#deadly life
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Despite the slam of the gavel and the permission to speak, a heavy silence hung over the trial as we all waited for one another to start the proceedings.
KYOU: “How do we even… approach this?”
DANNY: “I’m at a bit of a loss myself… I mean…”
EMI: [Adjusting her glasses] “We’ll start with the Sunnyside File. It’s got some good information to start us off with.”
MATSUO: “Then perhaps we should turn to our expert. Tadiyuki?”
TADIYUKI: “Whu- uh… Pardon?”
He seemed nervous, he kept playing with the hem of his coat and looking at his hands. I didn’t suppose I could blame him; It’s not like this was something any of us were really prepared to deal with after all.
TARA: “The Sunnyside File, Tadiyuki. You have the medical experience here, so we were hoping you could go over it for us?”
TADIYUKI: “O-Oh, yes, of course.”
After a few deep breaths he seemed ready. He pressed a few buttons on his podium, probably bringing up the file himself. I did the same.
TADIYUKI: [Reading off the file] “The victim was Kaiteki Hirune. He died at approximately 12:10 am and was found in the supply closet by Beau, Tokita, and Matsuo. His only injury was a large stab wound into the abdomen—"
JITAROU: “I got it!”
Wait, what?
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NOBU: “If I may, I have a question.”
HIKARI: “Sure thing Hanabira! What’s up?”
NOBU: “What is… this?”
Nobu gestured next to them, to the one empty podium in the room. Well… empty wasn’t quite the right word for it. How had I not noticed that… thing before?
A portrait of Kaiteki, slashed through with a bloody X, mockingly cementing his status as dead.
HIKARI: “Well it just didn’t seem fair that Kaiteki wouldn’t get the chance to see this special trial room thanks to gettin’ got!”
HIKARI: “So, I decided to fill the void he left with material possessions just like anyone else would!”
NOBU: “…Right.”
HIKARI: “Any other questions? Yes? I don’t care! Let’s get going!”
HIKARI: “Use this time to discuss the case, and when I’ve decided you’ve reached a proper conclusion we can open things up to a vote. Remember, vote correctly and I will punish the guilty party, vote incorrectly and I punish everyone EXCEPT the guilty, and the blackened student gets to leave the resort!”
Hikari slammed a gavel into the armrest of her throne
HIKARI: “You may now begin!”
– [COURT IS NOW IN SESSION] –
The elevator came to a smooth stop and the doors glided open. I was momentarily blinded by the sudden light, but as my eyes adjusted, I was greeted with the trial ground. The walls had several screens streaming a 360 view of a tropical beach.
God I was getting really sick of tropical beaches.
The screens made it seem like the trial room was a pavilion on the beach, even though I knew realistically we were deep underground after that elevator ride. The sky was a soft, almost greenish blue. It seemed like it was only the break of dawn and small waves lapped lazily on the sand. Opposite from the elevator there was an ornate throne that Hikari lounged on. She had a sadistic grin on her face as she allowed us to soak in the trial room for the first time. Next to her, Sayuri stood at attention, not even given a chair to sit on.
Most attention grabbing, though, was the ring in the middle. Sixteen podiums stood in a circle, each one standing on a short pedestal, lined with different glowing hues. The completed ring created a rainbow gradient. As people filed into the trial room proper, I got a closer look and saw that each podium had a name inscribed on the pedestal. I found the one labelled with my name and stepped up. I took my place where soft cyan light illuminated my feet. Up on the stand, a screen affixed to the podium lit up and displayed a menu with several options. [Report Cards], [Evidence], and a third grayed out option, [Vote].
I looked to my left, where I saw Haru. He caught me looking and flashed me a grin, though it didn’t reach his eyes. He nervously tugged on the cuff of his glove as he waited for things to get started. To my right stood Tara. She gave me a sympathetic smile, but she looked so drained by the happenings. I’m sure I looked worse, so I gave her a smile in return, as if to say don’t worry about me.
As everyone found their places, Hikari banged a gavel against the armrest of her throne, getting all of our attention.
HIKARI: “Alright! Now that we’re all here, we can get started!”
“I feel like we’ve looked all over…”
“Do you think we have enough evidence?”
~*~Bing bong bing bong~*~
“Attention all contestants! Your investigation period is now over, please gather in the lobby before we begin the trial!”
“… We have to.”
Melissa and I made our way to the lobby with everyone else, where Hikari was waiting.
“So… is this where the trial is?”
“God you have no sense for dramatic tension, do you?”
“(I’d like to give her face some dramatic tension…)”
“This is not the trial grounds.”
Hikari clapped her hands and all at once, the room began to change.
“This is merely the entrance!”
The floor began to shake under our feet, causing some of the other students to stumble.
“Wh-Whuh, an earthquake?”
“No it feels… mechanical?”
Matsuo was right, the shaking felt similar to that of a car when its engine starts, but the question was.. what was the engine doing here?
The answer to that soon became apparent, however, when the floor of the lobby began to move. Couches and chairs were pushed aside as the center of the floor rose up, a sleek metallic cube emerging from the ground. The new structure kept raising and raising until it got close to the the ceiling and, with a resounding click, stopped moving. The vibrations of the hidden engine stopped and the whole room was locked into total silence.
Rather anticlimactically, the silence was broken by the soft swish of the doors sliding open, revealing the new structure to be a spacious elevator.
Some of us, like Emi and Nobu, showed no fear, they simply took confident strides into the elevator. They were ready. Following their example, more of us followed suit. Once everyone was inside, the doors slid shut and we began a long descent.
One of our classmates, Kaiteki Hirune, had been murdered. Claimed victim by a sick and twisted mutual killing game.
He tended to keep to himself, but when he opened up to people, he had shown that he was kind, intelligent, and he cared deeply about those he was close to. It was hard… no, impossible, to think he had really been murdered.
Even harder to come to terms with was that the day was far from over. Kaiteki had been killed by one of us. Someone who we thought we could trust, but it’s clear that was never the case.
This was going to be a trial of lies vs truth, us vs the blackened, but more than that… it was going to be a battle. A battle of coming to terms with the idea that… one of us committed this crime.
I steeled my nerves as the elevator came to a stop. I would find the killer, I had to. I owed it to Kaiteki, and to my classmates. I took my first step into the trial grounds with one thought in mind.
I won’t lose here.
As we left the closet, I turned to Melissa.
“Melissa, I was thinking, should we be collecting alibis or something?”
“Hm… probably not.”
“Huh?! I thought that was a thing people do in criminal investigations?”
“Well, yes, but… okay, think about it this way. Kaiteki died around midnight, so where were you at that time?”
“I was asleep.”
“Were you alone?”
“Yeah?”
“So, there’s no one to back you up and prove you aren’t lying?”
“Yeah…”
“Do you think that anyone’s story is going to sound different from yours?”
“I guess I see your point… the culprit will obviously lie to prevent looking suspicious, and if anyone else had left their room during the night they’d probably lie to avoid being falsely accused.”
“Exactly, alibis can be a useful tool, but I don’t think they’re applicable here.”
Well, with that out of the way, all we can do is continue our investigation as best we can.
Haru and Okina seemed to be discussing something, but both looked rather out of sorts. Matsuo was trying his best to console Beau, Nobu was fanning themselves… it looked like Kyou was the only person who even noticed we’d left the closet.
Where should I start?
While the body was the most attention grabbing thing in the room, I couldn’t afford to neglect the rest of the closet. It may have been a small room, but it was still a room, and that meant clues could be hiding in any corner. So…
Where should I start?
