Danganronpa 4-Despair Loop

28

“There we go. Thanks Ayane.” Koko grins slightly.
“T-thanks?” Ayane looks taken back.
“You proved my point, and disproved one of yours. Yuma, she’s all yours.” Koko turns to Yuma who nods.
“I’m Yuma’s? What does that mean? What… why… huh?” Ayane, looking shocked, stutters.
“Ayane. From the beginning we all thought you were Miana’s killer. Is it true?” Yuma asks, staring intently at Ayane, who regains her composure.
“Absolutely not.” She says with a small smile.
“Then why?” Yuma asks.
“I couldn’t have killed her! I’m not that kind of person! Yuki admitted to the crime already! I wasn’t awake! I wasn’t exactly… you know, capable! How would I have gotten the fabric? It’s not from my jacket! Do you have any proof I did it?” 
“You could’ve written the note. Alright, here’s what I think happened. We all went to the party, excluding Yuki and the late Miana. We thought, originally, our killer was off the hook because they were at the party with us. But this killer couldn’t get drunk like the rest of us, leaving the party completely sober, but acting like they were as drunk as the rest of us, and all of us were none the wiser. They went to their room, and that’s probably when they got the summons to kill one of us. Our killer is crafty, and thought ahead. They broke the zippers on one of their jackets, then went to Yuki to have it fixed, giving her some reason to have their jacket missing. After thinking a bit, they wrote a note in Greek to keep Miana in her dorm. They knew she always carries a hammer, so they tore off a bit of their jacket to cover it up, and at 2:25, the time they specified in their note, they went into the dorms and met up with Miana. I’m not sure what they did, but it ultimately led to the killer taking Miana’s hammer from her toolbelt, wrapping it in the fabric they tore off, and bashing her in the head 4 times. They picked up the note they wrote, smeared blood on the bottom, and left it. They probably placed the hammer down, but forgot the cloth, one of the most crucial pieces of evidence. After doing the deed, our killer went back into their room, disposing of the torn jacket. Yuki woke up, and discovered the body first, then the rest of us arrived, including the killer, who put on an act of being as shocked as the rest of us. Isn’t that right… Ayane Shirigache, the Ultimate Actress?” Yuma says, pointing at Ayane.
“Don’t be ridiculous. I couldn’t have-” Ayane counters.
“You. You killed her.” Yuki looks over at Ayane, still grinning madly.
“Ayane, Yuki and I both heard you admit to knowing Greek.” Koko grins as well.
“W-what?”
“She said listen, and you said ‘How am I supposed to do that?’. I think that’s a little self explanatory, isn’t it?” Yuki says, smiling.
“I-I…” Everyone turns to Ayane, who, still smiling, was tearing up.
“N-no…” Sayuri says.
“No! That’s not right either!” Izumi shouts.
“Izumi… I think we need to listen to her.” Naoto says.
“Dang… this really is how they felt, isn’t it…” Ayane, tears streaming down her face and smiling, looks down at her podium. 
“T-they?” Yuma looks at her.
“Eh, don’t worry about what I say anymore. I’m a murderer, aren’t I?” Ayane wipes her face and smiles like she always does.
“That’s not enough Ayane… tell me exactly why you killed her… or it’s not Monokuma that’ll be your death…” Yuki smiles at her, who shakes her head.
“I’m guilty, why does that matter? Just, let’s vote, okay? Like last time, it’s not too hard!” Ayane tilts her head, pushing her podium, a couple of people following her.
“I-I don’t want to! I-I can't send an-another one of us to their d-d-deaths!” Sayuri cries out.
“It’ll be okay, Sayuri. I’ll be fine! Please, just trust me on this…” Ayane gives Sayuri a smile, who reluctantly presses her podium.
“Okay okay okay! Looks like everyone has voted! Now, who will be chosen as the blackened… will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one? Puhuhuhu~!” Monokuma speaks up, his robotic body glinting slightly. The same screen that was used in the first trial pops out, showing the results of the voting time. Seven people voted for Ayane, one for Koko, and one for Sayuri. 
“Well, let’s see… Aw dang it! You guys got it right again! Ayane Shirigache was the killer, and the traitor for that matter! Aww….” Monokumas face droops.
“Ayane! Please! Tell us why!” Nao’s small voice calls out to her.
“Think about it Nao. I don’t need to explain.” She smiles.
“Ayane. You need to tell us why, we need to know your thinking.” Yuma urges her on.
“If I’m the traitor, what reason would I have to kill her? Maybe… because somebody asked me to? Actually, somebody maybe gave me a choice?” Ayane says, her face slipping a bit, her eyes twitching.
“A choice? What choice?” Yuma presses.
“Hm, well, let’s just say… It really wasn’t good for you to get on the bad side of the person pulling the strings, Yuki.” She looks over at Yuki, whose gaze darkened.
“And what the hell do you mean by that?” Yuki smirks a bit, still looking as insane as she looked before.
“I was told to kill either you, or her. You… you shouldn’t have defended her so much… you shouldn’t have said everything you’ve said…” Ayane’s face looks more and more dead as she goes on.
“I haven’t even said much.” Yuki says.
“Not here… no, you haven’t… Damn… all I wish for… is for you to remember… Not just you, Yuki, but all of you, everyone who’s here… Kayden, Kokojo, and Miana all died not knowing, but I want you guys to remember! I don’t want you guys to suffer anymore! I can’t tell them to stop, I can’t do anything for you anymore! Please! Don’t let this game go on! Fight it!” Ayane finishes, bursting into tears, and sinking to the floor, everyone except for Yuki speechlessly walking over to her.
“And this is exactly why I’ll never understand you. Any of you.” Yuki’s face returned to a somewhat normal expression for her, her eyes dimming and becoming grayer.
“Yuki! How about you be quiet! It was good when you were silent in the trial!” Nao shoots a darker glance at her, in which Yuki responds with a wave of her hand.
“Πρόστιμο.” She steps back.
“Yuma… I need to tell you something.” Ayane stands up, a set determination on her face.
“Go ahead.” Yuma nods, and Ayane whispers something to her, Yuma’s eyes flitting around widen as Ayane finishes what she needs to say.
“Keep that into account, okay? I’ll leave the rest of the persuasion to you guys… I have to leave, but… hopefully I can make amends with her. Have fun and break a leg everyone!” Ayane gives one last smile, and for once, everyone can see the pain behind it.
“Well, you all are boring. I thought since you were the Ultimate Actress, you’d get all mad and scream bloody murder, but you’re just a pathetic-” Monokuma, sighing loudly, gets cut off.
“You’re the pathetic one, Monokuma! Forcing us to kill? That’s what cowards do!” Yuma yells back.
“Aww… well little miss gun-woman, you’d better watch out, nobody speaks to their own principal like that!” Monokuma growls back at her.
“No! N-nobody else is going to die! T-take me instead, Monokuma! I-”
“No. Sayuri, it’ll be alright. Live. This is my last wish for you all. I want all of you to fight, to make it out of here, and to remember. Remember the things you’ve forgotten. Miana helped with that, she wanted the same. So, for the two of us, end this killing game.” Ayane nods at all of them, then turns to Monokuma. 
“Start it.” Monokuma giggles at her words.
“Finally! You were boring me to death, and always have! Now, I’ve prepared a very special punishment for Ayane Shirigache, the Ultimate Actress! Well then, let’s give it everything we’ve got! It’sss… PUNISHMENT TIME!!!!”