Danganronpa Midnight: Lantern Lament (Fanganronpa)

Chapter 3 - Post Trial and Execution

Another dreaded minute passed as Monokuma tallied up the votes, Kairi's shouts and pleas just ringing repeatedly in the background while we all waited.

"Six, seven...eight!" Monokuma grinned before facing us all. "Now that I've had a gander at the votes, it's time to reveal who you have all chosen...How exciting! Please take a look at the screen to my left once more!"

Just like last time, we did as we were told as the tv flashed on, displaying us. Seven votes - or in this case, red bars - appeared by Kairi's portrait where she sported a large smile.

Too bad that smile has faded permanently. 

Then suddenly, the final vote appeared by Yuna's name.

That's definitely Kairi's.

"No...No!" Kairi exclaimed. "This can't be happening..."

"It's happening, alright! And we're not even done yet. We still must find out the true killer." Monokuma reminded us. "Now, it's time for the moment of truth. Who is the real blackened? Did you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one?"

The screen shifted to show the giant slot machine holding each of our faces. The massive paw pulled the lever and the panels spun until they unanimously landed on one face and one face only.

Kairi.

"There it is." I crossed my arms and turned to the now-confirmed murderer.

Amongst the confetti and fake cheers being played about, you could hear Kairi's anger just through her breaths.

"Third time is the charm and you all really proved that! Yes, the killer of Akihiro Itsuki is indeed none other than Kairi Kiyomizu, our resident Ultimate Sailor." Monokuma declared, gesturing to us all. But then he paused. "Although...Something feels missing. Right, what about the other guy? His killer is still among you all as we speak. Just who could they-"

"We can save that for later," I spoke up. "Even though the mystery is literally eating me up inside...Some people want to ask Kairi questions. That's for sure."

"If you're sure! They're innocent if you talk about them or not. Either way, they're good to go, so who cares." Monokuma giggled.

As if on cue after what I had said, Shouko desperately ran up to Kairi. The taller ghost hunter firmly placed both of her hands on Kairi's shoulders and glared at her desperately.

"Why? Why did you do it?!?" Shouko asked.

"W-Why...? Why?!? Because I wanted to get out of here, obviously." Kairi rolled her eyes, pushing Shouko off of her. "I thought everyone knew that by now!"

"No...No! Why did it have to be Akihiro out of all people?" Shouko rephrased her question.

"It's not like I chose who fell for that trick, ok?" The sailor folded her arms raising her voice. "He just happened to walk under it! Satoshi's a lucky bastard for not ending up as flat as Aki."

"D-Don't joke about that." Satoshi quickly chimed in with a deep breath.

"No...There had to be a reason for it! Akihiro wouldn't die just because of some random chance. H-He'd never!" Shouko pleaded.

"Well too bad! Anyone could've ended up on stage. It's not my fault I was him." Kairi reinforced. "Although...I guess I never really liked him anyway. His talk about fame and fans...That just pissed me off!" She exclaimed. "But still, I had no control over who was under the spotlight. So it's not like I chose to kill him."

"I-It still feels that way though. You didn't like him..." Shouko shook her head, sceptical over whether the sailor was telling the truth or not.

"Wait." I paused, glancing around the room. "S-Someone could have controlled it!"