Fanganronpa: Destination Despair

Part 1/Chapter 12

Monokuma was now walking towards the doors that lay in front of us. He opened them hastily, and we all peered in. Inside was a bunch of podiums, all of which were connected and forming a circle facing inward. The floor was made of black and white tile, and the walls were made out of decorative oak wood. There was designs imprinted into the wood, too. Farther from us, behind the podiums, was a throne with three pillows stacked onto it so it was than originally made.

"Alrighty kiddos! In ya' go!" Not wanting to disobey Monokuma's orders, we all slowly made our way into the room. "You'll see that each podium is marked with a nameplate. Find your name and stand there!" Monokuma explained.

I made my way closer to the podiums, as did the others. We all looked around for our names, and eventually taking a stance behind our respective one. "Oh, good job! That was quick! You guys sure do mean business, don't you!" Monokuma teased.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever! Just hurry up and tell us who the killer is!" Ishibuko demanded.

"Jeez, you guys really weren't listening..." Monokuma sighed. "You guys are the ones that have to figure out who the blackened is!"

"Weren't you going to explain how this all works once we got down there? Can you please get on with that?" Izumi asked.

"Of course! You see... during the class trial, you all will argue and what not about the case, and ultimately, who you think the blackened is! Then we will proceed with the voting time, where you will all vote on who you think the blackened is. If you guys guess correctly, then I'll punish the blackened! But if you pink the wrong one..! I'll punish everyone besides the blackened, since you failed to guess correctly!" Monokuma explained. "So with that outta the way... Please begin!"

"Seriously..! Look, whoever is the killer, just come forward! I'm not gonna judge!" Ishibuko said, annoyed.

"Were you even listening to anything he said?" Aoi asked.

"Of course I was! But it could be so mush easier if they just came forward!" he said.

"...Let's just do it the way he told us to." Allie said, breaking the argument.

"I agree." said Amy.

"But where... are we supposed to start?" Aiko asked.

"...Let's start with... the most pressing issue on our minds." Izumi suggested.

"Like what?" Haru asked.

Izumi then clarified, saying, "Where we found the body. Don't you think it to be unusual to find a body tied to a post like that?"

"Not to mention... He was dressed as a scarecrow." Chidori added.

What was off about that..? If I think about it... then it's obvious. "I think..." I started, "That whoever did it was trying to hide his body. That should be the only explanation." I said.

"Yes! I was with Sachi, so I can definitely agree!" Mirai also said.

"Ah, that reminds me! How exactly did you two come across the... the body?" Mars asked.

"Would you care to explain, Sachi?" Mirai asked, looking at me. She was on the opposite side of me, facing my direction from where she was standing.

"...Yeah, I can do that." I then looked around the room, and saw just about everyone looking at me. I took a deep breath and began, "Mirai and I were making our way to the farm to hang out. We were trying to get to somewhere more private, and the farm seemed to be the ideal place, since almost no one goes there, except Chidori."

"W-Wait.. Ch-Chidori goes there..? B-But why?" I heard Hikari ask.

"I've been going there to tend to all the crops there." Chidori explained.