Chapter 12
Once everyone arrived, a monitor clicked on again and a rock that resembled a Monomi head’s mouth opened,an escalator slowly descending, “OK everyone! Please get onto the escalator and into the elevator you find within!” and it clicked off.
Everyone unsurely started to go up the escalator, and straight to their fates.
***
Once everyone was at a podium, Monomi spoke, “Basically, you have to figure out ‘who did it’ through arguments based off of facts. If, by the end, you vote correctly, death comes to the blackened. If you vote incorrectly, everyone other than the blackened dies, and the blackened gets to leave the islands!”
“You motherfucker!” Growled Monokuma, hanging from chains, “When I get my paws on you-”
Nagito coughed for attention, “Before we- ah- begin, is there really a killer among us…?”
“Yep! Bunny’s word!” Monomi nodded, “Now, please start! If you reach the time limit, then I’ll just end up having to take the blackends side!”
“You’re tellin’ us ta start...But the hell are we supposed to do?” Kazuichi asked nervously.
“Settle it with out fists! Or, like, a contest!” Akane grinned stupidly.
“That is not a good way to start a trial, I believe…” Peko said quietly.
Fuyuhiko smirked, “Well, then, let’s start with this: the murder happened at the party. Anyone at the party is a suspect, right?”
“Yeah, yeah, what you really mean is that you can’t be a suspect,” Hiyoko pouted.
“Well…” Fuyuhiko grumbled, “It’s true…”
“Oh, shut up,” Mahiru snapped.
Nagito hummed, “Guys, can we please start?”
“Well- yes- but- but...How?” Teruteru asked.
“Well, let’s start where we found the body: under the table,” Nagito stated.
Ibuki gasped, “Come to think of it, it is a weird place to find a body!!”
“Yeah...So...Why was he there?” Nagito tilted his head.
“They moved it, duh. That’s what any sensible killer would do,” Kazuichi played with the brim of his hat.
“Oh, do explain, amazing mafia idiot,” Hiyoko sneered.
“T-to delay the discovery of the body, duh,” Kazuichi blinked, acting as if this was common knowledge.
“Well, considering the way we found the body, it’s highly unlikely he was dragged,” Hajime murmured, “Due to the fact there weren’t any drag marks…”
“I-I see…” Mikan said quietly.
“Haha! Guess the mafia can’t go right with murder all the time!” Hiyoko snickered
“I-I-” Kazuichi looked frustrated.
“So...Then...Why was he under the table…?” Chiaki asked.
“Well, I would guess that he was actually killed under the table…”
Byakuya blinked, “The hell?!”
“So,” Nagito started, “For reasons unknown, Twogami went under the table, where he was then killed before the lights turned on”
“Buuuut...Why go under the table???” Ibuki tilted her head.
“P-perhaps he panicked…?” Teruteru offered.
“It’s a fuckin’ blackout, not an earthquake,” Byakuya rolled his eyes.
“It most likely has to do with what our leader was doing during our festival this night…” Gundham murmured darkly.
What was he doing…? Hajime though to himself, before it clicked, “It must have something to do with the knife we found…!”
“You mean the one that seems to most obviously show itself as the weapon?” Peko asked slowly.
“Yeah...He probably wanted to protect us from it…” Nagito said, mostly to himself.
Gundham hummed, “As much sense as that may make, how did he notice the knife beneath the table? Even I, a master of darkness, could not see within the pitch black of the room…”
“Maybe he saw someone grab it?” Chiaki proposed.
“No, no, it must’ve been the night vision goggles!” Hajime claimed.
“That is utterly ridiculous,” Peko barked suddenly, “It is the other way around”
“O-other way around?” Hajime gulped, anxiety filling his chest.
“Of course. Obviously, it was the killer that used the goggles. Just using common sense suggests that much,” Peko fixed her glasses, looking confident in herself.
“W-well, that’s not exactly...Um...Proof…” Hajime said, nervously playing with his tie.
“While I, however, have proof,” Nagito said, making relief wash over Hajime.
“Oh? And what is this so-called proof?” Peko raised an eyebrow.
“Twogami’s other case he kept with him during the party,” Nagito started, “Contained a case for Night Vision goggles. And, might I remind you, Twogami was the only one close enough to use it, and was the only one with the key”
This struck Peko into silence, and she backed down, “I-I...See…”
Teruteru stepped up, “S-so, was the knife in the case as well?”
“No...It must’ve been under the table…” Hajime murmured.
“Why was he so paranoid in the first place…?” Chiaki murmured, “It’s weird that he confiscated everything...He even got a self defence kit…”
Hajime locked eyes with Nagito, before taking out the letter they had found in Byakuya’s cottage, “We found this letter,” he said, showing it to all of them.
“The fuck….?” Fuyuhiko blinked.
Nagito smiled serenely, “Me and Hajime found it in Twogami’s cottage”
Hajime hummed, “This threa is probably what made Twogami throw the party in the first place,” he said slowly.
“Huh?” Teruteru blinked.
“Yeah, to keep tabs on everyone!!!” Ibuki grinned, nodding.
Hajime gulped, Still...Could anyone here really kill Twogami….?
“Um….May I speak…? There is something troubling me….”
“Sure! What is it, Miss Sonia?” Kazuichi grinned.
“Erm.. How did the culprit...You know...See Twogami?” Sonia murmured.
“Huh?” Hajime blinked a few times.
“She means how the fuck did the killer see in the dark,” Hiyoko snapped
“The glowing paint on the knife and the duct tape! Of course!” Hajime exclaimed, and the admiring look that he caught on Nagito’s face made his chest swell with pride.
“But...Then they would have known of the moment of which the blackout occurred,” Gundham murmured.
“Soooo… We just need to figure out who set it up and we have our killer! Yaaaay!” Hiyoko grinned.
“Well, then, Peko is the most suspicious! She was near the breaker, right?!?” Kazuichi shouted excitedly.
“M-me?” Peko blinked.
“Yeah, you,” Kazuichi huffed, “You did it!!”
“Considering her height, I don’t-” Hajime started.
“A remote could’ve worked!” Kazuichi cut him off.
“Or she threw a rock!!!” Ibuki said.
“u-um...Guys….Couldn’t it have just been an overload…?” Mikan asked unsurely.
“Yeah! An Overload,” Hajime nodded.
“A-ah...Really?” Mikan blinked.
Hajime nodded again, “Yeah. The conditioners were set to turn on at 11:30, around Twogami’s death, and there were three irons all turned on in the storage room...:”
“Turned on you say..?” Teruteru looked up
“NO SHIPPING IN COURT!” Mahiru scolded.
“There’s also the fact,” Byakuya started, “That Peko was inside the bathroom the whole time.”
“I-I was feeling sickly,” Peko murmured, blushing.
“Jeez… I’m starting to think we’ll never catch the guy…” Akane mumbled.
“It’ll be ok,” Nagito said with a smile, “Symbols of hope such as yourselves are no match for a lowly killer”
“....Huh?” Hajime looked to Nagito. But I thought he didn’t think there was a killer among us…
“Hope will win in the end! I’m sure of it!” Nagito grinned.
Hajime clutched the bar of his pedestal, his knuckles turning white, “Nagito...Didn’t you say before there wasn’t a killer…?”
“Hm…? Did I? Well, just because that’s what I believe doesn’t make it true...I must be open to all possibilities… Anyway, back to the case: We figured out the trick, but not the culprit. I mean- really, couldn’t we all have set that up…?” Nagito flinched at the angry looks he was given, “I-I mean- not to be a killjoy, but we haven’t found a single clue that points to the killer,” He smiled nervously, “But, really, that just shows that I was right, right? Nobody here is the killer-!”
“But- then-” Hajime started, but his vocal cords constricted when he realized the tears threatening to fall from Nagito’s eyes.
“Can we just….Just stop this already, guys? It just…” Nagito shook his head, wiping his eyes, “All of us arguing...It’s terrible...How could any of us kill another….?”
“Gh- you speak...Truthful words, fiend...Even my stone-cold heart has felt remorse for all of this arguing and suspicion…” Gundham said in a lofty voice, and agreeing murmures flooded from the others…
“G-guys! Guys, c’mon! We’ll all-we’ll all die if we don’t even try…!” Hajime yelped.
“Hajime…. We’ve been trying for an hour...It’s pointless…” Nagito shook his head.
“No...No...T-there has to be...Has to be something we missed...A question unasked….A piece of evidence we forgot….C’mon…” Hajime said quietly.
“Well…. How did the killer...Navigate in the dark…?” Sonia asked in a quiet voice after cold silence.
“Erm…. Ah! There was a cord! Connected to a lamp on the table! The killer could’ve followed it! Chiaki, give me that layout paper!” He gained the layout paper and a relieved smile that slowly faded as he realized the person who was closest to the outlet…
It couldn’t be…
“...Nagito?”