BFB-ronpa: Inanimate Massacre

[I] Trial - Case I

. . .

I'm feeling more nervous than usual...
We slowly approached the area the Monopad marked at, Cake and Leafy seemed to be in somewhat high spirits, despite the growing tensions between all of us. I joined in on their conversation from time to time, about frankly, useless things. But, humorous enough to lighten the mood.

"Look! Is it that way?" Leafy pointed towards a foreboding door, like an elevator door. And almost everyone was standing in front of it. "Yeah, seems like it." Black Hole muttered. It seemed like we were the only ones who came last, not counting Teardrop.

I could tell that everyone was on edge. Knowing that one of us did something incredibly wrong, and we couldn't trust anyone. We are just a bunch of stupid kids, with a few young adults sprinkled in. But still, we don't trust eachother. And if I could recall, if we guess incorrectly, we would all die, except for the culprit.

Suddenly, a large noise was made coming from the elevator doors, opening up to reveal a large space. We all entered, and when all of us are in, the elevator slowly descended to a lower floor. I was standing next to Leafy, she was fidgeting with her hands, noticeably scared. We all were.

After a while, it eventually stopped and the doors opened, revealing a large courtroom with stands forming a circle. I saw that each podium had a name tag, and I tried to find mine.
I eventually found my podium, and it stood between Ruby and Tennis Ball. A random arrangement, a very lazy selection huh?

I noticed a portrait of Teardrop, on the podium in which she was supposed to be on if she was still alive, and it had a messy, hot pink cross on her neck, correlating to her inability to talk. It feels so taunting, I had never learned about her past and most importantly, why she didn't speak. But... I still had that notebook.

Ruby gave a big wave to me, and I waved back. But I knew she was trying to stay positive during all of this, like me.

I heard a clapping sound and it came from Mono, who was standing behind a judge's podium, up high than the rest of us. They had a serious face, looking down on us. "I didn't really expect you to kill this quick." They started. "Like, what the hell? Couldn't you just wait for a bit? Poor girl, she died before she got real friends..." They stared at the portrait, mimicking a sad face.

A false one.

"Anyways, Feel free to go all out, play some intense game soundtrack music that you think fits this situation, cry, scream and accuse your friends! Oh, oops! Now, for the actual intro. I got carried away." They sat down on a chair.
"Don't like, 'oops!' us! This is serious shit here!" Match snapped. Mono looked visibly irritated. "Silence, or you'll receive the punishment in place of the culprit." They warned her, Match piped down accordingly.

"This is your first trial, and I'll be the one to fully explain it to you all. One of you killed Teardrop, and as I said earlier, you have to figure out who committed the crime." They explained.
"If you guess the culprit, or as we call them in this establishment: The Blackened, correctly, then 'The Blackened' will be punished. But if you guess incorrectly, everyone except 'The Blackened' will get punished instead. And 'The Blackened' will be free and exit the school, assimilating back into society as a result. Is everyone clear?"

We all just took in the information and agreed to their request.
"Now then, the trial will begin now." They then picked up a gavel and hitting it hard, letting out a loud ring. Commencing the start of the trial.

A large projection screen suddenly flashed and text appeared on it and read:
— Who killed Teardrop... - Case I —

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An awkward silence...