Danganronpa vG: Goodbye Magic

by witegrlninja

Off the Rails - Deadly Life 1

*ding dong bong bing*

"A body has been discovered!" Monokuma announced with glee from a nearby monitor. "Everyone, please make your way to the Lake Despair Sawmill!"

The Body Discovery Announcement was nearly drowned out by my screaming, which quickly gave way to heaving and vomiting up what little was in my stomach. The scene before me was so unbelievably nauseating, so horrific... my body threatened to collapse and my consciousness went blank and spotty.

Next to one of the partially-sawed halves of bloody timber, Soarin' was slumped on the floor in a half-sitting, half-leaning position... well, part of him was, anyway. His blood-spattered body had been sawed in two as well, starting from his crotch and then upwards in a messy diagonal line to just below his right armpit. Multiple splinters of wood ranging from slivers to chopstick-sized were stabbed into the ragged flesh at all angles. The other half of him, his ripped intestines and all their contents spilled out into a stinking pile, resting in a pool of cold, coagulated blood. A thick, black cord was wrapped around his neck, familiar headphones hanging off of one end.

Oh... Celestia...!

Having heard our screams, the others were quick to find us. Every one of them screamed as well as soon as their eyes laid upon Soarin'.

"AAAAH! HOLY FUCKING HELL, WHAT IS THIS?!" Silver shrieked, darting away almost as quickly as she'd come, barely able to finish her sentence before beginning to retch.

"S-Soarin'... w-why...?" Sunburst gasped, a hand on his chest in an attempt to calm himself.

"KUSO..." Kotenage trembled, in anger and in fear. "KUSO... KUSO... KUSO...!"

"I... I can't believe it..." Sunset wheezed, still trying to catch her breath. "Who... W-Who would do this to someone? Anyone?!"

"A murderer, that's who," Sugarcoat responded matter-of-factly, glumly staring at Soarin's corpse. "One of us did this... one of us..."

An uneasy silence pounded in my ears, punctuated by the sounds of heavy breathing.

One of us did this.

No... no...

One of us murdered Soarin'.

I didn't want to believe it.

One of us... did this...

Even as I looked away, all I saw was blood and entrails. They stained my vision like permanent ink, even after I rubbed my eyes in an attempt to rid myself of them.

"Indigo... where's Indigo?!" Sugarcoat's voice wavered. "W-Where is she?! S-She didn't do this... right?! Right?!" My breath hitched as I realized Indigo was still not part of our group. Immediately my mind filled in the blanks.

Indigo... she couldn't have... did she...?!

The last to arrive, Mountain sank to the ground in shock, ignoring the pain in her leg. Nobody spoke another word... what the hell could any of us possibly say? Especially when Soarin' had died so violently?

*boing!*

*Rise and Shine, Ursine!*

Right on cue, Monokuma and his Kubs appeared before us from the shadows. While most of the bears were doing their best to keep from laughing, Monophanie stared wordlessly at Soarin's remains. She started to sway back and forth, and then...

"...BLRGHBLRBLRGHBLRBLRGHBLRB!" Monophanie unleashed a torrent of green, sparkly liquid from her mouth, barely spinning around in time as to not get it on any of us or the body.

"Ooh, a vomit-soaked entrance! How novel!" Monokuma laughed.

"Aw, she puked again!" Monotaro giggled. "And it's green this time!"

"Monophanie's green puke's said to be an omen of bad luck and disaster!" commented Monosuke.

"What da fuck is about to happen?!" yelled Monokid.

"So... why did another moider happen?" Monosuke smirked.

"Why, indeed..." said Monotaro. "And to saw the poor sap in half like this?! Talk about overkill!"

"I don't know why..." Sunset sucked in a breath and glared at our captors. "...But I bet it had something to do with your motive! This is all your fault!"

"Yea! None of this would have ever happened if it weren't for you!" Flash shouted defiantly, albeit hollowly. None of us were really in the mood to argue our case... not after what we'd seen.

"Heh... is that so? Seems like one of yous had their own ideas," Monosuke grinned. "Now... dont'chus gotta investigation to start?"

"H-How? How do we start investigating t-this?!" Silver swooned nauseously.

"I don't... feel so good..." Sonata whined.

"We... have to, guys," I swallowed, my saliva thick and sour. "I know it's gonna suck, but... we have to."

"That's right!" Monokuma nodded, sharing a glance with his Kubs. "Overcoming this will bring everyone closer together... that's been the case so far... right?"

"Their bond gets stronger with each trial, don't it?" Monokid crossed his arms.

"It do! Moidas are necessary to bring everyone closer together!" Monosuke laughed.

"Don't mock us..." Sunset glowered, fists clenched. "You guys don't know a damned thing about friendship!"

"So let's get started! Conduct a friendly investigation, and then we'll have a friendly trial! Ah, but we must distribute these first." Monokuma's eye glowed briefly as I heard the Monopad in my backpack ping.

"...By the way, I've been thinking," Monotaro said as he rested his paws behind his head, "...you guys should really knock off all this killing and dying."

"Yea... dying is soooo lame. Living is all da rage these days!" Monosuke chuckled.

"...BLRGHBLRBLRGHBLRBLRGHBLRB!" Monophanie violently puked again.

"AHH! More green puke! This is really unlucky!" Monotaro jumped. At this, the Monokubs and Monokuma fled into the woods with mocking laughter. Monophanie remained behind until she finished emptying her stomach on the floor and shuffled away.

*So long, bear well!*

Now that they were gone, I reluctantly dragged my eyes back towards the gore.

One of us had murdered poor Soarin'. But with his body in such terrible condition... how in Equestria were we supposed to investigate it? My every instinct was screaming at me to run away, yet my legs felt like lead jelly.

Celestia, I... really don't wanna touch that...

"YOU. I bet you did this!" Sugarcoat immediately pointed a finger at Mountain. Mountain slowly, simply and plainly looked up to meet her gaze.

"...Are you serious?" she deadpanned.

"Er, I find that possibility highly unlikely," Sunburst frowned.

"She killed Juniper last time... who's to say she wouldn't try again?!" Sugarcoat screeched.

"She's also injured," stated Flash. "Not to mention she escaped death once before. I don't think she'd try it again." Sugarcoat huffed a few times before sighing.

"...Alright, fine. But Indy's still missing... where the fuck is she?!" she yelled.

"I don't know... but we're gonna have to wait to find her," I grimaced. "We have to investigate Soarin's murder."

"She's right, this has to come first," Memento nodded as she stared down at Soarin's remains, sighing heavily after a moment. "...Fuck."

"We can do this, guys. Kotenage, you feel okay with guarding the body?" asked Flash. "I'll keep watch with you if you want."

"HAI... ARIGATO, FLASH," Kotenage nodded, shuddering. "I WAS NOT LOOKING FORWARD TO DOING THIS ALONE."

"Well, let's all split into pairs and get this over with," said Sunburst. Practically everyone took off away from the sawmill, not wanting to look at the body any longer. I couldn't blame them... this was going to be awful.

*Investigation Start*

I pulled out my Monopad and opened up the Monokuma File, greeted by a pink human shape that had been torn in two. I swallowed hard and read the file, barely able to bring myself into speaking in a monotone. "The victim is Soarin', the Ultimate Soccer Star. The victim was discovered sawn into two halves in the Lake Despair Sawmill. Time of death is estimated to be 2:10am. Cause of death appears to be strangulation."

"Aw, man..." Memento groaned as she slipped on her second surgical glove. "This is gonna be rough, even for me... I hate it when they're super messy. Usually I get to at least clean them first..."

"Just let us know if you find something suspicious," Sunset called out from a few feet away as I glanced over the body. I couldn't even look at Soarin' for more than a few seconds at a time, not without feeling a stinging, sour emptiness trying to buck its way out of my throat and into my mouth.

C'mon, Starlight... you can do this... you have to do this...

I willed myself to keep my eyes on him. At first it was hard to make anything out due to all the blood. I decided to start with the black cord Memento was currently unwrapping from around Soarin's throat. "Hey, aren't those Indigo's headphones?"

"Exactly what I was thinking," Memento nodded. "I wouldn't have thought the cord was strong enough to not snap if used to strangle someone, but it's actually pretty sturdy." I flinched as she suddenly pulled out a pocketknife from her scrubs.

Oh... she's gonna... oh...

"Let's see, here..." I turned my head away as I heard the knife make contact with flesh. It happened to be in the direction Sunset was approaching me from.

"Well, a bottle of machine oil is missing from the rest of the supplies, and the sawblade's got plenty of oil on it," she said. "Other than that, though, I don't see anything out of the ordinary- oh, sweet Celestia..." She made a face, presumably because of watching Memento cut into Soarin's body.

"You're telling me," Memento replied, grimacing behind her surgical mask.

"WHY DID I AGREE TO THIS POSITION IN THE FIRST PLACE...?" Kotenage lamented, watching the autopsy through one squinted eye, the other closed up tight. Flash simply swallowed, his lips sucked into his mouth. As Memento's knife traced its way up into Soarin's neck, his body shifted. Just enough for his left hand to open slightly.

Something was there.

"Hey, what's this?" I mumbled as I pinched the object on its corner and pulled carefully. The object left his hand easily - it was a crumpled piece of paper as big as a napkin, stained with blood and a black dust.

"Looks like a note," said Sunset, her eyes dancing over the paltry amount of text. Much of it had been smudged with the black dust to the point of being completely illegible. "To S... uh, I think it says 2am? ...Might've... way out. From S."

"To S, from S?" Flash growled. "But there's like, seven of us with a name that starts with S!"

"I know... it looks like whoever wrote this might've written out their names, but it's too smudged to figure out who they are."

"Well, I can't say I've ever seen this note before," I frowned. "I know I would've mentioned something to you guys if I did."

"Me nei-" Sunset began to say, but her eyes suddenly went wide. "...Oh. OH. Fuck."

"What's wrong?" asked Flash.

"That... that must've been what she said..." Sunset muttered to herself, her body shaking.

"WHAT WHO SAID?" Kotenage added worriedly.

"Indigo... last night, we were talking by the fire pit," explained Sunset, her voice quivering. "She was still upset about earlier with her and Sugarcoat, and I was trying to calm her down. It seemed to work well enough, but as we went our separate ways she yelled something to me... I only caught part of it because I was shutting my cottage door, but when I opened it again to yell for her to repeat herself she was already gone... I-I figured it wasn't that important..." Her voice trailed off as she stared at the floor.

"What did you hear?" I pressed. "Er, what did you think you heard?"

"Something about 2am... this note mentions 2am, so that has to have been what it was..." Sunset's face was nearly as white as the snow on the ground. "A-And Soarin'... died a little after 2am..." The implications raced through my head.

Indigo might've said she was going somewhere at 2am... the Monokuma File says Soarin' died at around 2am...

"Hey... you had no idea... this isn't your fault, Sunny," Flash bit his lip as he placed a hand on her back.

"BESIDES... THE NOTE READ 'TO S, FROM S'. IT WASN'T EVEN ADDRESSED TO HER," Kotenage added. "PERHAPS SHE WAS GOING ELSEWHERE, AND IT WAS MERELY A... HOW DO YOU SAY... COINCIDENCE."

"The only way we'll know for sure is to ask her when we find her," I sighed, trying to stay calm. Although... she still had yet to show up. Surely someone must've found her by now... right?

Well... if we find her...

"...CHOTTO MATTE," Kotenage straightened up. "NOW THAT YOU MENTION IT, SILVER APPROACHED SUGARCOAT AND MYSELF LAST NIGHT ABOUT SOMETHING SIMILAR."

"She did?" Sunset blinked.

"HAI... SHE MENTIONED THAT SONATA WAS GOING TO INVESTIGATE SOMETHING LATER, AND THAT SHE WAS GOING WITH HER."

"So, Silver and Sonata might've come out here together?" asked Flash. "Maybe they passed that along to Indigo, and that's why she's still missing?"

"I DO NOT KNOW. I DO HOPE SHE IS OKAY," Kotenage grimaced.

So, Silver, Sonata and Indigo might've been in the area together last night, and this note from S, to S... I wonder what they have to say about that...?

"I wonder... if Soarin' had this note... which S was he? Or was it even meant for him?" I pondered.

"Seeing that he's dead, I would guess he was the 'To S'... but who knows, really," said Sunset. Memento hummed suddenly; her tone conveyed that she was thinking something over.

"What's up?" asked Flash. Despite trying not to look, I could still see Memento's fingers digging around in the space beneath Soarin's jaw.

"Something's not right," she plainly stated. "I'm pretty sure the Monokuma File's wrong about Soarin' being strangled. In fact, I'm not even convinced he died here."

Huh? The Monokuma File is wrong...?

"Are you sure?" asked Sunset.

"WHAT MAKES YOU SAY THAT?" Kotenage added.

"Well, if he was strangled, then that leaves marks behind on a decedent," she explained, pointing to his throat. "Besides the fact that I don't see much, if any bruising from the cord being tightened around his neck, his hyoid bone is intact."

"What kind of bone?" Flash blinked.

"Hyoid bone," Memento wiggled her finger, causing a curved piece of... something to poke out from the flesh. "Usually only breaks if someone was strangled. Sometimes it happens with hanging, but I'm pretty sure the cord for those headphones can't support that kind of weight. It would've snapped."

"I... see..." I swallowed. It got a little easier to stare at the esoteric body part as time passed, but as soon as the thought entered my mind I couldn't look any longer, and turned away.

"Alright... so what about him not dying here?" asked Sunset.

"It just doesn't... look right," Memento paused. "Like... if he were alive and getting sawn in half, there should be blood spray everywhere. But if he was already dead and sawn in half after the fact... well, see how the blood spray is more centralized?"

I forced myself to look. While to me it did seem that there was, indeed, blood everywhere, it also only seemed to extend to about a foot or two away from the body.

"Okay... so, you think there should be more...?" Flash asked slowly.

"Yea. Blood circulating throughout the body, heart beating, arteries pumping... it should be spread farther out," she affirmed with a nod.

"PERHAPS HE WAS STRANGLED, THEN PLACED ATOP THE LOG AND SAWN IN HALF?" suggested Kotenage.

"...No. That would've been enough time for more definitive strangulation marks to form on his neck," Memento answered after a moment of thought.

The Monokuma File says the cause of death was strangulation, yet Memento is positive he wasn't strangled to death... is Monokuma wrong? Or is there something I'm missing...?

After another wiggle of his hyoid bone, Soarin's head rolled and flopped downwards. Everyone except Memento let out a startled shout at the sudden movement.

"Oop, sorry 'bout that... oh. Didn't see that before," she mumbled.

"Something else?" Sunset edged closer. Now that the back of Soarin's head was visible, I could see that there was a large patch of black dust there.

"More of that black dust," I breathed. "...It's on his scalp and everything."

"I wonder what it is," Memento said as she gently brushed the hair aside to examine the area. "...There does appear to be a bruise here. He got clunked with something before he died... something black and dusty."

Black and dusty...? Hmm...

Something inside me nudged at my brain. I suddenly became aware that we'd been discussing the state of the body for some time.

She could probably discuss this all day... we've got other things to investigate...!

"Well, you're the expert... I'll take your word for it," I sighed. "Sunset and I should really get to looking around more, though. Who knows how much time we have left to investigate."

"Right... well, I think I'm done here... lemme get some of this ick off and I'll join you," Memento offered, already carefully removing her gloves. She crammed the bloody things into yet another glove and tied it shut, then stuffed it into the lowest pocket on her scrub pants before jogging after us.

My eyes swept up and down the hill from the entrance to the sawmill. Not much else was out of the ordinary... not until I noticed the handcart on the railroad tracks nearby.

The snow around the handcart... something's off about it...

Walking over to it made things a little more obvious. From where the handcart sat on its wooden beam perch, there was a long but shallow indentation in the snow about thirty feet down the hill. It curved away from the tracks and back towards the sawmill, like someone had dug out a trail in the snow.

"That's weird... wonder why there's a trail leading from the tracks to the mill?" Sunset echoed my thoughts.

"...Is it just me, or did that handcart used to be further up the hill?" asked Memento. I furrowed my brow in thought, trying to recall what I'd seen before. At the present time, the handcart was barely a third of the way up the hill, rather than halfway.

"Now that you mention it... That handcart was definitely not there the other day," I agreed. "It should be up further." As I glanced down the hill from our position, something else caught my eye. "Huh?"

"Something else?" Sunset asked as I carefully walked down the hill towards what I'd seen. Though some of them had been marred and walked over, most likely by the others in their search, there were definitely two sets of footprints in the snow that were different than the rest. They led upwards from the Train Station to the handcart at an angle, and faint black streaks stained the edges of them.

"Black-streaked footprints..." I mumbled in thought. "...They lead from the train station to the handcart." To be sure I looked back to the handcart, but the snow all around it was lumpy and misshapen - it'd be impossible to tell who had been near it and when.

"Oh, yea," Sunset suddenly mentioned. I looked up to see her gazing back at the sawmill. "That's right... we noticed that the rowboat next to the sawmill is in the middle of the lake now."

"Right... wonder how that happened?" Memento nodded. "I don't think it was close enough to the edge of the river to get swept down."

"You think someone moved it into the river on purpose?" I asked, looking towards the lake. The rowboat bobbed slightly as it sat in the dead center of the water, far out of the reach of anyone here unless they went for a swim. I also noticed that the others had gathered by the shore. "Oh? What's everyone doing over there?"

"Should probably check it out," said Sunset. Memento and I nodded, and we jogged down the rest of the hill. As we neared, we could hear a commotion brewing.

"Indigo! Indigo! Hey! Are you out there?!" Sugarcoat shouted over the lake's surface.

"We've searched everywhere, that rowboat is the only possible place she could be," Sunburst spoke, his lips thin.

"Do you think she's sleeping on the boat? And that's why she won't answer?" asked Sonata.

"I... hope she is..." Silver gulped.

"This isn't good," Mountain sighed, standing off to the side from the others. Upon hearing her speak, Sugarcoat whipped around and pointed to her, her face switching from concern to anger.

"You... you know something... don't you?!" she snarled.

"I do not," Mountain closed her eyes. "But this is the last place we've yet to look. And from atop the hill, I'm pretty sure I saw what looked like a person inside it."

Wow... that's good eyesight.

"Oh yea? If you think it's her, then you need to jump in the lake and go get her!" Sugarcoat ordered, forcefully flinging her finger to the rowboat.

"What?" Mountain blinked, turning to face her.

"In this weather?!" Sunburst paled. "That water must be absolutely freezing!"

"Y-Yea! She'd probably get hypothermia going in there!" Silver agreed.

"Not just hypothermia... I would likely succumb to shock and drown myself," added Mountain.

"Yea? Well that's a risk I'm willing to take," Sugarcoat's eyes narrowed. "Don't make me push you in."

"I am aware that you rightfully hate me, but I'm not going to risk my own death to get that boat," Mountain's eyes narrowed slightly in return. "We'll have to find another way."

"Get. In. The fucking. Water." Sugarcoat stomped through the thin ice on the shore towards Mountain. Though she was slightly shorter than the Ultimate Hunter, her glare was no less withering.

"We don't have any towels or implements to start a fire for warmth... sending her in would be most dangerous," Sunburst tried to explain, but Sugarcoat wasn't having any of it. She now grabbed Mountain by the arm and began trying to throw her into the lake.

"Ow! Please stop that!" Mountain cried, having to put weight on her injured leg to resist.

"Quit your whining, the cold will numb your boo-boo, you won't feel a thing!" Sugarcoat hissed through her teeth.

"Guys..." Silver moved to step in and separate them, just as we reached the group.

"HEY! Cut that out!" Sunset ordered. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"You do that, and we might have a third murder to deal with!" scolded Memento. Quickly outnumbered, Sugarcoat snorted as she let go of Mountain.

"Well alright then, how do you suppose we get that boat out of the lake?!" she about screamed at us in a rage.

She's right... how are we gonna get that boat? We need to if Indigo might be in there...

I tried to think, my eyes darting around for anything we could possibly use to retrieve the rowboat, but there just wasn't anything we had that could reach that far or move the boat closer to us.

...

...Wait...

I... I can move the boat...

"I mean... Indy might not be dead," Sonata offered slowly. "...I still think she might just be asleep."

...Do I really want to show everyone my magic, though...?

"If she does turn out to be dead too, though... then what about Soarin'?" asked Memento.

...Guess I have no choice.

"Wait, guys..." I spoke up, drawing all attention towards me. "...I can get the boat."

"What? How?!" exclaimed Sunburst.

"Don't tell me you're going to go in the water...!" Mountain frowned.

"No... just give me a minute." After taking a deep breath, I raised my arms towards the boat. It felt very heavy to my telekinetic grasp, but I focused my magic as best I could, and willed the boat towards me. I heard murmurs around me as I saw the boat become enveloped in my magic, and slowly but surely, the boat began to move towards us.

"Whoa! How are you doing that?!" Memento shouted as she saw what was happening.

"Is that... magic?!" Silver shouted as well, her eyes wide.

"Yea, that's magic alright," nodded Sunset.

"Impossible...!" Sunburst breathed as he watched.

...

...

...

...

...

"...Can you go any faster?" Sugarcoat groused. The rowboat was only about twenty feet from its original position.

"I'm going... as fast... as I can..." I muttered under my breath. With so little magic available to me, pulling this boat through the water was like pulling a 10-ton bronze statue with my bare hooves- er, hands.

...

...

...

...

...

"Almost... there..." I breathed hard. The rowboat was finally only about thirty feet away from us. My nerves were on fire, screaming at me to stop pulling. Confident that the boat's momentum would bring it the rest of the way, I allowed myself to relax and let the aura fade. Immediately my chest and arms tingled as if they'd fallen asleep, and I groaned as I stretched them out.

Finally the interior of the rowboat creeped into view, inch by frustrating inch. I stood on the tips of my toes to try and see it sooner.

...

...

...

...No...

No.

NO.

NOT AGAIN.

NOT ALREADY!

"Oh... oh, no..." Sunset sighed beside me. I heard Silver scream.

Indigo's unblinking eyes stared straight up to the sky. Her body was perfectly laid out in the center of the rowboat, cold, pale and unmoving. A pocketknife was plunged directly into her throat, standing upright like the gruesome mast of a sailboat in a sea of blood. Though I couldn't see her, I could hear Sugarcoat sink to her knees.

"...No..." she moaned weakly.

*ding dong bong bing*

A nearby monitor blinked to life. Monokuma was sitting at his desk, nearly spilling his champagne as he pounded his fists with glee. "A body has been discovered!" he jeered. "Everyone, please make your way to the shores of Lake Despair!"

The second Body Discovery Announcement played, dim and distorted in my ears. How could this have happened?! First Soarin', and now poor Indigo? What was going to happen now? Did we have two murders to solve now?!

Flash and Kotenage came thundering down the hill towards us. They stopped and gasped when they realized who had been discovered dead.

"Oh... aw, man..." Flash winced.

"POOR INDIGO-CHAN..." Kotenage bowed his head. We stood around the rowboat lamenting our loss... we didn't find her in time. A wave of guilt sloshed into me, threatening to push me into the lake. I felt tears sliding down my cold-parched cheeks.

She didn't deserve this... why... what are you doing here...?

I blinked when I noticed that Silver wasn't running off to dry heave or shield her eyes... instead, she couldn't take her eyes off Indigo, even as her entire body quaked with horror. Tears dripped down her cheeks as her lips quivered.

"Indigo... I-Indigo... god, I'm so s-sorry..." she whimpered, hiccupping in the middle of a particularly loud sob.

Silver's... apologizing...?

*boing!*

*Rise and Shine, Ursine!*

Again, Monokuma and his Kubs appeared before us, as lackadaisical as ever.

"Well, well... Who would've thought there'd be another victim during the investigation?" Monokuma shrugged.

"Maybe Monophanie's green puke was predicting this tragedy," said Monotaro, glancing over to her. Predictably, Monophanie was already hunched over and puking white, shimmery liquid into the lake, her paws unfortunately getting spattered.

"BLRGHBLRBLRGHBLRBLRGHBLRB!"

"Ah, the puke's color's normal now! Guess it was predictin' this!" smirked Monosuke.

"Uh... but Soarin's already dead... n-now what do we do...?" Sonata shivered.

"You already know, toots! Start the investigation right away!" Monokid yelled.

"D-During the investigation for Soarin'?!" asked Sunburst.

"Wait a minute," Memento spoke up. "Soarin's dead, and now Indigo's dead... were they killed by the same person, or are there two separate killers running around?!"

"That's a good point... what happens then?" I blinked, dreading the all-important answer.

"Simple... it's first come, first served!" Monokuma exclaimed, throwing his paws into the air. "The blackened who killed the first victim to be discovered will be your target... In other words, if the blackened who killed Soarin' isn't the same one who killed Indigo, then only Soarin's killer will be considered the blackened!"

"Basically, Indigo's killer wasted a kill, and Indigo herself was a waste of a victim," added Monosuke.

"...Don't worry, though," Monotaro cut in. "That has literally never happened before."

"I'll add this to the camp's rules so you can review it later," Monokuma waved as another soft ping echoed from my backpack. "I also updated the Monokuma File. Do your best to investigate this murder, too."

"Leaders gotta be able to take decisive action! Indecision is just the worst!" yelled Monotaro. I gasped slightly as he spoke... this wasn't a dig at me, was it? What did I ever do to him?!

"Welp, better get to it! You don't have much time left..." Monosuke grinned. He and the other bears left as quickly as they had appeared, dragging Monophanie along with them.

*So long, bear well!*

"Great... so we might have two assholes among us?" Sugarcoat groused, gazing sadly back at Indigo. "Well, whoever did this to Indy... I'm gonna find you, damn it! She was my friend!"

"Even though you treated her so harshly?" Mountain stared pointedly at her.

"You shut up," she sneered. "For all we know, you did this."

"Again, that's a very remote possibility..." Sunburst tried to remind her.

"Uh... I assume me and Kotenage should go back and guard Soarin's body still?" asked Flash. "Who's gonna watch Indigo, then?"

"...I'll do it, I suppose," Sunburst offered nervously after a few moments. My eyes drew towards Sugarcoat, who stared at her dead friend with many emotions... anger, rage, shock, sorrow, regret... remorse.

"...Me too. I owe her at least that much..." she sighed, bowing her head.

"You sure? I will have to perform an autopsy on her," said Memento. Sugarcoat nodded without another word, but squeezed her eyes shut.

"Hmm... if we split up into pairs again, one of us will be left out," mentioned Sonata.

"We'll be close by... I don't think it'll matter," I said. "We don't know how much time we have left to look around, so it's best we cover as much ground as possible."

"Let's start, then," said Sunset. Flash and Kotenage jogged back up the hill, back to the sawmill. Mountain hobbled over to the caboose by the train station, while Sonata ducked inside the Coal Shed. Silver, who was shaking violently as she tried not to cry, ran into the station's office.

With a heavy sigh, I pulled out my Monopad and scrolled down the Monokuma File, finding an image of a humanoid shape with a pink throat area. "The victim is Indigo Zap, the Ultimate Street Artist. The victim was discovered lying supine in a rowboat, which was floating in the middle of Lake Despair. Time of death is estimated to be 2:30am. Cause of death appears to be combined asphyxiation and aspiration of blood from a self-inflicted puncture wound of the trachea."

Self-inflicted... was this a suicide?! Geez, what a way to go...

"Ugh, she drowned in her own blood," Memento winced, already pulling on another pair of gloves. It was a good thing she had more than the one pair on her.

"Indy..." Sugarcoat moaned sadly.

It was easier to look at Indigo's body than Soarin's... well, minus her throat. Other than being dead, nothing about her seemed off, not until Memento took hold of her left hand to examine it, nearly dropping it in the process.

"Wha-? Aw, eww, what is this?" she grumbled as she rubbed her fingers together. Looking closer, it was a viscous, light yellow-colored substance.

"Hey..." Sunset leaned in. "...That looks like machine oil."

"For the sawmill?" I asked.

"Yea... same color." There was a wet schlup as Memento pulled the pocketknife free from Indigo's throat. Suddenly I became intensely focused on that hand. It was definitely covered in oil... almost excessively so.

Machine oil... did she put oil on the mill's sawblade...?

"Wait, so you're totally fine fiddling around with corpses, but machine oil is disgusting?" Sugarcoat glared.

"I wasn't expecting it," Memento replied with a shrug. As she unzipped and cut away Indigo's clothing to perform her autopsy, Sugarcoat hissed and looked away. I then remembered what Kotenage had said about Silver having approached the two of them last night. This might be a good time to distract Sugarcoat from the autopsy taking place.

"Sugarcoat, can I ask you something?" She let out a half-groan, half-sigh.

"What?"

"Kotenage said that Silver approached you two last night. Is that true?"

"Silver?" Sugarcoat's eyes widened after a moment, then narrowed viciously as her face drew up into a scowl. "...She said she was going to investigate something with Sonata... at 2am..."

"Did she happen to tell you what it was?" I continued.

"No... she didn't," she replied slowly, venomously, then continued on under her breath. "...If that bitch... that bitch killed Indy..."

"Now, now, let's not jump to conclusions," Sunburst tried to placate her. "Surely you remember that Silver has quite the aversion to death and dead bodies, right?"

"And yet, she could look at Indy just fine a few minutes ago," Sugarcoat growled. "Isn't that convenient...?"

Silver was going to investigate something with Sonata at 2am... I'll definitely have to ask both of them about that...

"Hmm... this Monokuma File isn't quite right, either," Memento chewed on the inside of her cheek. "They couldn't have been switched or something, right?"

"This one wasn't right, either?" I drew back in surprise.

"What do you see?" asked Sunburst.

"This one's a lot easier than Soarin', anyway," Memento motioned to Indigo's throat and wiped away some of the cold blood. "There's definitely markings around her neck, obscured by all this blood. Aaaaand if we go poke around in here..."

"She was strangled?" Sunburst leaned in, eyes wide with what I assumed was academic interest as Memento carefully but forcefully stuck two fingers into the stab wound.

"...Oh, yea. Her hyoid bone's definitely fractured," she nodded as her fingers wiggled, blood oozing out of the wound as she did. A wave of nausea rippled up my throat at the sight. "Not to mention the blood here looks wrong for stabbing herself in the throat, too."

"You're also aware of the mechanics of blood splatter?" said Sunburst.

"Eh, more like how blood acts when the body stops working. I mean, can you imagine stabbing yourself in the windpipe?"

"Yea... That'd hurt like fuck," Sugarcoat glared.

"Right, she'd be flailing all over the place and getting blood everywhere. Here, it's just one big puddle in the bottom of the boat," Memento explained.

"Hmm... now that you mention it, you make a good point," agreed Sunburst.

Memento thinks Indigo might've been strangled instead of stabbing herself... if that's the case, it's a little less sad than being a suicide... but... what happened to her? Why did this happen to her...?

"Alright... other than that, I don't see anything else wrong... no head injuries or other wounds," Memento said as she stood up, carefully pulling off her gloves. She kindly moved a hand over Indigo's eyes to close them before grabbing a handful of snow and cleaning them off. Despite the gesture, one of her eyes remained ever so slightly open, causing me to shiver at the sight of the slightly-deflated whiteness.

All these faces of death I've seen... I'm going to need some serious therapy after this.

"Uh... we need to talk to both Silver and Sonata next," Sunset motioned towards the train station. I nodded as I gratefully looked away from the rowboat and hurriedly jogged into the station office. Rather than looking around, Silver was seated on a bench, her arms wrapped tightly around herself as she stared pensively at the floor.

"Silver?" She jumped in place as I addressed her. "Can I ask you about something?"

"U-Um... I guess so," she sighed.

"Kotenage and Sugarcoat both said that you and Sonata were going to investigate something at 2am last night. Is that true?"

"...Y-Yes... A-Actually, Sonata and I were talking on our way to the dining hall, before dinner. She'd found a note on the main dining table in the morning. It said to meet at the coal shed at 2am... whoever it was from might've found a way out." Sunset and I gasped in unison.

"A way out?!" Sunset whispered loudly. I almost asked how, but then I reconsidered what had happened since last night.

No... it was far too good to be true.

"Who was the note from?" I asked.

"I... I-I don't know. All it was addressed to was 'S', and all it said was 'From S'... it could've been so many of us. B-But I definitely didn't write it!" she panicked. "I-I don't even know if it was really even meant for her, or me, or either of us!"

"Well... did you go? Kotenage and Sugarcoat both said you did," said Sunset. Silver gasped as her pupils shrank until they were barely visible, and she began to shake again.

"...Sonata wanted to see who had written it, so she said she was going. And... I-I was tired of being so scared. I wanted to be brave, like Sunset-"

I glanced over just in time to see Sunset's face flushed with red before she sank her head between her shoulders to hide it.

"...S-So I told her that I would go with her... A-And Kotenage and Sugarcoat, too, just in case s-something happened..."

"...But you didn't," I frowned, my heart sinking. Silver's head dropped to face the floor.

"I got too scared. I felt like I was speeding towards my own death if I went." A tear dripped down. "...And now Indigo's dead... S-Soarin', too... I-I could've stopped it... I'm just glad Sonata d-didn't die, t-too..."

Silver...

"Did you ever tell Indigo about your plans?" Sunset asked. Silver took a moment to compose herself.

"...No, not that I know of... But I don't know w-why she was found here, she must've seen the note before we did, or maybe she overheard me at s-some point... I-I can't see it any other way, really."

So Silver didn't actually investigate anything with Sonata last night... now there's just one more person to ask...

Sunset sat down beside her and put a comforting hand on her back. She looked up at me, and without words we agreed that she would stay there. I left the room and walked the short distance over to the coal shed, where Sonata was standing, looking around the room with her hands in her pockets.

"Oh, hey Starlight," she greeted.

"Hey, Sonata," I replied. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Silver said that you and her were going to investigate something at 2am?"

"Oh, that..." Sonata's face screwed up in thought. "Right, Silvy and I chatted on our way to dinner yesterday. There was a note on the table that morning, you see. It said that someone named 'S' wanted to meet another 'S' at the coal shed at 2am because they found a way out."

"Do you know who the note was meant for?" I asked.

"Nope," Sonata shook her head. "Anyways, I wanted to see who it was that wrote the note, but didn't want to go alone. I thought that if Silvy went with me, then we'd be safe enough. So I asked her to meet me at the top of the hill by the entrance, and then we'd go together... But, she never showed up," she frowned. "And without her, no way was I going. I went right back to my cottage and forgot all about it."

"I see..."

"Although, that doesn't really explain why Indy wound up here... I can't think of a reason why she would be here," Sonata stared at the floor in thought.

So Sonata asked Silver to go with her to the coal shed at 2am, then Silver told Kotenage and Sugarcoat she was going... but she didn't actually go, so then neither did Sonata... but if that's the case, what about Indigo? Did she find out about the note somehow? Doesn't make any sense, otherwise... But I think it's a little bit clearer why Soarin' was here...

*ding dong bing bong*

No... already?! But...!

I jumped at the sound of the investigation's end. Monokuma reappeared on a nearby monitor, smugly swirling the champagne in his glass as he spoke.

"Confidence... dreams... that's what the killing game is all about!" he exulted. "Killing game fans, hold your head high, and watch with your own two eyes! Baseball, soccer, mobile games... they're all nothing compared to the killing game! The killing game just can't be beat!"

What in Tartarus was he talking about?! Was this being broadcasted to the rest of the world right this second? How many people out there could possibly be enjoying this?! Watching us kill and be killed...

"Behold, campers... the entrance to the trial grounds!" He pointed to something offscreen just as the monitor cut out.

"Welp... guess it's time for a trial," Sonata shrugged, already halfway out the door. "I hope we find out who did it this time." For a few moments... I couldn't move. My legs refused.

Who is watching this... who would enjoy this... why? Why us...?!

My heart pounded faster, the veins in my body pulsing so hard I felt dizzy. I tried to take a few deep breaths... before having to cough. I was inside a dusty coal shed, after all.

Outside, I saw Sunburst and Memento begin their trek up the hill, back to the campgrounds. Sugarcoat lingered by the rowboat for a few moments, gazing at Indigo's corpse. Her eyes closed, and a tear fell from her cheek.

"Indy... you were right. I... I'm sorry." After speaking, Sugarcoat squeezed her eyes and fists closed, then opened them with determination. She left the rowboat behind and followed the others up the hill. Meanwhile, Silver and Sunset walked slowly out of the station office, an arm around each other's shoulders.

"Hey, you two doing okay?" I asked as I trotted over to walk by them.

"A little better," Sunset offered. "Still feeling guilty about leaving Sonata out to hang like that, though." Silver nodded wordlessly.

"Well, I talked to her... she said that when she realized you weren't going to meet her, she went straight back to her cottage. She didn't go."

"S-She didn't?" Silver blinked rapidly and took a deep breath. "Good... I'm glad she didn't go."

"Yea..." I mouthed. Silver suddenly jumped.

"But... what about Indigo, then? Why was she there? And Soarin'..."

"I don't know..." I shook my head. "...But we'll get to the bottom of it during the trial. We have to."

~

We walked in silence all the way back to the campgrounds, to the Fire Pit. It had already sunken down into the earth, and the others had already gathered.

"We really have to do this again..." Sunburst lamented. "Why? Who would do this to someone?!"

"SOARIN'... INDIGO... WE MUST AVENGE THEM," rumbled Kotenage. "BUT... I REALLY DO NOT WISH TO WITNESS ANOTHER EXECUTION..."

"To kill poor Soarin' in such an inhumane method... his murderer is truly an animal," Mountain frowned.

"Takes one to know one, I suppose," Sugarcoat glared at Mountain. "But whoever killed Indy? I'm going to make damned sure you pay for what you did to her!"

The final three of us stepped into the sunken pit, Silver earning a suspicious glare from Sugarcoat. After a few moments the platform began to sink into the ground, lowering us deeper and deeper into the abyss. The trodden snow under our feet quickly melted as the fire pit behind us roared to life, yet the flames did nothing to warm the ice forming inside my body.

Two more of us had died last night. At least one more of us was going to die before the end of the day. Sixteen of us had been forced to endure this killing game, and only half of us would remain after this... if we found the killer.

But were there two killers to find? And if we found the one who had killed Soarin', then what about the one who had killed Indigo? My head spun at the possibilities, and I nearly collapsed from nausea.

This was going to be a long trial.

Comments

[ArcticAce01]

The “to S from S” seems very important

Indigo and Sorain must have talk to each other plus Indigo headphone cord was on Sorain.

Honestly, I’m really REALLY worried about Sonata right now

She made plans with Silver and was out there alone when she was waiting for Silver but when she didn’t show she said she went back to her dorm

Plus the real deaths for both Indigo and Sorain have been questioned to.

I’m so confused and very worried because I was SO worried she would be the victim because of how Danganpona 3rd chapter trends go

And if she is the blacken that will hurt more

I have to wait for the trail as I need more info to know for sure who could’ve done it

[Dewdrops on the Grass]

Well, this feels quite complicated, with a lot of bizarre features to the case.

...

I think I know who did what. But I also think I'll keep that opinion to myself.

But the real kicker is all the black dust.

The real question on my mind is... Why? What's the real motivation here?