“I can't believe Kirumi would kill…”
Kaede's voice was sullen, from where she fiddled with Shuichi's hat. It was spoken with a troubled frown, eyes lowered and upset by the fact.
Maki's voice, however, was sharp and laced with scorn. “Isn't that rich from you?” She spoke. “Wearing the hat of a murderer like it's precious…”
Kaede jerked, eyes going wide then narrowed, something acidic rising up. “Saihara wasn't—!” She cut herself off, biting her lip. “...That's not fair. There was a time limit, and if he didn't kill, we'd all die.”
The truth of the matter wasn't what Kaede was saying, however. She frowned even more furiously, chest burning, the only one who knew. The truth was: Shuichi Saihara has trapped her.
Because the one who killed Rantaro Amami was not Shuichi, but Kaede Akamatsu instead.
He must have figured it out, she reckoned. Before the trial even began, Shuichi saw through her. Was her crime so obvious? It was never made to be hidden after, only before. Did he see the books, stacked up as they were, her sins committed before his very eyes—and just know? It didn't matter; whatever truths Shuichi found, he took them with him when he took the first blood perk in her stead.
And Kaede, in turn, could say nothing about her crime.
Because from the beginning, who would believe her? She is merely a desperate, grieving girl defending her closest friend. And not to mention, is there a punishment for lying, if she contradicts his words? It was Shuichi's wish that she live, so how can she contradict such things, just because of the guilt that breathes inside her? It's simple. His supposed crime, his supposed guilt, and her supposed innocence in it all: a cage.
(This isn't what she wanted at all. His kindness is a cruelty; and she is the princess he locked in a tower to save.)
“...Besides,” Kaede glances at Maki, her standoffish form and glaring eyes, something cold climbing in her throat, “Are you sure you should talk, Maki Harukawa?”
Her eyes became alert, narrowing at Kaede who stares at her with her own, steady and sure.
“Or should I say… The Ultimate Assassin?”
Maki's expression changed in an instant. Faster than eyes could track, she was suddenly at Kaede's side, lifting her into the air by her neck.
“...!” Kaede struggled, clawing at her hands. “G-Go ahead and kill me,” she panted, “See what good it does. I already said it, and they already know; to kill with s-so many witnesses, y-you'll be executed right away!”
“...”
Her eyes bore into hers. The eyes of a killer. Just like Kaede. Horrible, monstrous eyes, that Kaede sees in the mirror. She cannot forgive her any more than she can forgive herself. Pretty eyes, maybe. She's always been drawn to them.
She doesn't know what Maki sees; if she's staring at her reflection in her eyes, just like Kaede is hers. All she knows is that she drops her as if she burned.
All she knows is that the girl known as the Ultimate Assassin runs away.
“Someone like you has no right to judge me.”
And Kaede, clutching her throat and still choking, wonders about that.