Danganronpa: Digital Justice

Chapter One - Trial - "The Fine Art of Lies"

I took the deepest breath ever as I prepared to face this trial. I have to do this for Jakob. For all of us.

Monokai jumped up onto only what I could assume was a judge's chair. "I reaaally shouldn't have to explain how to work a trial. So just figure out whodunnit or whatever..." He drawled boredly. "Really?! That's all you're gonna give us?!" Akira burst out unexpectedly. Dakota made a small movement, as if to leave her podium and comfort her.

"Let's just start by running through the evidence we have, okay?" I offered. Some murmurs of agreement rang through the tension, which was thick enough to cut at this point. "We'll start with the liquid. It was put across Jakob's face and next to him on the ground, rig-" I began hesitantly, before being cut off. "It's obvious whodunnit." Akira snapped. "We found Cat near the body, right? It has to be her!" She seethed accusingly. With a small ripple, heads turned to face me, searching my face and waiting for a rebuttal.

"It couldn't be me. The death was at 7:00 AM. I was on my way to the cafeteria." I replied, feigning confidence. Because hey, my life probably depends on this. "Is there anyone that saw you, that can account for your innocence?" Shiro butted in. My heart dropped. I looked around frantically, hoping someone would say somethi-

"Ooh! Ooh! I saw her, I saw her!" Axi blurted out. "She was wandering all goo-goo eyed or something towards the cafeteria at 7:30!" She continued. I nodded gratefully, a huge sigh of relief threatening to leave my lungs.

"So it wasn't Cat." Akira said. It wasn't a question. A statement. A fact. "So who did it?" Bonnie mumbled. Mark facepalmed. "That's what we're trying to figure out here!" He snarled. "Let's start with what we have and actually use our brains?!" Takari flinched next to him as he growled the words. "Takari wants to know what liquid on Jakob's face is..." He said quietly, just loud enough for us to hear.

"Oh yeah, the liquid on his face was purple and there was some on the ground, right?" Oluchi recalled. I nodded. "It smelled like chemicals. I almost retched the first time I smelled it." I said. "Dude, you smelled it?! That could be poison!" Prince exclaimed worriedly. "Not possible." Hanna butted in. "I work with poisonous shit all the time. That was definitely not poison." She offered a feeble smile.

"It must have been cleaning stuff or something, the-"

"No, that's wrong!" I yelled out suddenly. Heads turned from Prince to me, begging a rebuttal. "Sorry, it's just that- if it were cleaning stuff I definitely would have thrown up. I've made the mistake of smelling cleaning items one too many times to know that's not bleach or something." Murmurs of agreement and "oh that makes sense" echoed throughout the trial room.

"Bonnie, you were missing your paint belt during the murder right?" Bonnie nodded, slightly confused. "What if the murderer stole it and used one of your spray paint cans?" The dawning realization on her face showed my theory could be accurate. "They might have nicked some of my chisels too..." She mumbled thoughtfully.

"So that's that. The liquid is spray paint, which explains why it's still wet. And it explains the chisels in Jakob's head and hands." Mark said, in a way that disallowed rebuttal. "That doesn't explain the lack of struggle. If Jakob was in his dorm room it's practical the lock should have been broken." Rowan said. "From the pictures taken, it's clear the door was swung open and slammed into the wall." He showed us dents in the wall behind the door, cleanly aligning with the handle.

"It would be understandable, yes. But I checked the lock myself. There's no sign of the lock being tampered with." Shiro stated. I nodded. "I can vouch for that, Shiro showed me himself." We all stopped to think, stumped. "Is it..." Willow spoke up. "Is it possible Jakob left his door open?" A ripple of realization made it's way through us all. "So he didn't close it?" I muttered. "Why?"

Well, he must have a reason... What did he tell me before he left?

H A I R C L I P S

"That's the only reason there is!" Again, heads turned to face me, asking for an explanation. "He left to go get his hair clips because he forgot them. He said he'd be back, so I'm assuming the door was open so he could leave easily." That supports the broken drawer... right? Because he was... "He was ambushed." Mark said, seemingly reading my mind. "Explains the broken drawer, which is the location of the clips and the only sign of struggle there." Shiro nodded in full agreement, a determined glare flashing in his eyes. "I know someone with a similar excuse to Jakob for leaving their companions." He stared straight at Bonnie, and soon, all eyes were on her. "I might as well mention the fact you're missing your glasses." I growled.

"Buh- wait- what?!" Bonnie spluttered. "You think it's me?! Excuse? I-"

"Give it up Bonnie." I said, scathingly.

"It could have been Dakota! She's the only one here without an ali-"

"No, that's wrong." I said, letting the resignation ebb into my voice. "She was talking to Ghost when you left for the dorms."

"You're- you're kidding. You're fucking kidding me." She cursed for what felt like the first and last time.

"Monokai, start the vote." Mark said, the indifference in his tone feeling wronger than ever in such a sorrowful setting.

We all pressed, selecting our votes unhappily and a wheel popped up on a screen above Monokai, with all our names on. It spun, quickly, until slowing down and landing on Bonnie's name as we awaited the verdict.

A bright, shining 'Guilty' appeared across the screen, and Bonnie let out a choked sob. "You can't. Don't do this to me! I have to leave! My home! You can't-"

More sobs. Tears. It all went by in a blur.
Then Monokai shouted over it all. "I've prepared an extra special punishment for the Ultimate Artist! Let's give it eeeeverything we've got! It's punishment tiiime!" He said in that sickly voice I'd grown to hate so much.

Chains launched out the wall, grappling onto Bonnie's sobbing figure before snapping her back like bands. I knew for a fact we wouldn't see her smile ever again. That is the price you pay for the fine art of lies.