---

Location:: Cabins
Interacting With:: Taka (@Ammokkx)

---

That response was a jolt to the thief, wincing and grimacing as he flinched from Taka's harsh shout, murmuring "Too loud," before taking a few steps back from the boy and looking to the side. His face slightly contorted into a frown as he pivoted slightly and looked away from the boy, going silent as the shorter boy formed what assumed to be a defensive stance.

And he did all this in a crowded area.

Aurel couldn't help but cringe for a second, shivers being sent down his spine as he shrunk back, to the point where he could be comparable to a shriveled grape at this point. Not only did he have to shout, but the thief began to worry that this drew inadvertent attention to him and began staring at the floor as he began to shuffle back. Was he going to embarrass himself like a couple of days ago? Who knew as he began to take sidelong glances at the door, moving every few inches so often.

He was holding his breath and waiting for an opportunity to bolt out, at least until Taka sort of apologized, causing Aurel to coolly sigh. "Fair, though impossible..."

"Anyways, erm, lets get g-going," he stammered a bit near the end, "I want to see if there's anything missing from the Mess Hall." With that said and done, he gestured, trying his best to not disappear from sight as he squeezed through some individuals, as well as a few people by the entrance to the cabin.

"Pardon me, Himura."

Ayu Usui

Ayu was still crouched down next to Naomi's corpse, further investigating it even as some people left the cabin to go search elsewhere for clues. She was by no means an experienced mortician, but there was a nagging feeling in the back of her head telling her that it had more clues left to reveal. Her thoughts kept wandering what it could be, and kept checking her own personal copy of the Monokuma File. It wasn't telling them something, the information was much too surface-level. Regardless, no matter how much Ayu looked over the corpse, she couldn't find any extra injuries.

...Extra injuries....

As if it struck her like a bolt of lightning, Ayu froze from the realisation. She quickly deposited her student ID and shuffled over to Naomi's neck, briefly hesitating before gently spreading apart the long-dead flesh. She winced at her own action, but nevertheless stared long and hard at the wound. It was much, much more severe than it had appeared at first glance. The wound was extremely deep, but the shape that the flesh had indicated that something got stuck halfway and was forcefully removed.

"...Hiroki," Ayu droned back to her partner. "The killer... had some trouble."

Truth Bullet - Throat wound
Upon further inspecting the wound at Naomi's throat, it appears deeper than initially assumed.
The deeper part of the wound was not a clean cut.

Himura Chikako

...

"..."

...

"Okay, we're going then!"

Chikako was absolutely sick of waiting on both Lilly and Flare to make up their mind, and the lot of them were wasting a lot of the investigation time. While the girl would love to good off in any normal circumstance, the current amount of sheer panic and adrenaline coursing through almost everyone made that much less of an appealing prospect. If she wanted to get out alive of this, it was best to drag these two to investigate with her in hope of finding some clues they couldn't at the cabin. Said cabin was too crowded for her tastes, and you can only gain so much by having everyone be in one place, right?

The Ultimate Rhythm Game Player didn't have too much trouble to drag both Flare and Lilly rather forcefully to Aurel's lab, even if she had to use her beat-up shoulder to drag Lilly. The girl had no muscle, anyway, and it wasn't like she offered too much resistance. Still stung though. Chikako turned around. "Alright, let's look! The killer's gotta have stolen something from here to break into the cabin," she proudly declared before dashing into the building. Chikako quickly started to rummage through every corner of it, despite having never come there before, in the hopes of finding some clue toward the real killer.

The stuffed bunnies in the corner were fucking weird, though.

---

Following Chikako into the building, the floor squealed as Flare’s boots stopped in their tracks. Surveying the room, Flare’s gaze betrayed a tiredness, though that didn’t stop her from continuing her duty. She stepped towards a closet and wiped her fingers over it, but raising her hand to her eyes, not a speck of dust stuck to her fingers.

“Aurel Fuchs, the ultimate thief ... maybe this place must resemble his hideout.” She mused to herself before facing Chikako and Lilly. “I’m gonna check a different lab, you two have this under control.” She didn’t wait for a response as she calmly stepped outside to peer at the cabin beside her.

Releasing a subtle sigh, Flare started her approach of Maiya’s lab, but her mind was drifting away from the investigation. This was the first time she was alone since being cuffed to Lilly. It wasn’t that Lilly was a bad person to hang around, but being tied to them at all times became old very quickly.

A horrible feeling stirred inside her; she felt guilty for being relieved that a murder happened; after all, it was the reason she could be alone like this again. But this wasn’t the time for reflection, there was still the unsolved murder, and it wasn’t gonna fix itself.

Stepping up to the door of Maiya’s lab, Flare reached out to the doorknob, but retracted her hand abruptly. What if she found something bad or incriminating in there, what would she do? A confident relaxed mind was better at handling the situation, taking a deep breath, she went into that attitude and opened the door to walk inside.

For whatever it’s worth, there wasn’t anything special to see, besides the obvious. With a weird talent like ultimate improv engineer, the contents of the lab were fairly ordinary, but the amount of variety on display was frightening. How was anyone supposed to find a clue here? there were so many different things, it would be impossible to determine what could or would be used for a crime.

But overwhelmed by the room, she stumped her toe on a trash bin. With a tiny “Shit!”, the trash came rolling out, revealing something that may be her salvation. “What’s this?” She mumbled as she squatted next to the bin.

Between the junk, there was a coverless CD case, but the CD inside was shattered to pieces. At first glance it could seem like it just broke because Flare pushed the trash bin over, but the pieces were incomplete. The fragments that were there wouldn’t complete the CD; a portion was missing.

Leaving the scene as it was, Flare jogged back to Chikako and Lilly and informed them of her findings, and that would be all she would find at the labs.

Truth bullet - CD Case
An CD case without a cover, along with some fragments of the CD inside. Found in Yukimori’s lab trash bin.

Ayu Usui

It was starting.

Ayu had been investigating the corpse pretty much the whole time, but it gave her and Hiroki more than enough clues to work with. When Monokuma's announcement had come and gone, then, she wasn't particularly upset about it.

"...We should go," she remarked to her partner, looking up at him. "...If you're scared, that's fine. It's normal to feel scared... we'll find the culprit."

It sent some mixed messages to hear those words come out of a face and posture as stoïc and unassuming as Ayu's, but she didn't give Hiroki much more time to dwell on it. The girl yawned into her dangling sleeve and walked out of the cabin, finding her way to the fire pit with ease. Once there, she tried to keep her distance from most others- well, save for Hiroki. Ayu remained silent, otherwise.

(...)

---

Momoe Mizuno

"Tch... not from here, huh?" Momoe growled under her breath as she kicked the door of the supply cabin. It slammed shut with a thud. She leaned forwards and pushed against it, clutching her head, her thoughts dizzy and cloudy, yet clear enough to understand the bear's message. (Only one other place it could've been,) she thought to herself, but she's out of time to linger on it... and what's more, she gave her ace to that damned Hibiki. How unlike her to slip up like that... bastard better not have lost it.

Momoe stumbled over to the fire pit, where a small crowd's amassed. She leaned against a tree, both arms folded. This was a two-part power play; not only did it play up her "too cool for school"(™) attitude, but also, Momoe was tired as all hell. She could use just about anything as long as the fucking thing kept her standing straight in the moment. The girl didn't bat her eye at anyone else, keeping to herself.

(What the hell made the bear choose this of all places...? Something doesn't add up.)

---

Taka Tsuin

Taka and Aurel spent the entire rest of the investigation examining the mess hall, but unfortunately couldn't turn up any clues. Not too much chatter happened between the two of them because of the tense atmosphere, but Taka hadn't been too hostile at least. He thought. Hopefully.

"...Seems we gotta get going," he offhandedly mentioned to Aurel. "I'll meet you back at the fire pit, I guess."

Taka left ahead of Aurel and followed the dirt road. It took him a short while, since the boy wasn't particularly thrilled to get their in a hurry, but he did get there eventually. Some people were already gathered while others had yet to arrive, but Taka took his place somewhat at the center of the crowd. Nobody was saying anything- and actually, that kinda got on his nerves.

"So, anyone got a clue the hell we do now?" he posed the question.

(S-Shit... I don't... even want to think about it...)

---

Chikako Himura

Despite her best efforts, Chikako's search of Aurel's lab didn't amount to much. A part of that was because Flare distracted both her and Lilly with the CD case (what kind of a clue was that, even?) and another part because,

well,

Chikako didn't know what she was looking for, really.

Monokuma's announcement didn't care though; as far as the bear was concerned, time was up. Chikako nervously swallowed her saliva and looked over to the other two girls. "Well," she began, "you heard him. I don't really wanna go, though." She may have admitted her reluctance, but that didn't stop her from dragging the other two with her to the firepit. She was antsy and restless; even though Chikako didn't want to go, in a sense, she was the most hurried out of all of them to get there. Just to get it over with.

Chikako took her spot in the gathering crowd.

"I dunno," she answered Taka. "I guess we each... go over what we found, or something?"

(What a weird place to make us all gather...)

---

Location:: Fire Pit
Interacting With:: N/A

---

Aurel was completely silent as he traversed to the site, trailing behind Taka as the shorter boy departed for the fire pit. The thief only really responded to these statements with a light bob of his head and what appeared to be a weak smile, though it probably would of looked like a smirk to anyone else evaluating the situation.

Despite being the one who initiated this all, Aurel stopped and sighed, staring upwards into the deep blue sky; thoughts drifted like the clouds above as he held his hand out, as if he were a pauper begging for a pence. As Taka went further and further along the main path, eventually disappearing from view, Aurel seem to remain stuck, held there by some invisible force which caused him to become no different than a statue.

Despite the crisp, chilly fall, no wind really blew, his heart sinking for a bit before he bit his lips before turning his head in the direction of the fire pit, no longer averting his gaze as he blinked for the first time in a couple of minutes.

"This is really happening, huh?"

Well, no reason to keep them all waiting, then again, they were probably just as ecstatic as he was as he rotated his head and stepped off the beaten road, taking a more direct approach towards the pit.

The trees masked his approach as he drew ever so closer to the crowd of accumulating students, being able to make out the figures past the obscuring branches, bushes, and foliage. Of course, as he arrived, instead of intermixing with the crowds, he chose to skulk in the shadow of the towering trees, observing them all as he nipped at his finger, astutely listening to any phrases they might say - if they even said anything at all!

---

---

---

Location:: Cabins
Interacting With:: Ayu (@Ammokkx)

---

Hisakawa jumped at the first ding, feeling the hairs stand up on his back before going back down, hands flying off his face as he looked up and then back to the lifeless body of Fuduka. He could only really stare before shaking his head, pressing his fingers against his forehead.

This was completely ridiculous, asinine even; just what brand of reality was sane enough to require him to mull over and determine who was the culprit with the rest of these apathetic 'Ultimates.' There was a tumultuous amount of emotions surging within him right now, leaving him no room for reality right now, till Usui brought him back with that same, monotonous voice.

"Scared? N-no, I'm not scared, I'm fine," he was lightly shaking his hands, "y-yeah... I'm fine." Hisakawa's voice trailed off as his eyes shifted to Fuduka one last time before switching back to Usui.

Standing up, he followed right beside her, silent as they went to the fire pit together. On arrival, Hisakawa lingered only here or there, keeping close to Usui for the most part. While this all felt somber, a few decided to chat it up for a brief moment, but honestly, he had no real answers as he inched away from the others.

"So, uh, Usui," he stammered, staring at his feet before looking at her, "wh-what about you, are you scared?"

Without warning, Monokoma popped up in front of everybody.

"Welcome, welcome, one and all! I'm so glad to see you all, safe, sound... and on time, too! I couldn't be more proud as your counselor. It really brings a tear to my eye..." Monokuma shared with all of his campers, wiping some moisture off of his black dot.

"Ah, but this isn't the time to get sentimental... You're probably wondering something like- 'There's no way the class trial is gonna be held in a place this!' right? Puhuhu... Please stand back, campers."

Fire.

When Monokuma finished speaking, the bonfire lit up its flames- flames that seemed to reach the heavens themselves. The forest didn't catch the blazing fury, luckily, but the scorching heat could nevertheless be felt by those standing around- even when they were the furthest from the raging inferno. The ground was shaking as something heavy, something incredibly large was coming up. The quakes got weaker at the same time the flames calmed, with the latter coiling around that certain something that almost finished rising up from the floor. The flames circled around it, danced without a care in the world. Then, as sudden as it began, the inferno scattered to the wind. Some of the campers felt a light shock wave hit them, fluttering their clothes. A large cross-wired box stood in front of them, like a cage they'd use to lower dangerous animals into an underground combat arena.

"How's that for a show?! Well now campers, this elevator will take all of you to the courtroom. Those who don't come will be punished accordingly, of course. Well, I'll see you there then... Puhuhu!"

With those words, Monokuma vanished again, and the mechanisms of the elevator started to creak. Its large and imposing door slid open with a heavy amount of noise, welcoming its combatants. It sure looked sturdy enough. Everyone stole brief glances from one another, some chatter erupted soon after. Doubts crept across everyone's minds, some shared it in the open. In the end, however, one by one, the sheep entered their pen.

The prisoner's cage shut behind them when the last one stepped inside, and the mechanisms to carry the lot down spun to life not long after.

The atmosphere was palpable. Everyone on edge. Nobody dared talk to each-other. Maybe it was a sign of respect- or of fear. Suspicion over belief, or the other way around. No matter the case, one among them was a murderer. The corpse of Naomi was still fresh on everyone's minds. It weighed on them as the elevator sunk lower and lower and lower. To impossible depths- those that felt akin to being lowered into hell itself. Even then, the ride felt like it lasted much longer than the eternal punishment that would await one there.

The next time the doors would open, it would reveal a courtroom. Fitted with 16 seats, each marked, one a portrait, nothing was left to the imagination. Torches lined the walls, walls which fashioned themselves to look like a mix of limestone and marble. Attached to them was a tribune, albeit an empty one, the fashion that of an old Roman amphitheatre. Monokuma fancied himself the emperor's seat, towering over his subjects. Everyone walked out the elevator, one by one one.

And then each student took their stand.

CLASS TRIAL IN SESSION - ALL RISE!

---

---

"Ahem! Let's begin with a basic explanation of the class trial.

In the class trial, you will each present your arguments for who you think the culprit is, and then vote for 'whoddunit.'

If you vote correctly, only the blackened will be punished. But if you pick the wrong person...

I'll punish everyone besides the blackened, and that person will be able to return home from camp!

Don't even think about not voting at the end! I'd hate having to punish one of you guys!

Now then campers, let's get this exciting, heart-pounding trial started!"

---

It was eerily quiet. Even as Monokuma’s cheerful introduction finished, nobody spoke a word, they hadn’t spoken ever since entering the elevator; how would you even go about starting a conversation as morbid as they were meant to. Judges and juries were trained for years to face this and even then some could crack, a bunch of kids on a deserted island wouldn’t do any better, and yet…

“Listen.” the sandy-haired girl broke the silence. “Whatever you’re all thinking, I’d like you to stop and listen.” Like always, Flare spoke to a calm tune, but no longer devoid of disruptive emotions. Her voice was soft, yet harsh; subtle, but thorough. As she raised her head to face the group, she committed to her words. “Naomi was murdered, we all know it, but we don’t know who did it. I can’t speak for all of us, but I don’t want to let this murder go unpunished. Even if our captors didn’t command us to become detectives, I want the criminal to know that they cannot just kill. So let’s not think about what’s wrong, but about what’s right.”

With her speech finished, she released some tensed up air as she relaxed slightly. She hoped that her words were enough to motivate at least a few of the group to speak up, but to steer the direction forward, she continued on and looked towards Snow.

“Snow… You’ve been so quiet ever since it happened, it must’ve really shocked you… Still, you were the first to see Naomi, I need to know what you’ve seen; is there anything you can tell us?”

Waiting a few seconds after Flare asked her question, Snow finally raised her eyes off of the floor for the first time today. She looked at Flare, and then the rest, before exhaling.

“I don’t know. I don’t know anything you don’t know… I went to bed yesterday, and when I woke up, it had already happened.” As she spoke, her glassy eyes started to melt, and regain the spark that belonged there, and they turned to Monokuma.

“I… I think I’m happy I was asleep. If I had been conscious, who knows what could’ve happened, what I would’ve seen.”

“But I have doubts, about the murderer, the one who killed Naomi. From all the people that could have done it, who would stand to gain the most out of it? Not me, not anyone who got locked up here,” She pointed towards the bear. “But our captors. It should be obvious to see that nobody here would kill anyone over being stuck together for a few days, that’s absurd! But if that bear killed someone and made them believe it was us!? We would start to see killing as a real option for escape… after all, what’s one more corpse on the pile.”

"M-M-Me?!" Monokuma replied bewildered, sweat spontaneously starting to pour from his fur. "N-No! You've got the wrong guy! I swear I didn't do it, officer!" he pleaded with the court.

"Cut the bullshit," another voice piped up, this time that of Mizuno Momoe. She held the tips of her fingers to her forehead, glancing sideways at Snow. "If the bear just wanted us dead, this entire farce wouldn't be going on. If you've nothing to contribute, just shut your mouth and let the smart people handle this."

Ayu chimed in. "...It's definitely one of us," she said, "and Monokuma would give us another motive if it took too long." Taka would be the next to speak up.

"Maybe she's the killer. Trying to pin it on Monokuma to throw us off." He'd crossed his arms and was looking sideways. "I mean, she was chained to Naomi all the time. Just got fed up and... i dunno, stabbed her or something."

Her eyes glanced over to all the other ultimates when she took her place on the stand. This seemed so unreal to her, like what if this was just some bad dream and she was about to wake up in her room. Shaking her head nervously a small sigh followed that as she tried to calm her nerves. Flare was the first person who spoke up. Hitting every ultimate with the truth without holding back, yes, this is what she needed right now. Thinking back on everything that happened. Noami got killed and we are the ones who have to found out who murdered her. Otherwise, everyone in this room gets killed, and that’s the last thing she wanted after what happened. This was now her mission, not letting someone else die even though she didn’t have the power to prevent that. At least she can help everyone solve this case. 

It was now Snow that started to give her opinion and thoughts about this whole thing, after all, she was the one who saw Noami first. Yukimori started to think about how shocked Snow must have been back then. The first thing you see in the morning is a cold body covered with blood… Cutting her thoughts directly off when she was getting distracted once again.
She didn’t agree with Snow’s accusation. Monokuma? No, that couldn’t be the case. When she wanted to speak up to talk about this, someone else did before she could get a word out of her mouth. 

“Hold on. I don’t think Snow is the one who killed Naomi.” Her voice was quiet at first but once she got her words sorted out, she explained her view on this situation. “I investigated the door before going to Naomi’s body because something caught my attention… someone had pulled out the locked end. Why would Snow have to do this? She was handcuffed to Noami all the time, and they had to share a room because of that. Snow wouldn’t need to pull the lockout of the door to reach Naomi if she planned to kill her.” She was nervously fidgeting her fingers. Not sure if this was a good statement or if this would matter a lot but she felt that she had to share this thought. “That’s my opinion of course…”

---

Location:: Courtroom
Aurels Interactions:: Monokuma (@Ammokkx)
Hisakawas Interactions:: Yukimori (@xxlanatjexx)

---

"Yukimori has a good point," Hisakawa chimed in after ruminating to himself for the past few minutes, pressing a finger against the side of his cheek as he looked to the side. "Plus, even if we completely missed that, it just wouldn't make any sense on her part to do so," the finger on his cheek suddenly shot forward, pointing directly at the crowd, waggling his finger between the lot of them.

"It wouldn't make any sense for the killer to commit the crime in their own room. That's just... kind of stupid if you ask me." With a breathy sigh, Hisakawa leaned back, staring up at the flourished red curtains draped on the side; made him think of a stage instead of a courtroom.

Ricocheting back, bringing his finger up once again, "Though maybe we should try t-"

"Uh, I've got a question."

Before Hisakawa could finish, he was, surprisingly, interrupted by Aurel, who had been deathly silent and staring down at the podium ever since the trial started. He honestly suspected that there was a possibility it could of been Aurel, but he would save that reservation for another time, "Uh, sure Aurel, shoot."

Hisakawa watched as the thief sighed, closing his eyes as he brushed the hair out of his eyes, coldly frowning. He couldn't help but swear the guy shrugged before shaking his head; hard to tell if he was being rude or something.

---

Oh god, he actually did it. Aurel could feel the blood rushing through his veins, pumping through every crevice of his body, his heart feeling as if it was going to jump out of his chest and run around this courtroom like a monkey on crack with a gun.

As he brushed the hair out of his eyes, he rolled his shoulders and shook his head, closing his eyes as he mentally steeled himself for what was to come next. Opening them once more, he gripped a fist before clearing his throat, "The question is actually for Monokuma," he uttered, pointing at the bear.

"Oh, uh, ok."

Aurel swore that Hisakawa felt a bit dejected after that and murmured a silent apology under his breath, turning to face the bear. "It has to do with the announcement you made when the body was found."

Retracting his arm and pursing his lips, the thief rested one arm on the back of one of his palms, pressing a finger to the side of his temple as he stared over to the side momentarily, before returning his gaze to the bear. "I want you to give me an explanation over how it works, no details spared."

Monokuma stretched his arms out and leaned forward, barking "How rude! First you all accuse me of murder, and now I'm being interrogated!" at Aurel. The robotic counselor's face was red with fury, his fangs bearing for all to see.

"I want to know too." Ayu muttered. "Monokuma... would you please answer?"

The bear sighed and slumped his shoulders. He looked dejected. "Oh well... I suppose I have no choice if I want to keep this a fair trial. Listen up real good, I'm only saying it once!" their counselor shouted, bringing both hands to the front of his mouth. He explained that "The body discovery announcement will only play once three people have seen the body." To add to that, Monokuma also said "I don't care if the last person to see it was a day late, or if they stumble on it by accident! Only once three of you campers have seen it, and not a second sooner, I'll play the announcement."

Chikako, who'd been silent up to now, piped up to enter her own opinion. "Wait, but what about the killer? Don't they see the body first?" she asked, slamming her hands down on the stand in front of her like she was saying 'Gotcha!' to Monokuma. The bear snickered in response.

"Puhuhu... of course that doesn't count. Buuuut... if the killer were to lead two people to the corpse with them, I'll be nice and play it anyway. I wouldn't want to make it too obvious who the murderer is, after all..."

"Great question, Aurel. Now we're exactly 0 steps closer to solving this." Momoe sneered at Aurel.

"Ryuma got there first... if you count Snow, that makes two," Taka interjected, paused for a moment to swallow, then continued: "and I arrived a little later. I heard it play shortly after I saw Naomi, so the bear's not lying." He looked pale as he said it, and his face tensed up. He started to mumble to himself. "S-Shit... what kind of sick freak does that...?!"

"Maybe Taka did it. I mean, look at him! And he wanted to pin it on Snow, too!" Chikako wildly accused. Taka snapped out of his funk.

"H-Hey, piss off! I didn't do it!"

This was surely a tough situation for Genshi Hamazura. Well, that could be said the same for everyone else involved in this cruel master plan. Yet he knew well there was no use in fretting over his misfortune. All he could do as always was follow along the path that had been ingrained in his soul.
"We can't lose control over our minds just yet, friends. If everyone else will be doing what they can to solve this mystery, I will too," Genshi stated with vigor in his voice. He wasn't an attorney or detective by any means. In fact, his area of expertise laid in the more physical area. Though perhaps something could be gained from it.
"We just need to shift our perspectives. Like the multiple paths of a river, I'm sure we'll find our destination somewhere. For example, the removal of that lock in the door. I haven't seen it myself, but how exactly did it happen?"

Ginshi shifted his attention over to a certain someone. That someone, being Aurel. A smile spread across the martial artist's face, it wasn't one filled with malice, but rather with it's usual confidence."Aurel, what do you think? I'm sure as The Super Highschool-Level Thief, you'd have a good idea as to how someone could sneak into a room. I'd like to hear your opinion on that."

---

Location:: Courtroom
Aurels Interactions:: Chikako, Taka (@Ammokkx), Ginshi (@KenjuGuy)
Hisakawas Interactions:: Aurel (@Savo), Ginshi (@KenjuGuy)

---

"... no, that isn't it."

Aurel spoke up, barely above a whisper, snapping his fingers before pointing it at Chikako, momentarily before being cut off by Ginshi, causing the thief to retract his arm back instantly, as if he was flinching. He could wait, he suppose, fidgeting around for a moment as he made his own proclamation before turning the spotlight back to the thief.

"Huh?" With a gulp, Aurel held a fist to his mouth and cleared his throat, "Uhm, I mean, I c-can answer that in a sec', but let me finish addressing this whole debacle we have first." With a sigh, he returned his gaze over to Chikako before pointing at her.

"Anyways, it's impossible for Taka to be the killer, same goes for Snow and Ryuma; those statements Monokuma make that abundantly clear" Aurel crossed one arm across his chest while resting his elbow on his hand, pressing his middle and index fingers against the bridge of his nose, humming to himself.

"I mean, I see where you're going with this Aurel. Taka wouldn't count since Monokuma stated that the killer needs to lead two people with them to the corpse; Taka only lead Ryuma."

"Precisely, but it's a lot more than that," he rapped and tapped at the bridge of his nose with both of his fingers for a moment, before extending his arm out, palms open, "I can infer Monokuma just came up with the rule as well. Even if he didn't, no one knew about this rule making it nigh impossible for anyone to take advantage of it."

With a sigh, Aurel looked down at the monitor crossing his arms once more and tapping the side of it, "So yeah. Unless anyone disagrees with this assessment, I believe we are three steps closer to determining who murdered Naomi."

---

"Well, you do kind of has a good point," Hisakawa uttered, scratching the back of his neck while pointing at the thief, "but anyways, with that out of the way, at least for now, mind answering Ginshi's question?"

"Uh, sure," Hisakawa watched as the thief bobbed his head up and now, rapping his fingers on the side of the podium as he stared down at the monitors. He could only watch Aurel with a scrutinizing intent, squinting at him as he tapped the bottom of his chin.

"It's just as Yukimori said, it was yanked out, not very cleanly I m-might add. It's less sneaking and more brute forcing the door open. They probably did it using a crowbar or something, but I'm not entirely sure."

And with that, the emotionless thief came to a close, almost looking blankly at all of them. Hisakawa sighed; outside of noticing a bit of nervousness, there was nothing to glean from this, besides whatever he inferred. Shrugging, he ruffled his hair before extending an arm out, "Maybe we should move on from the door for now? As far as we know someone broke in by force, but we aren't completely sure how they might of done it, or how long it might of took."

Suddenly he snapped his fingers before looking around and sheepishly retracting them, "Er, maybe establishing the time she was murdered might give us more ideas about the time-frame it took to break in? I mean, thats been on my mind for a while and I might have an idea of the time, but want to hear your guys opinions first."

She nodded slightly at Ginshi’s statement about the fact that they can’t lose control now, this wasn’t the time to just randomly accuse people of murdering someone. We have to find the real killer together even if they have to go through the lies, tips, and mistakes of the real killer. It didn’t occur to her sooner that Aurel, the ultimate Thief, would know more about this lock or at least give them some kind of detail they would have missed and could be of great help for the investigation. 

After the small discussion about the fact if Taka killed Noami or not she cleared her throat a little before speaking up. “If you don’t mind me coming in between your conversations.” straightening her back and adjusting her skirt a little to calm her nerves for speaking up she continued. “We can already confirm that Snow, Taka nor Ryuma have a possibility of killing Noami if I heard it correctly that is… Only leaving 12 of us that could have killed her.”

Her big blue eyes focused on Hisakawa as he talked about the time where the murder could have occurred. “Let’s see… I’m sure this happened during the nighttime. Since our Monopad says that the time of death was probably between 10:00 PM and 7:00 AM, the beginning and end of nighttime.” She glanced over to Monokuma for confirmation but kept her focus on the investigation when she came up with a small solution to find more information about the time of death.

“I want to propose something to all of you. What if we start by telling each other what we did during that time… This may sound super silly and obvious, you may think, ‘Yeah sure Yukimori, but the killer could lie about what they did during that time?’”

She sighed and continued “Yes, I know. I thought about that too, believe me. This is where the handcuffs come in handy… they have partnered us all up with someone right? Leaving us alone with that person for a whole day, besides the 20 minutes you could unlock the handcuffs. That time resets during nighttime… So going over who used their 20 minutes that day won’t be useful. But what might be is a small sketch of what you did during nighttime and if you noticed anything weird about your partner or things around you that might help us further with the investigation.”

With this, she grabbed her chest lightly, while she breathed out calmly. Hoping that this would be helpful otherwise she just pulled all her courage together to give this speech for what? Nothing... At least she tried, right?

---

A finger twitched, an eyebrow raised, a feet tapped the floor. It was all Snow could do to contain herself from going all out when Momoe and Taka insulted and accused her. They had already proven to be trouble-making brats, but pointing their barbaric tendencies at Snow just made her feel gross. As she glared daggers at the two, she took a step back from the counter. The conversation went in all kinds of directions to prove her innocence, but she didn't need help; didn't want it. and Aurel and Maiya trying to white knight her didn’t score any points either. Yet when Maiya spoke again, Snow just had to comment on it.

“Tinkerbell, you cannot be this Gullible.” She sighed. “Of all the things to ask, why this trivial question? I can tell you right now that I was asleep during the night, and good luck finding a different answer from the others. Even if they were awake, telling us all now only makes you more suspicious!” In tune with her pent up frustration, she raised her voice as her arms started moving to her words. “And don’t even try asking about the 20 minutes rule, because every single one of you is dense enough to continue sleeping like a sheep as your partner uses their 20 minutes! Like, my god, it’s like you’re trying to derail the trial when you know that our lives are on the line. You do know that right?” Not feeling ready to settle down, she took another breath and pointed her finger towards Momoe. “And don’t you dare say something witty and obnoxious again! I am sick and tired of your attitude and if you can’t behave like a proper lady, just stay back with that cross-dressing prick and let us get out of trial alive!” Releasing all the stress, she breathed out slowly and crossed her arms.

Taka's eyes twitched, his legs shook. He couldn't help but respond with shock and appall. "Crossdressing pri-?! What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Taka snapped back at Snow. While he was busy fuming hard enough to put an entire industrial district to shame, Momoe calmly tapped her finger on her chin.

"Tinkerbell's got a point..." she calmly responded, a wry grin on her face. "You may have been sleeping- but I didn't. Isn't that right, Aurel?" she posed the question. Momoe didn't give him much time to reply though, instead opting to continue her little retort: "Neither of us has slept a wink ever since the cuffs cropped up. We were too busy lovingly staring into each-other's eyes- I just can't get him out my mind!"

As Momoe snickered, Chikako shouted from the other end of the room. "So, what of it? Couldn't you guys have separated while everyone else was asleep?"

"Not even for a moment. Betcha if I tried, the thief would just follow me around like a puppy anyway. Can't say I blame that lack o' trust though," Momoe replied. "That knocks down the suspects list by two, yeah? Let's make it three, though, just for the princess. Shirou," Momoe leaned forward, her right elbow resting on the counter. "you like doing some exercise in the morning, right? I saw you from outside my cabin. Far as I could tell you didn't come anywhere close to Naomi's."

"Don't really like what you're suggestin' there lady," Izo chimed in from Momoe's left, with a tilt in his accent, and a subtle smirk across his lips. He had stood silent for most of the trial thus far, watching, listening. Not thinking too much. He had his ideas - though he hadn't gotten to see if they were right firsthand, he was still confident. As he spoke, he pulled himself up to sit on the pseudo-desk and slouch against the divider. No matter which way she'd been sliced, the truth would come out regardless. Plant the seeds, Izo reasoned, and the others would take care of it for him. "'Cause, I mean, I was out all night drinking with Monokuma. Ain't that right fuzzball?"

"Could you take this seriously for once, Izo?" came Shirou's voice, from across the room, nearly opposite to him. It was loud - angry, almost. Probably the most annoyed the hero had sounded since they arrived at the camp, cutting off Izo's wink towards the throne with his temper. "Yes, you're right, Momoe. I think I mentioned this a few days ago, but I wake up at five every morning to train. The time limit's caused my route to increase my pace a bit, but each morning I run along the path to the main gate and back. As far as I could tell, Izo hasn't left the cabin on any of the days we've been together, so I believe he's innocent."

"Actually, while we're on the subject of 'where people were' and all that," began Izo again. Shirou shot a cold glare across the room at him, spreading the width of his smirk even further. Everyone in the room had been going in circles since they started, barely anything had been contributed, and nearly everyone had spoken. He hadn't wanted to do any work, but they had made it hard not to speak up. His gaze fell to Shirou's right, onto Snow. Unlike the rest of the trial, the look was hard, as though it stared clean through her and beyond, dissecting her being from the outside-in without remorse. "Any idea where your girlfriend was last night? That blood all over your bed must have been hours old, the lock on your door was forced, and she's got a bloody fishhook in her hand? - pfft, well, sounds like we've got a beat of the ol' cheatskie-doodle happenin' here folks. You didn't even notice she was missing, or dead! Some lover you are, huh?"

---

To be honest, Snow didn’t really want Momoe to fire back at her, but being ignored like she was put a scowl on her face to match the most childish pouts. luckily for everyone involved, the scowl didn't last long as her attention drifted towards the actual content that Momoe brought to the table, even Snow could admit that the one-eyed predator had a way with words.

Unfortunately Izo’s condescending nature shone ever brightly right now, putting even Shirou in a foul mood. If Snow’s arms weren’t crossed already they’d fly into position immediately when Izo addressed her.

“Haven’t I suffered enough? I am a victim here, just like …” She stopped herself from finished the sentence, doubt causing her eyes to drift to the floor. “I … slept through it, all of it. Or well, I think I couldn’t wake up. When I opened my eyes this morning, My mind was hazy and hurt a lot, and I felt a bump on the back of my head.” She reached for her injury as she returned her gaze to Izo. “If I was knocked unconscious, I wouldn’t wake up whatever happened… and I think Naomi did it. I would definitely wake up if someone tried to break the lock in the middle of the night, it had to have been someone in the room with me … But I can’t wrap my head around why?”

“Why she did it doesn’t matter right now, it’s more important to gather all the information we can before getting into the motive. Thank you for telling us, I’m starting to see the bigger picture.” Flare assured Snow with a nod, to which Snow only responded by averting her gaze.

“If it is true that Naomi 'put Snow to sleep', She would have no problem removing her handcuff and leaving the cabin. Momoe, Aurel, if you were truly awake, didn't you hear anything last night?”

---

Location:: Courtroom
Aurels Interactions:: Flare (@addamas)
Hisakawas Interactions:: Aurel

---

"Of course," Aurel responded after appearing to have some quiet contemplation for the last few seconds of their discourse, looking to the side as he rubbed the bottom of his chin with his index finger, shivering for a moment. "There was a clanging sound; pretty loud and annoying, if nothing else," he murmured, and for a moment cutting eye contact to glimpse at Momoe, eyebrows drooping briefly before his gaze returned to Flare.

"Wait, but if you heard something, why didn't you both bother intervening? If you two did, we might not have to have this entire trial," Hisakawa pointed out as much as he pointed his finger, staring in disbelief at the thief, shaking his head as if this was one bad joke.

Aurel couldn't help but visually wince, shrinking back a bit as he awkwardly stared at the monitor "We... kind of used up our twenty minutes that day..."

"But it resets at midnight, surely you could of... erm, sorry, I'm getting off track, just forget it," Hisakawa murmured, covering his face with both of his hands for a second, completely exasperated before looking back up to each of the other students, to the crudely marked out stand where Naomi could of stood, then back to the crowd.

"Well, what about the murder weapon? While there was a bloodied fish hook, I find it a bit hard to believe that was used to slit her throat. Did anyone find anymore clues?"

All the while this was going on, Aurel remained silent, eyes glazed as they grew wider and wider. Cupping his mouth, the thief initially appeared contemplative, though that betrayed the true nature as he cupped his mouth, initially appearing contemplative. What was hiding beneath, however, was a trembling bit lip, shivering profusely. It seemed he was a bit paler than usual as well as he peeked over at Snow for a second before going back to his stand.