{ Mastermind Chihiro. } [ON HIATUS]

The Chopping Block.

[ THIS IS IT!! ]

"Noon yesterday, Byakuya Togami stood with us all in the dorm hallways. But his mind was not on the conversation, but something more sinister entirely!"

"Afterwards, Kyoko spotted Byakuya walking through the halls. He headed to the arts room, specifically the back room where all the DIY equipment was kept! And so he built the very murder weapon from scratch with his toolkit, leaving traces of sawdust and a nail."

"When nighttime fell, he wrote a note to Hina, asking her to meet him at the top of the second floor stairwell. He made sure to sign Sakura's name at the bottom to cast suspicion onto her instead. But Byakuya's one mistake was using his very own fountain pen!"

"When Aoi came up the stairs and waited for Sakura to arrive, Byakuya placed the weapon on the same trolley Yamada used for Ishimaru last time, quietly positioning it at the bottom of the stairs. But before he could sneak up on Asahina and push her, disaster struck for both Byakuya and the culprit!"

"The culprit, walking back from the bathroom, bumped into Asahina! She fell backwards, as our culprit attempted to catch her. But they failed, and she fell, skewering herself on Byakuya's carefully made weapon."

"Our culprit panicked as Byakuya quickly ran off, trying to hide evidence that they'd been in the second floor bathrooms, such as restocking the toilet paper and using the lint roller from their room. But what they couldn't erase was that they'd accidentally broken one of the hinges on the bathroom door!"

"The only clue left was the strength to actually knock down Asahina, and Togami himself selling the culprit out during the trial."

"Isn't that right, Yasuhiro Hagakure?! Not even you could predict this!"

[ BREAK! ]

Yasuhiro's mouth gaped open as he stood there sweating, Makoto finishing his recap.

"Well? Am I wrong?" Makoto questioned, facing Hagakure.

Hiro didn't reply, and so Byakuya did in his place.

"Yes, that is all correct. Though you are an idiot, you have a knack for these things, Naegi."

Is that a compliment..? Makoto thought. He shook that from his mind, focusing back on the trial at hand, and more importantly, Hiro. The man had begun to form words.

"I.. I.. " he stuttered.

"Just get on with it." Byakuya sneered at him, earning himself glares from around the trial room.

"I.. object! Objection!" Yasuhiro yelled suddenly, "I'm not the killer, no way! I technically didn't kill Aoi, I couldn't have!"

Makoto frowned. "You.. huh? What do you mean?"

Yasuhiro explained nervously, hand running through his hair. "Well, Byakuya made the weapon, r-right? And Hina died by the weapon, something Byakuya placed! So.. so it's not me!!"

The trial room fell into silence, leaving Monokuma to break the tense atmosphere.

"Oh deary me! Seems we have a bit of a conundrum here, eh?" The bear thought for a moment. "Give me oneee second! You guys keep duking it out or whatever."

The bear disappeared, leaving the students to their temporarily halted discussion.

~

Chihiro watched the screen, mouth agape. Now this was not what he was expecting!! Hiro had a point, right? Technically he might not have killed Aoi! But then again, he might've! It was all a little confusing.

He was about to continue his train of thought, when suddenly Monokuma popped up beside him.

"Fujisaki!"

"Gah!" Chihiro yelled, jumping backwards in surprise. Monokuma sighed angrily.

"We have a bit of a dillema, as you can probably tell!"

Chihiro nodded as Monokuma continued. "The culprit is either rich boy or fraud man, and honestly? I don't know which it is! So you're gonna decide instead."

...

"Wait.. I'm gonna WHAT?!" Chihiro shouted in disbelief, making Monokuma more frustrated.

"You heard me, half-pint! You're the Mastermind, YOU pick who goes on the chopping block, mkay?"

"B-but I-" Chihiro spluttered.

"No buts, Fujisaki! That's the way it is!" Monokuma disappeared before Chihiro could get another word in, leaving the boy to slump into his chair defeatedly.

Decide between Byakuya or Hiro.. it was horrible to choose. This was like something out of a damn Saw movie!

As if to confirm Monokuma's statement, the centre monitor lit up with a new screen.

Chihiro's eyes darted between the two options, unsure of what to think or do. He couldn't pick who lived or who died, it just wasn't right. This isn't what he came here as Mastermind to do. Then what did he come here for?

He remembered. Chihiro came here to end the game - and maybe escape - but he hadn't managed to achieve any of his former plans. There had even been three deaths in the time he'd taken charge. So what even was he doing? Fujisaki felt he could feel his morals slipping away, mindset molding into something new, something worse.

But now wasn't the time to rethink his entire moral position.

It was time to choose.

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Welcome to the first poll of the story! For once the story can be decided by you, the reader. If you're currently reading this at the time of it being the earliest chapter, please vote below for who you think Chihiro should pick!

VOTE:

YASUHIRO HAGAKURE

BYAKUYA TOGAMI

Comment on the person you think should be picked. Thanks for reading!