danganronpa - deluded | fanganronpa

[ chapter 4 - let the trial begin! ]

Question of The Day:

So, what do you guys think of Sumi's confession? Y'all think she did it or nah?

drinks spice

"ah shit, here we go again"

-

Akira's eyes nearly popped out of her skull. She gripped the snowboarder's shoulders tightly and leaned in closer to her face. "W-What are you doing?! Did someone force you to say this? Y-You don't confess a murder unless it's super obviously not you!" She cried, worry growing when Mutsumi didn't bother to look up at her.

"Don't believe me if you don't want to. It's the truth. I... I'm a killer," she stood up and pulled at her gloves. "The proof is in the pudding, and also my arcade. It... It wasn't supposed to make you look like a suspect, I swear."

"Mutsumi. Stop lying to me. Just tell me who's making you do this." Akira pleaded desperately.

"Nobody is."

She quickly smiled, turned around, and ran back to Obokata and Tokihiko as if nothing had happened.

-

If she doesn't want to tell me, I'll prove it in the trial, then. There's gotta be something in her arcade.

Her arcade looked... messier... than it did when Akira and Chiemi found Jutaro's body here last. Mutsumi must've neglected using it after that. Akira would do the same if it was used to frame her for murder.

Though, she did notice a small droplet of a clear liquid on the floor. She kneeled down and rubbed it between her fingers, eyes narrowing.

Oil.

She followed the trail to one of the rides - one of those dumb games where you're on something and it starts to shake around so you fall off. Only thing is that the snowboard on it was ripped off and was instead on the floor next to it.

Underneath it was a small puddle of oil.

[ TRUTH BULLET - Mutsumi's Arcade ]

No. This is a frame. It's got to be. She... wouldn't make it so obvious. Yeah, that's it.

I hope.

-

When she got back, the three of them had already investigated Shinako's arcade.

There was only one thing to note from it, as Obokata had said:

An arrow and a bottle of oil were both missing from the ' sound selection ' board.

[ TRUTH BULLET - Shinako's Arcade ]

-

"Also, I found this thing," he pulled a letter out of his pocket. "Pretty cryptic."

Akira raised an eyebrow and took the note.

' this is for your own good

once they die the killing game will end '

"...Um?"

ZZT! ZZT!

"Losers, get your asses to the Ferris Wheel now! Normally, for taking this long, I'd execute all o' yous, but since someone had enough common sense to kill the right person, I'll let it slide."

ZZT! ZZT!

-

Once Tokihiko met back up with Akira, the two began to walk to the Ferris Wheel. The negotiator walked a bit slowly, so Akira made sure she kept the pace and didn't go too fast. Sure, he did a lot of awful things, but everyone had to work together if they wanted to get out of the trial room alive, including her.

"So, what do you think of all this?" She asked. Akira hadn't told anyone else about Mutsumi's ' confession ', not only because she was skeptical, but because Mutsumi would be angry if she did. If she wanted to prove she was innocent, why bring it up at all?

"You're hiding something," he replied simply with a small smile. "I can see it on thy's face."

"W-Wha? What do you mean?" She asked nervously.

"It's alright, though. I already know who did it." The grin turned into a sly smirk.

"Who?"

"...Why spoil the secret?" He asked playfully. "It's all for the air of mystery-"

"There you two are!"

The rest of the kids were already inside the trial room, save for Chiemi, Rei, and Raizo, who stopped to wait for them to arrive.

"Took you long enough," Rei scoffed.

Chiemi, who was facing away from them, crossed her arms. "I'm going inside. Akira, just know that you're on thin ice right now."

"But I seriously didn't kill her and I can prove it!" Akira argued.

The screenwriter went ahead without a word.

"She's probably just... really upset about it." Raizo murmured sadly. "S-She'll come around... hopefully. If not, um, I'm still your friend, right?"

At least one person here is on my side... thank you, Lord, for giving me friends.

"Of course." Akira responded. She didn't have the energy to smile. This must've been how everyone else who'd been framed for murder felt - it was overwhelmingly stressful, almost as if one small mistake could get you and everyone else killed, and they'd still probably blame you for it for failing to prove your innocence.

"Well, don't waste time, chop chop. The longer we stall here, the less time we have to find out who did this," Rei said firmly, basically dragging the three of them to the Ferris Wheel and cramming herself and them all into one of the little boxes.

Either she couldn't breathe from the cramming, or she was holding her breath the entire time.

-

As she entered, she noticed two new portraits mounted in the trial room - Shinako's and Mioko's. Mioko's was covered top to bottom in vines, reaching up and covering her face. Shinako's eyes were covered on the portrait, perhaps a memoir to her being the traitor.

She noticed that Chiemi refused to look at the portraits. Raizo, who still had the hairclip given to him, wrapped it around his neck and kept his gaze downward as he walked past Mioko's.

She took her spot at the podium wordlessly and inhaled shakily.

So, not only am I being framed here, but so is Mutsumi. As long as I never bring it up, she'll never be accused, and we'll find the actual killer. It shouldn't be too hard.

We'll solve this trial for Shinako.

Even though she was the traitor, she deserves her case to be closed.

[CLASS TRIAL - START!]

"So, first things first, let's go over who the obvious suspect is..." Naoki started, looking up and pointing an accusing finger at Akira, causing her to flinch. "Akira. If she didn't do it, I don't know who did."

"Just because the weapon was an arrow? Sounds kinda dumb to me, not going to lie," Mutsumi scoffed. "There's a much more obvious killer in this room."

"Oh yeah? Who is it?" He shot back. "Shinako's body was found outside her arcade. The weapon was an arrow. Did anyone even see Akira when the body was found?"

"Depends on the time of death," Rei answered, "it was before midnight, as that was when I found her on my midnight walk. I know I left the group at the control room before she did. Maybe someone else who was there until she left can let us know."

Someone else with me until I left the control room.

Yeah, maybe one of them can back up my alibi!

Alright then, let's begin.

-

eep this trial's gonna be bad