Pants on Fire || SaiOuma

Chapter 6; The Trial

I'd like to say;
If anyone knows any credits for any of the art I use in this book - or in any of my other books -, please let me know so I can add them!

- THIRD PERSON POV -

"Well then..
The culprit is Gonta."

This statement wasn't very shocking to either Kokichi - who was the one saying it - or to Shuichi.
However, the detective of course had to act shocked and confused.

Statements flew around the room about how Kokichi was lying and there's no way the Gonta could have killed Miu.
Eventually it was Kaito's turn to express his displeasure with Kokichi's statement. And at the end of his rambling he turned to Shuichi. "You think so too, right sidekick?"

Everyone in the class seemed to hold their breath as they waited for Shuichi's hesitant response.
"I... I think we should explore the possibility.. Just in case."
Kiibo nodded, "I do agree.. As a percautionary measure, that's all.. We should discuss the possibility in order to remove Gonta from suspicion."

The room fell into arguments. Shuichi only sighed. The trial would never move forward when they're all split up like this-

"Hold it!"
And eerily high-pitched voice had interrupted the useless bantering in the class.
"You guys seem pretty evenly split-" Fuck, Shuichi shouldn't have thought that cursed word, "-Know what thaaat meeaannssss?!"

The whole room seemed to let out a collective groan and roll their eyes.
Monokuma let out a 'Puhuhu' before continuing. "It's tiiime for a scrum debate!"

Every podium flew into the air, and everyone argued as they normally do whenever the trial came in this direction.
"The truth is, Gonta could have comitted this murder!"

And like that, the scrum debate had ended. Kaito was clearly distraught. "Shuichi... Kokichi must be changing you.. you're falling into his trap..!"
The detective only sighed and shook his head. "That's not it at all..! It's just.. If we don't explore every possibility, the truth will never be revealed."

Kokichi watched with stars in his eyes at the way Shuichi calmly spoke. The fact that he could still be confident like that despite the fact that their plan was a rather stressful thing..
The detective claimed to search for the truth, even though moments later he'd need to lie to his classmate's faces.
That took guts.
And, boy, was Kokichi into it.

And so the trial continued, Kokichi taking the lead and explaining the whole trial. However, it was a mystery to both boys why Gonta didn't remember. At this point, he would have made a mistake that gave him away if he did, so what was going on?
As the blunette explained how Gonta must've had the user error, the trial was pretty much over.

The rundown of the case.
The voting.
And now, everyone's favorite part, the true motive behind the murder.

Alter-ego Gonta stood in front of them, his chibi expressions would have been adorable if it weren't for the situation.
And as Kokichi and Gonta explained the motive together, the class was in shock.

Maki glared daggers at Kokichi. "This is your fault Kokichi."
Tsumugi had begun sobbing ugly tears, practically shaking. She hated seeing Gonta and her other classmates need to go through this.
Himiko spoke about how she'd save the entomologist if she had enough MP.

However Gonta stepped in. "No.. Everyone, please no blame Kokichi! It not his fault.." Kokichi allowed what appeared to be real tears fall out of his eyes.
They were real tears.
Everything about this was against his moral code. What he was doing was disgusting. He liked Gonta, he was one of the few people that could tolerate him. He didn't want the poor boy to die..
But he had to.

They all watched in terror as Gonta was executed in one of the most brutal ways possible..
The fire at the end seemed to serve no purpose other that torturing the students watching. Making them watch their friend's dead corpse be burned? That had to be one of the most despair-enducing things Monokuma's ever done.

After everyone finished processing what had happened, they all turned to Kokichi.

"What was the motive? What's the outside world?"
"Tell us!"
"Kokichi, if you really cared about Gonta then you'd tell us-"

"I... don't want to.." Kokichi almost appeared sad as he quivered in his place.
The whole room seemed to hold it's breath. The walls were tense, the ultimates were tense, fuck it - even Monokuma was tense.

"I don't want to stupid head!" He let out a maniacle laugh, making sure the evil in his eyes was clear.
A sickining aura of malice surrounded him. His facial expression only added on to the fear that the majority of the room felt. "You guys fell for all that fake crying?! Pleaase! I only did that so Gonta would feel better! He would really freak out if I revealed my true intentions to him!"
For a moment, even Shuichi felt scared. Then he looked deep into Kokichi's eyes and saw the nearly undetectable twinge of true regret, and suddenly he wasn't so afraid anymore.

Kaito looked ready to charge at the leader. Send him flying into a wall. Make him pass out and lock him up in a makeshift prison where he'd never see the light of day again. However, he first turned to Shuichi. "Sidekick.. Did you know about this..?"

The detective and the leader made eye contact, the smaller sending a slight nod of confirmation as no one was looking.
Shuichi put on the best evil grin he could, letting out a sickeningly sweet giggle. "O-Of course I did!" The bluenette walked away from the large group of classmates and stood at Kokichi's side. He wrapped his arm around the shorter boy.

"See, Kokichi taught me the best thrills of life long ago. By the time we walked together after waking up from the dream, there was no saving me..!"
Kokichi hummed. Clever. Make it seem like it was completely out of their control and that Shuichi had been hypnotized ages ago. He didn't even think about that one!

Maki glared daggers at Kokichi. "You.. You brat! I'll end you." Her voice was dark and menicing. It sent shivers down Kokichi's spine, and of course his beloved noticed.
However, Kokchi wriggled out of Shuichi's grasp and walked closer to Maki. "Do it then."

Before anything else could escalate, Kaito coughed.
And coughed.
Holy shit he was coughing up blood..!

The detective's instinct was to run over and make sure Kaito was okay, but he had to fight the urge to do so away. As everyone fussed over the sick man, Kokichi and Shuichi slipped away in the confusion.

"Good job, Shumai!" Kokichi spoke in the elevator. "You did soooo well with the whole evil thing! I would've believed it myself if we hadn't set it up together!"
Shuichi felt a blush creep up on him due to the complement. "Th-Thanks.. You did well, too.." He paused for a moment before continuing. "So.. what next..?"
"I'll show you."

The two walked hand-in-hand to the rock which had gotten slowly filled with more and more letters since day one.
At this, the detective allowed himself to be confused. "..The rock with the graffiti..?"
Kokichi nodded with a giggle, crouching down and grabbing a sharpie from his pocket. As the letters were filled in, the whole thing suddenly clicked for him.

'This world is mine
Kokichi Ouma'

The message sent chills down your spine.
Shuichi tilted his head at Kokichi. "..So it was you all this time?"
Kokichi only giggled and nodded. "Yuppers! Except for the Horse A part.. I didn't do that one. It was already like that when I found it."

The detective nodded in understanding. "I see... I wonder what Horse A meant, then.."
And the leader shrugged. "Maybe it's a clue."