(3rd Person's POV)

CLASS TRIAL...RESUME!

"Wh-What do I do...? What do I do...?! I-I have to decide! I gotta choose whether or not I should expose Kiri's lie!"

Sora clenched her fist as the weight of her choice was so heavy that it was like she was carrying the entire universe on nothing but her shoulders. She was breathing so heavily that one could actually see a puffs of air exit her mouth, like she was in a cold, barren wasteland.

I-It's obvious, isn't it...? Sora thought. All I gotta do is call Kiri out on her lie, right? But...

The blonde's ahoge started shivering as she wondered to herself.

"But...is Kiri really the killer? She has to be, right? Not only is she the most suspicious, but the lie she just told..."

---

"Without my room key, I couldn't possibly put the locker key in there myself. Am I wrong?"

---

"She says that she can't use the locker key without her room key, but that's wrong. When we talked to each other before the trial, she said..."

---

"Actually, to be precise...not quite. I used Monokuma's secret tool, which can open any lock in the school."

"Really now...?"

---

"...Kiri stole Monokuma's special key that can open any lock in the school. She could have used it to get into her room. B-But..." 

Sora let out another rough breath of air as her grip on her trial stand increased.

---

"This is a trap the mastermind has laid for us."

---

"Kiri said that this entire trial is a trap made by the mastermind, but...that has to be some sorta lie, right? A lie told out of desperate self-preservation. But...what if she's tellin' the truth?"

She grit her teeth as she weakly slammed on the trial stand.

"Dammit dammit dammit! Why am I havin' such a hard time with this?!"

Why, indeed. To be completely honest, if the person of suspicion was Byakuya, Hiro, Toko, or even Makoto, Sora would have no problem exposing their lie without a second thought, potentially sending them to their death if it meant that she gets to live. But...since it's Kyoko, the two sides of her mind were having full-on argument with each other.

It was like an angel was on her shoulder and a devil was on her other. The devil that represents her instincts was telling her to expose Kyoko's lie, but the angel that represents her nearly nonexistent conscience was telling her to just keep her mouth shut and see where the trial goes from here.

Both choices had their risks. If Kyoko is the killer and Sora keeps her mouth shut, there's a high chance that everyone except her dies. But...if Kyoko isn't the killer and Sora chooses to expose her lie, then everyone gets wrapped around in the mastermind's so-called trap.

"But...if I choose to expose her lie, then what happens next? Kiri said that we'll get caught in the mastermind's trap, but...what is the trap, exactly? What happens next? What happens...?"

Suddenly, a light shined inside of Sora's subconscious as she saw a vision. She had her finger fiercely pointed at Kyoko, revealing the lie that she told the students. Despite this, Kyoko was just as stoic as she's ever been. No erratic behaviors like Leon, Mondo, and Celeste. No denying the proof. Kyoko just looked...defeated.

From there on, Kyoko was executed and the class trial of Mukuro Ikusaba came to an end. Even after that, Sora still wondered whether or not Kyoko was really guilty. But whatever the case was, the truth was lost forever. There was no point on dwelling on it. Eventually, Sora just stopped thinking about it.

However, in the end Mukuro's trial would be the last one that the survivors would ever have to face. Once it was over, there was never any other murders at Hope's Peak Academy ever again. They had achieved true peace, in exchange for the lives of all the other students who died along the way...

There, Sora saw it. An image of an older version of her in the school, at least in her early 20s. And holding her hand was a young girl who looked exactly like her, blonde hair and everything.

She had peace, but only inside the school. Peace, but only for them...

But for them, it was a victory.

Victory. Victory...

This...this is a victory...?

"N-No..."

---

"No, this isn't right!"

Suddenly, Sora snapped back into reality, her eyes widening. She looked around to see that she was still in the trial grounds with the other students.

Hina: Hey Shirayuki, are you okay? You're sweating a whole lot.

Sora: (Blinks twice in confusion) ...H-Huh?

Byakuya: Shirayuki, why are you staring off into space? Don't you have a rebuttal for Kirigiri's claim?

Her claim...? Sora raised an eyebrow. Oh yeah, right. I hafta... Should I expose Kiri's lie or not...?

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"If you spend all your time trying to avoid danger, you'll never move forward. We know the danger. But if that risk means solving the mystery, we have no choice. Am I wrong?"

---

Sora let out a sigh. She's not wrong. I have to think 'bout this real careful-like... I gotta decide whether or not I should expose Kiri's lie or not...!

---

-Persue the lie

-Let it go

-Run away

"..."

---

Sora: ...

Sora let out a sigh as she looked up. She stared straight at Kyoko. At first glance, she still had her calm expression. However, her eyes briefly shined as she looked back at the blonde with a pleading glance.

"Shirayuki....please...."

Sighing for the umpteenth time, Sora pursed her lips and closed her eyes before briefly opening them again.

"I've made my decision. I...I'm gonna keep quiet. This isn't something I usually do, but...I'm gonna have faith in Kiri. There...there's no way she would kill someone...! There has to be some secret here, something that has to do with the mastermind's trap that Kiri mentioned."

And just like she said, Sora keep quiet. She held her arms behind her back and watched. Eventually, Byakuya let out a frustrated sigh.

Byakuya: Well? Does no one have a rebuttal? Have you decided to accept her assertion as fact?

Sora: ...

Byakuya:  I see. So you still refuse to accept it. I suppose we have to admit that Kyoko didn't put the locker key in her room, that it was someone else.

Hina: But...who else could it have been?

Hiro: I mean, Togami had her room key, right?

Toko: Y-You! What are you t-trying to imply!?

Byakuya: But of course I have an alibi. From nighttime on, I was with you guys the entire time... I couldn't possibly have killed anyone, or put the key in Kirigiri's room.

Hiro: Well someone had to put the key in there...

Byakuya: There's only one other possibility I can think of... Someone could have had the key on them, then once they arrived at the scene, pretended to "find" it there.

The person that Byakuya was insinuating blinked twice in confusion before their face turned blank.

Sora: ...What.

Hina: I-It had to be Shirayuki...right?

Sora: Whaaaaaaat. 

She narrowed her eyes.

Sora: Don't be stupid, you've got it all wrong. Think about it. There has to be some other hidden side to this...

Hiro: Huh? A hidden side...?

Sora: First of all, there's somethin' fishy about this entire trial! Dont'cha see?

Monokuma: ...

Sora: Think about it. Ikusaba, who we didn't even know existed until today, suddenly shows up dead, and without any warning, we're suddenly thrown into this sham of a trial...!

Byakuya: That may be, but from where I'm standing, you're the most suspicious one here.

Sora: Ex-cuse me...?!

Byakuya: After all, you've known about Ikusaba's existence longer than anybody else, along with Kirigiri. But we agreed that she would have no way to go inside her room since she didn't have her key. Doing a process of elimination, you're the only suspect. 

Sora: Th-That's ridiculous...!

Hina: W-Well...it does make the most sense...

Sora: What?!

Hiro: Y-Yeah! Plus, even though we moved past it, she still doesn't have an alibi for the murder. She been alone the whole time! Who's to say that she didn't wake up during that time, kill Ikusaba, and went back to sleep?!

 Sora: T-That doesn't make any-!!

Byakuya: And like we said, you had a motive for it. After Kirigiri told you about Ikusaba, the supposed "Ultimate Despair", you assumed that she was the mastermind and killed her in order to stop the killing game. You must've realized your mistake after Monokuma was revived and when we discovered that she was the Ultimate Soldier instead. You have to admit, it does sound plausible.

Sora: The hell it does! Kiri, help me out here! It's impossible for me to be the killer, right?!

Kyoko: ...

Sora: Kiri...?

Much to the blonde's dismay, Kyoko simply turned her head away from her.

Sora: ... ... ....

At that moment, her heart dropped. It felt like a blank hole was inside her chest, and was sucking up everything inside. Was...was she really about to be convicted as the killer...? Th-That's...!

Makoto: I-I'm sorry, Shirayuki. I know what it's like to be accused of murder, and I know your upset at being found out, but...in order to survive, we don't have any-

Sora: ...Hmmmm~? "Survive"...?

Suddenly, Sora cut Makoto off as she stared at him with a chilling expression.

Sora: ...Oh, I understand. You're doing all this...'cuz you don't wanna die? Heh...Heheh...Heeheeheeheehee...

The accused young woman started snickering, before that snickering turned into chuckles, that turned into laughter, that eventually devolved into unnerving giggling.

Sora: Heeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeeheee....AH-HEE-HEE-HEEEEEE!!!

Hina: S-Shirayuki...?

Sora: Well, isn't that a bit oxymoronic? You say that ya don't wanna die, but you're voting for me? Ahahahaha~!

Hiro: Wha-What are you saying?!

Sora: I'm sayin' that y'all are stupid. Heehee~! That's a funny word, isn't it? Stupid stupid stupid stupid~...

Sora began singing as she waved her upper body from side-to-side with a childish grin on her face. But everyone know that it was just a mask to hide the fact that she had snapped.

Byakuya: Enough of your childish antics! Just admit it already. You killed Mukuro Ikusaba! The evidence is piled against you!

Sora: Evidence, shmevidence! Do you have any solid proof that directly links me to the killer? The only thing you have against me is that I don't have an alibi. That's it? Kiri doesn't have an alibi, but I don't see y'all dogpilling on her.

Byakuya: That doesn't matter. We've already worked out that Kirigiri couldn't have done it, and that leaves only you. You're the only one who could've killed her.

Sora: Wooow, you're pretty sure that's the case, eh? But...but but but but but but buuut... Too bad it's totally wrooong!Wrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrong~!

Makoto: ...

Makoto let out a sigh. Seems like Sora's not gonna give. She seems really adamant that she's not the killer, but...she has too many points stacked against her. He has to get her to admit it...!

---

BULLET TIME BATTLE: THE MOMENT OF TRUTH!

Cute, Blonde, and Psycho - Sora Shirayuki

"Heehee~!"

"That's ridiculous!"

"Evidence, schmevidence!"

"You're wrong!"

"Y'all are stupid!"

"I'm innocent!"

"You have no proof!"

"Wrongwrongwrong!"

"You're making a mistake!"

"Heehee~!"

"That's ridiculous!"

"Evidence, schmevidence!

"You're wrong!"

"Y'all are stupid!"

"I'm innocent!"

"You have no proof!"

"Wrongwrongwrong!"

"You're making a mistake!"

"Culprit, my ass...!"

"I AIN'T THE KILLER!"

"Do you have any solid proof that directly links me to the killer?"

...

...

...

"I...I...I DON'T KNOW!"

---

Makoto: I...I don't know...

Everyone looked at Makoto in shock.

Hiro: What?! Whaddya mean "you don't know"?!

Makoto: I mean I don't know! I know Shirayuki doesn't have an alibi for the murder, but...I can't think of anything that directly links her to the crime!

Hina: So...does that mean Shirayuki's not the killer?

Hiro: But...she's the only one that we can think of...

Sora: Ahahaha~ See what happens when you assume~? I told you, there must be some kinda secret about this trial that we don't know about. Plus, Kiri said that this was a trap by the mastermind, so-

Monokuma: Okaaay! Time's up!

The students stopped at Monokuma's interjection, looking up at the throne he resided on.

Makoto: ...Huh?

Monokuma: Time's up! Class trial's all over! Everyone can stop talking now!

Sora: What the hell?! Time's up?!

Kyoko: What do you mean time's up? There's no "time's up." Since when have we--?

Monokuma: It's because you were late! So we had to push back the start time! So then, it's time for voting time, okay? Everyone, please vote using the lever in front of you!

Sora: Voting...?

Monokuma: Now, who will be chosen as the blackened? Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one?

Sora: ...

The girl just put her head down and clenched her fist.

Monokuma: What's it gonna be? What's it gonna beeee!?

Everyone pulled their levers. Then...

...

...

...

Sora was voted guilty. Cheers were heard and banquets could be seen. They were right. The one who killed Mukuro Ikusaba...

Was Sora, the Ultimate Volleyball Champion...?

Class Trial #5: End

To be continued...?