𝘍𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘱𝘢: 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳

/ 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 2.6 / 𝘔𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥

Trigger Warning(s):
- mentions of suicide
- hanging

⚖︎

Everyone else was waiting near the elevator which lead to the trial room.

Liam didn't elaborate any further what he had told Nathaniel earlier however Nathaniel decided to not push him any further for answers.

The elevator opened before them, just in time for their arrival.

"Um, are we sure this thing is safe?," Andrew questioned, knocking on metallic doors of the elevator.

Easton rolled his eyes at this, "Obviously or we wouldn't be alive right now."

"But is it stable enough for a second ride down?," Calista added, sharing the same concern as Andrew.

"I'm sure it is, besides, Monokuma needs us alive to participate in the class trials," Maeve reassured them.

The rest of the way down the elevator was quiet, suspension and tension amongst them hanging around the atmosphere.

Liam was silent, his gaze somewhere Nathaniel couldn't see.

Preston also was silent, the cheerful expression he managed to crack earlier disappearing again.

"Nervous?," Jackson asked, noticing the concern etched on Nathaniel's face.

He nodded in response.

"What about you?," he asked, remembering the feelings of deja vu Jackson must be feeling from the last trial.

"I'll be fine. Besides...I'm not alone this time," he said, choosing his words on the last sentence.

He smiled, appreciating the small comfort Jackson attempted to give to him.

The elevator finally came to a stop, forcing everyone outside of the the elevator.

The class trial courtroom much more different than they were last time.

Everything looked much more upgraded.

"What the hell happened here?," Jackson questioned.

"I thought we could all use the change? Alternating between the two settings for the courtroom. It would be boring to do the same one over and over again, wouldn't it?!"

Flashing lights of neon purple, blue and pink aligned the room instead of the red velvet curtains he was used to seeing from the last trial.

The podiums they stood on from before also looked much more different as the wooden texture was replaced with a metallic blue texture.

Taking his spot on the podium, on one side stood Lin while on his other side side stood a portrait of Tyler.

He saw the same was done to Akihiro as his portrait stood beside Easton's podium.

He couldn't help but feel sad at the realization that they were no longer with them anymore however he needed to shake such thoughts out of his head for the sake of putting all his focus on this class trial.

"Who did it?"

Everyone stared at Lin who broke the silence between everyone.

"Whoever killed Tyler, will pay for this. So speak up now," she demanded, her usual sweet demeanor being wiped away ever since the body discovery announcement.

"That's obviously why we're here," Hunter remarked, clearly not holding any regards to Lin's grief.

"Talk the big talk when you've wiped that big ass mark off your face," Jackson commented back, rolling his eyes at Hunter's statement.