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Hisoka Yamanaku

Hisoka finally breathed out. He could hear a rattle in his chest. Were tears coming on-? He hoped not. Although he supposed he could blame it on the oven.

No. No weakness could be shared. Now that the game had started for real, he needed to appear invulnerable. An enemy, not a victim.

He shut the oven's door, and clicked it off. Hopefully that wouldn't start a fire. For now, though...

Hisoka turned to the rest of them. "I wonder if-"

"Puhuhuhu~ Time's up!"

Movement in the corner of his eye as every student turned to Monokuma. Oh gods, time was up? That was... worrying, to say the least.

"It's time to head to the Class Trial!"

"Oh- so to the cafeteria?" Amano blinked a little. "That was last time. Last murder." He frowned. A fog seemed to have descended over him, ever since the last trial. It'd cleared briefly, but now, it seemed back. And worryingly to Hisoka, a stronger shield. Would Amano recover from that?

Will any of us?

He quickly reminded himself not to care for the others, because they were surely plotting his murder. And yet...

"No, dear Amano! Of course I wouldn't make you exert yourself through a singular door! I care about you too much for that!"

"Pitting us up against each other in a murder game is fine, but not a short walk through a door?" Surprisingly, Suko had spoken what they'd all been thinking. Then again, none of the... ahem, saner ones really saw the point in arguing with the monstrous bear anymore...

"Puhuhuhuhu~ Of course!"

And then a trapdoor opened in the center of the floor. Niwa gave a scream as he plummeted down. Before Hisoka could speak, or even yell, something had plucked him up by the scruff and dropped him down.

Amano was above him and screaming. Soon, Suko's voice joined.

"I HATE THISSSS!" Niwa screeched.

And then an "oof" and Hisoka landed on top of Niwa.

---

Title: 3rd Person

Buraddo gave Magic Man an unreadable glance before they both hopped down into the pit.

Trial Room

The Ultimates had ultimately fell into a heap of pillows. The room was dimly lit. Amano wriggled away from Suko, and fumbled on the wall for where a light switch must be-

And then, the entire place lit up.

Spotlights pointed at the Ultimates. They lay on a pile of-

Body pillows?!!

But something was off... people were depicted on them... people all too-

It was their friends. All in their death poses, Chika's eyes closed, a splash of red printed atop her black shirt. Nagisa's blue face, and now, Akihiro's pretzeled, terrified-

Was it Niwa who was throwing up over the edge of the pile? Who knew?

Then, enormous double doors opened at the other end of the room. Monokuma stood, in a top hat and tux, wielding a curved cane. "Howdy~!" he chirped. "Welcome, Ultimates, to the dastardly second Class Trial!"

More importantly, behind the bear, was another room. It didn't matter if it was the horrendous trial room where Chika had been sentenced to death- Hisoka, Amano, Niwa- and even Suko- were in a hurry to get off this pile depicting torture and death.

---

Megami simply gripped Suzume's hand, their eyes frozen and unreadable.

Class Trial

But as the students hurried up, they began to wish they had stayed there after all. For a question which had plagued their minds for the past few days had finally been answered.

Where is Femi?

The answer?

Femi was chained to his podium and the blood pooling around him wasn't ordinary indeed.

"Femi," Suko hissed. They were the only one who hadn't frozen, who was running towards Femi, kneeling by his side, grasping his hand. "Femi, hold on!" they begged, plucking a box from a hidden compartment in their bag and fiddling with the shackles with something from inside it.

"Dear god," Hisoka breathed.

No one could speak. What was this... this monstrosity?

A new death portrait awaited them.

---

Suzume Fujimori’s POV

”...” Suzume’s eyes, although, normally, would head towards what she just landed on, was distracted by another sensation. Megami was holding onto her hand.

She was startled, unsure how to respond.

Pull her hand away?... No… Megami was probably very afraid right now. It would help to have a calm, collected friend’s hand to hold.

Deep breaths, deep breaths. Processing the situation, staying calm. Akihiro was dead. They all barely had any information about the murder and had little to no chance of finding the killer. Perhaps her sporadic theories would be of use here.

They’d all fallen onto a pile of body pillows, and… they catalogued the previous deaths. Was that of some importance? Was Monokuma giving a hint?

No. Of course not.

Then she froze. "Oh. GREAT TESLA!!”

Her face went pale upon the sight. Femi, chained to his podium, bleeding, bleeding, bleeding… all over the place…


She helped Megami up, by the hand. For some reason, she didn’t want to let go.

Kowai Kurai’s POV

Kowai bounced up and down on the pillows, squealing. “Wowieeee! Pillowsss!! So fluffy! Wait, where are the podiums?”

Oh, my, my. What was this?

Femi was chained to his podium… was that some kind… of punishment for something he did?

Poor, poor little lamb. So hopelessly chained up.

Femi Davis’s POV

Femi Davis could barely breathe. He wanted to scream, wave his arms at Suko, get them to get away… that is, if he was aware enough… of what was… going on…

Starving. Dying of thirst. Anemic. All at the same time…

Blood clogged his throat, and threatened to spill out his mouth, and it did so as Suko drew close. He sputtered the only words that he could form…
“H--eee---lp. Me.”

---

Megami gave a shy smile. "Thanks." She began looking at the pillows. "These pillows... I don't think it's an important detail, but... nevermind." She quickly looked up and saw... Holy shit.

Her head seemed to be draining of blood, she felt herself get lightheaded again. No, stay up.

Suko Nobu

Their fumbling fingers finally fitted the lockpicks properly. The shackles came undone and Femi collapsed into a heap. Suko collapsed, allowing him to crumble onto their lap. "Oh god." They couldn't even begin to comprehend- what had- where were the injuries coming from-

"Puhuhuhu~ You all were warned about what would happen if you missed the Play, riiiiiight?~"

Suko expected rage. Fury. The pain was certainly present enough in their chest. But all they felt was sad. Sad for Femi, crumbled on their lap. Sad for Akihiro, dead of something or other. Chika, Nagisa... and especially those still alive who still had to suffer.

Like that Megami girl, off in the corner. That dim light in her eyes-

Suko nearly chuckled, but Femi drew their attention back. "Shh," they whispered. "Shh, save your strength."

"Monokuma..." Suko could practically hear Hisoka clench his fists. "What is the meaning of this?!"

"Puhuhuhhu~ It's a class trial, dear Hisoka. Bad children are punished. Femi's got a few spots, so I had to make him back into a Spotless, correct~?"

"There's nothing comparable between missing your twisted play and murder!" A slam. Suko's head snapped around. Hisoka was storming towards Monokuma-

The claw from before reached down, plucked him up, and placed the fighting, scratching Hisoka at the podium like a disobedient kitten. Hisoka tried to writhe away, but the ring of a shackle caught his attention. He had one as well, a clear threat. He grit his teeth and remained silent. The claw reached for Suko as well, but they ducked away, and quickly took their podium.

Amano quietly took his podium. Suko wondered if they cared that he didn't even look at poor Femi, bleeding out at his stand.

Niwa had finished vomiting and was just clinging to Keiki now. He was hiding Keiki's eyes, hands compressed over their face. Don't look, Suko imagined he was saying. Like a mother to a child.

Suko wished they had someone like that. Because Femi was...

Their hands clenched by their sides.

"Everyone take their podiums! It's time for the Class Trial to begin! Puhuhuhuhu...."

---

Trial Room

Three Portraits appeared at the unattended podiums:

---

---

---

Nagisa, Chika, and now Akihiro... how many would join them?

---

Kōun no Megami
I sighed loosened my grip on Suzume, silently asking if she wanted to walk together.

---

Buraddo Jemu
I walked up to my podium, looking out at the crossed out podiums dully.

---

Majikaruman Dōseiai-shadearimasu
I skipped over to mine, glancing at Femi before averting my attention to the bear.

Suzume Fujimori's POV

Suzume raised her eyebrows at Megami and shrugged at her friend as if to say "Sure, why not" as they made their way over to their podiums.

She shuddered. She had to admit, Monokuma's torture methods were... disturbing. Although effective.

Kowai Kurai's POV

Kowai made her way over to her podium, gasping and shivering in utter horror. I wonder how this case will go?

Femi Davis's POV

Femi, apparently determined to be useless for yet another class trial, forced out a "Thank... you..." before collapsing on his podium from blood loss.

---

Kōun no Megami
I smiled slightly and walked with her, before having to part ways at the podiums.

---

Buraddo Jemu

---

Majikaruman Dōseiai-shadearimasu

The Class Trial... BEGINS!

Monokuma skipped up to his throne. Hisoka leaned out of his podium, but the bear twirled around him and finally hopped up onto the red cushion. The bear plopped down, lifting his mallet.

Before the debate could start, Monokuma gave it a few thunks. "Welcome! Welcome all to the despairfullll Second Class Triallll!" Dead silence answered him. Monokuma was not deterred. Instead, he grinned brighter. "You are here today to discover the truth behind the despairfully delightful death of your beloved classmate, Akihiro Okashi! Under mysterious circumstances, she has left you all, slipping into a corpse-state like a cupcake into chars! Puhuhuhuhu~"

Monokuma smirked. "The rules of the trial go as follows; You will debate over the death with the evidence and the Monokuma files you will find underneath your podiums. At the end of the trial, you will each pull your individual levers after selecting who you believe to be the killer. If you're right- the Blackened will receive rightful justice for their heinous act- and if you're wrong-"

Monokuma's expression became downright monstrous.

"You will all be executed in their steed. And they will graduate from this school into the outside world."

Amano gulped. Tears were streaming down his face now. Would he be of any use at all-? Hisoka wondered. Probably not. If not a monster, he was at least as weak as Hisoka had thought. "No..." Amano breathed. A flash of pain in Hisoka's chest-

"Let the Class Trial... BEGIN!"

---

Keiki Panicky Meyumi.

...oh gawd. The pillows- oh no...

Keiki looked disgusted.

Just get to your podium...calm down.

Keiki took a deep breath and half-ran to their podium.

Trial Room

Niwa tripped after Keiki, piles of pillows climbing up his torso. "H-Hey! Hold- urgh- on-" Niwa was pulled free, and hurriedly fell to Keiki's side, prying off their grip once they reached the podiums and finding his own.

Niwa settled at his own podium, taking in the pictures of deceased classmates.

...God.

Hisoka drummed his knuckles on his podium. "Let's go over the evidence."

---

Suzume Fujimori's POV

Suzume bit her tongue and began rubbing her thumb awkwardly against her hand, and her other fingers drummed together uncomfortably. She closed her eyes, and slowly reached up and adjusted her glasses.

“Alright. So, we barely know anything about what happened. What evidence do we have, Hisoka?" she asked, nodding in his direction.

She tried not to show it, but she was visibly shaking...

Kowai Kurai's POV

Kowai stared over at Hisoka. "Yes! Tell us, Hisoku! Although... why should we go over the evidence? Shouldn't it be easy to narrow down who did it based off of who wasn't in the gym or the pool at certain times?" Unless they killed Akihiro that quickly. That's possible...

Femi Davis's POV

Femi somehow awoke from his state of unconsciousness, his eyes barely open. In his podium, he vaguely grasped it-- another trial. Another trial...

Another trial where he was useless. Wait, someone had died, and Suko had...

Oh no. Not them. Anyone but them.

Drowsily, he tried to force his head up. "Wh...what... happened?" he choked out. It was so difficult to remember... to remember...

Writing, crawling, reaching, desperately, starving, drowning, dying...

Chained here, to this podium... bleeding to death. Suko... Suko had saved him. From something.

Someone must've died. Why else would everyone be here?

But once again, he hadn't known anything... all because of his cowardly fear.

He wanted to cry. But he couldn't.

Because of him...

Someone else was dead...

And somehow, the tears did form in his eyes...

---

Hisoka Yamanaku

So you are capable of logic. Hisoka narrowed his eyes at Kowai. But his mind was already skimming over, finding the answer to their questions. "Physical evidence- yes. We found several of the sort. Oddly enough, we found numerous items that may have been the cause of her death. A bottle of poison in... his," he gestured to... the long-named fellow. "And Suzume's bag. Suzume's was cyanide. His was hydrogen sulfide. However, a knife was at the crime scene. And strangle marks appeared on the victim's throat."

Hisoka surveyed the crowd. No one seemed too surprised. Yes, they had all been there, hadn't they? Seen it for themself, it'd seem...

"The oddest thing of all was something in the oven. It was set to max, as if to destroy it- a cupcake, perhaps, or a muffin. It was hard to tell."

Niwa looked thoughtful. He opened his mouth to say something-

"The knife was by her feet!" Suko piped up helpfully. "Betcha the killer wanted us to find it!"

---

Kōun no Megami
"Who was the last to see her?" Someone here will lie about this question. Hopefully their answer will help establish a time frame.

---

Buraddo Jemu

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Majikaruman Dōseiai-shadearimasu

Amano Tetsuo

Who was the last to see her? Somehow, the words brought him up out of the waves for a brief minute. He decided to answer it.

"I don't know. I think we all saw her- just the previous day. She was one of the few who uh- decided not to go with the main groups."

Hisoka gave a low, frustrated growl. "And that just points to the obvious solution. Again."

---

Kōun no Megami

---

Buraddo Jemu

---

Majikaruman Dōseiai-shadearimasu
"Based off these markings, it seems like a combination of strangulation, knives, and mustard gas. The strangulation would case the neck marks. the knives would cause the arm marks, and the mustard gas would cause the bruises and could affect the brain."

Keiki Meyumi.

...

"W-what..." Keiki shakily began. "What was everyone doing?...should we discuss alibis....or-? Do we know when she died-?"