[A/N] Thank you so much for being patient with me, guys. Everything should be in line now, so expect things to be coming.

Gou

I feel nauseous. You know, you'd expect that the more often you find a dead body, the less emotional impact it'd have on you, but it's not like that. Not for me, at least. My heart feels like some sort of corpse that someone keeps reanimating and forcing through hell over and over. I should never have agreed to come to the one-month program.

Agh. I'm being selfish. I need to be thinking of the others right now. From the way Azumi and Ren look, you'd assume they'd never find happiness again, and everyone else is almost just as horrified. Tozen was our caretaker, the one who was always up earlier than the rest of us making breakfast with a smile, always so happy just to make us feel good. And it seemed to me that, recently, he'd weathered through something really important and come out... different... more at peace.

Monokuma slides down the rope ladder. "Well, well, well! It sure took a while, but I see we've truly returned to form! I'm proud of you, my little chickadees! You're growing up!" He pretends to weep. I'm so done.

"Just give us the damn file and get out of here," I sigh.

"Woah, no need to be so rude! Oh well. Here ya go! It's the Monokuma File!"

"The victim is Tozen Chiba. His body was discovered in the Warehouse. The estimated time of death is 1:30 pm. Injuries include a cracked skull and a broken neck."

TRUTH BULLET: MONOKUMA FILE

I hold my breath for a few seconds. I don't see a definitive cause of death, and that's kind of troublesome. "Okay, guys. I think we should do things like last time. We should draw straws," I suggest.

"Laddie, there're se'en o' us," Wakumi points out, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"So what? We make one group of three," I emphasize.

She shrugs noncommittally. "Whate'er'll make ye barnacle-suckers feel better 'bout investigatin' works fer me."

"Mhm. We haven't lasted this long just to lose now. We need to make the investigation as problemless as possible. Is that a word?" Fujiko asks.

"I-Indeed, although the term problem-free tends to be favored in its place," Azumi answers, seemingly trying to distract herself.

"Let's go," Ren nods, tugging at his glove and biting his lip. We all follow him out and make our way to the kitchen, where I prep straws (in full view of everyone, so they see I'm not rigging anything) and hold them out. There's a thick, palpable silence as each person comes up to me and makes their selection. It feels like the auditory equivalent of wading through cobwebs.

"What's a pretty word for cobweb?" I whisper to Azumi as she draws a straw.

She gives the faintest of smiles and whispers back, "Gossamer."

Gossamer. That feels like a Sayuri word. I bite the inside of my cheek to chase away any tears that threaten to form.

The groups are formed: Ren and Fujiko, Chimon and Azumi, and Wakumi, Yuu, and me.

"Aye. One question."

"Yes?" I ask.

"What're we gonna do 'bout guard duty? If we're paranoid enough ta go outta our ways n' make sure there're no bad pairs, we can't just neglect the crime scene n' let it get tampered with."

"Umm..." I think for a few seconds. "I guess the group that examines the body can play guard duty afterwards."

"Oughta be us," she immediately interrupts, snapping her eyepatch.

"She's probably right. Fujiko and I would make awful guards. And though Azumi could do okay, Chimon wouldn't. Besides... I think Zu and I can agree that we..." Ren trails off.

"I do not wish... to see him like that. Even if that means I never see him again, it is not my desire to be in the pair examining him," she concludes for him.

"Tozen's room, then, Azumi?" Chimon offers. She nods meekly.

"Look at his shoes for me," Yuu requests. Though it seems more like he's offering her support than actually asking, given by the expression on his face.

She shares a slight huff of laughter. "I shall."

"Umm... I don't know a whole lot of other places to look, so maybe we can look around the crime scene but let the others handle the body," Fujiko says.

Ren takes a breath. "Okay. I don't have any better ideas."

"Are you okay with guard duty, Yuu?" I check.

"Uhh... I think so. You know I have a deadly kick." He smiles at me, trying to keep the mood as light as possible. "Besides, I can just grab a shovel or something to hit people with if I have to."

"That's sorted, then. Troops, head to your stations and get mystery cracking. And... good luck," I bid. Wakumi stomps off aggressively, forcing Yuu and I to jog in order to keep up with her pace. Like soldiers, our footsteps begin to fall in line with one another. Normally, the three of us working together winds up being nothing but trouble, but something feels different about this one. There's a grim determination emanating from both of them, and none of the three of us make any complaints about getting partnered, even if we have personal beef.

"Don't, don't don't don't step in the blood," Yuu warns emphatically. "It still looks pretty wet, and if you step in it, you will leave footprints and sully the crime scene. In fact, we should probably get latex gloves. If we hold his head to check his skull, we'll get blood on our hands and it'll get on everything we touch."

"A'right, a'right, ye don't gotta get all yer feathers ruffled. I'm savvy, ye bilge rat," she nods, heading off to search for a box of gloves to give us. She comes back to hand us a pair each, and she pulls her pair on forcefully, making awful sounds by stretching the rubber but seemingly not doing it to bother us.

"You know," Yuu admits with a sigh, "I almost actually thought this would never happen again."

Wakumi gives him a light judgmental sneer, but says nothing.

We get to work.

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

Chimon

Azumi's and my relationship has always been-- how to put this?-- slightly strained. Not in a way where anyone would ever suspect that we dislike each other, but in a way where we've just very much failed to really consider each other's well-being before. In the first trial, her ignorance of how hypnosis works led her to briefly suspect me. And that bothered the hell out of me, because, at the time, any blow to my reputation felt like a signed death warrant. The next trial, I accused her of killing Keiji. That was the only thing that made sense to me at the time, but, looking back, it was a pretty huge mistake. And then the schism happened. And then everyone made me be the one to indict Bisque, her best friend. And then she was mad at me for being mean to Yuu. I don't think either of us were at fault for reacting the way we did that time, though.

Long story short, when it comes to important things, we always happen to be at odds. But I think this is one thing we can agree on without a shadow of a doubt. We are going to find the truth behind Tozen's death. Even if I didn't connect with him nearly as much as she did, he was the one who gave me the very pair of jeans I'm wearing now. He always put so much care into everyone he came into contact with. The fact that anybody would kill him is beyond me.

Her footsteps are slower than usual, and their rhythm is disturbed. "How are you holding up?" I ask.

"I am... deeply woeful. Though I sincerely doubt you expected any different," she admits with a shuddering breath.

"Can you investigate?"

"I would request that you not offer to hypnotize me. Please. I do not intend to disrespect your talent and livelihood even more than I already have over the months, but, for myself... I cannot. I have the clarity necessary to assist the investigation, and I shan't fail. Though I mustn't allow your concern for me to go unappreciated. Thank you."

"I wasn't gonna ask that. I know you have your reservations about it, to put it mildly, and I don't intend to push hypnosis. Um... I'm always here, if you need, though. For other things."

She rubs my shoulder affectionately as she opens the door to Tozen's bedroom. The place suits him perfectly. The lighting and colors are warm, mostly browns and oranges with a hint of gold here and there. It's super tidy and clean, and yet it doesn't feel stifling. It's just cozy. A shelf is full of cookbooks, some of which are his own, and another has academic texts about nutrition. His calendar hangs perkily above his desk, as does a chart that I can only really think to describe as a motivational chart. It has stickers and glitter glue and messages like,

"Dec 13th- Get rid of secret snack horde. You're okay now <3"

"Dec 14th- Answer Azumi. You've got this :D"

"Dec 29th- Do Oosouji, but don't do it all on your own. Get help and sleep, you deserve it <3"

"Jan 1st- New Year's Resolutions: Build up some more muscle, talk to your friends more about your problems, get out of here alive. Date her, when you're ready. This is your year, Tozen!"

She's weeping now, cradling herself and sinking to her knees. "I... I hadn't been in here since he put this up. It's... wonderful! And I can't stop crying!"

"Give yourself a minute to process everything. I'll keep looking." I lower myself down to rub her back sympathetically.

"I'll," she sniffs, "l-look at his shoes. Like Yuu wanted."

While she tries to soothe herself by accomplishing her task, I look at the contents of the desk. There's a really obvious-looking letter.

"Stay away from the Warehouse on January 6th. Everything will be okay if you avoid it, but you'll be in danger if you go. Trust me on this, don't go to the basement floor, do your daily exercise in the outdoor area.

Until the next day, let nobody know of this. Panic will be the only result if you tell."

"Agh, Tozen! Why would you go?! Why didn't you listen?!" I yell, agitated.

This catches Azumi's attention, and she prys herself from the floor in order to read it. "H-Huh? But today is... the seventh, is it not? He did listen," she contradicts.

"Today is the sixth... I'm almost positive."

"Then, why does his calendar say it is the seventh?"

I check to see if what she says is true. She's right. The sixth is crossed out, like every other day that's passed.

"Also, this note's handwriting is completely unfamiliar. Someone has switched their handwriting, as per usual." She clicks her tongue sharply.

TRUTH BULLET: WARNING NOTE

TRUTH BULLET: TOZEN'S CALENDAR

"Hey, can we go check the meal plan board in the kitchen again?" I ask. She nods, so we make our way there. Sure enough, yesterday, Tozen made the food that was set for the sixth. "So... I was wrong? It's the seventh?"

"Mmm... if your instincts tell you that it is the sixth, perhaps we should ask around. This could be a major conundrum," she advises. So we go down to the basement floor to ask our friends.

Yuu gives us something interesting. "Not gonna lie, I was a little confused, too. Yesterday, I was sure that it was the sixth. Cause that's a Thursday. Tozen usually goes to the gym sometime around 1 or 1:30 pm, except Fridays. He cleans on those days, and he does it when I'm around so I can help. But for some reason, he was cleaning yesterday instead of today? He told me it was Friday the sixth, but I'm not sure how I could get it mixed up."

"What do you mean by, 'while you're around?'" I ask.

"Yesterday was my last day of the watch schedule. Tozen's been in charge of me from noon to two. You should know that. You helped make the schedule," he laughs.

"Look, don't blame me. It's been two months, I only really remember Fuji and my shifts," I cackle.

TRUTH BULLET: YUU'S ACCOUNT

Everyone else's results prove inconclusive. Some people really aren't sure. Fuji swears up and down that it's the sixth, because it's two days after her birthday. It's all just a mess.

What happened? How did Tozen come to believe that an extra day had passed?

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

Fujiko

My partner looks so... hopeless. Ren has always been a very emotional person. I've seen him so angry that I thought I'd die on the spot, I've seen him scared out of his wits, I've seen him teary and sad, and I've seen him light up a room with his adorable smile-- slightly pointy canines and everything. But right now... he just looks so empty. He's said next to nothing, and most of what he HAS said is purely...  umm-- what's the word?-- practical! Jeez, it should not have taken me so long to remember!

But anyway! I'm determined as fuck! I know what it's like to be so devastated by death-- the dancers shattered my heart-- so I wanna do my very best for Azumi and Ren! I'm looking around everywhere and trying to remember every itty bitty detail I possibly can!

The thing that jumps out to me the most is this tightrope thingy that Yuu and Azumi set up. I try to look at every part. The stepladder has something odd. "Oh, God! Is this blood?!" I squeal.

Yuu peaks his head over. "Good catch. These are prints. Though, honestly, they don't look like they were made from shoes. I'm not exactly sure WHAT they are, really, but they're not shoeprints or fingerprints. I can tell you that much."

TRUTH BULLET: BLOODY PRINTS

I make my way over to the opposite wall and check it. Near one of the hooks keeping the safety net in place, I notice a couple of black marks. "Looks like dirt over here, guys! Kinda icky, but better than blood!"

TRUTH BULLET: BLACK MARKS

Ren comes up beside me to check. He gives a nod to tell me he notices the marks, and then his pink-tinged eyes flicker about. "...Huh?" he murmurs in confusion.

"What's up?"

He points up. "Can you see that? It's kind of hard to see, but something's on the ceiling."

"Oooh, I can. I don't know what that is."

"I'll go climb the non-bloody step ladder to get a better look." He frantically makes his way up the steps on the opposite end of the tightrope, a bright pop of neon lighting up the dingey greys and beiges of the Warehouse. "Looks like... a hook. For sure."

"Ah-- Wha? How?! The ceiling is so tall! Even on the tightrope, there's like, nooooo possible way to reach it!" I gasp.

"What about the rope ladder?" Ren theorizes. "No... that wouldn't work. The hook is too far into the room. Nobody could reach nearly that far." I reach my hand up and start trying to guess how far away it is from the ladder. The gap is, like, at least three hands long. And I'm FAR away from it.

TRUTH BULLET: CEILING HOOK

"I'm gonna jump into the net!" Ren yells.

"Don't ye DARE, ye bilge-suckin' galley slave, or ye'll be fish food!" Wakumi bellows. She and the boys are directly below said net. Ren gets a bit of a cold look in his eye and a wry smirk.

"Ren, Ren, Ren, stop!" Azumi suddenly warns. She and Chimon are peering their heads into the Warehouse through the trapdoor.

"Why not? I want my revenge for her purposefully landing on me in the library!" he groans overdramatically.

"You WHAT?!" Gou gasps, jaw dropping.

"Oh, go suck a barnacle, ye barnacle-sucker. Clearly, 'e's fine, or 'e wouldn't be walkin' 'round like that," she dismisses. But she cackles, pleased at herself and the memory.

"Ren, even though the net looks safe, the natural bounce of the net could launch you straight off. You might injure yourself," Azumi tells us.

"Alright then. Show me how it's done."

"As you like. First, however... what is today's date? The sixth or the seventh?"

"What is this, Animal Crossing?" Ren snarks.

"It's the sixth!!! Two days after my birthday!" I squeal.

"Wait, I have things to say about that. But demonstrate the net first," Yuu mentions.

"I shall." She quickly pops over to where we are, picks Ren up, and carries him off the ladder. She then takes a few confident steps on the tightrope before falling. It goes too fast for me to be able to say exactly what she does, but even though I assume her form's perfect, she does get a slight bounce. "That is perplexing. Somehow, the net has less slack— rather, it's tighter— than when Yuu initially hooked it up. That ought not to be the case. How peculiar."

TRUTH BULLET: SAFETY NET

"Oh! Little dude, while you're here, would you mind corro— cor— confirming my story?" I ask.

"About last night?" he clarifies.

"Yes!"

"Fujiko was passing by the Warehouse last night, and she heard a crash and some chain noises. She tried to open the trapdoor, but it was locked. She ran to come get me, and then we went back together. By the time the two of us got there, the door was unlocked again and everything was okay except the stepladder was knocked down. That one," he points. It's the bloody one, but it wasn't bloody at the time. "We put it back where it was."

"Exactly! I was super scared, cause I thought someone was gonna die, but I checked the whole floor and everything was okay! So I figured it might've just been a bunch of Monoinu doing things for maintenance or something," I explain. "Like, we still don't know where they get the stuff in here, so maybe they didn't want us knowing? But I'm not so sure anymore... since now we're in this situation."

TRUTH BULLET: FUJIKO AND CHIMON'S ACCOUNT

Ren squints, as if deep in thought. "Fujiko, let's look for murder weapons. We still have no clue how any of this happened."

"Gotcha." We start rifling through boxes in silence. I'm not really seeing anything suspicious-looking in the front row. I sidle up close to Ren and give him a good-natured nudge in the shoulder. He looks at me, so I speak in a low volume, "How are you holding up, bud?"

He sighs quietly. "I... when Nari died, I felt like she gave me purpose and direction. This time, though, I just feel confused. What am I supposed to do now?"

"The same thing you've been planning on doing. You're gonna live."

He balls his fists. "Right. I'll do what I think is best in the process. That's all you really can do, right?"

"Right."