"But if he was supposed to be watching over her room, what was he doing upstairs?"
"Maybe Kirigiri-san led him away to help Maizono-san?"
Maizono growled. “She didn’t-!”
"She has no alibi," Togami said. "Why else would Ishimaru be near the changing rooms at such a time? He was led there by the culprit."
"You’re wrong,” Kirigiri said. “There was a pool of blood outside the library doors, but none around the changing rooms. It’s likely the victim was moved after his death."
"But… why?"
"We don’t need to know why!" Maizono said. "If Ishimaru-kun was moved after his death, Kirigiri-san couldn’t have moved him! She was unconscious!"
"And if she wasn’t unconscious by that point, after his death… Someone else had to knock her out. This explains the wound on the back of her head.”
"So there-"
"Yes! There was a third party involved!"
"H-hold on!" Fukawa raised a trembling finger at Maizono. "Th-this tubster has no alibi either if her room wasn’t guarded! Who’s to say she’s not the ‘third party’?!"
"You likely don’t have an alibi either, Fukawa-san, considering how late it was," Maizono said.
But it is possible, Kirigiri thought. She hoped it wasn’t. If she had placed her trust in the wrong place this time, could she ever trust someone else?
"Essentially, any of us could be this ‘third person’," someone else said.
"Feh. If I wanted to off Kirigiri, it wouldn’t have been done in such a poor manner." Togami scowled. "Incidentally, the presence of a third person on the scene doesn’t clear her of all suspicion. For all we know, they tried to stop Kirigiri from committing the crime and failed."
"Aren’t we all forgetting the most important thing about a third person?" asked Celes.
"What?"
"If Kirigiri-san and the third person both saw Ishimaru-kun’s corpse, the body discovery announcement would have gone off, correct?"
"The Monobear File does say that Ishimaru-kun died the night before, but we discovered him this morning…"
"Then it’s possible that the culprit moved the corpse from the library doorsbefore rendering me unconscious there," Kirigiri said, her fingers on her chin. "Unfortunately, I’ve mostly lost my memory of the incident because of head trauma."
"A likely story! Maybe nobody hit her but she just fell and hit her head or somethin’, ‘right?!"
"You’ve got that wrong!"
Togami’s frown deepened even further. "What now, Maizono?"
She countered with her own frown and then relaxed. “A big cut was in the door that wasn’t there before the incident happened. Plus, there was a slight trace of blood in it.”
"Your point?"
"I think I understand," Kirigiri said after a minute. "The blood signifies that the damage occurred after the victim’s death. Maizono-san is raising the possibility that the culprit intended to kill me as well."
"Hold it. You could have left that yourself. And if someone wanted you dead, why were you only knocked unconscious?"
"I don’t understand the culprit’s reasoning, myself. Even the selection of victims seems like it was at random."
"Maizono-san’s theory is just that: a theory." Celes put on her best smile before adding: "Nothing suggests Kirigiri-san didn’t simply make that mark in the door herself…"
Kirigiri cast a glance at Monobear. He’s unusually silent, especiallyduring a discussion about defacing school property.
"I don’t see why we don’t bring this trial to a close. Neither of those two have more than circumstantial evidence."
"W-wait! You can’t end this n-"
"Maizono-chi, you can’t let your emotions cloud the truth in front of you! She killed Ishimaru-chi and wiped the handle of the knife clean!"
Wait.
"That’s incorrect. You may not have paid notice, but I wear gloves," Kirigiri said. "There would be no need to wipe away fingerprints."
"No fingerprints were found because of your gloves. End of story."
"But…" Maizono was grasping for straws at this point. "The real culprit would have to clean off their fingerprints because of her gloves!"
"None of us are professionals. We can’t run fingerprint tests."
"Th-then what if something else got wiped off the knife?"
Wait.
"Maizono-san is right," Kirigiri said. Her heart was pounding faster than she thought possible; Maizono’s ideas were nice, and she humored them because they were nice, but she still could have done it and this all could be a farce. "Maybe… maybe blood was wiped off the knife’s handle, considering my head injury drew blood. The culprit could have knocked me out using it after… failing to kill me, perhaps. A last minute decision to frame me."
Silence. Her heartbeat reverberated through her body. The seed of doubt was still blooming; if she had murdered him, blaming another would get them all killed. Her fear bubbled up, about to spill.
Then, finally, Togami shook his head. “That’s nothing but speculation. The slight amnesia is too convenient and there’s nowhere close to any proof that this ‘other culprit’ exists. At least outside the imaginations of a murderer and an attempted murderer.”
"W-wait, please…"
All eyes turned to Chihiro- the brunette- speaking up for the first time since the trial began. It must have been a dozen stares too many but she continued, “We still don’t know what Kirigiri-san remembers…”
"You’d believe her word?"
"I-if we vote wrong, we all die…"
"We have to listen to Kirigiri-san! We have to so we can prove she’s innocent!"
"Thank you Maizono-san, but…"
It was funny. Here she was, thinking she had control over her emotions. She thought herself stoic. Calm. But now she had her jaw clenched and her fists balled in some last-ditch effort to hold back tears.
Emotions are what make us all human…
"That latter part won’t be necessary. This whole time… this whole time, I’ve struggled with the idea that perhaps I am the culprit, due to the fogginess of my memories."
"K-KIRIGIRI-SAN!"
It was the one reaction she hadn’t seen yet out of Maizono—betrayal. Now there it was, etched into her face, draining whatever color she had left.
“It… it can’t be you. Believing in you was all I had left! I…”
“I’m sorry, Maizono-san, but I-“
”I can’t give that up! I’m going to believe in you until the end, Kiri- no… Kyouko.” Maizono choked on the words. “You were there for me when I was afraid, and- even if that was feigned, I still felt like nothing could hurt me when I was with you. You were kind to me! You… you can’t be the culprit!”
Kirigiri felt her resistance buckle, followed by hot tears on her face. She had betrayed Maizono. She was leaving her alone.
She betrayed your trust by trying to have you framed for Kuwata’s murder.
You betrayed her trust by killing and lying when she chose to believe in you.
A good minute passed. Togami eventually spoke, as if it were a chore. “All this has been very touching, but we still haven’t heard whatever incriminating memories Kirigiri supposedly has, at the other plankton’s insistence. Following that, I motion we get to the vote already.”
Kirigiri straightened her back. Now all eyes had shifted to her.
"I recall… last night, though I can’t remember the exact time. I found myself in the hallways on the second floor."
"Why were you there?"
"Let her finish!"
Kirigiri cleared her throat. “I recall the sensations, largely. I do remember something hitting me on the back of the head, but I also remember the feeling of dragging a body. That’s why I feared it must have been me.”
"Kyouko…"
"It seems as if we have the story now. Should we vote?"
"I figure we should."
"Yeah…"
"Upupupupu!"
She refused to turn her head at that unmistakable giggle.
"Are ya punks givin’ up already? Good, ‘cause I was starting to get bored with all your talk!"
"We believe we’ve a conclusion."
"Alright! It’s voting time!"
This was it. This was how it would end. They’d vote on the panels in front of them. Sentence her. Strap her in. Watch her die.
For a moment, she closed her eyes, and heard her father beckon.
"YOU’VE GOT THAT WRONG!"
Kirigiri’s eyes snapped open. That wasn’t her father’s voice. First, it was too feminine. Second, Fujisaki held her frail arm pointed an inch from Monobear’s face.
"Fujisaki, what is it?!”
"Yeah! We know it was her, ‘right?"
"Nyohoho! Looks like Fujisaki-san’s finally got some guts!"
"What d’you mean, guts-"
"ALL OF YOU BE QUIET!" Maizono slammed her hands down again. "We have to listen to what she has to say!"
"Uu… I… I, um…" Chihiro clasped her hands. "I’m sorry for the disturbance, but… I never told you what I saw because of a… a threatening letter I received."
"A threatening letter?"