(3rd Person's POV)

CLASS TRIAL....ALL RISE!

Once again, Monokuma cleared his throat as he began.

Monokuma: Let's begin with a basic explanation of the class trial! So, your votes will determine the results. If you can figure out "whodunnit" then only they will receive punishment. But if you pick the wrong one... Then I'll punish everyone besides the blackened, and the one that deceived everyone else will graduate! Now then...where to begin...?

But Monokuma was interrupted by an angry Hina.

Hina: We already know who did it...!

Monokuma: Whoa! Deja vu!

Hina: The one who killed Sakura...

She pointed to her suspects.

Hina: is one of the people that hated her! Togami, Shirayuki, Fukawa or Hiro! It was one of you!

The aforementioned students gave their reactions and responses.

Byakuya: Hmph. Idiot.

Sora: (Rolls her eyes) Good grief... Here we go...

Toko: I-I had nothing to d-do with it...

Hiro: Y-Yeah! I'd never kill someone, no way!

Hina: I don't wanna hear your stupid excuses!

Makoto looked at the tense scene with a nervous expression. Hina seems really sure that one of those four is the killer... But she must have some reason for believing that...

---

NONSTOP DEBATE: MAKE YOUR ARGUEMENT!

Hina: It was one of you... One of you killed Sakura!

Byakuya: And what reason do you have for saying so?

Hina: Because you all had a motive! You hated her!

Sora: (Sarcastic) Oh yeah, 'cuz that makes total sense.

Hiro: That's the only reason you have for accusing us?

Toko: That's l-low... That's about as low a-as you can g-get!

Makoto's Truth Bullet: Aoi's Account

"NO, THAT'S WRONG!"

---

Makoto: Another reason you suspect them is because Ogami wanted to meet with them, right?

Hina nodded.

Hina: Yeah! And that was right before she died! So there's no doubt about it! One of those four killed her!

Makoto can't disagree with what Hina said. There's good reason to suspect all four of them... Then does that mean...one of them did it?

---

NONSTOP DEBATE: MAKE YOUR ARGUEMENT!

Hina: The fact that Sakura wanted to meet with all four of them... There's no way that's not suspicious! One of you is absolutely guilty!

Byakuya: I don't deny that she wanted to meet with us, but... I never went to see her.

Sora: (Yawns) Neither did I...

Toko: I-I didn't either...

Hiro: Yeah, same here! I never saw her...!

Hina: Come on! There's no way none of you went! At least one of you is lying!

Makoto's Truth Bullet: Pocket Trash

"NO, THAT'S WRONG!"

---

Makoto: Hiro...when we were talking before, you dropped a small piece of paper, remember? It was white with red polka dots...

The fortune teller widened his eyes in shock and fear.

Hiro: Wh-What's that got to do with anything!?

Hina: Red polka dots...? That's gotta be the wrapper from the candy I gave Sakura!

Hiro: N-No, it's...it's, um...

Hina: Ever since we got into the warehouse, I totally monopolized that entire box of candy. So there's no way a single one of them was left in the warehouse!

Makoto: In that case, Hiro...where did you get that piece of candy?

Hina: From Sakura! It's the only explanation!

Hiro: U-Umm... W-Well, I mean...yeah, sure I got it from her, but... But she gave it to me forever ago! It doesn't have anything to do with what happened to her!

Sora: Excuse me? When? Why would she give candy to you?

Makoto: The last time you saw Ogami was...when Hina had to go to the nurse's office, right?

Hiro: Y-Yeah, so I musta got it...some time before then.

Sora: ...You're a terrible liar.

Hiro: No, I'm not lying! It's true, I swear!

Makoto shakes his head. He says that, but...what Hiro said can't be right. Because Sakura could only have gotten the candy after the incident in the nurse's office. And the reason Makoto knows that is...

---

-Hiro got the candy from Hina

-Sakura loved candy too much to share

-When Sakura got that candy

"I GOT IT!"

---

Makoto: I'm not sure about that, Hiro... Hina didn't actually give Ogami the candy till after she left the nurse's office. So if that was the last time you saw her, there's no reason you should've had that candy!

Hiro: Dammit!

Sora: Oooof...sorry, pal. After that, you're donion rings.

Hiro: Er, I mean...what I meant was, uh...

Hiro then scowled and pointed at the entire group.

Hiro: Oh, that's right! I DID meet up with her in the rec room! You got a problem with that!?

Toko: Why the s-sudden hostility...?

Hiro: But we just talked, that's all! I didn't do anything! You gotta believe me!

Toko: Y-You're acting incredibly s-suspicious...

But Hiro threw it back right in his face.

Hiro: YOU'RE acting incredibly suspicious!

Toko: More h-hostility...

Hiro: It's not just normal hostility! You're the real culprit! I even have proof!

Toko: Huh? P-Proof! What are you t-talking about?

Hiro: I'm talking about her shining message!

Sora: What.

Hiro: At the scene of the crime, she had written out "Toko" in her own blood, right? It was her "dying message"! Just like what you guys were talking about with Maizono!

For once, Hina agreed with the phony fortune teller.

Hina: That's true! I saw it for myself!

Hiro: See? See!? Fukawa did it!

Toko grit her teeth in frustration.

Toko: Wh-Wh-What are you saying!? No w-way! I didn't d-do it!

Hiro: You just don't know when you're beat, do ya!?

Kyoko: Hiro, hold on...

Kyoko spoke up as she looked straight at Hiro.

Kyoko: When did you see that dying message of hers?

Hiro: Huh...? W-Well, when we found Ogre's body. Duh...

Kyoko: But if you recall, Hina was very adamant about keeping you away from the scene of the crime. So it's hard to believe that's when you actually saw the message for yourself.

Makoto had a thinking expression on. If he remembers correctly, when Kyoko found that dying message, it was...

---

-On the magazine shelf

-Under the magazine shelf

-Above the magazine shelf

"I GOT IT!"

---

Makoto: Kirigiri, you found the magazine on the magazine shelf, right?

Kyoko: That's right. Looking through the shelf, I found the magazine with the dying message on it. I found it right there at the scene of the crime, after we'd started the investigation.

Makoto: If that's true, then what Hiro just said doesn't really make sense, does it?

Hiro: D-Doesn't make sense...? What doesn't make sense!? Everything I said makes perfect sense!

Sora: Since when does anything you say make even a cell of sense...?

---

NONSTOP DEBATE: MAKE YOUR ARGUEMENT!

Hiro: I can tell you exactly when I found the dying message: When Ogre's body was discovered!

Kyoko: And I can tell you when I found the dying message... It was only after the investigation had begun. I found the magazine tucked away on the magazine shelf... When I pulled it out, I saw her final words...

Hiro: What's your problem? What I said makes total sense!

Makoto's New Argument: Magazine Shelf

"NO, THAT'S WRONG!"

---

Makoto: When Ogami's body was found, that magazine was sitting on the shelf nearby. That's where Kirigiri found it, after we'd begun the investigation. And you weren't at the murder scene, so there's no way you could have seen it then!

Hiro makes a yelp of fear, signifying that he'd been caught.

Hiro: Gah-hah!

Sora: Wow Hiro, you really didn't think this whole thing through, did you?

But I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Sora thought. The fact that he thinks at all is an achievement on its own...

Makoto: Tell us the truth, Hiro. When did you see the message?

He the started panicking.

Hiro: H-Hold on, you're focusing on the wrong part! Why does it matter when I saw it!? All you gotta do is read the vienna sausage Ogre left us and we know who the killer is--Fukawa!

Sora: What.

Hina: I don't even know where to begin with that one!

Sora: Seriously, who writes your lines...?!

Toko: He's just t-trying to confuse us...!

Kyoko: Actually, can we even be sure Ogami wrote that message in the first place?

Hiro looks at her with an mixed expression of confusion and nervousness. But mostly nervousness.

Hiro: Um, yeah...? I think we can all agree Ogre wrote that message! One hundred percent without a doubt she wrote it! And this is me talking, so you know it's true!

Sora: Are you sure? 'Cuz you sayin' it usually means it's a load of crap.

Hiro: Of course I'm sure! I'm at least 30% right!

Sora looks at him with a deadpan expression.

Sora: ...That makes me doubt you even more.

Makoto nodded, agreeing with Sora. There's no way Sakura wrote that message!

---

BULLET TIME BATTLE: THE MOMENT OF TRUTH!

Phony Fortune Teller - Yasuhiro Hagakure

"Show me the proof!"

"I'm at least 30% right!"

"Can't hear you, can't hear you!"

"The occult is bullcrap!"

"Conspiracy!"

"Give it a rest!"

"Show me the proof!"

"I'm at least 30% right!"

"Can't hear you, can't hear you!"

"The occult is bullcrap!"

"Conspiracy!"

"Give it a rest!"

"Show me the proof!"

"One hundred percent without a doubt she wrote it! And this is me talking, so you know it's true!"

Makoto's Truth Bullet: Kyoko's Examination Summary

"THIS SHOULD PROVE IT!"

---

Makoto: I'm completely unconvinced that Ogami wrote that dying message. Because if you look at it, the message was almost certainly written using a finger, but...both of her hands were completely free of blood.

Hiro reeled back, as if he was punched in the gut.

Hiro: Say wh--!?

Hina: Then...who did write it...?

Kyoko: Hiro could very well have written it himself.

Kyoko made a subtle, but still smug smirk.

Kyoko: That would explain how he knew about the message in the first place.

Hiro: N-Ngh...grr...!

After those incomprehensible grunts, Hiro sighed.

"Yeah... Yeah, that's exactly what happened."

And that was only the beginning...

Class Trial #4: On Hold

To be continued...?