"Miu!" I shook her by the shoulders as her hands fell. "No, please! Tell me this is a joke!"

Tears fell from my eyes as a metal hand rested on my shoulder. Robots can't cry... but I definitely knew he was shattered. I heard the body discovery announcement, but it was right behind me. I turned around to see the disgusting bear that brought all this upon us.

"I never thought I would do it live. That felt nice!" Monokuma said. I swear, I wanted to punch him in his sorry, artificial nose. I heard footsteps slowly growing louder from the hallway, and remembered. "Kaito!" I opened the door to see him, out of breath and panting. "What's this all about? What was the body announcement?" I gently opened his mouth and saw blood staining his teeth. I sighed and pulled him inside.

"Where were you this whole time, Kaito?" Kokichi asked. "What were you doing?" I looked at Kaito, worried. "I-I was just taking a nap." He lied.

I whispered in his ear. "You know they're going to find out eventually, right?" He nodded. He explained that he was suddenly logged out and didn't know if he was okay to go back in and went to take a nap.

"So... like losing connection?" I asked. He nodded. What made him do that? The only way to log out is through the telephone in the salon, and he never went as far as I'm concerned.

"Kaito, if you're going to lie, at least do it properly!" Kokichi yelled. "Now now, we don't know if Kaito really did it." I said as Shuichi nodded. "We should start the investigation."

Monokuma handed us the Monokuma File. I looked down at Monotaro, who was crying because his "mommy" was now dead. Kokichi seemed to be in... high spirits. "You guys hated her! Not as much as you hate me, but still!" I looked at Kiibo, who looked broken. "She may have been brash and loud, but she wasn't a bad person! She performed maintenance on me! I know... I know..." I could tell he wanted to cry but he couldn't.

I walked up to Kiibo and gave him a hug. "Don't worry, we won't let her die in vain." I lifted Kiibo's chin. "Remember, Miu never gave up on anything, so you can't either." He smiled and nodded. I pulled out the Monokuma File:

Approximate time of death, 6:30am. There are no external wounds on the body.

"Thirty minutes ago? We were in the virtual world, though." I said. I looked at the picture of the body in the Monokuma File. Her hands were near her neck... was she gasping for air? Her eyes are wide open, in panic. I looked at Shuichi.

We always partnered up in investigations, and this one was no different. However, Kokichi said that Shuichi and Kaito shouldn't team up because Kaito is the prime suspect.

There was no cause of death in the Monokuma File, so I assume that part we have to figure out. She had tears running down her face, and her mouth was wide open. I turned to Kiibo.

"You were the first to log out. What did her body look like?" Kiibo looked down. "W-well, she was still wearing the helmet and her body was contoured into this awful position."

"Is that a confession?" Kokichi asked. I shook my head. "It seems like she was gasping for air. You can't run out of air in the span of 5 to 6 seconds. That was when I logged out."

I walked back to Miu's body and looked inside her open mouth. It seems like nothing was shoved down her throat, so we can't look for anything only one specific person had.

"Tsumugi, you and Shuichi were already in the entrance hall when I ran in. Why exactly were you there?" I looked at Tsumugi. "Well, I thought I saw Miu in the window, so I went to tell Shuichi. Then, we heard a bang sound and went out to the entrance hall. That's where we heard Kiibo's voice."

Kiibo's voice? "I thought you can't hear anything passing the squiggly line?" Kokichi asked. "Unless someone's lying."

"Well, Kiibo was on the other side of the world, so I doubt that you actually heard him... but both you and Shuichi heard?" They both nodded. Shuichi and Kokichi went to question others while I examined Miu's body.

Her eyes were wide open, but lifeless. She didn't simply fade from consciousness like most would if they died of suffocation. She definitely didn't give up until she died. I looked in front of her at the visor.

Hers were unplugged, which is odd, seeing as she wouldn't unplug something if she was fighting for her life. The cords had to be put a specific way, red on the right, blue on the left.

We don't know what would've happened if they were switched.

Both cords represent something different. I looked at Shuichi. "Miu never said what would've happened if the cords were switched, did she?" Shuichi shook his head. "If one is linked to consciousness and the other to memory, then what would happen if you... didn't know what either was? Would you forget something basic... like breathing?"

Shuichi put his hand on his chin. "It's possible. Breathing is also linked to consciousness."

I looked at Maki, who was trying to figure out how to use the computer. "Have you found anything?" I asked, looking over her shoulder. "This file. It explains how the virtual world works. The killing simulator uses a program as its base. The Neo World Program. Any damage inflicted on your avatar will be inflicted on your body. If your avatar receives fatal damage, it will die from shock." My eyes widened. So, is that what happened to Miu?

"But why would Miu hide such an important detail?" Kokichi asked. That's... actually a valid question.

"Things like warping or special transportation like mounting, do not exist." Maki said. "But, what if someone rewrote the text file?" Kokichi asked.

"But that would require someone with a lot of knowledge on computers." That's right. Nobody other than Miu has a lot of knowledge on computers as far as I was concerned. Or at least not this one.

I thought back on the person, or rather bear, that told us about the "virtual world". I knelt down in front of Monotaro. "Hey, can you help us with the investigation?" He nodded aggressively.

"Yes! I will help avenge mommy's death!" That's what I thought. I looked at Maki. "Is that alright?" She nodded. "I don't care, as long as he's useful."

"But wouldn't-" "He wants to help avenge his mommy! I'm so touched... WAAAAAHHHHH!" I pulled Kokichi towards me so he wouldn't wet the computer as I wiped away his tears. I sometimes wished he'd fake cry without the tears, but whatever.

Monotaro typed away at the computer. "Alright, so the text file shows no signs of being altered. And I found this!" He pulled up a file showing when each person logged out. "There's no sign that this was altered either. It's accurate information."

Shuichi got closer to the computer and read the names of those who logged out and when. "Kaito was the first to log out at 5:17." Shuichi stated. "Everyone else logged out about an hour later, and long after Miu's death." I looked at Monotaro.

"Also, while I was analysing, it looked like some of the parts were rewritten." He said.

"Which parts?" He said he would figure it out as he hopped in front of the computer and started typing away. I walked up to Kaito.

"Any idea why you would be logged out?" He thought. "I'm not sure. I was investigating the rooftop when a white circle came under me and sucked me up."

Only Kokichi and I were in the room with the telephone. But we were together, and I don't remember him doing anything weird.

I opened his mouth slightly and saw that he was trying to lick away the blood he had coughed out. "Come on." I said, pulling him towards my research lab. I got out a bottle of water and told him to drink.

"So, after you coughed up the blood, you went to your room and slept?" He nodded. "I didn't want to go back in just to see Kokichi and have him get suspicious."

"Well, according to the file Monotaro dug up, you logged out before the time of death. You wouldn't have known Miu was dead until the body was discovered... because when you logged out, she was still alive." I got up and went back to the crime scene with Kaito, where Shuichi and Kokichi were questioning Himiko.

Kaito sat down in a chair when he cried out. "Ow!" He got up and I checked to see what he sat on. "Shuichi, come look." He came over and saw the bottle. "Wasn't this in your research lab?" He nodded. I turned the bottle and read the label.

"So the victim will die immediately if it's sipped directly." Kokichi read. "Even if it's just a little..."

I looked at Kokichi. "Anything else you can say?" He thought. "Oh yeah! This causes the small vessel under your conjunctiva to explode, making the whites of your eyes go blood red." I looked at Miu's body. I gently pulled down her eye to show the conjunctiva, and it didn't look like it burst.

"I think we should go back to the virtual world." I said.

"Why don't we all go?" Kaito suggested. Maki decided to stay. "Monotaro is still analysing the program." Gonta nodded in agreement.

"I'll stay here, too." Kokichi said. "Don't worry, Y/N! I'll protect you from anyone who tries to hurt you!" I shrugged. "There's other people going too, you know?" We sat down in our chairs and put the visor on.

We ended up in the virtual world and started looking around. "Alright, Miu never officially logged out. Maybe her avatar is still here." As we went out, Shuichi and I were stopped by Kiibo. "I found something you may want to see."

We went to the side of the mansion and found a roll of toilet paper. "What's this doing here?" I don't think the avatars can... defecate. None of us could've thrown it this far. We all have the same physical strength in the game anyways.

Shuichi and I went to the bridge. "Oh yeah, where did you find the sign? Didn't Miu throw it into the river?" Shuichi nodded. "But it was caught in the rock down the stream. But... it was found on the mansion side, not the chapel side."

I ran over to the area with the boulder. "Here, right?" He nodded. "Strange... the stream is flowing the opposite way... how did it end up here? Wouldn't it have gone that way?" I pointed at the way the river was going.

Shuichi and I looked at each other as we went back and crossed the bridge with everyone else. "The crime seen hasn't been altered since I found her." Kiibo stated. Her avatar was on the ground next to a wooden mat, a cell phone, and a hammer. "I thought she got rid of anything that could be used for killing?" I said as I knelt next to a hammer.

"What would a wooden mat be doing here?" Shuichi wondered. "Don't those go in bathrooms?"

I remembered that none of us checked the bathroom, mainly because we never needed to go. I looked at the cellphone near her body. "Wait, Kaito, stand still for a sec." I said. I picked up the cellphone. "Kaito Momota." And he disappeared.

"So it's not just that cellphone specifically." Shuichi observed. I said my name and logged out. "Sorry Kaito." I said when I saw him. "I just needed to test something."

We logged back in and everyone was in the entrance hall. "Finished investigating the crime scene?" Shuichi told me that Kokichi and Miu were supposed to meet up at the rooftop. "But he was with me the whole time, and he didn't show signs of trying to leave."

Shuichi put his hand on his chin. "We need to check the rooftop." We went up and looked around. "There isn't really a way to check if Miu ever came up here or not, but I'm sure Kaito's sudden log out was linked to it."

Shuichi nodded and looked down from the roof. "Wait, Kiibo, do you think that someone could get to the roof from outside the building?" Kiibo shook his head. "The building is about 3-4 stories high in height, so no one could jump or climb."

Shuichi and I shared thoughtful looks and continued investigating.

I went into the storage room. "The rolled up carpet looks... loose." I pulled it out but I wouldn't even know why it would be loose if I barely inspected the room. I walked out and saw Shuichi inspecting the door.

"What is it?" I asked as I walked towards the door. "It's a thumb turn lock." Shuichi explained. "You can only lock it from the outside, though."

Isn't it usually the other way around? Suddenly, the door burst open and Maki came through. "There you are. Monotaro told me to gather everyone. He's finished." Shuichi and I nodded as we went and logged out of the virtual world.

When I came back to reality, my helmet was pulled off by someone else. "You're back, Mind Reader! I was so lonely without you!" I stood up and Shuichi walked up to Kokichi. "Kokichi, were you supposed to meet up with Miu on the rooftop?" I turned around and went over to Monotaro.

Despite the fact that I didn't know that he was supposed to meet with Miu, I'm sure Kokichi didn't do it.

"So Mommy was the last person to access the file." He said. "Mommy has an eccentric way of writing her code, so I knew it was her." Maki asked what she tampered with. "Well, Mommy deleted a lot of objects from the simulator."

"She said she deleted everything that can be used as a weapon. But why was the hammer still there?"

"Well, according to the code, it was left there. But the way the program was written makes it look like she did it on purpose." Monotaro said. Why did she need a hammer anyways? It's not like she could do construction. "Wait, there was a phone there, too." Shuichi stated. "Oh yeah, that was meant to be there."

So Miu hid that from us? There's a lot of things she's hidden from us, huh?

"All Mommy added were the two maps." Monotaro added. "By the way," Kokichi began. "We used a sign to cross the bridge, but was there a different way to go across the river?"

Monotaro shook his head. "I didn't see anything else that could've been used." So the sign was the only thing that could've been used, as far as Monotaro knows. "What else did she remove?"

"Well, it looks like she tampered with certain parameters in the program. Everything was either a human or non-human object. Everyone's avatar was assigned as human, but Mommy didn't make her own avatar human!" I tilted my head. "Why were there different groups?"

Monotaro shrugged. "I didn't really affect anything. They were only for identification purposes. But, the next thing she added was a wall. It wasn't there before."

He showed a map with an x and y axis. "It seems like Mommy added a wall that runs along the y axis." I thought back to the map in the virtual world. "Oh! The loading point! Remember, the squiggly line?"

"But why would that be added, rather than taken away?" Shuichi wondered, to which I shrugged. "Also, the extra wall had a setting that wouldn't let non-human objects pass through it. Also, one of you had a strange setting on their avatar. You wouldn't be able to move if Mommy touched you."

I looked at Kokichi. "I'm guessing it's him?"

Monotaro nodded. "How did you know?" "Well, Kokichi was the only person she really planned on meeting up with... and I have a theory but I don't know if it's going to affect the investigation for better, or for worse."

I looked down at Monotaro. "Thank you very much. You've been very helpful." He smiled with an artificial blush on his face. "Also, some sort of avatar error happened when you all logged in for the first time. But I don't know what happened, so I can't provide any details."

We heard the announcement for the class trial. I looked around at everyone's distressed faces. "Don't worry everyone, we've got this!"