Anguish & Desire/Chapter Sixteen

This is Chapter Sixteen of Danganronpa: Anguish &amp; Desire, Burn Time!. In this chapter, we suffer the loss of a student; and, with a class trial on the way, an investigation takes place.

Author's Note: yo i don't even know what i'm doing anymore lol someone save me pls

Do you wanna know what I both love and hate about dreams?

You’ll always wake.

Whether you’re having a terrible nightmare -- or, the sweetest dream one could ever imagine -- you wake once it ends.

In contrast to real life -- and, especially in a situation like this -- we don’t have that luxury. We’re living in a nightmare, and no matter how sweet it could be or how much we make of it, there’s always a possibility we’re never going to wake up.

So, no matter how much I don’t want to wake up from my dreams, I will. I’ll wake up and be reminded of this situation and how dire it really is.

And, once I wake from my dreams, who’s to say I’m not taking my last few breaths on this earth?

…

Needless to say, I really wish I didn’t have to wake up.

But…

“Ken, wake up, please…”

...I have to, don’t I?

As my eyes flutter open, any memory of the dream I was having disappears from my mind, and once again, I’m face-to-face with my reality.

Rai looks over me -- their face only a few inches from mine -- with tear-stained eyes. “Oh thank god, I thought you were having another reaction, I--”

I don’t even know what’s happening right now...all I know is Rai really needs to calm down before I have a heart attack.

Rai’s head tilts. “Can you hear me?”

“What happened, Rai?”

“Someone started knocking on the door--and, I didn’t know what to do.”

“Did something else happen?” I ask, and, as Rai backs off of me, my clock comes into vision. It’s five fortyfive in the morning...I’m surprised we slept so much. “Who was it?”

“I didn’t check,” Rai says, and, I throw my body upright. “It was like whoever it is was panicking though, they were knocking really hard.”

“It’s okay, let’s just go see who’s out there.”

Rai nods, and drags themself off my bed. I sloppily grab my contacts and trot into the bathroom. They’re easy to throw on, and when I get out, Rai’s waiting for me by the door.

“Should we start--?”

DING DONG BING BONG

What…?

But, it’s not even close to the morning announcement yet?

“Ken…”

Before I knew it, Rai’s face turned a shade of white I’ve never seen before, and…

...wait. No, no, no. That can’t be it can it? No, I won’t believe it--

And, in the midst of my doubt, it started to talk.

“A body has been discovered! Now, after a certain amount of time, the class trial will begin, so use this time wisely in discovering clues which lead to the blackened! Everyone find your way to the Nurse’s Office for the antidote to your motive--and may I remind you what happens if you don’t find out who the culprit is…? Hehehe, well anyways, I’ll see you soon!

“‘A body has been discovered’…?” Rai repeats.

The body discovery announcement? So, does that mean someone is…?

“We need to go,” I say, and, Rai just unemotionally nods at me.

No, I refuse to believe it. I won’t believe it. It’s just another sick joke by MonoMech--he wants to get us worried and not trust one another.

But, if he’s teasing us with the motive--no, no, I can’t think like that. I won’t let him make me think like that.

Still, I can’t stop my heart from aching, as we move closer and closer to our destination.

It doesn’t take long for us to go down the hall, and up the stairs, and find ourselves in front of the Nurse’s Office.

“I won’t believe it.”

My words are hollow -- spoken to no one but myself. I won’t believe anyone’s dead...not after what we’ve been through!

I nod to myself, and push the door open into the Nurse’s Office, and…

...my hollow words proved to be just that -- hollow.

On a bed at the back of the Nurse’s Office they lay. They stare wide-eyed at the ceiling, one of their eyes red, with a river of blood flying down their face...their stomach has a giant kitchen knife stabbed into it, and, blood spatters both the wall and the floor below them.

You could barely recognize her as who she once was -- a bright, beautiful girl named Mio Shimazaki.

“N-N-No…” Rai mumbles to themself, and I can hear Rai fall to their knees.

As for myself...I can’t stop staring at the body of the Ultimate Arsonist.

Mio is...she’s dead?

She’s really dead?

“Ken, Kitoaji…”

I hadn’t even noticed that there were four others already in the room, standing in silence next to each other. Yoichi Shiho, Ukon Sasada, Satoshi Tsuda, and Shuji Saishi. There facial expressions match that of what you’d expect of them -- Shiho grimaces, looking down and away from everyone, Sasada and Saishi both look sick to their stomachs, and Satoshi looks directly at me, covering his mouth and letting a tear fall down his face.

He’s also the one to hand both Rai and I a small, white, pill. “The antidote,” he says, shaking his head. “It should work quickly, MonoMech said.”

I feel like I don’t even wanna take it...maybe it’s just the sight of Mio’s body.

Once I take the pill though, *he* shows up.

“Welcome, welcome! It looks like another precious student has bit the dust~!”

His high-pitched voice radiates within my mind...I’m so over him.

MonoMech -- with his hands on his hips -- trots around the Nurse’s Office. “Now, now, this is no good! You all look like you’ve seen a g-g-g-ghooooost!”

“S-Shut up--! Shimazaki is...”

“Relax, four-eyes, but this still isn’t good! Not everyone has arrived!”

“They’re probably still sleeping,” Shiho says. “It’s early as it is.”

“Ohhh, I’ll go get them, don’t you worry--!”

With his small deceleration, MonoMech storms out of the Nurse’s Office, and, no less than five minutes, he returns with everyone else:

Kei Nakamoto, Zeshin Obinata, Kiyo Azama, Kimie Tomori, Yuka Kihara, Isamu Shiomi, and Madoka Nakata.

It was almost something out of a movie -- how fast one’s expression could change. Their expressions of doubt and denial to flat-out fear and sadness when they lay eyes on Mio’s body.

It was silent for a moment, but, Nakamoto is the first to break it.

“M-M-Mio-chi?!” his eyes flew from her body to Obinata’s -- who, only bowed his head. “Obi-chi--she’s, Mio-chi is--!”

“I know.”

That’s all Obinata could say.

“Who did this?” Shiomi asks, his hand clenched at his side. “Who killed her?”

“Well, it was one of you, of course!”

Of course, that is the reality of our situation. We live in a kill-or-be killed game. And, Mio…

“How do we know it wasn’t just the poison?” Tomori asks, pointing at Mio’s tear-ridden, bloody face.

“Yeah--!” Yuka exclaims, throwing her arms up in the air. “That’s totally what happened to Big Brother Ken and me!”

“Look at the knife lodged in her stomach,” Nakata says, sighing to herself. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but--”

“Why didn’t you do anything?”

Obinata’s voice is malicious, shaky, sharp...and it’s direct towards Sasada. The Gardener, who, has been hiding behind Saishi and Shiho this entire time, finally looks up past the two.

“You were supposed to be here. You were supposed to help her.”

“No, I--”

“Why didn’t you save her?”

I’ve never seen someone go from zero to one hundred as quick as Sasada did. Sure, before she looked absolutely destroyed, but she was holding herself up well...the second Obinata said that, though, tears flooded her eyes and she dug her face into Saishi’s back.

“Hey, that’s no way to treat anyone, Obi--!”

“Ken, shush.”

My words weren’t heard by him, instead, he honed in on his target.

“You killed her, didn’t you?”

I wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but, I didn’t expect him to stand up. Shiho slid in front of Obinata, and...boy, if looks could kill. “We were attacked.”

“You were what?”

“We were attacked by whoever killed Shimazaki,” Shiho says, crossing his arms. “They knocked both Sasada and I out, and, when we woke she was dead.”

Obinata clicks his tongue, and backs away from Shiho. “Okay, fine then.”

Nakata steps forward this time, walking past Azama and Tomori, to the body of Mio.

“If you have time to bicker, you have time to investigate.”

Her words...ring true. We shouldn’t be fighting, we need to work together to find out who killed Mio.

“Nakata’s right!” I exclaim, and I jump forward to her side...but, she only looks down at me and shakes her head.

“You’re still a pest.”

“Still, we need to find out who killed Mio...if not…”

“We’ll all be executed.” Azama finishes, and she nods her head. “You’re right.”

“Well, aren’t you forgetting something?”

Obinata’s sharp tone shifts from Sasada to MonoMech, who stands in the doorway, watching us.

“Ah, yes! The MonoMech fiiiile!”

The e-Handbook in my pocket vibrates, and, I’m quick to pull it out.

Victim: Mio Shimazaki

Cause of Death: ???

Time of Death: 5:30 A.M.

“Why is the cause of death empty?” Tomori asks, before gasping to herself. “Do you really not know what the cause of death is?”

“Of course I do! But, you don’t? The knife, the poison...ah, who knows?!”

Shiho shakes his head and narrows his eyes. “You little bastard.”

“Well, I need to go! Happy investigating!”

With that, MonoMech left the Nurse’s Office and the thirteen of us alone.

“Well, we just gotta do it, right?” Tomori asks, biting her lower lip.

“For Mio-chi,” Nakamoto says, smiling to himself. “I’ll guard the body like last time, too.”

“As will I,” Nakata says.

Obinata, Azama, Satoshi, Tomori, Saishi, Shiomi, Shiho, and Sasada are quick to leave the Nurse’s Office and go their separate ways for the investigation, leaving Yuka, Rai, Nakata, Nakamoto, and myself.

Rai’s quick to join my side, and Yuka sits up on the table, throwing her face in her hands. “So, what now?” Rai asks.

I guess we should…

“We should start by investigating the body, right?”

“If you say so, Ken…”

Nakata and Nakamoto were both quick to do their part and hover Mio’s body, and, I guess they’re already starting to investigate.

When I get up close and personal with Mio’s body, and, more specifically her wide-eyes...I can’t help but remember what she told me a few days ago.

“Adaptability is a must in this kind of world!”

But, why…?

If you really believed that, you wouldn’t have done something so reckless to escape...you wouldn’t have gotten hurt to protect Nakamoto and Obinata...just, what did you mean?!

“It looks like the poison was really starting to get a hold of Mio-chi,” Nakamoto says, scratching his chin.

“Are you up for this?” Nakata asks, moving her eyes from Mio’s to Nakamoto’s. “You two were close and all…”

Nakamoto sighs, and only offers a gentle smile when he sees me out of the corner of his eye. “I’m just...I still can’t believe Mio-chi is dead. It’s like my brain hasn’t really processed she’s gone, y’know?”

“I know what you mean,” Nakata says, as I take a spot next to her.

“I’m more worried about Obi-chi, though. He seemed to be taking it pretty hard…”

Obinata…

...I should find him, shouldn’t I? He’s the one who…he’s helped me before.

“Focus on the investigation, Ken,” Nakata says, gently poking my shoulder. “Talk to him when we’re done here.”

I nod and offer whatever smile I can force myself to give. “Thanks, Nakata.”

“So, what have we got?”

“Well, the poison definitely started to take it’s toll on her…” Nakata says, trailing off as she points to her eye. “And, well, I don’t know if that’s what killed her, but normally one falls unconscious after the poison first shows up, but…”

“Her eyes are wide open.”

“Exactly.”

“She was probably stabbed and then had the attack afterwards,” Rai says, jumping behind me. “I mean, right? If she was dead the poison wouldn’t have got her, right?”

“But, that makes no sense,” Nakamoto complains. “If the poison killed Mio-chi, we wouldn’t need a trial, right?”

“No, that’s wrong,” Nakata says, shaking her head, as she moves down to Mio’s gut -- where the knife is lodged. “The knife is definitely in deep enough to cause some major damage. It’s definitely possible that the knife killed her, even if the poison within her started to do damage.”

“Basically, the knife pushed it over the edge,” Rai says, tilting their head.

Nakata nods her head, and, as she continues to examine the knife in Mio’s guy, I find myself staring at Mio’s face.

Tears mixed with the blood that dripped down her face...she was probably in so much pain...so scared. Why? Why did this have to happen…?

Huh?

I didn’t notice it at first, but, there’s a bruise on her throat...and, a large one at that. Was that there before?

“Not to mention, MonoMech did some pretty bad damage to that area,” Nakamoto says, putting his hands on top of his head. “Of course, it’s always his fault…”

“Could she have lived if he didn’t hurt her like that…?” Rai asks.

“It’s too late to know now,” Nakata says, looking from Rai, to myself. “I can handle this, go on ahead.”

As Rai and I nod to each other, we’re both quick to leave the Nurse’s Office.

“So, where to first?” Rai asks, tilting their head. “We need to talk to everyone, but…”

But where did they all go?

“Yo, Rabbit, Kitoaji.”

Rabbit?

Well, we found tomori.

Tomori struts up to us in true model-fashion -- her hands on her hips, moving back and forth, and with one eye closed. “How’s the investigation treatin’ ya?”

“Who knows?” Rai says, shrugging their shoulders.

Tomori sighs. “Right, though? I wanna sit this one out.”

Y’know I hadn’t noticed it before, but she’s got two large bags under her eyes, and...her makeup is pretty screwed up.

“Are you okay? You look tired.”

She pauses -- only for a brief moment -- and then laughs. “Caught me, Rabbit. I couldn’t get any sleep last night,” she pauses, and sighs again, rubbing her head. “I had this horrible fucking headache. I literally stared at my ceiling all night, telling myself to sleep...I just couldn’t.

“Don’t they have Migraine medicine in the Nurse’s Office?” Rai asks.

“Yeah, but I’m fine now,” she says. “That antidote MonoMech gave us is helping a lot...still, if I had to guess, the blackened probably had something similar to go as far as they did.”

Yeah...everything ties into the motive. That’s gonna be a theme, isn’t it?

“Oh, by the way, do you know where everyone else is?”

Tomori nods. “Obinata, Shiomi, and Azama are all out investigating, so I don’t know where they are exactly. Sasada and Saishi are in the chem lab, Shiho said he’d be in the dining hall. As for Satoshi...he’s in his room, but he’s like, really upset right now so be careful with him. Oh, and Yuka I just saw a few minutes ago going to her room.”

I nod, and Rai smiles brightly at her. “Thank you, Tomori!”

She nods to herself, and hurries into the Nurse’s Office, and, well, I guess we should be on our way, too.

“To the chem lab?” I ask, and Rai only nods.

The walk to the hallway is long, quiet, and full of dread...who could have done this? Who could’ve killed Mio like that?

The chem lab reeks of -- unsurprisingly -- chemicals. Sasada and Saishi sit at one of the desks, the gardener resting her head on the motivator’s shoulder.

As the door closed behind us, both of them turn to face us, and...you can just tell Sasada’s been destroyed. “I apologize for not investigating, Ken, Rai...but I can’t leave Sasada like this!”

“No, don’t be sorry,” I say. “I just wanted to ask Sasada something, if that’s okay?”

Sasada nods, lifting her head off of Saishi, and rubbing her eye. “What’s up?”

“Shiho mentioned that you guys were attacked earlier...what happened?”

She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. “Shimazaki was sleeping, and, Shiho and I were just up, talking. He heard someone outside the door, and...he went to check it out. I went to wake her up, and when Shiho opened the door, someone knocked him out. They were...really tall, and, wore a big, black robe -- it was, like, impossible to see who they were. I went to help Shiho, and,” she pauses, rubbing the top of her head. “They got me, too.”

“They had a baseball bat,” Saishi says, sighing. “Shiho told me when I first got there.”

Sasada nods. “When I woke up, Mio was dead and Shiho was still out cold. I woke him up, and, then MonoMech showed up...he gave us the antidotes and we ran downstairs to get help. We banged on everyone’s doors and Saishi was the only person to come out.”

“That was you?” Rai asks, tilting their head. “I’m...sorry for not answering, I was scared.”

Sasada brushes Rai off. “It’s fine, but, we brought Saishi back to the Nurse’s Office, and, Satoshi was quick to join us. That’s when the body discovery announcement went off, and, here we are…” she pauses, and scratches the back of her neck. “Shimazaki was my patient...I was supposed to protect her.”

I frown, and, bend down so I’m eye-level with her. “There’s nothing you could’ve done, Sasada.”

“There’s always something one could do differently,” she says, closing her eyes and shaking her head. “Always something.”

“Nonsense!” Saishi exclaims. “You did what you could!”

“Did I though, did I?”

“Thank you though, Sasada,” I say, scratching the back of my head. “That was a big help! We’ll find out who did it.”

“Yeah we will,” Rai says, nodding their head. “We’re gonna avenge her, I promise.”

“Thank you guys,” Saishi says, before puffing out his chest and rising to his feet. “Now! I can’t sit around all day! I need to investigate myself!”

Rai and I nod, and, we’re quick to leave the chem lab.

As we’re walking down the hallway, I can’t help but sigh to myself. “Poor Sasada.”

“She looks...distracted.”

“I just...wanna help her.”

“We can, Ken,” Rai says, sighing and putting his hands behind their head. “We find out who did this, and...and…”

“We kill them?”

Rai stops in their tracks, and, almost instantly turns to face me. “Ken, what do you mean?”

I stop, too, only inches away from them and...I look away from Rai’s face. I...can’t look at them right now.

“That’s what happens though, right? We find out who did it...and, they get killed.”

“It’s not like that, Ken. You know that.”

I...don’t know that.

What’s the difference?

When I...finally muster the courage to look back up at Rai, they’re...puffing their cheeks out at me, and frowning...I can’t look at them right now. But, Rai grabs my face, and forces me to look back at them. “It’s okay, Ken...because, it’s not just us,” Rai says, tilting their head...and, offers me one of their small, cute smiles. Even if I don’t know if Rai’s doing it to make me feel better, or not. “It...It isn’t just us. We’re not alone.”

“Rai...”

“Now, let’s continue the investigation. We need to talk to everyone.”

I...can feel my lips curving upward.

Even though I don’t feel any differently -- I feel like Tani is...she’s…

...but, that’s not really important. It’s...what’s in front of me. Rai...Rai is right. We’re not alone. Everyone’s waiting on us, everyone’s counting on us.

Let’s do it.

I nod, and, Rai lets go of me...

...a little disappointing.

“You guys are flirting at a time like this?”

Rai turns their head to the source of the voice, and grins. “Ah, Shiomi!”

I turn to Shiomi as well, and, nod. “Hey.”

“Investigating?” he asks. “Anything that points to a culprit?”

“Not that I know of,” Rai sighs. “Ken’s the brains of this operation.”

“Oh, you flatter me,” I say, waving Rai off. “But, yeah, we’re...not doing well. You?”

Shiomi shakes his head. “Nope. See, I only just started to come back around, and I was just going around and giving my apologies for being so...out of it.”

“How did that go?” Rai asks.

“I didn’t get around to everyone after you two, but Azama was quick to forgive me, thankfully! Tomori and Nakamoto, though...they were still upset with me, not that I blame them.”

“Why?” I ask, and, Rai tilts their head.

“No idea,” he says, and shrugs his shoulders. “I mean, I get it -- Tani ignored everyone so she could tell herself it was okay, but...gosh, they probably thought I was trying to fool them.”

“But you wouldn’t--”

“They don’t believe that, however.”

He sighs to himself, and starts to walk off. “Well, I got places to go. Talk to ya later.”

Rai smiles and calls after him. “Bye!”

“Let’s go then,” I say, and Rai’s quick to follow me downstairs, and, once we get into the hallway on the first floor, we’re face-to-face (figuratively, of course) with Obinata.

His eyes are glazed over, and, he looks...sick. Almost like one would after getting off a roller coaster.

“Ken, Kitoaji,” he greets, nodding his head. “I assume you’re doing well.”

“Y-Yes,” Rai mumbles, scratching their chin. “And you?”

“As one can imagine,” he replies, turning away from us for a moment. “I’d like to discuss my findings with you, of course, however I intend to be the one to solve this mystery.”

“Then...good luck.”

“Thank you, Kitoaji,” Obinata says, frowning to himself. “I’m going to be the one to avenge Mio…”

“Okay…”

“Well, time’s almost up I should imagine. I’ll be off…”

Ah, but--

“Obinata, are you okay? Do you need me to--”

“I am fine Ken, and no, you do not need to do anything...though, I appreciate the effort. We must focus on this trial, and, on avenging Mio…” he pauses, and throws his hands in his pockets. “Get going, I’ll see you in a bit.”

Obinata...

With that, Obinata walks off, and Rai and I are left by ourselves once more.

“So...now where to?”

“Let’s go to the dining hall, I guess…”

Rai nods, and, the walk to the dining hall is quick. Once inside though, the only soul in sight is Shiho, who sits on top of a table, his head buried in his lap.

“Is he okay…?” Rai whispers.

I sigh to myself. “There’s only one way to know…”

I slowly walk toward the Ultimate Pianist. “Yo, Shiho.”

He lifts his head, and, gently smiles as he greets us. “Hey...sorry I’m not much help this time around…”

Not that you were last time though.

“...but, god, I’m just exhausted. Ever since I took that pill MonoMech gave us I’ve been out of it.”

I wave him off. “It’s okay, I was just gonna ask you about something you mentioned before.”

He raises his eyebrow. “Oh…?”

“That you and Sasada were attacked.”

“Ah, that,” he says, leaning backwards. “Yeah, we were up really late last night making sure Shimazaki was alright, and someone with a baseball bat knocked us out. We were out for maybe...five minutes? I don’t know.”

“You didn’t see the attack?” Rai asks.

“Nah I barely got a look at ‘em. The second I opened the door I was out...Sasada probably knows more than I do,” he pauses, sighing to himself. “When Sasada woke me up, Shimazaki was dead, and my medicine was gone.”

Hmm?

“Your medicine?” I ask.

Shiho shrugs his shoulders. “Not that it matters now, but I was taking some migraine medicine I found in the cabinet to deal with this motive. It was on the counter in the Nurse’s Office, and then after the attack, gone.”

That’s...weird.

“Well, thanks, Shiho,” I say. “That was a big help.”

“Happy to hear it,” he says, before shifting around on the table. “And, er, sorry for saying I’d kill you before...I didn’t fully mean it.”

“Fully…?”

“If you did, I’d have to kill you,” Rai hums to themself. “And I fully mean that~”

“Oh, really?”

Oh boy, I’m really not ready to get into this right now.

I quickly turn to Rai -- who’s staring up at the ceiling, continuously humming, and spin them around back toward the entrance. “Rai, it’s okay, and we need to start going!”

Once we’re out of the dining hall, well, Rai only frowns. “I don’t like him, still.”

“I don’t either, but…”

Shiho looked...guilty. He was on guard duty when Mio died, so, maybe he feels like he’s at fault here. Maybe there is a soul in there somewhere…

...although Rai is pretty cute when they get defensive.

I guess I should go to the dorms and check on Satoshi and Yuka, huh?

So, Rai and I begin our short journey to the dorms, and, we get to Satoshi’s room first.

Y’know, I hadn’t really asked yet, but why are both Satoshi and Yuka in their rooms while we’re investigating…?

I knock on his door, and he’s quick to answer.

He looks...dead, and, not in the literal sense...more figuratively. He looks like he’s about to pass the heck out.

“Hey Ken, and...Kitoaji,” he groans, rubbing his eyes. “I’m, uh, I’m sorry I’m not investigating...I’m just...I have this huge headache still, and I just...can’t handle dead bodies. I...I really don’t know what to do…”

Satoshi…

...I guess everyone’s still feeling the effects of the poison.

I only nod and smile at him. “Don’t be sorry, it’s not your fault.”

Satoshi only stares at me blankly in response. “Yeah, thanks...win this one for us, you two.”

Win this for us…?

But...what if we lose…?

Is everything riding on solely us?

Ah, but Obinata, Azama, and Shiomi are also investigating...I should meet up with Azama before time runs up, as well. I just need to talk to her and Yuka anyways.

As Satoshi closes his door, and walks the way we came, Rai and I quickly make our way toward Yuka’s room.

Rai sighs as I knock on her door. “Everyone seems...destroyed.”

Yeah...more-so than the usual...

“I understand why though...I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t upset.”

“I know, but--”

Rai’s cut off as Yuka’s door opens, and the pink-haired DJ jumps forward toward us. She beams as she wraps Rai in a soft hug.

“Heyy, Big Brother Ken, and Rai-chan,” she says, backing off of Rai. “Came to get an alibi~?”

…

What is she so happy about?

“I mean, an alibi would be nice...that’s more than Satoshi gave us,” Rai says, scratching the back of their head.

“After what happened to me, I got really nervous slept over Kimie-chan’s. I...I hate to say, but I slept like a baby.”

Kimie…?

Ah, Tomori.

“She was restless, though. Wouldn’t stop shaking and moving...luckily I’m a heavy sleeper.”

“She did say she was in a lot of pain last night,” I say, really to no one in particular. “Before I slept, I remember her squeezing me into a really tight hug...but, I think it’s only cuz she was in so much pain. I mean--when Big Sister Chie died, she did what she did to take care of me, so…”

“Y-Yeah, we get it, you don’t think she killed Shimazaki,” Rai says, nervously smiling.

“No, not that! I know she didn’t, but...I don’t know, I’m just rambling cuz I’m nervous…”

“Yuka, it’s okay...we’ll find out whoever did this.”

But, then, a voice rings out from behind us. “I surely hope so, Ku-chan.”

Hmm…?

I turn to the source, and, Azama stands in front us, with...a large, black robe in one hand, and a small bottle in another.

Rai’s the first to speak. “Is that…?”

“Indeed,” she says. “The robe that the killer used to attack Sasada and Shiho, and...I found this bottle next to it.”

“What kind of bottle?” Yuka asks, tilting her head.

“I...uh, don’t know,” Azama confesses. “I still don’t have my glasses.”

Oh, right...I forgot Azama is far-sighted.

“Can I see?” I ask, and Azama smiles as she tosses the bottle to me.

Vill Migraine.

For severe headaches...only take one pill.

Side effects may include: Dizziness, The Sweats, Vomiting.

“Is this the migraine medicine that Shiho said went missing?” Rai asks.

“I believe so.”

“And this robe, too…” Azama says, lifting it up to show us. It’s black, and...looks fuzzy. “It’s definitely made for comfort.

“Where’d you find this?” I ask, tossing the bottle back to Azama.

“The laundromat...after talking to Sasada I figured I may as well make this my priority, but something’s not adding up…”

“What isn’t?” Yuka asks, scratching her cheek.

…

She’s right.

There’s something missing…

...but, I think I know where to find it.

I couldn’t force myself to say anything, instead, I ran. I ran down the hall (er, sorry Saishi) until I got to her door. I didn’t wait for Rai, I didn’t respond to Yuka calling out for me,instead I push open the door, and...sure enough, it’s here.

A baseball bat sits up against the dresser, and, as I slowly walk closer to it...yeah, water drips down the side, as if someone had just washed it recently.

Yosano...even in death, I somehow find my way back to you, heh?

DING DONG BING BONG

“Hello my precious students! I see the investigating is going well, however...I’m bored. Let’s get this show on the road, shall we?! You know where to meet me, I assume?! Come to the gymnasium for the class trial! See you soon…!”

Is it...time already?

“Ken, what happened?” Azama asks, standing in the doorway to Yosano’s room.

As I turn toward her, Rai, and Yuka, I only shake my head. “I found it…”

Something about this time...is different.

As the trio in front of me walks to the gymnasium...I can’t help but be nervous.

The atmosphere of this is...much different than before. When we were investigating the trial, sure, we had our emotional moments, but everyone was more concerned about finding the killer and making sure we found them out...this time...well, this time it just seems like almost everyone’s given up.

...Yosano, Tani...give us strength.

As we enter the gymnasium, we all take our selected spots up on the stage. Where Mio was supposed to stand -- in between Satoshi & Yosano’s empty stand -- has been replaced by a black and white picture of her face, with a blood ‘X’ running through it.

I can’t help but stare at where the Ultimate Arsonist, Mio Shimazaki was supposed to stand...

...we need to find out who killed her.

She was a little loony, don’t get me wrong, but she always had a smile on her face. Whether she was teasing Obinata, Nakamoto, myself, or if she was coming up with those lame fire puns of hers...it’s hard to imagine that she’s gone. And, it’s important to remember why she was such an easy target--she was trying to help the rest of us escape. She sacrificed herself for us...but, even so…

...one of us…

...The Ultimate Host, The Ultimate Beatboxer, The Ultimate Fashion Designer, The Ultimate DJ, The Ultimate Songwriter, The Ultimate Screenplay Writer, The Ultimate Model, The Ultimate Mercenary, The Ultimate Survival Games Player, The Ultimate Archer, The Ultimate Pitcher , The Ultimate Violinist, The Ultimate Pianist, The Ultimate Arsonist , The Ultimate Gardener, The Ultimate Motivational Speaker…

...killed her.

And it’s up to the rest of us to figure out who did it, or else we’ll all be executed--!

“I’m glad you all could make it,” MonoMech says from his seat.

Our second trial of life and death, of honesty & deception of hope & despair…

“Let’s get it started, shall we--!”

...begins now.