This school was not normal, from its' lack of teachers to the immoral graduation conditions. You must kill someone, and get away with it, to graduate. We all thought that none of us would graduate in the moment this was said. All except Akimitsu Tomiko, the ultimate cryptographer. His cynicality was stronger than his own will to live, stating "I believe that You guys would've killed each other before anyone steps out of this building" before leaving the sports hall. And he was right. Sora, the ultimate chef had been found dead, less than 48 hours later...
My blood froze cold. Sora's unliving body lay strewn over the leather seats in the A/V room, knife plunged deep into her stomach. Blood had poured out of her like water from a hose pipe and formed a small puddle by the red-dyed chair leg. I stood there, scared out of my own mind. All I could do was scream.
After a brief time, most of the class had gathered around me. That was when it happened. The dual chromatic bear popped up, out of nowhere, and left us with a short leaflet. "A body has been discovered. After a certain amount of time, a class trial will begin. At that time, please gather beyond the red door on the first floor of the school." The voice was the same as before, unwavering and childish. This was it. Someone was dead.
The first thing I had noticed was the knife, it had a 2-inch blade and 1-inch handle. 'Easily concealable, probably trying to kill without being seen with the weapon.' I thought, looking across the scene quickly. Then was the blood around her hand. Upon further inspection, the right index hand was covered in blood and broken in several places. This inferred there was a struggle, and most likely not an easy one. There was also a note written in red ink that read "If you won't kill, I will." After this, I took note of the steel pipe discarded behind the desk, and the drops of blood streaming down the side of her face. Then I read the leaflet.
MONOKUMA FILE #01
Victim: Sora Tetsuya
Time of Death: ~4:30 am
Fatal Blow: 7 stab wounds to the torso
That wasn't very helpful. It gave us the same information we already knew, other than the time of death, which in itself wasn't helpful as we knew no one would admit to being out of their room at a time like that. Despite this, I still asked around anyway. Everyone had said the same, "I was in my room, still asleep at that time. Who in their right minds would be awake?" All except one. Souma Haruki, the ultimate geologist. He had said that he was in the baths, getting ready to start his day. He also mentioned that he saw Yui trying to lockpick her way into one of the lockers in the baths. She had asked him if it was his locker, and why he was awake so early. She darted away after that, her left hand glimmering a dark red. This was all he shared with me.
The speakers suddenly turned on again, that same childish voice coming through it. "Alright, I've decided that you've had enough time. Please make your way to the red door on the first floor corridor and head inside." Everyone's look changed from one of despair, to one of anger, and suspiciousness. No one would trust each other at this point, unsure of who the killer was. We all made our way to the red door.
After entering the red door, light shone down onto us. The room was illuminated, revealing a court style room with 17 podiums. We all moved around and found the one labelled with our name. Mine read 'Taro Shinya', and was between Kenzo, the ultimate cartographer, and Toyoko, the ultimate skater. The small, dual chromatic bear from earlier arrived and promptly sat on the main podium, denoted by the red, white and black symbol that looked exactly like the users' face.
Monokuma, as the bear had previously claimed its' name was, spoke cheekily, "As you haven't done this yet, I'll explain how it works. If you can figure out 'whodunnit', then only the killer will be punished. In the event you guess wrong, the rest of you are punished, while the killer gets to leave." Promptly, Kanna Miho, the ultimate diplomat, inquired, "What would the punishment be for guessing wrong? And why is there a portrait of Sora where she would've stood?"
We all glanced over to the one podium no-one had inhabited, and clear as day we saw it. The large portrait of Sora, gazing across the room. Everyone's face twisted. Monokuma finally answered, "The portrait of Sora is there so she doesn't feel left out, and so you can remember her in your despair. The punishment in question is..." The bear paused. "Death." Everyone looked scared, fearful they'd guess wrong. "Anyways, lets get started with the first class trial!"
Everyone looked lost for a second, until I spoke up. "I suppose we should start with how she was murdered, and then go from there?" This caught everyone's attention, but they all agreed. "The Monokuma file said that the victim had been killed by stab wounds to the torso, this was evident by the Knife protruding from their torso, but I don't think this was exactly true. All the stab wounds were less than an inch deep. I don't think that this could really kill someone." Kanna spoke, voice unwavering. "Then what do you suppose did kill her?" Natsuko, the Ultimate poet, asked.
"The steel pipe by her draw, soaked in what could only be her blood." The reply came instantaneously. I then looked over to Yui. Her eyes had been darting around us for the whole time and had cringed slightly at that. "Yeah," I said, "The blood must've been either hers' or the killers, but given the fact none of us had injuries, it rules the possibility of it being theirs out. I suppose the next piece of the puzzle is why they killed, though that is pretty obvious. So the only question is, who killed Sora?"
A quiet voice spoke, it was Souma. "I think I have a suspect." Yui looked really worried at this point. Everyone wanted him to carry on, and he did. "I saw Yui in the baths, trying to pick her way into one of the lockers. Her behaviour was noticeably different, from the way she spoke to me to the blood red liquid on her hand. I wished to stop her to ask about it, but she had left." Yui was vibrating from the anxiety. "So, Yui, What was this red liquid that had coated your hand?" Kanna prompted her to answer. She didn't.
This was when Monokuma chimed back in. "It seems we are ready to vote. Please select who you think the blackened is from the panel on your podium." I looked down as the podium lit up, the screen showing pictures of the 16 of us, Sora's greyed out. I instantly clicked on Yui, who else could it be, everything we knew pointed to it being her. The screen changed to a bright green, then to a list of who had been voted for when everyone was done. Yui was voted out.
Monokuma then said, "Well done, you guessed correctly. Yui was indeed the blackened. It's punishment time!" A long metal claw then reached out from the wall and pulled Yui in. The wall opened up to reveal that she was placed in a water tank, the top being a safe with a hammer in it, blocked by a padlock. She instantly set to work as the tank filled with a clear, viscous liquid. The lock pick had pulled the pins out of her hair to try and bend them into shape, which took no less than 5 seconds, and jammed them into the lock, pushing in both the shackle to a locked position, which was swiftly overlooked by her, and the pins together.
The liquid was now up to her waist, and had sped up in how fast it was moving. She desperately jiggled at the pins, finding which of them click and which don't. Eventually, the liquid was up to her shoulders and the lock had been picked. The safe instantly opened and dropped a heavy metal lump hammer straight on her head, splitting it open before toppling into the liquid. Her face instantly relaxed as she went limp, her body sinking to the bottom of the tank. She was dead. That was it. The feeling we all had... was despair.
