CW: Discussions of previous violent traumatic experiences

Truth Bullets

Monokuma File #3: The victim is Remy Lander, the Penultimate Animal Photographer. The time of death was 4:26 am. The cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head from a fall. In addition, the back of the body has numerous tiny cuts.

Monokuma File #4: The victim is Karen Oshiro, the Penultimate Jujutsuka. The time of death was 4:35 am. The cause of death was blood loss. The victim's throat was slit. This was done in a single cut. The body also has some small bruises, but otherwise there are no other injuries.

Fallen Tree: A fallen tree. It blocks the barrack's stairs, preventing access to the second floor. The window next to the stairs was broken when the tree fell.

Kenji & Sehiko's Account: Seihiko came downstairs at about 4:20 AM. As he came down, Remy woke up and said he was going upstairs to take pictures of the storm. After that, Kenji woke up. Soon after, the tree fell.

Broken Window: The window on the second floor overlooking the gym is broken.

Remy's Pictures: Two photos of note were recovered from Remy's camera: one is a picture of the woods from one of the upstairs windows. The other is too blurry to fully make out, but someone with long hair is just out-of-frame.

Caught Threads: A few white threads Ikeda found stuck in the glass of the broken window to the gym.

Ikeda's Account: It took five to seven minutes for Karen to fully bleed out. Her throat was slit from behind. Whatever was used to slit Karen's throat was small, thin, and very sharp.

Bloody Sheet: A bloody sheet found shoved down one of the toilets in the barrack's shower room.

Pocket Knife: A small pink pocket knife found down one of the toilet's under the sheet in the barrack's shower room.

Scratched Side Room Lock: The lock to the side room in the gym has various small scratches on it. The door leads to a small side room, with a different door leading outside.

Smeared Floor: There are various smears on the gym floor below the broken window. There is a very faint print of a few small toes near the smear.

Homura's Account: When the storm stopped and it was light enough to see, the only people on the upper floor of the barracks were Homura, Isao, and Ikeda.

The Storm: From about 6:00 PM yesterday to 6:50 AM this morning, a huge thunderstorm covered the island. The powerful rains and high winds created a lot of noise, and blew the cots used to cover the windows of the barracks back into the building.

Barracks Blueprint: A blueprint of the barracks found by Homura. Though the writing is illegible, it does show the layout of the barracks clearly. The stairs are halfway between the far wall and the wall shared with the gym, with at least 20 feet on each side.

Aspirin Bottle: The aspirin bottle from the first aid kit found in a bush in the woods near/underneath Remy's body. It is totally empty.

Shiori had been tired going into the trials before. She'd been scared, and sad, and yes, determined. A whole stew of emotions she'd almost (horribly) gotten used to the third time around. But that day, for the first time, Shiori walked into the trial room angry. Angry at the sheer unfairness of their situation and of Remy and Karen's death. Angry with whoever could have killed them so cruelly. Angry at Monokuma for forcing more work on them when everyone was sore, tired, hungry, and dirty. (Not to mention the awful stuff he'd put Mr. Saiki through). She was just so angry at the whole world, that it seemed to boil deep within her gut, threatening to overflow.

And I have to deal with all this while standing next to Isao, Shiori thought as she took up her spot, Who I haven't gotten to clear the air with yet. Damn it.

The trial room felt so much more empty than last time. Three of her friends had been replaced by portraits, an 'x' over each face. For Akiko, a pair of drumsticks; for Remy, a blocky font; and for Karen, a painted x that intersected over her throat. The irony of that last one only stoked the flames of her fury. God, when I figure out who did that to Karen, I'll— She made herself stop that thought. If you're too worked up, you won't be able to focus.

Shiori instead looked at the still-living students. Gorou stood slightly hunched over his podium, seeming so much smaller now that his only neighbors were portraits. Rika couldn't seem to stand still, lightly hopping back and forth from one foot to the other. Kenji looked possibly as angry as she felt, or even more so, with his attention mostly being focused on Monokuma for now. Homura openly glared at everyone, save Seihiko, who in turn simply frowned and focused on his Monopad. Take mostly seemed like his normal nonchalant self, but the way he drummed his fingers on his podium belied a restlessness. Ikeda's expression was surprisingly determined, given his demeanor in the previous trials. Kashie, while a bit nervous, actually noticed Shiori's glance and gave her a quick thumbs up. And Isao… well, he seemed so far away, despite standing right next to her.

Monokuma's shrill voice interrupted her observation. "Wow, so quiet! You guys don't mess around with pre-trial chit-chat, do you? Y'know, I can work with that. If you're not gonna say anything, you must be ready to begin! Now, for a quick recap of the rules of the Class Trial—"

"I don't think we need that, thank you," Ikeda interrupted. "Perhaps just focus on the new rules relevant to this case?"

"Now hold on a second!" Monokuma protested, bouncing up the stand on top of his podium and leaning over the edge to glare at Ikeda. "You may know your way around a mystery, but I'm—"

Ikeda didn't even look up, waving a hand dismissively. "In charge, we know. But surely it's better to keep things moving, rather than waste time going over information we all are familiar with by now? It will keep things…" The tone of his voice shifted to something halfway between menacing and annoyed. "... Interesting."

"Hmm. Well, I guess since this is the third trial, we can skip it. But, it's not because of you. It's because I am just bursting with excitement over this case. I could almost explode from the anticipation! Upupu!" He cleared his throat and continued. "Okay, ya bastards! New rules: because we have two unfortunate victims, there is the possibility of there being two culprits. In order to avoid punishment, you must correctly identify all of the blackened. That could be one, or two people. Even if you think one of the deaths was an accident, that counts as a person causing their own death, making them their own blackened! And, you have to get it exactly right; if it's two people, the majority have to vote for both! But, if it's one person, the majority must be for just that person. Also, remember: Voting isn't optional! Now, let's get this two-for-one deal of a trial underway!"

To Shiori's surprise, Kenji was the first one to speak up. "I just want to get this out of the way right now; if any of you are the ones who killed Remy, you… You're gonna be glad it's Monokuma killing you, because if he wasn't, I'd do it myself." His voice trembled slightly during his declaration, but the determination in his eyes was unmistakable.

Take whistled, impressed. "Wow, didn't know you had it in you. Hate to remind you, though, that camera guy could have just ended up on the unlucky end of a tree branch."

"God, how did I not realize how much of a jerkwad you were before last trial?" asked Homura.

Seihiko nodded, frowning. "I get that you're mad we stopped hanging out, but at least be mad at us, instead of taking it out on everybody."

"Mad? I ain't mad," Take said in a lilting tone that betrayed that he was, in fact, mad. "I've said it before; I just tell it like it is."

Rika shifted again. "I… I don't want anyone else to die, but… if you hurt Karen, I'm… you're gonna regret it!"

Huh, I figured she'd be more angry, considering she's offered to fight people for much less serious reasons, Shiori thought. Karen's death must really have her shaken.

Kashie cleared her throat. "Can we…? That is, we should start by establishing what happened, as far as we know."

"Well said," said Ikeda. "To find the missing pieces, we must first establish what we already have."

Shiori took a deep breath and set her eyes forward. Okay Shiori; let's do this.

NON-STOP DEBATE

START!

Truth Bullets: Monokuma File #3 | Monokuma File #4 | Fallen Tree

ISAO: Things began last night, during the storm.

GOROU: I mean, if you wanna get technical…

GOROU: ...It started when Monokuma kicked us out of the cabins as a motive.

IKEDA: Anyway, people were sleeping on both floors of the barracks.

KASHIE: Really early in the morning, the storm knocked a tree into the stairs.

SEIHIKO: And around the same time was when Remy was killed.

RIKA: ...Was it a coincidence?

SHIORI: Either way, Karen died only about ten minutes later.

HOMURA: After the culprit killed her without a fight…

HOMURA: ...They shoved her in a locker in the gym!

KENJI: And when the storm ended…

KENJI: … We found Remy behind the barracks near the fallen tree.

-Truth Bullet Selected: Monokuma File #4-

SHIORI: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

"Homura, I'm not sure there wasn't a fight," said Shiori. "The Monokuma File said Karen had a bunch of bruises on her. If there was no struggle at all, where'd those come from?"

"Oh…" Homura deflated slightly, but only for a moment. "Still! The culprit must have done some kind of sneaking or distracting or something, because how the heck did they get the drop on Karen otherwise?"

"Karen's a really good fighter," Rika added quietly. "Unless she was… Distracted or something, I don't think any of us could beat her in a fight."

Take raised his eyebrow. "Not even the Penultimate Gladiator?"

"I mean… I don't know." Rika hunched her shoulders, almost wincing.

"I do agree that there was some level of surprise involved," said Ikeda. "From the angle and depth of the slash to Karen's throat, it must have been done from behind."

Homura glared at him. "God, you're so creepy. Who the heck knows this stuff?"

"There's something I don't get," said Gorou, trying to change the subject. "There was a lot of blood on Karen, and some in the locker, but I didn't see blood anywhere else. There's no way that wound didn't bleed like hell, so where's the blood?

"Maybe the murder happened outside?" Offered Isao. "Then the blood would have washed away in the rain."

"But… the culprit wouldn't have had time to dry off," Kashie countered softly. "We saw everyone not too long after the rain stopped. Even after a few hours, without towels or anything, if someone went out in the rain, they'd still be damp. And no one was."

"Then where was Karen killed, and where's the blood?" asked Isao.

NON-STOP DEBATE

START!

Truth Bullets: Monokuma File #4 | Broken Window | Smeared Floor

IKEDA: The simplest way to determine where the murder occurred…

IKEDA: … Is to list possible occasions, and systematically eliminate each until we reach an answer.

KASHIE: We've already crossed out outside…

KASHIE: ...Because no one was wet from the rain.

HOMURA: Upstairs doesn't work! No blood there!

RIKA: And uh, even with the storm…

RIKA: ...We would have noticed if it happened in the main room downstairs.

SEIHIKO: But there's no blood in the gym either.

GOROU: There must be something we're missing!

TAKE: Mr. Interrogator, your method's shit.

IKEDA: No. Gorou is right. There is something we haven't put together yet.

-Truth Bullet Selected: Smeared Floor-

SHIORI: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

"Oh! Seihiko! It's not that there isn't any blood in the gym, it's that we didn't realize that's what it was!" Shiori bounced up and down. Now we're getting somewhere!

Seihiko was confused. "Didn't realize…?"

"Mr. Saiki found these smears on the gym floor near the bathroom door," Shiori explained. "I bet they're from blood! The culprit wiped up all the blood, but couldn't get all of it." Above them, the mounted monitor zoomed in on a picture of the floor to show the smears.

Suddenly, Take began grinning and laughing. "Oh! Oh ho ho, man. And I know exactly what they used to do. This is too perfect! What an incompetant job!"

Isao eyed him. "...I know this might be hard for you, but can you please take this seriously?"

The rest of the students all looked at Isao in surprise; even Shiori. I did not know he could be so sassy, she thought.

What surprised Shiori more was that, rather than brushing off the comment like she expected him to, Take's expression went cold. In fact, he didn't even respond, simply crossing his arms and leaning slightly away from his podium, as if to take himself out of the conversation. And he stayed there.

"Well, uh…" Shiori cleared her throat. "I also have an idea of what was used to clean up the blood." It's honestly pretty obvious…

SELECT EVIDENCE: Bloody Sheet

SHIORI: This is it!

"This sheet! " She said, gesturing to her own Monopad. "It's all bloodstained, and we were missing blood, so then it must have been used to mop up the mess."

Rika frowned, looking a bit pale. "Where'd you guys find that?"

"In the bathroom," Mr. Saiki explained, speaking for the first time since he'd joined them at the fire pit. "Someone tried to shove it down the toilet."

Seihiko leaned in to get a better look. "That does take care of that, I guess… Something's bugging me, though."

"What's that?" Homura asked.

"Even if the sheet got most of the blood, wouldn't the culprit have had blood on them too?" Seihiko almost began miming holding a bundle of sheets, but the monitor began a simple graphic instead, so he just pointed to it instead. "To carry the sheet without getting any blood on yourself at all would be tricky, and that's assuming you're in a state to actually think about it."

"Well, we don't have the same excuse as the first case," Gorou pointed out. "We all had to change clothes before we came, 'cause of the stupid motive."

Rika snapped her finger. "Oh, darn!"

Shiori blinked. Wait… When we were looking for a window to get everyone upstairs down the ladder… Didn't Rika's shirt have stains…?

Before she could fully form the rest of that, Take suddenly slammed his hand down on his podium. "Blood stains? Aren't you forgetting something, Little Sleuth? Something that gives an even better clue about who the blackened is?" He gave Shiori a dark, pointed look.

She tried to get her thoughts back on track. Something else? What does he mean? Uh...

THINKING TIME

What about the evidence gives a clue to the culprit?

A: The type of sheet

[B: The toe mark in the smear]

C: The shape of Karen's bruises

SHIORI: This is the answer!

"I mean… there's the toe marks on the edge of the smears?" Shiori offered. "But a bunch of us weren't wearing shoes."

Isao scratched his chin. "The only people who had shoes were Take, Gorou, and Kenji."

"I had my socks on at first, but they got wet from the rain…" Rika added sadly.

"They could be from Karen," Kashie suggested. "If she… stepped in her own blood."

"...That seems unlikely to me," said Ikeda, a bit more gently than Shiori expected. "Marks like that would have been destroyed when the blood was mopped up. No, it must be from whoever did the wiping."

"Yeah, and what's the most obvious thing about the toe marks?" asked Take, clearly coming close to losing his temper with everyone else in the room.

A moment of silence filled the space, but then Gorou broke it, his eyes filled with sad understanding. "They're small. The toe marks are from small feet."

Immediately Shiori broke out in a sweat. God, why must I be cursed with kid sized feet?

Apparently unperturbed, Homura bent down, pulled off one of her socks, and stuck her foot into the circle of podiums for all to see. "Well I've got regular feet! Can't be me!"

"Homura, you were upstairs the whole time the murder was occuring," Seihiko pointed out. "There's no way for you to have gotten down to kill Karen and gotten back up."

"I'm not taking any chances!" she snapped back.

Monokuma chuckled above them. "Wow, this is the second time foot size has come up in a case! What are the chances?" His tone made it sound like he was talking about a coincidence in the weather, rather than a clue in a murder. Beside the bear, Mr. Saiki frowned, his fists clenched in his lap, but he said nothing.

"I can account for Shiori," Kashie said, her voice a bit more confident than usual. "After the tree fell, we waited out the storm together. We both have alibis."

Take scanned the group, his gaze almost hungry. "Snow Man had shoes." Gorou seemed somewhat offended by the nickname, but before he could protest, Take had continued. "And, none of the other guys have feet that small, so that leaves…" His gaze settled on Rika. "... The only person who we know could have taken Miss Dictionary in a fight. How do ya like that?"

"What?!" Rika squeaked. "No! Karen's my friend! Why would I—? I wouldn't kill her!"

"I don't see how it could have been anyone else," Take replied. "Unless someone can vouch for you?"

Shiori wanted to speak up, but the words caught in her throat. Did I hear Rika at all during the storm? No… Wait, didn't she say, before we found Remy, that she spent the night after the tree fell in the shower room? But if she did, how did she miss the culprit putting evidence down the toilet? But the discussion continued without her.

NON-STOP-DEBATE

START!

Truth Bullets: Bloody Sheet | Pocket Knife | The Storm

IKEDA: Well, can anyone vouch for Rika?

SEIHIKO: It was so dark and loud during the storm…

SEIHIKO: … I can only account for Kenji and myself.

ISAO: Homura, Ikeda and I can't either; we were upstairs.

GOROU: It's not like she's the only no one saw downstairs. Me, not to mention you, Take!

TAKE: Hey, I ain't jumping to conclusions here! There's loads of evidence!

KASHIE: She has no motive—!

TAKE: She hid the weapon under the sheet in the bathroom!

KENJI: … And Rika's the only person I've even seen fight Karen.

RIKA: I'd never—!

TAKE: Ah! You're a fucking gladiator!There's no way you've never off-ed somebody!

HOMURA: I—! You—! Gah! I don't know who to believe because nothing makes sense!

-Truth Bullet Selected: Pocket Knife-

SHIORI: I agree with that…?!

BREAK!

"Take, you know about that knife Mr. Saiki found?" Shiori asked, her voice strained. Oh god, and it was…!

"Yeah, the pink knife!" Take said, like he'd been waiting for someone to bring it up. "Who else could it have belonged to? None of y'all are the type to carry a knife around."

"And given its color, it has to be a personal item," Ikeda admitted, but like he hated saying it. "None of the kitchen knives are like that, and it's in too good condition to have been found in any of the ruins of the army base."

Gorou had his head in his hands. "This is ridiculous! Are we just ignoring the fact that Rika and Karen are friends? Like best friends?!"

"They did have a big fight! Karen was like, super upset when she came to the barracks yesterday." Homura said with an accusing finger point. "Maybe feelings just bubbled over!"

"They made up though," Kashie countered. "By the time we went to bed, they were hanging out again."

"That doesn't change the fact that Rika's knife was with the sheet," said Take. "Which ya know, had blood on it and was shoved down the toilet to try and hide it!"

Through the shouting, Shiori turned to Rika, trying to get a read on her down turned face. "Rika, say something! There's gotta be an explanation for all of this—!"

"Everyone stop!" The group fell silent at Rika's strained cry. Her face was red and streaked with tears. "I… I'm gonna try to be brave, Like… Like Akiko was before. I'm sorry I wasn't brave enough before now; I…" She swallowed, and finally looked everyone in the eye. "I did it. I killed Karen."

Shiori's stomach dropped. "What…? No, Rika! What are you saying?!"

Rika was trembling now, and she let a strange, strained laugh. "I'm saying Take's right. About all of it. Even… Even about this not being the first time. I didn't like to think about it! I mean who would! I just… pretended that the reason I didn't see that one fighter again was because he'd retired! That his trainers got him all fixed up and it was fine! But… I saw something fade from his eyes as I stood over him. Then it was gone. I killed him. And, for weeks afterward, I couldn't do anything. It broke all my streaks, lost me all my records." She shook her head. "My uh… My handlers didn't like that. So, I pretended I was fine. But… I bet they didn't try very hard to find me when Monokuma took us."

Shiori realized that Mr. Saiki was standing now. He had a tight grip on his own Monopad, like he had to hold onto something to stop himself from… From what? Punching Monokuma? Or maybe... Running to Rika and comforting her. Monokuma just looked on impassively.

Rika continued on, the trembling in her form having slowed. Her voice seemed flat now. Defeated. "I didn't want to kill her. It's… it's fuzzy. Just like that time in the ring. Maybe it's my brain's way of trying to keep me from getting hurt in a fight…?" She took a breath, then smacked herself in the forehead. "Stupid! Stupid brain!"

Isao ran a hand through his hair. "But… why? How did this happen?"

"Like I said, I don't remember all of it…" Rika bit her lip. "We couldn't sleep. I was restless, so, so Karen suggested we do some sparring in the gym. And for a while it was great! I was so happy Karen wanted to give her talent a try again…" Her face went blank again. "Then… the last thing I remember was a crash, and the sound of breaking glass above us. When I woke up… Karen was on the ground, and there was so much blood everywhere. On the floor, on my knife in my hand, on… me. I freaked out. I hid her body and tried to clean everything with the sheet that was there now. I thought… maybe it was a bad dream. That I could hide what happened from everyone… Sorry, for that… I should have just told you all, and saved you the trouble…"

Strangely, Take was the first to speak after Rika finished. "...You are being brave, see? Admitting you messed up to your people? That ain't easy."

Seihiko looked stunned. "This… This is so messed up…"

"I don't know what's going on anymore…" Homura moaned. "I just wanna be done with this and go home…"

Kashie leaned slightly forward, to better see Rika and give her a sympathetic look. "Rika, I'm… I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that…"

"You don't have to be sorry," Rika sniffed. "I mean… At least I got to meet you all! That's… that's probably the best thing that's happened to me in a while."

"That isn't fair," Isao murmured. "You deserved better…"

Suddenly, Gorou grabbed his hat and threw it on the ground. "Why are you guys all so sad!? The trial ain't over, and guess what?" He pointed at Rika. "I don't believe it!"

Rika blinked. "Gorou, that's… That's really nice, but…"

"Something about this is screwy!" said Gorou, before she could finish. "God, this is gonna sound fucked up, but like, last time you got freaked out you just fainted! You didn't go into attack mode and then faint. Why would this time be different?"

"Because I was in the middle of sparring…?" Even as she answered, Rika sounded a bit… unsure.

"I agree with Gorou," said Ikeda, giving Take a hard glare. "There is more evidence to go through, and while I don't think Rika is lying about what she experienced, there are a few key things we need to account for."

Finally, Shiori's mind managed to process everything she'd heard, and she chimed in. "Rika, I think there's more to this than meets the eye." Rika has gone through so much awful stuff. I may have suspected her life before was rough, but nothing like having to actually kill someone… I may not know anything about how trauma works, but Rika wouldn't end up actually killing Karen even if she was in a flashback, right? "Ikeda's right; there are some things we have to account for before we can move on from this."

"...What is there, though?" Kenji asked, voice low. "She explained everything that happened."

Rika wiped her eyes. "I mean… if you think it'll help, then I can explain again?"

Shiori nodded. There are things about Rika's story that need more of an explanation... Maybe we'll find something that proves it wasn't her! God, I hope so…!

NON-STOP DEBATE

START!

Truth Bullets: Broken Glass | Pocket Knife | Kenji and Seihiko's Account

RIKA: Sometime during the night…

RIKA: ...Karen and I both woke up and couldn't get back to sleep.

SHIORI: This was before the tree fell, right?

IKEDA: Given the time of death, it must have been.

RIKA: Yeah. Karen suggested we spar in the gym.

RIKA: We did that for a while, but then…

RIKA: ...There was this big crash above us and broken glass.

KENJI: Probably the tree breaking the outside window.

RIKA: I don't know… But, I blacked out.

RIKA: When I woke up, Karen was dead, and I was holding my pocket knife…

ISAO: That… Seems pretty definitive to me…

-Truth Bullet Selected: Broken Glass-

SHIORI: No, that's wrong!

BREAK!

"Kenji! There's something else that could have made the breaking sound; The window overlooking the gym!" Shiori realized she'd gotten very excited, and cleared her throat. "I know you didn't really get to look around the gym, but you know that window from the second floor that lets you see into the gym?" A picture of said window appeared on the monitor. "It's broken."

"Huh," said Kenji, looking curious. "How did that happen?"

"It was the tree, right?" Kashie offered. "When it fell, it broke that window?"

"Not possible," Ikeda immediately countered. Kashie shrunk a bit at his snappish tone. He softened slightly. "I don't mean to be rude, but it simply can't be that."

"And why's that?" Take asked, rolling his eyes. "Bestow upon us your great wisdom, Mr. Detective."

Ikeda bit his lip, then glanced at Shiori. "Beyond my own observations, I believe you saw a piece of evidence that supports my claim, Shiori?"

Shiori thought for a moment, then it came back to her. "Oh! I know what you mean!"

SELECT EVIDENCE: Barracks Blueprint

SHIORI: This is it!

Giving her most patient look, Shiori gestured to Homura. "Homura, can you bring out that blueprint you found?"

The sharpshooter frowned, her good hand going to her pocket.

"Please," Shiori pressed. "You said you'd show everyone at the trial."

After a seemingly endless moment of hesitation, Homura pulled the blueprints out of her pocket and unfolded them "Fine. But, I don't see what you guys are getting at. It just shows the layout of the barracks."

Shiori smiled a bit. "That's the point. Look at where the stairs are in relation to the gym window; Even with a tree as big as the one that fell, there's no way it could have reached to break that window."

Gorou's eyes widened. "That means… something else must have broken the window!"

Isao tilted his head in thought. "What then? One of the cots? I mean, one blew in hard enough to hurt Ikeda a bit."

Ikeda's hand went to his injured wrist absently. "I don't think so. I got hurt because it caught me off guard, not because the speed or force was that strong. Besides, the wind blew perpendicular to the gym window, so how could something have been blown into it?"

Shiori almost smiled. "See? That's suspicious! Whatever broke the window, it might have to do with—"

"Please, just stop it!"

Rika's shout made Shiori whip her head to look at the gladiator, who had fresh tears streaming down her face. "Rika," Shiori said, slightly hurt. "I'm… we want to see if there's a way you're innocent…"

"Why are you doing this?" Rika asked, her voice cracking. "What you're saying doesn't change anything. I know I did this, so just stop trying to make me feel better when I don't deserve it!"

ARGUMENT ARMAMENT

START!

Truth Blades: Bloody Sheet | Aspirin Bottle | Remy's Photos

RIKA: I know you guys are trying to be nice…

RIKA: … But that doesn't change what happened!

RIKA: I got scared, and then I killed Karen!

RIKA: Whether or not the tree broke that window doesn't matter!

RIKA: I'm… I'm still the blackened.

RIKA: So stop trying to get my hopes up!

SHIORI: We're not just trying to be nice.

SHIORI: You were unconscious for a while; something might have happened while you were out.

RIKA: What could have even happened?!

RIKA: And how would we even know?

RIKA: When I woke up, I went back and forth through the gym enough to see…

RIKA: … It was just me, my knife, that sheet, and Karen's body.

RIKA: There was nothing else suspicious to find!

-Truth Blade Selected: Bloody Sheet-

SHIORI: I'll cut through your words!

BREAK!

"And what do you call that sheet, Rika?!" Shiori's voice ended up slightly strangled over the lump that had been forming. She coughed, then continued. "You said you used 'the sheet that was there now.' Did you or Karen bring a sheet with you?"

Rika started, paused, then gasped. "No…! Neither of us did… How'd it get there then…?"

"Coulda have blown in from upstairs." Take suggested, voice low and even.

"Uh…" Homura seemed hesitant to speak, but she shook her head and continued. "I mean, I think I was the only one sleeping kinda near the gym side of the room, and when the tree fell I took my sheet with me."

A knowing smile spread across Ikeda's lips. "And with the tree in the way, I doubt any other sheet could have made it into the gym."

Shiori nodded. "Which only leaves one option. Someone else brought it to the gym!"

"You serious?" Take said, incredulous. "One; how would that even work? And, Two: you are thinking about this way too hard. You're just giving Gladiator Chick an out, and she's taking it." He looked over at Seihiko, Homura, and Kenji. "I mean, Rika is basically part of Shiori's posse already, so…"

Homura rolled her eyes, and Seihiko just sighed. Kenji frowned and said, "That… Is really stupid reasoning. But… It isn't exactly proof either way…"

Kashie shuffled her feet. "I can't think of any piece of evidence we found that proves anything…"

Shiori glanced at Ikeda hopefully. "What about when you examined Karen's wound? You said the weapon had to be really small and sharp; does the pocket knife fit?"

"I… I can't be certain," Ikeda admitted. He looked a bit shaken. "Without proper time and equipment, we can't get more details. The possible range I can glean for now doesn't eliminate the knife as a possibility."

"Well, maybe it's not like, one of the 'Truth Bullets' or whatever," said Gorou, emphasised by sarcastic air quotes, "But there must be something!"

"Eh-hem!" Monokuma cleared his throat above them and everyone looked up. "Gorou is correct! There is, in fact, an aspect of the investigation and trial procedure itself that proves if our dear Pink Punisher is responsible for the death of Karen!"

Immediately Shiori began to think hard. Something about the investigation and trial procedure… What gives us information about the culprit?

THINKING TIME

What aspect of the Investigation & Trial Procedure gives more info on the culprit?

[A: The Body Discovery Announcement]

B: The Monokuma Files

C: The Final Vote

SHIORI: This is the answer!

Suddenly, it dawned on her. "Oh! Oh oh oh!" Shiori almost bounced with excitement. "It's the Body Discovery Announcement!"

Isao glanced at her, puzzled. "Um...Shiori? I don't see the connection…"

"The Body Discovery Announcement only goes off if three people besides the blackened find the body!" Shiori exclaimed. "The people who were around when Karen's body was found were me, Mr. Saiki, and Rika! Since the announcement went off after the three of us found the body, it means Rika can't be the culprit!"

"Uh… it does?" Rika asked. "I'm confused…"

Shiori shook her head. "No no, it totally makes sense! See, if Rika found Karen's body after she woke up from her faint, that makes one person besides the blackened who saw the body. Then, when Mr. Saiki and I saw it, that would make three!"

"Well, wasn't Ikeda still upstairs when the announcement went off?!" accused Homura. "Maybe he was the third person!"

Everyone turned to Ikeda, expectantly. He blinked. "I was investigating. Why would I have been looking down at the gym when, as far as I knew, there was nothing of interest there?"

Rika perked up a bit, lip trembling. "You… you mean…?"

"I did not see Karen's body until after the announcement began to play," Ikeda declared, giving Rika a triumphant smile. "Rika, you are, without a doubt, innocent."

I know this one is shorter than usual, but I had to to the cling hanger! It was calling to me! Anyway, hope you're enjoying the trial. Next time will probably be longer and we'll get to put this whole mess together! With (possibly, maybe) less sad feelings. Maybe. Can't guarantee it. As always, thanks to carryingstarlightinherwake on AO3 for the beta, feel free to join the discord (link in my profile), and if you're a new reader especially please tell me what you think! Even short reviews make me super happy. That's all for now. Stay safe everyone!