Danganronpa: Song Of Despair

Chapter 3: Class Trial

As we all walked into the elevator and it started descending downwards, I couldn't help but feel extremely nervous. I wasn't able to find any evidence that may lead to the killer, so I could only hope that the others had better luck.

"Don't worry so much." I heard Jikkō's hushed voice by my ear. "We have evidence."

I nodded, giving her a small smile. "That's good..."

We reached the bottom, and walked out to the debate stands. As we all took our places, I couldn't help but notice how much our numbers have gone down, and seeing the crossed out faces of everyone who died reminded me of how serious our situation was.

Monokuma was already sitting in his chair, and once everyone was in the right spot, he spoke. "Alright, let's get started!"

Natsumi wasted no time, speaking up right away. "Where was everyone at the time of death? I was with Katashi in the restaurant."

"I was in my room." Willow stated.

"Michio and I were together." I said, and the guitar player nodded.

"I was with Riku and Mai." Satchiko said.

Akio went next, "I was taking a walk."

"I was investigating around the townhouses." Jikkō said.

"So Willow, Akio, and Jikkō have the unprovable alibis!" Natsumi exclaimed. "So it has to be one of them!"

"But how will we know who? The crime scene was so clean, there wasn't even a murder weapon." Satchiko pointed out.

Jikkō let out a small sigh. "They used their hands. Examining Kaiya's neck closely made that obvious."

Katashi then spoke up, "also, after you and Kazuki left we found some footprints leaving out the back of the school. Michio and I went to all the rooms and checked shoe sizes."

"The size was the same as both Akio's and Riku's." Michio added.

"I-I have an alibi though, so it's not me!" Riku stuttered.

Everyone looked to Akio, who had an expression of fear that slowly faded to sadness. "I... I'm not even going to try to fight it." The brunet let out a sigh. "It was me... I-I didn't mean to, I just... I saw her in the hallway, all alone... my body just moved on its own... there's no excuse for what I did."

"Akio..." I muttered, staring at him in shock. He gave in so easily, I couldn't help but feel bad.

"I just wanted to protect her... but I went too far. I-I'm sorry... I never wanted anyone to die." The skateboarder wiped his eyes before stepping off the stand, and to my surprise, walking over to me.

"I know this is asking a lot, but if you ever find a way out..." He took a folded piece of paper out of his pocket, and handed it to me. "Could you make sure she's safe? A-Akira... my little sister. She's only thirteen...."

I put the paper in my pocket, and nodded. "Of course... I'll do my best."

Akio gave me a small smile. "Thank you, Kazuki."

"Now, are ya done? Yeah? Then it's voting time!" Monokuma exclaimed. Reluctantly, we all casted our votes, and it was right. Akio Ikeda was the killer.

~*~

Akio stood at the top of an extremely tall, steep ramp, one foot on a skateboard that was hovering over the edge. Monokuma came from behind and pushed him, and quickly Akio regained balance on the skateboard, heading downwards at an alarming rate. Suddenly, the ramp curved upwards and Akio was launched into the air. He went high up, then started coming back down. Below him, the floor opened up and up came a large steel pool of steaming green liquid. Akio fell into it, screaming out in pain before going under. He didn't resurface. Out of the back of the pool was a conveyor belt, and on it came a pile of human bones.

I felt completely sick to my stomach. How much more of this can I take?

9 left.