Chapter Text
Akira had grown accustomed to patterns. Having read about or personally worked on countless legal cases over the years, there were some traits that remained consistent across certain types of people and scenarios. Robberies are usually committed by those who are strangers to the victim, violence with evidence of strong emotion (rage, fear, vengeance) are often synonymous with crimes of passion, males are more likely to be victims and perpetrators of violent crimes than females- to list just a few examples. This castle and the killing game taking place within it were, thus far, no exception: Monokuma reveals a ‘motive’ of some kind, a murder happens within the next day or two, and an investigation precedes a class trial to find the killer.
Knowing these patterns, however, allowed one to more easily recognize when the pattern was broken. From the morning after the case of Kaneki Tenmaru and Itachi Kunata, Monokuma revealed a new motive straightaway- granted, he claimed this was because the motive was something more tangible, but even that fact was indicative of just how different this motivator was compared to the previous two. Even so, it was just one difference in the cycle of this game- Akira believed it would be the only difference. A belief that was not contradicted when Hana Amari failed to show up at all to the usual breakfast meeting…an unusual tardiness, even for her. Akira felt justified in suspecting the worst, and thus she sent out Hiroshi, Rumi, and Hinata to confirm or deny those suspicions. A potential continuation of the cycle of murder…
…At least, until Hinata ran back in to drag Shiori elsewhere. Then, several minutes later, the original trio returned to more properly explain what had happened: they had found Hana, but she was not yet dead, and Hinata had retrieved Shiori so the surgeon could provide emergency medical treatment. An attempted murder rather than a true kill…technically, Monokuma’s rules did not explain what the protocol would be in such a scenario (and Monokuma refused to explain himself). Akira could assume there simply would not be an official class trial, but a proper confirmation would still be nice…
And so, there Akira sat in the dining hall, Monokuma having just departed and the remaining students left in tense silence, questions and uncertainty undoubtedly weighing them down.
Finally, Akira sighed, adjusted her glasses, and spoke up, “Okay, listen- I understand this is a jarring situation, but no one will get anywhere by just stewing in anxiety.”
“Akira has a point! We can’t all just stand here and do NOTHING! We should be doing SOMETHING!” Ryoto declared in his usual loudmouthed manner. Just as quickly, however, he deflated somewhat and asked, “...But what should we do? Shiori’s the one patching Hana up, none of us can help with that, so…”
“Well, I can’t speak for how the rest of you plan to approach what’s happened, but as for me…” Akira began, standing up from her chair. “I plan to thoroughly investigate this incident, as much as can be done right now.”
“Investigate? But did Monokuma not say he would be unable to confirm the necessity of a class trial until we could confirm whether or not Hana will survive her injuries?” Saku pointed out.
“Be that as it may, there’s still the possibility Amari won’t pull through, and thus we’ll be holding a class trial like before,” Akira argued. “For this reason, I’d rather get a headstart on gathering clues while the scene is still fresh.”
“W-Wait, don’t say that!” Rumi interjected; despite the forcefulness in her tone, there was an unmistakable waveringness that had been persistent ever since she and the others first discovered Hana. “Shiori’s a surgeon, the Ultimate Surgeon- Hana’s going to be fine, she has to be!”
Akira only scoffed and remarked, “Sauchi is still human, Hamasaki- and if Amari was left bleeding for as long as we deduced, her condition isn’t exactly ideal. Consider this more of a precaution either way- whether Amari lives or dies, someone in this building committed this crime, and they must be found no matter what.”
“...” Throughout this discussion, the one student who had yet to say anything at all was Hiroshi Ashi, their resident coroner. On one hand, this was not unusual for him; Akira had long since taken notice of his tendency to simply listen and observe the group in silence. However, he usually did so with some amount of calmness, almost serenity, like it was an act of meditation for him- an attitude that seemed inappropriate in these circumstances. However, presently he appeared far more tense, resting his chin on his hand as he stared off contemplatively.
“...In that case, I’d like to assist you,” Hiroshi finally spoke up, sitting up from his own chair and sending a direct, steely gaze at Akira. “Having two minds is better than one, after all.”
Akira narrowed her eyes in skepticism. Hiroshi was one of the smarter and more competent Ultimates in this class, that much she could admit. However, this was technically not a true investigation for a trial- there was no reason to collaborate right now. She trusted in her own mind and her deduction skills, so why should she involve any of the others, let alone one who- while intelligent- was as irritatingly sentimental as Hana herself?
Watching Akira’s hesitation, Hiroshi’s countenance calmed, and that insufferable smile of his returned as he insisted, “C’mon, Akira- my expertise can still be helpful in sorting out some of the crime scene details, even if there’s no specific corpse to examine. You’re smart, but you don’t have all the forensic knowledge, do you?”
“Unless you’re the one with something to hide?~” Hinata then claimed, leaning towards Akira with a sly smile. “I mean, you haven’t exactly been subtle about how much you don’t like Hana, I wouldn’t put it past you to finally snap and just smack her in the head.”
Sending a furious glare at the thief, Akira refuted, “Don’t be ridiculous, Yonade- I would never stoop to violence against someone I dislike, and I certainly have nothing to hide with regards to this incident.”
She punctuated that last claim by looking back to Hiroshi. “As proof of this, I will allow you, Ashi, to act as an assistant in my investigation.”
Addressing the group more directly, Akira went on, “But it will just be me and Ashi investigating the West Wing. In saying this, I must ask all of you to stay out of the West Wing for the duration of the investigation, so as to minimize possible contamination.”
“A bit…restrictive, but I suppose I can see your logic,” Saku conceded. “In that case, I could serve as a guard of sorts, as I usually do- even if this situation is somewhat different.”
“That could be helpful, especially since I’m fairly certain a lot of the evidence will be relegated to the second floor, so we won’t need to worry about another person needing to guard the ground floor,” Hiroshi responded with a nod.
“In that case, I’ll try to look for Shiro and Asuna!” Ryoto declared, pumping a fist into the air. “They DESERVE to know what’s been going on! No reason to keep them locked outta the loop!”
“Then…maybe I should try and find Tadao, make sure he knows about something this big too…” Rumi muttered, her eyes directed towards the floor.
“...Guess I’ll just hang around,” Hinata added with a shrug after a moment. “Didn’t exactly get a chance to finish my breakfast anyways.”
“Then it’s settled,” Akira declared, nodding towards Hiroshi and Saku. “Ashi, Yamamoto- follow me.”
Thus, Akira strode out of the dining room, expecting the two young men in question to follow. Despite the lack of any dead bodies (which, depending on Shiori’s abilities, may or may not change), Akira was already focusing her mind on the task at hand, the same as she would with any other investigation.
Trial or no, someone clearly intended to try and escape this castle again, and if Amari lives, they could try again. For that reason, they must be found. Akira told herself. Right now, the one truth I can rely on is that I myself am not the culprit. From there, if I want to uncover any other truths…I’ll need to pay very close attention.
Akira and Hiroshi ultimately chose to have Saku stand in the second floor doorway leading to the West Wing’s own upper floor, so he could easily go back and forth between watching the hallway and looking down to see if anyone was entering the West Wing from the ballroom. From there…well, it wasn’t exactly difficult to find where Hana was initially found, or where she had been prior. Even without Hiroshi and the others’ testimony, the pool of blood in the South Wing accompanied by the trail of crimson connected to it would have been evidence enough.
Said trail led from the slowly drying puddle on the South Wing’s second floor back into the West Wing itself, being isolated to the same level. Akira watched over the streaks on the floor and the occasional smears left on the walls, taking care not to touch any of them. Hiroshi, who had donned a pair of latex gloves as usual, was slower to move, since he was taking a closer look at each of the stains at the same time.
“Hmm…these stains are still fresh, but based on how much they’ve begun to dry…they would’ve been left about more than half an hour ago…” Hiroshi observed. “That lines up with the time Rumi found her…”
As Hiroshi examined the bloodstains, Akira continued to follow the overall trail, soon finding herself in front of the wine room. As if the blood itself did not make it apparent, the door still being open and the light being left on were ironclad proof of this room being where the attack started, further confirming what Hana told Hiroshi and Rumi. Akira regarded the room as a whole for a moment, taking particular note of the larger pool of blood towards the middle of the room.
“Well…clearly, the attacker made no effort to clean up after themselves…” Akira remarked aloud as she fully stepped into the room.
Hiroshi was quick to follow her inside moments later, making his way to the largest bloodstain. Kneeling down for a closer look, Hiroshi informed her, “Well, this bloodstain seems to have dried somewhat differently from the others. It looks a bit older- it must have initially formed…over two hours ago, maybe two and a half if I had to give an exact estimate.”
“Two and a half hours…so a few minutes past six in the morning, around when Amari claims to have been attacked,” Akira confirmed as she looked around the room. “So despite the head injury, it seems Amari’s testimony of when these events first happened was accurate.”
Then, another out-of-place spot of red caught Akira’s attention out of the corner of her eye. It was the wine room’s light switch- or rather, the smeared and bloody fingerprints upon it. Akira approached to examine it more closely, although there was not much more she needed to come to a conclusion about the scene.
Well, it’s not impossible for the assailant to have gotten blood all over this switch, but given the other bloodstains outside, I’m more inclined to believe these stains were Amari’s doing. Akira thought. With the door being open and the light being left on…it seems like Amari was lying here for a little while after being hit on the head, woke up, then made her way over to use this light switch.
Looking up at the room’s main light, Akira then pondered, And if she felt the need to turn on the lights at all, the room must have been dark when she awoke. That would make sense, since the lights in here are apparently faulty…so, perhaps it was also dark when she was attacked. That could mean the attacker used the darkness to their advantage, to ambush Amari…
The prosecutor softly scowled at the possibility. If that’s true, it’s possible Amari might not have seen her assailant at all. That would be an inconvenience to this case…
“Oh…? What have we here?” Hiroshi spoke up; having finished examining the bloodstains, he had apparently moved to investigating other parts of the room, and was now eyeing something in one of the room’s corners.
“Hm-? Found something, Ashi?” Akira inquired, crossing her arms as she approached.
The coroner carefully held up a certain item- a bottle of some beverage, the glass being distinctly thick and red in color. However, the glass wasn’t the only source of red on the bottle, as there was a large splatter of blood marring one of its sides.
“Hmph! They didn’t even bother hiding such vital evidence properly- I suppose we should thank this culprit for their sloppiness,” Akira responded, eyeing the bottle with derisiveness.
“And I don’t think we need to look far to find where they got this from…” Hiroshi observed with a raised eyebrow. “Literally, it’s to your left.”
Akira glanced to the left side of the room- sure enough, there was one particular rack of wine bottles with an identical design to the one Hiroshi held. Equally as telling was the shelf having twelve slots, yet only eleven of them were occupied.
“Hm…a weapon from right here at the crime scene…” Akira pondered as she eyed the shelf. “So perhaps the perpetrator chose a weapon of convenience.”
“Not only that, but it looks like our weapon didn’t escape unscathed itself,” Hiroshi then pointed out, looking at the bloodstained portion more closely. “Look there- the glass is cracked.”
Akira leaned forward to examine the bottle herself, spotting the thin, branching crack in the glass rather quickly. “Well, I suppose it’s good to note such a detail- the glass being damaged, yet in such a superficial manner…”
So the culprit struck Amari hard enough to crack the glass, yet couldn’t apply enough force to damage the bottle beyond that… Akira deduced. I suppose this means Yamamoto is less likely- with his strength, he could have struck Amari hard enough to shatter the bottle. Likewise, Koichi and Izumi are unlikely, but because they seem too weak to cause any sort of damage with such a weapon, even something as superficial as this…
Shaking her head, Akira went on, “Regardless, this is probably the most significant clue so far, at least one of the attempted murder weapons.”
“‘At least one’…because Hana was slashed in the leg too, not just bludgeoned?” Hiroshi remarked. “And since this bottle isn’t actually broken, it certainly couldn’t have been used to make any stabbing or slashing wounds.”
“I don’t need you to finish my thoughts, Ashi,” Akira curtly responded, stepping around Hiroshi to investigate the other half of the room.
Despite her coldness, Hiroshi only chuckled as he set the bottle back where he found it. “Oh, don’t be like that, Akira, I’m sure you appreciate having someone to bounce ideas off of- it would be maddening to investigate by yourself all the time.”
“I do perfectly well working on my own, thank you,” Akira argued with a glare. “Because at least then, we wouldn’t be wasting our time with inane small talk and we could instead look for the second potential murder weapon.”
“I’m looking, don’t worry,” Hiroshi assured the prosecutor as he began to examine other parts of the room.
However, try as the pair did, no matter how many nooks and crannies they investigated, there were no signs of the second weapon. Akira could not determine which was worse- the fruitlessness of the search, or the incessant creaking of the wine room’s floorboards as she and Hiroshi walked.
So the culprit barely hid the bottle, but they clearly made more of an effort to hide whatever they used to injure Amari’s leg… Akira finally thought to herself after several minutes of searching. Could they have thought it was more important to conceal the latter weapon? Why would that be? Could it be a clue to their identity…?
Outwardly, Akira spoke up, “Well, this is annoying. It would appear we found very little of substance in here, besides the wine bottle.”
“Well, it’s still better than nothing,” Hiroshi pointed out. “And I have a few ideas myself of what this other weapon could have been-”
“You can keep those to yourself- I have some ideas of my own, which I have every intention of pursuing,” Akira interjected, adjusting her glasses.
Indeed, the likeliest weapon of choice would be a blade from the kitchen. I’ll need to take a look for myself, and ask those who frequent the kitchen the most if they’ve noticed anything missing recently… Akira plotted for herself. And speaking of asking things of others…
With a long, irritated sigh, the prosecutor spoke up again, “It seems if I want to make progress learning more about the actual sequence of events, I’ll need to speak to Amari- she’s the only true ‘witness’ in this situation. And that means I’ll need to check in with Sauchi to see how her condition is progressing…”
“Why do you say that like it’s such a chore?” Hiroshi asked with a light chuckle. “Sure, Shiori’s got some bite, but she takes her job seriously.”
“Have you forgotten Sauchi’s been rather vocal about her thoughts about me and my leadership skills recently?” Akira reminded the coroner with a deep frown. “I don’t doubt she’s doing all she can to ensure Amari’s survival, but I do doubt how cooperative she’ll be with me and this investigation.”
“Well, don’t settle her so short before you’ve even talked to her,” Hiroshi advised Akira. “Hana’s her friend, and I’m sure she wants to know what happened as much as you and I do. For that reason, I’ll bet she’ll be willing to work with you, at least temporarily.”
“Spoken as if you know her on such a personal level…” Akira muttered, rolling her eyes.
“I just think looking at things with a bit more optimism sets you up for better outcomes,” Hiroshi claimed with a shrug and a smile.
With a light scoff, Akira nonetheless went on, “But I will need to talk to Sauchi sooner or later, so I suppose I’ll see for myself how accurate your assessment is.”
As she began to walk towards where Hiroshi left the wine bottle, carefully picking it up herself so as to not disturb any of the bloodstains. “One more thing, Ashi…”
She then moved the bottle so it was far more out-of-sight, more difficult to find if one wasn’t actively searching for it. “The details of this scene, especially this wine bottle- you are to keep them between the two of us. Understood?”
“Hm…more restrictive than you usually are with these,” Hiroshi observed, raising an eyebrow. “But I guess this isn’t like the other investigations, since there’s no guarantee of a class trial this time. So…I’ll respect that- I’m sure you have your reasons beyond that, anyways.”
“Good- at least you understand that much,” Akira replied, turning away to make her exit.
If there was anything else that made Hiroshi more tolerable for Akira to interact with, it was his understanding of when she was doing something for the good of a case and, by extension, the class as a whole. Despite his infuriating mellowness and optimism, he at least knew how to put his emotions aside to solve a mystery. Even now, when someone he was friends with was the victim of a violent attack, he readily offered his assistance in spite of Akira’s own initial refusal. It was respectable, to be sure…yet, Akira felt she could respect him even more if only that objectivity was his default demeanor.
He already acts as though he knows more than he lets on anyways- I suppose I’ll have to rely on that secrecy to ensure Ashi keeps his word. Akira told herself. It’s a common tactic in law enforcement, after all: keep more intimate details about the crime under lock and key, and if someone comes forward with information that was never made public, you’ll know they were involved in some manner, or they learned it from someone who was. Certainly, Ashi must know this…
With this, Akira left the scene in the wine room behind, pondering the rest of what she would need to follow up on. Let’s see…I need to check the kitchen for the second weapon, talk to those who were in the kitchen recently for additional information on that front, talk to Sauchi to see how Amari’s condition is…and if Amari wakes up, I’ll need to question her about what happened too…
The prosecutor softly sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. And on top of this newest crisis…there’s still the matter of that motive Monokuma introduced. For as long as the crime scene needs to be preserved, we can’t exactly move freely around the West Wing, so that will put a delay on any further searching no matter what…
Akira then found herself wondering, out of sheer morbid curiosity if nothing else, And what will become of this scene? Monokuma has proven himself able to clean up the murder scenes after each trial, but what about that of an attempted murder? Will he still handle the cleaning, or will we be expected to handle that ourselves…? It wouldn’t be impossible, certainly, and yet…
Her earlier sigh became a low, annoyed groan; she felt fortunate no one was nearby to hear it. Akira knew she brought this on herself, she chose to put herself in charge of this ragtag class of Ultimates, she still believed she was among the best (certainly the most willing) candidates for such a role. Still, it was moments like this that made her acutely aware of how heavy the crown could sit at times. Still, putting the pieces of a crime together to uncover the truth was her job, even if it was for the sake of someone she personally detested.
Akira supposed that was something else that did not change, despite all the other patterns that had been broken as of late: today was going to be a very, very long day.