Part 132: Super High-school Level Update #119.1

Eh...? Fukawa-san...?







F...Fukawa-san! Are you alright?!

N...No way...!

She isn't... dead, is she?



Gaahaahaaheehaahaa!
Uwa!





It's cold here...! Too cold!! I'm going to get sick!!
...Well, you shouldn't fall asleep in a place like this.



...I was sleeping? Oh, that poor girl must have lost her consciousness again!



So, I guess you must have been standing there looking longingly at my sleeping figure, seized with desire!!
No, I really wasn't.



No?! Was it lust, then? Enchantment?!
Um, why did you lose consciousness, anyway?



No clue! I just woke up, you know!! Miss Gloomy must have done something stupid again!
Oh, that's right. When your personality changes, the memories don't come with it...



Exactly! We share knowledge but not our memories!



...And don't talk about it as if it's some kind of a character flaw! I prefer to see it as an advantage, personally!!
I can remember things my other self can't, after all!



That makes me twice as good!!

No, I think it only makes you half as good...






By the way, do you know where Darling is?! Tell or or I'll kill you!!
I...I think Togami-kun is off doing his own investigation somewhere...



Alone?!
...I imagine so.



I knew it! It's just as I thought! I'm a professional when it comes to Byakuya-sama, after all!!



I have to hurry! He must be getting so lonely!
Gaaheehaahaaheehaa!!



Laughing her creepy laugh, Fukawa-san ran out of the room.

...I didn't get the chance to ask her about that photo...

It's probably useless to ask Genocider about it, though.

Besides, there are other things I have to check.
For example, the reason Fukawa-san lost consciousness...

I think it's right before my eyes.





It sure is.



That body storage unit... It's open...!

When I was here before, I'm sure they were all properly closed...

"That's what must have caused it."



I think that's the reason Fukawa-san lost consciousness...
...K...Kirigiri-san!



Sorry for taking so long.
Are you... okay now?



I'm sorry if I made you worry...
N...No, you don't have to apologize...



Naegi-kun. More importantly, is this room...?
I...It's...



It looks like a morgue.
Y...Yeah, I think so too.



So that's what it was...
Fukawa-san must have looked inside the unit and lost consciousness at the sight of the body...
Wait, how did you even know she lost consciousness...?



Genocider just ran past me when I entered the room.
I thought she might have simply sneezed, but as soon as I saw this room I realized what must have happened.



She tried to investigate this room, and ended up opening one of the units.
And then, she must have seen the body and lost her consciousness...

...That girl really is a scaremonger, isn't she.



Anyway, let's put the body back where it belongs. We can't just leave it out in the open like that.
S...Sure...



Naegi-kun, give me a hand...

Kirigiri-san walked up to the body storage unit, and reached her hand to its door...

...And then she stopped.



...What's wrong?



It's best if we postpone putting the body back into storage for a little while longer.
...Eh? Why is that?
Because this is Mukuro Ikusaba's body.

Eh...?

Mukuro Ikusaba's body

Mukuro Ikusaba's body...!
Are you sure?! That's Mukuro Ikusaba inside this unit?!



She must have been carried here while we were in trial, as usual...
...By the mastermind?
He must have not foreseen that her trial will continue later...



That's... probably it.
Whatever the case may be, at least I can investigate her body properly now.

That's right, Kirigiri-san didn't have a chance to investigate the body before the previous trial...



...I'll show you how one properly investigates a body.
This time, I'll find something helpful, for sure. Something that will give us a lead on the mastermind's identity.
So... What should I do while you're at it...?



Just wait here until I'm done. I'll let you know what I found as soon as I can.

So... Am I just supposed to stand here doing nothing...?



Hey, here's someone who isn't running away from us. Maybe she knows something about Monobear's hint.



Oh, I'd better ask Kirigiri-san about that group photograph.



I mean, she was in that photo too.



Hey, Kirigiri-san... Can I ask you something while you're working...?
............
...What is it?
It's about Monobear's announcement from before...



...If it's about the hint he promised, I never went to ask for it.
Eh? Why?



Choosing this time to give us a hint can't possibly be anything but an attempt to confuse us.
I don't need any hints from him. I can solve this mystery on my own.
I see...

I wanted to get her opinion about that photo, but I guess it's useless...
Besides, looking at her working right now...

...I can't imagine she's trying to deceive me.

She's right. That mastermind prepared this photo just to confuse us.

That must be it. There's no other way to explain it...



As long as we're waiting, let's see if we missed something in this room when we investigated it before.



Now that I think about it, I think I've seen a tarp from this pile somewhere before...



They look just like the tarp in the garden shed.

Sure enough, that tarp over there...



...had a "biology lab" label stamped on it.



In other words, the tarp used in faking the crime scene...

...was undoubtedly taken from this pile.








The units on this side of the wall have the indicator light on.



But, the units on the other side have no light...



The lights seems to indicate which units are in use...



The lights indicate which units which are in use...

But, including the unit in which Mukuro Ikusaba was stored...

...there are nine units with the indicator light on.

Nine units...
Nine units...?






Naegi-kun. I'm done...
You've already finished?! That was fast!



Anyone can work slowly. I'll make my explanation short as well.

explanation

So, did you find any clues on the body?



I studied the wounds and the traces of blood carefully, but...
It's highly probable that both the head wound and the knife wound to the stomach were inflicted after death...
...Eh?
It's a little difficult to tell since the body was burned, but I don't think I'm wrong.

In other words, is she saying both the knife wound and the head wound weren't the cause of death?

So, what killed her...?



"Due to severe injuries suffered by the explosion, the body's identity is unclear."
"The explosion occurred after the victim's death."
"The knife wound in the abdomen area extends all the way to the victim's back. There is just one wound caused by the knife."
"There are also signs of a blow to the back of the head. It seems to have been caused by a cylindrical object, about as thick as a metal pipe."
"Other than that, there are signs of many other wounds on the body. However, they are old wounds that were not inflicted during the last few days."

The only other possibility are those "many other wounds", but those are from a long time ago...



...The Monobear File doesn't say anything about how long ago those wounds were inflicted.
...Eh?
All it says is that they "were not inflicted during the last few days".
How is that different...?



It's very different. It gives a completely different impression.



It seems you associated the words "old wounds" with years-old scars...



...But that mental association is just a trick.
If you're left with the impression of ancient scars, you'd never imagine those wounds are related to the murder, would you?
...Are you saying that's wrong?
But, we were given the Monobear File immediately after Mukuro Ikusaba was killed, weren't we?
If the wounds were more than a few days old at that time, they couldn't possibly have anything to do with the murder...



What if Mukuro Ikusaba wasn't killed during the last few days...?
...Eh?!



It's just one possibility out of many, but we mustn't overlook it.
One possibility out of many...?



Detectives do not posses any superpowers. We can't lead ourselves astray by a single, predetermined conclusion.
Great detectives consider a great many possibilities inside their heads from the very beginning.



We should ignore common sense, prejudices and preconceptions, and start by drawing up every conceivable possibility.
Then, as the investigation proceeds, we should put those possibilities under scrutiny.



It probably isn't very effective to give you a crash course in detective methods like that, but...
...If you want to solve this school's mysteries, it's something you should try to remember.






If there is anything else you want to know about the body, now's the time to ask.
This is probably our last chance to investigate it, after all.

you want to know about the body

Oh, I do have something I want to ask.
I read Mukuro Ikusaba's profile before. Her height and weight were listed...



She was 169 centimeters tall, weighed 44 kilograms, and her measurements were 80 - 55 - 82... right?
You remember...



Those figures fit this body perfectly.
So, it really is her...



She also has the Fenrir tattoo, so it can't be anyone else.



This body belongs to Mukuro Ikusaba...!








...Is that all you want to ask?
Y...Yeah, I think so...



In that case... there's nothing else we can do with Mukuro Ikusaba's body.
...Let's go. It's cold in here.
Ah, wait a second... Weren't we about to put the body back in storage?
It feels kind of cruel just leaving her out like this...



...Cruel?
Did you forget? She was one of our enemies...
She was a member of Super High-school Level Despair...
B...But, she was murdered... When all is said and done, she's also a victim...



...Wouldn't you say that's just reaping what she sowed?
That may be so, but...



............



You really are naive, aren't you.
I never fail to be astonished by that...

But then, Kirigiri-san came by and helped me seal the body up without raising a single objection.

If I use her own words, does that make her "naive" as well...?



And with that, our investigation of this room is over.
We should go our seperate ways again now.
W...Wait...!

There's one more issue left.

One more thing I must ask Kirigiri-san...



I have to ask her about that notepad I found in the locker room...

I can't just let her go without asking...





Hey, Kirigiri-san...
There's just one more thing I have to talk to you about.



...What is it?
Have you really never met your father since you came to this school...?



Eh...?





...What do you mean?
Have you been to the locker room in the dormitory's second floor?
Yeah, I visited it...
But the lockers all looked like they could only be opened with the owner's student ID card.
I used the emergency Electronic Student ID Card...



The one you found in the headmaster's private room...
...So, did you find any clues inside those lockers?
I found a notepad. And as far as I can tell...
That notepad was yours, Kirigiri-san.



............
Why... do you think so...?



If those lockers can only be opened by their owners...
...It's difficult to see how any of them could belong to one of us.
We've only been able to go up to the second floor recently, after all.
In other words, it's unlikely any of us ever used these lockers.
Why would I need to hide a notepad in a locker, anyway?
Everything you say is true, but... The problem is what was written inside the notepad.
Whoever wrote it called the headmaster their "father"...





...?!



Could it be...?
Does that mean that video... was also real...?
"That video"...?



Naegi-kun. I think everything is finally falling into place.
...In the worst kind of way, unfortunately.
...W...What do you mean?
I'm going to the locker room to check it out.
I have to see what you've told me about with my own eyes.
In that case, let me give you the emergency Electronic Student ID Card. Without it you wouldn't be able...



...No, I don't need it.
If what I'm thinking is correct, I can open that locker with my own ID card.
It is, without question, my own locker, after all.
Your own locker...?



Here. You should watch this...



Is that... a DVD? The label says...

"78th Class Emergency Interviews"...?!

I found it in the secret room after you left.



I don't have time to explain right now. You'd better just go and watch it yourself.
You should be able to figure out what it all means when you do.
What it means for my notepad to be inside my locker without me knowing...

I don't really get it...

...But I guess there's an important clue recorded on this DVD?






There's just one more thing...
Will you listen to my silly problems just for a minute...?
...Silly problems?
In the end, what it all amounts to...
...Is that I wasn't able to put my feelings in order.
I've just become even more confused...

Is she talking about her father...?



I will probably never be able to answer those questions. Not now, not ever.

It's all... the mastermind's fault...



But there's one thing that became perfectly clear to me...
I can't let the mastermind get away with it.
I want to win. And now I have one more reason to do so.

I could see flames of determination deep in Kirigiri-san's eyes.

Determination to win the mastermind's game...



It's strange. My feelings intensified after I learned about that man's death...
I couldn't give a damn about what his life was like before...



So... how come I feel this way?
Why is his misfortune affecting me so much...?
It's silly... I don't get it...

Her words were accompanied by a little smile...

...It was a very sad smile.



I think that's enough silly problems for today.
There are still things left to do if we want to win.
Yeah.



But, please remember.
There is always a single truth.
It may be just, but it may also be evil.
It may lead to the best outcome, but it can also lead to the worst.
...What do you mean?



The truth might be a most despair-inducing thing, but still...
Don't ever lose hope...
O...Of course I won't... I mean...
Isn't being an optimist my one good quality?



Yeah... I remember...
I'm sorry for saying strange things...



I'll be going now...
We'll meet later, at the final school trial.



With those parting words, Kirigiri-san left the biology lab.



I should also go...



That DVD Kirigiri-san gave me...
I should be able to watch it in the A/V room.

Kirigiri-san talked about despair-inducing truth, but...

But, whatever happens I won't give up.
I don't care how bad the truth is...

I will never give up...!