//------------------------------// // Hell Springs Forth - Deadly Life 1 // Story: Danganronpa vG: Goodbye Magic // by witegrlninja //------------------------------// *ding dong bong bing* A nearby monitor blinked to life. Monokuma was sitting at his desk, nearly spilling his champagne as he pumped his fists into the air. "A body has been discovered!" he jeered. "Everyone, please make your way to the top of the hot spring pools!" It was only maybe ten minutes until I heard the worried shouting of the others, but those ten minutes felt like an eternity. I felt as though I was frozen in time, my movements glacial. I wanted to go over to Flash and Sunset, pacing and trembling and staring dead-eyed at the ground, to comfort them however I could... but what could I do? How could I comfort them, especially after seeing... that?! Even as the image forced its way into my mind, my brain fought hard to render the whole image. But it was still enough to make me dry heave. "Over there!" I heard Sonata shout. I took a few moments to breathe deeply and quell my nausea the best I could. Sunburst's sudden retching, however, quickly brought it all back. "Is that...?!" Soarin' moaned weakly. "OH MY FUCKING GOD!" Indigo screamed. "Where is her head?!" Sugarcoat shouted, her usual stony demeanor replaced by utter shock. "Head?! She fuckin' melted!" Ocean heaved, joining Sunburst in his uncontrollable gagging. Many of the others followed suit, while Silver - who had been in the back - refused to look and simply turned her back. "...Not gonna look... not gonna look..." she whimpered. "She apparently melted... not gonna look..." "Whoa," Memento breathed, stepping closer to the body than anyone else dared. "Now this... is new for me." "HOW DOES THIS NOT BOTHER YOU AT ALL?!" Kotenage shrieked. "JUNIPER IS DEAD!" "If I freaked out at every corpse I came across, I wouldn't be a good mortician, now would I?" Memento casually turned to him. "That said... gods above, ain't this a mess. This body would go straight into the 'non-viewable remains' bag." Unable to take it anymore, Mountain dashed behind a nearby tree and vomited. Silver followed after her a moment later, either because she'd accidentally taken a peek at the body, or Mountain's vomiting had simply pushed her over the edge. "...Although, if I had a picture of her, enough wax and some makeup, I could definitely recreate her head," Memento continued, mumbling to herself. "Never restored an entire torso before, though..." *boing!* *Rise and Shine, Ursine!* Before anyone could comment, there was a loud rustling in the trees. Monokuma and his Kubs leapt out from above and landed in a neat circle close to Juniper's body. "Hey, guys!" the bear grinned devilishly. "How's it feel now that you've got a second murder victim on your hands?" "Finally, I've been waitin' for the killin' game to start up again!" Monokid roared, headbanging as he messily strummed his guitar. "That means we can put all this boring crap on hold and start playin' the blame game!" "And hoo, what a game that'll be!" Monosuke chuckled, gesturing to the body. "Whoever done it this time sure did a number on that broad!" While Monotaro pulled out a stick and began poking the remains, Monophanie swooned before steadying herself on a bench and vomiting over the other side of it. "BLRGHBRGLBLRGHBRLBLRGH..." she spluttered. "Ack! She puked again!" said Monotaro. "Someone... o-one of us did this to her...?!" Sunburst shivered. "And now we have to investigate it... and find the killer, or else we're all dead, too," gulped Soarin'. "The punishment is for real this time... isn't it?" "That's right! If you guys can't find the culprit this time around, then you're all gonna end up in a hot spring pie!" Monotaro giggled menacingly. "...Eh? You can make pies in a hot spring?" Monophanie asked after wiping her mouth clean. "A mud pie, maybe... and people do love slatherin' hot spring mud on their faces," Monosuke hummed. "Well... let's get this over with, I guess," Sugarcoat glowered slowly, scowling furiously at us all, making sure she made eye contact with every single one of us. I swallowed nervously... I had really hoped I wouldn't have to do this again. "Welp, you'll be needing this!" Monokuma's red eye glowed, and I heard the Monopad in my backpack beep in reply. "I also investigated the cause of death this time, so read it to your heart's delight!" "Oh!" Monosuke's eyes lit up. "This is sorta unrelated, but I gots a great business idea!" "...Yea, that's totally unrelated," Monokuma turned to him, but Monosuke continued anyway. "Let's use this Monokuma File to start a funeral services business!" he exclaimed. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Memento's face grow dark. "Y'know how it gets awkward at funerals when ya start askin' about the cause of death? If we pass out Monokuma Files, even the worst deaths'll get a giggle outta the attendees!" he grinned. "Well, Pops? Whaddya think?!" "I can't even begin to think of how many fines and lawsuits you'd be hit with..." Memento slapped her palm over her eyes as she let out a deep sigh of annoyance. "You're so freakin' cute!" Monokuma squealed in a high voice while hugging himself. "Huh? Cute?" Monosuke blinked, not expecting that reaction. Neither were the rest of any of us, really. "The way you pass out the files is just so cute... why don'tcha come over here with me...?" Monokuma began to sweat and steam profusely, and his tongue lolled out of his mouth. "Ugh... the indecency!" Sunburst gasped. Oh, goodness... "Heeeeeeeeee! Pops is gonna lick me all over!" Monosuke cheered. "Uh... I think I need an adult..." Indigo recoiled in disgust. "You are an adult..." Sugarcoat grumbled. To our relief, Monokuma and Monosuke dashed into the forest and quickly disappeared, leaving the other three very confused Monokubs behind. "Huh... Father's showering Monosuke with all his love," Monotaro commented. Monophanie vomited again. "Hey! I wanna piece o' that!" Monokid shouted as he scrambled into the forest after them. Monotaro grabbed Monophanie and dragged her along with him as he followed suit, leaving behind a trail of shimmery white vomit. *So long, bear well!* There was an uncomfortable silence for a few moments. Shock and worry gnawed at me... this was a murder? One of us actually went through with another murder? Would we be able to find them this time...? "...I told you we should've talked about the motive instead of having that party," Sugarcoat seethed, poking her finger into Sunset's chest angrily. "Now look what's happened!" "How was I supposed to know this would happen?!" Sunset swatted the finger away. "We all agreed to talk about the motive afterwards, when we were all in a better mindset! And how many of us even looked at our Monopads before the party? Maybe the motive had nothing to do with this! I mean... look at her" she grimaced. "Oh please, of course it did! Why else would somebody kill one of us out of the blue?!" she retorted. "And now if we don't find out who did it, they get to go free while the rest of us die!" "And I'm not going to let that happen," Sunset glared. "Nobody else is going to die-" "Psh, you said that last time, and look how that went," Sugarcoat rolled her eyes. "Hey, hey, let's not start this now," Flash intervened, moving between the two. "If one of us really did murder Juniper, then we've gotta start investigating. We won't get anywhere just arguing like this." "...Then I'm starting right now," Sugarcoat snapped, spinning on her heel and briskly walking away. "Whoever did this, they're gonna be sorry they thought about doing this!" "Hey, you can't go off on your own!" Sunset yelled after her, but she was already halfway down the hill. I watched as she stomped further and further away before finally disappearing from sight, concern pressing my lips together. "...Maybe she is the killer? She does seem to protest too much," Mountain grumbled. "No, no, save the accusations for the courtroom," Sunburst shook his head. "For now, Flash is correct. We need to get to the bottom of this, and fast!" "Right. Let's all pair up and start looking around," I suggested. "Kotenage, Ocean, you guys still okay with guarding the crime scene?" Ocean nodded resolutely, but Kotenage hesitated. "I... I DON'T KNOW," he grimaced, glancing at the body. "I FEEL... UNCOMFORTABLE... WATCHING OVER A BODY SUCH AS THIS..." "Yes, I can see your point," Sunburst looked away, a tinge of pink in his cheeks. "I'll do it," Sonata offered plainly. "THANK YOU, LITTLE ONE," Kotenage bowed in appreciation. "IN THE MEANTIME, I WILL CATCH UP WITH SUGARCOAT AND BE HER PARTNER." "Oh? That's nice of you," said Silver. "Yea, I can't say I would've volunteered for that," Soarin' commented. "BETTER SOMEONE WHO CAN TAKE HER BARBS THAN THE REST OF YOU... I DO NOT THINK SHE WOULD DARE TO YELL AT ME. IF SHE DOES, WELL... I WON'T TAKE IT PERSONALLY." he shrugged. And with that he ran down the hill in the direction Sugarcoat had gone, with much more speed than I would've thought he was capable of. "Alright, that's settled," said Flash. "...Oh, we'll all probably need our Monopads for the trial. The motive was on them, after all." "Aw piss, I left mine in the Dining Hall," muttered Indigo. Most of the others expressed similar thoughts. After a bit of discussion it was agreed that they could partner up and retrieve their Monopads during the investigation, while also grabbing the Monopads for those who had to guard the body. "Okay... well, good luck," I offered as they left. Flash and Sunset remained beside me, while Ocean and Sonata took their places beside the body. Memento slipped the other loop of her mask behind her ear and tied her hair back, then pulled out some surgical gloves from one of her pockets and put them on. "At least it's sulfur and not decomp..." she halfheartedly mumbled. *Investigation Start* "Okay... first thing's first, I'll check the Monokuma File," I spoke to myself, trying to will my hands into not shaking anymore as I tapped on my Monopad. The bottom half of a silhouette of a woman appeared, the top half lost in a cloud of hot pink. "The victim is Juniper Montage, the Ultimate Actress. The victim was discovered partially dissolved in a hot spring reaching temperatures in excess of 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Only the lower half of the body is identifiable." "No shit," Flash grimaced. "No other injuries can be confirmed at this time. Time of death is... estimated to be 4:30pm," I continued, gulping down revulsion. "I-It hasn't even been an hour, and she looks like that?!" Sunset blinked rapidly. "Afraid so," Memento frowned as she gingerly lifted one of Juniper's coat sleeves out of the water. More yellow, half-melted fat plopped into the water with a small splash, causing her to quickly let go. "I've heard stories about people dying in hot springs before... the constant agitation and the acidity and heat of the water, it's basically natural alkaline hydrolysis. And if nobody else was around to get help, they'd be laying in the hot spring for a long time... if it takes more than a day to find them, there might not be anything left to recover." "Whoa... gnarly," Ocean mumbled. "Uh... alkaline hywhatsis?" Sonata tilted her head. "Hy-dro-ly-sis. Like cremation, but uses water and alkaline chemicals. Twenty-five to thirty percent more remains than cremation, and they're whiter in color. Also more environmentally-friendly," Memento shrugged. That's, uh... good to know, I guess...? My eyes swept over the remainder of the Monokuma File, which only served to go into extreme detail over how exactly a person would die in a boiling hot spring. Clamping my eyes shut in distaste I quickly shoved the Monopad back into my backpack. "Right... well, I guess it's time to examine the... body..." Sunset gulped. "I'd offer to do an autopsy, but... there isn't really much to autopsy," said Memento. "I'll wait until after you're done looking." "Ugh..." Steeling myself, I studied the crime scene. The first thing I noticed about Juniper's body was that her skirt had been torn off and cast aside... the fabric was only a little ragged and frayed, as if something had been used to cut it off. A shiver ran down my spine as I considered the most obvious reasons why the killer had done that to her. Rather than being totally exposed, however, her coat's tails just barely covered her butt. ...Please don't be naked under there... I bit my lip as my hand moved to the tails and pulled them aside. I breathed a sigh of relief when it was revealed that Juniper was still wearing underwear. "Huh... nice." Ocean mused quietly, but not quietly enough. "Dude... you serious right now?" Flash whipped his head around to glare at him in disgust, Memento silently copying his expression. "Just sayin'," he shrugged as he looked away, chastised. Ignoring his thoughtless comment, I searched the immediate area around the body... the only thing that stood out was that Juniper's lower torso - or what was left of it - was firmly pressed into the mud, more so than her legs. Odd... does that mean she was held down? The image of Juniper being forced to drown in boiling water made me feel uncomfortably warm and nauseous. I then turned my attention to the crime scene in general - a lump partially obscured by snow laid a few feet away. "Hey, what's this?" Sunset asked as she bent over to pick it up. Someone's navy-blue swimming trunks had been left behind, thrown carelessly onto the ground. "It's a swimsuit," said Flash. "A guy's, by the looks of it." "Hmm... I have to admit, I don't remember what color swimming trunks the guys were all wearing," Memento frowned. "Mine were black," Flash furrowed his brow. "And, uh... Kotenage wasn't wearing one. That's all I can tell you." "Ain't mine," Ocean added. "Mine'r light blue." "Do you think whoever did this was a boy?" asked Sonata. "It would make sense," Sunset grimaced uncomfortably. "Would be pretty stupid, though," Ocean grunted. "Besides goin' back to their cottage with nothin' but a towel or bathrobe, it'd make it obvious who it was once everyone says what color swimsuit they wore. That post-nut clarity, after all," he finished, tapping his forehead. "Also true... I think," I nodded slowly. It wasn't the most... eloquent of reasonings, but the other points made enough sense. I glanced around one more time, noticing maybe two and a half shoe or boot prints in the mud beside Juniper, but they were covered in freshly-fallen snow and impossible to tell who they belonged to. Seemingly sensing that the immediate investigation was finished, Memento moved towards the body and began to examine it. "So, uh... you think her head's in there?" Ocean gestured to the hot spring. "Well, the majority of her skeleton that's submerged is still intact," Memento answered after carefully lifting the sleeve of the coat again, revealing half of a forearm with bones poking out of it. "I assume her head is in there somewhere. I can't exactly restore it, but at least she'll be intact again... more or less," she looked aside. "Eugh..." We stared into the bubbling water, dreading what horrible sight might be lurking at the bottom. Sonata sighed, glanced at the baking potato she was still holding on to, then wordlessly tossed it in. The sudden plunk was enough to snap us out of our trance. "Uh... what are you doing?" asked Flash. "Pouring one out for my homie... I don't have any liquor, though, so that will have to do," she replied. "...Please refrain from making Juniper stew until after I've retrieved her head," Memento stared exasperatedly. Her face quickly shifted as she glanced back into the pool. "The question is... how do I get her head...?" "Uh... oh! How about one of those rakes?" Sunset pointed to the nearby Zen garden, where the bamboo rakes and tools sat lined up against the fence bordering the sand. "...Yea, that'll work," Memento nodded. Flash walked over and grabbed the longest rake for her. As he picked it up, however, something strange caught my eye. "Hey, wait! Don't move," I shouted to him. "Huh?" Flash froze immediately in place. "What is it, Starlight?" asked Sunset. "The prongs on the rake... they're covered in sand," I pressed my lips together. "Well... yea. It's used to rake the sand," Flash shrugged as he moved himself into a more comfortable position. "The sand in the Zen garden is dry, though... it shouldn't be sticking to the rake like that," Memento hummed thoughtfully. "Is there, like, glue on the rake prongs?" Ocean asked. Flash tentatively brushed a finger against one of the prongs, and the sand came right off. "Nope..." "Hmm... I would say that's definitely out of the ordinary," said Memento. "Good eye, Starlight... for now, though, how about the second-longest rake?" Flash put the rake back, taking care to leave it prongs-side up, and grabbed another rake for Memento. She briefly thanked him before plunging the prongs of the rake into the water in an attempt to fish out Juniper's hair and head. The hair came out easily enough, everyone's faces screwing up in disgust as she deposited it on the ground with a wet plop. The head took a good amount more fishing, but after a minute or two Memento managed to drag it out of the water like a disgusting claw machine game. "Alas, poor Juniper... I, uh, didn't know you all that well," she frowned as she maneuvered the rake's prongs into one of the eye sockets so she could place the head - now reduced to a steaming skull, sans mandible - onto a nearby bench, then continued fiddling with the rake until the head was sitting upright. The empty eye sockets stared quietly, boring a hole into my very soul... I wanted to look away towards anything else but the image remained, dancing around my peripheral vision like a swarming cloud of flies. "Hey... does anyone else see that?" Sunset asked as she pointed into the hot spring. The vision finally disappearing, I followed along to where she was pointing... it was faint, but I could see something dark in the water. "Yea... I think I see what you're seeing," Memento nodded, dipping the rake back into the water. Another minute or two later, she had succeeded in fishing out the strange object, and my mouth dropped open. "Her Monopad," I breathed. I pressed the power button, but nothing happened. "Oh, it's... broken." "I thought these things were supposed to be waterproof?" Flash mused. "Waterproof, yes," Memento agreed. "But boiled in acidic water? That could be enough to break it." *boing!* "CORRECT!" To everyone's shock, Monokuma suddenly leapt down from a tree branch and landed directly in the middle of our group. Flash nearly stumbled into the hot spring himself, if it weren't for Sunset quickly grabbing his hand and pulling him away. "Gah! ...Thanks, Sunny," he sighed in relief. Sunset simply nodded. "Wait, I thought you said these things were like, indestructible or some shit!" exclaimed Ocean. "Well, no..." Monokuma shrugged. "While it's true you can take it with you into the bathtub, when it's exposed to high temperatures for too long, it will suffer a meltdown and totally brrrrreak!" "And the hot spring is over 200 degrees Fahrenheit... that's definitely high," Memento nodded in understanding. "Yep... boy, you'd think I'd have fixed that little detail after the sauna incident," Monokuma muttered under his breath as he scuttled away. ...I hate to think of what he meant by that. "Right. Well... I think that was all I noticed around here," Sunset pursed her lips. "Do you see anything else suspicious?" Flash and I both shook our heads. "Where else do you think we should look?" asked Flash. I took a moment to consider the possibilities... the last time I had seen Juniper alive, she and a few of the others were staying behind to use the shower/locker room building... maybe there were clues to be found there. I made my suggestion, to which Flash and Sunset agreed. "You guys don't think there's anything in the cave over there?" Ocean pointed to the stairs leading into the earth. "It'd be pretty easy to hide something in there, being all dark and all." "Possibly..." hummed Flash. "I'll go with you if you wanna check it out," Memento offered. "Like I said, there isn't really anything for me to autopsy here." "That'll work," I nodded once. For the sake of leaving nobody to their own devices, it was a good suggestion. "Eh..." Flash made an awkward face while Sunset gestured that he should take her offer and go. "Oh, come now," Memento smirked playfully. "I'm not that creepy... what, you think I'm haunted or something? Demons gonna make me crawl on the ceiling and summon old gods while we're alone down there?" "Well, when you put it like that..." Flash took a step away from her, only for Sunset to push him back toward her. "Don't be a baby, just go," Sunset rolled her eyes. "It'll be fine!" I added, smiling as reassuringly as I could. "Oh, alright..." Flash grumbled. They set off for the cave together, while Sunset and I made our way to the shower building. ~ At first glance, the shower and locker room building looked no different than the last time I'd seen it - when there was still hope that Juniper was alive and well. Now I had to scrutinize every little detail and hope there was enough evidence to point me in the right direction. "Which part do you want to search first?" asked Sunset. "Hmm..." My eyes wandered as I thought about my choice, down to a stone lantern that sat just beside the building to the left, between it and a bench. I hummed again as I noticed there was some orange-yellow mud scraped off on the base. Orange-yellow mud...? Then it hit me. "Hey, the mud around the boiling hot spring is that color, right?" I asked while pointing to the lantern. "Yea, it is," Sunset affirmed. "Maybe it's from the killer?" "Possibly," I nodded. "Anyway... I guess let's start with the men's locker room." We stepped inside. There were eight full-size lockers, four to a wall. On one side were shelves that contained towels and toiletries, while the other side had a pair of hampers for used linens and plastic slippers. The keys were all in their keyholes, and the lockers were all closed. Just to be sure, we tried to open them - they were all locked. There was, however, a trace of the same orange-yellow mud on the floor in front of the rightmost locker on the left side of the room. A bit more of that mud here... I wonder why? We also took the opportunity to check inside the shower part of the building, finding nothing out of the ordinary. Then we went into the women's locker room. It looked mostly the same, except the second locker from the left on the right side of the room had been left open, with slightly more of the same orange-yellow mud on the floor in front of it. The rest were locked. "There's more of that mud here," said Sunset as she checked inside the open locker, finding it empty. "And from what it looks like, there's more of it in here than in the other room," I added. I wonder if the killer was looking for something... but what? And in both rooms? We searched the hampers, the shelves for the towels and toiletries, but found nothing else. So far, it felt like we hadn't found all that many clues. "Now what?" "Hmm... well, there were a few people around waiting for the shower building the last time we both saw Juniper. I think we should talk to them," suggested Sunset. "Maybe they saw something, you know?" "Okay..." I glanced around the hot springs area, looking for anyone that would have been there. We had both seen Sugarcoat leave, and both Sunset and myself were accounted for, so that would've left Kotenage, Mountain and Sunburst to talk to... of course, any one of them could lie to my face because they were the killer. Heck, even someone who had gone back to their cottage to shower after the party could've come back and murdered Juniper. I just had to take their words at face value until the trial was underway. "We're going to have to find Kotenage, Mountain and Sunburst, then." "I think they all headed back to the Dining Hall," said Sunset. Hoping Flash and Memento were doing alright by themselves, we started down the path back to the campgrounds. We made it about halfway there when Sugarcoat and Kotenage came around a corner and into our view. Sugarcoat had visibly calmed down somewhat, but she was still quite clearly angry. ...Then again, when is she not angry? "Oh, good," Sunset flagged them down. "Hey, Kotenage, do you mind if we ask you something?" "He already told me what he did before the body discovery," Sugarcoat groused, glaring into Sunset's eyes. "Well, we don't know what he told you," I retorted. "That's actually what we were going to ask you." "TRUE... I DO NOT MIND GOING OVER IT AGAIN," said Kotenage. Sugarcoat rolled her eyes and sighed deeply. "Alright, make it quick... I've got things to do, you know," she muttered. "I TOOK MY SHOWER AS QUICKLY AS I COULD," Kotenage began, "...IT COULDN'T HAVE BEEN MORE THAN TEN MINUTES. I DRIED OFF AND GOT DRESSED, THEN TOLD JUNIPER AND SUNBURST THAT THE SHOWERS WERE EMPTY. SUNBURST DEFERRED TO JUNIPER, SO SHE WENT IN NEXT. AFTER THAT I GRABBED ALL OF THE LEFTOVER THINGS FROM OUR PARTY AND BROUGHT THEM BACK TO THE CAMPGROUNDS... THEN I SET TO WORK ON OUR SUPPER." "Hmm..." Sunset pursed her lips together. Someone hadn't been mentioned. "You didn't see Mountain anywhere?" I asked. Kotenage shook his head. "IIE, ALTHOUGH I DO RECALL HEARING SOME FAINT SCRATCHING NOISES, BUT THAT COULD HAVE EASILY HAVE BEEN THE WIND IN THE TREES... I ASSUMED SHE WAS STILL AT THE ZEN GARDEN, OR PERHAPS SHE HAD ALREADY LEFT FOR HER COTTAGE. IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY, SHE DID COME TO THE PARTY WITH A BATHROBE AND TOWEL, SO SHE DID NOT NEED TO USE THE LOCKER ROOMS." Sugarcoat furrowed her brow and thought for a moment. "...Yea, I think I remember that. Her stuff was tan-colored." Thinking back to when I'd seen her last before the murder, I could plainly see her in a tan towel wrapped around her body in my mind's eye. "Alright, anything else?" Sunset asked. Kotenage shook his head. "Same thing he told me... now, if you don't mind?" Sugarcoat huffed as she pushed past us back down the trail. Kotenage flashed us an apologetic smile as he hurried after her. "Sheesh..." Sunset grumbled under her breath. "You said it," I agreed. ~ Back at the main campgrounds, we only had to look around for a short while before finding the last two people we needed to talk to. Inside the Dining Hall, Silver and Mountain were sitting at the main table, cradling steaming cups of hot chocolate in their hands. Both looked deeply concerned, staring into their cups silently. "Th... Th-That's what it looked like, h-huh... oh god, I'm g-glad I didn't look..." Silver sucked in a breath through her teeth before taking a sip. "Yea..." Mountain droned. She looked up at us as we approached. "Oh, hello." "Hey, Emmy," I waved slightly, frowning at Silver's shellshocked demeanor. "Uh, do you mind if Sunset and I ask you about what you did between the party and the... murder?" Mountain swallowed as she nodded. "I... I was up there for ten, fifteen minutes at the most?" she grabbed at her arms. She was shivering violently, and her skin was flushed a pale pink. "I needed to decompress after the party, but... I underestimated how quickly I'd lose body warmth while raking the sand. I went back to my cottage afterwards... I stayed in the shower for much longer than I meant to. I'd only just finished drying off and getting dressed when... when the announcement played." "Huh, I see..." said Sunset. Mountain let out a snort. "You'd think I'd know how fast you lose body warmth when you're exposed like that... ugh, even after showering for ages, I'm still shivering," she grimaced, glancing at her hands. "Should've sat in the hottest spring after raking the sand... maybe I would've even been able to prevent Juniper's death." "Hey, don't blame yourself," Silver reached across the table to put a hand on Mountain's shoulder. "Right... the killer might've been waiting for you to leave, or worse," I shivered. Mountain bowed her head. "Thanks... although, if the killer had been stupid enough to try to attack me, I don't think we'd be in this situation," she sighed, staring back into her cup. Sunset and I looked at each other, frowning. We could both feel the palpable guilt radiating off of Mountain. Leaving them, we then found Soarin' and Sunburst inside the Kitchen. They were examining the magnetic knife rack - all of the knives being present and accounted for. "Hey, uh... Sunburst?" I asked. Sunburst jumped a little as he turned towards me. "Oh! Um, hello, girls," he said in his usual sheepish tone. "Do you mind telling us what you did between the party and the body discovery announcement?" asked Sunset. "Oh, right, um..." Sunburst cleared his throat nervously before continuing. "W-Well, after Kotenage took his shower, Juniper rushed inside as soon as he said he was done. She was in there for about fifteen minutes... rather expeditious, given her vanity, I thought." "Then after that she got dressed and left?" I asked. Sunburst nodded. "Right... then I took my shower. I was done in ten minutes, but afterwards, eh..." Eh...? "Did something happen?" Sunset prodded. "Well..." Sunburst's cheeks suddenly flushed red. "...I-I seem to have misplaced my swimming trunks. I know I left them in the locker I was using." ...You're missing a swimsuit...? "Was it locked?" asked Sunset. "Er, no... I was the last one to use the facilities, so I didn't think it necessary," he sucked his lips into his mouth while glancing away. "I mean, I had brought my clothes with me, so it wasn't that much of a problem... but I can't imagine what I would've done with them." "...What color was your swimsuit?" I asked uneasily, my heart sinking into my stomach. "Ah... navy, I believe," he answered plainly. "Why? Have you seen it?" But before I could even form a thought... *ding dong, bing bong* ... No. My mouth dropped in shock. Wait... what?! Our time's already up?! "Are... a-are you serious?!" Sunset shouted in terror. It was unfortunately true, as a nearby monitor blinked to life. Monokuma sneered into the camera, appearing tired but satisfied. "Already tired of investigating? Oh, you've been tired of it for a while, now?" Monokuma jeered. "Well, that's how it goes. Investigations aren't all that fun, you see? But it's a necessary step before we can move on to the main event... kinda like searching the internet for that perfect porno video!" "Oh, please don't bring that up after whatever the hell you and Monosuke did," Soarin' grimaced. "In fact, some people think the search is the best part... weird, huh? Anyway, the class trial is starting soon! Please gather at the Fire Pit!" Monokuma laughed raucously as the monitor shut off, his voice echoing mockingly in my ears. "Oh, dear..." Sunburst sighed gloomily. "Welp, I guess that's that," Soarin' punched a fist into his other hand. "Time to find the sick fuck that did this." "Indeed... although I cannot say I will enjoy exacting justice on the perpetrator," Sunburst winced as they left the kitchen. Sunset and I followed a few steps behind them. "Did you hear that?!" Sunset hissed. "Sunburst's swimsuit matches the one we found at the crime scene!" "I-I know..." I mumbled quietly in return. Now that I had a moment to think about what I'd heard... my heart had sank past my stomach and into my bowels. S-Sunburst... I closed my eyes tightly. No, this Sunburst wasn't the childhood friend I had reconnected with in recent years... this was an entirely different stallion- er, man. The Sunburst I knew was completely incapable of harming even a Breezie! ... ...But still... ~ We walked outside and waited beside the fire pit. It took a few more minutes before everyone had gathered around. Flash and Memento were the last to arrive. "Nothing in the cave," he shook his head. "Although it does look like someone's been in there recently," Memento chimed in. "There's piles of dirt and a shovel and sieve in the main cavern... but I'm pretty sure it's unrelated. Nothing screams 'used to commit a murder' to me, y'know?" "Alright, we're all here," Sugarcoat spoke in an authoritative tone. "Whichever sorry bastard here killed Juniper, I'm going to find you, and you're going to fucking pay for it!" "Hey, now!" Ocean yelled. "How do ya know it was a guy? Could've been some sorry bitch too, ya know?" "Point is, I'm not going to let them kill the rest of us and get away with it," Sugarcoat sneered. "I don't care which one of you it was that wanted out. You're as good as dead." "Yea, you done fucked up now!" Indigo joined in, shouting at everyone and no one in particular. "She might've been kind of a brat, but no one deserves to get fuckin' melted! I hope you get even worse!" "Geez, no need to be so bloodthirsty about it," Flash shuddered. "I mean... we're the ones that are gonna condemn the killer to be executed." "A life was taken from us..." Mountain stoically nodded. "...And we will take a life in return. It is not an act to take so lightly." "EVEN THOUGH ONE OF US HAS MURDERED ANOTHER... IT PAINS ME TO DO THIS," Kotenage frowned. "Well, better them than us, man," Indigo snorted. A moment after she'd spoken, the ground rumbled. The fire pit sank into the earth about a foot deep before stopping, same as before. "Ooh! Elevator ride!" Sonata chirped as she hopped down onto the concrete. There was discontent grumbling as the rest of us stepped down into the depression, steeling ourselves for what was to come next. Another trial. Another murder. I had my suspicions... I could only hope I was wrong. But I had to find the killer, no matter what... for everyone's sake. The concrete circle shook and shuddered, my cheeks feeling hollow as it began to descend. My heart felt hollow. Heavy. Icy. Boiling. No matter the outcome... this was going to hurt.