Fifth Murder Investigation

When everyone arrived, Monokuma made his announcement.

"Alright, boys and girls, this will be the FINAL Class Trial! I'm selling this place to someone else, so as long as you find the correct Blackened, we'll have a graduation ceremony at 6pm tomorrow night, then everyone will be leaving Hope's Peak Academy...forever!"

Byakuya spoke up immediately. "Is this some kind of trick, Monokuma? Why should I believe you?"

Monokuma shook his head. "Nope, no trick. Everyone still alive will report to the Gymnasium at 6pm for their Graduation Ceremony, then the front door will be unlocked, and everyone can leave! No gimmicks, no tricks, no deception, no nonsense! Now, may I get on with this investigation?"

Byakuya had nothing else to say, though his eyes seemed very doubtful.

As always, Monokuma gave all of us the Monokuma File on Nagito. Opening my E-Handbook, I read the contents of "Nagito's Autopsy Report".

"Victim: Nagito Komaeda. The time of death was around 5:05am. Cause of death was immolation in the incinerator. Due to the state of the body, it is hard to determine if there were any other injuries, but no bones were broken."

I glanced at the others. "Considering the corpse is burnt to a crisp, is it really worth having two people guard it this time?"

Byakuya immediately spoke up. "Burnt up or not, there's always the risk of sabotage. I say we keep the status quo."

Peko agreed, and Maki stood beside her.

I added "I noticed a Ring of Hope's Peak Academy on Nagito's body. I personally gave that to him, our first day here. So I will acknowledge that ring came from me."

Kokichi spoke up. "Yep, that's the truth! Even if I am a liar, I won't lie about that detail. Shurinku gave that ring to Nagito when I refused it, in the School Store."

Everyone nodded, and Byakuya shot me a suspicious look, but quickly left the Trash Room.

I noticed two darts in the room; one was near the Trash Compactor, and a second seemed to be at an odd angle in the doorway, near the hinges.

I remembered the door was heavier than the others, and would shut itself when opened. The only picture today was of Nagito, entering alone at 5am. If someone else had opened the door, it would've snapped a picture of them, and there was no way to delete the photos for us. The next picture was of Nagito and Kokichi, dated yesterday at 4:15pm. The following picture, before that, was of Maki, holding what looked like trash bags, yesterday at 3:55pm. Curious, I scrolled all the way back to the very first picture, of Maki and Peko entering...it felt like an eternity ago.

But still...the dart near the doorway...could it have been used to prop the door open, somehow? I tinkered with the dart, while Peko eyed me curiously. Eventually, I was able to wedge the dart on the hinge side of the door, where it wouldn't fully close, but still had a good shot of the incinerator.

Speaking of the incinerator...what was Maki doing? She had her head and right arm in the incinerator, and her left hand was very near the On/Off button...

"Maki!!" I shouted, wondering what she was doing.

Suddenly, she pressed the button to the Incinerator with her left hand, and...

Nothing.

Nothing at all happened. What? Why?

Nodding to herself, she then started examining the sides of the incinerator, then nodded to herself. Suddenly realizing I should be doing something other than staring at Maki, I decided that gathering alibis would be a good idea.

With Maki still preoccupied, I turned my attention to Peko. "So, where were you at the time of the murder, Peko?"

Peko stiffed a bit, arms folded in front of her, but answered me directly. "I was asleep, as were most of us, I would imagine. Why were you in here before the 7am morning alert?"

"I woke up at 6:30am, and couldn't go back to sleep, so I got dressed and was going to make myself breakfast. I noticed the Trash Room door was..."

Peko tilted her head. "The door was what?"

I continued. "The door was ajar, as if someone had left it open. But you know as well as I do, that door shuts itself; it's too heavy to just stand open on its own. In truth, I think that dart over there..." I gestured at the dart on the floor. "Was used to prop the door open, somehow wedged in so the door wouldn't fully shut."

Peko considered my words, then nodded. "Sounds reasonable, but why?"

I shook my head. "That, I haven't figured out yet. Nor how Nagito got into the incinerator in the first place."

Peko nodded. "Yes, that is a true mystery indeed."

Deciding I could ask Maki what she was doing later, at the Class Trial, the next logical place to look seemed to be the Game Room. However, when I arrived there, Byakuya was already there, so I figured backing him up on searching would be a waste of time. Besides, I had already noticed, upon my glance inside, that two darts were missing from where they were kept, so that's all the confirmation I really needed. The darts, definitely, came from this room.

Finally, I decided I should check out Nagito's room. Walking over to Nagito's room, I saw Mikan slumped, her back to Nagito's door, knees pulled up to her chest, sobbing.

Having a sudden flashback to when I found Gonta sobbing, I cautiously approached Mikan, who didn't seem to notice me. Remembering her nature, I crouched down at Kokichi's door and cautiously called out to her, not wanting to frighten her.

"...Mikan? What's wrong?"

Mikan startled, but quickly looked up, her eyes red from crying. "I'm...I'm...sorry!"

Suddenly alarmed, I asked Mikan, "Why? What...what did you do?"

Mikan shook her head. "N-n-n-n-no! It's not what I did, it's...it's what I couldn't. I'm...s-s-sorry!" She then began sobbing again, her shoulders shaking.

I knelt down before her, concerned. "What do you mean? What couldn't you do?"

Mikan looked up at me again. "I...I could always be helpful by examining the bodies for each trial, but...th-th-th-this time, there's nothing for me to look at! Nagito's just...just bones. I can't help with...I'm...sorry!"

I took a deep breath, collecting my thoughts, and asked her, "Did you find anything during your investigation?"

Mikan shook her head. "I tried asking Kokichi where he was at the time of the crime, but...he confuses me. I then tried to examine the Game Room, where those darts came from, but...but Byakuya told me he's got this and to go away. So...so I came here, but Monokuma won't let me into Nagito's roo-oo-oo-oom! I've been nothing but useless! I-I-I'm sorryyyyy!" She started bawling again, her whole body nearly shaking.

I sat next to her and put my arm around her, as she lowered her head and started bawling again. "That's not true, Mikan. Remember when you did my checkup when I had that stiff neck? No one else could have done that. Anytime anyone gets hurt, we know you can help us get better again."

Mikan looked up at me, confused. "So...does that mean you forgive me?"

I looked at Mikan, confused. "Forgive you? For what? You haven't done anything wrong, Mikan. You tried asking Kokichi for his alibi, you tried searching a very important room, and you even dared to ask Monokuma for access to the victim's room! Even I wouldn't dare to ask something like that from him. There's nothing to forgive, Mikan. You did your best, ok? Now, let's help you up, alright?"

I helped Mikan up to her feet, and promptly gave her a big hug, trying to calm her down a bit. She cried into my chest softly, so I stroked her uneven hair a bit, feeling her pressing more against me. I gently slid my hands up and down her sides, hoping I was helping to calm her down some more.

Giving her one more firm hug, around her waist, I let go of Mikan, who walked beside me, her head buried in my shoulder, and walked out of the hallway. Shortly after we exited the dorm areas, but before reaching the Trash Room, Monokuma's face appeared on the monitors.

"Alright, time's up! Everyone to the Courtroom, for the final time, now!"

Everyone, silently, made their way to the fountain in the courtyard, which dried up and lowered itself, revealing the same stairs we've walked down four times before. But, if Monokuma wasn't lying, this would be the final time, and we'd all be freed tomorrow at 6pm.

But so many questions remained...Who killed Nagito? How did they put Nagito into the incinerator without having their picture taken? Were they waiting in there? If so, only Maki or Kokichi come to mind, unless Nagito somehow killed himself.

If it was Maki, did she lie in wait for Nagito, then kill him and dump him in the incinerator? If so, why didn't I recall seeing any blood? Was Maki that skilled at killing without blood spatter?

If it was Kokichi, did he wait all night in the Trash Room, for Nagito to show up alone in the early morning? Sleeping in there was against the rules, of course, so that would have meant Kokichi stayed up all night, in the trash room, waiting to kill what appeared to be his best friend in this place.

And, lastly...if Nagito killed himself, why? It would explain why he went into the Trash Room alone, but I could think of better ways to die than burning to death. Maybe he didn't want his body to be discovered so quickly, but...

None of this made sense, and it would only get more confusing until the ultimate truth was discovered. And what a twisted truth it would be...