Private/Closed Cold Steel

[Crimson Sun]

“Autopsy is basically all covered in the Monokuma Case Files,” Jane explained to Ralph. It wasn’t really that difficult to see. But to ease Ralph’s curiosity and suspicions, Jane made an on-the-spot autopsy for the the SHSL Archer. She listed off the things that would generally be on an autopsy that is already obvious.

“Time of Death: Unclear
Cause of Death: Blood Loss from a kitchen knife to the neck, puncturing a vein.”

Jane picked around the body, scanning for other injuries that may have happened to Honoka. The combat medic even lifted the body to find any injuries in her backside, in which there was. She fingerd limbs and tested joints and observed scars and bruises.

“Other injuries include scars on lower stomach and mid-back section, bruises on upper back and chest, and left hand fractured.”

Jane listed out. Jane wanted to mention that the blood loss was the most probably cause as there are characters written in blood near Honoka’s hands on the wall. It read ‘PA’ immediately point suspicion to name one with PA as the start of the their name. This would include Paeon and Parker. But it could also be pointing toward Jane herself, as her last name is Park. She didn’t want to increase suspicions of her, hence she didn’t mention it, but it’s most probable that everyone saw them by now.
————
Nathan explored around the area, scanning for any clues to find the murderer. He did not want to die next, and if he’s going to survive, he and everyone else would have to find the murderer quick. Nathan made his way towards the kitchen first, finding one kitchen knife missing, obviously the one lodged in Honoka’s neck. There were water and pills in the kitchen lying around. Who exactly is taking medication? Possibly the murderer.

Nathan found his way towards the laundry room, where a bloodied shirt was found laying among the other non-bloodied clothes. The shirt belonged to Paeon. Either he was part of the murder or that was the shirt he was stabbed with an arrow with. Everything was leading towards Paeon. But it seemed like there was more to it, Nathan wasn’t going to question it though. His life is literally at stake. He is trapped with an actual murderer, he was shitting his pants at this point.

 

[Retro Master]

Paeon wasn’t a good actor. Joseph believed he knew atleast that much as he listened too the editor. Everything that was said sounded right, nothing he could argue against. It seemed as if everything pointed in Paeon’s direction. Well nearly everything. One of the things Paeon failed too mention was the knife. The weapon of choice didn’t seem too be connected to him yet. Sure everyone could use a knife, but only a few here could be as expressive with the weapon.

Joseph was about too bring the knife up when the editor suddenly revealed he had proof. “Wait, you have proof?!” Joseph blurted out, unsure of why he hadn’t said so earlier. Looking at Paeon from behind his sunglasses, it seemed this proof was able too keep the film editor somewhat confident. Rather than losing his mind after being framed, Paeon had managed too stay as calm as possible. That was especially great for being a Schizophrenic. The medication was doing its work well. What Joseph didn’t know was that Paeon hadn’t been on his medication until just recently.

After a moment of silence went by, Paeon spoke up and asked a certain question. This one caused Joseph too contemplate his thoughts. Even with all the evidence stacked against Paeon, Joseph just knew the murderer wasn’t him. It couldn’t be the Paeon he knew atleast. Joseph would’ve also liked too hear the proof, but if he showed some distrust, it could rub Paeon the wrong way. Hopefully Paeon would tell him later.

Another moment passed before Joseph took a breath and finally replied. “No I don’t. Paeon I trust you okay.” The actor then grinned before gently patting Paeon’s right shoulder with his left palm. The editor couldn’t see it, but Joseph looked directly into Paeon’s eyes through his sunglasses. “Listen man, trust me when I say I believe you. This is all for that damn bear’s entertainment. But if you don’t want to be framed, we’re going to have to play his game. If we get some good evidence on someone, maybe the others will believe you as well.”

 

[_obsequious]

Ophi blinked at her partner as he suggested they head to the clinic. She nodded slowly, having no objection to this, and led the way.

Upon entering, the clinic itself was pretty underwhelming. No mysterious clues, no ominous note.. she looked back at Jason with her brow raised, turning back to the clinic. She crossed over to the closet, regretting not grabbing her knife. It was still wedged under her mattress, where she always kept it while she was sleeping. Unfortunately, though, she hadn’t even thought about grabbing it in her rush.

She pushed the closet door open with her foot, stopping in her tracks for a moment as she tried to process the puzzling scene before her.

Up until this point, a few points has been running through her head- If the PA really did mean Paeon, or Parker, or Jane, why would they write that? Wasn’t the whole point not to get caught?
Secondly, who would be trying to frame Paeon if that was the case? Her mind went to Ralph. His annoying speech about vengeance and knowing the truth could be a cover up..
Or, more confusingly, someone could’ve made it seem like Ralph framed Paeon, knowing that he’d get the blame.. someone who had it out for Ralph, who wanted to accuse him. Someone like Parker, or Paeon-

No, if Paeon framed himself with the hopes of accusing Ralph, that would be too confu-

...

Sort of brilliant, actually, if excecuted well.

She shook her head quickly to disperse her thoughts, making a mental note to jot this down later. For now, she directed her thoughts to the wreckage of the closet, kneeling down to study the pool of liquids, looking around at the shelves of pills. Curiously, she looked to ‘C’, where there was a notable absence. Clozapine.

Peering at ‘P’, hoping for a hint at the PA on the wall, she scanned the names of the bottles. There was an abundance of prescriptions starting with ‘PA’, and she gave up rather quickly, turning back to Jason.
“Got any cool therapist ideas as to what happened here?”

 

[Generation Sect]

Jason made his way into the clinic, his gaze going all over the room rather quickly until he eventually settled on the scene of the chaos, the closet. Exactly what he’d been hoping to find.
“... It looks like somebody was trying to get their hands on something and caused a right mess. Looks like. But... there’s things here that don’t add up. This is one of them. Why make such a mess, and why leave it there? Just like with the knife in the neck, we can assume the killer had time to move it if it was them.” A string of words practically stumbled out of his mouth seamlessly. He had clearly been waiting to speak on the subject.

 

[Riverrunner]

Ryuu had been almost completely ignoring the prospect of an investigation, despite Monokuma's rather ominous warning about murder highlighted in the rules.

If you wish to leave the Stronghold, you must murder two of your classmates without being discovered.

Quite frankly, he was still in shock. Up until a few moments ago, everything was fine, but now everything had been turned on its head. Honoka was dead and someone here—one of the eleven other classmates—was the murderer. It felt far too much like something out of a low-budget horror flick. Yet… here it was, laid out in swaths of crimson in front of his eyes.

As much as Ryuu didn't want to, he felt as if he had to do something. After all, it was either poke around or allow the murderer to get away with their crime.

Regardless, he was not going back into the laundry room. Not to investigate, not to talk, not even to get his shoes back. He didn't want to gaze upon the carnage any more than he'd already had to.

He paced around the common room in his socks for a moment before turning on his heel and reluctantly wandering into the kitchen.

Immediately, he noticed the empty spot on the knife rack, stomach turning as he remembered where it now resided. He quickly scampered into the kitchen storage, glancing before grabbing a single can of soda he'd hidden amongst the various produce. Granted, there wasn't much of a need to be cautious at this point—getting cold drinks was probably the furthest thing from everyone's mind now that the thermostat had been returned to normal… and someone had gotten murdered. That too.

A tinge of guilt flashed through his mind as he popped the soda's tab, taking a sip and looking around for any potential clues.

At his foot was a single, chalk-white pill. Granted, that wasn't the only one. Hadn't there also been one on the kitchen counter? Then again, there were only a couple of people he knew of that needed pills.

Did… did Paeon do this?

No, now wasn't the time to jump to conclusions. Now wasn't the time to jump to anything. If anything, he needed to find out where the pills came from, which meant heading to the clinic next would be a good option.

Granted, he'd only been in there once… would he even notice a change? He wasn't any kind of detective, after all. Well, neither was anyone else, for that matter.

How did Monokuma expect them to even come remotely close to figuring this out?

Then again, maybe that was the idea…

Ryuu tapped his foot on the kitchen tiles before finally working up the nerve to begin his walk to the clinic. He took another sip of soda, sweating nervously. Hopefully there was less… damaged by the whole incident.

 

[The Kitsune]

It took a couple minutes of starring at the crumpled note in her hand before Hoshi grasped the obvious implications if offered. Along one torn and battered corner, a smear of dried blood darkened the otherwise clean piece of paper. She trailed her thumb over the mark and came away clean. But what did that mean?

She was no expert in blood, fresh or dry, so whether this smear had been made an hour ago or 6 hours was well beyond her comprehension. But...blood didn't smear if it was dry, that much was clear. Hoshi folded the note sluggishly, her eyes out of focus as she struggled to make sense of this scrap of evidence. Only two occurrences of recently spilt blood came to mind; Honoka's death and Ralphie's attack on Paeon. But how long ago had that been? Days for Paeon, right? Would this blood smear still have that reddish hue this far out if it had been from that initial attack? ...Jane would know. The combat medic immediately came to mind and Hoshi glanced toward the door.

But Jane was as much of a suspect in this as anyone else, wasn't she? They all were... Her chest tightened with the thought, emotion threatening to consume her again. That's what hurt so much... it wasn't specifically Honoka's death. It was the inescapable fact that one of them had done this. One of the students she had spend the last week befriending, sharing meals and lodgings with, enduring this nightmare alongside... Maybe it had been naïve, but some part of her had hoped that if they all resisted, if they all refused to give in to this Monokuna's plans, that everything would be alright somehow. But it wasn't. Someone had chosen to take the easy way out.

Hoshi tucked the paper into her pocket with reluctant resolve. She would show Jane later, and in the presence of others if she could manage it to insure the evidence didn't just disappear, but for now... She glanced momentarily at the empty waistbin. There had to be a handful of trash bins closer to the laundry room, easier options for disposing this note if it had been an innocent gesture. It's disposition here of all places, well away from the laundry room, not to mention it's tightly crumpled state, was suspicious. The only reason to venture in here, to this particular waste bin was... Hoshi turned her attention to the only other item of interest at the desk; the computer. There was no visible signs of blood on any of the keys but perhaps a little digging would at least tell her who had been here last.

With her own phone providing ample entertainment, Hoshi had had no reason to tamper with the provided computer until now and so found it's limited capabilities a surprise. But despite the lack of a start menu, program list, or seemingly any visual access to the computers hard drive, one look at the keyboard was enough to tell her it was a Window's operating system and that signature, wavy keyboard icon was all any savvy operator really needed. A quick press of Win-R and the command box blinked into existence on screen. She input 'EventViewer' and 'Recent' into the prompt in turn, examining the monochrome file information it offered. The most recent key strokes made was displayed in one window and a list of files/programs recently accessed or altered, along with time and date of each said change, on the other. If the person who had thrown away that bloodied note had accessed anything here in the early hours that morning, this would tell her.

 

[Fire Mana]

Parker poked around the kitchen and laundry room, not caring too much about the investigation. Sure, someone killed the girl, but that was only natural. They all wanted to get out of here, and Monokuma clearly stated how they could. He wasn't surprised at all that someone had been murdered, especially with the heat going up.

What he did care about though, was the "PA" written in blood on the floor. Was he being framed? Technically it could have just as easily been Paeon or even Jane, but he assumed most people thought he would kill someone before either of them would.

I'm not exactly known for being overly happy about life, but I've got things I need to do... I don't plan on being a scapegoat.

 

[Generation Sect]

Jason’s eyes found their way to a notable absence in the clinic closet... Clozapine. He mumbled.
“Clozapine...” he scratched his chin, looking to his temporary ally.
“You wouldn’t happen to have any idea about that would you?”
Jason felt the name was familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it. Although, the whole clinic gave him that feeling of Deja vu. It felt more like his usual natural habitat than the rest of the place at least, so he was grateful for that.

 

[_obsequious]

Ophi nodded, her little feeling of pride evident in the smirk displayed on the corner of her lip.
“Yeah- Clozapine’s for schizophrenics. Kinda helps ‘em drown out the voices in their heads. My good buddy Mitch takes it.” She paused for a moment, her gaze askance. “I hope he’s doing alright. Mitch doesn’t get too good when the voices in his head get to him.”

The last bit was obviously a note to herself, something she hadn’t even intended to say aloud. It seemed she realized this when her head snapped up, and it occurred to her she’d been vocalizing her thoughts. Hastily, she cleared her throat.
“Anyways,” she muttered,” leaning a little closer so she could proceed quieter, “our good pal Paeon has been seen taking it.”

She leaned back, turning away from him and kneeling down to open the cabinets as she spoke. “But- if you ask me, it’d be too easy for it to be him,” she began, pilfering through the contents of the cabinet shelf before finding what she was looking for. She pulled on the pair of turquoise rubber gloves, closing and opening her fists a few times, grimacing wistfully at the feeling.
“Man. Only time I’ve ever worn these was when I dyed my hair and helped knock some sense into a client.”
She blinked. Maybe she’d overstepped with that, that comment didn’t seem like one that would help her case.
“Anyways,” she continued, crossing back over to him and kneeling towards the floor of the closet, “as I was saying, it’d be wayyy too easy for it to be Paeon- all the evidence points to him, sure, but..”
She reached over the pool of liquids, grabbing at one of the bottles doused in the probably-toxic concoction, looking over it, searching for a label. It seemed like there might’ve been one, but it had been smeared off. She reached for another.
“...If mystery novels have taught me anything, it’s never who the evidence points to.”
She checked bottle after bottle, all suffered the same, nameless fate. She swore softly.
“Damn. What a bust.”

She got to her feet, peeling the rubber gloves off her hands and tossing them in the bin. She crossed over to the sink, running her hands under the water. She heard the faint tap of footsteps outside in the halls.
“But I guess I shouldn’t go too far into what I think,” she murmured, flicking the water off her fingers. “Not where everyone can hear. Not around people like..”
She paused, looking to the door as Ryuu approached. She made her hand into a little finger gun, aimed it at him, and ‘fired’.
“..him.
Hey, Ryuu, nice to see you’re not dead. Don’t worry, I’m pretty sure we were just about to leave.” She casted a look back at Jason, her brow raised, wondering if he was ready to get out of here and rustle around somewhere else for evidence.

 

[Generation Sect]

Jason merely scratched his chin throughout the entirety of the Gang Leader’s words. She sure did know more than he expected, although her view of ‘It’s too obvious to be Paeon because tropes’ indicated she wasn’t taking it as seriously as she should be. He looked to the door to which Ophelia had indicated. “Yes... you should probably hold those thoughts back.”
He spoke in reference to her words. Although he didn’t want to admit it, he’d been thinking deeply throughout the whole investigation, but what she had said only confirmed something further to him. Everything here linked up, in a weird way, if you had an eye for small details. Which the Ultimate Therapist certainly did.
Honoka, then Paeon, then Clozapine. He was fairly certain on what connected the three details to the culprit but... it would be more effective if he withheld that information until the makeshift Trial.
He let his shoulders loosen, letting out a small breath.
“Yes, I do believe now would be a good time for that.”
Jason made his way over to the exit, headed to the Library. Amongst that and the Rec Room, he figured this would yield more potential results.

 

[Riverrunner]

"Ahem-hem. Investigation time is now over! You guys sure took your time sweeping over the place. Anyway, I want to see all of your anguished faces in the common room ASAP. I've left the elevator wide open for you kids—don't worry, all twelve 'a yous will fit—prepped and ready to head to the trial room. All of the other buttons have been disabled, so don't try anything funny. In any case, if you guys want to bring the murderer to justice, I'd recommend you show up. It's not optional, by the way. Well, unless you want the killer to get off scot free and several blades plunged through your chest, then be my guest! For the rest of you who aren't a bunch of masochists—report to the common room, stat."

The speakers shut off with a resounding click. Monokuma's word wasn't to be taken lightly—it was probably best to get there as soon as possible.

The screen displaying the roster, as promised, had retracted into the wall, revealing the lift. It certainly seemed as if twelve people could certainly fit with little issue, although any number higher than fourteen, maybe, could lead to a few complications.

Not that such was a problem… especially considering the numbers had already been thinned.

Monokuma stood at the elevator's forefront, dressed in a bear-sized bellhop uniform. It could almost have been considered comical, if not for the high tensions that had been building from the moment the bear had announced the beginning of the killing game.

It took no time at all for Monokuma to launch into another speech. "Y'know what, if you guys have taught me anything so far, it's that I can't trust you scoundrels with the simplest tasks without one of you getting some kinda brilliant idea to dishevel the furniture, or use me for target practice, et cetera. That's why I'm here, to show you guys how to press a button without having to first… I dunno, start a fire in the process." The bear glanced around the elevator at the now (somewhat) jam-packed mass of students. "Alright, looks like everyone's here! To the trial room we go!"

Monokuma pushed a button at the bottom of the number pad labelled rather blatantly with a capital T. In response, the doors closed almost immediately, a robotic voice scraping over the speakers.

DESTINATION: TR█L RO█ █

"Hm, sounds a little scratchy. Guess I'll have to get that fixed. Anyway, we've got a hot second in here, you guys'd may as well get comfortable."

The elevator shuddered along in silence, finally reaching its destination with a high-pitched ding after what seemed like ages.

The trial room itself was certainly something to marvel at.

The large room's floor was covered in a network of checkerboard tiles, the walls draped with luxurious purple curtains covered by a series of massive screens. In the room's centre were thirteen wooden podiums arranged in a circle, each one intricately engraved with a specific number. At the head of the podiums sat a red velvet chair—almost a throne—in front of which sat a singular red button covered by a glass box.

"Nice, isn't it? I just spruced this place up. Removed some old junk, cleared out the cobwebs, added some new tech, all that jazz."

Monokuma's voice came not from the elevator, but from the velvet seat, where he sat (sans his bellhop uniform) with a wooden gavel in his hand. Sure enough, the Monokuma that had been in the lift was completely gone. Seriously, how did he move around so quickly? Unfortunately, there wasn't much time to contemplate such as he once more spoke.

"Everyone head to your podiums, we haven't got all day! Number one is to my left, followed by number two, then number three, and so on. If you guys did it right, number thirteen should be on my ri-oh. My bad. I almost forgot!" Monokuma, pulled a crossed-out greyscale photograph of Honoka and picture frame out from behind his back. He placed the photograph into the frame, carefully setting it atop the tall metallic arm that had extended up from the thirteenth podium to take the taxidermist's place. "There we go. But… something's still missing, isn't it?"
From underneath his seat, he grabbed a jar of some kind of red liquid, crudely drawing a line through Honoka's neck. "Much better! Alright, now if everyone's settled, the trial can begin!"

Monokuma clambered back into his seat, spinning the gavel in his red-stained hand. "This trial is to reveal the murderer of Honoka Kurosawa. If you did your share of investigation, I'm sure you have some kind of evidence to drudge up. Now, without further ado, discuss."

 

[The Kitsune]

Hoshi gave this second Monokuna a wide birth as she took up her position at the podium numbered nine. How many of these damn bears were there? She scowled at the wretched head master as he so casually mentioned the last podium's absent occupant, drawing a grotesquely placed slash over Honoka's portrait. Keeping her silence despite the mouthy impulse his actions created, Hoshi withdrew the crumpled note she had found in the Rec. room and waited for the moment her meager evidence might be relevant.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

The Ultimate archer scratched his chin, analyzing the situation. He was in deep thought ever since they had entered the room. Monokuma’s antics being put to the side, he was focused solely on the murder and how the murder occurred. He began piecing it together in his head.

“Ahem. If we are starting this, it should be time we lay out the facts we know.” Ralph said, putting his hands on the podium. “Honoka was murdered in the kitchen. She died seemingly of deep knife wounds. Seeing as how there is only one amongst us with a knife present, this points to the ultimate gangster herself, naturally.”

He looked over coldly to Ophelia, showing no emotion nor remorse for any word he said. He had made his accusation, which was a pretty damning one right out the gate.


......


“Oh.....my nerves can’t handle this....!”

Percy outing his two index fingers together, looking around the scene before him. He gulped as honoka’s picture with a big red ‘X’ through it gave him a grosteque feeling in his stomach. They disrespected her even in death. Is that how he were going to end up as well? Just a red X in a class trial? He sweated at the thought.

“Um....” he looked left and right. “Can we just go home now? This game is a bit um....tiring.”

 

[Fire Mana]

Parker took his position on podium number six. It was nice of Monokuma to give him his favorite number in this whole thing. He looked on, slightly amused actually, as the monochrome bear put a picture of Honoka on seat 13. He might have chuckled at the red paint if it weren't for the fact his ass was on the line right now.

He looked at the others. Most of them were either worried, or serious, or both. It took the others a while to start talking, but of course, Ralph was the first one to say something. Parker sighed and listened lazily as Ralph made an awful point.

"You do realize the knife in her neck was a kitchen knife, right? Shorty's knife is a switchblade... it's a significantly smaller blade. It couldn't even have been used for the wounds in her torso. You sure accuse people quickly without thinking, don't you?"

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“Do you realize how difficult it is to kill someone with a butter knife? Try cutting steak with a spoon. Only someone skilled in blades could possibly pull it off so accurately and effectively. So far, she is the leading suspect.”

Well aware the knife wasn’t a switchblade, the only person shown to be skilled with knives here was Ophelia. She painted a target on herself, that and her rogue attitude made it seem she was the killer. Could she be?

 

[Fire Mana]

"A butter knife ain't a kitchen knife. Anybody can stab someone with a kitchen knife, I've used my fair share of blades."

Parker shook his head at Ralph. Throwing around accusations without knowing what he's even talking about... just like him.

"Your 'evidence' proves nothing. We're still at square one."

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

As Paeon shuffled around within his spot at number 7, he coughed to gain the attention of the others. "Umm, maybe we can focus on the condition of the room? After all, the room was a mess. There were wire shelves out of place, slash marks on the wall and bottles all over the floor. This, plus the multiple lacerations on Honoka, could lead to the conclusion that a fight occurred. Meaning that whoever killed Honoka fought against her as well."

Paeon then pondered before turning to the bear. "Hey Monokuma, I have a question. Is it possible for the murderer to be the one to discover the body? While I personally don't think it's Ryuu, I believe that we should know this for extra information."

 

[Crimson Sun]

The combat medic took her place on the fourth podium, standing right next to SHSL Mountain Climber, Nathan Bonanno, and SHSL Therapist, Jason Vellance. Her eyes darted around the room as the trial started, her orbs finally resting on a picture frame of Honoka at seat number thirteen, with presumably red paint across the victim's neck. And so, the trial of the murder of Honoka Kurasawa, the SHSL Taxidermist, commenced. The remaining twelve students had to find out the murderer, but the question is: Who?

On the get go, Ralph and Parker already got into debate about the knife, with an accusation thrown at Ophelia already. Jane coughed a bit to gain the attention for the two males arguing at hand about Honoka's murder weapon. "From what I saw, the kitchen knife was cleanly stabbed into the neck of Honoka," Jane stating her opinion on the matter. "But again, there were a few scars and cuts on the victim's body, meaning that the murderer had probably missed many times before landing their mark on her neck." Jane pointed out to the remaining twelve. "From this info, we can only assume that: 1) The murderer isn't skilled at knife handling but got lucky with the kill. Or 2) The murderer is skilled and was just unlucky with a clean kill." There were many possibilities and scenarios that the murder scene could've played out. She's only stating what could have presumed to happen.

Jane added the info Paeon had pointed out. "Also there were slashes on the wall and the room was a mess. I'm assuming that the murderer really didn't know how to use a knife properly. Or Honoka's put up a really good fight against them." Then again, none of them knew Honoka that well. No one really knew what that girl was capable of.
----------
Nathan took his spot at the third podium, right next to the intimidating archer and combat medic. How unlucky. The mountain climber shuffled his feet back and forth, unsure what to say during the trial. Honestly, he was fending for his own life at this point. No one can be trusted.

"R-right," Nathan stammered out in agreement with the nurse. "If Honoka really did fight back against the murderer," Nathan asked aloud. "Then wouldn't it be safe to guess that the victim didn't go out of that fight unscathed? surely, they should've gotten maybe a scratch or a bruise here and there." Nathan pointed out. "Can't we just examine everyone and see who is wounded or not?"

 

[_obsequious]

Ophi had, like everyone else, crammed herself in the elevator, glaring in distaste at those who bumped into her, with maybe the exception of Jason.
She’d nestled herself into her seat, quite ready for drama and yelling, but a faint look of surprise (and interest) crossed her face as Ralph accused.. her?

She tuned in for a moment, her face blank, before her lip helplessly twitched up in a wobbly grin before she burst out laughing.

“Oh- my go-od, you really are dense, aren’t you?” She huffed, slowly regaining her composure. Her eyes narrowed and her brow arched challengingly. Resting her face in her hands, she looked at Ralph with an air of smugness.
“It doesn’t take skill to stab,” she began, her voice soft in a way that was almost chilling. “And riddle me this, Katniss, am I really the only one with a knife? Last I checked, Whiskey over here was also smart enough to have a blade on him.”
She leaned back in her chair, uttering a quiet yawn. “Besides, if I’m so skilled with a knife, do you really think I’d make such a messy kill? That girl had more stab wounds than a pincushion. Seriously, you should think a little more carefully before you go around accusing people just because they don’t like you~”

She quieted down to tune into what Paeon and Jane had to throw in the mix, but she decided she wanted to speak again; in regards to all the evidence...

“Ah, one more thing; Paeon, I’m truly curious.. what do you have to say about all the evidence pointing in your direction?”
She leaned back into her hand, eyeing the boy up and down to study his reaction. Her voice was low, almost sultry. It almost seemed as if she was purring with satisfaction at the upcoming speech.

“What’s your alibi?”

 

[Riverrunner]

Ryuu had headed to his podium silently, biting his tongue as the bear swathed a red line across the neck of Honoka's adjacent portrait.

He gritted his teeth, nervously tapping his fingers on the podium as he looked warily between podiums number two and six. "G-guys, I, um, am pretty sure the kitchen knife is what killed her… that definitely wasn't any kind of butter knife I've ever seen." The memory in itself was enough to make his head reel all over again. Fighting back another bout of panic, Ryuu stuttered a second response.

"Plus, uh, in the kitchen—I don't know if you guys went in there—the knife rack had an empty slot. Which I guess where it came from was pretty obvious… Also, we've all only been here, um, about a week, I think. We… don't know each other very well. What if someone else is like, uh, also a knife thrower or something. They'd know how to, well, use a knife. That'd kind of be… job description…" he trailed off, realising his point was going nowhere.

"Uh… my point is, we can't start blaming anyone yet. Pretty much anyone could've been in the kitchen."

———
Monokuma glanced up at Paeon, having heard his name. "Hm? Soliciting my help already? I was betting you'd hold off until at least the ten minute mark. Anyhow, yeah. 'Course. The announcement is set to send to send to your Monopads as soon as the body is seen three times, so anyone in that pool's still a suspect."

———
"H-hey wait, you're… looking at me? Why… why would I have killed Honoka?" Ryuu turned to Paeon, fiddling with the fingertips of his gloves. "I mean… I guess I was the first one… but…"

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon sighed as he heard the Gangleaders Question. This was it. "Alright... I was expecting this."

"First Ryuu, I don't think you're the killer, I just wanted to know. And secondly... my alibi was that I was in my room asleep. Over the past few days, I've been weak due to Crooked Archer over there. This was also the reason why I had difficulty getting to the actual crime scene. As such, that's all I have to say about my alibi. As for the evidence against me..."

Paeon turned to stare directly in the eyes of Ophelia. "I believe that I am being the target of the killer. What I mean is that I'm being framed."

While he tried his hardest, he wasn't sure if it worked. He tried to sound confident but in truth, he only had one true piece of evidence... and it was the weakest piece... the rest was reasons. But... It was up to him to prove his innocence.

 

[Retro Master]

“Are we all forgetting about the elephant in the room guys?!” Joseph spoke up after hearing Paeon speak his alibi. He lifted his finger and pointed it directly at Ralph. “Don’t forget that ‘Robin Hood’ tried killing Paeon a few days ago. Who’s to say he isn’t the one pulling the strings? Even though I still don’t know if ‘Mr. Whiskey’ is innocent, if he is, the only person with the motive to frame him would be Ralph. The man has used a bow and arrow for so long that he’s forgotten how to use a knife!” The actor’s voice trembled a bit as he spoke, especially when he glanced back at Ralph.

“This goes along the lines of Ryuu finding Honoka first. We already know ‘Robin Hood’ and Ryuu have teamed up and if I remember correctly, Honoka did express her concerns about the bomb.” That last part only now came to him as he remembered when Honoka had indeed called Ralph out on the bomb. The actor then did the unthinkable and glared once more at ‘Robin Hood’ through his sunglasses, his voice shaking before he even begin to speak. If ‘Robin Hood’ got out of this unscathed, Joseph could only fear what would happen to him. “T-the bomb, d-did you work on it last night?”

 

[Generation Sect]

As Jason stood in his place at the podium marked 5, and quietly observed as things instantaneously began to get heated, a few relatively baseless accusations getting thrown out. Despite it being a diversion from the current topics of discussions, the therapist felt like the threads they were tugging on right now would most likely lead to nowhere. He raised a finger upwards as he spoke.
“Actually, I feel like there’s something important we need to establish first. What’s actually ‘Evidence’ and what’s not.”
He took a deep breath as he attempted to re-state his words, lowering his arm and fiddling with his glasses.
“What i’m getting at is a few rooms in the Stronghold were messy, and got so overnight, but we can’t necessarily say that makes the reason for that mess connected to the murder.
For just one example, the Clinic.
Many things there are missing, and the closet’s an absolute mess, with some huge spill causing a mixture of God-knows-what to pool out onto the floor!”
He let out another sigh as he addressed everyone, trying a third time to make his point clear.
“In short, what I’m trying to say is... if anyone was up and about performing any... Extracurricular activities that night, NOW would be the best time to inform us about them, before we start poring over every last possibility for ‘Evidence’ completely unrelated to the crime itself.”

 

[Crimson Sun]

Jane raised her hands to the Ultimate Therapist’s question of any extracurricular activity of that night. “Many if you already know it, but Ralph, Ryuu, and I were working on a bomb the previous night, the night of the murder,” Jane calmly said. Possibly she might’ve exposed the bomb to Monokuma who perhaps already knew about it, but practically everyone in the trial room already knew about the bomb so what’s the point. “My alibi along with Ralph’s and Ryuu’s is that we were building a bomb using the gasoline from the kitchen gas stove.”

Jane stopped a bit to give herself another breathe before continuing. “If you guys think we teamed up for the murder then you’re incorrect. Monokuma said just right now that the body must be seen three times before the announcement would be made. Ralph, Ryuu, and I are a team of three. If we did work together, then all three of us should’ve seen the body, correct? However the dead body announcement only came on this morning, with the discovery of the body coming from Ryuu. This would mean that the body was already seen twice before the dead body announcement,” Jane pointing out the facts of what happened. “It’s safe to assume that the three of us aren’t the likely murderers or accomplice of the age murderer of Honoka.”

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Hearing the ultimate combat medic’s words, Ralphie calmed down a bit. Due to his respect of her and her craft he could only assume this was correct.

“Tch. Perhaps it’s doesnt directly correlate.” He said scratching his chin, looking to Ophelia. “BUT. Until we find further evidence, ‘whiskey’ and Ophelia are the primary subject.

As he said this, joseph audaciously pointed his finger at him, citing his price to slander Ralphie’s credibility. Thankfully, before he could respond to such slander, Jane stepped in for him, stating his allaby.

“This is true. All three of us are accounted for. Another plus for us three coming together. We won’t be executed in this trial, nor could we have murdered. So only those of you that didn’t ally with us just have done so. This drops our subject list by three. And for your information Joseph, I have neutral feelings toward paeon. I simply punished those who didn’t know their place.”

Hearing the back and forth, Percy looked side to side during the case. It was all so confusing. This is why he didn’t take literature class...he hated mystery’s. What he did do though was take out a pencil and his drawing pad on the podium and started hastily drawing something, something that cause his eyebrows to twitch and his lip to quiver

 

[Riverrunner]

"Y-yeah!" Ryuu looked over warily to Monokuma, who was only one podium away before turning back to the rest of the students. "We were, uh, dismantling the gas tank, essentially. It worked, but… I don't think anyone will be able to cook anything for a while. Also, the built up grease kind of…got everywhere. We cleaned that up, though. So… it couldn't have been any of us…"

He took a deep breath, before taking his Monopad out of his pocket and displaying the Monokuma File to the class. "I won't lie, I… didn't look around very much. I really didn't want to investigate after seeing the, um, aftermath. But I did read this over a bunch! There's not much in it, though." He tapped at the second paragraph. "There… isn't an exact time of… death. But while we were working on the bomb, the heater was still going up. No one else came into the kitchen while we were there, either, and there weren't any pills and stuff on the floor. I don't know exactly how late we were up working on it—just that it got… really hot after a while—but the murder would've had to occur after that time."

———
"You guys are working on a what? I mean, I saw you guys taking the gas from the kitchen, yeah, but I assumed that was for… y'know what, I'm not gonna question it. The Stronghold's walls are top-notch; they're not gonna give in to some kind of petty firework display. Have fun blowing yourselves up!" Monokuma shrugged, continuing to focus intently on the debate at hand.

 

[Fire Mana]

Parker played up a fake gasp as Ralph added him to his list of potential suspects. He figured he would be accused by someone, and of course the big boss himself stepped up first.

"Geez Ralph, I'm really hurt... being accused like that." He said putting his hand to his forehead in an act of woe. However, his expression quickly changed back to serious.

"Really though, I was in my room the whole night. It's a weak alibi, I know, but I really was asleep. What makes you think it was me?"

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Parker played up a fake gasp as Ralph added him to his list of potential suspects. He figured he would be accused by someone, and of course the big boss himself stepped up first.

"Geez Ralph, I'm really hurt... being accused like that." He said putting his hand to his forehead in an act of woe. However, his expression quickly changed back to serious.

"Really though, I was in my room the whole night. It's a weak alibi, I know, but I really was asleep. What makes you think it was me?"

“Emotions do not matter. You were alone, no one knows where you were at that time. You lied about being a detective already, how can we know your not lying now? Since you and Ophelia seem to have a criminal background too, you two are most certainly a suspects.”

Ralph spoke with logic, reasoning, and a bit of cyanide at both Parker and Ophelia. They were their prime suspects, there was no doubt about it. Parker also seemed to want to go out on their own more often, and cared little about their group. It was suspicious for the very least

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

"Alright! We need to calm down!" Paeon sighed as he leaned on his podium. "God, I'm still sluggish... Anyways, we need to clear some things up. Firstly, I know why the Clinic's closet was all messed up. It was because of the first time we were exploring."

As Paeon stood himself back up, he turned towards Ralph. "Crooked Arrow over there brought Crayon and Nurse into the clinic while Starboy and I were there beforehand. In the closet, those bottles were filled with poison that Crooked decided that needed to be broken. And he did so by firing another arrow without thinking... again."

Paeon then turned to Crooked. "Now, before we start blaming others, maybe we should focus on the evidence in front of us?"

 

[Fire Mana]

"Woah woah woah, slow down for a second there. When did I lie about being a detective? If I remember correctly, that was the shorty, not me."

Parker had to give it to Ralph, he was amazing at giving terrible information and making accusations with no substance.

"And sure, I might have killed a couple of people, but it was only ever out of self defense. I have never attacked somebody outright. Honoka was clearly attacked. I had no reason to kill her."

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“You seem to talk as if I haven’t thought, which in reality every move of mine has been calculated, including shooting you twice, which I do not regret and will gladly do again if you replicate that behavior.” Ralph stated. “I limited the weapons that could have been used, that would have made this trial even further muddled. If she were poisoned, we would have even less to work off of. Besides, your nicknaming of me to label me as something I’m not is long outdated. Especially for an outdated movie burntout.”

He then turned to address Parker, eyeing him nonchalantly. “Ophelia did, yes. I simply lodged you two in the same box, do not get offended. However you did confess to murder on a different occasion just now, so you boxed yourself into the suspect box officially.”

 

[Fire Mana]

"Well I didn't exactly think I was a trustworthy person to begin with, I am a gambler... damn that makes it hard to prove my innocence."

Parker sighed and rested his chin in his hand on the podium. He was begging to realize how unlucky his talent was, ironic considering it relied partially on luck.

"Anyway, don't lump me in with the shorty. Speaking of which, Ophelia, got anything to say?"

 

[_obsequious]

Listening with a lazy expression, Ophi gave most her attention to those who mentioned her; being Ralph and Parker. Feeling the need to at least get her alibi up for discussion.
“I was asleep that night,” she offered. “It’s not the strongest statement, but it’s true. Besides, Honoka was killed with a kitchen knife. Not that I expect any of you to notice, but I haven’t eaten since we got here. I’ve been avoiding the kitchen for that very reason.”

She turned to arch her brow once more at Ralph, an urge of responsibility making her cut him off.
“Woah, woah, slow down there, why are you dragging him into the detective thing? No shit, I lied, because you guys knowing my background leads to mindless accusations like this one!

“Secondly, don’t call me that.” She muttered to Parker. “I have a name, and it most certainly is not Shorty or Buttercup.”

She blinked as Parker continued, insisting he had no motive to kill Honoka.
“Wait, wait. I’m definitely not saying I think it was you, but that’s a damn lie, isn’t it? Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you go into a whole spiel about how you were perfectly fine killing any one of us to get out of here? The motive of the killer shouldn’t even be a doubt, we all have the same reason to kill if we so choose, and that’s to get out of here. Saying you have no reason to kill her is just idiotic.”

 

[Fire Mana]

"I said I would have no problem killing one of you if I needed to. I have no need to kill right now. I have also said if someone wants to try and kill me, I can't promise their survival. But obviously, Honoka didn't attack me."

Parker's glasses turned back to black, hiding his eyes. His facial expression were now completely hidden, behind his glasses and the collar of his jacket.

"And I think I can call you whatever I want. I still use your name sometimes, but now's not the time for that."

 

[Riverrunner]

"I… don't know if it's just me, but, um, shouldn't there be some kind of concrete evidence we come up with before we all start arguing with each other? I don't know what Monokuma's doing any more than you guys, but we can't just, well, not talk about the case."

Ryuu's gaze shifted cautiously to the surrounding podiums. "Motives are… kind of out of the question. I don't want to admit it, but… we all had a reason to kill her. Any of us could've done it to get out of here, or just to turn off the thermostat. After reading over the rules, I think at the end of this trial we'll all have to vote for who we think did it, and if we can't reach a solution, then… I don't know what the punishment is, but it definitely isn't good. We… we can't just leave that up to random chance, if that makes any sense. I… don't really know where to start, though, I didn't look around much. Um…" he set his Monopad down on his podium, opening up the map of floor 1. "Uh, the laundry room? I mean, the actual room, not the closet. There had to be something left there, right? Does anyone know?"

 

[Crimson Sun]

Nathan piped up at the question from Ryuu. "Well, I saw that Honoka was doing the laundry. However, everything was messy, but there was something that caught my eye. Paeon's shirt was covered in blood. I don't know if that was from him possibly murdering Honoka, or it was the arrow that Ralph had shot from the night before, but that thing was gonna be a red shirt now, not whatever it was before."

The mountain climber decided to add his not-so-good alibi in there too. "Like some of the people already, I was already in my room getting ready to sleep." He repeated what everyone else had said already: "That's a weak alibi, but that's all I got." However with all these weak alibis, at this rate, they won't be able to find out about the murderer.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“Hmph. Let me set out some facts we have already. Pure facts.” Ralph said looking at everyone. “Us three: Ryuu, Jane, and myself could not have done it as we have allibies. This brings our list of suspects from 12 to 9. Percy was unconscious as soon as he saw the body, so if he was that queasy he could not have done the murder. This brings us to 8. Does anyone remember who discovered the body in order? There needs to be a second person in order for the body announcement to be spoken of. This means there’s someone amongst us who isn’t the killer who spotted it second. That person, come forward.”

Ralph was narrowing down suspects, getting innocents out of his crosshairs and focusing on the murder at hand. The order of people getting to the crime scene seemed like an effective means of weeding them out, at least for now. Percy stifined up at the mention of his name and gave a nervous laugh.

“Uh....heh....I don’t want to talk about that. I have nerves, ya know?”

 

[Fire Mana]

"Woah, wait a second. Those aren't pure facts. It definitely reduces your suspicion, but it doesn't mean you absolutely didn't do it. And Percy still could have done it too, queasy or not."

Parker shook his head at Ralph slowly. He was too difficult to work with, and they weren't getting anywhere.

"We need to finish going over the rooms and evidence before we start ruling people out."

 

[The Kitsune]

Hoshi had been silent throughout the chaos of accusations and half-assed facts, not that there had been much of a gap to insert herself in anyway. But as the circular conversation landed on the trio's activities the night before, she seized the opportunity to interject.

"What time did the three of you go to your separate rooms last night, do any of you remember? And did you all go to bed at the same time?" Hoshi looked primarily at Jane and Ryuu for an answer, with only a fleeting glance in Ralph's direction. As far as she was concerned, his violent actions in the stronghold so far were more than enough to keep him on the list of suspects, flimsy alibi or not. If they were going to narrow this down and potentially eliminate anyone from the list of suspects, the smallest details were important. Opinions and protests were hersay, but someone had activated that computer last night. As she spoke, Hoshi unraveled the crumpled note to reconfirm the time she'd jotted down on the back.

"And...what room were you guys working in?"

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“I continued to work in the kitchen along with my compatriot, underneath the kitchen table away from prying eyes. Now that I’ve answered your question, answer mine. Who reached the crime scene second to trigger the announcement? Hm? We can surely eliminate them as a suspect.”

Ralph looked to everyone’s eyes. There was someone here who spotted it second to trigger the announcement, and that means that soul wasn’t the first, AKA the killer. He awaited an answer from the students of hope’s Peak before him.