(3rd Person's POV)

Sora ran after Hina to the dorms. The blonde then stopped at Toko's room.

"Took you long enough!" Hina said. "You're so slow, Shirayuki!"

"I just didn't feel like runnin' too much. Takes a lot out of me..." Sora lazily made an excuse.

Paying attention, Sora saw that Makoto and Byakuya were also there.

"So? Now that Shirayuki's here, what's this emergency?" Byakuya inquired.

"Well, after what happened in the girls locker room, we left Fukawa in her room so she could lay down." Hina explained. "After a while, we came back to check on her. Ya know, see how she was doing. But when we did it was weird. She refused to come out, and she kept saying all this weird stuff."

"Weird stuff?" Makoto parroted in confusion.

"We should try talking to her ourselves." Byakuya said.

"Y-Yeah, good idea." Makoto nodded.

Sora shrugged. May as well give it a shot...

Byakuya then pressed the doorbell next to Toko's room.

DING, DONG!

A couple seconds later, the door opened by a crack, slowly and silently.

"..."

Sora's instinctively winced. The moment Toko opened the door, an aura of negativity flowed out from behind the door, which forced a gasp out of Makoto.

"...What?" Toko spoke up.

"Oh, um...nothing." Makoto meekly responded. "It's just that...Hina was really worried about you, holing yourself up in your room..."

Toko scowled. "Leave me a-alone..."

"Um, yeah, sure thing. But...could you open up, just for a second...?" Makoto polity requested.

"...Won't a-allow it..."

"Huh...?"

"I w-won't let Genocide Jack have control!"

SLAM!

And just like that, she slammed the door in Makoto's face.

"Huh. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Sora commented.

"Wh-What was that...?" Makoto asked, still recovering from having the door being slammed right in front of him.

"She's been acting like that the whole time." Hina said. "When I rang a little while ago..."

---

"I'll d-drive out...the killer... D-Drive out the murderous fiend..."

---

"It doesn't make any sense, right? I was afraid to leave her in there alone, so I tried to bust down her door but it felt like something was holding it shut on the other side." Hina told them "I couldn't even budge it..."

Makoto looked lost in thought. Toko was scared enough to even bar her door...? Does she think the same thing as Byakuya? Does she think the serial killer Genocide Jack really murdered Chihiro? Is that why she's so scared...?

"Whatever it is, I'm really worried about her... Isn't there anyone who might be able to persuade her...?" Hina asked.

"Hey, Togami...you think you could ask her? To come out of her room, I mean." Makoto asked.

A few days ago, Makoto found out that Toko had a crush on the arrogant progeny. If anyone could get her to come out of her room, it's him.

Byakuya sighed, though he nodded soon after. "...Sure, whatever."

"Huh? You're gonna talk to her, Togami?" Hina widened her eyes, "Wow, I guess you can be nice when you want to!"

Rolling his eyes, Byakuya stood in front of her door, not making a sound, and pressed the doorbell.

DING, DONG!

After a few moments...

"Leave me alone! You're all s-s-s-so annoying..." Toko growled before she saw Byakuya. "Ah--! Toguumi!"

"Pfffft...!" Sora snickered.

"It's Togami." The progeny corrected.

"...I-I'm sorry. I couldn't k-keep our promise..." Toko apologized. "But don't w-worry. Never again... I...! I won't let Genocide Jack have control ever again!"

SLAM!

And with that, the door slammed shut.

"Even Togami couldn't pull it off..." Hina lamented.

"There's nothing else we can do. Let's get back to the investigation, Naegi." Byakuya told the boy as he began to walk away.

"H-Hold on! Hey, Togami." Makoto stood in front of him, making him stop. "What was Fukawa talking about just now? Something about a promise?"

"Hm? Oh, I have no idea. Another one of her delusions, I'm sure."

"B-But..."

"If I say I don't know, that means I don't know." Byakuya glared at Makoto. "Just let Hina take care of her."

"O-Oh...yeah, okay. I'll stay here and keep an eye on her." Hina nodded.

"Well then, let's go." Byakuya said as he left.

"T-Togami!" Makoto exclaimed as he hurried off to catch up with him.

"So..." Sora turned to Hina. "Why did you bring me here again?"

"Uh...ahehehehe..." Hina nervously laughed.

Rolling her eyes, Sora walked off.

---

Well that was a complete waste of time. Sora thought. She doesn't know why Hina bothered her with that. Byakuya and Makoto could've easily handled that on their own.

But...whatever. I was done doing what I was doing in the archive, anyway. I guess I should take a look at the locker rooms, and the crime scene one last time. And the others might have come up with some info I might find useful, while I'm at it. I need to find out everything I can...

Sora walked to the pool hallway. She saw Makoto talking to Hifumi about something, but she decided to just let him handle that one.

The blonde walked towards the boys locker room before heading to the crime scene. She walked to the wall where she saw a poster. From the looks of it, it looks like a boy band of some kind.

Not that she's interested in boy bands. Or boys in general.

But...it doesn't really seem to fit in the boys locker room... Sora thought as her eyes flickered down to the carpet, where she saw a brown stain on it. What...is that?

Truth Bullet: Boys Locker Room Closet

Seeing that it didn't have anything else evidence-worthy, Sora left the boys locker room. Once outside, she headed into the girl's locker room.

---

The blonde walked over to Kyoko, who seemed to be thinking.

"Hi, Kiri!" Sora greeted with a wave.

"...Kiri...?" Kyoko raised an eyebrow at the nickname before shaking it off. "What are you doing here?"

"Huh?" Tears then appeared at the corners of Sora's eyes. "Oh... You don't want me here..." Several mushrooms grew on her head. "I get it. I'll leave if that's what you want..."

"...I never said that. I meant that you wouldn't have came here without a good reason." Kyoko sighed.

"Oh. Okay then..." In the blink of an eye, the tears disappeared as Sora casually put her hands behind her back. "So, you made any process on your side?"

Kyoko sweatdropped at the girl's sudden change in mood as she explained. "Generally speaking. But I have to get going. I have something unrelated to take care of."

"Something besides all this?" Sora tilted her head, referring to the investigation. "What's that?"

"Nothing you need to worry about. Just concentrate on the murder." Kyoko folded her arms.

Okay, Miss Mysterious... Sora snarked in her head.

"Before I go, let me give you one piece of advice. You should examine Fujisaki's body one more time. Thoroughly. Also, her handbook is missing. You might want to determine its whereabouts." Kyoko said. "That's it. I'll be praying for your success."

With that, Kyoko left the girl's locker room, heading to places unknown.

Truth Bullet: Chihiro's E-Handbook

Sora turned to face Chihiro's body. "Let's see..."

She saw that Chihiro's hands were bound with...some kind of rope? It looked like it was used to prop her up in a kind of crucifix position.

"Hm?"

After looking closely, Sora saw that the "rope" had a plug. That mean...this isn't a rope at all? It's an electrical cord!

Also... Sora mentally mused The Monokuma file said that the cause of death was a blow to the head. At first, there isn't much of a reason to think much about it...

Sora's mind then went back to the images on the Genocide Jack case book, and how the victims were suspended in a different way.

But seeing them again after looking through the Genocide Jack file, something's ain't quite right...

Truth Bullet: Status Of Chihiro's Body

Sora then looked at the wall, where she took the poster of the model.

"Huh? But the poster in the other room is..."

In the boys locker room, there's a poster of a popular boy band... Sora thought And in the girls locker room, there's a poster of a big-breasted swimsuit model... Could the posters have been switched...? But if they were...then why?

Truth Bullet: Two Locker Room Posters

"Maybe I should talk to someone who knows a bit about the locker rooms..."

Sora walked over to the resident exercise enthusiast, Sakura Ogami.

"Ogami, you spend a lot of time in the locker room, right?" Sora asked.

She nodded. "I've used it nearly every day since it opened up. Sometimes Hina and I use it together."

"Alright...lemme ask you something." Sora started. "The posters in the locker rooms...you think they could've been switched...?

"Sorry, I can't really say. I never paid any attention to the posters." Sakura said.

"Oh..." Sora frowned.

"But there is something that's been bothering me about the locker room..." Sakura mentioned. "You see, I like to drink a little protein coffee every time I finish exercising."

"...This place has protein coffee?" Sora cocked her head in confusion.

"In the warehouse. It's not the highest quality, but I don't have a lot of other options. I mix protein powder with coffee, and down a glass of it after exercising. Anyway, the other day, I spilled some on the carpet in the girls locker room, and it left a stain."

"But...I don't see anything like that on the carpet right now..." Sora pointed out.

"Exactly. I noticed it earlier--the stain has disappeared. I can only assume someone came along and cleaned it up." Sakura guessed. "But still, isn't it unusually clean? As if there was never a stain here to begin with..."

Truth Bullet: Disappearing Stain

"Got it." Sora nodded as she left the girl's locker room again.

---

Sora's instincts took her to the main hall. She looked around aimlessly before her eyes locked on to a mailbox of some kind.

"What's this...?" The blonde asked as she reached in there and pulled out what was inside. "An...E-Handbook? ..No, there's three of 'em. What're they doin' here...?"

What a minute... Sora thought as her mind flashed back to the deaths of three of her classmates, Sayaka, Junko, and Leon...

Going to confirm it for herself, Sora turned on one of the handbooks. And it showed Sayaka's name.

"Well. I do declare..." Sora muttered.

Truth Bullet: Mail E-Handbooks

"Huh? What the-?" Sora furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to turn on one of the handbooks, but it just wouldn't turn on. "This must be Kuwata's... Must've broke during his execution." She rationalized. After all, it did get beaten by dozens and dozens of baseballs.

But...what if it wasn't? Maybe it broke some other way... Maybe the handbooks have some sort of weakness...?

"Regardless, this seems important." Sora mused. "Better keep this in mind..."

Truth Bullet: Broken E-Hanbook

With that, Sora left the main hall.

---

Now in her room, Sora was practicing her choreography.

This is pretty interesting... Sora thought while she balanced her leg on the side of her bed. I don't know who did it this time. Is Byakuya right? Is Genocide Jack really the one who killed Chihiro...?

DING, DONG! BING, BONG!

"Erm, so ah...I'm getting tired of waiting. Shall we just plunge right in? It's the moment you've all been waiting for...the class trial! You remember where to meet, right? Please go through the red door on the 1st floor of the school! Puhuhu. See you soon!"

Sora yawned as the monitor shut off. "Guess it's time to go..."

---

Sora opened the red door to find herself in the elevator hall. She tapped her feet impatiently as she waited for the others to get there. Soon, Monokuma popped up.

"Ahem, so...is everyone ready to--whaaat!?" Monokuma exclaimed. "Am I blind, or are we missing someone?"

"Yeah, Fukawa's not here." Mondo said.

"And Fukawa is...?" Monokuma tilted his head.

"You really don't remember...?" Hiro asked.

"Kidding! I'm just kidding. How could I forget that little nutjob? She's a crucial part of the class trial this time!" Monokuma chuckled as he lifted his paw. "Okie dokie, I'll go ahead and drag her out here kicking and screaming. Just one moment, please!"

---

And just like he said, a few minutes later he reappeared, dragging Toko behind him.

"Nng...ghh... I t-told him I didn't want to, but...h-he forced me!" Toko stuttered. "I can't believe you would d-drag a girl around... Terrible...! You're t-terrible!"

Monokuma let out a sigh. "Whew! So NOW everyone's here, right? Okay then, hustle onto the elevator and let's get this show on the road! I'll see you guys down there!" He exclaimed as he disappeared.

"So, shall we get going? It's time to find out who killed Fujisaki." Byakuya spoke up.

Fujisaki... Chihiro Fujisaki... She was so gentle, so calm and meek. Nobody had any problems with her...

Someone made the choice to kill...a girl like that... And that murderer...is one of them. Someone standing right here...

"We have no choice, right? We have to do this..." Makoto said.

"Yes." Kyoko nodded.

With a deep breath, Sora walked into the elevator. With each step forward, she could feel her heart starting to race faster and faster. As soon as everyone was on...the elevator began to descend.

---

The steel box sank with heavy clunking sounds deeper and deeper into the ground. And as the students went deeper, the uneasiness in Sora's heart grew bigger and bigger. The elevator was unaffected, however, and continued to descend without hesitation. Until finally...it came to a stop.

The trial room looked different as its color scheme changed.

"What do you think? I redecorated! Isn't it so fresh? Isn't it so EXCITING!?" Monokuma asked.

"I really don't care." Sora bluntly said.

"Don't waste our time with stupid questions. Let's get this over with." Byakuya said.

"Good, good, you're rip-raring to go! Gotta say, I don't hate it! Not at all! Okay then, let's get this show on the road!" Monokuma smiled. "Everyone, please find your assigned seats!"

And so, the curtain opened once again... A deadly judgment... A deadly deception... A deadly betrayal... A deadly riddle, a deadly defense, a deadly faith...

A deadly...class trial!

Chapter 16: End

To be continued...?