Keiji
Of course I knew this was a possibility. We are in a circumstance where death and murder are encouraged. We fought against it to the best of our ability-- we tried to find ways out, hell, we tried to MAKE ways out, and we lasted a week and a half. But I suppose nobody can control the actions of others. None of us could ever be positive that none of the other 15 members would ever betray us. If anyone appeared to be, they were lying. They were lying to us and maybe even to themselves, and that just proves how vacuous they are, how dull-witted. Fooling themselves means that they are so desperate to ignore the truth that they lull themselves into a peaceful trance. Now that trance is shattered mercilessly as we all see Hachi, the most entranced, the most detached, of all, hanging from a tree.

Before anyone can even catch their breath, that infantile bear comes up to us, explaining something called a Monokuma File. Apparently, it's a file containing a few vital pieces of information to get us started. If his words are any indication, he intends to make more of these as we fall like dominoes. It's sickening.

"The victim is Hachi Endo. The body was found in the garden area on the first floor. There are external injuries to the neck, as well as to the eyes and ears. The time of death was around 6 pm."

TRUTH BULLET: MONOKUMA FILE 1

Everyone stands in silence for a while, as if unsure of what to do. I hear murmurs of stuff like, "Could one of us really be the killer?" or, "Who would murder one of our friends? I bet you it's Monokuma or a Monoinu. Nobody else would be so wicked."

I groan obviously to catch everyone's attention. "Are you ignoramuses really that complacent? All of our lives are at stake here. We must investigate every nook and cranny and fight. We don't have the luxury of blaming it on them. We have to claw and scrap and put every ounce of effort into it so we can WIN."

They all stare at me with a variety of expressions before Kana pipes in. "H-He's right, of course! We can't just stand here forever and blame Monokuna when our time's up. That's the best way I can think to instantly die." She takes a few steps forward.

"WAIT!" Yuu interjects, suddenly panicked. We all turn towards him with some suspicion in our eyes. He laughs nervously, as do a couple other members of the group, before he explains his outburst. "Before anyone approaches the body, can I get a look at the ground around the tree? Footprints might prove to be extremely helpful!" he points out. "Sorry for yelling like that. I just... didn't want anyone walking over and disrupting prints."

After a few moments of silence, Gou answers in everyone's stead. "Good idea. Have at it."

With permission bestowed upon him and no objections cast, he approaches the body, flashlight in hand. We all stare fixedly at him, making sure he doesn't touch anything. Even given how far away he is, the way his eyes bulge in surprise is clearly visible. He runs back to us, still wide-eyed. "Hachi's are the only prints there. I even found her shoes behind the trunk. Th-That... That..."

"That typically implicates suicide," Nari finishes his sentence, pulling her hair in front of her face. Several people's nervous tics are on wide display here, including hers, apparently.

Joanie raises an eyebrow. "Wait, really? I've never heard of that," she points out.

"That's because it is sort of... a Japanese culture thing," Azumi explains, biting her lip.

TRUTH BULLET: HACHI'S SHOES AND FOOTPRINTS

"Well... we need to look at the body eventually," Kana grimaces.

"Someone should guard it," Chimon points out, quivering slightly and clutching at his key necklace, "because we don't want anyone to tamper with the crime scene."

"Great idea. Wakumi, wanna guard it with me?" Gou asks.

"Aye."

Kana leads the pack towards the tree, and we lower the body down. Almost immediately, she clutches at her stomach and puts her hand over her mouth before rushing off. Fujiko and Joanie go off to take care of her, and Wakumi laughs as she runs off after them. Gou is left bewildered as his other bodyguard abandons him in pursuit of... whatever the hell that is. "So much for checking the body," I click my tongue. "She got sick immediately. Low constitution?"

Monterio sniffs a little bit, as if indignant, and then glares at me. "Kana is the strongest, bravest person I know. That didn't happen because of her emotions."

"Monterio, mind being the other guard?" Gou requests. He nods wordlessly. "Guys, we should spread out some more. Not everyone needs to check the body. We need to figure out alibis and probably check Hachi's room."

Tozen, Sayuri, and I wind up being the ones to stick around. I can't honestly say I expected Sayuri to be the investigating a corpse type, but I guess her morbid curiosity gets the better of her. "S-So, which one of us is gonna... touch her first? Y'know, slip the noose off, or pull off the blindfold. Do I have to do it?"

"No need, Sayuri. I can... I can handle this," Tozen reassures her, voice cracking a little bit. Taking a breath, he slides the blindfold down. And it's BAD. Even I stumble back a bit. Sayuri's eyes well with tears and Tozen can't seem to look away.

Her eyes are flat-out GONE, and her ears are filled with dry blood. "Her eardrums HAVE to be ruptured," I declare.

TRUTH BULLET: HACHI'S EYES AND EARS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joanie
Fujiko is that special type of MVP who'd quite literally hold a girl's hair back, even through her own tears. Not that Kana has a lot of hair down, since most of it is in buns, but Fujiko keeps the wisps held back. I'm doing my best to help where I can, offering to get water or medicine (which she denies between gags).

And meanwhile she is just having a hell of a time, hollering and laughing all the while. "Blow me down, why don'tcha?! Ye two wenches, ye always pretend like you're sooooo stunnin', but here ye are! Kana's crouched o'er the head, lookin' green in the gills and blowin' chunks. And Fujiko, damn, you're blubberin' like mad! I ne'er expected ye to be just about the ugliest crier I've seen with me own eyes!"

"Shut up! You can't expect us to be at our best all the time! We just saw a fucking body! The body of our friend, no less!" Fujiko wails helplessly.

"Don't waste your breath on her. You guys are perfect and she just wants to get a rise out of you," I inform them.

"AY! Shut yer trap, ye son of a biscuit eater! I'm just havin' a bit of fun runnin' a rig! Ye really are like wet socks, Ginny! Unpleasant and a ruiner o' good times!"

"For God's sake, Wakumi, my name is Joanie."

"Ye think I'm not savvy?! I just know that it bothers ye so much, and I've made it me goal for the time bein' to drive ye up the wall as much as humanly possible, so zip it!" she yells, kicking at the wall. She suddenly giggles, as if that did her a world of good. She continues to kick the wall at various points, progressively getting more and more hysterical as she goes. THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! The other three of us look at each other in disbelief; she really is a madwoman!

And then there's a slightly different sound. And we all immediately go silent, sharing stunned glances. Wakumi kicks that spot again. It's very obviously different. I get closer to the spot, even pressing my ear against it, and she kicks once more. "It sounds... hollow? Like there's something back there?"

Kana crawls over to us and listens. "You're right. And it's echoey. It's DEEP."

"Are you feeling better, Kana?" Fujiko asks, turning on the sink and washing her face.

"Yeah. I'm fine now. It's not the emotional turmoil of finding that, I swear, so don't you dare judge me. I get really nauseous around cologne, and she smelled like blood AND cologne. Which is weird, because she never smelled like that before."

"You're sure?" I inquire.

"Positive."

"Ye get sick cause o' smells?"

"That's not super uncommon," Fujiko points out defensively.

"Ye'd HATE bein' on me ship. Argh, that place is like a fish incubator. But it's me fish incubator. It's home," Wakumi reminisces. Her harsh, smug facial expression melts away into a wistful smile and a distant gaze. It's like a scene I'd direct right before a flashback happens, and it's strangely sweet.

"You know, I wish you'd spend more time talking about your home. And your adventures," I admit.

She scrunches her face up reflexively. "Why? Why d'ye need ta know?"

"Cause it's more tolerable than hearing you brag or make fun of us. Almost even nice," I say, flat-out.

"Ye scourge," she rolls her eyes and produces a second eyepatch from her pocket. She slides it over her other eye.

"H-Huh?! Why did you-- Do you even need an eyepatch at all?!" Fujiko squeals.

"Course I do."

Once she's wiped off her face, Fujiko experimentally pulls down the original eyepatch. The eye looks exactly the same as her other one. "No you don't! Your eye is perfectly fine!"

"I didn't say me eye was injured. I said I need an eyepatch. What's a pirate without a hook hand, peg leg, or eyepatch?"

Kana giggles as she leaves the bathroom. Fujiko and I follow, and Wakumi tries to, but, with both eyes covered, she bumps into the wall once before succeeding. None of us can hold in our laughter.

"I have to admit, I'm kind of surprised Monterio didn't come to check on you," Fujiko twiddles her fingers.

"I'm not. He knows what's going on, but there were already two people ready to help me. Besides, it's the girl's bathroom."

"Exactly!" a familiar voice calls out behind us. I'm not all that taken aback.

"Hey, Mononinu. What's up?" I ask casually.

"Rules are the foundation of any society, and since this group is sort of like... a microcosm of a society, of course the rules are fundamental!" he rambles, casting glances around. I'm not technically sure that this Monoinu is ours in particular, but the way he's looking at me with severity really makes me feel like it.

"So?" Kana sasses, checking her nails.

"So... he couldn't have entered, even if he wanted to. The security system at the door makes sure of that. If a guy tries to enter the girl's bathroom, or vice versa, an alarm will blare out and a mild punishment will ensue."

"How mild is mild? Cause punishment here seems really fucked up, if I'm being honest," I point out. I take out my staff and start swinging it around. "Divine retribution is justice incarnate, but punishment of death FOR death causes a never-ending cycle of suffering! I, Heavenly Blessing-Granter Aika, will have to purge the impurities from this building!" I perform mockingly.

"No, I mean mild. Like being locked out of your dorm for a night or two."

"Quit yer yappin', ye mangy mutt," Wakumi rolls her eyes.

Before I can start to scold her, Fujiko interjects. "Oops, I think I left my phone in there. Be right back!" She rushes back in and we hear a gasp followed by a whine. "G-Guys? Come look at this, please. I--"

We obey, checking on her. She's staring at the ground and pointing. I bend over and I see Hachi's wisteria charm.

TRUTH BULLET: BATHROOM WALL

TRUTH BULLET: KANA'S ACCOUNT

TRUTH BULLET: MONOINU'S ACCOUNT

TRUTH BULLET: HACHI'S CHARM

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chimon
Everyone here is so antsy. I figure I should probably try and look similarly. So while Ren keeps shifting his spike-studded choker and Haruto fiddles with his hands constantly, I play with my key necklace. I care more about investigating so we can survive than catching Hachi's killer for her sake, but, ironically, looking worried/suspicious as hell is actually the most common response. So it's just smarter to blend in. I find it funny to believe that, if anyone actually knew how practical I am when it comes to socialization, I would get the nickname, "Chimon the Chameleon."

I followed Haruto and Ren because they were one of the smallest groups. Typically, I try to take up a helpless sort of facade, but I might have to intervene soon, because Haruto's acting totally aimless and Ren's just babysitting us. "Bisque, Ren? Any ideas?"

Haruto seems not to hear me, but he starts walking off toward the craft room. I look at Ren, and he shrugs before following him. I pinch the bridge of my nose in frustration, and then I run after the two of them. We're not going to get ANYTHING done, I swear. We open the door to the craft room, and, of course, it looks just like it was. Haruto takes a deep breath in and grabs some clay. He slaps it onto a pottery wheel and kneels down, starting to mold the clay as effortlessly as if he was moving air. "Bisque, I get that you love pottery, but don't you think we have more important things to do?" Ren points out, pulling at his fishnet gloves.

Without looking up at us, he speaks quietly yet concisely. "Sorry. There's a legitimate reason for being here. I just need to calm down a bit first. Otherwise, my explanations will be a total mess." I have to admit that I find this intriguing. Ren and I settle down as we watch him. "I'm gonna make a flower pot. For Hachi. Ren, could you set up the electric kiln to 455 Celsius?"

"Got it." After a short while of waiting, Haruto sets the vase into the kiln. His face seems more serious than it normally is.

He walks over to a set of tools and lets out a light gasp. "Two are missing now?!"

"Wait, you have to fill us in, Bisque! I'm so confused!" I admit.

"Look, so I use tools called sgraffito tools. They're used to carve small details. A few days ago, a straight needle just up and vanished. That one has a sharp, straight point on one side and a curved point on the other. I figured maybe it was just me losing stuff like I always do, but then I wondered if it could be related to the case. And now another one's gone! I didn't even touch those since the first one went missing!"

TRUTH BULLET: HARUTO'S ACCOUNT

"We should tell someone! That sounds super important!"

"If we're going to tell anyone, it's probably best to tell the group checking the body! We could check and see if there are any signs that it could've been used as a weapon," Ren suggests.

"Okay!" Haruto nods fervently. He and I start to run out, but Ren suddenly grabs at Haruto's shoulder, and he squeals in surprise.

"Sorry, sorry. Just... did you use a paintbrush recently?"

"No? Not within the past like... two days?"

"So there shouldn't be a still-damp paintbrush?" he confirms.

"No."

"Well, there's a wet paintbrush. There's a little puddle that hasn't evaporated yet."

The two of us blink in confusion. We run over and start feeling the brushes until we find the damp one. "It's here!" I call.

"That one? Okay, now I'm positive it wasn't me! A brush that thick is usually used for painting houses! Like that one time my parents paid the neighbor kid and me to paint the fence." He shudders. "That was a bad memory. It ended with the grass covered in white, the neighbor kid drenched in paint, my hair dunked into the paint can, and the fence half-painted. Dish soap didn't get it out of my hair, so we had to use toothpaste and I smelled like mint all day. Plus the neighbors yelled at me cause their kid was painted."

"Bisque, we've gotta go! C'mon!" I urge.

"Oh, right. Sorry!"

TRUTH BULLET: WET PAINTBRUSH

The three of us rush off back toward the garden, chasing the sterile white glow of the flashlight.

"Guys, guys, guys! Are there any pokeys on her body?!" Haruto yells out.

"Pokeys? What do you mean by that, Bisque?" Sayuri asks, turning the flashlight and hitting me straight in the eye.

"Ouch!"

"I mean— like— pokey pokey poke— what's the word, this is an easy word and I'm blanking!"

"Are there any stab wounds? Particularly small stab wounds?" Ren helps.

"Stab wounds? Well, her eardrums were ruptured by something," Tozen answers.

"Where have you checked?"

"We haven't gotten very far. Eyes and ears, of course. It was... bad. We searched all of the areas Monokuma didn't mention, in case he left something out, and there was something weird in her hand. None of us know what it is," Keiji explains.

"Let us see. Maybe one of us will know," I ask.

It's quite small. Roughly the size of a marble. Kind of round like one, too. Or I guess oblong might be a better word. But it's hollow and it has a flat top. It's metal and gold-colored. I shake my head. Definitely not something I'm familiar with. "I'm concerned. Not only do we not know what this is, but we don't know where she got it from." And those are questions that linger in our heads as we catch them up on the paintbrush and sgraffito tool situation.

TRUTH BULLET: MYSTERIOUS OBJECT

The three of them tell us to stay nearby so they can fill us in if they find any stab wounds. But they warn us that we shouldn't stay near the body while they prod around and look for stuff, in case it traumatizes us worse than seeing an acquaintance dead already did. I sigh, wandering idly in the immediate area. "What the hell kind of situation did you land yourself in, Chimon?" I murmur to myself. Suddenly, I feel a hand on my head and nearly feel my soul leave my body. I turn to face the interloper. It's Monterio, and he rubs my head a little. "What's up?" I ask, suspicious. His face is hard to read, and that's frustrating.

"Just making sure you're okay."

I suck in my lips, trying to think. "Good as I'll get. Is it okay if I stay with you and Gou for a bit? You guys make me feel safe," I request, playing up my innocence.

He starts walking back to his guard post, casting me a glance as if beckoning me over. Okay, then. That's very interesting.