Deadly Life

We had went to the Gym what Monokuma had told us but it been a few minutes until Makoto woke up.

Hina: "Ah! You're awake! Finally! Are you okay?"

Mondo: "Now's no time for sleeping. Get your ass up!"

Makoto: "Huh?"

Hiro: "You were unconscious, dude. I had to carry up back here."

Sakura: "It's no surprise, considering what happened."

Makoto: "What... happened?"

Then Makoto remembers what he witness inside his dorm in his bathroom was Sayaka Maizono's corpse.

Makoto: "Gh... Graaaah!"

Hina: "H-Hey, are you okay?"

Makoto: "So it wasn't a dream? What I saw... It was real?"

Byakuya: "That's right. It really did happen. Sayaka is dead."

Kenji: ('This all happened quick. Even tho I didn't know Sayaka, she was kind, it hurts to see her gone.')

Kyoko: "None of us want to be here right now either." Kenji looked at her and then Makoto.

Makoto: "Then...why?"

Toko: "Sh-Shouldn't it be obvious? Mono-kuma... he told us all to c-come here..."

Taka: "Well, hold on! Don't like that. We all protested it! I mean, we remember the terrible price Sayaka had to pay... But."

Kyoko: "I'm the one who convinced them to come. Right now, we need to do whatever he says. We're his prisoners, right? It's not a good idea to defy him without reason. We don't need to make any more sacrifices than we already have."

Makoto: "...Why should we listen to anything  he has to say? It's obvious he's the one who killed Sayaka!" Makoto pointed at Monokuma.

Monokuma: "I would never do that! If you can believe anything, you can believe that!"

Leon: "He's here again..."

Monokuma: "Unless someone violates a school regulation, I absolutely will not interfere. I won't do anything that goes against the purpose of your school life here."

Monokuma: "I'm famous at safari parks throughout the world for following the "Bear-Times-One" rule!"

Chihiro: "Then...who did it? Who killed her?"

Monokuma: "You already know the answer! The one who killed her is... one of you!"

Monokuma: "Hmm? What the matter? You guys all look like you're about to see a dove get shot up with Gatling gun! Don't you remember what I told you when this all began?"

Monokuma: "One of you decided to kill Sayaka so that you could graduate! Someone's just following the rules. There's nothing wrong with that!"

Hifumi: "Y-You're lying...right?"

Makoto: "Of course he's lying! I'm telling you, he killed her!"

Monokuma: "Nope, sorry. One of you is now a bona fide killer. If they wanted to, the one who did it could testify  to that little fact."

Makoto: "What...?"

Kenji then looked at every student that was in the gym as they was having the same look that was on their faces. 

Chihiro: "A-Are you serious...?"

Taka: "Someone... someone killed someone!"

Celestia: "It is amazing what some people are capable of."

Mondo: "Hey, hold on! Don't just assume he's telling the truth!" Well everyone was talking over each other Byakuya interrupted everyone who was talking.

Byakuya: "That's enough. Before we do anything else, I'd like to confirm something with the stuffed animal here. If one of us really did kill her, that person gets to graduate from the school, right?"

Monokuma: "Huh?"

Byakuya: "Don't play dumb! That's what you said, isn't it!? If you kill someone, you get to leave!" Then suddenly Monokuma started laughing.

Leon: "Why are you laughing!?"

Monokuma: "Puhu... it's cuz... Naive... You're just so naive! You think it's really that easy? You can just kill someone and waltz on outta here? You're super naive! Devilishly naive! HELLISHLY NAIVE! No no no, the real thing has just begun."

Makoto: "The... real thing?"

Monokuma: "Are you ready!? Allow me to explain the second part of the rule regarding graduation! Just like I explained before, you must kill someone if you want to leave. However... even if you do that, there's still one more part to the agreement you have to upload, remember?"

Celestia: "If you are the "blackened" that committed the murder, you can't be found out by the other students. That is what you are talking about, is it not?"

Monokuma: " Bingo! It's not enough to just kill someone. You have to actually get away with it! Which naturally means you need a system in place to assess whether or not it's been gotten away with! So, a certain amount of time after a murder has taken place, a class trial will begin! Class...trial?

Monokuma: "Yup! It'll begin a few hours after the murder! Everyone will gather together, including the blackened who committed the murder. And they and the spotless students will all engage in one big debate showdown!"

Monokuma: "During the trial, you'll have to present your arguments about who you think the blackened is. And once everything comes to an end, the outcome will be decided by popular vote! If the answer you've arrived at is correct...only the one that disturbed your peace will be punished. The rest may continue their communal life. However...if you choose poorly...then the one who got away with murder will survive, and the rest of you will receive your punishment. Which of course means your school life will come to an end! As far as class trial rules go...that's all there is to it!"

Kenji: ("These fucking rules are ridiculous...")

Hifumi: "So, um...what exactly is this "punishment" you keep talking about...?"

Monokuma: "Oh! Well, to put it simply...  It's execution!"

Kenji: ("Well shit...")

Hifumi: "E-Execution!?"

Chihiro: "And by execution, you mean..."

Monokuma: "Execution is...execution. Ex-e-cution! Electric chair, bzzt bzzt! Poison gas, cough cough! Torn apart like a paper place in a hurricane!"

Taka: "S-So, to make sure I understand... If we get the culprit right, then only they die. But if we get it wrong...all the rest of us get...executed?"

Monokuma: "What a smart little chimpanzee you are! Look at you, implying you didn't do it without actually saying it! So it's basically what the outside world calls a "lay judge" system, or an inquisition type thing! Which means you'll be deciding who you think the killer is. But judge carefully, because all your lives are on the line! Okay, let me just add the rule I just described to your handbook. make sure to keep it in mind!" Suddenly all the students heard a "beep" on their E-handbooks.

Junko: "W-Wait, hold on a second! You're freaking insane, you know that!?" Suddenly Junko started shouting at Monokuma.

Monokuma: "Hmm?"

Junko: " A class trial? What the hell is that!? I don't want anything to do with it!"

Monokuma: "Why not?"

Junko: "Whaddya mean why not!? Why do I have to waste my time trying to figure out who murdered someone!?"

Monokuma: "What!? Are you saying you're not gonna participate in the trial!? Only punishment awaits such blasphemy!"

Junko: "What? Punishment?" 

Kenji: ("Does she forgot that he means execution... Well never mind I'm gonna mind my own business.") Kenji looked at the situation and saw Junko foot was stepping on Monokuma's face.

Monokuma: "Violence against Headmaster Monokuma is not allowed. You've violated a school regulation... I invoke the mighty summon spell! Help! To me, godly spear Gungnir!" And with that Junko got stabbed by multi spears, blood coming out of her mouth and the spears was covered from her blood. Kenji saw the surprise look on Junko's face with a smile on her face.

Junko: "Wh...? H-Huh? This wasn't... supposed to... Why... me...?" Then her body fell on the clean floor on her back with now her blood was on the floor.

Monokuma: "Now I am painfully aware of the great power and meaning of a promise... I really wanted to keep a corpse from popping up for no good reason, ya know? But I guess you all needed to be taught a lesson, after all. Ahh, what an amazing promise! But now you guys understand, right?"

Monokuma: "Now you see just how serious I am... Defy me and you get shot full of holes, exploded, buried alive, disintegrated...et cetera. So if you don't want that to happen to you, you'd best obey those school regulations!"

Monokuma: "It's really not all that shocking. She just died, that's all. Just went and died. It's no more remarkable than the inevitable demise of the entire human race. It's just as natural as the eventual end of the world itself."

Monokuma: "This isn't some superhero comic. So it's not like when you die, you didn't *really* die. This is reality!"

Kyoko: "Why did you have to kill her? Didn't you say you would put her in prison or something?" 

Monokuma: "I changed my mind.

Kyoko: "No, you've been wanting to kill this entire time."

Monokuma: "Kill this entire time...? Don't be silly, you can't kill time! Or are you being metaphorical? Are you saying I wanted to waste time this whole time? Come on, what do you take me for? I'm Monokuma! Anyways, none of that matters right now. I have something I'd like to give you to help you in your search for the blackened!"

Monokuma: "This little file has all the information I've gathered about the death in question. I like to call it... The Monokuma File! I mean, naturally you guys aren't experts at this kind of thing, so you can only do so much with a corpse. So instead, I've gathered up everything I know about the circumstances and cause of death."

Monokuma: "What's that? How do I know the cause of death, you ask? Cuz the surveillance cameras picked up the whole thing! I got to see it all go down!"

Kyoko: "Wait, so then...you know who killed Sayaka?"

Monokuma: "Of course I do! If I didn't, I couldn't possibly pass a fair and accurate judgment during the trial, now could I?"

Kyoko: "That's a good point. The judge has to be able to make the proper decision. That's...somehow comforting."

Monokuma: "Now then, please put your full effort behind your investigation! After all, you don't have any choice but to give it your best shot! Seriously, you don't have a choice! Okay, so we'll meet up for the class trial...in a little while!" And with that Monokuma disappeared leaving all or some of the students just standing there as Kenji just sighed and shook his head.

Kyoko: "Now's no time to wallow in your depression. The worst thing we can do right now is lose all faith in each other. That would lead to the same disastrous result as having *total* faith in everyone else."

Leon: "Huh...?"

Kyoko: "Cooperation is absolutely key at this point. Who you decide to trust or not trust is, of course, up to you."

Celestia: "Continuing to think about and talk about the deceased certainly isn't going to help anything."

Hina: "S-Saying stuff like that is just--!"

Celestia: "How many times have I told you? Anyone who can't adapt...will die. Death is the only thing awaiting those who are unable or unwilling to adapt. If that happens, you only have yourself to blame."

Kyoko: "Right now, exposing the killer is the most important thing. Because if we don't, we're all going to die here."

Byakuya: "She's right. We need to begin our search right away." Kenji then looked at the E-handbook that he was given and looked the information about Sayaka's death through the Monokuma File.

Kenji: "Hmm..."

Chihiro: "Umm... Kenji?" He looked at Chihiro as everyone in the gym looked at him with the E-handbook in hand. "You been quiet for a long time, is everything alright?"

Kenji: "Yeah... Just looking at the Monokuma File."

Celestia: "Speaking about Monokuma File I've noticed something very obvious, and very unusual." 

Chihiro: "Huh? What are you talking about...?"

Celestia: "Go ahead, take a look. Notice anything interesting about where Sayaka died? She died in Makoto's dorm."

Hina: "Wh--? She's right!"

Hifumi: "Then, could it be...!?" Then everyone's gaze was turned to Makoto who immediately realize what was going on.

Makoto: "H-Hold on a second! You've got it all wrong! F-For just one night, I...I traded rooms with her. I did it because...she was afraid."

Toko: "Y-You expect us to b-believe that? Just tell us the t-tru-"

Kyoko: "Are we all done talking? We need to begin our investigation soon. At this point, we should split up. We need to get to the bottom of this and find out who killed Sayaka. We'll have to collect clues to form a foundation, then construct an argument to come to a final decision. If we get this wrong... Well, do I really have to say any more?"

Hifumi: "I'd rather you didn't, no..."

Kyoko: "Everyone pray for good luck." With that, Kyoko hurried out of the gym.

Byakuya: "I'll be going, too." And just like Kyoko, he was gone before we realized it and without a word Kenji just walked away to investigate.

===[Hallway]===

Kenji was on his way to Makoto's dorm but he immediately took notice of the nameplates and he checked his E-Handbook to see what the entire main floor and saw two icon of the faces of Makoto and Sayaka and look at the nameplates.

Kenji: "It seems that the nameplates have been switch... Luckily that I looked at the E-Handbook..." He whispered to himself.

Kenji was about to go inside Sayaka's room (aka Makoto's Dorm) the door was open to reveal to be Kyoko who saw him and before she was continue walk to where she was going to go she turn to him.

Kyoko: "It seem that your keeping busy..." 

Kenji: "Of course, it's the only thing that I could do anyway and plus I know Makoto isn't the killer." Kyoko just smiled while turning her head away and her eyes were closed.

Kyoko: "I see... I hope you have good evidence for that then as I have things that I have look for and I don't wanna die here of all places..." Kenji was going to say something but Kyoko just started walking away from him as he just sighed and walked in to Makoto's dorm.

===[Makoto's Dorm]=== 

Kenji: ("Of course this is Makoto's room but crap, what the hell happened here? A katana is on the floor, key, and... a lint roller? Right, forgot... I also have a lint roller in my dorm.")

Then Kenji was just looking at the floor as Makoto came up to him and tap him on the shoulder.

Makoto: "H-hey Ke-"

Kenji: "Calm down, I know your wondering if I trust you and I'm taking my chance to trust you but just tell me... Do you know that your nameplates have been switched?"

Makoto: "Yeah I did when I got here. I thought that it was weird because I didn't noticed until a few minutes ago."

Kenji: "Hmm... Okay, and... Do you clean your floor often? Like, I saw your lint roller and there were no hair on it but looking at the floor... There's no hair on the floor too... Question, since we got here did you use the lint roller one time or more?"

Makoto: "No... I didn't even touch the lint roller." 

Kenji: "Okay..." Then suddenly Kenji went to the bathroom where the corpse of Sayaka Maizono was there as this was the second time in one day that he saw her.

Kenji put his hands inside his pocket as he decided to move her hands to see if there's any bruises and he was correct, there was but there was sorta glittery there and remembered the katana that was on the floor.

Then he checked to see if there were the same thing with the other hand and he saw blood on her index finger and her palms was clean.

Kenji: ("She must have been alive before or after she was stabbed but if after she was stabbed then she- huh?") 

Then Kenji saw something behind Sayaka and...

Kenji: ("11037? Why would she write a number behind her? Anyway, I think I'm done with the bathroom. I think it'll be best to ask Makoto what was he doing last night.") As Kenji left the bathroom but he stopped and looked at Sayaka one more time.

Kenji: ("At least she's in a better place.")

He then turned back and let the bathroom and he misheard Mondo and Makoto's conversation...

Mondo: "Not just me. Nobody's busted theirs out yet, far as I know. Actually, we were talkin' about it yesterday. None of the guys have opened their toolkits yet. Cuz like, why the hell would we? Like hell, yo Kenji, did you opened your toolkits?" He shook his head.

Kenji: "I only saw that I have it but I never opened it." Kenji answered Mondo's questioned as Kenji walked over to them.

Mondo: "Ya know, I realized something while I was on guard duty. The killer could've already destroyed some evidence, right? Before anyone found the body, I mean. There's a trash room here in the dorms, right? They coulda tossed some stuff in there."

Kenji: "Wait... There's a trash room here?"

Mondo: "Yeah, you never knew that?" 

Kenji: "I didn't have time to explore the school because of this situation that we're in right now but that'll be my next stop which is right now..."

Makoto: "Kenji wait!" Kenji stopped and turn his head. "Since you trust me let me come with you!" Kenji just stared at him and shrug.

Kenji: "I'm not gonna stop you..."

===[Hallway]===

Both of Kenji and Makoto was talking with Hifumi who was the person in charge of cleaning duty but Byakuya interrupted their conversation.

Byakuya: "Wait, hold on. You need a key to get in the trash room? And only the person on cleaning duty has access to the key? What's the point of going to all that trouble? Why not just leave the trash room open all the time so we can all throw things out whenever we want?"

Makoto: "That does seem more convenient."

Byakuya: "Actually..." Byakuya looked at his E-Handbook and look at rule number 6. 

"Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes "blackened" will graduate, unless they are discovered."

Byakuya: "That must be why. If anyone could go in and out of the trash room whenever they wanted, then destroying evidence would be easy. The thrill would disappear, and things would become boring."

Makoto: "B-Boring!?"

Leon: "Anyway, more important than that... Hey fatty! Why'd you want the cleaning duty gig, anyway!?" Leon was shouting at Hifumi.

Hifumi: "I-I just decided to volunteer for something I knew no one else would wanna do. What's the big deal!?"

Leon: "Liar! I know why you did it. You wanna dig through all the girls' trash! Looking for...y'know...and poking around at it!"

Hifumi: "What are you talking about!? All my love is for 2D!"

Leon: "But there's all kinds of trash diggers like that! Maybe you'll get tired of 2D, and then turn to--"

Hifumi: "I would NEVER get tired of 2D! After spending a significant amount of time comparing 2D and 3D, I voluntarily chose 2D! The only thing 3D is good for is to shower love and affection on 2D! Oh, and PVC figures!"

Kenji: ("There... There's something wrong with this one...")

Leon: "How are you not totally embarrassed to say stuff like that!?"

Byakuya: "If you're so worried about Hifumi's questionable morality, there's a very easy solution. Whenever a guy has cleaning duty, Sakura can accompany then, from picking up the trash to disposing of it."

Hifumi: "Whaaat!?"

Byakuya: "If you're as innocent as you claim, where's the harm in it?"

Hifumi: "Kh--! That's not how it's supposed to--!"

Kenji: "I'll have to interrupt for you there, Hifumi. But, I have a favor to ask you something."

Hifumi: "What, so now you suddenly want to join my party? Sorry, but you haven't triggered that flag yet. I mean, you haven't helped me recover from a past trauma, or save a village, or beat a boss."

Kenji: "(Dear god-) No, I was hoping that I could get into the trash room to have a look around."

Hifumi: "Oh, okay!"

===[Trash Room]===

Hifumi: "You'd like me to open the gate, wouldn't you? Bwehehe... You know, when I look at it, it makes me think. They said he killed his wife. He learned how to get by on the inside, but he never stopped dreaming. Get busy livin' or get busy dyin', he said. So him and Rita, they found themselves a way out..."

Kenji: "I don't think we have enough time for your story so could you just open the door?"

Hifumi: "Okie dokie! Leave it to me!" Hifumi pulled the key out of his pocket and open the gate as we walked over to the switch and Hifumi turned to Makoto.

Hifumi: "However, Mr. Naegi...  Surely you aren't planning to use the trash room to destroy evidence, are you!? Y-You fiend! You planned this all along!"

Makoto: "N-No-!"

Kenji: "It's fine I'm watching over him since he's a prime suspect..." Kenji said with his hands together while looking at the incinerator.

Kenji: "It seems that the incinerator is still on. Hifumi, did you forget to turn this off when you were done?" Hifumi walked over to him and saw that it was still on.

Hifumi: " Huh!? Someone turned the incinerator on! Very strange... I'm quite certain it was off last time I was down here. Perhaps it was the work of a fairy..."

Makoto: "Hifumi! Do you realize what you just said!?"

Hifumi: "Huh? The fairy?"

Makoto: "No. You said that last time you were here, the incinerator was off."

Hifumi: "Ah, yes. About that there can be no mistake. If I've got one thing going for me, it's my memory! Yesterday, as soon as I was appointed, I came down to check the place out. It definitely wasn't on then. I haven't been back to the trash room since then. And since I'm the only one who has a key to open the gate... it should be impossible for the incinerator to be on. And yet..." Hifumi said and Kenji turn around and notice a piece of cloth on the floor.

Kenji: "It seem that our little killer didn't notice that they left this piece of evidence here..."

Hifumi: "Ngyah! Is that...?" That almost made Kenji burn himself by touching the incinerator but touch the floor instead and turn around to Hifumi and Makoto.

Makoto: "Do you know what this is?"

Hifumi: "They say if you collect all seven a dragon will appear and grant you a single wish!" Kenji didn't know what Hifumi was saying until he looked at what the both of them were looking at which was a shards of broken glass.

Hifumi: "Erm, kidding aside, it's the kind of thing you might see on any big-city street corner. Gaze into it, and it will show you a glimpse of the future. Just like that Meena girl who was on that quest to find that one guy!"

Hifumi: "This whole thing is quite strange, indeed. When I was here last, the incinerator was off, and those glass shards and burnt clothes weren't. What does it all mean, Mr. Naegi!? Will you be confessing soon!?" 

Makoto: "Why me-"

Kenji: "Silence, we'll see what happens after the trial but for now that was all I wanted to see, Thank you." And with that Kenji left the trash room.

===[Dining Hall]===

Kenji arrived at the Dining Hall and saw Hina sitting down as she noticed him and wave to him.

Kenji: "I suppose that your taking a break?" She smiled and nodded her head and put her hand behind her head and gave a nervous laugh.

Hina: "Yeah, 've been taking a break since we started. This is all a first for me, ya know? I don't have the first clue what I should be doing but to be honest,  being in the dining hall helps keep me calm. So I know I shouldn't, but I've just been kinda... hanging around here. To tell the truth...I was doing the same thing last night, when Sayaka was killed."

Kenji: "I understand.  Well, I'll check for some evidence in there. I'll be back." She nod her head and continue to eat her donut.

===[Kitchen]===

Kenji: ("Thought so...") 

Kenji looked at the kitchen knives set and saw that one was missing as he was expecting one to be missing.

Kenji: ("I should ask Hina if she noticed that one of the knives is missing...")

===[Dining Hall]===

Kenji: "Hey Hina, did you notice that one of the kitchen knives is missing from the dining hall?" He asked her as she put her hands together on the table thinking while speaking.

Hina: "Yeah, weird huh? I thought it was kinda strange, a knife just suddenly disappearing like that."

Kenji: "Do you know when expecting that it was missing?" 

Hina: "Well... I went to go get some tea from the kitchen last night, and all the knives were still there. But when I finished my tea and went back into the kitchen to wash my glass, one of the knives was gone." Kenji put his hand together thinking before speaking again.

Kenji: "Hmm... I guess it was last night..."

Hina: "Hey Kenji... Do you suspect Makoto to kill Sayaka?" He shook his head.

Kenji: "There's 50/50 chance that he did but I trust him that he didn't."

Hina: "Well... What if he did do it?" Kenji just closed his eyes and sighed.

Kenji: "I just have to hope that he didn't do it but with the evidence that I found, I doubt it." And with that the two of them heard a *ding dong* and looked at the monitor which showed the bear, Monokuma.

Monokuma: "Erm, so ah...I'm getting tired of waiting. What say we just get started, hm? It's time for the long-awaited Class Trial! Now then, allow me to appoint a proper location for the proceedings. Please go through the red door on the 1st floor of the school! Puhuhu. See you soon!" And then with that the screen was off.

Hina: "It seem that it's time... I'm nervous now..." Kenji put his hand on her shoulder which made her looked at him.

Kenji: "Don't worry about the important stuff, just say what's on your mind. I believe in you..." Kenji smiled to her which to her it was the first time that she saw him smile which made her confident and she smiled back to him.

Hina: "Okay, thanks Kenji! Yeah let's do this!"

TO BE CONTINUED...