"Wh-What's going on!?" Kaito yelled in confusion. Those who weren't there at the magic show had came running in.

"I-I don't know! I don't know what happened!" Tenko yelled back.

"We should break the tank, right?" Kokichi offered calmly. "We gotta check what's inside."

"Wha—? Break it?" Tsumugi questioned him.

"Yeah, break it. It'll take too long to drain it by hand."

Shuichi tilted his head. "But what would we even use to break—"

"Gonta! Kiiboy! You're up!"

"Huh? What do you mean, we're up?"

"Gonta, throw Kiiboy as hard as you can! Use that robot like a battering ram!"

"Who are you calling a battering ram!?"

"Gonta throw Kiibo! Got it!"

"Then, I'll help too!"

"Oh man, I wish I had popcorn," you mumbled jokingly to yourself.

"N-Now wait just a second," Kiibo tried to say. "You don't need to team up now—" Tenko and Gonta both picked up the robot and threw him at the tank. The glass shattered with a loud crash.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Pink water and flopping piranhas came flooding out into the gym. Kiibo picked himself up. "That was not needed! I am offended!"

"Well," Kokichi spoke, "if we used Gonta, the next best option, who was gonna pick him up?"

"Please," Kirumi interjected, holding her hands up. "We should not fight. For now, I suppose we should all quickly clean up in an orderly manner so that we may be able to efficiently investigate this crime." Everyone nodded in agreement with her. The maid brought Tenko with her to go to her Ultimate lab and gather some mops and a bucket. "Gonta will gather the piranhas while everyone else will mop up. Is that alright?" Everyone nodded once again.

You helped with mopping until the water was cleaned up. With all of you working together, it didn't take long to finish.

"I've...gathered Ryoma's body and belongings...in one place," Kiibo announced.

"He's been reduced so much that he can be carried in one hand... How fleeting and fragile life is..." Korekiyo said, creepy as ever.

"Gonta put piranhas away in tank. Piranhas all got big tummies. Gonta think they full."

"Today, Ryoma is fish food..." Miu had a disgusted look on her face. "And tomorrow, he'll be fish sh*t."

"D-Don't say such things..." Tsumugi pleaded.

"This...wasn't an accident, was it? Does this mean...the killing game has started again?" Maki asked.

"H-How...!? How...could this happen!?" Kokichi questioned, eyes getting watery. "We...swore to each other, didn't we? We swore we'd never let the killing game start up again." He started yelling at that point. "So that was all just a lie! You guys are liars! All you liars, apologize to Ryoma! He believed the killing game wouldn't happen anymore!"

"Your disingenuous tears mark you as the liar right now..." Korekiyo glared at the smaller teen.

"Oh, you figured it out? You've got a pretty good eye there, Kiyo." The waterworks stopped instantly. Part of that has to be sincere... you thought. Before you could think about it further, however...

"Heyyy guys!" Monokuma jumped into the scene...like usual. "How's it feel now that you've got a second murder victim on your hands? ...Huh? Ryoma's transparent? Has my x-ray vision superpower finally awakened—"

"Father, you don't have superpowers." The Monokubs had shown up, and it was Monotaro who spoke up first. "He's just been reduced to a skeleton."

"Finally!" Monosuke laughed. "I've been waiting for the killin' game to start up again! That means we can put up all this borin' crap on hold and start playin' the blame game! Listen up! We're here to make sure the killin' game goes smoothly, capice?"

"Also, to keep me company," Monokuma said. "And new mascots present lots of exciting business opportun—"

"Shut up, you failure!"

"What!?" The black and white bear looked down, dejected.

"Hey, hey!" Angie piped up. "This conversation is fun and all, but we should really get this over with! Don't we need to start investigating or something?"

"Alriiiight! I'll get the culprit this time for sure!" Kokichi was beaming. "Hurry up and give us the thingy!"

"You mean the Monokuma File, right!? I also investigated the cause of death this time, so read it to your heart's delight."

"So long, bear-well..." The Monokubs all left.

"In any event..." Korekiyo started, "let us begin the investigation."

Kiibo looked upset. "Investigation... So it's really going to start again."

"I can't believe it..." Tsumugi looked about as upset as Kiibo did. "One of us killed Ryoma..."

"And what a terrible presentation of his body, too..." you added.

"No more... Gonta no wanna investigate friends... No wanna suspect friends..."

"Then don't do it," Maki told him. "I'm not going to investigate, either."

"...Huh?"

"You'll be fine if you're short a person, and I doubt a child caregiver would be much help."

"Wait, Maki!" Shuichi tried to stop her, but she didn't even turn around and kept walking.

"The f*ck is that b*tch's problem!?" Miu complained. "She's seriously not gonna investigate!?"

"That seems..."—Kiibo searched for the right word—"incomprehensible."

Korekiyo pulled his hat down and thought a little. "...She likely assumes someone else will take care of it...and I suppose she isn't wrong."

"Well, I'll have a talk with Maki later." Kaito then sighed. "For now, we should start investigating. I'm seriously p*ssed we gotta do this, but it's our only chance to survive."

"Yup! I'll do my very best, too!" Kokichi interjected. "Gonta and I have to work especially hard so we can regain everyone's trust!"

"Oh, yes... You right."

"But we don't even need to investigate. It's pretty obvious who the culprit is." Kokichi had a finger up to his lips. This can't be good...

"...What?" Shuichi asked in shock.

"Ryoma was murdered during a certain little magic girl's show, right?"

"Nyeh...?"

"So I think we need to be a little more suspicious of that little magic girl..."

"Nyeh!?"

"Buuuut...she's so suspicious that it seems not suspicious."

"Nyeh...?"

"But then again, she's made herself look not suspicious, so now she's super suspicious!"

"Geez, shaddup already!" Tenko interjected. "How dare you toy with Himiko's pure heart!?"

"You just said Himiko, didn't you? But I never mentioned her name," Kokichi replied cheekily.

"Aaahhh!!! Shaddup, shaddup! Himiko would never do something like that! I know her best! Right, Himiko!?"

"No..."

"This is the part where you agree with me!"

"Himiko, can you at least tell us the trick behind the Underwater Escape Act?" Kokichi asked. "If we know how the trick works, we can try to figure out how the culprit killed—"

"That's not possible..."

"Not possible? Why not?" Shuichi questioned.

"There's no trick to the Underwater Escape. 'Cause it was my magic..." Himiko was glaring from beneath the cover of her hat.

"Hah-hahaha!" Miu cackled. "How long is that donkey-lipped midget gonna keep sayin' that!?"

"Himiko...in order for us to find the culprit, it's plain to see we need your help..." Tsumugi said.

"Nyeeeh...my answer won't change, no matter what you say. There's no trick to my magic... 'Cause...it's magic."

"...Magic isn't real," you chimed in. "Just cut it out and tell us already."

"There is no trick...to my magic..."

"How long are you gonna keep that bullsh*t up?" Kaito added. "Listen, if we don't catch the culprit, we're—"

"Th-That's enough! If Himiko says it's magic, then it's magic!" Tenko yelled. "Fuaaahhh! I'll use my Neo-Aikido to obliterate anyone who bullies Himiko!"

"I-I'm not bullying her. It's her fault she's being so stubborn..."

"Geez. It's just like Shuichi and Kaede, except less supportive and helpful, and more clingy and annoying," you spoke quietly.

"Well, it's fine if you don't wanna tell us. I'll just find out myself." Kokichi smirked. "Actually, that sounds pretty fun!"

"To solve this mystery, we must first learn the trick behind Himiko's Underwater Escape Act," Kirumi concluded.

"We have no choice in the matter," Kiibo chirped up. Everyone split up to investigate.

You sighed. "I can't believe we're having to do this again..." you mumbled to yourself. "First thing's first...I should probably check the Monokuma File."

Victim: Ryoma Hoshi, Ultimate Tennis Pro
Cause of death: The victim's body was discovered in the gym. The cause of death was drowning. His body was consumed by piranhas until only the bones remained. No other injuries can be confirmed at this time.

...Huh? Where's the time of death? You thought back to a few things. It must be crucial evidence against the culprit. Of course Monokuma wouldn't want to put that in, now would he?

>>Monokuma File 2

You quickly headed over towards the tank. Shattered glass from where the front had been broken was still laying on the floor. You looked down at Ryoma's skeleton; a feeling of guilt ran down your spine. Gulping, you looked away at the bucket of piranhas. You then overheard Angie talking.

"I feel like there are more piranhas today than yesterday when we were preparing," she said. "But, but compared to yesterday...the piranhas looked super crammed into that tank. The water was murky, so I couldn't tell how many more piranhas there were... But anyway, it was super super super super super crammed."

>>Crammed Piranhas

That might be important...but what's that? There was a square piece of glass at the bottom of the tank. It can't be a broken piece of tank... No, the placing doesn't work out, and the shaping is too perfect.

>>Square Glass Pane

Right next to the piece of glass was a pair of handcuffs. You kneeled down to inspect them closer. They were still locked, and bared small scratches on them. Where'd they come from? You furrowed your brows. The only place you had seen handcuffs before the investigation was on Ryoma himself, when his body magically appeared in the tank before being reduced to a skeleton. The memory made you shiver.

>>Scratched Handcuffs

You walked away from the tank. You then looked up. Perhaps I should take a better look at the tank the piranhas were in. You found a ladder, using it to climb up to the stage. Being closer up now, you could see that the tank's sides were all made out of wood except for the front, which was made of glass; it didn't have a lid. There was something holding it above in the air. A lighting batten...right?

>>Piranha Tank

...Hey, there's a curtain over there. It wouldn't make sense for a random curtain to be covering up nothing... Let's check it out. The curtain was certainly too high up for you to reach. Darn this body... You looked back at the ladder when an idea came in your head. You grabbed the ladder and propped it up on the stage. You stepped up.

"...Huh? I can reach a bit, but I still can't see much..." you mumbled. "I mean... I guess someone of a more average size might be able to see a bit better." You pulled back the curtain a bit to see some light. "Eh?" You pulled it back some more. "There's an open window here...and I have no idea what's on the other side!"

You kept a grip on the window frame to steady yourself when you felt something rough. Must be marks from something, like something scratching on it... But what could have scratched it? You felt a bit more at the marks again. I'll keep note of this.

>>Marked Window Frame

"...Come on, I bet there's a clue I'm missing just because I can't see through to the other side...!" You stood on your toes, but it didn't really help. You growled slightly in aggravation. You jumped a bit—bad idea. Your foot hit the ladder awkwardly and you tumbled to the stage. You were fine for the most part, but you did cut your finger on the wooden stage. "Of course...and only I could do something that dumb," you muttered. You stood up, brushing yourself off.

You got off the stage, eyes landing on Shuichi. He probably went to the thing... You walked over to him, waving. "Er, hey."

"...Ah, (Y/N)." The detective gave you a nervous smile. "Um... What do you need?"

"Did you go to the Insect Meet and Greet last night?"

"Oh, that's right. I don't believe you were there, were you? Yes, I was there..."

"Well...would you mind telling me about it?"

"Hey, Shuichi!" You saw Kaito walking over to you all. "What's my sidekick doing with (Y/N)?"

Sidekick...? Since when did Shuichi become Kaito's sidekick...? you wondered.

"I'm...telling them about the Insect Meet and Greet."

"Oh yeah, I wasn't there either, so I'll just listen in."

"O-Okay... So, Gonta was tricked into kidnapping all of us and bringing us to his Ultimate lab. Tenko, Kiibo, Tsumugi, Kiyo, and I were the first ones to be caught. Himiko and Angie were brought in later.

"From the gym, right?" Kaito asked.

"Exactly. And Kokichi left the room after, around 9:00 p.m.... So they must have been brought in about five minutes before that. We were all forced to participate in Gonta's Insect Meet and Greet. We were freed about an hour into nighttime, around 11:00 p.m.."

"So from 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., everyone there had an alibi. And then those people without an alibi are me, Maki, (Y/N), Kirumi, and...Ryoma."

"I see...thanks for this information, Shuichi."

>>Insect Meet and Greet

"Hey... Heyyyy!" You looked around. Kokichi was waving at you, causing you to sigh. What does he want with me now? You walked over, messing around with your cut while you were at it.

"Yes?"

"How's your investigation going?" the boy asked.

"...Fair, so far..." That's a bit weird... He's talking normally. "Is there something important you need from me? This isn't exactly the best time for chitchat..." You picked some more at your cut.

"Nah. But I'm glad Himiko made this game more difficult. Now I won't be nearly as bored." Stars formed in his eyes. "Time to work hard to solve this mystery! Get ready, culprit, 'cause here I come!"

"...Hehe..." you chuckled. "I sense some sincerity in your tone. Do you want to put the culprit to justice?"

"I guess you could say that!" Kokichi tilted his head. He suddenly gasped. "Did the culprit attack you, too!?"

"Huh...? What?" He grabbed your hand, showing you your own cut. The pink blood was gathering. "Oh. That."

"Need me to fix it!?"

"No—" Before you could say anything else, the boy brought your finger up to his lips. What's...he doing...? You glanced around the room nervously, luckily no one was looking over in your direction. Your finger all of the sudden felt warm. You looked back, face flushing. "Wh-What the hell...!?" you whispered-yelled to him. Kokichi had just...kissed your cut.

Kokichi just looked at you with a small smirk. A small chuckle escaped from his lips. "Does it feel beeeetter~?"

"K-Kokichi! We aren't even friends!!"

"..."

"Do you really think that we are!?"

"..." His face had gone blank. He shrugged his shoulders. "Meh." He turned and walked away.

"Umm..." You slowly backed away, only to bump into a big figure. "Oh, sorry." You turned around, only to be met with a chest. "..." Awkwardly, you looked up to see Gonta. "...Hi."

"Hello..."

You tilted your head at the gentle giant after taking a step back. "Is something wrong?"

"Gonta shoulda saved Ryoma..."

"...Well, the Monokuma File said he had died from drowning...and when we briefly saw him in the tank, he was motionless. Therefore, you really couldn't have helped him...so don't beat yourself up over it." You patted him awkwardly, trying to comfort him.

"Oh... That so...?"

"Yep." You squinted. "Speaking of the caaaase... Did you happen to see anything with the tank while you were on the stage?" You did care for Gonta...but you also wanted to squeeze some answer out of him while you were talking to him.

"Gonta...think not."

"Oh. Well, if you didn't see anything weird—"

"Wait!" You tilted your head at him once more. "Gonta mean he not see anything in tank."

"Huh??" So... Himiko disappeared from the tank at some point in time. With about twenty seconds left, Gonta got up on the stage. No one was in the tank at that point. The timer went off, the piranhas went down and Ryoma's body appeared somehow... What if-

"Uhhh, what you staring at like that?"

"Oh, uh, I was just thinking... Sorry, you can go investigate now. Thanks for the information by the way!" You hastily walked away, waving behind you.

>>Gonta's Account

You noticed Korekiyo walking backstage. "...Eh?" He better not be trying to hide evidence, you thought, half-jokingly. Ah, well, I might as well follow him. Perhaps he's checking something important out? You followed after him. You rounded the corner when the anthropologist was standing right there, looking down at you.

"So you're the one who quickly started after me," he spoke. "You'd best not to follow around any strange, shady-looking people like me into a rather secluded area. It could lead to bad things you know..."

"I...I know." You gulped. "I was wanting to check the entire place for any possible clues, and besides, I should also check to make sure you're not destroying or hiding anything...!" You were trying to be playful, but it obviously backfired.

"Are you implying that I could be disrupting the crime scene?"

"A-Ah, uhm—"

"You have all the right to." Korekiyo simply pulled down his hat. "It's perfectly reasonable to be suspicious of each other in such a situation like this. But I can assure you that I'm only searching for clues just like you all...not that I expect you to believe me, of course."

"Yeah...okay..." Korekiyo didn't move from his spot though. I'll just have to ignore him... As if that was easy. You looked at what was behind the stage, eyes landing on a rope. Seems quite long.

"Roughly sixty-five feet in length," the teenager snapped. Honestly, from how sudden the response was, you had jumped back a little.

"Uhm... Thanks... How did you know, by the way...?"

"I am well versed in ropes. I once visited a village where their...use...was commonplace. Kehehe... When it was time for me to leave, the women of the village all begged me to stay..."

"That's...great..."

"I see you find my tale not of interest... Perhaps, I'll let you into my Ultimate lab once it's open, and I may share to you some other tales that might fit for your curiousness."

You nodded awkwardly, catching his golden eye for about a millisecond before darting back to the ground. Huh? There's a puddle... Your eyes traveled upward. And this staircase is slightly wet... Are those hinges on the side of it?? You gasped a bit. I might have a few clues to the magic trick!

>>Wet Staircase

I better go now, before time's up.
***

"Oh, so it's you again."

"Yeah... Did I do something bad? You acted a bit weird back in the gym..."

Kokichi brightened up a bit. "Are you finally starting to care about me?"

"What? No."

"Hmm... You say that, yet you seemed to be concerned about me during that one knife game."

You groaned. "Just...look... I need your alibi for last night."

Kokichi looked at you with a disappointed expression. "You of all people should know that. Come on, you're better than that, (Y/N)..."

"I heard that you didn't come back until around the time I came for you, 11:00."

"Well, I guess that's not a lie."

"So what were you doing after you met with me?"

"Kirumi spotted me when I got to the entrance hall. That would be after I left Gonta's lab...which would be around 9:00 p.m.. She started throwing questions at me left and right, all about if I was up to no good. Then she started criticizing me behavior, and lecturing me on my manners and relationships..." He bit on his thumbnail. "Can you believe that? I mean, who does she think she is—my mom or something!?"

"...Knowing you, you probably asked her to be your mom..."

"She just kept talking," he continued, "...then finally let me go at 10:00 p.m., when nighttime rolled around."

"An hour, huh? You must be a really bad boy, huh?"

"Well, only the first half hour was the lecture, then we played tag for the other half." Kokichi put his hands behind his head, wearing a childish smile. "She was starting to bore me so I turned around to leave and then, 'Stop right there... Our conversation is not over yet.' 'I don't gotta listen to you! You're not worthy of lecturing the Ultimate Supreme Leader! C'mon, Miss Maid! Catch me if you can!' 'Is that...a request?'

"And then...I guess Kirumi decided to take tag super seriously... I tried my best, but in the end, she caught me a little before 10 p.m.. Then she started lecturing me again, and let me go when nighttime started. After Kirumi let me go, I finally went to the dorms to get everyone's motive videos. But by the time I returned to Gonta's lab, it was already 11 p.m.. You got that?"

"Er, yes... Anything else that might have happened...?"

"Oh, yeah. There was one odd thing I noticed while Kirumi was lecturing me... I saw a half-naked girl wandering around the courtyard in her underwear. It was too dark for me to make out who it was, but I saw her walk around for a bit. I wonder who it was..."

>>Kokichi's Account

"A...girl in her underwear?"

"Mhm."

"...Just wandering around in the courtyard?"

"Yep! And I don't know who that could be."

You sighed. That...sounds like Miu, in all honesty. "Kokichi, can you seriously not think of anyone who would do that? Miu!!"

"Oh yeah... That pig certainly would do something like that! By the way, (Y/N), you see that tank over there?" Kokichi pointed towards a tank just like the one used in the magic show. Must be one to use for backup. "I found a part of the tank that opens up. Check it yourself if you don't believe me! It's near the top."

"...I want to be able to believe you, I hope you know that. I just want to see it with my own eyes." You walked over to inspect the tank. Sure enough, there was a segment near the top that opened. Perhaps this can help shed light on Himiko's escaping trick.

>>Water Tank Trick

Before leaving the room, you turned back to look at Kokichi. "Hey, umm... Why did you help me?"

The boy shrugged, glancing around the room a bit before his purple eyes landed on yours again. "I mean... Look, I just wanted to help. Can't I do that if I'm your friend?"

Perhaps you were just being stubborn, but in your head you still refused to mark the small leader as a 'friend'. Even though the both of you knew that your relationship was most likely turning into more than mere acquaintanceship. You didn't even bother to retaliate. "Alright." You waved him goodbye and left the Ultimate lab.
***

"...Ah!" You looked all around. "This window connects a pool I have never heard of... I'll have to check it out for clues...but anyway. I bet that window is the window I saw in the gym." You stuck your head back in from the window, eyes immediately finding familiar scratch marks. "They're just like the abrasions on the gym window..."

>>Marked Window Frame

You looked around a bit more. There were a bunch of handcuffs hanging on hooks but one hook was empty. This must be where the handcuffs came from, you thought.

>>Scratched Handcuffs

I should head to the pool now. You took your Monopad out, finding directions to the pool. There it is. You headed over. Geez, since when did we even have a pool? You rolled your eyes, continuing through the halls until you got outside. Perhaps I can find someone to swim with... You involuntarily thought about a certain purple-haired supreme leader. ...No, not him. Besides, I'm here now.

You entered the swimming area. There was a large pool, which seemed rather shallow until you noticed that it was just significantly deep. In the pool, you noticed two things. There was big rubber inner tube with a rope tied to one end of it. To the other side, floating in the water was small piece of fabric. It didn't make sense to have been ripped and thrown carelessly by someone sewing in the swimming area, so you figured it might be from something else... A clothing article? Why would it still be there, though, if it had been dropped at some time...?

>>Black Piece of Fabric

Your gaze shifted over. "Pool rules, huh? Let's see... Eh? This one is rather peculiar—"

"Puhuhu!"

"Oh no it's him again," you groaned.

"Well well well! It's seems as if you've finally discovered the pool!" Monokuma came bouncing in, as usual.

"Yeah yeah, and I see you already established some rules...but might I ask why this one is here? It's the no swimming at nighttime."

"Wouldn't it be unfortunate for someone to die in an unfortunate nightly swimming accident? That wouldn't be any fun! You all have to die in the killing game! So that's why I added that rule." The black and white bear laughed. "Anyone who dares defy school regulations will be rrrrrripped to shreds by the Exisals! But so far, no one's needed to be ripped apart...yet."

"The regulations of no one entering the dining hall, gym, and swimming pool at nighttime..."

"Yep! No living bodies are allowed to enter the dining hall, gym, or swimming pool at 10:00 p.m.!" He bounced away before anything else could be exchanged between you two, like always.

Something about how Monokuma worded that last part... Perhaps my intuition is just acting up. No big deal...but I should still take note.

>>Pool Rules

I feel like I'm missing something. You walked away from the pool and outside. You saw Shuichi and Kaito walking back into the school building. "...Hey," you called out to them. They turned to look at you. "Mind if I, uh...join you two?" Again, I'm the third wheel... I just drag everyone down... So that means, I'd be the fifteenth wheel... Great.

"Go ahead," Shuichi smiled.

"Yeah! Shuichi's still my sidekick, but you can tag along and help." Kaito gave you a thumbs up.

"Thanks, guys..."

"No problem!"

"We're just making sure we've heard everyone's word on the case," Shuichi told you. "Ah, um...speaking of that. Where were you last night?"

"In my room."

"Perhaps a more detailed description...?"

"Fine." You let out a breath. "So I was just in my room. I had been there ever since I woke up. Gonta came along and tried to catch me with the others, but I...'persuaded' him to not take me. He ended up leaving. I stayed in my room for another hour and a half, maybe. At some time from 10:00 to 11:00, Kokichi came into my room to get my motive video. He left. A while later, around thirty or forty minutes, I went to Gonta's Ultimate lab to see what was happening. I returned to the dormitory with him... It was probably around midnight once we came back."

"I see... Did you see anyone roaming around?"

"I don't know, I was really tired...but my alibi can be confirmed with Kokichi himself...if he even cooperates." You sighed. You looked up, noticing that the three of you had ended up on one of the floors. Kirumi and Maki stood before you all.

"Huh? What are you doing here, Kirumi?" Shuichi asked.

"We all agreed to investigate with at least one other person, yes?" the maid replied, casting a glance over to the other female.

"Ah...so you're staying with Maki."

"That's good thinking!" Kaito gave a thumbs up. "Hey, once we're done with the trial, can I get a massage?" Of course he'd ask that, you jokingly commented in your head.

"But, of course... Since you are here, Shuichi, may I ask you a question? The time of death is not provided, so I am questioning everyone in order to determine it. When was the last time you saw Ryoma alive?"

"Right before I was kidnapped by Gonta yesterday...around six in the evening."

"The last time I saw him," Kaito chirped in, "was way before then. I didn't see him at all yesterday, actually."

"(Y/N), when was the last time you saw Ryoma alive?"

"Er, my answer's like Kaito's."

"Then you two are fine. What's important is the last time someone witnessed him alive."

"The last time someone witnessed him alive..." Shuichi repeated.

"Gonta was the last one to see him alive, at around 8 p.m. yesterday," Kirumi explained, "Ryoma managed to avoid being captured by him by using his Shukuchi Method. Furthermore, thirty minutes earlier, Miu saw Ryoma as she was fleeing from Gonta."

"In that case, Gonta's testimony is highly credible," the detective said.

"Yes... We at least know that Ryoma was alive yesterday until around 8 p.m.."

>>Witnessing Ryoma

You turned on your heels to face Maki. She was frowning, but stayed silent. "Hey... Have you been here for the entire time?" It was like she was guarding the door behind her, which you deducted to be her Ultimate lab.

"Yes," she answered bluntly.

"Why?"

"Why not?" The teenager sighed patiently. "You're fine with one less person, aren't you?"

"Where were you last night?"

"..."

"...Can you please cooperate with our investigation?" Shuichi spoke up. "All of our lives are on the line."

"Even if I did cooperate, I wouldn't be any help. Mostly because...I've been in here for the last several days. I only go back to my dorm at night to shower. Including last night."

"Then I can ask you this... Did you see Gonta at all last night? Gonta was searching the grounds last night, trying to catch all of us. How were you able to avoid being caught?"

"Gonta did stop by, but I managed to chase him off somehow," Maki replied calmly. "All I did was tell him..." Her ruby red eyes seemed to glow. "'If you lay a hand on me, you'll choke to death on your own tongue.' That's all."

"Gonta got scared off by that?" Kaito questioned. "Well, I guess he would hold back on a girl."

"Are we done here? You're wasting your time talking to me. I don't know anything."

"Okay, I'm done here." The astronaut said, giving his thumbs up with a smile.

"Huh? You are?"

"Well, her alibi is a little shaky, but I don't think she killed Ryoma. That's what my instincts are telling me."

"...You can believe whatever you want, but it might not be best to make all your deductions based upon emotions and instincts," you warned.

"Yeah, I know." He turned to Maki. "But if you remember anything, be sure to tell Shuichi, okay? He's my sidekick, y'know? He's pretty good."

"..."

>>Maki Alone

Ding dong, bing bong!

Everyone turned to the nearest monitor. The screen turned on to reveal Monokuma. As always. "Tired of investigating?" the bear's voice blared through the speaker. "Oh, you've been tired of it for a while now? Well, that's how it goes. Investigations aren't all that fun, you see. But it's a necessary step before we can move on to the main event... The class trial is starting soon. Please gather at the Shrine of Judgement in the courtyard! Puhuhuhuhu! See you later!"

Word Count: 5342
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We all hate investigation chapters, and we all hate trial chapters. The one who hates them the most would have to be me, though. I don't know why, but this particular chapter took me forever to finish! Really. By the time this gets posted, I only got this done at seven in the morning! Perhaps I was procrastinating, perhaps I didn't work ahead enough, or perhaps I was just out for the majority of the day which I would have been using for Wattpad in stuff. If the last option seems to be the case then that's good because I'm leaving soon... Sorry. Hope you all enjoyed!

(And thank you all for 23k! I can't believe we've made it this far!! I'm sorry this probably sounds a bit repetitive, but I'm just so amazed! I hope this doesn't arrogant, 'cause I really am grateful for you all!)