Yuu

It's at that moment that it starts to click into place. "Nuh-uh," I deny in advance. It's not. It's not, it isn't. I feel my hand start to instinctively curl up into a fist.

"Guys, I can tell that you're ignoring some obvious signs of who the Blackened is. I don't know if you're doing it knowingly, or if your brain is trying to protect you by blotting stuff out, but we're never gonna get anywhere if you don't start thinking about it. The killer actually made it pretty obvious. I don't know why, or even if they knew, but they left clues for us like bread crumbs."

"Just... spit it out, Chimon! You're not gonna make us be the ones to say it!" Tozen demands.

"Fine, but you can't call me a villain, okay? I hate this, too." He takes a deep breath to calm himself. "I wholeheartedly believe that the Blackened is Bisque."

The words hang heavy in the air, and even though it's only a few seconds before someone else speaks, I feel fear course its way through my whole fucking body as though it's been hours and hours.

"I— There's no way he'd do something so cruel! Bisque doesn't have it in him!" Gou yells.

"Gou is correct! There simply must be a mistake in your reasoning! Or perhaps he's been framed, like with the first trial!" Azumi concurs.

"N-No! I wouldn't do that to a friend! Joanie was amazing, and she always did everything for everyone's sake, so I could never bring myself to betray her!" Bisque's voice cracks, and it's raw and sincere and I can't help but start to breathe heavily. It can't be him!

"I won't believe it!" I shout out.

"Oh, God," Tozen says, muffled behind his hands. He runs his palm up his entire face until he's gripping his forehead in pain. "Yuu, check our handwriting again."

"Chimon, what made you think of this in the first place?" Monterio asks.

"I couldn't have known where the nail polish remover was! Do you think I'd just fumble around the beautician's in the middle of a murder? I couldn't have even been sure there WAS any," he defends.

"O-Okay," I squeak out. I take out the sheet of paper, and also the Gotcha note. I stare at them, squinting and trying my hardest to figure out what's got him so distressed.

"Bisque and I were baking, one time, and he accidentally made a small mistake. He started to panic, even though there was an obvious way to fix it. And when I pointed it out to him, he said that common sense flies out the window when he panics."

"Maybe not, but you did know where the capes were, since I gave you a trim." Kana's voice is hushed, like she's scared we'll all scream her down.

"Yuu, think of every time you've seen someone's handwriting in here," Chimon urges.

"Now that I think about it, that definitely sounds scary! Imagine you go to visit someone, fully aware that they're trying to kill you, and you could possibly mess up and wind up dead. And then, fueled by adrenaline, you lure them into a trap and have to kill them at two in the freaking morning, when anyone who wakes up and leaves their bedroom will totally hear a bunch of loud noises and come investigate. I can't think of anything more panic-inducing!" Fujiko clacks her nails against the table furiously, as though she's jittering.

"So what if he knew the capes were there?! Didn't everybody on our side of the schism get a haircut?! We can't assume that it's Bisque when it could've been anyone else!" Ren insists.

"You can't mean anyone's journals, right? And definitely not Tozen's menu."

"Um, that would definitely freak me out a lot, but I was fast asleep! Azumi got me an insomnia kit and it's amazing! I dreamt about eating my mom's pancakes! And then my teeth fell out, which was really weird," Bisque rambles.

"This laddie's always had 'is head in the clouds. Would anyone else have made such wacky choices while blowin' someone down? Plus, there's 'is obsession with that craft room! Of all people, 'e'd know how ta use it most!" Wakumi roars, shaking.

"If I'm right, it's something we saw together," Tozen pushes.

"Yes! We do not have any way to confirm or deny who was asleep! So we should not go accusing Bisque without proof that his alibi is false!" Azumi desperately agrees.

"Why would he take Tozen and Azumi straight to the motherfucking craft room if he killed Joanie in there?! I know he loses common sense, but to purposefully lead people to the crime scene when it would be perfectly reasonable to assume that said room would be of no consequence whatsoever?!" Gou argues.

"Something we saw together? That could only have been the seating— Shit."

The truth hits me like a ton of bricks straight onto my chest. "This note... it reminds me of the seating diagram from the last trial. It was nagging at me for so long, but I pushed it out of my head. Bisque faked his handwriting here."

"I'm still not satisfied! Answer my question! Why would Bisque have taken Azumi and Tozen to the craft room?! He may be impulsive, but he's not stupid! If it was him, he could've steered them clear of some of the most incriminating pieces of evidence!" Gou bellows, sounding angrier than I've ever heard him.

"It's like Yuu said, way back when. He gave away so many important pieces of information specifically because he was banking that line of reasoning! We assume that it's only rational to hide the evidence, but he has an unparalleled charm that makes us want to wave away any signs of wrongdoing!" Chimon continues.

"Don't parrot my words back at me! I DON'T BELIEVE THEM ANYMORE!" I plead. I pant, unable to chase the horrid image out of my head. "Bisque, you didn't do it?"

His big eyes well with tears. "Yuu, I thought we got past this," he squeaks.

"Dude, don't do that to me, please," I beg. "If you aren't it, just tell me and I'll believe you, but if it was you, please don't hurt me like—" I cut myself off. Fujiko takes my hand for support.

He stands there in silence for a few unbearable moments. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that, I take it back. I— I'll confess, but you have to figure out a little bit more together! Please, for my sake!"

We all stand, dumbstruck at what's just unfolded before us.

"We will—"

"IT ISN'T HIM!" Azumi suddenly interrupts, scream echoing through the room and piercing all of our hollow hearts.

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

Azumi

"I REFUSE TO BELIEVE IT! BISQUE WOULDN'T EVER HURT SOMEONE! He... he always just wants to help everyone around him! Even when he worries that he'll mess it all up, he still does his best to make sure that everyone is joyful and at peace with themselves! That's why... I WON'T LET YOU CONVINCE ME!" I command, resolute.

He grabs my hands and stares at me, glasses speckled slightly with tears. "Zu, I don't need your protection! It was me! Just focus on—"

"You don't have to lie to protect someone else! I'll crack this whole case wide open! I promise!" I insist. He wouldn't. He wouldn't. "Perhaps Bisque's handwriting just changed, and someone forged his script on the note! It's totally possible for someone to change the way they write within a month's time! He wasn't necessarily trying to fool us! As for all of the errors of common sense, it could have merely been someone attempting to frame Bisque by mimicking his mannerisms! Like Chimon! He's even small enough that he could hide in the vase—"

"Zu, you've gotta stop! This isn't what I want!" he cries out again.

"A-And if you're gonna accuse Chimon, he and I were together last night! We were talking about our personal lives, so I didn't wanna tell anyone, but he has an alibi!" Fujiko admits.

"Then— Then, then I did it!"

"Azumi, STOP!" he shouts. His eyes take on an unwavering determination. "Zu, you knew it all along, somewhere deep down. You knew it from the moment super glue was brought up. You may have even known it from the moment we found that bloody vase stand! So please, stop fighting everyone and just cooperate!"

"It can't be you! Because that means I'll have to lose you!" I start to hyperventilate. I go lightheaded and black speckles start to fill my vision.

"Azumi, take deep breaths. We need you here. Bisque needs you awake so that we can fulfill what he really wants us to do. He wants us to figure out something else," Tozen talks me down. "You want us to learn why you did what you did, right, Haruto? Cause it wasn't out of malice, right?"

"Thank you," he confirms with a smile. I curl up in my chair and keep my head between my knees, coaxing myself out of near-fainting. This is a nightmare.

"What did Ginny say ta ye ta get ye onboard with whatever insane plan o' hers she cooked up?" Wakumi murmurs.

"I can't say yet!"

"Okay. So Bisque said that he'd never betray Joanie. That combined with his response to Wakumi's question makes me think that those two were in cahoots," Ren begins.

"What do we know about those two? What would cause them to collaborate on this?" Monterio asks.

"Well, Bisque is overwhelmingly friendly, to the point where I didn't even trust it at first," Yuu says.

"Joanie was very maternal. She was like that cool auntie everyone loves visiting," Fujiko smiles wistfully.

"Bisque is accident-prone, but he's hardworking and diligent," Tozen nods.

"Way back at the start of all of this, Joanie told us that we could kill her first," Kana recalls.

"He's conflict-averse. He hates fighting," Gou remarks

"N' she had this idiotic ideal that made 'er think everyone can get improve themselves, or some bullshit like that," Wakumi glares.

"I see... I see what you were trying to accomplish here," I say softly.

"What was our motive?" he asks me, rubbing my back.

"Unification. You and she were both consistently reaching out to both ends of the schism, trying to make us feel safe together. But we never took any action to fix everything. We would have brief moments of harmony and reconciliation, but then cut ourselves off again. She must have been so tired..."

"Ginny n'er did really care much fer 'er own life... She thought that fer her ta survive would be a waste, up 'till the last few weeks. I'm convinced she said, 'Let's try n' fix this, e'en if it costs our lives. Whoe'er survives'll try ta get everyone ta work together n' solve the mystery.' That accurate?"

"Mhm. I promise, if you were ready to vote for someone else, I'd have confessed on the spot. The goal was never to fool you, just give enough of a fight that you guys had to work for it."

"Guys... this schism is over. No temporary ceasefire. We're done with the stupid fighting.," Gou decides.

"H-Hooray! I did it!" he cheers.

"Hey, can you answer a couple of questions for us, Bisque?" Monterio asks.

"Name 'em!" he affirms. I don't understand how he can keep smiling through it all.

"About her boots... and her hand..."

"Okie dokie! Her hand was... unfortunate. When I'd had her trapped in the glue, she was still fighting. She still had the spear in her hand, so she literally freaking ripped her own skin off just to free her hand and take a swing at me. I noticed this, so I freaked out and wound up jumping on her hand out of panic until she stopped moving it. I felt really shitty about it afterwards... But about the boots! We both wrote out something for you guys in the event that one of us succeeded in killing each other. I knew she had to have a note on her, so after I got her out of the glue and carried her to the pool, I checked everywhere until I found it! They were in her boots! I have one, too, see?" He pulls out two sheets of paper from underneath his apron. "Catch, Wakumi!" She effortlessly does so. "Also, the Gotcha note was about that. She'd invited me over so that we could write our letters, but I was really positive that she'd already made it and was trying to catch me off-guard!"

"And the camera... I did tell you about that, didn't I?" Tozen quietly remembers.

"Yes. I knew. But she broke it of her own volition, before the chase even started."

"Alright, alright, alright! I've let you all yapper on for way too long! Someone summarize the case so we can fill our quota," Monokuma rolls his eyes.

I can't. Not me.

"I've got it. Bisque did Sayuri's summary so that I wouldn't have to. I'll pass on the favor," Yuu volunteers. He takes a shuddering breath and closes his eyes before opening them again. "We don't truly know when this plan started. But the incident in and of itself started yesterday. Joanie at some point invited the killer to come to her room at night, so that they could write out the letters that were essential to their plan. The killer, knowing this, set up a plan. They drilled hooks into two pottery stands, laid out hairdresser capes covered with superglue on the floor, and went out to meet Joanie. Meanwhile, she had been hard at work. She'd sharpened her staff into a spear, covered it with a marker cap from the Warehouse, and broken the camera in her staff. They met around two in the morning. She attempted to stab the killer with her new spear in the doorway, but they fled, leaving a scuff mark in the process. She pursued them, and they turned the corner into the craft room, where they dodged their own trap. Joanie, not knowing about it, tripped over the wire on the pottery stands and was pressed into super glue by one of them falling on her. Desperate, she tore her hand out of the trap, but the killer panicked and broke her fingers. They then took the drill they had used and slammed it into her head. When they were assured that she was dead, they applied nail polish remover to get her unstuck, but quickly realized that the odor would permeate. So they were forced to grab a bucket of soapy water instead. They carried her to the pool, wrapped up in the capes. They took off her shoes to retrieve the note, and dumped her body inside, cleaning the capes with water and folding them up to store in the same place. They also left the glue among the lip glosses, panicking and attempting to move quickly. Lastly, they put the bucket back in the Warehouse and dumped the drill into the giant vase in the craft room before returning to bed. When the investigation started, they led Tozen and Azumi to the craft room to find the information we needed. And that is the truth of this case. Isn't that right, Haruto Gima, the Ultimate Potter?!"

We cast our votes, and it's the worst thing I've ever had to do. The music celebrates us as the victors.

"Y-Yay! You did it! I'm really proud of you!" he smiles. But he's starting to cry and tremble now.

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

Haruto

I remember it so clearly. "Joanie, are you crazy?! I can't do that! I can't kill you!"

"Haruto, you're the only one I can entrust this to. You, more than anyone else, match my desire to see everyone back to the way they were. Free of this ridiculous fighting."

"Of course... and I know that all of our attempts aren't working, but this is just so... drastic! This will cost both of our lives."

"If we don't do it, someone else will die. I'm sure of it. Tensions are too high. C'mon, just... think of it as a game. You can win if you outthink me and outlast me. And I win if I outdo you. It's all a game, you got it?"

"I-It's... it's all a game. And it's for everyone's sake."

"Right. Gosh, you're an amazing guy."

"Are you kidding?! You're so much braver than me, Joanie!"

"I think I'm just too cynical... but I believe in everyone here, especially you. Let's make it happen!"

"Okay. I'm in."

And then I remember trying to remind myself that it was a game as she chased me. Time seemed to go in slow motion. I leapt, and covered myself in one of the capes... and then she got stuck... and I jumped on her free hand... When I took the drill, I closed my eyes. I couldn't watch myself do it. That would break the illusion that it was all just a game. It wasn't a game. This is not a game.

I don't wanna die. But I made this choice, and I stand by it. For once, I didn't mess anything up. I was able to help everybody. "A-Amazing! You guys did s-so well and I'm so happy!" I tell them. It's the truth, but not the whole truth. "Oh, oh, oh! I need you to do me a favor!"

"Name it," Azumi vows."

"For my memento... there's a black backpack in my room, with presents for everyone."

"Hey, wait a minute," Monokuma growls, "You can't keep the backpack AND everything in it."

"Th-They can too," I state boldly, sounding braver than I feel. "They got to keep Hachi and Sayuri's journals WITH everything in it. They got to keep Keiji's recorder WITH everything in it. They can keep my backpack with everything in it. I dare you to defy me."

He grumbles, but doesn't contradict me. Azumi's wrapped her arms around me and she won't stop. "Zu... Zu, I'm so sorry that I've gotta leave you."

"Sweetheart, you were so independent and mature. You did everything you set out to do, alright? Do not let there be any regrets."

"All rise!" Monokuma beckons.

I stand up, keeping my back straight and my posture proud.

"Now then! I've prepared a very special punishment for Haruto Gima, the Ultimate Potter!"

"I-I'm really, really scared. But thank you guys s-so much! I grew up a lot while I was with you! I love you all!"

"We love you, too," Tozen insists. Everyone gives me a group hug, and I desperately wish I could hold onto them forever and ever so he can't take me. But I can't escape the consequences of what I chose to do.

"Let's give it everything we've got! It's punishment time!"

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

Kill la Kiln

I'm taken somewhere. I don't know where, exactly, cause I've shut my eyes and I've curled into a ball. I feel my body get dunked into something guckie, all the way to my neck. It's hot. Lord, it's hot. I open my eyes and find that I'm not far from a gigantic pottery kiln, emitting a red hot glow. Oh God. Oh God.

The stuff dries really, really fast. I can already barely fidget, and I know there's no shot of me running away. Of course Monokuma would completely immobilize me in order to kill me. I'm placed on a conveyor belt, and I can hear the sounds of it clacking and churning. Nice sounds. Just focus on the sounds, you like sounds like that. Don't think about the sweat forming on your neck or the burning sensation or the fact that you can't freaking move.

Soon, I can only see the outside world through a small hole in the kiln. I'm already starting to get tired and... kinda dizzy. A bout of nausea starts to rise up in my stomach, and I command it down. Not allowed. Not allowed, body. I start sweating buckets. Part of me prays that I'll sweat so much that the clay will crack and release me, but that's hoping for too much. I'm thirsty. Fuck, fuck, I need water so bad.

Over time— I can't tell how long. Minutes? Hours?— my body deteriorates. I'm cramping everywhere. My head is pounding. My pulse is going weak and fast. My eyes are blurring, and my sweat evaporates. I physically can't sweat anymore. There's no more moisture in my body. Even my tongue feels dry.

I lapse in and out of consciousness. How did I get here again? Right... that bear. What was his name again? Monokuma. And why did he take me? What was I feeling right before getting here? Probably... fear. And sadness.

And there's love. There's love for somebody. The others... their names are escaping me. Bye-bye, guys! I love you! Bye-Bye Bisque... where did I get that nickname?

Bewildered but satisfied, I let myself lose consciousness for the last time.