Danganronpa: Locked Doors of Despair

Ch. 1 Deadly Life Part 3: Of Footprints, Flattery, and Frenzies

[A/N] Just a heads-up, class trial parts will continue until I reach a certain point, regardless of how long they wind up being word-count wise. So this part (and likely the next, as well) will be a bit lengthy. I hope you enjoy!

Yuu
"So where should we start? There's a lot to unpack here," Gou asks.

"Um... if it's not too much trouble... could we clarify whether or not this case could be a suicide? Regardless of the conclusion, we'd solve a lot of contradictions in our evidence if we solve that, would we not?" Sayuri suggests.

"Yes, please. I don't know if I'd be more freaked out if it was her or one of us, but I think I'd feel a lot more comfy if we knew that much," Fujiko concurs, clicking her nails against the arm of her chair.

"Okay then! Let's do this!" Kana rallies.

"We have a few compelling pieces of evidence implicating suicide," Keiji points out.

"Right! The fact that her neck was broken, that her shoes were left at the tree's base, and that there was only one set of footprints," I point out.

"Plus, she was so fixated on that willow tree... who knew it would be the place she'd die?" Fujiko whimpers.

"Maybe these pieces of evidence have an alternate explanation?" Joanie offers.

"What would her motive be, anyway? Wouldn't she need an important reason to do something so... drastic?" Sayuri inquires.

"That's not necessarily the case," Azumi chimes in, concern on her face.

"What? Why wouldn't she have a motive?" Kana asks.

"W-Well, um... please don't take this as a serious accusation... but we DO have the Ultimate Hypnotist here. Maybe he could've convinced her to do it." Her face scrunches up and she grimaces as though she expects to get backlash for this.

Chimon's expression goes shocked. "What?! No! I would NEVER do that! And even if I was ethically depraved enough to give it a shot, it's impossible! Hypnosis can't force people to do something against their moral code or anything like that. It's not like magic, just the power of suggestion. So if I was to suggest anything as reprehensible as that, even using all the tricks in the book, she wouldn't do it unless she already wanted to!"

"O-Okay, good. So at least we know you cannot puppet someone into killing themselves or others. I am terribly sorry for putting you on the spot like that."

"It's okay! Now you know!" he answers brightly.

"Since that's cleared up, let's get back to the task at hand," Nari urges. For the briefest of seconds though, so short an instant that I wonder if I'm imagining it, Chimon's face is filled with bored annoyance so tangible that it shakes me to my core. I look around at the others. They seem not to have seen it. Until, that is, I lock eyes with Tozen, who seems to have been doing the same thing. He widens his eyes at me, as if to ask if I noticed. I give a subtle nod. Anxiety flows through my body and fills my blood.

"If we assume that Hachi was murdered, and didn't kill herself, how would these pieces of evidence fit in?" Gou asks.

"Mayhap a killer laid in wait for the wench in the tree, pinned 'er upper body stationary with their knee, and snapped 'er neck ta make it look like she leapt onto a Hempen Halter. She definitely wasn't a bulky lass, at any rate, so overwhelmin' her physically wouldn't be a hard task."

"That doesn't account for the lack of prints," I mention. "I'm positive that there was only one set. And if the killer tried to wipe their own set away with their hands or feet, it would make very obvious streaks. There was no way to get rid of it. So either a second trail didn't exist in the first place, or some serious trickery is involved here."