Just One More Time

3 - Yumeno, I'm Sorry

"Nyeh, it's no use, we'll never find his killer..." Yumeno sighed, staring at the ground. She's been upset ever since people started interrogating her. It seems only Chabashira and I are on her side. "This is a pain."

"We did find his killer because it's you!" Ouma cheered with a malevolent smirk. Everyone has been accusing her left and right without evidence other than the crime scene location. She was fighting back at first but now she's saying 'it's a pain' again. I'm worried about her mental stability, I hope she'll be okay.

"No it's not," Shuichi argued. "There's not enough evidence. We need to prove the blackened without a doubt."

"Yumeno would never do such a thing!" Chabashira echoed for the hundredth time during the trial.

"Amami was missing for two days, therefore alibis are insufficient," Tojo voiced her thoughts. "Unfortunately, this is proving to make things quite difficult."

"Gonta has question. Why no one hear Amami if he alive until today? Surely someone went into room after incident, right?"

"I don't want to go into my lab unless I have to, so I avoided it," Yumeno sighed. "Saihara recommended it." Turning to look at the detective, Shuichi noticed her eyes begging him to help.

"Right, I mentioned it might be a bad idea since it could create a motive. Who knows the real reason Monokuma created those labs?" Shuichi lied to the group.

"Oh? Is that so? You aren't lying to protect your girlfriend, right Saihara?~" Ouma giggled, a finger crossing his grinning lips.

"No, I'm not. As a detective, I shouldn't lie," Shuichi defended himself. "Listen, we need to focus on the case. The night before Amami went missing, Gokuhara, Chabashira, Amami and Yumeno were in the lab doing a magic show. Yumeno was there as the expert, and Gokuhara was watching the other two perform."

"Who opened the box where Amami was?" Hoshi asked, spinning his fake cigarette between his fingers.

"I did, why?" Kiibo asked.

"How'd you get it open? I assume there's some kind of lock on the door?"

"Yeah, it's so no one can see what happens when I perform my magic," Yumeno drawled.

"That doesn't make sense but alright," Hoshi nodded.

"The lock was broken when we found it. I opened it with a screwdriver," Kiibo explained.

"How did you get ahold of a screwdriver?" Shinguji asked, eyeing Iruma accusatorily.

"I have a multi-tool function that transforms my hands," Kiibo grinned. He held out his hand, the group watching in awe as the robot's fingers slipped into his wrist, replaced by a screwdriver, corkscrew, something resembling pliers, a miniature saw and tiny scissors. That's concerning, if he ever kills someone, he'd be able to use himself as the murder weapon. I need to keep that in mind for the future. "Regarding Ouma's statement earlier, I'd like to put forward that Saihara or Yumeno would gain nothing from lying about the other. If we vote for the wrong blackened, everyone dies, including them."

"I knew it wasn't Yumeno, I believed her all along! Good job Detective!" Momota shouted, sticking his thumb out at Saihara with a grin. You were the first one to tell everyone to vote Yumeno.

"Amami must've been in a lot of pain with a bruised hand, don't you all think? I have to say, this murder is a pretty colourful event!~" Ouma laughed. 

"The fuck are you on about you dumb bitch?" Iruma shouted. "Go play with yourself in the corner, the adults are talking!"

"Okay! I'll start right now!" Ouma giggled, making questionable hand gestures as the two continued arguing. Shuichi ignored the concerning conversation and stared at his hands, taking note of the words he'd emphasised. Colourful. Bruised hand.

"I got it!" Shuichi shouted, his head shooting up as the room quietened. Feeling the room collectively stare at him, Shuichi looked anywhere he could to avoid eye contact.

"What is it Saihara? Tell us," Akamatsu begged the male.

"Here's how I believe it went down. Four people entered the Ultimate Magician's Research Lab, two of them ready to perform a magic show for one of the others, Yumeno on standby as professional help. That night the blackened wanted to continue practising, having an urge to impress Yumeno. Asking for Amami's help, the two decided to practise at night when no one would interrupt them. During the practise, they attempted a trick with a dove and were unable to complete it, the dove escaped and left a few feathers behind in Amami's hair. They then attempted a trick with the saw which ripped some fabric from the blackened's uniform. Deciding to continue, Amami willingly stepped into the box for the Impaled Illusion magic trick and the blackened locked him inside. Grabbing the swords, they thrust them into the box despite not taking the proper precautions. Once a sword had been impaled into his body, Amami started banging on the box to be let out, bruising his hand. Seeing blood pool from the box, the blackened panicked and haphazardly thrust more swords into the victim, knowing Amami wouldn't survive from his injuries anyway. The blackened is you, Chabashira Tenko, the Ultimate Neo Aikido Master."

Everyone glanced around at each other, the group voting on the small screen popping up in front of them. Shuichi's senses dulled as Monokuma cheered, the group had voted correctly. Staring at the screen, Shuichi noticed everyone had voted for Chabashira, except one vote was against him, and another against Yumeno. Chabashira stuttered before breaking down, falling to her knees and apologising profusely. Yumeno sniffed, leaning forward against the podium as tears silently dripped down her cheeks. "Tenko is sorry, Tenko wanted to impress you!"

"You could've impressed me by not killing someone!" Yumeno shouted, her voice pained with despair.

"Congratulations Chabashira, you're a fucking idiot," Ouma clapped sarcastically. The group's podiums lowered to the ground, everyone stepping onto the bright, blue tiling.

"Why Chabashira?!" Yumeno shouted.

"It was an accident! Tenko didn't mean to kill Amami, but Tenko panicked! When Amami banged on the door, Tenko thought it was the sword, Tenko thought he had died instantly! If Tenko knew he was alive, Tenko would've saved him!" The room was silent aside from the crying from the two women and Monokuma's chuckling.

"It's punishment time!" Monokuma sang, jumping up and slamming his paws into a large red button in front of him. On cue, the Monokubs jumped forward and ushered everyone away from Chabashira, the floor opening up underneath her and swallowing her whole. A screen popped up from thin air, displaying the morbid scene occurring beneath them.

Chabashira plunged into the middle of a dojo, immediately jumping to her feet in a fighting stance, ready to attack. The dojo wall opened up to reveal a flood of male fighters rushing towards the woman. Glaring at the men she considered nothing but degenerates, Chabashira flung her Neo Aikido skills into action to keep the violent men away. Male after male attempted to throw a punch or kick at her, only resulting in being violently thrown to the ground with a crunch.

Men continued to flood the dojo, no corner of the room was empty, other attackers crowding the holes in the walls. On the screen, Chabashira's body was hidden behind her attackers, the men overpowering her as none fell to the ground. They piled on top of where she previously stood, throwing punches at Chabashira, who could no longer be seen. A few seconds passed of fists flying with fury before the men all turned and left their victim on the ground, beaten to death.

Chabashira's body was littered with bruises and indents, a few bloody bones sticking out of her ripped skin and muscle. Her body and surroundings were stained with fresh blood, pouring from her mouth, nose and wounds. The woman's pained stare wrenched at Shuichi's heart, her expression begging for help. It was no use, she was dead, her destiny set in stone the moment she murdered Amami. Or, the moment she signed up to join Danganronpa.