Danganronpa: Boiling Point

Chapter 27: Third Class Trial

Once again, everyone took their places around the Courtroom table, and Monorakun scurried up to his little throne on all fours, before sitting down and peering at the rest of us.

"Alright, like I said, we've got two victims, so you've gotta solve 'em both to avoid the Season Finale! Honestly, I don't care which death you tackle first, so you all figure that out."

Kyoko spoke immediately. "Since Mondo's death happened first, let's speak about that one for now. Any objections?"

No one had any.

"Alright, that's settled. Now, Mondo was found with a broken neck, but did not show any signs of a struggle, which seems odd for someone as aggressive as him. Whoever killed him, he likely could not fight back against them, making me think that someone snapped his neck from behind."

Sakura shook her head. "The positioning of his body suggests to me that he was thrown where he landed. It doesn't seem like a position someone would intentionally place someone in."

Fuyuhiko retorted, "Yeah, but who the hell's gonna throw Mondo? That seems like a death wish waiting to happen, even for someone like me!"

Nekomaru agreed. "Yeah, someone with your muscular makeup would never be able to throw Mondo."

Fuyuhiko sneered at him. "Hey? You callin' me weak, motherfucker? Come say that to my face, and I'll show you just how 'weak' I am!"

"Enough!" Sakura pounded both fists on her podium to quell things down. "We don't have time to fight amongst ourselves. We have two murders to solve, with our lives on the line for each one."

"I also agree that Fuyuhiko did not kill Mondo, despite their hostilities towards one another," Kyoko agreed. "Knowing Fuyuhiko's fury, there would have been more bruising, more injuries than just a snapped neck. Whoever did this must have been a very skilled fighter, with knowledge of human body movements during a fight."

For me, this narrowed it down to Nekomaru, Sakura, or Tenko.

Korekiyo spoke next. "No signs of a struggle, you say? There were definitely signs of a fight with Teruteru."

This drew Kyoko's curious gaze. "Really now? Care to share your discoveries, then?"

Korekiyo nodded. "Teruteru, as we all know, was found in the oven, essentially cooked to death. However, upon Shishano's examination, she found a head injury, and Rantaro found a pan that had a loose handle. Neither of them recall that handle being loose when they assisted Teruteru with cooking last night's dinner, however. Furthermore, I discovered blood on a table leg, likely from Teruteru's injury. I propose, therefore, that Teruteru was struck with the pan near this table, causing his injury and his blood to get on the table leg, before he was put in the oven."

Fuyuhiko scoffed. "Makes sense. No one was gonna just stuff that tub of lard straight into the oven without knocking his ass out first."

Tenko spoke up next. "You mentioned something about a pan's handle being loose? I don't remember any of the pans having loose handles while I was washing them. Which one was it?"

Rantaro answered, "The one that was used to cook the Corned Beef. Right, Shishano?"

I thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "Yes, that is correct."

Tenko nodded, a confused look on her face. "Huh. Strange..."

Hiyoko, who had been quiet up to this point, decided to speak next. "Hey, Jack or Syo or Toko or...whoever the hell you are, you're a serial killer, right? I bet it was you who killed both of them!"

Jack started cackling. "Not a chance, Hiyogurt! Pans are NOT my M.O., after all!"

Hiyoko cocked her head. "M.O.? What does the alphabet have to do with those two being dead?"