Everyone walked silently to their assigned seats, circling around until they found theirs. Several people's eyes went wide when they saw the picture at the podium; it was Sonia Nevermind's photo from the Yearbook section, with an X through it.
A cold chill went through me as I stared at her picture. A friendly, pleasant girl, always willing to talk to anyone, with a seemingly never-ending curiosity about day-to-day things that she never got to do herself. I liked talking with her in the Dining Hall, even if it was briefly, and wished I could have spent more time with her.
But now...she's gone. And we had to figure out what happened to her.
Monorakun began speaking. "Alright, students, times to figure out who did this to your Princess. As I said before, this is a roundtable discussion. Any topic goes at any time, so long as it's relevant to the trial. Discuss your evidence, alibis, and whatever else you think will help you discover whodunit. Just remember, at the end, you need to name someone as the Blackened."
Monorakun leaned in towards us. "Guess right, and the Blackened gets executed. Guess poorly, and the Blackened leaves here, with EVERYONE ELSE dying instead! Heh heh heh hee heeeeee!"
Another cold chill went through me. If we're wrong, we all die? I took a deep, nervous breath.
Kenchikka responded to Monorakun. "So we discuss evidence, testimony, Mukuro's findings. Find contradictions, narrow down suspects. Eventually, name Blackened. If correct, Blackened dies, we live. If wrong, Blackened leaves, we die. Correct, Asshole Raccoon?"
Monorakun's red eye started glowing as he stared at Kenchikka, his mouth open and his teeth slowly moving back and forth within his mouth. "Yes, Asshole Architect."
Celeste addressed us all next. "I believe we should first hear about Mukuro's examination of Sonia's body. I shall yield the floor to you, Mukuro."
Mukuro looked at Celeste, nodded, and then spoke. "I found numerous bruises on Sonia, as well as several fractures around the wrists and ankles. Also, her neck appears to have been broken at some point, as if she landed on it at an awkward angle. This is, from my experience on the field of war, what truly killed her."
Yasuhiro appeared to be lost in thought for several moments, then something seemed to occur to him.
"Hey! Maybe she tripped down the stairs to the Courtroom, and someone carried her into the dryer!"
Chiaki quickly dismissed that theory. "We didn't have the requirements to access the Courtroom yet. And none of us would have obtained her body, and deposited it into a dryer."
Makoto and Kaede agreed.
Angie chimed in. "Atua says He did not allow anyone access to the Courtroom, either."
Several people looked at her with annoyance, but Angie seemed completely oblivious to it, smiling to herself.
Theo addressed the group next. "Sayaka, Bera, if I may? Kaede mentioned the two of you went swimming with Sonia earlier today. Did either of you notice anything unusual? Did either of you accompany her when she left?"
Sayaka shook her head. "No! Bera and I swam and chatted together for about an hour or so after Sonia left us, right?"
I nodded. "Yeah, that...that sounds right. She left before Sayaka and I did, and we left at the same time."
Sayaka nodded in agreement. "He's right, we did!"
Kaito nodded. "That seems to eliminate these two, for the time being. Where was everyone else?"
Angie, Kenchikka, and Hifumi were in the Art Room together. Celeste, Kaito and Leon were in the Game Room, playing various games against one another. Chiaki was in Chihiro's room, discussing video game programming. Kaede was in her room, practicing her piano. Theo and Makoto were discussing the current situation in the Courtyard with Yasuhiro, while Mukuro said she was practicing her knifework on a training dummy in her room.
So, really, only Kaede and Mukuro had no one to validate their alibis.
Kenchikka, picking up on this, turned her attention, first to Mukuro, then to Kaede. "So Mukuro, Kaede. No one else verifies your locations? Should start with both of you. Who first?"
Mukuro immediately volunteered herself. "I'll stand before you all first. After breakfast, I went to my dorm room. I have a training dummy there, that I usually keep in my closet. As the Ultimate Soldier, I need to keep my skills in razor-sharp condition, which is difficult to do in these conditions."
Leon asked the next question. "Did anyone see you go into your dorm room?"
Mukuro shook her head. "I was alone. No one tailed me."
Hmmmm...seemed a bit suspicious to me, but still not really enough to call her a murderer.
"And you never left?" Leon asked next.
Mukuro shook her head. "No, never left. After my knifework, I practiced my mapmaking skills. A good soldier must always have an understanding of their surroundings, and be able to relay this info upon command."
Mukuro revealed a map of the first floor and dorm area of TUTEC, including possible chokepoints, sniping areas, and a few other areas Mukuro marked as "High Risk". It was drawn on cartography paper, in great detail.
"Huh. Where'd you get that paper from? Never seen it anywhere before." Yasuhiro half-asked, half-commented.
"Me," Kenchikka quickly replied. "Mukuro came over yesterday morning, asked for cartographer paper. Asked why, responded with need to keep soldier skills sharp. Was unsure how paper contributed to soldiering, but, had plenty to spare anyway. Gave to Mukuro, she thanked me, left quickly."
Kaede, Kaito, Leon, and Celeste appeared to be content with this explanation.
Mukuro spoke again, with almost no emotion in her voice. "Besides, if I wanted to kill someone, I wouldn't need a dryer to do it. My weaponry is sufficient."
Chihiro's eyes went wide with fear.
Yasuhiro spoke up next. "But wait! Bera, wasn't your gender messed up on your profile or something? Maybe YOU ambushed poor Sonya in the Gorls Locker Room, killed her, and then hid her in the dryer and turned it on!"
I...what? No, no, this was impossible.
After the initial shock, I shook my head. "I...I couldn't have. I mean, yes, it was messed up, but it got fixed before I could access the pool. Also, while it was messed up, I couldn't access either locker room."
Celeste tilted her head upward. "Chihiro, I do believe you were in the same predicament. Can you vouch Bera's words?"
Chihiro nervously shook her head, staring down dejectedly. "I-I'm sorry. I never tried going to the Swimming Pool, so I wouldn't know."
Celeste tilted her head to the side. "You cannot confirm this? I would assume it is too late now to test this theory. Is it, therefore, safe to state that Bera is lying?"
My eyes went wide. "No! I'm not lying! Monorakun told me so! Right?" I looked up at Monorakun, pleadingly.
Monorakun turned his head to me, his red eye glowing and teeth bared, but not sawing back and forth. "I STRONGLY dislike being called upon as a witness!" Monorakun then sighed, his red eye going dim. "However, it IS true that I told Bera this info, and this info IS true. Neither Bera, nor Chihiro, could access either Locker Room until their Genders were unglitched."
Celeste merely nodded. "I see. Thank you for this info, Monorakun."
Monorakun merely snarled in reply, and sunk back into his seat, watching us silently.
"So Bera had no access to the Girls Locker Room. Got it!" Leon concluded.
Celeste then turned her attention to Kaede. "So what of you then, Kaede? Were you really in your dorm room, by yourself, the entire time?"
Kaede nodded. "Yes! I passed by Kenchikka on my way to my dorm room. We headed to our dorms together, and I'm sure she saw me enter mine."
Kenchikka nodded. "Can confirm. Walked together, Kaede went in her dorm first."
Makoto asked the next question. "Ok, so you went into your dorm room, after declining to go swimming with Sayaka, Sonia, and Bera. But can you prove you stayed in there the entire time?"
Kaede thought for a long time, but eventually shook her head. "No. Nothing that I can back up with evidence. Sorry."
So Kaede wasn't completely off the board yet. I made a mental note of this.
Theo, who had mostly remained silent up to this point, spoke up next. "Chihiro? Chiaki? Bera? A question for the three of you."
We all looked over at Theo.
"Yes, Theo?" Chiaki answered first.
"The three of you were looking through some conversations of Sonia, am I correct? Did you find anything of interest?"
The three of us exchanged glances, then I nodded. "Yeah, we did. We were given Leon's, Hifumi's, and Yasuhiro's conversations. However, we were also told that there was no guarantee any of these three were the Blackened."
Theo nodded to himself. "Could you share the contents of these conversations? A brief summary, if you would. I am sure we do not have all day to go over every line."
"Leon was hitting on Sonia, but repeatedly turned down by her. Yasuhiro kept trying to get money from Sonia, or involve her in one scheme or another. Hifumi mostly talked to Sonia about Princess Piggles," I responded.
Chiaki continued. "Of the three, Yasuhiro appeared to have no aggression level. Leon seemed very persistent with his pursuit of Sonia's affections. As for Hifumi, he mostly seemed obsessed with Princess Piggles, who Sonia seemed mutually interested in."
Leon looked apprehensive. "Wait, so are you saying WE'RE the main suspects now?"
Chiaki responded, "We're just examining the evidence in our inventory, Leon. But since you've spoken up, let us start with you."
Chihiro continued. "It looks like you tried to become Sonia's boyfriend, but she denied you again and again. Would..." Chihiro paused. "Would that make you mad enough to kill Sonia?"
Leon's eyes went wide. "What? No, of course not! Do I look like the kind of guy who would murder a pretty girl to you?"
Theo spoke up, his British accent cutting through the air. "Right now, good sir, everyone is a suspect until proven otherwise. Now, if you would be so kind, please answer the young lady's question."
Leon bristled at Theo, but said nothing to him. Instead, Leon focused again on Chihiro.
"No, I did not kill or harm Sonia. I mean, me, hurting a hot chick like her? Forget it!" Leon declared to everyone.
Theo turned his attention to Yasuhiro next. "So then, Yasuhiro. From my observations, your conversations with Sonia revolve around scamming and conning. Would that make you consider murder?"
Yasuhiro looked over at Theo, confused. "Huh? Why are you asking me?"
Theo replied, "I do believe you were another one who messaged Sonia rather frequently, am I incorrect? What have you to say for yourself?"
"No waaaayyyy!" Yasuhiro shouted in surprise. "You don't think I killed poor Sonia, do you?"
Kenchikka spoke up. "Honestly, unlikely. Yasuhiro too stupid to pull off murder like this."
Yasuhiro looked at Kenchikka, seemingly unsure if that was a compliment or an insult. He started to say something, but was cut off by Kaito.
"So that leaves Hifumi to answer for himself, then. You kept talking to Sonia about this...Princess Piggy?"
Hifumi glared at Kaito. "That's Princess Piggles, Mr. Momota! You shall call her by her proper name, and treat her with respect!"
Kaito winced a bit at Hifumi's outburst. "Huh? Oh, ok, sure. So anyway, how did those conversations go with Sonia, Hifumi?"
Hifumi pushed his glasses up to his face. "Well, I'll have you know, Miss Nevermind was most impressed with Princess Piggles! She adored her very appearance!"
I spoke next. "Your conversations mentioned that Sonia wanted to meet Princess Piggles, but Princess Piggles is a fictional character. How did you plan on making that happen?"
Hifumi looked over at me. "Princess Piggles is not just some "fictional character", as you have claimed, Mr. Haikiko! She is an ANGEL! She just exists in the 2D world, not the 3D world with the likes of us, that's all!"
That didn't answer my question, so I repeated myself. "So when Sonia said she wanted to meet Princess Piggles in person, how did you plan on making that happen?"
Hifumi chuckled at me. "You know, if I had the 'completely clueless about princesses' card, I would totally give it to you now, Mr. Haikiko! Sadly, I have not yet acquired it. Of course I didn't have a plan for Miss Nevermind to meet her, other than my own creations! But..."
Was Hifumi getting...angry?
"But Miss Nevermind kept calling my Princess Piggles 'drawings' and 'pictures'! Princess Piggles is so much more than mere ink on paper! I do not let anyone insult my princess like that! How dare she! And to giggle and smile as I talked to Miss Nevermind about her, as if something was funny? No, that was the last straw! NO ONE...laughs at Princess Piggles!"
Makoto spoke to Hifumi. "Hey now, nobody's making fun of anyone. We just want to know-"
"Enough! My honor demands I not lie about Princess Piggles! When Miss Nevermind besmirched my Princess Piggles, and laughed as we spoke of her, I knew I had to defend her honor! So I lured her into the Laundry Room, under the pretense of showing her how to use the facilities there. Then, I unleashed my 'Sleight of Hand' card, and cast her into the dryer as she looked inside! She was trapped and going in circles almost before she knew what was going on!"
...I couldn't believe it. Hifumi had killed Sonia, over Sonia's comments about Princess Piggles? She had thought Piggles was real, and wanted to meet her in person, and that offended Hifumi to the point that he murdered her to "defend Princess Piggles' honor"? But...why? Was he truly this devoted over Princess Piggles, that anything he considered to be a slight had to be responded to?
I didn't get it, but it didn't matter anymore.
"Yo, Monorakun, think we got our man now. Let's vote!" Leon shouted up to Monorakun.
"Voting time, you say?" Monorakun inquired. "Well, alright, let's get to it!"
Something new showed up on on my podium. Four rows of four people, a total of 16. Sonia's name was in black-and-white, with a red X through it. All of us, lined up, with "Vote!" above it. Taking a breath, I chose Hifumi.
After everyone had voted, a screen above Monorakun's podium turned on, revealing a Monorakun dealer holding a small deck of cards. He dealt them all face-up, in alphabetical order, then scooped them up and started shuffling the deck, cutting the deck a few times as well. After a while, the dealer stopped and flipped over the top card.
It was Hifumi's face on the card.
Hifumi, to my surprise, merely put his hands on his huge hips and thrust his chin up, defiant. "Hah! I lived to defend my princess's honor, and I will die to defend it too! Kill me if you must; my essence will live on in the 2D world!"
The floor we were on started slowly rotating, with all our podiums moving with it, until Hifumi's back was to a set of double red doors. Suddenly, the doors flung open, and a manacle flung open, grabbing Hifumi around his hefty neck. It then slowly began dragging him backwards, likely due to his large weight, but fast enough to knock him off his feet.
Hifumi was dragged to a seat in the next room, with a school desk swinging around and stopping on top of his lap. A notebook and some art supplies were on the desk. Metal straps circled around his wrists, holding his arms in place. A set of chain-link doors shut between Hifumi and the rest of us, and a sign lit up above the doors.
I read it in horror: Hifumi Yamada's Execution: Princess Rakun
As we all stood there in stunned silence, a pink, winged cherub-looking thing descended from the ceiling. It was dressed like Princess Piggles, complete with her trademark bow, but her face was Monorakun's.
It started flying towards Hifumi, and then started firing arrows at Hifumi. Arrows stuck into his gut, his shoulders, and his biceps. As Hifumi grimaced in pain, Princess Rakun flitted around the room in a zigzag pattern, closer to Hifumi, then resumed firing arrows into his shins and forearms. Hifumi groaned in pain, but the desk on his lap prevented him from standing.
Finally, Princess Rakun fluttered over directly in front of Hifumi's desk. Grabbing one final arrow, Princess Rakun aimed at Hifumi's throat, and fired an arrow straight through his esophagus. Hifumi started coughing up blood, his glasses falling off his face onto the school desk, before his head finally sunk down, his shoulders slumped, and he died.
Hifumi Yamada...was the Blackened. And now, he was dead.
I was fearful of what was to come next.