Fanganronpa: Destination Despair

Part 2/Chapter 13

 "Juuuuust as a lil' reminder..." Monokuma began. "During the class trial, you all will find out who the killer is! If you pick the wrong person, then everyone but the killer gets punished! If you pick the right person, then only they will be punished!" Monokuma laughed. "Now... Go ahead and begin!"

"...So where are we even supposed to start on this one?" Ishibuko asked. "I mean, it was a suicide, right? So that means the killer would still be Yukiya! Meaning we already know who did it!"

"That may be true but... We still need to figure out why they did it." I said.

Ishibuko let out a prolonged sigh. "Who cares? If we already know then can't we just GET ON WITH IT?!" he yelled.

"I-I'm not going to let that happen..!" Hikari shouted. "Yukiya was my best friend... I need to find out why they'd do such a thing..!"

"Well... Hikari, since you two were good friends, then could you tell us a bit about her?" Chidori asked.

"Huh..? What do you m-mean..?" she asked.

"Well... Did they seem like the type that would do something like this..? From my point of view, they were fine, but they didn't give off... A depressed aura." he noted.

"...That's where you'd be wrong." I suddenly said.

"What? But, I mean... It's true, isn't it..?" he asked.

"No, not entirely. I mean, sure, they didn't exactly look depressed, but that doesn't mean they weren't struggling..! They could've been hiding it the whole time..." I casted my gaze downwards.

"...I-If it helps... They never mentioned anything sad to me either. I don't know a l-lot about them, to be honest, but w-we bonded over a lot of things... So... We kinda b-became friends... But I still don't understand why'd they do s-something l-like this..." I could see tiny tears forming in her eyes.

"That's actually a rather good point." I said. "I mean... Hikari, you were in the middle of a sleepover with Yukiya when they went missing, right?" I asked.

"Y-Yes, that's right." she said.

"...So why would they kill themselves during your plans..?" I wondered.

"I'm unsure about that as w-well..." Hikari sighed.

"Ah, they were having a sleepover?" Amy asked.

"Yeah. Do you wanna explain Hikari..?" I asked.

"U-Um... Sure... B-But there's not really much t-to it..." she noted, but continued. "...Yukiya and I made plans to have a sleepover a few hours before. So them and I met u-up together at night. We were having fun, when suddenly... They t-told me that they wanted to go get something from the thrift store... I insisted on going with them, b-but they refused to let me go..." she sniffed. "I-I wish I would've g-gone n-now..."

"...It's okay, Hikari. We understand how you feel..." I told her.

"...You mentioned the thrift store, correct?" Allie asked.

"Hm..? O-Oh, yes..." Hikari answered.

"That's where Amy and I were. We never ended up seeing them pass by or anything. We only saw one other person." she told us.

"One other person?" Aiko asked. "Who?"

"Oh, um..." I raised my hand. "That was probably me."

"Huh? Huh? Huh? Why was Sachi with Amy and Allie?" Haru gasped. "Wait! You weren't doing drugs, were you? Because drugs are very, very bad! Mommy and Daddy told me so!"

"No, it wasn't anything like that. Allie came and got me from the hotel because Amy wanted to see me. Apparently they had some ideas about a book cover and music, and he wanted to show me. After that, I went back. That's actually about when Hikari told me Yukiya went missing." I explained.

"You and Hikari met up? Where?" Tomoka asked.

I nodded. "When I got back to the hotel, I saw Hikari in the lounge. She told me that Yukiya was missing, so we went to get as many people as we could to help search for them. But... We had no idea that... They were..."

"Yes, yes, we get the point. No need to get all whiny about it." Izumi

cut me off. "The real thing that bothers me is something else."

"Huh? What bothers you..?" Mirai asked. "Something about the case?"

"Well, yes, obviously." she rolled her eyes. "I noticed that whenever Sachi and Hikari came and, rather rudely, woke everyone up, Ishibuko, Amy, and Allie weren't there. I understand that Amy and Allie were at the thrift store, since Chidori and I found them there. But where did Ishibuko come from?"

"Wait, what? Dude, I was just at the store in the first area." he put his hands on his hips.

"...What were you doing there at such an hour?" Izumi asked.

"I was just getting guitar strings. Some of the ones on my guitar broke while I was finishing up practice. Got it?" he said harshly.

"Do you have anyone to back up your alibi?" she questioned.

"Actually... Yes, he d-does." Hikari said. "I saw him when I was in the l-lounge. I tried to get him to stop so he w-would help me look for Yukiya, but he just ignored me... After that is w-when Sachi came."

"And why didn't her stop?" Izumi asked.

"Look, I just didn't have the time! I try to be in bed by midnight, and I was already cutting it close!!" he shouted.

"Aww, does little baby rock star have a bedtime?" Allie laughed. "How pathetic."

"Sh-shut up!!! Leave me alone!" he yelled, blushing.

"Wow. He can't even come up with a comeback. How weak, indeed." Amy agreed.

"I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!!" Ishibuko screamed.

"Actually, you told me to shut up, not Amy." Allie said.

"WELL BOTH OF YOU SHOULD JUST SHUT UP!!!"

"...Anyway..." I said, the second-hand embarrassment creeping in. "Izumi... You sound suspicious of Ishibuko. Why is that? I mean... It was a suicide, y'know? What could he have done?"

"Hm? Oh, was it not obvious?" she asked.

"Obvious? What are you talking about?" I questioned.

"This case... It isn't a suicide."

--

damn ishibuko calm down D-D