Anguish & Desire/Chapter Seventeen

This is Chapter Seventeen of Danganronpa: Anguish &amp; Desire, Dust Time!. In this chapter, Ken and the rest of the Ultimates are faced with another class trial.

Author's Note: this chapter is mad shortt and idc >__<

“Let’s get it started, shall we--!”

As MonoMech concludes his sentence, he scans the thirteen of us. “Now, let’s start with a basic explanation of the class trial, shall we? We’ve come here to avenge the life of Mio Shimazaki, the poor little Arsonist who wanted nothing more than to make things go ‘boom’...why do the crazy go first?! A-Anyway, so, your votes will determine the outcome of the trial! Find out who killed Mio, and they will be punished; however if you make the despairingly wrong decision...the rest of you are punished, and the blackened escapes with his or her life!”

There’s a short pause.

“Happy?”

“Happy…?” Nakamoto repeats. “C’mon, now! Mio-chi is dead--you know we’re not happy!”

Obinata sighs. “Quiet, please.”

“S-Sorry…”

“Now, let’s start with something we can all agree on, okay?” Obinata asks.

“Like, what?” Tomori asks.

Shiho snaps his fingers and leans in. “How about alibis?”

“None of us have alibis, though,” Azama says.

Well…

“That’s...not true,” I say, scratching my neck. “Rai and I were together all night. We were both pretty...scared.”

Nakata sighs to herself. “Of course you were…”

Rai nods, and looks to Sasada. “Weren’t you and Shiho together, too?”

“Shiho and I were in the Nurse’s Office when Shimazaki was killed. We were both...out of it, when she was killed however.”

Tomori tilts her head. “Out of it…?”

Shiho waves her off. “We can go into that later, if you don’t mind.”

She puts her hands up. “Of course.”

Yuka also claps her hands together. “Ooh I got it! Kimie-chan and I slept together, too!”

“Really?” Obinata asks.

She brightly smiles to herself. “Mhmm! After the motive hurt me I got really scared, and, Kimie-chan was there for me!”

“And I still will be,” Tomori says, gently smiling to herself. “I couldn’t let you be alone after that.”

...I’m really happy that Yuka found a friend other than Rai and myself. Someone to look after her...I’m sure Yosano’d be happy too.

Y’know, I haven’t mentioned it yet, but...it’s almost like...Yuka’s become more mature. She hasn’t let what happened get to her, and she hasn’t said anything too--

“And her body’s really warm~!”

--y’know what, nevermind.

Saishi nods to himself. “The buddy system at work!” As he finished his sentenced, Saishi squints his eyes and faces Nakamoto. “For some reason, my buddy didn’t want anything to do with me last night!”

Nakamoto grimaces, and Shiomi leans forward on his stand.

“Oh, and why not?”

The Ultimate Host sighs. “Saishi-chi...I love you dude, I really do, but you’re too loud!”

And, in response to that, Saishi’s face goes sour and he...yells at Nakamoto. “Too loud?! Preposterous! Never!”

“...you sure about that?” Tomori asks, placing her hand on her hip.

“Of course!”

Shiho coughs. “So, to summarize, Yuka and Tomori were together at the time of the murder, as was myself and Sasada, as well as Ken and Kitoaji, correct?”

“I think that’s fair to say,” Nakata says. “So that puts the suspicion on myself, Saishi, Shiomi, Azama, Nakamoto, Obinata, and Satoshi.”

“And I’m guessing ‘I was sleeping’ won’t constitute an alibi, right?” Satoshi asks, holding his arm. “Cuz if it is, I’d just like to point out that that’s where I was.”

“Sorry, that will definitely not cut it,” Shiho says. “Now that that’s out of the way, what should we talk about?”

“How about the murder weapon?” Nakamoto asks, stroking his stubble.

Yuka pouts and throws her hand in the air. “Oh, you mean the knife in Shimazaki’s stomach that just screams ‘I AM THE MURDER WEAPON’?!”

“Y-Yeah, that,” he continues. “I think it’s safe to say that’s the murder weapon, correct?”

But...there’s something that contradicts that.

“Can I point something out?” I ask.

“I don’t see why not,” Nakata says, crossing her arms. Her gaze shifts over to Shiho though. “I sure don’t hope anyone plans on dismissing you…?”

“Would never dream of it,” Shiho says. “Ken and I patched things up anyway, right? No need for this tension.”

“Really?” Satoshi asks.

“Is that what you called patching things up?” Rai asks, looking back to the ground in front of them.

I...can’t help but smile. It’s more of a nervous smile, if anything, but...the tension between Rai and Shiho is really starting to worry me. “A-Anyways, if you looked at Mio’s body, it’s really important to note that the poison was definitely starting to take affect.”

Obinata clicks his tongue. “Blood was flowing from one of her eyes. That is definitely one of the defining symptoms of it.”

Nakamoto snaps his fingers. “Oh, that reminds me, Mono-chi! If the poison killed Mio-chi, wouldn’t there be no trial?!”

MonoMech tilts his head. “Nope, there still would be! You would just have to come to the conclusion that *none* of you are the blackened!”

“Really?” Azama asks.

“So, then none of us killed her?!” Saishi asks.

Shiomi sighs. “Have you not noticed the knife in her stomach...?”

“But--she was still alive after the stabbing then! The poison killed her, after she was stabbed!”

Saishi...what makes you so sure?

“Sasada, had Shimazaki been inflicted before or after you were attacked?”

Sasada frowns. “After…”

“So, there! The culprit had stabbed Shimazaki BEFORE the poison set in. They then left, and then that’s when the poison took over and killed her. That’s the only thing that makes sense!”

“R-Really…?” Satoshi asks.

“So...no one else has to die?” Yuka asks, tilting her head. “For real?!”

Oh, how’d I’d love for that to be true, Saishi, but…

“That’s wrong,” I say, and as the rest of my classmates’ gaze fell onto me, I look back down. “Sasada, you know why too, right? Mio’s eyes were wide open and she was in pain when she died. Every victim of the poison fell unconscious before anything bad happened to them--so the poison couldn’t have been the reason she died--!”

Shiomi looks back to Sasada. “Is that true…?”

Sasada nods. “Y-Yeah.”

“Ah, I s-see,” Saishi says, holding his arm. “Sorry.”

Shiho shrugs his shoulders. “So, whoever stabbed her was the one who killed her, right?”

“Yeah,” Satoshi says. “We just have to figure out who that is now.”

Obinata clears his throat. “That being said, it is from my understanding that we have two witnesses to the murder…?”

Tomori tilts her head. “Really?”

“Does this have to do with what Shiho was talking about earlier?” Satoshi asks, putting his hand on his chest. “About being out of it?”

Ah, right.

I look back to Shiho, who’s staring at Azama. “You and Sasada were attacked, right?”

He turns back to me and nods. “Yeah. Whoever killed Shimazaki attacked us to get to her. We were on guard duty after all.”

Nakata nods. “Can you tell us exactly what happened?”

“Yeah, sure,” Shiho says, before closing his eyes. “We were up late, making sure that Shimazaki was okay. It’s...getting harder to remember, god we were just in so much pain already from the poison,” he pauses, shaking his head. “I’m sorry. I just remember there being a knock on the door and then when I answered it I was knocked out. Next thing I know, Sasada is waking me up and Shimazaki is dead.”

As he finishes, Nakata turns to Sasada. “You got a better look at them?”

Sasada shakes her head. “When I heard someone knock, I went to wake Shimazaki up. When shiho opened the door, someone hit him over the head with a baseball bat. I-I went to help him, and then everything went black.”

“You didn’t see what they looked like?” Obinata asks. “Suspicious…”

“They were, like, really tall--and they wore a big black robe. I couldn’t tell who it was.”

“So they were really tall…?” Shiomi asks. “That could be a big help!”

“Really?” Azama asks, sighing to herself. “No offense, but Satoshi and Yuka are like the only people who aren’t giants compared to Sasada.”

“We’re safe!” Yuka exclaims to herself. “No killing for Yuka!!”

“Anyways, that doesn’t really narrow down our choices of possible suspects,” Nakamoto says. “And, where did the robe even go--”

Ah! That reminds me.

“Oh yeah! Azama found the robe in the laundromat, right?”

Azama nods, and gives me a thumbs-up. “After getting Sasada’s account, I went looking for the bat used to knock the two of them out, as well as the robe. I figured it might point us to who the blackened might be this time around.”

“Oh, really?” Shiomi asks.

“I also found this bottle of Vill Migraine,” Azama says. “Used to treat severe headaches.”

Shiho tilts his head. “You found my meds? In the laundromat?”

Azama nods. “Yeah. I suppose it makes sense to believe that whomever stabbed Shimazaki, did so because of the poison. They were under extreme pain...they just couldn’t handle it anymore.”

Everytime...it goes back to the motive. Why…

...why couldn’t I stop it…?!

I should’ve known something would go wrong. I should’ve been there to help.

“And, did you find the bat, too?” Obinata asks.

“W-Well, no…”

“There better be a ‘but’,” Tomori sighs.

“Where do you even get a baseball bat here?!” Saishi asks. “That seems very unsafe!”

“But, someone else did.”

Ah, she’s talking about me.

I look back up to see Azama looking at me. “Yeah, I found the bat.”

“Where?” Nakamoto asks.

“It was in Yosano’s room.”

And, there was a pregnant pause.

Yuka’s the one to break it. “It was in Big Sister Chie’s room…?”

I nod. “Someone used Yosano’s personal item to help them kill Mio…”

“Someone took advantage of Big Sister Chie’s death…?”

“Yeah, that’s what it looks like,” Rai says, biting their lower lip.

Yuka looks down to her stand. “If that's true, then…” she looks up. She has a glare in her eye...it’s almost scary. “I can't forgive it.”

Yuka…

Nakamoto gasps. “Woah! Her character did a 360!”

“That’s totally ooc--!” Saishi exclaims.

Yuka turns to Nakamoto. “No one will get away with hurting Big Sister Chie--!”

Nakamoto covers his face in his hands. “Don’t look at me like that!”

“We’re getting off-topic,” Nakata says. “So, the culprit took Yosano’s baseball bat from her room and attack Shiho and Sasada, correct?”

I nod. “It was wet, too. They probably cleaned it off after they were done.”

“But, why?” Tomori asks, puffing her chest out and raising her hand. “When we got to the Nurse’s Office, Shiho and Sasada were both clean.”

“Clean?” Satoshi asks.

“As in, they had bruises if anything. No blood.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Sasada says. “But, they probably got blood from Shimazaki on the bat. That’s a fair assumption, right?”

“I suppose so,” Obinata says. “Now, if I could grab a moment of your time, I’d like to identify the culprit based off of everything that we know this far.”

“R-Really?!” Nakamoto asks.

“Isn’t it a little early?” Shiomi asks, shaking his head. “We haven’t discussed everything yet.”

“What else is there to discuss?” Obinata asks. “The only thing that’s left is to list off the possible suspects, four-eyes!”

Azama sighs. “You have four-eyes too, y’know?”

“So, what do you think then, Obinata?!” Saishi asks.

Obinata smirks, and pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “I have narrowed it down to three possible suspects!”

“Oh, I can’t wait to hear this…” Sasada mumbles sarcastically.

“It’s either Ukon Sasada, Isamu Shiomi, or Madoka Nakata!”

Sasada, Shiomi...or Nakata?

Sasada rolls her eyes, Shiomi frowns, and Nakata’s blank expression stays that way: blank.

“Haven’t we already established that Sasada’s got an alibi?” Azama asks. “Even Shiho acknowledged it.”

“Alibis don’t mean nothing in situations like this,” Obinata says, waving her off. “Not that you know anything about what it’s like to be in a situation like this.”

…

Are we really doing this right now?

“Oh, really?” Azama asks. “I don’t know who you think you’re talking to, but I’m not scared of you.”

“I’m talking to someone who’s shown she can’t keep her composure under stress,” he continues. “Last trial -- remember that? You went crazy just thinking about dying. I wonder why that is?”

“Now, now, this isn’t the time to fight!” Saishi interrupts. “We need to work together to--”

“Saishi, quiet please,” Azama says, twirling her hair. “I don’t have to explain myself to you. In fact, why are you targeting one of the only people who investigated? Between Rai-chan, Ku-chan, myself, and you, we’re the only ones who actually care whether we live or die.”

Obinata’s smirk grows a tad wider. “Someone’s getting feisty…”

“G-Guys! Now is not the time to fight,” Satoshi says, scratching the back of his head. “I know we’re all a little tense right now, so maybe we should try some breathing exercises, ‘kay?”

…bless your soul, Satoshi.

“So, why those three?” Rai asks. “I-I don’t wanna believe it was anyone, but...we have to discuss all possibilities, right?”

“I like the way you think,” Obinata says. “Something Nakata told us stuck with me around the time of the first trial, I believe it was something like ‘I’ll only kill if I am threatened to do so’.”

Nakata nods to herself. “If I feel my life’s in danger, I will not hesitate to kill, that is correct.”

“She’s strong enough to take on you two by herself, and, her I wouldn’t put it past anyone to think this was a situation where it was kill or be killed.”

But…

“Isn’t this a little messy for someone worthy of the title ‘Ultimate Mercenary’,” I say, tilting my head. “I...I don’t want you guys to get on my case again for defending her, but...in what world would one of the craftiest killers in the world leave Mio-chi alive like that?”

“Are you sure the two of you haven’t gotten too close?” Tomori asks.

Nakata only smiles to herself and waves Tomori off. “No, but what he says is accurate. I would in no way, shape, or form leave my victim alive like that...nor, would I be so sloppy with my evidence,” she pauses, turning to Obinata. “And, in response to your claim, I did not believe my life to be in danger, because I had trust in Sasada’s ability, and at least a few of you to be decent people.”

“It’ll take a lot more than just your word,” Obinata says, biting his lower lip. “However, I guess we can take a break from her, and move onto Shiomi.”

“Oh, fun…” Shiomi says, sighing to himself. “I already get it -- I’ve been reclusive, avoiding every single one of you since Tani’s death...but, I already told everyone I wanted to make amends! That, I’m sorry for how I’ve been acting…”

“But, you were distancing yourself from us. Just like Hiroko Tani did before she killed Chie Yosano.”

Shiomi takes a step back. “But, I’d never--I’d never do anything like that!”

“We just don’t know that,” Obinata continues, before turning back to Sasada. “And you…”

As Obinata trails off, he clenches his fist, narrowing his eyes at the Ultimate Gardener, who only looks down to the floor below her. “You are the reason Mio Shimazaki is dead. You may not be the culprit, but you know that, don’t you?”

“W-Woah, Obi-chi--” Nakamoto says, as he puts his hands up defensively. “Aren’t you being a bit…”

“Don’t talk back to me,” Obinata mutters, and Nakamoto’s eyes widen. “Know your place.”

W-Why are we going back to this...this anger, and hate toward one another.

I...should stop this, right?

“Obinata, I know Mio’s meant a lot to you, but Sasada didn’t--”

Obinata puts his hand up, stopping my mouth from moving. “Not now. I’m going to find Mio’s killer like I said I would.”

“But this won’t help anyone--you just said she wasn’t the killer!”

Obinata shakes his head. “But she killed Mio...oh yes, she did. She killed her, and I know it!”

“But, she donated blood to save her when--when MonoMech tried to kill her! She worked her ass off to save me, Yuka, Mio...whoever got sick. How could you turn around and say she was the one who killed her--”

“That’s exactly the problem, Ken! She lost her damn mind trying to save everyone--and, she killed Mio...she fucking killed her.”

As Obinata finishes, his face is bright red -- and, my own heart was beating pretty fast -- but he looks...composed. “Now, stop defending her, and let her defend herself.”

“S-Stop this!” Saishi exclaims. “This isn’t right--!”

“You’re attacking her for no reason,” Satoshi says, leaning forward on his stand. “This has nothing to do with this trial, and you know it!”

“Then why isn’t she saying anything?” Obinata asks.

“Yeah, it is odd,” Shiho butts in, shaking his head. “I didn’t want to say it, but...it is odd.”

“Just--stop, please!” Rai exclaims.

“This could be our best chance,” Tomori says. “It--It could mean something.

“Oh, what is this?! We’re splitting into teams?!” MonoMech asks.

“We’re just...weighing out all of our options,” Shiho says. “Nothin’ more than that.”

“Why’d she know so much about the poison?” Shiomi asks.

“Please...stop…”

Sasada’s quivering voice goes unheard by the foursome who went into pounce mode.

“It is odd,” Tomori continues. “If she’s not the culprit, then what is she?”

“Stop, I’m begging you…”

Her pleas continue to go unheard, and...I feel guilty. I just want to...go give her a hug--but, I don’t know what to do--what I can do.

“Guys, it could be true if--”

“PLEASE JUST STOP ALREADYY--!”

The trial room falls into silence as Sasada’s screams echo throughout hollow room. As she looks back up to face everyone, tears fall from her eyes and she grabs her hair. “Please...just, stop…”

“I couldn’t save her--it’s true,” she continues, and her voice just gets more shaky and uneasy. “I tried so hard...and I couldn’t save her. If that’s enough to make me the culprit, then please--just vote me already! I’ll accept it...I don’t know what else you want me to do.”

“S-Sasada…”

“Just do it...get it over with. She was my patient...if it’s anyone’s fault, it was mine.”

As Sasada begins to sob to herself, Obinata clears his throat. “No, that’s all I wanted to hear. Back on with the trial, please.”

S-Seriously…

Rai puffs their cheeks out and steps forward. “You can’t just do that!”

“Can’t do what?” Shiho asks.

“You guys just attacked her for no reason--! And the second she breaks down you try to ignore everything you just did, and for what?! What did that accomplish?”

“Seriously, it’s not right!” Saishi exclaims. “How dare you--!”

As Azama reaches over to put her hand on the weeping Sasada’s shoulder, I feel like it’s my turn to speak up. “Why do you guys have to be so cruel all the time?!”

“We’re just trying to learn something that might’ve helped with the trial,” Shiho says, putting his hands up. “I-I didn’t mean for that to happen.”

Tomori nods. “Y-Yeah, I’m sorry.”

“Can we just...move on?” Azama asks, continuously patting Sasada on the back. “What...what do we know?”

What...what do we know?

“Who could it be?” Yuka asks, frowning.

“I...I don’t know,” Azama says, sighing to herself.

“So...now what?” Tomori asks.

Maybe it’s best to go over everyone and all the evidence so far. Maybe...I’ll figure something out.

Kiyo Azama, the Ultimate Violinist. Honestly, there’s nothing that ties her to this case. She was one of the only people to actually investigate, so I can count her out.

Yuka Kihara, the Ultimate DJ...no. Sasada said that the culprit was much taller than her, and Yuka is shorter than her...plus she was with Tomori all night.

The same can be said for Satoshi Tsuda, the Ultimate Archer. Not tall enough, and has no ties to this case whatsoever.

Yoichi Shiho, the Ultimate Pianist has an air-tight alibi. It can’t possibly be him.

Again, the same can be said for Ukon Sasada, the Ultimate Gardener. Thanks to Shiho’s alibi, and...and what I know about her. I feel like I can rule her out.

I don’t know what I feel about Isamu Shiomi, the Ultimate Songwriter. Is he the culprit? Probably not. Nothing ties him into this case, like, at all. Besides his reclusiveness -- which he’s been coming out of -- there’s nothing I can see.

The Ultimate Motivational Speaker Shuji Saishi...is another one with absolutely no ties to this case. Tall, yes, but other than that...he’s squeaky clean and probably way too pure.

If we’re going back to alibis, I think that means we can also take out Rai Kitoaji, the Ultimate Cutie Screenplay Writer. Rai’s been with me through all of this, and I...I don’t wanna believe they’re capable of something like this. That just leaves four: Zeshin Obinata, the Ultimate Fashion Designer, Madoka Nakata, the Ultimate Mercenary, Kimie Tomori, the Ultimate Model, and Kei Nakamoto, the Ultimate Host.

“Hey…”

But, out of those four…

“It’s you, isn’t it…?”

It only one comes back to one person.

“Tomori, it’s you, right?”