"Kokichi!" I ran up to the boy lying on the floor. "Kokichi?" His head popped up. "It's a lie!" I made a huge sigh of relief. "Kokichi, you shouldn't- is that real blood?" I sniffed. It definitely smelled like it. "Y-yeah, I was in one of the empty rooms and I fell through the floor. One of the cross pieces was cut."

I gently moved his hair out of the way and saw the gash in his forehead. Just then, we heard the class trial announcement.

"Oh..." Kokichi handed me the Caged Dog Village. "I was trying to investigate this to see if anything was suspicious, but I haven't found anything."

"Hold on." I pulled out my handkerchief and gently wiped Kokichi's head. "Are you feeling light-headed?" He nodded a bit. I ripped my sleeve and wrapped the fabric around his head. "We'll get you treated later." We went to the Shrine of Judgement.

I opened the Caged Dog Village and quickly skimmed through the pages.

We went down the elevator, but I saw Kokichi swaying a bit. Swaying: essential due to the many large and small changes in the centre of gravity due to functions such as walking and breathing. For a person to maintain balance requires coordination of input from multiple sensory systems including the vestibular, somatosensory, and visual systems.

I walked closer to Kokichi, ready to grab him if he needed to fall. We each went to our court stands. I looked past Kokichi to see Tenko's crossed out photo and looked further across and saw Angie's. I inhaled and exhaled. "We've got this."

"I don't think I'll be much help in this case, you guys." Kaito admitted. "That's fine, we have a lot of info." I looked to my right and saw Himiko's unusually expressive face. "Who did it? Who killed Angie and Tenko?" I felt this scary aura radiating off of the small girl.

"Our culprit... might not be someone that's here." Tsumugi said. I shook my head. "Whether that resurrection ritual was real or not, nobody got summoned from the dead. When we investigated Angie's lab, we found the Necronomicon, and it clearly states that you're supposed to burn it and sprinkle the ashes on the effigy."

Tsumugi made a sigh of relief. "That's good." I looked at Kaito. "Calm down, Kaito. Nobody came back from the dead." He nodded and looked down. "But who killed Angie and Tenko?" Gonta asked. I thought for a moment.

"Well, both were clearly killed at two very separate times. Miu spoked up. "Alright, I'm not sure who killed Tenko, but I'm pretty damn sure I know who killed Angie!" She pointed at Kiyo. "You!"

He looked rather surprised. "What?"

Why did he sound so defensive?

"Don't play dumb with me, creepshow!" Miu yelled. "I already know what happened!" Miu cleared her throat. "The culprit used a katana to kill Angie! And it was found in Kiyo's research lab. Which makes you, Kiyo, automatically suspicious!"

Kiyo pulled his hat down. "But anyone could've taken that katana, you see." He was right, only Angie's research lab locks. "So that rusty katana was the murder weapon!" Kokichi said. "You were the only one that cared about that thing, Kiyo."

"I didn't care about some katana." He claimed.

"Just admit it!" Miu accused. "You went to the lab, broke in and murdered Angie!" Shuichi tilted his head. "I thought only student council members were allowed in?" I nodded.

"So the culprit has to be one of the student council members." Kaito concluded. "The remaining student council members are Tsumugi, Kiibo, Gonta, and Himiko." Kiyo stated. Oh yeah, Tenko and Angie were both part of the student council.

"Well it can't be Himiko. Her and Tenko were besties!" Kokichi said. "I trust their friendship! You guys do too, right?" I nodded. "From the horrified look on Himiko's face, I could tell that she didn't expect it to happen." Kiibo was still suspicious. "Can we really trust their friendship?"

"When we're given a reason to not, then Himiko is a suspect again."

"So that leaves Gonta, Tsumugi, and Kiibo." Kiyo said. "Aren't these accusations getting a bit too hasty?" Kiibo asked.

"Gonta and I aren't the culprits!" Tsumugi claimed. "I'm not the culprit either!" Kiibo added. I know where this is going.

Everyone began talking over each other as Shuichi and I listened carefully. I heard to my left something rather odd. "Only the student council members can enter at night!" I made eye contact with Shuichi. "Wait, Kokichi. Can't you go inside, too? You can lock pick." Kokichi smiled. "Yep, I did it. I killed Angie."

I looked up. Wait a second... his side glance!

His court stand moved to the centre. "I picked the lock, snuck into the room, and WAM! Killed Angie." I crossed my arms. "Kokichi, we're being serious." He looked back at me. "If you're going to lie, at least try to be convincing." His court stand moved back. "Besides, even if I wasn't a psychologist, we have evidence to prove that you didn't do it."

I turned to Shuichi. "Kokichi, how did you close the door?" Kokichi looked confused. "The same way you opened it. Just pick the lock from the outside." I chuckled. "Kokichi, the culprit didn't leave through the front door. They left through the back." I looked at Maki. "There was gold leaf on the back door lock."

"The culprit used the katana stabbed through Kaede's wax figure to hit the back door lock." Kokichi looked confused. "How'd they move it with the katana?" I thought back to the crime scene, with the wax figures hanging upside down and Angie in the centre. "The katana was stabbed into Kaede's wax figure, and it was spun around so it would hit the lock."

"The lock was rather easy to move, so it would've been easy." Shuichi explained. "Even if they failed, it was nighttime so no one could've seen it." Maki added. Kaito seemed to understand. "The other effigies were hung so it looked like it was part of the ritual."

I looked at Kokichi. "Why'd you claim to be the culprit?" Kokichi looked at everyone.

"Well, I wanted to lure the culprit out." He was staring straight forward. He's telling the truth. "So... the real culprit would agree with you... and they would force you to confess... right?" Kokichi nodded. "How'd you know?"

"That's just how the human brain works. If you don't want to take the blame, you blame someone else. It's very rare that they do not say anything." Miu scoffed. "You and your freaking lies. Go into the corner and play with yourself!"

Kokichi held his hands in fists in front of him. "Okay, I'll do it right now!" I grabbed his scarf as he turned. "Um, no you're not."

Kokichi, Tsumugi, Kiibo, and Gonta were currently the main suspects. "Alright, we've gotta figure out a way to get ourselves off the suspect list! Any ideas guys?" Kokichi said. It seems like none of them have anything to say other than "They were sleeping" and we all know that won't slide unless there's proof.

"Why did Tenko have to die?" Himiko mumbled. "Can we talk about Tenko, too, and not just Angie?" I saw her disappointed face. "Stop it with your lies." I turned to Kokichi. "You didn't care at all about Tenko when she was alive. But now that she's dead, you're all like 'Oh no! Poor Tenko!' after she's dead. Really?"

"Kokichi! Enough!" Gonta yelled.

"No... I understand why he would think that." Himiko began. "I know I ignored Tenko before... That's why I'm so upset now. I should've faced Tenko... worked things out with her when she was alive. But now... it's too late. I can't complain to her... or thank her."

I knelt down in front of Himiko. "I know things must be hard. But you can't give up. We'll find whoever killed both Angie and Tenko. I promise." I pulled out her hand and put Tenko's necklace in it. "Neither of them will die in vain."

She put it back in my hand and nodded. "Okay... but Tenko wanted you to have that." I smiled and nodded back, standing up.

"I'm not gonna let anyone say that her death didn't matter!" Kaito promised. I nodded and looked at Himiko. "We will find out who killed both of them. I promise." I stood up straight and looked at everyone. "Alright, on Tenko's case then."

"Tenko was found dead after the Caged Child seance. The lights were off, so it was impossible for anyone to see the murder take place. But the people who were at the seance are the main suspects. Who was there?" I looked at Shuichi. "Uh... me, Kokichi, Kiyo, and Himiko."

Miu put her hands on her hips. "So one of those four are the culprits!" I shook my head. "Not only those four. You can go under the floorboards, and when Shuichi, Maki, and I did so, we found the murder weapon. There was also a hole between the seance room and one of the other ones, so anyone could've gone under there without us knowing."

Miu scoffed. "Well, now it could be any of us!" Maki shook her head this time.

"Y/N, Kaito, and I were in Kiyo's lab. That's too far for any of us to be the culprit." I nodded to confirm her statement. "Well then we know who the most suspicious is! Kiyo! He's the one who suggested it." Kokichi said.

"Sure, I suggested it, but we all knew about how the procedure went beforehand, so we're all equally suspicious." Kiyo reminded. "I also wasn't in full control of the seance. Himiko was the one who suggested the room." I tilted my head. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, you can go under the floorboards, yes? And there's an opening in between the rooms. So the only way someone could've gotten Tenko from under that cage is if they were underneath." Kiyo explained.

"But wouldn't they need a light to do that? Y'know, like a candle?" Kiyo shook his head. "Not if you already have a light built into you."

We all looked at Kiibo. "W-wait a minute!" I said. "Remember, there's a hole in the corner of all the rooms. Kiibo's light is artificial, so it'd be brighter than normal. Wouldn't you see it through that small gap?" Kiibo let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Y/N."

"But then, who's the culprit? We haven't gotten any closer to Angie or Tenko's murder." Kaito pointed out.

"I wouldn't say that..." Kokichi looked at me. "Did I pass out for a minute or something? I don't have any specific suspects." I looked at Kiyo. "I-I don't have one either..." I lied.

"What about floorboard under Tenko?" Gonta asked. "Gonta thought that was so culprit could stab Tenko from under floor." I clapped my hands. "Good observation, Gonta!" Kokichi agreed. "Are you finally getting used to the class trials?" He nodded proudly.

Shuichi and Kaito looked at each other. "Did they just finish each other's thoughts?" Kaito whispered.

"Maybe they put glow in the dark paint on Tenko!" Tsumugi suggested. "That would help them find her." I looked at Tsumugi, confused. "Why would Tenko allow someone to put glow in the dark paint on her?" Tsumugi looked to the floor. "Oh..."

"Perhaps first, we should figure out how and when exactly Tenko was killed." Kiyo suggested.

"The Monokuma File said she was killed around 11:00am, while you guys were doing the seance." Himiko glanced at me, curiously. "But she was under the metal cage the whole time, wasn't she? How would they have gotten to her there?"

"Maybe the culprit killed her before she went under the metal cage." Kiibo guessed. "That's not possible. She was unmistakably alive when the seance began."

I glanced at Kiyo. "You mean... before the candles were blown out, right?" He nodded. Kokichi put his finger on his cheek. "But when the lights were back on, Tenko was already dead."

Everyone started proposing different ways Tenko could've gotten killed, like when the cage was lifted.

I looked to the ground and thought for a moment. Himiko was the one closest to the cage when Maki, Kaito, and I arrived, so she was most likely the one who lifted it. But from the size of the cage, I assume it was heavy. So... she was running on adrenaline. She couldn't have killed Tenko when she lifted the cage if the adrenaline was caused by her worrying about Tenko.

"Shuichi, wouldn't you see it happen if Himiko lifted the cage and killed Tenko really quickly? Even if you didn't, you would've seen her hide the murder weapon since it was under the floorboards." Shuichi nodded. "Yeah, and inside the white cloth, there was a blood splatter. That cloth was removed before the cage was lifted." But Miu objected.

She and Shuichi had a brief one on one debate, until I heard her say, "Tenko was just sitting there with her neck all exposed." I looked up. "Wait, Tenko wasn't sitting. According to the Caged Dog Village book, it said she had to be in a turtle pose. That wouldn't have allowed her to sit."

"Right, she had her head up against a rock and was almost curled up under the cage."

"So how was Tenko killed?" Tsumugi asked. "What if... she was killed by Angie's spirit?" Kokichi suggested. Oh no...

"W-what?! That's not possible!"

"Kaito, calm down... No spirits are out to get you, I promise." I tossed a handkerchief into his hand and he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"It seems like you have an endless amount of handkerchiefs, Mind Reader!" Kokichi joked. He looked happy next to the distressed Himiko. "Angie's spirit... killed Tenko? Why?"

"Maybe, Tenko killed Angie and she came back for revenge." Kokichi teased.

At this point, Kaito was shaking in his boots. "Wait... w-what if... the culprit was hiding inside the cage?!" I was about to disagree when Maki said. "I agree. They could've been inside the cage, but I doubt they needed to hide." Wait... she doesn't mean... "I think Tenko could've committed su_c_de." I put my arm around Himiko's shaking figure.

"That would make sense. Angie and Tenko were fighting for your attention, right? Maybe Tenko's frustration led her to kill Angie, and then she felt awful about it later." I looked at Kokichi. "D-don't even joke about that!" I let go of Himiko and tried to steady my breathing. Kokichi put his hand on my shoulder, but continued to explain.

"What if she wanted to bring us down with her? She knew that we'd find out about the whole 'killing Angie' thing and wanted us to get killed by picking the wrong person?" Himiko shook her head. "She couldn't have! She told me to survive with her and everyone else!" Kokichi looked at Himiko. "What if that was a lie? How can you be so sure? Did you guys actually know each other?" Everything suddenly went silent, except for this high ringing in my ears.

I saw everyone's mouths moving, but no words were coming out. "Looks like your friend is having troubles." Monokuma pointed out. Everyone looked at me. The ground seemed to get farther and farther away from me, and my throat felt like it was closing up. Su_id_? I don't know why those words scared me... but I felt like I was going to faint.

"No, please! You have to let me get to them!"

What were these... memories?

Suddenly, I feel an arm wrap around me. Not a large strong one, nor one that seemed like it had more than average strength.

I looked to my left and saw... legs? Oh, I was on the floor. I looked up and saw Kokichi looking down. He held out a hand and he pulled me up. "I guess it's a sensitive subject, huh?" I nodded and he kept his arm around me. "Well, any evidence that she didn't do that?" I looked at Shuichi. He was there, at the seance. He should have something.

Kokichi tapped me one more time and he placed a painkiller in the palm of my hand with a grin.

"Well... Tenko said 'see you guys after'." He turned to me. "A-ah, right. When a person is secretly upset, they tend to have short sentences or responses. Tenko could've said something like 'see ya' or 'bye', but she didn't." Kokichi let his hand fall as my breathing steadied.

"So Tenko had to have been killed during the seance." Miu concluded. "Maybe it was that thump from the middle of the song?" Shuichi wondered. "But what was it?"

I thought back to the investigation. "It was probably the floorboard."

"Yeah, but how did it come loose?"

"Maybe someone stomped on it!" Kokichi guessed. "Sounds about right. The floorboard was rather long, so someone could've stomped on the side without a cross piece and lift Tenko up since she was on the other side. Kind of like a seesaw. She bumped her head on the metal cage, I bet." I explained. "But how did the stab wound get to the back of her neck?" Kaito asked. "Wouldn't that need the sickle?"

Shuichi nodded. "So... I'm guessing the sickle was on top of the cage, with the blade facing down. The culprit stomped on the floorboard and it elevated Tenko into the sickle." Kiyo chuckled. "How smart... Himiko."

HOW DID WE GET TO THAT CONCLUSION?

"Nyeh?"

"You're the only one who could've known about this. This seesaw homicide had to be set up beforehand. That's why you chose the middle room, correct?" I looked at Kiyo, then at Himiko. This doesn't add up. It all seems... too convenient. "May I say something?"

Everyone turned to me. "I don't think Himiko could've done this." Kiyo looked at me, confused. "Oh? And why is that?" Himiko's court stand went forward, but she didn't look like she wanted to defend herself. "I... don't care anymore. Why did Angie and Tenko have to die... but I didn't? Vote me out if you want. I don't care."

I thought back for a moment. "Well... Himiko doesn't look any heavier than 100 pounds. As a matter of fact, on the Monopad, it says she's 86. How would someone small like Himiko be able to push down one side of the floorboard and lift up a heavier entity on the other?"

I straightened up. "Also," I looked over at Kokichi, who still had part of my sleeve on his head. "I think all the rooms are rigged." I gently took off the fabric from Kokichi's head. "Kokichi says that he fell through the floorboards while trying to investigate. See?"

I moved Kokichi's hair out of the way to reveal the big gash. "I don't think Himiko chose that room because of the floorboard specifically."

Himiko's court stand moved back and aligned with mine. "Himiko, look at me." I put my hands on her cheeks. I peered at Shuichi, signalling for him to start talking. "Remember what Tenko said?" He began. "Live life and face forward."

I looked back at Himiko. "Don't you want to keep that promise, Himiko?" I stood up straight and looked at all the photos of the deceased.

"We all made promises to those who aren't with us anymore." I said. "To take care of one another, to continue on with life, to keep encouraging others... This trial isn't just for our lives... it's for everyone who's died as well. That's why we can't give up! We need to continue their legacy."

Himiko nodded with determination. "You're right... I can't face Tenko and Angie like this. I will fight with everyone... AND SURVIVE!" I nodded and faced everyone. "Alright. We've just gotta find a hole in the culprit's plan." We all thought. "Wait, why didn't anyone end up stepping on the floorboard?" Tsumugi asked.

"Well... that's because the circle of salt was on it." We all looked at Kiyo. "Kiyo..." He looked down and began to laugh. "So this is what the blackened felt like. How intriguing." Intriguing? "But explain to me this: how did I get to the floorboard in the first place?"

Wow. We tried to find a hole in his plan and he ended up finding a hole in ours. "The culprit... used their sense of touch." Shuichi said. "Oh! Like how I got to the candle!" Kokichi said.

"But how did Kiyo get to the floorboard? There wasn't a wall he could feel." Tsumugi put her hand on her chin.