue on my way to the Garage. Once there, I immediately see a large patch of charred floor with a gasoline canister sitting next to it. That must be where the killer burnt all of Kasparov-kun's body parts. I walk closer and see that there is also a small lighter lying on the blackened concrete floor. That's like the one Carrasco-san used to set the fire back when she killed Aozora-kun. She got it from the Storage Room, so that's probably where this killer got this one...

Finding nothing else on the blackened floor, I turn my attention elsewhere and search the Garage doors and all the cars, but find nothing of note. It's not until I look through the tool cabinet that I find anything else interesting: an orange nail gun with its trigger removed. What the hell? Why is the trigger missing?

I pick up the nail gun to inspect it more closely. The trigger was definitely taken from here, and not just the trigger...the entire area around it is gone too. Judging by the hanging wires from here, it looks like the culprit took out some wires too. However, I can still see a lot of other wires and circuitry inside, so they didn't take them all.

Putting the nail gun down on the ground, I grab another, normal one of the same model from the cabinet. So this is what the nail gun looks like normally. The trigger is really small compared to the space around it, so it's strange the culprit took the entire space around it too. Hmm...this is odd. What the hell did the culprit use the trigger for, anyway? Hopefully I can find it and get the answer to that question...

Finding nothing else noteworthy in the Garage, I leave and go to the Trash Room. Inside, I see Sashihara and Hayasaka. "Hey, you two," I greet them. "Find anything interesting?"

"Yep," Sashihara replies. "There's some interesting stuff in the Incinerator."

"There's a ton of stuff in the hydraulic press," Hayasaka says. She makes a queasy face. "It's really, really gross, though..."

Must be the rest of Kasparov-kun. "Is it Kasparov-kun's body?"

Hayasaka nods reluctantly. "...Yeah. You really don't have to look if you don't want to, Wakana-san."

"I need to," I say, taking a deep breath. Preparing myself for what's bound to be a horrific sight, I approach the lifted hydraulic press and look at what was crushed.

There are several tool parts that must be from the drill Kasparov was building, the flattened remains of all three night-vision goggles, the mangled pistol that I stole, and the shattered remnants of what must be the walkie-talkies. But none of that draws my attention. No, what does that is the mass of blackened, bloody, and flattened yet pulpy flesh that is the rest of Kasparov's body. Holy shit...I think I might throw up. I turn away and close my eyes tightly for a moment and try my best to keep any vomit I see back in my stomach. Don't throw up again, goddammit...

When a minute passes and I haven't vomited, I open my eyes and see Sashihara standing beside me. "It's a gruesome sight, isn't it?" he says.a

"Yeah...really fucking gross," I say. "It barely looks human anymore. It looks like something straight out of a gory horror movie..."

"If you can't look at it, then don't," Sashihara says. "I can see you're nauseated by this sight and that you were close to throwing up just a moment ago."

"I'm alright," I tell him. "I'm not going to throw up again." Hopefully.

He shrugs. "If you say so." He moves forward to examine the hydraulic press more closely. "This was down when I got here, and Hayasaka-san says it was when she came in here too," he says. "Everything was already crushed to oblivion."

At first, that doesn't seem strange to me, but then I remember the power was out until right before Hayasaka, Komatsu, and I found Kasparov. "Wait...how did it get crushed with the power off? This hydraulic press doesn't run on battery power, does it?"

Sashihara shakes his head. "No, Hayasaka-san and I already confirmed that it only works with electrical power. So unless it was used for those thirty seconds when the power came back on and the culprit purportedly killed Kasparov-kun, it was used at some point after the power returned."

"But...that was only about a minute before Hayasaka-san, Komatsu-kun, and I found Kasparov-kun's body," I say, confused. "How could the culprit have crushed everything then and manage to not get caught?"

"I wish I knew the answer," Sashihara says. "Whatever the answer is, though, we can figure it out. I'm sure of it."

That's a nice sentiment. Hopefully it can come true... "The killer crushed all three night-vision goggles," I notice. "All the walkie-talkies and the drill Kasparov-kun was building, too. I guess they didn't want us getting out of here."

Sashihara curls his fists. "No, they lied to our faces like the coward they are. They pretended to want to escape, but they all they really wanted was to murder for their own benefit." His voice drops to a dangerously low volume. "Whoever they are, I'll never forgive them. I promised everyone back when I heard three people planning murder that I'd kill whoever decided murder was worth it myself, and I'm never taking that back. Whoever the killer is, I'll rip their fucking throat out."

Good thing I'm not the killer, because hearing that would make me crack. "I get you're upset, Sashihara-kun, but please don't get yourself killed," I say in my best calming voice, the one I use around customers with bad tempers. "Your parents would be sad. Your mentor, too. Your life is going to be short enough as is. There's no need to make it even shorter."

"...I guess you're right," he says. "Sorry. I can get carried away sometimes." He uncurls his fists. "My desire for revenge isn't relevant now, however. I'm sure you want to know my story of what happened."

Funny, I was just about to ask about that.
"Yeah, I do," I say.

"As you know, Hayasaka-san and I went back downstairs to look for her mask," he says. "Because we didn't find it in Cell Block C or in the hallway, I waited outside the girls' locker room while she looked in there. When she found it, we went upstairs, saw you, then took our positions guarding the Weapons Room. I was guarding the door facing the Media Room and she was at the one by the Infirmary. Everything was normal for about twenty minutes after the lights went off. And then..."

"You and Hayasaka-san were attacked," I finish for him. "Was it the person in the omega mask who got you? Also, which one of you ended up wearing the night-vision goggles?"

"Me," Sashihara answers. "Although they didn't do me much good in the end. I never even so much as noticed when someone snuck up behind me and shot me in the back with a tranquilizer dart." He frowns. "And I never saw anyone in a mask...then again, I never saw who attacked me because I fell unconscious before I could even turn around. When I woke up, I didn't have my mask or night-vision goggles and I couldn't see anyone. I became panicked, but soon enough the lights came on, so I rushed down here, and...you know what happened from then on."

"Yeah," I say, thinking about what he's told me.
At first, it seems weird that the attacker would use a tranquilizer dart on Sashihara-kun when they used a syringe on the rest of us, but when you consider how big and strong he is, it's not strange at all. Whoever the attacker was, they probably knew they couldn't beat him with raw strength. However, there is something odd about where he said he was shot from...
"Wait, just to be clear, you said the attacker snuck up from behind you without you noticing? So that means they shot you from behind, right?"

"Yep," Sashihara says. "I know I was shot in the back."

Hm. That's interesting. "Okay, Sashihara-kun," I say. "Did you find anything else interesting in here?"

"I did, actually," he says. He takes me to the side of the press, where there's a metal bar with one long piece of duct tape wrapped once around the center, with the tail ends hanging loosely off the side.

What the...why's this here? "Do you have any idea why this is here, Sashihara-kun?"

"No," he says. "I'm pretty confused by it, honestly. But it must be important, right?"

Most likely, yeah. I have no idea how it could be relevant to the case yet, but I hope I can figure it out with some time. "Thanks, Sashihara-kun."

"No problem," he says.

Next, I move to the Incinerator, which Hayasaka is standing next to. "Hey, Wakana-san," she greets. "Did you come to look at what's in the Incinerator?"

"Uh-huh," I say. "Is there anything interesting in it?"

"The culprit definitely used it, but I can't tell much more than that," she responds. "Here, look for yourself."

Doing as she says, I approach the Incinerator and peer inside to see a heap of ashes and a much smaller twisted, melted mess of metal and orange plastic. That melted conglomeration of metal and orange plastic...judging by the color, it must be the remains of the trigger taken from the nail gun in the Garage. As for the ashes, I have no clue. "It seems the killer had a bunch of stuff they didn't want us seeing," I say. "I wonder what that heap of ashes could be."

"I don't know," Hayasaka says dejectedly. "I wish there was a way for us to tell, but there isn't." Sighing, she switches her attention to the Incinerator's panel. "At least we can tell when the incinerator was used, though. 'SK407 SCANNED 12:'...and then you can't read the last digit. The screen's super cracked and is so fucked up that it won't even turn off anymore, so the first two numbers are hard to read. As for the last two numbers, they're so messed up there's no telling what they could possibly be.'"

That's annoying, but there's another issue here...
"Hayasaka-san, are you sure that says 12 at the beginning?"

"Positive," she says. "Come on, see for yourself." She beckons for me to look at the screen.

Sure enough, it reads "SK407 SCANNED 12:," with the last two digits being completely unreadable. Looks like the culprit really didn't want us knowing exactly when they used the incinerator...but, if this time is right, then the culprit must have used this incinerator after the power turned back on at 12:11 PM, which wasn't that long ago. I check the time by finding the clock on the Trash Room's wall. It's only 12:48 right now...so whoever the culprit is, they used this incinerator around thirty minutes ago at the earliest. Who could've done that? And how did they do it with no one noticing?

Deciding to put off answering that confusing question to the trial, I turn to Hayasaka. "Hey, Hayasaka-san. Can you tell me your account of what happened between the time I left you and Sashihara-kun in the Weapons Room and the time I found you?"

"Sure thing," she says. "Everything was alright at first....except for what happened to Sato-san." Hayasaka looks like she could cry, but she forces her tears back. "After Monohebi murdered her, everything was pretty normal. For about twenty minutes after the power went out, Hisaya-kun and I didn't hear or, in Hisaya-kun's case, see anything except each other. But all of a sudden, I felt the presence of someone behind me. So I turned and saw a person in this strange mask. I tried to scream, but they covered my mouth and injected a needle full of anesthesia into me."

"Did the symbol on their mask look like this?" I draw an
ω on the dust on the incinerator's side.

Hayasaka nods. "Yeah, that was it," she says. "How'd you know?"

"I was attacked by someone in this same mask," I answer. "As were Domoto-san and Komatsu-kun."

"The culprit must've been the person in that mask," Hayasaka speculates. "I wish I had the night-vision goggles instead of Hisaya-kun...he told me he didn't see them, which really sucks. If he had, this trial would be way easier..."

Yeah, it would be. Unfortunately, it seems only one person saw the person in the omega mask: Kasparov-kun, the person with the last set of night-vision goggles. And he took that information to the grave with him...but I can't dwell on that. I need to keep investigating.

"Thanks for your testimony, Hayasaka-san," I say.

She gives me a weak smile. "You're welcome, Wakana-san."

After checking the rest of the Trash Room and finding nothing else that catches my attention, I leave and decide to investigate the last room I've yet to investigate in the Basement, the Freezer. I wonder if that room in the back is open yet...

Upon entering the room, I'm met with a blast of gelid air. Fuck, it's so cold in here. I'll make this as quick as possible.

The first thing I notice is the sight of a saw covered in blood and tiny pieces of flesh sitting on a shelf close to the door. That must be what the culprit used to cut up Kasparov-kun. Ugh, looking at it is horrible. Those small pieces of muscle, ligaments, tendons, and skin littered across it make me want to vomit.

I quickly turn my attention away from the saw and toward the door at the back. Unfortunately, the door is closed, and even more unfortunately, Monohebi is positioned right next to it.
Great...I have to deal with him again.

"Is it unlocked?" I ask him once I get to the door.

He flicks his eyes over to me, annoyed. "No. It is still locked."

"Then why don't you unlock it?" I ask, my teeth starting to chatter from the intense cold. "The culprit could have been the one to steal the key. There could be clues in there, so open the room."

"The culprit is not the one who stole the key," Monohebi says. "I suppose it does no harm for me to tell you this now, so I might as well: Kasparov was the one who took it. Given that he is deceased, that the key remains in the location where I know he hid it, and that I am now quite assured of who I believe the culprit is, I do not believe checking in here is necessary. I simply thought it would be prudent to check if he unlocked the door before he died."

What the hell? Kasparov-kun was the one who took the key!? "Wait...are you really sure it was him?" I ask, stunned. "Why would he do that...?"
More importantly, why would he never tell us what's in this room?

"I know not why he did it," Monohebi says. "Whatever motivation Kasparov might have had is impossible to ascertain due to his death. All I know is that he had the key and now he is dead."

Of course he wouldn't answer.
"Where is it?" I ask. "If you can't tell me why he did it, you can at least tell me where the key is."

"I could," Monohebi agrees, "however, I shall not. If you want to find the key, you must encounter it yourself." He pauses. "You should go away, Kawashima. This room, as well as the room behind this locked door, are incredibly cold and a human cannot remain in them for very long."

I want to argue with him more, but the cold is starting to get to me. "Fine," I acquiesce. "I'll find that key without you."

"Kasparov hid it, so I doubt that," Monohebi says as he begins to slither out of the Freezer. "Nevertheless, good luck to you."

"Yeah, yeah, you don't mean that," I mutter as I watch him slither away. I wait for fifteen seconds after he leaves, then exit myself. Feeling the warm air of the normal prison is a relief when I step out into the hallway. I'm glad to be out of there. Damn,
what a waste of time that was. All I saw that was new is the saw, and that doesn't really tell me anything helpful. But what Monohebi told me was valuable, although all it does is confuse me. Kasparov-kun took the key to that room and hit it from the rest of us, but why? Also, Monohebi also said he was pretty certain who the killer was now, but why is he more confident now? Did he get the camera footage he wanted back? Did he find some interesting evidence? I wonder what it was...

With those vexing thoughts on my mind, I go upstairs and decide to look around the Kitchen.
This is where Komatsu-kun and Domoto-san were attacked by the person in the omega mask. I doubt I'll be able to find any clues about their identity by looking around here, but I still have to look around. Who knows, I might find something.

I carefully check every spot on the floor, look in every cabinet, and even look through the trash can, but I find absolutely nothing of interest except the ropes that were used to tie up Komatsu. Fuck, that was pointless.

Fortunately, I have more luck when I look back in the pantry. The trapdoor Yamaguchi used to transport Furuhata's body when he killed him is predictably open, but more interestingly, in the space beneath the trapdoor, the dirt appears to be disturbed in such a way that suggests something was buried there. It looks like the culprit buried something in the dirt there. Whatever it is, it must be important, so I better dig it up.

I jump down into the dimly lit crawlspace, coughing at all the dust and dirt down there. God, this place is so fucking disgusting. How did Yamaguchi-kun breathe down here when he moved Furuhata-kun's body? As soon as my coughing subsides, I
crouch down to the suspicious section of dirt and begin to dig through the cold, rocky soil with my bare hands. I better find something to make digging through this disgusting dirt and horrible air quality worth it.

Finally, following upwards of five minutes of me digging through the dirt, my hands brush against something metallic. I quickly pick it up and squint at it. ...Huh? What's this? It's a really small piece of black metal that looks like and is about the size of a grain of rice...what could this have to do with the case?

Annoyed, I put it in my pocket, then jump up and pull myself out of the trapdoor, noticing my hands and outfit are covered in dirt. Ugh. I'll have to clean up before I continue investigating.

After I hastily get changed and scrub my hands clean in my room, I walk out into the hallway of Cell Block A, pondering where to go next. Kasparov-kun's room is right by here, so I might as well head there.

I try his door and am surprised to find it unlocked and Motoki already inside. "Oh," she says, looking up from a notebook she's reading. "You've come to look in here too..."

"Yeah," I say, closing the door behind me. "You find anything interesting?"

"Well, there's the obvious," Motoki says, gesturing to Kasparov's bed, which I now notice is completely stripped of the comforter and all the sheets. Even the pillows are gone. "Someone took absolutely everything off his bed. I've been trying to think of reasons why they'd feel the need to do that, but I can't think of any."

I don't blame you...it's really strange. Why bother removing all this stuff? And where did all the bedding go?
"I'm confused too," I say, "but we can't get too caught up in the strangeness of this right now. We need to focus on finding as much evidence as possible."

"That's true," Motoki says. "Sorry, I told you I'm not good at investigating..."

"And I told you that you just need to apply yourself," I respond. "You have the capability to investigate well, Motoki-san. Your biggest obstacle is your own mental blocks."

She shrugs. "I guess so. I just don't think I've found anything useful yet..."

I point out the notebook she was reading when I came in. "What about that? It seems interesting." I wonder what it is...it looks like the same type of notebook Furuhata-kun used to write the note to Terajima-kun all the way back in the first trial. I know there's a bunch of those in the Storage Room.

She holds up the notebook and frowns at it. "I guess it could be interesting stuff, but I can't read any of it. From the looks of things, it's Kasparov-kun's diary, but it's all written in cursive Russian."

"But you can translate, right?" I ask her.

"No," she says. "Although I can read Cyrillic script, my knowledge of Russian is pretty limited because my focus as a linguist is the scientific study of human languages, not on speaking as many as possible. And even if I could speak it fluently...Kasparov-kun's handwriting is really messy and the cursive only makes it harder. So it's basically gibberish to me."

Damn, that sucks. "Well...fuck," I say.

Her face falls. "Sorry. You probably thought you could rely on me to translate stuff because that's all I'm good for, but I can't even do that."

I go over to her and place a hand on her shoulder. "Please don't put yourself down over it. Chances are there wasn't much interesting in there if it's just a diary." I pause. "Hey, are you sure it's all in Russian? Maybe Kasparov-kun wrote some of it in Japanese."

"Probably not," she says, opening the notebook again. "But I guess there's no harm in looking."

We look through every page, quickly scanning it for any sign of kanji, hiragana, or katakana, but all we find is pages and pages of Cyrillic scrawl...until one of the last pages. ω — the individual who bears that insignia is the fiend who has trapped us here, I read. I know who they are. This note is hidden in my diary so that if I die, those remaining will find the truth. The terrible truth that the mastermind is none other than—

"Are you fucking kidding me!?" I fume. "They ripped the page off right where he was gonna say who the mastermind was!"

Motoki shakes her head frustratedly. "Dammit," she mutters. "This sucks...Kasparov-kun figured it out. But then he got killed." She slaps her hand against her forehead several times. "Fuck, fuck fuck! If I hadn't let him get killed, we could've figured out who it is!"

"It's not your fault he's dead," I say firmly. "It's the killer's fault for being evil and butchering him like they did. Don't put the blame on yourself." I feel my hands curl into fists. This fucking killer...if this note's real, then the mastermind must be the one who killed Kasparov-kun. Maybe that's why Monohebi's so confident he knows who the killer is now. Because he's an AI and can act independently of the mastermind, he probably wouldn't know the mastermind was the killer until they told him so....or maybe Monohebi lied. He said he's built to not lie, but who knows if that's actually true...

"I can't help but blame myself," Motoki says guiltily, taking me out of my thoughts. "Shouldn't I? I was his partner. It was our responsibility to look out for and protect each other, but I couldn't do that. I failed him..."

"The only person who failed him is the killer," I say, even more firmly than before. "Motoki-san, I know you feel bad about his death. I think anyone would, in your situation...but you can't undo what's been done. He's dead. The only thing you can do for him now is to catch his killer."

She nods, tears forming in her eyes. "I know," she says. "It's just hard...I hate doing this. I hate investigating. I hate suspecting my friends. I just want everyone to get along and be happy." She sniffles. "I know it's impossible, but I can't help myself from imagining that."

"I don't blame you for wanting that," I tell her. "However...we'll all die if we don't catch the killer. In order for the rest of us to live, we have to sentence another person to die. It's cruel and fucked up and I don't want to have to do it again either. But it's the only option we have for now."

Motoki stares forward silently for a while before she responds. "...I know that already," she says. "Part of me still wants to give up and not even try. I want to avenge Kasparov-kun and want to find the mastermind even more, but even still...it's so hard to not want to give up."

"I get that," I say. "But you have to keep going. Because if you give up, then Monohebi wins. You don't want that, do you?"

"No," she says. "That's probably the last thing I want." She wipes her eyes. "I'm sorry...I shouldn't be bothering you with all this."

"You're not bothering me at all," I reassure her. "I'm here for you whenever you need me."

She gives me a small smile. "...Thanks," she says, the smile quickly fading. "But now's not the time for me to be whining to you. If I actually want to be useful, I can't sit here and cry about my feelings to you. I need to look at a lot of places." She moves past me and walks out quickly.

I look at the door after she leaves. Motoki-san...I'm sorry that you feel so much guilt over Kasparov-kun dying. I really wish that you didn't blame yourself, because unless you killed him, you're not to blame...that person's the culprit. If this note is to be believed, then the culprit is also the mastermind.

I pick up the notebook again and read Kasparov's words again. I wonder if he actually wrote this...for all we know, it could be a distraction. I doubt it, though. The culprit could've killed any of us if they were some random person, but if they're the mastermind, it makes sense they'd target the only person who knew who they were. I remember Kasparov-kun saying he had an idea who the mastermind was a few nights ago and asked us for suggestions...I guess he really did figure it out. Did that locked room in the Freezer help him figure it out? Was it something else? Fuck, I wish he was still alive so I could ask him...

I'm about to put the notebook back on the desk it was originally on when I notice that the last page of the notebook has been completely torn away. Huh...that's interesting.

After finding nothing else interesting in Kasparov's "cell," I decide to go back upstairs to see if I can find any new evidence now that the lights are back on. With luck, I'll find a clue as to who that person in the omega mask is. It'd probably be best for me not to get my hopes up, though...

Following a long walk upstairs
I arrive at the Weapons Room. Ugh, it's a hike to get up here...I wish the elevator still worked. That doesn't matter, though. I need to focus on finding any more clues.

The first thing that catches my eye is the dart gun Motoki used in the past case carelessly discarded on the floor near the back of the room. Sashihara-kun said he was knocked out with a tranquilizer dart, which must have been from that gun...

Sure enough, when I check the gun I see it only contains five red darts. Four yellow darts were used in the last case, and the last one is gone now. I look over to the door facing the Media Room, seeing a yellow dart lying on the floor. Yep, the last yellow dart was shot over there. I guess that confirms Sashihara-kun's story.

I put the dart gun down and take another look around the room. As I do, I notice that a vent in the center of the ceiling looks like it's crooked. What the hell?
That looks like something that I should take a closer look at...

After removing a case of knives from a table to clear it, I drag it beneath the vent and climb on top of it to reach the vent. To my surprise, I barely have to nudge the vent grate before it crashes to the table below. Fuck, that scared me! I wasn't expecting it to be so loose...that must mean the culprit used this vent somehow, and did a half-assed job of putting it back once they were done.

Curious about why the culprit bothered using the vent in the first place, I decide to poke my head inside and look around. Immediately I'm met with a sight I wasn't expecting to see: the fluffy pink slippers from the last case sitting right beside the opening in the vent. These slippers let you walk around quietly, so the culprit must've been wearing these when they attacked Sashihara-kun and Hayasaka-san.

I crane my neck to look as far into the vent as I can, but find nothing new. Seems like the culprit only hid the slippers up here. Good thing I decided to check, otherwise I would've missed this evidence.

Once I put the vent grate back on and drag the table back to its normal spot, I head out of the Weapons Room and move upstairs to the spot where I was attacked. Unfortunately, when I get there, I don't see anything interesting around. Looks like me not finding in the dark wasn't just from me being clumsy. The culprit really didn't leave anything behind except the two bullet shells from when I shot the gun, but that's not really useful. I know they crushed the walkie-talkie, night-vision goggles, and pistol I had in the hydraulic press, so I wasn't expecting to find them here, but is there really nothing else useful?
It's irritating that there's nothing helpful here, but I can't linger on that. I need to move on and search for more evidence. Specifically, I need to look in the Surgery Room. Domoto-san was tied up there, so I should take a look around.

I head to the Surgery Room to find it much the way I did when I first explored it with Sashihara. However, there's one immediately apparent difference, which is the fact that the operating table in the middle of the room has bloodstains on it. That must have to be from Domoto-san having her shoulder cut open...

As I step closer to the table, I can see that the stains are primarily centered around the approximate location where someone's shoulder would be if they were lying on the table. Also, there are severed ropes lying on the floor around the table, presumably leftover from when Domoto was tied up.
That lines up with what I anticipated...

Turning my attention away from the table itself, I look at the medical trolley next to it that carries a bunch of medical equipment. Strangely enough, I see Domoto's pocket knife that she showed all of us yesterday. Even more strangely, the pocket knife and all of the rest of the tools have no sign of blood or anything else on them. This is really odd. It's weird that the culprit placed the pocket knife here, but why are all these surgical instruments clean? Did the culprit wash them after using them on Domoto-san? That'd make sense if they were trying to hide the fact they cut into Domoto-san, but they left all the blood, so it seems like the culprit wasn't trying to hide the fact they did surgery on her...

Confused about that, I look around the Surgery Room but find nothing else, so I head out. So, what to do now? I guess I should check all the rooms I couldn't and look for more clues...might as well start with the Torture Room, since it's right here. Although I really do hate that place...

I push my hatred of the Torture Room aside and force myself to go inside, immediately regretting my decision. I'm not a superstitious person, but this room has such a horrible aura to it. It creeps me out...

Resolving to get in and out of here as quickly as I can, I quickly scan the tables piled high with all types of disturbing instruments of torture for any clues. Each and every one of these things could've been used to kill someone. On top of that, most of them already have dried blood or are covered with some sort of other weird stains. Shit, this really would be a perfect place to hide a murder weapon...

After I spend several minutes going through the tables looking for anything out of the ordinary, something fortunately catches my eye. Hm...what's this? I reach for a long, thin nail whose blood stains seem fresher than the rest of the torture instruments. I tap my finger against it, somewhat satisfied when it feels ever so slightly wet. The blood on here is almost completely dry, but it's still a little damp, luckily for me. I pick it up to look at it closer.
This thing is around 20 centimeters long, and almost all of it is covered in blood. It must be important...

Content with that inspection,
I move my attention to the back of the room, where I immediately notice something interesting sitting beside the chair where Furuhata was tortured. Oh shit, that's another one of the nail guns from before!

I hurry over to it and take it in my hands. As I do, I notice that it's the same model as the nail gun I found before and this nail gun has its trigger removed in the same way. However, unlike the one from before, all the inner circuitry of this one has been completely gutted. Hmm, that's interesting...I'll have to take note of it.

Finding nothing else in the Torture Room, I quickly get out, intending to go to the Guard Barracks and Cell Block E next, but I run into Motoki on the way there.

"Oh, hey, Motoki-san," I say, stopping to talk to her. "Did you come up here to look in the Surgery Room and Torture Room?"

"Yeah," she says, "I just came up from the Infirmary."

"Was there anything in there?" I ask her.

She nods, with a hint of pride on her face. "Mmhm, there was. I talked to everyone and all of them except Sashihara-kun said they were knocked out with anesthesia administered through a syringe...so I decided to look at the anesthesia and syringes in the Infirmary. When I did, I saw there was no anesthesia left at all and that only fourteen sterile syringes remained. So, I used the inventory you, Domoto-san, and Kasparov-kun made before the last case and saw that there were originally twenty syringes."

"Meaning six of those syringes were used on us," I say.

"That's right," Motoki says. "I was—"

A nearby monitor abruptly turns on. "Hello, inmates. I believe I have given you sufficient information to determine the truth of this case. Because of that, it appears the time for the fifth class trial has come at last. Hurry to the trial room immediately." The monitor turns off.

Dread fills my body in an instant. Fuck...the investigation's already over? I'm not ready to go to the trial yet...there's still more I want to investigate...

"Kawashima-san," Motoki says, her voice fearful. "I'm scared..."

"So am I," I admit. "I got a lot of evidence...but I feel like I have no idea what happened."

Motoki gulps. "That doesn't make me feel any better." She laughs nervously. "Haha...we're fucked, aren't we? This whole case happened in the dark with all of us unconscious. The culprit cleverly disposed of most of the evidence. How are supposed to find out who did it?"

I take her hand and squeeze it tightly. "We'll find out who it is," I promise her. "That's a promise. And I know how seriously you take promises. I don't know how I'll do it or who it'll be, but...I promise you, Motoki-san. I will find Kasparov-kun's murderer."

She looks at my hand holding hers, then looks me in the eyes, then kisses me on the lips. "Thank you," she murmurs against my lips.

"No problem," I say.

She breaks off the kiss after only a few seconds, looking more assured than before but still visibly anxious. "We need to head downstairs," she says, squeezing my hand. "It's a long walk to the elevator."

Hand in hand, we walk all the way downstairs in silence. When we finally get to the Cafeteria, I see Domoto, Hayasaka, Sashihara, and Komatsu standing silently around the entrance to the elevator.

"Hey," I say when Motoki and I get to them. "Are you guys ready for the trial?"

"No," Hayasaka says flatly. "I feel like this case is too much for me to solve...I don't understand why they killed Sergey-kun...I also don't know what happened or who did it..."

"Same here," Komatsu, who's cleaned all the blood off his face, says nervously. "Whoever the culprit is, they're fuckin' smart."

Sashihara clenches and unclenches his fist. "Yes, they are," he says seriously. "Beating them won't be easy."

"We've made it through four trials so far," I remind everyone. "We can do it again."

"Don't be too confident about that," Domoto warns me. "You'll get everyone killed."

"Everyone...please shut up," Motoki says quietly from beside me. "Please, let's just not talk until the trial. There'll be plenty of time to do that there..."

We do as she says until the elevator dings ominously and its doors open. Once all of us are inside, the doors close and the elevator starts its long, rickety descent.

Like the previous four times, the elevator is absolutely silent as it descends. But unlike before, it feels crushingly empty. There's so much space in here...before the first trial, it was so cramped in here, but now that ten of us are dead, there's a lot more room...too much room. This is even worse than the ride down to the last trial. At least then, there weren't more people dead than alive...now, only six of us are still here. And at least one more person is doomed to die, no matter what happens.

I should be used to it by now. I should be used to the horrible cruelty of Monohebi's class trials, but I'm still not. Before every trial, a part of me always wishes that everyone on the ride down will be with us when we ride back up. However, the killing game denies me that wish without fail every time.

Who killed Kasparov-kun? Who betrayed us by sabotaging the escape plan and killing someone? And who were the other people who were planning to kill too? Those are questions I'll have to find the answer to at the class trial if I want to survive. But I don't really want to know the answer...I'm not ready to, honestly. Because I know I'll hate whoever the killer and the other two people are after I learn their identities...if I can learn them, that is.

The elevator grinds to a swift halt, shaking me out of my thoughts, The doors then part to reveal the courtroom, this time decorated with a black and white checkered pattern on the floor and dark mahogany wood paneling on the walls, and checkered curtains hanging from said walls. "Quite the elegant redecoration, is it not?" Monohebi says from atop his throne. "I figured nothing but a checkered pattern would suit our dear departed chess grandmaster."

"Go to hell," Domoto snaps at him. "None of us want to hear you talk."

He glares at her. "Petulant idiot," he mutters. He looks away from her and clears his throat. "Ahem. Please make your way to your podiums with haste, inmates. As soon as you are all gathered in your proper spots, the fifth class trial shall commence!"

Fuck. I don't want to do this a fifth time, but...there's no other option if I want to find Kasparov-kun's killer.
I walk up to my podium, noticing the new presence of Oyamada's death portrait, which consists of two Cupid's arrows piercing his heart in the shape of an X, as well as Kasparov's portrait, which is simply a red X whose lines stretch all the way from one corner to another. Oyamada-kun's portrait is in horribly cruel taste, but that's to be expected of Monohebi. And Kasparov-kun's...honestly, I never expected to see him like that. I never really thought someone like him would get killed and remain with us only as a black and white portrait, and yet...here we are.

Who did it? Who brutally slaughtered him? Who betrayed the entire group and our escape plan? I don't want to find out who they or the other two people planning to kill are, but...

...when it comes down to it, I don't have a choice.

[Split screens of Furuhata, Motoki, Yamaguchi, Sashihara, and Oyamada. Furuhata, Yamaguchi, and Oyamada's images are covered in a red filter]

This isn't a matter of what I want or not. This is a matter of life or death. If I choose to be too weak to accept that I and the rest of the group were betrayed, then the killer will escape. That's just how it is. I can't naïvely hope that everything will be okay or that we'll all escape. No...I have to understand and accept that we're already past the point of no return. Whoever the killer is, they've already chosen their path, which is to betray us and send us to our deaths so they can escape. There's no going back for them, so there's no going back for us either. We have to find them and condemn them as the savage murderer they are.

[Split screens of Niizuma, Eguchi, Aozora, Komatsu, Carrasco, and Domoto. Aozora, Carrasco, Niizuma, and Eguchi's images are covered in a red filter]

To be honest, I'm terrified. This killer is clearly smart and will be hard to find. On top of that, the killer murdered Kasparov-kun in an extremely gruesome way...for someone to kill another human in such a horrific way, they have to be a depraved person. I'm scared to find out which one of the people I thought was my friend is so fucked up that they would choose to dismember someone and burn their whole corpse. But above all else, I'm scared that I was living with a liar who hid their true, terrible nature this whole time...

[Split screens of Ichigohara, Hayasaka, Kasparov, Terajima, and Kawashima. Ichigohara, Terajima, and Kasparov's images are covered in a red filter]

However, I can't let that fear stand in my way. If I want to get justice for Kasparov-kun and ensure that everyone but the killer survives, I need to overcome my fear. I have to face this harsh, unforgiving situation and uncover all the unpleasant realities of it. I have to discover the truth of this case and make sure that the culprit doesn't get away with their despicable crime!

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Monohebi File #5: The victim of this case is Sergey Kasparov, the Ultimate Chess Grandmaster. The cause and exact time of death are both unknown, however, the victim died at some point between 9:54 AM, when the power was initially turned off, and 12:11 PM, when the power was permanently restored. The entire body was burned and dismembered.
Motoki's Account: Everything was normal with Motoki and Kasparov until about a minute or two after the music started blasting over the walkie-talkie. At that point, Kasparov yelled that someone was behind Motoki and told her to run. She did so, but was soon injected with an anesthetic anyway. When she awoke, she had no mask and Kasparov was nowhere to be found. Motoki searched for the power control panel in the Boiler Room and eventually managed to turn it on, at which point she discovered Kasparov’s corpse. She did not notice anything about her attacker.
Pool of Blood: There was a large pool of blood in the Boiler Room. During the investigation, it was mostly dried. However, when I first discovered the crime scene, it was still pretty wet. Additionally, it contained only blood and there were no stray scraps of flesh were to be found in it.
Bullet Holes: There were four bullet holes visible on the floor underneath the pool of blood in the Boiler Room. These probably came from the gun stolen from me by the attacker in the omega mask.
Epsilon Mask: The ε mask Motoki wore was found discarded in the Boiler Room by one of Kasparov's upper arms.
Dismemberment: Kasparov's body was cut into eleven pieces: his head, his upper arms, his forearms, his legs, and then four pieces of his torso. His torso was cut down the center along the side of the sternum and cut across the center along the bottom of the diaphragm.

Reconstructed Corpse: All of the pieces of Kasparov's corpse were scattered around the Boiler Room except his upper-right torso and his head. What is presumably the remnants of these two pieces was instead found crushed in the Trash Room’s hydraulic press, which suggests the culprit did something to those pieces and did not want us to see it. All of the pieces found in the Boiler Room had no sign of visible damage on them except for the dismemberment itself.

Monohebi's Rules: In accordance with Rules 14, Monohebi cannot conspire or plan to directly harm an inmate, with the sole exception being executions. If he were to break this rule (or any other rule) and harm an inmate unjustly, he would be forced to execute himself in order to obey Rule 15. For this reason, he claims he is innocent.
Monohebi's Account: When we first started our escape plan, Monohebi was with the hostages. After Kasparov and Motoki turned off the power, he went to the Surveillance Room. He remained there until he decided to leave and encountered me in the hallway. After I was knocked unconscious, Monohebi switched his AI
to a model in the basement and then somehow went to the area beyond the Garage doors. There, he waited for us for approximately two hours, at times checking the inside of the Garage, but claims to have seen no one, not even when the power was restored for about thirty seconds. Also, he claims he didn't check the rest of the basement during the rest of the time. Once Motoki turned the power back on, Monohebi switched his AI back to the Surveillance Room and saw that Kasparov had died, then used the model in the basement to come to the Boiler Room.
Gamma Mask: The γ mask Kasparov wore was found stuffed between the wheel of a valve in the Boiler Room. Despite the fact that it was stained red and soaked by blood, it had no holes or tears in it.
Circuitry and Wires: There were several small pieces of circuitry and a few wires on the ground in front of the power control panel.
Paper: Next to the circuitry and wires was a piece of paper that had the text "NIGHT AND NEVER DAY-NIGHT AND NEVER DAY" written on it. It appears to have been torn from a notebook.
Bullet Shells: There were four bullet shells found on the floor right by the power control panel. These shells seemed to be the right size for the pistol that I stole from the Weapons Room.

Domoto's Account: Before the power went out, Domoto was at the Kitchen counter and claims she was positioned with her back to the pantry. After the lights went out, Domoto gave instructions to Kasparov over the walkie-talkie. However, at least three minutes after the music started blasting through the walkie-talkie, Domoto heard someone behind her and called out to Komatsu, telling him to run. She says she was then injected with an anesthetic by a figure in an omega mask and
was unconscious until she woke up tied to the operating table in the Surgery Room.
Komatsu's Account: Komatsu and Domoto were in the Kitchen before the lights went out. Komatsu stood guard by the door, making sure to cover it with his whole body so no one snuck in unnoticed. After the lights turned off, everything was normal until Domoto was attacked. When Komatsu heard the person in the omega mask take out Domoto-san, he hurried over to the omega symbol and punched in their direction several times, one of which he believes landed. As retribution, Komatsu claims the attacker beat him up and broke his nose, making him bleed a lot. He claims that the circumstances of him falling unconscious are hazy and that he does not exactly recall if he was injected with anesthetic or if he fell unconscious from the fight itself. He had his hands tied behind his back and was gagged when he awoke.
My Account: While Sashihara, Hayasaka, and I were making our way to the fourth floor, Hayasaka noticed her mask was missing and was then accompanied by Sashihara back to the third floor. I continued alone up to the Weapons Room, where I stole a loaded pistol. The other two soon returned, with Sashihara explaining that Hayasaka had apparently dropped her mask in the girls' locker room. I went upstairs and checked the entire fifth floor but found nothing suspicious. Nothing of note happened until I saw Monohebi, at which point the walkie-talkies started blasting music. I was then attacked by someone who knocked the night-vision goggles clean off my face. This was the person in the omega mask. I shot at them once with my pistol, but had the gun knocked away, which caused it to fire off an accidental shock. Next, I was injected with anesthetic and fell asleep for a while. Upon awakening, I couldn't find my mask, gun, night-vision goggles, or walkie-talkie. I went downstairs and found Sashihara unconscious and Hayasaka awake. The two of us searched for everyone and eventually found Komatsu. We continued searching together until we found Kasparov's remains.
Blood Outside Boiler Room: There was a small pool of blood right outside the door to the Boiler Room. There was no trail connecting this blood to the much larger pool of blood inside the Boiler Room.
Charred Floor and Gasoline: There was a patch of blackened floor, with almost no ashes inside it, in the Garage with a canister of gasoline nearby. There was also a lighter from the Storage Room like one previously used by Carrasco lying in the middle of this patch of burnt floor.
Nail Gun Missing Trigger: There was an orange nail gun in the Garage's tool cabinet that was missing its trigger and the entire area around where the trigger should've been. Looking at a normal version of this same nail gun, the trigger itself was quite small compared to the area around it, which makes it bizarre that the culprit removed the whole area.

Hydraulic Press: There were several things crushed to oblivion in the hydraulic press: all three night-vision goggles, all three walkie-talkies, the pistol I stole, the drill Kasparov was building, and lastly a mess of blackened and bloody gore that we can assume is what remains of Kasparov's head and upper right torso. The press was apparently already down when Hayasaka and Sashihara investigated it.
Sashihara's Account: Because Hayasaka and Sashihara couldn't find Hayasaka’s mask in Cell Block C or the third floor's main hallway, Sashihara waited outside the girls' locker room for Hayasaka to search in there. Hayasaka found her mask and then they went upstairs. At the Weapons Room, Sashihara, who had the night-vision goggles, positioned himself at the door facing the Media Room while Hayasaka was at the door near the Infirmary. Everything was ordinary until about twenty minutes after the power went off, when Sashihara was suddenly shot in the back with a tranquilizer dart. He never saw the person who did this, nor did he have any inkling that they were behind him until he was shot. When he awoke, his mask and night-vision goggles were gone.
Metal Bar: At the side of the hydraulic press, there's a metal bar with a long piece of duct tape attached to it. The duct tape is wrapped once around the center, with the ends of it hanging off loosely.
Incinerator Contents: Inside the incinerator, there's a heap of ashes and a considerably smaller mass of melted and twisted metal and orange plastic.

Incinerator Log: The incinerator's log reads the following: "SK407 SCANNED 12:". The last two digits are unreadable because the killer smashed the screen of the panel which displays the incinerator log.
The killer's smashing of the screen also rendered it unable to turn off, meaning neither Hayasaka nor I had to scan to read the incinerator log.
Hayasaka's Account: In accordance with what Sashihara said, Hayasaka says that everything was normal until about twenty minutes after the power went off with the exception of Sato's murder. Neither of them saw or heard anything during this time. However, Hayasaka suddenly felt the presence of someone behind and turned to see a person in an omega mask. She tried to scream, but this person promptly covered her mouth and injected her with a needle full of anesthesia.
Saw: A saw whose blade was covered in blood and small bits of gore was found on a shelf near the entrance to the Freezer
Locked Room in Freezer: Monohebi confirmed that the locked door to the room in the back of the Freezer was locked. According to him, Kasparov was the one who took the key to it and the key is currently exactly where Monohebi knows he hid it. Because of this and because he claims to already be certain of who the culprit is, Monohebi chose not to bother checking this room.
Kitchen and Pantry: There was nothing of note found in either the Kitchen or pantry except for Komatsu's restraints and the open trapdoor in the pantry.
Small Metal Object: A very small black metal object the size of a grain of rice was found buried in the dirt of the crawlspace underneath the trapdoor in the pantry.
Kasparov's Bed: The comforter and all the sheets were taken off Kasparov’s bed.

Kasparov's Notebook: Kasparov's notebook, which appears to be the same type as the one Furuhata and Carrasco previously used, was apparently being used as a diary. However, it is mostly written in Russian except for text on one of the last pages, which says: "ω — the individual who bears that insignia is the fiend who has trapped us here. I know who they are. This note is hidden in my diary so that if I die, those remaining will find the truth. The terrible truth that the mastermind is none other than." The rest of the page has been ripped away. The final page of the notebook is also gone.
Dart Gun: The dart gun previously used by Motoki now has all five of its yellow tranquilizer darts gone, yet still retains all five of the red lethal bullets. The final dart was found near the door that Sashihara was guarding.
Vent: A vent grate in the ceiling of the Weapons Room was crooked during the investigation. When inspected more closely, the vent grate fell easily. Inside the vent, right next to the opening, the fluffy pink slippers from the last case were found.
Surgery Room: The operating table had bloodstains on it that were primarily centered around
the approximate location where someone’s shoulder would be if they were laid on it. There were also a few severed ropes around the base of the table. In addition, the medical trolley next to the operating table contains the pocket knife Domoto showed us yesterday. The pocket knife and all other instruments on the table appear to be clean.
Bloody Nail: A long, thin bloody nail was found hidden among the other piles of torture instruments in the Torture Room. The blood was nearly completely dry. It is about 20 centimeters long and almost all of it is coated with blood.
Second Nail Gun: A second orange nail gun the same model as the one found in the Garage was found at the back of the Torture Room. Like the one in the Garage, the trigger and everything around is removed. However, this one also has had all of its inner circuitry gutted.
Infirmary Findings: Motoki used the inventory previously compiled by me, Domoto, and Kasparov to realize that six syringes are missing (only fourteen out of twenty remained and none were used before today). Additionally, she found no anesthesia remaining in the Infirmary.
Last Night:
Earlier this morning, Monohebi informed me that three people were planning murder last night.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Class Trial: In Session!

Monohebi: [neutral] Before we begin, allow me to explain the rules of the class trial.

Monohebi: [neutral] In this trial, your goal is to correctly determine the culprit behind the murder. You will present your arguments for who the culprit may be, and, once you feel you have determined the guilty party, you will vote.

Monohebi: [slight smile] Vote correctly, and only one of you will be punished...the culprit, or the "blackened." However, if you—
Domoto: [irritatedly] Shut up. We know the rules by now.
Monohebi: [hisses angrily] Ssssss! Do not interrupt me, you rude brat!
Domoto: [icily] I'll do what I want. I don't give a fuck about you or your stupid explanations of rules we already know, so I'll keep interrupting you if you keep on yapping.
Monohebi: [red eye glints] You are far too bold, Domoto. I could kill you in an instant.
Domoto: [pinches bridge of nose] You could, but you won't. [neutrally] Anyway, on to more important things. We don't have any time to waste.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Yeah...even though there ain't many of us left, this case is really strange. We gotta put our all into it if we wanna find out what happened.
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] Agreed, but where should we start?
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] The best thing to do would probably be to share our accounts for what happened.
Domoto: [nods] I agree. [neutrally] I'll start. Obviously, Komatsu-kun and I were partners. We went to Kitchen, with me holding the walkie-talkie by the counter and Komatsu-kun covering the door with his whole body so no one could sneak in through that way.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] That's right...but it didn't do much good in the end. We were still attacked by that asshole in the omega mask.
Motoki: [perplexed] Hold on...how did they get in if you were blocking the door, Komatsu-kun?
Kawashima: [neutrally] They used the trapdoor in the back of the pantry. The same one Yamaguchi-kun used all the way back in the first case, remember?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Barely. I forgot that thing even existed.
Domoto: [crosses arms and closes eyes] Well, the culprit obviously didn't forget. They used that door to sneak up behind me in the dark about three minutes after music started blasting out of the walkie-talkie. I heard them coming and called out to Komatsu-kun in hopes he got away, and then...darkness. [opens eyes] Afterwards, they did some sort of weird surgery on my shoulder, and left me tied to the operating table in the Surgery Room until Komatsu-kun came to get me.
Komatsu: [grimaces] Uh-huh, that's true...also, when I heard them take out Domoto-san, I rushed over there and threw some punches in the direction of the glowing omega symbol. Most of my punches missed, but I'm pretty one of 'em landed. [sullenly] I paid for that, though. The culprit beat the shit outta me, breakin' my nose and makin' me bleed all over my face.
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] So that was why you had so much blood on your face...
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Yeah. It ain't 'cause I killed Kasparov-kun. [fixes belt] Anyway, once they beat me up...things get a lil' hazy. I dunno if they used a syringe on me or jus' let their punches knock me out, but either way...I ended tied up and gagged in the Kitchen. I think they used a syringe on me, but who knows.

Yeah, it could really be either, although my money's on the syringe.
Hayasaka: [smiles slightly] Thanks for that, Yutaka-kun. [awkwardly] I guess I should go next. As you all know, Hisaya-kun and I were partners. We were going to the Weapons Room with Wakana-san, but before we did I realized I didn't have my mask, so Wakana-san went ahead while Hisaya-kun and I went back and searched for my mask on the third floor. I eventually found it when I looked in the girls' locker room, and after that we finally went up to the Weapons Room together. Hisaya-kun was by the door across from the Media Room with the night-vision goggles, while I was over by the Infirmary.
Sashihara: [nods vigorously] That is all correct! [explanatorily] We were in those positions when the lights went out, and didn't move from them after that. I saw nothing suspicious with the night-vision goggles. In fact, nothing happened until about twenty minutes after the lights went out, when I suddenly was shot in the back with a tranquilizer dart. [clenches fist] Unfortunately, I never saw or even heard my attacker at all...ugh, I wish I had! [sadly] Maybe Kasparov-kun would still be alive if I could've seen my attacker...
Komatsu: [grimaces] Don't blame yerself 'less yer the killer, dude. There prolly ain't nothin' ya coulda done to stop him from dyin'...
Hayasaka: [reassuringly] Yeah, please don't blame yourself, Hisaya-kun. [looks down glumly] As for how I was attacked...I was attacked from behind too. However, I did notice the presence of someone behind me, so I turned around and saw this person in an omega mask. I tried to scream, but they covered my mouth before I could and injected me with anesthesia. I was out for a while, and when I woke up it was still dark and my mask was gone. I was really scared, but thankfully I ran into Wakana-san not too long after.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] My mask was gone when I woke up too. Although pretty much right after I woke up, the lights came back on.
Domoto: [strokes chin] Interesting...my mask was gone, too.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Same.
Kawashima: [neutrally] Me too.

Although that wasn't all that was missing when I awoke...ugh, admitting that I stole the gun is gonna suck. I better wait to tell my account last, so I don't derail this discussion with my admission.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] I didn't have my mask on, either. That means all of us had our masks removed while we were asleep, right? That's weird.
Domoto: [narrows eyes] It sure is. [sternly] Now tell us what you were doing, Motoki-san. To be honest, you better have a damn good alibi, because as the victim's partner, you're on the top of the suspect list right now.
Motoki: [passionately] It wasn't me! I'd never kill someone, and definitely not in such a terrible way!
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Domoto-san, don't accuse her before she even says anything. Give her a chance to speak.
Domoto: [irritatedly] ...Fine. I doubt it'll change much, though.
Motoki: [hostilely] It will. I didn't kill him! [awkwardly] Also...thanks for standing up for me, Kawashima.
Kawashima: [warmly] You're very welcome, Motoki-san.
Sashihara: [amusedly] ...Ha. You two are cute.
Kawashima: [blushes] U-Um...thanks...
Motoki: [awkwardly] Uh, anyways... [rubs shoulder] Kasparov-kun and I were partners. We got all the drill parts together, then turned the lights out, and then Kasparov-kun started building the drill, with me handing him whichever parts he needed. I couldn't see because it was dark, but I know we were building the drill near the front of the Boiler Room, near the door. I
also knew Kasparov-kun was there because we talked frequently. [grimly] Everything was pretty normal until about a minute or two after the music started blasting out of the walkie-talkie. When that happened, Kasparov-kun yelled that someone was behind me and told me to run, so I did...but it didn't matter. I still got injected with a syringe and passed out.
Domoto: [narrows eyes] And you were the first to find his body, correct?
Motoki: [closes eyes to prevent tears] Y-Yeah...when I came to again, I had no mask and couldn't find or hear Kasparov-kun anywhere. So, I searched for the power control panel at the back of the Boiler Room and eventually found it. I turned the lights back on, and when I did...I... [miserably] ...I found him.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Your attacker, Sakiko-san...did you get any glimpse of them? Were they wearing the omega mask too?
Motoki: [grimly] No, I never saw anything about them. I had no clue there was even a person there until Kasparov-kun yelled at me to tell me there was. [miserably] He's the only one who saw them, and now he's dead.
Komatsu: [sullenly] Fuck, I wish he could tell us what he saw before he died...
Domoto: [solemnly] I'd like that too, but he's dead. We can't dream of impossible things like that. [icily] Also, I'll be honest with you, Motoki-san. I find your story to be very suspicious.
Kawashima: [seriously] That's fine, Domoto-san, but let me explain my account before you start accusing her, okay?
Domoto: [neutrally] That's perfectly okay. [narrows eyes] After Motoki-san, you're next up on the suspect list, so I was going to wait for you to tell your story anyway.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] Huh? You don't trust Wakana-san? Why not?
Sashihara: [curiosuly] Yeah, why do you not trust her? She's the reason we got through four whole trials!
Domoto: [sternly] Listen to her story and you'll see why she's not as trustworthy as you think.

Fuck, Domoto-san's probably gonna go after me once I tell my story. I better be prepared for her accusation.

Kawashima: [reluctantly] Well...I guess I should start with the worst part. [regretfully] While Hayasaka-san and Sashihara-kun were downstairs looking for Hayasaka-san's mask, I was standing outside the Weapons Room, waiting for them to come. And while I was waiting...I stole a pistol from there.
Hayasaka: [shocked] What!?
Sashihara: [incredulously] No way...Kawashima-san, are you serious!?
Motoki: [horrified] Kawashima-san...please tell me that's a lie...
Kawashima: [seriously] It's not a lie. [regretfully] There's no good justification for what I did. It was stupid, but I was scared of being the only person without a partner and acted recklessly because of that. I'm sorry, everyone.
Domoto: [icily] As you should be. Taking that gun was incredibly dumb.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] I totally get why she did it, but I agree. [grimaces] Ya really shouldn't have done that, Kawashima-san.
Kawashima: [regretfully] I know, Komatsu-kun. If I could do it again, I wouldn't take that gun. [firmly] But I took it, and that's that. There's no changing that now.
Sashihara: [nervously] What happened after you took it? Don't tell me that you used it...
Kawashima: [regretfully] I did. [seriously] But it was only because I was attacked. I would've never used it otherwise.
Domoto: [crosses arms] Unless you have concrete evidence you didn't use it, you can't expect us to readily believe that. [sternly]
Anyway, get on with the rest of your story.
Kawashima: [seriously] I was planning on it. [neutrally] After Sashihara-kun and Hayasaka-san came to the Weapons Room, I went upstairs to the fifth floor. I check every open room for anything suspicious but didn't find anything, so I stood by the stairs from the fourth floor. Excluding Sato-san's execution and the power turning off, nothing happened until about twenty minutes after the lights went out, when I saw Monohebi exit the Surveillance Room, at which point music started blasting from my walkie-talkie.
Hayasaka: [glares at Monohebi] That's suspicious...do you think he was behind it?
Kawashima: [nods] Definitely. He confirmed it himself.
Monohebi: [smiles slightly] Indeed I did. It was I who jammed your walkie-talkies.
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] We were all attacked within a few minutes of that happening, right? [points] Monohebi, that means you're probably connected to the attacks!
Monohebi: [slightly irritated] Silence, Sashihara. That is a baseless claim.
Kawashima: [firmly] Monohebi didn't attack me, Sashihara-kun. [neutrally] But I was attacked right after I started talking with him. Someone ran up the stairs and punched the night-vision goggles right off my face. [seriously] That was when I used the gun. I shot at my attacker, someone in an omega mask, but I'm pretty sure I missed. They then slapped the gun out of my hand, causing it to randomly fire off. I tried to fight back, but I got injected with anesthesia. When I woke up, the pistol, night-vision goggles, and walkie-talkie were all gone, taken from me by the attacker. I went downstairs to find Hayasaka-san awake and Sashihara-kun unconscious.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Yeah...then we searched around for others until we found Yutaka-kun tied up in the Kitchen.
Kawashima: [nods] That's right. [seriously] The three of us went downstairs to the basements, where the lights suddenly turned back on. We headed to the Garage, but after we saw the pool of blood outside the Boiler Room, we decided to look inside. And when we did...we found Kasparov-kun's body.
Domoto: [sternly] Yes, yes, that's all true.
[raises eyebrows] But are you really not going to mention the bullet holes in the Boiler Room? I feel like that's pretty relevant.
Motoki: [horrified] No way...there were bullet holes there?
Kawashima: [regretfully] Yes, there were. Four in total, all of which were concealed by the big pool of blood. [seriously] I know that I look really suspicious. I was the only person without a partner. I had night-vision goggles and could easily attack everyone because of that. I had the gun and those bullet holes were right in the middle of a giant puddle of blood. [firmly] But I promise all of you. I'm not the killer. I didn't kill Kasparov-kun!
Sashihara: [clenches fist] I'm sorry, Kawashima-san, but we can't really believe you just because you say you're innocent.
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] Yeah...sorry, Wakana-san.
Motoki: [passionately] I believe you, Kawashima-san!
don't really have any proof to back you up, but I know you'd never kill anyone. [grimly] Can you even be sure the bullet holes are from the same gun?
Kawashima: [reluctantly] Yes, sadly.

The reason I can be confident those bullet holes were from the gun I stole is...
The bullet holes were in the place where Kasparov likely died/The pistol I took had no bullets left in it/The pistol I stole was crushed in the hydraulic press

Answer: That pistol I stole was crushed in the hydraulic press

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] The pistol I took from the Weapons Room was crushed in the hydraulic press, Motoki-san. No other guns were found anywhere near the crime scene, so it's pretty safe to assume it was that pistol that created those bullet holes.
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] That sounds about right...I didn't see any guns other than that one in the press.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Kawashima-san...are you serious? That's not proof those bullet holes came from the gun you took!
Komatsu: [doubtfully] Ya sayin' that came from another gun?
Motoki: [determined] Yes. I think this is all a set-up to make Kawashima-san look guilty!
Domoto: [irritatedly] Do you have any proof to back that up?
Motoki: [awkwardly] Well...no...
Kawashima: [gently] Motoki-san...it's okay. It was the gun stole. I adm—

Motoki: Unintelligible!

[split screen separates Motoki and Kawashima]
Motoki: [determined] No, Kawashima-san. What you're saying makes no sense! The pistol in the hydraulic press doesn't have to be what made those bullet holes! In fact, I'm pretty sure it's not what made them.
Kawashima: [surprised] What...? How can you be sure it isn't?
Motoki: [confidently] It's all a trap! [passionately] I'm sorry, but if you can't see it yet...then I'll guess I'll just have to prove it to you!

Motoki-san really does not want to believe that the gun I took is what made those bullet holes. I can see why, but I'm almost certain she's wrong. Still, I guess I should hear her out.

REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN

Truth Swords: My Account, Monohebi File #5, Bullet Holes, Pool of Blood, Bullet Shells, Charred Floor and Gasoline, Hydraulic Press

Motoki: [grimly] Kawashima-san, you keep saying that the gun you stole is the one that made those bullet holes...
Motoki: [confidently] ...But you can't absolutely prove
they're from the pistol you had unless you were there yourself!
Motoki: [passionately] That pistol being crushed in the hydraulic press could easily be a red herring!

ADVANCE!
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] You're right. It *could*
be a red herring. The bullet holes *could* be from another gun.
Kawashima: [slightly challengingly] But there were absolutely no other guns nearby! [thoughtfully] Besides, my pistol had a total of six shots per each magazine. I discharged two shots before I got knocked out, and there were four bullet holes in the Boiler Room. [firmly] The math adds up!

Motoki: [scoffs] So what if it's the same number of shots? The killer was obviously the person who attacked you, so they'd know to only use four shots!
Motoki: [determined] Besides, there are a ton of different types of guns in the Weapons Room. [passionately] We know the killer went up there to knock out Sashihara-kun and Hayasaka-san...
Motoki: [passionately] So they could easily pick any
one of the
guns there
and use it to frame you!
Motoki: [confidently] Then, when they were done, they could just put the gun back in the Weapons Room where they found it and act like nothing ever happened!
Motoki: [determined] I mean, it's not like any of us would be able to check every single gun to make sure none of them were used.

From these arguments, I can tell Motoki-san didn't fully investigate all the areas I did. because if she did, she would've found one piece of evidence that ruins this theory of hers...

Answer: Bullet Shells > any
one of the
guns

Kawashima: I'll cut your contradictions in two!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [firmly] They couldn't pick any one of those guns, Motoki-san. They'd have to pick the same type of pistol I did.
Motoki: [perplexed] Huh? How do you know that?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] It's because of the bullet shells I found at the back of the Boiler Room. [seriously] If you don't know, the size of bullet shells varies quite a lot depending on the model of gun. And these shells...they looked to be the right size for the pistol I stole. [firmly] Motoki-san, give it up. Those bullet holes came from my pistol. The culprit had no reason to use another gun, not when they had easy access to mine.
Domoto: [crosses arms] Of course they're from that gun. Insisting otherwise is nothing more than a waste of time.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Sorry...I just didn't want to believe they're from that gun, because...that implicates you, Kawashima-san. [grimly] Why are you doing this? Why are you digging the hole deeper for yourself by telling us it's the same gun?
Kawashima: [seriously] Because that's what I believe to be the truth based on the evidence I found. [reluctantly] Believe me, Motoki-san...I don't like doing this, either. But I'm not going to lie or misconstrue evidence just to avoid suspicion. I'm going to find the truth, even if it makes me seem like the culprit.
Hayasaka: [hesitantly] Well...are you?
Kawashima: [firmly] No. I promise all of you, from the bottom of my heart, I didn't kill Kasparov-kun.
Sashihara: [passionately] I trust you, Kawashima-san! I was doubting you earlier, but I shouldn't have. [adjusts medical mask] Honestly, you've been indispensable for solving the first four trials. Even though you've made a lot of mistakes, you've always been trying to help the group.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] I think it's pretty obvious, but I trust you too.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Kawashima-san, freely admittin' that yer gun was the one that made those bullet holes does make ya less suspicious, but... [grimaces] It don't really prove anythin' in the end. Sorry, but I can't believe that jus' yet.
Hayasaka: [uncertainly[ Yeah, same here.
Domoto: [crosses arms and closes eyes] I think it's pretty obvious where I stand on this matter. You are very suspicious, Kawashima-san. [opens eyes] However, I'm not going to accuse you as the culprit yet. For now you, like Motoki-san due to her being Kasparov-kun's partner, are just a suspect.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] You're not accusing her yet? That seems unlike you...
Domoto: [icily] Shut up. You don't have the best track record of correct accusations, either. [neutrally] Anyway, the reason I'm refraining from accusing anyone yet is that firstly, we don't know what the murder weapon is. It could be the pistol, it could be something else. Secondly, we don't know who lied.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] ..."Who lied?" Huh? Whaddaya mean by that?
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] I think I know what she's saying. [explanatorily] Domoto-san's thinking that one of us lied about being attacked.
Domoto: [nods] Precisely. [strokes chin] I think it is extremely obvious that this crime was not a suicide due to Kasparov-kun being both burnt and dismembered. Because of that, his murderer must be one of us, and for that to be the case, at least one of us must be lying. We need to find out who that is.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] I agree, but that's way easier said than done.
Domoto: [crosses arms] I never said it'd be easy. In fact, it'll be very difficult to find out who lied. Whoever the culprit is, they clearly put a lot of work into this crime and ensuring they didn't get caught.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Well...guess that means we should start with talkin' 'bout the murder weapon.
Kawashima: [seriously] I agree, Komatsu-kun. Finding out what the murder weapon was should be our primary goal for now.
Motoki: [determined] Then let's get started. Let's find out what it was!

Yeah.
Hopefully, it'll turn out not to be the gun. I'd feel absolutely awful if it really did kill Kasparov-kun. I should prepare myself for the possibility, though...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Monohebi File #5, Reconstructed Corpse, Nail Gun Missing Trigger, Saw, Hydraulic Press, Metal Bar, Surgery Room

Motoki: [thoughtfully] Thinking of a murder weapon is difficult, given there weren't any possible candidates left at the immediate scene of the crime...
Motoki: [grimly] So, as much as I hate to say it, from how things look right now the gun is most likely the weapon that killed Kasparov-kun.
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] I agree, but if it ain't that gun, it coulda been the saw that was in the Freezer. [fixes belt] That thing was covered with blood and guts and was definitely used to cut Kasparov-kun up. Maybe dismemberin' itself was the murder method!
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] I'm not sure about that. There was also that metal bar in the Trash Room. [shouts loudly] The culprit could've bashed his head in with that, then crushed his head and chest in the press to hide any evidence!
Domoto: [strokes chin] There's no shortage of sharp blades in the Surgery Room. All of them are possibilities as well.

Everyone has different ideas for what the murder weapon could be. Can I prove any of them right or wrong? I'll need to look back at the evidence for right now...

Answer: Reconstructed Corpse > dismemberin' itself

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [firmly] No, Komatsu-kun, that isn't right. Kasparov-kun's dismemberment was not the murder method.
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] Really? Why the fuck not?
Kawashima: [seriously] You only need to look at how his corpse was when it was all put together to find the answer. Every piece of his body, with the exception of the two pieces crushed in the hydraulic press, was found in the Boiler Room with no wounds on it except cuts from the dismemberment.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] ...I don't really see the issue here. If there were no marks on 'em except for the dismemberin', don't that prove me right?
Sashihara: [explanatorily] I think I get what she's saying, Komatsu-kun. Because two pieces of his body were crushed in the press, that means there was something to hide on both of them. Something that would allow us to figure out the cause of death pretty easily.
Kawashima: [nods] Exactly. [firmly] If the culprit killed Kasparov-kun by dismembering him and doing nothing else, they had no reason to crush his head and part of his torso in the press.
Domoto: [crosses arms] Also, the part of his torso that was missing was the upper right portion if viewed from above—which means it would be the upper left part of the body from Kasparov-kun's point of view.
Motoki: [perplexed] Um...okay? What does that mean?
Domoto: [icily] Idiot. If you looked at Kasparov-kun's body, you'd notice the torso was cut along two axes, one of which was the side of his breastbone. [irritatedly] Anyone with a basic knowledge of human anatomy can see where I'm going with this.

I'm not an expert in anatomy, but I think I know what Domoto-san's trying to say. The missing piece of torso...
Has no sternum/Contains Kasparov's heart/Has only one lung

Answer: Contains Kasparov's heart

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] I get what you mean, Domoto-san. The sternum is right above the heart, and the heart is mostly on the left side of your body, if viewed from your own point of view. [firmly] That means the part of his torso that's missing has the heart in it!
Sashihara: [explanatorily] Well, not exactly *all*
of the heart. A small portion of it is on the other side of the sternum. [thinking deeply] But, yes, you're right that most of the heart would be on the upper right piece of the torso.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] So Sergey-kun's head and the heart, the two most obvious places for lethal wounds to be inflicted, were both gone. That's definitely not a coincidence.
Domoto: [crosses arms] No, most certainly not. Because of that, I think we can come to a conclusion: Kasparov-kun was murdered by some fatal damage to his head or upper torso, most likely to the heart or brain. Does everyone agree?
Sashihara: [nods vigorously] I do.
Motoki: [grimly] Me too.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] I guess...it don't look like dismemberin' was what killed Kasparov-kun, so the saw itself ain't the murder weapon.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] No, definitely not. I think Sergey-kun was dismembered post-mortem just to fuck with us and separate the part of his body that made the murder weapon obvious. [twirls hair pensively] If the murder weapon was made so obvious by the wounds, I think the gun is the most likely murder weapon. Bullet holes are pretty distinctive.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Uh-huh. The bullet holes in the Boiler Room were in the middle of a huge puddle of blood, too. The culprit prolly killed Kasparov-kun there and let him bleed out while they cut him apart.

That does sound like a probable scenario. However...can we be sure that's what happened?
Kawashima: [seriously] That does sound plausible. It's not the only option, though.
Sashihara: [curiously] What are other options are you suggesting?
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] Maybe she means that metal bar in the Trash Room.
Kawashima: [seriously] That wasn't what I was thinking. Honestly, I doubt that was used to kill Kasparov-kun. [thoughtfully] Not only was it completely clean, but there was also duct tape on it, which doesn't really make sense if it was used to bash Kasparov-kun's head in.
Motoki: [perplexed] If the metal bar isn't what you were considering, then what is that "other option" you were talking about?

The answer to that is pretty obvious if I think about what I found on the fifth floor...
Bloody nail/Surgery tools/Severed ropes

Answer: Bloody nail

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I think it was a bloody nail that I found in the Torture Room. It was hidden with a bunch of the other torture instruments in there, so it was pretty clearly hidden. Also, the blood was almost dry—but not completely.
Komatsu: [doubtfully] That really what yer thinkin'? The gun still seems more likely to me.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Me too. Even if the nail was hidden and still a little wet, there's no guarantee it wasn't just something used on Otoha-san or even something unconnected to the crime. [looks to the side thoughtfully] But the gun was crushed in the press. There were bullet holes under a huge pool of blood. It has evidence to directly connect it to the crime.
Motoki: [grimly] I agree, sadly. The gun is definitely more likely to have killed him...
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] Are you sure about that?
Sashihara: [confusedly] Do you not think the gun is probably the murder weapon?
Domoto: [shakes head] No. [strokes chin] I think it's possible, for sure, but I think the bloody nail Kawashima-san suggested is more likely.
Hayasaka; [slightly confused] But why?
Domoto: [crosses arms] I'll explain it now. [irritatedly] Hopefully you all can understand...

Domoto-san agrees with me and thinks the bloody nail I found in the Torture Room is probably the murder weapon. Why? Does she know about the nail guns, too? I thought I was the only person to investigate them, but maybe not. Either way, I should listen to what she has to say.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Nail Gun Missing Trigger, Bullet Holes, Dismemberment, Motoki's Account, Incinerator Log, Kasparov's Bed, Gamma Mask

Komatsu: [fixes belt] So, why ya think that bloody nail's more likely to be the murder weapon than the gun?
Domoto: [neutrally] To start, think back to the scene of the crime, particularly the large pool of blood in the Boiler Room. [strokes chin] If Kasparov-kun truly was shot to death and dismembered, shouldn't there have been a big, human-shaped smear in the middle? The absence of one makes me skeptical.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] That's not really solid evidence...I was sitting in the middle of it for a while and the others stepped all over it a bunch of times.
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] Yep. Domoto-san, you were one of the last people to come to the Boiler Room, so you would've seen it after it'd been disturbed a lot. [explanatorily] So your point's not really valid...
Domoto: [crosses arms and closes eyes] Even so, if he did die in the pool of blood, there is something else strange. [opens eyes] If you were to examine the placement of the bullet holes closely, three appear to be clustered very closely around one location, with the fourth a short distance away from them. Komatsu-kun, you can confirm this.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Yeah...I don't got a clue what it means, though.
Domoto: [pinches bridge of nose] Do you really not see it...? [sternly] If I was wrong and Kasparov-kun died in the pool of blood, then naturally the bullet holes would be underneath where his body was placed when he died, right? [crosses arms] So if you overlay his body with the placement of the bullet holes and take into account the two sections of his body that were destroyed, you get that one of the two locations of the clusters of bullet holes is the head and the other is the heart. They're just the right distance apart for that to be the case, which Komatsu-kun can also confirm.
Hayasaka; [slightly confused] Otoha-san, I really don't get what you're trying to say...honestly, you're making me believe it's the gun more than I did before!
Domoto: [sternly] Did you search the entire Boiler Room? If you did, you should have encountered a piece of evidence that makes the theory that he was shot in the head and heart less likely. Not impossible, but certainly less likely.

That was a really long explanation by Domoto-san. Does that piece of evidence she's talking about really exist? Or is she wrong?

Answer: Gamma Mask > piece of evidence

Kawashima: That's right!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Domoto-san's right. There is a piece of evidence that, while it doesn't outright disprove the gun was used, makes it less likely.
Sashihara: [curiosuly] What is it?
Kawashima: [firmly] The gamma mask Kasparov-kun wore. Although it was soaked in blood, it had no unusual holes or tears in it. [thoughtfully] I think Domoto-san's trying to say is because it didn't have any tears and Kasparov-kun was purportedly shot in the head at least once, it should at least have at least one bullet hole in it too.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] But that's only if he actually died with it on...the culprit could easily just take it off him before they shot him. I mean, they take all the rest of our masks off after we were knocked out.
Domoto: [nods] Indeed. that's why I said it didn't outright disprove the gun was used. [strokes chin] But then why is the gamma mask soaked in blood? If he didn't die with it on, why is it covered in blood? The epsilon mask is fine, and the others are nowhere to be found. So why is the gamma mask the only one covered in blood if Kasparov-kun didn't die in it?
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] That is a good question...
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Yeah, but I got another one. The fuck happened to all the other masks? The chi, alpha, phi, beta, delta, and omega masks?

I think the answer to that is pretty obvious...
They were incinerated/They were crushed in the press/They were hidden in an upstairs room

Answer: They were incinerated

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] They were incinerated, Komatsu-kun. That's why we couldn't find them.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] That makes sense. There was a bunch of ashes in the Incinerator...way too much to just be the masks, though. There had to be other stuff incinerated too.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Okay, but we still haven't answered the question of why the gamma mask was so bloody if Kasparov-kun didn't die with it on.
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] I've been thinking, it could've been placed next to Kasparov before he was shot and left there while they shot them. Then, the culprit left it there while they dismembered him, causing him to bleed all over it and get it soaking wet.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] I think Hisaya-kun's right. I think the killer took Sergey-kun's mask off before they shot him to death, left it near him, then let it get blood all over it as they dismembered him.
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] But isn't it more likely that he was killed by the nail? If he was, we don't have to assume he was killed with the mask off. The killer could've simply directed their final wound toward his heart, without needing to worry about the mask. [seriously] However, if they shot him, they'd have to aim at least one shot at his head. [firmly] The nail is more likely to be the murder weapon.
Hayasaka: [narrows eyes] Sorry, Wakana-san. I don't agree.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] I feel the same way as Hayasaka-san. The gun jus' makes more sense as the murder weapon to me.
Domoto: [pinches bridge of nose] Imbeciles. You're wrong.
Hayasaka: [confidently] No, we're not.

Domoto-san seems very dismissive of any indication that she's not right. I mean, I agree in that I think Hayasaka-san and Komatsu-kun are wrong, but I should still listen to what I have to say. I could be the one wrong, after all...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Infirmary Findings, Blood Outside Boiler Room, Nail Gun Missing Trigger, Monohebi File #5, Paper, Komatsu's Account, Sashihara's Account

Sashihara: [curiously] Hayasaka-san, why do you think the gun's the more likely to be what killed Kasparov-kun?
Hayasaka: [looks at the side thoughtfully] Well, let's start with the fact that we know the gun was used at the scene of the crime because of the bullet holes and bullet shells in the Boiler Room. [passionately] On the other hand, the nail has no such evidence to directly connect it to what happened in the Boiler Room!
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] I'll admit, the nail having blood on it is weird. [confidently] But due to how it was found in the Torture Room, which is right next to the Surgery Room, it's likelier that it was used in Otoha-san's surgery, and not in Sergey-kun's murder!
Motoki: [thoughtfully] Couldn't it be used in both?
Komatsu: [frowns] I guess, but we can't forget the culprit stole the gun from Kawashima-san. We know they had it and that they used it in the Boiler Room, the crime scene. [fixes belt] They disposed of it, too. Why crush it in the press if it wasn't important to the crime?
Hayasaka: [confidently] There's also the fact that guns are designed to kill quickly and effectively. The nail could kill too, but they're harder to use. [looks to the side thoughtfully] The culprit could use the gun to murder Sergey-kun easily without worrying about the inevitable resistance a victim has to being murdered. [softly] We all remember how badly Michio-kun resisted death, right? He broke an arcade machine with his struggles. Sergey-kun was more physically powerful than Michio-kun, so he definitely wouldn't just let himself be killed easily either.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] And also...no one else besides Kawashima-san investigated the Torture Room, right? [frowns] That means we can't be sure the nail's even legit. She could be tryna convince us the gun wasn't the murder weapon by fakin' the nail's existence.
Motoki: [hostilely] She didn't lie about that! Don't accuse her of something like that!
Komatsu: [grimaces] Sorry, but this trial's life or death. I don't got a choice.

I can understand why you wouldn't believe me, Komatsu-kun. With the evidence you know of now, it's not surprising you and Hayasaka-san think the gun is probably the murder weapon. I'll dismantle your agruments, piece by piece...

Answer: Infirmary Findings > inevitable resistance

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] There was no "inevitable resistance" here, Hayasaka-san.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] What do you mean? Of course there would be. Sergey-kun wouldn't just let himself get killed!
Kawashima: [neutrally] No, not if he was conscious. [firmly] But if he was injected with anesthesia, the killer wouldn't have to worry about what method would be easiest to kill him. They could do whatever they wanted with no resistance if he was made unconscious before he died.
Komatsu: [suspiciously] Can you really be sure he was injected, though? I thought the culprit did that to the resta us so we didn't interfere with their murder plan...
Kawashima: [seriously] I can't be *sure* he was injected, no. [thoughtfully] However, Motoki-san investigated the Infirmary, she noted there were six syringes missing. There were seven of us before Kasparov-kun's death, so if we assume the killer faked their own attack and didn't inject themselves, the only logical conclusion is that they knocked out Kasparov-kun with the sixth syringe.
Motoki: [determined] Yeah, I think that's right. it wouldn't make much sense for them to knock themselves out. They'd have no time to do the murder if they did that.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Okay, so they knocked Sergey-kun out. I accept that. [confidently] But the gun's still more likely! Like Yutaka-kun said, we can't be certain if Wakana-san is telling the truth about the nail's existence. [looks to the side thoughtfully] And even if it is real...is a nail really long enough to stab the heart like Kawashima-san described?
Kawashima: [firmly] This nail was 20 centimeters long and was almost completely covered in blood. It'd definitely be long enough to pierce Kasparov-kun's heart.
Domoto: [nods] Mmhm. [strokes chin] It could easily kill him if it was stabbed into his heart, but even more easily if it was shot into him.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] Wait, what do you mean by "shot" into him?

I'm pretty sure I know what Domoto-san means. She thinks the nail was shot into Kasparov-kun...
With a nail gun/With a pistol/With a pen

Answer: With a nail gun

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [firmly] The reason why Domoto-san said the nail was shot into him was that there are nail guns in the Garage. And two of those nail guns had clearly been tampered with.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] The hell do ya mean by "tampered" with?
Domoto: [crosses arms] One of the nail guns I found in the Garage had its trigger removed. [strokes chin] I don't know about any other nail gun that was messed up, though. [sternly] Tell me what you're talking about, Kawashima-san.
Kawashima: [seriously] There was a nail gun in the back of the Torture Room that had its trigger removed too. However, this one also had all of its inner circuitry and wires removed.
Sashihara: [confusedly] ...What? Why'd the culprit take the circuitry and wires from one gun and the triggers from both?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I don't know, Sashihara-kun. [seriously] But I think the nail guns being tampered with and being hidden in such obscure locations makes the nail look like a prime candidate for being the murder weapon.
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] The nail guns do increase the nail's likelihood of being the murder weapon, but I'm still unsure...
Kawashima: [neutrally] I don't blame you. It's—

Komatsu: Get in tune with the facts!

[split screen separates Komatsu and Kawashima]
Komatsu: [frowns] Yeah...no. Those nail gun's don't prove what ya think they do, Kawashima-san.
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] What're you talking about, Komatsu-kun?
Komatsu: [doubtfully] Do ya really think ya can convince us that they prove that yer gun wasn't what killed Kasparov-kun? [fiercely] 'Cause ya can't!

Does he think I'm lying to him? Or does he doubt something else? I honestly can't tell at the moment, so I'll have to hear him out to discover what he really thinks.

REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN

Truth Swords: Nail Gun Missing Trigger, Second Nail Gun, Bloody Nail, Motoki's Account, Surgery Room, Hydraulic Press, Monohebi File #5

Komatsu: [fixes belt] Honestly, Kawashima-san, I don't get why the fuck ya think these nail guns could be the murder weapons...
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] I mean, their triggers were fuckin' removed. They'd be useless
without them, 'cause they wouldn't be able to shoot shit!
Komatsu: [fiercely] And what makes ya think they were even used to kill? They musta had some other purpose besides killin' if the triggers were gone!
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] It's not like the culprit would need more than one of them to kill Kasparov-kun!

ADVANCE!
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] You're right that the guns would have no use if the triggers were removed...
[thoughtfully]
But the killer could've easily removed the triggers after they killed Kasparov-kun.
Kawashima: [seriously] Besides, even if the guns weren't used to kill Kasparov-kun, the bloody nail is still suspicious. [firmly] The killer'd still be fully capable of stabbing Kasparov-kun with that nail!

Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Okay, but if the guns weren't used... [fixes belt] ...don't that mean yer entire reason for suspectin' the bloody nail over the gun goes out the window?
Komatsu: [sullenly] The only valid reason why yer pickin' the nail as the murder weapon over the gun is the existence of those nail guns, 'cause that bullshit with the gamma mask don't count.
Komatsu: [fiercely] So with that reason gone, why the fuck would the culprit choose to get rid of their murder weapon all the way up in the Torture Room... [cracks knuckles] ...when they could jus' get rid of it in the Trash Room? They wouldn't
need to go that far jus' to dispose of it!
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] So, yer actin' real weird insistin' the nail's the murder weapon... [fiercely] Who's to say yer not fakin' it? Hell, ya could be lyin' 'bout everythin' 'cause yer the killer and don't want us to suspect ya for takin' that gun!

So he thinks I'm lying. Well, you're wrong, Komatsu-kun. I'm not lying, and although I understand why he suspects me, suspecting me will only get us all killed. I know my own account won't win him over, so I guess I'll need to look for another piece of evidence to do that.

Answer: Surgery Room > They wouldn't
need

Kawashima: I'll cut your contradictions in two!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] No, Komatsu-kun. The culprit would have a reason to go all the way up to the Torture Room. [firmly] Domoto-san's surgery. We know she was tied down to the operating table in there and had surgery done on her shoulder, which means the killer would pass right by the Torture Room.
Komatsu: [sullenly] Oh, fuck...kinda forgot 'bout that...
Domoto: [pinches bridge of nose] Idiot. You were the one who got me from the Surgery Room, shouldn't you of all people remember?
Komatsu: [fiercely] Hey, there's a lotta shit to remember in this fuckin' case! Don't get mad at me for forgettin'!
Kawashima: [gently] Komatsu-kun, calm down. It's alright to forget stuff.
Hayasaka: [reassuringly] Yeah...don't worry about it, Yutaka-kun.
Domoto: [irritatedly] Ugh, don't try to make him feel like forgetfulness is something to be valued. [crosses arms] Anyway, Kawashima-san's right. The culprit was already near the Torture Room. It is perfectly logical to assume they would make a small diversion to the Torture Room.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] Yep. And it'd make a lot of sense for them to try and hide the real murder weapon inside the huge mess of all the torture instruments in the Torture Room...we're honestly really lucky Kawashima-san found that nail.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] We are lucky she found that bloody nail...because, at this point, I think it's safe to say that it's the biggest contender for being what killed Kasparov-kun. [thinking deeply] The gun was too obvious of a choice, and it served its purpose well—distract us from the real murder weapon, all while laying suspicion on Kawashima-san. It's extra smart because she was the only one without a partner.
Hayasaka: [passionately] Hold on, why are you speaking like it's certain the nail's the murder weapon. We still don't know that yet!
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] Hayasaka-san, give up on the gun. It's clearly a distraction. [explanatorily] It was hidden well in the Torture Room and still had wet blood on it. I think it's pretty unrealistic to deny that it's the murder weapon at this point. Based on how obvious the culprit made the gun and how much they tried to hide the nail, I'd say the nail isn't only likely to be the murder weapon. It *is* the murder weapon.
Komatsu: [grimaces] Prolly...but I wanna be sure before we move on. Are there really no other options?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Well...the drill Kasparov-kun and I were building is a possibility. I doubt it, though. We didn't complete it before we were attacked.
Kawashima: [seriously] I don't think that's possible, Motoki-san. Like you said, that drill wasn't fully assembled before you were attacked. [firmly] But it also had no blood on it when I saw it crushed in the press.
Domoto: [neutrally] That seals the deal, then. [crosses arms] Are all the stubborn proponents for the gun being the murder weapon finally satisfied now?
Hayasaka: [uncertainly]
I guess...
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Me too.
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] I was undecided for a while, but I think it's evident where I stand now. [frowns] However...I do have a disagreement with the idea that the nail guns were involved in the murder. I think the nail was stabbed into Kasparov-kun without the involvement of any nail gun.
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] Really? Why do you think that, Sashihara-kun?
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] You'll see.

It seems like Sashihara-kun has a different idea for what happened then I do. I think that the nail guns were used, but he seems to think otherwise, despite the triggers being removed and them being tampered with...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Second Nail Gun, Incinerator Log, Circuitry and Wires, Nail Gun Missing Trigger, Small Metal Object, Vent, Saw

Motoki: [thoughtfully] Sashihara-kun, why do you think the nail guns weren't used? I can't think of why...
Sashihara: [explanatorily] To begin, unlike the bloody nail, they lack evidence that connects them to the scene of the crime, the Boiler Room.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] Huh? But the nail wasn't found anywhere near the Boiler Room.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] The wet blood Kawashima-san found on the nail is what connects it to the crime. Neither Kawashima-san nor Domoto-san described either of the nail guns as having blood on them, so we can't be as sure they're connected to the crime.
Domoto: [strokes chin] Both nail guns had their triggers and parts of their inner workings removed, though. [crosses arms] Don't you find that too bizarre to write off as a red herring?
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] No. And even if they aren't distractions, for all we know, the culprit removed those things with another purpose besides shooting the gun in mind...
Motoki: [perplexed] Huh? What would that be?
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] I'm not sure. [passionately] But we can't only consider the idea that the nail guns were used to shoot the nail. We can't limit ourselves to that!

Sashihara-kun brings up some interesting points. He has thought-provoking ideas about the nail guns...hm...

Answer: Circuitry and Wires > lack evidence

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [firmly] Sashihara-kun, the nail guns do have evidence that connects them to the Boiler Room. [seriously] Well, more precisely, the one I found in the Torture Room does.
Domoto: [strokes chin] You said that one had all of its inner wiring and circuitry removed... [crosses arms] Oh, I see. You're talking about the wires and circuits at the back of the Boiler Room.
Kawashima: [nods] Exactly. [thoughtfully] We didn't find wires or circuitry anywhere else, and knowing that the nail gun in the Torture Room had all of its circuitry removed...I think the conclusion is obvious. The culprit took all that stuff and put it in the Boiler Room near the power control panel.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] I had no idea about that...oops. Sorry, I didn't look very thoroughly in the Boiler Room because I was spending most of my time in the Trash Room.
Kawashima: [gently] It's alright.
[seriously] But if you were there, you should be able to recognize another piece of evidence that connects the nail guns to the crime.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] Huh? What're you talking about, Wakana-san?
Sashihara: [confusedly] I don't get what you're talking about, either.

I guess it's because they never looked at the nail guns during the investigation, because if they did, then they'd know what it is. Oh well, I'll just tell them myself. The piece of evidence I was talking about is...
Contents of hydraulic press/Melted metal and plastic/Metal bar

Answer: Melted metal and plastic

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [firmly] It was that small mass of melted metal and orange plastic in the incinerator. [thoughtfully] Judging by the colors and the approximate size, it's pretty much certain that is the remains of the triggers removed from the nail guns.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Hold on, can we be sure they're from both of the nail guns? Maybe the two nail guns are different colors.
Domoto: [crosses arms] No. I never saw the nail gun in the Torture Room, but I looked in the Garage and all the nail guns were the same make and model, even the ones not messed with. All of them were also orange.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] So we have the nail gins' triggers in the incinerator and the inner workings of one of them dumped out in the Boiler Room. That makes me think that the nail guns were involved in the crime. Don't you agree, Sashihara-kun?
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] I agree that they were involved. I never said I didn't think that. [explanatorily] What I disagree with is the notion that they must've been used to shoot the nail into Kasparov-kun. Although the evidence that's been brought up supports the notion that they were involved, it doesn't prove that they shot Kasparov-kun.
Kawashima: [reluctantly] ...I guess that's true. [thoughtfully] But what about the fact that the nail was covered in so much blood?
Sashihara: [confusedly] What do you mean?
Kawashima: [seriously] I said that almost all of the nail was covered in blood, and when I say almost all, I mean only about a two centimeters section out of all twenty on the nail didn't have blood coating it. It was hard to pick it up with such little space on it.
Domoto: [narrows eyes] Where are you going with this?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I guess what I'm trying to say is that if the nail was stabbed into Kasparov-kun by the killer, which is the theory Sashihara-kun supports, then shouldn't there have been sufficient space for the culprit to grip the nail as they stabbed it into him? [seriously] The culprit obviously didn't wash any blood off the nail, and if their hand was bloodied when they stabbed Kasparov-kun, there would've been a visible handprint on the nail. But there was no such mark.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] So, lemme get this right...yer sayin' that 'cause there wasn't a lotta space without blood for the culprit to grab on to, they musta killed Kasparov-kun without stabbin' him, 'cause if they did, there'd be a handprint or at least some sorta mark on the nail.
Domoto: [crosses arms] That makes sense. And if they didn't stab him, it's only natural to assume they used a nail gun to kill him instead.
Kawashima: [nods] Yep. [slightly challenging] Are you satisfied now, Sashihara-kun?
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] .......... [adjusts medical mask] ...I suppose. Your logic to arrive at the conclusion that a nail gun is the murder weapon was dangerously close to being conjecture, but it's enough to convince me.
Kawashima: [firmly] That's the last of any objections, so it's settled. The murder weapon was one of the nail guns!

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Domoto: [crosses arms] Now that we all agree on the murder weapon, we can move on to more productive things.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Before we move on, I want to talk about something kinda related to what we were just talking about.
Domoto: [irritatedly] Ugh. What is it now?
Motoki: [hostilely] Don't be so rude. [thoughtfully] What I wanted to discuss was the ashes in the incinerator. I never investigated the Trash Room, but earlier Hayasaka-san said there were too many ashes in there to just be all the painted masks. [perplexed] We accounted for the melted plastic and some of the ashes, but what was the other stuff burned in the Incinerator?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] That is a good question, Sakiko-san. I was wondering the same thing, too.

Same with me. I was wondering what created all those ashes. It'll be a difficult question to answer, but we need to at least try.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Incinerator Contents, Charred Floor and Gasoline, Paper, Incinerator Log, Dart Gun, Kasparov's Bed, Vent

Domoto: [crosses arms] Personally, I don't think this discussion is worth anything. The ashes in the incinerator are just that—ashes. [strokes chin]
We can pretty sure the masks were incinerated, but the rest of the ashes hold
no clues as to what they were before being burned... [sternly] ...so trying to figure what they originally were is pointless.
Motoki: [hostilely] Stop being so annoying. [thoughtfully] And you're wrong. Because the heap of ashes was just ashes, we know that whatever the ashes were prior to being incinerated, they were made of flammable material.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] So not anythin' metal or plastic...
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] That still doesn't get us very far. [twirls hair pensively] But I guess we should look for something that we know disappeared.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] That's still really vague. [sighs] I don't think we're going to get very far with this.

I disagree, Sashihara-kun. There is a piece of evidence we should pursue.

Answer: Kasparov's Bed > we know disappeared

Kawashima: That's right!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Hayasaka-san is correct. The stuff in the incinerator must be something which we know disappeared. [firmly] In my opinion, Kasparov's bedding is the most likely option.
Sashihara: [confusedly] Huh? His bedding?
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Ya mean the sheets on his bed and stuff like that?
Motoki: [confidently] Yeah, that's what she means. [rubs shoulder] Kawashima-san and I investigated Kasparov-kun's room, and the comforter, both pillows, and all the sheets were nowhere to be found. [thoughtfully] So I guess they ended up in the incinerator...
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] That does make sense. [twirls hair pensively] The only issue is the question of why all those sheets would need to be burned.
Domoto: [crosses arms and closes eyes] Indeed. It's a difficult question to answer...one that I don't think we have the capability to answer yet, unfortunately.
Kawashima: [nods] Yeah. [seriously] However, I think—

Sashihara: You need more leafy greens!

[split screen separates Sashihara and Kawashima]
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] I'm sorry, Kawashima-san, but I have to disagree.
Kawashima: [surprised] About what?
Sashihara: [explanatorily] About you being so sure the stuff from Kasparov-kun's room is really what's in the incinerator. [clenches fist] For all we know it could be something else!

So that's what his disagreement is...I'm curious. I think he's wrong, but I'm still going to listen to him.

REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN

Truth Swords: Epsilon Mask, Kitchen and Pantry, Charred Floor and Gasoline, Circuitry and Wires, Incinerator Contents, Surgery Room, Motoki's Account

Sashihara: [explanatorily] First, I want to say that I don't *necessarily* disagree with the notion that the sheets, comforter, and pillows from Kasparov-kun's room were burned in the incinerator.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] However, it's far too soon to definitively conclude anything.
Sashihara: [points aggressively] We must consider other options first!

ADVANCE!
Kawashima: [seriously] Fine. What other options are there?
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Come on. Can you think of any at all? I can't!

Sashihara: [thinking deeply] There are a bunch of rooms on the second, third, and fourth floors that no one investigated, right? [points aggressively] It could be something from one of those places. Like maybe the Props Storage Room! Or maybe the Rec Room!
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] The Library is also a possibility. It's chock full of books that would easily burn.
Sashihara: [passionately] Even if you are right and Kasparov-kun's bedding was actually burned by the killer, and not hidden in some other location... [explantorily] There's no guarantee that it was burned in the incinerator. There was a blackened section of the floor in the Garage from where the killer presumably set Kasparov-kun's body on fire... [points aggressively] So that's an option too!

Sashihara-kun isn't too far from the truth here. I can see why he thinks what he thinks, but I can tell he didn't pay close attention to everything he investigated.

Answer: Charred Floor and Gasoline > an option too

Kawashima: I'll cut your contradictions in two!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [firmly] No, Sashihara-kun. The section of burnt floor in the Garage is *not* an option for where the killer burned the bedding.
Sashihara: [confusedly] Huh? Why not!?
Kawashima: [seriously] Because there wasn't nearly enough ash there. [thoughtfully] If the bedding had been burned there along with Kasparov-kun's body, then there would've been much, much more ash. But there wasn't.
Sashihara: [clenches fist] Hm...I suppose that is true.
Motoki: [perplexedly] Wait, there was a section of burnt floor in the Garage? And Kawashima-san, how do you know Kasparov-kun's body was burned there?
Kawashima: [seriously] Yes, Motoki-san, there was. There was also a lighter and a canister of gasoline right next to this patch of charred floor.

And the reason why I can be pretty sure this is where Kasparov-kun's body was burned is...
There were no bones in the incinerator/Kasparov's body was still intact/The incinerator could burn the body too much

Answer: The incinerator could burn the body too much

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [firmly] The incinerator could burn the body too much. The culprit obviously wanted to burn the body yet leave it mostly intact, which is the way we found it. To achieve such a state, they needed control over the burning. [thoughtfully] By choosing to burn it in the Garage, they'd have more control over exactly how much they wanted to burn the body. They could set it on fire and put it out whenever. If they had used the incinerator, they'd have much less control. [seriously] There are different settings on the incinerator, but even the lowest setting might have been burned the body more thoroughly than what the culprit wanted.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Okay, but how could they put out the fire they set whenever they wanted to? Did they use a fire extinguisher or somethin' like that?
Domoto: [crosses arms] Yes, I assume so. There are fire extinguishers freely available on the second floor in the Auditorium. We used them to put out the fire Carrasco-san caused to burn Aozora-kun's body, remember?
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Barely...it's been so long.
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] It was only about two weeks ago, but it feels like it's been longer...
Sashihara: [sadly] Yeah... [clenches fist] However, Kawashima-san, you still haven't really proven that the sheets and stuff from Kasparov-kun's room were burned in the incinerator. All you said was that they weren't burned in the Garage.
Kawashima: [seriously] You're right, Sashihara-kun. I didn't. [thoughtfully] But I can't think of any other options. We have no way of truly knowing what those ashes were before they were burned, but the bedding in Kasparov-kun's room is most likely. [slightly challenging] If you have any other ideas, please offer them.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] I told you what I was thinking earlier. Maybe—
Domoto: [pinches bridge of nose] Shut up, both of you. This discussion obviously isn't going anywhere productive. [crosses arms] Instead, I'm going to focus my suspicions on Kawashima-san.

...Seriously?
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Domoto-san, are you kidding me? I thought we all agreed the gun wasn't the murder weapon!
Motoki: [confidently] Yeah, we did. And that's the piece of evidence that implicated Kawashima-san the most. [hostilely] So I don't buy your accusation, Domoto-san.
Domoto: [irritatedly] Don't let love blind you, Motoki-san. [crosses arms] The mess with the gun actually makes me more suspicious of Kawashima-san, actually.
Sashihara: [incredulously] How could you reach that kind of conclusion!? Are you crazy? [clenches fist] Also, don't interrupt me like you just did!
Domoto: [narrows eyes] I'll do what I want. [pinches bridge of nose] And no, I'm not crazy. I simply think critically.
Komatsu: [sullenly] Bein' condescendin' as ever, of course. Jus' tell us why ya suspect Kawashima-san.
Domoto: [nods] I was about to. [neutrally] Alright, listen up. I don't want to repeat myself.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: My Account, Hydraulic Press, Incinerator Log, Komatsu's Account, Blood Outside Boiler Room, Motoki's Account, Monohebi File #5

Motoki: [hostilely] Why the hell do you think Kawashima-san's the killer, Domoto-san?
Domoto: [crosses arms and closes eyes] Well, the thing is, Kawashima-san was bound to be a primary suspect no matter who died. After all, she was the only one who had no partner. [opens eyes] That would naturally make her suspicious, wouldn't it?
Komatsu: [furrows brow] I dunno where yer tryna go with this.
Domoto: [icily] Keep listening, then. [neutrally] What I'm trying to say is that Kawashima-san, if she is the culprit, would naturally anticipate being accused due to her having no partner. With that in mind, the use of the gun starts to make sense even if Kawashima-san is the culprit. [strokes chin] By planting the gun herself and making it look like the culprit was someone else trying to blame her for the crime, she would be justified to expect most of us to come to trust her as a victim once she proved the gun wasn't the murder weapon. [narrows eyes] While in reality, she could very well be the perpetrator here.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] Okay, maybe it could be her. [thinking deeply] But do you have any real proof that points to her?
Domoto: [crosses arms] No, but there's also the fact that she'd be more than able to use the incinerator. [strokes chin] Even if she couldn't use it while her, Komatsu-kun, and Hayasaka-san discovered the body that doesn't mean she's eliminated from suspicion.
Motoki: [scoffs] Really? Why not?
Domoto: [icily] Because she could use it during the brief interval of thirty seconds when the power turned on before any of us awoke from our anesthesia-induced sleep. [icily] Kasparov-kun dying during that time was just Monohebi's speculation, right? So Kawashima-san would easily be able to burn the nail gun triggers, masks, and whatever else was in the incinerator, be it the bedding or something else.

No, Domoto-san. You're completely wrong. if you had investigated harder, I'm sure you would see the error in your theory, but you didn't, so I'll need to point it out for you.

Answer: Incinerator Log >
during the brief interval

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] You're wrong, Domoto-san. It's not possible for me to have used that incinerator at all.
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] Oh really? Why the hell not? [icily] No one would be around to stop you if when the rest of us were unconscious!
Kawashima: [seriously] True, but the incinerator was not used during that time. The incinerator log is proof of that. [firmly] Instead, it was used at some time after 12:11 PM, when the power came back on, and before 12:48 PM, when I checked it.
Domoto: [strokes chin] Maybe—
Hayasaka: [glares at Domoto] Otoha-san, before you say she used it when she checked the incinerator, Hisaya-kun and I were there too.
Sashihara: [nods] That's true. No one used the incinerator after I came to the Trash Room.
Domoto: [narrows eyes] .......... [crosses arms] Hmph. Fine, then it isn't Kawashima-san.

Finally, she gave up. Once she believes something, it's really annoying to try to convince her otherwise.
Komatsu: [sullenly] Dunno why ya still thought it was her, but okay. [rubs back of neck] That aside, Kawashima-san, why can't ya be sure of the exact time on the incinerator? Don't it tell ya the time down to the minute?
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] It normally does, but the culprit smashed the screen that you read the log on so badly that you barely make out the first two numbers. The ones that displayed the minutes were sadly unreadable...so all she and I saw was '12:', with the rest being impossible to figure out.
Kawashima: [nods] That's right. [seriously] The screen was also unable to turn off after the culprit smashed it, so no one needed to scan to see the results.
Domoto: [strokes chin] Wow, they really messed it up. I wonder why they felt the need to...
Motoki: [thoughtfully] I guess it's because if we could read the time on the incinerator, we could probably figure out who the culprit was really easily. For obvious reasons, the culprit wouldn't want that.
Sashihara: [amusedly] Ha...that makes things easier.

...Huh?
Kawashima: [puzzledly] What do you mean, Sashihara-kun?
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] Whoever smashed the incinerator must be the culprit, and if we know that they used the incinerator between 12:11 and 12:48, finding them because a lot easier.

Really? The only person that rules out is Domoto-san, because she was tied up on the fourth floor and was never in the Trash Room before I checked it.
Motoki: [perplexedly] I don't get it...who does that eliminate from suspicion?
Domoto: [crosses arms] Me, firstly. Sashihara-kun also, given that he was unconscious when the power came back on and I don't think he was ever alone in the Trash Room. [strokes chin] And I suppose Kawashima-san too, since she was with Komatsu-kun and Hayasaka-san when the power came back on and wasn't ever alone in the Trash Room either. [narrows eyes] Motoki-san, though...she was alone in the Boiler Room when the power came back on. She was also Kasparov-kun's partner, so she's quite suspicious.
Motoki: [scoffs] Me!? Shut up! [hostilely] Komatsu-kun is more suspicious! He went to go get you by himself, so he passed by the Trash Room all alone! He could've used the incinerator and the press!
Komatsu: [fiercely] Hey, that ain't true! I'd never kill anyone!
Sashihara: [clenches fist] It pains me to say this, but if we're discussing suspects...I'd like to add that Hayasaka-san was in the Trash Room when I came in after investigating the Freezer and the three cells. It was the first place she investigated.
Motoki: [grimly] That's weird too...
Hayasaka; [awkwardly] Please, don't get the wrong idea. I only went there first because I figured the culprit probably disposed of evidence there. [stares with muted anger] It's not me!
[split screen with Komatsu and Motoki. They talk at the same time]
Motoki: [grimly] You can't just expect us to believe that for no reason.
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] Well, it ain't me either!
[split screen with Komatsu, Hayasaka, and now Sashihara. They all speak at the same time]
Komatsu: [fiercely] The killer's gotta be Motoki-san or Hayasaka-san!
Hayasaka: [confidently] Please, believe me! It's just a coincidence!
Sashihara: [shouts loudly] Everybody, please calm down!

Uh oh, everyone's talking over each other. I'll have to pay really close attention to what everyone says now...

MASS PANIC DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Komatsu's Account, Motoki's Account, Hayasaka's Account, Sashihara's Account, Domoto's Account, My Account, Monohebi's Account

Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] You have to understand, me using the incinerator doesn't make any sense.Komatsu: [fiercely] Listen, it ain't me! I never went into the Trash Room when goin' up to get Domoto-san!Motoki: [grimly] I'm can tell I'm being accused because just because I was alone and was Kasparov-kun's partner...
Hayasaka: [passionately] I had no way to know when anyone would come into the Trash Room!Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] I want to believe you, but is there any proof that's true?Motoki: [confidently] But I was in the Boiler Room! I couldn't have turned on the incinerator from in there!
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] You were standing by the incinerator when I came in, though.Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] Well, ya ain't got any proof that I did go in there, do ya?Domoto: [icily] You could still be responsible, though.
Sashihara: [points aggressively] I'm sorry, Hayasaka-san, but that's undeniably suspicious!Domoto: [crosses arms] That doesn't prove you never went in there.Motoki: [hostilely] No, I'm not! I was never in the Trash Room after the power came back!
Hayasaka: [glares at Sashihara] Hisaya-kun, I really was just investigating it...Domoto: [strokes] With everyone engrossed by the body and me upstairs, there'd naturally be no witnesses around.Motoki: [grimly] I was in the Boiler Room, then I went upstairs. That's it.
Hayasaka: [passionately] Everything inside was already burned
when I got there!Komatsu: [fiercely] Go fuck yerself. I didn't do shit with that incinerator!Motoki: [hostilely] I never so much as glanced inside
the Trash Room!

Wow. That was...a lot. Thankfully, I think I managed to hear something wrong amidst all that chaos...

Answer: Motoki's Account > could still be responsible

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Domoto-san, there's no way Motoki-san is the one who used the incinerator.
Domoto: [narrows eyes] Don't let feelings for her inhibit your logical side, Kawashima-san. You know she's still a viable suspect. [crosses arms] As Kasparov-kun's partner, she must be suspected!
Kawashima: [firmly] No. She shouldn't be, and it's not just because I love her that I'm saying that. [seriously] It's because there simply wasn't enough time for her to turn on the incinerator. [thoughtfully] The power control panel is in the back of the Boiler Room. When she turned that on, Hayasaka-san, Komatsu-kun, and I were at the base of the stairs from the first floor and we started running almost immediately after the lights came back. [firmly] There's no way she made it out of the Boiler Room, into the Trash Room, and back into the Boiler Room without us seeing!
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Yeah, that's true. It ain't possible for her to have turned on the incinerator without us seein'...
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] I never saw her come into the Trash Room after that, either.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] I guess that settles it, then. Motoki-san didn't turn on the incinerator.
Motoki: [smiles] Thanks, guys. Kawashima-san especially...
Kawashima: [warmly] You're welcome.
Domoto: [raises eyebrow] Really? We're going to excuse Motoki-san from suspicion now simply because she wasn't in that room?
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Uh...yeah? She'd need to be in there to use the incinerator. The press, too.
Domoto: [icily] Have you already forgotten about Niizuma-san and her little trick with killing Ichigohara-san from another room? [crosses arms] The same thing could be going on here.
Motoki: [hostilely] That's fucking bullshit. With Niizuma-san, there was the missing Art Room TV remote and the toy train. Here, there's no such evidence for the incinerator being used remotely.
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] Also, you need to swipe your e-Handbook on the incinerator to be able to use it in the first place. [adjusts medical mask] So, because Motoki-san's e-Handbook wasn't anywhere to be found in the Trash Room, I think it's safe to say it isn't her.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] That's two stupid-ass accusations in a row, Domoto-san. Maybe ya should start sittin' this out.
Domoto: [icily] Shut up. You're not one to talk.
Hayasaka: [glares at Domoto] He's not wrong, though.
Domoto: [furiously] I was just trying to offer suggestions! [crosses arms] I admit that I was wrong. Crucify me for it if you care so much.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Okay, sure. [determined] To be honest, I think the culprit is you, Domoto-san.
Domoto: [pinches bridge of nose] Ugh. Please don't waste our time like this, Motoki-san.
Motoki: [confidently] It's not a waste of time. You're the culprit!

Motoki-san seems convinced that Domoto-san's the killer. I'm not sure she's right, but let's see what she says.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Surgery Room, Locked Room in Freezer, Domoto's Account, Kasparov's Notebook, Vent, Kitchen and Pantry, Small Metal Object

Hayasaka: [slightly confuded] Sakiko-san, why do you think Otoha-san is the killer? [twirls hair pensively] She was still tied up in the Surgery Room when I investigated the Trash Room, so it wouldn't be possible for her to use the incinerator.
Motoki: [grimly] There could be an accomplice who did that for her.
Domoto: [pinches bridge of nose] What a baseless thing to say. [crosses arms] I didn't use the incinerator so I can't be the culprit, and that's that!
Motoki: [thoughtfully] You know that's not true. If you had an accomplice, it'd be possible for you to have the incinerator turned on for you.
Sashihara: [confusedly] Uh...what? Why would an accomplice work with Domoto-san? They'd just get killed if she got away with it!
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] I don't know the accomplice's motivation if they do exist, but I know it's possible they worked with Domoto-san. [thoughtfully] If Komatsu-kun was Domoto-san's accomplice, he could've lied about her being tied up. We have no proof besides his and Domoto-san's word that she ever was actually bound with ropes. [determined] Remember, he volunteered to go get her! [confidently] It's entirely possible using the incinerator while he went to go get her and then lying about her being tied up was all part of their plan.
Komatsu: [fiercely] Shut up, that ain't true! [cracks knuckles] Jus' 'cause I was Domoto-san's partner don't mean I worked with her.
Motoki: [determined] No, but it does increase the chances of that, doesn't it?
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] I guess...

Sorry, Motoki-san, but you're wrong. I need to show you why...

Answer: Surgery Room > besides his and Domoto-san's word

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Motoki-san, it's not just their word we're relying on. [firmly] There was evidence to support what they claimed in the Surgery Room. There were also several severed ropes around the base of the operating table, as well as blood on the table itself. Domoto-san's pocket knife that she showed us yesterday was also on a medical trolley next to the table.
Domoto: [crosses arms] That's all true. [strokes chin] Also, all the tools on that medical trolley had no blood on them, as strange as that is.
Motoki: [perplexed] That's odd... [grimly] Maybe it's because you faked having surgery done on you. The ropes and blood wouldn't be too difficult to fake.
Sashihara: [confusedly] But why would she tell us about the tools having no blood on them in the first place? It doesn't really help her.
Motoki: [determined] She could be trying to trick us.
Domoto: [icily] Shut up. You have no actual reason to believe that I am lying.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] ...Actually, yes I do. [grimly] Why don't your clothes have any blood on them? And show us your scar from your surgery if you want us to really believe you.
Komatsu: [frowns] She did have blood on her when I first found her. She jus' went to her room, cleaned it off, and changed her clothes before doin' anythin' else.
Domoto: [nods] Indeed. [shows scar to Motoki] And here it is, Motoki-san. I didn't lie about having surgery done on me.
Motoki: [grimly] Well...maybe... [rubs shoulder] Never mind. I guess it really isn't you. [shamefully] Sorry. I was just upset about you accusing me and thought maybe you did it because you were guilty.
Domoto: [crosses arms and closes eyes] I won't hold it against you, but please try to think things through next time. [opens eyes] I mean, even if I did have an accomplice—which there's no evidence for, by the way—it's impossible for it to be Komatsu-kun.
Sashihara: [curiously] Why's that?

I think I get what she's trying to say. It's because...

Komatsu is too impulsive/Komatsu was knocked out/Komatsu was tied up too

Answer: Komatsu was tied up too

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] It's because Komatsu-kun was tied up too. If they were a culprit and accomplice pair, it wouldn't possible for them both to be tied up the way they were.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Yutaka-kun's restraints were on really tight, too...it's definitely not something he could've slipped himself into. [looks to the side thoughtfully] However, that doesn't mean Otoha-san isn't the culprit. Or even that Yutaka-kun isn't...he could've had an accomplice too.
Motoki: [perplexed] But aren't they less likely to be the culprit? [thoughtfully] Komatsu-kun and Domoto-san would need someone else to tie them up, meaning they would've needed an accomplice if either of them was the culprit. [awkwardly] I know I suggested it earlier, but the idea of there being an accomplice isn't really super logical. An accomplice has nothing to gain from helping the culprit, so I think Domoto-san and Komatsu-kun are less likely to be guilty now.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Damn, that was a quick turnaround.
Motoki: [shamefully] Sorry, I wasn't thinking straight back then. I was mad at Domoto-san for accusing me and also Kawashima-san earlier, so I let myself get carried away.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Don't worry 'bout it. I ain't complainin'.

There's a brief pause. Hm...I'm wondering if what Motoki-san just proposed is true. Are Komatsu-kun and Domoto-san really less likely to be the culprit now? And was there an accomplice? I feel like we don't have enough to say anything conclusive about either yet...
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] So...what next?
Domoto: [strokes chin] Maybe we should talk about why I had surgery done on me? It seems pretty strange, and I don't—
Sashihara: [gravely] No. That can wait for later.
Domoto: [irritatedly] What? What the hell do you want to talk about that matters so much?
Sashihara: [sighs] I was waiting for someone else to bring this up, but if no one else is going to... [gravely] Then I'll do it myself. I want to talk about Monohebi and why I believe he's the culprit.
Hayasaka: [shocked] What!?
Kawashima: [surprised] Sashihara-kun, do you really think it's Monohebi?
Monohebi: [slightly irritated] I sincerely hope this is a joke, Sashihara. This accusation is asinine and baseless.
Sashihara: [clenches fist] It's not baseless, you lying bastard.
[adjusts medical mask] Everyone, do you really think it's a coincidence the attacks started soon after the music started blasting through the walkie-talkies? Or that we were trying to escape, and one of us ends up dead with all of the items crucial to our escape crushed in the press? [points aggressively] It's all because of him! This devious asshole killed Kasparov-kun!
Monohebi: [hisses furiously] Ssssss! I did not!
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] All the stuff ya mentioned is pretty weird, Sashihara-kun...but does that really mean it's Monohebi?
Sashihara: [explanatorily] I can understand why you're skeptical, but let me explain myself to you.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Monohebi's Account, Incinerator Contents, Paper, Nail Gun Missing Trigger, Monohebi File #5, Monohebi's Rules, Kasparov's Notebook

Monohebi: [slightly irritated] Sashihara, I would recommend you cease accusing me at once. [red eye glints] I did not kill Kasparov!
Sashihara: [clenches fist] Shut up. [gravely] Kasparov-kun was obviously targeted by the culprit. [points aggressively] He told us a few days ago he had an idea for who the mastermind was, so you killed him for it before he could tell us!
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] If that's the case, couldn't the mastermind just kill Kasparov-kun themselves? [looks down glumly] I hate to say it, but they could be one of us...
Domoto: [strokes chin] Monohebi's an AI, though. The mastermind could very well be one of the nine that died before Kasparov-kun and Monohebi could be all that's left to carry out their will.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] It's also possible they weren't a part of killing game to begin with. [grimly] They might not even be here in this prison.
Sashihara: [nods vigorously] Exactly. [adjusts medical mask] And if mastermind is dead or not in this prison, and Monohebi's all they have to do their dirty work... [points aggressively] It's not just possible, it's likely for him to be the killer! There's no way to guarantee he's really forbidden from lying!
Monohebi: [sweats] ..........

I think Sashihara-kun is starting to convince some of the others of what he's saying. He hasn't offered any concrete proof so far, but...

Answer: Kasparov's Notebook > obviously targeted

Kawashima: That's right!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Sashihara-kun's right, Kasparov-kun was definitely targeted by the culprit. [thoughtfully] Motoki-san and I found a note written at the end of Kasparov-kun's diary that said the following: "ω — the individual who bears that insignia is the fiend who has trapped us here. I know who they are. This note is hidden in my diary so that if I die, those remaining will find the truth. The terrible truth that the mastermind is none other than"
Komatsu: [furrows brow] That it? What does the rest of it say?
Kawashima: [firmly] Nothing. It gets ripped away there.
Domoto: [crosses arms] Well, that's suspicious.
Kawashima: [nods] It is. [firmly] But don't get too caught up in that. While the note appears to implicate the mastermind, we can't really be sure it's legitimate.
Hayasaka: [confidently] But Sergey-kun *was* targeted by the culprit. That's not something that's up for debate. [looks to the side thoughtfully] The culprit knocked everyone but themselves out and then specifically chose to kill Sergey-kun. That wasn't an accident.
Kawashima: [seriously] I agree, Hayasaka-san. he was undoubtedly targeted, but we can't be sure if it's because of that note that the culprit chose to kill him. [slightly challenging] If Kasparov-kun really did know who the mastermind was, why didn't he tell the rest of us? And why would the culprit, if it really is Monohebi or the mastermind, leave any part of the page there to begin with? They could simply tear the whole thing away.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Now that I think 'bout it, the note does seem kinda fishy to me. [rubs back of neck] I don't think Monohebi's the killer, either. I mean, the dude does have a rule that says he'll execute himself if he breaks any of the other rules, and him not bein' able to kill any of us is a rule.
Sashihara: [gravely] Don't let yourself forget that he's in charge here and those rules don't have to affect him if he doesn't want them to. He only added the rule you're talking about after Hayasaka-san pressured him to. He could remove it if he wanted, or simply ignore it.
Domoto: [crosses arms] Indeed. [strokes chin] Additionally, Monohebi has reason to kill Kasparov-kun even if the note is fake. Kasparov-kun was building the drill, the most important part of the escape plan. Monohebi obviously doesn't want us to escape, so killing him makes sense.
Monohebi: [hisses furiously] Ssssss! Cease this at once! I did not kill Kasparov, you fools!
Motoki: [hostilely] We can't just take your word for it. You may not have ever lied to us before, but that doesn't mean you're incapable of lying now.
Hayasaka: [confidently] That's right. We can't put any of our trust into this snake. He's the reason we're here to begin with.
Kawashima: [seriously] I don't trust him either. Hell, I suspected him at first too. [firmly] But I promise all of you, it isn't him. It's just one of us!
Komatsu: [grips jacket tightly and stares at floor] I hate to say it, but I agree...I don't wanna think that one of the six of us killed Kasparov-kun for no reason, but Monohebi bein' the culprit jus' doesn't make sense to me.
Sashihara: [gravely] You two think too highly of him…he's a treacherous snake who'll stop at nothing to succeed. He prefers to play by the rules, but that doesn't mean he'll always follow them
Monohebi: [slightly irritated] It seems the six of you are split...hm, I think it is high time for us to have a scrum debate. [red eye glints] I think I will join as well. Normally, I would refrain from any unnecessary interaction with you disgusting children, but I must defend myself.
Sashihara: [points aggressively] Defend yourself all you want, but you'll lose in the end!
Monohebi: [smirks] We shall see about that.
[neutral] Please hold on to your seats as they are rearranged temporarily for this special debate...

Like the first four times, I hold onto my podium tightly as it and all the others around me begin ascending into the air into an upper room in the trial area.

Once there, we
find ourselves in the same ultra-modern room we always do. We’re arranged into two rows facing each other again with myself, Komatsu, Monohebi (wrapped around Kasparov's portrait), and Kasparov, Eguchi, Terajima, Ichigohara, Aozora, and Furuhata's portraits on my side.

In the other row, I see Sashihara, Domoto, Motoki, Hayasaka, and Oyamada, Niizuma, Carrasco, and Yamaguchi's portraits.

Alright, let's get this over with...

SCRUM DEBATE

Question: Is Monohebi the culprit?

Kawashima’s Side: He's not!

Opposing Side: He is!

BEGIN!

Motoki: Monohebi could've killed Kasparov-kun. He was capable of turning on the incinerator and press without any of us seeing!

Kawashima: Monohebi!
Monohebi:
I suppose I was indeed
capable of those things. But how would I inject a syringe into any of your necks? I am far too short to do such a thing.

Sashihara:
Monohebi is a tricky bastard, I know that much. He could've attacked us and done everything else too, no matter what he says! The music blasting right before the attacks is too weird to ignore!
Kawashima: I'll do it!
Kawashima:
It is really weird, but I wasn’t attacked by him. He’s a bastard for sure, but he was thirty meters away from me when I got attacked!

Domoto: Why're you so desperate to trust him? He's the one who trapped us here!
Kawashima: Komatsu-kun!
Komatsu: That don't mean he's guilty. I don't wanna trust him, but he ain't ever done anythin' to directly interfere with a case before and I doubt he'd change that.

Hayasaka:
Sergey-kun knew the person in the omega mask was the mastermind, so that means Monohebi is the most likely suspect!
Kawashima: I'll do it!
Kawashima:
We have no way of knowing if that note's legitimate or what it's saying is true. None of the rest of the notebook contains Japanese writing, so we can't be sure it's Kasparov-kun's handwriting or if it really was the mastermind
who attacked us!

Domoto:
There's no way for any of you to prove Monohebi wasn't lying to us before. He could've been playing the long game, telling the truth up to a certain point so he could deceive us later.
Kawashima: Komatsu-kun!
Komatsu:
I guess that's possible, but do ya got any evidence that he's
lyin'
now? Yer makin' a claim, so the burden of proof's on ya and if ya don't got anythin', shut up!

Domoto: Monohebi doesn't have an alibi that any of us can confirm. That means he is a viable suspect, despite what you say.
Kawashima: Monohebi!
Monohebi:
I should remind you that none of the rest of you have alibis either. Do not accuse me based on such flimsy evidence, brat!

Sashihara:
Can we really believe that Monohebi merely sat around for two whole hours while in the dark? That kind of passivity doesn't sound like the Monohebi I know!
Kawashima: I'll do it!
Kawashima:
Monohebi only cared about preventing us from escaping at the moment. He wouldn’t have left the outside of the garage because then there’d be a risk that we could‘ve escaped through there undetected!

Hayasaka:
It looks like Monohebi has a thing for dismemberment…he threatened to dismember Sergey-kun's dogs and to dismember Yuuto-kun's little brother. That makes Monohebi look suspicious!
Kawashima: Komatsu-kun!
Komatsu:
That sure is weird, but ya ain't got nothin' to say the dismemberment's more than jus' coincidence, do ya?

Motoki:
Kawashima-san said that Monohebi approached her right after the music started blasting and right before she was attacked. If that's not super suspicious, I don't know what is!

Kawashima: I'll do it!

Kawashima: It's true he was near me when I was attacked. But he didn't attack me himself, it was someone else! We can’t be sure they're working with him!

Motoki:
The rules aren't a reason to disqualify Monohebi as a suspect. They only say Monohebi couldn't 'plan' to kill a student, not that he couldn't do it at all!
Kawashima: Komatsu-kun!
Komatsu: We agreed the killer specifically targeted Kasparov-kun, right? That qualifies as a plan, so it ain't Monohebi!

Sashihara:
Monohebi killing in darkness makes sense. If he wants to avoid getting caught by his own rules, it'd make perfect sense for him to turn the power off and hide the entire crime in the dark.

Kawashima: Monohebi!

Monohebi:
Fool. I am broadcasting this game to many people. Why on earth would I disrupt that fun and do it all in the dark?

CROUCH BIND
3...2...1...
Kawashima and Komatsu: This is our answer!

BREAK!

Motoki: [horrified] Wait, Monohebi...did you just say what I think you did?
Hayasaka: [softly] The killing game's being...broadcasted?
Monohebi: [smirks] Indeed it is. Many people are watching your every move, every hour of the day.
Kawashima: [sweats with horrified expression] This...there's no way...

The killing game is bad enough. But Monohebi...he's seriously BROADCASTING it!? Meaning there are tons of messed-up people out here watching us kill each other right now!? I...I don't want to believe it...
Komatsu: [terrified] Yo, Monohebi...if yer lyin', ya can stop now... [stares at floor] There's no fuckin' way more than jus' a few people are watchin' even if ya really are broadcastin' it...
Monohebi: [smiles slightly] Oh, Komatsu. You have no idea how many people are tuning into this killing game every hour of every day. You should see the secret discussion boards where my loyal viewers predict how, when, and where someone will die. The stan accounts where rabid fans obsess over their favorite participants. The illegal gambling in which people bet money over which one of you will succumb to despair and kill next.
Sashihara: [incredulously] All that shit is going on!? [clenches fist] I knew you were broadcasting the killing game, but I didn't know that was happening.
Motoki: [perplexed] What...? You knew? [hostilely] Why the hell didn't you tell us!?
Sashihara: [nervously] Sorry I didn't mention it earlier. Monohebi let it slip a while ago while we were having a meeting, and it's something I've pushed to the back of my mind. [sadly] It's not something I really wanted to think about, and I figured the rest of you were better off not knowing. I should've mentioned it, though...
Domoto: [crosses arms] Well, there's not much you can do now. [icily] But more importantly, Monohebi...you never cease to surprise me with how evil can you be. Setting up this killing game is evil enough, but broadcasting it for the enjoyment of a bunch of twisted motherfuckers on top of that!? [narrows eyes] You are despicable.

Yeah...he's horrible. He's so fucking twisted and sadistic that privately getting off to this killing game wasn't enough. He had to show it to other sick fucks too.
Kawashima: [disdainfully] I agree with Domoto-san. You're the lowest of the low, Monohebi.
Monohebi: [slightly irritated] Per your morals, I am certain that is true. [smirks] But morality is a strange concept. Many individuals are willing to throw it away for a cheap thrill, as demonstrated by the excellent ratings of my killing game. [neutral] But all that is beside the point. What matters is that I would never risk losing the viewership of this killing game by cowardly killing in the dark. [smiles slightly] My viewers enjoy seeing murders happening, not having an hours-long power outage.
Monohebi: [neutral] Yet above all that..."integrity" is what matters most in this killing game of mine. The reason I cannot lie and the reason I oblige myself to follow all the rules I have created is not because of some silly sense of morality. [red eye glints] No, it is because the killing game necessitates the integrity of the mastermind. If I were to kill one of you in any context except an execution, all that credibility with the audience would be lost and I would lose viewers in droves.
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] Are you really saying that even the one controlling you, if they are alive and in this prison, would never resort to killing one of us either?
Monohebi: [smiles slightly] Precisely.
Domoto: [crosses arms] I somehow doubt that. I don't think we should just be taking your word for it.
Motoki: [grimly] Earlier, I would've thought the same, but... [thoughtfully] There's a contradiction in what Kasparov-kun wrote in that notebook.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] What is it?

I think I know what she means. She's talking about the fact that...
Kasparov told us that he had an idea for who the mastermind earlier but refused to share it, so him sharing it is illogical/Kasparov apparently knew about the ω attacker when he was never attacked by someone in that mask/Kasparov wrote the note in a weird place

Answer: Kasparov apparently knew about the ω attacker when he was never attacked by someone in that mask

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] In the note, Kasparov-kun says that the person bearing the omega insignia is the mastermind...but that doesn't really make sense when you think about it. [thoughtfully] He and Motoki-san were attacked by someone with no mask. Also, even if Kasparov-kun was attacked by them, how'd he make the time to go up to his room, write a cryptic note, and then go back downstairs?
Sashihara: [clenches fist] Maybe...he...it could... [sadly] ...He wouldn't. It doesn't make sense.
Domoto: [crosses arms] When you put it like that, I guess it doesn't, no.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] The only way that note could be real is if Kasparov-kun knew about the mastermind and their plan to wear the omega mask beforehand. [grimly] If that's the case, I don't know why he wouldn't have told us this morning before the attack.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Yeah...me either...
Komatsu: [grimaces] So if that note ain't somethin' Kasparov-kun wrote, does that mean it's a distraction made by the culprit to confuse us?
Kawashima: [seriously] I think so, Komatsu-kun. The culprit probably remembered how Kasparov-kun told us that he an idea who the mastermind was, and used that fact to write that note. It was probably so we wasted time blaming Monohebi and the mastermind instead of looking for the culprit.
Domoto: [narrows eyes] Well...that does make a certain someone look rather suspicious.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] I know you're talking about me, and you're wrong. [clenches fist] I get that accusing Monohebi makes me look suspicious, but I honestly thought it was true. And... [sadly] ...I don't want to think that anyone here would kill someone in such a savage way if they weren't the mastermind or Monohebi. But...it's looking like that isn't true.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Well, it still could be the mastermind if they're one of us...but yeah. [looks down glumly] Monohebi didn't kill Sergey-kun. It was one of the six people standing here.

I've known that's true for a while now, but hearing it explicitly said still hurts. I don't want to imagine that one of the six of us, one of my friends, killed Kasparov-kun so violently. And yet...that's the reality of the situation.

Kawashima: [gently] Everyone, I know this will be hard, but we're going to have to suspect each other. [seriously] However, let's not rush into that. We've wasted a lot of time pointing fingers, and there's no more time to lose. [firmly] Right now, let's go back to the basics and establish how the culprit committed this crime. Once we do that, then we can accuse someone.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Sashihara: [thinking deeply] I agree that we should establish how the culprit went about killing Kasparov-kun before we accuse anyone else, but where should we start with that?
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] I ain't got a clue...there's so much shit to think 'bout.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] I don't really know either...
Kawashima: [seriously] I think we need to start with the basics. Namely, what the killer needed to carry out their crime.
Domoto: [crosses arms] Do you mean what tools they used or something like that?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] We already established that one of the nail guns is the murder weapon, right? So they must've used one of those, if not both.
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] The culprit used gasoline and lighter in the Garage, too. They needed that to burn his body.
Kawashima: [nods] I agree. [thoughtfully] There has to be more to it, though...

I have to think about this harder...what is another tool would the culprit absolutely need to carry out their crime?

HANGMAN'S GAMBIT

Question: What tool besides a nail gun did the killer need?

THING SNOVII LOGEGSG

Answer: Night vision goggles

Kawashima: I've solved it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] The culprit needed night vision goggles. [thoughfully] If the power was out for the entire time except for thirty seconds when the power came back on, then they'd need some way to see in the dark.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Yeah...it's pretty obvious the culprit had night vision goggles on for the entire time they were in the dark.
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] Not the entire time. All the night vision goggles were crushed in the press, which can't be used unless the power is on...so they must've been in the dark after they placed the goggles in the press and went back to pretending to be attacked.
Motoki: [grimly] That's true, but the point still stands that they had night vision goggles for pretty much the entire time. Taking off the night vision goggles was almost certainly the last thing they did.
Domoto: [crosses arms] I agree. Now, let's question when exactly the culprit acquired the night vision goggles they needed. [strokes chin] Did they have them from the start, or did they steal them from someone else?
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] I dunno...guess we should talk 'bout that some more.
Kawashima: [nods] Definitely.

This is a really, really important question to answer. If we manage to narrow it down enough, we might get lucky and be able to determine the culprit's identity.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Hydraulic Press, Komatsu's Account, Small Metal Object, My Account, Sashihara's Account, Vent, Motoki's Account

Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] I think the culprit definitely had the night vision goggles when they attacked the rest of us. [twirls hair pensively] There's
no way
they could sneak up on everyone in the dark if they couldn't see.
Domoto: [nods] I agree. [crosses arms] It's
a certainty
the killer had night vision goggles when they attacked me and Komatsu-kun. I assume it's the same for everyone else.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] Most likely...they managed to get me even though I tried to run after Kasparov-kun told to me, so whoever attacked me probably
could see.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] I guess it makes the most sense to assume the person who attacked us had night vision goggles to begin with, then. [cracks knuckles] And 'cause we already talked 'bout why the culprit ain't Kawashima-san, it's
gotta be Sashihara-kun!
Sashihara: [passionately] It's not me! [adjusts medical mask] I know I look suspicious, but please believe me. I
didn't attack
anyone!
Motoki: [looks down sadly] Sorry, Sashihara-kun, but if it isn't you...I don't know who it could be.

It seems they're starting to think Sashihara-kun is the attacker. I mean, that's a possibility for sure, but we can be certain that's the truth yet. Is there anything else we should confirm first?

Answer:
Komatsu's Account >
a certainty

Kawashima: That's right!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I don't know if we can be sure about Sashihara-kun being the attacker. [firmly] But we can definitely be absolutely certain of one thing: Komatsu-kun and Domoto-san were attacked by someone with night vision goggles.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] Why can we be so sure?
Kawashima: [seriously] Komatsu-kun was blocking the door to the Kitchen with his entire body so no one could sneak in without running into him. Because of that, the culprit snuck around him and attacked him and Domoto-san from the trapdoor in the Pantry. [firmly] Since they'd need to see Komatsu-kun blocking the door to think of using the Pantry, that means they had night vision goggles on.
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] That sounds right...any normal person would assume the door was unblocked and try to go through there instead of using the crawlspace.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Yeah...the crawlspace is dirty as fuck, so I doubt anyone would wanna go there unless they thought they had to. [rubs back of neck] Also, to add on to what Kawashima-san was sayin', the culprit'd need the goggles to see in the crawlspace underneath the Storage Room and Kitchen. If they didn't have 'em, they prolly wouldn't be able to find the trapdoor in the Pantry.
Domoto: [crosses arms and closes eyes] This is all nice, but did anyone really doubt that the culprit needed night vision goggles to attack me and Komatsu-kun? I don't think this discussion was necessary. [opens eyes] Anyway, I think we should return to discussing Sashihara-kun as a potential culprit. Perhaps—
Motoki: [grimly] If you're accusing him, don't get ahead of yourself. We can't be sure it's him yet.
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] Why not, Motoki-san? You aren't saying that you think Kawashima-san or even Kasparov-kun attacked the rest of us, are you?
Motoki: [thoughtfully] No. Honestly, I don't know who attacked the rest of us. It could be Sashihara-kun...it could be someone else. [hostilely] But before we can move on to talking about that, we need to reconsider what happened to you and Komatsu-kun—because, to be honest, I don't believe the culprit used the trapdoor to attack you two.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] ...The fuck? Are ya sayin' we're lyin'? [cracks knuckles] 'Cause we ain't lyin'! Also, we said that me and Domoto-san can't be workin' together, so don't go fuckin' accusin' us!
Motoki: [determined] I never said that you're lying. I just think that we don't have enough evidence to know for sure if the killer actually used that trapdoor yet.

I have no clue what Motoki-san's trying to get at...does she know something I don't? Maybe she investigated the Kitchen and saw something I didn't? Either way, I'm curious as to why she thinks the culprit didn't use the trapdoor.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Kitchen and Pantry, Paper, Incinerator Contents, Domoto's Account, Komatsu's Account, Small Metal Object, Vent

Sashihara: [curiously] Why don't you think the culprit used the trapdoor, Motoki-san?
Motoki: [thoughtfully] To begin, I just want to say that I don't necessarily think it's impossible the culprit used the trapdoor to sneak up on Domoto-san and Komatsu-kun... [determined] I just think we need to consider other options as well.
Domoto: [irritatedly] Really? And what would those include?
Motoki: [grimly] For one, neither you nor Komatsu-kun had
any way
to see in the dark. Even if Komatsu-kun was covering the door like he says he was, the culprit could've used another method to enter the Kitchen. [thoughtfully]
Maybe a vent
or something like that.
Komatsu: [sullenly] That don't make no fuckin' sense. [fixes belt] I'm pretty sure there's a vent in the Kitchen, but we'd
definitely hear
the culprit climbin' 'round in the vent!
Domoto: [crosses arms] We'd hear them
removing the grate, too.
Motoki: [grimly] Maybe, but there's
no real proof
that the culprit went into the crawlspace. [thoughtfully] No dirty footprints, no dirty clothes, no dirtied objects like the tablecloth back in the first case...nothing like that. [determined] Because of that, we
can't be sure
the culprit used the trapdoor. There are other possibilities to consider!

Is Motoki-san right? Is it really too soon to conclude anything? I have to think back to what I found during the investigation...

Answer: Small Metal Object >
no real proof

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [firmly] There is proof someone went into that crawlspace, Motoki-san.
Motoki: [perplexed] Really? What is it?
Kawashima: [seriously] This. [Holds up small black object] I found this buried in the dirt underneath the crawlspace.
Monohebi: [neutral] Oh, so that is where it went.
Hayasaka: [shocked] Huh? You know what that is!? [glares at Monohebi] How!?
Sashihara: [points aggressively] Yeah! I know we said you're not the culprit, but it's still really weird you know what that thing is!
Monohebi: [slightly irritated] Silence, fools. I had nothing to do with that object being placed in the crawlspace. [smile slightly] I simply know what it is and was wondering where it went. Now that I know, I have nothing more to say. Carry on now.
Komatsu: [suspiciosuly] ...We really supposed to jus' move on after ya said somethin' so weird?
Monohebi: [hisses angrily] Yes, because I will not be saying anything more!

I'm not surprised Monohebi would say something cryptic and then get mad at us for interrogating it, but whatever. If he's not going to say anything, we might as well move on.
Kawashima: [puts object back in apron] Moving on from Monohebi's cryptic bullshit, I want to say that we can't be sure the culprit put this thing in the crawlspace while they were attacking Domoto-san and Komatsu-kun. [seriously] However, it would be a perfect opportunity to, so I'm inclined to believe they did.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] About that weird metal thingy...what do you think it is?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I have no clue. All I know is the culprit didn't want us to find it due to how deeply it was buried under the dirt in the crawlspace. [seriously] Anyway, are you satisfied, Motoki-san?
Motoki: [thoughtfully] .......... [grimly] I guess. But there's still something that I think is weird.
Domoto: [pinches bridge of nose] Ugh.
Motoki: [hostilely] Shut up. It's not like I'm being anywhere near as stubborn as you normally are. [rubs shoulder] I don't like to derail the conversation, but there're still things I think are odd that I don't think we should just gloss over.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] Okay. Let's hear it.

I wonder what Motoki-san thinks is odd. I have some ideas, but let's see what she says...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Monohebi File #5, Incinerator Contents, Kitchen and Pantry, Domoto's Account, Blood Outside Boiler Room, Sashihara's Account, Saw

Motoki: [thoughtfully] First off, there's the fact that the culprit would definitely get really dirty from crawling in the crawlspace, and yet... [grimly] No one found
any burnt or discarded clothes
anywhere.
Domoto: [crosses arms] That's not hard to answer. The culprit obviously burned their ruined clothes
in the incinerator.
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] Yeah, either in the incinerator or in the Garage. Those two places are our
only options
for where the clothes ended up. [adjusts medical mask] Unless someone found clothes anywhere else?
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Nah, I didn't find any... [fixes belt] But the culprit coulda hidden their clothes
in their room, right?
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] So they could instantly get found out if someone decided to search everyone's rooms? This culprit clearly wasn't that stupid. [crosses arms and closes eyes] Anyway, what other questions do you have, Motoki-san?
Motoki: [thoughtfully] Even if the culprit did burn their dirty clothes, what did they do to their footprints? [perplexed] If they got super dirty, it'd
make sense
for them to track dirt into the pantry and Kitchen when they got out, But that wasn't there, was it?
Kawashima: [firmly] No, it wasn't.
Motoki: [determined] Isn't that weird? Shouldn't the culprit have left dirt or at least cleaned it up? [thoughtfully] What's weirding me out is that we don't have
solid evidence for either...
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughfully] Yeah, it is strange.

Motoki-san is bringing up some sensible points. Hm...

Answer:
Monohebi File #5 >
only options

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] That's not right, Sashihara-kun. There was another option for where the burned clothes ended up besides the Garage and incinerator.
Sashihara: [confusedly] Really? What is it?

I don't think anyone's gonna like the answer, so I'm going to answer Motoki-san's question first.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Before I say that, let's answer Motoki-san's other question.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Huh? Yer not gonna say why he was wrong? Why ya gotta fuckin' wait?
Domoto: [narrows eyes] Yes, why are you suddenly shifting answers, Kawashima-san?
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Just let me answer Motoki-san's question first, okay? [seriously] I promise you, I'll get right back to why Sashihara-kun was wrong after that.

Because if I don't, we'll never get back to her question.
Motoki: [perplexed] Okay...so what is the answer to my second concern, Kawashima-san? How do you explain the lack of dirt and the lack of evidence of anything being cleaned up?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] It's because the thing used to clean up the dirt isn't something that the culprit would just leave lying around.

No, the thing the culprit used to clean up all the dirt they left behind...it's on the tip of my tongue. If I think about it a little bit harder, I'm sure I'll figure out what it is...

HANGMAN'S GAMBIT

Question: What did the culprit use to clean up all the dirt from the crawlspace?

TSEEDBESH

Answer: Bedsheets

Kawashima: I've solved it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [firmly] It was Kasparov-kun's bedsheets. They used them to clean up all the dirt. [thoughtfully] Just like Yamaguchi-kun used the tablecloth he used to transport Furuhata-kun's body to wipe off his feet, the culprit this time used the bedsheets from Kasparov-kun's room to get rid of all the dirt they tracked into the Kitchen and pantry.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Oh...that makes sense.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Yeah. I was wondering why the culprit felt the need to take the sheets off Sergey-kun's bed, and this is a pretty logical answer.
Domoto: [strokes chin] Yes, it is. [crosses arms] Now, are you finally going to tell us what was wrong with what Sashihara-kun said earlier?
Sashihara: [curiously] What's the other option besides the incinerator and Garage? Where is it?
Kawashima: [seriously] The question isn't 'where,' Sashihara-kun. It's 'who.'
Komatsu: [frowns] Hold up...ya don't mean...
Kawashima: [firmly] I do.

The person who the burned clothes ended up on could only be...

CHOOSE A PERSON!
Wakana KawashimaEisuke Terajima
Sakiko Motoki
Yuuto Furuhata

Yuzuki Eguchi

Sergey Kasparov

Mayumi Carrasco
Mika Hayasaka
Tomiko Niizuma

Noriyo Ichigohara

Yoshi Yamaguchi
Yutaka KomatsuHisaya Sashihara
Osamu Oyamada

Michio Aozora
Otoha Domoto
...
......
.........
.............
[SERGEY KASPAROV CHOSEN]

Kawashima: It can only be you!

Kawashima: [seriously] It was Kasparov-kun. The burned clothes ended up on him because he attacked Domoto-san and Komatsu-kun.
Hayasaka: [shocked] What!?
Sashihara: [incredulously] Kawashima-san, you can't be serious! You think it was Kasparov-kun!?
Komatsu: [fiercely] She's gotta be lyin'! There ain't no way he did it!
Motoki: [horrified] Yeah, there's no way...if he attacked Domoto-san and Komatsu-kun, that means he also attacked me...
Kawashima: [seriously] Yes, it unfortunately does. [thoughtfully] But it honestly makes sense.
Domoto: [crosses arms] Then explain to us why it apparently makes so much sense, because it's not clicking for the rest of us yet.
Kawashima: [firmly] I'll do just that.

The reasons why it makes so much sense for Kasparov-kun to be the attacker...I have a general idea of what they are, but I don't know how to put it into words yet. I need to think about it more and put shape to my thoughts, then I'll be ready to explain it to everyone.

LOGIC DIVE

Q1: What is an explanation for Motoki being attacked with someone in no mask?
The attacker hadn't put their mask on yet/There appeared to be an attacker with no mask because Kasparov still had his on/The mask was a hallucination and not real

Q2:
Because Komatsu said he punched the attacker, who is the only person without a visible wound that'd be left from such a punch?
Wakana Kawashima/Hisaya Sashihara/Sergey Kasparov

Q3:
What else points to Kasparov being suspicious?
Only person downstairs with night vision goggles/Only person with knowledge of the vent layouts/Only person who had a key

Answers: There appeared to be an attacker with no mask because Kasparov still had his on/Sergey Kasparov/Only person downstairs with night vision goggles

Kawashima: I understand it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Firstly, Kasparov-kun being the attacker explains Motoki-san being the only one not attacked by someone in an omega mask. Kasparov-kun yelled at her and convinced her that there was a third person in the room...but we only have his word. [seriously] If we consider the possibility that he was lying, we start to see the likely possibility that there was no third person to begin with. It was only Kasparov-kun. It only appeared there was a mysterious third person with no mask because Motoki-san never saw a mask besides Kasparov-kun's.
Motoki: [horrified] So you really think he lied about there being someone else there to confuse me? And then he attacked me while my back was turned?
Kawashima: [nods] Yes, I do. [thoughtfully] And that's not it. There's also the fact that he was the only person downstairs who had night vision goggles and the fact that Komatsu-kun said he punched his attacker, yet none of us have a visible wound or bruise. [firmly] If Kasparov-kun was the attacker, any such bruise would be impossible to see because his body is burned. [seriously] Lastly, as I said before, Kasparov-kun is an explanation for where the attacker's clothes ruined by the crawlspace went. If he got super dirty from being in the crawlspace, that could be easily hidden by burning his entire body.
Komatsu: [grimaces] Holy shit...I hate how much fuckin' sense that makes...
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] I don't know...I still don't think it's him.
Motoki: [determined] Me either. I think we're looking at this the wrong way.
Domoto: [crosses arms] Can you think of an option that makes more sense? [strokes chin] As hard as it might be to accept, after hearing Kawashima-san's explanation, Kasparov-kun being the person behind the omega mask is the most logical option.
Sashihara: [clenches fist] No, it's not. I thought we working under the assumption that the attacker was the killer! [points aggressively] If Kasparov-kun was the one who attacked us all, this case becomes impossible, because there's no way he killed himself!
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] What Hisaya-kun said. [confidently] You've got the wrong idea, Wakana-san!

Do I? I admit that even I was a little hesitant to accept that Kasparov-kun could've attacked Domoto-san and Komatsu-kun, but it's what makes the most sense. Whatever they say to contradict that, I know I can disprove it.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Sashihara's Account, Monohebi File #5, Paper, Saw, Second Nail Gun, Blood Outside Boiler Room, Charred Floor and Gasoline

Domoto: [narrows eyes] So, what exactly is wrong with the idea that Kasparov-kun was the attacker? [crosses arms] It could very well be that he and the culprit
were working together.
Hayasaka: [confidently] But there's
no proof
Sergey-kun had a reason to work with the culprit! [tears up] Besides, I don't see how he'd let the culprit kill him in such a gruesome way...
Komatsu: [rusb back of neck] I guess the culprit coulda betrayed him. [grimaces] But yer right. I doubt he'd wanna work with 'em at all.
Sashihara: [points aggressively] Putting that aside, there's no way he'd be able to attack Hayasaka-san, Kawashima-san, and me on the fifth floor! [passionately] The timing just
doesn't add up!
Motoki: [thoughtfully] Yeah, you three were
way too far
for him to get to you so quickly.

The points being brought up here are honestly not terrible. There's one in particular that catches my attention, though.

Answer: Sashihara's Account >
doesn't add up

Kawashima: That's right!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Sashihara-kun is right. Kasparov-kun didn't attack him, Hayasaka-san, or me. The timing simply doesn't add up. [firmly] But that doesn't mean he's not the attacker!
Komatsu: [furrows brow] The fuck are ya tryna to say? I thought ya were sayin' he was the person in the omega mask!
Domoto: [strokes chin] I don't think that's what she's trying to say, Komatsu-kun.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] Then what is she trying to say?
Domoto: [crosses arms and closes eyes] She's saying that Kasparov-kun wasn't *the* person in the omega mask...rather, he was *a* person in an omega mask. [opens eyes] Meaning that there was more than one.

Yep, and to be more precise, the attackers in the omega mask were...
Kasparov and Monohebi/Kasparov and the culprit/Kasparov and the mastermind

Answer: Kasparov and the culprit

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [firmly] Domoto-san is right. There were two people who attacked all of us simultaneously. Kasparov-kun, who took care of everyone downstairs, and the culprit, who took care of everyone upstairs.

[seriously] If we think about the timing of everything in relation to when the music started blasting out of the walkie-talkies, you'll see why it's necessary to have two. [thoughtfully] Motoki-san was attacked about a minute or two after the music began blasting. For Domoto-san and Komatsu-kun, it was at least three minutes. The timeline there makes sense. [seriously] However...Sashihara-kun and Hayasaka-san were attacked about twenty minutes after the lights went out. Does anyone see the issue with that?
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] I do, because I was the one who said the timing didn't make sense first. [explanatorily] The issue is that you said the music started blasting out of your walkie-talkie around twenty minutes after the lights went out. That means we were attacked before Motoki-san, Komatsu-kun, and Domoto-san.
Kawashima: [nods] Exactly. [seriously] Also, I'd venture to say that you two were attacked before the music started blasting. I heard Hayasaka-san scream at Sato-san's execution, so you two should've heard the music blasting. Because you didn't, I think it's clear you were attacked before it started blasting, meaning you were attacked first. [thoughtfully] Anyway, to get back on track...because I was attacked about a minute after the walkie-talkies started blasting, that would mean a single attacker would have to be in two places at the same time—the fifth floor and the basement. I don't think I need to explain why that's not possible.
Domoto: [crosses arms] No, you don't.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Okay, so there were two attackers. That I can agree with. [grimly] But can we really be sure one of them is Kasparov-kun?
Komatsu: [fixes belt] What she said...also, why the fuck would someone wanna work with the culprit? [frowns] Even if the attacker besides the culprit ain't Kasparov-kun, why'd they wanna work with the killer? They'd get nothin' out of it in the end. They'd jus' die!
Kawashima: [seriously] I think that was exactly their goal, Komatsu-kun. [fimrly] And it's why, on top of all the evidence and reasoning I laid out previously, I believe the second attacker is Kasparov-kun.
Hayasaka: [softly] Wait, are you saying...Sergey-kun wanted to die? That he wasn't betrayed, and he wanted the killer to do that to him?
Kawashima: [reluctantly] ...Yes. I am saying that. [seriously] I know it's horrible to think about, but Kasparov-kun felt very guilty about what he did to Eguchi-san and how he set up the situation that got her, Terajima-kun, and Oyamada-kun killed. [seriously] He even told me that he wanted to "vanish from this earth" not too long after the last trial. I don't think it's a stretch to say this was an elaborate suicide for him.
Sashihara: [clenches fist] There's no way that's true. I...I don't see how it could possibly be the case...
Komatsu: [grimaces] I dunno, the dude seemed kinda off ever since the last trial...I mean, so did the resta us, but still.
Motoki: [miserably] Kasparov-kun...why...
Hayasaka: [tears up] This...it can't... [confidently] No. Sorry, Wakana-san, but I just can't believe this.
Kawashima: [gently] Hayasaka-san, I understand that you may be upset by the thought of it, but ple—

Hayasaka: I'll drag you down the street and back!

[split screen separates Hayasaka and Kawashima]
Hayasaka: [glares at Kawashima] No, Wakana-san. You're fucking wrong.
Kawashima: [surprised] What the...why're you being so aggressive?

Hayasaka: [tears up] Because this is... [passionately] I won't let you drag Sergey-kun's name through the mud by accusing him of shit like this!
Kawashima: [gently] Hayasaka-san, please calm down.
Hayasaka: [confidently] No! I'm not going to let you pull this charade any longer!

She's being really emotional right now. I wonder, is this really just a disagreement over evidence? Or is there some deeper reason she is so against the idea of Kasparov-kun being the second attacker?

REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN

Truth Swords: Motoki's Account, Monohebi's Account, Locked Room in Freezer, Blood Outside Boiler Room, Kitchen and Pantry, Dismemberment, Kasparov's Bed

Hayasaka: [stares with muted anger] I can't believe you're saying this, Wakana-san.
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] I agree that Sergey-kun obviously felt guilty about what happened in the last trial...
Hayasaka: [passionately] But that doesn't mean he'd kill himself over something like that. You don't even have
concrete proof
he planned to kill himself.
Hayasaka: [narrows eyes] And even if he did, why wouldn't he just do it himself? [confidently] Right now, I can't see
any reason
for him to get someone else involved if he wanted to die so bad!
Hayasaka: [tears up] And I can't accept it...if he was suicidal and I couldn't stop him...I won't forgive myself, so... [passionately] I refuse to believe it!

ADVANCE!
Kawashima: [gently] I understand that you feel bad about not being able to stop him, Hayasaka-san. Especially considering how you were once in a similar place... [regretfully] But he's dead, and there's no changing that.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Also, I don't know what his reasoning for working with the mastermind could be. [puzzledly] Honestly, I do find it strange that he willingly worked with the culprit.
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] However, no matter how strange it is, you can't deny the evidence that supports the conclusion he attacked us and let the culprit kill him.

Hayasaka: [stares with muted anger] What evidence? Although you're trying to make it look like Sergey-kun was up to shady shit,
all you have to offer
is speculation!
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] One of your reasons for suspecting Sergey-kun is that he and Sakiko-san were apparently attacked by someone with no mask... [confidently] But we only have her word to support that! She could've attacked Sergey-kun, Yutaka-kun, and Otoha-san
just as easily!
Hayasaka: [narrows eyes] It was her idea to come up with the masks, have you forgotten? She
could've secretly painted
an omega mask without telling us. [passionately] Or better yet, she could've just used
her epsilon mask! An epsilon turned sideways is an omega, after all.
Hayasaka: [awkwardly] I get you love her, Wakana-san but please... [passionately] Don't let love blind you!

I'm not the one letting emotions blind me, Hayasaka-san. I completely get why you don't want to believe Kasparov-kun essentially killed himself, given how you were suicidal in the past and clearly feel very guilty about not being able to stop him...but please, don't let that lead you astray.

Answer:
Locked Room in Freezer >
all you have to offer

Kawashima: I'll cut your contradictions in two!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [firmly] It isn't just speculation, Hayasaka-san. I have evidence to prove Kasparov-kun was up to "shady shit," as you put it.
Sashihara: [curiously] You do? What is it?
Kawashima: [seriously] The locked room in the back of the Freezer. Do you remember how someone stole the key to it? Well, that person was Kasparov-kun.
Hayasaka: [shocked] What!?
Sashihara: [incredulously] There's no way...it was him!?
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] Kawashima-san, are you serious? [irritatedly] How did you find out? And why the hell didn't you tell us before now!?
Kawashima: [seriously] I only found out during the investigation when Monohebi told me about it, and it slipped my mind until now. [regretfully] Sorry for not saying that sooner.
Komatsu: [grimaces] Monohebi, is that really true?
Monohebi: [smiles slightly] Indeed it is. Our dear departed Sergey Pavlovich Kasparov was the dastardly individual who to stole the key to that room.
Domoto: [narrows eyebrows] Why the hell did you use his full name...?
Monohebi: [smirks] Because I felt like it. [neutral] But that is beside the point. What matters is that Kasparov took that key, hid it before his death, and it is now currently in that same hiding place. [slightly irritated] Also, before anyone asks, no, I will not tell you what that room is or where the key is.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] I guess we're gonna hafta to figure out what it is on our own...
Monohebi: [neutral] Yes, you will. Now, return to the trial. I shall say no more on this matter.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] I...I don't get it. Why'd he take that key?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I don't know, Motoki-san. I really don't.
Sashihara: [clenches fist] Whatever his reason, he must've been planning something when he took it.
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] So he wanted to do something like this ever since the end of the last trial... [tears up] Dammit. I wished I could've stopped him.
Motoki: [miserably] Same. Maybe this whole trial could've been avoided if we did that...
Komatsu: [grimaces] If ya ain't the one that killed him, don't blame yerself. It ain't yer fault he's dead. [cracks knuckle] It's the fault of whatever bastard tried to take advantage of Kasparov-kun's emotional state and killed him!
Domoto: [strokes chin] I don't know if they really took advantage of him, given that he seemed to work with them completely willingly... [crosses arms] But you're correct. Only the killer themselves is to blame.
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] About them...do we think they and Kasparov-kun were two of the three people planning murder last night?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] I guess so, if Sergey-kun really was working with the killer... [looks down glumly] I still don't see why he'd do that, though. We can't really prove he wanted to die...
Kawashima: [seriously] You're right. We can't be completely certain what his motivations were unless the culprit wants to come forward and tell us. However, even they may not know. [thoughtfully] Personally, I think him feeling guilt over his contributions to what happened in the last trial is the most likely option. It makes sense, given that he did tell me he wished he could "vanish from this earth"—so, die—only a few days ago.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] Yeah...that probably was it...
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] ..........

I think she's still having a hard time accepting it. But because she's not verbally resisting it anymore, I think it's best to just let her be for now.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Yo...so to go back to what Sashihara-kun brought up earlier, if Kasparov-kun and the culprit were two of the people plannin' shit last night, who was the third? [furrows brow] Was there a third person plannin' shit with 'em?
Domoto: [strokes chin] That's certainly a possibility. [crosses arms] Unfortunately, there's no way to be absolutely sure yet.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] Well, if there is a third person who was planning something unrelated to what killed Kasparov-kun... [gravely] Please, please come forward. I know I said a lot of threatening things earlier, but if you didn't kill anyone I forgive you. And I think the rest of us would, too. There's only six of us left, and... [sadly] I don't think anyone wants to see another person die.
Domoto: [crosses arms] I agree. At least one of us is fated to die no matter what happens in this trial, so we don't need to lose anyone else. [sternly] So if you were making a murder plan unrelated to this one, come forward now.

We wait about thirty seconds for an answer, but...one doesn't come.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] ...No one's coming forward.
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] Does that mean whoever the third person is, they were working with Sergey-kun and the culprit?
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Maybe, but they also may jus' be too scared to admit anythin'.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Komatsu-kun's right. They could be too nervous to come forward. They could also be working with the culprit. [seriously] Sadly, we can't determine which it is right now.
Domoto: [strokes chin] No...not yet. [crosses arms] Because we can't determine that for sure at the moment, I suggest we move on. More specifically, I think we should return to talking about the note in Kasparov-kun's room.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Oh yeah...one of the reasons we were so sure it was fake was that we said Sergey-kun wouldn't know of the omega mask beforehand and that he would've told us about someone planning to kill... [twirls hair pensively] But if he was working with the culprit, then that reasoning falls apart.

That's true. I'm not sure it means that note is real, though...
Kawashima: [firmly] Hayasaka-san, it's still pretty doubtful that note is legitimate. Because if it is, that means the culprit is the mastermind and we already talked about why it's not them.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] We only came to the conclusion that Monohebi can't be the culprit. If the mastermind is one of the six of us, then it's possible the note's real. [grimly] It's unlikely, I admit. Monohebi talked about how the integrity of the mastermind was necessary for the killing game to continue to draw viewers, so it's probably not them...but it still could be.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] That's true. [gravely] But remember that Monohebi's an AI. He and the mastermind, while they are on the same side, are separate entities. He has no way to prove the mastermind didn't kill anyone.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] But that's assumin' the mastermind is alive and in the killin' game...why the fuck would they wanna put their life in danger by participatin' themselves? [fixes belt] And even if they did decide to participate...who's to say they ain't dead? Ya jus' said Monohebi and them are separate entities, so it's possible the mastermind already bit the dust.
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] Komatsu-kun's making a logical point...? How rare.
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] Hey, shut yer ass up!
Domoto: [sternly] No. [neutrally] Anyway, he's right. We have no way of knowing if the mastermind ever participated in this killing game or if they're still alive if they did decide to participate. [crosses arms] Unless Monohebi wants to tell us, of course.
Monohebi: [slightly irritated] I shall not.
Domoto: [neutrally] I figured. [crosses arms] If Monohebi refuses to tell us, it's safest to assume that Kasparov-kun wasn't working with the mastermind and that note really was just some bullshit the culprit made up after they killed him to confuse us.
Kawashima: [seriously] I agree. [thoughtfully] Earlier, we said that Kasparov-kun was probably working with the culprit out of guilt and likely saw his murder as a way of making up for him contributing to the deaths of Eguchi-san, Terajima-kun, and Oyamada-kun. [slightly challenging] How would working with the mastermind help assuage his guilt? If anything, it'd just make it worse.
Sashihara: [sadly] Yeah...you're probably right.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] I still think that note is a little weird. It wasn't like it was in plain sight...I had to pick it up and get to almost the last page of the notebook to find anything interesting. [perplexed] If the note was just the culprit trying to confuse us with a red herring, why'd they not make it obvious?
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] Maybe they didn't want to make it *too* obvious that it was fake...

That could be it...actually, I think it's most likely the answer. However, I doubt that'll be enough to rid Motoki-san and some of the others of their doubts that the note is fake. I'll have to thin hard to find more reasons to prove why it really is fake.

LOGIC DIVE

Q1: Why can't we be sure Kasparov wrote the text claiming to know the mastermind's identity?
There are no samples of him writing in Japanese to compare handwriting/The ink used to write this text was a different color than the rest of the text/The text spoke too informally to be Kasparov

Q2:
What is the other piece of evidence that appears to have been taken from this notebook?
Kasparov's last note/The ashes in the incinerator/Paper by the power control panel

Q3:
How do we know the killer had the ability to impersonate Kasparov and write a note claiming to be him?
They burned his clothes/They cleaned their feet off on his sheets/They took the paper from his notebook

Answers: There are no samples of him writing in Japanese to compare handwriting/Paper by the power control panel/They took the paper from his notebook

Kawashima: I understand it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] In addition to what Hayasaka-san said, there's also the fact that the paper I found by the power control panel in the Boiler Room came from Kasparov-kun's notebook. [firmly] I know that because it was the same type of paper as that notebook.
Komatsu: [frowns] Oh yeah, I remember that paper. It had some weird shit written on it in English...
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] What did it say? [slightly confused] Also, how can you be so sure that paper is from Sergey-kun's notebook, Wakana-san? Aren't there are a bunch of notebooks in the Storage Room? [looks to the side thoughtfull] I remember Yuuto-kun took one...

She's right, there are a bunch of similar notebooks in the Storage Room. However, there's something that lets me know that paper truly did come from the notebook in Kasparov-kun's room...
The paper appeared to have been torn from a notebook and the notebook had its last page torn out/Kasparov's Russian handwriting could be found on the paper/The paper had distinctive holes in it

Answer: The paper appeared to have been torn from a notebook and the notebook had its last page torn out

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] The paper looked like it had been torn from a notebook and the notebook in Kasparov-kun's room had its last page gone. [seriously] I think that makes it pretty clear the culprit tore away the final page and used it to write their cryptic message on it.
Sashihara: [curiously] What does it say, by the way? You never said.
Domoto: [crosses arms] It has the English text "NIGHT AND NEVER DAY-NIGHT AND NEVER DAY" written on it. [strokes chin] It's pretty bizarre.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] You're right, it is weird. I have no idea what it could mean...
Kawashima: [firmly] Neither do I. [seriously] However, the paper was obviously written by the culprit. That, combined the fact that they tore it from Kasparov-kun's notebook and the mysterious note that claimed Kasparov-kun knew the mastermind's identity was just a few pages away from where they tore it...it makes it pretty clear that the culprit wrote that note.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] I guess it really was fake, after all. [thoughtfully] And because it's fake, we can finally rule out the mastermind as a suspect. There's no reason for them to implicate themselves like that for no reason...
Domoto: [crosses arms] I agree with Motoki-san. [sternly] The culprit is one of us, and it's not the mastermind.
Komatsu: [grimaces] So yer tellin' me...the culprit and mastermind could be two separate people? [terrified] So a full fuckin' third of the people left could be backstabbin' liars!?
Kawashima: [reluctantly] ...Yes. We don't know if the mastermind is one of us, but...yeah. It's possible they are.

I have no idea who it could be...part of me doesn't even want to dare to think about who it could be. After so many deaths, I have a hard enough time to suspect anyone in this murder, much less think about who the mastermind is.
Motoki: [awkwardly] ...I don't wanna talk about the mastermind anymore. It's scaring me...
Sashihara: [clenches fist] Same, Motoki-san. It's too much to think about right now. [gravely] For now, finding who killed Kasparov-kun's what we need to focus on. And about that...there's still something that's bothering me.
[thinking deeply] Why would he allow himself to get killed at all? [confusedly] I still don't get it...

I don't either...maybe he just wanted to die yet couldn't bring himself to do it himself, so he let the culprit do it instead. Or maybe it was something else. Maybe he really wanted whoever he let kill him to escape? I honestly don't know...
Domoto: [crosses arms and closes eyes] If I may say something... [opens eyes] I don't think Kasparov-kun's death was simply an elaborate suicide. I think there was something more to it.
Kawashima: [puzzledly] What do you mean, Domoto-san?
Domoto: [strokes chin] Kasparov-kun was a smart person. I do not think that, even if he was consumed by overwhelming amounts of guilt, he'd allow himself to get killed by anyone or for any reason. [crosses arms] Basically, what I'm saying is that I think Kasparov-kun wanted there to be some other sort of meaning to his death than just his own guilt.
Motoki: [grimly] This sounds like more than speculation to me... [hostilely] Admit it, you killed him, didn't you? If there's anyone he'd let kill him, it'd be you because you two got along so well!
Domoto: [pinches bridge of nose] Ugh, not this again. [irritatedly] Motoki-san, as much as I find it annoying, I understand why you suspect me. I can't deny that Kasparov-kun and I *did* get along better than most. [solemnly] However...we didn't talk very much after the last trial. I don't think either of us was comfortable being with the other much after the disastrous consequences of our joint decision to lock Eguchi-san in the cell.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] I don't think Otoha-san's lying. I didn't see her and Sergey-kun talking much outside of our normal group meetings. [looks down glumly] I didn't see Sergey-kun talking to many people at all outside of our meetings, now that I think about it...
Domoto: [neutrally] He was acting more reclusive than normal, it's true. [icily] And of course I wasn't lying. I never lie.
Komatsu: [sullenly] Yeah yeah, whatever. [rubs back of neck] I gotta say, though, I agree with Domoto-san. I didn't know Kasparov-kun super well, but he seemed like too smart of a dude to jus'...help the culprit and let himself get killed like that for no reason. [fixes belt] I mean, if he really did jus' wanna kill himself, he coulda done it himself. There are all sorts of pills and poisons in the Infirmary that'd do it easily and painlessly, but he didn't choose that.
Sashihara: [gravely] That's true. There must be some reason why he let himself get killed... [clenches fist] What could it be?

That's a good question, Sashihara-kun, and it's one we aren't equipped to answer at the moment. Honestly, I don't think we'll find out what it is unless we get the culprit to confess it. Because considering the evidence I know of right now, I can't really find any such reason.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Sashihara-kun, I think we should put that question aside for now and return to it when we're able to answer it. If we try to answer it right now, we'll only end up with conjecture. [seriously] For now, we need to focus on uncovering how the culprit went about this crime and, of course, figuring out who they are.
Motoki: [grimly] Figuring out who they are shouldn't be too hard.
Domoto: [raises eyrbows] Really? Why not?
Motoki: [thoughtfully] If Kasparov-kun attacked everyone on the first floor and basement and the culprit took care of everyone on the fourth and fifth floors, then that means the culprit is one of the people who was up there. [determined] And because we already talked about why it's not Kawashima-san, then it must be either Hayasaka-san or Sashihara-kun!
Sashihara: [incredulously] What!? [clenches fist] I promise you, it's not me!
Hayasaka: [passionately] It's not me either!

I want to believe everyone. I don't want ot think anyone here is the culprit. However, that doesn't change the fact that one of us here viciously murdered Kasparov-kun. Someone has to be lying, and right now, it's looking like it's most likely either Sashihara-kun or Hayasaka-san.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Sashihara's Account, Hayasaka's Account, Dart Gun, Infirmary Findings, Metal Bar, Vent, My Account

Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] Listen, I don't want to accuse either of you. [grimly] But, because we already talked about why the culprit can't be Kawashima-san, it
must be
one of you!
Sashihara: [points aggressively] I am not the culprit! [adjusts medical mask] I swear, I was
shot in the back by someone I never saw. I
fell unconscious, and then I woke up later with no one around. [gravely] That's all the happened, I promise!
Hayasaka: [confidently] I didn't attack anyone else, either. [stares with muted anger] Sakiko-san, you shouldn't be accusing just the two of us. The culprit could
still be someone downstairs!
Domoto: [crosses arms] Not possible. [sternly] You both claim you were attacked by someone who came from behind you, which is
inherently contradictory
if you two were guarding the only two ways in or out of the Weapons Room. [icily] Stop lying and admit it already.
Hayasaka: [passionately] I have
nothing to admit. Quit accusing me already!
Sashihara: [clenches fist] Same here. [shouts loudly] I
didn't do anything!

This is a confusing situation. Fortunately, I think I have a piece of evidence that should make it all easier to understand...

Answer: Vent >
inherently contradictory

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] That's not quite right, Domoto-san. [seriously] The culprit could've entered the Weapons Room through one of the vents in its ceiling. That way, they'd be able to attack both Sashihara-kun and Hayasaka-san from behind.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] There are vents in there?
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] There are vents in pretty much every room. I've never looked up close at any of them, but if Kawashima-san is bringing them up, I assume they're big enough for an average-size person to fit through.
Kawashima: [nods] They are.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] So the culprit entered through there, then got both me and Hisaya-kun from behind...I can see that happening. Neither of us would've been paying attention to what was behind us.
Motoki: [grimly] Don't sound so assured yet. We still haven't proved the culprit used a ceiling vent yet...only said that it's a possibility.
Domoto: [sternly] No. It's not even a possibility.

What?
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Really? Why's that, Domoto-san?
Domoto: [crosses arms] A culprit jumping down from a ceiling vent to attack the two of them would obviously make noise. Because Hayasaka-san and Sashihara-kun didn't have a walkie-talkie, the music blasting wouldn't cover the sounds of the culprit jumping down from the vent. [icily] That means the culprit still must be one of them.

Domoto-san's theory is justified, from what she knows. However, there's a piece of evidence that negates it. It's...
The pogo stick/The fluffy pink slippers/The roll of bandages

Answer: The fluffy pink slippers

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Domoto-san, do you remember those slippers Motoki-san wore in the last case that allowed her to walk silently?
Domoto: [irritatedly] Of course.
Motoki: [shamefully] ..........

Sorry for bringing up those slippers, Motoki-san, but I need to.
Kawashima: [seriously] I found those same slippers inside a ceiling vent in the Weapons Room. [firmly] That means the culprit had the ability to use them to muffle the sound of them falling to the ground. It's poss—
Sashihara: [clenches fist] No.

Huh?
Kawashima: [puzzledly] "No?" What do you mean, Sashihara-kun?
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] I mean that's not possible. [thinking deeply] Those slippers couldn't possibly be used to block out all the sounds someone crawling through a vent would make. Yeah, they'd definitely muffle or even get rid of the sound of them jumping down and walking up to me and Hayasaka-san. [gravely] But what about them crawling through the vents? Do you really think neither Hayasaka nor I wouldn't hear someone crawling through a vent and then removing its grate? We were being really quiet. We probably could've heard a pin drop. [clenches fist] So...no. You're wrong.

...Damn, okay. I did not expect to have my theory shut down so quickly by one of the people it makes look less suspicious.
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] Hisaya-kun, are you really sure the culprit didn't use the vent?
Sashihara: [nervously] Yes, Hayasaka-san. I am. [sadly] I do think the culprit used the slippers...I think they silently put them on, walked over to me, and shot me with a dart gun.
Hayasaka: [shocked] W-Wait, Hisaya-kun...you think...
Sashihara: [sadly] I'm sorry, Hayasaka-san. I really am.
Hayasaka: [tears up] Please, believe me. I didn't kill Sergey-kun! [passionately] I'd never do that!
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] I'm sorry, Hayasaka-san. But we can't just take your word for it.
Komatsu: [stares at floor] Yeah...that ain't an option, much as I want it to be.
Sashihara: [clenches fist] ..........
Domoto: [crosses arms] In my opinion, we can't be certain it's Hayasaka-san...not yet, at least.
Hayasaka: [passionately] You shouldn't even be suspecting me! I'm no more suspicious than Hisaya-kun!

I can't think of concrete evidence that proves it's her, but there is something that does make her look more suspicious than Sashihara-kun.
She apparently forgot her mask and went into the girls' locker room alone/Domoto's surgery/She was the last one to wake up after being injected

Answer: She apparently forgot her mask and went into the girls' locker room alone

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Hayasaka-san, remember how you dropped your mask in the girls' locker room? When you went to go look for it, you went into the girls' locker room...alone. No one was in there when you picked it up.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] That's true. I didn't go in there with her.
Hayasaka: [confidently] That doesn't mean a thing. I really did just forget it!
Kawashima: [seriously] I want to believe that, Hayasaka-san, but I can't. [slightly challenging] You going in there alone is suspect. You could easily hide something in your locker beforehand, quickly retrieve it while you went to find your mask, and then go back to Sashihara-kun.
Hayasaka: [passionately] I didn't do that!
Domoto: [sternly] If you can't prove it, don't bother denying it. [strokes chin] It's not only that. If I understand Kawashima-san's story correctly...when she went down to the fourth floor upon awaking, she found you conscious but Sashihara-kun unresponsive. [crosses arms] Alone, that admittedly means nothing. But combined with how you conveniently dropped your mask in one of the only rooms in this entire place your partner wouldn't go into, a location which allows us to each store things without the rest of us knowing any better... [narrows eyes] It paints a damning picture, Hayasaka-san.
Motoki: [grimly] Hold on, I'm not sure we should accuse her yet. [rubs shoulder] The stuff you brought up is weird, yeah, but it really could all be a coincidence.
Domoto: [crosses arms] If this were one of the earlier class trials, I'd agree with you, Motoki-san. There'd be more room to believe in coincidences. [icily] However, there are only six of us left. The chances of two coincidences happening are quite low.
Hayasaka: [tears up] Please...
Komatsu: [stares at floor] Fuck...I really don't wanna think Hayasaka-san was trickin' us.
Sashihara: [clenches fist] Neither do I, but on top of what Kawashima-san and Domoto-san mentioned... [gravely] There's also the fact that Hayasaka-san was strongly opposed to the idea of Kasparov-kun working with the culprit. [thinking deeply] Earlier, I chalked that up to her being emotional and wishing she could've saved him, but...that might not be all there is to it.
Hayasaka: [stares with muted anger] Stop it...it's not me! [narrows eyes] What could I even hide on myself that Hisaya-kun wouldn't notice? It's not like I'd be able to hide a whole nail gun in my outfit.

No, but there are things you'd be able to hide very easily. Things that wouldn't take up much space.
Nails/Syringes/Masks

Answer: Syringes

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [firmly] You'd be able to hide syringes on yourself pretty easily, Hayasaka-san. [seriously] If you're the culprit, you'd only need two. One for Sashihara-kun, one for me. [thoughtfully] Kasparov-kun could have the other four.
Hayasaka: [weakly] But...I...I... [passionately] I didn't do that! [tears up] Please, believe me...I really didn't...
Sashihara: [gravely] I'm sorry, Hayasaka-san. [clenches] I don't want to suspect you, but I know it's not me. So it must be you.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] I guess...
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Hold up. [furrows brow] Kawashima-san, ya brought up the shit with the syringes, but...didn't we say Sashihara-kun wasn't injected with one? [rubs back of neck] I thought he got shot by a tranquilizer dart instead.

Shit, he's right. I forgot about that. It seems weird for the culprit to shoot Sashihara-kun with a dart and also inject anesthesia into him. However, is it possible that both happened?

LOGIC DIVE

Q1: If Sashihara was knocked out at 10:14, 20 minutes after when the power went off at 9:54, for how long would Sashihara have to be unconscious for him to awake right before the power came back?
Almost two hours/An hour and a half/Three hours

Q2: Based on how long Terajima was unconscious (approximately two hours with two darts), for how long should the tranquilizer dart render someone of Sashihara's size unconscious?
Between 60 minutes and 120 minutes, but closer to 120 minutes/Between 60 minutes and 120 minutes, but closer to 90 minutes/Between 60 minutes and 120 minutes, but closer to 60 minutes

Q3:
Why would the culprit inject anesthesia into and use a tranquilizer dart on Sashihara?
To ensure he never saw their face/To ensure he never ran into Kasparov/To ensure he didn't wake up too early

Answers: Almost two hours/Between 60 minutes and 120 minutes, but closer to 60 minutes/To ensure he didn't wake up too early

Kawashima: I understand it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Komatsu-kun, I think the culprit actually did use both the tranquilizer dart and a syringe on Sashihara-kun.
Motoki: [perplexed] Really? Why would they do that? [thoughtfully] A tranquilizer dart would be enough to knock him out, right?
Kawashima: [frimly] No. Remember how Terajima-kun was out for anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours after you shot him, Motoki-san?
Motoki: [shamefully] Yes, sadly...
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Well, that happened when he was injected with two darts. Because of that, one dart probably would've rendered him unconscious for about an hour at most. [seriously] So, we can assume that Sashihara-kun, who was shot with only one dart, would only be out for about an hour too given that he's not much smaller than Terajima-kun was.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] I think I know where you're going with this. [thinking deeply] Since I was attacked about twenty minutes after the power went off at 9:54, I must've been unconscious for about two hours for me to wake up right before the lights came back on. [explanatorily] For someone of my size, a single dart wouldn't be sufficient.
Kawashima: [nods] Exactly.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Uh...can we really be sure Sashihara-kun's tellin' the truth 'bout how long he was out for? [fixes belt] If the culprit's really him, he'd definitely lie. [frowns] Even if ya did apparently find him unconscious, Kawashima-san, it was completely dark. He coulda jus' been fakin' it.
Domoto: [strokes chin] You're entirely correct that he could be lying and faking everything. We can't forget that. [sternly] However, we know

for a fact that Hayasaka-san was awake and moving around when Kawashima-san came down to the fourth floor. [crosses arms] All we have to support the notion that she was ever unconscious is her own word.
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] Also, you might wonder why the culprit ever bothered using the dart gun on me...why not use the syringe on me to begin with?

I'm pretty sure that's a rhetorical question, but in case it isn't, the answer is...
They weren't sure they could overpower him/They weren't sure they could do it fast enough/They weren't sure how long the injection would take

Answer: They weren't sure they could overpower him

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] The culprit wasn't sure if they'd be able to overpower you, Sashihara-kun. [seriously] So they used the dart to make sure you were out. Then, they injected you with anesthesia.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] That's what I was thinking.
Hayasaka: [narrows eyes] Hold on, everyone here is smaller than you! That doesn't apply just to me!
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] No, but you were his partner. And if the culprit didn't use the vent or find some other secret way to get into the Weapons Room, then it could only be you. [grimly] Unless someone did sneak past you?
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] No, there's no way. I'm certain no one snuck past me in the door...
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] Same for me.
Domoto: [crosses arms] Then there you have it. The person that attacked Sashihara-kun and Kawashima-san...it's looking more and more like it's you, Hayasaka-san.
Hayasaka: [softly] ...That's...it's... [tears up] ..........

I'm so sorry, Hayasaka-san. I don't want to accuse you. I don't want to imagine that you killed Kasparov-kun. But...with how things look right now...
Komatsu: [grimaces] Fuck...is it really her after all?
Motoki: [miserably] It seems like it, but... [grimly] Somehow, this still seems incomplete. I feel like we're missing something.

Like we're missing something...I feel the same way. Like there's a contradiction staring me straight in the face that I haven't noticed yet...

..........

...Aha! I see it now.

Kawashima: [seriously] ...You're right, Motoki-san. We are missing something.
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] We are?
Hayasaka: [hopefully] Wakana-san, are you saying you don't think it's me?
Kawashima: [firmly] I never said that. [seriously] No, what I mean is that there's a contradiction in someone else's account.
Motoki: [perplexed] Who is it? And are you saying you think they're the culprit?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] It's certainly possible they are. I don't know if the culprit is them or Hayasaka-san, but I know this person is lying.

That person...the one whose story directly contradicts evidence that I found...there's a good chance they're an accomplice, or maybe even the killer. Because as much as I want to believe it's a simple mistake, this lie is way too big to be that. The person who lied...it's
them, no doubt about it.

CHOOSE A PERSON!
Wakana KawashimaEisuke Terajima
Sakiko Motoki
Yuuto Furuhata

Yuzuki Eguchi

Sergey Kasparov

Mayumi Carrasco
Mika Hayasaka
Tomiko Niizuma

Noriyo Ichigohara

Yoshi Yamaguchi
Yutaka KomatsuHisaya Sashihara
Osamu Oyamada

Michio Aozora
Otoha Domoto

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

[YUTAKA KOMATSU CHOSEN]

Kawashima: It can only be you!

Kawashima: [firmly] Komatsu-kun. You lied to us.
Sashihara: [incredulously] What!?
Motoki: [surprised] Are you serious, Kawashima-san?
Domoto: [crosses arms] I'd like to know the same thing. [raises eyebrows] How exactly did he lie to us?
Komatsu: [sweats nervously] I...I didn't! I've been tellin' the truth!
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] I honestly can't think of how he could be lying...
Domoto: [narrows eyes] You stay out of this. [sternly] Kawashima-san, tell us how he was lying already.
Kawashima: [seriously] The account he gave of what happened to him when he was attacked contains a blatant lie.
Sashihara: [curiously] What is it? Come on, tell us!
Kawashima: [neutrally] I will. [firmly] But before I do that, I want you to tell us your story again, Komatsu-kun. [thoughtfully] Maybe that way, someone else will see it too.
Komatsu: [grimaces] Sure, but ya ain't gonna find anythin'... [desperately] 'Cause I ain't lyin'!

Oh, yes I will. I'm not going to let you keep on bullshitting us.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Domoto's Account, Komatsu's Account, Pool of Blood, Last Night, Kitchen and Pantry, Small Metal Object, Metal Bar

Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] To start off, Domoto-san and I were in the Kitchen. [fixes belt] She had the walkie-talkie and was by the Kitchen counter, while I was
over by the door.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] That sounds right so far...I think.
Komatsu: [fiercely] 'Course it's all right! [rubs back of neck] Anyway, the attacker, who I guess was Kasparov-kun, came
through the pantry's
trapdoor. [frowns] He snuck up on Domoto-san,
took her out... [grimaces] then he
beat me bloody.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] You think you were injected with a syringe, right?
Komatsu: [fixes] Yeah, that
musta been
what happened. [rubs back of neck] I don't really remember, but yeah. [cracks knuckles] See!
No fuckin' lies there!
Domoto: [strokes chin] ..........

Yes, there definitely was a lie there, Komatsu-kun. If you won't admit it, I'll have to point it out.

Answer: Kitchen and Pantry >
beat me bloody

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Komatsu-kun, are you sure the culprit really did "beat you bloody?"
Komatsu: [fiercely] 'Course I am!
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Then how do you explain the complete absence of any trace of blood in the Kitchen?
Komatsu: [sweats nervously] Uh...ya see...it's... [grips jacket tightly and stares at floor] ..........
Motoki: [grimly] That's a pretty suspicious reaction.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Yeah, but couldn't the culprit have cleaned up the blood with Sergey-kun's bedsheets? [looks to the side thoughtfully] We already said they used it to clean up the dirt they brought up from the crawlspace, so why couldn't they use it on the blood left behind from beating up Yutaka-kun?
Domoto: [narrows eyes] Of course you're coming to cover for your accomplice.
Hayasaka: [glares at Domoto] He's not my accomplice! I'm not even the culprit! [confidently] It has to be Hisaya-kun!
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] Please don't try to divert the conversation, Hayasaka-san. You know it's not me.
Hayasaka: [coldly] Bullshit. I know it isn't me, and you're just accusing me to make yourself look innocent!
Kawashima: [firmly] Hayasaka-san, stop it.
Domoto: [irritatedly] Yeah, you're not doing yourself any favors by accusing him like that.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] Getting back to more relevant matters, I have a problem with what Kawashima-san is claiming too. [thinking deeply] From one look at Komatsu-kun's nose, I can tell it was absolutely broken. All that blood he had on his face earlier seemed to be genuine to me. The way it flowed seemed consistent with the bleeding that'd result from one's nose being broken. [curiously] So, Kawashima-san...how do you explain that? Do you really think he'd do that to himself?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] No, I don't. I don't think Komatsu-kun is lying about being beaten up by the culprit...but I think he *is* lying about the specifics of the situation.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] What the hell do you mean by that?
Kawashima: [seriously] To answer that, I might as well go back to your previous question. [firmly] The truth is you're right, Hayasaka-san. If Kasparov-kun beat up Komatsu-kun in the Kitchen, the culprit could easily use Kasparov-kun's bedsheets to clean up the blood. [slightly challenging] But they didn't do that, because the Kitchen is not where they beat Komatsu-kun up.
Domoto: [crosses arms] Wait a minute, why are you saying you actually believe that he was beaten up? [strokes chin] I thought you were under the impression that he was an accomplice.
Kawashima: [seriously] He still could be. I haven't ruled that possibility out yet. [thoughtfully] However, I see no reason why he'd decide to break his own nose and make his face all bloody if he was one. That only made him look more suspicious. [firmly] So, I think the real culprit beat him up without him expecting it. He's hiding the circumstances of that for one of two reasons: one, he knows who the culprit is and doesn't want to implicate them, or two, he was doing something shady and was afraid of being caught.
Komatsu: [sweats nervously] ..........
Motoki: [perplexed] Well, which is it? And where did the culprit beat him up?

The first question I can't deal with yet, but the second's not hard to answer. I only need to look at the only puddle of blood besides the one in the Boiler Room. The place where Komatsu-kun was really beaten up must be...
In the Surgery Room/Next to charred floor in the Garage/Right outside the Boiler Room

Answer: Right outside the Boiler Room

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] It was right outside the Boiler Room. [firmly] Hayasaka-san and Komatsu-kun should remember that it was that puddle of blood that made us stop in front of the Boiler Room and then find Kasparov-kun's body inside.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] I do remember that...
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] I remember seeing it when I rushed to the scene of the crime as well.
Motoki: [hostilely] Is that true, Komatsu-kun?
Domoto: [sternly] Don't bother. If he's anything like he was last trial, he's not—
Komatsu: [miserably] Yeah, it's true. I was lyin' 'bout gettin' my ass kicked in the Kitchen. [stares at floor] It's jus' like Kawashima-san said. I actually got beat up right outside the Boiler Room.
Domoto: [crosses arms] ...Oh. I stand corrected. Komatsu-kun actually came forward without trying to deny it incessantly this time.
Komatsu: [fiercely] Shut the fuck up, ya goddamn asshole. [grips jacket tightly and stares at floor] I know what I did was stupid. I shouldn't've lied 'bout when I was attacked, but I was scared 'bout gettin' suspected. [wipes eyes] I fuckin' hate bein' accused. It's so fuckin' awful...
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] Yeah...it sure is... [grimly] But you should've come sooner earlier. It could've gotten rid of some of our confusion as to what happened.
Hayasaka: [disappointedly] Sakiko-san's right. You shouldn't have lied in the first place, Yutaka-kun.
Domoto: [sternly] First of all, stop talking like you're innocent, Hayasaka-san.
Hayasaka: [passionately] I am innocent! [furiously] You're just being a dumb fucking bitch!
Domoto: [irritatedly] Yeah, sure. [crosses arms] Secondly, how can we be sure Komatsu-kun's telling the truth right now? [icily] He could simply be changing his lie after realizing his old lie got exposed.
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] Shut yer ass up! That ain't what I'm doin'!

Domoto-san is right that we can't trust him right out of the gate. However, we shouldn't doubt him immediately either. I want to hear his updated story and see if there are any contradictions in it before I decide if he's lying or not.
Kawashima: [seriously] Komatsu-kun, can you tell us what really happened now? No lies this time.
Komatsu: [sullenly] I wasn't gonna lie again...but yeah, sure. [rubs back of neck] When that person in the omega mask, who I guess was Kasparov-kun, attacked me in the Kitchen...I didn't actually fight back. I tried to resist, but Kasparov-kun quickly got me with a syringe and I got knocked out.
Motoki: [grimly] So you do actually remember getting injected.
Komatsu: [stares at floor] Yeah. I lied 'bout not knowin' before.
Sashihara: [curiously] If you got injected with an anesthetic, then how did you end up downstairs? [adjusts medical mask] I can't think of a reason why the culprit or Kasparov-kun would move you down there.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] They didn't move me down there. I went down myself. [frowns] Ya see, I woke up and everythin' was still dark. I was free to move 'round, so I called out and looked for Domoto-san, but I couldn't find her. [rubs back of neck] So, I used the wall as a guide to try and head down to the basement, hopin' to find Kasparov-kun and Motoki-san down there. [fixes belt] Then, all of a sudden the lights came back on. I was stunned for a few seconds, but I quickly started runnin' downstairs.
Komatsu: [stares at floor] I quickly looked in the Freezer, the three cells, and the Trash Room, but all were empty. So, I went to the Boiler Room. [grimaces] But right as I got there, the lights went off again. I heard someone leave the Boiler Room and I tried to fight 'em...I landed a punch, but it still didn't go too well for me. I passed out from 'em beatin' the shit outta me and when I woke up, I was all tied up in the Kitchen. [frowns] That's the real truth. I'm sorry for hidin' it.
Domoto: [icily] You goddamn idiot. Why didn't you admit any of this earlier? [sternly] If it's true, it doesn't even make you look suspicious.
Komatsu: [miserably] I was worried the resta ya wouldn't believe that the culprit beat me up. I thought ya'd all think it was Kasparov-kun that beat me up downstairs and that I killed him, so when Kawashima-san asked me what happened...I panicked and lied. [frowns] I said I got beat up in the Kitchen so I didn't get suspected. I didn't want anyone to think I did it...'cause I really didn't. And then I jus' stuck with the lie, 'cause I knew contradictin' my account would only draw more attention. [grimaces] So I jus' stayed quiet, hopin' no one'd notice, but I shouldn't've doubted Kawashima-san like that.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] That seems like it could be true... [grimly] But part of me doubts it. I really don't understand why you'd do something like that after making the same mistake last trial.
Komatsu: [grips jacket tightly and stares at floor] Listen, I know it was stupid. I know I fucked things up for a second trial in a row, okay? Ya don't gotta tell me that. [grimaces] I'm well fuckin' aware of how much a useless idiot I am.
Kawashima: [seriously] I'm not going to tell you your lie did was right or helpful, but you're not useless. [gently] Please, don't put yourself down like that. You can be helpful if you push yourself. [slightly challenging] That is, unless you're the culprit. Are you?
Komatsu: [wipes eyes] No, I ain't. I promise ya, Kawashima-san. I didn't kill Kasparov-kun.
Motoki: [rubs shoulde] We only have your word to prove that, though.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] No, we also have the bloodstain outside the Boiler Room. That lines up with his story.
Domoto: [irritatedly] Oh, please. Kawashima-san mentioned that before he gave his updated account, so he could say he was beaten up outside the Boiler Room to back up his new story.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] But even still...why would Sergey-kun beat up Yutaka-kun? [twirls hair pensively] We said Sergey-kun wanted to die, right? So why would he break Yutaka-kun's nose if Yutaka-kun really is the killer?
Motoki: [thoughtfully] That is a good question...
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] Like I said earlier, Komatsu-kun's nose was definitely broken. The flow of blood from his nose seems right, not like it was just fake blood smeared all over his face. [adjusts medical mask] The amount of blood outside the Boiler Room also seems to be the correct amount to come from a nosebleed. Because of that, I think he is telling the truth about getting beaten up. [gravely] However, I suspect think he may be lying about one specific part of his story.
Motoki: [perplexed] What do you think it is?
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] I think he's lying about it being a surprise. I think he was an accomplice to the culprit and fully intended on getting his nose broken. [thinking deeply] That way, he could lie in his story and keep his face covered with blood to help draw attention away from them.
Komatsu: [fiercely] Shut the hell up! I ain't lyin'!
Sashihara: [gravely] Really? Then why the hell did you of all people coincidentally wake up first?
Domoto: [strokes chin] Sashihara-kun brings up a good point. None of the rest of us were awake when the power came back on, so it'd be very strange for him to accidentally wake up so much earlier than the rest of us.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] I guess you're right...
Domoto: [icily] Don't talk like you're innocent. We haven't forgotten about you being the most likely option for the culprit.
Hayasaka: [furiously] It's not me, you fucking bitch!
Motoki: [determined] Stop it, both of you. We'll go back to talking about Hayasaka-san when we've cleared up the situation with Komatsu-kun.

Thanks for stopping that from blowing up into a bigger argument so I didn't have to, Motoki-san.
Sashihara: [gravely] Motoki-san's right. We need to focus on Komatsu-kun before we go back to discussing Hayasaka-san. [thinking deeply] Personally, I think Komatsu-kun's just an accomplice, but he might be the culprit. [points aggressively] We have to make sure he's not before we move on!
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] How many times do I gotta say it? I ain't the killer!
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] If you want us to fully believe that, you're going to have to prove that, Komatsu-kun.
Komatsu: [fiercely] Fine! I'll do that!

Komatsu-kun seems eager to prove he's not the culprit. I don't know whether to believe him or not yet...we'll see.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Infirmary Findings, Epsilon Mask, Domoto's Account, Blood Outside Boiler Room, Pool of Blood, Small Metal Object, Last Night

Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] Listen, I ain't lyin' no more! I swear it! [fixes belt] None of ya even got proof I'm lyin'.
Domoto: [strokes chin] We don't have proof you're telling the truth either. [crosses arms] It's entirely possible you're lying to us yet again.
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] Yep. His claim that he coincidentally woke up far earlier than the rest of us is too strange to believe. [adjusts medical mask] What reason would the culprit have to inject him with less anesthesia than the rest of us? [shouts loudly] I can't think of any!
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] There's also the concern of who he really punched. [thoughtfully] Monohebi said that he thinks Kasparov-kun died during the period when the lights went off, right? If Komatsu-kun got beaten up right after the lights went out... [grimly] That'd mean the person he punched would have a visible bruise from being punched on them, right? But if Kasparov-kun was already dead, it couldn't be him.
Komatsu: [grimaces] That's pretty weird, but even if it ain't Kasparov-kun... [cracks kncukles] The culprit could jus' be hidin' their bruise with makeup! That wouldn't be too hard, would it?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] No, it wouldn't be. Like I said in the last trial, there's plenty of concealer and foundation in the Dressing Room for the culprit to chose from.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] That still doesn't exonerate Komatsu-kun. [points aggressively] We can't trust him yet!

Is Komatsu-kun still lying to us? It seems pretty difficult to answer, but if I look at the evidence, I should find something helpful...

Answer: Infirmary Findings > too strange

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [firmly] I don't think him waking up earliest is too strange to believe, Sashihara-kun. [seriously] Motoki-san found no anesthesia remaining in the Infirmary. That means the culprit could've run out of it. [thoughtfully] Because of that, the culprit probably didn't give Komatsu-kun as much anesthesia as they should've to keep him unconscious for the entire time the power was out. [slightly challenging] That's not too strange to believe, is it?
Motoki: [thoughtfully] I don't think it is. I forgot that all the anesthesia was gone, but because it is it's perfectly reasonable to assume the culprit didn't have enough to knock Komatsu-kun out for as long as they wanted to.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] I don't disagree, but...how could we already be out of anesthesia? None of it was used before this case, so Monohebi must not have provided much if it's already all gone...
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] Knowing Monohebi, I wouldn't be surprised if the bastard only gave us a small amount for his sick love of despair.
Monohebi: [slightly irritated] Silence, you traitorous brat.
Sashihara: [clenches fist] Shut the fuck up, Monohebi. [adjusts medical mask] Anyway, if there was no anesthesia left, then I admit that it's possible for Komatsu-kun to wake up earlier than the rest of us. [thinking deeply] But why wouldn't the culprit and Kasparov-kun tie him up if they knew they gave him less than they should have?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] They probably figured he wouldn't be able to move around much in the dark and decided it wasn't worth the effort. Either that or they forgot. [seriously] But either way, I think I believe Komatsu-kun. I don't see any contradictions in his story. [firmly] You are telling the truth, right, Komatsu-kun? You're not lying anymore, right?
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] I promise, Kawashima-san. I'm tellin' the truth now.
Domoto: [narrows eyes] There's no way to definitively prove that you're really being truthful, though.
Kawashima: [seriously] No, there's not. [thoughtfully] However, if we consider how badly Komatsu-kun has reacted when pressed about his lies earlier, I'm inclined to trust him. It seems he can lie well on the fly or when he thinks no one suspects him, but when he's under pressure and knows he's being suspected, he panics and cracks. [firmly] We only need to look at how he immediately panicked when I called out his lies this trial and last.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] That's true. Yutaka-kun is horrible at lying under pressure.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] That's not reliable evidence.
Domoto: [irritatedly] Who cares. We can't be sure if Komatsu-kun's lying or not, but even if he is I doubt he's the culprit. [strokes chin] If he really is, he'd have to be incredibly stupid to keep blood on his face. Not even someone like Komatsu-kun would do something like that.
Komatsu: [grumpily] Go fuck yerself. Ya don't gotta insult me like that!
Domoto: [ignores him] Komatsu-kun is only an accomplice even if he was involved. [sternly] So, what we need to focus on is the true culprit. I think everyone knows where I'm going with this.

Yeah, it's pretty obvious.
Kawashima: [seriously] You think the culprit is Hayasaka-san.
Domoto: [crosses arms] Exactly. She's very suspicious to me.
Hayasaka: [glares at Domoto] Stop it, Otoha-san. I'm not the culprit!
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] Oh really? Then who the hell is it? [crosses arms] We already talked about why it couldn't be Kawashima-san and Motoki-san. I was tied up in the Surgery Room and couldn't be the culprit if Komatsu-kun is an accomplice. Komatsu-kun
might the culprit or an accomplice, but if so he’d need to be extremely stupid to leave so much blood on himself.
[icily] The only possibilities for the culprit that leaves are you and Sashihara-kun, and we've already discussed why you're more worthy of suspicion.
Hayasaka: [passionately] It's not me, I swear it! It must be Hisaya-kun!
Sashihara: [gravely] Please don't do this, Hayasaka-san. If you're going to say it's me, you can't just make a random claim like that.
Motoki: [grimly] Yeah, that's not how it works. [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] I'm sorry, Hayasaka-san. I want to believe you, but you have a past of being pertty fake and duplicitous, so it's only logical that we suspect you.
Hayasaka: [tears up] ...Sakiko-san...everyone, please...believe me when I say I didn't kill Sergey-kun.
Kawashima: [reluctantly] Hayasaka-san, I'm sorry, but words aren't enough. [seriously] I hate to say it, but you're a viable suspect right now.
Hayasaka: [passionately] Wakana-san, I didn't do it.

I hope we are wrong, Hayasaka-san. I really do. However...there's another fact that makes you suspicious.
Hayasaka took Sashihara's night vision goggles after he was knocked out/Hayasaka went into the Trash Room first during the investigation/Hayasaka was caught making the omega mask

Answer: Hayasaka went into the Trash Room first during the investigation

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [firmly] You went into the Trash Room first during the investigation, Hayasaka-san. That means, on top of everything else we said about you, you also had an opportunity to use the incinerator.
Hayasaka: [stares with muted anger] So did Yutaka-kun and Hisaya-kun. That doesn't specifically implicate me. [confidently] Besides, I'd have to no way to stop someone from walking in and seeing me use it. Do you really think I'd do something so risky?
Domoto: [crosses arms] The incinerator was used some time between 12:11 and 12:48. If you were in the Trash Room during that time, you're automatically a suspect.
Kawashima: [seriously] Domoto-san's right. Even if it would be risky for you or anyone else to use the incinerator, I'm sure getting rid of all the stuff in the incinerator would be worth it. [neutrally] On a related note...Monohebi, how long does the incinerator take?
Monohebi: [neutral] How long does it take? Hm...I believe it takes a maximum of fifteen seconds for the highest setting. The lower ones take slightly less time.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] That's not very long at all.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] That means Hayasaka-san could use it pretty quickly without having to worry about getting caught...
Hayasaka: [passionately] Even still, you guys can't prove I used the incinerator, can you?
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Nah, I don't think we can. [furrows brow] By the way...if the culprit's Hayasaka-san, how the hell did she break the screen on the incinerator?

That's easy. She used...
An e-Handbook/A hammer/A nail gun

Answer: An e-Handbook

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] She could use an e-Handbook, most likely her own. [firmly] Those things are virtually indestructible. One of them would easily be able to break the incinerator panel's screen and look no worse for wear.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] That makes sense...Monohebi dropped 'em all the way from the ceiling when he first gave 'em to us, so they must be pretty fuckin' durable.
Domoto: [nods] Indeed. [strokes chin] Also, Hayasaka-san could carry around her e-Handbook and look no more suspicious because of it. It'd be the perfect thing to use.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] I actually agree the culprit used their e-Handbook to break the incinerator's screen. [stares with muted anger] However, we all have e-Handbooks, so it's not something that specifically makes me look suspicious!
Domoto: [crosses arms] No, admittedly. [sternly] But it does mean you had the ability to both use the incinerator and break its screen. You could use the press as well. [icily] If you were fast, it'd only take you about twenty seconds if everything was already set up, maybe even less.
Hayasaka: [glares at Domoto] Shut up, Otoha-san! I didn't do any of that and you can't prove I did!
Sashihara: [gravely] Wait a minute. We need to dial it back a bit.
Kawashima: [puzzledly] What do you mean, Sashihara-kun?
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] I'm talking about that big metal bar in the Trash Room. [thinking deeply] I assumed it was what the culprit used to break the incinerator's screen earlier because I hadn't thought of using an e-Handbook. [curiously] But if the culprit used their e-Handbook to break the incinerator screen, what purpose did the metal bar have?
Motoki: [thoughtfully] It's possible the bar was what the culprit used to smash the incinerator panel's screen. [rubs shoulder] Kawashima-san's theory that it was an e-Handbook is only speculation.

That's true, it was only a guess. However, I still think it's worth considering what else the bar could've been used for.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Incinerator Contents, Small Metal Object, Incinerator Log, Hydraulic Press, Saw, Kasparov's Bed, Metal Bar

Komatsu: [fixes belt] Like Motoki-san, the bar coulda been used to break the incinerator's screen. [frowns] It could also jus' be a distraction.
Sashihara: [clenches fist] It seems too weird to only be a distraction. [thinking deeply] I think the fact that duct tape was wrapped around it is the key to figuring out how it was used.
Domoto: [crosses arms] If duct tape was involved, then it was attached to something. [sternly] For this scenario, there'd be no other use for the duct tape.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] If the bar was attached to something, it must've been the press. [rubs shoulder] There's nothing else in the Trash Room it could be attached to.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Maybe we should broaden our line of thinking and consider that maybe the bar was used outside of the Trash Room.
Domoto: [icily] Why don't you tell us, Hayasaka-san? Do you know?
Hayasaka: [furiously] For the last time, shut up!
Domoto: [sternly] Make me.

I'm not surprised it didn't take long for Hayasaka-san and Domoto-san to start arguing again. Their conflict aside, what could the use for the metal bar be?

Answer: Metal Bar > must've been the press

Kawashima: That's right!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Motoki-san's right. If the metal bar was attached to something, it was the hydraulic press. [seriously] We found that bar right next to the press, after all.
Sashihara: [curiously] But how why would it be attached to the press?
Motoki: [perplexed] I know I said the bar's attachment to the press was a possibility, but I don't have a clue why'd the culprit would do that.

I do. It's because the culprit wanted the bar to do something they couldn't...
Lower press remotely/Lower press while the power was off/Lower press while we were investigating

Answer: Lower press remotely

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [firmly] The culprit used the bar so that it'd lower the press without them being in the Trash Room. [seriously] The press contained the most vital evidence in this case—Kasparov-kun's head and upper right torso. In addition, all three night vision goggles, all three walkie talkies, the pistol I stole, and the drill we built were in the press. [thoughtfully] The culprit wanted to make sure that all of that stuff was crushed no matter what, so they taped the bar over the button that lowers the press. [firmly] That way, the press would immediately lower as soon as the power came back on.
Domoto: [strokes chin] That's...quite reasonable, actually. Since the culprit used the incinerator after the power came back on, they wanted to minimize the time needed to take care of all the evidence in the Trash Room. [crosses arms] By taping the bar over the press beforehand, all they'd need to do after the power came back was turn on the incinerator and take the bar off the press.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Yeah...I dunno if anyone's said this yet, but they also musta set everythin' up in the Trash Room before they went back to pretendin' to be attacked.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] Uh-huh...and because all the night vision goggles were in the press, putting everything in the incinerator and hydraulic press and taping the bar over the press was probably the last thing they did.
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] That's true. They wouldn't want to be wandering around in the dark without being able to see unnecessarily.
Domoto: [irritatedly] This is great, but it's not really important. [sternly] What actually matters is that the culprit clearly prioritized maximum speed when disposing of the evidence in the Trash Room. [icily] That makes sense if they wanted to do so during the investigation.
Hayasaka: [glares at Domoto] I'm not the killer! [stares with muted anger] Why the hell aren't you accusing Hisaya-kun or even Yutaka-kun? [confidently] They both had opportunities to use the incinerator and take the bar off the press, too!
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Hold on...before we go back to this, there's something that's weirding me out. [perplexed] Why didn't the culprit use the press and incinerator when the power came back on? Why bother with this complicated setup?
Sashihara: [curiously] I was wondering the same thing, Motoki-san. What reason could they have for doing that?
Domoto: [crosses arms] Maybe they thought it'd be
too risky
to turn the power back on unnecessarily. [strokes chin] They probably didn't want to worry about anyone else running into them like Komatsu-kun did.
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] That could be it... [slightly confused] I just find it weird they didn't use the press for those thirty seconds when the power was back on. [twirls hair pensively] If it'd only take about twenty seconds, they'd have ample opportunity to do so.

That's not true, Hayasaka-san. That's because the culprit was in the...
Boiler Room/Garage/Freezer

Answer: Boiler Room

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] Hayasaka-san, the culprit didn't have ample opportunity to use the press. [thoughtfully] Remember that Komatsu-kun said he heard the culprit come out of the Boiler Room before they beat him up. There's no way they could get from the Trash Room to the Boiler Room without Komatsu-kun noticing, so they couldn't use it when the power was out.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] But that might not have been the culprit. It could be that Sergey-kun beat up Yutaka-kun and the culprit was in the Trash Room while that happened.
[looks to the side thoughtfully] Monohebi's claim that Sergey-kun died then was just a guess. Sergey-kun
could've died later. [twirls hair pensively] After all, any bruise he got from Yutaka-kun punching him would be
hidden from his body being burned.
Kawashima: [firmly] But Komatsu-kun checked in the Trash Room and saw no one there. There are no good hiding spots in there, so it's impossible the culprit used the press when the power was back on. [seriously] As for Kasparov-kun still being alive...I don't have any way to fully disprove that. [thoughtfully] However, if Monohebi thinks he died for the thirty seconds when the power was on, I'm inclined to trust him because we know he's not the killer.
Komatsu: [grimaces] If that's true, then... [stares at floor] That means I was only a few seconds away from savin' him. I coulda stopped him from bein' killed...

Yeah, that's what it's looking like.
Kawashima: [reluctantly] Yes, Komatsu-kun. You were very close to stopping it. [gently] However, please don't blame yourself unless you killed him or helped the killer.
Komatsu: [miserably] Sorry...but I'm gonna hafta blame myself if I was that fuckin' close...

...I think it'd be best to leave him alone for now.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Hold on...isn't it possible for Yutaka-kun to be lying? If he's an accomplice to the killer, he could be lying about the killer being in the Boiler Room.
Domoto: [narrows eyes] Oh, so you're abandoning him now. You defended him earlier, but I guess that's no longer helpful to you. [crosses arms] It could be he's your accomplice and now you're deciding it's not more worth it to defend him any longer. Even if that's not it, it was useful for you to help him because it makes you look nice and charitable. [icily] Helping someone else out when you're in hot water yourself isn't something a normal culprit would do.
Hayasaka: [glares at Domoto] Are you saying I was only defending him to look better myself? [furiously] That's not fucking true, you ugly fucking bitch! I'm not the culprit and Yutaka-kun's not my accomplice!
Motoki: [thoughtfully] I don't know if you're the culprit or not, but I'm pretty sure Komatsu-kun's not her or anyone's accomplice.
Sashihara: [curiously] Why? There's no way to verify what he claims is true.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] I know, but...his story matches with the evidence we've seen. If the culprit really was in the Boiler Room when the power was back on, the setup with the metal bar and the press makes sense. [thoughtfully] After Komatsu-kun nearly stopped Kasparov-kun's death, the killer was probably worried about turning the power back on. They wouldn't want to risk someone else coming to the basement and maybe seeing them, would they? So they kept the power off. [awkwardly] Does everyone get what I'm trying to say?
Sashihara: [confusedly] No, not really.
Motoki: [grimly] Basically, what I mean is that if Komatsu-kun's lying and the circumstances of him getting his nose broken are different, the culprit choosing to take the risk of using the incinerator during the investigation becomes illogical. [thoughtfully] Before Komatsu-kun came downstairs, the culprit probably wasn't worried about anyone interfering due to the anesthesia. If he's lying, there'd be no reason for them to worry.
[confidently] But Komatsu-kun coming downstairs and almost stopping Kasparov-kun's murder must've been a reality check for them. It must've made them realize how the anesthesia didn't guarantee that no one interfered. [determined] So instead of risking turning the power back on to use the incinerator press and consequently allowing someone to potentially come downstairs and catch them red-handed, they decided to wait until the investigation.
Domoto: [strokes chin] I see what you mean and agree. The culprit was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Either choice would come with the risk of getting caught, and they ended up deciding using the incinerator in the investigation was less risky. [crosses arms] I suppose that means Komatsu-kun is much less deserving of our suspicion now. [icily] Conversely, Hayasaka-san going straight to the Trash Room becomes even more suspicious if Motoki-san's right.
Hayasaka: [furiously] Stop it. It's not me!
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] If you want us to believe you, you're going to have to do more than just deny it.
Hayasaka: [stares with muted anger] .......... [looks to the side thoughtfully] Fine. If I was the culprit, I'd be the person who beat up Yutaka-kun, right? You guys said Sergey-kun died when the power came back on, so if Yutaka-kun got beat up afterward, the culprit would have to be the one who broke his nose and all that?
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Yeah, that sounds right...
Hayasaka: [confidently] Then I can't be the culprit! I'm not strong enough to win against Yutaka-kun in a one-to-one fight!

...Huh. That actually is a pretty good point.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] That's true. I'm pretty sure Hayasaka-san could only win against me or Domoto-san. Maybe Kawashima-san.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] It's undeniably true that Komatsu-kun would win in a fair, one-to-one fight with Hayasaka-san. He's simply physically stronger. [thinking deeply] However, he couldn't see anything at all. Hayasaka-san, or whoever the culprit was, had an advantage over him because they had the night vision goggles to help them see and he didn't. [gravely] So, Hayasaka-san, you could beat him with a few well-delivered punches and careful maneuvers. It wouldn't be that hard if you could see and he couldn't.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Maybe, but... [grimaces] How the hell could she hide a bruise from bein' punched? I didn't go easy on the culprit 'cause I couldn't see 'em...
Domoto: [crosses arms] Makeup. There's plenty of foundation and concealer in the Dressing Room that'd easily cover up any bruise. [irritatedly] Also, as humiliating as this is to admit...I've watched *some* of Hayasaka-san's makeup videos, so I know her skill is nothing to doubt.
Sashihara: [amusedly] No way...you really watched her channel!?
Komatsu: [grins] Oh, that's fuckin' funny as hell...
Domoto: [icily] It was only a few times! Don't get the wrong idea. [crosses arms] But the point is that Hayasaka-san is very, very good with makeup. Out of all of us, she'd be able to cover up a bruise the best.
Hayasaka: [hesitantly] Well...I'm not going to deny that I'm good at makeup, but it's not like I'm the only person here who could use it. [stares with muted anger] And we don't even know if the culprit used makeup. They could be covering their bruise with clothes or something like that.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] If Komatsu-kun hit them in the chest or upper arm, then she's right. Makeup wouldn't be necessary.
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] Though if he hit them somewhere else, which seems likelier, makeup would become necessary. [gravely] In that case, there's yet another reason to suspect Hayasaka-san.
Hayasaka: [softly] You guys...please, believe me when I say you've got this wrong. [tears up] It's not me. I promise you, I'd never kill Sergey-kun. Never.
Komatsu: [frowns] I wanna believe ya, Hayasaka-san. [rubs back of neck] I mean, I gotta say I find it hard to believe ya were the one who beat me up. I don't think ya'd pack such a hard punch. [fixes belt] But all the other evidence does make ya look pretty suspicious.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] Maybe Kasparov-kun really was who beat you up. Monohebi's claim he died when the power came back was just him postulating.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] .......... [narrows eyes] ...Oh. I see it now.
Sashihara: [curiously] See what?
Hayasaka: [confidently] That Sakiko-san's wrong and Monohebi's right. Sergey-kun really did die during that time.
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] How interesting...you're speaking with quite a lot of confidence. [icily] Is that because you know what happened and are now prepared to admit it?
Hayasaka: [coldly] Shut your ass up, Otoha-san, you disgusting whore. [twirls hair pensively] All that happened is that I realized why Monohebi knew Sergey-kun died when the power came back on.
Monohebi: [neutral] Oh? You did?
Hayasaka: [confidently] Yes, I'm pretty sure I did. [hopefully] If I tell you all about this, maybe you'll realize I'm not the killer. They wouldn't want to expose something that clears up everything like this.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] If ya know somethin' so important, don't keep it to yerself.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] It has to do with that small metal object Wakana-san found in the crawlspace beneath the pantry. [passionately] That's the key to solving all of this!

That thing? I admit that it's really weird, but I can't see how it brings anything helpful to the table.
Kawashima: [puzzledly] What do you mean, Hayasaka-san? How does that help?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Did you figure out where that object came from?
Hayasaka: [confidently] I didn't figure out where it came from. I figured out *who* it came from.

...Oh. I understand now. If that object came from someone, then it must be...

CHOOSE A PERSON!

Wakana Kawashima

Eisuke Terajima

Sakiko Motoki

Yuuto Furuhata

Yuzuki Eguchi

Sergey Kasparov

Mayumi Carrasco

Mika Hayasaka

Tomiko Niizuma

Noriyo Ichigohara

Yoshi Yamaguchi

Yutaka Komatsu

Hisaya Sashihara

Osamu Oyamada

Michio Aozora

Otoha Domoto

...

......

.........

.............

[OTOHA DOMOTO CHOSEN]

Kawashima: It can only be you!

Kawashima: [firmly] That little metal object came from Domoto-san. [seriously] It's probably why the culprit did surgery on her. They wanted to get rid of that thing.

Sashihara: [curiously] Kawashima-san, are you serious?

Komatsu: [furrows brow] Ya really think that thing came from Domoto-san?

Domoto: [irritatedly] Kawashima-san, do you really think I wouldn't notice something like that inside my entire body!? [sternly] I don't remember ever having anything implanted in me. I've never even gotten a piercing!

Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] You don't remember getting it because you lost your memories. As did the rest of us.

Motoki: [perplexed] Hold on, are you implying that rest of us have those little black objects inside us too?

Hayasaka: [confidently] Yes, Sakiko-san, I am.

Sashihara: [confusedly] But...why would we all have things like that inside of us!?

I might know the answer, Sashihara-kun. Considering the circumstances, those little objects must have some sort of purpose for the killing game.

HANGMAN'S GAMBIT

Question: What is the small black metal object I found in the crawlspace?

CGNAIRKT IPHC

Answer: Tracking chip

Kawashima: I've solved it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] It's a tracking chip. [firmly] That's what those metal things are, and that's what the culprit removed from Domoto-san!
Sashihara: [incredulously] What!?
Motoki: [surprised] A tracking chip...? Is that what it is?
Komatsu: [doubtfully] Is that really possible...?
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] It definitely is, Yutaka-kun. [confidently] It makes perfect sense for Monohebi to implant chips in us that keep him updated on our well-beings. That way, he'd know if someone died without having to watch the cameras 24/7.
Domoto: [crosses arms] It's possible, I agree. However, we can't be certain it's a tracking chip.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Now that I actually think 'bout it...I gotta say I agree with Hayasaka-san. [frowns] How else could Monohebi know Ichigohara-san's exact time of death? There are no cameras or anythin' like that in the bathhouse, but I remember the third Monohebi File said her time of death was exactly 11:30 AM. [rubs back of neck] Monohebi couldn't possibly know that unless he had a trackin' chip implanted in Ichigohara-san, could he?

That's a really good point, Komatsu-kun.
Domoto: [strokes chin] That is logical, I admit it. [sternly] However, Monohebi said he was uncertain about Kasparov-kun's exact time of death. He said he knew Kasparov-kun died shortly before, during, or shortly after the period when the power came back on, but not the exact time. [crosses arms] If we all truly have tracking chips in us, shouldn't Monohebi have no doubts about the time?
Motoki: [thoughtfully] It could be the chips only send data to him at certain intervals instead of continuously sending data. [rubs shoulder] I don't know much about technology, but it'd be way cheaper to send data once every minute or five minutes than to send it every second, right?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Sakiko-san's right. The chips probably send data to Monohebi in short intervals, but not continuously. [confidently] That's how he knows the time interval which Sergey-kun died in, but not the exact time!
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] I've got to say this is a pretty logical theory, but do we really have a way to prove it?
Monohebi: [slightly irritated] ...Yes, you do. I despise confirming theories, but I believe it is necessary in this case.
Domoto: [irritatedly] Wait, are you implying that the object Kawashima-san found really is a tracking chip?
Monohebi: [smiles slightly] Indeed I am, Domoto. Everything postulated so far has been correct. [neutral] All sixteen of you were implanted with chips near your clavicles before the start of the killing game. Every minute, the chips send me a report on your precise location as well as your status—that is, whether you are alive or dead.
[slightly irritated] Although the chips deactivate
once two consecutive minutes with no sign of life detected pass, the chips do not automatically deactivate upon being removed from your body. [smirks] Because of that, I can confirm the chip Kawashima found in the crawlspace in the investigation and currently has on her belongs to one Otoha Domoto.
Sashihara: [confusedly] What...why are you telling us!? [points aggressively] You never tell us anything useful without an ulterior motive, so why're you doing this!?
Monohebi: [slightly irritated] Because I am angry at the one responsible for this case removing the chip from Domoto. One could think of me telling everyone of this information as my revenge on them. [menacingly] To the blackened, I say the following: how *dare* you mess with my killing game by removing the chip from the body of Domoto. [red eye glints] Do not even dream of doing something like that again, you insolent brat. I would punish you severely if I could, but because removing a tracking chip was not against the rules, I may not do so.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] "Was" not against the rules? Are ya sayin' that takin' yer chip out's against the rules now?
Monohebi: [neutral] Indeed it is, Komatsu. I shall upload the new rule now.

A notification sound rings from all of our e-Handbooks. I pull mine out and open the rules tab to see some new text: "Rule 16: Inmates may not remove their tracking chips under any circumstances."
Motoki: [miserably] Damn, I was hoping we could get rid of all our chips after this trial...

Same, Motoki-san. Although I should've expected Monohebi would never allow that, I couldn't help but hope.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] So...what now? We know the chip comes from Domoto-san.
Komatsu: [frowns] I dunno, Sashihara-kun. I thought Hayasaka-san was the culprit, but if Monohebi's the culprit, then... [grimaces] Domoto-san's looking way more suspicious now.
Motoki: [grimly] I don't know if we can be sure it's her yet, but she definitely should be a suspect. [thoughtfully] What reason would Hayasaka-san even have to remove Domoto-san's chip from her?
Hayasaka: [smiles slightly] I'm glad you two are coming around. [confidently] Otoha-san is the culprit. She's been super insistent that I'm the culprit for a while now. [passionately] Isn't relentlessly accusing someone else exactly what the culprit would do?
Domoto: [crosses arms] Yes, it certainly is, and it's what you're doing.
Hayasaka: [furiously] No I'm not!
Domoto: [icily] Do you really lack self-awareness that much, Hayasaka-san? Face it, you're only blaming me to take the blame off yourself. [sternly] I've had good reasons to accuse you. You, on the other hand, have only this tracking chip, which could very well be the culprit framing me.
Komatsu: [doubtfully] Are ya serious? Kawashima-san said she had to dig 'round a lot to find that chip. [rubs back of neck] If the culprit was tryna use that chip to make ya look suspicious, they coulda left it in a way more obvious place.
Domoto: [icily] Shut the hell up. You're only saying that because you're her accomplice, aren't you!?
Komatsu: [fiercely] Nah, I'm sayin' it 'cause I don't believe ya anymore!

This is a mess. Both sides are bringing up valid points. The chip coming from Domoto-san undoubtedly incriminates her, but we have a lot of good reasons to suspect Hayasaka-san.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Hayasaka's Account, Domoto's Account, Incinerator Log, Last Night, Surgery Room, Infirmary Findings, Circuitry and Wires

Sashihara: [confusedly] I'm confused right now... [thinking deeply] Is the culprit Hayasaka-san like we were saying, or is it Domoto-san?
Motoki: [thoughtfully] I can't think of any definitive proof that it's either...
Komatsu: [fixes belt] I think it's Domoto-san
'cause of the chip.
Domoto: [pinches bridge of nose] I get why you're suspicious of me, but there's one small problem with the culprit being me. It was simply impossible for me to have used the incinerator. [crosses arms] We agreed the culprit must've used the incinerator, correct? Then it can't possibly be me! [icily] However, Hayasaka-san had the ability to use the incinerator. The choice is clear if you think about it.
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] Really, 'cause ya can't prove it's Hayasaka-san!
Hayasaka:
[passionately] Yeah! Yutaka-kun or Hisaya-kun could've used it too! [looks to the side thoughtfully] Hisaya-kun's more likely, though.
Domoto: [strokes chin] I don't disagree. It's possible one of them used the incinerator. [crosses arms] But that doesn't change that you're the most likely
the person who used it and took the bar off the press. [sternly] And going back to the chip, I couldn't have removed it myself. [icily] I'm a toy maker, not a surgeon. I'd only injure myself!

Wow, there were a lot of claims made there. I need to look back at the evidence to see if I can prove or disprove any of them...

Answer: Last Night > the culprit

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] That's not right, Domoto-san. The one who used the incinerator and who took the metal bar off the press isn't necessarily the culprit.
Sashihara: [incredulously] Are you kidding me!? [curiously] Who else could it be?
Kawashima: [firmly] An accomplice. We've already established that it's possible the culprit had an accomplice, didn't we? [thoughtfully] After all, Monohebi said three people were plotting murder last night. We know how misleading and deceptive he likes to be, so who's to say those three people weren't working together? [seriously] The three could be Kasparov-kun, the culprit, and a still-living accomplice.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] It's true, that's possible...
Domoto: [crosses arms and closes eyes] It's *possible*, yes. [opens eyes] But there's nothing to prove this mysterious accomplice exists, is there, Kawashima-san?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] No, there's no hard proof. [slightly challenging] However...why hasn't the third person come forward if their murder plot isn't related to Kasparov-kun's death?
Komatsu: [stares at floor] They could jus' be scared to come forward like I was. [grimaces] I didn't kill anyone, but I panicked and lied...that person could be doin' the same.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Yutaka-kun's right. [softly] Whoever that person is, if your crime is unrelated to the plan to kill Kasparov-kun, please come forward right now. I promise we won't hold it against you...during this trial, at least.

No one says anything.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] No one's saying anything...
Domoto: [sternly] That doesn't mean anything. They could simply be afraid to come forward. Or maybe they're the mastermind.
Motoki: [scoffs] Are you joking? [determined] Do you really think that if the mastermind was plotting murder, Monohebi would rat them out?
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] He'd never do that. Nah, he jus' wouldn't mention 'em.
Hayasaka: [confidently] Exactly. Stop denying the possibility of the third person being your accomplice, Otoha-san. [stares with muted anger] I mean, I get why you're doing it. You wanted to make yourself look innocent by doing surgery on yourself and incapacitating yourself to the Surgery Room and let your accomplice do the dirty work for you. [coldly] You're mad that's being exposed now, aren't you?
Domoto: [pinches bridge of nose] Firstly, I'm not mad. [narrows eyes] Secondly, I think you're being rather suspicious trying to place all the blame onto me.
Komatsu: [sullenly] ...Yer not denyin' it.
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] Huh? Why does that matter, Komatsu-kun?
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Ya always go off 'bout how proud ya are of never lyin'. [rubs back of neck] And right now yer not outright denyin' anythin'. I think my point's obvious.
Domoto: [irritatedly] Fine, I'm not the culprit. There, I said it. Are you happy, Komatsu-kun?
Komatsu: [suspiciously] ..........

Komatsu-kun's point there was interesting. Prior to a few seconds ago, Domoto-san never outright said that she's not the culprit. Granted, she just did, but I'm not naïve enough to think it's impossible she lied. She could be simply denying it and trying to avoid lying if possible...or maybe she really is telling the truth. I can't quite tell.
Sashihara: [clenches fist] It seems we've reached a standstill. I don't know what to think. [gravely] I honestly can't decide who it is...
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Yeah, as much as I think Domoto-san's suspicious, I can't deny Hayasaka-san's got some evidence against her too. [grimaces] It's not like Domoto-san could attack Sashihara-kun or Hayasaka-san. But at the same time, Hayasaka-san has no reason to do surgery on Domoto-san.

You're right, Komatsu-kun. It's hard to decide. At this point, it looks like one of them is the culprit. But how to decide? I can't just do something as reckless as make a choice randomly. No, I have to let logic guide me. If I take the evidence into consideration, then I must come to a conclusion. Specifically, if I think about the existence of an accomplice, then...

..........

...I guess it's her.

CHOOSE A PERSON!
Wakana KawashimaEisuke Terajima
Sakiko Motoki
Yuuto Furuhata

Yuzuki Eguchi

Sergey Kasparov

Mayumi Carrasco
Mika Hayasaka
Tomiko Niizuma

Noriyo Ichigohara

Yoshi Yamaguchi
Yutaka KomatsuHisaya Sashihara
Osamu Oyamada

Michio Aozora
Otoha Domoto

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

[OTOHA DOMOTO CHOSEN]

Kawashima: It can only be you!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] It seems pretty likely there's an accomplice to this murder given that no one's admitted to being the third person last night despite having multiple opportunities to do so. So, if that accomplice besides Kasparov-kun himself really exists... [firmly] ...the culprit must be you, Domoto-san. You're the only one who'd need such an accomplice if they killed.
Sashihara: [incredulously] You really think it's her!? Hayasaka-san's the only one who could've attacked me!
Domoto: [icily] Indeed. This is an asinine accusation, Kawashima-san.
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Is it really, Domoto-san? I stayed silent for most of the back and forth between you and Hayasaka-san because I couldn't decide between the two of you. [seriously] Both of you have valid points against each other—at first glance. [thoughtfully] But upon closer examination, we don't have any hard evidence against Hayasaka-san. There was quite a lot that she *could* do...she could've used the incinerator, she could've attacked Sashihara-kun, she could've killed Kasparov-kun, but we can't prove she did any of that. [slightly challenging] However...for you, Domoto-san, there's the tracking chip in the basement. If the culprit's Hayasaka-san, there is quite literally no reason for her to do surgery on you in the first place.
Domoto: [crosses arms] No reason that we know of yet. There could be a reason we don't yet know. [narrows eyes] Is that really all you have against me, Kawashima-san?
Kawashima: [firmly] No. You'd also be the most competent in dealing with the nail guns.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Huh? Whaddaya mean by that? We'd all be able to shoot a nail gun.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Yes, Komatsu-kun, we could all shoot the gun. [seriously] But the two nail guns we found were both tampered with. Both had their triggers gone and one had its circuitry removed. [slightly challenging] Domoto-san is the Ultimate Toy Maker. Out of the six of us, she's the most competent when it comes to building and tampering with tools.
Motoki: [grimly] I also think she's suspicious, but we don't even know how the nail guns were tampered with. If it wasn't super technical, I'm sure most of us could do it. [thoughtfully] And even if it wasn't, Kasparov-kun said he was good with tools too, right? He could've done it.

Damn, she's right about that.
Kawashima: [seriously] Okay, I retract that point. [firmly] However, that and the tracking chip aren't all I have against Domoto-san. [thoughtfully] As I mentioned earlier, between Hayasaka-san, Domoto-san, and Sashihara-kun, Domoto-san's the only person here who'd need an accomplice to be the culprit.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Huh? Why're ya excludin' me from that? I get not talkin' 'bout yerself and Motoki-san 'cause we've talked why the two of ya ain't guilty, but not me. [frowns] I ain't complainin', but still...
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] I think it's because she believes you're innocent.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I don't necessarily think he's innocent, because it's still possible he lied to us earlier when he gave his updated testimony. [seriously] However, I highly doubt he's the culprit. No culprit would leave blood all over their face willingly.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Yeah, that'd be pretty dumb. [confidently] Anyway, I obviously agree with Wakana-san. The culprit is Otoha-san. She killed Sergey-kun, strapped herself down in the Surgery Room so she'd look less suspicious, and then let her accomplice do the dirty work of using the incinerator and taking the bar off the press.
Motoki: [grimly] I'm sorry, but I really don't get this...I think Hayasaka-san should still be a suspect too. [perplexed] How does Domoto-san needing an accomplice to be the killer make her look more suspicious? [rubs shoulder] To me, it does the opposite because we don't know for sure if an accomplice exists.
Domoto: [pinches bridge of nose] Finally, someone reasonable. [icily] How could you accuse me knowing that an accomplice's existence is unproven, Kawashima-san?
Kawashima: [firmly] First of all, their existence is very, very likely. [seriously] As I said when I first accused you, no one's come forward about having a murder plot separate from the one to kill Kasparov-kun despite us giving them multiple opportunities to do so. [thoughtfully] That third person can't be the mastermind, because Monohebi wouldn't have mentioned them to me. So, if that third person isn't the mastermind and wasn't making a different murder plan, then they must be an accomplice.
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Why would an accomplice in addition to Kasparov-kun be necessary if the killer is Hayasaka-san or even Sashihara-kun? The simple truth is they wouldn't be. [firmly] Because of that, you're the most suspicious. [seriously] By making yourself incapable of doing certain things like taking the bar off the press and turning on the incinerator, you tried to throw suspicion off yourself. [firmly] You knew we'd naturally assume the killer was the one who used the press and incinerator and exploited that fact.
Sashihara: [clenches fist] I'm sorry, Kawashima-san, but this doesn't make sense to me. [adjusts medical mask] Yeah, Domoto-san's suspicious because of the chip, but I don't think we should be singling her out as our main suspect yet.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] I feel the same way. I feel like there isn't enough to accuse her just yet.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] I disagree. I think she's way more likely to be the killer than Hayasaka-san.
Hayasaka: [glares at Domoto] It's obviously what I think. Otoha-san's the killer!
Domoto: [icily] Shut up. I already said I'm not the culprit!
Monohebi: [smirles slightly] Oh, how interesting. It appears you all are split for the second time in this trial. I suppose we might as well hold another scrum debate.
Komatsu: [grimaces] Again? Floatin' all the way up in the air ain't exactly fun...
Monohebi: [smirks] Not for you, no. But I do not much care about your comfort.
[neutral] Anyway, please hold on to your seats as they are rearranged temporarily for this special debate...

Like the first four times, I hold onto my podium tightly as it and all the others around me begin ascending into the air into an upper room in the trial area.

Once there, we
find ourselves in the same ultra-modern room we always do. We’re arranged into two rows facing each other again with myself, Hayasaka, Komatsu, and Kasparov, Terajima, Ichigohara, Aozora, and Furuhata's portraits on my side.

In the other row, I see Domoto, Sashihara, Motoki, and Eguchi, Oyamada, Niizuma, Carrasco, and Yamaguchi's portraits.

Alright, let's do this. Hopefully, it'll be the last time...

SCRUM DEBATE

Question: Should Otoha Domoto be our main suspect?

Kawashima’s Side: She should be!

Opposing Side: She shouldn't be!

BEGIN!

Sashihara:
Domoto-san and Kasparov-kun got along better than most people here. Why would she of all people kill him?

Kawashima: I'll do it!
Kawashima:
We said Kasparov-kun plotted his own death earlier, right? Then it makes perfect sense for her to kill him if they got along well!

Domoto: There's no way I'd be able to attack Sashihara-kun, Hayasaka-san, and Kawashima-san upstairs if I'm the culprit.

Kawashima: Komatsu-kun!

Komatsu: We never said ya could. If this was all a deliberate plan to make ya look innocent, then it makes perfect sense that yer
other accomplice was one of the three people upstairs!

Motoki: An accomplice besides Kasparov-kun working with the culprit doesn't make sense. There's no reason for them to want to work with a killer if they couldn't get away with it, because they'd just die!
Kawashima: Komatsu-kun!
Komatsu: They might've wanted to die and
"vanish from this earth" jus' like Kasparov-kun. A lot of us felt real guilty after the last trial, so it ain't impossible.

Domoto:
An accomplice is only logical if I'm the culprit. Your main justification for the existence of an accomplice is me being the killer, but you can't prove it's me!
Kawashima: Hayasaka-san!
Hayasaka:
If it's not you, there's no reason for the real killer to do surgery on you. Removing the chip and putting so much effort into hiding it does nothing for them!

Sashihara:
The chip isn't proof Domoto-san's the killer. The real culprit could be framing her!
Kawashima: Hayasaka-san!
Hayasaka: But Wakana-san had to search for a while to find it.
It doesn't make sense for the culprit to hide the chip so well if framing Otoha-san was their intention!

Domoto: If what you're saying is true, why am *I* the only one being suspected? Isn't it possible your thinking is backward and I'm actually an accomplice?
Kawashima: Komatsu-kun!
Komatsu: Nah, 'cause the whole point of the accomplice is to take suspicion away from ya by doin' the dirty work of usin' the incinerator and takin' the bar off the press.

Sashihara: For the last time, there's not even any concrete proof that an accomplice actually exists!
Kawashima: Hayasaka-san!
Hayasaka: No, nothing concrete. But if no one’s going to come forward and admit they were the third person planning murder last night, it’s most logical to assume an accomplice exists and that they’re that third person!

Motoki: I don't like Domoto-san, but we can't make her our main suspect when Hayasaka-san's still super suspicious!
Kawashima: I'll do it!
Kawashima: Again, there's the fact that there's no solid piece of evidence against Hayasaka-san, but we have the chip against Domoto-san. Because of that, Domoto-san should be our main suspect!

CROUCH BIND
3...2...1...
Kawashima, Hayasaka, and Komatsu: This is our answer!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [slightly challenging] See? Domoto-san should definitely be our main suspect for now!
Motoki: [grimly] I guess so, yeah...
Domoto: [icily] You dumbasses. I've already told you I'm not the culprit. [sternly] If you vote for me, you'll all die.
Hayasaka: [stares with muted anger] Shut up, you fucking lying bitch.
Sashihara: [clenches fist] Am I the only one noticing how aggressive Hayasaka-san's getting? [adjusts medical mask] She's cursing and calling Domoto a "fucking bitch"...doesn't that remind anyone else of how she was during her breakdown in the third trial? [gravely] For all we know, this could be a similar situation.
Hayasaka: [coldly] It's not a similar situation, Hisaya-kun. Then, I thought I was the killer and was denying it. Now, I know I'm not the killer and I'm striving to prove I'm not.
Domoto: [narrows eyes] But this mean streak *does* seem quite similar to your "Mika-chan" personality.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Yes, because as much as I hate it, the meanness and bitchiness of that personality wasn't entirely fake. Greatly exaggerated, yeah, but not completely fake. [looks down glumly] I'm not a nice person, Otoha-san. I still think of very mean and cruel things to say to people really often...I just hold back most of the time.
Komatsu: [frowns] So what Oyamada-kun said to ya after the last trial was right after all...
Hayasaka: [awkwardly] Yeah, it was. [looks down glumly] I tried to put on a façade of being nice all the time, but it's not who I really am. It's who I want to be, but not really me. [softly] I still try to be nice most of the time, but Otoha-san wrongly accusing me makes me mad and lets my uglier side jump out... [stares with muted anger] I'm not sorry, though. I'm not going to hold back when someone's slandering me.
Domoto: [icily] Slander requires the accusations to be false, Hayasaka-san. Can you prove my points against you truly are false? [narrows eyes] Well? I'm waiting.
Hayasaka: [glares at Domoto] You...you fucking...! [hesitantly] No...I can't do that anymore. I can't let myself get mad at you...that only makes it easier for you to lie about me. [coldly] I let you get under my skin when you accused me earlier, but that's done now, Otoha-san.
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] Is that so... [crosses arms] Well, it's not like it matters. You can restrain your innate meanness all you want, but it won't stop us from suspecting you as the killer. [narrows eyes] Your behavior up to this point has already condemned you.

It's true that Hayasaka-san has regressed into some of her bad habits from before. It's concerning and somewhat disappointing behavior, for sure. However, given that she told me about how she wasn't really as nice as she was presenting herself to be a few days ago, I'm inclined to believe her. I think she's reacting negatively to being falsely accused instead of denying something she knows is true.
Kawashima: [seriously] She's not being condemned, Domoto-san. I believe her. [thoughtfully] The day after the last trial she told me the same things she just told the rest of you. She's been putting up a front of constantly being nice when she's still concealing her meaner side most of the time. Her story is consistent. [firmly] More importantly, she's not the one trying to deflect the blame onto someone else when she's in the middle of being accused. [slightly challenging] No, the person doing that is you, Domoto-san.
Domoto: [crosses arms] She might not be doing that right now, but she was earlier. [sternly] It's quite convenient that you forgot that, Kawashima-san. Maybe it's because you're biased against me?
Komatsu: [sullenly] Or maybe it's 'cause yer suspicious as fuck and refuse to try and refute what Kawashima-san's sayin'. [fixes belt] Instead, yer tryna to place the blame on someone else and distract us from talkin' 'bout ya.
Domoto: [narrows eyes] .......... [icily] Does it matter even if that's what I'm doing? I don't see a problem with it when the accusations against me are unfounded.
Motoki: [grimly] Okay, that's a *really* suspicious response. [thoughtfully] I thought you and Hayasaka-san were about equally likely to be the culprit earlier, but after that answer and everything that was brought up in the scrum debate... [determined] I think it's you too, Domoto-san.
Domoto: [pinches bridge of nose] Ugh...
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Nothin' to say, huh?
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] If she's really the killer, I don't think she's going to admit it anytime soon.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] In that case, we should probably focus on finding this accomplice that Kawashima-san talked about.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] You're right, Sakiko-san, we should. Luckily, I don't think it'll be hard to figure out who they are.
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] Oh really? Why not? [crosses arms] Are you saying you already know who it is?
Hayasaka: [confidently] Yes, I do, Otoha-san.

I think I know who she's talking about. If the accomplice could use the incinerator and was the other masked omega attacker...it could only be them.

CHOOSE A PERSON!

Wakana Kawashima

Eisuke Terajima

Sakiko Motoki

Yuuto Furuhata

Yuzuki Eguchi

Sergey Kasparov

Mayumi Carrasco

Mika Hayasaka

Tomiko Niizuma

Noriyo Ichigohara

Yoshi Yamaguchi

Yutaka Komatsu

Hisaya Sashihara

Osamu Oyamada

Michio Aozora

Otoha Domoto

...

......

.........

.............

[HISAYA SASHIHARA CHOSEN]

Kawashima: It can only be you!

Kawashima: [firmly] Sashihara-kun, it's you. You're the accomplice.

Sashihara: [incredulously] Are you kidding me!? [points aggressively] Of course I'm not!

Hayasaka: [stares with muted anger] Yes you are, Hisaya-kun.

Motoki: [perplexed] I'm sorry, but I don't see how it could be him...

Hayasaka: [confidently] It's because he's the only person who could attack me and Wakana-san upstairs and have the timing still make sense.

Kawashima: [nods] Yep. [firmly] He was the only one besides me with the night vision goggles upstairs. We should've suspected him way earlier. [thoughtfully] After all, if Hayasaka-san attacked him, she'd need to covertly sneak over to him in a pitch-black room without making a sound. [seriously] Honestly, I find it difficult to believe that happened. It's way more likely that he attacked Hayasaka-san and me.

Komatsu: [furrows brow] I get that, but...he's seemed so genuinely angry about this murder. [frowns] Was he really fakin' all that? [grimaces] I don't wanna think that he was, but I guess it's possible...

Sashihara: [shouts loudly] Of course I wasn't faking it! It was all real! [clenches fist] I'm not the accomplice!

It'd be great if I could simply take your word for it, Sashihara-kun...but that's not an option.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Hayasaka's Account, Sashihara's Account, Monohebi File #5, My Account, Dismemberment, Infirmary Findings, Dart Gun

Sashihara: [points aggressively] I'm telling you, it's not me! [shouts loudly] I really was shot with a dart gun then injected with anesthesia! It's not a lie!

Motoki: [grimly] That could easily be faked. You'd only need to take a syringe from the infirmary and dart from the dart gun to fake that.

Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] But Kawashima-san found me unconscious and Hayasaka-san awake when she came downstairs!

Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] No, she found you unresponsive. If you made sure to be still, it wouldn't be hard to fake at all. [confidently] Also, Hisaya-kun, you could've used the incinerator and taken the bar off the press when you came downstairs. [twirls hair pensively] The rest of us except Otoha-san were in the Boiler Room, so you wouldn't need to worry about getting caught.

Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] And on top of that, Sashihara-kun's the Ultimate Fitness Trainer, so he'd have the medical knowledge to help him cut up Kasparov-kun.

Motoki: [thoughtfully] There's also the matter of the surgery...his medical knowledge would aid him with that, too.

Sashihara: [clenches fist] That's bullshit! [points aggressively] I'm a trainer, not a surgeon!

Domoto: [narrows eyes] Are you forgetting the Library exists? [crosses arms] Anyone could look in there and use an anatomy textbook to help them out.

Sashihara-kun's doing his best to defend himself, I can see. I have to consider the possibility that I might be wrong and he could be innocent, but...

Answer: Dismemberment > help him cut up Kasparov-kun

Kawashima: That's right!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Komatsu-kun's right. Sashihara-kun's medical knowledge would help him a lot with dismembering Kasparov-kun. [seriously] After all, Kasparov-kun's body was cut up fairly precisely and along the lines of Kasparov-kun's sternum and diaphragm. [firmly] Out of the six of us, Sashihara-kun would have the easiest time doing that. And that's not even mentioning the surgery.

Motoki: [grimly] Yeah, I can't believe we didn't suspect him as soon as we knew a surgery occurred.

Komatsu: [grimaces] Me either. I guess I believed him when he said he betrayed Monohebi and that he'd never harm someone again, but if he helped Domoto-san murder someone then that was a fuckin' bold-faced lie.

Kawashima: [seriously] You're both right. We should've suspected him way earlier. [regretfully] I held back because I thought his admission of being the traitor made him less likely to kill...why would he admit to being the traitor if he planned on killing again? That's what I thought. [firmly] But I was stupid. I should've never excused Sashihara-kun from suspicion because of something like that.

As Kasparov-kun would say...letting mere sentiment prevent me from thinking logically wasn't a very strategic move.

Domoto: [raises eyebrows] Why are you talking about him like you've proven his involvement in this crime? [crosses arms] You haven't, not yet.

Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] That's true. Nothing's been proven. [thinking deeply] I admit it, I could've used the incinerator. Also, the precision of the dismemberment and the surgery on Domoto-san both point to me having some sort of involvement in this crime. [adjusts medical mask] I can see why you'd think I was involved. But please, point to some concrete proof that I was. [gravely] Or can you not find any because none exists?

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] .......... [reluctantly] ...I can't think of any. Not now.

Komatsu: [frowns] Neither can I. But there's also somethin' I think we should remember... [fixes belt] Sashihara-kun hasn't said shit against Domoto-san. He was on her side in the scrum debate and never made an argument
against her at any other point. [rubs back of neck] But when Hayasaka-san was accused, while he didn't accuse her too much, he definitely didn't take her side. [grimaces] That might not mean shit, but I jus' think we should take note of it.

I think that's a good point, Komatsu-kun. Sashihara-kun has never participated in the accusation against Domoto-san. That's certainly behavior consistent with an accomplice.

Domoto: [sternly] Oh, please. That could be a mere coincidence.

Motoki: [rubs soulder] But weren't you the one who said that there's not much room to believe in coincidences anymore earlier in the trial, Domoto-san?

Domoto: [irritatedly] Ugh, well...that was... [crosses arms] That doesn't matter. The fact that you've yet to present anything concrete against Sashihara-kun—or me, besides that stupid chip—still stands.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] That's true, we don't have any hard proof. But there's still a lot that implicates Hisaya-kun.

That's true. And there's yet another thing that Sashihara-kun would be able to do the best out of all of us...
Attack Domoto and Komatsu/Anesthesia dosing/Sabotage Monohebi

Answer: Anesthesia dosing

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] In addition to what we've mentioned so far, there's also the matter of the anesthesia. [thoughtfully] Anesthesia isn't something you can be reckless about...hell, anesthesiology is an entire field of medicine. Because it was used on most of us and we all turned out fine, Sashihara-kun should be suspected. [firmly] Out of all of us, he'd be the most capable of making sure none of us had complications from it and of estimating the doses we'd all need!
Sashihara: [shouts loudly] That means nothing! I'm no anesthesiologist!
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Nah, but out of all of us, ya'd definitely be the best equipped to handle the anesthesia.
Domoto: [pinches bridge of nose] You keep on continuing with this ridiculous conjecture instead of real evidence. [strokes chin] There are plenty of books in the Library. I'm sure at least one contains information on anesthesiology.
Motoki: [grimly] First the anatomy and now the anesthesiology...at this point, the accomplice and culprit must've spent a lot of time in the Library to gain the information necessary for this case. [thoughtfully] Isn't it more logical to assume they just used prior knowledge they already had? They didn't have to use anesthesia or do surgery on you...they incorporated all that stuff into their plan because they knew they wouldn't need to learn anything new. Instead, they could just apply stuff they already knew. [determined] I wasn't fully convinced before, but now I'm sure Sashihara-kun's the accomplice and even more sure Domoto-san's the culprit. It just makes the most sense.
Sashihara: [clenches fist] Motoki-san, please reconsider! [points aggressively] Hayasaka-san is tricking you! She and her accomplice, who's probably Komatsu-kun, are trying to trick you!
Hayasaka: [furiously] Hisaya-kun, shut your fucking... [restrained] ...No. I'm not going to let that side of me control me any longer. [coldly] You're going to lose, Hisaya-kun. Admit it already. Everyone is against you and Otoha-san but the two of you.
Sashihara: [nervously] But...this... [gravely] ..........
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Nothin' to say anymore?
Kawashima: [seriously] Apparently not. If that's the case, then—

Domoto: I'll dismantle your argument!

[split screen separates Domoto and Kawashima]
Domoto: [crosses arms] Wow, you have truly fallen, Kawashima-san. Not even considering the shaky accusations against me... [sternly] You can't even be sure an accomplice exists. [icily] You're just saying that to make me the culprit.
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Do you really think I'm doing this out of spite? [seriously] That's not it! You're a viable option for the culprit that we have to consider!
Domoto: [neutrally] Believe it or not, I agree. I should be suspected due to the fact that the chip came from me. [crosses arms] However, as I have said before, I'm not the culprit. Any accusation against only me is a waste of time. [icily] You must accuse Hayasaka-san as well, otherwise this is blatantly unfair!
Kawashima: [firmly] No, it's not.
Domoto: [irritatedly] Yes, it most certainly is. [crosses arms] You have a lot you still have to answer if before you can credibly accuse me and Sashihara-kun.

Not really, given that everyone but you two is on my side. Even so, I guess I should hear whatever defense she'll put forth hear so I can disprove it.

REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN

Truth Swords: My Account, Domoto's Account, Monohebi File #5, Saw, Sashihara's Account, Second Nail Gun, Paper

Domoto: [neutrally] For a second, let's pretend the accusation against me isn't absurd and that I am the culprit. [crosses arms] Let's also assume that an accomplice exists, even though the existence of one is contingent upon me being the culprit.
Domoto: [strokes chin] If both of those conditions are met—and you can't prove they were—what concrete proof indicates that Sashihara-kun is my accomplice?
Domoto: [icily] Oh, that's right...there is none. [irritatedly]
You have a lot of circumstantial evidence and conjecture, yes, but so do I.
Domoto: [crosses arms] Sashihara-kun admitted that he was the traitor when he wasn't compelled to. [neutrally] If he wanted to continue killing, he could've simply let me be labeled the traitor and killed someone knowing full well he'd have a perfect scapegoat. [icily] So why would he want to help me get away with killing Kasparov-kun? [sternly] That doesn't line up with the behavior of someone who betrayed Monohebi of his own free will.

ADVANCE!
Kawashima: [seriously] I have no idea what Sashihara-kun's motivations for helping you and Kasparov-kun might be.
[slightly challenging] But those two actions aren't necessarily contradictory.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] That's because Kasparov-kun could've had some other purpose to his death than simply killing himself out of guilt. Didn't you yourself make that claim?
[firmly] If it's true, then Sashihara-kun could both genuinely betray Monohebi and work with you and Kasparov-kun!

Domoto: [crosses arms] You're right, I claimed that was possible, but we have nothing to say I was right. It was only a guess. [narrows eyes] Conjecture, conjecture, conjecture. That's truly all you have.
Domoto: [sternly] Tell me honestly, what proof is there that Hayasaka-san isn't my accomplice if I'm really the culprit? She and Sashihara-kun are
equally suspicious. [icily] Don't deny it. It's possible Hayasaka-san
worked with me, then decided later on she didn't want to let me win and consequently get herself killed.
Domoto: [crosses arms] That would explain the contention between us now, wouldn't it? I could be mad at her for abandoning me and she could be accusing me because she doesn't want to be falsely accused.
Domoto: [strokes chin] Of course, she could also be the culprit. That
remains a possibility
as well.

You raise interesting points, Domoto-san. But you're still wrong.

Answer: Sashihara's Account > equally suspicious

Kawashima: I'll cut your contradictions in two!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Hayasaka-san and Sashihara-kun aren't equally suspicious at all. [firmly] He had the night vision goggles and Hayasaka-san didn't. That'd make it way easier for him to be the attacker.
Domoto: [sternly] But it's not impossible for Hayasaka-san to be the attacker. If she managed to take out Sashihara-kun, she could easily get the night vision goggles.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Even if she managed to do that by some miracle, there's another thing that Sashihara-kun would be better equipped to do than she would.

What I'm talking about is...
Cleanly punching the night vision goggles off me/Running around quickly/Shooting Kasparov with the nail gun

Answer: Cleanly punching the night vision goggles off me

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] When I was attacked, the person in the omega mask easily and cleanly punched the night vision goggles off my face and knocked me to the ground. [firmly] Sashihara-kun's way physically stronger than Hayasaka-san, so it makes more sense for him to be the one who did that to me.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] I agree. Also, if he's really the accomplice, he was prolly the one who punched me too. [frowns] The person who beat me up packed a mean fuckin' punch. I know we said Hayasaka-san coulda done that 'cause she could see and I couldn't, but still... [rubs back of neck] I feel like Sashihara-kun's more likely to be the one who did that.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] That's true. It's not impossible that Hayasaka-san beat you up, but Sashihara-kun could do it way more easily.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Yep, and he can't even try to deny that. He's the strongest person left.
Sashihara: [clenches fist] .......... [gravely] I won't deny that I have the physical capabilities to best Komatsu-kun, as well as the rest of you, in a physical fight. [shouts loudly] But you must believe me, I'm not the accomplice or the culprit!
Motoki: [grimly] Sashihara-kun, if that's really true, do more than just deny it. Give us real reasons to believe you.
Sashihara: [gravely] You don't even have real proof to accuse me...but fine. [thinking deeply] Your theory so far is that the culprit left the night vision goggles in the press when they put the bar on top of it, then went back to pretending to be attacked. [explanatorily] But if Domoto-san's the culprit, then that means her accomplice, who you claim is me, would be forced to do that because of how she was tied up in the Surgery Room. [adjusts medical mask] How could I get all the way from the basement to the exact spot I was supposed to be at on the fourth floor in complete darkness?

Damn, that's a pretty good point.
Komatsu: [grimaces] Uh...maybe ya kept yer night vision goggles on ya and didn't put 'em in the press 'til ya got downstairs?
Domoto: [strokes chin] But that'd mean Sashihara-kun was in the Trash Room before the power came back, otherwise the press would turn on without all the night vision goggles in it. [crosses arms] But if that's the case, what's the point of the metal bar? It'd serve no purpose if Sashihara-kun was in the Trash Room.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Ugh, that is true...

I'm not sure it is, Hayasaka-san.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] No, the metal bar wouldn't become obsolete, not even if Sashihara-kun managed to get to the Trash Room before the power came back. [seriously] That's because the metal bar was only a way to ensure the press went down, no matter what.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] I don't get how that changes anythin'...why'd he use the bar at all if he was gonna be in the Trash Room when the power came back?
Motoki: [thoughtfully] Maybe he couldn't be sure he'd make it downstairs without getting caught. He probably wanted to get to the Trash Room before I turned the power back on so he could put the last set of night vision goggles in the press, but he wasn't sure he'd make it. [rubs shoulder] So he used the bar...if he didn't manage to get to the Trash Room before the power came back, it'd crush all the stuff in the hydraulic press. If he did make it on time, he could simply take the bar off and use it himself. [determined] Either way, it works.
Kawashima: [nods] She's right. [seriously] The press absolutely needed to go down because it contained the most vital evidence in the case, Kasparov-kun's head and his upper right torso. [thoughtfully] If those pieces of his body weren't crushed, then we'd easily be able to determine the cause of death and, by extension, the murder weapon. [firmly] So, by using the bar, Sashihara-kun and Domoto-san ensured the press would go down no matter what.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] I agree...but where would Hisaya-kun put it if he didn't get there on time? He'd need to worry about that too.
Domoto: [narrows eyes] Why are you coming to his side? Are you pretending to be charitable again?
Hayasaka: [stares with muted anger] That's not what this is. I can't accuse you as the culprit and Hisaya-kun as the accomplice with a weak argument, so I'm trying to make sure what we have against him is sound.
Komatsu: [frowns] But it don't even matter where he'd put the night vision goggles if he didn't get there on time, 'cause that ain't what happened. [rubs back of neck] All the night vision goggles were crushed by the press, so we don't gotta worry 'bout hypotheticals like that.
Sashihara: [points aggressively] Yes, you do! Because you need to explain what I'd do if I didn't make it to the Trash Room on time, otherwise you can't credibly accuse me!
Komatsu: [sullenly] Fine. [fixes belt] It ain't like there's a shortage of places to hide shit in this prison. There's a fuck ton of places ya coulda put the night vision goggles, especially on the second and third floors. [rubs back of neck] Ya get the point. It don't do anythin' to talk 'bout this shit any longer.
Sashihara: [clenches fist] But...that's... [gravely] Okay, fine. But if what you're saying is true, how could I prepare for you, Hayasaka-san, and Kawashima-san coming into the Trash Room? [adjusts medical mask] You three could've easily wandered in there instead of going to the Boiler Room once the power returned. You three were by the basement stairs when the power came back, so I couldn't leave without you three seeing. [points aggressively] How could I possibly prepare for that?
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] You could just hide in there.
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] Where? Kawashima-san said earlier that there are no hiding spots in there.

It's true, I did say that. Looking back, though, I think I'm wrong. Then, I neglected to consider one spot in particular...
Incinerator/Hydraulic Press/Recycling containers

Answer: Recycling containers

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I was wrong, Domoto-san. There are several places in the Trash Room where Sashihara-kun could hide. [seriously] Those places are the various recycling containers on the right side of the room. They're big enough so that even someone of Sashihara-kun's size could easily go into one of those and close the lid to hide himself. [firmly] Because they normally have the lids closed, we wouldn't notice anything weird if we did look in the Trash Room.
Domoto: [sternly] But wouldn't him standing on a bunch of recycled plastic or something like that make noise that'd draw attention to him? [narrows eyes] Would that really be conducive to a good hiding spot?
Motoki: [grimly] Not if he chose a bin full of glass, metal, plastic, or something like that. [thoughtfully] But the bins in there are sorted by type. As long he chose a bin for something like paper or cardboard, he'd be fine.
Kawashima: [nods] That's right. [firmly] Now that we've established that Sashihara-kun would have a way to hide in the Trash Room, it's entirely possible that he was in the Trash Room before the power came back on. He probably used the night vision goggles to carefully maneuver his way downstairs and get to the Trash Room without any of us noticing. [thoughtfully] When he got there, he put the night vision goggles in the press. Then, he waited until the power came back on to use the incinerator and then smashed its screen with his e-Handbook.
Kawashima: [seriously] He then hid so he wouldn't get caught, only leaving once he heard the body discovery announcement. [puzzledly] I can't be certain when he took the metal bar off the press...maybe it was after the power came back and the press automatically lowered, maybe it was before and he used the press himself. [firmly] But either way, the timeline for Sashihara-kun doing all that is completely logical. [slightly challenging] You're not going to refute that, are you, Sashihara-kun?
Sashihara: [shouts loudly] Of course I will, because it's bullshit! [adjusts medical mask] Saying that that timeline is "completely logical" is stupid. [gravely] You say I furtively snuck from the fourth floor down to the basement without you or Hayasaka-san noticing. Even if it was dark and you couldn't see me...wouldn't you have heard me sneak past you? [points aggressively] If anything, you should've been more perceptive of sounds given that you were deprived of your vision!
Komatsu: [frowns] Didn't Kawashima-san mention those fluffy slippers from the last case earlier? [fixes belt] Maybe they weren't a red herrin' and ya really used them to sneak past Kawashima-san and Hayasaka-san.

My mind went there at first, too. However, that can't be what happened. That's because those slippers...
Had no blood on them, making them unlikely to have been used/Were fake knock-offs/Couldn't have been put there by Sashihara after the investigation began

Answer: Couldn't have been put there by Sashihara after the investigation began

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] No, Komatsu-kun. I found those slippers inside a vent in the Weapons Room's ceiling. [thoughtfully] In order for Sashihara-kun to have used them to sneak past me and Hayasaka-san, he'd need to put them back during the investigation. [seriously] But he didn't go to the fourth floor during the investigation, at least, not before I found the slippers. [firmly] That means they must've been put inside the vent before he went back to the basement to use the press and incinerator...so he couldn't possibly have used them to sneak past me.
Domoto: [crosses arms] Well, do you have an answer to his question? [strokes chin] You just admitted that he couldn't use the slippers to walk silently past you and Hayasaka-san. [narrows eyes] So, if he truly did manage to sneak past you two as your theory requires, how did he?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Even if it was quiet, if he was careful, I'm sure he'd be able to walk silently enough. Besides, even if we heard his footsteps, it's not like we'd be able to identify him because of the darkness.
Domoto: [strokes chin] Not by sight, no. [crosses arms and closes eyes] But it wouldn't be hard to figure out it was him using reasoning. Kasparov-kun was dead, Motoki-san and Komatsu-kun were both downstairs, and I was tied down and rendered immobile. [opens eyes] Given that our escape plan involved leaving through the Garage, everyone would naturally head there and no one would have any reason to move upstairs. [sternly] If you and Kawashima-san heard someone walking past you on the second or third floors, I'm sure Kawashima-san could connect the dots and realize that Sashihara-kun would be the only person with good reason to do so.
Motoki: [perplexed] I don't see why that matters. [thoughtfully] Sashihara-kun was probably just confident in his ability to walk quietly enough. And given that Kawashima-san and Hayasaka-san never heard anything, he was right.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] That's some very weak reasoning. [points aggressively] You'll need more than that!

He's right, I will need more than that. I'm sure Sashihara-kun wouldn't want to risk being heard by me or Hayasaka-san as he made his way from the fourth floor to the Trash Room. If he's really the accomplice, he must've found a way to do that without fear of being caught...so what did he do? He must've used something.

HANGMAN'S GAMBIT

Question: How did Sashihara manage to go from the fourth floor to the basement without needing to worry about being heard?

VOLEETRA TSAHF

Answer: Elevator shaft

Kawashima: I've solved it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] The elevator shaft. [firmly] That's how Sashihara-kun got all the way from the basement to the fourth floor without me and Hayasaka-san hearing.
Hayasaka: [shocked] Really!?
Komatsu: [doubtfully] No fuckin' way...the elevator shaft!?
Domoto: [icily] That's absolutely idiotic. [narrows eyes] Do you think Sashihara-kun suddenly gained superpowers, Kawashima-san? Because that's what he'd need to use the elevator shaft without getting killed or severely injured.
Sashihara: [shouts loudly] Indeed! There's no way I'd be able to use the elevator shaft! [points aggressively] Not only is the elevator itself destroyed from Terajima-kun's suicide attempt, but the doors are shut and covered by caution tape!
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Can we be sure the doors on the elevator shaft are still shut? [thoughtfully] If anyone saw the elevator doors on the fourth floor during the investigation and noted that they were closed, please say something now. [seriously] Otherwise, it's entirely possible the doors were opened.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] I investigated the fourth floor, but I focused on the Infirmary, Gym, and Weapons Room. [grimly] I didn't think looking in the Media Room or Cell Block D was important, so I never went to the side with the elevator doors.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] I didn't go to the fourth floor at all.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Same.
Domoto: [irritatedly] ...Nor did I. I focused on the basement and first floor.
Sashihara: [clenches fist] .......... [adjusts medical mask] I didn't look at them during the investigation, either. [shouts loudly] But that doesn't matter! There's still no way in hell I could get to the basement from the fourth floor using the elevator shaft, not without jumping!
Kawashima: [firmly] That's wrong. There is a way if you used one certain item from the Garage.
Komatsu: [furrows] Huh? What are ya talkin' 'bout?

The thing I'm talking about is...
Nail gun/Grappling hook/Ice pick

Answer: Grappling hook

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I'm talking about a grappling hook, Komatsu-kun. [seriously] There are several of them in the tool cabinet in the Garage. Sashihara-kun was even the person who found them and told me and Hayasaka-san about them, so he definitely knew about them.
[slightly challenging] Right, Sashihara-kun?
Sashihara: [shouts loudly] Yes, but...! [clenches fist] I didn't use them! I swear it!
Motoki: [grimly] You can say you didn't all you like, but the fact remains that you could've. [thoughtfully] It's possible you attached the grappling hook to somewhere on the fourth floor and used it to safely get to the basement...you'd have to be careful at the elevator wreck at the bottom, but you'd be fine so long as you could use the night vision goggles to see. [rubs shoulder] You wouldn't even have to worry about opening the doors down there, given that they were blown away from Terajima-sun's explosions. You'd need to make sure you didn't break any of the caution tape when you crawled out. But again, that wouldn't be too hard with the night vision goggles.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Hold up...I agree with most of what yer sayin', but I don't get how Sashihara-kun'd open the elevator doors on the fourth floor in the first place. [grimaces] Because they definitely were closed ever since the last trial. So could he open it?

That's simple. He used the same thing Terajima-kun used to open them.
Crowbar/Bombs/Poison

Answer: Crowbar

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] The crowbar is still an option, Komatsu-kun. [thoughtfully] While no one saw it during the investigation, no one investigated the section of the fourth floor where the elevators are, so it could be somewhere there. Or maybe it's in one of the other unexplored areas. [seriously] Either way, the fact remains that Sashihara-kun could use that crowbar to open the elevator doors with ease.
Domoto: [strokes chin] That's right, Kawashima-san. He could use the crowbar and grappling hook. [sternly] Yet there are still flaws in your theory that Sashihara-kun is the accomplice.
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Oh really? What are they?
Domoto: [neutrally] Firstly, let me summarize your theory. [crosses arms and closes eyes] You claim that Sashihara-kun, after he and I finished everything with the murder, went back upstairs and pretended to be unconscious while you and Hayasaka-san awoke. [opens eyes] When you two were safely gone, he then put the night vision goggles back on, pried open the elevator doors, set up the grappling hook, and then grappled down to the basement. Then, he went to the Trash Room, put the goggles in the press, and waited for the power to come back on. [narrows eyes] Is that correct?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] That does line up with what I've said so far, yes. [slightly challenging] What's the problem with it?
Domoto: [crosses arms] Firstly, you checked to see if Sashihara-kun was unconscious, didn't you? [icily] Then why didn't you find the night vision goggles? They must've been nearby if your theory is true, otherwise, Sashihara-kun might've not been able to find them again.
Motoki: [scoffs] That's a stupid point, Domoto-san. [determined] If he was worried about finding them again, he could just put them somewhere that'd be easy to navigate to in the dark. [thoughtfully] So probably along a wall or something like that.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] Really? But where would that be? [points aggressively] It'd be stupid of me to hide the night vision goggles in the Weapons Room, because then I'd get caught!
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] There's a door to the Media Room right across from where you were supposedly knocked out, Hisaya-kun. You could put it in there, or maybe along the wall in the hallway in between the Media Room and Weapons Room.
Kawashima: [nods] That's right. [seriously] As long as Sashihara-kun knew where he put the goggles before he went back to pretending to be unconscious, he wouldn't need to worry much about finding them again. [slightly challenging] Is that all you got?
Sashihara: [clenches fist] Ugh, this...
Domoto: [sternly] Don't give up yet, Sashihara-kun. These claims you're my accomplice are simply false and we'll show them that. [irritatedly] And to answer your question, Kawashima-san, it's not. This next point is more sound, anyway. [sternly] It's a simple question: if your theory is true, what did Sashihara-kun do with the grappling hook after he grappled down to the basement? [narrows eyes] He wouldn't simply leave it there to be found, would he? [icily] Even if no one investigated the elevator shaft during the investigation, there was the risk that someone would. So how could Sashihara-kun prepare for that?
Komatsu: [furrows] Uh...I ain't an expert on grapplin' hooks, but can't ya jus' press a button to detach 'em from the thing they're attached to?
Domoto: [crosses arms] I'm sure some grappling hooks in the world have that capability. [sternly] But is there any way to know what the grappling hooks in this prison do? Only Sashihara-kun investigated them, and I'm sure you all won't trust his word. [narrows eyes] So, for all we know, the grappling hooks don't have that function...and if they don't, then there's consequently a major weakness in Kawashima-san's theory.
Motoki: [grimly] We could ask Monohebi if they can remotely detach from stuff.
Monohebi: [neutral] I suppose I could tell you all...I wonder if it would be worth it. Perhaps—
Sashihara: [gravely] There's no need.

...Huh?
Kawashima: [puzzledly] There's no need? [slightly challenging] Why not, Sashihara-kun? Why don't you want us to know?
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] You've got the wrong idea. What I mean is that there's no need for Monohebi to tell you...because I will.
Domoto: [irritatedly] Sashihara-kun, don't bother—
Sashihara: [clenches fist] Stop it, Domoto-san.
Domoto: [crosses arms] ..........

It doesn't look like she enjoyed being told to shut up, but she's not responding with her usual vigor.
Sashihara: [gravely] I admit it, Kawashima-san. Most of what you've theorized is right. [explanatorily] To provide some clarification, I'll tell you that I did use the crowbar and that it's hidden in the Media Room. I hid the night vision goggles along the inside wall of the Media Room when I pretended to be unconscious. I let the bar crush the press automatically when the power came back and took it off later. I hid in the paper recycling bin. [adjusts medical mask] Oh, and the grappling hooks *do* detach remotely. When I got to the basement, I detached the grappling hook and buried it in the rubble of the broken elevator.
Hayasaka: [shocked] ...What the hell? Why are you telling us all of this!?
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Yeah, if ya were gonna 'fess up, why the hell did ya wait 'til now?
Motoki: [perplexed] I don't get it either...he switched from vigorously denying it to telling confirming Kawashima-san's theory really quickly.

I don't understand what's happening right now either, Motoki-san. I've never had someone so deeply involved in a case confess so suddenly and thoroughly before, so I'm kind of in shock.
Sashihara: [gravely] You're wrong, Motoki-san. I didn't confirm Kawashima-san's theory. I said most of it was right, not all of it.
Kawashima: [puzzledly] What part of it was wrong?
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] Actually, saying it's wrong is a bit misleading...I think it's more appropriate to say it's incomplete.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] Which part of it is incomplete?
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] I don't know if outright saying it would be very beneficial.
Komatsu: [sullenly] Dude, quit beatin' 'round the bush and jus' tell us what part of it we need to think 'bout.
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] .......... [explanatorily] No, I won't directly tell you. You wouldn't believe me, so you have to reach the conclusion yourself.
Motoki: [scoffs] Ugh, stop being so cagey. [determined] But if you're going to be like that, let's ask Domoto-san instead. She was defending him non-stop, so she must know something!
Domoto: [icily] First of all, I'm not the culprit. Knowing that, I don't see why you think pursuing me is a good idea.
Komatsu: [grumpily] There ya go dodgin' the question and not straight-up sayin' ya don't know stuff. [angrily] That's 'cause ya do know stuff and don't wanna admit it, ain't it!?
Domoto: [crosses arms] What a way to overreact. If you want the truth, it's that I'm not exactly sure what Sashihara-kun means. [sternly] You'll have to ask him yourself.
Hayasaka: [disappointedly] This is going nowhere...
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] We should just vote for Domoto-san already. [determined] It's pretty obvious she's the culprit and Sashihara-kun was her accomplice.
Sashihara: [passionately] No, you can *not* do that, no matter what. I promise you, if you vote for her, we'll all die.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Not all of us. She'll get out of here safe and sound.
Sashihara: [gravely] No. She'll die too if you vote for her.

Wait a minute, is he saying...
Kawashima: [eyes widen in realization] Sashihara-kun, are you saying that you're actually the culprit?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] That could be what he means.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] It's not. I'm not the culprit either.
Motoki: [perplexed] What...? [rubs shoulder] Are you going back to accusing Hayasaka-san?
Hayasaka: [coldly] He better not be...
Sashihara: [explanatorily] As easy of a target that Hayasaka-san's made herself with her behavior, no. She isn't the culprit either.

...I have no fucking clue what's going on. Is he trying to confuse us so we vote incorrectly, or is he really telling the truth?
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Sashihara-kun, what is this? Are you lying to us?
Domoto: [irritatedly] No, he isn't. [sternly] Everything Sashihara-kun has said is true. Neither he nor I is the culprit. Hayasaka-san isn't either.
Komatsu: [fiercely] Hold up, ya better not be accusin' me!
Domoto: [icily] Believe it or not, I don't think it's you, Komatsu-kun.
Monohebi: [neutral] I must admit...even I am rather perplexed by this series of statements.
Sashihara: [clenches fist] You stay the hell out of this, Monohebi. [adjusts medical mask] Listen, I get why you're all confused. But I promise you, I'll help guide you to the truth.

Guide us to the truth? Yeah...I'm honestly pretty doubtful that's what's gonna happen. You're probably just bullshitting us for some reason. Even still, I suppose I should give him a chance.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Nail Gun Missing Trigger, Second Nail Gun, Circuitry and Wires, Paper, Incinerator Contents, Charred Floor and Gasoline, Surgery Room

Komatsu: [furrows brow] Sashihara-kun, whaddaya think guidin' us to the truth's gonna do that tellin' directly ain't? [cracks knuckles] Cut the bullshit and tell us what yer thinkin'!
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] I want to do that, but you won't believe me if I tell you. You need to come to the conclusion yourselves. [gravely] That said, I'll tell you what to focus on. [points aggressively] Think about a piece of evidence you have yet to solve the meaning of! That'll be the key to solving this case!
Motoki: [perplexed] Are you talking about the nail gun in the Torture Room?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Maybe that, or maybe the one in the Garage...
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] It could also be that weird-ass paper in the back of Boiler Room [frown] The hell did it say again? Some shit 'bout night and day?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Yeah, and it was written in English too. [grimly] There was also the circuitry and wires we found by that paper. [thoughtfully] Those might be from the nail gun upstairs, or they could be from something else...
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] Maybe...but it seems we can't decide which it is for now. [stares with muted anger] Come on, Hisaya-kun, just tell us what you're thinking already!
Domoto: [crosses arms] One of the things you suggested is right. I'll tell you that.

This is really weird, not to mention annoying too. Sashihara-kun and apparently Domoto-san know something special about this case, yet refuse to tell us outright. They're not even telling us what piece of evidence to look for! Ugh, it's really annoying...but luckily, I think I know what piece of evidence is the most suspect.

Answer: Paper > weird-ass paper

Kawashima: That's right!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] It's that paper, isn't it? [firmly] That's the piece of evidence you think'll guide us to the truth. Right, Sashihara-kun?
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] Yes, it is. [explantorily] I'm sorry for not telling you directly, but I figured if you singled out the paper as the strangest piece of evidence, you'd be more likely to realize the meaning behind it.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] Meaning behind it? So that extremely vague and cryptic message on it actually means something and isn't a distraction?
Domoto: [irritatedly] Of course it's not. [crosses arms] Far from being a distraction, that paper holds the key to this case. [sternly] If you decipher the message on it, you'll understand the truth of this case.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] So you and Sashihara-kun already deciphered the message hidden on that paper?
Sashihara: [gravely] Yes, Motoki-san. We did.
Motoki: [grimly] Then that seals the deal. [determined] One of you is the culprit and the other is your accomplice. One or both of you wrote that paper, right?
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] Why does it matter who wrote it? [stroks chin] I don't think we ever said it was one of us. And the truth is, it doesn't matter if it was. [crosses arms] Regardless of who wrote it, that paper contains the truth of this case.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] I am so fuckin' confused right now...the culprit hasta be one of ya at this point. [grimaces] But if it is, why not jus', y'know...admit to bein' the culprit? That'd be way easier than doin' all this complicated shit with the paper...

Yeah, I don't get it either, Komatsu-kun. They said the culprit isn't Sashihara-kun, Domoto-san, Hayasaka-san, or Komatsu-kun, yet they haven't accused me or Motoki-san. Do they think the culprit's Monohebi, or maybe some other outside person? But Sashihara-kun admitted to being involved, and I don't know why he'd work with an outside person unless he was still working with Monohebi...but if he's still working with Monohebi, why is Domoto-san on his side? Is she really a traitor for Monohebi now?
Domoto: [sternly] You're getting distracted. Focus on the paper and the message behind it.
Hayasaka: [stares with muted anger] How are we supposed to do that? We have no clue what it could mean!
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] if I had to venture a guess, I'd say the fact that the sentence "NIGHT AND NEVER DAY-NIGHT AND NEVER DAY" was written in English is what matters. [thoughtfully] The meanings of the words probably isn't what's important...if that was what mattered, the note would've been in Japanese. [grimly] There must be something about the English words and letters that holds the true meaning. I have no clue what that could be, though.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] But yer the Ultimate Linguist, ain't ya? [rubs back of neck] Maybe it hasta do with how those words are pronounced in English...
Motoki: [thoughtfully] I considered that, but the phonology of it doesn't seem like anything special to me. Nor do the grammar, morphology, and syntax of the sentence...
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] I know what grammar is, but what the hell do you mean by the other two?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Syntax is sentence structure and morphology is...oh, how do I explain it. It's basically how the words are formed. The different parts of it that carry meaning, if that makes any sense. [grimly] But that's not what matters. What's important is that I really can't figure out what's so special about the sentence...not from a linguistic point of view, at least. [shamefully] Sorry. The one time my talent could be useful, it gets us nowhere.
Kawashima: [gently] Don't worry, Motoki-san. You are being helpful because now we know that the paper's message doesn't have anything to do with the linguistics of the text written on it.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] If you say it was useful, then I guess it was... [gratefully] Thanks, Kawashima-san.
Kawashima: [warmly] Don't thank me. You're the one who had the knowledge necessary to rule out a meaning hidden in the linguistic aspects of the sentence. If anything, I should be thanking them.
Domoto: [irritatedly] You can flirt with her later, Kawashima-san. [sternly] For right now, figure out what that paper means.

Talk about ruining a good moment...I was trying to cheer Motoki-san up and find a brief moment of respite in this trial. But now that moment's gone, so I should get back to figuring out what the message of the paper is. There must be some way to figure it out if I think through it hard enough...

LOGIC DIVE

Q1: If the meaning, pronunciation, grammar, morphology, and syntax of the sentence are all not important, then where is the message hidden?
In the spacing of the words/In the order of vowels/ln the letters themselves

Q2: Which parts of the words are the most likely places for the message to be hidden?
The first letter of each word/The last letter of each word/The middle letters of each word

Q3:
Which of the following is most likely to be the secret message?
TDRY-TDRY/NAND-NAND/IGH N EVE A-IGH N EVE A

Answers: ln the letters themselves/The first letter of each word/NAND-NAND

Kawashima: I understand it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Because Motoki-san said there was nothing special about the linguistic aspects of the sentence, I assume that the letters are the key to the message. [seriously] With that in mind, there are several different possibilities for what the message could be. However, one seems more likely than the others.
Sashihara: [curiously] And what is it?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I think the message is "NAND-NAND." That is, the Latin letters N, A, N, D, a dash, and then N, A, N, and D again. [seriously] Again, it's only an idea. But the other ideas I could think of made no sense at all. At least "Nand" sounds like a real word. I'm not sure if it is or not because I don't speak English very well, but it could be.
Motoki: [awkwardly] Sorry, but it isn't. [rubs shoulder] It definitely sounds like it could be an English word, but it's not.
Komatsu: [grins] Hold the fuck up...I think I know what it means now!
Domoto: [rasises eyebrows] Really? You of all people think you figured it out?
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] Shut yer ass up! Jus' 'cause I'm don't got book smarts don't make me stupid!
Motoki: [perplexed] Komatsu-kun, how did you figure it out? Is "Nand" really a word in English, or any other language for that matter?
Komatsu: [frowns] Kinda...? It's not really a word, so much as it's a thing. [fixes belt] Any of ya ever heard of a logic gate?
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] No, I don't think I have.
Kawashima: [seriously] Me either.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Well, they're pretty much the buildin' blocks of digital technology and they use a ton of 'em when puttin' together computers and shit like that. They have inputs and outputs and operate on this shit called Boolean logic, which is super fuckin' complicated but boils down to the fact that ya only got two possibilities, true or false, nothin' else. [grimaces] I learned 'bout all this when I stole a buncha parts from an electronics store to make my own homemade synthesizer...it didn't go too well, but I still learned the basics 'bout logic gates.
Motoki: [grimly] I'm sorry, but can you just get to an explanation of what a "Nand" is already? [perplexed] I don't get what logic gates have to do with any of this.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] A NAND gate is a typa logic gate with multiple inputs. It's short for NOT-AND and only gives a "false" output when all its inputs are true. It's the opposite of an AND gate, which only outputs "true" if all its inputs ain't false, so only if they're all true.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] That must be why that paper is so close to all the circuitry in the Boiler Room. [slightly confused] But you said they use a lot of them in computers and stuff like that, right, Yutaka-kun? Wouldn't that mean they're really small?
Domoto: [sternly] Indeed they are. Logic gates are extremely small. Modern ones are practically microscopic.
Motoki: [surprised] You know about them?
Domoto: [crosses arms and closes eyes] Of course I do. Many of the toys I build involve some sort of electronics, so I've forced myself to learn quite a lot about logic gates, circuits, and all that over the years.
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Are you implying that you wrote that note?
Domoto: [opens eyes] I won't deny that I have the knowledge to do so. [irritatedly] But that was not an admission.
Komatsu: [suspiciosuly] There ya go again, dodgin' a question and refusin' to answer it directly. [fiercely] Tell us, did ya write it or not?
Domoto: [nods] Fine. I did.

...Oh, okay. I wasn't expecting her to really admit it.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] The hell...yer actually admittin' it?
Domoto: [crosses arms] Yes. There's no point in me lying and denying it when you all wouldn't believe me anyway.
Hayasaka: [glares at Domoto] Then tell us what it means!
Sashihara: [gravely] She doesn't have to. Komatsu-kun's already provided you with the most vital clue.
Kawashima: [seriously] So I was right. The message did mean "NAND-NAND."
Domoto: [nods] Yes, you got that right. I'm impressed, honestly. [strokes chin] I didn't want to make it too obvious, so I made up words to fit the NAND abbreviation. During the investigation, I got second thoughts and was worried it'd be too hard to solve, but... [smiles triumphantly] It seems I was wrong.
Motoki: [grimly] We haven't solved it yet, though.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] No, but you're very close. [explanatorily] Think of the dash in between the two NANDs. Why is it there? Why is it not a period, a question mark, an exclamation point, a semicolon, a colon, or even a space?
Motoki: [thoughtfully] A dash serves to connect two words together...so maybe it means the two NAND gates are connected?
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Oh, that's interestin'...'cause two NAND gates together make an AND gate. [fixes belt] So if the message means two NAND gates connected together, then basically, this was one big super-complicated way of sayin' AND gate on the paper.
Domoto: [crosses arms] Good job, Komatsu-kun. I'd never thought you'd be the one to figure it out.
Hayasaka: [furiously] ...Are you kidding me? You made an extremely complicated message just for the solution to be something you could've written with three letters!?
Sashihara: [gravely] Yes. It had to be complicated, because otherwise, Monohebi would figure it out too soon.
Monohebi: [bemusedly] ...What?
Sashihara: [clenches fist] Did I stutter? I said the message had to be complicated so that you wouldn't figure it out too soon. [points aggressively] Because if you did, then you wouldn't want this trial to reach its proper conclusion.

Huh? What does Sashihara-kun mean by that?
Kawashima: [seriously] What are you trying to say, Sashihara-kun? Monohebi wouldn't ever stop a trial.
Monohebi: [presses tail against mouth and frowns] Indeed. The class trials are the prime source of entertainment in this killing game.
Kawashima: [disdainfully] See? This disgusting bastard lives for these things. [seriously] He'd never interfere with a class trial in any way, Sashihara-kun.
Sashihara: [gravely] Oh yes, he most certainly would if he thought...never mind. It's not the time for that yet. [adjusts medical mask] So, let's instead focus on what Komatsu-kun said. He correctly deduced that the message on that paper is an AND gate. [curiously] How do you think that relates to this case, Kawashima-san? And why wouldn't Monohebi like it once he figured it out?
Monohebi: [menacingly] Sashihara...are you saying you and Domoto broke the rules? [red eye glints] You know you will be punished for that if you did, do you not?
Domoto: [icily] Of course neither of us broke any rules. We're not idiots. [crosses arms] Monohebi's idiocy aside, I agree with Sashihara-kun. [sternly] You all need to think through how an AND gate is relevant to this case.

We need to think through how it's relevant? That's gonna be way easier said than done. But, if Monohebi doesn't like the conclusion to it...then I guess it'll be worth it.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Hydraulic Press, Circuitry and Wires, Second Nail Gun, Locked Room in Freezer, Nail Gun Missing Trigger, Small Metal Object, Incinerator Contents

Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] I know I was the one who realized the meanin' of the message was AND gate, but... [grimaces] I don't got a clue for how it could relate to anythin' else in this case.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] If logic gates are super small and a ton of them are used in any given piece of technology, then the paper's message probably doesn't relate to any specific gate. [confidently] It's more likely Otoha-san meant an AND gate in a symbolic way.
Motoki: [perplexed] In a symbolic way? I'm confused at what you mean by that...
Komatsu: [grimaces] I think she means that an object or group of objects would resemble an AND gate in some way. [fixes belt] I guess maybe it could do with the nail gun in the Garage? [frowns] Or maybe it's the one in the Torture Room.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] It could also have to do with the incinerator, too. [looks to the side thoughtfully] Or maybe the press is what's relevant...
Motoki: [thoughtfully] This is a little out there, but maybe the paper's message has to do with the tracking device taken from Domoto-san? [grimly] Or it could even be the tool Sashihara-kun did surgery on Domoto-san with.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Well, are we right?
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] You need to figure it out yourselves, so I won't say.
Domoto: [crosses arms] Me either.
Monohebi: [presses tail against mouth and frowns] ..........

Everyone made a lot of suggestions in that debate. What does the AND gate have to do with anything? Is anything they suggested right? Is it really something symbolic? I'll need to look back at the evidence we have to find the answer...

Answer: Second Nail Gun > the one in the Torture Room

Kawashima: That's right!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I think that Komatsu-kun's right. [firmly] The nail gun I found in the Torture Room, the one that had all its circuitry removed, is probably what the paper is talking about. [seriously] After all, the paper was right next to a bunch of circuits and wires, which were most likely from the nail gun I found in the Torture Room. That was probably a hint that the paper's message related to that nail gun.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] That makes sense. Maybe Otoha-san messed with the wiring somehow, then dumped it out next to the paper when she was done with it.
Motoki: [perplexed] I guess...but how does that have to do with an AND gate? If they're super small, there's no way she could mess with an individual one in the nail gun's circuitry. [thoughtfully] It's possible she modified the wiring to make something resembling an AND gate, but I don't know why she'd need to do that.
Komatsu: [frowns] She wouldn't hafta do that, 'cause the nail guns worked fine beforehand.

....That's true, Komatsu-kun. The nail guns worked fine beforehand. So if Domoto-san messed with one, she must've wanted to change its functionality somehow. But how and why? I feel like the answer is staring me straight in the face, but I can't quite figure it out yet. If I think about it a little more, I should be able to reach the answer...

LOGIC DIVE

Q1: What does an AND gate do?
Outputs false if all inputs are true, outputs true in all other cases/Outputs true if all inputs are false, outputs false in all other cases/Outputs true if all inputs are true, outputs false in all other cases

Q2: Why were two different nail guns involved when only one would be necessary to kill Kasparov?
They weren't, one is a red herring and if fake evidence/To provide two different "inputs," in this case triggers/To shoot Kasparov from two different angles

Q3: How was the nail gun modified and how does the AND gate message relate to it?
Had two triggers operated like a NAND gate/Had two triggers and operated like an AND gate/Had two triggers and operated like a NOR gate

Answers: Outputs true if all inputs are true, outputs false in all other cases/To provide two different "inputs," in this case triggers/Had two triggers and operated like an AND gate

Kawashima: I understand it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [eyes widen in realization] ...Oh. I understand now.

If I'm right, this is absolutely fucking insane. Two different inputs could only mean...
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] What is it, Wakana-san?
Motoki: [nervously] And why do you have that look on your face?
Kawashima: [reluctantly] Well...you see, it's...it's kind of crazy. [seriously] But basically, I think the whole meaning of this message with the AND gates and its connection to the nail gun is simple: the nail gun was modified to act like an AND gate.
Komatsu: [frowns] Hold up, but AND gates gotta have at least two inputs, and a gun only has one trigger, so that ain't... [jaw drops] Wait...Kawashima-san, are ya sayin' what I think yer sayin'!?
Motoki: [perplexed] What does she mean? I don't get it...
Kawashima: [firmly] I'm saying that the nail gun was modified to have more than one input—which here means more than one trigger—hooked up to it. And, like an AND gate, it was modified so that it only fired when both triggers were "true"...so when both of them were pressed down.
Monohebi: [presses tail against mouth and narrows eyes] ...No.
Sashihara: [gravely] Yes, actually. [explanatorily] Domoto-san tampered with the nail gun so that it only fired when both of its triggers were simultaneously activated. Also, it wouldn't work if you held one trigger down and then a few moments later someone pressed down the other one. [adjusts medical mask] Both had to be pressed down simultaneously for it to work.
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] But that would mean...the culprit could be either one of you...
Domoto: [sternly] No, Hayasaka-san. That's not what it means. [strokes chin] Think about it from a different point of view. If we both activated the two triggers to the modified nail gun at the same time, wouldn't that mean we're equally responsible for his death? [crosses arms] What does that mean, Hayasaka-san?
Hayasaka: [shocked] It can't be...*both* of you are the killer!?
Komatsu: [stares at floor] No fuckin' way...this is crazy...

I know, Komatsu-kun. It really is. It's insane, but it makes everything about this case make sense.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I agree with Hayasaka-san. Domoto-san and Sashihara-kun are both—
Monohebi: [hisses furiously] Silence! This is not permitted. [red eye glints] There may only be one culprit and I will *not* tolerate anyone saying otherwise!
Domoto: [icily] Why not, Monohebi? Is it because you can't accept reality?
Monohebi: [hisses furiously] Ssssss! Your ridiculous suggestion is what is far removed from reality, brat! [menacingly] I refuse to allow two people to be the culprit. Such a thing is impossible. What you have done is in clear violation of the rules, so you must be punished for it!
Sashihara: [gravely] Where in the rules does it say there can't be more than one culprit? [smugly] If I recall correctly, the real rule's that there can't be more than one person executed per class trial. So it's not more than one culprit that's not permitted...what's not permitted is you executing more than one of us.
Motoki: [passionately] Oh my God...I see it now! [excitedly] Monohebi's being faced with a contradiction in his rules. He can't execute more than one person per class trial, yet nowhere in the rules does it say there can't be more than one culprit. So if we vote for Sashihara-kun and Domoto-san, he could either execute neither, one of them, or both...no matter what, he'd be forced to break a rule and execute himself!
Domoto: [smiles triumphantly] Exactly, Motoki-san. Monohebi's such an arrogant, short-sighted bastard that he couldn't see the blatant contradiction in his own rules.
Monohebi: [sweats] This is...no, it cannot be...
Hayasaka: [shocked] So this is what Sergey-kun died for...he wanted to force Monohebi to break one of his own previous rules.
Kawashima: [thoughtuflly] Yeah, that must be what it is. He—

Monohebi: Impossible!

[split screen separates Monohebi and Kawashima]
Monohebi: [hisses furiously] BE SILENT! [red eye glints] You wretched brats truly think you know my own rules better than I do!? Absurd!
Kawashima: [disdainfully] It's you who doesn't know your own rules, Monohebi. [firmly] No matter what the outcome of this trial is, you break a rule!
Monohebi: [menacingly] No, Kawashima. You are wrong. [hisses furiously] Sssssssssssssss! I am not obligated to execute both Sashihara and Domoto. Such a claim is incredibly fallacious!

He's positively seething right now...good riddance. I'm sure he'll try to desperately argue his way out of this, but I know I'll beat him! I won't let him escape the fate Kasparov-kun, Domoto-san, and Sashihara-kun have condemned him to!

REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN

Truth Swords: Monohebi's Rules, Monohebi's Account, Monohebi File #5, Second Nail Gun, Nail Gun Missing Trigger, Paper, Hydraulic Press

Monohebi: [neutral] Let us reexamine the rules. Rule 11 states "if the guilty party is correctly determined during a class trial, they alone will be executed." Rule 13 states that "there can only be one person executed per class trial."
Monohebi: [slightly irritated] Together, these rules make it rather obvious that the blackened, culprit, guilty party, whatever you call them, may only be one person. [presses tail against mouth and narrows eyes] So, in reality, it is Domoto-san and Sashihara-kun that have broken a rule!
Monohebi: [red eye glints] I need only execute one of them as the culprit. The other could be executed for violating the rules. [seethes] Doing so would not force me to break any rules!

ADVANCE!
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] The rules sure do imply that only one culprit is allowed, but they don't say that outright. The "guilty party" could easily be more than one person.
Kawashima: [seriously] All they say is that only one individual can be executed per class trial, so that means Domoto-san and Sashihara-kun could both be the culprit that killed Kasparov-kun and not break a rule.
Kawashima: [firmly] The only person who'd be breaking a rule is you, because the rules explicitly say executing us is solely your responsibility!
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] You can't escape this, Monohebi. If you don't execute both of them, you violate Rule 11 because it says a "guilty party" has to be executed if correctly determined. [seriously] The guilty party is both of them, so executing only one as the culprit wouldn't count. If you execute one or both for breaking the rules, you'd also be in the wrong because they haven't broken any rules. [firmly] But if you do execute them both as the culprit, you violate Rule 13 because it says you can't execute more than one person! [disdainfully] You're trapped, you disgusting asshole!

Monohebi: [hisses furiously] Sssssssss! I am not trapped! Did I not tell you last trial that the blackened may only be one person?
Monohebi: [presses tail against mouth and narrows eyes] As your warden, my word is law. That means that it is against the rules for there to be more the one person as the blackened! I need not execute myself!
Monohebi: [menacingly] Do you see it already, you revolting brat!? I do NOT need to break a rule! [seethes] On the contrary, I shall harshly punish the troublemakers who DARE attempt to embarrass me in such an imbecilic way!

It seems you can't accept reality, Monohebi. It's honestly pathetic. It's funny at the same time, though, to see someone who's caused us so much pain in such desperation at his impending doom.

Answer: Monohebi's Rules > need not

Kawashima: I'll cut your contradictions in two!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [disdainfully] If you don't execute them, you break a rule. If you break a rule, you have to execute yourself according to Rule 15. It's that simple. [slightly challenging] There's no escaping this! You're doomed, Monohebi!
Monohebi: [red eye glints] Are you even listening to me!? I told you I said the blackened can only be one person and my word is the law, so it is Domoto-san and Sashihara-kun who are rulebreakers, not I!
Domoto: [icily] Wrong. The only mention of the blackened in Rules 11 or 13 is in Rule 13 when it's stated that the "blackened who killed first will be executed." [crosses arms] Sashihara-kun and I pulled the triggers at the same time, so neither of us killed first. [sternly] You can watch the footage if you like. You can slow it down to milliseconds, it won't matter. I know the technology I deal with...if we hadn't pulled the triggers in sync, the nail gun wouldn't have fired.
Sashihara: [gravely] Yeah...we worked really hard to practice moving in sync. Domoto-san built us a device to practice with last night so we would be prepared when the time came to kill Kasparov-kun.
Monohebi: [presses tail against mouth and frowns] So that was the purpose of that stupid thing you discarded in the Garden...I should have realized. [menacingly] But, again, it matters not! All of the points you have raised are nothing more than delusions!
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Really, Monohebi? Because if I continue with the point Domoto-san was just making, you'll notice Rules 11 and 13 never mention "the blackened" in the contexts relevant to you executing them. They use the words "person" and "guilty party," not "blackened." [firmly] So whether if your word is law or not is irrelevant, because your decree wouldn't change the rules at all.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] Yep. There are no restrictions on who the "guilty party" or "culprit" could be. Only "the blackened," but that doesn't change anything. [smugly] Do you really think Kasparov-kun, Domoto-san, and I didn't think of a way to counter every argument you'd come up with? We wouldn't dare do something so bold if there was a chance we'd fail.
Monohebi: [desperately] But this...this is simply not permitted! The idea of two culprits is an aberration that they would never accept...no, no, no...
Sashihara: [curiously] You talking about your loyal viewers? [smugly] I'm sure they're upset right now. I mean, the integrity that's so vital to the survival of this killing game is at stake. The integrity you claim is important more than anything else.
Monohebi: [frantically] No...no...please, no...it cannot end like this...
Domoto: [smiles triumphantly] Oh, but it can. Your time is over, Monohebi. [crosses arms] You're faced with a decision that will ruin you no matter what. You could execute one, neither, or both of us as the culprit or you could execute one or both of us for breaking the rules on false charges...no matter what, you break a rule and must execute yourself. [icily] Or, you could take the cowardly route and save your own skin even if you violate a rule. I'm sure that's a possibility if your master intervenes.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Ya sayin' the mastermind might get all pissy and intervene in all this shit?
Domoto: [nods] Yes. [strokes chin] Monohebi is their avatar. If he gets executed, this killing game will be left without a leader, something the mastermind cannot tolerate if they wish to remain anonymous. [icily] So they could refuse to execute Monohebi, or execute him and present themselves to us. The choice is theirs.

I get why she thinks that, but there's a slight problem...
Kawashima: [seriously] Domoto-san, I don't know if you're aware of this, but Monohebi has several clones scattered throughout the prison. He could destroy only a single robot and transfer his AI to a copy.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] He has copies? [frowns] No wonder he can pop up all over the place all the time...
Motoki: [nervously] If he has clones, that could be a problem.
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] Not really. All those robots share his same AI, don't they? If he doesn't execute them too, he's not really executing himself. [adjusts medical mask] But I wouldn't be surprised if he takes that route because of how much of a cop-out it is. [smugly] However, even if he does, it'll be alright. We'll still win because such an action would look cheap and cowardly to the audience and he'd lose the integrity he values above all else...and that's what really matters.
Monohebi: [seethes] ..........
Domoto: [smiles triumphantly] What's wrong, Monohebi? Are you mad you lost?
Monohebi: [presses tail against mouth and narrows eyes] Silence, brat. Do not dare talk to me right now. [slightly irritated] I must think...
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] So...does this mean we won? Monohebi's not arguing anymore.
Monohebi: [menacingly] No, you have not won. None of you have won anything.
Kawashima: [disdainfully] Ignore him. He's not raising any real points, so I think we have, Hayasaka-san.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] Yeah. He could get mad at Domoto-san and me for helping you guys out near the end...but nothing says the guilty party can't provide some assistance, right?
Domoto: [crosses arms] Nothing says that. Monohebi has to execute both of us if he wants to be fair. [strokes chin] Speaking of that, Sashihara-kun...we should give the timeline of what happened before Kawashima-san does her normal summary.
Sashihara: [thinking deeply] Yeah, that'd be a good idea. She doesn't know the order of how things happened. [smugly] It's
also only fair that we show Monohebi’s dear viewers exactly what they missed in the dark.
Monohebi: [displeased] Shut your mouth, you traitorous scum.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] No, I don't think I will. [explanatorily] Anyway, let's get started. To begin, we couldn't rely on Motoki-san to make the omega mask for us, so we painted one ourselves last night. [adjusts medical mask] I had it hidden on me all day.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] You only painted one? But you and Kasparov-kun both had an omega mask...
Domoto: [neutrally] Kasparov-kun wore your mask, Motoki-san. A lowercase omega is a lowercase epsilon rotated ninety degrees, so we saw no need to make two omega masks when we could simply repurpose a mask you'd make for our own benefit. [crosses arms] It was also to cast suspicion on you once you all realized there were two attackers. [irritatedly] We were supposed to leave behind the epsilon and omega masks, thus subtly implicating Motoki-san as the culprit, but Sashihara-kun messed up. He incinerated the omega mask he wore instead of leaving it out.
Sashihara: [gravely] Yeah...that was my bad.
[explanatorily] Anyway, after all of you were out, I gave Kawashima-san's goggles to Domoto-san and then she, me, and Kasparov-kun stole your walkie-talkies, night vision goggles, and in Kawashima-san's case, a gun. Then the three of us went to the surgery room. I removed Domoto-san's chip, which Kasparov-kun put in the crawlspace. After that, he took everything off his bed and cleaned himself off, we went downstairs.
[adjusts medical mask] While Domoto-san and Kasparov-kun-san got the nail guns and started tampering with them, I shot the ground in the Boiler Room four times. Then, I put the gun in the press and the bullet shells in the back by the power control panel.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] What was the point of the surgery, by the way? And why did you clean all the tools you used for it?
Domoto: [crosses arms and closes eyes] The surgery and the removal of the chip served two purposes: firstly, I wanted to provide evidence that the crawlspace was used because you wouldn't be able to see Kasparov-kun's clothes. [opens eyes] More importantly, Kasparov-kun thought there was an extremely small possibility the escape could still work. He wanted one of us to have our chips removed so at least one person could be free from Monohebi's tracking if that occurred.
Motoki: [perplexed] But why didn't he remove his and Sashihara-kun's chip? And how did he even figure out the chips existed?
Sashihara: [gravely] When I was lifting weights the other day, I noticed something in my shoulder felt slightly...off. When I talked to Kasparov-kun about it, he theorized it could be tracking chips and turned out to be right. [adjusts medical mask] We didn't remove Kasparov-kun's chip because
we needed it in him so Monohebi knew that he died. Also, if my chip was removed, it'd make me and Domoto-san look too suspicious too soon. [thinking deeply] And there's also the fact that anyone but me doing surgery could end badly. I didn't want to risk fucking my arm up by allowing someone else to do surgery on me.
Kawashima: [seriously] That's all good, but you still haven't answered my question of why you cleaned the tools for the surgery off.
Domoto: [crosses arms] Sashihara-kun insisted that it'd be unsanitary to leave unclean tools after the surgery in case somewhat got hurt during the escape attempt. He wanted to still be able to use the same tools. [strokes chin] Oh, and he left my pocket knife with the other tools to imply that I did surgery on myself, but none of you picked up on that.
Komatsu: [sullenly] I dunno how we were supposed to make that connection...
Hayasaka: [reassuringly] I don't think it's that important, Yutaka-kun. It was just a distraction. [slightly confused] Also, what happened with the syringes?
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] We faked our injections with them by filling the syringes with saline solution instead of anesthesia, if that's what you mean. We didn't want to knock ourselves out, but we also didn't want to risk getting immediately caught by not having any injection marks. [thinking deeply] If what you meant is where we disposed of them, I'm pretty sure all six of them are in Komatsu-kun's room. Right, Domoto-san?
Domoto: [nods] Right. I put them there.
Komatsu: [sullenly] 'Course it had to be my room...
Sashihara: [clenches fist] Sorry...it really was nothing personal. [explanatorily] To get back on track, after the nail gun with two triggers was ready, we turned the power on so Monohebi's cameras would have footage and photographic proof of us both being the culprit. I said my last words to Kasparov-kun, then Domoto-san and I killed him. [adjusts medical mask] Then the whole run-in with Komatsu-kun happened.
Domoto: [neutrally] Once Komatsu-kun was back in the Kitchen, I took care of the bloody nail and both the nail guns we used. Then, I wrote the fake note in Kasparov-kun's diary and wrote the NAND-NAND paper too. [crosses arms] At the same time, Sashihara-kun put his bedsheets and all that in the incinerator and put his goggles, walkie-talkie, and the drill in the press. [neutrally] The next issue was the metal bar...Sashihara-kun took it from the bottom of some folding table in the Storage Room. He took the duct tape and a lighter we used from there, too.
Sashihara: [explanatorily] Yep. And once we were both done, we got a fire extinguisher from the second floor and burned Kasparov-kun's body in the Garage, moved it back to the Boiler Room then dismembered him there. When that was done, we scattered the pieces, and...well, the rest is obvious.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Yeah, but ya did half of Kawashima-san's job for her.

Yeah, they did explain a lot, thankfully. but there was also a lot that they didn't explain that I'll make sure to include when I summarize the case.
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] So...what now? It seems like we're pretty much done now.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] I dunno...somethin' 'bout this still feels off to me. [frowns] Somethin' bothers me...
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] What do you mean, Yutaka-kun? We talked about pretty much everything, and Otoha-san and Hisaya-kun just went over most of the stuff we missed.
Komatsu: [grimaces] I know, it's jus'...somethin' don't feel right to me. I feel like we ain't found the whole truth of the case yet... [frowns] But jus' ignore me for now. I'll speak up again if I figure out what's botherin' me...

Go ahead, but I don't think you have much time to think. The trial's essentially over.
Domoto: [sternly] If Komatsu-kun can't think of anything, then I think you should go ahead and summarize the case like you normally do, Kawashima-san.
Kawashima: [seriously] I guess it's time for that. [reluctantly] And after that...we vote and you and Sashihara-kun get executed.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] It just hit me that both of them are going to die...I think I was high off the idea of Monohebi's execution, but they're going to die too... [closes eyes to prevent tears] I don't want that...I want Monohebi dead, but I don't want two of us to die for it.
Komatsu: [miserably] Same, Motoki-san...there'll only be four of us after this trial. [wipes eyes] There've been way too many deaths so far...I dunno if I can handle any more of 'em...
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly]
Me either, Yutaka-kun...it's too much. [tears up] There'll only be a quarter of us left...
Sashihara: [sadly] Yes...that's what'll happen. [gravely] But if this didn't happen, it's almost certain this killing game would've continued until there were only one or two people left. At least with our sacrifice, Monohebi gets fucked over and the killing ends here.
Domoto: [crosses arms and looks down] Yes, as difficult as this is, this was our only choice. This killing game's rules revolve around death and these horrid class trials. In order for us to corner Monohebi and beat him at his own game, we needed to do this. [tearfully] Believe me...I'm scared to die. Sashihara-kun is too. [smiles] But...we've decided that it's worth it. If our deaths mean sticking it to Monohebi, the destruction of this killing game, and the rest of you surviving...well, then I think it's worth it.
Hayasaka: [softly] Sergey-kun...did he feel the same way?
Sashihara: [gravely] Of course he did. He thought his death was necessary to make up for what happened to Eguchi-san, Terajima-kun, and Oyamada-kun, but he didn't want it to be wasteful. [explanatorily] So, he came up with this whole plan and then convinced me and Domoto-san of it. He asked us to kill him and to do it in such a way that Monohebi—
Komatsu: [doubtfully] ...Nah. I figured out what's botherin' me. Yer lyin'.

...What?
Kawashima: [puzzledly] Komatsu-kun, what do you mean? What do you think he's lying about?
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] I know none of ya are gonna believe me, but... [fiercely] I think Kasparov-kun's still alive!
Hayasaka: [shocked] What!?
Sashihara: [incredulously] Komatsu-kun, are you serious?
Komatsu: [sullenly] Yeah, I am. We never saw Kasparov-kun's face, so for all know that ain't his body we found all cut up.
Motoki: [scoffs] What? [passionately] But there's no way for a body to be substituted for his, not unless there was some way to get the body of someone who died before him!

Actually, Motoki-san, that might not be true. There might be a way to reuse an old body if...
The locked room in the basement is a morgue/One of Domoto, Sashihara, or Kasparov is the mastermind/Someone asked politely for an old body

Answer: The locked room in the basement is a morgue

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] It actually might be possible to get an old body, because that locked room at the back of the Freezer might be the morgue.
Komatsu: [fiercely] Exactly! Kasparov-kun stole the key to that place, so it makes total sense!
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] One small problem, Komatsu-kun. Kasparov-kun never told us what that room was. He never even told us he had the key to it. We were just as surprised as the rest of you when Monohebi told us during the trial.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] I guess that means Komatsu-kun's theory is wrong.
Komatsu: [sullenly] Grh...but... [fiercely] But listen to Domoto-san! Has she ever once said the words "I killed Kasparov-kun?" No! She ain't ever done that! She also hasn't said whether that room is the morgue or not [cracks knuckles] And 'cause she never lies, that makes me really suspicious of her!
Motoki: [perplexed] But when she said "I'm not the culprit," wasn't that a lie!?
Komatsu: [grumpily] Nah, 'cause she ain't *the* culprit. She's *a* culprit. [fixes belt] Right, Domoto-san!? Ya didn't lie durin' the trial when ya said that, did ya?
Domoto: [icily] Of course I didn't, Komatsu-kun. [crosses arms] I'll admit I'm impressed you caught on to my clever wording there. [strokes chin] But what in the world leads you to believe Kasparov-kun is still alive? Monohebi wouldn't have certified him as dead if his chip didn't deactivate. [irritatedly] Also, Kasparov-kun never told us what that room was or that he had the key to it. Sashihara-kun was right.
Komatsu: [angrily] But...ya coulda jus' removed his chip! [fiercely] Also, there ya go again with dodgin' questions! Ya didn't admit to killin' him!
Domoto: [sternly] He's dead, Komatsu-kun. Sashihara-kun and I killed him. [crosses arms] I don't know what else you want me to say.
Komatsu: [tears up] That's...nah, it ain't...yer lyin'...if that's true, I was jus' a few seconds away from savin' him, and even if it means defeatin' Monohebi and us gettin' outta here, I...I...I can't accept that! [points accusatorially through angry tears] I don't care what ya fuckin' say! He's alive, I'm sure of it! Yer jus' lyin' to us!

It looks like he's refusing to give up. I get that he feels guilty about being so close to stopping Kasparov-kun's murder, but he needs to accept it. If even Domoto-san, who's never once told a lie until now, is saying that Kasparov-kun is dead...then that means he probably is. Sorry, Komatsu-kun, but I won't let you keep denying it like this!

ARGUMENT ARMAMENT

[Komatsu sits on top of a Bösendorfer grand piano in a fancy tuxedo, pointing angrily with a conducting baton. His other hand holds a long parchment manuscript of music score. Several lines of music score and treble, bass, and alto clefs surround him]

Komatsu: Kasparov-kun was definitely plannin' shit...
Komatsu: ...why the fuck else would he take that key to the locked room?
Komatsu: It was prolly part of his plan and he jus' made Domoto-san and Sashihara-kun not talk 'bout it!
Komatsu: We can't jus' take their word for it!

[Lines of music score and treble, bass, and alto clefs disappear. Argument Armament music speeds up]

Komatsu: I don't give a flyin' fuck what Domoto-san says!
Komatsu: She could jus' be lyin', no matter what her track record of tellin' the truth is...
Komatsu: ...so anythin' she says can't be trusted!
Komatsu: She and Sashihara-kun are jus' coverin' for Kasparov-kun and pretendin' they killed him!

[Conducting baton and parchment manuscript disappear.
Argument Armament music speeds up even more]

Komatsu: I ain't gonna accept it!
Komatsu: I don't fuckin' care if it was a sacrifice...
Komatsu: I can't live with myself if I was so close to savin' him!
Komatsu: So I refuse to believe it! HE'S STILL ALIVE!

[Piano disappears. Music stops and is replaced by a heartbeat sound effect]

Komatsu: I ain't relyin' on Domoto-san's word. Ya don't got NO proof Kasparov-kun's dead!

IS DEACTIVATED————CONFIRMS————MONOHEBI FILE—————HIS CHIP

Answer:
Monohebil File confirms his chip is deactivated

[Komatsu falls down, crying, gripping his hair tightly with one hand and his shoulder with the other, his tuxedo and pants in tatters]

Komatsu: Goddammit...

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] The Monohebi File confirms that he's dead, Komatsu-kun. [thoughtfully] Monohebi has no reason to play along with Domoto-san, Sashihara-kun, and Kasparov-kun's scheme...if anything, he'd oppose it greatly. [firmly] He wouldn't have held the trial at all unless he was sure Kasparov-kun was dead.

Monohebi: [slightly irritated] I cannot believe Komatsu was idiotic enough to suggest I would hold a trial for a student who is still alive. That is probably the only thing that could make this current situation worse. [presses tail against mouth and frowns]
If you want even more proof he is dead, I shall tell you exactly where his chip is.
Because my cameras are very high resolution, I was able to spot it crushed in the press amidst the revolting remains of his chest. [red eye glints] Kasparov is dead, Komatsu. That is final.

Komatsu: [tears up] Fuck, why...goddammit... [wipes eyes] Sorry...I jus'...I didn't wanna accept it...

Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] It's okay, Komatsu-kun. [closes eyes to prevent tears] It'd be nice if Kasparov-kun was still alive, but...we can't always get what we want.

Yeah, that's unfortunately true. It'd be great if he walked through the door and proudly proclaimed that he was still alive...but that's not going to happen.
Monohebi: [displeased] I do not condone your attempt to comfort Komatsu. He made an attempt to undermine my credibility with inane theories and does not deserve consolation.

Domoto: [raises eyebrows] Your credibility? You don't have any left, Monohebi. [smiles triumphantly] You haven't raised any arguments against us for quite a while now...is that a tacit admission that you lost?

Sashihara: [smugly] I'm pretty sure it is, Domoto-san. He'd still be fighting tooth and nail if he wasn't cornered.

Monohebi: [presses tail against mouth and narrows eyes] ........... [displeased] ...I have admitted nothing. Let Kawashima summarize the case, then we shall see where I stand.

Monohebi's not doing a great job at hiding his discomfort now. It seems pretty clear he's accepted that he's lost and is now trying to figure out what to do...well, I guess I won't figure out what happens until I summarize everything.
Kawashima: [seriously] Okay, I'll go everything in this case, from beginning to end. [firmly] I'll prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Domoto-san and Sashihara-kun are both the culprit behind Kasparov-kun's murder!

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

CLOSING ARGUMENT

PHASE 1

Missing Pieces:

A: The culprit wraps Furuhata's body in a tablecloth

B: Courtesy of Monohebi, very loud and dissonant music blasts out of the walkie-talkies, rendering them unusable

C: After Motoki paints the necessary masks, we split into our respective groups for the escape plans

D: The aforementioned three paint an omega mask

E: The culprit returns to their room

F: Kasparov takes all the bedding from his room and uses it clean himself and the dirt he tracked up from the crawlspace

G: The first culprit turns the power off right as Komatsu gets to the Boiler Room

H: I position myself in the fifth-floor hallway, while Hayasaka and the second culprit are downstairs in the Weapons Room, Komatsu and the first culprit in the Kitchen, and Motoki and Kasparov in the Boiler Room

I: Domoto goes to bed

J: While she and the second culprit are away, I steal a pistol from the Weapons Room
K: Night vision goggles go to me, Kasparov, and the second culprit, while the walkie-talkies go to Komatsu and the first culprit, Motoki and Kasparov and meL: Komatsu awakesM:
Meanwhile, Kasparov pretends to see an attacker and yells at Motoki to runN: About twenty minutes later, the second culprit dons the omega mask then sneaks up on Hayasaka and injects her with anesthesia
O: Kasparov knocks Motoki out with anesthesia, steals her mask, then heads upstairs

P: The second culprit attacks me and injects me with anesthesia

Q: Using the guitar string they got earlier, the culprit strangles Aozora

R: After nighttime, Domoto sneaks up to the Infirmary

S: The second culprit does surgery on the first and removes their tracking chip

T: At the same time, the first culprit and Kasparov get two nail guns from the Garage and begin tampering with them

U: To ensure her screams can't alert anyone if they're nearby, the culprit gags Ichigohara by putting duct tape over her mouth

V: Now that everyone not involved in the plan is unconscious, the two culprits and Kasparov gather everyone's masks, walkie-talkies, and, in my case, a pistol

The night before our escape plan, Kasparov and the two culprits meet up to discuss their murder plan, which involves forcing Monohebi to break his own rules
???
The first culprit builds a mysterious device that they and the second culprit use to practice shooting in sync
In the morning, Monohebi attempts to lure me into committing murder
Monohebi gleefully tells me three people plotted murder the night before
???
???
Hayasaka accidentally loses her mask and needs to go back and look for it
???
???
Monohebi executes Sato
Motoki and Kasparov shut off the power
???
The second culprit inject themselves with saline solution in place of anesthesia and fakes shooting the dart gun at themselves
???
Monohebi leaves the Surveillance Room and taunts me
???
???
???
Now wearing Motoki's mask sideways so it resembles an omega, Kasparov sneaks into the Kitchen through the Storage Room, pretends to knock out the first culprit, and actually injects Komatsu with anesthesia
The second culprit gives my night vision goggles to the first culprit
???
???
Kasparov places the first culprit's chip in the crawlspace between the Pantry and Storage Room
???
While he does this, the second culprit cleans up the surgery tools and the first culprit disposes of all six syringes in Komatsu's room
The second culprit takes my pistol and shoots it into the Boiler Room floor four times
Once the pistol is empty, the second culprit puts it in the press and takes its bullet shells and places them by the power control panel
???
???
The two culprits turn the power back on and simultaneously kill Kasparov
???
The second culprit beats up Komatsu, breaking his nose and knocking him unconscious again
Komatsu is tied up, gagged, and placed back in the Kitchen

Answer: D (2), C (6), K (7), J (9), H (10), N (13), B (15), P (17), M (18), O (19), V (22), S (23), F (25), T (29), L (30), G (32)

PHASE 2

Missing Pieces:
W: The second culprit also takes a lighter from the Storage RoomX: The first culprit rips out the final page of said diary and writes the "NIGHT AND NEVER DAY-NIGHT AND NEVER DAY" paperY: The second culprit duct tapes the metal bar over the button that activates the pressZ: In order to make sure they can get back to the goggles later, the second culprit places their night vision goggles along the inside wall of the Media RoomAA: Hayasaka opens the door to the bathhouseBB: The first culprit puts the other nail gun, which only had its trigger removed and was otherwise unmodified, back in the GarageCC: Once they're back in the Boiler Room, the first culprit places the paper they just wrote by the power control panelDD: The second culprit places their night vision goggles in the press and then proceeds to hide in the paper recycling binEE:
The culprit places the crowbar Terajima used in the InfirmaryFF:
On their way back down from the fifth floor, the first culprit stops in Kasparov's room and
writes the fake mastermind note in Kasparov's diaryGG: The second culprit uses the crowbar to pry open the elevator doors on the fourth floorHH: Komatsu stabs Eguchi with the scissorsII: After obtaining a fire extinguisher from the second floor, both culprits burn Kasparov's body in the GarageJJ: Once they're done removing it, the first culprit places the wiring and circuitry in the back of the Boiler Room by the bullet shellsKK: The second culprit leaves the recycling binLL: Once the dismemberment is complete, the culprits place Kasparov's head and upper right torso in the hydraulic pressMM: After they put the goggles back on, the second culprit grapples down to the basementNN: The second culprit pretends to be unconsciousOO: Eguchi reluctantly agrees to help the culprit
PP: With the preparations of the crime scene complete, the second culprit grabs a grappling hook from the Garage's tool cabinet while the first culprit places their night vision goggles in the hydraulic pressQQ: Both culprits head upstairs, placing the saw they used to dismember Kasparov in the Freezer as they do soRR: The culprit obtains the notebook and pen

The first culprit removes all the inner circuitry and wires, as well as both triggers, from the modified nail gun used to kill Kasparov
???
???
The first culprit takes the bloody nail and the modified nail gun they removed the circuits and wires from
The first culprit places both these things in the Torture Room
???
???
???
At the same time, the second culprit places all of Kasparov's bedding and all masks except the gamma and epsilon masks in the incinerator
The second culprit places Kasparov's night vision goggles, all the walkie-talkies, and the drill in the hydraulic press
To ensure the hydraulic press would automatically be lowered, the second culprit took duct tape, a metal bar from a folding table, and a lighter from the Storage Room
???
???
???
The two culprits move Kasparov's body back to the Boiler Room
Kasparov's corpse is dismembered
???
The culprits scatter the rest of his body parts around the Boiler Room
???
???
The culprits put the fire extinguisher back on the second floor
In the Surgery Room, the second culprit straps the first culprit down to the operating table
???
After discarding the crowbar in the Media Room, the second culprit sets up the grappling hook in the elevator shaft
???
???
Hayasaka and I awake and meet up
Once Hayasaka and I are out of hearing range, the second culprit gets up and finds their night vision goggles again
???
Upon safely arriving in the basement, the second culprit detaches the grappling hook and buries it in the rubble of the exploded elevator
To avoid breaking the caution tape and thus drawing suspicion to the elevator shaft, the second culprit slowly and carefully steps out of the shaft
???
Motoki eventually awakes and turns the power on
Komatsu, Hayasaka, and I rush to the Boiler Room and find Kasparov's remains
???
The second culprit turns on the incinerator, smashes its screen with their e-Handbook, then takes the metal bar off the press
The second culprit then runs to the Boiler Room, pretending to have just awoken and acts shocked at Kasparov's death

Answer: JJ (2), BB (3), FF (6), X (7), CC (8), W (12), Y (13), II (14), LL (17), PP (19), QQ (20), GG (23), Z (25), NN (26), MM (29), DD (32), KK (35)

Kawashima: This is how it happened!

CLIMAX INFERENCE

Kawashima: This case began at some undetermined point in the past, when Kasparov-kun decided that he wanted to die due to his role in the deaths of Eguchi-san, Terajima-kun, and Oyamada-kun. However, he did not want to die without a purpose besides his own guilt. This secondary purpose was to force Monohebi to break his own rules and execute himself. So, Kasparov-kun looked through the rules and realized there was a blatant contradiction that he could exploit. He secretly reached out to both the culprits at unknown times to recruit them into this plan, and they both agreed.

Kawashima: Last night, the two culprits and Kasparov met in secret, probably in the sauna or some other room where Monohebi couldn't surveil their conversation. With everything that had been proposed the day prior on their minds, they began to work on a murder plan. It should be noted that because these three were important in shaping our plan, it's likely they already had some idea of what they wanted to do before our meeting earlier that day and molded our escape plan to fit their desires. In addition to discussing their plans, they also painted one omega mask to use the next day. Lastly, the two culprits used a device that would help them move in sync, a device they later disposed of in the Garden.

Kawashima: All the while, Monohebi observed these three through his cameras when he could, unaware of the true meaning of their plan. He might've realized it was an attempt to sabotage him, but even if he did...in his arrogance, he assumed he was untouchable and did nothing to stop them. Instead, he sat by and did nothing, likely pleased that he wouldn't have to work as hard to prevent us from escaping.

Kawashima: The next morning, Monohebi asked me to commit murder for him. When I refused, he told me three people were "up to no good," in his own words. Naturally, I interpreted this misleading wording to mean that three separate people were working on murder plots, which is exactly what Monohebi wanted. I informed the rest of the group of Monohebi's words, yet due to our desperation to get out we still decided to go ahead with the escape plan.

Kawashima: After Motoki-san finished painting all our masks, we split into our separate groups: Komatsu-kun and the first culprit, Hayasaka-san and the second culprit, Motoki-san and Kasparov-kun, and me by myself. Walkie-talkies were allotted to me, Motoki-san and Kasparov-kun, and the first culprit and Komatsu-kun, while the night vision goggles were allotted to the second culprit, Kasparov-kun, and me.

Kawashima: Hayasaka-san, the second culprit, and I were on our way to the fourth floor when Hayasaka-san noticed she'd lost her mask. While she and the second culprit went back to find it, I went to the Weapons Room and foolishly decided to take a pistol, a decision I came to deeply regret. Once Hayasaka-san and the second culprit came back with her mask, they took their spots in the Weapons Room and I went up to the fifth-floor hallway. Kasparov-kun and Motoki-san were in the Boiler Room and Komatsu-kun and the first culprit were in the Kitchen.

Kawashima: Monohebi, as promised by his motive, started to execute the hostages as punishment for our escape attempt. He began by brutally murdering Hayasaka-san's old middle school guidance counselor, but before he could kill anyone else, Motoki-san and Kasparov-kun turned off the power. For about twenty minutes after that, everything was normal. Kasparov-kun built the drill according to the first culprit's instructions, while Hayasaka-san, the second culprit, and I noted nothing unusual. However, that would soon change.

Kawashima: The second culprit decided it was time for their plan to start. They donned the omega mask they had been hiding on themselves and snuck up on Hayasaka-san, most likely using the fluffy pink slippers we found to silence their steps. She noticed them at the last second and tried to scream, but they covered her mouth as they injected her with anesthesia. The second culprit used a separate syringe to inject themselves as well, although they filled their syringe with harmless saline solution instead of anesthesia. Then they shot the last yellow dart from the dart gun to make it seem like they had been attacked.

Kawashima: Somewhere around the time the second culprit was faking their own attack, by sheer coincidence Monohebi began blasting music through all the walkie-talkies in an effort to cut off communication between us. Although he didn't intend for this to be helpful, it ended up being useful because it actually helped us realize that there were two separate attackers.

Kawashima: Monohebi left the Surveillance Room and commanded me to stop with my escape attempt, which I refused to do. Because I was turned around to look at Monohebi, the second culprit was given an easy opportunity to sneak up on me. They swiftly punched the night vision goggles off my face, knocking me to the ground. I struggled against them and even fired the pistol to keep them at bay, but nevertheless, they managed to inject me with anesthesia and knock me out.

Kawashima: Meanwhile, Kasparov-kun pretended to see a mysterious assailant in the Boiler Room and yelled at Motoki-san to run. She did as he told, but she wasn't fast enough to get away from Kasparov-kun, who quickly injected her with anesthesia. With her out, he stole her mask and put it on at a rotated angle so that it resembled a lowercase omega. Then, he proceeded to head upstairs to take care of the last obstacle to his plan: Komatsu-kun. Unfortunately for him, Komatsu-kun had placed himself in the door of the Kitchen in such a way that Kasparov-kun could not enter without him noticing. Because he wanted Komatsu-kun to hear the first culprit being supposedly attacked, Kasparov-kun was forced to take a different route.

Kawashima: Kasparov-kun made his way to the Storage Room, where he used the trapdoor to enter the crawlspace previously used by Yamaguchi-kun all the way back in the first case. Once he was out on the Pantry side, he injected the first culprit with saline solution instead of anesthesia. Komatsu-kun tried to resist being knocked out, but he was overpowered and knocked unconscious in spite of these efforts.

Kawashima: Now that everyone not involved in their plan was unconscious, the culprits and Kasparov-kun regrouped. After the second culprit gave my night vision goggles to the first, those two and Kasparov-kun gathered everyone's masks, walkie-talkies, and, in my case, a pistol. Once all that had been collected and put aside, the three went up to the Surgery Room, where the second culprit did surgery on the first's shoulder to remove their tracking chip. This was done for two purposes: firstly, to give someone the possibility of not being tracked by Monohebi if the escape plan did work correctly, and secondly, to provide a piece of evidence to indicate the crawlspace was used.

Kawashima: Once the surgery was complete, the second culprit cleaned all the tools they used in case someone else was injured and needed to have emergency surgery. Additionally, they placed the first culprit's pocket knife with the rest of the surgery tools to falsely imply that they did the surgery on themselves, a clue none of us picked up on. While the second culprit did this, Kasparov-kun took the removed chip and placed it in the crawlspace. He then went to his room and stripped his bed of all its sheets, pillows, and its comforter.

Kawashima: He used this bedding to clean up himself and the areas he had tracked dirt onto. While Kasparov-kun and the second culprit were doing that, the first culprit had a much easier job: all they had to do was put all six syringes in Komatsu-kun's room. When all three were done with their respective tasks, they went to the basement. Once there, the second culprit took my pistol and shot the remaining four bullets into the floor in the Boiler Room. Once the gun was empty, the second culprit placed it in the press and put the four bullet shells in the back of the Boiler Room, by the power control panel.

Kawashima: At the same time, Kasparov-kun and the first culprit got two nail guns from the Garage and begin tampering with them. More specifically, they removed the trigger from one of them and affixed it to the other. They also modified the second nail gun's circuitry so that it only fired when both triggers were activated simultaneously, akin to how an AND gate only returns true when both of its inputs are true.

Kawashima: Unknown to Kasparov-kun and the two culprits, Komatsu-kun awoke somewhere around that time. Monohebi had only provided a limited amount of supply of anesthesia in the Infirmary, so Komatsu-kun wasn't injected with enough to keep him out for as long as the two culprits wanted. He began to stumble around in the dark while Kasparov-kun and the first culprit finished modifying the nail gun.

Kawashima: When they eventually got it to work, they placed Kasparov-kun in the place where Sashihara-kun shot the floor and turned the power back on. Komatsu-kun, after his eyes adjusted to the change of light, began to rush downstairs and checked every room in the basement he came across. As he did this, the two culprits killed Kasparov-kun. It most likely took them a few tries to get it right, but they managed to press the triggers simultaneously and shoot a nail into Kasparov-kun's heart, killing him. Once he was dead, the first culprit turned off the power just as Komatsu-kun got to the Boiler Room.

Kawashima: Hearing the noise Komatsu-kun was making, the second culprit walked out into the hallway. Komatsu-kun tried to fight them and even managed to land a single punch, but the second culprit's superior physical strength allowed them to easily overwhelm him. They beat Komatsu-kun up so he couldn't interfere with their plan any longer, breaking his nose and knocking him out in the process. Komatsu-kun's broken nose left a small pool of blood outside the Boiler Room, which allowed me to catch his lie when he later panicked and said he was beaten up in the Kitchen.

Kawashima: After the second culprit was sure Komatsu-kun was unconscious, both culprits tied up and gagged Komatsu-kun then brought him back up to the Kitchen. With Komatsu-kun now prevented from interfering with the plan any longer, the first culprit removed both triggers and all the circuitry and wiring from the nail gun they used to kill Kasparov-kun. After placing the circuitry and wiring from that nail gun in the back of the Boiler Room by the bullet shells, they put the other nail gun back in the Garage. Next, they took the bloody nail used to kill Kasparov-kun and the nail gun they removed the circuitry and wiring from and placed both in the Torture Room. They hid the bloody nail amid a huge pile of torture instruments and put the nail gun in the back by where the mastermind previously tortured Furuhata-kun.

Kawashima: On their way back down from the fifth floor, the first culprit stopped in Kasparov-kun's room and wrote a note in his diary. The note falsely claimed the mastermind was the one who bore the omega insignia and thus the person responsible for the crime, which was a lie meant to make us suspicious of the mastermind. However, to make up for this misdirection, the first culprit ripped out the final page of Kasparov-kun's diary and wrote "NIGHT AND NEVER DAY-NIGHT AND NEVER DAY" on it. This was an overly complicated way of saying "AND gate" and was a vital clue that allowed us to discover that there were two culprits.
When they finished writing this note, the first culprit went back to the Boiler Room and placed the paper right next to the circuitry and wires, which was a hint that the note had to do with technology and the nail gun.
Kawashima: While the first culprit was doing all that, the second culprit placed all of Kasparov-kun's bedding and all the masks except the gamma and epsilon masks in the incinerator. The gamma mask was left out for us to identify Kasparov-kun and the epsilon mask and omega mask were supposed to be left out. This was so that we'd suspect her because there was only one omega mask, but the second culprit accidentally placed the omega mask in the incinerator, thereby ruining that plan.
Kawashima: The second culprit next placed Kasparov-kun's night vision goggles, all three walkie-talkies, and the drill Kasparov-kun had been building in the hydraulic press. To ensure the hydraulic press would automatically be lowered, the second culprit took both a metal bar from a folding table and duct tape from the Storage Room. They also took a lighter to help them burn Kasparov-kun. Upon returning to the basement, the second culprit taped the metal bar over the button that activated the press so that it'd automatically lower when the power came back on.
Kawashima: Once both culprits were done with all that, they took a fire extinguisher from the second floor and brought it and Kasparov-kun's body to the Garage. There, they poured gasoline over the corpse and used the lighter to set it alight. After his body was sufficiently burnt, they used the fire extinguisher to put out the fire. Then, they brought Kasparov-kun's body to the Boiler Room and dismembered it.
When the dismemberment was done, the culprits took Kasparov-kun's head and upper right torso and placed them in the press. They then scattered the rest of his body around various different spots in the Boiler Room.

Kawashima: Now that the crime scene was ready, the first culprit placed their night vision goggles in the hydraulic press, as they would no longer need them. While they did this, the second culprit took a grappling hook from the Garage's tool cabinet. The second culprit then went back to the first culprit and guided them upstairs, making sure to put the saw they dismembered Kasparov-kun with in the Freezer as they did so. Besides a quick stop on the second floor to put the fire extinguisher back, the culprits headed straight up to the fifth floor.

Kawashima: Once there, the second culprit strapped the first to the operating table in the Surgery Room. This was done to make it impossible for the first culprit to use the incinerator, thus making it appear as if it were impossible for them to be guilty. However, we now know this was just a misdirection meant to confuse us, but more importantly to confuse Monohebi. The first culprit's role in the murder was over, but the second culprit still had much to do.

Kawashima: Firstly, the second culprit grabbed the same crowbar Terajima-kun used in the last case and pried the elevator doors on the fourth floor open with it. When they were done with it, they discarded it in the Media Room. Now that the elevator doors were open, they set up the grappling hook inside the elevator shaft so they could use it quickly later.

Kawashima: After that was all set up, the second culprit placed took off their night vision goggles and placed them along the inside wall of the Media Room. This was done so that they could use the wall as a guide to reencounter the goggles when it was time to resume their plan. Once they successfully retraced their steps to the Weapons Room door opposite the Media Room, the place they were supposedly attacked, the culprit lied on the ground and pretended to be unconscious.

Kawashima: Later, Hayasaka-san and I awoke from our anesthesia-induced sleep. Because she was already awake when I found her, Hayasaka-san probably awoke before I did. Either way, the two of us soon met up in the dark and, under the impression that the second culprit was unconscious with no signs of waking soon, decided to leave the Weapons Room and search for the others. When we were a safe distance away from the second culprit, they ceased their charade and went to find the night vision goggles again. As soon as they did, they went over to the elevator shaft and grappled down to the basement. The reason the second culprit felt it was necessary to use the elevator shaft was to avoid the risk of being heard by Hayasaka-san and me if they walked past us.

Kawashima: The second culprit made it safely to the basement, despite all the rubble as the result of the prior explosion. Then, they detached the grappling hook from the fourth floor and buried it underneath all the rubble of the destroyed elevator. The next order of business was for them to step outside of the elevator shaft. Due to all the caution tape covering the area where the doors once were, they had to be quite careful. However, with the night vision goggles and cautious movements, the second culprit was able to sneak through the caution tape without breaking any of it.

Kawashima: Now that they were safely out of the elevator shaft, the second culprit made their way to the Trash Room and immediately put their pair of night vision goggles in the hydraulic press. After that was done, they hid in the paper recycling bin, making sure to close the lid behind them. Because the trash and recycling containers in the Trash Room routinely have their lids closed, this wouldn't be noted as odd by anyone who entered and allowed the second culprit to hide with ease.

Kawashima: While the second culprit hid in the paper recycling container, Hayasaka-san and I searched most of the third and second floors to no avail. However, we eventually managed to find Komatsu-kun in the Kitchen, unbinding and ungagging him so he could move again. Either shortly before or while this was happening, Motoki-san awoke in the Boiler Room. She called out for Kasparov-kun but received no response. So, she crawled around until she found the power control panel, at which point she promptly turned on the power again. She soon found Kasparov-kun, although not in the state she wanted to find him in.

Kawashima: Although the restoration of the power briefly blinded Hayasaka-san, Komatsu-kun, and I, the three of us swiftly decided to hurry to the Garage in hopes that we'd find the others or maybe even a way out. Unfortunately, we were distracted by the small pool of blood Komatsu-kun's bleeding nose had left outside the Boiler Room and decided to enter. When we did, we encountered a despaired Motoki-san and the gruesome remains of Kasparov-kun's body.

Kawashima: Very shortly after we found the body, the body discovery announcement went off. This was the second culprit's signal to act. They quickly left the paper recycling bin and turned on the incinerator. Then, they smashed its panel with their e-Handbook so we couldn't decipher the exact time at which the incinerator was used, as that would make finding out who they were much easier. Finally, the second culprit took the metal bar off the hydraulic press and tossed it to the side. Now that everything was done, they left the Trash Room, though probably not without covertly surveying the surrounding to make sure no one saw before they did so.

Kawashima: The second culprit then ran into the Boiler Room and acted shocked at the discovery of Kasparov-kun's body. They even feigned rage at the culprit to make it seem like they were angry at the killer, but this was no more than an act. Instead of being mad, they were probably quite happy, because everything was going to plan. The two culprits could give Monohebi an entertaining trial only to damn him by revealing the truth of the case. Although he wouldn't realize it until it was too late, Monohebi had been cornered. And the two culprits who carried out this plan...the ones who killed Kasparov-kun at the same time...the ones who have forced Monohebi to execute himself by his own rules...

[three-way split screen with Domoto on the left and Sashihara on the right, both smiling proudly. Kawashima is in the center, a sad yet excited expression on her face.]

Kawashima: ...It's you two. Otoha Domoto, the Ultimate Toy Maker, and Hisaya Sashihara, the Ultimate Fitness Trainer, you're both the culprit behind this murder!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [firmly] There we go. That's the case.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] I'm pretty sure that was all correct...this case was really complicated, but even still you got it, Kawashima-san. [awkwardly] Good job.
Sashihara: [adjusts medical mask] She sure did do well. [clenches fist] But more importantly, Monohebi said he'd say where he stood after Kawashima-san summarized everything. The summary's over now, Monohebi...so what'll you do?
Monohebi: [presses tail against mouth and frowns] ..........
Domoto: [raises eyebrows] Are you going to say anything?
Monohebi: [slightly irritated] Of course, brat. Do not rush me.
Komatsu: [sullenly] We're gonna rush ya if ya hold us up. [rubs back of neck] The trial's over. It's time to vote, so ya gotta tell us if yer gonna let us vote for two people.
Motoki: [perplexed] Oh yeah...how is that going to work? [rubs shoulder] Normally, we only have the option to vote for one person, but that's not going to work here.
Domoto: [neutrally] That shouldn't be an issue. [crosses arms] Monohebi could temporarily change the slot for one of the dead students into both me and Sashihara-kun. [strokes chin] For example, he could use Furuhata-kun or Yamaguchi-kun's slots. [sternly] I don't think anyone here was planning on voting for either of them.
Sashihara: [gravely] Well, Monohebi? What'll it be? Will you allow us to vote for both me and Domoto-san?
Monohebi: [presses tail against mouth and narrows eyes] .......... [displeased] ...Yes. I absolutely despise that I must do so, but...yes. I will.

That's good. If he didn't let us vote for both of them, that'd be a big problem.
Domoto: [smiles triumphantly] Looks like he's given up.
Monohebi: [hisses furiously] Sssssssss! I have done no such thing, Domoto! [with repressed anger] Ugh. I will skip the theatrics. Vote now.

The screen in front of me then alights, inviting me to vote. Unlike the last four trials, the voting option for Furuhata has been replaced with one for both Domoto and Sashihara. I feel my face move over all the faces covered with pink Xs.

Furuhata-kun's face is gone now, but even without him, there's
Yamaguchi-kun, Aozora-kun, Carrasco-san, Ichigohara-san, Niizuma-san, Eguchi-san, Terajima-kun, Oyamada-kun, and Kasparov-kun. Ten people are dead...and that number's about to climb to twelve. At least this time, Domoto-san and Sashihara-kun have fully prepared for and excepted their deaths, but even still...I don't want them to die. I don't want to lose anyone else.

I reluctantly press the option for Domoto and Sashihara. Goodbye. I'll miss you both.

When I look up from the voting screen, I see that everyone else has already voted. I guess I took the longest this time.
Monohebi: [displeased] All the votes are in. Let us reveal the culprit.

I don't think I've ever heard him sound so unenthusiastic about this...

As always, a huge video monitor emerges from the wall with an animation of a giant slot machine spinning rapidly on it. The slots eventually begin to slow down, more and more until they come onto rest onto three pictures of Domoto and Sashihara's faces. A big neon sign displaying the word “GUILTY” appears alongside bright, flashing colors, a burst of confetti onscreen, and cheering from a recorded crowd.

Class Trial: All Rise!

Monohebi lets out a disgruntled sigh. "Your vote was correct," he says bitterly. "Although I slowed the speed of the cameras down to milliseconds as soon as I got the footage back, I could not classify neither Domoto nor Sashihara as the culprit. So, you all were correct. They are both the culprit."

"We already knew that, but it's nice to have confirmation," Domoto says. "More importantly, what are you going to do, Monohebi?" She smirks. "Are you going to execute yourself as you should, or are you going to be a coward?"

He glares at her. "I need not inform you of my intentions, brat," he says angrily. "Do not forget that I am your warden. I
am the one in charge here."

Sashihara snorts. "Not for much longer."

Although he looks like he wants to lash out at Sashihara, Monohebi says nothing. I guess he's busy about thinking how he can escape this situation...but the joke's on him. He's not going to crawl his way out of this if he truly wants to play fair. If he cares about integrity as much as he claims to, he needs to execute himself.

"So...what now?" Hayasaka asks.

"I don't know," Motoki says. "I feel emotionally overwhelmed right now. I'm happy that Monohebi got screwed over, but it sucks that Domoto-san and Sashihara-kun need to die for that to happen..."

"Same," Komatsu says, his voice small. "I don't wanna see anyone else die..."

"We don't want to die either," Sashihara says sadly. "But...it's either this or the continuation of the killing game."

Domoto nods soberly. "He's right. This was an excruciating choice for us to make. It means leaving behind our families. It means leaving behind our friends. It means leaving behind all our dreams and hopes for the future." I can see tears start to creep into her eyes, but she quickly wipes them away. "B-But that aside...Monohebi, show them the footage. Show them Kasparov-kun's final moments."

Monohebi narrows his eyes. "Why on earth should I do that? I have never shown footage of a death before and I see no reason to start now."

"Don't you want your audience to see what happened?" Sashihara asks. "You said this was something that'd be difficult for them to accept during the trial. So it's only right you play the footage."

Monohebi frowns, then mumbles something unintelligible. The screen he uses to display the voting results and executions turns on, showing a view of the Boiler Room. Kasparov kneels on the ground with his head bowed solemnly, his hands tied behind his back, and the gamma mask over his head. Sashihara, who has the alpha mask on, is leaning over to whisper something in Kasparov's ear, the modified nail gun in his hand. A few seconds later, Domoto, who has the delta mask on, comes onscreen.

Domoto brushes her bloody shoulder and Sashihara offers her the nail gun. After the two of them point the nail gun at Kasparov's chest, they stomp several times in unison before finally firing a shot on the last stomp. Kasparov falls forward, blood oozing from the around nail.

"Sergey-kun..." Hayasaka says as the monitor turns off. "He didn't even fight his death. Even though I know the truth, I can't believe that he accepted it...he wanted this to happen to him...

"I wish he could have lived," Motoki says mournfully. "Things shouldn't be this way."

Komatsu nods miserably. "Yeah, same. I can't believe he's really dead...I shoulda saved him..."

"Komatsu-kun, please don't feel guilty about this," Sashihara says reassuringly. "I understand why you feel bad about not being able to save him, but...if you had stopped his death, things would be worse. Monohebi wouldn't be cornered like he is now."

"Also...he wanted to die, Komatsu-kun," Domoto says gently. "If you had saved him, you wouldn't have really helped him. You wouldn't have helped us by stopping us from becoming killers either." She pauses. "Because... this plan was our penance. Our way to make up for causing so much harm to you all. Kasparov-kun and I set the stage for Eguchi-san's death and the rest of the last case. Without my meddling, Oyamada-kun and Terajima-kun would've never died."

"And I stood by and let everyone from Aozora-kun to Oyamada-kun die, cowering behind Monohebi instead of bravely standing up to him," Sashihara says regretfully. "I was fully prepared to kill Eguchi-san, too. No matter what anyone says, I could never forgive myself for that."

Motoki's face falls. "If this was a way to make up for the last trial...then it should've been me instead of you," she says miserably. "I basically got Eguchi-san killed. I'm the one who deserves to die for it..." She begins to cry. "It should be me..."

Sashihara walks over to her and lays a hand on her shoulder. "You're not blameless, but you don't deserve death for what you did," he says firmly. "You still have a life to live, Motoki-san. I'm going to die in a few years anyway, so it'd be a waste for you to die in my stead." He takes her hand in his. "Motoki-san, I want you to make a promise to me: when you get out of here, go see Eguchi-san's family. Apologize to them, do anything you can to atone for your role her death. When that's done, go and live a full life. Can you do that?

She wipes her tears, but more keep coming. "I...I will," she says through her sobs. "If that's what you want, then...I'll do all that and more, Sashihara-kun. I promise."

"Good," Sashihara says with a smile.

He steps away from her, and I instantly rush in to wrap her in a tight hug. She cries ugly tears against my chest that'll probably wet my shirt, but I don't care. What matters way more to me is that she feels better.

"Do you understand now, Komatsu-kun?" Domoto says, continuing her conversation from earlier. "This was our way of making up for our past misdeeds. If you had stopped us from killing Kasparov-kun, you'd stop us from atoning for the roles we played in our fellow students' deaths."

Komatsu grimaces. "I guess that makes sense, it's jus'... it don't make it any easier...for all we know, Monohebi could jus' be a coward and not execute himself. It ain't like this plan of yers is guaranteed to work."

"You're right," Domoto says. She looks over at Monohebi and narrows her eyes at him. "It's entirely possible he'll ignore his own rules or find some bullshit way out of this. I'm sure he's thinking of exactly how he can do that right now." She smiles. "But doing any such thing would damage the integrity he values so much irreversibly...in fact, I'm sure it's already been damaged. I'm sure many of his viewers have already tuned out due to you allowing something as unacceptable as two culprits to happen."

Monohebi gives her a murderous glare. "Be silent, you disgusting wretch! Otherwise, I will execute you immediately."

She raises her hands, as if she was offering herself up for arrest. "Fine, fine, I'll shut my mouth," she says with a satisfied smile.

His reaction to her jab at him was pretty intense, so that means she was probably right. He's probably already lost many of his precious viewers...serves that asshole right. I want to mock him too, but I'm also curious about something else and I doubt he'd answer if I mock him, so I guess I won't. At least, not until after I ask.

"Monohebi, who did you think the killer was?" I ask him, Motoki still crying against my chest. "You told me you had a good idea of who it was during the investigation, yet you were shocked when we uncovered the truth during the trial."

"I was thinking the same thing, Wakana-san," Hayasaka says, twirling her hair. "He told us he already was pretty sure of who it was, but he was just as surprised as the rest of us when we found out Otoha-san and Hisaya-kun were both the culprit."

Monohebi hesitates. "I...do not need to tell you that. However, I suppose the viewers might want to know, so..." He sighs bitterly. "I was under the impression the culprit was Domoto, given that her chip had been removed. As you thought during the trial, Kawashima, I believed Sashihara was her accomplice." An angry look comes over his face. "I never so much as entertained the thought that they could both be the culprit...hmph. How utterly foolish of me."

Sashihara looks surprised. "Oh, you're admitting you were wrong? That's out of line with your typical arrogant short-sightedness."

"Firstly, do not speak to me, you traitorous scum," he says venomously. "Secondly, of course I shall admit a mistake. When one commits a grave error, one must immediately admit to it. Then, one must reflect upon it and consider what caused the error. That is the most surefire way to ensure it is never repeated." His red eye glints. "Make no mistake, brats: I shall not
be fooled again."

"That threat doesn't really mean anything," Domoto says dismissively. "You're going to die soon, anyway."

"If I do die, it will be after you and Sashihara meet your ends," Monohebi says. "I shall not break a rule until I execute you both, so I suppose you two must die without ever learning if I shall die or not." He smirks. "Oh, how tragic...you shall never know if your plan succeeds."

Sashihara gives Monohebi a cold stare. "Are you implying that you're going to refuse to execute yourself?"

"I do not recall saying that, Sashihara," Monohebi says. "I only said you two shall never learn if your plan truly succeeds, which is truly quite tragic for you. For all you know, you could die worthless, pointless deaths..."

Ugh, he's so annoying. He never stops trying to get under our skin, not even in a situation like this. "Shut up, Monohebi," I command. "Quit your mind games and let us talk to Domoto-san and Sashihara-kun uninterrupted before you kill them."

He frowns at me, then shrugs disinterestedly. "Fine. That is perfectly alright with me. I do not wish to engage with you brats more than I absolutely must."

"We don't want to talk with you, either," Motoki says, lifting her head to glare at him.
"But you're not important right now...we should be talking with Domoto-san and Sashihara-kun as much as we can before..." She leaves my hug, her tears mostly gone. "Before they get executed."

Hayasaka lets out a pained sigh. "Yeah...they're gonna be gone soon." She looks at Domoto regretfully. "Otoha-san, sorry for getting so mad at you in the trial. I hate when I let my mean side get out..."

Domoto shakes her head. "You shouldn't be the one apologizing, Hayasaka-san," Domoto tells her. "I should be. The plan was to antagonize you so that Kawashima-san could clear your name and then suspect me due to my aggressive behavior, but I took it too far. I'm sorry about that."

It's weird to hear her apologize. She rarely ever does, so she must feel pretty sorry about what she did.

"I accept your apology, Otoha-san," Hayasaka says with a small smile. She goes over to the toy maker and wraps her in a hug. "I know we didn't always get along...in fact, we didn't most of the time. And yet...I've grown to respect and admire you, Otoha-san." She sniffles. "I'll miss you."

Domoto fidgets uncomfortably in her hug at first but gradually accepts it. "I...this..." she says, at a loss for words. "This sort of thing...it never happens to me." With tears creeping down her face, she hugs Hayasaka back. "Thank you, Hayasaka-san."

"I feel the same way as Hayasaka-san," Komatsu says sadly. "I ain't gonna lie, Domoto-san, ya've annoyed me a lot. I still don't like ya a whole lot 'cause ya locked Eguchi-san in a cell and got Oyamada-kun and Terajima-kun killed. But...I don't wanna see ya die." He turns away from her in a vain attempt to keep her from seeing his tears. "I also gotta make an apology of my own..." Wiping his eyes, he looks over at Sashihara. "Sashihara-kun...I'm sorry for punchin' ya. I prolly didn't hurt ya that much, but I still wanna say sorry."

Sashihara chuckles. "Ha...you doubt yourself too much, Komatsu-kun. Your punch hurt like hell." He moves the top of his shirt to show a large bruise on his chest. "I was lucky the area you got me in could be easily covered up. Otherwise, we would've had to use makeup."

Komatsu cracks a small smile. "I guess this place hasn't gotten rid of my fightin' skills as much as I thought. But ya still beat the shit outta me, so maybe it did."

"Sorry about that," Sashihara says apologetically. "I
didn’t want to beat you up, but I couldn't let you interfere with the plan."

"It's all good," Komatsu says. "It hurt like hell, but I'll get over it. Ain't the first time my nose's been busted."

"I have a question," Motoki says abruptly. "I know it's sort of sudden, but it's been on my mind ever since the end of the trial."

Domoto breaks away from Hayasaka's hug to face Motoki. "Hm? What is it?"

"Why the fuck did you guys make us go through an entire trial?" Motoki asks, upset. "They're absolutely fucking horrible, so why did you wait until the very end to reveal that you were both the culprit? Why didn't you just come out and admit immediately so you could spare us the awful ordeal of going through an entire trial!?"

That's a good question...also, she's getting emotional. It must be because trials are particularly difficult for her. It seems like after each one, she becomes less mentally stable...

"I was wondering the same thing," I say. "Why'd you leave the epsilon mask out to blame Motoki-san? Why'd you try so hard to paint Hayasaka-san as the culprit? Why'd you shoot my gun to implicate me?"

"Before I explain, I want to say sorry," Domoto says apologetically. "Forcing all of you to endure yet another trial was shitty of us, but we thought it was necessary." She looks me in the eyes. "The first reason why has to do with you, Kawashima-san. We wanted to plant fake evidence that framed you so that everyone else would trust you when you inevitably proved your innocence. We needed you to be trusted because we figured that only you'd be able to figure out the mystery behind the night and never day paper and the nail guns. No one would believe us if we explained it ourselves, so we made you trustworthy by making it appear as if the culprit wanted to frame you."

Hayasaka nods understandingly. "...I think I get it. It was a roundabout way of getting suspicion off Kawashima-san, but it worked."

"About Hayasaka-san, we accused you so much so that suspicion would eventually come back onto me," Sashihara says. "The plan was to use the same tactic on all of you—accuse you and plant fake evidence so that you'd fight hard to prove your innocence. But once Komatsu-kun became involved, we didn't think it was necessary to frame him...and, well, I completely forgot to leave the omega mask out to blame Motoki-san."

"It's not that big of a deal, Sashihara-kun," Domoto says. "She was the one who needed to be framed the least in the end. The mere fact that she was Kasparov-kun's partner made her suspicious enough."

That's true, she got accused pretty much right out of the gate because of how she was his partner.

"I still don't get it," Komatsu says, confused. "Why did ya wanna make this a fuckin' spectacle by falsely blamin' all of us?"

"Easy," Domoto says. "For any entertainment program, a spectacle brings in viewers. This killing game is a sick form of entertainment, with the most popular spectacles being the trials. If we admitted to everything at first, not many viewers would see it. But if we dragged out the trial and made it as long as possible, then there would be much more viewers...and consequently, much more people to watch Monohebi's downfall."

"There's also the more important fact that you probably wouldn't believe us if we just laid out the case for you in the very beginning," Sashihara adds. "You'd probably think we were lying to you."

That's true. If they immediately said they were both the culprit near the start of the trial, I know I would've really doubted it.

"Okay," Motoki says slowly. "I guess that makes sense." She rubs her shoulder awkwardly. "Sorry if I got a little too emotional earlier. I just really, really hate class trials."

"Don't blame yourself for expressing your emotions," Sashihara says. "I completely get why you were upset. Neither of us wanted to do another full trial either, so deciding not to admit to everything immediately was a tough choice."

"Hold up," Komatsu says. "Somethin's off. Domoto-san mentioned Monohebi havin' viewers as a reason for ya choosin' to make us do an entire trial, but Monohebi only told us 'bout that durin' the first scrum debate. So how the hell did ya know he was broadcastin' the killin' game when ya were plannin' this shit?"

That does seem weird at first glance, but I think I can explain it. "Sashihara-kun said he already knew Monohebi had viewers, remember?" I say. "He probably told Domoto-san and Kasparov-kun."

"Mhm," Domoto says, "it was one of the first things Sashihara-kun told the two of us when we started planning this whole thing."

"Now that I think back to it, Otoha-san never acted super surprised when Monohebi revealed he was broadcasting the game," Hayasaka says. "All she did was call him fucked-up."

True, she didn't fake acting surprised. Instead, she waited until the rest of us reacted before saying anything. I should've noticed that was weird, but I was too shocked by the reveal to pick up on that.

Monohebi clears his throat. "Ahem. You all have had some time to talk with Domoto and Sashihara, so I believe the executions should start fairly soon."

A feeling of dread washes over me. I hate executions so much. They're so cruel and mocking...I don't want to see Domoto-san or Sashihara-kun get humiliated so horribly. I didn't want that to happen to any of the past culprits either, but I'm especially unprepared to see those two die.

Motoki shudders. "I'm not ready to see them get executed...if it's anything like Oyamada-kun's execution, then..." She covers her mouth, looking queasy. "I don't know if I can handle it..."

"Same, what happened to him was super fucked up," Komatsu says with a grimace. "I hope Monohebi doesn't try shit that terrifyin' this time 'round."

"He undoubtedly will," Sashihara says. "Monohebi is extremely mad at the two of us. I'm sure he'll try to make our executions as gruesome and painful as possible." Despite the situation, he smiles. "But you know what...that doesn't really matter to me. No matter what physical pain he might inflict on us, he won't break our spirits. Because we've won, and there's nothing he can do to change that."

The corner of Monohebi's mouth twitches. "Do not be so certain you have won, brats."

"Have you thought of some way to weasel your way out of this, Monohebi?" Hayasaka asks hatefully. "Is that why you're implying you haven't lost?"

"Silence, whore," Monohebi says irritably. "I have not confirmed anything about what I will intend to do. I refuse to do so until both Sashihara and Domoto are dead."

Domoto rolls her eyes. "Trying to keep us on our toes, huh," she says. "That's okay. Even if you do pull some cheap way to escape from your execution out of your ass, your credibility with the audience has already been irreparably damaged." She sighs. "But you already know that. I don't have much time left, and I'm not going to spend it on you, Monohebi." She looks at Hayasaka, Komatsu, Motoki, and then me. "No, I need to talk to you four before you die."

Komatsu furrows his brows. "What do ya wanna say?"

"Before I say it, can you give me my tracking chip, Kawashima-san?" Domoto asks me.

I don't know why you want it, but okay. "Sure."
I dig around in my apron, pull it out, and give it to her.

She takes the chip and holds it up to the light. "Look at this thing," she says, half in contempt and half in awe. "It's barely the size of a grain of uncooked rice, yet it can detect where someone is and measure their vitals with incredible accuracy. Each one must be very costly." She throws it on the ground. "Whoever's behind Monohebi had the resources to procure sixteen of them and implant them in our bodies. They've also selectively removed our memories, renovated this entire prison, and managed to keep us, a class of sixteen Ultimate students, off the grid for several weeks. The person we're dealing with is extremely dangerous."

"What's your point?" Hayasaka asks, confused. "We already knew they were dangerous."

"My point's that escaping the way we planned is impossible," Domoto says. "In addition to the fact that the mastermind has incredible resources and lots of money at their disposal, there's also the fact that Monohebi has tons of viewers. That means the authorities must know about this killing game. And they're either condoning it or, the more likely option...they can't access this prison. Maybe they can't find it, maybe they just can't get in. But whatever the case, it's probably in any extremely secluded or extremely secure area, maybe both. Because of that, none of you are escaping here through violence.

"And I don’t say that because I'm a pacifist," she continues. "If I thought violence would work, I'd advocate for it without question. However, it's impossible, which is why Sashihara-kun and I destroyed the night vision goggles, walkie-talkies, and drill. We didn't want you to get tempted, because you'd only get yourselves and the hostages, if they're still alive, killed trying to escape like that again. Because...Monohebi had the resources to kidnap us and hold us in this location with millions of viewers without interference from the outside world. That means he has the resources to keep us here, as well."

...Shit. That's really depressing to hear. As much I want to contest what she's saying, I can't bring myself to, because she's right. I think I knew that even when we were planning to escape, deep down, that it would never work. But...if that's not how we escape, how can we get out of here? "Are you saying there's no way out of this, Domoto-san?"

"I hope not," Motoki says fearfully. "I can't bear the thought of staying another few days, let alone the rest of my life..."

Domoto goes over to Motoki and rubs her back reassuringly. "Don't worry, Motoki-san. There is a way out of this." She turns her head to look at Monohebi. "What you have to do is expose the mastermind. If they don't reveal themselves after executing Monohebi, find them yourselves. You need to expose them and force their game to come to an end."

"How?" Komatsu asks. "There ain't no way they'll jus' agree to stop the game."

"Yeah, I don't see how that could happen," Hayasaka says. "If you're really right about the mastermind having so many resources, the only way we could escape is by the mastermind allowing us to go, and that'll never happen."

"Not unless they're forced to, no," Sashihara happens. "But the circumstances exist for you to force them to let you escape."

Motoki looks at him with a mixture of hope and doubt. "Really...? They do?"

Sashihara and Domoto exchange a knowing glance. "Yes," Domoto says. "You could use a class trial against them. Trials bring in lots of viewers normally, so a final one would naturally be quite the spectacle. Challenge the mastermind to one, and if you win, you go free."

That's true, but... "But if we lost...everyone besides the mastermind would get executed," I say.

"Yeah, and a trial only happens if a murder occurs," Komatsu says. "Sorry, but I really don't wanna do another one if it means someone else dyin'..."

"Trials don't necessarily have to happen after a murder," Domoto says. "They always happen after a murder, yes, but the rules never say you can't hold a trial to investigate something else, like the mastermind's identity."

"Even still, I don't want to do one," Motoki says. "They're absolutely awful. So stressful and anxiety-inducing...I think another one would be too much."

Sashihara clenches his fist. "I'm sorry, Motoki-san, but...it's that or you all die."

Domoto nods somberly. "Unfortunately, Sashihara-kun is right," she says. "The mastermind and Monohebi will try their damndest to make this killing game continue for as long as possible. Whether you four choose to go through another trial or not, promise me you'll focus on exposing the mastermind and beating them and nothing else. Promise me you won't fall prey to their machinations."

"I can promise you that," I say without hesitation. I'm never going to kill someone. I don't care what happens or what motives Monohebi presents to me, I'm never going to give in.

"I promise you too, Otoha-san," Hayasaka says.

"Same here," says Komatsu.

"Me too," Motoki says emphatically. "I'll never make the mistake of hurting someone like I did Eguchi-san ever again."

Domoto smiles, looking satisfied. "Good."

Monohebi clears his throat. "Ahem. One minute remains until the executions commence."

Dread washes over me yet again. Shit, only one minute left...

Sashihara gulps. "Only a minute left, huh." He lefts humorlessly. "Hah...for someone who's known he was gonna die an early date from a young age, I feel pretty unprepared to die right now."

I feel so bad for him...the thought of imminent death approaching you must be so terrifying. "I promise you we won't forget you after you die, Sashihara-kun," I tell him. "We'll all miss you."

"Yeah, I know I will," Hayasaka says. "I remember I promised you I'd never relapse again, Hisaya-kun...and I'm telling you right now, I'm never gonna break that promise." Her voice fills with resolve. "I know it'll be really hard, but I'll never break my word."

"I promise I'll go to Eguchi-san's family, too," Motoki says. "I'll also make sure to go to therapy like you told me to before...I'll bring my mom, too, if she's still alive." A look of determination comes on to her face. "And more than anything else...I promise I'll live a good, long life for you!"

"I don't got anythin' to promise, but I'll miss ya too, Sashihara-kun," Komatsu says, tears forming in his eyes. "I never told ya this...but yer attitude and enthusiasm was super motivatin' to me. Yer workouts sucked fuckin' ass, but they always made me feel better 'bout myself, and without ya...its's..." His voice breaks. "I ain't ready to lose ya, Sashihara-kun."

"Are you sure it's me you're going to miss and not the food?" Sashihara asks playfully.

Komatsu laughs through his tears. "Yeah, I'm obviously gonna miss that, but...yer way more important. Food can be replaced, but ya can't..."

"This may sound weird, but...I'm glad you'll all miss me and swear these promises on my memory," Sashihara says. "Ever since I was first diagnosed with my illness, one of my biggest fears in life was being forgotten soon after I died. But if you all miss me or have promises sworn in my memory...I guess I don't have to worry about that anymore, do I?"

Domoto looks at him proudly. "No, Sashihara-kun, I don't think you will," she says. "You've made some mistakes, but you lived a good life."

"This is revolting," Monohebi says, disgusted. "I will have no more of it."

"Are you saying you're going to execute us now?" Domoto asks.

"Not at the same time," Monohebi says. "That would be too distracting for the viewers. Sashihara shall be executed first, then you will be right after." He glares at Sashihara. "I suppose, due to how you were once my agent, I should say something to you before you die. It is simple: I disdain you, Sashihara."

Sashihara returns his glare. "There's no bigger compliment you could've given me."

Monohebi narrows his eyes at him. "You damned..." He shakes his head in an attempt to regain his composure. "Attention. I have prepared a very special punishment for Hisaya Sashihara, the Ultimate Fitness Trainer."

"Goodbye, everyone," Sashihara says with equal parts sadness and happiness. "I hope you all enjoyed your time with me as much as I enjoyed my time with you."

Monohebi scowls. "Ugh...punishment time!"

Execution #5: Endless Endurance Examination

Just after Monohebi says "punishment time," a metal clamp shoots out of the wall, clamps around Sashihara's neck, and drags him out of the courtroom.

As with the other four times, the video monitor on the wall turns on and displays an animation with a pixelated sprite of Sashihara getting dragged offscreen by a similarly pixelated Monohebi. The caption "Sashihara has been found guilty. Now commencing the punishment" appears above the animation.

When Sashihara is dragged all the way off-screen, the animation and caption both swiftly disappear and are replaced by the site of the execution, which this time is a medium-sized room with a big glass window in its side and a huge PVC conveyor belt as the floor. While Monohebi sits comfortably behind the window, Sashihara stands in the center of the room with two large dumbbells in front of him. Monohebi taps a button on a panel, causing obnoxiously bright text reading "Time to LIFT!! Get pumping!!" to appear on a large monitor facing Sashihara. He obeys, easily lifting the weights despite their size.

Nodding, Monohebi presses another button and the conveyor belt floor starts moving at a slow pace. Sashihara begins to jog in response, smiling at how easy he's keeping up with the conveyor belt's low speed.
Monohebi then presses yet another button, which causes the caption "Warm Up OVER! Time to TURN UP the heat and the speed!!" to appear on the top of the screen. Immediately after the caption disappears, the conveyor belt's speed increases rapidly and the walls of the room begin to glow red with heat. Sashihara drops the dumbbells and starts to run rapidly, beads of sweat swiftly turning into rivers as he gasps for breath. It's then I notice that he's been barefoot this whole time, adding an extra layer of pain to the ordeal. Yet even despite the struggle he's enduring, I can see that he's still smiling.

Seeing Sashihara's smile too, Monohebi frustratedly presses another button. Another obnoxious caption, this one reading "Weights have been dropped. Punishment: depleted oxygen!" appears on the screen. Sashihara begins to gasp even harder, barely able to keep up the pace. While before he was able to keep his position running in the center of the room, now he's slowly sliding back towards the back wall, which the dumbells are now pinned against. Still, he keeps a smile on his face.

Monohebi now presses several other buttons. He turns on a giant wind machine, increases the speed, and turns up the heat even more. Even so, Sashihara keeps on running and smiling.

Although he is visibly annoyed at Sashihara's tenacity, Monohebi holds down another button, which causes the wall with the monitor to lift up in the ceiling and the speed of the treadmill floor to increase. Beyond the wall, the floor is solid and unmoving. The snake smirks, obviously hoping Sashihara will take the bait and try to escape through the new hole in the wall.

But that's not what Sashihara does. Instead, he looks at the floor and shakes his head, laughing to himself. He holds up a middle finger to Monohebi and says something that looks like "Fuck you."

He then suddenly stops running, which makes him promptly collapse and tumble toward the back wall. When he rams into it, the speed of the conveyor belt keeps him pinned against the wall as the friction between his body and the belt causes burns and bruises to quickly appear all over his body. Soon enough, a few of his fingers and toes are ripped away by getting caught in the small gap between the floor and wall. But Sashihara doesn't scream. A stubborn smile stays on his face the whole time, even after he's long dead.

When the monitor eventually turns off, I just look at it blankly for a moment, not fully digesting what I saw. Sashihara-kun...you're really dead...

"He...He's gone," Motoki says weakly.

"He is," Domoto says gravely. "And I'm next."

"Yes you are," Monohebi says although he doesn't sound as happy as I thought he would. "Hopefully, your execution will be better. Sashihara was such an irritating brat," he says moodily. "He did not even make an attempt to escape."

"Of course he didn't," Hayasaka says angrily. "He knew not to fall for your pathetic trap."

Monohebi huffs. "It was not pathetic," he says defensively. "But that is not of import. Domoto, it is your turn to die."

"Funny...I'm not really prepared for this either," she says, tearing up. She looks over at me. "Hey, Kawashima-san...if you get out of here and find my sister Meiko and my parents...can you tell them that I love them?"

"Of course," I tell her. "And that's a promise."

"Good," she says gratefully. "Also...I want to thank you."

I give her a confused look. "Huh? For what?"

"For what you told me a few days ago," she answers. "You said that lying can be the right thing to do, depending on the context. I disagreed back then, but I've thought about what you said ever since...and I don't disagree anymore. So thanks for telling me that. You really opened my eyes."

"Are...are you saying you lied!?" I ask her, stunned. If she is, I'd be really surprised.

"Who knows?" Domoto says with a knowing smile. "But thank you regardless."

Monohebi glares at her. "I despise these last-minute hopeful thank yous and promises," he mutters irritatedly. "But that matters not! I have prepared a very special punishment for Otoha Domoto, the Ultimate Toy Maker."

"Goodbye, everyone," Domoto says with a tearful smile. "I'll miss you." Suddenly, she stomps the ground forcefully.

For a split second, Monohebi is confused by the stomp, but he quickly ignores it. "Punishment time!"

Execution #6: Real-Life Santa's Present Delivery Race

A metal clamp then forces itself onto Domoto's neck and drags her out of the courtroom.
As always, the video monitor shows a pixelated animation of Domoto being dragged offscreen by Monohebi with the caption "Domoto has been found guilty. Now commencing the punishment" above it.
Once it ends, the animation gets replaced by the sight of Domoto in a huge flying sled with a giant sack full of presents in the back. The sled's flight is short-lived, though, because it soon crashes to the ground in the middle of a small, snowy village of life-sized gingerbread houses.

Although it looks like she broke a few bones from the sudden crash, Domoto shakily gets out of the sled and notices a nearby timer counting down from two minutes. Next to it, a sign reads "Deliver all the presents in two minutes or DIE." All it takes is one glance at the huge bag of presents for her to shake her head with a grim smile. Instead of doing what the sign asks, she sits in the snow with her back to the sled.

When the timer has ten seconds left, Monohebi clones dressed as elves start to emerge from the gingerbread houses, carrying a variety of Christmas-themed weapons. They brandish sharpened candy cane swords, lollipop bludgeons, marzipan axes, and more in Domoto's direction as the timer approaches zero. She stares at them, unmoved.

Even when the timer hits zero and the Monohebi clones rush forward, Domoto doesn't flinch. She doesn't fight back as the Monohebi villagers stab, hack, and beat her to death. She doesn't even open her mouth to scream.

By the time the Monohebi villagers are done with her, Domoto's body is an unrecognizable mess of torn and bloodied flesh that stains the snow pink, a horrific sight that stays burned in my mind even after the monitor turns off.

Domoto-san...one of the people I'd never thought would die...she's dead. I can't believe it...

"How annoying," Monohebi says, irritated. "She made no attempt to fight back or complete the task in her execution. How unsatisfactory."

"Shut the fuck up," Komatsu growls at him. "We don't wanna hear yer bullshit anymore!"

"Yeah, stay out of this," Hayasaka says aggressively. "Why don't you just do us all a favor and execute yourself already?"

Monohebi snickers. "Sususu...you truly do wish to see me die."

"'Course we do," Komatsu says. He wipes his eyes. "Yer horrible and deserve to die. It don't matter what Domoto-san and Sashihara-kun did...they should be the ones alive, not yer evil snake ass."

Yeah, I'd take Domoto-san at her worst over Monohebi any day. "I'll miss them," I say to no one in particular. "I also wonder...what did Domoto-san mean when she talked about changing her mind about lying?"

"I don't know," Hayasaka says, her aggression from before melting away fast. "I wonder why stomped right before she died, too. But it's not like we can ask her now..."

Yeah... I look over to the spot she was standing before she died. To my surprise, I see her tracking chip broken into several pieces. Is that what she stomped on? It could be...but why would she stomp on her chip if she was about to die? It's not like it'd do anything useful for her. I wish I could ask her why...

"I can't...I can't believe it," Motoki says, sobbing. "D...Domoto-san...S-Sashihara-kun...they're both..."

"They're dead," Komatsu finishes. "It don't even feel real yet...a part of me feels like they'll jus' be with us again in a few minutes, tellin' us it's all a joke..." He stares at the floor miserably. "...But that ain't gonna happen."

"No, it won't," Hayasaka says mournfully. "It'd be nice if it could happen, but they're both gone forever. There's only four of us left...quarter of what we had when we first woke up here." A despondent look comes over her. "Does...does anyone else feel empty? Like they don't even have tears left? Because I sure do...I want to cry my heart out to mourn Otoha-san, Hisaya-kun, and Sergey-kun. But I can't..."

I feel the same way right now. Maybe it's because the fact they're truly dead hasn't fully hit me yet, but maybe it's because this killing game has numbed me so much that not even the deaths of two of my friends can make me cry. "I do, Hayasaka-san," I say. "I feel like I should be crying and screaming in misery right now, but I'm not."

"I...obviously can't relate," Motoki says, her sobbing only slightly subsided, "but don't worry about it too much. Grief, it's...it's different for everyone."

"Indeed it is," Monohebi says, sounding bored. "Or perhaps it is a sign that you are a deformed individual."

"Go fuck yerself," Komatsu says venomously. "Stop botherin' us and execute yerself already!"

Monohebi smirks. "Execute myself? Why on earth should I do that?"

This fucking bastard...he's seriously going to cowardly ignore the rules he made!?
"Are you really going to ignore your own rules!?" I ask, feeling anger grow inside me. "Just for your stupid self of self-preservation!?"

"My refusal to execute myself is not an instance of me ignoring the rules," Monohebi says. "Rather, it is an instance of me astutely observing them."

"What!?" Hayasaka asks incredulously. "But one of the rules says there can only be one culprit per class trial, and you broke it! So, you have to execute yourself!"

Monohebi smiles evilly. "I would suggest you check the rules again, Hayasaka."

No...he didn't... I quickly pull out my e-Handbook and go to the rules tab to see that, in fact, he did. "'Rule 17: Two people may be executed as the culprit during a single class trial,'" I read aloud, my voice dripping with
fury. "You...you fucking bastard! You changed the rules so you didn't have to execute yourself!"

"Indeed I did!" Monohebi says giddily. "I am certain one of you is thinking 'Dearest Warden, that is not allowed! You may not add rules after the fact!' This may come as a surprise, but such a thought would be correct. I cannot add a rule that absolves me of breaking a rule after I broke the rule in question. That would be patently unfair, would it not?"

"So you added it before Domoto-san's execution," I say, barely repressing my urge to strangle him.

Monohebi smiles. "Correct, Kawashima. To be more precise, I added it right before I dragged Sashihara off to his execution. Because I added the rule before I executed either of them, I did not break a single rule. Thus, I need not execute myself."

"But...why didn't you tell us!?" Motoki asks furiously. "You always tell us when you add a rule!"

"I normally do, but I am not required to do any such thing," Monohebi says gleefully. "I need not make the chime I usually have play when I add a rule go off, either. All of that is a matter of courtesy, nothing more."

"Ya...YA FUCKIN' ASSHOLE!" Komatsu fumes. "YA REALLY THINK WE'LL JUS' LET YA GET AWAY THIS!?"

He steps toward Monohebi, but Hayasaka quickly shoots an arm out to stop him. "Calm down, Yutaka-kun," she says firmly. "If you hurt him, he'll kill you."

"But...he deserves to pay for this!" Komatsu says, anguished. "If he don't execute himself, Domoto-san, Sashihara-kun, and Kasparov-kun...they died for nothin'! This fuckin' coward changed the rules, so we gotta make him pay!"

"It would do you well to listen to Hayasaka," Monohebi says, unbothered by Komatsu's shouts. "If you or anyone else were to lay a hand on me, I could execute you instantly. None of you can hurt me, so you all are powerless. You could attempt to make me break my own rules again, sure. However, any such attempt will be sure to end in failure." His face lights up with pure malice. "The best thing for you all to do would be to give up! Kill each other quickly so that the killing game can continue!" He cackles. "Susususu! It is not much longer now. Only four of you remain. Once that number dwindles to two, I promise to let those surviving students go free."

"Fuck you," I say through gritted teeth. "We're not going to fall for that!"

"It is not a trick," Monohebi says. "Once there are only two people left, it becomes impossible for the killing game to continue. So, if we get to only two people, I promise to let them go." He grins widely. "Why bother to hold a final trial against me when you could end the killing game now? One culprit may kill two people, so if one of you kills two of your fellow inmates, you and the other surviving student could go free without needing to hold a trial or having to worry about execution!"

The reality of the situation hits me. Fuck, this is bad. The major thing stopping us from turning on each other is the prospect of enduring another trial. If that's gone...then someone might really take Monohebi up on his offer...

Motoki rushes over to my side and clings to my shoulder. "I'm scared," she says shakily. "I don't want to die."

Hayasaka and Komatsu look at each other, frightened. "I...I don't wanna kill anyone again," Komatsu says, on the verge of tears.

"How tragic," Monohebi says with absolutely zero pity. "However, I do not care about—"

The sound of a vent grate behind Monohebi's throne being forcibly kicked open stops Monohebi in his tracks. What...? What the hell is that?

I peer around Monohebi's throne, and am met with a sight I never expected to see.

"Kasparov-kun!?" I say, incredulously staring at him climbing out of the vent. "But you...! You're...!"

"What!?" Motoki asks in disbelief as she too looks around Monohebi's throne. She gasps when she sees him. "No way," she says, her voice a mixture of disbelief and delight. "Kasparov-kun...you're still alive!?"

"Indeed I am," Kasparov says, dusting off his shoulder as he stands up straight.
I can't believe it...how is he still alive!? We found his body all cut up during the investigation, didn't we!?

"No fuckin' way..." Komatsu says, eyes wide with shock. "I gotta be dreamin'...ya fuckin died!"

"You are not dreaming," Kasparov says calmly. "That was the body of Yamaguchi-kun you found during the investigation, not m—"

He's interrupted by Komatsu tearfully hugging him. "Holy shit, I'm so fuckin' glad yer alive!" Komatsu says, crying tears of happiness. "I thought I was too late to save ya, but ya really are still here..."

Hayasaka opens and closes her mouth several times, but can't seem to form a coherent sentence. "Sergey-kun...you're..." She runs over to him and hugs him along with Komatsu. "You're alive!" she says, her voice emphasizing the last word with an untold amount of glee. That's really heartwarming.

Kasparov blushes deeply from both their hugs. "I...I am glad that you both are pleased to see my return," he says awkwardly. "But do not rejoice too much, for this return of mine is merely temporary."

Komatsu breaks away from the hug, worry crossing his face. "...Huh? Whaddaya mean?"

"I shall tell you later," Kasparov says as he gently shakes off Hayasaka and approaches Monohebi. "Right now there are more important matters with which we must deal." He stands up straight in front of Monohebi, who for once seems to be at a loss for words. He only stares at Kasparov, his mouth agape. "Happy to see me, snake?" Kasparov asks.

That snaps Monohebi out of his shock-induced silence. "...'Happy?'" Monohebi repeats, his voice dangerously quiet. "How could I possibly be happy!? If you are still alive, that means you made me hold a trial for a someone who never died!" Monohebi's eyes alight with even more fury than they did when I unveiled that Domoto and Sashihara were both the culprit. "YOU DISGUSTING BRAT! I SHALL MAKE YOU PAY!!"

"It pleases me to see you so infuriated," Kasparov says with a satisfied smile. "Did you truly think that the double culprit fiasco was all that the plan concocted by Domoto-san, Sashihara-kun, and me encompassed? Did you truly think merely changing a rule would allow you to escape your inevitable doom? If so, you are an utter fool."

"You brat...I need NOT execute myself!" Monohebi seethes. "I changed the rules, which is well within my power! Whatever violation you think I might commit, I can simply change the rules again to accommodate it!"

Motoki laughs. "Ha...ha...hahahahahaha!" She looks at Monohebi with a hateful smirk. "...You fucking idiot. You can't worm your way out of this one. You executed Sashihara-kun and Domoto-san for a murder that never happened, which is a flagrant violation of the rules! They didn't break the rules, and they weren't truly 'the guilty party,' because there was nothing for them to be guilty of!"

"Oh my God, I get it now!" Hayasaka says, barely containing her excitement. "Monohebi has to execute himself because he's already broken a rule, and just a minute ago he himself said he couldn't change the rules to benefit him if he's already broken one!" She points at him vengefully. "You're fucked! You have to execute yourself now!"

Oh, this is absolutely wonderful...
"Monohebi, you said you'd never be fooled again right after the trial ended," I recall. "So much for that."

His face contorts with rage. "AAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!" he shrieks. "SILENCE! I REFUSE TO EXECUTE MYSELF!"

"If you truly want to abide by your own rules, you must," Kasparov says smugly. "Or is that 'integrity' I overheard you talking about during the trial really not so important to you after all?"

Monohebi opens his mouth, but closes it again with a bitter, hateful glare. "...You disgusting vermin," he spits at Kasparov. "If I die, then you must perish as well!"

"Whaddaya mean?" Komatsu asks confrontationally. "He don't gotta die, 'cause he ain't broke any rules!"

"On the contrary," Monohebi says with repressed fury. "Rule seven very clearly states that participation in a class trial is mandatory for all surviving students. Kasparov is alive and did not attend the trial, so he must be executed!"

Kasparov only looks at Monohebi, unafraid. "That could happen," he admits. "But you will not do that, will you? If you execute me, you must execute yourself as well if you want to be fair. But if that happens, your master will not be able to monitor the killing game without revealing their identity, an outcome which they desperately want to avoid. However, it cannot be avoided if you want to keep your viewers you value above all else. Not unless you agree to a suggestion from which I believe we would mutually benefit."

That gets my attention. "What is it, Kasparov-kun?" I have a feeling I already know, but just to make sure...

"I suggest both Monohebi and I postpone our executions," Kasparov suggests. "Because both of us have broken a rule, we are both in similarly perilous situations. Neither of us wishes to be executed, so I suggest we make a deal to determine who gets away with breaking the rules."

"You want us to do another trial, don't you?" I ask. That must be what Domoto-san and Sashihara-kun meant when they said the circumstances for a trial "would present themselves" before they died. They knew Kasparov-kun was still alive...

"Indeed," Kasparov replies. "In this proposed trial, the five of us surviving students would endeavor to figure out the identity of the mastermind. If we win, Monohebi and his master get executed, if the mastermind is still alive of course. In that case, we would also be allowed to go free without any strings attached. However, if Monohebi wins, I get executed."

Monohebi narrows his eyes. "Why on earth should I agree to that?" he asks. "If I accept your decision, I essentially end the killing game, as either outcome of the trial would result in its termination. Why should I do that when I could simply kill you right now and force the other inmates to continue the killing game?"

"You could kill me, but as I said before you would have to execute yourself too to be fair," Kasparov counters. "There is no way to escape your doom if you do not agree, as you have already violated a rule by falsely executing Domoto-san and Sashihara-kun. Your viewers are already upset with you and would likely not even bother to watch the killing game if you forced it to continue as normal. Would they not enjoy the spectacle of the final trial I propose?" He doesn't wait for Monohebi's answer. "It is quite apparent you do not wish to execute yourself and want the killing game to continue with good viewership. This suggestion of mine is the only option that allows for both of those things, so why not agree?"

Wow, this is a pretty good idea...Monohebi would never agree to a final trial with no one dead in normal circumstances. But if he thinks it might save his ass and his ratings, then he's way more likely to agree.

"No," Monohebi says. "You must die no matter what, Kasparov."

Kasparov shrugs. "I agree," he says. He takes a purple bottle out from his suit jacket, removes the cap, and chugs the liquid inside in one go. "I have just ingested poison," he states calmly after he swallows it all. "It will kill me in approximately 24 hours."

"Wait...what!?" Hayasaka asks, shocked. "But Sergey-kun, you just came back!"

"Yeah, ya can't die on us!" Komatsu says distraughtly.

Kasparov shakes his head. "You do not understand," he says. "I planned to poison myself no matter what happened. It is as Domoto-san said after the trial...this plan the three of us made our penance.
Unfortunately, I cannot allow
myself to live for the role I played in the
events of the last case." He frowns remorsefully. "Truly, I am sorry...but I told you soon after I left the vent that this return of mine is temporary. I intend to assist you four with finding the identity of the mastermind and beating Monohebi. I will not do more."

Motoki hangs her head sadly. "Well, that's a disappointment..."

It really is. I was thinking he could get out of here with the rest of us, but I guess he doesn't want that... "Are you sure, Kasparov-kun?" I ask softly.

He nods. "Yes. I made up my mind quite some time ago." He averts his gaze from mine and turns it to Monohebi. "Well, Monohebi? What do you say now?"

Monohebi doesn't immediately respond. "Give me that poison bottle," he says after a brief pause. "I must verify that it does not fake poison."

Kasparov obliges, offering the bottle to Monohebi. The snake takes the bottle with his tail, sniffs its contents, and inspects the label. Following his inspection, he puts it down. "It is legitimate, I can tell from the smell alone," Monohebi thinks out loud. "The label also says this poison has an antidote, but I know for a fact that this antidote is nowhere to be found in this prison."

"So he's really gonna die no matter what," Komatsu says glumly.

"Yes, he will," Monohebi says. "Hm...I suppose this does change things for me. If you die no matter what, Kasparov, then I suppose I would be willing to accept your offer." He presses his tail against his mouth and frowns. "However, I have additional stipulations."

"What are they?" I ask him.

"To begin, the original suggestion of Kasparov was that if you inmates were to win, myself and the mastermind, provided they are still alive, would be executed," Monohebi says. "In addition, he requested that I allow all surviving non-mastermind inmates to go free if you all beat me in the trial. Believe it or not, I am perfectly fine with those suggestions. What I take issue with is that Kasparov said that only he would be executed if I were to win. I refuse to agree with such a plan. No, I demand that all the other surviving non-mastermind inmates be executed as well if I were to win."

"We should've expected that from you..." Motoki grumbles.

"I agree to that," I say without a second thought. If it means a chance of all of us...well, all of us except Kasparov-kun, getting to live after beating Monohebi, then I'm fine with it. "The risk is worth it to me."

"Same here," Hayasaka says. "We have the chance to execute Monohebi and the mastermind. If taking that chance means risking our own executions, then so be it."

Motoki hesitates. "I...I really really
don't want to do another trial," she says. "I hate doing them so fucking much, but..." She glares at Monohebi confidently. "If the trial's not for the death of a friend, but rather to find who the coward behind this killing game is, then I'll do it." She hugs herself, her brief moment of confidence quickly dissipated. "It'll be super scary, but...it'll be worth it."

Komatsu rubs the back of his neck nervously. "Yeah...it will definitely be scary...but if all we gotta do is find out who the mastermind is, then I'm cool with it."

"That is related to my second stipulation," Monohebi says. "The goal of this proposed trial cannot only be to figure out the identity of the mastermind. That is too simple a task. Instead, you inmates must also discover the truth of this killing game—the entire truth—for me to accept your victory. If you fall anything short of that, I will win and you will all be executed. Those are my stipulations."

"How do you expect us to find out the 'entire truth' of the killing game?" I ask him challengingly. "We don't have the knowledge to do that."

"No, not yet," Monohebi says. "Naturally, I will provide you with all the clues to reach this truth in the interest of fairness. Actually, to be more honest, it is in the interest of what the viewers want...but that matters not. What is important is that I promise I will provide you all with the necessary clues to determine the whole truth of the killing game." He pauses, letting his words sink in. "Do you all agree to these new terms?"

"I do," I say instantly. If you're giving us the information necessary to beat you,
we'll be sure to win against you, Monohebi. You've already sealed your fate.

"Me too," Hayasaka says.

Komatsu nods. "Yeah, so do I."

"Those terms are acceptable to me as well," Kasparov says.

"If Kawashima-san agrees, then so do I," Motoki says, coming to my side and taking my hand and squeezing it tightly. "If she accepts those terms, it means she believes she can win the trial for us. If she thinks that, then I trust her."

I squeeze her hand back and give her a peck on the lips. Thank you for trusting me, Motoki-san.
"I promise you I'll guide us both through this," I whisper in her ear.

"I know you will," she whispers back.

"So when are we doin' this?" Komatsu asks. "Are we doin' the trial right now, or...?"

Monohebi chuckles. "Sususu...you are so eager, Komatsu," he says. "The answer is no, we are not doing the trial right now. I will need some time to get all the necessary evidence in order. Additionally, it is currently around 7 PM. I do not wish to start a trial so late in the day if I need not do so. As such, we will be holding the trial tomorrow."
He smirks. "I hope you inmates enjoy your last day on this earth. You shall all be dead by this time tomorrow."

"I will be, but the others will be alive and free from this prison by that point," Kasparov says. "Mark my words, snake. You and your master shall lose."

"Is that so," Monohebi says flatly. "I suppose we shall wait and see to see if those words become true or not." He frowns. "But that is enough. Now that we have agreed on our terms for the trial, I do not wish to see you brats any longer. Begone!"

He shoos us toward the elevator. As soon as we're all inside, it closes and begins to ascend. Wow...I don't even know what to say. That whole trial and its aftermath was one giant emotional rollercoaster...

"Well...that was a lot," Komatsu says, summing up my thoughts. He pats Kasparov's back. "I'm really sad that Sashihara-kun and Domoto-san are dead, but I'm glad yer still alive, dude." He frowns. "Even if it ain't for long..."

"Me too," Hayasaka says dejectedly. "I know you want to die, Sergey-kun, but...it really isn't worth it. I've been where you've been, and I want to let you know that you don't deserve to die."

"My mind shall not be changed," Kasparov says resolutely. "It matters not if it were to change, anyway. I have already ingested a poison for which there is no antidote...at least, no antidote currently available to us. As such, I shall not be able to escape my death."

Yeah, there's no turning back for him now. I guess it'd be kind of cruel to try to convince him to want to live now when he's basically already killed himself. I want him to live too, but that's not an option anymore...

"...How did you do it?" Motoki asks suddenly. "How did you survive, I mean?"

"I shall explain more later," Kasparov says. "But the basics are that Komatsu-kun was correct that the locked room in the back of the Freezer is indeed a morgue. We used the body of Yamaguchi-kun in place of mine." He smiles. "I was hiding in that vent the entire trial, just close enough so that I could hear you all talking during the trial. When Komatsu-kun raised that theory, I admit I was so nervous that I dared not make a move for several minutes."

So Komatsu-kun really was right about that... "Domoto-san and Sashihara-kun lied about not knowing about the key you stole, then," I mutter to myself. "Must've been what Domoto-san meant when she thanked me for telling her it was okay to lie..."

"That, and killing Sergey-kun," Hayasaka says.

"Indeed," Kasparov says. "Domoto-san did not wish to lie. It was an agonizing decision for her to make, but she judged that if it was necessary to defeat Monohebi, lying would be worth it."

"Yeah," I say. I'm proud of her. The way she was so obstinately committed to that never lying thing got annoying at times because she was never willing to relent. But now that I know she was willing to betray her principles so we could beat Monohebi...it makes me proud of her.

I'm proud of Sashihara-kun too. He laid his life down for all of us. He didn't have many years left, but he still had so much he could've done with his life. He could've easily chosen to do nothing and let everyone else die as he survived due to his physical strength, but he didn't choose that. He chose to sacrifice himself instead...

I feel tears finally start to spill out the corners of my eyes, but for once they're not tears of anguish or despair. No, these are tears of joy and gratefulness. Domoto-san...Sashihara-kun...thank you so much.

Chapter 5: Heavy is a Guilty Heart
END
Niizuma, Terajima, Hayasaka, Furuhata, Komatsu,
Oyamada, Aozora, Kawashima, Domoto, Kasparov, Ichigohara, Sashihara, Motoki, Eguchi, Yamaguchi, Carrasco
Inmates Remaining: 5

Completed: 1/16/21

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 6: Freedom's Bitter Taste
Daily Life

When the elevator stops, the five of us walk out into the cafeteria. For the first time, I don't feel miserable leaving the elevator. Even though Domoto-san and Sashihara-kun died, they were the ones who won in the end. They made the choice to sacrifice themselves and didn't let Monohebi get what he wanted when he executed them. It's sad they're dead, but they got the best possible deaths they could have in a killing game.

"So...what now?" Hayasaka asks uncertainly. "The trial's not until tomorrow, and there's still a few hours left before nighttime."

"We could jus' go to bed now, I guess," Komatsu says. "That trial was a lot..."

"It is true that we must rest well before the trial tomorrow," Kasparov says, "however, I do not believe we should go our separate ways immediately."

Neither do I. It's possible the investigation will start right away tomorrow morning, so I'd like to spend time with everyone tonight. Especially Kasparov-kun, considering he'll die tomorrow no matter what happens. "I agree with Kasparov-kun," I say. "We should at least eat dinner together."

"I agree," Motoki says. A pained look suddenly appears on her face. "I just realized...who's going to make the food? Ichigohara-san and Sashihara-kun were the two of us who always cooked, but now they're both gone."

Hayasaka twirls her hair sadly. "I don't know, Sakiko-san. I can't cook for shit, so I don't think it should be me."

"Same here," I say. "I may be the Ultimate Waitress, but my skills in the Kitchen are sorely lacking."

"I can do it, I guess," Komatsu says. "My food ain't gonna be nearly as good as anythin' made by Ichigohara-san or Sashihara-kun, but it'll do."

Komatsu begins to walk to the Kitchen, but Kasparov quickly stops him. "Wait. You cannot cook alone."

"Why not?" Motoki asks. "He's only going to have to cook for five people, so I doubt he'll need much help."

"That is not what I meant," Kasparov says. "If he cooks alone, he could easily poison someone. He would be an extremely obvious culprit, yes, but it would be an easy way to sabotage our attempt to defeat Monohebi."

Komatsu cracks his knuckles. "Ya ain't suspectin' me as the mastermind, are ya?" he asks angrily. "I'd never poison someone's food!"

"I am not accusing you of anything," Kasparov says. "I am merely exercising caution. As much as I would like to fully trust you, I cannot. Monohebi and the mastermind are separate entities, so it is entirely possible the mastermind is one of us and does not want this final trial. As such, we must be very careful."

It's not fun to hear, but he's right. We can't afford to assume the mastermind won't attempt a murder. Sure, it'd be out of line for them to violate the "integrity" of the killing game that they value so much, but we don't know what risks they might take if they feel desperate.
"Kasparov-kun's right," I say. "The killing game hasn't ended yet. We can't let our guards down until it does."

"I guess that's true..." Motoki says. "I know we've said it all the times before, but we really do have to be careful to make sure another murder doesn't happen this time around."

"So who's going to help Yutaka-kun cook?" Hayasaka asks.

I raise my hand. "I can do it. As long as I'm not the one doing the cooking, I can help out."

"Works for me," Komatsu says, his anger gone. "Sorry for gettin' all worked up there...I jus' don't like bein' accused of shit."

"You've made that pretty obvious," I say playfully.

He lets out a small chuckle. "Ha...yeah, I really have."

The two of us walk to the Kitchen. Once there, I let Komatsu do most of the heavy lifting as he makes gyoza, only helping out with small tasks. When he's done, I can barely wait to eat. "This stuff smells really good," I tell him as I plate everyone's meals. "It definitely doesn't 'just do.' You should have more confidence in your cooking ability."

"Thanks," he says. "But I ain't real good with anythin' that ain't fried, 'less it's somethin' super basic like rice, ramen, or pasta."

"We don't all have to be expert chefs," I say. "It doesn't really matter if the food's basic as long as it tastes good and has flavor."

"Yeah, I guess yer right," he says absentmindedly. He leans forward onto the counter, gazing down at his food sadly.
"I wonder how Sashihara-kun or Ichigohara-san'd feel about this shit. Would they like it? Would they tell me it was too unhealthy or not natural enough?"

I put the pot I was scooping the gyoza out of aside to look him in the eyes. "Do you miss them?"

He nods mournfully. "Them and everyone," he says. "I didn't like everyone who we were trapped in here with, to be honest. Like Furuhata-kun, Niizuma-san, and Domoto-san? They all annoyed the shit outta me...but I feel sad 'bout their deaths, especially Domoto-san." He wipes a single tear from his eye. "And Sashihara-kun...after Eguchi-san, I'm gonna miss him the most outta everyone. He was such a good dude. Yeah, he fucked up a lot, but he was kind, and now...he's gone. And..." His voice starts to tremble. "...I'm scared."

"For the trial?" I ask.

"Yeah," Komatsu says nervously. "I'm scared we ain't gonna be able to find the mastermind for him, Eguchi-san, and everyone else's sake. I'm scared that even if we do figure out who the fuck they are, we won't find the rest of the truth and we'll all die."

"I get that," I say. "Honestly, Komatsu-kun, I'm scared too. I'm afraid that we might not be able to find the whole truth of this killing game like Monohebi wants us to." I hesitate. "Partially because...I have a feeling the truth might be pretty ugly. Especially the truth about the mastermind...I'm dreading figuring out their identity and everything else as well. However, it's that or we stay here forever. It's frightening, but it's a chance at freedom. A real chance, which is more than we ever had before."

"That's true," Komatsu says. "We ain't ever had a realistic opportunity to get outta here before now." He suddenly stands straight up. "Shit, the food's gettin' cold!"

Fuck, I forgot about that too even though the food's right in front of me. "Yeah, it is," I say as I begin to load the plates onto a tray.

"Sorry for talkin' 'bout myself at such a bad time," Komatsu apologizes. "I really should've jus' waited 'til we were eatin'..."

"It's okay," I tell him as I hoist the tray onto my shoulder. "It's better than not saying anything at all."

With that, I bring the tray out to the others and give them their respective plates. Then, I put the tray aside and take my seat next to Motoki and dig in to my food. Mm, this tastes as good as it smells. It's not as good as something Ichigohara-san or Sashihara-kun would make, but that's a really high standard.

Once we're all done eating, Motoki speaks up. "So...Kasparov-kun," she begins, "how did you survive? I've tried to understand it by myself, but...I have no idea of how you did it."

"I suppose it is only fair that I tell you all the real truth of my murder," he says.

"That's a sentence ya don't hear every day," Komatsu comments flatly.

Yeah, it sure is bizarre. But more importantly, I want to know just how badly I fucked up the summary...
"Kasparov-kun, how wrong were we?" I ask. "You said you were eavesdropping in on the whole trial, right? That means you heard my summary of the case."

"Indeed I did," Kasparov says. "It was not so much wrong as it was incomplete. To be honest, your summary was impressively accurate for what you knew."

"Thanks," I say. I was wondering if I really wasn't as good at deduction as I thought I was, but this makes me feel better. I guess I still can be a little more confident in my ability to solve the truth of this killing game now...

"So what really happened, Kasparov-kun?" Motoki asks him.

Kasparov lets out a long breath. "Prepare yourselves for quite a long explanation."

Komatsu shrugs. "It don't really matter how long it is. We ain't got much else to do but talk."

"I should begin by saying that Kawashima-san was right about everything up until the moments after all of you were attacked," Kasparov says. "She claimed that we immediately regrouped and headed up to the Surgery Room, which is not true. No, we headed to the morgue at the back of the Freezer and brought out the corpse of Yamaguchi-kun. We left it to defrost in the Garage. Only once we had completed that task did we go to the Surgery Room."

"Why Yoshi-kun's body?" asks Hayasaka. "Wouldn't Michio-kun's be more convenient? I mean, he was already burnt by Mayumi-san after she killed him."

The mention of Aozora's murder creates a painful knot to my chest. Even though my feelings of grief have dulled, I still miss him. No matter how rude he was to me, he was my friend. I regret how I acted with him and how it only worsened things... "That's a good question," I say, trying to push my grief for Aozora away. "Why Yamaguchi-kun instead of Aozora-kun?"

"Simple," Kasparov says. "Yamaguchi-kun and I are...well, were quite close in height. I am 188 centimeters tall while he was 190. We also share rather similar body types and weights. Conversely, Aozora-kun was 178 centimeters and noticeably thinner than Yamaguchi-kun and I. Because I shared more physical characteristics with Yamaguchi-kun than Aozora-kun, Yamaguchi-kun was the ideal person with which I could exchange bodies."

Komatsu furrows his brows. "Hold up, I'm confused. How the fuck do ya know their exact heights and all that shit?"

"There's a 'Profiles' section in our e-Handbooks," Hayasaka explains. "It contains physical stats for each one of us, so that's probably where he got that info."

"Correct," Kasparov says. "Monohebi created that section of our e-Handbooks so that we could murder each other more easily, but we turned that around on him and utilized it to create a 'murder' plan without the murder."

Monohebi got fucked over by information that he himself provided...that's some wonderful irony right there. Serves him right.

"Why would it matter so much, though?" Motoki asks, perplexed. "Domoto-san and Sashihara-kun were going to dismember whichever body they used, so the difference between a two centimeter and a ten-centimeter height difference wouldn't really be that important, would it?"

"No, but Domoto-san, Sashihara-kun, and I did not deem the convenience of using an already burnt corpse worth the risk of Monohebi discovering that it was not my body you all encountered," Kasparov replies. "Had we used the remains of Aozora-kun, Monohebi would have been much more likely to notice due to the fact that Aozora-kun and I have less similar bodies. Also, dismemberment was not included as part of our original plan. It is quite nasty, after all."

"We only deemed it necessary once we selected the corpse of Yamaguchi-kun to be the stand-in for mine," he continues. "His decapitation complicated things...if we were to leave his head off the rest of his body undisturbed, that would be incredibly suspicious. So, we decided to cut up the rest of his body to distract from the fact that his head was missing."

That makes sense. Reattaching the head wouldn't work, but cutting up the rest of the body allowed Domoto-san, Sashihara-kun, and Kasparov-kun to distract us from the fact that the head was gone. And in the entire process, they managed to make us think the dismemberment was just to remove the places where "Kasparov-kun" was most likely fatally wounded. Clever... "That's the real reason why the head was crushed in the press," I say. "You didn't want to give Monohebi an opportunity to look at Yamaguchi-kun's face."

"Yes," Kasparov says. "Even if it was burnt, it could be identified. We also decided to crush part of the torso so that the crushing of the head itself did not draw suspicion."

"That was smart," Motoki says.

"I suppose it was," Kasparov says somewhat absentmindedly. He frowns. "This is rather sudden, but there was another reason why we chose Yamaguchi-kun, you know."

That piques my interest. "Really? What was it?"

"Was Yoshi-kun connected to the mastermind somehow?" Hayasaka asks.

"I do not know, truly," Kasparov says. "I highly doubt it given his aggression toward Monohebi. However, that does not matter. The additional we why chose him is because we believed it would be most in line with the final wish he had for us at his execution. Do you all remember what it was?"

It takes a little while for me to retrieve that moment from my memory, but I manage to do it. "...He said he wanted us to unite against Monohebi and defeat him, right?"

"Indeed," Kasparov says. "I disdain the fact that he chose to kill and will not forgive him, or any of the other killers beside Oyamada-kun, for it. However, his wish was one that I greatly respect in retrospect, even if I disregarded it at the time." He pauses. "Even when our plan did not include dismemberment, it still involved burning the body involved. Burning a corpse outside of the context of a funeral and thus ruining it would merely be a cruel mockery of the deceased for anyone except Yamaguchi-kun. He wanted us to do whatever we could to come together and defeat Monohebi. Our plan was in line with that, so it was only fitting that we used his body."

That makes sense. Dismembering and burning someone's body would normally be super disrespectful, but Yamaguchi-kun really wanted us to beat Monohebi. I didn't know him super well, but I think that out of all the deceased, he'd be the least likely to mind so long as his body was being used to fuck over Monohebi. But we haven't fully done that, not yet...
"We haven't fulfilled that wish of his yet," I say. "We haven't fulfilled Terajima-kun's, either."

"Ain't no denyin' that," Komatsu says. "But jus' 'cause we haven't done it yet don't mean it can't be done."

"Yeah," Motoki says. "We have a golden opportunity to destroy finally end this fucking awful game. We can't rest until we've done that and fulfilled the wishes of Terajima-kun and Yamaguchi-kun."

"It's not possible to fulfill Eisuke-kun's wish," Hayasaka says, twirling her hair sadly. "Sergey-kun's going to die no matter what."

Kasparov looks at his plate gravely. "...Yes, I will," he says. He lifts his eyes. "But I promise you, I will get all four of you out of here alive so long as none of you is the mastermind. Even if the mastermind is one of you, I promise I will get the other three out safely."

"Thanks," Motoki says, although she's obviously distracted by the mention of the mastermind. "It's so horrible to think that the person controlling this whole game really could be one of us still here..."

"It sure fuckin' is," Komatsu says, sounding disturbed. "But....we can talk 'bout that later. I don't wanna think 'bout right now. Kasparov-kun, ya never finished yer summary of what really happened."

"I apologize for the temporary distraction," he says. "Where was I again...? Oh yes, I left off with the mention of how we left the corpse of Yamaguchi-kun in the Garage to defrost. Once that was over, Domoto-san, Sashihara-kun, and I went to the Surgery Room."

We knew Domoto-san got her chip out then, but he wouldn't be mentioning this if it wasn't relevant, so that means...
"I assume you got your chip taken out too?"

Instead of verbally responding, Kasparov slips out of his suit jacket, unties his tie, and unbuttons the top few buttons of his shirt. Then, he pulls the collar to the side just enough so that we can see the surgical scars on his shoulder. "Sashihara-kun did surgery on me first. Everything was very slow and methodical up until the point when he removed my chip. After that, Domoto-san quickly replaced me on the operating table and Sashihara-kun removed her chip as fast as he could. As soon as hers was out, we replaced her chip with mine."

It sounds insane at first, but it makes sense...if Sashihara-kun removed Kasparov-kun's chip and replaced Domoto-san's with it in less than a minute, Monohebi would never notice that Kasparov-kun's chip had ever been exposed. It didn't matter if Domoto-san's chip was exposed, because Monohebi was supposed to realize that happened. Domoto-san's chip being removed was really just a cover for Kasparov-kun's being taken out.

"Really?" Motoki asks, surprised. "Couldn't it have fallen out?"

"Yes, but Domoto-san was careful to not let it do so until the time was right," Kasparov says as he re-buttons his shirt.

"The time was right?" When was...oh wait! I think I get it. "They stomped on it," I say. "I remember when Monohebi showed us the video...Domoto-san brushed her shoulder right before she and Sashihara-kun were preparing to shoot the fake you. I didn't think anything of it when I first saw it, but that was to get the chip out of her shoulder, wasn't it?"

"It must've been," Hayasaka says, "She probably did it so she and Hisaya-kun could stomp on it a bunch of times and crush it."

"Guess that's why Domoto-san stomped on her own chip right before she was executed," Komatsu says. "She was tryna give us a hint 'bout what actually happened."

Kasparov nods. "Yes, she wanted you all to figure out I was alive before I showed myself," he says. "She had no idea how long it'd take me to navigate all the way down to the trial room. So, she did that in order to make you all suspect that I was still alive in case I couldn't show myself in time." He narrows his eyes. "It is a good thing I left the vent when I could. Had I waited much longer, I imagine things would have turned out much worse."

Motoki shudders. "Yeah...Monohebi was trying to get us to kill each other right then and there."

That was pretty nerve-racking, honestly. If Monohebi had pressured us more and provided a weapon, then who knows what might've happened. A chill runs down my back. No, I can't think about stuff like that. The moment's in the past and we should leave it there.
"He tried, but he failed," I say quickly. "Let's not dwell on it any longer."

"I agree," Kasparov says. "To return to my account of what truly happened, after the surgery we did as Kawashima-san described. However, before I went to the basement, I changed into a new pair of clothes, which I currently wear. Once I was done, Sashihara-kun, Domoto-san, and I went to the basement. As Kawashima-san, said Domoto-san and I tampered with the nail guns and Sashihara-kun shot the gun into the floor of the Boiler Room. But that was not all. Once Domoto-san and I finished with the nail guns, we worked on sewing the head of Yamaguchi-kun back onto his body. In addition to placing the gamma mask on him, we also very carefully dressed him in the clothes out of which I had previously changed. We also sewed a blood pack taken from the Infirmary to the inside fabric of the button-down shirt."

Hayasaka looks confused. "The blood pack part makes sense, but I don't get how you got Yoshi-kun's body dressed in your clothes...how could you do that? Wouldn't his body be super stiff after being dead for so long?"

"It was," Kasparov confirms. "Because of the stiffness of his corpse, it was very difficult to dress him in my clothes. We had to tear some of the clothes to make it fit, which Domoto-san expertly sewed back together. It was rather time-consuming, but we managed to do it in the end." He pauses. "Oh, we tore off his old clothes, by the way. They were put in the incinerator, wrapped in the middle of bedsheets."

"What was in the incinerator?" Komatsu asks. "There anythin' we missed?"

"All the masks except the gamma and epsilon mask, my bedding, blood packs, and the uniform of Yamaguchi-kun should constitute all that was in there," Kasparov says. "Unfortunately, I cannot say for certain, as I was not present when the incinerator went off. In fact, I was not a direct part of anything once the corpse of Yamaguchi-kun had been prepared to look like mine. When that task was complete, I crawled into a vent in the Garage and proceeded to navigate to the trial room through the ventilation system."

That makes sense at first, but then I remember we never talked about more than one blood pack. "Hold on, blood packs, plural?" I ask. "I thought you guys only used one to simulate bleeding when Domoto-san and Sashihara-kun shot the nail into Yamaguchi-kun. When did you use the others?"

"It was probably what made that huge pool of blood in the Boiler Room," Motoki says. "I forgot to check the fridge with blood packs in it when I investigated the Infirmary, so it makes total sense that they took some from it." She frowns. "There is something that doesn't make sense to me, though...Kasparov-kun, you said you went into a vent in the Garage. That's fine, but Kawashima-san found pink slippers in the vent in the Weapons Room. You wouldn't put those there if you entered the ventilation system in the Garage because of how far away those two rooms are...so if it wasn't you, who was it?"

"Sashihara-kun was the one who used those to sneak up on Hayasaka-san in the dark, so I imagine it was him," Kasparov answers, "I could have done it given that I was already in the vents, but it is a long way to the trial room, so we figured that it would be best for someone else to handle it and that someone ended up being Sashihara-kun. I know not exactly when he did it except for that it occurred after I went into the vents, but it most likely happened shortly before he went back to pretending to be unconscious."

Okay, I guess that makes sense.

"I should mention that from now on, I did not directly witness what happened, so I cannot be entirely sure of the exact sequence of everything," Kasparov says. "However, I can make very educated guesses as to what happened based on your discussions during the trial and the plan made by Domoto-san, Sashihara-kun, and me."

"Fair enough," Hayasaka says. "What do you think happened after you went into the vent?"

"That is something about which I need not guess," Kasparov says. "Right after I entered the vent, Domoto-san and Sashihara-kun turned on the power and 'killed' the fake me. Then, the situation with Komatsu-kun occurred. The only difference between the summary given by Kawashima-san for all that was that the blood that emerged from the nail wound was not genuine. Rather, it was from the blood pack I previously mentioned. Other than that, though, I do not believe there are any discrepancies in the summary given by Kawashima-san until the burning.

"Kawashima-san was not wrong that the body was burned in the Garage," he continues. "According to plan, Domoto-san and Sashihara-kun were to burn Yamaguchi-kun in the exact spot where he was left to defrost so all water and ice left behind from him being removed from the morgue would be melted. Considering the evidence discussed in the trial, that seems to be what truly happened. However, Kawashima-san got two things wrong: the timing of the burning and the location of the dismemberment. The corpse of Yamaguchi-kun was not dismembered on the bare floor of the Boiler Room as Kawashima-san believed it was. No, it was done right where the body was burned."

...Really? "Are you sure, Kasparov-kun?"

"Yes," he says. "I noticed during the trial that none of you mentioned finding pieces of flesh in the pool of blood in the Boiler Room, yet you found them on the saw in the Freezer. If that is true, is it not quite strange?"

Oh fuck, I never even thought about that. However...
"We didn't find pieces of flesh in the Garage either," I say. "If that's where he was dismembered, shouldn't there be pieces of flesh there?"

"Maybe they got all burnt up when Sashihara-kun and Domoto-san burned the body," Komatsu suggests. "Kasparov-kun said we got the timin' wrong. That's prolly what he means."

"Indeed it is," Kasparov confirms. "The body was burned after it was dismembered, I am sure of it. We explicitly planned for this to happen so that the large parts of the body exposed by the dismemberment would be cauterized. This action served two purposes: firstly, to reduce the possibility of organs and other internal tissue from spilling out of the body, and secondly to hide the fact that the body had ever been frozen. If the body had been burned before the dismemberment, the parts exposed after it was cut up might still be noticeably cold or frozen. That was an outcome that had to be avoided, so the body was burned after it was dismembered."

...Huh. I never would've thought of that, but now it seems so obvious. "I can't believe I never noticed that there were no pieces of flesh in the Boiler Room during the trial," I say. "I'll really need to pay more attention in the next investigation."

"It's okay, Kawashima-san," Motoki says reassuringly. "We all make mistakes."

"Yeah, but a trial ain't the place to make 'em," Komatsu says. "I know I ain't one to talk with how many wrong ideas I've had, but we gotta make sure we don't miss shit like that in this next trial. 'Cause if we do..." He gulps. "...We'll all die."

Hayasaka grimaces. "It sucks to hear that, but it's true. We can't afford to miss even seemingly inconsequential pieces of evidence anymore."

"Worry not, for I shall not allow that to occur," Kasparov says. "That is one of the reasons why I decided to return to you all and assist with this next trial. I am not infallible, but I do have an excellent memory and a good mind for puzzle-solving. I will not allow any of you to miss a piece of evidence if I can help it."

"I trust you to do that, Kasparov-kun," Motoki says. "You saved our asses when you brought up that toy train during Ichigohara-san's trial, so I trust you."

"That makes me happy," he says thankfully, "however, I expect the same of all of you. If I raise a theory that is contradicted by or fails to explain a certain piece of evidence, I expect at least one of you to correct me. Do not be afraid to challenge me." His voice takes on a regretful tone. "As you all remember, I made a grave mistake when I accused Eguchi-san of being the individual in the commemoration video and chose to lock her in a cell. I expect that if I make an accusation or a theory that seems like a similar mistake, you all will call me out on it."

He doesn't have to worry about that. "Don't worry, I'll call you out on your bullshit if I need to," I promise him. "I'm not going to sit on the sidelines while you do something stupid again."

"I'll call you out if I need it too," Hayasaka says.

"Same, if I can find any flaw in a theory you bring up," Motoki says. "I'm not the best at trials, so I doubt that'll happen...but I'll try."

"I'm the same as Motoki-san," Komatsu says. "Most of the theories ya bring up in the trial'll prolly go right over my head, but I'll do my best to resist ya if I think yer doin' somethin' stupid."

Kasparov smiles. "Thank you all." He clears his throat. "Now, back to my summary. I do not believe there is much more to mention. Once the dismemberment was complete, Domoto-san and Sashihara-kun must have placed the head and upper right torso of Yamaguchi-kun in the press and scattered rest of the body parts around the Boiler Room. While they did so, I imagine they emptied all the blood packs to form the large pool of blood you all found. They also must have wrapped the blood packs and the uniform of Yamaguchi-kun inside the bedding from my room and placed it all in the incinerator before they left the basement...but I believe that is all."

"So I got everything else right?" I ask.

"I see no reason to believe that you did not," Kasparov says. "I suppose there is no way to truly know, given that Domoto-san and Sashihara-kun are both deceased. However, everything you described lined up with the plan we created, so I believe you were in fact correct about everything I did not mention."

Komatsu stifles a yawn. "I'm glad, 'cause the means that long-ass explanation's finally over. It was nice to hear what really happened, but it was kinda hard for me to stay focused near the end."

"Yeah," Motoki says. "I also don't like thinking about murder cases...even if this one was a fake murder, Domoto-san and Sashihara-kun both died because of it." She hangs her head. "Because of that, talking about it makes me feel worse..."

I scooch closer to her and take her hand in mine. "I'm here for you," I say, quietly but firmly.

She moves closer to me and places her other hand over mine. "Thanks," she says with a grateful smile.

After that, there's a small pause until Hayasaka speaks up. "Sergey-kun, what was the vent system like? You were in there for a while, so you must be pretty familiar with it."

"I suppose you could say that," he says. "To answer your question, it is rather expansive. I could not find any exits due to its sheer size...so, wherever we are, it is a very large facility. Strangely enough, though, I did not find many rooms while I was navigating from the Garage to the trial room. Those I did pass in the vents were empty and inaccessible."

That's odd...I wonder what those rooms are supposed to be. "I'm guessing you didn't see anyone unfamiliar, either."

He shakes his head. "No, I did not. It appears as if the five of us are alone in this prison except for Monohebi."

The implication of that makes me want to shudder. We really might be alone here. Maybe the mastermind is some outside person hiding in one of those locked rooms on the fifth floor, but if they're not...then the chances that the mastermind is one of the five of us skyrocket. They could be of the eleven dead, yeah...but I have a feeling that's not the case.

Motoki tightens her grip on my hand, evidently realizing the implications of what Kasparov said too. "So...how did you find the morgue, Kasparov-kun?" she asks, failing to conceal her nervousness.

"It occurred the night after the last trial," Kasparov says. His bows his head mournfully. "For obvious reasons, I was quite distraught. I tried to fall asleep, but I could not...so I decided to wander in the basement. I hoped that I would find the crime scenes intact and the bodies of Eguchi-san and Terajima-kun still there, but the scenes were cleaned up and the bodies gone.
Upon discovering the bodies were missing, I nearly returned to bed. But then a thought struck me: the bodies must have somewhere to go. So, I decided to search for a morgue. Fortunately, I did not have to search long, as I found the door at the back of the Freezer unlocked and the morgue inside."

"Was everyone there?" Hayasaka asks softly.

Kasparov lifts his head and nods soberly. "Yes, all nine of the then-deceased were there." His face becomes queasy. "Some of their bodies were in truly horrific states...I could not bear to look at Ichigohara-san, Oyamada-kun, Terajima-kun, or Niizuma-san for long."

Part of me wants to go down there and investigate myself to make sure he's not lying, but part of me hesitates. Seeing everyone dead for the first time was bad enough, and that was when their bodies weren't slowly decomposing. I'm not sure if I could handle looking at everyone's bodies again. "I'm sorry you had to see their bodies," I say instead of asking him to take us to the morgue. "That must've not been fun."

"Do not feel sorry," Kasparov says. "I needed to see them. The bodies of the nine deceased made me truly realize the lethality of the killing game. Nine people, nine young lives cruelly cut short by this vicious game. Before that point, I had always known on a surface level that everyone was dead. But once I saw those bodies, I did not merely know they were dead, I felt it. Does that make sense?"

"I get what yer sayin'," Komatsu says. "But what I don't get it is why ya didn't tell us that ya had the key. I know ya wanted to die immediately after the trial, but ya didn't know ya wanted to fake yer death and switch bodies with someone, did ya?"

"False," Kasparov responds immediately. "Ever since I saw those nine bodies in the morgue, I always planned to fake my death by using one of their corpses to stand in for mine and thus having Monohebi execute someone falsely, so I kept the key to myself to ensure that no one tampered with the corpses. I only decided for there to be two culprits later so that Monohebi would be distracted by that contradiction in his rules and thus be less likely to consider the possibility that I had faked my death. Evidently, that worked."

Wow, he really thought his plan through a lot. Still, there's something that kind of confuses me.
"How could you be sure neither Domoto-san nor Sashihara-kun was the mastermind?" I ask. "I'm not accusing them, it's just your plan involved trapping Monohebi and spoiling his killing game, so the people you carried it out with had to be super trustworthy. How could you be so sure it wasn't them?" And how could we replicate that process again?

"I could not," Kasparov says. "To be honest, I was extremely suspicious of Sashihara-kun until Monohebi confirmed that everything Sashihara-kun said. Once that happened, I decided he could be trusted and reached out to him later that night. As for Domoto-san..." He sighs. "I admit, there was not much logic in my decision to trust her. It was more of what they call a 'gut feeling.' I could not be certain I could trust her, but I decided to make a leap of faith. Fortunately, it all worked out."

"I doubt your chess mentor would approve," I say.

Kasprov smiles slightly. "No, I do not think he would. But it matters not, because my plan succeeded in the end."

"Speakin' of him, he was your hostage for the motive videos, right?" Komatsu asks. "I wonder where he and all the other hostages are."

"I was too," Motoki says. "We know Sato-san's dead, but the others could still be alive, right?"

Hayasaka twirls her hair sadly. "Sakiko-san...Yutaka-kun...I know what you're getting at," she says. "Sakiko-san, you want to save your mom. Yutaka-kun, you want to save your little brother. But..." She wipes a tear from her eye. "You have to let them go. I guarantee you, if they're not already dead, Monohebi will use them as leverage in the next trial. That's the kind of fucked-up shit he'd do."

I want to tell her she's being too cynical, but I can't bring myself to. She's right. Monohebi never promised to let them go free once a trial happened, so chances are they're screwed. "Yeah," I agree painfully. "I think they're still alive, because Monohebi told me he was with the hostages during the investigation. However, I don't think he'd ever let them get out of here with us."

"Indeed," Kasparov says. "There is a chance that the sister of Domoto-san and the mentor of Sashihara-kun will be let go now that Domoto-san and Sashihara-kun are dead, but the others are doomed." He curls his fist. "Damn. If only I had made releasing them alive included in the conditions of us winning the trial in my initial demands..."

"We could still ask for that," Komatsu says weakly. "The trial ain't started yet."

"We could ask, but Monohebi'd never agree," I say. "He'd just deny any request and say the terms are final. That's who he is."

Motoki closes her eyes tightly and lets out a tired, miserable breath. "This place really is just unending pain, isn't it. Cruel, pointless death after cruel, pointless death..."

I want to comfort her, but there are no words that'll help. Her mom's basically doomed to die. There's nothing I can do to make her feel better. I just have to make sure she gets through it. So, instead of offering hollow words of comfort, I wrap Motoki in a hug and rub her back slowly. "You'll make it through this," I whisper into her ear. She doesn't verbally respond, but she hugs me back, which tells me enough. You're stronger than you think, Motoki-san. You can get through this...

"So...on that depressing note, who do you think the mastermind is, Sergey-kun?" Hayasaka asks.

Kasparov looks perplexed. "Hm? When did I say I knew who it was?"

"The same day Hisaya-kun told us he was the traitor, you told the rest of us you had speculations about the identity of the mastermind," Hayasaka says. "I guess it's not right to ask who it is, so let me rephrase: what were your ideas for who it could be? We're going to try to find the mastermind really soon, so I want to know what you were thinking."

"I understand," Kasparov says. "I suppose I should start with the most shocking one. One of my biggest suspects was Kawashima-san."

"What!?" I ask, stunned. "You thought it was me!?"

Motoki snaps out of my hug to stare at Kasparov incredulously. "You're not really serious, are you!?"

"Of course I am," he says. "I should mention that I do not currently suspect her. However, a realization struck me shortly after the fourth trial...the mastermind wants the killing game to continue as long as possible. The behavior exhibited by Monohebi has made this extremely clear. So, that fact made me begin to suspect Kawashima-san. She has been instrumental in solving every trial. Without her, the killing game likely would have ended long ago."

"That's true, but I don't get why ya'd ever think she was the mastermind," Komatsu says. "She's been sayin' that we shouldn't kill ever since the beginnin', even before Furuhata-kun died."

"Correct," Kasparov says, "however, before Oyamada-kun begged her to fulfill the wish of Terajima-kun, what help did she do? She did nothing when Domoto-san and I accused Eguchi-san and made the grave mistake of locking her in a cell. She allowed Niizuma-san to leave the Library and set up the death trap for Ichigohara-san. She only made the situation with Aozora-kun worse. She sent Yamaguchi-kun to do a task which resulted in him coming across a defenseless Furuhata-kun." He looks at me sadly. "My apologies, Kawashima-san, but it was only natural that I strongly suspected you. Fortunately, though, I no longer do."

I'm glad you don't suspect me anymore, but I'm kind of upset you ever thought I was the mastermind. I mean, I understand why you thought what you did, but it still sucks. Although, I wonder what could have changed his mind...while he's not as obstinate as Domoto-san was, Kasparov-kun's never been the quickest to change his mind. "What made you stop suspecting me?"

"I would not say I stopped suspecting you entirely," Kasparov says. "Unfortunately, I cannot entirely
exempt any of you from suspicion. Not even myself, given that there is a small chance mastermind may not know who they are." He shakes his head as if to clear his thoughts. "But that is beside the point...the reasons why I stopped considering you as my main suspect are twofold. First of all, you actively encouraged our escape and worked to actually make it happen. Secondly, and more importantly, you fought against Monohebi in the last trial. If you were the mastermind, you would desperately want to avoid us voting for two people. You did not resist the idea of two culprits, instead, you embraced it."

"So you trust her because the mastermind would try to tell us that two culprits is impossible and side with Monohebi in such a critical moment," Motoki says. "Allowing two people to be the culprit would risk Monohebi's execution and endanger the killing game, which they obviously didn't want. And it's not like the mastermind could be sure Monohebi'd make a new rule if they're one of us."

"None of us really resisted the idea...but that ain't really that important, is it?" Komatsu says. "They could jus' try and go with the flow rather than risk being exposed. Or maybe ain't aware that they're the mastermind."

I hate whenever someone says that. I mean, I know it's completely possible, but I hate thinking that someone could be the mastermind and have no idea. It'd be especially cruel for Monohebi to do that...

"I doubt that is the case," Kasparov says. "It is possible, yes, but unlikely."

"Why?" Hayasaka asks.

"Think from the perspective of the mastermind for a moment," Kasparov says. "Their goal is to prolong the killing game as long as they can and ensure it runs as smoothly. Monohebi exists to monitor the killing game and to perform routine tasks. His existence makes it possible that the mastermind could wipe their own memory before the killing game and not need to worry about monitoring it, but...what if something unexpected were to occur? What if we reached a stalemate in the killing game where no one decided to kill? It would be unlikely, but not impossible. What would they do in that case? They would not want to lose their viewers by allowing the killing game to become boring, would they?"

"I guess not," Motoki says, "but couldn't they just rely on Monohebi to force us to kill?"

"Perhaps," Kasparov concedes, "but what if the police or the authorities found this place? Could the mastermind really be sure they could rely on Monohebi to defend this place? What if he were to malfunction? He is a robot and, no matter how advanced, all technology is fallible. As you may start to see...leaving the killing game to Monohebi and wiping their own memory would create a risky situation for the mastermind, one that would be impractical and unstrategic. Because we know the mastermind is a smart and resourceful person, I believe that they were consciously aware of who they were when this killing game began to avoid these risks."

I get what he means. "So you think the mastermind knows who they are because they wanted to be able to deal with unexpected problems if they happened," I summarize. "That makes sense. Organizing this killing game would be a huge effort, so I doubt they'd do something as risky as wiping their own memory when they had no real reason to."

"Does that mean they really are one of us?" Komatsu asks with a gulp. "I feel like that's what Kasparov-kun was gettin' at..."

Kasparov does not immediately answer. "They could be," he says after a short pause. "However, we cannot be sure. They could be one of the sixteen of us who woke up here, they could be some outside person. We still do not know and will not know until we gain the evidence to discover their identity."

"So you don't know have a good idea as to who they are," Motoki says, disappointed. "Kawashima-san was your biggest suspect, so now that she's way less likely to be the mastermind, you don't have much else to work with."

He hesitates. "...That is not entirely accurate," he says. "I still have many ideas. Nothing is concrete yet, of course, but...I do have another big suspect."

I lean forward eagerly. "Really? Who is it!?"

"I cannot say," he says. "I truly am sorry, but I will not allow myself to make a hasty accusation again. When I accused Eguchi-san, I was very confident but not entirely certain, and we all know how that turned out. I refuse to tell you who this other suspect of mine is until the trial."

"Sergey-kun, please don't do this," Hayasaka says. "Just tell us!"

Motoki looks at the floor sadly. "Don't pressure him. He's making the right choice...if he accuses the wrong person, we'd get in another situation similar to what happened to Eguchi-san. Even if he's right, it could be really dangerous to accuse anyone before the trial." She fidgets uncomfortably. "The killing game is still on, after all. Someone could try to kill whoever Kasparov-kun accuses and send us to yet another pointless trial..." She shudders at the thought. "So please don't pressure him to reveal what he knows. It's too dangerous."

When she puts it like that, it makes more sense. It's still frustrating, though. I just want to know who the mastermind is. "Fine, Kasparov-kun," I say. "But you better tell us as soon as the trial starts."

"That depends on what we find during the investigation," Kasparov says.

Komatsu sighs deeply. "Fuck. If only Terajima-kun was still here...he realized Sashihara-kun was the traitor just from pickin' up on to his super subtle reactions to things. Maybe he could pick up on the mastermind was if he was still alive..."

"Maybe," Hayasaka says glumly. "But he's not here anymore."

"Even if he was, the mastermind could just not be one of us," Motoki says. "He wouldn't help much in that case."

After she says that, there's a period of silence. Seems like no else has anything to say. I look over at the clock and see that it's 9:47 PM. It's almost nighttime already, damn. "I think I'm going to head to bed now," I say as I stand up. "It's getting close to nighttime."

"I will too," Motoki says. "We'll need as much sleep as possible for the trial tomorrow."

"Indeed we will," Kasparov says. he frowns. "However, before any of us seek rest, I will urge all of you to barricade your rooms. Do not make it possible for the mastermind to enter your room."

I hate the thought of doing that, but I know it's necessary.

"Wait a minute, I just thought of something," Hayasaka says. "The barricades are a good idea, I don't think any of us should sleep on our own."

"Huh? Why not?" Motoki asks. "The whole point of barricading ourselves in our rooms is that we're cut off from each other."

"But if one of us got killed, we'd be at a complete loss for who the killer is," Hayasaka says. "But if we sleep in groups and also barricade the rooms, then things become a lot safer."

Motoki shrugs. "I guess. But why not just all sleep in one big room and barricade ourselves inside?" She narrows her eyes. "That way, if one of us gets killed, we know the mastermind is one of us."

"I am in agreement with Motoki-san," Kasparov says. "It is for the best if we all sleep in one large group."

"But where're we gonna sleep?" Komatsu asks. "The floors in our 'cells' are super uncomfortable, and a few of us would hafta sleep on 'em if we do things this way."

That's true. Only about two people could fit on one of the beds, so the other three would have to sleep on the floor. "Maybe we could use one of those cell blocks. Cell Block D has only one entrance or exit, so we could barricade that. Once inside, we could lock ourselves in the cells."

"That's a good idea, Wakana-san," Hayasaka says. "I'm pretty sure the keys for the cells are somewhere in there, so if one of us used the keys to lock everyone in a cell, we'd all have a bed and be safe."

"I dunno...I feel like sleepin' in jus' one room would be a better idea," Komatsu says. "The cells in the cell blocks have holes in the bars, so the mastermind could jus' use a ranged weapon to kill one of us sleepin' inside."

"Then let us take some of the beds from one of the cell blocks, bring them to whichever room we sleep in, and then barricade ourselves in that room," Kasparov suggests. "That would be a suitable compromise, would it not?"

I don't see any problem with it. "Works for me," I say.

Komatsu nods. "Yeah, same for me."

"Me too," Hayasaka says.

"Same for me," Motoki says. "I guess that's settled, so now we have to figure out where exactly we're going to sleep."

"Hopefully not my room," Kasparov says. "My bed has nothing on it, so I do not believe it would be the best option."

Yeah, probably not. I'd be willing to volunteer if Monohebi didn't sneak into my room without me knowing this morning. He probably used a master key or something like that to open my door and snuck in that way, but there's a possibility there's a secret passage or something like that he can use. Because there's that risk, I don't think my room's the best option either.

"We can use my room," Hayasaka offers, saving me from having to explain my reasoning for not using my room. "Does anyone have a problem with that?"

No one says anything. "It doesn't look like it," Motoki says. "Alright then. Let's go get some beds from Cell Block B."

The five of us walk up to Cell Block B and carry three beds down to Hayasaka's room. Ugh.
These beds are heavier than they have any right to be...

Once all three beds are safely in Hayasaka's room, Komatsu makes an annoyed grunting sound. "That wasn't fun," he says. "I dunno 'bout the resta ya, but there ain't no way I'm movin' these beds back upstairs in the morning

"Yeah, it'd just be a waste of energy," I say. "By the way...what are we going to use as a barricade?"

Motoki gestures to the bureau. "We could use that," she says. "The nightstand, too. Both are pretty bulky, so I think they'd work."

No one objects, so we all proceed to block the door. We angle the nightstand underneath the handle so it's difficult to open and block the rest of the door with the bureau. When we're done, Komatsu flops down on one of the cell mattresses and massages his temple. "I need to fuckin' sleep," he says. "That trial really wiped me out..."

"Same," I say as I sit down on one of the other cell mattresses. "Today was very draining."

"I apologize for that," Kasparov says as he takes the last cell mattress and removes his suit jacket. "Neither Domoto-san, Sashihara-kun, nor I wanted another trial to be necessary, but unfortunately it was the only way."

"Don't sweat it," Komatsu tells him. "It really sucked, yeah, but at least we got to fuck Monohebi over."

He nods. "I am glad you are not upset with me," he says as he takes off his dress shirt, leaving him in just a white undershirt.

Hayasaka giggles. "Ha...you look so weird with just a normal shirt, Sergey-kun. You're always in a suit, so it's strange to see you in anything else."

"Yeah, it's like seeing a teacher outside of school," Motoki says with a small smile. "Or a dog walking on its hind legs."

"Or your boss outside of work," I add.

Kasparov lets out a chuckle. "Yes, I suppose it is rather strange," he says as he tucks himself into bed, a smile on his face.

The others and I do the same as Hayasaka turns off the light. Even though we're facing the trial to determine our lives tomorrow and Kasparov-kun's doomed to die, we still managed to have some lighthearted banter there. It was a nice respite from the unending misery of this place, even if it was brief.
I wonder...was that it was like for us to go to school together? Did we and all the others joke around playfully like that? Were we all friends?

I feel a single tear leak out of my eye. I miss them all...Furuhata-kun, Yamaguchi-kun, Aozora-kun, Carrasco-san, Ichigohara-san, Niizuma-san, Eguchi-san, Terajima-kun, Oyamada-kun, Sashihara-kun, Domoto-san. Some of them I liked a lot, some of them I didn't like all that much, but I can't help but wonder how things were before. This killing game brings out the worst in people, so I wish I could see remember everyone's good sides. I hate that Monohebi stole those memories from me.

I'll never forgive him. Not the mastermind, either. For the sake of everyone who's died, and for everyone who's still alive, I will find out who they are and put an end to this disgusting killing game.

***
“Good morning, inmates. It is now 7 am, which means nighttime has officially concluded. Enjoy another day of confinement.”

For the final time, I awake to the sound of Monohebi's voice. Whether I live or die, I'll never wake up to that announcement again. Thank God, it's so annoying to hear every day.

I groggily get out of bed to see Komatsu, Hayasaka, and Motoki doing the same. "I hate that morning announcement," Motoki says through a yawn.

Hayasaka nods sleepily. "Yeah, it's—" She stops, staring at Kasparov's bed. "...Wait. Where's Sergey-kun?"

Looking over at his mattress, I see that it's empty. The bureau and nightstand that previously blocked the door are now moved aside. "Oh fuck...why the hell is all this stuff moved?"

Komatsu blanches. "Ya don't think..."

"No, that's not possible," Motoki says, now wide awake. "He's not in here or the bathroom, but there's no way he's dead." She gulps. "Right?"

"We need to look for him," I say, standing up quickly. "I don't why he's not here, but given the timing..." I let my sentence trail off into nothing, but the meaning is still pretty clear.

"Wakana-san's right," Hayasaka says. "Come on, let's go!"

The four of us practically run out of Hayasaka's room and glance inside the nearby Storage Room, but there's nothing to be found there. "Where's he at?" Komatsu asks, not even bothering to hide the fear in his voice.

"He could be in the Cafeteria," Motoki says, trying to stop herself from panicking. "That has to be it...he got up and he's sitting in the Cafeteria right now."

I sure hope so. "Well, let's find out," I say. Please be alive, Kasparov-kun. Please...

We leave the Storage Room and rapidly get to the Cafeteria, but he's not there either. "Fuck," I say. "Where the hell is he!?"

"I don't got a fuckin' clue," Komatsu says.

"He could be in the Kitchen," Hayasaka says, her voice shaky. "Yeah, that's where he is...because if not..."

She doesn't need to finish her sentence. "No time to waste," I say. "Come on, let's go."

I lead the way and practically run to the door to the Kitchen, but before I can get through, someone carrying a tray runs into me and I fall on my ass.

Fuck, that hurts. Hopefully, the person who did it was... I look up to see that it was, in fact, Kasparov who ran into me. "I am sorry," he apologizes as he recalibrates the tray, which nearly had all its plates knocked off it by the collision. "I should have been more careful."

"Yeah, but that ain't the real issue here," Komatsu says, half relieved and half angry. "The hell didn't ya leave us a note or some shit like that!? We were worried that ya were dead!"

"Komatsu-kun's right," Motoki says as she helps me back to my feet. "You really should've left us a note or just left Hayasaka-san's room with the rest of us."

Kasparov frowns. "My apologies," he says. "When I awoke, I was so glad that everyone was still alive that I did not even think to leave a note informing the rest of you that I left. I truly should have, so I apologize. I did not mean to frighten any of you."

"It's alright," Hayasaka says. "At least you're alive, Sergey-kun."

"Yeah," I say. It's annoying that he scared us like that, but it really isn't the end of the world. "What's that you made there?" I ask, pointing to the food he made, which is small pancakes with salmon and some other stuff on top of it.

Komatsu looks at the food warily. "I love pancakes, but I think it's weird that there's salmon on 'em," he says. "Salmon and pancakes don't seem like they'd really go great together."

"Believe me, it is quite good," Kasparov assures him. "This dish is a type of blini. It is very, very common in Russia and other Slavic nations."

Huh, I never knew that. You learn something new every day, I suppose.

"Why did you cook for us?" Motoki asks. "You really shouldn't have. I mean, that blini looks good, but..." She pauses and looks away sadly. "You're going to die in less than twelve hours...if anything, we should be doing our best to make your last hours alive better. We should be doing the cooking for you, not the other way around."

Kasparov looks at the tray of blini with a somber expression. "I do not deserve such kind treatment," he says. "Do not forget that the events surrounding the fourth trial can all be traced back to my actions. Eguchi-san, Terajima-kun, and Oyamada-kun all died because of me. Were they pampered before their deaths? No, quite the opposite. All three experienced untold amounts of anguish. When they experienced so much undeserved pain, it would simply not be right for me to receive kindness from you all." He narrows his eyes. "Especially not when I already have the greatest gift of all....control over my death."

"What do you mean?" Motoki asks, confused.

"Exactly what I said," Kasparov says. "Control over my death. Or rather, control over when it happens. Because I ingested lethal poison yesterday, I know I will die today. Monohebi may execute me first, but that matters not. What matters is that I know my life will soon come to an end." He smiles darkly. "The vast majority of people die without any forewarning. Whether it be from a heart attack or a stroke or a fatal car crash, most people do not receive the gift of foreknowledge, the gift of knowing when they shall die. I am an exception, which
brings me comfort I do not deserve."

Komatsu furrows his brow, looking concerned. "The fact that yer gonna die brings ya comfort?"

"Of course," Kasparov says, seeming surprised that it was even a question. "How could my knowing such a certainty not bring me comfort? It allows me to make the most of my final hours and to ensure I do not have any regrets when I die. If I were to perish without forewarning as most people do, I would not have such an opportunity." He pauses. "On top of everything else...the idea of finally being free from my guilt and not having to agonize over my sins any longer..." He closes his eyes peacefully, sighing. "Ah...it is so very tantalizing. I truly cannot wait." He opens his eyes and his voice becomes stern. "So please, do not attempt to pamper me. I will not tolerate it when a great gift I do not deserve has been bestowed upon me."

I don't like him talking about how he's excited to die. This is basically suicidal ideation and it really freaks me out to hear it.
"Is the guilt really that bad?" I ask. "So bad that you're excited to die?"

"Excited is the wrong word," he says. "I am content and thankful for my death. That is all." He clears his throat. "Ahem. We have conversed for a while already. The food is becoming cold."

He brushes past the rest of us and sets the tray on the table. I exchange a worried glance with the others. From the looks of it, they don't like this behavior either. Part of me wants to confront Kasparov-kun about it, but another part of me doesn't. I mean, he's going to die in less than half a day, so we might as well make his last hours as good as they can possibly be. Yet even so, just letting him act like this doesn't sit right with me...

With those conflicting thoughts on my mind, I sit at the table along with the others and try Kasparov's blini. To my surprise, it's pretty good. I didn't think the pancake and salmon would go together well, but this doesn't taste bad at all. Not nearly as good as anything Ichigohara-san or Sashihara-kun would make, but still good. No wonder it's so popular in Russia.

When we're all done with our meal, I notice Motoki open her mouth to say something to Kasparov, but Monohebi's voice interrupts her. "Hello, inmates," he says from the chandelier above us.

Motoki looks up at him disdainfully. "Oh. It's you."

"Yes, it is I," Monohebi says, a smug smirk on his face. "Enjoying your last morning alive, brats?"

"Get that look off yer face," Komatsu says, glaring at Monohebi. "Kasparov-kun and ya are the only one who will die today."

"Yeah, Yutaka-kun's right," Hayasaka says confidently. "You're going down! We're going to beat you and the mastermind!"

Monohebi chuckles. "Sususu...you shall try, that is certain. But shall you succeed? That remains to be seen."

"Shut the hell up," Motoki snaps. "Why'd you show your ugly face? Is it because the investigation's going to start already?"

"Indeed," Monohebi says. "I know it is still early, but I do not care to wait very long. The investigation shall commence at 8 AM and will last for two hours until 10 AM."

I look at the clock and see it's 7:55 right not. Not letting us rest for long, is he? I'd say I'm surprised, but I know Monohebi better than to be surprised at something like this.

"I take it you prepared the necessary clues overnight?" Kasparov asks.

"Yes, but that does not matter," Monohebi says. "Before I go, I must inform you all of some other information I am sure you will be glad to hear: I have unlocked every room in this prison, even the morgue. You are welcome."

Motoki looks like she wants to tell him off, but then her eyes widen. "Wait a minute, does that mean you unlocked the room with the hostages in it?" she asks with faint hope. "The room they're in...it's in this prison, right!?"

Monohebi smirks. "It is somewhere in this facility, but I suppose I misspoke," he says. "What I truly meant was that every room from the basement to the fifth floor, which does not necessarily include every room in this prison, would be unlocked. So no, I will not be freeing the hostages. I am not so foolish."

"I should've realized," Motoki says, narrowing her eyes. "You'd never be that nice to us..."

"No, I would not," Monohebi says.

She closes her eyes and clenches her fists. "You're going to pay for making my mom a hostage," she tells him hatefully. "I know she's probably already dead, so I'm not going to let you get away with anything. I'm going to find out who you are and make you suffer."

Monohebi does not seem concerned at all. "You can try." He sighs.
"Alright, I believe I have had enough of you brats for now. I shall see you in two hours. Until then."

Once he's gone, Hayasaka speaks up. "It's weird that he's opening the Surveillance Room, Warden's Office, and Archives Room for us," she says.

"They gotta have important clues," Komatsu says. "If they didn't, there'd be no reason for him to let us in there."

"Indeed," Kasparov says as he stands up. "But there is no time to dwell on matters such as that. It is already 7:59. We must investigate as much as we can in the limited time we have to investigate"

"Yeah, those two hours will fly by if we're not careful," Motoki says, standing up as well. She has a fiery determination burning deep in her eyes. "We have to focus on investigating. We can't hesitate if we want to defeat the mastermind and find the truth of the killing game. If we let ourselves hesitate, we'll die, and the mastermind won't get the suffering they deserve."

"Wow, Sakiko-san...I've never seen you so fired up to investigate before," Hayasaka says.

Me either. I'm glad she's not acting as despondent as normal, but her acting so abnormally hot-headed concerns me. Not only could such hot-headedness cloud her mind when she investigates, but there's also the fact that the last time she was in a similar state of mind, she set the events that got Eguchi-san killed in motion. I know the situation here is very different, but I can't help but worry... Instead of any verbal communication, I take her hand and look at her, asking a silent question. Are you alright?

Her only response is two mouthed words. "Not now."

"It's 8 o'clock now," Komatsu says, bringing me back to reality. "The time to investigate's started." He pumps his fist. "C'mon, let's do this! Let's get investigatin' and figure out all the shit the mastermind's been hidin' from us!"

"Yeah, let's do it!" Hayasaka says excitedly.

"Yes, but we must not be rash," Kasparov says. "We should split up. That way, we can all investigate as much as possible in the two hours we have."

"That's a good idea," Motoki says. "Hopefully, we can find everything. It'd be bad if we let anything slip by." She clenches her fist again. "If we do, we might let the mastermind get away without suffering, and we can't let that happen. No matter what."

There she goes with that aggression...I don't like it, but there's no time to focus on it right now.

No...right now we have to focus on investigating on finding the truth of this killing game. Not only for our sakes, but for the sake of everyone else who's died so far. We have to avenge their deaths!

"We won't get anything done just standing here," I say, determined. "Quit the talk already. Let's do this!"

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 6: Freedom's Bitter Taste
Deadly Life

INVESTIGATION START!

After my words, the five of us go our separate ways. I decide to go to the basement first.
I need to check out that morgue. Kasparov-kun said everyone who died before Domoto-san and Sashihara-kun had their bodies stored there, but I should still check for good measure.

When I get to the basement, I immediately walk to the back of the Freezer and stop in front of the door to the morgue.
God, it's so fucking cold in here...I'll try to make my search of the morgue as quick as possible.

Opening the door, I enter the morgue to find a bitterly cold room. Three walls are made of blank, gray metal, but the fourth is a grid of metal drawers, most of which have a small red light glowing next to them.
A few of the drawers farther back don't have the light on, so I assume that when the light's glowing for one drawer it means that drawer is in use.

I reach my hand to open the nearest one, but I hesitate.
Am I really ready to see everyone dead again? Seeing their bodies really affected Kasparov-kun, so who knows what it might do to me...

An involuntary shiver runs down my spine.
...No. It's way too cold in here to hesitate. I have to look at their bodies, no matter what it might do to me.

With a great amount of hesitation, I use my apron to open the closest drawer so my hand doesn't touch the super-cold metal. Inside, I'm met with Furuhata's dead eyes staring straight into my soul. I quickly shut the drawer and squeeze my eyes shut.
Fuck, I wasn't ready to see that...I figured Monohebi would at least have the decency to close Furuhata-kun's eyes after he died, but I should have realized he doesn't care enough about the dead to give them even that basic gesture of respect.

I shiver involuntarily again.
Shit, it's really damn cold in here. Seeing the bodies of my dead classmates is really hard, but I can't let it slow me down. If I don't speed this up, I'll get hypothermia...

I force myself to continue looking through the other drawers. Sure enough, everyone is just as they died except for Yamaguchi, who's now a burned and dismembered corpse. But the bodies of Aozora, Carrasco, Ichigohara, Niizuma, Eguchi, Terajima, Oyamada, Sashihara, and Domoto are perfectly preserved in the ways they died.
It's terrible to see anyone dead, but seeing Terajima-kun, Niizuma-san, Ichigohara-san, and Domoto-san is especially bad. They died so terribly...

After I'm done with looking at Domoto's corpse, I notice that there are three other drawers with lights on.
Huh...? Whose bodies could those be?
Curious, I open the nearest drawer and—

Bile rushes up into my throat as I see what's inside. I quickly shut my eyes and slam it shut again.
Fuck, I feel like I'm going to be sick! That "body" that was left in there was pretty much nothing more than lumps of torn flesh.
It must be Sato-san's remains, because no one else died in such a terrible way. I should tell Hayasaka-san not to come down here...

When I finally feel like I won't throw up any longer I turn my attention to the last two drawers.
Are these two of the other hostages? If so, they could be the bodies of Domoto-san's sister and Sashihara-kun's mentor. I guess I won't know until I look...

I open the door beside the one that contains Sato-san's remains to find something wholly unexpected: the corpse of a balding man who looked to be around sixty when he died.
...Huh? Who the hell is this dude? Is he one of the hostages? No...that can't be it. The hostages were Bessho-san, Sato-san, Motoki-san's mom, Sashihara-kun's mentor, Domoto-san's sister, Kasparov-kun's elderly chess mentor, and Komatsu-kun's brother. None of them were middle-aged men. But if he's not a hostage, what is his body doing here?

Confused, I push his drawer close and open the last one. Again, I find someone unfamiliar to me. The corpse this time belongs to another middle-aged man, but this one looks foreign due to his brown skin and thick black hair.
Judging by his features, this man is South Asian in origin, probably from somewhere in or near India. Who could he be...? I don't remember anyone here ever mentioning knowing a middle-aged man from South Asia. Maybe the identities of him and the other man can be found in our lost memories...

Yet another involuntary shiver shakes me.
These bodies are perplexing, but I can't look at them anymore. If I stay here any longer, I'll get sick.

I promptly leave the morgue and Freezer and step out into the basement hallway, relieved to be at a normal temperature again.
So, what now? I could go upstairs now that I've looked in the morgue, but I don't want to miss any clues. Monohebi might have something lying around here.

Searching the remains of the elevator, the cells, the Trash Room, and the Boiler Room yields me no results. Fortunately, almost as soon as I enter the garage something catches my eye from across the room.
Is that a photo on one of the car's windshields? It looks like it, but it's too far for me to tell right now.

Approaching the object in question confirms that it is, indeed, a photo. I pick it up to see a younger version of Carrasco with another Spanish girl about her age doing their best selfie poses as they smile at the camera. Both girls, who look to be around thirteen, sit on a bench in a place that appears to be a crowded public square somewhere in Spain. The top third of the photo, which is taken in portrait view, has been torn away.
I'm not sure what I expected to find in this photo, but this definitely wasn't it. How does this photo of Carrasco-san and this random girl have anything to do with the killing game? And why is the top part of it torn away?

Not knowing what to think, I put the photo in my apron's pocket.
I might need to take a look at that again later.

I don't find anything else in the garage, so I leave the basement shortly after I find the photo. From there, I look through all the rooms on the first floor too, but I don't find anything interesting there either.
Guess Monohebi didn't feel like putting any clues on this floor, huh...

Annoyed at the lack of clues on the first floor and how much time I wasted searching it, I make my way to the second floor. At the top of the staircase, I run into Komatsu.

"There ya are," Komatsu says. "Where were ya at?" He shows a piece of paper and a photo to me. "I was lookin' for ya so I could to show ya this shit."

"I was looking around in the basement and then the first floor, but I didn't find much at all," I say, not bothering to hide my frustration. "But that's not important. Why'd you want me to show me that stuff?"

"I found it when I was investigatin' and thought it was interestin'," he answers. "I already showed everyone else, it so I wanted to show it to ya too."

Fair enough.
"Who's that photo of?"

"Us," he says as he offers the photo to me. "C'mon, look at it yerself."

I take it from him to see a class photo of all sixteen of us dressed in matching uniforms. A pang of sadness hits me as I look over the faces of my dead friends.
Seeing everyone alive in this photo, and knowing just how many of them are dead...it's worse than seeing their corpses, in a way. Because it shows us how much we've lost...
"This makes me sad," I say. "Looking at everyone who's died hurts a lot."

"Yeah...it sure does," Komatsu agrees mournfully. "But that ain't why I wanted to show ya this photo. Don't somethin' 'bout it seem off to you?"

I return my attention to it and notice that while the majority of us are smiling, Eguchi, Niizuma, Domoto, Aozora, and I aren't.
This is odd...I normally
smile for photos, but
I look so discontented here.
"Eguchi-san, Domoto-san, Niizuma-san, Aozora-kun, and I aren't smiling, but the rest of you guys are."

"Uh-huh," Komatsu says. "Ain't it weird? I feel like it should be either be that all of us are smilin' or none of us are. That ain't it, though." He points to his place in the photo. "Look at that. My hair ain't dyed here." He points to Motoki, then at Hayasaka. "Motoki-san and Hayasaka-san ain't got dyed hair either."

"Huh, you're right," I say. "It's weird seeing the three of you with your normal black hair. You look almost like different people."
Especially Hayasaka-san. I'm so used to seeing her with pigtails and long, dyed-blonde hair that seeing her with straight black hair is really, really odd. She's almost unrecognizable like that.

"True," Komatsu says. "Though it's weird, 'cause I dyed my hair this exact color not too long before I came to New Hope's Peak, but..." His voice trails away into nothing and he furrows his brow.

I look at him expectantly. "Huh? Did you think of something?"

"Well....it's jus'...I don't remember ever comin' to New Hope Peak," he says into a frown. "I remember the acceptance letter and plannin' to come here. But everythin' else...I dunno how to describe it. The vague memory and feelin' of what's happened are there, I jus' don't remember the specifics. That make sense?"

"I get what you mean," I say. "I remember getting the acceptance letter too, but after that, everything's..." I pause, not knowing exactly what to say. "...I don't know. As you said, it's all really vague and foggy. Even the months up until I got the acceptance letter are kinda foggy. I remember most of it, but there are gaps and pieces missing a lot of times."

Komatsu nods. "Yeah, same for me," he says. He takes a loose strand of hair from his clothes and looks at it. "To go on with what I was sayin' before, I dyed my hair the exact same color it is now before comin' here." He gestures to the photo, which I'm still holding. "And yet my hair's completely undyed in that picture. So my hair was dyed, then undyed, then dyed the same color again. I can't say for sure, but it looks like the same happened to Motoki-san and Hayasaka-san."

Most likely.
"It's probably because the mastermind wanted us to not realize our memories were gone, but who knows...there might something else to it," I say.
Thinking about what it is right now won't help, though. It'll only waste time.
"But a discussion on that can wait." I point to the paper in his hands. "What's the deal with that?"

"Shit, I almost forgot," Komatsu says as he hands it to me. "It's from Niizuma-san's job."

Really? I wonder what it says.
I take the paper from him to see the following text:

Dear Niizuma-san:

I hope that this message finds you well.

I am sending this as a follow-up to the email I sent you yesterday, as I have received no response. From past conversations, I know you check your inbox at least once a day, even when at school. As such, I can only conclude that you have decided to skip work, on the day of an important presentation to the board of the Togami Conglomerate, no less. In case you forgot, I will remind you that you were meant to participate in the presentation, specifically to say one line to introduce my findings. And yet, you never showed and by doing so embarrassed the company in front of the board of one of our most important clients! You should be very glad Byakuya died three years ago because our entire company would have been annihilated if such a slight occurred while he was present.

Not only have you missed work for one whole day without explanation, which is absolutely unacceptable, but you damaged our company's reputation. Typically, you have excelled in your role as a statistical consultant, but your unexplained absence at such a critical time is a severe problem that cannot be overlooked. Perhaps you did not read the company work policy on unexcused absences, but either way, your actions have demonstrated that you are not willing to support the company adequately.

Thus, it is with great sadness that I have to inform you that we have decided to terminate your employment here at Kamo Consulting. We simply will not tolerate absence in the workplace, especially not when the client of your former project is someone as important as the Togami Conglomerate. I am deeply sorry that we must part ways with you, but your unserious attitude with regard to our policy concerning leave from work has forced our hand.

Also, your desk must be cleaned up within the week, otherwise, we will be forced to discard all your personal belongings.

Kindest wishes,

Yuuko Hitachi

October 25th, 2056

Wow...that was horrible. I know working an office job sucks ass, but they really fired her just for missing one day without explanation? Talk about heartless assholes...
"Wow," I say, "that was a really passive-aggressive email."

"I know, it made me mad," Komatsu says. He scowls. "I fuckin'
hate that fake nice corporate-speak kinda shit. I didn't like Niizuma-san one bit, but she didn't deserve to get fired for missin' work jus' once." He shakes his head. "But that ain't what matters...don't ya think it's weird that NIizuma-san missed work without explaining herself?"

"It is really weird," I agree.
Niizuma-san was crazy about "hard work" and never, ever letting herself rest. She had a full-time job while also attending New Hope's Peak and killed Ichigohara-san because she thought she was lazy...if there's anyone who wouldn't miss work without explanation, it's her. And that's not all that's interesting about the letter.

"The letter says the date is October 2056," I say. "But last I remember, it was early 2055. So if this letters' legitimate, it seems like a year and a half or more really has passed."

Komatsu scowls. "Yeah. That fuckin' evil snake really did erase a ton of time from our lives." He cracks his knuckles. "Whoever's behind him and this killin' game, I swear I'm gonna make them fuckin' pay!"

I don't doubt you have the willpower to do it if we can find out who the mastermind is.
"I'm sure you will if we can find the truth," I say. "But sadly that's not a given. There's still a lot more left to investigate."

"I know," he says, his anger quickly fading. "Guess I better get back to work, then..."

"Yeah," I say. I give the letter and photo back to him. "And thanks for showing me this, Komatsu-kun. I appreciate it."

"Yer welcome," he says. "Oh, and 'bout investigatin'...don't bother lookin' in the Auditorium, Dressing Rooms, and Props Storage Room, 'cause I already found this photo and letter when I looked there. There ain't anythin' else."

So I can skip searching those rooms? That's music to my ears.
"Thanks for letting me know," I tell him. After that, we say goodbye and split up, with him heading downstairs and me to the 2nd floor. Once I take a cursory glance around the Auditorium, Dressing Rooms, and Props Storage Room to make sure Komatsu-kun told the truth, I begin to investigate the rest of the 2nd floor.

There's nothing to be found in the Rec Room, Cell Block B, or the casino, but I eventually spot a piece of paper on the floor in the Arcade. As I pick it, I notice it looks like some sort of formal document.

Subject #1018
Date of Birth:
⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️
, 2040
Gender Identity: Male
Height:
⬛️⬛️⬛️
Weight: 71.3 kg
Chest:
⬛️⬛️⬛️
The subject is a teenage male with no apparent physical issues (certified by Dr. Unetani). Mentally, subject is functioning most of the time and seems perfectly normal, however, this masks deep-seated self-hatred and perceived inability for self-improvement.

To be frank, the subject hates himself. Although he hides it well from others, he never lets himself feel pride or accomplishment for his actions and feels he deserves cruel punishment for any small mishap (I do not believe the subject has self-harmed, but he should be put on suicide watch regardless). Additionally, he has a great fear of letting his father down and feeling like a failure. These two facts do not mix well.

The subject has devoted himself to academics in a manner so intense and obsessive it is nigh unbelievable. Despite only being 15, he is already in University and will likely receive his doctorate within a few years. While this may seem impressive, it comes at a terribly high cost. The subject has absolutely no friends and spends almost all of his waking hours studying or attending class. Unsurprisingly, he suffers from sleep deprivation.

I suspect his devotion to his academics is an attempt to feel accomplished and to prove to himself he is no failure. Additionally, he seems to have acquired this obsession with academics from the incessant, overbearing expectations of his father. The subject admitted to me he has never once received anything less than a perfect score on any assignment since he was 10, and I suspect receiving anything lower again would break him. Unfortunately, further examination is needed to confirm any of these speculations.

Speaking of further examination, the subject must undergo it.
I recommend the subject begin immediate long-term psychological treatment, if not with me, with another highly trained practitioner. He also must be separated from his father for the duration of the treatment (perhaps permanently, but that is a question for later) and
⬛️⬛️⬛️
may also be necessary. I will also consider him for
⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️
.
I will refrain from making a diagnosis and will not prescribe any medication as of yet, for that should all be treated with great care.
P.S. As a last resort, it is possible that the subject should enroll in the
⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️ . Contact Dr. Gomi for more information. I believe this ultimately may be the best course of action.

Dr. Umeji Watai, PhD

Notes for staff: Refrain from using the word “failure” or any synonym of it around the subject. Mention neither academic expectations nor paternal figures in any capacity. These restrictions are indefinite until I personally certify that the subject is prepared to hear them again.

I put the paper back down on the ground, completely and utterly confused.
...What the hell? Dr. Umeji Watai....isn't that the name of Kasparov-kun's chess mentor!? I know Kasparov-kun said he was a psychologist, but why the hell is he doing clinical psychological evaluations? He must be some sort of doctor, but I don't remember Kasparov-kun ever mentioning him being a real practitioner. Is he hiding something, or did he genuinely not know?

Another realization hits me.
Wait a minute...Watai-san mentioned that "the subject," whoever that is, was examined by someone named Dr. Unetani. Sashihara-kun's mentor was named Megumi Unetani, so that's almost certainly her. But if that's true, then that means Kasparov-kun and Sashihara-kun's mentors worked together, yet neither Kasparov-kun nor Sashihara-kun never mentioned their mentors being affiliated before the killing game started.

And then there's the matter of who this "subject" is. I have a pretty good idea of who it might be, but if I'm right, then...
I squeeze my eyes shut and force myself to derail that train of thought.
Not now. I need to stop getting distracted by the pieces of evidence I find and start focusing on finding as much as I possibly can.

I soon leave the Arcade and make my way up to the 3rd floor. Deciding to check out the closest room first, I walk into the Library and find Kasparov hunched over a table, examining a thick book closely. His eyes flick up to me when I enter. "Hello," he greets.

"Hey," I say. "Find something interesting in that book?"

"Yes, actually," he says. He looks at me and frowns. "...Hm. You seem to have something on your mind."

Did I make it that obvious?
"Yeah, I do," I say. "I just read a psychological evaluation report written by Watai-san, your chess mentor."

His eyes widen. "What? Truly!?"

"Uh-huh, and he also mentioned that Dr. Unetani—Sashihara-kun's mentor—did a physical evaluation of the subject he was talking about," I inform him. "So they were both licensed clinical practitioners."

"That is...quite intriguing," Kasparov says, still visibly surprised. "I knew that Watai-sensei has a doctorate and is licensed to practice both psychology and psychiatry, but I do not recall him ever mentioning any evaluations. Nor do I recall him mentioning Unetani-san."

"Maybe those memories were removed, but that'd a weird thing to remove," I say. "But on the topic of removed memories, what do you remember before coming here? Do you remember getting your acceptance letter?"

He nods. "Yes, I do," he says. "I do not recall ever traveling to Japan, though. In fact, I remember absolutely nothing after the letter until I awoke here, nor do I remember several days prior to me receiving the letter."

That piques my interest. "Wait, you lost your memory for several days before you got the letter?"

"Yes...my receipt of that letter is like an island in the midst of blank memories," he says. He arches an eyebrow. "Did something similar not happen with you? I had assumed everyone experienced a similar pattern in regards to their memory loss."

"No, I don't have any big chunks of memories gone prior to getting the letter," I tell him. "Yeah, after I got it stuff gets super hazy, but beforehand I don't have entire days missing. However, there are smaller gaps pretty frequently. There are times at work, at school, when I'm out with my friends, where things are blank for minutes or a few hours."

Kasparov frowns. "That is quite peculiar," he says. "Perhaps..." He stops himself.

"What?" I ask.

"Forget what I said," he says hurriedly. "We have spent enough time on that topic for now.
I need to show you this."
He closes the thick book he was reading and shows
me the cover.

"'A History of Psychosurgery and Neurosurgery, from the Early Nineteenth Century to Modern Day,'" I read aloud. "Why were you reading that?"

Kasparov shrugs. "Well, we lost our memories. That means we underwent a type of brain surgery or psychosurgery, does it not? I will be the first to admit that I know extremely little about neuroscience, but I know that hypnotism-induced amnesia or any other sort of non-invasive procedure could never produce complex alterations to our memories. So we must have undergone surgery of some variety."

"I guess," I say. "Wait a minute...are you suggesting your chess mentor operated on us? He was a psychologist, so he'd be able to do that, right?"

"I never said I thought he operated on us," he says. "Of course, it is possible he did if the operation was psychological in nature, but it is quite unlikely. First off, he has no reason to help the mastermind. Even if he did, this book says that psychosurgeries such as lobotomies have been quite taboo for nearly a century. Even before the Tragedy, when Watai-sensei received his training as the Ultimate Psychologist at the Old Hope's Peak, it was extremely rare. I do not think he operated on us...no, I think it was someone else." He reopens the book and turns to a page near the end, which contains the names and faces of various acclaimed neurosurgeons and psychosurgeons over the years. He points to a row of three faces. "These three are the only currently living ones. It likely is one of them."

I lean closer so I can properly read their names and faces. I gasp when I see the last one. "Holy shit, that's him!"

Kasparov looks confused. "What? Do you know one of them?"

"This man, Jayantha Sumanth," I say, pointing to the picture on the left. "I found his body in the morgue."

"His body must have been in one of the drawers in use that I did not check," Kasparov mutters. He swears. "Damn, I should have checked both of those..."

I note his use of the plural. "Wait, both of those? There were only two additional dead people when you checked?"
It makes sense because Sato-san's body naturally wouldn't be added until after she died. But it is interesting that the other two bodies were there for a while...

"Yes," he answers. "I checked only one, which had the corpse of some unfamiliar middle-aged man inside. I did not bother checking inside the second. I suppose it was because I was emotionally overwhelmed after seeing the bodies of my friends, but it was still a foolish mistake." He takes a deep breath. "But that matters not. What is important is that the mastermind somehow managed to kidnap a leading expert in brain surgery and force them to operate on us."

Yeah, that is pretty wild.
"Well, they had the resources to kidnap the sixteen of us and our hostages," I remind him. "They've also managed to keep this place secret from the cops, so they obviously know what they're doing."

"Indeed," Kasparov says. He moves the book so it's in front of him and looks at the description under Sumanth's picture more closely. "How interesting...this description of Dr. Sumanth says his expertise is in memory alteration research."

Figures.
"Does it say anything else?" I ask. "Is there a part earlier in the book that talks about his research?"

Kasparov squints at the page, then nods. "Yes, there is." He flips back to an earlier page and traces his finger along the text until he finds the relevant part. "Ah, here it is: 'Dr. Jayantha Sumanth is among the world's leading experts in memory research, with his findings being as brilliant as they are extremely controversial. In a groundbreaking 2043 study where he was assisted by fellow experts Dr. Wen He and Dr. Anton Larsson, Sumanth demonstrated the possibility of not only removing memories but also replacing them. He showed that legitimate memories could be fully replaced, but more frighteningly he showed that fabricated memories could also be inserted in place of legitimate memories, although to a much lesser extent.'"

"'Such a procedure is as awe-inspiring as it is terrifying,'" Kasparov continues reading. "'Unsurprisingly, immediately upon its release Dr. Sumanth's research caused an uproar not just from the scientific community, but also from politicians all over the world. So great was the turmoil that Dr. Sumanth was even kidnapped and tortured by the USA's Central Intelligence Agency to ensure that he was not working with adversaries of the USA. Upon his release from captivity, Dr. Sumanth was forced to assure the world the procedure was extremely costly and took weeks, so regular citizens had nothing to fear unless they were comatose. The public outrage died down, but the scientific quarrels have not ceased to this day.'"

Wow...that was a lot of pretty crazy.
"Goddamn," I say. "This is insane...he figured out a way to erase and also replace memories!?"

"...It seems so," Kasparov says, clearly perturbed. "Dr. Sumanth must have been an incredibly intelligent man." He closes the book, then looks at me. "Kawashima-san, I understand that this information may be disturbing to you, but it is entirely possible Dr. Sumanth, or whoever did the surgery if it was not him, only erased our memories. The book did say memories can only be fabricated to a certain extent."

"I know," I say. "It's just that learning we lost our memories is bad enough, but the idea that the remaining ones may not be completely real..." A shiver runs down my spine. "Ugh. It freaks me out."

"I feel the same way," Kasparov says. "However, we cannot let that hold us back. We must continue moving forward with the investigation." He puts the book back on the shelf and begins to walk out of the room. "Goodbye, Kawashima-san."

"Bye," I say as he leaves.
That really was a huge bombshell. The mastermind kidnapped a world-famous expert in memory research to presumably do surgery on us...no, not presumably. He
definitely
did do surgery on us, because otherwise there's no explanation for how we all lost so much of our memories, nor for how Eguchi-san and Niizuma-san regained parts of theirs.

Although I want more time to process that information, I force myself to leave the Library and continue investigating the third floor. The girls' bathroom and the Music Room don't have anything in them, but in the Art Room I spot a photo lying on one of the tables.

Picking up the photo, I see fourteen adults in formal dress standing in a line, with everyone's name printed neatly beneath their figure in the photo.
Oddly, eleven of the fourteen people in the photo have their faces and names scribbled out with black pen. The three that have their faces visible are staring into the camera seriously.
There's an elderly man with snow-white hair in a ponytail and a long beard, a tall, muscular woman with a confident posture, and lastly a balding ma—holy shit, he's
the second body I found in the morgue! Dr. Sumanth turned out to be pretty important, so this guy probably is too.

I look down to the label beneath the balding man's figure to see the name "Headmaster Daiju Gomi."
Gomi...that's the name Watai-san mentioned in that profile I found downstairs, right? If that's true, then...
I look at the names of the muscular woman and the elderly man and have my suspicions confirmed.
Yep, they're Megumi Unetani and Umeji Watai. I already suspected they were colleagues, but this confirms it. I don't know how it could be relevant, though...maybe the mastermind is one of the people with their faces covered in pen?

Initially, that makes sense, but Monohebi said he'd give us the evidence to find the truth of the killing game, and would blacking out the face of the mastermind be consistent with that?
I look over Gomi, Unetani, and Watai's faces again.
The mastermind could be one of them if it's an outside person...Gomi-san is unlikely because he's dead, but it's not impossible. As for Unetani-san and Watai-san, it could also be them...but then why risk making themselves hostages? Hm...

I'm about to put the photo in my apron pocket when I notice that it has a title written in small print: "Staff Photo."
So these people were all coworkers, most likely at a school of some sort judging by Gomi-san's title of Headmaster. If I had to venture a guess, it's probably New Hope's Peak. Although...this is an awfully small staff for a school as renowned as New Hope's Peak. It could be that some staff members simply weren't present when the picture was taken, but who knows.

After I find nothing else in the Art Room or Repository, I leave and go across the hall to search the rooms beyond the locker rooms. I check the girls' locker room, Pool, Sauna, and secret room, but all are thoroughly uninteresting.
I faintly hoped that maybe Monohebi would repair the computer Niizuma-san destroyed and give us back the flash drive she stole, but that hope was obviously misplaced.

Expecting to find nothing in the bathhouse, I'm pleasantly surprised to see a piece of paper on the floor.
That looks to be the same type of paper as the profile from before, so this is probably another one.
Picking it up, I have my theory confirmed as I read the following:

Subject #1051
Date of Birth:
⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️
, 2039
Gender Identity: Female
Height:
⬛️⬛️⬛️
Weight: 68.8 kg
Chest:
⬛️⬛️⬛️
The subject is a teenage female. In his psychological evaluation yesterday, Dr. Watai concluded that this subject had no apparent medical issues. According to him, she exhibits no indications of any sort of personality disorder, eating disorder, depression, or anything such as that.

However, this evaluation isn't completely accurate. During my physical evaluation earlier today, the subject was non-compliant when I asked her to change into a hospital gown that partially exposed her knees and thighs.
My first thought was that this may be the result of some sort of trauma, but she quickly assured me that wasn't the case. I then asked her what it could be, but she refused to answer. It was only once we noticed the spoon and syringe inside her backpack that I realized what was going on.
Eventually, the subject hesitantly complied and agreed to change into a hospital gown. As soon as she did, I realized the reason she did not want me to see her legs was that she has been using these spots as injection points for heroin or some similar narcotic. It seems strange that she would use these spots over her arms, but I think her job as a
⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️
makes it so that
her arms
would be exposed
while she
⬛️⬛️⬛️
, thus it'd be unwise for her to use her arms as injection points.
The subject is extremely reluctant to talk about her addiction and is extremely determined to hide it from almost everyone she knows. Psychological prodding is Dr. Watai's job, not mine, so I didn't push her too much. However, I did get her to admit that her addiction only started about two months ago. However, it's quickly spiraled out of control. The subject is very good at putting up a cheerful, easy-going front, but I can tell it won't last much longer.
I want this girl to become sober once again, so I'm referring her back to Dr. Watai for an official diagnosis and a treatment plan. I empathize deeply with drug addicts and hate how cruelly they are thrown aside by the world, due in no small part to the treatment of a former student of mine (Subject 861). I believe this girl can be helped if
⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️
. Hopefully, Dr. Gomi feels the same way. I know he does not approve of drug use in any form, but I hope he has a soft spot for his niece.

Dr. Megumi Unetani, PhD

Notes for staff: Keep all spoons, syringes, and anything that may be used as a lighter out of the subject's sight in all circumstances. We don't want her injecting at any point outside of a permitted time.

I place the paper back on the ground again.
Okay, I did not expect that. Someone here was really addicted to heroin, one of the most monstrous drugs out there? Whoever they are, I feel really bad for them and hope they managed to overcome their addiction.
A thought enters my mind.
Is the person in this profile Sashihara-kun?
Was he addicted to both painkillers and heroin? The profile says the subject's gender identity is female, but it's possible the subject transitioned, right? No, that can't be it...even if Sashihara-kun was really transgender, Unetani-san mentions him as a separate person in the note when she brought up her former student. But if it's not him, who could it be...?

Not knowing what to think, I leave the bathhouse, look around the rest of the third floor, and then head up to the fourth floor. I search the Gym, Infirmary, and Weapons Room pretty thoroughly, but I don't find anything interesting.
Damn, Monohebi really isn't giving us that much evidence. Hopefully, there's a lot in those previously locked rooms on the fifth floor, or else we're screwed.

Annoyed, I walk into the Media Room to see Hayasaka sitting at one of the computers. "Hey, Hayasaka-san," I greeet her. "How's the investigation going?"

"Not super well, honestly," she says. "I didn't find much of anything before I got here. But I've been checking every computer that'll turn in here, looking through the contents of every flash drive, and inserting every CD and DVD I can find. Most of it's useless garbage or completely empty."

"Huh, 'most' of it's useless garbage," I say as I sit in a nearby swivel chair and move it beside her. "Does that mean you have found at least something valuable?"

"Yeah, but I don't think you'll..." She stops herself. "I might as well just show you it." She quickly pulls up a video and hits play.

For the first few seconds, the screen is blank, but it soon lights up to show what looks like a press conference. In the center of a long table, a woman in formal attire sits rigidly. To her right are a bunch of other similarly stony-faced people in business wear, but to her left is a strange amalgamation of people, most of whom are sobbing or close to it. "Are those our families?" I ask out loud.

"Mhm," Hayasaka nods. She points to a couple with sunken cheeks and dead eyes. "Those're my parents. They look like absolute shit, don't they?"

I scan the row for my parents but only find my siblings, who both look older than I remember. My sister Yuriko uncomfortably fiddles with her hair, a deep-set frown on her face, while my brother Keicho's trying his best to avoid having a public breakdown.
They look awful, but neither one of them is crying....and more importantly, where are Mom and Dad!? I'm glad Yuriko and Keicho are here, because that means the mastermind probably never kidnapped them, but maybe...
A terrible thought enters my mind.
They can't be...no, there's no way they're...

"Attention, everyone," the woman in the center says, forcing me to pay to push my worries about my parents to the back of my mind. "We are now prepared to take questions."

Immediately there's a clamor from the off-camera press, who are all obviously very eager to get their questions answered. "Where are the students of Class 38!? Are the other students safe!?" one man's voice yells over the others. "The kidnapped staff, too!?"

"If we had that information, we wouldn't need to hold this press conference," the woman replies flatly. "As of now, we know nothing the general public does not in regards to the location of the kidnapped Class 38 and our fourteen staff members. We ask that anyone with information as to their whereabouts please come forward as soon as—" The woman next to her, a fifty-something buried beneath jewels and expensive-looking furs, grabs the mic.

"We can pay you," she says shakily. "If money is what you want, you can be sure you'll have it. Millions, tens of millions, whatever...I'll make sure the Saneyoshi Company pays for it. P-Please, just...return my ch-child..." She breaks down into heaving sobs. Even when she pulls out a silk handkerchief and blows into loudly, her noisy tears don't stop.

"...Saneyoshi-san is correct," the woman in the center says as she retakes the microphone. "We're willing to pay the captors quite a lot of money if they return our captured students and staff members alive and well. Additionally, to answer the gentleman's second question, the members of Classes 37 and 39 are safe in a secure location."

As soon as she stops talking, the reporters erupt into a clamor once again. "Do you know why Class 38 was kidnapped and the others weren't!?" one woman's voice screams above the rest. "Do you think it may have been for a *BEEEEEEEEP*!?" Immediately after her statement, a shocked gasp emits from everyone and the room falls into absolute silence.

What the hell...? Why was what she said censored? And why'd it freak everyone out!?
"First of all, you should not mention such a taboo thing," the serious woman replies, visibly disturbed. "Secondly, it's been over forty years since one of those horrid things took place here in Japan; as such, the students being kidnapped for the purposes of a *BEEEEEP* is extraordinarily unlikely. After all, it fails to explain the kidnapping of the staff members."

Surprisingly, the crowd only murmurs fearfully after that instead of being super loud.
I guess whatever possibility that one reporter asked really freaked them out...
"Do you think anyone on the inside was involved?" a reporter asks to break the quiet. "Your facility's grounds are quite well-fortified and make it extremely difficult for anyone to leave or enter."

The woman takes a long time to respond. "...We are conducting an internal investigation into that matter right now," she replies eventually.

The crowd of reporters breaks out into loud, shouted questions. "What do the family members think about this!?" one voice yells above all the others. "We want their comments!"

The woman in furs and jewelry, whose name must be Saneyoshi, quickly takes the microphone again. "Please return my son to me," she begs as she wipes her eyes with her silk handkerchief. "My dear Ryoga...I know he hates me, but I...I need to..." She breaks down into heaving sobs and passes the microphone to the couple next to her, two timid-looking bespectacled people.
From the looks of it, those are Eguchi-san's parents.

"We just want our daughter back," Eguchi's dad says, so quietly that I can barely hear him. "That's all."

The man next to them, a thin, balding man with thick glasses, quickly snatches the microphone from them. "My son'll get everyone out of this situation," he says firmly. He looks at the camera with narrowed eyes. "if the kidnappers are watching, I want to let them know that my Michio won't fail me." He smiles proudly. "No, he's too smart for that! He'll beat all of you revolting kidnappers."

He carelessly throws the microphone aside to a girl who looks a lot like Domoto sitting with a middle-aged couple.
That must be Domoto's sister Meiko and their parents.
Meiko gently picks up the phone and looks at the camera. "I just want Otoha to come back," she says. "That's all mommy and daddy want, too." Her upper lip begins to tremble. "I hope she's still okay..." She and her parents all collectively break out into sobs, which makes me start to tear up too.
This hurts so much knowing that Domoto-san's dead...

The next people to speak are a nerdy-looking couple with orange hair.
Those must be Oyamada-kun's parents.
"I hope my son and his classmates are unharmed," Oyamada's mom says tearfully. "He's finally made friends who don't bully him, and now they're..." She covers her mouth and turns away from the mic, passing it to the person next to her, a tired-looking woman with a large scar on her face.

"I feel the same way as Oyamada-san," she says quietly. "My daughter has been through so much pain and has suffered without friends for so long. To think she would be kidnapped at the very place that was supposed to make her..." She stops and closes her eyes, as if to hold back tears.
She seems like she's Motoki-san's mom...

She can't say anything more, so she hands the microphone off to
Hayasaka's parents, who shake their heads and quickly pass it to the boy next to them.
That kid looks a lot like Komatsu-kun without the dyed hair, so it must be his brother Reiji.
He fiddles with the microphone a lot before he talks. "Yutaka...ya better not die," he says. He looks up at the camera feistily. "If ya do, I'll kill ya myself! Ya better fuckin' come back to me!"

The crowd murmurs in surprise at his rough language as another young boy, this one with dark sunglasses on, takes the mic.
Hey, I recognize him from Furuhata-kun's motive video! Even if I didn't, it'd be easy to tell he and Furuhata-kun are brothers with how similar they look. Although...I remember him looking older in the motive video than he is in this video.
"Bro, I hope it wasn't the yakuza that got you," the kid, who if I remember right is named Dairoku, says meekly. "I really hope you're still okay..."

After him, everyone refuses to say anything until Keicho and Yuriko at the end of the table. They exchange glances, and then Keicho takes the mic. "Wakana..." he says sadly. "*BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP*."
What the hell...? Why is what he's saying censored!?

Yuriko nods solemnly as she takes the mic. "*BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP*."
Okay, what the fuck is this!? Everyone else's speech is totally unfiltered, but my family members are the only ones that have everything they say redacted!? This isn't fucking fair!

"I fucking hate the mastermind,"
I say through clenched teeth. "They've really censored only my family members out of everyone!? That's not fucking fair!"

"No, it's not," Hayasaka says with a sigh. "I didn't think you'd like that, but I figured it was worth showing you that video...it seemed kinda weird to you, didn't it?"

I give her a weird look. "What do you mean?"

"Do you remember the first thing that was censored?" Hayasaka asks. "When one of the reporters asked about something that happened over forty years ago happening again. Everyone freaked out and the woman answering questions told the reporter not to mention it. What was that all about?"

I don't know, but I feel like it's on the tip of my tongue. It feels like some locked part of my mind knows the answer and is screaming it at me, but I just can't recall it...
"I don't know, but I think that memory was removed from us on purpose," I say.

"...Are you sure?" she asks doubtfully. "Could such a specific memory really be removed like that?"

"Yes, but we'll talk about this more in the trial," I say. I get up to leave, but remember something before I go. "Oh, Hayasaka-san...I wouldn't go to the morgue if I were you. Sato-san's body is in there and it's bad. Really bad."

Hayasaka looks aside mournfully. "Okay...thanks for letting me know that, Wakana-san," she says as she stands up too. "Bye. I'll see you later." She leaves.

I think mentioning Sato-san again made her feel sad. I'd feel bad if that's the case, but I'd feel even worse if I let her stumble upon Sato-san's body without any forewarning.

"Hey," I hear Motoki's voice say. Turning to where it came from, I see Motoki standing in the doorway Hayasaka just left.

"Hi, Motoki-san," I say. "How's your investigation going?"

She shrugs. "Decently, so far. Find anything interesting here?"

"Yeah," I say. "Come here and I'll show you."

Motoki does just that and comes over to the computer. Once she watches the video, she frowns deeply. "Seeing my mom cry like that hurts," she says. "If nothing else, though, it was good to—"

The sudden crackling of static cuts her off. Huh? What's that? "Where's that coming from?" I ask as we both look around for the source of the noise.

Motoki moves closer to the sound and picks up an old-looking CB radio that was buried under a pile of defunct DVD players. "It's coming from this thing," she says. "I used something similar when I was doing field research. It's a CB radio, where you can communicate from both ends."

I go over to her to inspect the radio more closely. "It's old," I say. "From its age, it's probably from before the Tragedy."
I'm about to say something more when a barely audible voice emerges from the static.

"...Attenti...message...students...pped in...killi...please respond...This mes...now repeat. Attention—"

Motoki hurriedly picks up the receiver and talks into it. "We're here," she says, almost shaking with excitement. "Can you hear us!?"

The voice stops for a moment. "Th...Sa...ko Motoki, correct?" it asks, adjusting the frequency until it's completely clear. "Is anyone with you?"

"Wakana Kawashima, " I say, leaning closer to the microphone. "Mika Hayasaka, Yutaka Komatsu, and Sergey Kasparov are also still alive. We're trying to find the mastermind right now."

"I see," the voice says. There's a rustling sound and it's replaced by a voice I never expected to hear again.

"Wakana, is that really you?" my big brother Keicho's voice asks. "Please stay alive. We're on our way to save you all now!"

My heart nearly leaps out of my throat in excitement. "Oh my God, Keicho!" I shout. "Mom, Dad, Yuriko, are they alright!?"

He hesitates. "They're alive," he says. "But Wakana, listen to me. There's somethin—"

A deafening gunshot rings out as the radio is violently blasted out of my hands. I instantly duck and cover my ears, trying in vain to stop the ringing in my ears. What the fuck!? Did someone try to shoot me and Motoki-san!?
Shaken, I look around until I see Monohebi with a smoking gun in his mouth.

"I cannot believe I forgot to dispose of that thing," Monohebi says, his voice muffled by the gun. He turns on the safety with his tail then throws it aside. "This killing game has persisted for nearly four weeks, and yet I never once remembered to discard it. How foolish of me."

"You...You motherfucker!" Motoki fumes. "You can't do that! We weren't breaking any rules!"

"No, but you were contacting the outside world," he says. "It is true that does not break a rule, but my prevention of you contacting anyone does not violate one either."

I rub my ears in a vain attempt to reduce the ringing. "Well the least you could've done is use a gun with a silencer," I mumble. "Fucking asshole."

He smirks. "I do not care for your comfort. I will not apologize for anything."

"You can smirk all you want, but Kawashima-san's brother and whoever's with him are on their way to save us," Motoki says. "Because they're in range of this CB radio, they must not be too far away. So there's a good chance they'll come to rescue us!"

Monohebi sighs. "I thought the delusion you could be rescued ended in the first days of the killing game," he says, irritated. "No one will save you, not even if they truly are close. Even if they breach my defenses and storm this place, I will never allow them to take you or any of the hostages alive." He looks toward one of the cameras. "I assume they are currently watching the live broadcast, so let that be my warning to them. Step foot within this prison and all the inmates and the hostages shall die." He turns to face Hayasaka and me again, smiling evilly. "Sususu...it would do you well to forget Keicho and his companions and focus on the investigation, girls. The only way they will ever see any of you outside this prison without me expressly allowing it is in a body bag."

He chuckles to himself as he slithers away. That fucking bastard...I was talking with my brother for the first time in what feels like forever and he fucking cut me off! I could've asked Keicho what he and Yuriko said in the press conference, but not anymore. I clench my fists. Monohebi, I don't care what you fucking say. I'm going to see the rescuers and Keicho, as well as Mom, Dad, and Yuriko. Although...something worries me about them. Keicho hesitated when I asked if they were alright. Did something happen to them? Monohebi said he might send an assassin after my family yesterday when I refused his offer to kill someone, but Keicho said everyone's alive. Even if they're alive, though, they might not be okay. I really, really hope nothing bad happened to them...

"...Wow," Motoki says quietly, snapping me out of my thoughts. "I can't believe it...we just talked to people outside the killing game for the first time in four weeks."

"Yeah, but Monohebi fucking shot the radio," I say through gritted teeth. "The way he was talking, it sounded like that was the only radio of its sorts here. At least, the only one we have access to...so chances are us getting through to them was just a stroke of really good luck." I unclench my fists and relax my mouth, disappointment quickly replacing my anger. "We'll never have good luck like that again...fuck."

"It is really shitty that Monohebi destroyed that radio," Motoki agrees. "But...we can't give up hope yet, right? There's a chance they will rescue us."

I give her a doubtful look. "I want to believe that, Motoki-san, but I can't. Monohebi made it pretty clear he had no intention of letting them enter this place. And even if they do get inside, he's willing to kill us all on the spot." I take a deep breath. "We will see those rescuers. They'll help us go back to the rest of society once we get out of here...but make no mistake, Motoki-san: the only way we're getting out of here is by winning the trial."

She opens her mouth but soon closes it. "...Yeah, you're right," she says sadly. "Guess that means we have to keep on investigating, then." She takes my hand and squeezes it tightly. "If nothing else...I'll promise that I'll do my best to find enough information to free us from this horrible place." She lets go of my hand and starts to walk away. "See you around."

I stare at her until she's completely out of my vision. I'll make the same promise, Motoki-san...I'm making the same promise to you, even if you're not around to hear it. I will find all the evidence I possibly can so that we can win. Although there is the time limit to worry about...I look up at the clock on the wall and see that it's 9:27 AM. Shit, only a little over a half an hour left!? I really need to hustle.

After hurriedly checking the girls' bathroom, I move to Cell Block D. I'm not expecting anything, so I'm surprised to see a small notebook page with a photo taped onto it lying outside one of the cells.
Hm? What's that?

Once I pick it up, I see the photo is of a brutal murder scene. The victim is a teenage girl in casual clothes lying on a green and white patterned tile floor, a large pool of blood around her. Her body and face are so slashed up that she's nearly unrecognizable...nearly.
There's no way...that girl...she can't be who I think she is...

I hold the photo close to my eye and feel my heart sink.
Holy shit, it is her! This girl is my old coworker Masuyo Takeshita, there's no doubt about it. Fuck, I'm sad she died. But...why is this evidence here? I don't understand how her murder has anything to do with this place?

I turn my attention from the photo to the rest of the page, which only contains a few words in hiragana: "Aftermath of Shinako's death. Murdered by two individuals on October 23rd, 2056."
What the fuck...? Shinako? As in, Niizuma-san's dead girlfriend Shinako!? But that...that's not possible! This girl is Takeshita-san! I worked with her for almost a year, there's no way I'd mistake her identity...unless...unless she lied to me and Bessho-san and everyone else at that restaurant from day one. I don't get it...why would Takeshita-san or Shinako or whatever the hell her real name was lie about her identity? And most importantly, why's she dead?

Confused, I put the notebook and photo and look around the rest of Cell Block D. When I don't find anything more, I make my way up to the fifth floor. At the top of the stairs, I stop and contemplate where to go first.
Cell Block E and the Guard Barracks are the closest to me right now, but Monohebi said he'd unlocked the Archives Room, Surveillance Room, and Warden's Office. I've never been to those rooms before, so I feel like the investigation of them should take precedence on that fact alone Additionally, they'll probably have some really interesting evidence in them.

I walk past the Guard Barracks and Cell Block E and stop outside the door to the Surveillance Room.
I haven't even entered yet, but something about the knowledge that Monohebi and most likely the mastermind have spent time surveilling us from inside here creeps me the hell out. It's super unnerving, but...I can't let that hold me back, can I?

Forcing myself to take a deep breath, I open the door to the surveillance room and step in to find a dark room filled with a huge bank of monitors on the wall to my right. The back wall contains a large, well-used blackboard, while the left wall and the one the door's in are blank. In the center of it all, there are several fancy-looking metal control panels. Hayasaka stands at one of them, carefully scrutinizing the various buttons and dials.

"Trying to figure out how to work this thing?" I ask her, deliberately avoiding looking at the monitors.
It really creeps me out to see the same view Monohebi and the mastermind do...

She briefly looks up at me then immediately returns her focus to the board. "Yeah...I'm trying to get the cameras to display the areas of this prison we can't access."

"What do you mean?" I ask her.

Hayasaka gestures to five black screens on the bottom left corner of the wall of monitors. "Those are blank, but there's no reason for them to be there at all," she says.

"Maybe they're leftover screens that aren't connected to any cameras," I say.

Hayasaka finally looks up from the panel to shake her head. "No, that's not possible." She walks over to me and presses a button on the closest panel. When she does, one of the cameras in the middle of the monitor switches from displaying the Garden to a segment of the third floor's main hallway. "See? There isn't enough space to fit all the cameras on here at once...which means those black screens were originally hooked up to at least five cameras. They probably looked into the areas of the prison we're not allowed to access, which is almost certainly where the hostages are."

I open my mouth to say it could also be the trial room, but shut it when I see that one of the monitors near the top right of the wall displays a view of the trial circle.
Hayasaka-san's right...those cameras normally must show places we can't access. I kinda get it, but at this point, why bother hiding the camera feeds? Even if we saw what's going on in those rooms, how could that really help us? We can't go to any of those places. So why did Monohebi feel the need to hide them from us?

"By the way, did you hear a loud noise a few minutes ago?" Hayasaka asks. "It sounded almost like a gunshot, but I couldn't be sure. I was in the Guard Barracks, which I'm pretty sure's at least partially soundproofed."

"Oh, Monohebi shot at me and Motoki-san," I say.

Hayasaka blinks several times in shock. "Wait...what!? He shot at you!? Shouldn't you be more worried about that!?"

"I guess I worded that incorrectly," I say. "He didn't shoot at us. He shot at a bidirectional CB radio I was holding."

"A bidirectional radio...?" Hayasaka repeats. Realization soon hits her. "Wait, were you trying to contact people on the outside!?"

"They contacted us, actually," I explain. "Motoki-san and I had just finished watching the press conference video when we heard static coming from a radio underneath a pile of old DVD players. When we got to it, we started to hear a voice through the static. So Motoki-san and I talked into the receiver, and then my brother came over the line and told us he and others were on their way to save us."

An excited smile spreads across Hayaska's face. "Holy shit, that's...that's amazing! What else did he say!?"

"Nothing, because that was when Monohebi shot the radio," I say, feeling my previous anger at him boiling up again. "That fucking bastard..."

"Goddammit...he really is such an asshole," Hayasaka mutters. "But sadly, there's nothing that can be done unless we find another one of the radios, which I seriously doubt is gonna happen. So...we might as well focus on the investigation for now."

Yeah...it's just hard to focus knowing that there are people close by trying to rescue us, and one of them is my brother. I wish things could be simple and they could swoop in and save us and have that be the end of the killing game. that'd be so much easier than a trial...

"Where the hell's she going...?" Hayasaka asks, squinting at one of the monitors.

Huh? What does she mean?
Confused, I follow her gaze to see Motoki storming out of the Warden's Office and down the fifth-floor hallway, visibly upset.
What the hell...? What's she so upset about?
"I wonder what's making her act like that," I say. "Maybe she found a piece of evidence that really bothered her. Or maybe it has something to do with the broadcast we got."

"...Maybe," Hayasaka says pensively. "Why don't you go see what's wrong?"

I look back to the surveillance cameras and, after a few seconds of scanning, see that Motoki's already on the fourth floor. "I want to, but...I can't yet. With how upset she looks, I'll need some time to calm her down, time I don't have. I still need to investigate as much as I can before I talk to her."

Hayasaka nods understandingly. "Okay," she says. She turns her attention back to the control panels. "I'm gonna get back to playing around with these things. If I manage to get the camera feeds working, I'll show you or someone else."

"Sounds great," I reply.

I leave the Surveillance Room and move to the place next door, the Archives Room.
This place sounds like it's either going to contain really interesting evidence or really boring evidence. Let's hope it's not the latter.

Once inside, I'm met with a dusty yet humid room of shelves packed with manila folders, thick books, and tightly bound stacks of paper. At the back of the room, there are several filing cabinets.
Fuck, there's way too much in here for me to look through. Although...I guess I don't have to look through everything. The stuff that's really dusty is probably too old to be relevant, so I can ignore that. I should look at the stuff with the least amount of dust possible and give priority to that.

The nearest thing not coated dust is a manila folder tucked between two stacks of papers, a folder which is labeled "interrogation necessary." Intrigued, I open it to see another one of the profiles and part of a Polaroid photo. Although a section on either side has been ripped away, similar to the photo of Carrasco I found before, the part that remains shows Eguchi and Furuhata. Both are clad in school uniforms and sit on a bench in the middle of a garden. At the left part of the photo, Eguchi sits against the bench's edge and moodily stares at something far away, while in the center Furuhata smiles weakly.
This photo is weird in a few ways, but the strangest part is seeing Furuhata-kun smile. When I knew him here, I never saw him do anything but scowl and frown.

The videos of him I previously saw come back to mind.
In those videos, he acted completely differently from the Furuhata-kun I knew. It was almost like he was a different person...what possibly could have happened to him that made his personality change so drastically?
As for Eguchi-san, she looks really unhappy. What happened to make her feel like that?

Pushing those thoughts aside for the time being, I inspect the rips of the picture more closely.
The ripped section on the right is carefully torn so that it maps the edge of the Furuhata's body, while on the left the ripping is far more careless. A muscular left arm with a running watch on it is still visible near Eguchi's head on the left, while on the right there is nothing hinting as to who or what was in that section of the photo before of how carefully it was torn away. Whoever cut this photo clearly did not want us to see who or what was sitting next to Furuhata-kun. So I wonder...could it be that the mastermind was sitting next to him? Or maybe they're the person with the running watch? Either one is possible...

Done with the photograph, I turn my attention to the profile. It reads the following:

Subject #974

Date of Birth: March 24th, 2040

Gender Identity: Male

Height: 166 cm

Weight: 62 kg

Chest: 69 cm

Subject is a teenage male. During the evaluation conducted by Dr. Unetani yesterday, she found that he has endured severe malnourishment and dehydration on numerous times in the past. Additionally, he currently suffers frequent migraines. Most concerningly, the subject has a liver so damaged for one so young that frankly, I could not believe it when I first saw the report. I had the tests repeated three times, but sadly the results were always the same.

The reason for this became quite obvious once I conversed with the subject, as he admitted to being an alcoholic. His alcoholism, which is worse than many of the adult patients I have treated in my day, is so bad that it has raised his drinking tolerance to levels nearly impossible for someone his size (for more details on this, consult my notes). The subject confessed to me that he cannot go more than a few hours without at least craving a drink and never goes more than eight or nine hours without consuming a drink of alcohol (he will sometimes be awoken in the middle of the night by his cravings).

In addition, the subject told me that he has attempted to go "cold turkey" and quickly abandon alcohol a few times. However, each time he tried he was beset with severe, unending migraines. Unsurprisingly, every one of these attempts at sudden quitting has been completely unsuccessful. He is lucky to have survived these quitting attempts, as going "cold turkey" on alcohol can be fatal.

As if this situation was not bad enough, an even more concerning complication is the fact that the subject is the only caretaker for his younger sibling. The reason for this is that his parents, once members of the Kuzuryuu Clan, were murdered by them four years ago for being involved in a plot to kill the son of Boss Fuyuhiko. To make up for the transgression of their parents, the subject and his sibling must pay the Clan a set amount every month or risk facing the same fate as their parents. The subject now works his parents' wine appraisal business to pay this debt; this shop is presumably the source of most of his alcohol.
I normally never do this on the first evaluation, but I believe I have all the information necessary to diagnose this subject with Substance Use Disorder. He is in
dire need of rehabilitation to treat this affliction at once. Additionally, his sibling must be removed from his caretaking immediately (he must also be guarded heavily, as the Kuzuryuu Clan will undoubtedly seek him out). I predict neither he nor the child will be receptive to this notion, but for both their sakes it must be done.As for my recommendation for the rehabilitation plan for the subject, I will need some time to consider the best option. Typical CBT and/or group therapy might suffice with the proper conditions, however, I will also seriously consider him for
⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️
. Consult Dr. Gomi for more information.

Dr. Umeji Watai, PhD

Notes for staff: N/A

Well, it's pretty obvious that's Furuhata-kun's profile.
The description was obvious enough, but all the information at the beginning was uncensored, unlike the other two profiles...I guess the mastermind figured there was no point in hiding it. More important than that, though,
I feel bad for him...his alcoholism sounds really awful. I can't imagine how horrible it must have been to be addicted like that...

Something strikes me.
Wait a minute...Furuhata-kun's alcoholism, Sashihara-kun's opioid addiction, the unknown girl's heroin addiction, Eguchi-san's bulimia, Hayasaka-san's bulimia...I'm sensing a pattern here. Two or maybe three of those together might've been a coincidence, but there's no way five could be. New Hope's Peak must've intentionally scouted people with problems this year...but why? Was it for some weird PR stunt? Was it to show how virtuous of a school they are, only accepting people with issues and reforming them? That'd be in line with their admittedly pretentious attitudes, but if so...what could my problem be? I'm not addicted to anything, nor do I have an eating disorder. I don't have anything like depression or anxiety, either. Something's up, but I have no idea what it is...

With a variety of confused thoughts swirling in my mind, I put the folder back down and continue searching the room until I find something non-dusty. This time, it's a large, thick book.
Shit, I definitely don't have enough time to read a book so thick. I guess I'll have to be content with merely skimming through it.

Once I take the book from the shelf and place it on the floor, I open it to find pages upon pages of charts filled with numbers neatly written in pen, and also lots and lots of pages full of calculations or dense paragraphs of financial jargon. Strangely enough, I find myself understanding pretty much everything I lay my eyes on. Gross margin, fixed expense, accruals...I've never once taken any financial literacy class or even had my parents talk to me about anything more than basic credit and debit stuff, but I know what all those things are and more. Did I learn about that at school...? Or, worst-case scenario, did I write this book?

I force those thoughts out of my brain and pay attention to the book itself. Don't be stupid, Wakana. The handwriting doesn't look like yours at all, and it's clear from the consistency of the handwriting this was all written by the same person. This book was probably written by someone else to keep track of all the finances of the killing game, someone who's almost certainly the mastermind.
Whoever they are, they're definitely assiduous about the finances of this killing game. Considering how thorough they've been with other aspects of the killing game, I'm not surprised.

I'm about to put the book back when I notice that some of the ink from one of the pages has smudged onto my hand. The ink is still not completely dry? That must mean someone was writing on this page pretty recently. Taking note of that, I wipe my hand against my apron to get most of the ink off and
place the book back on the shelf. Once I'm searching the room again, the next thing that catches my interest is a piece of paper laying in one of the empty spots near the back of the room. As I pick it up, I see that it's the printout of an email.
From: Umeji Watai < ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️
@ ⬛️⬛️ >
Date: Friday, March 12th, 2055 at 14:21

To: Daiju Gomi < ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️ @ ⬛️⬛️ >

Subject: Full Information of Subject 1011

Dr. Gomi:

As you know, one of the members of the incoming class 38 is a former pupil of mine. I recently learned from Aichi-san of the records department that he has failed to cooperate in revealing aspects of his personal information necessary for proper documentation, most notably his patronymic name. Given that I personally requested he come to this academy, I feel it is my responsibility to rectify this issue.

Fortunately, with basic knowledge of Slavic naming customs, one can determine his patronymic name without the subject deciding to tell us himself. In most Slavic cultures, a patronymic name comes from the given name of the father of the child and is somewhat comparable to a "middle name" seen in some Western cultures. Because the name of the father of the subject was Pavel, the patronymic name of the subject is Pavlovich. For obvious reasons,
I would suggest refraining from referring to him with this patronymic name in all circumstances unless I say otherwise.

In regards to the other information he refuses to reveal, one might think we could reach out to his family to gain it. However, I would strongly advise against this course of action due to the fact that the subject has been disowned. Recently, I briefly conversed over the phone with the older sister of the subject, who has usually been the most sympathetic to him; unfortunately, even she did not want to say a word about him.
So, what I suggest we do is wait for the current mood of the subject to pass and for him to become more amenable. Then, I will talk with him myself. I believe he will listen to me once he calms down.

Best,

Dr. Watai

Shit, Kasparov-kun's family disowned him? I knew they were really distant, but it's awful they did that to him. Also, it's weird that he was so uncooperative with the people here at New Hope's Peak. Was it because he didn't want to come here? Watai-san said in the email that he was the one who requested for Kasparov-kun to come to New Hope's Peak, so something must've happened between Kasparov-kun and his dad, something really bad. Whatever it was, does Kasparov-kun even remember it? I should ask him the next time I see him.

Returning the paper to where I found it, I continue looking around until I spot another dust-free manila folder.
Wonder what's in this one.

I open the folder and see yet another one of the profiles, although just from a glance I can see much more of this one has been redacted than the previous ones. Holding it close to my face, I read it.

Subject #982
Date of Birth: ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️Gender Identity: ⬛️⬛️⬛️Height: ⬛️⬛️⬛️Weight: ⬛️⬛️⬛️Chest: ⬛️⬛️⬛️Subject is a teenage ⬛️⬛️⬛️ . Other than their ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️ , the subject has no other afflictions, physical or mental (certified by Dr. Unetani and Dr. Watai, respectively). Nor has the subject ever been ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️ before now.The reason for this subject coming to us is the danger ⬛️⬛️ and ⬛️⬛️ plans pose to society. I recently spoke with the Prime Minister's aides on this issue, and they agreed it was worth the risk for the subject to come here. They believe that giving the subject an ultimate title and
⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️ would be more effective than throwing ⬛️⬛️ in jail, which they believe would only strengthen the hatred the subject holds for almost everyone in this world. I have to say that I agree; after all, what is the purpose of ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️ if not rehabilitation?Unfortunately, rehabilitation comes with risks and one might argue that rehabilitation is too dangerous or even impossible in this case. Concerns over this are only heightened by the fact that the subject's plans echoed the
⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️ that those of us of older generations are all too familiar with. Having witnessed these horrors myself when I was young, I do not take these concerns lightly. However, I believe that rehabilitation should at least be attempted. Note that I did not come to this conclusion on my own; it was only my conversation with Headmistress Kirigiri that solidified my decision. Given her personal experiences, I believe her input should be valued above all others.Of course, there must be a contingency plan.

I have reached out to the esteemed Dr. Jayantha Sumanth and his colleagues Drs. Wen He and Anton Larsson. If you are somehow unfamiliar with them, they are expert neuroscientists and neurosurgeons who have made remarkable advances in memory alteration. However, their area of expertise is not confined to that field. Dr. Sumanth in particular has recently been making impressive advances in his research concerning ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️. He and his two colleagues are willing to use these new findings of Dr. Sumanth to carry out their experimental ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️ procedure on this subject if rehabilitation fails.That aside, if the other staff members agree to fully accept this subject, ⬛️⬛️ is to be properly confined and, at least initially, be separated from the others at all times. Only myself, Dr. Watai, and Dr. Unetani are to see
⬛️⬛️ . There will be *no* exceptions to this rule, not until I expressly give a written order saying otherwise.

Dr. Daiju Gomi, PhD

Notes for staff: N/A

That was a lot, to say the least. All of the profiles so far have been censored to some degree, but this one had much more than the other three. I think the reason why is pretty obvious...whoever this profile belongs to, it's very likely they're the mastermind. I don't know why else Monohebi would redact so much stuff from it, including all of the subject's identifying information. Also, this Headmistress Kirgiri person definitely sounds familiar, but I can't remember who exactly she is. Did Dr. Sumanth remove my memories of what made her important, and if so, why?

Speaking of Dr. Sumanth, he and some mysterious "experimental procedure" he and his colleagues came up with got mentioned. Gomi-san said it wasn't in the field of memory research, so what could it be? Part of me wants to know, but part of me's scared to find out...

With a lot on my mind, I put the profile back where I found it and look around the Archives Room some more, but I'm unable to find anything else not coated in a thick layer of dust.
I guess that means there's nothing else in here that I should bother looking at. I could look at some of the older, dust-covered files, but I don't think that'd do any good. There's not much time left and I shouldn't waste it looking through dusty old files.

I leave the Archives Room and stop across the hall at the door to the Warden's Office.
This room, along with the Surveillance Room, is probably where Monohebi and the mastermind spent most of their time during the killing game. There's most likely a lot of important evidence in here...no, there definitely is. Motoki-san stormed out of here earlier looking really upset, so something must've triggered it. What it could be? Guess there's only one way to find out...

I enter the office to find an elegant office complete with posh red carpeting, expensive-looking wood paneling on the walls, and a large mahogany desk. "This room is quite elegant, is it not?" Kasparov says from beside a large bookshelf on the right wall.

"Yeah, it sure is," I say. "It's a completely different vibe than the rest of this prison." I wasn't expecting to see Kasparov-kun here...should I ask him about the stuff that email talked about? He's never mentioned being disowned before, but then again, family is a sensitive subject for him. It's probably best to not bother him about that for now. "Have you found anything important in here?" I ask instead.

"Nothing especially interesting on this shelf quite yet, but there are some intriguing things on that computer," he replies, gesturing to a monitor sitting on the desk. "It has no password, but there is very little on it. In fact, there are only a few PDFs."

Is that really all there is? I guess the mastermind wiped all the other files off it before they let us investigate in here. "Thanks for letting me know, Kasparov-kun," I say as I sit at the desk and turn on the monitor. Like Kasparov said, there's almost nothing on the file. All that's on the desktop is a bunch of PDF files, just like Kasparov said.
There's probably some way to retrieve other files that were on this previously, but I don't have the technological skills to do that, nor do I think anyone here does. I guess I'll have to work with what I've got.

I click on the first PDf file to see a record of an email, formatted much like the one I found in the Archives Room.
From: Joaquín Carrasco < ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️@ ⬛️⬛️ >
Date: Wednesday, October 25th, 2056 at 01:01

To: Daiju Gomi < ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️ @ ⬛️⬛️ >

Subject: Mayumi's kidnapping

Gomi:

My wife and I just learned of the disappearance of my daughter Mayumi and her classmates from ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️ yesterday afternoon. I've sent multiple calls and even texts to the emergency line you've set up for us parents to contact in emergency situations, but I'm not getting through. This is fucking unacceptable!

The entire reason Mayumi was sent to your school was because of what happened to her and Silvia Juárez. You know how badly Silvia's death and what those people almost forced Mayumi into messed her up, so you have to understand why I'm so infuriated. She told me she was doing better and finally regaining the ability to trust people after a whole year and a half of attending your school, but getting kidnapped again is only going to make her regress. So, if you want to keep your fucking money (and your public image, because you can fucking bet I'll sue you), you better find my daughter or you'll deal with all hell on earth.

I hate to be so rude and aggressive, but I won't mess around when it comes to my daughter's safety, nor will my wife. We're taking the next available flight to Japan and will be heading straight to your office. When we arrive, you best be prepared to answer us.

Joaquín Carrasco

Damn, he was not playing around. I don't blame him, though, I'd be seriously pissed if my child was kidnapped too. Especially considering it seems like something really bad happened to Carrasco-san and this girl named Silvia, whoever th...wait a second. Could Silvia be...? I pull out the photo in my apron and look at it more closely.

Upon doing so, I see Carrasco and the girl she's sitting next to have two small backpacks pushed to the edge of the bench and the frame of the photo. I scan the backpacks closely and find exactly what I was hoping to see: tags on the backpacks in case they got lost. Both tags have names in Roman letters with an address and a phone number beneath the name. Sure enough, the names are "Mayumi" and "Silvia." So this girl next to her really is Silvia Juárez. What happened to her and Carrasco-san? Whatever it was, I get the vibe that it was pretty bad...

I close that PDF and open the next one to see a sight that makes me recoil in the chair: several pages of reference sheets and sketches of Monohebi with hand-written notes scattered around each one. These are the same drawings I saw at the end of the commemoration video...ugh, I hate seeing them again,
The more that I look at them, the more I become convinced Eguchi-san drew these sketches. It's unmistakably her art style.
But does that mean she was the mastermind? Or even that she was the person mentioned in the commemoration video? I'm still not sure about either of those.

Trying to forget about Eguchi's tragic fate for a moment, I turn my attention away from the drawings themselves and redirect it to the notes. A few discuss technical things I don't understand, but most are about Monohebi's personality and the design.
"Must balance cuteness and psychopathy", "should I incorporate sparkles?", "So cute~",
and "Acts just like the bear" ...okay, that's weird. Did Eguchi-san, or whoever else made these drawings on the off chance it wasn't her, want Monohebi to be cutesy? Because if so, she absolutely failed, which would be strange considering everything else about Monohebi has unfortunately been done perfectly. So why did his personality get changed? Was there a change of heart? I have no clue...

Not able to bear the sight of seeing Monohebi drawings any longer, I close that file and open the last PDF. Once I do, I encounter yet another record of an email.
From:
⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️
< ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️
@ ⬛️⬛️ >
Date: ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️
To: ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️ <⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️ @ ⬛️⬛️ >
Subject: Potential Deal

Grimmla:

I received your last email about the payment details. Now that you've shown me proof that you can finance this operation, I'll respond to your questions.

Firstly, I can help you transport all the desired staff and students, including yourself, from ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️. However, security is a serious issue. I'll be unable to complete this job without assistance from the inside—and not just your assistance. Judging from my basic research and the information you provided, you'll need at least one other person to help you. Is that possible? You have to let me know within 48 hours of me sending this email, otherwise, the deal's off. No exceptions.

Secondly, the transport from ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️ to ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️ will be difficult. All the kidnapped individuals, including you, will have to be well hidden and silent for long periods of time, meaning we will need to acquire strong sedatives (naturally, I expect you to compensate me for these expenses). The most important and dangerous stage is when we dock in ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️. Although it is fairly routine for my men to pass illegal items of various sorts through customs, this action will be very risky with the manhunt that will certainly result once the news of the kidnapping is broadcasted. I will expect extra compensation for this added risk.

Thirdly, I have some concerns about your hostage list. You truly can't expect my men to kidnap at least fourteen people from across Japan and then secretly transport them all with the amount of money you proposed. I'll need at least double. Also, I flat-out refuse to even attempt to abduct the members of the Saneyoshi family. With the number of resources that family has at its disposal, such a job is far too risky, even for me.

That about concludes my responses. If you have any other concerns, you
can "have ⬛️⬛️⬛️" and chat with me anytime.

Verlenda

What the hell?
That was messed-up..reading this Verlenda person callously talking about kidnapping people was really unsettling. Speaking of Verlenda, who the fuck is that? And who's Grimmla? Their names are really weird, so they must be code names of some sort. I don't understand what the codenames could be, though. The
strangeness of the names aside, this email confirms something I knew all along but desperately didn't want to accept...that someone inside New Hope's Peak was plotting this killing game. One of the people I knew, most likely one of my classmates, was a lying traitor who got us into this whole mess.

And about traitors, it seems I have yet another one to worry about. Verlenda said they thought Grimmla would need at least one other person to help them out during the abduction process. Who was that person? is that second individual the person mentioned in the commemoration video? Or was that person Grimmla themselves? Who the hell knows...

"They are rather intriguing files, are they not?" Kasparov asks, walking over from the bookshelf.

"Yeah," I reply, still looking at the computer screen as if staring at it will give me more answers. "Find anything interesting on the bookshelf?"

He frowns. "Nothing particularly interesting, except for the fact that all the books are in Russian."

I finally look over at him. "What?"

"The books are all in Russian," Kasparov repeats. He gestures to the desk. "Look inside the desk. There are many dusty old papers and forms in there and all of them are in Russian as well."

Doing as he says, I open the top drawer to find a disorganized stack of old, dust-covered administrative forms full of Cyrillic writing. Opening the other drawers yields the same result. "That's really fucking weird," I say. "Does that mean we're somewhere in Russia?"

"I would say that is likely," Kasparov says. "The email between Verlenda and Grimmla mentioned docking, so we certainly crossed the sea at some point. Most likely we are somewhere in Eastern Russia. Unfortunately, there is not much more we can learn at the moment."

Huh...but couldn't he read all the Russian text he found?
"What do you mean?" I ask. "Shouldn't you have been able to read everything you found?"

"The books on the shelf are all novels and the few of which I checked the insides contained nothing interesting; as such, they are useless to us right now," Kasparov answers. "As for the papers in the desk, I could tell from a mere brief scan that none of it is useful. The papers are an assortment of reports to the warden, descriptions of the actions of individual prisoners, food delivery information, and more. Obviously, none of that information is helpful to us. We already knew from Monohebi that this place was previously a prison before he renovated it."

True, but there's probably something hidden in all that information. "Are you sure absolutely none of the information in there is helpful?" I ask him. "Remember Monohebi said he needed us to figure out the entire truth of the killing game. Doesn't that include our exact location? The information in this desk might help lead us to that."

Kasparov considers my words for a moment, then shoos me out of the desk. "You are correct," he admits begrudgingly. He pulls a dust-covered stack of papers out of the desk and places them on the top. "You best be leaving. I cannot read carefully when there are others around."

Fine by me. Even if I could read those papers, I don't think I'd want to. But before I go... "Kasparov-kun, did you see Motoki-san leave here several minutes ago? And did she tell you about the radio broadcast we got?"

He looks at me sharply. "I did not see her as I only arrived here a few minutes before you, but...what is this about a radio broadcast?" he asks, raising his eyebrows. "Are you saying you received a message from the outside world?"

"Yeah," I say. "It came from this old CB radio in the Media Room that Monohebi apparently forgot to get rid of. While Motoki-san and I were in the Media Room with it, static suddenly started coming from it. Not too long after, this barely audible voice started asking for an answer from people "trapped in the killing game," so we responded. My brother Keicho then took over the line and told me that he and the other rescuers were coming to save us, but then Monohebi shot the radio out of my hands."

Kasparov nods understandably. "I see," he says. "I thought I heard a very muffled noise resembling a gunshot when I investigated the secret room on the third floor, but I brushed it off as nothing. It seems that was a mistake." He smiles. "That aside, such a broadcast is quite good news. If the rescuers and your brother are within range of an old CB radio, they must be fairly close."

"Yeah, but we can't count on them to come directly to us," I say. "They don't have the exact knowledge of where we are."

Kasparov's smile widens even more. "Oh, but they may."

What? "Are you serious?" I ask incredulously. "How!?"

"Do you recall when Domoto-san and Sashihara-kun mentioned that they used a device to practice activating the nail gun triggers simultaneously?" Kasparov asks. "That device had a secondary purpose: each time they activated it simultaneously, it would send a distress signal. It served both to help them prepare for faking my death the next day and to signal for help."

"Wow," I say. "That's really clever, Kasparov-kun."

"Do not credit me," he says. "Sashihara-kun was the one who thought of the idea. He realized that because the walkie-talkies worked, the mastermind was not jamming radio wave communication in this place. So, he had Domoto-san build a small device that sent distress signals." He shakes his head with a smile. "I admit, I did not think anything would come of it, which is why I did not mention it to any of you. However, this turn of events is most certainly a very pleasant surprise."

Yeah...I just can't believe Domoto-san, Sashihara-kun, and Kasparov-kun really had built a back-up plan to signal for help into their already complex plan. They really gave it their all. Unfortunately, though, I'm not sure anything will come of this.
"Not to be a spoilsport, but I don't think we'll be rescued," I say. "Monohebi told Motoki-san and I that he'd kill us and all the hostages if they breached the defenses for this place. Knowing Monohebi, I'm pretty sure that's not an empty threat."

"It assuredly is not," Kasparov says with a frown. "Though if we are to 'look on the bright side,' as they say, at the very least this threat gives us confirmation the remaining hostages are still alive."

"They're still as good as dead," I say, even though it pains me to do it. "You know Monohebi will never allow them to live."

He looks at the desk contemplatively. "...Most likely not, no." He straightens the papers and lets out a long exhale. "Excuse me, Kawashima-san, but I must get to investigating these papers. We do not have all the time in the world."

Taking that as my signal to go, I say bye and walk out into the hallway. Where to next? Should I look for Motoki-san? I want to, but...I still haven't investigated everywhere yet. I need to look through every room up here before I speak with her.

The Guard Barracks is the closest unexplored room, so I head there first. When inside, I immediately spot a photograph lying in front of one of the lockers. Upon picking it up, I see an image of a school cafeteria. In the foreground, Terajima and Oyamada huddled together closely, both reading a book on the table in front of them. At the table immediately behind them, Yamaguchi, Ichigohara, and Komatsu are sitting together. Yamaguchi and Ichigohara animatedly talking about something, while an undyed-hair Komatsu smiles slightly as he listens to their conversation. All of them are in school uniforms.

Looking at this makes me feel sad. Terajima-kun and Oyamada-kun look so happy together, and Yamaguchi-kun, Ichigohara-san, and Komatsu-kun look happy too. Speaking of that, it's strange to see Yamaguchi-kun look so happy and Ichgiohara-san so energetic. I guess going to school must've made them open up more. But it's not like it really matters now...everyone in this picture is dead except for Komatsu-kun, and there's no way to bring them back.

Feeling sad, I'm about to look away from the photo when I notice the pattern of the tile floor. Wait a minute...that green and white tile pattern...that's identical to the one Shinako was lying on in the photo I found! Does that mean she was killed in this cafeteria!?
That'd explain why Monohebi felt the photo of her death was relevant, but I don't know why she'd have to die in our school's cafeteria. How'd she even get there? She's not a student, right?

Confused, I look around the rest of the Guard Barracks. I find nothing, so I soon go to Cell Block E. It's
way too big to search thoroughly, so instead, I peek into each one and see if there's anything inside. It's not until I get to one of the cells on the uppermost level that I find a small book with the label "Diary" on the cover lying on the floor. Hm? Whose diary is this?

I open the first page of the diary to see a brief entry.

December 28th, 2054

Today is the first day of my imprisonment after my failed uprising. I wonder, are they going to kill me like they did the others? They haven't spared me because of my age, that's for sure. Akihito was fifteen too, but that didn't stop the pigs from murdering him. Was it because of Mother intervening? Father hates me as much as I do him, so I know he had no hand in sparing me from state execution. But Mother still has some affection for me for some unknown reason. If she truly did tell the police to spare me, I hope she understands that I do not thank her for it. I'd prefer to be dead and free than alive and in a cell.

I hope they do not destroy my uniform. Even though it has been dirtied, it carries a very special meaning to me. That uniform was the uniform my comrades and I wore in our strike against this repressive state, and as the only surviving member of that group, I feel it is my duty to keep it intact as a way to remember my fallen comrades. If you want to make a request that means anything to me, Mother, it would be to save that uniform.

Okay, so this is undoubtedly Yamaguchi-kun's diary. He's the only person this makes sense for.
I turn the page and quickly flip through the rest of the diary. Most of the entries are much shorter and fairly mundane. it's not until the end that I find something interesting.

March 10th, 2055

The guards have informed me of my "ultimate" fate (pun intentional). Instead of being permanently sent to a normal prison as I expected, I'm being sent to a fancier one in the form of Gomi's school, where I will be made into a knock-off Ultimate student. I do not know what they think sending me there will do. Do they expect me to drop my convictions simply because they tell me to do so? My dialectical materialist outlook on the world is not something I will simply throw away because they ask me to. I will die before I capitulate, and my captors must know this.

This makes me think their intent is not so much "rehabilitation" so much as it is forced programming. They want to force me to abandon my convictions and my Marxist analysis of the world, return to liberal idealism, and then integrate back into their society. They'll probably extoll the virtues of bourgeois social democracy and try to water down my revolutionary spirit. They want me to become a good little worker who does nothing but eat, work, shit, and die. I refuse. I will not allow them to control me. I will not be like the "guards" in Zimbardo's Prison Experiment at Standford University, developing a sadistic attitude when offered a position of power, nor will I be like the subjects of the Milgram study and "shock" others simply because an authority figure told me to do so. I will only ever do things consistent with my own morals.

That said, I will not resist attending this school. I know whatever they do will not change me and no amount of torture can break me, so I have no fear. But more important than my own security, at this school I will find fifteen individuals who have been mistreated severely and are in need of help, many of whom are societal outcasts. This
means it
is quite likely many of them are prime for radicalization. Ha...perhaps reading this will make my captors change their minds and send me to that disgusting ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️ school for spoiled rich brats instead. If that happens, I will sure to be resist their decision at every turn.

Yamaguchi-kun wrote this...? I'm surprised. He comes across much more calmly in this writing than he ever did when I knew him. He still obviously has that fiery revolutionary spirit I knew, but he doesn't come across as brash as I remember him being. I wonder what happened...

Confused, I put the diary back and finish searching Cell Block E. When I'm done, I head to the Torture Room. Luckily, there's nothing notable in there so I don't have to stay long. I hate that room so much. It always makes me feel super uncomfortable.

The last room for me to check is the Surgery Room. It's in pretty much the same state as it was when I investigated it yesterday, although now all the blood has been cleaned up. The only difference is now there's a Monohebi flash drive lying on the operating table. Another flash drive? Given that the previous ones had important stuff on them, I better see what's on it ASAP.

I quickly make my way down to the Media room and boot up the first computer I can find. When it's ready, I plug the flash drive in to find only one file on it, a file named "session2.mp4."
Another one of those "session" videos huh. I wonder if this one will show Furuhata-kun being tortured too.

Instead of seeing Furuhata, I'm met with the sight of Eguchi when I click on the video. However, not just any Eguchi. This Eguchi looks like an absolute mess. Her hair's tangled, she has bags deep under her eyes, and she's slumped in the chair Furuhata sat in all the previous videos, smoking a cigarette and disinterestedly gazing somewhere off-camera. What the hell...? Why does Eguchi-san look like this? And since when was she a smoker!?

For at least thirty seconds, she continues staring at something out of frame. After a long drag of a cigarette, she exhales and turns her attention to the camera. "Guess this'll just keep going on 'til I say something," she says moodily. "Well, fuck it. Might as well get it over with."

She takes another drag of the cigarette before she speaks again. "Whoever's watching this video, I bet you're real confused," she says, staring directly into the camera. "If you're me, I bet you're extra confused. I don't blame you...why the fuck would I, a girl who's no more than nerdy otaku game developer, look this fucking terrible!?" She returns her attention to her cigarette, frowning. "There's no time to tell the whole story, so let's just say...shit happened. I trusted the wrong people.

"I have no idea who's gonna watch this, so from now on I'll assume it's me," Eguchi continues, still not looking at the camera. "You'll probably see this after you see that video and the Monohebi sketches. You'll probably have the memories of bulimia back too. The bullying, too. At that point, it's likely you'll be shown this video if the situation permits. You're probably freaking out right now, not just because of this but also because of what those repressed memories'll inevitably bring. Sumanth can change a lot, but he's no god."

She takes another drag of her cigarette, which is on its last legs. "With those memories back, I want you to remember how many times you've been betrayed. Think of middle school. Think of the relentless bullying, the two-faced 'friends,' the never-ending gags of
'Who can embarrass Eguchi-san this week?' and what that showed you—the horrible truth of just how vile humans can be."
She crushes the cigarette on the arm of the chair, staring intently at the camera as she does. "Gomi and his goons didn't let you do what you wanted to your bullies, but you have a chance. You can show them that they were wrong not to fear you. All you have to do is win.

"Drop the attempts to be a nice girl who never speaks up for herself," she goes on, a fiery glow in her eyes. "You tried your whole damn life to be a good girl who never did anyone wrong, a girl who crossed her t's and dotted her i's and who always listened to mommy and daddy. That hasn't worked one fucking bit for seventeen years, so what the hell makes you think it's going to change now!? Newsflash, dummy, it's not going to. Unleash yourself. Free that fiery passion that's always been in you—you know it's there, it's the reason you like that music dumbass—and redirect it from games and anime to the real world." She smiles. "Who knows what'll happen once you do that." The video turns off.

For at least a minute after the video ends, I can only stare at the computer screen. What the fuck...? That was Eguchi-san!? There's no way! This has to be one of those deep fake videos, because Eguchi-san was never even remotely like this, not even when she was locked in the...

No, that's not true. Towards the end, when she was imprisoned, she started acting very bizarrely. She screamed furiously at me, she became distrustful of everyone around her, even Komatsu-kun...she even stabbed her close friend Terajima-kun, presumably trying to kill him. I thought all of that was because the stress of the situation caused her to break, but if this video is real, then...is that still the truth? Or is she—

"Attention, attention," Monohebi says from the monitor on the wall. "It is now 10 AM, which means the period of investigation has concluded." He smiles widely. "Please gather in the Cafeteria immediately. Once you are all there, the elevator will be summoned, and then we shall proceed to our final class trial. Until then."

The monitor turns off, leaving me in deafening silence. ...It's here. The end of the investigation is really here.

I take one last look at Eguchi's smiling face on the computer screen. Eguchi-san...I have no idea what happened to you. I don't know what happened to Furuhata-kun, either, in both of his videos, he seemed so different from when we knew him. Were both of those videos fake? Something about them feels wrong, but at the same time...

"What are you doing?" Kasparov's voice asks.

Surprised, I turn around to see him standing by the door closer to the stairs from the fifth floor. "Oh, hey, Kasparov-kun," I say. "I was just kinda shaken by this video."

He nods understandably. "I see. Even so, you cannot dwell on what you saw. We must make haste to the Cafeteria."

True, otherwise Monohebi will freak out. "You're right," I say. "Let's get going."

The two of us silently walk to the Cafeteria, where the other three, all of whom look really nervous, are waiting. "Scared for the trial?" I ask.

"Yeah," Hayasaka says. "This trial is really high-risk, high-reward. We have an incredible opportunity to escape, but the cost of failing to meet Monohebi's requirements will be..."

She doesn't need to finish her sentence. If we don't win this trial, we're all fucked. There's no getting around that. Not even if Keicho and the others find this place.
"You need not fret, Hayasaka," Kasparov says. "We will discover the truth of the killing game together."

Komatsu scowls at Kasparov. "Nice sentiment, but don't be so sure. One of us is prolly the mastermind."

Kasparov frowns deeply. "...Indeed, there is a large possibility that is true. However, we must not—"

"Please stop," Motoki interrupts. "We'll have enough time to talk in the trial. For right now, let's just enjoy what may be the last moments of silence in our lives."

Though Kasparov looks as if he wants to say more, he obeys Motoki and falls silent. I don't blame her for not wanting to hear about the mastermind being one of us. We have at least a few hours of non-stop arguments ahead of us in the trial, so there's no need to rush into that already. We might as well savor what could be our last moments of silence ever.

Suddenly I remember when I saw Motoki leaving the Warden's Office. She looked really upset about something...what was that about?

I walk beside Motoki, take her hand, and squeeze it. Although she squeezes back, she doesn't look at me. "You okay?" I ask in a whisper tone.

"....No," she replies in a similarly low voice, still not looking at me. "We're about to do a trial. You know how much I despise them. Even if it's not because someone died, it's still going to be horrible. And..." She gulps. "In the Warden's Office..."

"What about the Warden's Office?" I ask. "Did something happen there? Did you find something?"

She pauses for a long time. Before she can answer, the elevator dings to announce its arrival as its doors open. While the others go inside, she finally turns to look at me. "I'll tell you later," she says, her voice barely above a whisper.

I try to move in to kiss her, but she breaks away and walks inside the elevator. Ouch, she rejected that one. I can't blame her, though, because right now is a difficult time for all of us.

"Get in, Wakana-san," Hayasaka urges me. "Monohebi will get mad if we take too long."

"Sorry," I say as I join the rest of them. As soon as I enter, the elevator doors close and the elevator begins to descend to the trial room far below. I already thought it felt empty the last time around and now there're even fewer people. There were sixteen of us once, and now only five remain. Eleven of us have died and I desperately hope that number won't climb to twelve. But if the mastermind truly is one of us, then it's an inevitability that at least one more person has to die. If the mastermind wins, they live and we all die. If we win, we survive and they die...which really isn't that big of a victory, considering it'll have the cost of one of our friends being exposed as the mastermind.

I really, really don't want the mastermind to be one of us. I desperately don't want it to be true. But if the time comes...if the evidence presents itself that forces me to come to that conclusion, then...I can't let myself be stopped by whatever fondness I may have towards anyone here.

I'm going to leave this place. I'm going to see Keicho and the rescuers, and then Mom, Dad, and Yuriko. I don't care what obstacles are in my way. Somehow, I'll find a way around them. I always do.

The rest of the elevator ride is painfully long, with every second feeling like a whole minute. Eventually, the elevator finally comes to a halt and the doors open, revealing the courtroom to us. Surprisingly, there're no gaudy decorations this time. The walls are only solid, unadorned concrete.

"...It's decorated just like the first trial," Hayasaka says as the five of us step into the trial room. So she noticed it too.

"Indeed," Monohebi says from atop his throne. "I thought it would be fitting if the killing game ended in the same trial room in which it began. That makes for quite a poetic ending, does it not?"

"Who fuckin' cares 'bout that," Komatsu grumbles. "The decorations of this place don't fuckin' matter."

Monohebi mumbles something including the word "uncultured" under his breath, then clears his throat. "Ahem. Make your way to the stand with your name on it. Now."

I look over at the circle as the others go to their spots.
Sashihara's portrait, two red dumbbells crossed over his face, and Domoto's portrait, which consists of a sewing needle and a toy hammer, have been put in their spots while Kasparov's portrait has been removed.
For the first time, I'm enclosed by portraits on either side of me when I step up to take my spot, with Terajima to my left and Domoto to my right. Doing a trial without Domoto-san will be...strange, to say the least. She could be annoying to deal with at times and wasn't always right, but she often brought up good points and almost always moved the discussion forward. She definitely would've been helpful in this trial...

I miss her. I miss Sashihara-kun. I miss the nine who died before them, too. I miss everyone...

Furuhata-kun, stabbed in the gut by Terajma-kun and later finished off by Yamaguchi-kun.

Yamaguchi-kun, beheaded by Monohebi while being publicly humiliated.

Aozora-kun, strangled by Carrasco-san right when he was trying to get better.

Carrasco-san, impaled a flaming spear while being ridiculed by a crowd of Monohebis.

Ichigohara-san, horrifically electrocuted by Niizuma-san .

Niizuma-san, drowned in a river of sewage after being pushed down a trash mountain.

Eguchi-san, accidentally killed by Terajima-kun when she stabbed him.

Terajima-kun, unintentionally poisoned by Oyamada-kun.

Oyamada-kun, tortured by his phobias and his heart literally ripped out.

Sashihara-kun, torn apart by the friction between a treadmill belt and a wall.

Domoto-san, brutally slaughtered by a group of Monohebi clones.

I didn't like all of them. I didn't get along with a fair number of them. Yet even so, not a single one deserved to die. No one deserved to be killed or to be coerced into killing by Monohebi's evil killing game. No one deserved any of it. And what makes it even worse is that we were all classmates, and thus probably friends, for a year and a half before we were kidnapped. We thought we were trapped here with absolute strangers we couldn't trust, but the reality couldn't have been more different.

To make matters worse, this game is being broadcasted to a ton of people. The mastermind hasn't even given us the mercy of making this horrific suffering private. It's cruel. It's all so terribly cruel. But now...we have a chance to end it. A chance to reach that distant light at the end of the tunnel. But the path to get there won't be easy. I need to give it my all!
[Split screens of Furuhata, Motoki, Yamaguchi, Sashihara, and Oyamada. Furuhata, Yamaguchi, Oyamada, and Sashihara 's images are covered in a red filter]

Every trial before this one was important in its own way, but the situation now is much more important than ever before. Earlier, even when we "won" the trials, we were still forced to stay in this horrid place. We were still forced to endure the immense difficulty of surviving day after day here. But not anymore.

[Split screens of Niizuma, Eguchi, Aozora, Komatsu, Carrasco, and Domoto. Aozora, Carrasco, Niizuma, Eguchi, and Domoto's images are covered in a red filter]

Now, no matter what happens, the killing game ends. We either win and escape from here or we lose and die. The mastermind and Monohebi will do their best to stop us from winning, I'm sure. They'll exploit every last weakness of ours they can before they accept defeat, so we have to be prepared for an arduous battle.

[Split screens of Ichigohara, Hayasaka, Kasparov, Terajima, and Kawashima. Ichigohara and Terajima's images are covered in a red filter]

To be honest, there's a good chance we'll lose. But...I can't allow that to happen. Not only for the sake of myself and everyone else alive, but also for the sake of those who died before us. I can't bring any of them back from the dead, but I can get avenge their deaths by expose the one responsible and tearing their precious killing game to shreds. So, I vow with all my heart that I will do everything I can —and I mean everything—to identify the mastermind and uncover the truth of the killing game!

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Bodies in Morgue: There were a total of fourteen bodies kept in the morgue. Eleven of them were the bodies of all the deceased of the killing game, with their bodies intact in the ways they died. The only exception is Yamaguchi, whose body was burned and dismembered. However, there were three other corpses found in the morgue. One was a mess of flesh that must have been Sato and the other two belonged to two unidentified middle-aged men. One appeared to be from somewhere in South Asia, most likely India, and the other was a balding Japanese man.
Photo of Carrasco and Silvia: A photo of Carrasco and a Spanish girl named Silvia Juárez, was found in the Garage. Both girls appear to be around thirteen when the photo was taken. It is a selfie that was taken on a bench in a crowded public square somewhere in Spain.
Class Photo: A class photo of all sixteen of us students was found by Komatsu. Everyone is dressed in school uniforms and all of us except me, Niizuma, Eguchi, and Aozora are smiling.Letter of Termination: A notice from Niizuma’s employer that she has been fired for an unexcused absence on a day with a presentation to the board of an important client, the Togami Conglomerate. It’s dated October 25th, 2056.
Subject #1018's Profile: The first profile is written by Watai and describes a teenage boy with severe self-hatred issues who is obsessed with academics. The profile was written by Dr. Umeji Watai and mentions Dr. Megumi Unetani and Dr. Daiju Gomi. Parts of the profile are censored.
Memories Prior to Arrival: In addition to missing a year and a half of school memories, all of have missing memories from the time prior to us arriving at New Hope’s peak. Kasparov cannot remember several days before receiving the letter and everything before that clearly. In my memory, there are frequent gaps and holes in the months leading up to receiving the acceptance letter. No one I spoke with remembers anything specific after receiving the letter until awaking here.
Dr. Jayantha Sumanth and his Research: According to a book on Neurosurgery and Psychosurgery in the Library, Dr. Jayantha Sumanth was an expert memory alteration researcher. He demonstrated that it’s possible to not only remove memories, but also fully replace the excised memories, so long as the memories being reinserted are legitimate. More frighteningly, he also showed the possibility of inserting fake memories, although this could only be done to a much more limited extent.
Staff Photo: A staff photo consisting of adults dressed in formal wear that has their names beneath their figures. Eleven of the fourteen adults have had both their names and faces scribbled out with black pen. The three that are visible are Headmaster Daiju Gomi, Umeji Watai, and Megumi Unetani.
Subject #1051's Profile: The second profile is written by Dr. Unetani and describes a teenage girl with a secret heroin addiction who hides it well. She injects into the back of her knees and on her thighs so that her arms remain free of marks from the injections. Apparently, this girl is Headmaster Gomi’s niece.
Press Conference Answers: This press conference revealed our class, Class 38, along with the entire staff of our school was kidnapping. The other two student classes, Classes 37 and 39, were not kidnapped. When a reporter asked a question about the possibility of our kidnapping being related to some censored thing that happened over forty years ago, the woman answering questions and the rest of the crowd appeared very disturbed. She also gave a very vague answer when asked if anyone on the inside was involved.
Family Members: Multiple family members of the students, including Yamaguchi’s mom, Eguchi’s parents,
Aozora’s dad, Domoto’s sister and parents, Oyamada’s parents, Motoki’s mom, Furuhata’s brother, Komatsu’s brother, and my siblings Yuriko and Keicho spoke at a press conference. However, Yuriko and Keicho’s words were entirely censored with the exception of Keicho saying “Wakana” sadly.
Broadcast: Motoki and I received a broadcast over an old CB radio in the Media Room that Monohebi said he forgot to dispose of. The broadcast asked for “students trapped in the killing game” to respond, so Motoki and I answered. When we did, my brother took over the line and told us he and the other rescuers were on our way to save us.
Monohebi’s Promise: Monohebi promised to kill all of us and the surviving hostages if the attempted rescuers breached the defenses of this prison.
Shinako: A notebook with a photo clipped to it was found in Cell Block D. The photo contained a graphic image of the brutal death of a teenage girl who is lying on a green and white tiled floor with a large pool of blood around her. I recognized this girl as my former coworker Masuyo Takeshita. However, this was probably a fake name. The notebook contained the words “Aftermath of Shinako’s death. Murdered by two individuals on October 23rd, 2056.”
Surveillance Room: The Surveillance Room contains monitors that display every place we could access in the prison, but there are more cameras than monitors, so not every camera feed can be displayed live at once. However, there are several blank monitors on the wall, suggesting that there is an off-limits area of the prison Monohebi does not want us to see.
Photo of Eguchi & Furuhata: A Polaroid photo of Eguchi and Furuhata, both in school uniforms, sitting on a park bench. Eguchi sits all the way on the left, unhappily staring at something far away. Furuhata looks at the camera with a weak smile. The right side of the photo has been carefully ripped away along the edge of Furuhata’s body, while the left side was carelessly torn. This is evidenced by the fact that a muscular left arm with a running watch on it is still visible by the torn part on the left, but absolutely nothing giving hints as to who or what was next to Furuhata is visible on the right side.
Subject #974's Profile: An almost entirely uncensored profile that describes Furuhata. According to the profile, he has severe alcoholism. Dr. Watai, the writer of the profile, recommends separating Furuhata from his younger brother and enrolling Furuhata in a rehabilitation program.
Finances Book: A book full of charts upon charts of neatly written numbers and many pages of calculations and financial jargon. The handwriting was consistent throughout. Whoever made it, they were clearly very organized. One of the pages of the book had ink that smudged, meaning it wasn’t completely dry yet. Even though I’ve never received any sort of financial education, I found myself understanding pretty much everything mentioned in the book.

Email About Kasparov: An email from Dr. Watai to Headmaster Gomi about Subject 1011, which is Kasparov. Apparently, Kasparov was being uncooperative in revealing important information about himself, including his patronymic name. Watai mentions how Kasparov’s family has disowned him and how even Kasparov’s older sister, who was typically the most sympathetic to him, wasn’t willing to say a word about Kasparov when Watai talked with her.
Subject #982's Profile: A heavily censored profile that hides all possible identifying information about its subject. Apparently, the subject has no mental or physical issues besides something censored. The reason for them coming is because they and their plans are dangerous to society. Headmaster Gomi, who wrote the email, mentions that these plans are similar to some censored past event. He also mentions meeting with Prime Minister’s Aides and a seemingly important woman called Headmistress Kirigiri and that they helped him come to his decision to accept the subject. In addition, Gomi says he contacted Dr. Sumanth and his colleagues to perform an experimental surgery in a field unrelated to memory alteration if the rehabilitation fails. Lastly, Gomi says only he, Unetani, and Watai are to visit the subject until they are approved to be accepted by the other staff members.
Joaquín Carrasco’s Angry Email: A furious email sent by Carrasco’s father to Headmaster Gomi expressing his rage that Carrasco was kidnapped. He states that the entire reason Carrasco went to Gomi’s school is to get better from what happened to her and Silvia Juárez and that being kidnapped again could make her regress. He demands Gomi answer him as soon as possible.
Monohebi Sketches: The design sketches of Monohebi done in Eguchi’s art style that were shown at the end of the commemoration video. There are several notes around the sketches, some of which say technical stuff. Others mention that Monohebi should “balance cuteness and psychopathy” and be “just like the bear.”
Grimmla and Verlenda’s Email: An email from a mysterious individual going by “Verlenda” to some named “Grimmla.” Verlenda says they are willing to help Grimmla kidnapping “the desired students and staff” but that they would need assistance from the inside. Also, Verlenda asks for extra compensation for having to transport us overseas. They also demand more money for kidnapping the hostages and absolutely refuse to abduct anyone from the Saneyoshi family.
Warden’s Office: All the books on the bookshelf and all the papers inside the desk in the Warden’s Office are written in Russian. According to Kasparov, the books are novels and the contents of the desk is only a bunch of mundane paperwork typical for a prison.
Cafeteria Photo: A photo displaying Terajima, Oyamada, Yamaguchi, Ichigohara, and Komatsu, all dressed in school uniforms, in a school cafeteria. The image depicts Terajima and Oyamada happily reading a book together. At the table behind them, Ichigohara and Yamaguchi excitedly discuss something, with an undyed-hair Komatsu smiling as he listens to their conversation. The green and white tiled floor pattern is identical to the one in the photo of Shinako’s death.
Yamaguchi Prison Diary: A diary from Yamaguchi’s time in jail.
He laments that he was spared by the state because of his wealthy mother intervening. Months later, he expresses frustration that he is being sent to “Gomi’s school” where he will be made a “knock-off ultimate.” He says he will refuse to abandon his convictions and political beliefs, no matter what the school tries to do to him. Additionally, he mentions that he will not be swayed like participants in the unethical Zimbardo and Milgram studies. However, Yamaguchi makes it clear that he will not resists attending this school because he believes it will help him radicalize the other students. He jokes that this probably make his captors change their minds and send him to a disgusting school for rich brats, the name of which is censored.
Flash Drive Contents: A video of baggy-eyed, smoking Eguchi in the same chair as Furuhata was in his videos. At first, she doesn’t say anything but then says she might as well “get it over with.” She tells the viewer they’re probably confused and explains that she trusted the wrong people. Then, she assumes the viewer is her in the future and
says future Eguchi will probably watch this video after seeing the Monohebi sketches and “that video,” as well as having had her memories of bulimia and bullying returned to her. Eguchi expresses her belief of how humans are vile and encourages the future her to “show them they were wrong not to fear you” and to embrace the fiery passion within her and redirect it from games and anime to the real world.
Furuhata Videos: Two previous videos of Furuhata’s torture were previously discovered. Both feature Furuhata in a chair in the Torture Room talking with an off-camera person using a voice distorter. In the first video, the off-camera person demands Furuhata tell them about the plan of some girl Furuhata was friends with. In the second, the off-camera person uses Furuhata’s younger brother as a bargaining chip to make him confess. Furuhata expresses worry that the girl, who is apparently very frightening when upset, will get really mad at him; however, the off-camera individual tells him not to worry because “her situation has changed.” Furuhata agrees to help.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Class Trial: In Session!

Monohebi: [neutral] Before we begin, allow me to explain the rules of the class trial.

Monohebi: [neutral] For this trial, the rules will be rather unique. Instead of endeavoring to determine the culprit behind a murder, you all will attempt to uncover the full truth behind this killing game. [slightly irritated] If you are successful in discovering the entire truth of the killing game, then you all will be freed. Additionally, the mastermind, provided they are still alive, will be executed along with me.

Monohebi: [red eye glints] However, if you are unsuccessful, then everyone still alive who is not me or the mastermind will be executed. [smiles slightly] Those are our terms from before, no?

Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] They are indeed. [covers mouth with hand] However, before we go any further you must objectively define what you mean by the "entire truth" of the killing game. [narrows eyes] If determining what that entails is left to your discretion, I am sure you will exploit it as much as you possibly can.
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] Yeah, ya better tell us exactly what ya want us to do, Monohebi, otherwise this trial ain't gonna be fair!
Monohebi: [displeased] Calm yourself, cretin. Your caring warden would not be so blatantly unfair as to not give you a properly defined goal. [neutral] To successfully determine the truth of this killing game, you must answer seven questions. You may answer the questions in any order, but as a consequence of this, I will not confirm or deny your answers to these questions until you have officially submitted an answer to all of them.
Motoki: [nervously] I'm guessing we have to answer all seven correctly to win?
Monohebi: [smiles slightly] Indeed. If you answer anywhere from only one to six correctly, you all shall lose. Is that agreeable?
Kawashima: [seriously] Tell us the questions first.
Monohebi: [chuckles] Sususu...not allowing me to pull any tricks on you today, are you? [neutral] Fine. The questions are as follows. First, is the mastermind currently living or are they deceased? Second, what is the identity of the mastermind? Third, where is this prison located? Fourth, who brought you to this prison? Fifth, who is the individual mentioned in the commemoration video? Sixth, why were your memories altered? Seventh, on what date were you kidnapped?

Okay, so that's what I have to answer. Not one of those questions is something I know the answer to at the moment, but I'm sure we can find the answer if we talk this through enough.
Kawashima: [neutrally] Those questions are fine with me. Are they okay with everyone else?
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] If you're okay with them, Wakana-san, then so am I.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Same. If Kawashima-san thinks she can solve 'em, then I don't got a problem with 'em.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] I take no issue with those questions either. [arches eyebrow] Motoki-san, what about you? You have yet to offer your opinion concerning the questions.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder.] ...They're fine with me, too. You and Kawashima both seem to think you can answer them, so I don't have any issue with them.
Monohebi: [neutral] Then it is settled. From now on, I will leave you to discuss these questions. I will insert myself into the discussion whenever I feel necessary or if I am asked something worthy of a response.
Komatsu: [sullenly] As long as ya stay outta our way, I don't care what ya do.
Monohebi: [displeased] Disgusting brat...
Hayasaka: [ignores him] Okay, let's start for real. What should we talk about first?
Motoki: [determined] Kasparov-kun needs to tell us who he suspected to be the mastermind.

I was just about to bring that up myself, Motoki-san.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I agree with Motoki-san. Yesterday Kasparov-kun stated he had a big suspect who wasn't me. We agreed to wait until the trial for you to tell us, and here we are. [seriously] So, who is it?
Kasparov: [regretfully] My apologies, but...I cannot say right now. [analytically] Recall that I said that my decision to tell you or not would depend upon what we encountered during the investigation. The evidence was not conclusive enough for me to become certain my suspect is indeed the mastermind. [presses finger to temple] So, I shall not reveal who it is right now. it would undoubtedly warp your perspectives on the evidence, something I wish to avoid.
Hayasaka: [pleadingly] I get that, Sergey-kun, but you withholding the information could lengthen this trial unnecessarily.
Kasparov: [frustratedly] Revealing it prematurely could also lead to the deaths of everyone but the mastermind, a situation I will do everything in my power to prevent. [regretfully] I truly am sorry, but I cannot say right now. However...you can be certain I will tell long before the trial ends. You have my word.
Komatsu: [suspiciously] .......... [grumpily] ...Ugh. Fine, have it yer way. [fixes belt] It's obvious there ain't a point in pushin' him. Let's jus' talk 'bout the evidence we found and focus on answerin' the questions for now.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] But again, what should we talk about first? [twirls hair pensively] I found a lot of evidence, but I don't really see how it all connects together.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Same. It's all so confusing...

I'm on the same page too...also, Motoki-san, what did you find in the Warden's Office that you were going to tell me about in the trial? I want to ask her, but...she might be saving it for a reason. I'll ask her when she's ready to share it, because if it made her so upset it's bound to be pretty messed up and will likely fuck with our ability to focus on answering the questions. Let's just focus on those for now...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Warden's Office, Shinako, Family Members, Flash Drive Contents, Dr. Jayantha Sumanth and his Research, Class Photo, Furuhata Videos

Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] The easiest question would prolly be why our memories were altered. [fixes belt] They were removed for the killin' game, right?
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] If it's important enough to be its own question, I feel like there has to be more to it than that. [twirls hair pensively] Besides, "for the killing game" sounds really vague.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] We could discuss the question of where this prison is located first.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] I don't know...answering the one about the person in the commemoration video seems more achievable to me. [confidently] We already decided that person was Eguchi-san, didn't we?
Kasparov: [frowns] That was the conclusion to which Domoto-san and I came, but we cannot yet be absolutely certain it was true.
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] Yeah...the person in the video could've been the mastermind themselves.
Komatsu: [sullenly] Shit, then what the hell do we talk 'bout?

Don't worry, Komatsu-kun. I'm pretty sure I know something that should make for a simple first task to answer.

Answer: Warden's Office > where this prison is located

Kawashima: That's right!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [firmly] I'm with Kasparov-kun. I think we should talk about where this prison is located first.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Why? We don't gotta clue where the hell this place is, do we?
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] I don't think so. I never found anything that'd allow us to conclude where this place is.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] You must not have searched the office of the Warden. [covers mouth with hand] That room contained many official documents written in Russian, documents which all were rather mundane reports you would expect from day-to-day operations of the prison.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] Oh yeah, I saw all those in there. The books on the shelf were all in Russian too. [grimly] Also...
Kawashima: [gently] You also what?

If I'm lucky, she'll tell me what she found in there.
Motoki: [nervously] ...Never mind. [perplexedly] Kasparov-kun, are you saying those documents led to conclude where exactly in Russia we are?

...Guess I'm not lucky. She changed the subject instead of answering...
Kasparov: [frowns] The exact details were very vague. I could find almost nothing about transport to and from the prison, almost as if all that information had been deliberately removed from the desk. [analytically] However, from context clues I managed to decipher that we are most certainly somewhere in Eastern Russia. The exact location is unknown, but I am fairly confident we are somewhere in Khabarovsk Krai. Mentions of a beach and the ocean are numerous in the documents, so this prison is likely located on or near the coast.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] That sounds about as close as we can get to figuring out where we are, but will that answer specific enough for Monohebi?
Monohebi: [neutral] You need not give me an extremely specific location for the question of where this prison is. I do not require an address or even a specific city. [smiles slightly] So, the answer provided by Kasparov will suffice. Would you all like to officially submit his speculation as your final answer?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I would. It's—
Komatsu: [fixes belt] No. I ain't okay with us submittin' Kasparov-kun's answer.
Motoki: [perplexedly] Why not? Do you think he's lying?
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Not necessarily...it's jus' no one else here speaks Russian, right? So he could lie outta his ass 'bout what those papers say and we wouldn't know any better.
Kasparov: [frustratedly] Fool, what makes you think I would lie? Do you suspect I am the mastermind? [narrows eyes] Have you already forgotten how it was the plan created by Domoto-san, Sashihara-kun, and me that has given us the opportunity to do this trial in the first place?
Hayasaka: [flatly] Yeah...I don't see where you're coming from, Yutaka-kun. [confidently] Ever since the end of the fourth trial, Sergey-kun has only helped us. It's really unlikely he's the mastermind.
Komatsu: [sullenly] I know...and I ain't forgotten what he's done for us. I don't even think he's the mastermind... [grimaces] It's jus'...I can't bring myself to fully trust him.

Without context, I'd fully understand his thought process here. I get why he's skeptical of what the Russian text contains because none of the rest of us can check Kasparov-kun's translations. However...what other choice do we have? Besides, given what happened yesterday and how Kasparov-kun's clearly acted against the mastermind, I really don't understand why Komatsu-kun's acting like this. Does he know something Kasparov-kun the rest of us don't?

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Monohebi Sketches, Warden's Office, Subject #1051's Profile, Email About Kasparov, Subject #982's Profile, Family Members, Memories Prior to Arrival

Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Some suspicion is healthy, but I think you're taking it too far, Komatsu-kun. [thoughtfully] Kasparov-kun's already proven his trustworthiness, hasn't he?
Hayasaka: [confidently] I agree. If anyone should be our last suspect, it's Sergey-kun. He's responsible for Monohebi getting humiliated yesterday and us even having the opportunity to escape. [passionately] We can't forget that!
Komatsu: [sullenly] I know all that, but... [fixes belt] He's a super smart dude, ain't he? Chess is also about foolin' yer opponents, so maybe he's tryna trick us all into believin' him.
Kasparov: [narrows eyes] That is false. [frustratedly] I would never do such a thing!
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] But ya can't deny it's possible yer translations are inaccurate. [grimaces] None of the rest of us can check your translations, so for all we know ya could be makin' up what ya said.
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] I would only have a reason to do such a thing if I was the mastermind. [disapprovingly] Are you really so asinine to suggest that I am the mastermind?
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] I don't think it's ya, but I can't say it's impossible. [fixes belt] Ya've said yer family's well-off before, ain't ya? Ya coulda gotten for the resources for this killin' game from them!

Okay, I just heard something that blatantly contradicts a piece of evidence I found. I need to mention it ASAP.

Answer: Email About Kasparov > gotten for the resources for this killin' game from them

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [firmly] Komatsu-kun, I'm pretty sure Kasparov-kun wouldn't be able to get the resources to manage this killing game from his family, even though they are rich.
Motoki: [curiously] Why not?

Sorry for bringing this up, Kasparov-kun, but I need to refute Komatsu-kun's point.
Kawashima: [reluctantly] Because...Kasparov-kun's family disowned him. They don't even talk about him anymore.
Hayasaka: [shocked] Wait, seriously!?
Motoki: [surprised] His family disowned him!? Why would they do that!?
Kasparov: [covers eyes] .......... [covers eyes and speaks in a low tone] Kawashima-san...is what you are saying the truth? Has my family truly disowned me?

He didn't know...? Fuck, now I feel bad for breaking the news in a trial of all times.

Kawashima: [gently] Yeah, they did. An email from your mentor Watai-san said they disowned you.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] But why would they do such a thing? How could they throw away one of their children like that?
Komatsu: [suspiciously] I know why, and it ain't pretty. [fiercely] It's 'cause he killed his dad!

Hold up...WHAT!?
Kawashima: [shocked] What the fuck!? Komatsu-kun, are you serious!?
Motoki: [horrified] Please tell me you're kidding...Kasparov-kun killing his dad!? That's...
Komatsu: [grimaces] Really fucked up, ain't it? That's why I don't trust him. [fixes belt] If he could kill his own father, he's gotta have the potential to do way more fucked-up shit. [frowns] Not to get too personal, but I hate my dad. That bastard was a neglectful, deadbeat piece of pissy garbage. [angrily] But despite that, I'd never kill him even if I did see his shitty face again. That jus' wouldn't be right!
Kasparov: [narrows eyes] Komatsu-kun...this is some misguided attempt at a jest, is it not? [disapprovingly] I would have you know that is in quite poor taste. While it is true I never got along with my father, nor with the rest of my family, I would never murder him. [frowns] He was unloving and distant, but he never gave me any justifiable reason to do something as drastic as killing him. [furiously] Do not *dare* suggest I would ever do such a despicable thing!

Shit, Kasparov-kun's raising his voice. This never happens...
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] Yutaka-kun...are you really serious? [hesitantly] ...Do you *really* think Kasparov-kun killed his dad?
Komatsu: [grumpily] I don't think, I know. Believe me when I say this ain't no joke...I'd never say somethin' this serious without rock-hard evidence. [frowns] I don't have it with me right now, but Monohebi showed me Kasparov-kun's mugshot and a photo of the crime scene durin' the investigation.
Kasparov: [disbelievingly] That cannot be possible. Monohebi must have fabricated that evidence!
Monohebi: [slightly irritated] I fabricated nothing. [presses tail against mouth and narrows eyes] Kasparov, you truly did commit the grave sin of patricide. It is a documented fact. Would you like me to show you the evidence?
Motoki: [grimly] If you have the proof, you need to show it to us. In these sorts of circumstances, trusting only the word of you and Komatsu-kun isn't enough for me.
Kasparov: [narrows eyes] Nor is it sufficient for me. [distantly] If you say you have proof...then show it to all of us.
Monohebi: [neutral] Will do.

After a few seconds, the large monitors which typically display executions and voting results light up to show two pictures. The first is a mugshot of a slightly younger Kasparov and the second is a forensic photograph of a bloody kitchen. A man lies in the center of a pool of blood, a kitchen knife lodged in his throat.

That man...from what I can see of his face, he definitely has a strong resemblance to Kasparov-kun.

Kasparov: [queasily] Th-That...that is my kitchen...that is my father... [weakly] ...N-No...I would never...I cannot...

Fuck. At first, I didn't believe Komatsu-kun when he said Kasparov-kun killed his own dad. But after seeing those photos and Kasparov-kun's reaction...denying it becomes a lot harder.
Motoki: [horrified] Kasparov-kun...why? Why would you do something so terrible?
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] Judging by his reaction, I don't think he remembers doing it. So I doubt he knows why it happened, either.
Monohebi: [smirks] I had originally wanted to return the memory of the event to him directly, but I think this is much better. Now, Kasparov has no idea why he did something so horrible. [red eye glints] He has to live with the pain of knowing he did something unforgivable forever, all without even knowing why! Sususu! How won—
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] Shut the fuck up. I hate what he did, but yer way fuckin' worse, so shut yer goddamn trap.
Monohebi: [displeased] Do not interrupt me, brat. [smiles slightly] Anyway, I have even more evidence in the forms of testimonies given by your family members if you are not yet convinced, Kasparov. Would you like me to show you that?
Kasparov: [covers eyes] ..........
Monohebi: [smirks] I shall take that as a no.

Holy shit, this is evil. Smart, too...Monohebi knows Kasparov-kun will be a big asset in helping us answer all the questions, so he's trying to handicap him by dumping incredibly distressing information on him. All mere hours before he dies, too...there really is no limit to how depraved Monohebi can be. He's sadistic and intelligent, so we can never for one moment take the threat he poses lightly.

Although...there is something about this that doesn't make sense to me. Why didn't Monohebi tell Kasparov-kun he killed his dad during the investigation? Why only tell Komatsu-kun? Is it because Monohebi trusts Komatsu-kun more? I seriously hope that's not what it is, but I can't rule out the possibility.

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Komatsu-kun, now that we know Kasparov-kun really di—

Kasparov: Inconceivable!

[split screen separates Kasparov and Kawashima]
Kasparov: [frustratedly] This is simply not possible, Kawashima-san. I would never kill my father.
Kawashima: [reluctantly] I'm sorry to doubt you, Kasparov-kun...but can you really prove that?
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] No, but the burden of proof does not lie on me. Rather, it lies on those who would accuse me of committing such a heinous act.
Kasparov: [furiously] I will not accept this until you can prove it to me! I refuse!

He wants me to prove it to him, huh? I don't want to do this, but it seems I have no choice.

REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN

Truth Swords: Cafeteria Photo, Warden's Office, Yamaguchi Prison Diary, Finances Book, Email About Kasparov, Press Conference Answers, Memories Prior to Arrival

Kasparov: [regretfully] I will begin by saying that it is undeniably true I did not have a positive relationship with any members of my immediate family, my father included.
Kasparov: [frustratedly] But the absence of a positive, caring relationship does not mean I would be moved to kill him.
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] It is possible someone else killed him and framed me. [covers mouth with hand] There exists no evidence to deny that claim.
Kasparov: [firmly] Because of this, you cannot prove I am the murderer of my father due to there still being reasonable doubt that I killed him.

ADVANCE!
Kawashima: [seriously] The fact that your dad died in the kitchen of your house makes it fairly likely that you weren't framed. It's not impossible, but it's not likely, either.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] The other members of your family were probably home, right? So are you saying it was one of them? Or are you saying it was some mysterious intruder who did it?

Kasparov: [frustratedly] All I am saying is that you cannot definitively prove it was me who killed my father.
[firmly] There is no logical window of time for our relationship to deteriorate so quickly that I would kill him.
Kasparov: [sadly] After all, my father may not have cared for me, but...I still wanted his love! I still wanted him and all the rest of my family to love me! [furiously] So do not *dare* accuse me of his murder! I refuse to accept it!

Kasparov-kun is typically too logical for his own good, but even he has his limits...and this news has clearly pushed him to his. He can't even see the glaring hole in what he's arguing.

Answer: Memories Prior to Arrival > no logical window of time

Kawashima: I'll cut your contradictions in two!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [firmly] Kasparov-kun, you know there was a logical window of time for your relationship to deteriorate. You told me about it yourself.
Kasparov: [frustratedly] What do you mean? There is no such time!
Motoki: [perplexedly] Yeah, what're you talking about, Kawashima-san?
Kawashima: [seriously] During the investigation, Kasparov-kun told me he cannot remember several days before receiving the letter of acceptance, nor can he remember anything afterward until he awoke here.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] That's weird. I don't have any really big chunks of missin' memories until after gettin' the letter.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Neither do I.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Not me, either. [grimly] What about you, Kawashima-san?

For some reason, she asked that kind of weirdly...
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I have a bunch of missing spots in the months before I got the letter. Most are at work, but some were at school and some while I was out with friends. [firmly] So, none of the rest of us except Kasparov-kun have large gaps in our memories.
Kasparov: [weakly] But...that does not mean I did it. [skeptically] Also, it is possible that my father is still alive, is it not? Perhaps Monohebi is faking his death...

Sorry, Kasparov-kun, but that's not true. As duplicitous as Monohebi is, we don't even need to rely solely on his word. That's because we also have...
Kasparov's profile/The body in the morgue/Watai's email to Gomi

Answer: Watai's email to Gomi

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [compassionately] Kasparov-kun, I understand not wanting to trust Monohebi. However, he's not all we have to rely on here. [seriously] Your mentor, Watai-san, wrote an email to the Headmaster of our school, a man named Daiju Gomi, in which he said your father's name "was" Pavel. He referred to him in the past tense, so your father's definitely dead. [firmly]
He also talked about how you refused to tell anyone your patronymic name and he urged Gomi-san not to call you by it.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] A patronymic name? What the hell's that?
Motoki: [confidently] It's a naming custom, one which is seen in most Slavic cultures. Basically, the child inherits a form of the father's given name. [grimly] I always thought it was strange that Kasparov-kun never told us his, but I assumed there was a reason for it, so I never pried.
Kasparov: [frowns] .......... [covers mouth with hand] It is true that I prefer to not use my patronymic name, 'Pavlovich,' when possible given my strained relationship with my father. As such, when I came here, I decided to withhold it from you all because I figured you did not know about the custom of patronymic naming in Russia, and therefore I would not be obligated to reveal it. [disbelievingly] However, I have felt dislike toward my patronymic name for some time now. It is nothing new.

He really is resolved to not accept it. It's frustrating, but I understand. I hope he is right, because it'd really suck if he did kill his dad. I highly he doubt it's innocent, but maybe there's a possibility...
Kawashima: [seriously] What are the days you can't remember, Kasparov-kun? [firmly] The email's transcript had the exact date it was sent on it. If it was before or a long time after the days you can't remember, then I'll be more open to believing you.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] It is a little difficult to recall, but...I believe the first date I could not recall was the 7th of March, 2055. I have no memories until March 11th, when I have a brief and vague memory of receiving the acceptance letter.

Well, fuck...looks like you're guilty after all.
Kawashima: [reluctantly] ...The email was sent on March 12th, Kasparov-kun. I'm sorry.
Kasparov: [frustratedly] No...that is... [disbelievingly] That does not matter. A few days would not be nearly long enough for our relationship to deteriorate so rapidly.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] Speaking from experience with my stepdad...a few days is more than enough for relations to sour. [grimly] Besides, those memories have to be gone for a reason. If your relationship didn't worsen over those few days, why else would your father end up dead and would you be sent here? Why would the memories be gone?
Kasparov: [sadly] It...maybe... [covers eyes] ..........
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] Shit, so Sergey-kun really did do it...

There's no way to be completely certain, but it's pretty much a given at this point. Although...there is something I still find strange about this whole situation.
Kawashima: [puzzled] Komatsu-kun, I know this is sudden, but
why did Monohebi only tell you about Kasparov-kun killing his father? [curiously] Wouldn't it make more sense for him to tell Kasparov-kun himself or make the evidence available to everyone?
Komatsu: [furrows brow] I dunno. How the hell am I supposed to know the snake's reasonin' for doin' what he does?
Motoki: [thoughtfully] I think Kawashima-san's wondering if you have any sort of connection to Monohebi that'd make him tell you and only you this.
Komatsu: [angrily] Hold up...are ya accusin' me of bein' the mastermind, Kawashima-san!? 'Cause I ain't!
Kawashima: [firmly] I never said you were. I'm genuinely wondering why Monohebi would only tell you about Kasparov-kun's murder of his father. [thoughtfully] If he was only going to tell one person, it'd make sense for him to tell Kasparov-kun himself. [seriously] From the way I see it, Monohebi's choice of telling only Komatsu-kun is strange unless he has some sort of connection to Monohebi. That connection may be that he's the mastermind, it may not.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] I get what you're saying, Wakana-san, but it's really not that weird. Monohebi told me something privately too.
Kawashima: [surprised] Really? What'd he say?
Hayasaka: [flatly] He told me all about Yutaka-kun's past. He tried to make it sound all criminal and fucked up, but I disregarded it. I could tell Monohebi was just being his devious self and trying to make me distrust Yutaka-kun.

Monohebi told her about Komatsu-kun's past? What kind of dark shit is he hiding?
Komatsu: [sweats nervously] Oh shit, did I do somethin' really bad? [grips jacket tightly and stares at floor] Don't tell me I murdered someone close to me...
Hayasaka: [neutrally] No. He told me you were a thief and pickpocketer who stole valuables from random pedestrians, even other poor people, all the time. [looks to the side thoughtfully] I obviously wasn't very affected. Although a year ago...well, I guess a year before my memory got cut off, I was robbed on the street at gunpoint. [looks down glumly] Even though it did wonders to boost my popularity and was really easy to exploit for views, it was super scary for me. [twirls hair pensively] I'm sure Monohebi knew that and tried to use my robbery to make me distrust or dislike Yutaka-kun.
Komatsu: [relieved] Oh, okay...that ain't bad as what I thought. [fixes belt] Truth is, I remember all of that. I stole shit all the time before my music start payin' the bills, which took a while. [grimaces] I wasn't ever arrested, though, so I dunno how Monohebi knows.
Motoki: [grimly] The mastermind probably found out some time while we were at school, so you just don't remember telling anyone about it.

Yeah, that's most likely how Monohebi knows about Komatsu-kun's thievery.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Well, this is making me reconsider. Monohebi secretly told Hayasaka-san about Komatsu-kun's past and Komatsu-kun about Kasparov-kun's, which seems to be a pattern to me. However, he didn't even try to privately tell me anything. [curiously] Motoki-san, Kasparov-kun, did he say anything to the two of you?
Motoki: [shakes head] No.
Kasparov: [distantly] ...No.

Fuck, he's not taking the recent news well. It seems he doesn't really want to participate in the conversation, so it'd be best to leave him alone for now.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] It's weird that he told some of us and not others. Why only privately tell this stuff to me and Yutaka-kun?
Kasparov: [weakly] He likely thought...you two would be more easily manipulated...into doing something drastic...based on your emotional reactions...

Oh, so he is rejoining the conversation.
Kawashima: [seriously] I agree with Kasparov-kun. Monohebi probably wanted to spread distrust for other students right before the trial so we'd focus on haphazardly accusing each other rather than answering the questions. [thoughtfully] He preyed on his knowledge Hayasaka-san's prior robbery in an attempt to make her distrust Komatsu-kun and on Komatsu-kun's generally...passionate nature to make him distrust Kasparov-kun.
Komatsu: [grumpily] Ya can call me a hothead if that's what ya wanna say. [sullenly] I can't deny it...I usually have strong reactions to stuff and it ain't unusual for me to act before thinkin'. Guess that's somethin' I need to work on, huh...
Hayasaka: [reassuringly] Maybe, but it's not something you should worry about right now, Yutaka-kun. [looks to the side thoughtfully] What's more of a concern is if we should still officially submit Sergey-kun's idea for where we are. [uncertainly] I don't necessarily distrust him or think he's the mastermind, but I don't want to get this wrong.
Motoki: [grimly] I feel the same way. Killing a parent is a really serious thing to do, so without knowing Kasparov-kun's motivations...it feels too risky to completely trust his answer.
Kasparov: [sadly] ...That is fair. [covers eyes] I have done more than enough to earn your suspicion...but...I promise I did not lie.

I think Kasparov-kun's telling the truth. Even if he did kill his father, it's unlikely his translations are wrong unless he's the mastermind. But in the end, that's just a hunch...is there anyway to prove he's innocent? I don't know...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Email About Kasparov, Grimmla and Verlenda's Email, Subject #974's Profile, Flash Drive Contents, Staff Photo, Furuhata Videos, Finances Book

Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Kasparov-kun undoubtedly has done a lot to help us in the fight against Monohebi. [uncertainly] Although, as horrible as it is to suggest this...it's possible that was a ruse, right?
Komatsu: [stares at floor] Sadly...yeah. [fixes belt] The dude's a chess grandmaster and is super smart, so I wouldn't put it past him to be smart enough to go really far to try and trick us.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] Also, even if he's correct about where this prison is, it's still in Russia. He's the only one here who speaks Russian, so that automatically makes doubting his honesty necessary.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Yeah, the mastermind has to know Russian if we're in Russia, so that automatically makes him suspicious... [uncertainly] But even so, accusing Sergey-kun doesn't feel right.
Kasparov: [weakly] That is because it is false. I promise all of you...I would never do something so horrible...
Motoki: [grimly] You don't really sound convinced of what you're saying...

They're bringing up reasonable points to at least somewhat suspect Kasparov-kun. However, I'm pretty doubtful that Kasparov-kun is deserving of suspicion. It doesn't make any sense for him to humiliate Monohebi like he did if he was really lying...

Answer: Grimmla and Verlenda's Email > has to know Russian

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [firmly] No, Hayasaka-san. The mastermind doesn't have to know Russian.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] Really? How could they set up an entire killing game inside Russia without speaking the language?
Motoki: [perplexedly] I'm with Hayasaka-san here...it'd be difficult for the mastermind to find this place, which is presumably some obscure abandoned prison, if they didn't speak Russian.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I'm not disagreeing with the fact that it'd be hard for the mastermind to establish the base of operations for the killing game in Russia if they were by themselves. [seriously] However, we know they had outside help, most notably in the form of an individual known as "Verlenda."
Komatsu: [furrows brow] ...Verlenda? The hell kinda name is that!?
Motoki: [thoughtfully] It's a code name, most likely. I highly doubt that's anyone's birth name. [rubs shoulder] Though that's not really very important here. Kawashima-san, are you suggesting that this Verlenda person might know Russian?
Kawashima: [seriously] It's a possibility. The mastermind may also speak Russian. [firmly] The specifics aren't important. What matters is that the mastermind themselves doesn't necessarily have to speak Russian, meaning that's not a valid reason to doubt Kasparov-kun.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] That's fair... [uncertainly] But is it really okay to fully trust him? Normally, I wouldn't be so harsh with my suspicions, but our lives are on the line here. If we get even one question wrong, everyone except the mastermind gets executed. [looks down glumly] So, as shitty as it is to doubt Sergey-kun, I can't help it...

I understand where she's coming from. Kasparov-kun did something really bad and really shocking, so it's only natural for them to doubt Kasparov-kun's theory of where we are. As someone said earlier, he could lie about what the Russian documents said and we'd be none the wiser. However, I don't think that's what happened.
Kawashima: [seriously] I understand why you all have some doubt in Kasparov-kun right now, even after all he's done. [thoughtfully] But you have to ask yourselves: why would Monohebi choose to reveal the fact that Kasparov-kun killed his dad now of all times if Kasparov-kun had any reason to lie? If Kasparov-kun was the mastermind or somehow affiliated with them, why would Monohebi reveal something so damaging to his credibility in the trial to figure out the mastermind's identity?
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] ...I can't think of a reason why.
Kawashima: [firmly] That's because there is none. [thoughtfully] Even if was part of some elaborate ruse or 3D chess master plan, the risk of damaging Kasparov-kun's credibility outweighs any potential benefits of getting us to trust him. It's too risky with too few assured benefits.
Komatsu: [grimaces] Now that ya put it that way, I feel stupid for ever doubtin' him... [sullenly] Damn, I was jus' fallin' into Monohebi's trap.
Motoki: [shamefully] Yeah...we did exactly what Monohebi wanted us to do. [awkwardly] Sorry about that, Kasparov-kun.
Kasparov: [distantly] ...I do not blame you. If I were in your shoes, I have no doubt I would do the same. [frowns] But...I believe it is time to put this discussion behind us. [sadly] This discussion has been quite emotionally distressing for me and there is nothing to be gained for us to continue to dwell on it. So, let us move on.

I want to tell him that it's okay for him to sit out and take time to process the shocking thing he just learned, but there are too few of us left to do that. We need all hands on deck for this trial.
Hayasaka: [curiously] Wait, before we move on entirely...Wakana-san, how did you know about this "Verlenda" person?
Kawashima: [seriously] Because of a PDF of an email I found in the Warden's Office. [neutrally] It was from Verlenda to someone named "Grimmla," who is almost certainly the mastermind. Verlenda is responding to a previous email from someone called Grimmla and talks about how they're fine with helping Grimmla kidnap "the desired students and staff" but says they'd need at least two people, including Grimmla, to help with the kidnapping from the inside.
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] If I may add something, Verlenda also stated that they wanted extra compensation for transporting these kidnapped students and staff members overseas.
Additionally, Verlenda requested more money for kidnapping at least fourteen hostages and absolutely refused to abduct anyone from the Saneyoshi family.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Saneyoshi...that's Yamaguchi-kun's real family name, right? Ain't they some big jewelry moguls?
Kawashima: [nods] Yes. [seriously] Verlenda said that family is too rich and powerful for even them to risk messing with, so they didn't want to kidnap any of its members.
Motoki: [perplexedly] But Yamaguchi-kun was a member of their family, wasn't he? Even if they didn't like him, wouldn't the Saneyoshis get mad at him being kidnapped?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Probably not. He did blow up their headquarters, after all. [looks to the side thoughtfully] I own some Saneyoshi jewelry and have done paid adverts for them before, and from my basic understanding of the family company, it's basically run solely by the current head Ryoya and his son Ryotaro, who must be Yoshi-kun's dad. But in the press conference with all of our family members, only Yoshi-kun's mom was there. [twirls hair pensively] So...I assume the people really in charge, Ryoya and Ryotaro, don't want anything to do with Yoshi-kun.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] I guess Verlenda meant all the members of the Saneyoshi family except Yamaguchi-kun, then. [grimly] Not only did Yamaguchi-kun desert them and change both of his names, but the heads of his family clearly don't like him. It makes sense for Verlenda to be excluding him from the discussion when they were referring to members of the Saneyoshi family.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Wait a fuckin' minute...the hell's this 'bout a press conference with our family members!? [grumpily] Why the hell didn't ya tell me? I woulda loved to see that!
Hayasaka: [apologetically] Sorry, Yutaka-kun. I didn't run into you after I saw the video, so I never thought to tell you about it. [reassuringly] If you're asking because of your brother, he was there. He cursed a lot and told you to come back.
Komatsu: [smiles sadly] Ha...that sounds 'bout right.
Kasparov: [sadly] I assume my family was entirely absent from that press conference.
Kawashima: [reluctantly] ...Yeah. They were.
Kasparov: [distantly] I assumed as much... [firmly] However, that does not matter. What we must focus on for now is finally deciding on whether or not we should officially submit my speculation as to the location of this prison to Monohebi.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that.
Motoki: [neutrally] I'd be fine with that.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Same. It's not like any of us have any better ideas.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] I don't got a problem with it anymore, either. [grimaces] Sorry for wastin' our time there...
Kasparov: [frowns] It was no waste of time. It was only natural for you to doubt me after learning of the heinous act I committed. [firmly] That aside, let me formally answer the question posed by Monohebi. [narrows eyes] Are you listening, snake?
Monohebi: [smiles slightly] Of course. I always am.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] Good. My answer to your question of where this prison is located is as follows: we are currently in a renovated abandoned prison somewhere on the coast of Khabarovsk Krai, in the Russian Federation.
Monohebi: [neutral] Your answer is acceptable. By the way, you all may resubmit a second answer at a later point for this question if any of you changes your mind.
Kawashima: [seriously] I'm pretty sure our minds are made up for this question, so that likely won't be happening.

Alright, one question down, six more to go. But which one to start with?
Hayasaka: [curiously] So...what should we discuss next?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I was wondering the same thing, Hayasaka-san.
Komatsu: [sullenly] We should prolly talk 'bout those assholes Grimmla and Verlenda. [cracks knuckles] At least one of them's gotta be the mastermind!
Motoki: [perplexedly] But can we conclude anything about either of their identities yet? [grimly] From what Kawashima-san and Kasparov-kun said, I don't think we can.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] We can't do anythin' concrete, but I'm pretty sure Kasparov-kun's family is one of those motherfuckers. [rubs back of neck] I mean, we are in Russia and they obviously hate his guts if they disowned him. It ain't impossible.
Kasparov: [frowns] .......... [distantly] Even though my family lives in West Russia, nowhere near Khabarovsk Krai...I suppose that is possible.

Really? I'm pretty sure none of his family members are involved in the killing game, but I can't quite put my finger why just yet. Also, about
what Motoki-san said, I think there actually are at least a few conclusions we can make about Grimmla and Verlenda's identities at the moment. I need to think through exactly what those conclusions might be and why Kasparov-kun's family isn't involved...

LOGIC DIVE

Q1: What can we conclude about Grimmla?
They are a student or staff member at New Hope's Peak/They are a very wealthy person/They have a snake fursona

Q2: What can be inferred about Verlenda?
They are a hostage/They are not a student or staff member/They are one of the deceased students

Q3:
Which of the following allows us to rule out Kasparov's family as suspects?
Press conference video, because none of them were present/Photo of Shinako's death, because it'd be impossible for any of them to kill her/Grimmla is a student or staff member of New Hope's Peak and Verlenda speaks Japanese

Answers: They were a student or staff member at New Hope's Peak/They are not a student or staff member/Grimmla is a student or staff member of New Hope's Peak and Verlenda speaks Japanese

Kawashima: I understand it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Wait a minute. Grimmla definitely isn't one of Kasparov-kun's family members, and Verlenda's probably not either.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Really? Why the hell not?
Kasparov: [frowns] I am also curious to know why you think none of my family members are involved, Kawashima-san.
Kawashima: [seriously] Grimmla is definitely not one of your family members because, in the email between Verlenda and Grimmla, Verlenda explicitly mentions that Grimmla would be a part of the kidnapped students and staff. [firmly] So, unless Kasparov-kun has family members that work at New Hope's Peak, it's not possible for them to be Grimmla. [thoughtfully] And even if that weren't the case,
I found a book in the Archives Room that was detailed account of all the finances of this place and had a lot of text, all of which was in Japanese. If we assume Grimmla is the mastermind and wrote that book, none of Kasparov-kun's family members can be Grimmla.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Oh yeah, I remember seeing that when I investigated the Archives Room. [curiously] Are you saying that you don't think anyone in Sergey-kun's family could've written it, Wakana-san?
Kawashima: [firmly] Yes. I highly doubt they would've written this book about finances in Japanese when they could've easily written it in Russian. It's not like they had to show it to us if they didn't want to. [thoughtfully] Besides, does anyone in your family even speak Japanese, Kasparov-kun?
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] My mother knows an extremely small amount from osmosis when I learned it, but not enough to even hold a conversation. My older sister and older brother know absolutely none. [covers mouth with hand] So, there is no way any of them could have written a sentence of that book.

That's what I thought. With that confirmation, we can also definitively rule out the possibility of Kasparov-kun's family members being Verlenda, because...
Email from Verlenda was written in Japanese/Verlenda doesn't sound Russian/Joaquín Carrasco's email

Answer: Email from Verlenda was written in Japanese

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] If Kasparov-kun's family members don't speak Japanese, then we can definitively say they're not Verlenda, because Verlenda wrote an entire email in Japanese to Grimmla.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] Also, if Verlenda wrote it in Japanese, it's likely Grimmla wrote their original email to them in Japanese too.

That's a good point, Motoki-san.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Okay, I guess that makes sense. [grimaces] Sorry for wastin' time yet again...
Hayasaka: [reassuringly] Don't apologize, Yutaka-kun. Your suggestion helped us rule out Sergey-kun's family as suspects. [softly] Although...now we also have a disturbing truth confirmed: Grimmla was one of the student or staff members at New Hope's Peak.
Motoki: [grimly] Yeah. I figured that was the case from the press conference video, but to have it confirmed is pretty shitty...
Komatsu: [sullenly] Didn't Kawashima-san also say Verlenda asked Grimmla to get some second person on the inside to help them with the kidnappin'?
Kawashima: [nods] I did. [seriously] Verlenda said at least two people inside would be necessary for the kidnapping to be successful, and unfortunately, the kidnapping succeeded. That means there are three distinct people who could be the mastermind: Verlenda, Grimmla, or this mystery second person on the inside.
Motoki: [perplexedly] Isn't it possible Verlenda and that person are the same?
Kawashima: [firmly] No, it's not. From the way the email is written, it's clear Verlenda is not at all affiliated with New Hope's Peak. [seriously] They also obviously don't have a specific person in mind when they tell Grimmla to find someone else to help with the kidnapping. All they say is that they'll need more than just Grimmla's help to successfully kidnap all of us.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] If I may add, Verlenda seems to be some sort of established criminal from the way they speak during the email.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] .......... [miserably] ...Well, fuck. That really does suck to hear.
Komatsu: [grimaces] Yeah, we got put in here by some huge criminal. And to make matters worse, at least two of us students were in on this horrible fuckin' plan...
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensviely] Not necessarily. It's possible Grimmla or the helper person is a staff member. Hell, both of them could be staff members.

No, that's not possible. That's because of...
The commemoration video/Monohebi's AI/Killing game location

Answer: The commemoration video

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [firmly] No, Hayasaka-san, at least one of Grimmla and whoever assisted them in the kidnapping is a student. [seriously] Remember the commemoration video? It stated that one of us students was responsible for the killing game, meaning either Grimmla or their assistant, if not both, had to be a student.
Kasparov: [analytically] I wonder...is the individual mentioned in the commemoration the assistant in the kidnapping or Grimmla themselves? I cannot come to a conclusion at the moment.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] I don't got a clue. Either one of those could be "responsible for the killin' game." I don't think we can figure that out right now. So, puttin' that aside...I was thinkin' of another possibility.
Kawashima: [curiously] What is it, Komatsu-kun?
Komatsu: [fixes belt] It's possible the mastermind is more than person, ain't it? Before, I was sure it was one person. [rubs back of neck] But now we know Grimmla, Verlenda, and the assistant in the kidnapping were all separate people and were all pretty involved with settin' up this killin' game. [grimaces] So...ain't it possible more than one person is the mastermind?

...Huh. That's actually a pretty good point. With how many people were involved, there's a non-zero chance mastermind might be more than one person.
Monohebi: [smiles slightly] Allow me to answer this question preemptively before any of you pose it to me. [neutral] There may only be one mastermind. Accomplices and assistants are allowed, of course, but only one person can actually count as the mastermind.
Komatsu: [relieved] Thank fuck. For once we get some good news..it'd fuckin' suck if multiple people were the mastermind.
Motoki: [grimly] Yeah, it'd be really bad if we had to figure out the identities of multiple masterminds. [miserably] It's bad enough trying to discover even one.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] You are correct, but we must remember that we are not searching to uncover the identity of only one person. [covers mouth with hand] We still must discover the identities of Verlenda, Grimmla, and the individual who assisted Grimmla in kidnapping us. [frowns] Without discovering who those three people are, we cannot be confident in our ability to be able to accurately identify the mastermind.

It sucks to hear it, but he's right. The mastermind could be any one of those three, or maybe someone else entirely. But we won't be able to find that out until we know who all of them are.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] That means we should try and figure out all their identities, right? Then we can find out who the mastermind is.
Motoki: [determined] No. I don't think we should focus on figuring out who they are yet.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Huh? Why the hell not?
Motoki: [hesitantly] Well...to put it bluntly, figuring out who finding out Grimmla, Verlenda, and the person who helped Grimmla kidnap all of us is bound to get contentious. [thoughtfully] We probably won't be able to have very coherent, productive conversations after those accusations are levied, so we should save them for last.

That's a good idea. If we accuse each other of being the mastermind, it'll be really hard to focus on answering other questions after that.
Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] Are you suggesting that we answer all the questions unrelated to the mastermind first?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Yeah...we should wait to talk about whether or not the mastermind's dead or not and who they are until the end. [thoughtfully] Also, we should probably wait to answer the one about who the person in the commemoration video is because that's a rather sore subject for most of us here.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] So you want us to answer the questions about why our memories were altered, when we were kidnapped, and who brought us here first...I think that's doable.

I think so, too. Even if Motoki-san hadn't made her suggestion, I think they're the questions we would've gravitated to first anyway. They seem like they shouldn't be too hard to figure out. We'll see if that turns out to be reality or not...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Family Members, Broadcast, Press Conference Answers, Furuhata Videos, Joaquín Carrasco's Angry Email, Photo of Eguchi & Furuhata, Bodies in Morgue

Komatsu: [fixes belt] Well, if we're decidin' what to talk 'bout next, I think we should take about when we were kidnapped. That should be pretty easy, right?
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Not really. We know our memories from a year and a half of school are gone, but not much else. [confidently] Speaking of our memories, I think answering the question about why they were altered would be best.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] That would indeed be a good idea. [covers mouth with hand] If the mastermind went through such a great effort to alter our memories so drastically, they must contain a great number of secrets.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] True. Doin' that musta taken a ton of work, so they gotta have a real good reason for doin' it. [frowns] But what hell could it be? Anyone got any ideas?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] I don't.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] Nor do I, at the moment.
Motoki: [grimly] It looks like answering that question's a lot harder said than done. [determined I guess that leaves us with having to answer the question about who brought us to this place.
Kasparov: [analytically] That individual is almost certainly Verlenda, judging from the email they sent to Grimmla. [firmly] However,
do not currently possess the ability to identify Verlenda, do we? So then how do we figure out who they are?
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] I'm not sure...
Komatsu: [sullenly] Fuck, we're goin' in circles...

It might seem that way, but I'm pretty sure that we can answer at least one of those questions with what we know at the moment.

Answer: Joaquín Carrasco's Angry Email > when we were kidnapped

Kawashima: That's right!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I agree with Komatsu-kun. We should talk about the date when we were kidnapped first.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] Why? We don't have enough information to answer that yet, right?
Kawashima: [firmly] Wrong. There are several pieces of evidence that'll help us narrow down the choices, the most important of which is an email from Carrasco-san's dad to Headmaster Gomi. [seriously] The email was sent on October 25th, 2056, at 1:01, and Carrasco-san's dad states that we were kidnapped "yesterday afternoon."
Komatsu: [grins] Oh, why the hell didn't you say that earlier? That makes answerin' that question easy! [fixes belt] We were kidnapped the day before October 25th, October 24th, during the afternoon.
Motoki: [grimly] Not so fast. Timezones are a thing, remember? That email was sent from Carrasco-san's dad in Spain, which is almost ten hours behind Japan. [thoughtfully] Kawashima-san said the email was sent at "1:01," which if we assume refers to 1:01 AM, means that Carrasco-san's dad sent that email at around 3 PM Spain time. That'd mean we were kidnapped on the 23rd. [confidently] However, if 1:01 refers to 1:01 PM, then he sent the email early in the morning Spain time, and he's referring to the 24th when he says "yesterday."
Kasparov: [considers carefully] That is an excellent point, Motoki-san. It is likely that the email format uses 24-hour time when recording dates, but we cannot be positive.

It's just our luck to get such an ambiguous time at a point where an exact time would help us greatly. Fortunately, I think there's something else that'll help clear things up...
Email from Verlenda uses 24-hour time/Email from Verlenda uses AM-PM distinction/Email from Watai uses 24-hour time

Answer: Email from Watai uses 24-hour time

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] The email sent by Watai-san to Gomi-san used 24-hour time, so it's pretty safe to assume the one from Carrasco-san's dad did too. [seriously] Of course, there's no way to be sure. The one sent from Carrasco-san's dad could've been sent to a different email address used by Gomi-san or maybe the PDF was taken from a different email service, which might result in differences in the timing. [firmly] However, I think it's reasonably safe to assume that "1:01" refers to 1:01 AM.
Motoki: [neutrally] So we were kidnapped on October 23rd, then.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] It looks like that, but we can't be 100% sure yet.

I thought there was more room for ambiguity before, but the more I think about it, I become more and more certain that we were really kidnapped on the 23rd. That's because of...
Press conference and family's answer/Strangeness of the class photo/Letter of termination and Shinako's death

Answer: Letter of termination and Shinako's death

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [firmly] Hayasaka-san, I'm pretty confident we were kidnapped on the 23rd, because the email isn't the only proof that indicates that date was when we were kidnapped. [seriously] One of the other pieces of evidence that corroborate it is a notice of termination from Niizuma-san's work. It states that Niizuma-san missed work on the previous day, so she's been fired. [thoughtfully] The letter was dated October 25th, meaning Niizuma-san missed work on the 24th. The email from Carrasco-san's dad said we were kidnapped in the afternoon, so it makes sense that Niizuma-san didn't miss work until the day after we were kidnapped.
Motoki: [neutrally] Oh yeah, I remember reading that when Komatsu-kun showed it to me. [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] I still can't believe they fired her after missing one day...even if it was an important day, shouldn't they have a little more grace? And they did not even realize Niizuma-san was kidnapped.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] I doubt they cared. Most of those corporate higher-ups are fuckin' soulless and don't give a shit 'bout anyone but themselves. [fixes belt] But that don't really matter. What matters is that that letter gives us more evidence that we were kidnapped on the 23rd.
Kawashima: [seriously] It does, but it's not all. There's also another piece of evidence that indicates we were kidnapped on the 23rd: the photo of Shinako's death scene, which was dated October 23rd, 2056.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] ...Shinako? Who's that again?
Komatsu: [furrows] I'm wonderin' the same thing...I feel like I've heard the name before, but I don't remember who it belongs to.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] It's the name of Niizuma-san's girlfriend, isn't it?
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] Yes, it is. [frowns] Actually, I suppose "was" is a more accurate term, given that she is now dead. [arches eyebrow] That aside, how does the death of Shinako relate to our kidnapping, Kawashima-san? Did Shinako live with Niizuma-san at school?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] I doubt it. Niizuma-san said she had a house that Shinako lived in. That must've been true, otherwise, the notice of foreclosure Monohebi showed her right before her execution doesn't make sense.
Kawashima: [firmly] Hayasaka-san's right. Shinako probably lived in that house and most likely didn't attend New Hope's Peak. Even if she did, we know she wasn't in our class because she wasn't in our class photo. [seriously] However, no matter where she lived or what school she attended, she was killed at New Hope's Peak.
Hayasaka: [shocked] Wait, really!?
Kasparov: [frowns] How can you know that for sure, Kawashima-san?

Easy. It's because of one simple fact...
She was wearing New Hope's Peak apparel when she died/Floor in the photo of her death matches New Hope's Peak cafeteria floor/She was killed in Headmaster Gomi's office

Answer: Floor in the photo of her death matches New Hope's Peak cafeteria floor

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] In the photo of Shinako's death, she was lying on a floor with a distinctive green and white tile pattern. [seriously] Later during the investigation, I found a photograph of several of us in the New Hope's Peak cafeteria, and it had that exact same tile pattern on the floor. [firmly] That suggests that Shinako died in the New Hope's Peak cafeteria.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] I see what yer gettin' at...ya think that Shinako dyin' in New Hope's Peak cafeteria on October 23rd's too much of a coincidence if we weren't kidnapped then.
Motoki: [perplexedly] Hold on, can we really be sure she died in the New Hope's Peak cafeteria? It could've been another building with the same tile design.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] You are correct, Motoki-san. We cannot reasonably deny that possibility. [covers mouth with hand] However, I for one think it is quite unlikely.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] I guess that's fair. [grimly] So you think Shinako was at New Hope's Peak when the kidnappers came, and they killed her in the Cafeteria rather than taking her along?
Kasparov: [analytically] That seems to be what occurred, yes. [presses finger to temple] Verlenda stated that taking the desired students and staff would already be a difficult operation. I do not imagine they wanted to take anyone extra.
Komatsu: [grimaces] So Shinako was jus' in the wrong place at the wrong time...

Yes, it looks like that, but...I have an unexplainable feeling that isn't all there is to it. After all, there's the fact that Shinako was my coworker. I should tell everyone about that...
Kawashima: [seriously] Everyone...I have something else to say about Shinako.
Hayasaka: [curiously] What is it, Wakana-san?
Kawashima: [firmly] When I saw Shinako dead, I instantly recognized her because I used to work with her. She was a waitress at the same restaurant I worked at. [thoughtfully] However, she didn't go by "Shinako." She called herself "Masuyo Takeshita" instead.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Really? That's fuckin' weird...
Motoki: [grimly] .......... [rubs shoulder] ...It sure is. However, unless anyone has a way to explain why Shinako hid her identity or if it's relevant to this killing game at all, it's pointless to focus on it. [determined] We should just forget about her for now and submit our answer for the date we were kidnapped on.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] I agree that we should answer the question about the date we were kidnapped, but we can't jus' forget 'bout Shinako yet. [frowns] The mysteries 'round her identity and her death could be important. What if she's Verlenda and Niizuma-san was Grimmla?
Kasparov: [considers carefully] That is completely illogical. Niizuma-san attended school and worked a full-time job simultaneously. It is extremely unlikely she had the time to plan a killing game even if she had a motive to do so, which is also very doubtful. [narrows eyes] Most importantly, Shinako was quite literally the only person Niizuma-san truly cared about. Why would she ever kill her?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] She wouldn't. It doesn't make any sense for Tomiko-san to murder Shinako or for her to plan a killing game in the first place.

I agree. Niizuma-san could be cruel at times, but she obviously didn't enjoy the killing game at all. Her intelligence and apathy toward the rest of us make her initially seem to be a likely candidate for being the mastermind or maybe just Grimmla's assistant...but something about that doesn't feel right. I feel like she was too focused on her goals of avoiding poverty and working hard to plan this entire killing game.
Kawashima: [seriously] I agree. It's unlikely Shinako is Grimmla, Verlenda, or the person who helped Grimmla. [firmly] Moving on from that, I think we should finally submit our answer to the question of when we were kidnapped. Does anyone think it was any other date than October 23rd, 2056?
Hayasaka: [shakes head] Not me.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Me either.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] That appears to be the correct date to me.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] Same with me.
Kawashima: [neutrally] Alright, then it's settled. [seriously] Listen up, Monohebi: we all agree that we were kidnapped on October 23rd, 2056. That's our official answer to your question about the date of our kidnapping.
Monohebi: [smiles slightly] That response has been accepted. [smirks] Sususu...you brats are moving through these questions rather quickly. Do not be too hasty, alright? I have yet to fully prepare your execution chambers.
Motoki: [hostilely] Shut the fuck up. We don't have time for your bullshit. [determined] Ignoring Monohebi's bullshit, let's move on. Which question should we talk about next?
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] If we're still avoidin' talkin' 'bout the mastermind and the commemoration video, we only got two questions to choose from. Who brought us to this place, and why were our memories altered?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] The person who brought us here is Verlenda, right? To answer that question, we'll probably have to figure out who they are.
Kawashima: [seriously] Hayasaka-san's right. The email from Verlenda to Grimmla made it pretty clear that Verlenda was in charge of kidnapping us and transporting us to this prison.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] That is correct, however, I believe the discussion of why our memories were altered would be more prudent to discuss first. [covers mouth with hand] After all, Kawashima-san, you and I encountered some very relevant information to that question during the investigation. Besides, I believe discovering the identity of Verlenda will be fairly difficult.

That's true...if Verlenda's a big, established criminal, they're not going to be easy to find. It's probably easier to focus on our memories for now.
Kawashima: [neutrally] Okay, then let's talk about our memories and why they were removed.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Komatsu: [fixes belt] Alright, if we're talkin' 'bout our memories, lemme start off by sayin' somethin'.
Hayasaka: [curiously] What is it, Yutaka-kun?
Komatsu: [frowns] It's 'bout my bro Reiji. [grimaces] I didn't bring this up when I saw that last motive video 'cause I was too overwhelmed, but he looked older in that video than I remember him bein'.

That's interesting. I remember noticing something similar when I was watching the press conference video. Only it didn't have to do with Komatsu-kun's brother, but rather...
Furuhata's little brother/Domoto's little sister/My siblings

Answer: My siblings

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] I noticed something similar as well, Komatsu-kun. [thoughtfully] Both of my siblings looked older at the press conference than I remembered them being. It wasn't a huge difference, because they only looked to be between one and two years older than what I remember, which makes perfect sense if we were kidnapped after a year and a half of schooling.
Komatsu: [sullenly] Yeah, Monohebi really wasn't lyin' 'bout at least a year and a half of memories bein' gone. That means that right now it's at least late 2056, maybe even 2057... [angrily] Grh, that fuckin' asshole snake! I'm gonna make him pay for doin' that to us!
Monohebi: [slightly irritated] I am right here, you know.
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] Ya think I forgot?
Kasparov: [sharply] Cease this nonsense. Antagonizing Monohebi is unproductive at the moment. [presses finger to temple] What we must focus on is why over a year and half of our memories have been taken from us.

He's right, that's what we need to focus on for now. Although finding the answer is easier said than done...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Bodies in Morgue, Memories Prior to Arrival, Family Members, Class Photo, Dr. Jayantha Sumanth and his Research, Photo of Eguchi & Furuhata, Cafeteria Photo

Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Well, there's the obvious answer, which is that Monohebi didn't want us to know we were classmates before the killing game. [twirls hair pensively] He did a lot to make us think we were incoming freshmen
who'd never met each other before.
Motoki: [grimly] That seems like an incomplete explanation, at best. [thoughtfully] It explains why Monohebi took memories after we arrived at New Hope's Peak, but not the ones he took beforehand.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] Indeed. Monohebi must have had a reason to rob us of those earlier memories as well. [frowns] To talk about myself, why did he remove my memory of my murder of my father? Keeping them intact would certainly have given me some of the "despair" he seems to love, would it not?
Komatsu: [grimaces] Maybe he was holdin' off of revealin' that so it felt worse when it was revealed? [angrily] That's what he did to Eguchi-san with her bulimia.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] That makes sense, but then why didn't remove my memories of bulimia? Or Sakiko-san's memory of her abuse? Or Yutaka-kun's memories of poverty and killing someone?
Motoki: [perplexedly] I was wondering the same...the three of us went through awful things, but we didn't have any of our memories prior to coming to New Hope's Peak removed. Why's that?
Komatsu: [frowns] Shit, I dunno...

That is a confusing question...do I have the ability to answer it right now? Hm...

Answer: Class Photo > make us think we were incoming freshmen

Kawashima: That's right!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [neutrally] Hayasaka-san's right. Monohebi undoubtedly wanted us to think we were incoming freshmen. [thoughtfully] Everyone saw the class photo Komatsu-kun found, right? In that photo, Motoki-san, Hayasaka-san, and Komatsu-kun all had undyed hair. But when we came here, their hair was back to being dyed the exact same way it was prior to them coming here. [firmly] That makes it pretty clear that Monohebi wanted us to think no time had passed.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] I agree, but...we already knew that, didn't we? Why bother talking about it?
Kasparov: [analytically] It is still good to confirm that fact. However, you are correct that we should not dwell on the subject much. [presses finger to temple] Let us resume the discussion of why some of us had our memories prior to receiving the acceptance letter removed and others did not.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Yeah, why don't me, Yutaka-kun, or Sakiko-san have any memories before coming to New Hope's Peak removed?

I think I may have a possible explanation for that, Hayasaka-san, but I don't think you, Motoki-san, or Komatsu-kun are going to like it...
Your memories might've been altered instead of outright removed/Monohebi forgot to remove relevant memories from you three/Their memories are complete fabrications

Answer: Your memories might've been altered instead of outright removed

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] Hayasaka-san, it's possible that the memories of you, Motoki-san, and Komatsu-kun before you got your letters were only altered instead of having things outright removed.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Huh? What the fuck does that mean?
Motoki: [perplexedly] "Alter" memories? Don't tell me...does that mean giving us fake memories? [horrified] If so, that'd be really bad...
Kasparov: [frowns] Unfortunately, it is indeed possible.
Hayasaka: [shocked] Are you serious!?
Komatsu: [grips jacket tightly and stares at floor] No fuckin' way...fake memories? Nah, that can't be true...
Kawashima: [reluctantly] I'm sorry, but it is. [firmly] Fortunately, inserting fake memories is extremely difficult to do. It's way harder to do than simply removing memories, so it could've only been done to a limited extent.
Hayasaka: [flatly] All that tells us is our entire lives' memories aren't fake. [looks down glumly] It's good to hear, but even still...the thought of even one of my memories being fake freaks the hell out of me.
Motoki: [grimly] Yeah, it is really scary. [rubs shoulder] But back to what Kawashima-san was saying about our memories being altered instead of removed, which memories of ours do you think were altered? [thoughtfully] Nothing sticks out in my memory as being out of place. It all feels real.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] I'm the same as Motoki-san. Nothin' in my memory feels wrong 'til after I got the acceptance letter. [grimaces] I mean, maybe I jus' can't see it 'cause I don't wanna think of the memories bein' fake, but I guess there ain't a way to find out now, unless...
[grumpily] Yo, snake. Are any of our memories fake?
Monohebi: [displeased] You truly cannot expect me to answer that question. It is your task to figure that out, not mine.
Komatsu: [sullenly] Eh, it was worth a shot...

It would've been nice if Monohebi answered that question for us, but oh well. I was expecting to have to answer without his help anyway.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Komatsu-kun, it's entirely possible that the memories of you, Motoki-san, and Hayasaka-san prior to getting the acceptance letter weren't changed in any way. [seriously] All I was saying is there's a chance fake memories were mixed in with the legitimate ones. [firmly] Honestly, I have no idea which it is. I was just offering another option based on the evidence I found.
Motoki: [perplexedly] Speaking of that, what evidence did you and Kasparov-kun find during the investigation? You both obviously found something related to our memories and how they were changed.
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] Allow me to explain. During the investigation, Kawashima-san and I encountered a book in the library that discussed the history of neurosurgery and psychosurgery. In it, a man named Dr. Jayantha Sumanth was mentioned. [presses finger to temple] Dr. Sumanth and his two colleagues were experts in the field of memory alteration research. In 2043, Dr. Sumanth and his colleagues demonstrated that it was possible to not only remove memories from a subject, but it was also possible to return those memories at a later point.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] That must be how Yuzuki-san and Tomiko-san had their memories partially replaced before the third trial.
Kasparov: [nods] Precisely. [frowns] Lastly and most frighteningly, Dr. Sumanth demonstrated that fabricated memories could be inserted in the place of legitimate memories, although fortunately to a much lesser degree than simply replacing the legitimate ones. [covers mouth with hand] Oh, and one more thing: the book Kawashima-san and I found stated that the memory procedure is very expensive and takes weeks to complete.
Komatsu: [frowns] It takes weeks, and they did it on all of us? [grimaces] Shit...we were probably for months before this killin' game started.

I think it may be longer than that, Komatsu-kun. It might be almost a year since the kidnapping. That's because of someone who I saw in a motive video previously, yet looked different in the press conference video...
Yamaguchi's mom/Domoto's younger sister/Furuhata's younger brother

Answer: Furuhata's younger brother

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [curiously] Komatsu-kun, do you remember when we watched Furuhata-kun's motive video all the way back in the first investigation?
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Yeah, I do. [grimaces] It was really unnervin', seein' someone 'bout my bro's age in such a scary situation...really made me feel for Furuhata-kun. [furrows brow] Why ya askin' 'bout that now?
Kawashima: [seriously] Because when I saw Furuhata-kun's brother Dairoku in the press conference video, he looked noticeably younger than he did in that motive video. If I had to guess, he looked about a year younger.
Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] Are you truly suggesting that approximately a year has passed since our kidnapping?
Kawashima: [nods] I am. [seriously] The book said the memory procedure takes "weeks" for just one person, which is pretty vague. However, I'd assume that it probably means about two to four weeks. [thoughtfully] If we assume the procedure took two weeks, that means doing it on all sixteen of us would take thirty-two weeks. That number goes up to forty-eight if we assume three weeks, and sixty-four if we assume four. [firmly] There'd be a lot of room for variation because some of us would need more than time than others, but that means we spent somewhere from thirty-two to sixty-four weeks with our memories removed, probably closer to sixty-four judging by Dairoku's age.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] Hold on, I don't understand how that could happen...if what you're suggesting is true, that means we were all operated on one by one. [perplexedly] Then wouldn't the people that were operated on first still have the memories of the months after their surgery?

Initially, that sounds like a huge problem with my theory. But if I think back to everything the book said, it shouldn't be too hard to answer...
We were comatose/We were temporarily dead/We were drunk

Answer: We were comatose

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] In the book Kasparov-kun and I found, Dr. Sumanth was reported to have stated that no one had to worry about the surgery done on them unwillingly unless they were comatose for several weeks. [firmly] That implies you need to be comatose to undergo the surgery. So, I imagine we were comatose from the point we had the surgery started until the beginning of this killing game.
Motoki: [surprised] That's crazy...the mastermind kept us comatose for several months? [thoughtfully] I'm no medical expert, but wouldn't it take a ton of drugs and medical resources to do that?
Kasparov: [analytically] It most certainly would, but given how many resources the mastermind has at their disposal, it is not exactly surprising. [presses finger to temple] Speaking of the mastermind, Kawashima-san, why did you assume they were not a student when you gave your estimate for how many weeks it took for the killing game to start after our kidnapping?
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Huh? She did that?
Kasparov: [nods] Yes. [covers mouth with hand] Kawashima-san multiplied the number of weeks she predicted the surgery would take by sixteen, which assumes that all sixteen of us underwent the memory surgery. However, if the mastermind were a student, they would not undergo the memory surgery, correct?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Most likely not. [firmly] However, I was just accounting for the scenario which would take the longest, which would be if all sixteen of us had the surgery.
Hayasaka: [slightyl confused] Sorry, I'm a little lost...Wakana-san, why'd you even consider the possibility of the mastermind undergoing the surgery? [looks to the side thoughtfully] I was under the impression they were the person doing it, and if that's the case there's no reason to even consider the possibility of them having the surgery done on them.

The mastermind wasn't the person doing the surgery, Hayasaka-san. No, that was...
Dr. Wen He/Dr. Anton Larsson/Dr. Jayantha Sumanth

Answer: Dr. Jayantha Sumanth

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] Hayasaka-san, the person who did the surgery wasn't the mastermind. It was Dr. Sumanth himself.
Hayasaka: [curiously] Really? How do you know that?
Kawashima: [firmly] I found his corpse in the morgue, along with the remains of Headmaster Gomi and Sato-san.
[thoughtfully] I'm guessing
his presence there meant the mastermind had some use for him, which could’ve only been the memory procedure.

Motoki: [surprised] Wait a minute, did you say that Gomi-san's dead? Or did I mishear you?
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] You did not mishear. He has been dead for some time. [frowns] When I first found the morgue after the fourth trial, I found his body in the morgue.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Well, shit. The dude musta died a while ago, prolly before this killin' game started.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Probably. However, I doubt he's been dead for an extremely long time. [curiously] Also...whose bodies are in the morgue? Are all eleven of us who died in there?
Kawashima: [seriously] Yes, everyone who died's body is in there in the same states they were at their deaths. Well, everyone except for Yamaguchi-kun, but we know why his corpse was tampered with.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] You said you found Gomi-san's body in there, but what about the other staff members? Were there bodies in there too?
Kawashima: [firmly] No. There were only fourteen bodies in the morgue: the bodies of everyone who died from Furuhata-kun to Domoto-san, Gomi-san, Dr. Sumanth, and an extremely brutalized corpse which I assume belongs to Sato-san.
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] Poor Sato-san...she didn't deserve to die like that.

Sorry to bring her up, Hayasaka-san, but I had to.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] Yeah, she definitely didn't... [perplexedly] But, about Gomi-san...why is he the only staff member in there? What the hell happened to all the other staff members? They were kidnapped along with the rest of us, so where are they?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Unetani-san and Watai-san are hostages, but I have no idea about the rest of them.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Hold up...ain't Watai-san Kasparov-kun's chess mentor? And Unetani-san's the name of Sashihara-kun's trainer, ain't it? The fuck they hafta do with New Hope's Peak?
Kawashima: [firmly] They're both staff members. [regretfully] I thought Watai-san's email about Kasparov-kun made that obvious, but I guess I should've confirmed it first.
Hayasaka: [reassuringly] Don't worry about, Wakana-san. I learned that Unetani-san and Watai-san were New Hope's Peak staff members when I investigated the Archives Room, so I should share the blame for not mentioning that earlier too. [curiously] But that aside, did you know that Watai-san worked at New Hope's Peak, Sergey-kun?
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] No. According to Kawashima-san, Watai-san does psychological evaluations for New Hope's Peak, something of which I was entirely unaware. [analytically] Also, judging by the fact that Sashihara-kun never mentioned Unetani-san having a connection to our school, I believe he did not know that she was a staff member either.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] That's weird. Why'd the mastermind hide shit like that?
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Maybe the mastermind is Watai-san or Unetani-san.
Motoki: [grimly] Then why are they hostages? I don't know why they'd make themselves hostages if they were the mastermind.
Kasparov: [frowns] If I may...I do believe we have strayed from the relevant discussion. [analytically] It is clear that the mastermind wanted neither me nor Sashihara-kun to know about the employment of our mentors at New Hope's Peak. [considers carefully] However, as peculiar as that is, I do not believe talking about them will lead to us discovering why our memories were altered.
Motoki: [perplexedly] What do you think will lead us to discover that?
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] In truth, I do not know. Now that we have spent time discussing the potential reasons why our memories were altered, I have realized answering that question will be quite difficult. [covers mouth with hand] So, I shall suggest we go against the earlier suggestion of Motoki-san and determine who the individual in the commemoration video is.
Komatsu: [frowns] What? Why the hell would ya wanna do that?
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] Yeah, that's going to get ugly fast if our past discussions about that topic are anything to go by...
Kasparov: [firmly] I understand, but learning who that individual is and the role they played in allowing this killing game to occur will shed more light on our memories and why they were removed, I am sure of it.
Motoki: [grimly] Sorry, but I still don't think it's a good idea.

Neither do I, but...we can't keep dancing around this topic forever.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I don't necessarily want to talk about who the person mentioned in the commemoration video is, but...it's necessary. I think we should do as Kasparov-kun says. [seriously] As much as it sucks to say it, this is a topic which we've already discussed at length before this trial. So, figuring out the truth behind it shouldn't be terribly difficult.
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] If you say so, Wakana-san...
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] ...Fine. But it's still a bad idea.
Komatsu: [sullenly] Yeah, I ain't thrilled 'bout this either. [cracks knuckles] Ya better not bad-mouth Eguchi-san again, Kasparov-kun!
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] I swear I will not "bad-mouth" her, but I cannot promise that I will not accuse her if the evidence incriminates her.

Oh boy, here we go again. I always hated talking about who the commemoration video was about before, and I feel no different now. However, it's necessary to talk about this topic, as shitty as it might be.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Subject #982's Profile, Finances Book, Furuhata Videos, Broadcast, Staff Photo, Letter of Termination, Cafeteria Photo

Motoki: [rubs shoulder] If we really have to go back to this topic...I'm just going to start off by saying a hard truth. [determined] Regardless of how negatively the situation around her accusation turned out, Eguchi-san is a prime candidate for being the person in the commemoration video.
Komatsu: [grumpily] That doesn't necessarily mean it's her, though. [angrily] That video made it seem like one of us students was plannin' the killin' game, but I don't fuckin' buy it for a second.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] I don't either, Yutaka-kun. The commemoration video said one of us was "responsible" for the killing game, which is pretty vague. [narrows eyes] He's trying to mislead us
into thinking someone maliciously plotted the killing game, I can tell. He's given us information in super disingenuous ways before.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] That is true. One only needs to remember the time of the Monohebil File of Aozora-kun for an example of such a disingenuity.
Motoki: [grimly] Even so, we can't ignore the credible points that were made against her. [confidently] She was acting weirder after getting her memories back. Those Monohebi drawings were made in her art style.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] I don't deny that Yuzuki-san made those drawings. Unless whoever made them is super good at copying others' styles, Yuzuki-san must've created them. [confidently] But that doesn't mean she made them willingly. She might've been forced to!
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] That is quite an intriguing theory. [frowns] But even if it is true, Eguchi-san would still be the person in the commemoration video, no?
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Maybe, 'cause makin' those drawin's could count as bein' "responsible for the killin' game." [fixes belt] But it could also be referrin' to someone else. Maybe Grimmla, maybe their assistant if it wasn't Eguchi-san, or maybe someone else entirely. [cracks knuckles] All I know is the person in that video doesn't hafta be Eguchi-san!

A lot of interesting things were brought up just now. One in particular stands out, though.

Answer: Subject #982's Profile > trying to mislead us

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] For once, I don't think Monohebi's trying to mislead us, Hayasaka-san. At least, not in the exact way you're describing.
Motoki: [perplexedly] What? You don't think Monohebi, the slimiest bastard we've ever met, would try to deceive us?
Kawashima: [seriously] Of course he would. In fact, he's done it several times. [firmly] But he wasn't trying to mislead us when the commemoration video made it seem like one of us planned this killing game with malintent, because... [reluctantly] Because that's the truth, as shitty as it may seem.
Kasparov: [skeptically] Are you sure of this, Kawashima-san?
Komatsu: [grips jacket tightly and stares at floor] I hope it ain't true...thinkin' one of us planned the killin' game is...
Kawashima: [firmly] Horrible? Yes, it is. But it's a real possibility we can't walk away from.
Hayasaka: [curiously] Okay, but how do you know it's a real possibility?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] It's because of a profile for one of us, "Subject 982," put together by Headmaster Gomi that I found in the Archives Room. [seriously] Just so you all know, I found three other profiles which seemed to belong to members of our class, yet none were as censored as this last profile. It was heavily censored and Gomi-san mentioned that Subject 982 and their plans were dangerous to society, so much so the Prime Minister's aides talked with Gomi-san about this person.
Komatsu: [grimaces] Shit, that sounds ominous as fuck.
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] It does. I remember reading that when I investigated the Archives Room, and it creeped me out a lot. [slightly confused] But...I don't see the conclusion Kawashima-san reached. That profile never made any mention of a killing game.
Motoki: [grimly] Yeah...the subject in that profile is obviously very dangerous, but that doesn't mean they planned a killing game.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] No, but what else would those dangerous plans be? No one here seemed to have any other nefarious plans that would warrant the involvement of the aides of the Prime Minister.
Hayasaka: [flatly] No, but that still doesn't mean the person in that profile planned the killing game, or that they're involved at all.

It seems like Hayasaka-san and Motoki-san are going to take more convincing when it comes to this subject. I understand their hesitation for now, but I have a strong intuition Subject 982's plans were a killing game. I might be wrong, but if I can just find the evidence to back up my theory...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Family Members, Yamaguchi Prison Diary, Subject #982's Profile, Subject #1018's Profile, Press Conference Answers, Class Photo, Furuhata Videos

Motoki: [determined] I think we should err on the side of caution and not trust Monohebi. [looks to the side thoughtfully] Remember, he showed us the commemoration video with the intent of tearing the group apart and forcing a murder. For that reason alone, we should take everything in it with a grain of salt.
Hayasaka: [confidently] Sakiko-san's right. Monohebi only showed us that video to make us distrust each other.
Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] That was undoubtedly one motive of his, but can we be sure that was the extent of his motivations? [presses finger to temple] As I postulated originally, it is possible the video was meant to be a covert signal to someone that they were on the side of the mastermind without informing the rest of us. [covers mouth with hand] Perhaps it was successful in that goal.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Nah, that's bullshit. Yer only reasonin' for sayin' that was 'cause of Eguchi-san's drawin's, wasn't it? [sullenly] If she's the person the video's talkin' 'bout, then the "covert signal" obviously didn't work 'cause of how ya and Domoto-san instantly picked up on it. [cracks knuckles] And if it ain't her, then what the fuck could that "covert signal" even be? Lemme tell ya, nothin'!
Kasparov: [frowns] I do not know, and obviously should not know if the signal was meant to be something of which only Monohebi and the person in the video were supposed to be aware. [presses finger to temple] Of course, my theory could be wrong. It was merely an idea.
Hayasaka: [flatly] This is off-topic, guys. [narrows eyes] Sergey-kun, can you tell me why you believe Subject 982's plans had to be a killing game? How's that your immediate conclusion when none of us found any evidence that contains any possible reference to a killing game?
Kasparov: [considers carefully] Knowing that we are currently in a killing game and one of us students is "responsible for the killing game" is enough to convince me. It is simple and involves the fewest number of assumptions given our current situation.
Komatsu: [grimaces] But that dangerous subject's plans could've been any number of things, right?
Motoki: [thoughtfully] Yeah. Maybe it was Yamaguchi-kun? He had experience with bombing before, so maybe he was planning more bombings?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] It's possible.

Wow, that was a lot. I get that Hayasaka-san, Motoki-san, and Komatsu-kun want to explore other options, but are they right? Let me look back at the evidence I found again...

Answer: Press Conference Answers > none of us found

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Are you sure that all of the evidence had no references to a killing game, Hayasaka-san?
Hayasaka: [confidently] Yeah, I am. Are you saying that's wrong?
Kawashima: [seriously] Yes. The press conference we watched definitely had a moment that might've been referring to a killing game. [firmly] One of the reporters asked a question about why we were kidnapped and if was for something that was censored. Everyone got disturbed when she mentioned that, remember?
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] That did happen, but the woman answering questions said that the censored thing the reporter brought up couldn't have been what we were kidnapped for, right? [twirls hair pensively] She said that censored thing hasn't happened in Japan for forty years.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] She coulda lied, though. It ain't like people doin' press conferences tell the truth all the time. [fixes belt] Besides, why the hell would Monohebi censor whatever the reporter brought up if it wasn't relevant to our situation right now?
Motoki: [thoughtfully] That's a good point. If it was something random, Monohebi could've easily not censored it. [grimly] Also, no one's mentioned this yet, but...does anyone else think the fact that whatever the reporter suggested happened "forty years ago" is important? [thoughtfully] That means it occurred during the early-to-mid 2010s, aka during the Tragedy.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] I was about to mention that myself, Motoki-san. The timing of that mysterious event is no coincidence. [covers mouth with hand] As I sure you are all aware, the occurrence of a specific event, masterminded by Junko Enoshima, at the old Hope's Peak was the cause of the Tragedy. When I was growing up, the exact nature of that terrible incident was not taught to me. Was it the same here in Japan?
Kawashima: [seriously] Yeah, it's never formally brought up in schools. All they say is that something really bad happened which caused the Tragedy to occur, and something else really bad happened at Hope's Peak while it was going on.
Motoki: [grimly] We don't really mention it outside of school, either. It was super traumatizing for everyone, so talking about the Tragedy and what happened at the old Hope's Peak is very, very taboo. No one old enough to remember it discusses it, public or private. At least, no one that I know.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Same with the people in my life, but one exception...'bout a month before my dad left, he got super drunk and said somethin' 'bout how the leader of his old biker gang died durin' the Tragedy 'cause of that "despair bitch Enoshima." Nothin' more than that, though.
Monohebi: [neutral] Oh, that must mean Oowada. [presses tail against mouth and frowns] So your father was a member of the Crazy Diamonds...hmph. No wonder he spawned a wretched hoodlum like you.
Komatsu: [angrily] Hey, shut the fuck up! I ain't like him!
Kasparov: [frowns] Ignoring the pointless interjection of Monohebi, what about the specifics of what happened? Does anyone remember exactly what occurred?
Kawashima: [seriously] I don't. My parents and all the adults old enough to remember it always make sure to never, ever bring it up.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] My dad mighta said somethin' else durin' one of his drunken states, but I dunno. If he did, Monohebi prolly changed that memory.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] I know what happened. It was...Junko Enoshima, she and her sister Mukuro Ikusaba...they... [looks down glumly] Fuck. I can't remember. I definitely used to know at one point, but I don't anymore...
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Same here. I definitely knew at one point too, but I can't remember anymore. [thoughtfully] I thought none of my memories were removed, but those related to the Tragedy and what happened during it have been. [determined] That's absolutely not a coincidence, which makes me pretty confident when I say that I think the inciting event for the Tragedy, or at least an important event during it, was a killing game.

I'm leaning towards that, too. Why else would the memories be revealed if they weren't related to our current situation?
Kasparov: [considers carefully] I feel the same way, Motoki-san. It seems to me that Monohebi scrubbed what little knowledge we had of the Tragedy in order to make us unaware of killing games. [presses finger to temple] After all, something unknown is much frightening than something known. I imagine Monohebi wanted us to have no recollections of what a killing game was so that our experience in one would be all the more terrifying.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] That's true. If we knew these fuckin' things have happened before, then we coulda used our knowledge of how those games went down so we didn't repeat the mistakes others made and tried to get outta here sooner. [grimaces] But without those memories of past killin' games, we'd be jus' as vulnerable as the first people ever in a killin' game.
Motoki: [grimly] It sounds devious and cruel, so right up Monohebi's alley. [determined] Before, I was skeptical that the thing the reporter mentioned at the press conference was a killing game, but now I'm pretty confident that's what it was. [thoughtfully] It's very likely the dangerous plan Subject 982 had, too.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] That makes sense...I remember Gomi-san saying Subject 982's plan was similar to something in the past that older people were "all too familiar with." Because of how it was censored, it's probably a killing game.
[awkwardly] Ugh, I should've realized it earlier...I wasted time by denying it.
Kasparov: [firmly] Do not be sorry. It was a reasonable objection, and a reasonable objection is no waste of time.
Hayasaka: [smiles slightly] Thanks, Sergey-kun. [looks to the side thoughtfully] So, now that we all agree that a killing game happened during the Tragedy and that Subject 982, whoever they are, was planning one...is it safe to say that's the reason why our memories prior to getting the letter were removed?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] I think so. The ones after we got the letter were obviously taken so we didn't remember we were classmates and thought we were incoming freshmen, and as for the stuff before getting the letter...well, Hayasaka-san just talked about it. [thoughtfully] So...I think we might be able to answer the question about why our memories were removed now.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] Do not rush. What we have mentioned so far is certainly part of the answer, but I do not believe we have reached the whole truth quite yet.
Komatsu: [sullenly] Then what the hell's the whole truth? [rubs back of neck] I feel like the ways our memories were fucked with was pretty inconsistent...some of us got more things changed than others.
Motoki: [perplexedly] Yeah, it's weird. I really don't understand it.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Neither do I...and honestly, I don't think we'll be able to answer it very soon. [looks to the side thoughtfully] Okay, this'll be a kind of sudden change in topic, but I have something to ask you all.
Kawashima: [curiously] What is it, Hayasaka-san?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Headmaster Gomi mentioned meeting with a woman named "Headmistress Kirigiri" in the profile for Subject 982. [curiously] Have the rest of you heard that name before too?
Motoki: [thoughtfully] I've heard the name Kirigiri before for sure. I don't remember from where, though...
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Me too.
Kawashima: [seriously] Same with me. [thoughtfully] If we all knew who she was and our memories of her were removed, then she must be important.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Maybe she has something to do with the killing game in the past, or just the Tragedy in general. I don't know why else our memories of her would be tampered with.
Monohebi: [neutral] Correct. The famous detective Kyoko Kirigiri is a former student of the old Hope's Peak and a survivor of the Tragedy and, most importantly, the earliest mutual killing game with our current rules.

What the...? Monohebi's confirming it?
Kawashima: [surprised] You're really confirming our theory? Why?
Motoki: [perplexedly] Yeah, why?

Why're you revealing this information to us now when you've hidden it from us for so long?
Monohebi: [smiles slightly] Hiding it no longer does anything for me. As you proposed, your knowledge of the Tragedy and killing games was only removed so that the killing game would be a frightening and unknown experience for you all, so now that you are at its end there is no point in keeping it secret any longer. [smirks] If anything, telling you is better because now you all know for sure you once had the knowledge of the history of killing games and how they operated and ultimately ended, yet now that is tragically gone. [red eye glints] That is worse than being unaware you ever had that knowledge, is it not?
Kasparov: [narrows eyes] Does this mean you will be returning our knowledge of the killing games to us now?
Monohebi: [presses tail against mouth and frowns] Hm...no. I could suddenly return all your memories as I did with Carrasco before her execution or return parts of them like with Niizuma and Eguchi for the third motive, but I shall not out of caution. I would not want to reveal something important accidentally. [smirks] However, I will remind you of the basics of what occurred so I do not have to explain in the future. [neutral] Junko Enoshima caused the Tragedy to begin through a mass suicide at the old Hope's Peak. More unfortunate events happened that caused the world to destabilize, blah blah blah, then Class 78, of which Enoshima and her sister Ikusaba were members, locked themselves inside the old Hope's Peak.
Monohebi: [smiles slightly] Unbeknownst to the others, Enoshima and Ikusaba plotted to the killing game. Blah blah blah, Enoshima, Ikusaba, and everyone except six people died. Kirigiri was one of those six individuals who survived, as was her future husband Makoto Naegi, who is now thankfully deceased along with that deranged serial killer and wealthy scumbag. [neutral] There were other killing games, one of which happened in VR, but I do not feel like explaining them. All you need to know is that Naegi became the first headmaster of New Hope's Peak approximately forty years ago, with Kirigiri as his most treasured his assistant.
Hayasaka: [curiously] You said Naegi-san and two of the other survivors died, but why? [twirls hair pensively] If they attended the old Hope's peak, they were teenagers during the Tragedy, so they should only be in their late fifties or early sixties now.
Monohebi: [slightly irritated] Who cares? All that matters is that they are dead.
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] Jus' tell us! It's yer fault we don't have those memories anyway.
Monohebi: [displeased] Fine. [slightly irritated] Naegi was killed in a car bomb by a man who believed himself to be a long-lost cousin of Enoshima and Ikusaba. Kirigiri nearly died from that too, so she is now permanently paralyzed from the waist down. [neutral] Fukawa, the serial killer, was killed by a roaming vigilante group who hunted down those who they believed eluded justice. Togami was assassinated while visiting Nairobi for business. [smiles slightly] Good riddance to them, I say. Fukawa and Togami deserved to die long ago.
Kawashima: [curiously] Is that all you have to say?
Monohebi: [neutral] Yes, I do not believe there is anything left to say on that matter.
Kawashima: [firmly] Then shut up. You don't get to pass judgment on who deserves to live or die.
Monohebi: [hisses furiously] Sssss! I am far more qualified to do so than any of you. [displeased] Ugh. I graciously provide you with information unprompted, and this is the thanks I get? Hmph.

Stay mad, bitch.
Kawashima: [seriously] As annoying as Monohebi is, he just provided us with valuable information. We now know for sure there were killing games in the past, Kirigiri-san participated in one, and that we were kidnapped to do one. [thoughtfully] By extension, we can definitively say that Subject 982's "dangerous plan" really was a killing game. Now that we know Kirigiri-san in a killing game, the way he talked about how her input "should be valued about others" in Subject 982's profile makes that undeniable.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] That's good and all, but none of us really doubted any of that at this point. [frowns] I doubt Monohebi woulda told us anythin' if any of us still disagreed...

He's right, but it's still good to have it confirmed.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] Well, Kawashima-san missed one thing...we also know that Kirigiri-san is the headmistress of New Hope's Peak.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] Uh, no. Gomi-san's the headmaster of New Hope's Peak, not Kirigiri-san.
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] He is. That was made very clear from the evidence we found.
Motoki: [confidently] Really? I don't think that's true.

Motoki-san doesn't think Gomi-san was the headmaster of New Hope's Peak, but instead thinks it's Kirigiri-san. I agree that Kirgiri-san is undoubtedly the headmistress of some school, but I'm pretty sure it's not New Hope's Peak. However, Motoki-san might be right, so I should hear her out.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Memories Prior to Arrival, Letter of Termination, Email About Kasparov, Subject #982's Profile, Grimmla and Verlenda's Email, Yamaguchi Prison Diary, Flash Drive Contents

Motoki: [thoughtfully] First of all, from what I've gathered none of the evidence we found explicitly states Gomi-san is the headmaster of New Hope's Peak.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] The evidence may not outright say that Gomi-san was the headmaster of New Hope's Peak, but that doesn't mean it's Kirigiri-san. [looks to the sides thoughtfully] Besides, context clues are a thing. When you take them into consideration, it's clear Gomi-san's the headmaster of New Hope's Peak.
Motoki: [determined] But Monohebi said Naegi-san was the founding headmaster of New Hope's Peak and that Kirigiri-san was his "most treasured assistant," so wouldn't it make the most sense for her to be his successor?
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Maybe she was his successor and then Gomi-san took over after she retired.
Kasparov: [frowns] Not possible. [presses finger to temple] In the profile for Subject 982, Gomi-san mentioned that he met with "Headmistress Kirigiri" to discuss what to do with the subject, meaning they were headmasters of two separate institutions at the same time.
Motoki: [confidently] That's what I think. There's no way they were both headmasters for the same institution at different times. [thoughtfully] So Kirigiri-san took over New Hope's Peak following Naegi-san's death and still is the headmistress of it, while Gomi-san presided over a different school entirely.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] Are you kidding? That'd mean we attended a school other than New Hope's Peak, and we definitely didn't!

This is an interesting discussion. Motoki-san's point is more valid than I expected, but is it right? Hm...

Answer: Yamaguchi Prison Diary > definitely didn't

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Hayasaka-san, I wouldn't be so sure we really attended New Hope's Peak.
Hayasaka: [glares at Kawashima] Why not? It doesn't make sense for us to have gone to any other school.
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] Is there a particular piece of evidence that makes you think we went to a different school, Kawashima-san?
Kawashima: [nods] Yes, there is. [seriously] I found a diary belonging to Yamaguchi-kun when he was imprisoned following his rebellion. In it, he mentioned a disgusting school for "spoiled rich brats." [thoughtfully] As I'm sure we're all aware, New Hope's Peak is an extremely prestigious school just like its predecessor and its students are often, but not always, on the wealthier side. If he was talking about another school that gave its students ultimate talents, I imagine he meant the real New Hope's Peak.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] But how do ya know if he was talkin' 'bout a school that gave its students ultimate talents? [rubs back of neck] From the way ya were talkin', it doesn't sound like he ever said that.
Kawashima: [seriously] He didn't directly say it, no. [firmly] However, he mentions this other school in the context of it being an alternative for "Gomi's school," which he does say bestows its students with Ultimate talents.

And that's not all he says about "Gomi's school," nor is his diary the only evidence that suggests we didn't actually go to New Hope's Peak.

LOGIC DIVE

Q1: What does Yamaguchi say he'll be made into if he attends Gomi's school?
A man receiving more material benefits than he deserved/A danger to society/A knock-off Ultimate student

Q2: What does Yamaguchi's statement about what he'll be made into reveal about Gomi's school?
He is destined to become an ungrateful person if he attends Gomi's school/It's a place for very dangerous individuals who threaten society/There's another, more prestigious school it's derived from

Q3: Is the Gomi's school's name ever mentioned in any piece of evidence?
In Subject 982's profile/Never, the name is always censored or absent/In the email between Gomi and Watai

Answers: A knock-off Ultimate student/There's another, more prestigious school it's derived from/Never, the name is always censored or absent

Kawashima: I understand it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [firmly] Everyone, I just thought it through, and I'm now 100% confident the school we attended isn't New Hope's Peak.
Hayasaka: [curiously] But why? It seems pretty ridiculous to think that.
Motoki: [scoffs] You obviously didn't read Yamaguchi-kun's diary, because if you did you'd reconsider. [rubs shoulder] Was it the "knock-off Ultimate student" line that convinced you, Kawashima-san?
Kawashima: [seriously] Yeah, that and the fact that the name of the school we attended is never said to be New Hope's Peak in any of the evidence we found. [thoughtfully] The name is either not explicitly said at all or it's censored. If the name was New Hope's Peak like we all originally thought it was, why bother censoring it?
Kasparov: [considers carefully] ...Hm. That is a sensible point. [frowns] But what is this about "knock-off" Ultimate students? Did Yamaguchi-kun really say that?
Motoki: [neutrally] Yeah. In his last diary entry, he mentions that the guards told him he's going to be forcibly sent to Gomi-san's school, where he'll be made into a "knock-off Ultimate student," as an alternative to prison. [rubs shoulder] Then he said a bunch of other stuff about how their attempts at "rehabilitation" won't work and he refuses to be controlled or influenced by authority like the subjects of the Zimbardo and Milgram experiments.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] Uh, what are those?
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] Both are two psychological experiments concerning authority that had...dubious ethics. The Milgram experiment was when a man named Stanley Milgram had people presented as authority figures instruct participants to send increasingly painful and even dangerous electric shocks to other participants. [considers carefully] Fortunately, the shocks were not real and the screams were fake...but the people sending the shocks did not know this. [frowns]
The Zimbardo experiment is also called the Stanford Prison Experiment and was a poorly made experiment that divided college students into "guards" and "prisoners" and quickly spiraled out of control.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] The hell...? How do ya know all this?
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] My mentor Watai-san was the Ultimate Psychologist at the original Hope's Peak, did you not know? Because of this, I heard quite a lot from him about the field of psychology over the years.
Kawashima: [seriously] Thank you for that explanation, Kasparov-kun, but let's return to the relevant discussion. [neutrally] To continue Motoki-san's description of Yamaguchi-kun's diary, the last thing he talks about is that he'll attend Gomi-san's school and mentions his plan to radicalize the other students. He also jokes that if he does that successfully, his captors will send him to the disgusting school for spoiled rich kids instead.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Huh, that's interestin'...if he says the school we went to made knock-off Ultimate students, then that makes it seem like there was another school that was the real deal. [rubs shoulder] So that makes me think...what the hell else could the real deal be but New Hope's Peak? It's the official successor to the old one after all, ain't it?
Kawashima: [firmly] That's exactly what I was thinking, Komatsu-kun. [thoughtfully] For something to be a "knock-off," there has to be an original that's perceived as better and more desirable. [firmly] So, because we know Gomi-san was the headmaster of a school that was perceived as less prestigious and famous in Yamaguchi-kun's eyes, then that makes it much likelier that Kirgiri-san really is the current head of New Hope's Peak.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] But you can't prove that, can you? All we know is that Gomi-san is the headmaster of a school that's seen as lesser than another school. That doesn't mean we didn't attend New Hope's Peak.
Kasparov: [frowns] I must disagree. The diary of Yamaguchi-kun has given an extremely useful insight into the truth of our situation...we attended a school that was meant to rehabilitate. [presses finger to temple] From the language of his diary as well as the existence of many problems and misdeeds committed by us students, that seems to be quite clear, no?
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] I...I guess that makes sense. [twirls hair pensviely] Yuzuki-san and I were bulimic, Osamu-kun had his phobias, Yoshi-kun had his uprising... [confidently] But that doesn't mean we didn't go to New Hope's Peak.
Kawashima: [firmly] It does, though. New Hope's Peak is known for perfecting and refining talents, not rehabilitating people. So—

Hayasaka: Don't get blocked!

[split screen separates Hayasaka and Kawashima]
Hayasaka: [confidently] I'm sorry, Wakana-san, but this doesn't make sense to me. There's no way we didn't go to New Hope's Peak.
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Really? You're going to claim that in spite of everything I've just said?
Hayasaka: [passionately] Yeah, because while it makes sense at first, it doesn't hold up to scrutiny!

It doesn't hold up to scrutiny? I'm not so sure about that, Hayasaka-san.

REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN

Truth Swords: Furuhata Videos, Dr. Jayantha Sumanth and his Research, Flashdrive Contents, Subject #974's Profile, Staff Photo, Cafeteria Photo, Press Conference Answers

Hayasaka: [narrows eyes] The name of our school not being mention is admittedly weird, but that "knock-off" comment doesn't necessarily mean what you think it does. [twirls hair pensively] For all we know, Yoshi-kun thought New Hope's Peak was a "knock-off" of the old Hope's Peak.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] That wouldn't be crazy, because the Tragedy tarnished the idea of a school for Ultimate students.
Hayasaka: [passionately] No matter how much it does, New Hope's Peak can never live up to the reputation of its predecessor and respect people had for it!

ADVANCE!
Kawashima: [neutrally] Maybe you're right. [thoughtfully] But Yamaguchi-kun never mentioned or alluded to the old Hope's Peak in his diary. He only ever referenced "Gomi's school" and the school for "spoiled rich brats."
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Yamaguchi-kun said his captors wanted to make him into an Ultimate student at our school to rehabilitate him. If that couldn't be done there, wouldn't it make sense for him to reference New Hope's Peak, the most prestigious currently open school for Ultimate students, next?

Hayasaka: [flatly] That's only a guess. There are hundreds of schools for spoiled rich brats across this country. [twirls hair pensively] Besides, how can you ignore the most obvious piece of evidence against your theory?
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Every single one of us got a letter of acceptance that explicitly stated it was from New Hope's Peak. [passionatey] How can you explain that if we didn't really go to New Hope's Peak? You can't!
Hayasaka: [confidently] Face it, Kawashima-san. You can't prove we went to a school other than New Hope's Peak!

I can, Hayasaka-san, and I'm going to show you how.

Answer: Dr. Jayantha Sumanth and his Research >
You can't

Kawashima: I'll cut your contradictions in two!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [firmly] I definitely can explain those acceptance letters, Hayasaka-san. [seriously] Remember Dr. Sumanth and his memory research? He could've altered our memories so that we thought we remembered getting letters of acceptance into New Hope's Peak.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] I thought you said faking memories was really difficult to do. Inserting the memory of the acceptance letters would be a lot, wouldn't it?
Kasparov: [considers carefully] I know not how the memory procedure works, but I imagine a great part of the difficulty of inserting a false memory is making it unnoticeable. [frowns] Both the chain of events leading up and the events after the false memory must make logical sense, otherwise, the "memory" would obviously be fabricated. [analytically] In the case of us receiving those letters, none of us remembers anything after obtaining the letters until awaking here. So, half of that cumbersome process of tailoring a fake memory to fit the proper context would be done away with. [presses finger to temple] That would considerably improve the ease of inserting a fake memory, would it not?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] I guess, but can we be sure our memories of getting the letters are fake?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] No, we can't be completely sure, because Dr. Sumanth clearly knew what he was doing when he operated on us. [seriously] However, there's another point that makes it unlikely our memories of getting those acceptance letters are legitimate.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Really? What is it?

It's...
Profiles and Yamaguchi's Diary/Photo of Eguchi and Furuhata/Email between Grimmla and Verlenda

Answer: Profiles and Yamaguchi's Diary

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [firmly] The four profiles I found, along with Yamaguchi-kun's diary, make it pretty clear that at least five of us did not attend Gomi-san's school willingly. [seriously] In all four of the profiles, the authors don't seem concerned about what the subjects want to do—rather, they focus much more on what they think is best for the subject.
Motoki: [perplexedly]
Are you saying our school was one you could be forcibly sent to? Like a reformatory school?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Something like that, yes. I believe our school was meant to be like a sort of reformatory school, although not necessarily just for juvenile criminals. [seriously] Some of us—like Yamaguchi-kun and probably Komatsu-kun as well—were sent there because of crimes. But that wasn't the case for everyone. Some of us, like Sashihara-kun, were sent there for addictions or other mental health issues. [firmly] Either way, there'd be no need for the school to send out acceptance letters to anyone if they were being involuntarily sent there. Acceptance letters are just invitations.
Hayasaka: [hesitantly] ...Okay, I guess that makes sense. [twirls hair pensively] And that does make it seem like we went to a school other than New Hope's Peak. I've never heard of them placing any sort of emphasis on rehabilitating or reforming their students...
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Hold up, are we sayin' for sure the school we went to, which apparently ain't New Hope's Peak, was some sorta rehabilitation facility now?
Kawashima: [nods] Exactly, Komatsu-kun. I'm pretty certain our school was intended to rehabilitate troubled teens with various issues.

And the reason I have for saying that is...
Gomi's repeated mentions of "rehabilitation" in Subject 982's profile/Yamaguchi said he was forced to attend or go to jail/Watai says rehabilitation is impossible for some people

Answer: Gomi's repeated mentions of "rehabilitation" in Subject 982's profile

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [firmly] In the profile for Subject 982, Gomi mentions rehabilitation several times and puts a lot of emphasis on it. [seriously] That makes perfect sense with someone who presides over a school meant to reform people, and it lines up with all the evidence we've so far.
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] Additionally, in an email to Gomi-san, the father of Carrasco-san says that the entire purpose of her attending our school was for her to get better after a traumatic event involving the death of her friend Silvia.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] Poor Carrasco-san...she didn't deserve that.
Komatsu: [grimaces] Nah, she didn't. [frowns] But anyway, I think Kawashima-san's right...we didn't actually go to New Hope's Peak, and we never really got acceptance letters. Instead, we went to some school meant to reform teens who've got bad shit goin' on by givin' them Ultimate talents and all that.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Yeah, I think so too. [hesitantly] Sorry for denying that we went to school other than New Hope's Peak for so long. I feel stupid now...
Kawashima: [gently] Don't be sorry. It's good that you were challenging my ideas. I'm not always right.
Motoki: [awkwardly] Yeah...about that, I think you have an incomplete picture of what our school was, Kawashima-san.
Kawashima: [curiously] You do? What do you think I got wrong?
Motoki: [determined] You said our school's entire purpose was rehabilitation. [rubs shoulder] I agree that reforming people was definitely part of its priorities, but I don't think that's all there was to it.

You think there was something more to it? I don't know what that could possibly be, but let's hear what you think.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Memories Prior to Arrival, Finances Book, Subject #1018's Profile, Subject #1051's Profile, Joaquín Carrasco's Angry Email, Monohebi Sketches, Staff Photo

Hayasaka: [slightly confused] Sakiko-san, are you saying you think our school did things other than reform kids with issues?
Motoki: [determined] Yes. There's no way to 100% know if every single one of us had some issue in need of rehabilitation because eleven out of sixteen of us are dead. It's possible our school was only for rehabilitation, but we can't be sure.
Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] But it is undeniable that some of us were brought to our school for that reason, correct? [presses finger to temple] Yamaguchi-kun we know for sure was one of us those people. I imagine several of us were as well... [covers eyes] ...Including myself. My murder of my father was probably the reason I attended.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Most likely. Watai-san said in his email to Headmaster Gomi that he asked for you to come to our school, so...yeah. He probably pulled some strings to get you to come to our school instead of going to jail in Russia. [looks to the side thoughtfully] Anyway, what do you think the rest of us were sent to our school for if it wasn't rehabilitation, Sakiko-san?
Motoki: [thoughtfully] Honestly, I don't know. I'm just raising the possibility the school had multiple departments or something like that. One of them was definitely for rehabilitation, but there were probably others with different purposes. [grimly] Most big schools have multiple parts to them, don't they? And, if our school was some sort of offshoot of a huge school like New Hope's Peak, it seems pretty clear we went to a pretty big school.
Komatsu: [doubtfully] Okay...but do ya got any proof of that? [fixes belt] We know there was definitely some reformin' goin' on at our school, but we ain't found shit that says it was doin' anythin' other than that.
Motoki; [awkwardly] I don't have any proof, admittedly. [thoughtfully] I'm just saying there are some people, like Ichigohara-san and Domoto-san, who didn't seem like they had any issues that'd warrant coming to some sort of reformatory school. [determined] That means we have to consider the possibility that our school had other departments meant for things other than reforming kids.

Huh. Motoki-san's point kind of makes sense. Is she right? I'll have to look back at the evidence related to our school...

Answer: Staff Photo > went to a pretty big school

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] No, Motoki-san, we didn't go to a big school. During the investigation, I found a staff photo in the Art Room and it only had fourteen people in it. [firmly] I think it's very unlikely that a school with only fourteen total staff members would have multiple departments like you suggest.
Motoki: [awkwardly] Oh, so I guess I was wrong...dammit... [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] ...That means we all had some reason to be sent there, right?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] That seems to be the case. If I had to guess, that's also probably the main reason why our memories before getting the letters were altered. [hesitantly] We must've all done something messed up that warranted us being sent away to some rehab school...
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Not necessarily. Didn't Oyamada-kun have a really bad bug phobia? That was prolly why he ended up there with the rest of us.
Kawashima: [seriously] Komatsu-kun's right. Some of us were sent to our school for reasons unrelated to crime or misdeeds or anything like that. [thoughtfully] The three other profiles besides the one for Subject 982 support this conclusion. [neutrally] One profile was for a boy with debilitating self-hatred problems, the other was a girl with a heroin addiction spiraling out of control, and the last was for Furuhata-kun, who was an alcoholic.
Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] He was an alcoholic? [analytically] That explains those headaches he was always complaining about...
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Whaddabout the other two? Furuhata-kun's profile said it was his, so who were the other two 'bout?
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Yutaka-kun, I read Yuuto-kun's profile and it never mentioned him by name. It was just very obvious from context clues that it was written about him. [twirls hair pensively] I didn't read the other two, but I'm guessing their subjects weren't as easy to immediately identify.
Kawashima: [firmly] Yeah, they weren't as obvious, especially the one about the girl with the heroin addiction. [reluctantly] But...
Motoki: [perplexedly] But what? Do you who one of the other two people is?

I...yes. It's painful to think about, but if I think about it logically, that boy with self-hatred problems could only be one person.

CHOOSE A PERSON!

Wakana Kawashima

Eisuke Terajima

Sakiko Motoki

Yuuto Furuhata

Yuzuki Eguchi

Sergey Kasparov

Mayumi Carrasco

Mika Hayasaka

Tomiko Niizuma

Noriyo Ichigohara

Yoshi Yamaguchi

Yutaka Komatsu

Hisaya Sashihara

Osamu Oyamada

Michio Aozora

Otoha Domoto

...

......

.........

.............

[MICHIO AOZORA CHOSEN]

Kawashima: It can only be you!

Kawashima: [seriously] ...I do know who one of them is. The boy who had a ton of self-hatred issues also was said by Watai-san to already be in university and was desperately afraid of failure...so... [reluctantly] ...It has to be Aozora-kun. There's no one else that fits that description.

Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] Yeah, that sounds just like Michio-kun.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] I feel bad for him. He didn't deserve to die the way he did...

No, he didn't. Just thinking about his death is reopening an old wound that I can't afford to let distract me right now...I need to change topics.
Kawashima: [sadly] ...Moving on from that, there's the mystery of the girl with the heroin addiction, who was referred to in her profile as "Subject 1051." [curiously] Does anyone know who she could be?
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] What'd her profile say? [fixes belt] There musta been somethin' in it we can use to identify her.
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] Indeed. Were there any distinguishing factors about the girl the profile mentioned? Personality traits, socioeconomic background, physical appearance, et cetera?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Dr. Unetani, who wrote the profile for Subject 1051, said she was really reluctant to talk about it and was very good at hiding it behind a cheerful front. [seriously] Also, Unetani-san said this girl was Gomi-san's niece.
Motoki: [surprised] Really? I wonder if she got special treatment because of it...
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Who knows. [hesitantly] But more importantly, from the description of that girl...it has to be Noriyo-san, right?
Komatsu: [grimaces] I was gonna say...if there's one person here who I'd describe as cheerful, it'd definitely be Ichigohara-san.

Hm...I see where they're coming from, but I'm not entirely convinced it's Ichigohara-san yet.
Kawashima: [neutrally] It definitely could be her. However, we can't say anything with confidence yet. [thoughtfully] With Aozora-kun, we had specific facts we could use to identify him. His profile mentioned that he was in university and only a few years away from his PhD and was terrified of failure, all of which were unique to him in our group of sixteen. [firmly] There were many of us who could've been cheerful people before we came here. That description alone isn't conclusive enough for us to say Subject 1051 is Ichigohara-san.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] But it's still the most likely to be her, right?
Kasparov: [frowns] Possibly, but directly discussing it will not be conclusive. [presses finger to temple] So, I suggest we instead determine exactly the reason for which the girls here were sent away for rehabilitation. If we can determine a reason for all except Ichigohara-san, then by process of elimination we can see she is Subject 1051.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Well, we know Carrasco-san was sent to our school because of that traumatic stuff that happened to her, including her friend Silvia's death. [firmly] So we can be pretty sure it's not her.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] I don't think it was Tomiko-san, either...she's the last person I'd describe as "cheerful."
Komatsu: [furrows brow] But why was she at our school? Niizuma-san seemed like she had her life put together better than anyone else. [fixes belt] Shit, she and Shinako had their own fuckin' house! She was rich as hell for a teenager.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] I think it was that crazy work ethic of hers. [grimly] Niizuma-san went to school and worked at a big consulting firm full time. And from the letter of termination, it seemed like it was a pretty strict work environment with very high expectations. Even for someone like her, I think it might've been too much.

I think Motoki-san's right. Niizuma-san's life seemed perfectly put together otherwise, and she'd never put up a "cheerful front" as Unetani-san describes in Subject 1051's profile.
Kawashima: [seriously] I agree. [thoughtfully] Niizuma-san had issues with how crazily dedicated to working she was. She definitely wasn't Subject 1051.
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] If I may, I would like to assert that I believe Domoto-san was not that individual either. [presses finger to temple] It is no secret that Domoto-san detested lying. She would never present herself as happy if she truly was not. [analytically] Due to how heroin addictions rarely leave those afflicted happy, I believe it is clear that she could not be Subject 1051.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Sergey-kun has a point. There's no way that girl was Otoha-san either.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] So does that mean it's either Eguchi-san or Ichigohara-san?
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Huh? Why're ya actin' like it can't be one of the three of ya girls still alive? That's still possible. [wipes eyes] Listen, Kawashima-san, Hayasaka-san, or Motoki-san...I get that addiction's really fuckin' rough. I've seen what it does to people many more times than I'd like, so please know that if that girl is one of ya, none of us are gonna judge ya for it. [fiercely] 'Cause if they do, I'll beat the shit outta them!
Motoki: [grimly] There's no need for that because that girl isn't any of us. [rubs shoulder] Well, I guess I shouldn't be so sure about that yet...all I know is that it's definitely not me.
Hayasaka: [flatly] Same here. [looks to the side thoughtfully] I was probably sent away because of my bulimia and my horrible relationship with social media...besides, I've never tried hard drugs like heroin and don't plan on it.
Kawashima: [firmly] I'm certain it's not me, either. That means our choice does actually come down to Ichigohara-san or Eguchi-san.
Kasparov: [curiously] Which of them do you think it is, Kawashima-san? [considers carefully] Ichigohara-san still appears to be the most likely candidate to me. However, Eguchi-san, while shy and sometimes unstable, certainly appeared to have a happier side to her.

That's true. Judging by what we've talked about so far, we can't confidently decide whether Subject 1051 was Ichigohara-san or Eguchi-san. However, if I go back to the profile, I'm sure I'll find something that'll help me.

HANGMAN'S GAMBIT

Question: What does Subject 1051's Profile mention about her that allows us to choose between Eguchi and Ichigohara?

SMAR DOXSPEE ROF PONTCUICAO

Answer: Arms exposed for occupation

Kawashima: I've solved it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Now that I think about it more, Subject 1051's profile said something about her that allows us to determine who she was. [thoughtfully] Unetani-san mentions that it'd be a bad idea for Subject 1051 to use her arms as injection points for heroin because they'd be exposed for her job, so she used her legs instead. [firmly] Between Eguchi-san and Ichigohara-san, only one person had a job that'd necessitate her arms being exposed—Ichigohara-san.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] Yeah, she was a gardener, so her arms would be exposed all the time. Eguchi-san, on the other hand, could keep her arms covered all the time with no problem.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] True...even I never saw Eguchi-san take off that denim jacket. I don't think she liked havin' her arms out.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] So, do we think that Subject 1051 is definitely Noriyo-san now?
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] Indeed. It appears that no one opposes that assertion anymore. [presses finger to temple] However, even if no one disagrees any longer, there is still an interesting point I would like to mention.
Kawashima: [curiously] What is that, Kasparov-kun?
Kasparov: [firmly] I believe Ichigohara-san was the individual Monohebi attempted to make into the second traitor. [analytically] Given that Ichigohara-san did not exhibit the excruciating symptoms of heroin withdrawal, we can conclude she had a stash that would last her for a certain period of time. [presses finger to temple] The same thing happened with Sashihara-kun—Monohebi gave him enough pills to get him through the beginning of the game, but quickly exploited his addiction to force him to report to Monohebi.
Komatsu: [frowns] So ya think that Monohebi tried to do the same thing to her? Give her enough stock to get through the first part of the killin' game, then threaten to take it away unless she worked for him? [rubs back of neck] I mean, given that she didn't go through withdrawal before she died, it musta been bigger than what Sashihara-kun initially got. But it wouldn't have lasted too much longer...
Monohebi: [smiles slightly] No, certainly not. In fact, she was set to expire on day fifteen of her time here, which, funnily enough, is the very day she died. [smirks] And it gets better...during her time at school, she was almost off heroin. She was so, so close to sobriety...but alas. On the first night of the killing game, she fell right back into that old habit of hers.
[chuckles] Sususu...it is quite funny, is it not?
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] Ya...ya goddamn fuckin' asshole! [angrily] Puttin' us in a killin' game is cruel enough, but that...it's *so* fuckin' evil!
Motoki: [hostilely] Yeah, fuck you! You should've never put Ichigohara-san through that!
Monohebi: [displeased] She had a choice. While I did try to push her into becoming the traitor two nights before she died, I in no way forced her to start her nasty habit again...that was her fault, not mine.

If I wouldn't get immediately executed for it, I'd strangle Monohebi right fucking now.
Kawashima: [disdainfully] Shut the fuck up, you disgusting scumbag.
Monohebi: [chuckles] Sususu..so aggressive, Kawashima. [presses tail against mouth and narrows eyes] You should be grateful that I was gracious enough to give Ichigohara the chance to be spared withdrawal symptoms. I did not have to do that, especially when it was her fault she relapsed.
Komatsu: [angrily] If ya don't shut the hell up right now...I swear I'll break ya into a million pieces!
Hayasaka: [stares with muted anger] Same. I'm not going to tolerate you talking about her like that!
Monohebi: [slightly irritated] Yes you will, because none of you wish to die. Be silent if all you shall do is throw empty threats my way. [displeased] I find empty threats quite cowardly, you know. That is one reason why I disdain Ichigohara. When I pressured her to become a traitor, she told me that all of you would survive and escape together. She said that she and the rest of you brats would defeat me. [chuckles] Sususu...how ironic. She perished a mere day and a half later.
Komatsu: [sullenly] Shit...that jus' makes me miss her even more... [tears up] Why'd ya have to die, Ichigohara-san...
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] ......... [hesitantly] You know...as horrible as this may sound...maybe it's a good thing Noriyo-san died when she did. Heroin withdrawal is hellish, so it's good she never had to suffer through it.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] But she still could've gotten through it somehow. If we all had been there for her, she didn't have to die. [closes eyes to prevent tears] If anyone deserved to live, it's her. She chose the agony of withdrawal over betraying the rest of us. That takes a lot of guts...a lot more than most people have.
Komatsu: [wipes eyes] Yeah...I jus' wish she woulda told at least someone 'bout it. That way, she woulda at least had someone there to support her.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Maybe Monohebi threatened Noriyo-san into silence.
Monohebi: [presses tail against mouth and frowns] I did no such thing. Ichigohara chose not to tell anyone of her predicament and that was a decision made entirely of her own volition.

So she chose to keep it all to herself and suffer alone until the withdrawal started? Poor Ichigohara-san...it makes me feel bad that none of us could tell what was going on. I know she was really good at hiding her addiction, but I wish someone could've helped her somehow...
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] I am not certain that is true, Monohebi. I believe Ichigohara-san did in fact intend to inform someone of her addiction.
Motoki: [surprised] Really? Who?
Kasparov: [firmly] You. [analytically] You two were set to bathe together the day she died, correct? If that were to happen as planned, Ichigohara-san would have been forced to expose her legs, and thus all the visible marks that would result from repeated heroin injections, to you.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Hold up, Ichigohara-san was always takin' baths. She musta had some way to cover up her legs 'cause of how often she was bathin'.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Not really...she always took baths alone. Her bath with Sakiko-san was the first she was going to take with another person present.

Hayasaka-san's right. Ichigohara-san never took a bath with another person present and her planned bath Motoki-san was going to be the first one. I can't think of any way that she could've hidden her legs in a normal bath without coming across as very suspicious, so...
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Kasparov-kun's right. There's no way she could've hidden her legs, so Ichigohara-san must've wanted Motoki-san to find out about her addiction if she accepted her invitation to go to the bath with her. [seriously] I doubt she wanted to do it...but she probably felt it was her last option.
Motoki: [perplexedly] But...why me? Why not Sashihara-kun? Wouldn't he understand better?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Noriyo-san probably didn't know Hisaya-kun had an addiction too. No one did until he told us.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Yeah. Besides, Motoki-san, ya were the one who suggested takin' a bath with Ichigohara-san, right? Maybe when ya did that, she went along with it 'cause she thought it was time to finally tell someone. [frowns] Or maybe she noticed that ya always hide yer arms...she didn't know 'bout yer abuse, so she mighta thought ya had addiction problems too. [rubs back of neck] I dunno, though. We can't really know the truth now that she's gone, so it really don't do much use to think 'bout it.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] Komatsu-kun is correct. It does little good for us to continue discussing this topic. [considers carefully] In fact, I believe we have been quite distracted for some time now. We have discussed quite a lot of important information, yes, but we must remember our task is to answer the remaining questions. [firmly] So, let us submit our answer to the memory question and move on with relevant discussions.

He's right, we've been really distracted for some time now. I don't regret talking about any of what we've discussed, because all of it was worthwhile, but we do need to get back on track.
Motoki: [perplexedly] What is our answer to that question, though? We agree that everything after coming to school was removed so that we'd think we were freshmen and so that we didn't remember knowing each other. [rubs shoulder]
However...the stuff that comes before that is a bit more confusing.
Kawashima: [seriously] That's true, but I think at this point we can figure it out. [firmly] The memories prior to us coming to school were removed or edited for one of two reasons: firstly, to erase any knowledge of past killing games. Secondly, to remove anything related to the reasons for us being sent to Gomi-san's school.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Hold up, that didn't happen for all of us. I still remember stealin' shit, Motoki-san still remembers her abuse, and Hayasaka-san remembers her bulimia and shitty relationship with social media. [rubs back of neck] How do ya explain that?
Motoki: [thoughtfully] Maybe it was because all those experiences happened over long periods of time? [rubs shoulder] For me and Hayasaka-san especially, changing those memories would be extremely difficult.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] That is indeed true. However, Eguchi-san had her memories of bulimia removed, as did Niizuma-san with her memories of Shinako. [frowns] Those are long-term memories that would be extremely difficult to change as well, are they not?

Kasparov-kun's right...it's strange that the mastermind bothered to make Dr. Sumanth alter memories of things so important to Eguchi-san and Niizuma-san's lives and yet seemingly barely change the memories for Motoki-san, Hayasaka-san, and Komatsu-kun.
Hayasaka: [hesitantly] ...I can't speak for Yutaka-kun and Sakiko-san, but I think I know why my memories were kept. [looks down glumly] I'm sure you're all too familiar with my fake persona you endured for the first half of this killing game. If I didn't have my memories of bulimia or my toxic relationship with social media, I wouldn't have been "Mika-chan." [twirls hair pensively] And consequently, I probably would've been a lot less likely to cause conflict.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] I get what yer sayin'. Monohebi wanted ya to cause conflict, so he never changed yer memories. As for me, I'm pretty sure he kept 'em 'cause I've never really regretted stealin'. I mean, it's a shitty thing to do in principle...but it was 'bout survival for me. I ain't ever gonna apologize for that. [frowns] Anyway, I feel like a big reason Monohebi took the memories of why we came to this school was so he could sic 'em on us when he wanted to make us feel despair.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] That's true. He did it to Carrasco-san before her execution, to Eguchi-san when he made her remember her bulimia, and he wanted to do it with Kasparov-kun too.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Yeah. I wouldn't feel anythin' at gettin' those memories back, so there was no point in takin' 'em in the first place.
Motoki: [perplexedly] But what about me? [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] Why didn't Monohebi take my memories of abuse if he could've really fucked me up by returning them?
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Maybe there wasn't enough time? I know it sounds silly, but it's all I can think of. [twirls hair pensively] We know Monohebi relies on a large viewer base, and I'd imagine he'd need a preset start date for the killing game for that to happen.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] I believe there is a possibility you are correct, Hayasaka-san. [frowns] While it would certainly be beneficial for Monohebi to remove the memories of the abuse Motoki-san suffered, it would be a massive undertaking due to the fact that her abuse was prolonged and occurred during childhood. [covers mouth with hand] Perhaps he did not have enough time for it to be done successfully.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] That'd make sense if Dr. Sumanth if didn't remove Shinako, literally the most important person to Niizuma-san, from her memories. [sullenly] Somethin' ain't right...it must've taken a shit ton of time for Shinako to be taken outta Niizuma-san's memories given how long they knew each other, but it still happened.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] You're right, that is weird... [hesitantly] Now that you've brought that up, Yutaka-kun, I don't what to think...

This definitely is confusing...however, I think there might be an explanation for it.
Kawashima: [seriously] I think the reason the mastermind didn't have Dr. Sumanth remove Motoki-san's recollection of her abuse was for two reasons. One, remembering her abuse wouldn't make her more eager to kill like Niizuma-san remembering Shinako would. [firmly] Two, the abuse memories returning wouldn't be necessary to fuck Motoki-san up. The killing game itself was enough for that.
Motoki: [miserably] That's true...ever since we got here, I feel like I've been in a never-ending downward spiral. I'm mentally fragile and prone to falling into despair, something the mastermind definitely knew... [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] I mean, the mastermind is probably Grimmla or whoever they had help them out, right? That means they're either a classmate or staff member, so they definitely know us pretty well...
Komatsu: [grimaces] Yeah...there ain't no way the mastermind's a stranger. This killin' game has been way too personal for that to be the case.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] Yes...I do agree with that statement. [firmly] Additionally, let me say that I also agree with what Kawashima-san said earlier. I believe our memories prior to attending school were changed for either the purpose of making us forget about past killing games or for the purpose of preventing us from knowing the reasons for our respective rehabilitations.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] The second reason doesn't apply to all of us, but...yeah. I'm pretty sure everyone else agrees now.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] I do. It took a while, but I think we got everything covered.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Same. [rubs back of neck] Does this mean we can finally answer this damn memory question now?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] ...I think so, yes. [seriously] Monohebi, I'd like to submit our answer for why our memories were removed.
Monohebi: [smiles slightly] I am listening.
Kawashima: [firmly] The memories after we arrived at school were taken so that we thought we were incoming freshmen and that we didn't know we had already met. [thoughtfully] The memories before that were removed or edited so that we didn't remember past killing games and, for some of us, also so that we didn't remember why we were sent away to school.
Monohebi: [neutral] That answer is acceptable. [chuckles] Sususu...I must say, you brats answered three questions much faster than I expected. [smirks] But the easy questions are all gone. Now, you must discuss the painful topics of who brought you all here, who that person mentioned in the commemoration was, and most importantly...the identity of the mastermind. [red eye glints] Will you be able to handle it?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] It's our only choice. It won't be easy to suspect each other... [determined] But if it means beating you, then we can do it.

I like that attitude, Motoki-san.
Kawashima: [seriously] Motoki-san's right. As we already briefly saw with our earlier discussion of the commemoration video, uncovering the rest of the truth won't be remotely fun. [firmly] But we *can* do it.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] I like the enthusiasm about beating Monohebi, but where should we start?
Komatsu: [rubs shoulder] We should prolly keep talkin' 'bout who the person in the commemoration video was. [grimaces] It ain't a fun topic, but I don't think we can find out who the mastermind or whoever brought us here are 'less we talk 'bout it.

He's right. We can't really move onto those topics if we don't finally figure out who the person mentioned in the commemoration video is.
Kawashima: [firmly] Komatsu-kun's correct. We need to talk about that to move on.
Motoki: [perplexedly] But how can we get anything meaningful out of talking about it? [grimly] Our earlier discussions about this haven't exactly been productive, so how can we change that now?
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] If I may, I would like to suggest that we do not think of this situation in terms of who the individual in the commemoration video is or not, which is too narrow for my liking. [considers carefully] Instead, I believe it would be most prudent for us to consider the question "who is Subject 982?" first. [frowns] We have ascertained the identities of the individuals in the other three profiles, so I think it is high time we establish who exactly Subject 982 was. The answer will undoubtedly be helpful in answering the remaining four questions.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] But we're talking about the person mentioned in the commemoration video, right? I was under the impression they and Subject 982 were different people. [twirls hair pensively] I mean, Subject 982 is the mastermind, aren't they?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] We don't know for sure. They might be, they might not. [determined] Either way, Subject 982 is really important. They're either the mastermind, the person in the commemoration video, or both.

That's true. They're undoubtedly involved somehow, we just don't know how yet.
Kawashima: [neutrally] Alright, then let's find out who Subject 982 is. [thoughtfully] To begin, Furuhata-kun, Aozora-kun, and Ichigohara-san can all be eliminated immediately due to them having separate profiles.
Motoki: [confidently] Carrasco-san, too, considering her dad's email made it obvious she was sent to our school for trauma from her kidnapping. [thoughtfully] Yamaguchi-kun as well, because we know he was sent to Gomi-san's school as a result of his failed uprising.

Yep, and that's not even everyone we can get out of the way immediately. There's also...
Domoto and Niizuma/Terajima and Eguchi/Sashihara and Kasparov

Answer: Sashihara and Kasparov

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [firmly] Sashihara-kun and Kasparov-kun can also be immediately removed from suspicion of being Subject 982, due to them having different subject numbers.
Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] We do? What are they?
Kawashima: [seriously] As per Watai-san's email to Gomi-san, you are Subject 1011. According to Unetani-san's profile on Ichigohara-san, Sashihara-kun is Subject 861.
Komatsu: [relieved] Well, that's good to know. We got six people outta the way at the start.
Hayasaka: [confidently] I think we can some of the others pretty much cleared, too. [looks to the side thoughtfully] We know Osamu-kun had that really bad bug phobia, so that was probably his reason for coming.
Motoki: [grimly] We can't be completely sure, but yeah. As misanthropic as he seemed before his death, I think it's really unlikely he's Subject 982.

I agree. He displayed a lot of hatred in the moments before his death, but that was a result of the immense emotional suffering he went through. I don't think it's realistic to consider him.
Kawashima: [firmly] I agree with Motoki-san. While we can't be as certain as we were with the others we've talked about so far, it seems doubtful that Oyamada-kun was Subject 982. [thoughtfully] On a related note, I highly doubt it was Terajima-kun either. It'd be extremely strange for someone so focused on protecting as many as possible to plan a killing game. [seriously] Besides, we know he was heavily involved with the yakuza. That's very likely why he was sent to our school.
Komatsu: [rubs shoulder] Yeah, he had that big dragon tattoo for the Kuzuryuu Clan on his left wrist. Someone prolly saw it and reported him for it. [fixes belt] To bring up yet another person we shouldn't suspect, I really doubt Niizuma-san was Subject 982. Plannin' a killin' game jus'...doesn't seem like her, ya know what I mean? I feel like she was too busy to even have free time ya'd need to plan a killin' game.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] I feel the same, Yutaka-kun. Tomiko-san could be cold and mean, but I don't think she'd ever plan a killing game. [looks to the side thoughtfully] She was obsessed with being rich and too productive for her own good. [looks to the side thoughtfully] Making and participating in a killing game would force her to leave her high-paying job, something she'd never, ever do.
Kasparov: [analytically] I concur with Hayasaka-san. A killing game has little profit incentive and a high risk of bankruptcy or arrest, so I highly doubt Niizuma-san would even entertain planning one. [considers carefully] That aside, if I have been following correctly we are left with six possible individuals who could be Subject 982: Hayasaka-san, Komatsu-kun, Domoto-san, Kawashima-san, Motoki-san, and Eguchi-san.
Komatsu: [grimaces] Yeah...that sounds right. [frowns] I gotta say, though, I don't think we should be considerin' Hayasaka-san. Or Motoki-san, for that matter. They both got well-established reasons for goin' to our school. [rubs shoulder] Motoki-san had her years of abuse and Hayasaka-san had her bulimia and her terrible relationship with social media.
Hayasaka: [smiles slightly] Thanks, Yutaka-kun.
Komatsu: [grins] No problem.

We've narrowed down the suspects a lot faster than I thought. Part of me initially hesitated to exclude Motoki-san and Hayasaka-san from being considered to be Subject 982, but the more I think about it, the more I realize how illogical it is to think either of them could be that person. Motoki-san can't be lying about her abuse because of the many apparent scars it's left on her, both physical and mental.

And we all witnessed how social media had disastrous effects on Hayasaka-san's mental health through that horrible persona she put on, so it makes much more sense for that to be her reason for attending our school. However, it's still possible she or Motoki-san is Subject 982, even if it isn't likely. So, I'll keep them as suspects in the back of my mind, but I'll only go back to them if none of the other options seem plausible.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I don't think we should be considering them either, Komatsu-kun. At least, not as primary suspects. [seriously] If we exclude them, we're left with only four possibilities: you, me, Eguchi-san, and Domoto-san.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] But Yuzuki-san had her bulimia, right? Wouldn't that be reason enough for her to be sent away?
Motoki: [determined] Maybe, but we can't dismiss her as a suspect. She made those drawings of Monohebi, remember? [grimly] Like it or not, that's not evidence we can easily dismiss.
Komatsu: [sullenly] There's a big difference between makin' a few drawin's and plannin' a killin' game. [grumpily] Like Hayasaka-san said earlier, Eguchi-san mighta been forced to make those drawin's!
Kawashima: [seriously] That sounds reasonable at first glance, but if that's the case, why were there so many notes on the drawings that said things like "so cute?" [slightly challenging] Those kind of remarks wouldn't be there if she was forced to make the drawings, would they?
Motoki: [thoughtfully] They could've been written on the drawings after the fact. [grimly] We don't have a sample of Eguchi-san's handwriting, so we can't be sure those notes are her writing or not. [determined] Of course, I still think it's her, but that's not evidence we can use.

Shit, Motoki-san's right.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] You're right, Motoki-san. Sorry about that. [firmly]
However, I'm still leaning towards her being Subject 982, because if it isn't her then it must be either be me, Domoto, or Komatsu. And, well…none of those options really make much sense.

Kasparov: [frowns] Pardon my interruption, but I must remind everyone that Motoki-san and Hayasaka-san cannot be entirely omitted quite yet, either. It may be less likely that either of them is Subject 982, but it is possible. [analytically] To return to your point, Kawashima-san, I concur that it does not seem very logical to me that you, Komatsu-kun, or Domoto-san was Subject 982.
Hayasaka: [stares with muted anger] Are you saying that you think it's Yuzuki-san too?
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] Not definitively, no. She simply is the most suspicious individual to me at the moment. [covers mouth with hand] If you think you can convince me otherwise, feel free to do so. I am willing to change my mind.
Komatsu: [sullenly] Ya bet that's what's gonna fuckin' happen. [angrily] I ain't gonna let ya accuse Eguchi-san of bein' the person who caused all this!

Is Eguchi-san Subject 982, or is she not? I feel torn...I don't want to think someone like her, someone I actually liked, planned this killing game...but...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Subject #982's Profile, Photo of Eguchi & Furuhata, Class Photo, Dr. Jayantha Sumanth and his Research, Flash Drive Contents, Furuhata Videos, Press Conference Answers

Motoki: [perplexedly] Komatsu-kun, I don't see where you and Hayasaka-san are coming from. [thoughtfully] Eguchi-san seems like the only person who could reasonably be Subject 982 to me.
Hayasaka: [confidently] I think Monohebi is deceiving us about Yuzuki-san. [looks to the side thoughtfully] We know how much he plans shit. He probably meant to make us suspect her by showing her drawings in the commemoration video!
Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] Are you saying he managed to predict Eguchi-san making drawings for me? [narrows eyes] If so, that is ridiculous. The commemoration video was on the flash drive which I encountered days before Eguchi-san even entertained the thought of creating them. [covers mouth with hand] Besides, we cannot be sure Subject 982 is the individual in the commemoration video, so discussing it is not necessarily relevant.
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] Then why the fuck do ya think she's Subject 982? Ain't it 'cause ya think she's the person in the commemoration video?
Kasparov: [frowns] Not necessarily. [analytically] Eguchi-san displayed a darker, more volatile side to herself once her memories resurfaced. [considers carefully] That would make quite a lot of sense if she was Subject 982? If not, how do you explain her change in demeanor?
Komatsu: [sullenly] It coulda...I guess...well... [grimaces] Nah, there ain't no way it's her...
Hayasaka: [confidently] Of course there's not, Yutaka-kun. [twirls hair pensively] I'll admit, Sergey-kun, it's possible Eguchi-san is Subject 982. But don't forget that Yutaka-kun, Wakana-san, and Otoha-san could be too! [passionately] So, why don't we talk about them before we go any further with accusing Yuzuki-san?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] ..........

To be perfectly frank,
Hayasaka-san, there's no reason for us to talk extensively about me, Komatsu-kun, and Domoto-san. Not when there's a piece of evidence that I need to finally muster the courage to bring up...a piece of evidence that'll hopefully put an end to this debate.

Answer: Flash Drive Contents > only person who could reasonably be Subject 982

Kawashima: That's right!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] I agree with Motoki-san. There's only one person who can reasonably be Subject 982, and it's Eguchi-san.
Komatsu: [grumpily] Oh really? And why the hell is that?
Hayasaka: [stares with muted anger] Yeah, why're you so deadset on believing it's Yuzuki-san? Is it because of the commemoration video or her drawings?
Kawashima: [firmly] No. The reason I think Eguchi-san is Subject 982 is because of something I should've mentioned way earlier. [regretfully] I've delayed bringing it up because...well, it's not exactly a pretty truth.
Kasparov: [curiously] What is this piece of evidence, Kawashima-san?
Kawashima: [reluctantly It's a video of Eguchi-san that I found on a flash drive that was in the Surgery Room. [seriously] In it, she tells the viewer, who she eventually assumes is herself, to unleash her "fiery passion." She also mentions "that video"—which is almost certainly the commemoration video—and Monohebi sketches. She laments trusting the wrong people. [firmly] And, most importantly...she sounds extremely jaded and complains about how Gomi-san didn't let her "do what she wanted" to her bullies.
Kasparov: [stunned] Oh... [covers mouth with hand] I must say, I did not expect that.
Motoki: [grimly] Neither did I...also, "Do what she wanted?" [neutrally] Subject 982 was sent to our school for something that reminded Gomi-san and other adults of something from the Tragedy, AKA a killing game. [rubs shoulder] That could be what Eguchi-san meant by that.
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] Nah...oh hell fuckin' no. [fiercely] There ain't no way that's right! That don't sound one bit like Eguchi-san at all!
Hayasaka: [hesitantly] I have a really hard time believing Sakiko-san's right either...would Yuzuki-san really do that?
Kawashima: [seriously] I don't want to think so, but Subject 982 is one of the sixteen of us. As hard as it is to accept, we have to acknowledge that she's the most—

Komatsu: Shut the fuck up!

[split screen separates Komatsu and Kawashima]
Komatsu: [angrily] No! I'm fuckin' tired of this bullshit!
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] What's bullshit, Komatsu-kun? [gently] I get that this is a very sensitive topic for you, but please try to approach it rationally.
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] I *am* approachin' it rationally. [grumpily] I jus' don't like ya bein' so sure that Eguchi-san was up to such bad shit, especially when that video ain't the definitive evidence ya think it is!
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Like I said, this is all bullshit. This whole idea that Eguchi-san could've ever planned a killin' game is fuckin' ridiculous. [fiercely] It ain't true, and I'll make ya and everyone else finally accept that!

I don't think that's going to happen, but you can try.

REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN

Truth Swords: Furuhata Videos, Dr. Jayantha Sumanth and his Research, Flash Drive Contents, Subject #982's Profile, Cafeteria Photo, Staff Photo, Press Conference Answers

Komatsu: [grimaces] If that video flat-out said Eguchi-san planned a killin' game for her past bullies, I'd believe she's Subject 982. [angrily] But that ain't the case!
Komatsu: [fixes belt] That video don't say shit directly. It makes Eguchi-san look bad, yeah, but ya can't be certain it ain't jus' Monohebi manipulatin' ya!
Komatsu: [sullenly] Maybe ya know that, though...maybe yer doin' 'cause ya wanna deflect the blame from yerself. [suspiciously] I mean, it's still possible yer Subject 982, ain't it?
Komatsu: [fiercely] Yer judgment 'bout this can't be trusted!

ADVANCE!
Kawashima: [seriously] If my judgment can't be trusted, then yours can't be either, because last I checked you could still be Subject 982 as well.
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] If you forgot about that already, it seems you're not going about this as rationally as you think you are.

Komatsu: [angrily] Grh... [grumpily] ...Whatever. Yeah, yer right, I'm actin' emotionally. But that don't mean I'm wrong.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Eguchi-san doesn't hafta be Subject 982. [fixes belt] She already has a reason for bein' sent our school with her bulimia, remember?
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] If anythin', ya and Domoto-san are way more suspicious than her 'cause we don't got any clues why the two of ya were forced to come.
Komatsu: [fiercely] So, 'less yer gonna talk 'bout that shit, stop fuckin' accusin' Eguchi-san!

That's not necessary, Komatsu-kun, because there's something that makes Subject 982 far more likely to be Eguchi-san than me, Domoto-san, or you.

Answer: Subject #982's Profile > way more suspicious

Kawashima: I'll cut your contradictions in two!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [firmly] Komatsu-kun, Domoto-san and I are definitely not more suspicious than Eguchi-san. Subject 982's Profile is proof of that. [seriously] It says that except for some censored thing, they had no other mental or physical afflictions.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Oh yeah, I remember reading that.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] Interesting...so Subject 982 had a mental or physical issue in addition to planning the killing game.
Kawashima: [nods] Exactly. [seriously] I know I have no such serious issues, and to my knowledge, neither Komatsu-kun nor Domoto-san did either.
Komatsu: [sullenly] But...ain't Eguchi-san's bulimia reason enough for her to get sent to our school? [frowns] I mean, it was really bad. [cracks knuckles] Ya aren't tryna downplay that, are ya!?
Kawashima: [firmly] Of course not. All I'm saying is that in addition to the killing game they planned, Subject 982 had a mental or physical affliction. [seriously] We know Eguchi-san was bulimic and that she made those drawings of Monohebi. Also, once her memories started coming back she acted more and more erratically. Most damningly, she acted like an entirely different person in that flash drive video, knew about the commemoration video, and talked about her plans for her bullies being foiled by "Gomi-san and his goons." [compassionately] I get that it's hard to accept for you, Komatsu-kun, but you have to at least acknowledge the real possibility Eguchi-san was Subject 982.
Komatsu: [grips jacket tightly and stares at floor] Well...when ya put it like that, then...I guess it really could be her. [tears up] Fuck...I...

I want to offer words of comfort, but I don't think they'll do any good.
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] But...even in spite of all this evidence...can we be *sure* Yuzuki-san is Subject 982?
Kasparov: [analytically] Absolutely certain? No, as we can be absolutely certain of only a few select things. But we can be very reasonably confident. [presses finger to temple] Her words about Gomi-san not allowing her to do what she wanted to her bullies stand out the most to me. It is not unrealistic to assume that what she wanted to do was force her bullies into a killing game as revenge for all they did to her.
Motoki: [grimly] Yeah...that's the most logical conclusion to make considering the context.
Hayasaka: [hesitantly] ...Well, shit. [looks down glumly] I don't want to think that you're right, but...I can't think of any other explanation for Yuzuki-san's actions or any of this.
Komatsu: [grimaces] I can't either... [stares at floor] ..........

I feel bad for him. For Hayasaka-san, too. It can't be easy for them to accept that Eguchi-san planned a killing game in the past...hell, it's hard for me and I wasn't nearly as attached to her as those two were.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] So...if we assume Eguchi-san is Subject 982, then it's not exactly crazy to think she's the person in the commemoration video, right? [rubs shoulder] If she planned a killing game in the past, the chances of those Monohebi drawings being fake lower significantly.
Kawashima: [seriously] I agree. [firmly] I've avoided saying much about the person mentioned in the commemoration video due to it being a...sensitive topic, to say the least. However, I honestly can't think of anyone else it could be. [thoughtfully] The fact that she was forced to make that video of her I found on the flash drive is incredibly suspicious and can't reasonably be explained if she's not the person in the commemoration video.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] Wait..."forced" to make? How do you know that, Wakana-san?
Kasparov: [curiously] I was about to ask the very same thing. How can you be so sure Eguchi-san was forced to make the video you saw?
Kawashima: [neutrally] For one, she was in the same chair Furuhata-kun sat in during his videos, which, if you don't remember, was in the Torture Room. I highly doubt she was there willingly. [firmly] Rather, I think the mastermind forced her to make that video so that they could show it to her after she watched the commemoration video.
Motoki: [perplexedly] You think Monohebi tried to show her that video you saw while she was in her cell? She was guarded at all times, so there's no way that could've happened without us all witnessing.
Kawashima: [seriously] I know. I think the mastermind *planned* to show it to her, but never did because of two reasons. [thoughtfully] Firstly, because she was in the cell and under constant supervision. Secondly, because she had already been accused of being the person in the commemoration video. [firmly] Personally, I think Kasparov-kun's earlier theory about Monohebi trying to covertly signal to Eguchi-san that she was on his side via the drawings is right. If she had never made those drawings for Kasparov-kun, we never would've known she made those Monohebi sketches.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] Are you certain I was correct, Kawashima-san? [considers carefully] That theory is predicated on the notion that Monohebi wanted Eguchi-san to come to his side, but can we be sure that is the case? [covers mouth with hand] If Eguchi-san is Subject 982 and the individual mentioned in the commemoration video, then she is either Grimmla or the person who helped them kidnap us.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] ...I'm fuckin' confused. Wouldn't that mean that mastermind would want her help more?
Kasparov: [analytically] Not necessarily, because if Eguchi-san either was Grimmla or assisted them and was not the mastermind herself, then naturally she must have been betrayed by the true mastermind in some manner for things to turn out the way they did. [curiously] So, if that is the case, then why would the mastermind want her to come back to their side? They had already cast her aside, had they not?

He's right that the mastermind must've betrayed Eguchi-san if what I'm theorizing is true, but that doesn't necessarily mean they wouldn't want Eguchi-san's help again.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] The mastermind removed Eguchi-san's memories of their betrayal, so working with her again would be a clean slate. [seriously] From how Niizuma-san and Eguchi-san only got select parts of their memories back, it's clear the mastermind has control over which memories they give back to us. So, as long as they never gave her back the memories of them betraying her, they'd be fine.
Kasparov: [frowns] You have not answered my question. [considers carefully] By choosing to erase her memories and put her into the killing game unaware of her role in it, the mastermind had already decided Eguchi-san was not a viable partner to help them run the game. [covers mouth with hand] So, why would they wish to work with her when they had already decided she was not of any use to them?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Maybe they wanted to be able to manipulate her more easily...if she was a partner from the beginning, she'd harder to trick. [looks down glumly] Maybe they even wanted Yuzuki-san to become a second traitor because that didn't work out with Noriyo-san...
Kawashima: [nods] I agree with Hayasaka-san. [seriously] It's also possible the mastermind was trying to fool Eguchi-san into thinking she was the mastermind. [thoughtfully] A great way for the mastermind to hide their identity would be making another person think they were the mastermind, wouldn't it?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] ...That could be true. [determined] But there's also a possibility no one's said yet, so I might as well bring it up. Eguchi-san could simply be the mastermind.
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] No. [fiercely] That's complete bullshit, so shut the fuck up!
Motoki: [hostilely] It's not complete bullshit, it's a legitimate option we need to consider.

Motoki-san now wants us to explore the option of Eguchi-san being the mastermind. I can already tell this is going to be messy...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Furuhata Videos, Memories Prior to Arrival, Subject #982's Profile, Press Conference Answers, Finances Book, Monohebi Sketches, Flash Drive Contents

Motoki: [confidently] Like it or not, Eguchi-san could definitely be the mastermind.
Komatsu: [angrily] Shut the hell up! [grimaces] As much as I fuckin' hate to admit it, she prolly is Subject 982...and it ain't unlikely she's the person in the commemoration video. [fiercely] But there ain't no fuckin' way she's the mastermind! No fuckin' way!
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Komatsu-kun, I know it's difficult for you to see this clearly due to how close you were to Eguchi-san, but you have to at least acknowledge the possibility that Eguchi-san was the mastermind. [grimly] If she could plan a killing game, it's not unreasonable to assume she'd be able to run one as well.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] But...Yuzuki-san's dead. Why would she let herself get killed if she was the mastermind? [looks to the side thoughtfully] Didn't we say the mastermind was most likely consciously aware of who they were from the start? If she was the mastermind, I don't know why Eguchi-san would wipe her own memory of it.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] I agree with Hayasaka-san. Eguchi-san being the mastermind does not seem feasible with the evidence we have.
Motoki: [grimly] She might not actually be dead. [thoughtfully] There was no body discovery announcement for her when there was one for everyone else. Don't you think that's strange?
Komatsu: [grumpily] Yeah, 'cause we discovered her body together. [rubs back of neck] Those body discovery announcements exist to let us all know that someone's dead. Monohebi
wouldn't do shit if we were all already there to find her body. [cracks knuckles] So shut the hell up with yer stupid-ass theories! I ain't gonna tolerate 'em anymore!

Motoki-san raised an interesting point about Eguchi-san never having a body discovery announcement when everyone else did, but Komatsu-kun's rebuttal seems logical. Is it right, though? And is it really illogical to think Eguchi-san might be the mastermind?

Answer: Furuhata Videos > could definitely be the mastermind

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [firmly] Motoki-san, there's no way Eguchi-san is the mastermind. The videos of Furuhata-kun make that very clear.
Motoki: [perplexedly] ...What? How? [awkwardly] Sorry, but I never saw either one of them.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] I saw both, but I don't get what Wakana-san means either.
Kawashima: [seriously] Do you remember how in the videos we saw, the person off-camera pressured Furuhata-kun to reveal the details of a plan of a girl he was good friends with? [thoughtuflly] If Eguchi-san really is Subject 982 and the person in the commemoration video, which I think we all agree is probable at this point, then that girl they're talking about is definitely her. [firmly] So because the person talking to Furuhata-kun, who is almost certainly the mastermind, mentions her in the third person, I think it's safe to say Eguchi-san is not the mastermind.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] You are indeed correct that it is probable that the individual talking to Furuhata-kun in both videos is the mastermind, given they never appear on camera and their voice is heavily edited. [considers carefully] However, it does not have to be the mastermind. It could be Verlenda or Grimmla or maybe even the person who assisted Grimmla in kidnapping us. We do not know which of those people is the mastermind, if any of them is. [frowns] So, can we truly be certain Eguchi-san is not the mastermind based on that alone?

No, but if we take another piece of evidence into account, we can be.
Subject #982's Profile/Ripped picture of Eguchi and Furuhata together/Comments on sketches of Monohebi

Answer: Comments on sketches of Monohebi

Kawashima: I got it!

Kawashima: [seriously] Kasparov-kun, we can still be confident Eguchi-san is not the mastermind. [firmly] Don't you remember how on the sketches of Monohebi she made, there were a bunch of comments about Monohebi? One of them said, "must balance cuteness and psychopathy." Another wondered "should I incorporate sparkles?"
Komatsu: [furrows brow] The hell's yer point?
Kawashima: [neutrally] The way Monohebi acts doesn't line up with the comments we found on the sketches. [seriously] Eguchi-san, or whoever wrote those comments on the off chance it wasn't her, wanted Monohebi to walk the line between being cute and sadistic, and maybe even have sparkles. [firmly] Monohebi is absolutely nothing like that—he's completely serious all the time. He speaks super-formally and is uptight as hell, which doesn't line up with what was planned.
Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] Are you saying you believe the mastermind stole the visual design Eguchi-san made for Monohebi and then made his personality different?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] It's a possibility I'm seriously considering.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] This doesn't make sense to me...why would the mastermind change Monohebi's personality like that?

I don't know, honestly. It seems unnecessary to change something surface-level like that, but I'm not complaining that we didn't get a sparkle-covered Monohebi. That would've been really tacky...
Motoki: [thoughtfully] Maybe the mastermind didn't think they could act like Monohebi in the way that was originally planned.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] What do you mean, Sakiko-san?
Motoki: [grimly] We know Monohebi is an AI. However, that might not be all there is to him.

Huh?
Kawashima: [curiously] What are you trying to say, Motoki-san? Are you suggesting Monohebi may have a function that allows him to be manually controlled?
Motoki: [thoughtfully] Yeah. It'd make sense...the mastermind might need to override the AI to talk through him themselves at some point. [determined] If that's the case, then they probably changed Monohebi's planned personality because they didn't think they'd be able to or just didn't want to emulate it if they ever had to speak through him directly.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] ...That is quite a sensible point, Motoki-san. [presses finger to temple] It would most helpful if the mastermind is someone outside the killing game, but it could still be quite a useful function even if the mastermind was a participant. [frowns] Of course, it is not something about which we can be certain. It is merely theory.
Komatsu: [rubs shoulder] Then let's ask the slimy bastard. [cracks knuckles] Hey Monohebi, do ya have a function that lets someone override your AI? And why was yer personality changed? Was it 'cause yer master didn't wanna hafta act all cute and shit?
Monohebi: [presses tail against mouth and narrows eyes] Why on earth do you expect me to answer any of those questions? [displeased] Do not expect me to do your work for you.

I don't know why Komatsu-kun bothered even trying to ask him anything. He's never going to be cooperative unless he absolutely has to be...
Kawashima: [neutrally] Motoki-san brought up a good point, but I don't think there's any way we can prove or disprove it, so let's leave it be for now.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] I agree. We should talk about whether Yuzuki-san is the mastermind or not instead. [looks to the side thoughtfully] Wakana-san claimed she wasn't because of the videos of Yuuto-kun and the discrepancies between the sketches' plans for Monohebi and what actually happened. [twirls hair pensively] I agree, but...I don't know if that's because of logic or because I just really don't want to think that Yuzuki-san could be the mastermind...
Komatsu: [grumpily] She ain't the mastermind. I'm fuckin' sure of it.
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] Unfortunately, we must consider her as a suspect. We have no handwriting samples of hers, so we cannot be sure she wrote those comments on the Monohebi sketches. [firmly] As such, we have no choice but to consider the possibility that Eguchi-san is the mastermind.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] But why would the real mastermind write those comments if they ended up not being true? [looks to the side thoughtfully] I guess they could've changed their mind, but such a radical change doesn't seem likely to me.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] Not to me either. [awkwardly] I know I was the one who brought it up, but I don't think Eguchi-san could be the mastermind anymore. At least, I don't think it's very likely.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] Nor do I. However, it remains a possibility we cannot afford to forget. [covers mouth with hand] Before we continue with that discussion and the question of who the mastermind is, though, let us answer the question about who the individual mention in the commemoration video is. Do you all agree that it was Eguchi-san?
Kawashima: [firmly] I do.
Motoki: [determined] Me too. No one else makes nearly as much sense.
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] I don't want to, but if she really is Subject 982, then...I can't think of anyone else.
Komatsu: [stares at floor] ...I dunno what to believe. It feels so fuckin' wrong to accuse Eguchi-san of bein' that person when that accusation's what killed her. [grimaces] But at the same time...I can't think of any sorta logical counter to it. Especially 'cause of that video Kawashima-san brought up...if Eguchi-san really was actin' like that...then... [tears up] Fuck...

...I think we can take that as a sign of agreement.
Kawashima: [seriously] It sounds like the five of us agree. [firmly] Monohebi, we think that the person mentioned in the commemoration video is Eguchi-san.
Monohebi: [neutral] Noted. [smiles slightly] Sususu...only three more questions remain for you brats to answer. [smirks] It should be entertaining to witness you attempt to answer them...
Motoki: [hostilely] Shut the fuck up with your taunting. We don't want to hear it.

You can say that again.
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] So...what should we talk about now? [twirls hair pensively] I was thinking maybe we should focus on who the person who took us here is.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] That person is almost certainly Verlenda, right? We'll probably find out who they are, along with Grimmla, when we discover the mastermind's identity. [determined] Right now, I think we should discuss whether the mastermind's dead or alive.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] I agree with you, Motoki-san. The truth should become much clearer once we answer that question.
Komatsu: [stares at floor] ...Hopefully...I don't wanna talk 'bout this any longer than we need to.

Neither do I, Komatsu-kun. I just want this trial to be over with. Hopefully, we can figure out the answer quickly...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Warden's Office, Staff Photo, Cafeteria Photo, Photo of Eguchi & Furuhata, Finances Book, Staff Photo, Bodies in Morgue

Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] If the mastermind's some outside person, they're definitely still alive. The only way they're already dead is if they were one of the sixteen of us.
Komatsu: [grimaces] Not if the mastermind's Gomi-san. He was our school's headmaster, so he'd definitely be able to help kidnap us.
Kasparov: [frowns] Then why is he dead? [analytically] If he was the mastermind, there would be no reason for him to commit suicide and it is very unlikely that he could be murdered.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] I don't think there's any good reason to believe he was the mastermind. It's either Verlenda, one of the other staff members, or one of the sixteen of us.
Komatsu: [sullenly] That don't really narrow it down much... [fixes belt] Anyway,
I think the mastermind's alive. [rubs back of neck] They'd only die if they were in the killin' game, and even if they were, I doubt they'd let themselves get killed.
Motoki: [grimly] Yeah. They could use the surveillance cameras and Monohebi to help them avoid people they knew were planning to kill.
Hayasaka: [hesitantly] But...that'd mean they were one of the five of us... [uncertainly] Isn't it still completely possible for them to have died during the killing game? Monohebi's an AI, so it's possible they didn't care if they died or not. The killing game would continue regardless.
Kasparov: [frowns] That is true. However, as I stated yesterday, dying during the killing game would prevent them from being able to deal with unforeseen circumstances. [presses finger to temple] The mastermind clearly wanted this killing game to be as long as possible
from the onset, so I imagine they would do their best to not die during it if they participated.

We got some interesting points raised there, but no one was able to definitively prove if the mastermind is dead or alive. Fortunately, I just remembered one piece of evidence that may be able to do just that...

Answer: Finances Book > mastermind's alive

Kawashima: That's right!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] Komatsu-kun's right. The mastermind is still alive.
Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] You speak with quite a lot of certainty. How can you be so certain?
Komatsu: [furrows brow] I'm kinda confused too...me thinkin' the mastermind's alive was mostly jus' a guess.
Kawashima: [neutrally] Well, it was correct. I found a book filled with a bunch of financial records for this killing game in the Archives Room. It was all written in pen, and on one of the pages, some of the ink smudged onto my hand. [thoughtfully] The ink wasn't completely dried, which means someone had written in that book very recently. [firmly] No one would write in that book unless they were the mastermind, so we can only assume the mastermind is still alive.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] I think I know the book you're talking about...I didn't pay much attention to it, though. [looks to the side thoughtfully] More importantly, that does seem like pretty convincing evidence that the mastermind is still alive.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] ...Unfortunately. It'd be a lot easier if they were dead.

Yeah, at least then we wouldn't have to worry about confronting them.
Komatsu: [grimaces] It definitely sucks we'll hafta deal with the mastermind face to face once we find out who they are, but what can ya do. [fixes belt] Now we jus' hafta find out who the shitty bastard is.
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] Indeed. But before we proceed with that, let us submit an answer to Monohebi about the status of the mastermind. [narrows eyes] Monohebi, listen. We believe that the mastermind is still alive.
Monohebi: [neutral] Understood. [smiles slightly] Oh my, the upcoming discussions will be quite fun to watch. I cannot wait.
Kawashima: [disdainfully] We know that's how you feel already, ugh. Do us a favor and shut the hell up. [seriously] Ignoring Monohebi, it really is time for the most difficult part of the trial. We need to finally uncover the mastermind's identity.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Don't forget, we also need to find out who it was who brought us to this place.
Motoki: [determined] Don't worry. I'm sure we'll be able to answer that once we know who the mastermind is. [thoughtfully] Verlenda is almost guaranteed to be the one who brought us here, and it'll be a lot easier to determine who they are once we know who the mastermind is.
Kasparov: [analytically] Indeed. Verlenda may well be the mastermind and the person who brought us here. [considers carefully] Monohebi never did say the mastermind and whoever brought us here were separate people.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Yeah...Grimmla could also be the mastermind, the person who brought us here, or both. Same for whoever helped them out.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Speaking of Grimmla and their assistant...one of them is probably Eguchi-san, right? Kawashima-san mentioned that Eguchi-san said she "trusted the wrong people" in that video she found, so she could've been betrayed by the real mastermind.
Kawashima: [firmly] That's what I was thinking. She's very likely one of those people.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Couldn't Sashihara-kun also be the person who helped out Grimmla? [grimaces] Grimmla mighta forced him to help by exploitin' his addiction.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] That's definitely possible...Eguchi-san's much more likely, though, considering that we can be pretty confident she was Subject 982 and the person in the commemoration video.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] One of the staff members could also be that person, or even Grimmla themselves. [uncertainly] The chances of that being the case seem slim to me, but it's still possible.
Kasparov: [frowns] ...It most certainly is. [presses finger to temple] That brings us to a question which we must answer to find the identity of the mastermind: is the mastermind one of the sixteen of us, or are they some outside person, such as a staff member or Verlenda?

He's right, we have to answer that question at some point. I have a feeling answering it won't be easy...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Class Photo, Flashdrive Contents, Staff Photo, Photo of Carrasco and Silvia, Subject #982's Profile, Cafeteria Photo, Dr. Jayantha Sumanth and his Research

Motoki: [determined] The mastermind is one of the sixteen of us. [grimly] After all, there'd be no better way for them to keep tabs on the rest of us than by participating in the game themselves.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Yeah, but it could also be any of the staff members except Gomi-san. [rubs back of neck] One of 'em bein' the mastermind would make kidnappin' us a whole lot easier.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] True. We don't know anything about our school, but I'm guessing it had pretty good security, which probably included surveillance cameras and guards. [confidently] A staff member would be familiar with the building's security, so messing with that would be a lot easier for one of them.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] That doesn't really mean much. The sixteen of us spent over a year at that school, so all of us would be pretty familiar with the security system too.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] But what if there were restricted areas of the building only the staff could access? That would aid them in a kidnapping attempt, would it not?
Komatsu: [fixes belt] We don't got no clue if any areas like that exist, though. [grimaces] So, I guess we jus' gotta accept the mastermind bein' a staff member is equally as likely as 'em bein' a student.
Motoki: [determined] Those possibilities aren't equally likely. The mastermind is more likely to be a student. [thoughtfully] I mean, the mastermind wants the killing game to last as long as possible, right? Them participating in the game would allow them to know the culprit beforehand in a class trial, and steer us toward the answer if necessary. [neutrally] That way, they could help us find the real culprit and prevent the game from ending early.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] That does make a lot of sense...

Shit, this is even more difficult than I expected. My one solace is that
Monohebi said he'd provide us with all the clues necessary to discover the mastermind's identity. So that means anyone whose identity we're collectively unaware of can be eliminated...

Answer: Staff Photo > any of the staff members

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] You're wrong, Komatsu-kun. It's not possible for the mastermind to be any of the staff members excluding Gomi-san.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] What? Why not?
Kawashima: [firmly] As part of our agreement after the last trial, Monohebi promised he'd provide all necessary clues for us to discover the truth of the killing game. [seriously] However, he didn't show us all the staff members' faces, or even their names. He only did that for Gomi-san, Unetani-san, and Watai-san.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Oh, I get what ya mean. If the mastermind's a staff member, it has to be one of those three. [fixes belt] 'Cause otherwise, Monohebi woulda broken his promise. [frowns] Shit, I feel stupid for not thinkin' of that...
Kawashima: [gently] Don't feel bad. It's not like you could've known, because I never said the names and faces of all the staff members except Unetani-san, Watai-san, and Gomi-san were censored up until now.
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] We already discussed why the mastermind cannot be Gomi-san, so I suppose that means that if the mastermind is a staff member, then they must be Watai-san or Unetani-san.
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] But they're both hostages...
Motoki: [determined] Yes, which means neither is the mastermind. [grimly] We need to face it already. The mastermind's one of us. [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] I already accepted it a long time ago...the rest of you should too.
Komatsu: [grimaces] Motoki-san, are ya... are ya really sayin' ya think it's one of us here?
Motoki: [grimly] Yes. The mastermind's demonstrated time and time again they're pretty damn smart. [thoughtfully] We know the mastermind's alive due to the book Kawashima-san found, but even without that...the mastermind would never kill, so we can rule out all the dead killers. Out of the victims, Furuhata-kun and Eguchi-san are extremely unlikely and I don't think it makes any sense to suspect Aozora-kun, Ichigohara-san, or Terajima-kun. [determined] We need to accept that the mastermind's alive and in this room right now.

Her saying that makes a chill run down my spine. I hate it, but she's making a good point. There's a high chance the mastermind is one of the five of us still alive...
Hayasaka: [softly] Well...we know it's not Sergey-kun, right? [twirls hair pensively] There's no reason for him to plan what he did with Otoha-san and Hisaya-kun if he was the mastermind.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Yeah, he's not the mastermind, that's for sure. [rubs shoulder] But...that's it for who we can rule out.

...Huh? She's not including me in that?
Kawashima: [puzzled] Motoki-san, can't I be excluded from suspicion too? I've only ever stood in opposition to Monohebi and the mastermind.
Kasparov: [analytically] I agree. It is not rational to suspect Kawashima-san.
Motoki: [distantly] ...Kasparov-kun's the only person that can be ruled out for now.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Well, it ain't me. [fiercely] I'd never be the mastermind!
Hayasaka: [passionately] Me either. I could never do that!
Motoki: [grimly] It has to be someone.
[split screen with Hayasaka and Komatsu. They talk at the same time]
Hayasaka: [pleadingly] I know I can be a fake person, but I swear it's not me!
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] I agree, but don't go accusin' me!
[split screen with Komatsu, Hayasaka, and now Kasparov. They all speak at the same time]
Kasparov: [sharply] Calm down. We must be rational about this discussion.
Hayasaka: [confidently] Please believe me! I'd never, ever put you all into a killing game!
Komatsu: [fiercely] I swear on my fuckin' life that I'm innocent!

Fuck, everyone's talking over each other. I'll need to pay close attention to everyone's words...

MASS PANIC DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Flash Drive Contents, Cafeteria Photo, Furuhata Videos, Shinako, Finances Book, Photo of Eguchi & Furuhata, Family Members

Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] I could never plan the killing game. I don't have it in me.Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] It makes no sense for anyone to suspect me of bein' the mastermind...Motoki: [rubs shoulder] I know people might suspect me due to me taking charge of this discussion, but...
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] Besides, the mastermind clearly has a lot of money at their disposal, and I don't.Komatsu: [grimaces] I mean, let's be honest. I ain't smart enough to plan a killin' game.Motoki: [confidently] Anyone who does that is sorely mistaken. I'm not the mastermind.
Motoki: [scoffs] Really? The Ultimate Social Media Star never got money from brand deals or paid advertisements?Komatsu: [frowns] I know I was close to Eguchi-san, which might seem suspicious, but...Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] I do not distrust you, but how are the rest of us supposed to believe that based on words alone?
Hayasaka: [awkwardly] I didn't do a lot of those...besides, I spent most of that money.Komatsu: [fiercely] I can definitely be trusted, I fuckin' swear it! I ain't the mastermind!Motoki: [determined] I don't expect you to. But you can't trust anyone else based on just words
either.

That was a complete mess, which is wholly unsurprising. Luckily, I think I heard something I can refute...

Answer: Flash Drive Contents > can definitely be trusted

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [slightly challenging] What makes you think you can "definitely be trusted," Komatsu-kun? Because I don't think you can be.
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] Huh? Why the fuck not?
Kawashima: [seriously] Remember how Eguchi-san said she trusted the wrong people? If you two were anywhere near as close as you became while you were here, you would be someone she'd trust. [narrows eyes] Your closeness would make it easier for you to gain and break her trust, wouldn't it?
Komatsu: [angrily] What the fuck...don't ya DARE accuse me of that shit! [fiercely] I'd never break her trust!
Hayasaka: [reassuringly] I don't think you would either, Yutaka-kun. [flatly] Wakana-san, I think you're being too harsh...
Kawashima: [gently] Not to be rude, Hayasaka-san, but you're not exactly unbiased on this matter. [firmly] Due to Eguchi-san's clear involvement with the killing game, Komatsu-kun's close relationship with her makes suspicion of him more than warranted.
Komatsu: [fiercely] I dunno how many times I gotta say it, but I ain't the fuckin' mastermind! [points accusatorially through angry tears] Why the hell aren't ya suspectin' Motoki-san? She's been actin' fuckin' weird this whole goddamn trial!
Hayasaka: [softly] Yutaka-kun, launching accusations instead of defending yourself isn't going to help.
Kawashima: [seriously] No, it won't. [slightly challenging] Komatsu-kun, you need t—
Motoki: [flatly] Stop it. Please...just stop. [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] I can't do this anymore...
Kasparov: [arches eyebrows] Hm? What do you mean, Motoki-san?
Motoki: [miserably] All this yelling...all this endless arguing...I hate it so fucking much. It's tearing me to pieces... [distantly] Why do things have to be this way...why does mastermind have to be...
Kawashima: [warmly] Don't worry, Motoki-san. I'm going to find out who the mastermind is, and then w—
Motoki: [flatly] Don't bother. There's no need for you to do that.

...What?
Kawashima: [puzzled] Wha...What do you mean, Motoki-san? Of course I need to find the mastermind.
Motoki: [distantly] You'll never find out who it is on your own because you're blind to the truth. Maybe you don't know, so...I can't keep you in the dark any longer. [miserably] You see...I was lying when I said Monohebi never said anything to me during the investigation. The truth is he told me something just like he did with Hayasaka-san and Komatsu-kun. [closes eyes to prevent tears] When I was in the Warden's Office, he...he...
Hayasaka: [softly] He what?
Motoki: [nervously] He...told me something important. Something that changed my perception of the killing game entirely. [distantly] I've been in denial ever since he told me, but...the more time has passed...the more that I think about it... [closes eyes to prevent tears] I...I can't deny it any longer...
Kawashima: [sweats with horrified expression] Deny what, Motoki-san?
Motoki: [miserably] That...that the person he told me about is the mastermind. [closes eyes to prevent tears] Someone I trusted so much...someone who I...I...

..........

...I don't understand. Who is she referring to?

Kawashima: [reluctantly] Motoki-san...who do you think the mastermind is?
Motoki: [miserably] I...I can't say it myself...I can't bring myself to... [closes eyes to prevent tears] Please, Kawashima-san...do it for me. Please...

I...I don't what to do, or who to single out. This is so sudden...how could Motoki-san have been silent about this the whole trial if it let her find out who the mastermind is? What could possibly make her hesitate so...much...

..........

...Motoki-san...don't tell me...do you mean...?

CHOOSE A PERSON!

Wakana Kawashima

Eisuke Terajima

Sakiko Motoki

Yuuto Furuhata

Yuzuki Eguchi

Sergey Kasparov

Mayumi Carrasco

Mika Hayasaka

Tomiko Niizuma

Noriyo Ichigohara

Yoshi Yamaguchi

Yutaka Komatsu

Hisaya Sashihara

Osamu Oyamada

Michio Aozora

Otoha Domoto

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

[WAKANA KAWASHIMA CHOSEN]

Kawashima: It can only be you!

Kawashima: [sweats with horrified expression] M-Motoki-san...are you...accusing *me*?
Komatsu: [jaw drops] Wait...WHAT!?
Hayasaka: [shocked] There's no way...Sakiko-san, you think the mastermind's Wakana-san of all people!?
Kasparov: [stunned] I...I cannot believe it. [skeptically] Motoki-san, this is a jest, is it not?
Motoki: [miserably] I wish it were. God, I really wish it were a joke..but it's not. [closes eyes to prevent tears] As much as I hate to even think it...I really do think it's Kawashima-san.

I...this is...no...me...the mastermind!? It's simply not...there's no way...
Kawashima: [in disbelief] But...why? Motoki-san, why on Earth do you think it's me?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] Because Monohebi told me the reason you were sent to our school. [grimly] Do you know what that is? Your scheme with your boss Bessho-san?

Wait...that's why she's suspecting me!? I know what we were doing was illegal, but there's no reason for her to suspect me of being the mastermind because of it...
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Her scheme with her boss...? The hell does that mean?
Hayasaka: [horrified] Could it be...Kawashima-san and her boss were planning a killing game too? Is...Is she the real Subject 982?
Kawashima: [firmly] No. My boss Bessho-san and I weren't planning a killing game. [seriously] We were doing something illegal, yeah, but it was definitely not a killing game.
Kasparov: [disbelievingly] You were committing crimes with your boss...?
Komatsu: [suspiciously] And it seems like she's known 'bout this for a while. [cracks knuckles] Kawashima-san, don't tell me ya've known 'bout this the entire killin' game and never told us!
Kawashima: [defensively] Of course not. I only found out recently. [firmy] The night before last, Monohebi gave me back a memory of me and Bessho-san making an agreement when I was asleep. [seriously] The morning after, Monohebi was in my room and confirmed that she and I committed illegal activities together.
Hayasaka: [flatly] Wakana-san, "illegal activities" is super vague... [looks down glumly] Please don't tell me you're only phrasing it like that because you don't want us to know what you and Bessho-san were doing...
Monohebi: [neutral] It is no lie. That is all that I told her.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] The fuck...? Why're ya bargin' into this?
Monohebi: [presses tail against mouth and frowns] Hayasaka seems to think that I told Kawashima more than I did, so naturally I corrected that error.
Kawashima: [disdainfully] Stay out of this, Monohebi. I don't need you to defend me.
Monohebi: [presses tail against mouth and narrows eyes] Who said that I was defending you? I was merely correcting an error; whether that helps you or not is none of my concern. [neutral] Anyway, while we were on the topic of correcting any possible misconceptions about what I have said or done, I might as well confirm that Motoki did not lie either. As with Hayasaka and Komatsu, I told her rather damning information about Kawashima. [smirks] Would you all like to hear what that was so you may all be on the same page?
Hayasaka: [stares with muted anger] No. We don't need to hear some twisted version of events that you told Sakiko-san to manipulate her. It's—
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] Yes, Monohebi. We would like to hear what you told Motoki-san.
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] Who the fuck is "we?" I sure as hell don't wanna hear the bullshit that snake told Motoki-san, and Hayasaka-san obviously don't either! [grimaces] Anythin' he said that made Motoki-san, the girl who loves Kawashima-san, go from trustin' her deeply to thinkin' she's the mastermind ain't worth listenin' to.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Don't you think you should hear what Monohebi told me to understand why my outlook changed so much? [closes eyes to prevent tears] I don't want to think it's her...but what Monohebi told me recontextualized things to a point where...well...

I...I still don't get this. Monohebi obviously told her about what I was doing with Bessho-san, but that wasn't a killing game or anything related to one, I'm sure of it. He must've told her something else to manipulate her into thinking I'm the mastermind...right?
Kawashima: [seriously] I want to hear it too. [sadly] I need to understand why the hell Motoki-san would go so far as to accuse me of being the mastermind...
Kasparov: [nods] Good. [sharply] Well, Monohebi? Tell us already.
Monohebi: [displeased] Do not rush me. [neutrally] To begin, I told Motoki the most important information: Kawashima was coerced by her boss Asako Bessho into becoming her assistant. She thought of clever places to store large "goods," which shipping lanes and ports to use and which not to use, where to source their "goods" from, et cetera. [smiles slightly] Bessho purposely kept the nature of these goods secret from Kawashima, only telling her the size range and nothing else.
Komatsu: [grumpily] That it?
Monohebi: [hisses angrily] Ssssss! Do not interrupt me! [slightly irritated] Back to what I was saying, Kawashima did this for Bessho for a large cut of the money. She used this money to help the rest of her family out, something which they greatly appreciated...until the scheme was exposed, that is. [smiles slightly] Unfortunately for Bessho and Kawashima, an informant at their job reported the entire operation to the cops. Bessho heard wind of this ahead of time. [smirks] She had ample time and opportunity to tell Kawashima, but she decided instead to use that time to alter evidence so that it seemed Kawashima played a far greater role in the scheme than she truly did. [chuckles] Sususu...how devious of her.
Monohebi: [smiles slightly] Anyway, Kawashima was subsequently publicly arrested and tried. With all her heinous crimes exposed and extra charges against her resulting from the tampering of evidence by Bessho, Kawashima was quickly sentenced to adult prison. [presses trial against mouth and frowns] Unfortunately, her lawyer had the idea of making her apply to the school run by Gomi to avoid jail, an idea which unfortunately worked. [smirks] Oh! Most importantly...the family of Kawashima was so very embarrassed by all this that they disowned her. How tragic...

...Wh...Wh...a...t...?

Dis...owned...? Th...There's no way...

Kawashima: [in disbelief] M-Monohebi...you're joking, r-right? My family...they'd never disown me! [sweats with horrified expression] They've always loved me...it's not anything like Kasparov-kun's family, I've always been loved and cared for! [furiously] Don't you dare lie about shit like that, you hear me!?
Monohebi: [presses tail against mouth and narrows eyes] Do you truly think yelling at me about it will make it less true? Do you want me to pull up video footage of your parents publicly stating on television that they never want to see your face again, that they have forever cast you aside as their daughter? [red eye glints] If you do, then I am more than happy to show you.
Kawashima: [clutches hair] No...no...NO! Shut the FUCK up! You're fucking lying!
Hayasaka: [softly] Wakana-san...please calm down...
Kawashima: [furiously] I can't! Not when Monohebi's lying to me like this!

Yeah...he's gotta be lying! I've had occasionally petty fights with my mom and dad, but they've always loved me at the end of the day. There's no way they'd disown me...no way...no fucking way...

Motoki: [flatly] It's true, Kawashima-san. [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] I didn't believe they disowned you either, so Monohebi had me watch the footage of them doing it. [grimly] Your dad...he's bald and has a maroon cochlear implant in his right ear, right? And your mom, she has a piercing on the bottom of her lip and several bracelets you and your sister Yuriko made for her on her right arm, right?

Something inside me withers and dies in an instant. I...I never told Motoki-san about either of those things. I haven't told anyone here what my parents look like, not ever...so that means...she really did see a video of them...
Kawashima: [in disbelief] That...That sounds exactly like them...
Komatsu: [sullenly] But...even if it's really them, that don't mean they really said what Motoki-san claims they did, does it?
Motoki: [hostilely] Are you accusing me of lying?
Komatsu: [angrily] I'd rather do that than believe that any of this 'bout Kawashima-san's true! She's always been one of the most upstandin' people here, so there ain't no way any of this shit Monohebi and ya're sayin' 'bout her is true! [fiercely] Kawashima-san, we gotta watch that video of yer parents disownin' ya so—
Kawashima: [disantly] No.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Huh? Whaddaya mean no? We gotta prove that video's fake and—
Kawashima: [firmly] No. I'm not doing that. [disantly] Maybe Motoki-san's lying and maybe that video she saw is fake. Maybe she never saw it at all...but I don't care either way. [in tears] Because...the chances of it being real are too high for me to risk. If it's real, I'd have to watch my Mom and Dad say they hate me...that they never wanna see me again...and I...I can't bear to watch that. [closes eyes] So please...shut up and leave me alone for a little bit.

Komatsu thankfully just does that as I bow my head and grip my podium tightly.
I can't talk to him right now...I can't talk to anyone right now...

Mom and Dad...how could you do that to me? I know I fucked up badly, but why go so far as disown me? Did all those moments we had mean nothing? Was your love for me really so shallow that you'd throw me away just for getting manipulated into a crime scheme?

Feeling my grip around the podium tighten, I grit my teeth in rage. Bessho-san...you fucking bitch. If I ever see your rat face again, I'm going to beat your lavender-scented ass senseless. You pretended to care about me and comfort me all so you could get a loyal assistant who'd naïvely do your dirty work! I should've seen it...I should've noticed that you never really cared about me...

I begin to tremble with anger, my teeth clenching even more. I hate you. I
hate you! I FUCKING HATE YOU! YOU RUINED MY LIFE, YOU FUCKING HAG! YOU MADE ME TRUST YOU AND THEN YOU FUCKING BACKSTABBED ME! YOU LEFT ME BEHIND AND FRAMED ME FOR SHIT I DIDN'T EVEN DO! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! THIS IS ALL—

But is it her fault? a voice in the back of my head interrupts. Did Bessho-san really make you trust her? Did she make you join her? She warned you of the consequences and of the severity of what you were doing, but you ignored that. You ignored the warnings from Shinako, too. It's your own fault more than anything else.

My grip on the podium relaxes and I slump forward, with angry, self-hating tears forming in my eyes. Goddammit...I'm so fucking stupid...I'm really the one to blame here. I wanted to get rich quick off the black market, and it bit me in the ass...

I don't know how long it is until I stop crying. Hayasaka says something, but I don't listen. She's probably trying to comfort me, and I don't want any of that right now...

For several more minutes, I stare down at my podium in silence and wait for the tears to come back, but they never do. I feel too empty for that to happen. Mom...Dad...even if you hate me...I still want to see you again. I still want to let you know that even if you hate me now, I still love you...I always will...

Why...why does life have to be so miserable? Why is everything so terrible all the time...? I don't want to go on...I want to lie down here and slowly rot to death...but I guess Monohebi would win if I did that. So...I have to go on. But not right now...

Several more minutes pass before I have the courage to raise my head again. I don't want to endure the rest of this fucking trial...but I don't want to die either. So as much as it fucking sucks, I have to go on...
Kawashima: [seriously] ...Alright. Let's continue.
Hayasaka: [worried] Wakana-san...are you alright? You were silent for a long time...
Kasparov: [frowns] I am concerned as well. [gently] Kawashima-san, I empathize deeply with you and know how you feel. If you need any sort of comfort, you may—
Kawashima: [distantly] Stop. I don't want a shoulder to cry on. [sadly] I only want to get this over with...
Kasparov: [frowns] ...I see. [covers mouth with hand] Then let us continue with our discussion. [presses finger to temple] Namely, I would like you to explain why you think Kawashima-san is the mastermind, Motoki-san. [skeptically] While what Monohebi told us certainly does not paint Kawashima-san in a positive light, I fail to see how it led you to believe she is the mastermind.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] I was thinking the same thing, Sergey-kun. I don't see how any of what Sakiko-san brought up points to Wakana-san being the mastermind.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] I think one of the big reasons is pretty obvious. My trust in her has been damaged irreparably.

Ouch. That really hurt to hear...
Motoki: [miserably] Not only did she do what she did with Bessho-san, but she knew about it and hid it from the rest of us. [closes eyes to prevent tears] I'm sorry, Kawashima-san, but I don't know why you didn't tell anyone. It didn't have to be me...but you should've told someone.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Yer right, she shoulda told someone. No one disagrees with that. [grumpily] But ya still haven't answered why ya think she's the mastermind. Are ya ever gonna get 'round to doin' that, or are ya jus' keep avoidin' it forever? [angrily] Are ya jus' gonna keep spoutin' this bullshit in a shitty attempt to try and distract us? Is it 'cause ya jus' wanna bring Kawashima-san down!?
Kawashima: [disdainfully] Stop it right now. [firmly] Don't be so aggressive toward her, Komatsu-kun. I won't allow it.
Komatsu: [grumpily] .......... [rubs back of neck] ...Yer right, I need to cool it a little. [frowns] But ya gotta admit her not elaboratin' 'bout why she's suspectin' ya is weird. Ya can't let love blind ya from seein' that...
Kawashima: [seriously] You're the very last person I'd want to hear that from, Komatsu-kun.
Komatsu: [sullenly] Ugh...fair enough. [rubs backs of neck] Still, Motoki-san's gotta explain why she thinks yer the mastermind. She can't jus' expect us to believe her without more explanation.
Motoki: [hostilely] Of course I don't. If you had shut up, maybe I could've explained it all by now. [determined] Don't worry, I'll convince you all soon enough, and then we can finally be done with this whole fucking trial.

I'm eager for it to be over, too. Every second of Motoki-san accusing me feels like a knife being stabbed into my heart...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Surveillance Room, Family Members, Finances Book, Photo of Eguchi & Furuhata, Shinako, Dr. Jayantha Sumanth and his Research, Class Photo

Hayasaka: [slightly confused] So, Sakiko-san, why do you think the mastermind's Wakana-san?
Motoki: [neutrally] You heard Monohebi talk about all the things Kawashima-san did for Bessho-san. [grimly] Not only would she get the money necessary for this killing game from that work, but she'd also get
important knowledge
about the types of places that'd be most conducive for holding a killing game. [determined] It's no accident that the killing game has been being broadcasted for weeks and still hasn't been shut down. Whoever chose the location of this place, they know how to evade detection.
Kasparov: [curiously] Are you saying you believe her knowledge of shipping routes and places to store "goods" helped her decide where to locate the killing game? [presses finger to temple] I am afraid that is not conclusive evidence in the slightest. You must have more if you want to hope to convince the rest of us.
Motoki: [grimly] I do have more. [thoughtfully] I think Kawashima-san met Verlenda while she worked with Bessho-san. It's obvious from the email we saw that whoever Grimmla is, they sought out Verlenda. So, Grimmla must've learned about Verlenda somehow. [grimly] When you consider the backgrounds of all sixteen of us and why we were sent to Gomi-san's school, Kawashima-san's the most likely person to have met someone like Verlenda.
Komatsu: [grimaces] I guess, considerin' Verlenda clearly was in the business of shippin' stuff illegally too. [fixes belt] But that don't mean it's Kawashima-san. If she's the mastermind, how the hell do you explain the last trial?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] I was about to bring that up, Yutaka-kun. [looks to the side thoughtfully] Wakana-san spearheaded the double culprit idea and tried pretty hard to get Monohebi to execute himself. [slightly confused] The mastermind would never do such a thing, right?
Motoki: [determined] Not if they knew who they were, no. [grimly] But remember, the mastermind might not be consciously aware of who they are. Dr. Sumanth's memory alteration means the mastermind could be anyone, regardless of whether they know it or not.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] I suppose that is possible, even if I believe it is rather unlikely.

I think part of me was still clinging on to the desperate hope that Motoki-san wasn't serious, but I can't ignore reality anymore. She really does think I'm the mastermind...

Answer: Grimmla and Verlenda's Email > most likely person to have met someone like Verlenda

Kawashima: ..........

BREAK!

Kawashima: [seriously] ...Thinking of it makes me feel sick, but Motoki-san's right. When we take everyone's backstories into account, I'm by far the likeliest person to have known about Verlenda.
Kasparov: [frowns] That in no way means you are the mastermind. [analytically] Even if you were the only person who initially knew of Verlenda, that knowledge might have been forced out of you.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Yeah, and do we even know if it was Grimmla themselves who reached out to Verlenda first? Maybe it was whoever was helpin' 'em out.
Kawashima: [distantly] Maybe, but whatever the case...I was the one who provided the information about Verlenda, willingly or not.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] What do you mean? Do you think the mastermind interrogated you or somehow got that information from you?
Kawashima: [regretfully] I don't know. But what I do know is that I'm responsible for the mastermind knowing about Verlenda.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] But why? And how? I don't get what yer tryna say.

Deep down, I think a part of my brain realized it as soon as I read that email...I know who Verlenda is. The key to figuring it out is literally right there in the name. Verlenda's not a random made-up codename. No, it's...
An Apocope/An Abbreviation/An Anagram

Answer: An Anagram

Kawashima: ..........

Kawashima: [seriously] Verlenda has to be an anagram. That's why it's written in Latin letters instead of katakana.
Hayasaka: [thoughtfully] An anagram...that's when the letters of the word can be arranged to make another word, right?
Kasparov: [firmly] Yes, that is correct. [skeptically] Kawashima-san, how is "Verlenda" an anagram? Have you thought of another word that could be rearranged to form it? [analytically] I am not familiar with any languages written in the Latin script, so I cannot think of any such word.

I don't exactly know what the word is right now either, but it's on the tip of my tongue. I know I can figure out what it is if I think a little harder...

HANGMAN'S GAMBIT

Question: Which word is "Verlenda" an anagram of?

VERLENDA

Answer: Lavender

Kawashima: I've solved it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [firmly] "Lavender." Verlenda is an anagram of the English word "lavender."
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] I figured that it was an English word given the spelling of Verlenda, but even then I don't see the connection. [slightly confused] What does lavender have to do with anything, Wakana-san?
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Yeah, I don't get the point of this, Kawashima-san. How the fuck does lavender tell us anythin' 'bout who Verlenda is?
Kawashima: [reluctantly] ...Bessho-san always wore a lavender perfume. Always. [firmly] It was her favorite type of flower and favorite color as well.
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] Oh. That is...
Kawashima: [reluctantly] Yes. It's the only thing I can think of.
Motoki: [flatly] I think Bessho-san's Verlenda too. [rubs shoulder] I never figured out the lavender anagram, but even without that, it makes a lot of sense for Bessho-san to be Verlenda. [confidently] We know Verlenda wasn't a student or staff member given the email between them and Grimmla. Bessho-san's the only person we know of who meets that criteria and has any sort of serious connection to the criminal world. [grimly] I don't know how no one brought it up beforehand.
Kasparov: [frowns] Motoki-san, if you wanted us to discuss the possibility of Verlenda being Bessho-san sooner, perhaps you should have mentioned it yourself. [analytically] Also, I must say I do not understand why Bessho-san is a hostage if she truly is this "Verlenda" person. [presses finger to temple] Verlenda is an ally of the mastermind, correct? If that is the case, why would the individual who is supposedly Verlenda be in chains?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Well...if we believe what Wakana-san told us of that video of Yuzuki-san, she was probably betrayed by the mastermind even though she was working with them. [looks to the side thoughtfully] If it's not unprecedented for them to betray close allies, I guess they could've betrayed Verlenda too.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] She also coulda been fakin' it. [rubs back of neck] If she was a hostage, Kawashima-san'd be less likely to suspect her, right?

He could be right. Bessho-san might have been pretending to be a hostage, but there's something about that notion that doesn't seem right. Namely...
Why the mastermind would choose Bessho as a hostage over Kawashima's family/How she could have acted so well/What Monohebi would do with her if he had to execute all the hostages

Answer: What Monohebi would do with her if he had to execute all the hostages

Kawashima: ..........

Kawashima: [seriously] Komatsu-kun, there's an issue with that theory: what would Monohebi do with Bessho-san if he had to kill all the hostages? If Bessho-san was faking being a hostage, that means Monohebi didn't betray her and didn't want her to actually die. [slightly challenging] Do you think he'd risk faking her death?
Komatsu: [frowns] He could. The mastermind's clever and got lots of money to spend, so they definitely could fake a hostage's death if they really wanted to.
Kasparov: [analytically] I highly doubt Monohebi would risk faking her death, but perhaps Bessho-san is faking her status as a hostage... [considers carefully] After all, it is rather peculiar the hostages besides Sato-san are all currently alive, is it not? [presses finger to temple] Monohebi promised to kill them in increments of fifteen minutes if we tried to escape, but he stopped after Sato-san. [covers mouth with hand] Because of that anomaly, is it not possible that the reason the rest of the hostages were not executed is that Bessho-san is a fake hostage?
Hayasaka: [uncertainly[ Uh...I'm not so sure about that...
Monohebi: [displeased] What a ridiculous theory. [presses tail against mouth and narrows eyes] Kasparov, I did not execute the remainder of the hostages because you and Motoki cut the power after I executed Sato. [smiles slightly] The entire point of the grisly hostage executions was to make you brats see and hear them die. [neutral] It would have been a waste to kill them if I had no way to show their deaths to you.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] ...I suppose that is a sufficient explanation.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Sorry, I'm confused...do we think Bessho-san's fakin' been' a hostage or not? [suspiciously] I mean, it is kinda weird that she's a hostage over Kawashima-san's family...
Motoki: [determined] Wrong. It makes perfect sense, especially if Kawashima-san's the mastermind. [thoughtfully] It's actually another reason why I'm suspicious of Kawashima-san...if the mastermind's not Kawashima-san, it'd make more sense for them to chose someone from Kawashima-san's family as a hostage. Even if they disowned her, she still cares about them way more than she does about Bessho-san.

That's true. I liked Bessho-san before I realized she was such a vile, manipulative person, but I've always cared about my family way more...
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] How exactly does that make Wakana-san look suspicious?
Motoki: [flatly] If she is the mastermind, it'd make sense for her to choose Bessho-san as a hostage over a family member. [grimly] That way, she could get revenge on Bessho-san for betraying her in the first place and keep her family uninvolved. [rubs shoulder] On the contrary, any other mastermind would have no reason to choose Bessho-san as a hostage over someone from Kawashima-san's family.
Komatsu: [grimaces] Hold on...that does kinda make sense... [fixes belt] But that don't mean the mastermind's Kawashima-san!
Motoki: [distantly] No, it doesn't prove it. [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] But there's another piece of evidence that makes Kawashima-san look super suspicious. Honestly, it was what sealed the deal for me.
Hayasaka: [curiously] What're you talking about, Sakiko-san?
Motoki: [grimly] The 'informant' that told the cops about Bessho-san and Kawashima-san's whole operation. [miserably] When Kawashima-san talked about the evidence she found in the investigation, I realized who that informant was...

...Fuck. I was too shocked to fully process that Monohebi
mentioned an informant earlier, but thinking about it more makes me realize...there's only one person who it could be.
Wakana Kawashima/Shinako/Asako Bessho

Answer: Shinako

Kawashima: ..........

Kawashima: [reluctantly] ...The informant was Shinako. It must've been...no else knew about Bessho-san's criminal activities [sadly] I remember Shinako telling me not to get involved with Bessho-san's business and to stay away from her, so she definitely knew something shady was going on.

Fuck, I wished I'd listened to her. So much terrible shit would've been avoided...I never would've been
disowned...I never would've
darted my hands in illegal shit...and most of all, I never
would'd've been forced into this
horrible killing game.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Okay, so the informant was Shinako. Why does that matter?
Motoki: [thoughtfully] Remember what Monohebi said way back when he told Niizuma-san about Shinako's death? He said she was killed by 'two people.' [flatly] Also, we know Shinako was killed at Gomi-san's school the day we were kidnapped. [grimly] Barring an extremely unlikely coincidence, she was most likely killed as revenge by two people who she fucked over: Bessho-san and Kawashima-san.
Hayasaka: [horrified] No...Wakana-san'd never do that! Right, Wakana-san?
Kawashima: [regretfully] I want to confirm that I didn't do it, Hayasaka-san...but I don't remember that day. None of us do. [gulps] I can't guarantee I didn't kill Shinako along with Bessho-san...
Kasparov: [firmly] But you cannot guarantee that you did kill her either. [considers carefully] Shinako easily could have been killed by accident or as collateral damage.
Kawashima: [reluctantly] One look at her dead body and you'd know that's untrue. [sadly] Shinako's death was really brutal. Her face was slashed so many times you could barely recognize her...whoever killed her, they wanted her dead really badly.
Hayasaka: [worried] Wakana-san...why are you doing this? Why are you helping Motoki-san make you look like the mastermind? [pleadingly] Please, defend yourself!
Kawashima: [firmly] If defending myself means denying the truth, then I won't do it. [sadly] Because...I don't Monohebi to win this trial. I want everyone besides the mastermind to live. [tears up] So, I'm going to look for the truth, even if it condemns me to death.
Hayasaka: [softly] Wakana-san...I...
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] ..........
Komatsu: [fearfully] Wait, Kawashima-san, ya don't actually think yer the mastermind, right?
Kawashima: [sadly] I don't know. I really fucking hope not...but...I have to be prepared if I am.
Motoki: [miserably] ...I can't do this much longer. [distantly] Kawashima-san, I'm gonna sum up everything I have against you at once. If you can disprove any of it, please do. [closes eyes to prevent tears[ I don't want to suspect you...so please, if you can prove me wrong, do it.

I will if I can, Motoki-san. I will.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Staff Photo, Family Members, Class Photo, Finances Book, Dr. Jayantha Sumanth and his Research, Broadcast, Shinako

Motoki: [miserably] First, in the press conference video, the only family members who had their words censored were Kawashima-san's siblings.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] Do you really think they said stuff about her being the mastermind?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] ...It's possible. The mastermind censored information about past killing games because they didn't want us to know about them, so her siblings must've said things the mastermind didn't want us to know about. [grimly] They most likely said stuff related to Kawashima-san being the mastermind.
Kasparov: [analytically] It is possible what they were saying was related to Kawashima-san's work with Bessho-san, is it not? [covers mouth with hand] There is no guarantee her siblings were discussing anything concerning to the mastermind, whether they are Kawashima-san or someone else.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] No, but it doesn't help Kawashima-san's case.
[rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] Speaking of stuff that doesn't help her, do you all remember when Kawashima-san and Niizuma-san were talking after the third trial? [grimly] Niizuma-san
said it was ironic Kawashima should talk about her not deserving forgiveness.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] And, uh...why does that matter?
Motoki: [thoughtfully] We still have no idea what was on the flash drive she found, but Niizuma-san seemed to know something about Kawashima-san. [flatly] She might've only known about Kawashima-san's dealings with Bessho-san, but it's possible Niizuma-san knew more.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Possible, but not in any way certain. [stares with muted anger] Sakiko-san, this still doesn't make any sense to me. You have a lot of circumstantial evidence that sort of Wakana-san look suspicious, but nothing concrete.
Motoki: [scoffs] You really think it's all circumstantial? [grimly] The mastermind had to deal with a lot of money to get this killing game afloat, and Kawashima-san's the only person alive who has experience working with so much money. [thoughtfully] Also, like I said earlier, Kawashima-san's illegal work would give her the knowledge
to choose a place where the killing game could go undetected.

Is there anything I can say to disprove what Motoki-san's saying? I hope there is...I
desperately hope there is...

Answer: Finances Book > only one who has experience working with so much money

Kawashima: ..........

Kawashima: [reluctantly] Motoki-san's right. I'm the only one alive who can work with large amounts of cash. [distantly] That finances book I found in the Archives Room...I understood everything in it.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Hold on, ya ain't the only who's worked with money, Kawashima-san. Niizuma-san had her own house and Yamaguchi-kun was from a super-rich family!
Motoki: [flatly] Yes, but they're both dead. Kawashima-san meant she's the only one alive who could deal with so much money.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck]
But...Kasparov-kun's family is rich and Hayasaka-san's bound to have some cash from her online shit, right?
Kasparov: [frowns] It is true my family is on the wealthier side, but they do not have the exorbitant amount of money that would be necessary to finance an entire killing game. [covers eyes] Moreover, I am disowned. I do not have access to any of their money.
Hayasaka: [hesitantly] As for me...well, uh...while I do have some money from the few brand deals I've done... [awkwardly] I kinda have a bad habit of spending most of it. Besides, it's not as much as you might think.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Besides...no one except for Kawashima-san has a proven track record of working with large amounts of money in an illegal context. [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] No one else has experience working with the Verlenda we know abducted us and took us to this place. [miserably] No one else would have a personal motivation to kill Shinako alongside Bessho-san.
[closes eyes to prevent tears] I want to be wrong...I want it to be someone else so badly...but...

Motoki-san, I want to prove you wrong with all my heart. I want to make you stop crying...I want to hug you and tell you everything will be okay...but why do I feel frozen?
Komatsu: [frowns] ...Kawashima-san? Ain't ya gonna say somethin' else? [grimaces] C'mon, prove Motoki-san wrong already!
Motoki: [distantly] Yeah...please do it if you can, Kawashima-san. [miserably] Please...let me believe in you again.

Those words feel like knives in my heart. Motoki-san...I'm so sorry. I keep trying to think of ways to rebut you, but my mind keeps drawing a blank. Is it because I'm emotionally overwhelmed right now? Or is it
because...because...
Komatsu: [sweats nervously] Kawashima-san, this ain't true, right? Hayasaka-san and Kasparov-kun, ya got some other rebuttal against Motoki-san, don't ya?
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] ..........
Kasparov: [distantly] To be perfectly honest, I do not know what to think. [covers mouth with hand] Motoki-san has brought up several points that, in isolation, could easily be dismissed as coincidences. But together...they are much harder to dismiss.
Komatsu: [grips jacket tightly and stares at floor] Holy shit...it really could be her...
Motoki: [grimly] I guess she can't disprove it, then... [miserably] God fucking dammit...

Wait,
Motoki-san...please give me more time. I can figure something out, I swear! I can find an argument that deconstructs this all in an instant. All I need is more time...
Komatsu: [fearfully] Kawashima-san...ya haven't said anythin' in a while. Please don't tell me...are ya really...

I don't know...am I? Did I really plan this killing game...? Did I really cause everyone here to die? Am I the reason Furuhata-kun, Yamaguchi-kun, Aozora-kun, Carrasco-san, Ichigohara-san, Niizuma-san, Eguchi-san, Terajima-kun, Oyamada-kun, Sashihara-kun, and
Domoto-san are all dead?

No, it can't be...it can't be....it can't be...it has to be someone else.

But who? Who else could it possibly be? I saw with my own eyes the bodies of all eleven
people who died here. Out of everyone alive, I am the most likely, so...

..........

....................

..............................

............................................................

..........................................................................................
***

...Is it really true? Is...is she really the mastermind?

...No. She can't be.

This is wrong. Not just wrong, impossible.

After all she's done for us, there's no way she could be. I can feel it in my
soul...Wakana Kawashima is not the mastermind.

There's something that feels deeply wrong about this accusation, but I can't quite put my finger on what it is. I want to wait for someone else to speak up, but it seems that isn't going
to happen.

So, I guess I'll have to do this myself. I'll prove Wakana-san's innocence!

Hayasaka: [flatly] No. Wakana-san's not the mastermind.
Motoki: [perplexed] Huh? What the hell do you mean?
Hayasaka: [confidently] I mean exactly what I said, Sakiko-san. The mastermind's not Wakana-san.
Motoki: [scoffs] Are you kidding me? [passionately] Were you not listening to everything I said!?
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] Of course I was listening. I was even close to being convinced...but something about this doesn't sit right with me. [twirls hair pensively] While I can see why you were led to believe Wakana-san is mastermind...I know she's not. I know you're wrong. [pleadingly] C'mon, Wakana-san, you know you're not actually the mastermind, right?
Kawashima: [hides face] ..........

Looks like she doesn't walk to talk.
Motoki: [flatly] She clearly doesn't want to talk right now, so please don't try and force her. [grimly] Besides, are you really contradicting me because of a gut feeling? Do you not have anything else? [rubs shoulder] Hayasaka-san, please don't waste our time like this. None of us want this trial to last any longer than it has to. [hostilely] Making us prolong this horrible trial because of a fucking gut feeling is incredibly irresponsible.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] I assume Hayasaka-san would not interject if she did not have more evidence to back her up. [covers mouth with hand] Am I correct in that assumption?
Hayasaka: [uncertainly] Yes, I think you are. [apologetically] Sorry, I just have a hard time organizing my thoughts.

I'm not like Wakana-san, who can keep a million things on her mind at once and make logical conclusions from the evidence she's seen. It takes me much longer to come up with a theory that makes sense and even longer to work up the courage to say it...after all, if I'm wrong, I could get us all killed.

Okay,
I need to take this one step at a time. I need to set aside my biases, as hard as that might be, and try to let the evidence lead me to the right conclusion...if that conclusion is that Wakana-san's the mastermind, then so be it. I guess I'll have to accept it then.
But if not...then I'll have saved the lives of everyone here.

Shit, this is a lot of pressure. I
don't want to shoulder all of it myself if I don't have to, but it seems like that'll be the case. I shouldn't just accept that, though...I should at least try and see if I can get the boys on my side.

Hayasaka: [seriously] Yutaka-kun, Sergey-kun, are you telling me you actually believe this?
Komatsu: [grimaces] I dunno what I think...I wanna believe in Kawashima-san, but Motoki-san said some convincin' stuff...
Kasparov: [considers carefully] ...I cannot comment quite yet. [analytically] The points Motoki-san made are by no means definitive, no matter what she claims. However, they cannot simply be dismissed. [presses finger to temple] I need time to consider the facts and come to my own conclusion.

Shit, it looks like they're both indecisive. Yutaka-kun being that way doesn't really surprise me, but Sergey-kun's indecision is perplexing. He said yesterday he had an idea for who the mastermind could be that isn't Wakana-san, so why's he confused?
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Sergey-kun, didn't you say you had a theory of who the mastermind was, and that it wasn't Kawashima-san? [seriously] You need to tell us it already. If not now, we'll never know.
Kasparov: [covers eyes] .......... [sadly] Forgive me, but I am not emotionally prepared to discuss that theory of mine yet. [regretfully] Even if I were, my conscience refuses to allow me to blithely rush into accusations. We all know what resulted when I did that to Eguchi-san. [covers mouth with hand] Believe me, I have not abandoned that theory. On the contrary, I have been actively working on it ever since the idea occurred to me several days ago. [firmly] Even so, I will not mention who I suspect until I am certain of it. [softly] Do you understand that, Hayasaka-san? I do not intend to be difficult...I simply do not want to cause any more damage than I already have.

So he doesn't want to reveal exactly what that theory of his is unless he thinks he absolutely has to. I wish he would
tell someone, but...what happened to Yuzuki-san, Eisuke-kun, and Osamu-kun has really scarred him. I get why he'd be hesitant to present any impactful theory after that. He also said he's not
"emotionally prepared" to discuss it yet, which makes me curious...but I shouldn't press him. I was kinda harsh about it earlier. If I want him to talk about his theory, it'd be better to be nice to him.
Hayasaka: [reassuringly] I get that, Sergey-kun. I won't force you to say what it is.
Kasparov: [gratefully] Thank you, Hayasaka-san.
Motoki: [hostilely] So are we going to keep wasting time, or are you ever going to get around to trying to disprove what I said, Hayasaka-san? [flatly] You've just been deflecting so far.
Hayasaka: [seriously] I was about to get to that. I think that—
Kawashima: [distantly] Why?

Finally, she said something.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] What do you mean "why," Wakana-san?
Kawashima: [monotonously] ...Why are you defending me? All I want is for this to be over with. I don't want this to be any longer than it needs to be...so why can't we vote already?
Hayasaka: [softly] I get that, Wakana-san. but I can't accept that you're the mastermind. [seriously] I can't stand by and let you get falsely accused.
Motoki: [doubtfully] You haven't brought up any reason why it might be false, though.

I could get to that if you stopped interjecting.
Hayasaka: [tersely] Okay. Basically, I think you're being manipulated by Monohebi, Sakiko-san. [looks to the side thoughtfully] You were the closest to Wakana-san,
so for you to hear that she did something really fucked up is messing with your head. [seriously] You don't think it was an accident that Monohebi told you specifically, was it?
Motoki: [hostilely] Of course it wasn't an accident, but that doesn't mean I'm being fooled. [rubs shoulder] It's obvious Monohebi gets something out of this, but he didn't lie. And it's not like he told me "hey, Kawashima-san's the mastermind." I came to that conclusion by myself.

That's exactly what he wants you to think, Sakiko-san.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Let's say for a moment that Wakana-san is the mastermind, Sakiko-san. [narrows eyes] Why the hell would Monohebi tell you all that stuff if she were? He dies if we find out the truth, remember?
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] This is prolly stupid, but he said he'd give us all the evidence we'd need to find the truth, right? Maybe that's why he told Motoki-san about Kawashima-san's past.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] But Wakana-san already knew. He told her before the last trial.
Komatsu: [frowns] But if she really is the mastermind, it wouldn't really count to tell jus' her, would it? [fixes belt] The resta us couldn't magically figure it out on our own.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] What Komatsu-kun said. [miserably] Also, I think Monohebi told me because he wanted me to suffer. If he had to tell someone for the purpose of fairness, he wanted to choose the person it'd hurt the most. [closes eyes to prevent tears] He wanted me to agonize over it...honestly, I don't think he expected me to come forward at all. [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] I didn't think I would, either...but I had to. I couldn't stay silent, even though I wanted to...
[miserably] It wasn't about being fair, it was about being cruel. The cruelty is the point.

That does sound like
Monohebi, I have to admit.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] I still don't think that gives us a complete view of the situation. Monohebi loves to be cruel, but he's smart. [looks to the side thoughtfully] If Wakana-san is the mastermind, it wouldn't be smart for him to bring up stuff that paints her in a bad light. [seriously] By telling Wakana-san, he technically and therefore had already fulfilled his duty of providing that information, so there was no need to tell you about it, Sakiko-san.
Motoki: [grimly] He'd technically fulfill it, but it wouldn't be fair at all. [thoughtfully] Also, Hayasaka-san, it'd be stupid of Monohebi to bring up Kawashima-san's past if he only did that with her, but he didn't. Monohebi also told stuff about Komatsu-kun and Kasparov-kun to you and Komatsu-kun too.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Yes, but the things Monohebi said about Sergey-kun and Yutaka-kun didn't make them look like the mastermind. [seriously] Also, if Wakana-san is the mastermind, she hasn't been aware of it this whole time. If she were, her actions—especially in the last trial—don't make any sense. [looks to the side thoughtfully] Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure Monohebi's purpose in revealing the negative stuff about Wakana-san, Yutaka-kun, and Sergey-kun's pasts was only to make us distrust each other. [confidently] I don't he even wanted to make Wakana-san seem like the mastermind, but I'm sure he's welcoming it now th—

Kawashima: No, that's wrong!

[split screen separates Kawashima and Hayasaka]
Kawashima: [firmly] I told you to stop, so please stop already.
Hayasaka: [hesitantly] I'm sorry, Wakana-san, but I won't. [awkwardly] I don't believe you're the mastermind, and I'm going to fight to prove you're not until I can't any longer.
Kawashima: [reluctantly] ...Well, I guess that leaves me with no choice but to show you that you're wrong.

I have a feeling this is gonna be rough...Wakana-san's never lost one of these one-on-one arguments she does sometimes. I'm going to have to try really hard to keep up with her...

REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN

Truth Swords: Family Members, Class Photo, Subject 982's Profile, Grimmla and Verlenda Email, Press Conference Answers, Flash Drive Contents, Furuhata Videos

Kawashima: [sadly] Hayasaka-san, let's face it. If the mastermind is one of the five of us here, it has to be me. [distantly] I knew Bessho-san and I have the financial expertise the mastermind has demonstrated.
Kawashima: [regretfully] On top of that, Shinako's death makes the most sense if Bessho-san and I killed her as revenge.

ADVANCE!
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] Wakana-san, can't you see that this sounds nothing like you? [twirls hair pensively] I know the mastermind would obviously hide their true personality if they were one of us, but if it's you, you couldn't possibly have known it this whole time. The last trial is evidence of that. [pleadingly] Do you really think you personally changed this drastically? It doesn't make any sense!

Kawashima: [seriously] It makes perfect sense to me. [firmly] Eguchi-san's personality changed drastically between her personality here and that video I saw, so it's not crazy to think I did something to mine before coming into the killing game.
Kawashima: [sadly] Just end this already, okay? I can't do it any longer.

ADVANCE!
Hayasaka: [softly] No, I'm sorry. [seriously] Wakana-san, I know you seem convinced you're the mastermind...but I think you're letting your emotions cloud your judgment.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] I think you're believing this so much because you feel guilty about the work you did for Bessho-san and about your family disowning you. [softly] Also...I think Sakiko-san suspecting you has really hurt you. I think you want to avoid fighting her, so you're accepting it instead.

Kawashima: [distantly] .......... [seriously] Maybe you're right. I do feel guilty about my family disowning me and about all the horrible shit I did for Bessho-san. [regretfully] But...I'm not blindly accepting what Motoki-san said. The fact is, everything she said makes sense.
Kawashima: [sadly] I accept that I'm the mastermind, so let's get this trial over with.

Wakana-san, you're clearly out of your element.
There's something that doesn't make any sense, no matter which way you spin it. Normally, you'd pick up on something
like this, but because
you can't, I'll have to be the one to do it.

Answer: Grimmla and Verlenda Email > everything she said makes sense

Hayasaka: I'll cut your contradictions in two!

BREAK!

Hayasaka: [confidently] Wakana-san, Sakiko-san definitely said some things that didn't make sense. [looks to the side thoughtfully] If I understand correctly, Sakiko-san thought you were Grimmla and the mastermind, right? And that your knowledge of Bessho-san allowed you to know she was and how to reach out to her?
Motoki: [flatly] Eguchi-san was probably the person who helped Grimmla...so yes, Kawashima-san would be Grimmla. That sounds right. [neutrally] I don't see what's wrong with that.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Why would Wakana-san reach out to her? [looks to the side thoughtfully] Bessho-san didn't let Wakana-san know the cops had discovered their operation when she had ample time to. On top of that, she altered some evidence to make Wakana-san more suspicious. [seriously] Wakana-san would have no reason to reach out to someone who fucked her over like that.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Yer right, that don't make much sense if she knew Verlenda is Bessho-san. [fixes belt] Though it's possible Kawashima-san didn't know Verlenda was Bessho-san, ain't it?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] A major reason Sakiko-san suspects Wakana-san as the mastermind was that she knew Verlenda was Bessho-san. Because of that, it's feasible to assume Kawashima-san could figure out some way to contact her. [seriously] If Wakana-san wasn't aware of Verlenda's identity, that's a big reason for suspecting her gone. [looks to the side thoughtfully] And even if you ignore that, why would Wakana-san continue working with Verlenda when she realized their identity?
Motoki: [thoughtfully] Maybe that's why Bessho-san is a hostage. [grimly] Kawashima-san might not have known who Verlenda was until it was far too along to alter her plans. [neutrally] So, she played cool and waited until she could trap Bessho-san as a hostage.
Hayasaka: [seriously] Sakiko-san, you don't seem to have anything against my first point. [narrows eyes] Does that mean you have no way to refute it?
Motoki: [confidently] Of course I do. It's completely possible that Kawashima-san...she...um... [awkwardly] On second thought, I think I need a second to organize my thoughts. [determined] Once I do that, I'll have a rebuttal for sure!

Really? There is no reasonable counterargument, so I don't know how you could do that.
Hayasaka: [flatly] You can try. [pleadingly] In the meantime, are you reconsidering at all, Wakana-san?
Kawashima: [hides face] .......... [distantly] ...Not really. I don't know why I'd reach out to Bessho-san after what she did to me, but...there's also a lot I don't remember. The reason might be hidden in those lost memories. [sadly] Besides, who else could be the mastermind but me?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] See? She still thinks it makes sense. [miserably] It sucks, but there really is no one else here it could be. Denying it at this point is futile.

Even though there's no evidence against you at all, your insistence that the mastermind is Wakana-san makes me tempted to think you could be the mastermind, Sakiko-san. However, I shouldn't be focusing on that right now. I need to focus on proving Wakana-san innocent before I can start seriously accusing other people.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Photo of Eguchi & Furuhata, Dr. Jayantha Sumanth and his Research, Class Photo, Photo of Carrasco and Silvia, Finances Book, Shinako, Flash Drive Contents

Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks sadly] Kawashima-san is the mastermind. It sucks, but we need to accept it.

Kasparov: [skeptically] I am afraid you have not given us reason enough to fully accept she is the mastermind. [covers hand with mouth] Have you thought of any more evidence that supports the notion she is the mastermind, Motoki-san? Or have you given us all you have to offer?
Kawashima: [reluctantly] There's that book of financial records of the killing game... [regretfully] I understood everything in it, and I highly doubt any of you can say the same. [sadly] So, unfortunately...it's perfectly reasonable to think I was the one writing in that book.
Motoki: [determined] Again, there's also the issue with Shinako. [thoughtfully] Wakana-san had a motive to kill her after she ratted her out to the cops.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] That's true, but Bessho-san did too. [fixes belt] We don't know if the two people who killed Shinako were Kawashima-san and Bessho-san. [frowns] That motive ain't really proof.
Motoki: [awkwardly] Okay, well, that isn't everything. [confidently] Bessho-san being a hostage still makes the most sense if Kawashima-san's the mastermind. [determind] And there's also what Niizuma-san said to her before her execution.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] Niizuma-san merely said Kawashima-san should not be talking about who deserves second chances. [firmly] There is nothing to indicate that she was referring to anything more than the crimes Kawashima-san committed while working under Bessho-san.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] I admit it's fairly circumstantial evidence, but we know Niizuma-san had knowledge about the killing game we didn't, so we can't ignore it.

Sakiko-san's pointing to flimsy evidence now. Is she close to giving up? I hope so...before, I was still considering the possibility that Wakana-san might be the mastermind, but not anymore. I have to prove Sakiko-san wrong and then find the real mastermind!

Answer: Finances Book >
perfectly reasonable

Hayasaka: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

Hayasaka: [seriously] Wakana-san, I have a question for you about that finances book: was the handwriting consistent throughout it?
Kawashima: [monotously] Yes, all of what I saw looked like it was written by the same person...why? Do you want to do a handwriting analysis or something? [distantly] It didn't look like my handwriting, but I haven't written since I've gotten here, so maybe my memory of my handwriting is fake.
Hayasaka: [confidently] I don't think it is, Wakana-san, because you didn't make that book. [looks to the side thoughtfully] If the handwriting is consistent, that means the same person wrote everything in that book. Meaning, the person who wrote the fresh stuff last night was the same person who made the rest of it. [seriously] Do you remember doing that, Wakana-san?
Kawashima: [puzzledly] I should, but I don't.
Hayasaka: [confidently] Exactly. If you're the mastermind and made that book, then you should remember writing in it last night. [looks to the side thoughtfully] Because you don't, that means you never wrote in that book, which means you're not the one keeping track of finances in this place, which means you're not the mastermind.
Kawashima: [hopefully] Wait....could I really... [distantly] No...it has to be me...it can't be anyone else...

Shit, I was close to getting to her there.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Hold on, didn't we talk 'bout how memories could be deleted earlier?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Yes, but the surgery to do that takes weeks. It wouldn't be possible to do in a single night.
Motoki: [grimly] But if it was only one memory that had to be removed, it wouldn't take very long to do, right?

We don't know about that for sure. Besides, there's a bigger issue with the notion that Wakana-san had her memory of writing in the book deleted.
The surgery is very expensive/There is no space to conduct such an operation here/Dr. Sumanth is dead

Answer: Dr. Sumanth is dead

Hayasaka: I understand now!

Hayasaka: [seriously] Dr. Sumanth is dead, Sakiko-san. He was the one who did the memory procedure on us before, and he's gone now. [looks to the side thoughtfully] Something like the memory alteration surgery must take immense skill, so without him, Wakana-san's memory couldn't have been altered.
Motoki: [awkwardly] But...well....maybe... [determined] Maybe it was Monohebi who was writing in the book all along! [thoughtfully] Kawashima-san could've given his AI all the financial information and let him write it down. That way, when she erased her memory and entered the killing game, finances would still be taken care of.
Kawashima: [reluctantly] On top of that...there were others who could do the surgery. [distantly] Dr. Sumanth had two colleagues named Dr. Wen He and Dr. Anton Larsson...one or both of them could be held captive here. [sadly] The hostages tell us the mastermind already has someplace where they can imprison someone without us ever knowing, so it's not impossible.

Shit, just when I thought I was getting through to her...
Kasparov: [skeptically] Why would that truly be necessary, Kawashima-san? [considers carefully] Dr. Sumanth was already kidnapped by the mastermind to perform the majority of the memory procedures. [covers mouth with hand] Why would the mastermind bother kidnapping another doctor when they already had the most competent and experienced one under their control? [analytically] That would merely be a waste of time and resources.
Kawashima: [monotonously] It wouldn't be a waste of resources if Dr. Sumanth was already dead. [reluctantly] With him gone, there'd be no one who could do the memory alteration procedure even if it was needed...which it would be if I'm the mastermind and needed to do something.
Hayasaka: [confidently] Wakana-san, that doesn't make sense. [slightly confused] You're trying to say you didn't know you were the mastermind the whole time yet needed someone to erase your memory in case you had to do some mastermind stuff, which you weren't supposed to remember in the first place... [seriously] I'm sorry, Wakana-san, but that makes no sense at all!
Kawashima: [distantly] Who's to say I wasn't having my memory altered every night? [gulps] I can't trust anything about my memory...
Hayasaka: [pleadingly] Can't you see that's completely illogical? [looks to the side thoughtfully] The memory procedure takes a long time, especially when the alteration of memories is involved. Besides, you'd definitely notice if that happened to you every nigh—
Kawashima: [sadly] I don't care. Hayasaka-san, I'm the mastermind. I don't understand why you're obstinately refusing to accept it. [tears up] I am Grimmla. I took Eguchi-san's plans for a killing game and put them into motion. I killed Shinako. I was the person next to Furuhata-kun in that photo. [gulps] I don't remember any of it, but like I just said, I can't believe my memories.

What was that about sitting next to Furuhata-kun? Is she talking about the...
Class photo/Ripped photo of Eguchi & Furuhata on a park bench/Photo of Furuhata and his younger brother

Answer: Ripped photo of Eguchi & Furuhata on a park bench

Hayasaka: I understand now!

Hayasaka: [slightly confused] Wakana-san, why're you bringing up that photo of Eguchi-san and Furuhata-kun in the Archives Room? [looks to the side thoughtfully] There was no way to tell who was sitting next to him because that part of the photo was ripped away. It could've been anyone. [seriously] It isn't evidence against you.
Kawashima: [monotonously] Whoever was sitting next to Furuhata-kun clearly didn't want us to know who they were. The muscular person—who's probably Sashihara-kun—wasn't completely ripped out on the other side, so it's not an accident we can't see the person next to Furuhata-kun. [distantly] The person sitting there has to be the mastermind or Verlenda, and Bessho-san had no reason to sit next to Furuhata-kun on some random park bench...so it must be the mastermind who's sitting next to him. [sadly] Because I'm the mastermind, it has to be me.

...What? That's not logical at all. She's doing anything to convince herself she's the mastermind...does this mean I'm close to convincing her she's not the mastermind? Or does it mean there's no changing her mind at this point?
Kasparov: [frowns] I am afraid that logic is rather circular, Kawashima-san.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Sergey-kun's right. That didn't make any sense, Wakana-san. [pleadingly] Please, will you just consider that mayb—
Kawashima: [firmly] No. I've put up with this enough. [seriously] You've talked a lot, and even given me brief hope that I'm not the mastermind. [sadly] I want it to be true so badly...I want the mastermind to be anyone else... [hides face] But...I can't let that false hope convince me. I won't be tempted by it any longer. [firmly] I *am* the mastermind, and none of your half-assed counterarguments are going to change my mind. [tears up] Please, vote for me already. I want this to finally be over!

Shit, this is bad.
Wakana-san doesn't care if what I'm saying is right. She's going to ignore it anyway because she's convinced herself any possibility she isn't the mastermind is only false hope...well, Wakana-san, it's not false at all. It'll be hard, but I'll make you realize that! Wakana-san, I'll make you accept that you're not the mastermind!

ARGUMENT ARMAMENT

[Kawashima wears a large apron beneath several layers of chains that bind her whole body except her arms. She sits on a suspicious-looking shipping container surrounded by financial ledgers. Her hands are bound together with handcuffs, yet she manages to balance a large tray piled high with drinks and plates of food in one hand. In the other hand, two of her fingers barely manage to support a heavy briefcase overflowing with dirty ¥10000 bills.]

Kawashima: It's really not crazy to think I'm the mastermind.
Kawashima: I've done so, so much wrong...
Kawashima: The killing game's only lasted this long because I solved every trial...
Kawashima: ...Isn't that what the mastermind would want?
Kawashima: Get this horrible trial over with, please!

[Food tray disappears. Argument Armament music speeds up]

Kawashima: I sent Yamaguchi-kun to get that mixer, leading to Furuhata-kun's death.
Kawashima: I pushed Aozora-kun over the edge and let Carrasco-san kill him.
Kawashima: I let Niizuma-san go to the bathhouse and kill Ichigohara-san.
Kawashima: I didn't intervene when Eguchi-san was put in that cell...
Kawashima: ...after all that, how could you not suspect me?

[Briefcase disappears.
Argument Armament music speeds up even more]

Kawashima: The mastermind can't be any of the people who died...
Kawashima: ...so they must be one of the five of us still here.
Kawashima: Out of all of us here, only I could possibly be the mastermind...
Kawashima: ...You can't deny that, can you?
Kawashima: The proof's in my actions!
Kawashima: Why can't you just vote for me already!?
Kawashima: I'm the goddamn mastermind!!

[Shipping container disappears. Music stops and is replaced by a heartbeat sound effect]

Kawashima: Out of the five of us, it can only be me! There are no other possibilities!

A PARTICIPANT————WAS————THE MASTERMIND—————NEVER

Answer: The mastermind was never a participant

[Kawashima collapses to the ground, covered in scuff marks and with the broken handcuffs hanging from a single arm]

Kawashima: I...

BREAK!

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Hayasaka: [seriously] Wakana-san, you're probably right when you say that if the mastermind is one of the five of us here, it's most likely you. [looks to the side thoughtfully] However, considering how shaky that conclusion seems to be...I think it's high time we start considering that the mastermind may not be someone here right now.

Komatsu: [furrows brow] ...Huh? Are ya sayin' the mastermind's dead? [frowns] I thought we agreed it didn't make sense for any of the dead people to be the mastermind...

Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] I do not believe that is necessarily what Hayasaka-san intended to suggest. [analytically] I believe she meant that the mastermind could very well be someone currently alive outside the killing game.

Hayasaka: [seriously] That's right. [twirls hair pensively] I just came up with this idea, so I don't have much evidence yet, but I think we should at least consider the possibility the mastermind was never a participant of the killing game.

Kawashima: [puzzledly] ...Are you actually serious? [firmly] The mastermind has to be one of us here!

Hayasaka: [seriously] Why?

Motoki: [scoffs] What the hell do you mean "why?" [passionately] That's the conclusion we came to earlier!

Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] If I recall correctly, it was you who came to that conclusion and the rest of us simply did not contradict it. [analytically] I have been thinking for quite a while, Motoki-san, and I have finally come to a conclusion in which I am extremely confident: you are wrong. Kawashima-san is not the mastermind.

Kawashima: [puzzledly] But...who else could it be? If it's some outside person, who?

Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Remind me, why the hell are we suspectin' people outside the killin' game now? [fixes belt] I mean, it makes the most sense for the mastermind to be someone in the killin' game, right?

Kasparov: [considers carefully] Acting as a participant in the killing game would indeed grant the mastermind several advantages they could never hope to have if they simply acted through Monohebi. It would allow them to directly glean intelligence, manipulate certain people, and walk around freely without suspicion. [analytically] However, those advantages only exist if the mastermind was consciously aware of who they were the whole killing game. If the mastermind is Kawashima-san, she clearly was not considering her actions in the last trial.

Motoki: [passionately] But—

Hayasaka: [tersely] If it's about that memory surgery, you can stop right now. [seriously] Even if someone who could do the surgery is here, there's no way Wakana-san's memory could be altered so often and so frequently.

Motoki: [hostilely] That wasn't what I was going to say. [flatly] I was going to ask why you think it makes more sense for the mastermind to be outside the game than in it. [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] I really don't want to believe Kawashima-san's the mastermind, believe it or not...I just don't think any other option is realistic at this point. [rubs shoulder] So, can you really prove the mastermind is someone outside this group here?

Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] I'm pretty sure I can, Sakiko-san. [hopefully] You feel the same, right, Sergey-kun?

Kasparov: [nods] Yes, I have confidence I can do that.

Kawashima: [seriously] You better be right about this... [sadly] If this is all turns out to be false...then I don't know what I'll do...

Hayasaka: [awkwardly] I can't guarantee anything yet, Wakana-san. [reassuringly] However, I promise you I'll try as hard as I possibly can.

I mean that, Wakana-san. I might be wrong...it's definitely possible the mastermind is one of us here. It still might be you. But we need to consider the possibility that the mastermind was never in the killing game. To do that, I need to think about the evidence again and let it guide me to the right answer...

LOGIC DIVE

Q1: Considering the evidence given by Monohebi, who could feasibly be the mastermind?
Grimmla, a member of Kawashima’s family, or a member of Kasparov’s family/Verlenda, Grimmla, or a student/Grimmla, Grimmla’s assistant in the kidnapping, and Verlenda

Q2:
Can we be certain Grimmla and the person they enlisted to help with the kidnapping are both students?
Yes, we know for sure that both are students/No, all we know is that Grimmla was one of the people kidnapped/No, we can only be sure that Grimmla is a student

Q3: Throughout the killing game, what has the mastermind demonstrated that they have which makes them unlikely to be a student?
Large amounts of money/A strong sense of morality/Emotional intelligence

Answers: Grimmla, Grimmla’s assistant in the kidnapping, and Verlenda/No, all we know is that Grimmla was one of the people kidnapped/Large amounts of money

Hayasaka: I understand now!

BREAK!

Hayasaka: [seriously] Okay, I've thought about it, and there are a few things that make sense if the mastermind is some outside person.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Like what?
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] To begin, there's the fact that it isn't confirmed both Grimmla and the person they had help with the kidnapping were students. [confidently] All we know is what the email between Verlenda and Grimmla tells us: that Grimmla was one of the students and staff kidnapped.
Motoki: [doubtfully] Are you saying you think the mastermind is a staff member?
Hayasaka: [seriously] Not necessarily, just that that's possible if Grimmla or the person they had help with the kidnapping is the mastermind. [looks to the side thoughtfully] Also, there's the question of the large amount of money that'd be necessary to renovate this prison and run this killing game. [confidently] Whoever's the mastermind, they have no shortage of money. [twirls hair pensively] The only students here who were wealthy at any point are Sergey-kun, Tomiko-san, and Yoshi-kun. However, Yoshi-kun and Tomiko-san are dead and Sergey-kun's family disowned him, so there's no way any of them paid for the killing game.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] The mastermind doesn't have to be rich...they could have donors. [distantly] Maybe that's why Monohebi's so strict about following the rules...if he doesn't follow them, he loses money from the donors paying for the game.

That's a fair point. It'd make sense if a lot of this killing game was paid for by donors...it explains a lot about Monohebi's actions and his strict adherence to rules. However...
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] I definitely agree that donors could be involved, Wakana-san. Your speculation about that and Monohebi's adherence to rules even makes me think it's likely. [confidently] However, if the mastermind was getting money from other people, I find it very hard to believe they didn't have a substantial amount of money before they got any.
Motoki: [perplexedly] You think they already had a lot of money? Then why would they need any from donors?
Kasparov: [considers carefully] I believe that what Hayasaka-san intends to say is that the mastermind would need a "down payment" of sorts as proof to any potential investors that they were serious about this killing game. [presses finger to temple] I suppose it is akin to how a bank does not loan money to someone if that individual does not show they are capable of paying it back. [covers mouth with hand] If the mastermind had no money upfront, no sane person would donate large sums of money to them. The possibility of it being a scam would be too high, no?
Hayasaka: [seriously] Yeah, that's a good way to articulate what I was getting at.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Are you saying that the mastermind is Bessho-san, then? She must've made a lot of money from that shady business of hers.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] She definitely did make a lot of money, which means it could be her, but we can't be sure.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] But it's likely to be her, ain't it? I mean, it ain't like most of us students had that kinda cash, and I doubt the pay for the staff was super-high either...
Kawashima: [distantly] Now that I think about this more...I don't think that really matters. [thoughtfully] The money used to fund this killing game doesn't have to be from someone's personal fortune. It could also be stolen, donated, or loaned money. [seriously] All we know is that Grimmla had money to offer Bessho-san when they contacted her. We don't know where they got it from.
Komatsu: [grimaces] But the money they offered her was jus' payment for her takin' us to this place, right? Don't that mean it wouldn't go towards the killin' game?
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] If Bessho-san is not the mastermind, then no, we cannot be sure it went to the killing game. [analytically] However, if it is her, then that money certainly would have been utilized to pay for the killing game.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] But if she's the mastermind, that means she's not actually a hostage. [rubs shoulder] If we're gonna suspect her knowing she's a hostage, we have to also suspect Unetani-san and Watai-san.
Kasparov: [nods] I wholeheartedly agree. [considers carefully] Because they were staff members, that means one or both could be Grimmla or the individual who assisted Grimmla.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Hold on...how does either of 'em bein' the mastermind make any sense? They were jus' two random old people!

Not really, Yutaka-kun. Both were really smart and both had ties to at least one of the students here. Besides, there's also the fact that...
Both have memories of the original Tragedy/Both had access to Eguchi when she was first sent to Gomi's school/Both wrote at least one of the profiles

Answer: Both had access to Eguchi when she was first sent to Gomi's school

Hayasaka: I understand now!

Hayasaka: [seriously] Yutaka-kun, in Subject 982's profile Gomi-san stated that only he, Watai-san, and Unetani-san would be allowed to have contact with them until Gomi-san decided it'd be safe to let them out of confinement. In other words, they weren't letting Yuzuki-san out until they thought she had abandoned her plans and improved mentally. [looks to the side thoughtfully] That means Unetani-san and Watai-san would be in a prime spot to learn about Yuzuki-san's killing game plans.
Kasparov: [frowns] I am afraid there is a problem with that assertion. [covers mouth with hand] While it is certainly possible Gomi-san, Watai-san, and Unetani-san learned quite a lot about Eguchi-san's plans while she was isolated, they could not possibly have learned enough to plan this killing game. [analytically] If they did, then there would be no reason for them to interrogate Furuhata-kun in those videos we saw.
Motoki: [awkwardly] Well...they could have learned enough to pique their interest. [thoughtfully] I'm not saying that's what happened, but it's possible, isn't it?
Hayasaka: [nods] It is, Sakiko-san.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Sorry, but there's somethin' I don't get here. [grimaces] If Eguchi-san didn't get let out 'til she got rid of her killin' game plans, how the fuck did Furuhata-kun know all 'bout 'em?
Kawashima: [distantly] I was wondering the same thing...it's strange.
Motoki: [perplexed] Yeah, it doesn't make any sense...maybe Furuhata-kun knew Eguchi-san before we came here? [thoughtfully] It's not exactly likely, but it's possible that the two of them somehow knew each other before this, which is how he found out about her killing game plans. [neutrally] If that's the case, then Eguchi-san may never have been released from isolation.

I guess it's possible she and Yuuto-kun knew each other prior to coming to Gomi-san's school, but she was absolutely released from isolation. We know that because...

Furuhata knew things about her that happened after she came to school/Class Photo/Yamaguchi's diary mentioned Furuhata and Eguchi together

Answer: Class Photo

Hayasaka: I understand now!

Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] That class photo Yutaka-kun found proves Yuzuki-san got let out at some point, Sakiko-san.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Oh yeah, she was with the resta us in that picture...I guess that means Gomi-san musta given her the all-clear to be let out.
Kawashima: [seriously] Not necessarily. It could be photoshop. Even if it wasn't, Eguchi-san could've been taken out for that photo and immediately put back in a restricted place. [distantly] As much as I'd like it to be...that photo alone isn't a guarantee she was cleared to be let out.

I don't think it's particularly
likely
that Yuzuki-san was photoshopped in or that she would be taken out of confinement for a photo, but I don't have any way to disprove what Wakana-san's saying directly. Not with the class photo, at least.
There might be something else that indicates that Yuzuki-san was let out at some point...
Cafeteria Photo/Ripped photo of Eguchi & Furuhata on bench/Watai's Email to Gomi

Answer: Ripped photo of Eguchi & Furuhata on bench

Hayasaka: I understand now!

Hayasaka: [seriously] That picture of Yuzuki-san and Yuuto-kun on the bench also makes it reasonable to assume she was let out at some point.
Motoki: [thoughtfully] But there's still the possibility that Eguchi-san and Furuhata-kun knew each other before coming here. If they did, that photo could be from then.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] If that is so, why would the person sitting next to Furuhata-kun be ripped away? [covers mouth with hand] Clearly, the mastermind did not want us to know who that individual is. [analytically] That implies we would recognize who is sitting next to Furuhata-kun, which is only feasible if that picture was taken while we were at school.
Kawashima: [distantly] ...I guess you're right about that. [seriously] I guess that means that person with the muscular arm and running watch also was at our school...
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] That person's gotta be Sashihara-kun, right?
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] Not necessarily. It could also be Unetani-san. [analytically] As a fitness instructor, it is not at all presumptuous to assume she wore a running watch and was muscular.

Sergey-kun's right, it could be her too. I briefly thought that it could be Eisuke-kun, but he always wore an expensive wristwatch, so I don't think that was him in the photo.
Hayasaka: [thoughtfully] It looks like we can't figure out if that person is Hisaya-kun or Unetani-san from the photo alone. That sucks, but I don't really think it matters.
Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] Hm? Why not?
Hayasaka: [seriously] That photo tells us that Yuzuki-san was released from her isolation, which is way more important than whoever the person with the running watch is. [twirls hair pensively] If she was out, she must've given up on her plans, or at least convinced Gomi-san, Unetani-san, and Watai-san that she had.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] The latter is obviously what happened. [grimly] The killing game wouldn't have happened if she had actually abandoned her plans for one.
Komatsu: [sullenly] Ya don't know that for sure. [fiercely] I'm certain Eguchi-san really did give up on her plans!
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] What makes you certain?
Komatsu: [fixes belt] A whole buncha things. Lemme explain 'em all, and I bet yer gonna believe me!

Yutaka-kun seems pretty confident right now. I'm open to the idea he's
suggesting...hell, I want it to be true. Even so, I can't let it stand if I think of evidence that contradicts it.

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Cafeteria Photo, Subject #982's Profile, Staff Photo, Subject #974's Profile, Furuhata Videos, Bodies in Morgue, Flash Drive Contents

Komatsu: [sullenly] Listen, I know yer all gonna think I'm only sayin' this 'cause I was close to Eguchi-san... [fiercely] But I promise I ain't doin' this 'cause I liked her! I'm doin' this 'cause I know for sure Eguchi-san gave up on her killin' game plans!
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] And why are you so sure?
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] If Eguchi-san got out of isolation but still wanted to do a killin' game, that means she musta tricked Gomi-san, Unetani-san, and Watai-san. [fixes belt] But those three musta been real good at spottin' lies after dealin' with damaged kids all the fuckin' time, so I don't believe she could trick 'em.
Komatsu: [frowns] She coulda fooled one of 'em, or maybe two...but definitely not all three. [rubs back of neck] Especially not that Watai dude. He was the Ultimate Psychologist before, after all!
Kasparov: [considers carefully] That is a very sensible point. After only a brief period of Watai-san knowing me, he could always detect my lies.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Ha, I knew it! Eguchi-san definitely wouldn't get away with lyin' to him!
Motoki: [perplexed] I still don't understand what you're getting at. How would this killing game have even happened if Eguchi-san didn't change her mind?
Komatsu: [frowns]
I think either Gomi-san, Unetani-san, or Watai-san stole her killin' game plans. [rubs back of neck] They had her in isolation, so they could learn a lot 'bout her plans with no one else knowin'. [fixes belt] They obviously didn't learn everythin', 'cause if they did they wouldn't've needed to torture Furuhata-kun, but still.
Kawashima: [seriously] That's not impossible, but there's a way more likely scenario. [slightly challenging] What if Eguchi-san genuinely did abandon her plans for a killing game, but later changed her mind after leaving isolation? [firmly] You can't deny that that's possible too.
Komatsu: [angrily] Don't say that like it's fact! [sullenly] The school was a super-protected environment, so the chances of Eguchi-san runnin' into somethin' that'd make her wanna do a killin' game after leavin' isolation are practically zero.
[fiercely] That's why one of those three staff members have gotta be the mastermind!

I understand the point Yutaka-kun's making, and definitely see where he's coming from. I'm pretty close to being convinced, but something feels a little off...there's either something missing from his theory or something
wrong with it outright. Ugh, how does Wakana-san always figure out these things? It's so hard!

Answer: Furuhata Videos > know for sure

Hayasaka: You've got that wrong!

BREAK!

Hayasaka: [seriously] Yutaka-kun, you can't know for sure that Yuzuki-san gave up on her killing game plans. Otherwise, the mastermind interrogating Yuuto-kun doesn't make sense.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Huh? Why the hell not?
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] We were kidnapped over a year and a half after entering school, so even if Yuuto-kun knew about Yuzuki-san's plans before coming to school—which is already doubtful—it's very unlikely he'd remember them in detail after that long.
Kawashima: [distantly] Oh. I get what you're saying. [thoughtfully] Because Furuhata-kun knew her plans well enough that the mastermind knew they'd gain a lot from interrogating him, then he must've learned them relatively soon before his interrogation. [seriously] That is, he must've learned Eguchi-san's plans after she left isolation...meaning that she was planning to go through with them again.
Hayasaka: [nods] Yeah, that's what I was thinking.

She said it a lot better than I ever could have. It's good to see her offering her input again...she seems to slowly be coming around to the idea that she isn't the mastermind.
Komatsu: [stares at floor] Fuck...I really thought she wouldn't wanna do it again... [miserably] Why would she...? It jus' doesn't make sense...how could I be so wrong...
Motoki: [determined] I don't think you were completely wrong, Komatsu-kun.
Kasparov: [arches eyebrow] Why not?
Motoki: [thoughtfully] I don't agree with his idea that one of the staff members was trying to copy her plans, but he's completely right that it doesn't make sense for
Eguchi-san to change her mind after leaving isolation.
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] Perhaps for any other person, but Eguchi-san demonstrated herself to be rather volatile. We saw for ourselves how she changed after the third trial. [frowns] Now, that was in great part due to the actions of Domoto-san and myself...but even so, her personality undeniably became much more unstable.

It sucks, but that is true.
Kawashima: [distantly] ...Oh. I get what Gomi-san meant now...

What?
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] What are you talking about, Wakana-san?
Kawashima: [seriously] In Subject 982's profile, Gomi-san mentioned that he'd contacted Dr. Sumanth and his colleagues and asked them to perform an experimental surgery unrelated to memory alteration if his rehabilitation attempts failed.
Motoki: [perplexed] Are you saying Gomi-san had them do that experimental procedure on Eguchi-san?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Maybe...I don't know, honestly. But if it's what I think it is, it could be that.

What does Wakana-san think it is? She seems like she has an idea, but isn't certain enough to outright say what it is. Hm...I wonder if I'll come to the same conclusion as her if I think about it a
little
harder. Maybe then she'll say what she's thinking.

HANGMAN'S GAMBIT

Question: What is the experimental procedure unrelated to memory alteration that Gomi mentioned?

YPROSLIANET TORAITLNAE

Answer: Personality Alteration

Hayasaka: I solved it!

BREAK!

Hayasaka: [confidently] Wakana-san, were you thinking that the experimental procedure had something to do with personality alteration?
Kawashima: [distantly] ...Something like that. [thoughtfully] It'd explain why she seemed so different when we met her, and why she seemed to change after getting her memories back. [seriously] It would also make her easier for the mastermind to deal with...make her timid and unconfident so she'd be less likely to interfere with the killing game. It could also explain why the Furuhata-kun in the videos is different from the one we saw in the killing game.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Hold on...are ya fuckin' sayin' that the Eguchi-san and Furuhata-kun we knew weren't their real selves? [angrily] I really hope I'm misunderstandin', 'cause that's bullshit!
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] I want to agree with you, Yutaka-kun, I really do.
[twirls hair pensively]
But with the video that Wakana-san saw of Yuzuki-san acting weirdly, the Subject 982 Profile, and Yuuto-kun's description of her, it unfortunately
isn't unreasonable to think that maybe her personality was artificially changed. [looks to the side thoughtfully] The same goes for Yuuto-kun. The way he acted in those videos was way different from how he was when we knew him.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] I believe it to be unreasonable, personally. [analytically] The personality of an individual is a very delicate thing and I find it very difficult to believe it can be changed to be in line with the desires of the surgeon.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I'm sure the memory alteration procedure would've also sounded ridiculous and impossible to any of us if we didn't have solid proof that it'd been performed on us. [seriously] Besides...one time when I was in the Library with Oyamada-kun, I remember reading about some American rail worker who had his personality changed after an accident drove something through his brain.
Motoki: [perplexedly] ...Are you sure that really happened, Kawashima-san? It could be from a novel or a folk tale.
Monohebi: [slightly irritated] It is no folk tale. [neutral] Kawashima is referring to the well-known case study of Phineas Gage.
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] ...I believe I recognize that name. [curiously] Kawashima-san, in that book you were reading, do you remember what the personality change was? [presses finger to temple] If I remember correctly, Gage went from being industrious and responsible to irritable and impetuous.
Kawashima: [nods] ...That sounds about right. [seriously] If that happened to Gage and was an accident, that at least establishes that personality change is possible. [distantly] I have no idea how it'd be done...but given that Dr. Sumanth and his partners were successful with the memory surgery, it's not crazy to think that their personality alteration surgery was successful too.
Komatsu: [sullenly] Okay, so it's possible Sumanth and his coworkers messed with Eguchi-san's personality. We get it. [frowns] I don't think that happened, but even if it did, why does it matter? It doesn't help us find out who the mastermind is.
Motoki: [distantly] He's right...this doesn't help us much at all...we're not going anywhere... [miserably] I can't do this for much longer...Hayasaka-san, Kasparov-kun, if you can find out who the mastermind is if it isn't Kawashima-san, can you please do it soon? [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] Please don't prolong this trial if we're going to reach the same horrible conclusion anyway...I don't think I could handle that...
Kasparov: [firmly] I am afraid we cannot afford to rush, Motoki-san. If we get this wrong, we will all die.

He's right, but I don't disagree with Sakiko-san. We've talked a lot, but we're still no closer to finding out who the mastermind is if it's not Wakana-san. I'm half-tempted to ask Wakana-san what she thinks we should do next, but she hasn't been in the best state of mind recently. I guess I'll have to do this without her for now.
Hayasaka: [seriously] Sakiko-san, I don't want this to go on longer than it has to either. So, I'm gonna summarize what we've learned so far and see if that helps.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Alright...
Hayasaka: [seriously] Okay, so we know that Yuzuki-san is Subject 982 and that she was brought to Gomi-san's school. When she was there, she was kept in isolation and only Gomi-san, Unetani-san, and Watai-san were permitted to be with her. [looks to the side thoughtfully] Eventually, she was released and became close with Yuuto-kun, who she told about her plans in detail. For some reason, she decided to pursue those plans again.

Should I bring up the possibility that maybe she never gave up her plans and only said so to get released?
I know Sergey-kun thinks Watai-san or the others would've noticed her lying, but I can't be certain. Yuzuki-san could've been a really good liar. But I guess that's not something we've decided on, so I should leave it out.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] To put her plans for the killing game in motion, Yuzuki-san conspired with someone else. [seriously] However, this person betrayed her, which we know because Yuzuki-san said she "trusted the wrong person" in that video Wakana-san saw. We also know the mastermind interrogated Yuuto-kun to get information about Yuzuki-san's killing game plans.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] 'Bout that...why did Eguchi-san tell Furuhata-kun about her plans in the first place if he wasn't gonna help out? [frowns] 'Less I'm missin' somethin', he wasn't involved except for the interrogation, right?
Motoki: [thoughtfully] Maybe he was going to help out originally, but then got cold feet. [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] I don't think there's a way to know...
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] Motoki-san is correct. Eguchi-san might have originally intended for Furuhata-kun to have a greater role which he later backed out of. [considers carefully] It is also possible she simply told him her plans to have a second opinion. [covers mouth with hand] As Motoki-san said, there is no way to know for sure. So, it is best not to dwell on it.

That's right. There's no sense on thinking about that too much when we have no way to answer it.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Back to the summary, I think the most important part's that Yuzuki-san trusted "the wrong person." That means she's either Grimmla or the person who helped them. [twirls hair pensively] Personally, I think she's Grimmla and the person who betrayed her is the one who helped out Grimmla.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] ...No. She isn't...it's the other way around.
Kasparov: [curiously] What led you to that conclusion?
Kawashima: [seriously] ...In the email between Grimmla and Verlenda, Grimmla hadn't found a person to help them out yet.
Bessho-san also mentioned "payment details" that Grimmla had previously sent. Basically, that means Grimmla had already promised her a certain amount of money. [thoughtfully] It sounded like a lot of money, and I don't think Eguchi-san would have been able to provide a large amount given her situation.

It feels so good to hear her theorizing again. I think she slowly might be returning to normal...
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Hold on, I'm confused. If yer right, then Grimmla ain't Eguchi-san and they weren't plannin' on workin' with her when they sent their first email to Verlenda. [frowns] But if that's true, why the hell would they be plannin' a killin' game at all? Why would they reach out to Bessho-san if they weren't already plannin' on workin' with Eguchi-san?
Motoki: [grimly] Maybe they were already planning on working with her and simply didn't mention it previous email...but that's a big thing to leave out.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] We know the mastermind interrogated Furuhata-kun about her plans. Perhaps their original intent was to work alone and to extract the information about the killing game from him and Eguchi-san. [firmly] The might have only included Eguchi-san as a necessity.
Komatsu: [fixes belt] So yer sayin' the mastermind's gotta be Unetani-san or Watai-san? They're the only ones besides Furuhata-kun we can be certain knew 'bout her plans.
Hayasaka: [seriously] Not necessarily. Yuzuki-san being sent to the school for planning a killing game is definitely something I can imagine leaking to the rest of us students. [twirls hair pensively] And even if it didn't, anyone could've eavesdropped on Yuuto-kun and Yuzuki-san talking.
Kawashima: [distantly] You're right...we can't rule out the possibility that the mastermind's a student...

Shit, maybe I shouldn't have said anything.

Hayasaka: [hesitantly] Hey, Wakana-san...are you at least a little more open to the idea you're not the mastermind now?

I'll probably regret answering this question, but I couldn't help it. I need to know what she's thinking...
Kawashima: [sadly] Honestly? Not that much. [seriously] I'm not absolutely convinced it's me anymore, but I can't ignore there's still a large possibility that I am. [distantly] It's really tempting to think I'm not the mastermind...I really don't want it to be me...but I can't allow myself to rush. I'll still need a lot more to convince me.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] Same...I was really stubborn about Kawashima-san being the mastermind before. I've warmed up a little to the notion it's not her, but I couldn't bear it if it ended up being her anyway. [miserably] I couldn't take any more wasted hope like that...

Not as far along as I'd hoped they'd be, but it's progress.
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] To return to the point Kawashima-san previously made regarding the money Grimmla promised Bessho-san... [presses finger to temple] As Kawashima-san stated, Eguchi-san did not have access to a large amount of money she could give to Bessho-san.
[analytically] I have seen no indication her family was wealthy, and even if they were, she would not be allowed to access their money.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] Additionally, Eguchi-san was not involved in a criminal scheme from which she could acquire the necessary funds like Kawashima-san or even Terajima-kun were. [firmly] All that to say, I concur with Kawashima-san. Eguchi-san is not Grimmla. The email from Verlenda does not make much sense if she is.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Okay, so if Eguchi-san is the person who helped out Grimmla, does that mean Grimmla is definitely the mastermind? [fixes belt] Or could it also be Bessho-san?
Kawashima: [distantly] ...It could be her, but...it doesn't seem likely to me. [seriously] We
know Grimmla was the one who reached out to her, and her only confirmed involvement is arranging us and the hostages being smuggled to this place.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] But the mastermind's gettin' a buncha viewers, right? That's gotta be good for money, so I'm sure Bessho-san'd be right on top of that.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Yeah, but she wouldn't know that beforehand. There are a million things that could've gone wrong. [twirls hair pensively] The killing game was clearly expensive and it'd be an immensely risky gamble. I didn't know Bessho-san, but it sounds like she was a ruthless criminal whose main priority was making money.
Kawashima: [firmly] That's right. [disdainfully] She presented a kind front, but that old bitch cared about money above all else...I realized that when I worked under her, and it should've been my first sign to run away. [seriously] The spectacle and wasted money of this killing game isn't her at all. This place is full of luxurious facilities and innovative technology, most of which aren't necessary. If Bessho-san was running things, we'd be living more frugal lives.

Motoki: [rubs shoulder] So if the mastermind isn't her, then it must be Grimmla. [grimly] In other words, they're a student besides Furuhata-kun and Eguchi-san or a staff member besides Gomi-san.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] Indeed. They also are someone who would have had the funds to deliver Bessho-san's payment to her, using either their own money or stolen money.
Kawashima: [distantly] ...About that...there is the money I made from Bessho-san's scheme.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] Oh, fuck...I nearly forgot about that...
Hayasaka: [reassuringly] I don't think you have to worry about that, Wakana-san. [looks to the side thoughtfully] That money was probably confiscated when you were arrested and I'm sure you were under close watch at school, so it'd be hard for you to steal money.
Kawashima: [sadly] But we don't know that for sure...besides, it's possible I stole the necessary money regardless of me being watched... [hides face] Fuck...
Motoki: [miserably] ..........

Shit. It's definitely possible Wakana-san was able to get that money to pay Bessho-san. In fact, out of the students, she'd have the easiest time doing it given her experience in working with Bessho-san.

I've been so certain it isn't her, but...is it possible that's denial? Maybe I'm desperate to believe in Wakana-san. Maybe I'm stubbornly refusing to see the truth that this girl I really respect and care for is responsible for all my misery these past few weeks.

Or maybe I'm right and it really isn’t her. But even if it isn't, the bodies of the dead students are all accounted for. So, if the mastermind isn’t Wakana-san, it still has to be someone alive.
But who?

My eyes slide over to Komatsu first. What if it's Yutaka-kun? I haven't even considered him given my stupid lingering feelings and his seeming lack of cunning. But just because he appears that way doesn't mean he's not hiding an evil genius beneath it. If I were an evil, scheming person and wanted to hide that, I think the best cover I could pick would be to act like someone who seems impulsive and who confesses to a lie under the slightest pressure.

It's possible, but...I can't see it. I've seen how Yutaka-kun reacted to that motive video of his little brother. I've seen how crushed he was over what happened to Yuzuki-san. I guess he could secretly be a cruel, crafty person, but I've seen his genuine, vulnerable side too many times to believe he could pull off such an elaborate act. It's not him.

I shift my focus to Kasparov next. Sergey-kun absolutely has the intelligence necessary to plan this killing game. He's really, really smart and has been pretty cold and detached sometimes. But, if he is the mastermind, it'd make no sense for him to be involved with that extravagant plan to corner the mastermind that he, Otoha-san, and Hisaya-kun came up with. It's not him either.

Motoki is my next focus. Then there's
Sakiko-san.
Honestly, I don't really like her. Combining that with her stubborn insistence that Wakana-san's the mastermind, I'm tempted to suspect her. She claims that she's pushing Wakana-san as the mastermind because she doesn't want to be let down by false hope. That could be true, but it could easily be a lie.

However, Sakiko-san is obviously not mentally stable. I
doubt she'd be able to meticulously plan a killing game if the way she's presented herself here is true. But the problem is that could be an act. She could be faking all her mental problems. But the scars on her arms are proof that her abuse was real, so that makes it unlikely her mental problems are being faked.

So...who is it? Who could possibl—
Kawashima: [puzzledly] Wait...

Huh?

Hayasaka: [slightly confused] What is it, Wakana-san?
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] I was thinking about Monohebi and the way he talks and acts...and also the evidence we found for this investigation. All that made another suspect besides me pop into my head. [distantly] I'm probably wrong...it's probably another desperate hope that I'm not the mastermind...but if I'm right...then...
Motoki: [surprised] ...Are...Are you serious? [reluctantly] Kawashima-san...this isn't a joke, right? [closes eyes to prevent tears] If it is real, please tell us what your idea is. I want it to be someone else so bad...
Kawashima: [sadly] It might not even be worth it...it's just a random, circumstantial observation...
Kasparov: [firmly] You should still tell us, Kawashima-san. [covers mouth with hand] As you know, I have had suspicions about a certain individual who is not you.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] This gotta do with that theory ya've told us 'bout before?
Kasparov: [nods] Precisely. [presses finger to temple] I have been quite reluctant to share it for...various reasons, but my confidence in it has grown more and more as this trial has continued. I was going to mention it soon anyway as I believe now that it is true. [analytically] Kawashima-san, I believe you might have the same person in mind.
Kawashima: [puzzledly] It might be...I don't know. Why do you think that?
Kasparov: [considers carefully] You said the way Monohebi speaks and acts is a reason this new suspect came to you. [presses finger to temple] Interestingly enough, the disposition and speech of Monohebi are reasons why I suspect who I do.
Motoki: [perplexedly] I don't get it...why aren't you saying who you suspect?
Kawashima: [distantly] I'm not sure about Kasparov-kun, but I don't want to say anything in case it ends up being wrong.
Kasparov: [analytically] That is also my reason. [firmly] But we have delayed enough. Kawashima-san, tell me your suspect, and then I will reveal mine.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] .......... [curiously] ...What do you think, Hayasaka-san?
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] ...Huh? Why're you asking me?
Kawashima: [distantly] Because I want to know what you think. [seriously] When I was ready to vote for myself and face execution, you helped me come back and see that there was a possibility, however faint, that I'm not the mastermind. [sadly] That might end up all being in vain, but...I want to know what you think. [thoughtfully] If you can think of the same person as me or the same one as Kasparov-kun, or the same as both of us...then I might start to seriously consider another suspect.
Hayasaka: [awkwardly] Uh...yeah, sure. Just give me a minute.

Holy shit, this is a ton of pressure. How can she expect me to figure this out? I'm not smart enough to do this.

I can feel everyone's eyes on me, but I can't return their gazes. Instead, I grip my podium and stare at it intently, as if I'll see the answers in the varnished wood surface. How am I supposed to do this?
How can Wakana-san and Sergey-kun both have an idea of who the mastermind is? My mind keeps drawing a blank. Fuck, I can't do this. I'm not gonna be able to figure this out. I'm gonna let everyone down and then they're gonna think I'm stupid and I'll be embarrassed and they won't like me and—

I force myself to exhale. No, none of that.
I need to calm down and focus.

Alright. Am I calm now? Not really, but it'll have to do. Okay.

So Sergey-kun and Wakana-san both got their ideas from thinking about how Monohebi talks. He speaks in a condescending, haughty tone most of the time. He never uses honorifics with us, but otherwise, he's very formal and old-fashioned. He always speaks with rigidly correct grammar. I don't really see how that connects to anything, though. Why would Wakana-san and Sergey-kun—

Hold on a minute. Sergey-kun kinda talks like that too...while he definitely is very sure of himself at times, he's not perpetually arrogant like Monohebi. Other than that, he has a similar way of speaking that's also pretty unnaturally formal and old-fashioned too. But Sergey-kun can't be suspecting himself, can he? His plan with Otoha-san and Hisaya-kun wouldn't make sense at all if he were the mastermind. So who the hell could he be thinking of? And is Wakana-san thinking of the same person?

I don't understand how any of this is supposed to be helpful. It could be a coincidence. Sergey-kun is a second-language speaker, so of course he wouldn't sound like the rest of us native speakers. As for Monohebi, maybe the person who controls him is a second-language speaker too...wait, no. The mastermind must be Grimmla, and they must be one of the students or staff, and out of them, only Sergey-kun is a non-native speaker of Japanese. So why would he speak like Monohebi? I feel like the answer is glaringly obvious, but I can't see it yet...

I look over at Sergey-kun to find him staring right back at me. He's trying to keep a stoic front, but I see something else in his eyes. He looks sad, but that's not all. There's something else there. Is he disappointed? No, that's not right. Not disappointed...betrayed.
Then it hits me. Sergey-kun is a non-native speaker and whoever controls Monohebi isn't. Yet, they speak the same way. Sergey-kun also looks betrayed right now. Does that mean...?
Hayasaka: [shocked] ...Oh. OH.
Kasparov: [softly] I take it you have come to a conclusion.
Hayasaka: [hesitantly] Uh, yeah. You, uh. You could say that.
Motoki: [nervously] What is it? Who are you thinking of?

I can't even process this. It feels ludicrous, and yet it makes so much sense at the same time.
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Monohebi and Sergey-kun talk more or less the same way. Sergey-kun is a non-native speaker of Japanese, and out of all the possible candidates for the mastermind, he's the only one who doesn't speak it as a first language. [looks to the side thoughtfully] So, I think the reason why he speaks similarly to Monohebi is...well, I think that's because Sergey-kun learned Japanese from the person who controls Monohebi.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Wait, are ya sayin'...
Hayasaka: [seriously] Yes. I think the mastermind is Umeji Watai, Sergey-kun's chess mentor.

For a long moment, no one says anything. I really hope that's what Sergey-kun and Wakana-san were thinking. It'd be really embarrassing if not.
Kasparov: [sadly] It is truly bizarre to hear it spoken aloud. [covers eyes] It both relieves and saddens me to hear my ideas come from the mouth of another person... [frowns] However, that is beside the point. Kawashima-san, is Watai-san your suspect as well?
Kawashima: [shocked] .......... [hopefully] ...He...He is. [in disbelief] Holy shit...was I right? Is it really not me?
Motoki: [surprised] Wait...this...this makes sense... [crying tears of joy] Wakana-san, there's a chance it isn't you! You really might be innocent!
Kawashima: [hopefully] Yeah...maybe...
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Uh...not to rain on anyone's parade, but I'm kinda lost here. [fixes belt] I ain't sayin' this Watai dude's innocent, but...Monohebi and Kasparov-kun talkin' the same way ain't really grounds to accuse him. [grimaces] Please tell me ya got more...I'd much rather it be him than one of us.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] I'm sure Sergey-kun has a lot of reasons for suspecting him, Yutaka-kun.

I hope he does, at least. At the moment, I can't really think of much besides Monohebi and Sergey-kun talking in a similar same way, so it'd be awkward if I got put on the spot.
Kasparov: [sadly] ...Indeed I do. [covers mouth with hand] Kawashima-san, you might be surprised to learn that you are the reason why I initially suspected Watai-san.
Kawashima: [puzzled] Really?
Kasparov: [nods] Yes. [presses finger to temple] Four days ago, when you and I were talking in the Library, you told me "Monohebi loves his psychological tricks." It was nothing but a passing remark, but it got me thinking: Monohebi does have a certain aptitude for psychological manipulation. [analytically] Additionally, I recall Watai-san having a habit of only referring to mental illnesses by their full technical names, which we see with Monohebi. He also referred to the phobia of Oyamada-kun as "Specific Phobia Disorder" and the addiction Sashihara-kun suffered as a case of "Substance Use Disorder." [considers carefully] The recent mention Monohebi made of the Phineas Gage psychological case study also makes him more suspicious in my eyes.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] On the topic of Oyamada-kun...on the day after the third trial, Monohebi recommended Oyamada-kun a treatment plan for his phobia. I'm no expert, It sounded pretty legit to me. It didn't seem like he was just toying with Oyamada-kun.
Motoki: [surprised] Wait a minute...Monohebi kinda did a similar thing for me the night after the first trial.
Kawashima: [curiously] Really? What happened?
Motoki: [awkwardly] Well, uh...as you know, I was the first one to discover Furuhata-kun's body and Yamaguchi-kun's execution really shook me. So when I got back to my room that night, I had...well, I had what I guess you'd call a minor panic attack. [grimly] I was hyperventilating, shaking, and nauseous...it was really, really bad. I couldn't get off the floor for a while. [shamefully] When I was in the middle of it, Monohebi showed up in my room. I nearly had a heart attack from how suddenly he showed up...
Hayasaka: [softly] What'd he say to you?
Motoki: [grimly] At first, he told me to calm down and stop being dramatic. He teased me about how I wouldn't last long in the killing game if I broke so soon. [awkwardly] But when I didn't get up for a while, he asked me what I was doing. I told him I'd stay there forever and that I'd never leave the room again. [rubs shoulder] That changed his demeanor. He told me he wouldn't allow me to die so soon after the first trial because it'd be too fast.
Motoki: [neutrally] After that, he immediately started walking me through breathing and grounding exercises until the panic attack ended. [perplexed] It was so strange. He was so calm and methodical about it...like he had done it a million times before. [neutrally] Anyway, he told me to do those breathing exercises every day and to avoid coffee, alcohol, and over-breathing. Then he left, and he never addressed it or offered to help me again.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Why the hell did ya never tell us 'bout this? Monohebi acted like a trained therapist and ya never thought to tell even one of us!?
Motoki: [hostilely] Of course I thought it was weird! I just chalked it up to Monohebi being smart. I never would've imagined he was a psychiatrist or whatever Watai-san is. [grimly] And I did tell someone. I told Carrasco-san all about it the day after it happened when we were exploring the Auditorium. She didn't think much of it. She advised that I put it behind me and to be thankful Monohebi told me something useful. [awkwardly] After that, I took her advice and eventually stopped questioning it.

I'd be surprised that Monohebi did something actually helpful for her, but it clearly had nothing to do with kindness. He only wanted to prevent another death too soon. However, something about what she said seems odd.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] Sakiko-san, there is something I don't understand about what you told us. [twirls hair pensively] If Monohebi went to you to try and stabilize you so that you didn't get yourself killed too soon after the first trial, why didn't he step in to do more for Michio-kun?
Motoki: [hostilely] Are you saying I'm lying!?
Hayasaka: [seriously] No, of course not. [looks to the side thoughtfully] I just think it's weird he'd help you out and not Michio-kun.
Monohebi: [neutral] I think I could answer your question.

Oh, he's interjecting himself at now of all times?
Hayasaka: [coldly] We don't need your help, Monohebi.
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] Hey, are ya Watai-san or not? I gotta know if I should be prepared to kick some elderly ass!
Monohebi: [presses tail against mouth and narrows eyes] I will not even acknowledge such a ridiculous question. And I will answer whether you want me to or not, Hayasaka. [neutral] I should let you all know that what Motoki said is entirely true and that I did, in fact, pay Aozora a very similar visit. Unfortunately, he wholly rebuffed me.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] Why? Does influencing so directly not violate the "integrity" of the killing game you care so much about?
Monohebi: [neutral] Not at all. [smiles slightly] In my dealings with Motoki and Aozora, I merely imparted sage advice, which is not at all forbidden. [smirks] I did not want my dear inmates to succumb to despair too early in the game, and certainly not immediately after the first trial. That would be fast, much too fast. [presses tail against mouth and frowns] Of course, I did not care when you brats grew unstable later on in the killing game, as that is to be expected.
Kawashima: [disdainfully] What you're saying about Aozora-kun...there's no way that's true. [sadly] He was really distant from the rest of us after the first trial, but...he still would've told someone if you visited him like that.
Monohebi: [chuckles] Sususu...by "someone" do you mean "me?" You think too highly of yourself, Kawashima. [smirks] You did not know Aozora as well as you thought you did.
Komatsu: [suspiciously] Ya sayin' that ya knew him better?
Monohebi: [slightly irritated] When did I say that? Do not put words in my mouth, brat. [neutral] But I suppose you all should know that I wanted very badly for him to live. He was a very intelligent young man who would have been very helpful in solving trials and thus prolonging the killing game. If he had somehow found the spine to kill, I know he would have pulled off a spectacular murder. [smiles slightly] It was quite a shame he left us so early...but alas. I could not help him without interfering directly, which, of course, I would never do.

Why is Monohebi openly admitting to helping Sakiko-san and Michio-kun? If he really is Watai-san, it doesn't make him look any better. He could be silent right now and none of us would think it was especially weird. I don't trust him talking to us like this...he's probably trying to muddy the waters and subtly stir the conversation in the direction he wants it to go.
Hayasaka: [tersely] Monohebi?
Monohebi: [neutral] Yes, Hayasaka?
Hayasaka: [glares at Monohebi] Shut the fuck up. I don't know what you're trying to do by "helping" us like this, but I know you can't be trusted. So shut up and let us solve this by ourselves.
Monohebi: [displeased] I would scold you for rudeness, but some never learn. [menacingly] Very well. But be warned that I will no longer assist you in any way.
Hayasaka: [coldly] Don't worry, we won't miss it. [seriously] So, we're all in agreement that Watai-san is a likely candidate for the mastermind, right?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] I can't believe I'm saying this, but...it definitely seems like a possibility. [grimly] However, I might only feel that way because I'm desperate for the mastermind to not be Kawashima-san. We don't have any solid proof against Watai-san yet.
Kawashima: [seriously] She's right. We can't be certain it's him. [distantly] It's possible, yeah...but we haven't proven it yet. Not even close.
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] I feel the same. I mean, how do ya explain Watai-san bein' a hostage if he's the mastermind? I thought we said that didn't make sense.
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] Allow me to explain the hostage situation, as I have given it much thought. [analytically] In the email to Grimmla, Bessho-san stated that she would have to order the kidnapping of at least fourteen people from across Japan. [presses finger to temple] Why fourteen and not sixteen? It is because Watai-san and Bessho-san obviously would have no need of kidnapping themselves.
Kawashima: [seriously] ...You didn't answer his question, Kasparov-kun. You're not addressing the full scope of the situation. [thoughtfully] Bessho-san being a hostage can be explained by Watai-san betraying her. But he himself masquerading as one could quickly become an issue. What would he do if he had to execute himself?
Kasparov: [considers carefully] He simply would not have to.

Huh?
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] What do you mean, Sergey-kun? Of course he'd have to execute himself if things got to that point. [twirls hair pensively] If he didn't, it'd look really suspicious.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] Indeed, if things got to that point. But I believe Watai-san could be fairly certain things would never come to that. It was a bluff, you could say.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Really? How?
Kasparov: [analytically] The only time Watai-san had to worry about the issue of executing himself was the fifth motive. Recall that he did not present this motive to us until the night before our escape plan. [covers mouth with hand] Also recall a speculation Kawashima-san made when she gave an explanation of the last case—she speculated that Domoto-san, Sashihara-kun, and I had some idea for our plan already and had molded the discussion of what to do for the escape in our favor. [presses finger to temple] This is partially correct. The night prior, we went over a few facets of our plan that we thought must be implemented no matter what, one of which was that the power would have to be turned off.
Motoki: [perplexedly] I'm sorry, what're you getting at?
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] Through the cameras, Monohebi saw us go to the Boiler Room to inspect the power supply and how to turn it on or off. It would not be a difficult task for him to surmise our plan involved shutting off the power. [analytically] That was the night before he offered us the motive, so when he offered us that motive, he knew that Domoto-san, Sashihara-kun, and I planned to turn off the power at some point, which would render him unable to broadcast the executions even if he wanted to.

I feel like he's not seeing the real picture here. Monohebi wasn't kidding around with those executions.
Hayasaka: [tersely] But he did execute Sato-san. That wasn't a bluff!
Kasparov: [considers carefully] Obviously not. I am certain he would have had no trouble executing everyone but himself, even Bessho-san.
Kawashima: [seriously] You still haven't answered what he'd do if he got through the rest of the hostages and had to execute himself. [sadly] Sorry, but we can't move forward with this if you can't answer that.
Kasparov: [analytically] Monohebi stated that he would execute one hostage every fifteen minutes if we tried to escape or if it reached 12 PM and no one had killed. [presses finger to temple] It would take him at least 105 minutes, or an hour and forty-minutes, to get to the last hostage. Watai-san made the bet we would not get there. [considers carefully] It was something of a gamble, for certain, but not at all an unreasonable one. Even if you disregard the plan Domoto-san, Sashihara-kun, and I created—of
which Monohebi was aware even though he did not know the finer details—it would not be ridiculous to assume someone would kill.
Komatsu: [frowns] Ya can't be certain of that.
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] .......... [gently] Komatsu-kun, I know this question is a difficult one, but I want you to answer honestly. [softly] When you saw Sato-san get torn to shreds, did the thought of murder to protect your brother not once cross your mind? [sadly] Say Motoki-san and I were unable to turn off the power. Do you really think you would have been able to stand there to watch as he was viciously ripped apart?
Komatsu: [angrily] What the fuck...why would ya even... [grips jacket tightly and stares at floor] .......... [stares at floor] ...I thought of it, yeah. But I wasn't gonna do it! [grimaces] At least, I really didn't wanna. But I can't really answer what I would've done if things came to that...I don't know if I woulda had the strength to not kill.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] ...Honestly, same here. Before we got the power off, I was worried things weren't going to work out. I was really scared of seeing my mom die horribly like Sato-san, and the thought of doing something horrible...it did cross my mind. [miserably] I hate myself for even feeling that temptation...
Kasparov: [softly] What matters is that you did not kill. Besides, we all were in a horrible predicament that Watai-san forced us into. In the end, the fault lies with him. [firmly] But I believe my point has been proven. Watai-san could reliably assume that he would never be forced to execute himself.
Kawashima: [distantly] You're speaking with certainty... [thoughtfully] Are you dead-set on Watai-san being the mastermind now?
Kasparov: [firmly] I would not be saying all this if I were not. I have debated this with myself for days. I have no more doubts. [covers mouth with hand] Do you all see my reasoning? Watai-san was the Ultimate Psychologist at the original Hope's Peak and he was our personal one for at least a year and a half. He knows us, perhaps even better than we do ourselves.

...Hm. I guess what he's saying does make sense after all. I'm not fully satisfied, though.
Hayasaka: [thoughtfully] You might be right, Sergey-kun. But there's still something that bothers me about this hostage situation. If there were only 14 hostages, how do you explain Tomiko-san's hostage?
Motoki: [grimly] It would be Shinako, right? She was the only person Niizuma-san cared about.
Hayasaka: [seriously] Yes, Sakiko-san, that's exactly the problem. Shinako was killed when we were kidnapped, so she couldn't have been Tomiko-san's hostage. [twirls hair pensively] However, Verlenda said that Grimmla wanted her to kidnap at least fourteen people. Bessho-san and Watai-san were fake hostages, then Shinako being a part of that fourteen doesn't make sense.
Kasparov: [considers carefully] I understand your confusion, but recall that Bessho-san stated that fourteen number before we were kidnapped, when Shinako was still alive. [presses finger to temple]
I do not know who they would have replaced her with following her death, but unfortunately, there is no way to know.

Oh shit, that's true. I forgot that email was sent before she died.
Hayasaka: [awkwardly] Oops...I got my timeline mixed up. Sorry about that.
Komatsu: [grimaces] I dunno how anyone could keep it all together...it's all so fuckin' confusin'. [rubs back of neck] Anyway, I'm still not a hundred percent on board with this whole Watai-san bein' the mastermind thing, but I jus' thought of somethin' that kinda makes him suspicious.
Kawashima: [curiously] What is it, Komatsu-kun?
Komatsu: [frowns] I wanna start by sayin' it ain't actual evidence, but...it's 'bout Terajima-kun. [fixes belt] That dude was super observant, right? So much so that he figured out that Sashihara-kun was the traitor before anyone else jus' by noticin' his reactions to stuff. [rubs back of neck] I was thinking'...with how observant he was, shouldn't he have noticed someone actin' weird if the mastermind was one of us? [grins] 'Cause he didn't, that means the mastermind's prolly not a student!
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] That is a fair point. [analytically] Of course, we must remember that we do not know for certain who Terajima-kun suspected as the traitor. There is a possibility, slight though it may be, that Oyamada-kun did not lie and Terajima-kun truly suspected Domoto-san.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] That's not very likely. Oyamada-kun lying makes way more sense.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] Indeed it does. And either way, Komatsu-kun is correct. [firmly] Terajima-kun possessed exceptional observational skills and certainly would have at least told Oyamada-kun if he had a suspect for the mastermind before he died. I do not think Oyamada-kun would withhold that information, no matter how much he hated us in the end.

I agree with that. Osamu-kun didn't like any of us by the time he died, but he despised Monohebi and the mastermind more than anything. If he had any idea who they were, he would have delighted in revealing it before his execution.
Hayasaka: [thoughtfully] That was a good point, Yutaka-kun. Eisuke-kun probably would have at least had some inkling of who the mastermind was if they were one of us students. [seriously] The more that I think about it, the more Watai-san makes sense as the mastermind. If it's him, it solves one of our questions from before. [twirls hair pensively] With his close access to Yuzuki-san, he could've sanctioned her release knowing full well she hadn't given up on her plans.
Motoki: [perplexedly] You think he referred a clearance for her release to Gomi-san knowing that she didn't give up on her killing game plans? [grimly] If that's true, then email between Grimmla and Verlenda makes no sense. [rubs shoulder] He wasn't planning to work with someone when he sent that email.
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] We do not know when that email was sent, nor do we know when Eguchi-san was released from her isolation, nor do we know how much time passed between either event and our kidnapping. [analytically] It is entirely possible that Watai-san proposed working with Eguchi-san in exchange for giving Gomi-san a referral for her release. [firmly] In fact, I believe that is exactly what happened.
Komatsu: [frowns] So, if I'm followin' what yer sayin'...ya think the first thing that happened was that email between Bessho-san and Grimmla. Then ya think that he made a deal to work with Eguchi-san to set up a killing game and gave Gomi-san some sort of psychological clearance for her. [rubs back of neck] Later down the line, we all get kidnapped and Watai-san betrays Eguchi-san. I got that right?
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] Indeed. In my opinion, it is the most logical series of events.
Motoki: [perplexedly] I still don't understand why Watai-san would want to do this killing game in the first place. [thoughtfully] He doesn't have a clear motivation. If the mastermind really is him, I doubt he just suddenly decided to plan one when Eguchi-san came to Gomi-san's school. [grimly] But I don't have any idea why he'd do any of that...

I agree with Sakiko-san. What Watai-san's motivations would be if he's really mastermind is still hard
to figure out. I guess it's possible he had some vague plans. He did live through the Tragedy, after all. Wait. Is it possible...

Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] Sergey-kun, when did Watai-san graduate the original Hope's Peak?
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] He was born in 1989, so assuming he graduated when he was eighteen, he would have graduated in 2007. [arches eyebrow] Why?
Hayasaka: [confidently] The Tragedy happened only a few years after that. Isn't it possible he knew something about the first killing games? [twirls hair pensively] Obviously, he himself didn't participate. But it's entirely possible he interacted with the survivors after the killing game, correct? [looks to the side thoughtfully] He was the Ultimate Psychologist, so it's even possible that he treated the survivors after the killing games.
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] It is certainly possible, yes. [firmly] But we have no real proof to back up that speculation, Hayasaka-san, so we cannot do much with it.
[analytically] For that reason, I believe it best we avoid the subject of motivations for any mastermind suspect. No one besides Eguchi-san had any discernible motive. [covers mouth with hand] In truth, I am as lost as anyone else concerning the motivations of Watai-san. I knew him very well, but even I have no idea why he would make us play this evil game. [frowns] It does not seem like the man I knew...but at the same time, there is no better option.
Kawashima: [distantly] ...Huh.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Somethin' up, Kawashima-san?
Kawashima: [seriously] ...Okay, I'll be honest. Kasparov-kun said there's no better option than Watai-san, but I don't fully believe that. [thoughtfully] I'm not as convinced about Watai-san being the mastermind as I'd like to be. It makes sense in some regards, yeah. But the case against him is far from airtight. There are several holes in it.

The case against Watai-san has holes in it? I can't think of any, but Wakana-san is better at picking apart theories than me. I
really hope this doesn't make us shift to yet another suspect...

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Grimmla and Verlenda's Email, Warden's Office, Flash Drive Contents, Staff Photo, Bodies in Morgue, Email About Kasparov, Monohebi Sketches

Kasparov: [curiously] Kawashima-san, may I ask you what the flaws are in suggesting that Watai-san is the mastermind?
Kawashima: [seriously] First of all, assuming Watai-san had the money that a mastermind would need to fund this killing game, why did he work for you as a chess mentor?
[firmly] He's an old man. If he really had enough wealth to fund this killing game, it'd be strange for him to spend his elderly years in foreign countries mentoring a child.
Komatsu: [frowns] But what about donors? I thought we said the mastermind coulda paid for all this with money from weirdos who'd pay for it.
Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Yes, but remember that we agreed the mastermind would need to put forward a sizeable amount of money to prove to them it was a legitimate venture. [seriously] Tutoring a child in chess halfway across the world doesn't scream "I have lots of disposable income" to me.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] Maybe he only got money after he took the job at Gomi-san's school. [grimly] He could've been poor before that...
Kasparov: [firmly] No. Watai-san had a considerable amount of money from his past as a famous chess player. He was never wanting for money when I knew him.
Kawashima: [seriously] I figured as much. [thoughtfully] Aside from the financial stuff, another thing is the very glaring issue that Watai-san doesn't speak any Russian. Right, Kasparov-kun?
Kasparov: [presses finger to temple] Correct. He only speaks Japanese and English.
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Then how could he possibly set up this killing game? Bessho-san couldn't have done it for him, because from our business together I know she only speaks Japanese. [thoughtfully] I have a very hard time believing Watai-san could renovate an abandoned prison and keep it secret in a country where he doesn't speak any of the language. [firmly] To be clear, I'm not saying the mastermind must be someone else. But this isn't something we can ignore.

She's right. This isn't something we can ignore. However, I think there might be something in the evidence that
resolves one of these issues...

Answer: Email About Kasparov > only speaks Japanese and English

Hayasaka: You've got that wrong!

BREAK!

Hayasaka: [seriously] Sergey-kun, can I ask you a question really quickly?
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] Of course. What is it?
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] What languages does your sister speak?
Kasparov: [skeptically] I fail to see how this is relevant, but...she speaks only Russian. Why?
Hayasaka: [confidently] Because that means that Wakana-san has nothing to worry about. Watai-san does speak Russian.
Kawashima: [puzzled] ...What the hell are you talking about? Kasparov-kun just said he doesn't.
Kasparov: [frowns] Indeed. Hayasaka-san, what makes you think Watai-san speaks Russian? And what does it have to do with my sister?
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] In his email to Gomi-san about you, Watai-san said he had a conversation with her over the phone where he tried to talk about you. [confidently] If she only speaks Russian, than he must have been talking in Russian with her.
Kawashima: [surprised] ...Oh. I remember that now. Shit, I didn't pick up on that...
Motoki: [perplexedly] I'm sorry, but I'm still confused. [rubs shoulder] If Watai-san actually speaks Russian, why does Kasparov-kun think he doesn't? And why would Kasparov-kun have to learn Japanese in the first place?
Komatsu: [rubs back of neck] Maybe it's an altered memory?
Hayasaka: [seriously] That's what I was thinking, Yutaka-kun. And to answer your second question, Sakiko-san, Watai-san might not have learned Russian when Sergey-kun first met him. He also might've wanted to communicate in his native language.
[twirls hair pensively] And the editing of Sergey-kun's memories might not stop there. I wouldn't be surprised if there were other things in your memories Watai-san altered so you were less suspicious of him, Sergey-kun.
Kasparov: [covers eyes] .......... [sadly] ...I had not yet considered that, but...I suppose that is possible.

I'm sorry, Sergey-kun. It must be so hard for him to look back on all his memories with Watai-san and think that some of them might be altered or even
completely fake.
Kawashima: [seriously] Okay, so the language barrier's not an issue anymore, but what about the financial stuff? [thoughtfully] I still don't see why Watai-san would choose to tutor Kasparov-kun and fly to a different country to do it if he had no money troubles.
Komatsu: [frowns] Yeah, that feels weird to me too. [fixes belt] If I were old and rich, I'd spend my time sittin' by a pool and sippin' margaritas!
Kasparov: [analytically] Watai-san was not an idle man. I do not believe he would enjoy a mundane retired life. [covers mouth with hand] Regardless, I have a strong feeling he had more to his motivations than simply keeping himself busy. After all, he could work in a local convenience store or flower shop if staving off boredom was his only desire. [frowns] However, he is an enigma. As well as I thought I knew him, it seems I did not truly know him at all. [sadly] My memories of him might not even be who he really is, so...I have no idea what those motivations could be.

I feel bad for him. I wish there was something I could say to make him feel better...
Komatsu: [furrows brow] So, uh...what now? [fixes belt] We've been going' at this for a while now and only got two questions left...who brought us here and who the mastermind is.
Kawashima: [curiously] Are you saying you think we should submit answers to those questions already?
Komatsu: [grimaces] I'm not sayin' we should do it right this second, but...I don't think there's much else to talk 'bout. [rubs shoulder] I'm pretty sure none of us doubt that Bessho-san was the one who brought us here at this point, right? So all we gotta do now's finally decide whether we think Watai-san is the mastermind or not.
Kawashima: [distantly] ...I don't know. I still have a lingering feeling of doubt. [regretfully] I'm close to being certain that Watai-san is the mastermind, but I'm not quite there. And I don't want us to submit anything more until I'm completely certain of our choice for the mastermind.
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] But how could you be fully convinced, Kawashima-san? We have deliberated everything there is to discuss.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder] No, not everything. There's still that "Grimmla" codename. [thoughtfully] "Verlenda" meant "Lavender," which connected to Bessho-san. [determined] If we can figure out what Grimmla means and if it has a connection to Watai-san, then we could be certain he's the mastermind.

She's right. If we can figure out what that
strange codename means, we could finally be certain the mastermind is Watai-san. Or we could be thrown into uncertainty if its meaning has nothing to do with him...but let's hope that doesn't happen.

Okay, Mika, think. What could "Grimmla" mean? It's probably an anagram of an English word like Verlenda was. But which one? I don't know nearly enough about English to make a reasonable guess...

Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Wakana-san, do you have any ideas for what "Grimmla" could mean?
Kawashima: [seriously] ...Me? No. I don't think I could ever try to figure it out.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Yer not even gonna try?
Kawashima: [distantly] Motoki-san would be a better option.
Motoki: [grimly] You'd think my talent would help, but no. I've thought about what "Grimmla" could mean a lot, but I just can't think of a word that fits. It doesn't make sense...
Hayasaka: [confidently] Wakana-san, you figured out what Verlenda meant. I believe you can do this too.

I really hope she can figure it out. Because if she can't, then nobody can.

Come one, Wakana-san. You can do this!
***

What makes Hayasaka-san think
I can do this? If Motoki-san, the
Ultimate Linguist, can't figure out this anagram—if it even is an anagram—then I have no
chance at all. It might be one of those things that's a group of the first letters of words or something like that. If that's the case, then there's truly no hope for me figuring this out.

Sorry to let you down, Hayasaka-san, but I can't do this. I've been off my game ever since Motoki-san accused me of
being the mastermind. I'm not in the right headspace to figure out whatever the fuck Grimmla means. Whatever word or code phrase or name it comes from, it's beyond me what it could...

Wait a minute...what if it comes from a name? Motoki-san said she couldn't think of a word that it could be derived from, but if it's a name, then maybe I could figure it out. But what kind of name could it come from? It doesn't sound like a given name, but it could be someone's family name or maybe even the name of a town or monument.

Hold on. I think I might actually be able to figure this out...

HANGMAN'S GAMBIT

Question: What name does the codename "Grimmla" derive from?

GRIMMLA

Answer: Milgram

Kawashima: I've solved it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [surprised] ...Oh. So that's what it means.
Motoki: [perplexedly] You figured it out? What does it mean?
Kawashima: [seriously] I think "Grimmla" is an anagram of the name "Milgram." As in Stanley Milgram.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] Uh...who is that again?
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] Milgram was an American psychologist known for his controversial experiments on obedience. Watai-san told me about him several times... [regretfully] Ah, how did I not see it earlier? It makes so much sense.
Komatsu: [relieved] Wait a minute, if Grimmla comes from rearrangin' the letters of a psychologist's name, then that means the mastermind's gotta be Watai-san! [grins] Fuck yeah! We finally got it settled!

I search inside myself for any lingering doubts, but I can't find any more. At least, not any based in logic. There's still a self-loathing part of myself that wants to vote myself as the mastermind. If the mastermind were me, in a twisted way it'd be a sort of mercy. I'd never have to confront the fact that my parents disowned me or all the harm I caused by working for Bessho-san.

I can't let those self-destructive thoughts govern my actions, though. If I do, then Monohebi wins. And
I'm sure as hell not letting him get the last laugh. I'm gonna watch him and his evil bastard of a master get executed. If the price to pay for that is facing reality, then so be it.

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] ...I can't think of any more issues with Watai-san being the mastermind. [firmly] So, let's wrap this up. Anyone have any final objections?
Komatsu: [fixes belt] Nope.
Hayasaka: [confidently] I don't.
Kasparov: [analytically] Nor do I.
Motoki: [excitedly] I don't either.
Kawashima: [hopefully] Then let's get to it. [firmly] I'm gonna summarize everything we know so far, and then I'll submit our answers once and for all!

CLOSING ARGUMENT

Missing Pieces:A: Shinako is murdered during the kidnappingB: Eguchi reluctantly agrees to help the culprit
C: Bessho responds back and tells the mastermind they’ll need someone to help them with the kidnappingD: The second culprit leaves the recycling binE: The culprit places boxes on top of the trapdoor in the pantryF: The culprit returns to their roomG: Using the guitar string they got earlier, the culprit strangles AozoraH: The mastermind tortures Furuhata so he'll reveal the full scope of Eguchi's plansI: During her isolation, Eguchi meets the mastermindJ: Eguchi loses her balance because of Terajima's push and falls back onto a large piece of the bed frame, which impales her in the neck and kills herK: The mastermind recommends to Gomi that Eguchi be releasedL:
Gomi is also killed before the killing game startsM: Courtesy of Monohebi, very loud and dissonant music blasts out of the walkie-talkies, rendering them unusableN: Kawashima, Eguchi, and the 14 other students are sent to Gomi’s schoolO: The culprit returns to the LibraryP: The culprit obtains the notebook and penQ:
Hayasaka opens the door to the bathhouseR: After the memory surgeries are completed, the mastermind kills Dr. SumanthS: Komatsu awakesT: Resolved to see Eguchi, Terajima gets a 45 kg dumbbell from the nearby InfirmaryU: Sometime before the killing game starts, the mastermind uses their own fortune and money secured from donors to renovate the planned location, an abandoned Russian prisonV: Needing an accomplice, the mastermind convinces Eguchi to work with themW: The culprit wraps Furuhata's body in a tablecloth

Before the killing game, all sixteen students had their own troubles. Most notably, Kawashima worked for Bessho and Eguchi planned a killing game.
???
Eguchi is kept isolated from everyone else until Gomi certifies she is fit for release
???
For unknown reasons, the mastermind decides to start a killing game
???
The mastermind sends an email with payment information, a hostage list, and a plan outline to Bessho
???
???
???
Sometime after leaving her isolation, Eguchi tells her plans to Furuhata, who she became friends with at some point before or after coming to the school
On the day we were kidnapped, Bessho takes our class and all fourteen staff members
???
Bessho and her forces transport us to the prison facility
At the facility, the mastermind forces Eguchi to record a video
???
The mastermind has a kidnapped Dr. Sumanth perform the memory surgery on all of us
The mastermind changes the personality of Monohebi to match their more serious demeanour
???
???
When everything is ready, the mastermind allows us all to wake and start their long-awaited killing game

Answer: N (2), I (4), U (6), C (8), V (9), K (10), A (13), H (16), R (19), L (20)

Kawashima: This is how it happened!

CLIMAX INFERENCE

Kawashima: Before any of us came to this school, we all had serious issues. Some of us, like me, Furuhata-kun, Yamaguchi-kun, and Terajima-kun, were in trouble with the law. Others, like Sashihra-kun and Ichigohara-san, had severe drug addictions. Others still, like Oyamada-kun, Hayasaka-san, Aozora-kun, and Carrasco-san, suffered from other mental issues.
Kawashima: Most disturbingly, there was Eguchi-san. She planned a killing game like one of the ones that happened during the Tragedy forty years ago and wanted to put her bullies in it as payback for what they did to her. We don't know how much of her original plan transferred over to the killing game we've suffered through, but we know one thing for sure: Eguchi-san designed Monohebi, although her planned personality for him was much different from how he actually ended up.
Kawashima: Eventually, all of us had our troubles exposed in one way or another and found ourselves sent to Gomi-san's school, willingly or otherwise. One of us, Kasparov-kun, was sent there from Russia due to a specific request from the mastermind, his chess mentor.
The purpose of us being sent to Gomi-san's school was rehabilitation. Outwardly, Gomi-san and the other stuff members preached that they desired to resolve our issues and set us up for a better life. That might have been true for most of them, but not for the mastermind. They had much more sinister desires.
Kawashima: At some unknown point in the past, the mastermind decided to run a killing game of their own. We don't when or why, but what we do know is that while we were at Gomi-san's school, they decided to put their plans in motion. The first step we know of was them sending an email to Bessho-san that contained a hostage list, payment information, and a plan outline. Bessho soon responded and told the mastermind that they'd need someone to help them with the kidnapping.
Kawashima: The mastermind, who had originally wanted to work alone, now needed someone else on the inside to assist them with the kidnapping. Fortunately for them, there was an easy candidate in Eguchi-san. As soon as she arrived at the school, Eguchi-san had been confined to isolation and could only be seen by Gomi-san, Unetani-san, and the mastermind. She could only be released from upon Gomi-san's approval.
Kawashima: The mastermind took advantage of this perfect opportunity and told Eguchi-san that in exchange for her agreeing to work with them, they would recommend to Gomi-san that she be released. They convinced Eguchi-san that they could work together to put her killing game plans in motion. Of course, this was a lie—the mastermind always intended to betray her and work alone. However, Eguchi-san fell for it and agreed. She likely told the mastermind a portion of her plan details at this point, but crucially, we know she didn't tell them everything.
Kawashima: Soon enough, Eguchi-san was released from isolation. We don't much of what she did between this point and the kidnapping, but we know one thing: she told Furuhata-kun—who she had become friends with at some point before or after coming to the school—the full details of her killing game plans, including all the details she had left out with the mastermind. We don't know why she did this. It might be because she wanted him to have a bigger role that he later backed out of, or maybe she only wanted a second opinion from him. Either way, Furuhata-kun came to know the entirety of her plans.
Kawashima: Eventually, the day came for us to be kidnapped. Eguchi-san and the mastermind worked together to allow Bessho-san and her forces in from the inside. Once inside, they kidnapped all of us students, the mastermind, Gomi-san, Unetani-san, and all the other staff members. The other two classes at the school were unharmed. Unfortunately, there was one casualty. Niizuma-san's girlfriend Shinako, who also happened to be the informant that exposed my dealings with Bessho-san, was there at the time of the kidanpping. Due to the brutal nature of her death, she was probably killed as revenge by Bessho-san and one of her goons.
Kawashima: After the kidnapping, Bessho-san and her goons transported us to the abandoned Russian prison facility we're in now. The mastermind could secretly speak Russian, which they used to at some point organize and fund a renovation for the prison according to their desires. The specifics of when this renovation happened or how they got the money for it and the rest of the killing game are unknown, but it's likely they used a mix of their own personal fortunes and money from bloodthirsty donors to pay for everything.
Kawashima: Once at this facility, the mastermind wasted no time in preparing us for the killing game. The first order of business was finding out all the details of Eguchi-san's killing game plans from her. Now that they were at the prison and Eguchi-san still wasn't in control, she had come to realize she'd been duped and wouldn't tell the mastermind her full plans. The mastermind wanted to avoid the uncooperative Eguchi-san and her erratic personality messing with the killing game even after her memories were altered—at least initially. So, they forced the kidnapped Dr.
Jayantha Sumanth, an innovative brain surgeon, to artificially modify her personality to make her more docile and timid.
Kawashima: Eguchi-san was dealt with, but the mastermind still wanted to know the full details of her killing game plans. So, he tortured Eguchi-san's friend Furuhata-kun. After threatening to harm Furuhata-kun's younger brother, Furuhata-kun caved and told the mastermind everything they wanted to know. Because the ways Furuhata-kun acted during the killing game and in the torture videos were different, it's very likely the mastermind put him through the same personality modification surgery, except his was the opposite direction of Eguchi-san's: originally meek and weak-willed, he was made more brash and irritable.
Kawashima: Once they were death with, the mastermind had to alter our memories so we could play the killing game according to their designs. To help deal with our memories, the mastermind again forced a kidnapped Dr. Jayantha Sumanth, who is most known for being the leading expert in memory erasure and alteration, to do the surgery on all sixteen of us. This would have taken a long time, so almost a year passed between the initial kidnapping and the start of the killing game.
Kawashima: During this long period, the mastermind likely oversaw the assembly of Monohebi's AI and robot bodies. Although he used Eguchi-san's initial design for Monohebi's appearance, the mastermind changed Monohebi's personality from what Eguchi-san
had initially wanted. Instead of being equal parts cute and psychopathic, the mastermind had Monohebi act cool and austere, which was much more suited to their personality.
Kawashima: After all the memory surgeries were complete, the mastermind had no more use for Dr. Sumanth and killed him. They also killed Gomi-san at some point, but it's unknown when. It's also unknown what happened to the staff members besides Unetani-san, Gomi-san, and the mastermind, but it's most probable that they are all dead.
Kawashima: The next order of business for the mastermind was securing the hostages they would need. They didn't have to worry about Unetani-san, themself, and Bessho-san, but they needed one for the rest of us. So, Bessho-san and her goons set out to kidnap the remaining hostages. We don't know who the hostages were for some people who didn't have anyone important left to them, like Niizuma-san or Yamaguchi-kun, but either way, the hostages were eventually brought here and kept somewhere inaccessible to us.
Kawashima: There's now the issue of Bessho-san. Because they no longer had any need for her after all the hostages had been acquired, it's completely possible that the mastermind betrayed her and forced her to be my hostage for real. However, it's also possible that she merely played that part as an act.
Kawashima: Now that everything was done with, the mastermind could finally begin their plans. Once all was broadcasting correctly, the mastermind had us awake on their first day here. Even though nearly two and a half years had passed since we all had met each other, the mastermind removed all these memories and made us think we were strangers. And so all our tragedies here began.
Kawashima: The mastermind of this killing game...the person responsible for all our misery...the evil person who put us through hell for the entertainment of a deranged audience...that horrible person could only be...
[split screen separates Kawashima and a shadowed form of an old man with a ponytail. The shadow flashes and reveals Watai with a condescending smirk]

Kawashima: ...You! Umeji Watai, the former Ultimate Psychologist, you are the mastermind behind this killing game!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [thoughtfully] Well, that's everything. Did everything I said sound good to everyone?
Kasparov: [considers carefully] It all seems correct to me.
Hayasaka: [thoughtfully] I think so too.
Motoki: [determined] Me too.
Komatsu: [relieved] Hell yeah, it sounds like we all agree! [grins] C'mon, let's submit our answers and be done with this fuckin' trial!
Motoki: [excitedly] I can't believe it...we're finally done...
Hayasaka: [confidently] We are, Sakiko-san. [coldly] Now we finally get to see Watai-san pay for what he's done to us.
Komatsu: [fiercely] Hell yeah we do! [cracks knuckles] Oh, I can't wait to punch that fuckin' geezer's face in!
Kasparov: [firmly] We have to submit our answers first. [covers mouth with hand] Kawashima-san, would you like to do it?
Kawashima: [nods] I would.
[seriously] Monohebi—or should I say Watai-san—listen up. I'm gonna give the answer to our final answers to the last two questions. First, the person who brought us to this prison is Bessho-san. Second, the identity of the mastermind is Umeji Watai.

For a long time, Monohebi sits silently. His robot eyes are dull and impassive. No doubt Watai-san's scrambling to
figure out what he should do next. I can't wait to see the look on his face when he executes himself...
Monohebi: [neutral] ...Your answers have been accepted. [presses tail against mouth and frowns] With that, you have answered all seven questions. I now give you one last opportunity to change any answers you may doubt.
Kawashima: [firmly] There's no need for that. Our answers our final.
Monohebi: [neutral] Very well then. [smiles slightly] I must admit, I am impressed. I did not think you would do so well. [red eye glints] I suppose it is only fair that I greet you myself now.

The ground beneath Monohebi's throne begins to tremble, and a thick white smoke begins to obfuscate the entire throne from view. For a few seconds, there's nothing there. A sudden anxiety grips hold of me. What if we were wrong? What if it's not Watai-san and we're all going to get executed?

But as the smokes dissipates, so does that nervousness. Because standing in front of Monohebi's throne is the same man I saw in the staff photo—same snow white hair, same long beard, same hair tied in a ponytail. The distinctly cruel smile fixed on his face is new but awfully familiar at the same time. So that's where Monohebi gets it from.

All of us are unable to move as the cause of all our pain and misery casually walks around the circle of podium until he stops behind Furuhata's portrait.
Watai: [throws portrait aside] This will do well.

Motoki cringes as Watai steps onto the podium next to her, standing tall and proud.
Watai: [glances at Kasparov] Hello, Seryozha.
Kasparov: [weakly] ...Watai-san...I...you...
Watai: [slightly irritated] Hmph. I come back and you turn into a snivelling child yet again. [smirks] I must admit, this is a quieter greeting than I expected. When you accused me, you all sounded so brave and sure of yourselves, yet when I appear, you cower in fear.
Komatsu: [angrily] Ya fuckin' bastard...jus' shut the hell up and execute yourself!
Kawashima: [disdainfully] What he said. Do us a favour and kill yourself already.
Watai: [displeased] Do not rush, brats. [smiles slightly] Before we move forward with anything, there is still another guest to welcome. You of all people would not want to miss this, Kawashima.

The elevator doors behind me clang open, and I don't even have to turn around to know who it is. I can smell the lavender from here.
Kawashima: [hatefully] Bessho-san.

Bessho comes into view, smiling coolly and walking like she owns the world. She casts Aozora's portrait aside and steps into his place. It takes all my strength not to jump from my podium and bludgeon her to death right then and there.
Bessho: [mock happiness] Wakana, darling. I missed you. [smiles cruelly] I'm so glad we get to catch up before you die.
Motoki: [scoffs] Before she dies? [passionately] We got all the questions right! The only person dying today— [jabs finger at Watai]
—is this evil bastard!
Watai: [neutral] Hm...I am afraid not. You see, our deal was that I would execute myself if you brats answered all seven questions correctly. [smirks] Sadly, that did not happen. You answered six out of seven correctly, yes. [eye glints menacingly] But you got one wrong!

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Wr...Wrong?

One of our answers...was wrong?

Kawashima: [in disbelief] D...Don't fuck around with us, Watai. None of our answers were wrong!
Kasparov: [stunned] This...This cannot be...
Hayasaka: [horrified] Y-Yeah, there's no way... [coldly] We got everything right! Don't fucking lie to us!
Watai: [displeased] How arrogant it is to assume I am lying. [narrows eyes] Are you really so fragile that you cannot accept that you were wrong?
Motoki: [desperately] If we were wrong, then...then prove it! [hostilely] Tell us what we got wrong!
Watai: [smiles slightly] It concerns the location of this prison. [neutral] You all claimed that this killing game takes place in a abandoned prison in the Russian Federation, more specifically on the coast of Khabarovsk Krai. [smirks] That is incorrect. In actuality, we are on an artificial island off the coast of Magadan Oblast. We are close to Khabarovsk Krai, it is true...but we are closer to Magadan. [condescendingly] It would simply be wrong for me to count your answer as correct when it plainly is not.

I can't believe this...this is totally fucking unfair! How could he expect us to know where we are with such detail!?
Kawashima: [furiously] How the fuck could we possibly figure that out? [hatefully] You didn't provide us with any of the clues to figure out where we are with such detail! You didn't keep your promise to give us all the necessary information, so our wrong answer doesn't matter!
Kasparov: [sharply] She is correct. I read every document in your office and none said anything about the Magadan Oblast. [narrows eyes] This is unfair and you know it, Watai-san.
Watai: [neutral] You wound me, dear Seryozha. [smiles slightly] You see, you did not read every document in the office. You read every document in the desk, yes...but you only looked inside a few of the novels on that shelf. [eye glints menacingly] If you had been thorough, you would have noticed that I placed a slip of paper containing the exact coordinates of this prison inside fifteen different books.
Kasparov: [stunned] No...that...that cannot be...
Watai: [smiles slightly] It is the truth. [neutral] I fully acknowledge that the question of the location of this prison is quite a difficult one, so I decided to give it to you all for free. [condescendingly] It is no fault but your own that you missed my clues.

No...he has to be lying...
Kawashima: [disbelievingly] I...I don't believe you. [furiously] You're just making this up so you don't have to execute yourself.
Komatsu: [angrily] Yeah, we see through yer fuckin' games, asshole! Ya ain't gonna trick us!
Bessho: [neutrally] It's not a trick, darlings. Umeji is telling the truth. [bored] If you want, I can fetch one of those books or give proof of our location for you all to see. [smiles cruelly] Either way, the outcome won't change. You got a question wrong even though you had the resources to answer it correctly.

Just hearing her voice makes me feel violent.
Kawashima: [disdainfully] Shut up, you vile bitch.
Bessho: [disapprovingly] That is no way to speak to your elders, Wakana. [coldly] You must accept the truth, whether you like it or not.
Hayasaka: [tears up] ...What...What're we gonna do...? [weakly] I was so sure we got it all right...
Motoki: [horrified] We...We're all gonna get executed...
Watai: [sharply] No. [neutral] As I have said many times, I am a caring warden. I acknowledge that your answer, while incorrect, was quite close. [smiles slightly] As such, I am prepared to offer you a compromise.
Kawashima: [surprised] A compromise...? [firmly] Whatever it is, I don't trust it!
Komatsu: [fiercely] Yeah, I don't either! [cracks knuckles] The only compromise I'd accept is bein' able to cave yer geriatric face in!
Watai: [displeased] Calm down, you wretched sewer rat. Do not make me raise my voice at you.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] ...Huh? I wouldn't give a shit if ya did that.
Watai: [slightly irritated] Do not try to deny it, Komatsu. I know quite a lot about you...including your fears. [smirks] I know that one of them is adult men yelling at you. It brings you back to the worst memories of your childhood, does it not? [eye glints menacingly] Should we test it out?

Watai clears his throat several times and stares thoughtfully at Komatsu for several seconds.
Watai: [neutral] ...Oh yes. I know what will do well. [smiles slightly] When you accidentally burned part of your father's leather jacket while making yourself and Reiji food. He was quite mad then, was he not? [smirks] He screamed at you so loud your ears rang afterward. Should I bring you back to that time?
Komatsu: [jaw drops] What the...how the fuck do y—
Watai: [in a gruff imitation of Komatsu's father] Why the fuck can't ya jus' leave my shit alone!? I swear, if ya weren't so fuckin' grubby, yer bitch mother wouldn't've fuckin' left us!
Komatsu: [grimaces] The hell...cut that out!
Watai: [furiously] I shoulda never had ya or yer pathetic brother! I coulda been somethin', but ya fuckin' brats weigh me down every step of the way! I swear, if ya keep this shit up, I'll beat the shit outta ya! That'll teach ya some goddamn respect!
Komatsu: [tears up] Stop it...seriously, stop it!
Watai: [gruffly] All ya do is fuckin' complain! When I was in the Crazy Diamonds, we didn't listen to whiny little bitches! We shut that shit down! [furiously] So if ya don't shut the hell up, I'll do what they did! I'll rip that waggin' tongue of yers right outta yer fuckin' throat and tie yer mouth shut with it!
Komatsu: [desperately] STOP IT! [grips jacket tightly and stares at floor] Please...s-stop...
Watai: [narrows eyes] ...Pathetic. [loathfully] You have always been nothing but a paper tiger, Komatsu. [smiles slightly] It is amusing how easy to break you are. All it took was my poor imitation of your dear old dad for you to be exposed as the whiny, overgrown child you are.
Hayasaka: [coldly] You fucking asshole. Don't be so fucking mean to him!
Watai: [condescendingly] Do not speak to me so harshly, Hayasaka. [loathfully] Fat, hideous pigs like you are easy to break as well. [narrows eyes] You have more weaknesses to attack. [sadistically] Where should I begin? With your inability to eat a plate of food without feeling nauseous? With your constantly fluctuating weight? With your complete lack of true personality? With your guilt over your sister's death? [smiles slightly] Tell me which you would prefer I start with.
Hayasaka: [stares with muted anger] You... [looks down glumly] ..........
Watai: [haughtily] As I thought. Now, be silent and allow me to explain my compromise before I change my mind and kill you all.

This motherfucker. Coming after Komatsu-kun and Hayasaka-san the way he did is just awful. I shouldn't be surprised, though...Watai-san has demonstrated to us time and time again throughout this killing game how despicable he can be. Ugh, it makes me so mad! I want to punch him in the face...but I also don't want to die. So I should at least let him explain this compromise he has in mind...

Watai: [neutral] Obviously, I cannot let all of you brats go because you did not answer all seven questions correctly. [smiles slightly] However, in my endless generosity, I am prepared to let all but one of you leave this place unharmed.
Motoki: [perplexed] Wait...you're not going to execute any of us? Am I hearing that right?
Watai: [sharply] I will execute all of you if you refuse this compromise. Do not forget that. [neutral] But if you accept...no, I will not execute any of the five of you. Not even the inmate who chooses to stay behind.

He's not going to execute the person who stays behind? At face value that sounds good, but something about it makes me nervous...
Kawashima: [puzzled] What would you do with the person who stays behind if you won't execute them?
Watai: [smiles slightly] I am so very glad you asked...they would become my "subject" for the rest of their days.
Hayasaka: [worried] What does that mean? It sounds bad...
Watai: [smirks] It is exactly what it sounds like. They would be a subject for me to experiment with how and when I please for as long as I please.
Motoki: [nervously] What...What kind of experiments are you talking about?
Watai: [neutral] I do not want anyone to steal my ideas, so I will not reveal details while we are live on air. [eye glints menacingly] But I will say that they are all quite...demanding, both physically and mentally. Some would even go so far as to say they are "excruciating."
Bessho: [chuckles cruelly] I think everyone would say that, Umeji. [impressed] The limits you push the human body and mind to...it's truly quite incredible.

This is going to make me sick.
Kawashima: [firmly] That's not happening, Watai. Leaving someone here for you to toy with is practically sentencing them to death...no, it's worse than death! [disdainfully] I'm not going to accept that!
Watai: [sharply] Then all of you and all of the remaining hostages will die. [condescendingly] Surely you do not wish for everyone to die.
Komatsu: [grimaces] Wait...the hostages... [desperately] What happens to them!? Are ya gonna hurt them too?!
Watai: [displeased] Be patient. I was about to get to that. [smiles slightly] I am certain you all have been wondering...why would anyone consign themselves to the dismal fate of being my subject? [smirks] The answer is the following: whoever is chosen to be my subject, their assigned hostage will be allowed to live and go free with the rest of you. [eye glints menacingly] Sadly, the other hostages will not be so fortunate.
Motoki: [desperately] N-No...you're fucking lying...
Watai: [neutral] I am not. [sadistically] I am certain that you might think this is unfair, Motoki, as you and Komatsu are the only two here who actually have two living hostages, given that Bessho-san and I were only pretending to be hostages.
[smirks] But fear not, as I have decided to reassign some of the remaining hostages to make things fair.
Watai: [neutral] Hayasaka, you will now have Dairoku Furuhata instead of Sato-san given that I already obliterated her. Kawashima, you will have Meiko Domoto instead of Bessho-san. Seryozha, you will have Megumi Unetani instead of me.
Kasparov: [sadly] This is horribly cruel... [narrows eyes] And do not call me "Seryozha," nor "Sergey," nor "Sergey Pavlovich." You may only call me Kasparov, nothing more.
Watai: [scowls] .......... [displeased] ...I will call you whatever I want, Seryozha.

I could be misinterpreting, but it kind of seemed like he was genuinely hurt by what Kasparov-kun said.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] Wait a minute...why do I have Yuuto-kun's little brother? Are the hostages for all the dead people still here?
Watai: [neutral] Some, like the younger Furuhata brat, are still alive. Some I decided to use as subjects, which has left them in a state that is not quite dead, but not quite living either. [smiles slightly] I assigned him to you, Hayasaka, because he is only a child. [sharply] There is nothing more selfish than choosing your own life over that of an innocent child, is there? [smirks] But perhaps it will be an easy choice for you...only a few years ago you were willing to end your worthless life for nothing. Surely the choice is easier now?
Hayasaka: [tears up] Y-You... [looks down glumly] ..........

Watai-san really has no limits to his cruelty. He's intentionally trying to make this as
agonizing for us as possible. Not
only is he making us choose between
ourselves to see how who will live or not, but he's also forcing us to choose which one of the hostages will live. And to make that worse, he's made three of
those hostages children.

How could I possibly allow Domoto-san's sister to die? I want to be free, but I know I'd never get over the guilt of letting her die. She's only a girl...she hasn't done anything wrong...

Kawashima: [hatefully] Watai-san, you're fucking evil. I hope you die an excruciatingly painful death.
Watai: [slightly irritated] Hate me all you want, but you still must choose. [sharply] Will you allow poor little Meiko to die, Kawashima? She is the youngest and most innocent of the hostages. [smirks] You could save Meiko, but if you do...how could Komatsu live knowing his dear brother will be executed? How could Motoki carry on without her mother, the only family she has? [menacingly] No matter what, you lose. Whether you leave or stay, only agony awaits.
Motoki: [desperately] What...What if we refuse the compromise? Do the hostages get released then?
Watai: [neutral] No. Then all of them will become my subjects. [chuckles] Haha...did you truly think I would grant you brats the mercy of a noble death to save your hostages? [sharply] No. I will not allow things to be so easy.
Motoki: [closes eyes to prevent tears] Fuck...
Komatsu: [tears up] N-No...Reiji...

This is fucking awful. I'm trying to think of a loophole that gets all five of us and all the hostages out of here okay...but I can't find one. There's no way to beat Watai-san's terms. He has us beat. There's no good way out of this...we have to sacrifice people to live...
Kawashima: [distantly] ...How are we supposed to choose what happens to who?
Watai: [neutral] You will vote, as in earlier trials. However, unlike before, you may not vote for yourself. [smirks] Things are more interesting that way.
Motoki: [miserably] We should all abstain from voting...the worst you could do is kill us all...
Watai: [sharply] No, you do not want to do that. [displeased] If you abstain, your assigned hostage will not stay with me...instead, I will give them over the Bessho-san. [eye glints menacingly] Believe me when I say that is a far worse outcome.
Hayasaka: [tears up] How...? How could anything be worse than being your "subject?"
Bessho: [condescendingly] Oh, you have no idea, Mika. [casually] Umeji's experiments are agonizing affairs, yes. However, they provide the subject with a dignified death at the end of everything. [smiles cruelly] But my option...it would grant no such dignity.

I don't trust this act. It's probably a bluff to scare us.
Kawashima: [disdainfully] If you want to scare us, you'll have to try better. This is obviously just a trick to frighten us into voting.
Bessho: [coldly] I am not bluffing, Wakana. You should know that. [mock sadness] It's a shame you've forgotten so much...you don't even remember the true scope of what our operation was. [amused] You were so horrified when you found out where the money was really coming from...

A cold feeling takes hold of me. What the hell is she talking about...?
Komatsu: [furrows brow] The fuck are ya gettin' at? Were ya and Kawashima-san traffickin' drugs?
Bessho: [neutrally] That's one market I partake in. [casually] But there's a much more lucrative one that takes up most of my focus.

Why the hell won't she say it already?
Kawashima: [haetfully] Just spit it out and tell us what it is, you evil bitch. I've had enough of your games!
Bessho: [coldly] No. I want you to figure it out. [smiles wickedly] I want to see the look on your face. [holds up photograph] This should help...

She holds out the photograph towards me. I reluctantly take it. What the...? This is the photo of Carrasco-san and her friend Silvia I found during the investigation.
Kawashima: [puzzled] How the hell is this supposed to help? I've already seen this before.
Bessho: [bored] Look closer.

I return my gaze to the photo and notice that certain spots on Carrasco and Silvia are circled in pen, with the circles in the same places on both their bodies: eyes,
over the heart, several spots on the chest, and more. Also, the photo looks...bigger, somehow. Wait a minute, the first time I saw this photo, it had the top third of it ripped away. This must be the whole photo. Is there something important in the top third of it?

At first glance, the top part is only a collection of faces in a crowded Spanish square. But then I see one face I recognize, flanked by two burly men in sunglasses. Bessho-san...what is she doing here? And who are those dudes beside her?
Kawashima: [surprised] What the fuck...why are you in this photo?
Bessho: [neutrally] I was preparing the abduction of Mayumi and her friend Silvia.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] Hold on...you were the one behind Mayumi-san's kidnapping!?
Watai: [smiles slightly] Indeed she was. [displeased] It is a shame Carrasco never lived long enough to learn that Bessho-san was your hostage, Kawashima. [smirks] I never had Dr. Sumanth take away her memory of Bessho-san, so it would have been quite entertaining to see her reaction.

He wanted her to be re-traumatized by seeing her kidnapper's face? This man is truly fucking awful.
Kawashima: [firmly] Shut up, Watai. [disdainfully] And Bessho, what the hell does this have to do anything? What are the circles on their bodies?
Bessho: [bored] Is it really so hard to figure out? The circles are the goods.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Huh...what the fuck is that supposed to mean!?
Bessho: [neutrally] Ask Wakana. She should be able to figure it out now.

The circles are the goods? That doesn't make sense.

I take another look at the photo and notice where the circles are. A sick feeling enters my stomach. No...she can't mean...

HANGMAN'S GAMBIT

Question: What are the goods that Bessho is referring to?

MUNHA SNOGRA

Answer: Human organs

Kawashima: I've solved it!

BREAK!

Kawashima: [eyes widen in realization] Human organs...
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] What?
Kawashima: [shocked] ...That's what Bessho-san is talking about. [reluctantly] In the photo, the same spots on circled on both Carrasco and Silvia: the heart, the eyes, the area over the liver, the kidneys... [disgusted] So that must be the answer. I helped Bessho launder money made from selling human organs.
Kasparov: [disbelievingly] That is...
Motoki: [desperately] No...that can't be true...
Bessho: [neutrally] It is, and that is all I do with regard to human trafficking. I want to immediately put down any notion that I engage in any sort of sex trafficking. Even I have standards. [casually] What I do is simply harvest and then sell organs to those unable to acquire them through legal means. [neutrally] I mostly deal with the usual affair: Kidneys, livers, and pancreases. [smiels wickedly] But unlike most, I do everything...hearts, lungs, intestines, eyes...even skin grafts and whole brains.
Komatsu: [terrified] So...that's what ya were gonna do to Carrasco-san? Ya were gonna steal her fuckin' organs!?
Bessho: [casually] Yes. You see, child organs are especially valuable. And Carrasco and her friend Silvia had O- blood type, which meant we could take blood from them too. [chuckles cruelly] Ha...they really were the perfect candidates.
Hayasaka: [recoils and tears up] I think I'm gonna be sick...
Motoki: [horrified] That girl Silvia...she died, right? Was it because you took too many organs from her?
Bessho: [neutrally] Precisely. We took everything from little Silvia—and I do mean everything—which obviously led to her death. I planned to get everything from Mayumi too, but she managed to escape and call for help before we could. [mock sadness] So sad that I missed out on profits...but I took one kidney and some skin before she got away, so it wasn't a complete loss.

This bitch is fucking evil...she was killing children and stealing their organs for profit!?
Kawashima: [hatefully] You're fucking evil, Bessho-san!
Bessho: [condescendingly] I disagree. I'm simply someone who likes money and doesn't care where it comes from, and I am far from the first. [casually] Did you know that the French forced Haiti to pay them reparations for daring to free themselves from slavery and have never paid that money back? And then after that, they went on to colonize half of Africa and Asia.
Komatsu: [furrows brow] What? That has nothin' to do with ya!
Bessho: [coldly] Don't interrupt. [bored] The smelly croissants aren't the only ones, either. [neutrally] Ever since the Second World War, the Americans have viciously and remorselessly terrorized any government or group that dares oppose their insatiable thirst for profits above all else. Belgians still enjoy the billions their country stole from the Congo through slavery and super-exploitation. Our country never faced accountability for brutalizing the entirety of East and Southeast Asia. [casually] And that's not even close to everything...virtually every powerful nation on Earth has done and continues to do great evil.
Motoki: [perplexed] What the fuck is the point of this? [hostilely] It doesn't change the fact that you're a vile bitch!
Bessho: [coldly] My point, Sakiko, is that blood and tears ooze from every crack of the so-called "civilized" world. Our world is cruel and evil, led by barbarians and vicious savages. [disapprovingly] You call me evil, yet you happily genuflect to "respectable" leaders who do far worse...the only difference is what they do is polite and justified by pretty words like "democracy" and "liberty." [condescendingly] Really, you should respect me. Because while I don't care about how many people I harm and where my money comes from...at least I'm honest about it

She's right that most of the powerful countries in the world have done and still do really fucking awful shit,
but that doesn't make what she's doing okay.

Kawashima: [disdainfully] You can pull out as many justifications as you want, but that doesn't change the fact that you're a fucking monster!
Bessho: [bored] Some would say that. But if I am, then you certainly are too. [coldly] You helped launder money and evade taxes for one of the largest organ trafficking groups in the Eastern hemisphere. You didn't even bother to interrogate where it was coming from...all you cared about was collecting your money. [smiles wickedly] The cute little skirts or sweet pastries you bought with that money...how does it feel to know they were quite literally bought with blood money?
Kawashima: [defensively] I...I didn't know where it was coming from! You wouldn't tell me!
Bessho: [neutrally] No, but you surely should have realized that if I was not willing to tell you, then I must have been hiding something ugly. [bored] Instead, you were willing to ignore that because you were greedy.
Kawashima: [tears up] I wasn't greedy...I...
Bessho: [coldly] Yes, you were. Stop trying to deny it. [smiles cruelly] But at least you paid the price for your greed...now, your parents and all your former friends disdain you. They see you as really are: a morally bankrupt girl willing to sell her soul for some quick cash. [coldly] To them, you'd be better off dead.

No...that isn't true...
Kawashima: [furiously] You're...You're fucking lying!
Bessho: [mock sadness] So tragic that you can't accept it...they all hate you, Wakana. You are reviled by anyone who ever knew you.
Kawashima: [hatefully] That's only because you framed me! You made it seem like I was the one behind it all! [furiously] I did some bad stuff, yeah...but it's your fault!
Bessho: [bored How can you be surprised that I chose myself over you? It was business, Wakana, not some personal slight. [condescendingly] I cautioned you. I told you what we were doing was dangerous work, yet you decided to enter into the criminal world anyway. [disapprovingly] If you really cared about not getting caught, you would've asked more questions, but you didn't. [coldly] You brought this fate upon yourself, you dumb little cunt.

I want to hurl more insults her way, but the words die in my throat. She's right...as much I fucking hate it,t she's right. She warned me that working for her would be dangerous, but I didn't listen. I just wanted quick money.

Tears form in my eyes. I fucked up so badly...holy shit. I helped Bessho-san run a fucking organ trafficking business. My money was coming from stealing organs from innocent people who were murdered and disassembled for their organs. How could anyone ever forgive me? How could I ever forgive myself!? No wonder my parents fucking disowned me. I deserved it. I deserve to die.
Kawashima: [sadly] ...Everyone, vote for me. After what I've done, I deserve it the most.
Komatsu: [stares at floor] No, ya gotta vote for me. [tears up] If I got outta here while Reiji died, I'd fuckin' kill myself...I couldn't live with it...
Motoki: [miserably] I couldn't live without my mom either...so please, vote for me.
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] I...I don't think I could live knowing it was at the cost Yuuto-kun's little brother's life. [weakly] This is so awful...
Kasparov: [frustratedly] Watai-san is correct...no matter what, we are faced with an impossible choice. [sadly] Tell me, Watai-san...why would you do this?
Watai: [displeased] I already answered that, Seryozha. It is because you brats did not answer all the questions correctly.
Kasparov: [sharply] Firstly, I told you not to call me that. [covers mouth with hand] Secondly, that is not what I meant. What I meant was why do this killing game? [sadly] I do not know if my memories of you are genuine, but I know that you are not the Watai-san I knew. [regretfully] I greatly respected you...I almost thought of you as my real father. [sadly] How could you betray me like this? How could you be such a repulsive person under everything!?

The cold smile fades from Watai's face and is replaced by a look of genuine sympathy.
Watai: [sentimentally] ...You do not know how much those words mean to me, Seryozha. [compassionately] The man you knew truly is me. I did not greatly edit your memories of me...I only removed your knowledge that I spoke Russian and little else. [softly] But the man you knew is a different side of me. He is my "good side," you could say.
Kawashima: [hatefully] That's bullshit. There's no way someone like you has a good side!
Watai: [scowls] Quiet, Kawashima. Do not interrupt me. [sentimentally] Seryozha, I care for you deeply. You must know that.
Kasparov: [covers eyes] ...I want to believe that, I truly do. But I cannot bring myself to. [narrows eyes] Why would you bring me to the school run by Gomi-san if you truly cared about me? Clearly all you wanted to do was put me in this horrid killing game.
Watai: [slightly irritated] No. You do not understand, Seryozha. I saved you by bringing you to that school.
[displeased] The Russians were prepared to send you to prison for killing your father. Prison, like some common criminal scum! [softly] I thought you were above that. I thought you deserved better. So I went through the great amount of legal work necessary to bring you to me.
Kasparov: [skeptically] But why put me in the killing game if you care for me so much?
Watai: [scowls] ...Ugh. If only I returned your memories before you removed your chip. Then, I would not have to suffer these questions. [smirks] I wonder, Seryozha...do you remember Lyosha and Katya?
Kasparov: [stunned] ...Wh...How...How do you...
Watai: [neutral] I know of them from the photos you kept of them in your room. You were not as skilled at hiding them as you thought.
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] I'm sorry, I don't get it...who are Lyosha and Katya?

I was wondering the same, Hayasaka-san. And why does Kasparov-kun seem so shocked?

Watai: [smiles slightly] Will you tell them, Seryozha? Or should I do it?
Kasparov: [weakly] No...nothing...tell them nothing...
Watai: [smirks] I am afraid I must. [neutral] To answer your question, Hayasaka, Lyosha was the first boy and Katya the first girl that Seryozha kissed. [condescendingly] He has always been a sad, lonely, and somewhat pathetic boy who attaches easily to people who show him romantic affection. [calmly] Even when Lyosha and Katya moved on and forgot about him, Seryozha did not forget them. Oh no. Instead, he kept a few commemorative photos of both Lyosha and Katya in his room as a reminder of his first romantic loves...along with a picture of each kiss. [smiles slightly] It is quite adorable, it is not?
Kasparov: [furiously] How dare you...that was private! You have no right to see that! You have no right to mention it!
Watai: [neutral] I do, Seryozha, as it is quite relevant. [narrows eyes] After all, it is the reason you killed your father.

Silence falls over the entire room. What...those pictures are the reason Sergey-kun killed his dad!?
Kawashima: [puzzled] What are you talking about, Watai-san?
Kasparov: [stunned] Wh... [disbelievingly] Those pictures...are you saying they are the reason I killed him!?
Watai: [neutral] Precisely. [softly] As I am sure you know, Seryozha, your father had certain...regressive attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people. [calmly] When he saw that photo of you and Lyosha kissing, he was incensed. [neutral] You do not remember, but he came to the kitchen and started screaming at you, calling you many unseemly things. [calmly] Naturally, you became afraid. When he threatened to throw you out, you started screaming back. In retaliation, he screamed back louder. [softly] Things escalated until you felt your life was in danger...so you killed him.
Hayasaka: [horrified] What the fuck...I'm so sorry, Sergey-kun...
Komatsu: [grimaces] Fuck, that's terrible... [wipes eyes] I'm so fuckin' sorry ya went through that, man...
Kasparov: [stunned] ..........

...Holy shit. I'm really glad Kasparov-kun doesn't remember that because it sounds absolutely terrifying. I'm thankful my parents have always been tolerant of LGBTQ+ people. I don't know what I'd do if they weren't...
Watai: [calmly] Now you can see how I saved you, Seryozha. Without me, you would be rotting in a Russian prison with no family, no freedom, no future. [disapprovingly] Yet all my efforts were for naught. [slightly irritated] Even when I offered you one last time to be spared from the game or even help me run it, you adamantly refused. [displeased] You told me you would rather be put in the killing game than be my protégé.
Watai: [softly] So, with great hesitation, I did as you asked. [displeased] And now you have the gall to complain when you have no one to blame for this but yourself. [disapprovingly] Hmph...I suppose you truly are no better than the rest of them after all. [loathfully] It would have been best to let you rot in prison.
Motoki: [hostilely] What do you mean like the "rest of them?" Do you think he's better than us or something?
Watai: [haughtily] Yes. Seryozha had potential, unlike the rest of you. But he squandered it again and again until I had no choice but to give up on him. [softly] You know, I originally wanted to adopt him. I wanted him to be my legal son.
Kasparov: [disbelievingly] You...You wanted to adopt me!?
Watai: [calmly] I did. [neutral] I offered to adopt you the morning before you killed your father, so I erased the memory. If I kept it, I feared you would blame me for his death. [disapprovingly] But you were too afraid. You could not fathom leaving your family, despite how terrible they were. [condescendingly] That was when I should have realized you were not as promising as I had hoped...a true human would not refuse such an offer. A true human would not be averse to risk-taking.

I can't believe he tried to adopt Kasparov-kun. The mere thought of this man being someone's legal guardian makes me feel sick...
Kasparov: [distantly] This...This is too much...

I feel so bad for him. This is a lot for him to handle, especially so soon before he dies...
Komatsu: [furrows brow] Hold on...what the fuck's a "true human?"
Hayasaka: [slightly confused] I was wondering the same thing, Yutaka-kun. It sounds weird.
Watai: [neutral] It is quite simple. When I refer to a "true human," I mean someone with potential. [condescendingly] You brats are prime examples of those without potential. [haughtily] You are nothing but a gaggle of criminals, addicts, and mentally deficient cretins. You are the scum of society and deserve nothing but scorn. [loathfully] It would be better if none of you had ever been born.

What the fuck...? I knew he doesn't like us, but that's a pretty extreme thing to say.
Komatsu: [angrily] Shut the fuck up! Ya don't got a right to say shit like that!
Watai: [haughtily] I most certainly do. Throughout my long career, I have treated some of the most deplorable people in existence. [neutral] By interacting with them, I have learned a horrible truth. [condescendingly] Inside many people there is a "deficiency" of sorts...some ugly, hideous part of them they can never rid themselves of. Something that blocks them from having true potential.
Watai: [calmly] An unbreakable negative habit, an unforgivable crime, an addiction, a phobia they can't get over...these deficiencies can take many forms. But in the end, they contaminate a person. They mark them for condemnation. [sentimentally] For so long, I believed everyone could be saved. I did my utmost to help them on a better path. [displeased] But after being let down time and time again, in recent years I was forced to face the ugly truth: many people do not need or deserve help. [condescendingly] Some are abominations and defects that deserve nothing less than suffering and extermination.

What the actual fuck...this was our school psychologist!?
Kawashima: [shocked] How the fuck did Gomi-san hire you when you think like that!?
Hayasaka: [stares with muted anger] Yeah, I don't get it...how can you have such horrible beliefs if the nature of your field is helping people with "deficiencies?"
Watai: [calmly] When I took the job over fifteen years ago, I still shared naïve beliefs in the power of rehabilitation with Gomi-san. [slightly irritated] I have grown out of those foolish delusions and come to detest the job, but quitting was never an option. [haughtily] I still need to find a way to finally prevent such defects, and I cannot do so without the excellent pay. [smiles slightly] As wealthy as I am, my private experiments are costly. I need some way to fund them and that job was the perfect cover.
Motoki: [horrified] ...You've been doing those horrific experiments outside the killing game too?
Bessho: [neutrally] Indeed he has. [casually] That's where Umeji and I started our business relationship, you know. [smiles wickedly] He needed someone to source his subjects from, after all.
Kawashima: [disgusted] So when I was working for you...I was helping the operation that gave Watai-san people to experiment on too?
Bessho: [amused] It's only a small side business, but yes, you were.

Fuck, this is only getting worse. Not only was I a part of a massive organ trafficking ring that killed innocent people, even children, but I was also helping supply Watai-san people to do horrific experiments on? I don't know if I can handle much more of this...
Kasparov: [narrows eyes] ...You truly are a detestable man, Watai-san.
Watai: [sharply] Do not be so swift to judge me. If you had seen all that I have, you would think something similar. [slightly irritated] You are but young children, so you would not know, but the Tragedy exposed the worst in humanity. [loathfully] All around the world, people reveled in the most base, most degenerate acts. The most despicable, heinous acts were committed.
Watai: [displeased] I worked in a psychiatric hospital throughout the Tragedy and for many years after...there, I saw firsthand the horrors that had been unleashed. I treated the victims of those horrors and also the perpetrators. [softly] I became distressed by those interactions, to the point that I eventually had to quit because it was too much for me. [haughtily] But I am grateful for the experience because meeting those wretched, irredeemable beasts was the first step on my path to seeing the truth! Without it, I would not be enlightened!
Motoki: [perplexed] So basically, you did all this because you're traumatized...? [hostilely] Shouldn't you of all people recognize that your beliefs aren't coming from a rational place?
Komatsu: [cracks knuckles] ...Yeah, the only reason ya think this shit is 'cause ya saw a bunch fucked-up stuff when ya were young!
Watai: [scowls] Do not dare to speak to me about rationality. [loathfully] I am the professional here. You have no right!
Kasparov: [firmly] It is you who has no right to speak of rationality, Watai-san. [narrows eyes] The vile beliefs you are spewing are nothing more than reductive and unscientific eugenicist nonsense. You are a bigot who is too proud to see his true nature. [furiously] You are a blight on the scientific community and on humanity as a whole!

At first, Watai looks stung. But then, his hurt morphs into bitter rage.
Watai: [seethes] How...How DARE you speak to me that way!? [loathfully] Do not presume to think you know more than me about science. You will always be my inferior. [scowls] My methods are unconventional, but my entire career has been focused on expanding humanity's knowledge. All I have done is for the betterment of human society! [seethes] But you...you have done NOTHING to further scientific knowledge. I was wrong about you. You have no potential and never did. You are NOTHING!!

Whoa. Kasparov-kun saying that pissed him off bad.
Kasparov: [sadly] ...In the past, such rejection from you would have been the worst pain imaginable. [narrows eyes] But knowing your true nature...I can take no greater compliment.
Watai: [scowls] ..........
Komatsu: [grins] Ouch, I can tell that one hurt! Serves ya right, ya fuckin' asshole.
Watai: [seethes] Do not speak to me, brat. [condescendingly] You were nothing but a petty thief before Gomi-san decided to "save" you, stealing from rich and poor alike to keep you and your rat brother alive. I told him to not let you into the program, but he would not listen. [loathfully] Ugh. If only you and your brother had perished when your father abandoned you. Then the world would have two fewer defects infesting it.
Komatsu: [angrily] Don't ya fuckin' talk to me like that, ya goddamn bastard. [fiercely] We ain't defects! We deserve to live too!
Motoki: [passionately] Yeah, everyone deserves to live, even if they have problems. [hostilely] You don't get to judge who deserves what!
Watai: [haughtily] My entire field is devoted to the study of human behavior, so there is no better judge of human character than me. [displeased] Besides, after what you have done, you have no right to comment on the judgment of who deserves what.
Motoki: [perplexed] ...What I've done? What the hell are you talking about?
Watai: [slightly irritated] I forgot that you do not remember. [neutral] Do you know why you were truly invited to come to Gomi-san's school, Motoki?
Motoki: [grimly] ...I figured it was because of my abuse. [hostilely] What does that have to do with anything?
Watai: [calmly] You will see. [neutral] Your abuse at the hands of your monstrous stepfather was indeed part of the reason. [smiles slightly] But the main reason was actually a certain "incident" that caused your school headmaster to reach out to Gomi-san.
Hayasaka: [hesitantly] ...What happened?
Watai: [neutral] Motoki had a friend named Kana Shibasaki who she harmed. [sharply] You remember her, Motoki, do you not?
Motoki: [horrified] Yes...and she was really nice... [rubs shoulder] Did I really hurt her...?
Watai: [smiles slightly] Oh yes. One day, you were walking up a set of school stairs when Shibasaki tripped and accidentally ripped a part of your sleeve. [neutral] This was before you wore the bracelets, so your burn wounds were exposed for everyone nearby to see. [calmly] You were humiliated and began to have a debilitating panic attack. [disapprovingly] In your panic, you accidentally pushed Shibasaki down the stairs. The fall shattered her spine and completely paralyzed her. [smirks] The girl is a quadriplegic and has no chance of recovery...all because of you.
Motoki: [horrified] N-No...
Watai: [neutral] Yes. [smiles slightly] As I am sure you remember, Shibasaki dreamed to be a star football player. [smirks] She had immense talent at the sport, so it was possible for her dreams to come true...yet now she cannot even eat without assistance. [loathfully] So how dare you say I cannot judge who deserves what when you cruelly robbed a promising girl of her future?
Motoki: [desperately] You're lying...I didn't do that!
Watai: [slightly irritated] You did. [neutral] Allow me to return the memory to you so I do not have to suffer this absurd denial any longer.

He fishes around his pocket until he finds a tablet. After he presses a few buttons, Motoki convulses suddenly, just like Carrasco did after her trial.
Motoki: [shocked] Ergh...! [horrified] ...N-No...
Kawashima: [gently] Motoki-san, are you okay?
Motoki: [closes eyes to prevent tears] It's...It's really true... [miserably] Shibasaki-san...I'm sorry...so sorry...
Watai: [haughtily] Of course it is true. I truly hate when people cannot see the truth. [displeased] You have never been able to grapple with the simple truth that you are unstable, Motoki. [disapprovingly] Instead, you deny it and keep yourself going by clinging to others for support. [condescendingly] In doing so, you always seem to hurt people. First, it was Shibasaki. Then it was Eguchi, who would not have perished were it not for you going down to her cell that night. [loathfully] You should have died instead of her.

I want to bash his fucking head in.
Kawashima: [hatefully] Shut. The fuck. Up. You don't get to talk to her like that!
Bessho: [coldly] Calm down, Wakana. Umeji's right. [neutrally]
It's really a shame that Sakiko survived so long instead of one of the others...like that Tomiko girl. [disappointedly] She was such a smart girl who understood business and the value of money. She had a great sense of fashion, too. [mock sadness] Oh well...

As much as I want to bash Watai-san's head in, I'm going to have to deal with this evil bitch first.
Kawashima: [disdainfully] You shut the fuck up too.
Watai: [sharply] Calm yourself, Kawashima. [disapprovingly] It is wrong to speak so rudely to Bessho, especially when she speaks the truth. [neutral]
Niizuma might have had some potential. [calmly] Second to Seryozha, she was my favorite of you all. It is true that she worked herself too hard, but she had no great personal flaws, unlike the rest of you brats. [sentimentally] Oh, how I wish she could have survived...
Komatsu: [angrily] I don't! After killin' Ichigohara-san, she deserved to die!
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] I do not agree that she deserved death, but I do not miss her. Niizuma-san was an especially cruel person. [narrows eyes] I suppose that is why Watai-san sympathizes with her.

I agree with
Kasparov-kun. In spite of how terrible of a person she was, she didn't deserve to die. I definitely don't miss her, though.
Kawashima: [firmly] I don't miss her either.
Watai: [disapprovingly] I should not be surprised at your lack of remorse for her death, as you brats are terrible judges of potential. [smiles slightly] But your lack of remorse is rather ironic. If anything, you brats should be quite thankful to her...

What?
Kawashima: [slightly challengingly] The hell do you mean? Why would we ever be thankful to her?
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] He's probably talking about that flash drive Tomiko-san found in the secret room...remember how she refused to tell us what was on it? [looks to the side thoughtfully] She probably found important information about you on it, Wakana-san...

That does make sense, actually.
I remember how she told me it was ironic that I said she didn't deserve a second chance...does that mean she knew why I was sent to Gomi-san's school?
Kawashima: [disdainfully] Are you saying that Niizuma-san knew about what I did with Bessho-san, Watai-san?
Watai: [neutral] She had some idea. [disapprovingly] I must admit, I was very disappointed that she did not reveal what she found on that flash drive. [smiles slightly] The information on that flash drive was meant to be a wonderful bonus to any student intelligent enough to find its hiding place.
Kasparov: [sharply] What was on it?
Watai: [displeased] Do not rush me, Seryozha. [neutral] It revealed that you did not truly attend "New Hope's Peak," but rather the Daiju Gomi Academy for Youth Reformation and Rehabilitation—such a mouthful, is it not? [calmly] Anyway, with that knowledge came the reveal that each of you had something wrong with you that caused you to be sent to that wretched school. [smirks] In particular, I gave several hints as to the reasons several students were sent there...including Kawashima.
Watai: [condescendingly] That is why you should be thankful, Kawashima. [calmly] Had Niizuma revealed all that she learned, you and several others would likely have found yourself in a position similar to the one Eguchi suffered after the third trial. [smiles slightly] You would have been much more likely to become a target for murder.

I guess I should be glad she was petty and refused to tell us what was on the
flash drive. However, I doubt it was anything extremely serious...if it were, she probably would have revealed it to get
back at me.
Kawashima: [firmly] She didn't reveal what she knew, so it doesn't matter.
Watai: [neutral] Indeed, it does not. [sharply] What does matter, however, is what you brats will choose. Will you accept my compromise or will you choose execution instead?
Bessho: [bored] Yes, can we hurry it up and get to the voting already? I'm a busy woman. [casually] I wanted to be here to see my dear Wakana again, but I have business to attend to...

Shut up, or I'm going to fucking strangle you.
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] Before we do that, Watai-san must answer my question from earlier. [narrows eyes] Why do this killing game? You never answered that.
Watai: [slightly irritated] Must I explain everything myself? I told you brats through Monohebi on the first day. [neutral] The point is despair. [sharply] But do not confuse me for one of the rabid followers of that horrid Enoshima girl. [loathfully] I
despise her most of all...she is a prime example of the dangers of defects. All it took was one insane girl to destroy the world.
Watai: [condescendingly] However, I do not despise her out of moral principle. Rather, I despise her because she and her followers reveled in despair for all the wrong reasons. [loathfully] They treated the process of enacting despair as a sport, as a base spectacle. [haughtily] On the other hand, I seek to evoke despair for edification.
Hayasaka: [coldly] You maniac. How the fuck can despair be edifying!?
Watai: [loathfully] Of course you cannot see it. [neutral] A scientific experiment is by nature edifying, no? This killing game is simply my biggest experiment yet.
Kawashima: [disdainfully] This is all one big experiment to you?
Watai: [calmly] Yes. [slightly] As depraved as Enoshima was, she understood one thing quite well, and that was how to elicit despair. [smiles slightly] The model of a killing game she created is a well-documented, reproducible game that inevitably evokes despair in its participants. [smirks] It is also quite entertaining, which facilitates the usually tedious task of gaining investors. [menacingly] I chose you brats as subjects because you were easily available to me and were disposable defects. The world loses nothing with your deaths.
Watai: [smirks] That is why I placed you brats in this killing game. That is why you have those chips embedded in you. [sadistically] I want to be able to completely monitor your bodies and minds when you are at your lowest. [eye glints menacingly] I want to study despair in ways never done before! I want to understand how far the human mind can go before it breaks!

What the fuck...
Watai: [neutral] Intense, abject suffering...what does it do to a human mind? [sentimentally] The goal I have dreamt of ever since the Tragedy destroyed my life forty years ago is to find an experiment that captures what humans feel when in that agony. [scowls] But pesky ethics committees have hindered any legal path to that goal...officially approved experiments must respect a subject's physical and mental health. [displeased] How can I do that when all I want is to create despair?
Watai: [slightly irritated] For a very long time, I pushed aside my dreams and played by the rules. But eventually, I started my private experiments. [smiles slightly] I have done such wonderful work with them over the years, yet I have never been as satisfied as I am now. [smirks] As soon as I heard of the plan devised by Eguchi, I knew I had to run a killing game myself, and how glad I am that I did.
Watai: [eye glints menacingly] Never before have I been so wonderfully enlightened. The data from Carrasco, Niizuma, Eguchi, Terajima, and Oyamada has been nothing short of irreplaceable! [haughtily] And now, with my donors' funds and subjects supplied from Bessho-san, I will be able to make as many as I want going forward! Nothing can stop me!
Motoki: [horrified] This is awful...
Komatsu: [grimaces] Yeah, this dude seriously gets off on torturin' people? [angrily] Yer fuckin' crazy!
Watai: [neutral] If that is true, then so are many others. [calmly] As you know, this game has been broadcasted to a very large audience. [neutral] At first, I was somewhat put off by the large viewership. [smiles slightly] But then I realized...the viewers see you brats for what you truly are: vile defects, stains on humanity. [sadistically] They watch because they agree that delinquent brats deserve suffering. They watch because they agree the world would be better off without you!
Kawashima: [hatefully] That isn't true. You're projecting!
Watai: [calmly] ...Perhaps. I cannot claim to know the exact details of my viewers' motives for watching and my donor's motives for funding...but if I cannot, then neither can you. [smiles slightly] What I do know, though, is that my ideas are spreading. [smirks] Perhaps now my fellow scientists will see that experimentation unhindered by those pesky ethics committees is an under-explored territory. [sadistically] I hope that unhindered science will flourish! As long as the subjects are not true humans, who cares what happens? [eyes glint menacingly] Perhaps one day, we will even be able to eliminate "defects" entirely and have a perfect society...

That makes me shiver. He's fucking deranged...but more frighteningly, he's influential. How many people are watching this killing game right now and
absorbing his abhorrent ideology?
Komatsu: [fiercely] Shut up, ya evil dick! If ya don't shut up, I'm gonna beat yer fuckin' face in!
Hayasaka: [glares at Watai] I hope you do, Yutaka-kun. I can't stand to listen to his delusional nonsense anymore.
Watai: [slightly irritated] Please, he cannot harm me. If he does, I would simply kill his rat brother. [condescendingly] And it is not delusional nonsense, you hideous cow. [haughtily] But I suppose it is futile to say that...you cretins will never understand true science. [slightly irritated] Hmph. I suppose any further discussion of research with you ignorant children would be in vain. [sharply] So, tell me: do you brats accept my compromise? Or will you reject it?
Motoki: [miserably] I don't know...every option is terrible.
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] If we accept, one of us gets tortured forever and only one hostage leaves...if we reject, we die and the hostages stay trapped here...if abstain we all die, and Bessho-san murders the hostages and steals their organs...
Komatsu: [tears up] I jus' wanna see us all free...I wanna see all the hostages live...
Kasparov: [covers eyes] ...If only things could be so easy. [softly] It is not an easy choice, but...I believe it would be best to accept the compromise and vote for one of us to stay.

He's right. There's no good option, but that's the least bad one.
Kawashima: [reluctantly] I agree with Kasparov-kun. We should accept.
Watai: [neutral] That makes two votes for accepting. [sharply] Komatsu, Motoki, Hayasaka, what do you wish to do?
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] ...I guess I accept.
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] Me too...
Komatsu: [wipes eyes] I don't wanna, but...everythin' else is worse...so I accept.
Watai: [smiles slightly] A unanimous vote. How wonderful. [sadistically] Now comes the fun part: who among you will you choose to stay?
Bessho: [casually] I hope it's not Wakana. [mock sadness] If she never got to see how much her family and former friends hate her now, it would be such a shame...

I want to yell at her to shut up, but I can't bring myself to. If I do get out of here...what will I do? Where will I go? I'm disowned, so I can't back to my parents' house. My grandparents are all dead, so I can't go to them. Bessho-san might be lying about all my former friends hating me, but...she might be telling the truth. Who will I live with? How will I get by?

I'll have to pay my own rent...I'll have to forever live with a tarnished name. How can I do that...how can I go on?

Why should I go on?

Kawashima: [seriously] You should vote for me. My hostage, Meiko...she's so young. She deserves to live, especially with what Domoto-san sacrificed. [distantly] Besides...I deserve to suffer for all I've done.
Komatsu: [tears up] But Reiji...I can't let him die...
Motoki: [miserably] I can't let my mom go either...I don't what I'd do without her...
Hayasaka: [hopefully] ...Wait a minute. Maybe we don't have to choose. [confidently] If we all vote for one other person and none of us votes for the same person, then we can cause a tie. [passionately] That way, we can beat the system!
Watai: [displeased] No. A tie is not acceptable. [slightly irritated] If we have a tie, I will simply repeat the vote until there is no longer a tie. [haughtily] Do not think you can beat me so easily! I will not be outwitted again.
Motoki: [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] ...Then who do we choose? [miserably] How can we leave one of our friends to suffer? [closes eyes to prevent tears] How can we leave if it means condemning our hostages to die?
Komatsu: [stares at floor] I dunno, Motoki-san...it's so fuckin' horrible...

It is horrible, but I think I know the best choice.
Kawashima: [distantly] Just vote for me. [sadly] Like I said, I deserve it most after the horrid shit I did for Bessho-san. My hostage is also the most vulnerable. [tears up] So please...pick me to stay. It'd be the most just outcome...
Kasparov: [covers mouth with hand] ...I do not believe that is true.
Kawashima: [puzzled] ...Huh? [slightly challenging] How is it not? I worked for a global organ trafficking ring that's mutilated and killed who knows how many people. [sadly] Even if I didn't know what I was doing, I still caused harm. [slightly challenging] So how can you say I don't deserve torture after that!?
Kasparov: [firmly] Of course you caused great harm, intentional or not. I do not deny that. [presses finger to temple] What I contest is that this is the outcome that would bring the most justice. [covers mouth with hand] Do you know what I think would be true justice? Working to smash this horrid organ trafficking ring run by Bessho-san. [firmly] That would do far more good than staying here.

If only I could do that...
Kawashima: [puzzled] But how could I do that? [distantly] I don't remember anything about it...
Hayasaka: [twirls hair pensively] Watai-san can give memories back like he's done to Sakiko-san, Tomiko-san, Yuzuki-san, and Mayumi-san...so there must be some way to bring the removed memories back. [seriously] I agree with Sergey-kun. I don't think voting for you would be right, Wakana-san.
Kawashima: [slightly challenging] Then who? None of you deserve the suffering Watai-san would put you through like I do.
Motoki: [miserably] No one deserves that sort of suffering...
Kawashima: [sadly] No, no one deserves it. [distantly]
But that doesn't matter, because we have to choose someone anyway.
Hayasaka: [looks to the side thoughtfully] .......... [seriously] ...We should at least take as much as time as we possibly can to make the decision. [twirls hair pensively] We can't rush something this important...
Bessho: [bored] You most certainly can. [casually] As I said, I'm a busy woman. I can't be bothered to stay here forever. [amused] Umeji, why don't you give them a time limit?
Watai: [neutral] I was planning on it. [slightly irritated] You brats have five minutes, starting now. Do not take any longer. If any person does, I will consider them to have abstained. [smirks] We remember what happens as a result of abstention, do we not?
Komatsu: [sweats nervously] Fuck...only five minutes... [desperately] Everyone, please vote for me! [tears up] I can't let Reiji die...if I do, I'll never fuckin' forgive myself...
Motoki: [grimly] I don't want to stay here, but if that takes my mom dying...then I don't want to leave either. [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] Maybe you all should just vote for me. [miserably] I got Eguchi-san killed, so I definitely deserve it...
Kasparov: [regretfully] But is I who set the stage for that situation to occur, Motoki-san. [covers mouth with hand] If we must choose, then I believe I would be a sensible choice. [regretfully] Not only have I done reprehensible things, but I am destined to die anyway unless Watai-san or Bessho-san have somehow obtained the antidote to my poison. [firmly] Vote for me, so that the four of you may live. Saving me would be a waste.

That is true...Kasparov-kun will die unless he somehow manages to get the antidote to the poison he took. I don't know if he would take it even if he had the choice.
Komatsu: [grimaces] But what 'bout yer hostage? No offense to Unetani-san, but she's old. [rubs back of neck] Outta all the hostages, she's the one who's lived the most life. [stares at floor] It'd be shitty to choose her to go free when there's three children who've barely even lived yet.
Motoki: [miserably] But if we choose one of the children to go free, then my mom will die... [closes eyes to prevent tears] If I lose her, I'll be as good as dead myself...I can't live without her...
Komatsu: [wipes eyes] I'm sorry, Motoki-san...but we gotta think of those kids...we can't let all three kids die...
Hayasaka: [tears up] I don't think I can ever choose...this is too much...
Watai: [smirks] ..........

There he is, fucking smirking. This is what he really wants. He wants us to
agonize over this decision until it breaks us.
And it'll work...if we choose one of us to die to save their hostage and leave all the others to die, we'll all be broken. There's no winning this game.

We can't choose yet...we have to put this off as long as possible.

Kawashima: [seriously] Everyone, please wait to vote. We can't do it until the last minute.
Bessho: [bored] That is a dangerous game, Wakana. [smiles wickedly] You would not want to risk abstaining by accident, would you?
Kawashima: [hatefully] Shut up. [firmly] Everyone, I can think of some way to win. I know I can.
Motoki: [perplexed] ...What? [rubs shoulder and looks down sadly] But there's no way to win...
Komatsu: [grips jacket tightly and stares at floor] Yeah...this is hopeless...
Kawashima: [distantly] ...Just give me time. I can come up with something.
Watai: [condescendingly] Foolish girl. There is no way to win.

There is...there has to be...but what is it?

NON-STOP DEBATE

Truth Bullets: Cafeteria Photo, Subject #982's Profile, Staff Photo, Subject #974's Profile, Furuhata Videos, Bodies in Morgue, Flash Drive Contents

Watai:
[scowls] The last trial was a humbling experience for me, it is true, but I have come out of it stronger. [haughtily] I told you brats that I will not be outsmarted again, and I meant it.
Komatsu: [stares at floor] ..........
Watai: [condescendingly] There are no more weaknesses in my rules for you to exploit, nor is there a
loophole in this final vote. [menacingly] So, stop hesitating and vote!
Motoki: [miserably] ..........
Bessho: [bored] It is tempting to imagine there's a way out of this, but it'd be best to give up already. [casually] Why prolong your suffering when you can put an end to this killing game with the vote?
Hayasaka: [looks down glumly] ..........
Bessho: [coldly] All you've done since the beginning is whine about ending the game...now's your chance. Vote and be done with it. [smiles cruelly] You gotta condemn some people to tragic fates, but oh well! Making sacrifices is a part of life.
Kasparov: [sadly] ..........
Watai: [haughtily] I hold the power here. I set the rules. I control who leaves, who stays, who dies, who lives. [sharply] I will never allow you to leave without participating in this vote, so get to it already. [eye glints menacingly] Surrender to your despair! There is no way to beat this killing game!

Is there...Is there really no way to beat him after all? Do I really have to accept that all five of us can't get out of this alive? And that we have to consign all but one of the hostages to death? I can't do that...but his rules won't allow any option to get us out of this.

Answer: None

He's right. There's no way to beat him.

Not within his rules, at least.

But I'm tired of following Watai-san's rules. I refuse to allow any him to harm me or my friends any longer. I'll do anything it takes to stop him for good!
***

I'm not sure if it's bravery or stupidity that's coursing through me as I step off the podium and rush behind Watai.

The old man turns around, shocked by my sudden approach. "What are you—?"

I grab his collar in one hand and head in the other and smash his head into the wooden podium before he can finish. "FUCK! YOU!" I scream.

"Th-This...i-isn't...!" he sputters, blood pouring down his face. "You...You dare hurt me!? That demands punishment!!"

He swiftly pulls out a remote control and moves to press it, but I throw it to the ground and shatter it with a stomp."You're not hurting any of us anymore," I snarl, smashing his head into the podium again. "Not on my fucking watch!"

"Y-You'll pay...f-for this," he seethes, his loathful eyes bulging out of his head. "I'll fucking kill you, brat!"

"Not if I kill you first," I growl.
I smash his head into the podium several more times, leaving more and more crimson on the varnished wood and earning a weaker protest from Watai each time. When he stops resisting, I continue holding his limp, moaning form tightly as I look around me. Kasparov stares at me in a mix of amazement and sadness, Hayasaka in disbelief, Komatsu in silent shock, Motoki in fear, and Bessho in contempt.

"You dumb cunt," she says hatefully. "Do you really think you'll get away with that!?"

"Yeah, I do," I say, feeling electric with adrenaline. "Because the only power Watai-san and you held over us is psychological. At any point since you two showed up, we could've punched you motherfuckers in the face, but we felt so trapped by your fear that we couldn't even move." I shake my head at our foolishness. "But you were too bold to show up here unarmed. The simple fact is, Bessho-san, there are more of us than there are of you."

Fear strikes her face, but she immediately suppresses it. "My men won't let you harm me."

"Your men aren't here right now," Motoki says as she slowly steps off her podium, glaring at Bessho.

"There are traps in the trial room," Bessho says, barely able to mask her desperation. "Umeji needed them in case one of you acted up during a trial."

"I don't think we should worry about that," Hayasaka says as she steps off her podium as well. "If they were going to go off, they would've activated the second Kawashima-san hurt that old bastard...but they didn't." She glances at the limp Monohebi robot slumped over on his throne. "And it looks like Watai-san deactivated Monohebi when he showed up here, so Monohebi's AI can't do anything either."

"The controls for the traps, and everything else, are surely in the Control Room," Kasparov says. "Watai-san had that remote control as well, though he was not fast enough to activate them when Kawashima-san snuck up on him." He smiles at me. "You know, Kawashima-san, your words reminded me of an experiment Watai-san told me about once.

"A man named Martin Seligman once had an experiment where he placed dogs on an electrified grid," Kasparov continues as he too steps off his podium. "There are more details, but the important part is that eventually, the dogs would not try to escape the grid even when they had the opportunity to because they expected that there to be no way out." He approaches Watai and me, glaring at his former mentor. "Watai-san expected us to be like those dogs, paralyzed with fear and unable to act." He grabs Watai from me and punches his mentor across the face, earning a small groan from the man. "But we are not helpless."

Komatsu chuckles. "Holy...Holy shit...will we actually get out of this?" His face lights up in elation as he steps off his podium too. "Is that really possible?"

"NO!" Bessho snaps, losing her cool. "I don't care what Umeji said, if you brats so much as touch me, I'll torture you and your hostages for months and then sell every bit of your bodies. Every bit!" She jabs her finger in my direction. "And you. You nasty fucking cunt. I'll make it EXTRA agonizing for you! I'll whip you every day! I'll find your family and friends and brutally rip every one of them to shreds! I'll—"

Motoki socking her across the face shuts her up. "Don't talk to Kawashima-san like that, you old bitch!" Motoki-san, that's the most beautiful thing you've ever done.

"Yo, Kasparov-kun, can I get a crack at the geezer?" Komatsu says, cracking his knuckles as he comes around the circle of podiums. "I said I'd beat the shit outta the mastermind if ever found 'em, didn't I?" He grins hatefully. "I wanna show this fucker that I don't make empty promises."

"Let me join," Hayasaka says. "I wanna fuck him up too."

Kasparov smiles as he lets Watai slump to the floor. "Certainly. But only if I can participate as well."

The three of them proceed to beat the ever-living shit out of Watai. But, as much as the sight of him being clabbered to oblivion pleases me, I have other scores to settle. I turn to Bessho to find her crawling away from Motoki, moaning. She's reaching for a cell phone. Trying to call her goons? Not today.

I stomp on her hand, feeling several satisfying cracks and earning a shriek from Bessho. "You're not getting out of this, bitch," I say. I pull on her hair to lift her face off the ground and punch her hard. And then I do it again. And again. And again. It hurts a lot, but the feeling of her blood on my hand is perhaps the sweetest sensation I've ever experienced.

That euphoric feeling is interrupted by Bessho's weak chuckle. "What's so fucking funny?" I ask her harshly.

She spits out a bloodstained tooth before responding. "Oh, nothing...just that...I silently alerted my men...as soon as you hit Umeji..." She chuckles again. "Ha...when they get here...you and your friends...oh, you're so fucked." She gives me a bloody smile. "You're right, Wakana...it was stupid of me...to come here unarmed. But I'll get my revenge...I'll torture you so much...you'll beg to die...but I'll keep you alive...and then I'll torture you some more."

"She's lying," Motoki says fearfully. "It's just a bluff!"

Bessho smirks. "No...they'll be here any minute." Right then, the elevator chimes. She cackles. "Haha...Hahaha...HAHAHAHAHA!! THAT'S THEM!! YOU'RE FUCKED!!"

All of us freeze as the elevator doors slowly open. Fuck, her goons are gonna be there and they're gonna round us up and torture us until we fucking break and then—

"Wakana," my big brother Keicho says, ringed by a multiethnic group of armed people in bulletproof vests. "You're alive!"

At first, I'm too shocked to move. "K...K-Keicho..." I let go of Bessho and stand up. "You're..." I can't help but run and embrace him.
"You're here!" I say through joyful tears, "You really made it...I thought I'd never see you again..."

I can tell he is barely resisting
the urge to break out into tears as he hugs me back. "I thought the same...but we're here."

For a long moment we are locked in that joyful embrace, but Keicho eventually gently breaks out of it, wiping his eyes as
he surveys the room. "I see you took care of the trafficker and the mastermind for us."

"We sure as hell did," Komatsu says, breathing heavily. I look over and see that Watai is little more than a bloody, motionless pulp on the ground now. Serves that motherfucker right.

"Is he dead?" Hayasaka asks, wiping sweat off her brow.

Keicho approaches them and shoots Watai's body several times. "He is now."

"If only his death could have been more agonizing," Kasparov says. He spits on Watai's corpse. "But at least the world is rid of him."

Hayasaka spits on his corpse too. "Yeah. I'm glad this evil, bigoted monster is gone forever."

Motoki goes over to them and spits too. "I wish we could kill him a million times. He'd deserve each death."

I follow suit and spit on Watai. "Yeah, but at least we got the honor of doing it once."

Komatsu spits on Watai as well and kicks him one last time. "Rest in piss, motherfucker!"

There's a moment of silence as we all enjoy the fact that the mastermind is finally gone. "Wait...where are Bessho-san's guards?" Motoki asks Keicho and the others. "You have to be prepared for them!"

"They've all been taken care of," one of the other people, a dark-skinned woman with layered braids, says proudly. I can't believe it...they really got in here and killed all her guards? Her guards were definitely pretty competent, so Keicho and his companions must have combat experience.

Bessho blanches. "...No. That's not possible." Her face twists with rage. "My guards are the best in the business! No one could just fucking take them out!"

"They could with time and preparation, and a study of your predictable habits," The woman with braids says. She narrows her eyes at Bessho. "We've been looking for you for a long time, Asako Bessho. You'd be untouchable in your criminal stronghold back in Japan, but you're proud. You couldn't resist the opportunity to gloat to this girl and see her break down." She gestures at me. "And so you left to go to a vulnerable island in the Northern Pacific...where you are certainly not untouchable."

Motoki looks back and forth between them, perplexed. "Hold on...do you two know each other?"

"This poor excuse for a woman does not know me, but she knows my name," the woman says. "Don't you?"

Bessho seems confused, but then recognition strikes her. "...N-No...you...you can't be..."

"Lindiwe Gumede, yes," she says. "And I'm going to be the one to finally bring you to justice."

Absolute terror strikes Bessho. "N-No...I track you...you should be somewhere in fucking Indonesia! Not here!!"

I don't know who this Lindiwe is, but if she makes Bessho-san terrified, then I'm with her.

"We were," Keicho says, "but there was a change of plans."

I'm loving this, but I have to know what's going on. "Wait...why is she so scared?"

"I hunt human traffickers," Lindiwe explains. She nods to Keicho and then to the group of people standing near the elevator. "So do your brother and the others over there."

"So that's why the bitch is terrified," Hayasaka says, smiling at Bessho. "She's scared of being held accountable for her crimes."

Bessho is nearly shaking as she gets to her knees. "Please...have mercy..." she begs. "Don't hurt me..."

"You'll find no mercy from us," another one of the armed people, a woman in a hijab, says. "Not after what you have done."

Bessho closes her eyes, cursing under her breath. "Then if you want to kill me, just do it."

"You don't deserve a quick death," Lindiwe says. "We will keep you alive so you can tell us everything about your organization and how we can undo it. Only then will we kill you."

That visibly scares Bessho more than anything else, but she doesn't verbally resist. Instead, she bows her head and backs up against the wall. "O-Okay then...I'll turn myself in. I'm going to get to my feet now. Don't shoot me, alright?" She slowly stands, keeping her hands against the wall as she does. "Take me in now."

Her giving in so easily seems...unlike her. We have to be extra careful.

Then I notice the way she is slowly moving her hands on the wall, as if searching for a special spot. Wait a minute...the traps she mentioned. She must be trying to manually activate one! "Everyone, watch ou—"

A loud bang and a bright flash nearly knock me off my feet. Fuck...what the...was that a stun grenade!?

I try to look around, but I'm so disoriented that even turning slightly takes a ton of effort. Where's Bessho-san!? We can't let her get away!

I first look to the elevator, but she's not there. I make a considerable effort to turn towards the throne and see her ascending it. "She's trying...to reactivate Monohebi!" I call out as I stumble towards the throne. "Stop her!"

I hear the others slowly regaining their senses too as I ascend the stairs to the throne. "You won't get away, bitch!"

"Yes I fucking will," Bessho screams as she tries to push me away, but I headbutt her. Stunned, she falls back into the seat of the throne as I wrest the Monohebi robot away from her and cast it aside.

"No, you fucking won't," I spit at her. I notice the presence of everyone else behind me. "You're surrounded. You can't escape."

Bessho glares at me hatefully and grips the sides of the throne, and then her face changes. What the...? I look down and see there's a big red button on the armrest labeled "GRAND EXECUTION: LAST RESORT." She cackles. "I can still win!"

"NO!" I shout as I grab her arm. I'm fast, but not fast enough. Bessho presses the button before I can stop her.

When she does, there is silence at first. Then, a loud rumbling sound fills the room. "You're all fucked," Bessho says with a delirious cackle. "Truly fucked!"

An automated message in Monohebi's voice rings out over the loudspeakers. "Self-destruction in T-minus 5 minutes. Grand execution to commence shortly."

"Self...destruct?" Hayasaka repeats, her eyes wide.

"Grand execution!?" Komatsu says, his eyes even wider.

Motoki looks around, terrified. "No...oh no....this place is gonna explode, isn't it!?"

Lindiwe swears in a language I don't understand. "Everyone, we need to get to the exit immediately!"

"Wait, the hostages!" Komatsu says. "We gotta get them too!"

"They've already been evacuated to our ship," Keicho says, patting Komatsu on the back. "Come on, let's go!"

"And bring Bessho," Lindiwe says, pointing at the old woman. "She's not getting the mercy of dying in the self-destruct."

Bessho chuckles. "That's not gonna take me out, you dumb bitch. Why do you think it's called 'grand execution' and not 'mastermind execution?'" She smirks. "Umeji and I came to an agreement that if the killing game were ever truly compromised, we'd execute both of ourselves and all the students." Her smirk grows. "As soon as the grand execution starts, all the students and I will die!"

I gasp. "No..."

Bessho cackles. "Hahaha...you're doomed, Wakana. You and all your stupid fucking friends!"

Motoki is nearly hyperventilating. "We...We're all gonna die!"

"This close to the end, and we're gonna die anyway?" Hayasaka says, on the verge of tears.

"Perhaps not," Kasparov says. "Everyone, follow me!" He runs into the elevator.

"Goin' upstairs ain't gonna help," Komatsu says, "those clamp things that drag people to their execution are definitely up there too!"

"They might not be able to reach inside the elevator," Kasparov says. "It is a gamble, but one we must take. Come!"

Having no choice but to believe him, the rest of us follow him inside. Lindiwe lags behind, dragging the struggling Bessho behind her. "Don't resist," Lindiwe mutters. "Come on!"

"You'll never take me alive," she shrieks, biting Lindiwe's hand. Crying out in pain, Lindiwe instinctively releases her. Bessho runs away, ascending the throne again. "I'll fucking die here! You'll NEVER get me!!"

Lindiwe steps forward to detain Bessho again, but stops at the sound Monohebi's voice coming on the loudspeaker again. "T-minus 4 minutes until self-destruction. Grand execution to commence in 20 seconds."

"Lindiwe, come on!" the woman in the hijab shouts. "You have to leave her!"

Lindiwe gives Bessho a murderous glare. "I will destroy everything you made, Asako Bessho," she says, her voice dripping with pure and utter loathing. Then she turns around and steps inside the elevator. Motoki immediately presses the button to close it.

"T-minus 10...9...8..." the loudspeaker Monohebi says as I lock eyes with Bessho on the throne.

The elevator doors start closing. "7...6..."

She came back here because she wanted to gloat to me. "5..."
She wanted to see me break down and give her a good reaction. "4..."
I gave that to her already, but not anymore.
So, instead of glaring at Bessho, I give her an unimpressed, detached look. "3..."

Even from this far away, I see the look of disappointment on her face.
"2...1..." The elevator doors close.

Immediately the sound of metal banging on the elevator doors makes me jump. However, the elevator rises unaffected. I let out a sigh of relief. "You were right, Kasparov-kun...the clamps couldn't get in here."

Motoki chuckles humorlessly. "So the killers could've just gone in here if they wanted to escape...seems like a design flaw."

Not really, because Monohebi could've easily killed them whenever they got to the first floor.
The thought of that fills me with tension.
Shit, let's hope the clamps don't try to get us on the first floor too...

I wait anxiously as we ascend, but thankfully nothing grabs us when the elevator doors open. They probably can't grab anything up here unless Watai-san or Monohebi were to activate them, but that's not possible anymore.

"T-minus 3 minutes," the Monohebi loudspeaker voice says.

Keicho drags me out of the elevator towards the door to the Basement. "Come on, we have to hurry!" he says.

I run shortly behind Lindiwe and Keicho to the Basement stairs, down the stairs, past the Freezer and the wreckage of the elevator, past the individual cells, past the Trash Room, past the Boiler Room, and into the Garage. That short run alone brings up many memories. All our friends' bodies are stored in the morgue in the Freezer...Eguchi-san died in one of those cells...Terajima-kun killed himself in that elevator...so much has happened just there.

The sight of one of the garage doors blown open and the feeling of the cold draft coming from it distracts me from those thoughts. "Out that way!" Lindiwe shouts as she runs through the doors into the long corridor beyond.

"T-minus 2 minutes," the Monohebi loudspeaker voice says.

As we run through the long car-sized corridor beyond the garage doors, a strange feeling comes over me. I'm leaving behind my classmates...my dead friends...and this traumatic experience in this killing game. It's a strong mix of emotions, but I don't have time to process it. I just try to focus on the light at the end of the literal tunnel, growing closer with each stride.

When we get to the end of the tunnel, it's cold and windy and I'm out of breath from running, but still I laugh at the sight of sunlight for the first time in weeks. "The...the sun," I say, staring at it until I have to close my eyes.

"T-minus 1 minute," the Monohebi loudspeaker voice says as we stop. So those loudspeakers are still out here, too...

"We have to go!" Keicho says, grabbing my hand and leading me on a rocky path down to a boat moored on a tiny dock. We run past the corpses of several men with guns. Must be Bessho's men. Good riddance, motherfuckers! I kick one as I pass.

When we get to the boat, we all quickly climb in. As Lindiwe, Keicho, and their companions start the boat and begin sailing in the direction of a larger boat farther offshore, I notice that there is a monitor on the side of the boat. Inspecting it more closely, I notice it has a label at the top labeled "Punishment Time: Grand Execution!" This must be the live stream of the killing game...

Execution #7: Chemical Lobotomy

The execution is nearly over, but I see Watai's corpse and Bessho's very much living body strapped to a seat at a chess table, each playing against a Monohebi robot. It must be a pre-programmed one, given that the main Monohebi AI is deactivated.

There are five other empty tables where I and the others would've gone if the execution had been successful. Bessho and Watai both have IVs and a variety of syringes filled with ominous-looking chemicals around them. They are doing nothing to Watai, but Bessho has already been injected several times. She moves erratically and her eyes are discolored and bulging from her head.

Bessho makes a move. The Monohebi robot immediately responds. She makes another move, and the Monohebi robot captures a piece. A syringe injects her and she convulses, which makes me
smile. It feels good to see her in pain.

Bessho makes another move, and Monohebi robot captures another piece. She convulses from this injection, too, but also starts to froth around the mouth. A disturbing discharge leaks from her eyes and drips onto the board as she makes yet another move.

However, this one is checkmate—the Monohebi robot takes her king and knocks all the other pieces off her board with its tail. Bessho looks positively terrified as every chemical around her gets injected into her at once. This time, her convulsions start immediately and only grow more intense as she writhes in pain. She opens her mouth to shriek, but only spews bile and vomit as she lets out her dying gasps. Serves you right, you evil bitch.

It's then I notice the timer in the corner is close to the end. 3...2...1...DEATH!

With that, the live stream cuts off.

A deep rumbling sound emerges from the direction of the island. Then, the unassuming building where we were imprisoned for the last month is blown apart in a fiery explosion.
I stare at the explosion intensely, watching the bright fireball grow and eventually die down to a plume of black smoke.

"It's over," Motoki says after a long moment. Silent tears stream down her face.

"I can hardly believe it...but yeah," Komatsu says, tears forming in his eyes. "It's really over..."

"And we made it," Hayasaka says, smiling as she begins to cry too. "I only wish...I wish there were more of us here."

"So do I," I say. I think of all of my dead classmates. Furuhata-kun, Yamaguchi-kun, Aozora-kun, Carrasco-san, Ichigohara-san, Niizuma-san, Eguchi-san, Terajima-kun, Oyamada-kun, Sashihara-kun, Domoto-san...I wish you were all here. I wish you could feel the sun again.

"Seeing the sun...breathing fresh air...I forgot how sweet it feels," Kasparov says with a weak smile. "I'm so glad...I could experience it again...before...before I..."

He falls over.

Chapter 6: Freedom's Bitter Taste
END
Niizuma, Terajima, Hayasaka, Furuhata, Komatsu,
Oyamada, Aozora, Kawashima, Domoto, Kasparov, Ichigohara, Sashihara, Motoki, Eguchi, Yamaguchi, Carrasco
Inmates Remaining: 5

Completed: 3/18/23

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"Is he still alive!?" I ask apprehensively as we finally make it to the deck of the ship. It's the hundredth time I've asked the question in the last ten minutes, but I can't help from worrying. Please please don't be dead, Kasparov-kun.

"He isn't dead, but he's close," the woman in the hijab, whose name I've learned is Sinta, says as she and Keicho hoist Kasparov onto a stretcher.

"Is he gonna live?" Komatsu asks, worried. "Are ya guys gonna be able to save him!?"

Another one of the people on the boat with us, a man named João Pedro, places a hand on Komatsu's shoulder. "We have good medics on this ship. If he can be saved, he will be."

Keicho and João Pedro lift the stretcher and walk him down the deck. Sinta and one of the last people from the boat, a middle-aged woman named Noxolo, guide us through a nearby door. It's warm and dry inside, which is a welcome respite from the cold mist and sharp winds we've endured on the open water. Sinta gently directs us to a bench, where the four of us sit.

"The hostages," Motoki says as soon as we're seated, "where are they? Are they okay!?"

"They're fine," Sinta says. She looks around at the several hallways that lead into the room. "I'm not sure where they are, though. I'll find them and come back."

"I'll stay with them," Noxolo says to Sinta as she seats herself on a bench across from us.

After Sinta leaves, it's silent for a while. "...Thank you, Noxolo," Hayasaka says eventually. "You and everyone else...for saving us."

"Of course," Noxolo says with a gracious nod of her head. "But don't give us all the credit. You had already taken care of Watai and incapacitated Bessho before we got there."

"That was mostly Kawashima-san," Motoki says. She gives me a small smile. "It was really brave of you to go up and hit Watai-san like that."

"Yeah, if hadn't done that, we prolly woulda voted like Watai-san wanted," Komatsu says. He shudders. "I'm so fuckin'
glad that didn't happen..."

There's a long silence again. Then, the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps from one of the hallways grabs my attention. Soon enough I see the source of the footsteps: a tan woman in her early sixties with her graying hair in a high ponytail. "Oh, there you kids are!"

She rushes forward, kneels in front of our bench, and pulls all four of us into a hug. "Ever since the killing game began broadcasting, I've been so worried! Every time one of you died, I sobbed. I was ready to give up hope...I thought that damned Watai would kill all of you." She wipes away tears. "But five of you made it out! I'm so, so glad..."

I appreciate this woman's care for us, but I have no idea who she is. "Uh...not to be rude, but...who are you?"

"Oh!" she says, breaking away from the hug. "I completely forgot about that." She smiles at us. "My name is Aoi Asahina! A long time ago, I was the Ultimate Swimmer at the original Hope's Peak." Her face darkens. "Sadly...I understand the pain and the horrors you've gone through all too well. I was a survivor of the very first killing game."

I knew the name Asahina sounded vaguely familiar. "I'm sorry about that, Asahina-san," I say.

"Please, just call me Hina," she says, "but thank you." She frowns pensively. "It's been nearly fifty years, but I can still vividly remember that whole ordeal." She shivers. "It'll never leave you...but you'll learn to live with it. You have to." She gives us all a reassuring smile. "But you won't be alone! Because the five of you will have each other. And me!"

"The five of us?" Hayasaka asks. "Does that mean Sergey-kun will live?"

Noxolo and Asahina exchange a nervous glance. "Well...we honestly can't say for sure," Noxolo says seriously. "We have the antidote to the poison he ingested, but we have to be careful with it. If he ingests too much or too little, he'll die."

Asahina puts on a brave face. "That's true, but I believe he'll live! Many years ago, my friend Kyoko Kirigiri was on the brink of death and she was brought back. I think your friend can be saved like that too."

That's not as certain as I'd like, but it's better than him being certainly doomed.

"Sorry for changin' the subject," Komatsu says, "but do ya know where the hostages are?" He taps his foot anxiously. "I really wanna see my bro again."

"Same," Motoki says. "I need to see my mom."

"I completely get it," Hina says understandingly. She starts to tear up. "I had to meet up with them as soon as they got on board. I thought I'd lost Megumi forever...I didn't know what I'd do without her..."

"Megumi...you mean Unetani-san?" Hayasaka asks. "Do you know her?"

Asahina chuckles. "Do I? She's my wife!" She smiles tearfully. "I haven't seen her in over a year...and now she's finally back." She wipes her eyes. "I only left her side to see you kids." She stands. "C'mon, I'll take you to them!"

I pause right after standing up. "Wait a minute...you haven't seen Unetani-san in over a year? Has…Has it been that long since we were kidnapped?"

Asahina nods sadly. "Yes. Those memory surgeries Watai had Dr. Sumanth perform on you all took a really long time." She turns to Noxolo. "Speaking of that...Noxolo, what day is it?"

"November 7th, 2057," Noxolo responds grimly. "If I've been following correctly, that means they don't remember the past two and a half years."

We stand in stunned silence. "I wish I could kill that Watai motherfucker again," Komatsu says, clenching his fist. "Not only did he steal our memories from school, but he also stole another year from us by doing that horrible surgery on all of us."

Motoki looks ready to cry. "It's so unfair...we can never get those memories back..."

Asahina and Noxolo look at us pitifully. "I feel your pain," Asahina says. "Enoshima did a similar thing to me and my classmates. I can never get those memories back...but I could make new ones. You can make new ones too." She gives us a supportive smile. "Starting now! C'mon, let's meet the hostages!"

She leads us down the hallway she came from, which is extremely narrow and has low ceilings. Whenever we pass one of the crew members, we have to squeeze to the side so they can pass.
Whoever made this hallway was seriously concerned about conserving space.

A few tight turns down the hallway later, I see Sinta coming from the opposite direction. "Oh, Hina, you got them," she says.

"Yep!" Asahina says. "I'm taking them to see the hostages."

Sinta nods. "I'll check in on their friend, then." She hurries past us.

I'm tempted to follow her to see how Kasparov is doing, but I don't. I'd only be in the medics' way if I went with her. All I can do for now is wait.

Finally, Asahina stops in front of a door. "They're in here," she says, as she opens it and gestures for us to enter.

Inside, I see Unetani and the other four hostages sitting around a table. As soon as we come in, Komatsu's brother snaps his head in our direction.
"Y...Yutaka-nii!" the boy says incredulously. He sprints over to Komatsu and embraces him. "Ya made it out!!"

Komatsu begins to cry as he hugs his brother back. "R-Reiji...I thought I'd lost ya forever...I ain't gonna leave you alone ever again."

Reiji punches his brother in the shoulder weakly. "Ya better fuckin' not!" He begins to bawl into Komatsu's chest. "I was so fuckin' scared...I had to live by myself...don't ya ever fuckin' leave me like that again..."

As they embrace tearfully, Motoki's mother stands up slowly.
"...Sakiko," she says softly, "You...You're here..."

"Mom," Motoki says weakly as she rushes over to her mother and wraps her arms around her tightly. She tries to say more, but all that comes out is a series of choked sobs.

Unetani rises, embraces Asahina softly, and kisses her on the lips.
"Aoi, darling," she says dreamily after breaking off the kiss, "it's so nice to hold you again."

"No talking," Asahina says. "Only kissing." They proceed to do just that.

It's really heartwarming to see the two of them reunited with the people they care about most. But that heartwarming feeling is dashed by the sight of Meiko Domoto and Dairoku Furuhata seated at the table, both with blank, faraway expressions on their faces.

After exchanging a worried glance with Hayasaka, we approach the two of them. "Hi," Hayasaka says as she sits next to Dairoku. "I'm Mika Hayasaka."

"I'm Wakana Kawashima," I say as I sit next to Meiko. "We were friends with your siblings."

The two children say nothing at first. "Yuuto-nii is really dead, isn't he," Dairoku says flatly. He continues staring forward, his hands resting on a long white cane.
That's right, he's blind. I almost forgot about that.

"...Yes," Hayasaka confirms sadly. "He's gone."
He and the other hostages were imprisoned with no contact for a while, they probably had no idea who lived and died until now. He must've only recently found out his brother is dead...

A single, silent tear falls down the boy's face. "...I figured." He picks up the cane from beside him on the bench and slowly stands. "I think I wanna be alone."

"Otoha-nee too?" Meiko asks quietly as Dairoku mournfully walks away. She looks over at me with big, teary eyes. "Is...Is it really true that she's gone too?"

It breaks my heart to do it, but I nod. "Yes...I'm sorry, but yes." I
pull the girl into a hug and pat her back as she sobs. I wish there was more I could do to help her, but nothing can change that her sister's dead.

After a long moment, Meiko's sobs subside as she pulls away from the hug. "Was...Was her death bad?" Meiko asks as she wipes her red eyes.

She was ripped apart by Monohebi robots, but despite that...she wasn't scared in the end.
"The mastermind tried to break your sister, but she was unafraid, even in death," I say instead of answering directly. "She...She was so brave. She and another one of our friends sacrificed themselves so that we could live." I do my best to hold back tears, but I feel them coming anyway. "We owe our lives to her and to him."

"She's right," Hayasaka says as she reaches across the table and takes Meiko's hand gently. "Without your sister and our other friend, none of us would be free right now."

The girl smiles painfully. "Otoha-nee...she was always so brave..." She starts to cry again. "I don't know what I'll do without her..."

Hayasaka comes around the table and hugs her. "I lost my big sister, too," she says softly. "I was about your age...I didn't think I'd be able to go on with my life." She rubs the girl's head reassuringly. "You will, okay? I'll make sure of it."

Meiko responds by nodding through her sobs.
The poor girl...I can't imagine the pain she's going through. Losing a sibling must be so horrible...I hate that Meiko and Dairoku have to go through this, especially at such young ages. I think of Motoki and her mom, Komatsu and his younger brother, and Unetani and Asahina.
At least there were some happy reunions, though...

I want to be happy for them, but...I can't help but feel bitter. My parents fucking disowned me. How do I ever move on from that?
"Excuse me," I say as I stand up and leave the room. As soon as I find an empty room, I step inside and close the door behind me.

At first I keep my composure, but before I know it I'm slumped against the door, sobbing loudly.

What do I do now? My parents disowned me...how could they do that? How could they fucking do that!? Even though I'm sure Bessho-san set me up well, how could they believe her over their own daughter? Keicho still believes in me, so did they really fucking ignore him too? How could they give up on me so fucking easily!?

And what about Yuriko? What does my little sister think about me? Does she hate me now? What about my friends? Would they spit in my face if they ever see me again, or did Bessho-san lie about that? Maybe she did, but I doubt it...

A knocking on the door disturbs me from my misery. "Go away," I say hoarsely.

"It's me," Keicho's voice says.

I slide over so I'm not blocking the door, wiping away tears as I do. "Come in."

He enters, closes the door behind him, and sits next to me. "Did seeing the reunions make you think of Mom and Dad?"

It's such an obvious question that I can't but let out a humorless laugh. "What do you think?"

"Sorry, that was a silly thing to ask," he says awkwardly. He lays a hand on my shoulder. "Yuriko believes in you, by the way. She wishes she were here, but...there was no way she could leave Japan when she's still a minor."

That makes me feel better, but not much.
My brother and sister may not despise me, but everyone else I've known almost certainly does.
"And Mom and Dad? How do they feel about me?"

Keicho hesitates. "I won't lie and say it's all positive feelings."

"Do they hate me?" I ask. I brace myself for the answer.
It's one thing to think that they hate me...but if he confirms that they really do, I'd feel a thousand times worse.

"No," he says, and immediately I let out a sigh of relief. "They have a lot of complicated feelings, though."

There goes any sense of relief I have.
"Like what?"

"Bessho set you up good, and it made you look really bad," he says. "When the news broke...they were devastated, Wakana. All of us were." He wipes his eyes. "All our other relatives, all our friends...they all were disgusted. Many of them abandoned us or vandalized our house." He wipes a tear from his eye. "It was hard, Wakana...but it was hardest on Mom and Dad. They both got fired and lost all their friends. They were broken, Wakana."

"And that gives them the right to disown me?" I ask, feeling more anger than sadness now. "How could they fucking do that to me!?"

"I'm not defending it, but they felt they had to," he says. "That was the only way they could get a job. You don't remember, thankfully...but your story was everywhere. Everyone, even the owners of small konbinis, knew about it. Mom and Dad were both unemployed for months before they resorted to disowning you." He rubs my back. "They don't hate you, Wakana...they're just bitter that your mistake did so much harm."

A profound sense of guilt replaces my anger. "...I'm not sure that's any better," I say.

"Yuriko and I can help you if you ever want to meet up with them again," he says. "And if not...that's okay, too."

"What if they don't accept me ever again?" I ask miserably. "What if they continue to disown me until the day they die?"

Keicho rubs my back. "...You'd still have Yuriko and me. The three of us will still be family. But...family doesn't have to end with us. You can find family in other places. After all...family isn't really about blood. It's about connection more than anything else."

Yeah, I guess that's true...there's a difference between relatives and family. Even if Mom and Dad don't want anything to do with me anymore, it's not the end. It'll hurt like hell. It'll be a wound I'll never heal from. But...I'd still have my siblings. I could always make new friends, too. So as much as it would hurt, it wouldn't be a death sentence.

"I guess I'd make things work either way," I say, "but I really hope they don't turn me away."

"Same," Keicho says. "But either way, you'd make it."

We sit in silence for a long time. Eventually, there is a soft knock on the door. "Who is it?" I ask, rubbing my eyes, as I get to my feet. I open the door to reveal Unetani on the other side. "Oh, Unetani-san."

She bows slightly. "Kawashima-san," she says solemnly. "I want to apologize."

"For what?" I ask.

"For not realizing Watai-san's true character," she says. She looks down, ashamed. "I was his coworker, but never once would I have guessed he was such a vile, repugnant man. If I had realized who he was earlier, many lives would be saved."

"It's not your fault he was a good liar," Keicho says. "The blame lies on him, not you."

Unetani frowns. "Perhaps...but that doesn't stop my guilt." She sniffles as she pulls something out of her pocket. "I think you should have this."

She places a photograph I immediately recognize in my hand.
It's the full photo of Eguchi-san and Furuhata-kun on the bench...I never thought I'd see the full thing.
Sure enough, Watai is the person sitting next to Furuhata. Unetani stands next to Eguchi. So she was the one with the running watch...
A man who I recognize to be Gomi sits on the other side of Watai.
He's smiling happily, completely unaware that the man next to him is a bigoted maniac. I feel bad for him...

"I'm sure you're wondering why I want to give this to you," Unetani says.

"...Yeah, kinda," I say.

She turns the photo over, revealing writing on the back.
We cannot help everyone, but we must try.
"Gomi-san wrote that," Unetani says sadly. "He used to always say it. It was the school's unofficial motto."

"Oh...I see," I say. It's a simple phrase, but it's powerful. "Thank you."

"Of course," she says, averting her eyes. "I'll be on my way now." She turns away, then pauses and turns back around. "Oh, I nearly forgot...Kasparov-kun is awake. The others are with him."

I breathe in sharply. "Really? Is he okay!?"

"I'm not sure," Unetani says, "I know they were attempting to give him an antidote, but I do not know if it will work."

"Let's find out," Keicho says. "C'mon, Wakana, I'll take you to him."

As I follow behind him, I feel a mixture of hope and fear.
Kasparov-kun could either be saved or on the verge of death right now...

When we get to the room Kasparov is in, I find Motoki, Hayasaka, and Komatsu crowded on one side of the bed and Lindiwe, Noxolo, and a doctor I don't recognize on the other side. Thankfully, Kasparov is still alive, but he looks the worst I've ever seen him. His face is ghastly pale, he's breathing shakily, and he's sweating so much he looks like he just came out of a pool.

"Kasparov-kun," I say as I join the others at the bedside. I go to take his hand, but notice his eyes are closed. "Wait...is he—"

"Don't worry, Wakana-san, he's still alive," Hayasaka says. "He fell back asleep a few minutes ago."

"Can we be sure he'll wake up again?" Motoki asks nervously. "He took a lot of that poison...we might've been too late in getting him the antidote..."

I look over at Lindiwe, Noxolo, and the doctor. "Is it too late? Is he going to live?"

Noxolo repeats the question to the doctor in a language I don't understand. The doctor responds for about thirty seconds. Once she's done speaking, Noxolo nods and turns to me. "The antidote has been administered correctly and seems to be working. He will very likely survive, but the poison has already damaged his body severely. He should recover enough to move quickly, but a full recovery will likely take weeks or months...if he fully recovers at all."

"Shit, is he gonna have side effects for the rest of his life 'cause of this?" Komatsu asks with a grimace.

Lindiwe frowns. "Unfortunately, that is a likely outcome. But it is not a certainty. For now, all we can do is wait for him to awake again."

As if on cue, soft groans emit from Kasparov's mouth. Seconds later, his eyes flutter open—barely. "Am I...alive..."

"Yes, Sergey-kun, you are," Hayasaka says excitedly as she takes his sweat-slicked hand. "You're gonna make it!" She hesitates. "Most likely, at least."

He lets out a chuckle, or at least attempts to. "Ha...I suppose...that's...good." He looks over at Lindiwe and the doctors and bows his head slightly, looking ashamed. "I am sorry...for making you...go through...all this trouble. I should have...never taken...that poison."

"No, you shouldn't have," Lindiwe agrees. "But do not apologize. If anyone should be doing so, it is us." She looks down solemnly. "We should have come sooner."

Noxolo nods sadly. "We were too slow...I hope you can forgive us."

"There's nothing to forgive," Hayasaka says. "You guys saved our lives. We'll forever be in your debt for that."

"We woulda voted if ya hadn't come when ya did," Komatsu says with a grimace. "I don't think we can repay that."

"Even so...I wish we could have saved more lives," Lindiwe says sadly.

"You did all you could," I say reassuringly. "You risked your lives to kills Bessho-san's goons and storm the prison. You saved us and the hostages from certain doom."

"Yeah, you did more than enough," Hayasaka says.

Lindiwe and Noxolo both still seem unsatisfied. "I suppose," Noxolo says uncertainly.

Hayasaka returns her attention to Kasparov. "Also, Sergey-kun...you said you regretted taking the poison. Does that mean you want to live now?"

Kasparov considers for a moment, then nods slowly. "...Yes, I...I suppose I do. Being so..near death has...made me realize...how much I want to live. I still have...so much...I want to do. So much..." He chuckles weakly. "I cannot believe...how foolish...I was."

That warms my heart more than anything. I was nervous he still didn't want to be saved. "I'm really glad you've reconsidered," I say.

"Me too," Motoki says happily.

"Same here," Hayasaka says, wiping a tear from her eye. "I know all too well how things can get so bad that all you want to do is end everything...but I'm really glad you changed your mind." She squeezes his hand. "I'll be here for you if you ever feel like that again."

"So will I," Komatsu says seriously. He takes Kasparov's free hand and shakes it. "I'll support ya in any way I can, dude. Don't ya forget it!"

"I will too," Motoki says.

"Me as well," I say. I mean it, too...I don't want him or any of my friends to ever feel like that again. And if they do, I'll do my hardest to help them in any way possible.

The doctor says something to Lindiwe, smiling. "What's she saying?" Motoki asks curiously.

"She says that witnessing your bond makes her happy," Lindiwe says. "And I have to say that I agree with her."

"Me too," Noxolo says.

After a long while, João Pedro comes in and tells us food is ready. He then leads all of except Kasparov to a small dining hall where us, Hina, the hostages, and other crew members eat a spicy and hearty stew.

"It's strange," I say in between bites of my stew, "not eating in the Cafeteria."

"It is," Komatsu says, filling up his bowl with another serving, "but goddamn does it feel good. Everythin' tastes better!"

"Everything is better," Hayasaka agrees. "I feel like someone's lifted a heavy weight off my shoulder that was there for the past month. Everything seems so much easier now."

Motoki chuckles dryly. "The power of being free from a maniacal snake trying to get you to kill your friends." She tries to smile, but it disappears. It looks like something's bothering her...

When I'm nearly done eating my stew, an older woman in her early sixties and a young blond in his late twenties approach the table. "Excuse us," the older woman says, "but is it alright if we sit with you?"

"Uh...sure," I say.

"Who are ya?" Komatsu's brother asks bluntly.

"Reiji, be nice!" Komatsu scolds. He gives them an apologetic look. "Sorry, he really ain't the best with manners..."

"It is alright," the blond man says as he takes a seat. "It is nice, actually. He reminds me of my younger siblings."

The woman sits beside him. "To answer your question, young man...my name is Wen He."

Hold on, that name sounds familiar. "Wait...Wen He? Aren't you one of the doctors who worked with Dr. Sumanth?"

"Indeed," she says gravely. She gestures to the blond man. "His name is Andreas Larsson."

"Larsson...that's the name of the other guy who worked with Dr. Sumanth," Hayasaka says. She turns to face Andreas. "Are you related to him?"

"Yes...Anton Larsson is my father," Andreas says, ashamed. "I am here to apologize for his part in the creation of that memory surgery."

"And I am here to apologize for my part," Dr. He says remorsefully. "Jayantha only meant for it to be an exercise...if he had known the terror that would be released, he would have never asked me and Anton for help. Your killing game could have never happened without the memory alteration procedure, so in a way I am partially responsible for it." She bows her head in shame. "Please...I hope you can forgive me."

"It ain't yer fault," Komatsu says. "Ya didn't make Watai-san run a killin' game. He decided that by himself."

Dr. He doesn't seem fully satisfied by that. "I suppose..."

"Did you really come all this way to apologize to us?" Motoki asks. "You didn't need to do that..."

"I was already working with Lindiwe's organization," Dr. He responds. "We both have been."

That surprises me. "Really? Why?"

"I cannot return to China," she says sadly. "I am not welcome there, or in most countries for that matter. People typically either see my scientific exploits as an affront to humanity or only want to use me as an asset for their own personal gains." She fiddles with her hands. "Here, I'm safe and can do good. I help victims of particularly nasty traumas erase their memories of it."

"And I am a therapist," Andreas says. "The memory surgery takes too long to be a viable option for everyone, so I serve those who don't undergo it. I speak many languages, so I can talk with most people we encounter and help them. It is the least I can do to atone for the evil my father has done."

I don't want to police how he's feeling, but it seems like he's overreacting a little. "I mean...your dad was just helping Dr. Sumanth out. You shouldn't feel so bad about—"

"He is not so innocent," Dr. He interrupts. "Jayantha kept all of our research documents secret so minimal people could learn to replicate the surgery...but after he was presumed dead, Anton betrayed him. He stole those documents and sold copies to the highest bidders."

"Now, the number of people who can do that surgery has grown exponentially," Andreas says seriously. "Intel gathered by our technical team has led us to believe that number includes two mysterious associates of Watai who work as a team."

...What?
"Are you serious...? He had two other associates besides Bessho-san!?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Andreas says.

"But how would we not know about that?" Motoki asks, perplexed. "Watai-san gave us so much evidence for the last trial, we should've learned if he had any other associates then..."

Not if he deliberately hid them from us. "Not necessarily," I say. "If they weren't directly involved in the killing game, he'd have no reason to provide evidence that'd allow us to identify them."

"Exactly," Dr. He says. "We're unsure of what relation these mysterious individuals have to Watai...all we can be sure is that he outsourced the development of Monohebi's AI to them."

Komatsu looks confused. "Huh? I thought Eguchi-san made Monohebi."

"She designed him...but I don't think she coded him," Hayasaka says. "At least, not the version we encountered. Her plan for Monohebi had a radically different personality...it's possible that she made a base version that Watai-san had his two mystery associates perfect."

A sobering realisation strikes me. "Wait a minute...they have access to Monohebi's AI and most likely got the documents to learn how to wipe people's memory," I say. "If they have those resources and are wealthy enough to buy the documents, then..."

"They could do another killing game," Motoki says, looking sick.

Andreas nods solemnly. "Yes. However, it is only speculation at the moment. There is no solid proof these associates are planning anything. In fact, accounts we know to be associated with them have been dormant for some time now." He frowns. "However, there is no guarantee they themselves are inactive."

There is a moment of silence as everyone digests that information. There are two people out there who were somehow associated with Watai-san who have lots of money, Monohebi's AI, and the ability to perform the memory surgery. I don't want to be pessimistic, but that sounds like a recipe for a disaster.

"Who could these associates be?" Hayasaka wonders aloud. She looks at Unetani and Asahina farther down the table. "Do you guys have any idea who they can be?"

Unetani shakes her sadly. "Sadly, no. All the staff members of the Daiju Gomi Academy for Youth Reformation and Rehabilitation were killed either in the kidnapping or by Watai-san's experiments, so it cannot be them. Beyond them...I have no idea who Watai-san could contact."

"Neither do I," Asahina says with a pout. "Maybe your friend Kasparov does...but even if he doesn't, I'm sure someone can get to the bottom of this."

"Really? Who?" Motoki asks.

"My friend Kyoko Kirigiri!" she says excitedly. "She used to be the Ultimate Detective. If anyone can figure out who these people are and if they're planning a killing game, I'm sure it's her!"

"But what if she can't figure it out?" Reiji asks loudly. "What then?"

Asahina hesitates. "I guess...I guess that'd mean no one can figure out who they are." She shakes her head. "But even she doesn't, I'll definitely stop any killing game they start!"

"For our sakes, let us hope so," Motoki's mom says quietly. "I could not bear the thought of one more person being subjected to the horror of a killing game..."

Motoki takes her mom 's hand and squeezes it. "Same..."

"You all may understandably worry...but please believe in Hina," Unetani says. "In the years following the Tragedy, imitation killing games were sprouting up like weeds. Hina and her friends have stopped too many to count, most of them before they even began. Yours was a rare exception."

Asahina looks embarrassed. "Oh, Megumi, you know I don't like to make a big deal of it...it's all I can do after what I went through." Her face hardens. "She is right, though. I'm dedicated to stopping killing games wherever they may start...I would've come here even if my wife wasn't a prisoner. So trust me, if these asshole associates of Watai-san's think they can do a killing game, best believe I'll stop it!"

"Hell yeah!" Komatsu says. "I believe in ya, Asahina-san! And if ya need my help, don't even think twice 'bout askin' me. I'll definitely be there!"

"Me too," Hayasaka says. "I'll do anything to stop any killing games in the future."

Komatsu cracks his knuckles. "Yeah, I'll gladly beat the shit outta anyone who thinks they can run a fuckin' killin' game!"

"I don't want to do any fighting, but...I believe in you too, Asahina-san," Motoki says.

Asahina-san's past with shutting down most killing games is reassuring, but it doesn't completely quiet my worries. Help didn't come for us until the very last moment...how can I be sure that help would even come at all in a killing game these associates plan? Or if it did, that it wouldn't be until the last moment like with us? Our killing game seems to be an outlier in that sense, though...so I guess it'd be best to hope for the best. "I trust in you too, Asahina-san," I say.

After that, the feeling of tension that had permeated the air since Andreas revealed the existence of two other people connected with Watai dissipates, but doesn't go away completely. Both of them seem to have concealed their identities very well, which makes me worried. It takes a smart and cunning person to do that...and those are two traits any killing game mastermind should have.

As people begin leaving the dining hall, I notice that Motoki still looks troubled by something. "Hey...what's up with you? Are you worried about those two mysterious associates of Watai-san's?"

"Sort of...but it's not what I'm worried about right now," she says. "I'm...thinking. About the future." She pauses. "I think we should talk about this outside."

"Why not here?" I ask.

She hesitates. "I just...want to be outside as much as I can after being trapped inside for a month."

I have a feeling that's no the full reason, but I won't fight it. "Fair enough," I say. "Let's go to the deck, then."

She and I say goodbye to Komatsu, Hayasaka, the hostages, and everyone else we know still there and make our way out to the deck. It's not as cold as earlier, but it's still chilly. The wind is stronger than earlier, but it feels good. I'd take these chilly temperatures and the wind over the stagnant, oppressive air of the prison any day.

"I appreciate the smallest things now," Motoki says pensively, staring at the open ocean. "Smelling sea salt...feeling the wind ruffle my hair and clothes...seeing the sun and clouds...it all feels so incredible."

She's right. Even the simplest natural sights feel like great privileges to experience now. "It's funny how you don't truly appreciate things until they're taken away from you," I say.

"Yeah," Motoki says, still staring out at the ocean. "So, uh...Kawashima-san. I guess you're wondering why I wanted to talk to you out here."

"I am," I say. "What is it you want to talk about?"

Motoki waits for a long moment, then finally looks at me. "We should break up."

"Oh," I say, feeling like someone just stomped on my heart. "Oh, uh...okay."

"I'm sorry," she says apologetically, averting her eyes. "It's not your fault, honest. It's just..." She sighs deeply. "What Watai-san said in the trial...it was like having someone dump cold water on me and awake me from a dream. For the first time in a while, I finally see things about my life clearly." She sighs again. "I hate it, but...he's right. I'm unstable. I cling to others for support."

"Watai-san was a depraved monster," I say firmly. I take her hands. "Motoki-san, don't give those words too much stock. He said those words to hurt you."

She frowns. "He did...but they only hurt so much because they were true." She looks me back in the eyes again. "Please, don't get the wrong idea. I still care about you. A lot."

"Then...why are you breaking up with me?" I ask, feeling tears forming in my eyes. "If we both care about each other, why should we break up?"

Tears start forming in her eyes, too. "Because...I'm not ready for you, Kawashima-san. I'm not ready for anyone. If we stay together while I'm like this, I'm...I'm scared I'll hurt you." She removes her hands from mine and wipes her eyes. "I have to learn to be happy alone, independent of a relationship. I need time without someone to latch onto romantically and depend on for my happiness. That's the only way I can sort out my issues."

"But...I want to help you, Motoki-san," I plead. "I can be by your side while you work on yourself!"

She shakes her head sadly. "How could I try to fix myself while I'm in a romantic relationship? I'd never improve."

"We could try," I say, feeling tears run down my face. "I...I don't want to give up on us."

"Neither do I," Motoki says tearfully. "I don't want to do this, Kawashima-san. I really don't want to. But I have to." She takes a deep breath. "Besides...this doesn't have to be the end. We can't be together now, but...we could be in the future, someday."

"But...I want to be together now." I feel like a spoiled child saying that, but it's how I feel. I don't want to wait.

"We can't," Motoki says. She kisses me on the lips. "I like you a lot, Kawashima-san...but we have to wait. Maybe someday."

With that, she steps away from me and walks back inside. It takes all my strength to not follow her back inside. Motoki-san...why...after all we've been through, you're choosing now, to break up with me?

The tears flow freely down my face as I collapse onto the nearest rail. Fuck...why did things have to be this way? Why doesn't Motoki-san want me anymore? Why can't we be together!?

Why should you be together? a voice in my head asks. Why do you need her so much? How well do you even know her?

That thought initially makes me scoff. I know a lot about her! What kind of silly question is that? But the more I think about it, the harder it is to answer. There's so much basic stuff I don't know about Motoki-san...what part of Japan is she from? What's her favorite food? Her favorite color? What kind of music does she listen to? Does she prefer reading novels or watching movies? Is she a cold weather or hot weather person? I really care about Motoki-san, but...how in love with her can I be when there's so much I don't know about her?

That makes me cry even harder. ...What have I been doing? If I really loved Motoki-san, I should know at least these things about her by now. The fact that I never thought to ask...fuck. My feelings about her aren't even genuine, are they?

No, they definitely are. I do care about Motoki-san a lot. I just...don't really know her as well as a girlfriend should. It hurts to admit that, but it's true. We rushed into things...Motoki-san's right to slow them down for now. But...w hat if it's not only for now, though? What if we stay apart for good?

I suppose...I suppose in that case, I'd have to accept it and move on. I hope not, though. I want to be with you, Motoki-san.

The tears stop then, but I still stay hunched over the rail for several minutes. The very real possibility that Motoki and I will never get back together sours most of the positive feelings I've had since escaping. Part of me almost wishes we were back inside so I could still be with her. I know that's crazy, but...I can't help it.

I'll wait for you, Motoki-san. Not forever, but for a while. Even if it takes months or years for you to be ready again...I want to be the woman by your side. I hope you let me. If not...that's okay. I'll find happiness somewhere else. But no matter what happens, I'll always have a special place in my heart for you.

I finally stand up straight and look over the horizon. I stare out over the open sea for a long while until I feel a tap on my shoulder.

Turning around, I see Lindiwe. "Oh...hi."

"Is now a bad time?" she asks, obviously noticing that I've been crying.

"No...it's fine," I say. "I'm done crying now."

Lindiwe nods slowly. "...Alright," she says, not looking eager to press. "Would you mind coming inside? It's warmer in there."

I've become numb to the cold out here, but I probably should get inside now. "Fine by me," I say monotonously.

She leads me inside to a small, private room with a setup like an office: there's a desk, an office chair behind it, and two folding chairs in front of it. "So this is your office, huh?"

"Something like that," Lindiwe says. She gestures to one of the folding chairs. "Come, sit down."

I sit in front of the desk as she sits behind it. "So, uh...what do you want to talk about it?" I rub my eyes. I hope this doesn't last too long. I'm not in the mood for a long conversation right now...

"You don't look to be in the mood for talking, so I guess I should get to the point," Lindiwe says. "I want you to join my team on this ship."

That takes me aback. "...Huh? Why?"

"To hunt human traffickers, of course," Lindiwe says matter-of-factly. "Bessho may be dead, but her network is very much alive. And there are many others besides her. "

That sounds like it'd be a really good thing to do, but...I'm not sure I'd be up for it. "I don't know if I'd be any use," I say. "I don't even know how to handle weapons."

"We could teach you," Lindiwe says. "Your brother had no experience when he joined us a year ago. I'm sure you could learn too."

"Maybe," I say uncertainly. "Listen, I don't mean to be rude...but all I want to do is go home." I sound like a spoiled kid again, but that's all I really want at this point. I probably don't even have a home to go back to due to being disowned, but I don't care. All I want is to be back in my home country so I can feel even the smallest ounce of familiarity. "I want nothing more than a mundane, humdrum life somewhere back in Japan."

Lindiwe frowns. "Oh...I suppose no one explained the situation to you."

"What situation?" I ask, confused.

"We can't go anywhere near Japan," Lindiwe says regretfully. "Not in this ship, at least."

What, can this ship not dock or something? "Why not? What could possibly—"

"This is a stolen American ship," Lindiwe interrupts. "It is a long story, but the previous American commander of this ship was a particularly nasty trafficker. Once we disposed of him and all of his complicit crew members, we took over. That upset the Americans, so this ship is banned from entering any ports of the US or its major allies."

What the...we're on a stolen ship right now!? "Are you serious? You stole this ship!?" I stand up. "Now I want to get off even more. Sorry, but I don't feel safe here. The Americans could try and take it back at any point!"

That seems to amuse Lindiwe. "Oh, they tried. But ironically enough, this ship is equipped with the most revolutionary stealth technology. Once we ripped out all its trackers and replaced the original communication systems, it's become very difficult for them to find." She gestures for me to sit back down. "There's no danger, Kawashima-san. The Americans consider this ship a lost cause, so they're no longer actively looking for it. However, if we sailed into the waters of one of their ally nations, that might change."

I stay standing. "...That's not very reassuring. What if they come looking again?"

"That is very unlikely," Lindiwe says. "You would not know, but things have grown very unstable in the West in the last few years, particularly in America. They have far greater problems than a ship stolen years ago." She shrugs. "I know this situation is not ideal, Kawashima-san, but you are safe here. Do you think your brother would have allowed us to bring you here if you'd be in danger?"

That's a good point...Keicho was always very protective of me. He wouldn't've brought me here if he'd think it was dangerous. And he definitely wouldn't have let those kids on this boat. "...Okay," I say, gingerly sitting back down. "I don't like the idea of children being on this boat, though..."

"Nor do I," Lindiwe says, "which is why they and anyone who wishes to disembark may do so at one of our known safe points. From there, they could return to Japan if they wish."

"Where will that be?" I ask. "It must not be far, since I'm sure you'll have to refuel."

"I'm not sure for now, but it'll be somewhere in Southeast Asia," Lindiwe says. "This ship's very fuel-efficient, so we'll be able to make it." She smiles. "It runs almost entirely on renewable energy, too. The wonders of 21st-century technology."

Southeast Asia, huh? That's not really very close, but it isn't terribly far from home. "Sorry, but I think I'm going to get off there," I say. "I don't really think I'd be helpful to you. I don't remember anything from my time working for Bessho-san...I'd be useless."

"You wouldn't be," Lindiwe says. "As I'm sure you've noticed, people from my crew come from all over the world. Many are Zulu like me and Noxolo, but many are not. Sinta is Indonesian, João Pedro is Mozambican, Dr. He is Chinese, Andreas is Swedish, your brother is Japanese—I could go on. Every single person brings their unique perspective and talents to table. Every single person, no matter who they are, has a role where they can help. The role you'd be best at might not be immediately obvious, but it's there. I'm sure of it."

"Why are you so sure of me?" I ask. "I'm just a stupid high school girl who was duped by my evil boss into helping run her criminal scheme."

"You are many things, Kawashima-san, but you are certainly not stupid," Lindiwe says. "I saw some of those trial livestreams. You are incredibly smart young woman whose intelligence and insight will only grow with age. I don't simply want you on my crew, Kawashima-san. I need you."

I don't see why I'm so special... "I doubt that," I say. "I'm sure you have plenty of smart people already. I doubt I'd do well if I joined."

"I don't," Lindiwe says with conviction. "I see potential in you, Kawashima-san." She pauses. "You know...our stories are not so different."

That makes me perk up. "Huh? Really?"

"Really," she says. "When I was seventeen, I had a boyfriend. He was terrible, but I was young and naïve. I refused to see his true colors...his true intentions with me." She looks down gravely. "One day, he tried to kidnap me. My older sister—who was really more like my mother—chased after him. She stopped him, but it came at the cost of her life." Lindiwe wipes a tear from her eye. "When our parents died, it was her who stepped up to care for me. All she ever did was love and help me...and I led her killer right to her."

Hearing that breaks my heart... "I'm so sorry, Lindiwe," I say compassionately. "That's horrible."

"It is," she says sadly. "From a logical standpoint, I know it was his fault in the end. He was the one who had bad intentions and who dealt the killing blow. But even so...I cannot help feel like it was all my fault." She wipes her eye again. "That guilt'll haunt me the rest of my life...but I have one thing to console me. Every day I work to prevent anyone else from being in the same situation."

That explains why she's so motivated to take out human traffickers. "So...what happened to that man? The one who killed your sister?"

"It turned out that he had many other victims in nearby villages," Lindiwe says. "So, a group of affected women and myself tracked him down and killed him in the street."

Deserved. "Good," I say. If he was a serial offender like that, jail wouldn't be enough.

"Noxolo reached out to me not long after that," Lindiwe continues. "After she heard of what I had done, she asked me to join a group she was a part of. An organization dedicated to hunting human traffickers."

"The group you're leader of now," I say.

She shakes her head. "I'm not officially the overall leader—we think it's better if there isn't one. I'm just someone a lot of people look up to."

That sounds like being the leader to me...

"Anyway, the point of that story is that I believe you will follow a similar trajectory if you join us," Lindiwe says. "Like me, you were manipulated when you were young and naïve, leading to terrible consequences. I know you must feel terrible shame and that there is nothing you can do to assuage it..but I promise you, Kawashima-san, this struggle is far better than wallowing in guilt for the rest of your days."

She's right, I do feel horribly ashamed. I don't know if I could ever show my face in my hometown ever again...maybe not anywhere in Japan. I want to go back so bad, but it'll never be the same...I'll live every day being judged and hated by everyone who knows my identity. Could I really live a life where everyone condemns me after hearing my name or seeing my face? Where I'll have to explain to everyone I meet that Bessho-san's exaggerated claims were false? Where no one will ever treat me the same?

I'm almost tempted to say yes right then and there, but then I remember Motoki. She'll definitely go back to Japan with her mom...if I choose this path, I won't see her for a long time. She'll probably move one from me, or worse, I might move on from her. I don't want to do that...I want to be her forever girl. I know it's immature and selfish to want that, but I can't help but hold out hope that we'll love each other someday...

..........

...Someday. That's a desperate word, isn't it? I feel like it means never more often than not.

I can't control what Motoki-san decides. All I can do is respect Motoki-san's wish for us to be apart for a while. Honestly, I think it might be the best if we are separated by distance...if I stayed in
Japan, I'd be tempted to make the journey to visit Motoki-san, even if it was far. But with Lindiwe, I wouldn't have that option. I'd be able to move on.

In Japan, I'd be lovesick girl shunned by society. With Lindiwe, I'd be making a difference...I'd be helping make a change in the world. When I put it like that, the choice becomes clear.

"I accept," I say. "I'll join your group."

Lindiwe smiles. "I'm glad to hear it."

For about an hour or so, she and I go over the logistics of what it means to join her group—what training I'll have to do, what I'll have to wear, languages I should learn, and more. It's mostly mundane stuff, but I'm not bored for a second of it. I'm going to make a positive difference in the world. How could I not be excited about that?

When I leave her office, I step out and walk through several corridors in an attempt to find the cabin that will soon be mine. On the way there, I turn a corner and run straight into Hayasaka.

"Oh—sorry, Wakana-san!" she says apologetically. "Did I hurt you?"

"No," I say, although I'm a little dazed. "Sorry for not looking before I went around the corner..."

"I'm the one who should be apologizing, not you," Hayasaka says. She looks around, seemingly looking to see if anyone's listening. "It's actually a good thing we ran into each other, though...I wanted to talk with you alone."

I have a feeling I know what this is about... "What is it?" I ask.

"I spoke with Sakiko-san," she says. "She told me about what she's doing going forward."

Yep, I was right. "Oh...so I guess you know that we're, uh...not together anymore."

"Yeah," Hayasaka says awkwardly. "But it's not what you think. I'm not trying to get with you." She averts her eyes from mine. "The reason I'm coming to you is that I remember you said you wouldn't mind being with me if things didn't work out with Sakiko-san, but...I don't want to do that. I think that'd be a bad idea."

Oh, really? I was expecting the opposite. I'm kind of relieved, to be honest. I like Hayasaka-san, but not really in that way...I have much stronger feelings for Motoki-san and I don't think that'll ever change. "Are you going to follow in her footsteps?" I ask. "Avoid romantic relationships and work on yourself and all that?"

Hayasaka nods, still not looking at me. "I fall in love very easily...too easily. And I have a lot of issues...I don't want to make someone I care about suffer as I try to sort them out."

"That's a very mature decision," I say. "It's very hard to be honest with yourself and work on yourself." I give her a smile—but not my plastic waitress's smile. A true, genuine smile. "I'm very proud of you, Hayasaka-san."

She seemks embarrassed. "Thanks," she says. She makes eye contact with me again. "I hope we can still be friends, though. All of us."

"Me too," I say. "Although...I'll be away for a while. I'm joining Lindiwe, my brother, and the others on this ship."

"That's really cool, Wakana-san," Hayasaka says, impressed. "You'll go all around the world and help bring terrible people to justice." She frowns. "It's sad you won't even be in Japan, though...we'll barely see you."

"Yeah," I say, feeling homesick. "But I'm not ready to go back to Japan yet. I'm not ready to see my family, my former friends yet...nor am I ready to face the public scrutiny. I will be eventually, but...not now."

"I get it," she says understandingly. "I'll let you get on your way now. By the way, Yutaka-kun suggested the five of us watch the sunset together on the port side deck in about twenty minutes...you up for that?"

"Of course," I say. It doesn't surprise me that Komatsu-kun suggested that. Despite how tough he presents, he's a very sentimental person.

After the two of us part ways, I soon find my new cabin. It's small but orderly. I like it...it's everything that I need and nothing more. I like that sort of minimalism.

Once almost twenty minutes have passed, I leave and make my way through the many twisting corridors to the port side deck. When I'm almost there, Motoki opens a door and steps out right in front of me. Oh, fuck...

"...Hi," she says awkwardly, not meeting my gaze directly. "Are you, uh...going to the deck too?"

"...Yeah." I want to say more, but I have no idea what to say.

Motoki breaks the uncomfortable silence. "Listen, Kawashima-san...I know things will be awkward between us for a while. Maybe forever." She meets my eyes. "But let's try to at least be friends, okay? Even if we never get back together...I don't want to cut you out completely."

I think I'd always prefer to be more than your friend, but...that'd be nice too. "I'd like that," I say. "I want you in my life too."

Motoki blushes. "That's, uh...that's good to hear." She turns away. "Uh, let's get going to the deck, alright?"

We walk together the rest of the way. There's an unavoidable sense of awkwardness in the air, but strangely enough one of closure as well. I still really hope we get back together eventually, Motoki-san. But even if we never do, I know we'll pick the right option. I hope that's the two of us, but if it's not...I'll make peace with that.

When the two of us arrive on the deck, I nearly gasp. The whole sky and sea are stained by the gorgeous pink sunset against far away clouds.

"...Wow," Motoki says breathlessly.

"It is beautiful, is it not?" Kasparov's voice asks.

We turn to see him, Hayasaka, and Komatsu standing near the rail. Kasparov looks very weak and is heavily leaning on the rail and a cane, but he seems miles better than earlier. "You've improved a lot," I say as Motoki and I join them at the rail. "Are you sure it's okay for you to be standing, though?"

"Long as he's got someone watchin' him, he's good," Komatsu says. "And we're here for him, so he'll be fine!"

"Indeed," Kasparov says. His voice is still somewhat weak, but he sounds happy. "The antidote to that poison has worked wonders...I am very grateful for such a swift recovery." He frowns slightly. "Unfortunately, it seems the poison has caused issues with my mobility, so I will likely need a cane for the rest of my days. But other than that, the doctors here seem confident that I will have no other long-lasting effects."

It sucks that he'll likely have permanent mobility issues, but that's a lot better than dying. "You really came back from the brink of death," I say.

"Yeah, only a few hours ago we were all terrified that you'd die," Hayasaka says.

"As was I," Kasparov says. "It is strange, how I failed to realize how much I truly wanted to live prior to being on the brink of death. I thought dying would be a sort of penance for my role in the deaths of Eguchi-san, Terajima-kun, and Oyamada-kun...but now I see that would do nothing but spread more pain. I regret what I did severely, of course, but I believe there are other ways to atone."

"...Ya gonna apologize to their families?" Komatsu asks quietly. "That's what I was gonna do with Eguchi-san's parents."

Kasparov nods. "Yes. I will go to her family and to those of Oyamada-kun and Terajima-kun. I believe that is the responsible thing to do."

"Speaking of Yuzuki-san, I still can't believe she wanted to put us in a killing game," Hayasaka says. "I know it's the truth, but...I still have a hard time accepting it."

"Me neither," Komatsu says. "That jus' don't seem like her..."

"...We never knew real her, though," Motoki says sadly. "Same with Furuhata-kun. Their personalities were artificially changed, so we'll never know what they were truly like."

"I wonder if they were the only students whose personalities were modified," I say. "Yamaguchi-kun seemed so calm and methodical in his diary, but in the killing game he was loud and impulsive."

"It is a possibility," Kasparov says. "Though I suppose we will never fully know what transpired now."

Yeah. Now that Watai-san's dead, there are a lot of details we'll never know. I suppose we'll have to make peace with that, now...

"I hope there's a way to get our original memories back," Motoki says. "I'd like to have memories of our friends besides ones from the killing game. I want to remember a time when we were classmates..."

"Dr He's on the ship, so maybe she can figure somethin' out," Komatsu says. He shrugs. "I wouldn't bet on it, though...it's prolly permanent."

For a moment, we stand in silence and observe the sunset. The more the sun disappears beneath the horizon, the more vibrant and colourful it becomes. It's so gorgeous I don't even care about the chilly weather. "It's so beautiful," Hayasaka says softly. "I wish everyone else could be here to see it."

"Me too," Motoki says, tears welling up in her eyes. "I don't want to ever forget them."

"I won't," Komatsu says firmly. "I was talkin' with Hina earlier, and she was tellin' me how well she and the other two survivors left of her killin' game remember all their classmates." He wipes his eyes. "I ain't gonna forget, believe me...I'll remember 'em 'til I die. I'm sure the resta ya will too."

"I certainly will not," Kasparov says. "No matter what, I will cherish their memories. Even those of the people who I did not like."

"Same here," Hayasaka says. "I'm never going to forget them. Not ever."

"Nor will I," I say firmly.
Despite all the conflicts, all the mistrust, all the betrayal, all the murders...I'll remember every single one of the people who died.

Furuhata-kun, I'll remember how you were truly meek and caring before Watai-san twisted your personality to being brash and haughty.

Yamaguchi-kun, I'll remember your passion and your refusal to submit to Monohebi's control.

Aozora-kun, I'll remember how kind and insightful you were before the stress of the first murder overwhelmed you.

Carrasco-san, I'll remember how dramatic and theatrical you were. I'll never forgive you for murdering Aozora-kun, but I don't hate you for it anymore.

Ichigohara-san, I'll remember how you were always positive and how you selflessly chose to suffer rather than betray the group. You deserved so much better.

Niizuma-san, I'll remember how you were dedicated to hard work and never accepted anything less than the best for yourself, even if it led you to commit a horrible crime.

Eguchi-san, I'll remember the good side of you we knew during the killing game. The timid, nerdy girl who only wants to pursue her passions, not the harsh and vengeful girl who wanted to push us into a killing game. I don't have any evidence to support it, but I believe that good side was the true you before the endless bullying from your classmates drove you to cruelty.

Terajima-kun, I'll remember how you always strove to protect everyone around you. I'm sorry that the guilt of failing to protect your friends weighed on you so badly...

Oyamada-kun, I'll remember your shyness and gentle heart, and how it was cruelly trampled on by this killing game. I'm so sorry for what happened to you...

Sashihara-kun, I'll remember how you bravely stood up against Monohebi and sacrificed yourself for us.

And Domoto-san...I'll remember a lot about you. We clashed from the very beginning, but I think we understood each other in the end. Even if it annoyed me at times, I admire how dedicated you were to your principles. I wish you made it out with us...

"...Are we gonna forget each other?" Komatsu asks quietly. He looks over at me. "Hayasaka-san told us yer not comin' back to Japan for a while, Kawashima-san...and the resta us will prolly all go our separate ways once we get there." He hangs his head. "I'm worried we ain't gonna stay in contact with each other...that we'll drift apart over the years...that eventually we'll be strangers to each other..."

Unfortunately, that isn't an unlikely scenario. "I hope that doesn't happen. I want you guys to be my friends."

"Me too," Motoki says. "Very few people have experienced a killing game...besides Asahina-san and a few people her age, no one else but the five of us will understand what we went through." She rubs her shoulder sadly. "That trauma connects us now, unfortunately."

"The trauma is unfortunate, but the connection is not," Kasparov says. "I do not mean to sound too sentimental, but...if there is one positive to this miserable experience, is that I met you all." He pauses, uncertain of what to say. "I was often callous when we were in the prison, but I hope you do not hold that against me. If you can forgive my foolishness...I would like to be a friend to all of you."

"I'd like to be your friend too, Sergey-kun," Hayasaka says. She looks around at Motoki, Komatsu, and me. "The same goes for the rest of you. I don't want us to be strangers."

"Me neither," Motoki says. "I'll be a friend to you and everyone else here, Kasparov-kun. The more close friends we have, the better." Her eyes quickly dart over to me and then back to the floor. "I'll do my best to make sure those friendships last..."

Motoki-san...

Komatsu pats Kasparov on the back. "Don't ya worry, dude. I'll be yer friend!" He looks over at me, Motoki, and Hayasaka. "Same for the three of ya! I'll make sure
ya all get free front row tickets to the resta my concerts!"

"That'd be nice," Motoki says. "I've never been to a concert before, classical or normal."

"Oh, then I gotta take ya to both!" Komatsu says passionately. "It's so much fun getting' lost in the music...feelin' every note." He's nearly trembling with excitement. "Ah, I can't wait!"

Hayasaka chuckles. "Yutaka-kun, I'm getting the sense you might be the type of person who's constantly screaming and bursting into tears at concerts..."

Oh, for sure. "He absolutely is," I tease. "Make sure you bring tissues for him if you go."

The others laugh, but Komatsu seems mildly offended. "Hey, I only cry when the music's too beautiful or sad for me to hold it in! And I only scream sometimes!"

"I have a feeling you're downplaying that," Motoki says with a small smile.

"I am not!" Komatsu says crossly. "Okay, no more free tickets for any of ya!"

I hold up my hands in defense. "Alright, I take it back. Can I get free tickets again?"

"And may I?" Kasparov asks. "I did not say anything against you."

Komatsu looks at us suspiciously. "Okay...but only if ya promise to swear that ya don't think I'll cry or scream too much at concerts!"

"Well...I don't want to lie to you," I say playfully. "So no can do."

He rolls his eyes then turns to Kasparov. "And whaddaya say, Kasparov-kun? Will ya swear?"

Kasparov seems amused. "...I have no comment."

Komatsu makes a face, then shakes his head. "Okay, fine...I admit it. I sometimes get a little too emotional when listenin' to music. But I ain't that embarassed 'bout it! We all got our own odd habits."

"True," Hayasaka says. "I can't help but cry whenever I first open a new foundation."

"And I have a strange attachment to the labiodental flap phoneme," Motoki says. "It looks like a sassy letter v, so it's always been my favorite...I once even made an original character based on it when I was eleven and wrote a little story about it."

...That's kind of odd, but we all do strange things as children. "I put cheddar cheese on my rice sometimes instead of any sauces," I say.

"Yeah, and Kasparov-kun dresses like an old man," Komatsu says. "See? We all got somethin' weird."

"Wait, I do not dress like an old man," Kasparov says.

Huh? Is he serious right now?

"Uh...you kinda do," Motoki says.

"I do not," he protests. "This is simply what Watai-san instructed I wear when I come to Japan. I do not like it, but it is not too old-fashioned."

Huh? Is he serious right now? "Sorry, but it is. That suit would've been out of style before the Tragedy."

"Yeah...no offense, Sergey-kun, but you need a new outfit as soon as possible," Hayasaka says. "I can take you shopping for better clothes if you want."

He frowns, but then nods. "...I suppose." He tugs on the suit jacket. "This suit is rather uncomfortable. I always thought it was rather ugly, too." He takes off the jacket and casts it to the deck. "It would be good for me to shed any influence of that vile man. Never wearing anything he would approve of again would be a good first step."

After that, the five of us continue staring at the sunset in silence, watching the sun make its final descent behind the horizon and the slowly fading light.

"We're gonna be okay, aren't we?" Motoki asks out of nowhere.

There will be challenges, for sure. We'll be separated by distances...we'll pursue different interests...we'll find new people to care about. But despite all that, I'm certain we'll be friends forever.
"Yeah," I say. "We will."

Epilogue: That's the Way of the World
END
Niizuma, Terajima, Hayasaka, Furuhata, Komatsu,
Oyamada, Aozora, Kawashima, Domoto, Kasparov, Ichigohara, Sashihara, Motoki, Eguchi, Yamaguchi, Carrasco
Survivors: 5