We all boarded the elevator to reach the trial room. Everybody was staring at Naegi, some with fear and sympathy, some with anger and disgust. I felt bad for Naegi. I made it my mission to prove his innocence, even if it means that I have send the killer to his death myself. The elevator stopped suddenly, signaling that we've reached our destination. The doors opened and we entered a room with a circle of podiums in front of us. The blue walls and red curtains gave the room a fancy aura to it, but it was ruined by the checkered floor tiles in the middle of the podium circle. I took my place, which so happened to be next Chihiro and Melody. I happened to notice the extra spot next to Asahina. I raised my hand, "Excuse me, Monokuma?"
He pointed at me from his throne, "What is it?"
I pointed at the vacant spot, "There's seventeen of us, yet there's an eighteenth podium."
Celeste nodded, "I, too, wondered about the same conundrum."
Monokuma waved it off, "You're thinking about it too hard. That just means this room can hold eighteen people."
Asahina raised her hand, "What's with the portraits?"
Monokuma laughed, "What? Just because they're dead, don't mean they can't be a part of the trial!"
I shook my head, "Okay, so the murder weapon is the kitchen knife and Maizono, who was found in Naegi's room, is our victim. Let's just start, okay? The sooner we prove Naegi is not the killer, the sooner we can find the actual killer."
Leon looked at me, "What? Of course Naegi killed Maizono, she died in his room!" Several people agreed with him.
I shook my head, "Apparently, you guys didn't fully examine the scene for more than 2 seconds." I could tell I offended them, but I only apologized to Chihiro, Asahina, Melody, and Sakura. "Guys, look back to the crime scene and look closely at the doorknob."
"So what? He needed in, boom! He busted it to get at Maizono." Mondo summarized.
Kirigiri spoke up, "That's exactly why Naegi didn't kill Maizono."
I pointed at Naegi, "Tell us why, Naegi!"
"Because the boys' bathroom doors don't have locks on them. Tell them, Monokuma sir!" Naegi pleaded.
Monokuma woke up from his nap, "Huh? Yeah, sure. Whatever."
Chihiro was confused, "So why would the killer break Naegi's doorknob?"
"Because my door was wonky. There was a certain trick to opening the door." Naegi answered.
"So, if Naegi killed Maizono, all he had to do was apply the trick to open the door. The killer didn't know that and assumed that the door was a girl's bathroom door." Kirigiri stated.
"Wait, why would the killer think Naegi's room was Maizono's room?" Hagakure asked.
"Naegi and Maizono switched rooms for the night, would be my guess." I answered. Everyone, except Kirigiri, looked at me in surprise, even Naegi.
"How did you know?" Naegi asked.
I sighed, "Well, Maizono gave me a letter saying she wanted to talk. She also mentioned to look for the nameplates to know which room is which. When I arrived at the door with Maizono's nameplate, I used my e-Handbook and it said that the room belonged to Naegi."
"But, what about the knife? How did she get it and why?" Melody asked.
Asahina answered her, "Well, Oogami was kind enough to help me calm down, so we were in the kitchen making tea."
Sakura added, "Then, Maizono came in with the intention of getting something to drink, grabbed a water bottle and left. However, I noticed one of the knives were missing. I assumed she took it with her."
"She probably wanted to defend herself!" Naegi claimed.
"Actually, she wanted to kill someone." I stated. Again, everybody looked at me. "When I entered Naegi's room, it was pitch black. Then, Maizono charged at me and nicked me with the knife." I lifted my tuxedo and showed everyone the bandaged wound. "Luckily, I had disarmed her and was able to handle the situation."
"And by 'handle the situation', you mean that you killed Maizono!" Leon accused.
I scoffed, "You are jumping to conclusions WAY too quickly, my friend. Why would I vow to protect you guys, just to break it? Butlers always follow through with their vows."
Leon groaned, "Argh! We're getting nowhere! We're out of clues!"
Melody shot down the argument, "I can actually prove you wrong!" All eyes were on her. "I was with Hifumi and Naegi at the trash room. There was burnt, bloody shirt fragments and glass shards on the ground."
Hagakure piped up, "Speaking of, I couldn't find my crystal ball anywhere. Think that's what happened to it?"
Melody continued, "Hifumi was on trash duty the day of the murder and had the key to open the gate. The only way to dispose of the shirt was to activate the incinerator by throwing something to hit the button. A throw like that from a far distance would be impossible, but not for someone with SHSL Baseball skills."
I chimed in, "Don't forget the dying message. Maizono wrote it with her blood."
Asahina was confused, "You mean that random string of numbers?"
Mondo looked towards Chihiro, "Hey, you're suppose to be a computer genius, right? They mean anything to you?"
Chihiro looked at the floor, "I tried every programming trick in the book, but can't make anything of them. I'm sorry."
I smiled at her, "No need. Because they weren't numbers." Everybody was confused, except for Naegi and Kirigiri. I pointed at Naegi, "Go ahead and tell them."
He nodded, "He's right, Maizono didn't write a bunch of numbers. She wrote the killer's name!" Everybody was shocked, but he didn't stop there, "Look, if you flip the numbers '11307' 180 degrees, you get the letters L-E-O-N. Whaddya know, that's your name isn't it? Leon Kuwata?"
He flinched. I began to piece things together, "Okay, let's see if I understand. I'll start with the murder. Maizono wrote a letter and slipped it under my door. I walked in and was surprised by her sudden ambush. Although she slightly injured me, I was able to stop her from killing me. However, she stole the letter from my pocket and waited for me to leave. Then, she did the exact same thing to Leon. The only difference is, Leon planned on murdering her after disarming her. She fled to the bathroom and hoped she was safe. However, Leon broke in, stabbed Maizono, and started destroying evidence. However, he noticed the message and tried to destroy that. Afterwards, he went to the garbage room, threw Hagakure's crystal ball, turned on the incinerator, and threw away the bloodied shirt. He left, thinking he did it. But, he failed to notice the surviving shirt scrap." I glared at Leon, "Do you have anything to say in your defence...Leon Kuwata?"
We all looked at Leon, who paled slightly. Kirigiri glared at Leon, "You stand accused, do you object?"
Leon chuckled, "Do I object? Let me think about it...YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT I DO! I OBJECT! EVERYTHING YOU GOT IS CIRCUMSTANTIAL!"
Melody began pressing him, "Admit it, Leon! If you admit to the crime, this will end soon!"
Leon wouldn't back down, "NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER!"
I added in, "There's still one piece of evidence that will tell us if we're wrong!"
Leon kept yelling, "Who gives a flying rat's a**!!!"
Melody continued, "The toolkit. All the girls received a sewing kit and the boys got toolkits. So, I beg of you, show us your toolkit!"
Leon paled and his mouth agape. He couldn't form any words. Togami sneered, "Well? Show us, and don't say you lost it."
Monokuma laughed, "Now, that's what I call a trial! All right, everyone! Place your votes!" There were consoles in front of us with each of our faces on it. I selected Leon, Chihiro and Melody reluctantly chose Leon. "Feel good about your choice? Whose the guilty so-and-so? And the winner is..." A slot machine popped up on the screen, the slots rolled with our faces on them, then all three stopped on Leon's face. Flowers, coins, and applause rained down. "CORRECT! The murderer of Sayaka Maizono was none other than...Leon Kuwata!"
We couldn't believe it. How could one of our friends kill another friend. Mondo was furious, "You dumba**!! Why the hell did you go and do that for?!"
Leon was stunned, "I didn't want to. She was going to kill me. YOU ALL WOULD'VE DONE THE SAME THING IN MY SHOES!!"
I shook my head, "Despicable."
He glared at me, "It was self-defense!!"
I glared back, "Was it self-defense when she locked herself in the bathroom? Was it self-defense when you stabbed her, even though she had no weapon and was begging for mercy?!"
Melody stepped towards Leon, a sad smile on her face, "It wasn't your fault." That stunned all of us, but she continued. "If Monokuma hadn't shown the motive video to us, this wouldn't have happened. Maizono wouldn't have attacked you and she would still be alive." He started to cry, which caused Melody to console him. I smiled at that, knowing that she was called the SHSL Lovely Soul for a reason.
Monokuma was getting bored, "Now then, I've prepared a very special punishment for Leon Kuwata, the SHSL Baseball Star!"
Leon was scared, "E-execution?!"
Monokuma began laughing, "Let's give it everything we've got! Iiiiiiit's PUNISHMENT TIIIIIME!"
Leon gripped his hair and pulled, "NOOOOOO!!!!" A red button popped up in front of Monokuma, who pulled out a gavel and slammed it onto the button. A sprite of Leon and Monokuma were shown. The words, "Game Over! Leon Kuwata was found guilty!" were typed onto the screen. Then, the mini Monokuma was dragging the mini Leon away while the words "Time for the Punishment!" was typed onto the bottom of the screen. It became quiet, until a chain shot out from nowhere, latched onto Leon's neck, and dragged him down a long hallway. Everyone ran after him, until we were blocked by a chain link fence. We saw Leon strapped to a post in front of a scoreboard with the score, "Leon-0, Kuma-0". Suddenly, a pitching machine sprung from the ground, filled with baseballs. My eyes widened, That machine's going to shoot him with baseballs! Ironic, but cruel. I covered Chihiro's eyes, while Mondo covered Melody's. Chihiro, being the cinnamon roll he was, covered my eyes as best he could. I could hear Leon's screams of pain. I could hear the impact made by each baseball. Then, a buzzer went off and the gate began opening. I removed my hands, and I could see again. Leon was now dangling off the post, lifeless. We returned to the elevator, then Monokuma began jumping for joy.
"Wahoo! Doesn't that get your adrenaline pumping?!" Monokuma shouted. We were still stunned by Leon's execution, whereas Naegi wanted to punch Monokuma. I held him back.
"Listen, if you want to stop this game, attacking Monokuma head-on will be your downfall. You need to calm down and start coming up with a plan." I explained. I heard Chihiro crying, so I quickly rushed to his side. I rubbed his back, "Easy now. It's alright. Just breathe."
Chi started sobbing, "This...is terrible! I-I just w-want to go h-home!"
I hugged him close, letting his tears soak through my tuxedo, "Me too." Now, we know what happens when we fail to get away from murder. Hopefully, no one else will try again.