"Okay gang, what shall we start with?" Kokichi asked, wearing an eager smile on his face.

"Well, if we're gonna start with anything, let's start with the messed up Saiguden I found." Junko stated. I perked up, looking at her puzzled. "Messed up? Junko, what are you talking about?" I asked. 

"Well, when we all split up to look for clues, I thought the Saiguden would be a decent place to begin searching, considering all the shit that went down their yesterday. But when I get there, I discover that it looks like elephants trampled it down and fucked it all up!" she said. Rena's eyes widened.

"Nani?! S-So, the Saiguden is...?" she murmured.

"Yeah, its pretty much trashed. Everything inside and outside was destroyed. The statues were destroyed, the weird tools and weapons were scattered, and the walls and gate were nothing but shreds of wood." Junko stated. 

"That's odd. Why would someone destroy the Saiguden?" Rin said. "Did anyone else find anything out of the ordinary while we were searching?" Near asked. "Looking at you, Kokichi." Ulric stated. 

"Huh? Ulric looks so suspicious of me. There's no need for such scary looks, you can totally trust me! I promise!" Kokichi stated.

"Hmph, like anyone is gonna believe you so easily." Mello muttered. 

"There didn't seem to be much else out of the ordinary. I mean, I saw that a couple  bottles of chemicals were not full when I looked at the science lab, but that was it." Magane said. "I've been meaning to ask you something, Magane. I see that you're holding a book. Why did you bring that here?" Near asked. I looked to Magane, seeing that she was indeed carrying a black book in her hands.

"Oh! This?" she said, holding up the book. "Gomen, gomen, it was just something I found on one of the shelves of the science lab. I got interested and was reading a bit of it." she replied.

"What kind of book is it?" Crona asked. "It's about the history of Hinamizawa." Magane replied. My eyes widened. The history of Hinamizawa? "As in the village Rena lives in?" Amaimon asked.

"Yes. It's quite a fascinating tale of all sorts of murder and blood shed. And it seems like what Rena-chan said about that Oyashiro-sama stuff is legit. About people getting spirited away by ogres or getting punished by this god is a serious thing. Some people like Rena actually believe it." Magane said. 

"You're kidding me? Other people actually believe that stuff exists?!" Rin said. "Freaky..." Kokichi said. 

"Is that true, Rena?" I asked. To my surprise, she was silent. She was staring down at the ground, with a shadow casting over her eyes. "Rena?" I said. 

"Perhaps we should move back onto track. Talking about some foolish book isn't going to get us anywhere." Kanato stated. 

"What's there to even talk about?! We all know it was Satan's proud son that burned the hell outta Zack!" Junko stated, pointing at Rin accusingly. Rin flinched, but sent her a glare. "Like I said before, I didn't kill him! I swear I didn't! If you vote for me we'll all die! I mean it!" Rin stated.

"Yeah, I'm sure anyone would say that to save their own ass. I'm impressed that you stuck with that story though. You sure seem confident that you can get away with this." Kokichi said. "I promise you I didn't hurt him! I wouldn't hurt anyone! Honest!" Rin stated. I placed a hand on my chin. Sure Zack was burned by blue flames, but that wasn't the only thing we found out. There's evidence that proves the flames didn't kill him, but what was it....?

"Come on, just cough it up already asshole! You burned Zack alive!" Junko stated. I perked up.

"No wait, that's not right!" I stated. "Huh? What do you mean?" Junko asked. "When Near inspected Zack's body, he found two large wounds. One on his chest, and one on his back." I stated.

"That's correct. And those wounds easily proved to be fatal. We even found a recording of Zack's final moments on the monitor beside the storage closet." Near said. "Whoa back up, you saw footage of his final moments?! Did you actually see him get killed?!" Junko said.

"Unfortunately, yeah, we did." Ulric said. "Problem solved then! We just look at the footage and see who attacked him!" Junko stated.

"If that were the case, we wouldn't be holding this trial right now. But I'm afraid the background was far too dark to see them. That would appear to be the case, considering the crime took place at 4 am." Near said.

"4 am? How do you know that?" Kanato asked. "It said so on the Monokuma file we received rather last minute." Mello said, hissing out the last part while glaring at Monokuma. The bear looked away and gave a whistle, as if he did nothing wrong. 

"Okay, so maybe he didn't burn to death. But then, how did the fire even start in the first place? I mean, it was blue flames for crying out loud! We heard the crash this morning, so I imagine the fire began then and there." Kokichi said. 

"That is rather odd. I wonder, I wonder, could the son of Satan had done anything?" Magane asked. 

"Ugh! How many times do I have to say it?! I didn't kill him!" Rin stated. 

".....maybe it wasn't you." we all looked to Rena, who was silent for a long while. She kept her gaze down, trembling slightly. "Perhaps it was a different being....a being so powerful, no one could stand a chance against it..." she said, clenching her fists tightly.

"Rena? W-What are you talking about?" Crona asked. 

"I told you....to apologize. Both of you. And now, you've made him mad...." Rena said. "Slow down, we can't understand you when you speak like this." Kanato stated. 

"It....it was Oyashiro-sama. He has dealt punishment upon Zack!" Rena stated. 

We all stared at her in shock. "What?! O-Oyashiro-sama?! Come on, you can't be serious!" Rin said. "You both angered him yesterday with your heated argument yesterday! Not to mention the Saiguden was destroyed! That can only lead to angering Oyashiro-sama! He must've killed Zack as punishment for his sin!" Rena stated. Her eyes had changed again to that dark, ominous expression, and her voice raised higher and higher as she spoke.

"T-That's insane! That god doesn't exist! H-He's just a myth, isn't he?! There's no way that he-" Junko said, but Rena interrupted her.

"USODA!!! (THAT'S A LIE!!!)" she screamed, making everyone jump.

"It had to be him! It just had to! There's no other explanation!" Rena stated. "Okay, then if that's the case, then what about me?! If Oyashiro-sama really wanted us punished, then why didn't he kill me too?!" Rin said. Rena suddenly wore a creepy smile, and began to giggle. 

"Don't be oblivious, Rin. Can't you see the scene Oyahsiro-sama has painted for you?" she asked. Rin blinked, seeming puzzled.

"What are you..."

"Zack was burned with blue flames, which were something only you could create. His punishment exceeded that of simple death; he wanted you executed for murder." she stated. My eyes widened. That can't be! A god can't frame someone for murder, could they?

"What?! Are you serious?!" Rin said. "That doesn't seem possible. I do not care how powerful you believe your god is, but there is simply no way a god would frame someone for murder! That's just absurd!" Kanato stated.

"Yeah, come on! I don't see how that's possible." Ulric stated. "Is it impossible?" Amaimon asked. We all looked at him, and he further explained. "Think about it. We never imagined we'd see other demons, or vampires, or wolves, or other people from completely different timelines. So how can we say its impossible for a god to be the culprit?" Amaimon asked. 

I mean, I guess that makes sense. Never have I thought I would meet people like these guys before, or be forced to participate in any sort of killing game. So....it doesn't sound impossible. But still, a god framing Rin as the culprit.....I just don't see that happening.

"Well, if this is our situation, then this is what I think; either Oyashiro-sama really does exist and killed Zack, or Rin killed him. That's the only way the fire could've started on its own while we were all downstairs." Kokichi stated. 

"But I didn't do it! I swear that I didn't!" Rin stated. 

"And how do we know that, huh? You're the only one we know that could create blue flames, and I seriously doubt that some god killed Zack! You can't sit there and tell me that doesn't sound suspicious." Mello stated.

"I mean, it does, but....but..." Rin said. Dammit, there must be something that can sort this out. Some sort of clue we missed that could clear everything up and lead us to a new path. One that doesn't lead to Rin or some god. 

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. "Concentrate...." I murmured. Think back....to everything you found. To everything you know. To everything you heard....

"There didn't seem to be much else out of the ordinary. I mean, I saw that a couple bottles of chemicals were not full when I looked at the science lab, but that was it."

I perked up. That was what Magane said. "Chemicals...." I gasped, and looked to my pocket. I pulled out the destroyed alarm clock and examined it. A broken beaker from the science lab was still duct taped on, and the clock read 8:30 am, the time we heard the crash on the third floor, and there was a lighter attached near the beaker.....

"Magane!" I suddenly said, louder then I expected, grabbing everyone's attention. "Hmm? Doshtano? (What's wrong?)" Magane asked.

"I need you to tell me something. You said there were chemical bottles not completely full. What chemicals were those specifically?" I asked.

Magane blinked. "Uh, okay, not sure why you wanna know that. Buuuuut," she said, looking up and placing a finger on her chin, "hmm, I believe it was copper(1) chloride and butane." she said. That made Near perk up.

"What? Are you certain those were the right chemicals?" he asked, giving her a serious expression. "Yep. Those were definitely it. Why do you ask?" she said.

"Those chemicals, if I'm not mistaken, when added with heat.....they can create blue flames." Near said. That made everyone's eyes widen. 

"What?! Blue flames?! For real?!" Ulric said. "Yes, I'm certain of it." Near stated.

"That's what I thought. If that's the case, then think about this; the killer killed Zack at 4 am last night, then dragged the body into the garden....and set up a bomb. One that would go off at 8:30 am. That way not only would they cover their crime, but also seem like they were innocent, and even frame Rin." I explained. 

"No way, so then....the killer planned out everything. They knew we would freak when we saw the body, and decided to lead us in the wrong direction right away, making us believe it was Rin. Not only did the blue flames put suspicion on him, but the fact that he even had a possible motive. That made him the easiest to suspect." Ulric said.

"Pow! Mind blown!" Kokichi said, pretending to make an explosion around his head with his hands. 

"I see. So if we were to go with this theory....it would prove that Rin is no longer our prime suspect." Near stated. Rin's eyes widened, and he let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness, finally...."

"Don't relax just yet. You're not completely free of suspicion either. There is still a completely possibility of you being the culprit." Mello stated. However, Rin just put on a broad smile. "That's fine. I'll take whatever I can get. And I'll still do what I can to help find the real culprit." Rin stated. 

"Right so let's keep thinking here. I am still wondering where the culprit got so much fire wood to supply the fire. Even with the bomb, it would be difficult to create such large flames as the ones we witnessed." Kanato stated.

"Ah yes, I already have an idea of the source of the fire wood. I believe those are the remains of the Saiguden." Near stated. 

"What? You mean those were leftovers of the torture chamber?!" Junko said. "I believe so. You even said yourself that it was destroyed utterly. And that entire room was made of wood, correct? If the culprit needed quick, easy access to a large supply of fire wood, then there it was." Near stated. 

"I thought the wood looked familiar. I remember seeing it when we first inspected the Saiguden." I said. 

"But then, if that was the case, what did the culprit use to cause that much damage to the Saiguden?" Rin asked. "Uh, wouldn't they use the same tool they used as the murder weapon?" Amaimon asked. Junko looked at him puzzled.

"What? What do you mean? What's the murder weapon?" she asked. "Ah yes, you weren't there when we discovered it. I found the murder weapon inside the storage closet; it was a rather large hatchet, easily two feet long, and it even had blood covering it." Amaimon stated.

"A hatchet?! You can't be serious! Where would the culprit get a weapon of that size?!" Kanato stated. "Was it in the torture chamber? I never got to go inside, but I remember you said there were a ton of weapons in there." Mello said. 

"No, that hatchet definitely wasn't in there. I would've remembered seeing something like that." Rin stated. 

"But then, where did it come from? I mean, the only other place I can think of is the trophy case. And that's not possible because Lilac had the Monokuma chips, right?" Magane said. I frowned.

"Actually....I think it did come from the trophy case." I said. Everyone looked to me in surprise.

"The Monokuma chips were at an easy access; at Johannes's grave, which Lilac made herself. She laid the bag of Monokuma chips there for him. Honestly, anyone could've grabbed them. And when we came into the room before the trial, I saw a large empty space from inside the trophy case. So....I think someone did take it from the weapons case." I said. 

"I see. So you're saying someone grabbed the coins from Johannes's grave and used them to get the hatchet." Junko stated. However, a sudden dark chuckle rang out from the room. We all looked to the source....seeing it was Kokichi who was chuckling, wearing a wicked smirk on his face.

"Huh? What's so funny?" Amaimon asked.

"Oh nothing. I was just wondering when any of you were gonna notice." Kokichi said.

"Notice? Notice what?" Rin asked. There was a moment of silence, causing the atmosphere to thicken greatly. Then, after what felt like forever, Kokichi slowly began to raise his hand.....and pointed it at Lilac.

"That bloodstain on Lilac's top." 

My eyes widened. What? Blood stain? What blood stain?! I snapped my attention to Lilac, who was also glancing at her own shoulder. And indeed, to my utter fear....

There was a small blood stain in the corner of her top.

"Masaka..." I said. "No way, when did that...." Rin said.

"Think of this for a moment; the girl with the most access to the Monokuma chips just happens to have a blood stain on her shirt. So, is it impossible for Lilac to have used the Monokuma chips to get the hatchet....and use it to kill Zack." Kokichi said, his words almost sing-song like.

"Could Lilac be the culprit?" he said.