▄︻デ𝐅𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐩𝐚 𝟐: 𝐀𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫..̷══━一

▄︻デ𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝟑. (𝐏𝐓 𝟏)══━一

A/N: I had to change some things about the characters like I said in a chapter before the investigation and this, so let's say. "Oh character A has a sibling" it might not be canon, I just added it to advance the plot.

Monocrow explained the rules once more, just like the last time..

"...Was this place always this huge?" I murmured.
"It's probably because there's a lot less of us now." Sora replied.
"Right. 5 have already died, there's only 11 left........." Ayame sighed.
"They all left us, one by one..." I mumbled.
"Everyone! We're just starting here, so let's put away our negative thoughts for now! If we don't get a hold of ourselves, we could be very well following the footsteps of those 5..." Asuka cheered us up, but was hesitant to say that.
"He's right. We need to only focus on finding the culprit." Reiki said.
"Yeah about that... I really have no idea this time. Can we really solve the case this time...?" Kazuko says.
"It's a-alright! We have Taiko! She did most of the heavy lifting last time, so for this case..." Karou said, nervously.
"And what if Taiko's the culprit?" Sora glanced at Karou.
"............!? Then I guess... It would be the end for us..." Karou gulped.
"What happened to your go happy state, Karou!?" Reiki exclaimed.
"B-because.... Akemi's already dead, Sora doesn't seem like he knows the culprit this time, and if it weren't for Taiko last time, we'd all be dead. And if that Taiko's our enemy, the that means we have no brains on our side anymore." Karou answered.
"...Karou, don't be so sure of that until the very end. Don't give up just yet on us, alright? Eve if each of us aren't perfect on our own, that's why the trial exists. For us to debate through this together." I felt kinda insulted by that.

"I couldn't have said it better myself. They say well begun is half down. And I'd say this is one of our better starts off, so that means..! Would you believe it! We're already half way through! My, that lifts my spirits up! I'll do my very best in this trial as well." Ryota gestured his hands out.
"Shutting up is the best you can do for us. So shut it." Reiki said annoyed, as they crossed his arms, over his chest.
"Quiet everyone! Asuka's right! Let's get this thing together and find out the culprit. That's what Kimoyo would say if he was here, right?" Ayame said, in a nervous tone.
"And our other social butterfly, Haru, is in... Well, that state." Sora said.
"*sniff* Ungh.." Haru cried.
"Don't worry about Haru. He's just a bit shocked... He'll be okay in a while." Taiko assured us.
"Alright, let's start this thing." I say.
"But as aways, finding the best place to start is the hardest task..." Kazuko groused.
"Mr. or Ms. Culprit, please raise your hand! I thought it was worth a try..." Karou prattled.
"Well, we should go over the basic outline of the case." I told everyone.
"Wait! There's something I want to clear up first." Sora stops us from going any farther with that discussion.
"Sora? What is it?" I asked.
"You all read the Monocrow file, right? The file this time around is honestly very poorly written. I mean, it doesn't even show the time of death." Sora defined, and he fiddled his fingers.
"Did it?" Karou says.

"Wait, but didn't Akemi's file also hide the time of death from us?" Asuka mumbled.
"That was because Akemi's corpse was frozen, making it difficult to determine the exact time of death. In Sunuka's case, it was clearly different. Except for exceptional cases, it shoud be given the time of death should always be shown to us." Taiko says, with her hand on her chest.
"Monocrow, care to explain this?" I glared over at the bird.
"My, my, am I the one at fault again?" Monocrow replied.
"You're clearly hiding important information that is crucial for us to figure out what's going on in this case!" Ayame shouted.
"Ayame, please. There's no need for such harsh words. The Monocrow files aren't your gaming walkthroughs. Sometimes, we are forced to leave some details out." Ryota sneered.
"What do you mean by that...?" Sora asked, curiously.
"Let me explain. Well, in short, it's for the fairness of the trial. There are two cases where the Monocrow files leaves out information. The prime example being Akemi's frozen body making it impossible for us to find the time of death. And the other case is where the *missing detail* is exactly what the culprit intended." Monocrow explained.
"Wait, come again?" Asuka asked.
"For example, let's say our culprit used some tricks so that we can't easily determine the murder weapon. But then, if the Monocrow files say "The murder weapon is a knife!", all the hard work done by the culprit would go to waste, no? So in these cases, we intentionally leave out information about the murder weapon." Ryota explained.